The first one to speak was an orange lizard with frills on either side of its face. “Merp!”
I blinked and sat up, rising above the small creatures. In unison they grinned to show off their fangs and I retreated as far as I could into the couch cushions. I cautiously raised a hand and waved it. “Hi?”
The creatures upon seeing I was fine all waved back, and left through the wood door. One of them stayed behind to patch up the wall I had burst through, spewing out minion concrete to seal up the hole. The endless abyss and the silver clouds vanished from view, replaced by a dull wall.
So these were minions, and they came in all shapes and sizes. The room I was in was similar to the one I had arrived at when I had first spoken to the Overseer. Something that felt like a lifetime ago. I mumbled a thank you to the one smoothing out the wall and walked out into a sunny city.
I had to do a double take as I saw a vibrant pink and teal sky, with red and blue clouds moving between floating islands of quartz. The floating islands were hundreds of feet in the air, and on top of them were imposing fortresses, with tower spires that glittered with silver and gold in the light of two small yellow suns. On the ground level I saw a sprawling city of coloured marble, with orderly roads built in a grid. The city looked to be divided into orderly districts, each having their own colour theme. Some districts were on hills, elevating tall mansions up into the air, while others had grand marble buildings that reminded me of ones from Earth, like the Pantheon. There were stranger buildings made of black stone, twisted into free standing crescent towers, the curvature of the stone blocks defying physics.
Standing at the heart of the city was a massive park, with a towering oak that reached up towards the floating islands, the top of it brushing against the bottom of jagged quartz crystals that extended from the islands. As I tilted my head while looking at the great oak tree it reminded me of a symbol I had seen before, the symbol of Heniekia.
“Merp!” The minion had finished his work on the wall and politely waited for me to move.
“Sorry.” I shuffled over, and watched the minion take off. He ran down the stone walkway I was on, hopping off it onto a grassy field, and made his way down to the other minions that were sitting around a small park bench. Only now did I notice how many of them were around. “There’s thousands of them…”
I was in a district built on one of the hills. There was a huge stone wall with towers armed with siege weapons as a perimeter around the whole district, the only one with such imposing fortifications besides the floating islands, with rooms put along the walls, like the one I had just left. There was a miniature park in here, a sandy training pit where minions, dressed up like George, battled it out and screamed at each other, and a small jungle where scouts swung from branch to branch. Close to me, about a stone's throw away was a pit full of rock, clay and wood. One drone in the pit looked like a big koala bear was missing an arm, an eye and half his tail. Other drones watched him demonstrate how to use his claws and teeth to dig through a boulder. It was a training facility just for minions.
There were more buildings too, with a tower that looked like one of Kin’s towers, a low flat building I heard hammering come from and a miniature fairytale castle. There were dozens of different kinds of minions, all shapes and sizes. The largest of which mirrored Bent Plate in scale.
One minion at the nearby park bench was chatting with some others only to halt suddenly. A blue portal split open beside it and the minion changed, growing feathers, gaining a beak and wings. It then turned into black inky smoke and went through the portal, disappearing.
“Fascinating isn’t it?” asked a man beside me.
I brought up my fists and jumped back. Standing calmly on the stone walkway was a man I could only describe as a surfer or fitness instructor. He wore a gold necklace with a disc that displayed an image of a sun and an open white shirt exposing his bare chest, with loose shorts and sandals on his perfectly smooth feet. The shirt was more like a window frame to his sculpted body, showing off his incredible physique that was equal parts strength and agility. He had sun kissed tanned skin and sandy blonde hair that was equal parts messy and perfectly organized. He had a smile on his face and he raised a hand to warmly greet me with sea blue eyes full of joy. He was pretty much a perfect male model.
“Where…am I?” I cautiously asked.
The man shrugged. “Somewhere in the Nexus. It changes when you least expect it, so keep an eye out for the floor falling.”
Knowledge Other Realm : Success!
+3 XP gained.
The Nexus is an extra dimensional space and a bridging point between many pocket dimensions ruled by gods, goddesses and Ewyernar. It is home to many displaced creatures and has many hidden portals throughout it. It is ever changing, and the city is often rebuilt by the Shapers, creatures that only respond to Ewyernar’s will. The Nexus is often visited by beings who dream project themselves into the realm and is even visited by creatures from far away realms.
“First time dream projecting?” the man asked me, reaching out to steady me. He had a calming presence and I found the tension flowing out of me. “Don’t worry, I’m your assigned guide today. Name’s Zaphreal, but I prefer Zac.”
