I suppose, the old woman began. That I must begin with a history of sorts. Oh, not to worry, she waved a dismissive hand. I shan’t bore you with long-winded genealogies or catalogues of skirmishes or war. I will, instead, give you a short sketch of the east in its relationship with the remainder of the continent. And, she assayed a shallow nod, I suppose, the other lands, as they bear some small part in the grand play that we of Mund have been participating in.

She motioned for Jack to have a seat in the chair recently abandoned by the old wizard and settled back into her own chair.

To begin with, she gazed out into the trees. What we nowadays call the east was once its own nation. Oh, a thousand and more of years ago, I suppose. A kingdom of elder lineage, a hundred generations old. Endara, it was called. Named for its founders as Tandera was for hers.

To our east, she gestured, the Sunderling Sea, dotted with islands large and small, bound together in a loose confederation. Beyond, a land called Deleanos, of which I know precious little.

To our west, she waved her other hand, even then, the kingdom of Tandera stood.

Beyond that, she gave the hand a flip, the empire of the demons. Torhahm’s folk. Those in sway to the dark god of Mund, for Mund has two gods, Jackson. Torhahm and Jehsha, ever vying for control. I cannot tell you what that nation might have been called, as there was never any trade or intercourse with those under the dark god’s rule save it be strife and war.

The Demonlands it was called by those who walk in the light. No more. Its capital was the Obsidian Fortress, which I have visited but once, and that with precious little time for sight seeing. Although, and here she smiled a small, brittle smile. I did bring back the odd souvenir.

To north and south, she gestured in those directions, various of the fae and beastkin kingdoms, packs, hordes, nations, or what have you. There are more of them than I care to name, and more then than now. Yet none bear any particular part in what I must convey to you, and so I shall leave them out of this lesson.

I won’t bore you with the long and twisted tale of how those things changed beyond that they did. Eventually, the whole of the continent found itself divided into two camps. Tandera, which now encompassed Endara, various of the fae lands, and nearly half of the beastkin, and the Demonlands, which included all that remained. There were no neutral parties. Or none which survived the initial trials, at any rate.

She continued to gaze into the forest for a moment, her eyes vague, before continuing. Gathering her thoughts.

As things stand currently, she went on. And insofar as I am able to ascertain, the Demonlands are no more. At least so far as an organized entity. What forces remained of the aligned races have gone back to their previous haunts and previous ways, and the demons who yet survive have scattered to the four winds. Her face drew down. All of the four winds, it would seem.

She tightened her lips as she continued. Humanity has fared little better, she informed him unnecessarily. Perhaps even not so well, as the vast majority of demonkind have useable gifts, whereas the bulk of humanity do not.

Jack listened, nodding where appropriate. The tale of Tandera’s current plight was all too familiar to him already. Bor Jonkins had given him a master class, being both well informed and prone to loquaciousness when in his cups. And he was very fond of his cups.

She spared him a look before returning her gaze to the forest. The capital to which you are aiming yourself, Jackson Grenell, she sent with no particular inflection. Is not only the capital of Tandera’s current incarnation, but has always been that nation’s heart. She glanced aside to see did he understand her meaning.

And while it occupies a position central to the kingdom it once was, some thousand and a half years agone, it now lies quite a long distance from that nation’s current center.

Jack noted the shift in her thinking. ‘That nation.’ Repeatedly. She no longer considered herself a part of Tandera, then. She really meant to carve out her own slice of the country. He wondered what the other citizens would have to say about that.

She allowed him to chew over the implications. She was being very deliberate in laying out her goal. After all, he would play an outsized role in her ability to achieve it.

You understand, Jackson, she posited, do you not, that you are not a hero of Tandera, but a hero of Mund, yes?

He frowned. “You’re suggesting there might be a war.”

No, no, no, she shook her head, smiling. Had we a legitimate king in Tandimaine, or, for that matter, even did the king currently squatting there exert the least effort on peeling his flaccid rump from the throne to protect the east, I would happily stand aside for him.

Do not mistake my resolve for desire, Jackson, she assured him. I would much rather continue my life of peace here in my cottage, where my only duties lie with protecting the local area.

“Okay,” he nodded.

No, she repeated. I’m suggesting that you consider that securing the east prior to moving on might be beneficial to your overall goal.

He nodded again. That thought had already crossed his mind more than once, and was one of his major concerns. But he was still waiting for her to get to her point.

What has Luciandro told you of Scarpwatch? She asked lightly.

His eyes narrowed. Not much, actually, he confessed. “He’s told me a bit about his master, and his master’s works, and that the castle fell to the Demon Lord’s forces thirty or so years ago. That’s about it.”

I see, she steepled her fingers. A pity. Scarpwatch, Jackson, she told him, has a significant part to play in what is to come.

