So, after a longer-than-intended hiatus (as usual), we're back and ready for action. Don't worry, this time we have a HUGE backlog of chapters ready to post in advance, so updates should be much smoother. Get ready for more action, more emotion, more drama, more nice fan-servicey nods than ever before as the story kicks into high-gear and we learn what the Entity's real plan is.
Assuming you're new to the story, welcome to THE CONVERGENCE! This story is a collaborative project run by myself, SuperFire131, Asanetargoss and several other authors. Inspired by the sadly failed RIFT project, we started THE CONVERGENCE up back in 2015 in the hopes of bringing the characters of our various stories together in a unique, new context which reveals new aspects of their character. We see a Fire from long before the events of "Slaves of the Desert Mine", a Fristad lost somewhere in the middle of "The Book of Dreams", a Tyron from long after the events of "Cubic Fire" and many other beloved Minefic characters. I recommend checking out Book 1 if you want to understand all the nuances of what's going on, but don't worry, we've provided a handy-dandy character sheet below, and have written the opening chapters with a new reader in mind.
Anyway, I'm rambling. We've had an absolute blast bouncing all these different characters off each other and we hope you have just as much fun reading their triumphs and tragedies. Now, we hope you enjoy:
THE CONVERGENCE
Book 2:Tangled Fates
The Story So Far
For years the Entity has lived in darkness on the edge of creation, stealing fragments of more complete realities for its own world, Nexus. It has waited patiently, but now its desire to possess grows too strong and it readies to expand its dominion indefinitely.
At least, until recently. You see, a disparate gang of heroes has recently found itself stuck in Nexus by various means. Some, like the powerful wizard Astro, the heroic power-couple David and Destiny, and the Herobrine-slayer Tyron Dragoknight were actively abducted by the Entity from their various worlds as curiosities and potential chess-pieces. Yet others, such as the young, Herobrine-supporting General, Kay Mandy, or the Herobrine-slaying Steve Brine and Jennifer, interfered in the Entity's plans, and found themselves facing a far larger conspiracy than they'd ever imagined. Yet others, like the Farlands-dwelling sheep farmer, Fristad; the quarter-demon wizard and taco enthusiast, Warnado; and Fire, inhabitant of a Minecraft-based world created with technology ahead of its time, have found themselves in Nexus by random chance and happenstance.
Initially, rather turned around and confused, those heroes not immediately captured accepted the Entity's hospitality and negotiated with it. But then they discovered the horrendous acts of kidnap and torture and murder the Entity has been conducting across the many worlds. The tipping point came when Kay discovered that Astro, a dear friend of his, was being held in wretched conditions by the Entity. This developed into a full escape attempt and then into an out-and-out battle. After surviving being trapped in an arena and an explosive confrontation with The Ender, the Entity's top captain, the new group of allies at last seem to have reached a lull and might be able to escape with their lives.
Characters
The Team:
Fire: A man of two worlds. Fire, whose real name is Peter, is a human being from an alternative earth. Patron of an brain-computer interfacing program, he spends most of his time retreating into a Minecraft-like world to escape from his traumatic past. In the game-world, where time is slower than our own, he has spent the equivalent of 5,000 years as one the immortal Mencur-Besh, fighting and questing and growing stronger and stronger. Standing at a huge three metres tall, covered in black scales, possessing three hearts and being able to extend foot-long claws, Fire is one of the most physically powerful members of the party. He arrived in Nexus after consuming an experimental potion and accidentally being drawn into Nexus. After arriving he encountered Kay and Warnado and the three became an effective trio in the negotiations at the Tower. He departed the Tower shortly before the escape attempt began and has been able to return to his world. Now, having reequipped himself, he is ready to return to Nexus and discover the truth of what is going on.
Fristad: A rather unremarkable young adult who, until recently, had the luxury of a life of stable mediocrity, working on an animal farm with his enderman half-blood farming partner. That is... until he encountered a mysterious sentient book with unknown intentions, which would quickly become a large part of his existence. Due to sheer coincidence, Fristad's struggle with the book would eventually lead him through a portal to a Nexus, where he met Steve and Jennifer, and later the rest of the group of travellers misplaced from their former worlds. Now, the book has manipulated him into creating a modified set of diamond armour which can transform him into an enderman, under the promise it will give him the strength to protect his newfound friends.
Kay: Kay Mandy has led an eventful five-and-twenty years. Banished at least three times and sentenced to death an embarrassing number of times in his life he has moved from kingdom to kingdom and briefly flitted in and out of public life as a profoundly controversial figure. Most recently, he distinguished himself as "Herobrine's Lap Dog" during the Great Onslaught, playing a key role in the Defence of Zine Craft - where Notch ascended to godhood, the traitorous Israphel was exposed and Herobrine was finally reconciled with the House of Persson. However, in the aftermath of the conflict he has renounced politics, and wishes simply to find a place where he and his friends can settle down. Now, separated from his friends in another dimension and faced with the prospect of another epic quest he's rather miffed about the whole thing. However, he nonetheless is growing increasingly protective of his new companions, particularly the young Warnado.
Astro: Astro is just ready to pack it in at this point. Having lived through the rebellion of the Court of Righteous Protest and still recovering from Kay's untimely death, he was ready to devote his life to patrolling the Fields of Acrisius, collecting the frozen bodies of the survivors. However, an old enemy recommended him to the Entity as a powerful magic-user to study and he found himself captured. Now, all that defined his world has dispersed. Kay is alive and not crazy and discussing whether or not they should bring Warnado home with them. There are thousands of other worlds. New systems of magic and creatures he had never conceived of are presenting themselves to him as if they always existed. He finds himself suspended between joy at this new start and profoundly saddened by the past he has been torn away from.
Warnado: As a taco-loving, part-demon, thirteen-year-old wizard, it's safe to say Warnado is the wildcard of the group. He is energetic, tricksy and inexplicably powerful. Problem is, he doesn't know how to use it. What's worse is that he know he is one of the "heroes of the prophecy" who will rise up and defeat Herobrine. As such, he feels he should probably get home soon and find out who the other prophecy-kids are. That being said, this interdimensional escapade has brought him into contact with several fellow magic-users of different kinds, and he rather hopes he can use this as an opportunity to learn from them and git gud.
Amanda: While Warnado was wandering around, he found himself protecting a small human village and even developed a small relationship with another girl his age, this was Amanda. Sadly, bandits attacked the village, massacred most of the population of the village and sold those they captured into slavery. All this contributed to Warnado's extreme surprise when he found Amanda in a small town in Nexus, having totally forgotten her past and in the possession of a mysterious and powerful-looking energy crystal. Amanda decided to join the party after this, eager to figure out who she was. For someone who was running a cheese stand in a market she is surprisingly adept with a crossbow, making her a valuable addition to the team dynamic.
Steve and Jennifer: Having defeated Herobrine, the Ender Dragon, the Wither and a huge army of undead creatures, Steve Brine and Jennifer are no strangers to adventure and war. However, after Herobrine was defeated and transformed back into Steve's dad they expected their lives to calm down. Aside from Steve's brother Ozen experimenting too much with his cooking, they didn't expect to have much hardship to deal with at all to be honest. As such, they were exceptionally frustrated when a servant of the Entity burst into their lives, tried to steal some mysterious crystals from them, and then warped them into another world with no obvious way back. As such, they were reluctant to go into negotiations and eagerly joined the fight when it started. However, that's not to say they like the other members of the newly-founded group... Aside from Fristad, he’s cool. Oh! and Fire made a good first impression. And-
Tyron: Tyron is the hero of Minecraftia. He has faced all odds. He killed Herobrine and then for a victory lap stopped the genocidal enderman leader known as The First. Armed with his sentient sword, Kir, and a powerful magic-wielder, he thought he could take anyone. He was wrong. In the course of an attempt to rescue a boy lost in a mine he was captured and psychologically tortured for several weeks by Freak, a phantom in the Entity's employ. Understandably, he is now deeply concerned about The Entity's activities and is ready to write a strongly worded letter and SHOVE IT DOWN THAT NOTCH-DAMNED TRANSLUCENT PSYCHO'S THROAT! It hasn't been all bad though. He's made fast friends with Astro, Destiny and David in their shared captivity and is optimistic about working in a group again.
David & Destiny: David and Destiny are a power-couple if ever there was one. After waking up with total amnesia in a forest, they have spent the last few months surviving massacre after massacre and saving each saving the other's life on multiple occasions. They fought through the Eternal Mine, defeated Herobrine's apprentice, Martin, and confessed their love for each other. In this time they became totally in-sync. David's substantial skill with a bladed gauntlet is complimented perfectly by her offensive magic. No sooner could they breath a sigh of relief than they were approached by the ghosts of their ancestors/past selves and directed toward a mysterious portal which had appeared in their world. Reluctantly, they entered the portal, knowing a great evil lurked beyond that they must defeat. Immediately upon their arrival they were ambushed and captured by the soldiers of Glibby the Ape, one of the Entity's most powerful captains. Now, they are as fully committed to their cause as they are fiercely protective of each other.
The Entity: Little is known of this being. It created the Nexus and the Tower, indicating it is a being of immense power. On account of a tightly-fitted suit of bronze armour, it has few obvious weakpoints aside from a pair of white, fabric gloves it wears instead of gauntlets. Without its armour, it appears to be composed of grey TV static in a deeply unstable but vaguely humanoid form. All that is clear is that it will kill and murder and steal anything that gets in the way of its esoteric motivations. It appears to spend its time in The Tower, overseeing the business of dimensional transactions and the coordination of troops.
The Ender: An enderwoman who is the main commander of the Entity's forces. She wears obsidian armour and carries a purple sword that crackles with energy. Acutely observant, she maintains an alliance of convenience with The Entity, in the hope of advancing her people's ambitions. She is currently responsable for suppressing the prison breakout.
Freak: The phantom who kidnapped Tyron. He appears human, aside from talon-like fingers and the fact that light passes through him. He also has the strange ability to only appear visible or tangible to one person at a time, though he can appear before multiple people if he chooses. He has a love of mindgames and is perhaps the cruellest of The Entity's officers. The Entity accordingly allows him the most freedom to roam as he wishes. He has no known troops under him and could be just about anywhere he wishes.
Glibby The Ape: A relatively recent addition at The Tower. Kay and Astro know him as a serial killer who looks like a gorilla, but in Nexus he is one of the Entity's more powerful captains. Covering his huge hands with metal gauntlets, he is formidable alone and even Fire would struggle to walk off even a glancing blow from him. Worse still, he leads the Grey Ones, an elite group of enderman and human mercenaries who streak themselves with grey paint. He has been sent here by the crime-lord known as The Silhouette to defend his interests, under strict instructions to maintain a good relationship with The Entity. So far, he has done well in this respect, helping in the initial capture of David and Destiny and then in suppressing their initial escape attempt. However, due to defections from her own forces, The Ender deeply distrusts him.
Marinus Bul: The Entity's attorney. A smooth negotiator with a stressed streak a mile wide. He has access to The Entity's files on each of the heroes and knows most of their emotional weak-points. It is unclear how he came into The Entity's employ or why. He really hates Freak. Just so much. He makes things so difficult.
The Dog: An officer in The Ender's forces. He has the head of a dog and the body of a man. He is notably polite and wears a monocle.
Silver: Glibby's second-in-command. He is one of the three original Grey Ones, endermen under the Ender's command who were trapped in Kay's world for over ten years. Glibby looked after he and his brothers during that decade, giving them assassin work and protection. In return, Silver reveres Glibby. Silver has also been plotting revenge on Kay ever since, and unsuccessfully attempted to kill him during the prison-break by trapping he and several others in an arena full of deadly monsters. He and his brothers were the Endermen who initially kidnapped Astro.
Others:
Steve (as well?): A strange figure who appears to be able to teleport. He has contacted Kay on multiple occasions, warning him against The Silhouette. He also appeared to Astro, David, Destiny and Tyron before their ill-fated escape attempt.
From "A Tale Known by Only One" by Bruvvy.
The Lady of Dreams: A benevolent phantom who occasionally visits Peter/Fire in his dreams with the goal of helping him come to terms with his traumatic past. However, since she followed him into Nexus she has seemed increasingly distressed.
I lost balance as my feet touched the floor of the great hall but in a second I was up on one knee, Apotyre raised and teeth bared fierce as any animal’s. The Ender and all her host had been here when we left and I wouldn’t let them try that trick with the colosseum again. But they were gone. The hallway was dim. Only friends remained. For the moment.
Exhaustion crashed into me like a wave and I felt the burns on my back and every other wound on my body. I didn’t bother getting up fully and amused myself with the observation that my enemies all seemed to love throwing me into colosseums and death games. First Vareide, now The Entity via his Grey Ones. It sure was a hell of a coincidence- Oh wait! The Grey Ones must have read up on me, probably thought they were being clever or something. A just revenge after “eleven years” stuck in my world. Ha! They could have done much worse than that!
Conceptually, I mean. The colosseum was genuinely horrifying. I’d wondered if we would make it out of that one. The back of my obsidian chestplate still felt hot where the fireball had caught me, and the skin screeched beneath, as if a million suns had scorched my back. Or, was it where I’d caught the fireball? The pain was messing with me and I could no longer remember if that was a deliberate choice or whether I’d tried to flee and been struck down. Then I remembered who I’d been guarding.
“Astro!”
It felt like my ribs were reaching inward to grab at my heart and wrap their arms about it and make sure it was safe, like a mother guarding her young. My eyes leapt about the room to find the other survivors of the colosseum and our comrades who had been left here. Aside from Astro, I hadn’t known anyone there longer than a week.
It was hard to tell where everyone was. The room was dim and hot. Scorch-marks lined the floor and some walls and the air was still warm. Smoke had discoloured the ceiling. There had been an explosion.
My heart was released a little after I found the wizard at my foot. I’d started this breakout to free him. If he’d died… what would I tell Aaron and the others? Then again, I didn’t know this was the same Astro waiting for me on the border of the Vanilla Craft. We’d only been together for an hour but he seemed older, more cynical and he looked at me as if he knew something horrible that I didn’t.
Steve and Jennifer, the Herobrine-killers, were already up and about, scouting for the enemy. Steve, sword drawn, purple eyes sharp. Jennifer, red-haired and bow ready. Their armour was cracked from the fight - Steve was now barefoot - but they would fight until the last. I thought it was strange that, aside from the cracks, nothing had marked them. They were pristine when they should be caked with blood and soot and sand.
They marched up to join Amanda. Since we’d been teleported away, she had taken up a perch atop a statue of a strange, contorted creature with countless limbs, and who scanned the hallway with scowling eyes. Her crossbow sat in her hands, like an attack dog on a leash.
And of course, Fristad, my saviour. He kept grabbing at the purple-glassed goggles, making they were on tight. He offered me a hand to get to my feet, acting very concerned, but I didn’t buy it. He was hiding something. Anyone who transforms into an Endling at random is not to be trusted. Endlings aren’t to be trusted. Period. I didn’t take his hand, struggled up on my own.
On my feet at last, I turned to find the rest of our group. A pleasant sight did not greet me.
Tyron, the gigantic green furball was acting all jittery and grumbling to himself, probably addressing Kir, his sword. That wasn’t a crazy thing. The sword was sentient - something from their world called “Bluestone”. The only abnormal thing about this was that he was talking aloud. I heard him mention “Freak” and became wary. He could appear at any moment. I also felt a pang of pity. This creature was another Herobrine-killer, said to be a great hero, and now he was ready to stab shadows in the hope of gaining revenge on his torturer.
But there was a more pressing issue. David lay sideways against a castle wall, the floor in front of him blackened as if he had been propelled by a blast. The arm which once wielded his gauntlet was now a mangled stump hanging over his blood-covered abdomen. Destiny stood crouched beside him, holding a hand comfortingly to his cheek. Her ponytail had been cut loose, and the ends of her brown hair were singed, embers grow at the far end.
“Notch, what happened to him?” asked Fristad.
“His gauntlet exploded,” said Warnado, whose arm was wrapped around Amanda. It was hard to tell beneath the darkness of his hood, but his eyes seemed to widen in awe and confusion. “It fired the biggest deadly green ball of lightning I’ve ever seen. It was amazing but I can’t actually believe we’re all still alive.”
“It only killed some of the endermen,” warned Destiny in heartbroken monotone. “The rest teleported away. More will come.”
“All the more reason to get the heck out of here as soon as possible,” said Fristad. “Carry him over here and we’ll teleport out of this place.”
Tyron offered to carry the fallen David. I tried to carry Astro but my burns made it pointless. Fristad and Steve ended up doing it. I sincerely wished Fire was there. The absolute size of that one! He could’ve carried both of them. At least an Ending wouldn’t have been carrying my friend. But he was nowhere to be seen.
Then, our newly united group converged on Fristad and vanished into a dimensional rift.
When they appeared in another space, they were in the familiar room of crowded and stacked furniture. Fristad stumbled, as if dizzy.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Fristad groaned between labored breaths. “This is as far as I can go. The strain of teleporting so many people is becoming too much for me.”
“It’s alright, Fristad,” Steve reassured him. “I recognize this place. The exit to the tower isn’t far from here.”
Our motley gang of the battle-weary, the disarmed, and the gravely injured walked as fast as it could. Considering we had two limp bodies in tow, we made good time.
After several hallways and another two flights of stairs, a large, red carpeted entryway and a double door would have been all that stood between us and freedom… if we had have been alone.
Instead, a half dozen armed guards stood along the edges of the carpet, pulling their swords from their sheaths and bows from their backs as they turned to face the attempting escapees.
Then, Warnado reached into his hood and tossed a cylindrical metallic object without warning and screamed, “FLASH OUT!!!”
Then, a white flash and explosion blinded and deafened almost everybody including half of the escapees. Luckily, the other half of the escapees were not blinded and also none of them were deaf, allowing them to slowly make their way to the exit while the guards groaned with their eyes shut and hands pressed against their ears.
The double door was pushed open, and finally the crew breathed the sweet and pure night forest air.
“Thanks for that, Warnado,” I said. “If it weren’t for that metal canister of yours, we’d probably all be dead.” I paused in thought. “Say, can you get more of those? Seems like they’d be quite useful to have around.”
Warnado didn’t answer and instead asked: “By the way, do any of you know what ‘FLASH OUT!!!’ actually means? Because I don’t.”
I rolled my eyes and took that as a “maybe, but I prefer you not knowing”. I laughed a little. He was a weird kid, but I liked his style.
“We should get going,” said Jennifer. “The sooner we get as far away as possible from the Tower, the sooner we can treat Astro and David’s wounds. And the sooner we can all meet up with Fire in the village alive.”
Jennifer stopped for a moment to stop David’s bleeding with some extra leather she had on hand, then she scouted ahead into the shadows of the forest. The rest followed behind, always careful not to leave more tracks than they had to. Traveling at night was perilous business, with the skeletons eyeing for easy targets and creepers potentially lurking around every corner. Luckily, Amanda and Destiny still had ammo to spare, and the rest were in good enough shape to fight the occasional monster. The group took turns carrying the fallen Astro and David.
Nighttime turned to dawn, Fristad transformed into a human again, and the group came to stop at a place where the tower was long gone from sight, and forest obscured the horizon all around them, leaving no sense of direction except the leaf-screened sun above.
“We don’t have nighttime cover anymore,” reasoned Jennifer. “This is probably the best time to set up camp underground.”
“Did you just say, ‘underground’?” I asked with confusion.
“Yes. We are going to build an eleven meter by eleven meter underground living space a few meters beneath the dirt,” explained Jennifer.
“We don’t have time for that nonsense!” I said. “We have two injured men in desperate need of treatment, and any hour now the Entity’s henchmen could come looking for us!”
“Don’t you realize we’ve thought that through?” Steve snapped. “It’ll take us a few minutes to build the shelter. I don’t know what block physics and inventory size are like in your world, but they certainly don’t apply here.”
“Okay…” I snuck a suspicious glance at the now-human Fristad, before glaring back at Steve. “My apologies if I’m sceptical. I do forget we’re all from different worlds.”
Fristad’s brows clenched in confusion, as he racked his brain for what he could have possibly have done to make me angry at him. Steve simply flashed a look of contempt at me for a moment before pulling a full-sized diamond shovel from his pocket and proceeding to jump into the dirt-floored staircase that Jennifer had just dug up.
Mere minutes later, Steve walked out of the staircase and beckoned the group inside. The pairs carrying Astro and David, and the rest following behind, walked single-file, first down a dirt staircase, then into a stone hallway, and finally into a barren, torchlit square room with stone and dirt walls.
“I’m going to seal the entrance with pistons,” announced Steve. “When I’m done, the staircase should be able to merge with the grass above with the flip of a lever. Need any medical supplies, Jen?”
“I should have enough,” she said, “but I think someone else should use them. We need to mine more resources.”
“Agreed,” replied Steve. “Any volunteers?”
“I can help dress the wounds,” offered Fristad.
“Your kind shouldn’t be anywhere near a body,” I snarled, wincing from my burns.
“What is your problem, Kay?” Fristad turned to face me, visibly angry for the first time. “If you have something to say to me, then just say it!”
“I would simply prefer that the wounds be dressed by someone else,” I said. “And I am more than willing to do it myself.”
“You don’t trust me,” concluded Fristad, regaining his composure. “You’re worried I’ll hurt you and… your friend. I get it.” Fristad turned to face Destiny, who stared listlessly at the injured David. “Do you want my help?”
Destiny nodded silently.
Jennifer placed chests with supplies, crafting tables, furnaces, and beds throughout the room. She then dug the first stone steps of a downward stairwell in the side of the underground room.
Warnado followed behind her and watched expectantly. “You’re digging a tunnel down into a potentially large and dangerous cave system? Sounds like fun! Mind if I join you?” Without waiting for a response, Warnado conjured a ghostly pickaxe. Amanda soon followed behind.
“I’ll stay here,” Tyron offered.
“Sounds like a good idea,” said Steve, as he pulled down the lever on his finished Redstone contraption. In a chorus of hydraulic chugs and scratching stone, the grass staircase lifted and became a wall of pistons, blocking off the light from above.
Steve reached into his magically deep pocket and pulled out a square metal object the size of his hand with a rod sticking out of it. He handed it to Tyron.
“This radio will allow you to communicate with Jennifer and I,” said Steve. “All you have to do is press this button and talk into it. Keep us informed. Do you have a clock?”
“No.”
Steve rummaged his pocket again, pulled out a clock, and placed the clock in Tyron’s remaining large fuzzy palm. “We’ll be back before noon.”
Chapter 2:The Return (Fire)
It was a bit after midnight when Peter sat back down at his computer, he had spent the last fifteen minutes eating and drinking, he couldn’t afford to take longer, time on the server passed a lot more quickly than in the real world. He didn’t even want to speculate on how long it had been in Nexus. Longer? Shorter?
After a deep breath Peter laid his hands down, one on the keyboard and one on the mouse. As he clicked the server’s address a numb feeling crawled up his fingers, quickly spread through his arms and finally reached his head. Peter’s eyes closed.
A second later Fire’s eyes opened, they were not green like their counterparts in the real world, they were entirely red and emitted a faint light. These eyes were framed by black, shimmering scales. Not everything was completely different though, Fire’s short hair resembled that of Peter, the only difference being that it was completely white. While Peter was by no means short, Fire was still taller by half.
Fire shook his head, transitioning between the real world and the server had always been a transformation, from Peter to Fire, from human to Mencur-Besh. Though as he thought more on it, with what he had seen in the last days he wasn’t so sure how real or how imaginary each of his worlds really were.
Fire’s sister Shadow had been waiting for him on the server. She looked different from Fire yet at the same time they shared some patterns. For example Shadow too had red eyes and black skin, though hers was still the human variety as opposed to Fire’s scales. Her hair was white as well, but very long. She also was very short compared to Fire, and, to be fair, compared to a lot of people in the real world.
“Ready to pack the bags?” she asked.
Fire nodded.
In reality ‘packing the bags’ was a gross understatement for what the two did in the next two days, they turned their storage rooms inside out in search for the most spacious enchanted bags they had. They packed thousands of building blocks of many varieties, though also copious quantities of food, this time not limited to dried and salted meat since they could magically preserve what they took with them.
Fire also got to work on emptying tanks of potions into flasks and brewing new potions where he had nothing stored. The potions were large in variety, basic potions like healing or speed were there in large quantities but he also took more exotic things like contact narcotics, you never knew. Fire also crafted and enchanted several Ender Eyes, he had something special in mind with those.
On the day of their departure they picked out their weapons, Fire’s armory offered no small choice. The halberd he had obtained in Nexus would remain in his base, while it definitely was a fine piece of smithing, it couldn’t compare to his own best weapons.
At the very back of his armory was a display case that housed exactly one weapon of each type, the exception being daggers, which came in a set of two. The weapons on display here were no ordinary steel weapons either, they were made entirely from diamond. While their crystalline nature made them beautiful in its own right, the weapons were otherwise plain and without decorations, above everything else they were functional. On the server making diamond weapons was no easy task, it took years for them to crystallize and without the right technique they would be worthless. The weapons he had here were mastercrafted; he had had a hand in their creation himself. Not just the weapons themselves were of the highest quality but also their enchantments. They didn’t need further magical sharpening, they could split rocks easily on their own, though when looking more closely at the blue crystal a faint dark red glow was visible. A black flame lived inside those weapons that would latch onto anything cut and burn out its life force; akin to a deadlier and more persistent Fire Aspect enchantment.
Fire opened the display case slowly. “Didn’t think I would ever use those. But with the stakes being what they are I’d say we’re all-in here.”
He took a sword, a mace, two daggers and finally a halberd. Shadow didn’t need much in the way of weapons, she was an ascended mage. She wordlessly took the last object in the case, a smooth red-golden ball of metal. As her fingers touched it it seemingly liquefied and slithered up Shadow’s hand, then manifested again as an arm band.
The armor Fire chose was made of a dark metal, called firesteel. It was a combination of high quality steel, obsidian and blaze powder that needed to be woven in specialized forges. The resulting armor was light, flexible and highly protective.
As they were leaving Shadow also took several pieces of enchanted jewelry, those were intended to serve as large reservoirs of life force she could use to cast spells.
The bags they had packed on the day before were now bundled to a backpack that Fire put on over his armor. Some of the bags were also in their inventories, since Fire had confirmed those would work in Nexus as well.
The two siblings walked down the stone corridor side by side, they said nothing until they reached the elevator that would take them out of the base.
Fire double checked his bags and inventory. “So, we have everything?”
Shadow said: “We should.”
They stepped onto the elevator and slowly started rising upwards. Once they reached the top, they stepped out of the tiny wooden hut that disguised the entrance to the base, Fire in a crouched position.
Shadow said: “I can take us directly to the first tunnel, a two-person teleport is manageable. It was near Drysprings, right?”
Fire gave her thumbs up.
Shadow took a deep breath and concentrated, white glowing runes appeared on her skin while she gathered up the life force for her spell. Those runes were one part of what made her an ascended mage. A few moments later Fire felt a violent jolt, suddenly they weren’t standing in the jungle anymore, they now were only a few steps away from the tunnel.
Fire routinely checked if everything was still where it belonged, both in the sense of luggage and body parts. Shadow was a very capable mage, but you could never be too sure with teleports. After coming to the conclusion that everything indeed was where it was supposed to be he moved towards the tunnel.
Shadow asked: “This is where it is?”
Fire answered: “Yes, you might be able to feel a slight energy flow. Just give it a bit more power and it’ll open.”
After a short flare-up of Shadow’s runes, the dimensional rift was made clearly visible, she had much more power at her disposal than Fire had when he was world hopping.
“Hold on, let me try something…” Fire muttered.
He took one of the Ender Eyes he had enchanted from a bag and carefully moved it towards the top of the tunnel, it started slowly floating into it and then disappeared.
“We’ll see if it worked when we’re on the other side.”
Fire went first, Shadow followed right after. They emerged at a familiar place, to Fire at least. They were in the middle of a plains biome, exactly where Fire had entered the tunnel when he was on his way home. So the tunnels were consistent, at least this one was. He also noticed, very much to his satisfaction, that he was still connected to the Mencur-Besh’s mental network. It had worked, the Ender Eye he placed in the tunnel got stuck between the worlds and was now acting as a transmitter. He would now have to place an Eye in each tunnel all the way to Nexus. That way he could still be connected to his own world to see if anything changed there. That and in an absolute emergency he would be able to call for help.
Shadow looked around. “So there really is more out there…”
Fire nodded. “You can imagine what I felt like when I discovered that Nexus was not the work of the admins.”
They started walking, there was still quite a journey ahead of them.
Chapter 3:Licking Wounds (Tyron)
“Stay still, Kay,” insisted Tyron, applying some bandages to his back.
“You’re squeezing half the air out of my chest!” Kay muttered. “Lighten your grip a little…”
“Sorry, is that better?”
“Yes, now can we please get this over with and tend to Astro’s wounds?”
“Please stop yelling,” said Fristad.
Fristad and Destiny were both preoccupied physically and emotionally. Destiny was more visibly reserved, staring sadly as she brushed a wet cloth across David’s gaping wounds. Fristad, meanwhile, seemed to be in pain, perhaps even afraid, despite having no emotional connection to the stranger he tended to, and despite having no wounds from the deadly escape attempt.
In time, the wounds of the incapacitated David and Astro were cleaned and dressed. Destiny held her hand on David’s good shoulder. His face was unusually pale.
“I can only speak for myself, but I think the overnight journey from the tower has taken its toll on us,” said Fristad. “There’s no point in us all staying awake at once. We have a long journey ahead of us tonight.”
“I agree,” said Tyron. “Personally, I could use some food right about now. Assuming there’s enough to go around...”
“Knowing what I know now about Steve and Jennifer, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had lots,” said Fristad.
Tyron opened the chests one by one. “You guessed correctly.”
Tyron pulled out four large steaks from the chests. They were passed around between the four of the awake comrades and they began to take bites out of it, Tyron simply chomping away with his razor-like teeth. Kay and Fristad shared a startled look before Kay’s brow furrowed confrontationally again.
Fristad and Destiny ate the meat calmly, but Kay was tentative, surveying the group with a mixture of sadness and suspicion. At least in part this was due to the lack of obvious cutlery. However, after three false starts he did begin to chew away like the rest. He was startled; it was damn good stuff.
“Wow,” He laughed. “This is so much better than what I’m used to! I’ll have to compliment them when they come back.”
“You must have low standards,” remarked Fristad, surprised.
Kay seemed to forget who he was talking to for a moment: “I won’t deny that. Last thing I really ate was something Fire prepared that must’ve had a cliff-face worth of salt in it. Aside from that I usually eat his cooking, and that’s possibly worse.” He gestured to the sleeping Astro, who rolled over as if on queue.
Fristad chuckled at this. “Well then, we’ll have to fix that!”
Kay smiled ruefully, evidently remembering his prejudices somewhat. “We shall, once these guys are safe.”
“Agreed,” said Fristad.
Once he finished his steak, Fristad’s expression suddenly turned sour. “I… really need to get some sleep. Who’s staying up?”
“I will,” said Tyron.
“I’ll stay awake a while,” Kay agreed, looking around for his armour and the other pieces of clothing he’d taken off in the process. “I’m burned but I’ve been long dead if I can’t fight in this condition. I’ll give you some company for the first leg at least.”
Fristad looked toward Destiny, with a look of sadness and sincerity in his eyes. “I think you should sleep too. Emotions take their toll. More than we like to admit.”
She nodded, face empty and eyelids drooping. She stood up and walked over to David, to whom she, cat-like, curled up. A few moments later she was asleep.
Fristad walked slowly towards the beds on the other side of the room, seemingly reluctant to sleep in spite of his tiredness. As he slid under one of the red covers, he lay with his eyes open for a while, before closing his eyes with a sigh.
Chapter 4:Tarnished Hall (The Ender)
The hall was tarnished, littered with bodies and dust. It wouldn’t be like this for long so The Ender decided she had better take it all in while it was still there. It was that damned General according to one of their officers, the dog-faced one. He had gone as far as Astro’s cell and then overpowered his escorts. They didn’t know whether that was his intent the whole time or whether it was a split-second decision. Either way, they’d released a goodly chunk of the prisoners, who had in turn released more prisoners, who had in turn caused havoc throughout the Tower.
Her arm throbbed slightly. She looked down and saw singed scales and was reminded of David’s little trick with the gauntlet. Killed several of her best soldiers. They would not be easily replaced. She could hardly go back to the homeworld, cap in hand, and ask the other generals to reinforce her. She was walking on thin ice with them. They were still intent on conquering the Nether back home and didn’t see the startling range of possibilities out here, in the speckled, shifting mass of creation. They had defeated the humans and the other lesser beings. The Overworld was theirs. Going to the Nether was an old pipe-dream of a grudge and pursuing it would yield no profit.
The Entity had arrived and she had seen two paths. Her people could go and conquer all creation, or they could spend the next thirty years baiting pigmen into traps, clearing out castles and melting away into nothingness.
She knew her path was the one who would truly please the Ancestors…
“Need a potion?” Freak asked, drawing up beside her and waving a pink vial.
The Ender smiled and took it and grunted as her wounded scales reshaped and became bright and new.
“Thanks.”
They turned around and began to wander toward the huge, open door, which seemed to droop outwards as though ashamed. They’d blinded the guards and walked right through. It was an embarrassment.
Freak spoke first as they walked onward: “The Ape is just about done clearing out the East wing. A few rogue Testificates found their way into the armory, but they should be dealt with. Bul will probably be with us any second now, shrieking wildly no doubt-”
At that moment a man shrieked wildly: “What was that?!”
He looked flustered, his suit all crumpled and covered in dust and blood. This was Marinus Bul, the Entity’s steward and/or legal representative. He had been responsible for the negotiation. They should have just taken the Eye and the Crystals.
“The General betrayed us,” The Ender answered flatly. “We’ll deal with them soon enough.”
She hadn’t received word from Silver. The Grey Ones had demanded they be allowed to deal with Kay Mandy personally and they proved impotent. She was ashamed they had once been her own soldiers. Age had broken them. Now she would have to deal with that group herself.
Bul didn’t seem to know what to do with himself. For once, absolutely no words seemed even in the vicinity of his tongue.
“Looks like our master’s troops are back,” sighed Freak. He pointed to a long black line marching along the horizon.
“Good, it’ll be more lucid.”
She grabbed the arms of Freak and Bul and teleported up to The Entity’s chambers.
Sure enough, there it was. Bronze-coated and red-eyed, the Entity sat in its throne. She had tried to gain its attention earlier, but it was spread thin in a raid on World 32. It had manifested five times in that battle and there were several other manifestations Night-knows-where. This was as close to a prime meridian as the Entity had. Was this the first body it took? Who had it been before its influence? Maybe this was someone it had once cherished. Maybe there was no body in there and this was its most pure and undiluted form beneath the armour. The Ender didn’t care.
She cleared her throat. Its head lifted and stared right at her.
A voice stripped of emotion and which echoed no matter what volume it spoke at sounded: “Yes?”
“General Mandy’s part has departed. They have severely reduced the prison population. In particular, he took his friend and his former cellmates, leaving us deprived of-”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But I thought we were-”
“The raid on World 32 was a success. The Wizard’s college is under our control.”
“Oh,” The Ender nodded, a realisation creeping through her until: “So, you decided to go ahead with that plan.”
“Yes. In spite of your objections.”
“And you-”
“We now have procured 527 new magic-users. I estimate 487 will survive the march home. Maybe 500 exactly if you adequately prepare at the primary work-site.”
It began to pick at the ends of its white gloves, starting to edge them slightly closer to coming off. It never fidgeted, so this was a calculated and deliberate threat. Its red-glass eyes bore through her and though she’d never seen it show any emotion beyond interest or apathy, she was certain it was furious with her now. As close to fury as this constantly swirling husk was capable. The incoming light of dawn seemed to shake with fury on every part of it. The rubified eyes, the bronze seam. All seemed caught up in the restrained blaze. The Ender struggled not to quake before it, then it twitched and she felt herself released from its gravity.
“Yes, sir,” The Ender bowed her head. “I’ll be right on it.”
“Excellent. After that, you are to immediately set about relocating the General and his fellow escapees. Freak, Bul,-stay. Discussions… are necess-ary.”
Bul shot her a snide, cruel look as she left. Freak furrowed his brows and became interested in the floor, but otherwise showed no opinion.
She left the room quicker than intended. She teleported away as though an arrow had been fired at her, and even as she walked away and began to bark orders in Endish tongues, she could hear the twang of bowstrings, and the whistle of wind through feathers.
She had to prove her worth, fast.
Chapter 5:Simply Distractions (Fristad)
I feel an intense, dry heat. Each breeze seems to burn my skin as it passes by. I open my eyes and am greeted with a great contrast of light and dark. To one side, cavernous cliffs of red stone cast shadow upon sharp rock piles. To the other side is a great, flat sea of shining, churning magma.
I have a strong conviction in my mind that this is the Nether I know from books. Yet, somehow, I feel as if I have been here many times before. There is a sense of solitude here, as if the rocks beneath my feet belong to me. And yet, I feel a growing fear building within me. And it’s not the monsters.
Perhaps the magicians put me in another one of their experiments, to force me into a dangerous situation. Perhaps a situation which forces the Book to take control…
I look around me. The cliffs are so barren and red. There is nothing resembling life except the occasionally two-legged porcine corpse.
I feel a wall with my hands for a sturdy grip, hoping for a way out somewhere beyond it. But then, my arms twitch in surprise, tearing loose rock, as a familiar voice echoes just behind my head.
“There is no need to do that.”
I turn around as fast as I can, and see the figure which I recognize as a manifestation of the Book. In spite of all the negative feelings I felt when I heard that voice, the moment I see the figure, I feel relieved.
I smirk knowingly. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Is it?” the figure replies with glee. “I was hoping you would say that.”
The figure conjures a dagger and puts it in my palm.
“Ever since you crafted the enderman armor, I feel like we have established a special bond, one which transcends speech. I want you to prove it to me.”
A cow appears before me. A sudden fear grows within me, begging me to stop, but nevertheless I plunge the dagger into its neck. The creature howls and turns to white smoke before I can process the motions, the memories so fleeting I feel as if I have done this hundreds of times before. The habit of obedience. The habit of trust. I hate it.
“Why did you kill the cow, Fristad?” says the Book, testing my motives.
“Because I thought that’s what you wanted me to do.”
“Do you understand what that implies?”
“It means I will do anything for you, even things you don’t tell me to do,” I say, “Do I really have to say it? Why must you put me through this? I’ve already endured so much suffering just to prove my loyalty to you. If you have any mercy at all, then please, don’t make me kill people as senselessly as you made me kill that cow!”
“Do not worry, Fristad,” says the Book. “If I really wanted you to kill people, I would forbid you from feeling remorse. However, there is something I wish to forbid. From now on, you are forbidden from protesting my desires. Do you have any objections, Fristad?”
Suddenly, I feel as if a piece of myself is torn from me and shoved into a bubble. The bubble seems to buzz with anger and fear, screaming repeatedly “no” and “resist” and “wake up.” But in spite of the strong feelings this bubble feels, I can no longer act upon them. I can only respond to the Book with silence.
“Of course you cannot act upon those feelings. As much as you may still feel attached to those feelings, Fristad, you must understand that they do not matter. They are simply distractions!”
My fellow escapees from the tower appear in a circle around me, from the armored Steve and Jennifer, to the wary girl, to the mage which Kay considers a friend. All stand before me, awake yet still, as if stuck in a stupor. I fear for their safety, yet can only stand and watch.
“One of the people who stands before you will become under your control: a friend to you and I, just as we are to each other. You get to choose which one… but not now.”
The people vanish.
“I will wait until tomorrow evening before requesting your decision. If you do not state a person, or for any reason protest or resist the decision, you will be forced to endure pain and terror far beyond anything you have experienced before.”
I feel a hint of happiness and excitement from the Book, as if it looks forward to punishing my disobedience.
Then, the figure and fiery world around me vanish. I am still, suspended in darkness.
“You are no longer forbidden from protesting my desires. The consequences are yours.”
Chapter 6:Peacetime has ruined me (Kay)
The light of the torches was dim but constant, scarcely flickering so much as waving. It was strange to me; too perfect and too impenetrable. My eyes were heavy and my back ached badly as I fumbled with the straps of my breastplate.
“By Jeb,” I whispered to the green man, Tyron. “My back is gone. Sorry about snapping at you back there, it really bloody hurts.” I bent over chuckling in agony and he seemed to smile.
“What happened to you that messed your back up so much?”
“Two large fireballs were thrown at me. I knocked one away and had to block the other one… with my back.”
“Ouch,” Tyron winced.
“In hindsight, I probably should have just dodged it but that wasn’t nearly heroic enough.”
Tyron laughed.
“Nah, I get you,” he nodded. “I did some crazy things in my time as well. I’ll have to tell you about them some day.”
“Why not now?”
His face went very serious a moment. “I’ve got to find out if they meant anything.”
I remembered a phrase being touted recently. It was coined by some journalist when describing the Thaumic crisis, saying it was like being “kicked in the soul”. Tyron had just reminded me of that kick, and how harsh it had been, and who the kicker had been.
“I understand,” I gave up on fiddling with my breastplate, set it aside and placed a hand amidst the fur on his arm.
The silence was long, but there was a comprehension in it, an understanding.
“So, what’s with our little sword-friend?” I hoarsely muttered. “He’s been awful quiet.”
“Hello!” It chirped. “Kir! Kay: new friend?”
I laughed loudly at the shock of it but then covered my mouth. David shifted his fevered brow slightly but didn’t wake.
“Friendly little thing isn’t he?” I beamed. In my head I accepted its offer of friendship. The colours within my mind lit up and my mood with them. It was pleased.
“Yes, he’s a vein of bluestone. It’s a sentient rock. Don’t know what I’d do without him. We’ve been through it all - the dragons, Herobrine, the First and now this.”
I nodded.
“And what about you?” Tyron asked, the slant of his eyes taking on a more friendly angle. “You and Astro?”
I deliberated, thinking back over it all. If I could tell Warnado and if I could tell Fire, I could tell him.
“I won’t say we go way back, but it feels that way. Met him about four years ago now in Zine Craft - wealthy Craft in the Old Continent. He helped me out after I got into legal trouble, helped me build an airship…” I felt myself even then getting lost in the nostalgia but pressed on. “Then - it’s complicated. My house was blown up, I was arrested for treason and then I ended up working for…”
I looked him in the eyes and was terrified at what the reaction would be. “Listen, I know this is not viewed as a good thing to do in interdimensional circles but I assure you, it is fine where I come from. At least, it is now. It should have been before too but it’s complicated.”
“Oh come on,” Tyron waved a hand. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
I felt my cheeks going red and realised the thickness of his claws.
“Well, I don’t think it is. I’ve just mentioned it and at least two people I’ve met so far have been rather appalled when I mentioned it-”
“Is it embarrassing?”
“No.”
“You didn’t become an exotic dancer or something?”
“What, no!”
He laughed voicelessly at my indignation. Kir seemed to find it hilarious.
“Then what is it?”
I breathed deeply. “I became a general of Herobrine in a war against Notch.”
Silence.
“Not good,” Kir seemed agape at this.
“Thats - fine,” Tyron stared off into the distance, teeth gritted.
“I know he does genocidal things across other worlds but this one is different. I swear. We didn’t even want to go to war. Israphel started it-”
I kept trying to project images of what happened to Kir, but I did it way too fast and the response was “Slow, slow!” I was panicking a little so I just kept going. Jeez, what happened to my nerves? I needed to get back in command of something.
Peacetime was ruining me. Hah! “Peacetime”.
“Okay, seriously, slow down. Kir’s trying to relay it to me, and I can only keep up so well.”
“Sorry”. I slowed my mind apologetically.
A long pause as Tyron’s face contorted as if he were sucking something close to a million lemons. Then, at last, speech.
“I have no clue what you’re trying to communicate. All I can piece together is that this Herobrine seems totally different to the one I killed. That’s enough for me. Different strokes for different worlds I guess. It’s cool.”
“Oh thank Jeb,” I laughed, no longer caring too much about those sleeping. “I was terrified for a second. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really need to fall asleep now. I am dying. It’s a pleasure to meet you though.”
“And you too,” Tyron shook his head, looking as if I were the most singularly strange thing he’d ever seen. Excellent, I was winning ground back from Fire and Warnado in the aggressive quirkiness department.
I saluted and collapsed back onto a bed on the other side of the room, only half-aware of having walked to it. And I settled into my usual slate of strange and unsettling dreams.
Chapter 7:In Transit (Fire)
They walked through the different worlds quickly, only stopping to eat, drink or to place Ender Eyes in tunnels. The only other stop they made was in the world where Fire… Claw had killed the hunters since they wanted to inspect the scene once again. The blood was still on the ground but the bodies were gone, so was the satchel of diamonds Fire had left there.
They finally arrived in the small, distorted clearing in Nexus. It was in the middle of the night when they came out of the tunnel. Fire could still feel his connection to the network, weak and full of static, but it was still there. They quickly left the forest and went to the road, from there to the town. Before his departure Fire had made sure that his room would remain reserved for some time. They arrived at the tavern without further problems, after greeting the owners, Fire and Shadow went upstairs. Fire laid down on his mattress and Shadow magically projected one for herself.
The next morning Fire checked a small apparatus he had built, a bit of redstone hooked up to a clock. According to the redstone charge, significantly less time had passed in Nexus than Fire had spent on his journey. He had assumed something like this but this was the confirmation, time passes differently between worlds.
Shadow woke up, stretched and yawned. She asked: “So, we’re supposed to look for somebody, right?”
Fire answered: “I overheard some talk about a prophet and his congregation being near here. They also talked about his guard called Steve. Now, with everything being Minecraft based around here, Steve should be a fairly common name, I even ran into one in the Tower. I do remember Kay talking about a Steve as well, who may or may not be the same Steve as this prophet’s guard. Anyways, we go out and find them, we’ll probably meet someone who has a bit more insight into the situation at hand.”
Shadow got up and yawned again. “Good plan. Now excuse me while I finish waking up. Haven’t actually slept in a few months.”
Chapter 8:Far Away Now (Destiny)
Kay, Amanda, and Warnado reluctantly woke up that evening, as the whole group prepared for a full night’s journey through the forest. Even Astro was finally awake, and able to stand with assistance. Kay was glad to have him back.
The same could not be said for David, who still needed to be carried by the others. Destiny grew increasingly restless as the night went on. She squeezed David’s hand, telling him that everything would be alright.
Another night turned to dawn and the group made camp underground once more. Tyron and Jennifer carried David into the room and set him down on a bed which Steve had placed, to try to make him more comfortable.
“He’s not looking very good,” said Jennifer, “or sounding very good, either. He’s barely breathing.”
“He’s strong…” Destiny insisted. “I know he is. He’ll overcome this, just like he always does!”
“We can’t just stand around and do nothing!” said Tyron.
Astro raised his hand from where he sat. “I can help him.”
Kay turned toward Astro with a look of disbelief. “Not in that condition!”
“He’s far worse off than me. I can’t just sit here and watch him die. Help me up, Kay.”
Destiny’s sad eyes stared softly at David’s closed lids.
Astro approached slowly, his arm over Kay’s shoulder. He bent over the bed, rested an arm on the sheets, and placed his hand on David’s chest. He closed his eyes and his brows furrowed in concentration.
Suddenly, David gasped, and his eyes opened.
“David!” said Destiny, a tear falling from her eye as she smiled.
“You’re alive,” David said, eyes watering in happiness. His voice was whispy and faint, as if the words themselves had run some distance and were about to collapse. “The gauntlet…”
“It’s gone,” said Destiny, eager. “The endermen, too. They’re far away now. We’re safe.”
“That’s wonderful. I can’t wait to… I’m so…”
David’s voice trailed off and his eyes closed.
Astro winced in pain. Kay grabbed him before he could collapse onto the bed.
“There’s no time!” insisted Tyron. “Is there anyone else that can help him? Warnado? Fristad?”
Warnado stood frozen in place, staring at David.
Fristad shook his head in sadness.
“Warnado?”
Warnado broke eye contact. “I can’t.”
Destiny continued to stand by David’s bedside as the others, at a loss of what else to do, finished building the underground bunker and planned out their shifts. As many of the others went to sleep, Destiny stayed awake.
She whispered to David, still smiling faintly, recounting all the times they shared together:
“Do you remember that time we were running by those bluffs… I pushed you off and grabbed you, and we were flying over the ocean? Or maybe that one time we were fighting alongside each other… they stabbed me in the back, and I was trampled. The others assumed I was dead… but you didn’t, and you fought through them and pulled me out? Or the cave?”
“We’ve always been there for each other” she said, “and I’m still here for you.”
Doubt flashed through Destiny’s mind as she wondered if David could hear her. His face looked strangely still. Destiny pressed her fingers against David’s neck, and then burst into tears.
An hour later, as Destiny’s tears went dry, it became clear that David was gone forever. Kay walked up to Destiny and put a hand on her shoulder, consoling her.
The whole group ascended to the surface, where they helped carry the body some distance from the shelter. Steve dug a hole with an iron shovel, but it was far too big. Tyron and Fristad ended up digging it in the pouring rain which burned orange in the light of the declining sun.
Steve looked about himself sadly, then went off and fashioned a tombstone from a sign. This only lasted a few seconds, and the others were still digging, so Steve stood uncomfortably beneath the shelter of a tree. Kay was stood beside him, still too wounded to be of much help in the digging. Astro was propped against the tree, barely conscious, bleared eyes floating about Destiny.
“What was his full name?” Steve asked after a long silence, spinning the sign by its handle.
“I don’t know,” Astro sighed without looking at him. “That’s strange... He told me quite a bit about himself back at the Tower. Didn’t mention his second name.”
“No clues?” Steve pressed, eyes pained.
“He said he was reincarnated from a guy called Carter,” shrugged Kay.
“David Carter? Sounds about right.”
“I didn’t say that was his name.”
“Then why tell me that?”
“I don’t know. I was thinking perhaps they had the same last name.”
“Okay. What was his last name?”
Kay looked at Steve earnestly: “You’ll have to ask her.”
He nodded at Destiny, who stood staring at the growing grave. The rain was pelting down on her.
For a second Steve thought of calling out to her and asking, but he couldn’t conceive a way of saying it. He would always come across too casual or falsely interested. Hi! What’s the surname of your dead lover?
“David it is.”
Jennifer and Amanda came back with a large bundle of flowers, and wordlessly handed it to Destiny.
Warnado was sat in the branches of another tree, staring down at David’s body.
As Destiny watched the body of David be set into the grave and the dirt be filled on top of it, Destiny couldn’t help but feel as if the man she loved was being buried alive, and felt like she should stop them. But she didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.
Her lover’s death felt so sudden… so senseless. Destiny hated the endermen for taking him away. She hated the tower. She hated this dimension.
The soil above David was smoothed out, and the grass replaced. Destiny walked up to the patch of grass whose seams were barely visible, and scattered the flowers atop it like flour or like dust.
Chapter 9:Shelter (Tyron)
When evening came again those who remained resumed their journey.
As the moon shone high above them, the trees thinned out, and the grass became long and crackled under their feet. The shadows of scattered buildings against the starry sky could just barely be seen at the edge of the horizon, along with a faint orange glow. As the shadows of the buildings rose, the group began to step over rows of crops and pass by sleeping cows and horses.
They then stepped onto cobbled roads, passed the first dimly torchlit buildings, and scouted out an inn.
One building in particular looked promising. It was three stories tall, and the first story windows and half-open door shone with a welcoming light.
Kay stepped into the entryway and looked around. In front was a short staircase with steep steps. To the left was a door, locked. To the right was a dining area, mostly empty. A few cups and plates were left on the tables, and a couple benches were knocked on their sides. In a far dark corner of the room, four shadowy humanoid creatures with glowing red eyes sat around a table playing poker.
Kay beckoned for Tyron to follow him as he walked toward the shadowy group. As they got closer, they could see that the creatures wore dark clothes which matched the color of their skin.
“Excuse me,” said Kay, “would any of you know where I could find the innkeeper?”
“He’s asleep,” replied one of the creatures, “but you can talk to the guy in the kitchen.” The creature pointed to the doorway opposite the front windows.
“Much obliged.”
Kay and Tyron entered the kitchen, where a man stood at a table, reading a book as a pot simmered over a fire.
The man at the table turned around. A brief flash of annoyance went across his face before he composed himself. “You here for lodging? For food? Or…?”
“Nine - eight of us are just looking for a place to stay the night,” said Kay.
“You have money?”
Kay looked to Tyron, as if suddenly realising the absence of a loyal friend.
“I’ll go get Warnado. He has some,” said Tyron.
Tyron left the kitchen, and a moment later Warnado entered.
Warnado reached into his pocket and squinted in concentration. The kitchen man reached his hand out expectantly, only to have his hand covered in raspberry jam, with the glint of gold coins beneath the sugary slime. The man’s eyes widened in a mixture of disgust and surprise.
“Don’t worry, it’s just raspberry jam,” said Warnado.
“Um…” the man replied. “I think this is enough. Hold on a minute.”
The man rid himself of the jam as best he could with a rag, then left the room. He returned with a handful of keys, which he placed in Kay’s hand.
“Your rooms are on the third floor, nearest to the end of the hall. You can stay until noon, then you have to pay up again. But please…” the man added with a groan, “use clean coins next time.”
Warnado nodded absentmindedly.
The group walked up the stairs. Tyron and Steve struggled the most to keep their feet on top of the narrow steps. There was a curved pattern wallpaper on the walls in relatively good condition, and the banister’s carved design was intact and varnished. But the wooden steps creaked like they were a century old, and it was doubtful that they could sustain the weight of so many people for long.
As the doors to the bedrooms were unlocked, each of the travelers eagerly crawled into the beds and drifted quickly into nighttime sleep… except for Destiny, who lay awake, brooding David’s death.
Chapter10:The Nameless (Kay)
When I closed my eyes in the tavern and rolled over into peaceful sleep, I did not expect to see so soon after. It wasn’t that I woke up - it was as if my eyes had never closed. Instead I had simply changed the scene I was looking at.
I was in the cave I had slept in several days before, when I had been among friends. It was nighttime. Beyond the ledge there was only fog.
I ruminated on this place of safety I was parted from. Before fate had ensnared me in another adventure. But now I had not even the rewards of earlier quests. No friends. No money. Not even a title that was worth a damn.
I felt very tired, older than my years and rather feeble urge to cry.
Then, I realised I was not alone. I turned, elated. But it was not Him. I should have expected that. Herobrine has made silence a habit.
Instead there was a radiant woman clad in white. Grey eyes. Pale skin. Slender as well. Quite attractive. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t have thought she were real.
She spoke:
“You must be Kay.” A warm smile smouldered on her face. Her voice was faintly ethereal. “It’s about time we talked.”
“Yes I am,” I answered warily. “Who are you?”
“Sorry,” she responded, the smile not fading. “Rude of me, especially when you desperately wanted to see someone else. I am the Lady of Dreams.”
She paused. I got the impression this was supposed to be reassuring if not impressive.
“I’m still waiting on a name.” I cracked an impatient smile to hurry her on.
“I’ve no name but my title.” Still that smile. It was genuinely affectionate, but I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. “My kind don’t have names.”
“Yes,” I cocked my head. Was she trying to withhold information? “And let me guess: are you here to contact me in my dreams to encourage me along on my quest? Possibly dictate to me what that quest is? Perhaps you aided one of my comrades in a previous quest. Actually, you don’t work for the other Steve, do you?”
She seemed confused.
At first I felt presumptuous, but then felt my mind being searched. I could have stopped her quite easily but I left that information open. It was better hold onto that card for the ideal moment.
“No,” she said, seemingly unaware that I’d detected her efforts. “I don’t know him personally, but our goals are perhaps similar.”
“Then, you should know I was reluctant to help him.”
I felt the searching again. Again. I didn’t try to stop her. She was hurrying. Something had placed her under pressure and she was in a rush to converse with me, possibly with someone after.
“Yes, I assumed.”
“So, have you enough information to convince me, or do you need to read my mind again?”
“Yes.” The smile was gone. A more grave and worried air took over. “Thank you, I was wondering if you’d say something. Sorry about such a rudimentary method; I’m in a hurry.”
“I can imagine.”
She breathed deeply before beginning: “I won’t pretend to know the situation; I’m not from here. I just sensed a troubled soul who might do with someone to talk to. It’s my job, so to speak. I don’t know what’s happening in this strange little world. I’m not sure I want to know. I do want to know what happened to you.” She smiled sincerely and reached out a hand. “I’ve helped a lot of people this way; let me help you too.”
I was rather tempted in that moment.
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
“Is it really that difficult to trust me?” she laughed.
I sat down on a rock and laughed too. I thought about it as I did so, looking at the spring. I tried toying with the speed of the flowing water - something small she might not notice. It slowed to a crawl. Good. I was at least part-way in control here.
“Well, is it?”
I looked up from the spring.
“Yeah, actually,” I said unapologetically, letting my accent slip into Thaumic brogue.
With that I expelled her from my mind. It was as though she slammed through the cave wall and shattered the world like glass. I felt myself slip between the cracks and into empty spaces that nightmares flowed through readily. Hamish’s split face, the Endling hordes before Zine’s walls, the cold I’d felt after I took a bullet for Him in Arcadia, the ashes of all my homes and more were in prominence.
But most of all, I was cast back to the last moments of the battle for Zine Craft. Not Notch’s death. Not Jeb containing Israphel. Instead, I remember how Israphel used the Eye to open the End and shatter half the city. As dragons burned the sky and the screams of thousands rose through the smoke, I fell through the cracks between worlds. I floated in that silent realm and I stared into the searing dark and in it I felt a power, a presence, older than Herobrine or Notch or Israphel. And I thought I felt it reach out towards me, to take me and consume me.
That night I kept coming back to that blackness, and imagined the horror lurking within.
And this dread lasted every second of that night. Each moment felt like a lifetime, and I believed I’d be an old man by the time I awoke, sweat on my brow and my breathing leaden.
Chapter11:A Lead (Fire)
As they walked the streets they got even more strange looks than Fire had gotten when he was traveling alone. It was understandable though, the people were used to humanoid creatures with vastly different looks. Abnormal humans like Shadow were still a rarity, although some of the looks were definitely not ones of distrust or aversion, the opposite was the case. Shadow turned to Fire and smirked, confirming his observations.
At random they approached a woman. Fire asked: "I have heard rumors about a prophet, do you happen to know where he is?"
The woman was a bit surprised by being asked something like this by someone like Fire but then she answered: "Yes, he preaches on a tall hill to the east of here, I've been there a couple of times myself. Most of what he says is nonsense but occasionally there are things he foresees that actually happen how he said, if you interpret them a bit more loosely."
Fire thanked her and then continued moving.
Shadow asked: "Where exactly is 'east' in Nexus?"
Fire pointed. "That way. The cardinal directions are based off the Tower's four main wings. They become more useless the further you move away from it since less and less people know about them. I think I have actually seen that hill on the map the Ender showed me, it should be a few hours away from here, assuming we would travel at normal human speed, I think we'll get there a bit faster."
"Let's go there then."
They took the quickest way out of the masses of the town they could find, then turned east. A lot of the way would be plains but the hill itself was surrounded by a dark oak forest. Fire could tell that Shadow was quite excited about the entire situation, he would be too if he hadn't been at the negotiations personally. The Entity's presence alone was imposing, it clearly was nothing to be easily messed with. He was worried about the implications of what he had found out so far about the Entity's expansion plans. He'd have to find out more sooner or later, the prophet was a first step in that direction.
Chapter12:Grand Revelations (Fristad)
I feel aware of my surroundings, but my eyes are closed. There is an unplaceable chorus of chattering voices playing in one of my ears, quiet enough that I could easily ignore it and go back to sleep.
Part of me wishes that I could. But a larger part of me recognizes I have a role to play, that we’re all trying to figure out how to get back to our own worlds. And I’m certainly no use to anyone if I’m just laying around in bed!
I sit up and open my eyes, then flinch away at the unexpected blinding light of the window.
Then, I remember with dread another role I have to play… a promise to the Book I must fulfill. I don’t know the girl’s name. I wish I never find out, but I know that once it’s all over, I will know a lot more about this girl than just her name.
I feel a comforting feeling… and a brief moment of happiness. For a moment, it numbs the sensation of dread.
“It will be easier if you don’t resist me so much,” the Book insists, with benevolence that nearly feels genuine.
But I resist it, drawing from seemingly emotionless memories of morality. Then the dread returns.
I slide my legs off the bed and shove aside the faded quilt blanket. Now, where the heck are those voices coming from?
A made bed, a sealed door, and two flights of stairs later, and it seems the source of the commotion was just the inn’s dining area. I quickly recognize Kay and Tyron chatting at one of the tables, with Steve, Jennifer, and the others sitting there too. Jeez, I must have overslept!
I sit at the empty end of their bench and find myself sitting across from the quirky magical boy who calls himself Warnado. That’s a hard name to forget. But the girl I dread to see is sitting right next to him. I try not to think about that.
“Would you like some soup?” Warnado asks. “It’s on me”
“Sure, Warnado.”
Warnado stands up and walks away. Dreading the idea of engaging in conversation with the girl I’m supposedly about to enslave, I turn toward the rest of the table and see Kay’s friend sitting next to me, turned away, in what appears to be a very engaging conversation with Kay and Tyron. Seeing no good way of entering their conversation, and knowing how strange it would look to stand up from the table and find other company, I decide that the only reasonable way to counter the Book’s sole presence is to talk with the girl herself.
“You never did tell me your name,” I remark to the girl.
“Amanda,” she says, “and I actually don’t know your name either.”
“Fristad Heltz,” I tell her, “from Veridale of the Farlands. I’m an animal farmer.” I decide to talk longer, to stall until Warnado comes back. “I have a farming partner named Jonas. He’s an enderman halfblood, believe it or not. And my best friend. Aside from that, I’ve had a pretty ordinary life. Perhaps too ordinary, for some.” I motion to the motley group sitting with us. “Although I guess there are some aspects of my world that aren’t so ordinary to people from other worlds. Even something as simple as the food I eat. It seems people from other worlds have fundamentally different ways of cooking!”
Warnado returns and places a bowl of soup and a spoon in front of me. The smell is unusual, but still makes my mouth water.
“Thank you, Warnado,” I tell him, before immediately diving my spoon into the soup, only to spit the first spoonful out as I realize it’s very, very hot.
Amanda bursts out laughing.
“See?” I tell her, pointing at the soup, “like that!”
“Is there something wrong with the soup?” Warnado asks.
“Depends. Is it normal in this world for soup to be this hot?”
“...Probably?”
“We have to go, Fristad,” someone says to me. I look up, and it’s Jennifer.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Everyone’s leaving the inn because of someone called ‘The Prophet.’ It seems important. It might tell us something important about this world.”
I resist the urge to sigh, and stand up from the bench, momentarily glancing at the unfinished soup before following the others out of the inn.
“The Prophet speaks again!” someone proclaims ahead, just audible through the din of an excited village crowd. “An era of darkness is upon us!”
I look at Jennifer with confusion, and she responds with a sympathetic nod.
Steve walks up to her. “It’s not far from here,” he tells her. “I think we should visit this prophet, and see what he’s all about.”
“I agree,” says Jennifer.
“Warnado’s found a carriage that can take us.”
We maneuver through the crowd to a carriage at the edge of town, one of many. As carriages load up and depart, some people run toward the moving carriages and climb onto them, while many others travel on foot.
Just ahead of us, Warnado hands the driver of a large carriage a sum of coins, and opens the carriage door.
I climb into the carriage just behind Jennifer. Destiny and Tyron sit across from me. A couple townspeople enter behind Warnado before the door is closed and the town drifts off behind the edges of the carriage windows.
“So… who exactly is this ‘Prophet’?” Steve inquires from the townsperson sitting across from him.
The townsperson, a man wearing a thick, coarse-fibered vest, with a goatee in need of trimming, turns his gaze toward Steve. “No one truly knows who the Prophet is or where he came from. All I know is that he speaks the truth, as handed down from the gods of many worlds.”
“Gods of many worlds?” the other townsperson replies skeptically. “I don’t think I’ve heard that explanation before.”
“How else can it be explained?” the goatee townsman responds rhetorically. “We all come from different worlds, each worshipping our own gods, and now our people and our worlds have been brought together. Surely that must be the will of the gods.”
“So that’s why there are such abrupt changes in terrain…” Steve responds with realization.
“What about this ‘era of darkness’ that the Prophet is predicting?” I ask. “Any idea what that’s all about?”
“It could be anything,” the other townsperson says. “That’s why I want to hear more of what he has to say.”
“Let’s not beat around the bush. An era of darkness is never good news,” says the goatee townsman. “The wrath of the gods, certainly, but beyond that I don’t know. This combined world is new. There cannot have been enough sins to justify the punishment of the gods. Perhaps this future of darkness is the work of evil gods who have taken control.”
I try to make myself more comfortable in my armor, despite the jerking movements of the carriage over bumpy terrain. I really wish there was some way I could take it off.
“Do we know if this era of darkness is connected with the champion?” the other townsperson asks.
“What? The one who will command the forces of life and death?” says the man with the goatee.
“Yes, that one.”
The man strokes his goatee and thinks for a moment. “You may be on to something.”
“I certainly hope it’s the case. If something bad is about to happen to our world, I hope there would be someone who could stop it.”
I find the man’s theories distinctly unsatisfying. Another hero’s prophecy? All predicted by some man that no one knows, who answers to gods engaged in some unknown battle for good and evil? There has to be a more concrete explanation. Gods don’t give hints when they want something that badly from mortals. At least… my gods don’t.
As the carriage continues onward, Kay engages liberally in conversation with his fellow riders, his mage friend following suit. Every once in a while the mage’s eyes lock with mine before he turns away his gaze a moment too soon in discomfort. It seems that whatever feelings Kay has about me have been passed on to his friend. The Book brushes across my mind a sense of intrigue and suspicion toward the mage, feelings that I do not disagree with.
The sound of echoing voices begins to come in through the carriage windows. The voices grow louder until the carriage starts to slow.
Then, the voices suddenly go silent. And in the place of all the voices which went silent, the cry of a single voice is barely audible.
I leave the carriage with the others and find myself at the back of an incredibly large crowd on the side of a rocky hill, with a small but dense forest around it. At the top of the hill stand two people, seemingly the source of the single voice crying out.
I have to focus in order to hear the words of the lone voice, and even then they are not completely audible. One moment, I hear bits and pieces of a story of brothers and sisters engaged in a feud. Another moment, I hear a broken analogy of throwing different sized stones against a wall. Yet later, I hear a story about a creature - what kind exactly I cannot say - laying still at the base of a waterfall. On and on the voice rambles stories, with seemingly no connection between them. There is something almost anxiety-ridden to the voice’s pitch, as if at any moment its speaker could collapse dead on the ground. But over time, I develop a hunch, a guess, to the voice’s distant and uncertain words. It revolves around a single theme, and that theme is… “sleep.”
Not all the stories seemed to be connected to it. As far as I could tell, they were almost all detached moral proverbs. But every once in a while, I would catch a word that stood out of context, which I could not identify at the time. “Rest.” “Death.” “Sleep.” “Dream.” And then every once in a while, I would catch pieces of a story that did not seem to have a happy ending. Natural disasters and murder, generally. These stories would usually end abruptly. The voice would then pause for a moment… and then return to the proverbs.
I look toward the furry green man standing next to me, who calls himself Tyron, and give him a look of confusion. I do not want to disturb the crowd of people in front of me by talking over the distant voice, but I hope I can get some assurance that I’m not the only one who hears something dark and disturbing from that voice on top of the hill.
Tyron notices me a moment later and nods toward me, his annoyed face seemingly saying, “Tell me about it.”
Eventually my mind starts to drift and lose focus from the distant voice. Why are we all at this hill, anyway? More importantly, why are we all here, people from many different worlds, in the same world? Is this a common occurrence? No, it can’t be normal. That wouldn’t explain the abrupt changes in terrain that Steve mentioned earlier.
Which leads me back to the same existential questions: Why here? Why now?
Could the Book be somehow connected to all this? No, that can’t be the case. Steve and Jennifer seemed surprised when I told them about the Book, and they seem like honest people.
That just leaves that one mysterious criminal stronghold we escaped from, with an unexplained interest in the artifacts possessed by Steve, Kay, and Jennifer… and an unexplained desire to establish contact with other worlds…
If the prophet is right about an era of darkness coming upon us, could it not be the work of the gods at all? Could that criminal organization really be powerful enough to attract the attention of the gods? And the gods brought us all here to fight it? No, that’s ridiculous. That would imply that the gods are too weak to handle their problems themselves.
After I disengage myself from my thoughts and listen closely to the words of the distant voice again, the words eventually trail off into silence. The crowd begins to dissipate and echo with indistinct chatter. I follow Tyron and the others back to the carriage, where we encounter a pair of unfamiliar visitors.
One is tall and covered in formidable, sleek black armor from head to toe. The other, about half the size, wears a black robe clinging closely to its form. Long, straight white hair hangs out of its hood. Its skin, just visible beneath the hood, is nearly the same shade of black as its robe, and its eyes glow red. And the creature, despite its size relative to the tall armored one, stands with confidence, with a hardness to its gaze that could almost be perceived as a subtle sense of superiority.
“Can I help you?” Kay asks the two black figures cordially.
“Hello Kay, I wondered when I’d run into you again,” says the figure wearing the heavy black armor.
“So soon?” says Kay, “and you aren’t immediately threatening to kill me or arrest me? Not that I’m complaining, of course. I’m more than willing to discuss our differences peacefully in spite of what happened at the Tower.”
“Oh, you must think I’m one of the endermen from the tower. Sorry about that. This should help you recognize me.”
With that, the armored figure lifts the helmet off their head to reveal a white-haired, scaled black face with red eyes. I recognize him as the enderman hybrid who gave me that painful healing potion and sat at the table during the conversation with the tower’s crime leaders.
“Fire!” proclaims Kay. “You took your time! Oh who am I kidding? By bloody Notch it’s a relief to see you again.” He reached over to clap a hand on his shoulder, but could only reach his forearm. “Who’s your robe-wearing friend?”
“That’s Shadow, she’s my sister.” He pauses, seemingly remembering something. “I went on a voyage through different worlds back to my own in order to get some supplies, she decided to come along.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Shadow. I must admit I’m a little jealous you get to come here of your own accord. Enjoying the scenery?”
With a smile Shadow replies: “Oh, the scenery is interesting, if a bit abrupt at times. The ambient magic is also a lot stronger than I’m used to.”
“Oh, so you must be a wizard of some kind?”
Fire answers instead of Shadow: “I told you about her before we met Warnado, remember?”
“Of course, I apologize. It is a bit difficult to keep track of everyone given all the interesting characters we’ve met lately. Which reminds me…” Kay pauses for a moment. “David didn’t make it. Wait, I don’t believe you’ve met him. Don’t bring it up around Destiny. But yes, to make a long story short, we met a few people in the Tower, and on the way out… things got a bit chaotic. There may still be some unsavory characters searching for us.”
“I guess we have some catching up to do,” surmises Fire.
“We all do.”
With two more members added to our motley group, we each step up into the carriage. Fire looks around intently, evidently intrigued by all the unfamiliar faces.
“That was definitely a thought-provoking speech,” the more skeptical villager chimes in.
“I’ll say,” I tell them. “Subtle references to sleep? Random stories of earthquakes and homicide? All hidden within a cryptic series of religious proverbs? No wonder everyone’s crazy about this guy. I really hope he’s wrong.”
“The Prophet is rarely wrong,” insists the speculative villager.
“How can you know that?” asks Steve.
Shadow chimes in: “The longer you listen the more becomes clear, at first you notice words and concepts, with time it’s entire sentences that are quite often relevant to someone in the congregation.”
“I’m guessing you’ve met with a good fraction of all the people who came to this congregation and asked them about it?” I question sarcastically.
Again, Shadow smiles. “I have spoken to most people who come here regularly, I have ways of being in more than one place at once. Though, none of them have yet figured out the grand revelation behind the words.”
I raise my brows in intrigue and perhaps a bit of fear. “I guess I’ll take your word on that.”
“You have the grand revelation then?” Kay smiles wistfully.
Shadow replies: “I never said that, I have not spent a great amount of time here after all. It might also be that we’re missing some critical pieces of information.”
Kay stares at the sun shining partially through the window of the carriage: “We Thaums have a tradition called the Generational Story. Different generations of the same family continue the same story with faint alterations. Genuinely, you reach a major plot point, and it switches generations and the major plot point we just saw is recontextualised. That speech is probably tripe, much like most Generationals, but could we consider the proverbs are all linked in some way? At the very least there must be a common theme or motif?”
Fire explains: “Multiple in fact, you already know about ‘sleep’, which seems to be the most common one, other ones are ‘growth’ or ‘twilight’ for example. The Prophet never repeats anything he says so there will be a point where enough of whatever he knows is revealed to piece everything together.”
“Is that so?” I say mildly.
Despite my skepticism, I can’t help but notice how Fire and Shadow seem so sure of themselves when they talk about the Prophet, despite being only briefly familiar with his existence. It’s as if they know something that I don’t, and I want to find out what that is.
“Pardon me for being skeptical,” I continue, “but how can you be so certain that the Prophet is telling the truth?”
Shadow says: “Normally we wouldn’t be so quick to trust but the Prophet is the only existing source of any information about this world, as far as we can tell there are no natives, at least none that we’ve met. It also strikes me odd that some of the prophecies do happen as foretold, in a frequency that can’t just be random chance.”
The speculative villager interjects. “It happened to me once. How did it go exactly? Ah, yes! The Prophet said, ‘large will crush small, and the small will shatter like a raining sky.’ Just a few days after his fortelling, the very thing happened after I fell a tree. It got stuck perched over a group of shorter trees, and when I freed it, it broke them under its weight and the sky rained with their splinters! If you want I can tell you about a few more that happened to some friends of mine if that wasn’t enough.”
“One is fine,” I reply, feeling somewhat frustrated with it all. Whatever knowledge Fire and Shadow have, they aren’t going to share it so easily. But that knowledge isn’t enough. We still wouldn’t know how we got here, or how to get out. And I’m still stuck with the Book.
Even as I remember it, its presence flashes briefly across my mind, reminding me of my dangerous duty to take control of Amanda. Her face is just one of many riding in the carriage. How long would it take for people to notice?
Chapter13:Catching Up (Kay)
The loosely affiliated group of dimensional strangers departed the carriage at the village, slightly larger than before.
“Any idea what we’re doing here back at the village?” asked Warnado.
“Well, it only seemed like the logical place to go since there would be other carriages moving through here and villagers who could offer us valuable information,” said Fire. “I already know about the geography in this region thanks to my ‘information trade’ with the Ender, but that knowledge can always be expanded upon. But aside from that, no, there’s no reason for us to be at this village specifically.”
“We might as well stay here for another night to rest,” suggested Steve.
“Agreed.”
The group weaved through the crowd and arrived back at the inn, and entered. The dining area was bustling with activity, evidently from the carriage passengers which arrived before them.
“It’s pretty crowded in here,” Kay noted. “Let’s hope the rooms are still available.”
“I can make it happen,” Warnado assured him.
“Don’t waste all your money in one night,” Kay warned. “Steve and Jennifer can always just use their superhuman strength to dig a cellar.”
“That’s probably going to be in violation of multiple zoning laws,” said Warnado, as he walked away into the dining hall crowd.
Kay frowned and walked over to Astro to confer with him. “That kid still confuses me sometimes. Any insight on that new girl, Shadow?”
“It’s... more the lack of insight,” said Astro. “The girl is completely devoid of any magic or life signs. Even a rock has something resembling energy. But this? It’s the complete lack of energy. I can’t explain it.”
“Could it be that Shadow is masking her power somehow?”
“If that’s true, she’s not doing a good job of concealing that she’s doing it.”
“Good point,” said Kay. “I’ll go talk to her, see what she’s hiding.”
Kay walked over to Shadow. “So, Shadow, have any interesting backstory you want to share?”
“If it’s about my lack of life signs, no I am not masking them, they are just not there. It is one of the effects of the ritual that made me an ascended mage.”
“Ah, I see you overheard my conversation with my buddy Astro. It’s all nonsense to me, but what sort of wizard are you? Clairvoyant, maybe? Airbender? Blew the words over to your ear? Open portals in the world to creepily stare at folks? I’ve seen my fair share of unusual powers, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that you never can tell what a wizard is capable of. So, which was it then?”
“Where I come from, what I did is called Ender magic. What I just used was a magical ear, nothing more. Reading minds undetected is usually harder. But I also do get that question a lot, so part of it was expectation. I’m not sure if you want to know about my full range of capabilities but they can be described briefly. Before my ascension I mostly did summoning and telekinesis, after it… anything became possible. Anything except for rewriting the laws of reality, that is reserved for gods or local equivalents.”
“I see. I’m sure Astro would be fascinated to hear all about it.” Kay did his best to conceal his mix of surprise and disappointment. “Sorry to be curt, but I’m just going to report.”
Kay walked back toward Astro.
“It seems like Shadow isn’t holding anything back,” said Kay, “opened up to me about her ascension ritual and everything.”
“Ascension ritual?” asked Astro for clarification.
“It’s some ritual where she lost the outward appearance of life in return for some very strong magicking powers. Actually, now that I think about it, sounds like something with a lot of negative consequences; maybe I’ll ask her about it. She can hear us, by the way…” Kay glanced briefly in Shadow’s direction before continuing. “Anyways, she reminds me of Fire in a way. Powerful and knowledgeable. She could be a valuable contributor to our… what are we, exactly? Should our group have a name?”
“It’s only been a few days, Kay. It’s a bit early for those sorts of things.”
“True, although it’s never too early for a boost in group morale. Although staying at the inn one more day will probably do us all good, assuming the Entity’s henchmen don’t barge into our bedrooms in the middle of the night.” Kay’s eyes darted warily at the door with a look of suspicion that conveyed first-hand experience. Then he turned back to Astro. “Hey, look! Warnado’s back!”
“I told you I’d make it happen,” said Warnado smugly. “Although, to be fair, it wasn’t that hard. I never gave him our old keys back.”
Warnado tossed a key each to Kay, Astro, Shadow, and the others.
Kay stored the key away and glanced at the front door of the inn a bit restlessly, before procuring a harmless grin. “I’m going to see what there is to do in this little village. Maybe chat with the locals about current events, find a pub, that sort of thing. Anyone care to join me?”
“I think I’ll stay behind and talk with Shadow for a while,” Astro said. “There are some questions I want to ask her about her magic.”
“Me too,” Warnado responded eagerly.
Kay avoided glancing at Destiny and Steve as he worked out in his mind who next to recruit on his little day expedition. “Fire! Tyron! Care to join me on a little village reconnaissance?”
Fire said: “Sure. I did arrive a bit before you but most of the time I was busy brewing a potion or hopping between worlds. Never really explored the village.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Tyron agreed.
“Excellent!” said Kay, starting to feel a bit more positive. “Fristad! What about you? Interested in checking out the village with us?”
“I… haven’t decided yet,” replied Fristad, his voice distant, as if distracted.
“Okay then. Feel free to look for us if you change your mind. We’ll probably be in the nearest pub, so ask about that with the locals and you’ll come across us,” said Kay. He turned toward Fire and Tyron. “Shall we?”
Kay, Fire, and Tyron walked out the door and into the village streets, which were still crowded with people who had arrived from the hill of the prophet, although at least now there was enough room for the three of them to navigate without constantly having to bump into people.
Kay scouted the facades of the nearby buildings and pointed out a building he spotted as they walked around a street corner. The three of them headed toward it.
“So, Fire,” summarized Kay, “you’ve been hopping between dimensions the past couple days, and brought that mage girl Shadow back with you - she’s your sister, correct?”
“Right,” said Fire.
“Your real sister?” Kay asked, with a gesture toward Tyron that inquired as to whether it was okay to tell him.
“Yes, she is human and in fact my biological sister in my other world,” Fire answered bluntly. Tyron looked confused. “I’ll explain another time.”
“I just wanted clarity. Thanks… And I told you about our somewhat chaotic escape attempt from the tower, and our journey through the forest using Steve and Jennifer’s quick assembly underground bunkers?”
“You didn’t tell me how it all got started,” said Fire.
“I guess I didn’t,” said Kay. “After our negotiations with the Entity, Warnado and I decided to explore the tower. After passing through some large halls and odd rooms filled with junk, we found ourselves in the tower’s prison. That’s where we found Astro, Tyron, Destiny and David...” He trailed off. “They were a tad imprisoned.”
“The Entity was not as kind to us at first as it was to Kay and the others,” said Tyron. “One minute we’re in our own respective worlds, the next we’re being abducted, taken into the tower and detained in a cell. Later, this guy called Bul somehow knows all the major events of our lives and tries to recruit us into one of their nefarious schemes. When we refuse, they send us back to the room, we fight to escape, but end up beaten and detained in the prison.”
Fire said: “Interesting. After I travelled to one of the first worlds beyond Nexus I noticed some deformations in the surroundings. That and what I learned from the Ender lead me to believe that Nexus is absorbing other worlds, or rather has absorbed worlds in the past. For some reason it stopped. Your worlds must have been very close to Nexus, which would explain your surprising transition.”
Kay nodded. “We broke them out, of course. In fact, Warnado broke a goodly chunk of the prison to help cover our escape. That’s when Warnado and I made ourselves enemies of the Entity, along with Steve, Fristad, and Jennifer, who joined us during the escape. We fought our way first through the usual armored guards, and when it was clear we weren’t going to give up easily, the endlings got involved. We just made it out of there alive, thanks to Fristad and Warnado. With the exception of David, as you already know.”
At this point, the three of them were standing at the counter at the back of a bustling tavern. Kay spotted a woman with two hands full of empty glasses marching behind the counter and waved to her to get her attention.
