The scholar assassin

The first thing he remembered in his life was the sensation of comfortable warmth, a soothing heat, and the sound of a heartbeat that was not his own, the only things that had existed in his simple early world.

That existence had been his everything for a short while, a place of peaceful bliss, and ignorant rapture, but eventually, all good things had to come to an end, and he had been ripped squalling from that peaceful and safe world, a single word ringing in his partially formed ears as he was taken from that warm comfortable place, his first and true name being spoken by a soft, but cold feminine voice.

"Charcoal."

The female voice was detached and lifeless, but not as chilling as the place he had been taken next, a place far colder and more inhospitable than his last home, somewhere green and glaring that hurt his developing eyes, somewhere he felt exposed and lost.

He recalled little else of his days spent in the green fluidic space, outside of a scattered recollection of a sense of growth and unrecognizable faces drifting in and out of view.

Four weeks after being pulled from his mother's womb and placed in some sort of capsule, he had been borne a second time, his limp lanky body falling spluttering from his canister as the device suddenly ejected its contents.

Coughing and growling on unbidden instincts, he had risen to his thick feet, spotting that he was not the only one of his ilk to be unceremoniously expelled from a canister, over thirty others like himself growling or groaning as they gathered their newborn wits.

They were trolls, an unspoken knowledge all of troll kind knew by nature of what they were.

Brushing the thick green goop from his sopping black fur, the young troll blearily glanced around at his fellow tank kin, spotting something surprising not too far away.

Small, possessing dark-toned skin, and garbed in a white lab coat wearing a red monocle, it was a human male, a creature he recognized by ingrained instinct, something he should destroy on sight according to his urges.

The young troll Charcoal ignored that urge though, another feeling new to him bubbling up to the front of his mind.

Curiosity.

The hunched-over figure of the human studied the assorted young trolls as they each lumbered from the tanks, still soaked from the greenish fluids, the human researcher keenly watching the young trolls even as Charcoal stared back.

Clueless as he was at the time, the black-furred troll had been puzzled at the sight of this small man standing relaxed only a dozen feet away, 'what is something so tiny and weak doing here? Doesn't it know it will surely get eaten?' he remembered vaguely thinking at the time.

Back then he had known almost nothing and been naive towards the power that this tiny man had over him and his brothers.

But that ignorance was soon done away with when one of his more impulsive kin had bellowed, "Man flesh!" and galloped towards the hunched figure, saliva pouring out of the idiot's mouth as he no doubt imagined sinking his teeth into his next meal.

In response, the impassive expression on the silent man's face slowly turned into an upward crescent, that same man beginning to smile as he lifted one scrawny finger to point at the charging troll before saying a single word that rang in the ears and minds of all the tank borne present, his monocle flaring a bright crimson for an instant.

"Stop,"

At that word, the charging troll gasped before tripping and crashing to the floor with an astonished look on his face, his body suddenly disobeying him, forcing his mass to slide to a standstill before the man he had wanted to eat.

At first, there was only surprise and confusion on the immobilized troll's face, then anger, before that was quickly followed by fear, as the small human slowly approached him, quietly cackling the whole time, that unnerving smile still hanging from the dark man's features.

Any trolls who had been meaning to follow after the first suddenly froze up, uncertain if they wanted to approach the human now that it had so easily brought down another troll with nothing but a word, very much intimidated by the display.

The curious Charcoal himself had stiffened upon seeing that.

Arriving at the head of the twitching and unmoving brute, the human nudged the motionless juvenile with a kick before grunting in satisfaction.

"Very good! it seems at least one more of my past inventions has a use," The human chuckled before waving a finger in front of the downed trolls eyes, testing its responsiveness.

"Mmm, the spinal inhibitors of my creation that I installed seems to work perfectly on the more robust frames of trolls, without causing seizures and aneurysms as side effects either..." The human nodded thoughtfully as if the other trolls weren't there, "too bad they didn't work on my more frail human test subjects," he shrugged after a second, "the possibilities were titillating..."

Grimacing, the downed troll below him continued to twitch in place concentration evident on its coarse features before it managed to shift its hairy arm slightly, an action that was not missed by the nearby human.

"Ahhh still able to move a little I see," The researcher scratched his head furiously, pleasure quickly evaporating, "It's not perfect then, I still need to finetune the procedure a little more it seems, what a bother that will be! The inhibitors were always a finicky invention of mine, I really ought to redesign the titchy things..."

Charcoal had watched with more interest than fear as the human muttered to themselves before saying audibly.

"Ahhh well, I guess I can try again with the next batch, I can't have another incident like Ukgar, my brother would have my head for another slip up if he ever found out, the bastard," the man tapped his weak chin with a frown before shaking his head in dismissal, "another test is in order then," the human huffed before pointing down at the struggling ape with a single finger and a single harsh word, "'Failure.'"

That uncomfortable ringing voice from before echoed around the stone walls, the trolls all watching in horror as their knocked down brother suddenly began convulsing and screaming in a hoarse roar of pain, that roar soon turning into a moist rasp, the troll no longer constrained, but unable to focus as his throat began to bulge strangely.

The tank kin clawed desperately at his neck as the hide there distorted and gradually twisted open, unzipping swiftly to expose the red meat of distressing muscle, the gristle and tendons in the kins neck likewise tearing as it was exposed to the air, being shaved loose in an excruciating display of gore, metal spines ripping free of their fleshy prison like a spinning razor blade through a stubborn and still screaming steak, the human behind the mutilated and dying troll beginning to cackle softly again as his invented contraptions behaved as they were intended, killing the troll in a brutal and painful manner.

Many of the kin began to shy away at that point as the last echoes of their kins screams went silent, the head of the unfortunate ape rolling free, frozen in an expression of torture. The tongue bit clean off from agony, eyes rolled far back into the ape's skull as red foam frothed from its slack jaws, the head being cleanly severed from the body rocking back and forth in a puddle of scarlet.

Charcoal had inhaled deeply, his vision taken with this image, a troll had died in an instant... to a small weak human.

'How was that possible?' Charcoal had questioned himself incredulously at the time, his juvenile mind coming up with no answers other than that in some way this small seemingly weak human was stronger than all of them combined...

Charcoal had stared into the eyes of the human and had not seen the soft eyes of prey, but instead the hard killer gleam of a predator in its element.

'Such strength...' Charcoal had thought almost awed at the time.

Waiting for the whirling hum of blades to die down the white garbed human sniffed in approval.

"Excellent! the disobedience countermeasures are properly attuned," the cruel expression of the human tweaked as he picked up the bloody spiked glyph engraved band of metal that had torn free of the dead trolls flesh, "that's one thing I won't have to calibrate, now..." the small hunched man turned with a menacing expression, his monocle gleaming vividly, "what to do with rest of you 'failures...'"

Stepping over the corpse of the kin he had just executed, the human swept his hand towards the now quivering young trolls, the sound of his words rolling over all of them.

Whatever the human had done to the first troll he was now doing to the rest with his dreadful words, the remaining trolls save for Charcoal panicking and attempting to run, only finding hard stone and dead ends in all directions in the process.

Feeling something beginning to whirr up inside his neck Charcoal had snapped out of his reverie in an instant, unlike his terrified brothers, darting towards the tiny human. Fully conscious of how hard it was getting to breathe as the deadly machine lodged deep in his neck stirred, the blades already beginning to spin.

In response to Charcoal's approach, the human raised an eyebrow, a collection of floating mechanical arms uncoiling from a deceptively slim metal cylinder on his back, unfurling like the limbs of a flexing spider.

"Pointless attempt," the human snorted unmoving, as the machine limbs braced for impact, rune etched blades sliding out of hidden sheaths on the mechanical appendages wrists.

Charcoal did not slow down as he saw the bladed machines prepare to hack at him, speeding up instead, the ache of stretching flesh in his neck urging him on.

Thundering along like a galloping elephant, Charcoal got within 9 meters of the human before one of the metal limbs struck at him, the rest detaching from their hosts back to fly towards him.

The first sharp limb hit him directly in the shoulder, causing Coal to stumble slightly, the wound flaring up painfully, but the rest he avoided by dropping to his knees and sliding under them with a thump, grinding to a halt right in front of the human being.

Grimacing at his knee's which were burning with pain, having been crushed under his own weight and stripped of a layer of hide, Charcoal looked up expecting to see the human with fewer armaments, only to be disappointed.

Dozens of metal appendages now floated around the human, looming like a shadow over the troll as more and more spilled from the metal cylinder on the human's back to hover over their master, making the appearance of the once spider-like man look more like that of some sort of terrible metallic sea urchin.

"Bags of holding are such delightful artifacts," the researcher snickered at Charcoals wide eyes," I'm lucky to have one such artifact, only paragons have ever been able to make them, but I think I put this one to better use than those so-called heroes of humanity ever did."

The human gestured with a wave of his hand, and the hovering limbs, now over a hundred of them spitting steam and hissing all the while, each unsheathed gleaming straight blades or circular razors that thrummed eagerly, the various weapons of troll destruction all aiming towards him, ready to finish Charcoal off should their host so desire it.

Charcoal gulped, he was not going to be able to overcome that.

Wincing as his throat began to bleed, Charcoal grew calmer, he did not know what paragons were, but his simple plan to charge the human had always been but a step, in reality, he had never planned to fight the man at all.

Committing to the only real choice available to him, Charcoal bowed his head reverently and said as humbly as he could in a croak.

"You are a very strong human, stronger than all of us, I beg of you to spare our lives... Please."

Charcoal clenched his teeth as he spoke feeling the nerves in his throat begin to stretch out of shape, glad that he could still speak for the moment or at all for that matter.

Trolls were one of the few races that were born carrying knowledge from past generations both from their troll fathers line and human brood mothers side.

While it was only fragments of their parent's memories they inherited, it allowed trolls to often come equipped from birth with the ability to speak and fight without any prior training or learning.

It seemed Charcoal had inherited more from his human brood mother than his father, as his ability to speak and reason was leagues above his brethren.

An ability that saved the lives of every troll present and still breathing.

Blinking, the human frowned at the display of submission before his frown flipped and he cackled hoarsely.

"What's this? Did I perchance create a veritable chimp with brains this time? Well, don't just sit there mute troll, speak your piece if you have more to offer beyond mere pleading drivel."

The numerous apparatuses still levitated around the human threateningly, There was an expectant look on the man's cruel expression, he wanted Charcoal to say something more specific.

Somewhat at loss for what to say and his vocal cords about to burst as the device in his neck began its grizzly task, Charcoal spluttered out loud.

"I swear to follow your commands, we- we all do, we follow the strong- *Hack!*" Charcoal choked in a last-ditch attempt.

Falling back and clutching at his neck, Charcoal growled and retched as his windpipe was severed by the infernal device embedded in his spine, his lungs beginning to fill with his own blood, the human above him looking thoughtful as he considered the promise without care of the young trolls suffering.

"Eehhhhh... not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I suppose I can treat this as a teaching exercise," the man sighed, "alright then subject B34 you have changed my mind, 'protocol absolution.'"

Immediately Charcoal felt the machine ripping up his throat deactivate, the barbed spurs retracting, however it may have already been too late for him, as the world was growing increasingly dark and his vision was dimming swiftly, the young troll drowning in blood, lungs filled to the brim with his own vital fluids.

Charcoal had dimly realized that he was dying and briefly wondered if death would be as short and empty as life.

And with that, he had died...

And yet for the second time that day, he had been born again.

All had been dark, he had seen nothing, heard nothing but agony had pulled him free of that desolate state.

The sensation of a sharp affliction of chilly steel followed by a tangible shock that rocked his heavy frame to the core.

*ZZsst!*

Lunging upright without conscious thought, Charcoal had sat up only to vomit a stream of blood from his lungs, retching and coughing until his air sacs were empty, only then noticing the same human from before standing a few feet away from him, back turned as his autonomous machine hands pulled various cables and tubes out of waking troll, the clear reason he was yet alive.

Charcoal grunted as a particularly large metal plug was pulled from his chest, the end of it fizzling with an electric current, the troll gazing up at the back of the human before him as the man's mechanical limbs packed away the cable into the metal cylinder, the various limbs clambering in immediately after it.

Charcoal felt his chest with a tentative hand, his wounds were sealing over slowly as was normal for trolls, but he knew more than that had happened, The tiny human had been able to kill him instantly and then revive him right after just as easily.

That was beyond just strength, that was practically miraculous, what kind of strength allowed a person, especially one so weak looking, to do that?

