Chapter 20 I Won’t Forget.

The Phantom almost tripped as Duncan’s spell activated but then he seamlessly transitioned into a forward twirling roll that took him almost the rest of the way to Duncan. “You want to leave.” Duncan said and he again tried to throw everything he could at the graceful maniac, that was only a handful of feet away, while he tried to back away.

Phantom abruptly closed the distance between them. Duncan pulled out his knife and tried to swing at Phantom but a curved sword easily parted the knife in two. Duncan gasped as his attacker twirled around him. The backside of the curved swords struck the back of Duncan’s knees as well as his neck in such rapid succession that Duncan was on his hands and knees with a splitting headache before he even realized it. “You are making it hard to keep from killing you, Duncan Ebbenson.” Phantom said, all of his mirth and mania was gone and only a cold promise of death remained in his voice.

“Why?” Duncan asked. “What does any of this matter to you?”

Phantom tut-tutted while he shook his head. “No questions. The only reason you are still alive is because you need to do your part.” Phantom crouched down in front of Duncan. Duncan looked up to see the white mask but in the dark he couldn’t see a single facial feature of the man in front of him. “Remember, all of them at once when the time comes, you won’t want me to come back for them.” With that, Phantom rose to his full height and strode away through the thick fog at Duncan’s rear.

Duncan rolled onto his butt to see where Phantom had gone but it was too late. There was nothing left of the attacker but a lingering fog but even that was starting to lighten. Duncan stayed there for a long minute before he got to his feet, dusted himself off, and went home to sleep. He only hoped that everything he had just seen was a dream or hallucination from overwork. If he woke up with bruises in the morning then he would know that it had actually happened.

—

Lenny took a few deep calming breaths to try and calm his pounding heart. He had stopped by the crazy artificer’s shop and bought a headband that scattered mental attacks. As was the usual with Eliza’s creations it only mostly worked like a conventional item of the same type. Something about testing a way to scatter single target mental attacks or something. It was all way over his head when Eliza’s apprentice, Clayton, had tried to explain it to him. What mattered was that the headband, that had cost almost the entirety of what Lenny still had saved up, had just saved his life. Sure, Lenny knew that Duncan wasn’t likely to actually kill him, but the real problem would have been when Isaac and Lenna would have busted him out. He could imagine the fury in their eyes and was sweating just thinking about it.

Lenny took another calming breath and looked down at the Cloud in a Bottle he had stolen from the hot elf tinkerer that hung out with her sister and that oaf of a knight or whatever he was. Lenny never took the time to remember adventurer names unless they were people truly worth remembering like the Blade Master or Glinting Blade or Assassin of a Thousand Faces. The Cloud in a Bottle had worked perfectly. Everything had gone according to plan but even so it had been nerve wracking.

None of it would have been necessary if it wasn’t for a few specific things. The first was that one of the prisoners, who wasn’t scheduled to be sent out, was the sister of the boy who had posted the job in the Adventurers’ Guild. The second was that Duncan was a smart man and the odds of him backing out at the last moment because something felt weird were high. This way Duncan was forced to play along for fear of repercussions. Lenny wanted to do it himself because as scary as Isaac could be he wasn’t the scariest thing out there.

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Lenny had learned a few things a lot faster than most people. One of those things was one his brother had told him when he was little: “It is not the dark that scares you, it’s that you are afraid of not bein’ alone in the dark.” Once Lenny had wrapped his head around that, the dark had actually gotten less scary. Lenny had just applied that same concept in reverse on Duncan. Isaac was a known quantity. He was someone to be feared but he could be tracked. He could be followed. He could only be in one, maybe two, places at a time. Lenny and Phantom were different. Phantom didn’t exist. He couldn’t be tracked. He couldn’t be followed. He couldn’t be known. Duncan would always be looking under his bed for the Phantom’s grinning face. All Lenny had to do was open the Cloud in a Bottle every now and then. Thankfully for Lenny, Duncan was a rational man with a high self preservation instinct otherwise the plan would’ve gone off in his face like a snapped crossbow string.

Lenny rose to his feet and stuffed the magic bottle, his swords, and his mask inside of his magic bag. He pulled out a cloak that only went down to his knees and threw it on. It was one of the ones most of the out-of-towners liked to get before they got used to the lower temperatures of being underground. He tossed the hood up and slowly made his way back home. At least he would get a few hours of sleep before Isaac and Lenna were up and about. Three or four hours would just have to be enough. He had no intention of telling the boss he had just gone off script even if it was to make sure some of the unwilling actors stayed on it. Hopefully it wouldn’t come back to bite him later.

—

“He said that he will be waiting to hear from you.” Alexander told Isaac. He was still engaging in telepathic communication with the Captain of the Dwarven Guard up in the fortress. “If your plan looks like it is going to work just tell one of the guards at the gate that ‘Plan Mousetrap is a go.’ and let the guard know what your signal will be for them to engage. They will not want to fight your battle for you but if all you need is extra numbers to prevent unnecessary bloodshed then they are completely on board with your plan.”

“Thanks.” Isaac replied. “Thank him for me and let him know I will be thanking him in person if this all works out.”

Alexander nodded in confirmation and did just that. “It is done.” He told Isaac and sighed wearily. “Do you ever sleep?” He asked Isaac. “Or rest at all for that matter?”

Isaac shrugged. “I like my full seven to nine hours just like everyone else.” He replied. “Sometimes I skip all together because my magic can kill bodily weariness.”

Alexander shook his head and then looked down. It was clear that he was directing their attention through the floor and down towards Jala’s inverted tower. “I haven’t slept for more than two hours at a time in days.” He complained. “The tremors are localized, thank the gods she is so good at what she does, but it is hard to sleep when she starts rearranging the world under me.”

Isaac rested his hand on the wizard’s shoulder. “Just talk to her.” He told Alexander. “Ask her if maybe she can wait to do it until times when the sun is up on the surface. That should at least give you a window to get some real sleep.”

Alexander brightened slightly. “Really? Do you think that would work?” He asked.

Isaac shrugged. “I honestly have no idea. It’s worth a shot though. She might try to get some gold paint out of you for the trouble but that’s on you.” He explained.

Alexander nodded. “Thank you.” He told the mage. “I think I’ll get right on that.” He rose from his chair across the table from Isaac and Lenna. “Actually, while you are here, I think I have gotten everything I could out of your drider skeleton. Everything is cataloged that I have the ability to catalog. What are your plans with it for now?” Just as Alexander finished asking the question the drider collapsed into a heap of bones again. Isaac had simply cut the power.

“I need it to stay somewhere extremely secure until my house is built and warded.” Isaac explained. “I am afraid I must add a skeleton to your closet for the time being.”

“That was awful.” Lenna cut in.

“I thought it was pretty good.” Isaac fired back.

Alexander sighed. He did not have the energy to deal with Isaac and his antics so he just nodded. “That is fine. I can keep it here, just please, do not forget about it. It is still taking up my limited storage space.” Alexander replied.

Isaac nodded. “Oh believe me, I won’t forget.”