“Are you sure this is going to work?”

“It’ll be fine, the physics are sound.”

“Physics? According to any kind of science, this shouldn’t even exist, let alone work.”

“Game physics then. Look I know what I'm doing, it’s not like this is the hardest thing I've ever done.”

“And as we’ve seen, you made mistakes with those as well.”

Jicker sighed. He’d been working for a while now, and had quickly found out how annoying it could be to have backseat crafters. Once he’d explained his plan to Sarah, the other programmers who’d been listening in on her end had all decided to add their own thoughts. While he had the final say in what he actually did, it didn’t stop them all commenting on how they would do it. And so he’d sat there working for two days now, and while Sarah herself had work to get back to, a ring of tiny avatars belonging to the programmers hovered around him, commenting on every move he made.

“You should make that longer, to act as a balance.”

“Raise that point there to even it out.”

“It would look better in blue.”

Still, as frustrating as it was, it was complicated enough that he was glad of the help with some of the calculations for his project. When he decided to help the greycaps spread out, how became the big question. Pushing through the wall wouldn’t work, or at least, it wouldn’t work twice. If they held their forces back, gathered their strength and the attacked in a single strike, they’d get through for certain, but they’d be swallowed up by reinforcements before they took enough ground to make it worthwhile. After that the defences on the borders would increase tenfold, and that would be the end of it.

Trying to undermine the defences had been the original plan, digging deep enough to bypass the defences entirely, and then releasing spores from underground to rise to the surface. It would have worked out, except that apparently people thought about roots and things when fighting against plants, and the defences went into the ground for over a hundred feet, and the alarms stretched down for a good mile. So with down being blocked off and going through out of the question, the only way left was over. With the fungus that made up the Blightwoods being far too dense for his purpose and nothing else living in the forest, he’d had to make do what he had on him, namely a few pieces of fruit that had started off as part of his lunch the previous day. Most of it had failed, either unable to work or the change didn’t take, but eventually he hit a success.

Ding!

Adaptation has become permanent. Note- all plant changes are 50% more likely to become permanent-scales with level of herbalism.

Type: Modified raspberry.

Do you wish to name this plant?

“Float fruit?” Came a suggestion from an onlooking programmer.

“That’s garbage. How about inflataweed.”

“That’s worse!”

“Hmmm, cloudberry? It’s kind of cloud shaped.”

“That’s not awful.” Jicker admitted.

“I think those are a thing...yep looks like you can buy cloudberry jam.”

“Do they also grow and float away?” He asked, stretching his legs after sitting still for several hours.

“Well no, they’re real, not game plants so-”

“Then its fine.”

Name accepted. Creator will remain unknown. Now applying changes to plant.

Herbalism level has increased by 1! Current level: 4

Note: Created plants will spread naturally if planted in suitable environments and cared for.

It had taken most of a day to put together what he needed, and since then he’d been working against a deadline. It currently sat on the ground behind him, half buried as it grew and ripened, but if he looked closely he could see it slowly push the soil around it out of the way, as the massive fruit grew and inflated. Already it was over a dozen feet across, a rough, lumpy dome pushing through surface of the ground as it grew and ripened. It was a dull, green fruit, with hundreds of small pockets that were slowly filling with a natural lighter than air gas. He’d taken a few recommendations on what to use from the programmers, using an inert gas from the game that functioned like helium, since using a giant balloon of hydrogen to get past people who could throw fire seemed like a bad idea. It would take another three days for it to fully ripen, at which point it would turn a deep purple, and its spherical form, which would be over a hundred feet across, would pull itself free of the ground, along with the others that were growing and try to drift somewhere else to release its seeds.

Unless of course, someone else took control of them and made use of their aerial abilities. But a balloon was only half of what was needed, so work had begun on constructing the rest of the transport. Trying to use a knife to carve the trees that grew in the Blightwoods was a fruitless effort, something he remembered from he’d tried to clear a path through them. But the greycaps had no such problems, and with the same ability they used to carve out the ladles they carried with them, they moulded the wood like putty. With their little nub-like hands, they quickly began to build the structure according to his designs, the pieces being sealed together with a liberal amount of sap pasted over the joints. With the aid of the programmers, and the queen relaying the instructions, the airship finally began to take shape. They even managed to show them a crude way of weaving strips of bark together to make ropes strong enough to hold the ship to the berries once they ripened.

