Eventually, Twist yawned a woke up.

“Ahhh, outside of a nightmare, that was a good nap… Hello Delphine! Anything strange happen while we were asleep?”

Delphine was about to speak, but then Twist gasped.

“Hold that thought Delphine! I see something yonder!”

Delphine frowned, but then her own eyes widened. She turned herself around on top of Tenacia’s sleeping head, and saw something in the dark.

It was faint, but undeniable: it was a tall city wall.

“We are at Fatana!” Twist cheered, he then grabbed Tenacia’s shoulders and shook.

“Wake up Tenacia! Please wake up! We are here!”

Tenacia snorted and groggily opened her eyes, though quickly woke up when she realized what Twist was saying.

“We’re at Fatana? Finally!” she laughed, she then quickly grabbed the oars and rowed as fast as she could.

It was not long until the whole city was in view. It was a city smaller than Minvaco, but no less grand with its tall towers that brushed the ceiling of Oshea. The walls of the city rose from the water, keeping any boat from making landfall. Tenacia rowed around, looking for entry.

She would eventually find Fatana’s harbor, an opening in the walls that allowed water into the city. Many wooden boats were already docked, on them were noctav. As Twist and Tenacia’s boat came into the city, a bunch of the noctav stopped what they were doing and watched them in wonder.

As the boat reached a place to dock, quickly a guard rushed forward. He was a tall noctav that had a crystal mace that he pointed at the new arrivals in the city.

The guard spoke in a strange language Tenacia could not decipher at all, it was like a series of squeaks, barks, and hisses.

Twist responded with some similar strange sounds.

“Very well, we can speak wydspred” the guard said, now perfectly understandable “But only to tell your friend neither of you can come in”

“Why not?!” Tenacia roared, standing up in the boat.

She was shorter than the guard by a large margin and was far below them in the boat, but at this point she felt much, much larger than them. The guard felt it too and backed away a bit.

“Sorry miss, we are not accepting travelers right now” the guard said warily, “Days ago, a terrible beast made of brass attacked our city”

“Sounds like the Brass Behemoth” Tenacia growled. Twist nodded in agreement, then spoke to the guard.

“We are most familiar with that thing” Twist responded, smiling wryly, “It is the vessel of a cult that has also been causing chaos in Minvaco”

“And why would any of us care about Minvaco?”

Twist turned in surprise to a noctav who was setting up a boat to travel, she gave Twist a mean look.

“Minvaco hasn’t spoken to any of the other cities in ages, you’ve ignored all our pleas for help for years!”

A bunch of other noctav in the harbor shouted in agreement.

“Ignorant isolationists!”

“Noses too far in the books! You never look around!”

“Greedy magic and medicine hoarders!”

Twist knew Minvaco never had the best reputation, though the amount of contempt here though still surprised him. The insults made him bristle a bit, but he kept his cool.

Tenacia meanwhile though gritted her teeth and her face turned a furious red.

“Hey! You spindly jerks want to come closer and say that?! See what happens!” she roared.

The insults quickly stopped and all the noctav tried to hide behind something.

The guard glared at Tenacia and brought his mace closer to her.

“That is enough, outsiders may not enter the city at this time, you all must leave”

“Hold, please!” Twist said, getting between Tenacia and the mace, “I understand your suspicion, but we mean no harm; we must speak with your Wise One! Things have gone horribly wrong in Minvaco and we need aide! We have gone through Lethes and now Oshea to reach this place, encountering all many of strange things”

The noctav around him yelled jeers and insults. The guard glowered, though raised the mace.

“What sort of strange things?”

Twist’s face was nearly half smile. He knew his race, he knew the curiosity that every single noctav had within them, and how even the most disciplined soldiers couldn’t always keep it on a leash.

“What if I told you I know about the brass beast, have met with gods, and have spoken with the oracle Delphine?” Twist replied.

The guard kept a stern vigil, but his eyes sparkled in curiosity.

“I will ask our Wise One”

They waited on the boat while the guard was away, some of the neighboring noctav gave contemptuous looks toward Twist, though none said anything for fear of angering Teancia. Eventually the guard returned to say that the Wise One of Fatana was willing to speak with these strange visitors. Twist gave a sigh of relief and all noctav who heard this gaped in surprise.

Twist and Tenacia were escorted through Fatana by four guards, Delphine remained stealth mode while on top of Tenacia’s head. Both travelers looked around at Fatana. Twist was impressed, though Tenacia especially looked around in wonder. She had never seen a noctav city before, she was in awe at the tallness of the buildings and seeing the noctav glide around from tower to tower.

