Galen Vesa

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Count to ten. Then... It doesn’t work. Darn it, they never tell you what to do when the basic tricks stop working. Perhaps I should stop as well and rest?

*What troubles you now dolt? *

“Erta, I think I'm seeing things. “

Streams of tiny flickering dots rushed through the corridor, following the flow of silvery, ambient mana. Like dust in the wind, these swirled and splashed against everything. Tiny little lights shining within darkness of this passage.

*Those are spirits not things. *

Oh.

“So, these are real?”

*No less real than me or you, although, you should not see them. Those eyes you got; they do rival my own. Perhaps are even better. It takes years of training and some inborn abilities to see the flow of ambient mana. For you to be able to see it without any guidance… perhaps there is more to my dolt than he thinks of himself. *

I put my palm into the stream of mana and watch the spirits bounce off my palm. I could feel the current pulling at my fingers and the energy being drawn in by my inner forest. What the heck was that dryad doing in there anyway?

“This feels different. Kind of, empty. Is it normal for mana to act like this?”

*Ambient mana is empty. It is devoid of any impurities and most of the time not concentrated enough for one to sense it however, once more you are correct. This place is unusual. Ambient mana should not be this concentrated nor should we witness streams of it. Something in here is disrupting natural flow mana. Like water flowing down a ravine, it is pulled in somewhere. *

“An artifact?”

*Yes, a good guess. Although not one but many. More than a hundred. Since you asked your spirit compass to show us the way to the surface and find any relics along it, it has been guiding us towards the source of this stream. Perhaps source is not the best name, the place that is sucking up all this mana. *

“And you are telling me this now? Roomie, had we not had a talk about, stopping the dolt if he goes somewhere funny?”

*I sense no malice in there and I believe it is one of the spots we are to cleanse or empty of whatever awaits there. Besides, spirits avoid places of death. The pain of dying creatures make mana… taste bad. *

Again with weird stuff.

“So, you’re saying it’s safe because a bunch of floating glowing thingies goes that way?”

*In dolt terms, Yes. *

And I am the crazy one? Eh, life was simpler when all I had to do was be on time for my nine to five job.

“So,”

My boots kept on sending echoes throughout the empty corridors.

“What are we gonna do when we get there?”

*That my dolt, depends on what we may find there. For all I can guess, there might be a box of enchanted teacups waiting for you. *

“Well, that’s reassuring. Kind of. What if we find something more sinister?”

*A gun kills by the will or neglect of its wielder, not because it is a gun. Whatever tool may rest there, it is only a tool. If it were something cursed, we would have felt that long ago. Cursed items have a way of announcing their presence. With your current senses, I do not think it possible for you to come anywhere near such an item. It reeks no less than a blarg but unlike with a blarg, you feel that stench with your entire body. *

Out of the corridor, I came into a room or perhaps a chapel if I were to consider all those odd mosaics covering the walls and the crumpled remains of some statues. Idols of the forgotten past? Whatever the original use of this place was, it also served as an intersection between four paths, one of which brought me here. To my left, that route began a steep climb, to my left it seemed to continue along the same floor and across me, stairs sunk into the bowels of earth.

But my ring did not point at any of those paths rather, it guided me straight into the left corner where, nested between two imposing figures, a gate awaited me.

“This is it, I guess?”

*Yes.*

I did not need that confirmation. The river of ambient mana rushed at this gate and squeezed in through every possible nook and cranny.

“Now what?”

As with everything else in this place, the gate seemed to be made from magic resistant iron and I had no desire to blast through it like last time.

*Ask that whining puppy to open it for you. *

Libhro? Can you open this?

A new round of giddiness exploded at the back of my mind but at the same time, the gate moved aside with a groan of rusted hinges while Libhro chirped in ecstasy. To be of use after so many years, to have people once again strolling through her streets. She did not like the new bunch, digging holes everywhere in her walls but at least she was no longer lonely.

“Hey roomie, what is she anyway? Libhro I mean. “

*A magical construct, an artificial soul locked inside a crystal core. Something like that doll we met on the ship. *

“An artificial soul. That sounds like a whole lot of issues ready to explode in your face.”

*Explode it did. Humans did wage several wars over that matter. One even wiped out an entire empire. That is what you get when you mix religion, politics, and magic. One big mess I took no part in. Like most dragons I went into hiding, hoping to sleep it off. Some even believed humans and elves might render themselves extinct. But enough of it, that was five hundred years I took no part in. The best nap I had in years. People were too busy killing each other to bother me in my cave up on a mountain. *

*Are you going in or not? There is no one there, we are alone in here. *

I stood frozen before the open gate, my body shivering in anticipation or fear. Why? My hands, I had to squeeze them tight against my chest to stop those tremors.

“This is not normal…”

On the other hand, what was? Me? This place? Dorothy? What am I even doing here? A place where death can be seen a lesser of two evils.

“I can hear them… They scream… People… children… they forced them… into those chambers…”

There were memories etched by mana into those stones. Those tiny lights… Parts of souls scattered all over this labyrinth, wailing.

“This was a mistake we came here; this is a cursed place.”

As this river of souls flown around me, a memory flashed into my mind. A young and beautiful woman, her soul ripped apart, her body offered as a sacrifice to the highest bidder. Some rich wrinkled matron paid to have that girl killed and took over her body…

Shattered… discarded… they were all still here, locked in this endless flow. Had I had anything in my stomach I would retch, so repulsive it felt. Here where old artefacts concentrated enough mana for those spirits to thrive, all those victims gathered.

*Galen do not trouble yourself with what you have no control over. We cannot help them. *

Couldn’t we? I looked at my wrist, at the dull metal band stuck there.

I started my song. It wished to be sang.

***

I had lived through quite a lot in my lousy life. Most of it is not worth mentioning, some of it not even real. But I had never been touched by anything or moved to the point of giving a damn. Until now.

Now, all I could do, all I wished to do, was to listen. Stand there and listen.

My lantern unwound itself and floated beside me, my left hand wrapped tightly around its shaft. I could feel the energy pulsing through it, matching the melody coming from my lips. For even though, these were my lips that moved, and my chest that swayed with each verse, it was not I that sang.

No.

I could never hold a tune so clear, a song so gripping that my eyes teared. No, I could not. Never.

This time, my Guilt sang, and I had never heard her voice before.

And the souls heard too. In that dark and cursed place, fragments began to gather and join, becoming whole again. People, ranks upon ranks of people marched before me, smiling. One by one they came and touched upon the light, wrap their fingers around my lantern and vanish leaving me with a memory of their life. Beggars, whores, thieves, soldiers, guards, slaves and noblemen. All made equal in death, all equally wronged. One by one I saw the days flow as the city grew and filled with people. I witnessed with my own eyes what the legend got wrong. Libhro, the city of love.

While the undying did come here more often than anywhere else, they did not build it. What use would a spirit of time have for a stone set in time and forgotten? No, these tunnels were cut and shaped by human hands for the mad lords of Ir.

Many came to this port seeking love yet almost all found death and madness. Tricked out of their own flesh, those shattered souls were made into immortal dolls and sold as tools for the warring empires. Thousands upon thousands were slain here while the handsome or of uncommon beauty were sold as mere sleeves, to be worn by mad lords carving the pleasures of young flesh.

Such vile deeds were not easily forgotten, many came to loath their ways, many more burned with jealousy of forbidden knowledge. The secret of escaping death, that knowledge enticed many enemies.

More and more powerful and disgusting weapons were made. Saboteurs with fractured cores, sent to die among the enemy and blast away entire cities. Paladins with reforged cores, their power beyond anything mortals could fathom. And the blight that ate life out of the living.

Libhro was a witness to all those sins. A testament of power that should never awake.

A young girl held my lantern with hope and sadness in her eyes. It would not work no matter how hard she tried; a part of her soul still chained somewhere inside this city kept her beyond the light’s reach... The presence at the back of my mind shuddered with pain and unexpressed longing.

Libhro?

She shook her head with disgust, her lips moved but I heard no name.

We will find you.

I’ve sworn, swayed by my Guilt’s song. She did not smile, but a shine of hope entered her eyes as she moved away and let others pass. One by one, their pain became mine. Their worry marred my forehead, their memories flashed before my eyes. And I was them, with them, for them. Slicing into the moment of their death to keep company to those lonely souls that day after day thrived in that final misery until the light came to greet them. I held crying people in my arms, helped get up those that lost faith in their own strength and held the arm of those that were too scared to move on.

All while the Guilt sang.

Suddenly the rows of souls opened, letting a young man pass. Tall, handsome, he had such a warm eyes and confident step.

She sent you, huh?

His hand reached for my neck and pulled, ripping away the chain with the fox shaped gem I forgot I had on me, it burned away in his palm.

Tell her she was wrong, and I was right.

He winked at me.

As a payment for that favor, you can take that.

A tiny ball of light left his palm and entered my chest, it felt as if my whole body sneezed. Even Guilt paused her song to steady herself. Memories. A whole life worth of painstakingly cultivated skills. Hours upon hours of training, honing his craft to perfection. A boy of the street that reached for his dream. A cook, master of the palace kitchens, a hero…?

The memory cut abruptly, barring me from whatever made him ascend to that despicable title.

Laughing, the young man grabbed my lantern and left in a flash of light. Whoever he was or whatever he did, I never had a chance to ask or learn, others waited their turn and I wished not to prolong their pain.

