ã€ŠEndless Writings at Midnightã€‹


 Victory Incarnate

    The Silex tore through the void of space.

    The Silex was roughly 1 metre in height and was about 30 centimetres in diameter. And while it was shaped in a roughly cylinder form, the edges that made up the top of its head was cracked and shaped like a series of ridges. Ridges that made the top of its pink, crystalline body look almost pointed.

    The Silex¡¯s strange bodies were something that marked them out even amongst other crystalloid races that existed throughout the universe. And while that alone should have been enough to make them unique, the truth was that they had long ago become something many would consider impossible¡­ or godly.

    For they had long ago discovered the truth of sentience. They had figured out that organic brains and even some inorganic brains had the power to tap into the Nous Dimension. The Nous Dimension was a dimension of limitless energy that when drawn into this universe could be formed into a matrix that not only sustained itself but also acted much like a computer. This Nous Matrix would then be able to interface with a brain enabling the thought and experience to be relayed back and forth, creating sentience. Which was why when the Silex spread their knowledge across the cosmos and to all the sentient life bound within, many called what they had discovered a soul.

    Once the Silex had discovered the concept of the Nous Matrix, they then began to learn how to create souls. Then they learned how to harvest souls before eventually succeeding in creating a means of transferring said souls. This was how the Silex had changed from organic beings to what they were now, souls bound within pink, crystalline bodies.

    The Silex were not fools. They had realised early on that organics failed, that they were capable of being broken and destroyed. So they had sought ways to become more than mere flesh and bone. They had desired to become something eternal. This is why they had made their new bodies out of a material that should not exist in this universe, a material that they had fashioned from scratch.

    The Silex had been the first to summon into being the Atzmus Crystal that they currently inhabited. It was a material that was invulnerable to all things, a material that was made by drawing energy from the Nous Dimension and converting it into physical matter. This matter once forged proved to be unchangeable, however due to being born from the same place as souls the two interacted with each other in a rather interesting way.

    The Atzmus Crystal could not be reshaped. However when interacting with a soul, the soul could change the energy of the crystal. Thought could create or destroy kinetic energy allowing for velocity to be changed instantly. Thought could also change temperature, allow or resist gravity, create waves of harmonic energy within the crystal producing sound or light. This in turn allowed the crystal to act as eyes and ears for the Silex, so that they could perceive the universe in its untempered beauty and wonder.

    With the Atzmus in hand the Silex had dedicated themselves to help save all the souls of the universe. The Silex had decided to go forth and rescue and protect the souls of every creature in the universe, and to mourn those that they were unable to save. And while they protected souls as best they could, the Silex also tried to guide the various alien races of the universe to safe guard their souls inside Atzmus Crystals.

    This was why this particular Silex travelled along at the Third Cosmic Velocity, a velocity it considered to be glacially slow, as it headed toward a world abundant in organic life. To help those that it would be acting as an envoy for. But since it had to travel so slowly in this solar system, the Silex had a lot of time to reminisce.

    The Silex turned its mind to the many adventures it had had across this boundless and beautiful universe. The Silex remembered the time it had absentmindedly travelled through the heart of a blue sun. It had been so lost in thought that only after emerging from the other side of the sun and being hailed by battle ready spaceships that demanded to know what it was, that the Silex had realised what it had done. The Silex also remembered when it had flown across the event horizon of a black hole to save the souls of those that had fallen in. Souls that had been returned to the world that they had originally come from safe and sound.

    The Silex also remembered when it had come across a star in the process of exploding. And wanting to see what would come next; the Silex had been the first to test to see if their invulnerable bodies could withstand the sheer power of a hypernova. A test that the Silex was extremely happy to say had been successful.

    Shifting its attention away from its internal thoughts, the Silex used its crystalline body to look ahead towards its destination, a planet orbiting a yellow sun, a world that in turn had three moons orbiting around it. A world that was perfectly habitable for those that the Silex had come to meet up with: Humans.

    Slowly creeping forwards at speeds that dwarfed the speed of sound, the Silex felt a spark of amusement at the fact that humans had requested that it limit its speed while travelling through their solar systems. Both humans and Silex knew that the Silex had perfect control over their velocity and that they could instantly change how fast they were travelling in a single second. A fact that allowed the Silex to move at velocities that defied the limits of the speed of light. But in the end, the Silex understood the fear that the organic beings possessed. For if a mistake occurred, unlike the Silex, they would not survive whatever transpired.

    Continuing to study the world before it, the Silex marvelled at the sight, especially at its three moons. For it was clear to the Silex that the moons were unnatural. Each of the moons measured the exact same size and shape. They were all on the same orbit, not to mention they were all equidistant from both each other and the world below. Pondering how the humans had managed to make this possible, the Silex was pleased to note that the moons had been arranged in such a way as to prevent the seas of the world below from being adversely affected.

    Drawing closer, the Silex reached out with its sensors. It began to scan the world for its target, the man that went by the name of Jerral, the man who would be its fellow envoy between the two very different races.

    Sensing his soul bound within a flesh and blood construct, the Silex wanted to sigh as the humans called it. For it was clear that despite the two thousand years that they had been communicating between each other, Jerral was still insistent on remaining organic. A feat of stubbornness that was almost impressive, but in the end the Silex was not too bothered, as when one conquered death, time became your ally.

    And both the humans and the Silex had conquered death long ago.

    Finally reaching the edge of the planet¡¯s atmosphere, the Silex descended down and honed in on its target, its fellow diplomat. However now that it was within the atmosphere of the planet, the Silex had to move at an even slower velocity, another request by the humans. A request that seemed to fail to take into account that its body was made to be frictionless, so no matter how fast it moved through the air it would not cause damage to the environment. In fact, the crystalline body even had a feature imbedded in it that allowed the atmosphere of any planet it passed through to effortlessly flow around the crystal. This meant that the Silex would not generate even a faint ripple in the air, let alone a sonic boom.

    Approaching the location where the Silex could detect Jerral, the Silex was surprised to see that Jerral was not on either land or sea or even spacecraft. Instead, Jerral appeared to be atop a floating island in the sky. Pausing as it approached ,the Silex took a moment to scan over the island that in truth looked like a miniature continent suspended in the air, and wonder to itself how the land mass was airborne.

    Seeking out the source of the strange phenomenon, the Silex soon discovered the cause of the island¡¯s buoyancy.

    The island had beneath it several hundred Zero Density Crystals that were acting as the required lift for the floating island. These Zero Density Crystals were nothing more than buckyballs, or as they were properly called Buckminsterfullerene, that had been increased in size until they were macroscopic. What¡¯s more, the humans had made sure to keep the inside of the sphere of carbon matter filled with a vacuum. This absence of matter caused the density of the material to decrease to such an extreme that it reached practically zero.

    This property of the Zero Density Crystals meant that even in some of the thinnest of atmospheres the crystals would float up to reach the edge of the sky, perhaps even be ejected out of the atmosphere and into space itself. And with this property the 1 metre crystal spheres were being used to lift an entire landmass up into the sky just high enough so that clouds could drift by under the man made Sky Island.

    Puzzled that humanity would create something like this using such simple chemistry but still had to use energy shielding to make sure that the island was kept perfectly warm, the Silex put aside the matter as it drifted close to the island. For if it stopped to try and unravel all of humanities quirks then it would be here long after the world that it floated above had turned to dust.

    Floating through the pillars and columns of the island, the Silex continued on to its destination, a temple like structure that stood at the centre of the landmass. A temple that had design characteristics from so many different periods in human history that it felt ancient yet at the same time seemed to evoke an ageless wonder.

    ¡°Bob,¡± cried out a voice that caught the attention of the Silex, a voice that it remembered from its last visit to humanity some two hundred of their years ago.

    Focusing in on the source of the voice the Silex, who the humans called Bob, looked at Jerral as he stood on the temple¡¯s steps, his fellow diplomat clearly please to see him. Jerral had his right arm raised as he gave the floating mass of Atzmus Crystal a lazy wave, a wave that was both trying to catch Bob¡¯s attention and also trying to get it to come on over.

    Moving almost instantly between its current location and the location next to Jerral, Bob arrived at the side of the man and came to a stop. Its body slowly floating up and down as it used sound to speak to Jerral.

    ¡°Hello Jerral,¡± said Bob in greetings as it made sure to speak in the same language that Jerral had spoken. It¡¯s voice an echoing crystalline choir that made it sound unearthly and at the same time angelic all at once.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you,¡± said Jerral as he smiled at the floating mass of pink crystal, ¡°I was beginning to get worried.¡±

    ¡°Why worry about me?¡± asked Bob clearly confused about the statement as Jerral should know that it was beyond indestructible.

    ¡°You were a day late. We were worried you got lost,¡± said Jerral with a smile that expressed his relief at having been proven wrong.

    Passively floating up and down by only a few centimetres in either direction, Bob turned his mind inwards to begin calculating the time only to realise that due to having to move at such a slow velocity it had indeed been a day late.

    ¡°My apologies, my calculations of my arrival time were based on me travelling at greater speeds than your regulations allow,¡± explained Bob, its crystalline choir voice, while beautiful lacked any form of emotion that would indicate that it was truly sorry.

    ¡°That¡¯s okay, so long as you¡¯re fine,¡± said Jerral as he turned to walk into the white temple up the stairs, his mannerisms indicating that Bob should follow him.

    ¡°I fail to see why you think that I would not be ¡®fine¡¯,¡± said Bob its crystalline voice ringing through the air. ¡°I am made from Atzmus Crystal. Nothing can break me, so what is there to fear?¡±

    ¡°Just because your body is indestructible does not mean that your soul is not,¡± said Jerral in rejoinder, a comment that caused the Silex to acknowledge that the human had a point.

    Upon death the Nous Matrix, or the soul as humans put it, would detach from the organic or even inorganic life form that had created it. Once detached the soul would linger and float about, some with enough sense of self to see and hear the world around it even perhaps interact with it. Especially if those that it was interacting with had the ability to perceive the soul, however this also meant that some souls lacked the sense of self to continue to function.

    And when the soul ceased to function properly, they would be absorbed up by the Nous Dimension, lost to the quantum mesh of the universe. They would become irretrievable save for a cosmic fluke. And while some theorised that souls could spontaneously appear and disappear from one part of the universe to another, and be retrievable in those instances, the truth was that once consumed by the Nous Dimension a soul was gone forever.

    ¡°You were concerned that I had run afoul of something that had caused me to become lost in the Nous Dimension?¡± enquired Bob having reached the only conclusion that would allow for a human to worry about it.

    ¡°Not quite but why not,¡± said Jerral as he led the floating mass of crystal and soul into the temple.

    The inside of the temple was a wondrous mixture of Ancient Greek temples and catholic churches. The pillars that supported the steeple were white pristine columns that stood easily over 20 metres tall. The automated stained glass windows that covered some of the walls and let in light depicted the history of humanity, from antiquity to the modern day. It showcased the beginning of humanity making fire up to the creation of immortality and then to the process when they had discovered how to house a soul. Each stained glass window seemed to move back and forth as if they were acting out the same scenario over and over again.

    Taking in the exhibit of glass that portrayed humanity¡¯s history in such a fascinating and beautiful way, Bob hummed with energy as it continued to survey everything around it all the while keeping abreast with Jerral.

    ¡°So what do you wish to talk to us about this time?¡± asked Jerral as they headed into the temple, its vast open nature something that seemed to dwarf the organic humanoid.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Bob curiously as it tried to follow the logic of the chemical computer humans called a brain.

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Every hundred years or so, one of you turns up here to talk about humanity,¡± explained Jerral as the two came to a stop so that he could stare at Bob. Bob in turn shifted its body so that its tipped head would be facing Jerral, an act designed to help the human by giving it something akin to a face to talk to.

    ¡°And?¡± prompted Bob as it became clear that Jerral was waiting for a response from the Silex before him.

    ¡°An each time you talk about how humanity should advance. You like to talk about how we should abandon our organic bodies and become crystalloid¡­¡±

    ¡°It really is the safest option for both you and your souls,¡± interrupted Bob.

    ¡°While Churn likes to talk about how we should change our technology and upgrade to being more in line with how the lot of you were in our past,¡± continued Jerral, unmindful of the good natured interruption.

    Humming with a small frequency that barely registered to Jerral, Bob turned it mind to its counterpart, its fellow Silex, which Jerral had named Churn, for whatever mad reason. The human clearly had some way of telling Churn and Bob apart. The two of them had volunteered to interact with humanity and had been taking turns visiting every hundred years. Each had their own ideas about how to help humanity grow and evolve into truly immortal beings. But human stubbornness had prevented them from changing to any significant degree over their two thousand years they had interacted with humanity.

    ¡°Churn seems to be under the impression that if we follow the same technological route as the Silex we will eventually become as you. We will give up these rudimentary bodies and grow beyond organic limitations,¡± continued Jerral unheeding of Bob¡¯s internal contemplation.

    ¡°I have a question for you, Jerral,¡± said Bob as it drifted up higher so that it was about the same height as Jerral¡¯s head, which was roughly 1.7 metres off the ground.

    ¡°If I can answer it, I will,¡± said Jerral as he nodded solemnly at the crystal before him, aware that it was rare for the Silex to ask questions.

    ¡°How can you tell the two of us apart?¡± asked Bob, its crystalline voice almost melodic in nature as it posed the question. ¡°You might have a fragment of Atzmus crystal implanted in between your frontal lobes of your brain, but other than that I don¡¯t think you have a way of making sure that I am Bob as you call me.¡±

    ¡°The fragment of Atzmus was an idea Churn suggested, instead of having something clunky and perishable like a nanochip to anchor our souls to. Churn suggested that we use Atzmus and we have for near two thousand years,¡± admitted Jerral with a laugh before he grew serious, ¡°a suggestion that we can never stop being thankful for.¡±

    ¡°I am glad we were able to help you and yours but you have failed to answer my question,¡± said Bob unbothered by the roundabout route that the conversation was taking.

    ¡°Why are you suddenly so concerned about this?¡± asked Jerral sensing that the Silex was at a tipping point.

    ¡°Your assurance that I am ¡®Bob¡¯ and not ¡®Churn¡¯ is curious as there should be no way to tell us apart visually. In fact, I am not even sure this is the same body that I last visited you in,¡± admitted Bob, as when two Silex collide in space they would sometimes swap bodies and continue on their journey. With neither Silex even becoming aware they had swapped bodies let alone collided with their brethren without checking the internal, identification codes inside the Atzmus Crystal.

    ¡°That¡¯s simple, in fact it¡¯s in your names,¡± said Jerral with a smile, for after thousands of years he was now able to tell the punch line to his little, joke names. ¡°Your names are based on your individual habits.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Bob, as it floated up and down on the spot in annoyance failing to see how Bob could relate to how it acted.

    ¡°You like to bob up and down in the air. It gets more pronounced when you get emotional, which is why it¡¯s hard to notice but when you do you can¡¯t stop noticing. As for Churn, it likes to rotate back and forth along its vertical axis, which is where it got its name from,¡± explained Jerral as he smiled kindly, even as he pointed out the habits of the Silex that they had failed to notice for untold millennia.

    Shocked that the human had managed to notice something so pedantic yet something that was so defining that it enabled identification, Bob jerked to a standstill as it realised that it was indeed bobbing up and down.

    Chuckling at the sight of the frozen Silex, Jerral started to walk out of the main section of the temple. Following after him mostly because it was on autopilot, Bob, as it reached the edge of the temple, paused as it detected a sudden increase in the number of humans about.

    ¡°What is happening?¡± asked Bob as it turned to look at the humans that were slowly starting to trickle in.

    ¡°Oh that,¡± said Jerral as he realised what had drawn Bob¡¯s attention, ¡°they¡¯re just here for the resurrection.¡±

    ¡°The resurrection?¡± queried Bob as it focused in on the humans that were wearing all manner of attire. Some of the attire clearly being from some form of military, while others wore garbs that Bob recognised came from religious or medical fields that humans practised.

    ¡°They¡¯re here to witness and welcome back a human getting resurrected,¡± said Jerral as he saw that Bob¡¯s interest had been transfixed by what was occurring. ¡°We weren¡¯t sure if you would turn up after you were late yesterday, so we decided to hold it today regardless of your presence here.¡±

    Standing off to the side of the temple the two figures, one organic and the other crystalloid, looked on as the procession of people kept coming until the back of the temple was filled with humans. At the front of the crowd stood a small group of four people that were clearly distinct from the others present.

    ¡°How did he die? Some sort of accident?¡± asked Bob in its crystalline voice, a voice that was filled with curiosity. A curiosity that compelled it to continue to watch on and record the information of what it was seeing to relay it all back to its fellow Silex.

    ¡°No. He died during a war,¡± explained Jerral as he briefly became stone faced at the fact that a human had died fighting anything let alone another human.

    ¡°To the best of my knowledge you have not had a war for over seven thousand years,¡± said Bob with a soft hum, as it noted a discrepancy in the information.

    ¡°True but John Weyland died in a war dating back to when we were still limited to a single planet,¡± explained Jerral as he slowly seemed to let loose the tension that had appeared when he had to explain to the Silex what was occurring.

    Continuing to hum as it processed its new data, Bob realised that this would mean that the soul had been without a body for at least seven and a half thousand years if not more. In fact, it could be longer still as Jerral¡¯s words were ambiguous enough that he could mean that the soul predated even their first attempt at space flight.

    ¡°You were able to locate a soul that had been ethereal for so long,¡± said Bob in amazement. ¡°How did it survive? How did you locate it? Was there any particular information about the environment around the soul that would indicate it helped maintain the soul in the material dimension?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± said Jerral as his attention was more fixed upon the body that some of the clergy were rolling out to be seated directly below the automated stained glass dome above that was shining a beautiful light into the temple.

    ¡°No,¡± repeated Bob in annoyance, as it bobbed up and down next to Jerral, a sign that Bob didn¡¯t like having to coax the information out of the organic being that was lost in its emotions.

    ¡°John did not have to endure millennia as a soul. We were able to retrieve him,¡± explained Jerral curtly.

    Feeling the enormity of what Jerral had just told it settle into its mind, Bob had to admit that Jerral was perfectly justified in getting lost in emotion. The fact that the humans had succeeded in finding and capturing a soul from so long ago was something of a miracle, one that even awed the Silex.

    Wheeling the body into place, the clergy pulled the sheet that covered the entire sleeping human down so that his head and face were exposed for the human crowd to see. Gasping at the sight, the group of four humans that stood apart looked on with teary eyes as they waited for John Weyland to wake up.

    Starting to twitch the man called John Weyland began to breath heavier as his soul became more integrated with his flesh and blood body. And as his mind returned and began to take control of his restored body John let out a scream of pain as he finally regained consciousness.

    Thrusting his hands out so that the sheet that had been covering them fluttered to the ground, John seemed to be panting and staring off into the dome above his gaze unfixed as if he was not comprehending the sudden change to his existence. From his perspective he had gone from a bloody battle that had left him dying in a pool of blood and mud to now being in a white and majestic place. But the thing that dominated John¡¯s mind was the left hand that he had stretched out before him, a hand that he vividly remembered losing to an artillery shell.

    Continuing to monitor the human in the centre of the temple, Bob was able to see the confusion and then wonder as John gripped his hand open and shut as if he couldn¡¯t believe that he had a left hand. Then noticing that he was free of pain and shrapnel John¡¯s attention seemed to shift to his surroundings.

    Wonder and awe flirted across John¡¯s face as he took everything in, the pristine temple, the moving glass images, and the fact that he was bathed in warm light. But what stopped John dead was when he turned his head and saw the four humans that had slowly crept forward to meet him.

    ¡°Dad?¡± said John, his voice echoing out of his throat, a voice laden with so much emotion that it became impossible to determine what they were, even for John.

    ¡°Yes son, it¡¯s me,¡± said the man as he rushed to stand beside his son, his right hand entangling John¡¯s right hand.

    ¡°You¡¯re dead,¡± said John his voice cracking, as a new wave of emotions began filling his soul, ¡°you¡¯re younger too.¡±

    ¡°So are you,¡± said the father, his face breaking into a sad smile that caused John to stare in confusion before he began to understand what had happened and what his father had said to him.

    Confused, John looked around and saw that the two women that were amongst the group of four were people he also knew.

    ¡°Mum, Emily,¡± said John, his voice breaking with despair and at the same time something other, something so much more primal it lacked a word to convey it.

    ¡°Yes we¡¯re here,¡± said the one called Emily as she gripped John¡¯s left hand as she tried to assuage the primal feelings that were building within John.

    ¡°So am I,¡± said the last of the four, another youthful man, who had tears streaming down his face as he tried to look on stoically at John¡¯s prone figure.

    ¡°David?¡± said John, as another wave of shock rolled through him, his body quivering as if it was unable to even process or contain what he was feeling.

    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s me,¡± said David as he drew closer to John so that the two of them, brothers by their looks, could speak almost face to face.

    ¡°I saw you die, a month ago. I couldn¡¯t save you,¡± cried John as he finally began to comprehend what was happening around him, comprehension that finally allowed John to begin to process the emotions that dwelled within.

    ¡°Is this heaven?¡± asked John as he looked about him, not even really blinking at the sight of a floating pink crystal, before looking back at the four humans that were standing by his side.

    ¡°No, this is 10,000 AD,¡± said John¡¯s father rather calmly as he looked at his son with pride and love, and joy at being able to see him again.

    Blinking in confusion, tears upon his face, John could not quite seem to understand what had been said, but in the end it didn¡¯t matter. Because as he looked about he saw others that had been with him on the battlefield, others still that he had met and known as a child and finally as he looked out he could see grouping that instantly allowed him to understand. He was looking not just at those that had died with him or before him. He was also looking at those that had died long after him.

    Letting loose a cry, the temple was filled with his scream, a scream that was not born of pain or even joy.

    It was a cry that was born from salvation.

    Hearing the strange cry and feeling the resonance of emotion within, the Silex turned to look at Jerral and simply waited for the envoy of humanity to begin to explain.

    ¡°He died during the first Great War, a war to end all wars, or as it was called long after: the First World War,¡± explained Jerral slowly as he regained control of the emotions that had bubbled to the surface while watching the resurrection. ¡°We find it best to hold onto souls that die in battle and try and get family, friends and loved ones to be nearby when they return. Although, that is not always possible.¡±

    Ignoring the cheers that had sprung up around John as waves of people began to greet him and welcome him back to life, Bob continued to stare at Jerral awaiting the most important bit of information.

    ¡°How did you find his soul?¡± asked Bob when it became apparent that Jerral was not going to offer up an unprompted answer.

    ¡°After we unlocked the secrets of biological immortality, there were many of us, millions really that wanted to find a way to revive those that had perished before we could defeat death. Many also wanted to find a way to revive those that somehow died permanently afterwards as well,¡± said Jerral, his eyes fixed upon the scene before him. ¡°Then we met the Silex, and we learned that souls aren¡¯t destroyed if they are not collected in time. They are simply lost to the Nous Dimension. So we tried many things over and over again until finally we succeeded.¡±

    ¡°You found a way to retrieve a soul from the Nous Dimension,¡± Bob said in a voice that was as close to a whisper as its crystalline nature could allow.

    ¡°No, trying to retrieve a soul from there is nigh-impossible,¡± corrected Jerral with a quick decisiveness that left no misunderstanding between the two.

    Facing each other, the two ensouled beings stared at each other for a long moment, their gazes fixed as they ignored the celebration that was occurring nearby.

    ¡°Then how?¡± asked Bob at last as it could think of no other way to reclaim a soul once its vessel had perished without the correct safeguards in place.

    ¡°We reached through time and retrieved his soul,¡± explained Jerral with a seriousness that neither Bob nor Churn had seen in the two thousand years they had known him.

    ¡°Time travel is¡­¡± began the Silex, its crystalline voice echoing with horror at the idea of tampering with time.

    ¡°It is more trouble than it is worth,¡± said Jerral as he cut off the Silex, as Jerral did not want another lecture of the horrors of messing with time. ¡°What we have done is simply peer through time track a soul after its body died and just as it was about to enter the Nous Dimension we snatch the soul up.¡±

    Too stunned to even begin to process what the human had just told it, the Silex remained perfectly still, its stationary nature a sign that the mind and soul within had ground to a halt at seeing this impossibility be rendered something mundane.

    ¡°We have been doing this for centuries, reaching back and retrieving the dead, and scanning and copying the DNA of their original bodies. We then bring them back in the best version of their bodies that we can. And we don¡¯t intend to stop. Not now not ever,¡± said Jerral as he looked at the Silex. His gaze fixing upon the Silex not in a way that challenged the million year old creature, but in a way that simply stated what he was saying was a universal truth.

    Incapable of responding to what was being said to it, the Silex continued to remain fixed in place as Jerral continue to speak, his words gushing forth as if he finally wanted to explain himself. As if he wanted others to know what they were doing either to receive judgement or acceptance.

    ¡°We will resurrect all of humanity. We will save them all. We will go as far back as needed. As far back as the dawn of human sentience and then even further if needed, until we cannot find any more souls to resurrect,¡± exclaimed Jerral in a voice that was both even and measured, but at the same time filled with the emotions of all of humanity.

    The Silex contemplated what had been said to it, what it had discovered here in this one little planet, this one little corner of the universe. And as it did so it couldn¡¯t help but marvel at what it had found.

    When Death is conquered, Time becomes your ally, allowing you to accomplish feats that would normally be out of reach even with the lifespan of a thousand years. This was common knowledge all throughout the universe; everyone knew this as truth beyond questioning. But these humans had done something no one else had. They had bested Death and conquered Time. And then they had set their eyes upon the Rules of Reality itself.

    Instead of accepting that these rules were things that had to be worked around, humanity had reached out and broken them. They had snapped them like they were a twig. And then they had used them to build something brand new. This was why humanity had created a floating continent not because it served an actual purpose, but because they had wanted to be as awesome as possible.

    Understanding humanity in a way that it had never done before, the Silex turned its mind back to its long, long history. It had been inside its Atzmus body for over a million years and before that had been an organic creature for a few thousand years, and in all that time it had never experienced what it was experiencing today.

    Letting lose a small burst of light and musical sound as it finally became coherent enough to control its Atzmus body, the Silex known as Bob focused all of its attention on Jerral and asked a question.

    ¡°Would you be willing to share this technology with us?¡± asked the Silex as it pulsed with an inner light. An inner light that mirrored its joy at the idea of saving and resurrecting those that had been lost to death over a million years ago.

    ¡°We would be delighted to share this with you,¡± said Jerral with a smile that revealed the relief he felt at being accepted by the Silex. ¡°Come with me, we¡¯ll begin discussing all we know.¡±

    Following after Jerral, the Silex began to contemplate what it thought about humans, and about what its kind in general thought of them. And as it evaluated humanity in its whole, it realised that the Silex had been so very short sighted.

    The Silex had been wrong about humanity, and in their arrogance they had failed to see that these organic creatures were something so much greater than they had ever become.

    For humanity was Victory Incarnate.

 Gods in the Ash

    Raum stared at the ash.

    He stared at the devastation that rained down from the sky. Ash that was slowly and surely killing all that he had ever known across the nine years that he had been alive. Ash that was spreading through the sky at a rate that would, within the hour, render the sky an infinite black cloud.

    Staring through the glass window before him as the ash slowly began to cover the window, Raum couldn¡¯t hide the fear, panic and rising dread that reverberated through his body. His green slitted eyes were dilated. His orange fur was standing on end. His triangle ears were perked looking for a singular source of danger when it lay in every direction, and finally his tail stood on end in fear.

    Backing away from the window, Raum turned around and looked around his house. Casting about Raum desperately tried to find a familiar figure as the earth beneath his feet rumbled as far off volcanoes continued to pour out endless waves of ash. Yet all Raum could find was the same old normal house he had grown up in.

    The Reshari were not a technologically advanced people, as such the level of technology that was scattered throughout the room was unusual. The Reshari had created electricity, and even some commodities such as light bulbs, but in the end the Reshari were simply too carefree to industrialise beyond a certain level. Which was why seeing a radio about half a metre in length sitting on a table in the middle of the room, that Raum was in, was something extremely rare and even a little strange.

    Racing over to the radio, Raum tried desperately to turn the machine on even as his mind raced in fear at the fact that his parents might be out there in the ash that was still burning as it fell. Yet no matter how Raum spun the dial, how he adjusted the frequency or the amplitude of the waves that he was broadcasting or trying to receive, all Raum heard was an endless wave of static.

    Pleading with anything that would dare to listen to make sure his parents were healthy, Raum stepped back from the radio his face awash in fear. And as he began to succumb to panic, he cursed himself for not having learned to work the radio properly.

    For while carefree, the Reshari were just as driven by curiosity. This was why a rare and valuable radio was in the middle of the house, because Raum¡¯s father Allocer was driven by a curiosity that was nigh endless.

    Allocer had always loved the stars and longed to reach them, which was why driven by curiosity and a love for what lay above and forever out of reach, Allocer had turned to the concept of radios and telescopes. For Allocer had hoped to see and even hear what was out there. In fact, Allocer had supposedly found music upon the radio waves, but all of the Reshari had ignored his findings because who was stupid enough to listen to second-hand music played across something as exotic as a radio.

    Raum had, on the other hand, not found his father¡¯s work all that interesting as he had something else that drew his attention: the desire to fly. This was why Raum lacked the skill to use a radio, as Raum had often spent more time trying to figure out how to fly. Although since he was a child the most he could do was fold paper to create a glider, a far cry from those rare scholars attempting to learn to create actual flying machines.

    Panting in fear that he had failed to signal his father through the radio, Raum looked towards the front door of his family¡¯s house and hoped that either of his parents would come through the door. A hope that seemed to be heard as the door almost immediately began to creak open.

    Stepping through the door, Raum¡¯s mother, Basset entered into the house. Her white robes stained with soot from the ash that was falling from the sky. Staring at the white robes that had a golden cat¡¯s eye embroidered over the chest, Raum was aghast at what he saw. For the robes that were meant to signify that his mother was a healer, had been sullied in way that made it seem somehow sacrilegious.

    Meeting his mother¡¯s golden eyes, Raum tried to find comfort and answers in them, only to be met with tightly controlled fear. Those rare golden eyes that had earned Basset her name, golden eyes that were said to be the same as the first healer Bast, were now filled with a total and absolute lack of hope.

    ¡°Mum, what is happening?¡± asked Raum, his voice just short of a cry.

    ¡°Raum, do you remember the stories about our world, about Fenix?¡± asked Basset as she stood near the door, her robes slightly singed by the ash that had travelled several kilometres from the volcanoes to land upon her.

    ¡°Yes, every five thousand or so years the planets align and Fenix sets itself on fire,¡± said Raum, not understanding how a bedtime story related to a sky full of ash.

    ¡°The stories are true,¡± said Basset simply as she thought back to how the worlds in the sky had grown so close and how the earth had started to rumble as the sky became so frighteningly crowded.

    ¡°But it was six thousand years ago that the Fenix renewed itself,¡± said Raum as he remembered the stories his father had read to him to help him go to sleep.

    ¡°It seems that the planets alignment can be off by a few thousand years,¡± said Basset as she couldn¡¯t bring herself to try and calm her son. For the world would soon drown in a sea of ash and, at the very least, their little village would be lost with no survivors.

    ¡°What about dad?¡± cried Raum as tears began to blur his vision. Tears that were at the same time filling the eyes of his mother. Tears that signalled that his mother¡¯s immense will to continue standing upon her paw-like feet was running out.

    ¡°He is at his tower working,¡± said Basset as she slowly began to sink to the floor as her body was no longer capable of allowing her to stand up. ¡°He hopes to send out a signal to get help. He intends to keep fighting, to keep trying to find an answer¡­¡±

    ¡°But what about the ash, won¡¯t it hurt him?¡± asked Raum as he realised that his father¡¯s tower would not shield him from the ash.

    Allocer¡¯s tower was situated outside of the village and was nothing more than iron and wood aligned together to create a place that Allocer could send and receive radio transmissions. Radio transmissions that mainly came from the capital city, although most of the time Allocer would try to use the tower to receive songs from the stars. However as most considered it to be a useless piece of technology, they had made the tower so very far away that crossing from the village to the tower would be impossible with the current ash falling from the sky.

    ¡°Yes, just like the rest of us,¡± whispered Basset, her voice too low for Raum to hear anything but the first word.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to go get him then,¡± cried out Raum as he raced to the door and dashed out into the ash covered world.

    Running past Basset, Basset felt a fleeting desire to stop her son to keep him alive, but in the end she knew the truth of what was to come. She had argued with Allocer many times about its futility. The ash would claim all the lives of this little village. The village had neither the resources nor the shelter to keep any of them alive, so the question posed to its inhabitants was simple.

    ¡®How would you like to die?¡¯

    Racing out into the ash drenched world, a world whose skies had become nothing but a black veil of clouds and lightning, Raum desperately tried to reach his father to somehow save him.

    Raum, in his youth, failed to understand the despair of his mother and that it meant death to all living things in the village. But at the same time in the back of his mind some hidden instinct told him the reason that his mother had failed to stop him was because she knew it wouldn¡¯t matter.

    Breathing heavily as he reached the centre of the village, Raum took a moment to look around. The village centre was a place where merchants could come together to trade and gossip, and that was what it was mainly used for. But at its centre there was a statue commemorating the first healer, Bast. It was a statue commemorating when Bast had saved the life of another from a wound by a Saber Tooth Feline. Fixing his green eyed gaze upon the statue of the Saber Tooth Feline, a creature that many said they were descendants of, Raum used the statue to orientate himself.

    Racing forth as fast as his legs could carry him, Raum tried to keep going on, but the ash was beginning to burn his skin, as it had managed to singe its way through his fur. While at the same time, the air itself was becoming something wrong, like every breath was trying to drink acid. All of this, combined with the fact that Raum was still so young, meant that as he crossed out of the edge of the village and reached the half way point to Allocer¡¯s tower Raum collapsed from exhaustion.

    Pawing at the ground with his claws extended, Raum tried to call out to his father, but it seemed that even making a sound was all but impossible in this ash ridden world. Feeling weak and like his body had suddenly turned to lead, Raum couldn¡¯t even crawl through the ash anymore. His last ounce of strength had disappeared and with it so too had his consciousness.

    Falling into a dream of a happier moment, it was all but a second before Raum knew nothing at all.

    ~~~

    Hearing a deep thudding through the ground that his ear was placed up against, Raum was awoken from his dream of a blue sky to see that he was still in his ash covered world. A world that had grown even more violent as winds seemed to be whipping around him. Volcanic winds that heralded an even greater threat to life than simply ash fall, as even Raum could understand that the winds meant that the village was in even greater danger.

    Still having his ear placed to the ground, Raum continued to hear the strange thudding through the ground, thudding that was coming from up ahead. Thudding that was measured and was growing closer, like as if someone or something was walking closer to him.

    Prying himself off the ground, Raum looked out into the swirling maelstrom of ash. Yet no matter how Raum tried desperately to see anything before him, there seemed to be nothing there. Hoping in the depths of his heart that the footsteps had belonged to his father on his way back, Raum let out a cry to try and get his imagined father¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Daaaaad.¡±

    Feeling his throat seem to break as the air raced down into it, Raum had to stop himself from blacking out again when he saw movement in the ash out of the corner of his eyes. Looking up in the direction of the flash of movement, Raum strained with the last vestige of his strength to see what it was.

    Standing at almost twice the height of Raum, easily reaching over 1.8 metres, the figure was wearing clothing made from some strange black leather, a material that the ash couldn¡¯t seem to get close to. The figure was similar to that of the Reshari, but unlike them seemed to lack a tail and was taller than even the tallest of their kind by about half a metre. The figure also seemed to have strange limbs that were not like what the Reshari had. They were far too straight, especially the legs.

    What truly caught Raum¡¯s attention was the mask that the giant was wearing. It covered the creature¡¯s entire face and was just as black as the rest of the clothing. But centred on the face were two lenses, lenses that were a deep red that gleamed in the low light of the ash maelstrom.

    Moving closer, the giant continued to walk forward, its rhythmic footfall resounding through the ground as if each step was a heartbeat in Raum¡¯s chest.

    ¡°Please Giant. Please God in the ash. Please save my father!¡± begged Raum, his breath all but gone, his throat torn up by the ash and heat of the air.

    Standing over the prone form of the Reshari the creature reached down with something in its hand, something that Raum couldn¡¯t see properly, but still tried to shy away from instinctively. Yet Raum¡¯s attempts at trying to stop the giant were unsuccessful as Raum lacked the strength to even breathe properly.

    Which was why when the contraption fitted around Raum¡¯s mouth, and snout in general, Raum was shocked awake as fresh air washed through his body.

    Shocked but at the same time relieved at what he was experiencing, Raum grabbed onto the contraption and started to suck in as much air as possible. Feeling strength return to him, Raum couldn¡¯t help but try to speak to plead with the God before him to spare his father just as it had him. Only now that he could see the giant God up close did Raum see the symbol upon the God¡¯s chest.

    A golden cat¡¯s eye.

    Understanding that the God was a healer, Raum allowed the creature to pick him up and cuddle him to his chest, so that Raum was literally pressed up against the golden eye. Touching the eye with his paws, Raum was shocked to see that the golden eye was not something shown on the black leather-like material. Instead, the golden eye was a part of the material itself; it even felt the same as the rest of the garb. However the golden eyes seemed to gleam golden as light fell upon it.

    Blinking in confusion at the fact that the symbol was reflecting light, Raum looked over his shoulder and toward the source of light, and as he did so his mouth dropped open in surprise.

    Emerging from the ash as if they denied gravity itself were strange silver things. Things that gave Raum the impression of wings or even birds, but at the same time they were something else, something alien. What¡¯s more they were shining light out of their bodies to illuminate the ground and everything else around them. The illumination caused Raum to see that thousands of Gods were standing in or marching through the ash maelstrom. Gods that all bore the golden cat¡¯s eye symbol that marked them out as healers.

    Unable to even begin forming a coherent thought, Raum looked on as the Gods continued to move. Many of the Gods raced forward to find other Reshari that had fallen to the ash, while others walked up to the houses of the buildings to mark their location with lights. And as the Gods moved through the village, the silver floating wings began to move about the village in a single orbit.

    The moment the strange flying things had finished their orbit around the village, the village seemed to have a bubble placed around it, a bubble that prevented the ash from coming through it. Shocked again to the point that he was becoming lethargic to the miracles before him, Raum turned back to the God that cradled him and somehow shielded him from the ash.

    ¡°What about my father?¡± asked Raum, his voice somehow better even after having breathed the volcanic air.

    ¡°If you mean the Reshari in the tower, then we saved him,¡± said the masked God, his voice sounding strange, like the voices his father had allowed him to hear on the radio. Voices that sounded unnatural as if they were somehow artificial. ¡°Would you like to see him?¡±

    Nodding his head at the question, Raum let tears burn down his face as the God carried him deeper in the maelstrom of ash and out the other side. On the other side of the maelstrom was a great silver wing floating in the air, it¡¯s body opening up to reveal a white interior. A white interior that was filled with light, that in turn revealed that the interior was free from ash and even had windows that seemed to look out to other landscapes.

    Walking into the strange thing, the God carried Raum into the silver wing and once onboard the God carried Raum into a strange and empty room that was filled with tables and beds. But most importantly to Raum the room also had another Reshari in it, his father.

    Lying on the bed making it look so much bigger than had he been absent, Allocer was talking to a strange hairless thing (save for the top of its head) that was spreading a blue sparkly goo over Allocer¡¯s wounds. A blue goo that seemed to heal the burns it touched at a speed that made Raum wonder if the Gods really could do anything.

    Hearing the arrival of another creature, Allocer turned to look at the approaching figure and then to his horror saw what it carried.

    ¡°Raum,¡± said Allocer as he tried to move, only for the spindly, hairless thing to restrain him with one of its long, fingered hands.

    ¡°He is alright. Minor burns, smoke and ash inhalation, but otherwise the scans say he is fine,¡± said the God that was carrying Raum, as he walked over to Allocer and placed Raum down next to him. ¡°He seems to have come to rescue you.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on dad?¡± asked Raum as he looked at his father while the hairless thing fussed over him to make sure that he was okay. Its robes also having the golden cat eye symbol, except this time on the back, as the chest seemed to stick out much further when compared to the God that had carried Raum here.

    ¡°We¡¯re safe,¡± said Allocer as he hugged Raum close. Feeling his father¡¯s hug, Raum couldn¡¯t help but feel tears well up in his eyes at his father¡¯s gentle warmth while his words eased his mind.

    ¡°Do you mean just us, or the village and mom as well?¡± asked Raum as he purred in his father¡¯s arms.

    ¡°I mean all of us, the entire world. The humans have saved us all,¡± said Allocer, his voice filled with a relief and a joy that Raum hadn¡¯t heard in months.

    ¡°No,¡± said the God making both Raum and Allocer turn to look at him with unasked questions in their eyes. ¡°We only came here because we heard your transmissions. We might have missed it otherwise. You are the one that saved Fenix. We just offered up all that you needed to do so.¡±

    Hearing the words of praise for his father though they still sounded strange, Raum turned to congratulate his father only to see tears coming down his face. Except that this time they were not tears of relief but gratitude, tears that allowed the burst of emotion to flood out of Allocer¡¯s brain. Emotions born from the fact that no one, other than family, had ever really believed in Allocer¡¯s dream.

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    ¡°I only found the lot of you, because I heard the music in the radio waves,¡± explained Allocer as he remembered back to the garbled and distorted signals that had washed upon his world. ¡°If I had never heard the music, I¡¯m not sure I would have done.¡±

    Exchanging a glance at the mention of the radio signals and music, the two healers seemed genuinely stunned at the idea that Allocer had managed to intercept and listen to the radio from so many light-years away.

    ¡°Were you able to decipher the music or was it just proof that something was out there?¡± asked the masked God casually, as he leaned in with an eagerness that belied the fact that the answer to his question was important.

    ¡°Yes, I was able to get music and occasionally even words out of the radio signals, radio signals from your homeworld,¡± said Allocer with excitement at being able to speak about his passion.

    ¡°Well so much for not influencing alien cultures,¡± said the masked God with a shake of his head. ¡°I guess that¡¯s going to be another talking point for Captain Ainsworth to address.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry your music is pretty good,¡± said Allocer with a smile up at the giants that had called themselves humans. ¡°Although it seems to me that you play the same song over and over again.¡±

    ¡°Did you ever decode what we were saying?¡± asked the masked God, a hint of worry in his artificial voice.

    ¡°Not really but I can recreate the sounds for you. This was the one that I heard the most,¡± said Allocer with a smile as he began to speak out the words of the song. Words that were in a language that Raum could not understand.

    ¡°Every Breath You Take,¡± said the masked God with a sigh of relief. ¡°I was worried you might have heard some of our other songs.¡±

    ¡°Such as @$$!*,¡± said Allocer with a cheeky smile and wave of his tail. ¡°I might not know the words meanings, but I can tell swearing when I hear it.¡±

    ¡°Oh dear,¡± said the healer in white before turning to tap away at a projection of the light that manifested before her, a hologram that would allow the healer to create a report to send to Captain Ainsworth to tell him the full extent of Allocer¡¯s knowledge.

    Chuckling at the discomfort of the two healers, Allocer grew serious before he asked a simple question that would have dire consequences for his entire world.

    ¡°What will you do now, once the world has been saved from the gravimetric strain from the planetary alignment?¡± asked Allocer, aware that his kind would be at the mercy of those that had saved them.

    ¡°Once you¡¯re healed up, we can take you to Captain Ainsworth and the two of you can talk about what will happen to Fenix from now on,¡± said the white coated healer with a smile that made Raum want to smile back.

    ¡°Thank you Gods,¡± said Raum with a smile and a wave of his hand and tail, his words causing all present to go stiff before the masked God spoke.

    ¡°We can talk about that too with Captain Ainsworth, but for now just rest up,¡± said the God as he turned to walk out of the medicine room. ¡°I¡¯ll go see if we can find your mate.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Allocer as he pulled Raum closer to him, so that the two of them could cuddle, while Allocer began to tell Raum everything that the humans had told him. The two of them so engrossed in what was happening they failed to pay attention to the rest of the world around them for a few hours at least.

    ~~~

    ¡°Allocer, Raum, you¡¯re alive,¡± said a voice, hoarse with emotion, a voice that was trying desperately to believe what it was seeing.

    ¡°Yes, Basset, we are and were not hurt,¡± said Allocer as he tried to shift Raum off of him so that he could greet his mate. Except that Allocer found his attempts to do so were foiled by the fact that Raum was gripping him too tight and the female healer who had named herself Sonya, was still fussing over him.

    ¡°They are in good health and what damage the ash caused them has indeed been healed,¡± explained Sonya as she gestured so that Basset could come over and check on her mate and offspring.

    Racing over as fast as she could, Basset quickly began to check over first Raum and then her mate Allocer. All the while, she was checking over them to see that they were alright Basset was holding back tears born from the regret and pain of being unable to stop Raum from entering into the ash.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Raum, I¡¯m so, so sorry,¡± said Basset as her voice seemed to crack as she tried to hold it together as she knew that if she started crying she might never stop.

    ¡°Mum, you¡¯re squishing me,¡± complained Raum as he was caught between both Allocer and Basset, the two of them trying desperately to deal with the sudden and miraculous turn of events that had saved them and their world.

    Chuckling at the small moment of levity that Raum had injected into the moment, Basset slowly released her grip on her offspring and turned towards Sonya. Her paws clenched in fear but at the same time filled with determination.

    ¡°Can you show me how you healed and are monitoring their health?¡± asked Basset as she turned her golden eyes to the human, who was trying not to interrupt the touching moment. ¡°Please, one healer to another.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I would be proud to help and teach you our medicine,¡± said Sonya as she walked forward and began to explain what it was that the various machines did and how they tracked vitals. Once that overview was done, she began to explain about the sparkly, blue goo that had healed Allocer¡¯s and Raum¡¯s burns when all three Reshari stopped dead still.

    All three of them turned their heads in the direction of the door to the infirmary as their ears twitched about as they heard footsteps heading in their direction. Footsteps that eventually made Raum laugh with joy as he realised that the footsteps belonged to the God that had found him in the ash.

    ¡°Sorry to interrupt, but Captain Ainsworth wants to see the Reshari that contacted us,¡± said the masked God.

    ¡°Lieutenant Gregory, I must object they are in no condition to be moved,¡± said Sonya as she glared at Gregory for thinking about moving those that still needed time to recover from what they had just experienced.

    ¡°If you are concerned with their health you can come along, but we will be travelling back to the mothership,¡± said Gregory knowing that this was important enough to override Sonya¡¯s concerns.

    ¡°If you want to take me anywhere you will have to take all three of us,¡± said Allocer as he refused to leave his mate and offspring once again.

    ¡°That will be perfectly fine,¡± said Gregory, his language translator even managing to make it so that his empathy to Allocer¡¯s plight was heard by all.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to meet the captain of the Gods,¡± said Raum, having only caught onto some of what was being said.

    ¡°Yes we are,¡± said Allocer as he hugged his offspring, clearly both nervous and excited at what would come next.

    ¡°Where is he?¡± asked Raum with excitement in his green eyes, excitement so joyful and filled with wonder that everyone else who saw it felt a small measure of it in turn, bringing a small smile to all.

    ¡°He is up in space,¡± said Gregory as he looked at Raum with respect, ¡°We¡¯ll have to fly up there to meet him.¡±

    The moment that the word ¡®fly¡¯ registered in Raum¡¯s mind, everything else seemed to fall away. He forgot his fatigue, he forgot his fear for his father¡¯s life, he even forgot the curious nature of the strange ship he was in, he only wanted to see it! He wanted to see how high the silver wing could fly and what the view was like.

    ¡°Can I see it please?¡± said Raum as he tried to emulate his parents and contain his desires, his entire body seeming to quiver to the point it was only a matter of when he exploded into motion, not if.

    ¡°You can come watch from the front window,¡± said Gregory as he offered a hand before giving Allocer and Basset a quick glance, ¡°provided your parents are willing to stand alongside you. After all, you wouldn¡¯t want to leave them.¡±

    Processing what had been said and then turning to look at his parents, Raum was caught between his desire to see the flying, to be a part of it and to stay with his parents, to not abandon them. A contradiction of emotion that caused him to visibly look torn between his two desires. A look that his parents took pity on as they held each other¡¯s paws and looked at Gregory with solemn gazes.

    ¡°Raum can see from the window only if we accompany him,¡± said Allocer, his voice echoing throughout the room, an undercurrent of fear and trust warring within it.

    ¡°Then if you would be so kind, please follow me,¡± said Gregory, aware how brave the two little Reshari were currently being.

    Leading the three Reshari out of the medical centre and down a few twisting corridors of white material, a material that the Reshari couldn¡¯t even begin to understand, Gregory arrived at his destination. A room that had a floor to ceiling window in it, a window of glass that was thick enough to protect from anything hitting it, but at the same time it allowed one to see out without any form of distortion.

    Racing to press himself up against the wall of glass, Raum stared out into the maelstrom of ash and tried with all his might to see what lay through it. An attempt that would be humorous to those present, were it not for the veil of ash that lay beyond the window.

    ¡°We¡¯ve taken off and are flying upwards as we speak. We should be through the ash momentarily,¡± said Gregory as he remained back from the three Reshari so that they would not feel crowded by what was to come.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Raum as he turned from the window to look at Gregory as he had failed to feel that the ship he was in, was moving.

    Yet before Gregory could speak the ash parted and the window started letting the light of the sun through the window. Having his head turned away from the window at the time, Raum missed the moment of transition from ash to space. But his parents didn¡¯t and their gasps made Raum looked in the direction that they were looking. And as he looked his understanding of the universe changed and emotion beyond anything he had experienced before engulfed him.

    The world of Fenix lay before him, a world that was drowning in ash, ash that had formed into cyclones that ravaged entire continents. A world that had red glowing spots on it, spots that were generated by the raw power and heat produced by the volcanoes down below. Volcanoes that were continuing to produce waves of ash, lava and worse still, all in an attempt to drown the world in death.

    ¡°Will the world really be okay?¡± asked Basset as she looked out over Fenix, her homeworld; a world that looked like it had been consumed by hell.

    ¡°We are attempting to lessen the gravimetric strain of the nearby gas giants to stop the volcanoes from erupting,¡± explained Gregory as he indicated shits deploying devices between Fenix and the nearby gas giants that Fenix was sandwiched between. ¡°If we can stop the gravity of those gas giants from negatively affecting your world, then the volcanoes will not only stop we can turn our attention to fixing the ash in the atmosphere.¡±

    ¡°Why the gravity first?¡± asked Allocer more because he was curious than because he was critical of the humans¡¯ methods.

    ¡°We need to stop the main cause, the main source of the problem, not just its symptoms,¡± said Gregory as he gave a quick knowing glance at Basset, who used similar logic on her patients.

    Unheeding of his parents¡¯ conversation, Raum continued to stare out the window at the wonders of space and all that lay within it, a sight that brought tears to his eyes, tears that streaked down his furry face. Yet Raum didn¡¯t try to get rid of them as instead he continued to look out into space and the wonders that could be found there, including the mothership that Gregory had talked about.

    Hopping about in excitement at what he saw, Raum started to point out the ship to his parents, who had drawn closer to see what Raum was looking at. And as they saw the human construct, both of them took a moment to reflect on what they were truly seeing. For this mothership was easily larger than all of their cities put together, in fact it might even carry more humans than the entire race of Reshari.

    And as that idea permeated the minds of the two Reshari, their appreciation of their saviours was slowly turning to dread. For the humans were something so mighty and so powerful that they really were Gods when compared to the Reshari, at least when comparing their abilities and technology.

    ¡°When we get on board I will lead the three of you to Captain Ainsworth,¡± explained Gregory as he tried to break through the aura of fear that was creeping into the two adult Reshari. ¡°Do you want me to carry Raum for you? So that he doesn¡¯t get lost?¡±

    ¡°Yes please,¡± said Basset quietly as she was still trying to come to terms with all that she was seeing. As nothing in her life had truly prepped her for what she was currently going through.

    ¡°Alright then, I will take good care of him,¡± said Gregory as he made sure to also get Allocer¡¯s confirmation. Although Allocer only nodded his head as he was still stunned by what he was seeing, not just the massive ship, but also the endless field of stars that lay beyond it.

    Picking up the delighted Raum, Gregory waited for the ship to dock and to get confirmation to head off before he started to lead the Reshari to meet his commander.

    Taking the quickest path there, Gregory made sure not to walk too fast so that Basset and Allocer could keep up; all the while Raum looked about like his head was on a swivel as everything and anything caught his interest.

