“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I grumbled, arms crossed with my Hilt of Holding firmly in one hand.

“Don’t worry, Badger,” Cojisto said, slapping me on the back. “We’ll take care of your family.”

“Once again, don’t you dare go near my family,” I told him. Brackenhorst had already warned them, so they would be safe if they just kept their heads down. “The cult can find us, so you’ll just be a beacon. Stay away from them, and they’ll probably be safe.”

The man smiled before backing off of the teleportation circle. After the discussion with Himia, we went down to the transport room to be sent on our way. Without the extra power given by the Mage’s Guild tower, Sophia would have had to make two trips in order to get Moose back to New Frausta. That wasn’t what I was worried about, though.

I glanced at Ferrisdae out of my peripheral vision. Even though I hadn’t wanted her to come on such a dangerous mission without her magic, I couldn’t deny that I needed more help than just Himia. We had gone over several ground rules that she was not, under any circumstances, allowed to break no matter what was happening.

Ferrisdae had agreed, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to trust her to follow them completely. She had been drinking mana potions as quickly as she could without getting sick, just in case. Either way, the Elf was coming.

Not as a mage, though, but as an archer. Ferrisdae was back in her Nana Maeal’s outfit. The black leather bodice, torn green cloak, shorts and tall boots had been enchanted to help with accuracy. It was old, but had been treated like an heirloom and its magic still worked well.

“Badger, did you ever figure out why Carimella wanted to speak to one of us in the first place?” Ferrisdae asked, stringing her composite bow.

“I… did not,” I said before looking at Himia. “Any ideas?”

“This is only an educated guess, but I believe that CC is interested in the four of you,” she answered. “While you do carry my boss’ blessings, the elder Dungeonborn can easily do the same, as you have seen with those you have fought already. I am afraid that, when it comes to CC, there may not be a reason for what she does except that she wants to do it. She is quite perplexing.”

“I don’t think I like that answer,” I said with a scowl.

Himia nodded. “Apologies, Dungeon Inspector, but neither do I.”

“Alright, are we ready to send you off?” Sophia asked, stepping onto the teleportation circle with us. She wasn’t coming with us, but she was sending us off. The attendants of the transport room were only just now starting to filter in, curious but going about their own business.

“Yeah, send us back to Athir, Sophia,” I replied, ignoring the urge to insult her. There would be plenty of time for that later.

“You be safe, Sophia,” Ferrisdae said as she gave the disguised Kitsune a hug. Once she released her, the Elf waved towards the small crowd. “You all be safe.”

“Always,” Cojisto said as Moose stamped a hoof. Dalsarel made a face, but nodded.

Sophia put out her hand, and the three of us reached out to touch it. “Don’t die, Badger. The old lady running the children’s clothing store will miss you too much,” she murmured. “I know how much you like their handouts.”

“I’ll be fine, and so will you,” I quietly returned. “After all, nobody wants that scraggy thing you call a pelt.”

She met my eyes, giving me a nod. I returned it, and we smirked at each other. The next moment, we were gone.

Ferrisdae put her hand up to her mouth when the teleport dropped us off in the office that Sophia had been allowed to use at Athir’s Mage’s Guild branch. It was the only place she knew of that was almost guaranteed not to have people in it, and that would save us from any tragic mishaps.

A chill ran down my spine as I took in our surroundings. That wasn’t from the ability Himia had called Knowledge Check, but from the sheer dread that had hit me all at once. It was like someone had taken the DTER and turned it up to full power. I shook my head, trying to put the feeling behind me, and I saw Ferrisdae do the same once she was sure she wasn’t going to throw up.

Himia, of course, looked absolutely fine. She was, however, standing completely still. We had been warned that this could happen, and she told us to go about our business as usual. While worrying, we took her at her word.

“You doing alright, kid?” I asked, checking my equipment.

“About as well as can be expected,” Ferrisdae answered, grimacing. “This place feels really gross.”

I looked around the room and couldn’t help but agree. Everything had this disturbing look to it, like someone had coated the entire building in a thin layer of grease. I touched the door with the back of my hand to find that it felt completely normal, it just had a strange appearance.

This effect didn’t go away as we started heading down the stairs. It consumed not only the building, but the people as well.

