Chapter 121:

Anton awoke screaming, a blood-curdling scream from the very depth of his black stained soul. His consciousness erupted from the black void and back into reality. Slowly the darkness dripped away from his mind. Even as his thoughts slowly became clearer, little by little, breath by breath, his mind raced to try and make sense of anything. Once enough ink had fallen away he could formulate an actual thought and move his lips.

“I…I was at Balefire Mine. And then I started bleeding and…” Anton stopped speaking. His voice echoed strangely, from everywhere at once.

He forced his eyes open. A clear blue sky did not greet him. Nor was it the pale blue of the God’s Realm. The perfectly white sky, bright without any sun, stretched as far as he could see. He raised his hand and almost recoiled in shock. White ethereal energy replaced his hands, even his whole body. His clothes had disappeared yet he didn’t feel naked.

Anton rocked his head to the side. Golden grass, with white veins, nestled his body. A ring of golden trees encircled him, rustling in a near silent breeze. Just like the grass their leaves were a lighter gold than the trunk and woven with white veins. A small waterfall, more like a small pond, lay just inside the golden tree perimeter. Whitewater cascaded down a black stone fountain.

Anton forced himself to his feet. After a few steps he could move perfectly fine. His magic, that once was so easy to use, was completely beyond him. The heaviness of mana remained within his body but he was unable to utilise it no matter how much he forced or pleaded it to work.

“I couldn’t use it the last time I travelled to another place like this too.” Anton scratched his head. The hair underneath his fingers felt wispy and light. It took some time for the strands to fall back down. “Right…Hel…No. Better not just yell. I’ve got no idea where I am.”

The grass didn’t crunch or make any sound as he walked over them. They silently folded underneath his feet, gently returning to their original position a few seconds later. Anton tried to jump, to test if the physics of this world were different. They were not. Grumbling, he walked to the small pond and knelt down in front of it. Small red fish darted through the white water. He touched the water causing a tiny ripple to rush over the surface, even against the ripples made by the flowing water.

None of this makes sense. Maybe I should just go with it for now? It’s a better idea than panicking.

A snap made Anton drop to the ground. A crack of thunder. Fearing the red lightning of the Demons he looked up only to see a writhing line of black lightning running along the white sky. Another crackle of lightning came from beyond the small pond as another writhing line of black lightning ran over his head, splitting the clear white sky. It didn’t actually travel in a straight line rather hoping along invisible points in the sky. He followed the lightning into the distance as it faded away.

“Looks like that way’s my best bet.” Anton murmured. He looked around. “Doesn’t seem like someone’s going to come and find me this time.”

As he pushed his way through the trees his mind drifted back to Verona and Kal. He wanted to return to everyone. But he was brought to this place for a reason. And he needed to find out why.

Past the golden trees a golden grassland continued without end in every direction. Large white cubes, jutting out of the ground and one another, lay scattered throughout the grassland slowly growing in density towards the source of the black lightning. In the distance, a large tower, made from the same white material as the cubes, soared into the sky. From the very tip, the black lightning emanated, one bolt every second that darted off into a random direction.

“Okay…” Anton checked the grasslands again for any sort of movement. “Looks like it’s just me…And those fish.”

Tentatively he stepped out into the grasslands. Fearing that there might be something else in this realm, other than the small red fish, he crouched low and hid behind the white cubes. Each had an impossibly smooth yet warm surface. It didn’t feel alive but Anton knew that he could very well be wrong. Everything in this world was wrong, coming from a visitor like himself. Anton lost track of time as he slipped silently through the empty grasslands. Soon he resorted to scrambling over the white cubes as the golden grass disappeared and only fields of cubes remained. He slipped and landed his foot on the edge. Expecting a painful strike his scrunched his eyes tight and waited for the jolt of pain. When he opened his eyes his foot simply rested on the razor sharp edge. Trying his luck he jumped onto the foot to see if there was any feeling other than touch. His ethereal body appeared impervious to such injuries, though he wasn’t going to test it further.

