When he opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was that he had a hard time of doing so. They seemed somehow a bit sticky. And he was thirsty but at the same time wet. Tiredly he sat up, getting of the gritty dirt caking his eyes shut. Or rather he didn’t quite manage to stay sitting, as his arms failed him and he landed face first right back in the sand. God, his head was killing him.

“Hey kiddo, ye’up?”

A sturdy hand grabbed his arm, turning him around and pulling him up in a fluid motion. Thankfully the hand didn’t vanish, he would have just fallen over again.

“C’mon, drink up.”

Without much thought he did so as he noticed a cup being brought to his lips. Where the heck was Ivan? And that ball of fur for that matter... Wait a sec, the name was escaping him momentarily. The blasted bird was there as well or should be at least. Dammit, that water sure tasted strange...

A few minutes later he at least could open his eyes again, having washed away the gritty dirt. He noticed that he had was on a shore, seemingly washed up there with Van. He couldn’t remember how they had gotten there to begin with, even the fight of those creatures just a blurry memory by now.

“Where are the others?” he asked finally as he got his wits together again.

“Washed up’ashore, near’n’oasis. Few that survived turn’d’up as’well,” Van grumbled tiredly.

“Master! I feared you’d never wake up!” a jubilant metallic screeching filled his ears. He grimaced, his headache returning with a vengeance.

Before he could even think of an answer he found himself with a lap full of Kwez. But that was just for a moment, as he started jumping around and shaking his paws, loudly complaining about his fur being all wet and sticky. Nic was left blinking confusedly.

“Where is Ivan though?” he finally inquired. He could worry about other things at a later moment.

“Oh the bird carried your lackey to safety, I don’t know where to though. I was surprised how strong the thing is!” Kwez explained with a wide toothy grin. Nic was sure his nightmares had just gotten more fuel for weeks to come.

Bewildered he stared and tried processing what Kwez had just said. Right, nope, it didn’t make any more sense after thinking it over a few times. As it seemed such happenings were a regular turning into a regular thing in his life, he probably should be rightfully worried about that. He could get back to that and to fretting over it at a later point when his head didn’t feel like trying his damned hardet to kill him anymore.

He got on his feet with Van’s help and stumbled rather than walked to the oasis the guy had mentioned. There were few faces he recognized from the ship and his stomach dropped. Ignoring what that implied he got a look around. He had to find Ivan and a way to Kou, that much was clear but at the moment he had absolutely no idea where he was. And using his map, even if he had had it would not help much, as old as the ratty thing was.

“Master, look, I was able to save this,” Kwez cooed proudly, heck, if he wasn’t so loud. Though his head was pounding again he couldn’t help but stare in disbelief. There was his stuff, right beneath a palm tree. Well, seems he had at least that.

When nighttime was upon them the sailors were able to roughly piece together where they were. Nic was grateful for that but on the other hand horrified upon noticing how far south they had come ashore. He was a bit stumped on how to proceed. On one hand he could start wandering north, along the shore and would sooner or later reach Kou’alSol anyway, but well. After checking his old map he was in a bit of a bind. There was a city he wanted to visit, well, ruins more like, but he had read about them in a book a while ago and was curious. It had at one time been a flourishing city under the leadership of a warlock or other kind of magician and rumor had it that his grimoire was probably still there somewhere. Probably. Possibly. Maybe.

After getting to a nearby village they had at least gotten some bags for carrying around water. He was still a bit worried, as he still had no idea where Ivan might be though Kwez had assured him of him being definitely being alive.

Naturally he was interested, but that would mean quite a detour. Though, after thinking it over he might be better off going to the place and then from there going north to a city called Aquatica, as the fisherman had said that his way on the coast could take months in any case. Taking a boat from Aquatica would cut down his travel time for sure. So, in the and he split from the sailors, who had other plans in a southern port, though he didn’t really listen all that attentively altogether.

Going by his map he was rather sure he was at least on the right path, though he couldn’t quite decipher what the place was called, just Kal...ro was still readable, if barely. Assuming that would be the destination he was after he went his merry way.

Or not exactly, more trying to find shadowy places to rest on the days, be it dunes or strange rock formations or some other desolate looking things and wandering in the night. He had tried crossing the dessert in daylight on his first day, but after nearly having a heatstroke, using up much more water than he wanted to and realizing he had to ration it at the same time he decided otherwise in the end. Plus, well, the sunburn he got was another factor, he was still peeling of skin three days later.