    Raum¡¯s attention was drawn to so many things. First to humans walking along and discussing how they would create a veil that would protect Fenix from further gravity distortions. Then to a human woman that was carrying a drink that¡¯s smell made Raum squirm to try and get at it. And then Raum caught a hint of a conversation that occurred in another language, a language that Raum was able to understand due to the translator the humans had given him.

    ¡°What do you mean, Chime, that you like being in a crystalline body more than an organic one?¡±

    ¡°Simple Jerral, it¡¯s that I find this body so much easier and relaxing than my original body. There are so little things that I have to keep track of that I am able to relax in a way that I would not be able to in my original body.¡±

    Not really getting the conversation, Raum turned his attention to the room that they had just entered.

    The captain¡¯s meeting room was a spacious room that had another floor to ceiling window, and a long massive table with seats clearly designed for humans, as they were too tall for the Reshari to sit in. Putting Raum down in one of the seats, Gregory then helped Allocer and Basset into the seats and got them a glass of water each before going to check on when the captain would be available.

    Arriving only a few short moments later, Captain Ainsworth stepped into the room. And as he did so his appearance made Raum want to stare in surprise. For Raum was still not totally used to creatures without fur on them like the Gods he was sitting with, but even then they seemed to have at least some hair. Ainsworth did not, he was bald and as such an object of curiosity for Raum, however quick glances at his parents made Raum curtail any attempts to act on said curiosity.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have to drag you up here when such serious things are occurring, but I needed to talk with you,¡± explained Ainsworth as he sat down at the head of the table so that he could keep all three Reshari in sight at all times.

    ¡°Why us?¡± asked Allocer, although he had a strong suspicion about why Ainsworth was talking to them.

    ¡°Because you made contact with us, and because you are some of the only members of the Reshari that know for certain that we are present,¡± explained Captain Ainsworth, his words weary as if the entire ordeal had been just as troubling for him as it had been for the Reshari.

    ¡°You mean that you are not helping all the villages and cities?¡± asked Basset in alarm at the thought that they alone had been saved.

    ¡°We are, it¡¯s just that only a very few of the Reshari have been caught out in the open, the rest have taken shelter inside buildings, caves and all manner of other refuges,¡± explained Ainsworth making sure that he was as clear and honest as possible. ¡°This means that with the exception of some outlying villages, human involvement has not been detected or discovered. Which is why I brought you here.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Allocer, his face fixed in concentration as he was already beginning to suspect what would come next.

    ¡°Because we must decide what to do next, do we reveal that we are here and that we have come to help you or do we remain hidden and help from afar,¡± said Ainsworth, his expression conveying nothing as he tried to remain neutral and control his own impulses.

    ¡°Why is that even a question?¡± asked Allocer, although he had already figured it out, and just wanted confirmation.

    ¡°There are many among humanity who believe that we should not interfere with the course of alien life, especially if they can¡¯t travel through the stars,¡± said Captain Ainsworth, a hint of disdain leaking into his voice to make it clear that he did not agree with this line of reasoning.

    ¡°But you¡¯re helping us now,¡± said Raum as even he spotted the contradiction in Ainsworth¡¯s words and actions.

    ¡°Yes I am, because only some of us believe that way, not all. And when it comes to planetary disasters such as the one you are facing, each captain is free to make their own decisions based on the context at the time. We saw the massive toll Fenix¡¯s annual volcanic cycle would take on the Reshari and we acted to prevent the loss of life,¡± said Captain Ainsworth, his voice radiating an authority that told everyone present that he would never apologise for saving the Reshari¡¯s lives, no matter the consequences.

    ¡°So you want our help to determine whether you should stay and help us, or if you should disappear,¡± said Allocer grimly as he was aware of the magnitude of the decision that he now had to make.

    ¡°Regardless of what you choose, I will make sure that the shielding for the gravity of the neighbouring gas giants will be left in place to protect Fenix for millennia to come,¡± said Ainsworth as he tried to reassure the Reshari before him that regardless of what happened he would take steps to ensure Fenix¡¯s continued safety.

    ¡°You will stay and help us,¡± said Basset firmly as she spoke up to the captain, her voice containing an iron will that would brook no disagreement. For while Basset might be out of her depth with what was happening in regards to space and the creatures from it, helping and saving lives was her job. And she would not tolerate an action that would lead to the loss of life regardless of who or why it occurred.

    ¡°The idea of someone with the knowledge to help and save lives not using it, because they don¡¯t want to interfere is sickening to me,¡± snapped Basset, her tone containing a vast amount of venom. ¡°I have watched those I was unable to treat or heal pass away. And the idea that someone or something the next room over could have saved them is truly infuriating.¡±

    Nodding in acceptance of Basset¡¯s opinion, Ainsworth turned his attention to Allocer, who was looking at his mate with admiration and agreement.

    ¡°What about you, what is your opinion?¡± asked Ainsworth of Allocer, clearly expecting the same answer.

    ¡°I agree. If you help us in secret all you will do is ruin us,¡± said Allocer as he looked out the window at the field of stars and even at his homeworld Fenix. ¡°If you spend time propping us up without telling us that you are doing so, the moment that you can no longer support us we will fall into a spiral of decay and destruction and we will never know why. When I was building my radios and trying to see into the vastness of space, if you had snuck in and fixed my equipment and never told me, I would have ended up failing, because my failures taught me more than my successes.¡±

    Pausing to gather himself, Allocer took a long moment to contemplate what he would say next before continuing.

    ¡°If you had fixed it for me and not told me, you know what would have happened had I tried to build my radios again, and you weren¡¯t there? I would go mad trying to figure out why it worked the first time and didn¡¯t the second time,¡± explained Allocer as he stared with steely eyes at Ainsworth, his next few words laced with a determination that could not be overturned.

    ¡°You have helped and saved us, and you are setting up the means to prevent us from ever going through the same tragedy again. But the moment that fails, whether in five thousand years or a million, we will be on our own and unable to even figure out what we need to do to fix the problem. If you do not reveal what has happened, if you do not show the entire world the truth you will have doomed all of the Reshari,¡± said Allocer finally, and although he was clearly desperate to keep access to the stars open, he was also trying to convey his belief on what would happen if the humans remained a secret.

    Stunned into silence by Allocer¡¯s speech, the rest of the room remained silent as Allocer himself seemed to wind down as if the emotions contained within him had all been expelled.

    ¡°So I take it that both of you agree that it would be wiser to stay and help, to reveal our true nature to everyone and reveal what lies beyond the sky,¡± said Ainsworth after he had processed what the Reshari had said.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Allocer and Basset in unison.

    ¡°Very well then, we will stay and reveal ourselves to the Reshari,¡± said Ainsworth in agreement, both as a captain and as a person.

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you Gods want to?¡± asked Raum, his question seeming to knock the air out of the room.

    ¡°Because we are not Gods, and we don¡¯t want to end up taking control over others or being worshipped,¡± said Ainsworth. ¡°We don¡¯t want to enslave you through belief.¡±

    ¡°Then stay and be our friends,¡± said Raum, his green eyes mystified by what was happening around him. ¡°You can¡¯t worship a friend.¡±

    ¡°True, but what about altering your destiny?¡± asked Ainsworth, more to see what kind of a response he would get than because of any real desire to argue.

    ¡°Won¡¯t we alter your destiny?¡± asked Raum back, his question seeming to catch the captain off guard. ¡°Won¡¯t we make you change just as you will make us change?¡±

    Half smiling in response, Ainsworth nodded his head in agreement, before a buzz from the intercom resounded through the room.

    ¡°Captain, we have managed to create the gravity veil. The volcanoes are slowing down. Are we to remain and help with the clean up or do you want us to disappear?¡± asked the voice coming from a small device upon the table in front of the captain.

    ¡°We will be staying. Make sure to not crowd the Reshari as the ash parts away,¡± said Captain Ainsworth, his voice resolute to make sure that those under his command did not hear him waver in his decision.

    ¡°It seems that soon Fenix will be free of the maelstroms of ash. Would you like to come see?¡± said Ainsworth as he stood up and gestured to the window that overlooked the Reshari homeworld.

    Standing up, the four of them walked over to the window and began to watch what was transpiring on Fenix.

    The glowing red dots that marred the planet¡¯s surface, the open wounds that were the volcanoes of the world slowly began to lose their glow. They began to grow dimmer and dimmer until at last they stopped vomiting ash into the sky. And as the ash stopped falling from the sky, the silver wings that Raum had seen back on his world started to work. They began to shepherd the ash so that it no longer fell upon the cities and towns of the Reshari.

    Instead, they spread it over the land that would most need it, and began to use their strange technology to help make the ash dissolve into the soil so much quicker than normal. An action that would help renew the world of Fenix so that they could return to before the cataclysm almost immediately.

    Staring in wonder at the changes that were happening in real time to the world below, Raum put his paw on the glass and stared at the ash. Except this time it was not in fear but in hope of what was yet to come.

    And as the ash faded away Raum was grateful to the miracle that he had been given, the miracle that they had all been given. For while he had not found Gods in the ash he had found saviours and one day he hoped to give them a miracle back. Not just to Gregory or Ainsworth, but to all of humanity.

 Crucible of Mars Part 1: Godsbaneâ€™s Contract

    Grendel admired the shining twin Martian moons.

    Originally the moons of mars, Phobos and Deimos, had been nothing more than asteroids captured out of the nearby asteroid belt, asteroids that had been in orbit around the world of Mars for millennia, until humanity had come to colonize Mars. First mankind had industrialised the moons making them more like space stations then actual moons, only to start to increase the size and mass of the moons by using up resources from the nearby asteroid belt. They had expanded and altered the moons, until mankind had decided to merge them together.

    This conjoining of the moons was now the first step in creating a single moon that would eventually act as a counterbalance for a space elevator. A space elevator that would be made from space downwards and would not be bound to the Martian soil but instead float through the atmosphere. This space elevator would eventually be the passageway that would allow the flood of humanity to arrive upon the terraformed world of Mars.

    ¡®But that is still a long way off¡¯, thought Grendel as he looked at the moons out of the window before him and noted how the moons were only just beginning to be joined together, an act that could still take decades to finalise.

    ¡°Mr Grendel Godsbane, the ambassador and general will see you now,¡± said a female voice from behind Grendel, a voice that carried with it a whiff of disapproval and disdain.

    Chuckling, Grendel turned away from the window that looked out over the expanse of the Martian world and its wondrous night sky. Turning about, Grendel focused his red dragon eyes upon the human that had spoken to him, a secretary that was dressed in the administration uniform of the UEF, the United Earth Federation.

    Taking in the secretary that was standing before him and looking at him with eyes that held nothing but disgust for the magical, humanoid dragon, Grendel simply ignored the woman as he walked forward.

    Although as he walked forward Grendel made sure that his talons would scratch against the polished, white marble flooring. Grendel did this both to leave a mark behind and to make the secretary fume in further disgust at the fact that she had to play host to a monster that didn¡¯t know any manners.

    Walking out of the foyer containing the window that looked out over the Martian world, Grendel entered into a conference room that was walled in on all sides. The conference room was clean and pristine in a way that was only possible with the level of human technology that the embassy employed. Every surface looked brand new despite the room most likely having existed for decades if not for a full century. In fact, this newness extended to the sleek table in the room and the nine chairs at the table, all of which had been pulled out as if they had just been in use.

    Inside the room were two humans each of them dressed in a uniform that was as dull as it was functional. A uniform of grey and black, that had markings on the collar to show that the two humans were not only ambassadors but also military. The markings on the uniform also revealed that the two humans that were in the same room as Grendel were at the top of their military¡¯s hierarchy.

    ¡°General, so good to see you again,¡± said Grendel as he opened his dragon maw in such a way as to make it look ravenous and thereby as threatening and off-putting as possible.

    ¡°I have never seen you before in my life Dragon-kin,¡± said General John Williams, his voice containing the same disgust that was directed at the back of Grendel¡¯s head, a glare from the secretary that was unwavering in its intensity.

    Aware that the secretary was still looking at him like he would start to rip the place up if she didn¡¯t keep an eye on him, Grendel tilted his head back so that his left eye could look back at the secretary.

    ¡°If you admire my scales so much you can come over here and buff them for me,¡± said Grendel, his voice echoing through the room, his words about his golden scales causing all of the humans to pause as they processed what he had said.

    ¡°You filthy monster, I would not touch you for any reason under the sun,¡± said the secretary as her face started to turn red in rage.

    ¡°Now, now, no need to be embarrassed. I am aware that you humans enjoy shiny golden things, just like us dragons. No need to be shy about it,¡± said Grendel as he walked over to a chair that was situated at the end of the conference table and sat down.

    ¡°I was not admiring your golden scales,¡± snarled the secretary, her voice dripping with venom, and only her military training preventing her from attacking Grendel.

    ¡°Oh, so you were looking at me with such passion, because you found me attractive then. It¡¯s perfectly okay. I¡¯m aware that I am glorious to look upon,¡± said Grendel as he pulled a cigar out of his trench coat and put his fedora hat down on the table.

    Gasping in surprise and disgust, the secretary seemed to be going a few different shades of colour as she couldn¡¯t contain the various emotions that were welling up within her.

    ¡°Secretary Helena, you are dismissed,¡± said General John Williams as he could see that Grendel was fraying at her self control.

    ¡°Sir,¡± said Helena before she spun on her heel and dashed out of the room, quite possibly to be sick at the idea of finding Grendel to be attractive.

    Watching the secretary leave the room in a rush, Grendel chuckled again as he breathed out a small puff of flame that lit the cigar that he was holding in his taloned hands.

    ¡°You really are as repulsive as they say,¡± said Ambassador Adam Smith with a look that could have withered stone.

    ¡°Only to those that are just as repulsive, whether internally or externally,¡± replied Grendel as he breathed out a cloud of smoke from his cigar that tried to cross the room to reach Adam, only for the smoke to suddenly disappear about half way between the two creatures.

    ¡°And how was she repulsive?¡± asked Adam, his voice daring Grendel to answer in a way that could allow him to take Grendel into custody.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t see it, then perhaps you are terrible at your job Ambassador. But if you truly want to know, then you can hire me and I can get you proof,¡± said Grendel as he puffed out another plume of smoke at Adam.

    ¡°We can handle the humans on our own,¡± said John Williams, his voice cracking through the room like a whip.

    ¡°Which means you need my private investigation skills for something non-human. Perhaps a rogue god, elf terrorists, or dwarf unionisation, conceivably even a witch uprising threatening to overturn the magical gravity of Mars. Tell me should I sell my stock in Eldritch Gravity Incorporate or¡­¡± said Grendel, his words causing the humans in the room to twitch at the mention of elf terrorists.

    ¡°Put out that disgusting thing and we will tell you your job,¡± said John Williams, his voice harsh as he attempted to direct his ire at something other than the dragon he needed to hire for this mission.

    Glancing at the cigar in his black taloned fingers, Grendel chuckled derisively before pointing the cigar directly at the general.

    ¡°I need this for my medical health. Would you deprive me of my medicine?¡± asked Grendel as he tried to make his voice sound as sincere as possible. A task that he failed at if the narrowed eyes of both humans was any indication.

    ¡°Cigars and all other forms of tobacco are banned due to their harmful effects on humans. You will remove it from us or we will fine you for polluting the atmosphere,¡± said Adam Smith, his voice shifting to one of authority, an authority that would make even the strong willed cave in to his demands.

    ¡°The nanomachine filters that permeate the air are preventing the smoke¡¯s spread and cleansing the air before the smoke can even reach you. You are in no danger and we both know it, so stop making idle threats. It makes you look weak,¡± said Grendel with a shake of his dragonoid head, his golden scales gleaming in the light of the room.

    Silence fell over the room as the humans were stopped short, their attempts to dominate the Dragon-kin before them having failed to so much as intimidate the creature before them. A fact that both the humans and Grendel knew but also revealed something else in turn, something that made Grendel wedge the cigar between his dragon teeth so that he could speak and smoke at the same time.

    ¡°What is this job you have for me? What is so important that it renders you impotent? What have the elves done to make you so weak?¡± asked Grendel as a spark of excitement entered into his eyes at the prospect of taking on an assignment that the humans had failed at.

    ¡°How did you know that this matter was because of the elves?¡± asked a voice that seemed to come from nowhere.

    Pausing as he scanned about the room searching for the source of the voice while General John Williams started to turn as pale as a ghost, Grendel could not identify the location of who or what had just spoken to him.

    ¡°Show yourself, General, turning invisible is a neat trick but just that, a trick,¡± said Grendel as he scanned about the room, his red eyes beginning to glow with magic.

    Appearing out of thin air as if he had just manifested into being, a second General Williams appeared, except this one was dressed in an actual military battle suit, not an office suit. The difference between the two generals was clear to see, the one that had just appeared was standing straight and with an authority to him that rivalled heroes of old.

    ¡°A trick you say. Yet you failed to see us, even with all of your magic behind you,¡± said the real John Williams, his voice carrying with it the same distinct disdain for magical beings, but this time controlled and bound to his will.

    The moment that John finished speaking the rest of the chairs that were arranged on either side of the conference table suddenly filled up with other members of the military all of them wearing the same UEF battle tech suits.

    ¡°An impressive trick, but still a trick,¡± said Grendel as he looked from one human to another before looking at the false general. ¡°Your body double needs better training. Or did you not give him information about our previous liaisons?¡±

    ¡°I did and he should have read them,¡± said the General as he glared at the body double, who seemed to be crumpling inward at being singled out by his superior.

    Staring first at the body double in shock and then at the eight military men and women present in the room, Adam Smith was shocked enough to show that he had not known nor caught on to the act, but at the same time was not allowing his shock to control him.

    ¡°Tell me, was that the only reason that you were able to figure out our ruse or was there more to it?¡± asked John as he shifted his focus to Grendel and away from his failed body double.

    ¡°No, as always human technology prevented my magic from detecting the lot of you¡­ at least directly. You should learn that we monsters have more than just sight and hearing if you truly want to fool us,¡± said Grendel as he plucked his cigar from his dragon teeth and waved it in front of his nose.

    ¡°Your feedback is appreciated,¡± said one of the other humans dressed in the stealth battle suit as he summoned up a hologram to write a note in.

    ¡°You should leave,¡± said another human to the body double as a way to get rid of the unstable element in the room.

    Watching the body double hang his head in shame before walking over to a nondescript part of the wall and then tap on it to open it up, Grendel waved his cigar in the air so that letters of fire were engraved upon the air. Letters that spelled out a single solitary word: ¡®Bye¡¯.

    The letters of fire seemed to float in the air for only a moment before a distortion in the world caused the flames to sputter out of existence. For human science had detected the magic in the air and had moved to quell it before it could grow in power beyond what was acceptable.

    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    Both the act of creating the letters of fire and the response of the fire being neutralised by human science caused a stir within the room. A stir that originated within the watching humans who had seen Grendel as only a dragon-esque monster that lacked anything else to his name. Yet the moment that he had created the letters of fire, the humans present immediately realised how much they had miscalculated.

    Grendel, on the other hand, studied the motes of fire that were floating in front of him. For in their destruction, Grendel saw more than the humans wished him to see. He had seen from which direction the anti-magic pulse had come from and had even mapped out the speed that the system could react to his magic. These two factors gave Grendel enough of an advantage that if he wished he could escape from the room, even with the human technology attempting to confine him.

    ¡°Enough of your antics Grendel, we have a serious conversation ahead,¡± said the real General John Williams, his voice silencing the room so that none dared to move even a muscle.

    ¡°Very well then, what is so important that you require little old me,¡± said Grendel, his voice gruff and heavy, yet all the while there was a hint of mischief in his eyes.

    ¡°I think you have already figured it out,¡± said John, his voice ringing with surety, a surety born from the fact that he did not under or over estimate those that he interacted with.

    ¡°Elf Terrorists,¡± said Grendel with a darkly humorous chuckle, ¡°nothing new for the Augustus Republic. So why is this so urgent?¡±

    ¡°Because we may just have discovered how they are able to operate under our noses. If this investigation pans out then we may cripple and wipe out the entire terrorist network in a single instant,¡± said the General, his voice already ringing with the knowledge and belief that he would be victorious.

    ¡°If this is so important then why come to me?¡± asked Grendel, truly curious why he had been dragged into something of such importance.

    ¡°Because you are an expert at ferreting out the truth, something that can be seen from your previous work, and as a magical creature the elves and their allies will not consider you a threat. In fact, they will not be able to believe that you would ally to the UEF,¡± said John with a smile as he had long ago identified a flaw in magical creatures. Since they were born from stories, myths and legends they tended to think and act along similar lines, they could not keep up with human volatility and grey morality, a flaw that left them constantly on the back foot.

    ¡°Still I have to wonder, why me? Why not pick someone else? I mean I do stick out quite a bit,¡± said Grendel as he waved a golden scaled taloned hand about, his cigar leaving a trail of smoke in the air.

    ¡°Because you managed to get pictures of Zeus cheating on Hera with Freya,¡± said John with a sly smile that caused everyone in the room to pause, even Grendel. ¡°You succeeded where all others failed, you managed to out fox a god, two if you count Freya. That¡¯s how you earned the name Godsbane.¡±

    ¡°How do you know about that?¡± asked Grendel as all humour seemed to leech from his body. ¡°I never released any of those pictures and neither did Hera. In fact to the best of my knowledge only the two of us knew about those pictures.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that while you might guard your secrets with draconic discipline, Hera does not,¡± said John with a dismissive smugness to him that made it clear he thought of the Pagan Gods as lesser beings.

    ¡°Very well, I accept,¡± said Grendel as he was now curious enough about what the UEF had discovered he would take the job.

    ¡°Very good,¡± said John in a way that made it clear to all that he would not have accepted a refusal. ¡°This is what we have discovered.¡±

    ¡°We have found signs that show that there is an inordinate amount of both political and criminal activity within the schools of the Augustus Republic. In particular the ¡®Augustus High School for Magical and Mundane¡¯ is believed to be the center of activity,¡± said one of the other members of the General¡¯s staff, a willowy man that Grendel looked at once, before dismissing him out of hand.

    ¡°I¡¯m beginning to see why you would need my help,¡± said Grendel with a sly, dry chuckle. ¡°You can¡¯t send a human into such a place without risking the human being corrupted by magic or being ousted as a member of the UEF. Not to mention in order to investigate you would need to stop hiding within your anti-magic fields, which would leave you susceptible to things like mind control or possession.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, it is not worth the risk to human life,¡± said the General with his own dark, sly chuckle, one that made it clear that he appreciated working with intelligent creatures even if said creature was expendable.

    ¡°Is there a specific thing that I am meant to be looking for, or do you simply want me to enter into the school and see what I can observe?¡± asked Grendel as he continued to collect information for his job, even though he had caught on to the General¡¯s willingness to see him as expendable.

    ¡°There are several things that I wish for you to look into. Here is the paperwork,¡± said the General before he waved Adam Smith to give Grendel the documentation.

    Taking the documents from the Ambassador and looking them over, Grendel heard the Ambassador muttering how printing information on paper was such a waste of resources. Paying the human no mind, Grendel focused in on the documents that he was holding. Leafing through them, Grendel saw what the general and his staff had meant about the dubious nature of the school before he glanced up from the paperwork.

    ¡°All this information and you still can¡¯t figure it out in its entirety?¡± asked Grendel in a tone that carried with it emotions of schadenfreude and confusion.

    ¡°No one¡¯s perfect,¡± said John simply, his words calm and unbothered, yet Grendel had lived long enough to know that the General was not happy to have his flaws pointed out.

    ¡°Very well, I guess I should be going,¡± said Grendel as he took the paper documents and slid them into the inside of his trench coat, the paper sliding into a pocket that was bigger on the inside. ¡°When I have more information for you I will get in touch.¡±

    ¡°Make sure that you do,¡± said Adam, his voice carrying a note of lethality in it, a note that promised death if Grendel failed.

    Not even bothering to respond to the human, Grendel picked his hat up off the table and placed it upon his head so that the spikes that adorned his dragon head fitted through holes in the hat. Once the hat was in place Grendel started to walk to the door before a new voice called out to him.

    ¡°I have one question,¡± said the willowy man from before. ¡°How were you able to take pictures of Zeus?¡±

    ¡°Why is that relevant?¡± asked John harshly, as it was clear that he did not like that one of his men had stepped out of place.

    ¡°Because Zeus is a god of lightning, which means that he controls electricity, yet you were able to take a picture of him. How?¡± asked the man, who from his curiosity was clearly a scientist of some sort.

    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t use electricity,¡± said Grendel, a note of respect in his voice. ¡°Zeus has the ability to control and overwrite anything powered by or using electricity.¡±

    Hearing Grendel¡¯s explanation the room went very quiet as if they had suddenly realised that they were not as secure as they thought they were.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your anti-magic protects you from his meddling, however since I can¡¯t gain access to your anti-magic technology, I had to get past this obstacle the only way I could,¡± said Grendel as he waved his hand about sending out waves of smoke that dissipated rather quickly into nothing.

    ¡°And how was that?¡± asked the willowy scientist.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t overcome something, undermine it. I could not overcome his ability to control electricity like the lot of you, so I used retro-technology that has no electricity in it. I used a film camera that operates through gears, springs and levers and not a single spark of electricity,¡± said Grendel with a smugness to him, a smugness at the fact that he had managed to come up with a solution that the humans had failed to consider.

    ¡°Oh,¡± said the willowy scientist, a little bit stunned at the information.

    ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s something I think the lot of you should learn to be wary of,¡± said Grendel in a pseudo-friendly warning, one that he knew the humans would fail to listen to.

    ¡°And why is that?¡± snarled out one of the general¡¯s staff, one that had been seething in resentment at having to recruit a dragon for help.

    Instead of answering, Grendel turned around and using his left taloned hand placed his finger, pointing down on the tip of a gun¡¯s barrel, an invisible gun.

    ¡°General tell your men to point their guns at something else or I might be insulted at your lack of trust,¡± said Grendel as he slowly applied pressure to the tip of the gun forcing it down and causing a burst of static to run through the startled solider.

    Building up the static eventually caused the soldier to drop her invisibility, her face showing the sheer shock she felt at being outed so easily.

    ¡°How?¡± she whispered dread and fear in her voice.

    ¡°Simple, you humans walk about with clouds of nanomachines that protect you from harmful chemicals. Chemicals such as my smoke,¡± said Grendel as he shifted his body so that he could breathe on the cigar sending a massive billow of smoke out to encompass another nearby invisible soldier.

    Seeing the outline of the soldier in the smoke that was far too thick for a little cigar to produce, the General seemed to stagger back as he realised the gapping flaw within his stealth technology.

    ¡°Looks like you need to fire your research department or make them actually work for their pay,¡± said Grendel with a wave of his right hand and the cigar he held in it. ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving now.¡±

    ¡°You may go. Report back in a week about what it is you find,¡± said John as he rallied himself to remain in control of the meeting.

    ¡°I will and no need to get up and show me the way out, I already know where to go,¡± said Grendel with a laugh as he walked towards the door for the meeting room, his eventual destination the lift that would transport him down to the surface of Mars.

    And as he walked away, he left his back open to the angry humans that had hired him. Grendel knew that he was safe from any of their tricks. Because while he might have humbled them, in the end General John Williams would see that he had helped them, both by showing their flaws and by reminding them of the threat of complacency.

    ~~~

    Standing in the lift that was heading down to the surface of Mars, Grendel paced about inside the small area of the lift. The lift itself wasn¡¯t anything special. It was nothing more than a simple, white cylinder that was roughly 2-3 meters in diameter. However the lift had two windows built into it, windows that allowed the occupants of said lift to see the world, both inside and outside.

    The outside window allowed the occupant of the lift to stare out at the surface of the Martian world, the un-terraformed landscape of Mars in all its untouched glory. The inside window looked into the bio-habitat that Grendel lived in. A bio-dome, or Diome as they called it here on Mars, was a giant glass hemisphere that contained within it entire civilisations. In this particular case, it contained within it the Augustus Republic.

    The elevator was situated on the outside of the dome, so that the lift would travel down to the surface of the Diome, by travelling along the exterior of the dome. As the main base for the UEF was situated on top of the Diome, like a castle caging in all that was below it.

    Continuing to pace in circles around the slow moving elevator, Grendel took it in turns to look out at the world of Mars and then to look in at the Augustus Republic. This action served two purposes. It allowed him to make sure that there was nothing in the elevator with him and it allowed him to get perspective on the issue that he was investigating and how it would affect the terraforming of Mars. And as he paced he talked out loud to himself.

    ¡°These stupid Elf Terrorists, why can¡¯t they realise that all they are doing is delaying what is to come, what is written in stone,¡± snarled Grendel as he looked back and forth between the two landscapes, one green and lush, the other red and hostile, both drowning in the darkness of the night.

    ¡°If only they let go of their pride, Mars could have been terraformed centuries ago. Why can¡¯t they see that that is the best for everyone,¡± continued Grendel as he talked into a small machine held in his left hand, his smoking cigar in his right hand.

    Grendel had started talking out loud at first as a means of replicating the feel of the old noir movies he had seen back on Earth, but after a while he had realised that it helped him sought through his thoughts. But even then sometimes when he spoke aloud he would lose track of his thoughts and good ideas would slip through his talons. So he had a machine constructed, a machine that would record everything he would say and transcribe it to a micro vinyl disc, a machine that lacked even the smallest spark of electricity.

    Looking at the recording device in his hand, Grendel snorted in annoyance before he turned to look out at the rolling landscape of Mars.

    ¡°This world is beautiful. It is filled with untempered wonder, seeing a sunrise over the red dunes of this world is spectacular. But to see such a sunrise over a world where all could live in freedom unbound by the darkness of history, that would be a miracle,¡± said Grendel as he reflected over his time outside the Diome. A time when he had acted as a living transport for cargo and other goods between the various Diomes, the Sakura Empire and the Pyramid Alliance and of course the Augustus Republic.

    Grendel had flown freely through the skies and had loved every minute of it, and he would do anything in his power to make sure that one day the world would truly be free of these infernal prisons called Diomes. He longed with all of his hearts to truly terraform the world into a new Earth to explore and enjoy.

    ¡°But it seems that I am one of the few magical creatures that longs for these alien skies.  Even in the other Diomes, the Sakura Empire and the Pyramid Alliance, there is word of rebellion. What¡¯s more the rebellion is centred on trying to halt the terraforming process, an act of truly malicious stupidity,¡± snarled out Grendel as he resumed pacing and turned to look inward at the Diome, his expression shifting from one of frustration to another, a look of deadly calm.

    ¡°The magic school appears to be a hot bed of activity due to the fact that humans can¡¯t really tell how old an elf is, even with all their science, they can destroy magic they can¡¯t analyse it. This has allowed elves to repetitively enrol into the same school over and over, allowing them to pass as teenagers, and who pays attention to them,¡± said Grendel as he looked over a city and landscape of green, white and gold.

    ¡°To find out the true extent of what has and hasn¡¯t been compromised, I¡¯ll have to go under cover at this school to see who there is really a student and who is really something else,¡± said Grendel as he thought about what he would need to do in order to enrol into the school. ¡°This will not be fun, but while I¡¯m there I might as well get some magical licenses accredited there so that I can do more in the future. I wonder if they teach courses in Dwarven Gravity Magic?¡±

    Musing on the possibility that he would be able to accomplish two tasks at once and that since he could go without sleep for 3 weeks, school would not interfere with his night time activities, Grendel froze as he saw the sun crest the horizon. The elevator that Grendel was riding on was on the west side of the dome, so as the sun rose above the horizon in the east Grendel saw the light tear through the vast landscape of the Augustus Republic before washing over Grendel himself.

    Caught up in admiring the beauty of the Republic as it was slowly waking up, Grendel steeled himself for what was to come. For Mars was a great and giant crucible, and just like any crucible it could reduce all that existed within it to ashes, or reforge it into something so much grander than what it used to be.

    ¡°Now the question is which will it be? What will Mars shape the magic and myth of Earth into, ruin or perfection?¡±

    To Be Continued...

 Crucible of Mars Part 2: Magic School Infiltration

    Grendel walked towards the open gates of Augustus High School for Magical and Mundane.

    To infiltrate the school Grendel had had to change his body in order to not stand out from the rest of the crowd. As such through the use of potions and other little pieces of magic, Grendel had changed from his normal dragon exterior to one that resembled a handsome human. Although out of a touch of vanity, Grendel had chosen to keep his old colour scheme. He had made his hair red and his eyes gold, an inversion of the normal colour of his eyes and scales. Yet for all of these changes, Grendel¡¯s true nature could still be seen besmirching his skin. Faint scales could be seen to glint under the light of the Diome day. His eyes, despite being different colours, were still the eyes of a dragon with slitted pupils that marked him out as a creature born of myth.

    Nearing the school, Grendel took a single moment to assess himself one last time before he entered the school grounds. Grendel checked that his black and white uniform was correct, and that he was carrying with him everything that he would need to infiltrate the school. But most importantly of all, Grendel checked that there was no magic clinging to him that would give him away.

    Satisfied with his last check over and that everything was in order, Grendel continued into the school, along with the tide of other students. And as he mingled with the students around him, they didn¡¯t so much as give him a second glance as they went about their business.

    All except for two.

    One looked at him with curiosity and concern while another held a hatred within it that made Grendel want to smile not out of amusement, but out of a desire to meet said hostility with violence of his own. For this second glare was a challenge that made his dragon blood sing out with trills of war.

    Yet before Grendel could even begin to formulate a plan with what to do with the gazes that were upon him, they both began to move closer to him. One was a force to be reckoned with that caused the crowd to part for him, while another was able to freely slip through the crowd uncontested and disturbing no one.

    Looking first at the source of the calm and caring gaze, Grendel spied a werewolf with red hair coming his way. She was tall and slender and most importantly of all she carried herself like a warrior. There was strength in her step and speed in her fluidity, but both were tempered with practise and patients. Grendel could see that she was going to be the more challenging of the two to deal with as her kind and caring, green eyes would see more than eyes clouded with hate.

    Changing the focus of his attention to the incoming source of malice, Grendel looked at the haughty elf that had parted the sea of students. The elf was tall as most elves, standing long and lithe, however, unlike the werewolf, this elf was no warrior. Instead, the elf was a mage. He stunk of magic and it was old and strong, the kind of magical power that one builds up over decades of practise and mastery.

    Grendel could tell by how the elf seemed to radiate magic that he was not even bothering to hide his magic, a fact that marked him out as stupid and arrogant. For if even one other magical creature marked him out for the humans, then the elf would have the full weight of the UEF fall down upon him.

    ¡°Why are you walking in this direction?¡± snapped the elf as he came up to Grendel, the elf¡¯s gaze with golden eyes trying in vain to make Grendel squirm.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to school here,¡± said Grendel with a smile knowing that he had everything in order and that no elf would be able to break through his false persona or paperwork.

    ¡°Foolish mongrel, I know that. I¡¯m asking why you are heading in this direction?¡± snapped the elf, his words a question but his tone making it clear he was asking why the sun rose in the east and set in the west, something that should have been immutably obvious.

    ¡°Nidus, he¡¯s new. He doesn¡¯t know about the division of classes,¡± said the werewolf as she tried to come to the defence of the new dragon blooded student.

    ¡°Do not interfere, Morana. I know and I am making sure that he will never forget this lesson,¡± said Nidus as he snapped at Morana, his golden eyes, which matched his golden hair, containing a look that could have withered stone.

    ¡®Nidus Rustwood¡¯ thought Grendel to himself as he watched the elf try and cow the werewolf that had come to his defence. Grendel had taken the time to memorise the names of the entire student body, which was why now that he had the elf¡¯s name he could figure out the elf¡¯s identity.

    Hailing from a semi-prestigious family, the elf was said to be the youngest son of a cousin to the main head of the Rustwood family. However seeing the elf up close, Grendel could tell that the elf was not who he said he was. In fact, it was entirely possible that the elf was actually the head of the main family himself. Yet either way, Nidus¡¯ recorded age was clearly false as could be seen by the fact that Nidus¡¯ magic was far too advanced.

    ¡°Are you listening to me you slimy reptile,¡± said Nidus as he saw that Grendel was not paying attention to him.

    ¡°Not in the slightest,¡± said Grendel as he focused back in on the elf before him, his tone one of apathy at the plight he found himself in.

    Twitching as if he was barely containing his rage and desire to obliterate the being before him with magic, Nidus in the end let out a breath before continuing to speak.

    ¡°Then listen well. While we might both have been born from myth, we are not the same. You lack the power to call down magic. You are a mongrel born of a mixing of myth and mundane. You do not deserve to learn the secrets of magic and divinity. As such you are a part of the general class, and not the arcane class,¡± explained Nidus as his words dripped in condescension and superiority, both acting as a venom aimed at all who lack the true magic found in beings like elves.

    ¡°A wonderful little speech,¡± said Grendel with renewed apathy as he stared blandly at the elf before him, ¡°but in the end while informative, it was nothing but hollow words without meaning.¡±

    Hearing Grendel¡¯s words and gasping both in shock and delight the school body turned their attention to Nidus to see how he would react to being so blatantly disregarded.

    ¡°He means that as part of the general class we go over here and the arcane class goes over there,¡± said Morana as she stepped in to try and diffuse the one sided tension between elf and dragon.

    ¡°You dare call my word hollow,¡± snarled out Nidus as he raised his hand as if he was about to spin forth magic.

    ¡°Go ahead, cast whatever you want. The UEF are capable of shackling you before you could even touch me,¡± said Grendel with a careless shrug, ¡°and anything powerful enough to bypass them will earn you and yours a death sentence.¡±

    Hearing Grendel¡¯s words the entire student body went dead silent as they watched the two before them. One was caught in a hell of his own making and the other silently laughing at the elf¡¯s predicament.

    ¡°Go on mighty elf, show us your powerlessness. I¡¯m waiting,¡± said Grendel, his words a clear invitation to begin.

    Yet everyone present knew that Nidus could not, lest he become a target of those that lived above them all. A fact that made Nidus seem to rage enough that not even his veneer of elfish nobility could hide it from those around him.

    ¡°You will pay for this with your life,¡± said Nidus, his words a cold and deadly promise that made many shudder back from the elf.

    ¡°Fifty years upon this world and that¡¯s the best threat you can muster. I expected better, Alfar,¡± said Grendel as he leaned in and whispered so that only Nidus could hear him.

    Freezing in shock that the being before him knew of the ancient name of elves, when even most elves failed to remember it, Nidus looked like the ground beneath his feet had given way. For now that he was no longer buoyed by the weight of his self importance and the rage of being contained within a high school, Nidus saw the weight of time within Grendel¡¯s eyes. A weight that none Nidus had ever met before had borne. A weight that made it clear that whatever he had picked a fight with was far too ancient and powerful to challenge even for the greatest and most insane of madmen.

    Backing away from the ancient creature before him, Nidus seemed too lost in fear to say anything and once he was a few metres away from the dragon in disguise he turned around and ran off leaving many present to wonder what had just happened. However, the student¡¯s wonder soon turned to mirth as they saw that the other elves in the school had decided to follow after Nidus and not bother Grendel.

    Celebrating that Grendel had seemingly shut up one of the pretentious, highborn elves, the crowd were eager to place their praise on Grendel. Yet this praise dried up the moment the school bell rung aloud for all to hear, a bell that made the mass of students turn to walk into the school and their classrooms.

    Standing still and watching the scurrying masses of students with amusement, Grendel turned his attention to the werewolf who was still watching him. Wondering if maybe the werewolf had seen through his disguise, Grendel smiled and walked over to talk to her.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have antagonised him,¡± said Morana with a sad shake to her head, her red hair flailing about in the artificial wind of the Diome.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Grendel, truly curious to her reasoning.

    ¡°Because he will be worse than if you had just left him alone,¡± replied Morana clearly thinking of those that would cop the brunt of Nidus¡¯ impotent rage.

    ¡°I was under the impression that not fighting back was a bad thing,¡± said Grendel as he tried to prompt Morana to speak more of her mind.

    ¡°Normally yes, but elves like him stay here for decades if not a century. What you did creates rage that festers and he won¡¯t be able to escape it,¡± explained Morana as if what she was saying was common sense.

    Humming in an indifferent tone, Grendel turned his attention to the building that he was apparently going to have classes in. Yet even as he watched the building and seemed to refuse to move, Morana remained by his side. Eventually realising she wasn¡¯t going to be leaving soon, Grendel turned to look at her questioningly.

    ¡°My name is Morana Erikson, and I was sent by the principle to help get you on track for all of your classes,¡± said Morana as soon as she realised that Grendel was looking at her as if awaiting answers.

    ¡°So then I assume you know that my name is Gren Delving,¡± said Grendel as he used the false name he had created for himself when he had gone to enrol in the school.

    ¡°Yes Gren, I do and I have to apologise for this, but since you came here in the middle of a semester you won¡¯t get a smooth transition into class and must instead catch up as soon as possible,¡± explained Morana.

    ¡°So what will be my first class of the day?¡± asked Grendel without a concern for the fact that he was being thrown into the deep end.

    ¡°You will have history class with me,¡± said Morana as she gave Grendel a tight smile that told him she wasn¡¯t looking forward to shepherding him all day.

    ¡°Well then lead the way,¡± said Grendel with a flourish that made Morana sigh before she turned to lead Grendel to their classroom.

    And as Grendel followed after Morana he couldn¡¯t help but give a fleeting glance towards the direction that Nidus had gone. For if he was right then this investigation would soon be over and not take the potential months that he was expecting.

    ~~~

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Sitting in his history classroom, Grendel looked on as the teacher before him droned on about the history of Mars and magical creatures in general.

    ¡°The first recorded encounter with a magical being after the UEF had begun travelling to and from Mars happened where?¡± asked the teacher, another red haired werewolf that had a last name of Erikson. Receiving no answer from the rest of her class which were all clearly monsters of one kind or another, Mrs Erikson instead decided to choose a hapless to answer her question. ¡°How about you, Mr Delving? Would you happen to know the answer to the question that was just posed?¡±

    ¡°If you want a generalist answer then yes I can answer your question. If you want an answer of specific coordinates then I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t,¡± said Grendel with a small smile as his red eyes gleamed with amusement.

    ¡°Any form of an answer will do,¡± said Mrs Erikson as she was clearly used to dealing with rebellious beings, teenager or not.

    ¡°The first confirmed official mythical being encountered by the UEF was an angel that stopped to help an astronaut who had become unmoored from his space ship while it was on route to Mars. I believe the year was 2112AD,¡± answered Grendel as he still remembered the fact that many had tried to deny the existence of an angel back when the news story had first broken. ¡°If I remember correctly the reason she gave to saving the astronaut was that she refused to let any die such a horribly lonely death. This was despite what she had been ordered to do.¡±

    Hearing murmurs from the rest of the class, it was made clear no one present seemed to like the angels that much. This response was especially potent since this one angel had been the start of the decline and eventual deportation of mythological beings.

    ¡°Correct,¡± said Mrs Erikson, her tone neutral but Grendel could sense that even she was most likely unhappy with the angel. ¡°So can anyone tell me where most angels were deported to when mythological beings were sent to Mars?¡±

    ¡°Nowhere,¡± said another student emboldened by Grendel getting the question correct, ¡°they can¡¯t be found anywhere on Mars.¡±

    ¡°Partially true,¡± said Mrs Erikson as she started to point to a map of the world of Mars. ¡°While angels cannot be found in the Sakura Empire, the Pyramid Alliance or the Augustus Republic, they have been spotted in the many smaller one-off Diomes that make up the Nomad Union.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Mrs Erikson, I have family from the Pyramid Alliance and they say that those with that Diome want to be called the Ziggurat Theocracy, not the Pyramid Alliance,¡± said one of the students who looked to be a proper Greek Dryad.

    Pausing as she heard the student speak, Mrs Erikson turned to look at the Dryad. However as Mrs Erikson gave the student an appraising look, Grendel was able to see that the teacher was not weighing up how she would respond to the student. Instead, she was looking at the Dryad with the eyes of a person trying to measure how truthful she could be without breaking them.

    ¡°I know,¡± said Mrs Erikson with a sigh, one that showed she hated to break the news and history to the students before her. ¡°The reason that we still call it the Pyramid Alliance is because that is what the UEF named it when it was officially founded in the year 2160AD. And the only reason they named it that was because all the various mythological cultured put into that Diome had pyramids associated with their civilisations. The Babylonian, the Egyptian, the Aztec, the Inca and a few others! They all had pyramids and they were allied together. That was all that the UEF needed to name them.¡±

    Stopping still for a long moment, every mythical creature in the room contemplated silently on their lot. All except Grendel who watched on with a smile, as he knew that it wouldn¡¯t last, eventually they would be free and then the various Diomes could call themselves whatever they wanted.

    ¡°All right then,¡± said Mrs Erikson as she straightened up and seemed to regain a measure of life. ¡°Since we just spoke about the founding of the Pyramid Alliance, who here would like to tell me about the founding of the Augustus Republic?¡±

    ¡°The Augustus Republic is one of the first Diomes that was created, although they were not called that back then. Instead they were simply bio-habitats for human occupation. This Diome was created by Augustus Remusson. The Diome was officially created in 2089 and has since grown larger,¡± said Grendel as he put his feet up on the table and leaned back in his chair, giving off an aloof air that made the teacher give him a stern look.

    ¡°Anything else you would like to add?¡± asked Mrs Erikson, her tone making it clear that she would not look fondly upon him continuing to speak.

    ¡°Originally the Augustus Diome was meant to contain only the Greek and the Roman mythologies. But eventually much like its name sake, it came to include all mythologies found on the continent of Europe,¡± said Grendel with a grin and a flippant gesture of his head making it clear that he was not cowed by the wrath of a werewolf teacher.

    ¡°Go to the principle,¡± said Mrs Erikson, her voice echoing through the now dead quiet room.

    Blinking at the fact that she had ordered him out of the classroom so quickly, Grendel couldn¡¯t help but give out another witty retort.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to hear about the Sakura Empire? How it comprises of the Asian cultures and how it was founded in 2120AD?¡± asked Grendel only to be met with a stony silence.

    ¡°Out. Now,¡± said the teacher, her voice a deadly calm that made many in the room shrink back from her knowing that her bite was far worse than her bark.

    Getting up from his seat, Grendel walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, making sure that it was so secured that it would not let anyone hear or see what happened next, even if they had supernatural hearing or sight.

    Glancing down the white sterile corridor and seeing that it was empty in both directions, Grendel set off to see just what he could discover. More specifically Grendel wanted to see what he could find within the school¡¯s archives.

    ~~~

    Leafing through the various different documents arrayed in front of him, a cigar in his still human mouth, Grendel shook his head at the appalling bookkeeping.

    When Grendel had first come here, he had expected to find impeccable records that would require hours to go over. All to find the single thread that would untie the knot that was the secrets of this school. Yet now that he was staring at the paper work before him he knew that it would be so simple to figure out.

    The bookkeeping before Grendel had been done with so little effort that it was all but impossible for it to have been done out of any other emotion than apathy. The bookkeeping told a tale that said whoever had been keeping record for this school wasn¡¯t even trying. They simply did the bare minimum and went on with their day.

    However this in turn told Grendel all manner of things about the bookkeeper. They were falsifying the records not because they wanted to, but because they were forced to.

    Musing at the information spread out before him, Grendel could see that this investigation was changing from one form of challenge to another. Except that this next challenge was not about figuring things out, but protecting and safe guarding others, something that was often harder but more rewarding.

    ¡°There you are, Mr. Delving,¡± said a voice as it owner burst into the record room that Grendel had managed to sneak his way into.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t exactly hiding,¡± said Grendel with a puff of his cigar, as he allowed smoke to plume out of his mouth in a way that made it clear the cigar was not wholly responsible for the smoke.

    ¡°No but you were meant to meet me in my office, not stow away in here,¡± said the principal as he walked into the room, shutting the door behind him.

    The moment the door clicked shut Grendel could feel a change in the room, like it had become air tight and thus the smoke that he was breathing out remained steady and still. But this fact also told Grendel that the room had also become soundproof, a fact that would send most up the wall with paranoia, especially since the principle was a human that had a nanomachine swarm all about him. A nanomachine swarm that was eating away at the smoke that Grendel had filled the room with.

    ¡°I must admit that I am disappointed at what I found,¡± said Grendel as he waved his hand over the paperwork before him. ¡°Although I must admit I was pleasantly surprised to know that I am not the only one that still uses paper.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not paper,¡± said the principal as he walked closer to see what it was that Grendel was looking at.

    ¡°Oh then what is it?¡± asked Grendel as he raised an eyebrow at the principal of the school.

    ¡°It¡¯s kind of like plastic, but it imitates the texture and material properties of paper, when needed. For example you can write upon it with ease, anything from ink to graphite, but you can¡¯t burn it,¡± said the principle as he came to stand on the opposite side of the table from Grendel.

    ¡°Why create hard copies then?¡± asked Grendel as he flicked his fingers at the edge of the paper to create a spark that would attempt to burn the paper before him yet somehow resist the fire.

    ¡°Because it makes it so much harder for people to tamper with the records, no matter whom they have an allegiance to,¡± said the principal with a notable tremor to his voice, a tremor that spoke of fear and dread.

    ¡°And who do you think I have an allegiance to Principal Aaron Reinhard?¡± asked Grendel making sure to unnerve the principle by using his full name.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t care,¡± said Aaron as he leaned forward all the while trying to stare down Grendel.

    ¡°Oh I think you do,¡± said Grendel as he watched how the principal responded to his words, ¡°otherwise you wouldn¡¯t have let me in. You wanted to find out who, or more precisely, what I am? A clever tactic especially if you sent that girl to try and win me over.¡±

    Twitching at the mention of Morana, Aaron¡¯s glower seemed only to worsen, yet there was also a note of hesitation in his eyes. A note of hesitation that made Grendel feel something more was at play here.

    In fact as Grendel sat looking up at Aaron, Grendel felt the faintest of chills run up his spine, a sensation that made Grendel almost instinctively fill the air with fire. Yet Grendel resisted the urge and continued on with the conversation.

    ¡°What¡¯s more, all of this,¡± said Grendel as he waved over the pseudo-paperwork before him, ¡°is truly disappointing. You haven¡¯t even attempted to cover your tracks. In fact the only reason that you haven¡¯t been found out yet is that no one¡¯s looking.¡±

    Twitching again, Grendel could see that Aaron was not twitching in rage, but as if he was trying to hold himself up as if it was only his shear will that was preventing him from collapsing to the ground.

    ¡°For example, let¡¯s look at the records for Nidus Rustwood. You say here that he was born in 2460AD, yet anyone who has met him can clearly see that the elf is not 17 years old. In fact, you can clearly see that he is much older,¡± explained Grendel trying to impress upon Aaron that he needed to get the base details right. Otherwise someone like Grendel could just walk into this room and unravel everything.

    ¡°Errors occur,¡± said the principal slowly, clearly trying to muster some form of defence for the lacklustre records.

    ¡°In fact, he was my first clue,¡± explained Grendel as he poured over the notes about Nidus Rustwood. ¡°His attitude alone makes it clear who he is and what he stands for. The fact that Nidus feels that he can freely walk and talk around the school like that means that he counts on the staff to cover for him. And when I get here I find this mess.¡±

    Not even trying to respond to what Grendel had said, the principal waited for Grendel to finish his little rant all the while his eyes flickered about the room.

    ¡°It gets worse when you read up on your career and see that you started teaching here in the year 2461AD. But records show that Nidus has been here even longer. There is incompetence and then there is not even trying,¡± said Grendel as he puffed a plume of smoke out at Aaron Reinhard.

    ¡°What do you want me to say?¡± asked Aaron as he slid down to sit across from Grendel, clearly not taking it too well that he was being called out on his shoddy cover up.

    ¡°I want an explanation. I want to understand how it was possible to mess this up to such a degree. I want to know why you are trying to help the magical community but at the same time failing to live up to your attempts,¡± explained Grendel as he tried to gauge why the human before him had become involved with this conspiracy.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Aaron, clearly defeated by what had been said to him. ¡°Why care about me at all? Either report me to the UEF or tell the Elf Insurgents that I am terrible at my job. Why try and help me?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m curious and greedy. Because I want to know. And mostly because I don¡¯t want to rip your family apart,¡± said Grendel as he smiled at Aaron¡¯s surprised face. ¡°You might have been able to scrub her stink from you and she most certainly got the smell off of her, but you look like your daughter.¡±

    The room went dead silent as Grendel¡¯s words echoed through the air tight room. And in this stillness Grendel looked at the stunned principal and smiled, because what he saw there was fear not for himself but for his family.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± asked Aaron at last, clearly unsure what to make of the draconic creature before him.

