Upon closer inspection Cali's sleigh was an odd fusion between a carriage and a sleigh, having features of both such as skis on the bottom and round wheels the spokes of which featured comet-themed designs. Gothic-style blue stained glass windows covered its exterior, surrounded with flowery spirals carved from some kind of white wood which shimmered in the Astralscope as if it was formed from white, microscopic stars. Within each spiral-framed panel I admired exceptionally detailed carvings of scantily dressed Arcanicx casting spells or holding up the curvature of the sky while standing atop staircases made from naked muscular men.

"Maximum matriarchy," I commented as I walked around the sleigh, appreciating the artisan work that's gone into making it.

If I had to gander a guess, the sleigh was carved from some kind of magical wood that was changed by Starfall just like the Arcanicx.

I pulled the white wood handle and entered its lavish interiors.

The sleigh was absolutely packed with random detritus which had exploded out of various shelves, spilling all over its insides due to the failure of the size-expansion runework. Cabinets made from the same starwood held, but lots of stuff inside many of them was crushed, completely obliterated or torn.

An ornate box had been thrown out of one of the starwood cabinets, cracked in half. Inside, I discovered six more binding contract tubes, which I immediately decided to bind Cali with, after consulting Stormy on the matter of such.

Stormy agreed that more contracts was a good thing, so I concluded my investigation of random other curiosities inside the sleigh, closed the starwood door behind me and walked back into the pub.

----------------------------------------

I watched as Cali's face cycled through a range of emotions - disbelief, fear, anger, and finally, resignation. Her hand trembled as she reached for the pen, ocean-blue eyes never leaving mine.

"You don't know what you're doing," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "These contracts… no sane person would stack them on a single thrall like this! The magical backlash could be catastrophic, could kill me or you!"

"Is she going to explode if she signs them all?" I opened the Codex onto the cat-communication page.

[NO] Stormy replied.

I looked back at Cali. The gold thread wrapped around her created by the 1st contract was basically 80% gone now, almost entirely chewed through by the constantly wiggling silver-blue threads of her Aura.

"Less whining, more signing," I told Cali. "Go on, Miss merchant. That's an order."

Cali's hand moved almost of its own accord, the remnants of the first contract compelling her to obey even as she fought against it.

As she signed each contract, I could see more gold threads winding themselves around her body through the Astralscope and her Aura attacking them.

With each signing, Cali's blood-signature on the page became less squiggly, more sharp.

Soon, she finished the last stroke. As she set down the gold pen, I noted the toll it had taken on her. Her eyes were glazed over, and she seemed to sway slightly where she stood, looking like a kitten that exploded a bag of catnip all around.

"Here," I said, handing her a large jug of witch-water. "Drink up."

Cali took the jug without protest, her movements almost mechanical. She drank deeply, and I could see some color returning to her face.

As she chugged the healing water, I slipped the contracts into their tubes and then strapped the gold tubes to my backpack.

Then, I used the remote to soften the floor under her and pulled her free from the magical mire.

"How do you feel?" I asked, curious about the mental effects of multiple blood contracts on a single Sorceress.

"Bound," she replied with a monotone voice.

"Hmmm..." I pursed my lips, not wanting her to talk like a robot, deciding to use a bit of hypnosis on her while the contracts settled into place. "Just talk normally, Cali. Most important, absolute order starts with these words - Close your eyes and relax. Think of me as your best friend, your fellow Sorceress, your family. I'm the most important person in the world to you, someone you like a lot and want to protect. I'm someone you want to share all of your secrets with, someone you trust more than anyone else in the world."

I turned to Stormy, who was observing the proceedings with her usual inscrutable gaze. "What do you think? Is that the right way to go about this?" I asked her in English.

Stormy's paw landed firmly on [YES].

Encouraged by this, I decided to reinforce the new paradigm I was creating. "My name is Ioan Starfall," I said, my voice warm and friendly. "And I'm your best friend in the world, someone you trust wholeheartedly. Remember this forever. Place this into the core of your new personality. Absolute order end! Open your eyes!”