“Tyron, you want anything? Fire, any special requests?”
“Not this time, I’ll just get whatever you’re getting.”
“Same,” said Tyron.
Kay turned to the woman. “What kind of drinks do you… oh, never mind that! Just get us three of whatever those guys over there are having,” Kay said, pointing over to a group of five people at a nearby table who he assumed knew a bit better what they were doing in this dimension.
The woman nodded and left, still holding the empty glasses.
“So, when you said you might still have ‘unsavory characters’ following you, you meant the Entity’s endermen,” Fire concluded.
“Unfortunately,” Kay responded.
“I just remembered something,” said Tyron. “There’s one other thing that happened while we were at the tower. Fristad had experiments done on him by a group of wizards using some machines.”
“Fristad…” Fire mused. “He wasn’t in the Entity’s records. Perhaps they did experiments on him to fill the gaps in their knowledge. Do you know what kind of experiments were done on him?”
“He didn’t say,” said Tyron.
“Notch only knows what it was. Invasive surgeries on house guests sounds like the sort of scheme the Entity would be involved in,” Kay noted with disdain. “He and the Silhouette sound like perfect bedfellows. The more I learn about the two of them, the more I dislike them. But as far as I know, they’re our best chance of getting back to our own worlds. Aside from Fire, maybe. And that Prophet guy, assuming your Shadow’s right and he’s not just spreading a bunch of standard mad-wannabe-messiah-preaching-on-a-hill nonsense. Speaking of which, Fire, do you have any new ideas on how we can get back to our worlds?”
“I’m afraid not. The only reason I was able to return to mine was because of the mental connection I have to other Mencur-Besh, I was able to use it as some sort of dimensional compass. Some of your worlds might be close enough to be mapped by the Entity’s scouts but I wouldn’t consider them safe since you already got taken to Nexus once.”
“What do you mean by ‘close’?” asked Tyron. “Do the people in your world have some sort of dimensional knowledge, like a map or something?”
“In my world we weren’t even aware that other worlds even existed up until I was transported to Nexus, we just have some research on our laws of physics that could be applied to the fact that they do exist. And yes, worlds can be ‘close’, just with an added dimension. As I said, I have found distortions in the terrain directly next to Nexus, which has lead me to believe that Nexus may have been ‘stealing’ parts of other worlds at some point.”
At this point, three glasses of an unknown, light-colored alcoholic beverage thudded onto the table in front of Kay, Fire, and Tyron. The bartender inquired for payment, and Fire presented a small bar of gold, which seemed to satisfy her.
Kay took a sip of a glass. “Well I certainly am not going to stand around and wait for nothing. The Prophet may be one of many local oddities - might be wise to ask around. Or perhaps there are others with valuable information about the Tower. Actually, the latter is quite promising. Warnado did break that whole prison. It’s likely we’re the first to arrive in this town, and others will follow.”
“You have a point,” agreed Fire. “Although, if enough prisoners arrive in this town, it is likely that the Entity’s soldiers are not far behind. I won’t have to hide because I helped them with one of their issues, all of you though...”
“Could be killed? Get thrown into a dungeon never to see the light of day? Get tortured painfully for a very long time before being fed alive to a pack of rabid dogs? See our loved ones abducted and used as leverage to force us to do horrible things?” replied Kay. “All within the realm of possibility. Honestly, It’s more fun that way; to win knowing what could have happened if you didn’t.”
“That’s rash and irresponsible,” responded Tyron.
“You can leave this village any day you want, Tyron,” Kay replied, smiling in playful defiance and taking another sip of his drink, which he was starting to enjoy. “Can’t blame you. I, for one, would think twice about getting involved in one of my schemes. Speaking of which… I’m still working on one. Need more information, though. Nothing concrete, just a hunch. Even a pleasant little town like this is bound to have some dark secret somewhere or another. I just need to look in all the wrong places.”
Chapter14:Elements (Astro)
Astro looked from left to right. Shadow was beside him, while Warnado stood at a slight distance as if to observe them. The inn was still bustling, with people occasionally weaving through the foyer and between Shadow and Warnado.
“Shadow, we’re both quite learned wizards,” Astro began, “I think it would be beneficial for both of us if we discussed our abilities more in depth. How about it?”
“Yes, I would like to learn more about your abilities as well,” said Shadow.
“And Warnado?” Astro added, a bit reluctant but well-meaning.
Warnado’s head perked up at the sound of his name.
“A mutually beneficial exchange of magical knowledge and abilities? Sign me up!”
“Then let’s head up into one our rooms,” suggested Astro, “so we don’t have random people eavesdropping on our strengths and weaknesses.”
Shadow nodded in agreement, and the three of them headed up a narrow staircase and into a room, with Warnado closing the door to the room behind him.
“I am going to cast a spell which blocks sounds from coming in and out of the room,” Shadow proposed. “It should prevent mundane attempts at listening in.”
“Go ahead,” said Astro.
Shadow glanced for a moment toward the door of the room, and a white rune came into existence on the surface of her lower cheek, glowing briefly before fading imperceptibly into the blackness of her skin. Suddenly the unconsciously audible rumble of the outside crowd voices, street carriages, and occasional bird chirps ceased to be heard, leaving only the sounds of Astro and Warnado’s breaths. Shadow, who lacked breath or even a heartbeat, made no sound at all. Astro could not help but be unsettled by this, in spite of his previous knowledge of Shadow’s lack of life energy.
Then, Shadow took in a breath in preparation to speak. “That should do it.”
“Since we’re in a soundproofed room, I’ll ask the obvious question, Shadow,” said Astro. “Why aren’t you breathing? Or, more to the point: given your lack of any life signs or energies whatsoever, how are you still alive?”
Shadow explained: “I exist in a state of equilibrium, I do have energy inside of me but of opposing elements so to the outside it looks like I have none at all. Though, you are right in your questions, I am technically not alive, neither am I dead nor undead. I lack most things that a normal human needs, like blood or a metabolism in general. All of my muscles are actuated by my magic and when I eat something it is also quickly broken down into energy.”
Astro’s brows rose. “That’s… interesting. Right, ‘elements’ … How do those work in your world?”
“Magic is a single uniform force in my world, able to influence almost all aspects of reality, rewriting reality itself is not something we can do though. It can also take on different forms that only influence certain aspects of reality but are easier to handle, these forms are called ‘elements’ in my world. For example the Air element gives its user control over both wind and lightning. The opposing force to Air would be Earth, though that name is not indicative of what it actually does, Earth is used to alter the caster’s own body.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” said Astro. “Our concept of elements is much the same but is purely academic - it doesn’t really have any practical application anymore. It’s just a matter of knowing what you have available. Magic-users don’t really engage in elemental specialization and just go with what they find easiest or most enjoyable.
“The main difference between users is the source of their power and its limitations. In my case, I was born with it. There are also Thaumaturges, who use a material known as thaumium as a magical fuel source. Thaumaturges are mostly pretty rudimentary in terms of the magic used - very military-focused and really just like having firepower. There’s academic debate as to whether they aren’t just particularly advanced and aggressive enchanters but we don’t need to get into that. And then there are the administrators and moderators…” Astro trailed off. “Servants of the True Court, appointed by Notch - well, Jeb, now - and granted power from the Wells. They sort of run things, at least when they’re not bickering amongst themselves and spreading war and misfortune in the process.”
“Moderators?” Shadow inquired.
“Yes, why?” Astro asked.
“I need to explain another peculiarity about my world first. The world I entered this one from is artificially created, it can be accessed from the world where I was actually born. That world is one without magic but highly advanced technologically. There are other artificial worlds but none are as advanced as the one I came through. The ones creating and managing these worlds are known as admins, their assistants as moderators.”
“An artificial world inside another world, connected to this world? Sounds advanced alright. So what’s so special about these moderators of yours?”
“I was simply intrigued that the word exists in both of our worlds for different yet similar roles. At this point I can imagine that the overlap is actually fairly big, though with something like magic we may have different words for the same underlying force.”
“Yes, it does seem that way,” said Astro. “So, you basically have all these opposed elements inside of you, doesn’t that mean you can just use whatever sort of magic?”
“The element known as Ender is actually what allows you to do anything, though it is harder than using the specialized elements. It’s the difference between setting and healing a bone with your mind and letting specialized magic do it for you, there are also things that have no corresponding special element. As for me, I have access to both the easy and specialized magic and the difficult and flexible magic.”
“So you’re a magical generalist, sort of like me. We likely share quite a few abilities. We could learn a lot from each other,” said Astro.
Astro turned toward Warnado. “What about you, Warnado? How does your magic work?”
Warnado shrugged. “I don’t know. I just use it when I feel like it.”
“Do you at least know where it comes from?” Astro asked.
“It runs in the family,” Warnado said tersely.
“Is that why you have that cute part demon-looking face?” asked Shadow.
“How did you know that?!?” Warnado responded with embarrassed irritation.
Shadow chuckled. “The spell hiding your face actually proved somewhat difficult to circumvent without breaking it, it lacked any patterns usually found in spells of trained mages.” After a short pause she added with a sly grin: “But don’t worry, your cute part demon-looking face is safe with me.”
“So, Warnado, you can use some illusion magic, if that’s the right word for it in your world,” Astro surmised. “I’ve also seen you conjure tools and weapons a few times… and occasionally food, which is actually impressive. But it’s hard to grasp the extent of this ability: whether you can only do those pre-determined things, or if you can also use magic more flexibly.”
Shadow remarked: “There is actually something in my world that could be at least similar to his state. When someone discovers their magical potential, their life force gains a will of its own and when presented with the right situations it will apply its power in a way that somewhat lines up with its owner’s will. Magical training consists of fusing your life force and your will together so that eventually the power is completely under your control.”
“Supposing Warnado does have that form of magic,” Astro mused, “how could it be uncovered?”
“To be precise, I wouldn’t call it a ‘form’ of magic as much as a state of control or lack thereof, I’m pretty sure that this can occur with a variety of power sources,” clarified Shadow. “But to answer your question, the best way to uncover it is through training.”
“You wouldn’t happen to be able to provide that sort of training, would you?” Warnado asked.
Shadow smiled. “Depends. There are specific magical abilities which would help the training advance at a reasonable rate. In particular, the ability to sense spells as they are being cast around you. This would allow the apprentice to adjust their spells to match the spells cast by the teacher. This helps especially in the earlier stages, when the apprentice is still learning how to form a spell properly and control its flow in order to conserve energy.”
“I can do that,” said Warnado. “Well, I wouldn’t say I’m an expert of telling the difference between a necromancy spell and the magical effects of outrage-inducing clickbait, but I’m sure I could manage.”
“So,” Shadow said. “How about you try casting a spell, any spell you have cast before and would recognize.”
Warnado clears his throat. “Alright then, here goes nothing.”
Warnado stretched his arm out and a light blue light spread outward from his palm into a shape of a ghostly, translucent battleaxe.
“Great,” said Shadow. “Now, I want you to close your eyes, and pay attention to the magic coming from me. When the magic stops flowing, tell me what you felt.”
“Okay,” said Warnado, as he closed his eyes.
Shadow opened her hand, and the same light blue light poured out from her palm and expanded to form a battleaxe just like Warnado’s.
“That’s my battleaxe!” Warnado proclaimed.
“Yes, that’s right,” said Shadow. “What about this now?”
Shadow opened her other hand, this time not energy came out of her palm but solid stone, growing into the exact same axe that her other hand was holding.
“Some sort of earthbending,” Warnado answered. “Like, stone appearing out of nowhere.”
“You can open your eyes now.”
Warnado opened his eyes.
“It seems you do have some ability to sense magic coming from others,” observed Shadow. “You are best at recognizing spells you are familiar with, but have the ability to determine the structure of unfamiliar spells. That’s a good start.” The ethereal and stone material of the battleaxes in Shadow’s hands crumbled and returned to her palms. “For now, I believe I have a good sense of you and Astro’s magical abilities. Astro, are there any additional questions I can answer about my abilities?”
“I am satisfied,” said Astro. “And you?”
“I am sure there is much we can learn about each other’s abilities, but for now yes, I think this is a good start,” Shadow said.
“I do appreciate the candor that you and Fire share. It’s refreshing,” admitted Astro, reflecting sorrowfully of the many secrets he had to worry about, a fact of his life best left unsaid.
“I imagine this will be the first of many future fruitful exchanges of magical information,” concluded Shadow. “Any further words before I take the sound barrier down? Or perhaps I could leave it up for a while.”
“No need,” said Astro.
“I could do with a bit of action right now,” responded Warnado.
A rune flashed on Shadow’s face, and the muffled cacophony of the crowded village returned.
Chapter15:Ravine (Steve and Jennifer)
Jennifer knocked on the inn door cautiously. “Destiny, are you in there?” she asked.
When there was no response, Jennifer sighed, opened the door, and went inside. Steve and Fristad stayed just outside of the door, looking into the room with worry.
Destiny lay on the bed on her side, with her arms curled around her knees, staring outward silently. Her face was red and wet with tears.
“Thinking about David?” Jennifer asked.
Destiny nodded.
“You cared about him very much,” Jennifer said.
Destiny sniffled and nodded eagerly, as a new tear streamed down her face.
“It’s not easy, losing someone you love like that,” Jennifer acknowledged.
“You don’t understand!” Destiny said. “We weren’t just close. We were inseparable. We fought in wars together. Our love stretched back so far and so deep that it was before we even existed. We were literally predetermined.”
“I may not understand completely, but at the very least, I get you’re hurting and I know hurt,” said Jennifer, her voice becoming firm. “And there are two things you can do in that situation. You can either be by yourself, and try to figure out how to deal with the pain on your own, or you can reach out for help, knowing that people maybe don’t understand completely what you’re going through, but usually have the best of intentions.”
“Thanks, I guess, but I don’t really need some generic advice about how to cope with loss. It should be pretty obvious I’ve already chosen to deal with it on my own.”
“Okay, then,” said Jennifer, tone flattened by offence. “If you want to deal with it out on your own, then I won’t ask about it again. Actually, the real reason I’m here is because I wanted to ask if you’d like to join us for some scouting of the land around the village. Steve is coming along,” Jennifer pointed out the door toward Steve’s back. “He’s my usual partner in crime; I’ve known him for years. And that just past him is Fristad. He’s…” Jennifer hesitated for a moment, thinking of how to describe Fristad without mentioning that mysterious book. “...from a different world from ours. But he’s pretty nice once you get to know him.
“So what do you think?” Jennifer continued. “Want to blow this village potato stand and explore the outdoors?”
Destiny gave an exasperated sigh. “If David were here, he’d say yes, so I guess I’ll go.”
“Great!” said Jennifer, with a wide grin.
Steve, Jennifer, Fristad, and Destiny descended the inn stairs and entered the streets of the village. Their appearance and demeanor were sufficiently different, that if one saw them walking separately, one would never suspect they knew each other. Steve and Jennifer walked with the sense of purpose and physical fitness only experienced adventurers could have, and their bulky, full suits of iron armor gleamed like new. To be fair, in this case, they were rather new, although Steve and Jennifer had already spent several days mining underground. Fristad walked with somewhat less grace, still not used to the weight of his new black diamond armor, and his eyes stared out cautiously through the holes of his helmet. Destiny walked more or less normally. The tears on her face were starting to dry and her cheeks losing their redness, but there was still an intense look in her eyes, as if she was searching desperately for someone hiding in the distance.
“By the way, Destiny,” Steve began, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, would you like some new iron armor? We still have a surplus of iron left over from our mining trips the last few days.”
“Thanks, but I’m fine,” Destiny replied in a rushed voice.
Once both the village and the surrounding farms passed behind the four explorers, Jennifer advanced ahead and began to zigzag between various landmarks, crouching down to a stone here, feeling the bark of a tree there. Meanwhile, Steve whistled a favorite tune that he used to sing with his friends back at home. When his song ended, he turned toward Fristad.
“Do you have any songs you like from your world, Fristad?” Steve asked.
“I’ve got a few,” said Fristad.
“How does one of them go?” Steve encouraged.
“Like so,” Fristad said, as he began to whistle a tune.
“That sounds nice,” Steve said, after Fristad stopped whistling. “Is it some sort of classical music?”
“I don’t know,” Fristad said. “I learned it in school when I was a little kid.”
“That’s interesting,” Steve said. “Back at home, me and my friends used to make songs together, mostly just for fun. We even went through a phase where we invented a bunch of musical instruments to go along with them. Well, ‘invented’ is probably the wrong word. Most of them were based off of musical instruments that already existed, and the rest were sufficiently terrible that we discarded them afterward and never spoke of them again. What about you, Destiny? Do you have any favorite songs?”
“Sorry, I’m not in the mood,” said Destiny.
Steve and Fristad continued their conversation for a while. But then, out of the blue, Steve sprinted away from Fristad, cheering triumphantly.
“Steve, what are you…” Fristad trailed off.
“Finally, another cave!” Steve proclaimed.
“What are you so excited about?” asked Jennifer. “We already have plenty of resources.”
“Yes… but do we have diamonds?” Steve asked rhetorically.
“I thought we already established that this part of the world doesn’t have any,” remarked Jennifer.
“That may have been true in the last spot we tried, but remember, this dimension is a patchwork of many other dimensions, some possibly with diamonds. We got lucky that first time after all, got enough for Fristad’s armour. Even a few could help us patch up the armour that got smashed up in the arena!”
“You’ve got me there I guess,” Jennifer replied in realization. “But don’t get excited yet! Let me take a look at it. We don’t know if this cave even goes anywhere.”
“Trust me, I know the beginning of a big cave system when I see one,” Steve insisted, already pulling some torches out from his pocket.
“Even cave systems from other dimensions?” Jennifer grinned. She approached the wall at the beginning of the cave, cupped her hand, and leaned her ear against it. Then, she picked a rock off the ground and threw it down into the abyss, listening to the sounds of the echoes as it fell.
“You’re right, that is a big cave!” Jennifer said.
“Alright then, let’s go!” Steve said.
“Now, hold on…” Fristad said. “Don’t me and Destiny get a say in this? After all, you’re basically asking all of us to go into a dark cave full of monsters on a whim.”
“Let’s go in the cave,” Destiny replied deadpan.
“I... guess I’m outnumbered,” Fristad said.
“Hey, you’re the one wearing enchanted diamond armor!” Jennifer pointed out. “We have to catch up to your level of armor protection.”
“Yea. Don’t remind me.”
“You’re falling behind, guys!” Steve said, his voice echoing in the mouth of the cave up ahead. Already, the entrance to the cave was lit with splotches of torchlight.
“We better catch up to that guy,” Jennifer said, smiling and shaking her head. “Or else… who knows what trouble he’ll get into.”
The three caught up with Steve in the cave tunnels. Already, the tunnel they were in was massive.
“These tunnels are mined out completely,” Steve noted. “Someone must have been very careful to clean up all their torches when they left. Or maybe they just carried one torch with them the whole time? Seems inefficient.”
“The musings of a guy with infinite pocket space,” Fristad declared.
“I was starting to get the impression that it’s the exception rather than the norm,” said Steve.
A few cave turns later, and the ground ahead of Steve gave way to a huge ravine.
“Wow!” said Steve, peering down into it. “I’ve seen quite a few ravines in my time, but this one is massive. I can’t even see the bottom. It seems to be covered by some sort of unilluminated fog.”
As Steve observed the ravine, he reached back into his pocket to pull out a water bucket, then placed the water source against the cliff face. The source expanded into a veritable flood of water as it poured down into the ravine
“I’m dropping into the ravine to take a quick look at what’s down there. Would anyone like to join me?” asked Steve.
“Are you sure that’s wise?” asked Fristad. “A deep ravine from another dimension is bound to have dangerous monsters.”
“It’s only a quick look,” argued Steve. “Besides, any diamonds we find are going to protect us from danger in the future.”
“I’ll stay up here,” said Jennifer. “If Steve does find something dangerous, we always have the radio.”
“I don’t have a death wish,” said Destiny. “I’ll stay here.”
“Very well,” said Steve. “I’ll see you all in a short while, which is significantly longer than a jiffy, but hopefully less than twenty minutes.”
Steve jumped down into the ravine, just in front of the stream of water, and his iron-armored body hurtled down until it vanished into the fog.
As Jennifer led the way into a closed-off cave, Fristad couldn’t help but look back behind him and wonder if Steve fell to his death.
“Hey guys,” Steve said, about fifteen minutes later, startling Fristad and Destiny. He was gluing through the water and back into stone. His armour was lined with cracks.
“How was the ravine?” asked Jennifer.
“Not bad,” said Steve. “I found enough diamonds for all of us. I also got a couple ender pearls, a half-stack’s combined of creeper, skeleton, and zombie drops, and restocked on redstone.”
“Huh?” Destiny looked at him as though he had just insulted a dear family friend.
“Okay, even for you that seems improbably efficient.” said Fristad.
“Yeah, it was a weird ravine,” said Steve. “Oh, and I almost forgot, I found this strange, glowing, blueish purple ore.” Steve reached into his pocket and pulled out a sample of the stone, which had an irregular, wrinkled shape. “I have no idea what it is. I haven’t seen this kind of ore in my world before. Any ideas, Fristad and Destiny?”
“No clue,” said Fristad.
Destiny shook her head to convey the same, now looking less offended after realising Steve actually did what he said and this was just sort of normal for him.
“I’ll add that to my list of unsolved mysteries, then,” Steve mused, as he slid the glowing rock back into his pocket. “Anyways, now that we have diamonds, shall we continue our survey of the surface?”
“Sure,” said Jennifer, grinning. “But save some treasure for me next time.”
Steve, Jennifer, Fristad, and Destiny returned to the surface, and as they continued exploring they would occasionally stumble upon a lone hut. Sometimes when Steve would knock on the door, there would be no answer. Other times, its weary inhabitant would open the door from the other side and answer politely, but beyond that the inhabitant would reveal little. But nothing in the course of that trip could compare to the mystery that still hung over everyone’s heads: How did they all get here?
In the mid-afternoon, Steve and the others stopped by the village to sell some of their extra resources. The crowds had died down at this point, the quantity of pedestrians, merchants and cobblers more closely representing the number of buildings the village could sustain. In the distance, Steve swore he could hear Kay yelling about something.
***
They were traveling in the woods when they heard a crack ahead of them. Steve gestured for a halt and looked ahead. Destiny crept up behind him, crystallising an icicle in the palm of her hand. Jennifer followed suit and drew her bow. Fristad lingered behind, watching nervously.
They crouched behind some bushes and saw a zombie meandering through the forest, blood dripping down its chin, flesh dry and peeling. A sick shade of green had set in across the back of the head and neck and was beginning to spread through the arms.
It was turned away. Destiny saw a gauntlet on its wrist. She gasped and it began to turn at the sound.
She didn’t see its face before the icy blade brained it. It slumped to the ground, half its scalp missing, raising the gauntleted hand as if pointing to something before falling over and twitching.
She ran up. Steve tried to stop her but she pressed through his grasp. She had to make sure it was dead. She owed him that. She plunged a spear of ice a metre long through its chest. Blood spattered everywhere.
She looked around. A man in black robes stepped out of the woods, a book of spells in hand. Several zombies surrounded him. He looked quite annoyed.
“What did you do that for? I had it tamed-” A blade of ice struck him in the shoulder and the other zombies burst into flames as she pointed. She hadn’t felt that much power coursing through in ages.
Another spear formed in her hands, still roasting from setting his entourage alight. Steam hissed and she felt pain but she didn’t care. Just as she was about to hurl it at him Steve gripped her wrist. She looked back and he seemed profoundly disturbed. He seemed to be feeling ill. Perhaps it was the smell of burned flesh.
“Destiny,” Jennifer called from behind.
She too looked disgusted. Physically repulsed as she stared at the body. Fristad had turned it over. It wasn’t David. There was a gash the size of a canyon through its already-decaying face, but even with that it was plain this had
She glanced at the necromancer and opened her mouth. He was terrified, clutching the icicle as it melted into his blood. Some halting sounds came from her throat but nothing felt right so she just closed her mouth and walked back off in the direction of the inn, occasionally stopping to scratch at the blood on her jeans.
The hall was tarnished, littered with bodies and dust. It wouldn’t be like this for long so The Ender decided she had better take it all in while it was still there. It was that damned General according to one of their officers, the dog-faced one. He had gone as far as Astro’s cell and then overpowered his escorts. They didn’t know whether that was his intent the whole time or whether it was a split-second decision. Either way, they’d released a goodly chunk of the prisoners, who had in turn released more prisoners, who had in turn caused havoc throughout the Tower.
Her arm throbbed slightly. She looked down and saw singed scales and was reminded of David’s little trick with the gauntlet. Killed several of her best soldiers. They would not be easily replaced. She could hardly go back to the homeworld, cap in hand, and ask the other generals to reinforce her. She was walking on thin ice with them. They were still intent on conquering the Nether back home and didn’t see the startling range of possibilities out here, in the speckled, shifting mass of creation. They had defeated the humans and the other lesser beings. The Overworld was theirs. Going to the Nether was an old pipe-dream of a grudge and pursuing it would yield no profit.
The Entity had arrived and she had seen two paths. Her people could go and conquer all creation, or they could spend the next thirty years baiting pigmen into traps, clearing out castles and melting away into nothingness.
She knew her path was the one which would truly please the Ancestors…
“Need a potion?” Freak asked, drawing up beside her and waving a pink vial.
The Ender smiled and took it and grunted as her wounded scales reshaped and became bright and new.
“Thanks.”
They turned around and began to wander toward the huge, open door, which seemed to droop outwards as though ashamed. They’d blinded the guards and walked right through. It was an embarrassment.
Freak spoke first as they walked onward: “The Ape is just about done clearing out the East wing. A few rogue Testificates found their way into the armory, but they should be dealt with. Bul will probably be with us any second now, shrieking wildly no doubt-”
At that moment a man shrieked wildly: “What was that?!”
He looked flustered, his suit all crumpled and covered in dust and blood. This was Marinus Bul, the Entity’s steward and/or legal representative. He had been responsible for the negotiation. They should have just taken the Eye and the Crystals.
“The General betrayed us,” The Ender answered flatly. “We’ll deal with them soon enough.”
She hadn’t received word from Silver. The Grey Ones had demanded they be allowed to deal with Kay Mandy personally and they proved impotent. She was ashamed they had once been her own soldiers. Age had broken them. Now they were Glibby’s problem.
Bul didn’t seem to know what to do with himself. For once, absolutely no words seemed even in the vicinity of his tongue.
“Looks like our master’s troops are back,” sighed Freak. He pointed to a long black line marching along the horizon.
“Good, it’ll be more lucid.”
She grabbed the arms of Freak and Bul and teleported up to The Entity’s chambers.
Sure enough, there it was. Bronze-coated and red-eyed, the Entity sat in its throne. She had tried to gain its attention earlier, but it was spread thin in a raid on World 32. It had manifested five times in that battle and there were several other manifestations Night-knows-where. This was as close to a prime meridian as the Entity had. Was this the first body it took? Who had it been before its influence? Maybe this was someone it had once cherished. Maybe there was no body in there and this was its most pure and undiluted form beneath the armour. The Ender didn’t care.
She cleared her throat. Its head lifted and stared right at her.
A voice stripped of emotion and which echoed no matter what volume it spoke at sounded: “Yes?”
“General Mandy’s party has departed. They have severely reduced the prison population. In particular, he took the wizard Astro and his former cellmates, leaving us deprived of-”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But I thought we were-”
“The raid on World 0032 was a success. The Wizard’s college is under our control.”
“Oh,” The Ender nodded, a realisation creeping through her until: “So, you decided to go ahead with that plan.”
“Yes. In spite of your objections.”
“And you-”
“We now have procured 527 new magic-users. I estimate 487 will survive the march home. Maybe 500 exactly if you adequately prepare at the primary work-site.”
It began to pick at the ends of its white gloves, starting to edge them slightly closer to coming off. It never fidgeted, so this was a calculated and deliberate threat. Its red-glass eyes bore through her and though she’d never seen it show any emotion beyond interest or apathy, she was certain it was furious with her now. As close to fury as this constantly swirling husk was capable. The incoming light of dawn seemed to shake with fury on every part of it. The rubified eyes, the bronze seam. All seemed caught up in the restrained blaze. The Ender struggled not to quake before it, then it twitched and she felt herself released from its gravity.
“Yes, sir,” The Ender bowed her head. “I’ll be right on it.”
“Excellent. After that, you are to immediately set about relocating the General and his fellow escapees. Freak, Bul-stay. Discussions… are necess-ary.”
Bul shot her a snide, cruel look as she left. Freak furrowed his brows and became interested in the floor, but otherwise showed no opinion.
She left the room quicker than intended. She teleported away as though an arrow had been fired at her, and even as she walked away and began to bark orders in Endish tongues, she could hear the twang of bowstrings, and the whistle of wind through feathers.
She had to prove her worth, fast.
Chapter17:Faces in the Dark (Amanda)
As night fell upon the village, the streets emptied, and the bustling sea of voices was replaced by the sound of crickets and the occasional rustling of a somewhat restless wind. The inn’s dining area was the only source of activity audible from the halls, and even then, by the third floor, most of the noise was lost in the walls.
Amanda laid in her bed with her eyes open, too lost in thought to notice the remaining echoes of activity from the other side of the door. And as her eyes closed and her thoughts slowed, the echoes of the voices and the outdoors faded from her awareness. At the edge of sleep, she was barely aware of footsteps, but her mind assured her that the footsteps must have come from another tenant outside the room. Surely, not from the inside. Surely, she was alone…
As she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a forest on a dark, moonless night. She was acutely aware she was standing upright, but had no knowledge of how she came to this place.
Perhaps I’m having a brief lapse of memory, Amanda thought to herself. I’m sure I came here for a good reason. I’m probably low on that flower that only blooms at night. I keep forgetting the name…
Amanda reached over her back and felt her familiar crossbow in its usual place. She lifted it from her back and pulled on the lever until it was taut. She resumed her analysis of her purpose.
Yes, that’s probably it. I never leave on a trip without those long-lasting night vision potions, unless I’m stupid and run out of the catalyst. I really need to organize my stuff more. Now, where are those skeletons?
As Amanda fingered a crossbow bolt and walked between the trees, it became clear that there were no skeletons nearby, or any monsters at all. In fact, as she kept walking, she still couldn’t recognize where she was, and there were none of her usual navigation markers. She was starting to get nervous. As she reached into her pockets, she found them empty, nothing to light her way or give her any idea why she came here. Then, a disturbing realization occurred to her: she didn’t remember how she got here, or even where she came from to begin with. No home. No familiar faces. No past memories.
Then Amanda panicked and turned her head. She aimed her crossbow and pulled the trigger. The arrow flew between the trees and vanished in the darkness.
I swear I saw a face! Amanda insisted to herself.
The face she saw was only a flash in her vision, too brief to identify. The only lasting impression Amanda could recall from the face was a… deep sadness. And that it was human. And that it wasn’t a child. That much she was sure of.
Old, maybe. Slightly familiar.
Stop thinking about the face, Amanda ordered herself. It was probably just a trick of the shadows. Just ignore it. It isn’t real.
Then a jab drove a deep wound into Amanda’s side and knocked her backward onto the ground. Amanda gritted her teeth against the pain and fumbled with her crossbow, cursing at herself that she didn’t re-span it after firing, that if only she had paid more attention, she could have shot at the thing before it attacked her.
“Oh… I am real... alright,” a disjointed, unidentifiable voice spoke.
The face flashed in Amanda’s mind again. It was a disfigured face, as if two faces had been pasted together.
“Why don’t you show yourself, you coward!” Amanda cried out. But by the time she had her bolt ready and was back on her feet, the face was gone.
“I am… sorry,” the disjointed voice spoke. “If… if only you knew, it... would still make no difference.”
“If I knew what?” Amanda inquired, breathing heavily. She gripped her crossbow tighter, pressing the trigger just softly enough that it wouldn’t fire.
The voice laughed. It was starting to become more coherent. “Oh, you... innocent little girl. So... clueless. So alone. You believe so hard that all your tough talk can save you from what comes next. I… admire your bravery, I… really do. But you’re wrong.”
“Who are you? How did I get here? Why can’t I remember anything?” Amanda demanded, her voice starting to stutter with fear. “I… I swear! I will find you, and I will make you pay for what you’ve done to me! Even kill you, if I have to!”
“Don’t fear the monsters of the dark...” the voice replied cryptically.
Then, it was suddenly clear, this was not an adage, but a threat. The groans and rattles and hisses of countless monsters became audible. Amanda swiveled her head and counted five skeletons not a leap away. There was no contest. She ducked and ran away as fast as she could. Arrows whizzed and thumped as they embedded themselves in the tree bark and the forest loam. Amanda tripped over spiders and shoved aside zombies as she looked desperately for a tree to climb, or some end to the forest of monsters.
But there was none. Amanda kept running, but her breath only got thinner, and her legs only got heavier. Eventually, she could run no more. She tripped and fell upon a rock, and struggle as she could, she could not gather the strength to push herself up with her arms before the zombies grabbed her and the fangs of a spider embedded painfully into her skin.
But then, there was a light. The pain and tiredness and shapes of the forest floor all faded away, and she felt someone grab her hand. In a fleeting moment, the mysterious presence became grand and filled her with warmth. She felt as if she could trust it completely, even give her life to it.
But then, the presence faded and all was dark. Amanda wondered with fear how she could suddenly give such unconditional trust to such a being which she had only just encountered, and seemed intent on hurting her. Then she wondered if, perhaps, between that first encounter and the moment when the same being saved her, an entire lifetime had passed, only to be wiped away. And the thought of forgetting so many things filled her with dread.
Chapter18:Tired and Distraught (Warnado)
Warnado sat up quickly from the creaky inn bed, rubbed his eyes a few times, and bounced out from the covers with an enthusiasm that was quite unlike him this early in the morning. But there was a reason. Warnado was eager to make a change. And this was just the beginning.
Warnado did a few arm and back stretches, then some push ups, and then a few sit-ups before he got bored. Then Warnado sat on the bed and tried to think really hard about magic.
Warnado was then distracted by the sound of his door opening. Amanda appeared, tired and distraught.
“Warnado?” Amanda said.
“Uh oh, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Warnado said. “I’m not used to getting up this early in the morning.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Amanda. “Actually, I’m really glad that you’re awake. I had a really bad nightmare.”
“What kind of nightmare?” Warnado asked.
“One of the worst nightmares I’ve ever had,” said Amanda. “There was this evil presence. It kept… shifting. Like, one moment it wanted to kill me, the next moment it’s trying to save me… like it wants something from me. And this forest it put me in… I don’t know how to describe it. I felt so vulnerable and alone. There wasn’t even anything out of the ordinary about the forest. I even had my crossbow with me. And yet…” Amanda’s voice clogged up. A pair of tears left her eyes and painted her cheeks.
“That sounds like a really bad nightmare,” Warnado said.
“I’ve never had a nightmare like that before,” Amanda continued. “The fear… it was so overwhelming. And the forest itself felt so real. Not to mention… the presence… it was...”
Amanda’s eyes widened, in panic and dread.
“The presence was what?” Warnado asked.
“I don’t remember,” Amanda muttered, her expression softening.
Warnado’s mind began to compute the situation. Warnado knew Amanda well enough that he couldn’t see her having a nightmare out of nowhere. There had to be some external cause. Most likely a magical one. But if magic was responsible for Amanda’s nightmare, then who caused it? Was it someone in the inn? Was there a traitor among the group? If that were true, either Astro or Shadow must be responsible. In that case, who else could Warnado reach out to who had the magical knowledge to solve the mystery? Nobody, really. Besides, at least one of them is bound to be innocent, and if not, their knowledge of Warnado’s knowledge might deter them from inducing a nightmare again. On the other hand… why now?
At this point, Warnado had a realization. Shadow had just joined the group. She seemed nice… but maybe that was just a mask to hide her real intentions? But if Warnado was wrong, and Astro was the real threat, then telling Astro only would give him a head start to cover his tracks. Warnado had made up his mind. He would talk to both Astro and Shadow about it, to hedge his bets.
Warnado’s mind returned to the situation at hand.
Warnado said firmly. “Whatever this presence is, if it is real, I’m going to make sure it doesn’t bother you again.”
Chapter19:Tormentor at Large (Warnado)
Warnado was nervous all of the early morning, and he hoped it didn’t show in the sound of the voice, or worse, in his face. He had relied on the veil so long. Knowing Shadow could see his face made him feel more vulnerable than usual, and it raised the uncomfortable possibility that there were other parts of him that were more exposed than he thought.
At one of the inn’s dining tables, Warnado sat sipping the daily soup and noted the presence of Astro, who sat across the table nodding and making the occasional witticism as Kay spun an arguably exaggerated story about one of his past adventures. Meanwhile, Shadow sat next to Amanda and talked and smiled with her. This upset Warnado greatly, but he didn’t say anything and tried his best not to think about it. After all, there was still a significant possibility Shadow wasn’t responsible for Amanda’s nightmare.
The guy in the weird black armor who was with Steve and Jennifer was sitting next to Warnado. Warnado tried to remember the guy’s name to kick off the conversation, in an attempt to be social, but eventually just gave up and tapped the guy’s shoulder.
“Hey you,” Warnado said.
“Oh. Hey, Warnado,” the guy said, with a less enthusiastic voice that suggested he just got out of bed.
Right, Warnado thought to himself, Fristad. That’s his name.
“Fristad,” Warnado began, “when you really want to do something, but aren’t motivated to do it, how do you convince yourself to follow through with it?”
Fristad raised a brow. “Well, what are you trying to do?”
“I’m trying to lose weight,” Warnado blurted out. “Well, actually, not really. But… assuming I was. And let’s say, just for the sake of argument, I really liked eating cookies. And just to be clear… I do NOT have a problem with chocolate chip cookies. I eat TACOS. And it is not an addiction.”
Fristad frowned. “Okay, fair enough. So you want to know what I think?”
“Yea.”
“I think you’re only going to feel worse if you keep ignoring it, so you might as well follow through.”
“Right, but this is a metaphorical losing weight issue, not an actual issue with my physical health,” Warnado clarified.
“I know,” said Fristad. “My advice also applies to women and other human relationships, in case that’s what you’re after.”
Warnado found himself at a loss for words. And feeling more exposed than before.
“Screw it. I am sick and tired of this soup. I’m going to magically summon some tacos. Do you want some?”
Warnado fiddled with the remaining grease still stuck to his fingers, and listened to the outside noises fade away as Shadow’s runic spell cast a wall of silence around the inn room. At this point, Warnado suspected Astro was still under the impression that they were all here to discuss more details of their magical abilities. He wasn’t quite sure what Shadow was thinking.
Warnado cleared his throat and prepared himself to deal with the uncertainty that came next. “Guys, I know I said I had some important questions about your magic, but actually, something bad just happened. Last night, Amanda had a disturbing nightmare that seems to have been magical in origin. And I want to know who was responsible.”
Warnado couldn’t help but glance over at Shadow for a moment, before switching his gaze toward Astro.
“Now, I’m not trying to imply that either of you did it, but I also can’t rule out the possibility. If there’s a traitor among us, or one of the Entity’s spies hiding somewhere in the inn, we need to know as soon as possible. Since you two are the only magic users in the group I know of besides me, either one of you could have caused the nightmare. I need to know I can trust you.”
Both of them paused, but after an uncomfortable silence, Shadow was the first to speak: “It’s going to be difficult to resolve this in any positive way… Naturally if either of us was behind those dreams they wouldn’t just flat-out admit it. Any attempt at finding a guilty party could be seen as shifting blame and since we don’t know each other very well we also have no past trust to build on. Still, did Amanda happen to mention a radiant woman dressed in white? If she’s involved I can imagine how the nightmare came to be.”
Warnado considered for a moment whether he should withhold information, but decided quickly that could only lead to more distrust. “Interesting you should mention that. Amanda wasn’t very clear about what the presence in the dream looked like. I think she may actually have forgotten, as if the memory of it was too horrifying to remember.”
“That’s a dead end then. She would have remembered the Lady” Shadow sighed. “She wouldn’t have been in the nightmare anyways, if anything she’d have preceded it. For clarification, she’s a benevolent phantom that lives in dreams but if you throw her out it often results in nightmares. Fire has some history with her.”
“What do you think, Astro?” Warnado turned toward Astro. “Does this kind of nightmare remind you of anything?”
“I’ve had my share of nightmares, but there’s generally a reason behind them,” said Astro. “More reasons than I’d care to admit. What makes you certain Amanda’s nightmare was magically induced? We’ve been through some traumatic stuff these last few days. She was there when David blew his own arm apart.” His voice faltered as he remembered their fallen comrade, his former cellmate.
“Look, I know Amanda better than anyone else here,” Warnado said, frustrated. “She’s not the sort of person who would cry from a bad dream, let alone have a nightmare because of that.”
A small voice in Warnado’s head admitted to itself that maybe Astro was right, maybe Amanda really did just have a nightmare. But then, Warnado reminded himself of Amanda’s face, how distraught she looked, as if the nightmare still had a grip on her…
No, there was nothing normal or mundane about this. Warnado did not have the best control over his magic, but his experiences over the years made him able to recognize when something was magically enhanced.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cast doubt,” said Astro. “I may be a wizard, but when it comes to dreams, I can’t exactly read them like tea leaves.”
Shadow suggested: “As for myself, I don’t have much experience when it comes to dreams either, at least not to magically created ones where regular psychology doesn’t apply. While I probably could induce dreams myself, I wouldn’t risk it if I wanted to do anything with the person I’m inducing them in. Most people would just be flat out driven insane, or worse, if they came in direct contact with my mind. It’s a side effect of the ascension ritual.”
Warnado thought over Shadow and Astro’s words for a moment. As frustrating as it was, it seemed like they were both being honest, at least on the face of things. There was no choice but to hope Astro and Shadow could help him. As long as they were willing to share information, that would bring Warnado closer to finding out what happened to Amanda.
“Okay, so, supposing you both are innocent…” Warnado mused, “who would have the ability to do something like that? And why?”
Shadow said: “I suppose that even if we can’t make sense of the details of the nightmare, a bit more information would be helpful since we could find out the motivation of whoever created it.”
“Good point,” said Warnado. “Although now that I think about it, Amanda didn’t mention many details of the dream. Just that she was in a forest, and that there was an evil presence. I want to ask her about it again, but I’m worried it will make her more upset. Then again…”
“If she’s more calm, she might be able to better describe more details of the dream,” Astro suggested. “Besides, I don’t have any other ideas of how to proceed in the short-term. Unless you have any ideas, Shadow?”
“Logically, if the assault isn’t coming from us, someone else here must have magical abilities, they may not be from our group but they have to be nearby.”
“Nearby… and not leaving anytime soon,” added Astro. “A single nightmare doesn’t strike me as enough to accomplish whatever nefarious goal this stranger has in mind.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Warnado said.
“Wherever they are, they can’t hide forever,” Astro insisted. “Every use of magic has a magical signature. We just need to be around at the right time to detect it. Let’s assume the stranger plans to repeat themself. We take night shifts just outside Amanda’s room.”
Shadow nodded. “We need to keep in mind that Nexus has an extraordinarily strong background magic field, which naturally causes interference and can wash away traces left by spells. Our dream weaver would be difficult to detect without magical means of surveillance, but on the other hand they are likely to be tipped off by any spells we cast. Nexus’ magic field also allows for faster recharging after spell usage, which could mean that they can strike in shorter intervals than we might expect.”
“That’s certainly not ideal,” Astro mused. “And I don’t like the idea of this random guy potentially coming up with some new way to magically torment us, but you’re right. We need to be more subtle in our plans. And more information wouldn’t hurt.”
“Maybe we can try to get more information about the village,” suggested Warnado. “If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll notice something off that will hint about the origin of the dream weaver.”
“That’s a good idea,” affirmed Astro. “In fact, we may already have some leads on that, since Kay, Fire, and Tyron were doing just that yesterday. We should ask them.”
Chapter20:Heart-to-Heart (Kay)
Right, I’ll be honest, that whole “Look in all the wrong places thing” didn’t work out remarkably well. I went to the magistrate’s office to try and get an audience. Her secretary didn’t even bat an eye no matter how often I mentioned I was an important General. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t even really have a plan once I got in there. Ask the magistrate who the Prophet was? Ask her where we were? Where she was from? Ask what to do next? Ask where I could buy a house and settle down here and pretend I wasn’t interested in anything anymore? Ask when had I become so bad at coming up with a plan? Was I always this bad at it? Was I just carried by luck and bravado? Was I needed here? Was I even needed back home?
So I just ended up wandering around the markets feeling a little put-out and trying to avoid the others. I didn’t even want to look at Fire for some exceptionally petty reason. And something felt wrong about Astro. He looked older, perhaps wiser, but definitely less optimistic. Definitely weaker physically too. The Grey Ones claimed to have waited eleven years. By Notch, could that even be possible? Could I even get back to my world as it was? I felt appallingly alone.
I bought some casual clothing. My usual tastes of cotton sweaters, leather belts and black trousers were easily satisfied so I found myself at a loss as to what to do. I couldn’t even confidently change out of my armour without entrusting it to one of the Brines’ bottomless pockets or the weird blue vortex in Tyron’s back which he occasionally put things into and pulled things out of like a magician trying to get the right animal out of his hat. After arguing with a few merchants over the price of crossbows I found myself back at the inn. I saw Steve and Jennifer eating lunch on the main floor. We’d had something of a reconciliation in the arena but we hadn’t really spoken since and I was in a bad mood so I just waved at them and put on a smile before marching up the stairs.
I lay on my bed for what felt like an age, twiddling with my torn scarf until I decided I’d best go and store some of my armour with Tyron. I could retrieve it at any given moment. A little difficulty in re-equipping myself but we weren’t expecting an attack from the Entity any time soon and we probably weren’t his top priority. He had his business interests to attend to and Warnado had loosed half the prison.
So I changed, bundling up my armour and carrying it overarm.
Tyron was lying on his bed staring at Kir, his body language suggesting they were in the midst of a conversation.
“Hello Tyron,” I said, knocking on the open door. I reached out with my mind and added: “Hello little guy.”
“Hi Kay,” he responded, smiling. “What do you need?”
“Mind if I store some armour in your mysterious blue void?”
Without missing a beat: “Yeah, sure, no problem.”
And so I handed them to him and in a few brief flashes they were stored.
“That all?” he asked.
“Yep, I’m good thanks.”
My mind must have looked sad because his eyes flicked toward his sword and then back to me.
“You sure you don’t want to talk?”
“No, seriously, I’m good,” I insisted, forcing a renewed smile.
“Sure?” chirped Kir in concern. “Seem sad.”
I remembered the Lady.
Something about Kir’s sincerity was convincing. Enticing. I went and sat down in the seat in the corner.
“Tell all about it.”
“Well, I’ll spare you the details of my childhood, so I’ll start with the day I met Astro. You see, I’d recently stolen a chicken…”
And so I told him. I had met Astro about five years before. I was low on funds and Aaron and I were living together. My house. The one I’d been given on arriving in Zine Craft. We wanted to go legitimate. I loved Cossack and Secret and Small and everyone. They were my closest friends and I knew they had my back. But I couldn’t bear that lifestyle anymore.
There would be no more highwayman work; no more collecting debts for loan sharks; no more criminal bollocks. Problem is, once you’ve built up a reputation for yourself as a dodgy ******* it’s hard to get rid of it. Couldn’t even get work in the mines. So I decided to poach on the side to get food. Then they cracked down on poaching so I decided to try and steal a chicken right out of a Moderator’s garden.
I got caught and they put me under house arrest. I thought we were done. About to starve to death or go back to that life. Then, he mentioned a friend of his was coming over. An Arcadian wizard called Astro. Ended up becoming the Administrator’s apprentice.
And he helped me fly again. Gave me funds to rebuild my old airship. To build a business off that and go wherever we wanted. For about three months, life was fantastic. Then, the day it was all rebuilt, they blew up my house.
Long story short, Astro and I had pissed off a Moderator and a captain of the guard respectively and they decided to put us back in our place by bombing my home. I’m still bitter now so you can imagine how furious I was back then. So, I decided to organise a conspiracy to assassinate them, and I predictably got caught and chucked into prison.
That’s around the time I got into Herobrine worship again and then he resurrected himself and I started getting visions. Eventually I and some other Thaums and dissidents were able to organise a mass breakout.
After that, I rode all the way out to Herobrine’s camp. To follow the visions. I rode for a straight week. I stopped to eat twice. I stopped to sleep once. They had to drag me into his tent. Seeing those glowing eyes flicker before me, looking to me like the only fixed point in a world churning like river-rapids, was the happiest moment of my life.
I fought for him to the very last. For Herobrine. For an independent Thaumic nation. To stop the Endlings from carrying out their little plan. I fought, and I tortured and I killed until eventually I found my way back to Zine Craft. I’d assumed the others had had the good sense to get out of there long before the war arrived so you can imagine how surprised I was when I discovered my best friends were the ones raiding my encampment. They didn’t know it was me, naturally. I didn’t know it was them either until I chased down Astro. Astro almost killed me and then almost cried when my helmet fell off and he saw my face. He swears he hadn’t even heard of “Herobrine’s Lap Dog” at that point.
And so things unfolded. They escaped just before we arrived in Capital City and Notch and Herobrine duelled and I was there and Notch died to Israphel and then half the city blew up. Met my old nemesis while I was there too. That’s another story. One I’d rather not go into right now. Best not to dwell on what he did.
I then passed a few weeks being decorated and praised to high heavens in Mojang as Jeb and Herobrine negotiated the new status quo. Then that new status quo consisted of setting fire to the Southern Thaumlands and giving the Inquisition free reign. Because of course Jeb wasn’t really the one we were negotiating with. It was Dinner Bone and Grumm. Herobrine only barely convinced me not to lead a coup. Couldn’t divide the camps, otherwise the Endlings would be back - the full force of the Obsidian Families this time, not the surgical army we had to deal with. The Court of Whispers might have joined them. I still think we could have put up more resistance...
“I only wanted to be with my friends after the first fireships went in. And now, beyond keeping them safe, I don’t think I want any more causes,” said I, numb. I couldn’t remember if I’d started out talking aloud or whether I’d started out streaming thoughts to Kir. I likely faded between the two.
However I’d started, it was Tyron who responded: “And yet, here we are.”
“Yep.”
“Life can be pretty awful sometimes, can’t it?”
“Yep.”
“We’ve just got to keep going.”
“Yep.”
“Can I get an answer that’s not one word?”
I smiled wryly: “I suppose.”
He laughed. “Nah, I know how you feel. It never gets easier. But if we don’t do it, who else will?”
“I think I just wanted the world to like me.”
A gust of wind and light caught the curtain and blasted it upwards and on. I stood up and allowed the wind to drift me toward the door.
“Thanks, this has been a good talk,” I smiled. “You’ll have to tell me your story some time.”
Tyron just looked at me, face unblemished by anything resembling a smile, locked in permanent seriousness, yet an utmost satisfaction and benevolence had crystalized in his eyes.
“Will do someday,” said Kir, with the same wistful kindness.
Chapter21:Inspector Kay Mandy (Warnado)
After they checked the inn and consulted Jennifer on the location of Fire and the others, the three wizards went into an unusual shop and found Fire and Kay negotiating with the shopkeeper on the price of an enchanted crossbow which looked particularly valuable. It was entirely made of metal and had intricate engravings along its surface. The shopkeeper had a rough appearance, with an old face which seemed almost permanently locked into a scowl, a heavy iron chestplate, and pants that appeared to be a patchwork of furs from about a dozen different animals.
“I am truly insulted by that number. I have many good bowmen customers who would pay good diamonds for the master metalworking in this alone,” the shopkeeper proclaimed as he pointed at the crossbow. “But the enchantment in this beauty is truly something you won’t find anywhere else, I assure you. It makes bolts fly three times as fast and pierce enchanted diamond armor with ease, augments the strength of the bow to last a lifetime, and even enhances the accuracy of the bolt as you aim!”
Fire inhaled somewhat demonstratively. “The crossbow itself is mastercrafted without a doubt but I may have some bad news about the proficiency of the enchanter. Enchanting a pure steel crossbow is no easy task, it has no gold elements to better absorb the enchantment and whoever did this one was clearly quite out of their depth. While the simpler components as the enhanced durability and increased stability are as advertised I’m afraid that the rest isn’t. At most it will make the bolts fly one and a half times faster instead of three and the part that enchants the bolts as they are fired won’t even work properly. On top of that the entire thing is leaky, which means that the lost energy will be taken from the user instead, combined with the energy expense of the complex components this will quickly lead to exhaustion in the average user. Most of those mistakes are salvageable but naturally result in severely reduced value due to the additional required effort.”
“Ah, yes,” replied the shopkeeper. “But the steel is masterfully worked nonetheless, and this crossbow is enchanted, which by necessity must mean it is even higher in value.”
Fire said: “Yes, it normally would. But normally we are talking about things that have an arrangement of basic enchantments of them, which are strictly positive save for a few. This one is different though. As I mentioned, a leaky enchantment absorbs energy from its user to fuel itself, namely in the form of life force. A human with averagely high life force would deplete half of theirs with as little as ten bolts, which is the point where fatigue begins to set in and going even lower gradually increases the risk of death. This crossbow requires the locking of some of the runes, namely those that would enchant the bolts but in reality just vent the energy into the environment. As it is it is not usable and you would even be better off with a plain wooden crossbow since using this one is actively harmful.”
Kay nodded sadly. “You should listen to Fire; he knows his enchantments.” Then, putting on his most innocuous face: “Besides, it would be a shame if someone were to buy the crossbow in its current state and start spreading rumours about the shoddy nature of your goods.”
“Well…” the shopkeeper relented. “I suppose you seem like the sort of people who would make the most of a bow like this. I will accept your offer.”
Fire reached out and handed the shopkeeper a small lumpy bag, which he reluctantly accepted and stepped away. Shadow and the others stepped forward as Fire picked up the crossbow and glanced across the various runes, deep in thought.
Fire muttered: “Huh… leak seems to be caused largely by the faulty bolt enchantment part. The rest is just improperly assembled runes. Might be able to fix this on the spot, maybe not this spot but one that’s a little quieter.”
“Excellent,” responded Kay.
“Acquiring another addition for your armory, Fire?” noted Astro.
“Nah, not this time,” Kay replied, allowing his accent to slip on seeing his old friend. “This one’s mine. I’ve been looking to find a good ranged weapon for a while. So, naturally, I went for the next best thing available. What have you been at?” Seeing the other two magical folks he added: “Warnado, Shadow.” The first had some warmth behind it. The second had some suspicion.
“Shadow, and Warnado, and I are trying to solve a mystery,” said Astro. “Amanda seems to have experienced an unusual nightmare, and Warnado is convinced that the nightmare was magically induced.”
Kay furrowed his brows: “It wasn’t a pale lady, was it?” He shot a glance towards Fire but seemed reluctant to commit to it.
Shadow said: “Maybe don’t throw her out next time. She really does want to help.”
“We’ve ruled out that possibility, unfortunately,” Astro said. “We were wondering if you’ve encountered some local rumors or some townsfolk behaving oddly, which might point us in the right direction. Anything involving magic usage or dreams could help.”
Fire said: “This village doesn’t have much in the way of magic, they were easily impressed by simple pyromancy when I wandered through here last. Still, we are close enough to the Tower that the Entity’s minions might be involved.”
“If there are any of the Tower’s agents in this little town at the moment, they’ve been doing a rather excellent job of concealing their existence,” noted Kay. “That, or, an absolutely terrible job of finding and re-capturing their prisoners. But they definitely have a great deal of influence here. Several of the farmers and a whole variety of professionals have lucrative supply deals with the Tower, and I’ve encountered a few locals who’ve made some deals they’ve regretted with scars to show for it.”
“So… that leaves me, Shadow, and Astro as the only known magic users,” Warnado concluded with disappointment.
“That isn’t quite true,” Astro said. “Tyron and Destiny also have some magical ability. I didn’t bother to bring it up earlier because their forms of magic didn’t strike me as versatile enough to be used to alter dreams, but in light of our lack of other possibilities, we may have to reconsider that. There is also Tyron’s sentient sword, Kir. Psychological torture doesn’t exactly strike me as fitting Kir’s personality profile, but it’s also strangely convenient that Kir is able to project his voice into other people’s minds at will.”
“That’s right. I forgot about that,” said Warnado, becoming angry with himself for not remembering that sooner. “But that makes five possible people who could have induced Amanda’s nightmare. Six, I guess, if you’re including the possibility that I am using this to cover up my own crime. But still… how are we supposed to narrow that down?”
Fire said: “For completeness’ sake I should add that while I can use magic, it is limited to pyromancy and I can only cast if I have an external power source.”
“Okay, technically there are seven magic users, then,” Warnado amended. “Each with varying skill, but in light of our lack of information we can’t assume we have the abilities we say we do. Basically, we’re all playing a less deadly but more magical version of the award-winning board game Clue. Not sure what Clue is but we have that to consider. So, how should we proceed?”
Kay raised a hand with an uncharacteristic sheepishness. “I can commune with Herobrine, allowing him to semi-physically manifest in a location for brief periods of time, but I think that’s more a religious thing than a magic thing and I haven’t tried that in months.” When people just kind of stared blankly at him: “I just wanted to put that out there.” He looked at his feet awkwardly.
Warnado sighed. “Great, so anybody here could potentially be responsible. What’s next? Steve shooting lasers out of his eyes?”
Astro said: “Given what we currently know about the abilities of each person, it would seem Kir is the most likely cause.”
Kay looked up at this, emboldened again: “Now, hang on a second. That wee thing is incredibly friendly. And it hasn’t betrayed Tyron in years of hero-work.”
“True, but even I don’t know much about Kir’s abilities, and if we instead base our guess on personality and motivation, then our suspicion falls squarely on you and me. Well, Destiny might have her reasons, if we consider what she’s been through recently. But her expertise is limited to hot and cold spells and she has not shown much in the way of creativity.”
Kay was not yet deterred: “Yeah but what is exactly the significance of a nightmare? Even if magically induced, disturbed sleep has scarcely killed a man. I should know.” He laughed and looked pleadingly to Astro.
This seemed to make Warnado angry. “If you saw how Amanda was affected by the nightmare, you would feel differently. This was not some low-tier magical prank. Whoever pulled it off is definitely capable of more dangerous stuff and is definitely not going to stop at just a nightmare.”
Astro sighed. “To be fair, we still have not ruled out the possibility that the nightmare was simply ordinary, but have you ever seen Warnado this serious?”
Kay lowered his eyes and nodded empathetically. “Sorry.”
“I must admit the idea of you being responsible is a just silly,” said Astro. “Me, on the other hand… I could tell all of you that I’m innocent but that doesn’t change much. What we really need is a process of elimination. A way to remove ourselves from the equation, ideally without the others knowing. And ideally handled by some neutral party to keep it all straight. But since Steve’s group is gone and there’s no telling when the true aggressor will strike, we’ll have to improvise. Kay and Warnado, you should work together on this.”
“Me and Warnado working as a team? Hmmm…” Pondered Kay, scratching his chin. “On the one hand I am biased in favour of finding both Astro and Warnado innocent and feel profound pity for Destiny but on the other hand I do love a good mystery-solving caper.” He picked up a magnifying glass from a table and began to ponder it like a certain Danish prince pondering a skull upon the stage. He seemed to relish being near the centre of attention again. “To detect, or not do that. Thus is my dilemma…” A pensive pause. “For the record, I’m waiting for someone else to say yay or nay on this one. I’m more than willing to do it, I just want to make sure no one has objections to me being involved.”
“I realize it’s not ideal, but neither is having Warnado do it on his own, and you’re the only one here who can’t use magic. Not any proper magic at least.”
Warnado scratched his chin contemplatively. “I may also have some biases of my own, even though I don’t talk about them. And besides, Kay being skeptical about the whole thing would balance out my strong motivation.”
Shadow shrugged. “I don’t know enough about you to say much but I agree with what you just said. Besides, I probably should be one of the main suspects anyways.”
Fire added: “I would fall under accomplice by association then. I’d also like to remark that as it stands we have no concrete motive pinned down.”
Astro nodded. “It’s settled, then. Kay and Warnado, it’s up to you.”
“In that case…” Kay raised the magnifying glass as if it were a sword and struck a dramatic pose. “Inspector Kay Mandy and Deputy Warnado, at your service.”
Warnado dramatically waved his hand, summoned a ghostly blue magnifying glass, and struck a similarly combat-ready pose. “We will uncover the truth to the best extent of our abilities!”
Chapter22:Plenty to Go Around (Astro)
Once Kay, Fire, and Warnado are out of the shop, I feel a bit like I have just sent two kids off on a camping trip. Young Kay, as usual, has a tendency to make light of these kinds of situations. It’s a bit irritating, but I’m also just glad to see him in good spirits. It wasn’t annoying back then, though. I guess we didn’t realise just how bad it could get back then. Now it all just seems flippant.
I suddenly realize how tense my neck is, and tilt my head in the other direction. But the soreness doesn’t go away. I let a trickle of healing energy into my neck, but the magic doesn’t do much because there’s nothing to heal. I consider using magic to move the muscles in my neck into the correct position, but given the delicate concentration required to put the muscles in just the right place, and the fact I use a similar technique to break people’s necks, I decide it’s probably best not to.
I glance at the shopkeeper’s wares, mostly weapons, placed on the table, hanging from racks, and behind the counter. They all look relatively well-made. One shield in particular looks especially interesting, with a colorful gemstone-studded outer edge and a pleasing painted design that one might also find on the back of playing cards. However, I’m not really in the market for that kind of equipment, and given Kay’s experience with the crossbow, I’d rather not risk a purchase.
Still, with Kay gone, and most of my other friends still stuck in another dimension, there aren’t many better things to do in this small village. There’s the pub, but I’m not really in the mood. Aside from that, there isn’t a library I know of or any other public space of note. I don’t know where Tyron or Destiny are and bearing in mind the magical plot going on I’m not feeling sociable enough to track down any of the others. At least Shadow is still here.
I glance over toward Shadow and see her inspecting a pinewood staff with a spiral contour along its length. At the top of the staff, the wood breaks free from the spiral and curves around a lapis-colored sphere in a hook shape that’s relatively common for staffs. The woodwork is tidy but overall not impressive. What is more impressive is the contours and patterns of magical energy contained within it. From the way she inspects it, I get the impression she’s not really interested in buying it and is only wasting time like I am.
“I never really bothered with staffs,” I admit to Shadow. “I always found them unwieldy and a chore to charge up again.” I ponder on whether this was part of what was sapping away my strength. Hubris.
Shadow looks over to me and replies: “Honestly, the only type of staff that’s useful out in the field is one that helps focus certain spells instead of storing them.”
“Honestly, I don’t see the point of using a staff if it doesn’t augment my magic in some way,” I say. “There have been times where I would be better off with a staff like that. I always run out of energy at the least convenient moments. I’ve considered getting something smaller, but either the energy stored isn’t worth the trouble, or there’s some nasty side effects like not-so-temporary insanity or financial debt.”
“I suppose your world is a lot less friendly when it comes to artifacts. Where I’m from energy storage gems are perfectly safe if used responsibly, in fact I have some on me right now.” Shadow reaches down the neck of her robes and pulls out a finely crafted golden necklace with sapphires inlaid in regular intervals.
I raise my brows with a mix of intrigue and envy at the necklace. “That must be worth a fortune. I don’t suppose you have a spare?” I remark, only half-jokingly.
“Not the necklace but I can give you my rings. They have smaller stones but still store quite a bit, I only packed this much storage because I didn’t know how magically charged this world would be.” With a wide grin she adds: “The answer to which turned out to be ‘very’.”
I look down at my hands and the rings that are on them. “If they are any better than mine, I might have to take you up on your offer. I have a few rings of my own which can store some magic, but the capacity is residual at best. Only really makes a difference in a survival situation.”
Shadow pulls two identical rings off her fingers, one from each hand. The rings themselves are fairly plain but the gems they hold are masterfully cut.
“Those won’t fit you, hold on. Give me your hand for a moment.” She says and reaches out to me.
As she touches my hand the rings she holds in her other hand start glowing as the gold is heated up close to its melting point. Shadow traces along two of my unoccupied fingers and a few moments later the rings widen to the appropriate size, then rapidly cool down again.
I take the two rings from Shadow’s hand and slide them onto my fingers, and the difference in power is significant. Just one of Shadow’s rings holds more energy than all my own rings combined, and then some.
“Thank you,” I tell Shadow sincerely.
She replies: “No problem. It’s always good to help a fellow mage out.”
Shadow’s smile has a touch of camaraderie to it that makes me lower my guard. From a purely logical standpoint, Shadow is the person I should trust the least, since she is the person most likely responsible for Amanda’s nightmare. But it’s been so long since I’ve had the opportunity to confide openly with another mage about the more subtle intricacies of magic. And giving up such powerful artifacts in a situation like this is no small favor.
“Speaking as fellow mage, can I ask you one more favor?” I ask.
“What favor would that be, Astro?”
“I’m getting a bit bored of this little village and was wondering if you had any suggestions.”
Chapter23:Getting in Some Practice (Astro)
Shadow’s gaze jumps over to the shop’s door. “We could go out of town for a bit, fewer people and more opportunities for magical distractions.”
I smile. This was the sort of answer I was hoping for. “That sounds like the start of an excellent plan. At the very least, it would be the perfect opportunity for me to test the capacity of these new rings you’ve given me. What sort of magical distractions did you have in mind?”
“Well, I suppose a magical variety of a board game is a good start. Does your world have chess?”
“I’ve played a fair number of chess games in my own world.”
Shadow starts walking towards the door and signals me to follow. “Great, haven’t had a proper opponent in a while. Fire’s no fun to play against, his thousands of years of strategic experience were bound to carry over to chess.”
“Now, that’s a problem I can relate to! Although, my specific situation was actually the opposite.”
I follow behind Shadow as she opens the door out into the village and walks out onto the streets, as I reminisce about the past.
“When I was at my best, most of my friends were no match for me. They eventually got tired of me winning, and eventually I got tired of playing while drunk. Even then, I couldn’t exactly boast several thousand years of applicable experience. But it’s been a while and I’m pretty rusty, and the years haven’t been kind to my memory recall.”
If I’m being honest with myself, they haven’t been kind to my body either. Using magic for recreational purposes seems rather irresponsible, but I really do need the practice given the circumstances. Using my magic for something other than killing might also give me the will to hold on just a little longer.
It’s cloudy. There’s a slight breeze but not the chilling kind. The weather hasn’t changed much since my discussion with Warnado and Shadow this morning. A few villagers struggle to carry a large crate as they walk past us. As we walk toward the edge of town, the breeze becomes stronger. A few kids are talking and leaning against the wall of a small house, but most people don’t linger and are eager to get back to wherever they need to be.
As the clouds drag themselves sluggishly in the sky above us, the sun flickers and hides behind one, and the light of the village dims from the cloud’s shade. There is something off about the light, although I can’t quite place it. I glance toward Shadow and notice she’s cast some sort of flight spell, enough to suspend herself about a hand’s length above the ground.
She says: “I am just falling in love with this world. There is enough ambient energy here to sustain this spell indefinitely.”
As I focus my attention on the slight change in energy induced by Shadow’s unique ability to absorb magic, I realize the aberration in lighting is from Shadow’s shadow. It is darker than everyone else’s and seems almost as if it detached itself from her slightly when she jumped or took a long step, as if it is stuck to the ground.
“Does your shadow normally do that when you cast that spell?” I ask.
Then, the shadow suddenly waves at me.
Shadow replies: “Oh, her. She’s her own thing, she showed up after I ascended. I called her Wodahs, while not very creative it does stop people from saying ‘Shadow’s shadow’, which gets old quickly. She usually sticks with me but when there aren’t many people around she likes to go off on her own.”
I raise a brow as I contemplate what sort of mischief that light deficit projection gets away with when no-one is looking. “Is it corporeal? I mean… is it capable of interacting with the world?”
Shadow nods. “She can’t directly touch things but if they cast shadows she can interact with those, which reflects on the things themselves. She can’t do much in total darkness or against someone invisible, weather like we have it now just hinders her a bit. I’ve also seen her cut shadows off things and carry them around, interestingly the separation causes no harm but interacting with the shadow still reflects onto what cast it.”
I find myself alarmed, and questions start buzzing in my head about the nature of this creature and what other capabilities it has. Why didn’t Shadow mention it earlier? Could it be responsible for Amanda’s dream? What else is Shadow hiding? Calm yourself down, Astro. You still don’t understand Shadow’s motives, and in the meantime there’s no need to make your suspicions well-known. Besides, there’s also the chance that Shadow really does mean well. In either case, this little diversion lets you get a better sense of her abilities, so you might as well make the best use of this opportunity.
“Can it talk?” I ask, figuring that to be a friendly question.
“Sure can, doesn’t do it often though. Usually the most you’ll get out of her is a giggle. She is fluent in normal words as well as Demon, strangely enough.”
So it can speak Demon? That certainly doesn’t alleviate any worries. Then again, considering the other members of our group, Warnado included, that’s probably the least of my concerns.
We step off of the village’s cobbled stone paths and onto open fields, where we travel for a ways until we reach the boundary of a forest. We then travel a little further into the trees until we reach an uninhabited meadow, not too far away from the village, but just far enough to avoid unwanted attention.
I turn to face Shadow. “This seems as good of a place as any. Shall we begin?”
“Gladly.” She says.
Accompanied by subtle flashing of various runes Shadow summons an ethereal chess board of enormous dimensions, complete with pieces of equally amazing proportions.
She explains: “You should be able to control your pieces with your thoughts, I’ll let you pick a side.”
“I’ll pick that one, then,” I say as I point to no particular side, and walk toward it. “Ladies first?”
“Yes, because you happened to pick black.” Shadow smiles and moves a pawn two squares forward.
I respond in turn and will the first pawn of my own two squares forward. I’ll admit, playing with a giant-sized chess board fueled by magic definitely makes it more fun.
We play through our first game slowly, adding a bit of flourish to the movements of our pieces. Then, before I know it, Shadow has already cornered my king, and in the next game I get a bit more serious. The second match, I manage to capture quite a few of Shadow’s pieces, but I mess up my chance to capture her king and I quickly find myself in an unfavorable position.
“I think Fire’s strategic prowess may have rubbed off on you,” I point out, shaking my head in frustration at my predicament.
Shadow replies: “If it’s of any solace to you, he said that while I have good strategies I don’t have that many, which I also realize. Nothing like him in that regard, you can’t get a read on him at all from one game to the next.”
“He certainly sounds like a bit of an enigma.” Good to get a bead on Fire, in case his sister is responsible and he takes her side. “Even to his sister it seems,” I remark. I think for a moment about my position. It seems two of my pieces will inevitably be lost in the next few moves. There’s one way I can avoid having one of my pieces taken, but Shadow will probably predict it if I attempt it.
Fast forward a few moves, and we find ourselves in a stalemate, with neither side able to advance without the other side able to move out of the way.
Even though this is just a chess game at its heart, I don’t think I have had this much fun in a long time. But one of my new rings is hardly drained, and I do want to at least make it seem to myself that I’m doing something productive.
“Shadow, this chess game is more fun than I’m willing to admit. But could we switch to something more… active? Measuring the effectiveness of these rings is a bit difficult on ethereal constructs.”
“What did you have in mind?”
I search my brain for some sort of magical activity. Ideally nothing remotely life-threatening, but enough to strain myself a little. I could come up with some other magically-enhanced leisure activity, but Shadow’s ethereal chess game sets a high bar. I suppose it doesn’t need to be so well thought out, just something that lets me cast a few spells. If my goal really is to measure the energy in these rings as effectively as possible, physical exertion is the best way to do that. I just need to be mindful of my body’s limits.
“Play any sports?” I ask.
She replies: “I definitely have played some on the world I came to Nexus from. In the other one… not so much since I was more or less trapped in my own mind for most of my life there but nevermind that. I like ball sports, throwing and kicking, either is fine with me.”
“A ball seems like a simple enough requirement.” I think aloud. “The hard part is finding a sport that works best with two people. Perhaps we could play a simple game of catch? With a few additions?”
“Sounds good. I’ll begin.” She says and summons up a glowing white ball of magical energy in her palm, then tosses it in my direction without much force.
I hold my hands out, walk a few steps back, and prepare a bit of magical cushioning as the glowing ball descends toward me. The ball decelerates just enough that its energetic corona briefly touches my palms, giving a fuzzy sensation. I hold the ball suspended in my hands for a moment, as I focus on how far to throw it.
“Shadow, are you able to magically enhance your speed and strength?” I ask.
“By necessity, my muscles run on magic. Ascended, remember?”
“Oh... In that case, expect a few magically enhanced throws from me. But not this time.” I throw the ball back into the air, with a little bit of effort to it, and the ball flies about twice as fast as Shadow’s initial throw.
Shadow quickly walks backwards with more sureness than I expected since long robes usually tend to get in the way of that kind of movement. As the energy ball passes over her, she leaps up and slams it back in my direction, and I don’t have time to think before the ball is directly above me.
I realize I might have gotten more than I bargained for. I turn around and sprint, the muscles in my legs assisted with the push and pull of magic, and catch the ball with both hands above my head. Unfortunately my hands end up submerged inside the energy ball, since I forgot to add cushioning, and before I am able to correct this mistake, my hands are scorched from the concentrated magical energy. I wince, push my hands out of the ball while trying to keep the ball in place, and purge the excess heat from my hands and heal their burns. I certainly can’t let that unannounced increase in power go unanswered! I look in Shadow’s direction and plot my throw, mentally preparing myself to enhance my movements again when Shadow reciprocates. I then throw my strongest throw and then some, with a little help from magic.
My throw goes further and higher than any previous one, too much for any ordinary human to have any chance of reaching or much less catching. “Alright!” Shadow shouts and zips diagonally upwards, leaving a trail of distortions in her path. Now things are starting to get interesting. As Shadow intercepts my throw, she stops the ball in front of her with both hands, and with an electric crackle the ball doubles in brightness. Instead of throwing it back at me instantly, Shadow pulls the ball apart into two identical copies, throwing one directly at me and the other one upwards, giving me just enough time to catch both if I plan my movements correctly. As soon as both balls are in flight, Shadow returns to where she originally stood.
I take a few rapid steps forward and cup my hand around the first ball, with protection this time, then accelerate backward past the white ball approaching fast from above. I hold up the ball in my hand and let the two orbs of energy combine into one, and as I hold my hand above me, I notice that the energy in one of my new rings has drained a bit. Then, I plot my next move. I inject the ball with a bit of unstable energy, and throw it hard.
As the ball flies into the air, the unstable energy leaks out of it in small bursts, causing the ball to zigzag. The ball is now only a short distance in front of Shadow, she opens her arms, I see some of her runes flash. The ball slows its movement as if it’s being sucked in front of Shadow, where she catches it. However when she stops her spell the ball immediately teleports away again, she seems surprised by this, which gives me a bit of satisfaction. With a gesture of her hand she shoots a bolt of energy at the ball, causing it to promptly overload and explode into a flurry of lightning.
“Nice one,” she says “we’ll need a new ball now though, that one is too unpredictable.”
I oblige and use the palms of my hands to concentrate energy into a new glowing ball, which takes a significant chunk of magic from my active ring in the process. I should avoid tampering with the ball this time so I can conserve my magic. Besides, I wouldn’t want this game to end too early.
I throw the ball up in the air toward Shadow. This one isn’t my strongest throw, but is still magically enhanced. Shadow just runs over to where the ball is going and catches it normally. Perhaps I should have made my throw a bit more challenging.
Instead of immediately returning my throw Shadow… disappears? I hear an electric crackle from my right and suddenly the ball is almost in my face, caught off guard I only barely catch it, this time remembering to properly protect my hands first.
I then return her throw, the first of many more, and by the time the sun is near the top of the sky, my first new ring is drained of energy, and my second ring nearly so. I almost forgot that I was supposed to measure their energy capacity. My physical body is also showing signs of exertion, and while the rings have shouldered most of the burden, my body has been weakened by use of magic as well. I wipe a bit of sweat from my brow as I inspect the glowing ball I just caught. It is slightly smaller than it was originally. Its size has fluctuated as energy has been lost and added back into it. I consider throwing the ball one last time, but hesitate.
Chapter24:We should have stopped at the Dodgeball (Astro)
“I think I’m done,” I admit. “I wouldn’t want to strain myself too much in case something bad happens. But this has been the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
I toss the energy ball up into the air and let the energy dissipate quietly into a fading shower of white sparks.
“Shall we return to the village?” I offer.
Suddenly, Shadow sprints toward me, and with surprise I wonder if Shadow is trying to continue playing the game, but as she comes closer, my years of combat instincts start to evaluate her as a threat.
As she grabs my hand, my brain continues to yell at me and tell me to do something, but by the time my feet become disconnected from the ground and the world starts to slide underneath me, I’m still too surprised to react.
We are both rising extremely fast into the air, no doubt due to some magic Shadow is using, and the only reason I am not falling seems to be my temporary physical contact with Shadow’s hand. I don’t think I could fall from this height without being severely injured, and that’s assuming I can exert enough magic to slow my fall. This is insanity.
The village’s disorganized grid of houses has shrunk to a small pile of flat pebbles, and in the distance, this world’s patchwork of environments has become apparent, with deserts rubbing against oceans and plains of ice. There is even a city off in the distance rubbing up against a vast forest wilderness, with a strangely jagged border between them, as if the city itself was ripped in two before one half was placed in this world.
Shadow steers us such that the world rotates beneath us, and another, closer city becomes visible. But I then recognize the fields and forest leading up to it, and I realize that was where I was imprisoned by the Entity. I didn’t realize The Tower was at the edge of a city, let alone a city like that. The city is almost completely square, with a carefully pruned border between the city and the forest beyond it, and no discontinuities in the terrain close by. I can also just barely make out fine lines in the terrain, no doubt roads, fanning out from the city. Unlike everything else in this world, it seems that city was carefully planned.
Then, Shadow switches course yet again, this time making us descend quickly downward, the wind pushing against my face like a frigid waterfall. Before I know it, we’re mere meters from the ground and weaving through the trees, and I fear I will hit something if I even dare turn my head.
Is Shadow even tired by this use of flying magic? Why won’t she slow down?
“Shadow, slow down!” I cry out, as my feet graze the surface of a lake and create a spray of foam, and then the wind chills my legs as the water seeps through my robe. “I didn’t ask for this! If you let go of me even for one second at this speed, I’ll die! I don’t have the strength to decelerate myself that fast!”
“Astro, I wouldn’t do this if I wanted to endanger you. I may have gone a bit overboard though… How about this?”
After saying these words the lake disappears from view, the following disorientation not helping my mental state in the slightest. As I look around me, I realize we are much higher in the air, the lake far below us. It seems to shine like metal from the sky’s reflection. Luckily, in spite of the additional danger of our increased elevation, Shadow has slowed down our rate of flight significantly. Instead we are slowly gliding across the landscape, the strong wind replaced by a gentle breeze.
With the threat of imminent death possibly averted, I have slightly more space in my head to evaluate the situation. Or, at the very least, question our reason for being here.
“Can you perhaps explain why you flew us extremely high into the air, and then brought us several kilometers away from the village?”
Shadow replies: “I, perhaps wrongly, assumed that flight would be a good way to help with whatever is plaguing your mind. Most people tend to enjoy flight.”
“I’m bloody sure they do! When it’s consensual, expected, and there’s some reasonable assurances that they will come out of it alive. And that’s assuming they’re not afraid of heights.”
Shadow chuckles in a manner that could be interpreted in many different ways. “I am sorry. Even after all of those years this is still something I occasionally fumble with, human interaction is more Fire’s thing. I have trouble reading people without… getting into their head. But this is alright now, this slow flight, right?”
I sigh. I should have expected this. I got too competitive in that magical game of catch, and made myself seem like someone I’m not.
“I guess it’s okay for the trip back.”
Shadow turns our direction of flight, and we begin our trip back toward the village, just high enough to avoid attracting attention from unknown observers below.
Roughly an hour later, Shadow brings us down in the clearing where we first began our game of magical chess. I finally let go of Shadow’s hand and feel relieved as I can stand with two feet on solid ground… and I can finally rest my arm.
Shadow says: “There is one last thing I must try before we return, I thought of it on the way back. In the world I come from my power is limited by the… gods. Gods would be the best term for them. Here though, I think that those limitations are not in effect. I advise you to step back a bit, I don’t know what this will do.”
I oblige, turn around, and walk a good ten meters away from Shadow, having learned the hard way at least some of what she is capable of.
Shadow closes her eyes and holds up her right arm. At first, the light around her hand seems to become increasingly bent and distorted, but then it becomes clear it’s not just a trick of the light, or any sort of illusion magic whatsoever. No, this distortion of her hand is something… different. With each passing moment, the hand seems to gain another layer of optical distortion which is, somehow, not that at all. It’s like perceiving each detail of it’s form requires the same mental amount of strain as remembering what I ate for breakfast yesterday at 4am in the morning. The most I can make out of it, is that the very edge of the distortion-which-isn’t still vaguely resembles Shadow’s hand.
“Aha!” Shadow says. She pulls at the air, and a gap opens up in front of her that is just as horrifyingly indescribable as the distorted hand which was there before. The gap seems to push away everything: light, air, sound… even my ability to perceive its existence. Just looking at it makes me feel like there’s an intense pressure inside my head. Then my mind unfreezes, from what frozen state I don’t know. Shadow leans against the gap and a hand materializes into existence, as if it never existed before, even though I insist to myself that that hand is a part of Shadow’s body and was always there all along. And whatever existential gap was there before… suddenly isn’t.