    ¡°Grendel Godsbane, Private Investigator for everyone and anyone, magical and mundane,¡± said Grendel as he leaned back in his chair, the tip of his cigar glowing with unnatural fire.

    ¡°Gren Del Ving,¡± said Aaron, his voice seeming to be filled with disgust at having failed to see what was right in front of him.

    ¡°It gets even better if you know that ¡®Delving¡¯ means to ¡®dig for information¡¯, among other things,¡± said Grendel with some pride at having created this alias.

    ¡°I¡¯d heard rumours of a dragon going about using that name, investigating anything and anyone. Why are you here?¡± asked Aaron, clearly already aware that he was doomed in one manner or another.

    ¡°Because your apathy to all of this,¡± said Grendel as he waved a hand over the paperwork before him, ¡°is finally catching up to you. Soon the fact that you are a pure human with access to the UEF¡¯s best science will not be able to keep your daughter safe.¡±

    ¡°Then what can?¡± asked Aaron with a note of desperation.

    ¡°Telling her to put her claws away would do for a start,¡± said Grendel as he looked over his shoulder to see Morana standing behind him, her hands transformed into wolf-like claws waiting and willing to rip him to shreds.

    Freezing at having been caught, Morana gave her father a quick look before slowly prowling around so that she was standing next to her father¡¯s shoulder, still waiting to kill the one who would destroy her family.

    ¡°The ice magic you used to get in here was subtle but not to a creature of fire such as myself,¡± said Grendel as he glanced back at a wall still covered in frost.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± asked Aaron as he gave Grendel a hollow look, clearly knowing that the dragon held all the cards and that his whim would decide his family¡¯s fate.

    ¡°How did she come into being?¡± asked Grendel as he pointed his cigar at Morana, curiosity radiating from him.

    ¡°Because I love her mother! Now what do you want?¡± asked Aaron with a controlled anger at the dragon before him.

    ¡°The end to the conflict between the mundane and the magical. And to get it, at least for the moment, I need to take out the Elf Insurrectionists,¡± answered Grendel earnestly, his words making both human and werewolf twitch. ¡°I want a world where I can fly freely, where families born of love can thrive together. And most importantly, I want a world not of mundanity or magic. I want a world of miracles.¡±

    Blinking back tears at the sudden realisation that the dragon before them had not come to destroy their lives, but instead was here to all but grant their greatest wish. Aaron glanced at his daughter and for the first time since he had walked into the record room looked truly alive.

    ¡°How can we help?¡± asked Aaron as he saw a chance to get out of the vice grip that their lives were in. A position that was caught firmly between science and magic, and those that didn¡¯t want the two to mix.

    ¡°Tell me everything you know¡­¡±

 Crucible of Mars Part 3: Elf Terrorist Destruction

    Grendel stood in the artificial rain and smiled at his prey.

    Grendel was out front of a compound that housed the elf terrorists and their many different and diverse magical allies, all who chafed under the reign of the UEF. However they never actually made a difference in the lives of those they claimed to support only spreading malice and horror. Which was why after interviewing and convincing Aaron Reinhard to help him, Grendel had managed to start a series of dominos that had led him here.

    And not alone.

    All around Grendel, adorned in the latest in stealth technology, was a regiment of humans who stood silently and invisible to any magical or mundane eyes. However as with most things it was easy to spot the discrepancies when you knew what to look at.

    The artificial rain that was filling the city had been scheduled for later but had come early, possibly due to the magic that regulated such things being distorted, possibly at the hands of the elves. Normally the rain coming early would not be a problem, but in this shower of bleak rain, Grendel could see that the stealth technology was not working to well.

    ¡°You better be right about this,¡± said one of the humans that Grendel had brought along with him, a Lieutenant in the UEF¡¯s army. ¡°The Rustwood family is highly influential, and if we get this wrong there will be hell to pay.¡±

    Glancing at the unnamed soldier, or more precisely the location that the unnamed soldier was standing, Grendel had to muse at the nature of the man. For while it was obvious that the human did not entirely trust Grendel, there was no malice present within the human¡¯s words. A phenomenon that Grendel would have to look into later, as it could help with his future endeavours of uniting both the mundane and the magical together.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not wrong, and even if things go bad you can blame it all on me,¡± said Grendel, his words meant to be reassuring to the human, only for the human to baulk at the concept.

    ¡°No, we do this together or we do this not at all,¡± said the Lieutenant with a conviction that gave Grendel pause. A pause that ended when he shook his dragon head and puffed out a plume of smoke, for Grendel was still constantly being surprised by humanity even after millennia of living amongst them.

    ¡°Alright then, follow me,¡± said Grendel as he began to march towards the compound not really bothering to pay attention if the humans were accompanying him, for in the back of his mind Grendel knew he alone was enough.

    Walking up to the side of the compound, Grendel pulled back his fist and without hesitation he swung with all of his strength and punched a hole through the wall. A hole that was easily big enough for the four or even five men walking abreast to march through.

    Knowing that he had most likely shocked his backup due to the inhuman feat, especially since he had not used any active magic, Grendel didn¡¯t really care as he instead marched into the compound. For what was to come would soon overturn many of their presumptions about reality.

    ¡°Halt!¡± screamed out an elf that had seen the wall of his compound suddenly burst inward. An elf that was quick to raise a crystal wand and point it at the menacing figure of Grendel, who continued to march on uncaring about what the elf could do.

    ¡°You leave me no choice,¡± cried the elf when Grendel not only refused to stop but also paid the elf no minder.

    Activating the crystal in his hand, the elf caused a bolt of lightning to snake out and hit Grendel in the chest causing the dragon shaped humanoid to slide back by about 2-3 metres, a singed mark of heat upon his red scales.

    Glancing down at the glowing mark where the elf had attacked him, Grendel looked up at the elf, who in turn looked about nervously, as if expecting the UEF¡¯s anti-magic systems to come crashing down upon him. Except the system that had been infallible for centuries remained inactive, a sign that made the elf smile clearly emboldened by what he had just achieved.

    Annoyed at the fact that his chest was singed by the lightning, Grendel retaliated towards the elf with an attack that was a dragon¡¯s signature characteristic.

    He breathed fire.

    Sending out a jet of fire that engulfed the elf, the elf couldn¡¯t even let out a scream before he was reduced to a charred skeleton that was still holding an intact crystal in his hand. A crystal wand that was softly glowing with mystical light, that marked it out as being the source of the elf¡¯s ability to use magic without attracting the UEF¡¯s attention.

    ¡°You were right,¡± whispered the intangible voice of the Lieutenant from nearby, a voice that belonged to the human that had shown respect.

    Truly intrigued by the fact that the human next to him seemed to not care about his magical nature, Grendel lamented the fact that he didn¡¯t know the human¡¯s name. For if Grendel could make an ally of the human then perhaps he could help propagate the human¡¯s attitude throughout the rest of the UEF.

    ¡°The rest are coming,¡± said Grendel as he looked up at the main building of the Rustwood compound, a building that resembled a miniaturised castle, and saw multiple eyes looking back.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got this,¡± said the human as he made some sort of signal and then suddenly the human military started to open fire. An attack that was swift and terrible, but this attack was not without resistance. For the many magical creatures that lived in the compound were counter-attacking.

    Staring at the different forces that were attacking back and forth as science and magic went to war, Grendel looked on rather nonchalantly. Grendel was not interested in a battle between an invisible high tech soldier and a rampaging ogre or a Greek Cyclops. Instead Grendel was hunting even bigger fish.

    Grendel was looking for any trace of Nidus Rustwood. For the elf was clearly high up in regards to this scheme and if he could get to him, then Grendel would have a chance to unravel the entire insurrection before it could even begin.

    Spotting a familiar figure nearby standing at the entrance to the castle like main building, Grendel smiled in a way that only a dragon could and then he began to hunt. Walking forward, Grendel ignored plasma bolts that bounced off his body, he ignored a war-club made of frozen fire and he even ignored the bodies he strode upon. For his prey was before him. And he had no intention of letting it get away from him.

    Marching through the maelstrom of violence, Grendel walked towards Nidus. Who in turn saw the indomitable figure cleaving through his forces. After giving the dragon a stare filled with both horror and recognition, Nidus turned and re-entered into the building. Seeing that Nidus was seemingly fleeing from the battlefield, either to save himself or to warn others, Grendel growled in annoyance before he turned his leisurely stroll into a running spring that allowed him to cover the distance between himself and the building in only a few seconds.

    Arriving at the doors that Nidus had disappeared through, Grendel felt like cursing for the door before him was a mixture of Mithril and Orichalcum, an alloy that would be all but impossible for him to break. Especially since Norse Dwarves and Greek Cyclops had worked together to create something no dragon could break, regardless of where or what mythology it came from.

    ¡°Move Grendel,¡± said the voice of the Lieutenant, a voice that seemed to come out of thin air.

    Stepping aside instinctively, Grendel kept his eye on the door as a small item was deposited onto it by an invisible figure. A device that started blinking as soon as it was attached to the door, a device that hummed with power as it slowly began to cool off the invulnerable alloy it was attached to.

    Watching in amazement, the device caused frost to build up and outward from itself until the entire door had been coated and encroached by the frost. A frost that had caused the once invulnerable alloy to become so brittle that the door shattered into millions of tiny pieces as a bullet punched through the door. A supersonic bullet fired by an invisible gun wielded by an invisible man.

    ¡°You humans and your inventions, you never cease to make wonders that amaze,¡± said Grendel as he walked through the now gaping hole where the door had been.

    ¡°Of course we create wonders beyond belief,¡± said the Lieutenant in a boastful voice. ¡°We taught the gods how to create and forge. In fact, the only reason that they¡¯re winning at the moment is that they can practise their craft eternally. We humans on the other hand have to hope for a genius every generation or we fall behind.¡±

    Chuckling at the sheer blasphemy that the human had uttered, Grendel was so distracted that he was barely in time to notice a magical trap that had been inscribed into the floor.

    Seeing the magic activate as an invisible boot stepped upon it, Grendel reached out and grabbed the human by the back and pulled him out of the way as a pillar of enhanced gravity manifested. This gravity pillar was warping the air and created a shift in the light that was passing through it making it blurry and appear to be odd, like looking through thick glass or even water. But what was most troubling about the gravity pillar was that it was so strong anything that was caught in it would be reduced to organic paste upon the floor from a few simple seconds of being trapped within it.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± said a relieved female voice, a voice that carried with it the sincerity of one truly grateful to have been saved.

    ¡°Why isn¡¯t it dispelling?¡± asked another voice, this one much older than the other two invisible humans that had followed Grendel.

    ¡°Because it¡¯s using flaws in the UEF¡¯s anti-magic system,¡± said Grendel as he tentatively poked at the pillar of gravity.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked the Lieutenant.

    ¡°The UEF program their systems to ignore set types of magic, particularly Dwarven Gravity Magic,¡± explained Grendel as he started to scan the room for anything else that might be rigged with magic.

    ¡°What?¡± asked the female invisible soldier, her voice carrying with it a failure to understand how the two were connected.

    ¡°Mars never had Earth Normal Gravity, so to counteract this flaw in Mars¡¯ gravity and the hurdle to terraforming the planet and living here upon it, the UEF got creative. They had the Dwarves create a magic system that would alter how gravity on Mars worked. They created a system that is propagating throughout Mars to this day. A system that makes gravity here the same as it is on Earth,¡± explained Grendel as he looked off in the distance having spied the route that Nidus most likely fled down.

    ¡°And because we, the UEF, didn¡¯t want this system being cancelled out, we made it ignore Dwarven Gravity Magic,¡± said the old soldier in a way that made it clear that he was shaking his head at the giant flaw in their system.

    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad. It¡¯s taken them years to get here. You only need a few days, maybe some weeks, to patch up your system to get around the problem,¡± said Grendel absently as he continued to eye the corridor where Nidus had disappeared through.

    ¡°Does this mean that the dwarves helped the elves?¡± asked the Lieutenant, his voice not really upset, just filled with idle speculation.

    Blinking in shock at the idea of Dwarves and Elves working together even if united by a common hatred, Grendel turned and gave the space where the voices were coming from a hard look.

    ¡°If they had been working together your space elevators would have been ejected from this planet years ago,¡± said Grendel with a frown of his scaly head before continuing on. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to split up here. I can spot the traps easy enough, but the lot of you will most likely end up as stains on the carpet.¡±

    ¡°And we wouldn¡¯t want that,¡± said the female soldier jokingly, ¡°the red would clash terribly with these colours.¡±

    Looking down at the blue carpet and then at the space the voice had come from, Grendel just shook his head before heading out.

    And as he walked along by himself, he was glad that he had taken the humans with him, as without his magic he was much weaker than he normally would be, especially when it came to things like that Mithril-Orichalcum door.

    But from here on out Grendel would not be just relying on his strength and physical characteristics, he would be relying on his magic and the solar infernos it allowed him to bring to bear.

    Smiling in a way that could only be called wicked, Grendel continued on into the Rustwood compound hunting after Nidus Rustwood.

    Wandering through the maze-like structure of tunnels and rooms that lay beneath the Rustwood compound, Grendel sniffed at the air trying in vain to figure out which room Nidus was hiding in.

    Continuing to wander about checking here and there, Grendel was reminded on the old noir movies he enjoyed, especially the originals from so long ago back on earth. Recognising that he was the detective creeping about, Grendel was struck with an idea that made him smile even as he kept sniffing the air for a trace of Nidus.

    Here buried deep in the underground vaults of the Rustwood compound, magic was much less restricted than normal. This meant that even Grendel¡¯s innate fire magic would be able to function here. Stretching forth a taloned hand, Grendel summoned into existence a small globe of fire, a crimson red fire that lit up the tunnels causing them to change from simple tunnels into something much more eerie.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Seeing that the sensors of the UEF hadn¡¯t detected his magic and that he was now free to change the world as he saw fit, Grendel reached out and grasped the ball of crimson red fire changing it into something else, something that mirrored the detectives of old.

    Shaping the fire into a Luger pistol, Grendel grasped the gun made of fire and continued on as he now had a way to trace Nidus¡¯ path through the underground.

    Creeping forward, Grendel came to a door that was slightly ajar, a door that had clearly failed to close properly. What¡¯s more, beyond the door Grendel could hear voices in discussion before hearing movement that indicated that one of the creatures in the room had left while another had stayed put.

    Pushing the door open, Grendel slowly walked into the room and saw that it was something akin to a conference room with a large round table in the centre lined with chairs. Chairs that were each shaped in a variety of unique ways to indicate who, or more precisely what, sat upon them.

    Seeing only one of the chairs filled, Grendel levelled his Luger pistol made of fire at the individual before him, an elf that bore a striking resemblance to Nidus. However there was a weight of time to him that marked him out as older then Nidus. A weight that indicated he might even be old enough to have originated back on Earth.

    ¡°Elburn Rustwood,¡± said Grendel with a smile as he recognised the patriarch of the Rustwood family. Before Grendel had led the UEF here, he had taken the opportunity to research into the other members of the Rustwood family and Elburn had been the name at the top of the list.

    Elburn was reported to be an Elf that had been one of the first to cross over through the void of space to arrive here on Mars and more importantly he was also the one that had founded the Rustwood family. First as a means of protecting other Elves that had come across to Mars, but later the Elf had changed to become something else. Elburn had become a tyrant that longed to rule over all of the magical community of the Augustus Republic.

    ¡°Gren Delving, or do you prefer your real name Grendel?¡± asked Elburn as he sat in his chair not particularly bothered by the fact a dragon had a gun made of fire trained on him, ready to shoot at any minute.

    ¡°Grendel works for me,¡± said Grendel as he slowly lowered his gun curious to see what Elburn was up to.

    ¡°I thought so, but I would hate to presume, especially since it might start us off on the wrong foot,¡± said Elburn as he poured himself a drink of honey-like liquid into a clear glass.

    Staring at the glass and the liquid it contained, Grendel shifted his gaze to Elburn whose golden hair and eyes matched the colour of the drink.

    ¡°What is that made from?¡± asked Grendel, aware that the drink was more than just a prop for this meeting. It was magical and it seemed to contain within it a wellspring of magic. This fact alone was enough to convince Grendel that the drink would allow Elburn to wield magic far greater than anything he normally could possess.

    ¡°Did you really come here just to talk about my choice of drink?¡± asked Elburn as he took a drink of the liquid, his eyes seeming to glow the moment that the drink touched his lips.

    ¡°No, I came to dismantle your entire organisation,¡± admitted Grendel without a hint of shame or remorse for his actions.

    ¡°And why would you want to do that?¡± asked Elburn, his voice genuinely laced with curiosity. ¡°You are a creature of magic. You bear a name inspired from our ancestors legends and no matter what you think you will be hunted by the humans the moment that we stop being of use to them.¡±

    ¡°Because I long to see what they will create. What miracles they will work and how they in turn will make them purely mundane,¡± said Grendel as he made sure to grin in a way that Elburn couldn¡¯t miss.

    ¡°Miracles made mundane?¡± asked Elburn clearly thrown by the idea, as to him a miracle was something only made by the divine.

    ¡°Of course, look at what human technology can achieve on its own, how far it has grown from simple beginnings. They once were nothing more than simple creatures wielding sticks and stones. That was their first level of technology. Then they figured out their first miracle: Fire. And from that fire they created so much more. Now they don¡¯t even use fire. They barely touch it, because what was once a miracle handed out by Gods and Dragons is now something that they have outgrown. Now imagine what would happen when they start to use magic with the same wisdom,¡± said Grendel, not really caring if Elburn believed him, only speaking what he believed to see how Elburn reacted.

    ¡°You think humans will adopt and use magic? You are a blind, witless worm,¡± snarled out Elburn, making it clear what he thought about that particular idea. ¡°Humanity will crush magic beneath their heel and never again let it see the light of day. They have done it before and they will do it again.¡±

    ¡°And why do you believe that?¡± asked Grendel, truly curious to know.

    ¡°Because humanity hates to be reminded about what they are,¡± replied Elburn.

    ¡°Which is?¡± asked Grendel trying to prompt Elburn to speak his mind.

    ¡°They hate to be reminded how transient they are! They hate to be reminded how powerless they are. They would rather destroy all that is grand and awe inspiring. They would rather live in filth and squalor. They would rather believe in pain and sorrow than ever let anything have power beyond their own,¡± said Elburn as he stared at Grendel with golden glowing eyes that were filled with such conviction that Grendel knew for a fact that Elburn believed everything he said.

    ¡°And why do you think that is true?¡± asked Grendel as he heard a faint squeak come from nearby, a sound that came from a door shifting as someone passed through it.

    ¡°You only need to look at their stories, to see their mindsets. They hate and rail against miracles and easy salvation. They say the ¡®Deus Ex Machina¡¯ is a flimsy thing that breaks a story. Yet you and I both know that it once was true: a wandering god, a questing hero, a depraved devil, a guardian dragon, a whimsical elf, we once altered the world as we saw fit. We allowed miracles to come to pass, for things to get better, but they rejected everything we were. They would rather suffer than accept help,¡± snarled out Elburn as he rose to his feet in anger, all the while clearly speaking from experience.

    ¡°That is why Mars is so important, why it is the perfect crucible for humanity,¡± said Grendel solemnly as if having to explain death to a child. ¡°Here we can reforge humanity. Show them once again the wonder of the universe. We can force them to see the true nature of the world and accept that every once in a while something miraculous happens. That sometimes the Fates can not only be kind, but generous.¡±

    ¡°A pity for you then that they have left you high and dry,¡± said a voice from behind Grendel, the voice of Nidus.

    Spinning around on the spot, Grendel looked towards the sound of Nidus¡¯ voice and as he did so, two things caught his attention.

    The first was a mosaic of different magics all interlocking and layered over each other. It was a mixture of magics from various different origins and myths, including Greek, Celtic, and Norse mythology. A mixture that would make all who looked upon it recoil in horror at the abomination it formed. Yet its purpose was explicit to Grendel. It was a magic created to render all who hid within it invisible, which was why Grendel had failed to see it the moment he walked through the door.

    The second thing that caught Grendel¡¯s attention was the figure of Nidus bursting out of the abominable mixture of magic, in his hand a miniature replica of a lance renowned for slaying dragons. A holy lance that Nidus was thrusting towards Grendel with the intent of killing the dragon, all the while a vile smile of hatred and wounded pride warped his elfish face.

    Caught off guard by the fact that Nidus had been hidden within a mixture of magic that had rendered him undetectable to even his keen dragon senses, Grendel tried to defend himself but he was too slow.

    Striking down with the lance, Nidus thrust the dragon slaying instrument into Grendel¡¯s chest, straight into Grendel¡¯s jacket. Yet instead of feeling overwhelming pain that would have rendered him next to helpless, Grendel instead heard a metallic crunch. A crunch that came from the section of his coat that Nidus had just stabbed.

    Staring in disbelief, both dragon and elf looked at the point of contact between blade and coat, both having heard the metallic crunch, yet both in disbelief that something that should have been a simple victory had been overturned.

    Blinking quickly, Grendel came back to his senses as he realised that the pocket that had been stabbed was the one in which he stored his vinyl recorder.

    Laughing in surprise at the fact that his inane hobby had spared his life, Grendel used the Luger in his right hand and shot at Nidus. Except instead of shooting Nidus in the body like the elf would have done to him, Grendel shot Nidus in the arm. Specifically at the elbow of the arm that held the dragon slaying miniature holy lance.

    Incinerating Nidus¡¯ elbow and the area around it by about 10 centimetres, Nidus¡¯ hand fell away from the ash encrusted stump, causing the elf to let loose a scream of pain, horror and despair as he saw the hand holding the one weapon that would be able to kill the dragon before him fall at Grendel¡¯s feet.

    No longer paying the now one handed elf any heed, Grendel stomped on the lance crushing it into fragments that were practically dust.

    Making sure that there was not pieces left that could be used against him, Grendel turned his attention back to Nidus who had collapsed on the ground and was trying to crawl backwards away from Grendel. Seeing nothing but unending horror and fear in Nidus¡¯ eyes Grendel made sure to check to see if Nidus had any more weapons before rounding on Elburn.

    ¡°You appear to have disarmed my son,¡± said Elburn calmly as he looked back and forth between Nidus and the Luger made of fire that Grendel now had pointed towards him.

    ¡°You attempted to stab me in the back,¡± replied Grendel calmly as he couldn¡¯t help but muse on the idiocy of Nidus for shouting out while he attacked him.

    ¡°Indeed, and had my useless spawn been smarter you would be dead and dying on the floor instead,¡± said Elburn, clearly aware that Nidus had botched the job, and it was no one¡¯s fault but his son¡¯s.

    ¡°So what now?¡± asked Grendel, his Luger levelled at the older elf, the two of them both primed to unleash a maelstrom of magic upon each other.

    ¡°Now you are under arrest,¡± said another disembodied voice.

    Recognising the voice, Grendel had to blink in surprise as three figures materialised around Elburn, each with a gun held up to Elburn¡¯s head. One gun levelled at the back of Elburn¡¯s head and the other two levelled at his temples.

    ¡°What?!¡± said Elburn in surprise at the fact that three UEF soldiers had materialised inside the room.

    Chuckling at the sight of Elburn losing his composure for the first time since he had entered into the room, Grendel switched his attention to the UEF soldiers that had ringed up around Elburn. Recognising them as the soldiers he had worked beside and left back at the entrance Grendel was truly surprised to see them here, but at the same time he was excited to find out how they had managed to follow him here.

    ¡°Lieutenant, I thought I told you to remain behind,¡± said Grendel jovially as he lowered his flame wrought Luger to his side.

    ¡°No you said we would have to split up, not that we couldn¡¯t follow after,¡± said the Lieutenant with a chuckle and a smile. A smile that allowed Grendel to see that despite his rank and experience the Lieutenant was still young, and more importantly that he still had hope for the future.

    ¡°How did you get past my traps?¡± snarled out Elburn clearly not happy that he had been bested by mortals that didn¡¯t have magic.

    ¡°I used this,¡± said the Lieutenant as he held up his hand, a small, amethyst crystal hanging from his fingers.

    Glancing back over his shoulder, Elburn saw the crystal and recognised the hedge magic that was woven through it. Magic that would simply allow the user of the crystal to detect masses of magic, a magic crystal that could have easily been created by even the most novice of mages.

    Looking at the amethyst crystal, Grendel threw back his dragon head and laughed at the fact that Elburn had been taken out by a UEF solider wielding a magic item. For in this one moment, the Lieutenant had displayed the proof of everything that Grendel had ever said.

    ¡®That the greatest of miracles comes from the union of science and magic.¡¯

    ¡°I take it that it was you three I heard passing through the doors,¡± said Grendel as he got control of himself and looked back at the trapped Elburn. A trapped Elburn, who was keenly aware that if he tried anything, he would be doomed, as the guns that the UEF used had anti-magic bullets that no defensive magic could battle against.

    ¡°Yes, there are far too many rooms down here. We might have made one or two squeak,¡± admitted the Lieutenant calmly as he refocused in on the Elf he was now taking into custody.

    Slapping cuffs on Elburn, cuffs that would block his ability to use magic, Elburn sank down into his chair. Now no longer a threat, yet even bound and magic-less, there was something about Elburn that made Grendel wary.

    ¡°Bind the other one, I need to talk to Grendel for a moment,¡± said the Lieutenant as he commanded his female subordinate to bind Nidus with magic suppressing cuffs while the older soldier continued to guard Elburn.

    Following the Lieutenant over to a corner of the room while Elburn looked on with prying eyes, Grendel truly was curious about the human before him.

    ¡°Did you discover anything else along the way?¡± asked the Lieutenant, the upper portion of his face hidden behind the mechanical gear that the UEF wear into battle.

    ¡°Nothing that can¡¯t wait for a proper debrief,¡± said Grendel as he focused his entire attention onto the soldier before him. ¡°However I must admit that I was surprised you didn¡¯t just call for this entire complex to be destroyed with me inside of it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what we do,¡± said the Lieutenant sharply.

    ¡°That¡¯s what your generals would have done,¡± countered Grendel in an attempt to measure what the foot soldiers of the UEF thought about their leaders.

    ¡°I can¡¯t speak for all of them, but the ones I know are not so out of touch as to do something so barbaric,¡± said the Lieutenant, a bitterness tinging his voice at the fact that even one of the leaders of the UEF would act in such a manner.

    ¡°So the ones you know aren¡¯t glory hounds,¡± said Grendel, pleased to note that he might not have such an uphill battle in the future.

    ¡°No, we¡¯re not here to get glory. We¡¯re here to bring peace and civilisation to a dead world. We¡¯re here to spread and protect life, not death,¡± said the Lieutenant with a conviction in his voice that made Grendel smile, or at least as close as his reptilian head could smile.

    ¡°Even if the life you are protecting belongs to the mythical?¡± asked Grendel, already suspecting the answer he would get.

    ¡°We are here to save all lives. On a good day we save all lives, and on a bad day we save only most lives,¡± said the Lieutenant, his voice ringing with sincerity.

    Impressed with the being before him, Grendel nodded his head in agreement before speaking again.

    ¡°May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?¡± asked Grendel earnestly, a question that seemed to catch the Lieutenant off guard before he chuckled and spoke up.

    ¡°Maxwell Clarke,¡± said Lieutenant Maxwell, ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I didn¡¯t introduce myself earlier, but we have call signs built into our heads up display so we tend to forget that the names of everyone aren¡¯t floating above our heads.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take the prisoners back and discuss our future working together,¡± said Grendel as he turned to look at Elburn who was seething under the watch of the UEF soldier.

    ¡°You foresee a bright future together?¡± asked Maxwell, curiosity in his voice as he tried to figure out if Grendel could divine the future.

    ¡°I¡¯m no diviner, but I know quality when I see it, my future General,¡± said Grendel as he already began to plot how Maxwell¡¯s help would aid him in the far off future.

    Choosing not to respond to Grendel¡¯s words Maxwell turned to look at his two soldiers. With a quick, silent, electronic communication between them, Maxwell ordered the soldiers to get the prisoners up and to begin marching them out of the room and back to the surface.

    Yet as Elburn stood up, he stopped and glared at Grendel.

    ¡°Do not think that you have destroyed our movement with what you have done here Grendel Godsbane,¡± said Elburn with a cold rage that was measured and controlled to a point that the human present tensed up. ¡°I have allies out there in the vastness of the world, allies that were not here. You did not catch us all. And when you let your guard down, they will hunt you down, even if it takes centuries. You will die a pathetic death worse than the creature you are named after, you and every other magical creature that has betrayed us to the humans and their precious science.¡±

    Hearing the promise in Elburn¡¯s words, Grendel knew that he meant it and that most likely there were allies out in the world who would one day attack him, but Grendel wasn¡¯t too worried. However he wanted to clear up a misconception here and now both for the UEF and the elf before him.

    ¡°That pathetic creature that was killed by Beowulf all so long ago, I was not named after it. It was named after me,¡± said Grendel as he made sure that Elburn understood that he was the true origin of the name. That he was ancient enough to claim the name first and that he had become so famous that even strange and remote monsters named themselves and their spawn after him.

    Wilting as he heard Grendel¡¯s words, Elburn realised that Grendel was indeed telling the truth and that the being before him hailed from so far back in antiquity that more had been forgotten about him than was currently known.

    Watching the UEF throw Elburn and Nidus Rustwood into one of the many prison ships that would send them to only the UEF knew where, Grendel contemplated on the threat that had been levelled at not just him but also at others who had helped him.

    ¡°What are you going to do next?¡± asked Lieutenant Maxwell so that he could arrange for a debrief with his superiors.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to deal with a few loose ends,¡± said Grendel as he turned his mind to the werewolf family that had aided him. And as he did so he wondered to himself if he should contact his old friend for help.

    Although Hades would most likely say that the two of them were not friends, just business partners.

 Crucible of Mars Part 4: Beyond the Solar Sea

    Grendel strode into the Underworld of the Dead.

    Grendel strode down a flight of spiralling steps that travelled downwards through a vast and seemingly endless cavern filled with nothing but darkness. The only light in the underworld was the blue flames that filled the floating braziers that floated off to the sides of the spiralling stair case. The braziers floated in such a way that they aligned with each other making the spiralling staircase look like a giant spine that was attached to a ceiling of obsidian.

    And as Grendel descended down this impossible staircase he didn¡¯t travel alone, for trailing behind him was the entire werewolf family from the Magic School he had infiltrated only a few days ago.

    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how this is possible,¡± said Morana as she looked out across the vast emptiness and darkness that seemed to fill the underworld.

    ¡°Simple if you know the right magic every grave and mausoleum is a door into the underworld,¡± said Grendel unconcerned by Morana¡¯s confusion, as he was more focused on walking down the marble steps.

    ¡°No, I understand that but how can we be entering into Erebus, the Ancient Greek Underworld from the surface of Mars?¡± asked Morana clearly confused at the idea that the Underworld was here as well as back on Earth.

    ¡°Simple really,¡± said Grendel not bothering to look over his shoulder at the confused werewolf, ¡°the Underworld is beneath all worlds. It doesn¡¯t matter where the underworld was first created, whether it was on Earth, on Mars, or elsewhere. All that matters is that the legends that surround the stories say it was under the earth, under the world. Once that is established every Underworld you have ever heard about, and everyone you haven¡¯t, exist beneath the surface of every world in the universe.¡±

    ¡°And this is how you¡¯re going to get us to this new world you promised us?¡± asked Aaron Reinhard curiosity and scepticism contained equally in his voice.

    ¡°Indeed, we only need reach the bottom of these stairs and then get Charon to transport us across,¡± said Grendel as he continued to watch the staircase, just in case they encountered a gargoyle or some other creature that might hinder their passage down the staircase.

    ¡°And how much longer will that take?¡± asked Aaron clearly aware they had been walking a while and were seemingly not really descending down to the bottom of the stairwell.

    ¡°As long as it takes,¡± said Grendel with annoyance, not really aimed at Aaron as the stairs had a bad habit of changing their length every time he came down here.

    ¡°That¡¯s not really inspiring me with confidence,¡± said Aaron as he glanced at Syr Erikson, the werewolf that he had fallen in love with.

    ¡°Aaron¡¯s right, how much longer until we reach the bottom?¡± asked Syr not just to support Aaron, but also because she was curious at the nature of the stairs, as she had recognised that something otherworldly was at play.

    ¡°Mum he¡¯s helping us, trust him,¡± said Morana with reproach, as she didn¡¯t like the idea of her parents ganging up on Grendel, or showing any form of disrespect or ungratefulness.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t being disrespectful Morana. I was simply enquiring into the nature of the stairs, because it¡¯s obvious that they do not follow any form of physics that we are familiar with,¡± explained Syr as she poked at one of the hand rails that was lit by the beautiful, blue fires that floated near the stairs.

    ¡°They don¡¯t,¡± said Morana having clearly not realised the stairs she was walking on were somehow eldritch in nature.

    ¡°Yes, they seem to alter their gradient with each passing step,¡± said Syr as she looked at the steps beneath her feet with paranoia, as if she was afraid that the steps would turn into a giant slide at the least optimal moment.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mum, I didn¡¯t notice,¡± said Morana, a bit chest fallen at the fact she had snapped at her mother.

    ¡°It not your fault you¡¯re looking forward to your new home,¡± said Syr as she reached out and gave her daughter a hug, that conveyed an endless maternal love and support.

    ¡°Its fine,¡± said Grendel as he turned to look at the three trailing behind him, ¡°you¡¯ve nothing to apologise for. I understand your fear and I admire your courage to choose this option out of all the options I presented to you.¡±

    ¡°The ability to go someplace where we can all flourish without hindering one another,¡± said Aaron as he spoke up in gratitude to Grendel, ¡°That¡¯s worth a thousand trips through the underworld. Besides we¡¯re here I think.¡±

    Spinning on his clawed feet, Grendel could see that they were now at the bottom of the stairwell and had just arrived at the dock for Charon who was standing idle by waiting for his living passengers.

    Twitching his left eye in irritation, all the while coming to certainty that the stairs were intentionally messing with him, Grendel walked forward to speak to Charon.

    ¡°Charon, four to cross over to Erebus,¡± said Grendel with an even tone as he wanted to see what sort of mood was prevalent amongst the denizens of the underworld.

    ¡°You¡¯re really getting your use out of that free pass aren¡¯t you,¡± said Charon in an impossibly deep voice, especially since Charon, at least for the moment looked like a skeleton in a robe.

    ¡°It was needed,¡± said Grendel as he glanced back at the family of three that was hanging back waiting for the ok from Grendel.

    ¡°It always is,¡± said Charon, his voice making it impossible to say what he thought of the situation.

    ¡°May we approach?¡± asked Morana from the base of the steps, as she had grown impatient for the journey to continue.

    ¡°You may all approach,¡± said Charon with a gentle wave of his skeleton hand, one that somehow managed to convey more emotion than anything else about him.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Ferryman,¡± said Syr with a curtsy as she bowed to the one that let souls cross the River Styx.

    ¡°The pleasure is all mine. Few and far between are passengers that carry within a heartbeat, and to know that I am transporting those few to help their life instead of to help doom them, brings a warmth to these bones,¡± said Charon as he returned a bow to the three living beings upon his wharf.

    ¡°All right please get on board we¡¯ll head on off,¡± said Grendel as he gave Charon a disappointed stare at the fact that Charon could never be so polite to him.

    Hopping aboard the ferry, the four of them sat down as Charon started to push the ferry down the river. A river that seemed to snake ever onward, all the while the darkness of Erebus clung about the boat as if it was a living wall. A wall that seemed to move with them making the journey both terrifying and at the same time exhilarating as the brief glimpses of land showcased perhaps never before seen corners of reality.

    Eventually the boat reached the end of the passage with the darkness pulling back to reveal a wharf that was lined with lanterns filled with blue wisps of light that gently bobbed up and down.

    Pulling into the wharf, Charon guided the ferry to a stop and a plank seemed to snake out of the boat and attach itself to the wharf without anyone having to touch it. A feat that made Aaron raise an eyebrow in surprise but not bother to otherwise comment.

    ¡°Alright everyone off of the boat,¡± said Grendel with a wave of his hand as he tried to get the family off the boat, only for Aaron to turn and look at Charon, the Ferryman looking like the iconic visage of Death itself.

    ¡°Thank you for your aid with this,¡± said Aaron as he bowed his head in thanks.

    ¡°It was nothing grand¡­¡± said Charon clearly intending to say more only for Aaron to keep speaking.

    ¡°It was help nonetheless, therefore please take this token of appreciation,¡± said Aaron as he held up a small rectangular device.

    Chuckling at the sight of the latest communication device that functioned as a computer, gaming device and more amongst the UEF, Charon shook his head in mirth.

    ¡°I have no need of your devices,¡± said Charon as he pulled back a single layer of his robes to reveal that he had several dozen devices stashed away in his robes, devices that dated back to the dawn of the electronic entertainment market.

    ¡°Is that a legendary Atari, the last best selling console of the 2100s?¡± said Syr from the wharf as she recognised one of the devices that Charon had lining his robes.

    Pausing both Charon and Grendel exchanged a look at the idea that the Atari was considered to be one of the best consoles ever created. A notion both silently agreed showed how poorly history had been documented. Yet neither opted to inform Syr how badly she had been misinformed.

    ¡°It is not the device that I give to you but the knowledge that is contained with,¡± explained Aaron as he continued to offer up the device. ¡°It contains information restricted to only humans like myself.¡±

    ¡°Why do you think that I am in need of this information?¡± asked Charon genuinely curious.

    ¡°Because knowledge is the only gift that you could be interested in,¡± said Aaron unbothered by the fact that he was staring an embodiment of Death in the face.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Charon finally as he accepted the device from Aaron with a flourish before making it disappear and reappear in his collection of devices that lined his robe.

    ¡°You might not get the best of reception down here,¡± warned Morana as she welcomed her father onto the wharf.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry little one,¡± said Charon as he straightened up to his true height, ¡°I get perfect reception down here.¡±

    ¡°You do? How?¡± asked Grendel as he stepped off the ferry, and turned back to look at Charon.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say when I walk into my network provider looking like this, I get the best deals of a lifetime,¡± said Charon as he allowed a bit of dry humour enter into his impossible voice.

    Shaking his head at what Charon had said Grendel looked up to find that Charon was gone and that the wharf was now deserted. Annoyed that Charon had vanished without saying farewell, Grendel turned about and began leading the family behind him deeper into Erebus to the court of Hades. King of the Underworld.

    Standing in the halls of the underworld before Hades upon his throne, Grendel was once again reminded that Hades was something other even compared to most gods that lived on Mars. For Hades was so still and composed that he made all those that looked upon him question whether he was alive or a sculpture made from shadows.

    Yet even the stillness and the fact he looked to be made from iron and shadows was not enough to truly make Hades look unearthly. Hades¡¯ oddness came from the simple fact that there seemed to be no humanity bound within the divinity before them, a fact that all present could feel.

    ¡°I see you have brought more travellers to my realm,¡± said Hades in such a monotone voice that Grendel had to wonder if he gave machines lessons.

    ¡°Indeed I have,¡± said Grendel with a bow as he gave a quick glance to the empty throne beside Hades¡¯, the throne of Queen Persephone.  Not sure if she was present or not, Grendel straightened and stared Hades in the eyes knowing that Hades respected those that stood their ground when dealing with him.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Hades, simply.

    ¡°I wish to transport them to a new world where they can live out a proper life not bound in between the War of Science and Magic.¡± said Grendel truly meaning it. ¡°I was thinking Alfarune, as their destination.¡±

    Not responding to Grendel¡¯s words in any way shape of form, Hades sat there immobile for several agonising second before he spoke.

    ¡°Why do you wish to take these people from Mars and resettle them to Alfarune?¡± asked Hades, his words so even that they managed to loop around to being biting, as it was clear that Hades taking the extra effort to clarify his question irked him. ¡°Why do you wish to remove them from the War of Science and Magic?¡±

    Hearing the true meaning behind Hades¡¯ question, Grendel paused as he tried to evaluate Hades, but as always he seemed to come up short, as the face of the god could be used to teach statues to be emotionless. Deciding to simply tell the truth, Grendel spoke and he hoped that Hades would agree with his logic.

    ¡°I have often said that Mars is a crucible for those that live there, and crucibles are designed to create things, especially ones the size of planets. However once the synthesis has been completed, once your desired creation is done, you don¡¯t leave it in the crucible. You take it out and use it. The same applies here. I want to take them to Alfarune for one simple reason. I want to ensure this union of Science and Magic can flourish,¡± said Grendel as he tried to impress upon Hades the reason the family behind him needed to be preserved.

    ¡°And how do you know that they are your desired finished creation? How do you know the project was successful?¡± asked Hades, the stillness about him making the question much more ominous.

    ¡°Because of what I saw, because of what I know,¡± said Grendel quickly hoping to prevent Hades from reaching a decision that he didn¡¯t want.

    ¡°If a romance between those created by science and those created by magic was enough for you to consider them to be done, then we would have an endless procession of people passing through here,¡± said Hades calmly, yet his words stopped Grendel cold. ¡°So I ask again, why do you want to take these people from Mars and resettle them to Alfarune?¡±

    Staring at the god before him, a god whose eyes seemed to peer deep within Grendel in a way that very few other gods could, Grendel was truly at a loss for words. He didn¡¯t know what Hades wanted to hear and he didn¡¯t want to have to return the Eriksons back to Mars so that the Elf Terrorist would find them and snuff them out.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°I just want to save them,¡± said Grendel at last, as that was the only thing that he could think of to say. ¡°I want to see them flourish in a place where they can live a long and beautiful life.¡±

    ¡°You have spent too long trying to play at hardboiled detective,¡± said Hades with a voice that was still monotone yet somehow softer.

    ¡°What?¡± responded Grendel unsure, as he had failed to understand Hades¡¯ change in topic.

    ¡°You spent too long trying to manipulate others that you were doing it subconsciously to me,¡± said Hades his voice somehow gentle despite never changing tone, ¡°and I cannot and will not be manipulated.¡±

    Blinking in shock, Grendel suppressed a shiver as he realised that he had come so very close to ruining his plans simply because he had tried to manipulate a friend.

    ¡°I apologise,¡± said Grendel with heartfelt regret tainting his voice, a regret that Hades seemed to accept as an apology, as for the first time since the four living beings had entered into Hades¡¯ hall he turned his head to look at the Eriksons.

    ¡°You may approach,¡± said Hades as he beckoned the three who stood at the back of his hall to approach him.

    Shifting nervously the three mortals walked forward to stand before Hades, so that they were standing at the base of his throne next to Grendel.

    Standing up, Hades descended down from his throne to stand before the three of them. And as he stood there he looked at each in turn. He surveyed Aaron Reinhart noting the buzz of his still active nano-machines. He looked at Syr Erikson, who while fascinated to see a god in the flesh, was also trembling with the barely contained desire to run. Finally Hades turned his attention to Morana who was looking back with just as much curiosity.

    Morana looked at the ruggedly handsome face of Hades, a face that seemed to be made of flesh yet had an almost marble-like quality to it. And deep beneath the flesh there seemed to be veins and seams of iron running throughout the god. What¡¯s more his eyes seemed to be made from onyx, clearly making the god out as the ruler of the underworld and all the minerals and wealth found within the world.

    ¡°What do you see little one?¡± asked Hades as he put effort into making his voice sound gentle.

    ¡°You look sad¡­ and lonely,¡± said Morana as she continued to take in the god who wore clothes made from rolling shadows and darkness.

    Twitching his head at the words that Morana had uttered, Grendel looked at the teenage werewolf in surprise that she had managed to see any emotion within the fabled, stoic god.

    ¡°Do you all know who I am?¡± asked Hades as he looked at all three of the mortals before him.

    ¡°You are the god Hades, ruler of the Underworld and God of Death,¡± said Syr as she pounced on an opportunity to use her teaching background and her knowledge of history.

    ¡°No,¡± said Hades solemnly, ¡°I am not the god of death; I just rule over the land where the dead come upon death. I am the ruler and guardian of the underworld, and my greatest of duties is to ensure that sanctity of souls.¡±

    ¡°Most modern history books and mythology books say you are evil. They say you were evil because of your role as the god of death,¡± said Aaron Reinhard as he came to the defence of his lover.

    ¡°Now that you know the truth of my existence what do you think is the real reason?¡± asked Hades clearly testing the three that stood before him.

    ¡°You refused to give the dead back, despite having the power to do so,¡± said Aaron clearly aware of some of the stories of Orpheus and how he had almost rescued his lover from the depths of the underworld.

    ¡°You refuse to be manipulated through prayer and offerings,¡± said Morana as she looked at the unyielding figure of Hades that stood at least 3 metres tall.

    ¡°You knew the meaning of love and yet were not swayed by it,¡± said Syr, her voice quivering slightly as she glanced at the empty throne.

    ¡°And yet every once in a while I was,¡± said Hades as the ghost of a smile seemed to flicker across his face. ¡°Orpheus became famous for failing to save his loved one from the Underworld, others succeeded. Some because they had rings of invisibility even my eyes could not overturn, others through guile, while yet others managed in ways I would rather not recount. A warning to you Grendel for your future endeavours, never underestimate a love fuelled human, they can do some insane things.¡±

    Taking the warning seriously, especially since it was Hades that was the one that was warning him, Grendel bobbed his reptilian head in agreement.

    ¡°The three of you may pass through my realm and go to Alfarune,¡± said Hades as he turned to ascend back up to his throne.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Grendel and the others in unison, all of them clearly relieved that they had managed to pass Hades¡¯ test.

    ¡°You are most welcome,¡± said Hades as he sat back down upon his iron throne that was adorned with obsidian and onyx. ¡°When you die, mention my name to the one that comes to collect you. I will find you a peaceful place here in my realm if you so wish.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the offer,¡± said Aaron carefully, ¡°but I will have to wait and see my options before I make such a decision.

    ¡°Very well then,¡± said Hades before gesturing to a door that seemed to appear in the side of the hall out of nowhere, ¡°follow this passage and you will reach the world you desire. I wish you well.¡±

    Understanding that they were being dismissed, the dragon, werewolves and human bowed and saluted to the god of the underworld, before they headed out through the door and into a brand new world.

    And as they left, the God upon his throne sat and waited with nigh infinite patience for the next set of souls to come through, regardless of whether these souls were bound within flesh or not.

    He waited entombed in darkness, stillness and silence much like the dead he ruled over.

    Nearing the end of the tunnel that led to the world of Alfarune, Grendel squinted at the light that was coming from the end of the tunnel, a light that was truly different from anything created by Sol back upon either Earth or Mars.

    Shielding his reptilian eyes from the light, Grendel emerged out onto the surface world of the planet Alfarune, a world that revolved around the Binary star system of Sirius, what some people called the Dog Star.

    Letting his eyes adjust to the glare of the world he found himself in, Grendel lowered his hand and looked out at the rolling lush fields of purple grass and leaves, a field that seemed to go on and on, until it reached numerous tall towers that seemed to be made from amethyst crystals.

    Recognising the city for one that he had visited when he had come to Alfarune once before, Grendel turned to look down the length of the tunnel and beckon his wards to come forth and into the light of the two suns.

    First to exit the tunnel was Morana and the moment she was out of the tunnel, her green eyes widened in surprise and then a smile of joy split her face as she resisted the desire to change into a giant wolf and run through the rolling purple fields of grass. Yet even as she resisted her impulses to run about, her hair was caught by the wind of the planet and spun about her, giving her a look of youthful joy.

    Following after Morana, her parents took in the new world they stood upon with wonder filling their face, yet there was a trace of worry as they looked about at something so utterly alien. For both of them knew that starting this new life could be a monumental challenge. Especially if things went wrong.

    ¡°The city I was telling you about is over there,¡± said Grendel as he caught onto the traces of controlled worry in the eyes of Aaron and Syr.

    Shifting his gaze from Morana to the city in the distance, Aaron seemed to relax, before he frowned as a new worry formed within him.

    ¡°Is that UEF technology?¡± asked Aaron, his voice catching at the idea that the UEF had managed to get here before them.

    ¡°Yes and no,¡± said Grendel as he composed himself so that he wasn¡¯t getting swept away in Morana¡¯s unbound excitement. ¡°While it is indeed UEF technology it is not something the UEF has control over.¡±

    ¡°What is it precisely?¡± asked Aaron even as the nano-machine cloud that surrounded him told him that they had detected an archaic network system.

    ¡°Tell me Syr, as a teacher of history, have you ever heard about the Orion Liner Project?¡± asked Grendel as he focused in on Syr whose mouth had dropped open at the question. For it was apparent she knew what Grendel was talking about.

    ¡°Mum you know what that is?¡± asked Morana as she focused in on her mother, having turned her attention away from the purple grass.

    ¡°Yes I do,¡± said Syr as she turned to look at her daughter beckoning for Morana to come closer. ¡°The Orion Liner Project, or OLP, was a faster than light project created by the UEF over a hundred years ago. They tried to send people to Alpha-Centauri, the closest star system to our Solar Sea as some people call it. The OLP was said to have malfunctioned and exploded, or maybe it was disintegrated. Regardless, it was destroyed and that line of research was suspended indefinitely.¡±

    ¡°They ended up appearing here, not even they are sure about what happened or why,¡± said Grendel solemnly as he was aware that not all of the astronauts had made it to this world alive.

    ¡°So they landed here and the elves welcomed them?¡± asked Morana as she looked at the city in the distance in awe and a hint of suspicion.

    ¡°Yes, they welcomed them with open arms and helped them adjust to this world and they even managed to merge magic and science together to create the society they have today. One of true harmony,¡± said Grendel as he smiled at the fact the civilisation that was here was living proof that his ideas could succeed. ¡°Although, they do have their problems. They won¡¯t let me smoke my cigars here. Apparently the purple leaves are also filled with alcohol. Makes them very combustible.¡±

    ¡°My heart weeps for your problems,¡± said Aaron snidely as he gave the dragon a guarded look before asking a question of his own. ¡°How did the elves get here? I thought they originated on Earth as well?¡±

    ¡°They did originate from Earth but after the rise of technology and the fall of Norse Mythology they decided to leave Earth. They came here after they left,¡± explained Grendel as he could see what Aaron was after with his line of questioning.

    ¡°I¡¯m just curious if inter-galactic magic is something so simple that one day we wake up to find the UEF or the Rustwood elves looking for us in the local bazaar,¡± explained Aaron as he admitted the thought had just come to him now as he finally saw the evidence laid out before him.

    ¡°They used a variation of the Bifrost magic, a spell that took an enormous amount of magic and time to create,¡± admitted Grendel as he looked over his shoulder at the amethyst city.

    ¡°How does that work?¡± asked Syr clearly aware of what the Bifrost magic was. ¡°I thought the Bifrost was magic that only allowed you to travel between set realms, not planets.¡±

    ¡°Normally yes but with a little human imagination and inspiration they were able to realise that they could use the spell to travel to any location that has a rainbow,¡± explained Grendel as he looked back and forth at the people before him.

    ¡°So only when everyone worked together was it possible to do the impossible,¡± said Morana as she looked at her parents before looking back at the city on the horizon.

    Growing silent the four of them took a long moment to look out at the magnificent city on the horizon and the world that flowed out about them, especially the unusual grass that was in every direction possible.

    ¡°Is this what you are trying to create on Mars?¡± asked Morana as she looked back at the dragon who had changed and, truthfully, saved their lives. ¡°Is this why you won¡¯t stay here?¡±

    ¡°No I am trying to create something much more than this,¡± said Grendel with a seriousness that made the three before him grow still as they waited to hear what he had to say.

    ¡°Mars is a crucible but it is also being put through a crucible. It will be reforged into something much more grand than anything that can be found here,¡± explained Grendel as he gestured out at the vast world before them. ¡°This is a fusion of Norse Myth and Human Science, a good one at that, one that continues to grow even now. But what I seek to create on Mars, what I seek to turn Mars into, is a perfect fusion of Science and Magic, from every corner of the universe and beyond.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± said Morana with a nod of her head before turning to look at the city in the distance. ¡°So how are we getting there?¡±

    ¡°I thought that the two of you could get a free run in, while Aaron and I walk over there,¡± said Grendel as he gestured to the two werewolves to run through the open fields.

    Perking up at the idea, the two werewolves quickly glanced at Aaron before taking off after they saw him nod his head in reassurance.

