There wasn't much to discuss after that point. Gareth had his strong convictions that he was unwilling to waver on, and his incisive question at the end was bringing me uncomfortably close to wavering on my own well-justified beliefs, so we just kind of arrived at an unspoken agree-to-disagree truce.

"I cannot stay long," he said after a bit. "I have imposed upon your hospitality enough as it is, and I have matters I must see to."

"By which you mean trying to break my civilization?"

"Trying to set it right," he said.

"You won't have much success trying to raise an army," I warned him. "Times have changed."

"That much is clear. But people, that is a thing that does not change. All I need are people."

I let out a little snort. "That and some clothes. You can't just go around in armor like that. And a place to stay, and some income to cover cost of living, and a phone, and--"

He furrowed his brow. "Costs. I wonder..." He clasped his hands together and muttered words I couldn't quite understand. It sounded vaguely like Ancient Arcana. After a moment he spread his arms wide, and a big glowing disc appeared in front of him, a shiny white circular hole in reality, about two feet across and with less than an inch of depth, just floating there at waist height. "Ha ha! I was not sure if it would remain, but fortune smiles upon me in this one thing at least." He reached in and pulled out a big double-handful of gold and platinum coins. "Costs I can manage."

Hoo boy. "You... probably haven't heard about inflation, have you?"

"Inflation? Like a waterskin that swells when overfilled?"

I shook my head. "It also means that we have enough prosperity that money begins losing value. My work is only moderately important, I'm not wealthy by any means, but I earn several thousand platinum crowns a month. That? Looks like it was a real treasure by Fifth Age standards, but today it's barely anything."

He listened to my explanation with a bit of disbelief on his face, then just kind of shrugged and dropped the coins back in his disc. "If coin loses value... things that can be bought with it should not," he mused. "Are precious stones still reliable stores of wealth?" He pulled out a pair of gems, a ruby about the size of my thumb and a sapphire almost as big, slightly smaller but very sparkly, both cut and polished quite brilliantly.

He must have seen my eyes go wide at the sight. "They are, then." He reached over, pressing the two stones into my hand. "Give me several thousand platinum crowns, enough to live on for a month, and I will call it a fair trade."

I sputtered a little. "I... I... can't take this. This isn't worth a month, it's worth a year at least, and I don't have that much saved up!"

He just smiled. "Then find a way to be generous and do good with what remains, the portion your conscience will not justify keeping."

Well crap. That's about the nicest "not taking no for an answer" I've ever heard. "I... guess I could do that."

"I trust in you, Brad. You have a strong destiny about you."

I shook my head. "I don't really believe in destiny; I'm more of a free will type."

He looked confused by my words. "Is this another thing your time has lost?"

"What do you mean?"

"You speak of free will and destiny as if they were in opposition to one another."

"Well yeah! If I'm 'destined' to do something, doesn't that mean I don't have a choice?"

He rubbed at his temples a moment, thinking how to proceed. "Imagine, if you will, a woman. Very desirable in every way. Beautiful, strong, competent, wealthy. Everything you could want... but she does not want you. Nevertheless you remain friends, but nothing more."

I nodded. "With you so far." I had no idea where he was going with this, but OK.

"One night, as you are together with your friends, you visit a tavern. In her revelry, she drinks to excess. Later, not in full possession of herself, she offers herself to you. Do you accept?"

"Of course not!" I said immediately.

"Of course not," he agreed, no hint of sarcasm or condescension in his tone. "You are a Good man, and It is simply not a thing that is within your character, yes?" I nodded. "You would be, you could be, as capable of betraying her trust as any man, but you do not, because it is a thing you chose long ago, of your own free will, not to be a person who would do such things, and now it is a thing that one would not be dishonest in saying you cannot do. And so it is her destiny to be safe in your company that night. It is not in any way opposed to free will; it is rather the direct consequence of free will, plus time."

"That's... wow," I said, blinking a few times as I considered it. "No one talks about it that way today. So what do you mean about my destiny?"

He shrugged. "I am no Seer, to seek out the details that lie beneath the surface. All I know is that glory lies ahead of you."

I scoffed. "Honestly I'm perfectly content to settle for mediocrity and comfort. Closest I'm likely to ever come to glory is someday meeting the Great Bronze Dragon who I work for."

He just gave me an amused little headshake. "You shall see. But I must be off. It would not be right to burden your hospitality further with the demands of an unexpected guest."