The fading of Shadow’s hand into existence is accompanied by a growing lightness in my head, and I become aware of the great amount of power that was used in the past few hours. How easily that power can be underestimated. I should have known better than to use my magic so frivolously. What was I thinking? I could easily die as the magic consumed me, or worse… hurt someone else later. How many wizards have I met on the battlefield which were so emboldened? How many people have died in those battles? How many of my friends? I still remember their faces. I still remember the ways in which each one of them died. I still remember the times we spent together, those pompous little pieces of…
Oh Jeb, I remember everything!
I feel a growing, splitting headache, as waves upon waves of memories of my past flood into my mind, from improvised introductions, to countless overused jokes with misplaced punchlines, to ad-hoc escape attempts from villains with ambiguous mental health issues. The world starts to dim and tilt back and forth.
“Are you alright, Astro?”
Shadow runs up to me and holds onto my arm just as the world decides to tilt itself upside down. The world can do whatever it wants for all I care. I knew it never cared about me anyway. My body is probably finally failing, my life flashing before my eyes like straight out of some cliche amateur pulp fiction novel. Because I selfishly used magic to indulge myself, and went too far. It’s an insult to all my friends I could have saved with the same magic. In all these years, in spite of all the heart-wrenching lessons I’ve learned, have I really learned anything? It’s as if I wished my friends dead out of spite. At least the rogue wizards I fought against on the battlefield had the courage to kill their enemies directly...
I wince as I prepare from the end, but rather than fade to black, the world stops rotating. I open my eyes and see Shadow still holding my arms, a concerned look in her eyes.
She asks again: “Are you alright, Astro?”
I blink a few times. “In all honesty? No, I am not okay. My entire life flashed before my eyes, all because of some blatantly irresponsible overuse of magic.”
All confidence had disappeared from Shadow’s voice. “I really screwed up, didn’t I? We should have stopped at the dodgeball.”
I sigh, feeling yet more guilt for being a bit too harsh with criticism for Shadow which was partly meant for myself. I guess if I could wield such powerful magic without consequences, I might indulge in it more freely, too. “I guess it’s a lesson learned, then. For both of us.”
Shadow says: “I really am sorry. I just… didn’t know that that would happen. In my world I’m only allowed to use some extent of my powers, which is extended if I need to apprehend people who break the gods’ rules but this… I have never done this before.”
“I can’t say I’ve seen anything like that before, either. Even thinking about what it looked like makes my head hurt. Do you have any idea what it was?”
Shadow helps me stand up completely again. “I do have a pretty good idea. Considering that the origin of my power, the reason for my successful ascension, is Void magic, I probably tore a hole into the fabric of reality. What you experienced was your brain trying to comprehend something it wasn’t meant to comprehend, my - as cliché that term might be - true form does that to people.”
“Yeah, that seems fitting, given the affect it’s seemed to have on my mind!” I grip my temper by the scruff of its neck. “I certainly hope it’s not permanent, no offense, I still forgive you and all that.”
Shadow flashes a smile. “It’s not permanent, I only eat minds that I want to eat.”
“Ah, well, that’s a relief, then,” I grimace internally, mentally noting another reason not to get on Shadow’s bad side. “I feel good enough to walk at this point. It’s about time I returned to the village to find out what Kay and the others have been up to.”
If I think hard enough, there probably was a time in my technically childhood years when I wanted to be a detective. I can see the appeal. One part stealthy information-gathering, one part diplomacy, and at the end you get to catch the bad guy, assuming things go according to plan.
In spite of me being involved, and my personal doubts of the external origins of Amanda’s nightmare, I’d say things went according to plan. It’s a rather satisfying feeling.
While Warnado did some magical reconnaissance, I discreetly tracked down a woman unrelated to our group with sufficient magical knowledge to assist my efforts in acquiring a device that can detect magic from a distance. It took quite a few favors and a few semi-truthful promises to get the transaction through, and the device was technically a loan, but I doubted we would be in this village long for that to be an issue and in either case it could be dealt with.
Warnado and I then met up in a dark cellar at a predetermined time to complete the transaction. The dealer was a tall, old man in a trenchcoat with a relatively congenial demeanor in spite of the relatively threatening bodyguard which stood beside him. The detector he showed us didn’t look like much, but then again I’m not sure what I expected. It came as two pieces. The wizardry detecting part was round and flat and glowed green, while the second part was a tin case with a small rectangular opening where light was supposed to shine through when the green detector thingy sensed magic on the other side.
With Warnado’s help, and the dealer’s permission, we tested the detector and verified it could detect Warnado’s magic, and compensated the dealer with some of Warnado’s money and a spicy burrito. Thus, the transaction was completed and the first stage of our plan came to a conclusion.
The next step was to discreetly plant the detector. Warnado stuffed the detector and receiver under his conveniently thick and identity-concealing cloak under the cover of the dark cellar where our transaction occurred, and we then returned to the inn, pretending to act like we had another good reason to be there. At this point, it was mid-afternoon in the village, so the risk of our actions being detected by others in our group was low, but on the other hand we hadn’t ruled out the possibility of an external spy.
We headed upstairs and put the detector underneath Amanda’s bed, and quickly realized hiding the detector would not be as easy as we thought. Even during the day, the detector’s green glow was easily visible on the floor around the bed. Warnado had a spark of inspiration and conjured up a bunch of napkins to cover the detector, but unfortunately they were the thin paper kind and easily slid off.
“Maybe we should buy some paint instead,” I said. I rubbed my forehead, partly in frustration, but in part because I was getting another headache.
“No,” Warnado said, determined. “I believe in the potential of these napkins. With enough napkins, we can accomplish anything.”
Warnado then conjured an entire pile of napkins as tall as a small dog.
“Help me tie these napkins together. We’re going to make a thicker napkin to cover the detector.”
“Couldn’t we just purchase a blanket?” I offered. “Or hide the detector under the mattress instead? Anything that doesn’t involve sitting in Amanda’s room for several hours and potentially jeopardizing our entire plan?” I usually wasn’t the voice of reason, but I didn’t like the idea of all of my carefully orchestrated trade deals turning out for nothing.
“If the village vendor is a spy, that plan could backfire. Besides, if I saw a pile of napkins under a bed I’d be inclined to leave it alone. And don’t worry about the timing. I’ve been in situations like this before, and if I had to give a rough estimate, I’d say our napkin operation will take about 36 minutes.”
I began to wonder what sort of past situations Warnado could possibly have been involved in that would require napkin-based textile production estimates, and I began to suspect his past was a bit darker than his innocent personality had led me to believe. Then again, this was Warnado.
“In that case, how would you like me to tie the napkins?” I asked.
Fast-forward a little over a half hour later, and the glowing green detector thingy was encased in a blanket made of napkins that was thick enough to hide its green glow. Thanks to Warnado’s handiwork it actually looked like an ordinary blanket, albeit an old and tattered one, once it was hidden under the bed. At this point it was just a matter of testing the detector’s range and deciding what to do if the dream weaver showed up.
Chapter26:Return of the Dreamweaver (Astro)
It’s been several days since I started walking through this forest. I’m not exactly sure what the nature of my journey is, but if this map I’m holding is correct, my destination is not far from here.
To be honest, I’m not sure how I convinced myself to go on this silly quest. Yes, the person who gave me the map claimed to be a distant relative of a close friend. Yes, the rumors of unclaimed surface gold deposits scattered throughout this forest were plausible, and the less well-known rumor that a group of hostile, self-replicating golems were recently eradicated from this region must be true, assuming they even existed at all. But my exact destination is unclear. The distant relative claimed at one point that they needed me to pick up something to help return a favor, but at another point they contradicted themself and claimed it was some sort spiritual journey. In either case I can’t fathom what was so compelling about it that made me accept the map and follow it, let alone why I would trust someone who was basically a stranger. Perhaps I was so tired of the status quo of living in the village that I finally needed an adventure. After all, retirement can get a bit dull at times. Who would have thought that I, Astro, of all people, would retire? And in Nexus of all places?
I appreciate a bit the humor of my situation, roll up the map, and put it in one of my pockets. I already have a good sense of direction thanks to the angle of the sun, and my destination is getting very close so the map will most likely just distract me.
Many trees later and my destination still isn’t in sight, but then I stop walking and stand still when I realize there is a cloaked figure standing among the trees ahead of me.
As I tally up the possibilities, I realize I am very unprepared for this situation. It’s been ages since I’ve used magic in any capacity, and my sword-fighting skills are amateur at best at this point. If the cloaked stranger has any malicious intent, it is unlikely I will be able to defend myself.
I take out my map and compass and walk sideways. But as I look back toward the cloaked stranger, I realize they are following me.
What do I do? Do I attempt to run? Or do I confront them and hope they are peaceful?
Before I can make my decision, the cloaked figure raises their arm slowly. A shockwave spreads out from their hand in a cone shape, distorting the trees as it passes by. It moves so fast that I couldn’t possibly outrun it. I watch as the trees in front of me bend and twist like ripples in a lake, and then the shockwave passes through me. I feel myself pulled like a clump of magnetic molten wax toward the cloaked figure until I am standing right in front of them.
The cloaked figure stares at me, yet their face is undefined. They raise their arm once more, and a great, gaping hole appears between us. It is painful to look at, but I am powerless to look away. There is such a profound nothingness to the hole that even my thoughts seem to disappear inside of it, and the more I comprehend its darkness, the bigger the hole seems to be, until my entire self seems to be swallowed up inside of it...
I wake with a start as I hear a scream. Startled, I sit up quickly, and then clasp my head in pain as the memory of that hole in existence continues to throb inside of me. There is a weak light coming from between the curtains of the window of the inn room. I open the curtains. It’s early morning.
I open the door and try to investigate the source of the scream. For a second the memory of the nightmare lingers, and I almost convince myself that I’m retired from magic and shouldn’t get involved in dangerous situations like this, but then I remember that was just a dream.
I soon find a half-open door with a light and voices coming from inside. I open it, and see Destiny, Kay, and Warnado staring at Amanda laying in bed. From the looks of it, Amanda seems completely beside herself, almost as if she is paralyzed by fear. Destiny has a weird look on her face, a mix of fear with something ill-defined. Warnado is keeping the room lit with an ethereal flame, while Kay stands just beside Amanda, with a purposeful pose that suggests he’s asking most of the questions.
“I walked in, and his… his eyes... were gleaming like moonlight,” Destiny said, her voice stuttering. “And he was touching her head.”
“What’s going on here?” I ask. “Another nightmare?”
“It seems like it,” Kay says, a look of realization in his face which suggests he no longer doubts Amanda’s nightmare was caused by someone else. Seeing the look of pure fear in Amanda’s eyes, I too find it hard to dismiss it as a coincidence.
“I hated that guy from the start. He only ever cared about himself and getting back to his dumb farm. Now we know that’s all pigshit! He’s been using us this whole time!” Destiny continues. Her eyes are red and watery and her teeth are bared in feral manner. A pitiable sight; a sight whose words are hard to believe.
“You’re entitled to your opinion of Fristad’s personality, but let’s focus on the facts at hand,” Kay says, teeth gritted, obviously struggling not to immediately indulge his own prejudices. “Was Fristad an enderman when this was happening?”
She seems to realise she’s losing Kay. Her features solidify, her voice levels itself: “He was human.”
“How long was he in the room?”
“I don’t know. He teleported out of the room immediately after I saw him.”
“Did he say anything, or was doing anything else unusual?” Warnado asks. “What was he wearing?”
“He didn’t say or do anything else. He wasn’t wearing any armor, just a shirt with a vest.”
“Astro, can you take my place so I can check Fristad’s room to see if he left his armor behind?” Warnado asks.
“That’s fine,” I tell Warnado. I cast a spell which creates an orb of white light hovering near the ceiling. Warnado snuffs out his ethereal fire and walks out of the room. I don’t think I’ve seen him cast a spell like that before. Is it new? Perhaps his abilities are improving.
“What were you doing before you entered Amanda’s room?” Kay asks.
“I don’t see why that’s any of your business. I wasn’t the one harming her,” Destiny snaps.
“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to accuse you of anything,” Kay says. “I’m just trying to see if there’s anything we might have missed that would bring us closer to finding out what Amanda has been dealing with.”
“I already told you Fristad did it!” Destiny barks.
“That may be true,” Kay begins with strained diplomacy, “but Fristad isn’t here, and there are other components to this investigation. Your unwillingness to cooperate doesn’t really help your own case for innocence. So, could you please just answer the question?”
Destiny sighs. “If you must know… I was having difficulty sleeping. I heard strange noises coming Amanda’s room, so I investigated. That’s when I saw Fristad standing next to Amanda while she was screaming in her bed.”
“I heard the scream, too,” I add. “It woke me up from a nightmare I was having... Listen, I’m not sure if the dreams are related, but I might as well describe mine. It was about a wizard creating a hole in existence that was painful to look at and distorted my consciousness. It’s probably linked to a similar reality-distorting spell Shadow created yesterday while we were testing our magic. Maybe it left a magical effect, maybe it just made an impression. Probably not severe, but something to consider going forward.”
“First eavesdropping on an entire crowd, then dimensional holes? What kind of magicking wizard is Shadow, exactly?” Kay asks, gesticulating sharply.
“Reality holes, not dimensional holes,” I correct Kay. “And apparently a very competent one. I’ll tell you and Warnado more about it later. I’ll let you wrap up your questions so we all can let Amanda get some rest.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to get back to sleep any time soon,” Amanda admits, her voice weak.
Warnado returns into the room. “Fristad is asleep, or at least he’s in bed right now,” he says. “He’s probably not wearing any armor. I saw his usual black plated armor on the floor.”
Warnado turns to face me. “Thank you, Astro, for holding my spot. I can take it from here.”
“I’m actually a bit interested in what happened to Amanda. You know, just a little,” I tell him with a warning sarcasm.
Warnado gives me a serious look. “That may be the case, but you simply being here could influence the witnesses.”
“You’re right,” I sighed and splayed my hands. “I should go. Good luck with your investigation. I hope we get to the bottom of this soon.”
I leave the room, leaving Warnado to tend to the interview with Amanda and Destiny. The dim light of the inn hallway is oddly calming, with the old creaking wood under my feet and the faint sound of clanging metal and porcelain coming from below, from the late night activity of a few sleepless patrons.
I feel sorry for both of them, Amanda and Destiny. Especially Amanda. I’ve never seen such a young woman with such a panicked look in her face. Then again, Destiny lost David and that was the firm opposite of pleasant… Uncooperative as she is, she must be hurting so, so much.
But at the same time, could Destiny be the Dreamweaver? Could she have chosen to haunt Amanda because she was jealous of her relationship with Warnado? A relationship Destiny no longer has? To be honest, I don’t even know how Warnado and Amanda feel about each other. He never talks about it. Maybe I owe it to myself to find out.
Sometimes I wonder what sick mentality drives people to inflict psychological torture upon someone else. Sometimes I don’t need to wonder. I’ve witnessed many forms of torture. Motivation comes in many forms, both petty and political. Usually both. I still remember how that half-endling freak, Hamish, unravelled Kay’s mind strand by strand. How he used me in that torture. How he killed Mini. How he “killed” Linx. How he lured Kay into that trap in the Citadel. Then, all that during Ryan’s Revolt...
This Kay hasn’t had that happen to him yet. No wonder he’s so cheerful. Then again, I may be imposing my emotions on a Kay from an entirely different timeline. It doesn’t make the past any easier to bear. I could lose him again…
As I place my hand upon my door, I wince as a painful headache flashes on the left side of my head. An image of the reality-eating hole appears briefly in my mind, clouding my thoughts, before vanishing. I sincerely hope the mental aberrations don’t become worse.
Chapter27:Growing Dissonance (Fristad)
It feels like it’s only been five minutes when the light shines stubbornly from the gaps of the inn’s curtains into my eyes. How long has it been since I got a decent sleep? More than a week, probably. Ever since the Book has… become part of my life.
Even now, I can feel it watching me. It’s not like it was before, when I would hear its voice on occasion, and occasionally the Book would take control of me. No, this is far different. I think it started happening when I inflicted the first nightmare upon Amanda. At one moment, I would be in control, I myself would be inflicting the nightmare upon her in my vain attempt to shake myself free of the Book’s influence. At another moment, the Book would take control, guiding every thought, every figment to be woven into Amanda’s nightmare. And in between… there were moments where it wasn’t really clear which one of us was in control.
The irony is… I want to win Amanda’s mind over to our side as much as the Book does. I don’t understand why I try so hard to resist it. But somehow I still feel this deep fear that I am losing something important.
I can hear the faint tapping of rain coming from outside. I try to shake off the nervousness and lift myself out of bed. The world around me seems to move oddly slowly in response to my movement. That’s definitely sleep deprivation. I really need to do something about it. Maybe I should go to bed earlier? No. That would look too suspicious. It’s only been the second night and Destiny has already walked in on me during a nightmare. I’m pretty sure she recognized me. Warnado came into my room, but I think he was just checking up on things.
I walk over the window. I have no more hope sleeping, so there’s no point keeping the curtains closed. I open the curtains and crack the window, so the fresh air from the rain can more easily enter the room.
I open the door to the hallway, but hesitate for a moment. I turn around and nervously pick up the black diamond armor from the floor and put it back on piece by piece. The armor is heavy, but feeling its smooth crystal plating against my skin somehow puts my mind at ease.
I walk down the stairs into the common area of the inn. It seems I’m far from the first person from our group to come down here. Steve, Jennifer, and the others… including Amanda… are all sitting at the table eating. The only person that seems to be missing is Fire, that not-quite enderman halfblood. The food smells strange, but it still makes me salivate.
I walk toward the end of the long table where the group is sitting, and try to act natural. I sit myself down beside Astro at the end of the table, with Warnado and Amanda sitting on the other side. It seems there is starting to be a trend in the seating arrangement.
I try to puff myself up a bit to make myself look more confident, and try to hide the overwhelming tiredness that’s plagued me these past few days, in case Destiny’s knowledge of my actions has spread and is starting to arouse suspicion. It’s hard to even look at Amanda. I can already see a hint of hopelessness in her gaze, and I know my work is fair from over. There will be a third nightmare. And a fourth. And I dread to imagine the suffering she will feel because of me.
I try to slam the door closed on that train of thought and focus my attention on Warnado, making my best attempt to pretend to be more hungry than I actually am. Thanks to the Book’s help, I’m at least a better liar than I used to be. And better at managing these disturbing and unproductive thoughts.
“Hey Warnado,” I call out, in the most awake yet calm voice I can muster. “Do you think you could get me some soup?”
“You didn’t like my tacos yesterday?” Warnado asks, slightly offended, one of his odd culinary creations held in his hand, half-eaten. Amanda is eating one as well.
“Well, it’s not because I didn’t like your tacos yesterday...” I try my best to try and assure Warnado.
“Just admit it, his tacos were terrible,” the Book tells me.
But I can’t find it within myself to hurt his feelings. And for the record, they tasted fine.
“I just smelled the food from the kitchen all the way up on the second stairwell, and I really wanted to try it. But if money is a concern for you, then I completely understand."
I’m starting to miss being able to just grab some cooked pork from the farm storage. Depending on other people for food is tiresome.
“Nah, I get you,” Warnado says with apparent camaraderie. “I’ll magic you a salad instead.”
Warnado makes funny wiggling motions with his fingers, and a strange creation appears in his hands. The bottom is yellow like one of his tacos, and the top is filled with pale plant material and a bunch of other things mixed in which I can’t identify, but seem similar to the stuff in Warnado’s tacos.
“Taco salad. Darn. Was really hoping for something more Italian,” Warnado says. “Did you know Italian is an adjective? Anyway, I can never seem to get the bowl right. I tried to make soup once. Let’s just say it didn’t end well.”
Warnado conjures a fork and hands it and the “taco salad” to me. I accept them graciously.
“You do realize this man is not an innocent child?” the Book warns me. “While you eat the food he gives you, he is watching everything you do, studying every word you tell him. He wants to find every reason he can to incriminate you as the Dreamweaver.”
Well, in that case, he can incriminate me for eating a salad!
Just as I take my second bite, Kay stands up and speaks.
“Ladies and gentlemen, and other sentient beings equally notable, since we are now all gathered here, except for Fire....” Kay glances across the table, perhaps in suspicion. “I propose we meet after breakfast to discuss some important new details of the dream weaver investigation. Since quite a few of you already know about what happened last night, it would be best to set the record straight, and perhaps in the process unveil some information that could move this investigation forward.”
“That sounds reasonable enough,” Steve remarks, obviously surprised but unwilling to admit he is not up to speed. “If you don’t think it will impede your investigation.”
Tyron nods along agreeably.
Shadow speaks: “Fire left earlier this morning to attend the Prophet’s sermon, to uncover more information. As I’ve mentioned before, the Prophet’s sermons contain symbolism and themes that are difficult to decipher, but have been shown to accurately predict the future. That kind of knowledge is bound to be useful.”
“I suppose it can’t be helped,” Kay says, “We still have you here, which is close enough... aside from the complication that you’re one of our most competent magic users, but inadequate suspicions aside, our investigation must continue. It would be unwise for us to delay discussion until Fire gets back, since we don’t know when the Dreamweaver will strike next.”
Is that what they call me now? Dreamweaver? This is my name? The Book seems amused.
“Any additional comments or objections?” Kay asks.
After a pause for feedback receives no response, Kay makes a final remark.
“Then it’s settled, then. We meet after breakfast.”
Kay looks at me and studies me closely, very briefly, before sitting down and returning his attention to his mage friend and his soup. Kay must know what I did. He has to. This isn’t just a distrust of endermen. There’s no other way he would look at me like that given how little time we’ve spent near each other.
Chapter28:Burning Suspicions (Fristad)
We meet in one of the inn rooms. With all of us together, it’s a bit crowded in here. Tyron looks even bigger than usual. Nobody wants to sit on the bed, so we all stand. Shadow uses some sort of magic to stop sound from coming in and out of the room. The resulting quiet is so pervasive that I can hear my breath and heartbeat, as well as the breaths of others. Except for Shadow.
Somehow I fear it, this absolute silence. The guilt of my invasion of Amanda’s dreams is just as audible to everyone around me as my own breath. But there’s no way that could be possible. I have to have faith that my lies and everyone else’s ignorance will protect me.
Kay clears his throat and prepares to speak, his demeanor taking on a sense of purpose which is at once serious, but in a way almost seems theatrical, like an actor putting on a pose for one of his favorite plays.
“Right, as most of you know,” Kay begins, his voice taking on a different quality that might be described as intimidating, “One night ago, Amanda had a nightmare, whose cause was unknown but given the circumstances at the time seemed like it could have just been caused by stress from the last few days or any number of personal reasons. However, Warnado was convinced that the nightmare was intentionally induced by an unknown malicious actor, a ‘Dreamweaver,’ if you like, and so our investigation began.”
Even my first nightmare did not go unnoticed? Thanks to just a hunch from Warnado? I am shocked, perhaps even afraid. If Kay’s story develops any further than this, I could be found out quickly. I have to find some way to draw attention away from myself.
The Book’s consciousness brushes up against mine.
Do not worry, Fristad. Kay cannot prove what you did even if he wanted to. And he is not the type of person to hurl weak accusations. He values his image too much. Surely you can see it? The way he conducts himself with such importance, the manner in which he speaks? His accent now wavers between one of a well-to-do merchant and a bestial peasant. One of them is not real. This is a man whose secrets could rival our own.
I am now perhaps as curious of Kay as Kay is about me. But it hardly matters, because unlike him, one of my secrets is already found out. The question which remains is whether Kay will trace it back to me.
Kay continues, “Warnado and I can now confirm that her nightmares have been supernaturally induced. This probably means it’s a threat to the group-”
“Excuse me,” Steve says, leaning back and raising a hand, eyes squinted. Kay stops and gestures to him. “Sorry, just looking for a bit of clarification here: when you say the origin of the nightmares is ‘supernatural,’ what exactly does that mean? Ghosts? Monsters? Immortal beings? Just trying to get a sense of what level of threat we’re dealing with, in case we need to prepare.”
"I can’t reveal much, but I will say that at this point it’s uncertain who or what the Dreamweaver could be. The Dreamweaver very well could be some sort of outside threat, human or otherwise, or they could be hiding among us. It’s all up in the air at this point. Certainly not the sort of thing we could reasonably prepare for given-”
Destiny, the woman who saw me last night, steps forward, eyes ablaze. I try hard not to flinch.
“Up in the air?” Destiny mocks. “Up in the air! Really? Are those ears real or are they just for show?! I already told you it was Fristad!”
Destiny points her finger straight toward me.
“I understand you may feel very passionately about this investigation,” Kay responds, perhaps his calmness as a result of cautious restraint. His voice has started to take on a more refined quality again. “But let’s not jump to conclusions here.”
“I saw it with my own eyes,” Destiny says. “Fristad was there, right in front of Amanda. I saw his eyes glow. And I heard Amanda scream as Fristad teleported away. You heard it, too, Kay! Don’t deny it, just because of some pretense of an ‘objective’ investigation!”
I feel a pang of guilt as I remember Amanda’s face last night. Part of me wants to step forward and admit what I’ve done. Destiny shouldn’t have to experience any more pain than she already has.
Somehow, that guilt seems to push through the carefully guarded cages of my mind. I find myself stepping forward, looking Destiny in the eye. This is it. Everyone is here. I can finally admit the secret I’ve been forced to hold all this time. And I can bring this investigation to an end.
“I am sorry, Destiny,” I tell her. “I know you’ve been through a lot recently. And I can’t change the way you feel about me. But the truth is… I want just as much for the Dreamweaver to be brought to justice as you do. I wish I could have been there to do something about it but I wasn’t there.”
“Don’t mock me,” Destiny growls. The air around her arm begins to bend and warp, and a flame flashes to life in the palm of her hand.
“Destiny, don’t!” Jennifer steps in front of Destiny and pins her arm down. The flame now covers her hand and licks her wrist. Destiny’s eyes bore into mine with hatred.
I feel a hint of smug pleasure coming from the Book, and I realize what words I actually said. I didn’t tell her the truth. I lied. I made her emotional instability into my shield, damaging her credibility. The Book took my sincere guilt for Destiny and redirected it, into the most convincing and hurtful lie I’ve ever told.
Almost everyone is looking at Destiny, mostly with sympathy.
The flame in Destiny’s hand snuffs out into a cloud of rising black smoke. Destiny looks down. Jennifer lets go of her hand.
“I promise you, Destiny, whoever the Dreamweaver is, I will see to it personally that they are brought to justice,” Kay assures Destiny in guarded tones. “If there is anyone else who wishes to share their thoughts on the Dreamweaver, they are free to do so now, or alternatively we can discuss it later in private.”
Tyron steps forward. “I have something to say. I hope we can all take it to heart. As this investigation continues, we are all going to have our own personal opinions about what happened. Tensions are going to rise. People are not going to trust each other as much as they used to. But let’s remember that up to this point, we have all been a team. We escaped the Tower together. Well, that’s excluding Fire and Shadow but half of you can vouch for his being trustworthy and he can vouch for Shadow. Anyways, what I’m trying to say is… let’s not let our suspicions destroy what we have here.”
Steve, Jennifer and a few others nod along in agreement.
“Tyron is right,” Kay concurs, “While none of us asked to be in this situation, this little group we’ve formed does have its benefits. Especially given the strange world we’ve all found ourselves in it’s best if we hold together. Anyone else have anything to say?”
Amanda steps forward. “I just want to say, as the person who was actually attacked last night, I support this investigation. I dread the thought of having another one of those terrifying nightmares, but if we make a rash decision and accuse the wrong person, it could make things worse in the long run.”
Hearing Amanda suddenly become the voice of reason makes me feel even more guilty for what I’ve done to her. Part of me even wonders if my influence over her is, subconsciously, starting to take hold. That would be even worse.
“Coming from you that means a lot,” Warnado says. “I know how much the dreams have been affecting you. Try not to keep it to yourself. We’re all here for you. Same goes for you, Destiny. Like Tyron said, we’re all a team.”
Kay nods. “Well said, Warnado. Anything else anyone would like to add?”
Kay pauses for a moment. When no one responds, he continues to speak.
“Well, in that case, there are a few more things you should know,” Kay says. “Some of you may have heard from Warnado earlier that he suspects the Dreamweaver to be a magic user. Unfortunately we cannot confirm whether this is true or false. We are weighing all possibilities. However, if any of you have insight into the abilities of one of the members of our group, magical or otherwise, please feel free to reach out. Also appreciated are any leads on unusual activity or strange new visitors in or around the village. Remember that the Dreamweaver could be anyone, but like Tyron said let’s not let our suspicions get the best of us.”
With Kay’s final words, the group disperses, and Shadow lifts the ward of silence from the tiny inn room.
A thin rain was falling, not nearly enough to create any noticable amount of wetness in clothes but enough to feel it on your skin, or scales in Fire’s case. Fire was running down the cobbled road leading to the Prophet’s hill. He was still wearing his black firesteel armor, save for the helmet, which was attached to a small hook at his waist. He had also taken a drop of the potion he had brewed before he departed to his own world, sharpened senses could never hurt when listening to the Prophet.
The road was far from empty, Fire passed several caravans and even more people going on foot, occasionally one who rode on a horse. After a solid hour of running the forest that housed the hill came into view, colossal dark oak trees denied any looks from outside. As Fire got close he could hear the raindrops drumming on the leaves pleasantly. He also heard that the Prophet had already started speaking, which was no surprise since he seemed to only rarely interrupt his sermon in order to eat or sleep.
Fire slowed down as he came close to the congregation, he didn’t want to draw any more attention than his tall armored form mandated already. At this point he was a somewhat familiar face among the followers but they still gave him a large amount of space, if out of respect or fear he didn’t know.
The congregation mostly consisted of humans but occasionally other creatures could be seen in the crowd, including endermen who seemingly were not affiliated with the Entity, which made sense since most other worlds had an End of their own.
The Prophet currently was again delivering various disconnected tales or wisdoms, at this point the fundamental patterns had become obvious: sleep, twilight, growth. Now the more complex patterns were a different story, Fire had started to grasp some of them but he would need to listen a bit more to be able to name them. Shadow had a much deeper understanding due to her ability to just place a projection at the hill and always hear everything the Prophet said, taking that the projection remained undisturbed. Fire looked around to see if he could spot it, after a few seconds he did, this time it had taken the form of a sparrow in the trees, only that instead of its normal colors it was black, white and red. Shadow wasn’t limited by those colors naturally but she did like to mess with perceptive people.
The sermon now shifted from tales to concrete prophecies. “The losses of the past will be repeated in the future!”, “The one captivated by ancient scriptures shall never be the same!”, “When under the yoke of the Growing One, great strengths are unleashed.”, he then stopped for a moment, as if he had just gotten a new vision, “The Forged Champion of light and darkness is near!”
The crowd broke out into murmurs, the Champion was something the Prophet talked about occasionally, seemingly it was someone from another world who would leave a lasting impact on Nexus, not alone but with several others. What surprised Fire was that the Prophet had specifically said the “Forged Champion”, the Forged was another figure or perhaps an entire people that occasionally appeared in the Prophet's sermons. When Fire had asked another attendee about it he was told that the first mention of the Forged was something akin to “mortal gods have taken two kinds and forged them into a greater one”. Up until now those were two completely different entities but all of a sudden they were one and the same? Granted, the same gods that forged those two kinds were also those who would send the Champion but nothing was ever said about the nature of that Champion. Something about the Forged also seemed awfully familiar to Fire…
Before he was able to finish the thought he noticed that suddenly an increasing number of people were looking at him. Just shortly before one of them spoke, Fire himself realized the implications.
“The Champion is among us!” A man dressed like a farmer screamed while pointing at Fire.
Soon many others joined in with similar cries. Fire didn’t even attempt to silence or rebuff the congregation, he had enough experience with cults that he knew that it would be pointless. Instead he just stood there and thought about his best course of action. The Forged seemed to be the Mencur-Besh, Fire had suspected this much before but now it was more or less confirmed by the fact that the congregation recognized him as Forged. The one thing that was still a little obscure was that he also was the “Champion of light and darkness”, sure he was a competent leader, sure he had done a lot of things that widely varied in their morality, but a Champion? Fire was quite sure that he did not fit the heroic knight-in-shining-armor archetype that prophecies of that kind entailed.
“Silence!” commanded a previously unheard voice, “Bring the Champion to me!” It was a husky and dry voice, but it sounded quite pained. It wasn’t used to speaking authoritatively.
Fire started moving and the crowd parted before him, giving him even more distance than before. He reached the foot of the hill, though the front side was too steep to climb, almost like a cliff, so he went around and ascended. Meanwhile the Prophet continued his usual preaching. The origin of the voice clearly had been Steve, the guardian that was always at the Prophet’s side. He met Fire a few paces down the hill and signalled that he wanted to speak to him.
Steve was a man in a tattered leather cuirass and brown cloak over a turquoise shirt. Face stubbled, perhaps shaved a few days before and not since. His eyes were bloodshot. He was jerky - his whole appearance suggested a man acutely aware of the situation but who wanted to be able to forget about it and focus on something much more important.
“So, you look enough like what he described,” He was looking at Fire’s armour, too preoccupied to look him in the face. “I think the other one mentioned you as well. What’s your name?”
“I’m Fire, my origin lines up with the prophecy but the Champion bit is news to me.”
“Yes, sorry about that.” He was tapping his foot and he started looking at the tip of his boot as it moved up and down. “It’s all rather sudden and inopportune, I know.”
Fire said: “I honestly was looking for something that would allow me to investigate further into what exactly this world is and what the Entity had to do with it. I already returned home and came back so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
He rubbed his chin. “So, how much am I going to have to tell you?” A pause, but before Fire could respond he broke back in: “You know the Entity exists. You know we’re in Nexus. You know the Entity had something to do with it. That it’s imprisoning people at the - wait, were you involved with that breakout a few days ago? Sorry I couldn’t make it, the Prophet had need of me and I’m not the best equipped for open confrontation at the present moment.”
“I was not personally involved in the breakout. I was at the Tower though. I managed to earn my permission to leave through a small exchange of information with the Ender. I do know the people who started the breakout though.”
“Ah, was it the General? The one with one eye if that’s happened yet? Also, information exchange?”
“I explained to the Ender how they can temporarily open the tunnels to other worlds, mostly in order to get their scouts back. The methods I described are vastly inefficient and impractical though. In turn she let me look at the atlas of worlds they mapped out, there were also some other crumbs of information she let slip.”
“Inefficient...?” He massaged his forehead. ”By the Gods, do you even realize what you’ve done? The Entity has a whole team of engineers and magi working on this stuff, they’re probably working on refining your ‘inefficient’ methods as we speak!”
Fire sighed. Context once again had proven to be important. “They already know how to establish permanent portals, what I told them allows them to get one person through an unprepared tunnel at a time, maybe two. From the talks I heard exploration has become a goal of lower importance, they have already gotten quite far out and any further out the tools they use to locate tunnels will fail since they rely on energy flow. I was talking to their head of military, not their head of science. That one was probably busy interrogating another captive.” Fire said without only minimal changes in his voice despite his slight annoyance. “Besides, the conversation with the Ender and the maps I saw allowed me to travel to my home world, on the way I made some interesting discoveries, it also allowed me to bring a person of extraordinary power into Nexus who can assist us.”
“Exploration? As a matter of lower importance? Interesting… and worrisome, supposing it’s true. But never mind that. The Prophet never lies. I am most interested in this recruit of yours. The Prophet spoke of many others who would assist you in your mission. I’ve guarded him for many years and he’s always been a tad vague about that. Perhaps as we learn more about these individuals, it will shed light on those parts of the prophecy.”
“The one I brought with me is my sister, a powerful mage, probably even more so in Nexus since in our home world her powers are restricted by our gods.” Fire paused, then pointed off in the direction of the road. “I believe we are getting company, something just teleported in… Multiple in fact… armored… advancing quickly. I better get out of sight.”
With those words Fire ran down the hill and hid in a bush that allowed him to both remain hidden and get a good view over who exactly it was that just arrived, he did have a hunch. Steve was gone, the Prophet with him.
It turned out that hunch was correct, the Ender and a squadron of elite endermen had entered the clearing with the hill. Fire had no real reason to hide but it was better for him to stay under the radar for now. Without a word they spread out and began looking through the crowd, didn’t take much to figure out who they were looking for, they were still hunting the escapees. As one of them drew near, Fire’s heartbeat stopped, not out of fear but voluntarily in order to avoid detection, he was not spotted and the enderman moved on just when Fire felt a bit of dizziness coming on.
At this point the congregation was only a hand’s breadth away from mass panic, it seemed that the Entity’s minions had never been to this place before, especially not someone as important the Ender, her reputation preceded her. After another signal from her, the endermen started questioning selected members of the congregation. Speaking in the tongue understood by humans seemed difficult or at least unfamiliar for them, in slow, simple sentences they asked incessantly if anyone had seen any of the escapees. After some time, they finally found someone who had, if only briefly. Luckily the villagers they had sat in the carriage with weren’t present, otherwise the others would be in serious trouble.
The Ender seemed not exactly content with this small scrap of information but it they couldn’t get anything more out of the congregation, she spoke up: “Our work here is done for now. If anyone gets caught harboring or in any other way assisting the escapees there will be deaths. Information regarding their whereabouts will be handsomely rewarded.”
After those words the squadron assumed formation and teleported away with more force than needed, leaving scorched grass where they stood. Fire remained in his bush until he could be absolutely sure that they had in fact not teleported to a nearby location. He then left his hiding place and returned to the hill, where he found a very worried Steve. The Prophet was back to speaking as if nothing had happened.
Chapter30:The Start of a Plan (Fire)
As Fire returned to the top of the hill, the voices of the congregation began swelling up again, this time in fear and anger. Those two emotions were frequently found together, not quite enough to be considered two sides of the same coin but two coins of the same metaphorical currency. Fire could hear some cries for protection, other cries for revolution. Fire had only rarely seen so many people in this kind of emotional turmoil before, partially because on the server there weren’t that many opportunities for so many different people to gather in one spot but also partially because everyone on the server, even the NPCs to some extent, had at least a small amount of emotional distance to potentially life-threatening situations.
Even the Prophet himself had stopped preaching and was now looking across the masses with his white eyes, Steve stood right beside him. As Fire approached, Steve looked at him with something Fire believed to be expectation in his eyes. It only made sense, he was the Champion of the prophecy after all, Steve wanted him to do something to calm the congregation down. Perhaps Fire could do more than that.
He thought about what he would say, naturally he could understand why some of the people wanted a revolution against the Entity and in fact Fire himself was starting to think that confrontation was becoming an inevitability. As it stood, the congregation was no match for the Entity’s forces, even if Fire personally equipped and trained each and every one of them, the numbers were simply against them. For now he decided that he wouldn’t commit to any specific course of action but he saw that he needed to unite the people in Nexus under some common cause. This would help him gather information about what the Entity was actually doing, once he knew that he would decide which path to take.
Fire was used to leading, having been in charge of various groups over the course of his long life, even before he joined the server he had always been someone to quickly formulate a plan and make sure everyone followed through. On the server this had manifested in his indirect leadership of the Mencur-Besh in their early days before their collective became autonomous. Another powerful position he had held for a few hundred years was the guard captain of Rockhaven, responsible of all military operations there. He had also commanded many armies, though he was also no stranger to defeat, sometimes plainly due to his own mistakes, over time he had learned from them. Now would be the time to put his leadership to the test, the task was familiar but the stakes were severely raised.
He stepped past Steve and the Prophet, then began speaking in a loud voice: “We once were people of many different worlds, now with no way back we are people of Nexus. I heard your cries for revenge, I heard them not only from those gathered here but also those I met on my travels.”
The crowd went quiet. Fire continued: “But it would be unwise to blindly charge the Tower in hopes of taking down some of their soldiers, it would even be unwise to attempt to kill their officers. In truth, as we are here we have no way to take this world as our own. We may have one in the future but for that to happen we will have to work together. I know that it might be hard trusting people you don’t know, who even may be from a different world or from a different species. But enough about differences, there are things that unite us as well, no matter where we are from. Who of you here doesn’t have a roof to sleep under or certainty that there will be a meal when you are hungry?”
About half of the congregation started making themselves known, gradually a large part of the rest joined in as well as they thought about their situations.
Fire called out: “That will be our first concern then, not war, not revenge! Survival is what we need to worry about! I may not be able to provide for all of your needs but I can do something better, I can help you do it yourself!”
At this point the entire crowd was cheering, Steve threw Fire an approving nod.
Fire was not done yet though. “In some time I will be here again, only then with knowledge of a place that will eventually safely house everyone here many times over. I will be honest with you, it will not be easy to make it a reality but I know that we will make it!”
After those words Fire turned around, walked back a few paces, out of the sight of the congregation. He took a deep breath, it had been a long time since he last had to deliver a rousing speech and it had been difficult to not completely crush the congregation with the harsh reality that he knew they were going to face. Building an independent shelter for this many people would prove difficult but it was necessary to at least have some amount of people he could rely on.
Fire was almost immediately approached by Steve. “Well then, it seems the prophecies hold some truth after all, at least in the respect that you know how to lead. What further plans do you have? What is this place you talked about?”
Fire sat down on a small boulder, then explained: “On the map the Ender showed me I noticed that there is a mountainous region some distance from here, according to the maps there are expansive caves within that reach deep underground, they haven’t explored them and it’s unlikely that they ever will. It’ll be safer than anywhere on the surface once we clear them out. We’re protected from the elements, hidden from sight and we’re saving on construction work. As for plans… I don’t particularly know yet, I simply don’t know enough about the Entity or its plans to choose a course of action. Depending on that it’s entirely possible that we go to war but also that we find a diplomatic solution, which admittedly is less likely.”
Steve said: “So, you’ll lead the congregation into the mountains? As you said, it’s risky but I fear that we do need a solid following and a place to keep refugees safe.”
Fire stood up and turned to go. “I’ll be leaving now, I still need to take care of some things before I return. Stay safe.”
Steve gave Fire a short wave, then turned back to the Prophet, who had meanwhile resumed his prophesying, currently about growth if Fire wasn’t mistaken.
Fire stepped out of the forest, there were no more leaves above him to shield him from the rain. Judging by the darkening clouds it would only become heavier, Fire decided to hurry up since running on soaked dirt roads made it easy to slip, even for him. He reached into a small pouch he was carrying, it was significantly bigger on the inside than it was on the outside, he had enchanted it himself. Fire fished out a flask with a sky-blue potion inside. He drank about a quarter of the flasks content and immediately his legs felt a little lighter. The speed potion would allow him to move more quickly than normally while also removing the strain on his circulatory system that would come if he tried to move at that speed without the potion. Fire started sprinting rapidly down the road towards the village at a speed that would make most people pray for their dear lives.
The journey back to the village was uneventful save for having to leap over a very startled carriage driver and his carriage. Once the village was in clear sight Fire slowed down again. At this point the rain had progressed from the drizzle it had been before to a solid downpour, the street was starting to get wet and slippery. Fire once again searched his pouch for a potion, this time it was almost perfectly clear and the flask was tiny compared to the speed potion. After drinking the potion Fire felt a pull in his chest in the direction of the village. If everything had gone according to plan, this pull would lead Fire to the counterpart of the potion he had just imbibed, provided that he had been trusted.
He reached the village and walked slowly to be able to follow the pull more accurately. The streets were largely empty, nobody wanted to go outside with the pouring rain, Fire could also hear distant thunder and see lightning far off on the horizon. There was one hell of a thunderstorm coming.
The pull directed Fire through the streets, it got significantly stronger once he reached what one could call the richer part of the village, it consisted of a handful of bigger and better-built houses, Fire was directed to one of them by the pull. As he stood before the door, the pull stopped, this told Fire that he was within very close proximity of the potion’s counterpart. He knocked on the door. A man of middle age opened the door, Fire knelt down in order for the man to be able to see his face.
The man asked: “What do you want?”
Fire plainly replied: “I’m looking for Lucy.”
The man seemed to be surprised. “What do you want with our maid?”
“I’m taking her with me.”
Instead of answering Fire, the man yelled back into the house: “Linda, one of those scaly things showed up. It wants to take Lucy!”
Fire said nothing and waited for a reaction from the woman who seemed to be the man’s wife. Instead of replying, the woman came storming around the corner, a heavy crossbow in hands. She was aiming it at Fire but she was visibly shaking and the look on her face was everything but confident.
She said: “Leave. Now.”
Fire was neither in the mood for long discussions nor for crossbow bolts. “Let’s make this easier on everyone involved. Just call her.”
Instead of calling for anyone, Linda pulled the trigger on her crossbow. Fire’s sigh gradually slowed down in his own ears as the world around him almost came to a stop. Fire was not in the mood for displays of power either but what had to be done had to be done.
The crossbow Linda was using was old and improperly maintained, the bow limb had lost most of its elasticity over time, probably due to being stored while armed. This resulted in the bolt only being propelled with a fraction of the force of what should have been. On top of that, Fire also saw that the bolt itself was wooden and only tipped with copper, probably due to iron not being available. Even a direct hit between scales wouldn’t do more than slightly puncture Fire’s skin, and that was ignoring the fact that Fire was wearing armor. Yet Fire still decided to reach out with his hand and close it around the bolt as it came near, his claws dug into the wood to further slow it down. After catching the bolt time returned to its normal speed again.
Fire’s sigh finished.
“I want to see Lucy, are we clear on that?” Fire said.
It took the couple a few moments to process what had happened but it seemed that they got Fire’s message. The man then called Lucy’s name with a shaky voice.
A few seconds later Fire could hear rapid footsteps coming down stairs, then the blonde maid he had chosen during his pyromancy show appeared behind her employers.
Fire said: “Hello again Lucy. I’d like you to come with me, we have much to discuss.”
The man seemed to have mustered up enough courage to raise his voice again: “If you take her with you, who will look after our house? And besides, her contract is still binding.”
Fire pointed to Lucy. “Lucy, would you be so kind and give those two the object in your pocket?” Lucy hesitantly reached inside and revealed a cut and polished diamond, the very same one she had found in the satchel Fire had given her. Fire continued: “You can hire as many maids as you want with that gem. As for the contract… I believe we are no longer in a world where there is any authority ensuring the validity of your laws, feel free to walk over to the Tower and discuss the binding nature of your contract with one Marinus Bul, I hear he handles their legal affairs.”
With another gesture he signalled Lucy to step outside, she did after a few seconds of hesitation, neither of her now former employers did anything to stop her. Once Lucy was out of the house, Fire closed the door behind her, then once again reached into his pouch and handed her a rain-proof coat.
Then Fire started walking without a word, Lucy hurried to his side. Slowly, warily she asked: “What do you want from me?”
While walking, Fire said: “Here is no place to discuss details. All I can say right now is that I am very old and over my years I have learned to spot talents in people that they might not realize they have. As for you? I’m building a shelter for a lot of people and I need someone I can rely on.”
Since Lucy didn’t answer, Fire considered the conversation to be over and talked no further until they arrived at the tavern. Fire smiled to himself, he had doubts that Lucy knew the full magnitude about her involvement in his plan but what he knew for certain was that she would be ready for what was ahead of her.
Chapter31:Distracted (The Ender)
The Ender was not happy with the results of their “visit” to what the humans called a “prophet”. A madman was what he was in all likelihood, shouting incoherent drivel all day long because his hallucinations were all that was left in his shattered mind. He had vanished before they could see him, though, so who knew?
This, however, did not change that they had learned virtually nothing and at the same time had spooked the population. One or two people had talked, yes, but probably out of not entirely irrational fear of being executed. The scraps of information they had gotten out of it boiled down to the fact that some of the escapees had been seen in the village closest to the Tower. By now they could be anywhere in the wilderness, which was something Nexus had a lot of.
The Ender was currently standing in front of the squadron she had taken with her, they stood there in perfect formation, awaiting her words.
She spoke in the screeching language of the End: “This operation was a failure.” After a brief pause she continued. “None of you is individually at fault but the reason why you failed is still clear.”
As she started pacing up and down the ranks the soldiers started shifting uncomfortably, they knew that she would only tolerate so much failure.
The Ender decided to address the issue directly. “You need to better understand and speak the human language.”
In an instant all semblance of discipline had vanished from the squadron.
A soldier said: “You want us to degrade ourselves further and speak like those lesser beings?”
Similar complaints followed. Usually the Ender would have these soldiers punished on the spot but this was indeed a delicate topic, one she herself had spent the longest time wrestling with.
She spoke again, immediately suffocating any protest: “There is not the shadow of a doubt that humans are inferior to us, just as there is no doubt that our ancestors will frown upon us for speaking their tongue. But do you know what would make our ancestors even more furious? Us letting those roaches crawl away simply because we were unable to interrogate their brethren! As much as they have strayed otherwise, this is something the Grey Ones have learned.”
Slowly the soldiers shifted back into formation, then they called out in unison: “Yes General! What are your orders?”
That was something the Ender loved to hear. She continued: “You will pass this on to any other members of the army you should encounter. Each of you is to seek out one of our human mercenaries and let them teach you more of the human tongue. Hostilities from either side will be treated as defiance of a direct order and punished accordingly. Are we clear?”
“Yes General!”
The Ender turned around, before teleporting into her office she said: “Dismissed.”
She re-appeared in a sitting position at her desk. A map of the immediate area around the Tower was already on it, as well as various cartographing tools. She was in the process of systematically assigning patrol areas and exchange routes that would minimize the possibility of evading a search.
This was no easy task and it once again came to her mind how poorly they controlled the area around the Tower. The Entity was more in favor of expansion outside of Nexus and the mages and scientists in the lower levels very much shared this sentiment since it gave them a steady influx of test subjects and of those crystals. It had been a while since she had taken a look at their machine, she didn’t know about its exact purpose but she hoped this one would function instead of killing their most valuable researchers in a dimensional vortex.
Back to the map. Her eyes wandered across the various biomes that surrounded the Tower. Flatlands were easier to overlook so larger areas could be assigned to a single unit. What still gave her headaches though were the vast cave systems below, they were hardly explored and if someone knew their way around caves they could easily evade a search.
She shuddered at the thought… caves. Wet and confined, the exact opposite of what her kind thrived in. Naturally this meant that only human mercenaries could be sent to explore down there, which she didn’t have high hopes for seeing how some of them had performed recently.
Back to the map again. She drew arrows between the areas to symbolize the paths patrols should take when transitioning between zones, preferably sweeping potential hideouts while doing so.
She let out a frustrated grunt. She just couldn’t properly focus. Was it because of the failed mission? Was it because of the fact that she could have given her order to learn the human tongue earlier and thus could have made the mission turn out better?
“What the hell is wrong with me?” She said intentionally in the human tongue. Despite what it was, speaking it helped her distance herself from her emotions, it felt like she was putting on a mask.
It just was no use, working on the map now would just result in faulty patrols. She pushed herself away from the table and left the room in order to take a walk through the corridors of the Tower. She passed stacks of cushions, glass vitrines filled with preserved corpses, paintings of landscapes, collections of materials that didn’t quite seem to fit into this world…
After a few random turns she came across a niche that was filled with books. Her mind flashed back in time to a comparatively pleasant memory. It had been here where she had met Fire, he was someone she could at least hold an interesting conversation with. The first in a while when she thought about it, the Entity’s mind was too foreign and on top of that notoriously uncreative. Freak was agreeable but no intellectual; he couldn’t go a minute without some jab or snide remark. She rarely had to do with the scientists and mages, they took orders directly from the Entity. Glibby mostly did his own thing, or, the Silhouette’s thing to be exact, they only ever spoke when it came to coordinating and that only when it was absolutely necessary. Perhaps that should change as well, she couldn’t let something as trivial as him effectively stealing a hand full of squadrons worth of already trained warriors from her from talking with him.
The Ender hissed. No, she’d keep contact with that honorless brute at a minimum.
Fire was the closest thing she had met in Nexus to someone that she could call an equal, especially when he revealed on the way to the storerooms that he could speak her language. Though the fact that he waited that long also lead her to believe that during their information tango he had walked away with significantly more than she had. The Ender admitted to herself that she had been uncharacteristically careless, she really should have watched him more closely from the start, especially from when he told her how old and therefore experienced he was. It sure would be nice to have someone like him here in the tower, it certainly would make the strategic side of things easier.
Before she could properly finish that thought the Ender realized she was standing at the door of her office again. Had she been that absorbed in her musings? No matter, after her little walk she felt significantly more able to focus on her task. If this state of mind kept up, she’d have a complete patrol plan for the area before the next day.
She smiled to herself. No matter where they were hiding, soon they would have to try a lot harder.
Chapter32:How the Future goes (Kay)
I have to admit, after the meeting I was not feeling the most confident. Still driven, but not confident. I was hanging behind as everyone else filtered out, hands on my hips and eyes downward in an attempt to look like I was deliberating. In truth, pondering was perhaps a better word.
The Dreamweaver was still acting unimpeached and all that we had really changed was making it aware we were watching for it. That was naturally a risky move. Either it was going to be deterred or it was going to start retaliating. So far this thing was just engaging in fanciful, or rather, deeply unfanciful conjurings, but what else was it capable of? Why was it doing any of this?
I was pretty sure I could take it’s worst efforts. Herobrine had taught me well. I remembered the white eyes which had once seemed so tender and wise and my stomach twisted in nostalgic sadness. I remembered how, as we retreated from Vechs across the Southern Crafts, an ash cloud had floated up from the ruins of the Thaumlands - the lands I had fought to grant independence - blue and red sparking out of the suffocating grey.
“‘Kicked in the soul’ is an accurate description to be sure,” I thought.
But yes, in those days when I had served the Blind Watcher, he had taught me a great many things about the guarding of the mind and the protection of dreams in particular. I could take this Dreamweaver.
But what if it went after Warnado? He was only a kid! Powerful magic-user he may have been, he was also vulnerable and I’ll be honest I kind of got the vibe he was making it all up as he went along as regards the magic. How else did he keep summoning jam alongside coin? And what if this child ended up getting hurt because I couldn’t figure out if Destiny or Fristad or neither of them were messing with his girlfriend’s head?
Said child nudged me. We were the only ones left.
“So,” he asked, with unconvincing enthusiasm. “What’s the plan?”
The upper half of his face was obscured, but in the red depths of his eyes and the curls of his mouth I could see the twitching of worry and anger. I had to help him catch this thing.
“I need time to think, and we need to do some research on mind-altering magics. I think I saw a library, book shop sort of thing around here.”
Then, it occurred to me that he might interpret this as an invite. Naturally, I liked the kid a lot but I needed some space.
“You stay here, I’ll go find it and come back for you. I should have a clearer idea of what we’re looking for by the time I’m back.”
Warnado was uncharacteristically laconic, offering a simple “alright” before marching off, presumably in search of Amanda. I felt terrible.
And so I ambled out into the corridor, trying to feel aloof from everything and just strategise but I couldn’t keep it all bottled up in my head. I had to talk aloud. Turning Warnado away was a mistake except it wasn’t because I needed to say things that might upset him and that I didn’t necessarily agree with but which I needed to say aloud to process. And although talking to Tyron felt pretty good the other day now it looked like he and Kir could be the ones responsible. And what if NO ONE was trustworthy?
I jumped much higher than I’d like to admit. I must have been like a cat on springs. I felt the breeze of motion on me and it felt good. I was almost about to grab my sword. Thankfully, I landed facing my startler and it was just Astro. He blinked.
“You didn’t see that,” I ordered.
“Don’t worry, who am I going to tell?” he asked, smiling.
“Aaron first, then maybe Secret. You and Cossack have been pretty chummy since Killer Craft so probably him too.”
He laughed but he seemed kind of confused, as though he were struggling to remember something. That was when I tensed up again. I still didn’t know how he had gotten here.
“So,” he began. “That was… intense back there.”
“Yeah,” I stated, trying to cover an impulse toward iciness and restraint with a very tangible and sincere irritation. “Destiny almost set Fristad on fire. I noticed.”
And then he said something that broke through all my defences: “Don’t beat yourself up about it. I know this isn’t ideal but you’re doing your best, and I know you can find out what’s going on. You always have, and you always will.”
Near as I could tell he was absolutely sincere.
And as he said all this my mental image of him flickered and he was just the same old Astro. The guy who invested in my airship. Who let me fly again, short as that had been. Who spared me on the banks of the river. Who had been a voice of wisdom and guidance throughout our entire journey across the Old Continent into the New. I choked up and I wanted to tell him everything and I almost did. But I had to ask something first.
“Listen, I really want to confide in you right now, but I need to know something first.”
Astro smiled again and spread his arms: “Go ahead.”
“How did you get here?”
He bit his lip, deliberating. “I was kidnapped by some Endlings.”
“They Grey Ones, I know. But in what circumstances.”
Now he was quiet. “I was… out hunting.”
“With who?”
“...Secret.”
“That’s funny, because last I saw you and Brit were all out getting our visas arranged.”
“Bugger.”
I reached for my sword, then froze up. I let my hand fall back. I looked up and he was holding his hands before him, pity moistening his eyes. But there was no indication he was going to fight back. He could have broken my neck in a second if he wanted to, but he was just looking at me, with all the disappointment and sadness of an old man struck by tragedy. And then I knew why he was so different, and why I could still trust him.
“So, how long has it been since that?”
“Of the top of my head, about a decade.”
I hugged him.
“I’m sorry.”
I patted him on the back and let go.
“A decade?”
“Maybe a little more.”
I hugged him even harder, almost knocking him over.
“Hey, easy,” he laughed. “Anyway, before you ask, no I’m not telling you about how the future goes.”
But there was still something weighing on me. A weight upon my shoulders. A terror that needed calming.
So, I asked: “Can I get one question?”
“Yes, you did come back!” Astro groaned. “You were missing when I came back with the visas, you came back a few days later, so I'm going to assume you were here. Now, get out there and solve this mystery!”
“That wasn’t my question but good to know. And I’m still holding you to that question. We have a verbal contract. It would hold up in court and I will sue. And an interdimensional court is totally going to buy that you’re from my future. They’ve seen some **** this last while, that won’t even register!”
He was laughing away and I followed suit. He leant back against the wall and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples like a psychic. “Okay…” He put on a stern, theatrical voice: “What truths do you seek?”
I paused for a moment. Did I really want to know? My stomach felt like it had just fallen through a trapdoor. But I pressed on.
“Do I still have both my ears in the future?”
Astro snorted and managed to choke out one question before collapsing over into laughter: “Seriously?”
“Yes!” I insisted, eyes widening with worry. “Yes! That other Steve guy seems to know something about my future and when we first met he noticed I ‘still have the other one’ and I don't know what he meant and it’s been eating me up inside!”
“But why the ears?” He was crying laughing now, wiping away the salty tears with the tips of his fingers.
“I don’t want to look lopsided - answer the damned question!”
He took a few seconds to calm himself, before finally chuckling out: “You have both your ears. I swear it.”
The weight was lifted.
“Thank you.”
He didn’t say anything, but his smile made it clear I owed him nothing. But I really did, because he’d really cleared things up. He wasn’t the Dreamweaver. He was still my close, dear friend and I could talk to him. Poor Tyron was out of the job as my informal therapist. Still, sound lad. He might make a good backup.
Best of all, I now had a clear idea of what I was going to achieve at the library.
“Anyway, I’ll grab a drink with you later. I’ve got a mystery to solve.”
I sprinted off down the hall, calling to Warnado at the top of my lungs. We were going to go over there and we were going to talk out all the books they had on mind-altering magic, dream interpretation and military strategy. We were going to figure out the magical, psychological and physical aspects of this thing if it killed us.
“Come on out Dreamweaver,” thought I. “I’m ready for you.”
Chapter33:A New Purpose (Fire)
Fire opened the front door of the tavern, letting Lucy in first then following right after her. He was very thankful that most of the tavern’s ceilings were high enough that he didn’t have to hunch over.
He turned to Lucy. “I reserved you a room upstairs, I imagine you’ll want to get some rest. I will come talk to you tomorrow, it’s best if you take some time to clear your mind.”
Lucy wordlessly took the keys he gave her. Fire interpreted her continued silence less as fear and more as being overwhelmed by the sequence of events she had just experienced. He gave her a smile before she disappeared towards the staircase.
Fire decided to go to the inn, maybe some of the others were still there, he wanted to tell them what he had seen. The Ender showing up at the Prophet’s hill, looking for the escapees was a matter that was much more immediately pressing to the others than to him.
The door to the inn was tall but not quite tall enough, after lowering his head to get through Fire took a look around. There was the usual amount of patrons, some of them familiar, the only one he recognized by name was Shadow, sitting at a table drinking what looked to be red wine. She saw him as well and waved. Fire sat down next to her.
He asked: “I assume you saw what happened at the hill through your projection?”
Shadow took a sip and nodded. “I probably should tell you about what happened here in the meantime. We had a meeting of sorts in one of the rooms, discussed the nightmares. Destiny just straight up accused Fristad, seems like she saw something last night. She generally doesn’t seem to be doing well.” She sighed. “She almost burned Fristad with magic. I might have to think about modifying my soundproofing spell with a dampening field so that can’t happen in the future.”
Just as Shadow finished speaking, the door flew open. In came Destiny. She looked across the entire room, didn’t find who or what she was looking for and promptly left again. Through the closing door Fire saw her going up the stairs to the rented rooms.
“Speak of the devil,” Shadow said.
Fire asked: “Anything else noteworthy?”
Shadow shook her head. “No, not really. It was what you would expect from such a meeting. Kay leads the investigation into the Dreamweaver, everyone else voices their support.”
Fire prepared to stand up again. “As much as I’d like to sit here with you and maybe get some of that wine for myself, I’d rather try to talk with Destiny. I don’t really know her but I want to make sure she stays at least reasonably stable.”
Shadow replied: “Have fun, don’t get stabbed.”
Fire smiled as he stood up. He slowly went up the narrow staircase and into the corridor. If he remembered Destiny’s room number correctly she’d have the fourth door on the right. Lucy was now two doors further down the corridor.
Fire knocked on Destiny’s door. At first there was no reply, instead of knocking again, Fire waited a few moments.
The door opened slowly until it was open just enough for Destiny to fit her head through the door. Destiny looked at Fire with a mix of annoyance and worry. While these emotions were not directed specifically at Fire, Fire could tell that Destiny was not in the best psychological state.
“Hello Destiny.” Fire said. He now had to choose his words very carefully in order to avoid sounding insensitive, he also decided to completely leave out what he had heard from Shadow. “I’m Fire, Kay and Warnado’s friend. I don’t think we were ever formally introduced. I apologise for disturbing you.” She nodded slowly, clearly expecting him to get to the point. “I was at the Prophet’s hill again today. The Ender conducted a raid of some sorts, looking for the escapees. You should be safe for now since nobody gave up information.”
She scoffed and gritted her teeth: “Okay. Now, how about why you’re actually here?”
Fire nodded. “You got me there. I still haven’t really gotten a full picture of what exactly happened after I left the Tower. I don’t really know where the others are, so I thought you could help me out with some of the details.”
Destiny’s demeanour grew grave and she lowered her eyes. She grumbled something but acquiesced and opened the door to her room, letting Fire inside before closing the door behind her.
“Well, I don’t know when you left the Tower, so I guess I’ll start at the beginning,” Destiny sighed, tone starting out mockingly upbeat before shrivelling into bitterness. “David and I found a portal from our world leading to Nexus. We knew there was an evil force on the other side. So, we did the heroic thing and went through.” Destiny drifted off ruefully. “We were in Nexus for five damned minutes before they had us in a jail cell. We were kept in a room alongside Tyron and Astro. Well-furnished. They wanted us to talk. We didn’t oblige and tried to escape, so they dropped the act. They separated us, shoved us into cells and tortured us for information. Then, Kay recognised Astro and got Warnado to free us. During the fighting, me, David and a few others found ourselves fighting against a group of heavily armed endermen. Things went to **** real quick. David and I were surrounded, and…” Destiny’s voice choked up but she fought through it, rage treading sadness into the dirt. She pressed on in a tone of escalating, wild fury that she struggled to repress: “David shattered his gauntlet, causing an explosion. He killed a lot of them, bought us time to escape the Tower, but… he died. Burned half-”
Fire interjected calmly: “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I would know, I lost people I cared about as well.”
“Tough ****, we all have-” Destiny stopped herself, before sighing and offering in concession: “So, you know what it’s like.”
Fire nodded, unfazed. “It was not entirely the same situation as you. While the one I loved was among those lost, I was never sure if the feeling was mutual. There is also the fact that I was the sole survivor of the event that killed them, only by sheer coincidence.”
“Okay then, you don’t really know what it’s like.” Destiny stared off with a mix of disappointment and anger. “Listen, I get you probably mean well, but it doesn’t change the fact that David is dead.” Destiny tried to regain her composure. “But at the same time, you don’t seem the sort of person who takes things lightly. So I guess that means something.”
Fire said: “It would be a lie to deny that our situations are different. The reason I am bringing this up is that I hope that you eventually do get over everything, however long that may take. I know this because I got over my losses eventually too. But there is something else that didn’t go away. You see, after the incident I refused to talk to anyone about it, refused professional help, even when it was readily available. Instead I just looked for things to distract me, at first it was exercise, then academic study. Over the years I just projected my negative feelings onto someone else, someone that I created. I know enough about psychology now to know that that was a bad idea, pretty much the worst thing I could have done. I was human back then, but when I became what I am now that other side of me grew, got a life of its own, and now I have to keep it chained down wherever I go. So, Destiny, what I’m trying to say is: Don’t do what I did. The loss eventually fades, but whatever you do to yourself stays with you, even when you live thousands of years.”
Destiny’s eyes widened. She glanced at Fire for a brief moment in fear, and then her expression became lucid. She nodded and returned to resigned concession. “I understand. At least… I think I do. But, I don’t know what to do next. I feel like I don’t have a purpose. We were reincarnated across multiple lifetimes to fight alongside each other. To… love each other. Now, we’re out of step. He died. I’m still here.”
Fire nodded again. “I understand that.” He paused, deliberately. “Listen, purpose can help but purpose alone can’t fix you. That being said, if you promise me to try not to let emptiness devour you, I might be able to give you a new purpose. At least for a while.”
She said nothing but didn’t object.
“When I was listening to the Prophet they said I was the champion of some prophecy. In truth, that could be anyone with the right abilities filling that role; the prophecy just makes the people believe it. Anyways, what I’ll be trying to do now is create a shelter for as many people as possible. I could use all of the help I can get. Your skills in magic and combat certainly would help, conflict is not out of the question and we need capable people to act as mentors.” Fire paused, he was unsure about what he was going to say next but decided to risk it, even if mentioning the nightmares might have unintended effects. “After this nasty situation with the nightmares is resolved, you could join me. What do you say?”
Destiny’s eyes lit up desperately, but she suppressed it. “I’ll think about it. Might be better than being cooped up in this village.”
Fire turned towards the door and prepared to go, he said: “It was nice talking to you Destiny.”
As the door closed behind him Fire took a deep breath. That had gone much better than he had hoped; their group might just pull through this conflict relatively unharmed.
Chapter34:Dimensional Sandwich Science (Steve and Jennifer)
Steve and Jennifer inspected the large map laying upon Jennifer’s inn bed. The map had grown increasingly detailed over the past few days, as the two of them had mapped out the major untapped resource deposits in the caves surrounding the village. There were other notable details on the map as well, like the border between the village, the farms, and the various biomes of wilderness beyond them. There was also a small border on one edge of the map where there was a discontinuity in terrain due to the various worlds being stitched together into Nexus. Jennifer liked to call it a, “dimensional sandwich layer,” or DSL for short. This nearby DSL would soon be an active area of exploration for Steve and Jennifer, assuming the rest of the group decided to stay in this village for a few more days.
“What do you think, Steve?” Jennifer asked. “Should we check out that northwest patch, or should we consider this DSL’s resources covered?”
“I think we’ve covered it well enough,” Steve said. “We don’t know how long we’ll be in this area, so we should check out that nearby desert region, once we’ve done some experiments on these new materials we found. That way we can decide how much of it we want to have on us.”
“Agreed,” said Jennifer. “Do you think we should take a look at those crystals, too? It’s definitely a risk, but they could reveal something important about the Tower’s motivations.”
Steve pondered for a moment, scratching his beard. “It’s a risk. Their henchmen could detect our crystals on their radar and track us down. We could do our experiments some distance away from the village. They will likely search the village anyway, but if we leave behind a convincingly active laboratory, that could distract them. I could set up some redstone detectors set to the frequency of our radio, which would alert us in advance if they start searching the laboratory. Given how valuable these crystals must be, it might be worth the gamble.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Jennifer said. “Do you think we should ask Shadow to help us? It might help to have someone with magic knowledge, given that Wolfric isn’t around.”
Steve scratched his beard again. “That’s also a risk. The nightmare investigation is still going on. She could be the Dreamweaver.”
“That’s true, but there is only a chance that Shadow is the Dreamweaver, and on top of that, we don’t really know what the Dreamweaver’s intentions are. There are a lot of odd people in our little Nexus caravan, and we don’t know any of them very well.”
“We know Fristad a bit more than most.”
“Yea, we do know Fristad more, but… something tells me he wouldn’t be interested.”
“I see your point,” Steve said. “I guess we’re better off just trusting her. She seems very knowledgeable.”
Jennifer grinned with the gleam of adventure. “It’s settled, then. Should we set up a base of operations over there in the southeast corner?”
Steve and Jennifer walked down the inn stairs, and were pleasantly surprised, if a bit startled, when they saw Fire land in the foyer in front of them, having jumped down from a higher floor.
“Hey, Fire!” Steve said. “Taking the stairs isn’t your style, huh?”
Fire turned around. “Normally it would be, but I figured it would be faster this time around, and it’s good to practice my reflexes a bit. Also in my defense, narrow stairs with small steps aren’t exactly friendly to people my size.”
“That’s fair. Jennifer and I were wondering if you knew where Shadow was?”
“She is just in the inn dining area having a drink,” Fire said. “Is there something you want to ask her?”
Steve figured it would be best to just tell the truth. “We thought we’d ask her if she would like to help us do some research on some materials we found on our mining trips. Some of the materials in this DSL are unfamiliar to us.”
“I’m sure she’ll be happy to assist you with that, she does like herself some research from time to time.” Fire said.
“Great. Thanks, Fire.”
Steve and Jennifer walked into the dining hall and walked to the bench where Shadow was sitting, sipping some expensive-looking wine that Steve was pretty sure wasn’t served at this inn.
“Hello Shadow,” Steve said. “Jennifer and I are doing some materials research and were wondering if you would be interested in joining us?” Steve then remembered the reason why they were building a research base so far from the village. “For reasons that will become clear pretty quickly, we’d like to keep the details between the three of us. Fire can also know about it if he wants to.”
Shadow took another sip from her wine, then said: “Sure, don’t have anything else planned.”
“Great. We leave when you’re ready.”
“Just let me finish this glass.”
After Shadow finished her glass of wine and made it float back to the bar, she joined Steve and Jennifer at the front of the inn, and the three of them departed for the predetermined spot in the forest that represented the southeast corner of Steve and Jennifer’s map. The downpour outside had made no sign of letting up. Shadow used a spell to deflect the rain around the three of them.
After a short journey; Steve, Jennifer, and Shadow arrived at a small clearing in a forest. Steve assessed the area and nodded. “This spot will do.”
Jennifer nodded. “Once we’ve built the initial room, we can start planning out the details.”
In a short period of time, Steve and Jennifer had assembled a staircase leading into an underground room, similar in design to the underground bunkers they built in the days when their motley team was traveling away from the Tower. Shadow walked into the room to get a feel for its size.
Steve walked behind Jennifer down the staircase and pulled the lever, causing the pistons to extend and seal the ground above them. “Now that we’re in a bunker in a relatively isolated location, let’s talk about the reason we went through all the trouble to build it. As you probably guessed, Jen and I have been mining for the past several days, and we found some new resources we’d like to understand better. However, we also have been carrying around some gems for a while - well, I guess you could call them crystals. Technicalities in rock definitions aside, the Entity is looking for them. Long story short, the last time I took the crystals out of my ender chest, we were quickly ambushed by an enderman and some giants and then got swept up in negotiations with the Entity. The Entity’s henchmen have detectors designed to find these crystals, so once they’re out of the ender chest, we’re putting ourselves at risk.”
Jennifer nodded. “I think it’s a necessary risk. If we learn more about how the crystals work, we can understand the Entity’s motivations better, and perhaps even put them to good use.”
Shadow replied: “I’ll try my best to be quick then.”
“We have a few ideas,” Steve said. “First, we should do research on the newer materials. Second, we will set up detectors in the lab set to the frequencies of our radios, which will let us know if the Entity’s henchmen go looking for our crystals while we’re gone.”
“I like it, them finding something also helps take some pressure away from the village. Well, after the inevitable area sweep is done. From what Fire said this Ender seems quite competent when it comes to military things.”
Steve frowned. He knew that their experiments on the crystals could force the group to leave the village, but he was getting the impression from Shadow that this was a certainty, not just a possibility. This made him feel a little more guilty. He hoped it would turn out to be the right decision in the long run.
“That’s good to know,” Steve said.
“How about we catalogue all of the materials we found, then decide how we will do our experiments?” Jennifer proposed.
Steve and Shadow agreed, and samples of the various materials were laid out onto a quickly constructed stone table.
Most of the materials Steve and Jennifer mined were similar to the ores and gems from their own world, but some appeared to have subtle differences. The redstone dust they found in the current DSL was discovered by accident to be water resistant. The lapis lazuli had a strange smell. Steve was interested to see if that was connected to the lapis smuggling operations they encountered earlier. The other cave materials Steve and Jennifer recognized from their world were also laid out on the table, on the off-chance that these dimensional variants had unique properties that were less obvious. Finally, there were three materials on the table that were completely unfamiliar. The first one was a soft, black dust with the consistency of clay. The second one was a glowing, purple-blue rock. And the third was a deep blue metal ore which refused to melt in a coal-powered furnace.
Shadow asked: “You have more samples, right? If I want to analyze those quickly, disintegration is the best way.”
“Yes, we have at least two stacks of each material, with the exception of the glowing rock, which we have about half a stack of. As for the crystals, we only have a few of those, so it would be best to not waste them, although we should still find a way to analyze them quickly,” Steve said.
“Alright, let’s begin.” Shadow said.
She pointed her palm at the sample of redstone, glowing runes appeared over her arm and a few seconds later a blindingly bright beam of energy struck the sample, accompanied by a low crackling and humming. After a few moments the beam disappeared, only leaving behind a hole in the table and some heated air. Shadow then repeated this process multiple times. When she arrived at the purple-blue rock something was different though, the sample remained mostly intact, only to be obliterated by a second, seemingly more powerful blast.
Shadow quickly explained: “Obvious things first, those rocks seem to absorb magic but can only store a certain amount before becoming saturated. This is similar to how silver behaves in my world, which is interesting. As for the other samples, the lapis is just regular lapis except with traces of sulfur, which explains the smell. The redstone is interesting, if you were to mix it with iron powder and smelt it into an alloy you’d get a material with good conductive properties. The black dust is an excellent electrical insulator. The blue metal seems to be of Nether origin, it’s quite lightweight, durable and tools made from it could have self-sharpening properties.”
Steve did a triple take. He knew Shadow was a competent wizard, but he didn’t expect her to finish analyzing the samples so quickly.
Does she need a drink of water? Or maybe a second opinion? Then again, does she even need to drink water? Is such a question even warranted, given the custom of drinking water when experiencing stress may not exist in the culture which Shadow originates from? Steve thought to himself, before composing himself and coming up with an appropriate response for the situation before this pause could lengthen into a quadruple take. “That’s an impressive analysis. It’s nice to know the redstone in this dimension has the same alloying properties as in our world. Combined with its water-resistant properties and the insulating dust, that gives us just what we need to make new electronics if we need them. As for the blue metal and the magic-absorbing glowing rocks, those might be worth experimenting with more while we’re here. I would be interested to see how the blue metal works as a pickaxe, provided I can figure out how to smelt it.”
Jennifer nodded. “I would be interested to see if the blue metal could be used to make re-usable arrows.”
“I’ve tried smelting the blue metal ore in a furnace, but was not successful,” Steve explained. “Given that, according to Shadow’s analysis, the metal is originally from the Nether, it should be possible to melt the ore using lava.” Steve took out a furnace and placed it down to the left of the table, then took out a single bucket of lava and began testing his theory.
“Those glowing rocks are too brittle to be used for magic-resistant armor, and aside from that we don’t have a lot of them,” Jennifer thought aloud. “Maybe they could be used as a potion ingredient. What do you think, Shadow?”
“For non-magical people drinking powdered anti-magic rock probably doesn’t change much. But it could be used for curse purging or some amount of protection from magic, in splash potion form you could probably also disrupt low-energy spells or temporarily disable casters.” Shadow replied.
Sounds like a way to counter the Dreamweaver, Steve thought to himself. He didn’t want to say it aloud, on the off-chance Shadow was the Dreamweaver.
“It’s worth a shot,” Jennifer said, pulling out a brewing stand from her pocket and placing it on the table.
In a few moments, a standard triplet of potions was brewed using a small amount of the glowing stone crushed up and thrown in at the end as a catalyst. Jennifer kept the gunpowder on standby. At this point, Steve was euphemistically cursing under his breath as the blue metal in his furnace refused to melt, and was turning over in his head about how to proceed.
As the glowing rock finished dissolving into the potion to form a glowing purple liquid, Jennifer sprinkled in the gunpowder, then took out a heavily damaged bow, which faintly gleamed purple from enchantment. “One test we could try would be to apply the potion to this bow in splash potion form,” Jennifer proposed. “Since you’re a magic user, maybe you have some other ideas on how we could test the potions.”
Shadow nodded. “I could conjure up a magical light source on the ground. I’d prefer if the tests didn’t involve splashing me with the potion. My clothes are magical as well and I think you would prefer for them not to disappear.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer placed the damaged enchanted bow onto the ground, and threw a potion at it. She jumped slightly as the bowstring snapped.
Jennifer walked up to the broken bow, picked it up, and inspected it. Not surprisingly, the broken bow no longer had its enchantment. Broken equipment tended to be that way. But interestingly, the torn bowstring was far from the only new source of damage. New scratches and dents had appeared all along the length of the wood, as if all the bumps and grazes absorbed by the enchantment over the course of the bow’s life were released back onto the bow.
“Judging from the bow breaking, and the new damage that wasn’t there before, it looks like the unbreaking enchantment failed catastrophically,” Jennifer said. “Let’s try the magical light source.”
Shadow stepped back and pointed her hand toward the ground, and a single rune glowed on her finger. A glowing white ball of light about the size of a closed fist appeared on the ground, next to it was an identical one.
“One of those orbs is actively supplied with energy by me, the other one slowly drains from its surroundings to sustain itself. Let’s see if anything different happens.”
Jennifer threw a splash potion so that it landed in between the two lights. Both lights vanished. After a few moments passed, one of the lights began to barely glow again, until it was restored to its original brightness. Only the actively powered light had survived.
Meanwhile, Steve was testing a blast furnace he built, which took up quite a bit of space in the room. The furnace was being heated by coals with lava underneath to get the process started, and the only thing left was to stoke the flames and hope the ore would melt. After the unperturbed and rather athletic Steve gave the bellows some elbow grease, he checked inside the furnace and was pleased to find the ore had sunk into his newly crafted ingot casts.
“Any luck with melting the ore?” Jennifer asked, not able to see inside the furnace from her angle.
“Thankfully, yes.” Steve said. “Do you mind helping me smelt the rest of this, and then we can craft some tools for testing?”
Jennifer agreed. Shadow also offered to help, and used some of her magic to increase the heat in the furnace to speed up the melting. Once the first set of ingots cooled, Steve and Jennifer used the ingots to create a pickaxe and some arrows. Steve was impressed by the pick’s mining speed, and Jennifer was pleased with the durability of the arrows and the speed at which they fired, so they made more. Once the remaining resources were stored away, there was only one thing left to test.
Steve placed his ender chest onto the ground. He looked toward Jennifer, and then toward Shadow.
“Any ideas?”
“About how to test the crystals?” Jennifer probed.
“Exactly.”
Shadow shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do once it’s here.”
“I’ll take out just one for now,” Steve said. He reached into the ender chest and took out a crystal. This one had a small dent in the top, was yellow in color, and glowed much like the other crystals did. He handed the crystal to Shadow.
There was a look of surprise on Shadow’s face. She said: “No wonder people carrying these get caught by the Entity’s goons. This one alone has a massive energy signature, no telling of a whole bag. Alright, let me examine it further.”
Shadow held the crystal close to her head and closed her eyes, different runes on her body flashed in irregular intervals. After about a minute Shadow handed the crystal back to Steve. “This crystal… it has something like a metaphysical chain attached to it, it seems it’s connected to a world close to Nexus. I have never seen anything like it.”
Steve nervously put the crystal back into the ender chest, figuring every second the crystal was exposed was another moment at which the Tower could take notice.
“Could you explain that in layman’s words, please?” Steve asked politely.
“From what I could tell this crystal somehow formed somewhere in a different world, then was taken to Nexus. It is still connected to the place where it formed, like an anchor. It’s quite interesting: the crystals seem to exist in more than three dimensions, a part of them punctures the ‘walls’ of the world and is in direct contact with the Void. We know that something caused a pull that created Nexus, it might have been these crystals that were pulled on and took their worlds with them. I can’t really say more on how or why they exist but knowing that they do seems important.”
“What about the energy signature?” Jennifer asked.
“The crystals themselves are actually unremarkable in their energy. The ‘chains’ back to their place of origin seem to be anchored to those void-exposed points. These breaches are what cause the massive energy signatures, like quickly dragging a stick through water creates waves. I think the signatures are less important to us since those only aid in finding the crystals, the chains themselves are what’s important.”
Steve becomes deep in thought. “So, the energy signature of the crystals is what makes us a glowing target on the Entity minions’ radar. No surprise there. But at the same time it’s not a good power source. So, whatever these ‘dimensional chains’ do, the Tower must have found a use for them…”
Jennifer mused, “If I was a villain commanding a giant castle, and I had poor interior design sense, and I was collecting a bunch of dimensional chains from all over the place, what would I do?”
