The image of myself tilted its head almost ninety degrees, ‘’You have heard me before... Of course I can talk!’’

I shook my head, ‘’No... You could laugh creepily and scare people, but every time you actually talked, it was my voice being projected, my intent!’’

Grim shrugged, ‘’Semantics, dear partner. Although I do feel stronger somehow, more connected."

Lyra looked from one version of me to the next, and a mischievous grin spread across her face. ‘’You know, David, these images of yours, they are copies of you, right?’’

I nodded distractedly, still grinning at Grim. ‘’That’s right.’’

Lyra walked over to Grim and ran a hand over his robe, ‘’So, does that mean I could have four of you... You know, at the same time?’’

My head snapped to her, and her grin was huge, ‘’Really? You want me to use my mystical magical powers, meant for fighting evil and corruption, for some kind of freaky magical orgy?’’

Lyra shrugged, still grinning, and Grim put an arm around her, ‘’That sounds intriguing!’’ he said in a voice more creepy than usual.

‘’You better purge that thought right now, Grim!’’ I said, and the spirit cackled. I looked back at Lyra, ‘’Although, if we leave Grim’s unwelcome participation aside, we might be able to come up with something, Lyra.’’

She laughed, ‘’I was only kidding, David. Gods. One of you is more than plenty!’’

Just then, Isabel walked over, dragging two bound smugglers along the ground. ‘’You two are acting like fools again, I see. Good job, David, that was impressive.’’

I nodded in thanks and gestured to the smugglers, ‘’Did they say anything?’’

Isabel nodded, ‘’Yep, they were told to bring these in and then run.’’ Lyra turned serious, ‘’So, this is it then? It’s about to begin?’’

Isabel nodded again, ‘’I believe so. Can’t fathom why they gave us this much time though. I mean, they are basically watching us ruin their plan.’’

Just then, bells began ringing at the keep, and Lyra smirked, ‘’I might know why. They were waiting for that!’’

I looked from one to the next, and when no one seemed about to explain, I asked, ‘’Waiting for what, damn it?’’ The girls looked at me, and Isabel answered, frowning, ‘’The monster horde is here.’’

The governor had mentioned a horde approaching, but I had sort of forgotten about that. In my defense, though, I was pretty messed up at the time, so I might not have been paying that much attention to the details.

Viktor stepped out from my illusion and approached, ‘’Something is happening,’’ he said, and we all looked at him. He gestured to a metal disc similar to the one we used to find cores, but larger and with a more intricate design. ‘’Core signatures are beginning to pop up everywhere. They are weak for now, but they are growing.’’

Isabel looked at each of us in turn, ‘’This is it then. Every core still active in the city is going off.’’ She took a deep breath and continued, ‘’This will be a very long day. Conserve your strength as much as possible.’’ She pulled out a belt pouch and handed it to me, ‘’These are potions, David. Try to conserve them.’’

I nodded and securely attached the pouch under my robes, and asked ‘’Do we have a plan?’’

Isabel nodded, ‘’We do. We will clear out the trade district, then join the other teams. Hopefully, we disabled enough cores that...’’ She was cut off by one of the bound slavers.

He was giggling in a manic sort of way, ‘’We are all dead... You have no idea how many are out there. We have been transporting cores in every week for months.’’

Isabel turned to him and drew him up to her eye level by his collar, ‘’Explain!’’ she growled.

The man looked absolutely driven mad with fear, ‘’We weren’t the only team of smugglers!’’

I felt my stomach drop. We had felt pretty confident we could handle the situation with how many we had found. If other teams had been bringing them in, though...

Isabel snarled and threw the man to the ground, ‘’No more time. Viktor, lead the way to the nearest signature. Let’s go!’’

We left the smugglers where they were and rushed from the courtyard, only taking enough time to pick up the inactive cores.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As we entered a small market, people were running everywhere, and panic was spreading. A few individuals noticed us and rushed over, ‘’Adventurers! What's going on? Are we under attack!?’’

Isabel nodded solemnly, ‘’Yes, we are. You better head for the shelters quickly. Things are about to get bad. Warn everyone you see. We've received information that monsters will appear within the walls soon.’’ The growing crowd gasped in shock, and Isabel raised her voice to carry across the market. ‘’You need to hide, and you need to do it now! Get everyone to the shelters and spread the news as you go!’’

There was a moment of frozen stillness, then every single person, except our group, began running. There were angry shouts and cries, but overall, it wasn't as chaotic as I had anticipated. When I mentioned it to Lyra, she said, ‘’Creston might be peaceful, David, but everyone is taught what to do in these kinds of situations from a young age.’’

I nodded in understanding and smiled, ‘’I suppose it's that kind of world..’’

Viktor was looking at me strangely, but when we all focused on him, he snapped out of it and nodded. ‘’There are three signatures growing rapidly a few blocks from here.’’