    Racing off the two werewolves were already into their beast form before they were half way into the field and once they were they started to frolic in the grass, playing and racing for the first time in their life, no longer hemmed in by walls and fences. They were free to run to the far corners of the world and they knew it in their bones and for the first time in their lives they howled with a joy that was all but unimaginable.

    Seeing his lover and daughter race about all the while filling the air with a music that spoke of being set free, Aaron glanced at the humanoid dragon next to him and spoke up.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Aaron. ¡°Thank you for all your gifts to me.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Grendel as he gave the former principal a glance that conveyed his confusion.

    ¡°After our meeting in that filling room I looked you up. I tried to find any scrap of information that I could, even if it was rumours and hearsay,¡± admitted Aaron as he continued to watch his family roll around in the grass. ¡°I found a rumour about you, one that made me trust you completely.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my last name is tied to being able to investigate gods,¡± said Grendel with a shrug at the fact that he had managed to outwit the gods. Although the idea that someone was leaking stories about him being able to best gods was not exactly something that Grendel was enthused about, especially if it ended up revealing how he had bested Zeus.

    ¡°The rumour stated that 50 years ago you managed to get together enough blackmail evidence to force every fertility god and goddess on Mars to make it so that humans and mythic beings could breed with each other,¡± said Aaron as he turned to look at Grendel to truly see if the dragon had any tells that would give away the truth of the matter.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know your source, but they got a lot of the facts wrong,¡± said Grendel as he involuntarily went to grab a cigar before realising that he couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°But there is some truth to what was said, in that you helped ensure that Syr and I could have a child,¡± said Aaron clearly overawed by what he was saying and what was before him.

    ¡°That is a story from back when I first started my career on Mars. And it wasn¡¯t every god on Mars, I only foiled a plot that would have prevented what was already possible,¡± said Grendel clarifying he wasn¡¯t responsible for Morana¡¯s existence.

    ¡°Even so, you helped ensure that her and many others came into this world,¡± said Aaron with traces of tears in his eyes. ¡°If you have ever a need for my aid you will have everything you need and more.¡±

    ¡°Hopefully I never will need to call in that favour,¡± said Grendel as he nodded his head in acceptance at what Aaron was offering up. ¡°Now then let¡¯s get you to your new home. Once you¡¯re all set up, I can head on home.¡±

    Moving on, the two of them began walking towards Amethyst City all the while Syr and Morana played in the grass, both taken by the sense of freedom they had been given. Yet even lost to the wonder of this new world, they trailed after Aaron, as they didn¡¯t want to lose him from their life.

    Continuing onward the four of them arrived at the Amethyst City and once inside they started to set up the new lives of the Erikson family.

    Grendel returned to his home with a contented sigh, knowing that he had managed to fix up all the loose ends from his previous case. The Erikson family was safe, the generals were celebrating their victory, and Lieutenant Maxwell Clarke was getting a promotion. The elf terrorist had been driven underground and would not likely reappear for a few decades. Everything had managed to end in a way that benefited Grendel¡¯s vision for the future. And as such he could now focus in on his next case whatever that may be.

    Walking through his office door, Grendel did a quick check of the office to make sure that everything was in place.

    Grendel looked to make sure that there was no damage to the various items he had hoarded away in his little office. He checked to make sure they were in the same places he had left them. And once he had confirmed that they were all where he had left them, Grendel took a moment to survey them. Some were keepsakes from cases he had cleared or people he had saved, others were treasures that he had held onto for generations, but most were things that he had simply amassed due to wanting to match the image of his hobby.

    Finishing his survey of the front office of his business, Grendel turned to the one person that was in the room, or more precisely the android that was in his room.

    ¡°Welcome back, Detective Grendel,¡± said the synthetic voice of his secretary, a seductively beautiful android in the shape of a woman. An android that Grendel had saved from the scrap heap long ago, and who he now employed.

    ¡°Thank you, Andromeda,¡± said Grendel as he looked at the android before him who was seated in her office chair, a computer in front of her, a computer that was clearly from a different century. ¡°Having fun playing against humans?¡±

    ¡°Always. Although sometimes when I beat them they become scary competent,¡± admitted Andromeda Fontana, as she placed the control device of the machine down on the desk. ¡°How was your latest job?¡±

    ¡°Complicated,¡± said Grendel simply, as he didn¡¯t want to go over everything at present, ¡°hopefully my next job won¡¯t be so taxing.¡±

    ¡°I already have a potential client ready for you,¡± said Andromeda, as she stood up her metallic skin gleamed in the archaic light of the 20<sup>th</sup> century.

    ¡°Oh?¡± asked Grendel, curious about who had stopped by during his absence.

    ¡°She¡¯s waiting for you in the interview room,¡± said Andromeda as she pointed towards a translucent glass door, a file in her other hand. ¡°She¡¯s been waiting for a couple of days.¡±

    Processing what his secretary had just told him Grendel was aware that the only one who would likely wait for such a length of time would be the divine or the undead, especially since Andromeda refused to feed the guests. Either of which would be a very base request, one that would involve scandal and decadence.

    Smiling at the prospect of his next job, Grendel pulled a cigar from his pocket, lit it with a wisp of fiery breath and took the file from Andromeda. Yet before he could walk in Grendel handed Andromeda the broken vinyl recording device Nidus had destroyed.

    ¡°I guess you are going to want a spare,¡± said Andromeda, with a sight as she knew that she would be the one to put the device back together, to retrieve the data.

    ¡°Indeed,¡± said Grendel before he picked up his replacement vinyl recorder and headed into the interview room.

    Once inside, Grendel could see that his guest and prospective employer was Hera, the Goddess of Marriage and wife of Zeus. Already guessing what kind of job he was about to receive, Grendel smiled, his golden eyes gleaming with delight at the fact that he could use this next job to set up things for ensuring the crucible of Mars would be sustained.

    ¡°My dear Hera, what brings you here?¡± asked Grendel, only to receive an answer that both conferred his suspicions, yet at the same time confused him and filled him with concern.

    ¡°It¡¯s Zeus; I think he is cheating on me. He saw a beautiful woman and then he did something he¡¯s never done before¡­ he called her ugly¡­¡±

    THE END

 The Lost Skies of Aesean:

    Quin Daedal sat in the darkness of the surface world.

    Or to be more precise, he sat within a reconstruction of the darkness of the surface world. It was a piece of magic that allowed those that sat within it to experience the same oppressive silence and darkness that was up on the surface of the world. The reason that Quin sat within this piece of magic was because soon he would be heading up to the surface and everyone that did so needed to pass tests to make sure that they could survive the infinite darkness waiting up there. Even if they had gone before.

    Letting the endless ticking of time pass, Quin forced himself to remain calm, for in the absolute silence he could feel and even hear the beating of his own heart. A beating that seemed to grow louder and more erratic the longer he listened, although in truth anyone would have that happen to them if not properly trained.

    This was why Quin smiled as he forced himself back into a state of calm and tranquillity, for he had long ago managed to best the oppressive darkness of the surface world and now it was something that he could do with ease. What¡¯s more Quin had managed to find a way to help sharpen his mind so that the gnawing nothingness of the world above would not be able to erode his sanity.

    Opening his brown eyes, Quin could not tell the difference between having his eyes opened or closed, but that didn¡¯t matter as the spell he needed to cast now would be the deciding factor for whether he would be able to go.

    Whispering the words on the smallest amount of breath he could get away with, Quin cast his magic and then he felt a stinging from his eyes as the magic settled into his open eyes. And with a few blinks Quin could now see through the darkness that swirled about him as thick as steel and just as unyielding. Looking down at his own hands, Quin saw the world as a blue image, as if everything was tinged with a blue flame that coated the outside of an object.

    Checking to make sure that it was functioning properly, Quin flexed his hands into various different shapes, all in a set sequence. Confirming the spell worked, Quin looked up at the board of wizards, sorcerers, and cleric that were in the room looking back at him, each one evaluating his actions to make sure that he would survive the trip.

    Bobbing his head, Quin focused in on a particular member of the board, Xenedra Owling who stared back with a furrow creasing her elven face.

    Seeing this, Quin wanted to reassure Xenedra that he would be ok and that she was worrying for nothing. Yet to do so here and now in the middle of the test would render him invalid so Quin waited for the board to pass him.

    A decision that was soon reached much to Quin¡¯s delight and Xenedra¡¯s growing dread.

    ¡°Are you sure that you want to go up to the surface,¡± said Xenedra, her voice laced with fear at the foreboding doom that she had for what awaited Quin upon the surface world.

    ¡°Of course I do. They have need for my skills,¡± said Quin as he quickly and routinely went over the various provisions and other items that he would need upon the surface.

    ¡°They can find other wizards to help them recover the statues,¡± said Xenedra, not really believing she would change Quin¡¯s mind but still wanting to try even at this late a point in the process.

    Hearing the worry in Xenedra¡¯s voice, Quin paused as he fiddled with his backpack and turned to look at Xenedra. Seeing the dread hidden behind her elven training, Quin walked over and sat on his bed next to her. The two of them were facing each other and were so close that it would take only moving a few centimetres for them to kiss.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Quin as he gripped Xenedra¡¯s hands in his own, as he desperately tried to see what it was that worried her.

    ¡°I¡¯m sensing something,¡± said Xenedra. ¡°I think that if you go, you won¡¯t return.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been three times before,¡± said Quin as he tried to reassure Xenedra that he would be able to return from the world above. ¡°And I¡¯ve always come back unharmed, mind and soul intact.¡±

    ¡°I know, but I feel it in my bones,¡± said Xenedra as she tried to convince Quin what she felt was not idle worry.

    ¡°I understand,¡± said Quin slowly, ¡°but if I don¡¯t go, the likelihood that the rest of my group doesn¡¯t return is so much greater, than if I was present. I can¡¯t force them to bear that risk alone, especially after training with them for so long.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± said Xenedra, her voice filled with resignation at the fact that even if Quin changed his mind now he might still be forced to accompany the rest of his team up to the surface. ¡°I just hate to see you throw away a promising wizarding career, especially for a human who has managed to outpace centuries old elves.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not over a century old,¡± said Quin with a smile as he looked at Xenedra with amusement in his eyes, and something else.

    ¡°Our teachers were, and you made them look like fools,¡± said Xenedra as she remembered the class when they had first met some ten years ago.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make them all look like fools again with a brand new piece of magic. I promise,¡± said Quin with a smile, his promise making Xenedra smile in turn as her blue eyes seemed to swim with emotions that had never been acted upon.

    ¡°Come on help me get everything ready,¡± said Quin as he stood up quickly before he too could act upon the emotions welling up within him. ¡°I don¡¯t have much time to get ready before I need to be at the Waygate.¡±

    Nodding her head in agreement, Xenedra got up and helped Quin find everything he needed, including his spellbook, before the two of them walked from Quin¡¯s room to the Waygate.

    Bathed in the light of the Luminous Nimbus, underground clouds that created golden light during the day, Quin surveyed those present in the marshalling grounds next to the Waygate. He looked from the heads of the various different faculties that existed in the underground world to his fellow teammates to others that had come to see the party off. The last being a rarity as no one celebrated adventurers leaving for the surface. They only celebrated when the adventurers returned.

    Shifting his attention away from the throng of curious observers that had come to see the latest group to be sent on what many considered to be a suicide mission, Quin turned his mind toward his teammates.

    First up there was Rathe Wargen, a tall, hulking, human barbarian that had come from the edges of the known underground. A place where Rathe had made a living slaying any monsters or other creatures that sought to invade the dominions of Underaes. Rathe¡¯s blond hair and blue eyes marked him out as a descendent of the Mountainfolk, the same Mountainfolk that had come to hate the enclosed spaces of the underground. This fact alone explained why Rathe was willing to come to the surface. However from the conversations Quin had had with the man, he knew that Rathe had other reasons.

    Next was Jade Goldwing, a five foot tall, auburn haired, green eyed dwarf cleric that worshipped the Goddess of Metal, Aes. The same god that had given her name to the world that they all currently lived within. Yet despite being literally the source for the name of the world, many were suspicious of the goddess due to the fact that the surface world had been turned to nothing but pure metal, with many wondering if Aes was the actual reason that they all lived underground. This knowledge alone was enough to make the reason that Jade had decided to come on this voyage obvious. The cleric sought to make sure that the name of her goddess was not sullied with rumour and conspiracy.

    Finally there was Helena Darksome, a black haired, blue eyed half-elf that was to be their guide for the surface world. The rumour about her was that she had started life as a thief and a rogue, seeking only money so that she could live a comfortable life. A life she never managed to find, so she had ended up here as a guide and a survivor of the surface with a reported seven successful runs upon the surface. Although some rumours said she had survived more.

    Finishing scrutinising his fellow adventurers, Quin turned to look at the heads of the various organisations that dotted the Underaes, a mixture of elves, dwarves, men and halflings. Some were old having lived to the maximum age of their elfish lives, over one thousand years. Others were young and spry, as they had earned their positions not through experience but by great deeds. This was not the only discrepancies between the various groups, as some were masters of magic, either arcane or divine, while others were warriors that sought conquest and glory.

    Each group sought their own goals, each seeking to achieve things through their own means. They would often jostle with each other for positions of power and influence, yet they were all here united by a single desire.

    The desire to reclaim the world above.

    Focusing in on the head of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, a grey haired human with a recorded 49 successful runs upon the surface world, Quin saw that Oswald Redmar was looking back with the same level of scrutiny. Not able to match the intense gaze of the man that managed to single handily reinvigorate the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, Quin turned his gaze away allowing his messy, black hair to partially obscure his face.

    Seeing him shift his head about, Jade looked up at the slender human to her left and with a sharp nudge from her elbow made Quin stand up straight once again.

    Seeing the exchange between the two different adventurers before him, a ghost of a smile split across Oswald¡¯s face, yet it was gone just as soon as it formed, because something else drew the master¡¯s attention. Standing up straight so that he was at his full height, Oswald was aware of the time and with a wave of his hand signalled for the crowd of various different forces to quiet down so that he could commence his farewell speech.

    As soon as the crowd quieted, everyone turned their attention to Oswald as he began to speak his words echoing out for all to hear, and each word ringing with strength that belied his age.

    ¡°We are gathered here today to see off these four, brave adventurers who will head up to the world above seeking to bring back lost treasures, forgotten records and even the remains of those that had come before them,¡± said Oswald, his voice commanding such authority that none so much as breathed let alone made a single sound.

    ¡°Thousands of years ago, we lived upon the surface of this world. We were the undisputed rulers of everything that was beneath the skies of our beloved world of Aesean,¡± said Oswald as he launched into a history lesson that everyone here knew, yet none dared to interrupt as they knew what he said still carried weight to it. ¡°Then the calamity happened. The sun, moon and stars fell into darkness and we lost the skies above. We had to retreat into the caverns beneath the surface of Aesean, these great and vast sprawling caverns that we call Underaes. More have been created thanks in part to Dwarf and Halfling endeavours, but we are not cowards and we are not defeatists. We will not accept that the surface world is beyond our reach. We will return to reclaim it. And these four brave souls are a part of this endeavour, this crusade. Let their names be etched into the walls of Mythril and let it be known forever more they dared to reclaim the sky and CHALLENGE THE IMPOSSIBLE!¡±

    Seeing that Oswald had finished his speech, the others present started to applaud, yet there was a distinct lack of joy to it, or even real enthusiasm to the clapping. It was done out of tradition and because Oswald was glaring at everyone present to make sure that they at least attempted to cheer on the assembled adventurers.

    Seeing Xenedra looking at him with concern and fear in her eyes, Quinn nodded his head at her and smiled trying to get her to see that he would return just like his previous trips. Yet when that didn¡¯t seem to sway her, Quin looked about at the others present, especially at his companions.

    Each of them had the same steely eyed expression that he had. Each one of them knew it in their bones that they would return. And each of his companions looked out at those that were concerned for them, if only because of professional responsibility, and each one of them was trying to reassure those present that they would return.

    Seeing that he was not the only one that had people concerned for him, Quin turned his gaze towards Oswald and saw a look of pride upon his face as he began to walk over to them. His steps even and measured as he came to stand before Quin and the others.

    ¡°I trust that you will return, and when you do, bring back with you something, anything that will help us,¡± said Oswald, his voice commanding, but beneath the level tone there was a note of pleading. ¡°We have toiled for far too long beneath the world and we need to reclaim what lies above. Or else we will lose ourselves down here and succumb to the darkness of the Underaes.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± said Quin as he made sure that his voice was filled with both stoic resolution and aspiration, an emotion that would allow Oswald to know that he would intend to fulfil his request.

    ¡°I will be waiting,¡± said Oswald as he turned to look at the rest of those present, ¡°for you all.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Rathe with a harsh laugh, ¡°we will return. Because there is nothing above that can threaten us. No beast, no man, no curse.¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± said Jade Goldwing, her thick accent making her sound much harsher than she probably intended.

    ¡°Very well then,¡± said Oswald as he walked back to the podium from which he had addressed the party. ¡°We will await your return in four weeks. And we wish you a safe and profitable journey.¡±

    Raising his hand into the air, Oswald held in his hand one of nine golden keys that were used to open the Waygate to the path that would lead them up to the surface. And as he raised his key to the sky, eight others also raised their own keys skyward. And once all the keys were held aloft they each began to glow with golden light.

    Streaking through the air, golden rays of light reached out from the keys and struck the Waygate, a giant golden double gate that was carved with all manner of symbols. A golden gate that was fashioned in the shape of a tree with symbols appearing on each of the tree¡¯s leaves. Between the branches of the tree were gaps through which the path they would need to take could be seen.

    Watching the gate open outward, Quin breathed in as he saw the iron pathway that led up and out of sight. Breathing out, Quin gave a half glance at Xenedra that was filled with confidence before he walked forward, the rest of his party walking in step with him. Although considering the height difference between them Jade was scurrying along, while Rathe was trying to walk slowly so that they could stay abreast of each other.

    Continuing to walk forward, the party walked out of sight from the leaders of the Underaes and as soon as they were out of sight the gates closed behind them. And as they closed none but Oswald himself heard the words he said in a half whisper.

    ¡°May you not find the horror that waits above. Godspeed.¡±

    The path that Quin and his compatriots took was truly a breathtaking one.

    To reach the surface of the world of Aesean the party would be taking a path that led upward, however unlike what most believed, it wasn¡¯t a path that led through a tunnel in the earth. It was something much more visual. It was a winding staircase that wound around one of the giant pillars that supported the ceiling of the giant caverns that comprised the Underaes.

    A giant pillar that stretched hundreds, if not thousands of metres upward, a pillar that was made from the same stone as the rest of the underground. A pillar that dotted the landscape of the Underaes, making it look like it was holding up the false sky that covered the Underaes¡¯ ceiling.

    Yet despite the fact that the pillar was enormous enough to dwarf even the largest of cities in the Underaes, the path and the way up to the surface was a smooth enough trip that most would only take a day to reach the top. For an experienced party like the one that Quin was in, it would take even less.

    Quin stood at the edge of a landing platform looking out at the vast world that lay below his feet. The platform was so high up that even the greatest of the birds would fly this far up, a fact that made Quin feel he was truly above everything else within the Underaes.

    ¡°Stop standing by the edge, Quin. You¡¯re going to fall one of these days,¡± said Helena Darksome, her voice musical and enchanting just like any other elf¡¯s voice despite the fact that she was part human.

    ¡°I won¡¯t fall, after all I know the flying spell,¡± said Quin as he looked away from the dazzling sight of the sweeping and rolling green land and a golden burning cloud-sky.

    ¡°I know Quin, but why risk yourself on something silly,¡± countered Helena, her voice making it clear that she would not accept any further arguments.

    ¡°Come on Quin, get some lunch while we still have time,¡± said Jade as she called over from the makeshift camp that the four of them had set up for their meal.

    ¡°I¡¯m coming,¡± said Quin as he turned his back on the impossibly beautiful view that was before him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Quin,¡± said Rathe with a smile from where he sat, a small hunk of meat in his hand that he was eating with delight, as he looked out at the golden light that came from above. ¡°I don¡¯t get tired of seeing this either, they¡¯re just so used to being at the bottom of the Underaes that being so high is making their bones quiver.¡±

    ¡°My bones aren¡¯t quivering,¡± said Helena with a glare as she looked at the tall human with disdain. ¡°I simply have no desire to wait for Quin to get back up here if he falls. Let alone wait for another wizard to be chosen to replace him should he fail to land safely.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that would take too long,¡± said Quin as he sat down to eat the going away meal that they had prepared for the trip. For this would most likely be their last hot meal before they would be forced to live on all manner of stale rations and cold meals for the next four weeks.

    ¡°I think you over estimate your fellow wizard¡¯s desire to go on adventures,¡± said Jade as she gave Quin a sad look, one that conveyed the belief that Quin was sadly na?ve about the truth of his fellow wizards.

    ¡°Maybe, but I bet that a lot of them would go merely on the idea of besting me,¡± said Quin as he began to eat his meal.

    ¡°Not everyone seeks fame or greatness,¡± said Helena as she looked out over the vast underworld of Underaes. ¡°That goes for your fellow wizards; most only want knowledge and/or money.¡±

    ¡°Like you?¡± asked Rathe with humour in his voice as he teased Helena as the entire party knew enough of their collective history to know that was what Helena was always after.

    ¡°Of course,¡± said Helena without a hint of shame, and as she spoke she sat upon the ground cross legged and started to wolf down her food, all the while speaking between bites of her food. ¡°I just admit the truth to the rest of the world, when most others would simply hide it away.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t fault you for that,¡± said Jade as she gripped a small token of her faith. An icon in the shape of a hammer that had a shield embedded in it. A symbol of the Goddess Aes and how she was said to guard all those that worked with and shaped the metals of the world, both above and below. ¡°The world is filled with enough lies that even the smallest speck of honesty is to be commended.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry dwarf,¡± said Rathe as he flexed his arms to warm them up for their continued ascent up the winding path. ¡°None of us here are stupid enough to believe the lies about your goddess.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, but I would rather have proof one way or another,¡± said Jade as she looked upward with determined eyes.

    ¡°Then let us find it,¡± said Quin with a wide smile that conveyed his desire to change what the world thought of so many things.

    ¡°No one¡¯s found any evidence in either direction yet,¡± said Helena as she made sure to rein in what she considered to be Quin¡¯s childish impulses to solve all the world¡¯s problems.

    ¡°That just means the mystery has yet to be solved, not that it can¡¯t be solved,¡± said Quin with unwavering conviction, despite the fact that no one had found any evidence for millennia.

    ¡°Regardless of the truth we can¡¯t find it here, we need to get to the surface first, and we¡¯re only two thirds of the way there,¡± said Rathe as he cut into the conversation. Hearing his words and understanding the wisdom found there, Quin and the rest of the group all nodded their heads before continuing to eat on in contemplative silence.

    A silence that was soon broken when Quin started speaking after he had spent some time studying the Luminous Nimbus that floated and glowed up above.

    ¡°Jade, you wouldn¡¯t happen to know how the artificial skies are going?¡± asked Quin as he continued to study the boiling sky.

    Sighing at the question as both Rathe and Helena turned to look at her, Jade stopped eating for a moment. Yet instead of answering, she took another bite out of her steaming food, and only once she had finished what she had bitten off did she answer Quin¡¯s question.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the expanded caves are being fitted with crystal tiles that have the illusion of sky woven through them. A sky that is based off of history books stating what the sky used to be,¡± said Jade as she glanced at the Luminous Nimbus. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the project myself but some of my fellow clerics are in attendance and they have told me that it is progressing smoothly.¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s true that they could reproduce the Nimbus,¡± said Quin as he glanced at the source of light that washed over the Underaes.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jade simply as she stared up at the glowing sky, ¡°we haven¡¯t been able to reproduce the sky. But if we¡¯re even the tiniest bit lucky on our mission, then they won¡¯t need to.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit,¡± said Quin with a grin as he resumed eating.

    Seeing that everyone¡¯s spirits, even her own, had been lifted by this small conversation, Jade smiled and chose not to continue on with her speech, lest she say something that would get them distracted for another hour or two.

    Finally finishing off their meal, the party of adventurers got to their feet and packed up their makeshift camp before heading off.

    Ascending up the vast pillar the team of adventurers worked together to make the passage up the pillar effortless.

    Quin used his arcane magic to make them light as a feather so that they could jump up from one section of the pillar to another. This allowed them to skip entire sections of the pillar making their journey a nearly vertical path, instead of a winding one that hugged the pillar the entire way up to the ceiling of the Underaes.

    Jade on the other hand used her clerical magic to heal the party when needed and to restore their stamina so that the journey would not tire them out. What¡¯s more, Jade¡¯s goddess governed over metal, which granted Jade the power to create footholds and stairs up the pillar, even if they would rust away in a mere hour. On top of this, Jade¡¯s innate, dwarven nature meant she knew which stones to use to attach her metal constructs to, especially if she wanted to maximise efficiency and safety. All of which compounded to allow Jade to make the passage to the surface even easier.

    Helena on the other hand, due to her nimble nature was the one at the head of the group making sure that their progress was both fast and secure, as no one wanted to be remembered as the fool who fell off the pillar, regardless if they lived or died. In fact, her light weight meant that when combined with Quin¡¯s magic, Rathe could pick up Helena with one hand and throw her up dozens of metres. And once Helena reached the zenith of her ascent, she would secure herself as an anchor to allow Jade to create her pseudo-metal constructs, usually along the rope that Helena had tied to her body.

    Finally Rathe, other than occasionally throwing his party members, was mostly on the lookout for any wayward monster that might have snuck in or somehow was descending from above. And while it was so unlikely to happen that many considered it an impossibility, Rathe still looked for he had seen what assumptions led to, especially on the battlefield or when fighting against monsters.

    Racing up the pillar, the four of them finally began to slow down as they neared the point that would take them up through the stone ceiling they constantly lived beneath.

    For while the pillar did reach all the way up to the ceiling, the Luminous Nimbus engulfed the top of the pillar and if the party tried to travel through the cloud of golden fire and light they would be reduced to charred skeletons.

    ¡°Alright from here on out we need to go through the stone tunnels,¡± said Quin as he looked up at the close by Luminous Nimbus, the crackling energy contained within causing him to squint against the light the clouds were generating.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the lead and create a light,¡± said Jade as she moved to the front of the party where Helena had been positioned.

    ¡°Not a very bright one,¡± warned Helena aware that having their eyes adjusted for the dark would be beneficial for the group, especially in the tunnels to come.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be too bright,¡± said Jade heeding Helena¡¯s warning and at the same time trying to reassure her. ¡°I¡¯m just doing this to conserve Quin¡¯s magic.¡±

    ¡°Which we will need,¡± said Rathe as he weighed in as he glared up into the light of the Luminous Nimbus. A glare born from the knowledge it would be the last light he would see before they entered into a world of true darkness, possibly forever.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want light on the surface if we can help it,¡± said Helena as she gave a nervous glance up at the tunnel that was filled with an encroaching menacing darkness. ¡°Plenty of parties without access to magical sight bring lots of light with them, and most are never seen or heard from again.¡±

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°We know,¡± said Quin solemnly to make sure that Helena understood that everyone shared her concerns and that she was not alone in fearing the world above. Yet Quin also said those two words to reinforce that they were all experienced and that none of them would make a foolhardy mistake.

    Giving Quin a quick scrutinising glance, Helena eventually nodded her head and allowed Jade to lead them up into the stone tunnels that would take them to the surface. All the while the dwarf clutched in her hand a small orb of light that pulsed ever so softly as if she was holding a flame and not a solid sphere of light.

    Trudging up the stairs all of them ready for anything, even a monster burrowing out of the stone walls to eat them, the party headed up and up. And as they continued higher and higher, the sound of the Underaes faded away until there was true silence.

    A true silence that gnawed at their minds.

    For the only thing that they could hear, other than their footsteps, was the beating of their own hearts. A phenomenon which incited panic into even the most steadfast of beings, yet with training the panic was not squashed but ridden like a boat on water.

    Standing in the centre of the party, Quin felt the oppressive silence descend on him. And yet instead of breaking under it, he allowed himself to find a thought and moment to centre himself so that he could float to the top of the panic and no longer allow it to have control over him. For to fight panic was to engage it and therefore be bound to it, and once bound Quin would have to remain ever vigilant and even a single mistake could see him consumed by fear.

    Which was why when the sound of his footfalls changed, he didn¡¯t start or feel even a momentary spike of fear; instead he simply knew what it meant.

    The stone beneath their feet had changed. It had gone from being the same stone that the pillar had been made into a substance that was still being debated to this day. A substance many had come to call Eir. A substance that looked like bronze but at the same time had all of the best properties of all the known and unknown metals in the world.

    Eir didn¡¯t rust, it didn¡¯t deform and most importantly it did not conduct magic. All of which meant that it was beyond the understanding of the Underaes. Eir was therefore a substance that was sought after for its protection against magic.

    But there was something even more sinister about it that made many fear to bring it down to the Underaes. A fear that was well founded in Quin¡¯s opinion, especially since he had seen what lay up on the surface and what shape Eir sometimes took.

    ¡°Prepare your keys,¡± said Quin as he knew that they were getting closer to the Eldritch Gates. Gates that were supposedly meant to keep things from the surface from coming down into the Underaes, but in Quin¡¯s mind they served a much more deadly purpose. They prevented those that went up from returning should things go truly awry.

    The Eldritch Gates were strange things. They would only open if each and every living thing within a certain distance of them had a key upon their person. A key that would scan the living and tell the gates that they could be brought down into the Underaes, that they were not contaminated. What¡¯s more many said that the Eldritch Gates had been made by Aes herself and seeing them up close Quin was inclined to agree.

    The gate looked like a gnarly thing made of a black metal that made it stand out in stark contrast to the bronze-like Eir that surrounded them. However the moment that the four of them presented their keys, the gate warped. Changing from a black, iron-like substance, the gate turned into mercury and flowed into the shape of an arch. And the moment that the four of them were through this impossible mercury arch it flowed back and became black iron again.

    Staring at the back of the Eldritch Gate, Quin had to admit to himself in the privacy of his mind that he hated how the gates sounded when they closed. It sounded too much like an executioner¡¯s blade falling down. A sentiment that Quin could half see in the faces of those that were present with him.

    ¡°Quin cast your magic,¡± said Helena softly as she distrustfully eyed the light that was still in Jade¡¯s hand.

    Nodding in acceptance, Quin quickly set about casting his spell, first touching Helena on the forehead and then Rathe, then Jade and finally himself.

    The magic seeped down from the foreheads and worked its way into the eyes of those that had been afflicted by it. And once it had taken root in the eyes of the party, they were granted a new way to see the world.

    They saw a world that was coated in blue flame, a flame that was not truly present. And within this new form of sight, they could see the contours and surfaces of everything within two hundred metres.

    ¡°I¡¯ll never get used to seeing the world like this,¡± said Rathe as he waved his hand in front of his face, before turning to look up the length of tunnel before them.

    ¡°Better than not being able to see anything,¡± said Jade as she extinguished her light the moment she could see that the spell had worked and that she had been granted the ability to see in perfect darkness.

    ¡°Yes it is wonderful,¡± said Helena, more relieved that the light was gone than because she could see through the use of magic.

    ¡°Alright it worked for everyone,¡± said Quin as he checked one last time before looking in the same direction that Rathe was. ¡°Let¡¯s head on out.¡±

    Nodding collectively, the group set forth this time making sure that their footsteps were just as silent as the world around them.

    For here in the absolute darkness and silence of the surface world anything that drew attention to you, was inviting doom upon yourself.

    Travelling up the tunnel, the party finally reached the surface and stepped out under the infinite abyss that was the sky.

    The magic the party was using would allow them to see the ground, and any object that had physical characteristics, but this meant nothing when the magic was turned towards the sky. For there was nothing up in the sky to see.

    If one looked up one only saw darkness; no light, no stars, no moon, no sun. The sky was a void that would consume everything and anyone that got lost staring into it. It was an absence of matter that had caused many to go insane simply from looking up.

    Breathing in for a moment to let himself feel the world around him, Quin turned his gaze down from the empty heavens and surveyed the land before him, a world made of Eir. A world that had once been living and vibrant but was now nothing more than a metalized nightmare.

    Everything up here upon the surface was made from Eir, even the trees, even the plants, even the animals, even the people.

    This was the true horror of Aesean.

    Somehow, someway, long ago, everything and everyone upon the surface of the world of Aesean had been turned into Eir. And that was why Quin and his party had come to the surface. They were here to find even the smallest most basic of hints about why or what had caused this cataclysm to come to pass.

    It didn¡¯t matter that nothing had been found before, or that hundreds had gone to their doom trying to find the reason why the world was the way it was. All that mattered was that there was a chance to reclaim the world above, no matter how remote.

    And while many said that this chance was an impossibility, the truth was that the cataclysm had not yet ended.

    Sometimes those that were sent above ground and never returned were found again. Except these adventurers were not found as corpses or still living beings, instead they had been turned to Eir, frozen forever in fear and terror. Many of the statues of adventurers that were found had been turned to Eir midstride, all of them clearly running from something or someone.

    Finishing his surveillance of the world of Aesean, Quin signalled that he saw nothing out of place to the rest of the party. A report that he received in turn from the rest of the group, saying that everything was as it should be.

    Nodding his head in an exaggerated manner so that the rest of the party could see, Quin consulted some documents that were written in code only those sent out by Oswald could decipher. Then he pointed in the direction they needed to go, a direction that the four of them turned to walk along.

    And as they marched along in silence, their footsteps muffled by Jade¡¯s magic, the party continued to scour the world around them in the hopes that just maybe they might find what they were looking for.

    And so Quin¡¯s party walked forth, under a sky of infinite darkness, wreathed in silence, seeking anything that would tell them the truth of the world that they lived in.

    Quin and his group sat in a semi-circle around a makeshift heat source that emulated a fireplace. And atop the metal that was now red hot and providing the barest amount of actual light to the world of Aesean, was dinner.

    ¡°It will almost be done,¡± said Jade as she looked at the cooking rations that were before them.

    ¡°Good,¡± said Helena in response, her voice strained with fear as she continued to look out into the darkness of the world afraid that something might attack them due to the light. ¡°We¡¯ve survived two weeks up here; I don¡¯t want that to all be for nothing.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much,¡± said Rathe in response as he glanced about their accommodations. ¡°We¡¯re perfectly shielded. No one will see the light.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s what many said before they met their maker,¡± said Helena in response as she glanced out of a distant door that led outside of the metalized theatre they were currently living in.

    ¡°Helena¡¯s right we need to be smart about what we do,¡± said Quin as he chimed in from where he sat, his location on the far end of the semi-circle the group made. ¡°Believing that you are perfect is the fastest way to fail.¡±

    ¡°I take it you speak from experience,¡± said Rathe, a smile stretching across his face, a smile that invited Quin to tell them all a tale.

    ¡°Sort of,¡± replied Quin as he closed his book and looked at the rest of his party.

    ¡°Food¡¯s ready,¡± cut in Jade before Quin could start talking in any more depth.

    ¡°Finally,¡± said Helena as she used her dagger skills to cut the cooked rations apart and distribute them in only a matter of seconds. And once she was done, she gave Jade a look that half commanded and half implored Jade to neutralise the heated iron that Jade had been using to cook.

    Seeing that Helena was unusually on edge, Jade quickly used her magic over iron to reduce its heat to that of the room, making the iron perfectly safe to touch and no longer glowing red light.

    Sighing in relief, Helena¡¯s almost audible voice made the rest of the party¡¯s eyebrows perk up at the fact that Helena had made a physical sound, instead of talking through the mental network that Quin had created for them.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Jade as she made sure that her mental voice carried with it as much compassion as possible.

    ¡°Nothing that I can put my finger on,¡± said Helena as she looked about with concern. ¡°I just can¡¯t shake this feeling of dread.¡±

    Sitting in silence for a few moments as they ate their food, all of them thought of what Helena had just said. The party descended in a moment of solemn contemplation at the idea that something sinister was coming their way, before Rathe spoke up.

    ¡°Quin, tell us about your brush with perfection,¡± said Rathe, his voice containing within it forced mirth.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Quin back, unsure about what Rathe was speaking about.

    ¡°Thing you were going to mention before,¡± explained Rathe as he somehow managed to mentally talk all the while physically eating as if it was the naturalist thing in the world, something the other party members envied him for.

    ¡°Oh that,¡± said Quin with a chuckle. ¡°Oh this is a good story. Although it is a bit long, do you want to hear it?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Helena quickly, ¡°I need something to take my mind off of this world, anything that will help with that and make it easier to sleep is welcome.¡±

    ¡°Alright here it goes,¡± said Quin before he launched into his story.

    ¡°I am something of a prodigal genius. In fact many assumed that I would be too wild and untamed with my magic to make it as a wizard, but in the end I succeeded. And for a very good reason, I was able to think outside of the stuffy confines to magic that the long lived creatures had imposed on magic. ¡®Magic must be done this way and no other¡¯ that¡¯s what they always would say. But I liked to challenge their ways of thinking so I would try to alter or enhance spells. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes I failed and sometimes I made the old way of doing things look obsolete if not archaic.¡±

    ¡°How?¡± asked Rathe, clearly thrilled with the idea of someone besting others, even if it was simply in the field of magic.

    ¡°There¡¯s this very basic spell that many a wizard can cast. In fact, it¡¯s so simple some can do it even in their sleep, as purely a reflex. This spell creates a barrier that is woven around the wizard and acts like armour that is skin tight. It repels all things, be it fire or iron or stone, nothing breaks through it. Or more specifically nothing is meant to. However even the most sturdy of walls breaks if you hit it just right, so too with armour, so too with this spell. There is always a threshold beyond which the destructive power of an attack can overturn this spell.¡±

    ¡°You managed to make it better?¡± asked Rathe in anticipation of the idea that Quin had succeeded where thousand year old beings had failed.

    ¡°Initially they said it couldn¡¯t be done. Then I managed to increase the threshold of the maximum damage that could be negated. Then I altered the ward so that it was immune to damage from a set type of phenomenon. They called me mad, liar, fraud even. But eventually I was able to prove to them that I was able to make the magic stronger, that I had improved upon perfection. And when my good friend Xenedra was able to cast the spell as well it sealed their defeat. Thousands of years that spell had existed but because of tradition, and misplaced belief in perfection it never changed. Not until I came along,¡± said Quin boastfully. ¡°I proved perfection is merely stagnation in disguise.¡±

    ¡°Then why are you here?¡± asked Jade as she clearly knew that creating a better version of a spell would allow Quin to choose any form of life he wanted and everyone would cater to him.

    ¡°Because, I want to use this new magic to help Aeseans. Because I want to claim back the lost skies,¡± said Quin with such intensity that the rest of the party leaned away from him reflexively at the sheer intensity they saw through the telepathic network.

    ¡°Good man,¡± said Rathe with a wide proud grin, as he saw Quin¡¯s desire to keep improving himself and his magic as something to be respected, especially when Quin¡¯s other options was a life of mindless self indulgence.

    Seeing this interaction, both Jade and Helena seemed at a little lost for words about how to react to this one titbit of Quin¡¯s past that changed how they saw him. Yet before they could react, Rathe stood up and spun to face the doors leading outside of the theatre.

    ¡°What?¡± asked Rathe¡¯s three companions, each of them aware that something monumental had just happened if Rathe was reacting to it.

    ¡°Wind,¡± replied Rathe as he picked up his axe and walked forward to investigate what had caused his senses to react.

    ¡°But there is no wind here,¡± said Jade as she stood up to follow after Rathe.

    Glancing at each other, Quin saw the look of foreboding in Helena¡¯s eyes and knew that if he went with Rathe he might meet a fate worse than death, but in the end it did not matter. For to Quin finding that one clue to unravel everything was worth the risk.

    Striding after Rathe and Jade, Quin and then Helena followed the tall, muscular man out onto an outdoor stage, an amphitheatre that was spread out under the infinite darkness of the sky.

    Standing on the stage, Quin looked about as his magic strained to find anything or anyone, yet all it did was return nothing. Yet despite this negative result, Quin could feel it upon his body, a small gust of wind. Something that tugged at his clothing and dared to try and pull him along, a wind that was growing stronger and stronger.

    Shocked, horrified and amazed at what he w as feeling and seeing, Quin barely even noticed that he was no longer looking through magic to see the world around him. That a new source of light was emerging into the world, a blue light that was revealing things in the distance that Quin had only seen in picture books, something called mountains.

    ¡°By Aes what is that,¡± screamed out Jade as she looked up at the sky and clutched her religious symbol to her breast.

    Finally looking up, Quin saw it in all of its horrific glory. He saw what had stolen the sky from the world below and it left him too hollowed out to say or move or even think.

    He saw that the sky was filled with EYES.

    Eyes that were not natural, eyes that glowed and were the size of cities, eyes that contained within them eldritch mysteries. Blue eyes that were so brilliant that the glow they emitted cause the world beneath them to be drenched in light illuminating it for all to see.

    But the horror of what they were seeing didn¡¯t stop there. As the multitude of eyes opened and bathed the world in their light, they also revealed what the eyes were attached to. And it broke the minds of those that saw and understood.

    The eyes were placed on tentacles that were even vaster than the eyes themselves, the tentacles were darker than black and seemed to eat the light that fell upon them, but to Quin and his party it was clear. The sky was filled with millions of tentacles, some huge, some small, all of them impossible.

    The tentacles were not just covered with eyes. Some had mouths on them, mouths that revealed huge and vast white teeth, mouths that were large enough to eat cities and mountains. And what¡¯s worse these mouths opened and closed and seemed to be breathing. Their breath was the very wind that had alerted Quin and his party to the truth of the horror that encircled the world and filled the heavens.

    Staring in horror as he realised the truth of the sky and took in the enormity of what he was seeing, Quin¡¯s breath came in ragged bursts as he started to lose control over himself as the rising desire to flee tore through him. Yet his training kicked in and soon a calmness spread across Quin¡¯s mind, a calmness that granted Quin a moment of clarity.

    ¡®This is the beast that stole the sky. This is what we need to defeat to reclaim the world.¡¯

    Realising that this was the one moment that Quin would get to understand his foe, Quin tried to study what the Eldritch Beast above him was. Yet for all of Quin¡¯s desire to understand what he was looking at, he failed to even begin to comprehend it. It was too alien, too vast, and too impossible for his mind to truly take in, and that was before Quin realised that the tentacles stretched beyond the horizon.

    Gasping aloud, Quin¡¯s mind seized upon the one fact that the tentacles above told him. The tentacles were all straight and parallel with each other, they all flowed in from a single point, and all of these tentacles were from one single being. This meant that they only had one enemy to fight, and if they could win they could remove the blockade between Aesean and the Sun and Moon.

    Hearing the footfalls of someone running, Quin turned to look at his party and see what had become of them.

    Rathe had his axe in hand and was growling in rage and hate at the thing above them, clearly trying desperately to figure out an idea of how to kill the beast before him.

    Jade had sunk to her knees and was praying to Aes, while at the same time begging for the Eldritch Beast to not be the goddess¡¯ true form.

    Helena on the other hand had given in to her desire to flee and was attempting to run away by charging up the amphitheatre¡¯s spectators¡¯ seats.

    Regardless of what each member of the party had done, however, was all in vain, as the vast and terrible eyes in the sky seemed to contract as if they had just shifted into focus. And the moment they seemed to fix upon those below it, the eye began to hum with unknowable energy.

    Cursing with all of his might and in as many tongues as he knew, Quin realised that these eyes were the reason everything had been turned to Eir. And so he desperately started to cast his enhanced magical ward. The same one that had helped him earn the friendship of Xenedra Owling.

    Chanting and casting the spells as loud as he could, Quin hoped that he would be able to finish before the eyes¡¯ power struck. For while Quin knew that he would not be able to deflect the power, he hoped that he would at least mitigate it in some manner or another.

    Finishing his incantation before the eye could unleash its energy, Quin smiled up at the Eldritch Beast in a single last act of defiance before his body began to turn to Eir. And as Quin¡¯s body metalized as did the rest of his party, Quin could feel that his mind would somehow remain.

    Not sure if that was normal or simply the outcome from his spell, Quin tried to organise his mind together so that someone could find useful information in it. So that he could pass on what he had learnt and keep his promise with Xenedra.

    And in but a single moment later a statue of Quin smiling up at the sky in contempt remained, fixed and immobile as the Eldritch beast closed its eyes filling the world with darkness, silence and stillness once again.

    And deep within the statue of Quin Daedal, Quin¡¯s mind couldn¡¯t help but think on the blue eye that he had seen, an eye that had granted him a moment of beauty before it had enclosed him away in a true void of senses forever more.

    Yet Quin¡¯s mind refused to bow in defeat and it continued on and on and on and on and on¡­

    ~~~

    Xenedra sat at her desk and idly played with the diagrams before her, diagrams that had been submitted by her students. Students that were seeking to become the newest generation of wizards.

    Yet none of them were seemingly getting the right answers that she had hoped they would, as all of their responses were flawed. Some showing that they lacked understanding of the subject matter, others showing that their numerical skills still needed work, others still were trying to overachieve and thereby failing to get the basics right.

    Although all things considered, the fact that they had made any form of progress was achievement in Xenedra¡¯s eyes, as one could spend a lifetime studying magic and die of old age without gaining even the smallest of speck of an understanding of its true nature and power. This went double for the art of transmutation.

    Changing one form of matter into another was something that was extraordinarily hard, and that was on pure substances like iron or gold, or even lead. Trying to change things like salt into sugar, might as well as be like trying to breathe water without magic, a physical impossibility.

    Leaning back in her chair, Xenedra looked up at the ceiling of her room and sighed at the fact that she was still so caught up in her work that she had failed to recognise the time. Getting up from her chair, Xenedra was about to change from her teaching clothes into her night attire when a rap came from her door.

    Glancing at the timepiece she had in her room and then at the door, Xenedra frowned but decided to answer it. For anyone that would disturb her rest at this late an hour would undoubtedly be bringing her important news. Either in the form of something good or something bad.

    Opening the door to see a Paladin standing before her, Xenedra frowned at the man, who looked back with an unblinking demeanour.

    ¡°What can I do for you, Elric Skiarune?¡± asked Xenedra of the Paladin she had worked on and off with across the last few decades.

    ¡°We found something that I think you will want to see,¡± said Elric as he glanced past her to look at a portrait of a man Xenedra had once cherished.

    Glancing at the picture of the man that had gone above ground never to return, Xenedra frowned before looking back at Elric.

    ¡°Can¡¯t this wait until tomorrow?¡± asked Xenedra as she had long ago given up hope that anything about Quin¡¯s fate would be discovered.

    ¡°No,¡± said Elric, his voice serious and deadly, his gaze one of immovable determination that would brook no excuses.

    ¡°Alright then, lead the way,¡± said Xenedra as she gestured for Elric to lead on while she followed.

    Turning on his heel, Elric strode down the corridor and up several flights of stairs before leading Xenedra to a storage room that was used to examine and experiment on items and objects that were brought down from the surface.

    A room Xenedra knew intimately as she and several of her colleagues worked there when not tutoring the future wizards of the Underaes.

    Standing out front of the door to the room was a dwarf that Xenedra had met several times before. Fenix Goldforge was a wizard that studied transmutation just like her, but unlike her he would venture up to the surface to compare the properties of Eir above and below ground. What¡¯s more Fenix had in hand his trusty warhammer that acted as a magical focus, a weapon that many dwarves found fascinating and had recreated in imitation of Fenix¡¯s original work. However Xenedra saw it as nothing more than a gaudy trinket that detracted away from magic¡¯s innate mystery.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry lass to disturb you, but ye needed to see this,¡± said Fenix, his accent making some of the words sound odd to Xenedra¡¯s elfish ear.

    ¡°What have you discovered?¡± asked Xenedra as she pushed open the doors expecting to see a miracle beyond the door only to find four statues that were in various states. One was praying, one looked like he was ready to do battle and another looked like they were running. But the fourth and last looked to be smiling in triumph.

    ¡°Four statues were retrieved by my party from the surface,¡± explained Elric as he came to stand beside Xenedra not at all hesitant to explain things as bluntly as possible.

    ¡°We managed to retrieve them several days ago and we were able to confirm them as adventurers we sent out,¡± said Fenix solemnly before sighing as if he didn¡¯t know how to break it to Xenedra. ¡°We discovered that the laddie with the smirk there is someone ye used to know.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve known many adventurers that head up above ground,¡± said Xenedra as her eyes fixed upon the Eir statue of Quin.

    ¡°Tis one ye used to know intimately,¡± said Fenix as he tried to be gentle about what was clear for all to see.

    ¡°I knew Quin Daedal over fifty years ago,¡± said Xenedra as she looked at the statue with recognition.

    ¡°Ye and I both know that we both don¡¯t treat that sorta time the same way as humans,¡± said Fenix as he gave a concerned look to Elric who gave a look back asking if Fenix had expected anything different.

    ¡°And what do you expect me to do Fenix?¡± asked Xenedra harshly as she tried to contain her emotions. ¡°I knew this day would come years ago, and I have been prepared to wait centuries before his statue was found. So what if it was found only after fifty years!¡±

    ¡°I thought it would give ye closure,¡± said Fenix with a sigh before looking at Elric with a pleading look.

    ¡°We have yet to attempt the various concoctions of transmutation,¡± said Elric calmly, not at all bothered by the drama before him. ¡°If you want you can stay here and watch.¡±

    ¡°Do you think that this time we¡¯ll get it right?¡± asked Xenedra of both Fenix and Elric, as she was already resigned to the fate of the group before her.

    ¡°We can but hope lass,¡± said Fenix as he made a motion for her to settle in while they began testing the various methods to change people from Eir back into flesh and blood and bone. Methods that had never once proven to be effective before.

    Moving off to the side of the room, Xenedra watched on dispassionately as both Elric and Fenix began to apply the various different concoctions to the statues that had once been. For she knew the truth in her heart, that Quin Daedal had died fifty years ago and all they had managed to do now was reclaim his petrified corpse.

    A corpse that Fenix was applying only small amounts of liquid to see if he could change that small part of Quin back into living breathing flesh and blood. Fenix was applying the liquids mainly to the same hand over and over in an attempt to see if the compounded effects of the potions and lotions were enough to reverse whatever had been done to him.

    Elric on the other hand was applying his allotment to the other three statues in various different places to see if they would respond or if the individual effects would work without being compounded.

    Both of them also were using the concoctions based on when they had been created and were working their way backwards from the most recent to the oldest. The hope being that the new concoctions would be able to find that one flaw in the process that would allow those bound in Eir to return, safe and sound.

    Chewing through the different concoctions until there was only one left, Fenix and Elric shared a look of remorse. For this was the oldest concoction known to the Underaes. It had been made centuries if not millennia ago, the nameless recipe found in shrines and hidden mage dungeons all over the Underaes. This alone made it clear that someone had once believed that this concoction would be able to save those turned to Eir, but it had never worked.

    Until now.

    Placing the concoction on the hand before them, both Fenix and Elric stopped dead as they saw the hand they had applied it to flex. It was an involuntary movement, a simple twitch of the fingers, but it was enough to bring a moment of hope and shock to the room.

    Swearing, Fenix stepped back and stared at the hand of Quin Daedal that was now trying to clench itself into a fist, and as Fenix swore in joy, hope and sheer happiness, he grabbed the concoction and poured it over Quin. Fenix tried to make the concoction cover the entire statue before him, but it looked like he would not be able to due in part to the fact that he had a limited amount.

    Elric on the other hand had been staring at Jade Goldwing bug-eyed, an act that spoke so much louder than words, especially to those that knew of his stoic demeanour and his personal history. He had remained unflappable when family tragedy occurred, and he had remained untouched by the horrors of the battlefield. Yet here and now in this one moment he was overcome with emotion.

    ¡°Elric git your butt in gear and give me yer concoction. We can revive Quin,¡± said Fenix, his accent seeming to waver into and out of existence with each word.

    Blinking before seeming to return to the moment, Elric grabbed his allotment of the ancient concoction and poured it onto Quin and slowly but surely Quin began to turn back from Eir into a living, breathing person.

    Checking him over with as much magic as he possibly could, Elric looked up at Fenix in shock before nodding his head. There were no more traces of Eir within or upon Quin. In fact, Quin had been returned to normal. He was seemingly asleep but clearly breathing.

    ¡°Fenix go get more of this stuff, and get a cleric as well we¡¯ll need them,¡± said Elric, a note of awe within his voice.

    Not having to be told twice, Fenix seemed to blip out of existence only to reappear outside the room, as the dwarven wizard had just teleported and was now casting magic that would allow him to fly. Taking off from the ground, Fenix soared into the air, his voice ringing out for all to hear as he flew towards the storage yard where the concoctions were kept.