And time moved on.

I have no way of knowing how long Guilt sang but even with the water’s ring blessing, my throat felt raw and my voice would not come out anymore. With less than a tenth of my mana remaining I slumped against my staff and closed my eyes, panting. Large beads of sweat splashed against moist ground around me, a remainder of what this body went through. So many…

My body still held the glow of enormous mana exertion and heat coming of me made the chapel’s air sway. The half-cooked lizard groaned something inside me. With our minds linked, she shared in my torment, she witnessed all that I saw and she balked at the pain so familiar to her own.

Yet, I did not faint.

Odd in itself, this new body held while my new core experienced no strain. From what I sensed; it could handle even more.

With its part done, the lantern folded and again wrapped itself around my wrist. Robbed of its support, my body fell forward, hugging the ancient pavement with my face. It cracked. The pavement I mean. Unplucking my nose from the hole it made, I rolled to my back and stayed there. My body sucking mana no less greedily than the artefacts hidden in the next chamber.

Cora? Still with us?

Yes.

That sounded almost like “Unfortunately”.

Can you go check that room? I Think I’m going to stay here for a while…

My limbs weren’t thrilled for the prospect of moving in any near future. Nether was I.

Since you insist, master.

Why did it sound like an insult in her lips? Eh.

I felt a tug on my mana and her naked body appeared above me. First time I saw her do so. Blue tendrils of mana rose from me and formed her shape, then it solidified into a perfect copy of my own flesh with only her face different from mine. Unbothered by my stare, the dryad got up and went scouting ahead while I focused on what I did best, staying still and staring at the ceiling.

Illuminated by the shine of my own body, ceramic constellations of colors and shapes formed a spectacle for one to behold. An epic battle of sorts raged in the canopy above me, ships tossing fireballs from every side at a fortified island. Hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers stormed the impregnable fortress whose defenders slain everyone who dared to approach. Mages on the walls tossing spells at the oncoming waves of assailants. Pots of boiling tar were dumped at the climbing mercenaries; ladders were pushed away by forks and spears. People of all kind of races fought and died. Yet, the fortress stood defiant. Unconquered, never beaten, that was the message this city proclaimed to all that saw this work of art. Was it true? I do not know, none of the memories I received showed a definite end of this place or its lords.

“There’s an armory.”

Pellicora came back with a bored face.

“No traps. I’m cold. Give me some of my cloths.”

Easier said than done.

“… inside… ring.”

Nope, my throat started bleeding after just those two words. With a theatrical sigh and a snide comment about what a useless master I am, she rolled me to my side so I wouldn’t choke with my own blood.

“Let me in.”

She knelt beside me and held my palm. An intriguing idea but I was not supposed to bring living beings inside that space.

“That is not my true body. Worst case you lose some mana.”

Oh. If that’s your thing.

I closed my eyes and sunk into the ring where Earth’s daughters awaited me. Cora’s body stood stiff for a moment then her eyes opened, and she let go of my palm.

“This is… quite far.”

An intruder? How? Impossible!

“No. She is my servant.”

I cut in before the spirits could attack. Thankfully, in this space my voice worked.

“Can you hook her up to whatever it is that allows me to come here? Let her come and go as she needs? I am more than happy to cover that in a contract with the Queen.”

That is not necessary. Mother agrees. She may come and go as she please.

“Convey my thanks. Cora, grab what you need I’ll wait outside.”

My body lost its shine when I opened my eyes. The floor under me seemed a little bit melted. Just a little bit. Nothing of the kind that happened back in that chamber but still, the amount of mana my lantern burned seemed scary. Only the spirit queens could rival that output although, what seemed even scarier, I already recovered about half of my total mana. With my new core and that forest Pellicora made, I’ll be back to full capacity in no time. I think. Would be easier to tell if I knew my full capacity. No such luck.

At least I still have underwear so, an improvement I say? And it doesn’t hurt. Yet I still feel like a scrambled fried egg and I think I ruined my throat but, hey, cold been worse.

Pellicora arrived outside, dressed in her maid uniform. She even did her hair… wait, that is not a hairdo, she had a haircut. How on Earth did she do that?

“These were too long. Annoying. What do you want me to do now? “

Her newest bob cut made her look even lovelier than before and indeed, seemed more practical. Wish I could do something like that. No luck there, my hairs would regrow no matter how I cut them.

“…”

I opened my mouth and closed it before making a sound. I could still feel mana swirling around my neck.

Go back inside that armory and clean it out. If it screams magic at you, take it. If it’s not bolted to the floor, take it. If it’s bolted to the floor, take it as well. We are stripping that room to bare walls and floor. Nothing should remain.

“By we, you mean me, master?”

Her foot poked my behind, my body had no desire to move.

Well, yes? Please?

“Understood.”

Ah, never thought that having someone read your mind could be this convenient.

Stepping over me, she went back into the armory and began emptying the place. Eh, one of these days I’ll have to give her a speech on importance of underwear for a lady.

Now, where the heck is my lizard? Erta? Roomie? Did the lantern really cook her? Only one way to find out. So, I sunk into myself, landing underneath the tree of life. If I were to risk a guess it grew again but I did not want to think about that. My purpose here, hid somewhere among the other trees. Perhaps hid is not the best word. Erta in her dragon form stood out like a sore thumb among the overturned trees. Or her back did. Coiled into a tight ball she hid her face underneath her tail. Meandering among the roots of the mana forest I reached her resting place and pat her side. Not that it had any effect. Her scales were too thick for that wimpy gesture to register. Well, it’s the thought that counts. Circling around the mountain that her body was, I found a little stream trickling from beneath her wing, so conspicuously placed as to block my view. Eh. Using both my hands and legs, I wedge myself underneath the wing’s membrane and came face to face with her Eye. Leaking dragon’s eye. Tears.

“No matter how well you block your feelings I am not blind. I can see you’re crying. Care to share some of that burden with your untactful dolt? I’ll even let you chew on me?”

*…tempting. *

The eye opened a bit, her magnificent blue iris focusing on me.

*But I doubt you taste any good. *

Her sigh sent a tornado kicking up several dust devils made of fallen leaves. Instead of getting chewed, I moved closer to the top of her nose, there I knew her body could pick up my warmth. Well if I had any warmth in this place. We still had no ide how this space worked.

*They… reminded me of the village I lived in. None of the villagers knew yet all of them died because of me. So many souls… perhaps we could go there one day? None of them had a proper burial, their souls might still be trapped there… *

“If you wish. I have no place in this world. Well, maybe aside from a desire to bake a souffle but that’s probably a side effect of the gift we got from that soul. After we deal with our current predicament, we can go wherever you wish. I had my taste of people out here and I don’t yearn for such company also I don’t want to cause any more trouble for the wolf and her guild.”

*Thank you. *

Erta moved, coiling herself even tighter, her tail squashed me against the side of her muzzle and at the same time she released her control of her mind. Her feelings flooded me with a river of pain. Somewhat, a very familiar pain.

“I do not wish to intrude upon your love affairs master, but I have finished. “

Cora’s voice broke the silence and at the same time I felt it rubbed my lizard in a wrong way. Very wrong way.

*Then go and hug a tree or something. We are busy. *

Huh?

*I still owe you a beating and, now that I think of it, chewing something always relaxed me. *

“Perhaps I should go now, there are still more places to…”

I tried to wiggle away but Erta’s maw opened and I witnessed the splendor of a very, very shiny and sharp looking fangs.

Her head moved faster than I could ever move.

Oh dear.

Well, now I know what it feels like to be chewed on by a dragon. Ten out of ten, never again, don’t recommend.

*Do not dramatize. That was but a gentle lick. I did not bite that hard. *

I had to stop and take a deep breath. A gentle lick she says.

“One more word and there will be no more hugs for you, you dolt eating lizard.”

*Who would want to eat something like you? As I thought, you taste horrible. *

“Why, thanks… “

One more horror inducing memory to forget and at the same time, Fear just won’t stop screaming. Splendid.

Can someone gag him or something already?

Panic, panicked and shoved her sock into his mouth. Well, it worked. Thanks.

“You knew I was joking when I said I'll let you chew on me.”

*Maybe. *

“That’s no reason to tease poor dolt. I can still feel your saliva… all over… that is soo…”

*Enough already. Mind where you going. *

“I am. We are still roughly under the dock. We must get to the surface and climb into the main city area before we could go looking for more of those artefacts. You should know there is no direct way from here into the city. Part of the reason why this place was so hard to invade, only one road in and out. “

*I would not trust too much in those memories. After so many years of misery how can you be sure they are accurate or if they were not meant to mislead us? *

“We can’t but the compass is pointing in roughly the same direction and you can't detect anything else out here so, the faster we get out of here the better. Besides, you felt what I did, there was no malice in them, just pain.”

Loads and loads of pain. This place should be blasted away with a nuke for all they did here. Never again. If I can do at least that much…

“Libhro, collapse or at least flood this place after we get out. No one else should ever enter it.”

Like a good puppy the city confirmed. An artificial soul… artificial my ass. Those were all living people before they were crushed and splintered then stuffed in mana cores to power various magical gizmos. Not even in my wildest horrors I saw such cruelty.

*There are people within my range. We are approaching them. Your friends from the ship and others I do not know. One of them might have sensed my magic. Difficult to tell. *

And we were coming towards them? Did they make camp somewhere along the road to the city? Or perhaps Inside the city itself? Eh, it seems I will have to confront them at some point anyway. My intensions no longer coincide with theirs. No one should have access to this place and whatever madness it holds.

