Hermit’s hand felt like an anchor on her shoulder, heavy and foreign. Her chest rattled as her heart pounded and she shook her head. It wasn’t possible.

No, it really wasn’t possible!

She swiped his hand off and glared at him. “There is NO WAY you’re an all-powerful Being.”

Behind Hermit, still seated on the bed, Jace burst out laughing. He jumped to his feet, causing his naked body to ripple, and slapped Hermit on the back. “I can assure you, Forger, Hermit is not all-powerful at all.”

Vaela jabbed her stick in front of Jace’s face. “Don’t get all chummy with me. I don’t believe you’re some sort of magical fairy either.” He and Hermit exchanged delighted grins that sent a wave of annoyance through Vaela. “And I’m a Charmer, not a Forger.”

Hermit pushed past her stick and clasped her by the shoulders. “Okay, okay. Have a seat.” He pivoted and guided her to the bed. She sat with a hmph and Hermit waved for Surah and Adyr to join her. Surah shrugged and hopped on the bed. He crawled behind Vaela and laid out on his side, head propped up with a hand. Adyr flinched back when Hermit neared her. She glanced at Vaela, eyes hooded with worry.

Vaela licked her lips and looked at Hermit. “You’ll tell us what’s going on? No lies?”

He rolled his eyes and nodded.

Good. Since she had met Hermit, it just seemed like hidden intentions, grand prophecies, and skulking through alleys. If he wanted to jerk her around, well, fine. She’d kick his ass later. But Adyr–she didn’t deserve this. Vaela patted the bed beside her and Adyr skirted past Hermit. She sank down beside Vaela, her weight almost hovering on the edge. Tension coiled in her legs, as if she was ready to spring up and fight at any moment.

Hermit paced in front of them, tapping with his staff. “Alright, the truth. The truth is that, yes, hard as it is to believe, I am not all-powerful.” Jace patted his back and Hermit shook his head. “Rather, I am just a very powerful Bein’.”

Vaela let her body relax into the mattress a little more. At least he was being slightly honest. And humility, even a kernel of it, had to be a good thing, coming from Hermit.

Surah rustled behind her. “Wait, did you say ‘bean’?”

Hermit spun and flung his arms wide. Jace ducked a sleeve with a squawk and shuffled to the side. Shadow rose from the floor in the shape of two men fighting. “I told you that the Created and Twisted fought in an eternal standstill. Rather boring affair, from what I’m told.” The swords of the fighting Shadows drooped. “That is, until one of them popped”–Hermit poked a fighter and he deflated–“and a new Bean, a better Bean, was planted!” A Shadow vine sprouted from the floor and thickened into a column, twice as thick as a man, blocking Hermit.

Jace rubbed his forehead and waved to the Shadow vine. “Unfortunately, that is, more or less, accurate.”

Hermit’s voice boomed from inside the vine. “And rejoice! A savior was born.” He stepped out of the vine, reappearing in front of them, and flourished a bow.

Adyr leapt up and raised her short Ice spear. “Then you are one of the Twisted!”

Hermit sighed and the vine withered away, disappearing into the floor. “I will concede that I have fought against the Created, for hundreds of years.” Adyr’s eyes widened.

Jace laughed and spread his hands towards Adyr. “But Hermit wasn’t the ally the Twisted hoped he was.” He shook his head. “Hermit took long naps, switched sides at a whim, and generally threw the whole war into disarray.”

Adyr frowned and lowered her Spear from Hermit’s throat an inch. “So… you weren’t evil?”

Jace waved his hands at her. “Now, now, I didn’t say that, did I?” He skirted around Hermit and faced Adyr. “I think we can all agree Hermit is evil.”

Vaela nodded. Finally, someone was talking sense.

Jace clapped his hands. “But he’s not malicious.”

Adyr chewed her lip, an uncertainty filling her eyes. Vaela stood beside her and crossed her arms. “Okay, but even if you’re telling something resembling the truth, wouldn’t what he did be, I don’t know, against the rules?”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Jace sighed and stepped back. “You humans, with your ideas of good and evil, Created vs Twisted. It was never like that.” He clasped his hands behind his back, belly sticking out, and faced Vaela. “Contrary to common mythology here, the Twisted are not evil.”

Hermit nodded and clasped his hands behind his back as well, thrusting his stomach out forward in emulation of Jace, though his body lacked the girth of Jace’s frame. He bounced on his toes with a wide grin. “Oh, yes. In fact, we’re friends with most of the Twisted.”

Adyr’s hand lowered, her brow furrowed. “Friends? How could that be? You said you fought them for centuries.”

Hermit pointed a finger at Adyr and waved it back and forth between her and Vaela. “And you two fought each other the entire way here. You don’t hate each other, do you? Or have I not seen you two getting a little cuddly with each other?”

