The cashing out of the magical items I'd accumulated ended up making more gold than I thought possible. I kept the staff of dragon kings but cashed out the crown of domination. Even without their charges, they had a huge amount of power and could probably be recharged but the crown disgusted me on moral grounds. I got rid of my old armor and even the +1 dagger I'd been holding onto all this time too. Even though I hadn't received any gold for killing Dawnbringer, not that I wanted any, it was enough to achieve most of the updates I needed for making Crossroad a functioning community.

Strangely, the sewer system had already been created and I had to wonder if that had been Alek or Francine's contribution. The ratkin had attributed that to me. I wondered if all the new buildings and soldiers would appear magically or if the new arrivals would show up more naturally. I suspected it would be the former followed by everyone's memories being altered to accommodate their new surroundings.

MAIN QUEST UPDATE: UPGRADE CROSSROAD VILLAGE (10/15):

* Hire Militia (cost 10,000 GP)

* Upgrade Militia I (cost 20,000 GP)

* Upgrade Militia II (cost 30,000 GP)

* Upgrade Militia III (cost 50,000 GP)

* Upgrade Town Walls (20,000 GP)

* Restore Fort (cost 50,000 GP)

* Upgrade Blacksmith (5000 GP)

* Upgrade Armory (5000 GP)

* Upgrade Fletchers (5000 GP)

* Upgrade Livery (5000 GP)

* Construct Clocktower (5000 GP)

* Construct Alchemical Refinery (10,000 GP)

* Construct Aqueduct (10,000 GP)

* Construct Sewer System (20,000 GP)

* Construct Academy of Magic (50,000)

"Well, that's good progress," I said aloud, wondering if I finished this collection of items whether or not that they'd provide another collection of upgrades for Crossroad. At the rate we were going, we might end up turning the city into a metropolis. Right now, I'd just settle for making it so it wasn't torn to pieces by Veles' next attack.

"Aaron, we need you by Joan," Ania said, distracting me from

I shook my head and went to the side of the fallen pope who was seemingly sleeping peacefully. "Is she not waking up?"

Ania shook her head. "Dreamshadow poison is a powerful spell. It needs magic to overcome or it will last until a subject starves to death."

"Do we have that kind of magic?" I asked, looking at Agata.

Agata had finished cleaning herself off and had somehow changed into another evening gown-looking set of robes. She still looked uncomfortable, and I handed her my Undermaster's cloak.

"No, I'm afraid I never bothered to master how to neutralize poison," Agata said. "I felt it was better to learn how to send long distance messages via summoned animals. Clear communication wins wars."

"Dammit," I muttered. "Can we fast travel back to the Great Tree and talk with the Sisters of Mokosh?"

"I received a message from the Great Mother before we departed from Crossroad," Agata said. "She has taken an entourage to the summit happening at La Tene."

"A summit?" I asked.

Agata frowned. "It's starting to seem like the story is getting away from the relatively straightforward monster hunting plot of the Wise Man. The various factions are being gathered there to not only discuss recognizing Rhoeas as Queen of the Elves but also negotiating a treaty between Dragon Queen and Mad Queen."

I stared. "Is that...possible?"

"I would have said no a few weeks ago but miracles have happened," Agata said.

"And you didn't think to mention it?" Ania interrupted, staring at her sister.

"We've just started our journey," Agata said. "I was going to compose a response before sending it via pigeon. I can summon those."

"And you thought that was better than a neutralize poison spell," Jon said.

"Quiet...bear...owl thing," Agata said, scrunching her face in disgust.

"Owlsine!" Jon said.

"So, unless we know another sorceress that can heal the poison our strongest healing sorcerer knows, we need to keep on to La Tene," Ivan said, shaking his head. "I don't suppose you have a cure, Thistle?"

Thistle shook her head. "No, my magic now comes from Aaron! So, I am restricted to only the lowest levels of spells."

This was way too meta. "Well, we can get there in time, I think. We may have to push the horses, though. No pun intended from the push gods."

"The horses are dead," Bloodstorm said. "That was the first thing the Dark Moon elves did to make sure we couldn't flee."

"Those bastards!" I snarled, genuinely horrified. I balled my fists and would have resurrected them to kill them again if I'd had a free REVIVE spell.

Everyone looked at me strangely.

"What?" I asked.

"Just that's the first time I've seen you mad," Ania said. "No, wait, second. You were furious about Veles taking your nephew hostage as well."

