The next morning, I considered what had happened. I could not simply dismiss the dream. When I had selected Theurgy as my fist magical axiom, I had been warned that the power I received was not truly my own. There was a conscious being or force on the other side, supplying that power. If I acted in a way that displeased that being, they may decide to make their displeasure known. At the time, I thought I was being clever to choose a morally neutral elemental force, Storm, as my source of power. A concept like Compassion or Joy might decide to reel me in if I did something morally dubious, and a more sinister one like Pain or Power might demand that I indulge in wickedness. It didn't occur to me at the time that a Storm might actually want something from me. In this world, it could, though. The Storm had spoken to me, and it wasn't pleased at all.

  What was it so upset about? I hadn't done much of anything in this world except try to get by in a hostile wilderness. It had called me unworthy, weak, and a coward. I mean, weak I kind of had to accept. I had seen my character sheet, and my strength was below-average. I hadn't let that hold me back in any way, though. My constitution was pretty lousy as well, but I had suffered everything this world could throw at me, and come out ahead. I was powerful and capable. What was the damn storm's problem? And why was I letting a damn low-pressure system boss me around anyway? Why was everyone and everything in this world such an ass to me?

  That was the problem. I thought of the day I had wanted so badly to turn Kaapo into a smoldering husk. I thought of that wooden wolf-thing that had scared me enough to stay far away from it. I had let Olga ride me around like a beast of burden, and I had been terrified yesterday of a few miniature park rangers. No wonder the elemental forces that empowered me were disappointed. I should be a force to be reckoned with, but I was letting fear get the better of me. The Storm wanted me to be fierce, unstoppable, and ruthless.

  But it still felt like just another bully who wanted to tell me what to do. I had good reasons for the things I had done. Kaapo was a useless twit, but murdering him wouldn't have done any good. That wolf was resistant to my only real method of attack, and it wasn't actively hostile, so avoiding it was the most logical course of action. Those gnomes would have just killed me if I hadn't capitulated to their demands, and now I had a community of fearsome creature who I could do business with. I hadn't been a coward, I had been prudent, and now I was being harassed for it.

  I went hunting, and came home with a pair of hedgehogs. The all-salad meals were starting to get to me. I needed something with bones and fat to bite into. In the course of finding, zapping, carrying, skinning, and eating, a plan formed in my mind. I had been subsisting long enough. It was time to go into debt.

  I strode across the bridge and opened the secret hatch that Olga had shown me. I whispered “Glow” to my staff, and an electrical arc criss-crossed the carved figure of a heart at the top, illuminating the passage with flickering, bluish light. I looked for all the world like a powerful sorceress.

  “Halt! What is your business?” said a gnome who, true to form, seemed to appear out of a bare wall.

  “I am here to speak with Olga. I have business proposition for her.”

  The guards asked me to wait while they contacted Olga. I guess they were worried I might frighten someone if I wandered their city with a crackling staff in my hand.

  “What is it? I'm not interested in another ride right now. I still need to pay back the last one.” she complained. Part of me wanted to apologize for barging in like this. I had to remind myself that Olga had never been polite to me.

  “I want to hire several gnome mercenaries for a job. I would like you act as my agent. Are you interested?”

  “I suppose I could do that, as a favor. What kind of job?”

  “A hit. There's something in the woods that I can't bring down on my own. I need three or four gnomes with decent combat skills to assist.”

  Olga cocked an eyebrow. “You sure about this? You could end up deep in debt. If you can't repay all the favors, you could get into real trouble doing something like this.”

  “I can handle the repayment. My magic is coming along nicely. This thing is made of wood though, so lightning is only so effective.”

  “You're talking about that elemental spirit that keeps that little garden over in the hills. What do you have against that? It doesn't bother anyone. We gnomes have already destroyed it a few times. It just grows back in a day or so.”

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  “You have too many questions. Are you on board or not?” I asked, feigning impatience.

  “Alright, alright. I can make the arrangements. For something like this, with all the danger and training and equipment, you'd be looking at fifteen favors, maybe more.”

  “Fifteen it is then. You pay the others, I pay you. Is that a deal?”

  I stooped a bit and extended my hand. Olga looked at it, then at me, then at my hand again. She gave me a look of hesitation, then suspicion, then finally, resignation. It was beautiful. She was the one shaking hands with the devil this time.

  The following morning, Olga and three other gnomes met me outside my little shelter. She introduced each of her crew in turn. One with a bushy mustache and a two axes named Montgomery, one with a bulbous nose and a double-headed axe named Kristabelle, and one with a long beard and two daggers named Diggory.

  “Good Morning. Has Olga filled you all in our objective?” I said, in a voice that I hoped sounded authoritative.

  “We know our business, ma'am.” said Montgomery. “Will you be coming along to see?”

  That surprised me. “Did you think I would just leave you to do the job on your own? I'm a sorceress. If the thing were flesh and blood, I'd deal with it myself.”

