The first day of the journey was surprisingly eventless. I’d improved my horsemanship, which meant I was only incredibly bad at it, but we managed to make decent time. The fact the horses had to stop, and rest was an impediment to our speed, but the elves had ‘issues’ with demons that meant it would have been bad to arrive on them. I spent most of my time thinking about my family and worrying about what might happen to them. So much so that I barely acknowledged my teammates before spending the night with Ania in her tent. That didn’t need words and, I had to admit, did calm me down a bit. Unfortunately, I was terrified of going to sleep and was honestly surprised when I did.

What did I dream of?

That I was still our campsite and Larry C.C. Weis was sitting on a log near the fire pit. The author was dressed for Ledziania for once, wearing a hooded homespun robe and resembling more the old timey wizard that he was rather than the author from my world I primarily knew him to be. Ania was asleep nestled against me but didn't stir when I sat up and got dressed before meeting with him. Indeed, I suspected nothing short of Veles arriving would waken them.

Instead of punching him in the face like I expected, I just calmly walked over and sat down cross-legged across from him. I didn't speak first but waited for him to start.

I didn’t try to punch him.

I had too many questions.

"The silence is a change," Weis said, calmly. "It'd be unnerving if I was only in my hundreds. You should try it more often."

"I have questions," I said, simply.

Weis closed his eyes. "Well, at least you're not threatening to punch me."

"Would it help?" I asked.

"No," Weis said. "You're a helluva lot stronger than you were when you began this trip but not to my level, yet. Also, it wouldn't change any of my opinions. I've been crucified before for my faith so it wouldn't change my opinion of things either. If it makes you feel better, though, I'll let you have a punch or two."

"No," I replied.

"Which is the part that bothers you most?" Weis asked. "That I brought you here? That I brought Alek? That I brought your parents and sister? That I pointed you at Veles? Or the fact that Zorya--"

"Did you bring my family here?" I asked.

"Yes," Weis said. "It wasn't Veles. I also brought the families of the other champions where I could. I didn't think Veles would seek revenge on them after their relatives died but that was foolish of me. Veles has lost what few redeeming qualities he once had."

"Yes," I said. "Thank you."

"Thank you?" Weis asked.

"They'd be dead if they weren't here, wouldn't they?" I asked.

Weis sighed. "Yes. They're closer to danger but farther from harm."

"No jokes, please," I said, sighing. "Why did Alek do what he did?"

"Turn against me or turn against Veles?" Weis said. "When he shot his master, I believe he may have declared his independence but I'm not sure that qualifies as joining the cause of Team Humanity again."

"Pick one," replied.

Weis grimaced. "Alek felt as betrayed as you did by some of my choices."

That was no surprise.

"Which choices," I asked, trying to keep my voice even. I was furious at Weis for what he'd done but also tired. Getting angry wouldn't get me the answers I sought.

Weis looked down at the fire pit. "Your sister and Georgie were on the list as alternate champions. Though I was going to hold out until the latter was sixteen."

I sighed. "Yeah, that'll do it."

Weis paused. "Alek fell in love with the Dragon Queen during this time period as well. Like you, he was always drawn to the people of this world. He blamed me when her assassin killed her."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I told her to," Weis replied. "It was one of the rare times when the Mark of the Champion and I disagreed. The Dragon Queen and Garland might have been able to defeat the Mad Queen but not one or the other. Celestyne had grown sick of my manipulations and desired to seal off the Old Gods rather than fight them. A plan that wouldn't have worked but had been put in her head by Svarog. My champion was to kill her and take over her life before using her forces to defeat Veles. Instead, Alek went on a killing spree of Celestyne's generals and almost won the war himself. My replacement also proved more ruthless than expected, alienating Celestyne's allies. If not for Francine taking over as the new Dragon Queen's strategist, the war would have been lost."

Ouch. Well, that confirmed that the original ending for the Dark Undermaster Saga was going to include the Dragon Queen going mad and Garland killing her. That had been the most controversial choice of the television show and had seemingly come out of nowhere. It seemed it was just the writer attempting to justify his own, and I hated making this pun, character assassination. The Dragon Queen had gone mad and Garland had killed her but literally neither of them was the same person as they were before.

"So, you killed the woman he loved and were endangering his family," I said. "Can't imagine why Alek would turn against you."

