Cynthia woke up with a headache. The sun shone in and seemed brighter than she remembered it to be. She looked at the powerless laptop. She didn't put it on the power adapter last night.

"Good morning Cynthia."

The groggy woman looked around trying to find the source of the voice and was a little apprehensive. "Who are you and what are you doing in my room?"

"It's me Kelrick. The spell worked. My consciousness is temporarily residing within your mind."

Cynthia rubbed her temples. She remembered attempting the spell the night before and nodded to no one in particular. "I feel so tired even though I slept."

"Unfortunately that can't be helped. You never attempted magic and the more your body absorbed the energies that come out of the labyrinths, the more magic you can do. However, our priority should be finding medicine to help prolong your life and save it."

Cynthia slowly sat up and glanced at the bathroom. "Can I have some privacy or is that impossible now that you are in my mind?"

"I will go inert to give you privacy. Call my name and I will become active again. There is a hidden settlement nearby that I would like us to go to before we continue the drive to your son."

Cynthia could feel Kelrick's presence fade from her thoughts and sighed in relief. She quickly used the bathroom. She stared at the mirror and observed that some of her age lines appeared to have receded a little. She wondered if it was because of Kelrick.

Returning to the bed, she looked at the laptop and wondered if the code would still react the same way without Kelrick. She plugged the power in and turned it on. She activated the file and when the code started up, it waited for a prompt on the screen.

She typed in, "Kelrick?"

The program responded with, "Query Kelrick unknown. Please input new query."

The code without Kelrick wasn't even remotely close to being an AI. She shut the program down. She deleted the AI program from the laptop. She still had the external hard drive as a backup and packed up the laptop. "Kelrick, I want some breakfast before we go. Is that ok?"

"Yes, that would be fine. We also want to stop by a liquor store to get some bottles of vodka."

Cynthia shook her head, "I'm not going to ask why we need vodka." She dropped by the counter and checked out.

After breakfast, Cynthia followed Kelrick's directions. They veered off the main road and onto an unpaved path until they stopped at a farmer's stall in the middle of nowhere.

The bored brawny man looked over with disinterest and brought his hand to bring his sweat-drenched hair back away from his eyes. "We got some produce here, but if you want livestock. You'll need to tell me what you want and I'll have it ready for tomorrow."

Cynthia allowed Kelrick to take over. Kelrick took over the body and the subtle posture changes caused the man to raise a brow. "I seek an audience with your healer. I only seek herbs and guidance. And from the markings under your illusion, I believe you are from the Plaguebearer tribe."

The man stood up and pulled an axe that was easily twice his size. The weapon was brandished and ready to be swung. "How do you know this? You are a human. If you don't give me an answer that satisfies me, I will kill you."

"I am Kelrick from the realm of the Lawbound. I am currently cohabitating with this human. The things I am looking for are for her benefit."

The man makes a scowl at the mention of Lawbound and spits on the ground. "I would kill you where you stand if it weren't for the laws we all have to observe outside of our original realm. I will call for a guide to lead you into the settlement. You will be blindfolded for our safety and yours."

Kelric nods in agreement. The brutish man takes out a horn from the stall and blares the sound.

A few minutes of waiting a man nearly 7 feet tall came out of the forest behind the stall. The man had a double-bladed axe on his back, the handle extending past his knees. Beside the man was a young man standing 5 feet 8 inches and he stared at the old woman in front of him. "Grandma?"

Cynthia blinked, not expecting her grandson to be in front of her. "What are you doing here Arthur?"

Arthur bit his lip and shuffled his foot on the ground. "Um... Please follow us, we'll talk more when we are in the safety of the settlement."

The tall man looked at Arthur then the woman and shrugged, he turned around and led the way back into the forest. "Follow close."

As the trees shrouded them from the stall, Cynthia glanced back and couldn't see it anymore. She stared into the back of her grandson who seemed to fidget as he walked until the group reached a stone archway guarded by two giant stone statues which seemed to have had better days. The erosion of wind and water caused the features to be unrecognizable but they were warriors with broad chests and wielding axes.

The tall warrior crossed the archway and disappeared. Arthur looked back, "Just cross the threshold and we can talk."

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Kelrick imparted that they were about to cross the gate of a labyrinth. Cynthia followed Arthur through.

Arthur heard a gasp and turned around. Cynthia was staring past him at the tall man or was a tall man. The man's face was no longer human and looked more like a boar with tusks. She started to fall from the shock.

Arthur moved fast and caught her. "Grandma!"

Cynthia's body righted itself, Kelrick had taken over and felt that the woman he was helping had gone unconscious within. "Your grandma is currently unconscious. My name is Kelrick and I am residing within her mind."

Arthur took a step back with wide eyes, anger flowing into his voice, "Who the fuck are you and why are you possessing my grandma?"

The orc looked over at the old woman and yelled out, "We might have a rogue spirit, get a mage here and a couple more warriors!"

Kelrick stood still. Orcs are Chaosborn, they have no love for elves who are Lawbound. He was watching Arthur and he didn't seem to be serving the orcs and wondered what he was doing there.

"Will you let me explain?" Asked Kelrick.

Arthur glared and nodded. The young man moved a little bit to block the way back from the archway.

