“How’s everything going on there?” Alix asked Evory through the crown. It was entirely possible for him to communicate with her silently, but after so long alone, the company of his own voice was better than silence.

“Same as before really. The Ringtails are still struggling to settle in, but they are all Ringless so they don’t really have anywhere else to go. At least here they have food, and shelter, or at least they would if they would stop panicking every time a skeleton tried to help them fix up their rooms,” Evory replied. As usual the vampire didn’t sound like such things fazed her.

“What about Tifayn? Same again?”

“Last I heard. Mr Bones is the only one that is able to get down there so I have to take his word for it.”

By ‘down there’, Evory meant the vault. After Tifayn had returned to the castle, she had proceeded to dump her cargo of Ringtails in the entrance hall and retreat into the castle’s sunken depths. So far, she hadn’t made a reappearance. Since Mr Bones didn’t breathe, he was able to track her down and confirm that she seemed to be alright, having found her on the other side of the flood, but her demon form still held. He guessed some old part of her was keeping her down there, in an attempt to keep them all safe.

Alix was anxious to hear more news but he knew there was nothing else for Evory to tell him. Tifayn was always on his mind and it was hard for him to stay away, but he knew it was necessary. It had given him time to think, time to realise how much the thought of almost losing Tifayn had hurt. He had already wasted so much time, but he was finally ready to accept that his old life was gone. He had to focus on what mattered now, and what mattered the most to him then was Tifayn.

“I wish I knew what caused all this in the first place. Tifayn can’t stay like that forever. Has Astrid found anything?” Alix had tried contacting the librarian himself, but it seemed only the crown was able to communicate at such distances, and the only vampire left to communicate with was Evory.

“Not yet, other than what we already know. Something has caused her to regress to her original demonic form.”

“How are you getting on?” Alix asked Evory, meaning how was she getting on without him there as a source of magic. All she cared about was feeding on magic, something Alix was keenly aware of. It had already been too long and she was beginning to get restless.

“It’s…difficult. There is no other magic here for me to feed on. The Ringtails have already been through enough without me bothering them for help in other ways. How is the Obscene Privilege? Still in effect?”

“Yes, it’s still working, otherwise I would tell you to come here and feed,” Alix replied.

“How will you know when it’s worn off?” Evory asked.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ve got it all sorted. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, got to go.”

At that moment Dbu walked into the cave with a basket full of food.

“Good morning Dbu!” Alix called. “Do you still love me? Are you still willing to do anything for me?”

Dbu was the guard that had taken over the guarding of the Summoning Cave from the pair Alix and Leon had woken up to. For their role in the whole thing, which really amounted to nothing, they had been promoted and carted off to better jobs. Dbu was a large man, with a perpetually ruddy face, and a uniform that was too small for his beer belly.

“Yes Alix, of course. What do you need me to do today?” Dbu asked with a fanaticism that Alix had very quickly grown bored with. It was obvious to him now why Obscene Privilege was banned. It was a pain in the ass.

“Same as yesterday Dbu. Go about your day as usual and come back here with more food tomorrow.”

“Thank you, of course. Would you like a beer?”

“Why not Dbu. I’ve got nothing better do.”

That was how the days have been going for the past week. After Mortlake, Alix knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to the castle with everyone else with the potion still in effect. With the amount he had taken, he eventually worked out that at 1 millilitre an hour, it should wear off after about ten days. With nowhere else to go, he had returned to the only other place in Babyl that he knew; the Summoning Cave where he had first arrived.

It took him a few days to find the place, as it wasn’t marked on the map he bought, and the last time he had been there was before he had the ring, but once he tracked down the Ringtail village they had passed through, it didn’t take too long to find. He wanted to spend time with the Ringtails, learn how they lived, what they needed and what they liked, so that he could provide for the ones at the castle, but he knew the potion would make any contact impossible. Evory had told him that she had spoken with all of the Ringtails, and all of them other than Ophenia didn’t have any family that were interested in taking them back. The castle had plenty of room anyway, and the place could do with more life.

The walk across Babyl to the cave had been a lot more pleasant than the wagon ride he had taken previously. This time he was able to stop and enjoy the breathtaking views that all seemed to have the saturation turned up beyond natural. He crafted blankets and pillows and spelt under the stars.

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When he reached the cave, he had expected to find the same two soldiers standing guard, although there was now no point. Instead he found Dbu sitting in a comfortable seat he must have dragged all the way there, smoking a pipe beside an elaborate tent, drinking from his large supply of beer. He seemed like the most content man in the world. As soon as he had caught sight of Alix though, he jumped from his seat and offered it to him, offered him his pipe, his beer, his bed, everything to try and please him.

“Just act like I am a normal person, Dbu, but don’t tell anyone that I am here,” Alix commanded once he had learned the jolly man’s name. “I’m going to be staying here for a little while if that’s alright. I would appreciate it if you could bring me some food every couple of days. I can give you some money to buy some from the Ringtails or something,” Alix asked, forgetting that such offers were useless to those under the effects of the potion. Dbu would have let himself starve to death and given Alix all of his food, drink and bed if he had asked for it, and he would have been overjoyed to do so.