*No one but you? *

“No roomie. Not even me. Especially not me. When we find all there is to find here, we’re making a big bonfire. Nothing comes out of this place.”

The armory Pellicora cleaned held nothing more but stacks upon stacks of old gear. Probably something local militia used in time of need. Nothing too fancy, just some swords, spears and armors. Basic stuff yet quality wise, I have not seen anything else that could rival this ancient gear. But, again, I have not seen much of such equipment. Just what the guild and town guards used back in Fenira.

Regardless, I passed another gate Libhro opened for me and filled my lungs with cold and moist air. Scents of grass and wet soil permeated this fresh, new breeze. Such a welcome change after hours spent in that maze filled with stench of dust like an old basement.

If I remembered correctly, this passage would bring me to a staircase that was a direct route to the outside world. In the days of old, this place was filled with light of countless mana crystals set within the walls and illuminating the plush ornamental carvings, depicting this or that victory of one or another lord over his enemies.

Somewhere around the place which I now passed, should be a mosaic depicting a behedging of nine women for treason. If I closed my eyes, I could recall the memory of it. Where now dull stones sat underneath my fingers, many years ago a detailed depiction of terror on a chopped off face could be seen, raised high for the crowd of onlookers to witness.

A political farce.

Another alien memory explained the mural's meaning. One of the lords found a younger wife and got bored of the nagging of his old hag and her sisters. Witnesses and proofs materialized at the flick of his fingers. Few years later, his young wife sliced his throat in his sleep and hanged herself, her house orchestrated the whole matter in a bid for power. Such are the lives of the corrupted ones. Not even stones wish to carry the marks of their sins.

Leaving the ruined mural behind, I continued along this forgotten corridor until it ended in stone steps spiraling up to the surface. The moist air smelled stronger here and a guzzling of water sounding just behind the wall assured me it was the proper direction.

The remains of an old drainage system run in those walls. One of the victims I freed, designed and built those. When he wrapped his fingers around my lantern, I saw him toiling amongst his workers when guards came and dragged him away. Just by the sounds these ducts made, I could like him, tell that not long ago heavy rains fell upon this city.

How odd. He loved this place. Never crossed the law. Worked with all his might and ability for it and yet, in return for all his love it demanded not only his blood, tears and sweat but also his soul. And here I thought my world was fucked up enough already but, again I was proven wrong. Greed has no limits. Given any possibility people will ruin everything in the name of greed. A silent god so many praises in their heart.

“Don’t you agree roomie?”

*The unholy trinity of life, greed, stupidity and pleasure. Cultivate those to rule over any slave, that is until a stronger master comes. You busy yourself with some dark thoughts my dolt. Better you leave the past behind and focus on what lies ahead. Like that broken step. *

My foot went through air where a step should be. Finding no support, I tripped and smashed headfirst into the steps, breaking few more with my face.

“Can’t say it wasn’t my fault for daydreaming, but I’d appreciate if you warn me about things like that ahead of time. “

With dust, grime and tiny pieces of stone in my eyes, I crawled the rest of the way up until I reach the surface. The stairway led me to a tiny plaza where I cleaned my face in a fountain shaped like a maiden pouring water from a pitcher slung over her shoulder. The basin beneath it broke years ago and its water simply flown in a stream towards a nearby drain but the statue still stood. An elven beauty. Odd.

“Should this worry us or am I missing something here? Weren’t elves universally hated around the world?”

*Hate and fascination can run in parallel tracks. *

Hmm, a perfect description of someone I knew back home… Home?

Water ran through my fingers.

Is that really a home? What did I leave there? An empty place, no one who would care.

I straightened up as if a chain rattled down my neck and off my shoulders. As if my legs were free to move for the first time in my life. Go wherever I wished to go.

*A beautiful sunset. I wish we could go watch it from above. *

My eyes followed her thought and seeped in the orange rays of light painted over the violet sky.

“So do I.”

I haven’t flown often but a sunset over Hawaii seen from a plane counted as one of my better memories. I raised my hand to the sky and watch the light through my fingers.

Odd. Why would I do so?

*Warm. Your fingers are warm. Can you feel that? *

“No.”

My eyes begun to glow as we sunk in twilight.

“Seems like I am still too broken for that. We better go and join the others. They may not look at us too kindly if I were to appear there in the middle of the night. Cora, you’re coming along?”

No. Don’t feel like it. I have stored the body I used last time, so I won’t have to summon it again. I can get there when you get there, master.

Should I call it lazy, practical or I don't know, rebellious? Perhaps a bit of all.

In the end, alone I went among swaying grasses and clicking of my heels on this ancient pavement. There were torches being lit in the distance and, I might as well speed it up.

Sigh. I have love-hate relationship with this blessing. It is so convenient and at the same time… Best not to recall unnecessary stuff.

I gathered mana in my legs and run, skipping distance. What would take me two or three hours of walk, I think I run in five to ten minutes, slowing down only when I saw a man sitting before a gate, guarding it. I stopped more than a hundred feet away and started making noises, just so he could notice. Showing up unannounced did earn me a spear to the ribs on one occasion.

“I’ll be darn. So it really is you lassie. Been expecting some company, “

Barrent nudged his unsheathed longsword, resting perched against his knee.

“But not yours. Consider me pleasantly surprised. We thought you left us for good lassie. Care to elaborate as to what happened? Where is your friend?”

Ri sisters hid in shadows under the gate while even without Erta’s senses I could guess there were more people waiting on the wall. Somebody did detect us.

*So it seems. Do you still intend to speak with them? This welcoming committee greet people with cold steel not flowers.*

Yes. I don’t want anyone inside the city while we turn it into cinders and bake whatever left there.

“Around. I’ve come to speak with whoever runs this place. Do not make it more trouble than it is, human.”

“Then you have found him.”

A new voice came from the top of the wall. Both brave and stupid thing to do, coming here. Were I not a simple dolt this might have turned ugly but since I am what I am, I just jumped up and landed beside him. A non remarkable man in plain clothes, someone you would brush against on a street and forget few steps later.

“And you would be?”

“Alarius von Ulsen, master of this expedition. You must be lady Karin I presume?”

He bowed slightly. A sign of good manners or coming trouble.

“Since you know my name, I gather you know why I am here?”

“Yes, we are to offer whatever assistance needed.”

Alarius spoke calmly, without any sign of emotion or concern. If he had any misgivings towards all this affair, he did not show it.

“Evacuate everyone off the island.”

His eyes opened wide and he paled visibly. As if I just told him my core would explode any moment. He had the look of a man who's life just flashed before his eyes. Eh, bad dolt. Bad.

“Calm yourself. It is not what you think. I received a warning. A third party will be arriving soon. We do not have time to gather whatever the ancients left here. Best we destroy it before they can get here. Such were my orders.”

*Were these not supposed to be the righteous ones? *

Good guys, bad guys I don’t give a damn. No one is getting anything from here.

“How, how long do we have?”

Relived and shaken, he asked as if I just spared his life.

Any idea roomie?

I felt mana rush out of me in a powerful pulse and spread outward. It caught my dragon by surprise.

*Forgive me, I did not expect it to work that well, I used too much power.*

And probably announced our presence to everyone around. Eh. The good news? Tell me there are some good news.

*Within an area of about a day worth of flight from this point, there is nothing but wildlife and about fifty people total. Including us… Wait, there is something. Someone noticed and is also searching. Further away in the sea, there is… ship or ships. Too far to tell more. Unless you wish so, then I could use more power. *

No that is enough. About a day of flight you say?

*Roughly, yes. *

Then, how fast a dragon fly? If I compare her to a cruising plane… no, those jets go subsonic most of the time. We need something slower. Sixty miles an hour seemed right; a ship here went about nine knots so, anything around ten times slower. It’s a wild guess anyway so, lets assume five days. We’ll know more when they’ll get in range.

“There is a ship or ships approaching. Are you expecting anyone within the next five days?”

“No. Not in this moon…”

Now, even Libhro felt something. Ancient charms triggered, lighting up purple flames all around the island and a bell sounded in a distance.

“They know we are here and now the city knows they are coming. Please get your people onto a ship and off this island. ”

“I Cannot do that! I will not let them take…”

“They will take nothing. There is an ancient artifact underneath this city, a final solution. Get to a safe distance and I will activate it.”

*Dolt, there is no artifact like that. We are the final solution. *

Yeah, well, I know, you know, he doesn’t have to know besides, we have Fire. She’ll blow this damn rock to smithereens. I’ll slap her butt or something. Should be enough to trigger her.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Alarius gazed into the distance, perhaps thinking, perhaps only watching the eerie glow of violet fire burning at the top tower, rising high above the island. He stood perched against the crown of the wall, his fingers brushing its surface when a pea sized drop splashed against his palm and broke his trance.

“Come, others will want to hear this.”

That went easier than I hoped. No begging, no threatening, I just asked and…

*Avoid! *

I moved but a moment too late. Even though I failed to dodge his blade, that tiny fraction of an inch saved my heart and perhaps my life. Was he a man or a devil, I could not tell. His eyes burned black, darker than the night could be, and his knife cut through Erta’s magic and the spirit’s blessings as if they were not there.

“Praised be the true one for she cuts what cannot be cut and smites what stands defiant!”