After hours of travelling something was bothering him. Not only was he not running out of breath or even beginning to tire the tower had not moved. Anton ran up the tallest cube he could find. The small ring of trees lay at the very edge of his vision, everything faded into a white haze beyond that. When he looked to the tower he saw the cube boulders begin to thin out and the grasslands return. A large forest of golden trees lay on the other side of the grasslands. It was difficult to determine distance on the open and featureless ground.

“Ugh.” Anton sighed, his voice echoed even surrounded by nothing. “How long is this going to take?”

He continued walking through the golden grassland. He hoped that, if he could find a way back, time didn’t flow strangely here. To come back to an old body…

A laugh, echoing through the trees, instantly caused him to drop low again. It was a child’s laugh, happy and playful. Another laugh echoed through the golden trees.

Children? Well, it’s a start. Though I might have a hard time explaining what I’m doing here completely naked.

Anton quietly moved through the forest, following the growing sounds of children’s laughter. Though he was moving quickly it still sounded extremely far away. Finally, the forest began to thin. Thirteen children played in a clearing. Each looked had an ethereal white body like him but they had subtle differences. About half were girls, at least they wore dresses, while the boys wore pants and no shirts. Their hair flowed just like Anton’s, hair flowing through water, and he couldn’t see their faces. The contours existed but nothing existed except their mouths, not even their eyes. Several chased one another while the rest were played with small dolls. Judging by the colour and texture they were made from the cube boulders.

“Hello?” Anton asked, hiding behind the trees.

The children didn’t notice him.

“Hello?!”

Again the children didn’t register his presence. He stepped out and shouted again. Still, they ignored him.

“Can they just not see me?”

Anton knelt beside a child playing at the edge. He played with small white blocks trying to form a castle. Some of the blocks fell over and he groaned, shaking his head before starting to rebuild them. Another boy approached, this one didn’t see Anton either, and brought a set of dolls to play with him. The first child quickly finished the block castle and began playing with the dolls. They were quite ornate, toy soldiers, but something tickled at the back of Anton’s mind. The dolls hunched over slightly and held deformed faces despite a resplendent set of armour.

Is that…

The second child produced another type of doll. Anton’s blood ran cold.

A Ghlotsm doll. It was unmistakable. The arms, sharp claws, paunch stomach and sunken eyes. A Ghlotsm that someone had tried to model as a majestic specimen.

The children started to play with the two different dolls, making growling noises as they pretended to fight amongst each other.

If that’s a Ghlotsm then-

Every child stopped, turning to face a single point. A small green disk formed in the air, slowly growing until it was three meters across. The child building the castle backed away as a white light began to cover his body. The other children had the same ethereal glow but nowhere near as intense. The child backed away from the portal and dropped the Goblin Doll. He reached into his pants and drew another doll; some mutant amalgamation of a wingless dragon and a human with giant claws, an oversized jaw bristling with teeth and an elongated cranium forming a triangular shape with layers of carapace armour and five backwards pointing horns on the edge. Whatever it was it looked dangerous. The child looked at the doll as the light concentrated around it. He continued to back away from the growing green portal, his otherwise featureless face hid his emotuion but Anton recognised his worried stance, before passing through Anton. His white glowing aura remained within Anton, a searing heat coursed through Anton's body from the waist down, as the child passed through otherwise unchanged. Anton turned to the child as the burning sensation began to overwhelm his senses. The child tilted his head as he flexed his hands, glancing at the dim doll.

“Trellos!” A young girl screamed, tripping and crashing into the golden grass. Another set of white dolls scattered from her hands, rolling into the tree-line. She hauled herself up and gave chase, snatching up the Ghlotsm doll all while looking back at the green disk.

The boy glanced at her then to Anton. Despite his lack of eyes Anton still felt the boy’s sight tearing through him.

