The dwarf took the largest hammer from the table and held it high above his head. The group collectively held their breath as he brought it down perfectly on the top point of the dull Hedron. There was a small snap and one of the flat sections slipped neatly out onto the table, revealing the inside.

All of the elven arcanists crammed inside the Hedron chamber gave a collective "Ooo" of appreciation, and some even applauded.

"It’s beautiful," Serena breathed.

The Hedron was impressive from the outside, but now that it was open, the complexity of the structure was clear to see. Each strand of Linium was connected to a point where the flat sections met; from there, they went down to the center of the shape.

"What's that inside?" Konrad asked.

"It’s another Hedron," Pääbo said, squinting inside.

"You won’t be able to hit that with a hammer."

Pääbo nodded. "That’s the real challenge. Most of these things are more simple, the strands just flow from one side to the other, meeting in the middle. But in this one, the smaller one has its own Linium strands inside, like a complete unit. If they’re also corrupted, then there’s no repairing the thing, not by us anyway. It’d have to be done on one of the bigger citadels. Volos, for example. The only way to know is to fix what we can see and fire it up."

The corrupted strands were blackened in places, as if a creeping rust was eating them away. Each of them had to be removed and replaced with a new strand, and Konrad could tell that the new strands, as beautiful as they were, were slightly thicker and less elegant than the old ones.

"Now, feed a little power in, gently now," Pääbo said, and Odred licked his finger and carefully touched it to the glass of the Hedron. A small flash of light burst out, followed by the smell of burnt wool.

"That’s one; only about a hundred to go," Pääbo muttered, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

There was a scuffle as all of the arcanists pushed forward to be the ones to help in the process, but as the day wore on, the magic expended took its toll, and one by one, the small elves flopped down in exhaustion and were dragged out of the chamber.

As night fell, only Serena and Malan remained, and when the last strands were set into place, the two repaired Hedrons sat side by side.

"Should we test them?" Konrad asked as Pääbo lifted them back into their stone columns.

Pääbo scratched his chin. "The moment you tap that final section in, these things are going to light up like nothing you’ve ever seen."

"Renau is the only one who might be able to handle them; anyone else would be fried like an egg," Serena added.

Briarstone and Spirit had not returned since they left to search for Renau, and Konrad felt a growing worry that the trouper might not be coming back.

"We should send out someone to look for him," Serena suggested.

"No need," Malan said, as footsteps were heard and Renau strode down the stairs into the chamber.

Konrad could immediately tell that his confidence had been fully restored. He’d also changed clothes and now wore a robe with a stiff collar. His moustache and beard were gone, and his hair was tied back.

"Who are you playing now?" Konrad asked with a rye smile.

"Ignatius Delaney," Renau replied with an elegant bow. "Son of Isenbard Delaney, head of the Lost Coast council. But let’s stick with Renau between us; I have a fondness for the captain."

Konrad gave a little bow.

"Don’t encourage him, Konrad; he’s got a long way to go before he sits on any council," Briarstone said as he descended into the chamber.

"Careful, Briarstone, or I might just nominate you as head of the council and go back to my, what did you call it, vagabond minstrel life?" Renau replied before turning back to the group. He clapped his hands, and rubbed them together. "Now, what are we doing here, and why is everyone asleep?"

"We're ready for the final part, if you are. You just have to snap those final pieces into place, then shut the door."

"How do I know that it won’t burn me to a crisp?" Renau asked.

"How strong is your resistance to magic?" Serena asked.

"I don’t know, I’ve never tested it."

Harper jumped off Malans' shoulder and flapped towards Renau.

"What’s he doing?" Renau began.

Harper clicked his clawed fingers, and everyone yelled at once as Renau was enveloped in a pillar of twisting flame, which flared violently before winking out. Renau coughed and patted out the small fires on his jacket.

"Pretty resistant," Malan said evenly.

Harper held his feet and rocked back and forth with a high-pitched cackle of laughter.

"Harper, he could have been seriously hurt," Serena admonished.