Awe turned to horror as they walked deeper in: one of the walls in the city had been completely breached, torn down and splits asunder like a child’s wall of toy blocks. Buildings were pushed aside and leaning at precarious angles, others were flattened as if stomped on something huge. There were also scorched streaks the width of roads along the buildings and streets, and alongside these ashen streaks were long crooked lines of ice.

“It certainly looks like the Behemoth was here” said Twist, frowning in worry.

“And Karogoz’s lousy ice magic” Tenacia growled.

Soon they reached the center of the city, there stood a large castle that had once been a colossal stalagmite. Two of the guards walked ahead and opened the huge entrance to the castle, a huge steel stored engraved with numerous gemstones.

The interior of the castle was also quite grand with its large rooms, decorated pillars, and huge shelves of books and scrolls that were as tall as houses. It didn’t quite feel like a castle though, Tenacia noted it felt more like a library than the home of royals. There were guards stationed about, but there were also plenty of noctav of different standings sitting around reading and talking.

Twist and Tenacia were led to a more secluded room. In it was a noctav who sat on what could be called a throne, though it was more of a great plush chair. The noctav looked ancient, his fur was mostly a pale grey, his leaf-shaped nose was crumpled, and even his wings looked wrinkled and old. He wore deep blue robes and in one hand he held a tall stone staff that was tipped in a sparkling lapis lazuli. In his other hand was a scroll that was probably thick enough to span a mile.

Another guard walked up to this old noctav and whispered to him. The old noctav’s ears perked up and looked at his visitors in surprise, as if just noticing them.

“O Wise One Dacapo, Twist of the House of Fate and Tenacia Ironvale have come to request an audience” one of the guards announced grandly.

“Yes yes, this is hardly a formal event, let me speak with them” Decapo said impatiently, waving away the guards, who then walked back to give the Wise One space.

Wise One Decapo wrapped up his scroll and gave Twist and Tenacia a respectful nod.

“Greetings visitors, I am Decapo, the Wise One of Fatana. Before anything else, please tell me about this infernal machine that attacked our city”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“It is a long story, Wise One” Twist admitted.

“Start from the beginning, I have a lot of time”

“We probably don’t have a lot of time” Tenacia interjected.

“Then tell me quickly” Decapo said, his bushy eyebrows furrowed as he began to get impatient.

Twist took a deep breath, then told Decapo all he knew about the Brass Behemoth; how he didn’t know their exact goals but it was likely something ominous with Minvaco, how it was ran by a cult called the Grand Faloon who was in league with Dorcha, how they had kidnapped Tenacia and her brother Hubert for unknown ends, and had sent mercenaries after them to capture them.

Wise One Decapo said nothing as Twist explained all of this. Tenacia said nothing either, just keeping an eye on Decapo. He reminded her a lot of her dwarven grandfather; stern, gruff, and powerful, though not necessarily unkind.

Twist also told Decapo about Minvaco being frozen in time and an abbreviation of his and Tenacia’s journey (leaving out Delphine until she decided to reveal herself).

With Twist finally done, Wise One Decapo sat there in silence, he leaned back and thought about everything he had.

“Thank you for this information Twist of the House of Fate, I am sorry to hear what has happened to Minvaco” he said, his voice was deep and eloquent, then his eyes turned sad “I am afraid none of the houses in Fatana have done any research in Time magic, no noctav here had much interest toward it and we made it a forbidden subject after the loss of your father Lord Cadenza. I am truly sorry, but I can offer no solution to Minvaco’s situation”

“Ahh have no fear, Wise One Decapo” Twist replied with a smile “We can’t know everything, and Time magic is not easy to research, I knew my own House was one of the only ones in the whole Underworld doing readings into it. I always had a hunch I would be heading to the surface for a solution, and to be honest we came here specifically for another reason”

“Yeah, if it is okay with you Wise One” Tenacia interjected “We need help taking on the Brass Behemoth! Could you lend us some soldiers, you can give us advice or anything?”

Wise One Decapo stroked his beard “This Brass Behemoth is powerful to be sure, it shoots out flames like a dragon, there were weapons that came out of its belly that shot out superheated brass bullets, and from its mouth it spat out huge spherical bombs that burst into liquid flame”

“That is good to know” Tenacia said a tad weakly, she was sincerely grateful, but knowing how well armed the Behemoth was made her all the more worried about going back to it.

“The soldiers of Fatana fought bravely, thanks to auxiliaries and healers casualties were low, but nearly every member of the Fatana military was wounded” the old noctav continued “Our spells could did not do much, we were able to take out many of those dreadful soldiers though… By Elysia, what maniac would come up with combining automatons and undead?”