We saw them as soon as we hit the stairwells. While the tower did have some magical elevators, there were always some who eschewed them entirely. I stopped in front of a mage reading a book in one hand while drinking out of a cup in the other. He was stopped mid-step, some coffee spilling out of his cup, and looked like he was about to trip.

I shared a glance with Ferrisdae before pushing him slightly. He tilted, the Endless Moment allowing me to move him, but remained frozen in place. With a grunt, I lifted him up and took him down to the next landing before propping him against the wall. As much as I didn't care for mages, there was no reason for this guy to tumble down the stairs and spill scalding hot coffee on himself.

It was a surreal experience, and it only became worse as we entered the lobby. There were several more people here, each frozen, and we walked between them. Ferrisdae clutched her bow tightly to her body, trying to make sure not to knock anyone over.

“This is horrible,” she said quietly. “All these people are just… still. Do you think he plans on killing them?”

“I hope not, but we’re here to stop him regardless of his intentions,” I replied.

The doors outside needed to be pried open, and I did so with the help of my handy letter opener before pushing it open the rest of the way. I blinked as we got our very first look at the outside world.

Motionless dark storm clouds covered the sky as far as we could see. Numerous bolts of lightning descended from them, some far away, others close by, illuminating the entire area in a bright glow. They didn’t look natural, though, not even at first glance.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Badger, those…” Ferrisdae started.

“Yeah, those are runes,” I answered.

A peal of thunder boomed through the city, and another bolt of lighting fell miles away to our left. It contorted into a familiar shape: the rune for stability. Based on the direction and distance, it wasn’t much of a guess to say that one appeared over the Red Thicket. I narrowed my eyes as I ran down the steps to get a better look at the sky.

The original ritual circle I had devised with the help of Brackenhorst’s map had 64 runes. I spun in place, quickly counting the number of lightning bolts. 39 so far, and another thunderous roar passed through the city as another one fell. Wherever Abara was, he was doing quick work.

And then, it clicked, and a primal, almost instinctual fear threatened to cause my body to freeze up.

“Holy fucking shit,” I said, placing a hand on my head. “Oh, we have to stop this.”

“What?” Ferrisdae asked, pulling an arrow from her quiver. “What’s going on, Badger?”

I raised my hand and started pointing from rune to rune. “Stability, Shift, Magic, Ambiance, Land, Life, Distance, Transport,” I listed. Another lightning bolt appeared, and I winced. “Replace.”

“You’re not making sense,” she said, though I could hear her panic.

“This ritual will teleport the city in the center of the circle and a good chunk of its land, replacing it with a similarly sized one from somewhere else,” I explained. “And I bet everything I own that CC is going to be riding whatever shows up.”

Ferrisdae went quiet, trying to wrap her head around it. “That’s… that’s insane, Badger. There’s no way that can be their plan.”

I scowled. She was right, of course, but it wasn’t the only insane thing we had come across recently. Just yesterday we came across another impossible sight with the crystal and the dungeon. Taking a breath, I worked towards calming myself. With clarity came knowledge, and the dungeon told me exactly where we needed to go.

Instead of answering her, I gestured for her to follow and started jogging towards the Riverside Calm. Ferrisdae followed me, an arrow nocked but not drawn. There was an urgency to our movement that hadn’t been there before.

We navigated the park, not bothering to take the path, until we came to a familiar place. The arch bridge leading to the Green Union Building was decidedly less magnificent in its current, greasy state, but our destination was on the other side.

Breaking out of the roof of the simple cottage made of petrified wood was the amber crystal. Its glow was less intense now that it was being drained, but what we could see of it was still a beautiful sight. Standing on the very top, waving his stone staff left and right, was a green haired Gnome. Abara.

I held up my hand, and we both slowed to a stop. Turning to Ferrisdae, I mimed drawing a bow back and loosing an arrow before pointing at the enemy. She arched an eyebrow before nodding.

Taking a breath, the Elf pulled her drawstring back. She raised it, her eyes focused on Abara, and waited a second. There was no wind to mess up the shot. Ferrisdae released her breath and her arrow at the same time.

I followed it as best as I could, hoping that a preemptive attack was going to be enough. This kind of sneak attack was against the bureaucratic rules of the Department of Dungeons, but this situation was absolutely beyond anything that which the rulebook described.

Against my dearest wishes, the arrow slammed into a transparent shield and fell to the crystal. My scowl returned anew; I could recognize a Protection Against Arrows spell, which means Ferrisdae’s bow was useless.