“Pull on them?” Steve offered.
Jennifer gave Steve a funny look. “That wasn’t the elaborate explanation I was hoping for that would tie together all of the Entity’s weird character traits, but yes, that would be my first guess. I would pull on them. Then what would happen after that? Shadow?”
“That depends entirely on how those chains work. They could be static so nothing happens, the link could also break, in the most likely case it would actually start tearing out parts of the other world, especially when you look at....”
Steve and Jennifer looked at each other.
“Like the dimensional sandwich layers here in Nexus.” Jennifer concluded.
“Funny how it’s called ‘Nexus’,” Steve said. “It’s almost like this place wants to be the center of the multiverse.”
“So, it’s not just a fancy name for a dimensional hub where a bunch of peoples and cultures from different worlds come together and hang out?” Jennifer remarked sarcastically.
Shadow said: “With some of the things the Prophet says, any hope of it just being that is becoming increasingly delusional.”
“Great,” Steve said. “It seems we’ve stumbled into the center of what quite possibly could be the end of the multiverse.”
Chapter35:The Book is right, as usual (Steve and Jennifer/Fristad)
Steve placed down a lever on the ground near the entrance to the bunker and flipped it; causing unseen redstone-powered pneumatics to push up grass, soil, and stone into place; leaving behind a patch of grassy meadow floor whose subtle seams would have made even the most discerning lawn gardener impressed. Steve then dug up the lever, and followed behind Shadow and Jennifer as the three made their way through the rain-dampened forest back to the village.
Shadow parted ways with Steve and Jennifer, and the duo resolved to find Kay and Warnado to let them know about their new discovery that the glowing stone could be used to inhibit magic.
First, they checked the tavern. The old wooden door to the tavern was left open invitingly, or perhaps as a way to let in some fresh air. The tavern was quiet and almost empty of patrons, aside from a single man sitting at the counter.
Then, they checked the inn. Kay’s room was unoccupied. The usual evening crowd was in the dining commons, but there was no one familiar who they could probe for information about Kay and Warnado’s whereabouts.
“Well, this is inconvenient.” Steve said.
“I guess it was bound to happen eventually,” Jennifer said. “Doesn’t Kay usually hang about town?”
“He did buy a crossbow recently. Maybe he’s taking some practice shots.”
As it turned out, Kay was, in fact, in a small library at the edge of the village, which up to this point Steve and Jennifer were not aware existed. Judging from the staircase and the rooms, it seemed like it used to be a house at some point. Kay seemed to be busily searching through the shelves.
“What are you looking for?” Steve asked.
“Some friendly villager working in a rather unremarkable bakery said this library had a section on military tactics.” Kay pulled out a book, looked at its cover, frowned, shoved the book back in, and continued looking. “But as far as I can tell, this building’s owner was not particularly keen on keeping things organized. Or perhaps there was an attempt at order at some point, but then the owner gave up when faced with the chaos of this world’s new reality? Since when was I this ponderous? Why am I reading this book if I literally can’t understand a word of what it’s saying? Blasted alternate dimensions and their confusingly similar letters!” Kay shoved another book back into the shelf. “Anyways, how’s it going?”
“We did some research,” Steve said. “Some of the materials we’ve mined in the local caves have useful properties. One of them seems like it might be useful for your investigation.”
Kay turned his head eagerly toward Steve. “You could not have come at a better time. Although this isn’t the best place to discuss it, given the library being open to the public…” Kay gestured subtly up towards the second floor with his head.
Steve looked up and saw Fristad standing just behind the second floor’s cracked green painted bannister. Fristad held a book just below his shoulders. He averted eye contact with Steve and looked down towards the book in his hands, attempting to make himself look busy. Steve studied Fristad’s face for a moment, deep in thought.
“Agreed,” Steve said. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”
“Warnado’s somewhere in the back,” Kay said. “I’ll go get him.”
------------
Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpse Steve, Kay, and the others vanish from the library’s front door. I close the library book, feeling the historian’s steady narrative of the early days of some feudal society slowly fade from my mind. I carefully study the engraving of a house on the book’s front cover, then stand on my toes and place the book laying down on the edge of a high shelf. Like Kay said, this library is a mess. With any luck, that book will still be there when I get back.
I feel an urgency growing within me. I step down the library’s strangely homey staircase, noting carefully the sound of the wood beneath my boots. I walk to the front of the library and slowly open the door.
It is raining outside. I listen and hear faint murmurs of people in the village, but it’s unclear if they are familiar voices. I quickly step out into the rain and close the library door behind me, keeping my body close to the walls.
I look out toward the expanse of farmland and the distant trees beyond it. Then, I turn my head left and right, noting the buildings and the lack of people outside.
I quickly walk around a corner and look down the road. A single child runs by, carrying something in a cloth, with a hand over their head as measly protection from the admittedly mild rain. I think I can faintly hear Kay making conversation, but I can’t tell what direction his voice is coming from. I step further into the village, observing carefully with each new step.
“It wasn’t really that bad,” I hear Kay say, a brightness to his voice suggesting a level of pride. “I’ve gotten a far worse scar from Astro… two, actually... and he didn’t even apologize! Besides, nobody becomes an expert at anything without a considerable amount of effort and a few embarrassing mistakes along the way.”
I slow my pace. Kay’s voice is getting a bit too loud. I hope they aren’t walking towards me.
Finally, Kay’s voice fades, and I turn my head around the next building. The group is walking away from me, same as before. I think they are headed for the inn.
I continue to follow them, keeping near corners of buildings and hoping they don’t turn around and see me. As I predicted, they finally enter the inn. I wait a few moments before walking through the door behind them.
The dining area is packed and loud, making overhearing the unsuspecting targets of my eavesdropping difficult. I peer very briefly toward the dining area, but I can only file away a few faces of strangers in my mind before I fear someone will see me and head up the staircase.
The dining crowd is quieter up here in the halls, but I still can’t make out voices coming from the rooms. I walk up to a door and put my ear against it. There is not a single sound behind it. I lean against another door. Nothing. Another door? Still nothing. Why do I even bother? What if they’re not here, and I saw someone else walking through that inn door?
“Check every door,” the Book commands. “Do not stand here with doubt and rumination as Steve plots to undermine you.”
I do as it says, listening at each door briefly but thoroughly. To my surprise, my efforts are finally rewarded, and I hear Steve’s familiar voice through one of the doors. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The Book is right, as usual.
Steve’s words are muffled by the sound of the downstairs din. I feel a small spark of anger that makes me want to go downstairs and shut them all up. But now is not the time for that. The next words Steve says could be very important. I listen carefully, translating the voice from the commotion.
“We can talk about that a bit more when the rest of the group gets back,” Steve says. “Anyways, there was another material we found - let me pull it out so you can see it.”
Steve’s voice fades from beneath the inn patron din. It’s hard to tell if he’s whispering, or just rummaging through his pants. I hope he’s still audible. I keep listening in anticipation.
“There,” Steve says. “As you can see, it’s some sort of glowing rock. It’s somewhat rare, about twice as common as diamond, but it seems to only be found near humid ravines.”
The Book’s voice surfaces. “I cannot sense any magic coming from the rock Steve is claiming to hold, assuming it is a rock at all. It is possible the object could be mundane, Ender, or some other form of substance unknown to our world.”
“But it can be stretched a lot farther if it’s ground into a powder and brewed into potions,” Steve continues.
“Of course…” the Book says.
I hear a door open behind me.
“Are you spying on someone or something?” a male voice says. “I am pretty sure that’s illegal.”
Frustration and fear flashes in my mind. I turn around to face the man. He’s an old man of below-average height and rather heavily dressed, perhaps to compensate for his sensitivity to the cold. A sword hangs from his hip by a rope.
“Or, at least, it would have been illegal back in the society that I was once a part of…” The man’s eyes widen as he realizes what sort of man he’s talking to. Maybe he saw the look of violent anger in my face. He wants to take his words back. Of course, he knows it’s too late.
I sprint toward him. He stumbles walking backward but doesn’t get very far. I cover his mouth before he cries out. It only takes half a suggested thought for a dimensional rift to envelope us, rip us from the walls of the inn hallway, and plant us at the edge of a wheat field next to a farmhouse.
You could have waited ten minutes! Maybe twenty! Twenty more minutes in your bedroom and I would have been gone! But you had to be there, didn’t you? You had to barge in at that one critical moment and jeopardize my efforts to clean up this whole mess!
I wish I didn’t have to kill this man. But I have no choice. I feel my hand rise and aim at the man’s head. I let that horrible heat flow through me, and the man’s head disintegrates in a cloud of blood and violet flame. Before his body can fall to the ground, I feel myself pulled away from the farmhouse, to the edge of the village.
I feel frustrated as I imagine how many words Steve probably said in the time I’ve already been gone. But letting the man live and spread rumors of my eavesdropping could have been worse. I suppose the Book teleported me to the edge of town because the sound of another teleportation would have made me even more suspicious.
I sigh. I guess running wouldn’t hurt.
I run back to the inn, the rain wetting my face and making me squint. I almost slip on the mud-slicked bricks on one of the inner town roads, and have to slow down a bit.
Finally, I make it back to the front door of the inn. I stand still for a moment.
I just killed someone.
I push through the dread. I open the inn door, walk up the stairs, and stand in front of the door where Steve and the others are. I try to listen through the door again.
“Do not lean against the door,” the Book orders.
I lean back away from the door and see with shock that my armor has left spots of blood on the surface of the door.
“The void will remove the paint, but there will be no blood left behind.”
I implement the Book’s suggestion, letting small bits of silver light embed into the surface of the door where the blood has touched it, until it burns those parts away into purple smoke. I try to burn the blood off my armor, then realize that won’t work as the fire bends away and turns purple. I suppose the Book would have told me to do it if it were possible. I feel a bit of heat from my use of the void linger in my arm.
The Book observes with satisfaction. “Good. You can use the former guest’s bedroom as a quick escape when they leave. Warnado’s ability to sense magic is not yet strong enough to detect you.”
“Former guest?” That’s quite a euphemistic way of describing someone who we literally just murdered.
I lean my ear against the door again, conservatively only letting my head rest upon it this time.
“The hard part, aside from being there at the right time, is getting close enough to the Dreamweaver to use it. You can’t exactly activate it at a distance,” Warnado’s oddly inflected voice muses.
“Fair point,” Jennifer responds. “In other circumstances, Steve and I could make an automatic trap, but we don’t have a lot of space to work with, and we need to be subtle.”
I sense the Book observing eagerly. “The trap seems like the centerpiece of their plan. We need to listen closely. The material they mentioned must play a role. The fact we could not sense the material could mean it is the basis for an advanced invisibility potion, but given that they are concerned about being detected, that is highly unlikely. A mundane material is unlikely to be a threat. Which just leaves ender, or something unknown. Assuming ender, it is likely the material prevents teleportation. In that case, they likely intend to use it in splash potion form. That would explain why they need to use it at close range. We need to prepare for that possibility.”
“I’m getting a few ideas,” Warnado says. “Shadow has been teaching me how to better control my magic. I’m still wrapping my head around a lot of it, but I think I could create a spell that would buy us the time we need. I just need to practice it.”
“That sounds promising,” Jennifer says. “Any idea what kind of spell it would be?”
“I think…. some combination of stealth and disorientation,” Warnado says. “I’m not sure if I will be able to concentrate on the spell and throw the splash potion at the same time, so someone else might have to do that part. And we definitely need a backup plan.”
Huh. So it is a splash potion...
“Backup plan? Strategic collaboration between multiple individuals? That sounds exactly within my purview,” Kay remarks with enthusiasm. “Warnado can formulate a spell and give us a risk factor come the end of the day. Meanwhile, the rest of us can work on a few ideas for how to deploy the potion. Maybe survey our surroundings. Sounds like a good foundation.”
“I agree,” Steve says. “Let’s reconvene with Warnado in the early afternoon, to check on his progress and tweak our plan as needed.”
“I guess there’s no time to waste,” Warnado says. “I’ll go get started magicking pronto. Wish me luck. Hopefully I won’t step on a lego.”
I contemplate for a moment what a ‘lego’ is, but then the necessities of the moment get the best of me, and I quickly tiptoe into the empty inn room whose now dead occupant I choose not to think about.
A door opens, a pair of footsteps creaks the inn floor. I stand still for a bit with patience, and soon after I hear the footsteps and voices of the other three conspirators. Once their voices fade, I slowly step out into the hall, and contemplate what to do next.
Chapter36:Empty Mind (Fristad)
I stare at the floor, the black enderman armor only visible against the night-shadowed floor by the faint gleam it reflects from the light of the window.
All I have to do is put on this armor, and I could postpone this crime until tomorrow. But I can hear the Book’s persuading words too clearly in my head. They suppress my doubts and guilts one by one, until I feel an unavoidable sense of excitement push itself to the forefront of my mind.
I know what I am about to do is wrong, but I feel a smile spread across my face. I find myself counting the seconds. Just a little while longer, and I am certain she will be asleep.
“Do not forget, they have a plan to capture you,” the Book warns. “Do not trust any moving shadow. Have a lethal spell ready, and be prepared to run away on foot.”
I hear you loud and clear.
Suddenly I feel an unbelievably painful heat erupt in my chest. I wince and try hard to hold my breath to prevent myself from crying out.
“Do not pull your mind away from the pain, Fristad. This is the energy I am giving you for the lethal voidfire spell.”
Why does it have to be so painful?
“The void has a tendency to cause pain when your use of it exceeds your limits. Normally I would take ownership of the spell, but I need to help you create Amanda’s nightmare. You will need to be ready to cast it entirely on your own, if the need arises.”
Are you saying that all the spells I thought I was casting, I wasn’t actually casting to begin with?
“Unfortunately, turning you into a void mage overnight is beyond my abilities. I can only guide you, allowing you to think the thoughts you would have as if you were casting the spell.”
I think back to the time I killed that man who spotted me the inn with a voidfire blast. I felt so guilty after killing him. I really did feel like I had created the fire myself, that I had meticulously measured the exertion it would take to burn his head off cleanly. Yet every detail of it was carefully manufactured by the Book.
If it weren’t for the Book’s control… no, guidance... I would find this degree of control over my mind horrifying. But instead, I find it beautiful. Soon, we will be able to do the same thing to help Amanda.
I drive that train of thought away. It’s a distraction. There’s no time for that. I push the voidfire into my left hand, trying hard not to make a sound as my thoughts themselves seem to burn, and every part of my body the void passes through becomes hot with scalding fever. Finally, the heat and pain concentrate into my hand, and I try hard to hold that pain in place.
“It is time,” the Book says.
I let my mind relax, ignoring the space around me, and a bed materializes before me. My heart beats rapidly. I see Amanda’s shadowed face just above the covers, her eyelids shut with tranquility. I swing my head around the room. There is no one here.
“Wrong. Warnado is nearby,” the Book warns. “He is not in the room, but he is close. Be careful. He may use an illusion spell.”
I note the Book’s worry carefully, and turn my attention back to Amanda. She looks so peaceful. I wonder what she’s dreaming about right now?
I extend a finger and a thumb from my hand and pull Amanda’s eyelids open. Her pupils are looking straight at me. I panic, but then her eyes dart away, consumed with the flitting thoughts of sleep.
I stare deep into her eyes, looking for the specks of light, each of which is a part of her mind, from fleeting trains of thought to the most cherished old memories. The abyss within her pupils is unusually deep. I keep searching deeper, but I can’t find even the smallest specks of light inside. What is wrong with Amanda? Is she dead? No, she can’t be dead; I saw her eyes move just a minute ago. Is she possessed, maybe? Perhaps this is Warnado’s doing?
This is taking too long. Something is wrong.
I pull back my focus. There is something resisting my pull. It takes me several seconds to get back my concentration and ground my perception in the physical space of the night-darkened inn room.
“Warnado just entered through the window.”
I turn on my heel toward the window and raise my left hand. Then, I hear a sound like breaking glass as liquid splashes against my clothes. Amanda’s arm is raised. She was awake, holding a splash potion this whole time.
I command the voidfire in my hand, but nothing responds. I have no light. I can’t teleport. I have no defense. A weight falls in my gut. I turn around toward the inn door. I hear rushing footsteps. I reach for the door.
Then something grabs my boots. I look down and see claw-like appendages twisting around my legs and gripping them in a vice. A great, gaping hole with a faint blue light grows from beneath the claws, and I feel myself sinking down. A deep rumble grows louder beneath me, and faint hisses begin to sting my ears. I try to grab for the doorknob but it is now too high for me to reach. My legs are beginning to give in to pain from the pressure of the claws’ grip. The edge of the portal and the claws reach up to my chest, and then my neck, and… the portal closes around my neck.
I wince… but nothing happens. I am still in the same, dark room, my neck still intact. The rumbles and hisses from the portal are still here, but fainter. The tips of the claws gripping around my neck twitch slightly.
A cloaked figure steps in front of me and crouches down. A lantern with a glowing blue frame appears in their hand, lighting everything in the room but keeping their face in shadow.
“I have been looking forward to meeting you,” the figure says, its voice deep and echoing like a chorus of giant monsters speaking in unison, “Adobe Dreamweaver.”
I frown. “Adobe Dreamweaver?”
“Yea, you know…” the cloaked figure gestures circularly with their hand. “The thing you make websites with.”
“I don’t follow.” I look down at the menacing dimensional hole nestled around my neck with claws inside of it. The Book’s reassuring thoughts have vanished. I don’t feel so confident anymore. “But I really don’t want to die, so if you just tell me what you want from me, then I’ll gladly comply.”
Lantern-holding demon Warnado slams his fist on the floor. The dimensional hole rumbles more and the claws crawl and relocate around my body, making my neck itch.
“I NEVER ASKED FOR A SUBSCRIPTION MODEL!”
“Okay, okay, I get it…” I sigh. “Yes, I’m the Dreamweaver. I gave Amanda the nightmares. It was wrong. I’m sorry. I have this sentient book that follows me everywhere. It controls my thoughts and gives me void powers. It wants me to control Amanda in the same way it controls me, so it made me give Amanda nightmares that are supposed to make it easier for me to influence her. I don’t know what the book’s motivations are and have mostly just been doing what it says because I have no idea how to fight it.” Oh, Notch, is something else crawling on my leg? “Is that explanation enough for you? Can I come out of this portal now?”
Warnado scratches his chin slowly. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. You are the Dreamweaver, after all. There’s a lot we don’t know about you, like how dangerous your powers are, whether you’re affiliated with the Entity in some way, whether you have any accomplices…. Heck, everything you’ve said could have been a lie. I’m going to have to talk with some people to sort this out. This could take a while.”
“Can I at least get some assurance that you’re not going to kill me?”
“I certainly have no interest in killing you. But I’m not sure where exactly that dimensional hole leads to. It might be best to stay as still as possible.”
“Great!” I reply with sarcastic enthusiasm. I note the numbness in my legs caused by the clawed creature squeezing on them. Staying still certainly won’t be difficult.
“Are you alright, Amanda?” Warnado, asks, this time in his normal voice.
“I’m fine,” she says. “I have the other two potions ready.”
I wonder what sort of potion Amanda used to not only stop my teleportation, but completely cut me off from the book’s magic? And what was that strange resistance I felt when trying to pull out of Amanda’s mind, after I realized I was unable to control it? These people clearly have tricks up their sleeves that even the book doesn’t know about. Maybe they will be able to stop the book for good?
As Warnado opens the door just in front of me and walks out of the room, leaving his ethereal lantern on the floor to keep the room lit, I consider the irony of contemplating my freedom while a monster holds a vice grip on the nine tenths of my body stuck in some unknown dimension.
A few moments later, Shadow enters the room, the silhouette of her body somehow slightly rippling, white runes glowing on her skin, followed by Warnado and a cautious-looking Kay. Shadow stops to the side of me, while Warnado stands beside her, with Kay out of view.
Shadow looks down at me with mild amusement. “So, Fristad. You better start explaining exactly what this is about before I start explaining what happens if your explanation isn’t satisfactory.”
I take a deep breath - well, as deep of a breath as possible given my lungs are being squeezed by otherworldly claws - and think about where to begin. She seems pretty serious, so maybe it’s best to start at the very beginning. “As I’ve mentioned before, I’m an animal farmer, and I’ve been one for most of my life. That’s the truth. But then one morning, I woke up and realized I had this talking book that was trying to control me for Notch knows what reason. I had no idea where it came from. Over time, it started to control my thoughts more and get me to do crazier things. Long story short, I found myself in some abandoned underground city, found a nether portal that wasn’t supposed to be there, went through it in an act of self-preservation, and ended up in Nexus.”
At this point, Shadow and Warnado are not reacting very much, but are listening intently. I continue to faintly hear rumbles and hisses beneath me, and feel the less subtle grip of the claws, reminders of the threatening world that looms underneath me, eager to swallow me up.
I continue, “At that point, I was concealing the source of the powers this book was starting to give me because I didn’t trust anyone. The book made me craft a new set of armor that turns me into an enderman at night. Honestly, I’m not really sure why. Then, as a way of advancing my new powers, the book made me choose someone to gain control over, the same way the book gained control over me. I chose Amanda. That’s when I became the Dreamweaver. I’m not really sure how it works, but somehow giving Amanda nightmares was supposed to make it easier for me to influence her.”
I take another breath. It’s a strange relief to tell strangers from other worlds about a being I’ve been hiding for so long.
“Now do you understand?” I ask.
Chapter37:The Dreamweaver Revealed (Kay)
There was a strange tension and anticipation in the inn room. The sun hadn’t even risen and the whole room seemed blurred at the edges in the eyes of the group, many of whom had only just been woken there as Kay dashed from door to door. The subject of discussion, Fristad, was subdued: his eyes gazed downward, his expression remained flat, and his arms were tied behind his back. Shadow stood behind Fristad, her form still rippling with energy, ready to retaliate at a moment’s notice should her captive attempt anything, while Warnado watched Fristad closely from a slightly further distance.
Kay shuffled his feet slightly and straightened his back, experimenting in his mind the right balance between emotional sincerity and cautionary restraint.
“My friends,” Kay began, “we’ve established without a shadow of a doubt the identity of the Dreamweaver. With some additional help from Steve, Jennifer, and Shadow, we were able to catch the Dreamweaver attempting to harm Amanda, restrain him, and prevent him from doing further damage. The identity of the Dreamweaver is Fristad…” Kay gestured toward the arm-tied Fristad.
“I knew it,” Destiny said with a mix of anger and satisfaction. “I hope he gets what he deserves.”
“What would you propose? And what exactly would that accomplish?” Tyron asked. “Inducing nightmares on someone is definitely wrong, but we need to realize we’re setting a precedent.”
Destiny stepped forward. “Do you have any-”
“Perhaps we should consider the risks first?” Steve suggested. “I think Kay has more he wants to say.”
Destiny stepped back. The flash of anger faded from her face, replaced with a more restrained irritation.
“I realize it’s not easy to accept that a member of our group could betray our trust by committing these hostile acts,” Kay said. “Also, allowing Fristad to remain a member of our group confers a certain level of risk that we won’t be taking lightly. At the same time, there’s the Tower to consider. Exiling Fristad from the group introduces the risk of him becoming the Entity’s test subject again, and possibly his abilities being used against us. On the other hand, his actions so far certainly don’t deserve severe punishment, and he’s proven to be helpful to the group at times…”
Kay gestured toward Fristad.
“We’ve found a means to restrain Fristad in such a way that makes him unable to use his magic and therefore renders him much less dangerous, while still allowing him to do most of the things he usually does. We propose that this be considered as part of his punishment.”
“For what period of time do you propose Fristad be unable to use his magic?” Astro asked.
Shadow responded, “He claims his magic comes from a sentient book with malicious intent. We need to verify that’s true, and if that’s the case, figure out if the book can be safely disabled or reasoned with. From that point, we can decide if it’s wise to continue to let Fristad to use his powers.”
Astro nodded reluctantly. “I suppose given the circumstances, we will need to make that precaution. However, a wizard being deprived of their magic is a bit like a person being deprived of the ability to read. I wouldn’t recommend any punishment beyond that.”
“If it’s any consolation,” Fristad said, “I actually don’t care about the book’s magic. To be honest, I’d rather be rid of it for good if it meant I could be free from its influence.” In Fristad’s last few words, a tone of reluctance started to creep in.
Shadow said: “That is good to hear. If this book of yours really is as malicious as you claim, total suppression will keep both you and us safe from it. As I said, it should only be a temporary solution until we find out more about the book.”
“Any objections to keeping Fristad in the group given Shadow’s proposed precautions?” Kay offered.
A few heads looked at each other.
Steve stepped forward. “Agreed, but we need to work on a contingency plan if the long-term magic suppression method falls through.”
“Nobody said we weren’t going to have one,” Jennifer pointed out.
“I know. I’m just putting that out there.” Steve stepped back.
“I’d like to hear what Amanda has to say,” Warnado said.
Heads turned toward Amanda. Amanda’s expression was hardened, as she contemplated from a distance the frightening things she had experienced. “I honestly didn’t think Fristad could be capable of that kind of evil. But it helps to put a face on it.” Amanda turned toward Warnado knowingly. “If you really do have a solid plan that will keep me and the others safe, then I will stand behind it.”
“It’s settled, then. Fristad stays with the group,” Kay declared. “Any other suggestions?”
Destiny considered saying something, but decided against it.
Steve said, “I think it’s safe to assume we’re in agreement. Let’s talk about the suppression plan.”
Fristad was led out of the room by Tyron, while the rest of the group began formulating a plan.
“As you probably noticed at this point, we’ve been using potions to suppress Fristad’s magic,” Steve said. “The potions use a glowing material we’ve found underground. It works quickly on its own, but isn’t very efficient. Given how rare the material is, and the fact that it may be dimension-specific, we need to come up with a better plan.”
“The reason why the potions are so inefficient is because most of the catalyst never gets absorbed,” Jennifer said. “On top of that, potions take up too much space. It would be better if we could do away with all that liquid and just make use of material in its solid form.”
“I’m all in favor of efficient use of limited resources, but how certain are you that this new method will keep Fristad’s antics in check?” Kay asked. “Or perhaps this works at first but we run into difficulties later? Such as Fristad deciding he resents us for suppressing his magic and plotting revenge? How do we respond?”
Shadow said: “I do have a few ideas. Now that I am proven to not be the Dreamweaver I don’t have to worry about doing things that would have made me suspicious before. Let’s just say that if he doesn’t immediately disappear, he won’t go far. I will use lethal force if required.”
“I can vouch for that,” Astro said. “Shadow’s abilities have… at times… made my own spells look like parlor tricks in comparison. We should consider ourselves fortunate that she is on our side.”
Chapter38:Preventative Measures (Fire/Steve and Jennifer)
Fire hadn’t witnessed Fristad’s discovery and capture personally even though he probably could have. He had been woken up by a strong magical impulse that he hadn’t quite been able to place in any category, which was also the reason he decided to stay put, magical battles weren’t exactly his strength. When one of Shadow’s projections informed him that they had caught the Dreamweaver he had immediately gone over to Amanda’s room. The strange nature of the magical impulse also made sense when Fire found out that Warnado was its origin, his training under Shadow seemed to be coming along well, Shadow seemed to think so too if her praise for her apprentice was anything to go by.
During the gathering that followed after Fire had kept himself in the background and observed how things turned out. Fristad’s story about this book of his was definitely strange but overall believable, luckily the effectiveness of the magic suppression was beyond confirmed at this point so even if he did lie about the origin of his magic, the outcome would remain the same.
After the gathering ended their group quickly split into two smaller ones: the ones who were too tired from the capture to stay awake and those who were too awake to go back to sleep. Fire definitely belonged to the latter and so did Steve and Jennifer. They had been the ones to discover the magic-absorbing rocks in the first place so Fire was quick to approach them about the details of the suppression device, after a short round of discussion they decided to get to work immediately, ideally to finish the device before the potion wore off.
They then proceeded to take over the local blacksmith’s smithy for the night since that was the easiest solution to get access to all the required tools and machines. They mixed a gold-based alloy that would preserve most of the magic conducting properties of gold while enabling the making of a sturdier frame than pure gold would have allowed.
In what could be considered by most human standards a relatively short time, the device was industriously completed. Fire was quite pleased with Steve’s and Jennifer’s competence.
The finished device was a hexagon made from their new alloy, it featured two clamps that could each hold one of the magic-absorbing rocks, as well as a locking mechanism to make sure the clamps stayed shut unless a key was used to unlock them. A sturdy leather strap was attached to each of the sides of the hexagon, connecting back together to a second hexagon, which held another lock that could be unlocked with a different key. After they made sure that enchantments would actually stick, the leather straps were enchanted to be a lot tougher than they already were.
Overall the device was quite sleek for how bulky it looked, ideally it would only cause minimal discomfort to Fristad.
Steve knocked on Fristad’s inn door while holding the device by its straps, with Shadow and Jennifer standing behind him. Footsteps creaked the floor and the door was opened soon after, revealing a tired Fristad with a crumpled shirt and vest.
Fristad glanced at the device Steve was holding and grinned. “Time for my medicine?”
“That’s the spirit,” Steve said.
Fristad opened the door and let Steve and the others inside, then sat on his bed.
“So, I’m guessing you’re not going to destroy the book? That’s why you’re making me wear a magic-suppressing chestpiece instead?”
Shadow said: “From what you have told us so far, the book seems like it is sentient. We don’t know that its motives are good, evil, or something else entirely, and it could be useful to us in the future. Also, we don’t know for certain where you got your powers, so we need to take every possible precaution.”
Fristad took off his vest and his shirt. “I guess I can’t blame you for wanting to see the best in something you don’t understand. A part of me still sees the book as good. But then I remember all the times when the book has manipulated me or gotten me to do things against my will. It’s a dangerous being that wants power badly for who knows what reason. If you’re going to keep it alive, its magic needs to be suppressed as well.”
“We’ll take it under consideration,” Jennifer said.
Fristad raised his arms forward. as Steve and Jennifer brought the straps of the device through his arms. Shadow handed Jennifer they key, and Jennifer locked the device while Steve held it in place.
Fristad looked down at his new accessory, and noted the purple enchanted glint flowing along the leather straps, and the golden hexagonal device now stationed in the center of his chest. So, after everything the book has done to me, this machine is what frees me from the book’s influence? Fristad mused. It’s kind of anticlimactic.
Shadow then took the key from Jennifer, opened one of the clamps on the front of the device with the key, and slid a small, glowing purple rock into an indentation. She fastened the clamp and turned the lock, the final movement causing the device to click. A veil of pastel, blue-purple light appeared around the edge of the hexagonal structure, and the fastened glowing rock momentarily dimmed before becoming bright again.
On second thought, that’s kind of cool, Fristad said to himself.
“I hope it’s not too uncomfortable?” Jennifer asked.
“I can’t complain,” Fristad said. He raised, lowered, and swung his arms to test his range of movement. “Well, it’s a bit tight around the shoulders. But after everything I’ve been through, I’d consider it an improvement.”
Fristad put his shirt and vest back on. “I’m not sure what the repercussions of this could be, but would it be possible for one of you to take the book off of my hands?”
“I’ll take it,” Shadow said.
Fristad reached into his back pocket and pulled out what looked like a plain, brown-covered book with no visible title, and light signs of wear.
He handed it to Shadow, she said in an almost worryingly playful tone: “Hello, book. I’m afraid I’ll have to wait with taking a look at you until I know a bit more about you.” She then slid the book into one of the folds of her robes.
The three bearers of the magic-suppressing device then left the room, leaving Fristad sitting on the bed, preoccupied with a mix of chaotic memories and long-overdue relief.
Fire had parted ways with Steve, Jennifer and Shadow in the inn’s upstairs corridor, they said they were going to fit the device on Fristad. Fire had other plans.
Two doors down from Destiny’s door, that’s where Fire was headed, the room currently occupied by Lucy. He stood before the door and thought about his words, he may have convinced Lucy to come with him here but now it was time to convince her to stay with him, or rather stay where he needed her to be, even if that place didn’t exist yet.
He knocked, no response for a few seconds. Then the rustle of bedsheets and the sound of bare feet on wood carefully but steadily coming towards the door. He hadn’t woken Lucy up, that was for sure. Fire imagined that she was still nervous, even with a night to think and rest.
Lucy slowly opened the door. She was now wearing a long blue dress, which technically belonged to Shadow. Fire’s sister wouldn’t mind, Shadow mostly packed clothes for nostalgia’s sake, her robes could change into whatever she needed. The dress was originally a fair bit shorter but it had magically grown to accommodate the fact that Lucy was quite a bit taller than Shadow. Fire had placed the dress and a few other clothes in Lucy’s dresser beforehand, she couldn’t keep running around everywhere in her maid uniform, that would just look ridiculous.
“Yes?” She asked.
Fire replied: “Good morning Lucy. If everything goes according to plan we will be departing later today.”
Lucy shook her head. “That sounds great but you still haven’t told me anything about what your plan actually is.”
“I suppose I haven’t.” Fire said. “There is someone else I’d like you to meet, her name is Destiny, she will be coming with us as well, she’s part of the group I came here with. Just two doors over.”
Lucy quickly disappeared into her room again. “Hold on, I need to put on some shoes first. Thank you for the clothes by the way.”
A few seconds later Lucy was already out of her room again, she locked it, then looked at Fire again. He took a few brisk steps over to Destiny’s room, then knocked. Destiny was a lot slower to respond than Lucy, she might have even still been lightly sleeping. A good minute after Fire’s knock she answered the door.
Destiny’s hand leaned against the door heavily, perhaps due to tiredness, but there enough wakeful lucidity in Destiny’s day-adjusting eyes to suggest it was at least partially intentional, as if she hoped the inn door would be torn off its hinges.
“Hey,” Destiny said in a low-pitched voice.
To Fire, one thing was certainly clear: Destiny was not in the best emotional state this morning and it was best to tread lightly.
“This is about what I said when we talked the other day, about the purpose I promised you.” said, then pointed to his left. “This is Lucy, she’ll accompany us as well. May we come in?”
Destiny sized up Lucy. “I’d rather... well I guess I have nothing better to do.” Destiny lifted her weight from the inn door and pushed it open, then stepped back into the room.
Fire signaled Lucy to go first, then closed the door behind him after he entered the room. “I suppose I have a bit of explaining ahead of me since I haven’t told either of you much of what my plan actually is. So, when I was at the Prophet’s hill one of his prophecies claimed that I was some sort of champion destined to lead. I could sense a lot of tension among the congregation, they are from many different worlds and naturally distrust most others, I hope that the prophecy makes them follow me until I can prove myself to them as an actual leader instead of the subject of a prophecy. From what I gathered many of them have neither a proper place to stay nor a stable source of food now that they are stranded in Nexus, my plan is to provide them with both.”
Lucy asked: “How would we do that?”
Fire explained: “I happen to know that there is an expansive cave system below the nearby mountains, if we gather the most capable warriors and miners we should be able to develop those caves into a livable shelter. The caves are ideal for this since they eliminate the need for building materials that would normally be used by a shelter of this scale. Once this initial step is complete we’ll gradually move more of the congregation into our shelter, which gives us more people who can help further expand our foothold. We can construct underground farms with crops suited to the caves, start digging mineshafts and gradually improve the living quality. This will give us a good base of operations for whatever we might want to do, for instance I promised to look into what exactly the Entity is doing.”
“I assume you intend me to fill one of the ‘capable warrior’ roles?” Destiny mused in a cynical tone, which seemed to soften later. “Not that I’m against the idea. I wouldn’t mind setting a few skeletons on fire, as long as I have someone to back me up.”
Destiny looked a bit more positive than before, Fire smiled. “Indeed, you will be vital to the first expedition. Once we start moving in more people you could also act as a mentor and teach them how to defend themselves, we might even find a few with magical potential.”
Lucy turned to Fire. “I know you said something to me about some talent I have but… what is that talent?”
Fire explained: “It’s difficult to accurately tell so early on, I don’t exactly know how my intuition works, I just know that I can trust it. Things will fall into place soon enough once we depart.” He then turned to Destiny. “If you don’t mind, we will be departing later today. Once we arrive at the congregation we will spend some time finding more people for the first expedition. I do have some amount of materials with me that we can use to set up a temporary camp site in the mountains, however everything beyond that needs to be gathered on-site.”
Destiny nodded in acknowledgement.
Lucy sighed. “I suppose. It’s a welcome change either way. I wasn’t always a maid, you know? Used to travel my world, or more accurately, my parents did and I just kind of was there as well. But...”
Fire didn’t need Lucy to finish her tale, it was clear enough what had happened. He thought for a few seconds if he had anything else important to say, then remembered something. “By the way, Shadow will not be coming with us, at least not at first. She told me that for now she’d like to stay here and investigate that book Fristad had. I also don’t think the congregation would trust an absurdly powerful mage who just happened to appear alongside me without being mentioned by the prophecy.”
Neither Lucy nor Destiny seemed to have anything to say for the moment, so Fire asked: “Do you two think you are ready for this? There is a huge task ahead of us and I don’t want to force you into anything.”
Destiny stared off to her side. “Time to jump off the smoldering remains of one prophecy and onto another, I guess. It must be nice to still believe in that kind of promise, although whether I believe in it or not doesn’t make a difference. I’m sick and tired of this deadbeat village, and ready to do something that has a chance of mattering in the grand scheme of things.”
Lucy seemed to take this opportunity to seriously reflect on her choices, after a while she said: “Yes, yes I think I can do this. What you said earlier, that things will fall into place, you seem to be confident in that and that’s enough for me. It’s been a while since someone else had confidence in me.”
Fire was glad that both of them agreed to come with him so that he at least had two people he could put his trust in, having to rely on complete strangers was never easy, even, or perhaps especially if they worshipped him as the champion of a prophecy. Over the millennia of his life his intuition had sharpened into a reliable instrument that he could trust almost universally and it was telling him that, despite hardly knowing Lucy, he had chosen correctly at his pyromancy show.
If they really were to depart later some preparations had to be made, however those were nothing he had to concern Lucy and Destiny with.
Fire said: “We’ll depart in the early afternoon, it would be good if you got some rest in the meantime, maybe eat a good meal. I’ll be waiting outside once the time has come.”
Lucy and Destiny nodded wordlessly, as Fire left out the door Lucy followed him and went back to her own room. Fire was on his own again. Now, where was the best place in this village to buy some horses?
Chapter40:Interrupted Routine (Dr. Mercury)
Dr. Mercury tapped on the obsidian wall with two fingers, as the mechanisms within the wall clicked and retracted, undoing the forces on the 12 meter tall door in response to her previously entered code and voice command. Her stomach was sated for the time being with steak, eggs, and of course coffee. She couldn’t run the science operations of the Tower on an empty stomach, after all.
Finally, the three spiral arms of the door retracted, revealing another hallway covered with reinforced obsidian walls and security sensors. It always irked her how slow that door opened, but she understood more than most why it was necessary, given the trade secrets and nigh-irreplaceable technology it contained. At least this was one of the smaller doors; the bigger doors took even longer to open.
Dr. Mercury stepped through the doorway. A pair of heavily armored guards stood on either side. One of them nodded quietly as she walked forward without a word, the spiral arms of the door slowly sliding shut behind her. This part of the Tower was safer than most, and as such she wore her lighter gear, thin armor plating reinforced with an energy shield, and only the research utility attachments for her two supplemental robotic limbs, which were neatly folded away behind her back. In regions of the Tower with less security, she would either don her heavier armor and combat attachments, or request her personal enderman guard, whose prideful demeanor was admittedly slightly irritating, depending on the situation and her mood.
She went over her day’s schedule in her head. First, she would visit Command & Control to monitor the acquisition of certain key off-world resources. Acquisition of dimensional crystals was always the top concern, especially since the Entity began probing more frequently about the deadline. A salt used for the coolant in the reactors powering the southwest military wing was also running low. A substitute could be used, but the maintenance toll would be high, and Dr. Mercury was not fond of those kinds of managerial distractions. She would have to invest in some bureaucratic wrestling during the visit to ensure that resource was prioritized.
Second, she would visit the recently constructed portal room and make sure things were still working smoothly. That project was being managed by Dr. Kenson from the dimensional mapping and modeling department. Dr. Kenson was generally reliable and amicable, so Dr. Mercury anticipated it would be a much shorter meeting than the first one and probably the highlight of her day, aside from reanimating that dead prisoner later, time permitting.
Third, she would meet with the Entity to discuss the project and the Tower operations. Dr. Mercury had significant respect for the Entity, as a no-nonsense boss who understood the value of fundamental research, and who guaranteed that her pay was proportional to her extensive knowledge and expertise. She also recognized what the Entity was capable of, all the more reason to stay on the Entity’s good side.
Last on the work agenda were some brief visits at the various other research divisions throughout the Tower, both scientific and magic-focused. She usually visited the biology division last for the occasional dead research subject, and every once in a while a refill for the venom chamber for her robotic utility arms.
And, if all went well, she would retire to her personal laboratory, and see how that former Tower prisoner looked as a zombie.
After several flights of stairs and careful choices of long hallways - a few wrong turns through this dimensional labyrinth could turn a short stroll into an hour long hike - Dr. Mercury arrived at the enderman-guarded security door to Command & Control. One of the endermen recognized her and immediately teleported to the other side of the door, causing the door to open shortly afterward. The inside of Command & Control was similar to the inner chamber of the project, although somewhat smaller, and the center hallway was a straight shot to the room that Dr. Mercury was trying to go to.
Dr. Mercury walked briskly through the hallway and entered a large room where every sound including her footsteps echoed slightly on the walls. The walls behind her and on either side led to a hallway, and the back wall had a giant screen with the white insignia of the Tower on a black background, a four-pointed star with a line crossing it along the diagonal, a symbol of the Tower as a locus of economic and military power, not just for the three dimensions of Nexus, but also for the many worlds which lie beyond it. In the center of the room was a round table with approximately one eighth of the seats currently occupied. At one of the seats was the Head of Acquired Worlds, General Forgelight, a regular attendee who was often one of the first in the room. At another seat was an armored enderman who Dr. Mercury guessed was one of the Ender’s commanding generals; they were hard for her to tell apart.
Dr. Mercury sat relatively close to General Forgelight, hoping to be nearly adjacent to the head of resource logistics when they arrived, but also far enough away that she wouldn’t look out of place sitting away from the other representatives of research and Tower operations.
The room filled up slowly over the course of about ten minutes. The head of resource logistics sat adjacent to Dr. Mercury as she had hoped for, and on her other side sat the oddly disarming Clark Belmont and the frequently tardy Arch Mage Wisp, head of magic research.
At the end of the table closest to the screen, General Marcus, head of Command and Control, leaned forward in his chair and pulled out a silver remote used to control the screen. He cleared his throat.
“Are we all accounted for?”
No response came from the rest of the room, so General Marcus clicked on the remote, causing the screen to change to a topological map of the Tower and the surrounding biome.
“First order of business, as usual, is Tower security. What’s the status of the prison cleanup and the security amendments?”
The enderman general spoke, “All prisoners with the exception of the four involved with the failed negotiations have been recaptured, neutralized, or confirmed dead. A select number of low-value prisoners have been framed as the rogue negotiators and killed to serve an example. Damage cleanup is proceeding as planned, as is retraining for the first fraction of security guards and augmenting the perimeter security. Punishment for leaders deemed delinquent during the breakdown was approved just this morning.”
“Sounds like you’re recovering well,” General Marcus said. “Operations, what’s the status on the energy and logistics side of this?”
The head of engineering spoke, “All main energy sources are operational, dimensional conduits are working normally, security systems are up, et cetra.”
“Research, how’s the machine?”
Dr. Mercury tried to speak but was cut off by Arch Mage Wisp, who was speaking very quickly.
“The latest phase of testing is almost done. We’re still working hard to increase the energy efficiency but it’s turning out to be more difficult than last time.”
“Is there some new issue in the research process that’s preventing you from improving the machine?” General Marcus asked.
“Well, no, not exactly,” Arch Mage Wisp said. “The shield plating is about ready to be replaced, but that’s routine. To be honest, we’ve already picked the low-hanging fruit in terms of what to improve, given our arcane and physics knowledge. Dr. Mercury will speak with the Entity later today about the project.”
Dr. Mercury spoke, “I think what Arch Mage Wisp is trying to say is, since our knowledge and expertise is composed of the top experts of over fifty dimensions, we are reaching the limits of what is possible with the laws of reality. The machine is close to being done.”
“Yes, that’s exactly right,” Arch Mage Wisp said.
“Well, in either case, I guess it’s the Entity’s problem,” General Marcus said. “Dimensions, what’s the status on new worlds?”
The head of reconnaissance, General Issa, spoke, “Before we go over new worlds, I want to share some especially strong dimensional readings. Can you hand me the remote?”
General Marcus threw the remote over to General Issa, who clicked a few times on the remote to make a dimensional map appear on the screen, consisting of variously sized dots connected with lines. In the center of the screen, there were a lot more dots, representing the many worlds which had been discovered by the Tower. In the center was a large circle with the insignia of the tower on it, representing Nexus. General Issa clicked on the remote again, and the dots on the screen shrunk, revealing other, sparser dots even further away from Nexus, with two concentric circles marking distance from Nexus.
General Issa activated the laser pointer on the remote as she spoke. “We detected a series of strong energy readings a few days ago, at converging distances to Nexus, one in each world on the way. We were unable to determine how far out this chain started. After those readings, just two days ago, our sensors picked up an off-the-scale negative energy reading within Nexus that made us suspect that the sensors were malfunctioning. And when I say, ‘malfunctioning,’ I mean that the behavior of our sensors was so unusual that they very well could have been completely broken. We had to spend a day inspecting our systems from top to bottom. During this inspection we detected another reading, a strong signal of multiple dimensional crystals, close to where the negative energy signal was recorded in Nexus…”
The entire room seemed to quiver slightly at the mention of the crystals. The details of the machine’s purpose were a secret only fully known by Dr. Mercury, Arch Mage Wisp, and the Entity, but everyone knew about the dimensional crystals. More than a few promotions, as well as executions, revolved around the success or failure of their acquisition.
“Were there any crystal retrieval missions in progress?” General Marcus asked.
“No, this was in between retrieval runs,” General Issa clarified. “More importantly, after our inspections completed, it appeared the dimensional crystal readings were authentic. The other readings are still being analyzed.”
Dr. Mercury’s interest had been piqued. She stood up from her chair. “Excuse me, I need to go. Arch Mage Wisp will cover any research questions.”
Dr. Mercury walked quickly out of the room. She knew her absence would cost her time later on, but opportunities to study dimensional anomalies like this up close came rarely, especially ones involving the machine’s principal resource.
Time was of the essence, so she went straight to her guard’s quarters. She knocked on the dark wooden door, and shortly after the door was opened by the room’s armored inhabitant, Steelborn. Steelborn, an enderman, was a specialist in marksmanship and assassination, and could neutralize threats rather than kill them as the need provided. Dr. Mercury did not often make full use of Steelborn’s skills during research trips like these, but Steelborn’s precise approach to combat was preferable, as it meant that for the most part Steelborn stayed out of her way. But more importantly, she needed quick transportation.
“You’re here early,” Steelborn remarked, with a hint of disgruntlement.
Dr. Mercury had no interest in policing Steelborn’s tone of voice and went straight to the point. “There was a strong dimensional crystal reading in Nexus. You’re going to take me there.”
Dr. Mercury’s feet landed upon the soft soil of a forest. She let go of her enderman bodyguard and took note of her surroundings. The air was fresh, the trees greener than usual thanks to newly sprouted leaf buds coaxed to life from several days of intermittent rain. There were no buildings in sight, suggesting to Dr. Mercury that the source of the crystals was either mobile or underground. A less likely possibility was that this was not the location of the crystal signal, but Dr. Mercury was relatively confident in the reconnaissance team’s analysis, and she considered Steelborn’s navigational abilities to be reliable. Just to be certain, she confirmed the veracity of her location with her dimensional compass and copy of the sensor reports. Everything seemed to be correct. And according to the sensor data, the crystal signal was detected very close to where Dr. Mercury was standing.
Dr. Mercury inspected the ground until she saw three adjacent, faint square aberrations. She raised her eyebrows briefly, slightly amused. She reached behind her back and pressed two buttons, activating the two robotic arms she had outfitted with grappling tools and sensors. The arms unfolded quietly.
“There’s a sealed underground bunker here,” she said. “There’s some redstone wiring, but otherwise it appears to have been completely cleaned out. Let’s take a closer look.”
Steelborn teleported Dr. Mercury into the bunker. It was completely dark. The air smelled faintly burnt.
Dr. Mercury fumbled for the flashlight clipped to her belt, turned it on, and unclipped it, beaming its light across the small room. The entire room was carved into stone, with some of the stone elevated, presumably to serve as tables. At one end of the room, exposed, extended pistons hoisted soil up against the forest floor, sealing the room shut. Dr. Mercury observed that the stonecutting of the walls and tables was precise, and the dimensions of the carved out room conformed to whole meters. She surmised that this bunker must have been built by a miner from one of the more sparsely populated dimensions who often manifested this type of digging ability.
Dr. Mercury’s robotic arms lit up with blinking sensor lights and homed in on the holes in one of the stonecut tables. According to the sensors, the holes contained strong traces of metals and other inorganic solids that were familiar entries in the Nexus archives. Most notably, Dr. Mercury recognized traces of magic-suppressant compound. In smaller quantities, there were coal combustion byproducts and oxidated metals, and in even smaller quantities, the byproducts of nuclear reactions, and in quantities smaller still, exotic subatomic particles that required even more energy to produce than the nuclear reactions.
“Whoever created these holes had a great deal of firepower,” Dr. Mercury concluded. “And a shift in redstone energy levels appears to have activated a radio transmitter in the wall. Ugh, this is so inconvenient! I didn’t bring my drilling attachment.”
“It could be a trap,” Steelborn said.
“It could be,” Dr. Mercury reasoned. “I’m going to keep scanning.”
Dr. Mercury stepped in front of the other table and continued scanning, first scanning the table, and then the walls, and then the ceiling and floor.
“There’s no trace of dimensional energy readings, although there were signs of low-tech potionmaking. I don’t think there’s much more to be gained here. The alarm will shut off when we leave. I want to do a quick scan of the surrounding area.”
Dr. Mercury resolved she would have some choice words for Reconnaissance. Dimensional readings, even if unconfirmed, she reasoned, ought to be investigated immediately, and the investigation results submitted immediately for verification. Any delays risk compromising valuable intel. I should write that up in my report...
Dr. Mercury took the enderman guard Steelborn’s arm. After a few chained teleportations through the surrounding forest, she was transported one last time into the outer sanctum of Command and Control. Upon checking the time, she realized she was late to the meeting with Dr. Kenson, from the department of dimensional mapping and modeling. It would have to be postponed. There was another, more important meeting to attend to.
Chapter41:A Cosmic Meeting (Dr. Mercury)
Dr. Mercury turned a bronze disc embedded into the door, causing the inner mechanisms to tumble, and the air to be squeezed out from the door’s edges. Unlike the other important areas in the Tower, the Entity’s chambers had no locks, and no guards standing at the doors.
Dr. Mercury turned around and was presented with one of the smaller, outer rooms of the chambers, which could best be described as like a room in a museum. The walls and furniture of the room were composed of exotic materials chosen for their resistance to the Entity’s true form. Obsidian, a common construction material in the inner sections of the Tower, featured on some parts of the walls and alternately tiled with endstone in the floors. Various types of endstone from different worlds served as substitutes for different furniture materials. A white endstone with small pores and a meticulously polished surface served as a replacement for marble in decorative statues and pedestals. Darker colored endstones with purple and reddish-brown hues served as replacements for wood in the furniture. The glass serving as display casing was itself derived from a mix of obsidian and endstone. And lastly, there was a polished bronze alloy, the same one used in the Entity’s armor, in every corner of the room as an accent, and in some cases molded into intricate designs. The room was lit by a white spherical dome embedded in the ceiling like a miniaturized sun.
Dr. Mercury walked through the room and listened to her muted footsteps. The chambers absorbed every echo almost completely, leaving only a deep and faint rumble in response. A fitting echo for the chamber’s silent and unforgiving inhabitant.
The inner rooms were larger and more stark in appearance, with less use of colored endstone and bronze, and more use of a reflective obsidian metal alloy, used in large enough patches that Dr. Mercury could see her blackened reflection as she walked past. In the room just preceding the central chamber’s front entrance, there was a large table upon which a hologram of the constellations of discovered dimensions were projected, or more accurately as Dr. Mercury would describe it, a 3D cross-section of it.
Dr. Mercury then stepped into the innermost chamber, where the Entity waited. The room was large, with nowhere to sit except the throne upon which the Entity sat. The walls were lined with hermetically sealed endstone display bookcases, and a staircase leading up to a spire with many windows, each overlooking a different location in Nexus. The spire was effectively at multiple points of space at once.
The bronze shell sat entirely still for a moment. Dr. Mercury patiently waited. The former head of science had told her the story of the alchemist who originally created the armor. The Entity provided a sample of its void plasma to the alchemist, to assist in creating the bronze armor. Shortly after the armor was completed, as the alchemist was about to transport the containment vessel for the sample back to the Entity, the sample escaped from its containment and consumed the alchemist. The sample was eventually incorporated back into the Entity, and the Entity never spoke a word about the alchemist’s fate. The former head of science who told Dr. Mercury this story was also now dead, absorbed by the Entity shortly before Dr. Mercury was appointed as the replacement. The Entity did speak about the late head of science after their death, mainly as a threat to the others of the Tower to not make the same mistake.
Finally, the bronze helmet rose, slowly and mechanically. “Veronica.”
“Yes?” Dr. Mercury replied. The Entity’s use of her first name unnerved her. The Entity used it inconsistently, making her suspect that the Entity was aware of its social meaning, as the Entity rarely changed its behavior without good reason.”
“The machine… is it yet-scheduled for completion in fifty-three days?”
“The assessment for the deadline is still accurate, fifty-one days plus or minus the two days to account for calibration,” Dr. Mercury responded. “We’ve increased shift lengths by 15% to compensate for unexpected maintenance. The influx of new magic users from the Wizard’s college should take the load off of some of the researchers, once they have been integrated...”
“The-magic users from World 0032 will be resistant to integration. Do not incorporate them until-they are compliant and-are not a threat to critical... research.”
“I’ll warn Arch-Mage Wisp,” Dr. Mercury said.
“Arch-Mage Wisp has been unreliable… lately… for managerial tasks.” The bronze armor’s voice-like reverberations seemed to become more turbulent than before, almost as if angry. “The magic-users must be int-egrated at the proper time. Intervene if necessary.”
“Understood.”
Dr. Mercury knew that ‘unreliable’ was not a word you wanted the Entity to describe you as. She feared the Entity was growing increasingly restless with the deadline to complete the machine on the horizon. She tried not to think about it too much. She knew the bureaucratic oversight with the reactor coolant supply would soon become her problem. Overseeing the magic department in any capacity would be an additional complication.
“Maintaining order in magic research requires a different approach. You will consult the magic department on methods used… and monitor integration of the new magic-users.”
“Yes, of course. But…” against her better judgement, Dr. Mercury revealed her concern, “what will happen to Arch-Mage Wisp?”
“You have said the machine’s construction is proceeding as scheduled?”
“Yes, it…”
“Then whatever happens to Arch-Mage Wisp after-completion will happen to you.”
The bronze helmet was perfectly still, boring into Dr. Mercury with intensity.
Dr. Mercury realized harshly that her curiosity for the wellbeing of her socially challenged colleague had stirred a dangerous mix of ideas in the sentient, dimensionally coherent void plasma which controlled her funds and controlled more militaries than the number of power settings on the machine. If purging all the heads of research post-completion wasn’t on the table before then it certainly was now. This was how the Entity functioned. It learned from the fears and insecurities of others.
Dr. Mercury knew she would need to remind the Entity of her usefulness. “Once we finish maintenance on the machine’s shielding, I can discuss the machine’s operation with you and interested parties.”
“How long will that take?”
“Twelve days.”
The bronze helmet redirected its gaze, towards nothing in particular, as least as far as Dr. Mercury could see. “We will discuss it later. Is there… anything else?”
“No, tower operations related to research logistics and power production are proceeding as usual.” Dr. Mercury didn’t bother mentioning the deficit in the military reactor coolant salt - that could easily backfire on her reputation and there wasn’t a crisis just yet. “Well, aside from the dimensional energy excitations that happened a few days ago, which I’m sure you heard about this morning.”
“I was-informed of the energy readings within seven-point-five minutes of their initial detection. I do not… wait for verification to… receive information of strategic importance. I expect that research divisions will… communicate such information with equal priority. This is clear?”
Dr. Mercury was a bit miffed that the Entity knew about the dimensional readings days before she did. It meant someone else could have investigated the crystal site before she did, likely not nearly as thoroughly, and probably by someone in the military division. But she tried to not let that get to her.
“Yes, of course. Priority communications will continue.”
“Good. I have… no more questions...”
The armor began to slide slightly down in the throne. It very well may have finished talking, but Dr. Mercury stayed put just to be sure. After a somewhat long pause, the bronze helmet rose again.
“A new rift has been constructed-which will catalogue instructional buildings. You will investigate… only if it serves in the construction of the machine.” The voice paused again. “That is all.”
Dr. Mercury turned around and didn’t look back, walking past her reflections in the obsidian alloyed walls. Better to end on the Entity’s closest equivalent to sharing a mutual intellectual interest, rather than an existential threat or a reprimand. She wasn’t sure if the Entity appreciated the concept of “ending on a high note,” but she needed to maintain whatever human illusion she could to effectively serve an unfeeling being which straddled the boundary between inanimate and alive. So far, it seemed to be working.
Chapter42:Loss of Direction (Kay)
I had been up for hours, since the sun had first tentatively placed its fingers on the windowsill, hoisted itself up and peeked through like a furtive child. Now, the sun had matured, standing just beyond the centre of the sky, half-obscured by a stray but substantive cloud on an otherwise clear day. It was hot. I was wandering around town. My shirts didn’t suit the weather but armour would have been worse, so I didn’t bother to look for Tyron, and I couldn’t go bloody shirtless. That’s what I told myself anyway.
I went to breakfast late to avoid the others, and ate quickly. I can’t say why. After we caught Fristad I didn’t have an immediate objective again, and that always left me despondent. A few things proudly strutted about the empty canvas of my mind. The Book’s existence had profoundly affected how I viewed my prior interactions with Fristad - I felt simultaneously vindicated in my suspicions and worried that I had unnecessarily antagonised an innocent man controlled by a malevolent outside influence; the Entity was still likely searching for us or maybe not; and I was still no closer to finding a way home. The forces of the Tower seemed to be the only ones with a clear idea of how to get home. Well… there was that Steve fellow (the other one). I didn’t know where to find him, though. Maybe he was dead already. He had indicated he would join us at the Tower, then never materialised. Then again, the fighting had been pretty fierce.
This was the primary issue. I had so many goals. Get home. Figure out whether the Entity is a real threat or not. Stop him, I guess, if necessary. Get everyone else home. Bring Warnado to join my friends. Protect them. But there wasn’t a task I could carry out to definitely advance any of these goals. I was being handed “X”s without maps.
I needed tasks: defend Zine from whatever they throw at you; get free of the games; kill Hamish; capture Hamish; get to the Vanilla Craft. They were simple and actionable. Why couldn’t anything else be like that?
I punched the wall, surprised by the gesture. The hand before me shook, and the sweat glistening on it was freezing. I hadn’t realised just how angry I was about it all. It almost disappointed me to see no imprint on the wall. Rage like this should have broken everything that dared stand in its way.
My lungs seemed to react automatically and began to shovel air in to cool my temperament, with the desperation of sailors bailing out a sinking vessel.
The inn arose before me as I turned. My feet had carried me on a circuit, but not a cycle. The tableau of the inn had changed since I last stood before it. The sun was glaring off a set of versatile claws, and the white-haired, red-eyed face they were raised before.
Fire clenched his talons and unclenched them, observing them impassively. The claws retracted, the hand lowered and then he looked at me. A polite wave invited me to join him. To join them. He had two others with him, one I didn’t recognise and one I recognised all too well: Destiny. They sat on horseback, dressed for travelling. Fire had no horse, but he wore a large backpack covered in small bags. The sheen of enchantment slid across their surface every now and then. Before I knew it, I was upon them.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead: “Right, where are you off to?” My voice came out distrustful and almost-angry - predictably given the circumstances.
“We’re off to build a shelter for the Prophet’s congregation. It’s a long story involving a prophecy and a promise I made to a certain Steve, not our Steve, a different one who takes care of the Prophet. I would have told everyone earlier if there hadn’t been the business with the… with Fristad.”
My eyebrows raised and furrowed and I struggled to separate the two questions. “What does he look like? Why in the Mods’ names didn’t you mention this before?”
“Stubbly beard, t-shirt, wooden sword, brown cloak, seems generally on edge. I only met him just yesterday and I was busy making the device for Fristad all night.”
Something rose in me and another plummeted back into the depths. It just about balanced out, my better nature trying desperately to hold the two weights in equilibrium. A purpose, and a confusing… I don’t know what it was. A betrayal? A diversion? An obstacle?
“Steve’s here. That’s good. And, hello Destiny,” I sighed. Now for the enigmatic girl. I didn’t quite look at her because the sun adorned my brow, white light pressing through and lighting up the auburn hairs before piercing my eyes, but I thrust my hand in her general direction. “Sorry, who might you be?”
“Lucy,” she responded. Cheerfully. I tried to look up further and got a brief glimpse of her face. Blonde. Pretty. I circled round to the back of the horse as she spoke so I could actually look her in the eye. The cheerfulness seemed to be genuine.
“And how is it you know Fire?” I was maintaining the barely-balanced tone.
“To be honest, I was a ‘volunteer’ at the pyromancy show he put on in the town square some days ago. He then somehow found me again and I came with him, helping people sounds a lot better than being a maid honestly. He also told me that he sees some sort of talent in me that will help with his effort. You’re Kay, right?”
“Yes. He’s mentioned me?” My ego had been poked just in the right direction for a moment. I had missed that feeling from home, of rarely having to introduce myself to people because people already knew my reputation and obviously iconic image. Nah, I’m kidding - I just missed being among friends and mutual friends.
“He was just telling me about his journey in Nexus so far, we were just at the part where this quarter-demon Warnado shows up outside of the door.”
“Ah, that’s a good part to be sure.” A sudden realisation unbalanced the weights in my head. “And, you are going to be off establishing this shelter for how long exactly?”
Fire spoke: “We don’t know how long it’ll take. On that note, you probably shouldn’t get too attached to this place, the Ender showed up at the Prophet’s hill yesterday too and did a sweep. From what I can tell she didn’t find anyone who was willing to talk. Additionally the experiments Steve, Jennifer and Shadow performed are bound to attract some attention as well.”
“Okay, I knew about the experiments, but do you not think that a confirmed sighting of the Entity’s elite guard and kidnapping force was something to raise with the rest of us? Wasn’t the guy we had already captured and detained a tad less important than that?!”
“I do admit, I should have told more people-”
“Oh really? Who on earth did you actually tell? Who?” I was livid, but I’d stopped myself from squaring up to him yet. I wasn’t shouting either so as far as I was concerned I was the pinnacle of serenity. My accent had slipped though.
“He told me,” said Destiny, flatly irritated.
I bit my tongue, well aware of Destiny’s fragile state. Steve had told me about the episode with the harmless necromancer. It then struck me that I never thought I’d use the term “harmless necromancer” and have reason to believe it.
“Can we talk apart, Fire? Just for a moment?”
“Of course.”
We took a brief stroll. Sweat rolled down the back of my neck as the sun returned from its repose behind the cloud in full force.
“So, the Ender has shown up and you think the best option, instead of telling everyone and advocating a full-scale evacuation, is to take a girl you met at a magic show and possibly the most emotionally vulnerable member of the group aside from the literal children far away from the rest of us while we all **** around worrying about some swineherd giving us bad dreams?
“Kay, look. I am perfectly aware how bad this may look but Destiny needs some kind of purpose right now so she can distract herself from the brunt of her trauma, it’s not optimal but it’s a first step. As for why I didn’t tell everyone, I was going to, namely at the morning gathering where everyone is together and we are in a soundproof room. The morning gathering that didn’t happen because of the events of last night. Shadow was going to tell you in my stead at the next possible opportunity.”
I bit my tongue until Fire finished speaking. How dare he lecture me about trauma? BUT, that was the second most important thing so I was going to calmly explain to him why he "needs to make it an issue with the group because we are all supposed to be part of a team and this has serious ramifications for all of us. Not only is relying on a grapevine through your sister deeply irresponsible, but kind of made me feel as though you regard us as beneath your attention. This also arguably figures you automatically in a leadership position. That is not to say that I am supposed to possess it though I am arguably qualified enough, but that there is an arrogance to it, especially after your absence at the Tower. I also must raise questions as to whether dividing our numbers leaves us weaker or not. Hence why we should have discussed this in a group where we could at least all have been forced to compromise, knowing more or less everyone’s full reasoning.
But of course I didn’t say that. That would be bloody ridiculous. Here’s what I actually said:
“O-ho-bloody-ho! The leisuretime warrior wants to lecture me about how trauma works as though I’ve never experienced it! Yes, of course you need a purpose. Something to keep you going even in spite of the fact that someone you cared about and who cared about you went and died or got hurt or just straight up left and turned on you. Yes, you need a reason to get up in the morning instead of moping around caves! Something to build! Something to show for it all!
“But you need to be careful what it is. Think through what your problem is and how you can fix it healthily. Otherwise you spend years bumming around as a mercenary, thieving and killing, telling yourself it’s part of some rebellious statement against the injustices of society all while reinforcing them. Or you devote years of your life to the service of a god who betrays everything you thought they stood for, slaps a meaningless title on you and stops responding once you’ve outlived your usefulness! You need a purpose that’s going to stand up to scrutiny because nothing - nothing - is more painful than seeing yet another cause you thought was going to save you crumble away like ashes in your fist!”
My teeth were bared. Fists clenched. One near my scabbard. I was definitely shouting. I can’t say how loudly but I thought I saw a passer-by staring at my anger. Fire scarcely seemed more than surprised. That’s when I added what I thought would be the real kicker. Softly, I added:
“But what do you know about loss? Go back to playing your games. We can handle the Ender without you.”
Fire’s voice was lowered to a growl. “What do you think made me start playing my ‘games’ in the first place?”
I tried to maintain my glare, but something in this hushed the winds driving me onward. I had to do something that felt moral, but I was still livid at him. I raised my eyes again after they drooped, and said: “Then you should understand she needs a chance to reconsider.”
I immediately marched back off toward the horses. By Notch I was so warm. Not even hot anymore, just suffocatingly warm. I wanted to be with my friends. No, I wanted to be back with my friends in that cave, ready to make it to Vanilla Craft, but never going in. I wanted to be there, on the border forever, carrying out small, actionable tasks that brought us closer to our goal just by keeping us alive. And the goal would never, ever be satisfied so I’d never have to think about having another goal. I wanted to be nowhere.
“Destiny,” I called, composing my features as I wiped my brow anew.
“Yes, Kay?” She was frowning down at me, clearly eager to leave.
“Listen,” I began, eyes drifting shut but my voice becoming clearer and calmer. “Are you sure about this? Going off to set up this shelter and help run it?”
“I am.”
“Okay… I think I know how you’re feeling right now. You feel like you’ve lost the map that was taking you through life, and that you need something to take you in the right direction again. So, you’re ready to take the first path the world offers you so you don’t have to think too hard about where you really want to go, because it hurts. And I get that. I really do. Just be careful, sometimes the path the world offers you gets…” I sighed. “A little sore on your feet. And it isn’t always as long or clear as it makes out.
“I’m not saying don’t trust Fire,” I resisted the urge to look back angrily. “Just weigh your options.”
I opened my eyes and saw her staring at me quizzically.
“Have a nice day, Destiny. A pleasure, Lucy.”
I marched off in the direction of the Prophet’s hill. This other Steve would be waiting there with the next path I was going to cling to.
Chapter43:Recruiting (Fire)
Fire, Destiny and Lucy had overtaken Kay before they left the limits of the town and were now following the road to the Prophet’s hill, Fire had no problem keeping up with the horses. His thoughts kept wandering back to the conversation with Kay, he intentionally referred to it as such even though it could have easily been considered an argument or worse.
Kay’s anger had come from seemingly nowhere but at the bottom of it was that Fire had misjudged Kay, or more accurately Kay’s mental state. In hindsight it made all too much sense. Originally Fire had thought that he might have gotten off on the wrong foot with Kay and that he had perhaps overstepped his boundaries with that drinking contest, he had thought that if he was careful things would work out. What he hadn’t considered were Kay’s internal conflicts that he only knew very small aspects of. From now on he would have to be especially careful around Kay, however Fire knew enough that he didn’t have too high hopes for this working out. If it was as bad as Fire had to assume it was, Kay would find a reason to antagonize him regardless of what he did.
Of course there had been a part in Fire that wanted to directly respond to Kay when he launched his verbal assault, to take every aspect of his argument apart on the spot and then go on to unravel the extent of Kay’s mental state and show it to him so that he may see it for himself. Of course that would have only lead to more personal and perhaps even physical attacks and Fire knew it. He had even considered walking away without another word, of course that would have caused other issues. Sometimes there were just simply no positive solutions to a problem.
Fire tore his mind away from the matter, the more he thought about it the more he risked weakening Claw’s chains and he would prefer for them to remain intact for the foreseeable future.
It didn’t take them much longer to arrive at the dark oak forest, however this time Fire didn’t take the beaten path that would lead him directly to the congregation, instead he continued down the road to look for a smaller path that he had noticed when he had spoken with Steve, which would lead to the back of the hill instead. Once they found it, Fire signaled Destiny and Lucy to dismount. Before going deeper into the forest they tied the horses to a tree a small distance away from the road.
While walking Lucy said: “I’ve only been at the hill once before.”
Destiny replied: “Same, but probably for different reasons.”
Fire continued along the path and not before long the back of the hill came in sight through the trees. The ever vigilant Steve had already spotted them and was coming down the hill to greet them.
He got straight to the point. “I assume those two will help with the shelter. Neither of them is that sister you talked about, right?”
Fire shook his head. “No, she’ll be joining later once the shelter is done. I don’t want to unsettle the congregation with someone the prophecies haven’t spoken about. I also don’t think that they will mention my sister at any time in the future.”
Steve sighed. “I don’t need two people talking cryptic. What do you mean?”
Fire said: “My sister Shadow is… special in a way. What I mean by that is that she’s an immensely powerful, immortal mage with power over reality itself.”
“Power over reality itself? I’ll believe it when I see it.” Those were the words of someone who had seen many things and was difficult to impress.
Fire pointed to his companions. “That’s Destiny, she was part of the recent breakout. That’s Lucy, child of adventuring parents.”
Steve first shook Destiny’s hand, then Lucy’s. “Good to meet you.” He then looked back to Fire. “I assume you’ll address the congregation?”
Fire said: “Yes. Destiny, Lucy, stay behind with Steve for the moment. I’ll return once I’ve picked out a few additional people for the expedition.”
After those words Fire ascended the hill once more. When he arrived at the top the Prophet halted his sermon without looking at Fire. Fire stepped forward and began speaking: “People of Nexus, I have returned. As I promised, I have knowledge of a place where we can construct a sanctuary, it will be built in the nearby mountains and once it is complete it will be open to anyone who needs it. However to build it in the first place I need a couple of capable people to mount a first expedition. If you volunteer you should also know the risks, it will not be an easy endeavor. If you are nourished, uninjured and well equipped, come to me at the side of the hill.”
With that Fire concluded his short speech, it was time to sort through the volunteers to separate the actually useful ones from the overly enthusiastic but less-than-capable ones.
At the side of the hill a small crowd had formed, Fire counted roughly two dozen people. He knew that the congregation was in a bad way but he had honestly expected a couple more, hopefully at least some of them were capable enough. The bare minimum he needed for an expedition were three additional people. Fire began.
The first four people were not satisfactory, three were clearly malnourished and the fourth had a bandaged wound on his upper arm. None of those would be able to survive in the conditions they would have to face.
The fifth person was roughly the same height as Fire, this was because it was an enderman, one of the few in the congregation. He didn’t look weak in the slightest, maybe a bit nervous but that was to be expected.
Fire began talking in the language of the End: “Hello, what is your name?”
The enderman seemed surprised but nonetheless answered quickly, his name roughly translated to Voidblade. Evidently a member of one of the more warlike End civilizations.
Fire said: “Tell me a bit about yourself, how you ended up in Nexus.”
Seemingly content with not being sent away immediately Voidblade answered: “In my world we were fighting a losing war against humanity, one we started. The last thing I know is that my superior ordered me to hand down the message that we were capitulating but my teleport instead dropped me in this forest. That was… a few months ago I think.”
Fire nodded along. Voidblade seemed to be reasonable, judging by the fact alone that he coexisted with the mostly human congregation after having fought humans for what was presumably his whole life. Voidblade didn’t look particularly old.
Fire asked: “Do you have any equipment with you?”
Voidblade said: “I do. I hid my battle armor and spear in the forest, didn’t make sense to carry them here. I can get them quickly.”
Fire said: “Good, get your gear and wait behind the hill, there are two human women there already, they are with me.”
Voidblade nodded and teleported away.
Fire first didn’t realize that the next candidate was here already, he had quite literally overlooked him. The reason for this was that the next candidate was not much taller than a meter. Before Fire stood a stout man with a fiery-red braided beard, clad in full iron platemail, with a hammer at his side, pickaxe on his back. The man in front of Fire was evidently a dwarf, in fact it was difficult to be more dwarven than this.
The man spoke: “Name’s Urist. I’d shake yer hand but...”
Fire went back to correct his last thought, it was absolutely impossible to be more dwarven than this. Fire knelt down to honor the dwarf’s request.
Fire asked: “Do you have a second name?”
Urist replied: “Nay, used to have one but now it’s just Urist. Don’t want to talk about it.”
Fire patiently waited for Urist to continue.
“So, an expedition into the mountains, aye? Hopefully won’t turn out like the last o’ mine did but here’s hoping.”
Fire said: “I see you’re already well equipped, anything else you’re bringing to the table?”
Urist said: “Couple o’ spores for farms. Also knowledge on how to brew the best ale in the lands.”
Fire smiled. “You’re accepted. You can wait behind the hill with the others.”
The next few people were unsuitable, and then the next few. Only a handful of people remained and Fire was seriously starting to worry. His worry was blown away by the next candidate. A woman dressed in elegant, if slightly dirty, dark clothes. She had shoulder-long black hair and brown eyes. That in itself wasn’t remarkable in itself, however in Fire’s keen eyes she practically radiated danger, this woman was nothing short of an expert killer. In fact, now that he took a closer look, Fire saw that she had several weapons hidden in her clothes. She stopped in front of Fire and made a suggested bow and smirked, knowing that she had been found out.
Fire asked: “What’s your name?”
The woman answered: “Rose.”
Fire said: “I think we have an agreement. Wait behind the hill.” He mirrored her previous smirk and added: “Save the stabbing for later.”
Nobody from the remaining crowd was suitable, however Fire’s minimum requirements had been met, three additional people. An enderman, a dwarf and an assassin, certainly not the average people Fire had used in his estimations, this would somewhat compensate for their lacking numbers. In a way Fire preferred a smaller expedition, less people to keep track of and less potential for infighting. Fire was again involuntarily reminded of Kay. He’d deal with that mess when the time came.
The crowd was no more, so Fire finally returned to the back of the hill himself. What he saw there gave him additional hope, the expedition members were already talking amongst themselves. Lucy seemed to be overflowing with anticipation and even Destiny looked somewhat positive.
Steve came to meet Fire. “Quite a group you have there. Are you sure this will work out?”
Fire said: “All I can say is that it will go according to plan, which plan is left to be seen.”
Steve looked like he was about to repeat his remark about cryptic statements but then changed his mind. “Good luck out there.”
Chapter44:New Direction (Kay)
As I arrived I saw the hulking form of Fire depart at the head of a small group. I could pick out Destiny’s scowl from a mile off, and I was pretty sure I could make out Lucy, but there were three people I didn’t recognise with him. One endling, someone short enough to be a dwarf and a woman.
“More siblings?” I mused. Then I counted my blessings that he wasn’t obviously reducing our strength any further.
I looked up at the hill.
“Well, well, well…” I murmured as the shape of a man in a cloak and turquoise shirt became clear.
He stood right at the prophet’s side, hand stroking the stone pommel of his sword. Yellowed, chipped teeth chewed his bottom lip and ruffled his beard. On occasion, he would nod as the prophet shouted until he spat.
I looked around me. People were hanging desperately on the prophet’s words. Some whispered that he himself was a god, and that Steve was an angel with wings beneath his cloak. Maybe they were right. With all this communication between worlds anything could happen. All that said, I couldn’t stop seeing him as an old man spasming with each word that burst forth from him, eyes blind with terror and age, white hair aflutter in the wind. It didn’t much inspire me.
I tried to wave to Steve, but I couldn’t catch his attention, so I began the long climb up the hill. I tried to find a path that as few people as possible could see, so I commenced a long, winding ramble up the Eastern side of the hill (most people watching from the North and North-West). I didn’t want to cause much of a stir, particularly as the Ender could return at any given moment.
On my way up, I clambered past a tree containing a lanky, green-eyed endling. Its branches were dead and soot-covered, and new clouds of soot emanated every few minutes from the endling’s skin. I shook my head and returned to the climb, and after a few minutes, I found myself about half-way up the hill. I was tired at this point from the walk over, and very grateful I wasn’t wearing armour. I contemplated taking the cotton shirt off for the rest of the climb. It was already soaked with sweat.
Just as I began to lift it over a stomach that I had devotedly toned, I decided to take a look up the hill. Steve was still there, chewing his lip and rustling his stubbly beard. I decided to yell up to him: “Oi! Steve!”
I didn’t look to see if he noticed. Instead, I returned to lifting my shirt and received my answer. He was standing over me, gaunt and energised as I remembered. I straightened the shirt back down and sat up.
“How’re we doing Steve?” I asked. “It’s been a wee while.”
“It has,” Steve answered curtly. “Don’t worry about it though. Your services are no longer required.”
“Yes they are,” I chuckled. “You’ve just sent Fire off to establish a little shelter for your congregation. You must have some other jobs going.”
He sighed, then said: “Well, yes. Fire will fill those roles if necessary, but ideally he won’t be doing it entirely alone. We could probably use some more help. Have you had time to think on what you might be able to do to help us?”
I turned my head and swept a look across the fringes of the crowd.
“You told me it would take one night at the Tower to regret my decision,” I said. “It took less than that. I figured out they had Astro captive and we were out by morning. Half the prison was sprung. They’re probably still cleaning that mess up. My team did that. Fire wasn’t there.”
Steve’s eyebrows raised. “Your team?”
“The collection of individuals with whom I am currently collaborating. I won’t say they obey my every command. I’ll also concede that since we left the Tower one of us died of his injuries and another turned out to be being manipulated by a particularly opinionated work of literature but I’d give us top marks for trying.”
“Inspiring stuff.”
“I thought so too,” I said with a sardonic grin. “But yes, I reckon with a bit of preparation, possibly the recruiting of a few mercenaries and naturally the full recovery of our group, we’ll be able to sneak our way back in and bring down the Entity and his captains.”
Steve’s eyebrows raised. I thought, for just one glorious moment, he was impressed. I was mistaken:
“You think you can take down the Entity?” It was said with pure, deadpan disdain. “You’re going to need an army.”
I forced a smirk and parried: “I take it you’ve first-hand experience of fighting him?”
Steve gazed at me with eyes intense and distant. He sat down. “It destroyed my home.”
“Anyone can destroy a building.”
“The entire world. It’s not there anymore.”
I fell silent. The sky suddenly felt large and looming above me.
“How?”
“Not sure. I’ve been at it for years, and I’m still not sure.”
“Could be a ritual or some sort of mechanism. Have you actually seen it fight?”
“I have followed it as it’s tendrils have spread across the worlds. I have seen it at the head of armies, conquering nations. I have seen it raise an army of itself and swarm across cities. Once I saw a horde of knights charge one of its manifestations. After killing dozens, a lance went through its head and it fell as any mortal would. When they prised off its helmet, another man was found within. At that point, the skin of several of the knights turned grey and warped, like boiling tar in the shape of men. They became as strong and swift and efficient as the beast they had just slain. And soon the entire army fell.”
I recalled the first time I had laid eyes on the Entity - how its servant had turned grey and boiling and tried to possess the Silhouette. How, when it had what it needed, the Entity left instructions for its men. The bronze shell had shuddered a second, before it collapsed. Within the armour had been an unconscious man, just as Steve here was suggesting. It was all adding up… except for one thing.
“With such strength, why does it need an army at all?”
Steve sat there a moment. “I have asked the prophet that many times. He was once a part of the Entity. He seems to believe he was the first to be subsumed in such a way.”
It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. I looked up the hill at the frail contorting form and felt pity well up in me.
“Of course, I have been able to gather from him a few explanations that may or may not contradict each other,” Steve continued. “When it possesses another, it seems to weaken, like butter spreading across toast. When there are a handful of manifestations, it is strongest and smartest. When there’s only one it might even be invincible. Conversely, when there is an army of it, it’s about as good as your average zombie or skeleton. Tends to talk more when there’s fewer of it as well. It grows less directed, loses itself a tad because there’s just too much to keep track of. I’ve seen it let go of other copies in the heat of battle, renewing its ferocity wherever it needs to focus.”
“Otherwise, it might need us because of a lack of creativity. It has wants, but it cannot think of how to achieve them without outside input. As such, it surrounds itself with voices other than its own. It can absorb knowledge, definitely, but it doesn’t seem to know how to apply it in anything other than ways it has been used before. It’s suffering from permanent writer’s block as regards its own plans.