Carefully Charcoal got to his feet before hesitantly stepping over towards the human, the man turning to face him as he did so, being easily three feet shorter than Charcoal but making the troll feel small with his indifferent demeanor alone.

"Back on your feet already B34? the benefits of the troll constitution at work no doubt..." the human asserted before raising an eyebrow at the silent staring troll.

Blinking stupidly, unable to immediately form a sentence Charcoal Didn't know what B34 was supposed to mean but he could only guess the human was referring to him.

His brow lifting another inch on his face, the man snorted before speaking out loud presumptuously.

"What? Want to know your creator's name? worried about your fellow trolls?" the human guessed before answering both with a dismissive wave, "My name is Sterge Plaintis Graftof but you may call me Doctor, and as for your fellow primates, I let those that survived, live after you said that you would serve me, they are over by the vats still waiting for you to come back, far too afraid to move after my little exposition of authority."

Charcoal looked in the direction which the man had pointed before looking back and gathering the nerve to speak once more, asking the human in a quiet voice, neither of the previous questions being the one he intended to ask.

"How did you do it?"

"Do what? subject B34?" Sterge replied a little taken aback, a few of the remaining machine limbs waggling their metal metatarsals at the inquiring troll.

"Kill us trolls like it was nothing and bring me back from the dead?"

"Oh that, it was a simple matter of science..."

"Science?" Charcoal grunted confused, another word he did not know, his inherited knowledge doing nothing for him regarding this word.

"Yes, science or knowledge as some would call it," the withered human harumphed indignantly, "is the true strength of this world."

Charcoal's eyes enlarged as this 'knowledge' deeply embedded itself into his mind.

'Knowledge is strength...'

Charcoal wanted to be strong, and if knowledge was strength...

Falling to his knees once more Charcoal, bowed his head and fervently said in a bold voice.

"I swear upon my new life to follow your commands, please teach me more of this science, of this knowledge!."

There was a long pause where Sterege simply starred at Charcoal his expression unreadable before finally, the hunched man said with a bemused expression.

"A scientist troll..." the human researcher stroked his chin, " an entertaining thought... Hmm... ok," Sterge slowly nodded, "But you must follow my commands without question at all times or else I will deem you a failure."

Charcoal felt that cursed machine stir slightly in his neck again, but ignored it, instead, replying passionately, "Yes!" immediately raising his head enthusiastically in response, ready to ask something further, but it turned out his new master was not quite finished.

"-And, you'll need a better name than B34."

"I already have a name-" Charcoal began only to be ignored.

"How about Gonza?" the Doctor proposed in a statement that was more certainty than a suggestion.

About to open his mouth again to correct the Doctor, Charcoal caught sight of the hovering limbs floating all around both him and Sterege once more and instead held his tongue, he could tell that there was no arguing with Sterge, the young troll quickly pressing his heavyset lips together, answering only with.

"Yes, it's a good name, thank you, Doctor..." Charcoal, now Gonza said in a low voice, tucking his true name away for the meantime.

There would always be a time later to retrieve his true name, but for now, he was Gonza.

"What are your commands Doctor?" Gonza lowered his head respectfully

"Well let's see..." The Doctor said expression growing thoughtful briefly before that sharp gleam reentered his eyes, "while you are here, maybe you can help me run a few more tests on troll pheromones and their effects on women vs pain..."

...

In the same hour, Gonza became both the Doctors favorite creation and the perverted researcher's second and most unorthodox apprentice.

The troll began his lessons on that fateful day and learned firsthand just how brutal the man he had sworn to follow was.

As he was prompted or rather coerced by the small grinning researcher to hold a heated iron closer to a crying, and very soon screaming ab-human woman's face. An irrevocable fact was seared deep into the troll's psyche about the Doctor, or as those outside of his employ called him, the 'Excoriate'.

For his troubled and twisted master, the line between experimental procedures and sadistic pleasure did not exist.

...

The present

The massive shaggy figure grunted and rubbed his forehead tiredly as old memories from two years ago resurfaced.

They were certainly deeply impactful, if distasteful memories he remembered.

"But not ones that are currently helpful to me" the troll Gonza muttered to himself out loud, possessing a voice more clearly articulated and unslurred than a troll ever had the right to have.

Shaking the earliest recollection of his life from his mind before returning to the present, the troll, now fully grown, musclebound, and over 3 meters tall, wearing a collection of leather straps and pouches that contained his belongings and weapons, studied his surroundings, doing his best to watch his objective closely, maroon eyes squinting.

He was far below the labs in which he had been spawned, in the tunnels that uncivilized wild trolls and feral beasts often stalked, pursuing a task commanded of him by his master the Doctor.

Killing the Doctor's nephew.

A grim task that Gonza personally had no taste for, he was not like the majority of his kind or even that of his brothers, whom found savage glee in killing, smashing, and destroying, he found violence unsavory and would much rather spend all day reading or bettering himself.

The large shaggy charcoal black troll was a withdrawn and reclusive sort with a sharp and ravenous mind, very much an oddity for his kind, an oddity who would sooner strike only when he was certain of victory, a trait that was both unusual and disdained among his troll fellows. But Gonza cared not, it was one of the core reasons he was smarter, and in many ways better than them, and also why he was the most favored among the tank borne, even being granted access to the Doctors personal library for his aptitude.

Yes, Gonza was a troll that could read, and if it were not for the explicit and clear commands of the doctor, it was a pursuit he would be doing right now, his favorite books so far being those on philosophy and morality, something that had surprised both himself and his master the Doctor when he had first began reading.

One of the lines he remembered the most keenly from those books was this.

What is but one man? a single ever-shifting moment in time that simply ceases in the next breath, never to be heard again, what is one man, but a sputtering candle in a whirlwind, doomed to succumb or to burn himself out as he struggles vainly on his own?

One man is weak, hopeless, and incomplete alone, but when part of a greater whole, a higher calling, that man becomes envigored, powerful, and a force to reckoned with, his hidden strengths multiplied and brought to the surface by his fellows as they push together in unison towards that higher calling, that item of responsibility and purpose.

Lo and behold in order to attain meaning, every man should ask himself this, 'do I have a calling in my life, something to dedicate myself too?' if not then that man should begin his search, for only through purpose and unity can joy be found.

The passage was found in a book titled 'Freedom through understanding' a book written by a controversial philosopher going by the name of Jorrsaph smoothe, a man accused of conspiring against the Octaal city council after one of his motivational speeches to the poor masses was seen as dangerous revolutionary propaganda. The man sadly being executed as a traitor to the city only a week later, most of his books being found and burned by the city guard.

Gonza was lucky to have access to a book from someone so publicly hated by the majority of the Octaal nobility, the positives of having access to the Doctors archives were obvious, all sorts of forbidden books could be found.

And through them, much like how the departed Jorrsaph smoothes works had depicted, he had gained some semblance of purpose.

He had once sought the doctor's science under the misguided idea that it would somehow make him physically stronger, he knew better now the true worth of knowledge.

He was not the same naive troll that had stepped out of a test tube, he had changed.

The much teachings that the doctor had shared with him, as heartless and carnal as much of it had been, had allowed him to awaken a more complex and intertwined desire to be more than just strong, but also wise, and perhaps enlighten his foolhardy brothers someday too.

He didn't see that happening any time soon given how savage his brothers were, but he still held hope that he could teach them the error of their uncivil ways.

In this train of thought, he agreed with his master's attempts to teach his brothers discipline, even if the Doctor was only doing it so they would be better lackeys.

Realizing his thoughts were getting off track again the troll blinked, clearing his mind, as he instead thought about his mission.

He really was not into this headhunting task, having no desire at all to butcher some human boy, but he could not disobey the Doctor's direct command.

An order was an order, no matter how debased or vile it may seem.

And Gonza was no stranger to receiving reprehensible orders, he followed all of them to the letter, no matter how awful they might have been.

'It's not like I have much of a choice,' the troll thought wistfully as he rubbed at his neck, knowing that the band of deadly metal was still embedded deep into his cervical vertebrae, the small piece of 'insurance' the doctor had put into all his creations.

He continued to stroke his neck before clenching his huge fists, the price for his life, and the doctor's teachings were high ones.

Sighing Gonza rolled his shoulders as he peered into the ongoing clash between man and rodent.

He had followed the human boy all the way down into the deep tunnels, avoiding detection while staying far back to prevent the boy's companions from noticing him, his powerful nose allowing him to easily track the human's trail.

Later detecting the scents of creatures named Rattervahn, or as he knew they called themselves, 'the Vahn.' Gonza had taken careful measures to stay out of the rat folk's way as they battled the humans that made up his targets band, watching all the while throughout the grizzly combat that took place. It becoming swiftly clear how potent the nephew's allies were as they took apart the ratfolk with utter ease.

It was really more of a slaughter than a battle, Gonza honestly felt bad for the Rattervahn as they were butchered and dismembered in a one-sided fashion, he also felt terrible knowing that was what he was going to have to get past to kill the boy.

He might have been a mature troll but he was not nearly full of himself enough to even consider attacking the humans without some sort of distinct advantage.

These humans were freakish in their strength, Gonza had come to understand that while the doctor and his brother Altriaght were powerful, most individual humans were in fact as feeble as trolls normally believed them to be, their power more often than not coming from planning and cohesion than any sort of individual strength.

But the nephew's allies here were different, they were genuinely threatening to Gonza, he could not act rashly around such dangerous people.

The troll observed one of the humans launch a tirade of lightning bolts at the ratfolk, the struck rodents screeching in agony before bursting into flames, the troll scrunching his face up at the sight.

At this rate, he wasn't even sure if he would be able to handle a single member of the human party, aside from the nephew and his female companion in the face of these consistent displays of prowess.

Gonza hunkered down observing the fighting while thinking hard, he would not be able to win in direct combat against the humans, that much was clear by the many corpses of ratfolk littering the ground, and he wouldn't be able to sneak up on the humans any closer than he already was.

One of the humans, the tailed, cat-eared female, had a sharp sense of smell and had already almost caught him when he had tried to get closer days ago, her nose twitching with telltale suspicion before the female had turned around to squint into the darkness the troll had concealed himself in.

A close call, and an indication he would not get any closer without being found out.

Which left the troll in a predicament where waiting for a better opportunity was the only option.

So wait he did, the troll sliding to his haunches as the humans began to fight a rat that could actually hold its own against them.

The rodent magic caster did tremendously well, considering by the end of the fight it was outnumbered, outclassed, and far smaller than its opponents.

Gonza even held hope for a little while that the ratman could do his mission for him, and kill the nephew so he could go back to the surface, but that hopeful optimism did not last.

Despite giving the humans a tremendous thrashing, the wizened rodent eventually perished in a last act of defiance.

BOOM!

The explosion shook the very stone of the cavern walls, and for a tense moment Gonza was worried the ceiling might cave in on him, but it happily didn't, the troll refocusing his eyes as his target soared into the cave air to collide with the rocky roof limply before coming crashing down, the boys flight propelled by an explosive force.

He blinked and squinted carefully at the still form of his target, the nephew. The young man was not conscious, but Gonza could see that he was still breathing for now.

"Unfortunate, but there is still a good chance..." Gonza muttered under his breath.

The troll nourished a seed of hope that his mark soon died of their wounds or the like from that explosion, if so he could return to his master the Doctor to tell him the good news without having to face down a full party of powerful adventurers or get his hands dirty.

'That would be nice, and a lot safer,' Gonza thought to himself privately.

He had no desire to end his own life in a suicidal charge, or foolhardy misdemeanor, If he died how would he learn anything? How would he or troll kind benefit?

It was safe to say that the troll Gonza valued his own existence above that of his orders, a fact his creator would be furious to know, and one that Gonza took special considerations to hide from the Doctor's knowledge.

He chewed the tough insides of his cheeks habitually as he always did when thinking, his target and the group of humans he was focused on was greatly weakened after that intense fight with that shaman... maybe he could attempt an assault now.

'Maybe...'

Gonza stirred from his hiding place, a dense outcrop of shadowed stalagmites that hid his bulky frame, shifting around slightly to study the tired and bloody adventurers a little more before he charged on out, just to be sure this was the right time.

The two humans that were still standing, a mustached man and a very large dark human, ran about, gathering their wounded companions and dragging them towards the soft blue glow of magic exuding from the only lightly injured blonde female.

Gonza watched the unnatural glow emanating from the slim girl carefully, his eyes were not as sharp as his sense of smell, but it looked like the wounds on the unconscious or weakened adventurers were shrinking, the trickle of outflowing blood slowing.