Worse yet, Abara turned to face us.

“And they finally show up!” the Gnome yelled, throwing his arms out wide. His eyes turned from me to Ferrisdae before scanning the area. “And just the two of you? No idiot and moose? No delightful, mother pleasing Dark Elf?”

“Any traps?” I whispered to Ferrisdae. She looked at me before her eyes turned purple. She shook her head. “Okay, fall back to Himia.”

“I can still fight,” she protested.

“Not with that bow you can’t,” I said. “Fall back.”

Without waiting to see if she would comply, I started walking onto the bridge. I retracted the letter opener back into my Hilt of Holding before switching it to my blood seeking scimitar. Unlike the Blackwood Queen, Gnomes could bleed.

“Badger, it’s so nice to see you,” he said conversationally, moving to the edge of the crystal to get a better look at me. “I feel like the last two times we’ve met have been under strenuous circumstances. I’m willing to put everything behind us if you are, even killing one of my friends. She can be regrown, anyway. It’s just a matter of time.”

Hearing that the Nymph could come back made me grit my teeth, but I didn’t fall for the provocation. I stopped in the middle of the arch bridge. Since the sneak attack didn’t work, I wanted to make sure that Ferrisdae had time to get back to the Mage’s Guild. So, it was time to do my job.

“Abara, you are hereby under arrest for the illegal construction of a dungeon,” I yelled.

He stared at me, confused, before laughing. “You can’t be serious right now.”

“I’m always serious,” I replied, noting that no extra lightning bolts had appeared since he turned his attention to me. “Not only was this dungeon not thoroughly vetted by a Dungeon Inspector, but it also goes through several residential, commercial, and mixed-use zones that are considered public property.”

“Really?” he asked, throwing his arms up. “This is what you’re doing right now? I’ve got this whole thing set up — this whole, brilliant thing — and you’re trying to tie me up in red tape?”

“If you do not come peacefully and allow your dungeon to be destroyed, then I will take it as grounds to begin subjugation efforts against you,” I finished. “The choice is yours.”

“Look, Badger, I appreciate that you think you can do anything at all to stop me, but you’re a little too late,” Abara replied. He gestured towards the lightning with his staff all around us. “My mistress’ victory is assured the moment I finish here. The world is going to change for the better whether you like it or not. You don’t have to be against it just because some moron in green and purple lied to you.”

“When I kicked your boss’ ass back when she was possessing Carimella Rose, she said she was going to burn everything to the ground,” I said as I pulled a potion out of my Pocket. The vial was separated into three compartments and the lid had a disclaimer that it was for official Department of Dungeon use only. I popped it open, but didn’t drink yet. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t call that better.”

The Gnome waved his hand. “She was riled up. My mistress has the capacity for violence just like any other great leader, but she doesn’t mean what she says when she’s angry,” he claimed, as if that made things better. “If she had been able to take over the Department of Dungeons, as planned, then everything would have been fine. She’s simply looking for her missing father.”

I furrowed my brow. “The Dungeon Master said he died centuries ago.”

“He didn’t die, he disappeared,” Abara replied confidently.

“That’s the destiny she got all upset about?” I scoffed. “Chasing after her probably dead Human father? She wants to burn everything down to, what? Find where he’s hiding? Make it make sense, Abara.”

“Her destiny is absolute, and because the mistress insists that he is not dead it must be so,” Abara said sternly. I could tell he didn’t like being questioned, especially about CC.

“Yeah, sure, and that’s why we call you a cult,” I returned. “Blind faith is a terrible thing. You need nuance in your life, Abara, otherwise you’re just a slave no matter how virtuous you think your mistress might be. Yours, though? She needs to stay on her own damn continent and keep us out of her daddy issues.”

Anger flared in the Gnome’s eyes, and the crystal he stood on grew brighter. “You know nothing, Badger.”

“I’d say that I know more than enough,” I shot back. “You’re the one who’s following a delusional little-”

I threw myself forward as Abara raised his hands, lightning crackling between his fingers, and aimed at me. The spot on the bridge I had just vacated broke apart and fell, though the Endless Moment caught the debris before it could hit the water.

Rolling to my feet, I quaffed the three potions and jumped, flying into the air as the magic took hold of me. One way or another, it was time to end this madness.