The first light of dawn crept timidly over the horizon, spilling a gentle golden hue over our camp. I stood there feeling the familiar weight of the Titan-Ax-icearigama in my hand, looking over the smoldering pile of Jon and into the horizon. Somewhere out there was a means to give both Jeldorain and I our lives back, and I couldn’t wait to get started.

It seems to me that you might be missing a few steps, oh great champion, Jeldorain whispered, and I chuckled. Indeed, I had no idea what we were going to do after all that had happened.

Around me, my companions were stirring, the clink of armor and the soft murmur of voices blending with the morning air. The weather was clearing, the fall squall of before giving way to a warm and sunny day, the snow slushing at our feet as the day kicked in and a modicum of heat rolled over us. Kevinar, the Drow Elf Assassin, moved with a silent grace, his dual blades out as he regarded me with a discerning eye.

“I’m glad to see that you two didn’t decide to kill us in the night,” he said, head-cocked and grinning.

“Same,” I answered.

He chuckled, walking to the boundary of our camp and scenting the air. “Something came by in the night. But it was either too weak to wander into our camp, or too smart to take on the thing that did all of this by itself,” he stated, motioning around at the still obvious ruin of Jeldorain’s epic breakdown. Ike stumped over and nodded.

“Yeah. Whatever it was, it got lucky. Kevinar. Also, whoever was on watch when it came by, don’t let it happen again. I’d be pissed, but there’s way too much going on now to even have time for it.”

I nodded and Kevinar did the same. Brandosyeus was standing over the charred remains of his friend and gave no indication that he heard or that he cared. I noted that Ike’s eyes lingered on the satyr, a long pause of silence that ended as abruptly as it had begun when he snapped his gaze over to Kevinar.

“I’m going to need you to run your Message ability, see if you can’t contact the headquarters and get enough info in and back to let them know what happened and find out what we have to do next.”

Kevinar nodded. “If, indeed, they still exist.”

He turned, tracing figures of ethereal light into the air, his head cocked sideways as a red-brown aura clouded out from his body. There was a flash as if someone had just taken a photo with their smartphone, and he turned.

“The camp is intact. They are surprised at the news and request that we return at once.”

Ike flashed his weapons to his hands. “Time to move,” he bellowed, his runty hands cupped over his mouth. Brandosyeus turned and marched our way. Then we set out, Kevinar in the lead, myself taking up the rear.

In the hours that followed, we wandered deep into the thick forest, following a path that I couldn’t see no matter how much I tried. The trees loomed, larger than any I’d thus far experienced, and the underbrush was thick. It made me wary—enemies could be hiding all around us and I wouldn’t have a clue to the wiser.

At about midday, I could feel the watchful eyes of the forest upon us, a sensation that set my nerves on edge. A successful perception check, no doubt. Or something to that effect. Somewhere ahead Kevinar moved with his uncanny quietude and I wondered what news he would bring back to us.

Hopefully something you’ll let me eat, Jeldorain groused.

I smirked. When Jeldorain wasn’t trying to shut me out of the body, or kill my compatriots, he was actually an enjoyable fellow. A hollow hunger threaded through me, and I took a great whiff of the pine-scented air.

“Shadow lurkers,” Kevinar cried, blasting into view with a backwards somersault. Amorphous slug shaped waves of darkness poured after him, rolling over the ground and through the bushes in our direction. As I watched, one of his purple-tinged blades sliced a portion of the shadow away from the rest. It plopped into reality, now a rubbery piece of octopus-like flesh that smoked slightly in the dappled sunlight.

Ike cursed, dropping a fresh handful of forest debris from his taloned hand, and squinting at the shadows with narrowed eyes. “Get back everyone. We’re going to have to go around. The lurkers aren’t something we can defeat. Not without a mage or cleric.”

Cleric. The word slapped me, and Jeldorain snickered. Do your thing, champion.

I thought of the blessing, and words spilled from my mouth. “By the ice of Thrymheimr's realm and the flames of the aurora, let the fury of the inferno and the chill of the glacier bind to my blade. Frostfire, awaken!”

Both Ike and Kevinar stared, first at me and then at their blades as ten mana’s worth of icy-burn curled over one weapon and then the other, coating them with the power of my pledged god. It was a delicate, icy blue, an ethereal frost that pulsed and ebbed.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Simultaneously, ghostly white and purple veins wove runes across the flats of their blades, winter sky flame pulsing underneath a cloud of icy motes.

My weapon was last, but it all happened in a fraction of a second, and the sudden appearance of my magic stalled the shadow lurkers in their advance.

“Infernal!” Brandsyeus snarled in a voice so uncharacteristic of the satyr that we all turned to regard him. He was staring at me, murder in his eyes, but making no move in my direction. The shadow lurkers seized this opportunity to swarm forward again, and we turned our attention back to their mass, swirling blades and icearigama through the wisps of their existence.

