Joey Greengrasse wasn’t sure whether he had figured out how to manipulate djinn fire or his current handle on it was little more than a fluke. April, his oldest and dearest friend, stood trapped in a rough iron cage he had conjured and shaped, acting more rabid than a rabies-infested dog. Inch-long fangs had replaced her canines, and her usually neatly trimmed fingernails had grown into claws. He wasn’t sure what happened to her, whether it was a disease or infection or what had happened to her, but April appeared more beast than human.
“The mistress!” Spittle flew from April’s mouth as she screamed. “The mistress needs me. Let me go. Please! The mistress—”
After hearing the same thing a dozen times, Joey successfully blocked out what April had to say. He didn’t know how to fix her but was sure Caitlin or her Grandmother would have the answer. For the time being, he only needed to keep his friend contained and safe. Unfortunately, the current situation limited his ability to do so.
The corpses of more than two dozen draconic asura, lizards of several sizes, and mangey wolves littered the ground around him. Only the last of them was a real challenge. The canines didn’t just use their claws and fangs to attack but also whipped around the broken chains attached to their necks and limbs. They appeared normal at a glance but had the mysterious power of destroying conjured constructs—except the metal cage. Joey had to rely on his minimal martial skill and chance openings to survive the first few, but then he figured out their wild tactics and only struck when he had openings. The endeavor had left him tired and cut his mana stores in half.
Now, he found himself face to face with Hogg’s Avatar. The specimen was more robust than any he and the party had encountered in the dungeon below the city, and none of his attacks thus far managed to damage or penetrate its thick hides. Acrid purple fumes rose from its giant maw. Joey was sure that breathing in the dark vapors would be the death of him. Flame darts made them combust, and a revolving frost barrier was enough to protect him from the minor explosions. However, his current tactics felt unsustainable.
“My stores are almost depleted.” Nar’s words rang in Joey’s ears. The djinn’s voice only gained volume when Joey’s life was in danger. He had grown more communicative following the Gorgon’s Lair too. Consuming fragments of two dungeon rulers hadn’t just won Joey more strength but respect and advice. “Forget the girl. Run!”
“Never,” Joey grunted, barely avoiding the giant wyrm’s maw. The creature proved smarter than any specimen he had faced before. After its chomp missed, it followed through with the movement and swung its thick head into Joey, knocking him off his feet.
Hogg’s Avatar took advantage of the unbalanced opponent, attempting another chomp. At the same time, Joey lost control of the spell he had been preparing. A pair of grape-sized gravity orbs flew free and into the monstrous open mouth before detonating.
The roar that followed rocked Joey inside and out. It made the world vibrate, and Joey’s internal organs trembled. It slowed the creature long enough for the glass spearhead to destroy all the eyes on the right side of its face. It recoiled, giving Joey a moment to gather his thoughts.
“If you’re not going to flee, use your new toy,” Nar advised.
“Is it safe? Won’t it cripple me?”
“Given the other option is likely death, I think it's a safe gamble.”
“Fine.”
Joey tapped into his newest planet, combining mana, djinn fire, and gravity essence. Instead of shaping it into projectiles or releasing it as a nova, he shaped the violent energy. He pictured Caitlin’s new sleek elemental armor and molded the gravity waves into a similar shape, creating an armor six inches away from his skin. An inverse wave molded around Joey’s skin, protecting him from the external layer’s violence. He struggled to keep it stable, and the mental strain left his head throbbing. Blood threatened to pour from all of the orifices on his face, but Joey held on.
A single bound carried Joey the twelve feet to the recoiling Hogg’s Avatar. He crashed into a foreleg, and multiple crunches followed. It wasn’t just the momentum but several opposing forces raging against each other that caved the bones inwards. Joey followed up with a right hook and took a giant chunk out of the monster. It appeared as if he had intended to gouge instead of bludgeon.
“No haymakers!” Nar warned just as Joey was about to clasp his hands together. “Your control isn’t good enough for something like that. Just keep swinging.”
Joey followed instructions, leaving cross-crossing streaks in his thrashing opponent until Gravity Armor’s internal layer faltered. A scream burst from his lips as something in his left forearm snapped. Hogg's Avatar used the opening to retreat, but Joey refused to let pain get in the way of victory. It wasn’t a matter of pride. If he let the creature get away he was sure it would feed on the many people fleeing through the square and swiftly regenerate. So he threw himself against the monster's side and detonated gravity armor. The force crushed the stone underneath and caved in his opponent's rib cage. The explosion packed enough of a punch to toss the giant lizard a few feet and force it onto its back. After a handful of seconds of thrashing Hogg's Avatar went still.
“Congratulations, Jitendra Pal,” Nar's voice boomed in Joey's head. “You defeated a specimen from a level lower than where you and your companions hunted. Alone. I'd tell you to celebrate if the circumstances were different.”
