Duke Vanion was sitting alone in his office.
The man was leaning over a crystal ball which hummed lightly beneath his brown gloved hands. His eyes were closed. After a time, he opened them and looked at Kiyora. Where had he gotten that thing anyway?
"Hey," said Kiyora.
"Kiyora, perfect timing," said Vanion. "I have only just finished communing with the border forts. The ones that are still under construction. My hope is to have a crystal ball like this one in every one of them, just as we have with those bordering Seathorius.
"Though it may take some effort.
"How can I help?"
"I was just looking for William," said Kiyora. "Do you know where he is?"
Vanion's expression darkened. "Unfortunately, yes. He is in Viokinar."
"Viokinar?" asked Kiyora. "You mean that country where the minotaurs are from?"
"Yes," said Vanion. "Rusara tells me that he has somehow made his way over there. Do you know how?"
How did this happen? Kiyora could have sworn she'd sent him back where he came from. Well, she didn't know how she did it. Usually, she just willed it, and it happened. "I meant to send him back here. I don't know how he could have gotten there; I've never been there."
"Well, I would appreciate it if you could bring him back," said Vanion. "He's giving me interesting information, but I'd much rather my son be safe than useful now."
"Right, one sec," said Kiyora.
She willed that William be drawn here now. Nothing happened. She tried to go to him again, and there was a distinct lack of anything happening.
"Well?" asked Vanion.
"I can't go to him," said Kiyora. "Something is stopping me."
"As I suspected," said Vanion. "Another power has drawn him there for whatever end. Probably either Melchious or Fortenex. No matter, I have another problem."
"What could be worse than your son being stuck in Viokinar?" asked Kiyora.
"The Axe of Fortenex heading that way," said Vanion. "The ship I had sent it by has been drawn away by some other means, and the Axe is in Viokinar."
"Then someone has stolen it?" asked Kiyora.
"I do not think so," said Vanion. "Not yet. Rusara installed special wards to ensure we knew if anyone took it out of its box. I find it more likely that Hrungeld still has it and is being pursued. I'd like you to go to Felix if you can. Once I know what is happening there, I can plan to retrieve it."
"Right, I'll be right back," said Kiyora.
She focused on going to Felix. And this time, she got somewhere. There was a flash, and she found herself amid the dreariest and grayest wood she'd ever seen. The branches were all drooping. The underbrush was spiky, and every color was drab. Just looking at the place made her feel depressed.
Felix was around here somewhere. "Felix?!" called Kiyora. "Felix, are you there?"
Felix emerged from the shadow of a tree and motioned. "Kiyora, get out of sight, you idiot."
Kiyora blinked. "Right, okay. What is going on here?"
"What does it look like?" hissed Felix. "I'm hiding for my life. Quiet."
Kiyora went up to him and hid alongside him. No sooner had she done so and out of the trees emerged two dwarves from opposite directions. They wore heavy black armor and held huge axes in their hands. One of them nodded to the other.
"Any sign yet?" he asked.
"No," said the other. "This fool is very good at skulking, whoever he is."
"Keep looking." said the first. "We'll find him sooner or later."
And they walked off. Kiyora watched them go in surprise. As she did, she felt a pang of hatred from the trees. Trees didn't usually exude emotions. You had to dig deep.
"Who are those guys?" she asked.
"Soldiers of the Iron Kingdom," said Felix. "I've been dodging them for days."
"What happened?" asked Kiyora. "How did you get here?"
"We were sailing for Brisgald as planned," said Felix. "Then, suddenly, something took control of the ship and started hauling it toward Viokinar. I figured out that whoever it was was probably after the Axe of Fortenex. So Massacre and I leaped overboard and swam to shore with the box.
"I don't know what happened to the others, and I don't have time to think about it."
"Okay, okay, let me think," said Kiyora. "Where is Massacre now?"
Massacre emerged from the underbrush, munching on thorns. The chimera looked in a foul mood. Her golden fur was dirty, and even her dragon head seemed annoyed.
"Oh, hey, girl," said Kiyora, scratching the lion's head behind the ears.