“You? What did you do? What are you doing-”

A terrible weight began to fall over Anton even as the burning threatened to overwhelm his very thoughts. The strength left his legs before he crashed into the soft golden grass. Even with every ounce of effort, he couldn’t manage to raise his hand. With his breath fading and the darkness and burning beginning to swamp his mind once again the green disk burst in a flash of green. A portal. People started to move through, not children. A woman stepped through. Long flowing blonde hair trailed behind her, the green light of the portal only enhanced the brightness of her slim green dress. As she raised her hand, a green glowing light swirled around it, another woman emerged through the portal. A woman wearing a white habit. A scream filled his ears before darkness overtook him once again.

---[]---

A gentle slap brought Anton to a clear blue sky. He blinked furiously to try and regain some cognitive thought. A young woman leant over him, her eyes red and her pale skinned face drenched in worry.

“You’re awake!” Verona collapsed her head onto his chest, gently thumping her fists on his chest. “Thank the fucking gods! I thought you were gone.”

“What…What happened?” Anton’s voice was harsh, raspy, but it didn’t echo this time.

“Just rest.” Kal pushed his head down as he tried to rise up, a motherly expression on her face. “You…We were really worried. You passed out and nearly cracked your head on the cart. Cetina caught you but you still fell down pretty very hard.”

Kal gently stroked his head. “I actually thought this might be it. Some rotten hole…So far from home.”

Anton slipped a hand behind his head. His fingers were slick with blood but he couldn’t feel any wound. Kal wouldn’t have left the wound open.

“How long was I out?”

“Not long.” Verona smiled, wiping away the tears still running down her face. “Um…Really not that long. The sun’s barely moved.”

Anton craned his neck back, earning a severe look of worry from Kal. The sun had indeed barely moved. He might have been down for just a few minutes.

“Are you sure? It felt like hours in there.” Anton mumbled. “Days, maybe.”

“You went somewhere?”

Anton looked back, Cetina sat in a kneeling position behind his head. Her sword and shield lay against the cart but within easy reach.

“Kind of.” Anton groaned. “It’s pretty difficult to explain. But…I am back.”

His right hand, unlike his left, felt warm and dry dirt beneath his fingers. His glove lay next to it, stained in wet blood. The skin around the white embedded crystal had inflamed with many cracks, tiny rivulets of blood running down his skin. A rag, soaked with blood, lay to Kal’s side.

“The blood stopped flowing once you fell down.” Kal began, gently stroking his head. “Verona was panicking the most. She, and a few of us thought you had lost your hand.”

“Yeah…” Anton poked the skin. Jolts of pain came with every touch. The white crystal, given forcibly by Tethra, had dimmed a shade.

That crystal doesn’t look like anything from that realm. Thankfully. But what would have happened if I held the stone for just a few seconds more? Would it have fallen out? Turned black? The crystal itself is bigger than my hand. When Tethra put it in it most of it vanished into nothingness.

Anton tried to haul himself up but Verona and Kal stopped him again. Their looks of elation changed to worry and fear as they held him down.

“Is something else wrong?” Anton asked, glancing back to Cetina. She winced slightly. “What’s going on? I’ve still got everything. I didn’t lose the other hand, right?”

“That’s…” Verona glanced at Kal. “Kind of the problem.”

Anton sighed. “Well, can you at least help me up? I don’t want to be lying down for the next hour until my head’s completely fine.”

“Alright then.” Verona smiled bitterly. “Cetina? Can you help please?”

“Of course.”

Anton shuffled backwards, his backside and legs felt odd, as Cetina lifted him by his armpits. She was very strong, almost able to lift him by herself. How much blood did he lose? Verona and Kal gently held his waist, a slightly pained expression on their tired faces, and refused to let go.

“Um. Cetina?” Anton felt something odd along his back.

“Yes, Anton?”

Verona coughed lightly. “Don’t let go, Cetina.”

Cetina’s hands gripped tight. Obviously, his wives weren’t too worried about Cetina being so close. Which only made him more concerned.

“Cetina.” Anton glanced back. “Are you poking your leg into my back?”

“No.” Cetina forcibly kept her face flat.

“Then what am I feeling back there?”

“Don’t let go.” Verona chuckled nervously before clapping her hands. “Anton. No matter what happens I want you to remain calm.”