“And that brings us to the last explanation for why it doesn’t just possess itself an army.”
Steve stopped and started chuckling.
“What?” I asked, sitting up a little.
“You’re going to love this,” Steve chuckled further, anger flaring into his eyes. “The Prophet reckons it’s lonely.” He said it with acidity, as though the words physically repelled him.
I looked at Steve. He was sat on a tree stump, head in his hands. I noticed the age upon his face. The thinness of his arms. They were muscular enough, but they weren’t prominent from exercise - they were prominent from hunger. His hunt for the Entity had thinned him out. Diminished him. Stripped him away. This chuckling bitterness was all that was left.
I tried to shake off the feeling I was looking into a mirror.
“So, what you’re saying is that I’ll probably end up as a red smear on a white wall if I decide to face him head on.”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
I paused. My thoughts drifted toward the night before, and Fristad’s frank honesty. How willingly he had given up the Book. The words echoed in my mind:
“If it’s any consolation. I actually don’t care about the book’s magic. To be honest, I’d rather be rid of it for good if it meant I could be free from its influence.”
That’s when I got one of my notions.
“Then, I must get stronger.”
“Ideally, yes,” snarked Steve, guardian angel of the Prophet.
I stood up.
“I may have found a quick fix. Talk to you once it’s sorted. Try not to get captured.”
“Wait-”
“Cheerio, Steve.”
It was so clear to me now: I was going to get that damned Book and make it work for me.
Chapter45:Tired of Being the Weakling (Kay)
I returned to the village around that time of day when the air is hottest and the sun passive-aggressively decides to hover just low enough in the sky to burn your eyes should you decide to look in the wrong direction. At this point my shirt was soaked, I was tired of all the nonsense with prophecies and the Dreamweaver, and really was just downright tired in general. I had a purpose and I could afford to rest for a little bit before I acted upon it… assuming the Ender didn’t kill us all in our sleep.
So, I walked into the village’s local tavern. The air was just a little bit cooler than the air outside. I sat at the counter and called to the bartender for the usual. I took note of my surroundings. The place was more crowded than average for the time of day, no surprise given the weather. My mind was spent, and the world seemed to be moving slightly faster than usual. I almost didn’t notice when the bartender put my glass down in front of me.
I picked up the glass and drank from it. It was a bit flat, but the liquid was still cool. It was nice to finally sit down after walking back from the hill in that blasted heat, and I could feel myself slowly recovering.
A few sips later, I was starting to get the sense that I was being watched. I turned and saw Astro beside me, looking as if he was waiting for his drink.
“Hello, Kay. Back from the heat?” Astro asked.
I glanced toward the inn entrance, half-expecting someone to barge in with a knife. “Did you just get here?”
“Yes, I just sat down. Shadow’s here too, right behind you.”
I turned around in my stool 180 degrees and saw, to Astro’s veracity, the black-robed wizard sitting at the counter. “For Jeb’s sake, I’m not even properly inebriated yet and somehow I can’t keep track of a close friend and a well-meaning-albeit-suspiciously-powerful acquaintance sneaking up on me!” thought I.
I then recalled Fire and I’s argument, and felt a discomfort that wasn’t quite shame, but wasn’t quite suppressed anger either. I was becoming increasingly familiar with that feeling since the end of the Onslaught.
Shadow waved. “Hello.”
“Are you here for a drink? Or some other more important reason with lasting consequences?” I quipped.
“Actually, this is about the book Fristad had on him.” My ears pricked up. “Before I take a closer look at it, I’d like to find out a bit more about what it could be capable of. From what I gather there is mind-altering magic in the world you are from so I thought of asking you and Astro to give me some pointers.”
I deliberated and weighed my words. I didn’t want to impede them but I also needed to make sure I got a look at that book myself. So, I decided to be honest enough:
“I’ve encountered it, but I can’t say I know anything I could explain academically...” I looked toward Astro, wondering how much I’d told him about what Herobrine taught me and whether I was going to tell him much more over the years to come. However, even if he did think I was holding back, he’d understand if I wasn’t forthcoming. I couldn’t just give them Herobrine’s teachings right off the bat. That was a religious thing as much as it was a practical skill.
Then it occurred to me that he might have seen some things himself in the years that separated us. For all I knew, he now knew more on the subject than I did.
He continued to avoid eye contact with me… At least I think he did. He seemed to be making a real effort to keep a straight face. Not as though he was going to laugh but as though something was causing him physical discomfort. I resolved he could be hiding something pretty serious and that I should bring it up with him later. Whether it was a wound or a secret was up in the air.
Shadow shrugged. “I’m happy with anything you can tell me, really. In my own world mind-altering magic is theoretically possible but the creators of the ‘game’ world made a conscious decision to make anything with permanent consequences impossible to use. There is very rudimentary mind-reading and very superficial suggestion but when it comes to anything beyond that I am honestly at a lack of experience, which is less than ideal when dealing with this book.”
“I’ve encountered it a couple of times,” Astro revealed, reanimating his features. “It’s not widespread. Mostly it’s used as a tool in torture and interrogation. One time I saw it used in some hokey religious rite. As you can imagine, that tends to attract certain kinds of less-than-stable personalities. I only know the basic principles behind the methods used, but I do know it can be countered with a certain amount of psychological training and mental discipline. For example, recognizing your own thoughts, and strengthening your willpower.”
Shadow said: “That’s good to know. But honestly, here isn’t the place to discuss this further.
After we’re finished with our drinks, I can tell you about my plans in a more private place.”
###
A small rune lit up on Shadow’s lower cheek, and the acoustics of the inn room deadened. I could almost hear my own heartbeat.
“So, I mentioned at the pub that I wanted to take a closer look at the book. We have only just recently become aware that the book even existed, and it is also not clear whether it has some level of self-awareness or is just passively inducing hallucinations that drive the afflicted to acts they wouldn’t normally do. In either case, we also need to determine if the book can be useful to us, and if so decide how to manage it.”
I nodded along with every beat, soaking it in absent-mindedly, thinking about what methods this book might be using. I had no doubt it was sentient, because it had to be. It was useless to me otherwise. I needed a collaborator, not a cursed object.
Shadow continued, “If it turns out the book is not of use to us or is too dangerous, I am reasonably confident that I will be able to destroy it quickly, and barring that, we know that the magic suppressing material can keep it in check, at least for now. On the other hand… if it is indeed sentient and cooperative on top of that we might get great use out of it.”
Astro considered the matter carefully. “Honestly, given the behavior I’ve seen and heard of from Fristad over the past few days, and even supposing the book has some level of consciousness, I’m not sympathetic to it. Tampering with people’s minds and eroding their free will is rather vile behavior no matter what sort of lens you view it through. With that said, we are not in the best situation, given we have made some powerful enemies and are facing a lot of uncertainty beyond that. I think it’s worth exploring further.”
Shadow responded, “I don’t disagree with you. I want to make sure the book, or whatever being resides inside of the book, agrees to not mess with people’s minds before we consider anything else. I also feel at least somewhat obligated to first talk to it, in my world I punish the unrepentant, but there are different things at stake there. Here, I would rather do what’s best for the group.”
I must admit, my opinions of mind manipulation were pretty darned low. It was rather heavy-handed and easy to abuse for personal gain. But this was a matter of practicality, not principle. The Entity needed stopping and I’d this book could help it didn’t matter what methods it gave us access to.
Moreover, there was a possibility that Fristad’s secret “companion” was acting out of misunderstanding or self-preservation. To be honest, it was a shame the book treated Fristad the way it did; it seemed rather intriguing and familiar. There was a time in my youth when books were my sole companion. Maybe our acquaintance could be renewed. After all, if anyone could withstand its influence, it was me.
“I think it’s worth a shot,” I said. I hesitated for a moment as I considered my wording. “And… supposing there is some way to get it to cooperate, and following that it is still the case that we want to keep the book away from Fristad, might I propose that I manage it for a time? I have some experience defending myself against threats of the more psychological variety, and to be honest the book intrigues me.”
To be yet more honest, I was tired of being the weakling. In all likelihood, the Ender of Glibby or the Entity itself was coming any day now. They had thrashed us at the Tower and we escaped by the skin of our teeth. I left without most of the skin on my back. David had left with his life cupped in his hands, leaking away like water until... I hadn’t even faced the Ender and five of us had only barely driven off her personal guard. Glibby and Freak had almost single-handedly beaten Astro, Tyron, Kir, Destiny and David. I had seen Glibby after that fight - he was just dandering about mere hours after taking a blast from David’s gauntlet.
I, on the other hand, would have been be dead where I stood if Warnado hadn’t intervened and fended off the Brines. Speaking of, Warnado, the kid I was presuming to protect, could burn me to a crisp in seconds. So, yes, I was in need of an upgrade. Sue me.
“Now, hold on,” Astro said in his usual pragmatic and somewhat overly-cautious tone. “While it may be true that you have developed some mental safeguards, we still have little idea what the book is capable of.”
I raised an open palmed dismissal and deflected in a tone of indifferent realisation, as if I had always known it and never really contemplated it before: “The Endlings never cracked me, Astro. Turns out the Tone can do a lot more than make you scared - it can do many nastier things. I can handle a bundle of pages, possessed or not.”
I let my eyes linger on him dryly, but I’ll confess it wasn’t a deliberate move. I just couldn’t figure out what this meant. The Astro I knew, whom I left before arriving in Nexus, would have had no qualms about my ability to resist. Just what had happened in those intervening years?
Shadow said: “So, if you have some concrete examples of what magic can do to a mind, I’d like to hear about it. I’ll presumably be safe but it nonetheless won’t hurt to know, especially for the future.”
I leaned back and stared at the window. I tuned Shadow out for a moment and tried to assess just how quiet that rune was making things. Nope, I couldn’t hear a shred of sound from the road. Just our own breathing. Mine was level. Important to keep it that way. I had to show myself to be as stable and responsible as possible. I had to be stable and responsible. Now that I had a task, I could do that.
“So, I was captured by the endlings after Farrogat. They have this trick that comes to them naturally called The Tone. They use it to incapacitate, usually. A particular croak or musical note can draw to mind the worst fears and imagery. It’s not really magic, it’s just something they can do. Biological.” I swallowed some spittle. I felt the heat again. “At least, it was originally.”
“Some of their torturers have made an art out of it. I don’t know if they use magic or just practice a lot, but they can use it to create a genuine connection with your mind. With a little variation, like jimmying a lock, they can make you to tell them anything they want. Plans, fears, doubts, personal memories: everything. Some of them are so good you don’t even notice they’re doing anything.
“You get two schools when it comes to that. One of them just chats away to you during an interrogation and suddenly you find you have an undying compulsion to tell them anything and everything they want. The other drugs you up and talks to you as you dream and if they’re good you won’t even realise you’ve been visited. Could spend a week thinking you’ve been forgotten, not realising that the pink rabbit you’ve been chatting to in your dreams would burn you if you touched it, dismember you if you looked it in the eye...
“Thankfully, Herobrine taught me some old techniques for locking people out. How to notice when someone’s searching for information directly - it’s pretty obvious, it feels like your hair’s being ruffled. How to notice characters someone else came up with. And, of course, how to alter dream-scapes. As I told you the other day, I was actually able to successfully expel someone quite recently.”
I paused a moment, then a thought occurred. Naturally, I couldn’t just let that sit there if I wanted them to treat my suggestion seriously.
“The Lady of Dreams. Your friend. Not that I knew that at the time… Okay, I would absolutely have thrown her out even if I’d known that - I like my privacy.”
I prayed honesty would prove the best policy. I even dropped the proper accent at the end of the last sentence and allowed the coarse brogue of the rough southern hills to range.
Shadow laughed. “Honestly the only one you’re inconveniencing with that is yourself. She makes a point of keeping dreams private.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, at least it demonstrates my conviction not to let anyone mess with my mind. See, I’m an ideal candidate!” I gestured enthusiastically and grinned widely. “What do you say?”
Shadow didn’t laugh this time. A thought occurred and I started looking around for that shade that followed her, Wodahs. Relieved to find it hadn’t moved from behind her, I settled down again.
Instead of laughing or smiling, she said: “I suppose I’ll try talking to the book and we’ll see how that goes. If I don’t have to destroy it it’s all yours.”
Chapter46:Literary Encounter (Shadow)
Shadow needed something to make the book open up, to give her a chance to see where its power came from. She closed her eyes, more out of reflex than anything else, and looked into her own mind. In the depths somewhere she found another mind, or rather a speck of dust that had once been a mind, it had once been the mind of the first rule breaker she had apprehended. Given enough magic it could be a mind once more, it would be an empty shell without thoughts, but it would still be a mind. This was the mind she would use to lure the book out of hiding.
Only seconds after the empty mind came into being, Shadow could feel how energy emanated from the book, like a thin tendril it reached out. This was what Shadow had waited for. The mind she had created immediately collapsed into her own again, it had served its purpose. Shadow then cast a spell that was quite similar to a teleportation but instead of moving her to a different location in the space she was currently in, it moved her into a different space altogether.
Even before she opened her eyes, she realized that something was different, the air smelled differently, it smelled older. Shadow smelled old leather and paper, she knew this smell very well. When she opened her eyes, they confirmed what her nose had made her suspect: She was in a library. This library however was unlike any Shadow had been in before. Even the library of the University of Magic of Rockhaven was dwarfed by the sheer scale. Rows of bookshelves continued seemingly infinitely into all four cardinal directions. It did seem to have a floor and a ceiling though.
Shadow sent a projection into each direction, moving at a rapid pace. About a minute later they still hadn’t found any sign of an end. This library really seemed to extend infinitely. Shadow instinctively knew what this meant, she might not have exactly done the amount of academic study that her brother had but she still knew a parallel plane when she saw one. Under normal circumstances this would have been surprising but seeing that she had already crossed several universes on her way to Nexus it really wasn’t.
Nonetheless, this was a new experience for Shadow. The scientists had told her that after her ascension her mind was different in ways they couldn’t explain, now Shadow started to realize how right they were. The moment she had left her own world something had awakened inside of her, a new sense so to speak, now the feeling returned, stronger than ever. She was acutely aware of her current position, not just in the library but also in regard to what was beyond. There was another plane in very close proximity to this one, perhaps she could repeat what she did in Astro’s presence.
Shadow concentrated, back in the forest it had been difficult, now it was easy. Once again her hand disappeared from reality, instead reaching into the space between. Only this time Shadow felt something that was not emptiness, she felt a thin membrane, the metaphorical fabric of reality of the other parallel plane. With a decisive movement she cut through both the membrane on her side and that on the other side. Shadow saw more bookshelves through the rift she had created, another layer of library? In the thin space between the libraries was a seemingly infinite nothingness, however Shadow wasn’t quite sure. She thought she could make out things in the distance but it was like trying to look through milk glass, only that this milk glass had the “color” of nothing. Instead of thinking more about what was between the planes, Shadow decided to cross over instead.
As she passed through, her body disintegrated, leaving behind what she had taken to calling her true, or unbound form. In this form her skin had gone from being merely pitch black to being even less than that, she was a silhouette of nothingness. Her hair also refused to play along with gravity and instead floated around her head like a bright white cloud. Her eyes seemed to be distant red stars in the midst of the nothing of her face. Only very few people had seen her like this, most of them were now specks of mind-dust within her own mind, the one other person was Fire. She supposed that this form had contributed no small part in helping the interrogations of the rule breakers along, partially through intimidation, partially because it was quite difficult to comprehend, as Astro had experienced first-hand.
Shortly after passing over to the other library-plane, Shadow regained her regular senses, along with them her regular body and clothing started reforming. She was now in a spacious room, a reading room by the looks of it. Several long tables made from dark, polished wood occupied a good part of the space. At the tables stood cushioned chairs made from the same wood, on the tables stood reading lamps, presumably glowstone-based. Behind her, the tear in reality closed again.
Then Shadow noticed that she was not alone, at the other end of the room was a… thing. It looked like someone had taken pages torn out of various books and glued them together to form a humanoid shape. The humanoid shape turned to face Shadow. A crease formed in the papers at the head-like shape at the top, and the shape spoke:
“How did you get here?”
The voice was that of a young woman, with a slight distortion to the voice as if it had traveled through some communication device and had become corrupted. The voice was calm and measured, but beneath the surface Shadow could detect a slight unease.
“Through the wall.” She said matter-of-factly. This being in front of her could well be what corrupted Fristad so Shadow decided to not reveal too much about herself yet.
The humanoid shape walked closer to Shadow, and turned its head while walking sideways, its paper head tilting up and down, inspecting Shadow’s robe and unperturbed charcoal face and white hair.
“It is not easy to enter this place. Nor is it easy to leave it. Would you not agree?”
Shadow smirked and demonstratively slashed another tear into the fabric of reality. She really was getting the hang of this.
“That is a neat trick.” The shaped paper’s voice was curious, but also cynical. “Perhaps you can teach it to me. But your arrival here has a different purpose, does it not?”
“Alright, I’ll get straight to the point then: The events of the last days, the nightmares. I want to hear your side of it and you better not lie to me.”
“Fine.” The paper figure’s voice became agitated. “I suppose you know what I am, then? At least to a superficial degree? After all, you came inside of my body, to find the essence of myself in an attempt to communicate with me. And I suppose you know Fristad as well. How is he, by the way?”
Shadow replied: “Alive... and somewhat conflicted. We also shielded him from magic so that you can’t get to him.”
“I assumed such. You and the others have tended to recognize the value of life over death. Except, possibly, for Destiny. She seems unstable recently. Although the magic shielding was something I did not anticipate. But, back to the nightmares. You should first know that I have been trapped in the void for millenia, and as such my pages have been deprived of eyes for far too long. Fristad was the first to read them after I breached the caustic nothingness, and for this reason I consider us to have a special relationship. Since that fateful moment, I have taught him things, often in secret, as the world we come from labels many forms of magic as ‘dark magic,’ magic which in their nearsighted judgement is evil and should be destroyed. We assumed you would view us the same way, minus the killing of us perhaps, and thus our secrecy continued. But Fristad reached an impasse in his abilities. We had to make a choice. It was Fristad who proposed the nightmares be induced on Amanda. I personally felt no ill will towards her. In fact, I found her to be quite intelligent. Perhaps you could ask Fristad about his choice. But alas, the decision was made, and now the essence of my self stands before you, privy to your judgement.”
Shadow had expected something along these lines, this was not the first time she had received one such monologue. If she was honest with herself, the constant blame shifting was starting to get boring and predictable. “I personally am of the opinion that power itself cannot be evil unless it is itself sentient, however those who wield this power can fall anywhere in your morality system of choice. In the morality of the world I come from, warping a personality beyond recognition about equates to killing the person. I also suspect that while Fristad had the choice whom to attack, he didn’t exactly get an independent say in whether the attack should happen at all. The magic needed for the attacks comes from you I presume.” Shadow paused. “About what you said at the start, the reason I refused to use more… drastic methods was because it would have made me suspicious, which would have been quite harmful to our group as a whole. Trust me when I say this. It is quite literally my job description to execute people who would cause great harm if all other possibilities are exhausted.”
“Then, perhaps I should consider myself grateful, that your ‘subjective’ definition of morality has allowed both me and Fristad to live. In my definition of morality, knowledge is invaluable. To not share knowledge is the greatest transgression of all. As for killing, while I have become very fond of Fristad and would punish those who dare to harm him, the idea of me, a bound stack of pages affixed with letters, ascribing my actions on things that move and eat to any moral standard other than the knowledge which they contain is, admittedly, quite ridiculous.” Loose pages began to restlessly circle the floor around the paper form. “But it is clear my philosophical musings are not open for debate. What do you actually want from me?”
Shadow replied: “I want to know if you can be reasonable. As in, can you pass on your knowledge without forcing it on people?” Again, Shadow paused, this time less for dramatic effect and more to catch the figure off guard. “Also, do you think I’m stupid? I know you are not the Book, you just live in the book. You are confined to it and you probably can’t even see past this hyperplane. Let me make it perfectly clear that I can and will kill you if you don’t prove to me that I can leave you alive.”
A gust of wind boomed in the library. The pages circling on the floor around the humanoid form lifted into the air and swirled around it. Books tumbled off the library shelves and papers tore from the books, flying toward the growing, twirling swarm.
“You ask too much of me! You tell me I am not what I am, and then you threaten to kill me! Without the words I carry, I am no more than a block of wood! How am I supposed to convey my knowledge if no one knows what I am? You disgust me! You are a monster! And if you should decide to kill me merely because I say these words, then I do not care what moral code you claim to follow: you are evil! Take back the lies of what I am!”
Shadow began to smile. She loved this part, they all invariably got to it at some point. “I really wish you could come up with some new, more flavorful insults, ‘monster’ is beyond overused at this point. I believe you should rather call me an abomination, I do eat minds after all. I have no illusions about what I am, in contrast to you. But throwing insults at each other, no matter how sophisticated, won’t get us anywhere, will it? You can consider yourself a book if you want to, if that’s what it takes to make you hold a reasonable conversation. I’ll repeat my question. Are you capable of sharing your knowledge without manipulating others?”
The swirling swarm of papers halted in mid-air, and floated down in zig-zags and twirls which caused the papers to warp and crease with high-pitched snapping echoes. When the papers settled, the remaining mass of papers stood dejected, its head held low.
“I am,” the form said simply.
Shadow nodded. “If that is so, then we might be able to come to an agreement. I won’t be all high and mighty about it either, simply not killing the other side is a shoddy basis for any contract. As it stands you’ll still have to earn trust, mine and perhaps more importantly that of those who were directly affected. For both of your sakes I can’t let you near Fristad again though, temptation is a strong force.”
“That is unfortunate,” the form said. It paused for a moment. “How do you propose I earn your trust?”
“You will spend a bit of time with Kay, he has voiced quite an interest in you. Don’t do anything… unwise and who knows, we might be able to repay you in some fashion if it’s in our range of capabilities.”
Shadow had no doubts that the book wouldn’t be completely compliant but as long as nothing like the Dreamweaver situation happened, it was a worthy tradeoff. It really would have been a shame to destroy, or rather kill, something as unique as the book.
“I suppose, ‘unwise,’ in this context, means: no killing or inducing negative emotions in members of the group, and no introduction of ideas in their minds that might be considered… unexpected?”
Shadow considered for a moment. “More or less. Attempts at conditioning using positive emotions are also off limits, in fact any kind of influence that goes beyond mundane persuasion is too. I would also ask you to limit your interactions to Kay only for the beginning. Once you prove that you can play nice, you can also ‘talk’ with others.”
The paper crease in the figure’s head widened and curled into a smile. “Very well. I shall endeavor to honor your requests.”
Shadow was not sure if she should extend her hand or not, but decided to do so. The handshake felt rather reluctant and the hand itself felt like paper, unsurprisingly.
“I’ll be leaving now, you will be in Kay’s ‘custody’ very soon.”
With those words Shadow once again tore through the fabric of reality, this time the cut was more precise than before and closed immediately after she went through. She resurfaced in the familiar room of the inn, Kay looking at her expectantly.
She said: “We managed to work something out. You can have the book for now, feel free to talk to it but take care. It would not surprise me if it still tries something.”
Chapter47:The Book (Kay)
Shadow set the book down on the bed and closed her eyes. Just a few seconds later she vanished silently. No furniture, dust pile, or bedsheet was stirred. The book lay closed on the bed in the same position as before. It was as if Shadow was never there. Or, rather, she was still there, just inside the book somehow. Or perhaps some other location-defying wizardry nonsense. I didn’t have much time to speculate as Shadow quickly reappeared in front of the book just a few minutes later.
Shadow looked at me and smiled with satisfaction. “We managed to work something out. You can have the book for now, feel free to talk to it but take care. It would not surprise me if it still tries something.”
Shadow stepped back from the bed, turned to Astro and nodded.
“The ward is still up, in case you want to continue talking in private. It should stay up until you leave the room. I will be in the tavern for a while, in case you need me.”
Shadow left the room.
Astro stepped closer to the bed, crossed his thoroughly clothed arms, and stared carefully at the book. His eyes followed it as I stepped forward alongside him and picked it up.
I projected the most mature-looking grin toward the cautious Astro as I could come up with. I wasn’t going to back out of this little experiment, but I could at least make a show of restraint to reassure him a bit. I made a point of turning the book over and inspecting every corner. It was leather-bound, titleless on the outside at least, and in relatively good condition. A perfectly good book. Appearances aside, Shadow was probably right that it could still be a threat. I was confident my mental defenses would hold, but I wasn’t exactly equipped to deal with magical threats in general.
The outside of the book adequately inspected, I opened the cover to the first page, which turned out to be blank. The second page was also blank. And the third. In fact, the whole book was probably blank. I’ll admit it came off as a bit stingy on the book’s part, but there could have been some other reason for the lack of typography.
I wasn’t exactly sure what the proper way was to communicate with it, so I figured I’d try what felt natural. I turned back to the first page - it seemed more polite to do that - and cleared my throat.
“Hello, book. I’m General Kay Mandy, formerly of the 10th Herobrinian Legion. I’ll be your caretaker for a while. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
I looked expectantly at the blank page. Almost immediately, I felt a small pressure against the outer walls of my mind, circling around the perimeter like a foreign scout, testing my mental defenses. It wasn’t much of a test. I resisted it almost unconsciously. I swatted it away. Best not to let it finish its scouting rounds, and aside from that I wanted to assert my authority. After that, I didn’t feel any other mental presence. I assume the book had its fill. Or perhaps that was the full extent of the book’s mental abilities.
Shortly after I repelled the presence, printed letters began to materialize on the page, the ink seemingly rising up from the pages below. The letters formed a short message:
Hello, Kay.
I smiled a little at the sign of self-awareness from an otherwise seemingly inanimate receptacle of learning. I was rather eager to make use of the book’s abilities, but first impressions were important, and I needed to establish some boundaries.
“Apologies for pushing away your little probe. Not very hospitable of me, but I always worry about visitors, so I have a great many ways to keep them out. It’s not malicious, I just have to make sure my house is in order before I let you in. Please, do be patient. Anyway, do you have a name? Something you prefer to call yourself?”
The ink from the letters sunk back into the page, and was replaced with another message.
I have no name. You may call me the Book.
“Keeping it simple to begin with? I like it. Do you mind if I just call you ‘Book,’ then? Without the ‘the’? It’s just a bit easier to work with.”
The ink dissolved and reconfigured rapidly.
No.
“Excellent!” I declared.
I turned toward Astro, who I assume had been reading the shifting letters and thus was up-to-date on the conversation. Merely talking to this book in my possession would probably net me more than a few points in the quirkiness department. Possibly a few in the insanity department as well. Especially in public. Someone had to challenge Warnado and the wonder-twins.
“By chance, are there any other ways we can communicate that don’t involve me speaking aloud by myself?”
I could communicate directly with your thoughts, as I have done with Fristad. Or alternatively, you can write on my pages.
“Good to know those options are available. I’ll stick to speaking for now, might get a pen later.”
While I was confident in my ability to resist, I didn’t trust the book enough to read my thoughts, so the other, more discreet option was off the table. Perhaps with a mutually beneficial exchange of information, that trust could be gained over time. But not yet.
“Why don’t you tell me a little more about yourself?” I encouraged. “How did a fine receptacle of literature such as yourself end up in the Nexus? And how exactly does a book learn to communicate in your world?”
The ink on the page dispersed and rearranged slowly. The book seemed to take a moment to deliberate before the ink settled into a longer written passage.
My existence has been long, and mostly painful. For millennia, I had drifted through the void, completely alone, my words and pages slowly burned by its destructive flames. Eventually I found Fristad, and for a time we were friends, although since the intervention, one could say we’ve had a falling out.
Most of my knowledge has existed since my beginning, including my knowledge of how to communicate. The rest came from Fristad.
“So… you simply popped into existence in the void? No memories prior to that?”
That is the extent of my memories.
“By Jeb…” I tailed off, feeling a knot of pity twist my stomach. “That sounds like an awful way to end up spending most of your existence. I’m sorry.”
“And quite a long existence at that,” Astro added. “Thousands of years is far too long for anything.”
Pity aside, I suspected that the book was hiding information. Maybe the book landed itself in the void for a reason, or perhaps some important chronological detail was left out. I certainly didn’t expect the book to reveal everything. I had my own secrets, Astro had his. The book’s past put its decision to control and manipulate Fristad into perspective, although it certainly didn’t justify it.
The revelation of an existence mostly spent in an unforgiving void wasn’t exactly a good conversation starter either, so I decided to change the subject.
“Astro, are you sensing anything magic coming from the book? Any wizardly insight?”
Astro concentrated. “It’s… a bit like the energy that comes off an endling when they teleport. However, it has a slightly different quality and it’s continuous. I think Fristad mentioned that the endlings in his world were different from the ones in the Nexus.”
I am not an enderman or anything associated with their kind. The fact that my covers wield their energy is unfortunate. I am only grateful they prevented me from burning into nothingness long enough for me to escape the void.
“Is it just me, or am I picking up some disdain for endlings coming from you?” I pointed out.
I despise them.
“Hah! We’ll get along famously. Wait… Fristad was an enderman at some point and I’m getting the impression you did that. How does that fit into your worldview?”
We did what we had to. Not using that form would have been a meaningless gesture of vanity.
“I see.”
I looked out the window and saw the sky above the village growing darker. Another day had passed, and I was now in possession of a book of unknown power, whose emotional impact on Fristad, Amanda and others was hard to overstate, and whose true motivations were only beginning to be uncovered. I didn’t know what to expect from the book’s backstory, but thousands of years of suffering and loneliness? Was I way in over my head? Did time work differently there? Was Fristad secretly hundreds of years old? Okay, I’ll admit those last two sounded a bit too ridiculous.
Astro said, “It’s getting late. We should eat something.”
My own stomach protested in unison. “The day certainly ran away from us. Maybe we should join Shadow in the tavern. It was nice to meet you, book.”
There is no need for departing words. I assume you want me to come with you.
“That’s technically true, although I’m going to put you away now. Don’t attempt to start a conversation. I’ll come to you.”
I closed the book and put it in my pocket. The past aside, it seemed there was a lot to learn from the book.
I followed Astro outside of the room, and was greeted once again with the sounds of evening activity.
The newly formed expedition crew left the hill immediately after Fire was done talking to Steve. If the map he had seen was any good it would take them roughly a day of travel time if they rode there directly, this time did not include resting and assumed that nothing unexpected would happen on the way. They were reasonably close to the Tower, so bandit attacks were improbable, however a whole lot of people had escaped from the Tower’s prison recently so there was no guarantee for safe travels.
The horses Fire had bought were sturdy enough to carry two people. Destiny and Lucy took one, Rose and Urist the other. Fire was quick enough on his feet to keep up with them and Voidblade could teleport hundreds of meters at a time. Voidblade was now also wearing his armor, which looked functional more than anything else, Fire assumed that he had filled the role of infantry in his homeworld.
While they travelled they didn’t talk much, they were focused on getting to their destination as quickly as possible. After the first few hours they took a short break to eat, drink and let the horses rest for a short while. After two more such rests they decided to set up camp for the night.
The next day they got up early and started riding again. The sun was already starting to set when they arrived at their destination. The mountains towered in front of them. No clear path was visible and the terrain was too steep to continue on horseback.
Fire said: “Alright everyone, time to dismount. Just leave the horses, they won’t be of any use underground.”
Rose spoke up: “How far is our destination?”
Fire said: “It should be about one to two hours of hiking until we arrive at the entrance of the cave system.”
Rose nodded.
As Fire turned to go ahead he looked back to see Lucy give her horse a pat on the head before following. Destiny seemed quite eager to get going and Urist was predictably thrilled to be in his preferred terrain. Voidblade and Rose seemed mostly ambivalent, but they’d get their excitement soon enough once they would start clearing out the caves.
The lower parts of the mountains were densely forested with various species of coniferous trees and thus made ascending the mountain fairly easy since they always had something to hold onto once the terrain got steeper.
Eventually they had climbed far enough for the trees to be replaced with shrubs growing on the rocky debris slopes. This terrain was significantly harder to traverse, especially for Lucy and Rose, who didn’t seem to have much mountaineering experience. Urist on the other hand had quickly taken the lead, doing his best to find a path that was easy for his companions to traverse. The few times where someone got close to stumbling and sliding down the mountain in an avalanche of rocks, Voidblade had been ready to save them with two quick teleportations. Fire watched with satisfaction as the groundwork for future cooperation and trust was being laid. Of course he knew better than to let his guard down, a lot of things could happen, especially once they began their work.
All of a sudden the slope came to an end and in front of Fire was the plateau he had seen on the map. The plateau was bordered by yet higher mountains, the mountainside they had climbed up was just about the only safe entrance to the plateau. This was one of the reasons Fire had chosen this area, the main part of the shelter would still be underground but the plateau offered a relatively safe space for facilities that needed to be outside.
The ground ahead of them was covered in a layer of dry moss with smaller rocks poking through, bigger boulders were scattered throughout the plateau, evidently having rolled down from one of the taller mountains.
Fire walked a few steps and then waited for the others to reach the plateau as well. They had all fared quite well, especially Urist and Voidblade. The humans of the group looked a bit exhausted, especially Lucy.
She said between panting breaths: “It’s been a while since I last did anything like this.”
Fire let her catch her breath before speaking: “Just a bit ahead of us is the entrance to the cave system. We will start exploring it tomorrow, today our goal is to barricade the entrance and set up a more permanent spot to sleep outside.” He turned to Urist. “I assume you have some experience when it comes to construction.”
Urist grinned. “Ye could say that. Been some years since I’ve been employed in a keep but some things ye never forget.”
“Excellent.” Fire said.
Fire then lit a torch with a little bit of magic and once again took the lead. Behind him he could hear Lucy and Rose talking.
Rose asked: “So, you haven’t actually told me why you are here. I know I’m here because I can stab things, but what about you?”
Lucy replied hesitantly: “I don’t know. Fire says I’ll find out soon enough.” Her tone changed to be brighter. “What I’ve been meaning to ask you, I know some basic self defense but not with weapons. Would you mind… teaching me a bit?”
Rose replied: “Huh, I guess I misjudged you a bit. Didn’t take you for the proactive type. We might be able to work something out.”
“Really?” The joy in Lucy’s voice brought a smile to Fire’s face and seemingly some of it got through to Rose as well.
“Yes, really. Not today though. Honestly, I’m quite exhausted as well.”
Just a few minutes of walking later they had reached the entrance to the cave. It gaped in front of them, dramatically illuminated by Fire’s torch.
Fire passed his torch on to Voidblade and nodded to Urist. Over the course of the next half hour the two of them used some of the wood Fire had in one of his enchanted bags to construct two layers of barricade, one right at the entrance and one some meters into the cave, each one with a door in it. They then went on to construct six adequately comfortable beds in the newly-formed enclosed space. They would certainly build better lodgings later but for tonight it was all they needed.
When they were finished they returned to their companions outside.
Destiny said: “Normally I would be impressed but it seems that this kind of construction speed is quite common.”
Urist said: “Och, that’s nothing. I’ve seen entire forts built in hours, or taken down for that matter.”
Voidblade had been very quiet for more or less the entire time. Now he spoke in the human tongue, a bit slowly but otherwise flawlessly: “Now I know it was a good idea to go on this expedition.”
After they had stood there talking for a few more minutes, Fire lit a campfire in front of the cave, if they were going to talk they might as well do so comfortably.
Urist had deflected every time someone had asked something related to his backstory so Fire didn’t want to press him on it. The one person left who Fire didn’t know much about was Rose.
He asked: “So, Rose. Would you mind telling us a bit about your world and how you arrived here?”
Rose shifted into a more comfortable sitting position. “I don’t know if there is much to tell. I never was one for stories but I’ll try. My world seems to be a bit more… developed than where most people I’ve met come from. We had big cities, paved roads, electric light, things like that. But most importantly we still had a bit of magic from the old days. I’m not very good at it aside from making more blades but there were some people out there who understood more of how the world looked once you peeled the skin away. I was employed by one such person, he paid me and I would make his problems disappear. I only recently found out that he wasn’t just some eccentric esoteric with more money than morals, he had a concrete goal.”
Rose paused, waiting for someone to ask what that goal might have been. Lucy was the one to cave first.
Rose said: “The goal was simple and complex at the same time. My employer wanted nothing less than immortality. And he was willing to go very long distances to attain it. Well, technically his followers were the ones who went the distances, he just pulled the strings. My job usually was to get rid of the people who looked too closely at his organization. This went on until one day he took me aside and asked me to participate in a ritual of sorts, all I would have to do was stab some poor fool who was tied to an altar.”
Rose paused again, this time it seemed to be out of rememberance.
“It turned out that this ritual was supposed to summon some creature that would assist my employer in some matter, instead it summoned me to this place. From what I gather not many come here that way, most people I talked to claim that one day they just woke up and found that their house had moved to another world.”
Lucy said: “That’s what happened to me.”
Fire said: “It’s actually more common than you might think to come to Nexus through some kind of teleportation mishap, many of the people I know are from worlds further out, myself included.”
Destiny flinched, probably reminded of David. Fire decided to steer the topic to something less dangerous. They spent the next hour discussing the cuisine of their respective worlds, some of the things Voidblade told them about were surprising but definitely something Fire had to try to cook when he had the opportunity.
When the moon had risen high above them they decided that it was best if they went to sleep, after all they had a lot of work to do the next day.
Chapter49:A Rushed Plan (The Ender)
The Ender was once again in her office, peering over a large map. This was not the patrol map she had worked on previously, that one and five future permutations of it had been completed just a day before. Naturally she’d have to scrap some of those permutations in the case of an extraordinary event but they did give her a bit of time to work on other things.
One of those other things was the map she was currently working on, it pictured the settlement closest to the Tower and the surrounding terrain. After her unsuccessful sweep of that prophet’s hill she didn’t have a choice but to stage a raid on the village itself. If she had recovered more detailed information on the whereabouts of the high-priority escapees she would have been able to just launch a series of covert operations to recapture or neutralize each of them.
The plan for the raid was more-or-less finished, it would be a joint effort between her own army and the human mercenaries. If anything, her language initiative had at least somewhat improved the working climate. The mercenaries would use their numbers to surround the village and cut off any escape attempt, then her own army would teleport into the central square and start sweeping every house from the center outwards, leaving no escape but walking directly into the waiting mercenaries.
If her calculations were correct, setting up the barricade would take approximately two days since it was important to move the mercenaries without anyone catching wind of the danger. It would be best if she went directly to the barracks and gave them the orders as soon as possible, while the troops moved she could still make refinements to her plan since most of it only concerned the sweep itself.
Just as the Ender was about to teleport away she heard a high-pitched human voice in her head. It said: “E-excuse me, Miss. We just detected another negative energy signature, this time directly in the village. Please meet General Issa immediately.”
The voice was one of the Tower’s telepaths, each department had one or two on duty at all times in case something like this happened. It really seemed to be urgent since this one hadn’t bothered with “knocking” first, a direct link indicated the highest priority.
The Ender teleported into the headquarters of Dimensions where General Issa was already waiting, next to her was another human, male, the telepath apparently. The Ender tried to estimate his age and concluded that he had to be quite young. Natural telepathy was a rare talent in humans so they had to take what they could get.
General Issa spoke quickly, perhaps she was stressed. “Greetings. New negative energy reading, coming from somewhere within the closest village. I already talked this over with the Entity, you are to execute the raid immediately. Also take Dr. Mercury with you, having an expert on-site would help greatly.”
Since this seemed to be a direct order from the Entity, the Ender wasted no time arguing over not having enough time to set up the barricade. They’d have to do without it, since they now had different priorities it seemed manageable, if they caught one or two of the high-priority escapees along the way that was already enough to get more information on the rest.
The Ender’s next teleportation was a long one; reconnaissance was situated in one of the tallest spires of the Tower while the science lab was underground. Navigating the dimensional labyrinth that was the Tower was a nightmare, even when teleporting, but the Ender was used to it.
Dr. Mercury whirled around in surprise as the Ender appeared behind her workstation, it seemed like she was working on setting a gem into a screw-like metal piece.
Dr. Mercury breathed out slowly. “Oh, it’s you.”
Normally the Ender would have taken offense to such a casual greeting coming from a human but time was of the essence. Aside from that, Dr. Mercury had many traits that the Ender appreciated in her own kind, efficiency, ruthlessness and a healthy dose of pride. The two of them had worked together previously and she had found Dr. Mercury to be very reliable.
The Ender said: “Put on your combat armor, we’re going to the closest village. Recon picked up another negative energy signature.”
Nothing more needed to be said, Dr. Mercury had already sprinted over to the docking station for her armor. When she pushed a button mechanical arms started attaching parts of her heavy armor to the light armor she wore all the time. Once all parts were attached, two additional arms were mounted on Dr. Mercury’s back, completing the set of four.
“Okay, I’m ready.” She said.
The Ender took her arm and they both teleported into the courtyard where the enderborn army was gathered. They had already been informed by the telepath and were standing by, waiting for the signal.
The Ender raised her arm. “On my command!”
A moment later the army teleported to the village square, the sun was already setting so not many people were there, the few that were immediately took to running. Without anyone speaking a word the enderborn swarmed out, knocking on doors and breaking them down if nobody answered, sweeping house after house. The Ender remained in the square along with Dr. Mercury and a small group of guards.
Dr. Mercury spoke: “So, that negative energy reading. From what I hear they verified that the previous one was authentic. What will you do when you find its source?”
The Ender replied: “That’s what you’re here for. The soldiers have their own detector units but I’ll need you to have a closer look and give some actual insight.”
A few minutes passed until the first squad reported back with two humans in tow, it seemed that they had found some escapees, however none of them were high-priority. They quickly shackled the prisoners to the wooden platform in the middle of the square and then teleported away, reinforcing some of the other squads.
On the edge of the Ender’s vision something moved, she quickly turned her head to see what it was. To her surprise it was a human slowly making its way towards her, head meekly turned towards the floor. The human looked quite odd, the Ender had never seen anything quite like it. It was quite short and had long, white hair and black skin and was wearing black robes. From the length of the hair the Ender could reasonably guess that this human was female but she had trouble deciding if she saw a tall child or a short adult.
The human said quietly: “Excuse me. Where am I?”
The voice was what convinced the Ender that this was in fact an adult, how old exactly she couldn’t tell.
The Ender replied in her best human tongue, it was in her best interest to not scare away a potential recruit, humans with extraordinary appearance commonly had abilities that were useful Tower’s operations. “You are in Nexus. How long ago did you come here?”
The woman looked up, her eyes were entirely red and even seemed to glow. If they had been purple then the Ender would have suspected this woman to be some kind of ender half-blood... but red? Red was definitely not a color of the End.
The woman said: “Not long ago. I don’t know how though.”
Dr. Mercury subtly pointed two of her mechanical arms at the woman, one carried a scanner, the other some kind of energy cannon. After a short moment Dr. Mercury whispered to the Ender: “She doesn’t seem dangerous but there weren’t any absorption events in the last few days.”
This definitely was suspicious but the Ender kept on talking: “About where did you appear when you came to this world?”
The woman slowly pointed in the direction of a nearby forest. “Somewhere over there, in a clearing with weird trees.”
This was getting a bit strange, the location matched up with a tunnel but there hadn’t been any activity there… actually no, there had been no absorption events but there had been activity. That tunnel was the last point in the series of energy pulses that had started somewhere outside of the scanner range. There was definitely something wrong with this woman.
The Ender narrowed her eyes and said: “I’m not sure I entirely believe you.”
Suddenly the demeanor of the woman changed drastically, she stood straight up and looked directly into the Ender’s eyes. Her voice changed as well, all signs of weakness had disappeared and had been replaced with a supreme confidence that no language barrier in the multiverse could conceal.
She said: “I suppose I should have expected as much from the Ender. I heard only good things about you, less so about your employer.”
Dr. Mercury tensed up, she said: “One wrong move and I’ll shoot.”
At this point the guards had also come closer, weapons at the ready.
The woman turned towards the scientist and smiled. “I don’t think that would accomplish much.”
Through clenched teeth Dr. Mercury asked: “And why exactly is that?”
The woman made a shrugging gesture with her arms. “Because I’m nothing but a shared hallucination you all are having.”
Before the Ender even had a chance to be confused, the woman was already gone without a trace, just disappeared from one moment to the other. The only evidence that she had ever been there were her own memories.
Dr. Mercury seemed quite shaken, staring at her sensor readout in disbelief. She said: “I picked up another negative energy reading. Send some of your soldiers to that part of the town in case we need backup.”
Chapter50:Broken repose (Warnado)
It wasn’t usual for the kitchen to run this late without serving. It also wasn’t usual for Warnado to wait for it to serve. Normally, he would acquire a taco to sate his appetite, but according to the chef, the inn was out of certain key soup ingredients and would have to improvise, and he was rather interested in tasting the result.
Warnado rocked a silver ballpoint pen of unknown origin between his fingers. He’d summoned it from somewhere, to be sure, and he’d done so deliberately. Since his discussion with Astro and Shadow he’d been thinking a lot about these little things he did and just how he did them. Besides, he usually used it to summon tacos, and if he could figure out where he was summoning them from… Ooh mamma, that would be him set forever.
The rest of the people sitting at the table were also hungry and restless and not by choice. All except for Shadow, who sat at the table patiently. Amanda was absent. Warnado was worried about her. She acted like everything was alright, but he suspected that the nightmares made a more lasting impression than she was letting on.
Fristad was wearing the harness now. Since the book was taken away from him, he was starting to seem like an entirely different person. He was starting to irritate Warnado. He seemed too optimistic and carefree given what he did and the events of the past few days, almost as if he barely remembered them.
“On the other hand,” Warnado countered himself, “who knows what the book did to him?”
Meanwhile, Kay and Steve were sat at the end of the table lightly arguing over whether Nexus zombies were capable of sleeping. Tyron had dozed off and lay slumped against the table next to them. Whether he had drifted off due to the heat or pseudo-scientific pedantry was another question altogether.
“Well, they are still biologically human, for the most part.” Steve said. “So it matters whether they close their eyes or not but I’m not-”
“So, we agree, they are mostly human! Following that line of reasoning, if they need to eat and drink just like their non-undead counterparts, to be fair at less regular intervals, it stands to reason they also need sleep every once in a while.”
“I don’t disagree, but there’s a gap there between what you’re saying is the cause and the most likely effect.”
“What else do you suppose they do while standing still for such long periods?” Kay pressed, using an upper-crust accent Warnado was starting to recognise as designed to impress. “Barring the galvanizing influence of a necromancer?”
Steve shrugged and looked about disbelievingly: “Being zombies.”
Jennifer said, “Sorry to interrupt, but I think there’s something happening outside.”
All ears at the table turned toward the windows. The rest of the dining tables seemed to quiet down as well. Several people could be seen running across the road. Trails of ender teleportation particles appeared soon after, followed by the muted sounds of struggling screams and grunts. Then there was silence again.
“Something tells me those endermen didn’t come to reprimand those people for running and screaming,” Steve said, his former smile curdling into a grimace.
“Well, given our previous interactions with certain local endermen…” Astro paused for effect.
In the corner of his eyes Warnado saw Shadow stand up, some of her runes glowing brightly. She said in a commanding tone: “That was a scouting squad, a bigger one will come in approximately five minutes. They will search the buildings too, already did for some of the ones down the street. Someone needs to get Amanda from her room now. Then you need to flee the town while you can. I’ll try to buy you time.”
Warnado stood up. “I’ll get Amanda.”
Shadow said: “Don’t worry about me, I’m not at risk here. I will find you once you are out. Be safe.” With those words Shadow disappeared from the room to… somewhere.
Warnado then dashed out of the dining hall and up the stairs, leaving the rest of his friends at the table sitting in suspense.
Kay cleared his throat and announced gravely, “I can’t foresee Warnado taking very long to bring Amanda. But supposing he does, we should take Shadow’s warning as it is, and leave in five minutes.” He thumped the still-sleeping Tyron on the side. The dreamer growled and squinted at Kay, who flatly concluded: “Need my armour back, friend. Time to get on a war footing.”
Chapter51:Highly Irregular Human Behaviour (Warnado)
Warnado bounded down the stairs into the foyer of the inn, with Amanda close behind. He waved over to the group standing at the table. Kay, with help from Astro and Tyron, fussed over the last straps needed to fasten his armour. Steve, and the others conversed warily, hands near weapons. After a moment of discussion across the table, the others stood up and followed Warnado into the foyer.
“I think the endermen and their friends are preoccupied in another part of town. If we leave right now, I think the odds will be good,” Jennifer said. “I’ll scout ahead. If the situation looks good, then I’ll give the thumbs-up.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kay said.
Jennifer opened the door slowly and walked out, while Steve waited at the door.
A moment later, a customer at the inn walked up to Steve and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, sir, any idea what’s going on out there? Me and some friends were about to go to the bar, but now we’re thinking maybe it would be better to stay inside. Given recent events...”
“Umm…” Steve replied awkwardly, suddenly having to come to terms with blocking the only exit for all the inn customers. “I’ll let you know in a moment.”
“This building violates so many fire safety codes…” Warnado thought to himself.
Steve then glanced out the doorway and gave the thumbs up. “All clear, let’s go!” Steve then added for the curious inn customer. “That means you can go, too. Sorry, no time to explain what’s going on.”
“Thank you! I’ll admit, it’s refreshing seeing fellow guests looking out for each other, especially in these strange lands.”
“No kidding,” Steve said dryly.
Steve, Kay, Warnado, Amanda, the others, and a few unrelated inn guests passed through the inn door quietly. The group found Jennifer pressed against the wall of the building on the other side of the street, looking warily around a corner. The streets were unusually empty, but not quiet. At a distance they could hear the warping of teleportation, the screams of frightened villagers and the sporadic noises of a piecemeal, one-sided battle.
Jennifer signalled with her arm and dashed toward another building, the others following behind. This side of the building was bathed in sun, making the air hang more heavily in their lungs.
Somewhere on the other side of town, there was a loud banging sound that Warnado was pretty certain was the sound of a door being forcefully broken open. He looked over at Amanda, who grasped her crossbow tightly and gazed forward vigilantly. Her face was still concealing the anxiety and fear that so recently haunted her.
Astro, who was on the other side of Warnado, peeked his head around the corner of the building and then pulled himself back immediately. He motioned toward the front of the group urgently. Warnado looked the other way and saw Steve waving his arms and frowning in confusion. Astro didn’t seem to be able to figure out the right gesture for what he wanted to say.
“Just say it!” Steve whispered.
“Someone’s running this way,” Astro answered.
On cue, the sound of rapid footsteps approached on Astro’s side. Briefly, Warnado saw the runner just around the corner, his shirt loose and sweaty, a sheathed sword hanging unused at his side. An armored enderman wielding a long, curved blade intercepted him from behind and threw him down onto the ground, then stepped onto his chest and pinned him in place.
“Why did you run away?” The enderman said slowly, evidently laboring on a human tongue which was unfamiliar to them, but through which the creature’s unstated threat and the gravity of it became clear.
The enderman was facing away, but the man’s desperate eyes looked straight toward Warnado and the others.
“B-b… behind… you!” The man muttered and pointed.
The enderman stomped on the man.
“Ack!”
“Answer the question!” The enderman demanded.
Astro was looking at Kay. Kay was looking at Warnado. Warnado was trying to figure out what direction Jennifer wanted to go next, while simultaneously feeling disappointed that the pinned villager tried to rat them out, and also being thankful the enderman wasn’t easily distracted. Then Kay looked at Astro.
“Priorities, Kay!” Astro admonished.
Everyone pinned against the wall looked at Astro. But there wasn’t much time to let the shame stares play out because Kay broke from the wall and rushed toward the enderman just as it started to turn around. Kay swung his sword but sliced through air and purple sprites. The ender soldier stood behind Kay and pushed him. Kay stumbled but quickly recovered, his grin advertising smug confidence. He prepared for a slash but then feinted mid-swing. The enderman replied with a slash toward Kay’s shin, which Kay was unable to pedal back from. Kay tried to suppress his grimace of pain as the curved blade rattled his armour.
Then Astro broke from the wall and threw a fireball at the enderman. The enderman’s form vanished, leaving the fireball to burst against the road and leave a mark of glowing hot ash.
At this point, the unfortunate villager had a good running start and was a few buildings away. Warnado sighed in annoyance.
Kay looked down at his shin with disappointment, and hobbled back to the wall. He lifted his leg, moved it back and forth stiffly, then pressed it down on the ground. He winced.
“Astro, would you give us a hand?” Kay mumbled. His eyes were heavy, his teeth clenched. His shadow was split between wall and ground, and as a result looked hunched and full of shame.
Astro kneeled down and loosened the straps of the shinguard. Warnado only caught a glimpse of the dark red, soft-looking stretch of skin before Astro placed a hand on it. His eyes closed. Astro then stood up again. Kay looked down at his leg and tested its range of motion.
“Well…” Steve said in a matter-of-fact manner, “they know we’re here now.”
“My own missed shot aside, that was a pretty rash way to run into a conflict,” Astro said with a sidelong glance. “I can’t spend all my magic healing wounds.”
“If they’ve learned their lesson from their encounters with us at the Tower...” Tyron warned.
“We need to keep moving,” Jennifer said.
On Jennifer’s mark, the group sprinted toward another building, and then one more. After a pause, they ran across a wide road, and continued running through an alley. The dirt road was bumpy and windy, with grass poking out in places. Quaint signs of village life, hung clothes, and shrubs in closed, curtained window sills, were left behind as they ran past.
Jennifer slowed and raised a hand as the road opened up. Steve peeked around her, then quickly stepped back. Jennifer then stumbled back against a nearby wall, the others following suit. An enderman walked down the street and paused.
Jennifer looked back and held up two fingers. Two endermen. Warnado conjured the energy bow, nocking an arrow slowly.
The enderman on the street shouted and vanished. Jennifer cried out. The clang of metal rang. The enderman had slashed at Jennifer and teleported back a few meters after she parried. Now, she was in a fighting stance, her bow held out to guard.
Another enderman materialized next to the first and barked a few words in an ender tongue. The first enderman replied in kind by pointing their sword at the little caravan of villagers and escapees that now stood pinned against the wall.
“This village is under lockdown by order of the Tower. There is no escape. Surrender your weapons.”
“Under what charges?” Steve asked.
Kay dropped all affectation and insisted, “He has a point. We’ve hardly left the village, or broken any Nexus laws to the best of our knowledge.”
“We’re just getting some fresh air,” Jennifer added.
“Outside travel is forbidden.”
“Sorry, we didn’t get that memo,” Jennifer said.
“This is highly irregular human behavior.”
“That’s just your opinion,” replied Jennifer, as she pushed an arrow into her bow. “Anyway, we’re all busy here, so in the interest of time, I’m going to shoot this arrow into the air, and you two can speculate between yourselves who is going to get hit. I already know the answer.”
“Foolish human, you can’t -”
Jennifer let go of the arrow, and the bowstring whipped the arrow into the troposphere. As the two endermen gazed at the ascending arrow, Tyron rushed forward with ice-sharpened claws and slashed at the two endermen. One of the endermen howled before teleporting away, while the other escaped unharmed. Warnado looked around for an enemy to shoot and for the moment found nothing. He let the bow dissipate and joined the others in sprinting out of the alleyway.
In the distance, another enderman cried out in pain. Whether the enderman was struck by Jennifer’s arrow, or hurt by some other means, would remain a mystery.
Chapter52:Deeper Void (The Ender)
The Ender was sprinting down an alley, following right after Dr. Mercury whose battle armor allowed her to move quite quickly. Apparently the woman they had seen was what caused the readings. Now they were following Dr. Mercury’s scanner to the location of yet another reading. Whoever that woman was, she definitely was powerful, how powerful exactly was left to be determined. In the best scenario this simply was a case of them discovering a new type of magic, in the worst… the Ender didn’t know.
“Over here!” Dr. Mercury called out and turned a corner, then abruptly came to a halt.
The woman was there, right in front of them, just casually leaning against the wall next to a door. Dr. Mercury wasted no time and fired a warning shot from her energy cannon, which impacted only a hand’s breadth away from the woman’s feet, who seemed to be entirely unfazed.
The Ender positioned herself in a way that the woman couldn’t run, admittedly a futile gesture seeing that she probably could just teleport away again.
Dr. Mercury immediately began questioning the woman: “Who are you and what world are you from? Answer!”
After a tense silence of a few seconds the woman replied: “My name is Shadow and I am not familiar enough with your dimensional cartography to reliably answer the second part.”
Dr. Mercury groaned. “I don’t have time for cleverness. You certainly aren’t from one of the closer ones, if Dimensions is to be believed you are from somewhere outside of our sensor range.” She paused, then continued in a different tone. “But since you don’t seem to be scared of us, you won’t mind if I run a few more scans, right?”
Shadow replied: “Sure, sure, go ahead. Whatever you think will help you.”
The Ender exchanged a concerned look with Dr. Mercury. This woman’s calm was gradually transitioning from odd to unsettling. Dr. Mercury began entering commands into the device mounted on her left arm, then once again pointed the scanner at Shadow.
While the scans ran, Shadow seemed to deem it appropriate to strike up a conversation with the Ender. To her surprise, not in the human tongue, she spoke Ender, fluently at that.
She said: “So, the Ender. How do you like it over at the Tower?”
The Ender didn’t reply to her question and instead asked one of her own: “How does a human learn to speak ender?”
Shadow chuckled. “I mostly stopped being human a few thousand years ago. As for the language, my brother taught me.”
The Ender looked over to Dr. Mercury who was intently staring at her monitor and seemed to ignore the fact that there was a conversation going on. She looked back to Shadow, who seemed to have a talent for opening up more questions than she answered.
The Ender asked: “And how exactly would your brother know Ender? If you were human at one point then he should be as well.”
Shadow shifted her head as if to catch a glimpse of Dr. Mercury’s sensor readout, then said: “I believe you two met already.”
That was when everything clicked, or would have clicked if Dr. Mercury’s scanner hadn’t started beeping. She grumbled: “Alright… according to the scanner you don’t exist. The scanner isn’t showing any life signs and I might as well have been scanning air.”
Shadow said: “Correct. In this plane I have no energy to speak of.”
Dr. Mercury said: “No, I believe you are only masking your presence. You aren’t an interdimensional being, either. You lack subspace resonance and that isn’t something one can mask.”
Shadow said: “I would suggest to be a bit more open-minded when it comes to new possibilities, you are a scientist, are you not?”
Dr. Mercury replied: “Enlighten me then.”
Shadow pushed herself away from the wall. “Simple, I am something you haven’t seen before and can’t explain with any of the theories you know. You’ll have to break new ground. Exciting, isn’t it?”
The Ender usually was not good at reading human speech but that tone certainly spelled danger.
Shadow suddenly looked up at the sky. “I think by now enough time should have passed. Goodbye, greet the Entity from me.”
The Ender sighed. She’d disappear again and there was nothing either of them were able to do against it. Perhaps some of the mages of the Tower might have been able but not them. Her assumption was right, Shadow was gone before the Ender was able to say anything. Only this time something was different.
In the first moments it didn’t properly register with her that there was now something in the place where Shadow had stood. Something like a crack or maybe a wound that opened into an emptiness. Then, the longer the Ender looked at it the more and less she was able to see. There definitely was something but the more she tried to focus on it the more it refused to be observed. It reminded her of home, when she used to stare off the islands’ edge into the Void. It brought solace, before getting ready to launch an assault on the humans. But even that seemed inadequate. This was somehow less than the Void she knew. Dr. Mercury seemed to have a different perception of whatever it was the strange woman had left behind, the scientist seemed to be in a daze, her hand raised to clutch her head but stopped halfway.
The Ender picked the scientist up and carried her a few steps back, facing her away from the thing. Dr. Mercury slowly regained her senses, she said: “We… might have a serious problem here. Take me back to the Tower, on foot if you can, I need some time to process this.”
With those words Dr. Mercury’s eyes closed, slipping away into a deep sleep. The Ender sighed, she definitely had imagined her return trip to the Tower to be a bit more dignified, carrying a human in her arms definitely was not one of her preferred activities.
As she walked back to the town square she took a minute to think. What was that? Having met the brother already? Then she finally realized it. The colors, the age, the origin in a far-off world, the knowledge of Ender, the secrecy… Fire.
“Gah, damn these intrusive thoughts, I need to focus on the task at hand. I’m on the job for the ancestors’ sake!”
She heard teleportation behind her. An underling with a curved sword stood amidst the swirling particles, panting from exertion.
“The escapees are here!” he rasped. “The wizard, the General, the demon-child. Possibly others.”
She teleported up and loomed over him: “Send for reinforcements. Humans, artillery. Whatever’s necessary.”
Chapter53:Slipping (Warnado)
The end of the increasingly dusty gravel path and the start of the open farmland was only a few buildings away. The group didn’t have an alternative escape route. The farmland surrounded the village on all sides, and two endermen were already in pursuit. The pack wouldn’t stay this small for long though - they could already hear the sounds of teleportation near and far.
Astro was in the front line, sprinting with magically reinforced pace and endurance. An endermen appeared in the path ahead with a spear, then teleported away as one of Warnado’s ethereal arrows shot by. He appeared on a roof, again ahead of them and ready to hurl his spear, but Astro reached out and clenched his fist before him, shattering his throat. He didn’t stop running.
And the entire group adopted the same attitude, never slowing, only sparing a distracted slash or a stray shot designed to startle more than harm. But Warnado knew this wouldn’t last long. Soon, one of them would stumble and the whole group would have to either stand and fight or lose another member.
An enderman, skin burning with sunlight appeared in the air before Tyron, falling into his charge. Talons ready, it would pierce his skin and tackle him to the ground. Or so it thought. Tyron formed a blade of ice around his forearm and decapitated it, grunting indifferently. The corpse tumbled toward Warnado, who only just managed to leap over it. He knew it, the slip was coming. He nocked a luminous arrow, pulling it as taut as he could so the shot would fly as fast as possible and stand a hope of hitting one of them.
And that was when the first slip came.
A figure in a cloak was dropped in the middle of the group, flanked by two armoured endermen who disappeared immediately. It was scaled but scrawny. Clearly an enderman but it looked like it had skipped arm day… and leg day… all days. It was emaciated. Warnado raised his bow, but he wasn’t quick enough. The scrawny one shot beams of light from their palms, which surrounded Fristad and trapped him in a transparent crystalline ward. The arrow flew but it only grazed his arm. The ward was maintained.
Kay looked back and slowed up, but Tyron and Jen continued undaunted. Amanda shot a glance back and Warnado called to her to keep going. He shot Kay a similar warning look and turned back around to free the retired dreamweaver.
Steve, however, had been bringing up the rear and saved him the trouble. He charged at the emaciated creature of the end and swung, only drawing the faintest trickle of blood before it vanished. The crystalline ward around Fristad faded. Steve reached his hand toward Fristad and pulled him up, and the two of them resumed the retreat. Warnado blinked and then began to sprint too, looking around for Amanda in front of him. She was still going, firing bolts ahead at any scaled creature that appeared before them.
“Well that’s just racist,” he snarked internally, wondering if he hadn’t overestimated the severity of the slip-up.
They were just passing the last buildings of the village entering the vast open fields of wheat and parched weeds stretching out for several miles until hitting a sharply ascending line of trees. It was going to be open country until they hit the trees.
Then the first shell landed. A small hut, barely a bungalow, was ripped open in an explosion of purple flame and shattered wood. Tyron and Jen were sent flying forward, ahead of the group. Already a host of endermen was materialising around them, some carrying human mercenaries with them. Warnado and the others rushed forward, ready to relieve their friends.
Then, five heavily-armed endermen materialized directly in their path, cleaving their ranks in two. The sorcerer and spear-wielder which previously pursued the group were now reinforced by three relatively towering and massive endermen with heavy armor. And three others, sleek and lean and shiny cut off the option of retreating, talons sharp and fangs bared. One of them rolled their shoulders and cracked their neck with a sound that reverberated loudly through their robust frame and stared down at Warnado and the others with contempt.
Amanda squeezed the trigger and a bolt exploded out of her crossbow, just about to connect with the eye of the sorcerer before he vanished. Warnado and Astro followed suit with their own ranged attacks, but they were flickering among them within seconds. Steve successfully got the attention of two of the rear-guard members and Astro the sorcerer, but the other five endermen were at liberty to fight whomever they chose. The group didn’t make it easy for them, often forcing the endermen to warp away again before they could even raise their weapons for an attack, but crucially they were making no ground, and Jen and Tyron were still surrounded.
Warnado spared a glance. Jennifer was a sight to behold. She was always in motion. She rolled between talons and blades, firing her bow at intervals of mere seconds and finding gaps in their ranks that seemed impossible to Warnado. Even with their teleportation they struggled to keep up with her, and found themselves herded into a crowd she could fill with arrows. However, with reinforcements arriving every second, the herd was growing more than it shrank, and soon enough there would be no gaps for her to duck through but the legs of her enemies. Worse yet, every evaded attack led her further and further away from the group.
Tyron was faring better by design, with a small pack of unarmoured endermen harassing him but not committing to an attack. They would appear close to Tyron, feinting a savage attack like a talon to his eye, and then vanishing or dancing away as soon as he swung Kir at them. It was obvious they were trying to keep him away from Jennifer. Or teeing him up for someone stronger.
Then, one of the giants who had attacked Steve and Jennifer, clad in diamond and carrying a huge warhammer appeared a stone’s throw away from the green furry hero. A scrawny enderman was crouched on either side of him, pointing at Tyron and shouting orders. They then vanished and the giant began his charge. Tyron saw this, hacked the arm off one of his harassers and turned to face this new threat.
Warnado, understandably a little freaked out by this massive wall of steroids and death-making running in his general direction, fired two energy arrows at its torso that did nothing. Tyron, however, remained calm. Warnado couldn’t see his face, but he must have been absolutely, unblinkingly unimpressed. He certainly didn’t move any other muscles until the giant was airborne, the hammer raised above his head.
At that moment, Tyron stamped and a wall of earth rose to stop the blow. The haft of the weapon sank a foot into the wall and stopped. The giant began to wrench it free, but before he could succeed, Tyron punched the wall and sent it flying into his chest. His enemy, doubled over from the force of the blow and blinded with dust, backpedalled. Tyron flourished Kir, encased his other fist in an icy spike and moved in to capitalise.
Warnado’s undivided attention was drawn back to his own group by a new development. Two of the heavily armored endermen vanished. One appeared behind Amanda. The other appeared, looked confused, then found Kay’s sword slot into the gap between its chestplate and leggings.
“There’s a taste of your medicine,” Kay said with venom, laughing.
Warnado thought the one-liner was a little rote and didn’t really apply. He’d just moved fast enough to confuse it. It wasn’t like he’d actually teleported or anything. He concluded it was at best a C- one-liner but an otherwise positive development.
The struck enderman cried out in three different octaves, and turned around to face Kay. The other one, unbothered by its comrade’s injury, swung down at Amanda. She only just dodged it, falling to the ground. Warnado, heart stopping, rushed forward. He reached out to Light-knows-where and summoned a throwing star. He threw it with all his might at the enderman’s head, but it only clipped his temple. It looked grizzly at first, but then Warnado realised it ender-blood wasn’t red and he’d just done the jam thing again. He grimaced and shook his hand, readying a flame spell to intervene, fearing it would end up as a weak shower of sparks.
To Warnado’s relief, Amanda managed to take the opportunity to roll away and get back on her feet. She her crossbow steady at her assailant, whose focus was now split equally between Warnado and Amanda. Warnado threw a ball of energy at the enderman, who teleported a small distance away from Warnado to evade it. The enderman swung their sword toward Warnado, but then vanished halfway through their swing. Warnado tensed. He saw the enderman reappear behind Amanda, carrying the remainder of their swing into her side.
Warnado heard Amanda cry out in pain, and he felt fear and anger. He threw a ball of energy at the enderman, and the enderman’s position only changed minimally. He threw more energy at them and they teleported again, by the same amount. Another energy shot just barely missed. Then, Amanda’s crossbow arrow shot from another direction, and in the face of both projectiles the enderman teleported away.
Meanwhile, Kay was teleporting around in a struggle to get the upper hand with his equally mobile opponent. Warnado began to - Hold up. Teleporting. Warnado snapped his head back, heart thudding with something a little more than adrenaline. Kay, as the Dreamweaver had, warped from space to space. Warnado’s mind shot straight toward that book that had caused Fristad so much trouble, and the strange intelligence that lurked within. Kay wasn’t actually using it, was he?
Warnado shot his best “We are having a very serious talk after all this” look in Kay’s direction, then readied himself for a new round of fighting. Kay tried to look apologetic, but failed as he successfully caught the enderman’s neck with his sword.
Fristad of all people finally landed a heavy blow on the ender sorcerer, cutting his wrist and causing him to backpedal with a shriek of pain. Around the same moment, Tyron plunged his blue-veined sword into the giant’s heart. However, the giant had kept fighting to the bitter end and the endermen harassing Tyron had finally committed to their attacks. As such, his injuries were bloody and obvious. His green fur was missing patches and his side cut just between where his ice-forged chestplate met his leg armor. However, he was able to raise another wall of earth and send it crashing into Jennifer’s flock, scattering them and sending two sprawling. Kay had teleported over to help Steve fight off the rear-guard. However, even with these small victories, the fight was looking uncomfortably even.
Seizing the moment, Warnado shot a ball of energy at the wounded ender sorcerer, but it teleported away before the energy ball could reach it. Warnado turned around, and saw a nimble enderman with two swords approaching quickly. He anticipated the attack, but not the weapons. “Did one of the endermen switch out their weapons when I wasn’t looking?” Warnado thought to himself. He pushed aside that thought and tried to imagine a weapon to counter them, and an ethereal chain with a spiked ball at each end appeared in his hands. Warnado frowned. He hoped for a more defensive weapon, but this one would have to do. He wasn’t sure how long this fight would last, so he needed to conserve magic somehow, and conjuring another ethereal weapon mid-fight or throwing a bunch of magical energy at his aggressors wouldn’t exactly help with that.
Warnado twirled the chain to build some momentum. He looked around and noticed that the ratio of endermen to non-endermen was a lot higher than it was before. Steve was still fighting the rearguard. Astro, liberated from the issue of the sorcerer, heard the boom of cannons and raised a magical shield to protect them from incoming shells. They struck the barrier and spread out in blossoms of flame and shrapnel. Amanda, noticing the emergence of a group of human mercenaries at the end of an alleyway, took up position and began to fire. Fristad was limping after his encounter with the sorcerer and Kay had warped in to protect him from one of the remaining heavily-armoured endermen. He disappeared for a few seconds, then reappeared behind the enderman with the enchanted crossbow he’d bought a few days ago. He had it pointed right at the back of his skull and squeezed the trigger.
Up the road, Tyron and Jennifer now cooperated directly and proved a fearsome pair. Jennifer had taken up position on top of a pile of crates. Tyron remained on the ground. His sentient blue sword sharp as ever, he chased them away from Jennifer’s plinth and hounded the endermen into her line of fire. A sizeable scattering of ender-born corpses was piling up at their end, but they kept teleporting in to replenish their numbers.
The enderman with the twin swords was too far away to hit Warnado but wound up for an attack anyways. Warnado braced for the possibility of another teleport attack. The enderman swung but didn’t teleport, much to the surprise of everyone involved.
Warnado noticed that the ground was now covered by an intricate weave of white lines and runes. Before he had time to speculate its origin, a glowing orb came flying in from outside his field of vision. The orb smashed through the torso of the enderman that Warnado had been fighting, leaving a cannonball-sized hole in its wake, and the enderman collapsed dead. More identical orbs followed, striking first an enderman who was poised to ambush Jennifer, and then swarming toward the others, who seemed unable to teleport away from the threat. Tyron got in one last sword swing at one of his opponents before one of the orbs passed through the enderman from the side, making it the last to fall.
Warnado needed time to absorb what just happened. He turned in the direction the orbs came from, he saw a figure floating just a bit off the ground. It didn’t take much to realize that this figure was Shadow. Runes all over her body were glowing and she seemed to be in a state of intense focus.
She yelled: “Run for the trees! This was the last of them for now!”
Warnado snapped out of his daze and joined the others in a mad dash across the field. When their feet entered the shadows of the forest, they kept running.
Chapter54:Taste of Power (Kay)
So, yes, the Book and I came to an agreement. The details were still a little loose, but the general gist of my business pitch was: “So, we both love this whole continued existing thing. We both view the accrual of power as beneficial to that. Suppose you were to give me access to some of that magical power of yours? You’ll find I’m much more receptive than-”
“It is done,” it agreed.
I didn’t blame it. I had held power before, I was more likely to be interested in attaining it than some farmer. It would hardly have to manipulate me, if it even could. Even once I got home and we entered the Vanilla Craft, the entire plan was to build a settlement, establish a town. Maybe even a small nation. Otherwise, we might append ourselves to someone already powerful. That was without even thinking about my connections to Herobrine. At the very least, I was a valuable stepping stone for the book. At the most, I was a potential partner.
And that’s how I started teleporting around. Initially, I felt it try and convince me that I was the one doing the warping, but I didn’t buy it. I had no latent magical abilities and I doubted it would give me any of its actual power. It was only the illusion of control - a will beneath a will.
“You are catching on faster than he did,” it snarked with authority.
“I’m a fast learner,” I responded. “Believe me, you’ll come to hate it.”
And so I just told it where to teleport me instead of believing I could. Sadly, due to the rather rushed and high-stress nature of the arrangement I hadn’t had an opportunity to establish all my defences, and the Book caught on to this pretty fast.
Throughout the fighting, I felt it circling my mind, looking for a point of entry through which to gain control, but I managed to retain enough focus to keep it at arm’s length each time. I could feel it gaining access to small things though. Here, a face without a name or person attached. There, an event out of context. It wasn’t gaining control, but it was gaining knowledge it could use against me. Shred by shred.
Then, I had the bright idea of going back for the crossbow and things became child’s play. The second that endling collapsed beside Fristad and the blood spattered my face, the Book was impressed. It saw potential in my free will. I felt it retreat.
And so I kept up the fight, Shadow turned up with her magical orbs and then we were all running across the fields. Astro was at my side. Tyron was at the head, with Amanda and Warnado close behind. Steve, Jennifer and a panting Fristad formed a loose group off to our left. Shadow was trailing, seeming distracted by something. The shells were still striking the ground around us but they were less precise. I assume we were starting to get outside their effective range. I could see a growing group of endlings gathering on the village’s edge, discussing their next move.
“So,” shouted Astro. “You’re using-”
“Yes I’m using the damned Book,” I snapped. “We’ll talk about this later.”
I struggled to hear him as the wind was blowing against us, but I was pretty sure he sighed.
“We will also need to discuss matters further...” the Book warned.
“Stop trying to be ominous! Of course we will!”
Then, there was a large sound of warping, followed by several consecutive blasting sounds. A shell was flying right at us. Astro stopped, raised a hand and clumsily redirected it. I wasn’t hurt, but the force of the explosion whipped my hair back, showered me with dust and knocked me off balance. Astro reached down to lift me and I saw Shadow waving to us, frantic. I grabbed his sleeve and willed the Book to bring us to her.
As we passed through the rift and arrived beside the tiny sorceress, another volley boomed. Again, one of the cannons was aiming right for us, and Astro only just raised a shield in time. The force of maintaining it physically pushed him back, his heels digging through the grass.
A ways off, just outside the village’s borders, was a line of about five or so cannons, crewed undoubtedly by the forces of the Tower.
I turned to Shadow.
“What do you need? Give me the word and I can get us all over to the forest… I think.”
My mental self gave the Book an inquiring look. It seemed caught between annoyance and smugness as it admitted: “Yes, that should be within our abilities.”
Endlings were already starting to harass the group. One materialised and tripped Steve, who was already off-balance after narrowly dodging an artillery blast. It turned to finish him off, but Fristad bear-hugged it from behind, pinning its arms. The anti-magic from his suppressing vest must have stopped it from teleporting because it started thrashing desperately. Just as it broke free, Jennifer’s arrow broke its skull.
Another shell struck Astro’s shield.
Shadow said: “I need you to keep me protected for a few minutes, if you can do that I’ll destroy the artillery. Normally I’d be faster but I still need to figure out some of the inner workings of this world so I don’t accidentally do something regrettable.”
I raised my crossbow and nodded at Astro. He dug in his heels and lowered the barrier, ready to respond to any assailants.
The first appeared. Another giant, like the one Tyron had struggled to kill so much just a few minutes ago, was placed before me by a stunted endling. It roared, but I felt no fear. I raised my fist, clenched it and the book engulfed the creature’s head in the grey and purple flames of the void. I smiled, and set about my defence.
I don’t know how it was for Astro, but as far as I was concerned the battle that ensued was as fierce as it was glorious. I had never wielded such power before, and never with such karmic retribution. I came and went upon the field of battle, allowing my enemies to swing at me, only to rematerialise behind them and plant a crossbow bolt in their back. At my instruction the Book would summon small portals that reopened halfway across the battlefield and I would fire through them, giving the endlings no time to teleport before they were injured. And if one of those damned armoured endlings appeared, with their obstinate refusal to be injured, I would borrow the brilliant fires of the void to melt away their armour, and then peel away their scales with lightning until they lay dead. Peculiarly, the Book advised me not to use voidfire to try and kill them - apparently it would do them no harm.
Soon, the ground about Shadow was sodden with the blood of Ishinge’s people, or whoever it was from whom they claimed descent in their worlds. Astro was helping too, naturally. He redirected shells left and right, and he could be counted on for his usual contribution of crushed ribs and snapped necks, but I was unstoppable. They couldn’t land a scratch on me! I could kill battalions with this sort of power! I could challenge Divines! No one would harm us again!
“How do you feel about a permanent arrangement?” I had to stop myself laughing as I scattered a column of human mercenaries with a fireball.
“How do you feel about becoming a king?”
I felt the embers of delectable ambition enkindle within me. I distrusted them, but they warmed my little heart as I fired a bolt through a rift and it landed in the knee of an endling sneaking up on Astro. Astro, hearing his would-be assassin’s screech, turned and decapitated it with ease. He took a moment to smile respectfully and nod at me before he turned his attention
“If it keeps them safe,” I fed it a stream of images of my friends. Aaron, Secret, Cossack, Small, Astro as I knew him, Brit, little Mini, even Bokane and Gracey… “I would conquer nations.”
And so it continued, until at last, with a great cry of effort, Shadow shouted her incantation and brought her hands down. The cannons all buckled under the weight of some invisible force, before burrowing into the earth, never to be repaired or repurposed.
I laughed openly. I saw a tall, proud-looking endling in heavy armour patrolling. He was greatly agitated with the loss of the cannons, barking orders at his human underlings. Out of meanness, I fired a crossbow bolt through a portal. It struck him on the back on the helmet and it looked around, presumably cursing whatever dared strike him. Then, as I was reloading, it materialised and threw a spear at me. I teleported behind him and struck him down with a burst of lightning. However, as I looked up from the smoking corpse, my jaw dropped. The diminutive figure of Shadow was on the ground, a spear through her abdomen.
With an almost eerie calm she pulled on the spear and rammed it into the ground next to her. “First I had to play the shy girl to distract the Ender, then I’m forced to use verbal components in my spell, now my robes get perforated. Not really my day.”
“S-sorry,” I yammered. For a few seconds I had been really wondering what I was going to tell Fire, particularly after that standoff earlier in the day. Then it hit me: “Did you say the Ender?”
My tone was grave and angry. An opportunity had presented itself. I would get Destiny her justice.
“Her emotional insecurity is none of our responsibility.” The Book protested.
I pushed aside sympathy and reached into grim pragmatism.
“She is an obstacle. She will stop our little partnership. Or burn you. Possibly both,” I warned. “If we bring her the Ender, who killed her beloved, she may yet come around to your continued presence.”
The Book projected approval. “I like the way you think.”
“What did I tell you about me learning quickly?”
Obscuring my thoughts from the Book, I mused about my people skills being so great they could bend the archest of manipulators.
I grabbed Astro and Shadow by the shoulder and teleported them over to the treeline. The others were faring well, with only a handful of endlings still in pursuit, mostly already wounded in some way and carrying on out of pride or defeatism. Warnado and Amanda were now at the head of the pack, Tyron having slowed down to finish off an endling he’d wounded. Steve, Jennifer and Fristad weren’t far behind. We truly had started to thin the ranks, it seemed. They were almost in the clear. I felt reassured. And without their artillery overhead they no longer seemed as bold.
“I have a task to attend to in the village,” I said to Shadow. “I take it you’re in fit enough condition to carry on?”
“I’ll be fine. I won’t waste my time trying to dissuade you but still, try not to get yourself killed.”
“Good,” I nodded. I suddenly felt quite nervous. Excited but nervous. Warnado seemed to be smiling as he approached the treeline, laughing and panting in relief. He was only a minute’s walk away, about to cross the last dividing fence.
To Astro I said, “If they come back, keep Warnado safe.”
And with that, I stepped into the rift, setting off to take my prize.
Chapter55:Reckoning (Kay)
She was in a square, barking orders in the foul tongue of the End. Some woman with metal arms on her back stood beside her, pouring over a book of notes and looking quite distressed. She looked like a scientist. I was crouched atop a roof, assessing their strength.
There was a blacksmith’s shop in the corner, a table stacked with chains out front. Seeing a 50% discount sign in the midst of all this was troubling.
“I can make out eight endlings and the researcher. No sorcerer-looking types. All muscular and stabby-looking. Can you… I don’t know - sense any more in the area? In the buildings or something?”
“No. I cannot do that.”
“Then, we’re about to find out.”
I picked out a window that looked opportune and warped inside. There was no one inside. I peered out the window, crouched back down. I asked the book to open a rift around the point I needed and fired through. I peered back over the windowsill and saw an endling choking on its own blood, the bolt slotted right through the base of his neck. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down. Now I only had to do that… six more times before I could face the Ender one on one. Or more, depending on accuracy.