Kwez was strangely helpful at times though, reminding him of his scroll, which for once at least had something written on it. If just a convenient way of getting water out of the air, even if that was just about a cupful once a day. Why just once a day? Well, the amount of magic it used was insane. If he tried it more than once he would be suffering magical exhaustion and that was not useful. And even once a day was a bit of a stretch, so he had to ration his water even more.

He was about to call it quits and leave the idea be as he luckily found a small oasis by chance – and not just another mirage induced by the heat. Taking a few days relaxing there and filling his bags he rethought his immediate plans but found himself rather unable to discard them. By now he might as well keep walking north, as the other way would just make his travel time longer. Sighing he tried to call up anything about the grimoire but found himself a bit unable to do so. Just that the warlock who had it, was the stuff of legend, somewhat, so there had to be something interesting to it, he was sure.

Nic was still a bit on the fence but Kwez had been harping enough so he would have given in either way. It was not that he was being tempted by the pictures Kwez was bringing up in front of his inner eyes, nope. Obviously not.

A few days later he was cursing every little thing in existence until he was blue in the face, especially the thrice damned city, the useless book and warlocks and whatever else that crawls and flies. Kwez on the other hand was amused beyond anything, as Nic had been heading too far in the eastern direction he had to make a detour.

Even with the cup of water a day he was getting worried about that, as the bags were about empty soon regardless. Plus, being backed like a cake in the gleaming sun wasn’t much help either, as what he was looking for was not quite easy to find in nighttime, as it would be new moon soon, give or take a day or two. Try finding some blasted rocky mountains at night in the desert with such high dunes, would you? On top of that he had sand in places where sand just should never go.

Panting he had climbed up another dune, finding ... another behind it. Nic frowned. He took a closer look and yes, there it was. Behind the dune he could make something out, it seemed high and strangely square. It didn’t seem like that highly shoveled up sand either. The sun had gone down about two or three hours prior, so he wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing in the spare light of the waning moon.

“We’re nearly there, master,” he heard Kwez voice who had been flying up a bit. At least he could comfortably see in the dark. Nic might have gotten lost much earlier or in a much weirder way, now that he thought about it. “There is something of a ravine, that’s got to be the way.”

Something at least. Now he just had to actually get there. But even if it wasn’t their destination, if it had a cave he was thankful enough. Then there was just the water thing to solve but at least he would be somewhere a bit more comfortable than outside. That thought made him strangely happy and relieved in both parts.

He hastened his steps, though was getting slower and slower, as he had ignored a bit that he had to cross another dune first. And though it didn’t seem like it, it was anything but small. Plus, he might have underestimated the distance a wee bit.

All in all it took him another hour until he finally was standing in front of the rather enormous structure. The surface was stone, yes, but he wasn’t quite sure that this wasn’t manmade, as the surface was smooth as glass and showed no sign of wear and tear. As dark as the thing was he nearly passed by the ravine if not for Kwez warning him. The small critter led him to a cave, as the ravine turned out to be more of a labyrinth of corridors and passages, some narrow, some broad. As dark as it was, he would just get lost, so he would explore that thing after having slept.

As soon as the master finally fell asleep Kwez looked around. He left the cave where master was but something seemed to stay in place though, like a shadowy imprint of the small creature.

Now where was it exactly?

He had noticed early on that the stone labyrinth they were in seemingly blocked master’s eye from seeing much of anything. But he felt a tumultuous energy and it was surely on the other side of the labyrinth, that much was doubtlessly clear. Even when they were just drawing nearer Kwez had already started feeling it. A gentle and steady flow of magic that was cutting away the pillars of reality very much like a saw did on a tree. It felt rather interesting, but Kwez was quite sure that the reason for that was not something that was connected to the grimoire his master was after.

The feeling of the mage was mysterious to even the likes of Kwez, as it was similar and different to ancient magic at the same time. Kwez was quite sure the concept of it was somewhat familiar, the application of it on the other hand was decidedly unfamiliar. Quite a conundrum if you asked him.

If he followed his instinct it was telling him that at the same time a bustling lively city was nearby, while there was a certain impression of death and decay to it all the same but different from what he would say undead things were like. Peculiar, really.

It was rather similar to something in between life and death, but then again not.

Kwez was just growing more curious, that was for sure. It was quite a mystery begging to be solved.

Giggling Kwez was darting through narrow passages that contorted more and more, the deeper he went into them. One would expect him to get lost at some point, but that was about impossible for Kwez.

Following his way all of a sudden he was out in the open. Wondering he turned around, but yes, there were the polished walls, no mistake. Blinking he looked around. Right, that was the exit it seemed.