Yeah. He was an interesting conversation partner, but I'd be happy with a healthy amount of distance between myself and all his talk of glory and radical societal change. To be honest he sounded uncomfortably like the Transformationists whose Chaotic ideology he claimed to be opposed to. "All right. Let me at least help you get set up with the basics." I had him dismiss the disc, then led him out to my car and off on a brief shopping trip. A few changes of clothes that would fit him well and last for a while, a phone and a few basic lessons on how to use it, particularly the mapping spells. I pointed out several places of interest, hotels, supermarkets, banks, armorers where he could get his busted-up gear replaced, and so on, then off to my bank to withdraw a substantial portion of my savings for him.

He asked to be dropped off at "the local tavern." After clarifying that he meant lodging, not booze, I drove him to the Roythie Hotel. A bit pricy, but he could afford it!

"I feel bad just leaving you here like this," I said. "This is a world you're not prepared to face alone."

"I appreciate your care, Brad," he said, clasping my hand in both of his. Then his countenance changed, eyes glowing slightly, seeming to look right through me, his voice briefly becoming deeper, a noticeable reverberation in his speech, and I felt a tingling of power flowing into me. "Meþas's blessing be upon you, and upon your posterity, so long as you remain true in your faith."

...what? I didn't even have any posterity. Honestly not sure if I even wanted any!

His face cleared back to normal, and then he frowned and shook his head hard. "I... think I should go inside. I'm feeling oddly dizzy all of a sudden. You have my thanks, for your help and for your concern. But I am an experienced veteran of many difficulties and trials; this will not be my first time among a strange culture." Releasing my hand, he headed inside the building, offering me a quick "be safe" over his shoulder just as the door closed behind him.

What the abyss happened there? He said he'd never heard of Meþas; where did those words come from, and what did he do to me?

Feeling severely weirded out, I got in my car and headed home, hoping he'd be all right, hoping I'd never see him again, and above all else hoping things could get back to normal now and I could just go back to work tomorrow and get on with my life.

If only it could have been that simple!

It was about half an hour later that I got a call from Felicity. "Brad?"

"Hi, what's up?"

"Sorry I took so long to get back to you. My phone's been on the fritz all morning."

"Wow, that sucks. So what did you need to talk about?"

"That guy in the dungeon, Gary. How did you run into him? There's something strange about him."

If only you knew! "Ummm... this might be an easier conversation to have in person."

"Well, that's totally not ominous or anything. He wouldn't happen to be standing right next to you?"

"No, but... you're quite right, and it would be easier to discuss face to face. Just trust me on this."

"All right. Where are you at?"

"Mountain Valley apartments, you know where that is?"

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"Wow, yeah, that's barely three blocks from here! What number?"

"208."

"Be right over."

Sure enough, it wasn't ten minutes before there was a knock at the door. I let Felicity in and she quickly helped herself to my couch. "OK. What is it you needed to say to my face?"

"Why were you so intent on clearing the dungeon? It seemed like that was a higher priority to you than even getting out. Did you somehow know he was down there? Some sort of paladin sense?"

She shook her head. "Nothing so dramatic. I was worried about the two dungeons fighting. If a dungeon goes too long uncleared, mana will continue to build up and it can become overpowered. I was worried about a horde of monsters pouring out if we didn't make it to the Core and ground out its power." She frowned a little. "Honestly I'm surprised there were so few of them in there. It should not have been that easy unless the Core was up to something very, very odd."

"Like holding an imprisoned being from another Age?"

She blinked at me a couple times. "Gary?"

"He calls himself Gareth Meranas. That name ring any bells?"

Felicity shook her head. "Should it?"

"You of all people ought to... can you remember what he looked like?"

"Sure! He was... huh. It's actually kinda vague, and it really shouldn't be. Really boring, nondescript guy. White hair, white beard, armor. That's about it." Her eyes narrowed. "Was he using some sort of magic to not be noticed?"

I gave her a sheepish look. "I sorta gave him the idea," I admitted. "What would people say if someone came out of that dungeon that had never gone into it?"

She nodded. "So... what about him?"

"Well, he looked familiar to me. But when I called him by name, he got all confused, maybe even a bit annoyed, and asked why I was addressing him by a saintly name."

"Wait..." she gasped as she realized what the saintly version of "Meranas" would be. "How?"

"I have no idea. He says he's a general from the Chaos War, except he doesn't call it that and he seems to think Saint Valaminaþ and the Great Tyrant are really the same person. He's never heard of our panþeon; had a completely different one."

"I... suddenly I'm glad I'm sitting down. Yeah, that's a lot to take in all at once. So... thoughts?"