“Why?” Anton looked to his butt, covered by his bloodstained cloak. “What have you done?”

“We didn’t do anything,” Kal said. “But please listen to Verona. We don’t want you to panic or start lashing out.”

“Neither of you are helping.” Anton snapped. They smiled with understanding, it was the first time Anton had spoken to them in such a manner.

Anton raised his arm, the cloak dragged on his arm and something brushed against his leg. But he was still wearing his pants.

“Did you cut away some of my clothes?”

“No.” Verona nodded at Cetina. Her grip increased.

Anton grumbled and threw back his cloak. A tail, covered in large black scales with a ridgeline of small white spikes running along its length, rested between his legs almost reaching the ground. Just below his knees, the tail split into four. These too had a small ridgeline of white spines that formed a white point at the end. Anton stared, unblinking and unmoving. The gentle breeze pushed the edge of the cloak against the scales, a jolt of touch raced to his brain.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“What the fuck!” Anton screamed.

“Hold him!” Verona yelled. She held his face still. “It’s okay. Anton. It’s okay.”

“What?” Anton’s hand shook as he reached down. Now he understood where the sensations came from. “When did this happen?”

“Do you think you can stand on your own?” Verona asked.

“Maybe we should move you…” Kal pointed to the rear of the Dwarven cart. “Wait just a second.”

The Dwarves and Dark Elves had formed a large perimeter, keeping their watch outward. Occasionally one would glance back, the looks of worry dissipated upon seeing Anton standing. Kal returned with a large empty crate, the breeze brushed against his tail again. He whimpered at the strange sensation shooting up his spine.

“You sound like a little girl.” Verona laughed, relinquishing her hold on his face and holding his hands. “Don’t give me that look. I’m just trying to keep you smiling.”

“Well…It is helping a bit.” Anton admitted. “Not that I was expecting to have a freaking tail when I woke up.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a tail,” Kal grumbled, placing the crate to Anton’s side. “I thought you liked mine.”

“I do. But only one of us should have one.”

Verona nodded at Cetina. “It’s not exactly over just yet.”

“You’re damn right it isn’t,” Anton grumbled.

Cetina gently helped him onto the crate, ensuring he didn’t accidentally sit on it. It dragged along the ground, sending another shiver of information up his spine. When Cetina relinquished her hold he realised that is legs had barely been working. He mouthed a silent thanks to Cetina and moved his cloak to the side.

“Can you move it?” Kal asked. She gingerly manoeuvred the tail to his lap.

“I…Think so.” Anton forced himself to remain calm. “It feels so strange for you to touch it.”

“I think we’ll keep the funny stuff until we’re done.” Verona mused, kneeling in front of him. “Does it hurt?”

Anton tapped one of the four small end pieces. He could clearly feel the depression of his finger but it was slightly muted compared to skin. Not surprising considering it was covered by scales.

“No. Not really.”

“That’s good.”

“Please explain what happened from the beginning.” Anton rested his elbows on his knees, careful to not touch his strange new tail. His thoughts drifted to the new appendage. After a moment he lifted it up and manoeuvred the small ends about. He forced it back down, the limb responded perfectly. “This is ridiculous. I guess this is how we’d feel if we were thrust into Kal’s body.”

Verona coughed lightly. “After you fell down you started bleeding and it just wouldn’t stop. Kal tried healing you, that really didn’t work and I couldn’t control the blood to try and put it back in. The blood that I had just wasn’t enough and it just kept on flowing out. We all thought you were going to die.”

“And you were mumbling something.” Kal held his hand. “I couldn’t understand it. None of us could. If anything…” Kal glanced to her side and leant close. “It sounded like a Goblin’s screech.”

Verona and Cetina nodded seriously.

Anton took a deep breath and explained what he saw.

“That’s just strange.” Verona glanced at Kal. “Never heard of anything like that before. Being a white ghost in that weird place.”

“Me neither.” Cetina frowned lightly. “Neither did any of the Dwarves or Dark Elves.”

“They saw this too?”

Verona smiled. “Pretty hard for them not to. Your shouting also brought a whole bunch of Ghlotsm too.”