“Probably a joint effort between the necromancer Karogoz and the artificer Zelos” Twist said, giving a theory he had.

“Hang a sec please Wise One, I wanna know more about the Behemoth’s attack on your city” Tenacia said.

“Tenacia!” Twist exclaimed “That is a sensitive subject!”

The Wise One though waved it off, he actually looked at Tenacia with great respect in his eyes “Do not fear Lord Twist, sensitive subjects are the most important subjects to talk about. You are wise Miss Ironvale, I will gladly tell you about the Behemoth’s attack on my city”

Wise One Decapo told Twist and Tenacia what had happened: The attack started with a sound of rumbling and falling rocks as the Brass Behemoth had dug a hole in the cavern roof, it made its way down one of the great stalactites from above, stomping over smaller buildings and burning bigger buildings to get them out of the way. When the Behemoth reached the ground it made its way toward a the library of Fatana, and as the Behemoth made its pitiless march, the undead automatons began to come out of the Behemoth’s legs to invade the library and surrounding homes to steal scrolls and books.

“There is little doubt this Grand Faloon wanted our knowledge” Decapo commented, stroking his beard again “Now that I know they worship an infernal, I dread to think just what information they wanted… They weren’t able to get many and anything they did get was minor knowledge fortunately, our soldiers fought well enough to prevent them from getting anything really valauble. When we proved to be too much for those undead things… What did you call them?”

“Deadworks”

“Right, deadworks. The deadworks retreated into the feet of the Behemoth. This would be a small comfort though, as the Behemoth proved unstoppable. The destruction it wrought only stopped once it broke down our wall. It was then we saw a sorcerer, most likely this Karogoz you mentioned, and he casted a powerful ice spell to make a great road of ice from our city to whatever their next destination was. We didn’t dare send scouts to sneak after it, and once it was out of sight the ice road melted away”

“What attacks did you try on the Behemoth?” Twist asked.

“We used magic, trebuchets, ballistae, and even bombs. Nothing made a scratch on that walking monstrosity”

“Dang, you couldn’t even slow it down?” Tenacia asked.

Decapo paused “Hmm now that I think of it, we were able to slow it. One of our soldiers valiantly fired his ballistae at one of the Behemoth’s knees in desperation, the great metal arrow got caught in the knee which made it pause. Just for a bit as soon the metal arrow was crushed by the machine’s strength, but slowed the machine it did”

Both Twist and Tenacia felt a surge of hope, it was a small hope, but better than nothing. It seemed the knees of the Behemoth could be clogged.

“And you said the deadworks came out of the Behemoth’s feet?” Twist asked.

“Correct” Decaop replied.

“An alternate entrance we may be able to take advantage of” Tenacia said, smiling and feeling more confident.

“Risky, but what isn’t at this point?” Twist asked, feeling better himself.

“I wish I could lend you more direct help, but I need all hands here” Wise One Decapo said.

“Oh no Wise One, you gave us great information in return” Twist said, tipping his hat.

“And so did you” Wise One Decapo said, he got up and gave his visitors a bow “Thank you for telling us all that has happened. We will keep our eyes out for the Grand Faloon’s machinations and we will work towards solving Minvaco’s problem. I will alert Soleila on the surface as well, they may be able to figure something out about Minvaco”

Twist got up and bowed in return “Thank you Wise One! If I might ask, what is this city you call Soleila?”

“It is a noctav city on the surface, you did not know if it before?”

“I did not” Twist said calmly, though internally frustrated. There were noctav cities on the surface, and his people did not know? It was getting embarrassing just how little Minvaco knew of the surrounding world, even with the deceit of the Grand Faloon getting in the way.

Tenacia got up and bowed “Yeah, thanks a lot Wise One… Though I got another question if I could ask?”

“Go right ahead Miss Ironvale, the information you gave us is worth many questions” Wise One Decapo said, smiling a little bit “Ask away”

“Would any of your scouts, guards, or whoever have seen a large wagon going through the Underworld?” Tenacia asked “Like a big wagon that moves without needing animals to pull it?”

Twist’s ears perked up. That is right, Tenacia and Hubert’s wagon! They had no hope to find it right now, but if the noctav of Fatana had seen it they could pinpoint. It seemed unlikely given Oshea was covered mostly in water, but there was a slim chance they could have seen it.

As Chaelum would have it, that slim chance paid off.

Wise One Decapo looked at Tenacia in surprise “Why yes, yes we have! Our watchmen saw it a day or so ago”

Tenacia gasped “Wh-whoa! Really!? Where?”