Bizarre was not quite enough to describe the phenomenon.

He had reached the last passage, as it was, no crossings to be found. The path he followed was winding like a slithering snake, just smooth walls on either side, though still up high he could make out the stars. After a few turns he stopped and remained rooted on the spot, disbelievingly staring.

The walls had parted and spanned to either sides quite a bit. In front of him it seemed as if buildings were growing out of the stone, clearly manmade, but having been expertly crafted, they did look anything but crude. Though decrepit in many places now you could still get a feel for how artfully they looked when still filled with life. Many different woods could be seen, even if rotten and enough of the buildings seemed to have broken down to some extent, as he could see debris and splintered wood and the like.

It started getting strange when he went exploring though. As soon as he was near a building it did seem pristine as could be, no damage whatsoever visible, looking newly built. When he was farther away again the ruins appeared just like before. Curiously he went to a rather destroyed building, looking whether he could enter. He could, the stairs that shouldn’t be there were working just as they had been build. Stair, ladders, wooden railings, beams that had collapsed and taken half of the buildings with them they had been supporting, it all was fine when you wanted to go inside somewhere. Odd was just not covering that either.

Attentively checking the surroundings he found a few cave systems that weren’t natural either. He wasn’t sure what purpose they served exactly, but they were rather extensive as well. Some were filled with water and didn’t seem flooded, so Kwez was quite sure they were for that exact purpose. What was more, he wasn’t sure but seemingly he heard a clanging from time to time, but it was so faint it might have been his imagination.

Still, he hadn’t found something that would have looked like a warlocks dwelling, so maybe the grimoire was somewhere in those caverns, which might make a search rather arduous. Plus, the architecture style had quite changed from the last time he had been roaming the lands, so his knowledge might just be woefully out of date. Hopefully the master had a better idea.

When Nic laid his eyes upon the city he was floored. At first in a sense of amazement, which turned to bone deep horror within moments. He swallowed heavily, shaking like a leaf and his hands were anything but steady. He didn’t follow his first impulse of drinking water as he would have just been spilling it everywhere.

“What has gotten into you, master?” Kwez asked deeply confused.

Faintly he sat down on a stair nearby, glassy eyes roaming the scenery. “I take it you can’t see the people then, right?”

Kwez frowned, taking another look around, eyes squinted. “What people?”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Well, going from your description, that thing with being alive and dead at the same time. Well, I am seeing something like...” he was struggling to put into words what he exactly was seeing, but nothing else came to mind. “... Ghosts. Though it might be a bit different from the usual thing, I’d say.”

He could hardly call it anything else. Shivering he noticed the hustle and bustle what his milky eye was seeing. Merchants and their customers, obviously haggling, craftsmen, busily hammering away as did the black smiths, shopping women and many more. It looked like they were preparing for some kind of celebration or other, but he couldn’t hear a single sound. Plus, what he saw was weirdly transparent, rather similar of what he knew of ghost to a certain degree, but well. Ghosts usually were something to be frightened of, being driven by revenge most of the time or hanging around as something of great importance had been left unfulfilled or other. And not so alive, in lack of a better word. It was as if he was watching something through a foggy looking glass or ice. If he closed his normal eye the image got a bit clearer. The other way around the people weren’t visible anymore.

It was a bit of a headache inducing phenomenon, but ever since that strange happenstance his hurt eye could perceive things he hadn’t noticed before. And if he compared this with what he had seen in the magical city All-Mag’Ick, then it was like comparing a colorful and vibrant chaos of splashing and moving colors to something that had been bleached a few times to many.

Nic was left wondering whether the people there were alive or even aware of their state. Though as far as he could see they went about their day normal as usual. If anything was different then not in a sense of being a great concern to anyone. On the other hand, maybe they were better of not knowing, for all that it didn’t seem to matter much.

It wasn’t like he had an idea what it was after all.

Heck, even Kwez had admitted as much, so he didn’t see much of a point in trying to solve it.

And then he just had to picture that, suddenly becoming aware of such a state of being. Blinking he came to the conclusion that this either had happened on purpose or a terrible accident might be the reason for this. He wasn’t sure what was worse16.

“Let’s just go and ... look for the book,” he concluded. He had no idea if anything could be done and if there was, he was rather sure he didn’t have the means.

This time Nic wasn’t quite sure where it went sideways, but it did and in a spectacular fashion at that. And much more annoying than Nic would have liked for sure.