“My guide?” I asked as I dusted myself off. I then remembered my manners. “Hi, I’m Josh, and I just need to give something to Icharn…” I froze and touched my sides hoping to find my backpack. “Damn it, I forgot the book!”
“Is your sleeping form near it?” Zac asked. “If you open your character page you will notice a new tab, and you should be able to access it.”
I did as he instructed and sure enough I had the option to summon my gear onto myself, or take something from my dream projection and have it be placed near my body if there was room. I decided to leave my weapons at home for now, since they were a single click away, and called on my backpack. The dusty and battered bag was summoned into my hands, and inside was the quest book.
“Whoa, that’s neat,” I said. I felt a series of gears spin in my mind, I bet there was something I could do with this. “Thanks.”
Zac shrugged like it was no big detail and started to walk onto the grass. “Walk with me.”
I felt drawn to comply and jogged to catch up. The minions seemed pleased to see us and every once in a while I heard a pop as a portal opened to throw one onto the ground. Some arrived on fire, while others were pierced by arrows. I saw one minion wave at me as it transformed into a drone with a black shirt, looking like one of my minions. It then was swiftly yanked into a portal, and I knew it had arrived at my dungeon.
“All important visitors get their own little guide, and you my friend are in luck, because you now have your own guiding angel,” Zac said.
Before I could even ask him what he meant there was a burst of light as white feathered wings sprung from his back and a halo of gold appeared over his head. The minions near us dropped what they were doing and gathered around him to be awed by his presence. The light show ended and Zac returned to normal.
Zac sheepishly smiled. “I have fun doing that, sorry.”
I took a look at his necklace again and tried to focus on it. I felt a memory of Rolada come to mind, something she had said before about a sun god and his abs. A tab appeared, listing a previous check on the subject.
Knowledge Journal
Knowledge Religion : Partial success!
Talok is the representation of Ewyernar’s sun, he is the god of light and is depicted as a handsome, physically fit male human. As a lesser god he is worshipped most often by smaller farming communities or by devoted clerics looking for a more personal connection to their god.
“Why does the sun god want to help me out?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. I searched the walkway and saw more people arrive, with more handsome men and women appearing in a flash of sunlight, offering to guide them. “Wouldn’t that be more so for Ishaka’s or Icharn’s followers to offer to guide me?”
“There’s agreements in place, each god’s workers get a turn at being the door greeters. Mostly to offer their services to them if they wished to join. This slice of the city is just for keepers to arrive, and we usually make sure you guys keep to spots in the Nexus that are…friendlier,” Zac said nervously.
“Right,” I said. I pointed towards the strange black crescent towers and the marble Pantheon. “Can you lead me to Icharn’s temple?”
Zac looked at my outstretched hand and did a double take when he saw the two rings on my fingers. I had gone to bed with my ring that gave me claims to the land and for some reason I hadn’t seen that the ring of binding had solidified itself here.
“Right this way your grace,” Zac said with a deep bow. “You will find the Nexus as a wonderful place, Lord Josh.”
I held up my hand as it didn’t feel right. “Just call me Josh please, Lord Josh sounds too stuffy for my liking.”
Perhaps one day when the minions and I had plenty of time to build I could make a miniature city of marble like the nexus. A place full of weird magic floating islands, large parks and organized streets. Then I would be comfortable calling myself a lord.
I saw Zac smirk. “Of course my lord.”
Zac led the way out of the minion district and I spied one guard minion in the middle of training change to one of my minions, getting pulled away from his sparring partner. The remaining minion standing alone lifted their hands to the sky and let out a victory cry.
Dan has summoned a guard minion!
I could see the notification fly by in the corner of my vision, it seemed all was going well for Dan, and he had a series of tasks lined up for the new minions already. With everything in capable hands I turned my attention back to the streets ahead beyond the gatehouse of the park.
The city street running across from us was packed with carts pulled by strange creatures that looked like someone had grabbed the top half of an eagle and the rear of a horse, stitching them together. It was like a gryphon, but clearly something else.
Knowledge Arcane : Failure!
“Which one is Icharn’s temple?” I asked Zac as we waited at a crossing point across a busy road.
Zac put a finger on his chin and closed his eyes. After a moment they shot open and he pointed towards a nearby hill. “Past the shopping district, right beside Ishaka’s temple and Lilana’s. We should stop by the market, it’s right after lunch hour here so the lines at the temples will be packed anyways.”