It was a massacre. Despite the relatively low damage potential of the spell, the combination of ice and fire damage spread out wherever they were struck.

Shadow creatures suffer large debuffs against elemental attacks, Jeldorain informed me. This battle is already won.

The shadow creatures were moving more slowly now, and trying to pull away from our strikes. Kevinar leapt into the middle of a mass, swirling a circle of icy-flame around him and ending it with a sizzling squeal. Ike pushed forward as well, darting and stabbing as he cut off their retreat.

And I laid about as if playing a game of whack-a-mole, slapping sluglike mist into shattered, frozen ash, my strikes making a distinct clocking noise as the blades slapped through into the ground.

[Achievement Unlocked: Defeat Creatures of the Shadow Realm]

+75 XP

Objective: Successfully defeat a group of shadow creatures.

VICTORY! 75 XP rewarded!

I stared at the dust of the enemy on the ground, wondering at the low XP reward and its juxtaposition with Ike’s previous words to run.

You beat them too quickly. Play with your opponents, lengthen the combat, make it more difficult when you wish to get more.

I nodded my understanding, prodding about the forest floor.

Loot Acquired!

Shadow Essence x3

Small, swirling vortexes of darkness, contained within transparent, orb-like casings.

Mysterious Dark Cloth

A cloth that is dark. What a mystery!

Taking the items into my inventory, I turned to tell them all what I had found, and finally noticed my companions standing back, regarding me from a distance.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What did I do?”

Kevinar narrowed his eyes. “Thrymheimr is a name these lands have not bent knee to for millennia. The lands above and below, though, once trembled beneath his power.”

“Infernal,” Brandosyeus spat again.

Ike cocked his head. “Let me speak to Jeldorain,” he commanded, though his words were not harsh. I regarded my infernal companion in our shared space, and ushered him into my place of control.

“I am here, Ike,” Jeldorain said, lightly bowing his head.

“This is your god, Thrymheimer?” he asked. Jeldorain nodded. “What designs does he have on this plane?”

Jeldorain laughed heartily, and I tensed at the edge of the zone of control, ready to try and take it back if necessary.

“This world is nothing, Ike,” he responded, gesturing around to our surroundings as he spoke. “Thrymheimr conquers dimensions, not worlds. His time playing in the sandbox of planets has well ended, forgotten in the same way as the temples of our kind.”

A soft sense of yearning crinkled from Jeldorain’s soul, and I caught another glimpse of those times when demons ruled terran lands as god-kings. But I could also sense truth wrapped up in the yearning, and I knew that he was not lying to my companions.

“The lord of eternal winter,” he continued, “simply extends his grace to Ryan and I as a means to an end. His designs, you ask? Vast and intricate, like the snowy plains of the eternal tundra. But all he wishes is for me to go back to where I belong, and to allow Ryan to do the same. It is a boon that he has granted, and it is not one that should be questioned too closely. For as he has given of his power, so too can he take it away.”

Ike turned his head, regarding Brandosyeus and Kevinar. Kevinar simply shrugged, sinking his blades back into his inventory. But Brandosyeus stared on, his face scarlet with rage.

“You tried to kill Kevinar. You killed Jon. And now you bring Thrymheimer to our realms?”

He turned to face Ike and Kevinar, his face taking on a desperate sheen, his arms wide in pleading.

“Can’t you see?! Is he controlling you like Schustak controlled us? It’s a trap, a wicked infernal trick! He has taken one of our ancient enemies and given him a breach through which to cross dimensions and hold us all in his thrall!”

Jeldorain narrowed his eyes at the satyr. “If the Lord of Snow and Ice wished to rule here, he would already be doing so.”

Brandosyeus met his eyes with strained, grief-stricken rancor, fluid leaking from both as he did so. “We defeated him, threw him out. I know the stories, Jeldorain. I know all it took to beat back the infernals from this world!”

“If I step out of line, if my lord falters in his promises, simply cast us out again. We are at an impasse, satyr. I —”

Jeldorain stopped, stuttered, and I could feel a wave of tremendous uncertainty play through us, an emotion that confused him. As it rolled through us, I understood immediately.

Guilt, Jeldorain. It is called guilt and you are feeling it because you know that you killed Jon and now you wish you hadn’t.

Jeldorain growled and snorted, causing Brandosyeus to back up a few paces.

How do I fix it? he asked. It was strange to hear his spiritual voice suddenly timid and uncertain.

There is no way to fix it. But to start, you apologize, and explain.

The infernal cleared his throat, starting and stopping sentences several times. “I – I am sorry for what happened,” he apologized.

More.

“I do not belong here. The goblins stole me, took my body, and I was fighting to break free. It was an accident that I killed Jon. I wish it could be otherwise, but his body is too broken and his soul has left to the greater lands of his deities.”

Brandosyeus stood there, his face a twist of confusion and grief. He turned to Ike. “Infernals lie,” he said, his voice weak and helpless. With a twist of his body, he set off into the forest.