When I got back home, an idea occurred to me. I texted Terenaþ.

Have you heard the news out of the

Buffer States? Does this have

anything to do with your mission?

I have heard no news. Has the

long-anticipated invasion finally

begun?

Not sure yet but it's looking that

way.

That is not related to my mission on

this plane. Why do you ask?

Just wanted to get my facts straight.

Seems like Meþas has been trying to

prepare us for this.

That is likely true, but it is not

my quest.

Understood.

Well, that hunch went nowhere.

I got a call from Felicity soon after. "Looks like Kelamek was right, Brad. There are news reports of half a dozen Netherguard garrisons under attack by goblin hordes. The dwarves are calling for aid and there are rumors that the Emperor's going to send the Army to reinforce them."

"Well crap. Felicity, ummm..."

"What?"

"I think we need to go talk with Gareth. Tonight, if we can."

"It's going to be dark out soon."

"I know. Sucks. But unless we can both get a day off from work on short notice..."

"Why do you need to talk to him?"

"Remember I mentioned an angel named Terenaþ? He told me something that seems real relevant all of a sudden: the Empire is a place of peace that's not prepared for the kind of war Gareth could bring. Well... here we have a war just around the corner that we're not prepared for."

"...and it's a straight-up horde of Evil bent on conquest," Felicity said, catching on. "You think we can redirect him?"

"I think a lot of pieces are falling into place of a puzzle decades in the making, and a high-level combat veteran general is precisely what the empire needs right now."

"You have a point. OK, I'll be right over."

She was not right over. It was close to 20 minutes before the knock at my door came, and when I opened it up, there was a rather-tense looking Felicity with Charles beside her.

"Oh! Uhh, hi, Brother Ellis. What brings you over?"

Felicity scowled. "He was listening in on my phone call."

"You were talking loud enough anyone could hear," he countered.

I looked back and forth nervously. "Uhhh, do you want to come inside?" Where not just anyone could hear?

Once they were inside, before I could ask what was going on, Charles looked at me. "I want to know exactly what you have been getting my daughter into and how dangerous it is."

I glanced at Felicity and she gave a little shake of her head. He saw it too though and scowled at her. "You're not helping your case here."

"I'm not building a case, Dad! I'm a grown woman, and a consecrated paladin of Meþas. Facing danger in the service of our god is what I do. It's what we do, and it was your idea for me to get into this in the first place, remember?"

"My idea was for you to serve a mission and get some experience out in the world before starting your adult life out. And you did! You had three great years in Lutreron and now you're back and you're an accountant now. And I couldn't be prouder of you, Lissy! And grown woman or not, you're still living under my roof."

She let out a little growl of frustration in the back of her throat. "I don't believe you sometimes! Is the Path a joke to you? Just something you do once to tick off a box on a checklist and then move on to a secular life where none of that matters?"

"Come on, don't be like that. It's called a path for a reason. You walk down a road, it's not the same thing over and over; it's one different thing after another. I ain't saying to abandon what you learned over there, not at all. Haven't I been out there in armor with you these last couple weeks? You got some important life skills out of it, but now you gotta move forward. Take the next steps, like you've been doing. Get a job, get a home, find yourself a good man and settle down. You're not a missionary in a war zone anymore."

"You been watching the news, Dad? Now I'm a few weeks away from being a civilian in a war zone."

"And so now you gotta go out after dark to those woods and redirect somebody at the goblins. You have any idea how crazy that sounds, Lissy?"

"Stop calling me that! I'm not five anymore!"

"Ummm," I interjected, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Both of them jumped a little, as if they'd forgotten I was here. I had to kind of pick my next words carefully, with the sudden revelation that Charles didn't see the Path in quite the same way as his daughter did. "Brother Ellis, I was talking with Esott Daniels a few days ago. He says there's something he never shared with you or your family; how much do you know about your mother's role in founding this church?"

There was a brief, shocked silence from both of them, before Charles scowled. "Awww abyss. Abyss and all nine hells! This is more of that stuff?"