    ¡°WE HAVE A SUCCESS IN CLEANSING ROOM 108. We have a success in Cleansing Room 108. Send a healer there immediately,¡± screamed out Fenix as he flew towards his goal.

    Standing still as stone, Xenedra looked on at the now living figure of Quin and tears began to form in the corners of her eyes as she slowly walked forward to stand beside the figure of Quin who was breathing faster and faster as if he were about to wake from a nightmare.

    Unable to believe what she was seeing and not able to comprehend her feelings, she took Quin¡¯s left hand and felt the warmth of life within, a warmth that made her realise truly and fully that Quin was alive and that his promise from over fifty years ago had been kept.

    ¡°How is this real?¡± asked Xenedra as she looked at Quin and then at the hand that was interlaced with her own.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Elric as he stared down at Quin while standing at the head of the bed that Quin was lying on. ¡°But we must make sure that we can replicate what has happened here or this will be just a one off miracle.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± said Xenedra as she looked on with concern for Quin who seemed to at last wake from his metal induced coma.

    Snapping his eyes open, as they had fallen shut when he had returned to flesh and blood, Quin¡¯s eyes remained unfocused like the mind that was in control of them wasn¡¯t really understanding what it was seeing. Pausing to wait and see what Quin would do next, Xenedra did not expect that Quin would sit up straight and start creaming a chant that made Xenedra draw back in fear.

    Eyes Unknown

    Turn to Stone

    Flesh and Bone

    Eyes Unknown

    Turn to Stone

    Flesh and Bone

    Eyes Unknown

    Turn to Stone

    Flesh and Bone

    Staring at the now screaming Quin, Xenedra realised that Quin¡¯s mind had most likely been active the entire fifty years he had been bound in Eir and whatever was left of his mind had been worn down into almost nothing.

    Yet before she could truly process what this all meant, Elric stepped forward and covered Quin¡¯s eyes with his hand and with a few short words sent the wizard into a magically induced sleep.

    ¡°His mind broke,¡± said Xenedra in horror at the idea of this miracle being poisoned by such a terrible fact.

    ¡°No,¡± said Elric with a smile that was born out of hope and joy. ¡°Minds can be fixed, souls can be mended, with enough time and patience. And after what he has brought back to us, he will get all the care that he needs.¡±

    ¡°You mean that he was able to return to flesh and blood?¡± asked Xenedra as she saw the sheer joy and drive within Elric¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°No. Didn¡¯t you hear what he was saying¡­ Eyes unknown, turn to stone, flesh and bone,¡± said Elric as he repeated what Quin had said. ¡°Something with strange and unknowable eyes turned him and the rest of his group to stone or more precisely Eir. Something did this to him. It¡¯s not a random phenomenon that we have to put up with, it has a source, it has eyes, and most likely it can be defeated. He has brought us back the truth of our world. We have an enemy to defeat, and there is nothing mortals are better at than defeating enemies.¡±

    Realising the truth of what Elric said, Xenedra looked at Quin, her tears flowing freely and as she leaned closer to silently weep against Quin¡¯s living body she didn¡¯t realise that others had come pouring into the room. They came because they had heard Quin¡¯s screams or heard Fenix as he flew about. They came and when they saw a living breathing being, they in turn spread the word, until like a living flame of thought and knowledge it engulfed all the minds of the Underaes.

    Yet in amidst the screaming and the cheering and the hope that was building up, Xenedra was just grateful that Quin had managed to keep his promise. A promise to both to return alive and to bring with him salvation for the world.

    She would worry about what had done this to him later; instead she simply basked in the joy she was feeling.

    And as Xenedra celebrated, so too did the Underaes, so too did the world itself. And even the gods that watched on unable to help those that they cherished celebrated. For in this moment the path that would led the mortals and divine back to the surface had been set.

    Now all that they needed to do was reclaim the lost skies of Aesean from the Eldritch Beast that had stolen it.

 The Light Bringerâ€™s Origin

    10,000 BC.

    Lucifer fell.

    He fell fast and hard and without grace or hope.

    He fell as if the hand of god had cast him from heaven.

    He fell as a star would fall, hot and bright and burning with an unholy flame that gave Lucifer the appearance of a newly risen star.

    And with his falling fell the last hope of man. As Lucifer fell his body was encased in flames hotter than any fire found on the world below him, his body burning and yet healing at the same time. His skin blistered and flaked and sizzled, but even as his skin turned to ash it grew anew whole and fresh, unmarred and unscarred. To all who viewed him he was bound in flames and yet not a mark was on him. And all could hear his falling for they could hear his screams, for as Lucifer fell he left a stream of fire as if he was a star falling from heaven for he fell faster than the speed of sound.

    The speed of his decent would have burnt all life to ash in a moment, but then Lucifer was not any ordinary creature for he was a Hellspawn, a creature born once every thousand years.

    Lucifer¡¯s eyes opened and he looked out at the world around him and felt the burning rush of the atmosphere on his skin, but still he felt no pain only regret and betrayal. For Lucifer could not see any reason in his mind why the angels would cast him down, and could find no sin in his life worthy of such a betrayal as to be cast from the roof of the world.

    For death waited at the end of his descent. Nothing could survive the impact that he would make on this world when he hit. But still he screamed not from pain but anger and he screamed out in revenge until no breath was left in his lungs, and yet still he screamed and fell even further.

    Lucifer cast his eyes downwards and looked to where he fell. Even as his eyes burnt from the force of the wind and atmosphere, he still saw the world rush up to meet him as if to give him a last embrace. And upon the world, he saw the mountains of Eastern Europe, the land mass so named by the angels. And Lucifer felt the stream of the fire of his descent burn the mountains around him, their icecaps, forever frozen, melting for the first time since their formation. Lucifer¡¯s passage stirred the ancient creatures of the world and the greatest of them raised themselves from their slumber to witness his passing. They were the dragons of the mountains and they sat upon their mountain tops and watched him fall, and they cried out their majestic songs as a final sign of their respects.

    Lucifer¡¯s mind still could not believe what was happening, some part of him wishing that it was a dream, a dream that he wished he could wake from. But the pain was all too real and still he fell. And as the sun rose above the horizon, Lucifer fell into the shadow of the mountain and sped for the ground which waited patiently below, waiting with his death.

    Lucifer had heard that mortals see their lives flash before their eyes and as his death came within reach he found that it was true for hellspawn as well.

    Lucifer could see where he was falling to, a large pond or small lake directly below him. And not far from the edge of the body of water sat an Abbey. As realisation of what the Abbey signified dawned on Lucifer, the lake¡¯s waters seemed to rise up as if to greet the man foolish enough to step into the lake, or as the angels called it, the Pool of Immortality.

    Lucifer¡¯s last breath was for a scream that never came, for as he slid into the water he felt the life bound within the water and he knew that what was to come would be worse than anything that he had felt in his entire life.

    The Pool of Immortality had been named as such as a joke. For all who entered found that they died screaming regardless of who or what you were. And yet there bound in the waters, your soul would remain forever, immortal, eternal.

    Lucifer¡¯s feet had passed into the water, then his whole body was submerged and he waited for death to come and claim him. But instead the water itself woke from its slumber and to Lucifer¡¯s eyes the water was alive with wisps of light and life, and then he felt them surge forth and try to consume his body. They flowed across his immortal skin and then flowed into him, and the pain tore through Lucifer¡¯s mind and all thought and reason fled.

    Lucifer screamed louder and the wisps of energy roared down his throat, his body screaming in pain and suffering beyond imagining. Every cell in his body was ripped apart and then reassembled differently, but still Lucifer could not die. He felt the change work through his body and he knew that if he survived he would arise a different being, one that would have no equal.

    The power of the water flowed on and the world turned uncaring as Lucifer¡¯s nervous system came in contact with the water¡¯s power. He felt his nerves expand and twist and then shrink, over and over, until his internal organs had changed beyond recognition. Two hearts beating in time were formed, while lungs, which could hold more air than needed, thirsted for a new dose of oxygen, and a digestive system, which was unlike any that came before it, churned and cried out with a desperate hunger.

    Muscles, a thousand times denser and stronger than their human counterparts, formed and knitted together, while bones of diamond hardness solidified. Eyes that saw beyond the scope of reality turned in their new sockets wide with disbelief at what they saw. And in the centre of this transformation, Lucifer screamed in pain and fear for the water¡¯s affects had reached his brain. For all that he had been was being washed away by tides of power greater than his understanding.

    Lucifer awoke to find himself lying in a hall of pillars and darkness. And deep within his chest, Lucifer felt the first touches of fear.  For around him in a perfect circle were eight, giant, Redstone pillars, each one thicker than any man or beast, each one placed equally apart in the circle and each one marked with writing that made no sense to Lucifer. And at the same time, the pillars spoke with unending purpose and clarity, for on each pillar was marked one of the names of the Eight Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

    The names of the horsemen were Conquest, Pestilence, Famine, War, Death, Genocide, Destruction, and Oblivion. But each was so much more, carrying with it meaning and feeling and true knowledge of what each of them was. Beyond the pillars was an emptiness which dwarfed the human mind, for there was nothing there and yet there was a darkness which moved and stirred and whispered. But Lucifer cared nothing about the darkness or the horsemen¡¯s names; instead he ran his hands over his body and felt what had been done to him.

    His body was extraordinary, every cell different. Yet, he knew that his new body was perfect, for it contained no flaws, and no diseases existed within him. Lucifer knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was still immortal and yet he knew that he was so much more than simply immortal.

    He had become something elemental, eternal, everlasting.

    Slowly, Lucifer raised himself off the floor and looked about himself taking in everything around him. He could no longer see the name of the Horsemen on each of the pillars. However that didn¡¯t bother him very much, as the endless darkness beyond the pillars gave him an uneasy feeling, as if there were a thousand times a thousand of the most horrid things hiding in the shadows. Lucifer glanced down to stop looking at the endless darkness and noticed for the first time that the floor where he was standing had a giant pattern on it, the symbol of yin and yang. A circle with a sinuous line running through the circle dividing black from white, and within each half rested a circle consisting of the colour of hearts¡¯ red blood.

    Lucifer stood up and cast his eye to the nearest of the blood circles, the one which lay within the black part of the symbol carved into the floor. Slowly, Lucifer began to walk over to the blood circle, and as he walked he tested out how his new body functioned and tested the new strength found within. Lucifer knew without a doubt that if he wished for it he could move at speeds beyond what was physically possible.

    Lucifer stood at the edge of the blood circle hesitating, for he knew that if he were to step on the circle then something would happen, but he didn¡¯t know what. Sighing audibly, Lucifer set his shoulders and stepped on to the blood circle and turned to face the closest Redstone pillar.

    A window opened up half way between Lucifer and the pillar. It was five feet by five feet and its centre was located at the same height as Lucifer¡¯s eyes. Lucifer knew without looking that the window was only two dimensional. He knew that it had no depth whatsoever. But none of that really mattered as what the window opened up into disturbed Lucifer more than anything he had ever seen in his hundred odd years of life.

    The window showed a corridor of twisted bone and skulls all from different creatures, and even as he looked he saw that the corridor seemed to rotate as it went along so that the floor ended up as the roof and then eventually returned to being the floor again only to start the whole process all over. The corridor flowed onwards towards a dark epicentre found at the end of the impossible corridor. Lucifer¡¯s eyes flowed into the unimaginable darkness trying to pierce its endless darkness, seeking the answers found deep within, and then understanding arrived.

    Lucifer¡¯s mind shattered apart.

    It shattered much as a dropped glass vase might shatter, with pieces breaking off and flying into an unimaginable void. And yet Lucifer saw, he saw and remembered all, everything, for within the window was all of eternity. All the knowledge from the beginning of the universe to this present moment of reality, Lucifer saw, and felt, and heard, and touched, and smelled, everything that had ever occurred. And all the while, the wails and the howls of the dead trapped in the abyss between realities screamed into Lucifer¡¯s mind. He knew the agonies of everyone and everything from all across time and space and reality.

    Lucifer¡¯s mind flowed back together with the same viscosity as honey, forming together into one single cohesive whole within which burned the knowledge of all the deeds that the angels had ever committed.

    The angels had risen from this world before the dinosaurs had even begun to take form, when the earth was young and the fate of the sun was still in question. Would it explode or settle down and become stable? Even the angels did not know and so they had risen from their home world and flew between stars, converting or slaying all those that stood before them and they grew powerful. Then they found other creatures, other sentient races which fought back, with great and devastating power. And yet they all perished, wiped from existence never to rise again. So the angels continued until the entire galaxy was under their dominion, and still the angels quested for more power, power great enough to cast god from his celestial throne, and remake the universe as they saw fit.

    And they found it.

    Lucifer had heard the angel¡¯s talk of an untempered energy wrought of such power that a billion, billion suns could never come close; they had called it the Word of God, The Will of Heaven, The Light of Eternity. Lucifer had never believed, but now he saw it and he trembled in fear and awe. The power was beyond time itself, unlimited and beyond any conceivable idea.

    Lucifer¡¯s mind once had been small and weak, but now he saw what none but an elite few could, reality as it was; infinite. He saw how it worked and was awed at what he perceived.

    Between all matter exists an energy binding greater than any tie or rope, so great nothing could ever sever it. This energy bond existed between everything whether it was atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons, leptons, quarks or anti-quarks. However, the bonds didn¡¯t stop at the sub-atomic scale. They existed between everything until all of reality looked like it was woven from a glimmering gossamer curtain of light and energy, which continuously shifted and changed in a harmonic motion. This caused all things to occur or shifted based on the location and actions found within all reality.

    So in reality a butterfly could flap its wings and on the other side of the galaxy a star could be born while on the other side of creation a world would collapse into ruin as a result. However those that saw and knew the Word of God could alter the very fabric of creation, allowing impossible things to come to pass.

    The angel¡¯s knowledge stopped at that point, but Lucifer saw more still, seeing the darkness which constantly eroded the light and stole the energy from its harmonious counterpart. This darkness was the void between matter, the space between spaces; the abyss which was home to the Horsemen. It was an energy which could unmake all that it came in contact with.

    The angels had found the power which they were looking for and they had called it the Word of God. They thought that they were now without equal in the entire universe, for everything was as clay in their hands. They could unravel suns, create worlds, even make life and so they believed they had achieved a state of power and magnificence greater than that of god, whom they claimed to serve.

    And so they returned to their home world, Earth, only to find that it was occupied by strange creatures. These creatures would later be called dinosaurs. The angels saw them as an insignificant race of creatures that needed purging and so they created a solution, one fitting their own magnificence and genius. They created a giant world killing comet which they cast towards the planet, in an unknowable rage. The destruction was massive and nearly all life was annihilated. Then the angels flew down to Earth and set about making the world their imperial capital from which they would rule the entire galaxy and all the worlds found therein.

    Millennia turned by and the angels didn¡¯t even notice, but from the abysmal muck rose a creature that would shake all of time and reality, Man. At first the angels cared nothing for man but eventually they turned their immortal eyes towards the problem of man. The angels examined man and saw their potential and for the first time in all their existence felt an emotion that their very name inspired in all of the enemies that they had ever made, fear. Not just a simple fear but an untempered, unrelenting fear which broke them into different factions. For they foresaw that man would become greater than even them, the Angels, the supposed most perfect creatures in the entire universe.

    The angels studied the first creature which they called man and found that the creatures could be taught and that they learned and could grow and eventually begin to understand the world in which they lived. However the potential for the possibility of Hellspawn was noted and so they took the decision before their king and lord, Gabriel, who was the only angel in the entire Sol system who could use the Will of Heaven, the Word of God.

    Time progressed and man became something worthy of servitude and so the angels taught man to love, worship and even fear the angels that they served, and man did. Never once did rebellion form even in the hearts of man, and so the angels saw fit that man was worthy of this world, however the Hellspawn were not. The Hellspawn weren¡¯t as predictable as their human ancestors and their very nature made them more immortal than the Angels themselves. So the Angel took each one of these Hellspawn and raised them and if a threat was detected in the Hellspawn then they were killed to prevent any form of cataclysm from these strange forms of life. But in the end the Angels lost track of their task and simply stopped caring and let their guard down, for a Hellspawn was born rarely, so rarely that a thousand years could pass by and not one Hellspawn would emerge. And so the Angels forgot their fear and stopped watching the Hellspawn.

    Time progressed and eventually a child was born with the rising dawn of the sun and so they called the boy Lucifer.

    Lucifer had been born a hundred years ago in a remote village in what the angels had called Africa, and he had been born as the sun emerged from clouds in the early hours of the morning and so his parents had called him Lucifer, the Light Bringer in the language of the angels. But the joy of their new born son was short lived as the local priest had seen what he was; a hellspawn, a creature born to human parents who possessed both incredible magic and immortality.

    His family had abandoned him there and then, leaving Lucifer to be raised by the priest. And so Lucifer grew up unloved and hated even by those he who raised him, and on his tenth birthday the angels came and took him away. After hours of torture and various tests, Lucifer found himself placed in a school for lack of a better word, where he was taught the language of the angels, history, magic and above all else the glory of the angels. And so Lucifer grew in power and strength and learned to live without love or kindness, knowing that the world hated him without exception.

    Twenty years after, Lucifer was taken by the angels another boy was brought to the so called school. Like Lucifer he was immortal but for a different reason. He had Dark Blood in him. Dark Blood was a rare condition with the same chance of occurring as that of being a Hellspawn. But this Dark blood gave its host dark magics, which meant that all angels would kill creatures like this boy on sight. And yet the boy was sitting here next to Lucifer and so Lucifer asked the boy his name and found his first and only friend in the world.

    And so the years rolled on and the boy grew up and was named Marcus. Together Lucifer and Marcus were taken to see Gabriel who was a king of all angels, and supposedly one of the few angels who could talk to their mythical God. Gabriel judged that both of the boys would be allowed to live so long as neither ever betrayed the angels. The boys had parted ways there and then and never saw each other again.

    Lucifer¡¯s life progressed and eventually he grew to know angels and could even be called their friend. Until the day the angels came for him and took him to Gabriel who stated that Lucifer had betrayed him and his angels. Gabriel commanded his holy host to take Lucifer away and that he was to be killed. And so the angels took him and cast him from the roof of the world, knowing that not even he, the greatest of the Hellspawn, would survive such a fall.

    Lucifer lay on the ground, every nerve and muscle and tendon screamed in pain from the strain of holding his whole body taut. And yet he felt good. Lucifer knew so much. He knew everything and anything. He felt the rhythms of the universe turn in his mind. He could feel and see the majestic energies of the world around him. He could feel both of his bodies with perfect ease, the one that lay on the floor of the Halls of Time and the body which was still submerged in the Pool of Immortality. And as he lay there he knew that his body back in the physical world was shining with the untempered energies of both light and dark and he knew that the water rejoiced and surged with the same power flowing through it.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    And all who could see the valley and the pool, which lay at its heart, would see a pillar of immense white light which split the heavens and turned all that it touched to dust. A white light which rose from the pool in which Lucifer floated. Lucifer appeared to all observers oblivious of the progress of time and all that was occurring in the world around him.

    Lucifer gathered himself off of the floor and looked around at the Hall of Time and realised an important fact. Since the beginning of the universe and even beyond, he was the first person from the physical world to tread its halls and see what he had just seen. Grinning to himself, Lucifer rose to his full height and walked over to the other blood circle and breathed a deep breath as he readied himself for a similar experience. For if the previous circle showed the past then the circle in front of him should show him the future and all that was bound by fate to come to pass.

    Lucifer¡¯s foot hit the blood circle and his mind instead of shattering hardened, hardened until it reached strength greater than that of diamond. Another of the odd windows opened before him and in it he could see the future of all things. Lucifer saw the passage of time. He saw that he would wage war on the angels and eventually cast them from this world.

    Lucifer¡¯s mind shuddered back from the implications of what that suggested. However the next vision cleared his mind of any other thought, for he saw his children. His three sons.

    Lucifer knew happiness for a brief few minutes, but as the vision progressed he saw what they would become and what they would create, the vampires, the werewolves and the gargoyles. Lucifer wept at what he saw, for the deeds that they would do, not only to each other but to the human race. Lucifer saw atrocities and things that he could not even give words to, but still he watched on and on, searching desperately for any kind of sign that there was hope. And so the years marched on and he saw his children and their descendants come to a land of sand and dust with a massive river running through it. And Lucifer saw the empire grow and prosper. The people created giant pyramids out of stone they hauled from miles and miles away, but still Lucifer could not see any good in the world and even as he wept the vision showed him more and more. He saw empires rise and fall. He saw a man whose blood ran as dark as the night and who moved with speed even greater than that of vampires. An empire of soldiers and wars and legions carving the world apart and sewing it back together again. A man nailed to a cross came to view, whose name would rally the world and send crusades and spark wars and spill more blood than anything that the angels had ever done to mankind. He saw slavery and deceit and malicious deeds done in favour of gods who didn¡¯t exist. And even though Lucifer could bear to see no more, he continued to watch. And he saw man try to redeem itself and fail time and time again. Eventually, magic and superstition gave way to science and logic and technology. Children were used as slaves to mine and haul away goods for an industrial age that cared nothing for their insignificant, little lives.

    But time cared not and it rolled on and on and on oblivious to all that occurred. Men rose up with dreams and ideas about the world and so science came to pass. Machines that pulled carts were created and there were eventually devices called cars and other contraptions that allowed man to fly.

    However war broke anew, a world war, and then a depression that lasted years. A rise of a dictator sparked a new world war. The atrocities that were committed were seared into Lucifer¡¯s brain. And then a weapon, that outdid all that the rest was made, a weapon which outdid all those that had come before it, a weapon that turned man to dust, leaving only their shadows in its wake. And the world screamed as it was defiled, and yet in its wake the plants grew strong while the animals of all kinds fell sick and died. Yet the effects of the bomb didn¡¯t stop there. Men who couldn¡¯t see were given sight while those in perfect health lost their hair and faded away until they died meaningless, shallow deaths. And still the world continued on, a war of spies and treachery followed after. But the world was changing, it remembered the horrors of the last war and calls for peace were rallied.

    Lucifer watched, but he could no longer feel any sorry or pity for the human race. They were as the angels said, a mongrel race born for war and all its horrors. Lucifer watched and waited to see how man would come to its end.

    The world quieted and people forgot what waited in the bottom of their hearts and they grew satisfied with all that they had. And yet not, a new type of war was born, a hunger for money, a time of profit and capitalism that existed for the entire world.

    The second millennium passed by and people celebrated the passing of two thousand years of time. And still the world moved on, but then Lucifer saw something he did not expect. The window he was looking through grew brighter and brighter and brighter until not even his eyes could pierce what was hidden in the light. And then with a final flair, the light vanished and Lucifer saw a person standing on the other side of the window looking back at him.

    She was beautiful, at least to Lucifer¡¯s eyes. Her eyes were a mysterious green, her hair a raven black and her skin held a fairness to it that made it seem she had been carved from marble into a perfect statue that looked as if it could breathe. She stood within a mirror view of the Hall that Lucifer at present stood within.

    ¡°Hello,¡± Lucifer called hesitantly, his voice shaky and unsure.

    ¡°Hello,¡± was her reply.

    Lucifer couldn¡¯t help but notice that her voice was beautiful. And then he realised this lady was from the future and she at her point in time was standing on the blood circle of the past looking back at him while he was looking at her from the blood circle of the future. This had somehow caused a touching of past and future to create a present where both of them could talk back and forth between their respective time zones.

    Lucifer drew himself up so that he was meeting the lady¡¯s eyes, and spoke perhaps the first words he had ever said to a woman, ¡°I¡¯m Lucifer, what is your name?¡±

    The lady¡¯s lips had parted slightly in surprise, before a grin spread across her beautiful, rosed hued lips.

    ¡°It¡¯s best if I don¡¯t tell you,¡± she said. ¡°It might cause complications for you if I reveal too much.¡±

    Lucifer paused as understanding came to him. Not only did this lady know of him, she appeared to know him personally. The thought made Lucifer smile.

    ¡°I better get going,¡± she said.

    ¡°Wait, before you go please tell me, do I know you?¡± asked Lucifer.

    ¡°That¡¯s the first time I have ever heard you ask me a question,¡± the lady said before continuing. ¡°Yes you do know me. You¡¯ve known me for most of my life. You¡¯re also one of our world¡¯s most important people, and you are even idealised by people, although most people fear you because of your strength, or your rage, or the simple method that you have for dealing with problems and people in general.¡±

    Lucifer frowned, before continuing, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re known for killing people that set your plans awry, usually with some spectacular results, such as exploding brains while they¡¯re still in the person¡¯s head.¡±

    Lucifer froze at that. Normally he wasn¡¯t so violent, but then again after what he just saw maybe the future him had justification for the tremendously evil deeds that the lady hinted at. Sighing Lucifer turned his mind to the problem at hand, the humans. Looking up at the lady, he spoke.

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen all of what I have just seen, what do you think I should do?¡±

    ¡°I think you should let it all come to pass,¡± the lady replied.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°No matter what they do, if you rob people of their free will you can become as corrupt as the angels. And even if all those bad things come to pass there is still hope and all that.¡±

    Lucifer¡¯s frown deepened, but he let her continue.

    ¡°Besides as they say; one thousand moments of pain and unhappiness can be made up with a single moment of pleasure.¡±

    Lucifer¡¯s eyebrows rose up in a clear indication of what he thought about that line of thought.

    ¡°All right I must admit the world is an ugly place and in the end humans might destroy all that stands before them, including themselves, but I think that they are a worthwhile race and that they should be allowed to live and reach their potential, and I wouldn¡¯t be lying when I say that I want to be born.¡±

    Lucifer paused at that thought. He pressed his hand to the side of his head, combing his fingers through his black hair, as he realised the implications of that statement. The thought that this woman would never be born made his stomach turn and a deep icy feeling settle into the centre of his body where his dual hearts beat in rhythm.

    However, a thought struck into Lucifer¡¯s mind. What if this girl was just saying what she thought he wanted to hear? Maybe she was trying to make sure that he allowed the world that he saw to come to pass, regardless of what had occurred in it.

    Lucifer turned suspicious eyes towards the girl in the window. She was saying something, but Lucifer didn¡¯t care about what she was saying. He was too busy studying the girl, and how she moved, the way her eyes couldn¡¯t meet his and how see kept glancing over her shoulder at something hidden from his view.

    Slowly it dawned on Lucifer what was going on. The girl naturally could enter into the Hall of Time, but this was her first time and she was not alone. Someone else was giving her instructions so that she could play on whatever weaknesses that he might have, in order to make him decide to maintain the future that he had just seen.

    ¡°You¡¯re being forced to do this, aren¡¯t you?¡± said Lucifer.

    The girl paused and then her smile faded off her mouth, but Lucifer knew that she was happier, before continuing, ¡°yes, I was told in great detail that you must make the decision to keep the world that you just saw or else everything would be undone and we would never have been born, and that there are things that must come to pass.¡±

    Lucifer paused before continuing, ¡°so in other words, you were told to manipulate me until I decided to ensure that the future came to pass.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Lucifer smiled before he threw his head back and began to laugh uncontrollably. The girl in the window took a half-step back in surprise at Lucifer¡¯s reaction. Lucifer brought his head down to stare directly into the girl¡¯s jade green eyes, before saying ¡°all my life I have been manipulated by creatures other than me, the angels, the accursed water of this infernal Pool of Immortality, and now you, a person, who will not even be born for another twelve thousand years. I just thought it was hilarious.¡± Lucifer took a deep breath and continued, ¡°alright I will do as you say and allow the future and all its magnificent horrors to come to pass, but know this, this will be the last time anyone controls me!¡±

    The girl smiled then and this time the smile reached up to her eyes and she seemed to glow as she began to laugh.

    ¡°Alright, I will tell him what you said,¡± the girl said, still struggling to contain her obvious delight in what she had just heard.

    ¡°I guess this is goodbye then?¡± she said as she reached out and touched the window. And much like its name suggested, her hand touched the window and seemed to hit some kind of barrier that prevented her from reaching into Lucifer¡¯s version of the Hall of Time. She pressed her hand up to the transparent barrier so that it was splayed out with none of her fingers touching each other.

    Lucifer regarded her a moment before he placed his hand out in the same manner so that their hands were in the same place. Lucifer¡¯s head came up as he felt an energy wave flow from her in to him giving him information on who and what had forced her to do this task. Lucifer couldn¡¯t help but see that there was an incredible irony in what he had just said when he compared this piece of information to everything in context. Sighing, he brought his hand back down and stood there watching as the girl faded from sight. However the window didn¡¯t fade, it stood there as if it was waiting for something else to occur.

    Then a figure stepped into Lucifer¡¯s range of sight. It stood there unmoving and eternal giving off a sense that it knew everything, that it was all knowing and as ancient as the stars. It stared at Lucifer with a burning intensity that was almost holy. Lucifer stared across a span of twelve thousand years into eyes that tried with all their might to pierce Lucifer¡¯s mind. But Lucifer just stared back into its two glowing red eyes, eyes he knew very well, for they were his eyes.

    Lucifer jerked back into his body.

    Lucifer felt for a brief second a slight disorientation as he came to grips with what was happening around him. His body was still submerged in the water, but what was of immediate concern was that he was allowing a massive amount of energy flow through his body and out into the pool, causing a vast beam of light to rise from the pool¡¯s depth.

    Sighing, Lucifer dispatched an errant thought to his energy centres that resided in his body to stop producing energy, and the pillar of light vanished. Lucifer cast his mind up and out to see who and what was around the pool. He felt the life force of several humans, monks from the close by abbey. Up above the valley, sitting on the edge of their mountains, the dragons waited with their timeless gaze fixed on the pool. Up even further floating in the sky were angels and not just any angels, archangels, angels who were stronger and more powerful than normal angels and older.

    Getting up his courage, Lucifer rose up from the water until he was standing on its surface, casting his red glowing eyes around at the assembled watchers. Lucifer spoke and his words were more than just sound coming from his lips. They were words laced with energy and meaning that spread forth until even the very bedrock of the valley held them bound inside for all eternity.

    ¡°I am Lucifer! I have come to destroy you, nothing shall be spared, not man, not woman, not child, not even lily white angels. In my wake this world will change and the order you have known for thousands of years shall crumble to dust while you watch all that you hold dear perish in front of your very eyes.¡± Lucifer cast his eyes up at the angels that circled above, and with a faint smile spoke once more. ¡°This world is mine and belongs to me and my brethren. You angel¡¯s best flee or else face oblivion.¡±

    The sound that followed was deafening for the various angels cast down their power at Lucifer in an attempt to destroy him, while at the same time the dragons roared their agreement.

    Lucifer watched as the attacks of the angels rained down at him with an almost detached interested, before engaging his own otherworldly power, a red almost lighting-like energy which burst from his up raised, left hand. This energy surged forth like an avalanche of power sweeping away all that got in its way whether angel or any other thing. Many of the angels were cast back reeling like drunkards, however some few still had their wits about them and they were shooting down to attack Lucifer with their hands if need be.

    Lucifer watched them come. He cringed internally for he knew what was to come, what he must do in order to cast the angels from this world and make it his in all the ways that mattered. Lucifer stretched forth his right hand and gathered power unused by any other sentient creature in the entire universe and all that lay beyond.

    Darkness had formed in his right hand, darkness more profound than just an absence of light. It was an absence of the grace that existed in all matter, for it was opposite to all that lay in this universe. Lucifer cast it forth towards the descending angels, shot from his hand towards the angels, and its very passage seemed to distort the universe. Then it struck the nearest of angels square in the chest. He didn¡¯t even get to scream, for the moment it impacted the angel, he broke apart, not as if he exploded, but more that he seemed to turn to dust which collapsed and flew into the black sphere of deadly energy until not even a trace of him was left, nor was there any trace of the energy sphere.

    The angels were still as stones as they felt the concussion wave spread outwards from where the angel had stopped existing. The wave spread itself across the world in a few seconds, and every angel felt it regardless of where they were. And so did every man, woman and child, whether awake or asleep. They turned towards the epicentre of the wave and they felt a fear burn into their bones, a fear that would stay in the human psyche forever. For man had known what death was and they even knew to fear it, but this wasn¡¯t death. This was oblivion, for the power Lucifer had harnessed had unmade the angel and even destroyed his soul. And that was what seeped into man¡¯s mind, that death was the end of the human soul.

    Lucifer regarded the angels who still flew above him, for their cries were great as they had just witnessed the ending of one of their own kind. Not just a body death where the soul became free to travel around and wait to be reborn into another vessel. Instead, it was a true death that could not be reversed by any means that they possessed.

    Lucifer felt no pity as he looked up at the once proud angels who thought they ruled the heavens and all that lay beneath. And he spoke into their collective awareness.

    ¡°I have seen all that you were, all that you are and all that you will be. And I say that it will be no more. You have hunted and killed whole races, now prepare to be hunted. Prepare for I am coming and I will bring with me the tides of the horsemen. Your reign is ending. Mine is beginning!¡±

    Lucifer looked upwards at the fleeing angels. Some of them had opened dimensional gates and were fleeing through them to other worlds, spreading the tale of the evil creature that had literally erased an entire angel, leaving nothing behind. Other angels had increased their angelic energy wings so that they could flee as fast as they could, to escape, not really caring where they were running to.

    Lucifer smiled a savage smile for the fear that these angels possessed was nothing like that which he was going to deliver to them. Lucifer paused as he heard a whimpering. Turning, he saw the collective monks from the nearby abbey praying to their god for mercy and deliverance from this unholy creature that stood before them.

    Lucifer regarded the monks. In truth, he didn¡¯t want to kill them, but he had to get rid of them somehow. So Lucifer extended his hand and with a simple dismissive thought flung the monks across space and reality scattering them around Europe and the Middle East, so they could spread the tale of what had occurred here today.

    Looking up once again, Lucifer forged wings of energy similar to the wings the angels used except that these wings were more powerful than the wings of any angel. They were shaped like a rhombus or an elongated diamond. There were four and each one had its shortest peak pointing towards Lucifer¡¯s shoulder blades and each one shone with a ruby red light that spoke of unending malevolence.

    Lucifer rose up into the air. At first he rose slowly, but as he got higher and higher he rose faster and faster. Until he was flying at supersonic speeds and all around him dragons flew around and around, circling. Lucifer glanced around for the sun and realised that it was already nightfall, midnight if the position of the moon was any indication, which meant Lucifer had spent over 12 hours in that pool when he had only thought it had been a few moments. Glancing back at the moon, an idea came to him that caused a smile to spread across his face that would have caused even serial killers to flinch back.

    Lucifer looked down at the receding valley and a thought occurred to him, that if any other Hellspawn were to fall into that pool, they would come out the same as him or perhaps even worse. And so Lucifer gathered his will and invoked the Will of Heaven, the unending canopy of power, the light which turned this universe and all others to come. Lucifer felt the influx of energy into his body, and it was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was as if a tide of power was swaying through his mind, a tide of power that spoke of unending joy and sorrow. Lucifer¡¯s mind expanded beyond human understanding. He became the planets that turn in their endless journey, and then he was the arms of galaxies as they flowed across space and time. He heard the sound of every atom crashing into one another.

    Lucifer¡¯s will however was greater than that of the energy which brought infinite bliss, and with his mind, heart and soul Lucifer turned the power on the universe and remade it anew. For around the valley, Lucifer forged a shield, a shield unlike any other, a shield wrought from time and memory.

    Lucifer smiled, for what he had done made it impossible to enter into the valley let alone see it. The valley now existed between moments, forever sealed away from the world. The valley would never be disturbed by another creature from the outside world, and there would never arise any creature inside of the field, for Lucifer had locked the internal temporal field. A million years could pass by and only a second would occur inside of the sphere.

    Lucifer increased his speed, until he was flying at supersonic speeds upward towards space. The dragons had flown away from him as soon as they had witnessed the valley being sealed off. Lucifer could feel the air around him become icily cold. Lucifer knew that his body could easily take this cold, but he wasn¡¯t too sure about the vacuum that was space. So he summoned up his internal power, the demonic energies and tuned it through his body until he appeared as if he had rivers of red light flowing through his skin. Each river shifted and turned around and around his body keeping it at its optimal temperature, and also protecting him from all the other forms of radiation and other space hazards.

    Lucifer flew out of the earth¡¯s atmosphere and up till he floated in the exact middle between the Earth and the moon. Lucifer knew he was safe for the time being as angels wouldn¡¯t or couldn¡¯t travel into the vacuum of space. In fact they didn¡¯t travel very far from any planetary body as they seemed to get weaker and weaker the further they travelled from any large planetary body.

    Lucifer regarded the moon, shining with its normal reflection of the sun and today the various cities the angels maintained on the moon made it seem to come alive. Cities of light sprung up all around the moon, usually found on the endlessly flat plains. Lucifer could see angels walking around thinking themselves safe and secure from all harm as they had constructed an artificial atmosphere which they maintained around the entire moon, so they could come and go as they please without having to put any energy into maintaining their bodies from the hardships of space. And the angels in their pride saw no reason to ever check on whether there was ever going to be an attack on them.

    Lucifer couldn¡¯t help but feel amused at what lay before him. His task had been made so much simpler because of the angel¡¯s pride. Pride and laziness would cost them this world.

    Lucifer raised his hands above his head and a ball of energy appeared between them, an energy which bubbled and hissed as if it fought to be free of Lucifer¡¯s grasp. Lucifer cast forth his ball of energy, casting it straight at the moon. The ball of energy flew straight and true, and it struck the energy shield around the moon with a burning flare of light.

    The moon ignited.

    The shield¡¯s energies had mixed with the energy Lucifer had cast at the moon and they when fused together caused the oxygen in the very air to burn, burn like a flaming sun. And on the world down below a second sun rose in their night sky.

    With a song in his heart and a sardonic laugh, Lucifer engaged his power and teleported back to the world below, his feet leaving the hundreds, if not thousands of angels burning upon their supposed safe haven.

    After Lucifer had teleported away, his magics had left behind a wisp of red energy which danced around in a sphere as if it was a giant, glowing, red, demonic eye, before it too blinked out of existence, leaving Lucifer¡¯s sardonic laughter, which echoed even in the void which was space.

    The Blood Wars had started.

    Gabriel¡¯s reign

    Turned the world to plunder

    Lucifer¡¯s madness

    Tore the world asunder

    - From Calypso¡¯s ¡®A History of Lucifer¡¯, written 1602 A.D.

 Chronoheim: Legends of the Moonclock

    The crimson light of the Moonclock dyed the world below in various shades of red. And as it ticked along, it cared nothing for the quarrels of the surviving sentient races that populated the world of Chronoheim. For the great clock, that acted as a moon for the world it orbited like a giant pendulum, had but one function. It counted down until the next Aeon would arrive.

    Many on the world below saw this not as a changing of Aeons but a countdown to the end of all things. Which is why they tried to rebel, tried to endure to make sure that they could reach the end of the Aeon to ensure that oblivion never arrived.

    Yet they were all fools, for in this Aeon where darkness and horror reigned, their attempts at rebellion and steadfastness meant that they were easy prey to those that sought the end of time.

    And in their paranoia and hope for an end to the horrors of the Aeon of Ruin, they became puppets to the Xenos who whispered low heinous secrets¡­

    ~~~

    Tephra Xerxes awoke within her stone coffin.

    She awoke to the smell of blood and death, she awoke to the sounds of screams and pain¡­ she awoke to echoes of battle.

    Blinking awake, Tephra slowly scanned over her stone tomb wondering to herself why she was still within her sarcophagus and not on an altar? Then she started to wonder why she could smell blood in the air. And more importantly why it was so close that she could smell it within her tomb?

    Adjusting to the fact that something had gone terribly wrong, Tephra took a moment to glance around and see if anything within her tomb had been disturbed.

    First she noted that she was still wearing her red gold and black attire. A dress like construct that allowed her freedom of movement when in battle yet looked ceremonial enough that when she spoke on behalf of the Gods people believed her.

    Second she noted that her sword was still present within her tomb, a sword that was a good 1.5 metres long and was made from mirror quality obsidian. Obsidian, that also held within it aspects of fire, aspects that made it a weapon that allowed Tephra to both cleave apart her enemies and also burn them down.

    Smiling in relief that her fabled weapon, Aeschere was still with her, Tephra refocused on the stone lid above her and with a simple flex of her arms pushed the giant stone slab up into the air so that it sailed off into the depths of the underground tomb. An act that caused a resounding crashing noise to tear through the catacombs that she was in, a noise that would certainly reveal her presence to those that had brought blood and battle to a tomb.

    Yet Tephra was not concerned for she had weathered thousands of battles and nothing that she would face would shock her, nor get the best of her, at least not in this Aeon.

    Standing up so that her feet rested in the middle of the sarcophagus she had been sleeping in for centuries, Tephra wondered to herself what had happened. What had occurred that had prevented the rest of her fellow Saeculum from waking her for her turn to guard the mortal races from the threat of extinction?

    Stretching her body so that she could shake out the lethargy of being essentially a corpse for centuries, Tephra took a moment to look around at her surroundings. First she looked at the stone work around her that was so much more weathered than would it should have been. Then she looked at the dust and skeletons that had been discarded all about her stone sarcophagus.

    Seeing the evidence before her, Tephra knew that not only had centuries passed by, they had apparently been so cataclysmic that the holy halls of the dead she had been put in had become nothing more than a dumping grounds for the dead. A place where rubbish and the unwanted went when they were no longer of use or their existence was so adverse to civilisation that they needed to die.

    Feeling the echoes of the souls that had been entombed within these skeletons, souls that still whimpered in pain and sorrow, Tephra took a moment to offer up a prayer for those that had been discarded here. Stepping out of her sarcophagus and into the middle of the room, Tephra placed her hands together then slowly opened them like a book. Yet Tephra¡¯s hands were no longer empty. They were instead filled with golden flames that lit up the tomb. The golden flames bore within them magic and divinity that had been so long absent from the room that the dead cowered in fear.

    Shifting and creaking, the bones of the undead tried to flee from what they saw as oblivion until they were touched by the golden flames. Once they felt the warmth that many had never felt before, even in life, the dead instead of shying away eagerly embraced the golden flames that washed away the bindings of undeath.

    Watching the souls drift upward, knowing that they would not be able to truly go into the afterlife until the Aeon of Ruin was ended, Tephra smiled none the less. As seeing the souls of those young and old smile back at her, finally at peace, was something that never stopped moving Tephra¡¯s own un-beating heart.

    Tephra glanced around before she spied the drops of fresh blood amidst centuries old dust. The blood was clear enough that Tephra could use it as a trail that would hopefully lead her to a still living being that could answer her questions. Picking up her giant sword with only one of her hands, Tephra¡¯s slender and graceful arms clearly lacked the muscles needed to lift up her weapon. Yet she did so with such ease that it seemed to weigh next to nothing, at least in her hands.

    Turning her black and gold eyes towards the drops of blood on the ground, Tephra studied the heat within the blood and once she was certain she followed the still warm blood towards its owner.

    Leifur struggled to stop the blood from spilling from her wound.

    She struggled not because she was bad at treating wounds, but because the wounds had been made by the claws of an Illr. And such jagged and terrible wounds would not be closed and stop bleeding by something as simple as binding it with bandages.

    Staggering about as the blood loss was starting to get to her, Leifur collapsed into a pile of dust debris and bones, aware that some of them probably were still aware enough to notice her presence. Yet Leifur couldn¡¯t quite make herself care that she might wake more Illr from their rest, for she knew in her heart that she would soon be amongst the dead herself. A fact that she believed would make the dead ignore her.

    Wallowing in despair that she would end up dying here in some forgotten, broken castle far from the edges of civilisation or her home, Leifur closed her eyes as tears fell down her face. Her tears were both for herself and for anyone that would be stupid enough to follow her into this wretched, broken castle, for they would only find death here.

    Lying there in the dust and dirt, Leifur was half tempted to reminisce on her life and how even after thirty years of life she was still a child rebelling against this cruel and uncaring world. And how she had been hoping against hope to find miracles from the last Aeon that would stop the world from decaying into nothing.

    Instead, Leifur knew that the world was a broken horrible thing. And that all that lived upon Chronoheim were doomed, if not in this life then when the Moonclock finally finished counting down to the end of days.

    Feeling her mind flicker in and out of consciousness, Leifur felt her mind snap back into focus the moment her long, elf ears heard footsteps approaching her.

    Raising her head, Leifur looked in the direction of the footfalls and what she saw turned her already cold body even colder.

    She saw an Illr walking towards her, a woman that was wearing an ancient ceremonial battledress, who had a giant obsidian sword strapped to her back. But what made Leifur try to sit up to flee from the thing before her was the fact that the Illr was holding a ball of red fire in her left hand.

    An Illr was a danger to all those that lived nearby, but that was all, even when they possessed intelligence. But an Illr with magic at her beck and call, that was something that would affect everyone.

    Struggling desperately to get up, the Illr watched Leifur with her strange eyes, eyes that possessed golden irises and black sclera. Which when bathed in the red tint of her magic made her look like death itself.

    ¡°You¡¯re injured,¡± said the Illr, her voice containing a note of concern in it. A note of concern that was so genuine that Leifur forgot her panic for a moment to look up at the Illr in shock and disbelief.

    ¡°Will you let me help you?¡± asked the Illr as she lowered her left hand so that the ball of crimson fire was left floating in the air unmoored from the Illr¡¯s being.

    Struggling to comprehend the fact that the Illr before her was talking and at the same time showing any form of compassion, Leifur made a choice that boggled her own mind. For every instinct in her body told her that she should steer way from this undead thing before her. Yet the note of concern, the genuine concern, that was reflected in the Illr¡¯s face and even body language made Leifur choose to accept the Illr¡¯s help.

    Nodding her head in acceptance, the Illr walked forward. All the while, she made sure to keep an eye on the weapon that was barely being held onto by Leifur, a weapon made of wood that radiated with the waning magic of the elves. Yet despite the trepidation, the Illr walked over and bent down to look at the wounds that covered Leifur¡¯s flank.

    Slowly peeling back the ill fitting bandages that covered the wounds, the Illr gave Leifur a quick glance before she looked back at the wounds, her eyes telling Leifur all she needed to know.

    ¡°The wounds are untreatable aren¡¯t they?¡± asked Leifur aware that she was doomed to die, a fact that didn¡¯t bring with it the same horror that she had once regarded death with.

    ¡°They are too deep to be treated with mere bandages, and you have lost a lot of blood,¡± said the Illr in response, her voice somehow not carrying with it a tone of finality, as if there was something still left to do.

    ¡°Then you have to do something for me, Illr,¡± said Leifur as her mind started to fill with fog as she was no longer filled with the fear for the dead thing before her.

    ¡°My name is Tephra Xerxes, and I am not an Illr,¡± said Tephra as she looked at Leifur with her strange and alien eyes, eyes that did not radiate a hint of displeasure at being labelled as one of the evil dead.

    ¡°Then what are you?¡± asked Leifur as she lost track of her train of thought due to her body¡¯s injuries weakening her.

    ¡°Have you never heard of the Aevum? Have things truly gotten that bad?¡± asked Tephra, concern filling her voice both for Leifur and for the world in general.

    ¡°The only active Aevum left are those that are from centuries ago. The rest are like these piles of bones. Inert unless corrupted into becoming Illr,¡± explained Leifur as she tried to focus her mind on what mattered. ¡°You must tell my teammates that an Illr rests at the core of these ruins. That it is monstrous and if it decides to leave this place then it will ravage the land. Please tell them to find help to kill that thing!¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡± asked Tephra, her voice oddly still yet somehow still gentle.

    ¡°Tell them that Leifur Grandis died and leave it at that,¡± said Leifur as she started to feel a wave of unending cold begin to soak through her being as whatever life she had left was leaving her body.

    Coming to a conclusion based on what the elf before her had said, Tephra raised her right hand and engulfed it in golden glowing fire. A fire that she had been given by Gods so long ago it had happened in another Aeon. A golden flame that was filled with divinity, a divinity that had long since vanished from the world of Chronoheim.

    Caught off guard by the beauty of the golden flame before her, Leifur¡¯s breath caught in her throat as she felt the waves of divinity roll off of the fire. Yet that was not the end of the miracles but the start.

    Placing the golden fire upon the wounds that were still leaking blood, the golden flame began to spread out and fill Leifur with a warmth that she had never felt before. It was as if beauty and kindness had been given form and tangibility. It was as if she was being held in the embrace of a loving parent once again. It was as if she was coming home to a place of true happiness. What¡¯s more the gentle caress of the golden, god fire was not just healing her, it was making her stronger. She could feel her strength return. Her blood was being refilled and the energy of the flame was nurturing her soul.

    Opening her eyes, Leifur was on the verge of tears as she looked down at the golden fire that was healing her. Yet the wonders didn¡¯t stop there, for as Leifur looked about her she was in awe as she saw that the golden flame was doing more than just healing her.

    It was freeing the dead from the prison of their corpses.

    Motes of golden light shot up from the pile of bones that she was lying on, and each and every one of the motes was a soul that was being freed from their old skeleton. And as they escaped she could see the souls as golden glowing motes that in turn seemed to radiate the light of the divine, a golden resonance that cascaded around the tomb until it looked like nothing she had seen before.

    Seeing the souls rejoice that they were free and that they could finally move on from this place where they had just been discarded in, Leifur¡¯s tears finally overflowed as she realised she had found her old dream. For in this tomb she had found healing magic, she had found a miracle and she had found a relic of the gods in the form of a priestess that was able to invoke the magic of the lost gods.

    Lying there in the dust and dirt and the now empty bones of the dead freed of their souls, Leifur cried not only because she would survive but also because she had found something else, something so much more¡­

    Hope for this world.

    Sitting back on the ground, Tephra looked at the weeping elf before her and let her get everything out. She let the elf relish in the miracle she had just endured, and in the hope that she had found in the midst of the dead. Yet Tephra knew that the moment of levity couldn¡¯t last as Leifur would need to fill her in on so many details about the world. It was clear to Tephra that the world had changed so very much during the time she had been bound in sleep inside her sarcophagus.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to need you to answer some more questions,¡± said Tephra, her voice kind but firm as she cut into the reverence that Leifur was caught up in.

    ¡°Any that I can answer I will,¡± said Leifur as she turned her green eyes towards Tephra, a strength within her eyes that had not been there before.

    ¡°Alright let¡¯s start with an easy question. What year is it?¡± asked Tephra, her question carrying with it enough information that Leifur was able to understand something about her saviour.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to tell you, but it is 120,823 AT or Advent Tempus depending on what you understand,¡± said Leifur clearly believing that the news that she had delivered would break her saviour.

    ¡°The last time I was awake was over 800 years ago,¡± said Tephra as she did a quick calculation in the back of her mind to figure out when she had last been active. A number that caused Leifur to blink in shock, as if she couldn¡¯t understand what she had just heard.

    ¡°But that would mean you were born in the Aeon of Ruin. How then did you get ahold of your divine magic?¡± asked Leifur, her eyes brimming with curiosity at the thought that somewhere out there in the vastness of the world was a relic that could be used to grant divine magic to a mortal, ensouled being.

    ¡°I said that was the last time I was active, not when I was last alive,¡± said Tephra with a smile at the miscommunication between the two of them. ¡°I was born in the year 103,666 AT and then I willingly chose to become this so that I could act as a guide and guardian for the Aeons in which the Gods could not be present in this world.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± said Leifur in complete disbelief at what she had just heard.

    ¡°Is it the fact that I am so old or the fact I willingly turned myself into a Saeculum, the Holy Undead?¡± asked Tephra as she tried to understand what was tripping Leifur up.

    ¡°What do you mean in the Aeons that the Gods cannot be present in the world?¡± asked Leifur, her eyes swimming with a maelstrom of emotion. Emotion that threatened to overwhelm the elf, in more ways than even her discovery of divine magic had caused.

    ¡°You know that the Aeons change? That they change from Ruin to Life to Myth to even more rare Aeons?¡± asked Tephra as Leifur¡¯s question caught her flatfooted as never before had she been in an Aeon of Ruin where this single piece of vital knowledge had been lost.

    ¡°You mean you have lived through other Aeons of Ruin before?¡± asked Leifur, her voice shaking with fear as the question seemed to be squeezed out of her.

    ¡°Yes, several, although none have been back to back like this one has been,¡± said Tephra as she reminisced about the fact that the world of Chronoheim had been so unlucky in the last few thousand years.

    Instead of answering, Leifur simply stared out into the distance as if everything she had ever believed was no longer true.

