《Chained Darkness》


 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 1: Liberty

    The outside of a prison isn''t the most auspicious place to start any adventure; perhaps slightly more auspicious than the inside of one, but then, anyplace would be.


    The guards; not wearing the normal heavy armor of Imperial troops, but still bearing the clockwork crossbows that were the Empire''s weapon of choice, just watched as the girl approached the gate; she was pretty enough; unusually pale, almost grey in color, dark of hair and with a long grey and white dress, and the bundle of pouches on a band from shoulder to hip that practically screamed ''spellcaster''.


    In the south, guards might have taken advantage of such a prisoner; but here, they would simply admire, knowing full well that the warden would throw them into the cells if they dared do anything.


    One of them opened the gate with a nod. "The one in charge of you from here is waiting. Don''t end up back here." He pushed the gate open...


    Terra took a deep breath, and stepped out into the sunlight. She had hopes, but hadn''t really expected to see this place for a decade. She was a criminal. Convicted of untold gold worth of property damage, after a failed attempt to kill her rapist. And yet... she was free. Sort-of. She had her hand clasped over the silver amulet around her neck, and wondered just who had control of it... before looking at the gathered group... and staring.


    One of the figures was familiar. Kylie Eastwatch, a decent enough girl, the vastly superior younger sister of the bastard who... best not think of it for now. She was always in the usual red and bronze colors of the local nobility, but this time there was actually chainmail beneath a robe, and a flail hanging from her hip; she was a priestess of light. A healer. The fact that she was carrying a weapon was... odd. Especially a chained one. She also had the ring to match her necklace; silver, with a tiny blue gem that Terra was dead certain would be carved into an image of a shackle were she to look closely enough.


    The young man beside her was a complete unknown. She''d only met Kylie a few times, and this man beside her was a stranger; tall, thin, with hair as black as her own; and who bore garb that she was immediately jealous of; the black and gold badge of the Imperial Academy of Magic, over a set of green and silver robes that most likely meant -something- she was unaware of. He also had some sort of odd birthmark over his left eye; a blue-ish blotch he was trying and failing to hide with his hair.


    Neither of them seemed so big a deal, however, beside the hulking armored figure in front of them. Her grandfather. The first time he''d met her was at the trial, when he''d appeared seemingly from nowhere to save her; and then later visit her in prison, to assure her that he would get her out of there, one way or another.


    His gaze was... disturbing. Her mother had warned her about it, that he''d used it on her a few times when she''d done something especially bad. His kind had a form of lesser shapeshifting, or illusion magic; or something somewhere in between crossed with some sort of empathy. They could read people, and adjust their face and appearance subtly... to strike fear and horror into their enemies. He always seemed to know what she feared most, and apparently had once appeared to have rows of spider-like eyes when her mother had painted her grandmother''s cat.


    Even now, when he wasn''t actively trying to disturb anyone, they were dark orbs that just oozed menace.


    Terra took a deep breath, and met her grandfather''s gaze. "Sir... what''s going on?"


    The gaze changed. His armored helmet concealed everything but the eyes, but she could still feel the grimace, that the menace had changed to irritation. "They agreed to release you into the custody of their daughter. Apparently, with that little rapist idiot dead, they need to make sure she''s tough enough to handle her future role in the family... and I''ve been assigned to keep her and her stupid little boyfriend alive as she goes ''Adventuring''. We do this for a year, or long enough for her to be considered ''acceptable, and you go free."


    Terra stared... and started laughing. "Oh god. I... my mom always went on about how much you hated all the adventuring nonsense, and only went along for grandma''s sake."


    He shrugged. "And to kill demons. If I can wrap a chain around the throat of some succubus and watch the life drain from her eyes while she struggles, I''ll consider it a good day, even if I have to put up with a bunch of people calling me a hero after. Now. Come along. I won''t stand in your way or you idiots won''t learn anything, but I''d prefer this to be less than a whole damned year. I have things to do."


    Over to the side, Kylie coughed. "Ahem! While of course any advice is appreciated, I believe I am in charge of this particular venture, am I not?"


    Her grandfather turned and looked down at the girl; who shivered and backed away a step; Terra couldn''t see it, but it was likely that he''d put a bit of power on that glare. "Child. You are a priestess of the light. This sets a bottom on just how stupid you could possibly be. While this is an odd set of circumstances, you need to understand that, right now, I am essentially a devil under contract to try to keep you and little idiot over here alive as you try to reach a level of capability that he should be staying in your academy, and you in your temple, until you reach. While you may choose what sort of insipid, foolish nonsense you drag us into, I will stop you in a heartbeat if I choose to... and if you wish to head north, into demon-infested lands, I will knock you unconscious and drag you home. We go south."


    He looked at the boy, and then back at Terra. "The kingdom is far worse about handling things than the Empire; virtually every town and village has some sort of problem or infestation you can deal with. The only places that are fairly clear are places where some adventurer decided to retire."


    Kylie blinked, looking at the boy, then at the devil. "....I... can we at least go to a dungeon? I always dreamed of going into one, they''re in all the books about adventurers..."


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    His gaze abruptly turned back to Kylie, who seemed to hold it together a bit better this time. "......I revise my earlier estimate of your intelligence. Lets start heading south. Come on." He glanced at the sky; seeming irritated at the sun itself; and then turned to the right; marching directly toward the forest, rather than walking along the road. The prison had a wide cleared area around it, longer than crossbow range, to ensure they could shoot down any fleeing prisoners; and her grandfather rapidly set a pace the three younger folk struggled to keep up.


    Kylie struggled to speak, as she marched beside him. "We... have.. a cart. And horses! Supplies! We need to... collect them!"


    "Horses are good for quick sprints. A good, tough, adventurer should be able to outrun them in a long haul. You should also be able to hunt for food, or carry enough on you... or learn enough magic to make some."


    "But... tents! Supplies! Derek''s magical research!"


    This brought him to a halt... and he glanced back at her, then to the boy. "...Magical research. You haven''t graduated yet, and are conducting magical research?"


    The boy seemed far less out of breath, and able to handle things, than either of the two young women. "Yes, sir. I''ve been conducting research on trying to imprint abilities from other, magical, species into humans, permanently, rather than with some sort of transmutation magic. So far all I''ve managed is to bind a bit of blue dragon scale to myself, and, well." He snapped his fingers; a sudden spark of lightning flashes between then. "It''s been of limited use, but shows promise. I was hoping we might get some samples to work on, out in the field. I was the one who wanted to see a dungeon, more than Kylie."


    He looked at the trio... Terra seemed much more interested, and was now staring at the blue splotch on the boy''s face with dawning awareness... and wondering why, if you were going to start with such a thing, you would do it in such an obvious, visible, place.


    "...Fine. That actually seems interesting. I''m not an expert on magic, as such, but the only methods I''ve heard of that achieve that sort of result involve either selective breeding, or magically merging two living individuals... with unpleasant results for all involved. We can retrieve your cart, and your horses. But we immediately head south. No more lingering."


    ***


    It was an exhausted group that loaded up onto the cart for the journey south a few hours later; with the devil marching alongside the cart, seemingly unconcerned. If he got tired, or had any concern for the journey at all, he didn''t show it, as they started on the long journey to leave the relative safety of the Empire; and acquired an additional companion, of sorts; Kylie''s butler, an older gentleman named Parkins, who wore a simple red outfit, and immediately took to driving the cart, ignoring the devil; as the remaining three took up places in the back.


    Once everyone was comfortable; with Kylie in an actual chair mounted into the cart, complete with a cover that could protect her from the rain, while the other two simply sat on packs; Kylie cleared her throat. "Well now. Since we''re on the road properly, and I''ve only met you a few times... let me introduce my betrothed. Derek of the Northern Reach, fifth in line for the North-Reach baronny, and until recently, student of the Imperial Academy. Derek, this, of course, is Terra; I knew she was applying for the academy, and needed a sponsor, but otherwise I only met her because of my... brother."


    Terra gave a short bow, pulling the rims of her skirt as if she were giving a curtsy. "Terra Xius. Sorceress extraordinaire, mistress of fire." And chains. She didn''t want to include that bit. She might be able to tell this necklace to loosen and crawl off of her body, and this woman might be uncomfortable holding her ''leash'' if she knew the leash wasn''t exactly fastened securely.


    Derek nodded. "Of course, of course. We all saw your handiwork back at the Eastwatch manor. I, of course, am a third-level master of the arcane, researcher and spellcaster of various descriptors; I''m not about to start felling armies, but I can summon up a few monsters which... unfortunately vanish at the end of the spell, making them useless to my research."


    Terra blinked. "Third... level? Does the school have ranks like that? Does it mean you attended three years of classes?"


    "Oh, do you not... Well then! I get to be the teacher for once!"


    Kylie smacked Derek on the back of the head, and turned to Terra. "Everybody knows there''s high-magic areas, and normal ones. The Academy has it all neatly divided into levels, because of the circles of magic; if you live in a high-magic area like the grounds of the academy and the temple, just living and breathing there long enough will eventually make you strong enough to use a third-circle magic spell. They call it ''level five'', and have to reach that point to graduate, usually in about six or seven years."


    Derek signed. "Fine, fine. And if you''re already above the first level.. You feel not too far off from us. Can you cast a second-circle spell?"


    Terra shrugged. "I know about seven spells, and I''d say there''s the weak ones, the strong ones, and the really strong ones. The one I used to... well. The one that I tried to kill her brother with was a sort-of living ball of fire that rolls around, setting things alight, and I can make chase people, and the one I drove everyone else out of the house with first filled the whole place with a sort of irritating, choking smoke, somehow."


    Derek nodded. "There we go. The Academy requires anyone like you to get a sponsor to learn there. They have to make a specialized training course for you, sometimes use expensive materials... if someone has reached your level of power, but its mostly embedded in their bones and muscles, it takes quite a bit of work to break all that down and turn them into a proper mage."


    Terra gave a slow nod as well; and glanced out of the cart at her grandfather. "...Do you know what level he is? I know he''s centuries old... if you get more with time, shouldn''t he be like... a hundred?"


    "Higher than myself, certainly, by quite a bit. But... there''s a limit. If you''re too strong for the area, you start to... leak... the magic out. I don''t know what the cut-off point is, but certain archmagi can''t leave their towers or they''ll start to get weaker, and dungeons that get really old usually have monsters with the same problem; if they leave, they can feel the magic draining out of them and usually run back. Its also why the absolute strongest of devils, demons, and angels don''t come to our world, and why when they destroy a dungeon, they usually built schools, or fancy homes for royalty, on the grounds."


    Derek glanced over at her grandfather. "Speaking of which... do you know what sort of devil he is? He seems human enough, and so do you."


    "He''s a chain devil. Kyton. He told me that while he wouldn''t do it, because it was illegal, anyone who had the audacity to pick a fight with him there in the prison.... he can control chains. He could wipe out an army in there."


    Kylie blinked, and looked down at her hip... and then over at the devil. ".... He gave me an enchanted flail. Said it would help if we ever got in a real fight. Can he... make it swing back at me if he wants? Is... is that why he gave me the flail? So.. he can..."