Gonza clenched his fists in aggravation, they were healing themselves, if he was going to attack them today, now would be the time.

The troll hefted the massive blade off his back, it was an unadorned claymore but in his massive fists, it resembled more of a regular long sword, the closest thing Gonza could have to an adequate weapon.

Other trolls among his birth brood scoffed at his use of human weapons, spraying out stupidly in spittle breathed bellows, "whys we needs puny humie weapons?! Just smush em with yer fists."

Of course, Gonza ignored his loud-mouthed lout brothers, they were ignorant and lazy, they would never understand if they could not admit the ingenuity and accomplishments of humans, a species so small and weak, and yet so very numerous and dominating.

His fellow trolls had been spawned from a lab of one such human, and yet still they could not connect the dots that the race had something to give them beyond idle comforts, meat, and playthings.

The humans could give them knowledge and understanding, something Gonza alone among the trolls seemed to value.

Gonza was just about to step around his rocky cover and charge when he spotted a concerning change in the human's movements.

It was just as well he had taken that extra time to pause, because the cat-eared female was already up and walking again, revived by the other smaller blonde female, the cat eared woman appearing wobbly and anemic, but Gonza knew that even then, his opportunity had already passed.

"Rrrrrr... Blackwater!" The troll bellowed in a growl as he stepped back into cover, cursing his earlier stagnation.

He should have engaged the humans while the rat shaman was fighting them, he only hadn't at the time because he was afraid he would be hit by the crossfire between the combatants, now he realized he had made a mistake.

The cat ear human was awake which meant she could cast spells, which meant she could shoot flames, which meant she could nullify Gonza's healing factor, fire being most trolls' primary weakness.

He had seen the humans in action, and had no desire to fight all of them head-on, even in a lessened and wounded state, and if he did, he wasn't going to do it without the ability to recover from his wounds. Gonza was cautious, not stunted in mind like so many of his tank kin who undoubtedly would have charged in by now.

Tank kin other than himself hardly had the self-restraint to refrain from acts of perversion, if any others had been here with him, they surely would have seen the adventuring women, gotten all worked up, and ran straight towards their deaths, all because they could not keep sex off their minds for longer than a minute.

The hit troll grimaced at the thought of the internal weakness of his tank kin, and the missed, but likely deadly opportunity. Both things marring his already heavy bestial features with an ugly expression as he sheathed his claymore.

He could not hit his target right now, he would have to wait some more and see if he could later, that is, if his target didn't bleed out first...

Because it looked as if his target had stopped breathing.

"Rrrrmmm" Gonza rumbled dispassionately, settling back again, the troll watching as the blonde female stood, her first patient restored to a non-fatal state, before the girl dashed over in a flurry of panic to lean over Gonza's target the unmoving nephew, frantically reaching out with glowing blue hands to tend to the nephew's wounds.

The small human woman was tittering in a high voice that Gonza couldn't quite make out from where he hid, clearly in some distress as she attempted to heal the grievous damage to the unconscious boy, the numerous breaches in his bruised and battered skin bleeding profusely, letting new streams of red fluid emerge with each second, the girl growing increasingly frantic as her sorcerous effort seemed to do nothing for the boy, the young man remaining still and limp.

"Good," Gonza breathed as he watched the blonde girls struggle on the nephew's behalf, "die, so that I can spare my hand any more bloodshed."

Seeming to refuse giving up, even as more and more wounds seemingly opened on their own accord on the boneless boy, the blonde took a deep breath, lifting her hands in what looked like a silent prayer before a far more intense light shone from her hands almost blinding the troll where he hunched.

Gonza sidled further behind the stalagmites while frowning deeply, This was no mere ordinary spell the human girl was weaving.

This was something older, more potent, than the modern conventional magics of today.

Gonza lifted a fist to his eyes as the telltale flare of this unique brand of magic caused unnatural cracks to manifest midair around the straining blonde.

The troll's heavyset expression darkened as he recognized what kind of magic he was seeing.

It was Animancy, the manipulation of life and the essence of all things.

He'd read about it in one of the Doctor's forbidden books while hopefully perusing the topic of magic in case he had any latent talent.

Sadly he didn't have any such talent, but he had found an interesting document describing many of the qualities and types of recorded magics, Animancy coming up as the very last one mentioned, being the vaguest in both description and use.

Sometimes called Mors Secunda or Asinis sorcery, and at other times called creationism, it was dangerous unpredictable magic, which supposedly only the gods themselves could master. A magic that could bring the dead to life, turn the night to day, and even in some cases grant wishes, If often at a dreadful cost to both the caster and the subject of the spell.

Gonza had no idea if it truly held such unthinkable power, but he knew full well that It was a chaotic force and generally sacrificed the life energy of the caster in order to manifest, he could not begin to know where that girl had picked up knowledge enough to even cast the simplest of such dangerous spells, as the rare and likely illegal tome he had found, had only contained what to look for when identifying it, but curiously had only blank pages after the initial description.

The troll shifted uneasily, he very much hoped the human girl didn't cave the roof in somehow, it had already taken a number of explosions, and with how unstable he had read Animancy to be...

Gonza briefly imagined hundreds of thousands of tons of stone coming down on top of him, trapping him under a perpetual bed of immovable rock, leaving him to starve as he lay immobile.

It was not a good thought.

Flexing his knuckles restlessly the large simian again refocused his attention on the now brightly glowing girl.

'Best be prepared to dash if she looks like she's going to blow...' the troll mumbled to himself, as he got into a ready running position.

Growing paler by the second as the sapphire light in her hands concentrated into brilliant points, the girl, white like a sheet and trembling with effort, was about lay her shining palms onto the fading boy until a gentle hand gripped her shoulder, startling the young woman.

Gonza watched the girl almost fall forward, the hand touching her shoulder belonging to the cat-eared female from before. The cat woman still appeared heavily anemic and ghostly, but her pallid skin color was not as eye-catching as the concern set on her features, the expression showing through far more strongly on the woman's face than the discomfort of her half-healed wounds.

Shaking her head and carefully pulling the exhausted younger woman aside while speaking in a soft voice, Gonza observed the older woman, get down to kneel beside her junior companion and place her hands on the unconscious boy's chest, chanting words that the troll could not make out, but that was no doubt part of some sort of spell.

A more experienced caster on the scene, the blonde girl let the brilliant blue light and tears in reality fade from her fingers, slumping slightly to the side, features although drained, not managing to take away from the frenetic gleam in the young woman's gaze.

Stubbornly reticent, the girl sat unmoving beside the chanting cat-human, the two uninjured men's attempts to gently coax the girl away to tend her minor wounds being woefully ignored.

Refusing any sort of field dressing just to stay by the nephew's side, the blonde girl clutched the unconscious boy's loose fingers with a death grip as she remained unresponsive to outside stimuli.

Unimpeded by the stubborn girl next to her, the abhuman worked her magic, gradually closing the young man's many wounds, the more experienced healer making quick work of the mana inflicted wounds that had obstructed the blonde so thoroughly, the Nephews previously still form shifting as the young man coughed suddenly, a pulse restored to his body before falling back asleep, stillness of the grave replaced with slow steady breaths.

The nephew had been saved, and Gonza's luck was looking pretty rubbish right now.

Despite the nephews now steadily improving condition, the young mage girl gave off a tense atmosphere that did not ease up, nor did she react to the two men continuing to try get her attention so she would tend to her own lesser injuries, the mage girls intense stare staying fixated on the unconscious boy.

Observing this, the two men, one mustached, and the other huge and hulking, glanced at each other with rueful expressions, at loss for what to do for a second. The fanatical devotion the blonde was directing towards the nephew stalling them.

But... not everyone was so stymied by this.

Calling out something in an exasperated bark, the other woman, the tall one with red hair, threw a roll of cloth bandages, and a small vial of clear fluid at the blonde girl from her place lying sprawled out on the cave floor, evoking a reaction from the mage as the bandages bounced off the slight youths head.

The redhead's own wounds mostly innocuous and bandaged, the large woman firmly prompted the girl to take care of herself as she continued pelting the younger woman with other first aid items and stern words.

Having received a growling and still being peppered with the occasional medical object, the blonde girl finally blinked and relaxed a little, a sheepish expression on her face as she began to slowly treat her wounds in silence, an embarrassed blush gradually forming over her features.

Gonza snorted as he saw these interactions, he would say what he was seeing was endearing, if not for the fact he still needed that boy dead.

Feeling there was nothing left for him to see here, and any opportunity to strike had long since passed, Gonza shuffled further into the shadows of the cavern, moving around the humans to move further up ahead.

He would observe and tail them a little longer, he was in no rush to needlessly endanger himself and while the Doctor had certainly told him to kill the Nephew, his master had never specified how soon.

A loophole the troll would exploit to the maximum if only to ensure he got the best chance at survival.

Grunting aloud, Gonza melded with the dark, his charr black fur fusing with the rampant shadows of the deep cave.

He would ensure that boy died soon enough and after that, he could go home and catch up on some light and much needed reading material.

"Perhaps I should start on Triken's atomic theory when I get back or maybe the epitome of quintessence by Greedim Tasfelt, they both looked like very promising reads" Gonza mused quietly.

Slipping into the pitch black, the scholar simian of a hitman persuasion disappeared, large mass moving unseen.

Patience was his plan and knowledge his weapon, he would kill that boy when the time came.

Joel

The sky above was dark, but it was not night, the moon was whole, but it was not full.

The heights of the sky were dyed a heavy grey, but there were no clouds, the sun was up, yet its brilliance paled in comparison to the enlarged moon, the great ball of fire choked out by the heavy smog.

It was wrong...

Among the two celestial giants, blazing green beams of forking thunder split the heavens regularly to strike numerous hulking spires of bleached white bone that littered the ruined city landscape, the water in the distant lake now an ungodly bubbling red.

The land was a hellish wound on the world that festered unchallenged.

It made him feel sick, feel...

Afraid.

Standing high in his father's garden pavilion, a place usually far removed from the 'outside' concerns of the city, he felt fearful.

The city in its entirety was tainted, under the curse of something sinister, something he knew he had to stop, but didn't know why or how.

"Quite the view isn't it?" a discordant distorted voice said suddenly behind him in a light manner, the voice being neither a man's nor a woman's, with strange buzzing crackles woven into their tone, the rasping sound of metal being sharpened also echoing alongside those mocking words.

He froze, he recognized that eroded voice, it was the voice of his enemy, of that heinous villain, the one responsible for this transgression against himself and the city...

Gripping his weapon in cold clammy hands he turned to face the speaker, knowing this might well be his last moments if it was who it truly believed it to be.

Catching sight of the holder of the voice from the corner of his eyes, his stomach dropped.

It was exactly who had thought it was.

"Hello... Grimace, I didn't expect to see you again so soon.." he said as he turned fully, trepidation in his heart.

The figure behind him did not move from their position sitting on a cleaved column as they sharpened their distinctively glowing sword. But he did not fail to notice the corners of their visible mouth twitch upward behind the hooded mask of wraith-like grinning metal and cloth.

"You remember me, I'm flattered," the masked figure snickered quietly before sheathing their weapon and leaping from the pillar in a single fluid movement, landing effortlessly in front of him, outline blurring and shifting supernaturally, "but I'm not here for pleasantries little lordling, I'm here for something much more substantial, something you still owe me..."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The masked figure slowly drew a line across their neck with a finger before lazily reaching for their blade once more, their whole form wavering and shifting like an unwelcome thought, no subtlety, or hidden context in their actions, only calm confidence.

Scrambling back and holding his maul uneasily, he prepared to receive an attack, watching the masked figure with all his attention.

He knew Grimace was fast, and he was ready.

It wasn't nearly enough.

Faster than sin, pain erupted in his side, and the figure he had been watching so intently was gone, a blurring afterimage of the metal mask burned into his eyes, only to reappear by his side, blade impaled into his chest, the weapon twisted viciously and ripped free of his body before he could respond with so much as a gasp, he being kicked hard in the next second by a metal-clad boot.

Thrown off his feet by the force of the blow, he rasped unevenly trying to catch his breath but not being able to do so, one of his lungs was punctured, and some ribs also felt broken.

Trying to force himself into a sitting position, he struggled vainly, his attacker strolling over as they carefully undid the latches that kept their mask in place, seeming to split into multiple approaching people as they spoke uncaringly with an increasingly familiar voice, each figure more warped and twisted than the last.