Weis waved his hand and caused a fire to burn in the fire pit before he pulled out a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, and some chocolate. "Veles proved uncharacteristically stupid, though. He had Alek try to kill you and put Georgie in danger. It broke their pact and made Alek a rogue."

"You're assuming Veles doesn't have a deeper game," I said, frowning.

"I assume nothing," Weis said. "You're the second smartest person in Ledziania, possibly Earth too now, Aragorn. But the smartest remains me."

I took a deep breath. "Did you know you were sending me to kill Zorya Dawnbringer?"

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"Yes," Weis admitted. "I also knew that I was sending you to father her child as a way to purify her spirit and save her from the Twisted One's taint. I suspected that your kind nature and affable nature would also make her fall for you. Hopefully enough to draw her back from her madness long enough to let you kill her."

Strangely, the song, "All I want to do is make love to you" by Heart started in the back of my head. I did my best to ignore it. It was a song about a woman using a hitchhiker to conceive a child that she couldn't have with her husband. It ended with her presenting the hitchhiker with the baby. My sister had always said that sounded like a recipe for murder rather than romance.

I clenched my fists. "That didn't work."

"You had only a night together but sometime that's enough," Weis said, making smores. "You reminded me of how heroes were supposed to behave and I believed she pulled her punches as the Fire Demon enough to let you figure out a way to deal with her."

I closed my eyes. "I'm going to see her face during those last moments for the rest of my life."

Weis paused, staring at the fire. "Yes, you probably will. I could lie to you and say the faces of those you betray or fail leave you after centuries pass but they always return. Maybe it's a smell or a sound that triggers it, but the memories never leave us. Your life could also be very long or very sort depending on what happens next."

I took a deep breath. "Weis--"

"You want to know where your daughter is," Weis said. "You should drop that line of inquiry. Nothing good will come of it."

I blinked. "The reason I'm remaining calm is you're the only person who can tell me."

Weis frowned and started toasting his smore on a stick he'd collected. He handed me the ingredients to join him. "You realize gods can mess with time and space, right? They can't alter the past, but they can visit it. Also, screw with a person's perception of what's real."

"I know that you have been screwing with the minds of half the kingdom," I said. "Which I still don't understand."

Weis looked up at the sky. "As long as Veles is playing the game, he's playing by the rules. The moment no one is playing anymore, well, is the moment anything can happen. I could tell you that this is also a story and stories have power but preventing everyone in the Southern Kingdoms from panicking is also a part of this. Which, yes, means keeping them from knowing that there's an Armageddon happening around them. You didn't experience the Black Death. Imagine all of this but people knew."

I didn't let him divert the subject. "Where is my daughter?"

"Is she your daughter?" Weis looked at me. "You don't owe her or Zorya anything at this point. You were used as a glorified seed donor, and it'd be better if it ended there. Have some actual children. They're terrible but worth it in the end. Usually. Believe me, I know."

I finished making my own smore and pulled it back. "Where, Weis?"

Weis stared at me. "She was born a week ago and aged to adulthood with a set of false memories. Her name is Rachel Morning and, yes, that was me being cheeky. You gave me the idea. She's a student at the Wind Dragon Academy."

"Wind Dragon Academy?" I asked.

"The Air Temple," Weis said. "It's a flying castle."

"You put her next to one of the Old Gods," I replied.

"Yes," Weis said. "Oddly, she's safer there than anywhere else in the kingdom. She's also in her twenties, studying to be a sorceress, and has a set of false memories to go with it. Zorya Nightbringer remains lucid unlike the other three Elemental Demons. So far, Nightbringer doesn't expect her sister's true identity."

I paused. "You intend to use her as a weapon if I die."

"Yes," Weis admitted. "I honestly didn't think you'd get as far as you have but I have to make contigencies anyway. There's no father-daughter bonding ahead for you, Aaron. Your daughter, if such can even be called such, has lived an entire life without you."

My stomach rumbled as I pondered Weis' words. I hadn't been ready to be a father but I'd been psyching myself up to do the job anyway. There was a sense of both relief and disappointment in his words. Also, sadness, because Rachel had been manipulated by Weis just like I had. "There's no point in seeking her out then, is there?"

"If you reminded her of who she was, then she's more likely to remember you as her lover," Weis said. "Which even I find creepy."