Having nothing better to go on, I let my guide take me to the shopping district as I kept a look out for people. Zac took me around the perimeter first, pointing out food stalls that sold exquisite pastries and stalls for magic items that might interest me. He seemed to know I was a wizard somehow, as he kept mentioning magic wands, spell book stores and component shops.
The middle of the shopping centre was a chaotic free for all. It was full of people of all races, crammed into lanes made by stalls that had been set up with poor planning, unlike the city around it. There were beast-kin of various animals, several kinds of elves and more dwarves than you could shake a pickaxe at. I also caught glimpses of races I hadn’t met yet, and I didn’t manage to succeed on any skill checks to identify them.
One that caught my attention were tall slim people that wrapped themselves from head to toe in bright coloured fabrics. Their faces were concealed under iron face masks and they walked with a hunched back. What stood out the most was that they had six arms, which were slender and stick-like with twisted, gnarled muscles, and ashy skin that sizzled in the light of the suns. They typically carried umbrellas in one of their hands that had three digits, with sharp retractable claws.
Overhead flying carpets soared, floating wood ships with blimp balloons lashed to them went from island to island and creatures with wings flew to distant roof tops. Another strange race of creatures looked like fleshy manta rays with crab legs, and pincers. All these alien creatures were causing a flood of notifications to appear along the edge of my vision, all of them reading the same thing.
Knowledge Other Realm : Failure!
A burly half orc in chainmail rested against the frame of a shop while an amber skinned demon in a clerk outfit at his side chewed on the white sticks Yara used all the time. The half orc tapped on his fellow and nodded towards me, his gruff voice cut above the bustle of the crowd.
“Hey, he looks gullible. Probably some pawn for a keeper, go sell to him,” the half orc chuckled.
The demon took one look at me and shook his head. “He looks like a poor man’s jester. I doubt his master has the funds for our ingredients. I mean look at him in those tacky shoes.”
I rolled my eyes and turned my attention elsewhere, but the clerk had a point. Most of the people here were in fine dress, or servants huddling beside individuals of importance with gangs around them. I didn’t see too many run of the mill workers or peasants. The other thing that stood out to me the most was just how many people were here. Last time I had done this dream projection thing I had been to some kind of castle for the demon goddess of magic, and while there had been a fair amount of visitors it had been nothing compared to this.
“Everything alright sir?” Zac asked me.
“Are all these people dreaming too?” I asked. “Also why is this place so packed?”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Zac tapped me on the shoulder and for five seconds everything looked different. My own hand was see through and had a blue aura surrounding it. Around two thirds of the people had the same aura with only the shopkeepers and strange races remaining solid. It was brief, but got the point across.
“The Nexus is a bridging point between a lot of worlds, and it's the most stable place to tie portals too,” Zac said, motioning for me to move towards a section of the market with nicer shops, as well as fewer people. Once the noise cut down he continued. “Think of it this way, when you take one step here it's like taking five or six steps above in the real world. It’s also way cheaper and less taxing to teleport here first before going to your destination and hopping back over. In fact all those floating islands are tied to stable portals in multiple kingdoms.”
I put a hand up to my brow and stared hard at one of the closest islands that was barely above the tops of some buildings. There was a tower, a warehouse and some houses on top of it, all of them flying flags. Zac even explained how the different elevations of the islands told you how high up the portals were in the real world too.
“Okay, so it’s a way to speed up travel, but that still doesn’t explain the crazy amount of regular people here,” I said.
Zac nodded and rested his back against the corner of a shop that sold alchemy supplies. “There’s some rules about who can enter here. High level mages are typically banned except for being on their islands up there to avoid…problems.” Zac knocked on the wall beside him. “Rare alchemy ingredients and some potion bases can be incredibly unstable, so the less you have to move them the better. Not to mention they have a short lifetime to use them.”
I watched the hustle and bustle of the market, seeing all the well made crafts and glowing items getting exchanged. I was too far away to identify them and the few times I was close enough I only got failures on my skill checks. Zac mentioned a few other things, but I was starting to get my head wrapped around it.
The other big thing that took him a while to explain was trade deals with empires and embargos could be circumvented by trading here, at quite the cost. It was a dry subject that went over my head as I never really did well with understanding politics.
I had to do a double take as I saw a human disappear from view. For a brief moment I swore I saw a flash of denim jeans, a hoodie and headphones going to their ears. Even more telling, I thought I saw them tap on a smartphone.