Alarius twisted the hilt of his dagger and ripped it out of my chest then swung it up at my neck. I blocked with my hand and the blade skewered my palm.

“Death to those that oppose her!”

My face ate some kind of magic he unleashed point blank from his other hand, and I flown away, tossed like a ragdoll hit by a train. What on earth... Erta?! Silence. Not even the voices… This spell, I felt it before, the same curse they used on that collar, spread through my veins from the blade still stuck in my palm.

More people rushing in, footsteps coming closer. I blinked but I had only blood in my eyes and my ears rang with dull vibrating noise of hundreds of vacuum cleaners set to maximum.

“They... leave…kill…”

Voices faded in and out while my blood kept on gushing from my chest. I tried to stem it with my palm when a kick turned me over. Somebody stepped on my arm and pulled the dagger out when suddenly everything went dark as a new explosion tossed me away alongside a chunk of the wall.

I’m losing blood… what a familiar feeling. So lightheaded… did I land in a heap of stones? No, these were…

Something grabbed my leg and pulled me out of the rubble…

Another explosion sent my body flying into the arms of another wall, this time harder and sturdy enough to withstand my body’s impact. I bounced away and fell face first onto a cobbled street.

My limbs feel as if made of stone, why is the ring not working? Why is nothing working? Why only silence answers me when I call their names?

I am flying again, this time someone’s hands lift me up and tossed me away into darkness.

Water.

Tons of raging and gushing water twirled and tossed me around until a sluice spewed me out into a bigger and calmer pool of rain water.

And it burns.

My veins are on fire, burning away the curse that kept on spreading within me like spiders crawling all over my body.

And the flames burned ever hotter.

Then my left arm moved on its own, stretching ahead of me. Pulling me.

Light was pulling me.

No. Not light. The metal band locked around my wrist burned white as it pulled me against the current and into another drain.

Left, right it dragged me through water, navigating towards a destination known only to whatever made this lantern work.

Up, up to the surface it pulled me as I fell into yet another cistern.

“I’ll be darn! Lassie?! Is that you Lassie?!”

Some hands pulled me out of water and almost instantly dropped me on a hard stone.

“Don’t touch her!”

One of the Ri sisters? That nasal tone sounded familiar but why would she slap his hands away? Black rancid goop came oozing out of my wounds and vaped away into puffs of black smoke. Screeching puffs of smoke. What on earth…

Pain clamped my insides and I retched blood mixed with more of that black smoke which begun to form twisted shapes and circled around us but could not cross the boundary formed by light. Somewhere to my right, someone else screamed and became violently ill, retching no less than I did.

“What the hell is that?!”

“Fool! Don’t move! Stay in light!”

Same voice warned him again.

With one final push, my body rid itself of remaining darkness and like a flood breaking over a dam, all my voices returned.

*Galen! *

Erta’s magic spilled out like a wave alongside her concern.

Still in one piece roomie. I think. Bit leaking…

Bright bluish flame began pouring out of my wounds, clearing them out and sealing away. It took a moment for the bleeding to stop but soon I could feel my strength returning and my water ring burning through my mana no less greedily than the Water queen.

Judging by the screams of her sister, the ferru convulsing next to me, did not had that much luck. Blindly, I reached for her arm and ended with my palm groping her chest and pushing my mana through the ring and into her. Whatever good that may do to her.

“Enough.”

Cora appeared above me and unhook my fingers.

“She’ll live.”

“Now, that’s all hunky-dory lassie but I’d want to know what in rotting hole of a whore is going on in here?! You went for a chat with expedition chief and suddenly they want to kill us?! Why?! And that friend of yours, where the hell did she come from?! And what in the piss poor ale is that?!”

*Galen! Your arm! Point at it! Now! *

Hmm? Before my mudded mind could wrap itself around Erta’s scream, Cora grabbed my arm and tugged, almost ripping it out of its socket. Twisted at an od angle, my limb became a conduit to dragon’s magic. A wall of scorching flames spread out from my palm, vaporizing whatever hid behind my back. Oh, and I was wrong. My arm did come out of its socket.

“Cora, my arm…”

“Not now master, there are… more.”

She dropped me onto the ground like a spent gun and stepped over me, summoning a shield and a short sword, one of those we picked up.

Something launched itself at us from beyond our circle of light, Barrent cut it in half mid-air yet both halves that fell to the ground slithered away back into darkness.

“I have seen and killed all manner of ugly but what the fuck was that?!”

Not that I could answer him, though Cora helped me with that.

“A reason why this city was never attacked through sewers.”

She deflected something with her shied and stabbed it with her sword. It didn’t seem to make an impression, maybe perhaps force an angry hiss out of her victim.

“Master, we can’t stay here. We’ll die if a swarm of those things should come this way, they are not affected by the spirit magic.”

My arm chose this moment to flap around and shove itself back into its rightful place with a very audible squelch. It made my legs twitch and tremble. A sign my odd body worked hard at putting itself back together. My face also stopped bleeding and I could see again with both my eyes.

And what I saw was a sword pointed at my throat.

“At a time like this? Really?”

I grabbed the blade with my bare hand and used it as support to get up. Barrent yanked his sword away. I’m sure he indented nothing chivalrous, but I used whatever advantage that pull gave me in my fight against gravity and I won. And I kept my fingers while his weapon now carried an embedded print of my palm.

“Lassie… what are you?”

“This is no place for such talk, nor time. I’ve been stabbed and blown up more than twice this evening and I don’t plan on feeding the local wildlife so either move along or move away.”

Back on my wobbly feet I addressed the knight, my lantern still locked around my wrist and still glowing, illuminated his grim face and the platform on which we stood. Further away in the corner, two bodies rested in eternal sleep. Hubert and Hib. One missing his arm, the other with a gaping hole in his torso. More blood to mar my conscience. Wherever it went.

“Master, we must go, now.”

More of slithering sounds came from the all engulfing darkness.

There were stairs going up, just behind the corner.

I’d like to think we ran there. I don’t know. My knees folded beneath me when air just left my lungs.

It hurt. It hurt in a way… as if another part of my soul died. As if someone shattered the very essence of my being. As if rain of sharpened glass slashed my entire body.

It hurt as if I died.

*Galen, the Wind…*

Her name was gone.

Earth shook and roared while waves of released energy rolled over the land above us.

And I knew exactly where it happened. That space called to me as if a part of myself was lost there, lost forever.

“Spirits do not die.”

Cora run holding me in her arms, her face a sanctuary of sureness and finality. She announced a well-known fact, nothing more. I'd beg to differ. What I felt a moment ago could be nothing else but Wind's death.

“Spirits cannot die since they are not alive either. Not in a sense mortals are. They exist as a focused will of the elements they embody and the power it gathers. One cannot kill what is made of will and magic. One cannot kill a stone however there are spells that can break it.”

She paused, stopping at a junction and waiting long enough for Barrent's face to appear in the distance. When his eyes met mine, she dived into left most tunnel.

“Humans have fought with so many creatures over time that there are spells strong enough to disperse, fend off or even erase a spirit, albeit temporarily. Nature does not tolerate vacuum. For a spirit destroyed, another one will take its place. Same shall happen with your Wind, one of her daughters will eventually step up for the mantle and become what her mother was. The original queen may be lost but a new one shall inherit her will and perhaps even memories. After all, they are but one…”

“How do you know all this?”

Oddly, even Erta lacked that knowledge.

“Live long enough and you will learn, and I am old master. Those you call queens are not the first neither the last. What worries me is the one who would achieve such feat. With enough power one can banish spirits out of the mortal plane. To erase one? We are talking about someone not far from attaining godhood or at the very least, becoming a paragon of a deity.”

Old. I almost asked how old. Nothing in the face I saw above me, screamed more than twenty years. Well, I myself looked somewhere half my age so it didn’t matter. Not in world were people lived to reach hundreds of years old.

“Paragon of a deity? That’s a thing?”

“Yes. Are you not one yourself master?”

Me, a paragon. Yeah. Nope.

“Gods of this place are no God of mine. I don’t want any part in local politics or religion. I am no paragon of anything or anyone. And you can put me down, I think I can walk again.”

Pellicora stopped and gave me a smile reserved for when you look at the village idiot doing something so abstract one just has to laugh, then peered into the darkness of the tunnel behind her. Barrent and the Ri sisters followed as fast as they could manage.

“They are slowing us down.”

“We are not leaving them behind. Erta, how far are we from the edge of the barrier?”

*We are at the edge, in a sense. This is not so much a barrier but a field where certain magic is restricted. A field with no definite border. If we continue along for a while more, the field’s influence should lessen enough for your spirits to manifest themselves. *

Her anger mixed with distress sipped out of her.

“What is it roomie?”

*Galen, I agree with the twiggy here, that man was not normal. I had never had my magic cancelled. With your power behind it, that should be impossible. *

“Black eyes, moving faster than you, mumbling some obscure stuff, yup, not normal, whatever. He poked holes in me. I don’t want to have holes poked in me. I’m open to ideas that can prevent random people poking holes in me… Stop!”

Libhro whined somewhere at the back of my skull. Pain. She was in pain. Fighting, resisting… they were at her core. Forcing her to track us and all this time she held, hiding us in her shadow. With those people by her core she couldn’t help me in any direct way so instead, she used carpet bombing. Island wide field that distorted magic. Clever.