"Bah," said the goat head.
Kiyora paused. "Okay, Felix, you have everything under control. So I'm going to check on Tanith. I'll see what she's been up to. I'll see if I can make some plans."
"Just be careful," said Felix. "If my guess is correct, she's either in prison or a corpse."
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"Don't get my hopes up," said Kiyora.
On that pleasant note, Kiyora departed. The next place she appeared was the deck of a ship. And Tanith was leaning against the prow, juggling daggers. When she saw Kiyora, she started, lost her footing, and nearly took a dagger to the knee.
"What the-" Tanith looked like she had something nasty to say. Then she paused. "You're the Dreaming Goddess?"
"Tanith, right?" asked Kiyora. "What is going on here?"
"What does it look like?" asked Tanith, retrieving her fallen weapons. "I'm juggling daggers."
"Well yeah, I got that," said Kiyora. "I just kind of figured you'd be in prison."
"Sorry to disappoint you," said Tanith.
At that moment, a minotaur stormed up on deck and came into view. He took one look at Kiyora, then glanced at Tanith. "Who is this? What is an elf doing here?"
"I'm Kiyora Yagos, the Dreaming Goddess," said Kiyora. "I'm looking into the disappearance of the Axe of Fortenex. Felix told me he had to leap overboard."
"I was carrying the Axe of Fortenex?!" said Hrungeld. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Because you didn't need to know, Hrungeld," said Tanith. "If things had gone according to plan, you'd never have known. And the fewer people who did know, the better. If this leaked, we'd have ships trying to kill us the whole way."
"Yes, right," said Hrungeld, calming himself. "We were setting a course for Brisgald like planned when the tides began to take us elsewhere. A fell wind blew us away, and no matter what we did, we couldn't break free. As we neared the shore, we decided that whatever was doing, this was after what Felix was carrying, the Axe, I suppose.
"So he and Massacre leaped overboard and tried swimming to shore. We arrived in the city, and we've been stuck here ever since."
"Where is here?" asked Kiyora.
Tanith closed her eyes, opened them, stood up, tapped Kiyora on the shoulder, and pointed to the left. Kiyora turned. Then she saw the city. The person who built it must have been particular in what they wanted. The most lifeless, depressing, and dull buildings in history. Add a few spikes to each, and you have it. They could at least have put some skull designs on it. Just looking at the place made Kiyora bored. The only remarkable thing about it was the pillars.
Great black pillars of a shiny marble-like material were rising throughout the city. They could have been more exciting. It was more like they were sucking all the excitement out of the surrounding area. If one looked hard enough, you could glimpse the excitement before it was gone forever.
"The Iron Kingdom," said Hrungeld. "A major port along the northeastern coast of Viokinar. The only place in the whole continent where you'll find humans. Though only a few. It's a miserable place. I never come here if I can help it; too many Calishans around you, understand."
"Right, okay," said Kiyora. "I'll just go tell Duke Vanion what happened, and he'll negotiate or send a fleet or whatever."
"You do that," said Tanith.
Kiyora focused and closed her eyes. Then she opened them and found that she had not left."...You appear to be here still?" said Hrungeld.
"Yeah, yeah, I am," noted Kiyora. "This doesn't usually happen. I haven't felt like this since I ran across those raishans."
"Oh right," said Tanith. "That's where I saw you. Don't those things drive out gods?"
"The Iron Kingdom maintains strict control on all divine worship," said Hrungeld. "You see those pillars?"
"Yes," said Kiyora.
"They are designed to control all magic in the surrounding area," said Hrungeld. "The runes upon them enslave the spirits of the land. Or something to that effect; I didn't quite get it."
"Well, how am I supposed to get out of here then?" asked Kiyora.
"Well, I'd offer to take you out of range by boat, but..." Hrungeld pointed to the right. Kiyora followed the gesture and saw that walls protected the entire harbor. "Those sea gates prevent anyone from doing anything."
"Do you think maybe we could break out somehow?" asked Kiyora.
