I prepared to leave the safety of my eternally dark sanctuary by crafting some armour for Dash. He had grown to about the size of a bear; Not massive, but almost large enough to ride on land. I had plenty of materials, but no fuel for my forge. So before I could complete my craft I was forced to exit my workshop.

  I prepared for battle and passed through the archway leading back to the orc encampment. Once there I immediately noticed the trove of supplies the orcs had amassed. So keeping my ears open for any movement outside, I began to pile the crates of useful items around the anvil. And once again, struck the anvil. When back inside of my workshop I remembered that I hadn’t gathered any food, so I returned to the world outside yet again. Upon exiting the orc's crafting area, I headed for a structure that looked like a supply-house. Inside were heaps of crates and sacs, inspecting them revealed grains and preserves. But before I could decide which goods to carry back to the workshop I heard movement. The orcs began to chatter among themselves, more voices joining the conversation as their waking numbers grew.

  I grabbed the largest crate I could carry and ran for the workshop once more and just as I reached the anvil, Dash landed next to me carrying two large sacs. I placed one hand near his shoulder. While striking the anvil I could hear several orcs hot on my tail.

  An instant later (from the orcs point of view) I emerged from the crafting area accompanied by a white dragon (technically an adolescent whelpling, although being a runt I really don’t know what to consider him) protected by armor matching my own.. I did not kill any of the creatures, although Dash probably did. The encounter was brief; The orcish rations (I had spent the last few weeks consuming from my POV) were not agreeing with me, and I was in no fighting mood. Dash however, very much enjoyed the sac of raw meats that he had retrieved. So he seemed to have plenty of energy to help cover my escape. Although without Luseal's ability to deflect arrows, I would have been fucked.

  Once I reached the frontlines separating the tundra from the marshlands to the west I found that the knights and goblins had been developing the fortifications in the area. I located the C.O. and debriefed him on the situation involving the intelligent orcs I had encountered. I would have informed them of Lady Darkrose’s fate, but the staff at the battlefront had been circulated and nobody here even knew who I was.

  So I made my way back to goblin bay. The roads had improved quite a bit over the past half year or so that I hadn't spent inside my workshop. I passed many new settlements that I had not seen on my journey to the east, unfamiliar mixtures of human fortifications, and goblin building techniques. At last I reached the trading port, I wouldn’t have quite called it a city; but there was no doubt in my mind that this was the largest settlement on the continent.

  I didn’t bother to settle in, instead travelling to the knights office to secure passage back to Denisea. There were not many troops being moved around at the time so it would have taken a few weeks to obtain a free pass with them. Instead I travelled to the newly established adventurer’s guild office and found a job that would bring me closer to my hometown.

  The contract outlined a simple B-Rank quest to deal with some blood cultists that had popped up back in southern Denisea. So once I secured a voyage back home I prepared for the long trip to the southern shores of Denisea. Once there, I headed off toward the royal tomb described in the guild contract. Upon arrival I saw clear signs of recent rituals. I scouted the area and surveilled the tomb as I waited for the cultists to arrive.

  I was shamelessly sleeping, hidden away near the treeline. I was of course chasing the perfect dream, but was awoken by a nightmare. Dash woke up the same instant as I did, maybe I just startled her when I was jarred awake. Peering toward the nearby tomb, I could see candles and hooded figures. They were tying a woman to the altar used for funeral rights. It looked like they were going to sacrifice her, so I jumped to my feet and began sprinting down the gradual slope leading to the ongoing ritual.

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  I attempted to remain silent as to get the jump on my targets and Dash took his cue from me not to attack yet. When I was close enough for them to hear me, it was already too late. I struck the nearest cultist in the head with my sheathed blade, knocking him out. The intended sacrifice screamed her head off and the cultists continued their chanting. Dash snatched up one cultist in his claws, and I jabbed the third and last remaining threat in the stomach with my blunt weapon, incapacitating him, and more importantly preventing him from chanting.

  There are four main ways of using magic. Occasionally spells were quite literally “cast” using alchemy or voodoo, one could prepare a desired spell and throw the object to activate it. Primarily spells are cast with the use of verbal incantations. Alternatively, one could theoretically cast a spell using hand symbols to represent the same incantations. Which brings us to the fourth method of casting spells, runecasting. Runecasting consists of using magically-conductive materials to form runes, each rune represents an incantation. So using the right set of materials, then stringing these symbols together, one could pre-program a spell to be cast by itself.

  I didn’t notice that the entire area was located within one of these pre-programmed spells. I freed the would be sacrifice, and retrieved an impressive looking book from the altar. It was written in a language I could not recognise. And just as I began to interrogate the only still-conscious cultist, he suddenly slit his own throat activating the rune-spell located all around us.

  I can’t be sure if I’ll ever remember what happened next. I was brought to another place, and I feel like I was there for a long time. But the next thing I remember is being back at the altar. The woman who had been the planned sacrifice was with me as well, but everything else had changed. It seemed that the cultist who just sacrificed himself had been all but devoured entirely. The weather had shifted and it was now what seemed to be day time. I looked around for any more clues and found that I still had the blood cultist’s journal under my arm. The woman who had been intended as a sacrifice began to laugh… and I mean, like really REALLY laugh; it was unnerving to say the least. I looked around for Dash, and offered to help the strange lady find her way home but she just said that she would not be needing any more help, thanked me, and went on her way.

  When the woman I had rescued was finally gone, I began calling for Dash and I asked Luseal what the hell had happened. Luseal said she was having trouble remembering as well, but she did remember that she was unable to completely protect me from the strange place we had just been. She tried to explain how she focused her entire being into guarding my soul, however she was unable to protect my body at the same time. But I felt fine, plus she explained that the soul-energy in that realm was wrong, and it was pressing on us both intensely so she didn't think she had a choice either way.

  I could not bring myself to leave without first finding Dash. So I decided to wait for him at the altar. Although I figured we were only a few days from my hometown where he hatched, so maybe he went back there. But before the first night fell Dash came soaring down from the sky practically knocking me off my feet. First sniffing me, and then licking my face.

  Upon returning home, all that I was able to ascertain was that I had been missing for less then a week. Which explained why Dash had not seemed to have grown. The town had changed a lot once again. The goblin I had sent as an ambassador was very, very effective. There were goblins everywhere, and Dipshit had even let them take over the workshop that me and Lady Darkrose had helped to establish.

News of Darkrose’s death… sorry, Lady Darkrose’s death; hit my parents hard. I felt the same shame as my first big homecoming, but Luseal spoke to my parents and told them how I had saved Dash, and that really helped me begin to forgive myself.