The one-eyed elf wore dark leather that hugged his form. Wrapped around his shoulder was a tattered black cloak, hood pulled up over his head. The stone mask he wore on his face was etched, chunks chipped away in some places. His lone eye stared at Theo, a deep shade of purple that burned with passion. Both Sarisa and Rowan had gone to summon their weapons, only stopping when the elf made no move.

“Have a seat,” Theo said, gesturing to the empty seat at his table. He removed a [Greater Potion of Limited Foresight] and drank it, watching as his companions did the same.

“Surface liquor?” the elf asked, sagging into his chair. His shoulders slumped, breaths coming in sharp gasps.

“Naturally. The beer down here isn’t to our liking.”

“Nor is it to anyone’s, I’d wager.”

“What kind of information do you have?” Theo asked, drumming his fingers on the table. “And what’s the price?”

Theo could hear the smile in the man’s voice when he spoke next. “Astute. First, allow me to introduce myself. I know how you are, Archduke Theo, but you may call me Twist.”

“Nice to meet you, Twist.”

“Indeed. I was tasked with killing Fenian Southblade before he claimed the Throne of the Herald. As he has claimed the throne, slipping out of my grasp, I’ve abandoned my duty.”

Theo instinctively reached for a dagger hidden in his coat, stopping only when he saw Twist’s inaction. A Wisdom of the Soul message popped up.

[Wisdom of the Soul]

It is likely that this man was sent by King Karasan to assassinate Fenian Feintleaf. He speaks Qavelli purposefully. He knows about the throne, but didn’t state that he wanted to claim it.

More information is required to draw a conclusion on what his intentions are, though.

“You’re well-informed,” Theo said, relaxing slightly.

“I have my methods,” Twist said, coughing into his mask. “I wish I could have seen them fight. Such a shame that the elf is stuck in Balkor’s realm.”

Theo half-expected Khahar to show up, clamping a hand over the masked elf’s mouth. But nothing happened. He knew too much to be a normal dweller of the underground. Everything he said was pointed and undisguised.

“How do you know this? ‘I have my methods’ isn’t a valid answer.”

Twist broke into a coughing fit. He rolled his shoulders, nodding. “People always want answers, don’t they? Fine. I’m a failed ascendant. Former servant of Balkor. I removed his core when he fell, cursing me. Been climbing ever since…”

Twist coughed some more, stifling any more words that begged release. Theo was left feeling dumbstruck. He realized quickly that the elf was being honest because he needed help. But what did it mean to help a former servant of Balkor? He couldn’t decide if it was a good idea. Since Twist was being so forthcoming with information, it didn’t hurt to ask.

“So, what do you need from me? In exchange for this information you have.”

“Ah, well… I need transport to the place where Qavell once was.”

“That sounds like a riddle,” Theo said with a sigh.

Twist shrugged. “Do you think the undead were limited to the surface? The corruption is spreading to the underground. It’s only a matter of time before even this town is overrun. There. That’s free information. Can you get me where I need to go?”

Theo only offered a shrug at first. “Eventually,” he said after a pause. “But it might take a while. The path from Gronro to Qavell is long. Every step is corrupted.”

“An honorable promise,” Twist said, reaching his hand out for Theo to shake.

Theo shook the elf’s hand, finding his grip to be firm. “We can formalize this agreement with a contract.”

“Later,” Twist said, falling into a coughing fit once more. He tilted the bottom of his mask up, spitting onto the ground. “First Prince Hanan is headed for Broken Tusk. He’s being coerced into doing so by another. I don’t know who.”

Rowan laughed. “He would need an army to attack the alliance.”

“And he has one.”

“And the means to cross the corrupted lands.”

“He has that, too.”

Theo leaned in, narrowing his eyes at Twist. “How?”

“He lifted the entire city into the air,” Twist said, letting out a satisfied sigh. “A feat of his Dark Coresmiths, I think. Qavell itself is flying toward your alliance.”

Theo fell back into his chair. Yeah, that would be a problem. Taking out a fleet of airships was one thing, but an entire city? Nuking it was easy enough, but he had to consider the civilians within. After a few more moments of contemplation, he nodded to himself. This was still within Broken Tusk’s means to repel. The alchemist opened his administrative panel, issuing direct orders to Zan’kir. He detailed what Twist had told him, and issued new orders. Instead of launching deadly loads, they would only fire anti-magic rounds at the city. That would reduce casualties to a minimum. From there, they’d figure the rest out.

“This is valuable information,” Theo said. “You’re giving it so freely.”

“Karasan never paid me,” Twist said. “And his son, Hanan, is innocent. It costs you nothing to keep preparing, and much more to get me to Qavell.”

“Fine. I think this arrangement is acceptable. What do you plan to do once you’re at Qavell? The place where Qavell was.”

“That is the one secret I shall keep,” Twist said, laughing to himself. Then he coughed some more.

“Do you need a health potion?” Theo asked.

“It won’t work.”