Initially the programmers had been against the idea of the airship, not as a solution to the greycaps, but because of its future impact. Player access to flight had always been extremely limited, with only a few thousand out of over a billion players managing it, and even then it had been small scale, usually only able to carry the player in question. The spells were rare and hard to learn, the artefacts were almost mythical and the mounts were all but impossible to tame. People had tried to build airships before, with magic, science and everything in between, but it had always ended up to impractical and costly to work, and were mostly left to millionaires to joy ride around in.

Giving people access to a cheap, if hard to use, source of lift would make it possible for far more people to take to the air, giving people a way to avoid a lot of the content scattered throughout the world, which was why it was restricted. But now that the world had changed so much, they were willing to let the cloudberries pass, as long as they weren’t permanent. After around a week the berry would begin to rot, losing its gases at a rapid rate, before landing and seeding once again. It wouldn’t let someone travel forever, but it would have plenty of time to spread spore over the area.

To power it they would make use of a force known for its tireless and unwavering strength, namely the undead. Half a dozen zombies would be sealed into a small chamber, cranking a propeller that would send it out across the countryside. It wouldn’t be as quick as other options, but they wouldn’t need to worry about running out of power anytime soon. Of course, Jicker thought as he sat supervising the greycaps slapping at the sides of the ship, a mage could probably come up with something easier...

An idea struck mind, making him stand up and go to the queen.

“Goldcrown,” He called out to her as he approached the dais. “If I could find you help, or even allies, would you accept them, and let them through your forest?”

“You think... others... would aid us?”

“Perhaps, if they were sure you weren’t going to turn on them. They would at least agree to leave you alone, that much I can safely promise. Before I contact them, do you have a way to let people through, or would they need an escort?”

The queen slowly reached one arm up and gripped the edge of her crown, and carefully tore a piece off, letting out a cascade of sap, washing out one of the greycaps that had been sitting inside.

“Eat...this.” She said, offering the piece to him.

Taking it in his hands he looked at it, a spongy piece of material with a golden edge, looking all the world like a piece of cake. Weighing the odds about whether the queen was trying to kill him, he put the piece in mouth, grimacing slightly since while it looked like cake, it tasted like a block of raw mushroom.

You have eaten a shard of the Golden Crown!

You are now permanently immune to the Greycap Spores!

Because the shard was freely given, you have also unlocked an achievement!

Goldcrowns Blessing: Immunity to Blightwood sap and greycap spores. This ability affects all allies within twenty feet.

Coughing in surprise at the notification, he almost choked on the remaining mouthful, spitting it across the clearing.

“You can give people immunity?” Jicker asked, wiping at his mouth.

“To... the worthy. Others try... to take... by force.”

“Right, I get it now.” He said in understanding. It was one of the items the queen could drop, a single use item that gave immunity, or if given, the achievement. If things worked out and the greycaps began to really spread, it would a valuable item, and one that he could definitely use as a bargaining chip.

With permission from the queen, he then went and spoke to the programmers, who were still looking over the airships construction.

“I’m going to get into contact with some players, so I’d make myself scarce if I were you.”

“You can’t just tell us to leave, we’re the ones who’re working on this!” one said.

“And if you want to explain why the developers are messing around with in game activities, then by all means, stick around.”

Grumbling, they all logged out one by one, their avatars flickering out of existence, with some greycaps waving their arms through the air where they’d been in confusion. Once they’d all left, Jicker opened up his friends list and sent a message to Oda.

Hey Oda

You said to tell you if anything comes up, and I can safely say that things are about to go up in a big way. Can you get word to Mary for me? This seems like the sort of thing the Rising Moon might want to be a part of.

Jicker

With the message sent, he went back to work, ensuring that greycaps didn’t start carving little faces into what were becoming the sides of the ship. While they seemed happy enough to do what the queen told them to, their childlike intelligence meant that keeping them on track without her direct control could be difficult.

A few minutes later, as he was pulling away sections of the ship to pull out several of the little mushrooms who had “accidently” sealed themselves inside, a point of light appeared behind him.

Turning to it, he watched as it slowly grew, pulling in a red mist seemingly from nothing, forming a twist mass of blood that span as it shaped itself. In only a few seconds, it turned from a red speck floating in the air, to a full replica of the head of the rising moon.

“Good to see you again Mary.” He said once it had fully formed. She was sitting at a desk, apparently having been working before being interrupted, and her nearby surroundings were pulled into the image with her, the edges frayed and bleeding.