    A deep, gravelly voice suddenly took over. "If I wanted to, I could make your necklace strangle you to death. Its harder on things people are holding, or wearing, but still easy enough for someone with as much experience at it as myself. Don''t worry about it. If I wanted you dead, and my daughter freed, and didn''t care about your laws, it would already have happened."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 2: Departure

    The foursome made their steady way south, towards the edge of the empire; and slowed down to a stop as they approached the border.


    For Kylie and Derek, this was a moment of excitement. They''d never left the Empire before, and had grown up with stories about how chaotic and poorly managed the kingdom was; a band of eleven barons under a single king, with villages that didn''t see anything but a tax collector for years, rampant problems with cults, rebels, curses; if not for the wandering bands of adventurers the whole thing would''ve fallen apart over a century ago. They looked out of the cart at the bridge, as if they expected  a group of bandits to be waiting to charge at them the moment they crossed.


    To their disappointment, they instead saw one last bastion of law and order; a stone tower, overlooking the bridge, with a guardsman watching them; the heavy plate breastplate with the imperial sigil hidden from this angle, but obviously there. Another guardsman emerged from the tower, and slowly approached, using a pike almost like a walking stick, and nodded up at the group.


    "Sir Praxius. No signs of bandits since you last came through. We checked it out after you left; they never came across the border, so there was no bounty on our side. Might be one on the other side, if you care to check."


    The others seemed a touch confused, as the massive armored figure of Terra''s grandfather stepped forward, and removed his helmet, settling it under his arm. "The survivor say anything interesting? I didn''t really have time to interrogate him properly, I had pressing business in the capital."


    The guardsman glanced at the cart; he recognized Imperial Academy robes at a glance, and the other robes looked expensive, even if he didn''t know what houses might wear red and bronze. "His friends were based out of an old goblin warren, from before the war. The ones you killed were about half of them; they rob quietly at night, stealing livestock and anything not nailed down, and only ambush small bands of stragglers or messengers. You already got their leader. No way to know what they''ll do now, and while they supposedly had some prisoners at the time, its likely they''re dead by now."


    The devil gave a slow nod. "Don''t suppose you''ve got a map? I''ve been saddled with watching over a few fledglings, and butchering a band of inept raiders seems like a decent starting point. And seeing the remains of what such garbage does may help them get past any illusions of what this sort of work entails."


    He chuckled. "Inside the Empire, I''ve got good, clean maps. On the other side... I''ve got a garbage merchant map I made the bandit mark where his warren is. I''ve got decent maps, but we''re not officially supposed to be scouting out the kingdom, so I can''t give you one of ours. I can only imagine the faces of those raiders when they see one of your kind breaking down their door."


    "They won''t be making any sort of face at all for long. Don''t suppose you know of anything else interesting, across the border?"


    The guardsman frowned. "Well. We did have one desperate idiot come beg us for help, seems people were disappearing in the night and their baron couldn''t be bothered. But really... we don''t cross the border, and they know it. You know how the whole bounty board nonsense works?"


    "Ugh. Yes. I... ''adventured'' in this light-cursed place decades ago with a friend and a couple of idiots I tolerated. hundreds of temples, mostly to those stupid goddesses of light and darkness, not nearly so many to their husband, and every single village seems to have some weird quirk that springs up if left alone for a few years. I''m surprised the Empire hasn''t conquered them and cleaned the place up yet."


    "Well. Honestly, if it weren''t for all the demons up north, we probably would have. Don''t suppose any more of your sort are going to be coming down to help? Or any of the other side?"


    "....... If I can manage it, I''ll help myself." After a few more pleasantries; and a small pouch containing a map, and what little of value the surviving bandit had carried; he rejoined his younger companions.


    Terra tilted her head as he stepped closer. "So. Praxius. You used your real name."


    He turned to her. "You can call be grandfather, child, and speak with respect. Didn''t your mother teach you better than that?"


    "Grandfather is a bit long to shout out when we''re fighting some monster or something."


    "Then Sir works just fine. Now. When we cross the bridge, we''re going to be heading southeast. I butchered a handful of bandits on my way north from her mother''s house, and we''re going to go finish the job. Obviously I could do it on my own, but these people will be pushovers, a good place for you to get your first real combat experience."


    Terra coughed. Praxius glared at her. "What."


    "Mom wouldn''t let me head north until I''d notched a hundred kills. Mostly gloom spiders."


    "...Why were there a hundred gloom spiders near there? I thought Shira kept the area cleaned out?"


    A low chuckle. "When I was around twelve, she deliberately started cultivating some for use in training me. I''ve been bitten dozens of times, but the little bastards burn really well."


    "Hmm. So at least you won''t panic when you get hurt. You two. Am I fortunate enough to have all of my little fledglings have some actual fighting in their past?"


    The two glanced at each other. Derek spoke up. "Not really. The academy actually bars strenuous physical activity. They don''t want people building up muscle and bone density instead of magical power."


    Kylie grimaced. "The temple isn''t that much better. We have training intended to work both body and soul, weapons training, we learn so many things, but... they don''t really expect us to use any of it."


    Praxius sighed. "Well then. Come along. Terra, you try to help me keep these two alive. We''ll go handle ourselves some bandits, let you two get some real experience under your belts."


    ***


    The roads through the kingdom were miserable; instead of a steady, smooth ride, constant bumps, rocks, and crossing of ruts left the cart shaking its occupants constantly; to the point that by the time they reached the edge of the forest, the foursome were all walking voluntarily.


    As Praxius directed the group off the trail and into the brush, he glanced around at the trio of youngsters he''d be dragging along. "Now. These are going to be men and women we''ll be killing. There will be blood, screaming, and dying. These people are thieves, murderers, rapists, and butchers, and their friends tried to kill me just a few days ago, so there''s no need to feel even a hint of remorse about this; but if you do anyway, try to hold back the weeping until the last one falls. I can''t be everywhere at once, and if you''re too stupid about things, a stray arrow or dagger might end your careers here and now."


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    He glanced at the three of them. "You. Mage. You''re the most fragile out of the lot of us. You might think you want to protect your girlfriend, but as woefully inexperienced as you both are, she''s at least got armor; and that flail I gave her will help her a bit up close."


    He turned to Kylie. "And you, priestess. The flail is enchanted, something I did myself before I made my current pair. The chain has a mind of its own, and if you swing it properly, it''ll help guide it the rest of the way. Just think of what you want it to do, and get to work. You''re going to get cut. Possibly beaten over the head. You know some healing magic?"


    "...Yes. Every temple teaches its disciples that, devil."


    "Good. You''ll probably be mostly using it on yourself. Don''t waste your magic on me; I heal on my own from most ordinary weapons. And lastly... granddaughter."


    Terra smiled. "Yessir?"


    "You filled the Eastwatch house with smoke to drive out everyone but your target. I''m assuming you can do that to a cave?"


    "Of course. It''s not generally fatal, but it causes painful coughing and blindness in enclosed spaces. If someone were tough and strong-willed enough they might be able to just hold off and bear it, but.... well. I doubt that includes bandits."


    "Good. Anyone have anything else to add?"


    Derek raised a hand. "I can summon up a few monsters to help. There''s one called a Magma Sprite that would be good for this; heat and smoke don''t bother them at all, and it can just splatter them with bits of fire and molten rock as they run out."


    Praxius gave a slow nod. "Well. There will be a guard, probably. We''ll need to kill a few outside. Then we smoke them out, and butcher them as they try to escape. Once the smoke clears... I''ll let you inspect what''s left. I''m not likely to fit inside a goblin warren. We go at sundown. Rest as best you can; the bandits should be just a few minutes walk away, when the time comes."


    ***


    What followed was a brutal slaughter. There was a bit of yelling, at first; there were three guards, sitting near the entrance to the warren, playing a card game; and one of Terra''s firey attacks slammed into the winner before they were aware anyone was coming, as they were counting out winnings. The table and chairs they were using were surprisingly nice; likely looted from some rich man''s home; while their armor was... pitiful.


    Two of them weren''t really wearing armor at all, and the man whose leather armor was currently on fire was rolling on the dirt, screaming in agony... even as a hesitant Kylie struggled for just a moment... before lashing out with the flail, and hearing the solid ''crunch'' as the spiked metal ball impacted the head of one of the bandits... and he dropped, limp; either dead or unconscious at that single solid blow.


    Praxius calmly crushed the third man between his own pair of flails; one coming in from each side to send him dropping to the ground.. and unlike Kylie, seemed to relish the blood that splattered across his form.


    The burning man laying on the ground stared up at them as he finally got the fire out; and when he looked up to see a massive flail-wielding knight, he raised his hands flat; for a moment, Praxius almost crushed his head with a blow... but he paused for a moment... and dropped one of his flails to the dirt, extending an arm towards the man.


    A length of chain lashed out; wrapping around the man, painfully bending him into a pretzel, hot-tying him in place; before Praxius stepped up to the entrance, and glanced at the others. The goblin warren was very simple; a literal hole in the ground, likely just the entrance to a cave-system with carved and natural paths, uncomfortably small for normal people but perfect for smaller races.


    He looked to Terra; who had already started chanting some sort of focus; and a sudden billow of smoke formed; at first, just an orb in her hands... and then started pouring into the hole as if it were a river. He gave a nod; she seemed to need to focus on channeling the smoke, but it was the most important thing for her to do at present, so all was well.


    Derek... and his strange little Magma Sprite, a creature roughly three feet tall made of tendrils of boiling rock emerging from a tiny central orb... hadn''t contributed at all to the battle; but now the tiny sprite dived into the smoke... and simply lurked there, waiting for something to emerge, even as the mage prepared some magical attack of his own; ready to blast the first person to emerge.


    The bound captive was too close to the entrance, and was forced to breathe the smoke as well; until Praxius sent him away with a swift kick. He glanced at Kylie. "Stand over there, just out of the smoke... and be ready to swing at whoever comes out. You get the first, I get the second."


    The girl inhaled deeply; let out a small, controlled, cough; perhaps she was too close to the smoke, or might have accidentally inhaled a bit of the blood dripping down her face; either way, she readied herself, gripping the flail in both hands.. as screams could be heard. Coughing, choking.


    A loud hiss and splatter, as the magma sprite lashed out; the first man to emerge was covering his mouth with his hands, coughing, stumbling... and Kylie gave an overhand swing, slamming the flail down at him with all her might... and leaving a corpse right by the entrance.


    The next man to emerge started to stumble and trip over the corpse of the first; only for Praxius''s own flails to dispatch him just as swiftly.


    There was a loud pop, and more screaming; and a new Magma Sprite popped up, charging forward into the smoke. Praxius glanced at the wizard; he''d thought most wizards could only keep a single summon spell of the same type active at a time. "The first one died. They explode when you kill them." and gave a nod, before turning back to the entrance.


    The battle that followed lasted for another couple of minutes; but while Kylie picked up a single wound in her thigh from a thrown javelin, and a few blades uselessly rebounded from Praxius''s armor... it went absolutely terrible for the bandits. At least a dozen had emerged from the warren, and their bodies were now piled around the entrance.


    Praxius walked over to the bound captive, after a solid minute had passed without any more leaving; Terra was starting to visibly sweat from the strain of keeping up the smoke; and kicked him again. "You. How many bandits were in this den?"


    "fff... Ffifteen! Sixteen including me!"


