This time, when Ike woke, he woke alone. He yawned and stretched, then slowly climbed out of bed. As opposed to the previous time he’d woken, he felt perfectly refreshed and reinvigorated. Some of the energy from the root lingered in his body, absorbing into it slowly. He walked to the window and peered out.

Sunlight spread over the town. It glittered on the bits of quartz stuck in the rock walls of the other homes. An empty street stretched before him, idyllically quiet. Ike sighed, leaning against the windowsill and dangling his arms out into the street.

So nice. So quiet.

They’d defeated Llewyn. He let that thought sink in for a few moments, before he rebuffed himself with reality. Not the true Llewyn, only a puppet. And not only that, but the success he’d thought they’d had with Clarina’s city wasn’t a true victory at all. They’d only saved it for a moment. In the end, Llewyn had returned and destroyed everything they thought they’d saved.

He put his head in his hands. Clarina, I’m so sorry. Even if she’d been haughty to him at the end, she hadn’t deserved that. Not her, or her parents, or anyone else.

He looked up, resolve shimmering in his eyes. It had hurt, but he’d learned a lesson. He couldn’t leave people behind and expect them to be safe. If he wanted to keep people on his side, he had two options: hide them away, or keep them at his side.

No. There’s one more option. Ensure they’re strong enough that even Llewyn can’t corrupt them.

Ike turned his head, staring back in the direction from which he’d come. Back toward the mountain, and the city hiding behind it. His hometown. Lord Brightbriar’s domain.

We crafted you.

He had to know what that meant. He couldn’t ignore it. But what was he going to do about it? To return home was tantamount to handing his head to Lord Brightbriar. He wasn’t deluded enough to think he could hold his own against the city lord. If he came within Lord Brightbriar’s grasp, nothing stopped the man from killing him… or claiming him.

We crafted you.

Lord Brightbriar had let him go so many times before. But would he do it again, now? Or did that end when Llewyn revealed the truth to him?

If it was even the truth. If he could even believe Llewyn.

Ike scowled. He ran his hands through his hair and ran it back, shaking his head. No. I can’t take that risk. He had to believe Llewyn. Too much made sense, if he assumed Llewyn had told the truth. And if it was the truth, then Lord Brightbriar had no reason not to capture or destroy him.

No, from the start, why did he let me run free this long? Or did he underestimate me? Did he think I wouldn’t escape the Abyss until he was ready to use me?

There was no use thinking about it. He could sit here fretting until the cows came home, but it wouldn’t change a thing. No matter what, he’d still be… ‘crafted’ by Lord Brightbriar and Llewyn.

Whatever that means.

He put his back to his old home. There was nothing left for him there. He had to head out. Further away. Escape from his old city lord’s influence. Go somewhere where it didn’t matter if he’d been ‘crafted’ or whatever. Which left one obvious place.

He faced the king’s city instead. The largest city on the horizon. The only one that could rival Lord Brightbriar’s.

Wisp walked by. She looked up and met Ike’s eyes, then waved. “You awake for real this time?”

Ike laughed. He hopped down from the window and landed beside her. “Yep.”

“Yay!” She gave him a look.

“What?”

“Nothing! Just happy you’re back on your two feet.” She looked away and walked on.

The two of them walked in silence for a while. Neither of them said anything. Ike closed his eyes, enjoying the sun. He stretched. “So, where are we going next?”

“I don’t know that we’re going anywhere. Not both of us.”

“What?” Ike looked at Wisp, startled.

She shook her head. “I need to get stronger. I can’t relax any more. You’re going to truly surpass me if I continue to rest on my laurels.”

“No.”

“Huh? You think you can stop me—”

“I don’t think I can stop you. I’m not going to stop you from training, either. I just—I can’t afford to let anyone out of my sight again. Not someone I care about. Clarina taught me that,” Ike said.

Wisp grinned. “Aww, you care about me.”

“I do,” Ike said, serious.

Wisp sobered. She looked at Ike, then nodded. “Yeah. Me too.”