  “That's your prerogative, of course.” said Kristabelle. None of the gnomes seemed the least bit worried about trying to deal with this creature. It occurred to me that I had never actually seen gnomes in combat. I suspected that they were pretty tough, which is why I had hired them, but mostly I was impressed by their stealth abilities.

  It wasn't a long walk to the garden among the hills. As soon as we reached the hilltop overlooking the garden, the creature began to knot itself together again, in a process I would have found beautiful if it hadn't posed such a threat to my life. The gnomes did not wait for it. They dashed forward with speed that seemed impossible with their stubby little legs. I rushed down the hill to catch up, but the gnomes had reached their destination by the time I had taken three steps. The huge thing snarled and snapped at them as Montgomery and Kristabelle took turns chopping at it. Olga and Diggory circled it, either trying to distract or waiting for an opening. I finally came close enough to attack. I had to remember to find a way to extend my range when this was all over.

  I raised my staff to blast it, but that was the moment Olga and Diggory had been waiting for. Diggory jumped forward, and in a sudden blur of motion, a dagger appeared in the wolf's wooden facsimile of a left eye. The creature barely had a chance to snarl in pain before Olga darted in and repeated the operation on the monster's right eye. I was uncertain at first whether this monster even needed its eyes to see, but judging by its guttural cries of pain and wild, undirected attacks, it seemed that it did. I whipped my staff back and forth trying to get a clean shot, but the battle was happening so quickly that I could barely watch it. The gnomes were using their hit-and-run tactics to score hit after hit on the madly thrashing monster. It charged through them again and again, but the gnomes never happened to be where it was, only where it was about to be. My earlier suspicions about the gnomes were totally confirmed now. I doubt I would be quick enough to deal with even one of them.

  For all their incredible speed, however, the wolf wasn't going down easy. Whenever I got a clear look at the thing, I saw nothing except the most superficial damage. Even the solid notches left by the axes seemed to be pinching shut before my eyes. The thing had a respectable regeneration ability, and if it was losing anything in the course of the battle, I couldn't see it. The gnomes had said that they had dealt with this creature before, and they had seemed very confident in their ability to do so again. As the battle wore on, neither side seemed to be gaining any sort of advantage. The gnomes were tireless. Perhaps they were trying for an attrition strategy.

  In an instant, things went sour. Montgomery went in for an attack for the umpteenth time, but his timing was less then perfect. The beast couldn't see, but in all those random attacks, something was bound to land eventually. There was soft crunch and a spray of blood, and Montgomery's face was gone. His tiny axes hit the ground, and his limp body sailed through the air. I felt the blood drain from my face. I had hired him to be here, I had interrupted whatever life he had led, and now it was over in a flash.

  The other gnomes did not so much as blink at this turn of events. They continued their vicious assault, but the elegant rhythm they had had a moment ago was now askew. With fewer attacks to dish out, they had that much less control of the beast's motions. Kristabelle focused on menacing its hindquarters, trying to disable one of its thick legs. The more aggressive approach backfired when she managed to sink her axe into the thick upper leg, and held on a second too long. The axe remained in place, and Kristabelle was sent rolling away, head over heels. Diggory and Olga suddenly froze in place like rabbits. The beast could not see or hear them, so it thrashed about ineffectually. Kristabelle lay still where she had landed. I held my breath.

  The beast sniffed. If it had anything resembling a wolf's sense of smell, that was enough to find anything. It turned toward me. The gnomes didn't react. I realized, too late, that I had just taken an involuntary step backward. It lunged toward me, ignoring the the gnomes who suddenly chased after it. I had no time to think of anything. I shouted the word I had been holding back.

  “Shatter!”

  Again, I was lost in a world of bright light, pain, leaden weight, and the sound of a dead telephone line. As the world slowly reformed around me, I saw three small faces huddled around me, staring at me with curious expressions. The beast had exploded. There were smoldering chunks of wood scattered around the trampled remains of the garden. The faces of the three surviving gnomes had purple bruises and burn marks where the hot shrapnel had struck them. I felt like I had just lost a long boxing match. I was unable to stand.

  “We'll have to add those weapons to the final tally.” observed Kristabelle dryly.

  “I am aware.” said Olga. “And I'll have to see if Montgomery had any creditors. A lot of hassle”

  I couldn't believe my ears. A man (well, a gnome) was dead, I had nearly been killed, and these creatures were discussing it as though it was just another day at the office. I lay moaning in pain as they argued over who would get Montgomery's hat and boots. They decided that Olga and Diggory would each get an axe to replace the daggers that I had destroyed (the lightning had melted them like wax in an oven). Kristabelle accepted the hat and boots, but informed Olga that she was still in debt for the axe, especially given that the hat was stained with Montgomery's blood and brains. As I finally eased myself into a sitting position, I surveyed the death and destruction I had commissioned. Was any of it worth it? They had even said that the beast would just come back in a day or two. I knew there was something important about this place, but that vague feeling seemed totally inadequate in the face of death.