The fight was far from over. A fresh wave of draconic asura and chained wolves emerged from the sinkhole ahead. It sat exactly where April's abductor had operated and held their prisoners. Most of the walls stood, blocking paths the creatures could take, and Joey stood between them and one of the two pathways to the fleeing civilians. Fortunately, April's screaming did a good job of drawing their attention. Joey continued fighting without having to get his voice hoarse.
Just as the situation started to feel hopeless, a bison-sized sled dog leaped in front of him. The air rippled as it released a thunderous bark, and the closest dungeon critters fell over, stunned. Then, smaller canines—all bigger than a mule—rushed past Joey and descended on the monsters. Before Joey could figure out what had just happened, a warm golden glow enveloped him. His twisted armed straightened and all aches and pains disappeared. The cuts on his arms knit themselves closed and the burning in his lungs faded.
“Easy, Mr. Greengrasse,” Dean Myrina Woodson said, sitting atop another snow dog as big as the first. Dense waves of Life Magic flowed radiated from her hands, washing over Joey. “Take a moment to catch your breath and calm your mind. My granddaughter won't be pleased if you get yourself killed.”
Much to Joey's surprise, he felt his mana stores rapidly generating, too. Dean Woodson's magic seemed to have accelerated his ability to absorb mana and Nar hungrily guided it into his star.
“Thank you, Dean,” Joey said. Despite the healing, his knees felt like Jelly and he collapsed on to his bottom, watching the pack of over-sized dogs rip the dungeon monsters apart. “What are these things? Your summons?”
“The technical term is soul companion. They live in my internal grove and I only release them when things turn dire.”
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“So they're not like Alexander's squirrels?”
Dean Woodson shook her head. “They're a product of his contract with Ratatoskr. Eventually, Alexander will identify his spirit beast and build a little animal guard of his own.” She glanced at April. “Oh, dear. This poor child fell to Warmonger, too?”
“Can you fix her?” Joey asked, failing to keep the desperation out of his voice.
“I'll do my best, but not now. It will come down to how much blood she consumed and how many lives she took. I'll weaken the curse for sure, and she can learn to control it, but it won't be easy. Putting the child out of her misery or imprisoning her might just be the better option. I'm sorry, son.”
Joey's heart sank into his stomach. “You'll try the alternative first, right?”
“Of course, but not now. But you might need to swear a blood oath. Would you be okay with that?”
“What kind of oath?”
“If the girl loses control of the curse after I've done everything I can, it will be your job to put her down.”
Joey nodded. “April is a strong girl. She'll fight it, and I'll ensure she doesn't fail.”
“Good. We can look into it tomorrow once this craziness has passed.”
“Has something like this happened before?”
Dean Myrina Woodson, guardian of Ygg, founder of the university, and the city’s longest-lasting councilwoman sighed. She shook her head. “It's not the first time the Cabal has made an attempt on Ygg. Others made attempts on the city in its first hundred as well. I was younger back then. Ruling, fighting, and commanding didn’t take as much a toll on me as they do now. Our enemies, including the Cabal were far less organized back then too. The last fifty years have been reasonably calmer, and I made the mistake of handing the city’s defense to others.” Dean Myrina Woodson paused. “No. I don’t have it in me anymore. I don’t think I could’ve done a much better job than Thorpe or Highwater. My senses and instincts aren’t as sharp as they used to be.”
“That’s why you’re pushing Alexander so hard,” Joey stated, watching amazed how the pack moved in unison. They ripped apart the dungeon beasts. Some also displayed elemental powers and odd magical abilities. “You don’t have much time left and want to hand the reins to him as soon as possible.”
The centuries-old druid nodded. “Handing Alexander the guardianship of Ygg will undoubtedly make my life easier. I can take care of the rest afterward until he’s ready.”
“Why Alexander?” Joey asked. He had wondered for a while but never found the opportunity to ask it. “Why not Caitlin? She’d be better at it. Don’t get me wrong. Alexander is great and intelligent, but he’s young and immature. He’s far more interested in seeing the world, living life, and having fun than in druidism. Caitlin is far more dedicated and cares about protecting the world and her family. She works far harder and takes nothing for granted. She would’ve made a good druid.”
“Caitlin’s issue is that she cares too much. Her priority is family, friends, and love.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Joey frowned.
Myrina Woodson nodded. “A druid works for the betterment of the world and preserving the sanctity of life. When you’re striving for the good of all, love and care get in the way. They lead to selfishness. I trust Caitlin to protect the family and the city but not the world. She would sacrifice everything to save her brother and you. A good druid needs to be willing to sacrifice love for the sake of all else.