There was silence again. They walked on, down the cobbled, empty streets.

She tilted her head. “So… what? Are you going to go train with me?”

Ike snorted. “What says we can’t train together?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“But then you’ll keep surpassing me,” Wisp complained.

“Yeah, well. You’ll just have to train harder, I guess,” Ike said with a shrug.

Wisp thought for a moment, then nodded. “I can do that. What about Shopkeep, though?”

“What about him?” Ike asked.

Wisp whistled. “Damn, cold.”

Ike laughed. “I mean, sure, but he’s strong. He might be a low Rank 4, but he’s still a Rank 4. And Llewyn couldn’t successfully break into his Wizard’s Tower this time. Sure, he was worried about it, but… I don’t think Llewyn’s going to try again.”

“Why not?” Wisp asked, tilting her head.

Ike gestured all around him. “He’s got nothing. It’s just him here. Llewyn’s just lost a bunch of foot soldiers fighting us. Do you think he spends his time and effort going after one Rank 4, or targets some other city with lots of civilians and also a Rank 4 lord?”

Wisp opened her mouth, then shut it. “You know, that actually does sound a lot like human thinking.”

“Yeah? What would a spider do, then?”

“Eat both!”

Ike snorted.

“Nah, I’d set up my web in a place I could catch lots of prey, not hunt some single big kill. That’s what webs are for. But I might leave a web here just in case, you know?”

Ike twisted his lips. He looked up at the city’s center, where a castle stood tall over the empty city. “I get what you’re saying. If he can pick up Shopkeep easily, I think he does. So it’s not like Shopkeep is completely safe. But I’m not gonna stay here and watch over him, either.”

“That’d be kinda insulting, wouldn’t it? Since you’re just a Rank 3.”

“Exactly what I was thinking. How presumptuous!”

Ike and Wisp both spun. Shopkeep stood behind them, his hands on his hips. Ike hopped back, startled. He glanced around, then rubbed the back of his neck. “Er, sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you needed my protection, it’s just—”

Shopkeep waved his hand and cracked a grin. “No, no. I understood. You saw how Llewyn operates, and you thought he’d do the same with me. It’s a reasonable expectation. But I agree. You shouldn’t stay around here. Even if he tries to convert me—no, even if he succeeds—I’m not valuable enough to your fight that you should put in that much effort toward me. Even a shopkeep like me can do a simple cost-benefits analysis like that.”

Ike bobbed his head, embarrassed. He didn’t know how to respond to such a flat assessment of one’s own worth, coming from the man himself, so he said nothing. There was something admirable to it—to understanding your worth, and where you fit in the world—but he felt, at the same time, that he shouldn’t applaud someone for telling him that their own life wasn’t worth much.

“Ultimately, I want the same thing you do: the destruction of Llewyn. I’m willing to do anything to bring it to fruition. I’ll do what I can, on my side, until Llewyn takes me out. But don’t alter your plans to protect me. This is the path I chose, and I’ll chase it to the end.”

Again, Ike nodded silently.

Shopkeep brightened. He reached behind him. “That’s right. I brought something for you two!”

“Oh? Loot?” Wisp asked, excited and apparently unaffected by Shopkeep’s declarations of his willingness to die for the cause.

“The kind of loot you’ll never see again, unless you totally dominate a city,” Shopkeep declared. He drew his hands out from behind his back.

A pair of blades appeared. They emanated an ancient aura and a powerful aura, well beyond Ike’s Rank 3. One was short, and the other was longer. He held out the long blade to Ike and the short one to Wisp.

“Whoa,” Wisp said, her eyes shining. She leaped forward and stole her blade away.

Ike took his more slowly. He looked at Shopkeep. “Are you certain? These… they’re relics, aren’t they? Very old blades. They must be worth tons of gold.”

“And they’re rusting away in the depths of my empty sect. Better if someone uses them. Besides, think about it. If Llewyn comes back and conquers my sect, he’s the one who gets the relics. I’d rather hand them to the two of you,” Shopkeep reasoned.

