Once Howard left the ship he started looking for transportation to Brinn College. From all the people he spoke with it should take him about a month and a half, over the road, to get to the college from Relmr. He found out there is a shortcut by traveling northwest over the plains towards Pinedale. He received warnings from some of the inhabitants of Relmr that going that way could be dangerous. There was no path in that direction and there are some aggressive animals roaming the plains. The plus side is that Howard could shave a few weeks off his journey by taking a little risk. Another bonus is he enjoyed the anticipation of a fight, and he would have to stay on alert through the entire trek. The prospect did not scare him, it exhilarated him, and he decided to take the shortcut.
His trip disappointed him when he reached Pinedale about two weeks later. The only kills he had were from hunting for his food, there was not even a hint of a threat during that trek over the plains. He spent a few nights in Pinedale to get some rest, cleanup and find a caravan to accompany for the rest of the trip. Before too long he was able to find a merchant that was making his way towards Marion, the capital of this country. Brinn College is not too far away from the capital, only being about a day's travel to the west of Marion.
The trip was pleasant enough, the weather and company made it enjoyable, and only took a few weeks. The merchant was a gregarious man and a good storyteller. These stories kept him and the others in the caravan entertained while they traveled the road.
The merchant had some good items and he allowed Howard to peruse them at nights when they set up camp. He was able to trade in his chair that he used to interrogate Desmond, and some coin, for a privacy bubble. This was much like the one the man behind the chair used when he first started this mission. Howard put that into his shadow storage with some other trinkets and single use forged items. When they reached Marion they said their goodbyes, Howard was not going into the city. He continued west along the paved road toward Brinn College.
When Howard reached the college the next morning he couldn’t help but be impressed by the sheer size of the tower. The center tower is over 600 feet tall with two rings of buildings on stone platforms around the main tower. The first, and widest, ring is roughly 250 feet from the base, it looked big enough to be a small town of its own. The second ring is about 150 feet higher than the first ring and looked about half the size, yet still large. There is a city at the tower’s base that looked large enough to compete with the size of Relmr. All the buildings were made of a dull grey stone with varying levels of contrast. At one extreme the stones were almost white, while the other extreme they were a very dark grey. On every level of the college the buildings had sharp angled blue roofs that looked to be reaching for the sky.
The entire college sat atop a mountain of stone approximately a half mile in diameter. There is a glacial lake surrounding the small mountain of stone at its center. The tall mountains of the White Ridge range loomed in the distance of the college. There are three wide bridges of polished stone that spanned the distance of the waters. The bridges connected the college to the foothills of the mountain range.
He had heard stories of the majesty of the college, but they paled in comparison to what his eyes were looking at now. He shook his head in disbelief and started walking down the steep road. There were large evergreen trees trimming the edges of the road on either side, framing the scene. The tree line followed the road to the entrance of the bridge, thinning out the closer it got to the lake.
Harold's walk down the road gave him time to think about his approach to the mission. His normal approach would be to sneak into a town to capture or eliminate his target. He had the feeling that this would be a bad idea to try at a college that taught magic and was probably warded. It is a safe assumption that he would not be the highest-level gem user in the college and could be outclassed significantly. Sneaking in and out of a place like this was not feasible, he was going to have to play this one straight.
As Howard approached the southern bridge one of the guards halted him with his hand up. The guard was a large male boarback with long ivory white tusks protruding from his mouth and a deep voice. Boarbacks, one of the other races on Draconous, are the strongest of all the common races. They stand upwards of seven feet tall and have a slight hunch at the top of their backs. Their large frames are covered in a course dark hair that could be difficult to cut through.
“Hold,” he said in a deep voice that carried over the wind, “Please state your business.”
Howard reached into his pocket and pulled out his credentials, “I am here to request a meeting with one of the tower residents. Enchanter Pugh.”
The guard looked over his credentials then back at Howard, “Be aware. Your status as a gem user will be respected at the college, but officer credentials from Murrsai have no authority here.”
“Understood. We had a situation there and I was pointed towards Pugh. His expertise may be able to assist us,” Howard said.
The guard nodded and made a note in a book he was holding before handing Howard a document.
The guard said, “You are free to enter. Always keep this with you. This is your pass to the college, and you can be asked to show it at any time by one of the guards or staff. If you fail to produce it when asked you will be immediately escorted from the college and you will be denied entry in the future. Any questions?”