“Hey, do humans from other worlds come here?” I asked.
Zac hummed. “Not for a while, but it’s not unheard of for someone to accidentally stumble into a portal and end up here or in Ewyernar. Most people from other worlds come here for a reason.”
“Right,” I said, dragging the word out. I tried to look for that human again but I couldn’t see them in the crowd anymore.
“Hey, you're looking parched, let me grab you a milkshake.” Zac half waved towards a small shop ahead of us with a massive window letting passing by shoppers have a good look inside. “What flavour do you like?”
At the counter of the shop was a beast-kin girl. I couldn’t tell what kind she was as her hair and ears were tucked back in a hair net and she wore a fancy, frilly dress with an apron over it. I did spy a tail behind her, but it was thin and long, ending in a tuft of black fur. I tried to focus on the board above her, and I could see the menu was pretty extensive, with names I couldn’t even begin to fathom how to pronounce.
“I’ll take vanilla, if they have it,” I said.
Zac nodded in approval and reached for the door. “You have fine tastes my good sir, be back in a moment!”
I took a step back to go window shop at the store with wands on display and ran straight into a gnome. The red cap on his head went flying back and the gnome looked up at me with his face twisted into a furious glare. Behind him was another handsome man in a white shirt, and flanking him were two towering bull men with axes on their belts. The bull men were beast-kin too, with wide white horns with gold rings on them, and shiny armour with a banner over their chests. There was a coat of arms of an armoured gnome riding a wolf stitched into the banners.
“You insolent human!” the gnome spat. “I am the great Keeper Kivelguard! I will not have you sully my day with your disgusting presence!”
I backed up and put up my hands. “Whoa, there. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you-”
The gnome grew even more furious, his eyes were strained and red marks appeared around his face as he flailed his arms over his head. “I should have you locked up in my dungeon in the deepest depths, and throw away the key!”
The two bull men stepped in, one crossing his arms in front of me to block my view while the other crouched down beside the gnome, grabbing the fallen hat. The kneeling one tried to calm the gnome down and I was able to catch what he was saying.
“Boss, we are in the keeper part of the city. If you insult him you could invite a war on us, we barely survived the last one,” the bull man said.
There was a tiredness to his voice, and I could see the one in front of me had deep scars on his cheeks and forearms. The battle hardened warrior in front of me looked like he was about to fall asleep on his feet as his eyes drooped when he looked down on me.
We awkwardly glared at each other until I raised a hand. “Hey.”
The bull man tilted his head down in acknowledgement. “Hey.”
Both of us eased up and I had a feeling we wouldn’t be having any more trouble. The other bull man and angel guide managed to convince the gnome to go into a shop selling fudge, diffusing the situation.
Zac returned with two white and blue wax paper cups, both filled to the brim with delicious vanilla milkshakes. We toured around the stalls for a few minutes as we drank our sweet drinks and I ended up finding a stall that sold jewellery. I managed to flip some of the trinkets from the recent dungeon exploration and pocketed over a hundred gold pieces. I wished I had some more of the stuff Lin had been holding onto for me, I could have made a killing. We were about to leave the market when I spied something pink and fuzzy.
“No way,” I said as I wove my way between the other shoppers, careful for any more people of shorter stature. I reached a shaded market stall that had outfits on display. I pointed out a full body onesie with a space for a tail in the back, and fluffy ear coverings on the hood. Over the heart area was a line of gold thread that spelled out ‘Pretty Princess’. “How much for this one?”
The shop owner was one of the strange six arm races and it approached me from the back of its stall. It didn’t so much walk as it did glide towards me, its head never moving. I couldn’t even see its eyes under the mask, and it unnerved me.
“It is five gold pieces. It comes from the sandy shores of Avonna. The treads have been blessed by the priestesses of Ishaka, and the cotton plucked from the finest plants in all of South Kaldara. It is a design both popular and well loved by beast-kin of the feline and canine varieties. You have very fine tastes, dear customer,” the owner said. It then raised a finger, the sudden motion was stiff and faster than I could see. “Prices are not negotiable.”
The words came to me in the back of mind and had a resounding echo that tickled the hairs above my ears. It was odd, and I felt like they weren’t actually speaking, but projecting the words to me mentally. I also couldn’t place the tone, as it was between male and female.