“When my father realized that his world didn’t need him and staying would mean being turned into weapons for his friends and family, he left. He gave me tools to find the path of druidism, left the pack to protect, and disappeared through a portal. He traveled to several worlds, restoring constructs and protections against the Void. Then, Flint Woodson came here. He gave up his companion and lover of decades to safeguard this world and then his own life so Ygg could sprout and thrive. That’s the life of a druid. I see the necessary qualities in Alexander to walk such a path. Do you believe Caitlin would be able to do the same?”
“No,” Joey answered.
It was selfish, but he didn’t want Caitlin to walk such a path. The life of a druid sounded lonely and full of pain. He had heard tales of Flint Woodson as a child. Some called him the first druid. Others knew him as the Houndsman. Most tales spoke of his heroism and incredible accomplishments. Most historians credited him for the defeat of the great necromancer who almost froze the world and ended it with her army of the undead. They also thanked Flint Woodson for stabilizing the world in the early days of the godfall. Then Myrina Woodson joined him, and they gave mortals the tools to fight back. None of the literature spoke about all the sacrifices they had made along the way.
“I need the next druid to be better than I was,” Myrina said. “My early days were good, but family made me selfish. They might not be public, but all the bad things I have done outweigh my good. Alexander will succeed where I failed. His struggles with attachment and preference for beasts over humans are positive. I’m not stopping him from meeting people and having fun. However, I want him to finish the journey of druidism before he finds someone, like Caitlin did you. He needs to become a druid before he falls in love and lets selfishness get in the way.”
“I think I get it.” Joey’s knees still felt wobbled when he took a step.
“Where do you think you’re going?” When the ancient druid frowned, every bit of her face wrinkled. “Did I clear you for action?”
“No, but the hole needs closing.” He nodded at the corpse of Hogg’s Avatar. “What if another one of those things comes through?”
“Why do you think I’ve been sitting here with you when a city full of people needs saving?” Myrina paused, studying the giant hole ahead of them. Almost the entirety of the tenement’s ground floor had fallen into the dungeon. An endless wave of dungeon beasts continued to spill out of the opening. “I’ve failed this city. Hogg’s Lair grew out of its containment and borders, but I failed to notice. This is far more egregious than letting Warmonger operate under our noses or the All-Father cult taking our wards.”
Myrina Woodson held out her hand. “I was wrong. This isn’t the one.”
“One what?”
The stone lower in the hole softened and broke into countless rune-covered serpents, slithering and coiling. The individual pieces weaved together, forming a seamless barrier.
“She isn’t just patching the hole but sealing off the path to the dungeon,” Nar spoke directly into Joey’s ear. “It’s incredible. I’ve never felt magic like this across my many millennia. This woman doesn’t just shape the earth but dimensions and reality itself.”
The magic worked itself upwards from deep underground. It resembled tidy knitwork as the druid repaired the damage, restoring the building to what it was before. Meanwhile, her dogs tidily piled the bodies just outside the structure. Materials harvested from them would sell for a fair amount of coin, funding the city’s repair costs and helping the injured, displaced, and jobless repair their lives.
“One what, Dean Woodson?”
“What are your intentions with my granddaughter?” The druid asked, ignoring Joey’s question.
“I don’t think I’m ready for marriage and children,” he answered, watching the woman applying the finishing touches. “But I see a life partner in her. I think we make for an excellent team, and I’d like to spend the rest of my days with her.”
Myrina laughed. “When you have lived as long as me, that means a lot more than marriage. What I’m getting is that you should call me some variation of grandmother or Myrina when we’re alone. You’ve been with Caitlin long enough to be family.”
Joey didn’t know whether the druid understood how much the words meant to her. He didn’t know what to say and could only nod in response. After Sundarshahar consumed his home, ripped apart his family, and then killed it, Joey didn’t think he’d ever have a family again. Now, he had Caitlin, a brother in Alexander and a possible grandmother. An urge to hug the woman bubbled up inside of him, but he resisted. The old druid flashed him a soft smile. Joey had heard druidism came with minor Mind Magic, and he wondered whether she knew what was going through his head.
Much to his relief, Myrina said nothing. Whatever she thought, she kept to herself and finally answered his question. “If he hasn’t appeared yet, this isn’t the hole Niddhogg intends to use to rise to the surface. The dogs left me thinking it might be the one. Can you ride, or would you rather run?”
The giant sled dog that had appeared on the scene first approached Joey and licked his face. The force behind it almost lifted him off the ground.
“I know how to ride horses and mules,” Joey answered. “Never been on the back of a giant dog before.”
“It’s easy,” Myrina told him. “They do most of the work. Don’t worry about your little friend.” A creature that looked more like it was made of coiled roots and branches approached the cage. Woody tentacles extended from its back and pulled the bars apart. They wrapped around April before she could flee, binding her. “Fern will take care of her.”