“And…the horrors we should expect?” Taljir asked, not bothering to hide his grimace as he leaned against a column in the stables.

Omid had said absolutely nothing about horrors being in any part of this expedition, and the briefest flash of indignation on his face said as much right before he immediately relented with a sympathetic wince. “No Zallans! They will be saving their direct involvement with plots for the upcoming war party. Their minions however-”

“Why doesn’t Sareen have any minions?”

“What do you think we are?”

“Humans, Omid.” The young beastmaster said as he shook his head. “Doesn’t she have any supernatural minions that she could send?”

“It will be our goal to recruit an extremely powerful supernatural…follower.” Omid mulled over his final word before settling on that one rather than “forced recruit” or “conscript” as those sounded too harsh and reminded the young man far too much of his own accidental role in this entity’s newfound predicament. “The wills and egos of Zallans and other supernatural entities tend to clash far too often for most lasting alliances. In times of war, that changes.”

Taljir crossed his arms, raising a brow as he tilted his head. “And you learned of this from…a book-”

“From someone who I am trying to persuade to be different.” Omid held up a hand to stop any further speculation. “If you found yourself with the opportunity to change things for the better, even if the road to doing so was filled with terror and uncertainty, wouldn’t you walk that road?”

“Just because I wanted adventure doesn’t mean I wanted to be involved in the fate of the world!” He threw his hands in the air and started walking off to the stable quarters with Omid in tow.

“So you don’t wish to be known as Taljir the Great, hero of mankind, and legend among legends at the dawn of a new world that you helped to shape?” Omid asked as he followed after him.

The stablehand was mid step as he turned to face Omid with a finger pointing in his face. “YOU OWE ME ONE QUIET, BOOKISH LIBRARIAN GIRL WITH WIDE HIPS AND SHORT ENOUGH THAT SHE NEEDS ME TO REACH THE TOP SHELVES FOR HER! SHE’LL SAY TALJIR I NEED YOU TO HELP ME CARRY A CRATE OF BOOKS WITH YOUR BIG STRONG ARMS, THEN HOLD ME TENDERLY AND MAKE ME FEEL SAFE IN THIS HORRIFYING WORLD WE FIND OURSELVES IN!”

The apprentice mage’s mouth hung open as he raised a brow. “You grow more specific with this imaginary woman every time you speak of her.”

“Such thoughts help me through the horrors.” He said with a too calm nod and solemn look before continuing to his quarters once more. “Don’t tell me you never think about finding the woman of your dreams.”

Omid stared off into the pale white dunes of the moon, thankful he didn’t have to make eye contact for this. “I haven’t had the chance, lately.”

“Ah so you have thought about it!” That Taljir would be so observant when talking about such matters was thoroughly unappreciated by Omid. “And what do you have in mind for your dream woman?”

“Uh…” Now would be an extremely poor time to reveal his relationship with Sareen. There would never be a good time to reveal his relationship with Sareen. “A girl who…uh, I suppose challenges me to be better. I would of course return the favor.”

The taller lad clapped hand on Omid’s shoulder with a chuckle. “Endearing and adventurous! And what about appearance?”

“...what?”

“We are men, Omid. And there is no one else here.” He waved his hand around to show that there were no others out here in the stables at this time. Even Riz was off on some errand. Only contented camels milling about and the eerie silence of the moon’s landscape. “You may speak without fear of women to judge you, especially that sultry nightmare you’re attempting to trick into saving the world. We are men, and we are brothers and I owe you my life. Your secrets shall be safe with me.”

There would be plenty of time on this upcoming journey for Omid to slowly ease Taljir into a more nuanced view of Sareen. Which meant the usual extreme care in handling a situation for fear of things going incredibly poorly if there was even one mistake. And Omid was getting quite good at telling himself that living like this was not driving him mad.

A distracting truth was of course in order, then, to ease him into a much harder to accept truth.