“Only two. Where is a good inn? I think I will be here for a few days waiting for an audience with Enchanter Pugh, I would like to get my lodgings set up first. Also, where should I go to put in my request to see the enchanter?” Howard asked.
“Rosie’s on the other side of the bridge is a nice place, tell her Lex sent you. Next, go to the main entrance of the tower. There will be a reception area where you can place your request,” Lex said.
“You have been very helpful. Thank you,” Howard told Lex before making his way across the bridge.
As Howard walked away, he was pleased with his decision to play this straight. If even the bridge guards here were low level gem users, what could be waiting inside? They must have vast resources here to spare gem users to mundane guard duties. Breaking in and sneaking around would have ended poorly for him. Howard wondered how much power this college had over the surrounding nation. A sinking feeling started to come over Timothy that Howard was not making it out of this place. Timothy kept the feeling of dread to himself, not passing it through the connection to Howard.
Howard continued walking along the bridge, taking in the size of the buildings ahead of him. Now that he was closer to the city at the base of the college he could see their true size. Nothing was small in this city, they were huge. He looked around at the bridge he was crossing, it was enormous and opulent. The guardrails were made of the same stone as the bridge, but they were polished smooth, giving them a reflective quality. There was a pillar about every twenty feet that connected each section of railing. The pillars were topped with golden spheres that emanated a soft light to the walking path. The surface of the bridge was a bit rougher, giving Howard’s boots traction as he crossed. The bridge was clean, there was not a spec of dirt anywhere on the pathway leading to the city.
Once he reached the far side of the bridge he saw Rosie’s inn on the left-hand side of the road. He made his way inside and spoke to the innkeeper about renting a room for the upcoming week. The innkeeper was a pleasant woman in her late forties to early fifties and offered him a room on the third floor. The rooms were expensive, one bronze coin per night, but that was to be expected for the looks of a place like this. At least Howard's meals were included in the price. Weary from the travel of the past few weeks, he grabbed his meal and retired to his room for the night to get some rest. He would go to visit the college in the morning and make his request to see Enchanter Pugh at that time.
The next morning he made his way over to the base of the tower. The streets were a bustle of activity as students, teachers and administrators made their way to and from one place to another. It took him sometime to get to the reception area and find the administration desk to place his request. After some back and forth with the clerk Howard secured an appointment three days from now. He was not disappointed with this; it would give him some time to explore the city at the base of the tower.
Over the next few days he enjoyed some of the local food and services that the city provided. There was an impressive theater that he attended on his second night in town. The performance was stunning, the actors and stage crew incorporating magic into the story, using this to enhance the sound and visuals. The quantity of gem users in this college continued to impress him. It seemed like they were everywhere, doing every sort of job. This was not what he was used to. Even when he attended the magic college of Murrsai the amount of gem users was not equivalent. Outside of any college they were exceedingly rare.
On the third day he made his way back to the tower and was granted access to the first ring. When he arrived on the ring via an elevator, something Howard had never seen before, he was directed to a meeting house down the road. The meeting house was another large stone building with an open archway as its entrance. He walked through and handed his paperwork to the female mistfolk clerk behind the desk. Mistfolk are another, somewhat common, race on this world with an inherent affinity to the astral. She looked at the paperwork then escorted him to an office down the hall.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
She opened the door for him to enter, “Enchanter Pugh will be with you in a few moments. He is running late with his previous meeting.”
“Thank you,” Howard said as he stepped into the room.
“You’re welcome. You can have a seat right there,” she told Howard as she pointed to a comfortable looking chair on the near side of the desk.
The room was large but simple, the walls were white as was the floor. There was a small desk on the far side of the room with two chairs for guests on the near side. Howard moved to one of the chairs and took a seat. The clerk closed the door behind him.
Howard surveyed the room. It was well lit but lacked windows, which could be a problem if he needed to make a hasty retreat. The lack of shadows was going to be an issue, the only ones in the room were below the desk and chairs. The walls were stone, again, another possible issue. Punching his way through would take time, even if he used his magic. Fortunately, he had thought about this contingency and purchased an explosive rune from the merchant he was traveling with. It was a single use item; the biggest issue was going to be finding cover from the backlash. The desk would have to do.
He heard the door start to open and stood up. A tall man with short blonde hair stepped into the room.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. My last meeting ran longer than anticipated. I hope you were not waiting long,” Enchanter Pugh said.