"Dad! Language!" Felicity exclaimed, looking scandalized.

He looked abashed. "Sorry Lis... Felicity."

She looked between me and her father. "What's this about Grandma Becky?"

Charles looked annoyed. "Stuff I tried to keep you and the kids apart from. Wanted you to have a normal life, a good life. Not like I had, growing up. You see, your grandmother had the gift of prophecy. Always giving Guidances to folks whether they wanted one or not. She told me a few times how she gave one to our Esott, that Evil is gonna rise up in our world and he needed the church to be ready to meet it." He looked to me. "I assume that's what you were talking about?"

I nodded, and looked over at Felicity, trying to wordlessly communicate he doesn't know? She shrugged, looking surprised. "Ummm, did you know that your daughter has the same gift?"

"What? How come you never told me?"

"...you didn't know? Dad, I've done it at church a few times and everything. You just... never noticed? Never heard about it?"

"No, never came up I guess."

She looked exasperated.

"Well," I said, "it's kind of starting to look like that's coming true, only instead of some metaphorical 'Evil rising' in society, we've got a horde about to literally rise up from underground."

"Yeah," he said. "I get that part. But what's any of it got to do with the woods?"

"It's a bit of a long story, Dad. Can we talk about it on the way over? There's only so much daylight left before things get more dangerous out there."

"All right," he said, "but if I don't like what I'm hearing I am turning the truck right back around, you understand?"

Felicity sighed, then nodded, apparently accepting that there was no better resolution to this. "You've got your gear, right?"

"Yeah, it's in a box in the back."

"I really don't see why you don't just carry a spatial bag like everyone else," Felicity said as she headed for the door, the two of us following.

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

"A bag's too easy to misplace. Put it in the back of a truck, and you always know where it is."

Apparently he'd driven over here in a big crew-cab pickup. We got in and started driving, and the two of us explained the situation to him along the way.

"So let me get this straight," he finally said. "That guy on the news, he came from a hidden dungeon, thinks he's from the Fifth Age but it ain't the Fifth Age as we know it, he was some crazy-powerful general in his version of the Chaos War, he wants to fight Evil in our day, and you bought that land because it's his hideout and he discovered a Tower on it."

"And because of Guidances pointing me to it."

"Well that's just the craziest story I ever heard," he muttered. "Felicity, I really tried to keep you away from all this, but it looks like Meþas has a different plan for your life than I did. I don't much like it, but I guess he knows better.

"So what's that part about him looking like Meþas anyway?"

Felicity shook her head slowly. "It's clear that there's some very real connection there, but as for the details, no one really knows. I've got some ideas, and Brad probably does too, but we're oath-bound to not discuss them. Long story, don't ask."

"I'm pretty sure Terenaþ knows," I added, "but he's not talking. The most useful thing I've been able to get out of him is that he's not permitted to tell me anything actually useful."

"Not sure how comfortable I am, walking into such a serious situation essentially blind," he grumbled.

"We're not walking blind, Dad. We're walking by faith. Just enough light to see the next step ahead, but that's all you really need. You're the one who taught me that!"

He thought about that for a moment. "You know, I think I remember that. You were what, six? Seven? You had a question about one of the tales in your Children's Codices picture book and that's how I explained it."

"Well it's a principle that's stood the test of time for me."

He shot me a brief can you believe this? look. I just shrugged; I was not about to take sides in this argument! It was a bit of a surreal moment for me to start to realize that this big, intimidating paladin, who I had always thought of as simply "Felicity's father," seemed to be a fair bit more like me in his way of thinking than I had ever imagined.

We were pretty close by that point, and the rest of the drive was mostly awkward silence until we pulled in and down the access road, stopping once we reached the house lot. We all got out and started gearing up. "So you're sure you can find this place from here, Felicity?" Charles asked.

"Yeah, it's about a quarter-mile that way, and I've got the exact spot saved on my phone. And as likely as not, he'll intercept us before we even get there."

And so he did; we'd barely gotten into the woods, out of sight of the truck, when Gareth stepped out from behind a tree and approached us. "Hail Brad, Felicity. Who is this stranger you bring here?"