The shop owner let me touch the fabric and I smirked, five gold was a steal for how cute and silly it was. It was also Rolada’s size, and I could see her loving it to bits. I put the gold coins into a tray on the wooden counter of the stall and watched my purchase get neatly wrapped up into paper. The owner did ask if it was for a beast-kin and when I said it was for a fox girl they tossed in a tube of fabric she could put her tail in and clip to the onesie.
“Ah, Winter Festival shopping I presume?” Zac asked.
“Yeah, and if it wasn’t for that gnome dipping into that fudge shop I would have gone there too,” I said, looking over my shoulder.
“You can stop by on your way out,” Zac said.
I accepted the package from the store owner, finding it had been put into a bright yellow gift bag. I thanked them and followed Zac, with hundreds of questions on my mind. I settled on the most pressing issue to resolve after I talked with Icharn. “How do I get out?”
Zac pointed out a beam of light over the tops of the shops, and more of them scattered around the city. “Those are special fountains that have a pad that can send your sleeping form back to your body. Most temples will also have highly trained spellcasters that can send you back too, but unless you work for them already they usually have a fee.”
As we were about to exit the shopping area I saw one shop was set up in a dimly lit alley. The window was dusty, and inside was a bunch of junk someone had dragged out from a fire. I could see someone inside using a broom, trying in vain to clean. In front of the store was a rough, slapped together stall, and a man in plain clothes with a hood over his head. He had a few better looking wares around him like the owner had taken to selling to people on the street as they aired out the dusty shop. What stood out was the fine daggers on his belt, the well maintained leather boots and the grappling hook on a barrel beside him.
I was immediately intrigued and walked towards him as Zac tried to get my attention, trying to get me to leave. The merchant at the poorly made stall smiled at me with a sly grin that mocked me. He opened his hands and greeted me.
“Welcome, welcome good sirs, what can I do to help you at my humble shop?” he asked, his voice gravelly and full of sarcasm.
I immediately placed him as a thief, or someone tied to them. This had to be a place people sold stolen goods, because why else would he have so many sets of mismatching silverware with parts of them ground off.
“Do you sell lockpicks?” I asked. Zac gave me a curious glance and the merchant raised an eyebrow. “I have some old locks around my property. I lost the keys to them at some point.”
Deception : Failure!
“Going to have to try harder than that to lie to a professional good sir,” the merchant said, chuckling to himself. “But I might have some old ones in stock.”
“Enchanted ones if you have them,” I said.
“Oh? I didn’t take you for a…locksmith,” the merchant said carefully, eyeing the angel guide. “If I was a betting man I would say they are for someone else.”
I decided it was better to come clean, maybe I could get a decent price that way. I shrugged and tapped my knuckles on the counter. “The thief in my party mentioned it. She hoped I would get them for her for the Winter Festival.”
The merchant placed a small leather pouch on the counter, the kind you would put a knife into and clip on your belt. He shook it and pressed for more. “Is she someone special? Because this is my best one…and it does have a top shelf price.”
I placed the palm of my hand onto the counter and leaned in, making sure I was eye to eye with the merchant. “She’s a rogue that likes shiny things and my girlfriend, how much money do you think I actually have?”
The merchant leaned back and laughed maniacally, holding onto his gut. He wiped a tear from his eye and leaned against a supporting shelf in the stall, making the whole thing lurch to the side. “Aye, you have a fair point there, stranger. How about we skip the whole haggling bit and just call it fifty gold coins?”
When I crossed my arms and prepared to haggle, the man cut me off by showing me the product in question. He made sure I understood how it worked so I could show Lin, and he first hit a hidden button under the flap. The sides of the pouch grew, and it became more of a soft tool bag. The man opened up the now wide top flap, showing off a plethora of tools.
“We have here your standard set of lockpicks, files, mirror, scissors and pliers like all good thieves have. But when you hit this second hidden button…” a new, small knife pouch shot out of the side of the thieves tool pack. “These are the special ones, your trap finders. Take a look for yourself.”
I picked up the palm sized pouch and found a few picks inside as well as a few bent pieces of metal with measurements notched into them.
Knowledge Arcane/World : Success!
+1 XP gained.
The trap finder thieves tools are a renowned piece of hardware for any would-be thief trying to make their way to the top of a guild. These special picks are made with memory steel, allowing them to remember successful checks made during a lockpick skill check. On a partial success the next attempt will have an additional +5 bonus to the skill check.