Jon explained for me. "Aaron is pretty stoic about human deaths but animal cruelty really pisses him off. In that way, I suppose he's like Hitler."

Now everyone, who had inexplicably heard of Hitler, stared at Jon.

"I mean, it's the only way he's like Hitler," Jon said, guiltily. "For example, I'm pretty sure he has both testicles."

"Jon, shut the fuck up," I said.

"Righto," Jon said. "I'll accept that's warranted this time."

"Dammit," I muttered. "So, if we returned to Crossroad to get ourselves some demon steeds--"

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"With respect, Lord God of Push, I may have a solution," Thistle said, still looking like she belonged on the cover of a heavy metal album.

"I want those swords," Ania said, eyeing Dawnbringer's blades.

"Haven't we learned about taking the weapons of deities?" Bloodstorm said.

"No," Ania said.

Thistle reluctantly handed them over and gave the crown over to Agata. "What I'm saying is this tunnel is a portal terminal."

"It's also inhabited by something," Ivan said, pointing down the tunnel.

There was a nasty toad-like moaning from the far end of the tunnel behind me.Ania came up my side.

I turned around and stared down at the dark and foreboding tunnel I'd fallen into. Lifting up my hand, I shouted, "PERUN!"

The sword appeared in my hands and illuminated the tunnel. Something large and humanoid with scales as well as horrible tumors was lurking at the other end. It paid us no attention and proceeded to continue slinking down the strange alien construction around us. It didn't look like elven architecture, not that I'd seen much outside of fan art, but something much more advanced. This was like one of those animes where you met with the Precursor race and found out they were aliens or humans from the far future of the audience's time period rather than Atlanteans or whatever. There was also lead piping, which was a little weird.

image [https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVukTYNOj9-utL_NUesS_HEMjDT8mn9STyGqYFTvAf-ZD_o7Ky9k0jMymkb7IaCa2bjZLLHAVHHDFfnGTqr-QfId-zvLVdm8Bk6cGcAaFz_G4fUX39olsNX8jw58F23Nwv6J7NWIuPYyen/s1600/alex-raspx-lucifers-world.jpg]

"What is that…thing?" I asked.

"Troll," Ania said. "Well, what's left of the troll race. The Twisted Ones captured the entirety of the species and horribly experimented on them. The survivors are all mindless these days and lurk around places of strong magic. They shouldn't bother us unless we bother them. If they do, I'm pretty sure we can take them. This thing is a one-shot, one-kill device."

Ania lifted my sister's pistol in her hands.

"Where the hell did you get that?" I asked, blinking.

"A gift," Ania said. "I plan to put a round in Thistle's head if you give me the go. I'm being nice and not calling in that favor you owe me.'

"That's not very nice," Thistle said.

"Be quiet or I'm sending you to Aaron's rune hand," Ania snapped. "Also, change your clothes."

"You used to like me dressed like this," Thistle said.

"I used to like a lot of stupid things!" Ania said.

Thistle shrugged and transformed from her angelic form back to her punk elf attire, which I honestly preferred. "Is this better?"

"Yes!" Ania said, turning back to me. "You're not sleeping with her again."

"I don't want to," I said, telling sixty percent the truth. I mean ninety. "I want to sleep with you and you alone. I want to make you happy and spend the rest of my life with you. I want to marry--"

That was when I noticed the rest of the group had all creeped and were looking in on us. Bloodstorm had strapped Joan on the back of Jon the Owlsine like she was a burlap sack being carried by a donkey. I didn't even know where he'd gotten the rope to do it but it seemed disrespectful to do that to the Sun God's Chosen.

"Can you give us a minute?" I asked, turning to the group.

"I hope you have a ring or amulet of true love prepared," Agata said. "You should be doing this anywhere but the sewers of a dirty old sunken elven city."

"I find that description offensive," Thistle said. "These dates back to the era of the Vampire Lords of the elves."

Ania took a deep breath. "Aaron, I don't believe in marriage because I don't think the gods or government should have any say on who I am with. I certainly don't want you proposing after this whole thing with Thistle. Either guilt, shame, or confusion motivating you. However, I feel the same way so we'll figure something out but we can't do any official ceremony until after Veles is dead. Even with my sister present to officiate."

"Why?" I asked.