She pointed towards the open cut mine. A fresh pile of Ghlotsm bodies lay in the street, peppered by black Dark Elf arrows and Dwarven bolts. Several of their number moved amongst the corpses recovering the ammunition.

“So what do they have to say about this?” Anton touched his tail.

“Nothing yet.” Verona shrugged. “I think they wanted to see if you would live first. They’ll probably say something soon. I don’t think it’s bad, but…You never know.”

“Let’s hope not.” Anton ran his hand through his hair. The wet blood stuck to his hands.

“Let me get you something.” Kal jumped up and moved to the supply cart.

A Dark Elf and Dwarf tried to speak to her but she politely waved them down before taking the self-filling water barrel. She took several straps of loose cloth and brought them to Anton. She angled the barrel so the water would constantly flow out and began to clean the blood from Anton’s head. Cetina took another cloth strapped and began to help.

Verona chuckled. “Doesn’t need any push now…I guess I’ll be the one that tells the story then.” Verona shrugged. “As you were shouting the blood began to coil around your backside. Then it started to form into that tail. After it formed…You calmed down.”

“And then I woke up?”

“A little bit after that.” A tear ran down her face. “When you stopped moving I thought you were actually dead.”

Anton gently held her cheek, Verona held his hand tight and closed her eyes. “I thought I might have been stuck in that place forever. Or maybe that I’d be an old man when I got out.”

Verona laughed, patting his hand. “We would have found a way to get you back before then. Do you think we would have just shrugged and walked away?”

“Never.” Anton took a deep breath. “What do I do with this thing? Cut it off?”

“I don’t think that’ll work.” Kal sighed lightly.

“Why?”

Verona held up a small scaled tail, identical to one of the four forming the end of his tail.

“Did I originally have five of these things?” Anton pointed the ends at his face, searching for a stump.

“Nope.” Verona twirled the flesh in her fingers. Anton reached out and stopped her. “We thought that maybe giving you a jolt would wake you up. And since you can heal missing limbs I thought…I’d remove this.”

“So Kal healed me?”

Kal grunted and shook her head. “I didn’t heal you after you calmed down. And that’s the problem.”

“It grew back on its own.” Verona sighed. “Kal and Cetina said that it might be using your mana or life to do it so we agreed not to do anything more until you woke up.”

“Right.” Anton held the four ends in his hands. He focused his thoughts and coiled them around his fingers. “Damn it. This is going to be a serious problem.”

“It’s hard enough with just me.” Kal gently lowered the cleaned rag to her knees. “Can Tethra’s power remove it? Or at the least hide it?”

Anton didn’t hesitate and chanted a prayer to remove the tail. Mana flowed through him and into his tail. A white light, just like Cetina’s eyepatch once glowed, covered his tail. It flickered once before the light dimmed.

“Did-"

His tail flashed white as dozens of small white sparks darted into the sky, fading after a few seconds.

Verona poked his tail. “Looks like we’ve found something that Tethra’s power can’t fix.”

“By the Gods.” Anton rubbed his forehead. “That Trellos person, thing, walked through me and made all this happen.” Anton sighed again. “Great…I should probably just check and make sure it’s not something that’s going to try and hurt me or you two in my sleep.”

“The ends are pretty sharp.” Verona mused, idly poking the end of the cut off tail.

“Please don’t do that.”

Anton searched through his body. Nothing was out of place, not even along his tail. It wasn’t a foreign object or something grafted onto his body. For better or for worse it was now a part of him. Cutting off the limb, just to have it grow back, lacked any sort of appeal. For now, it appeared harmless.

Better put a prayer on it, just in case.

Anton didn’t know exactly what to say, so he asked Tethra to prevent anything but himself from taking control of the tail. There wasn’t a real way to be sure that it worked. Anton just had to have faith in Tethra that it would work.

“Time to see if it can be hidden.”

Anton chanted aloud the simple prayer. Again the tail glowed white but it failed, white sparks flew in all directions.