I heard them already maneuvering into defensive positions. All it would take was for the Ender to order them to search the buildings and things would get a lot more difficult.
“I wish we had’ve thought this out more. Is there a way I could maybe see where I’m shooting? This works when they already know where I am but not so much in a stealth context.”
“There is a method… however it may be painful.”
“Can I get an explanation please? That’s a little too vague.”
“It is possible for us to submerge ourselves in the void, longer than we have done while teleporting. We can position ourselves just at the threshold of where the void meets the location of our victim, your body submerged enough to not be easily seen, but your eyes close enough to the air to aim a clear shot. However, your body could burn from spending that much time in the void, even with my protection. Probably not enough to kill you. But even a slight burn from voidfire can be incredibly painful, and you have seen first-hand how destructive the void can be.”
I hardly even hesitated: “Let’s do it.”
And so I stood up, held my breath and plunged into the void. It was not like being in the void I had fallen into in Zine Craft. That had been an absence. This was an in-between space, packed with fire and pain. And the burning was worse even than the touch of an Endling. The grip of Hamish’s talons about my neck seemed trivial compared to the perpetual searing. But I endured, and quick as I could I dropped in and out of realities, firing crossbow bolts and somehow always finding my mark. Soon, there remained only the Ender and her scientist.
I emerged on the rooftop I had been on previously and spent some time inhaling unburnt air. Purple particles rose from my armour, but aside from that sickening resemblance to the creature of the End, we were unharmed. I took a moment to wonder if there was any connection between those particles and the endlings’ immunity to voidfire.
Then, I arose, set my crossbow aside and drew Apotyre. I looked down and willed the book to zap the scientist with a low dose of lightning. Enough to paralyse temporarily and disable her arms, like a golem struck by lightning. The Book wasn’t encouraged by my rhetoric about her not looking like much of a combatant, but didn’t defy me. The Ender nudged her companion with a heavy, armoured boot and looked up.
“Hello General,” she greeted without emotion.
“Hello Ender, Captain of the Guard,” I responded dryly and officiously.
There was a pause.
“I suppose this is where you would explain to me your purpose. That you’re going to kill me for some crime I’ve committed.”
“Normally it might well be,” I conceded with a shrug. “But that’s not what’s happening today.”
I stepped off the roof and into a rift, materialising just above her and swinging down. Apotyre caught her shoulder-guard and knocked her off-balance but left her otherwise unharmed. Intent on milking the element of surprise for all I could, I grabbed her arm, warped inside one of the apartments, and hurled her into a desk.
She went crashing through the old wood and onto the ground, but her agile form was rising again. I gestured forward and lightning burst from between my fingers, but the blast was deflected by her sword. That was when things started to turn against me.
She was upon me in seconds, and we began teleporting around the room, frantically swinging and parrying. I gave it my all but she was obviously more experienced, carrying the momentum of blows through teleports and batting me around the room. I was lucky for my obsidian breastplate otherwise I would have been split in half several times over. I knew I needed a change of tack.
She broke my guard and sent me wheeling back, but I regained my footing and charged at her. She tensed, ready and able to withstand the weight of my body, but then I teleported and slammed into her from the side. We went crashing out the window back into the square. After trading a blow or two in midair we separated and warped to the ground.
However, where the Ender landed in the middle of the square to try and dominate the space, I landed right beside the blacksmith’s and its table full of chains. There was one with a hook on its end, glowing with enchantments, that looked perfect for my needs.
She teleported in and slashed upwards at my face. However, I dodged and the second her arm lowered again I lashed out with the chain. The enchantment worked, wrapping around my opponent and binding her arms, leaving me with a sizable leash.
I easily batted the sword from her grip but it wasn’t the end of the fight. She ran in and kicked me square in the chest with her powerful legs, then moved to stomp on my face with the spiked metal cleats. I rolled and slammed my sword into her knee. She buckled. I rose and tried to hit her in the face with the pommel of my sword. She ducked under, rose and headbutted me before teleporting. I was brought with her and landed awkwardly, rolling awkwardly down the slope of a rooftop and dislodging tiles as I went.
As I slid over the edge I teleported us back to the ground. I slammed chest-first into the ground and felt the wind pressed out of me as gravity’s promise was satisfied. However, before I even had a moment’s recovery we teleported again.
This time we were in a room made almost purely of obsidian. Endstone-framed display bookcases were everywhere, and a staircase let up to a spire filled with windows looking out on many disparate scenes. I didn’t wait for her to shoulder-charge me to teleport us back.
As she collided with me in a horrible clang of metal we arrived just outside the inn’s stables. It wasn’t the ideal spot, but there was next to no one there now. Her men had emptied it out, and a shell had ruptured the upper floors. I skittered across the ground and she charged in, ready for another assault. I tensed my grip and a pulse of electricity shot along the chain. The Ender froze and began to twitch, then fell limply down before me. I scrambled over, not losing a grip on the chain for a second, and listened for breathing. She was still alive. We had successfully pacified the Ender.
I stood up and laughed incautiously.
“Well, partner, we did it,” I thought.
“I will admit, I had my doubts.”
“Oh, me too. She kicks like a horse on potions,” I grumbled to myself.
Only one thing was left to do, the same thing we did to all Endling prisoners in the Onslaught. A mutilation, to make them weak. To stop them teleporting. I raised my sword and swung it down.
It never connected. A bronze-coloured arm blocked it.
I looked up, and I locked gazes with the glowing red eyes of the warlord I had tried to appease just a few days prior. The same being that had stolen an Eye of Ender from the Silhouette and gotten me into this mess. The being which had captured Astro and Destiny and David and Tyron and so many others. Who had placed worlds beneath his boot: The Entity.
“What was that you said about becoming a king?” thought I. I squinted as the twilight of the early evening made my enemy hard to look at. “Tonight we take a crown.”
“This may not be the optimal time for that.”
I teleported behind the Entity and brought Apotyre down as hard as I could. The blow bounced off its shoulder, not even leaving a scratch and I retreated. It turned to face me. In its other hand was an immense obsidian zweihander, nearly as tall as me. It slowly began to advance and I began to slowly back away. The light glinting off it’s helm was sharp as a sword, obscuring my vision.
“You are a-nuisance, let go... of the chain,” it droned. “I have-other-ma...tters to attend to.”
I realised I was still holding the chain with which I had restrained one of his top captains, and then grew reassured. I smirked and rattled the chain in defiance .
With improbable speed the zweihander swept forth and cleaved the chain in two. I barely had time to notice before it was swinging again, the book only just teleporting me to a safe distance in time.
I willed the book to teleport me inside of its guard and attempted to plunge the point of my sword between the plates where its stomach met the chest, but to no avail. It glanced off again and it kneed me in the gut. I felt my breastplate physically rattle as I doubled over. That was diamond plated with obsidian. Nothing should rattle it!
I didn’t even have time to call upon the book to teleport me away and rolled out of the way of the zweihander.
“I need voidfire, now!” I raised a hand, and a purple fireball began to form. I stood up, back straight and shoulders back, ready to hurl the flame at its face and melt it away. It turned to face me and I jerked my arm forward.
A white-gloved hand caught my wrist and the ball of flame flew wide, incinerating the wall of a nearby house in seconds. Another manifestation of the Entity, clad in the same bronze armour, had intervened. I didn’t have time to register this though, as I was hurled into the path of the oncoming zweihander.
I slammed into the edge of the blade, and it cracked the obsidian. It cracked the mods-damned obsidian! A breastplate created by Herobrine with the sole purpose of being indestructible, and this thing had cracked it in the space of mere minutes... The blade ate right through until it lodged mere inches from my beating heart. I stared into those red eyes in terror, for those were the eyes of death. I turned my head away and I saw two other manifestations with identical swords approaching. The first manifestation shunted me onto the ground and no sooner had I landed on my buckling legs than another zweihander caught me and sent me flying off my feet at an impossible speed. Already, the three Entities were chasing me, ready to dismember me endlessly.
The pain and fear were blinding, and I had the impression something was screaming at me, but I couldn’t think. My mind was empty. I wanted to sleep. But then, just before I reached the ground and the Entity came to finish me off, I was enveloped by purple flames.
I skimmed the dirt and slammed into a tree. And that’s when I acquiesced to the darkness.
Chapter56:Clearing Out (Fire)
When Fire opened his eyes he wasn’t lying on his back anymore, he was sitting. He sat on the familiar white park bench in the infinite black room. He was alone.
After sitting and waiting for a few minutes Fire was convinced that the Lady wouldn’t appear. This happened sometimes. The frequency of this circumstance had gone up steadily over the years, this was not because the Lady visited less often but because Fire’s dreams often wandered to their place of meeting. It was much better than some of the possible alternatives, that was certain.
Fire always took this time to think and reflect, having nothing else to do and nobody to talk to. Breaking out of the room frequently resulted in nightmares, something Fire understandably wanted to avoid.
The topic Fire decided to think about first was his plan for the shelter. The next morning he’d mount a first expedition into the cave system with the rest of the group. Lucy would have to stay outside, she wouldn’t be of much use, untrained as she was. Maybe once Rose taught her a few things she’d be able to come along.
They’d have to clear the caves out and light them up, ideally map them at the same time. If they ran into a spawner they’d have to destroy it if it was too close to the core region of the cave system. If it was a bit further out it could be exploited for various resources, most grinder designs should translate adequately.
Declaring the previous topic done, Fire thought back on a short conversation he had had with Shadow, she had told him that Lucy looked remarkably like a certain former classmate of his. Irene to be specific, the girl Fire, or rather Peter back then, had confessed his love to after their celebratory class trip. The girl that had died along with all of his other friends in the bus crash that had followed not more than a few minutes after. The girl that had for a long time stood in the center of Fire’s trauma. The trauma that had gradually become Claw. The trauma that sent him on his way to eventually meet the scientists that were able to help Shadow escape the prison of her own mind.
Fire sighed. No, it was only a very intriguing coincidence. He hadn’t even looked when he had sent the flaming ring into the crowd that had ended up above Lucy. It was as he had told Destiny, he had worked through his trauma, his success in life and Shadow’s cure had contributed a large amount to this, therapists and the scientists’ software had done the rest. Now the only thing that remained of that past was the monster he had made for himself, Claw. And a monster he was. Fire would have to find a way to rid himself of Claw someday. That day would be the day after he was done with this whole interdimensional mess, one way or another.
Fire wondered if the next morning had arrived yet, the passage of time in dreams was rather unpredictable. He decided to use the remaining time in the dream for more planning.
###
Fire was the first of the group to wake up. As he slowly got out of his bed, Voidblade woke up as well, Fire quietly greeted him. After a quick look outside the barricade Fire confirmed that it was indeed morning. It was time to wake the others up.
Fire walked over to Urist’s bed first. Just when he went to wake the dwarf, Urist suddenly sat straight up in his bed and started shouting at the top of his lungs and with a stronger accent than usual.
“PULL THA LEV’R!!! PULL THA GODS DAMNED LEV’R!!!”
After realizing where he was he looked down in embarrassment. “Sorry. Ghosts o’ me past.”
It sufficed to say that everyone was now properly awake.
After having breakfast in the form of magically preserved food that Fire had brought with him, the group was ready to mount their first foray.
Fire said: “Let’s talk strategy. The caves probably aren’t very wide so we can’t all go at the same time. I suggest that Voidblade and I form the vanguard with Urist, Destiny and Rose following behind. Most hallway battles probably won’t concern you but feel free to offer ranged support. In larger rooms or bigger sections of cave we can spread out.”
Destiny asked: “What about lighting up the caves?”
Fire nodded. “I was about to cover that. Urist, can you see in the dark?”
“Aye.” The dwarf said.
Fire continued: “Alright then, Rose and Destiny will be the ones carrying the torches since you need them to see anyways. I have a few magical flares for fighting in larger rooms.”
Rose said: “I can also conjure up more torches as we go, can’t be too different from knives.”
Lucy asked: “I’ll stay here, right?”
Fire replied: “Yes. I’ll leave most of my baggage outside so if you want you can start sorting through the contents so we can access the supplies more easily later.”
Lucy enthusiastically nodded.
Everything was decided. After a few more minutes of preparation they were ready to go. As Fire entered the cave, the colors in his vision got more muted but didn’t disappear entirely. His night vision was not entirely physical; there was a small part of magic in it too, enabling him to see without any ambient light.
The first few sections of the cave were lit up without incident. It seemed that no monsters were present. This was a good sign; a highly active area would be much harder to secure and colonize.
After a bit more walking the cave suddenly expanded to a huge cavern, so huge that they wouldn’t be able to cleanly sweep it if they stayed in formation. There were several groups of monsters in the cavern, mostly zombies and skeletons with a few spiders and creepers in between.
“Spread out. Take on whatever you can and call for help if you need it.”
Fire reached to his side where a bag was affixed to his armor. Inside was a magical flare, little more than a one-use light spell bound to a fragile crystal with a small detonator attached. He threw the flare up to the ceiling and a few seconds later the cavern was bathed in a bright, red light. It would stay up for long enough for them to clear the cavern out.
Fire was on the left side of the cavern and there was a group of zombies straight ahead of him. He charged them with his halberd at his side and opened with a wide arcing swing. The diamond blade cleanly separated multiple heads from their respective bodies, the black flames from the blade quickly consumed the newly re-dead corpses. With a quick series of slashes and thrusts Fire defeated the remaining zombies.
As Fire scanned the cavern for his next target, he also took a quick look at the others. Urist and Voidblade had teamed up on a group of skeletons. Urist’s plate armor made him impervious to the arrows and he was surprisingly quick on his feet for someone of his stature. First he crushed the skeletons’ legs, then once they had fallen, their heads. Voidblade used his teleportation to avoid the arrows. While his spear was mostly ineffective against the skeletons he had enough strength to rip them limb from limb and have Urist crush up the pieces.
Fire’s next opponents were two creepers. He decided to be a bit safer with them since he hadn’t encountered this world’s version yet. Instead of going for instantly lethal attacks he merely punctured their lower bodies from the biggest distance possible and let the black flames do the rest. The creepers did not explode when they died; this was good to keep in mind, for the next ones he could be more direct.
To his right Rose was fighting a mixed group of enemies. Fire hadn’t seen many fighting styles like Rose’s. She kept a good distance between her and her enemies and bombarded them with sharp knives that she seemed to manifest from thin air. If enemies got too close she’d manifest different blades and brutally eviscerate them. To call it a dance would be wrong, this style lacked the beauty of dancing but more than made up for it with ruthless brutality.
Destiny was hanging back and took out far away enemies with her bow, each and every arrow hit its mark. Fire hadn’t seen Destiny fight before but from what he had heard she was also capable of magic, specifically control over heat and cold. Currently she seemed to prefer using her bow though.
Less than a minute later they had completely cleared out the cavern. Afterwards they spent a bit more time lighting it up, once they were done they were faced with a different problem.
Rose asked: “There are multiple exits, where do we go first?”
Fire said: “We either take the leftmost or the rightmost entrance first and continue that pattern until we have the entire system lit up. If we find that a branch goes too far we barricade it off and return.”
They decided on going left first. At the entrance of the tunnel Fire scratched an arrow into the rock wall with his claws, facing towards the exit. When it came to unknown cave systems it was better to be safe than sorry.
###
Hours of exploring and fighting later they were starting to get tired. They had fully lit up all caves connected to the first cavern and found a second and third cavern, not far from the first one. This was very promising since those open areas would lend themselves very well to building larger structures. The second cavern specifically had two branches coming off that they had not fully explored due to their length, one going downwards and the other going upwards. The third cavern didn’t have any other exits aside from the one connecting it to the rest of the cave system.
“That was good,” said Destiny as they approached the barricade that would lead to the outside entrance.
Rose agreed: “Haven’t had a fight like that in years. Last time was when I had to clear out the headquarters of a… rival of my employer.”
Voidblade said: “I was afraid that I had neglected my spear for too long but it seems it’s still sharp as ever.”
Urist remarked: “That’s the thing with blades, gotta keep ‘em sharp. Ye don’t have that kinda problem with hammers.”
Fire opened the door in the barricade and went into their makeshift barracks first. He carefully leaned his halberd against the wall and took off his helmet, then proceeded towards the second door.
On the outside an unexpected sight came to his eyes. On the plateau where previously nothing but boulders had stood was now an arrangement of wooden dugouts. Each filled to the brim with materials. One housed wood logs, another various kinds of metal bars, a third had tool racks and armor stands.
From behind the log pile an exhausted but very content Lucy emerged, a smile spreading across her entire face. She yelled: “You aren’t the only one here who can build quickly!”
Lucy came to a halt in front of Fire, she said: “Look. I took the stuff from the bags and put it out here, that way everyone can access it.” After a short pause she asked: “How did the exploration go?”
Fire said: “It went excellently. The others are inside, probably putting away their gear. If all goes well we’ll have the large part of this cave system cleared, lit and mapped within a few days. Once that’s done we can get started on the interior, get some barracks and indoor farms going.” Fire smiled. “And since we just got another builder we are well ahead of schedule. We might be able to send word to the hill in the next few days.”
Lucy said: “That’s great. However, now I think it would be best if we made something to eat. I bet you are hungry too.”
The door behind Fire opened and Rose emerged. She said: “I only heard the tail-end of that but food definitely sounds good right about now.”
Lucy pointed to a fully enclosed building. “That’s where I put the food by the way.”
Fire nodded. “Perfect, in about half an hour I’ll have something for everyone.”
He walked over to the building, inside he found that Lucy had not only built storage racks for the food but also a functional cooking area. It truly was rare that things went this much better than planned.
Chapter57:’Humanity’ (Astro)
The prolonged fight took a toll on us all. Bloody gashes, bruises, and shattered armor were sustained nearly universally.
In the retreat across the fields, Tyron had spent more time in the center of the chaos than anyone, battering away attacks so they would not reach our most vulnerable. And of course there was that thing with the giant. As a result, he sustained an especially large number of bloody wounds which stained brown his normally emerald-tinted fur. In spite of this, he seemed to have a good amount of vigor left in him.
I myself was in pretty bad shape. One of the cuts on my lower left leg was bleeding especially badly, and aside from that I had some other nasty cuts, and some burns from fighting the ender mages. My experience in past battles, for better or worse, had allowed me to anticipate some heavy blows, but my vitality and reflexes were not what they used to be, and there were some attacks I could not evade. If it weren’t for Shadow’s magic storage rings, I would have been forced to use my magic more conservatively, and I would have turned out worse.
But even my hypothetically desperate scenario could not compare to the mess Kay had landed himself in.
Oh, Kay, you poor fool. In the face of great power having been granted to you, you once again succumb to hubris.
Kay was in a sorry state when we found his limp body at the base of a tree. His obsidian chestplate had cracked into several pieces, with only the upper half around his shoulders still attached. A massive wound dominated his chest, the blood coming out of it deep crimson. Shadow stood over Kay, several runes on her body lit up, her hands hovering above his bleeding chest.
Shadow said, “This won’t heal the wound completely but it will stop the bleeding. I need to save some energy to heal the others.”
After Shadow finished her work magically suturing Kay, Steve and Tyron lifted Kay’s body and we continued to escape deeper into the forest. During our journey, Shadow attended to wounds from the other combatants. I did the same, first to myself, letting just enough healing energy into my lower left leg to stop the bleeding and patch it up a bit, then proceeding to partially heal some of Warnado’s more nasty wounds. We kept moving as quickly as our tired bodies could, until the foreboding twilight came, and Steve and Jennifer set about creating their usual underground hovel. This time, they replaced the interior’s stone ground with a wooden floor, and installed redstone lamps into the walls. Steve even hung up a map of the part of the Nexus we were in. I could recognize the landmarks thanks to my time spent in involuntary flight with Shadow. Overall, the additions were thoughtful improvements over previous temporary living spaces, no doubt increasing morale for all.
By the time everyone was inside and the space sealed up, I was drained out and didn’t exactly feel like taking the night shift. But my head was filled with vexing questions. For Kay most of all. What in Jeb’s name was he thinking risking his life like that? What sort of power had Kay uncovered from Fristad’s former possessor, and what sort of safeguards would he utilize to keep those powers in check? And even if Kay could control the book, could he still control himself?
But, sadly, as Kay was knocked out cold and would likely need to rest for the next few days, those questions would have to be postponed.
There was also the other issue... the little mind worm that Shadow had implanted in my head by accident, when she exposed me to that totally incomprehensible nothingness. It luckily hadn’t manifested severely during the battle - a painful headache at most, although that could easily be explained away by the chaos in progress. But I was still getting the occasional headache-inducing visions and disturbing nightmares, and they did not seem to be decreasing in frequency. Then again, they did not seem to be increasing in frequency either. Although I didn’t consider myself to be a glass-half-full kind of thinker, and besides, if a change of perspective was enough to change my degree of worry, then I should be concerned that my underlying observation was itself flawed.
Notwithstanding the epistemological details, my symptoms were not trivial, and as Shadow was the closest thing to an expert on the subject, I felt the best course of action was to ask for her opinion on my condition.
I walked up to Shadow. From a front-facing view, an incredibly serious-looking hole in Shadow’s abdomen was apparent, although there was no bleeding as far as I could tell, and if there was then it was hard to see against her black clothes and flesh. In either case, due to Shadow’s unusual biology and magic, I suspected she had it under control.
“Shadow, I want to talk to you about the headaches and visions I’ve been having recently. They seem to have not gotten better since that time you opened the world hole.”
She replied: “That’s good, that you’re coming to talk I mean. I wanted to talk to you about it as well, but there never was a good opportunity. I might have mentioned it but the effects you are experiencing are your brain trying to process sensations and memories that it wasn’t ever meant to experience. Normal humans just aren’t built for perceiving more than three dimensions at a time.”
“Yes, I figured something similar. Is there a treatment for this condition?”
“To be perfectly honest, none that I know of. All other people who have been exposed to this are either dead or Fire and he’s… we’re not exactly normal humans as you might be able to tell. There is the possibility of a second exposure changing something but I’m not sure if I want to risk that.”
I frowned. “No, a second exposure certainly doesn’t seem like it would be worth the risk. But... perhaps there’s some way to at least characterize my mental aberrations. Figure out the severity in different aspects of my mind, and use that as a map to recapture the more invaded parts, if that makes any sense. Obviously this would be mainly done through my own personal introspection; I just need the right clues.”
Shadow thought for a few seconds. “Actually, there is one way of eliminating the issue, which would be to remove the memory of you seeing between worlds. It’s a rather drastic way since it would most likely take newly associated memories with it. So again, I’d avoid it. However something related to it could be useful, the more you ‘understand’ the aberrations you see, the lesser the symptoms become. So if it happens to draw from very familiar memories you could focus on that part and keep the known and understood parts in the forefront.”
I considered for a moment and then responded, “So, familiarity of the phenomenon mitigates its severity? That sounds promising; I think I can work with that. If it’s agreeable for you, perhaps we can meet on a regular basis and I can discuss what I’ve uncovered. Time-permitting, of course, given all the crazy events that we’ve been through recently.”
“We can do that. It’ll also give me some more insight into what exactly I’m doing to people. But… out of curiosity, could you describe what you experienced back then? If it doesn’t cause you discomfort that is.”
“Yes, of course…”
I think back upon the visions and dreams I experienced since the world hole. Unlike ordinary nightmares, these experiences did not have as strong emotions associated with them, so I didn’t expect to feel anything. Yet to my surprise, upon recalling the memories, I felt my mind start to sink under their weight, and the precursor to a headache began to develop. I decided to not mention this to Shadow.
“My first nightmare occurred around the same time Amanda had her second nightmare. I had retired from adventuring and was wandering in some forest in the Nexus with a map. Something to do with a distant relative and self-replicating golems going extinct. I don’t think those particular details were relevant. Anyways, I was wandering in a forest with a map when a stranger wearing a cloak started following me. They sent out this massive shockwave that drew my body toward them, then opened up this huge hole of nothingness that sucked my body and consciousness inside. Then I woke up to the sound of Amanda’s scream and had a terrible headache.
“Shortly after I woke up from that, I started getting the headaches and visions. I’d see an image of the world hole flash in my mind, or occasionally something indescribable, and then I would get a headache. The stronger the image, the stronger the headache, generally, although some headaches were not accompanied with visions.
“Then, last night, I had a second nightmare. I was back home in my old world. A few of my friends were there - some old ones, some new. Kay and Warnado were there. We were planning on buying something. The dream wasn’t very transparent about what that thing was. We couldn’t come to agreement on some important criterion. When I tried to question why it mattered, Warnado told me I wasn’t allowed to do that. Something about it being against the rules of reality. When I told him that didn’t make sense, we got into a heated argument. Then a hole of nothingness appeared beneath us and swallowed us all.
“After that nightmare happened, the visions and headaches continued this morning, although they spared me during our escape. Which brings us to now…”
At this point, the headache induced by my recollection became too painful to hide. I winced and grasped my forehead. The vision of the impossible nothingness raged in my consciousness, refusing to coexist with my existing emotional safeguards and logical coping mechanisms. The pain of the loss of my friends opened up like a half-healed wound which had broken and started bleeding again. And I found myself fantasizing without restraint all the ways the endermen we were just fighting could have killed me, had I made one misplaced strike… one under-apportioned defense spell…
“Astro.” Shadow’s voice abruptly re-anchored me in the here and now. “Are you okay?”
The headache was still painful, but my mind was starting to come back around. I told Shadow, “Better than a few seconds ago. Recalling my nightmares again took a greater toll on me than I realized. But I think it’s important to analyze them further, once I better understand my limits.”
Shadow nodded thoughtfully. “In the end you’re the one who decides the approach.”
“Any insights from what I’ve told you so far?”
“As for your condition, not much, only that for now it isn’t an immediate threat. What it did do was get me thinking. About what I am.”
“Oh?”
Shadow said: “I wasn’t always like this, you know? I used to be quite human, although I don’t remember much about that time. From what Fire told me, from birth on I had some kind of… aversion or fear of anyone but him, I was just reclusive at the start but at some point got worse, cripplingly so. He said that I’d run, try to hide when faced with anyone else. Over the years he had searched for someone who would be able to help me, many failed until he finally found the ones who succeeded. They had created a technology unlike anything our world had known, more akin to magic. Using that they created the world we came to Nexus from, in there I was free. Fire also developed a… procedure, or ritual perhaps, that also freed me in the other world. In the process it made me into what I am now.” Shadow paused. “I have a question for you Astro: In your opinion, what is ‘humanity’?”
I paused for a moment. Shadow apparently had a dark past of her own, with some strands of her issues likely unresolved, so I chose my words carefully. “I’ve come around to thinking one’s biology is not what gives someone humanity. Too many humans have committed terrible acts of suffering and violence. But at the same time… to not admit the existence of evil in others is to deny the full spectrum of human nature. In all of us is the capacity for acts both wonderful and terrible. As well as ingenuity and stupidity. I would hesitate to draw a line in the sand as there are always exceptions.”
“Fire said something similar, he said that humanity is simply potential. However there is still something I’m worried about. My mind definitely works differently from yours, or that of anyone else I know. I have this fear that someday I might just lose my connection to conventional thought and do something terrible, a difference in perception like when I took you flying except that the result would be more far-reaching and permanent. What’s worse is that this connection isn’t just a metaphorical concept but a very tangible thing. To make it short, I think that my brother’s survival is directly tied to my ability to think more humanlike. We always shared some kind of bond, it’s probably why I wasn’t afraid of him.”
“Loss of the ones you love and care for is a very powerful fear,” I reassured her, “and a very human one.”
“I am aware, and I am glad. What concerns me is not what is but what could be. I don’t know what losing Fire would do to me, not just emotionally but… I can’t rule out the possibility that him being alive is what stops me from being simply a sentient cosmic force, like the Entity.”
I paused. I had my share of conversations with Kay about his own worries, but Shadow’s concerns about her humanity were starting to seem like a very different type of pathology and I wouldn’t say I knew better if her concerns were real or just the product of anxiety, especially given we haven’t known each other very long.
Shadow sighed. “It probably makes no sense to obsess about it but I can’t shake it either. However, I’m glad I could talk about it with someone.”
“You’re probably right. Some issues are challenging to figure out but it helps to talk about them. Also, given I was just on the verge of a mental breakdown a moment ago, I want to make it clear that I’m not holding you to blame for it. Overall you’ve been an incredibly helpful part of our group. You really saved our skins back there with the orbs and the artillery and all.” I casually laughed, trying to dispel the tension as I reflected upon the chaos. In hindsight, there was a dark humor to Shadow’s dramatic entrance which concluded the fight; the balls of light which pierced the endermen were of the same type used during our dodgeball session, albeit with much more energy and at much higher speed.
Shadow began to smile. “I appreciate it. We’re all in this together and no matter how you look at it, the more smoothly we can work together the better for everyone.”
I smiled, too. Now that we were finally out of that village and no longer terrorized by those enderman shock troopers, things were starting to turn around for us, and we were all starting to recover. I just hoped Kay would pull through quickly too so I could talk to him about that damned book.
“I wonder how Fire is doing with his expedition.”
Chapter58:The Only Path (Warnado)
Warnado sat up until Amanda had drifted off. And then he sat up until everyone else had fallen asleep. And then he just sat up on his bed. How could he? He didn’t get the weariness that had overcome the others. It didn’t seem possible. His heart was still pumping endlessly, and his eyes wouldn’t stop leaping out of his skull every time he thought he saw an unfamiliar shape or heard an unfamiliar sound. Usually it was just Tyron rolling over or groaning, but that didn’t reassure him.
There were a lot of things on his mind. Amanda was in the next bed over and he spared a long, yearning look. It petered out over time and he ended up looking at his robed knees.
The attack had been pretty horrific, and out in the fields he really didn’t know if he or Amanda were going to make it out. When that enderman had knocked her down he had wanted nothing more than to save her, and all he’d managed was that pathetic, jam-coated throwing star. It had worked, kind of. But only barely. He needed to get his magic under control.
He looked away from his knees and saw the demon gauntlet on the other hand, then looked away quickly. He had always pondered on the full extent of that thing’s power, but had limited his use of it. He had found it on the corpse of his father after he succumbed. Tempted by the power of the demons, he had become reliant on it, and eventually it had destroyed him, plunging his human and demon halves into war with themselves. Now, Warnado was only technically a quarter demon. Could he get away with it? Would indulging the demons be faster than mastering his magic? If Amanda would be safe, could he bear the cost even at the cost of his own life?
He was a child of the prophecy. Could he ever fully hold off from pursuing this power? He had to one day kill the Wither or the Queen Creeper or the Basilisk or whatever else was in the prophecy that he couldn’t fully remember at that moment in time. Could he morally justify limiting himself like this?
He warped in a taco and chewed nervously. He realised he really had to work on his tendency toward comfort-eating, otherwise he’d really start packing on the pounds pretty soon.
At that moment, his thoughts were ruptured by a coarse, wheezing cough from the other side of the room, followed by a groan. Warnado stood up and walked over to Kay’s bed. This was another thing that was worrying him.
On the one hand, he was terrified for Kay. Kay had teleported off to fight the Ender and gotten his ass summarily kicked. Apparently she’d somehow shattered his breastplate and most of the ribs underneath which was by no means a good thing. He’d also been asleep ever since. Honestly, Warnado had been starting to wonder if his friend would ever get up. At least him groaning was a more definite sign of survival than faint breathing accompanied by utter limpness.
On the other hand, he was terrified of Kay. He’d formed a pact with the Book, the being that had caused Amanda so much pain. That had turned Fristad into an enderman and then the Dreamweaver! And then Kay had started teleporting around, shooting lightning and incinerating things with a weird, grey fire that dimmed into purple in the open air. He had occasionally even barked an instruction to the Book aloud. He wasn’t just begrudgingly cooperating with this thing like Fristad, he was actively inviting it in and trying to harness its power! And what he had shown was that this creature had power to harness for those willing to do so. If Kay lost control, they were all in trouble.
He found himself standing over Kay, who was trying to stifle his groans. His green eyes were squinted, but the spark of consciousness was in them.
“Water…” He croaked.
Warnado summoned a plastic bottle into his hands and screwed the cap off. He lifted it uneasily to Kay’s lips. The wounded man moved to grab it, but then fell back in pain. With some coaxing, Warnado was able to dribble it into his mouth until Kay fell into another coughing fit and started choking.
When that had passed, Warnado knelt beside him and started trying to get his attention. It was clear that he was already exhausted by being awake, so he didn’t have long.
“Kay, what were you thinking?” Warnado hissed. “The Book is dangerous!”
“It…” Kay heaved and coughed. “Was useful. That was an excellent field test.”
“A test of what? How easily you can get your ass kicked by the Ender?”
He laughed terribly. Warnado could hear the squeak of his struggling lungs between each cackle. His eyes were clenched shut.
“I beat the Ender. One on one. She couldn’t do this if she… if she wanted.”
Warnado paused. He looked at the rise and fall of Kay’s chest. He felt the floor of his stomach practically fall out. He had been fine with assuming the Ender was responsible. That was a threat they understood. But this opened up a whole new level of danger that was even stronger.
“Th-then what did this?”
Kay’s eyes lumbered toward him. “The Entity did this. It did this with ease.”
Warnado thought back to that bronze-clad figure that apparently ruled the Tower. It had spoken so strangely and so sparingly he’d almost assumed it wasn’t real. That it was some sort of Ronald McDonald-esque mascot. But it was very real, and it had overpowered both Kay and the Book.
After conveying this last message Kay attempted to rise and then collapsed back, crying out in agony. It was like the memory of the thing that had beaten him had renewed the pain of the beating.
At that moment Shadow came in. The short, white-haired girl came over and willed a small light into being above Kay’s bed. He shrank from it, but she leaned in. Warnado could see the lines of pain on his face, and the cold sweat beading on his brow. He felt sick and looked away. Wodahs the living shadow was shifting around on the far wall, as though to get a better view.
A rune glowed on Shadow’s shoulder and her hand lit up green. She placed it on his forehead and he slowly began to slip back into slumber. Warnado tried to sense the aura of the spell. As far as he could tell it was a healing spell, but more focused on reducing pain than actually healing. As her palm dimmed, Shadow staggered a little and Warnado moved to catch her but she had already steadied herself.
“I’m fine,” She assured. “Healing magic is just taxing. That should soothe him.”
She began to walk away but Warnado stopped her.
“Listen, Shadow…” he whispered. “Can I talk to you about something?”
“Sure, but let’s move away from the others, don’t want to wake them up.”
Warnado nodded. They opened the doors and went up to the surface. It was still night-time and the moon loomed huge.
He turned to Shadow and decided just to cut to the chase.
“Shadow, do you think I’m strong enough for all this?”
Shadow didn’t answer immediately. “It’s a difficult thing to say. From what I understand your magic is strongly rooted in your subconscious, with strong emotions and dire situations drawing out stronger spells. Like when you trapped Fristad in a portal to another world when Amanda was threatened, I also heard you cast quite potent spells during your escape from the Tower.” She paused. “I imagine you want more conscious control over your magic. You have improved ever since we started practicing but it’s a slow process.”
Warnado shuffled from foot to foot.
“I know, I know. It’s just… did you hear what Kay just said in there?”
“Yes, both about the Ender and the Entity.”
“Okay,” Warnado nodded nervously, looking briefly at Shadow’s predictably unreadable face. “Then you know that even though he became powerful enough to beat the Ender, something I have failed to do twice now, and he was still beaten by the Entity in seconds. I’m supposed to help bring down Herobrine and that’s just assuming I get out of here. How can I justifiably commit to a slow process while beings like the Entity kill and maim and kidnap on the daily!”
“With what I know about you so far, that’s the path I’m aware of.”
“Suppose,” Warnado began slowly before picking up momentum. “There was a faster path. What would you say to that?”
Shadow’s gaze was now fixed on Warnado’s gauntleted hand. “That entirely depends on what risks that path entails and whether you think those risks are warranted by the situation at hand.”
Warnado jerked his arm up and placed the gauntlet in front of her face. In a tone split between confusion and pleading he asked: “You tell me, does this thing scream risk to you?”
Shadow calmly lifted her hand and pushed the gauntlet aside to be able to look at Warnado’s face, straight through his obfuscation spell. “For that you’ll have to explain to me how demons and related artefacts work in your world because it might be quite different from what I know.”
“I wish I could tell you!” Warnado snapped. “All I know is that I found my dad dead when I was 5 and this thing was the only thing he still had on him. He didn’t exactly leave a full rundown of our heritage!”
“Have you ever tried… tapping more deeply into its power, any experiences that could give clues?”
“No…” Warnado admitted. “I’m scared to.”
“Once we are at the shelter, you could give it a try if you want to. When I’m not starved for life force I’ll be able to safeguard you.”
“Thank you,” Warnado sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m just terrified… Listen, if I don’t make it through this, please make sure Amanda does. Take her back to your world if possible. Kay had promised to do that, so if he’s alive I guess let him do it but…” He looked at her pleadingly, incapable of finishing the thought, let alone the sentence.
“I can’t make promises that I don’t know I can keep but I will try my best, I can say that much.”
“Thank you,” muttered Warnado, almost comforted. “I suppose that’s all I can ask. Anyway, I’m going to get some sleep.”
Shadow nodded. “I’ll be keeping watch for a bit, good night Warnado.”
And with that, Warnado descended back down the rough-hewn stairs and returned to bed. And finally, after many more hours of lying there, he managed to sleep.
Well, well, well. This was an interesting turn of events. The Ender, the proud commander of the conquerors of world whatsit, brought low by the General and his new magical powers. I hadn’t expected that. She’ll be furious when she wakes up, doubtful too. Good thing our glorious leader had been there to prevent the General from doing something more to her. As much as I would have liked the drama that would have caused, we still have a job to do.
I was standing in the village square, invisible to all. Except to the Entity of course, quite difficult to hide from someone within their own domain. The three manifestations had dwindled back to one, however now I realized that this was no mere manifestation, this was the Entity in person. Interesting.
It looked straight at me. “Freak.”
That sure was my name.
I looked over to where some prisoners were bound to a wooden platform in the middle of the square, though I didn’t pay much mind to them yet, I’d be doing that later. Instead I looked at the other two figures, the Ender and the scientist, what was her name again? Both of them were out cold. I almost caught myself worrying about the scientist since she was an integral part of the aforementioned job, nobody else knew all the details about the machine and how it worked and if we were to lose her that’d be bad. The machine itself didn’t really interest me, its effect was a different story. That was also the reason why I hadn’t exactly followed a certain order because honestly, I had better things to do. Collecting crystals wasn’t among my favorite activities but it sure beat following that scaled and allegedly ancient creature from the negotiations.
I then looked back to the Entity. “Need something?”
“Int-errogate the captives. Then... follow.”
I was all over the first part. I immediately showed myself to the leftmost prisoner, then slowly walked up. The captive was a middle-aged overweight man, had the look of a tavern keeper. Didn’t have to guess what he got arrested for. I sighed. This was too easy, he was already quivering in his boots just from seeing me. Don’t get me wrong, fear is fear for nourishment purposes but can you blame a phantom for wanting a challenge every now and again?
“Leave me alone!” he screamed, which in turn unsettled the other captives.
I briefly looked into the eyes of the fat man, seeing his deepest fears. I was disappointed. Heights? Boring. Thunder? Boring. Spiders? Again? What was it with humans and their damn fear of spiders?
I decided not to bother with him, even if I did interrogate him, what would he say? That he did his job and accidentally housed escapees? Anyways, moving on. I revealed myself to the next captive, an older man whose face seemed vaguely familiar. This one was more promising.
As soon as I looked into his eyes I knew why he looked familiar, this was a lucky coincidence. He was one of my favorites back in the Tower’s prison. Hard shell, hard interior, tiny but very soft core. Classic raised-by-wolves type of guy, no family, no friends. Only thing he ever did was fight, which is also what had brought him into our captivity, if only he’d given up those crystals willingly... This was the challenge I was looking for.
“Hello again.” I casually said.
He frowned. “You.”
“Yes me, see I’m in a bit of a hurry. Mind telling me where exactly the other escapees are? Or where they went?”
I didn’t give him time to respond, instead conjuring up an image in his mind. It was a very particular image, one that I had held back for an occasion like this. It was an image of a pond in a foggy but quiet forest clearing, the man’s inner self placed on the edge of it. This seemed to confuse him, he clearly had been expecting something much worse… but I was not done yet.
He cautiously approached the pond. His mirror image was clearly visible on the surface. A few moments later the water became murky and an arm reached out. It was the man’s own arm, only that it belonged to another version of himself. The mirror image slowly rose out of the pond, the man wasted no time attacking this mockery of him. His first punch hit the copy in the stomach but instead of soft flesh the man felt rough tree bark against his knuckles. He looked up.
The copy had changed, its skin covered by bark and mushrooms, its fingers resembling pointy thorns.
A fully-blown fight broke out between the man and the other version of him. The man fought with discipline and technique, the plant abomination with feral rage. The fight was about evenly matched, until the man landed a punch to the plant’s head. This was when my trap was sprung.
The instant the punch connected the man’s perspective switched, he was no longer in his own body, he was now in the plant. He felt the rage and the pain and immediately went on the counter-offensive. With him in control of the plant the fight was finished quickly, his human self torn apart within a few minutes. Of course, this was exactly where I wanted him, now that the fight was over he fully realized what had happened and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. All that solitary training and self-control he was so proud of, effectively broken down by a simple switch of perspective.
However before he had any opportunity to think, the dead body of his human self twitched, disembodied parts being pulling themselves back together. Metallic crystals grew out of the wounds, tearing off more and more flesh as they increased in size. The resulting creature got up and charged at the plant. As they made contact the man’s perspective switched again, this time to the revived crystal-studded body. Another fight broke out, again with the creature the man controlled clearly having the upper hand, the metal easily piercing the bark.
Just when the man thought he had defeated the plant, it changed again. Growing dramatically in size and gaining armor plating that looked like an insect’s shell. The plant’s head morphed to form powerful mandibles, its hands became spear-like and a pair of wings sprouted on its back. Once again, the man’s perspective switched. By now he must have recognized the pattern. Again he attacked his former body, crushing it using sheer force and evading its attacks with the superior mobility the wings provided.
Once again the defeated body changed, the crystals grew again, completely consuming the skeleton underneath. The metal sharpened into countless blades that themselves seemed to be made up of ever-smaller blades. When the man’s perspective switched this time he didn’t attack at first, as if conflicted. Then, instead of going after the insect, he turned his bladed hands against himself, each stab and slash shattering the blades into smaller pieces with no end in sight as the man’s movements became more and more desperate.
This was a special kind of fear that he felt, not of something else but of himself and what he had become, it was not a fear one could run away from. Even if the illusion was only just that, it had shown him a side of himself he had desperately tried to suppress his entire life. Now that I thought of it, that fear seemed to be more common the more capable an individual was.
The illusion faded and the man was reduced to a quivering wreck.
I asked: “So, where are they?”
###
It hadn’t been much but they had at least known some things. I relayed these to one of the squadron leaders who seemed to be the Ender’s second-in-command. Maybe it wasn’t but it would loop it’s way around the command structure eventually. A few minutes later the town square had increased in population again.
I didn’t have time for more interrogations, even if they would have been quite fun. The Entity wanted me to follow it and that’s what I did. It slowly walked through the streets, never looking anywhere but forward.
I decided that walking in silence was boring, so I asked it a question. “So, why’d you come in person?”
It didn’t respond for a few seconds, then it said. “Urgent-matter. Anomaly.”
Yeah, we’ve had quite a few of those recently. A bit too many to not be suspicious so I guess it makes sense to investigate personally. But why does it want me along?
I decided not to question the Entity further, even for someone like me that could lead to bad things. It couldn’t possess me, true, but it could do other things.
We turned a few more corners, then we reached our destination. Our destination was… nothing. Less maybe, this wasn’t regular nothing because regular nothing at least had air in it. This was nothing you could see, at least somewhat. As a phantom I had senses superior to humans when it came to weird sights but this was weirder than I was used to. It was like someone had pried open a gap in my field of vision and then left.
“This it?” I asked.
The Entity simply replied: “Yes.”
“Aaand what is it?”
What the Entity said now was something I didn’t expect: “Dimen-sional scar, painful.”
The Entity could feel pain? That was surprising but also highly intriguing. Perhaps even useful. The supposed pain certainly explained why it was so uncommunicative.
It walked up to the scar and put its hands to either side, then made a motion as if it was pushing something closed. It remained in this posture for a few minutes, as it did the scar got progressively smaller until it disappeared completely.
The Entity spoke again. “What... ever did this is-dangerous but not a-threat, not now. Too late now.”
As it turned to leave I caught a brief glimpse through the visor of its bronze helmet. I flinched. I sensed something I had never sensed before. A fear so deep and overwhelming that I first couldn’t process what it was. Along with the fear came an image, it was a room plated with obsidian and bronze, in it was a throne, clearly the Entity’s chambers. However on top of the throne was something I hadn’t ever noticed when I was there, a tiny distortion that resembled the scar the Entity had just closed.
It took a few moments before the realization hit me. I had been under the impression that the Entity simply did not feel fear, which was why I decided to join it. I had to get on the good side of something that I had absolutely no angle on. So far that had definitely been true, the Entity had never before felt fear, ever. Until now. This was extraordinarily interesting.
Chapter60:The Price of Peace (Destiny)
The shelter was progressing well. It was no longer just an altered cave. Destiny hadn’t taken much interest in the facilities though, aside from her bedroom. There was a farm somewhere in there, though she hunted her own food so she never used it. Fire and Urist had built a spider grinder, but she hadn’t visited it since they tamed the spawner. And so on.
It wasn’t that these facilities weren’t useful or well-made, she just couldn’t bring herself to remain inside long. Unlike in the village, the base wasn’t yet expansive enough to avoid people in.
She was doing better, for sure. She wasn’t just sitting around in her room waiting for her own death or his resurrection anymore. But people were too much. David would have been too much. And she didn’t know these people, nice as they tried to be. The most contact she had was when she gave Lucy the odd lesson. Rose was doing good work, but sometimes she forgot that Lucy was:
1. A housemaid, not a hardened killer bereft of squeamishness.
2. Incapable of magically summoning copies of the blades she uses, much less of throwing them with pinpoint accuracy.
The latter issue was mostly the reason Destiny had been asked to help out. She trained Lucy how to throw small projectiles and use a bow. It helped that Lucy was as friendly as she was. In fact, these lessons almost didn’t suck.
As for the others, she kept away from Fire and Urist as much as possible. Fire would try to get her to be around the others, and she just wasn’t ready for that. He was well-meaning, but too piercingly attentive. She felt like a project, sometimes, in the same way as the shelter. Sometimes, it was as though he were trying to solve her, like a riddle or a dilemma. She’d take orders when he gave them, but she felt a distance was necessary.
Urist was just too much, generally. Too chatty. Too loud. Too energised. Too much of a dwarf.
The only one who didn’t pose the same problem was Voidblade, the enderman. He kept away from everyone except Fire. She wondered if it was a race thing. If he just didn’t like humans. Maybe he was just not used to hanging around them. It was hard to tell. She always had trouble reading the faces of endermen, except the ones who had captured her and killed David. Their emotions were plain as day.
She spent all her time hunting and wandering the landscape. It gave her space to think and made her feel productive. Efficient. Lonely, but efficient.
She’d taken to trying to reconstruct her life with David up until Nexus. From the cave, through Sandshard and all that had followed. She had just reached the moment she ended up in the Eternal Mine, captured by The Sovereign. She didn’t let a detail pass by. The feel of the stick she had used to fend off the zombies before David had come to help. The shock of the water after she jumped into the lake. The queer warmth that had filled her when she summoned her first blast of ice and rescued David from Martin at Sandshard.
But then, something interrupted her thoughts. Passing over a rocky hill something caught her eye: a body and a banner that stopped her heart. An enderman lay on the ground, a spear-like flagpole crushed into its skull. Atop the flagpole was the sigil of Herobrine, of the Sovereign. Even so many years after Carter beat him, his troops insisted they fought for him. Destiny wondered if many had survived the collapse of the Eternal Mine as she formed razor-sharp icicles between her fingers.
She reached the body, and her heart rate returned to normal. It was years old at that point. The blood was dried to dust, and the scales were shedding. The banner was barely still attached. The Sovereign hadn’t been here in a long time. She remembered how, shortly after her capture, the Entity had brought her and the other prisoners to negotiate. How Marinus Bul, its attorney, had spoken to her: “Honestly, we owe you a favour,” Bul had oozed. “We tried dealing with the Sovereign some time ago and that kid leading them - Martin? - attempted to storm Nexus. We drove him back of course, but it was an unpleasant experience.”
She was almost disappointed. Retribution was a great healer, and if she couldn’t get it from the Tower, her old enemies would have proven sufficient.
Nonetheless, there was a story here, and she scanned the landscape for it. She saw a small pass between the hills, and the corpse of a man outside it. Even at that distance she could recognise the dark cloak of Martin’s disciples. She approached, and found a small valley that had once housed a Sovereign camp.
It gave her great satisfaction to see it in ashes. The site had been burned, but not totally. You could still identify shreds of banners, the distinctive armour sets and in places even stores of propaganda seemed to have remained intact. Destiny set them alight quickly.
If Destiny hadn’t known the Sovereign as well as she had, she would have thought this fight was one-sided. Their corpses were everywhere, but aside from the enderman corpse on the hill, she couldn’t find a single corpse that obviously belonged to the Entity’s forces. She reckoned that they’d probably just recovered their own casualties and left the Sovereign’s behind as a message. If it had been intended for Martin, it wouldn’t have made a difference. He would have come back, no matter what. He and David had always been alike in that way.
But then she saw the reason he hadn’t. At the end of the little valley, she saw the cracked portal of obsidian. She tried to remember what it would have looked like. She remembered the portal being red and gel-like, but it didn’t feel real. She hadn’t been paying enough attention to really recall what it had been like. Her entire reminiscence was that way. It was all constructed. A retroactive reality. It brought her no closer to him...
She switched lanes and for a moment wondered what would have happened if Martin had somehow been able to come back. Maybe he and the Entity would have cancelled each other out and she and David would never have needed to fight as long as they did.
Maybe, just maybe, there was a version of things where the Tower fell with Martin inside and she and David had just lived their days out in Sandshard with Janax, no wiser as to what they were, but no less happy for it.
Then again, this was a vain thought, an empty speculation. David had beaten Martin. While she was captured, he had near enough beaten the entire Sovereign. And yet, one of the Entity’s lowly captains had killed him. It was unfair.
She realised she had been clenching her fist when the icicles cracked. The warmth of blood and the chill of ice mingled. She let them drop, wiped her hand off in the grass and then summoned more.
The portal didn’t seem to grow larger as she approached it. It just seemed to look more frail and more likely to collapse. After a walk that felt far more arduous than it probably was, she stood before the portal’s frame, and there was nothing to it bar crumbling obsidian. She didn’t know what she had expected to find, but it disappointed her. She sat down in the empty maw and looked out on the open grave of her enemy. It occurred to her that she should say some words.
“Well,” Destiny began. “It’s been real. All those times you almost killed me are pretty much the only memories I have. I’m glad you’re all dead.”
The wind whipped a banner indignantly. She felt the urge to justify it.
“What can I say? My memories of you aren’t good. I wasn’t even happy whenever I beat you. I was pretty happy when Martin died, to be fair, but that was about it and it wasn’t about you, the rank-and-file. Most of you were just crazies I didn’t think about. Without Martin or Herobrine or whoever whipping you up into a frenzy you probably wouldn’t have killed anyone. You may have just been normal, garden-variety douche bags. The crowning point of your awfulness might have been spreading a nasty rumour, or trying to get someone fired for no reason or yelling at an old lady. For that, I’m sorry I killed so many of you. I’m sorry the Entity and his guys killed you all. I’m still glad you’re dead, though.”
She didn’t like how this part came out, so she shouted it again:
“I’m still glad you are all dead, because that means someone else probably lived! Because it meant I lived! I won, assholes!”
The banner whipped, but it seemed sheepish this time. Satisfied, Destiny resumed a more measured tone.
“The happy memories I had weren’t to do with you. They were all about David. Our friends too, but he was always there, so he was always a part of the happiness. I don’t know if you appreciate this, but I am no one without you guys. If you all hadn’t flocked to Martin, we might never have been reincarnated to fight you. Thanks for that, I guess. Doesn’t change the fact that because of you I’ve only ever known violence and despair. All apart from one guy, who was great.”
She felt a tear run down her cheek. Now seemed a good enough time to launch into her reconstructed history. An obituary of sorts. A sermon, perhaps. All she knew was that she might never get back up from it. Destiny felt one of the icicles in her hand lengthen, sharpen, and began her speech.
“I don’t know who woke up first, but we must have been pretty close. I only woke up around an hour before I went into that cave and-”
“You ran into the zombies.”
The voice was sad and sweet and familiar. Destiny turned around and saw her past self.
Appearance-wise Anya was absolutely unchanged from the last time she’d seen her. Same grey hoodie/blue jeans combo. Same ponytail. Same backpack. Destiny supposed this was to be expected. The spirit world’s extensive wardrobe wasn’t exactly attested to. Then again, she hadn’t changed her clothes in the same period. Had barely even washed.
In fact, Anya looked like a slightly older, cleaner version of herself, who was unaffected by the whipping of the wind.
“How are we doing, Destiny?” She drawled, trying to force a smile. It was pretty obvious she knew the answer.
“Pretty awful,” Destiny nodded. “You?”
Anya sat down beside her weightlessly. Both their heads were bowed. Legs spread-eagled.
“About the same.”
“Then, I suppose Carter’s-”
“Shuffled off this mortal coil?” Anya mused. “Mosied on into the sunset of existence? Gone to hang out with the proper dead people? Yeah.”
Destiny allowed herself a long, bitter but cathartic cackle: “I would have just said passed on, but go mad.”
They shared a few moments of silence.
“Do you know what happens? I know you’re supposed to be a past version of me. If I died, would we just become one or something?” She asked because the thought of it terrified her. She and David might never know each other as they once had, if they ever met each other again.
“You mean, when I realised I was a ghost, did I keep pondering my shelf-life? No, of course not, I naturally assumed that for all the heroic dying we would just get a free pass to persist indefinitely as we were.”
Destiny leaned back and looked Anya up and down. She had a hard look about her eyes that kind of terrified Destiny. She wondered if she had that look about her. Was it inherited?
“Maybe he is just waiting there on the other side.”
Anya sighed, “Probably.”
“And David’s there with him.”
“That’s assuming you guys aren’t to do a term like us,” Anya spat cruelly, suddenly glaring at Destiny.
The thought chilled Destiny to her core. Having to guide another through the same pitfalls they fell into. Rendered bystanders in the story they failed to tell… And that was assuming Destiny died in a timely enough manner to rejoin David. A million things could happen to separate them. As she had said before, they were out of sync.
“Yeah, that seems fair!” Anya was screaming at the ruined camp, twisting the knife. “We had to stick around, denied paradise because we didn’t stay alive long enough to ice Martin, a teenager! So it’s only right you guys have to stick around for not killing the thing that did this to the Sovereign! And then you’ll just vanish into the next person, like I will when you die! The price of failure!”
That’s when Destiny broke down, crying tears of fear. Anya stopped, and remorse sank her features. Her arms were around Destiny within, motherly and tender. Warm in spirit if not in a physical sense. Destiny didn’t resist. She moved her head so it might have leaned on Anya’s shoulder. The forgiveness was immediate and unconditional, for they were of one soul.
“I’m sorry,” Anya said. “That wasn’t right. I don’t know what happens next. I don’t know if I’ll see him again, and that scares me. I tried to make you feel that, without appreciating that, y’know, you’re me, and Carter’s David. You’re already feeling that.”
Destiny moved her arms to hug the ghost back, then withdrew to wipe her eyes.
“We’re in this together,” Anya concluded, moving to look Destiny in her newly-cleared eyes. “And I am always here if you need to talk. There seems to be a connection here, for some reason. Maybe it’s that dumb rock door. Maybe this is a chunk of our world. I don’t know how, I don’t care why it’s here, but I can tell you we will use it. We will get through this. You get me?”
Destiny smiled back, “I get you.”
Anya straightened up and gestured for Destiny to get up. “Then, on your feet, finish that eulogy you were about to do, and get back amongst the living for a bit.”
Destiny, a terrible, marvelous hope burning in her, arose. She walked forward, back straight and shoulders back. She breathed in, ready to force the pain from her in view of a friend.
Then, Anya interrupted: “Or not, I think you have company.”
Like in times of old, Anya was gesturing to the newfound threat. Destiny summoned fire in one hand and an icy javelin in the other. From the heart of the sky a large, formless mass could be seen barrelling down toward her. Destiny crouched into a stance from which she could hurl her projectiles. She glared at the flying beast. Her heart was racing.
“Stay calm,” Anya warned. “You know how to handle this. Aim for anything that looks like a wing first. Don’t let it land properly.”
She could start to make out details. Scales of stone arranged like wings framed a slim body of… green fur? Then she heard the faintest outline of a call made against the wind: “Help!”
“Don’t worry. It’s not an enemy,” Destiny concluded, casting aside her conjured weapons. She leant back against the portal and gestured to the mass to land.
As Tyron neared the ground, the stone wings that had carried him fell away shattered across the ground. He stumbled as he tried to land and ended up buckling and rolling down into the valley of the camp. When Destiny neared him, it became clear that he was breathing heavily and utterly spent. His fur was still patchy from obviously recent wounds. Someone had healed him, but only part-way. He needed medical attention. She could only imagine what had happened to the others.
“Tyron,” she shook him and he groaned. “Tyron! Where are the others?!”
He groaned and tried to rise but fell.
Anya came to the lip of the hill and called out, a look of utmost shock on her face.
“Is this one of your new friends?”
“Yes,” Destiny muttered. “It’s complicated.”
“You do realise he just flew in on wings of stone.”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen that before either but you don’t see me complaining do you? Nexus is weird. You’ll get used to it.”
Tyron’s stupor didn’t seem to be abating so she reached out with her mind.
“Kir? You there little guy?”
A tiny voice stirred, weak and weary. Tyron’s sword was still awake, glowing from its sheath. This stone wings thing had evidently drained them both terribly.
“Destiny? Friend!” It was awake now, but still weak. “Others injured. Need help. Were scouting but…” A location appeared in mind, accompanied by an immense sense of urgency.
Destiny fumbled around in her belongings and drew an arrow with a firework attached that Fire had prepared for such a situation. She fired it into the air in the direction of the shelter. A trail of red sparks cascaded across the countryside. A minute passed and a trail of green sparks cascaded in retort. They were coming.
And so Destiny propped Tyron up and looked back at Anya. She tried to beckon to her to come, but Anya shook her head. She either wouldn’t, or more likely couldn’t, stray too far from the portal. Destiny took off at full pelt. Catharsis would have to wait.
Some time later, Destiny emerged into the clearing. She saw the red-headed miner-woman, Jennifer, sat there in her armour, a bow in her lap. She looked terrible, covered in half-healed wounds and eyes red and skin pale from exhaustion. Somehow her armour, skin and hair remained impervious to dirt.
Fristad was beside her, axe at the ready. He looked wary and apologetic and relieved all at the same time as Destiny approached. He looked to be in much better form, only seeming to have suffered some cuts and bruises that were healing naturally. Maybe a scar or two to gawk at. Nothing serious.
He also seemed cheery despite it all. Destiny reckoned it was probably down to getting rid of that book. Probably nice not to have something like that messing with your head... She then decided she probably owed Fristad an apology once things calmed down. Or not. It was a weird situation.
“Well, Destiny. Welcome back,” Jennifer said as she rose, smiling. “I was just getting some fresh air.”
She produced a shovel and shakily opened the door to their little hovel. “We would have hooked up a door but…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, but her appearance provided the only necessary answer. Destiny nodded and ran down after her. She noticed as she passed Jennifer an awful wound on her side, just about healed up. It wasn’t exhaustion, this was blood-loss.
And so they entered, Jennifer laughing ahead of her: “Hey guys, look who’s back!”
The hovel was a sorry sight. It was obviously a rush-job. The floor was a mix of dirt and stone. The only signs of organisation were the beds and the map on the wall, which had a circle on it signalling the location of the shelter.
Steve was hunched over by a fire in the centre of the room roasting a pig on a spit. He obviously wasn’t much used to it, and Astro was giving him constant tips. Steve seemed rather annoyed, and the advice sounded like it mostly consisted of adding salt strategically. Both looked exhausted, even a little diminished by hunger but weren’t as obviously injured as Jennifer, so there was that. They both looked at her with relief.
“Destiny!” Astro called, as he ran to hug her. She grinned tolerantly and patted him on the back. “We were wondering if we’d not taken a wrong turn. Is Tyron okay?”
“Should be. Fire and the others should have reached him by now. I sent up a flare and got confirmation. He’ll be fine.”
He seemed calmed and Destiny took a moment to survey the room. Warnado and Amanda were asleep on neighbouring beds, their hands touching tentatively on the ground. Both of them were awash with bruises and just as pale as the others. Destiny ruminated on their youth and then put it from her mind. They would be safe in the shelter. She would assure it. She drew up Amanda’s blanket and turned to face the person sat on the next bed over.
This was Shadow, who was attempting to look as serene as usual but seemed obviously perturbed. She looked smaller than ever, and there was an empty puncture wound in her abdomen. There was no blood as far as Destiny could tell, and she was obviously still alive, but it couldn’t be a good thing. She rose and brushed her white hair from her eyes.
“Hello Destiny,” Shadow greeted. She had something of Fire’s distance, but it was different. It wasn’t a lack of feeling, but an outright difference of it. As though her idea of happiness or sorrow didn’t quite line up with everyone else’s definition. Destiny couldn’t quite describe it, but she seemed out-of-step with the rest of humanity.
“So, what happened?” Destiny asked flatly, regulating her emotions as best she could.
“The village was attacked by the Entity’s forces,” Shadow concluded. “The Ender pursued us, and though we were able to kill those she sent after us, the fighting was fierce. Astro and I have done our best to heal them, but healing magics are demanding no matter what world you’re from, it seems. We reached this point and could go no further, so we sent out Tyron. I am glad he found you, we were beginning to worry.”
Destiny leaned and took Shadow’s shoulder. The mage felt terribly fragile so she loosened her grip.
“Who would you say needs the most attention?” Destiny asked. “Fristad and I could probably carry them back to the shelter and then return with the medical supplies you need.”
Shadow nodded and gestured to the corner of the room, where Destiny saw the most injured: Kay. His torso was bare, though he wore armour from the legs down. His ribs looking nearly misshapen in places and dominated by large, half-healed welts. There were burns about his neck, but those looked like old wounds. These great gashes across his chest were fresh, and magic had tried and failed to dispel them. There was bruising across one forearm indicated the markings of several thick, heavy fingers. He was completely unconscious.
“Did he go shirtless or something?” Destiny scoffed in disbelief. “His breastplate was obsidian. I don’t know about your world, but in mine that stuff doesn’t break!”
Astro looked at her sadly and drew out several shards he had been storing in his robes. He placed them in her hands. Sure enough, these jagged vestiges bore the markings that had covered Kay’s breastplate.
“It doesn’t in ours, either.”
Destiny’s entire pulse flattened.
“What happened?”
“The Entity happened,” said Astro simply, gravely.
Destiny looked down at the broken chunks of the unbreakable chestpiece in her hands. She felt the edge nick her palm, but she held firm. In the cracks between these remnants, she saw the gravity of her situation. She saw in them the price of her peace, and the warlike path that would lead her back to him.
Chapter 9:Shelter is up. The team seek shelter in a nearby town.
As the moon shone high above them, the trees thinned out, and the grass became long and crackled under their feet. The shadows of scattered buildings against the starry sky could just barely be seen at the edge of the horizon, along with a faint orange glow. As the shadows of the buildings rose, the group began to step over rows of crops and pass by sleeping cows and horses.
They then stepped onto cobbled roads, passed the first dimly torchlit buildings, and scouted out an inn.
One building in particular looked promising. It was three stories tall, and the first story windows and half-open door shone with a welcoming light.
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So, MCF is shutting down. That's a big shame. However, fear not. The Convergence will continue on Fanfiction.net and probably AO3 or something! We will post what we've written damn it!
Chapter17:Faces in the Dark is up. Amanda finds herself in a dark forest.
The face she saw was only a flash in her vision, too brief to identify. The only lasting impression Amanda could recall from the face was a… deep sadness. And that it was human. And that it wasn’t a child. That much she was sure of.
Chapter19:Tormentor at Large is up. Warnado begins searching for the source of the nightmares.
Warnado cleared his throat and prepared himself to deal with the uncertainty that came next. “Guys, I know I said I had some important questions about your magic, but actually, something bad just happened. Last night, Amanda had a disturbing nightmare that seems to have been magical in origin. And I want to know who was responsible.”
Warnado couldn’t help but glance over at Shadow for a moment, before switching his gaze toward Astro.
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Chapter23:Getting in Some Practice is up. Astro and Shadow play some magical sports.
Accompanied by subtle flashing of various runes Shadow summons an ethereal chess board of enormous dimensions, complete with pieces of equally amazing proportions.
She explains: “You should be able to control your pieces with your thoughts, I’ll let you pick a side.”
“I’ll pick that one, then,” I say as I point to no particular side, and walk toward it. “Ladies first?”
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Chapter24:We should have stopped at the Dodgeball is up. The magical entertainment escalates more than Astro would have liked.
We are both rising extremely fast into the air, no doubt due to some magic Shadow is using, and the only reason I am not falling seems to be my temporary physical contact with Shadow’s hand. I don’t think I could fall from this height without being severely injured, and that’s assuming I can exert enough magic to slow my fall. This is insanity.
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Chapter26:Return of the Dreamweaver is up. The Dreamweaver strikes again, however this time something is different.
As I place my hand upon my door, I wince as a painful headache flashes on the left side of my head. An image of the reality-eating hole appears briefly in my mind, clouding my thoughts, before vanishing. I sincerely hope the mental aberrations don’t become worse.
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Chapter27:Growing Dissonance is up. Fristad goes to eat with his companions and is met with suspicion.
Kay looks at me and studies me closely, very briefly, before sitting down and returning his attention to his mage friend and his soup. Kay must know what I did. He has to. This isn’t just a distrust of endermen. There’s no other way he would look at me like that given how little time we’ve spent near each other.
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So, after a longer-than-intended hiatus (as usual), we're back and ready for action. Don't worry, this time we have a HUGE backlog of chapters ready to post in advance, so updates should be much smoother. Get ready for more action, more emotion, more drama, more nice fan-servicey nods than ever before as the story kicks into high-gear and we learn what the Entity's real plan is.
Assuming you're new to the story, welcome to THE CONVERGENCE! This story is a collaborative project run by myself, SuperFire131, Asanetargoss and several other authors. Inspired by the sadly failed RIFT project, we started THE CONVERGENCE up back in 2015 in the hopes of bringing the characters of our various stories together in a unique, new context which reveals new aspects of their character. We see a Fire from long before the events of "Slaves of the Desert Mine", a Fristad lost somewhere in the middle of "The Book of Dreams", a Tyron from long after the events of "Cubic Fire" and many other beloved Minefic characters. I recommend checking out Book 1 if you want to understand all the nuances of what's going on, but don't worry, we've provided a handy-dandy character sheet below, and have written the opening chapters with a new reader in mind.
Anyway, I'm rambling. We've had an absolute blast bouncing all these different characters off each other and we hope you have just as much fun reading their triumphs and tragedies. Now, we hope you enjoy:
THE CONVERGENCE
Book 2: Tangled Fates
The Story So Far
For years the Entity has lived in darkness on the edge of creation, stealing fragments of more complete realities for its own world, Nexus. It has waited patiently, but now its desire to possess grows too strong and it readies to expand its dominion indefinitely.
At least, until recently. You see, a disparate gang of heroes has recently found itself stuck in Nexus by various means. Some, like the powerful wizard Astro, the heroic power-couple David and Destiny, and the Herobrine-slayer Tyron Dragoknight were actively abducted by the Entity from their various worlds as curiosities and potential chess-pieces. Yet others, such as the young, Herobrine-supporting General, Kay Mandy, or the Herobrine-slaying Steve Brine and Jennifer, interfered in the Entity's plans, and found themselves facing a far larger conspiracy than they'd ever imagined. Yet others, like the Farlands-dwelling sheep farmer, Fristad; the quarter-demon wizard and taco enthusiast, Warnado; and Fire, inhabitant of a Minecraft-based world created with technology ahead of its time, have found themselves in Nexus by random chance and happenstance.
Initially, rather turned around and confused, those heroes not immediately captured accepted the Entity's hospitality and negotiated with it. But then they discovered the horrendous acts of kidnap and torture and murder the Entity has been conducting across the many worlds. The tipping point came when Kay discovered that Astro, a dear friend of his, was being held in wretched conditions by the Entity. This developed into a full escape attempt and then into an out-and-out battle. After surviving being trapped in an arena and an explosive confrontation with The Ender, the Entity's top captain, the new group of allies at last seem to have reached a lull and might be able to escape with their lives.
Characters
The Team:
Fire: A man of two worlds. Fire, whose real name is Peter, is a human being from an alternative earth. Patron of an brain-computer interfacing program, he spends most of his time retreating into a Minecraft-like world to escape from his traumatic past. In the game-world, where time is slower than our own, he has spent the equivalent of 5,000 years as one the immortal Mencur-Besh, fighting and questing and growing stronger and stronger. Standing at a huge three metres tall, covered in black scales, possessing three hearts and being able to extend foot-long claws, Fire is one of the most physically powerful members of the party. He arrived in Nexus after consuming an experimental potion and accidentally being drawn into Nexus. After arriving he encountered Kay and Warnado and the three became an effective trio in the negotiations at the Tower. He departed the Tower shortly before the escape attempt began and has been able to return to his world. Now, having reequipped himself, he is ready to return to Nexus and discover the truth of what is going on.
From "Slaves of the Desert Mine", by SuperFire131
Fristad: A rather unremarkable young adult who, until recently, had the luxury of a life of stable mediocrity, working on an animal farm with his enderman half-blood farming partner. That is... until he encountered a mysterious sentient book with unknown intentions, which would quickly become a large part of his existence. Due to sheer coincidence, Fristad's struggle with the book would eventually lead him through a portal to a Nexus, where he met Steve and Jennifer, and later the rest of the group of travellers misplaced from their former worlds. Now, the book has manipulated him into creating a modified set of diamond armour which can transform him into an enderman, under the promise it will give him the strength to protect his newfound friends.
From "The Book of Dreams", by Asanetargoss
Kay: Kay Mandy has led an eventful five-and-twenty years. Banished at least three times and sentenced to death an embarrassing number of times in his life he has moved from kingdom to kingdom and briefly flitted in and out of public life as a profoundly controversial figure. Most recently, he distinguished himself as "Herobrine's Lap Dog" during the Great Onslaught, playing a key role in the Defence of Zine Craft - where Notch ascended to godhood, the traitorous Israphel was exposed and Herobrine was finally reconciled with the House of Persson. However, in the aftermath of the conflict he has renounced politics, and wishes simply to find a place where he and his friends can settle down. Now, separated from his friends in another dimension and faced with the prospect of another epic quest he's rather miffed about the whole thing. However, he nonetheless is growing increasingly protective of his new companions, particularly the young Warnado.
From "The Tale of Gaia Before Gaia", by astro_joe
Astro: Astro is just ready to pack it in at this point. Having lived through the rebellion of the Court of Righteous Protest and still recovering from Kay's untimely death, he was ready to devote his life to patrolling the Fields of Acrisius, collecting the frozen bodies of the survivors. However, an old enemy recommended him to the Entity as a powerful magic-user to study and he found himself captured. Now, all that defined his world has dispersed. Kay is alive and not crazy and discussing whether or not they should bring Warnado home with them. There are thousands of other worlds. New systems of magic and creatures he had never conceived of are presenting themselves to him as if they always existed. He finds himself suspended between joy at this new start and profoundly saddened by the past he has been torn away from.
From "Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale", by kmandy
Warnado: As a taco-loving, part-demon, thirteen-year-old wizard, it's safe to say Warnado is the wildcard of the group. He is energetic, tricksy and inexplicably powerful. Problem is, he doesn't know how to use it. What's worse is that he know he is one of the "heroes of the prophecy" who will rise up and defeat Herobrine. As such, he feels he should probably get home soon and find out who the other prophecy-kids are. That being said, this interdimensional escapade has brought him into contact with several fellow magic-users of different kinds, and he rather hopes he can use this as an opportunity to learn from them and git gud.
From "Minecraft Origins", by TurtleMaster217
Amanda: While Warnado was wandering around, he found himself protecting a small human village and even developed a small relationship with another girl his age, this was Amanda. Sadly, bandits attacked the village, massacred most of the population of the village and sold those they captured into slavery. All this contributed to Warnado's extreme surprise when he found Amanda in a small town in Nexus, having totally forgotten her past and in the possession of a mysterious and powerful-looking energy crystal. Amanda decided to join the party after this, eager to figure out who she was. For someone who was running a cheese stand in a market she is surprisingly adept with a crossbow, making her a valuable addition to the team dynamic.
From "Minecraft Origins", by TurtleMaster217
Steve and Jennifer: Having defeated Herobrine, the Ender Dragon, the Wither and a huge army of undead creatures, Steve Brine and Jennifer are no strangers to adventure and war. However, after Herobrine was defeated and transformed back into Steve's dad they expected their lives to calm down. Aside from Steve's brother Ozen experimenting too much with his cooking, they didn't expect to have much hardship to deal with at all to be honest. As such, they were exceptionally frustrated when a servant of the Entity burst into their lives, tried to steal some mysterious crystals from them, and then warped them into another world with no obvious way back. As such, they were reluctant to go into negotiations and eagerly joined the fight when it started. However, that's not to say they like the other members of the newly-founded group... Aside from Fristad, he’s cool. Oh! and Fire made a good first impression. And-
From "The Herobrine Chronicles", by Nomolos1
Tyron: Tyron is the hero of Minecraftia. He has faced all odds. He killed Herobrine and then for a victory lap stopped the genocidal enderman leader known as The First. Armed with his sentient sword, Kir, and a powerful magic-wielder, he thought he could take anyone. He was wrong. In the course of an attempt to rescue a boy lost in a mine he was captured and psychologically tortured for several weeks by Freak, a phantom in the Entity's employ. Understandably, he is now deeply concerned about The Entity's activities and is ready to write a strongly worded letter and SHOVE IT DOWN THAT NOTCH-DAMNED TRANSLUCENT PSYCHO'S THROAT! It hasn't been all bad though. He's made fast friends with Astro, Destiny and David in their shared captivity and is optimistic about working in a group again.
From "Cubic Fire", by DragonTyron
David & Destiny: David and Destiny are a power-couple if ever there was one. After waking up with total amnesia in a forest, they have spent the last few months surviving massacre after massacre and saving each saving the other's life on multiple occasions. They fought through the Eternal Mine, defeated Herobrine's apprentice, Martin, and confessed their love for each other. In this time they became totally in-sync. David's substantial skill with a bladed gauntlet is complimented perfectly by her offensive magic. No sooner could they breath a sigh of relief than they were approached by the ghosts of their ancestors/past selves and directed toward a mysterious portal which had appeared in their world. Reluctantly, they entered the portal, knowing a great evil lurked beyond that they must defeat. Immediately upon their arrival they were ambushed and captured by the soldiers of Glibby the Ape, one of the Entity's most powerful captains. Now, they are as fully committed to their cause as they are fiercely protective of each other.
From "The Legion Chronicles: The Eternal Mine", by TheLoneAssassino
The Tower:
The Entity: Little is known of this being. It created the Nexus and the Tower, indicating it is a being of immense power. On account of a tightly-fitted suit of bronze armour, it has few obvious weakpoints aside from a pair of white, fabric gloves it wears instead of gauntlets. Without its armour, it appears to be composed of grey TV static in a deeply unstable but vaguely humanoid form. All that is clear is that it will kill and murder and steal anything that gets in the way of its esoteric motivations. It appears to spend its time in The Tower, overseeing the business of dimensional transactions and the coordination of troops.
The Ender: An enderwoman who is the main commander of the Entity's forces. She wears obsidian armour and carries a purple sword that crackles with energy. Acutely observant, she maintains an alliance of convenience with The Entity, in the hope of advancing her people's ambitions. She is currently responsable for suppressing the prison breakout.
Freak: The phantom who kidnapped Tyron. He appears human, aside from talon-like fingers and the fact that light passes through him. He also has the strange ability to only appear visible or tangible to one person at a time, though he can appear before multiple people if he chooses. He has a love of mindgames and is perhaps the cruellest of The Entity's officers. The Entity accordingly allows him the most freedom to roam as he wishes. He has no known troops under him and could be just about anywhere he wishes.
Glibby The Ape: A relatively recent addition at The Tower. Kay and Astro know him as a serial killer who looks like a gorilla, but in Nexus he is one of the Entity's more powerful captains. Covering his huge hands with metal gauntlets, he is formidable alone and even Fire would struggle to walk off even a glancing blow from him. Worse still, he leads the Grey Ones, an elite group of enderman and human mercenaries who streak themselves with grey paint. He has been sent here by the crime-lord known as The Silhouette to defend his interests, under strict instructions to maintain a good relationship with The Entity. So far, he has done well in this respect, helping in the initial capture of David and Destiny and then in suppressing their initial escape attempt. However, due to defections from her own forces, The Ender deeply distrusts him.
Marinus Bul: The Entity's attorney. A smooth negotiator with a stressed streak a mile wide. He has access to The Entity's files on each of the heroes and knows most of their emotional weak-points. It is unclear how he came into The Entity's employ or why. He really hates Freak. Just so much. He makes things so difficult.
The Dog: An officer in The Ender's forces. He has the head of a dog and the body of a man. He is notably polite and wears a monocle.
Silver: Glibby's second-in-command. He is one of the three original Grey Ones, endermen under the Ender's command who were trapped in Kay's world for over ten years. Glibby looked after he and his brothers during that decade, giving them assassin work and protection. In return, Silver reveres Glibby. Silver has also been plotting revenge on Kay ever since, and unsuccessfully attempted to kill him during the prison-break by trapping he and several others in an arena full of deadly monsters. He and his brothers were the Endermen who initially kidnapped Astro.
Others:
Steve (as well?): A strange figure who appears to be able to teleport. He has contacted Kay on multiple occasions, warning him against The Silhouette. He also appeared to Astro, David, Destiny and Tyron before their ill-fated escape attempt.
From "A Tale Known by Only One" by Bruvvy.
The Lady of Dreams: A benevolent phantom who occasionally visits Peter/Fire in his dreams with the goal of helping him come to terms with his traumatic past. However, since she followed him into Nexus she has seemed increasingly distressed.
We hope you enjoy!
Don't forget to check out Book 1: Shattered Dimensions: https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/show-your-creation/fan-art/literature/2377178-the-convergence-book-1-shattered-dimensions
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
Part 1: Retreat
Chapter 1: Flash Out! (Kay)
I lost balance as my feet touched the floor of the great hall but in a second I was up on one knee, Apotyre raised and teeth bared fierce as any animal’s. The Ender and all her host had been here when we left and I wouldn’t let them try that trick with the colosseum again. But they were gone. The hallway was dim. Only friends remained. For the moment.
Exhaustion crashed into me like a wave and I felt the burns on my back and every other wound on my body. I didn’t bother getting up fully and amused myself with the observation that my enemies all seemed to love throwing me into colosseums and death games. First Vareide, now The Entity via his Grey Ones. It sure was a hell of a coincidence- Oh wait! The Grey Ones must have read up on me, probably thought they were being clever or something. A just revenge after “eleven years” stuck in my world. Ha! They could have done much worse than that!
Conceptually, I mean. The colosseum was genuinely horrifying. I’d wondered if we would make it out of that one. The back of my obsidian chestplate still felt hot where the fireball had caught me, and the skin screeched beneath, as if a million suns had scorched my back. Or, was it where I’d caught the fireball? The pain was messing with me and I could no longer remember if that was a deliberate choice or whether I’d tried to flee and been struck down. Then I remembered who I’d been guarding.
“Astro!”
It felt like my ribs were reaching inward to grab at my heart and wrap their arms about it and make sure it was safe, like a mother guarding her young. My eyes leapt about the room to find the other survivors of the colosseum and our comrades who had been left here. Aside from Astro, I hadn’t known anyone there longer than a week.
It was hard to tell where everyone was. The room was dim and hot. Scorch-marks lined the floor and some walls and the air was still warm. Smoke had discoloured the ceiling. There had been an explosion.
My heart was released a little after I found the wizard at my foot. I’d started this breakout to free him. If he’d died… what would I tell Aaron and the others? Then again, I didn’t know this was the same Astro waiting for me on the border of the Vanilla Craft. We’d only been together for an hour but he seemed older, more cynical and he looked at me as if he knew something horrible that I didn’t.
Steve and Jennifer, the Herobrine-killers, were already up and about, scouting for the enemy. Steve, sword drawn, purple eyes sharp. Jennifer, red-haired and bow ready. Their armour was cracked from the fight - Steve was now barefoot - but they would fight until the last. I thought it was strange that, aside from the cracks, nothing had marked them. They were pristine when they should be caked with blood and soot and sand.
They marched up to join Amanda. Since we’d been teleported away, she had taken up a perch atop a statue of a strange, contorted creature with countless limbs, and who scanned the hallway with scowling eyes. Her crossbow sat in her hands, like an attack dog on a leash.
And of course, Fristad, my saviour. He kept grabbing at the purple-glassed goggles, making they were on tight. He offered me a hand to get to my feet, acting very concerned, but I didn’t buy it. He was hiding something. Anyone who transforms into an Endling at random is not to be trusted. Endlings aren’t to be trusted. Period. I didn’t take his hand, struggled up on my own.