"Is it because you slept with her god?" Bloodstorm asked. "Because you're moving through them quickly. You could get Joan to do it when she wakes up, though. The marriage I mean, not the sleeping with her god. Unless you and Mythras are both into it. If so, g'head. Perfect end to bachelorhood."

"Is that wise?" Jon asked, sounding like he was going through the motions of his joking around. There was real concern for me in his owly eyes. "I'm not sure that I'd trust a marriage ceremony performed by someone not old enough to drink. Again, referring to marriage. We know Aaron isn't wise about god relations."

"How is she not old enough to drink?" Ivan asked, confused. "She's fourteen."

Jon moved his owl's head over to look at Ivan. "Oh, right, Slavs."

"Technically, the legal drinking age in Poland is eighteen but I suspect that's observed with as much fidelity as in America," I replied, once more showing my grandmastery of useless trivia. "But I don't care where we get married as long as we do. I don't know why we have to wait either."

"Gee, thanks," Ania said. "But the reason we'd have to wait is because we're both sworn to be Dark Undermasters. We can't disregard our oaths to marry or have a family. Only if we defeat the Dark Lord can we resign from the order as it is impossible to do so during a state of war."

"That's unusually legalistic, Ania," I said.

"I don't break oaths. Especially ones that matter. Which is all of them," Ania said, her tone firm as she holstered her pistol. I hadn't even noticed the holster earlier. Probably because my attention had been on her rear.

"Garland broke his to marry me," Agata said. "I broke mine."

Ania stared. "Look what happened to Garland. His own men murdered him out of jealousy and anger. He was a legendary hero with a queen for a lover and they were forced to constantly scour the countryside for monsters. Did his oath-breaking contribute to his death? I don't know. Our father believed his affair with Mokosh would have consequences, though."

According to the books, it was Tomas Rose marrying Maria Saffron after pledging eternal devotion to Mokosh that resulted in him believing he was accursed. Which was notable because Mokosh had never demanded fidelity from him. I tried not to see the parallel.

Agata stared. "If everyone who had an affair in Ledziania was accursed then the entire country would be damned."

"Yeah, it'd be invaded by the God of Evil and his undead hosts or something," Jon said, pausing. "I'm sorry, I agree with you Agata, but I had to point that out."

Ania stared, her expression harsh. "I'm not going to let you die, Agata. What happened to Garland isn't going to happen to you. Oathbreaking or not."

"Technically she died just a few minutes ago," Jon said. "So, good luck with that."

Agata swatted the back of the owlsine's head.

"So, just so we're clear, the plan, if you can call it that, is to go down into a troll infested set of tunnels to seek out a portal that may or may not exist--"

"May or may not be functional," Ivan said.

"Yes," I said.

"On the oft chance that it might save us a day or so in getting to La Tene," Ivan said.

"That is our current plan, right?"

"Yes," I said. "To save Joan."

Ivan sighed. "Fine. I've gotten this far with you so far, I might as well see it to the end."

Ania gestured to Thistle. "What about her?"

I looked at her. "What do you feel?"

"That she enthralled you, compelled you into sex that you may or may not have done, and planned to kill you," Ania said. "That makes me want to kill her. If I ever felt anything for Thistle now, it's gone."

I looked at her. "I don't know if I would have been with her or not. I do know her own will was compromised by Zorya Nightbringer's love curse. I don't know if her will is compromised now by my power. However, without freedom of choice, there can be no crime. So, I'm willing to give her a chance to atone for crimes even if they're not fully her own. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel taught me this."

Thistle lowered her head. "My life is yours, Lord Aaron. Not because I suddenly feel guilty for the many crimes I have committed. Not because I feel love for Ania for the first time. No, because I understand that if the elf race is to survive then Veles must be defeated, and you are the only one who seems capable of doing so."

"What are we? Rotting pork?" Bloodstorm asked, offended.

"Then accept my pardon," I said, pausing. "But if you hurt anyone innocent ever again, you're going into the Pokeball forever. The price for your freedom is the end of your war against humanity. You can kill humans to defend people but not to just hurt them."

Ania stared at me. "We'd be better off just killing her."

Thistle surprised me by agreeing. "Yes. I do not trust my judgement."

"Then you're lucky you have mine,” I snapped, pissed off at no one trusting me. I didn't care if they had good reason. We were going to be merciful and kind, goddammit, no matter who I had to kill to make it happen. “Now let's go spelunking."