    The devil glanced around... and gave a slow nod. Including the captive, fifteen were outside. If one of them had succumbed to the magma sprite on the inside; at least a couple had died from being set on fire as they ran out; that would be about right. Possibly one more inside, trapped, or waiting to ambush them.


    "If you''re lying, I''m going to bind your limbs to a tree, shred your flesh into uselessness, and leave whats left of you for the wolves. Understand?"


    "I swear, there''s a few captives down there, but only sixteen of us are here! The rest are all out with the boss still!"


    Praxius gave a slow chuckle. He''d handled the boss already. "How many captives?"


    "Four. Three women and a boy. The boy is the son of some local mayor or something, we were trying to figure out if we could get a ransom for him. The women we kept... well. We usually kept a few women."


    Praxius gave a slow nod. Unsurprising. Just because the punishment for rape was death didn''t mean it wasn''t a popular hobby among the worthless dregs of humanity. A popular pastime among Kytons as well, now that he thought of it; though it wasn''t one he was fond of himself.  He glanced back at Terra, and gave a cut-off gesture, finger across his throat; and the girl finally relaxed; the billowing smoke stopped, and started to slowly dissipate.


    "Alright then. Congratulations, the dangerous part is mostly done. There is, at most, one more of these scum still in the warren, hopefully already dead.. and possibly some surviving hostages. Some of the tunnels down there will be too big for myself, which means... send the sprite in first to check for any surviving enemies, haul out anything you find, and watch for the last one. So. You three. Head on down. I''ll stay up here and start making a pyre for the bodies, check them for anything useful."


    He made a gesture. A set of chains lifted one of the bodies into the air, and started casually removing the dirty chainmail that was wrapped around it; the devil clearly not wanting to touch the corpses anymore than necessary. The three were all watching with a mix of horror, shell-shock, and amusement.


    He glanced at the trio. "Stop gawking. There might just be a bit more fighting left, and prisoners to free, or decide what to do with. Get to it."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 3: The Warren

    For Terra, this had been a brief bit of excitement; and then rigorous, steady focus. The spell she liked to call ''Choking Fumes'' was one that required active focus, and to just keep pouring power into it to keep going; as if she were casting a lesser spell, over and over. She didn''t have much left in her; if there were any real threats down there, she could toss a few sparks at them that wouldn''t be much worse than smacking them in the face with a torch; but she still had that.


    And not only had she only scored a single actual take-down, and that man had survived, even, to be taken prisoner; but she refused to look weak in front of her grandfather. So, of course, she went down first; holding up a tiny orb of fire, ready to throw it in case she needed to, or needed light... but the magma sprite was already there, and the bandits had lit the place with torches... and, well.


    The last of the bandits was already dead; lying there, clearly having been burned to death in the explosion of that first magma sprite. It was a half-orc, oddly enough; she hadn''t seen anyone with a tinge of green on their skin in the kingdom; or even anyone but humans and those with a bit of elf blood; in her entire life. Well. So much for that.


    She heard a cough, and something shifting in the tunnel behind her. "That was a damned impressive spell! I would have thought it was third circle, at least! Where did you learn it?"


    She glanced back. Ahh. The schoolboy. "I made it myself. That one was a mix of a spell she made to make a nice thick fog, clouding out vision, and one that made an irritating illusion to distract. They work well together."


    As they went deeper through the warrens, only the main chambers had enough room to stand; they had to crouch; and even crawl; in a few parts of the tunnels. Good lord, why would humans, or anyone bigger than a halfling, willingly stay here? There were offshoot tunnels; filled with random crates and boxes; one with beds; both simple bedrools and a nice, ornate one, likely from some noble house...


    Derek laughed. "Amazing! You learned how to make your own spells! Who taught you? Only the most elite at the academy make their own spells!"


    "My mother taught me some basics as I was growing up, and wanted me to take over protecting the village someday. I... wanted more."


    A sudden interruption. The eastwatch girl. "Shouldn''t I be going first? I''m the one wearing armor, after all. What if there''s some trap, or threat still left?"


    "The bandits should all be gone... but you''re welcome to lead the way. Have at it."


    Well. Perhaps some of the things in those crates would be valuable. They''d see after finishing the search.


    Which... wouldn''t take much longer. There was a single, enormous cave at the bottom; no more of these 3-4 foot tunnels and chambers they could almost bump their heads in; a massive, open space, one that felt oddly humid, with water dripping from the ceiling... and a set of old, rusty cages against one wall, holding two women and a child, all wearing dirty rags... while a bed nearby held... well. What was once a woman. As Terra averted her gaze, and headed towards the cages, she could hear Kylie gasp, and run off to the bed with the woman''s corpse chained to it.. and as she assessed the lock, the two women in the cage looked up.


    They both looked to be in absolutely terrible shape; bruises, possibly broken bones; wearing the torn remnants of dresses which hadn''t been washed in months. There was no hope in their eyes; just a broken miserable expectation that whoever this was was just going to be another tormentor.


    "...We''ve got a healer here, who can help you. And then get you home. Where is home, for you?"


    One woman shook her head, and opened her mouth; showing a long-since healed over tongue. The other looked at the floor, and then made a gesture as if writing, before giving her a look. Terra frowned. "I... don''t keep anything with me to write..."


    Derek abruptly stepped forward... pulling out a black cylinder, and a sheet of parchment; "Miss, I''ve got these. If you can''t speak, but could write the name, or even better, directions to your home village..." ; the woman seemed hesitant, backing away; before reaching out to snatch the two objects, and start furiously writing on the paper... as Derek gave a nod... and turned to examine the lock.


    Terra blinked. "Do you have a lockpicking spell? I think one of grandfather''s friends had such, but.."


    He pulled what looked to be a tiny knife, and... a sewing needle.? Free from his sleeve, and started gently working at the lock. "...Second-years aren''t supposed to have access to the sort of thing my research needed at the academy. Some things had both physical, and magical locks. It took time, but, well. If I wanted a dragon-scale, I needed to... ahh." The lock snapped open with an audible click; and from the crunching sound, something had broken inside. The woman was still working on whatever she was writing; but the other in the cell abruptly pushed it open, and started stumble-running for the door; clearly something was wrong with her leg.


    Terra could hear Kylie speaking behind her, as she watched Derek simply move on to the other occupied cage, with the boy inside it, and start on the lock.


    "Excuse me, ma''am. You can go if you''d like... but while its too late for your friend, I would gladly heal your leg. That looks like it must hurt."


    Terra ignored the healer for the moment, and extended a hand to the other trapped woman; who, after a few more marks on the page, turned it to face her.


    ~My name is Natalia. I am a maid in the service of mayor Kelson of Brendale. If you return me and his son to him, the mayor will undoubtedly reward you. The other woman is a stranger, but has been hurt badly, please treat her well.~


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Below these lines were a fairly simple map of the area; it looked familiar, compared to the one grandfather had. "... Don''t worry. We''ll get you home. We''re a group of... well. New adventurers, looking for people to help, things to do. This is exactly the sort of job we''re out here for."


    ***


    The long-dead goblin warren was surrounded by debris; and a trail of smoke rising into the sky from a ''funeral'' pyre lighting up the night, as a strange summoned creature Derek had called forth; something looking like a turtle, almost, except bipedal and about four feet tall; was dragging crates, corpses, and anything other than rocks and dirt it could find out of the warren into the cool evening air.


    The smell was awful; and Terra couldn''t really bring herself to eat, even as her grandfather was calmly devouring a piece of meat that she sincerely hoped wasn''t human, and the other two appeared equally squeamish; sitting beside each other on a log, almost but not quite touching as they looked at the pyre from their own tiny campfire nearby


    The former prisoners were laying together on the grass, looking at the stars, with the boy whispering something to the women; he had refused to speak to anyone else; and just seemed to be enjoying the fresh air, undisturbed by the smell of burning corpses.


    When the creature made its last trip; and grandfather had finished sorting through the piles; he approached the smaller blaze, and stood towering above the party, looking them over. "So. This is what you have to look forward to. If you want to advance, as an adventurer... you need to kill. Every time you kill something, or destroy some magic item or construct, a bit of the magic in it leaks out... and everyone around gets a bit of it. For someone so much stronger, like myself, it doesn''t make any difference. But for people like you? Some of those bandits were similar to you in strength. If we did this regularly, you''d grow stronger, dramatically, quickly. We do one of these a week, and you''ll be as strong as a graduate of your Imperial Academy in a month or two."


    He grimaced down at the hole. "Back when Terra''s grandmother was still around, and demon-blooded goblins infested this region like rats, we did this sort of thing to goblin warrens just like this one; dump poison in them, and murder the lot as they came running out. Not sporting. Doesn''t teach you as well as a real fight does. But its a good way for the weak to get strong, and quickly. Helped your grandmother stay live through the hard fighting to follow."


    Terra blinked. "Demon-blooded? They weren''t just normal goblins?"


    He gave a low chuckle. "The whole reason I came here, and met your grandmother, was because of the demon invasion, and the contract. A whole cohort of devils all out helping humans kill demons of all sorts on behalf of the king down here, and of course helped the Empire as well simply by virtue of killing more demons there too. In exchange for the soul of the king and six hundred and sixty six of his subjects, an equal number of devils would come and butcher demons until they were all gone. Should''ve been a relatively short thing."


    She tilted her head. "But... most of the devils left. The king''s dead, and there''s still demons here."


    He shrugged. "The king broke the contract once most of the demons were dead. Didn''t want us to take his soul, so he conspired to hide some demons... smuggled them up north. A whole batch of demon-spider eggs delivered to the country that used to exist north of the Empire. Once we found out... the contract was null. We devils could do what we wanted. Some went back to hell. The boss killed the king. Me... I wanted to keep killing demons. And, well. I''d already met her by then. Still. We''ve been sidetracked."


    He swept his arm at the scene. The pile of corpses; the random, mostly almost worthless, loot. The broken victims they''d rescued. "This... is normal. I''ve encountered at least a dozen almost identical scenes over the years. If you don''t have the stomach for it, its time to turn around and go back home; because I will guarantee if you don''t, you''ll have ended up waist-deep in corpses by the end of the year."


    He focused on Kylie. "So. What''ll it be?"


    The priestess looked down at the flail. Bits of bone, blood, and hair were still sticking to the cold metal. She looked up, with a strange fire in her eyes that Terra didn''t recognize. "...I''m in it as long as you are. The full year. Longer, if you''ll stay longer. This.... punishing evil where it lies... it feels like what I was meant to do. My calling. I... do we know where more bandits are?"


    ***


    "Seventeen knives and daggers, five spears, four sets of leather armor, one iron breastplate, eight crates full of various random sets of clothing, a mass of silver cutlery, some fairly nice, high-end furniture, and a few dozen gold worth of various currencies. They had plenty of swords and bows that were quite simple garbage, and a single clockwork Imperial crossbow that appears to have been struck by a club while it was firing and is damaged, but fixable... if any of you know how to do that."


    Derek studied the device for a moment, then looked up at Praxius. "Well, sir... I''ve seen t hem working, but never used one. I may be able to figure it out, eventually. But... doesn''t them having this here mean they killed an Imperial Guardsman at some point. Wouldn''t we get a reward for handing it over?"


