“My name is Liam,” said the Mage who had arrived in Dangole before them. He was dark-haired, broad-shouldered and everything he did had a calm, measured quality to it. Erin wasn’t surprised that he’d survived his initial introduction to Jetriser.

  "I’m Erin, this is Sigrid. We’re Mages, like you.” He raised a thick eyebrow at the word ‘Mages’ and Erin shrugged. The three of them sat around the table in the small house they had loaned to Erin and Sigrid, drinking slowly off a bitter tea that Mariette had provided them.

  "So we’re dead. Is that what they told you to?”

  "They?” Sigrid asked.

  "Yeah, I was- well after, I met a guy named Kaiden. If you want to call him a guy, more like a…” He trailed off.

  “A god?” Erin supplied and Liam shook his head.

  “I’m sure glad my father isn’t here to hear us speak so. Blasphemy of this sort would likely stop his heart.” He spoke with a sad smile as Erin tried and failed to place his soft, lilting accent. “But yes, for want of a better word. Kaiden seemed like a god. He said that I’d died and that I’d be coming to life, but somewhere else, and I’d be a… well, as you said.”

  “A Mage," Sigrid said, nodding slowly.

  "As you say, and it seems to be true.”

  “All of it.” Erin said slowly, “Dying, magic, gods.”

  “Do you believe we actually died then?” Liam asked a hint of desperation in his voice.

  "Yeah,” Erin said, dragging the word out, “I do. When Thetra told me- that’s the one I met after I died; when she told me what had happened, I felt it was more likely I was in a coma after my accident. Dreaming, ya know? But this is nothing like any dream I’ve ever had, and it just goes on and on."

  "We’re dead,” Sigrid agreed, “and now the impossible is possible.” She held up her hand, and runes bubbled up under her skin, like living tattoos. They coiled in upon themselves, and Erin felt magic surge off Sigrid. The sensation was reminiscent of when she’d met Gurty, though nowhere near as potent. It filled the building, even extending beyond the walls, causing passersby on the street to pause and look their way with fearful and concerned expressions.

  Sigrid must have noticed them as well because the runes faded, and the pressure melted away like smoke in the wind.

  "The impossible?” Liam asked, eyeing Sigrid warily.

  “Magic, monsters, and medieval villages.” Sigrid said, shaking her head, “It’s impossible, all of it, everything.” Her dark eyes were unfocused, and her expression determined. “And it’s happening anyway, so as far as I’m concerned, anything is possible.”

  “I’m sure there are limits," Erin said hesitantly, but Sigrid wasn’t listening. The clay cup gripped tightly between her hands as her eyes stared at nothing. Erin reached out and touched Sigrid lightly on the wrist. She seemed to come back to herself then, looking between Erin and Liam before shaking her head with a small smile.

  "Of course. I was just… Just getting ahead of myself,” She patted the back of Erin’s hand and then withdrew her own. “What about you Liam? What was your old life like?"

  "Not much to say there really,” He told them, one of his fingers tapping on the side of his cup. “My father was a farmer and a holy man. I wasn’t much of either, I’m afraid. Don’t get me wrong, I know how to work, but I was spending too much time in my cups as it were. I was getting better, but…” He shook his head with a rueful expression. “As for my death, I don’t rightly know. One second I was on the tractor, working the field, and then I was chatting with Kaiden.” He shrugged his big shoulders. “Farm's a dangerous place at times. It coulda been a thousand things, but whatever it was, it got me good.”

  “Is your father going to be okay without you, I mean?"

  "I expect he will. I have five strapping older brothers and a pile of nieces and nephews to do the work. So long as whatever got me didn’t get the tractor too, he’ll be fine.” He took a sip of his tea and grimaced at the flavor before shrugging and taking another sip. “It’s a bit of comfort, knowing they’re all still out there. Wish I could tell dad he’s dead wrong about the hereafter. That’d really stuff up his pipe. I suppose he’ll learn about it on his own someday, but it would be something to see the old goat have to face being wrong about something. Not to get all heretical, but I always had a feeling those sermons of his wouldn’t come to anything”

  “I wouldn’t write it all off just yet.” Erin cautioned. “We died once, but we can die again and we have no idea what the results of that will be.”

  “Fair point. I thought I was a goner twice over when I stumbled into this village. Odd though, isn’t it all this old-timey stuff? Surely someone who died knows how to make modern stuff. Guns ain’t that hard to figure out.”

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  “Maybe they just don’t see the need?” Erin said with a shrug. “I mean, I can throw fireballs, and Sigrid has some sort of water pressure blade"

  "Magic, yeah, but that doesn’t explain these folk," Liam said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb. “The ones without magic. Why are they using spears?” Before anyone had a chance to consider the question, there came a tapping at the door.