I glared at him.

"Just telling it like it is," Weis said, conjuring a jug and handing it to me.

I took it and drank.

Apple cider.

Good. I wasn't in the mood to get drunk.

"Thank you," I said, passing it back. "I have one more question."

"You've beaten two of the Old Gods," Weis said. "I'm willing to do you a favor on that end. Just note that I'm aware you don't like being manipulated."

"Who does?" I asked.

"Most people," Weis said. "Very few people actually enjoy making decisions for themselves."

"How many other people are you manipulating in my group?" I asked, looking up at him with an accusing eye.

"You mean, did I arrange Ania to love you?" Weis asked, cutting to the core of my fears.

"Not just her," I said, shrugging. "I had a few failed relationships before I came here but now I'm James Bond."

"Which one? I think you can pull off Brosnan and Dalton but don't pretend you're at Connery level yet."

I wasn't in the mood. "I want to know what strings you're pulling."

Weis sighed. "I am manipulating your party but not in the way you're thinking. Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes," I said, narrowing my eyes.

"I made you to be Ania's comfort dog," Weis said.

I blinked. "What now?"

"It's why I selected you over your sister and nephew. That and other obvious reasons," Weis said. "The party around you isn't the same for all the champions I've sent. I managed to assemble some of the greatest heroes in all the Southern Kingdoms to fight Veles. Most of them are dead now. Ania and Agata were only assigned, for lack of a better term, to the ones I believed had the best chance of winning."

"They're both traumatized by it," I said.

"Yes," Weis said. "Except their entire lives are trauma and we don't exactly have much in the way of therapy down here. The closest thing we do have is religion and you know that's a double-edged sword. Ania...suffered badly. I didn't even put the full lengths of her suffering in my books."

I blinked. "You did put plenty of sex in them."

"You Earthlings are so damned weird about that," Weis said, shaking his head. "I wasn't turned on by it."

I stared. "Right."

Weis sighed. "Ania isn't the daughter of Mokosh. She's the granddaughter of the Voice of Perun. When Tomas' father died, he left behind a widow that I was fond. She was the heir of the Rose family, and we grew close. My beard used to be red. It's from me that her Divine Rank comes from."

I stared at him. "So, you're Agata's grandfather too?"

"No, she's Maleor's kid," Weis said. "The old vampire coveted Maria Rose long before he made her a vampire."

I stared in horror. "Bloodstorm is.... with his sister?"

"Ha!" Weis said, slapping one of his knees. "The look on your face.”

I stared at him.

"Sorry," Weis said. "Jon's incest humor is so funny that I had to get in on it. Yes, Agata is my granddaughter too. She just got her mother's hair. Either way, I've been trying to look after my grandkids as best I can."

"You have a funny way of showing it," I muttered.

"Don't insult my attempts to help," Weis said. "There's a reason they survived to become the unkillable badasses they were. Unfortunately, survival isn't living. I made a gamble that Ania needed someone to comfort her as a way to stay sane and that person might well be you."

"You don't know me," I said, flatly. "You don't know what motivates me."

"I'm three thousand years old," Weis said. "I was there when the Celts settled Poland, and I was already old as shit then. Trust me, I know people. Sex and comfort are two of the most elemental things you can give someone. Especially for soldiers."

"Ania means more than that to me," I said.

"Of course she does," Weis said. "Dudes are hardwired to do stupid shit for women. It used to be treated as a virtue. The fact is you're doing right by her but need to work on getting the rest of your party approval ratings up. You've been overfocused on romancing Ania to the exclusion of getting the other adventurers loyal to you."

I stared at him. "What now?"

“Thistle, Ivan, and Joan are the weak links in your party right now,” Weis said. “You have only a few days until you reach La Tène on the edge of the Great Forest. The elves have resettled that ancient city on the orders of the First Ranger. They don’t realize that city was abandoned when the Vampire Lords were overthrown for a reason. The things they’re awakening will appeal to the darker ambitions within them. You need to win their loyalty, or you won’t be able to keep them when the darkness beneath reaches out.”

I was very confused. “What are you saying?”

“If you don’t make them believe in you, Aaron,” Weis said, speaking very slowly. “One of them will betray you and you’ll have to kill them.”

I stared at him.

Then I woke up.