If a trap is detected the lockpick will twist away and alert the user to the trap. Doing so can be stressful to the metal and has a 10% chance of breaking a lockpick.
‘It’s better to lose a pick than a friend,” -unknown thief.
Lin was lucky, but if I could stack the deck in her favour then I would. I tossed the money on the stall and the merchant held out a hand returning it to me. He reached into his pocket and took out fifty gold, which when I checked my bag I found I was short.
“How did you-” I felt the words die in my throat. “I’m guessing you're a high level thief.”
The merchant showed me how to put everything back together and handed them to me. He slapped my shoulder and gave me a warm grin. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise, friend. Tell your girl the ‘Shadowed Feather’ says hi.”
Quest Issued!
Tell Lin that the ‘Shadowed Feather’ says hi!
Reward…
Unknown
I waved away the odd info pop up and shook the merchant's hand, carefully watching where his fingers were. “Sure thing, pleasure doing business with you.”
Zac quickly guided me towards the temple region, I could see him rub his arms like he was freezing. When I prodded him he only said he was dressed to be in the sun and that the alley was cold.
“We could drop by the sun temple,” Zac offered. “You could set yourself up with them, and after you build your shrine you get a yearly ticket to one of Talok’s blessed islands. They have special angels there to accommodate your needs, with any food you can imagine. There's music, wine and perfect weather year round. It’s a paradise you can visit, right on Ewyernar, and shows you what Talok’s realm is like.”
“Sounds nice, but I already have two gods that I want to focus on for now. Once I get more set up I’ll think about it,” I said. I only added the second part because Zac was visibly saddened at hearing I wasn’t about to immediately switch to Talok’s side. Strange.
We walked up a long set of marble stairs cut into the hillside, and passed people who were heading towards the shopping district. Most of them were friendly and waved, or dipped their heads in acknowledgment. I did my best to be courteous back, and managed to sneak a few skill checks in when I noticed their gear. Most of them wore very simple magic clothes or carried a single magic weapon on them.
Reaching the top of the hill we found a flat area, with a central fountain of a towering marble dragon that stretched into the sky, spitting out crystal clean water. The main area was a square of marble tiles, with gardens and the three temples lined up side by side around the edges of the hill top. The nearest temple to us had an outdoor amphitheatre behind it, with a play just wrapping up.
The main entrance to the nearby temple had a beautiful, sunny grove inside it, complete with a waterfall, singing birds and people playing harps and flutes. Goat girls and guys played instruments as elven women relaxed in the pool the waterfall fed. A woman resting by the entrance saw us and she rose, dashing through the waterfall to stop in front of me. It was a centaur woman, with a loose white toga that was now soaked, showing off her nude form, holding a harp under her arm. Her long, free flowing hair trailed in the air, giving her an ethereal beauty that made me shiver. Zac looked away respectfully, but I was entranced as she started to play her harp which looked like it was made of flowing liquid silver.
“Would you care to join Lilana’s temple and be a patron to the arts?” she asked me sweetly, tossing her auburn hair to the side. She swayed as she plucked her harp, sliding up beside me. “We have a potluck going on with plenty of cookies to share.”
She practically pushed her bountiful assets into my face, and I had to admit a cookie sounded like it would go well with the remaining milkshake I had. I had to lean to the side, nearly bending over to look past the centaur woman’s bust to see the elven women waving to me, beckoning me over.
“I suppose learning what you guys are all about wouldn’t be too bad…” I said, cautiously taking a step towards the waterfall.
“Or perhaps this centaur woman could stop using her bard powers to trick you over to their cult,” said a woman behind me, with a warm silky voice. “Would you waste your efforts with them, Lord Hale?”
I stood still, my mind reeling. Her voice felt familiar, and the tone struck a chord with me. I spun around, the thoughts of the cookies and bathing elven women gone from my mind. Standing beside Zac, who was clutching his necklace in fear, was a demoness in a professional looking black and red suit.
She had white, alabaster skin, white hair done up in a neat bun and two small black horns curling out above her pointed ears. A thin devil tail was poised behind her, the heart tip holding onto a set of quills for her. She had a stern air to her, and I could see her posture was perfect. She was also around my height, with her black high heels giving her an inch of height over me.
“Can you say something for me?” I asked the demoness cautiously.
Her demeanour softened and she grinned, showing off her sharp pearly teeth. Her voice came out in a husky whisper touching my ear like the shop owner’s voice, mentally talking to me. “Good luck Keeper Josh.”
It was her.