    Praxius shrugged. "Perhaps. On the other hand, they are excellent weapons. Not magical, but the ability to rapidly put bolts into a victim is unquestionably useful, even if its shorter ranged than a longbow. We may encounter enemies resistant to magic, or even dead magic areas. I''ll get along well enough... but all three of you rely heavily on magic at any significant distance."


    "...I''ll take a look at it with my tools while we''re on the road. What do we do with the prisoner?"


    Praxius looked at the bound raider. A relatively ordinary-looking man, if a bit dirty and unkempt. He looked up at Praxius, made a smile that better resembled a grimace of pain. "I''ll do anything you want. I can help you hunt other bandits. I''ll serve at your feet.. on my knees...chain... daddy?" He gave an odd grin. The devil blinked, and focused on him. The others could see the subtle shifts; his face seeming to become a horrific rictus, a savage beast... and the chained prisoner screamed and shifted around in his restraints as if trying to get further away.


    "He might be useful. Still..." Praxius reached down; and the man''s limbs were suddenly freed, as the chain returned to its master... only for a smaller length to snap free. He dropped down, wrapping it around the man''s throat. "Chain of Binding. I command you to grow tighter every time he speaks a word. Should I or one of my companions pass, tighten until he dies."


    He rose to his feet. "I don''t care what your name is, or what you''ve done. Our agreement is simple. In exchange for not killing you, you will provide us with a map of any bandits you know or suspect operate in the area. I know where that chain is at all times, and if you try to remove it, it will kill you. If I go to one such spot on the map, and find nothing of interest, I will have the chain kill you. If you make this agreement, and do not appropriately provide the requested service, I claim the right to take ownership of your soul. Do you understand?"


    The man opened his mouth... but stopped, and nodded.


    "Good." He glanced to the others. "We''ll pack everything worthwhile on the cart, and head out at dawn. Try to get some sleep, if you can. I''ll take the first watch."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 4: Into the Dales

    Praxius stared at the map with mild irritation. This particular region of the Kingdom; probably the Kingdom of Harold, nowadays; had about fifty different towns and villages all called dale this, dale that, and was just towns, villages, of various sizes, scattered over a whole mass of hills, small forests, all of them along the side of one of the various rivers. He''d never liked forests. Too green, too alive. And with such stupid names.


    ''Hillsdale''. Wasn''t a dale a valley of some sort? So a Hill-dale was a hill-valley. Might as well be called mount pit. And if this Kylie girl was anything like his wife and daughter, she''d want to stop and stay at every inn they came near, even if the sun was only beginning to go down. He studied the map, and looked up at the terrain. They''d need to go at least five miles out of the way to avoid seeing the village today, and that assumed there weren''t other signs of the village around.


    He shook his head slowly... and glanced up at the cart at the young noblewoman. It was irritating to look up at someone shorter than he was. "Alright. We''ll be at this place.... Hillsdale... soon. One of the next few big hills we go over and we should see it. If we keep going instead of stopping, we''ll make it a another few miles towards this ''Brendale'' to drop off the boy and the maid, and can be in Brendale in less than two days."


    The girl nodded, and looked ahead. "We should let them rest a bit, in real beds. I hate to re-break their legs to heal them properly, and they need a more experienced priest than myself for the tongues. Perhaps we should check, see if they have a temple here... and we can settle in for the night, check to see if there''s any bounties, anything interesting going on."


    Praxius gave a slow nod. "You''re from the Empire, where its all either the oddballs who worship the Emperor, or the joint temples of the Lord of the Earth and the Lady of Light. Here in the kingdom, usually, they have three shrines in each village. Lord of the earth, lady of darkness, lady of light. If they can manage it, to the north, west, and east respectively. Some of the most ass-backwards worship I''ve ever heard of. There''s either "


    Kylie blinked. "Well... the Emperor discourages worship of the Lady of Darkness. But that''s not so strange. There hasn''t been a war or anything between the gods for millenia."


    Praxius chuckled. "The Ladies of Light and Darkness, here in the kingdom, preach subservience of women towards men. And the Lord of the Earth advocates subservience of men towards women. On at least seven different occasions I got to listen to an argument between a priest whose god told him to treat women as authorities, and priestesses whose goddess told them to treat men as authorities. None of them wanted to appear to be calling the other wrong, but they also couldn''t agree with each other. Obviously, thats not all, they can argue about nurturing versus culling and so forth, but it was genuinely fun to bring up the subject."


    The priestess looked confused. "I''ve... never heard of such a thing. Don''t we worship the same goddess?"


    The devil laughed. "I don''t think I''m the best one to ask. I overheard the arguments, I didn''t participate. The lady of chains and Asmodeus have a very different set of rules."


    Kylie started to say something, but then stopped; likely having only now realized that devils might worship something at all.


    At this point, they''d crested the next hill; and could see, in the distance, Hillsdale; a small town surrounding a modest river in the distance, surrounded by a fairly pretty wall that appeared to be painted a vibrant red in color, clearly visible.


    "Anyways. I would prefer to keep moving; the one thing that I''d agree on is checking for bounties, and these other bandit camps if they happen to be close."


    Kylie nodded. "But I''m in charge, right?"


    "You''ve got me for a year, or until you reach the same threshold as an academy graduate, whichever comes first. I''d recommend not wasting that time."


    The priestess smiled. "Then we will check for anything interesting here, stay the night, and move on for Brendale at first light."


    ***


    Red appeared to be quite a popular color in Hillsdale. The wall seemed to be a blend of stone and wood, painted with it; the gate built into it a solid wood fixture with the same paintjob; and of course, the guard''s chainmail had a strip of red cloth with an odd flower logo across it; clearly what served as a uniform. The flower was even tied onto the haft of the pike the guardsman carried, and he gave a pleasant wave to the cart as it approached.


    It seemed almost disturbingly friendly. The only thing out of place was that the man was enormous, and had a tinge of greenish-grey to his skin; either another half-orc, or someone part-fiend like his granddaughter; either one of which should be rare.


    As he looked past the gate, and saw at least one more massive form wearing a guard uniform further in, talking to some woman in a floral dress, he grew a bit suspicious. Should and were might not be the same thing.


    "Well hello there! Welcome to Hillsdale!" A friendly wave, the pike not pointed anywhere close to them. "There''s a tax for incoming carts if you''re here to trade.." He pointed at a sign; which had a listing of various taxes, either based on the value of incoming merchandise, or on the fullness of the carts. "Just pick whichever one would charge you less, we''re not that picky. Looks like a half...cart..."


    He stopped. Stared at the crates for a moment; the cheery, happy demeanor suddenly vanished. "Where did.."


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Found an old goblin warren full of bandits. Rescued a couple of prisoners they took, who we''re taking to Brendale. The crates are whats left of their loot." He reached into his pouch, felt around for a moment... Ahh, there.


    He slid out a small bronze token, bearing the logo of the former king, Thomas Elfslayer; most of the devils who''d stayed to fight after the contract broke had ended up getting one, as had many other heroes, during that war. The guard looked at the token for a moment; and gave a salute, tapping the haft of his weapon to his forehead. "Sir! Adventuring parties are offered a reward for the return of stolen goods. If you wouldn''t mind taking your cart to the guardhouse, we can get it sorted out."


    Praxius glanced at the cart. "Appreciated. I wouldn''t begin to know the value of a crate full of cloth bundles. We need to get these people to a healer, they aren''t the best at walking just now, then you can take it. Lady Eastwatch can choose where she''d like to stay for the evening, and if anyone has any shopping to do, go right ahead. This place seems safe enough, but either stick together, or stick with me and the cart." He glanced back at the guard. "The last time I came through this region, they had bounty boards in every town, with reports of demons, monsters, that sort of thing that needed killing, from nearby villages and farms. Still got that, or anything else odd going on?"


    "Oh, goddesses, yes. There''s a few requests from nobles and officials, there''s reports of critters attacking farms... traders and messengers drop by on the regular and the town crier copies em down. Likes to shout all about em during the day, too. And... what do they need a healer for?"


    Kylie hopped out of the cart; the armored woman landing with a solid thud, as Derek and Terra soon followed. She glanced back up, then at the guard. "The bandits kept them for a while. Broke their legs to keep them from running, and cut out their tongues. I got their legs working, they''ll walk fine with time, but their tongues... I can''t regrow lost parts, we need someone more skilled. I understand there are usually three shrines in towns down here.. do you have a recommendation?"


    "Hmm. Well. Honestly, we don''t really have dedicated priests at the lady of light or darkness, only for the god of the earth. And he''s... okay? Can heal minor injuries, but mostly works with crops. Nobody who can heal a missing tongue." The guard grimaced for a moment, then glanced around... and back at the group. "There''s actually something that might help, but I''d appreciate if you kept it quiet, alright?"


    Praxius blinked. "...What, something illegal? Demonic?"


    "No, no, nothing like that. Just a bit of a local secret we try not to spread too far. There''s a wishing well outside of town. Wrap you name and your wish around a gold coin, drop it in. And if you''re not too greedy, it gets granted by the spirit of the well when next you sleep. Had a fisherman get his hand grown back that way, no reason it won''t work on a tongue."


    He gave a slow nod. "... and it only grants what, a wish a day or something, so you don''t want everyone to know?"


    "Maybe a handful a day, but otherwise... yes. It never made anyone rich, but it made me big and strong.." he slapped his arm "So I could make a good guardsman, and when my sweet Sheila wished I''d fall in love with her, it did the trick."


    Possibilities ran through Praxius''s head. The most likely? Some devil was taking people''s souls in exchange for these wishes, and had some script on the well... in a language the wishers didn''t understand... saying so. A lesser hag or fey was always possible, but... "Tell me. I''ve noticed you and some of the other guards are Half-Orcs. Greenskins are vanishingly rare nowadays. Do you have the same father?"


    A low chuckle. "No, no. I''m pure human, through and through. Once my friend Tommy used his wish and got bigger and stronger, we all did. All of us turned out the same way. Makes it tons easier handling bar-fights."


    So. He didn''t want to ruin this devil''s game; whoever it was likely had scored hundreds of souls this way. The lack of priestesses might be his doing as well; the lest folk with that sort of magic around, the harder it would be to spot. The mage or the priest might be able to understand script the locals didn''t, so if that was the trap, he''d need to keep them from looking closely. Best avoid the well entirely. "Well. We have business elsewhere. If the ladies wish to stay here, and try their luck with the well, so be it. Just some directions to help get the cart sorted out for now, please."


    As the befuddled guard shrugged, and started giving directions, Kylie looked at the devil suspiciously... and as they started to head further into town, alongside the cart for the moment, she moved closer.


    "Is there something I should know? I''ve never heard of a well like that, but it might be worth trying." She muttered in a low voice, as the others gathered in closer.


    Praxius rolled his eyes. "Too good to be true generally means it isn''t. There''s undoubtedly a catch. Perhaps it stops working if you leave the town; the locals would never know. But the kind of magic that would regenerate a lost hand, or turn a human into an orc? Not something you can buy for a gold coin. If you care about the women, I''d take them  with you to the next town, or plan to leave them here. Whatever the deal is, if it caused problems for the locals, they''d have noticed. So if the magic is strictly local, it would explain it." Or if the catch isn''t something you''d be aware of until you died.