“Same, but skip the pleasantries. I've had to sacrifice two goats and a player to get this message out to you, but Oda said this is probably important, so make it quick.” She said, looking over at something he couldn’t see.

“Sure, I just- wait you sacrificed a person for this call?”

“A spy who was going to be executed anyway, now stay on target. You mentioned something for the guild? It’s not just you being ready to join is it? Because while I’m happy to let you in finally-”

“No, close though. Up to level 55 so hopefully we can square that away soon. No this is much more important. How much do you know about the greycaps and the Blightwoods?”

Her expression focused, becoming more interested. “I'm caught up on the woods themselves, but I've heard some horror stories about people losing thing to little mushroom monsters. That’s your doing I take it?”

“The woods were a Maser thing, but yes the Greycaps are all me.”

“Figured as much. So what are you after? Some protection for your little friends?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Not exactly, but that’s something else to cover later. No I'm wondering if you could give me some help with necromancy, specifically making better zombies.” He said.

She frowned. “I thought you abilities didn’t work on the undead, we tested that didn’t we?”

“We did, and that hasn’t changed, but I'm not looking for you to help me, I'm wanting you to help the queen.”

“What queen?”

“Other players haven’t reached her yet, but there’s a boss in the Blightwoods, the queen of the greycaps, and she has a fair amount of control over the fungal zombies that come from the spores.” He explained.

“So you want me to help, what, make her puppets better? How exactly does this interest the guild?”

“Because,” he said, turning and gesturing towards the growing airship, and the five others underway. “They’re likely to create more zombies over the next few months than the amount created by every player in the last seven years combined.”

She leaned forward over the table. “Let me get a few animals together, and maybe a couple more guests from the prison cells. I think I need to have a word with this queen of yours.”

~~~~~~

It took most of the afternoon, and from the sound of it the majority of a small town, but eventually Mary seemed to reach a deal with the queen. Jicker was checking over the last few detail when Mary’s image floated towards him from the dais.

“Well that was a... interesting meeting.” She said, looking back towards the queen’s seat. “I hadn’t realised that ability of you’re could make something so...”

“Intelligent?” he guessed.

“Sentient. I swear I've had conversations in the real world that seemed more artificial. Anyway, we’ve come to an agreement, as long as you give the final nod.”

“Why do I get a vote?”

“Since the queen trusts you completely, for fairly obvious reasons, she wants you to act as a go between, and her representative, which means you really need to get your shit together so you can join the guild. We could have used the guild chat system, but no, I had to empty out an entire farm, and cause problems for the butchers in town.”

“I’ll get right on that. So, what’s the deal?”

“First off is a basic nonaggression treaty, we leave them alone and they leave us alone. After that we moved on to more supportive stuff, which is going to be fairly minimal at the moment, and taken at a case by case basis. We might help defend them while they grab a colony for themselves, and they might turn their attention to an enemy of ours.”

“Seems fair enough.” He said nodding in consideration. “What about the zombies, did you have any luck?”

“In exchange for helping improve their forces, the queen promised to immunize enough of our people that the guild will largely be able to ignore what they’re starting. The problem is that the queen doesn’t use necromancy the same way we do. Its more... instinct than skill or knowledge.”

“So what’s the plan then?”

“Well you’re in luck, since I've got a group of people moving through that area soon, so we’re hoping that teaching things in person will work better, more learn by doing than hearing.”

“It’s worth a shot. Okay I agree to this, and I’ll keep an eye out for the guild.”

“Good. Oda’s with them, so I’ll relay the orders to head into the woods through him. Make sure they don't all just disappear okay?”

“Not a problem. Nice talking with you.”

“Great, now I just need to fill out an expense report for that many sheep...” she muttered, her voice trailing off as the spell gave out, the blood splashing to the ground.

~~~~~~

A day later, as night was beginning to fall, the Greycaps began calling out, sending word that a group was approaching the edges of the wood. Walking out to meet them was much easier than it had been getting to the centre, the queens blessing making it simple. If he stepped into a pool of sap, it would harden underneath him, forming a momentary stepping stone before returning to its liquid state as he passed.

Waiting at the edge of the woods were a hundred figures, half made of hooded guild members and half undead being used as pack mules. Further away were members of the border guard, looking unhappy that a larger force had shoved their way past the wall. Standing centre stage was Gabe, sitting proudly on top of Princess, still loving to show off his Blunicorn.