Wise One Decapo snapped his fingers twice. After a few seconds a silence, a noctav in armor entered the room and quickly ran up to him. This noctav’s armor was different, she wore a helmet on her head instead of the full face ones that the other guards wore and her body armor allowed for more movement.

“At your service Wise One!” the guard said, giving her leader a salute.

“Watchman Mezzosopra” Wise One Decapo began formally “You were the one who saw Amphisbaena with a strange wagon it its coils, did you not?”

“Correct Wise One!” Mezzosopra answered diligently.

“Amphisbaena?” Twist asked “Who is that?”

“No doubt you have heard the rumors that a dragon has made its lair somewhere in Oshea” Wise One Decapo said.

“That is the dragon’s name, eh?” Tenacia asked, rather gloomily.

Wise One Decapo nodded “It is a great serpent dragon that hates water, but it is an excellent burrower and has made many tunnels to help it get from island to island here in Oshea. It mostly has a taste for the myrmeke, though we have had to fend it off a few times as well”

“Does it have a breath weapon?” Twist asked, scratching his chin.

“None that we have seen, though it is fast and strong” Watchman Mezzopra replied.

“And it took my wagon?” Tenacia asked Watchman Mezzosopra.

“Correct madame, the foul worm has most likely made it a part of its hoard by now” the guard replied.

Tenacia paused, then cracked her knuckles “No dragon steals mine and my brother’s master work… Where is this dragon?”

Wise One Decapo gave them a map of the local areas of Oshea and the directions they needed to find the cave of Amphisbaena, as well as directions to the nearest tower where they could enter Stygia.

They then rested in Fatana for a time. Much of Fatana looked at Twist in suspicion and distrust, more than a few would try to throw insults at him, only to stop then Tenacia glared at them

Fortunately, not all of Fatana hated Minvaco. Twist and Tenacia arrived at pub to get food. The runner of the pub was an older noctav who cutting up fruits, she looked at the new customers and smiled.

“Welcome to Aseza’s Rest, where you can get the best trackle pie in Fatana! I’m Aseza herself, what will you be wanting today?”

Twist was taken aback by her politless, but appreciative. He smiled and answered, “I would love some cut up grey melons and farthen berries please”

“Certainly sir, what about you ma’am?” Aseza asked Tenacia.

“Err… I’ll take apples and grapes, please?” Tenacia slowly asked.

“Sure, I got plenty of surface fruits! Want orange juice with that?” Aseza

“Y-yeah… If I can ask, do you have any meat?”

“Ahh I am sorry ma’am, we have meat, but I don’t think it would be to your liking. Unless you like roasted pillbug”

Apples and grapes are good, thanl you”

Soon the two were eating their meals. Twist was especially happy to have some fresh noctav food again, Tenacia was also happy with her meal even if it had too many fruits to her liking.

Eventually, Twist and Tenacia were back in their boat. Wise One Decapo gave them an artifact to help them with their water travel.

It was an unusually shaped device, it was rather oblong and had a propeller on its bottom.

“In our city, one of the major houses if the House of Travel” Wise One Decapo explained as he handed the strange relic to Twist “They specialize in the creation of vehicles to make travel more efficient. They were most interested in your wagon I must say Miss Tenacia”

Tenacia smiled, puffing out her chest proudly.

“But I am getting off subject, they created this artifact to make travel via boat faster and more efficient. They call it Boat Pusher, put it to the stern of your boat and activate the rune on top” the Wise One continued as Twist handed the Boat Propeller to Tenacia, who carefully attached it to the back of the boat. The propeller itself sank into the water.

“Thank you again for your help Wise One” Twist said, taking off his hat and bowing.

Tenacia joined him in the bow, Delphine falling off of her head into the boat. The hat was tempted to yell, but kept up her disguise.

Wise One Decapo bowed back “Think nothing of it, thank you all for your helpful information. As soon as Fatana is restored, we will be taking steps to help Minvaco”

Twist bowed lower “Thank you Wise One! May your city be blessed with prosperity and knowledge”

Tenacia touched the rune on top of the Boat Pusher, it glowed and there was the sound of magic surging through the device. Suddenly the propeller began to spin and the boat was sent surging out of Fatana’s harbor.

"Whoa! Heck yeah, this is awesome!" Tenacia laughed, the boat bounced on the water's surface a few times and sent water flying into her face. Tenacia eventually stood up, adrenaline going through her.

Twist meanwhile grabbed the side for dear life, though still had a massive smile on his face.