    The group shared a glance as they kept moving.


    Kylie shook her head slowly. "You don''t want to investigate a magic well that grants wishes? What if it could help me get stronger, faster? Wouldn''t that make your job easier?"


    "I don''t know if its a fey, some evil spirit, a devil, if its secretly replacing these people with copies of themselves, or what it could possibly be. What I do know is that for a group like us, its a trap. We need to move on. Find simple, easy things, that involve, say, killing some demon-wolf and its pack that have been terrorizing a farm. We don''t want to just hang out and absorb energy like a bunch of idiots, but we also don''t want to stop and inspect every tiny thing we come across."


    "...A wish-granting well is a tiny thing?"


    Praxius stopped. The cart kept moving for a bit, as the butler kept hauling them off towards wherever the guards did their inspection. "Today, its a wish-granting well. Tomorrow, the flowers change colors at random. Next week, people changed there names and don''t seem to realize it. Next month, all the followers of light moved to the temple of darkness instead. A million different ''interesting'' things which are all wastes of my time. I''m not here to find out why a well grants wishes. I''m here to keep you alive and get you strong enough for whatever position the Eastwatches have for you."


    Kylie frowned. "... Fine. I won''t investigate the damned well. We''ll just... look for a different solution for the women when we drop the kid off."


    "Good."


    He turned, and headed back to follow the cart; as the noblewoman dragged his granddaughter and the mage off, clearly heading to the town''s marketplace; hopefully just to check out the inn. Unfortunately, he knew her type. There was no hope whatsoever that she wasn''t going to at least take a look at the well. With his luck, he''d be battling a bone devil who was angry that he''d  cut off an easy source of souls by midnight. He just needed to figure out a good way to turn this into an object lesson, hopefully get the damned fool to fly straight from then on. Maybe if he let the boyfriend die....

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 5: The Well, Part 1

    Derek watched the crowd as he headed alongside the group into town, thinking quietly. No matter what the rest of them did, he was going to go check out that well; and he figured Kylie would tag along with him. First, though, they should do some research. Find other people it granted wishes to, and since the guard had said it didn''t always grant wishes, what sort it did, or didn''t. Was there some sort of negative consequence to making a greedy wish?


    The basic details were fairly clear; it turned someone into a stronger species when they wished to be stronger. This was impressive, but not unheard of. Making someone fall in love? Impossible to be sure. Minor charm spell? Curse? Or perhaps there was already some attraction, and a simple dream sending did the job? He needed to learn more, to get more details... but the devil wasn''t interested at all.


    When the devil and the cart moved on, Derek tried to pull Kylie away; only for her to beat him to the punch, rapidly pulling Derek away, but not far.. and glance back at the retreating back of the devil, before turning to him.


    "Okay. I want to check out the well and maybe even try it. See if its safe, and use it to heal those girls... or just how trustworthy it is. What do you think?"


    Derek smiled. "My sentiments exactly! We should talk to the guard, see if we can learn what kind of wishes it granted, what kinds it rejected... and then go check it out in person."


    The devil-girl... well. Part-devil. There was some sort of word for that at the academy... Ahh! Tiefling. The tiefling girl seemed thoughtful. "Look. I''m gonna be honest here. Gramps used to be an adventurer, back in the day. And he was a soldier before that. I''ll admit I''m curious about what it could do... but not enough to try it. If you two want to... I''ll watch from a safe distance, and help if I can."


    "Excellent! If we deem it safe, I''ll wish for help with my research. Samples, understanding, whatever it''s willing to give. And, of course, get the ladies to write down their wishes to be healed, if its what they want."


    This was going well! Not only was Kylie interested, but the Tiefling girl would help make sure they didn''t die. Which, of course, meant the devil would come to help if it came down to it; no way was he abandoning the grandfather he''d gone all the way to the Empire for.


    ***


    The old woman leaned on her cane, and gave a long sigh. "No, no. I wished to be young again, and it sort-of helped. All my aches and pains vanished, I felt better than I had in years... and it made my ears all funny, like I was elf-blooded. Had em snipped, later. Ended up outliving my husband, all three of my children... I''m almost two hundred years old now, but the doc says I shouldn''t hope for many more winters."


    "Thank you so much, ma''am. The poor women we helped, who had their tongues removed... I really just wanted to make sure its safe for them."


    People who grew stronger; gained in ''Levels''; tended to live longer; and different species also lived longer than others. The old woman was, by his own senses, level 4; which meant, by his notes... if she were pure human, she should''ve died at most around the one-twenties. The only humans who lived to be this long would be in the teens, or the mythical 20 that almost no-one reached, and in theory those who went past that might live forever; but never be able to leave a high-magic area or immediately drop back down to 20, like some of the dungeon monsters and dragons of ancient histories. This was fairly normal for a half-elf, though. Another clear sign it could easily swap the species of subjects... and she''d lived over a hundred years after making her wish, and left town many times.


    He nodded slowly... and returned to Kylie, who was examining a rack of dresses; she''d been checking on a seamstress who had made a wish herself, years before. "Well, sweetheart. I''ve cross-checked what we''ve got, both people who made wishes, and ones who heard about it. The well seems to be able to make people forget, heal people, change someone''s species, repair broken homes and objects, make crops grow better, and help people have kids. It doesn''t seem to have any negative side-effects, and has been working for centuries; the first wish anyone knows of was after the great war, before there was even an Empire, when someone wished for his kids to recover from a plague; they didn''t think it would work, but it did. Been an open secret ever since, they share with people that seem honest, and in need."


    He smiled. "I''d say its safe enough for them. Probably for us as well. We should take a look for ourselves."


    She gave a slow nod... and held up a sleek, silk black dress. "Do you think I''d look good in this? When I''m not stuck wearing armor?" She looked at him askance. She almost always wore red and gold of house Eastwatch, but had almost never left the Capital before; nobody would know, or care, if she was appropriately attired out here.


    Derek gave a look, and a slow nod. "I... think red hair, your lovely skin, a black dress... it would suit you wonderfully. Ahh... not that your house colors don''t, of course!" He wasn''t completely certain what she saw in him; his own house wasn''t nearly so important, and he was a middling spellcaster. Mediocre mage, mediocre house... with a hideous blue mark he''d given himself...


    She chuckled, and blushed... quickly turning away. "I''m not testing you, silly. I''ll get the dress for later. We can check out the well as soon as our little firestarter is ready."


    Stolen story; please report.


    Derek smiled; at least he''d done okay, there. "You might want to help her in that department. Don''t get me wrong, she''s not ugly, but her skin looks almost grey when she''s mad.... which seems to be almost always."


    "Don''t judge her too much. That''s mostly my brother''s fault, may the goddess curse his damned soul."


    The two looked across the street; the girl was in a shop that neither of them would have bothered; a witchdoctor of some sort, selling oddities. Derek had been briefly interested to see if it might have any samples of an exotic species he could study; but no. Bits of toad, pig, newt, so forth. Potions that may or may not do anything.


    When she finally emerged, the pouches running down her chest all seemed to be bulging, full; and she saw them waiting, stepping out with a nod. "Ready as I can be. Did you learn anything else while I was shopping?"


    ***


    The site of the well was relatively secluded. A neat, clean path leading out to it. A stone wall, just a few feet high; some scattered trees... and a simple stone circle, with water visible just a few feet down. As the trio approached, they slowed to a stop; Derek focused on the surroundings, seeking anything that had that distinctive flavor of magic... and immediately spotted two things. No... numerous things.


    First... the mushrooms. They formed a vague circle around the well, and seemed to have some sort of magic in them, tied to the well itself. It seemed to be some form of protective magic; it had a taste distinctly similar to the amulet of protection he himself wore, that helped make people miss him. Protecting the well?


    He stopped at the circle of mushrooms; and held out an arm to block Kylie from going further. When Terra saw what had stopped them, she gave a short, approving nod, and started examining the area herself.


    The well, of course, also faintly oozed magical power. A blend of several subtypes; creation, illusion, transformation... it could move things, change things. And as he studied it, he could sense greater magic, deep below the earth.


    It was small.... but this was a high-magic area, not more than about fifty, sixty yards across. Seemed to be... level three, or four. Animals who nested here would be stronger, more dangerous than normal ones, and someone who lived here would naturally, eventually, reach level four without having to lift a finger. Small, subtle ones like this were all over the place.


    "Hmm. Any idea what the mushrooms do? I can tell its a protective enchantment of some sort..."


    Kylie chuckled. "This part I''m quite familiar with. They aren''t real... or at least normal... mushrooms. The well has been sanctified to some goddess or god, and the enchantment makes it difficult to fight or break anything while you''re inside; even each other. Whoever made it didn''t want someone casually destroying the well... or the wall, trees, any of it. It doesn''t do anything to us, here. If we wanted, we could throw rocks at the mushrooms, or do whatever; our firestarter friend could blast it all with fire.... Not that I''d recommend it."


    Derek smiled. "So nothing that will hurt us?"


    "I doubt it. Often spells like this trigger an alarm when you try to break something. This might be an ancient artifact, something like the noble regalia or the like, or it might even be a spirit bound to this spot."


    Derek took a deep breath... and stepped into the circle. He could feel the aura surround him, and slowly stepped further, closer... and stopped at the well, studying the script around its base; in old elven language, something that was seldom used since the last of the pureblood elven enclaves had been wiped out long ago. He could feel a source of power here; either a powerful device, or a creature even stronger than the devil.


    "Okay. So the instructions are pretty clear. ''Write down what you wish, don''t be too greedy or malicious''... to be clear, that rhymes in the original elven...  ''Then wrap it around a single golden coin, and send it to the depths''." He looked down. "And one last line...''Sleep within the grounds this night, and your wish may be granted.''. Simple enough. No other words, no other lines, no symbols... and most people sleep in Hillsdale after, so clearly ''the grounds'' is pretty expansive. Oh, and all the lines were supposed to rhyme, before the translation."


    He glanced at the two girls. "So. What do you think? Should we try a wish?"


    Terra crossed her arms. "As soon as I saw the circle of mushrooms, my answer was no. However much research you''ve done, however safe it seems, this whole thing reeks of Fey to me. Maybe they abduct some of the wish-makers, and erase the memories of their friends and family; we know that boy wished  to forget about his own dead family, and it worked, so its within this thing''s powers."


    She looked to Kylie, and then Derek. "And if I were you, either I''d refuse it... or at least let the tongueless girls go first. Both because they need it more than us... and so that we can see it work for ourselves. All of the stories flat-out say it only grants maybe two or three wishes a day at most, and it stops working for a while if you make too many."


    Derek stared at the seemingly simple stone circle for a bit longer... then sighed, and stepped out of the ring of mushrooms. The oppressive, but safe, aura of protection slipped away as if it never were. "Fine. Are we good with staying here for another night, if it does well for them?"


    "Sure. We can take turns keeping watch on them, see what happens, when. Check for geas''s, enchantments, curses, that sort of thing."


    Terra sighed. "This is exactly why grampa didn''t want us fooling around with this. We''ll spend days here looking into this, without any progress to show for it."


    Derek shrugged. "Look, I want to get level five, and start casting third-circle spells, as much as anyone. But this could be a unique opportunity!"