After having found water and finding it to be drinkable he went to explore the caves. Which contained a number of trapes, few of magical nature, thankfully, but Nic had to admit it was a bit of a problem as he wasn’t all that good at dismantling physical ones. Kwez thankfully managed to find many of them before they went of or had a chance of doing so, others had already gone of for some reason or other or just broken down as parts of them had withered. But still, that approach did sadly not work universally, and they ended up in a very irritating situation because of that.

It went like this: Just beneath Nic’s feet a part of the floor had unexpectedly given way and he had just gotten to the other side with stable ground with a timely dive. Even that had been a close thing, as Kwez had had to help. Though Kwez could probably carry him a bit, Nic was still a bit green around the nose and wasn’t about to tempt fate as the critter had said that he felt strangely weighed down around this place for whatever reason. With the trap having been a bit larger than your usual pit trap that was a bit far now. And of course, when he went further to just go the other way around he just found a dead end, what else?

Nic had just sat down there, thinking of what to do. He could try climbing, sure, but he was rather worried about the distance he would have to cover, plus, well. The walls were not all that rough, meaning he wasn’t even sure he would even be able to get started altogether. Or could be stuck in the middle without being able to get back, knowing his luck.

Still pondering what his options were he noticed a distinct clanging sound, that seemed to stem from somewhere nearby. Puzzled he looked around but couldn’t find the source of it. Then a few minutes later a part of the wall started crumbling and he noticed a sharp end of a pickaxe sticking out of it. With a mix of fear and curiosity he waited a bit, the hole growing larger and larger. Suddenly all went rather quiet and a dirt caked face was looking at him. Blinking Nic stared, the beady eyes looking around, their owner seemingly miffed.

“Dan’it, wron’turn again,” a deep voice rumbled. “An’who you?”

And that was how he first met the dwarven woman Gertie. Yes, woman, regardless of the bushy beard. Smaller than him, stout build, strong enough to throw him across the pitfall as well. How he knew that? Oh well, let’s just say he did, and it might have had to do with Nic mistaking her for a guy and leave it at that.

She was a treasure hunter, of a sort, she had said. The tone she used was about as reassuring as assuming a starved lion wouldn’t try eating him. But if his idea was correct though her clothing made no sense. Clad in bright red leather armor, head to toe, she made quite a striking figure, except the gloves and boots, those were jet black for whatever reason.

Her voice was like what he had read in books back home, more reminding him of a grown man, her face seemed to be made up of mainly a bushy beard, equally wild and prominent eyebrows, her frizzy hair were two rough braids sticking out underneath the equally bright red leather cap. In the middle of all that hair she had a big bulbous nose, the beady eyes seemed perpetually squinting, except when she wore her strange thick rimmed glasses. Nic was instantly reminded of an owl, if a grossly misproportioned one at that.

After getting him out of the tunnel she had been a big help, as he now owned a priceless grimoire. Well, he would have liked to say that, but the content…

It was a grimoire, all right, but besides its obvious age the content was really nothing to write home about. It did contain a lot of evocations for a warlock, but, well. They were all no more than little helpers to keep a house neat and tidy. Really, they were more or less a convenient tool for not needing any servants for about anything. Be it tidying up, washing, cooking and what not.

In short Nic had been more than just a bit let down by the whole thing. Though after thinking about it a bit he was weary of trying anything out that was written in there. Not because of the spells themselves, but his mind did give him ample reason to hesitate. The main reason being Kwez and what had happened the other day. And his eye still showed him a suspicious aura on the book, which he couldn’t quite explain.

And with how he had even gotten the blasted book in the first place was another headache inducing thing. He had, after some introductions and explanation been led to a tower of sorts. At least on the inside it did seem like one, he wouldn’t have found the building let alone the entrance without the dwarf either way. Still, he had found it, the few magical traps there were not worthy of much attention, but the physical ones would have probably offed him in any case. Gertie was helpful dare, as grudgingly as he might admit it.

When they had finally entered the chamber were the book was, there had been an elaborate magical circle, that did power something, but what Nic never really found out. Some parts of it were broken as the floor had given way and though it was still working somewhat he just closed the now ripped parts and as soon as he did there was a moment of absolute pitch blackness before it vanished. Taking the book should have been it, but then there was an awful rumbling and the floor gave way completely, sending them about two stories down before being able to run out of the shaking building. On the outside much of the strange ghosts had disappeared and Nic was relieved in a way. The ominous magical orbs and swirls were rather worrisome though and they left the ruins in a hurry. All in all he was happy enough to have gotten the thing, at least before he had had the time to read it properly that is.