"There had better be more to this reward than a bag of gold," Renau huffed. He pushed the first section closed, and the Hedron immediately flared into life around his hands. The light that eminated from the Hedron was bright white with a hint of bright sky blue.

"It’s working!" Pääbo cried.

The second Hedron also flared, and even after Reanu sealed the columns shut, the light burst out from the cracks and made the glass images around the chamber come alive. The ocean seemed to ripple, and the image of the island burned brightly.

"It’s a map," Briarstone breathed.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The old sailor was right. Now that the light touched the whole ceiling, a huge continent was picked out in the middle, with the island resting close to shore.

"I can see where we are, but what are all the other symbols?" Pääbo said to himself, squinting at a darker section of the glass above him.

"Let’s try a little more power and see if it helps," Brairstone said, hefting the metal pole.

Each of the columns was turned gently around, and as the Herons glowed, the island began to vibrate, and the water level in the chamber began to drop, draining out of the holes in the floor.

"The island’s lifting up," Serena said, making for the stairs.

Outside, the group of elven arcanists were gathered at the end of the square, overlooking the jungle. But the view was quite different now.

The island of Mir was easily three times the size it had been. and below them was a mass of streets and buildings, all covered with a thick green layer of green algae. There were new neighborhoods, an amphitheater, and several beautiful quaysides large enough for Elena to tie up at.

"I told you the picture at the end looked nice," Malan said.

"Just how small was the possibility that we would be able to do this?" Konrad replied.

The young elf seer held his hand up, the thumb and finger leaving the smallest gap, and Konrad laughed.

"Are you going to drop this illusion now?" Serena was standing over the arcanists, her hands on her hips, and a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"I think that’s the least we can do," Odred replied.

The elven arcanists huddled together, and there was a moment of frantic whispering before the scene before Konrad changed.

The creeping vines were gone, and the mists had receded. The buildings around him were no longer empty, abandoned shells but clean, well-maintained dwellings with colorful flowers in neat boxes outside. The windows were filled with laughing elves. In fact, there were elves everywhere, young and old, and children running around and marveling at the freshly emerged island beneath them.

"They were here all the time," Briarstone said, scratching his head.

The arcanists were also different; they were still wood elves and still around four feet tall, but their robes were clean and light grey and lightly brushed the neat flagstones. Malans' seers' headdress was not a pile of old bones and feathers but rather an intricate domed hat with gold scrolling. It was still many sizes too big and slipped down over his eyes.

"It’s incredible," Konrad breathed, waving back at the elves crowded onto the balconies around them.

"You saved the island, and now it’s time for your reward," said Malan.

Malan took off his hat, and the noise in the central square of Mir evaporated. A venerated silence spread out in the square around them.

"Konrad, champion of the gods, was sent here on a quest to save the island," Malan said, using some subtle magic to amplify his voice.

A cheer rose up around them.

"His reward is the treasure of our people, the idol of our forgotten god."

Malan produced the small idol made of grass that he had made the night before on top of the tower. Konrad saw now that it was vaguely in the shape of a person, with a featureless face. Despite the lack of detail, it was clear who the figure represented.

"Avram?" Konrad muttered.

The small god appeared in the air above Konrad, larger than he had ever been before. He adopted a regal pose and gazed down with his expressionless face of mixed shadows. In the silence, only the distant crying of sea birds and the wind in the trees could be heard.

"People… Elf-people of Mir, I am Avram. For a long time, you have wandered, lost, but I have never forgotten you. I sent my champion and his shadow hound here to aid you in your time of need, and he will leave my idol here for you. Send me your prayers, and I will watch over you."

One by one, the elves began to cheer and cry. The idol was taken, passed from hand to hand, kissed, and paraded through the streets.

In the middle of the scene of jubilation, Briarstone and Renau emerged from the chamber, their faces ashen.

"What’s the matter?" Konrad asked.

"We figured out what the other symbols on the map represent,” Briarstone said, his voice hoarse.

"What are they?" Konrad asked.