This was a lot of information to process. Twist fell into silence as Theo went through his administrative interface. He made notes from what the pale elf had told him, getting every detail down for Alise and her team to see. He put as much text, color, and warning-sign emojis in the title to grab peoples’ attention. After that, he drew up a formal contract for the elf to sign. There was some back-and-forth, but they agreed on something simple. Twist didn’t want to stay in Broken Tusk, but he wanted progress reports on his trip to the north. He didn’t care if they went over land, sea, or air. He just wanted to get there.

“I need to discuss this with my people,” Theo said.

Twist shrugged. “I’ll be here. Couldn’t kill Fenian the last time I saw him, so I’m left feeling… listless.”

After paying Twist his agreed upon stipend of fifty silver coins, Theo left with his assistants. They rushed out of the underground area, bidding farewell to Igor before they left. Alise was already blowing up the administrator chat feature. She and the other administrators were throwing theories around, most of which questioned the information given to them by Twist. By the time the alchemist made his way to the town hall, a small team had assembled.

Gael and Gwyn weren’t called into the meeting. Alise wanted to set an intimate stage for the meeting. She and the spymaster, Alran, sat in the third floor room. Theo entered with his two bodyguards, all of whom had a slightly vacant expression on their faces. Each of their thoughts were wrapping around the scenario, trying to find the flaw in the masked elf’s story.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Well, that’s fun!” Alise shouted, laughing as Theo took a seat at the long table. “An entire city flying to kill us?”

Theo cleared his throat. “Yeah. That’s interesting. How does this line up with what you know, Alran?”

“I don’t know a thing about the city flying, or some interloper manipulating the crown.”

“Great,” Alise groaned.

“But! I have records of a masked elf working for Karasan. What little information I have says he is afflicted with a condition. A curse‌.”

“That lines up perfectly with what he said.” Theo tapped his foot. “And all he wants is to visit the place where Qavell was.”

“More importantly,” Alise interjected. “How fast can a city fly?”

“Not quickly with all the necromantic corruption.” Theo referenced his memories on his artifice experiments. It didn’t matter what kind of magic the city was using to fly. If it was using magic, it would have a hard time leaving the area, let alone making the trip to the Southlands Alliance. Atop that rested the effectiveness of the alchemist’s anti-magical arsenal.

Alise clapped her hands together once. Her eyes gained a bright glimmer. “This is good. Tying up the last loose end.”

Alran copied Alise, clapping his hands together several times. “This is fabulous. This advanced warning will do wonders.”

The meeting went on. Eventually, Aarok and Zan’kir arrived to discuss defensive measures. With the Khahari man now in charge of the town’s defensive measures, he took an interest in the topic. The natural approach was to focus their efforts on defending Gronro. But everyone had their doubts about that idea. It came down to whether Qavell would approach from the north or the east. The group discounted the idea of a western attack.

“How far can a city fall and not kill everyone inside?” Aarok asked, yawning. The meeting had gone on long enough to test them all.

“Not far,” Zan’kir said. “Are we at a point to consider asking for reinforcements?”

“From whom?” Alise asked.

“The Khahari,” Zan’kir shrugged. He acted as though the answer was obvious, but the Khahari had shown no desire to help them. Aside from some basic trade, they had been absent since the ascension of their god-king.”

“Why not?” Theo asked. “Except it’ll take a week to sail there. Then another week to await a response.”

The conversation degraded slightly, but Theo was happy with how determined Zan’kir was to be good at his job. He forced the group to watch as he drew up maps and defensive plans. They would move towers and rail guns around until they had enough coverage to be satisfied. Combined with that effort, Throk would be asked kindly to create a score of new weapons. His hovering tower project just wasn’t as important as defending the alliance.

“We should fit Rivers with more guns,” Zan’kir said, gesturing to his map. Rivers wasn’t well-defended. Not like Broken Tusk and Gronro. “Two rail guns at least. Maybe more.”

“With enough ammo to stop a city,” Theo added. “Which brings a problem. I can only ward so many shots a day.”

“Research more methods to shoot anti-magic shots,” Aarok said. “Use one of our standing guns.”

Once again, the conversation swayed. Theo’s thoughts drifted away, landing squarely on making new ammo for the guns. When the meeting was over, the alchemist headed off to talk with Xol’sa and Zarali. As expected, the soon-to-be newlyweds were hiding away in the wizard’s tower. If there was anyone in town who knew anything about the topic it would be them.

The tower was filled with the stale scent of incense. It was this lingering musk that Theo couldn’t decide if he enjoyed the scent or not, pressing on toward the top floors. Xol’sa was on the top floor, poking his fingers through a scattered webwork of arcane symbols. The alchemist observed for a while, then cleared his throat.

“Ah!” Xol’sa said, turning and clutching his chest. “You frightened me.”

“Sorry. I just had some questions.”

“Sure, of course. But look at this, first.” The wizard beckoned Theo closer, gesturing to a cluster of sigils floating in the air. “The [Dungeon Information] upgrade you got for the town has done a lot for my research.”

