Deacon stepped outside of the carriage to see the remaining four wagons of the caravan encircling a fire. There were several Deep Dwellers milling about as well as Earl Tirebrook the mason. Typhus was yelling at a group of Dwellers and instructing them on proper watch placements. To Deacon’s right he could see Sophie and Amanda trading stories under a large oak tree. The air out here was brisk and chilly, and the night sky was cloudy. Off in the distance Deacon thought he heard some slight rumbling. The plants in the area were giving off a pungent aroma that reminded him of roses.

“Master Deacon, I’m noticing a greater concentration of moisture in the air. Shall I adjust the internal environment to match?” asked the whispered voice of Alfred from the carriage behind him.

The champion almost jumped out of his boots at the sound. Alfred’s new ability to interact with the world outside of his dimension was still relatively new to Deacon. Even the legendary traveling dungeon didn’t talk to its victims in the real world. He may have to spend some time discussing rules of conduct with the dungeon spirit when it comes to mixed company.

“No, I think the current settings are fine bud,” Deacon said as his heart rate slowed a bit.

“Deacon, I’m going to collect some samples. Tap on this stone if you need me to come back,” Tantus said handing Deacon a small flat stone. It immediately crumbled in Deacon’s hand.

“Sorry Tantus, I think you’ll have to make another one,” Deacon said apologetically.

“I was hoping that one was better quality. This anti-magic skin of yours is a real pain. I’ll have to use better materials for your version. Ralph, do you still have the one I gave you?” Tantus asked, turning to the swordsman who was leaning against the carriage behind them.

“Yea, I got it. Go on, I’ll keep mopey company,” Ralph replied patting Deacon on the back then wincing in pain and rolling his shoulders.

“Sun Wu too rough on you?” Deacon asked, turning to face Ralph.

“Just getting used to his method of ‘training’,” Ralph replied.

“So did you get your specialization in the battle?” Deacon inquired.

“No, wasn’t enough troops for me to lead alone. I know Amanda reviewed her choices and is hesitating. She won’t tell me what they are, but she did tell me she received an option with a high rarity. Something about it having a rainbow colored line that led away from her other options,” added Ralph.

“The Cardinal Unit all chose their specialization from that line. Supposed to be really rare options. Why doesn’t she just choose that? We could use someone with a specialization on our team considering how both of ours have locked conditions,” Deacon explained as he started to walk closer to the fire.

“What really gets me is, I can’t even see my other options until the quest portion is complete. It’s not like I would pick anything else. I mean a god basically gifted me a specialization,” Ralph expounded while they walked.

“You know, I’ve never asked you what you want. You’ve effectively been with me ever since I found you in that cage. You and Amanda just signed up to come on this nutty adventure with me. We keep just going from disaster to disaster. What is it you want to do?” Deacon asked, eyebrows furrowed as he waited patiently for Ralph’s response.

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Ralph stopped walking and really thought about the question. All things considered, he wanted to be with Amanda. Ever since they first met, they had a connection. Now they’ve seen incredible things since Deacon had come into their lives. Some of their adventures will become the stuff of legends. But that still left him without an answer to Deacon’s question. What did he want? Being caught up in Amanda’s vendetta against Elder Ruby has been driving him since the city of Clayton. When that’s all over they could finally rest but where? Would they go back to Iron Mountain Plateau?

Looking at Deacon he knew his friend would never have an easy life. He’d always be embroiled in some outrageous event. Ralph didn’t know how long he could keep up with that and still be able to help. It seemed like Deacon kept getting more and more powerful. At some point Deacon would ascend to the Earthbound plane leaving the Mortal plane behind. Would he even want to follow?

Ralph dragged his thoughts back to current events. He was cursed by one of the deposed gods. The woman he loved was running out of time before she became a threat to herself and others. Now there is a new threat from an evolved goblinoid species at the worst possible time, a war with the Vasilly Empire. That last one he didn’t think was for him to solve alone but wars have a tendency to change things.

“I guess right now I’m focused on saving Amanda, again. Maybe after that we can talk about what we want to do but I’ve got to get her out of this mess. What are you going to do about Tantus?” Ralph asked, volleying the conversation back at Deacon.

“That’s a good question. The quest says all we need to do is get him to the Shattered Sky, but he’s one of us. I don’t want to just leave him there. I also want him to learn what they are supposed to teach him. It would be great to be able to rely on a friend for kick ass enchantments. Although sometimes his stuff just doesn’t work,” Deacon admitted shrugging his shoulders.

“For you maybe. All my gear works just fine,” Ralph replied grinning ear to ear.

Just above the canopy of one of the wagons was a soft pulsating light. It hovered there listing to the left and then the right before it shot forward and stopped right before Deacon’s face. He swiped up at it like he was batting away a fly. To Deacon’s shock, it swiftly spun around his outstretch hand and cork screwed up his right arm stopping at his shoulder. It just hovered there for a few moments affixed to his right shoulder by some invisible tether as Deacon spun in a circle trying to dislodge it. It pulsed its light before a soft voice could be heard by Deacon. It was so faint he could barely hear it.

“Hey!” whispered the light.

“What the hell are you doing Deacon?” Ralph asked, drawing his sword, and looking around for threats.

“Can’t you see this glowing ball of light on my shoulder? Get it off, get it off!” Deacon shouted, practically smacking himself in the face with his left hand as he tried to swat at it.

“Stop that,” said the tiny voice.

Now a crowd was gathering to watch Deacon spin like a top as tried to dislodge something no one else could see. Ralph finally had to grab him to stop him from spinning but found Deacon’s irregular strength just dragged him along.

“Deacon, stop!” yelled Ralph directly into his face.

Deacon seemed to calm a bit at that, that’s when he realized everyone in the clearing was staring at him. Composing himself, Deacon pushed his aura over his shoulder revealing the light to all around him.

“How are you doing that?” asked the little spirit just barely registering to Deacon’s ears.

“Everyone be quiet, I can barely hear what it’s saying. I don’t think its dangerous. Give me a few seconds here. Can you speak up? I can barely hear you?” Deacon asked the little light.

“My name is Ignis. I come in search of the champion. We need his help,” screamed the little light filling the camp with the sound of its voice.

“Too loud, Chimera Damn it! Too loud,” Deacon hollered while everyone else clapped their hands over their ears.