The gist, however, of all this rambling, she clasped her hands together in her lap. Is that the castle and its environs once served as the seat of power for the kingdom of Endara. She fixed him with a hard gaze. I mean for her to do so again.

She wasn’t finished, though, and before Jack could gather a response, she started again.

Tell me, Jackson, she asked. What do you know of the master?

“Again,” he told her. “Not much. Mostly that he was the greatest wizard of all time. At least to hear Luciandro tell of it.”

He was that, indeed, she laughed. A man of such great power as would have made me seem, even as I am now, an ungifted child playing with wooden blocks.

He called Scarpwatch home for several hundreds of years, the told him. Rebuilding and enlarging it via the use of constructs such as make those I command appear as the straw dolls a mother twists for her toddler.

In the end, it took the combined forces of two of Mohrtgauth’s lieutenants to bring him down, and his castle with him. It was, by all accounts, a pyrrhic victory such that neither demon army was ever a serious threat again.

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The castle has changed hands several times over the intervening decades, in some cases being partially repaired, in others merely having the victors take shelter within its ruins.

In any case, she sighed, I promised not to bore you with tales of war and skirmish, did I not? My point in mentioning the Master is that I do not believe —and I have consulted the Master’s tiny wizard in this— that any of the demon king’s forces nor those of any of the heroes, have ever found his deepest laboratories, nor his deeper secrets. There are levels beneath the castle that even demons fear to tread.

“And I suppose,” Jack responded laconically, “that you expect me to wander down these deep ways to check things out?”

Rest assured, she sent. I will take care of that chore when the time comes. From you, I expect only the taking back of the castle.

“The who the what, now?” he goggled. “From who?” then he put hand to forehead. “Or what?”

Iktchi-Chi chose that moment to reenter the yard, fresh from her confrontation with Tiarraluna. The old woman forcibly untensed her muscles and settled back into her seat. We will continue this conversation at another time, Jackson, she nodded to him before taking to her feet and vanishing into the cottage.

Jack turned and greeted Chi, taking her clumsily into his arms, still working out how to do so with her wings furled against her back.

Chi had no such issues, first taking his hands and guiding them properly around her back, and then holding him tight, her face serious. She lay her head against his shoulder stifling a tear. She’d been trying to avoid thinking about their future, or lack thereof, but her conversation with the novice mage had forced it to the fore, and the hard truth of it was laying hard and hollow in her stomach.

“You alright?” Jack asked, sensing something wrong.

“Worried about Cha,” she lied. For while she was worried about her sister, on that front, at least, she felt hope.

“How’s Button doing?” he wondered.

She pulled back slightly and looked him in the eye. Then she lay her head against his shoulder again. “The storm is suppressed for now,” she told the ground beside him. “But future weather patterns remain uncertain.”

He made as if to draw back, but she squeezed him tighter. “We’ll talk about it later,” she told him softly. “Take me to my sister, please?”

Cha remained unconscious. That was worrisome until the old enchantress explained that she would remain so for another several days, or even weeks, and that it was deliberate.

“Yeah,” Jack intervened before Chi could begin an interrogation. “She did the same to me when I first got here.”

Chi wasn’t entirely convinced, but Cha did look better. She turned to Rosaluna. “Are you rested, Lady?”

The old woman nodded, her expression not entirely certain.

“Would you care to repeat our exchange of last evening?” Chi asked seriously.

And what spell are you prepared to impart on my frazzled mind now, Lady Demon? She wondered.

“No spell,” Chi smiled. “A tome. A textbook, more like. Although, I fear you won’t immediately be able to decipher the text.”

What point then? The old woman wondered.

“It’s a wonderful book,” Chi assured her. “With just loads of pictures and diagrams, tables and such which you’ll no doubt understand perfectly well, given that math knows no language.”

Rosaluna’s head tilted to the right and she widened an eye. And what would these wonderful images entail?

Chi glanced at her sister before turning back to the enchantress. “It’s an anatomy, Lady,” she said. “A medical book from my home world.”

Ah, the old woman nodded. And you’ve memorized it so vividly that you can pass it along?

Chi nodded. “That, and much more, Lady,” she smiled. “Not mentioning the actual tomes I’ve carried along in my belt pouch. All of which, over the course of time, I will give to you, should you desire it. Over four thousand spells I’ve collected over the centuries. Three thousand and more of books from many lands between what I have with me, and what I’ve got squirreled away in my memories. Each and every one I will happily give to you, and call it a bargain for the life you’ve saved.”

You owe me—

“Hold not my sister’s life in low stead, human,” Chi stood to her full height, partially unfurling her wings. “She is worth far more to me than what I’ve offered. Nor am I paying you for a debt. This is gift for gift, no more.”

Rosaluna sighed and settled her tensing shoulders. You are a sore trial, Lady Demon, she shook her head slowly. But, I suppose that this is part of the charm you’ve laid upon me.

