“Uuuuugh. Everything is fucking sore. Where am I?” I said, opening my eyes to see a room with stone walls and floors. Was I still in the fortress? It still felt hot and smelled slightly of sulfur. Where are Aqen and Pasha?

I was resting on a nice soft bed and the room was sized for humanoids, not Giants. Must mean I am back to civilization. I walked to the door and opened it into a hallway. There was a faint pang sound like metal hitting metal. Following the noise I came to a room without a door. I could say it was rather large but the Fire Giant fortress made everything seem much smaller now.

There were pools of lava leading into small circular pits. Hammers and other tools hung from the wall. A dwarven man with blonde hair and mutton chops was banging away at some metal, shaping it into nails.

“Ah good ya are awake. The wife has been fussing over ya for the last few days. Worried why weren't ya waking up,” he said.

“Few days? What day is it now?” I asked

“Aye think it's the 10th of Fessuran,” he said.

“Fuck I have been asleep for three days. What of the Giants or the other people I was with?” I asked.

“Don’t know about any other people but a Giant did bring you here. Welcome to the Cinderrest Sanctum. We are a temple to the All-Hammer and the Wildmother. Here people come to have their dead cremated and their ashes used in the creation of weapons, armor, and more. I am Khemdal Dust, of the Dust family,” he said.

Cinderrest Sanctum. This was the location where the Nein would find their second wind after one of their members got kidnapped and they lost a fight badly. They came here to have the vestige Star Razor reforged. Fjord would also cut off his warlock pact with Uk’otoa by throwing away his pact weapon into the lava pits. Later he would also be blessed by the Wildmother here and become her paladin. I always felt the sanctum was such a great place. The Nein recovered so much here and it filled me with hope watching them heal here.

“I have heard a bit about your temple. Thank you for taking care of me. Is there anything I can do to repay you for this great help?” I asked.

“Nah. We heard about what ya did to those stinkin Fire Giants. The roads will be much safer now without them fuckers attacking travelers. Ya can stay as long as ya like,” Khemdal said.

“Thank you. I won’t take up too much of your time then,” I said.

I stayed long enough to meet the rest of the Dust family and to get a meal. Three days of bed rest made me lose a few pounds. Normally I can eat a full deer by myself because of my powers but I didn’t want to impose on the Dusts.

I left for Uthodurn around midday. It shouldn’t take me but a couple of hours. Once I arrive I need to speak with Ressia about those archivists that will help me find the Greater Nightmare. I need to plan my trip to Vasselheim and I don’t want to put that off any longer. I could ask Yussa about getting a teleport or a portal near the city. The city does not like arcane practitioners ever since the calamity and almost all forms of long-range magical travel are some form of arcane magic. There was the druid magic of traveling through plants but I don’t know a druid powerful enough that can do that. I could find one but better to work with the people you know.

There was also the idea of using planar travel to try and skip across the world but I had no idea if that would even work and didn’t even want to try to figure that out. The whole point of killing the Nightmare has simply been so that I can send things to the Soul Dream not travel the multiverse. At least not yet.

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Glassblades guarded the entrance to Uthodurn and farmers herded their giant goats. This time I didn’t scare them as a Roc and instead subtle untransformed out of sight and walked my way into Uthodurn. I was unmolested this time on my way into the city and down to the Deliberation Disk. Entering the Vellum Steeple Archives I ask the receptionist to meet with Ressia.

“Ah, Edsom. I was beggining to worry you wouldn’t return,” she said.

“I got injured fighting some Fire Giants. I spent some time recovering with friends but I am here now and ready to begin the hunt,” I said.

“That is excellent. We will have to send word to everyone that the hunt can begin. See me here tomorrow morning. I know about your Roc form so is it alright if they rely on you for transportation?” She asked.

“That is fine. I hope to complete this hunt fast enough so I can begin my next journey,” I said.

“Oh, where are you going next?” She asked.

“Somewhere special. If you want to know that information will cost you,” I said.

“Ah, I see. I think the Archives will let you have that secret. See you in the morning then,” she said.

…………………

Fen

“Reani you can’t keep doing this. The Savalirwoods are too dangerous,” she said to her beloved fiance. Reani was going to yet again endanger her life doing stupid adventures for that greedy bitch in the Vellum Steeple.

