I was just beginning to wake up in my room when Tabula’s voice brought me fully to my senses.

“Lord Gray, you have a visitor.” There was an odd note in her voice. Was she flustered by something?

“Give me a few minutes.” I called back.

“I’m afraid they’re being... rather insistent.” A booming knock on my door made me jolt upright. “I attempted to reconfigure the structure and isolate your room in a protected dimension but this person seems immune to all of my attempts to thwart them.”

“Who the hell?” I leaped out of bed, my suit appearing in a flash on my body as I raced through my inventory, tapping as fast as the UI could handle.

“Lord Gray!” Tabula’s voice was urgent now. “EDEN has taken damage.”

“Uh oh.” This building was made of material harder than pretty much anything in the natural world. “Are we under attack!?”

My door vanished in a cloud of particles too fine to be even called dust.

I drew Huginn and Muninn, prepared to empty both magazines at the intruder as soon as I had a shot.

My fingers began to squeeze, but relaxed the moment an unmistakable silhouette appeared.

“I have come.” The smoky seductive voice of overfiend X’lyssa preceded her confident swaggering entrance. “To claim what is mine.” She finished earnestly.

A confusing wave of emotions overwhelmed me. Anger at her audacity, confusion and cautious hope about what she might be implying, and a healthy dose of arousal that was inevitable just from glancing in her general direction.

“Does that mean...?” I didn’t dare to get my hopes up.

“They have been recovered.” She confirmed. “Every single one is accounted for and being treated as royalty in my palace.”

“Thank you.” There was no joke or quip here. I had rarely felt so relieved and grateful. My tone seemed to actually unsettle the supremely confident demon. “From the bottom of my heart.” I stepped forward and took her hand in mine.

“W-well. You shouldn’t doubt someone like me!” She looked up and away, and if her skin weren’t deep red I’m sure a fierce blush would have stained her cheeks.

“Can you bring them home?” I asked. “The deal is not complete until they are safely within these walls.”

“I was going to hold them hostage until you made good on your promise.” Her brazen honesty was oddly refreshing, even if the admission was an awful one. “You promise you won’t suddenly go back on our deal?”

“You’re really worried about that?” I felt a little guilty. “Look, I’m going to cut the shit and level with you. I want you as much as I’ve ever wanted anything. Bring my family home, so that I can give you the attention you deserve.”

She gripped my hand and yanked me in close, pressing her toned thigh into my most sensitive of places. I gasped but managed to keep it together. Through a heroic effort I managed to not break then and there.

“Tonight.” She whispered directly into my ear, and there was more lust and longing packed into that one word than I had ever heard. “For now, prepare to receive your lost flock. Preparations will be complete as the sun sets.” With that, she shoved me backward and I landed back on my rumpled sheets.

My level of frustration was now a physical pain in the old loins. I headed for my shower, and unequipped my clothes as I walked. “Tabula.” I said as I adjusted the shower temperature to be much colder than my usual setting.

“Lord Gray?” She asked, her voice sounded even more off than before. Was she sulking?

“Please get the word out that we’re celebrating the return of our lost comrades tonight. Prepare the best celebration you can manage on such short notice.” I decided to talk with her later and make sure she was okay.

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After I was suitably cleaned up and calmed down, I left my suite and took a look at my schedule for the day. King Ramthrag was visiting with a matter to discuss, Raj was returning with updates from our spies in Tarishan, and there was a short stack of proposals demanding my input. I disliked this type of work, but I had zero room to complain. For every one document I looked at, Raj and Sapphire handled over a hundred.

A short time later, I found the king of the dwarven country waiting for me in the lobby bar. I didn’t feel like being a spectacle here, so I invited him to join me through a Blood Gate. We appeared on a cliff overlooking the dead jungle valley to the south. We were at the edge of the unnatural semicircular pass which Zurg had melted through the entire mountain range with a calamitous eye beam. This glassy path of obsidian was to become the main highway between the mining site of Zurg’s corpse and Ramthrag’s kingdom.

“I reckon I’ll get used to that someday.” The dwarf king’s face was a bit pale as he shook off the disorienting effects of the teleportation.

“It’ll pass.” I answered, producing a small tea table and two chairs from my Astral Vault. I also pulled out a bottle of brandy with a fairly high item score. I hadn’t tasted it yet but so far high item score food and drink hadn’t failed to impress. I poured two small glasses and handed one to Ramthrag, gesturing for him to sit as I did so.

The dwarf swallowed his astonishment and took his seat.

“Thank ye, lord Gray.” The dwarf sat and brought the globe shaped glass under his prominent nose, swirling it a bit to unlock the aroma. His pupils dilated and he went stiff as though he had been struck by lightning. His hand shook as he gingerly tilted the glass to his lips. As the epic booze coated his tongue, tears burst from his eyes and ran like tiny creeks along the deep worry lines around them.

“Is it that bad?” I awkwardly joked, sniffing it myself. I knew instantly that I was mistaken as the aroma touched the root of my soul with a warmth that was like a mother’s loving embrace.