Even though the magical energy had subsided somewhen, as he kept looking back periodically, he just had a feeling that something grander had been going on there. Nic couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but well, maybe it was really just dispersing and that being it17.

Still, while he was now travelling with Gertie and quite thankful to be doing so on camels he really was about fed up with her antics. At the moment they were resting, having set up camp for the day as it was still scorchingly hot. How did she not get a head stroke with her get up was beyond him.

“Common, gimme a’and!”

Frustrated and being very near the end of his rope he snapped, “Oh, for fucks sake, quit harping! I know about as much about magical support that you do about cultivating trees!”

“Stop chattin’shit an’get going. Some o’the critters in there’s gotta be useful,” she countered cocksure.

“Sure, but not for some selfish Rowan Wood18 wannabe!” he shot back, by now as a practiced response. It might have even sounded dramatical and firm, if his voice didn’t break halfway through his response and the second half couldn’t be likened to a scratchy high-pitched screech. Damned changing voice when reaching a certain age. Plus, stomping his foot might look dramatic normally, but sand was naturally soft, so it wasn’t audible and just got him sand in his shoes for the umpteenth time.

“Ungra’ful whelp. Woulda still be sittin’in tha’ditch without this wannabe...” she grumbled annoyed. “And I’m no wannabe!”

Pouting he kept his silence. If he didn’t he would be arguing the next few hours and could really do without that.

Still, be as it may, he did owe her one and would look through the blasted thing again. Something to keep her company might be enough and Nic was reasonably sure that there weren’t that many useful things for her in there any way. Or none which could lead to disaster or something. Plus, when he had paid her back he would be rid of her and that was about as good as it got. Still, as annoying as she might be about it, Nic was still glad to not be travelling alone. He might have just gotten lost again and Gertie had at least more than enough water and at least knew the way. From Aquatica he’d sure find a boat to get to Kou’AlSol, it was an important location for merchants after all.

For all the excitement he had had in the blasted ruins the rest of the journey was peaceful. Or as peaceful as it could get with a dwarf harping on him on evoking something from a book he had not much idea about how harmless it was or wasn’t.

Still, he had a rough idea, now he was just lacking in ingredients, that much he had already found out. Hopefully he would find everything he needed in Aquatica, lest he had the joy of Gertie’s splendid company much longer than he desired to.

When reaching the city he was positively surprised. Calling it the city of water wasn’t an exaggeration by any means. All buildings that weren’t on hard ground were built on stilts, though far from the usual wooden constructs one would expect. It were elaborate structures, made from some kind of stone and other materials he had no idea about how it worked exactly. The city had been built in levels, three or four he could make out and each level held different things and different social classes, as it seemed. The upper levels were for the rich, that much was clear, shopping and the like being spread throughout the rest. Down in the lower levels one could even find a red lights district, which Nic stumbled upon on pure coincidence and left as soon as he noticed it for what it was. The buildings themselves seemed artfully created and were of many different styles, but they all culminated in a bright and fitting optic and slotted together like they were supposed to, Nic was astonished by that.

Many bridges and paths connected to each other, there were a few inns and other lodging for visitors strewn about the place, from cheap to expensive you could find something for every kind of traveler. And the food was very much exotic to Nic, but it did taste good, that was sure.

Still, he was a bit lost on how to find the harbor as there were so many places he had seen boats at.

“No worry, I’ma wantin’to go to Kou meself. We’ll just travel together a bi’longer,” Gertie had explained in a roundabout way. “Plus, ya’still hav’ta ge’me a critter of tha’.”

Blast it, there was something. Though minimal Nic had been hoping she might have forgotten about that. Well, not much to it. He didn’t share those thoughts with her though, as he was pretty sure she would get him into trouble sooner or later, a feeling of foreboding he knew well enough in nature from Ivan. And knowing her by now he was also very sure she’d be of the opinion that he’d owe her another one if she made sure he reached Kou, so no, one was very much enough.

“First we need some kind of lodging, then we’ll see,” he conceded for the moment.

“Righ’. I know of a place.”

**********

16That he tried to essentially one day reach for similar power was clear to him, but honestly. Something like that was a bit unnecessary. Without subjects ruling was a bit difficult after all.

17He would be learning after a long, long while that now a hord of loyal, dark ghosts was there instead, ready to do their masters bidding. Said master, on a side note, is the current owner of the book.

18A popular gentlemanly thief, stealing from the rich and sharing with the poor – though, by his own definition he was still the poorest of them all and of course his own biggest benefactor besides orphanages and struggling families and the like.