“Well…” Omid started, looking over both shoulders to ensure that there really was no one listening and for added effect. “Eyes. I’m all about eyes. Large eyes.”

Taljir squinted as he frowned in confusion. “Is…is that a…a metaphor or…code for something?”

“Perhaps.” Omid said as he put a hand to his chin, stroking his facial hair as he stared off into the distance.

His companion shook his head with a suppressed chuckle and started marching off towards the stable quarters to prepare for the journey ahead. “I shall look out for any such women who would be enthralled by that wit.”

“And I shall keep an eye out for any short librarians!” Omid said as he waved off his friend, silently thankful that his budding plan to ease Taljir into the hidden reality of things was off to a good start. It would just be a simple matter of making him realize that he had already found his large eyed woman who enjoyed his wit and with whom he shared a mutual bond of pushing the other to be better.

And this was what better looked like for Omid, wasn’t it?

Only a “yes” was going to get him through another day, and so “yes” is what Omid told himself as he started on his own preparations. They would be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning, and breaking the news to Taljir had so far been the easiest in a welcome surprise.

There had been and there still were more servants to instruct on preparations to be made in his stead. He had been careful to tread the line in making it known how important all of this was not only to the continued survival of the world, but the more immediate effects of a more caring-

A less harsh princess.

“And a return to Kir?”

Omid had been pulled out of another one of his dazes, offering the middle aged, medium skinned bald man a weak smile. “I’m going to try. I need you to know I’m trying my best at all of this. And I need you working with me so that I can convince Sareen to listen to me. Show her that my ways get results.”

It was a well practiced variation of the same line he had been giving out perhaps too much. And so far, it had worked as it had now with the receiver of said line nodding and giving a cautious smile that said they may not fully believe him but they wanted it to be true. Omid patrolled more of the castle as preparations were heavily under way, noting to himself that there had been exactly zero executions or forced transformations since he arrived. In fact, one had been reversed!

Which had earned him a significant amount of trust from the servants and shown that he was more than just talk after that unprecedented act. Having Riz healed up by Sareen was also starting to spread as another one of the acts of benevolence by “Prince Omid”. Others being saving a servant from a great fall by making a piece of wall emerge just beneath them. Their only punishment had been Omid’s imploration to be careful on ladders, which had caused them to be so thankful as to break down into tears and only stopping after the not prince insisted that such mistakes would not be punished as harshly as they had been in the past.

“I may have to be even more unforgiving to our enemies in return.” Omid would note with a nervous chuckle and a wink. “But that’s not something you can accidentally be. Those are deliberate actions.”

That was usually enough to assuage their worries, and any possible ominous ambiguity at the end was still better than the more explicit threats they had known.

Mostly.

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Some servants still looked very uncertain, though Omid understood that even with proven results he was still promising a lot. To everyone. In fact, there had been no “probably” about how he had promised Sareen to treat their enemies. He had run into her in a hallway once more during the day when he had assured her of his policy.

“Stand with us, or fall before us.”

He had said while putting on his best stern faced scowl to the delight of the Kirzallan. Omid smiled at remembering her bright grin, then felt blood running to his face as his eyes darted about the empty hall as he adjusted his scarf over the mark on his neck proving just how thrilled she had been and he tried to remember what he had been doing before he got lost in a fond memory.

Right, he was going to meet her for supplies in the all important ritual that would bring his friends up here to help him save the world.

Omid shook his head and made his way to the below ground levels of the palace where Sareen kept some of her bulkier rare possessions. Once he was down in the even less lit passageways that started to look like caverns, a guard motioned for him to follow. Even as he and Sareen had grown closer, the stone guards still elicited the same deep sense of unease and indistinct feeling of being in danger.

“Are you alive in there?” The apprentice mage chanced as he walked a bit slower behind the guard, seeing no immediate escape out of the tunnel but already seeing how he could put a wall between them as long as he put enough space between them. He chanced another question. “Are you…aware if ‘alive’ is not the right term?”