“Jicker!” he called out, waving as he saw him coming through the trees. “How’s it going?!”

“Not bad Gabe, not bad at all. Are all of you coming in, or are some of you waiting out here?” he asked from the edges, keeping an eye on the border guards who’d started pointing and gathering their forces.

“I was going to say just a few of us, but maaaaybe we should all head in a little, at least get out of peoples way.”

Walking in, they all moved close together, watching their surroundings closely, just in case the arrangement fell through and it all became enemy territory. While it was hard for people to travel safely, they had to be extra careful not let their own zombies wander into the sap and become stuck. There was already one case where a foot had been hacked off rather than try to free it, leaving it limping along. Princess on the other hand simply trotted a foot above the surface, leaving a frozen trail that several others tried to stay on.

“So,” Oda said, the assassin appearing suddenly behind him, making Jicker jump a foot in the air. “You haven’t improved your stealth abilities much, and your enigma stat hasn't grown much either. You won’t get better if you don't practice.”

Turning to him, he replied. “First off, don't do that! Secondly I've been out in the wild all this time so I haven’t really had a chance to work on them.”

A frown “You should get on that, sooner rather than later. I guess it’s because of your... unusual levelling method, but you’re getting to a level where you should have way better skills than the ones you do. The inner rage thing is new though, along with that achievement... is that the one Mary mentioned?”

“I’ll explain the stat later, but yeah the achievement is what you’re here to get, at least some of you? I don't know exactly how many the queen agreed to let-“

“WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!” someone shouted.

Whipping around, they turned to the source of the cry to find people pulling away from a zombie that had been surrounded by greycaps, who were jabbing it with the ladles, whistling and chirping to each other. This wouldn’t be any cause for alarm, but they’d brought several dozen of their own through the woods, so now there were two masses of the undead facing each other, one word away from becoming a lifeless melee.

“So, these are the greycaps then?” Oda asked, not taking his eyes off of them, his hand drifting towards a pocket.

Jicker sighed. “Yes that’s them, and I think I should step in before someone else does something dumb.”

“Who’s been dumb already?”

“They have.” He said walking forward before grabbing a ladle away from one of the greycaps. “Quit that! They’re not doing what you say because they’re not yours, so don't poke them! it very rude to start messing around with other peoples things, so leave them alone, no matter how curious you get, okay?” He turned and shouted over his shoulder. “And that goes double for whoever’s shuffling towards the fungal zombies right now! We’re trying to sort out a treaty, not let you play with the dead.”

“But these are unprecedented, different of anything raised before! The possibilities are-”

“Zip it Harrison, we’re not here to mess around.”

Jicker shot Oda a glare. “You brought Harrison here? The same guy who saw no problem in almost killing a bunch of wolves who are now part of Penumbra's pack?”

Oda held up his hands to defend himself. “Look, he’s an ass, but he’s good at what he does, and right now that’s the important part. To be honest with you,” he continued with an odd gleam in his eyes. “He’s exactly what we need right now.”

With the tension dispelled, the greycaps hung their heads in shame and started to wander off back into the woods, leaving the rising moon to travel deeper into the woods, and eventually reach the queens clearing.

“So this is the queen we’re supposed to meet?” Gabe asked looking up at the dais. “I thought it was supposed to be intelligent, that thing looks kind of-”

Cutting him off, the dead that made up the queens throne lit up. “We can... promise you... we are... intelligent... Gabe, brother... of Mary.”

“Umm... You know me?” he said awkwardly, surprised.

“I spoke... to your leader...for some time. We do not... know much... of humour. But her... stories of... your antics... amused us. We greatly... enjoyed the... one about... the snow globe.”

He groaned. “Aaaand now I need to get back at her.”

“What did you do with snow globe?” Jicker asked in amusement.

“It involves a snow globe, a magic rope and the loss of five city blocks. I’ll tell you the full story over a drink sometime.” Oda said quickly before Gabe started spluttering his denials. “For now though, let’s get to why we’re here.”

“There are... many of you. I am willing... to give... half of you... the immunity. But I need... your payment... before I... gift it... to the rest.”

Jicker paused, turning to the guild members who were shuffling around. “Payment? I thought Mary agreed to some teaching, so what’s the payment?”