    Seeing the shock that the elf before her was so lost in, Tephra began to wonder how bad things really were and if the cosmic mechanisms that governed the universe had gone terribly wrong.

    ¡°The Moonclock is still ticking along? It¡¯s not broken or damaged somehow?¡± asked Tephra as that was the only real reason that she could think of that would cause the world to fall so far into Ruin.

    ¡°The Moonclock counts down to the end of the world,¡± said Leifur softly as if she was reciting something she had heard her whole life. ¡°We only have 777 years left to find a way to save the world.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± said Tephra, her voice harsh and final, ¡°the Moonclock counts down to the end of the current Aeon. Then a new Aeon is chosen at random from the available Aeon types. This includes the same type of Aeon that just ended, although the same type of Aeon can only be chosen four times in a row.¡±

    ¡°How many times has the Aeon of Ruin been chosen?¡± asked Leifur as she looked at Tephra with both hope and existential dread.

    ¡°This would be the fourth time,¡± said Tephra with a certainty that made it clear there was no mistake, no error, that when the Moonclock finished counting down the next Aeon would be better in every way imaginable.

    Hearing that the world only had to put up with just 777 years of Ruin before they would be granted salvation, Leifur started to cry once again. For now she didn¡¯t just have hope, she had certainty that the world would get better. Plus she knew that the horror she had been raised to believe was false.

    Allowing Leifur to hold onto her as she let all of the worst horrors out, emotions that had been poisoning her since she had been able to think and feel, Tephra looked down at the golden haired elf in remorse. If one of the elves had come to believe this, despite many of them possessing life spans measuring in centuries if not millennia, then she dreaded to find out how the other races of Chronoheim were faring.

    Waiting for Leifur to stop crying all the while continuing to comfort her, Tephra¡¯s mind raced with the questions she needed to ask, questions that would shed light upon the fate of Chronoheim. Questions that Tephra hoped would reveal what had caused the massive change between when she had last awakened and the current world.

    Seeing that Leifur had quietened down, Tephra leaned back and looked at Leifur before speaking up.

    ¡°If you feel up to it, can I start asking you some more questions?¡± asked Tephra hoping that the only person she could speak to would be up to being grilled for any and all information she possessed.

    ¡°What do you need to know?¡± asked Leifur as she looked up with crystal clear, green eyes, eyes that possessed a strength born not of enduring spirit but instead unyielding hope.

    ¡°Can you tell me about the various races of the world?¡± asked Tephra as that would be a simple place to start. ¡°What has become of the elves, the dwarves, the humans and the selenus?¡±

    ¡°The dwarves and the humans are extinct,¡± said Leifur, her voice filled with a determined reluctance as she didn¡¯t want to have to tell Tephra what had befallen the world yet at the same time she knew she needed to.

    ¡°Extinct?¡± repeated Tephra in amazement before focusing in on the specifics. ¡°How did they become extinct?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the dwarves, but I do know that they retreated into their stone halls and hid deep within the world down where the gears at the core of the world can be found. They retreated so deep we didn¡¯t hear from them for centuries before we found out their fate. Something deep within the earth turned them all to stone. Not a single dwarf was spared, even the children in their cots and in their mother¡¯s arms,¡± said Leifur as she remembered the horrible truth about what had happened to the dwarves.

    ¡°That sounds like they used Stone Sleep upon themselves,¡± said Tephra, her voice even as she absorbed the information that the entire race of the dwarves had become nothing but stone statues.

    ¡°Stone Sleep?¡± repeated Leifur in a way that mirrored Tephra¡¯s own repetition from earlier in the conversation.

    ¡°It¡¯s a magic ritual that all dwarves can perform. It turns them to stone until they are turned back by another dwarf or if certain conditions are fulfilled. Originally it was created by dwarf miners who became stuck underground. They would turn themselves to stone to prevent themselves from starving to death and even centuries later they could be retrieved and returned to life as if nothing had happened. I even heard that some human, grave robbers would haul these wondrous statues to the surface only for the Stone Sleep to expire under the light of the sun and then the grave robbers would have a very angry dwarf in their hands,¡± said Tephra with a faint smile at the old stories the dwarves had told her from long ago.

    ¡°You mean the dwarves are still alive? They can be restored!¡± said Leifur in wonder as the grim and horrible nature of the world was slowly peeled back to reveal that the horrors that the elves had been labouring under were nothing but dreadful cobwebs that could be destroyed with ease.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Tephra simply, ¡°now what of the humans?¡±

    ¡°They died out from a variety of different reasons,¡± said Leifur slowly as she tilted her head back to think. ¡°The world itself has become sick¡­ food spoils, water fouls and unlike us elves, the humans didn¡¯t have a way to counteract the decline and destruction of the world. They became sick and frail and eventually many of them died from hunger. Those that managed to find a way around these problems ran into even worse problems. Human life spans shortened, with humans being considered ancient if they made it to 30 years of age. They also stopped being able to breed as much as they used to. Eventually they simply died out until only the old were left and then there were none.¡±

    Sitting still in shock at the fate of humanity, Tephra then stood up and began to pace about the tomb she was in.

    Her first thought was that the humans had simply failed to save themselves, but she didn¡¯t believe that for a moment. Not just because she had once been human, but because she had seen throughout her over 17 thousand years of existence that humans were the best at adapting to whatever Aeon they found themselves in. So the only other possibility was that someone had intentionally killed mankind off, not because they were the weakest, but because they were the ones that were the most problematic to deal with.

    This thought in turn managed to make a lot of what had happened to the world so much clearer. There was an unseen enemy that was pulling the strings, one that sought the end of the world of Chronoheim. An enemy that had managed to go unnoticed for centuries, an enemy that had perhaps even been active before Tephra had gone into her long sleep.

    Aware now that some great and unknowable design had encompassed the world, one that was seeking to end life and even the Moonclock itself, Tephra turned her gaze towards Leifur seeking more knowledge.

    ¡°How are the elves faring?¡± asked Tephra, hoping that there was some form of resistance still left in the world.

    ¡°We are managing to hang on,¡± said Leifur as a hint of pride for her people seeped into her words. A pride that caused Leifur to stand up and match Tephra¡¯s stare, an act that allowed both women to understand that Leifur¡¯s health had not just returned, but rather it had been enhanced beyond its normal vitality.

    ¡°We elves still live in our forests. In fact, we are the last bastions of fertile and green plants in the world. It¡¯s all thanks to our connection with nature. We are able to heal the earth and make sure that the plants are able to continue to grow greener and stronger than anything else in the world. In fact, our forests are the only place where the grass has not turned red,¡± said Leifur as she seemed to puff up with pride.

    ¡°The grass turned red?¡± asked Tephra, clearly wondering to herself what had caused such a phenomenon.

    ¡°Yes some of the druids back home called it the ¡®Redmar¡¯, but I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s its actual name or if I am misremembering,¡± said Leifur as she tilted her head as she tried to remember the specifics of why something as mundane as red grass had occurred.

    Seeing the fact that Leifur was not suspicious about the nature of the red grass, Tephra didn¡¯t push her luck with the topic. Instead, she focused in on the last race left on her list, the Selenus.

    ¡°Lastly the Selenus, how have they been?¡± asked Tephra expecting that they would be the ones that would have remained the most unscathed due to their innate nature.

    ¡°They have been doing well for themselves; in fact they are the main source of civilisation left. In fact, my team and I came from one of their nearby cities. Even one of my teammates is one of them. Her name is Azure Mond by the way. Their magic is such that they have not been negatively affected by most things,¡± said Leifur as she admitted both to Tephra and herself that the Selenus were the race that was thriving the most.

    ¡°Makes sense, a race of people made of crystals and magic are hard to put down even in the best of situations,¡± said Tephra all the while wondering if the enemy she would need to cut down was one of the Selenus trying to wipe out the competition in this Aeon where the gods couldn¡¯t interfere.

    Seeing that Tephra was lost in thought, Leifur picked up her wooden sword and placed it in her sheath on her hip before she gave Tephra a searching look. A look that made Tephra understand that Leifur wanted to say something yet at the same time didn¡¯t want to distract her saviour.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± asked Tephra, because if Leifur had anything to say she wanted to hear it even if Leifur herself thought the information or question was useless.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t asked about the Novus,¡± said Leifur, her voice at little hesitant. ¡°Can I ask why?¡±

    ¡°What are these Novus?¡± asked Tephra clearly befuddled by this piece of new terminology.

    ¡°You mean they didn¡¯t exist 800 years ago?¡± asked Leifur as she tried to wrap her mind around the implications.

    ¡°They might but under a different name,¡± said Tephra slowly although based on the fact they had been talking about the races of the world these Novus might be something she had never encountered before.

    ¡°The Novus are a race of shape-shifters,¡± said Leifur slowly in voice and face filled with disbelief that Tephra had never heard of them before. ¡°They are born with the power to take on alternate forms and even have some of those forms manifest upon their original form. I¡¯ve seen Novus with horns and scales and so forth. Some had cat or wolf ears growing from their head in addition to their normal ears, others had bird wings growing from their back or even tails.¡±

    ¡°No I definitely have not heard of them before,¡± said Tephra as she cast her mind back across her many millennia of existence, ¡°I mean I have heard of shape-shifting magic before, but not in the way that you are describing. Not as an innate magical power. Are they limited to a single other form or can they take multiple other forms?¡±

    ¡°It depends on the Novus. My other teammate Eos Tenebrae can take on any form she likes. I have seen Eos take on the form of a cat, a raven or even a giant spider. She usually takes on whatever is best for the situation at hand. However other Novus are limited to one type of creature of various species or genus of creature. For example one Novus I know can only change into felines, so can become a housecat or a lion depending on what she wants at the time,¡± explained Leifur calmly as she kept giving Tephra strange looks for not knowing about the existence of the Novus.

    Smiling as she heard Leifur¡¯s explanation, Tephra was willing to believe that humanity hadn¡¯t gone extinct and that they had instead morphed themselves into a new versatile race that could survive in the strangely distorted world that Chronoheim had become.

    ¡°Anything else that you want to know?¡± asked Leifur gingerly, not sure whether she should divulge everything she had ever encountered or not, as it was entirely possible that Tephra had never seen or heard about some of what she considered to be everyday occurrences.

    ¡°You said you wanted me to take a message to your teammates,¡± said Tephra as she recalled the conversation she had had back when she had first helped Leifur. ¡°I take it you are part of some sort of organisation?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am a part of the Relic Hunters. We are one of many guilds scattered throughout the land that search the world for anything that can help us continue to survive. Some of us focus on exploration, others focus on battling the Illr that roam the land, and some still seek out magic or relics that can help us find a way to improve our existence,¡± said Leifur as she understood where this conversation was going. ¡°In fact, we were sent here to explore the ruins of this castle and destroy the Illr that had taken up residence in the floors above. I got hit with its attacks and then it blocked my ability to escape. I think that my teammates were also forced to flee from that thing. If they survived, then they should be waiting for me at our base camp outside the castle.¡±

    ¡°Only three of you were sent to defeat this Illr?¡± asked Tephra as she frowned at the piece of information that Leifur had offered up. For it was clear that if the Illr was dangerous enough to send people to destroy it then why send only so few.

    ¡°There was only the three of us available to go on this mission. Normally, we like to work in teams of four, but we just don¡¯t have the ability to field so many people. Not with the death toll our profession takes,¡± said Leifur in embarrassment as she didn¡¯t want to admit how severely lacking the Relic Hunters were that they could only send three people. For such an act had turned this extermination mission into essentially a suicide mission.

    ¡°Fair enough,¡± said Tephra as she was aware that recruiting people to help was difficult even in the best of times, especially when survival was already less than guaranteed. ¡°Now then would you like my help in destroying this Illr?¡±

    Shocked at what she had just heard and what she had just been offered, Leifur¡¯s mind ground to a halt before she spoke up, her voice echoing through the tomb.

    ¡°YES!!!¡± said Leifur at the top of her lungs before she realised that she had screamed out her answer.

    ¡°Glad to be of assistance,¡± said Tephra with a small smile before she grew serious, her face shifting into an expression that would make Death itself proud. ¡°Do you want me to destroy it myself or should we go get your friends and destroy the Illr as a group?¡±

    Stopping to think, Leifur was clearly tempted by Tephra¡¯s offer. The idea of destroying the Illr while using the divine magic of the Aevum before her was tempting in so many different ways. It was tempting, because if she took up Tephra¡¯s offer then she would not have to risk her teammates¡¯ lives or her own. Yet if Leifur did this, she knew that it would only worsen the problems the Relic Hunter¡¯s faced. However if they worked with Tephra then they could do things that had once seemed impossible.

    Reading all of Leifur¡¯s thoughts as they were reflected on her face and her body language, Tephra stood unnaturally still as she waited for Leifur to arrive at her decision. A decision that would shift the course of the world.

    So when Leifur raised her head to stare into Tephra¡¯s eyes, Tephra resisted the urge to smile as she saw the resolve that was bound within the mortal being known as Leifur Grandis.

    ¡°Please work with us so that we can all destroy the Illr together¡­¡±

    ~~~~~

    Azure sat on a rock that jutted up through their base camp. The rock itself was monolithic in that it was at least twice as tall as the average person and that it was the only stone like this in its immediate area. A fact that managed to make the rock seem to be even taller than it really was.

    Sitting atop the monolithic rock, Azure had the perfect view not only of her base camp but also of the surrounding landscape. This included a direct line of sight that led straight to the ruins of the castle that they had been instructed to investigate, a ruin that had housed a particularly powerful Illr within.

    Shifting her attention away from the ruins, Azure continued to bask in the red light of the Moonclock.

    The Moonclock hung in the sky, its red light spilling out and dying the world beneath it in its colour. Yet that wasn¡¯t the only aspect of the Moonclock that drew attention to it whenever it hung in the sky. For the Moonclock, as the name suggested, was also a giant clock that had three arms that were counting down towards the end of the Aeon. And in the face of the clock was a series of numbers that would slowly through the years tick down until they reached zero.

    At present this number read 777, each of the numbers being giant, black scars that were on the red clock¡¯s face, with the numbers being behind the hands of the clock.

    Shifting her attention from the actual Moonclock to the gears that constantly floated behind the Moonclock, Azure had to wonder why theses gears were stuck following after the moon, as the Moonclock would spend about a month travelling from east to west through the sky, then the next month travelling west to east through the sky. A function many attributed to the Moonclock having a pendulum-like orbit around the world of Chronoheim.

    Yet in the end Azure didn¡¯t really care about the reason that the Moonclock did what it did, she only cared that she could bask in its radiance. For the light of the Moonclock was able to empower the Selenus race with magical energy. This magical energy in turn allowed the Selenus to perform feats that were beyond the rules of physics.

    Soaking in the light of the Moonclock, Azure turned her attention from herself to the blue crystal that was growing out of her skin. These blue crystals acted almost like scales in places on her body and in other places looked more akin to horns or spikes growing out of her head or back.

    Normally a Selenus would be born with red crystals that contrasted with their silver hair and white snow-like skin. However Azure was different. She was one of those rare Selenus who was gifted with blue crystals, something that marked her out as having greater, almost myth-like abilities in comparison to her fellow Selenus.

    Regarding her blue crystalline fingernails that were slowly absorbing the light of the Moonclock, Azure turned her attention to the land around the castle as she looked to see if Leifur had managed to make it out of the ruins yet. The ruins themselves were that of a grand castle most likely built in a different Aeon when the laws of reality were much more lax, as the castle reached high into the sky, at least several hundred metres tall. This was in spite of the fact that the castle looked like it had been raked over with giant claws that had torn its outer walls apart, making it seem to be structurally compromised.

    Yet despite its impossible nature and the fact that it looked like it would fall at any minute, the castle had another aspect to it that made even the bravest of bandits or monsters shy away. The castle had an aura of death about it, an aura so strong not a single speck of life could be found on or near the castle. The area around the base of the castle was nothing but dead land, bleached white as if it had been painted over with salt crystal or white sand.

    Scanning over the wasteland with her blue eyes, Azure saw something had just managed to emerge from the ruins. Two figures that were clambering over the broken stones, two figures that looked to be in perfect health.

    Standing up so that she could try and get a better look at the figures that were heading her way, Azure briefly looked about the sky to see if she could find Eos to signal her to watch over the figures. Unable to find the Novus in her raven form against the darkness of the night, Azure grimaced at the fact she might have to face off against these people without backup. Yet the fact she would have to fight alone didn¡¯t deter her, instead she hardened herself and began to prepare for battle.

    Launching an orb of blue light into the air so that it illuminated the area between the castle and the base camp, Azure waited to see if she could identify the figures under this new light source. And if she couldn¡¯t then she would start shooting compressed beams of light at the possible hostile creatures, the first few as warning shots. Then much more deadly beams of energy if they proved to be bandits or even Illr escaping from the castle.

    Caught in the blue light that Azure had created, the two figures paused as they walked along, both of them illuminated for Azure to see.

    Recognising one of the figures, Azure relaxed as she realised that Leifur was not only alive but had managed to escape the castle without injury. Yet the second figure gave Azure pause as it had an energy about it that made Azure wary. For the energy was something that made every single crystal that grew upon and within her, hum with anticipation.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Aware that this stranger could still be trouble if not in the same way that she had been expecting before, Azure decided to leave her perch atop the monolithic rock so that she could greet Leifur face to face. Using the magical energy she had accumulated, Azure jumped from the top of the rock.

    Yet instead of falling Azure floated gently to the ground like a leaf on the wind, her weight being counteracted against by the magical energy Azure had conjured up. This force transformed Azure¡¯s buoyancy in the air allowing her to fall down to the ground gently as if the height of the monolith was but a single step.

    Landing on the ground, the Selenus walked over to her section of the base camp and picked up a staff made from the shavings of an even rarer Selenus type than herself. The staff was pure white, translucent crystal that hummed with energy, energy that resonated with Azure¡¯s own power making both of them stronger than if they were wielded alone.

    Standing at the edge of the base camp, Azure waited for Leifur and her new friend to arrive. Her staff pointed in the direction of the two women that were heading towards the base camp, all the while still illuminated by Azure¡¯s magic.

    ¡°Don¡¯t attack, Azure. It¡¯s me,¡± said Leifur as she walked within speaking distance of Azure, who was still giving the unknown woman strange looks.

    ¡°Who¡¯s your friend?¡± asked Azure as she could see that the woman was clearly an Aevum of some sort, although considering the magical energy that the woman was giving out even that might be in question.

    ¡°This is Tephra, she helped me¡­ No she saved my life,¡± said Leifur as the elf tried to impress upon Azure how much they owed Tephra.

    ¡°What is she?¡± asked a new voice, one that came from directly behind Tephra, a voice that echoed as if a thousand different voices had said the same words at the same time.

    Glancing behind her without any apparent fear, Tephra looked straight into the face of Eos who had been hiding as a stone upon the road. Although Azure wasn¡¯t too sure when Eos had taken this form and more importantly if Eos had taken this form only in the last few seconds to try and trick this Tephra into believing Eos had been lying in wait.

    ¡°So this is the Novus,¡± said Tephra as she turned to face Eos, her black and gold eyes scanning over the Novus before her. ¡°Rocks, lizards, and ravens, you truly have a diverse portfolio don¡¯t you.¡±

    Freezing in shock that she had been identified while she had been in all these alternate forms, Eos cast a quick look of insecurity towards both Azure and Leifur before trying to face off against Tephra.

    ¡°I can become many things, including things that can kill you with ease,¡± said Eos calmly, her voice almost monotone, yet Azure had been friends with Eos for long enough that she understood how shaken her friend was. Eos prized herself on how well she could hide and shape change without being discovered. The fact that this Tephra had been able to see all of her forms with ease was something that had shaken her.

    Looking back and forth between Azure and Eos, Tephra seemed to study the two, both because they had just been introduced and because they were such a contrasting pair.

    Azure Mond was wearing white robe-like clothing, not full body length but still long enough to matter, and adorned on the clothing were blue crystals made from Azure¡¯s own body. These crystals seemed to hum in resonance with Azure¡¯s nature and magic, making it clear that these crystals could be used to store her magical energy if needed.

    Eos Tenebrae, on the other hand, was wearing a full body, black suit that hugged her body like a second set of skin. Clothing that was so snug against her body that it would be next to impossible to actually grab onto the clothing. In fact, its black coloration meant that it was perfect for hiding in the dark and being used to sneak about.

    ¡°You could try but that would only be self defeating,¡± said Tephra in the end, her voice filled with a calmness that spread to the others.

    ¡°Tephra is here to help us kill that Illr we encountered,¡± explained Leifur as she tried to settle her teammates down, the both of them wary for different reasons but both having arrived at the same conclusion. A conclusion that was mirrored in both of their faces and plain to see in the way they were moving and standing.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you answered my question,¡± said Eos as she focused in on the fact that she was not sure what Tephra was.

    ¡°She is an Aevum,¡± explained Leifur, ¡°you¡¯ve seen Aevum before haven¡¯t you.

    ¡°If she¡¯s an Aevum them I¡¯m an apple,¡± said Azure as she tightened her grip on her staff as she looked at Tephra with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

    ¡°I am an Aevum, but I am something more,¡± said Tephra, not really bothered by the standoff. ¡°If you let us into the base camp I can explain everything. Or we could continue to stand here and wait for this Aeon to come to an end, I have the time¡­¡±

    Sharing a look between the two of them, both Azure and Eos nodded at each other and slowly relaxed enough so that Tephra could see that they wouldn¡¯t instantly attack her the moment that she did something that startled them. Seeing that her teammates were no longer on edge, Leifur let out a sigh as she had been dreading having to fight her friends. Especially since Leifur was under the impression that Tephra would have won singlehandedly.

    ¡°What now?¡± asked Azure as she slowly walked back to the monolith in the centre of their camp.

    ¡°Now I tell you about everything,¡± said Leifur with a smile that was so strong it seemed to come from the depths of her soul.

    Tephra sat in amongst the three Relic Hunters, and from their faces she could see that she might have a long night ahead of her. Especially since both Azure and Eos seemed to have a boatload of their own questions for the woman who had actually met some of the Gods once upon an Aeon.

    ¡°You possess the power of the divine,¡± said Azure as she looked at the small ember of golden fire that Tephra was rolling between her fingers like it was a coin.

    ¡°So do you in a way,¡± said Tephra as she looked at the blue crystals that were jutting out of Azure¡¯s head. ¡°The blue crystals normally occur only during the Aeon of Myth. The Aeon where the Moonclock is dyed blue and the Gods are able to take on physical form and live amongst and even love mortals.¡±

    Leaning back in shock, Azure was at a loss for words. This was due to a combination of the fact that her nature was something so easy to read while at the same time holding clues to the nature of Chronoheim.

    ¡°You¡¯ve really never seen my like before,¡± said Eos as she looked at Tephra with a face covered in concern, her body letting out wisps of darkness that made it clear Eos was barely holding herself together.

    ¡°Just because you are something new to this world does not mean that I will destroy you,¡± said Tephra calmly and with a tone that conveyed a sense of safety and even salvation.

    ¡°I¡¯ll believe that when I see it,¡± said Eos under her breath, clearly not wanting Tephra to hear, only for her intent to fail.

    ¡°I¡¯ll prove it to you,¡± said Tephra unbothered by the lack of faith in her, ¡°if not tonight then in the days to come.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Eos grumpily, clearly not happy with the situation she had found herself in. A predicament that Tephra was sympathetic with, as from what Tephra understood Eos was a unique Novus and as such the news her kind had sprung up possible from magical experiments was something she wouldn¡¯t want to hear.

    ¡°What I don¡¯t understand is why you came here,¡± said Azure as she looked back and forth between Leifur and Tephra. ¡°The two of you could easily have destroyed this Illr without coming to get us. And from what you¡¯ve told me, Tephra could easily have destroyed the Illr by herself without Leifur¡¯s aid.¡±

    ¡°Theoretically I could have destroyed this Illr by myself,¡± admitted Tephra as she reached out and tossed the golden coin of fire onto the ground so that it changed into a campfire. A campfire which started to cleanse the ground of the taint of death and cause green grass to bloom all around it, a phenomenon that made the eyes of the mortal women widen in awe. ¡°However I had other concerns to factor in.¡±

    ¡°Which were?¡± asked Eos as she looked up from the patch of green grass, her entire being seeming a hair¡¯s breadth away from becoming nothing but a wisp of black smoke.

    ¡°I needed more information about this Illr than I currently possessed,¡± said Tephra as she looked at Azure expectantly.

    ¡°And the other?¡± asked Azure in response to the gaze that had all manner of expectations attached to it.

    ¡°That if this Illr is truly so dangerous it should not just be me alone that defeats it,¡± explained Tephra as she locked her gaze with Azure.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Leifur from her seat next to Tephra. The two of them were separated by the campfire from Azure and Eos who were both sitting on their own distinct stone seats.

    ¡°Because, I¡¯m not here to protect you. I¡¯m here to save you,¡± said Tephra as she stressed the difference between the two words.

    ¡°The difference?¡± asked Azure, although based on the look in her eyes she already had an inkling.

    ¡°To protect someone is to prevent them from being injured from being hurt, from being killed. To save someone is to change the course of their life. It is to not just stopping them from being hurt but to give them the strength to stand in their own defence,¡± explained Tephra, not too sure if her words were making sense to the three who listened to her.

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to become stuck being our shield,¡± said Eos slowly as her body began to solidify more and more as she looked at Tephra in a new light.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Tephra with a hint of relief, ¡°I don¡¯t just want to stop you from drowning, I want to teach you how to swim.¡±

    Absorbing Tephra¡¯s words, the three living women shared a look amongst themselves as they clearly found the idea of a difference between being protected and being saved odd. Yet this oddness was also a very welcoming concept, as it meant that Tephra would not become a goddess to rule over them, but a hero to lead them.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± said Azure as she was the first to shake herself free from the fact that Tephra would aid them in such a way, ¡°what do you need to know?¡±

    ¡°First up, I need to know if this Illr has been altered by magic of any kind. If it is shielded against my magic this will alter the flow of the battle considerably. Second, I need to know what category of Illr it is. Thirdly, I will need a sense of what each of you can do in battle if we are to plan out how we are to defeat the Illr while working together,¡± said Tephra as she laid out the information she required.

    ¡°The first might be tricky,¡± said Azure as she gave Tephra a long look that conveyed something Tephra had just said made almost no sense.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t sense anything different from the Illr we normally encounter,¡± said Leifur from her position next to Tephra as she shared the same look as Azure and Eos. ¡°The Illr looked and acted like any other Illr.¡±

    ¡°What did you mean when you said what type of Illr it was?¡± asked Eos slowly, as it was clearly that Tephra possessed knowledge that would change how they saw and fought with Illr for the next 777 years, right up until the end of this Aeon.

    Closing her eyes and rubbing her face with her left hand, Tephra let out a sigh as she was fully aware from Eos¡¯ question that a vital piece of information had been lost in her 800 year slumber.

    ¡°Illr are undead beings categorised by their unending hatred and destructive impulses for the living or ensouled,¡± said Tephra as she looked at each of the ensouled women in her company, making sure that all present knew what she was saying.

    ¡°Yes we knew this,¡± said Leifur as she prompted Tephra to continue.

    ¡°Some are like this, because they were Aevum that lost their souls or more specifically because their souls lost control of their bodies. Others are like this, because their minds were torn apart, either due to the weight of time or because something else drove them mad. Regardless in the end they seek to destroy life, either as feral animals or as malicious sentient monsters,¡± explained Tephra, her voice steady as she slowly went through what she knew of the Illr.

    ¡°We also knew this,¡± said Azure as she watched Tephra waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Tephra to unveil a piece of information that would shake their world to its core, once again.

    ¡°Then there are the Illr that morph and mutate, the Illr whose rage against the world causes them to become monstrous in shape and form. Their hatred changes them into animalistic creatures that rampage throughout the area they were created in. Sometimes they even absorb other Illr or Aevum into themselves creating huge monstrosities that can grow to dwarf cities,¡± said Tephra as her eyes were far away as she remembered battle that had occurred thousands of years ago. ¡°While they don¡¯t necessarily have intelligence, they do have intent. They don¡¯t just wander about mindlessly.¡±

    ¡°We have encountered them as well,¡± said Eos quietly as she processed what she had just heard and learned. ¡°We mainly thought that¡¯s what happens if you leave Illr alone long enough.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s also what we encountered in the castle,¡± said Leifur as she remembered the terrible wounds the Illr made from so many corpses had inflicted upon her.

    Standing up now that she had confirmation about what she was going to fight, Tephra looked at the castle in the distance. The castle that had once been a beacon of defiance for the Aeon of Ruin. The castle had clearly been attacked by an outside force, a force that was either an army or a singular enemy, a force that that had intentionally targeted the stronghold of the Saeculum.

    ¡°That¡¯s two types of Illr, are there any more types?¡± asked Azure curiosity and caution forcing her to ask the question. Hearing the question, both Eos and Leifur looked at Azure with bitter eyes before turning back to look at Tephra to see if she had an answer to Azure¡¯s dreadful question.

    ¡°Occasionally you get Illr who were created from magic and even possess magic. They are driven by the same desire to destroy life as the rest of the Illr and they have intelligence. Although that can manifest in a myriad of ways,¡± said Tephra, not bothering to look away from the castle.

    Pausing, everyone around the campfire took in this piece of information aware of how significant this was. As everyone present knew that battling those that possessed magic made it so much harder to emerge victorious.

    ¡°The third type as you put it, don¡¯t necessarily have to originate from a Aevum that was broken by the world. They can be created by a wayward wizard, a random magic accident or even other mystical Illr,¡± said Tephra as she continued her explanation of the world and all of its horrors.

    ¡°You mean that the numerous Illr that are spread out across the land could be because of a magical experiment gone wrong?¡± asked Leifur as she stared first at Tephra in disbelief then at the castle in horror.

    ¡°Or right¡± said Eos with a note of fear in her voice, a note of fear that made it clear that she was aware that it was entirely possible that someone had intentionally drenched the land in the Illr.

    ¡°It is possible,¡± said Tephra softly as she couldn¡¯t help but wonder to herself if the world had fallen because someone had created a plague of Illr throughout the land. A plague of Illr that had been created for the sole purpose of driving the world to the brink so that no one would realise that they were attempting to destroy or break the Moonclock.

    Thinking back to the last time she had been awake, Tephra couldn¡¯t help but remember old enemies, Aevum and other long lived creatures that feared the touch and return of the gods. This fear existed, because they knew they would be judged for their crimes and because they feared being placed under the yoke of things like fate and godhood.

    Yet even as a dozen or so faces flashed through her mind, Tephra hoped none of them were capable of creating such horrors lest they actually grow powerful enough to threaten the Moonclock. For if the Moonclock did truly break, then they would either become stuck in this Aeon or Chronos, the God of Time, would have to return to this world and who knows how he would react to time being broken on his homeworld.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± said Tephra loudly as she turned about to look at those present, ¡°now that we know what we are fighting let¡¯s figure out how we will fight it.¡±

    Not moving at all, the three ensouled women shared a look that conveyed that none wished to truly divulge all that they could do or all that they were. This look also conveyed that each of them had secrets that they were keeping hidden from the world and their teammates.

    Catching onto the fact that none of her new allies were willing to share everything about themselves, Tephra chuckled at the fact that even in the face of immense evil people could still get bogged down with their own personal drama.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me everything, just the basics, the bare minimum so that I can help create a plan that utilises us all,¡± said Tephra with an understanding smile, one that put the three women at ease. ¡°So who wants to go first¡­?¡±

    ~~~~~

    Tephra, Azure and Leifur strode into the astrology room, or more precisely what had once been the astrology room. The room had once been used for tracking the stars and also as a place of worship for the Goddess of Stars. Yet now it had become the nesting location of a horrific Illr that sullied this once divine place.

    The room was round with pillars lining the exterior; the pillars led up to a roof that had been magically altered to constantly show off the stars in the sky whether it was during the day or the night. A magical ceiling that showed the stars but not the Moonclock, and that was still functioning even after all the decay had caused the world to tumble into such a broken mess. The room had been coated with gold and white colours that reinforced the fact that the room was a place for divinity to either communicate or even manifest. Yet these colours were diminished to look but a mere fraction of their normal lustre. The gold had lost its polish becoming dross upon the walls and ground. The white walls and pillars were grimy, cracked and faded giving them a terrible look. The only thing that seemed to have endured since Tephra¡¯s last visit was the magical ceiling showing the sky.

    Yet for all the marvels still brilliant or tarnished by time, the women¡¯s attention was fixed upon one single being.

    In the centre of the astrology room was a knight in shining armour, a person who looked so out of place that Tephra couldn¡¯t help but stare at him. The knight was the Illr that had attacked Leifur and her teammates. Yet instead of looking like a rabid beast he was poised and still, a fact that Tephra knew to mean that the knight had enough of a mind left that he would be able to think up ways to fight back against the four of them.

    Studying the knight, Tephra took in everything about him, hoping that this moment of reprieve would be enough so that she could find a weakness that she could exploit. Yet no matter how she looked at the knight before her, there were no weaknesses to be found; only traps that would be her undoing if she fell for them.

    The knight appeared to have no weapons upon his person, however instead of hands the knight had metallic claws that looked like swords and claws had been merged together. These claws were curved and serrated so that they would create the maximum damage possible when they cut or pierced flesh. A fact that Leifur had discovered with her own body and something no one wanted a repeat lesson in.

    Yet there was more to the knight than simply maniacal hands and an armoured body. For the armour that the knight wore was not just some strange armour that could endure unblemished throughout the centuries. The armour was filled with magic, magic that made everyone that saw it recoil in fear. For trapped within the armour beneath the shining gleaming surface was the souls of those that the knight had killed and consumed. These souls looked like they were moving about as if they were swimming within a silver abyss, all the while screaming and crying out in fear and agony.

    Staring in horror at the abomination that was before her, Tephra tried to look at the knight¡¯s face to see if she knew the knight. Yet the knight¡¯s face was obscured to her due to his helm. The helmet that the knight wore covered his entire head so that nothing, not even his eyes could be seen; only a maw of darkness that drank up the light.

    Knowing that she would not be able to gain any more knowledge of the knight that stood before her, Tephra looked to her right at Azure and then to her left at Leifur and nodded her consent. The battle against the knight made of enchanted armour and old rotting bones would start and it would not end until the creature before them was dust upon the wind.

    Stepping backwards, both Azure and Leifur readied themselves for what was to come. For both of them would not engage the creature in close combat. For the creature had already proven that it was powerful enough to destroy them if they got within striking distance or if they fell into its claws.

    Leaping backward to the edge of the room so that she was pressed up against the wall, Azure used her magic to create crystal footholds upon the wall, footholds that were strong enough to act as platforms upon which she could stand. And from these platforms half way up the wall, Azure would have the perfect vantage point to attack the knight no matter where he was upon the battle field.

    Leifur started running off to the left side of the room, her footsteps so quick her feet barely touched the floor, and as she ran she drew her sword. Except that it was no longer a sword, for as she drew it from her scabbard, her wooden sword came alive with the magic of nature. Her weapon, which she had named Luminous Wode, was a piece of sacred wood that she could control and shape into not just a sword but also a bow, a bow that was graced with the sacred wind of light.

    Seeing that her two companions were now in position, both ready to unleash a torrent of destruction upon the knight before them, Tephra reached over her shoulder and pulled Aeschere out. The giant sword almost as long as Tephra¡¯s own body hummed to life as the segmented blade seemed to break into a dozen different pieces, pieces that were held together by strings of fire that pulsed with power.

    Swinging the sword horizontally with her right hand, Tephra allowed some of the pieces of the blade to stretch out to so that the weapon grew in even greater size. And once the pieces of the sword were stretched out so that the sword was twice as long as normal, Tephra recalled them back into their standard sword formation. Feeling that Aeschere was still working properly, Tephra raised her left hand and conjured fire.

    Tephra knew that her golden flame would likely kill the creature before her with ease, however she was wary of the strange armour that the knight wore, armour that all three of her companions had stated had been able to negate magic. Believing the testimony that her companions had given her, Tephra had decided she needed to test what the creature before her truly was and how potent magic would be against him.

    Pointing her left finger at the knight, Tephra willed her fire forward and unleashed a bolt of fire. The fire bolt shot out from Tephra and raced over to the knight who had remained docile while the three women had moved about. And just before it would have hit the knight, the fire bolt was struck with one of the knight¡¯s claws. And instead of breaking or being negated, or even damaging the knight, the bolt of fire was knocked upwards into the star infused ceiling above.

    Not even bothering to look up at the damage that had been done to the holy room, Tephra charged forward. She covered the distance between the two of them in a single beat of a heart and once she was upon the Knight she swung her giant sword with all of her might. Swinging down from overhead, Tephra brought Aeschere crashing down so that she could try to cleave the knight in half, from crown to groin.

    Except that before she could even get close to the knight¡¯s helm, the knight reached out with both of its clawed hands and caught the blade stopping it dead. Holding the blade so that his palms were facing out towards the blade, the knight had managed to grip onto the blade in the places where the pieces that made up the obsidian blade were at their largest. This in turn meant that even if Tephra discarded the pieces of her sword so that she could continue her attack, the blade would be so incomplete that the knight would no longer see a threat from the attack.

    Knowing that the knight would be able to block her attacks, Tephra smiled as the battle was progressing just how she had planned. This was why Tephra desperately tried not to glance at either of her companions.

    Seeing the opening that Tephra had given her, Leifur attacked with her arrows of luminous wind. Three arrows shot out from her bow and sped towards the knight, with each arrow seeking a different spot on the body so that she could attempt to cripple the knight. For just as Tephra had predicted, the knight¡¯s armour had gaps through which its actual body could be attacked. Attacks that all of them hoped would be able to damage the creature enough for Tephra to exorcise it.

    Yet none of that came to pass, for the moment that the arrows got within attacking distance of the knight, the knight seemed to break under the weight of Tephra¡¯s sustained attack. Allowing its feet to lose traction with the ground, the knight slide backwards so that the attacks over shot the knight, causing Tephra to enter into their path. Except instead of letting the arrows hit her, Tephra made Aeschere break apart so that the sword formed a wall of floating obsidian that acted like a shield blocking the arrows of wind.

    Coming to a stop, the knight pointed the eye slit on its helmet at Tephra to show that it was looking straight at the undead, holy woman. And from within the maw of darkness, Tephra could have sworn she felt the mocking gaze of someone or something that still had a shred of its own mind intact.

    Taking advantage of the momentary pause in the flow of battle, Azure saw a chance to strike and took it. Sticking her staff out so that it glowed brilliantly with a pure white light, a pattern of runes and geometry appeared above the knight and the moment that the pattern became solid enough that it looked like it could actually be a real physical thing, a rain of lightning descended upon the knight.

    Caught directly beneath the maelstrom of lightning that rained from the sky like arrows pouring down from the heavenly realm of the gods, the knight looked up and didn¡¯t even seem to flinch at what was to come. Instead, the knight let out a roar, a roar of challenge that seemed to be so potent that the arrows or lightning changed course. Shocked by the fact that the knight wasn¡¯t just some insane, enduring, melee monster, and that it was fighting in a completely different way than it had before, the three women shared a look of concern.

    This moment of concern was short lived, as the knight untouched by the lightning stood up straight and looked at the prey that had wandered into his nest.

    Shifting its focus from Tephra to Leifur, the knight seemed to realise that the elf was the weaker of the two that were within attacking distance. So the moment the rain of lightning finished the knight sprung off to its right, charging straight at Leifur with the aim of rending her apart.

    Seeing the attack coming with wide, horrified eyes, Leifur ducked back into the columns that encircled the room with the hope that the knight would have a hard time manoeuvring through the cramped spaces. These cramped spaces would give Leifur the edge as she was barely armoured and as such should have had the advantage of dexterity and mobility, especially against the knight who in her last battle had been slow and cumbersome.

    Yet as the knight sped across the room, it flipped over so that it landed feet first upon the wall. As it stood there in defiance of gravity, the knight looked down upon its prey and from with its dark visor Leifur could have sworn she saw a malicious glee.

    Seeing that the plan had already come undone, Tephra charged into the fray, her sword changing shape so that it was no longer a sword but something akin to a drill. Each of the floating pieces of the sword spun around a central axis and as they spun they increased in speed until they were such a blur that images of the same pieces of obsidian were overlapping. Reaching her target in time, Tephra jumped over the back of Leifur and thrust her sword turned drill towards the knight standing upon the wall.

    Seeing the drill incoming, the knight stopped sticking to the wall and allowed gravity to pull it down and out of the way of the attack. Its right hand flexed as if it was getting ready to perform a counter attack.

    Seeing that she had over extended herself and that she was in danger of having her arm ripped off, Tephra didn¡¯t panic. Instead, she simply filled her left hand with fire and waited. If the knight attacked and tore her right arm from her body she would use the opening to flood the area with fire to hopefully deal at least some damage to the Illr.

    Yet before either knight or Tephra could attack or counterattack, Leifur acted first.

    She caused her bow to return to its sword form and swung at the knight. Leifur¡¯s attack, trailing with it a luminous wind, reached out and knocked the knight backward and out into the air between the columns of the room.

    And into the line of sight of Azure.

    Jumping on the opportunity that had been presented to her Azure launched a beam of light straight at the knight. This beam of light, even if it didn¡¯t harm the knight, would at the very least cause it to be sent reeling enough that the group would be able to recover and reorganise.

    Floating in the space between the columns, the knight watched the beam of light charge through the air towards him, and the moment the front of the mass of energy came within striking distance the knight backhanded the light. This action had two effects both of which caused the already damaged plan to completely unravel.

    The moment the knight hit the energy of the all but solid beam of light, the beam of light was reflected off the armour of the knight and straight towards both Leifur and Tephra. Both of whom had hoped that they could attack the knight after he was hit by the magic attack. Now however faced with the attack of the beam of light both of them had to retreat back out of the cramped space between the columns and the walls. Now they were once again out in the open floor of the once holy room, a place that was clearly advantageous to the knight.

    The second thing that happened when the knight backhanded the mass of magical light was that the knight was able to use the recoil of his action to throw him into the shadows of another column. And once he was within the shadow of the column and out of the line of sight of Azure, the knight righted itself and walked out into the main floor of the room, its walk unbothered and almost jovial.

    Staring at the knight that had come to a stop a few metres away from Tephra and Leifur, Azure seemed to be caught in a moment of hesitation. For she possessed all manner of magical powers that she could try to use upon the creature before her, however the knight was proving to be even more difficult than before. Because this time instead of simply negating her magic so that it looked like the magic disappeared as if it had never been cast, the knight was reflecting the magic. And even worse the magic it was reflecting was not just in random directions but at specific targets.

    ¡°This thing is not acting like you said it would,¡± said Tephra aloud, her voice carrying out to all in the room.

    ¡°Yes it is very different,¡± said Leifur as she changed her wooden sword into a bow once again.

    ¡°Well then, we¡¯ll have to make up things as we go along won¡¯t we,¡± said Tephra as she eyed the knight viciously, her glare not only promising death but also seeking out a weakness that the knight would not be able to counter.

    Listening to the two enemies before it speak, the knight looked on its finger-claws twitching as it watched and waited for the two women to make up their mind. Would they fight or flee through the doors behind them, doors that the knight had herded them toward? And as the knight listened to the two warriors speak, a fourth person entered the room.

    Except instead of entering the room the same way that the rest had, this person entered the room through one of the faint little cracks that lined the walls, cracks that while not direct, linked the inside of the holy room to the outside. Some of the cracks led to other rooms, while some managed to head all the way out to the exterior of the castle.

    Slipping through a crack that led to the outside and another room along the way, Eos Tenebrae had taken on the form of a fly and was now perched just inside the crack so that she could see the room and the battle taking place inside it and when the ideal moment came attack the knight from behind, in any form she deemed appropriate.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± said Tephra as she lifted her left hand up into the air and created a stream of fire the spewed out and engulfed the knight. Her logic being that since the knight could deflect attacks that had a singular target with ease, it might have trouble dealing with magic that targeted an area instead.

    Watching the flames engulf the knight, the rest of the room took a collective breath as they waited to see how the knight would respond to the fact it had just been doused in magical fire. Except when the fire cleared the spot where the knight had been standing was now empty, with nothing to show that the knight had ever been there to begin with.

    Flinching back at the fact that the attack had allowed the knight to slip from their line of sight, Leifur cast her gaze about the room to try and find where the knight had gone only to hear a muffled cry from behind and above her.

    Spinning on the spot, yet remaining as calm as possible, Tephra turned to see that the knight had not only used the fire as a cover, it had decided to attack the one person in the room that would be easy pickings for it and at the same time weaken the others present.

    Attacking Azure with its clawed hands, the knight brought down its right hand directly towards Azure¡¯s face. Its bladed fingers gleamed in the light of the magic that Azure had surrounded herself with. Yet instead of splitting Azure¡¯s face into half a dozen different pieces, the knight¡¯s right hand came to a stop as it encountered a barrier of energy that Azure had created.

    This same barrier was why Azure¡¯s cries had been muffled as it was preventing anything from entering or exiting the barrier, even sound. Or at least that was what the barrier was meant to do, but the knight was slowly and with great effort tearing open a hole in the polygonal sphere that surrounded Azure.

    Seeing that Azure was in danger Leifur activated her magic through the wooden bow she had in her hand. Creating a tunnel of wind between her current location and her destination Leifur was sucked up through the wind funnel and ejected into the air above both the knight and Azure.

    Looking up at Leifur as she arrived, the knight thrust its left hand towards Leifur and the bladed fingers that made up its hand extended out like a fist full of spears.

    Reacting to the attack on her teammate, Azure conjured up another barrier around Leifur, one that blocked the attack, halting its momentum. However because the barrier had been cast in desperation, the knight¡¯s attack managed to shatter it like it was made from glass leaving Leifur exposed in midair.

    Yet instead of being distressed that she was at the mercy of the knight, Leifur used this brief pause in the flow of battle. Creating beaming arrows of light in her bow, Leifur unleashed an attack that was aimed straight at the knight¡¯s visor so that she could destroy its eyes, or at the very least temporarily blind the knight.

    Seeing the attack and understanding what she was after, the knight waited for the arrow to come loose from the bow and the moment that the arrow was in midair, the knight swiped its left hand to the right so that it clipped the arrow of light out of the air.

    And in that single moment, Tephra pounced at the opening that the three of them had created.

    Riding upon the back of Eos who had taken the form of a giant raven, Tephra had morphed her sword into a giant axe made of obsidian and fire. An axe that she brought down with all her might upon the knight¡¯s exposed left hand. And with a satisfying crunch the axe managed to find its way between the piece of metal it wore and cleave flesh from flesh, and therefore hand from body.

    Jumping back from Azure with considerable effort, as Azure had altered the barrier to try and keep the knight tethered to her barrier, the knight looked at the stump of its left hand and then towards the four women that were in the air above it. Yet the look and feel that the knight gave off was not one of pain or fear, instead it was seemingly looking at the four women as if trying to figure out what it would need to do now.

    ¡°This thing¡¯s not going to go down easily,¡± said Tephra calmly as she looked down at the knight who in turn looked up at her without making a sound.

    ¡°No but now we know that we can hurt it and that we can win. We just have to be sure that we don¡¯t do anything stupid,¡± said Leifur as she tried to temper her excitement at having actually managed to harm the knight and get payback for her near death experience.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s not waste this chance. The thing seems to have trouble with my barriers,¡± said Azure as she allowed her barrier to crumble away into motes of polygonal light. ¡°I¡¯ll cover you with my barriers and you lot get in there and slowly chip away at its life and armour until it is no more.¡±

    ¡°Agreed,¡± said Eos as she changed form in midair, so that she was no longer a giant, black raven but not a giant, black wolf.

    No longer standing upon Eos¡¯s back but instead falling through the air, Tephra readied her fire and Aeschere to battle the Illr Knight.

    A battle that would continue to rage on for over an hour before the creature finally fell to its wounds at the hands of the four warriors all working together.

    ~~~

    Panting more out of reflex than because she needed to actually breathe, Tephra looked about the once holy room, at both the damage to the room and then to her exhausted allies.

    The damage to the room was extensive with many of the pillars being broken or crumbling to pieces. The walls had also sustained damage and were now covered in extensive cracks that made it clear only a simple push would be enough for the entire wall to give out. Beyond that the room¡¯s floor was covered in scars from the battle, with ice and crystal, fire and obsidian embedded throughout the floor, not to mention the gouges that ran across the ground. These gouges had been created by the knight¡¯s monstrous attacks, attacks that had been aimed at taking the life of the four warriors that had come to battle it.

    Switching her attention to her allies Tephra looked from Eos to Azure to Leifur, and found that while each was hurt or damaged in their own way, none of them had sustained any life threatening injuries. Azure¡¯s crystals were cracked and it was apparent this was making her feel an immense amount of pain. Eos¡¯s form was highly unstable and it was clear that the only thing that was preventing her from turning into a puddle of black sludge on the ground was her incredible will power. Finally Leifur had managed to take the brunt of the attacks from the knight, at least in comparison to Tephra, as such red blood could be seen sliding down her arms, legs and head. All the wounds were superficial but they existed which meant that Tephra would need to heal her again or else risk Leifur succumbing to all manner of potential threats.

    Finishing her inspection of the other women, Tephra turned her attention to the one other being in the room, the Illr knight.

    The knight had put up an extensive battle with the four women. However after losing one of its hands, the four warriors knew that the best way to attack it was to aim for the spots between its armour. A tactic the knight had anticipated in turn. As such the knight had set traps and created false openings hoping that the warriors it fought would be stupid enough to fall for them.

    Yet even knowing that the knight was creating these false openings, the four warriors had on occasion needed to exploit them. For the knight was a monster of destruction and nothing seemed to slow it down. In fact, Tephra half wondered to herself if the monster had only been beaten, because she could heal her allies and her magic gave her an edge by being able to destroy Illr.

    Casting her gaze about, Tephra spied the supine form of the Illr knight which was strangely enough intact enough that it was recognisably human.

    Bracing herself, Tephra stood upright and took control of the instincts that still haunted her body, instincts that said she should be out of wind and feeling tired, two traits that she as an undead could never possess. The moment that Tephra knew she was totally in control of herself, she walked forward towards the supine Illr knight to see if she could learn anything from its broken husk of a body.

    As Tephra drew near, to her horror, the body twitched. A sign that while the Illr knight had been defeated, it still possessed enough will to emulate life. Pausing for a brief second, Tephra walked forward once again and as she drew near the knight, close enough to be standing over it, she looked down with compassion.

    The Illr knight might have been a threat to the living and all those allied to them, but it was still worthy of compassion and care. After all, it was entirely possible that the knight had become an Illr through means other than its own will.

    Sitting down, Tephra drew the knight¡¯s head onto her lap and slowly removed its helmet to reveal the creature it had once been.

    The knight¡¯s face revealed it to be a male elf, one that looked to be middle aged and therefore he had probably been several centuries old when he had died. Yet none of this was what caused Tephra to gasp in shock. It was the fact that Tephra recognised the features of the blue eyed and blond haired elf. She recognised the face of a little boy that had looked up to her back when she had last been active upon the world of Chronoheim.

    Seeing the shock that flashed across Tephra¡¯s face, Tephra¡¯s companions quietly drew near and watched silently, aware that something horrendous had occurred and that they needed to listen to what came next.

    ¡°Kaldur,¡± said Tephra after a moment as she tried to remember the name of the boy that had been so eager to become a knight and help protect the world.

    Blinking in shock, the Kaldur looked about before focusing in on Tephra, the knight clearly seeing her for the first time.

    ¡°I know you,¡± said Kaldur slowly and with great pain as if he was weakening to the point that he would soon fade into dust.

    ¡°Shh,¡± said Tephra as she tried to comfort the Illr in its last moments, ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±

    ¡°I tried to protect it,¡± said Kaldur, his voice filling with a desperate desire to be understood, ¡°to stop them from coming through. I failed. Will you forgive me Tephra? Will you forgive me?¡±

    Blinking at the admission, Tephra took a moment to wonder if Kaldur had been here trying to protect this castle and those inside it but had failed to realise that it had fallen long ago. Yet the way that Kaldur¡¯s eyes kept darting to the dome above Tephra caused a moment of deep dread.

    ¡°What did you try to stop? What did you try to prevent?¡± asked Tephra urgently as a sinking suspicion filled her mind.

    ¡°ME!¡± said a voice from above, a voice so utterly alien and terrible that everyone in the room seemed to feel a glimmer of pain race through their mind.