If it heard him, it gave no indication and continued onward to another set of high security doors with an impressive lock flanked by two other guards. As the lead guard came to a halt before the great rectangular doors, the other two wordlessly reached a stone hand into a circular opening. Presumably, something was activated as the two halves of the stone door slid out of the way and into the wall.

Revealing a smiling Sareen with arms folded behind her back, standing before a massive device that resembled a large metal spider on its back and connected to a matching pedestal. Waist height with Sareen, there was a large faucet still dripping what looked to be a pure black liquid into a highly polished vase.

“Omid!” Sareen exclaimed as she tapped the faucet with her hand before placing another vase with minimal etched designs on it. As she pulled a leaver, the giant metal ‘spider’ pressed its long needle-like appendages into itself as it shook and emitted a muffled shrieking howl from within. “You’re early! This will be the liquid you need to pour into the carved out circle.”

The apprentice mage failed to meet her eyes as he looked up at the device that had only now stopped howling and wailing. He didn’t bother to hide his frown. “How many entities do you have trapped in wondrous devices?”

Glowing crystals dimly lit the room of stone and steel and shrieking, and Sareen’s smile was the only warm thing down here as she looked Omid in the eyes. “As many as will be needed, as befitting one possible fate for those who would stand against us. It is only right that their own choices seal their own fate. Isn’t it?”

“That seems…fair to me.” Omid said as he finally met her eyes, letting a smile creep onto his lips. This was progress, and likely the best he could attain for now. One step at a time. “Everything else seems to be in order with the servants. They all know what’s at stake and they have their orders. I’ll deal with them myself if they forget that.”

It was only right that he pushed for that responsibility, to spare the servants Sareen’s wrath before she could see their value in being alive and serving out of loyalty rather than fear. Somewhere along the way, this plan involved somehow getting the respect of supernaturals to help foster vital alliances. It was all simple if he didn’t think too hard about it, which proved to be an easy task when there was always something else to worry about.

“Command is a good look for you.” Sareen purred as she effortlessly lifted a vase that had been capped off with a stopper and rope, she handed another to Omid who was all the more impressed after he felt the weight for himself. “Rations have already been sent to the stables for you to be loaded on your camel. There will only be a few other easily produced material components for this ritual, and then you will need your rest.”

“Going into an adventure well rested will be new for me.” Omid noted with an amused grin as they left this underground vault and the guards re-sealed it.

They spoke of the other simple materials of precious metals and gems, which still surprised Omid before he recalled that she could simply make them with a thought. He knew only enough about economics to know that Karimala and Baz were going to be both delighted and horrified by this.

The conversation didn’t last more than one tunnel, as the pair rounded a corner to find that the tunnels now connected to the vastly more refined tapestry and window clad hallways, including one with a view that he recognized as the second floor. Omid chuckled, deciding to comment now before they ran into any servants. “Taking shortcuts? Pity, I enjoy our walks through the palace together.”

Sareen was just as graceful walking backwards carrying a heavy indestructible vase of unknown supernatural blood, facing Omid to plainly speak to Omid while crossing an impossible threshold between underground tunnel and second floor hallway. “Less time spent walking is more time spent slaking our thirst for one another before you depart on a dangerous quest.”

Omid’s grip tightened on the vase as he cleared his throat and cast a glance around to make sure no one had heard that. When he finally managed eye contact with Sareen she had her head tilted in amusement and something else he couldn’t place with his mind going to certain places that ran counter to focusing on the day’s preparations. “Hard to deny such a request from such a lady.”

The Kirzallan spun around on her heels with a pleased, hungry looking grin while walking to continue on their materials collection quest while more hallways were impossibly connected together. Omid had to admit, she was good at keeping his mind off of less pleasant matters no matter how hard he tried to worry about them. Perhaps it was even a good thing, as the rest of the day passed without any incident.