“Oh—right,” Ike said, nodding.

“I’ve put restraints on them so you can use them at your Rank. As you Rank up, you can try unlocking the seals to use them at a higher Rank.”

“How high Rank are they?” Ike asked.

Shopkeep smiled. “Let’s just say they should suffice for quite a while.”

Ike looked the sword up and down. “Understood.”

“It’s niiiiiice. Real nice,” Wisp said. She struck a few poses, climbing up on the nearby wall to try the sword out from a horizontal angle. “Yeah. I like that. It’s like having another fang.”

Shopkeep bowed. “Thank you for protecting me.”

“Of course,” Ike said. He bowed back, a little nervous. His hand feathered over the blade, feeling its power. Aside from the emanations and aura, the blade was entirely unremarkable. It had no particular decorations, and its sheath was plain, too. Its only decoration was a red-and-white tasseled cord dangling from the bottom of the hilt. For Wisp, her sword had a red-edged white hilt. Ike looked at the two, tilting his head. “Are they part of a set?”

Shopkeep nodded. “Originally, they were paired blades. But it’s been a very long time since anyone’s been able to wield them as a pair. If they can’t be wielded together, better to wield them apart.”

“Two blades is overrated! Better to have one blade and two fangs,” Wisp said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you, Shopkeep. I lost my sword in the battle, so I’m glad to have another,” Ike said.

“I take it you’re going to leave soon?” Shopkeep asked.

“We need to move on,” Ike agreed.

Shopkeep nodded. “Of course. But if you ever have need of rest, remember me. For as long as I am not taken over by Llewyn, I will have a safe place for you.” He stopped and thought for a minute, then smiled. “And if you ever encounter anyone who needs safety or a rest, send them to me. I need more inhabitants. It’s sad to have an empty city. All these buildings, and no one to occupy them.”

“Of course.”

A head burrowed out of the center of the road. Shawn looked around, then shook the dirt off his head. “We leaving?”

“Yes,” Ike said.

“Ah. Too bad.” He clambered up out of the hole and ran over to Ike.

“Do you want to stay? I’m sure it would be good for a young mountain spirit like you,” Ike pointed out.

Shawn shook his head. “There’s already a land spirit here. They’ve been very kind to allow me to stay here for so long, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome.” He ran over to Ike and climbed his way up to rest on Ike’s back, as usual.

“Hey. Aren’t you full of power? You can walk on your own,” Ike argued.

“Why waste my precious power? I can rely on you to walk, and use my power for something else. I’m a mountain spirit. I’m not built for walking.”

Wisp nodded. “He does have a point.”

“Mont was walking just fine!” Ike argued.

“Mont’s a fully grown mountain with a mountain to call his own! I don’t even have a sad small hill,” Shawn complained.

“Do you want a sad, small hill?” Ike asked.

Shawn squinted at him. “No. I want a giant, glorious mountain.”

Ike grimaced. “Well, I was going to say, I can probably get you a sad, small hill, but a mountain, that’s a bit much to ask for, don’t you think?”

Shawn kicked him. “I’m going to grow into a beautiful mountain. Just you watch!”

The three of them turned to walk off.

Shopkeep chuckled. “Shall I spare you a bit of walking time?”

Ike looked back. “Huh?”

Shopkeep gestured ahead of him. “Here we are.”

When he turned back around, Ike stood on the wall, inches from the edge. He stumbled back, startled, and grabbed onto Wisp for support.

Wisp broke out laughing. She slapped his shoulder and waved her hand. “Oh man. That’s amazing. He got you, didn’t he?”

“I forgot about Wizard’s Tower,” Ike said, rubbing the back of his neck. Waving one last time to Shopkeep, he hopped off the wall.

Wisp followed him down. They landed at the bottom and walked off, leaving Shopkeep behind.

He watched them go. A smile spread across his face. He nodded to himself, his eyes resting on the blades at their hips.

“I hoped to give those to my children one day. Instead, I hope you carry them well,” he murmured.

He watched them until they vanished over the horizon, then turned away.