*And very inconvenient if true. Without the spirits help our options are limited. *

Sharp pain came through whatever linked me with this place. For a moment I saw his black eyes again, his lips moving, black smoke swirling around whatever he held in his palm. A map of some kind overlaid my view, there were two paths leading towards the coast. His lips moved again and others left… Pain and Erta’s scream ended my vision as blood dripped from my nose. Libhro broke the link between us before more could reach me.

“They know we’re in sewers, they just don’t know where. He probably sent his people to guard the outlets and these are well within the field's reach. The queens won’t get here. What now?”

“Master, we should make haste for the sea. In her queendom we shall be safe.”

A tempting idea. Leave everything behind and just go somewhere else. Why did I make so many promises I struggle to keep?

“What’s our chance to get there? We are talking about people that could bypass spirit blessings and may outright cancel whatever magic we throw at them.”

This time none of them answered.

“Cora, put me down and go scout ahead. I don’t like what I saw. If it’s still clear, just call me and we’ll come. I don’t plan on running away but a word with Fire seems like a good idea.”

“As you wish master.”

She put me down and vanished in the distance.

*You still wish to fulfill that request? *

I watched Barrent emerge from behind the corner and kept my words to myself.

Yes, I want to… You weren’t joking about that thing, gods it stinks. I can feel it inside my skull. Are we close to it?

*Not at all. It is way beneath our location and more towards the center of this island. *

“Why are we stopping? Where’s your friend?”

Barrent's face dripped sweat in a steady stream. He's been taking turns with Nari, carrying her sister. My ring patched her wounds and bleached her fur white where I touched her. If Cora hadn’t stopped me, I might have cooked the girl's heart. As it was, she slept soundly in her sister’s arms.

“Went ahead to see if there’s someone…”

An explosion shook the entire tunnel, blasting us with dust and debris and tossing us no less brutal than a sack of potatoes against stone floor. I fell on my knees, with my face not far from Barrent’s face, my breath tickling his nose. It saved his life. Not me gasping at him, but my back that stopped a massive boulder from turning him into paste. Part of the tunnel around us collapsed.

Cora? You alright? What happened?

Still on my knees, I reached for her presence within me, my ears ringing again.

I died a horrible death, master. There were people waiting. A mage blew me up before I made four steps. How unkind, I liked that dress.

Ah, well, um… Died?

That was but some mana you lent me, that body died. I am sound and safe within your fleshy self, master. However, that still hurt. Try not to kill us as I go and mourn my dress and prepare a new vessel.

*I do share her sentiment. Please be more careful, those pillows hold more than your sorry self. *

Eh?

One more explosion echoed from the opposite end of our tunnel. What else will go wrong today? Did they collapse both outlets?

Erta?

*Nothing I can sense without attracting their attention. *

The human beneath me choose this very moment to groan and cough himself awake only to stare at me and my pillows hanging above him then he looked at the rock swaying atop me with each my breath.

“Extract yourself from there, will you?”

Help arrived in the form of four, dust covered arms that pulled him out from under me. Coughing and sneezing, Sari and Nari moved him to a safe place.

Oddly enough, I felt no weight on my back.

Is this your doing roomie? Can I get up now?

*No. That is just the flame. You have dragon blood in your veins and our fire. Is that not what you asked for? Strength to survive… Interesting. Your blessings were not cancelled but bypassed by that man. Perhaps it is only a trait of the weapon he used and not his true power? That does open some possibilities. *

Blessings, dragon strength, magic… you heard her puny arms, do your thing. Risking it all, I started pushing. How odd it is that I got used to that alien presence so fast and hardly remembered that burning power flowing through my body. Ever since Erta’s mother forced the dragon song on me, those flames been there, living inside me, feeding off my mana. Now when I called upon their strength the flames surged and sang within my veins.

And it worked.

The stone lifted enough for me to get up and away from under it. With my limbs clear of it, I straighten my back and let the boulder drop off my shoulders. The thud it made came muffled by the splash of gathering water but the vibration that spread through the ground spoke of enormous weight it must have.

*You can gawk at yourself later, we must leave before this tunnel gets flooded. Unless you wish to try your chances against whatever they breed in those sewers. Alone. Underwater. In darkness…*

It’s so cute when you want to motivate me. Not working at all but, still cute.

*It would be a shame if your clothes suddenly self-ignited. *

I stand corrected, it works fabulous.

“Move, unless you can breathe underwater, we must get out of here. They sealed off both outlets.”

The tiny stream that guided us so far, already changed to a pool that reached to our ankles. Not waiting for another awkward conversation, I moved forward. Note to self, high heels and sewers do not mix. I really need to get some normal shoes.

Umm… hello?

What on earth?! Yet another one?! How many voices do I need to shoulder? This is getting out of hand.

Umm… I don’t know if you can hear me… My name is Elis… I… Please… Libhro thinks you can help me… I… I… Can… can you hear me? Please… I… I told them you died… that I can’t sense you, they won’t look for you now… You’re so strong… please, I… I… I don’t want to die, I… Libhro showed me a boat hidden on the island… we… I don’t want to die, please…

It sounded like a child. A sobbing child. Terrified, sobbing child. An image of a teenager chained to a wall, flashed through my mind. She’s been frantically trying to hide inside the rags she had instead of clothes. Erta’s anger burned within me. Rage of a mother hearing cries of abused child. I had to put a damper on this before her emotions could sway my judgement.

A trap?

*If so, I shall feast on the corpse of those using a child for such purpose! *

Erm, no corpse feasting for you, I ain’t eating any also, don’t you find it strange? I might be biased but, hearing voices is… you know what I mean.

She cussed.

Wow, a new one. I had to stop to decipher that one, dragon tongue had lots of hidden meanings and connotations… hmm… can't really put that into words. Never thought a sensation could be used as a swear word. Like eating something spoiled and fire coming out of the wrong end of a dragon…

“Why are we stopping?”

They stood beside me with their weapons ready, water already reaching up to our knees. I did my best to fake a sigh, it seemed appropriate.

“Complications. Come, if I remember correctly there should be a shaft going up somewhere near.”

If those age-old memories I got are worth anything, that is.

Wading through neck deep river of rainwater and whatever else it washed away from the surface we reached the promised junction. My bracelet remained glowing since it awoke back there in that cistern. Maybe not as bright as it did at the beginning, but it still gave my companions a sense of hope so needed at a time like this. Coughing, spewing and cursing, they followed in my footsteps, fighting for every breath they took and every step they made. I on the other hand just held my breath and let mana do its thing. No way I am risking this sewer sludge getting into my lungs.

And water seemed to favor me.

The current lessened where I stood, and all kinds of debris were washed away from my path. Whether it was her doing or just some insane luck, I did not question it but made the best use of it until we reached our current stop. Huddled in a corner, we watched the water rapidly fill the cistern without a single way out.

Or was there? There should be. I could go and look for it but these three would drown if I moved too far away, they would need something to keep them anchored...

Erta, roomie, that thing with the sword and stone you did back then, can you do it again? Can you do it with something else than a sword?

*I suppose, why? You want me to bake their weapons before they drown? *

Something like that.

There was about three or five foot of space left above us, that water had not claimed yet.

“Your knife, give it to me!”

Barrent’s face held little hope or trust now but nevertheless, the handle of his long dagger appeared above the surface, a sign he could still hear me over the rushing water.

Ok roomie, I want to drive that thing into the wall and make it stick there. Just like that sword. Is that clear?

Instead of an answer, I felt mana rush into my arm and the blade began to glow. Reaching as high as I could I stabbed the poor wall and instantly the smell of burned steel filled my nose. Just to make sure, Barrent tugged at it and satisfied, held Sari up to grab onto this anchor. Nari held out both of her beautiful, slightly curved short swords. In a flash of light Erta turned them into smoldering handholds.

“You have a plan lassie?”

“Yes. You wait here and rest while I’ll look for a way out. There are nine channels going into this cistern, one must lead up. “

“With all due respect lassie, that plan is worth shat!”

Well, the alternative was to let them drown and go my way. Better not to mention that, unless…

Erta, can you cast on them something like my enchant? Let them breath through mana? Even if temporarily?

*That would not work, not with those three. The amount of mana one needs just for that spell to activate may kill them. I believe that is not what you want? *

You sure? Can we not…

*Galen, not everyone is a monster like you. *

You are brilliant roomie.

*Huh? *

I let my lips fold into a smile and before their puzzled eyes, my body changed into that of a mermaid. Never thought this unwanted gift would come in handy so quick.

“Wait here.”

They were too stunned to respond but I did not wait for any. Discarding what left of my pants, I dived and looked around for my options. Thankfully, whatever made me see in darkness, worked in those murky depths. My bracelet still shined but in this water it meant little.

Behind us, was a tunnel from which we came from, useless now so I raked my nails by its entrance, leaving a big mark on the wall. One down, eight to go. Next one had a rapid current going in so, if I were to judge from water’s behavior, that one was no good either, probably going even deeper than we were. If the other seven will yield no results, I may revisit this one. My nails went to work again, scratching a triangle. Onto the next.

This one had no flow I could feel on my hand even with membranes between my fingers. For all I knew this could be a dead end.

What do you think roomie? Any of those worth a try?

*Look for one with water coming in. These may perhaps come from upper levels. *

A good point. I hope.

Out of the remaining five, only two had water coming in. One, much smaller in diameter, the other, larger and with water coming in more smoothly. Well, let me see where this big one will take me.