"It might be worth a tale," said Hrungeld. "But I'm not sure I want to cross that bridge yet. The Iron Kingdom seems just as surprised at us coming here as we were. I suspect someone else might be at work in all this."
"You mean like Lord Byran?" asked Tanith. "Because he's gathering on the shore with troops."
Hrungeld looked up. Kiyora looked where he was looking. Making their way up the pier was an unusually large dwarf. He was almost human-sized, in fact. He wore black armor with ornate silver decoration and had a two-handed blade on his back. With him were many dwarves like those Kiyora had seen pursuing Felix.
"These people have a very unforgiving view of gods," said Hrungeld. "Don't mention anything of the sort. If they ask you who you are, say you are an apprentice from Magicora who got here in an accident."
"Okay," said Kiyora.
The dwarf scaled up the gangplank, and Hrungeld walked to meet him. He bowed low for a minotaur, which wasn't very low at all. "Lord Byran, this is an unexpected pleasure. How may I-"
"My sorcerers detected a surge of divine energy upon this vessel," said Byran. His voice was cold and emotionless. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Oh, um, that was me," said Kiyora. "I'm an apprentice at Magicora, experimenting with holy artifacts. I kind of disobeyed my master, and I ended up activating them. Eventually, I ended up here."
"An elf," mused Byran. "I was not aware there were many of you at Magicora."
"I'm an exchange student from Actovosh," lied Kiyora.
"I have never heard of such a place," mused Byran. "No matter. Intrusion within the Iron Kingdom is no laughing matter, whether intentional or not. Take her."
"With respect, Lord Byran, she has not done any harm thus far," said Hrungeld. "And this vessel is the domain of my clan."
"Your vessel is in the domain of the Iron Kingdom," said Byran. "Technicalities must give way to realities. Unless you intend to remain here even longer, I suggest you get out of my way." And he put a hand to his sword.
"...As you wish," said Hrungeld.
Hrungeld was afraid of this dwarf. Kiyora supposed that meant he was dangerous. But there was no way she was getting taken captive for the second time this week. So she turned and ran for the end of the ship.
She leaped over the side and plunged into the dark waters.
Unfortunately, she hadn't done much swimming. She didn't precisely cut through the water like a knife toward the shore. Instead, she floundered her way in the general direction of land and it was cold. Very cold so that she felt her limbs going numb, until her power awoke within her.
"Damn it!" she gasped. "I wish I'd chosen the swim club!"
Then she felt something. It swam past her leg, and she was pushed several feet in the other direction. Then the beast arose before her. It was a huge serpent that rose almost ten feet over the water. It had bright blue eyes and sharp teeth, which were bared.
"What the hell?!" she said.
"Do you see that creature in the water, girl," called Byran. "That is the Iron Serpent, Jormungsk. The guardian of the Iron Kingdom's waters. My forefathers save his life. Since then, all who have sought to threaten us by sea have felt its wrath. If you swim back now, you have my word that no harm will befall you.
"Remain, and you will be devoured."
At that moment, two sharp talons gripped Kiyora by the shoulders. She was pulled out of the water, and a long tail wrapped around her waist. Something brought her onto the pier and deposited her as Byran arrived.
"Delenay," growled Byran. "What is the meaning of this?"
"This girl is mine," said Arraxoa. "She was drawn to this place by my will. If you desire her, it will risk our alliance."
"You did so with no word from us," said Byran.
"After all I've done for you, I'd appreciate not being denied my pleasures," shot back Arraxia.
"Animal," hissed Byran. "Take her and be gone."
"As you wish," said Arraxia.
Kiyora stood and eyed Arraxia carefully. "Why would you help me?"
"Silence, slave!" cried Arraxia before lashing her across the back with her tail. The force of it sent Kiyora to her knees. Ow. Then the demoness smiled. "Only joking, of course. Follow me; I'll explain things after I've gotten you a change of clothes."
"That's your idea of a joke?" asked Kiyora.
"Of course," said Arraxia. "Physical abuse is amusing to me when it happens to people I dislike."
This boded well. Arraxia seemed to dislike everyone.