Howard had been waiting about twenty minutes, “No, not at all,” Howard replied, “Enchanter Pugh I presume?”
“Yes, yes. Where are my manners?” Pugh asked of himself and offered a hand to Howard.
Howard extended his hand to shake, saying, “It is a genuine pleasure to meet you. I am Inspector Crow of Murrsai,” the two shook hands and Pugh closed the door.
“Please, sit,” Pugh gestured to one of the chairs and moved to the other side of the desk, “What can I help you with,” he said as he sat down.
Howard took his seat, “This is a very sensitive subject, would you mind if I set up a privacy bubble for the conversation?”
“No need, no need,” Pugh said, “All of these rooms have a privacy enchantment worked into them. We can speak freely here.”
“Fantastic!” Howard exclaimed, “Here is the situation,” he paused for a second before continuing, “Have you heard anything about the Lady Jilisa Cole incident on Murrsai?”
“I have not, but that name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?” Pugh said, tapping his chin.
“Does the name, Desmond Vicar, mean anything to you?” Howard asked.
Pugh’s eyes lit up, “Yes, yes! That’s it!” he said with excitement, “Must have been a year ago or more! How is he doing?”
“He has been spending time in the ocean from what I know. I think he retired,” Howard informed the enchanter.
“Oh! That is good! He was a pleasant man. Came here looking for a ritual to help his lady break through the first wall. How did she make out?” Pugh asked with excitement.
“That is why I am here. That ritual did not go well for her, it got her killed,” Howard said as he drifted into a tone he used for interrogations.
“Oh my! What happened?” Pugh asked with shock on his face.
Either this guy was one of the best liars Howard ever met or he was completely oblivious to what the ritual was for. Maybe he was a pawn in someone else’s game.
“Truth is, she was killed because of that ritual,” Howard said as he eyed Pugh. Pugh looked horrified as Howard continued, “Did you know what that ritual was for?”
Pugh shook his head, “Not entirely. It was a ritual of renewal, that is about all I know.”
“They were trying to summon an ancient dragon named Torrithrax,” Howard darkened his tone as he said the dragon’s name.
Enchanter Pugh stood quickly, pulling his hands to his chest as if to protect himself, “No way, no way,” he said as he backed up shakily to the wall.
“Yes enchanter,” he paused for effect, “This is why I need your help. We need to know who you received this ritual from.”
“No, no,” Pugh started talking quickly and with so much fear that he started repeating many of his words, “I requested a ritual of renewal. No, no. Not a dragon. Most certainly not that dragon. No, no. It couldn’t be, it couldn’t be.”
“Sir,” Howard cut in, getting Pugh’s attention, “Who gave you the ritual?”
Pugh paced behind the desk, seeming to forget that Howard was there.
“Sir!” Howard said with more force. Pugh stopped and looked at him. “Who gave you that ritual?”
Just then the door unlocked and opened. A man, taller than Howard but shorter than Pugh walked in and closed the door. He was wearing a grey robe trimmed in gold and silver. The robe had a hood that covered his head and darkened his features. It looked like it cost more money than Howard had in his storage, which was enough to live comfortably for years. The room immediately got heavy, Howard felt like he could barely breathe, let alone move. The room was having the same effect on Pugh.
“He did,” Pugh said in a defeated tone.
“I did,” the man confirmed darkly as three purple and two black gems flared on his lapel.
A ball of iron formed between Howard and Pugh and then immediately collapsed leaving an inky dark spot hovering in the air. The air started rushing past both as it moved to the ball of darkness. Howard could feel it starting to tug on him.
A singularity! Timothy thought and tried to take control of Howard.
His attempt worked but it was futile. The pull grew stronger and stronger as it pulled more and more matter into it. It first consumed the chairs into it, followed by the desk. Howard and Pugh fought against the pull as even the light of the room began to fall into it, leaving a little white ring around the inky dot. Howard tried to use the darkness forming to shadow jump but he was not able to resist the pull to make it to a darkened area of the room. A few seconds later he lost the struggle and was sucked into the darkness.
Timothy felt as if he was tumbling. Falling in all directions at the same time when a force gently grabbed him and straightened him out. This force was able to stop both the tumble and falling sensations Timothy was feeling. Once he got his bearings, he opened his eyes to see, perhaps, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. She had long dark hair, porcelain white skin, red lips and she was wearing a long dark red dress trimmed in pale white. Her eyes were haunting, the irises were a ghostly white color ringed on the outer edges with a dark black. These eyes felt like they wanted to pull Timothy into them and comfort him. When she spoke her voice was a stark contrast to her beauty. She sounded like the dead talking, strained for breath and wispy.