"I didn't think I would get this opportunity truth be told," the figure admitted as they unbound several straps from their head, "I thought you would run after what we did, but I'm so glad I was wrong and that we could have this last meeting... 'Comrade'"

He felt his ears ring as his preferred term for addressing others he knew cordially was used on him. The figure undoing the last latch to pull the mask clear, revealing their true face, every single split figure clearly coming back to form a single whole.

"You!" he growled recognizing his soon-to-be murderer but being unable to name them.

"Yes, me." the smirking figure above him said smugly before driving her weapon deep into his heart.

...

Joel sat up with a start, heart racing faster than a sprinting hercant, before collapsing from a pang of pain in his gut and groaning, rolling over immediately to curl up, his body feeling weak and clammy.

Laying still for a second, Joel slowly processed his disorganized thoughts, body numb and aching all at once.

"I'm still alive," he realized feeling giddy, a feeling that was swiftly washed away when he felt another ache peak in his gut.

His face twitching, he made himself ignore the pain, pushing himself up slowly instead as he rubbed at his throbbing head and bleary eyes, able to see that he was still in the caves, the sight of the glowing crystal hyphax visible in the distance illuminating stalactites and stalagmites.

Sighing Joel tried to shake the dread in his heart from the more recent nightmare.

He could almost feel the ghostly blade of that ghastly Grimace person still in his chest.

Joel had never heard of anyone going by the name or moniker of Grimace, and the city was not going to fall or crumble anytime soon, it was far too well-defended for that, and a blood-filled lake? utter nonsense.

It was clear the nightmare was just his overworked imagination getting the better of him.

Wrinkling his brows the young man grimaced. Still, that had been quite the dream he'd just had, if his mother had been around to hear it, Joel was sure she would have something to say about it being some sort of divine message, not that he ever saw her anymore, she had stayed in Khadharra when Altriaght had left with all of his sons.

Joel personally thought it was merely a particularly vivid nightmare and nothing more, this wasn't the first time he'd had this sort of clear dream, the last time he'd had one five years ago after he had fallen three stories onto his head while practicing, waking up later at an infirmary with a head-splitting migrain and a concussion, his practicioner telling him he was lucky to be alive at all after such a nasty concussion.

That strange dream happened while he had lied unconcious and practically comatose, featuring a great black wolf.

A wolf with regal cold blue eyes that killed or mauled a litter of tiny wolf pups, the small brown wolf pups being tossed about by the larger black wolf until only three were left, all the weaker pups that were unable to weather this treatment dying swiftly.

In the distance, a fully grown chestnut-brown wolf that was distinctively smaller than the black one, had watched helplessly as the black wolf did this, the three remaining pups each reacting differently to the massive wolf before them.

The largest and oldest pup had looked towards the distant brown wolf, the bodies of its siblings, and the hulking black wolf before after a moment of hesitation, it had bared its fangs towards the expectant black wolf, swelling up in size to almost rival the ashen wolf and lashing out, carving a bloody furrow into the larger canines face, fleeing immediately after that, far faster than the angry black wolf could follow, vanishing into the distance.

Growling, the now scarred wolf had turned to the second oldest pup, a demand in its gaze as its lips rolled back to reveal its many un-wolflike and blood strewn layered teeth.

The second pup had bowed its head to the large scarred wolf and slinked up beside it, the pups brown coat dulling until it was just as inky black as the blue-eyed wolf, the same cold demeanor now perfectly mimicked by the turncoat pup.

And the third pup had only remained indecisive as it kept turning between the brown wolf and the more powerful black wolf, until eventually the black wolf lost its patience and bit the smallest pup before walking away with the second, the wounded pup limping after them as it howled, its coat neither brown nor black.

That particular fever dream had always struck a chord with Joel for some reason, but his father had dismissed it as dream garbage when he had told him and had instructed Joel not to think about it too much.

Good advice for right now, the nightmare he'd just had was surely tripe.

Dismissing the vision Joel sat up and tried to stand, ignoring his protesting body.

It was difficult and his muscles were sluggish but he was sure he could do it.

Although... not without alerting someone he had failed to notice had been sitting next to him half asleep as they leaned onto his lap.

"Wha- who? Oh, Joel! You're up!" A bedraggled Tiaahn said happily, her normally pristine hair, half plastered to the side of her face, a strand of dried saliva keeping it there.

"Yeah..." Joel said before wincing as his aching body twinged once more, "Uh Tiaahn what happened while I was out, we won right?"

"Mmmhmm" the blonde confirmed with a nod of her head as she rubbed the sleep from her sparkling eyes, "That first explosion you threw at the rat almost finished it right there and then, and after it blew itself up, only pieces of scattered fur and cloth were left of the nasty thing, well that and its staff."

Tiaahn leveraged a wooden gnarled staff off the ground that looked like a grasping hand so Joel could get a better look. Most of the charms once hanging from it were clearly destroyed, but otherwise, the twisted lump of wood was in good shape, and even without any magical talent, Joel could feel the hum of sorcery on the object.

Throwing the weapon a look of distaste the girl waved it in a circle contemptuously, "Ferra told me that this was a powerful tool and that it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to use it, but I don't really like it, especially since that gross rat thing was using it before me."

"What exactly does it do though?" Joel asked curiously, more interested in the possible specs of the object than the fact it had been wielded by a ratman.

Sighing Tiaahn rapped the staff against the ground, "It amplifies my power a bit and makes it easier to direct larger amounts of my magic at a single time."

"That sounds very useful." Joel said with a grunt, the many aching cries of his body still troubling him.

"Yeah..." Tiahhn said quietly as she placed the humming piece of wood on the floor, eyes once more entirely focused on Joel, a question on her lips.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm fine" Joel lied as he tried to stand again, he didn't like being a burden.

Probably seeing through him, Tiaahn arched her brows before placing a single hand on his chest and effortlessly pushing him back down, Joel's wobbly body being unable to resist as he collapsed.

"Joel you can't fool me," Tiaahn clucked her tongue softly, "Ferra also thought you might say something like that, she said it was a dude thing."

The girl rolled her eyes in mock exasperation as she waggled a finger before Joel's face, still managing to look more relieved than anything else.

"So you stay still and rest until the others come back, Ok"

Sensing he was not about to be able to argue, with a slim hand keeping him firmly pinned, Joel relented and lay back, asking quizzically with sigh.

"Come back? Who left?"

"Mmmm! Kale and Ferra went out ahead to scout a bit, they are the best two at recognizance apparently, and Ulfric and Jadiira are here, staying with us."

"Yo," Joel heard Jadiira say from somewhere out of sight to his left at being mentioned, an acknowledging grunt from Ulfric telling him that the khaddaran giant was likewise, closeby.

Sitting silently for a moment, the light air grew somber as Tiaahn seemed to have a change of mood.

"You know Joel... You had me seriously worried for a little bit, you had severe mana poisoning only a few minutes ago, your body completely overloaded with that disgusting rat's mana," the sleight girl clipped her sentence in a slight frown as she mentioned the word rat again, eyes moistening slightly.

Shaking her head as Joel listened, the blonde young woman said with pursed lips, her tone growing aggrieved.

"It was what prevented me from healing you, to the point that you were teetering the edge of death, just out of my reach and then you..." Tiaahn looked away for a moment before staring Joel in the eyes," and then you- you stopped breathing and I thought we- 'I' had lost you." The girl finished in a half-choked voice.

Trying to rise into a sitting position again, Joel felt some of the air get knocked out of his lungs as the distraught girl embraced him in a tight hug, his mind digesting what his friend had said even as he attempted to comfort the uneasy blonde.

'Mana poisoning? I died?!!!' Joel blinked as he slowly hugged Tiaahn back with one arm, getting a whiff of the perfume of her hair in the process. Mana poisoning was one thing, it was a pretty serious condition, especially when one was adventuring, as it interfered with other types of beneficial magic, most prominently healing or curative spells, not to mention if left untreated could lead to organ failure or heart attacks, no wonder his body hurt all over, but death? he felt plenty alive if his complaining body was anything to go by.

With his single freehand Joel felt the places where he knew he had been hit with shrapnel, only feeling smooth skin under the cloth wrappings, if he'd had mana poisoning how were his wounds already healed? surely he had not been unconscious for that long?

He did not have to wait long for the answer.

Her breathing uneven as she clung to him like a sticker Tiaahn whispered raggedly "if it weren't for the fact th- that Ferra was there to drain some of the mana out of your w- wounds and pull you back from the void you- you would have- would have..."

The girl broke down into sobbing, moistening Joel's shirt with her tears in a way that felt almost nostalgic, a brief flash of imagery of the first time he had met her at the founding five years ago blazing through his head.

Doing what he had done back then, but with much more familiarity, Joel returned the embrace with both arms, the girl melting into his arms.

"Don't you dare pull a stunt like that again!" Tiaahn whispered into Joel's chest, her hug only tightening further.

"I'll do my best," Joel promised with a smile that slowly turned into a wince as his tender flesh spasmed.

"But uhh, maybe you could ease up on the hug, I think my spine is about to pop out."

Heartache eased, Tiaahn snorted before falling back with wet tears in her eyes, loosening her grip, "I'm sorry Joel, I'm not used to being the strong one." Tiaahn teased playfully, "Should I call you princess while you recover."

Joel laughed, "You may call me whatever you like today Tiaahn, I don't think any of us would still be here if I had not had you."

Tiaahn flushed a deep shade of crimson at the praise, a bashful expression on her face as she moved a bit closer again.

"Pfft! Flatterer." she breathed, her tone growing husky.

"Admit it, you love it." Joel shot back with a smile.

"Or maybe... I just like to watch you struggle to find the words." Tiaahn said leaning in.

"No, you could never be so cruel," Joel said quietly staring into Tiaahns brilliant blue eyes.

"Could I?" Tiaahn whispered, her breath hot on Joel's neck, "Maybe I haven't shown you everything..."

Tiaahn was practically lying over him and both of them were breathing fast, their eyes locked on each other, Tiaahns pupils were dilated so wide Joel swore he could almost see stars on the other side, and his own heart was thumping away in his chest like a drum gone wild, and not because he was in pain.

An echoing voice in Joel's head rang warning bells, telling him he was letting this go too far, 'the consequences of letting things get intimate...'

Joel hesitated, but Tiaahn did not, wordlessly she leaned in, blue eyes almost glimmering as she pushed her lips against his own, an electric current flowing through the contact as Joel at first resisted, the fears of what his father might think briefly holding him back as the scars on his back tingled, but only briefly, a passion that had lain subdued until now breaching the surface of his self-restraint.

Pulling Tiaahn towards him, his pain forgotten, Joel responded to the advances instinctually, his hands wrapping around her waist as he sat up, pulling Tiaahn up with him, their lips meeting passionately as the depths of his uninhibited desire surged, Tiaahn's flushed face only parting from his own long enough to sigh in satisfaction, the desire he felt, mirrored in her own gleaming eyes.

Sitting on his lap as she stared up at him with a dewy look, Joel could not help but notice Tiaahn's exquisite beauty, she was slim but in no way unwomanly, if anything her sleight figure emphasized her femininity, and her delicate features gave her a fairy-like quality, Joel had always thought her attractive, but he had always denied further thoughts any space in his head, seeing her only as his friend as he had been required to.

That way of thinking was done, and now Joel could not ignore the strong attraction he felt to the woman in front of him.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, Joel leaned down to kiss Tiaahn once more taking it slower this time, his mind while distracted, still managing to catch snippets of conversation being held behind him by the nearby adults, primarily Jadiira.

"Ulfric! Ulfric!! The kids! They're making out!"

"Mmmmph..." the large man grunted, most of his words lost to Joel outside of his initial grunt, as Joel was deep in the bliss of human intimacy.

"You can't see it!? they are right there! Mashing their faces together!"

"Mehhh..." The giant likely shrugged.

"What do you mean so what?! We can't let them do it here in the caves!!?"

"Mmmmm..."

"Oh! so just because you and Ferra ride the ol' pony all the time in the caves, that means it's ok for kids to do it? that's you and Ferra! This is them! They are too young, it's different!"

"Hmph..." The giant rumbled in a factual reply.

"They might be adults by noble court law, but doesn't make it ok! What if Tiaahn gets pregnant? and then a whole court intrigue happens just because they made out in a cave?"

"Mmmhmmm..." Ulfric snorted before huffing in a superior tone.

"What!!? I am not jealous! I can get a man any time I feel like it! I just don't." Jadiira hissed uncomfortably.

It was getting to the point both Joel and Tiaahn could not take themselves seriously anymore and despite the rising ardor, separated themselves to glare at the nosey pair of seemingly watching adults.