Anton grumbled. He flicked his tail once, it wasn’t that hard to control, only strange given his lack of experience. “Doesn’t seem like it’s got any magic immunity like Cetina’s blood. Hopefully, Ferula will know something.”

“That’s still a long way,” Verona said. “Do you want to head back to Atros while-”

Anton raised his hand. “Absolutely not. I can’t do anything good there. Besides, what are you going to do if an army of Goblins finds us?”

“Run away.” Kal smiled. “That’s the smart thing to do.”

“Can you still use normal magic?” Cetina asked.

Anton summoned a small fire and lightning bomb. Both magical constructs floated normally above his hands.

“Seems fine.” Anton withdrew the magic. “I would like to check out the bigger magics but I don’t have much mana left.” Anton slapped his knees. “Kal? I’m going to need your help soon.”

“Yes?” Kal’s ears pricked up.

“Since I can’t hide this thing I need advice.”

Kal smiled warmly. “Let me get some string.”

“Just going to wrap it around your waist?” Verona tossed the cut off limb away. “These spines aren’t exactly soft. I mean, it’ll just leave a lot of marks on your skin.”

“You’re going to have to raise your shirt for this, Anton,” Kal said. “Even I can’t wrap my tail around my stomach without my hands.”

“But you’ve got a very thin stomach.” Anton smiled as removed his upper armour. “So that helps.”

Kal gently rolled her eyes. “Stop trying to flirt with me right now.”

“We should probably check the rest of your body for anything weird.” Verona looked over his naked chest. “Just in case.”

“I know you’re worried about one place in particular but okay.” Anton picked up his cloak and passed it to Cetina. “Could you please hold this up?”

Cetina took the cloak but he caught her eyes looking over his upper body. He had a decent build for this world; during the rest periods he had been exercising with Cetina and Kal, while Verona secretly worked on whatever she was planning with the colourful feathers. Kal sighed and bumped Cetina back to reality. She averted her gaze but kept him within her sight.

Verona checked no one else was looking before running her hands over his chest. “Doesn’t seem to be anything odd here.” She spun him around. “Same with your back too.”

“So where does this tail come out?” Anton turned his head back. “Is it like Kal’s?”

“Yep.” Verona knelt by his rear, running her hand along the spine ridges. “Just like Kal it comes out the base of your spine. It completely clears your butt too. Looks like it won’t be in the way when you have to go into the bushes either.”

“That’s actually some good news.” Anton mentally recoiled at the implications. “It seems pretty flexible too.”

“Yeah.” Verona lifted the tail up, a strange bending sensation travelled up his spine, and ran a finger along the underside. “It’s softer on this side too.”

“What do you mean too?” Anton asked dryly, Kal held the same expression. “There’s only one person that I know that has something like this. Did you feel up Eider’s tail?”

“…No.” Verona looked away before a smile crept up her face. “I wanted to know. And it was. Anyway, we need to check lower.”

Anton unfastened his belt. He glanced back, Cetina averted her gaze somewhat. Verona peered inside and his rear.

“Everything seems normal.” Verona laughed. “Well, actually now that I look at it-”

“Is it covered in scales?” Anton looked down.

“No.” Verona laughed. “Seems like that Trellos gave you another gift.”

Kal looked around his shoulder, her eyes glanced down then back up. “Maybe.”

“So longs as it works, and not covered in scales, its fine,” Anton said.

“We’ll see tonight.” Verona clapped her hands. “You said that the burning covered all your legs, right? Let’s have a look.”

Verona unbuckled his boot. She frowned and grunted trying to remove it. Something was pulling on his foot. His heart began to race as Verona ripped the book off. Despite the dried blood staining his foot he knew something was wrong, not even Verona could hide her surprise. His foot wasn’t human or even anything like a Beast-kin. Three large toes, tipped with a large black and white claw and covered in large black scales trimmed with white, had been pushed together to form the front of his foot. Several large ridges, like a carapace armour, formed where his joints should lie and collected wet and sticky blood.

“I…” Anton sighed and shook his head. “No wonder it was so difficult to get off.” Anton manoeuvred his newfound toes. “I suppose I’m not even phased by this anymore.”