Not far it seemed. My large fin made short work of that distance, but it only brought me to another, already flooded section. I scratched myself an arrow pointing where I came from and went on exploring even further. Out of the four new outlets I found, two were just pipes, too small to get in. One went down at a steep angle… wait which way is up? With this body having neutral buoyancy, I neither sunk nor floated to the surface. Bubbles, I need bubbles. I exhaled but with my lungs filled with mana, no bubbles came. If anything, I got a taste of water I swam in… let’s say, I hope this wasn’t yellow snow that just melted.

What else can I do? Gravity? Yeah, gravity. Heavy stuff still sinks underwater. I need heavy stuff. Well, this either work or I may end up with my fingers broken. Extending my nails to their full length, I ram my hand into the wall. Thankfully, a chunk of it fell off and sunk. Ok, now I know which way is up and that tunnel is not going there. Taking my trusty rock with me, I took the last remaining path.

It did go up but again led me to one more flooded room with five new outlets.

They won’t make it through here, won’t they?

*No Galen, they will not. Even if you ferry them, they cannot hold their breath forever. *

Even with my powerful tail it took me no less than two minutes to get here. It’ll be more if I’m going to drag someone. Just to make sure I speed to the next junction. Also, a flooded one. Let’s go back then.

Following the marks, I left for myself, I backtracked to the beginning and to a grim view. They still held on for the life but with a foot or two of air left, that would not last long.

Perhaps we should just go and blow that collapsed tunnel clear? I’m sure you can whip a spell that blows stuff up.

*That will gather attention of anyone on the island, and are you willing to take that risk? What are the chances we could survive their combined attack? *

Not until with have other options but, do get that spell ready, will you?

She confirmed, I on the other hand grabbed one more chance, as slim as it seemed, and rushed as fast as I could into the smaller tunnel. Fighting much stronger current then those before and beating my tail as fast as I could, I counted. One, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand…

This pipe had no forks but curved slightly along the way until it brought me to a vertical position, there, pushing my body to its limits, I ejected myself out of a drain at the bottom of a pool and shoot up, breaching the surface. One hundred and ten.

Whatever use this pool had, it had air in it and… a ladder! Stone ladder cut into a wall that went up and disappeared somewhere near the top.

One hundred and ten.

“Not impossible is it?”

*Difficult but perhaps, doable. I may have something that should help. *

I did a roll and dived straight into the drain, pushing hard, to speed along the water flow.

“There’s a way.”

I surfaced behind the ferru females, supporting them from below. From what I saw they were not the best swimmers and simply raked with their claws against the wall to stay at the surface, the blades I drove into the wall now became their footholds.

“But?”

Barrent’s lips were trembling and almost entirely blue. Ri sisters were in no better shape. Water steadily robbed them not only of air but heat as well.

“It’s far and tight. Get rid of anything that might weight us down.”

And they did, dumping gold, parts of armor, weapons, boots, some little personal effects they kept on them all this time. I did away with my cloths as well, dignity is a little price to pay for someone’s life. Not that it had much use now, this form had all the peculiar bits well hidden.

*Make them touch you. *

“Hold my hands.”

Clumsily they did and I felt power sipped out of me.

*it is not much but should warm them and steady their minds and hearts. I do think it is easier to hold breath when one is calm. *

Thank you.

“I can only take one at a time, who will go?”

“Take Nari first, she swims like a rock. Straight to the bottom, I’m tired of holding her up.”

Barrent winked dodging badly aimed claws. To joke even at a place like this.

“I do not! I… I can float all right!”

“Then you’ll do just fine. Put your arms around my neck and relax. Don’t move, I’ll do all the swimming. Just stay calm. Take few deep breaths and pat my back when you’re ready. “

Reluctant, she wrapped her arms around me, her claws digging into my back. I felt her lips moving in a silent prayer then with one final breath she pat my back.

I kicked off with all I had in this body, pressing her against my chest with one hand while the other I had stretched ahead of us, helping me navigate the narrow pass. With my tail working like a piston I fought against the raging current. When I swam alone, it was hard enough. Together with her, I felt as if we weren’t moving at all. Our bodies creating so much resistance that I wasn’t sure if any water could pass by. I fought for each inch and I fought against time. Mana rushed through my veins to fix whatever broke due to this abuse.

Be it then. Mana I had lots to spare, time I could not buy. It felt more than a minute just to get to the place where this pipe would start bending up. Faster, we needed to go faster. Nari’s chest already twitching underneath my arm. Faster, I need to get faster.

And the flames that lived in my veins answered to that.

It cracked, shriveled and fell away. Something within me that would stall my arm, something that would tell my legs to go slower. It vanished under the blaze of dragon flame and strength I hand no idea this body possessed, pushed me forward as if an invisible hand just cut away my anchor. Blasting through that final part of the pipe, I shoot out of the drain and into the pool and to the surface. Not a moment too soon. Nari coughed and gasped sucking air with undescribed greed. Holding her above water, I swam to the ladder cut in the side.

“You alright? Can you hold on to this?”

I guided her feet into the holes and made sure she had her hand grabbing onto a step.

“Go…”

She coughed out.

“Go!”

I dived again, leaving her in total darkness. Time was of essence and I wasted so much of it in that fruitless fight. Never again should I make such mistake. Pushing mana through my veins I rushed out, not caring if I scraped myself along the way. At this speed, not even my blessings could keep me from harm, cracks appearing wherever I brushed against the walls. These can heal later, now, those two were much more important than that.

The pipe spit me out with such a speed I had to make a wild turn and brake with my tail, yet I still hit the wall with enough speed to make it crack. Pushing away from it, I looked around. They were still there with several inches of air left.

“You made it?! Nari! Is she safe?!”

“Yes, she is waiting. Calm yourself and get ready.”

Her arms found my neck without any invitation on my part and soon after I felt the pat. I dived again, and again the current defied me but this time with flame as my ally, I kicked and swam, restrained only by the narrow pass. Moments later, I broke the surface with a splash and another gasping ferru in my arms.

Seventy-two. I think I made it in half the time it took me to get here with Nari. Speaking of which, she waited where I left her, looking no less drowned than her sister. Just like Altina used to say, fur and water don’t go in pairs.

“I got her, go before that old pervert drowns, he still owns me money!”

I left them alone and dived.

It took me a moment to realize what happened when I saw Barrent missing from the corner I left him in. Water and darkness reclaimed that space, not even his body remained. Had he drowned and got carried away? Was there a chance to save him?

*It appears luck favors that man. Look above you. *

Rather than submitting to my grim prophecy, Barrent floated in the center of the cistern, with his lips pressed against the ceiling, sucking in all the silvers of air trapped there. Tiny green gem shone, held by a string around his neck. Without that little light, I would not find him in time.

I waited for him to take one more breath and snatched him up in my arms, an opportunity he used to wrap his arms around my torso and familiarize himself with my behind. At a time like this...

Master, may we just dump this human trash out here? Let the water have its way with him.

*Gladly, I must concur. *

Really? Come on you two, if I try to kill anyone that grabs our butt, we'll get in so much trouble... You know how my charms work on people, I bet it’s not his fault besides, that’s a tail he's touching. There’s nothing there and I can hardly feel any of that.

But we can!

Eh, alright, alright.

I used bit too much force to readjust his hand to a more acceptable spot on my back thus electing a yelp of pain and a stream of air bubbles. It made him quite complacent through the rest of the journey but did not stop his complaints when we surfaced.

“Good lords… lassie yer trying to kill me?”

“I probably should have; it would spare me all that trouble.”

Thus, I said and left him afloat in the middle of the pool so he could digest his wrongdoings. Little price to pay in the eyes of a certain lizard but, word is not perfect and I can’t always make her happy.

Wet and miserable, Ri sisters floated in darkness by the ladder, holding onto the steps cut in stone. Their ears flat against their heads, trying to muffle the roar of cascading water that kept refiling the pool. Without the light my lantern provided, they decided not to climb up. A smart choice in this slippery space.

“Where’s the pervert? Got rid of him?”

“Regrettably, no. I let him use his grabby hands for something more practical.”

Shouting over the noise, I raised my arm above the water and light spread around us. Some distance away, Barrent's head came up and down the surface as he swam towards us.

It got a little chitter out of them, first real reaction since I met them.

“Remember how he tried that with Anli? She made him walk knock-kneed for a whole week…”

Smiles vanished from their faces as soon as they appeared. That woman was not with us, whatever had become of their friend I don’t think she lived.

“That… was… not nice, lassie.”

“Yeah? Should have kept your hands to yourself! Goddess be my witness, one of those days I’ll chop your arms off if you won’t restrain yourself you damn oaf! Is my body not enough for you?”

Once more he slipped out of the reach of Nari’s claws, instead, she settled on splashing water at his face while I just floated up, supported by my tail.

I don’t get those people. They just lost their friends and nearly drowned. There’s a mermaid floating beside them and they don’t care. Death may come at any moment and… now they’re acting all lovey-dovey. What am I missing?

*Aside from the obvious? The list is too long my dear dolt… As for them, people tend to deny what they cannot cope with. *

“Honeypuff, you’re the love of my life, you know that…”

“One more word and I’ll be sick. Get your ass up there, my claws are starting to split from all this water.

Sari cut in between him and her sister, at the same time making space for the man to climb up. Barrent let out a sigh and hoisted himself out of water.