"A little privacy would be nice," Tiaahn said with narrowed eyes at the adults, clear impatience shining in her flinty eyes as her head whipped about at the continuing interruption.

Likewise irritated that the moment of intense passion was ruined, Joel looked at Jadiira with a stony face.

Standing tall with folded arms, Jadiira was tapping a foot rhythmically, looking unusually cross and flustered, Ulfric on the other hand, was sitting on a knee-high rock with his back faced towards them looking uninterestedly into the far gloom, his eyes barely moving from his position of vigil, the big man focused on his axe, which he was polishing, more than anything else.

Having spotted the two no longer making love, the older adventuring woman seemingly satisfied said aloud, "Good, you two have stopped messing around, and no, we can't give you privacy as that would leave you vulnerable to attacks from monsters."

Placing her hands together as she leaned over them, the tall woman explained in an almost patronizing voice, "so sorry, but that's how things go in the caves, no privacy, no unplanned split-ups, and no compromising positions..."

Joel heard Ulfric chuckle behind Jadiira as she said the last part, and watched as the woman closed her eyes in a grimace before turning around smacking Ulfric on the back, which only made the big man laugh harder, his massive frame heaving as the Khaddaran had a hearty chuckle at the woman's expense.

Clearly vexed by this, the red-haired Jadiira pursed her lips before deciding to remain silent and sit down beside Ulfric, doing her best to ignore the deep chuckles emanating behind her, instead, placing two fingers under her eyes before pointing both at Joel and Tiaahn in a sort of 'I'm watching you' gesture.

Unimpressed, Joel, and Tiaahn glanced at each other, the aroused mood killed dead, but the emotional sensitivity still fresh.

Joel watched as a gentle radiant smile grew on Tiaahns face, a smile that looked different from her smiles of before as she slowly wove her fingers into his own.

'Had she changed? or was it him who had changed?' Joel asked himself briefly uncertain what he had just done.

It was safe to say that she had forgiven him, but If Altriaght were here, he certainly would not approve of this... arrangement.

But at that moment, with Tiaahn's hand in his own, Joel didn't care.

And like that, the world seemed like a slightly warmer and kinder place.

...

It was only a few minutes later that Kale and Ferra returned, the mustachio leader immediately noticing the looks being passed between Joel and Tiaahn, the man stroking his wobbling stache with an entertained expression.

"You seem to be doing rather well for someone who just had mana poisoning, did something happen while I was away?"

"Nothing much," Joel responded lightly, hand still tightly wrapped around Tiaahn's, his best friend nodding beside him.

"Really?" Kale raised an eyebrow before glancing at the pouty Jadiira.

"Yes, I made sure of that," the irritated woman muttered dryly before standing up, "please take the reigns now K, these kids are really taxing my nerves."

Kale shook his head exaggeratedly, an amused countenance to his features, "For one who enjoys flirting with others Jadi, you aways did get very shifty when the end results were lain before you."

"Kale..." the large woman said warningly, her tone low as her green eyes flickered between the posturing adventurer and the youth in front of her, "Not here... please."

"Alright, alright... never say I can't take a hint," Kale waved his hands in dismissal before his expression grew more serious.

"How well do you actually feel Joel?" The man turned to Joel, "you took a nasty hit while fighting that shaman, and our objective in coming here is just up ahead, behind a few stone doors if our sources are correct, can you stand?"

'Maybe' Joel thought to himself, bracing his legs before forcing his muscle to propel him up, Tiaahn helping him out as she pulled him to his feet, "I think I will manage," Joel said shortly.

He was eager to get this expedition done as well, he'd had his fill of the dungeon, the dark, and its denizens for now. The sooner they got whatever they had come here for, the sooner they could leave. Joel had seen more than enough rodents for a lifetime.

Eyeing Joel carefully the more mature adventurer asked once more, "are you sure? your wounds were not insignificant."

"I'm good," Joel nodded his head once, "let's keep going."

Stepping up beside her leader with Urlfic now following behind her, Ferra said in a whisper, having already returned to her normally quiet voice, "He should be fine Kale, his heart is beating strong, I got rid of most his mana poisoning, and all his wounds are sealed, so long as he does not get into any more fights in the near future, he will be ok."

Still a little doubtful, Kale nonetheless lifted his voice and a hand to signal their departure.

"I'll take your word on it Ferra," the blonde man tilted his head, before gesturing with both arms, the dangling cords on his hat flailing wildly, "now everyone stick close, the following area is laced with magical traps and enchantments, most of which are fatal, do not walk anywhere except for where I walk, got it? Good! let's go!."

Sauntering off in his usual fashion, everyone filed in behind Kale, Jadirra right behind him, Joel and Tiaahn behind her, and Ferra and Ulfric bringing up the rear to form one long chain.

They walked silently for a few minutes through the stone corridors that were steadily growing more geometric and clean-cut, more and more inscriptions carved into the stonework of the dungeon walls, unreadable to Joel with his limited knowledge, but Kale seemed to understand most of it.

"These carvings in the walls here tell the story of how Rattervahn ruled the surface hundreds and hundreds of years ago," Kale said idly as he held a lantern containing hyphax up.

Looking surprised Tiaahn asked aloud, "Did these nasty flea bags really rule the surface at some point?"

Not answering her question immediately Kale walked ahead carefully treading left and right occasionally to avoid hidden traps, the party following just behind him, "All the oldest historic records pertain towards the Rattervahn at one point having a large domain on the surface, apparently, they even traded with other surfacers at the time, but I never actually found evidence to support the idea they ruled the entire surface world, only a very large swathe of it,"

The man gestured for everyone to slide along the wall with him taking a wide berth around a suspicious looking pile of rocks, everyone following his lead before he spoke on, "It was the largest single empire in the history of the world really, they even had advanced technologies we don't have now." Kale said tweaking his mustache, "Of course, the Sol impuriam would deny that fact."

Having difficulty imagining the Rattervhan as advanced Tiaahn asked behind Joel with a halting voice, "If these... 'vermin' had such a mighty empire how were they reduced to this?" the girl pointed at the empty hallways that were cracked and aged.

"Oh, we did that."

"We?" Tiaahn replied.

"Well more like we, as in humanity, did most of that," Kale shrugged, "it was the combined forces of the Crescent theocracy, or as it was called at the time the crescent church, 'the free nations,' an alliance of small countries that were later annexed by the Sol impuriam," Kale explained before going on, "and a large collection of various demihuman clans that put down the Rattervahn when they tried to expand their territory aggressively in a war called simply by historians 'the first world war.'"

Joel bobbed his head, he had heard of that war, but it was spoken more as a myth than reality, and no demihumans were ever mentioned aiding humanity in the versions of it that Joel had heard, instead, it had been humanity alone that had driven the evil ratmen down into the tunnels after heroically besting the rodents despite the rats greater numbers.

Joel suspected Kales's rendition of the event was closer to the truth than the one he was most familiar with.

"After the war, the ratman empire was shattered and crushed into dust, the survivors fleeing for their lives into the many caves and pathways under the earth, to become a nuisance to the civilizations that moved into the ruins of their destroyed empire." kale finished, massaging his golden plumes thoughtfully.

"is that what the inscriptions on the walls say?" Joel queried.

"No," Kale said with a shake of his head, "after the initial description they mostly rant on about how the surfacers are scum and will die for their insolence when their messiah comes back."

"They had a messiah?" Joel frowned, he had never heard anything like that before

"Just their glorified king most likely," Kale said with a dismissive attitude, "that sort of deifying of leadership is really quite common, their king was slain at the climax of the war, and after that, the Rattervahn collapsed pretty quickly, at least according to most records that I found."

Joel paused, it was interesting to think that the ratfolk held such beliefs, looking up Joel asked "How long ago did this war happen exactly?

"No solid idea, maybe roughly 2300 years ago by my guess, the records are all vague on the precise year"

"That is a long time to be waiting for a messiah,"

"Yes well," Kale wrinkled his nose, "the rats that lived here haven't seemed to have lost heart, the carvings on the walls keep repeating the same thing, 'the messiah will return and destroy the surfacers.'"

"No chance of the rats giving up on revenge and sewing for some sort of peace?" Tiaahn said with an expectant expression, still holding Joel's hand from behind.

"None," Kale denied, "you saw how dedicated they were to killing us back there, they threw away their lives just in an attempt to destroy us, hatred and distrust are strong on both sides, bitter memories and jealousy fueling the fire, not to mention a long history of bloodshed between us and them."

"Also," Kale noted as he tapped his chin, "there isn't much reason to interact with the rats anymore, any secrets of technology they once had, they have surely lost by now, and they have little to nothing to trade save for hides and bones.

Clearly, still a little ruffled from earlier, Jadirra with a frowny face, turned around to add to Kale's words.

"Anyone who actively deals with the Rattervahn probably has criminal intent or history, no one else would be so desperate, the rodents think nothing of killing us surfacers."

Joel remained silent after hearing that, he did not like the ratfolk at all given his recent encounters but it seemed foolish for the ratmen to continue the stubborn hate of humanity based on an event that happened over two thousand years ago.

But then he understood hate somewhat, blaming and hating others was really easy.

Mind occupied, Joel bumped into Jadiira when they suddenly stopped walking, the tall woman shooting him a frown as Joel apologized, the leader of their convoy crying out in a pleased sentence.

"Ahhh here we are! The gates of Thoom, Ferra already undid the enchantment on these."

Looking up at a pair of huge stone doors, Joel saw that they were engraved with intricate imagery depicting an enormous horned humanoid creature that vaguely resembled an upright rodent standing on a mountain of what looked like human corpses.

Vaguely rat-like was an accurate description, as the depicted creature was far too fearsome to resemble something as feeble as a rat, the eyes on the depiction being blood-red rubies embedded into the door, the monster looking closer to an armored knight of teeth, bone and pointed edges than anything resembling a simple rat, multiple muscular tails splitting from its waist, each one covered in sharp spines, some even impaling still living, screaming humans.

Joel assumed this was a picture of the Rattervahns messiah and wanted to study the door a little longer despite himself.

But not everyone cared for that, less concerned with the masterfully carved imagery Jadiira questioned her party leader.

"The doors are called the gates of Thoom? Why?"

Kale smiled wordlessly before with a single hand, he pushed the door effortlessly, which smoothly swung open to make a distinct sound as the door struck the walls either side with some force.

THOOM!

"That's why," the man chuckled as he entered the now accessible space, a redhead massaging her brows at the lame wordplay as she followed.

Trailing after Kale, Joel felt his eyes widen as they walked into a large well lit chamber, Tiaahn likewise clenching his hand in shock as they saw what lay before them.

The room they had walked into was at least thirty meters large in all directions, it was clean and lacked any sort of damage, the walls being a marble white, gold and various other minor treasures like goblets or jeweled daggers were stacked in orderly corners or in out of place shelves made from animal bones, these shelves filling the entire room save for the walkways in between them.

"A treasury," Ulfric rumbled, "not what we're here for, but feel free to help yourselves." the giant said as he strode past the gawping pair, the rest of Clairvoyance moving past the treasure without so much as a second glance to come to a standstill by a door very much like the last one.

Neither Tiaahn nor Joel were particularly in need of money, although Joel wouldn't mind replenishing his recently depleted savings.

The flash of a smirking Lescar filtered into Joel's head briefly, annoying him as he remembered her extortion.

That blackmailing thief had taken quite the chunk of change out of him, restocking his coin pouch was a welcome opportunity.

Collecting a few small odds and ends that could sell for a fair bit, Joel and Tiaahn made their way over to the next stone door.

All the older adults were staring at the somehow more imposing door, the engraved picture on this one simply being an inhuman face, that of an enormous horned skull, a skull that looked very much similar to the head of the monster on the first door.

The door gave off an ominous atmosphere and Joel looked away, an uneasy sensation in his chest turning instead to ask Kale aloud.

"Is the thing you are after behind this door?"

"Here's hoping," Kale said breathlessly before motioning to Ulfric and Jadiira.

"You two do your thing, Normally I'd prefer to open the door the way it was intended, but today I think I'll make an exception." the mustached man tipped his hat, the twinkle in his eyes brighter than normal.

"Ooh impatient," Jadiira smirked, her usual snark coming back strong, "Ok then leader I'm on it,"

The amazon turned to the Khaddaran beside her, "shall we Ulfric?"

The big man nodded slowly before striding up to take the front, pulling down a metal visor Joel had never seen him wear even when fighting, the huge man flexing and stretching before lowering himself into a runners stance, his axe placed on the ground to the side.