“Well, you see,” Gabe began, slowly moving through the crowd. “Mary found out that the queen doesn’t really learn well from explanations. But we’re pretty sure it’s a communication problem rather than ability.”

“So after asking about how she normally learns things, me and Gabe came up with an idea.” Oda continued, also getting into position. “Apparently she learns by absorbing the minds of bodies added to throne? Then the simplest way would be to add the right body.” And with that, they both suddenly grabbed one of Harrison’s arms each.

“H-hey, what are you doing?!” Harrison exclaimed as they lifted him off the ground and started walking forward.

Oda answered him as the two of them ignored his struggles. “Mary’s been looking for a way to properly punish you for your screw up with the node for some time now. She’s tried to give you some shitty jobs to make up for it, but you kept either screwing those up or palming it off onto someone else. So we decided that your noble sacrifice would be a fitting and poetic way to make up for things. Everybody wins.”

“I never agreed to this! You can’t do this!”

“Mmm, I'm pretty sure we can, but I think you mean that we shouldn’t. But, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and all that.”

Ignoring the last of his cries, the two threw him forward towards the queen, where he landed in a deep pool of sap that quickly hardened around him, leaving him trapped below the waist. Turning towards him, the queen inhaled deeply, expanding slightly, before unleashing a stream of spores so thick that they momentarily lost sight of Harrison under the barrage. When they’d dispersed, he was dead, any trace of life snuffed out and a thick grey layer still covering his face, forming a smooth plate. The queen took a step back and made a small bow, pouring sap over the body the liquid flowing oddly around the still form. When it was done the queen touched its surface and cause it to break free of the lake, the liquid draining away to leave a perfect sphere with Harrison’s body resting permanently at its centre.

“Yeah, I think we can say that his debt cleared up for now, at least until he screws up again.” Gabe said, watching on with interest. The queen had lifted the sphere and placed it onto a small pedestal by her throne, where it started to glow, and cast light on the queen, who knelt before it, their body trembling as they underwent the process of absorbing whatever memories she was looking through.

“We...see now.” The queen said after a minute of silence. “We understand... how the dead... are made... to rise. We can... use this... to protect... ourselves... and our future.”

Lifting themselves to their feet, they slowly moved down from the dais, both player and greycap moving out her way wordlessly. She stopped before a small outcrop and ran a hand along its surface, causing it to tremble and crack. Slowly the Blightwood and fungus that had grown over it peeled away, leaving a largely decayed body that now began to rise to its feet.

“This was... a wizard... a wielder... of fire.” They said, carefully holding the zombie’s shoulders. “They came... to burn... our home... and my children. They could... not succeed... so now... they will serve.”

With a sharp movement, quicker than Jicker had thought possible with such a bulky frame, the queen tore the head from the zombie, its body collapsing to the ground, its animation leaving it instantly. With a low groan, she called out causing a single grey cap to come forward, looking up at their leader chirping quietly. With care she squeezed the head between her hands, until they began to shift and mould around it, before separating them to show them empty but dyed bright red. Reverently, she placed them on the cap of the mushroom before her, holding them there and crooning softly as light began to form at the point of contact. Releasing it, they watched on as two hand prints were left smouldering, then outright caught flame as the small creature was set ablaze, but paralysed by the queens will.

But as quickly as it had ignited, it went out, leaving a very different monster behind. Growing to twice its original size, the two foot tall mushroom creature had gained a blacked skin tone, while its cap had become a bright fiery orange, speckled with points of red and white that moved across its now rough and jagged surface. Where its eyes had glowed with a soft, purple light, they were now filled with flames that licked at the air as it studied its surroundings with new interest.

“Did you know this would happen?” Oda asked Jicker quietly.

“No,” he whispered back, looking at his creations... creation. “This is definitely not what I expected.”

Moving closer he went to examine the newly created creature, when it span and looked at him, grinning at him with a mouth that now contained jagged teeth.

Greycap - Queens Guard variant. Level: 31

By absorbing and transferring the nature of another creature the Goldcrown has turned this greycap into an individual with abilities based on the dead it was taken from.

Special abilities: Born of a pyromancer, this Greycap has gained intelligence, intermediate fire magic, fire and cold resistance and the ability to ignite spore clouds to explosive effect.

“Are you seeing this?” He whispered.

Oda nodded. “You were right; this is going to be big. Really, really big.”