I’m never making one of these damned potions again…

Although he had to admit that it had been very handy. He just wished he had been able to do more to help the slaves they had arrived too late to save. The long walk across Babyl had given him time to agonise over his decisions. He now wished that he had tasked every one of the Ghosts with tracking down every slave they had ever kidnapped and returned them to their families or otherwise freed them. If he was ever in that situation again, that’s what he would do. But even then, the effects would wear off and the Ghosts would go right back to what they had been doing before. This way he had put a permanent stop to anything like that ever happening again.

One positive about the whole thing was that he found out what poison had been plaguing Galdea. The news spread to Dbu through his weekly updates from the Imperial Army sent to him by raven. After questioning Dbu further on a few points, he thought he had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

The members of the Ghost Company had been carrying weapons called Venbrill Blades, which were made from the bones of the Venbrill, a type of bird that native to the swamps around Mortlake. Alix had guessed the next part but it made sense to him with the other information he knew. The Ghosts took advantage of their poison, but at the same time didn’t want the hassle of living near the birds, so they had created the whistling machines and stuck them all around Mortlake. This meant that the Venbrills were unable to rest within its vicinity, constantly harassed by the erratic whistling, so they left the area entirely. The closest place just happened to be Galdea, where they took up roost. A few of them had been spotted recently, which confirmed that the Venbrills had migrated from Mortlake for some reason.

In Galdea the children had been doing what children do and playing with the feathers that fell on the street. The wind blew them through windows, and their faeces entered water. Luckily the poison was counteracted by a simple antidote, but with how wide the poison quickly spread, across every district and ring, the price of antidotes skyrocketed at the same rate as the supply diminished. To craft more, the potion makers had to travel far outside of Galdea’s walls to harvest the ingredients themselves, or pay a premium to those that grew them or brought them in.

Alix also heard the commotion his own potions had caused in the city. He had been filled with pride at his work as he listened to Dbu’s words.

“About a week back, a new stock of potions entered Galdea. It was only about a hundred vials, which is but a drop in the ocean compared to the hundreds of thousands that call Galdea home. The problem was that they were so pure and potent, that they were able to be watered down to such a degree that the market became flooded in a day. The potions were still sold at the same price as before, but even watered down to a fraction of their original volume, they were still as potent, if not more, than the Alchemist Guild approved potions. The Merchant and Alchemist Guilds are in an uproar over it, and what’s worse, no one knows where they came from. Chanters has been summoned to appear before the Guild, but they say he has no recollection of where the potions came from.”

Alix hoped no one got into any trouble over his potions, but he was glad to hear that the poison was under control.

Even more exciting was what he found in the Summoning Cave. He had intended on sleeping inside the cave, but after Dbu offered him his tent, which Alix declined, he ended up with a luxurious bed made up for him in a corner anyway, so he had no need for the cave. Still, he felt drawn to the place and had little else to do but explore the area until the potion wore off anyway.

Stepping back into the cave was a weird feeling. It made the whole thing feel more real, especially when he caught sight of a black case lying in the shadows, one he had never thought he would see again. Alix rushed over to the spot, thinking for sure it had to be a trick of the light, but there it was; his guitar, just as he remembered it. He pulled it from the softshell case and held it in his arms, the smell of it transporting him to a different world. In that moment he knew for sure that it was all real. Some force really had stolen him from the streets of Glasgow and dumped him here in this new world. It was just a shame that he had no amp to play the guitar with. He spent his evenings strumming the guitar around Dbu’s fire, the soldier wondering why he was so obsessed with the instrument when the sound was barely audible.

The next surprise was what else Alix found in the Summoning Cave. He couldn’t understand how he hadn’t noticed it sooner, but tucked away in a corner of the cave was a spectacular looking vintage car. Classic cars had always been an interest of his, but one he was only able to indulge at a distance, such things way out of the budget of an amateur musician. When he read the emblem on the front grill, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing; a real, mint condition Duesenberg. Analysing it with the ring told him that it was a Duesenberg SJ Phaeton.

If the guitar is mine…then this has to be Leon’s. Lucky bastard…

The thing still ran as well. Dbu choked on his pipe smoke when he saw the roaring machine roll out of the Summoning Cave. Under the sun it was even more glorious. Dbu had a lot of questions, and it took a few more days to answer them all. In the meantime, he didn’t know what to do with the car. There were no roads to drive it on, but he couldn’t just leave it in the cave. He did the only thing he could think of and absorbed it into his inventory. Other than a slight increase in his noticeable weight, it seemed to go work without issue. It was of no use to him but it felt a shame to leave it to rust or for some curious local to find it and tear it apart.

Alix kept on asking Dbu the same question every day, until finally, almost two weeks after the events on Mortlake, he got a different answer.

“Good morning Dbu!” Alix said as the soldier appeared from the tent for his morning smoke. “Do you still love me? Are you still willing to do anything for me?”

“Who in the Naether are you? What are you doing in my camp?” Dbu asked, all jolliness gone.

“Well it’s about damn time,” Alix said. I’m coming Tifayn. He didn’t have any possessions to gather so he got to his feet and started walking.