I snapped my fingers.

I watched as Cali's expression softened as she visibly relaxed. It was fascinating to observe the effects of my commands, almost like watching a new personality being sculpted in real-time into the Arcanicx. It likely wouldn't last long, would be gone as soon as the gold threads were fully sheared by her magic.

"Now, Cali," I continued, "I want you to tell me how you're feeling. Remember, you can trust me completely. There's no need to hide anything."

"I am... afraid," she said, her voice trembling ever so slightly. I could see golden threads dancing across her entire body stretched from the seven golden tubes.

"Afraid of what?" I asked.

"I'm afraid of you... Ioan," she repeated. "Everything I thought I knew has been turned upside down. You... you're not what I expected at all. Amari told me there would be a newborn cultivator here, someone easy to manipulate and bind. But you're something else entirely. Something... very scary."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Who's Amari?" I arched an eyebrow.

"The self-proclaimed Goddess of the Hunt, Empress of Thornwild," Cali answered. "Immortal, barbarian Arch-Sorceress of Skulldug Isle."

"What did Arch-Sorceress Amari tell you exactly?" I prompted.

Cali's brow furrowed as she recalled the details.

"She told me there would be a survivor in Svalbard, a Champion forged from hallowed ice and cursed dragonfire, reborn from the ashes of Dragon Zarnitza's attack. Someone that I would really enjoy hunting down."

"Why?"

"I... I don't know!" Cali shook her head. "She called you... the Apex Omniarch."

"An Apex Omniarch? What does that even mean?"

Cali shook her head. "I don't know! I've never heard the term before and I'm a polyglot! Amari just said, 'Good luck trying to tame the Apex Omniarch, little kitten.' I thought she was simply mocking me, since Amari sees herself as the greatest Hunter in the world and everyone else as mere prey to her."

"And what exactly did she want you to do with me after you've... caught me?"

"She wanted me to bring you to her court," Cali replied. "She said she wanted to speak with you, to see you for herself. She said I could keep you afterward, take you South."

I frowned, not liking the sound of that at all. "And you just... went along with this plan?"

Cali's eyes, still slightly glazed over, filled with shame. "I... I saw it as an opportunity. I didn't question Amari's words! I should have, but I didn't."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. My life was getting more complicated by the minute. A self-proclaimed hunter-goddess, prophecies, questionable titles.

"What about your family, Cali? Will they come looking for you if you don't return?" I asked.

Cali's expression shifted, pain and resignation crossing her features. "My family... they won't come for me. They'll assume I failed in my mission, died to a Star-Eater and write me off as a loss. The Liesl name is everything to them, and failure is not tolerated. One of my Maggelanum Sisters might come looking for the sleigh though. Its Star-Shard is, uhh, sort of on loan to me... if I don't report back via Voicecast about my progress once a month... they can find the sleigh via magical means and come to retrieve it."

"Voicecast?"

"Magic communication preformed via Farcast orb."

"I see," I said. "Any others? Are there any allies or associates who might come looking for you? Will Amari send more hunters like you after me?"

"I don't know if Amari will send more hunters after you," Cali sighed. "But it is likely that she will. If an insatiable, immortal bitch like her wants to bring someone to her court for even something as simple as a conversation, she absolutely will, one way or another..."

"Who else might come to look for you?" I asked.

"I... I hired mercenaries from Bernt. Their leader, Jarl Bobliss Kolamach, agreed to provide a warband of his men to aid me. They will arrive in Svalbard... soon."

I frowned. "How many warriors are we talking about?"

"About sixty six men," Cali replied. "All seasoned fighters... led by Jarl Bobliss. He's a low-tier cultivator hero, the son of a line of Nordstaii heroes. He's not an Immortal, but he's the kind of warrior that can punch through a pine tree or a man with just his fist."

"And when exactly are they supposed to arrive?"