    Looking up, everyone in the room looked up to see that high above them standing at the edge of the dome of the night sky was a strange being, that was waving down at them. The being was vaguely humanoid in shape and outlined with a red hued aura. But what was truly horrifying to Tephra was the fact that inside the red hue where a body was meant to be was only a window into the night sky. For if the creature moved its hand or leg or head, the stars that could be seen through its body would not move, they would remain fixed in place. This meant that when the creature moved its hand back and forth, the hand showed the stars that were behind it, stars which would normally be hidden by the roof, the clouds or anything else that should block them from view of the surface of Chronoheim.

    ¡°DID YOU NOT WONDER WHY HE KEPT REFLECTING YOUR ATTACKS UPWARDS?¡± asked the creature as it slowly descended down to the ground, its voice still something that sent pain racing through the mind of all those that heard it.

    ¡°A humanoid Xenos?¡± asked Azure in horror as she saw the creature come down to stand upon the earth.

    ¡°A talking Xenos,¡± uttered Eos in disbelief at the fact the Xenos before could speak and understand a humanoid language.

    ¡°Did it come through a crack in the roof?¡± asked Leifur as she glanced up at the ceiling to see if it had somehow slipped through some of the damaged sections.

    Hearing the barrage of questions that her companions had asked, Tephra remained stone still. For the simple fact that any of them knew what the creature was called let alone were familiar enough to know that they shouldn¡¯t talk was enough to all but break Tephra.

    ¡°How do you know what a Xenos is?¡± asked Tephra, her eyes tinged with fear, a fear that caused the other three women to develop their own growing sense of dread.

    ¡°BECAUSE MY KIND ARE ABUNDANT UPON THE WORLD OF CHRONOHEIM,¡± explained the Xenos, its voice laced with mirth and pain.

    ¡°How?¡± asked Tephra dread in her voice.

    ¡°I failed to stop them, we failed to stop them. They came through the astrology gate, a tide of eldritch stars. I tried to guard the gate to make sure that no more could get through but I was attack constantly by others¡­ I know not why,¡± said Kaldur, his voice no longer filled with even a spark of strength.

    ¡°You did well,¡± said Tephra, ¡°you should not have needed to fight these things alone. For that I am sorry. Rest now, we will take it from here.¡±

    ¡°Are you proud?¡± asked Kaldur, in response his voice no longer that of a man¡¯s but a child unsure of anything or anyone, a voice barely present and all but gone.

    ¡°I am Kaldur. You have done well,¡± replied Tephra as she placed a hand upon the Illr knight¡¯s face and allowed the golden flames to begin to consume him.

    ¡°That¡¯s all I ever wanted¡­¡± whispered Kaldur before he fell apart into golden glimmer ash.

    Turning to ash, the armour that Kaldur had been wearing fell to the ground with a resounding metallic clang. A sound that seemed to echo through the room before it fell into a deafening silence.

    ¡°DO NOT MOURN FOR HIM. HE WAS ABLE TO PUT UP A VALIANT STRUGGLE AGAINST ME AND MINE. HE HID YOU FROM US FOR MANY CENTURIES,¡± said the Xenos with a hint of respect mixed within the endless pain his voice brought to those that heard it. A voice filled with the faint whispers of static distorting what was said yet still allowing everything to be understood perfectly.

    ¡°I will not mourn, I will rage, and I will destroy you and the rest of your kind,¡± said Tephra as she stood up to face the Xenos who looked wholly unconcerned.

    ¡°YOUR BRETHREN FAILED, WHY WILL YOU SUCCEED?¡± asked the Xenos calmly and with a twinge of curiosity.

    ¡°Because, I have fought the likes of you before, in other Aeons alongside the gods. I have battled the Xenos to prevent even a single one of you from stepping foot upon this world,¡± said Tephra with a regal air that carried with it the weight of Aeons upon Aeons. ¡°I defeated your leader Sirius, and I drove the Scorched Star from this world.¡±

    ¡°I REMEMBER, BUT WHEN YOU FOUGHT ME BACK THEN YOU DID SO IN THE COMPANY OF HEROES AND GODS. YOU WILL FIND NEITHER IN THE AEON OF RUIN,¡± said Sirius with a note of mockery in its voice.

    ¡°Then I will forge new heroes and as for the gods¡­ well they¡¯ll come back once the Moonclock has finished counting down,¡± said Tephra with confidence that the gods would be able to defeat the Xenos once they returned, that their victory was only a matter of time.

    ¡°ONLY IF THE MOONCLOCK CONTINUES TO TURN,¡± said the Xenos with a laugh before it leapt up into the astrology gate and disappeared from sight leaving the four women alive to contemplate the fact they were all doomed.

    Standing still the four women gave each other a look, a look that conveyed the understanding that the Xenos had let them all live, because they were not a threat to it. In fact, it might have let them live as a reward for killing the guard dog that was preventing the Xenos from using the astrology gate.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what it said or why it let us live,¡± said Tephra as she scanned over the magical sky up above. ¡°All that matters is that we are alive. And we will make sure that it regrets it before the next Aeon comes.¡±

    ¡°How?¡± asked Leifur with uncertainty in her voice clearly worried that the miracle that she had been granted by meeting Tephra would turn to ash in her hands.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but you thought that beating the Illr knight was impossible at first too,¡± said Tephra as she used their previous challenge as a way to show that it was possible to overcome impossible odds.

    ¡°Tephra has a point,¡± said Eos as she limped over to stand next to the undead woman. ¡°We beat the Illr knight and in doing so freed a good man from a hell created by a Xenos. All we need to do is keep doing these small acts, these small feats of grandeur. Eventually we¡¯ll realise that that impossible thing we were trying to complete was finished ages ago and we never realised because it no longer seemed to be a challenge, just a chore.¡±

    Glancing at each other, both Azure and Leifur seemed unsure about whether Eos and Tephra were correct yet neither wanted to question the hope they had been given. So both women simply nodded their heads in agreement.

    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s head back to the base camp,¡± said Tephra as she saw that none of her companions were too shaken up by meeting the Xenos.

    Falling into step behind Tephra, the four women wove their way out of the castle and into the light of the breaking dawn. And as Tephra spied the sun for the first time since she had woken up, she understood the true challenge that lay before her.

    For the presence of even a single Xenos created a blemish upon the sun, a tiny black dot filled with stars. This dot of darkness would grow in size the more Xenos existed upon the world of Chronoheim. Tephra had seen it large enough that it had caused a partial eclipse once, where about a third of the sun was covered in darkness and eldritch stars.

    Now however Tephra beheld a sun that was fully engulfed in darkness, a sun caught in a perpetual eclipse with only the edges of the sun emitting light down upon the world of Chronoheim.

    And as Tephra beheld this marred sun, she realised that the sun was not an omen of doom for the living and the undead. Instead it was a scale, a measuring stick that would constantly tell her how many Xenos she would have to destroy and cast out of this world. It was something that worked in her favour.

    And as Tephra stared out at the marred sun, she realised her new companions were staring at her with hope in their eyes. Because for the first time they believed that the Aeon of Ruin would end in something other than the extinction of mortal ensouled life. And this hope had allowed them to come away from their encounter with the Xenos without drowning in despair.

    Knowing that she had managed to cast off the heinous lies the Xenos had placed within them, Tephra knew what she had to do from now on.

    Tephra was a living miracle, a being that could cast back the darkness and allow those that eked out an existence to actually learn to live. So she would go out into the world and make sure that her golden flame blazed over the world. She would free the dead souls from their confined and broken bones. She would teach the world the truths that the Xenos had obscured and finally she would make sure that they all reached the end of the Aeon.

    For Tephra knew that as long as they could reach the end of this Aeon, as long as they could reach the end of the Moonclock¡¯s countdown, then a new world would unfurl, a world that would be a paradise in comparison to what lay before her. And once the world entered into this new Aeon, regardless of whether it was an Aeon of Life, Myth, Order, Progress or anything else, this horrific world would become just another legend, just another tale to tell across the endless eternities.

    Smiling in defiance of the Ruin that lay before her, Tephra gestured to her companions to keep walking forward so that they could reach their base camp. All the while Tephra¡¯s mind plotted what she would need to do next, and how she would cleanse the eclipsed sun and ensure that this Aeon would become another Legend of the turning of the Moonclock.

    <hr>

 In Search of Chocolate Milk:

    Morgan Rust stared out over the flowing dunes of sugar and wondered to himself if he was getting closer to find the Sugarfiends he had been hired to capture dead or alive.

    The gunslinger continued to look out over the rolling landscape of endless desert of sugar his black leather coat and wide brim hat making him stand out in the stark landscape. But what made him stand out even more was the fact that he was wearing metal on his body. Metal was a rare commodity that had to be created using alchemy and to wear it as a belt buckle screamed out for all too see that this man was rich beyond belief.

    This overt display of wealth was meant to turn Morgan into a walking target that the Sugarfiends in the area would be attracted to. For the Sugarfiends, in their sugar induced madness would come to rob him even if they had no real use for money. Yet despite this well proven tactic, Morgan had yet to encounter any of his targets. Which was why Morgan had made himself a promise, he would try one more day then head back and resupply as well as check to see if word had spread that others had taken this group down or they had moved on to another location.

    Marching through the rolling white dunes made from sugar, Morgan pondered on the nature of Sugarfiends. They were humans that had spent far too long in the dunes of sugar and had absorbed the sugar into their bodies to the point their skin became encrusted in the stuff. And once the encroachment of sugar on skin began, it was only a matter of time until the mind of the human twisted into that of a feral beast. The only aspects that were left from the human they had once been were their base desires, food, money, and of course pleasure. Although, the last desire was one that was hard to find out here beyond the edge of human civilisation.

    Pausing in his pondering, Morgan smiled as he heard a rustle in the sugar about him, a rustle that didn¡¯t come from the wind or even Gummi-Beasts. Instead he turned around to find five humanoid shapes rising out of the sugar that lay all around them.

    Looking at the five individuals, Morgan could see that they were his targets, the ones that he had been sent out to retrieve.

    All five of the humanoid shapes were men and all of them were only adorned with scraps of clothing. They were barely wearing shorts or what had once been pants. But what really stood out about them was that their skin had been entirely crusted over with sugar turning them completely white and hairless. Yet the distinctive markings, that had been on their wanted posters, remained. One was lacking an eye from an earlier raid on a settlement. Another had a scar across his chest. And finally another still had vivid striking blue eyes and a blue tongue showing that he had once tasted the rivers of blue lemonade.

    ¡°So what now?¡± asked Morgan of the five men before him, his deep voice breaking through the silence and stillness of the world around them.

    ¡°Give¡­Us¡­All¡­¡± snarled out the blue eyed man, his voice raspy, dry and tortured. ¡°Or¡­We¡­Take¡­Life¡­¡±

    Seeing that the blue eyed man was the only one that was still sane and human enough to speak, Morgan took a moment to judge what kind of weapons they had on their persons.

    All of them were armed with hard candy, a red solid substance that grew out of the world in a variety of different places. A substance you could both eat and use to make houses out of.

    Finishing his survey of the Sugarfiends, Morgan was relieved to see that none of the Sugarfiends had any liquorice on them. For that dreaded substance was known to transmute all flesh and blood beings that touched it into liquorice as well. And while most would give the dreaded substance a wide berth, Sugarfiends were so far gone they often didn¡¯t even realise they were turning into liquorice and even then it was a fifty-fifty chance.

    ¡°Answer¡­¡± snarled out the blue eyed man.

    ¡°Here,¡± said Morgan as he reached into his black leather coat and pulled out a hand sized object.

    Eagerly shifting about the blue eyed man walked closer and as soon as he was within about 3 meters, Morgan threw the object at the man, except he didn¡¯t aim at his head. Throwing the yellow mass of a lemon juice sac at the blue eyed man¡¯s leg, the sac collided with his leg and exploded.  And once the blue eyed man¡¯s right knee was covered in citric acid, the acid went to work dissolving his leg into human soup.

    Screaming as he fell over, his right foot no longer connected to his body, the blue eyed man tried to warn his fellow Sugarfiends, but they were instead too busy looking at their new source of food.

    ¡°Lemon¡­Bomb¡­Kill¡­Him¡­,¡± snarled out the man as he was no longer able to feel pain.

    Refusing to let this moment of confusion pass him by, Morgan pulled his gun from its holster and fired four times. Each shot a perfect hit to the side of the head of the confused Sugarfiends, an instant death blow.

    Seeing his comrades die instantly, the now one legged man snarled and cursed in his twisted and broken speech before Morgan walked over to stand above the man and point his gun at the man¡¯s heart.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry it came to this,¡± said Morgan true sorrow in his voice. ¡°Had I been able to find you earlier I would have been able to save your sanity at the very least.¡±

    Getting only a snarl of hatred in return, Morgan pulled the trigger and watched as the man, who had once been a harmless merchant until he had gotten lost in the sugar dunes, died. His heart pierced by a bullet made from red hard candy.

    Sighing in relief that this grisly work was done with, Morgan looked at the edge of the sky and saw the Great Apple rise up into the sky, its red-green skin gleaming in the fading light of the sun. Knowing that night was falling fast and that carried the risk of Fruitfalls, Morgan set to work to collect the evidence he would need and then he hurried out of the area.

    For Morgan had no desire to spend the rest of the night looking to the sky to see if he needed to dodge any giant fruit falling from space.

    ~~~

    Walking into the town of Greenville, Morgan lugged over his back a sack that carried within it the heads of the Sugarfiends. And as he walked along his black leather clothing and the fact he wore metal managed to attract the attention of everyone he passed on the street.

    Normally the presence of a stranger was enough to attract attention, but here on the border of civilisation it also garnered fear. Especially if the man was walking out of the sugar dunes, as the chance that he was a Sugarfiend was quite high. Add to this the fact he was clearly armed with weapons and carried himself as a bounty hunter, it made the populace of the town of Greenville so wary they had already called for their sheriff and the civilians had armed themselves as best they could.

    Stopping in the middle of the street, Morgan dropped the sack of heads to the ground with a wet thud as they impacted with the brown powdered ground. Morgan had been to enough places that when you received a reception like this, you waited for them and you didn¡¯t try to force your way in.

    ¡°Stop stranger,¡± commanded a voice from the back of the crowd, a voice that was old and yet still rung with authority.

    Lifting his hands up so that they were clearly empty, Morgan waited for the owner of the voice to come to him instead of trying to reply and causing misunderstandings.

    Breeching through the crowd, the Sheriff in his white hat and Silver Star badge appeared in front of Morgan, his white hair and beard neatly cropped to frame a face that was dead serious.

    ¡°I can¡¯t let you into this town until I know who you are and why you¡¯re here,¡± said the Sheriff, his voice ringing with an authority that refused to let anyone challenge him or the safety of his town.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me,¡± said Morgan as he nodded his head in respect before introducing himself. ¡°My name is Morgan Rust. I¡¯m a bounty hunter by trade, as well as an informal explorer. These heads here belong to Sugarfiends that attacked the next town over. I am stopping here to resupply and to pass word that the threat has been ended.¡±

    ¡°Step away from the sack and I will check your story,¡± said the Sheriff as he looked at the sack at Morgan¡¯s feet in suspicion.

    Stepping back over the sack, Morgan backed up by a few metres and waited for the Sheriff to come over and check out the heads contained within it. And as the Sheriff carefully checked the heads in the sack, Morgan allowed his attention to wander.

    Looking over the town of Greenville, Morgan¡¯s attention was suddenly transfixed by the fact that he saw a potted plant in the windowsill of a house. Normally plants and any form of vegetation was something that only the rich could own, and usually never here on the edge of civilisation. And while a single potted plant might have been able to exist in this isolated town, what caused Morgan to really pause was the fact it wasn¡¯t a single potted plant on the windowsill but multiple ones.

    Quickly but discretely Morgan looked from house to house searching for any spec of green that he could find, and sure enough he found them. Dotted all about the town were faint indicators that the town was teeming with plants, vegetation and even grass. The last of which caused Morgan¡¯s eyes to widen in surprise, for no one ever dared to waste soil on grass especially when it was so rare and could be used to grow trees and vegetables.

    ¡°These are the men from the wanted posters,¡± said the Sheriff at last clearly satisfied that Morgan had brought in the Sugarfiends that had been described to him. ¡°And while you have done us a kind service, I would like to see some sort of identification to know that you are in truth the fabled Morgan Rust.¡±

    Nodding in acceptance and finally understanding why the townsfolk were so on edge, Morgan made a silent gesture to indicate he wanted to get something out of his pocket. Receiving a nod in confirmation, Morgan reached in and brought out a gold medallion, embossed with two crossed guns on one side and a face on the other side. This face matched Morgan¡¯s face and each of these gold medallions marked out their owners as members of the Seeker¡¯s Guild, a fabled guild that scoured the world in search of the legendary Chocolate Milk.

    ¡°So you are the real thing,¡± said the Sheriff with obvious relief before straitening up. ¡°The only other question I have is this, once you¡¯ve got your reward money will you be off in search of Chocolate Milk or will you be staying with us a while?¡±

    ¡°The families of the fallen can keep their money or give it to those unable to pay for repairs themselves,¡± said Morgan with a careless shrug , ¡°and yes once I have restocked my supplies I will be heading east in search of Chocolate Milk.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have much in the way of resources to spare,¡± said the Sheriff cautiously as he didn¡¯t want the town bled dry by Morgan.

    ¡°You have a Greensmith,¡± said Morgan with a certainty that made the crowd draw back in shock. ¡°That alone will help immensely.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡± asked the Sheriff protectively.

    ¡°You have far too many pot plants in your windows,¡± said Morgan with a wave of his right hand. ¡°You best make sure to hide that in the future or bandits and worse will come sniffing around.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± said the Sheriff bitterly as he looked about and realised that the plants were truly on full display.

    ¡°So am I able to go to the Greensmith or do you need to interrogate me some more?¡± asked Morgan, not really bothered either way.

    ¡°You can be on your way. But any funny business and I will make sure you pay,¡± said the Sheriff as he tried to be ominous.

    ¡°I understand,¡± said Morgan, not really fazed by the Sheriff¡¯s words, an apathy that made everyone present shudder as they realised that implied death threats were white noise to this man.

    ¡°Now then which way to the Greensmith?¡±

    ~~~

    Entering the Greensmith¡¯s laboratory, Morgan was surprised by both how big it was and by what was in it.

    The room was a vast circular room easily 10 metres in diameter, and it was filled with wooden walls and book cases, stone benches atop of which were glass tubes. There were even golden glowing hearths filled with sand that was dissolving into glowing floating motes of light. But what truly shocked Morgan was that rising in the centre of the room was an oak tree, its leaves in full bloom causing Morgan¡¯s senses to be assaulted with green and gold colours.

    It was such a majestic and rare scene that Morgan stopped for a long moment as he took in the beauty before him.

    ¡°It¡¯s magnificent isn¡¯t it?¡± asked a young voice to Morgan¡¯s side.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Morgan unbothered that the man next to him had tried to sneak up on him, instead Morgan chose to remain transfixed by the gold and green before him. A beauty that he knew might be years or decades before he saw again.

    Not wishing to disturb Morgan in his moment of wonder, the man remained silent for a few minutes before coughing slightly to get Morgan¡¯s attention.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to disturb you, but how can I help you today?¡± asked the man, his leather apron and white coat marking him out as a Greensmith, and possibly the owner of this laboratory.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to restock on supplies if you have them and to sell you something if you¡¯re interested,¡± said Morgan as he looked towards the young man of no more than 23 years of age.

    ¡°Like most things that depends on what you are offering¡± said the man with a bright smile that truly seemed to radiate from his soul. ¡°So what does the great Morgan Rust want to sell?¡±

    Pausing as he heard his name, Morgan gave the man a long look from under the brim of his hat.

    ¡°How do you know me?¡± asked Morgan wary that he might have run into the offspring of one he had hunted down before.

    ¡°You saved my life once,¡± said the man, his smile firmly fixed in place, ¡°don¡¯t worry if you don¡¯t recognise me. I was a child when you did it.¡±

    Blinking as he absorbed this piece of information, Morgan looked over the Greensmith before him. He took in the man¡¯s green eyes, his brown hair, his pale near white skin, his average height, and finally a small acid scar that was on the back of the man¡¯s right hand. A set of scars that made it clear the Greensmith had been scarred by the splashing droplets of the acid of the Fruitfall.

    ¡°Jeremy Greensmith wasn¡¯t it?¡± asked Morgan after a moment of introspection, as the scars on the back of the man¡¯s hand had knocked loose a memory.

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jeremy slowly as he turned back to look at Morgan, a look of shock upon his face. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that you would remember me.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember everyone that I save,¡± admitted Morgan as he met Jeremy¡¯s gaze, ¡°but some things are next to impossible to forget.¡±

    Pausing, the two men took a moment to remember that days so many years ago when their paths had first crossed.

    Morgan remembered the caravan that he had been hired to guard while they were travelling out to the frontier. He remembered that the caravan that had stopped for the night and while in the midst of celebration of how far they had travelled without problems they had failed to watch the sky.

    So when the Fruitfall had come no one that been able to raise the alarm until the fruit had fallen upon the land and the caravan. Giant tomatoes each the size of houses had fallen and when they hit the wafer ground they had exploded into tomato soup, this in turn created waves of tomato acid that engulfed half the caravan. And as it had decimated the caravan, Morgan had raced through the deluge to try and save anyone he could, and while he had managed to get some clear of the acidic tomato soup, some had fallen in and were beyond saving.

    Morgan remembered the little boy, no more than five years of age, who had desperately been trying to save his mother who was in the process of sinking into the tomato soup. He remembered having to pick the boy up and carry him to safety, while the boy¡¯s mother had sunk into the red gloop-y acid. He remembered treating the boy¡¯s hand for acid burns and he remembered the boy had clung to him throughout the rest of the night, crying and hoping that everything that had just happened was just a dream.

    And come the morning, Morgan remembered finding Jeremy¡¯s father and saying goodbye to the remains of the caravan once they had gotten to their destination.

    ¡°You look the same as you did on that night 20 years ago,¡± said Jeremy as he walked over to a desk that was tucked into an out of the way section of the circular room.

    ¡°And you went on to become a Greensmith like your father,¡± replied Morgan, not really wishing to have a conversation about his longevity.

    ¡°Yes, my father wanted to make sure that I didn¡¯t succumb to hate, rage or sorrow. He made sure that I understood what a Fruitfall was and how it was not a thing of malice or intent. It was simply a phenomenon. He didn¡¯t want me to love it or hate it simply to understand, because once you understand something the emotions you have for that something are so much easier to deal with,¡± explained Jeremy as he sat down and looked at Morgan waiting to see the Seeker¡¯s response.

    ¡°He sounds like a smart man,¡± said Morgan thoughtfully and with a hint of admiration for being wise enough to prevent hatred from consuming his son.

    ¡°Yes he is,¡± said Jeremy with a fond smile, one that showed how much love he had for his father.

    ¡°Still even if you understood what a Fruitfall was and never came to hate it, you would not always end up in this profession,¡± said Morgan as he walked forward to stand near the desk where Jeremy sat.

    ¡°True. However the more I understood about Fruitfalls and even the Giant Apple that floats across the sky, the more I realised that more good could come out of being a Greensmith than bad,¡± said Jeremy trying to convey what he felt and why he had decided to become a Greensmith.

    Feeling the conversation lull for a moment, Morgan couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of admiration for the man before him. And while Morgan wanted to continue talking to Jeremy for a while he had other things that needed to be addressed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be needing some more water, some fizz rocks for my guns and various green edibles to prevent scurvies,¡± said Morgan as he shifted back to the reason why he was here in this Jeremy¡¯s laboratory.

    ¡°I can accommodate you with all of that, however I have to ask. How will you be paying for all of this?¡± asked Jeremy as he too shifted his mindset so that the two of them could talk business.

    Instead of answering, Morgan reached into his coat and pulled out a small bag that had its draw strings pulled together and tied up tight. Placing the bag on the table, Morgan stepped back and waited silently so that Jeremy could examine the contents in peace.

    Raising an eyebrow at the melodrama of Morgan¡¯s antics, Jeremy slowly opened the bag and looked inside. And once he saw the contents of the bag the shock on his face almost made Morgan laugh. For inside the bag were the seeds of numerous different vegetables and fruits that Morgan had managed to harvest on his journeys, the freshest of which were lemon seeds which rested at the top of the bag.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been busy,¡± said Jeremy as he tried to adjust to the fact that Morgan had just handed him a small fortune in seeds. ¡°Or do you chase danger?¡±

    ¡°I simply seek out interesting things while looking for Chocolate Milk,¡± explained Morgan with a careless shrug.

    Still in awe at the amount of seeds that Morgan had brought in, Jeremy frowned for a moment before looking over at Morgan.

    ¡°You know I never understood the mad quest for Chocolate Milk,¡± admitted Jeremy as he started to poke around the bag to see what other kinds of fruit and vegetables Morgan had given him.

    ¡°Really? You know all about Fruitfalls and turning candy into soil, metal and gemstones but you don¡¯t know about Chocolate Milk?¡± asked Morgan more surprised than annoyed by Jeremy¡¯s question.

    ¡°I care about what my green-smithing can transmute, not mythical substances,¡± replied Jeremy as he focused in on Morgan.

    ¡°You know that Chocolate is a panacea correct?¡± asked Morgan as he moved to sit down on a spare seat that was near Jeremy¡¯s desk.

    ¡°Yes, I heard that story, although I¡¯ve never seen it,¡± said Jeremy, his scepticism filling his voice and covering his face.

    ¡°Well I have. I¡¯ve seen a woman eat chocolate and regrow a missing hand. I¡¯ve seen a blind old man eat chocolate and regain his sight. I¡¯ve seen so many more examples,¡± said Morgan with such an authority on the matter that Jeremy didn¡¯t dare rebuke him.

    ¡°Milk on the other hand is known to lengthen a life. Those that drink it regularly have never aged a day, some even living for hundreds if not thousands of years,¡± continued Morgan as he explained the second half of why people wanted chocolate milk.

    ¡°So people believe that if you drink Chocolate Milk you will be able to cure everything even death?¡± asked Jeremy as he started to see why people would be so willing to get lost in sugar dunes and ice-cream mountains to find the mythical substance.

    ¡°Not just that, people believe that once you have consumed it you will never have to consume it again. Just one drink of Chocolate Milk and you will be immortal,¡± said Morgan with a belief and a zeal that made Jeremy pull back a bit.

    ¡°Then why not try and mix chocolate and milk together?¡± asked Jeremy seeing the obvious answer to the problem, all the while knowing that something was bound to prevent it from being that easy.

    ¡°People have tried, time and time again, but for one reason or another it doesn¡¯t work. In order to truly gain the powers of Chocolate Milk we need to find it out there in the vastness of the world otherwise it doesn¡¯t count or can give heinous side effects,¡± explained Morgan as he leaned back in his chair, the thrill and excitement he felt at challenging the unknown sprawled across his face.

    ¡°So that¡¯s why you travel the world looking for this impossible substance,¡± said Jeremy, all the while musing on the idea of spending your life chasing after something that might never exist.

    ¡°And because of that search, because of that desire to challenge the endless horizons, to find the impossible, I have travelled and seen so many wondrous and strange things. I have been to the Mountains of Ice Cream in the far north. I have stood on the edge of the Lemonade Ocean in the distant west. I have fought my way through the Jelly Jungles and Custard Lakes of the Deep South. And it is now why I am here at the edge of the Sugar Deserts of the East,¡± explained Morgan, a huge smile across his face with the faint traces of a beard making him look older, yet his eyes gleamed with the zeal of youth.

    ¡°What you¡¯ve never looked into the Organic Cradle, the birth place of all organic creatures. I mean how ironic would it be if there was Chocolate Milk hidden beneath the birth place of humanity,¡± said Jeremy in jest, all the while making it clear that he didn¡¯t think that there was any Chocolate Milk near the one location. Especially since that was the one place where trees naturally grew and animals of flesh and blood lived and died. For the Organic Cradle was not just the place where living beings came from. It was also the location of the heart of human civilisation and at the centre of the four locations that Morgan had commented on.

    ¡°I have searched through the caves beneath the Organic Cradle,¡± said Morgan with a seriousness to him that made Jeremy pause as he could see that the man before him truly believed in the existence of Chocolate Milk. ¡°And while I found things that would make you question all that you know about reality, I did not find any Chocolate Milk in my old hometown.¡±

    ¡°You are from the Organic Cradle?¡± asked Jeremy suddenly much more interested in the man before him, as the Organic Cradle was the holy place for all Greensmiths in the world, for it was the place where they could see what they were trying to make the world into.

    ¡°I was born there many centuries ago,¡± said Morgan with a smile as this one little fact caught Jeremy off guard. ¡°Don¡¯t look so surprised. At my age, you should know, I always drink my milk.¡±

    Unsure about how to respond to Morgan¡¯s claims and the idea that Morgan was actually so much older than even Jeremy had assumed, the Greensmith opened his mouth to respond when he heard the sound of running footsteps.

    Hearing the same sound, Morgan pounced to his feet, his right hand hovering over his gun as he looked at the front door to the Greensmith¡¯s laboratory.

    Banging on the door and then opening it, Morgan saw one of the townsfolk from earlier race into the room, a little out of breath.

    ¡°Jeremy we¡¯ve got trouble,¡± said the man with a quiver of fear in his voice as he glanced back at the door as if afraid of what could be following him.

    ¡°What trouble?¡± asked Morgan sternly, his voice demanding an answer and filled with such authority that the man answered without realising that he was talking to the outsider from earlier.

    ¡°A posse of outlaws just rode into town,¡± said the man, his voice quivering with fear as he nervously looked out the door as if expecting the outlaws to come waltzing into the room.

    ¡°And!¡± demanded Morgan as he wanted more details.

    ¡°And what?¡± asked the man as he suddenly realised that he was talking to the outsider who had just come into town and not the Greensmith.

    ¡°And what did they do? Did they start ransacking the place? Are they shooting women and children in the town square? Are they robbing the local bank?¡± asked Morgan as he tried to get the townsman to finally give him details about who and what had just rolled into town and how much of a threat they were.

    ¡°Oh no, they¡¯re just standing around in the town centre,¡± said the man as he patted at his sweaty head with a cloth.

    ¡°Then why are you so afraid?¡± asked Jeremy just as befuddled at the man¡¯s antics as Morgan was exasperated by them.

    ¡°I recognised one of them from a poster,¡± said the man frantically as he focused in on Jeremy as he started to hyperventilate once again. ¡°His name is Seth Riot! He¡¯s infamous across the world!¡±

    Drawing his hand away from the gun on his hip, Morgan sighed before giving Jeremy a look that asked a simple question ¡®How do you stand these idiots?¡¯

    Shaking his head ruefully, Jeremy escorted the man out of his laboratory while trying to calm him down. And once the man was calm and on his way both Morgan and Jeremy walked over to the town square to look at the new group of people that had rolled into town.

    ~~~

    ¡°I take it you know of these people,¡± said Jeremy as the two stood at the edge of the town square looking at the twenty or so people standing about while the one clearly in charge was speaking with the sheriff in a loud yet inaudible voice.

    ¡°I do. His name is Seth Riot and he was once like me, part of the Seeker Guild, however he was kicked out for making far too many mistakes. And more importantly for seemingly causing trouble wherever he went,¡± explained Morgan as he looked on with obvious distaste at what he was seeing.

    ¡°Are you going to arrest him or shoot him?¡± asked Jeremy as he glanced at Morgan wondering what the man would do next.

    ¡°And what would I shoot him for? For being an imbecile? If we went around killing all the idiots we encountered or shoot all those we dislike we could pile the bodies so high we could take a bite out of the Great Apple itself,¡± said Morgan with amusement at the notion of climbing up a tower of bodies to eat the giant apple that floated in the sky.

    ¡°Then why is his face on posters?¡± asked Jeremy with what he felt was valid concern.

    ¡°Because he made a mistake long ago and now his body is turning into living fudge, and he is desperate to find Chocolate Milk in order to save his life. And that kind of desperation leads a man to tear down entire towns to make sure they aren¡¯t hiding anything from him. Yet despite this no one has ever been able to confirm it was him that did it. So they send out warnings for Seth Riot and his posse,¡± explained Morgan as he looked at the sheriff who seemed to be getting more and more agitated.

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°So we¡¯re safe as long as Seth doesn¡¯t think we are hiding things,¡± said Jeremy not really placated by the notion that his fate was in the hands of a wild and unpredictable man desperate to live.

    ¡°I guess we¡¯re about to find out,¡± said Morgan as he saw the sheriff seem to wilt under Seth¡¯s presence before Seth turned around to climb onto the veranda of the nearest saloon so that he could address all present.

    ¡°My name is Seth Riot, and I am here for one reason and one reason only. I am here to find Chocolate Milk and so long as none of you get in my way you will be spared my wroth. In the mean time, we will be using this town as our base while we explore the region. If you have any objections to this fact, then I suggest you leave for your own good,¡± said Seth as he looked about, his face visible from under his hat.

    Seth¡¯s face was a thing of nightmares. His left eye had changed into pure brown and was weeping black fudge down his face like it was tears. His skin complexion was pasty white with veins of brown streaking deep beneath and finally his moustache and other hair seemed to be going white prematurely, with random strands seeming to fall off his face anytime he so much as moved.

    ¡°What idiotic thing did you do this time?¡± whispered Morgan more to himself than because he wanted an answer.

    ¡°He tried to fix his illness and made it worse,¡± said an old voice from behind Morgan and Jeremy, a voice that sounded both weary and at the same time full of life.

    Turning slowly the two men came face to face with one of the so-called outlaws that followed Seth about. An outlaw that had managed to sneak up on them by circling around a building to get behind them, all the while moving in such a way that he would not draw attention from anyone, even those he stalked.

    ¡°Old Willy, how have you been?¡± asked Morgan recognising the old man before him, a long time veteran of the search for Chocolate Milk, a man so old that even constantly drinking milk was no longer able to get rid of the traces of his true age.

    Giving Morgan a startled look Jeremy wore a face that screamed out ¡®What are you doing?¡¯, while at the same time the man called Old Willy simply raised an eyebrow at the name and refused to be baited into action.

    ¡°Are you drinking enough milk? I ask because you should be aware that most call me Old Will or William, and the only way you could forget such a fact was because you¡¯re down on milk and it¡¯s starting to let the dementia creep in,¡± asked Old Will as he looked back and forth between both Morgan and the Jeremy.

    ¡°My mind is still sound,¡± said Morgan with a dry smile before he glanced around. ¡°Where is your shadow Greg Custard?

    ¡°You know his name is George,¡± said Old Will in admonishment at the antics that Morgan was up to.

    ¡°Sorry, where is Grog? Or did he finally get on the wrong end of Seth¡¯s wroth?¡± asked Morgan with a spark of hope in his voice.

    ¡°He¡¯s still about,¡± said Old Will neutrally so as not to give away anything to Morgan, before he turned his sharp, blue eyed gaze upon Jeremy ¡°You haven¡¯t introduced me to your friend here.¡±

    ¡°This is Jeremy Greensmith. He¡¯s the town¡¯s local Greensmith,¡± said Morgan with a confidence and directness that made Jeremy stare at Morgan with eyes just about to pop out of their sockets in shock.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you Jeremy Greensmith,¡± said Old Will making sure to get Jeremy¡¯s name correct while offering his hand to shake. ¡°I look forward to working with you for the coming months. I sincerely wish to get along.¡±

    Shaking the outlaw¡¯s hand more out of reflex, Jeremy just nodded not really sure about what to do next but happy to just fade into the background when Old Will shifted his attention back to Morgan.

    ¡°Listen here, Morgan Rust. If you want to avoid any trouble then you won¡¯t get in our way,¡± said Old Will before nodding his head at Jeremy and walking back to talk to Seth who had managed to climb down off of the veranda.

    ¡°What was that?¡± asked Jeremy concerned for the fact that Morgan had just explained his profession in such a blunt manner.

    ¡°If they know you are a Greensmith and a good one at that then Seth and his gang will leave you alone, so long as you work for them when needed,¡± explained Morgan as he continued to give a disgusted look towards the milling group of 20 or so outlaws.

    ¡°And if I refuse?¡± asked Jeremy already envisioning his future and the many things they could end up doing to him.

    ¡°Then you¡¯ll end up working for them for free instead of for money,¡± said Morgan bluntly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

    ¡°Are you going to do anything about it?¡± asked Jeremy as he glanced back and forth between Morgan and the group of outlaws.

    ¡°What can I do against twenty outlaws, all of whom are itching to kill something or do something worse,¡± said Morgan solemnly.

    ¡°You can¡¯t best them all?¡± asked Jeremy incredulously of the man who had remained calm and composed during the Fruitfall that had claimed his mother¡¯s life.

    ¡°Not without risking the life of everyone here,¡± said Morgan aware that others had probably tried similar things to what he could plan out and that was why their towns had been supposedly wiped off the map by Seth.

    ¡°Then what do we do?¡± asked Jeremy hoping that Morgan would have a way out for the town.

    ¡°You continue your good work here, and I¡¯ll continue my search for Chocolate Milk,¡± said Morgan without hesitation.

    ¡°That¡¯s the best you can do?¡± asked Jeremy disappointed.

    ¡°For now¡­¡± said Morgan with a slight smile as he began to plan out something far more sinister than Seth could ever hope to imagine.

    ~~~

    Morgan trudged through the sugar dunes towards the carcass of a giant lemon that had fallen from the sky, a lemon that Morgan had harvested from to get his Lemon Bombs and lemon seeds. Morgan hoped that there would still be Lemon Bombs that he could make use of, especially since lemons would deteriorate out here in this sugar desert.

    The lemon itself was easily the size of a small mansion, with the lemon measuring at least 20 metres in length and a good five metres in width, although that last measurement was because Morgan had already raided its insides and as such it had deflated some.

    Nearing the lemon its impressive height towering over Morgan who was just over 180cm tall, Morgan took a moment to look at it and paused as he saw bite marks at the edge of the lemon. These bite marks made Morgan pause not because they existed, for bite marks from the Gummi-Beasts that prowled the desert were normal on Fruitfalls. What gave Morgan pause was the fact that the bite marks came from something that Morgan didn¡¯t recognise.

    Sighing at his poor luck, Morgan gave the area a quick scan to make sure that he was alone out here and then got to work harvesting from the lemon.

    Extracting Lemon Sacs intact was a slow and laborious task and at the same time it was extremely difficult. For if you made a mistake and got splashed with the fruity acid then you would melt away, and that¡¯s if you were lucky. Some Fruitfall harvesters had lost limbs, mainly hands, from their work and had been forced to trudge back to their home base cradling their ruined limbs, all the while hoping against hope that they could somehow get chocolate to heal them.

    Working with extreme care, Morgan extracted his 13<sup>th</sup> Lemon Sac when he picked up a disturbance in the world around him. All the time he had spent hunting the Sugarfiends in the sugar dunes had sharpened Morgan¡¯s senses to the point that he would be able to tell if someone or something was approaching him.

    Turning around with a Lemon Sac still in his right hand, Morgan reached for his gun on his left side, as he was capable of shooting with either hand with no noticeable difference in skill. Except instead of seeing the beast that had eaten the lemon, Morgan came face to face with two of Seth Riot¡¯s gang: Old Will and George Custard.

    Looking back and forth between the two men that were confronting him, Morgan knew that they had come for him. The only question that flashed through Morgan¡¯s mind was whether or not they wanted to get information out of him before they killed him.

    ¡°Good to see you again, Old Willy,¡± said Morgan taking the initiative in the conversation so that he could keep the two outlaws off balance. ¡°Miss me so much that you came all the way out here to see me again?¡±

    ¡°We came to ask a few little questions without anyone possibly overhearing us and misinterpreting what happened,¡± said Old Will, his usual unflappable nature making him immune to Morgan¡¯s antics.

    A trait that Old Will¡¯s companion did not possess, because the moment after Will finished speaking George Custard spoke up.

    ¡°Yes we¡¯re here for any information you have on Chocolate Milk and depending on how you answer your death will be quick and painless or slow and terrible,¡± snarled out George all the while oblivious to the fact that Old Will was looking at him with disgust, both for his obvious sadism and because the fool couldn¡¯t hold his tongue.

    Shifting his gaze over to the barely 20 year old outlaw who was mouthing off and ruining Old Will¡¯s plans, Morgan took a moment to assess the boy before him before opening his mouth to speak, a sardonic smile warping his mouth. This act of mockery caused George to suddenly flush with rage before shouting to interrupt Morgan before he had said a single word.

    ¡°If you dare mock my last name then I will kill you here and now regardless of what information you might possess,¡± snarled George, his voice tinged with a lifetime of pain and impotent rage.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Gruel, I won¡¯t make fun of your last name,¡± said Morgan fully aware that of the two before him that George was the weak link. ¡°After all even I have standards when it comes to insults.¡±

    Gasping in rage and seemingly unable to compute what was happening to him, George tried to speak but only angry noises came out of his mouth.

    ¡°Before this gets ugly, tell me what I want to know and we can let you walk away,¡± said Old Will, his old face not matching the sudden burst of youth that filled his eyes as if the coming battle was waking up a sleeping part of him.

    ¡°Why should I tell anything to dead men?¡± asked Morgan with a sardonic smile warping not just his mouth but his entire face. And as Morgan¡¯s words crossed the distance between the two parties, both Old Will and George Custard reeled back from the implied threat.

    ¡°Because you want the dead to know how much you had bested them,¡± said Old Will as he recovered his wits before George could even form a coherent thought.

    ¡°Sorry but I¡¯m not a show off, like little Gretel over here,¡± said Morgan as he gestured towards George who looked like he was on the verge of having a fit from the overflowing emotions within him.

    ¡°A pity,¡± said Old Will with a smile that showed he could still find excitement in these clashes of life and death, even in his old age.

    Not moving a single muscle save for his eyes, Morgan looked back and forth between the two men before him. Both were dangerous but in different ways. George Custard was a rabid dog begging to be let off its leash. Old Will despite his disdain for cruelty was a thrill seeker and one who could remain calm in any situation. This meant that regardless of their intentions it would be George that would start the fighting, but it would be Old Will who decided if the two men lived or died.

    Choosing to pre-emptively attack, Morgan threw the Lemon Sac at George Custard who in his zeal and youth instead of wisely dodging the ball of acid decided to shoot it.

    This act caused the Lemon Sac to rupture and spray out its acidic contents in the direction of the puncture. In other words it sprayed its acid all over George, and more specifically his right hand and only gun. This instantly caused George¡¯s right hand to dissolve and his gun right along with it, causing the kid to collapse to the ground and start screaming in agony, while vainly grasping at what was left of his arm.

    At the same time that he threw the Lemon Bomb at George, Morgan pulled out the gun on his left side and fired it at Old Will.

    Except that the old gun fighter had been expecting something of that nature which was why the moment that he saw Morgan move, Old Will dived out of the way. Rolling across the ground, Will rolled to his knees and fired his gun back at Morgan. Not being able to react fully to Will¡¯s movements, Morgan took a bullet to the left leg just above the knee and collapsed to the ground. But not without drawing his second gun with his right hand.

    Landing on the ground, Morgan intentionally dropped his left gun and made it look like he hadn¡¯t touched his right holster.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you, I¡¯ll kill you,¡± snarled out George Custard as he tried to crawl on all fours towards Morgan, his murderous intent plastered across his face.

    ¡°If you say so, Gnat,¡± said Morgan mockingly, for despite his situation Morgan knew that Old Will had shot to injure not to kill. This meant that he wanted Morgan alive and not dead.

    ¡°No you won¡¯t,¡± said Old Will as he turned and shot George in the head killing the man instantly.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you put up with him for so long,¡± admitted Morgan as he watched George slump to the ground dead and gone.

    ¡°He was Seth¡¯s bastard,¡± admitted Old Will with a shrug, as if that was the only information that was needed.

    ¡°I see,¡± said Morgan aware that this meant that Old Will was going to kill him for ¡®killing¡¯ George, or at least that was what Old Will would say to Seth. ¡°Tell me did George know that?¡±

    ¡°No, he had a big enough head as it was. Telling him he was the boss¡¯s son would only have gotten him killed quicker,¡± said Old Will as he walked over to George¡¯s corpse and shot him two more times in the back of his head, just to make sure.

    ¡°Three bullets wasted because you didn¡¯t have the courage to kill him in his sleep with a knife,¡± mused Morgan as he started to prop himself up only to feel something wrong with his leg. There was no pain and he was losing feeling in the area around the bullet wound.

    ¡°Liquorice bullets,¡± said Old Will with a smile, ¡°either you tell me what I need to know or you turn into pure liquorice and find out if liquorice still can think if it was once human.¡±

    ¡°Even if I tell you what you want to know I still die,¡± said Morgan as he stared at his thigh in horror.

    ¡°True, unless you are able to cut off your leg in time,¡± said Old Will with amusement as he allowed himself to descend down to what he considered to be Morgan¡¯s level of maturity. ¡°Then you¡¯ll be known forever more as Mangled Morgan.¡±

    ¡°Damn, that does sound like a good name,¡± said Morgan in amusement and respect that Old Will was able to come up with such a name on the fly. ¡°Pity you won¡¯t get to tell anyone about it.¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯ll shoot me with your other gun?¡± asked Old Will sarcastically, revealing that he was not bothered by the possible threat to his life.

    ¡°No because you aren¡¯t resistant to acid, but I eat anti-acid constantly,¡± said Morgan as he pulled his right arm up and shot backwards into the giant Lemon.

    Widening his eyes in horror as he immediately saw what Morgan was trying to do; Old Will looked up at the Lemon expecting to see a wave of acidic lemon juice flow towards him. A wave of lemon juice that would be so large that it would wash him away, and dissolve him into nothingness, yet despite the bullet hitting the lemon the cascading wave of lemon juice did not come.

    Blinking in shock, Old Will looked down to Morgan who had used this moment of distraction to point his gun at Old Will and fire.

    The bullet hit Old Will straight in the chest and for a long moment it looked like Old Will would not fall from the wound, only for the man to collapse to his knees in shock.

    ¡°But my armour,¡± muttered Old Will astounded that his protecting clothing had allowed something as flimsy as a bullet to pierce his body.

    ¡°Against fizz-rock powder it would be enough, but not against black powder,¡± explained Morgan as he crawled back and grabbed a Lemon Sac and burst it over the liquorice flesh that had once been his leg.

    Almost blacking out from the pain and the fact that he no longer had a left leg, Morgan forced himself to remain conscious, as he didn¡¯t want to risk Old Will having a surprise way to survive. Grabbing another Lemon Sac, he lifted his arm up and prepared to throw it at Old Will who looked at Morgan with surprise even as the light began to fade from his eyes.

    ¡°I never would have thought of that,¡± admitted Old Will as he looked at Morgan¡¯s leg before he keeled over and stopped breathing.

    Seeing that both of the men looked very dead, Morgan felt a moment of relief before deciding to make sure. Morgan threw two Lemon Bombs onto the two corpses, one for each, turning them both into headless corpses. Which Morgan hoped against hope that neither would have a way of surviving, as he had seen Gummi-beasts survive such injuries and not even seem bothered by the fact, although Gummi-Beasts didn¡¯t have internal organs so they wouldn¡¯t actually lose anything by losing their heads.

    Collapsing onto his back as the pain and some blood loss got to him, Morgan looked up at the sky and saw the pink cotton candy floating about in the sky all the while strange thoughts filled his mind.

    Yet before he was lost consciousness, Morgan heard something that made him turn his head and see a giant creature, about 3 metres long, land on the giant Lemon behind him. A creature he had only heard about in stories. A creature that had eluded him for centuries and was one of the fables he longed to find. And as he slowly lost his grip on consciousness he uttered this mythical creature¡¯s name in awe.

    ¡°Bees¡­¡±

    ~~~

    Waking with a start, Morgan sat upright and looked down in amazement at the fact that he now had two legs, covered in white trousers. Especially since he recalled in painfully clear detail how he had destroyed one of his legs.

    ¡°Well this is an unexpected surprise,¡± said Morgan aloud before he started to focus in on the room that he was currently resting in.

    The room was predominately white, but it had yellow and gold flourishes everywhere. There was a series of shelves on the wall opposite the bed that Morgan was lying on, but unlike normal shelves that would be square or rectangular in nature the shelves before him were in the shapes of hexagons.

    Not really sure how he felt about the odd architecture, Morgan got out of the bed and walked towards the end of the room which opened onto a balcony of some sort. The balcony was walled off with a veil of white sheets and the moment that Morgan pushed past them what he saw made his mouth drop open in shock.

    The city before him was primarily white like the room; however it had splashes of colour in the same manner of the room. Except instead of it being just paint or fabric or even metal, it was honeycomb.

    The city was made up from white buildings, pillars and spires, and dotted within were giant hives from which came giant bees. Some of the bees were 3 metres in length, with some of these bees having humans riding upon them. Others bees reached over ten metres and were being used to transport entire carriages of people about. What¡¯s more the city had rivers of milk flowing back and forth throughout the city.

    The humans had white togas upon them and they all had blond hair and golden eyes. All of them looked beautiful like they had stepped forth from a masterpiece painting.

    Leaning against the railing of the balcony, Morgan shook his head to try and clear it up to make sure that he wasn¡¯t dreaming about fancy and impossible things, like worlds of metal buildings that ran on bottle lightning.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think the afterlife would be so bee centric. I guess those crazy priests saying the sun was a Solar-Scarab were correct,¡± said Morgan out loud once he had confirmed that he was indeed awake.

    ¡°Sorry to disappoint, but you are not in the afterlife. You are in Hivelantis,¡± said a voice from behind Morgan.

    Turning around Morgan came face to face with a man that was dressed like all the rest. He wore a white toga that looped over only one shoulder revealing a chiselled chest and he had the same golden hair and eyes as the rest.

    ¡°My name is Cloud Byte,¡± said Cloud with a short bow. ¡°May I please know who I am talking to?¡±

    ¡°My name is Morgan Rust,¡± said Morgan politely not wishing to insult his saviours.

    ¡°An interesting name,¡± said Cloud with a smile before gesturing for Morgan to sit at a nearby white table. ¡°Please sit and I will answer your questions.¡±

    ¡°I only have a few,¡± said Morgan as he glanced out at the magnificent city before him before walking back into the room. ¡°If I am not dead, how did you heal me of my injuries? Where are my things? And can I leave?¡±

    ¡°Your things are in that chest,¡± said Cloud as he pointed to a chest near the door Cloud had come in through, a chest that Morgan had been too distracted to notice when he had first woken up. ¡°And yes you can indeed leave if you want, however I ask that you at least listen to what I have to say before you do so.¡±

    ¡°Ok, regale me,¡± said Morgan as he leaned back in his seat waiting to hear what the denizen of the Hivelantis wanted to sell him on.

    ¡°We periodically go out and hunt down Fruitfalls so that we can harvest them and feed the Bees that are the primary source of life for Hivelantis,¡± explained Cloud carefully as he tried to gauge how Morgan would react. ¡°We found you and two others next to a Lemon and we took you all back here to try and save your lives.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± said Morgan as he sat up quickly realising that it was possible his saviours had revived William and George. ¡°You didn¡¯t bring them back to life did you?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately you were the only one we could save. The other two lost their lives in the lemon harvest,¡± said Cloud, clearly having arrived at the wrong interpretation of what had happened.

    ¡°Not what happened but go on,¡± said Morgan as he didn¡¯t want to turn this into an overly long conversation.

    ¡°We brought you back here and based on your severe wounds the only method we had of saving you was giving you honey,¡± said Cloud apologetically.

    ¡°Why are you apologising?¡± asked Morgan not really sure if he should be worried or not, as he had heard about honey¡¯s healing properties in legend before.

    ¡°I think a physical demonstration would be best,¡± said Cloud as he pulled a dagger of bone from out of his toga and with a shift and sudden motion cut off one of his own fingers.

    ¡°Ok?¡± said Morgan as he leaned back from the man before him only to realise that the severed digit hadn¡¯t hit the table, instead a pile of honey had.

    ¡°Honey doesn¡¯t just heal you it turns you into living sentient honey,¡± said Cloud as he touched the mass of honey on the table with his other hand and reabsorbed the honey into his body. After which the severed digit regrew at such blinding speeds that if Morgan had blinked he might have missed it.

    ¡°Are you saying you turned me into immortal sentient honey?¡± asked Morgan both shocked and a little elated at the idea.

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Cloud simply.

    ¡°That actually might be very helpful in future endeavours,¡± said Morgan as he took the news in stride.

