image [https://imgur.com/Nnx6ux7.png]

Fangmore grit his teeth as he smiled pleasantly, laughing at Tenton’s terrible “joke”. It was about a farmer who gets to level one hundred by setting a forest on fire with thousands of monsters inside. Lizardfolk monsters. Nevermind that the Lizardfolk and humans had been allies for thousands of years, they would always be monsters to most humans. Also that tactic would never work! There would have been no connection to the energy of the dead, and so… but that didn’t matter. What mattered was the increasingly erratic way Tenton had been acting.

He kept shifting moods, shifting how he viewed himself. He would waver in height, musculature, and now even appearance. Fangmore had begged Dolcia to help stabilize him, and the two of them were laying down layer after layer of soothing mental restrictions. His aura seemed to erode them, but slowly.

Fangmore had also found something deeply troubling. His illusion was no longer an illusion. He WAS a human, at least while he was in Tenton’s circle of influence. Dolcia had tested it by flying outside of the range of the circle, and once outside she could easily shift back to her true imp form. But while they were near him, they were all truly as they appeared. Occasionally he would find himself having flashes of thoughts of studying at a mage school, or of trimming his beard. These things had never happened. He knew he should run, but he was fascinated. He took detailed notes in his journal every day and every night, studying the extent and limits of the reality altering skill. As far as he could see, it may not have any limits. But as Tenton did not actually KNOW that it was occurring, it was hard to exploit that fact fully. And it could work against them.

For some reason Tenton had gotten it into his head that a certain forest was impassable. And from that point on, it had been. Thorns harder than iron had barred their way, and the trees themselves had begun to shift in ominous ways. Fearing the terrain escalating into something fatal, Fangmore had quickly pointed out an alternative path. The group had retreated and gone around.

He still worried nightly about the response the Lord would send. There was no way the theft of a Vessel and the destruction of that Barrier went unnoticed. They had been making decent time, and he had been covering their tracks as best he could. Now that they had entered the Gray Territories he hoped they would be too much of a bother to deal with.

There was an unaffiliated town ahead, a real one, that he hoped would be helpful. They could get some kind of mount and make their way to the coast. From there a ship would allow them to easily outpace any would be pursuers. He cleared his throat.

“Tenton, my lad, we will be entering into a small town soon. It is a safe town, with no need for any heroics. Let us keep to ourselves, get the transportation we need, and then go on our way to deal with the problems of the world.” He found that he was stroking his beard as he spoke.

The boy, now looking more like a man, smiled at him warmly. “Of course, wizard! I wonder if we will face a dragon or the like soon… that would be an adventure!” Fangmore quickly, anxiously, waved his hands. “Oh no I don’t think so! No dragons EVER come around here, and when they are VERY rarely seen they are located FAR FAR AWAY from THIS TOWN.” His voice cracked slightly, but Tenton didn’t seem to notice, the young man merely nodding dreamily.

Xanther was looking oddly at the two of them, but Fangmore could not pay attention to him. This was going to require a lot of concentration. The town had high white walls manned by various guards. Each guard had a massive longbow, and even from a far distance they looked alert and well trained. There was a deep ditch with large iron spikes jutting out of it, and a long narrow walkway leading to a stone archway. This was a town that had withstood a lot of attention from both sides, and had survived.

They were suddenly moving forward much faster, and the walls loomed up before them, Tenton striding forward, hand held up high. “HELLOOO! WE ARE HEROES! WE WOULD LIKE TO COME IN!” His voice boomed out, and Fangmore saw a few of the guards wince and adjust their bows. A different magically amplified voice came out from the walls. “NO FIGHTING IN THE CITY. NO USE OF SKILLS IN THE CITY. FAILURE TO OBEY WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE EXPULSION OR EXECUTION, DEPENDING ON THE SEVERITY OF THE CRIME.”

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Fangmore glanced nervously at Tenton, but the young man seemed to have no problem with these rules, simply smiling and striding forward, onto the bridge. Xanther, The Hero, Vess, and Dolcia all followed behind. Xanther came up to Fangmore and bowed his head. “Sir… I…” Fangmore shook his head, looking after the reality altering boy. “I’m so sorry, let us talk later.” He shuffled with much dignity as he could after Tenton.