    Terra rolled her eyes; she didn''t seem to put much store in the ''Levels'' and other measurements of power the academy used; though she did seem to understand the dramatic differences between first and second-circle spells.


    "Well then. Lets go collect some wishes from them. I wonder if it makes a difference, us dropping them off, and not them?"


    ***


    As the group started heading back towards Hillsdale, Praxius watched; he could sense something down there. There was a whole cave system beneath the well; like a house.... or a dungeon. There might be some terrible monster down there, maintaining a friendly facade. The troubling thing was, even with his true sight in effect, he could see no devilish script or contract; just old elven words. His most likely assumption was wrong. What in the hells was going on here? He''d need to let them cure the former captives... and keep them close... so he could see.

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 6: The Well, Part 2

    Terra simply couldn''t understand why they were so focused on figuring out this wishing well nonsense. Yes, healing the women would be nice. She wouldn''t mind losing the grey tint to her skin; it would be good to fit in a little better. But if she had to just be a pure human to do it, well. Would that cost her her magic? She knew most humans had a hard time learning spellcasting; it took years of training, memorization, practice, while she and her mother just had an instinctive grasp on it. She''d learned her first two spells... setting something on fire and telling a chain to start pulling itself and rocking her little sister''s crib... before she''d become a woman, and had no idea that being a capable spellcaster before showing up would cause such a problem at the academy.


    Still. She liked who she was. From what she''d seen so far, her grandfather was a competent, intelligent man.. well, devil... and while a bit vicious and cold at times, he was here, wasn''t he? He''d crossed the planes and marched hundreds of miles for her, simply because she was family and needed help. Being related to someone like that wasn''t something to be ashamed of. He''d been rewarded by both Kingdom and Empire, and they hated each other, that had to mean something.


    At present, he was sitting on the floor, between the beds; at first, Derek and Kylie were going to get their own room; the noblewoman could certainly afford it; but they''d ultimately decided to get the largest room; one that apparently was used by a few adventuring parties before, amusingly enough, as there were a few sets of names carved beside the fireplace; so they could keep an eye on the two women. Take turns keeping watch; everyone who could detect magic, which, amusingly enough, was everyone in the group, would watch over them, see if they could learn more.


    She ran her fingers over the chain around her neck absently as she watched the women sleeping. She didn''t need to be awake right now; Derek was on this watch. But she wanted to see when it happened. She absently toyed with the chain, feeling it with her magic. She could command a mundane chain, if it was unoccupied. She''d never tried an enchanted one. She made it shake, move back and forth.... could she tell it to unclasp itself?


    As she was studying the way it now seemed to be a smooth, claspless length of chain; it had simply grown shorter when she''d put it on; she started to feel drowsy.... and drifted off to sleep, not even noticing Derek falling face-first onto his book at the same time.


    ***


    Praxius stayed as still as possible. He wanted the intruder to think he was asleep, as he quietly slipped through the room. He identified three spells; one creating an aura of silence. One putting everyone in the room to sleep. And the last an enchantment of some sort that just made an area uninteresting to people looking at it; if he weren''t resistant to such things, he''d probably be completely unable to look at the bed where the two injured women lay, or the boy wrapped in a sleeping bag at the side of the bed, refusing to get far from them.


    The intruder was.... an elf. The first full-blooded elf he''d seen in centuries who hadn''t mutilated his ears and enchanted his eyes to hide his species. He almost moved involuntarily; this wasn''t just an elf, but a ludicrously powerful one. He could undoubtedly kill Praxius in a fair fight, without a challenge. What was he doing here?


    The elf walked up to the bed with the two women laying on it... and laid down a book, before withdrawing two small vials and dropping to his knees beside them. He examined a vial; poured it into one of the women''s mouth; and then simply watched; writing something down in the book. He nodded after a minute or so; and poured the second vial into the other woman''s mouth.


    There was no lingering magical effect. No curse he could see. No pacts, or bindings. Whatever the potion did, it lasted for roughly a minute... and then the elf was satisfied with his work. He rose to his feet, looked at the sleeping figures... and stopped, looking at Derek''s book. He gently moved the human''s head so he could see what he was writing; and then slowly pried the book out from under him. Flipping through pages. Studying. After a few minutes of reading, he suddenly jerked, as if startled, set the book beside Derek... and stepped out the door, quickly.


    If Praxius weren''t able to see invisible subjects, the only thing he would have been aware of was the book appearing, and the sudden silence of the noise from the surrounding rooms... then of Derek''s book floating on its own. This... made no sense. If that potion had just healed the woman''s tongue, it was something that would sell for hundreds of gold pieces. If he wasn''t getting a soul out of it, enchanting her, cursing her, whatever... why was he doing this?


    This whole situation reminded him of an elf he''d known in Hell. Back when the elves still had a kingdom of their own, he''d spent centuries torturing the souls of their soldiers. One had been burning down a human village, and screwed things up. Been trapped in a burning circle of flames he himself had set, with buildings collapsing around him, and no way out.... and jumped into a well. A building had collapsed onto the well, and he''d drowned there, weighed down by his armor, in the darkness, too confined to even try to take his armor off.


    His torment had been easy; Praxius had made him relive the suffering of the hundreds of humans he''d burned alive in their final moments, over and over, each time only able to escape his burning fate by diving into the well to drown once more; until he''d broken, his soul becoming good material to create a lesser devil, all trace of the proud soldier he''d once been lost.


    This couldn''t possibly be related... but it was an elf. A powerful, old, elf, who hid in a dungeon beneath a well, and... wandered the countryside granting wishes, asking for only a pittance in return? It made no sense at all.


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    He was also ridiculously dangerous. He was a spellcaster, so if Praxius took him by surprise he could handle him, but even a momentary mistake and he''d be disintegrated or worse. He''d get a bit of rest, and decide what to tell the foolish youngsters in the morning. Ideally they''d just get the hells out of Hillsdale.


    ***


    When Terra awoke in the morning, she felt surprisingly rested; she hadn''t slept that well since... leaving home, really. Was it because she had someone she trusted watching over her... or just that this inn actually had comfortable beds? Either way, she was a bit more on-board with the idea of remaining here for another night; even if she didn''t make some stupid wish, the sleep was amazing.


    When she stretched and sat up, she could hear... a babble of noise. "Nah-tah-lee-aaaa." "Nah-tah-lee-aaaa." The two women were speaking back and forth... Terra smiled. It had worked! "My name is Natalia. Goddess it feels good to say it!" The other woman sighed. "Serra. Seh-rah. Serra." She looked at the other, then down at the boy. "Kell." The boy gripped her leg tightly, still silent for now. "....can I come with you to Brendale?" "I can''t make any promises, but Kelson senior will undoubtedly be so happy his son is back he''ll be willing."


    Praxius glanced around at the group. He didn''t know any spells to ward off scrying. All he had were the sort of inherent powers a devil developed over time, as he grew in power, and practiced, honing them into a fine edge; and at the moment, he could really use something, anything, to speak with his granddaughter in private.


    Perhaps.... "We need to speak privately. Away from the women we rescued, and any outside ears. I would recommend the shrine to the goddess of darkness. I believe there is one on the western side of the village."


    Kylie would rise to her feet, shifting, her red curls an unusual fluffy mess at present. "What? Why not the goddess of light?"


    "I can''t explain until we get there, but I will not allow you to interact with that well further, even if I need to drag you away in chains, until we have this discussion."


    She frowned. "But... I''m in charge here... right?"


    "You told me you weren''t going to investigate the well. I warned you it was probably dangerous, and not worth our time. Either come with me to the shrine, or I load you onto the cart and drag you home."


    There was a sudden knock at the door; firm, but polite; Kylie looked a bit flustered, and glowered at Praxius. "..Fine. We''ll go to the shrine." She stepped up to the door, pulling it open...  to reveal one of the town guards, wearing the same sort of chainmail with the red lines threaded through it, and a club belted to his hip.


    "Hello there, milady. The contents of the cart have been sorted, and there''s a reward for you. I''ve also got a note from one of the local shopkeepers asking for one of your party members; didn''t mention the name, just that it was the man with the books. Something about research opportunities."


    He glanced around the room, his gaze settling on Praxius. "Am I supposed to give it to you, sir, or to her?" He was holding two objects; a piece of parchment, and a cloth bag that must hold at least a few dozen gold pieces. Kylie snatched the bag, practically glowering. "Ugh. Lets get some breakfast, and go to this shrine."


    When she glanced at the parchment; it simply contained directions to Fabled Sundries, and an invitation for ''the scholar''.


    Terra was a bit amused at all the hubbub. "Grampa wouldn''t want to go to the shrine without a good reason." She probably knew. The goddess of light was a goddess of truth. The goddess of darkness was one of secrets. Most such shrines were warded to protect one from scrying eyes; and even the ones that weren''t, the goddess herself frowned on spying on said shrines, and doing so was a poor idea.


    ***


    The shrine was... about as impressive as any middle-of-nowhere shrine. A carved statute of the Lady of the Black, facing to the west; circles of benches and seats, clearly abandoned now; even in major cities, there were rarely anyone in these shrines during daylight hours. Services started at dusk; and they rarely saw anyone beforehand.


    Still. It was a modest building, with all the windows heavily covered, and so dark inside that Kylie stumbled as she entered. Once they had crossed the threshold, Praxius came to a halt; and gave a bow. "Lady of Shadows, lady of  secrets. You are not my goddess, but I show my respect, before sharing secrets within your domain. May they remain there, enshrouded."


    Praxius looked up. The room seemed somehow darker. He felt... approval. He turned to the others. "The well was once a dungeon. An elf cleared it out, centuries ago, and now hides there. For whatever reason, he''s been slipping out at night and quietly granting requests to those he chooses to. I have no real idea as to why... but having watched the process, I can confirm he isn''t stealing souls, or names, or cursing the victims. All I do know... is that he''s powerful. Extremely so. He could obliterate me in moments, unless I took him by surprise."


    The group was quiet, as he relayed the events of the night before. The sleep spell; the potions; and the careful note-taking.


    Kylie gave a slow nod. "Well. That.... puts a new light on things. Perhaps he''s a researcher himself, using the locals as test subjects for his potions and concoctions?"


    Derek frowned, crossing his arms, absently fiddling with the golden logo of the Imperial Academy on his robes. "That... is possible. Its also possible he''s trying to slowly work his way into local mythology... bind himself to a land spirit."


    She blinked, and turned to her boyfriend. ".Bind himself to a land spirit?"


    Terra laughed. "That''s... Land spirits are just a sort-of... thing that exists over a forest, a region. If enough people and animals think of a place a certain way, it makes a land spirit. It lasts as long as people think of it that way, and over time it can influence the place, grow a mind and personality of its own. Honestly, there''s probably a simpler reason."


    The others turned to Terra. Praxius sighed. "I''ve been thinking it through for hours now, and no idea. What is this ''simple'' reason?"


    "For the same reason mom takes care of things around her village. She lives there, likes to help take care of things, keep the peace. Why can''t it just be that Hillsdale is his home, and he wants it to thrive and be a good place to live? And, well. Being an elf, he doesn''t want people to know he''s doing it, so he doesn''t get lynched."