“You should have been mine,” she said ominously to Timothy.
Timothy took a breath and calmed his nerves. He raised his head to look at her in the eyes, “I am no one’s.”
“All the dead are mine,” she retorted.
“I am not dead yet,” he took another deep breath, “Delilah I presume?”
“You died some days ago. All souls must pass through me,” Delilah said with impudence.
“Not this one,” Timothy rebuked her.
“All!” she shouted, anger starting to show on her face.
“Not all,” the robotic voice of Rift’s master reverberated in the vast darkness.
Delilah recoiled, looking around for the source of that voice.
Timothy felt the pull on his back again as he was ripped from the void and into the swirling colors. He appeared in the doorway and collapsed to his hands and knees, panting heavily. He started coughing violently and threw up on the floor in front of him. He was sweating profusely when he finished, snot and bile dripped from his mouth and nose.
Rift rushed to his side, “Timothy!” he said with worry heavy in his voice, “Are you okay?”
Timothy started to nod but changed it to shaking his head as he began retching again. This time when he finished, Rift cast a quick spell. The entire mess vanished in an instant. Rift handed Timothy a cloth then grabbed him by the shoulders and helped him up. He led Timothy over to the chair and sat him down.
“What in the hells happened?” Rift asked as he summoned a glass of water and offered it to Timothy.
Timothy took the offering and held it as he calmed down. It took him a little while to get all of his nerves in check and start sipping the water. After a few more minutes he slowly started filling Rift in on the story. By the time he reached the end of his retelling he had calmed down and felt much better. Almost as good as he did after arriving in this place.
Timothy looked up at Rift and asked, “Do you think that was the real goddess or Howard’s memory of her?”
“From what I know, I think it was a little bit of both. An echo of a god is still attached to the god in a small way. You said she knew you died a few days ago?” Rift questioned.
“Yes. That is what I remember from what she said,” Timothy answered.
“Then it sounds like she was talking through her echo,” Rift added.
“That is not good. Now I have the attention of a god! And the god of death to boot,” Timothy said as he wiped his face with his hands.
“It is not as bad as you think. She is the god of death, not the god of murder. She would have to make a pact with another god to have you killed. No offense, but I doubt your soul is worth that cost to her,” Rift explained.
Timothy looked relieved at Rift’s words, “That makes me feel a little bit better then.”
“Good,” Rift said, “What did you think about the rest of the experience?”
“I liked Khloe better,” Timothy stated to Rift, “I think Howard was a psychopath… or sociopath… I am not sure which is which. Psy was not one of my strongest classes.”
“Because he killed so many people? You know that Khloe has done much of the same thing in her adventures,” Rift questioned.
“I figured. It wasn’t the killing as much as why they killed. Howard liked it. I mean he enjoyed it, so much so that he felt better afterwards. Khloe did it out of a sense of duty and protection. She never felt good about it,” Timothy paused a second in thought, “She never felt bad about it either. She felt it was necessary to protect the people she cared about. She also felt that it was part of her job, necessary as well, to protect the good people of this planet.”
“That sounds a lot like her. She was a star student, loyal friend and a protector of the realm. These are some of the reasons I miss her so much,” Rift said quietly.
Timothy went over to Rift’s side and put a hand on his shoulder. Rift looked at him with pain in his eyes then said, “I am glad you feel that way. It makes me feel like a small piece of her is living on. Please don’t lose that part of yourself.
“I don’t plan on it,” Timothy told Rift with conviction in every word.
Rift straightened up, “We digress. You still have one more door to go through. I know that last door took a toll on you, how do you feel? Ready to continue?”
Timothy looked himself over, “You know what? I feel really good after talking with you. You remind me a bit of my boss, or um, previous boss. He would often get us to talk about the job outside of work. This allowed us to reflect on our experiences and laugh at our mistakes. You got me to sit and talk about the last door. Getting it off my chest helped. Thank you.”
Rift smiled, “I am glad to hear that, but you didn’t answer my last question.”
“Crap! Yes, I am ready!” Timothy exclaimed.
The two started laughing as Timothy went to the last door and placed his fingers and thumb on the five stars. The door opened and Timothy walked through.