On my feet at last, I turned to find the rest of our group. A pleasant sight did not greet me.
Tyron, the gigantic green furball was acting all jittery and grumbling to himself, probably addressing Kir, his sword. That wasn’t a crazy thing. The sword was sentient - something from their world called “Bluestone”. The only abnormal thing about this was that he was talking aloud. I heard him mention “Freak” and became wary. He could appear at any moment. I also felt a pang of pity. This creature was another Herobrine-killer, said to be a great hero, and now he was ready to stab shadows in the hope of gaining revenge on his torturer.
But there was a more pressing issue. David lay sideways against a castle wall, the floor in front of him blackened as if he had been propelled by a blast. The arm which once wielded his gauntlet was now a mangled stump hanging over his blood-covered abdomen. Destiny stood crouched beside him, holding a hand comfortingly to his cheek. Her ponytail had been cut loose, and the ends of her brown hair were singed, embers grow at the far end.
“Notch, what happened to him?” asked Fristad.
“His gauntlet exploded,” said Warnado, whose arm was wrapped around Amanda. It was hard to tell beneath the darkness of his hood, but his eyes seemed to widen in awe and confusion. “It fired the biggest deadly green ball of lightning I’ve ever seen. It was amazing but I can’t actually believe we’re all still alive.”
“It only killed some of the endermen,” warned Destiny in heartbroken monotone. “The rest teleported away. More will come.”
“All the more reason to get the heck out of here as soon as possible,” said Fristad. “Carry him over here and we’ll teleport out of this place.”
Tyron offered to carry the fallen David. I tried to carry Astro but my burns made it pointless. Fristad and Steve ended up doing it. I sincerely wished Fire was there. The absolute size of that one! He could’ve carried both of them. At least an Ending wouldn’t have been carrying my friend. But he was nowhere to be seen.
Then, our newly united group converged on Fristad and vanished into a dimensional rift.
When they appeared in another space, they were in the familiar room of crowded and stacked furniture. Fristad stumbled, as if dizzy.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Fristad groaned between labored breaths. “This is as far as I can go. The strain of teleporting so many people is becoming too much for me.”
“It’s alright, Fristad,” Steve reassured him. “I recognize this place. The exit to the tower isn’t far from here.”
Our motley gang of the battle-weary, the disarmed, and the gravely injured walked as fast as it could. Considering we had two limp bodies in tow, we made good time.
After several hallways and another two flights of stairs, a large, red carpeted entryway and a double door would have been all that stood between us and freedom… if we had have been alone.
Instead, a half dozen armed guards stood along the edges of the carpet, pulling their swords from their sheaths and bows from their backs as they turned to face the attempting escapees.
Then, Warnado reached into his hood and tossed a cylindrical metallic object without warning and screamed, “FLASH OUT!!!”
Then, a white flash and explosion blinded and deafened almost everybody including half of the escapees. Luckily, the other half of the escapees were not blinded and also none of them were deaf, allowing them to slowly make their way to the exit while the guards groaned with their eyes shut and hands pressed against their ears.
The double door was pushed open, and finally the crew breathed the sweet and pure night forest air.
“Thanks for that, Warnado,” I said. “If it weren’t for that metal canister of yours, we’d probably all be dead.” I paused in thought. “Say, can you get more of those? Seems like they’d be quite useful to have around.”
Warnado didn’t answer and instead asked: “By the way, do any of you know what ‘FLASH OUT!!!’ actually means? Because I don’t.”
I rolled my eyes and took that as a “maybe, but I prefer you not knowing”. I laughed a little. He was a weird kid, but I liked his style.
“We should get going,” said Jennifer. “The sooner we get as far away as possible from the Tower, the sooner we can treat Astro and David’s wounds. And the sooner we can all meet up with Fire in the village alive.”
Jennifer stopped for a moment to stop David’s bleeding with some extra leather she had on hand, then she scouted ahead into the shadows of the forest. The rest followed behind, always careful not to leave more tracks than they had to. Traveling at night was perilous business, with the skeletons eyeing for easy targets and creepers potentially lurking around every corner. Luckily, Amanda and Destiny still had ammo to spare, and the rest were in good enough shape to fight the occasional monster. The group took turns carrying the fallen Astro and David.
Nighttime turned to dawn, Fristad transformed into a human again, and the group came to stop at a place where the tower was long gone from sight, and forest obscured the horizon all around them, leaving no sense of direction except the leaf-screened sun above.
“We don’t have nighttime cover anymore,” reasoned Jennifer. “This is probably the best time to set up camp underground.”
“Did you just say, ‘underground’?” I asked with confusion.
“Yes. We are going to build an eleven meter by eleven meter underground living space a few meters beneath the dirt,” explained Jennifer.
“We don’t have time for that nonsense!” I said. “We have two injured men in desperate need of treatment, and any hour now the Entity’s henchmen could come looking for us!”
“Don’t you realize we’ve thought that through?” Steve snapped. “It’ll take us a few minutes to build the shelter. I don’t know what block physics and inventory size are like in your world, but they certainly don’t apply here.”
“Okay…” I snuck a suspicious glance at the now-human Fristad, before glaring back at Steve. “My apologies if I’m sceptical. I do forget we’re all from different worlds.”
Fristad’s brows clenched in confusion, as he racked his brain for what he could have possibly have done to make me angry at him. Steve simply flashed a look of contempt at me for a moment before pulling a full-sized diamond shovel from his pocket and proceeding to jump into the dirt-floored staircase that Jennifer had just dug up.
Mere minutes later, Steve walked out of the staircase and beckoned the group inside. The pairs carrying Astro and David, and the rest following behind, walked single-file, first down a dirt staircase, then into a stone hallway, and finally into a barren, torchlit square room with stone and dirt walls.
“I’m going to seal the entrance with pistons,” announced Steve. “When I’m done, the staircase should be able to merge with the grass above with the flip of a lever. Need any medical supplies, Jen?”
“I should have enough,” she said, “but I think someone else should use them. We need to mine more resources.”
“Agreed,” replied Steve. “Any volunteers?”
“I can help dress the wounds,” offered Fristad.
“Your kind shouldn’t be anywhere near a body,” I snarled, wincing from my burns.
“What is your problem, Kay?” Fristad turned to face me, visibly angry for the first time. “If you have something to say to me, then just say it!”
“I would simply prefer that the wounds be dressed by someone else,” I said. “And I am more than willing to do it myself.”
“You don’t trust me,” concluded Fristad, regaining his composure. “You’re worried I’ll hurt you and… your friend. I get it.” Fristad turned to face Destiny, who stared listlessly at the injured David. “Do you want my help?”
Destiny nodded silently.
Jennifer placed chests with supplies, crafting tables, furnaces, and beds throughout the room. She then dug the first stone steps of a downward stairwell in the side of the underground room.
Warnado followed behind her and watched expectantly. “You’re digging a tunnel down into a potentially large and dangerous cave system? Sounds like fun! Mind if I join you?” Without waiting for a response, Warnado conjured a ghostly pickaxe. Amanda soon followed behind.
“I’ll stay here,” Tyron offered.
“Sounds like a good idea,” said Steve, as he pulled down the lever on his finished Redstone contraption. In a chorus of hydraulic chugs and scratching stone, the grass staircase lifted and became a wall of pistons, blocking off the light from above.
Steve reached into his magically deep pocket and pulled out a square metal object the size of his hand with a rod sticking out of it. He handed it to Tyron.
“This radio will allow you to communicate with Jennifer and I,” said Steve. “All you have to do is press this button and talk into it. Keep us informed. Do you have a clock?”
“No.”
Steve rummaged his pocket again, pulled out a clock, and placed the clock in Tyron’s remaining large fuzzy palm. “We’ll be back before noon.”
Chapter 2: The Return (Fire)
It was a bit after midnight when Peter sat back down at his computer, he had spent the last fifteen minutes eating and drinking, he couldn’t afford to take longer, time on the server passed a lot more quickly than in the real world. He didn’t even want to speculate on how long it had been in Nexus. Longer? Shorter?
After a deep breath Peter laid his hands down, one on the keyboard and one on the mouse. As he clicked the server’s address a numb feeling crawled up his fingers, quickly spread through his arms and finally reached his head. Peter’s eyes closed.
A second later Fire’s eyes opened, they were not green like their counterparts in the real world, they were entirely red and emitted a faint light. These eyes were framed by black, shimmering scales. Not everything was completely different though, Fire’s short hair resembled that of Peter, the only difference being that it was completely white. While Peter was by no means short, Fire was still taller by half.
Fire shook his head, transitioning between the real world and the server had always been a transformation, from Peter to Fire, from human to Mencur-Besh. Though as he thought more on it, with what he had seen in the last days he wasn’t so sure how real or how imaginary each of his worlds really were.
Fire’s sister Shadow had been waiting for him on the server. She looked different from Fire yet at the same time they shared some patterns. For example Shadow too had red eyes and black skin, though hers was still the human variety as opposed to Fire’s scales. Her hair was white as well, but very long. She also was very short compared to Fire, and, to be fair, compared to a lot of people in the real world.
“Ready to pack the bags?” she asked.
Fire nodded.
In reality ‘packing the bags’ was a gross understatement for what the two did in the next two days, they turned their storage rooms inside out in search for the most spacious enchanted bags they had. They packed thousands of building blocks of many varieties, though also copious quantities of food, this time not limited to dried and salted meat since they could magically preserve what they took with them.
Fire also got to work on emptying tanks of potions into flasks and brewing new potions where he had nothing stored. The potions were large in variety, basic potions like healing or speed were there in large quantities but he also took more exotic things like contact narcotics, you never knew. Fire also crafted and enchanted several Ender Eyes, he had something special in mind with those.
On the day of their departure they picked out their weapons, Fire’s armory offered no small choice. The halberd he had obtained in Nexus would remain in his base, while it definitely was a fine piece of smithing, it couldn’t compare to his own best weapons.
At the very back of his armory was a display case that housed exactly one weapon of each type, the exception being daggers, which came in a set of two. The weapons on display here were no ordinary steel weapons either, they were made entirely from diamond. While their crystalline nature made them beautiful in its own right, the weapons were otherwise plain and without decorations, above everything else they were functional. On the server making diamond weapons was no easy task, it took years for them to crystallize and without the right technique they would be worthless. The weapons he had here were mastercrafted; he had had a hand in their creation himself. Not just the weapons themselves were of the highest quality but also their enchantments. They didn’t need further magical sharpening, they could split rocks easily on their own, though when looking more closely at the blue crystal a faint dark red glow was visible. A black flame lived inside those weapons that would latch onto anything cut and burn out its life force; akin to a deadlier and more persistent Fire Aspect enchantment.
Fire opened the display case slowly. “Didn’t think I would ever use those. But with the stakes being what they are I’d say we’re all-in here.”
He took a sword, a mace, two daggers and finally a halberd. Shadow didn’t need much in the way of weapons, she was an ascended mage. She wordlessly took the last object in the case, a smooth red-golden ball of metal. As her fingers touched it it seemingly liquefied and slithered up Shadow’s hand, then manifested again as an arm band.
The armor Fire chose was made of a dark metal, called firesteel. It was a combination of high quality steel, obsidian and blaze powder that needed to be woven in specialized forges. The resulting armor was light, flexible and highly protective.
As they were leaving Shadow also took several pieces of enchanted jewelry, those were intended to serve as large reservoirs of life force she could use to cast spells.
The bags they had packed on the day before were now bundled to a backpack that Fire put on over his armor. Some of the bags were also in their inventories, since Fire had confirmed those would work in Nexus as well.
The two siblings walked down the stone corridor side by side, they said nothing until they reached the elevator that would take them out of the base.
Fire double checked his bags and inventory. “So, we have everything?”
Shadow said: “We should.”
They stepped onto the elevator and slowly started rising upwards. Once they reached the top, they stepped out of the tiny wooden hut that disguised the entrance to the base, Fire in a crouched position.
Shadow said: “I can take us directly to the first tunnel, a two-person teleport is manageable. It was near Drysprings, right?”
Fire gave her thumbs up.
Shadow took a deep breath and concentrated, white glowing runes appeared on her skin while she gathered up the life force for her spell. Those runes were one part of what made her an ascended mage. A few moments later Fire felt a violent jolt, suddenly they weren’t standing in the jungle anymore, they now were only a few steps away from the tunnel.
Fire routinely checked if everything was still where it belonged, both in the sense of luggage and body parts. Shadow was a very capable mage, but you could never be too sure with teleports. After coming to the conclusion that everything indeed was where it was supposed to be he moved towards the tunnel.
Shadow asked: “This is where it is?”
Fire answered: “Yes, you might be able to feel a slight energy flow. Just give it a bit more power and it’ll open.”
After a short flare-up of Shadow’s runes, the dimensional rift was made clearly visible, she had much more power at her disposal than Fire had when he was world hopping.
“Hold on, let me try something…” Fire muttered.
He took one of the Ender Eyes he had enchanted from a bag and carefully moved it towards the top of the tunnel, it started slowly floating into it and then disappeared.
“We’ll see if it worked when we’re on the other side.”
Fire went first, Shadow followed right after. They emerged at a familiar place, to Fire at least. They were in the middle of a plains biome, exactly where Fire had entered the tunnel when he was on his way home. So the tunnels were consistent, at least this one was. He also noticed, very much to his satisfaction, that he was still connected to the Mencur-Besh’s mental network. It had worked, the Ender Eye he placed in the tunnel got stuck between the worlds and was now acting as a transmitter. He would now have to place an Eye in each tunnel all the way to Nexus. That way he could still be connected to his own world to see if anything changed there. That and in an absolute emergency he would be able to call for help.
Shadow looked around. “So there really is more out there…”
Fire nodded. “You can imagine what I felt like when I discovered that Nexus was not the work of the admins.”
They started walking, there was still quite a journey ahead of them.
Chapter 3: Licking Wounds (Tyron)
“Stay still, Kay,” insisted Tyron, applying some bandages to his back.
“You’re squeezing half the air out of my chest!” Kay muttered. “Lighten your grip a little…”
“Sorry, is that better?”
“Yes, now can we please get this over with and tend to Astro’s wounds?”
“Please stop yelling,” said Fristad.
Fristad and Destiny were both preoccupied physically and emotionally. Destiny was more visibly reserved, staring sadly as she brushed a wet cloth across David’s gaping wounds. Fristad, meanwhile, seemed to be in pain, perhaps even afraid, despite having no emotional connection to the stranger he tended to, and despite having no wounds from the deadly escape attempt.
In time, the wounds of the incapacitated David and Astro were cleaned and dressed. Destiny held her hand on David’s good shoulder. His face was unusually pale.
“I can only speak for myself, but I think the overnight journey from the tower has taken its toll on us,” said Fristad. “There’s no point in us all staying awake at once. We have a long journey ahead of us tonight.”
“I agree,” said Tyron. “Personally, I could use some food right about now. Assuming there’s enough to go around...”
“Knowing what I know now about Steve and Jennifer, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had lots,” said Fristad.
Tyron opened the chests one by one. “You guessed correctly.”
Tyron pulled out four large steaks from the chests. They were passed around between the four of the awake comrades and they began to take bites out of it, Tyron simply chomping away with his razor-like teeth. Kay and Fristad shared a startled look before Kay’s brow furrowed confrontationally again.
Fristad and Destiny ate the meat calmly, but Kay was tentative, surveying the group with a mixture of sadness and suspicion. At least in part this was due to the lack of obvious cutlery. However, after three false starts he did begin to chew away like the rest. He was startled; it was damn good stuff.
“Wow,” He laughed. “This is so much better than what I’m used to! I’ll have to compliment them when they come back.”
“You must have low standards,” remarked Fristad, surprised.
Kay seemed to forget who he was talking to for a moment: “I won’t deny that. Last thing I really ate was something Fire prepared that must’ve had a cliff-face worth of salt in it. Aside from that I usually eat his cooking, and that’s possibly worse.” He gestured to the sleeping Astro, who rolled over as if on queue.
Fristad chuckled at this. “Well then, we’ll have to fix that!”
Kay smiled ruefully, evidently remembering his prejudices somewhat. “We shall, once these guys are safe.”
“Agreed,” said Fristad.
Once he finished his steak, Fristad’s expression suddenly turned sour. “I… really need to get some sleep. Who’s staying up?”
“I will,” said Tyron.
“I’ll stay awake a while,” Kay agreed, looking around for his armour and the other pieces of clothing he’d taken off in the process. “I’m burned but I’ve been long dead if I can’t fight in this condition. I’ll give you some company for the first leg at least.”
Fristad looked toward Destiny, with a look of sadness and sincerity in his eyes. “I think you should sleep too. Emotions take their toll. More than we like to admit.”
She nodded, face empty and eyelids drooping. She stood up and walked over to David, to whom she, cat-like, curled up. A few moments later she was asleep.
Fristad walked slowly towards the beds on the other side of the room, seemingly reluctant to sleep in spite of his tiredness. As he slid under one of the red covers, he lay with his eyes open for a while, before closing his eyes with a sigh.
Chapter 4: Tarnished Hall (The Ender)
The hall was tarnished, littered with bodies and dust. It wouldn’t be like this for long so The Ender decided she had better take it all in while it was still there. It was that damned General according to one of their officers, the dog-faced one. He had gone as far as Astro’s cell and then overpowered his escorts. They didn’t know whether that was his intent the whole time or whether it was a split-second decision. Either way, they’d released a goodly chunk of the prisoners, who had in turn released more prisoners, who had in turn caused havoc throughout the Tower.
Her arm throbbed slightly. She looked down and saw singed scales and was reminded of David’s little trick with the gauntlet. Killed several of her best soldiers. They would not be easily replaced. She could hardly go back to the homeworld, cap in hand, and ask the other generals to reinforce her. She was walking on thin ice with them. They were still intent on conquering the Nether back home and didn’t see the startling range of possibilities out here, in the speckled, shifting mass of creation. They had defeated the humans and the other lesser beings. The Overworld was theirs. Going to the Nether was an old pipe-dream of a grudge and pursuing it would yield no profit.
The Entity had arrived and she had seen two paths. Her people could go and conquer all creation, or they could spend the next thirty years baiting pigmen into traps, clearing out castles and melting away into nothingness.
She knew her path was the one who would truly please the Ancestors…
“Need a potion?” Freak asked, drawing up beside her and waving a pink vial.
The Ender smiled and took it and grunted as her wounded scales reshaped and became bright and new.
“Thanks.”
They turned around and began to wander toward the huge, open door, which seemed to droop outwards as though ashamed. They’d blinded the guards and walked right through. It was an embarrassment.
Freak spoke first as they walked onward: “The Ape is just about done clearing out the East wing. A few rogue Testificates found their way into the armory, but they should be dealt with. Bul will probably be with us any second now, shrieking wildly no doubt-”
At that moment a man shrieked wildly: “What was that?!”
He looked flustered, his suit all crumpled and covered in dust and blood. This was Marinus Bul, the Entity’s steward and/or legal representative. He had been responsible for the negotiation. They should have just taken the Eye and the Crystals.
“The General betrayed us,” The Ender answered flatly. “We’ll deal with them soon enough.”
She hadn’t received word from Silver. The Grey Ones had demanded they be allowed to deal with Kay Mandy personally and they proved impotent. She was ashamed they had once been her own soldiers. Age had broken them. Now she would have to deal with that group herself.
Bul didn’t seem to know what to do with himself. For once, absolutely no words seemed even in the vicinity of his tongue.
“Looks like our master’s troops are back,” sighed Freak. He pointed to a long black line marching along the horizon.
“Good, it’ll be more lucid.”
She grabbed the arms of Freak and Bul and teleported up to The Entity’s chambers.
Sure enough, there it was. Bronze-coated and red-eyed, the Entity sat in its throne. She had tried to gain its attention earlier, but it was spread thin in a raid on World 32. It had manifested five times in that battle and there were several other manifestations Night-knows-where. This was as close to a prime meridian as the Entity had. Was this the first body it took? Who had it been before its influence? Maybe this was someone it had once cherished. Maybe there was no body in there and this was its most pure and undiluted form beneath the armour. The Ender didn’t care.
She cleared her throat. Its head lifted and stared right at her.
A voice stripped of emotion and which echoed no matter what volume it spoke at sounded: “Yes?”
“General Mandy’s part has departed. They have severely reduced the prison population. In particular, he took his friend and his former cellmates, leaving us deprived of-”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But I thought we were-”
“The raid on World 32 was a success. The Wizard’s college is under our control.”
“Oh,” The Ender nodded, a realisation creeping through her until: “So, you decided to go ahead with that plan.”
“Yes. In spite of your objections.”
“And you-”
“We now have procured 527 new magic-users. I estimate 487 will survive the march home. Maybe 500 exactly if you adequately prepare at the primary work-site.”
It began to pick at the ends of its white gloves, starting to edge them slightly closer to coming off. It never fidgeted, so this was a calculated and deliberate threat. Its red-glass eyes bore through her and though she’d never seen it show any emotion beyond interest or apathy, she was certain it was furious with her now. As close to fury as this constantly swirling husk was capable. The incoming light of dawn seemed to shake with fury on every part of it. The rubified eyes, the bronze seam. All seemed caught up in the restrained blaze. The Ender struggled not to quake before it, then it twitched and she felt herself released from its gravity.
“Yes, sir,” The Ender bowed her head. “I’ll be right on it.”
“Excellent. After that, you are to immediately set about relocating the General and his fellow escapees. Freak, Bul,-stay. Discussions… are necess-ary.”
Bul shot her a snide, cruel look as she left. Freak furrowed his brows and became interested in the floor, but otherwise showed no opinion.
She left the room quicker than intended. She teleported away as though an arrow had been fired at her, and even as she walked away and began to bark orders in Endish tongues, she could hear the twang of bowstrings, and the whistle of wind through feathers.
She had to prove her worth, fast.
Chapter 5: Simply Distractions (Fristad)
I feel an intense, dry heat. Each breeze seems to burn my skin as it passes by. I open my eyes and am greeted with a great contrast of light and dark. To one side, cavernous cliffs of red stone cast shadow upon sharp rock piles. To the other side is a great, flat sea of shining, churning magma.
I have a strong conviction in my mind that this is the Nether I know from books. Yet, somehow, I feel as if I have been here many times before. There is a sense of solitude here, as if the rocks beneath my feet belong to me. And yet, I feel a growing fear building within me. And it’s not the monsters.
Perhaps the magicians put me in another one of their experiments, to force me into a dangerous situation. Perhaps a situation which forces the Book to take control…
I look around me. The cliffs are so barren and red. There is nothing resembling life except the occasionally two-legged porcine corpse.
I feel a wall with my hands for a sturdy grip, hoping for a way out somewhere beyond it. But then, my arms twitch in surprise, tearing loose rock, as a familiar voice echoes just behind my head.
“There is no need to do that.”
I turn around as fast as I can, and see the figure which I recognize as a manifestation of the Book. In spite of all the negative feelings I felt when I heard that voice, the moment I see the figure, I feel relieved.
I smirk knowingly. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Is it?” the figure replies with glee. “I was hoping you would say that.”
The figure conjures a dagger and puts it in my palm.
“Ever since you crafted the enderman armor, I feel like we have established a special bond, one which transcends speech. I want you to prove it to me.”
A cow appears before me. A sudden fear grows within me, begging me to stop, but nevertheless I plunge the dagger into its neck. The creature howls and turns to white smoke before I can process the motions, the memories so fleeting I feel as if I have done this hundreds of times before. The habit of obedience. The habit of trust. I hate it.
“Why did you kill the cow, Fristad?” says the Book, testing my motives.
“Because I thought that’s what you wanted me to do.”
“Do you understand what that implies?”
“It means I will do anything for you, even things you don’t tell me to do,” I say, “Do I really have to say it? Why must you put me through this? I’ve already endured so much suffering just to prove my loyalty to you. If you have any mercy at all, then please, don’t make me kill people as senselessly as you made me kill that cow!”
“Do not worry, Fristad,” says the Book. “If I really wanted you to kill people, I would forbid you from feeling remorse. However, there is something I wish to forbid. From now on, you are forbidden from protesting my desires. Do you have any objections, Fristad?”
Suddenly, I feel as if a piece of myself is torn from me and shoved into a bubble. The bubble seems to buzz with anger and fear, screaming repeatedly “no” and “resist” and “wake up.” But in spite of the strong feelings this bubble feels, I can no longer act upon them. I can only respond to the Book with silence.
“Of course you cannot act upon those feelings. As much as you may still feel attached to those feelings, Fristad, you must understand that they do not matter. They are simply distractions!”
My fellow escapees from the tower appear in a circle around me, from the armored Steve and Jennifer, to the wary girl, to the mage which Kay considers a friend. All stand before me, awake yet still, as if stuck in a stupor. I fear for their safety, yet can only stand and watch.
“One of the people who stands before you will become under your control: a friend to you and I, just as we are to each other. You get to choose which one… but not now.”
The people vanish.
“I will wait until tomorrow evening before requesting your decision. If you do not state a person, or for any reason protest or resist the decision, you will be forced to endure pain and terror far beyond anything you have experienced before.”
I feel a hint of happiness and excitement from the Book, as if it looks forward to punishing my disobedience.
Then, the figure and fiery world around me vanish. I am still, suspended in darkness.
“You are no longer forbidden from protesting my desires. The consequences are yours.”
Chapter 6: Peacetime has ruined me (Kay)
The light of the torches was dim but constant, scarcely flickering so much as waving. It was strange to me; too perfect and too impenetrable. My eyes were heavy and my back ached badly as I fumbled with the straps of my breastplate.
“By Jeb,” I whispered to the green man, Tyron. “My back is gone. Sorry about snapping at you back there, it really bloody hurts.” I bent over chuckling in agony and he seemed to smile.
“What happened to you that messed your back up so much?”
“Two large fireballs were thrown at me. I knocked one away and had to block the other one… with my back.”
“Ouch,” Tyron winced.
“In hindsight, I probably should have just dodged it but that wasn’t nearly heroic enough.”
Tyron laughed.
“Nah, I get you,” he nodded. “I did some crazy things in my time as well. I’ll have to tell you about them some day.”
“Why not now?”
His face went very serious a moment. “I’ve got to find out if they meant anything.”
I remembered a phrase being touted recently. It was coined by some journalist when describing the Thaumic crisis, saying it was like being “kicked in the soul”. Tyron had just reminded me of that kick, and how harsh it had been, and who the kicker had been.
“I understand,” I gave up on fiddling with my breastplate, set it aside and placed a hand amidst the fur on his arm.
The silence was long, but there was a comprehension in it, an understanding.
“So, what’s with our little sword-friend?” I hoarsely muttered. “He’s been awful quiet.”
“Hello!” It chirped. “Kir! Kay: new friend?”
I laughed loudly at the shock of it but then covered my mouth. David shifted his fevered brow slightly but didn’t wake.
“Friendly little thing isn’t he?” I beamed. In my head I accepted its offer of friendship. The colours within my mind lit up and my mood with them. It was pleased.
“Yes, he’s a vein of bluestone. It’s a sentient rock. Don’t know what I’d do without him. We’ve been through it all - the dragons, Herobrine, the First and now this.”
I nodded.
“And what about you?” Tyron asked, the slant of his eyes taking on a more friendly angle. “You and Astro?”
I deliberated, thinking back over it all. If I could tell Warnado and if I could tell Fire, I could tell him.
“I won’t say we go way back, but it feels that way. Met him about four years ago now in Zine Craft - wealthy Craft in the Old Continent. He helped me out after I got into legal trouble, helped me build an airship…” I felt myself even then getting lost in the nostalgia but pressed on. “Then - it’s complicated. My house was blown up, I was arrested for treason and then I ended up working for…”
I looked him in the eyes and was terrified at what the reaction would be. “Listen, I know this is not viewed as a good thing to do in interdimensional circles but I assure you, it is fine where I come from. At least, it is now. It should have been before too but it’s complicated.”
“Oh come on,” Tyron waved a hand. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
I felt my cheeks going red and realised the thickness of his claws.
“Well, I don’t think it is. I’ve just mentioned it and at least two people I’ve met so far have been rather appalled when I mentioned it-”
“Is it embarrassing?”
“No.”
“You didn’t become an exotic dancer or something?”
“What, no!”
He laughed voicelessly at my indignation. Kir seemed to find it hilarious.
“Then what is it?”
I breathed deeply. “I became a general of Herobrine in a war against Notch.”
Silence.
“Not good,” Kir seemed agape at this.
“Thats - fine,” Tyron stared off into the distance, teeth gritted.
“I know he does genocidal things across other worlds but this one is different. I swear. We didn’t even want to go to war. Israphel started it-”
I kept trying to project images of what happened to Kir, but I did it way too fast and the response was “Slow, slow!” I was panicking a little so I just kept going. Jeez, what happened to my nerves? I needed to get back in command of something.
Peacetime was ruining me. Hah! “Peacetime”.
“Okay, seriously, slow down. Kir’s trying to relay it to me, and I can only keep up so well.”
“Sorry”. I slowed my mind apologetically.
A long pause as Tyron’s face contorted as if he were sucking something close to a million lemons. Then, at last, speech.
“I have no clue what you’re trying to communicate. All I can piece together is that this Herobrine seems totally different to the one I killed. That’s enough for me. Different strokes for different worlds I guess. It’s cool.”
“Oh thank Jeb,” I laughed, no longer caring too much about those sleeping. “I was terrified for a second. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really need to fall asleep now. I am dying. It’s a pleasure to meet you though.”
“And you too,” Tyron shook his head, looking as if I were the most singularly strange thing he’d ever seen. Excellent, I was winning ground back from Fire and Warnado in the aggressive quirkiness department.
I saluted and collapsed back onto a bed on the other side of the room, only half-aware of having walked to it. And I settled into my usual slate of strange and unsettling dreams.
Chapter 7: In Transit (Fire)
They walked through the different worlds quickly, only stopping to eat, drink or to place Ender Eyes in tunnels. The only other stop they made was in the world where Fire… Claw had killed the hunters since they wanted to inspect the scene once again. The blood was still on the ground but the bodies were gone, so was the satchel of diamonds Fire had left there.
They finally arrived in the small, distorted clearing in Nexus. It was in the middle of the night when they came out of the tunnel. Fire could still feel his connection to the network, weak and full of static, but it was still there. They quickly left the forest and went to the road, from there to the town. Before his departure Fire had made sure that his room would remain reserved for some time. They arrived at the tavern without further problems, after greeting the owners, Fire and Shadow went upstairs. Fire laid down on his mattress and Shadow magically projected one for herself.
The next morning Fire checked a small apparatus he had built, a bit of redstone hooked up to a clock. According to the redstone charge, significantly less time had passed in Nexus than Fire had spent on his journey. He had assumed something like this but this was the confirmation, time passes differently between worlds.
Shadow woke up, stretched and yawned. She asked: “So, we’re supposed to look for somebody, right?”
Fire answered: “I overheard some talk about a prophet and his congregation being near here. They also talked about his guard called Steve. Now, with everything being Minecraft based around here, Steve should be a fairly common name, I even ran into one in the Tower. I do remember Kay talking about a Steve as well, who may or may not be the same Steve as this prophet’s guard. Anyways, we go out and find them, we’ll probably meet someone who has a bit more insight into the situation at hand.”
Shadow got up and yawned again. “Good plan. Now excuse me while I finish waking up. Haven’t actually slept in a few months.”
Chapter 8: Far Away Now (Destiny)
Kay, Amanda, and Warnado reluctantly woke up that evening, as the whole group prepared for a full night’s journey through the forest. Even Astro was finally awake, and able to stand with assistance. Kay was glad to have him back.
The same could not be said for David, who still needed to be carried by the others. Destiny grew increasingly restless as the night went on. She squeezed David’s hand, telling him that everything would be alright.
Another night turned to dawn and the group made camp underground once more. Tyron and Jennifer carried David into the room and set him down on a bed which Steve had placed, to try to make him more comfortable.
“He’s not looking very good,” said Jennifer, “or sounding very good, either. He’s barely breathing.”
“He’s strong…” Destiny insisted. “I know he is. He’ll overcome this, just like he always does!”
“We can’t just stand around and do nothing!” said Tyron.
Astro raised his hand from where he sat. “I can help him.”
Kay turned toward Astro with a look of disbelief. “Not in that condition!”
“He’s far worse off than me. I can’t just sit here and watch him die. Help me up, Kay.”
Destiny’s sad eyes stared softly at David’s closed lids.
Astro approached slowly, his arm over Kay’s shoulder. He bent over the bed, rested an arm on the sheets, and placed his hand on David’s chest. He closed his eyes and his brows furrowed in concentration.
Suddenly, David gasped, and his eyes opened.
“David!” said Destiny, a tear falling from her eye as she smiled.
“You’re alive,” David said, eyes watering in happiness. His voice was whispy and faint, as if the words themselves had run some distance and were about to collapse. “The gauntlet…”
“It’s gone,” said Destiny, eager. “The endermen, too. They’re far away now. We’re safe.”
“That’s wonderful. I can’t wait to… I’m so…”
David’s voice trailed off and his eyes closed.
Astro winced in pain. Kay grabbed him before he could collapse onto the bed.
“There’s no time!” insisted Tyron. “Is there anyone else that can help him? Warnado? Fristad?”
Warnado stood frozen in place, staring at David.
Fristad shook his head in sadness.
“Warnado?”
Warnado broke eye contact. “I can’t.”
Destiny continued to stand by David’s bedside as the others, at a loss of what else to do, finished building the underground bunker and planned out their shifts. As many of the others went to sleep, Destiny stayed awake.
She whispered to David, still smiling faintly, recounting all the times they shared together:
“Do you remember that time we were running by those bluffs… I pushed you off and grabbed you, and we were flying over the ocean? Or maybe that one time we were fighting alongside each other… they stabbed me in the back, and I was trampled. The others assumed I was dead… but you didn’t, and you fought through them and pulled me out? Or the cave?”
“We’ve always been there for each other” she said, “and I’m still here for you.”
Doubt flashed through Destiny’s mind as she wondered if David could hear her. His face looked strangely still. Destiny pressed her fingers against David’s neck, and then burst into tears.
An hour later, as Destiny’s tears went dry, it became clear that David was gone forever. Kay walked up to Destiny and put a hand on her shoulder, consoling her.
The whole group ascended to the surface, where they helped carry the body some distance from the shelter. Steve dug a hole with an iron shovel, but it was far too big. Tyron and Fristad ended up digging it in the pouring rain which burned orange in the light of the declining sun.
Steve looked about himself sadly, then went off and fashioned a tombstone from a sign. This only lasted a few seconds, and the others were still digging, so Steve stood uncomfortably beneath the shelter of a tree. Kay was stood beside him, still too wounded to be of much help in the digging. Astro was propped against the tree, barely conscious, bleared eyes floating about Destiny.
“What was his full name?” Steve asked after a long silence, spinning the sign by its handle.
“I don’t know,” Astro sighed without looking at him. “That’s strange... He told me quite a bit about himself back at the Tower. Didn’t mention his second name.”
“No clues?” Steve pressed, eyes pained.
“He said he was reincarnated from a guy called Carter,” shrugged Kay.
“David Carter? Sounds about right.”
“I didn’t say that was his name.”
“Then why tell me that?”
“I don’t know. I was thinking perhaps they had the same last name.”
“Okay. What was his last name?”
Kay looked at Steve earnestly: “You’ll have to ask her.”
He nodded at Destiny, who stood staring at the growing grave. The rain was pelting down on her.
For a second Steve thought of calling out to her and asking, but he couldn’t conceive a way of saying it. He would always come across too casual or falsely interested. Hi! What’s the surname of your dead lover?
“David it is.”
Jennifer and Amanda came back with a large bundle of flowers, and wordlessly handed it to Destiny.
Warnado was sat in the branches of another tree, staring down at David’s body.
As Destiny watched the body of David be set into the grave and the dirt be filled on top of it, Destiny couldn’t help but feel as if the man she loved was being buried alive, and felt like she should stop them. But she didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.
Her lover’s death felt so sudden… so senseless. Destiny hated the endermen for taking him away. She hated the tower. She hated this dimension.
The soil above David was smoothed out, and the grass replaced. Destiny walked up to the patch of grass whose seams were barely visible, and scattered the flowers atop it like flour or like dust.
Chapter 9: Shelter (Tyron)
When evening came again those who remained resumed their journey.
As the moon shone high above them, the trees thinned out, and the grass became long and crackled under their feet. The shadows of scattered buildings against the starry sky could just barely be seen at the edge of the horizon, along with a faint orange glow. As the shadows of the buildings rose, the group began to step over rows of crops and pass by sleeping cows and horses.
They then stepped onto cobbled roads, passed the first dimly torchlit buildings, and scouted out an inn.
One building in particular looked promising. It was three stories tall, and the first story windows and half-open door shone with a welcoming light.
Kay stepped into the entryway and looked around. In front was a short staircase with steep steps. To the left was a door, locked. To the right was a dining area, mostly empty. A few cups and plates were left on the tables, and a couple benches were knocked on their sides. In a far dark corner of the room, four shadowy humanoid creatures with glowing red eyes sat around a table playing poker.
Kay beckoned for Tyron to follow him as he walked toward the shadowy group. As they got closer, they could see that the creatures wore dark clothes which matched the color of their skin.
“Excuse me,” said Kay, “would any of you know where I could find the innkeeper?”
“He’s asleep,” replied one of the creatures, “but you can talk to the guy in the kitchen.” The creature pointed to the doorway opposite the front windows.
“Much obliged.”
Kay and Tyron entered the kitchen, where a man stood at a table, reading a book as a pot simmered over a fire.
The man at the table turned around. A brief flash of annoyance went across his face before he composed himself. “You here for lodging? For food? Or…?”
“Nine - eight of us are just looking for a place to stay the night,” said Kay.
“You have money?”
Kay looked to Tyron, as if suddenly realising the absence of a loyal friend.
“I’ll go get Warnado. He has some,” said Tyron.
Tyron left the kitchen, and a moment later Warnado entered.
Warnado reached into his pocket and squinted in concentration. The kitchen man reached his hand out expectantly, only to have his hand covered in raspberry jam, with the glint of gold coins beneath the sugary slime. The man’s eyes widened in a mixture of disgust and surprise.
“Don’t worry, it’s just raspberry jam,” said Warnado.
“Um…” the man replied. “I think this is enough. Hold on a minute.”
The man rid himself of the jam as best he could with a rag, then left the room. He returned with a handful of keys, which he placed in Kay’s hand.
“Your rooms are on the third floor, nearest to the end of the hall. You can stay until noon, then you have to pay up again. But please…” the man added with a groan, “use clean coins next time.”
Warnado nodded absentmindedly.
The group walked up the stairs. Tyron and Steve struggled the most to keep their feet on top of the narrow steps. There was a curved pattern wallpaper on the walls in relatively good condition, and the banister’s carved design was intact and varnished. But the wooden steps creaked like they were a century old, and it was doubtful that they could sustain the weight of so many people for long.
As the doors to the bedrooms were unlocked, each of the travelers eagerly crawled into the beds and drifted quickly into nighttime sleep… except for Destiny, who lay awake, brooding David’s death.
Chapter 10: The Nameless (Kay)
When I closed my eyes in the tavern and rolled over into peaceful sleep, I did not expect to see so soon after. It wasn’t that I woke up - it was as if my eyes had never closed. Instead I had simply changed the scene I was looking at.
I was in the cave I had slept in several days before, when I had been among friends. It was nighttime. Beyond the ledge there was only fog.
I ruminated on this place of safety I was parted from. Before fate had ensnared me in another adventure. But now I had not even the rewards of earlier quests. No friends. No money. Not even a title that was worth a damn.
I felt very tired, older than my years and rather feeble urge to cry.
Then, I realised I was not alone. I turned, elated. But it was not Him. I should have expected that. Herobrine has made silence a habit.
Instead there was a radiant woman clad in white. Grey eyes. Pale skin. Slender as well. Quite attractive. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t have thought she were real.
She spoke:
“You must be Kay.” A warm smile smouldered on her face. Her voice was faintly ethereal. “It’s about time we talked.”
“Yes I am,” I answered warily. “Who are you?”
“Sorry,” she responded, the smile not fading. “Rude of me, especially when you desperately wanted to see someone else. I am the Lady of Dreams.”
She paused. I got the impression this was supposed to be reassuring if not impressive.
“I’m still waiting on a name.” I cracked an impatient smile to hurry her on.
“I’ve no name but my title.” Still that smile. It was genuinely affectionate, but I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. “My kind don’t have names.”
“Yes,” I cocked my head. Was she trying to withhold information? “And let me guess: are you here to contact me in my dreams to encourage me along on my quest? Possibly dictate to me what that quest is? Perhaps you aided one of my comrades in a previous quest. Actually, you don’t work for the other Steve, do you?”
She seemed confused.
At first I felt presumptuous, but then felt my mind being searched. I could have stopped her quite easily but I left that information open. It was better hold onto that card for the ideal moment.
“No,” she said, seemingly unaware that I’d detected her efforts. “I don’t know him personally, but our goals are perhaps similar.”
“Then, you should know I was reluctant to help him.”
I felt the searching again. Again. I didn’t try to stop her. She was hurrying. Something had placed her under pressure and she was in a rush to converse with me, possibly with someone after.
“Yes, I assumed.”
“So, have you enough information to convince me, or do you need to read my mind again?”
“Yes.” The smile was gone. A more grave and worried air took over. “Thank you, I was wondering if you’d say something. Sorry about such a rudimentary method; I’m in a hurry.”
“I can imagine.”
She breathed deeply before beginning: “I won’t pretend to know the situation; I’m not from here. I just sensed a troubled soul who might do with someone to talk to. It’s my job, so to speak. I don’t know what’s happening in this strange little world. I’m not sure I want to know. I do want to know what happened to you.” She smiled sincerely and reached out a hand. “I’ve helped a lot of people this way; let me help you too.”
I was rather tempted in that moment.
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
“Is it really that difficult to trust me?” she laughed.
I sat down on a rock and laughed too. I thought about it as I did so, looking at the spring. I tried toying with the speed of the flowing water - something small she might not notice. It slowed to a crawl. Good. I was at least part-way in control here.
“Well, is it?”
I looked up from the spring.
“Yeah, actually,” I said unapologetically, letting my accent slip into Thaumic brogue.
With that I expelled her from my mind. It was as though she slammed through the cave wall and shattered the world like glass. I felt myself slip between the cracks and into empty spaces that nightmares flowed through readily. Hamish’s split face, the Endling hordes before Zine’s walls, the cold I’d felt after I took a bullet for Him in Arcadia, the ashes of all my homes and more were in prominence.
But most of all, I was cast back to the last moments of the battle for Zine Craft. Not Notch’s death. Not Jeb containing Israphel. Instead, I remember how Israphel used the Eye to open the End and shatter half the city. As dragons burned the sky and the screams of thousands rose through the smoke, I fell through the cracks between worlds. I floated in that silent realm and I stared into the searing dark and in it I felt a power, a presence, older than Herobrine or Notch or Israphel. And I thought I felt it reach out towards me, to take me and consume me.
That night I kept coming back to that blackness, and imagined the horror lurking within.
And this dread lasted every second of that night. Each moment felt like a lifetime, and I believed I’d be an old man by the time I awoke, sweat on my brow and my breathing leaden.
Chapter 11: A Lead (Fire)
As they walked the streets they got even more strange looks than Fire had gotten when he was traveling alone. It was understandable though, the people were used to humanoid creatures with vastly different looks. Abnormal humans like Shadow were still a rarity, although some of the looks were definitely not ones of distrust or aversion, the opposite was the case. Shadow turned to Fire and smirked, confirming his observations.
At random they approached a woman. Fire asked: "I have heard rumors about a prophet, do you happen to know where he is?"
The woman was a bit surprised by being asked something like this by someone like Fire but then she answered: "Yes, he preaches on a tall hill to the east of here, I've been there a couple of times myself. Most of what he says is nonsense but occasionally there are things he foresees that actually happen how he said, if you interpret them a bit more loosely."
Fire thanked her and then continued moving.
Shadow asked: "Where exactly is 'east' in Nexus?"
Fire pointed. "That way. The cardinal directions are based off the Tower's four main wings. They become more useless the further you move away from it since less and less people know about them. I think I have actually seen that hill on the map the Ender showed me, it should be a few hours away from here, assuming we would travel at normal human speed, I think we'll get there a bit faster."
"Let's go there then."
They took the quickest way out of the masses of the town they could find, then turned east. A lot of the way would be plains but the hill itself was surrounded by a dark oak forest. Fire could tell that Shadow was quite excited about the entire situation, he would be too if he hadn't been at the negotiations personally. The Entity's presence alone was imposing, it clearly was nothing to be easily messed with. He was worried about the implications of what he had found out so far about the Entity's expansion plans. He'd have to find out more sooner or later, the prophet was a first step in that direction.
Chapter 12: Grand Revelations (Fristad)
I feel aware of my surroundings, but my eyes are closed. There is an unplaceable chorus of chattering voices playing in one of my ears, quiet enough that I could easily ignore it and go back to sleep.
Part of me wishes that I could. But a larger part of me recognizes I have a role to play, that we’re all trying to figure out how to get back to our own worlds. And I’m certainly no use to anyone if I’m just laying around in bed!
I sit up and open my eyes, then flinch away at the unexpected blinding light of the window.
Then, I remember with dread another role I have to play… a promise to the Book I must fulfill. I don’t know the girl’s name. I wish I never find out, but I know that once it’s all over, I will know a lot more about this girl than just her name.
I feel a comforting feeling… and a brief moment of happiness. For a moment, it numbs the sensation of dread.
“It will be easier if you don’t resist me so much,” the Book insists, with benevolence that nearly feels genuine.
But I resist it, drawing from seemingly emotionless memories of morality. Then the dread returns.
I slide my legs off the bed and shove aside the faded quilt blanket. Now, where the heck are those voices coming from?
A made bed, a sealed door, and two flights of stairs later, and it seems the source of the commotion was just the inn’s dining area. I quickly recognize Kay and Tyron chatting at one of the tables, with Steve, Jennifer, and the others sitting there too. Jeez, I must have overslept!
I sit at the empty end of their bench and find myself sitting across from the quirky magical boy who calls himself Warnado. That’s a hard name to forget. But the girl I dread to see is sitting right next to him. I try not to think about that.
“Would you like some soup?” Warnado asks. “It’s on me”
“Sure, Warnado.”
Warnado stands up and walks away. Dreading the idea of engaging in conversation with the girl I’m supposedly about to enslave, I turn toward the rest of the table and see Kay’s friend sitting next to me, turned away, in what appears to be a very engaging conversation with Kay and Tyron. Seeing no good way of entering their conversation, and knowing how strange it would look to stand up from the table and find other company, I decide that the only reasonable way to counter the Book’s sole presence is to talk with the girl herself.
“You never did tell me your name,” I remark to the girl.
“Amanda,” she says, “and I actually don’t know your name either.”
“Fristad Heltz,” I tell her, “from Veridale of the Farlands. I’m an animal farmer.” I decide to talk longer, to stall until Warnado comes back. “I have a farming partner named Jonas. He’s an enderman halfblood, believe it or not. And my best friend. Aside from that, I’ve had a pretty ordinary life. Perhaps too ordinary, for some.” I motion to the motley group sitting with us. “Although I guess there are some aspects of my world that aren’t so ordinary to people from other worlds. Even something as simple as the food I eat. It seems people from other worlds have fundamentally different ways of cooking!”
Warnado returns and places a bowl of soup and a spoon in front of me. The smell is unusual, but still makes my mouth water.
“Thank you, Warnado,” I tell him, before immediately diving my spoon into the soup, only to spit the first spoonful out as I realize it’s very, very hot.
Amanda bursts out laughing.
“See?” I tell her, pointing at the soup, “like that!”
“Is there something wrong with the soup?” Warnado asks.
“Depends. Is it normal in this world for soup to be this hot?”
“...Probably?”
“We have to go, Fristad,” someone says to me. I look up, and it’s Jennifer.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Everyone’s leaving the inn because of someone called ‘The Prophet.’ It seems important. It might tell us something important about this world.”
I resist the urge to sigh, and stand up from the bench, momentarily glancing at the unfinished soup before following the others out of the inn.
“The Prophet speaks again!” someone proclaims ahead, just audible through the din of an excited village crowd. “An era of darkness is upon us!”
I look at Jennifer with confusion, and she responds with a sympathetic nod.
Steve walks up to her. “It’s not far from here,” he tells her. “I think we should visit this prophet, and see what he’s all about.”
“I agree,” says Jennifer.
“Warnado’s found a carriage that can take us.”
We maneuver through the crowd to a carriage at the edge of town, one of many. As carriages load up and depart, some people run toward the moving carriages and climb onto them, while many others travel on foot.
Just ahead of us, Warnado hands the driver of a large carriage a sum of coins, and opens the carriage door.
I climb into the carriage just behind Jennifer. Destiny and Tyron sit across from me. A couple townspeople enter behind Warnado before the door is closed and the town drifts off behind the edges of the carriage windows.
“So… who exactly is this ‘Prophet’?” Steve inquires from the townsperson sitting across from him.
The townsperson, a man wearing a thick, coarse-fibered vest, with a goatee in need of trimming, turns his gaze toward Steve. “No one truly knows who the Prophet is or where he came from. All I know is that he speaks the truth, as handed down from the gods of many worlds.”
“Gods of many worlds?” the other townsperson replies skeptically. “I don’t think I’ve heard that explanation before.”
“How else can it be explained?” the goatee townsman responds rhetorically. “We all come from different worlds, each worshipping our own gods, and now our people and our worlds have been brought together. Surely that must be the will of the gods.”
“So that’s why there are such abrupt changes in terrain…” Steve responds with realization.
“What about this ‘era of darkness’ that the Prophet is predicting?” I ask. “Any idea what that’s all about?”
“It could be anything,” the other townsperson says. “That’s why I want to hear more of what he has to say.”
“Let’s not beat around the bush. An era of darkness is never good news,” says the goatee townsman. “The wrath of the gods, certainly, but beyond that I don’t know. This combined world is new. There cannot have been enough sins to justify the punishment of the gods. Perhaps this future of darkness is the work of evil gods who have taken control.”
I try to make myself more comfortable in my armor, despite the jerking movements of the carriage over bumpy terrain. I really wish there was some way I could take it off.
“Do we know if this era of darkness is connected with the champion?” the other townsperson asks.
“What? The one who will command the forces of life and death?” says the man with the goatee.
“Yes, that one.”
The man strokes his goatee and thinks for a moment. “You may be on to something.”
“I certainly hope it’s the case. If something bad is about to happen to our world, I hope there would be someone who could stop it.”
I find the man’s theories distinctly unsatisfying. Another hero’s prophecy? All predicted by some man that no one knows, who answers to gods engaged in some unknown battle for good and evil? There has to be a more concrete explanation. Gods don’t give hints when they want something that badly from mortals. At least… my gods don’t.
As the carriage continues onward, Kay engages liberally in conversation with his fellow riders, his mage friend following suit. Every once in a while the mage’s eyes lock with mine before he turns away his gaze a moment too soon in discomfort. It seems that whatever feelings Kay has about me have been passed on to his friend. The Book brushes across my mind a sense of intrigue and suspicion toward the mage, feelings that I do not disagree with.
The sound of echoing voices begins to come in through the carriage windows. The voices grow louder until the carriage starts to slow.
Then, the voices suddenly go silent. And in the place of all the voices which went silent, the cry of a single voice is barely audible.
I leave the carriage with the others and find myself at the back of an incredibly large crowd on the side of a rocky hill, with a small but dense forest around it. At the top of the hill stand two people, seemingly the source of the single voice crying out.
I have to focus in order to hear the words of the lone voice, and even then they are not completely audible. One moment, I hear bits and pieces of a story of brothers and sisters engaged in a feud. Another moment, I hear a broken analogy of throwing different sized stones against a wall. Yet later, I hear a story about a creature - what kind exactly I cannot say - laying still at the base of a waterfall. On and on the voice rambles stories, with seemingly no connection between them. There is something almost anxiety-ridden to the voice’s pitch, as if at any moment its speaker could collapse dead on the ground. But over time, I develop a hunch, a guess, to the voice’s distant and uncertain words. It revolves around a single theme, and that theme is… “sleep.”
Not all the stories seemed to be connected to it. As far as I could tell, they were almost all detached moral proverbs. But every once in a while, I would catch a word that stood out of context, which I could not identify at the time. “Rest.” “Death.” “Sleep.” “Dream.” And then every once in a while, I would catch pieces of a story that did not seem to have a happy ending. Natural disasters and murder, generally. These stories would usually end abruptly. The voice would then pause for a moment… and then return to the proverbs.
I look toward the furry green man standing next to me, who calls himself Tyron, and give him a look of confusion. I do not want to disturb the crowd of people in front of me by talking over the distant voice, but I hope I can get some assurance that I’m not the only one who hears something dark and disturbing from that voice on top of the hill.
Tyron notices me a moment later and nods toward me, his annoyed face seemingly saying, “Tell me about it.”
Eventually my mind starts to drift and lose focus from the distant voice. Why are we all at this hill, anyway? More importantly, why are we all here, people from many different worlds, in the same world? Is this a common occurrence? No, it can’t be normal. That wouldn’t explain the abrupt changes in terrain that Steve mentioned earlier.
Which leads me back to the same existential questions: Why here? Why now?
Could the Book be somehow connected to all this? No, that can’t be the case. Steve and Jennifer seemed surprised when I told them about the Book, and they seem like honest people.
That just leaves that one mysterious criminal stronghold we escaped from, with an unexplained interest in the artifacts possessed by Steve, Kay, and Jennifer… and an unexplained desire to establish contact with other worlds…
If the prophet is right about an era of darkness coming upon us, could it not be the work of the gods at all? Could that criminal organization really be powerful enough to attract the attention of the gods? And the gods brought us all here to fight it? No, that’s ridiculous. That would imply that the gods are too weak to handle their problems themselves.
After I disengage myself from my thoughts and listen closely to the words of the distant voice again, the words eventually trail off into silence. The crowd begins to dissipate and echo with indistinct chatter. I follow Tyron and the others back to the carriage, where we encounter a pair of unfamiliar visitors.
One is tall and covered in formidable, sleek black armor from head to toe. The other, about half the size, wears a black robe clinging closely to its form. Long, straight white hair hangs out of its hood. Its skin, just visible beneath the hood, is nearly the same shade of black as its robe, and its eyes glow red. And the creature, despite its size relative to the tall armored one, stands with confidence, with a hardness to its gaze that could almost be perceived as a subtle sense of superiority.
“Can I help you?” Kay asks the two black figures cordially.
“Hello Kay, I wondered when I’d run into you again,” says the figure wearing the heavy black armor.
“So soon?” says Kay, “and you aren’t immediately threatening to kill me or arrest me? Not that I’m complaining, of course. I’m more than willing to discuss our differences peacefully in spite of what happened at the Tower.”
“Oh, you must think I’m one of the endermen from the tower. Sorry about that. This should help you recognize me.”
With that, the armored figure lifts the helmet off their head to reveal a white-haired, scaled black face with red eyes. I recognize him as the enderman hybrid who gave me that painful healing potion and sat at the table during the conversation with the tower’s crime leaders.
“Fire!” proclaims Kay. “You took your time! Oh who am I kidding? By bloody Notch it’s a relief to see you again.” He reached over to clap a hand on his shoulder, but could only reach his forearm. “Who’s your robe-wearing friend?”
“That’s Shadow, she’s my sister.” He pauses, seemingly remembering something. “I went on a voyage through different worlds back to my own in order to get some supplies, she decided to come along.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Shadow. I must admit I’m a little jealous you get to come here of your own accord. Enjoying the scenery?”
With a smile Shadow replies: “Oh, the scenery is interesting, if a bit abrupt at times. The ambient magic is also a lot stronger than I’m used to.”
“Oh, so you must be a wizard of some kind?”
Fire answers instead of Shadow: “I told you about her before we met Warnado, remember?”
“Of course, I apologize. It is a bit difficult to keep track of everyone given all the interesting characters we’ve met lately. Which reminds me…” Kay pauses for a moment. “David didn’t make it. Wait, I don’t believe you’ve met him. Don’t bring it up around Destiny. But yes, to make a long story short, we met a few people in the Tower, and on the way out… things got a bit chaotic. There may still be some unsavory characters searching for us.”
“I guess we have some catching up to do,” surmises Fire.
“We all do.”
With two more members added to our motley group, we each step up into the carriage. Fire looks around intently, evidently intrigued by all the unfamiliar faces.
“That was definitely a thought-provoking speech,” the more skeptical villager chimes in.
“I’ll say,” I tell them. “Subtle references to sleep? Random stories of earthquakes and homicide? All hidden within a cryptic series of religious proverbs? No wonder everyone’s crazy about this guy. I really hope he’s wrong.”
“The Prophet is rarely wrong,” insists the speculative villager.
“How can you know that?” asks Steve.
Shadow chimes in: “The longer you listen the more becomes clear, at first you notice words and concepts, with time it’s entire sentences that are quite often relevant to someone in the congregation.”
“I’m guessing you’ve met with a good fraction of all the people who came to this congregation and asked them about it?” I question sarcastically.
Again, Shadow smiles. “I have spoken to most people who come here regularly, I have ways of being in more than one place at once. Though, none of them have yet figured out the grand revelation behind the words.”
I raise my brows in intrigue and perhaps a bit of fear. “I guess I’ll take your word on that.”
“You have the grand revelation then?” Kay smiles wistfully.
Shadow replies: “I never said that, I have not spent a great amount of time here after all. It might also be that we’re missing some critical pieces of information.”
Kay stares at the sun shining partially through the window of the carriage: “We Thaums have a tradition called the Generational Story. Different generations of the same family continue the same story with faint alterations. Genuinely, you reach a major plot point, and it switches generations and the major plot point we just saw is recontextualised. That speech is probably tripe, much like most Generationals, but could we consider the proverbs are all linked in some way? At the very least there must be a common theme or motif?”
Fire explains: “Multiple in fact, you already know about ‘sleep’, which seems to be the most common one, other ones are ‘growth’ or ‘twilight’ for example. The Prophet never repeats anything he says so there will be a point where enough of whatever he knows is revealed to piece everything together.”
“Is that so?” I say mildly.
Despite my skepticism, I can’t help but notice how Fire and Shadow seem so sure of themselves when they talk about the Prophet, despite being only briefly familiar with his existence. It’s as if they know something that I don’t, and I want to find out what that is.
“Pardon me for being skeptical,” I continue, “but how can you be so certain that the Prophet is telling the truth?”
Shadow says: “Normally we wouldn’t be so quick to trust but the Prophet is the only existing source of any information about this world, as far as we can tell there are no natives, at least none that we’ve met. It also strikes me odd that some of the prophecies do happen as foretold, in a frequency that can’t just be random chance.”
The speculative villager interjects. “It happened to me once. How did it go exactly? Ah, yes! The Prophet said, ‘large will crush small, and the small will shatter like a raining sky.’ Just a few days after his fortelling, the very thing happened after I fell a tree. It got stuck perched over a group of shorter trees, and when I freed it, it broke them under its weight and the sky rained with their splinters! If you want I can tell you about a few more that happened to some friends of mine if that wasn’t enough.”
“One is fine,” I reply, feeling somewhat frustrated with it all. Whatever knowledge Fire and Shadow have, they aren’t going to share it so easily. But that knowledge isn’t enough. We still wouldn’t know how we got here, or how to get out. And I’m still stuck with the Book.
Even as I remember it, its presence flashes briefly across my mind, reminding me of my dangerous duty to take control of Amanda. Her face is just one of many riding in the carriage. How long would it take for people to notice?
Chapter 13: Catching Up (Kay)
The loosely affiliated group of dimensional strangers departed the carriage at the village, slightly larger than before.
“Any idea what we’re doing here back at the village?” asked Warnado.
“Well, it only seemed like the logical place to go since there would be other carriages moving through here and villagers who could offer us valuable information,” said Fire. “I already know about the geography in this region thanks to my ‘information trade’ with the Ender, but that knowledge can always be expanded upon. But aside from that, no, there’s no reason for us to be at this village specifically.”
“We might as well stay here for another night to rest,” suggested Steve.
“Agreed.”
The group weaved through the crowd and arrived back at the inn, and entered. The dining area was bustling with activity, evidently from the carriage passengers which arrived before them.
“It’s pretty crowded in here,” Kay noted. “Let’s hope the rooms are still available.”
“I can make it happen,” Warnado assured him.
“Don’t waste all your money in one night,” Kay warned. “Steve and Jennifer can always just use their superhuman strength to dig a cellar.”
“That’s probably going to be in violation of multiple zoning laws,” said Warnado, as he walked away into the dining hall crowd.
Kay frowned and walked over to Astro to confer with him. “That kid still confuses me sometimes. Any insight on that new girl, Shadow?”
“It’s... more the lack of insight,” said Astro. “The girl is completely devoid of any magic or life signs. Even a rock has something resembling energy. But this? It’s the complete lack of energy. I can’t explain it.”
“Could it be that Shadow is masking her power somehow?”
“If that’s true, she’s not doing a good job of concealing that she’s doing it.”
“Good point,” said Kay. “I’ll go talk to her, see what she’s hiding.”
Kay walked over to Shadow. “So, Shadow, have any interesting backstory you want to share?”
“If it’s about my lack of life signs, no I am not masking them, they are just not there. It is one of the effects of the ritual that made me an ascended mage.”
“Ah, I see you overheard my conversation with my buddy Astro. It’s all nonsense to me, but what sort of wizard are you? Clairvoyant, maybe? Airbender? Blew the words over to your ear? Open portals in the world to creepily stare at folks? I’ve seen my fair share of unusual powers, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that you never can tell what a wizard is capable of. So, which was it then?”
“Where I come from, what I did is called Ender magic. What I just used was a magical ear, nothing more. Reading minds undetected is usually harder. But I also do get that question a lot, so part of it was expectation. I’m not sure if you want to know about my full range of capabilities but they can be described briefly. Before my ascension I mostly did summoning and telekinesis, after it… anything became possible. Anything except for rewriting the laws of reality, that is reserved for gods or local equivalents.”
“I see. I’m sure Astro would be fascinated to hear all about it.” Kay did his best to conceal his mix of surprise and disappointment. “Sorry to be curt, but I’m just going to report.”
Kay walked back toward Astro.
“It seems like Shadow isn’t holding anything back,” said Kay, “opened up to me about her ascension ritual and everything.”
“Ascension ritual?” asked Astro for clarification.
“It’s some ritual where she lost the outward appearance of life in return for some very strong magicking powers. Actually, now that I think about it, sounds like something with a lot of negative consequences; maybe I’ll ask her about it. She can hear us, by the way…” Kay glanced briefly in Shadow’s direction before continuing. “Anyways, she reminds me of Fire in a way. Powerful and knowledgeable. She could be a valuable contributor to our… what are we, exactly? Should our group have a name?”
“It’s only been a few days, Kay. It’s a bit early for those sorts of things.”
“True, although it’s never too early for a boost in group morale. Although staying at the inn one more day will probably do us all good, assuming the Entity’s henchmen don’t barge into our bedrooms in the middle of the night.” Kay’s eyes darted warily at the door with a look of suspicion that conveyed first-hand experience. Then he turned back to Astro. “Hey, look! Warnado’s back!”
“I told you I’d make it happen,” said Warnado smugly. “Although, to be fair, it wasn’t that hard. I never gave him our old keys back.”
Warnado tossed a key each to Kay, Astro, Shadow, and the others.
Kay stored the key away and glanced at the front door of the inn a bit restlessly, before procuring a harmless grin. “I’m going to see what there is to do in this little village. Maybe chat with the locals about current events, find a pub, that sort of thing. Anyone care to join me?”
“I think I’ll stay behind and talk with Shadow for a while,” Astro said. “There are some questions I want to ask her about her magic.”
“Me too,” Warnado responded eagerly.
Kay avoided glancing at Destiny and Steve as he worked out in his mind who next to recruit on his little day expedition. “Fire! Tyron! Care to join me on a little village reconnaissance?”
Fire said: “Sure. I did arrive a bit before you but most of the time I was busy brewing a potion or hopping between worlds. Never really explored the village.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Tyron agreed.
“Excellent!” said Kay, starting to feel a bit more positive. “Fristad! What about you? Interested in checking out the village with us?”
“I… haven’t decided yet,” replied Fristad, his voice distant, as if distracted.
“Okay then. Feel free to look for us if you change your mind. We’ll probably be in the nearest pub, so ask about that with the locals and you’ll come across us,” said Kay. He turned toward Fire and Tyron. “Shall we?”
Kay, Fire, and Tyron walked out the door and into the village streets, which were still crowded with people who had arrived from the hill of the prophet, although at least now there was enough room for the three of them to navigate without constantly having to bump into people.
Kay scouted the facades of the nearby buildings and pointed out a building he spotted as they walked around a street corner. The three of them headed toward it.
“So, Fire,” summarized Kay, “you’ve been hopping between dimensions the past couple days, and brought that mage girl Shadow back with you - she’s your sister, correct?”
“Right,” said Fire.
“Your real sister?” Kay asked, with a gesture toward Tyron that inquired as to whether it was okay to tell him.
“Yes, she is human and in fact my biological sister in my other world,” Fire answered bluntly. Tyron looked confused. “I’ll explain another time.”
“I just wanted clarity. Thanks… And I told you about our somewhat chaotic escape attempt from the tower, and our journey through the forest using Steve and Jennifer’s quick assembly underground bunkers?”
“You didn’t tell me how it all got started,” said Fire.
“I guess I didn’t,” said Kay. “After our negotiations with the Entity, Warnado and I decided to explore the tower. After passing through some large halls and odd rooms filled with junk, we found ourselves in the tower’s prison. That’s where we found Astro, Tyron, Destiny and David...” He trailed off. “They were a tad imprisoned.”
“The Entity was not as kind to us at first as it was to Kay and the others,” said Tyron. “One minute we’re in our own respective worlds, the next we’re being abducted, taken into the tower and detained in a cell. Later, this guy called Bul somehow knows all the major events of our lives and tries to recruit us into one of their nefarious schemes. When we refuse, they send us back to the room, we fight to escape, but end up beaten and detained in the prison.”
Fire said: “Interesting. After I travelled to one of the first worlds beyond Nexus I noticed some deformations in the surroundings. That and what I learned from the Ender lead me to believe that Nexus is absorbing other worlds, or rather has absorbed worlds in the past. For some reason it stopped. Your worlds must have been very close to Nexus, which would explain your surprising transition.”
Kay nodded. “We broke them out, of course. In fact, Warnado broke a goodly chunk of the prison to help cover our escape. That’s when Warnado and I made ourselves enemies of the Entity, along with Steve, Fristad, and Jennifer, who joined us during the escape. We fought our way first through the usual armored guards, and when it was clear we weren’t going to give up easily, the endlings got involved. We just made it out of there alive, thanks to Fristad and Warnado. With the exception of David, as you already know.”
At this point, the three of them were standing at the counter at the back of a bustling tavern. Kay spotted a woman with two hands full of empty glasses marching behind the counter and waved to her to get her attention.
“Tyron, you want anything? Fire, any special requests?”
“Not this time, I’ll just get whatever you’re getting.”
“Same,” said Tyron.
Kay turned to the woman. “What kind of drinks do you… oh, never mind that! Just get us three of whatever those guys over there are having,” Kay said, pointing over to a group of five people at a nearby table who he assumed knew a bit better what they were doing in this dimension.
The woman nodded and left, still holding the empty glasses.
“So, when you said you might still have ‘unsavory characters’ following you, you meant the Entity’s endermen,” Fire concluded.
“Unfortunately,” Kay responded.
“I just remembered something,” said Tyron. “There’s one other thing that happened while we were at the tower. Fristad had experiments done on him by a group of wizards using some machines.”
“Fristad…” Fire mused. “He wasn’t in the Entity’s records. Perhaps they did experiments on him to fill the gaps in their knowledge. Do you know what kind of experiments were done on him?”
“He didn’t say,” said Tyron.
“Notch only knows what it was. Invasive surgeries on house guests sounds like the sort of scheme the Entity would be involved in,” Kay noted with disdain. “He and the Silhouette sound like perfect bedfellows. The more I learn about the two of them, the more I dislike them. But as far as I know, they’re our best chance of getting back to our own worlds. Aside from Fire, maybe. And that Prophet guy, assuming your Shadow’s right and he’s not just spreading a bunch of standard mad-wannabe-messiah-preaching-on-a-hill nonsense. Speaking of which, Fire, do you have any new ideas on how we can get back to our worlds?”
“I’m afraid not. The only reason I was able to return to mine was because of the mental connection I have to other Mencur-Besh, I was able to use it as some sort of dimensional compass. Some of your worlds might be close enough to be mapped by the Entity’s scouts but I wouldn’t consider them safe since you already got taken to Nexus once.”
“What do you mean by ‘close’?” asked Tyron. “Do the people in your world have some sort of dimensional knowledge, like a map or something?”
“In my world we weren’t even aware that other worlds even existed up until I was transported to Nexus, we just have some research on our laws of physics that could be applied to the fact that they do exist. And yes, worlds can be ‘close’, just with an added dimension. As I said, I have found distortions in the terrain directly next to Nexus, which has lead me to believe that Nexus may have been ‘stealing’ parts of other worlds at some point.”
At this point, three glasses of an unknown, light-colored alcoholic beverage thudded onto the table in front of Kay, Fire, and Tyron. The bartender inquired for payment, and Fire presented a small bar of gold, which seemed to satisfy her.
Kay took a sip of a glass. “Well I certainly am not going to stand around and wait for nothing. The Prophet may be one of many local oddities - might be wise to ask around. Or perhaps there are others with valuable information about the Tower. Actually, the latter is quite promising. Warnado did break that whole prison. It’s likely we’re the first to arrive in this town, and others will follow.”
“You have a point,” agreed Fire. “Although, if enough prisoners arrive in this town, it is likely that the Entity’s soldiers are not far behind. I won’t have to hide because I helped them with one of their issues, all of you though...”
“Could be killed? Get thrown into a dungeon never to see the light of day? Get tortured painfully for a very long time before being fed alive to a pack of rabid dogs? See our loved ones abducted and used as leverage to force us to do horrible things?” replied Kay. “All within the realm of possibility. Honestly, It’s more fun that way; to win knowing what could have happened if you didn’t.”
“That’s rash and irresponsible,” responded Tyron.
“You can leave this village any day you want, Tyron,” Kay replied, smiling in playful defiance and taking another sip of his drink, which he was starting to enjoy. “Can’t blame you. I, for one, would think twice about getting involved in one of my schemes. Speaking of which… I’m still working on one. Need more information, though. Nothing concrete, just a hunch. Even a pleasant little town like this is bound to have some dark secret somewhere or another. I just need to look in all the wrong places.”
Chapter 14: Elements (Astro)
Astro looked from left to right. Shadow was beside him, while Warnado stood at a slight distance as if to observe them. The inn was still bustling, with people occasionally weaving through the foyer and between Shadow and Warnado.
“Shadow, we’re both quite learned wizards,” Astro began, “I think it would be beneficial for both of us if we discussed our abilities more in depth. How about it?”
“Yes, I would like to learn more about your abilities as well,” said Shadow.
“And Warnado?” Astro added, a bit reluctant but well-meaning.
Warnado’s head perked up at the sound of his name.
“A mutually beneficial exchange of magical knowledge and abilities? Sign me up!”
“Then let’s head up into one our rooms,” suggested Astro, “so we don’t have random people eavesdropping on our strengths and weaknesses.”
Shadow nodded in agreement, and the three of them headed up a narrow staircase and into a room, with Warnado closing the door to the room behind him.
“I am going to cast a spell which blocks sounds from coming in and out of the room,” Shadow proposed. “It should prevent mundane attempts at listening in.”
“Go ahead,” said Astro.
Shadow glanced for a moment toward the door of the room, and a white rune came into existence on the surface of her lower cheek, glowing briefly before fading imperceptibly into the blackness of her skin. Suddenly the unconsciously audible rumble of the outside crowd voices, street carriages, and occasional bird chirps ceased to be heard, leaving only the sounds of Astro and Warnado’s breaths. Shadow, who lacked breath or even a heartbeat, made no sound at all. Astro could not help but be unsettled by this, in spite of his previous knowledge of Shadow’s lack of life energy.
Then, Shadow took in a breath in preparation to speak. “That should do it.”
“Since we’re in a soundproofed room, I’ll ask the obvious question, Shadow,” said Astro. “Why aren’t you breathing? Or, more to the point: given your lack of any life signs or energies whatsoever, how are you still alive?”
Shadow explained: “I exist in a state of equilibrium, I do have energy inside of me but of opposing elements so to the outside it looks like I have none at all. Though, you are right in your questions, I am technically not alive, neither am I dead nor undead. I lack most things that a normal human needs, like blood or a metabolism in general. All of my muscles are actuated by my magic and when I eat something it is also quickly broken down into energy.”
Astro’s brows rose. “That’s… interesting. Right, ‘elements’ … How do those work in your world?”
“Magic is a single uniform force in my world, able to influence almost all aspects of reality, rewriting reality itself is not something we can do though. It can also take on different forms that only influence certain aspects of reality but are easier to handle, these forms are called ‘elements’ in my world. For example the Air element gives its user control over both wind and lightning. The opposing force to Air would be Earth, though that name is not indicative of what it actually does, Earth is used to alter the caster’s own body.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” said Astro. “Our concept of elements is much the same but is purely academic - it doesn’t really have any practical application anymore. It’s just a matter of knowing what you have available. Magic-users don’t really engage in elemental specialization and just go with what they find easiest or most enjoyable.
“The main difference between users is the source of their power and its limitations. In my case, I was born with it. There are also Thaumaturges, who use a material known as thaumium as a magical fuel source. Thaumaturges are mostly pretty rudimentary in terms of the magic used - very military-focused and really just like having firepower. There’s academic debate as to whether they aren’t just particularly advanced and aggressive enchanters but we don’t need to get into that. And then there are the administrators and moderators…” Astro trailed off. “Servants of the True Court, appointed by Notch - well, Jeb, now - and granted power from the Wells. They sort of run things, at least when they’re not bickering amongst themselves and spreading war and misfortune in the process.”
“Moderators?” Shadow inquired.
“Yes, why?” Astro asked.
“I need to explain another peculiarity about my world first. The world I entered this one from is artificially created, it can be accessed from the world where I was actually born. That world is one without magic but highly advanced technologically. There are other artificial worlds but none are as advanced as the one I came through. The ones creating and managing these worlds are known as admins, their assistants as moderators.”
“An artificial world inside another world, connected to this world? Sounds advanced alright. So what’s so special about these moderators of yours?”
“I was simply intrigued that the word exists in both of our worlds for different yet similar roles. At this point I can imagine that the overlap is actually fairly big, though with something like magic we may have different words for the same underlying force.”
“Yes, it does seem that way,” said Astro. “So, you basically have all these opposed elements inside of you, doesn’t that mean you can just use whatever sort of magic?”
“The element known as Ender is actually what allows you to do anything, though it is harder than using the specialized elements. It’s the difference between setting and healing a bone with your mind and letting specialized magic do it for you, there are also things that have no corresponding special element. As for me, I have access to both the easy and specialized magic and the difficult and flexible magic.”
“So you’re a magical generalist, sort of like me. We likely share quite a few abilities. We could learn a lot from each other,” said Astro.
Astro turned toward Warnado. “What about you, Warnado? How does your magic work?”
Warnado shrugged. “I don’t know. I just use it when I feel like it.”
“Do you at least know where it comes from?” Astro asked.
“It runs in the family,” Warnado said tersely.
“Is that why you have that cute part demon-looking face?” asked Shadow.
“How did you know that?!?” Warnado responded with embarrassed irritation.
Shadow chuckled. “The spell hiding your face actually proved somewhat difficult to circumvent without breaking it, it lacked any patterns usually found in spells of trained mages.” After a short pause she added with a sly grin: “But don’t worry, your cute part demon-looking face is safe with me.”
“So, Warnado, you can use some illusion magic, if that’s the right word for it in your world,” Astro surmised. “I’ve also seen you conjure tools and weapons a few times… and occasionally food, which is actually impressive. But it’s hard to grasp the extent of this ability: whether you can only do those pre-determined things, or if you can also use magic more flexibly.”
Shadow remarked: “There is actually something in my world that could be at least similar to his state. When someone discovers their magical potential, their life force gains a will of its own and when presented with the right situations it will apply its power in a way that somewhat lines up with its owner’s will. Magical training consists of fusing your life force and your will together so that eventually the power is completely under your control.”
“Supposing Warnado does have that form of magic,” Astro mused, “how could it be uncovered?”
“To be precise, I wouldn’t call it a ‘form’ of magic as much as a state of control or lack thereof, I’m pretty sure that this can occur with a variety of power sources,” clarified Shadow. “But to answer your question, the best way to uncover it is through training.”
“You wouldn’t happen to be able to provide that sort of training, would you?” Warnado asked.
Shadow smiled. “Depends. There are specific magical abilities which would help the training advance at a reasonable rate. In particular, the ability to sense spells as they are being cast around you. This would allow the apprentice to adjust their spells to match the spells cast by the teacher. This helps especially in the earlier stages, when the apprentice is still learning how to form a spell properly and control its flow in order to conserve energy.”
“I can do that,” said Warnado. “Well, I wouldn’t say I’m an expert of telling the difference between a necromancy spell and the magical effects of outrage-inducing clickbait, but I’m sure I could manage.”
“So,” Shadow said. “How about you try casting a spell, any spell you have cast before and would recognize.”
Warnado clears his throat. “Alright then, here goes nothing.”
Warnado stretched his arm out and a light blue light spread outward from his palm into a shape of a ghostly, translucent battleaxe.
“Great,” said Shadow. “Now, I want you to close your eyes, and pay attention to the magic coming from me. When the magic stops flowing, tell me what you felt.”
“Okay,” said Warnado, as he closed his eyes.
Shadow opened her hand, and the same light blue light poured out from her palm and expanded to form a battleaxe just like Warnado’s.
“That’s my battleaxe!” Warnado proclaimed.
“Yes, that’s right,” said Shadow. “What about this now?”
Shadow opened her other hand, this time not energy came out of her palm but solid stone, growing into the exact same axe that her other hand was holding.
“Some sort of earthbending,” Warnado answered. “Like, stone appearing out of nowhere.”
“You can open your eyes now.”
Warnado opened his eyes.
“It seems you do have some ability to sense magic coming from others,” observed Shadow. “You are best at recognizing spells you are familiar with, but have the ability to determine the structure of unfamiliar spells. That’s a good start.” The ethereal and stone material of the battleaxes in Shadow’s hands crumbled and returned to her palms. “For now, I believe I have a good sense of you and Astro’s magical abilities. Astro, are there any additional questions I can answer about my abilities?”
“I am satisfied,” said Astro. “And you?”
“I am sure there is much we can learn about each other’s abilities, but for now yes, I think this is a good start,” Shadow said.
“I do appreciate the candor that you and Fire share. It’s refreshing,” admitted Astro, reflecting sorrowfully of the many secrets he had to worry about, a fact of his life best left unsaid.
“I imagine this will be the first of many future fruitful exchanges of magical information,” concluded Shadow. “Any further words before I take the sound barrier down? Or perhaps I could leave it up for a while.”
“No need,” said Astro.
“I could do with a bit of action right now,” responded Warnado.
A rune flashed on Shadow’s face, and the muffled cacophony of the crowded village returned.
Chapter 15: Ravine (Steve and Jennifer)
Jennifer knocked on the inn door cautiously. “Destiny, are you in there?” she asked.
When there was no response, Jennifer sighed, opened the door, and went inside. Steve and Fristad stayed just outside of the door, looking into the room with worry.
Destiny lay on the bed on her side, with her arms curled around her knees, staring outward silently. Her face was red and wet with tears.
“Thinking about David?” Jennifer asked.
Destiny nodded.
“You cared about him very much,” Jennifer said.
Destiny sniffled and nodded eagerly, as a new tear streamed down her face.
“It’s not easy, losing someone you love like that,” Jennifer acknowledged.
“You don’t understand!” Destiny said. “We weren’t just close. We were inseparable. We fought in wars together. Our love stretched back so far and so deep that it was before we even existed. We were literally predetermined.”
“I may not understand completely, but at the very least, I get you’re hurting and I know hurt,” said Jennifer, her voice becoming firm. “And there are two things you can do in that situation. You can either be by yourself, and try to figure out how to deal with the pain on your own, or you can reach out for help, knowing that people maybe don’t understand completely what you’re going through, but usually have the best of intentions.”
“Thanks, I guess, but I don’t really need some generic advice about how to cope with loss. It should be pretty obvious I’ve already chosen to deal with it on my own.”
“Okay, then,” said Jennifer, tone flattened by offence. “If you want to deal with it out on your own, then I won’t ask about it again. Actually, the real reason I’m here is because I wanted to ask if you’d like to join us for some scouting of the land around the village. Steve is coming along,” Jennifer pointed out the door toward Steve’s back. “He’s my usual partner in crime; I’ve known him for years. And that just past him is Fristad. He’s…” Jennifer hesitated for a moment, thinking of how to describe Fristad without mentioning that mysterious book. “...from a different world from ours. But he’s pretty nice once you get to know him.
“So what do you think?” Jennifer continued. “Want to blow this village potato stand and explore the outdoors?”
Destiny gave an exasperated sigh. “If David were here, he’d say yes, so I guess I’ll go.”
“Great!” said Jennifer, with a wide grin.