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Masel and Nazer had both been bathed, fed, loaded with ritual materials and rations enough for twice the predicted time, and one precious indigo flower. Taljir paced about, still getting used to the fit of his new light gray tunic and trousers that he had been gifted so that Omid’s companion was not seen in such simple rags, though still plain enough to not compete with Omid’s regal green attire. The beastmaster patted the camels as Omid checked that the indigo flower was as secure as it had been half a minute ago.

“Well…” Taljir started, trying to keep spirits high and with a nervous optimism in his voice. “At least this time we know that horrible things are going to happen instead of it only being a possibility!”

Omid stopped rocking back and forth on his feet and heaved a sigh, thankful that Sareen had healed him once more such that he could take a deep breath without pain. Or stand without a cane. “That…is a good thing?”

“Of course! We’re prepared for it this time!” He declared with a hand to his heart and a finger pointing out into the depths of the unknown. “So many bad things are going to happen to us! But it will be fun! In fact, I for one will be devastated if I am once again wrong and this adventure does not turn out as planned! Woe be to us if fate were to let us believe that things will be terrible and instead we will have an easy time of things and-”

“That won’t work.” Sareen’s sudden appearance out of nowhere next to the two departing adventurers had Taljir leaping back with a shout. Omid just smiled with a slight turn of his head towards her. She continued undisturbed. “There shall be no fate before our own designs, so your futile attempts to influence it through deception shall not work.”

“It was a terrible idea and I defer to Omid’s judgment.” Taljir said as he scrambled over onto Nazer to get away from the scowling Kirzallan and let her circle around the camels for a final inspection. She looked away and far off to the stables where Riz was watching from outside the transportation effect, then back to the scouts turned envoys of a moon princess.

“You will have about a day before any who would decide to make a play for power during pre-war times will know you are on Kir and make their move.” The Kirzallan said as she tugged at the straps securing the flower jar to Masel’s saddle in a leather case. “As is customary, my kind shall not interfere directly. This is the time for conflict between subordinates. And a time for you to prove yourself, Beastmaster.”

Sareen motioned for them to mount up, and for their camels to rise to their feet. The two envoys shared a final nod and nervous chuckle between themselves.

“And you, Omid.”

Their attention snapped to the Kirzallan who created a small set of stone stairs next to Masel to stand on eye level with the young man in question, hands clasped behind her back and with long black hair billowing in the faint breeze for added dramatic effect. Taljir’s concern for his friend was apparent as he leered over at the woman standing too close and looking more focused than usual.

“Show our foes that I have taught you well, even with precious little time.” Her expression softened as Omid cracked a smile and adjusted his scarf over his head in preparation for a return to the harsh sun. She reached out a hand to stop him, grabbing his scarf and pulling him close as his eyes went wide. “We have so much ahead of us. The world will be ours.”

Her lips were against his again. He didn’t remember his tongue acting on its own to meet hers. She was running her fingers through his braids as she held him close. His hand found its way to her waist as she bit his lip to draw blood. And he didn’t let her part from the kiss until he had bit her right back, watching her lick at her own wound as she backed away and down the stone steps before she willed them back down into the white sands of the moon.

“If any stand against you, remind them that only we may draw blood from one another.” She said as she walked to the edge of the prepared black stone circle standing in stark contrast to the pale sands. “Now, shield your eyes.”

Omid had managed to retain enough awareness to quickly follow that advice, bringing up a hand to cover his eyes from the bright flash and shifting feeling followed by the returned warmth of the sun. The braying of camels commenced as he reined in Masel, after Nazer had remained silent the whole way through.

Silence reigned as thoughts flooded back into Omid’s head, washing over the corpses of dead plans and bringing with them the lumbering behemoths of poorly timed revelations. He opened his eyes, finding himself in a large canyon with rock formations stretching high above them all to provide shade from the morning sun already burning hot. Eyes were burning into the back of his head, and he grit his teeth as he turned to face Taljir staring at him with open mouthed shock.