Adyr blushed bright red and Vaela shook her stick at Hermit. “You made us fight!”

He nodded. “Exactly. And we never fought out of hatred either. There was only one reason to fight.” He pointed a finger at the ceiling.

Vaela glanced up. A mirror was fixated on the ceiling, reflecting the bed back down. “To look at yourselves?” What an idiotic reason to fight for centuries.

Hermit snorted and rapped his staff against the floor. “No, I didn’t mean look up literally.” He glanced at Jace. “See what I’m working with here?” Jace tutted and shook his head. Hermit leaned on his staff and spoke slowly. “The Creator. We fought for his amusement. Get it?”

Vaela flushed and squeezed her stick. Oh right, she’s the idiot here? She flopped back onto the bed. “Okay, so you fought for him, but he’s gone now. Those three Twisted with the stupid names still want to get to the Peaks. Why not let them just cross? What do we care if they use Dome as a bridge?”

Jace applauded, his body jiggling with the motion. “Oh, very good.” He turned and clapped in Hermit’s direction. “You did teach them something.”

Hermit bowed deeply, his torso almost parallel to the ground. Vaela stomped a foot. “Will you two stop congratulating each other and tell us what’s going on?”

Hermit straightened up. “We don’t.”

“What?”

“To answer your question: what do we care if they use Dome as a bridge? We don’t.”

Jace resumed his pacing, bare feet slapping against the stone floor. “True.” He touched his chest. “All of the Created have a counterpart Twisted. But Malleus, Stapes, and Incus are not the counters to Seratia, Alnea, and I. Their counterparts remain in the Peaks. And if you think those three Twisted are bad, I assure you their counters in the Peaks are every bit as annoying.”

Hermit shook his fist at the heavens. “Real holier-than-thou attitudes. Absolutely no sense of humor. Arrives ten minutes before your party to catch you while you’re still getting ready.”

Jace nodded. “Yes. Well, mostly.” He rummaged through a dresser on one of the walls and pulled a red silk robe out. Surah let out a coo of approval and Jace put it on. “It’s against those Created that we take action. If they took it upon themselves to stop the Twisted, the destruction ravaged on this world would be immense. Some of the Created live on bridge worlds, though many still reside in the Peaks.” He tied the robe shut with a tidy bow. “In contrast, none of the Twisted remain in the Pits. They’ve spread out among the bridge worlds, but are not allowed in the Peaks. If the Created viewed Dome as a battleground for passage, the world would be subjected to near constant fighting between the forces.” Jace smoothed the robe down, sensually caressing the fine material. “Ahh. That’s delicious.” He smiled at Vaela. “Seratia, Alnea, Hermit, and I have lived here for a long time. We like it here. It is our home.”

Vaela tilted her head. His sincerity–she hadn’t expected that. Was it really so hard to believe that someone, even an eternal Being, wouldn’t want their home destroyed?

Jace extracted another robe, dark satin, and tossed it to Hermit. “To replace those rags you wear.”

Hermit leaned his staff against the wall and pulled off his robe. The heavy material landed in a heap on the floor. Under it, he wore a plain tunic and pants. The tunic was torn in the same place as the robe, but he paid it no attention. He pulled on the satin robe and rubbed a sleeve against his face. “Mmm, softie.”

Vaela snorted and her chest eased. Maybe Hermit and Jace were the ‘good’ guys, maybe not. But she’d much rather be fighting alongside them, than with Kaverlna. She grabbed Adyr’s hand and tugged her down to the bed beside her. Adyr sat, though her body was still taut with tension, her Ice spear clutched across her lap. Vaela squeezed her hand. Adyr’s blood pounded through her body, brimming with uncertainty and unease. Vaela placed a hand over Adyr’s hand that gripped the Ice spear. Adyr looked into her eyes and Vaela offered a small smile.

Was Hermit lying, was he telling the truth? At some point, she’d just have to trust her heart and go with it. In her bones, in her very blood, she felt an odd calm. This. This was right.

Adyr’s hand relaxed and the Ice spear rolled off her lap. It landed on the ground with a thunk and she released an explosive breath. Adyr leaned against Vaela and rested her head against her shoulder.

Surah shifted in the bed behind them. “O Holy Jace… robe me!”

Jace burst out laughing and dug another robe from the drawer. He held it up and it unfurled. It was a creamy orange with black that licked up in waves. He tossed it to Surah. Surah’s wriggling on the bed caused the mattress to shift and Vaela stood, pulling Adyr up with her.

She retrieved her stick and rolled it in her fingers, feeling for the now-familiar notch. “So you said I’m your Champion. What does that mean exactly?”

Hermit crossed to her. He looked odd in the soft robe, like a raven whose rough feathers had been preened. “Normally: an epic fight to the death against the strongest Beings to ever set foot on Dome.”