    ¡°There is more to all of this than just being immortal,¡± said Cloud seriously. ¡°Honey gives you a host of other powers beyond just being immortal.¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡± asked Morgan, intrigued by his new abilities.

    ¡°You can turn into pure honey and move around that way,¡± said Cloud as he transformed his right hand, the hand still holding the bone dagger into pure honey that flowed and morphed into a long transparent orange blade, ¡°it¡¯s how I got into the room without opening the door.¡±

    ¡°How did you get your clothes through the crack under my door then?¡± asked Morgan before realising a possible solution.

    ¡°I can absorb my clothes and then eject them,¡± explained Cloud as a smile spread across his face, as he had guessed what answer Morgan had assumed.

    ¡°All of this sounds incredibly advantageous, so, why are you so worried?¡± asked Morgan clearly aware that there were bound to be some form of demerits for being made from sentient honey.

    ¡°Because others will try to eat you to obtain your power. Gummi-beasts will also try to eat you for nourishment. And because if you ever get caught in a situation from which you can¡¯t escape, you will be trapped until the end of time,¡± said Cloud, his expression making it clear he had lost people to these sorts of situations before. ¡°This is why we warn you not to leave at least without a fellow squadron of Honey-kin and their bees.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate the concern, but I have things to do, people to save, wonders to discover,¡± said Morgan as he walked over to the chest and opened it so that he could retrieve his stuff.

    ¡°If you leave Hivelantis you will risk death and destruction if you¡¯re lucky. There are even worse fates for those that get caught and used for all sorts of experiments. If you leave here you risk more than just death you risk eternal suffering,¡± said Cloud passionately clearly trying to get Morgan to reconsider.

    ¡°There are two kinds of people that seek immortality, those that simply fear to die and those that fear they will never see the entire majesty of the unending universe,¡± said Morgan slowly as he got dressed in his undamaged clothing. Morgan¡¯s words caused Cloud to stop dead and listen to words that seemed to carry the weight of eternity within. ¡°I am in the latter category. That is why I seek Chocolate Milk. That is why I am on an endless journey.  Because in my journeys I seek to see, find and experience all the wonders and mysteries of the world. ¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you will leave,¡± said Cloud having come to the realisation that he would only be able to stop Morgan with force and thereby inflict the same horrors that Cloud was trying to prevent from happening.

    ¡°You have given me a form of immortality and I thank you,¡± said Morgan, his eyes sparkling with sincerity. ¡°However that doesn¡¯t mean that I will give up the wonders of the world and hide here for the rest of time. Plus I have lives to save.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± said Cloud sadly, ¡°You¡¯re not the first person looking for Chocolate Milk who has come to Hivelantis and you¡¯re not the first to turn down paradise.¡±

    ¡°There are many forms of paradise. This is just one of them. My job is to find the rest,¡± said Morgan as he finished getting dressed in what remained of his clothes and put his hat back on his head.

    ¡°But before you drop me back where you found me, can I ask for one more favour¡­¡± said Morgan as a sudden and wicked idea bloomed within his mind.

    ~~~

    Morgan leaned against the clock tower of Greenville and waited for what was to come. If everything worked out as he planned then he would be able to cut down the outlaw gang in a single move.

    Once Morgan had gotten back, he had made a beeline to Jeremy and using the Lemon Sac¡¯s he had harvested and managed to secure from Hivelantis, the two had concocted a plan to rid the town of the outlaws. Although Jeremy had not believed Morgan when he said he might get some work from people who ride on giant bees in the future.

    The plan had been very simple. Jeremy had created a chemical that neutralised the lemon acid for a set amount of time. This chemical was special, because it would only be broken down by human stomach acids, which in turn would allow the lemon juice to return to its normal acidic nature. And once this concoction had been created Morgan had used his newly acquired powers to place it within the ale of the inn that the outlaw gang was staying in.

    And now Morgan waited to see how many of these outlaws had been willing to skip breakfast and ale today.

    A question that was soon answered as multiple screams echoed out from the inn. Screams both of the poor waitresses who were watching their customers melt from the inside out, and screams from the men experiencing the phenomenon.

    Standing up straight, Morgan walked out into the middle of the deserted road and waited to see if any survivors would come bursting out of the inn.

    Opening up the doors to the inn, a single outlaw walked out from the inn and onto the same deserted road, an outlaw that Morgan had been hoping would be taken out by the acidic drink. But in the back of Morgan¡¯s mind he knew that Seth Riot would somehow someway find a way to escape from the fate that Morgan had planned for him.

    ¡°I take it that both George and William are dead,¡± said Seth as he stopped walking and stood clear across from Morgan his hand upon the gun at his hip.

    ¡°Very much so,¡± said Morgan with grim finality, to make sure that Seth knew that his closest ally and his bastard son were both dead and gone.

    ¡°I also take it that you¡¯re responsible for that mess?¡± asked Seth as he pointed in the direction of the inn with his free hand, all the while making sure not to take his eyes off of Morgan.

    ¡°Yes I am responsible for that as well,¡± admitted Morgan without a hint of guilt at causing such a miserable and horrific death.

    ¡°What do you think we should do about that?¡± asked Seth, his voice filled with a barely contained rage while his eyes started to leak fudge infected tears that stained his face black and brown. This visage combined with Seth¡¯s barely contained rage made him look like a demon that had just manifested upon the world.

    ¡°I think we should end this farce. I recommend pistols at the sound of the bell, but we could start shooting now and see what happens,¡± said Morgan assured of his victory.

    Laughing aloud, Seth seemed like he couldn¡¯t believe what Morgan had suggested, a sentiment that the rest of the town agreed with, if their gaping mouths were anything to go by. Even Jeremy, who had witnessed Morgan¡¯s new powers first hand when the man had returned with his collection of Lemon Sacs, was staring bug eyed at the man trying desperately to figure out what Morgan was thinking.

    ¡°You want to draw off against me to see who lives and dies, me. Me! ME! The fastest gun in the known world!¡± said Seth with rage and bafflement fighting against each other as it was clear that Seth couldn¡¯t understand why Morgan was throwing his life away.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say I want to honour the man you used to be by letting you die in a memorable way,¡± said Morgan with a sad smile as he referenced the man Seth had been before he had encountered chocolate fudge which was now turning his body into chocolate fudge cell by cell. ¡°I want to give you a death befitting of a legendary outlaw, not one that I have to put down like a rabid dog.¡±

    Aware on some level that Morgan was baiting him into action, the truth was that Seth was so far gone that he couldn¡¯t think rationally enough to know that this was a trap.

    ¡°Very well then, pistols at the sound of the bell,¡± said Seth as a mad look filled his eyes as he readied himself to fire the moment the bell rang to tell the town that it was 9 in the morning. Except that the time at the moment was 8:55 which meant that the two gunslingers would have to wait for another five minutes before the bell rang, which was one of the reasons that Morgan had suggested it.

    For Morgan knew that concentrating on the bell for five whole minutes would stretch Seth¡¯s concentration and cause him to slip up. And when Seth slipped up Morgan would pounce and shoot the man.

    Morgan had initially expected to have to wait for two maybe even three minutes before Seth would slip up, but Seth appeared to not have the ability to wait patiently for even a minute. Because about one minute into the standoff, Seth glanced at the bell as if he could somehow see how long it would take to ring, and the moment that Seth was foolish enough to take his eyes off of Morgan, Morgan shot him.

    Morgan pulled his gun out of his holster with his right hand and shot Seth in the dead centre of his chest.

    Blinking in shock, Seth looked down at the gunshot wound in his chest and then up at Morgan. Seemingly unable to feel the damage Morgan had inflicted upon him, Seth pulled his gun and fired several times into Morgan each bullet hitting Morgan in various different body parts. Some bullets hit him in the leg, others in the arms or even the chest, however none were aimed at Morgan¡¯s head for whatever reason.

    ¡°Do you think you could kill me with a single, simple bullet?¡± asked Seth with a roar of rage. ¡°I am turning into living fudge; my body heals even as it becomes something other than flesh, because despite being fudge it is still chocolate. And chocolate heals all or did the sugar dunes fry your mind!¡±

    ¡°No I know full well about your healing abilities, even if they are killing you,¡± said Morgan as he stood straight, because as the bullets had hit him he had swayed on his feet to give the impression that he was falling over from his injuries.

    ¡°What?!¡± shouted Seth in shock. And as Seth shouted he stared in pure confusion at the man that should be a bleeding mass of mutilated flesh. A man that was now standing upright and unharmed without a drop of blood to show for the bullet holes he had in his clothes.

    ¡°Looking for these?¡± asked Morgan as he raised his left hand up and willed the honey his body was made from to eject the bullets out of his left palm.

    Staring at the display in confusion, Seth opened his mouth to ask a question before he realised the truth of how Morgan had survived.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been to Hivelantis, you¡¯ve found the legendary land of Milk and Honey,¡± said Seth with pure desperation in his voice. ¡°You can save me!¡±

    ¡°You are beyond saving Seth,¡± said Morgan solemnly.

    ¡°You will tell me where it is, even if I have to torture you for days,¡± said Seth with a manic grin before trying to walk forward to grab Morgan, only for his legs to fail to move. A fact that made Seth stare down in horror at his legs.

    ¡°The reason I showed you what I have become was so that you would die knowing salvation was within your grasp,¡± continued Morgan, his face still solemn as he walked closer to Seth.

    ¡°What have you done to me,¡± said Seth, true fear filling his voice.

    ¡°Just a little gift from Old William, a bullet made from liquorice,¡± said Morgan as his eyes seemed to pierce into the depths of Seth¡¯s soul.

    Realising that he was turning into pure liquorice and that he might become a statue that was completely sentient yet forever unable to feel or see or hear, Seth chose to try and escape. He raised his gun up to try and finish himself only to see that he had expended all of his bullets trying to kill Morgan.

    Dropping his gun, Seth stared defiantly at Morgan and spoke even as his throat was slowly turning into liquorice.

    ¡°You best hope this kills me, because if I ever get revived then I will hunt you to the end of the world and beyond. I swear this on the Great Apple, and all the light within the sky,¡± said Seth with impotent rage filling his voice.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting, although I think I will be disappointed, scaredy cat Seth,¡± said Morgan using a nickname from long ago when Seth had been still new to the job of seeking out Chocolate Milk.

    Watching to make sure that Seth had completely turned into liquorice, Morgan inspected the statue of liquorice and was surprised to see that even Seth¡¯s clothes were being converted to liquorice. Shuddering at the fate he had inflicted upon Seth, Morgan turned away and signalled that everything was done and that he was victorious.

    Streaming out of the buildings that surrounded the deserted street the townspeople looked at Seth¡¯s liquorice statue with horror and joy all the while celebrating that the outlaws had been dealt with. This celebration became so wide spread that the entire crowd celebrated while keeping a distance from Seth¡¯s statue. And in the confusion created by the celebration Morgan slipped out of the crowd and made his way to Jeremy¡¯s laboratory.

    ¡°What will you do now?¡± asked Jeremy. The Greensmith had followed the gunslinger from the street with the intent of knowing what came next.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave,¡± said Morgan with a shrug as he continued on to the laboratory to retrieve his stuff.

    ¡°And do what?¡± asked Jeremy, a question that brought Morgan up short, just as he was about to enter the laboratory.

    ¡°The same as I have always done,¡± said Morgan with a genuine smile, ¡°except this time I can afford to take even greater risks.¡±

    ¡°Why, you already have immortality,¡± said Jeremy as he pursued Morgan into his own laboratory.

    ¡°You don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± asked Morgan as he turned around to look at Jeremy, his back framed by green vegetation and golden motes of light that were glowing in the air. ¡°I sought after adventure and wonder. Immortality was only even a hope never the actual goal.¡±

    Staring in disbelief before finally truly understanding the intentions of the man before him, a man, that while backlit by green and gold, looked like a hero out of legend, Jeremy bowed his head and nodded.

    ¡°Alright then, go out and challenge the impossible and find that which doesn¡¯t exist,¡± said Jeremy as he looked up at the man that had saved him so long ago from the horror that had taken his mother. ¡°I¡¯ll do the same here.¡±

    ¡°Very well then, when next I visit I expect to find wonders,¡± said Morgan with a mischievous grin as he picked up his stuff and walked from the room leaving behind only a single sentence that hung majestically in the air.

    ¡°Until then, I¡¯ll be off in search for Chocolate Milk¡­¡±

    ~~~

    Epilogue:

    Jeremy Greensmith relaxed in his steam powered, mobile chair under the shade of a massive oak tree. Its green leaves obscured the pink cotton candy clouds that were floating through the sky. And as he sat in his steam powered chair he looked out at his great grand children that were playing in the field before him. A green field filled with what seemed to be an endless amount of grass, a field he had created in defiance of the world and all that seemed to make sense to everyone else.

    Shifting his gaze away from his great grandchildren who were making wreaths of flowers, Jeremy Greensmith looked out at the horizon from the small hill he was sitting on, and from his vantage point he saw so much. He saw the town he had changed into a bustling city of commerce. He saw the statue of Seth Riot encased in copper standing at the entrance of the city, a stark warning about what would befall trouble makers. And beyond even that Jeremy saw the Great Apple cresting over the horizon to signify that it was soon going to be night and that the giant green apple would fill the sky.

    Marvelling at the beauty of the place he had created, Jeremy smiled in satisfaction and knew that his last 98 years upon this world had been worth every single second. And that he would not do a single thing differently if he could do it all over again.

    ¡°You seem content, Jeremy,¡± said a voice from behind Jeremy, a voice that Jeremy recognised.

    Startled Jeremy pushed on some of the controls of his chair and with a whistle the chair powered up and turned him around so that he was now looking behind him, and what he saw made the old man that Jeremy had become tear up.

    ¡°Morgan, you¡¯re still alive,¡± said Jeremy in shock and joy, at seeing the man that had helped change his life for the better each and every time they had met.

    ¡°Yes, yes I am,¡± said Morgan with a smile and a youthful zeal that made Jeremy blink in shock, because even all those years ago Morgan had not had this sort of air about him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you actually found it,¡± said Jeremy as he leaned forward to try and get a better look at the man before him.

    ¡°Oh yes,¡± said Morgan as he raised a metal tank for Jeremy to look at, ¡°I found Chocolate Milk. It turns out there are underground rivers of the stuff, but the rivers change almost yearly so you can miss out on finding Chocolate Milk by a few days if you¡¯re not careful.¡±

    ¡°Does it make you immortal?¡± asked Jeremy as curiosity got the best of him.

    ¡°Oh yes it does,¡± said Morgan with a smile as he lowered the metal tank down next to his leg. ¡°I¡¯ve come here to give you an offer. One I hope you¡¯ll take up.¡±

    Blinking in shock, Jeremy took a long moment to think about the offer that Morgan had presented to him. Slowly Jeremy used his steam powered chair to turn around to look at the green flowing fields before him, his great grand children and back towards his home where his wife and children were still living.

    ¡°Why me?¡± asked Jeremy finally.

    ¡°Because you created all of this,¡± said Morgan as he came to stand next to Jeremy, as he too looked over the wonders Jeremy had created. ¡°Because there is still much to do and I think that you deserve to see it to its end. And because I think fondly of you when I cast my mind back to the time we worked together.¡±

    ¡°Do you have enough for me and my wife?¡± asked Jeremy as he glanced down at his home not wishing to leave her behind.

    ¡°I have enough for whatever you need,¡± said Morgan with a smile and gestured to the house, ¡°and if you would be willing to introduce me I would be willing to offer up a new adventure in life.¡±

    ¡°Which is?¡± asked Jeremy with an expectant glance, even as he powered up his machine chair and made it start rolling towards his home.

    ¡°Tell me have you heard about the search for Strawberry Milk¡­?¡±

 The Advent of the Astral Mage:

    The Demon Lord sneered at the human hero before it.

    It sneered in disgust and out of a sense of superiority. It sneered even though it was losing because in the end it knew that it would win no matter what the meagre mortal forces before it could do. It especially glared at the hero before him, a hero that had become a thorn in the Demon Lord¡¯s side like no other had before. The hero was lean and of average height barely coming in at 180cm. He had black ebony hair and golden irises that marked him out as being touched by the magic of the world. And while the Demon Lord saw the hero as a nuisance the Demon Lord refused to see the hero as a true threat.

    The Demon Lord¡¯s arrogance would be its undoing as the hero saw through the meaning of the sneer. The hero understood that the demon which had ravaged the Endless Lands of Efes still had one last trick to play. Yet the question that echoed through the hero¡¯s mind was, ¡®Was this last trick enough to overturn the demon¡¯s defeat?¡¯

    ¡°Do your worst, Magnus Shrive,¡± snarled out the giant red skinned demon, its black horns and body spikes gleaming with malice for all existence. ¡°You will not be able to beat me. Not without dying yourself.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t get it do you, Akron,¡± said Magnus Shrive in response, his voice filled not with hate but with pity, an emotion that filled the demon with even more rage. ¡°We came here knowing that death was a certainty. We came here knowing that we would most likely die. We came here to die to make sure that others would live.¡±

    ¡°Foolish mortals,¡± snarled out the demon known only as Akron, ¡°if you accept your own deaths then you can never find victory!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you don¡¯t understand demon,¡± said Magnus as he glanced back at the different members of his team who he had assembled across his many adventures. ¡°You believe victory can only be achieved by getting everything you want. We believe that you only need to get one thing to be victorious.¡±

    Glowering at the five mortals before it, the demon chose not to answer as it understood that regardless of whether the mortals believed in their words they were willing to follow through with them.

    And as the demon glowered at Magnus, he took a moment to focus on his weapon and teammates. Magnus¡¯ attention first shifted to the weapon in his hand, a wooden sword named Luminous Wode. It was a sword that could change its shape and form to suit what was needed, a sword that had carried Magnus through thousands of battles. A sword that he had summoned into the world of Efes at the start of the Demon War, despite the fears of the elders he had learned under.

    For, Efes was a world that existed on the boundary of so many other worlds. It was a place where the lost and the banished were sent to from other realities. This was how the Demon Lord Akron had appeared in the world of Efes. He had been banished here from some other plane of existence.

    Yet demons were not the only thing that fell into this world.

    Looking over his shoulder at the best example of this summoning and inter dimensional travel, Magnus looked at Xenedra. She was an elf from a world whose sky had been stolen, and who had thrown herself into another reality in order to find help for her people. Seeing that she was standing strong and willing to help out, even though this was not her own world, in turn helped increase Magnus¡¯ own resolve.

    ¡°You lose demon, you will not win here,¡± said Magnus as he refocused back on the Demon Lord before him. ¡°We will succeed were those that banished you failed. We will kill you.¡±

    ¡°Then I will make sure that all of you suffer in return,¡± snarled out the Demon Lord as he gestured for the humans to commence fighting, for Akron did not believe that the humans before it would actually be willing to die in order to kill it. Akron had seen that none possessed the resolve to do so, over and over again, as he had been banished from one reality to another time and time again, causing him to wander endlessly through the infinite realms of reality.

    Launching into the fight, Magnus primed his magic and unleashed the star encrusted winds at the Demon Lord, an attack the demon tried to fight back against only for the rest of Magnus¡¯ party to intercept the demon¡¯s attacks and magic. And in the face of the now weakened and defenceless demon, Magnus attacked not just with magic, but with his wooden sword.

    Using the winds to allow him to fly forward and past the demon¡¯s flames, Magnus arrived before the demon¡¯s chest, a chest that was bigger than Magnus¡¯ was tall, and plunged his blade deep into the demon¡¯s heart. The blow was a lethal one, especially after Magnus caused the star encrusted winds to explode out of the tip of the sword causing the heart to literally explode into chunks.

    Yet this did not cause the Demon Lord to instantly die.

    ¡°A pity, hero, you could have lived out your life in happiness had you just followed the lead of others,¡± said Akron, his voice tinged with a sadness that was unbecoming of a demon.

    Shocked by the fact that the giant demon before him was not raging in death or crying out that it was impossible, Magnus failed to move away from the demon. And while this spelt his doom, it meant that the demon¡¯s attention was not shared with his teammates.

    ¡°I have wandered from reality to reality without end, a wander without a home, and any time I try to create one I am cast adrift once more,¡± said the demon sorrowfully before a spark of sadistic malicious glee entered into his dying face, ¡°now you too will know the pain of being lost within the endless cosmos!¡±

    Using his dying breath, Akron uttered a curse so foul that sound refused to carry it, a curse that struck Magnus and engraved itself into him down to his bones, to his very soul.

    ¡°WANDER FOREVER AND NEVER RETURN TO THIS WORLD! BECOME LOST IN THE INFINITE AND BE BANISHED AS I WAS!¡±

    Hearing these words, the demon¡¯s curse took effect and the next thing Magnus knew was that he had been engulfed in darkness.

    ~~~000~~~

    ¡°Hey Mister. Hey Mister! Wake up; you¡¯re going to catch a cold if you sleep here.¡±

    Waking to the sound of an unfamiliar voice, Magnus blinked himself awake before slowly looking about.

    Magnus was lying in the middle of a green rolling field that seemed to stretch on forever and all around him were monolithic stone pillars that were arranged in a circle about him. But what concerned Magnus the most was the source of the new and unfamiliar voice.

    Focusing in on the source of it all, Magnus saw a small boy, barely six years old, standing on the other side of the circle of stones. A boy that looked at Magnus with curiosity and concern and not a shred of fear for the strange man he had found.

    ¡°Hey Mister are you ok?¡± asked the boy, his eyes wide with concern at the confusion he saw upon Magnus¡¯ face. ¡°Do I need to go get mum to help you?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m ok,¡± said Magnus as he slowly began to pat himself down to make sure that he was still intact and that he still had everything he had been wearing when he had fought the Demon Lord, including but not limited to his sword Luminous Wode.

    ¡°Are you sure, mister?¡± asked the boy with a tilt of his head as if he wasn¡¯t too sure about what he had been told.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m just a little confused about how I got here,¡± said Magnus as he wasn¡¯t too sure about how to go about explaining that he had been banished from his home world by a dying Demon Lord.

    ¡°Did you drink adult juice?¡± asked the boy, curiosity returning and overruling his concern that Magnus might be injured or hurt.

    ¡°No, I¡­¡± said Magnus before he gave the boy a hard look, for while Magnus was only about twenty years of age he could feel the vast difference between the two of them. Magnus had lived under the reign of the Demon Lord and its fear had robbed him of his childhood, so the last thing Magnus wanted to do was do the same to the boy before him.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± asked Magnus as he moved back from the boy and leaned against the stone monoliths.

    ¡°Clement,¡± said the boy eagerly, before seeming to catch himself and put both of his hands over his mouth. ¡°Mum says I¡¯m not meant to tell strangers my name.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Clement. I didn¡¯t want you to get in trouble with your mom,¡± said Magnus sincerely. ¡°I just didn¡¯t want to talk down to you by calling you boy.¡±

    Smiling with delight at the fact that he was being treated like an adult by one he saw as an adult, Clement forgot that he wasn¡¯t meant to talk to strangers and moved into the ring of standing stones.

    ¡°Tell me Clement, did you find any other people around here?¡± asked Magnus, concern touching his voice, but not enough that Clement caught on.

    ¡°No. Why?¡± asked Clement, curiosity filling his voice as he continued to edge closer.

    ¡°Because I wanted to know if my friends got lost like I did,¡± said Magnus carefully as he eyed the boy not wishing to spook him by what he wanted to do next. For even in the land of Efes, magic was something that was looked down on as a source of far too much trouble.

    ¡°Are you going to go look for them? Are you going to go on an adventure?¡± asked Clement with excitement as he raced over to stand next to Magnus. The moment that Clement got close to Magnus, Magnus saw something that caused him to lose all of his care and precautions.

    Tracing along Clement¡¯s skin, like tattoos, were thin almost transparent lines of silver that flowed over his entire body, silver lines of metal that seemed to hum with a power that Magnus had never seen before. These silver markings didn¡¯t just stop there; they could be seen even in the boy¡¯s eyes and more specifically in his irises.

    Shocked by what he was seeing, Magnus slowly reached out and traced a finger along the lines on the boy¡¯s skin before looking at Clement with concern filling his face. ¡°What are these?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re Synth Circuits,¡± said Clement proudly as he tried to show them off before stopping and frowning in confusion. ¡°How do you not know what Synth Circuits are? And why don¡¯t you have them?¡±

    ¡°A very good question,¡± said a female voice that came from behind one of the standing stones.

    Looking away from Clement and at the same time moving to protect the boy from the new voice, Magnus took in the woman that had stepped into the circle of stones. She had blond hair and blue eyes, a beautiful figure and looked to be in her middle 20s, however these were only minor things that Magnus¡¯ noted as he focused in on the woman. Her skin was covered in the same type of lines that Clement had. Except that the number she had was greater and they all seemed to glow with the same unknown power.

    What¡¯s more, in her hands was a card of silvery crystal that was also pulsing with the same unknowable power. Magnus could see from the way she was holding it that it was some kind of weapon, a weapon that she was more than willing to use at a moment¡¯s notice. And most importantly she was aiming the card right at Magnus.

    ¡°Mum!¡± cried Clement from behind Magnus as he brushed past Magnus who was still too weak to try and stop the boy. ¡°Look mum I found a person.¡±

    ¡°I can see that sweetie,¡± said Clement¡¯s mother with a soft smile for her child all the while she continued to watch Magnus ready to strike with her power whenever needed. Although the fact Magnus was too weak to stand and had tried to protect Clement had caused the woman to lower the card down.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to scare you or hurt Clement,¡± said Magnus from where he was sitting as he tried to resist years of training that screamed at him to pick up Luminous Wode to protect himself. ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way in but a moment.¡±

    ¡°No you won¡¯t,¡± said the woman as she looked at Magnus closer as she could see that Magnus was too weak to even stand. ¡°I guess you¡¯ll have to come with us.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± asked Clement in child-like delight.

    ¡°Yes, we can¡¯t just turn our back on someone who needs our help,¡± said Clement¡¯s mother with a small sigh, ¡°especially one who is so weak.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Magnus as he pulled over his sword to him. ¡°My name is Magnus Shrive by the way.¡±

    ¡°My name is Cornelia Sabina,¡± said Cornelia as she walked forward to help Magnus stand up, all the while being fearless of the sword he had in his hand.

    Accepting Cornelia¡¯s help to get him to his feet, the moment he was standing upright Magnus used his magic and commanded his sword to change shape. Shifting and growing, the sword lost its edge and grew out until it was about as long as he was tall. No longer a sword but a staff that he could use as a walking stick, Magnus glanced at the two before him and wondered how they would react.

    Clement¡¯s face was filled with wonder as he walked forward to poke at the staff while Cornelia was looking at the staff with suspicious eyes before giving Magnus a guarded look.

    ¡°Is that nanomachines?¡± asked Clement, his voice filled with wonder.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later,¡± said Magnus as he failed to understand the word and the meaning behind it, something that was very concerning as his magic was meant to allow him to translate and understand all languages.

    ¡°All right, mystery man, let¡¯s get you home,¡± said Cornelia as she helped Magnus walk along, ¡°and when we get home you will tell us everything.¡±

    Seeing the steel will in the mother¡¯s eyes, Magnus nodded his head in agreement aware that if he went against the woman¡¯s wishes he might not survive, at least not while he was in his current condition.

    Walking off together, the three of them headed towards a small building off in the distance, a building that seemed to rest in the middle of numerous different windmills, all of which looked picturesque against the green rolling grass and brilliant blue sky. Yet even as Magnus trudged along he couldn¡¯t help but be shocked by the fact that floating in the sky were two silvery moons that gleamed in the light of the sun.

    Knowing he was no longer in his world, Magnus kept walking and hoped that he would be able to repay the kindness that he had been given.

    ~~~

    ¡°So that is my story,¡± said Magnus to the awestruck Clement and the still suspicious Cornelia.

    ¡°That was the coolest story ever,¡± said Clement in awe at what he had just heard, his face filled with excitement. ¡°Isn¡¯t it, mother?¡±

    ¡°It is very different,¡± said Cornelia with suspicion still lacing through her voice, yet her stance had changed from what it had once been. Instead of standing ready to strike at a moment¡¯s notice, Cornelia instead stood with a more relaxed posture as if she no longer saw an immediate threat before her.

    ¡°Clement, go outside and play, but stay near the house,¡± said Cornelia as she continued to look only at Magnus, the strange card still in her hand.

    Nodding in excitement, the boy fled from the room to go out and fight with imaginary monsters in imitation of the hero he had found in a ring of standing stones.

    Watching the boy disappear out of the kitchen room, Magnus turned his eyes back to Cornelia and wondered to himself what she really thought of his story. Did she believe it or was she just playing along to humour her son? What¡¯s more, Magnus wasn¡¯t sure what she would do next. Would she kick him from the house and leave him to wander aimlessly or would she demand to see the impossible to even begin to believe?

    Feeling the silence stretch out between the two of them, Magnus made a small coughing sound before daring to speak up.

    ¡°What do you think of my story?¡± asked Magnus carefully as he was unsure what people thought about magic here upon this strange world.

    ¡°I think you¡¯re delusional at best or insane at worst,¡± said Cornelia without bothering to sugar coat her words. ¡°However I can deal with that.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± asked Magnus carefully as he realised he was treading on dangerous ground.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know what this is, do you,¡± said Cornelia as she waved the card in her hand about.

    ¡°Only enough to know that you believe it is a weapon,¡± said Magnus as he eyed the card with his own suspicions.

    ¡°At least you have a sense for survival,¡± said Cornelia before she leaned against the wall she was standing near, which placed her on the opposite side of the room she and Magnus were in. ¡°This is a Synth card and when powered by my Synth circuits, it can create and control fire. Enough to burn to ash any who would seek to do me or my son harm.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough,¡± said Magnus in response, before focusing in on the fact that Cornelia seemed to think him partially mad. ¡°You have no knowledge of magic, demons or dragons? None at all?¡±

    ¡°We have stories from our homeworld of tales of such creatures. Some even tell of a time when we banished them to other worlds, but no one has believed in magic or demons for thousands of years,¡± explained Cornelia, her words hiding an emotion of fear that Magnus was able to pick up on.

    ¡°What of dragons then?¡± asked Magnus desperate to make sure that this family that had saved and helped him would not be in danger.

    ¡°They still roam the stars, the last of the magical creatures, flying through the void between solar systems. Many a scientist has tried to figure out what they really are and not just label them as magical things beyond understanding,¡± said Cornelia as she continued her explanation. ¡°Although many wish the scientists would stop trying to provoke the dragons by figuring them out.¡±

    ¡°I have many questions,¡± admitted Magnus without hesitation, ¡°but I can¡¯t just ignore the idea that you are all in danger from dragons while I am here.¡±

    ¡°There is nothing you can do,¡± snapped Cornelia clearly not liking to have to talk about the dragons she feared. ¡°Dragons! Eat! Suns! And when they are done the worlds that revolve around those suns are destroyed.¡±

    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°Then why not prevent them? Why not stop them from consuming the suns?¡± asked Magnus aghast at the idea that something as essential as a sun could be destroyed. Although he admitted to himself he failed to understand how worlds revolved around a sun.

    ¡°Because we never have succeeded and dragons are too useful to drive to extinction,¡± replied Cornelia, a bitterness filling her voice.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Magnus, simply.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t know anything do you?¡± asked Cornelia as she looked at Magnus with the first hint of concern. A concern born not of fear, but out of worry for a man living blind to the dangers of the world.

    ¡°Then please explain it to me,¡± said Magnus as he tried to get Cornelia to reveal why she was so scared.

    ¡°Not today,¡± said Cornelia with a sigh as she got her emotions under control. ¡°You can stay in one of the out buildings while you try and figure out what you¡¯re going to do next. You can even earn some small amount of money if you want by helping out around here until you¡¯re ready.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Magnus as he knew enough to leave the issue alone for a while.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± said Cornelia, her words filled with a hardness that made Magnus realise she was cursing herself for her kind nature. She was cursing herself for daring to help another person.

    And in that moment Magnus knew that he needed to help her, and more importantly he needed to figure out what was happening upon this world that had made her so scared to offer aid to another human being. So Magnus nodded his head in gratitude and walked over to the front door and left the room so that he could head on over to his new home. All the while Clement watched with eyes filled with awe and joy that he would have a new friend to play with amongst the rolling green fields.

    Fields that were so far from the nearest city, it might as well have not existed.

    ~~~

    Magnus took to his new life with gusto as for the first time in a long while he could return to what he had once been before he had become a hero for the world of Efes. He could once again be a mage who cared only about creating magic and shaping the world around him. But in the meantime he also got to learn about the world he found himself in, mainly by sitting in on Clement¡¯s automated classes.

    The idea of creating a magical device to teach students all that they would ever need was an astounding one to Magnus and he wondered why they had never done that back on Efes. Only for him to realise that the magical devices would most likely have been attacked and destroyed by the variety of magical incursions that often occurred. And that if students were to learn magic without a supervisor then the number of magical incursions would most likely increase due to the student¡¯s practising summoning without the proper supervision or aid.

    The automated lessons Magnus sat in on and the refreshers that Clement had helped Magnus sit through revealed a lot about the world he had been banished to.

    Firstly Magnus discovered that the world was not an infinite plane of existence like his homeworld but a sphere floating in an abyss of darkness. A sphere that orbited around the sun, explaining why the sun¡¯s destruction would be even more devastating than what would have happened back on Efes.

    Secondly the fact that mankind had spread itself across the stars and infinite number of worlds that orbited these stars made Magnus smile in joy as the idea that mankind had conquered the impossible was something he found inspiring. Especially when he turned his mind inwards and felt the impossible to break curse attached to his soul.

    Thirdly Magnus had learned about how Mankind had learned to travel between the stars, a lesson that had managed to make even magic pale in comparison.

    There were three main ways to travel between the solar systems. The first and most common was something called a Ryumon, which as far as Magnus could figure was a magical gate that linked to separate locations in space together. The second method was the use of something called anti-matter to cause a ship to reach speeds far beyond that of what light travelled. Although Magnus wasn¡¯t too sure about why that was significant as being able to travel faster than light was something he had seen warriors perform before. They had moved from one location to another with such speed that they left no images between the locations.

    Finally there was the last method, the one method that explained everything that Magnus needed to know and why Cornelia was so on edge about helping others and letting them stay in her isolated corner of the world.

    Psychic powers existed in this world, and while normally they were extremely limited by adding in Synth Circuits to a human body they could become augmented to a level that was far beyond what any normal human could achieve. Normally any one human got a single psychic power however by creating Synth Cards these powers could be replicated by others. All they needed to do was power the card by pouring their psychic energies through their Synth Circuits into the cards. But in order to make these cards they needed either another of the same card or a person with the same psychic powers.

    This was where Clement came in, for he had the rare power to teleport to travel from one location to another without having to move through the space separating locations. This meant that he was a prime resource for the world and space travel in particular. Using him they could create teleportation Synth Cards or if they installed Clement in the core of a spaceship then they could travel between star systems.

    A fate that Cornelia had changed her entire life to ensure would never come to pass. And something that Magnus would also help with as he didn¡¯t like the idea of a human being turned into a material for these spaceships. Not on principle and especially after he had befriended the boy.

    Breaking off from his musings, Magnus turned his head to look at the entrance to the barn that he called his home.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Clement as he wandered into the barn, his eyes wide with wonder at the fact that the room was covered in various different magical items that Magnus had created. Items that were filled with crystals and other strange materials that Magnus had managed to either create using alchemy and even basic science or stuff he had summoned into existence.

    ¡°I¡¯m researching the standing stones that you found me in,¡± explained Magnus as he allowed Clement to see his project that was before him. A replica of the field that he had been found in, a replica that was so precise it looked like a copy of the real thing shrunk down to fit on a table. And while it was beautiful to look at, the most important thing about it was that it included the standing stones Magnus had been found in.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Clement with his never ending curiosity.

    ¡°Simple, I believe that I can use them to create a magic spell that will allow me to travel between planets without need of a spaceship. ¡°In fact I think that¡¯s why I landed here. The standing stones created a funnel that I fell down. They pulled me into this world and gave me a safe place to land.¡±

    ¡°And you want to see if you can send something or someone to another world with magic?¡± asked Clement with awe, his face having more Synth Circuits upon his body than when Magnus had first met him. A sign that not only were Clement¡¯s powers growing, but the nano-machinery that was at the heart of Synth Technology was propagating further and further throughout Clement¡¯s body.

    ¡°Not at the moment but being able to teleport around the world would sure be nice,¡± said Magnus with a smile only for Clement to answer in a way that made the mage pause in horror.

    ¡°I can do that all on my own. I don¡¯t need to use these stones. Why don¡¯t I take you with me then?¡± asked Clement, his words filled with an innocence about the implications and ramifications of his powers and what would happen to him in the future.

    ¡°That¡¯s the point; if I get it right then no one will need your help. They can do it all on their own,¡± explained Magnus carefully.

    ¡°You don¡¯t want my help?¡± asked Clement in confusion and a little hurt.

    ¡°Oh I do, but there are people in the world who don¡¯t deserve your help. And there are some who would love to force you to help. This will give them something else to chase,¡± said Magnus with a smile at the fact he had created something that would help spare Clement and others like him all manner of pain and sorrow.

    ¡°Oh,¡± said Clement as his young mind tried to absorb that piece of information. ¡°If the bad guys want to steal my powers then we¡¯ll stop them together, won¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°We will. But this will allow others to be saved, after all we can¡¯t be everywhere at once can we,¡± said Magnus with a bright smile that Clement returned back at the man who had become his first true friend.

    ¡°Dinner¡¯s ready you two,¡± said Cornelia from the edge of the barn as she looked at the various things that Magnus had created some of which she even used in her own daily life. A fact that had allowed Magnus to realise that Cornelia no longer believe him insane and that she had come to accept magic was real.

    Ushering Clement out of the barn, the three of them began to head for the main building where they would eat dinner when Cornelia stopped dead in her tracks as she turned to look off into the distance. And as she looked off into the distance, her face filled up with dread as she saw what was coming.

    Flying over the green fields in the falling twilight was a ship of silver and white that hovered silently and ominously.

    ¡°Who are they?¡± asked Magnus as he lifted his staff up to get ready to fight back against possible enemies.

    ¡°The navy,¡± said Cornelia as her knees gave way to the dread she was currently feeling.

    ¡°Why are they here, Mum?¡± asked Clement as he hugged his mother in an attempt to help reassure her, although he was already scared himself.

    ¡°We are here, because we need your help,¡± said a man that appeared in front of them with a flash of silver light.

    ¡°And why do you need the boy,¡± said Magnus, a hard edge to his voice.

    ¡°Because a Suneater Dragon is on its way,¡± said Cornelia, her voice drowning in despair.

    ¡°Is that true?¡± asked Magnus as he turned back on the Admiral that had teleported onto their farm.

    ¡°Yes it is,¡± said the Admiral with sadness and fear being held back by discipline and duty. ¡°And as protocol says we need to evacuate from the planet and unfortunately this means that we must press young Clement into service. His power will be needed to ensure that everyone gets offworld safely. Otherwise thousands if not millions could die if they are still in the solar system when the gravimetric waves hit them.¡±

    ¡°Gravimetric waves?¡± repeated Magnus as he was currently unable to recall the meaning of the words.

    ¡°He means when the dragon eats the sun it will cause a wave of destruction that will break any ship still in the solar system when the sun is consumed,¡± said Cornelia as she hugged her son to her.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you fight it off?¡± asked Magnus as he turned on the Admiral who had tears in his eyes as he shook his head solemnly.

    ¡°No, we can stall it, but not for long enough,¡± said the Admiral, his voice becoming hoarse from emotion. ¡°And even if we do kill it by some miracle the potential loss of a dragon that can create Ryumons will be seen as heresy by others. Enough that they might burn the sun from the sky in its honour.¡±

    ¡°And what will happen to the boy if he becomes a part of your ships?¡± asked Magnus even as a plan began to form in the back of his mind.

    ¡°He will save millions, and risk possibly becoming a permanent part of the ship depending on his level of development,¡± explained the Admiral with a sadness that he would have to sacrifice a life even if it was to save millions.

    ¡°What if I fight it off? What if I kill it for you?¡± asked Magnus with a grin as his plan began to truly take form.

    ¡°The repercussions could be just as deadly,¡± said the Admiral firmly as he wanted to go down the route of guaranteed success.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to deal with them as well,¡± said Magnus as he turned to Clement. ¡°I¡¯m going to need several of my charms can you get them for me?¡±

    ¡°Yes Sir,¡± said Clement as he disappeared in a burst of silver light to go grab the things that Magnus would need.

    ¡°You can¡¯t do this, it will kill you,¡± said Cornelia desperately as she tried to save the man who had become like family to her.

    ¡°Oh I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Magnus with a cheeky grin before turning back to look at the Admiral. ¡°I¡¯m going to need one of those solar surfboards that I¡¯ve seen on the magic screens.¡±

    ¡°And what makes you think I will help you?¡± asked the Admiral defiantly, although Magnus could have sworn that he heard the faintest touch of hope in the Admiral¡¯s voice.

    ¡°You¡¯ll help, because that¡¯s what you¡¯ve always wanted to do, to stand in defiance of the impossible and turn it back. You long to change the game where mankind is always on the run from planet to planet hoping they find worlds free from the diet of a dragon. You want to break the Suneater¡¯s hold on mankind¡¯s fate,¡± said Magnus, his voice filling not only the fields around him but also the Admiral¡¯s ship. ¡°The questions that you should be asking are: ¡®Are you finally ready to cast off the yoke of the dragon? Are you finally ready to take control over this world? Are you finally ready to stand in defiance of fate?¡¯¡±

    Before the Admiral could even begin to muster the breath to speak a new flash of silver light appeared and within it was a solar surfboard that Magnus had requested. A gift from one of the sailors aboard the Admiral¡¯s ship.

    Appearing in a flash of light, Clement returned to Magnus¡¯ side and gave him the items he would need in order to survive the conditions of space.

    ¡°What will they do?¡± asked the Admiral, his voice tinged with hope and at the same time expectations that the man before him would fail to deliver on his grand speeches.

    ¡°Magic, my friend, the first of its kind, astral magic,¡± said Magnus to the surprise and then disappointment of the Admiral who seemed to come to the conclusion that he was talking to a madman.

    Seeing the lack of faith in the Admiral¡¯s eyes, Magnus cast a simple spell one that he had learned long ago, yet at the same time one that was complex enough that most mages never learned it. Spinning into existence was a substance that floated above Magnus¡¯ hand, a substance that constantly shifted and expanded and contracted. A substance the defied every law of physics that Clement¡¯s text books talked about, a substance that caused the Admiral¡¯s eyes to widen in pure astonishment, a substance that wizards and mages called Pyrokeep. A substance that constantly retains it heat and can never get colder. This meant that the substance would constantly put out heat and if heated it would remain at its new heat until it was unmade by magic. Magnus used to create these floating masses of endless heat and light to keep him warm in winter and to provide light to read by during the dead of the night. Now they were proof that magic was not only real, but the laws of physics were mutable.

    ¡°Take this as a way for me to show you that I am being truthful and not just a random madman,¡± said Magnus as he left the impossible material floating in front of the stunned Admiral.

    Turning to look back at Cordelia and Clement, Magnus smiled and spoke up to reassure them about what he was planning to do.

    ¡°Keep dinner warm. I¡¯ll be back quick enough to eat just like normal.¡±

    Hopping atop the solar surfboard, Magnus used his feet to engage the mechanisms and then the next thing he knew he was rocketing up into the sky towards the edge of space and beyond in to the abyss between worlds.

    Breaking through the outer edge of the atmosphere, Magnus soared out into the emptiness of space and took a moment to look down at the world he had just been standing upon. The world called Quiris, the world that had become his home over the last few months. He saw plains of green and oceans of blue. Deserts of brown and even mountains adorned in white snow.

    And in the core of his being, Magnus knew that he needed to save it.

    Except that this time Magnus knew he didn¡¯t need to beat the dragon as a hero but as a mage. For here floating in the void of space, Magnus knew that even if he slayed the dragon it would still bring with it a disaster that would destroy the world below.

    Turning to head off to battle the dragon that was entering the solar system, Magnus was about to set off when something caught his eye. These thousands of silver flashes marked the appearances of spaceships teleporting into the solar system. Ships that had come to help based on the radio waves they sent out, each filled with voices offering salvation to the supposedly doomed world.

    Seeing the overflowing support that they were giving each other and the attempt to save those that were living on the doomed world, Magnus¡¯ determination increased tenfold. For it was time this world saw that miracles could happen and that there were other forces in this world than entropy.

    Steeling himself to go into battle, Magnus looked in the direction of the dragon and engaged the engines of the solar surfboard. And in an instant later was flying away from the world at speeds that reached over 100 Mach. Yet Magnus could see that space was far vaster than he had truly imagined and that his imagined timeline for how the battle would go was going to be wrong.

    Cursing at the miscalculation, Magnus instead focused in on the object he had in his hand, Luminous Wode. It was currently in its staff form and it was pulsing with power. For the Luminous Wode had been designed to control and shape the winds around it, all the while it would imbue the winds with the elemental energies of light. Yet here in the space between worlds there was a different type of wind, a solar wind. And this wind was resonating with the Luminous Wode.

    Flying out, Magnus gathered the solar winds to him and became a comet of green glowing energy, a comet that was streaking towards the Suneater Dragon. Yet despite the awe inspiring sight he was producing, Magnus knew that he was going too slow and that he might fail to intercept the dragon with enough time to spare. And in response to this, Magnus knew he might have to shift his attention and magic to making himself faster even if it would endanger his plan.

    Before Magnus could alter where his magic was floating something came flying in to glide next to him, a space fighter plane. And once the space fighter was next to him it immediately began to hail him.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been told what it is you want to do and what you are,¡± said the pilot of the mechanical craft. ¡°Do you need a lift to get to the dragon?¡±

    ¡°Tow me away,¡± said Magnus back to the nameless pilot who had managed to salvage his plan.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± said the pilot as a small cable shot out and hit the solar surfboard and began to pull him forwards at immense speeds. Bound together the two of them headed towards the dragon which was now entering into the solar system of Quiris.

    Nearing the dragon, Magnus saw the size of it for the first time and part of him quivered in fear at what he saw. The Suneater Dragon was long and serpentine, its head was the same size as a gas giant it was swimming past and its eye could have easily been the same size as the world of Quiris if not bigger.

    Feeling the waves of fear ride through him, Magnus simply road them out much like a stick floating atop the water. He allowed his emotions to rile and then when they had passed he brought them under control. For fear had no place on this battlefield and not against a foe that dwarfed gas giants and even ate suns.

    Flying through space, Magnus had gathered enough solar wind to him that he was able to enact his plan, and hopefully he would be able to succeed.

    Detaching from the space fighter, Magnus used the velocity that the ship had given him to speed towards the dragon and when he was in striking distance he activated his magic. Taking the solar wind and turning it into a binding rope that was of impossible length, Magnus commanded it to bind the dragons¡¯ mouth shut.

    Snapping around the jaws of the dragon, the dragon tried desperately to break the bindings that had ensnared it. Yet nothing it did could break the bonds it was bound with. Raging and screaming in outrage, the dragon writhed about before scanning to see what measly flea had dared to bind it.

    Seeing the small insignificant mote of life that was Magnus Shrive, the dragon seemed ready to stretch forth a hand to crush the mage only for Magnus to start speaking in the language of dragons. Or more specifically, the dragons of his homeworld, the world of Efes.

    ¡°You can kill me if you want, but I have bound your mouth shut with magic that will not fade, not for a full turning of the galaxy which we are in. You might starve to death before you can get free from these fetters,¡± said Magnus, his voice echoing through the silence of space.

    Shocked that something so small and insignificant not only could speak the language of dragons but also wield such impressive magic the dragon paused. And in that moment of hesitation Magnus spoke up, this time with an offer that he hoped the dragon would not refuse.

    ¡°I will break your bonds if you swear upon your true name to never eat another sun that has inhabited worlds around it,¡± said Magnus knowing full well that he would never be able to get the dragon to agree to not eat suns.

    ¡°FOOLISH CREATURE! WE DRAGONS DO NOT EAT SUNS FOR NOURISHMENT! WE EAT SUNS IN ORDER TO BECOME IMMORTAL! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK WE WOULD ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE LIMITED TO ONLY THE SUNS YOU DEEM FIT?¡± asked the dragon, his telepathic voice spoken in the language of the world of Quiris so that every human in the solar system could understand it.

    ¡°Because Dragon you will accept this bargain or I will spread the teachings of my astral magic to the farthest stars in the most distant of galaxies. Until all of the universe has the power to render you all fangless. I might not be able to kill those of you that have become immortal, but I managed to defeat the Demon Lord, Akron. I know how to banish you to places where you will never be able to return from,¡± said Magnus, his voice also carrying throughout the solar system.

    ¡°THEN YOU ARE A WORTHY FOE! BUT SO WHAT! WHY SHOULD I BE BOUND TO YOUR WHIMS?! I AM FREE!¡± snarled out the dragon, his roar shaking the very planets in their orbit, as its gaze quickly darted to the sun.

    ¡°If that is what you truly value then it is what I will deprive you of. You might become immortal, but I assure you that your prison will be devoid of everything and anything that would make you for even a second believe that you are free,¡± said Magnus, his voice filled with such authority that even the Suneater Dragon had to listen.

    ¡°I CAN DESTORY YOU AND EVERYTHING IN THIS SOLAR SYSTEM EVEN IF YOU DO NOT ALLOW ME TO EAT THE SUN,¡± said the dragon as it refocused its immense gaze upon Magnus.

    ¡°I have no doubt, but what then? Your petty revenge will not get you your immortality nor will it get you free from your bindings. You will be hunted and you will never be free,¡± said Magnus before delivering the final part of his argument to the Suneater Dragon. ¡°You have revealed that you are sentient that there is a mind within your planetary sized brain. Do you think that humanity will abide by your existence now that they know?¡±

    Pausing, the dragon seemed to consider the question, a question that came with an implied threat. For humanity might be willing to put up with a creature they saw as a force of nature that was simply feeding itself, but now they knew that it was so much different to what they were imagining. And when humanity was roused to fight, they were an unstoppable force to be reckoned with, something Magnus Shrive¡¯s achievements were proof of.

    ¡°VERY WELL! I WILL LEAVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM ALONE AND SPREAD THE WORD AMONGST MY BRETHERN! WE WILL FEAST ONLY UPON THE STARS OF WORLDS DEVOID OF LIFE! HOWEVER YOU MUST BE AWARE, ASTRAL MAGE, THAT NOT ALL OF MY BRETHERN WILL AGREE TO BE BOUND BY YOUR WHIMS,¡± said the dragon as it began to turn away from the sun and sling back out of the solar system its mouth still bound by the ropes of solid solar wind. ¡°YOU HAVE WON FOR NOW!¡±

    Watching the retreating dragon, Magnus blinked his eyes a few times as he realised that the dragon had not bothered to wait for him to release his bindings. Either the dragon had forgotten or it was carrying them around the galaxy as proof that mankind was a threat. Regardless Magnus chose to let them remain as a sign of the magic mankind had reacquired.

    Spinning about on his solar surfboard, Magnus set his sights back on Quiris to head home when he heard it. A cheer that was resounding throughout the solar system, and one that was spreading to the rest of the galaxy as fast as information could be spread.

    The galaxy had witnessed the advent of an astral mage and they rejoiced for another path for humanity had been opened up.

    Mankind had witnessed that they were now capable of breaking free from both the laws of reality and even the rule of the Suneater Dragons. And with this knowledge they rejoiced, for the first time ever, they had cast back a Suneater Dragon and while the future was still unknown they knew that a different future than what they had previously envisioned was possible.

    Not really caring about mankind¡¯s new found hope, Magnus instead headed back to Quiris all the while enjoying the majesty of the universe that was before him. And in the depths of his soul, Magnus even thanked the Demon Lord for banishing him here for in this place upon this world he could not only be a mage, but he could see a universe of beauty beyond compare.

    And so the astral mage flew back to Quiris under the cheers and love of a million, million souls all the while wondering how he would be able to spread the wonders of magic not only throughout this universe but also into the unknown universes that lay beyond.

    For it was clear that the Demon Lord, Akron had been to so many different realms and that Magnus might be able to go there as well. So even as Magnus planned to spread the astral magic across this universe he began to wonder to himself if he would be able to travel into the various different realms that existed and the wonders and miracles that would be found there.

    And most importantly he wondered if within these realms mankind would be the same there as he had found them to be in his home realm and this one.

    Would they be conquerors of the impossible¡­ and if not, could he help them become so?