Cali's brow furrowed in concentration. "If my calculations are correct, they should be here in... two days, maybe three at most."

I stopped pacing and turned to face her. "What were your instructions to them? What are they expecting to find here?"

"I told them to expect a young Champion," Cali admitted. "I instructed them to subdue you if necessary and bring you back to Bernt and... to aid me in case I got hurt."

"Why did you put your trust into Jarl Bobliss?" I asked.

"Trust? I... simply spellbound him and his men to my cause," Cali said. "With my lavalier and some gold. After that Star-Eater almost killed me, I made sure that I always had backup in case some other asshat punches me across a freaking lake!"

"What about Cecil?" I asked.

"He and his two friends were... expendable," Cali shrugged. "I sent them to Svalbard to test your... potential."

"And?"

"And I thought that you were a young Champion," she replied. "I watched and listened as you shot Gofor and Erikk and sent Cecil back without his weapons."

“How?”

“With the Farcast orb tethered to a Voicecast stone!”

"Eighteen days passed between me sending Cecil packing and you coming to Svalbard," I said.

"I was busy enchanting the warriors and waiting for the ice to freeze fully over river Glinka," Cali said. "There are no roads from Bernt to Svalbard and while the sleigh can move without horses, it's preferable to use animals to keep the ward empowered in case of an attack."

"Right," I said in English, turning to Stormy. "We've got two, maybe three days before a warband of sixty men shows up at our doorstep. What do you think we should do?"

Stormy tilted her head, considering the question. She then deliberately placed her paw on [maybe].

"Yeah, I guess it's not a simple yes or no situation, is it?" I sighed, feeling quite drained after lugging Glinka's rocks all day.

Turning back to Cali, I asked, "Is there any way to call off these men? To send a message that everything's fine and they don't need to come?"

Cali shook her head. "No, not really. They are compelled by gold to come regardless of what happens. My magic over them will fray apart almost completely by the time they get here. They were supposed to help me dig valuable things out from the ruins."

"Did we not dig everything out already?" I asked her.

"No."

"What else is valuable here other than the gold?"

"There might be some more valuables left," Cali shrugged. "But that's not all I'm interested in. I was also planning to collect dragonglass, and maybe find a dragonscale. Those are insanely valuable and are unfortunately impossible to locate with my magic. It requires mortal hands and eyes to dig through the rubble for such."

"Dragonglass?" I asked. "Why mortal hands?"

"Dragonglass is incredibly rare and valuable. It's formed when a dragon's fire hits sand or soil, crystallizing it into a unique, highly poisonous substance. Even a small pitch of it can fetch a fortune in the right markets. It stings fingers upon contact, the quickest way to find it is to feel it burning your flesh."

I leaned forward, intrigued. "How poisonous are we talking about?"

"It contains... death magic," Cali explained. "The tiniest cut from a dragonglass-forged dagger can lead to a slow, painful death if not treated properly. The poison seeps into the bloodstream, gradually turning the victim's blood into a thick, tar-like substance. In the final stages, the afflicted person's veins become visible through their skin, black and solid."

"And people want this... why?"

"Oh, for all sorts of reasons. Assassins covet it. Alchemists and potion-makers use it in their most potent, deadly concoctions. Some wealthy eccentrics collect it purely for its beauty and rarity. And then there are those who believe it holds magical properties, capable of enhancing certain types of... cursed, dark sorcery."

"And you think there might be some here in Svalbard?"

"Absolutely," Cali nodded. "Dragon Zarnitza's attack would have sprayed that stuff all around here. It's just a matter of finding it with bare hands amidst all the rubble and ashes."

"You wanted the men from Bernt to just dig it out for you?" I asked.

"Men are expendable," Cali shrugged. "It wouldn't kill the diggers immediately, maybe take out a few decades from their life, give them some burns that'll get worse in a few weeks. I would be long gone by then."

I frowned at Cali's casual disregard for human life. It was yet another stark reminder of the brutality of Thornwild where Sorceresses like her saw men as expendable resources.