“Forgive me, lord Gray.” The dwarf wiped his tears and reluctantly put the glass down on the polished oak table top. “That bottle must be a sacred relic, smuggled from the heavens. To sip it so carelessly without a ceremony of gratitude is unforgivable for any dwarf.”

That bottle was actually just a quest reward for clearing a pack of hobgoblins from a distillery in one of the forgettable mid level Abysses. Granted any consumable with an item score over 400 was considered a collectible, it certainly wasn’t anything compared to my more treasured consumables.

“Ha. Guess it passes then.” I waved away his apology. “You had some issues to discuss regarding the operation down here?” I wanted to move this forward, I still had plenty to do before the girls came home.

“Aye indeed.” The dwarf brought himself back to reality with a last longing look at his glass. “The material has defeated even our adamantite picks and hammers. The loose pieces we are able to gather and bring to the Homeforge can be worked well enough, though they require twice the heat of adamantite.

“So your first order will be to make new mining implements from the material you are able to gather first?” I reasoned.

“Aye.” Ramthrag anwered. “And so your own weapons and armor will be delayed I’m afraid.

“That’s no problem.” I said. “Although I do have an idea. Let’s pack up here. I think I know someone that can help.”

Another gate, and a short flight later we stood in the clearing of ancient ruins in Gnollwood where I had first reincarnated into this world. I found who I was looking for easily just by following her overwhelming aura of holy magic.

I pulled up short, not wanting to interrupt their ritual. A hundred winged celestials stood in a wide circle, chanting a haunting melody and pouring a stream of luminous white power toward the small sapling at the center of their formation. Saet flew above the sapling, leading the prayer and giving more of herself than anyone.

The celestial oak sapling shivered, and grew before my eyes. The trunk doubled in diameter, and the branches reached out and up at least twice as far.

The ritual ended after another few minutes, and Saet flew weakly in our direction.

“That’s incredible.” I offered a compliment as she landed.

“Thank you.” She replied. “It is rewarding, but very exhausting.”

“Do you need some Soul Energy potions?” I asked casually.

“If there were such a thing, this world would fall into chaos over them. Thank the gods there isn’t.”

“Huh?” Did I hear that correctly?

“Huh?” She echoed. “Wait don’t tell me...”

I produced a soul energy potion and tossed it her way.

She instantly appraised it and the color drained from her cheeks.

“Go ahead and drink it.” I said, hoping to lower her anxiety. “It’s just a copy from Sapphire.”

“You’re duplicating them!?” She looked mortified.

“We’re getting off track. We can discuss these later in detail.” I waved my hands and forcefully switched topics. “I came to ask a favor.”

She reluctantly nodded, but still clutched the potion possessively.

“Would it be possible for you or your kin to imbue a tool with holy magic?” I asked hopefully.

“Such enchantments would only last a few hits, but...” She seemed to think hard on it. “If we obtain some diamonds of adequate clarity, enchant them, and have a skilled smith socket them into said tools then the enchantments would last much longer and could be recharged as needed without much effort.”

“Our vault has a surplus of precious gems since our trading was halted for so long.” Ramthrag stroked his beard as he spoke. “Are you thinking that our standard mining tools would be able to break through the material if so enchanted?”

“That’s my hope, and I think worth looking into. Saet’s spell was able to break through his armor, and the loose pieces you found were most likely dislodged that way.”

“I see.” The dwarf king seemed thoughtful, then determined. “I’ll have some various tools prepared with insets for gemstones, and have our best jewelcrafters prepare diamonds for enchantment. I’ll be in your debt, lady Saet.” The dwarf gave a respectful bow.

“You know, I like you much better than your predecessor.” Saet smiled at the respectful gesture.

“Alright. Looks like that’s that.” I spoke up. “We should get back to EDEN. Saet, we’re having a big celebration today and I’d like you to bring everyone. There’s gonna be food, drink, and good times for everyone.”

I dropped Ramthrag off at his palace, and gated back to EDEN. The place was buzzing at this point. Party preparations were in full swing. I made sure to send telepathic messages to the two training junkies Niiya and Yugal, ordering them back before dark no matter what.

A hard slug to my shoulder from behind made me spin, claws extending for a millisecond before my mind caught up to my reflexes.

“What’s up Jade?” I asked, feeling the slight damage heal in an instant.

“Are Leza and the gang really coming back!?” She was in her human form carrying a huge keg over one shoulder. She really was able to sneak up on me carrying that? I was getting careless.

“They are, thanks to X’lyssa.” I answered. “Let’s make it the best homecoming party this world has ever seen.”

“Piece of cake.” She said. “Also, you’re getting too careless. I coulda took your head off there, y’know.”

“You’re right, I’ll be more careful.”

I touched base with X’lyssa to make sure our timing was going to be good, and then finally made my way to my office where a small pile of paper hell awaited my attention.

Tonight was going to be one hell of a time.