“It will be fine Fen. Samliel already said the guy we are going with is like super strong and will keep us safe,” Reani said.

“Look I just want you to be safe okay? You keep throwing yourself into dangerous situations just because Samliel says you can. It worries me, my love,” Fin said.

“I promise to be safe and come back to you,” Reani said.

She says that but I will worry even still. That damned angel in her head keeps telling her of every random mugging or starving child she gets within five hundred feet of. Always dragging her into trouble. It’s not that I don’t love the good work she is doing but I feel that it keeps increasing in danger all the time. One day she might not be able to handle it and get hurt. Or worse. Gods forbid worse.

“Just come back to me okay,” Fin said.

“Of course. It's me after all. I can beat most anything that troubles us,” Reani said.

………………

Ressia

“Good morning everyone. This here is Mr. Edsom. He has hired our archivists today to help guide him into the Savalirwood and hunt a Greater Nightmare. He is capable of flying you all to the woods and can fight off most creatures. You aren’t required to hunt the Nightmare but that doesn’t mean you can expect to just do nothing. I will leave it up to your discretion on how to handle any dangers. Let me introduce the rest of the team. There is Reanminere also called Reani. She is an excellent tracker and possesses druidic magic. We have Professor Mast. He is an excellent arcanist and will be responsible for protecting the group from hostile magic. Lastly, we have Ranger Sanctum. He requested to be a part of this hunt. Something about personal business with the Nightmares rider,” Ressia said.

Ranger Sanctum was a charcoal-black tiefling man. He seemed to be in his mid-fifties but was aging gracefully. “The Nightmare’s rider is an old friend. I mean literally. My friend Joseph and I hunted in the woods a long time ago. We were nearly killed by the Nightmare, so he sacrificed himself to save my life. When I tracked down the blasted horse again my friend had been turned into his undead rider. So yes this is personal for me,” Sanctum said.

“That's awful. I swear I will help you put your friend to rest Sanctum,” Reani said.

“Thank you,” Sanctum said.

Aww that is so sweet. If they decide to get all chummy that means Mast will have an easier time doing his job. I need him to get as much information out of this shapeshifting enigma as possible.

“It’s nice to meet you all too. I can handle a lot of the trouble we might encounter but I can’t do everything. Your skills will be greatly appreciated,” Edsom said.

“It is good you all are getting along. Now as Sanctum has said the Nightmare has an undead rider. They are a headless undead often referred to as a Dullahan. He can call forth flaming skills that will be thrown and explode on impact. The Nightmare themselves can shift themselves and their rider into the Ethereal plane. It will be a tricky hunt,” Ressia said.

“We got this. I am going to head to the surface and get set up. We will be flying to the Savalirwoods on the back of one of my larger flying forms. I have tents and ropes that you will strap yourselves too. See you up there,” Edsom said.

“I will come and help,” Reani said.

“I would like to see this,” Sanctum said.

The three of them left leaving only Ressia and Prof. Mast.

“He can turn into a Roc right?” Mast asked.

“That is correct. According to reports from the Glassblades, he is a competent shapeshifter. There were reports of him flying all over the mountain range and he disappeared around northern Kravaraad. Then a couple of days later a bunch of people showed up claiming to have been kept prisoners by the Fire Giants that used to live there,” Ressia said.

“Used too?” Mast asked.

“He and two other giants killed all the ones that left there. Then the mountain started to erupt and a red dragon covered in fire burst through the fortress. He stayed behind while they escaped with help from the other two Giants. It was thought he was dead but here he is. It's said he took the form of a Fire Giant with thousands of eyes, hundreds of tentacles, and long lizard heads. They said he ripped a Fire Giant in half and devoured another till nothing but bone remained. The prisoners said they were more afraid of him then the dragon. If it wasn’t for the intervention of a rabbitfolk they might have taken arms against him,” Ressia said.

“By the Matron. What is he?” Mast said.

“We don’t know. This request comes from not just the archives but from the King and Queen themselves. He has given us valuable information on the curse of the woods but that doesn’t mean he is trusted. Find out anything you can. He mentioned he was in a hurry because he needed to go somewhere. I want to know where,” Ressia said.

“Anything for the Diarchy,” Mast said.