"Gareth, this is my father, Charles." Felicity winced a little. "He... kind of invited himself along."

"You wear armor of the same design as your daughter's. Are you also a paladin of Meþas?"

"I am."

"Can I trust you not to go around assuming I am some sort of avatar of your god?"

"You can."

"Then I welcome you as a companion. What brings you here this evening?"

I spoke up. "We needed to talk to you, Gareth."

"Yes?"

"I don't know if you've heard the news about the Netherworld?"

He shook his head. "What of it?"

"Netherworld hordes are invading the dwarven Buffer States. It's believed to be the precursor to a full-scale invasion of the surface lands. I know you don't think particularly highly of the Empire's philosophy, but this is an actual attempt by Evil forces to conquer our home. Felicity and I were hoping you could agree that this is a matter of true urgency."

He gave me a sad smile. "A war of conquest by forces of Evil. The very thing you assured me so emphatically that the Imperial order makes obsolete, an impossibility in these modern, tolerant times?"

"You're right," I admitted. "I did say that. I wasn't thinking about conditions outside of the Empire when I did. Within the Empire itself, though, my point still holds."

"Perhaps. Either way, you have an imminent invasion to deal with. Is that why you sought me out?"

Felicity nodded. "In a word, yes. Our nation isn't prepared for the goblin hordes, but I don't think they're prepared for you."

Gareth sighed at her. "Come into the tower with me. I wish for you to see what is on the third floor."

"What does that have to do with what we're talking about?"

"Everything. It will be easier if you see it than if I try to explain, though." He looked over to Charles. "Have you delved through dungeons before?"

He nodded. "It's been a while."

Gareth turned and started walking off, beckoning. "Come. If what these youngsters tell me is true, this will be a dungeon unlike any you have ever seen."

"They told me it's a tower, rather than a dungeon?"

Gareth nodded. "I still find that distinction minor at best, but they say it is a very significant difference."

Felicity hesitated. "We won't be able to start on the third floor with a party member who hasn't cleared the second yet," she said, "and that second floor takes a long time to clear!"

"And the third is longer still," Gareth said. "I don't intend to clear it with you tonight, only to show it to you." He led us to the entrance and we descended down into the first floor, warning Charles about the stone cats.

He listened to the warning and nodded. "Think I can handle them," he said confidently. He gestured to us to stay back, then strode confidently across the floor, banging his mace on his shield loudly. When one of the cats sprang down from its pedestal behind him, Charles somehow sensed it, and raised his shield over his head incredibly fast, catching the cat in midair and redirecting it, throwing the monster over towards the three of us, where Felicity and Gareth quickly destroyed it with their weapons. He lured and dispatched the second one in the same way.

"Wow, Dad! How'd you do that?" Felicity asked, her voice tinged with awe.

"Yes, how did you do that?" Gareth asked, sounding impressed.

"It's a little spell I picked up back in the day, Detect Movement. A bit disorienting, but makes it real tough for anything to sneak up on you once you're trained in using it."

"Could you teach me?" Felicity asked.

"Could you teach it to all of us?" Gareth asked.

"Felicity for certain. You and Brad I'm not sure about. Divine servants don't work magic the same way wizards do, and you... they tell me you're not even an ætheric caster at all? I'm not sure this spell would make any sense to you either way, divine or arcane."

"Very well," Gareth said. "Perhaps once you return, you can show your daughter; you'll not likely have any further need of it for what we do tonight."

Charles nodded, and we headed into the library. "Is this that place you were telling me about, Brad? With all the books full of gibberish that turned out to talk about people's lives?"

"This is it."

"This room has an odd feel to it..." he murmured softly as we headed on, down the long hallway and to the floor boss, which didn't last long. Then it was down the stairs, into the boat, and we set off for the volcanic island.

"Wow, a flying boat floating through the clouds! You're right, Mr. Meranas, I've never seen anything like this inside a dungeon before."