“Boots are going to be an issue for you now as well.” Verona mused. She took Kal’s wet cloth and wiped away the blood. “More advice from Kal?”

“Put some padding underneath your foot.” Kal knelt and held his foot up. “If you have to wear normal boots you’ll need to support this part. Otherwise it’ll be really uncomfortable.”

“I think it will be anyway.” Anton sighed.

Verona raised his pants, these larger scales covered halfway up his shin before they petered out, forming small patches of scales that stopped just below his knees.

“Not much we can do right now.” Verona rinsed the blood out of his boot. “We need to keep moving. But we should get this thing wrapped first.”

“I wonder if the horses will act up,” Verona said nonchalantly as Kal removed the other boot. “They’re pretty sensitive to smells.”

“It smells like Anton.” Kal sniffed at his tail. “I’m annoyed I’m not the only one with a tail now.”

Kal stuffed his book with a small wad of cloth, enough to support his high arch. Given the different size, it was quite difficult to get it back on. Anton thought it was snug. Very snug. Anton refastened his belt as Verona and Kal gently wrapped the tail around his waist. The hard scales felt strange and slightly cool against his skin. As it was nowhere near long enough to form a loop, like Kal’s, they gently tied the four split ends to the base.

“This seems okay.” Anton twisted his waist, the tail didn’t fall loose. “I might want something a bit more secure later.”

“Can’t you just put it down your pants?” Cetina asked. She kept everything in her peripheral vision.

Kal shook her head. “Sitting on your tail is incredibly painful. Extremely painful. And mine’s very thin. Not to mention that it feels like it’s trying to rip it out from my spine.”

“Bad enough when you sit on your foot,” Anton said.

As he fastened his shirt a small white blob ran towards him. Luna lunged at his leg. Her doey deer eyes stared into his as she pawed at his legs with her small hooves.

“At least you don’t think something’s wrong.” Anton held her in his arms. She licked his face and nuzzled into his neck. He lifted his shirt and allowed her to sniff at the tail. She was clearly interested but nothing more. After a few small licks and sniffs, she tried to nuzzle back into his neck.

“You’re awake!” A voice came from inside the building.

Umikgruid and Ceccitol emerged from the sorting building. The deep worry and concern they held faded when they saw him standing.

“Yeah.” Anton smiled. “I’m back.” He raised his shirt. “And it looks like a little more came back with me.”

“Hmm…” Umikgruid stroked his beard as he leant close. “Can’t say I’ve ever seen this before. And I’ve been alive for some time.”

“Me neither,” Ceccitol said. “Can you move it?”

“Sure. But I need to get used to having it like this. I can’t exactly expose it in a human city. They’ll think I’m a Half-Breed Beast-kin.” Anton gently kissed Kal. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

Umikgruid laughed. “Whatever you did you definitely shouldn’t do it again.”

“Speaking of…”

Cetina pointed to a large bundle of cloth on top of a cart. “It’s in there.”

“Make sure it stays in there,” Anton said. “I don’t want anyone to go through this. Cetina? I’m going to have you look after it okay? Make sure no one touches it.”

Cetina gave a curt nod. Judging by her expression she would prefer to throw the thing into the mine after setting it on fire.

“Can, can you still use magic?” Ceccitol asked softly.

“I can. But we’ll find out what I can do on the way.”

“So long as you are better.” Ceccitol smiled. “And still capable of helping us.” Verona and Kal glared at the Dark Elf. “I mean-”

“I hope so too.” Anton patted the girl’s shoulders, calming them somewhat. “But I can still use magic. I’m sure that I’ll be fine before we reach The Shadow Isles.” Anton summoned a fireball. “It’s a bit easier already. Give me a couple of days and I’ll be ready to take an entire army.”

“If you’re not there’s always us.” Verona chuckled. “Well, mainly my magic. But still.”

Kal sighed.

“Let’s go,” Anton said. “I think we’re done with this accursed place.”

“Shouldn’t we burn it down?” Verona asked. “Get rid of the Ghlotsm now?”