"I'm ready," the Khaddaran said in his calm base voice.

"Ok, here it comes!" Jadiira exclaimed, the tall adventurer taking a deep breath behind Ulfric as static blue electricity ran up and down her body making her hair rise into the air, the force concentrating until the red-haired woman looked like a glowing conductor.

"Go!" Jadiira shouted as she leaped onto Ulfric's back, locking her legs around his waist in an impromptu piggyback, the energy coursing through her body now flowing instead, directly through Ulfrics.

Letting out a growl, the already big man seemed to swell up even larger, his muscles expanding to twice the size and quadruple the power.

With an explosive heave, the hulk of a man launched off the floor to home in on the door, an unstoppable wall of muscle looming down against a thick imposing marble door.

The door never stood a chance.

With an almighty crash, Ulfric barreled through the pitiful obstruction, shattering the once imposing door into shards, Jadiira holding on tightly for dear life as the two of them disappeared into the resulting cloud of dust, only silence and dust in the air after the two vanished.

Stunned into quiet for a second Tiaahn responded before Joel could, "Uhh... are they alright?"

"They are fine," Kale rubbed his palms together eagerly, mustache quivering with excitement, "this is not the first time they have done this."

Stepping through the ruined stonework of the once door, Joel and Tiaahn followed the excitable Kale, entering a room that was distinctly different from the well lit and cared for one they had just left.

For one, it was really dark in here, only dim lighting that seemed to have no source illuminating the room, the light from the other room unable to penetrate whatever sorcery was at play.

Secondly, it felt cold in here, like really unnaturally cold, Joel could see his breath misting up in front of him, and thirdly there was a weird feeling in the air here, a niggling tickle.

Joel took a second longer to put a finger on it, then realized what it was, the mana was dense in here, much denser than in the rest of the dungeon, so much so that Joel could feel the ambient energy in every chilling breath he took, and Joel had no extrasensory powers.

'Why wasn't this spread out over the dungeon?' Joel questioned, 'mana would always disperse and spread if it could, why was it all bunched up in this one room?'

Narrowing his eyes Joel made sure to tighten his grip on Tiaahns hand, this room was weird and he did not like it.

As the dust from the ruined door cleared, more of the room became visible, what looked like white suites armor standing by the sides of the room paired off opposite from one another just like in a procession.

Joel watched these suspicious suites of pale armor shaped clearly for the Rattervahn physique, the suits didn't move an inch, each suit of armor standing next to a pedestal that contained various singular items.

Most of these items looked like garbage or bits of flotsam, but considering the place of them, each one was clearly highly valued by the Rattervahn.

There were a couple of old bone charms, a necklace with strange rounded black teeth on it, a scrap of cloth that looked like a piece of an old flag, a carved metal cube, and most disturbingly at the end of the thin long room, a taller pedestal that held a massive, horned skull.

Joel felt his eyes drawn to the skull, something was seriously odd about it, he felt like it was watching him, despite its hollow sockets being empty and lifeless.

Tearing his sight away from it with difficulty, Joel looked down, Kale had stopped walking and was tapping on the shoulders of two mortar covered groaning groggy people, Ferra already checking them over.

"Can you hear me Jadiira, Ulfric?"

"Yesh..." Jadiira mumbled through her numb lips as Ulfric lifted his shaking fist into a thumbs up.

"Ok, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Ugghhh... seven," the moaning woman muttered, the big man lifting up the same amount of fingers.

"Good, and can you feel this?"

"Ow! Hey don't pinch me!" Jadiira groused slapping the abhuman's hand away.

"And that's a yes," Ferra said looking pleased with herself, "they are completely fine Kale, just a little dizzy from exchanging mana."

"Great! you two can stand, right? wouldn't wanna miss this just because of a little bit of dizziness"

Grumbling a little but growing steadily more excited looking herself, Jadirra straightened up, Ulfric already looming behind her, the khaddaran shaking the queasiness off with ease.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" the woman said tuning her head on an angle to get a crick out of her neck, "so where is our little prize."

"Right here," Kale motioned with flair as he picked up the carved box on the closest pedestal.

The whole party's eyes zoomed up on the unassuming metal cube, including Joel's.

"it's kinda more square than what I envisioned," Ferra said looking a little underwhelmed,

"No, no, no," Kale rolled his eyes "it's not this, this is merely its container" the adventurer shook the carved cube, "a container made out of Chronaal, I just need to open it somehow..."

Kale started tapping the box before placing it to his ears, trying to feel out any latches or hidden groves, turning the cube in his hand while he watched it with narrowed eyes, and in general doing his best to open the box.

The adventurer spent what to had been a good five minutes fiddling with the cube, only to be met with no progress, Kale's reddening face clearly showing his frustration.

"Ugghh I can't find any lock on this thing or any sort of mechanisms at all," the irritated man sighed, "Jadiirra why don't you give it a look, see if you can find any enchantments on it of any sort."

Tossing the cube at the intrepid amazon, Kale looking mildly annoyed sat down on the nearby pedestal, waiting for his companion's input.

Looking slightly amused by her leader's chagrin, Jadiira first sat down with her legs crossed before she began to turn the cube over in her hands, an expression of intense focus on her face that slowly transitioned to a frown, until finally with a look of disgust not too dissimilar from Kale's she placed the cube on the floor.

"I can sense something, but I can't tell what it is, what it does, how to activate it, or for that matter how to disable it, whatever is there it's way beyond my skills."

"Let me try," Ferra offered, snatching the cube off the ground.

With a blank face, Ferra held the cube in one hand for thirty seconds before blinking and grimacing, fingers tightening on the engraved cube.

"Yeah... I can see what you mean Jadiira, that's an insanely complicated and robust enchantment in there, I can't even see the end of it, it just keeps going, and..." the cat-woman said in a heavy tone, "I think it might even have countermeasures if we try to open it by force..."

"How are we meant to open it then?" Kale wondered out loud, "it would be quite the joke if we came all this way just to be stopped by a glorified lockbox."

The adults all looked glumly at the box before Ulfric gestured towards Ferra, lifting his palm.

"Do you want to try Ulfric?"

"Yes," the khaddaran answered in his low voice.

"Ok, but I don't think you'll have any luck."

Handing the box over, everyone watched as Ulfric simply held the metal object in his hands before shaking his head, handing it straight back to Ferra.

"Great," Kale sighed, "so I suppose we will have to go find a professional enchanter or maybe even a lockmaster to try opening this thing."

"Maybe not, give the kids a shot," Ulfric suggested.

"Seriously!" Jadiira frowned "if we can't do it, they certainly aren't gonna be able to, come on Ulfric!"

"No wait, maybe Ulfric has a point," Kale interjected, "it won't cost us or them anything so let them try."

Joel watched as the box was shoved into Tiaahns hands, the blonde girl letting go of his hand in order to catch the cube.

"Uhhhh," Tiaahn floundered, the rare air of confusion about her, " I don't really know what you are expecting me to do with this, but I definitely can't open this box."

Tiaahn offered the box back to the older adventurers but they all instead pointed at Joel with expectant looks.

With a slightly concerned expression, she passed the box to Joel.

When Joel touched the box he noticed two things, it was very warm, warmer than it should in this cold room, and that it was vibrating, releasing an almost imperceptible hum.

Picking it up and lifting it to his left ear, he could have sworn he heard an unpleasant heavily warped tinny voice say.

[Possible zzzZZzzz Identified]

Creasing his brows Joel was about to pull the cube away when he heard an audible click sound, the young man bringing it around to his eyes to observe a startling change.

A small round button had appeared where once there had been nothing, a circle perforated by a small line at the top being emblazoned on this newly appeared button.

With a strange feeling of deja vu, Joel pressed the button, the hiss of pressurized air escaping the unlocked box.

"The hell! he opened it!" Jadiira said disbelievingly, all of the adventurers quickly crowding around Joel trying to get a look at the box that was slowly opening on its own.

As the box opened what was inside surprised Joel.

'It was... a weirdly sharp glowing key?'

Picking it up Joel held the key in one hand, the metal of the key felt strange in his hand, it was warmer than even the box had been, was light as a feather, and... it pulsed...

Pulsed like the beating of a heart.

Joel held the key before his eyes, it was almost transparent and inside its clear metallic insides Joel could see what looked like millions of numbers and letter

Pulling it further away from his face, Joel studied the shape of the key, at its head the same symbol that had been on the box button was the shape that the key head took, that of a circle penetrated by a single line.

The key blade itself was even stranger, as unlike most key blades, it actually was a blade, the end of the key coming to form a long tapering pair of edges that looked sharp enough to cut a tissue paper falling on it.

"Ooooh! it's shiny!" Jadiira murmured while licking her lips, eyes slightly glazed over.

"What is it?" Tiaahn breathed over Joel's shoulder as she stared at the strange object.

Spotting Kales expectant hand over his shoulder Joel with a strange sense of disquiet handed the glowing key to the senior adventurer, it didn't feel right handing over the key to someone else for some reason.

"This," Kale said clenching the key firmly between two fingers, a look of gleeful victory on his face, "is all the proof I needed to confirm some of my theories on Paragons!"

"Paragons? The people who protect us from demons, darkspawn, and evil? what on Guiettes do they have to do with that bit of glowing metal?" Tiaahn frowned with skepticism, "and you still haven't told us what that thing is."

Laughing in an almost booming voice, Kale choked out mirthfully,

"Why, it has everything to do with paragons of course my dear," Kale said in a still very much gleeful tone, "you see, within my hands lies one of the means of producing those powerful champions of humanity."

"The system key, something I had heard of only in rumors and rumors of legends, the thing right here in my hands," Kale chuckled, "is what makes a paragon so unnaturally potent."

Joel looked from Kales beaming smile to the key in his fingers, the key was certainly a strange piece of metalwork, but did it really have that much power?

The most recent and still living Paragon as far as Joel was concerned, Harkon Jordburster, had been able to level cities and mountains with his insane strength, Not even his dad, a freak of nature could match the holy fury of a full-blown Paragon, could a tiny key like that just give someone that kind of strength? Joel doubted it.

Clearly thinking that sounded a tad much as well, Tiaahn said in a slightly confused voice, "Ok... so what do you plan to do with It?"

"Do with It?" Kale blinked, "why Nothing really, what I intend to do is publish the book I was working on while using this as physical proof of my writings," Kale looked up from the key, "you two knew I'm an archeologist and history nut right? surely you heard that about me?"

Joel looked back at the busted stone door behind them, now nothing more than a pile of rubble, he was pretty sure Archeologists did not break the places they were excavating so casually.

Sharing a look with Tiaahn, Joel grinned at her as she smiled back, archeological stuff aside, they had certainly heard things about Kale, but mostly negative things from their relatives or cohorts, as Kale, even though he was also nobility, wasn't exactly liked by most of the Octaal upper class, as he was to down to earth, approachable, and did not make the peasants tremble in their boots out of boredom.

All things real aristocracy considered to be uncivil, especially the part about not making peasants tremble in their boots.

Distracted by this thought Joel did not notice the slight force on his waist until the source pushed her way past Joel, Ferra being the smallest save for Tiaahn, was panting slightly from exertion as she worked her way through the throng of bigger bodies, poking her head through one of the few remaining free spaces to look up at the key, she asked curiously.

"How does it work? do you eat it or hold it to your chest?"

"That I don't exactly know," Kale admitted looking very sorry for his ignorance, "but this baby can do a lot of things if the stories about Paragons are consistent with the keys powers."

The grin he had shared with Tiaahn gradually slipping from his face as the chill in the air grew, Joel asked out loud "So are we going back?"

This place was interesting and so was the key, but the huge skull on the furthest pedestal was beginning to unnerve him.

The feeling of it watching him had grown stronger ever since he had touched the key, he could almost feel the red glowing lights in its sockets starring into his soul.

Wait... it didn't have lights in its sockets before, and it now wasn't even on the pedestal, where did it...

Turning with wide eyes to search for the leering skull, Joel was far too slow to call out a warning.

"UUURRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" a humongous rattervahn wearing a hauberk and pants screeched, its battle cry enhanced by the mystical skull it was wearing into a mind seizing attack that froze Joel and everyone else in place save for Tiaahn, the staff she had gotten from the rat shaman lighting up with a silver light, protecting her from the effects of the sonic attack.