Jack watched their exchange, a grin tugging at his mouth. “You two should find Luciandro,” he told them when he could get a word in. “He’s got a spell that could probably help.

“Meanwhile,” he added. “I’ll be outside.”

He found Bob outside, laying beside one of the chairs, while Mohrdrand sat smoking his pipe and scritching behind his fuzzy ear.

“And where’ve you been?” Jack wondered.

“Out in the woods chasing rabbits,” Bob lied.

Jack snorted as he headed for the fire ring and his discarded mug. “Try again,” he scoffed as he rinsed the mug in water from the teapot before refilling it with coffee. “My Detect Life skill has gotten pretty good these days, and you shine really bright. If you were out there in the trees, I’d have known it.”

Bob ignored him, rolling over to have his belly scritched.

Jack didn’t push. It wasn’t like there’d be anything he could do about it in any case. He settled into the other chair fishing around in his belt pouch for some sugar lumps.

“There is little more that I can do here,” Mohrdrand remarked around his pipe a short while later. “And I’m sure Tiglund would like to see his... ah, friend rather than spend the season out here staring at the forest. Then, too, there is the matter of his being one of the few adventurers in Mokkelton fit to pursue bounties.”

Jack nodded. “They’re doing something all magicky in there,” he told the old man. “No idea how long it’ll take, and I’d rather not interrupt them until they’re done.”

The old man stared into the bowl of his pipe, nodding slowly. “I’d imagine you’re not keen on walking back to town, then?”

Jack gave him the side eye. “Not so much,” he said. “No.

“You could always take the wandering way,” he suggested. “I can drive the Runstable’s back on my own.”

The old wizard favored him with a momentary glare. He had no intention of missing his opportunity to drive the speedwagon with two teams.

“You sure you want to just hie yourself off without saying goodbye, though?” Jack wondered guilelessly, his face innocent.

Mohrdrand grunted, refilling his pipe. He made no move to rise.

The demon and the enchantress appeared at the doorway a little over an hour later, both of them looking weary. For her part, though, Chi was in the process of downing an elixir. For her part, though, Chi was in the process of downing an elixir. She’d gotten over her guilt at the expense pretty quick.

Rosaluna seemed surprised to see Mohrdrand. Still here, Old Man? She wondered. I’d have thought you long to have returned to your workshop by now.

He rose and bowed, “I would never dream of leaving without giving my respect,” he intoned solemnly. “I’m surprised you’d entertain such a notion.

She favored him with a small grin. Well, she sent. I’m glad you did. Thank you for your aid, old friend, and she held out a hand.

Mohrdrand took the offered hand and bent over it, his lips barely brushing its back.

“We about ready to go?” Jack wondered as the old wizard was making a job of straightening his back.

Almost, Rosaluna turned to him. One more request before you leave. I... have a friend, she hesitated. An old companion from days gone by. I’ve a favor to ask on his behalf.

“If I can,” Jack returned. “You’ve already set me up with a pretty full plate of requests as it is, Lady.”

Oh, she smiled. This will not be nearly so troublesome as that other.

Troublesome, huh? That’s what she called retaking a castle?

While he was wondering, she popped a jet black jewel from the strap of her bag. While those gathered watched, she tossed the gleaming black diamond on the ground, and waved a complex pattern over it with one hand.

The black diamond shivered, then bulged, then spun and grew, pulsing and morphing, until a midnight black stallion stood before them, stretching kinked muscles. After a few moments, it shook its head and turned. At which point, it screamed and reared, dancing on its hind hooves and bugling challenge.

Everyone gathered ‘round was taken aback, Rosaluna not the least of them.

On my back, Lady Luna, the stallion dropped to all fours and sidled to her, interposing its body between her and the cottage, its ears laid back, its eyes never leaving the place beside the door where Bob still lay. We must flee!

I don’t understand, old friend, she sent. Flee from what?

The spirit stallion trembled as it beheld the hulking form rising higher than the peaked thatch roof of the cottage. The orange and white corgi buried within the creature’s core, it barely perceived, seeing it as little more than a faint projection emanating from within the greater bulk.

Jack, of course, couldn’t hear the stallion’s words, but he could trace the track of the one flaring eye he could see. He turned to the reclining corgi. “Bob?” he asked. “Care to fill me in?”

Bob yawned, sending the big stud into another agitated dance, pressing Rosaluna back with its body. “Spirit horse,” Bob told him. “Old one, too. That’s why it can take such a solid physical form. Strong.” he allowed his tongue to loll. “Not as strong as me, though.”

“Well, knock it off,” Jack ordered, hoping the goof would obey.

“Knock what off?” Bob regarded him innocently. “I’m not doing anything.“I can’t help if he’s a wuss.”

Jack glared for a moment, mind racing. Then, “well, go chase some more rabbits or something ‘til we get this straightened out.

Bob gave him the eye, but rolled onto his feet and trotted off, head and tail high.