Kelrick explained what happened being a spirit and needing someone to help anchor him until he found a more permanent situation. He didn't elaborate on the details of how he met Cynthia or how he entered her mind.

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Arthur stared at the gray-haired lady that is supposed to be his grandmother. He can see the demeanor change and it unnerved him. He has been studying spells and some weapons from the orcs in exchange for teaching those among them who didn't know the English language and the basics of using a computer.

Longtusk looked at Arthur while keeping an eye on the possessed grandmother. He had given his word that he would keep Arthur safe. Orcs might be Chaosborn but his tribe practice the word of honor. He reached behind him and gripped one hand on the haft of the axe in case he needed to use the weapon.

Three orcs approached. One had a hooded robe with tusks extending out as the only visible part of her face. The other two orcs flanked Kelrick.

The mage snorted and then uttered a few words with an outstretched hand.

Arthur watched with concentration, it was one of the spells he was trying to learn. It was a detection spell that was versatile based on intent and how much energy was poured into it. He learned that he didn't have a lot of energy but he was clever and learned that his photographic memory would allow him to replay what he has seen or read. Learning things would be more useful for him as he could always gain mana crystals to power spells.

The mage growled, "You come to our settlement. You hide inside a woman who does not have any magic or part of our world. You also have a spell that is tracking you. We cannot let you enter further into our labyrinth."

Kelrick frowned, "Do you have a way to remove the tracking?"

The orc mage cracked her neck, "I doubt you have the resources to pay for that removal, but I will give you a chance to talk to our human teacher before we give you a permanent rest."

Kelrick looked at Arthur, "Can we speak in private?"

Arthur sighed and looked at the orc mage, "Can you ask the others to move back so that I can have a private conversation? You can end the spirit if he attacks me by spell or by using my grandmother's body."

The mage waved her hand and the orcs pulled back, including Longtusk.

Arthur approached closer but made sure that his grandmother's body was within the line of sight of the mage. "What did you want to talk about spirit?"

"Your grandmother is dying. She has a brain tumor and breast cancer in the later stages. She informed me that the doctors gave her about another month. I want to help her for what she did for me but I also can't continue as I am because there is a spell that is tracking me. The people after me are dangerous and I would not want to endanger her or you. There is only one way I can help while effectively dying. If you allow it, I can transfer my memories to you so that you can find a way to save your grandmother. The orc mage should know how to kill my spirit and use the energy to infuse you so that your magic potential increases. In return, you can allow her to take a part of the energy for herself. I vow that you will have most of my energy on my word as a Lawbound."

Cynthia's grandson stared at Kelrick digesting what he told him without responding immediately back. He glanced at the orc mage then back at Kelrick, "Ok."

The young human walked over to the mage and whispered what the deal was. The orc mage was surprised by the suggestion and nodded, "It is a good trade. Did I say right?"

Arthur smiled at the orc mage and then nodded before walking back to Kelrick. "Prepare yourself, I will hold on to my grandmother because I know when you vacate. She will fall."

Kelrick nodded, "Please tell Cynthia that I do this because I owe her for saving me."

Arthur whispered, "Thank you."

The orc mage raised both her hands and uttered a long string of words that Arthur didn't understand but he watched and listened. He might not be able to cast it but one day he will. Arthur felt the cascading energies arrive and grab hold of Kelrick like tentacles and pull him out of the body. The spirit form was barely visible but it was an elf. The form slowly disintegrated into a cloud of glittering dust, a part of it flowed to the orc mage. The rest flowed into Arthur as he held his grandmother.

Arthur felt the energy flow into him and felt the memories enter his mind. He looked up and saw Longtusk moving fast towards him. He opened his mouth to ask why but no words came out and darkness took him.

"Will he be ok?" asked Longtusk in orcish.

"He just absorbed memories from an elf. We will have to see how much he can retain as an elf's memories would overwhelm any short-lived race, but this boy's excellent memory might help him."

"I know many have asked for you to teach them magic, why did you choose this human?"

"There is something special with this boy. I do not have my mother's sight but I can tell that when he comes to his power. He will do great things. Bring the boy and his grandmother's body to the healer's hut. While they are unconscious we can have Belrog see what he could do for the grandmother's condition."

"Yes mother," answered the tall orc as he brought the bodies to the healer.

Belrog the healer was an orc with a missing eye. He had learned about eye patches from Arthur and has been sporting different eye patches to try out different styles. Today's eyepatch had an eightball on it.

He quickly helped Longtusk when he saw the two bodies. Longtusk quickly informed him of the grandmother's condition. The one-eyed orc began to investigate the condition and frowned when he confirmed the diagnosis. He walked over to a small box and pulled out a vial. He stared at it before deciding that his friendship with Arthur was worth using a potion that had been passed down for several generations of his family.

He opened it and slowly poured it into the grandmother's mouth, using his fingers at her throat to ensure it flowed down. "It might not save her but it should prolong her life some."

He sat down beside the two unconscious bodies pulled out a cell phone and began playing on it. Arthur had taught him how to use it and he was fascinated with the things he could do. He pulled up a crossword game and tried to solve it. He failed most times but as Arthur explained, you learn new words that way.