"Where to start? Umm... avatar of Meþas who's lost his mind somehow. Heroic leader who got mythologized into a god after the war. Alternate realities leaking into our own. The ultimate nature of time is circular and he's from a different Fifth Age, from an earlier cycle, which is why it doesn't match our history. Those are honestly the least crazy thoughts that have occurred to me on the subject! The only thing I'm actually certain of is, this man was not born and raised in our time. And that's weird enough as it is!"

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Even a madman would pick up their own culture, but this guy genuinely has no idea what the world is like. He has no concept of ætherics, of modern technology, of the Empire, none of it. I had to show him how basic plumbing works. You can't tell me that's anywhere within the realm of possibility for a guy born in our Age."

"Show him... you brought him here?"

"Well I couldn't just leave the guy out in the middle of nowhere."

She groaned. "Where is he now, and why did you not lead with that?"

"Because you wouldn't have cared much without the context. He crashed here for the night, then said he couldn't stay. Insisted on it several times. Turns out he's got some real money, so I dropped him off at the Roythie."

She got up and started walking towards the door. "We need to get over there. Right now."

"Seriously?"

Felicity turned and looked me straight in the eyes. "Brad, I have never been so serious about anything in my life. If there is even a chance that this is my god, and that he's in some sort of trouble..."

"You'd do what? He doesn't believe he's Meþas and doesn't even know who that's supposed to be. Let's say it's true. He's affected by something. That means we're talking about powers that can harm gods! I know you've got some real power in you, but — just assuming it would work at all — can you even attempt an Epic Restoration, let alone pull one off?" Of course not; epic-level spells didn't belong in our time. But then again, neither did Meranas. "That's a bit beyond the reach of the fifth level, isn't it?"

She shook her head. "It only takes a few inches of movement of a small steering wheel to make a significant change in the course of even the largest of trucks. A tiny little match can ignite a roaring bonfire. And even the greatest of heroes began as nothing more than a minuscule, fragile little point of life inside their mother's wombs. Size, scope, and magnitude can certainly be important, but they're not the only way to affect the world." She started to head for the door again. "I'm going either way. You coming along?"

I really don't want to do this. "Fine. There's one more thing you should probably know," I said as I followed her out. I turned to lock up and by the time I had the door locked, she was halfway out of the parking lot. "Hey! Where are you going?" I called to her. "It's all the way across town!"

She suddenly stopped, shoulders slumping a bit, then turned around and started walking back towards me. "Sorry. I... I'm still getting used to Imperial life again," she said with a bit of an awkward, apologetic smile. "Cars are sort of a luxury item in Lutreron, and we basically walked everywhere we went. About ten miles on a typical day."

Wow, no wonder she's in such good shape! "You walked over here, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"I'm parked right over there. I'll give you a lift."

As we were driving, I explained to her the last bit Meranas had said to me. "And then when he was done, he didn't even seem aware he'd done it, like at all. He just went back to normal and said he felt a bit dizzy there for a sec. But no matter what he says, it seems clear there's some sort of connection between him and Meþas."

"That's... very specific."

"Sorry. I'm not too experienced with these things."

"...huh? Oh, no no no, I wasn't being sarcastic. I meant the words. A blessing 'upon you and your posterity' is straight out of the Codices."

"It is?"

She gave me a quizzical look. "It's straight out of the Book of Chalamas, the Soul Oath given to Kalindra that she and all her posterity would find health and strength for as long as they remain faithful to the Path of Meþas."

I nodded. "Right, right. I know the story, but the exact words? I guess it's a missionary thing, huh?"

"Sort of, but it's kind of a me thing too," she said, her tone softening a bit. "My father claims descent from the blood of Kalindra, which means the Soul Oath is kind of personal to me."

"Do you always just freely share these personal details with people you just met a few days ago?"

That drew a bit of a wry chuckle from her. "OK, that's a missionary thing."

That got me laughing as well, probably a bit more than it should have. It felt good, after the stress of the last 24 hours, to just laugh with someone safe and blow off a bit of tension. "So, uhh..."

"Yeah?"

"What's it like, being an armored preacher in a war zone? Seems kinda weird to me, like, one minute you're telling people to be good and righteous and not harm one another and the next you're out there smiting all the folks who won't listen?"

She shook her head slowly, still giggling a bit. "No~ot exactly," she said slowly. "Though I did struggle with that duality a few times."

"Really? You always seem so self-assured, this big, tough paladin who strides confidently through life guided by her faith."