We sprinted down an alley and were soon greeted with screams and the sound of a building crumbling. Three four-meter-tall golems were rampaging inside a house, emerging from beneath it. They had burst through the front of the house and were smashing everything in their path.

‘’The sewers..’’ Isabel grumbled, but she was already on the move. Her massive sword sang as she took an impossible leap, and with a battle cry, she smashed the sword into the nearest golem. It exploded in a shower of rocks and crumbled to the ground. Lyra shot a fist-sized ball of fire at another, putting a hole right through it. The core was exposed, and I sprinted in, dodging under a swinging arm.

I cast Slippery Footing, and as the golem crashed to the ground, I jumped on its back, reached in, and wrenched out the core.

Meanwhile, Isabel had taken care of the last golem.

Viktor was staring at us in awe, ‘’Wow... That was... pretty impressive.’’

Lyra grinned and playfully slapped his shoulder, ‘’There's a whole lot more where that came from, enchanter boy!’’

Viktor looked a little hurt, ‘’Enchanter boy?’’ Lyra seemed oblivious to his expression and just laughed.

From there, we moved from one minor fight to the next. I summoned my images but stuck to my regular tactics of creating illusions and using ether-infused punches. I wasn't as effective against the golems as the others, but I created distractions, made them slip, and did whatever else I could to set up easy takedowns for my companions.

After an hour or so of continuous fighting, there was a short lull, and we took a brief break to catch our breath. Sounds of screaming and fighting echoed from every direction, and the once bustling square we had arrived in was now devoid of life. ‘’This is bad. How many of those cores are out there?’’ Isabel grumbled to herself, but no one had an answer.

Suddenly, a group of adventurers burst out of an alley on the other side of the square, with two massive golems trailing behind them. These golems had been given time to grow, towering as tall as the surrounding houses. They couldn't fit into the narrow alleyway, so they left a trail of devastation in their wake.

The adventurers spotted our group and immediately changed direction, heading straight for us. They were shouting and waving their arms wildly. I got to my feet with a sigh, ‘’Is it too late to pretend we haven't seen them?’’ Lyra gave me a mischievous grin, then she stood up as well.

The golems had now reached the square, both of them earth elementals. It made sense in a city built from brick and stone.

Soon, the young adventurers reached us, and their apparent leader walked over to Isabel, bowing respectfully. ‘’Adventurer Indomitable, we could really use your help. Those golems... They just appeared out of nowhere, and these two, in particular, are quite powerful.’’

Isabel nodded, hefted her sword, and began striding toward the monsters. Lyra glanced at me and shrugged, then she followed after her. I was left with Viktor and the group of young adventurers. I say young, even though, but physically, we were likely around the same age.

The young man who led the ragged group walked over to me, ‘’Harlequin, right?’’ I nodded, ‘’As scary up close as you were in the arena... I'm glad you're here.’’

I shrugged and answered in Grim's creepy voice, ‘’Not sure 'I' am, but I suppose a job is a job. Now, can you handle one of them, or do you need a break?’’

The young leader, a broad-shouldered stout fellow with a wispy beard and long red hair, glanced at his team. ‘’Not sure how much use we'll be, but Rina here could perhaps support with ranged attacks.’’ He gestured to a slightly plump girl who was looking at me nervously. When I focused on her, she winced, and I dismissed the mask to show her my smile.

As I did, they all winced sympathetically at my scarred face. It wasn't a horrific scar, Yala had done a decent job, but it ran from the edge of my hair, over my eye, and to my jaw.

I grinned, ‘’I thought removing the mask would be better, but I see that isn't the case. Don't mind the missing eye, I met a somewhat disagreeable fellow.’’

They all just stared at me, but finally, the leader spoke, ‘’Sorry, Harlequin... It's just, well, usually scars heal, you know. So your face is a pretty rough wake-up call that not every injury can be healed.’’

I shrugged, ‘’Don't worry about it. It was pretty shocking to me too.’’ I summoned my mask back onto my face and turned to face the oncoming enemies, ‘’Well, better get to it, eh?’’

I started striding confidently towards the golems. Isabel had just engaged the first one with Lyra, and I focused on the second. I decided I would distract it for a bit while Isabel and Lyra took down the other. I heard the whispering start up behind me as I went.

‘’He's pretty damn scary!’’ one voice said, and another answered, ‘’I know, right? But he's our scary...’’

I sighed as I got out of hearing range, and Grim's voice spoke in my mind, ‘’These abominations are not incomplete, partner. They have reached their potential and will be far more powerful than the others we fought.’’ I nodded, ‘’That seems to be the case. I do have that one spell I haven't tried, though!’’

Grim's excited laughter echoed in my mind, ‘’Oh my, this is going to be fun, isn't it?’’

Beneath my mask, a wide grin spread across my face, ‘’I think you're right, buddy!’’