“What do you even see in him?”

“Well, he may not have the biggest one, but he sure knows how to use it.”

Nari purred, her eyes longingly following the butt swaying above us. Letting out a sight, she climbed up as well. Speechless, I just waited for my turn.

I told you, master. We should have ditched them.

Yeah, nope. What have I told you about killing people? Self-defense only and only with permission. Leaving them behind would amount to murder.

“Thank you. You have saved my life and my sister's life. You even saved that human trash. Thank you. I am yours to command, use my life as you desire.”

I gazed into her feline eyes and found nothing but sincere words. Sari did seem to mean each word she spoke. Another annoyance. All I ever wanted… I wanted? Odd. That thought felt so alien, so… not mine.

Taking a deep breath, I spun another tale.

“I deserve no gratitude, I did what I was paid for, I'll leave when my task here is done. Do not bother yourself with me. “

And I don’t want anyone following me because of some twisted sense of honor. I have enough of my own troubles, I do not want another Dosie weighting on my conscience.

The ferru accepted it with calm silence and took to the ladder while I waited for her to reach the top. Somehow, my lantern could light up this entire place yet, up close, its light did not blind me. Had my third eyelid filtered out its brightness or was this light so strange to begin with?

Like everything in my life. Surprisingly, my current predicament had its good sides.

You know roomie, this water-streamlined form is kind of neat.

I poked my chest with my free hand. My pillows were as voluminous as before but much more rigid, almost stiff. I could see no bouncing, jingling or squashing. This odd skin kept them tight and in one place, as if I wore a wetsuit of a kind. Better than any support I had so far.

*It does have its charm although, I must say I much rather have my old body than this scrawny one. *

Scrawny, eh? I’m so sorry for being the scrawny one. Anyway, that voice. What do we do about it? She knew about Libhro and could sense our power, how and to what extent, we don’t know. Is this a trap? We don’t know. We don’t know a lot, do we?

*For now, we do nothing. There is power gathering nearby. Old, very old power. Perhaps another artefact. Let us deal with that first and go from there. So far, I cannot sense any other presence so her words may come true, then… we will see. *

With those three up there and waiting, it was time to say goodbye to my tail and join them, so I focused on getting my legs back. The transition happened softly, my tail splitting by the middle, my skin once more becoming that of an elf and my unruly black mane sticking to my shoulders.

Water should get some special thanks for all this. Think she knew we would need this form?

*She, as the others, will do whatever they can to make you relay on their power for all your needs and their power is both addicting and lethal. I have seen people spoiled and sucked dry by lesser spirits; I do not wish to experience that myself. Use them as a tool if you must but do not get yourself be used. *

My hands found the carved steps and with the help of my legs lifted me above water.

Can I ask something personal?

*If you wish? Yes? *

Have you ever killed for pleasure?

*An odd and very broad question. I would lie if I said no. I have hunted and killed prey to sate my hunger. I have enjoyed those kills as their flesh filled me. But what is a sheep, goat or a kabu compared to a man? If you are asking if I killed other sentient beings, yes. Did I enjoy it? No. I have fought and slain many who choose to cast their lives away. There was no pleasure in any of it. More so, it felt as if a part of me died each time I won. *

*Why ask such a question at a time like this? *

The Wind, her death. The fact I can no longer feel her presence. It, it is good. My body tells me I should rejoice about it. I… I don't know what to think of it. I think I am glad yet my whole life I was taught that such thoughts are improper and yet…

*Are you a saint? *

Well, no. Far from it.

*Then do not bother yourself with such thoughts. Pain can bring out the worst from the best. Keep your heart for those that should be remembered and forget those who should be forgotten. *

*If it is the sin you are afraid of, then pray for mercy to your God of gods if you believe in one. No being I have met was perfect Galen, we are but a sum of darkness and light. You might hear whispers from both sides, it is your choice which voice you will follow. *

Does… she had… it hurts in a strange way. Inside. This pain, does it ever go away?

*No. Not that I know. *

“Here you are lassie, let me help you…”

Avoiding the outstretched hand, I climbed up on the platform overlooking the pool below, while Barrent’s eyes scrutinized every inch of my body. I think I could try and summon some undies from within my ring but was it worth it? To uncover one more triumph card jut to fend off this pervert? No. Instead I raised my hand to his eye level and slowly extended my nails.

“You had your share now pretend to be a gentleman you are not and stop staring or this shall be the last thing you'll ever see.”

“Well, lassie, we have found stairs going up from this platform, perhaps I should go and see where they take us.”

“Perhaps you ought.”

This doesn’t really feel like a place for an artifact. It wasn’t even a place where someone wearing waders would willingly go yet, here I was, stuck up to my belly button in gods know what. I'm beginning to think I should have just put those pants on.

And you're not helping, just go away if you can’t stand it.

Erta gagged inside my mind, making it even more difficult to control my empty stomach. I have never been so content that I skipped a meal or two. It made this ordeal much easier. Judging by the sounds coming from behind me, others had less luck in that regard.

I never thought mud could reek this bad. Maybe not blarg bad but, my eyes are watering and hairs in my nose are sizzling bad and we couldn’t block it with anything Erta thought of. Not breathing did not help either, whatever lived in this mud made even mana stink no less than rotten eggs.

*And leave us vulnerable...*

Her queasiness made me fight with bile gathering in my throat. A fight I lost.

Just go. No one of sane mind would come anywhere near us now.

With unhidden relief her presence vanished from my mind and my body calmed.

There is an artefact somewhere here, show me where.

It took much longer than usual but faint light rose from the ring and formed the familiar arrow. I do wonder, the wind is dead and yet, it works. Although, that flickering, if this was a flashlight, I’d say not much juice left in the batteries. Will my other blessings fade as well?

While it still worked, we fought a losing battle through this sludge. Whatever happened when people vanished from this place, left it in a state of disrepair. Of all five tunnels we found at the top of the stairs only two had not caved in while of those two, one ended in a flooded chamber with no exit and the other led to this muck. Its only saving grace was that it led upwards at a negotiable incline.

This tunnel had no beauty of smooth, polished stone but all around it bore marks of tools, as if it was cut in rock and left without applying any finish. An odd exception from the norm. All the tunnels so far were smooth and sometimes even adorned with carvings or faded paintings.

But not this one.

What made it so different? It seemed to be an entirely separate system from the drainage and while spacious enough, it was not meant for people, or so I thought.

Somewhere along the way, my compass pointed straight beneath me and vanished while no amount of coaxing could recall it.

“Why in god’s grace are we stopping?!”

“There is something here, do not move.”

Sari's stomach gave up when I sunk to my neck in this mud and started feeling around. I don’t blame her. I think any moment I may follow her example.

And then my fingers brushed over it.

Power. Yes, power was a part of it. It called to me, no less desperate than us to be freed from this accursed place. A square container with a clasp. Well, whatever. I can look at it later. For now, it shall sit in my ring.

“What did you do?! That feeling, it’s no longer there.”

Accusing feline eyes stared straight at me.

“There was something there. I broke it. “

“A trap?”

“Don’t know. Too old. Fell apart when I touched it. Mind your feet, it left a hole.”

Whether they swallowed that lie or not, did not interest me. I un-plucked myself from the mud and continued my fight upstream. I wish I could just skip over the surface of this horrid goop but hardly any space remained in that tunnel. I had to go through it instead of gracefully skipping along its surface like an elf would do. Eh…

We went in total silence, broken only by occasional retching followed by a stream of curses. However long it took to climb through that tunnel, our reword for reaching its top did left a lot to desire.

“Shit…”

“Ancient shit.”

One of the females corrected Barrent’s estimate. By the time we arrived in this strange room, we were so covered in this gunk, I could no longer differentiate between the two.

The lines of circular holes under each wall confirmed their guess. These by no means were simple skylights.

“Are these what I think they are?”

“Yup. Looks bout the same as the imperial crapper.”

“How on burning feces can you know how imperial crapper looks from beneath?!”

Barrent shrug his arms.

“Any way is a good way when it saves your skin and that, ladies,”

He pointed up.

“Is our way.”

***

Hide, hurry!

If a thought could scream, that one punched into my mind with a pleading cry. All but too late. The young man already came from behind the corner and bumped away from my dirt covered pillows.

Perhaps I was too generous with my estimate, this hairless face belonged to a tall boy rather than a man. One that had not shaved yet.

With time coming to a halt, stopped by my eyes, I watched the boy's body sway back and his arms flail in attempt to recover his balance. His mind not yet aware of what happened.

And I watched him die.

Barrent rammed his elbow straight into the boy's throat, pinning his victim against the wall. I watched the boy’s head bounce against the faded mosaic and leave a bloody print there. All that took no more than a heartbeat. Within that heartbeat, the boy was gone, his empty husk slumped to the pavement, raindrops splashing against his face like tears he could no longer shed.

A pointless death. Had the lizard been here with me perhaps it could have been avoided. One more mistake I made sending her away.

Erta, come out, we are out of that dump.

Her presence bubbled up to the surface of my mind and she took her usual place, whatever that was, it just felt the same.

*Why is there a dead body at your feet? *

Bad luck. Are there other people around?

* I can pick up five more, each moving away in a different direction. They are not moving in groups; it seems they are sure of their safety. Did you? *

No. He did it before I even thought how to react.

A set of throwing knifes, and a sword left its dead owner and now hung round Barren’s hips.