“Not unless we can destroy all their nests and stop the Goblins from taking this place. And we have to come back if Wilford isn’t there…” Anton sighed. “I’d hate to have to go through Qaiviel without some answers.” A thought flashed through his mind. “Whatever happened to those Orcs? We didn’t go further south than Maxill.”

“Orcs?” Umikgruid and Ceccitol asked simultaneously.

Anton felt his fingers tingle. Did they hate the Orcs like humans hated Beast-kin? “Yes. A lot of them. They were heading south…Do either of you hate the Orcs?”

“I thought they didn’t leave the mountains.” Ceccitol scratched her chin. “At least they haven’t been seen in Bebbezzar in some time.”

“Traders? Orc traders?”

“Apparently they used to be quite common all across the land, at least that’s what I’ve heard. Furs from animals lurking in the cold, miners and noble warriors. Apparently. But that might have been during the time of the United Kingdom.”

“I would have like to have seen that place.” Anton smiled. He squeezed Kal’s shoulder. “Maybe it will come again. And you, Umikgruid?”

“Don’t really know that much about them. They have a large empire to the south of the Frindal Emirate, they’re often at war but it’s never that serious. More of an excuse to keep spending money on their armies. But…Whatever. Both pay well for weapons.”

We need to find the Red Spines. Right now it’s kind of low on the list. Especially with my recent changes…

“Another place I’d like to visit. But we need to keep moving.”

“You…” Verona patted his chest. “You aren’t ready to ride a horse yet. Will, it even let you?”

“It’s not that hard with the saddle,” Anton said. “I won’t be poking it with the spines. I’ll just take it steady.”

Anton stepped forward and felt his legs turn weak. He stumbled before the girls grabbed him.

“You aren’t ready just yet,” Verona said. Cetina held Anton by the armpits again. He felt quite secure in her grasp. “I think it’s best you go in one of the carts for now.”

“I should be fine.”

“No,” Kal spoke sternly. “You’re just going to fall off. And break your neck. And no one can bring you back after that.” Her eyes turned slightly teary. “Not after just getting you back.”

“Okay.” Anton relented. “Let’s get out of this place.”

Anton was helped into the back of the supply cart. There was enough room for him to lie in the back, a pile of soft animal hides were enough to keep him relatively comfortable. As he slinked down into the small bed, the smell of furs all around and Luna nestled in his arms, Kal jumped into the cart. She smiled and sat near his feet, her bow drawn but not knocked. Anton hauled himself up to see Verona and Cetina handling their horses.

“It was all going so well too.” Anton chuckled.

“It was.” Kal smiled. “But what does this mean for…Things at night?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem.” Anton smiled at Verona. “But I think this tail should be wrapped up at night. Just in case.”

Kal crawled and held his knee. He felt a surge of water rush underneath his skin.

“I can’t feel anything odd.” Kal nestled herself next to Anton’s shoulder. “It all feels like it’s a part of you.” She nibbled on his ear, glancing at an envious Verona and awkward Cetina. “We’re going to see if everything still works right tonight too.”

Anton returned the nip. Kal squeaked, swatted him away and resumed her watch, though keeping a leg entwined with his. Anton relaxed and sunk into the small pile of furs. In but a few his life had completely changed. What would the people in Atros think? The humans and Beast-kin? What was that strange realm, what were those children and the dolls they held? And who was coming through that portal? He had an idea, but not one that he was willing to share yet, just in case the Old Gods could hear his words. The person coming through the portal looked strikingly like Nithroel. And the white habit next to her…

Was there any truth to his thoughts?

Why were those children playing with those resplendent Goblin and Ghlotsm dolls, depicting them as something more than feral beasts? Were they always feral?

Anton looked up at the clear blue sky as they trundled out of Balefire Mine. He had more questions than answers. Answers he knew he would regret knowing. Anton closed his eyes and found himself drifting off to a pleasant sleep almost instantly.

Maybe we should have just skipped this place? If we just hadn’t found that journal, either of them, everything would have been so much easier…