The queen turned to them, her new guard at her side. “We thank... you for your... sacrifice. With my new...children we... will be able... to defend ourselves... properly. We will still... have losses... but if one... survives... then they... can become... many.”

While most people were in a state of shock or confusion, Gabe was beside himself with joy.

“That was awesome!” he said, jumping around on top of his mount. “Can you make fighters? And tanks? Oooh! What about spies? Those could be cool!”

“For now,” Jicker said while trying to drag him away, which proved fruitless until Princess agreed and trotted back. “We need to start loading up the airships, which are ripe enough to launch any minute, and will do it on their own fairly soon.”

The next hour had suddenly become a frantic rush, people going as far as just grabbing the greycaps and throwing them on the airships, packing them in along with the other supplies that had been prepared, namely large barrels of spores, and large pieces of currently hardened sap. As they flew they’d slowly scatter the spores over the area, covering a wide enough area, that something would die while under its affects, potentially giving rise to an entire colony. The sap, while solid and useless at the moment could, thanks to the greycaps abilities to manipulate it, be liquefied and weaponized in an instant raining down on the unprotected targets below.

Before long, the first of the cloudberries broke free of the ground, the sap they’d used to hold it down being broken away and tearing up huge lumps of soil. As they rose, the ropes caught and pulled tight, dragging them in place above the ships where additional ties and ropes were quickly attached.

“We’ve got to get some of these for the guild.” Oda said, inspecting one of the ships.

“I’ll give you a couple of seeds, though we’ll need a way to explain where they came from.” Jicker replied, tying off the final rope.

“I think we’re getting past that. The Rising Moon has done what it can, but people have caught on that new things are being made, and people are going to connect it to you eventually. But for now, what next?”

“We let them loose. They’ll all go in different directions, covering as big an area as they can, while the queen rebuilds her forces here and repeats the process. Any success will begin to create new Greycaps, Blightwood and zombies, and the cycle continues.”

“So, your part is done for now? You’re not busy with anything?” Oda asked hopefully.

He hesitated. “I'm not busy exactly, but I need to get to Macross for... reasons.”

“Are these Jicker reasons or... “reasons”?” he said, making air quotes.

“The second one, and I can’t go into it right now.”

“All good, perfect in fact. I was going to ask you to come to Macross with us anyway.”

“Really? Why?”

Gabe came over and slapped him on the back. “We’re competing in the games, help give our new city a bit more legitimacy, you know?

“Feel free to hear that as “Mary kicked him out of the city for a while for causing more problems than he solved”.” Oda said smirking.

“That’s not true, Mary said it would be good to do some politicking out there, so she put me in charge!”

“And then she put me in charge of him.” Oda said, ducking a slap from Gabe at his words. “But he’s right, and since Harrison has been... removed from the group, he won’t be able to make it in time and that leaves us short a player. So we were hoping you might fill in for him.”

Jicker weighed his options. “Sure, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my “reasons”, I'm game to join.

“Awesome, then lets head out now, there’s a deadline on the sign up.”

“Sure, just wait up a second, there’s a favour I want to ask from the queen.”

~~~~~~

Harriet looked at the message she received from the contractor, demanding to know why they hadn’t gotten them the creature yet. The problem with answering the question was that she didn’t know either. They’d sent the gremlin into the woods, and waited, everything looking like it was running smoothly. Then the first of the dead had started to stagger towards the border and they’d kept an eye out for the little green one. But it never came out, even after the rest had all been killed off and collected. According to the elf running the place, it happened sometimes, when either the zombie had gotten stuck somewhere, had headed out a different side, or the target had just died on impact without being infected.

But she’d checked with the border guards on every side, and had someone keeping an eye on the nearest spawn point. She knew he couldn’t be that far away, since they still had his mount in stasis, and if he got too far it would teleport out to his location, an old game patch they’d included to stop people running off with entire stables. So where the hell had he gotten to?

While she was thinking, a small piece of paper found its way into her hand, but she couldn’t remember where it had come from, or why she was holding it. Opening it up she saw that there were two words written on it.

Ten fold.

Before she could process what she’d read, people started shouting and running around, scattering in every direction. Some aimed weapons towards the sky, trying to ready themselves for something they hadn’t planned for. Looking up she saw a bright purple ball drift through the air, with tiny figures underneath waving down towards her. Then they pushed something towards the edge, and suddenly all she could see was a sheet of liquid amber, falling towards her.