*Do not expect anything less, this is a brutal world. This time he spared you this choice. Next time… Galen, do not lie to yourself, there will be a next time. Blood attracts blood. *

My legs carried me over the boy’s body, to a fountain on a small plaza we found behind the corner. No fancy statues guarded this place. Fresh water rained into the stone basin from a simple chute in the side of an aqueduct. Along with the rain, it washed away the grime from my body, but it did not flush a tart taste that hunted my lips. Is this what they call anger?

No, this was something else. Perhaps I have bitten my lip when he bumped into me. Perhaps. No matter. There was a voice I think required a word with. My mind searched for the presence I felt ever since I came down on this land. Libhro awaited, hidden deep in the shadows. I reached for that presence.

Can you hear me?

It jumped at the touch of my mind and shivered.

Who are you?

I a-am E-Elis… p-please… Please o holy one, help us!

Again, this nonsense.

Us? Were you not alone?

I… they have captured another one. A woman mage. M-more suitable to their needs, t-they say. They will offer her in their ritual... L-like m-mom.

The voice broke and wailed.

A-alarius, h-he... mom... He s-sacrificed her to the one from beyond. He... he...

Her pain seeped into my mind; my eyes leaked her tears. Such familiar pain.

Can anyone else hear us?

N-No. L-libhro don’t like them. Won’t talk to them. T-there was o-one more before b-but she vanished b-before I could talk to her.

That ship, is it true?

Y-yes. B-by the lake. A hidden passage. Please, h-help us!

Well, roomie, what do you think?

*I think I would slaughter that man! A child, she is just a child! *

“Lassie? You with us?”

“Yes.”

“Well, pardon me but you don’t seem to be.”

Barrent nudged his head at the corpse we left behind. Did they still saw me as an assassin?

“There are complications. They have captured a mage and are making haste to offer her to whatever monstrosity they worship.”

“How do you know it?”

Parroting his gesture, I pointed at the dead man.

“My eyes,”

I send mana to them and made them glow with their full might.

“can see more than yours.”

Some stubborn gunk still held on to my armpit and knees. All this crawling through crap must have made wonders to my toenails. No point cleaning them out now, with all this mud around.

*If you start ignoring people mid-sentence, it may not end well for either of us. *

So the lizard says. Erta, what do I even tell him? I saved your life back there but now go your way; we all probably gonna die before the sunrise. Is that good enough?

She smiled.

And stop reading my mind, it’s no fun if you know what I’m up to.

*And pass on all this fun? Hmm, no. That plan of yours has a certain dolty charm I like. Oh, yes. I can do fireballs. With your core reform, I think I can do much more than that. *

Eh? You are not against it?

*No. Not this time. Now, I think you have been staring into blank space for long enough. *

One more thing.

Elis, can you tell me where they hold you?

Y-yes. Libhro can show you.

Instantly, what I saw changed to an aerial view of my own body. As if somebody pulled me out of my skin and hanged high above me. Then I flown over the streets to stop over the main plaza where hooded people busied themselves with assembling some kind of structure amid rain. Again, my view twisted, now I faced a grey building with light burning inside its glassless windows. The seeing took me inside, there, inside a cage cobbled together from barb wire and iron rods, they sat. A child with swollen eyes, bruised face and no clothing aside the chains they used to bind her. Next to her, bloody shape labored with each breath. Had I not seen that tattoo on her calf before, I would not recognize her.

And you Libhro, where are you?

The scene changed and I rushed away from that prison cell and to a tower overlooking the entire island. There, at the topmost floor, a crystal filled with light awaited me, longing. She knew, she too wished to be freed.

Can you disable that spell which banish spirits?

Sadness came to my mind and an image of four rune covered pillars surrounding her core. She could activate it, but it required people to shut down.

Impatient power pulsed round my wrist.

I am coming, wait a bit more.

My eyes focused again on this aromatic group, covered in layers of ancient excrements and whatever else ended up in that ditch. I wonder how much they are worth; would they manage what I am to ask?

“They have your friend under key. She appears alive. Wounded but still breathing.”

“Anli?! Where?! How do you know?! Speak!”

One of the ferru rushed towards me, Barrent stopped her with his arm. Whether this was Sari or Nari, I could not tell.

“So you say lassie, so you say… had those gifts of yours whispered you some more details?”

I left the pond and faced him, his eyes were sharp, questioning.

A little help roomie, my memory is not as good as yours.

Erta obliged, projecting an outline of what we saw from above. Streets, buildings, plazas. I traced it with my nail, cutting shapes in the sandstone floor, for the others to see.

“We are here. This is the main plaza where they intend to commence the ritual. This is the building where they keep prisoners.”

“Prisoners?”

“Your friend and a girl. If you dare to go with this plan, take both. Aside from the information she has on these people, the girl will take you to a hidden ship. When you get there, leave. Do not wait for me. Get as far from the island as you can.”

“And why is that lassie?”

“I have one more task to complete before I could leave. Here, this is where I’ll go.”

My nail dug a circle in the opposite direction from the plaza where their friend would be. Then I pointed over their heads, at the tower overlooking the city.

“That tower holds a key to this entire place, without it, they’ll gain nothing here. While I am on it, I’ll draw them away. It should grant you some time to free them.”

“Quite an elaborate way to get us killed, lassie.”

“Had I wanted you dead, I would not go through all this trouble. This is but a chance to get you off this accursed land. If it does not fulfil your needs, we may as well part now and you shall find your own way.”

“Well, as a plan goes, we done worse. What do you say honeypuff?”

“Is it really her?”

“Yes.”

“Then we'll go.”

Their faces shown conviction, mine showed nothing. Perhaps I was in fact sending them to their doom. Perhaps I had just forsaken my own life.

“Clean up. They will smell you before they will see you.”

And they did so with unhidden pleasure while rain offered its help. Drenched and steaming, we huddled to the shadows as we crept through the empty alleys and ruined streets.

*Stop. There are people in my range. I counted forty souls… Something happened, about a third separated from the main group and vanished… No! They found it! The path to that place, I can sense it! Its reek is spreading onto the surface! *

Nothing we can do about it now, well go as planned. Get your charms ready. Cora, is your body ready?

Yes. Should I come out?

No, not yet. Also, if nothing works as planned, you have my permission.

I see. Then I shall wait, master.

“What are they building?”

Sari’s whisper died in the staccato of drumming raindrops.

“Nothing I wish see finished. Give me your hands, this is the place we part.”

They stretched them to me, and I cupped their hands in my palms. Mana rushed through me to the call of Erta’s song. She sang to the flame, water and earth for the strength and protection they give. She whispered to the wind for the swiftness of its wings and silent steps among the thunders. She praised the light for our path was riddled with darkness. Her voice echoing with power, her melody weaving a spell. It spread between the four of us and settled around our bodies with its invisible, protective film.

“Whatever good this may do. Leave the island as soon as you can.”

There were no goodbyes, no hugs, not a word exchanged. I turned on my heel and walked onto the plaza, leaving the safety of shadows. Raindrops hanged in the air, lazily trickling down. As if beads on a string, the rain moved away from my path, air around me boiling with Erta’s furry.

And they noticed.

Guards began pouring out, flooding the plaza, their movements almost as slow as those of the raindrops. But not all. Four of the lot came almost at a spear length when I raised my arm like the dragon told me. My mana surged with glee and rushed into the spell forming within my palm.

I saw fear in the eyes of a mage that run at me. Whether her recognized the spell of felt it power, I never knew. Erta released her hold and power left me, drowning the world in fire. Dragon fire.

Not even white phosphorus could come near the destructive power of what I saw. The rain turned into steam. Wood collapsed into ash. Metal of weapons and armors boiled while the cobblestones were burning like cinders, soaked in gasoline.

Yet, none perished.

Whatever magic protected those people, held against the dragon flame. Tossed away by the blast, blackened shapes rolled screaming within the flames. Burning yet unable to die. Were these even people?

*Go! Now! Before they recover! *

Recover? How can anyone… Even though the flames still burned, two of the victims were already up on their knees, black smoke shrouding their bodies. Yup, run. I can run. The ground where I stood a moment ago, exploded dousing me with dust. The mage I saw earlier, missing his entire left arm, waved something in the air with his staff. I managed to roll away and duck behind a building before whatever he unleashed flattened an entire block and punched me five feet deep into the soil beneath the pavement.

*Ye who wields all power, become my shield! *

Thin layer of mana engulfed me just before their spells reached my hole. The blast dug me out and smashed through another five buildings. Yup, we got their attention all right… an awful lot of foamy blood came out of my mouth as I crawled forward.

Roomie, I can’t see a thing, can’t hear anything and I think my ribs are bust.

*Jump! Now! *

I did and sent us sailing blindly into the air, avoiding whatever exploded beneath me. At this point, the only thing that kept me conscious was the water ring chugging insane amounts of mana.

In. Get in.

Something insisted at the edge of my mind. Libhro?

In the darkness that clouded my eyes, a gate appeared in the distance. At the same time a spell hit me square in my hip, smashing me through a roof and a wall back into the cobbled street.

Yet the gate remained where it stood.

*Go!*

I jumped again using my only good leg and crashed into something. Another wall?

“Idiot master!”

Cora materialized beside me and hauled me out of the rubble.

“Where?!”

Unseeing, I pointed at the door, the only thing my mind registered and she run. She run for our lives while I pointed at the gate.