The bestial voice echoing around the chamber maddeningly Joel could only watch as the large rattervahn he recognized as the one that fled the battlefield earlier skittered past, dashing forward on all four limbs, ignoring the paralyzed humans in favor of sprinting for the ruined door, the massive horned skull barely shifting on its head, the dense swirl of mana following behind the skull as the Rattervahn carried it off away from Joel and the others.

Seeing that there was only one enemy and looking worriedly at her stature still companions Tiaahn hefted her glowing silver staff, lifting it into a clumsy stance before stepping in front of her unmoving friends aiming to protect them from the charging ratman, the tendrils of water forming around her, rising up into thick columns.

Even if she was not used to using it yet, the staff was still making a significant difference to her power.

In response, to this use of the staff, the ratmans eyes bulged then narrowed into slits, red liquid suddenly seeping from the corners of its ruby eyes, and Joel in his immobile frozen state felt such palpable raw hatred directed towards Tiaahn at that moment that he wanted to choke.

Breathing suddenly ragged, the ratman redirected it's course, no longer running on all fours towards the exit, but on three as it drew a jagged blade of bone from a sheath on its back, its leaking eyes focused on Tiaahn's face and her staff, its jaw clenched as it panted, steam rising steadily from its nostrils.

Seeing this change in behavior Tiaahn swung the staff forward, the watery columns on either side of her following the movement and surging forward one after another.

Wrinkling its lip, the charging rat-man did not flinch at the approaching pillars splashing towards him and instead danced out of the way of the first before cutting the second down with a silvery flash before it could even begin to fall, sprinting on without pause.

A look of shock on her face as she realized the rat-man had easily dealt with the columns Tiaahn scrunched up her face and summoned numerous waves, columns, and bladed tendrils as she swung the staff above her head like a baton.

A spiteful scowl on its face, the nimble skull clad rodent hissed and skittered rapidly as it evaded every tendril that flailed at it, jumped over every wave seeking to wash it away, and cut down every single pillar meant to pulverize it, getting closer with each passing second to Tiaahn, who was tiring swiftly at her rapid expenditure, her pillars coming less frequently and the waves getting smaller.

Helplessly Joel watched as the rodent sped towards his childhood friend, unable to do anything himself.

He knew Tiaahn was hopeless in a direct melee and once the rodent got into striking range, which it soon would, it was over for her.

Feeling a deep sense of fear come over him at the thought, Joel redoubled his efforts to move, straining with every fiber of his being to move, just an inch!

Gritting her teeth Tiaahn pulled on her remaining reservoirs of power and pulled what looked like a gigantic wall of spikes into existence, the wavering watery spines launched at the charging rodent, the moving wall of water sounding out with the roar of a mighty ocean.

Unfazed, the skullrat, still running, pulled itself upright, another clawed hand reaching for a second weapon of bleached bone on its back, both weapons held out behind it as it ran bipedally to meet the towering wall of magical destruction.

Its face screwing up with anger, the rat pushed off the ground to meet the watery obstruction, twisting midair as it did so, avoiding the majority of the spikes as the rest in its path were cleaved straight through by the ratmans whirling silver weapons, the rodent diving into, then out of the rippling wall of liquid to roll and land on the other side unscathed, red eyes blazing furiously.

'No!' Joel cried internally as he felt some feeling come back into his fingers.

Holding the staff out in front of her with trembling arms, Joel watched as Tiaahn desperately threw up what little magic was left to her, the thin lines of water being easily sliced to ribbons by the now slowly approaching skullrat, the rattervahn calling out in its native tongue to jeer at her as it approached, teasing the last filaments of magical threat out of its prey.

Joel felt the whole use of his right hand come back to him, but still could not move the rest, 'he needed to get out there NOW!'

Despite his determination, his body did not free itself any perceptibly faster.

Tiaahn now running on fumes could barely work up the strength to summon a droplet of water, and the skull rat could surely sense it as the ratman casually sheathed his weapons.

Opening its mouth the ratman at last said something Joel could understand, pointing at the staff held limply in Tiaahns arms,

"My name-title is Worgraak the first fang, and that was Vanglings, my Cheif-father-parents staff." the rat said simply in a deep heavily accented voice while starring at Tiaahn, red eyes narrowed and still moist from the liquid seeping from the corners.

"I will make your friends-allies watch as I kill-eat you, just as you killed-destroyed him." the large rat ground out dropping back to all fours, poised to pounce upon the exhausted and burnt-out mage.

Too tired to respond, Tiaahn barely had the strength to lift the staff and swing it one last time as the Rattervahn lunged towards the almost defenseless girl

'Almost defenseless.'

The confident rattervahn had apparently forgotten one of the original uses of a staff was to bludgeon your enemies.

The silver entwined staff collided with the skull on an angle sending the preternaturally stuck headwear off to the side, the staff likewise launched in that direction, as the Ratman bowled into Tiaahn knocking her off her feet.

Not failing to notice the skull had been knocked clean off, Worgraak growled before leaping onto prone girl in an attempt to bite her face off, Tiaahn kicking and struggling as the ratman missed, his teeth snapping at empty air, interrupted by the human girls hastily raised hands.

Visible spite on his elongated snout, the ratman slapped Tiaahn's shielding hands away easily before opening his jaws wide to chomp down at the girl's head, instead, clamping down on her shoulder, as the prey beneath him jerked out of the way.

Expression twisted in pain as she writhed under her attacker, Tiaahn could not help but scream as the massive rodent crouching over her, gnawed her right arm open, blood spurting everywhere as the thrashing girl flailed helplessly, her punches to the ratmans head going unnoticed by the more powerful demihuman.

Even with most of the feeling in his body returned to him the moment that the skull came off Worgraaks head, Joel still couldn't move more than a twitch as Tiaahn fought, the terror only building inside him as the girl he had opened his heart to, struggled for her life.

Holding the wriggling girl mostly still with his bloody mouth, the hissing Rattervahn drew his razor-tipped claws and began to stab again and again at her abdomen, seeking to disembowel his prey, fatal blows being deflected by the mail that Tiaahn wore under her outer armor

Sensing his blows being absorbed by a layer of chain mail and frustrated by the resistance of his quarry, Worgraak arched his back, hard.

His teeth still clamped onto Tiaahns slender shoulder, the rodent pulled backward, tearing a chunk out of the now shrieking girl, maiming her, the whole upper half of her arm sheared of its muscle content as it was ripped away, Tiaahn's cries of agony high and shrill as the ratman swallowed the goblet of still quivering muscle and fat, the tortured girl finally going limp beneath the hostile rodent, overwhelmed.

His heart racing with terror and violent wrath at the sight of Tiaahn lying bonelessly on the floor beneath the panting bloody ratman, who was sluggishly dragging one of the silvery blades of bone from his back. Joel strained against the spell binding him, the sound of Tiaahn's scream of agony reverberating in his ears, anger like never before surging violently in his chest and mind, a flurry of foreign images shooting through his head faster than he could comprehend.

"You can't take her from me! YOU CAN'T!!!" Joel raged oblivious to the speeding images of places he had never been and people he had never met.

A feeling like he had immersed himself in a strong current coming over him, Joel felt something shift inside him, and at that moment broke free of the power restraining him, a flurry of distant sounds and jarring scenes from places unknown leaping into his head only to be ignored.

Without the skull boosting his powers, Worgraak's will alone was not enough to hold Joel anymore.

Wrenching control of his limbs back with a surge of effort, the images pulsing at a frantic rate in his mind, Joel bellowed out a furious roar and charged the ratman standing over Tiaahn, his hammer raised high to smite, fatigue from his last battle entirely misplaced as strength welled up from inside him.

Hearing Joel coming, Worgraak, his jaws dyed scarlet from blood, jolted up, ignoring the motionless unmoving form beneath him, as he switched priorities and reached for the skull once more, snatching it up to place it reverently on his head.

Rage reaching a sky-high, Joel would not allow the rat-man to simply cheat his way out of a fight again, swinging high, he aimed to knock the magical cranium right off the rat's normal cranium.

Hearing the woosh of the hammer long before it reached him, Worgraak leaned to the side evading the blow before spinning around with both blades drawn, to slash at him, Joel responding to the counter-attack by catching both silver blades on his hammer shaft, holding them in place with straining arms.

A mixed look of surprise and anger showed on the rodent's face at Joel's unhampered movement and ability to lock his weapons down, the other adventurers all still as motionless as statues behind him, the rattervahn's nose twitching once as the rodent sniffed at Joel.

"Weakest link is not as weak as it looks-smells,"

Joel snarled back wordlessly at this statement, disengaging his weapon lock to try and hit the ratman once more, only for the rodent to dance away easily, just as it had done so with Tiaahns magic.

"Still just as slow and fat though," the ratman sneered, "You will die-perish swiftly."

Dashing forward on splayed claws, Worgraak sent a glimmering flurry of silver stabs, slashes, and arcing blows toward Joel, each one aiming to maim, decapitate, or murder him.

Taking small cuts and wounds as he barely avoided the clearly more skilled rodents onslaught, Joel was backpedaling rapidly just to keep out of the ratman's deadly range, distracting images of random things flowing through his head uncontrollably as he fought.

A flaming ball of pure white destruction crashing onto a virgin world. Tremors in the deep as the heart of reality rebelled. Mountains rising and falling like waves...

'What is wrong with me?' Joel flinched, trying to beat back the alien scenes, 'I can't focus with these random thoughts in my head! I need to keep it together!'

More unwelcome images forced their way into Joel's stretching mind as he tried to defend against the rattervahn pressuring him.

An overgrown temple devoured and reclaimed by nature. A sky full of green lightning that took the form of abominations. A bronze city covered in the flames of its own folly. An ocean of thrashing corpses struggling for existence...

Joel leaped back while breathing hard, and glanced at his allies, the unceasing flow of images bombarding his mind, making it hard to even remember why he was fighting here.

Spiny hands pulling at the roots of the established order, a cadaver pulsing with maggots at the stomach splitting open to instead reveal crystalline growths, a forest of eyes trailing over the graves of a thousand kings...

Shaking his head Joel could not stop the images from flooding his mind, so he didn't, he just tried to focus on why he was fighting.

Tiaahn was lying in her own blood, eyes closed as she lay pale and corpselike on the ground, and Kale and the others were also frozen in place off to the side, unable to wield their weapons.

If he went down now Joel was certain the ratman would show the defenseless humans no mercy

He had to win this, otherwise, they would all die.

With that one point of clarity in his mind, Joel honed his focus back onto Worgraak, the previously erratic flow of surging images dwindling down into something a little more manageable, yet even more unsettling.

A silver fang held in a vengeful claw. A weeping pup clenching a ruined charm given as a gift. A decaying home breached by indifferent invaders. A battlefield littered with the broken bodies and ashes of brothers in arms. A silent command to endure by a looming horned skull, the emptiness inside that did not disperse eating away at a lonely soul. A promise to a great pale lady as he kissed her hand. And a low voice screaming soundlessly, "JUSTICE! I WILL HAVE JUSTICE!"

"What?!" Joel flinched from the brief pang of raw emotion that was not his own, his head suddenly hurting as a shadow of the horned skull seared his eyes, the rat man before him also reeling as if struck, the anger in its reddened pupils doubling twofold.

"How dare you touch my mind-string-sanctuary! DIE DIE DIEEEEEE!!!" the ratman screeched leaping in a single bound to strike Joels maul, pushing him several feet back.

Still staggered by what he had felt, Joel grit his teeth before doing his best to focus not on the rat but the creatures weapons of glowing silver instead, following the blades movements closely, the ratman watching him warily as he did so, uncertain if Joel had any more tricks.

Blood. Gristle. Meat. Blood. The taste of life leaving a cooling body. Sharper. Sharper. Cut it. Slice it. Sever it all. Blood. Blood. Blood...

There was little feeling from the weapons, really just more of a simple need, a need to be used for bloodshed. It was an unnerving but insightful knowledge that furthered his understanding.

A flash of silver to his right impaling him through the torso, skewering his lungs, the shimmer of illuminated bone as it cut his head in twain, the crunch of crumbling vertebrae as his spine was severed in multiple places...

These were not just memories, but visions.

Visions of possible futures...

Understanding this now, Joel narrowed his eyes, letting the visions wash over him, the many painful deaths he suffered at these blades filling his cringing mind, a little knowledge at how to proceed, building inside him after every death.

Gasping as that happened all within a single second, Joel readied his body, he could see multiple ways this fight could pan out through the yet made future of these blades, and most of them ended with Joel dying after being chopped into tiny pieces, the same swords then being used to butcher every last helpless human in the room.

Leaning into the flow of the future, Joel let it carry him forward, following the exact movements of one of the few versions of events he had won in, stepping forward and calling out an insult.