"One, you've known me just a few days and really only ever seen me at my best. And two... yeah, kinda, but it took three years of hard struggle and effort to build me into that person. Faith isn't something you either have or you don't; it's more like a level, something you gradually build up higher and higher through experience and action."

"All right."

"To answer your question, I never fought anyone simply for not believing. None of us did. But there were times — too many times, really — when we were attacked, either individually or our congregations or communities, and we fought in self-defense against those who sought to wipe us out."

"Happened enough to raise you to the fifth level," I mused. "How are you not, like... completely traumatized and broken?"

"Faith helps a lot there. Having a clear conscience, knowing I never harmed anyone who had not clearly expressed an imminent intent to harm me or mine, that's a pretty powerful balm to the soul." Then she looked over at me. "What about you? You're hardly low-level yourself."

"I'm only third level," I said. "That's pretty average."

She made a little frown at me. "When was the last time you got tested?"

"Yesterday, before going into the dungeon. They had a mana meter right there; you used it too, right?"

"Well, I'm not sure what to say, but you don't feel third-level to me. I don't have a mana meter on me, or any sort of power to test this formally, but speaking imprecisely, if I had to guess I'd say you're actually pretty close to me in power."

Crap. "No, I really hope not," I groaned.

"What's wrong? Most people would find that welcome news."

"Would they really? Gaining an entire level, maybe more, under mysterious circumstances and not knowing why?" We were arriving at the hotel, so I tried to explain my position as I pulled in and parked. "Even if it weren't for that... I'm not some sort of hero and I don't want to be one. When it comes down to it I'm really someone who just wants to be left alone to live my life in peace, and I don't think I'm particularly unusual in that desire."

She nodded. "I get it. I really do."

"Yeah?"

"Honestly, going off to Lutreron was a lot more my father's idea than it ever was mine. I didn't speak a word of Kobol, I wasn't nearly as physically fit as I am today, and faith was more something I talked about at church than something I lived or really cared about in my day-to-day life."

"Wow, how'd you even survive?"

She just smiled at me, reaching over and lightly squeezing my shoulder. "Because I wasn't alone." Then she unbuckled herself and got out of the car, heading inside without so much as a look back to see if I was coming. But after those words I really couldn't stay behind, now could I?

I followed Felicity inside, where I found her talking with the front desk clerk. "Yeah. Meranas. My friend says he just dropped him off here, what was it?" She looked over her shoulder at me. "Pretty recently. But we kind of forgot something important and we need to talk with him."

The clerk tapped something into her rune tablet, then shook her head. "No one by that name here, I'm sorry."

"Have you been here for the last hour?" I asked as I walked up. The clerk nodded. "OK. He's shorter than me. Beard and hair both white even though he looks too young for it. Pretty solidly built."

The clerk nodded in recognition. "Oh, you know that guy? Yeah, he came in here. Tried to get a room, wanted to pay cash and didn't even have ID on him." She gave us a sympathetic look. "I hope your friend isn't in some kind of trouble?"

So you need a bank card and ID to get a hotel room? Huh. I honestly did not know that.

"I don't think so," Felicity said. "But do you know where he is now?"

She shook her head. "He left. Looked like he headed to the right once he got out the doors, but I didn't see anything more than that."

To the right was... probably 2/3 of the entire town. We had nothing. We thanked the clerk for her help and left.

"I don't suppose you, umm... have anything paladin-y guiding you?" I asked as we got back in the car.

She closed her eyes, a look of concentration washing over her face. "...nothing," she said after almost half a minute had gone by. "First my phone, now this?" She gave me a concerned look. "I think there may be some sort of þeomachy at work here."

"A þeo-what now?"

"Struggle between gods. There are too many coincidences; I don't think all this would happen unless someone somewhere is actively messing with my ability to act."

"...yeah. I think I'm out. Remember that whole 'just wanna be left in peace' bit? Getting caught in between fighting gods is about as far from that goal as you can get."

I was expecting some level of anger, or at least disappointment, but all I got from her was acceptance. "I understand. This is a lot to take in all at once," she said as I started driving home. "Just... keep one thing in mind?"

"Hmm?"

"That the greatest experiences of your life can sometimes come when you let go of what you want, and focus on what is needed from you instead. I know mine did."

"Thanks, I'll make sure and remember that," I said, but without much conviction or sincerity behind the words. We drove mostly in silence the rest of the way, and at her request I dropped her off at my place and she started walking home.

"See you at church," she said, giving me one last smile before walking off.

Going back to that church? Really not something I wanted to do.

But with all the crazy going on around me, I couldn't help but wonder... could I afford not to?