Gareth explained to him what we would face when we reached the island. Felicity and I mentioned how it was such a big, long slog because of the effort needed to fight off the waves of bane sidhe while climbing the side of a mountain.

Charles hmmmed at the description. "I might just know something that would help here." Turning to his daughter, he asked, "they ever teach you Circles in Lutreron?"

"Oh! Yeah, you're right, we could actually pull that off... I think. If it works with Gareth's magic."

"What are these Circles you speak of?" Gareth asked.

"You ever see a group of wizards get together and do a Ritual, pooling their power to work on something big together?" Gareth nodded. "A Circle is sort of the divine counterpart. We get a group together and we can do various things with magic. Has to be a Sacred Number, though, and at least half the Circle has to be servants of the same god. The power granted to followers of the Builder is to take several simple spells and build something larger out of them."

"Brad knows a shielding spell," Felicity said. "And Dad can turn the undead. Combine the two into a sustained barrier and we can repel them easily."

"And four is the second of the Sacred Numbers by your þeology," Gareth said, "after one."

"You've been studying it?"

"Of course. Your Mundus is familiar to me in many ways, but strange and alien in so many others. Of your twenty gods, seventeen of them, myself included, have close counterparts who were prominent figures in the War of Liberation. I know not what this means, nor what to make of the last three, but it disturbs me on some profound level deeper than conscious thought and reason. I wish to understand what happened to me as much as you do."

Charles and Felicity went over the details of the Circle while the ride finished up, and once we'd beached the flying boat on the sand, they began to prepare it. A short prayer, and an illusionary circle appeared on the ground, about four feet across, with a square inscribed within it. Charles and Felicity stood at opposite corners of the square, and gestured to the two of us to take the other two corners. Once we did, they extended their arms and the four of us clasped hands.

"Meþas, grant thy shield to those under thy protection," Felicity intoned solemnly. I let my power flow, my mind shaping it into a barrier spell, pushing it through the magical circle. Charles took the magic and shaped it, joining it together with a divine prohibition against the undead, and Felicity held the spell, anchoring the result to herself. We'd have to remain fairly close to her, but it should work.

Then Gareth said, "very interesting spellcraft. Let me try something?" We all felt the Circle quiver as he solemnly intoned, "emixrol!"

"What's that do?" Charles asked.

"That's Ancient Arcana," I said. One of a handful of words I actually knew from my studies. "Far."

Felicity gasped softly as she felt the spell she was holding twist, then enlarge. "That's..." Her helmet turned back and forth as she looked around, checking on something. "That spell had a radius of about twenty feet; now it's closer to fifty! And I'm not having any trouble sustaining it. What did you do?"

"As Brad said," he replied as if it were no big deal, "I made its range more distant."

"But you can't just..." she stammered.

He stepped back, breaking the Circle, and rolled his wrists, both palms upward, fingers open wide, the gesture giving a distinct impression of a shrug despite involving no motion above the elbows. "And yet I did. Perhaps your ætherics, impressive as they are, do not hold quite all of the answers?"

None of us had any good response to that.

Climbing the mountain wasn't exactly easy or quick after that, but it was significantly easier without being assailed constantly by waves of spirits and having them pour their grief into our minds. When we reached the summit, Gareth led us through the archway and down onto a dark plain, as Felicity and I had seen before.

It seemed to be nighttime, stars smeared abundantly across the sky in unfamiliar constellations, the ground lit here and there by campfires. But we quickly noticed two things that hadn't been apparent before. First, off in the distance, maybe three miles away or so, was a shining beacon of cool, sky-blue light.

Second was the noise. Angry shouts, screams of pain, clashes of steel, explosions of flame. Despite the darkness, two armies clashed in front of us.

Gareth pointed. "The goal of this floor is to reach that beacon alive. Between us and our destination, that. Demons to the left of us, devils to the right, both sides endlessly replenished; it is not possible to simply wait out the end of the fight and cross when it's safer.

"Of the seven floors that I have seen so far, this is the most difficult of all, save only the seventh which I have not yet been able to complete. I call it 'Hellwar.'"