  "Uh, come in?” Erin yelled, not sure of the protocol. The door opened, and the Mayor stepped through. Erin glimpsed a small crowd of people behind him, looking disgruntled before he closed the door and faced them. He was clearly uncomfortable, and the silence stretched as the three Mages watched him expectantly.

  "The townsfolk would like me to well, I mean to say- we of Dangole would hope you find it agreeable to not use your magics inside the town walls. It’s just that it’s mighty uncomfortable for norm- for those of us who can’t do it.” The words all came in a rush, one piling on top of the other, and Erin was left sitting there, trying to take them apart so she could put them back together in a way that made sense.

  “I understand,” Sigrid said, beating her to it. “It won’t happen again. We’re new to magic and I didn’t know it’d be a problem.” The Mayor looked relieved to find them reasonable, and Erin frowned. Exactly what kind of people were Mages in this world, if making a simple request like that was cause for nervousness? She saw a rude and uncaring Mage, laughing in the Mayor's face, and bullying the people with their presence and it left a sour taste in her mouth.

  "Thank you kindly.” He said with a nod of his balding head, before popping the door open and stepping back out to confront the small crowd that awaited his return. Once he had gone, Liam whistled softly.

  "Sure seemed like he expected that to go worse, didn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” Erin agreed, “Makes you wonder."

  "I expect many people with any degree of power will be awful," Sigrid said, and Erin raised an eyebrow at the pessimistic sentiment as Liam chimed in.

  "I think it’s more likely that if we chose to be obstinate then the mayor would be caught between us and his people. Seems like a rock and a very hard place to be."

  "We’re a rock?” Erin asked skeptically.

  "Have you noticed people here treat ya like you’re some old-timey lord? Curtsies and sirs and the like, but it ain’t real politeness, at least not all of it. I don’t think we’re just people to them."

  "That’s a lot to take in for a man who arrived half-dead and has been awake for an hour,” Sigrid noted. Liam looked at her and then gave a lazy, one-shoulder shrug.

  "It ain’t hard to pick up on."

  "Yeah, I mentioned something similar to Sigrid yesterday."

  "You said they were ‘acting oddly odd' if that’s what you mean by mentioning it," Sigrid said with the hint of a smile. Erin ignored her. The deference to them as Mages was something they'd need another Mage to explain and the only one she’d encountered who looked like they’d been here awhile was Gurty, who was probably crazy.

  She did lead me to Sigrid, though.

  Erin pondered the old Mages' motivations for a moment, before realizing the conversation had moved on without her. Liam and Sigrid were discussing what they should do next and if they should work together.

  "If we’re all going to the same place, it makes sense to me.” Liam was saying as Sigrid gave him a measured look.

  "Do we need to leave?” Erin asked, “isn’t that Warden guy supposed to come around looking for people like us?"

  "We have no idea how long that’ll be."

  "Are we in some kind of hurry?” Liam asked.

  "The sooner we can get some training, the better," Erin answered quietly. Sigrid threw her a concerned look, but Erin turned away and stared out the window. Running through dark streets full of monsters in her mind.

  She knew that everything Sigrid had said was true. Despite deciding against it, they had made an effort to save the village, and Erin couldn’t say what she would have done differently to change the outcome. She had magic, but it had a cost. She couldn’t throw enough fire around to kill them all, and it was the only thing she could do.

  [Is that actually true?]

  Lisa’s sudden entry into her thoughts almost made her jump, but she clamped down on the reaction and continued to stare out the window.

  Isn’t it?

  [Do you remember how you felt when you found out Jetriser only had Mages?]

  Erin cast her memory back to when she’d been floating in that dark void a little more than a week ago. Had it only been that long?

  I complained that I wouldn’t be able to choose some sort of melee class?

  In retrospect, it sounded foolish, but in her defense, she had been at the very tall peak of the weirdest things that had ever happened to her.

  [Do you feel that your status as a Tier 2 has made your ability to fight less viable?]

  Erin barely needed to consider the question

  Of course not, I’m stronger, faster, more coordinated.

  [As your soul was enhanced, so was your body and mind and they will all continue to grow as you hone your magic. If your goal is to protect others, then you will need to learn how to do more than throw spells.]

  Erin felt excitement bubbling in her stomach. Lisa was right. Erin had used her staff as a melee weapon already, but only in moments of desperation when she hadn’t been confident she could cast a fireball before being disemboweled. She was also an amateur at best. She’d never been in a fight in her life before Jetriser, and she swung the staff like some kind of club.

  A pair of men from the town watch passed by at that moment, shields and spears slung over their back as they spoke with one another and Erin pushed herself to her feet and started for the door.

  "Where are you going?” Sigrid asked, surprised.

  "I don’t see a reason to wait until we get to The City to start training,” and she ran out the door.