“Really?” Theo stepped closer, pretending he studied the magical language of Axpashi as much as Xol’sa thought he did. “I thought it only added stuff for me.”

“It reveals useful information from anywhere. I don’t need to go to the dungeon to inspect it anymore.”

That was very useful. It was always annoying taking Xol’sa to the dungeons for inspection. Looking at the scatter of magical symbols reminded Theo of the [Cave Dungeon] below his town. He shivered at the thought, turning to his friend to question him. “About that high-level dungeon…”

“Yes, that was very interesting. Wasn’t it?”

“Worrying, actually.”

“An ascendant dungeon? Why, I could never imagine such a thing.”

“Doesn’t that imply some level of sapience from the dungeon? Like, isn’t it alive?”

“Good question. Maybe. Ask your godly friends if you want an answer. All I know is it seems safe.”

“How can you be sure?”

“The dragon clears it daily,” Xol’sa said, nodding to himself. “In your interface, you see a limited readout for the dungeon. I get the full picture. She has cleared all 100 floors every day for at least ten years. The record only goes back so far.”

Theo shook his head, only moderately disappointed that Xol’sa had missed the most important part. “And what happens when someone places a powerful thing near our town? It goes wrong. Or right. I guess it depends.”

“Bah, who cares? We’ll collapse the mine if the dungeon goes rampant. Oh. Right. Did you have a question.”

Theo’s mind had been flung in different directions, forcing him to take a second before he pressed on. There were a few things he wanted to ask the wizard, and a gift to deliver. To start, he withdrew the [Intelligence of the Soul] potion from his inventory and held it out. A look of excitement spread across Xol’sa’s face as he grabbed the potion.

“I forgot! Oh, you’re my new best friend, Theo.”

“Yeah. Just be ready for the side-effects. You might notice a drastic personality change.”

“Understood.”

“As for my question…”

Theo explained what he knew about the problem of Qavell flying down south. The wizard didn’t seem half as surprised as he should have been, going straight into magical theory. The speech was long, and overly dry. After he was done ranting, the alchemist let his mind condense the information. If someone were to abuse their [Kingdom Core], hooking into it and using it as a power source, they could perform many interesting feats of magic. A flying city might have been a bit much for the power the seed core would provide, but it was within reach.

“And it would experience a dramatic level of interference from Balkor’s power.”

At least he was concise on that point.

“Meaning the route to the east is likely,” Theo concluded.

“Right. I wouldn’t fly the damned thing at all. But there’s some mysterious figure pushing the prince into action? Hard to imagine who it could be.”

“Who knows? I might need your help working on anti-magic weapons to bring the city down, though.”

Xol’sa cocked his head to one side, an amusing expression spreading across his face. “And what will you do once you’ve downed it?”

Theo could only hope that when the time came, he could bring the city down safely. After that, they could deal with deposing the prince. Or the guy pulling the strings. Until then, it was only a matter of bringing them to heel. Xol’sa seemed to take that as a fine response, rambling on about the work he had been doing with the dungeons. After the latest rant, they brainstormed on the best way to approach bringing a flying city down.

The rail gun was likely the best delivery method in existence. Flinging spells at a distance was a problem. But tossing something imbued with a spell was relatively easy. The only thing required for using the rail gun was something that could handle the stress of being launched, and a ward. While Xol’sa’s specialty was magic, he could offer nothing else to issue. Theo’s specialized wardCing core put him ahead of the wizard for this problem. But he promised to get involved if the city drew close to Broken Tusk.

“Where is Zarali?” Theo asked, realizing that she wasn’t around.

“Oh, those ruffians at the harbor hired her for a job. Enchanting the new boats, you know.”

“Huh. Alright, then.”

Xol’sa wasn’t one to chat unless he had something to chat about. Once he had expelled all the information he had about the dungeons, he went silent. Theo let himself out of the tower, finding his way through the portal and back to town. There was a moderate buzz rippling through the citizens, especially those with the Adventurer’s Guild. Word had gotten out immediately, the way it always did. Folks already know that Qavell was coming to attack.

“Nothing new,” Theo muttered, turning away from the shimmering portal.

The alchemist headed down to the harbor, then along the canal to the seaside defensive area. He found his way to one tower, nodding to an adventurer as he climbed the last steps. The half-ogre on station nodded back, then departed from his post without question. Theo looked upon the newest model of Throk’s rail guns. It had changed little from the first prototype, leaving little room to think of new ideas. These were the weapons they had to fight against Qavell.

[Dragon’s Antimagic], a combination of the [Dragon’s Dance] and [Anti-mage] wards, seemed purpose-built to stop a flying city. The field it created lashed out with blades, injuring anything or anyone inside. But the second effect was more important. It stopped magical items from operating for a certain time. The potency of the ward might not be enough to affect an entire city, but there was a reason people didn’t zip around in flying machines all the time. They were often very vulnerable to anti-magical effects.

Theo let out a steady breath, looking out over the bay. He had done everything he could to prepare. But it was still worth testing his Drogramathi Iron shots. The explosions from his wards looked awesome if he hit the distant mountains just right.