"I pierced your mind because it was easy, or are all vermin as mentally deficient as you are? your comrades were certainly too stupid to listen to us as well, pathetic."

Scowling the raven black rodent's already twisted expression turned ugly.

"You mock my fallen clansrats?!" The scowling rodent said in a low growl, as he circled Joel "you human-savages have no respect, I shall teach you it."

The ratman said this but did not advance, wary as he was of any traps the human might have to play.

"Yeah, anyways," Joel waved off the rodent's threat dismissively, "speaking of respect, did you hear the way that Vangling rat guy screamed when I blew his head off with his own charms? mad respect for that guy, he had a good set of screaming lungs on him for an old fleabag, very impressive."

The rattervahn's right eye twitched as he heard this and Joel knew at that moment he had succeeded in tipping the scales, the furious rat squeaking something incoherent before darting towards him both blades raised, caution abandoned.

Joel smiled, he could see that at least this time he had already won.

Taking a single step back Joel kept just out range of the first slash before he abruptly moved forward colliding into the rat's forearm and collapsing it inward as the rodent tried to swing it back the other way, knocking Worgraak off balance.

In a good position to attack, Joel swept a leg under the now teetering rodent following up with a hard strike with the palm to the chest, sending the rat tumbling to the floor.

To Worgraaks credit, he immediately rolled into a combat stance, only one blade in hand as the other had been dropped during his fall.

It didn't make much of a difference, Joel had only needed him on the back foot for an instant, and he certainly already had that, his hammer, already closing in on the rats face before the rodent even took a stance, catching the ratman square on the chin to toss both him and the skull into a floor-bound sprawl.

Joels first hit was quickly followed by a second that smashed the rising and woozy rattervahn high on the back, an audible painful crack announcing the serious damage wrought by that second hit.

Thrown forward by the powerful blow, Worgraak, rasping and shaking was now lying next to the skull within arms reach, the rodent dazed as it was, did not miss the chance to seize his prize once more, swiftly placing the skull upon his head with a shudder of pain.

Turning to face Joel, the skullrat screeched full power in his face as it clambered to its feet, the sound deafening to Joel's ears.

"UUURRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Knowing it was coming this time, Joel endured the mental attack and retained his ability to move, screaming back his anger and swinging relentlessly at his enemy, blow after blow slamming into the weakening foe, a powerful final whack to the rattervahn's chest cutting the screech off midstream.

Stumbling back looking far worse for wear and perhaps also missing some teeth, Worgraak's red eyes flashed in horror as he fell backwards, too confused by the multiple strikes to his chest and head to respond in time to the hammer about to cave both of his skulls in.

'Victory is mine,' Joel celebrated silently, his arms winding up to send his maul crashing down into the injured rats face, the future he saw through the blades only contained the event where their owner was brained and they were left to fester in the dark, a fitting end for-

-A shadow standing tall above him, a claymore bisecting his body into four pieces, defeat and death snatched the jaws of almost certain victory...

"What!?" Joel choked out as a new vision came to him just as something very large cast a tall shadow over him.

*Clang!*

Joel was sent sliding back a whole yard, his hands numb and bruised from the impact.

He had only just gotten up his maul in time to stop his head from being cut clean off by the new challenger, an immense shaggy figure covered in dark fur, leather straps full of junk, and assorted vials. The whole appearance of this interloper topped off with an ugly maroon gaze.

It was a troll, a fully mature one.

"Blackwater! And here I was sure I could get a free hit in," the troll growled in an annoyed pompous voice, lifting an absolutely massive claymore before without another word launching into an attack.

Joel, felt his pupils dilate in astonishment, why was a troll attacking him now out of all places and times! it had completely ignored Worgraak who was now pulling himself to his feet woozily, trying shake his head clear, this was unfair!

Joel leaned back as a blade longer than he was tall whipped by, a single direct hit from that thing and he was dead.

Not giving him any room to recover or flee the troll followed, no particular skill to its wild swings but far more form than a savage creature like a troll should ever have.

Joel blocked another hit from the troll and felt his right arm almost shatter.

"FUUUUCK!" Joel swore shaking the sore limb quickly before gripping his maul once more and ducking under a thrown projectile that whizzed past him to shatter on the floor, the red concoction bubbling on the spot.

Joel blinked disbelievingly, he recognized that red fluid anywhere! it was tardac acid, a simple if potent brew used by most alchemists in combat, something Joel himself used on occasion, how a troll had obtained any and figured out how to use it was a mystery.

But it was clear keeping his distance was not working, he had to get closer to do any damage to the beast, at a distance, it could bash him to pieces as it pleased or pepper him with acid with him unable to fight back.

Grimacing Joel ran forward swerving under another swooshing hulk of a sword swing to strike a blow at the troll's knee, the metal of his hammer biting deep as a sound similar to wood groaning rang out.

"Mmmmmrrrr... Blackwater," the troll cursed in a mildly inconvenienced voice, his knee giving out in the next second.

A crushing fist, hard and heavy landing his shoulder to break him. Reaching claws of silver rushing up to impale him from behind...

Guided once more by his foresight, Joel swept under the grasping fist, bashing the knuckles as he passed before jumping onto and off the same arm to swipe at the trolls head, replacing the beasts beleaguered expression with a pained one instead.

Crack! a whole heap of the troll teeth were shattered, the owner staggering backwards as Joel clambered out of the way of a flailing limb trying to pull him off.

"Take this!" Joel spat as he dodged around the massive fist to pull one of the troll's own vials free and chuck it into the monster's open mouth before jumping clear, an unpleasant mixture now spilling down the beast's throat.

Landing on the floor as the troll toppled over choking and spluttering, Joel, knowing what was coming next, ducked his head, kicking out with his boot at the same time, a silver blade passing overhead as his foot connected with a furred body.

"Gehhhh" Worgraak coughed, stumbling back clutching his throat as Joel whirled on the rat hammering another heavy strike to the ratmans chest, taking the wind out of the large Rattervahn's lungs.

Falling back looking utterly spent, but increasingly mad, the ratman glanced at the gasping Troll vomiting up a stream of red, both blood, and acid. The two creatures exchanging a look of meaning that Joel didn't like.

Clambering back to its feet while breathing unevenly, blood leaking from the corners of its mouth, the troll took a stance, beginning to circle to Joel's left, the ratman going to the right side.

Joel grit his teeth, they were ganging up on him, and even with his newly discovered power, Joel didn't think he could avoid consecutive attacks from both sides for very long.

Luckily he didn't have to, as someone or rather a group of someones came to his rescue.

"These stinking rats! they had two magic casters! And a troll! You dirty bastards!"

An amazon of a woman said angrily, before a bolt of thunder stuck the troll on the face, blinding it.

Swiftly following the amazon and finally free from their binding, team Clairvoyance descended on the two demihumans with righteous fury, fire, lightning, and razor blades bearing down upon the two suddenly on edge creatures.

Dodging balls of fire and jets of deadly lightning while doing its best not to be impaled by an enraged mustached man called Kale, Worgraak decided he had seen enough and dropped back to all four limbs, sprinting away as fast as his rat legs could carry him, horned skull firmly on his head as he only narrowly avoid incineration, swerving left and right until he reached the safety of the next room.

Meanwhile, Ulfric had engaged the blinded troll, slamming the creature backward and easily parrying the clumsy counter swings it made, his axe gaining speed until it was too much for the troll, the giant lopping one of the beasts arms off in a clean cut.

Fearing death and sensing the approach of other humans, the troll with a roar of frustration kicked its severed arm up at the Khaddaran who hacked it in half, before turning tail and running off clutching its bleeding stump, following the rats trail as it stumbled away, both creatures being faster than their wounds would suggest.

From the next room, Joel heard the Rattervahn calling back in his unusually deep echoing voice.

"Mark my words-speech human-dirt-filth! When the Messiah comes back, you all will be the FIRST to suffer-agonize in his wrath! This I swear!"

Promises made, the sound of the ratman's claws against stone grew faint until at last it couldn't be heard altogether.

The rush of uncertain futures withered away as Joel felt the tension of combat leave him, certain now, neither the ratman or the troll were coming back.

He had won or at least lasted long enough for a draw...

Exhausted and with a both a throbbing head and aching body, Joel was about to slump to his knees before he remembered the most important thing.

"Tiaahn!" Joel gasped before dashing to where she lay, ignoring how tired he felt in favor of checking on the silent girl.

He hadn't thought he would end up on this side of things on the very same day he'd almost died, and honestly, right now he preferred it the other way round.

Placing a finger on her pulse, Joel found that it was still strong, if faster than normal, Joel doing his utmost best to ignore the fact He was looking at her naked body also pulled up her shirt and armor to check for injuries not seeing any wounds deeper than scratches on her stomach or legs, he slid the clothes back over her.

Tiaahn was actually mostly unmarred save for the big bloody wound on her shoulder which had oddly already begun clotting up despite how large it looked, being so deep he could see the bone.

She was just unconscious as far as he could tell, but that wound was terrible, luckily he had a dependable healer on hand.

Sitting beside Joel as the rest of the team fanned out protectively, Ferra the team healer and primary medic, touched a hand to Tiaahns forehead frowning, before checking the oozing wound on the sweating girls arm.

"Woah! this is no good she has a fever and 'this'" Ferra pointed to the injury on Tiaahns shoulder, "I can't heal this."

"What do you mean?! you can treat her at least right?" Joel asked with a sinking feeling.

"No I cannot," Ferra grimaced, "this is no mere wound or simple mana poisoning, there is a substantial curse on this wound that prevents me from healing it, doing so would only worsen her condition."

"A curse?! How-"

Joel recalled that horned skull and all the effort Worgraak had gone through to get it, the ratman hadn't been wearing it at the time he had bit Tiaahn, but perhaps the insidious object had a lingering effect on its host.

It was the only thing Joel could think of that would cause Tiaahn to be cursed, after all now that the skull was gone, the mana in the air was definitely thinner in this room.

"How do we heal her then?" He said shortly, anger rising.

"We can do nothing for her directly save for keeping the wound clean, as this sort of curse is way beyond my specialty, Ferra shook her head, unfazed by Joel's agitation, "instead we will have to take her to a temple, they can probably treat her there."

Joel didn't fail to notice she had used the word probably.

He did not like that at all.

Eyes fluttering open, much to Joel's and Ferra's surprise, Tiaahn suddenly mumbled in a croak, "Joel?"

"Yes, I'm here," Joel said breathlessly shifting closer.

"Did you kick the rat's ass?" the weak girl asked.

"Yeah... I did." Joel responded after a moment of silence.

"Wow... what a hero," the girl sighed, "So I guess that makes me the princess this time huh?

Joel chuckled despite himself.

"I guess it does... my princess."

Tiaahn giggled feebly, a slightly feverish look in her gaze, "Does that make you my Knight in shining armor?"

"Do you want me to be your knight?"

"I- I, I..."

"Tiaahn?" Joel stared down at his friend who was now more than just a friend to him.

Her eyes were closed and her breathing was slow, she had passed out again.

Being very careful to not disturb her gaping wound, Joel picked up Tiaahn in a princess carry hold, the complaints of his aching flesh forgotten.

More important things were calling him.

"We need to go to the surface," Joel said in a controlled even voice as he held the limp doll-like body of Tiaahn in his arms.

The members of Clairvoyance all looked to Kale for his consensus as Ferra added while pointing at the unconscious Tiaahn.

"Kale, she's been cursed."

Looking to the sickly girl and the glowing key in his hand Kale put the object back into its box before placing it in his bag.

"Companions first! Let's get her to a temple post haste, Ulfric carry the young lady-."

"No I will do it," Joel cut Kale off, pulling Tiaahn tighter to his chest

"You sure? you are still pretty roughed up."

"I'm sure." Joel said in an iron tone.

Nodding once in understanding Kale waved everyone onward into a jog, before dropping back to talk with Joel as he carried Tiaahns delicate body.

"She will be ok my boy, don't you worry, you have my word on that, I owe you too much for that."

Joel nodded wordlessly as he ran, being careful not to jostle his passenger to badly.

"If you and Tiaahn had not been here, there was a very real chance we may have all lost our lives, for your quick wit and self-sacrifice I thank you."

Kale gently touched Joel on the shoulder reassuringly in thanks before jogging back to the front of the moving formation.

At those words, Joel still felt extremely worried for Tiaahn's wellbeing, but he also felt something more subtle that he rarely received from others, a sense of self-worth, and pride.