    Praxius blinked, staring at his granddaughter. "...It couldn''t possibly be that simple. He''s an archmage! As strong as you could possibly be before your magic starts to leak out just walking down the street! People like that don''t just... try to make a community thrive!"


    Derek gave a low chuckle. "Well. Honestly, exactly that sort of attitude would mesh with my land spirit theory. And even more honestly, I''m more interested than ever in asking it for help with my research. A chance to get ideas from a century-old archmage? Who wouldn''t want that? This is going to be amazing!"

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 7: The Well, Part 3

    Kylie sighed, and put a hand on Derek''s shoulder. His boundless enthusiasm for knowledge was remarkable, wonderful, even, but if it wasn''t contained a bit it might just get him killed. "We should listen to the devil. You realize he''s also centuries old, right?"


    He seemed slightly downcast... and shrugged. "Okay. So we don''t go down and check out the well, or the dungeon anymore. Why don''t we just follow his rules. He didn''t hurt them, so if we just make wishes like normal folk, he won''t hurt us, right?"


    She glanced at the devil, then back at Derek. "We''re outsiders. Magically capable outsiders. If we vanished, the locals wouldn''t notice. Even those women are from a nearby town; we''re from a whole other country. Knowing that its not some magical force, but definitely an actual person, an elf, even, with his own motives... elves used to butcher humans. Harvest us, like cattle. If it weren''t for the regalia, they''d still be doing it today."


    She grimaced. What if he had already been taking people, and just re-writing memories. That dungeon under the well might contain hundreds of townsfolk, for all anyone knew. "...Maybe.... we should tell people. Do something about the well?"


    Praxius looked down at her. "I wouldn''t go after someone like that without a good solid null-magic shield. If you get strong enough to make one in the next year, I''ll help you take him down. Otherwise.... no. He''d kill me, you, the lot of us. The kind of spells someone of that level of power can cast would turn Hillsdale into a cinder in moments. If there''s any more last-minute purchases you need, make them. Otherwise, lets just head on to Brendale."


    Kylie nodded. "Yes, lets. We''ll load everyone up, and get moving."


    Derek frowned. "I was going around asking for help with the research, both about the well, and my own, yesterday. There was a message for me from one of them, that ''fabled sundries'' place. Can I stop by there first, meet you at the gate?"


    Praxius sighed. "How about this. I''ll accompany you to this shop. Everyone else, get the ladies, the boy, make any last purchases, and head for the gate." He turned to Derek. "We are not spending hours waiting for you to discuss magical theory. We''re in, we''re out, and we''re gone."


    ***


    Fabled Sundries sat next to the river; an isolated shop, across the street from the last full row of houses and shops that made up Hillsdale; not a bad position; a straight shot from here to the gate. Derek gave a nod, and looked back at the irate devil following him; as he opened the door, stepping inside.


    After he stepped in, the first thing he saw was an older gentleman; a quick scan showed him as level 9, and he looked to be a half-elf; so well over a century old, wearing some dusty but well-kept grey leather; and further back in the shop, a much younger one he only briefly caught a glimpse of; before the old man shut the door, and stepped up to the counter.


    Derek glanced around the shop, and blinked. This... shouldn''t exist here. The lamplight flickered for a moment, as Praxius stepped in, but it didn''t distract Derek from the fact that virtually every item he looked at had a magical aura. None significant; these trinkets likely all did things like starting campfires or cleaning rugs. But unless you were exceptionally powerful, creating magical items was a drawn-out, challenging process; if Derek wanted to make one of these... ''Enchanted Ice Box'' objects on the shelf beside him... it would take a month, meticulous casting.


    He opened it for a moment; and sure enough, the inside was chilled. Perfect for preserving food on the road. He turned back to the shopkeeper... who was staring at Praxius. Level 9... it would take the shopkeeper a week to make something like this. Who were his clients? How did this place stay open?


    "I... got your message. You heard about my research?"


    He glanced back at Praxius. He knew the devil was at least level 10, but he couldn''t pinpoint it. People of this level were rare in small towns like this. He could probably feel the devil''s power... and his nature.


    The half-elf glanced back at Derek. "Interesting company you keep, young scholar. That''s got to be the strongest chain-devil I''ve ever seen... and I''ve seen a few. Contracted work?"


    Derek shrugged. "Not my contract, but yes. He''s got to keep me and my g... and the lady Eastwatch safe on our journey, if possible."


    He seemed to relax a bit. "Well. Strange, but understandable. I am, of course, Fabius... and this is Fabled Sundries. I''ve heard from a few friends you were a magic researcher, trying to learn how to harness the powers of magical creatures... and to learn more about the well. I actually asked the well for help with that myself, long ago. Magic, that is."


    Derek smiled. "Amazing! I wanted to wish for some help with my research, but my companions want to get a move on. We''ve got a couple of kidnap victims to return to Brendale."


    Praxius coughed. "And we don''t have forever here, either."


    Derek rolled his eyes. "So you sent for me. Mind if I ask why? Did you have something I could buy that might help?"


    "To an extent, yes. The well seems to operate on a path of least resistance sort of method. If someone wishes something, and it wants to grant it to them, it picks the easiest possible route. Which for folks wishing to live longer, a remarkably common wish, means transforming them into part elf. After studying dozens of the people its changed over the years, I''ve got an elixir that, I believe, combined with a bit of the other species, will help change you partway into that other race. I don''t have any samples of exotic races around here; but I was able to use it on a dog with... interesting results. Its like a baby human, but with dog-ears. Cute, but disturbing."


    Derek practically started drooling at the idea. This could make some of his own research trivial! "Amazing! That''s... how much do you want for it?"


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    He smiled. "When I heard what you wanted, I had my son start copying my notes. I''ll give you the notes, and a few samples, for five hundred gold."


    That.... was a more than fair amount of money. A tiny fraction of what this was worth. "Of course! I''d gladly take that! Thank you so much, for your generosity!" Derek practically ran forward to the counter, and started setting down both the more valuable, platinum coins; and when he only had 45 of them, a handful of gold to make up the difference.


    The old half-elf leaned back, and shouted something at the door.. and a bundle was handed to him. A pouch, sitting on top of a book; fresh, clean, brand-new, it smelled strongly of fresh ink. Derek lifted the book, looking at it for a moment... and extended his hand. The shopkeeper studied it for a moment; and took his hand, shaking it firmly. "Always a pleasure to help a fellow researcher. I''d appreciate... and be willing to pay for... whatever you learn based on this. My own research has been a bit stunted of late, I seem to have hit a wall."


    The elixirs, the book... Derek wasn''t certain which was more valuable. "I''ll likely be heading back to the academy, at least briefly, after this, and doing a term of service with the Imperial military. But of course. Its great to talk to someone who isn''t focused on necromancy or combat magic." He looked down at the book again. If only he could spend more time here, talk to the shopkeep. Of course he wouldn''t be the only one wanting to study the well; the very idea was absurd. But...


    He glanced back at Praxius. "I''ll see you another time, sir." He turned, heading back to the door, and slid it open, heading off for the gate, and a rendezvous with the others.


    Praxius glanced back at the departing mage, then at Fabius. "Appreciated. I don''t know what you''re doing here, or why. But you''ve done nothing to interfere with my dealings, and I''ll do nothing to interfere with yours. Just remember that not all creatures are affected by sleep spells, the next time you go out at night."


    The shopkeeper stared into the devil''s eyes for a moment. For just an instant, a flicker of the true, golden color of the elf''s eyes manifested. "You wouldn''t believe me if I told you. My interest in the boy''s research is genuine. I would appreciate it if you ensured he survived. He has more potential than I did, at his age."


    The devil held the door for a moment. "..How much would you appreciate it?" He didn''t really care about the boy. The family wanted him protected, but the contract-holder was the eastwatch girl. Well. Sub-contract. Such a tangled mess, because he needed excuses to come here to protect his family. But if an archmage cared about something, the kind of help he could provide...


    "Not enough to sign a contract. But.... enough to tell you that I''m not the only one experimenting around here. Someone knows the kingdom doesn''t keep good track of this region, and if a town is peaceful and calm enough, its been getting involved. Adventuring parties have been going missing. I can protect Hillsdale. On the plus side, you and I are likely the two most dangerous things in the region, so if you stay close to them, they should be fine."


    Praxius gave a short nod. "I planned on it anyway." He shut the door firmly behind him, and headed for the gate. No way he would believe an elf. If there were experiments wandering around, it was probably the archmage doing it. Still. That meant there were likely more things out there worth hunting. Hopefully nothing too dangerous for the whelps.


    ***


    Terra stayed well ahead of the cart; she''d started copying her father over an hour ago, and walking rather than riding; claiming it was to help build up her stamina, rather than just riding along while Kylie and Derek went on about research, going over the book, and the elixir.... and the two rescuees blathered on about gossip,  about the nearby towns, about the men they knew, their hopes for Brendale...


    When they were mute, it was easy to forget the women existed. They had huddled together, cowered when anyone approached, and generally kept to themselves. The elf seemed to have healed both their bodies, and their spirits; they were so much happier and calmer than before that it seemed infectious, with everyone but Terra and her grandfather seeming to perk up as the trip went on. The constant talking... was annoying.


    She watched the chain-devil as he kept a steady pace, surveying the forest to either side, and wondered. What had grandmother been like? What kind of woman would marry a devil? Her mother''s books warned that Kytons has habits most other devils lacked, like tendencies to care about families and relationships, because unlike most, they were an actual, distinct, species; the tormentors and enforcers of their region of hell, actually born and raised rather than simply elevated from the status of a lesser devil like their kin.


    Her mother called herself a witch; using all sorts of magic to defend their home, with a special fondness for her legion of animate plants and trees. How much of her power was from the devil side, and how much from whatever grandmother was? She was rarely spoken of. Perhaps...


    She picked up the pace. It took a few minutes of half-jogging before she was side by side with her grandfather, slowly eating up the miles towards Brendale.


    "I... was wondering if you would be willing to tell me about my grandmother. How you two met, and ended up together?"


    Praxius glanced over at her... then resumed his measured pace; examining a stretch of forest to the right... examining a stretch to the left... following a meticulous pattern he''d worked out centuries ago that caught most... but not all... probably ambushers. "You don''t want to hear most of it. I suspect you don''t want to hear about the sex lives of your grandparents. Initially all we shared was mutual attraction, and a love of killing demons. Didn''t really intend anything long-term, at first."


    "...Sorry for the side-track there. But why do devils hate demons so much? Mom said they''ve been at war for as long as they''ve both existed... I know devils are supposed to be just as evil and all that, but the Empire barely even mentions that, just focuses on the sheer mass of those irritating spider-demons your people butchered."


    A slow nod. "When a soul dies, it moves on to its final reward. For those souls that weren''t good in life, they go on to both the hells, and the pits. The ones that show up in the hells were the ones who were more... organized. The ones who lived by codes, who followed laws, who had some respect for hierarchy. The pits... are all the rest. Most souls go to the pits, by a huge margin, unfortunately; and if the world is filled with chaos, it gets worse. You mortals tend to only follow laws when threatened with violence, arrest. Devils are made from the souls who typically wouldn''t break them regardless... though we''ll gladly bend and twist them whichever ways to get what we want."