"It’s the other citadels of the arcanists; they should be here soon," Malan replied, and on his shoulder, Harper rubbed his hands together and cackled.

-

That evening, Konrad and Spirit climbed up to the tower at the top of Mir and called to Avram, who appeared instantly.

"You look bigger and less see-through," Konrad said.

"That’s what twenty thousand new believers will do to you," Avram replied, standing tall. "You know, I really didn’t think you could do it. Lyran said that you were good, but you really came through. As you have noticed, I am much more powerful, and you know what that means? Gifts." Avram rubbed his hands together. "Shadow hound, the first one is for you."

Avram reached down to pet Spirit, and tendrils of shadow sunk into her fur. She barked and spun around.

"What did you give her?" Konrad asked.

"Shadow duplicates; it’s going to look amazing. Now for my champion, what will it be? I can give you the power to cast a circle of darkness that only you can see in. Any enemy that walks in will be horribly injured."

It was tempting, but Konrad had already thought about what he wanted.

Avram clearly took Konrad's silence for disapproval. "Not interested in that? Okay well how about a shadow armour. Encase yourself in living shadow and repel most attacks."

"Most attacks?"

"Getting hit in the face with an axe is still not advised."

"Actually, I wanted something else."

The god looked deflated. "Question's, I’ll bet. Humans are so boring."

"I do have questions as well, but for my gift. Can you make it so I can read and write?"

After the experience with Issie, Konrad was acutely aware of the fact that he needed to learn, and she had also told him to be more creative with his requests.

"Oh, that’s easy; I could have done that on the first day. In fact, I won’t even count that as a gift. What else did you want?"

"What can you tell me about the Echo?"

"Pretty recent change, I would say, a couple of thousand years? The Faelen all left and made their own plane of existence. Not much of a secret."

"But why did they leave? Can they come back?"

Avram sighed. "This is all very boring, you know. Are you sure I can’t just give you something. How about a shadow sword?"

Konrad hesitated, the sword of shadows sounded like exactly what he needed, but he stuck to his decision and shook his head. "Why did they leave?"

"From what I know, everything was fine down here—magic everywhere, magic creatures. Then they fell out," Avram said.

"Who?"

"The magic users and the Faelen. I can tell you that they did some things that really impacted our work; whole cities disappeared. Anyway, the Faelen must have decided that they had had enough, and one day they left. It’s for the best, really; when there's less magic around, more people turn to the divine."

"I was wondering if the waif was a Faelen."

"Waif?"

"The little one who healed my leg in the shrine."

"Oh, perhaps? Look, I really don’t know much about this. If you want to know more, just go there and ask them."

"I can go to the Echo?"

"I imagine that someone can." Avram dusted off his robes. "It’s about time I should be getting on. I have a new shrine to decorate and priests to train."

"One last question: they said that the last god of the elves died. What happened to them?"

Avram stood very still, and the silence extended for several moments. "That is not something that you and I are ever going to talk about."

"Why not?"

"Because I don’t think gods telling people how to kill gods is good for my long-term health, do you?"

"She was killed? Who by?"

"Nope," Avram snapped, raising his hands to cut Konrad off. "No more questions. Take the gifts; the armour and shadow binding. Both of them should improve over time as you get stronger."

"But—"

"Konrad," Avram interrupted. He grew smaller, placing his hands on Konrad shoulders and giving him as much of a level stare as possible when you don't have a face. "You have to trust that we are going to look after you, you are our champion, and I honestly believe that you can be one of the best there ever was. Help us with the quests; let us worry about the god stuff. Enjoy your gifts."

Konrad felt a weight settle in his hand. He was gripping a gleaming black long sword, the blade slightly tapered. He gave it some experimental swipes, and it moved through the air like a shadow. His instict guided him and he let go of the sword, watching it fade back into the shadows.

"Before you go, what's going to happen to the other champion?" Konrad asked.

"Wasn't she useless? I can’t wait to see Hespian’s face."

"She’s not all that bad," Konrad muttered.

"She’s not anything now that she’s been cut off."