The town was simple but well cared for. Smooth white walls, intricately decorated with thin black lines, surrounded them shortly after passing through an inner open courtyard. There were vendors of food happily chatting with customers near a large fountain. People did washing near the fountain, and others hauled away buckets of water. Tenton was looking around with eager wide eyes. Fangmore realized this modest town may be the largest he had ever seen.

“Wow… a real city. I had always wanted…” He was smiling widely. “I can’t wait to show…” He frowned, still smiling. “Show my little sister…” He frowned more. Fangmore laughed loudly. “Let me buy you a fresh hot meat pie my lad!!” He hurried them over to a surprised food vendor, purchasing each person in the party one of the small savory pastries. Tenton bit delicately into it, and then smiled again, widely. “Oh that’s so good.” [Put some hot sauce on mine!] Fangmore waved with irritation at Dolcia as she buzzed around his head.

The Hero looked at the people around him, his hand slowly clenching and unclenching as he ate his meat pie. Vess stared around as well, his face moving through various subtle emotions. Fangmore guessed that he had no practice controlling his face, and would probably be awful at any kind of card game. He glanced back and saw with alarm that Tenton was wandering off into a crowd. People turned to look at him, their eyes flashing with surprise or delight. He was larger again, and almost upsettingly handsome. Fangmore quickly joined him, attempting to guide him to the part of the town that sold mounts. “We need not tarry here long, we can…”

He blinked as the shadows around them lengthened. With surprise he noted that the low buildings around them had grown quite a bit larger. There were more people as well, and those he assumed were the real townspeople had confused looks on their faces. “Aha, okay Tenton, you know what? Why don’t you and the others go and wait outside the town while I see what they have available.” He cursed himself inwardly. If the guards noticed this they would come, and he had no desire to fight his way out of this.

Tenton frowned at Fangmore. “Why would I do that? We just arrived in the City and I wish to see more of it.” Fangmore leaned in, his voice almost a hiss. “This is a town. Not a city, just a simple little town, right?” Tenton’s eyes narrowed. “A town would not have buildings such as these.” He gestured up at the impressive buildings all around them, sunlight glinting off of glass windows and intricate stone carvings. Some people were still standing around staring, others crying out or quickly leaving. Fangmore grasped at Tenton’s arm. “Please lad, we must-!”

Tenton easily tore his arm free, his eyes growing harder. His whole body looking to grow harder. “Wizard, I am the hero here. You are my companion. You do not order me about. I-”

Xanther stepped forward, a snarl on his lips. “ENOUGH. I do NOT know why my LORD OF LIGHT is PRETENDING to be a common WIZARD, but I will NOT ALLOW INSULT TO HIM!!” His sword was held in both hands, and it shimmered with prismatic light. Fangmore was sweating now, profusely.

Tenton drew his sword as well. “A lord of light? I do not know what you speak of, Ian. But I shall NOT allow myself to be threatened!” Wind blew up around them, small sparks of flame glittering. Vess strode forward, as did The Hero.

Fangmore thought fast. [Reinforce my words with as much mental massaging as you can!!] He stepped in between the two “heroes”, his blood chilling at the intensity of the energy in the air. He directed his attention towards Tenton. “This is why I needed us to leave, young hero!” He leaned in, a look of pleading on his face. “Our FRIEND, Ian, has been suffering from delusions. He gets overwhelmed in such places, and only with our support can he get better. Do you understand? He needs YOU to help him CALM DOWN. Please?” He pushed every ounce of mental control with his words, knowing Dolcia would be doing her best to back him up.

From behind him he heard sounds of confusion from Xanther. “I? What are you talking about? My lord, please!” But as he watched Tenton’s face, he saw with relief that it was relaxing. The boyish look returned, and he smiled a little bashfully. “Ah, whoops… of course. I have a cousin like that.” Tenton stepped around Fangmore. “I understand, Ian. Please, ease your mind.”

Xanther snarled. “What?? I Am… NOT…” He frowned as he massaged at his eye, his sword hand lowering. “I…” A confused look came onto his face. “I am…” He looked around at the tall buildings overhead. “Could we keep talking elsewhere? Outside please?” He suddenly looked deflated, his eyes searching for something he could not seem to find. Tenton took him by the shoulder, making soothing sounds as he led Xanther out towards the gate. “It’s okay. Relax, you don’t have to worry…”

Fangmore felt his heart hammering in his chest.

[Haha, you reaalllly almost wiffed that one, huh?]