    He gave a slow whistle. "In the pits, soul eats soul, they fight and butcher each other, getting stronger with time; and as they get stronger, they start to develop intelligence... but still never change their innate nature. While devils want a rigid, structured society, both in the afterlife, and here among mortals... demons just want to eat, consume, grow stronger. They outnumber us, and you mortals, by a vast margin.. more of their kind of souls arrive in the pits every passing moment... and if unchecked, would simply swarm over everything, devouring it all."


    "So. If the devils were ever to somehow win... we''d establish order, both here and there, and destroy the demon''s souls as they arrived in the pits. It would be an eternity of peace and order beneath our heels. If the demons win... it''s done. They''ll consume and destroy each other til only two demons are left, and then one will eat the other... and a single demon will be all that lives, until it finally grows so bored with it that it consumes itself."


    "...I can see why the Empire prefers the devils then."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 8: Brendale, The Cave

    To say Brendale and Hillsdale were different would be a dramatic understatement. No vibrant red paint here; no wall at all, in fact, they seemed to have gone for a canal/moat, effectively turning the whole town into an island, with a clearly manmade waterway splitting off from the river it was built up against. The buildings didn''t follow any uniform theme either. simple rock structures, thatch huts, wooden buildings; to Praxius, it was an offense to the senses. Chaotic. Abysmal.


    As the party approached the town, Natalia and Kel; ''Kelson Bren Junior''; leapt from the cart, sprinting forward, shouting... and the guard standing at the bridge over the canal seemed outright shocked... and just watched them run by him, heading for the center of town. Praxius shook his head, and glanced back at the other rescuee, Serra, before resuming his steady march... and coming to a halt at the gate. The guard; wearing a simple chainmail suit that seemed popular in this region; nodded at the group.


    "If''n you''re just here for the reward, you can wait, and Mayor Kelson will be out shortly. He might throw in a few extra for Natalia..." He glanced back at the town behind him, then to the group. "I always thought he fancied her. "If not, you can head on into town."


    Praxius sighed. "Collecting the reward and moving on, yes." We collected a listing of bounties in Hillsdale. Have one that''s a bit odd for the next town down the road, ''Rockdale'', but there were two for this area; a farmer had a bipedal monster, maybe a goblin, steel a sheep, and thought he saw more, and something about a cave eating people."


    "Ahhh, yeah. Ohgram''s had six more sheep vanish this past month. Haven''t seen a goblin in these parts in a long, long time, but there always seems to be something out there, and who knows... the cave might be related. After Johnny vanished going in there, nothing''s come out; including a dog who was tracking him, and a few birds. We''ve left it alone ever since. The board''s at the town hall; thats where the mayor will be, so might as well head on in and collect before you go hunting."


    Praxius looked down the town''s streets to the tall wooden structure, covered in faded grey paint, that likely served as the town hall. He grimaced. Hopefully he could get them to just move on, hunt whatever these creatures were, rather than another full day hanging out in a village.


    ***


    Fortunately, it wasn''t drawn-out, or complicated. There were hugs; laughter. Enthusiastic greetings, from father to son; a paying out of a reward for the boy''s safe return; and an offer of a steep discount; less than the reward, even; for a plot of land inside the moat, as well as a free stay at the only tavern in town. Praxius seriously considered the offer for a few; technically, if he owned the land, he could claim it as a domain of hell, and summon other devils there freely. But... the mayor likely didn''t actually have the sort of authority to grant true ownership that way by their laws. Inside most of the Kingdom, the local Baron technically owned the land; fortunately not all of it was like that, or his daughter would have had some issues. But then... ''Mayor'' was an elected position, and they didn''t do much of that here.


    He''d postponed the offer; he could review exactly where the mayor''s authority started and ended and come back later; and the group had set out once more, on a hopefully much shorter journey; to a nearby forest supposedly infested with some sort of small, goblin-like, humanoids, and a man/dog/bird-eating cave. He was walking beside the cart, close enough to speak with the youngsters... and Parkins... as he went through the possibilities.


    "So. We''re most likely looking at one of three situations. The first... the farmer was mistaken, and the locals are just paranoid. We''ll end up killing some demon-cursed wolves or some other beastie and be done with it. After we reach the cave, if we find bits of dead sheep and some of them... the whole thing is done."


    He glanced at the forest; and at the wide open, cleared-out patch that made up the farm. No farm worth anything was run by just one man; either it''d be a large family, or multiple smaller ones together; and they could check things out after they hit the cave up.


    "The second is that the ''cave'' is actually the entrance to a warren of some nasty little humanoid critter. Goblins, kobolds, there''s a dozen sorts, and not a one has been seen around here for a long time. If we''re lucky, its a small one like the last one, and we can clear it the same way."


    He sighed. "And the third... is that the two are unrelated. We''ve got bandits or something else stealing sheep, and a monster in a cave, or even just a cave filled with some toxic gas. We''ll have to go back to the farm and track whatever took the sheep. Hopefully its the second; clearing out a few dozen more goblins would help make up for lost time."


    The bounty paper for the cave had a rough map; using the farm as a guideline, he figured roughly where the cave was... and of course, they ended up leaving the cart behind a quarter mile away, with Parkins settled back; the old man had a crossbow, just in case, but was likely doomed in the event of a serious attack; one of the various reasons Praxius had disliked the idea of taking the cart, or him, along.


    ***


    Kylie glanced up at the man as Derek and Terra stretched their legs, getting themselves ready, and let out a sigh. "Well, sir. I''m sorry for dragging you out in the middle of nowhere for this nonsense. You be fine without us for a few?"


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    He gave a low chuckle. "The fresh air does me some good. I certainly prefer this over the old Eastwatch house, and, well. Its not like I have anything to do til the new one is built. It''s a nice vacation. I''ll wait til I see you on the way back before I start cooking, but I''ll go ahead and make a fire."


    A brief nod. Kylie looked at the others, and when the devil started marching off towards the probably cave site, she practically skipped to catch up. She''d... well. She''d enjoyed crushing those goblins. She''d been warned before about fear, panic, all the responses a fight would bring... but it was exhilarating. She wanted more.


    The forest started to grow oddly quiet as they approached the cave mouth; the trees still looked perfectly fine, but the ever-present noise of insects and birds chirping was only made obvious by its absence as they peered into the darkness... and stopped around an entrance.


    It didn''t look like a goblin warren; too big, a bear could fit through this thing... and was a more likely case than a goblin. Could she... fight a bear? Would she win? She... honestly wanted to try, even if it sounded like a terrible idea.


    The smell by the entrance was terrible. A mass of rot and decay, something worse than anything she''d ever dealt with; even with excitement pumping through her veins this was... awful. She hesitated, and glanced at the devil.


    He shook his head, slowly. "Wonderful. More than just a sheep and a solo farmer had died here. And they weren''t eaten, either; this isn''t what I expected. Between the smell and the filth I''m hesitant to go in there; we should see if we can draw whatever it is out. Priestess, if you can try some light; and if that doesn''t work, the boy can go with a summoned beastie."


    Terra frowned. "You don''t want me to smoke the place out?"


    "That spell takes quite a bit out of you; and you don''t seem able to do much else while its on. You might be wanting to apply some fire instead; we should see, we don''t know what''s in there."


    Kylie looked around on the ground for a few moments before picking up a fist-sized rock. She focused on it. "Lady goddess, please shine your light to reveal the truth of this world." She focused on the stone... and closed her eyes as it became vibrantly, vividly bright... and hurled it into the cave. Beforehand, only the devil could see clearly. But now...


    There were piles of rotting, decaying flesh, masses of mushrooms; a humanoid figure, probably the farmer. Sheep, in various states of decay. A few wolves, a dog, birds, snakes... it was as if something was killing things and dumping them into the cave, then just leaving them to rot.


    There was no response to the light; Kylie frowned. The cave was deep, hundreds of feet, at least. She sincerely hoped they didn''t have to go stomping through that mess into the smell... but the devil would likely make them do just that if the creature that did this didn''t come to them.


    The devil called out. "No response to the light. Derek, you''re up. Whatever it is, it drags the things here, so it wants them for something; summon something that can drag the bodies out."


    A nod. The boy studied the cave for a moment, and then started casting his spell; he placed one hand on his head as he chanted, focusing on a spot on the ground; and then an audible pop. A creature appeared that looked like a giant, man-sized crab; only with a blue shell, crackling with electricity. He pointed at the cave. "Start with the human, grab corpses, drag them out into the daylight."


    The crab gave a subtle bob of its carapace before tromping into the gave; grabbing a human corpse with both claws; and starting to drag it out. By the time the body reached the cave entrance, they could hear a faint groaning coming from inside the cave.


    Kylie saw the devil nod again. "That seems to have done it. We''ve got its attention. Everyone prepare something to hit it with; your best shot, whatever it might be. No idea what exactly we''ve got coming out here."


    The crab deposited the corpse in the daylight, and turned, starting back towards the corpse pile... when something emerged into the light shone by Kylie''s rock... some sort of blob-like creature?


    No... it was a giant fungal mass; rotting flesh and bones bound together by some sort of grey-green fungus. The thing was a horror that was difficult to describe, and the smell was just awful as it slowly crawled forward; limbs whose bones had likely belonged to deer, bears, and a variety of other forest creatures, now held together by fungal strands as it moved for the entrance.


    She lifted her flail, ready to move forward. Praxius glanced at her, and held up an arm to block her path.


    "No. This thing is too slow to catch a human, or a sheep. Either it has something to use at a distance, or there''s other, smaller, faster ones. Boy, have the crab go first. Lets see what it does. Then I''ll try to chain it down so you can all blast it."


    Kylie turned to the creature; and when the crab charged forward, its claws sparking, arcs of lighting running from its flesh into the monster as it chopped at the numerous rotting limbs... it managed to sever four or five of the limbs... and then the monster grabbed hold of it, pulling the summoned beast into its mass even as it kept tearing at and shocking the thing. It let out a shriek... and the corpses started to rise.


    Kylie backed away a step in fear as she saw... wolves with fungal blooms growing from skulls. Tiny monstrosities made of a bird and a squirrel whose bodies were joined in decay. And worse... the smaller ones were faster; while most of them stayed in the cave, just gathering, watching for now, seemingly letting the invaders flee if they chose to, a few would fly out, trying to snatch She flicked out; the flail crushing one not much bigger than her head, sending bits of matter splattering across the rocks. "..Do we... do we back off?"


    Derek stepped up to her side, hands raised. "It looks scary. But its only level five, or six at the most, and none of the small ones are a real threat unless we let them swarm us. The devil could handle it himself. If we work together, maybe we won''t need him." Kylie saw him glancing at Terra, and the two shared a glance.


    The devil studied the trio. "If you want to try it without my help, I''ll let you; you don''t just need the power you''ll get from wiping these things out, but some real combat experience. But this thing is dangerous. I''ll have my chains out and ready to grab at a moment''s notice."


    Kylie nodded, and braced herself. "I''m in. You two?"


    Terra smiled at her. "We planned this out. The stupid thing''s even giving us time to get ready. Hells yes."


    Kylie caught a grin on Derek''s face; and he''d already begun a new spell; likely summoning a replacement for the crab that had just vanished after being crushed. Time to see what this horrific monster was made of. Aside from, well. Everything.