Steve, Jennifer, Fristad, and Destiny descended the inn stairs and entered the streets of the village. Their appearance and demeanor were sufficiently different, that if one saw them walking separately, one would never suspect they knew each other. Steve and Jennifer walked with the sense of purpose and physical fitness only experienced adventurers could have, and their bulky, full suits of iron armor gleamed like new. To be fair, in this case, they were rather new, although Steve and Jennifer had already spent several days mining underground. Fristad walked with somewhat less grace, still not used to the weight of his new black diamond armor, and his eyes stared out cautiously through the holes of his helmet. Destiny walked more or less normally. The tears on her face were starting to dry and her cheeks losing their redness, but there was still an intense look in her eyes, as if she was searching desperately for someone hiding in the distance.
“By the way, Destiny,” Steve began, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, would you like some new iron armor? We still have a surplus of iron left over from our mining trips the last few days.”
“Thanks, but I’m fine,” Destiny replied in a rushed voice.
Once both the village and the surrounding farms passed behind the four explorers, Jennifer advanced ahead and began to zigzag between various landmarks, crouching down to a stone here, feeling the bark of a tree there. Meanwhile, Steve whistled a favorite tune that he used to sing with his friends back at home. When his song ended, he turned toward Fristad.
“Do you have any songs you like from your world, Fristad?” Steve asked.
“I’ve got a few,” said Fristad.
“How does one of them go?” Steve encouraged.
“Like so,” Fristad said, as he began to whistle a tune.
“That sounds nice,” Steve said, after Fristad stopped whistling. “Is it some sort of classical music?”
“I don’t know,” Fristad said. “I learned it in school when I was a little kid.”
“That’s interesting,” Steve said. “Back at home, me and my friends used to make songs together, mostly just for fun. We even went through a phase where we invented a bunch of musical instruments to go along with them. Well, ‘invented’ is probably the wrong word. Most of them were based off of musical instruments that already existed, and the rest were sufficiently terrible that we discarded them afterward and never spoke of them again. What about you, Destiny? Do you have any favorite songs?”
“Sorry, I’m not in the mood,” said Destiny.
Steve and Fristad continued their conversation for a while. But then, out of the blue, Steve sprinted away from Fristad, cheering triumphantly.
“Steve, what are you…” Fristad trailed off.
“Finally, another cave!” Steve proclaimed.
“What are you so excited about?” asked Jennifer. “We already have plenty of resources.”
“Yes… but do we have diamonds?” Steve asked rhetorically.
“I thought we already established that this part of the world doesn’t have any,” remarked Jennifer.
“That may have been true in the last spot we tried, but remember, this dimension is a patchwork of many other dimensions, some possibly with diamonds. We got lucky that first time after all, got enough for Fristad’s armour. Even a few could help us patch up the armour that got smashed up in the arena!”
“You’ve got me there I guess,” Jennifer replied in realization. “But don’t get excited yet! Let me take a look at it. We don’t know if this cave even goes anywhere.”
“Trust me, I know the beginning of a big cave system when I see one,” Steve insisted, already pulling some torches out from his pocket.
“Even cave systems from other dimensions?” Jennifer grinned. She approached the wall at the beginning of the cave, cupped her hand, and leaned her ear against it. Then, she picked a rock off the ground and threw it down into the abyss, listening to the sounds of the echoes as it fell.
“You’re right, that is a big cave!” Jennifer said.
“Alright then, let’s go!” Steve said.
“Now, hold on…” Fristad said. “Don’t me and Destiny get a say in this? After all, you’re basically asking all of us to go into a dark cave full of monsters on a whim.”
“Let’s go in the cave,” Destiny replied deadpan.
“I... guess I’m outnumbered,” Fristad said.
“Hey, you’re the one wearing enchanted diamond armor!” Jennifer pointed out. “We have to catch up to your level of armor protection.”
“Yea. Don’t remind me.”
“You’re falling behind, guys!” Steve said, his voice echoing in the mouth of the cave up ahead. Already, the entrance to the cave was lit with splotches of torchlight.
“We better catch up to that guy,” Jennifer said, smiling and shaking her head. “Or else… who knows what trouble he’ll get into.”
The three caught up with Steve in the cave tunnels. Already, the tunnel they were in was massive.
“These tunnels are mined out completely,” Steve noted. “Someone must have been very careful to clean up all their torches when they left. Or maybe they just carried one torch with them the whole time? Seems inefficient.”
“The musings of a guy with infinite pocket space,” Fristad declared.
“I was starting to get the impression that it’s the exception rather than the norm,” said Steve.
A few cave turns later, and the ground ahead of Steve gave way to a huge ravine.
“Wow!” said Steve, peering down into it. “I’ve seen quite a few ravines in my time, but this one is massive. I can’t even see the bottom. It seems to be covered by some sort of unilluminated fog.”
As Steve observed the ravine, he reached back into his pocket to pull out a water bucket, then placed the water source against the cliff face. The source expanded into a veritable flood of water as it poured down into the ravine
“I’m dropping into the ravine to take a quick look at what’s down there. Would anyone like to join me?” asked Steve.
“Are you sure that’s wise?” asked Fristad. “A deep ravine from another dimension is bound to have dangerous monsters.”
“It’s only a quick look,” argued Steve. “Besides, any diamonds we find are going to protect us from danger in the future.”
“I’ll stay up here,” said Jennifer. “If Steve does find something dangerous, we always have the radio.”
“I don’t have a death wish,” said Destiny. “I’ll stay here.”
“Very well,” said Steve. “I’ll see you all in a short while, which is significantly longer than a jiffy, but hopefully less than twenty minutes.”
Steve jumped down into the ravine, just in front of the stream of water, and his iron-armored body hurtled down until it vanished into the fog.
As Jennifer led the way into a closed-off cave, Fristad couldn’t help but look back behind him and wonder if Steve fell to his death.
“Hey guys,” Steve said, about fifteen minutes later, startling Fristad and Destiny. He was gluing through the water and back into stone. His armour was lined with cracks.
“How was the ravine?” asked Jennifer.
“Not bad,” said Steve. “I found enough diamonds for all of us. I also got a couple ender pearls, a half-stack’s combined of creeper, skeleton, and zombie drops, and restocked on redstone.”
“Huh?” Destiny looked at him as though he had just insulted a dear family friend.
“Okay, even for you that seems improbably efficient.” said Fristad.
“Yeah, it was a weird ravine,” said Steve. “Oh, and I almost forgot, I found this strange, glowing, blueish purple ore.” Steve reached into his pocket and pulled out a sample of the stone, which had an irregular, wrinkled shape. “I have no idea what it is. I haven’t seen this kind of ore in my world before. Any ideas, Fristad and Destiny?”
“No clue,” said Fristad.
Destiny shook her head to convey the same, now looking less offended after realising Steve actually did what he said and this was just sort of normal for him.
“I’ll add that to my list of unsolved mysteries, then,” Steve mused, as he slid the glowing rock back into his pocket. “Anyways, now that we have diamonds, shall we continue our survey of the surface?”
“Sure,” said Jennifer, grinning. “But save some treasure for me next time.”
Steve, Jennifer, Fristad, and Destiny returned to the surface, and as they continued exploring they would occasionally stumble upon a lone hut. Sometimes when Steve would knock on the door, there would be no answer. Other times, its weary inhabitant would open the door from the other side and answer politely, but beyond that the inhabitant would reveal little. But nothing in the course of that trip could compare to the mystery that still hung over everyone’s heads: How did they all get here?
In the mid-afternoon, Steve and the others stopped by the village to sell some of their extra resources. The crowds had died down at this point, the quantity of pedestrians, merchants and cobblers more closely representing the number of buildings the village could sustain. In the distance, Steve swore he could hear Kay yelling about something.
***
They were traveling in the woods when they heard a crack ahead of them. Steve gestured for a halt and looked ahead. Destiny crept up behind him, crystallising an icicle in the palm of her hand. Jennifer followed suit and drew her bow. Fristad lingered behind, watching nervously.
They crouched behind some bushes and saw a zombie meandering through the forest, blood dripping down its chin, flesh dry and peeling. A sick shade of green had set in across the back of the head and neck and was beginning to spread through the arms.
It was turned away. Destiny saw a gauntlet on its wrist. She gasped and it began to turn at the sound.
She didn’t see its face before the icy blade brained it. It slumped to the ground, half its scalp missing, raising the gauntleted hand as if pointing to something before falling over and twitching.
She ran up. Steve tried to stop her but she pressed through his grasp. She had to make sure it was dead. She owed him that. She plunged a spear of ice a metre long through its chest. Blood spattered everywhere.
She looked around. A man in black robes stepped out of the woods, a book of spells in hand. Several zombies surrounded him. He looked quite annoyed.
“What did you do that for? I had it tamed-” A blade of ice struck him in the shoulder and the other zombies burst into flames as she pointed. She hadn’t felt that much power coursing through in ages.
Another spear formed in her hands, still roasting from setting his entourage alight. Steam hissed and she felt pain but she didn’t care. Just as she was about to hurl it at him Steve gripped her wrist. She looked back and he seemed profoundly disturbed. He seemed to be feeling ill. Perhaps it was the smell of burned flesh.
“Destiny,” Jennifer called from behind.
She too looked disgusted. Physically repulsed as she stared at the body. Fristad had turned it over. It wasn’t David. There was a gash the size of a canyon through its already-decaying face, but even with that it was plain this had
She glanced at the necromancer and opened her mouth. He was terrified, clutching the icicle as it melted into his blood. Some halting sounds came from her throat but nothing felt right so she just closed her mouth and walked back off in the direction of the inn, occasionally stopping to scratch at the blood on her jeans.
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
Chapter 16: An Embarrassment (The Ender)
The hall was tarnished, littered with bodies and dust. It wouldn’t be like this for long so The Ender decided she had better take it all in while it was still there. It was that damned General according to one of their officers, the dog-faced one. He had gone as far as Astro’s cell and then overpowered his escorts. They didn’t know whether that was his intent the whole time or whether it was a split-second decision. Either way, they’d released a goodly chunk of the prisoners, who had in turn released more prisoners, who had in turn caused havoc throughout the Tower.
Her arm throbbed slightly. She looked down and saw singed scales and was reminded of David’s little trick with the gauntlet. Killed several of her best soldiers. They would not be easily replaced. She could hardly go back to the homeworld, cap in hand, and ask the other generals to reinforce her. She was walking on thin ice with them. They were still intent on conquering the Nether back home and didn’t see the startling range of possibilities out here, in the speckled, shifting mass of creation. They had defeated the humans and the other lesser beings. The Overworld was theirs. Going to the Nether was an old pipe-dream of a grudge and pursuing it would yield no profit.
The Entity had arrived and she had seen two paths. Her people could go and conquer all creation, or they could spend the next thirty years baiting pigmen into traps, clearing out castles and melting away into nothingness.
She knew her path was the one which would truly please the Ancestors…
“Need a potion?” Freak asked, drawing up beside her and waving a pink vial.
The Ender smiled and took it and grunted as her wounded scales reshaped and became bright and new.
“Thanks.”
They turned around and began to wander toward the huge, open door, which seemed to droop outwards as though ashamed. They’d blinded the guards and walked right through. It was an embarrassment.
Freak spoke first as they walked onward: “The Ape is just about done clearing out the East wing. A few rogue Testificates found their way into the armory, but they should be dealt with. Bul will probably be with us any second now, shrieking wildly no doubt-”
At that moment a man shrieked wildly: “What was that?!”
He looked flustered, his suit all crumpled and covered in dust and blood. This was Marinus Bul, the Entity’s steward and/or legal representative. He had been responsible for the negotiation. They should have just taken the Eye and the Crystals.
“The General betrayed us,” The Ender answered flatly. “We’ll deal with them soon enough.”
She hadn’t received word from Silver. The Grey Ones had demanded they be allowed to deal with Kay Mandy personally and they proved impotent. She was ashamed they had once been her own soldiers. Age had broken them. Now they were Glibby’s problem.
Bul didn’t seem to know what to do with himself. For once, absolutely no words seemed even in the vicinity of his tongue.
“Looks like our master’s troops are back,” sighed Freak. He pointed to a long black line marching along the horizon.
“Good, it’ll be more lucid.”
She grabbed the arms of Freak and Bul and teleported up to The Entity’s chambers.
Sure enough, there it was. Bronze-coated and red-eyed, the Entity sat in its throne. She had tried to gain its attention earlier, but it was spread thin in a raid on World 32. It had manifested five times in that battle and there were several other manifestations Night-knows-where. This was as close to a prime meridian as the Entity had. Was this the first body it took? Who had it been before its influence? Maybe this was someone it had once cherished. Maybe there was no body in there and this was its most pure and undiluted form beneath the armour. The Ender didn’t care.
She cleared her throat. Its head lifted and stared right at her.
A voice stripped of emotion and which echoed no matter what volume it spoke at sounded: “Yes?”
“General Mandy’s party has departed. They have severely reduced the prison population. In particular, he took the wizard Astro and his former cellmates, leaving us deprived of-”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But I thought we were-”
“The raid on World 0032 was a success. The Wizard’s college is under our control.”
“Oh,” The Ender nodded, a realisation creeping through her until: “So, you decided to go ahead with that plan.”
“Yes. In spite of your objections.”
“And you-”
“We now have procured 527 new magic-users. I estimate 487 will survive the march home. Maybe 500 exactly if you adequately prepare at the primary work-site.”
It began to pick at the ends of its white gloves, starting to edge them slightly closer to coming off. It never fidgeted, so this was a calculated and deliberate threat. Its red-glass eyes bore through her and though she’d never seen it show any emotion beyond interest or apathy, she was certain it was furious with her now. As close to fury as this constantly swirling husk was capable. The incoming light of dawn seemed to shake with fury on every part of it. The rubified eyes, the bronze seam. All seemed caught up in the restrained blaze. The Ender struggled not to quake before it, then it twitched and she felt herself released from its gravity.
“Yes, sir,” The Ender bowed her head. “I’ll be right on it.”
“Excellent. After that, you are to immediately set about relocating the General and his fellow escapees. Freak, Bul-stay. Discussions… are necess-ary.”
Bul shot her a snide, cruel look as she left. Freak furrowed his brows and became interested in the floor, but otherwise showed no opinion.
She left the room quicker than intended. She teleported away as though an arrow had been fired at her, and even as she walked away and began to bark orders in Endish tongues, she could hear the twang of bowstrings, and the whistle of wind through feathers.
She had to prove her worth, fast.
Chapter 17: Faces in the Dark (Amanda)
As night fell upon the village, the streets emptied, and the bustling sea of voices was replaced by the sound of crickets and the occasional rustling of a somewhat restless wind. The inn’s dining area was the only source of activity audible from the halls, and even then, by the third floor, most of the noise was lost in the walls.
Amanda laid in her bed with her eyes open, too lost in thought to notice the remaining echoes of activity from the other side of the door. And as her eyes closed and her thoughts slowed, the echoes of the voices and the outdoors faded from her awareness. At the edge of sleep, she was barely aware of footsteps, but her mind assured her that the footsteps must have come from another tenant outside the room. Surely, not from the inside. Surely, she was alone…
As she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a forest on a dark, moonless night. She was acutely aware she was standing upright, but had no knowledge of how she came to this place.
Perhaps I’m having a brief lapse of memory, Amanda thought to herself. I’m sure I came here for a good reason. I’m probably low on that flower that only blooms at night. I keep forgetting the name…
Amanda reached over her back and felt her familiar crossbow in its usual place. She lifted it from her back and pulled on the lever until it was taut. She resumed her analysis of her purpose.
Yes, that’s probably it. I never leave on a trip without those long-lasting night vision potions, unless I’m stupid and run out of the catalyst. I really need to organize my stuff more. Now, where are those skeletons?
As Amanda fingered a crossbow bolt and walked between the trees, it became clear that there were no skeletons nearby, or any monsters at all. In fact, as she kept walking, she still couldn’t recognize where she was, and there were none of her usual navigation markers. She was starting to get nervous. As she reached into her pockets, she found them empty, nothing to light her way or give her any idea why she came here. Then, a disturbing realization occurred to her: she didn’t remember how she got here, or even where she came from to begin with. No home. No familiar faces. No past memories.
Then Amanda panicked and turned her head. She aimed her crossbow and pulled the trigger. The arrow flew between the trees and vanished in the darkness.
I swear I saw a face! Amanda insisted to herself.
The face she saw was only a flash in her vision, too brief to identify. The only lasting impression Amanda could recall from the face was a… deep sadness. And that it was human. And that it wasn’t a child. That much she was sure of.
Old, maybe. Slightly familiar.
Stop thinking about the face, Amanda ordered herself. It was probably just a trick of the shadows. Just ignore it. It isn’t real.
Then a jab drove a deep wound into Amanda’s side and knocked her backward onto the ground. Amanda gritted her teeth against the pain and fumbled with her crossbow, cursing at herself that she didn’t re-span it after firing, that if only she had paid more attention, she could have shot at the thing before it attacked her.
“Oh… I am real... alright,” a disjointed, unidentifiable voice spoke.
The face flashed in Amanda’s mind again. It was a disfigured face, as if two faces had been pasted together.
“Why don’t you show yourself, you coward!” Amanda cried out. But by the time she had her bolt ready and was back on her feet, the face was gone.
“I am… sorry,” the disjointed voice spoke. “If… if only you knew, it... would still make no difference.”
“If I knew what?” Amanda inquired, breathing heavily. She gripped her crossbow tighter, pressing the trigger just softly enough that it wouldn’t fire.
The voice laughed. It was starting to become more coherent. “Oh, you... innocent little girl. So... clueless. So alone. You believe so hard that all your tough talk can save you from what comes next. I… admire your bravery, I… really do. But you’re wrong.”
“Who are you? How did I get here? Why can’t I remember anything?” Amanda demanded, her voice starting to stutter with fear. “I… I swear! I will find you, and I will make you pay for what you’ve done to me! Even kill you, if I have to!”
“Don’t fear the monsters of the dark...” the voice replied cryptically.
Then, it was suddenly clear, this was not an adage, but a threat. The groans and rattles and hisses of countless monsters became audible. Amanda swiveled her head and counted five skeletons not a leap away. There was no contest. She ducked and ran away as fast as she could. Arrows whizzed and thumped as they embedded themselves in the tree bark and the forest loam. Amanda tripped over spiders and shoved aside zombies as she looked desperately for a tree to climb, or some end to the forest of monsters.
But there was none. Amanda kept running, but her breath only got thinner, and her legs only got heavier. Eventually, she could run no more. She tripped and fell upon a rock, and struggle as she could, she could not gather the strength to push herself up with her arms before the zombies grabbed her and the fangs of a spider embedded painfully into her skin.
But then, there was a light. The pain and tiredness and shapes of the forest floor all faded away, and she felt someone grab her hand. In a fleeting moment, the mysterious presence became grand and filled her with warmth. She felt as if she could trust it completely, even give her life to it.
But then, the presence faded and all was dark. Amanda wondered with fear how she could suddenly give such unconditional trust to such a being which she had only just encountered, and seemed intent on hurting her. Then she wondered if, perhaps, between that first encounter and the moment when the same being saved her, an entire lifetime had passed, only to be wiped away. And the thought of forgetting so many things filled her with dread.
Chapter 18: Tired and Distraught (Warnado)
Warnado sat up quickly from the creaky inn bed, rubbed his eyes a few times, and bounced out from the covers with an enthusiasm that was quite unlike him this early in the morning. But there was a reason. Warnado was eager to make a change. And this was just the beginning.
Warnado did a few arm and back stretches, then some push ups, and then a few sit-ups before he got bored. Then Warnado sat on the bed and tried to think really hard about magic.
Warnado was then distracted by the sound of his door opening. Amanda appeared, tired and distraught.
“Warnado?” Amanda said.
“Uh oh, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Warnado said. “I’m not used to getting up this early in the morning.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Amanda. “Actually, I’m really glad that you’re awake. I had a really bad nightmare.”
“What kind of nightmare?” Warnado asked.
“One of the worst nightmares I’ve ever had,” said Amanda. “There was this evil presence. It kept… shifting. Like, one moment it wanted to kill me, the next moment it’s trying to save me… like it wants something from me. And this forest it put me in… I don’t know how to describe it. I felt so vulnerable and alone. There wasn’t even anything out of the ordinary about the forest. I even had my crossbow with me. And yet…” Amanda’s voice clogged up. A pair of tears left her eyes and painted her cheeks.
“That sounds like a really bad nightmare,” Warnado said.
“I’ve never had a nightmare like that before,” Amanda continued. “The fear… it was so overwhelming. And the forest itself felt so real. Not to mention… the presence… it was...”
Amanda’s eyes widened, in panic and dread.
“The presence was what?” Warnado asked.
“I don’t remember,” Amanda muttered, her expression softening.
Warnado’s mind began to compute the situation. Warnado knew Amanda well enough that he couldn’t see her having a nightmare out of nowhere. There had to be some external cause. Most likely a magical one. But if magic was responsible for Amanda’s nightmare, then who caused it? Was it someone in the inn? Was there a traitor among the group? If that were true, either Astro or Shadow must be responsible. In that case, who else could Warnado reach out to who had the magical knowledge to solve the mystery? Nobody, really. Besides, at least one of them is bound to be innocent, and if not, their knowledge of Warnado’s knowledge might deter them from inducing a nightmare again. On the other hand… why now?
At this point, Warnado had a realization. Shadow had just joined the group. She seemed nice… but maybe that was just a mask to hide her real intentions? But if Warnado was wrong, and Astro was the real threat, then telling Astro only would give him a head start to cover his tracks. Warnado had made up his mind. He would talk to both Astro and Shadow about it, to hedge his bets.
Warnado’s mind returned to the situation at hand.
Warnado said firmly. “Whatever this presence is, if it is real, I’m going to make sure it doesn’t bother you again.”
Chapter 19: Tormentor at Large (Warnado)
Warnado was nervous all of the early morning, and he hoped it didn’t show in the sound of the voice, or worse, in his face. He had relied on the veil so long. Knowing Shadow could see his face made him feel more vulnerable than usual, and it raised the uncomfortable possibility that there were other parts of him that were more exposed than he thought.
At one of the inn’s dining tables, Warnado sat sipping the daily soup and noted the presence of Astro, who sat across the table nodding and making the occasional witticism as Kay spun an arguably exaggerated story about one of his past adventures. Meanwhile, Shadow sat next to Amanda and talked and smiled with her. This upset Warnado greatly, but he didn’t say anything and tried his best not to think about it. After all, there was still a significant possibility Shadow wasn’t responsible for Amanda’s nightmare.
The guy in the weird black armor who was with Steve and Jennifer was sitting next to Warnado. Warnado tried to remember the guy’s name to kick off the conversation, in an attempt to be social, but eventually just gave up and tapped the guy’s shoulder.
“Hey you,” Warnado said.
“Oh. Hey, Warnado,” the guy said, with a less enthusiastic voice that suggested he just got out of bed.
Right, Warnado thought to himself, Fristad. That’s his name.
“Fristad,” Warnado began, “when you really want to do something, but aren’t motivated to do it, how do you convince yourself to follow through with it?”
Fristad raised a brow. “Well, what are you trying to do?”
“I’m trying to lose weight,” Warnado blurted out. “Well, actually, not really. But… assuming I was. And let’s say, just for the sake of argument, I really liked eating cookies. And just to be clear… I do NOT have a problem with chocolate chip cookies. I eat TACOS. And it is not an addiction.”
Fristad frowned. “Okay, fair enough. So you want to know what I think?”
“Yea.”
“I think you’re only going to feel worse if you keep ignoring it, so you might as well follow through.”
“Right, but this is a metaphorical losing weight issue, not an actual issue with my physical health,” Warnado clarified.
“I know,” said Fristad. “My advice also applies to women and other human relationships, in case that’s what you’re after.”
Warnado found himself at a loss for words. And feeling more exposed than before.
“Screw it. I am sick and tired of this soup. I’m going to magically summon some tacos. Do you want some?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Warnado fiddled with the remaining grease still stuck to his fingers, and listened to the outside noises fade away as Shadow’s runic spell cast a wall of silence around the inn room. At this point, Warnado suspected Astro was still under the impression that they were all here to discuss more details of their magical abilities. He wasn’t quite sure what Shadow was thinking.
Warnado cleared his throat and prepared himself to deal with the uncertainty that came next. “Guys, I know I said I had some important questions about your magic, but actually, something bad just happened. Last night, Amanda had a disturbing nightmare that seems to have been magical in origin. And I want to know who was responsible.”
Warnado couldn’t help but glance over at Shadow for a moment, before switching his gaze toward Astro.
“Now, I’m not trying to imply that either of you did it, but I also can’t rule out the possibility. If there’s a traitor among us, or one of the Entity’s spies hiding somewhere in the inn, we need to know as soon as possible. Since you two are the only magic users in the group I know of besides me, either one of you could have caused the nightmare. I need to know I can trust you.”
Both of them paused, but after an uncomfortable silence, Shadow was the first to speak: “It’s going to be difficult to resolve this in any positive way… Naturally if either of us was behind those dreams they wouldn’t just flat-out admit it. Any attempt at finding a guilty party could be seen as shifting blame and since we don’t know each other very well we also have no past trust to build on. Still, did Amanda happen to mention a radiant woman dressed in white? If she’s involved I can imagine how the nightmare came to be.”
Warnado considered for a moment whether he should withhold information, but decided quickly that could only lead to more distrust. “Interesting you should mention that. Amanda wasn’t very clear about what the presence in the dream looked like. I think she may actually have forgotten, as if the memory of it was too horrifying to remember.”
“That’s a dead end then. She would have remembered the Lady” Shadow sighed. “She wouldn’t have been in the nightmare anyways, if anything she’d have preceded it. For clarification, she’s a benevolent phantom that lives in dreams but if you throw her out it often results in nightmares. Fire has some history with her.”
“What do you think, Astro?” Warnado turned toward Astro. “Does this kind of nightmare remind you of anything?”
“I’ve had my share of nightmares, but there’s generally a reason behind them,” said Astro. “More reasons than I’d care to admit. What makes you certain Amanda’s nightmare was magically induced? We’ve been through some traumatic stuff these last few days. She was there when David blew his own arm apart.” His voice faltered as he remembered their fallen comrade, his former cellmate.
“Look, I know Amanda better than anyone else here,” Warnado said, frustrated. “She’s not the sort of person who would cry from a bad dream, let alone have a nightmare because of that.”
A small voice in Warnado’s head admitted to itself that maybe Astro was right, maybe Amanda really did just have a nightmare. But then, Warnado reminded himself of Amanda’s face, how distraught she looked, as if the nightmare still had a grip on her…
No, there was nothing normal or mundane about this. Warnado did not have the best control over his magic, but his experiences over the years made him able to recognize when something was magically enhanced.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cast doubt,” said Astro. “I may be a wizard, but when it comes to dreams, I can’t exactly read them like tea leaves.”
Shadow suggested: “As for myself, I don’t have much experience when it comes to dreams either, at least not to magically created ones where regular psychology doesn’t apply. While I probably could induce dreams myself, I wouldn’t risk it if I wanted to do anything with the person I’m inducing them in. Most people would just be flat out driven insane, or worse, if they came in direct contact with my mind. It’s a side effect of the ascension ritual.”
Warnado thought over Shadow and Astro’s words for a moment. As frustrating as it was, it seemed like they were both being honest, at least on the face of things. There was no choice but to hope Astro and Shadow could help him. As long as they were willing to share information, that would bring Warnado closer to finding out what happened to Amanda.
“Okay, so, supposing you both are innocent…” Warnado mused, “who would have the ability to do something like that? And why?”
Shadow said: “I suppose that even if we can’t make sense of the details of the nightmare, a bit more information would be helpful since we could find out the motivation of whoever created it.”
“Good point,” said Warnado. “Although now that I think about it, Amanda didn’t mention many details of the dream. Just that she was in a forest, and that there was an evil presence. I want to ask her about it again, but I’m worried it will make her more upset. Then again…”
“If she’s more calm, she might be able to better describe more details of the dream,” Astro suggested. “Besides, I don’t have any other ideas of how to proceed in the short-term. Unless you have any ideas, Shadow?”
“Logically, if the assault isn’t coming from us, someone else here must have magical abilities, they may not be from our group but they have to be nearby.”
“Nearby… and not leaving anytime soon,” added Astro. “A single nightmare doesn’t strike me as enough to accomplish whatever nefarious goal this stranger has in mind.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Warnado said.
“Wherever they are, they can’t hide forever,” Astro insisted. “Every use of magic has a magical signature. We just need to be around at the right time to detect it. Let’s assume the stranger plans to repeat themself. We take night shifts just outside Amanda’s room.”
Shadow nodded. “We need to keep in mind that Nexus has an extraordinarily strong background magic field, which naturally causes interference and can wash away traces left by spells. Our dream weaver would be difficult to detect without magical means of surveillance, but on the other hand they are likely to be tipped off by any spells we cast. Nexus’ magic field also allows for faster recharging after spell usage, which could mean that they can strike in shorter intervals than we might expect.”
“That’s certainly not ideal,” Astro mused. “And I don’t like the idea of this random guy potentially coming up with some new way to magically torment us, but you’re right. We need to be more subtle in our plans. And more information wouldn’t hurt.”
“Maybe we can try to get more information about the village,” suggested Warnado. “If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll notice something off that will hint about the origin of the dream weaver.”
“That’s a good idea,” affirmed Astro. “In fact, we may already have some leads on that, since Kay, Fire, and Tyron were doing just that yesterday. We should ask them.”
Chapter 20: Heart-to-Heart (Kay)
Right, I’ll be honest, that whole “Look in all the wrong places thing” didn’t work out remarkably well. I went to the magistrate’s office to try and get an audience. Her secretary didn’t even bat an eye no matter how often I mentioned I was an important General. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t even really have a plan once I got in there. Ask the magistrate who the Prophet was? Ask her where we were? Where she was from? Ask what to do next? Ask where I could buy a house and settle down here and pretend I wasn’t interested in anything anymore? Ask when had I become so bad at coming up with a plan? Was I always this bad at it? Was I just carried by luck and bravado? Was I needed here? Was I even needed back home?
So I just ended up wandering around the markets feeling a little put-out and trying to avoid the others. I didn’t even want to look at Fire for some exceptionally petty reason. And something felt wrong about Astro. He looked older, perhaps wiser, but definitely less optimistic. Definitely weaker physically too. The Grey Ones claimed to have waited eleven years. By Notch, could that even be possible? Could I even get back to my world as it was? I felt appallingly alone.
I bought some casual clothing. My usual tastes of cotton sweaters, leather belts and black trousers were easily satisfied so I found myself at a loss as to what to do. I couldn’t even confidently change out of my armour without entrusting it to one of the Brines’ bottomless pockets or the weird blue vortex in Tyron’s back which he occasionally put things into and pulled things out of like a magician trying to get the right animal out of his hat. After arguing with a few merchants over the price of crossbows I found myself back at the inn. I saw Steve and Jennifer eating lunch on the main floor. We’d had something of a reconciliation in the arena but we hadn’t really spoken since and I was in a bad mood so I just waved at them and put on a smile before marching up the stairs.
I lay on my bed for what felt like an age, twiddling with my torn scarf until I decided I’d best go and store some of my armour with Tyron. I could retrieve it at any given moment. A little difficulty in re-equipping myself but we weren’t expecting an attack from the Entity any time soon and we probably weren’t his top priority. He had his business interests to attend to and Warnado had loosed half the prison.
So I changed, bundling up my armour and carrying it overarm.
Tyron was lying on his bed staring at Kir, his body language suggesting they were in the midst of a conversation.
“Hello Tyron,” I said, knocking on the open door. I reached out with my mind and added: “Hello little guy.”
“Hi Kay,” he responded, smiling. “What do you need?”
“Mind if I store some armour in your mysterious blue void?”
Without missing a beat: “Yeah, sure, no problem.”
And so I handed them to him and in a few brief flashes they were stored.
“That all?” he asked.
“Yep, I’m good thanks.”
My mind must have looked sad because his eyes flicked toward his sword and then back to me.
“You sure you don’t want to talk?”
“No, seriously, I’m good,” I insisted, forcing a renewed smile.
“Sure?” chirped Kir in concern. “Seem sad.”
I remembered the Lady.
Something about Kir’s sincerity was convincing. Enticing. I went and sat down in the seat in the corner.
“Tell all about it.”
“Well, I’ll spare you the details of my childhood, so I’ll start with the day I met Astro. You see, I’d recently stolen a chicken…”
And so I told him. I had met Astro about five years before. I was low on funds and Aaron and I were living together. My house. The one I’d been given on arriving in Zine Craft. We wanted to go legitimate. I loved Cossack and Secret and Small and everyone. They were my closest friends and I knew they had my back. But I couldn’t bear that lifestyle anymore.
There would be no more highwayman work; no more collecting debts for loan sharks; no more criminal bollocks. Problem is, once you’ve built up a reputation for yourself as a dodgy ******* it’s hard to get rid of it. Couldn’t even get work in the mines. So I decided to poach on the side to get food. Then they cracked down on poaching so I decided to try and steal a chicken right out of a Moderator’s garden.
I got caught and they put me under house arrest. I thought we were done. About to starve to death or go back to that life. Then, he mentioned a friend of his was coming over. An Arcadian wizard called Astro. Ended up becoming the Administrator’s apprentice.
And he helped me fly again. Gave me funds to rebuild my old airship. To build a business off that and go wherever we wanted. For about three months, life was fantastic. Then, the day it was all rebuilt, they blew up my house.
Long story short, Astro and I had pissed off a Moderator and a captain of the guard respectively and they decided to put us back in our place by bombing my home. I’m still bitter now so you can imagine how furious I was back then. So, I decided to organise a conspiracy to assassinate them, and I predictably got caught and chucked into prison.
That’s around the time I got into Herobrine worship again and then he resurrected himself and I started getting visions. Eventually I and some other Thaums and dissidents were able to organise a mass breakout.
After that, I rode all the way out to Herobrine’s camp. To follow the visions. I rode for a straight week. I stopped to eat twice. I stopped to sleep once. They had to drag me into his tent. Seeing those glowing eyes flicker before me, looking to me like the only fixed point in a world churning like river-rapids, was the happiest moment of my life.
I fought for him to the very last. For Herobrine. For an independent Thaumic nation. To stop the Endlings from carrying out their little plan. I fought, and I tortured and I killed until eventually I found my way back to Zine Craft. I’d assumed the others had had the good sense to get out of there long before the war arrived so you can imagine how surprised I was when I discovered my best friends were the ones raiding my encampment. They didn’t know it was me, naturally. I didn’t know it was them either until I chased down Astro. Astro almost killed me and then almost cried when my helmet fell off and he saw my face. He swears he hadn’t even heard of “Herobrine’s Lap Dog” at that point.
And so things unfolded. They escaped just before we arrived in Capital City and Notch and Herobrine duelled and I was there and Notch died to Israphel and then half the city blew up. Met my old nemesis while I was there too. That’s another story. One I’d rather not go into right now. Best not to dwell on what he did.
I then passed a few weeks being decorated and praised to high heavens in Mojang as Jeb and Herobrine negotiated the new status quo. Then that new status quo consisted of setting fire to the Southern Thaumlands and giving the Inquisition free reign. Because of course Jeb wasn’t really the one we were negotiating with. It was Dinner Bone and Grumm. Herobrine only barely convinced me not to lead a coup. Couldn’t divide the camps, otherwise the Endlings would be back - the full force of the Obsidian Families this time, not the surgical army we had to deal with. The Court of Whispers might have joined them. I still think we could have put up more resistance...
“I only wanted to be with my friends after the first fireships went in. And now, beyond keeping them safe, I don’t think I want any more causes,” said I, numb. I couldn’t remember if I’d started out talking aloud or whether I’d started out streaming thoughts to Kir. I likely faded between the two.
However I’d started, it was Tyron who responded: “And yet, here we are.”
“Yep.”
“Life can be pretty awful sometimes, can’t it?”
“Yep.”
“We’ve just got to keep going.”
“Yep.”
“Can I get an answer that’s not one word?”
I smiled wryly: “I suppose.”
He laughed. “Nah, I know how you feel. It never gets easier. But if we don’t do it, who else will?”
“I think I just wanted the world to like me.”
A gust of wind and light caught the curtain and blasted it upwards and on. I stood up and allowed the wind to drift me toward the door.
“Thanks, this has been a good talk,” I smiled. “You’ll have to tell me your story some time.”
Tyron just looked at me, face unblemished by anything resembling a smile, locked in permanent seriousness, yet an utmost satisfaction and benevolence had crystalized in his eyes.
“Will do someday,” said Kir, with the same wistful kindness.
Chapter 21: Inspector Kay Mandy (Warnado)
After they checked the inn and consulted Jennifer on the location of Fire and the others, the three wizards went into an unusual shop and found Fire and Kay negotiating with the shopkeeper on the price of an enchanted crossbow which looked particularly valuable. It was entirely made of metal and had intricate engravings along its surface. The shopkeeper had a rough appearance, with an old face which seemed almost permanently locked into a scowl, a heavy iron chestplate, and pants that appeared to be a patchwork of furs from about a dozen different animals.
“I am truly insulted by that number. I have many good bowmen customers who would pay good diamonds for the master metalworking in this alone,” the shopkeeper proclaimed as he pointed at the crossbow. “But the enchantment in this beauty is truly something you won’t find anywhere else, I assure you. It makes bolts fly three times as fast and pierce enchanted diamond armor with ease, augments the strength of the bow to last a lifetime, and even enhances the accuracy of the bolt as you aim!”
Fire inhaled somewhat demonstratively. “The crossbow itself is mastercrafted without a doubt but I may have some bad news about the proficiency of the enchanter. Enchanting a pure steel crossbow is no easy task, it has no gold elements to better absorb the enchantment and whoever did this one was clearly quite out of their depth. While the simpler components as the enhanced durability and increased stability are as advertised I’m afraid that the rest isn’t. At most it will make the bolts fly one and a half times faster instead of three and the part that enchants the bolts as they are fired won’t even work properly. On top of that the entire thing is leaky, which means that the lost energy will be taken from the user instead, combined with the energy expense of the complex components this will quickly lead to exhaustion in the average user. Most of those mistakes are salvageable but naturally result in severely reduced value due to the additional required effort.”
“Ah, yes,” replied the shopkeeper. “But the steel is masterfully worked nonetheless, and this crossbow is enchanted, which by necessity must mean it is even higher in value.”
Fire said: “Yes, it normally would. But normally we are talking about things that have an arrangement of basic enchantments of them, which are strictly positive save for a few. This one is different though. As I mentioned, a leaky enchantment absorbs energy from its user to fuel itself, namely in the form of life force. A human with averagely high life force would deplete half of theirs with as little as ten bolts, which is the point where fatigue begins to set in and going even lower gradually increases the risk of death. This crossbow requires the locking of some of the runes, namely those that would enchant the bolts but in reality just vent the energy into the environment. As it is it is not usable and you would even be better off with a plain wooden crossbow since using this one is actively harmful.”
Kay nodded sadly. “You should listen to Fire; he knows his enchantments.” Then, putting on his most innocuous face: “Besides, it would be a shame if someone were to buy the crossbow in its current state and start spreading rumours about the shoddy nature of your goods.”
“Well…” the shopkeeper relented. “I suppose you seem like the sort of people who would make the most of a bow like this. I will accept your offer.”
Fire reached out and handed the shopkeeper a small lumpy bag, which he reluctantly accepted and stepped away. Shadow and the others stepped forward as Fire picked up the crossbow and glanced across the various runes, deep in thought.
Fire muttered: “Huh… leak seems to be caused largely by the faulty bolt enchantment part. The rest is just improperly assembled runes. Might be able to fix this on the spot, maybe not this spot but one that’s a little quieter.”
“Excellent,” responded Kay.
“Acquiring another addition for your armory, Fire?” noted Astro.
“Nah, not this time,” Kay replied, allowing his accent to slip on seeing his old friend. “This one’s mine. I’ve been looking to find a good ranged weapon for a while. So, naturally, I went for the next best thing available. What have you been at?” Seeing the other two magical folks he added: “Warnado, Shadow.” The first had some warmth behind it. The second had some suspicion.
“Shadow, and Warnado, and I are trying to solve a mystery,” said Astro. “Amanda seems to have experienced an unusual nightmare, and Warnado is convinced that the nightmare was magically induced.”
Kay furrowed his brows: “It wasn’t a pale lady, was it?” He shot a glance towards Fire but seemed reluctant to commit to it.
Shadow said: “Maybe don’t throw her out next time. She really does want to help.”
“We’ve ruled out that possibility, unfortunately,” Astro said. “We were wondering if you’ve encountered some local rumors or some townsfolk behaving oddly, which might point us in the right direction. Anything involving magic usage or dreams could help.”
Fire said: “This village doesn’t have much in the way of magic, they were easily impressed by simple pyromancy when I wandered through here last. Still, we are close enough to the Tower that the Entity’s minions might be involved.”
“If there are any of the Tower’s agents in this little town at the moment, they’ve been doing a rather excellent job of concealing their existence,” noted Kay. “That, or, an absolutely terrible job of finding and re-capturing their prisoners. But they definitely have a great deal of influence here. Several of the farmers and a whole variety of professionals have lucrative supply deals with the Tower, and I’ve encountered a few locals who’ve made some deals they’ve regretted with scars to show for it.”
“So… that leaves me, Shadow, and Astro as the only known magic users,” Warnado concluded with disappointment.
“That isn’t quite true,” Astro said. “Tyron and Destiny also have some magical ability. I didn’t bother to bring it up earlier because their forms of magic didn’t strike me as versatile enough to be used to alter dreams, but in light of our lack of other possibilities, we may have to reconsider that. There is also Tyron’s sentient sword, Kir. Psychological torture doesn’t exactly strike me as fitting Kir’s personality profile, but it’s also strangely convenient that Kir is able to project his voice into other people’s minds at will.”
“That’s right. I forgot about that,” said Warnado, becoming angry with himself for not remembering that sooner. “But that makes five possible people who could have induced Amanda’s nightmare. Six, I guess, if you’re including the possibility that I am using this to cover up my own crime. But still… how are we supposed to narrow that down?”
Fire said: “For completeness’ sake I should add that while I can use magic, it is limited to pyromancy and I can only cast if I have an external power source.”
“Okay, technically there are seven magic users, then,” Warnado amended. “Each with varying skill, but in light of our lack of information we can’t assume we have the abilities we say we do. Basically, we’re all playing a less deadly but more magical version of the award-winning board game Clue. Not sure what Clue is but we have that to consider. So, how should we proceed?”
Kay raised a hand with an uncharacteristic sheepishness. “I can commune with Herobrine, allowing him to semi-physically manifest in a location for brief periods of time, but I think that’s more a religious thing than a magic thing and I haven’t tried that in months.” When people just kind of stared blankly at him: “I just wanted to put that out there.” He looked at his feet awkwardly.
Warnado sighed. “Great, so anybody here could potentially be responsible. What’s next? Steve shooting lasers out of his eyes?”
Astro said: “Given what we currently know about the abilities of each person, it would seem Kir is the most likely cause.”
Kay looked up at this, emboldened again: “Now, hang on a second. That wee thing is incredibly friendly. And it hasn’t betrayed Tyron in years of hero-work.”
“True, but even I don’t know much about Kir’s abilities, and if we instead base our guess on personality and motivation, then our suspicion falls squarely on you and me. Well, Destiny might have her reasons, if we consider what she’s been through recently. But her expertise is limited to hot and cold spells and she has not shown much in the way of creativity.”
Kay was not yet deterred: “Yeah but what is exactly the significance of a nightmare? Even if magically induced, disturbed sleep has scarcely killed a man. I should know.” He laughed and looked pleadingly to Astro.
This seemed to make Warnado angry. “If you saw how Amanda was affected by the nightmare, you would feel differently. This was not some low-tier magical prank. Whoever pulled it off is definitely capable of more dangerous stuff and is definitely not going to stop at just a nightmare.”
Astro sighed. “To be fair, we still have not ruled out the possibility that the nightmare was simply ordinary, but have you ever seen Warnado this serious?”
Kay lowered his eyes and nodded empathetically. “Sorry.”
“I must admit the idea of you being responsible is a just silly,” said Astro. “Me, on the other hand… I could tell all of you that I’m innocent but that doesn’t change much. What we really need is a process of elimination. A way to remove ourselves from the equation, ideally without the others knowing. And ideally handled by some neutral party to keep it all straight. But since Steve’s group is gone and there’s no telling when the true aggressor will strike, we’ll have to improvise. Kay and Warnado, you should work together on this.”
“Me and Warnado working as a team? Hmmm…” Pondered Kay, scratching his chin. “On the one hand I am biased in favour of finding both Astro and Warnado innocent and feel profound pity for Destiny but on the other hand I do love a good mystery-solving caper.” He picked up a magnifying glass from a table and began to ponder it like a certain Danish prince pondering a skull upon the stage. He seemed to relish being near the centre of attention again. “To detect, or not do that. Thus is my dilemma…” A pensive pause. “For the record, I’m waiting for someone else to say yay or nay on this one. I’m more than willing to do it, I just want to make sure no one has objections to me being involved.”
“I realize it’s not ideal, but neither is having Warnado do it on his own, and you’re the only one here who can’t use magic. Not any proper magic at least.”
Warnado scratched his chin contemplatively. “I may also have some biases of my own, even though I don’t talk about them. And besides, Kay being skeptical about the whole thing would balance out my strong motivation.”
Shadow shrugged. “I don’t know enough about you to say much but I agree with what you just said. Besides, I probably should be one of the main suspects anyways.”
Fire added: “I would fall under accomplice by association then. I’d also like to remark that as it stands we have no concrete motive pinned down.”
Astro nodded. “It’s settled, then. Kay and Warnado, it’s up to you.”
“In that case…” Kay raised the magnifying glass as if it were a sword and struck a dramatic pose. “Inspector Kay Mandy and Deputy Warnado, at your service.”
Warnado dramatically waved his hand, summoned a ghostly blue magnifying glass, and struck a similarly combat-ready pose. “We will uncover the truth to the best extent of our abilities!”
Chapter 22: Plenty to Go Around (Astro)
Once Kay, Fire, and Warnado are out of the shop, I feel a bit like I have just sent two kids off on a camping trip. Young Kay, as usual, has a tendency to make light of these kinds of situations. It’s a bit irritating, but I’m also just glad to see him in good spirits. It wasn’t annoying back then, though. I guess we didn’t realise just how bad it could get back then. Now it all just seems flippant.
I suddenly realize how tense my neck is, and tilt my head in the other direction. But the soreness doesn’t go away. I let a trickle of healing energy into my neck, but the magic doesn’t do much because there’s nothing to heal. I consider using magic to move the muscles in my neck into the correct position, but given the delicate concentration required to put the muscles in just the right place, and the fact I use a similar technique to break people’s necks, I decide it’s probably best not to.
I glance at the shopkeeper’s wares, mostly weapons, placed on the table, hanging from racks, and behind the counter. They all look relatively well-made. One shield in particular looks especially interesting, with a colorful gemstone-studded outer edge and a pleasing painted design that one might also find on the back of playing cards. However, I’m not really in the market for that kind of equipment, and given Kay’s experience with the crossbow, I’d rather not risk a purchase.
Still, with Kay gone, and most of my other friends still stuck in another dimension, there aren’t many better things to do in this small village. There’s the pub, but I’m not really in the mood. Aside from that, there isn’t a library I know of or any other public space of note. I don’t know where Tyron or Destiny are and bearing in mind the magical plot going on I’m not feeling sociable enough to track down any of the others. At least Shadow is still here.
I glance over toward Shadow and see her inspecting a pinewood staff with a spiral contour along its length. At the top of the staff, the wood breaks free from the spiral and curves around a lapis-colored sphere in a hook shape that’s relatively common for staffs. The woodwork is tidy but overall not impressive. What is more impressive is the contours and patterns of magical energy contained within it. From the way she inspects it, I get the impression she’s not really interested in buying it and is only wasting time like I am.
“I never really bothered with staffs,” I admit to Shadow. “I always found them unwieldy and a chore to charge up again.” I ponder on whether this was part of what was sapping away my strength. Hubris.
Shadow looks over to me and replies: “Honestly, the only type of staff that’s useful out in the field is one that helps focus certain spells instead of storing them.”
“Honestly, I don’t see the point of using a staff if it doesn’t augment my magic in some way,” I say. “There have been times where I would be better off with a staff like that. I always run out of energy at the least convenient moments. I’ve considered getting something smaller, but either the energy stored isn’t worth the trouble, or there’s some nasty side effects like not-so-temporary insanity or financial debt.”
“I suppose your world is a lot less friendly when it comes to artifacts. Where I’m from energy storage gems are perfectly safe if used responsibly, in fact I have some on me right now.” Shadow reaches down the neck of her robes and pulls out a finely crafted golden necklace with sapphires inlaid in regular intervals.
I raise my brows with a mix of intrigue and envy at the necklace. “That must be worth a fortune. I don’t suppose you have a spare?” I remark, only half-jokingly.
“Not the necklace but I can give you my rings. They have smaller stones but still store quite a bit, I only packed this much storage because I didn’t know how magically charged this world would be.” With a wide grin she adds: “The answer to which turned out to be ‘very’.”
I look down at my hands and the rings that are on them. “If they are any better than mine, I might have to take you up on your offer. I have a few rings of my own which can store some magic, but the capacity is residual at best. Only really makes a difference in a survival situation.”
Shadow pulls two identical rings off her fingers, one from each hand. The rings themselves are fairly plain but the gems they hold are masterfully cut.
“Those won’t fit you, hold on. Give me your hand for a moment.” She says and reaches out to me.
As she touches my hand the rings she holds in her other hand start glowing as the gold is heated up close to its melting point. Shadow traces along two of my unoccupied fingers and a few moments later the rings widen to the appropriate size, then rapidly cool down again.
I take the two rings from Shadow’s hand and slide them onto my fingers, and the difference in power is significant. Just one of Shadow’s rings holds more energy than all my own rings combined, and then some.
“Thank you,” I tell Shadow sincerely.
She replies: “No problem. It’s always good to help a fellow mage out.”
Shadow’s smile has a touch of camaraderie to it that makes me lower my guard. From a purely logical standpoint, Shadow is the person I should trust the least, since she is the person most likely responsible for Amanda’s nightmare. But it’s been so long since I’ve had the opportunity to confide openly with another mage about the more subtle intricacies of magic. And giving up such powerful artifacts in a situation like this is no small favor.
“Speaking as fellow mage, can I ask you one more favor?” I ask.
“What favor would that be, Astro?”
“I’m getting a bit bored of this little village and was wondering if you had any suggestions.”
Chapter 23: Getting in Some Practice (Astro)
Shadow’s gaze jumps over to the shop’s door. “We could go out of town for a bit, fewer people and more opportunities for magical distractions.”
I smile. This was the sort of answer I was hoping for. “That sounds like the start of an excellent plan. At the very least, it would be the perfect opportunity for me to test the capacity of these new rings you’ve given me. What sort of magical distractions did you have in mind?”
“Well, I suppose a magical variety of a board game is a good start. Does your world have chess?”
“I’ve played a fair number of chess games in my own world.”
Shadow starts walking towards the door and signals me to follow. “Great, haven’t had a proper opponent in a while. Fire’s no fun to play against, his thousands of years of strategic experience were bound to carry over to chess.”
“Now, that’s a problem I can relate to! Although, my specific situation was actually the opposite.”
I follow behind Shadow as she opens the door out into the village and walks out onto the streets, as I reminisce about the past.
“When I was at my best, most of my friends were no match for me. They eventually got tired of me winning, and eventually I got tired of playing while drunk. Even then, I couldn’t exactly boast several thousand years of applicable experience. But it’s been a while and I’m pretty rusty, and the years haven’t been kind to my memory recall.”
If I’m being honest with myself, they haven’t been kind to my body either. Using magic for recreational purposes seems rather irresponsible, but I really do need the practice given the circumstances. Using my magic for something other than killing might also give me the will to hold on just a little longer.
It’s cloudy. There’s a slight breeze but not the chilling kind. The weather hasn’t changed much since my discussion with Warnado and Shadow this morning. A few villagers struggle to carry a large crate as they walk past us. As we walk toward the edge of town, the breeze becomes stronger. A few kids are talking and leaning against the wall of a small house, but most people don’t linger and are eager to get back to wherever they need to be.
As the clouds drag themselves sluggishly in the sky above us, the sun flickers and hides behind one, and the light of the village dims from the cloud’s shade. There is something off about the light, although I can’t quite place it. I glance toward Shadow and notice she’s cast some sort of flight spell, enough to suspend herself about a hand’s length above the ground.
She says: “I am just falling in love with this world. There is enough ambient energy here to sustain this spell indefinitely.”
As I focus my attention on the slight change in energy induced by Shadow’s unique ability to absorb magic, I realize the aberration in lighting is from Shadow’s shadow. It is darker than everyone else’s and seems almost as if it detached itself from her slightly when she jumped or took a long step, as if it is stuck to the ground.
“Does your shadow normally do that when you cast that spell?” I ask.
Then, the shadow suddenly waves at me.
Shadow replies: “Oh, her. She’s her own thing, she showed up after I ascended. I called her Wodahs, while not very creative it does stop people from saying ‘Shadow’s shadow’, which gets old quickly. She usually sticks with me but when there aren’t many people around she likes to go off on her own.”
I raise a brow as I contemplate what sort of mischief that light deficit projection gets away with when no-one is looking. “Is it corporeal? I mean… is it capable of interacting with the world?”
Shadow nods. “She can’t directly touch things but if they cast shadows she can interact with those, which reflects on the things themselves. She can’t do much in total darkness or against someone invisible, weather like we have it now just hinders her a bit. I’ve also seen her cut shadows off things and carry them around, interestingly the separation causes no harm but interacting with the shadow still reflects onto what cast it.”
I find myself alarmed, and questions start buzzing in my head about the nature of this creature and what other capabilities it has. Why didn’t Shadow mention it earlier? Could it be responsible for Amanda’s dream? What else is Shadow hiding? Calm yourself down, Astro. You still don’t understand Shadow’s motives, and in the meantime there’s no need to make your suspicions well-known. Besides, there’s also the chance that Shadow really does mean well. In either case, this little diversion lets you get a better sense of her abilities, so you might as well make the best use of this opportunity.
“Can it talk?” I ask, figuring that to be a friendly question.
“Sure can, doesn’t do it often though. Usually the most you’ll get out of her is a giggle. She is fluent in normal words as well as Demon, strangely enough.”
So it can speak Demon? That certainly doesn’t alleviate any worries. Then again, considering the other members of our group, Warnado included, that’s probably the least of my concerns.
We step off of the village’s cobbled stone paths and onto open fields, where we travel for a ways until we reach the boundary of a forest. We then travel a little further into the trees until we reach an uninhabited meadow, not too far away from the village, but just far enough to avoid unwanted attention.
I turn to face Shadow. “This seems as good of a place as any. Shall we begin?”
“Gladly.” She says.
Accompanied by subtle flashing of various runes Shadow summons an ethereal chess board of enormous dimensions, complete with pieces of equally amazing proportions.
She explains: “You should be able to control your pieces with your thoughts, I’ll let you pick a side.”
“I’ll pick that one, then,” I say as I point to no particular side, and walk toward it. “Ladies first?”
“Yes, because you happened to pick black.” Shadow smiles and moves a pawn two squares forward.
I respond in turn and will the first pawn of my own two squares forward. I’ll admit, playing with a giant-sized chess board fueled by magic definitely makes it more fun.
We play through our first game slowly, adding a bit of flourish to the movements of our pieces. Then, before I know it, Shadow has already cornered my king, and in the next game I get a bit more serious. The second match, I manage to capture quite a few of Shadow’s pieces, but I mess up my chance to capture her king and I quickly find myself in an unfavorable position.
“I think Fire’s strategic prowess may have rubbed off on you,” I point out, shaking my head in frustration at my predicament.
Shadow replies: “If it’s of any solace to you, he said that while I have good strategies I don’t have that many, which I also realize. Nothing like him in that regard, you can’t get a read on him at all from one game to the next.”
“He certainly sounds like a bit of an enigma.” Good to get a bead on Fire, in case his sister is responsible and he takes her side. “Even to his sister it seems,” I remark. I think for a moment about my position. It seems two of my pieces will inevitably be lost in the next few moves. There’s one way I can avoid having one of my pieces taken, but Shadow will probably predict it if I attempt it.
Fast forward a few moves, and we find ourselves in a stalemate, with neither side able to advance without the other side able to move out of the way.
Even though this is just a chess game at its heart, I don’t think I have had this much fun in a long time. But one of my new rings is hardly drained, and I do want to at least make it seem to myself that I’m doing something productive.
“Shadow, this chess game is more fun than I’m willing to admit. But could we switch to something more… active? Measuring the effectiveness of these rings is a bit difficult on ethereal constructs.”
“What did you have in mind?”
I search my brain for some sort of magical activity. Ideally nothing remotely life-threatening, but enough to strain myself a little. I could come up with some other magically-enhanced leisure activity, but Shadow’s ethereal chess game sets a high bar. I suppose it doesn’t need to be so well thought out, just something that lets me cast a few spells. If my goal really is to measure the energy in these rings as effectively as possible, physical exertion is the best way to do that. I just need to be mindful of my body’s limits.
“Play any sports?” I ask.
She replies: “I definitely have played some on the world I came to Nexus from. In the other one… not so much since I was more or less trapped in my own mind for most of my life there but nevermind that. I like ball sports, throwing and kicking, either is fine with me.”
“A ball seems like a simple enough requirement.” I think aloud. “The hard part is finding a sport that works best with two people. Perhaps we could play a simple game of catch? With a few additions?”
“Sounds good. I’ll begin.” She says and summons up a glowing white ball of magical energy in her palm, then tosses it in my direction without much force.
I hold my hands out, walk a few steps back, and prepare a bit of magical cushioning as the glowing ball descends toward me. The ball decelerates just enough that its energetic corona briefly touches my palms, giving a fuzzy sensation. I hold the ball suspended in my hands for a moment, as I focus on how far to throw it.
“Shadow, are you able to magically enhance your speed and strength?” I ask.
“By necessity, my muscles run on magic. Ascended, remember?”
“Oh... In that case, expect a few magically enhanced throws from me. But not this time.” I throw the ball back into the air, with a little bit of effort to it, and the ball flies about twice as fast as Shadow’s initial throw.
Shadow quickly walks backwards with more sureness than I expected since long robes usually tend to get in the way of that kind of movement. As the energy ball passes over her, she leaps up and slams it back in my direction, and I don’t have time to think before the ball is directly above me.
I realize I might have gotten more than I bargained for. I turn around and sprint, the muscles in my legs assisted with the push and pull of magic, and catch the ball with both hands above my head. Unfortunately my hands end up submerged inside the energy ball, since I forgot to add cushioning, and before I am able to correct this mistake, my hands are scorched from the concentrated magical energy. I wince, push my hands out of the ball while trying to keep the ball in place, and purge the excess heat from my hands and heal their burns. I certainly can’t let that unannounced increase in power go unanswered! I look in Shadow’s direction and plot my throw, mentally preparing myself to enhance my movements again when Shadow reciprocates. I then throw my strongest throw and then some, with a little help from magic.
My throw goes further and higher than any previous one, too much for any ordinary human to have any chance of reaching or much less catching. “Alright!” Shadow shouts and zips diagonally upwards, leaving a trail of distortions in her path. Now things are starting to get interesting. As Shadow intercepts my throw, she stops the ball in front of her with both hands, and with an electric crackle the ball doubles in brightness. Instead of throwing it back at me instantly, Shadow pulls the ball apart into two identical copies, throwing one directly at me and the other one upwards, giving me just enough time to catch both if I plan my movements correctly. As soon as both balls are in flight, Shadow returns to where she originally stood.
I take a few rapid steps forward and cup my hand around the first ball, with protection this time, then accelerate backward past the white ball approaching fast from above. I hold up the ball in my hand and let the two orbs of energy combine into one, and as I hold my hand above me, I notice that the energy in one of my new rings has drained a bit. Then, I plot my next move. I inject the ball with a bit of unstable energy, and throw it hard.
As the ball flies into the air, the unstable energy leaks out of it in small bursts, causing the ball to zigzag. The ball is now only a short distance in front of Shadow, she opens her arms, I see some of her runes flash. The ball slows its movement as if it’s being sucked in front of Shadow, where she catches it. However when she stops her spell the ball immediately teleports away again, she seems surprised by this, which gives me a bit of satisfaction. With a gesture of her hand she shoots a bolt of energy at the ball, causing it to promptly overload and explode into a flurry of lightning.
“Nice one,” she says “we’ll need a new ball now though, that one is too unpredictable.”
I oblige and use the palms of my hands to concentrate energy into a new glowing ball, which takes a significant chunk of magic from my active ring in the process. I should avoid tampering with the ball this time so I can conserve my magic. Besides, I wouldn’t want this game to end too early.
I throw the ball up in the air toward Shadow. This one isn’t my strongest throw, but is still magically enhanced. Shadow just runs over to where the ball is going and catches it normally. Perhaps I should have made my throw a bit more challenging.
Instead of immediately returning my throw Shadow… disappears? I hear an electric crackle from my right and suddenly the ball is almost in my face, caught off guard I only barely catch it, this time remembering to properly protect my hands first.
I then return her throw, the first of many more, and by the time the sun is near the top of the sky, my first new ring is drained of energy, and my second ring nearly so. I almost forgot that I was supposed to measure their energy capacity. My physical body is also showing signs of exertion, and while the rings have shouldered most of the burden, my body has been weakened by use of magic as well. I wipe a bit of sweat from my brow as I inspect the glowing ball I just caught. It is slightly smaller than it was originally. Its size has fluctuated as energy has been lost and added back into it. I consider throwing the ball one last time, but hesitate.
Chapter 24: We should have stopped at the Dodgeball (Astro)
“I think I’m done,” I admit. “I wouldn’t want to strain myself too much in case something bad happens. But this has been the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
I toss the energy ball up into the air and let the energy dissipate quietly into a fading shower of white sparks.
“Shall we return to the village?” I offer.
Suddenly, Shadow sprints toward me, and with surprise I wonder if Shadow is trying to continue playing the game, but as she comes closer, my years of combat instincts start to evaluate her as a threat.
As she grabs my hand, my brain continues to yell at me and tell me to do something, but by the time my feet become disconnected from the ground and the world starts to slide underneath me, I’m still too surprised to react.
We are both rising extremely fast into the air, no doubt due to some magic Shadow is using, and the only reason I am not falling seems to be my temporary physical contact with Shadow’s hand. I don’t think I could fall from this height without being severely injured, and that’s assuming I can exert enough magic to slow my fall. This is insanity.
The village’s disorganized grid of houses has shrunk to a small pile of flat pebbles, and in the distance, this world’s patchwork of environments has become apparent, with deserts rubbing against oceans and plains of ice. There is even a city off in the distance rubbing up against a vast forest wilderness, with a strangely jagged border between them, as if the city itself was ripped in two before one half was placed in this world.
Shadow steers us such that the world rotates beneath us, and another, closer city becomes visible. But I then recognize the fields and forest leading up to it, and I realize that was where I was imprisoned by the Entity. I didn’t realize The Tower was at the edge of a city, let alone a city like that. The city is almost completely square, with a carefully pruned border between the city and the forest beyond it, and no discontinuities in the terrain close by. I can also just barely make out fine lines in the terrain, no doubt roads, fanning out from the city. Unlike everything else in this world, it seems that city was carefully planned.
Then, Shadow switches course yet again, this time making us descend quickly downward, the wind pushing against my face like a frigid waterfall. Before I know it, we’re mere meters from the ground and weaving through the trees, and I fear I will hit something if I even dare turn my head.
Is Shadow even tired by this use of flying magic? Why won’t she slow down?
“Shadow, slow down!” I cry out, as my feet graze the surface of a lake and create a spray of foam, and then the wind chills my legs as the water seeps through my robe. “I didn’t ask for this! If you let go of me even for one second at this speed, I’ll die! I don’t have the strength to decelerate myself that fast!”
“Astro, I wouldn’t do this if I wanted to endanger you. I may have gone a bit overboard though… How about this?”
After saying these words the lake disappears from view, the following disorientation not helping my mental state in the slightest. As I look around me, I realize we are much higher in the air, the lake far below us. It seems to shine like metal from the sky’s reflection. Luckily, in spite of the additional danger of our increased elevation, Shadow has slowed down our rate of flight significantly. Instead we are slowly gliding across the landscape, the strong wind replaced by a gentle breeze.
With the threat of imminent death possibly averted, I have slightly more space in my head to evaluate the situation. Or, at the very least, question our reason for being here.
“Can you perhaps explain why you flew us extremely high into the air, and then brought us several kilometers away from the village?”
Shadow replies: “I, perhaps wrongly, assumed that flight would be a good way to help with whatever is plaguing your mind. Most people tend to enjoy flight.”
“I’m bloody sure they do! When it’s consensual, expected, and there’s some reasonable assurances that they will come out of it alive. And that’s assuming they’re not afraid of heights.”
Shadow chuckles in a manner that could be interpreted in many different ways. “I am sorry. Even after all of those years this is still something I occasionally fumble with, human interaction is more Fire’s thing. I have trouble reading people without… getting into their head. But this is alright now, this slow flight, right?”
I sigh. I should have expected this. I got too competitive in that magical game of catch, and made myself seem like someone I’m not.
“I guess it’s okay for the trip back.”
Shadow turns our direction of flight, and we begin our trip back toward the village, just high enough to avoid attracting attention from unknown observers below.
Roughly an hour later, Shadow brings us down in the clearing where we first began our game of magical chess. I finally let go of Shadow’s hand and feel relieved as I can stand with two feet on solid ground… and I can finally rest my arm.
Shadow says: “There is one last thing I must try before we return, I thought of it on the way back. In the world I come from my power is limited by the… gods. Gods would be the best term for them. Here though, I think that those limitations are not in effect. I advise you to step back a bit, I don’t know what this will do.”
I oblige, turn around, and walk a good ten meters away from Shadow, having learned the hard way at least some of what she is capable of.
Shadow closes her eyes and holds up her right arm. At first, the light around her hand seems to become increasingly bent and distorted, but then it becomes clear it’s not just a trick of the light, or any sort of illusion magic whatsoever. No, this distortion of her hand is something… different. With each passing moment, the hand seems to gain another layer of optical distortion which is, somehow, not that at all. It’s like perceiving each detail of it’s form requires the same mental amount of strain as remembering what I ate for breakfast yesterday at 4am in the morning. The most I can make out of it, is that the very edge of the distortion-which-isn’t still vaguely resembles Shadow’s hand.
“Aha!” Shadow says. She pulls at the air, and a gap opens up in front of her that is just as horrifyingly indescribable as the distorted hand which was there before. The gap seems to push away everything: light, air, sound… even my ability to perceive its existence. Just looking at it makes me feel like there’s an intense pressure inside my head. Then my mind unfreezes, from what frozen state I don’t know. Shadow leans against the gap and a hand materializes into existence, as if it never existed before, even though I insist to myself that that hand is a part of Shadow’s body and was always there all along. And whatever existential gap was there before… suddenly isn’t.
The fading of Shadow’s hand into existence is accompanied by a growing lightness in my head, and I become aware of the great amount of power that was used in the past few hours. How easily that power can be underestimated. I should have known better than to use my magic so frivolously. What was I thinking? I could easily die as the magic consumed me, or worse… hurt someone else later. How many wizards have I met on the battlefield which were so emboldened? How many people have died in those battles? How many of my friends? I still remember their faces. I still remember the ways in which each one of them died. I still remember the times we spent together, those pompous little pieces of…
Oh Jeb, I remember everything!
I feel a growing, splitting headache, as waves upon waves of memories of my past flood into my mind, from improvised introductions, to countless overused jokes with misplaced punchlines, to ad-hoc escape attempts from villains with ambiguous mental health issues. The world starts to dim and tilt back and forth.
“Are you alright, Astro?”
Shadow runs up to me and holds onto my arm just as the world decides to tilt itself upside down. The world can do whatever it wants for all I care. I knew it never cared about me anyway. My body is probably finally failing, my life flashing before my eyes like straight out of some cliche amateur pulp fiction novel. Because I selfishly used magic to indulge myself, and went too far. It’s an insult to all my friends I could have saved with the same magic. In all these years, in spite of all the heart-wrenching lessons I’ve learned, have I really learned anything? It’s as if I wished my friends dead out of spite. At least the rogue wizards I fought against on the battlefield had the courage to kill their enemies directly...
I wince as I prepare from the end, but rather than fade to black, the world stops rotating. I open my eyes and see Shadow still holding my arms, a concerned look in her eyes.
She asks again: “Are you alright, Astro?”
I blink a few times. “In all honesty? No, I am not okay. My entire life flashed before my eyes, all because of some blatantly irresponsible overuse of magic.”
All confidence had disappeared from Shadow’s voice. “I really screwed up, didn’t I? We should have stopped at the dodgeball.”
I sigh, feeling yet more guilt for being a bit too harsh with criticism for Shadow which was partly meant for myself. I guess if I could wield such powerful magic without consequences, I might indulge in it more freely, too. “I guess it’s a lesson learned, then. For both of us.”
Shadow says: “I really am sorry. I just… didn’t know that that would happen. In my world I’m only allowed to use some extent of my powers, which is extended if I need to apprehend people who break the gods’ rules but this… I have never done this before.”
“I can’t say I’ve seen anything like that before, either. Even thinking about what it looked like makes my head hurt. Do you have any idea what it was?”
Shadow helps me stand up completely again. “I do have a pretty good idea. Considering that the origin of my power, the reason for my successful ascension, is Void magic, I probably tore a hole into the fabric of reality. What you experienced was your brain trying to comprehend something it wasn’t meant to comprehend, my - as cliché that term might be - true form does that to people.”
“Yeah, that seems fitting, given the affect it’s seemed to have on my mind!” I grip my temper by the scruff of its neck. “I certainly hope it’s not permanent, no offense, I still forgive you and all that.”
Shadow flashes a smile. “It’s not permanent, I only eat minds that I want to eat.”
“Ah, well, that’s a relief, then,” I grimace internally, mentally noting another reason not to get on Shadow’s bad side. “I feel good enough to walk at this point. It’s about time I returned to the village to find out what Kay and the others have been up to.”
Chapter 25: Completely Routine Covert Operation (Kay)
If I think hard enough, there probably was a time in my technically childhood years when I wanted to be a detective. I can see the appeal. One part stealthy information-gathering, one part diplomacy, and at the end you get to catch the bad guy, assuming things go according to plan.
In spite of me being involved, and my personal doubts of the external origins of Amanda’s nightmare, I’d say things went according to plan. It’s a rather satisfying feeling.
While Warnado did some magical reconnaissance, I discreetly tracked down a woman unrelated to our group with sufficient magical knowledge to assist my efforts in acquiring a device that can detect magic from a distance. It took quite a few favors and a few semi-truthful promises to get the transaction through, and the device was technically a loan, but I doubted we would be in this village long for that to be an issue and in either case it could be dealt with.
Warnado and I then met up in a dark cellar at a predetermined time to complete the transaction. The dealer was a tall, old man in a trenchcoat with a relatively congenial demeanor in spite of the relatively threatening bodyguard which stood beside him. The detector he showed us didn’t look like much, but then again I’m not sure what I expected. It came as two pieces. The wizardry detecting part was round and flat and glowed green, while the second part was a tin case with a small rectangular opening where light was supposed to shine through when the green detector thingy sensed magic on the other side.
With Warnado’s help, and the dealer’s permission, we tested the detector and verified it could detect Warnado’s magic, and compensated the dealer with some of Warnado’s money and a spicy burrito. Thus, the transaction was completed and the first stage of our plan came to a conclusion.
The next step was to discreetly plant the detector. Warnado stuffed the detector and receiver under his conveniently thick and identity-concealing cloak under the cover of the dark cellar where our transaction occurred, and we then returned to the inn, pretending to act like we had another good reason to be there. At this point, it was mid-afternoon in the village, so the risk of our actions being detected by others in our group was low, but on the other hand we hadn’t ruled out the possibility of an external spy.
We headed upstairs and put the detector underneath Amanda’s bed, and quickly realized hiding the detector would not be as easy as we thought. Even during the day, the detector’s green glow was easily visible on the floor around the bed. Warnado had a spark of inspiration and conjured up a bunch of napkins to cover the detector, but unfortunately they were the thin paper kind and easily slid off.
“Maybe we should buy some paint instead,” I said. I rubbed my forehead, partly in frustration, but in part because I was getting another headache.
“No,” Warnado said, determined. “I believe in the potential of these napkins. With enough napkins, we can accomplish anything.”
Warnado then conjured an entire pile of napkins as tall as a small dog.
“Help me tie these napkins together. We’re going to make a thicker napkin to cover the detector.”
“Couldn’t we just purchase a blanket?” I offered. “Or hide the detector under the mattress instead? Anything that doesn’t involve sitting in Amanda’s room for several hours and potentially jeopardizing our entire plan?” I usually wasn’t the voice of reason, but I didn’t like the idea of all of my carefully orchestrated trade deals turning out for nothing.
“If the village vendor is a spy, that plan could backfire. Besides, if I saw a pile of napkins under a bed I’d be inclined to leave it alone. And don’t worry about the timing. I’ve been in situations like this before, and if I had to give a rough estimate, I’d say our napkin operation will take about 36 minutes.”
I began to wonder what sort of past situations Warnado could possibly have been involved in that would require napkin-based textile production estimates, and I began to suspect his past was a bit darker than his innocent personality had led me to believe. Then again, this was Warnado.
“In that case, how would you like me to tie the napkins?” I asked.
Fast-forward a little over a half hour later, and the glowing green detector thingy was encased in a blanket made of napkins that was thick enough to hide its green glow. Thanks to Warnado’s handiwork it actually looked like an ordinary blanket, albeit an old and tattered one, once it was hidden under the bed. At this point it was just a matter of testing the detector’s range and deciding what to do if the dream weaver showed up.
Chapter 26: Return of the Dreamweaver (Astro)
It’s been several days since I started walking through this forest. I’m not exactly sure what the nature of my journey is, but if this map I’m holding is correct, my destination is not far from here.
To be honest, I’m not sure how I convinced myself to go on this silly quest. Yes, the person who gave me the map claimed to be a distant relative of a close friend. Yes, the rumors of unclaimed surface gold deposits scattered throughout this forest were plausible, and the less well-known rumor that a group of hostile, self-replicating golems were recently eradicated from this region must be true, assuming they even existed at all. But my exact destination is unclear. The distant relative claimed at one point that they needed me to pick up something to help return a favor, but at another point they contradicted themself and claimed it was some sort spiritual journey. In either case I can’t fathom what was so compelling about it that made me accept the map and follow it, let alone why I would trust someone who was basically a stranger. Perhaps I was so tired of the status quo of living in the village that I finally needed an adventure. After all, retirement can get a bit dull at times. Who would have thought that I, Astro, of all people, would retire? And in Nexus of all places?
I appreciate a bit the humor of my situation, roll up the map, and put it in one of my pockets. I already have a good sense of direction thanks to the angle of the sun, and my destination is getting very close so the map will most likely just distract me.
Many trees later and my destination still isn’t in sight, but then I stop walking and stand still when I realize there is a cloaked figure standing among the trees ahead of me.
As I tally up the possibilities, I realize I am very unprepared for this situation. It’s been ages since I’ve used magic in any capacity, and my sword-fighting skills are amateur at best at this point. If the cloaked stranger has any malicious intent, it is unlikely I will be able to defend myself.
I take out my map and compass and walk sideways. But as I look back toward the cloaked stranger, I realize they are following me.
What do I do? Do I attempt to run? Or do I confront them and hope they are peaceful?
Before I can make my decision, the cloaked figure raises their arm slowly. A shockwave spreads out from their hand in a cone shape, distorting the trees as it passes by. It moves so fast that I couldn’t possibly outrun it. I watch as the trees in front of me bend and twist like ripples in a lake, and then the shockwave passes through me. I feel myself pulled like a clump of magnetic molten wax toward the cloaked figure until I am standing right in front of them.
The cloaked figure stares at me, yet their face is undefined. They raise their arm once more, and a great, gaping hole appears between us. It is painful to look at, but I am powerless to look away. There is such a profound nothingness to the hole that even my thoughts seem to disappear inside of it, and the more I comprehend its darkness, the bigger the hole seems to be, until my entire self seems to be swallowed up inside of it...
I wake with a start as I hear a scream. Startled, I sit up quickly, and then clasp my head in pain as the memory of that hole in existence continues to throb inside of me. There is a weak light coming from between the curtains of the window of the inn room. I open the curtains. It’s early morning.
I open the door and try to investigate the source of the scream. For a second the memory of the nightmare lingers, and I almost convince myself that I’m retired from magic and shouldn’t get involved in dangerous situations like this, but then I remember that was just a dream.
I soon find a half-open door with a light and voices coming from inside. I open it, and see Destiny, Kay, and Warnado staring at Amanda laying in bed. From the looks of it, Amanda seems completely beside herself, almost as if she is paralyzed by fear. Destiny has a weird look on her face, a mix of fear with something ill-defined. Warnado is keeping the room lit with an ethereal flame, while Kay stands just beside Amanda, with a purposeful pose that suggests he’s asking most of the questions.
“I walked in, and his… his eyes... were gleaming like moonlight,” Destiny said, her voice stuttering. “And he was touching her head.”
“What’s going on here?” I ask. “Another nightmare?”
“It seems like it,” Kay says, a look of realization in his face which suggests he no longer doubts Amanda’s nightmare was caused by someone else. Seeing the look of pure fear in Amanda’s eyes, I too find it hard to dismiss it as a coincidence.
“I hated that guy from the start. He only ever cared about himself and getting back to his dumb farm. Now we know that’s all pigshit! He’s been using us this whole time!” Destiny continues. Her eyes are red and watery and her teeth are bared in feral manner. A pitiable sight; a sight whose words are hard to believe.
“You’re entitled to your opinion of Fristad’s personality, but let’s focus on the facts at hand,” Kay says, teeth gritted, obviously struggling not to immediately indulge his own prejudices. “Was Fristad an enderman when this was happening?”
She seems to realise she’s losing Kay. Her features solidify, her voice levels itself: “He was human.”
“How long was he in the room?”
“I don’t know. He teleported out of the room immediately after I saw him.”
“Did he say anything, or was doing anything else unusual?” Warnado asks. “What was he wearing?”
“He didn’t say or do anything else. He wasn’t wearing any armor, just a shirt with a vest.”
“Astro, can you take my place so I can check Fristad’s room to see if he left his armor behind?” Warnado asks.
“That’s fine,” I tell Warnado. I cast a spell which creates an orb of white light hovering near the ceiling. Warnado snuffs out his ethereal fire and walks out of the room. I don’t think I’ve seen him cast a spell like that before. Is it new? Perhaps his abilities are improving.
“What were you doing before you entered Amanda’s room?” Kay asks.
“I don’t see why that’s any of your business. I wasn’t the one harming her,” Destiny snaps.
“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to accuse you of anything,” Kay says. “I’m just trying to see if there’s anything we might have missed that would bring us closer to finding out what Amanda has been dealing with.”
“I already told you Fristad did it!” Destiny barks.
“That may be true,” Kay begins with strained diplomacy, “but Fristad isn’t here, and there are other components to this investigation. Your unwillingness to cooperate doesn’t really help your own case for innocence. So, could you please just answer the question?”
Destiny sighs. “If you must know… I was having difficulty sleeping. I heard strange noises coming Amanda’s room, so I investigated. That’s when I saw Fristad standing next to Amanda while she was screaming in her bed.”
“I heard the scream, too,” I add. “It woke me up from a nightmare I was having... Listen, I’m not sure if the dreams are related, but I might as well describe mine. It was about a wizard creating a hole in existence that was painful to look at and distorted my consciousness. It’s probably linked to a similar reality-distorting spell Shadow created yesterday while we were testing our magic. Maybe it left a magical effect, maybe it just made an impression. Probably not severe, but something to consider going forward.”
“First eavesdropping on an entire crowd, then dimensional holes? What kind of magicking wizard is Shadow, exactly?” Kay asks, gesticulating sharply.
“Reality holes, not dimensional holes,” I correct Kay. “And apparently a very competent one. I’ll tell you and Warnado more about it later. I’ll let you wrap up your questions so we all can let Amanda get some rest.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to get back to sleep any time soon,” Amanda admits, her voice weak.
Warnado returns into the room. “Fristad is asleep, or at least he’s in bed right now,” he says. “He’s probably not wearing any armor. I saw his usual black plated armor on the floor.”
Warnado turns to face me. “Thank you, Astro, for holding my spot. I can take it from here.”
“I’m actually a bit interested in what happened to Amanda. You know, just a little,” I tell him with a warning sarcasm.
Warnado gives me a serious look. “That may be the case, but you simply being here could influence the witnesses.”
“You’re right,” I sighed and splayed my hands. “I should go. Good luck with your investigation. I hope we get to the bottom of this soon.”
I leave the room, leaving Warnado to tend to the interview with Amanda and Destiny. The dim light of the inn hallway is oddly calming, with the old creaking wood under my feet and the faint sound of clanging metal and porcelain coming from below, from the late night activity of a few sleepless patrons.
I feel sorry for both of them, Amanda and Destiny. Especially Amanda. I’ve never seen such a young woman with such a panicked look in her face. Then again, Destiny lost David and that was the firm opposite of pleasant… Uncooperative as she is, she must be hurting so, so much.
But at the same time, could Destiny be the Dreamweaver? Could she have chosen to haunt Amanda because she was jealous of her relationship with Warnado? A relationship Destiny no longer has? To be honest, I don’t even know how Warnado and Amanda feel about each other. He never talks about it. Maybe I owe it to myself to find out.
Sometimes I wonder what sick mentality drives people to inflict psychological torture upon someone else. Sometimes I don’t need to wonder. I’ve witnessed many forms of torture. Motivation comes in many forms, both petty and political. Usually both. I still remember how that half-endling freak, Hamish, unravelled Kay’s mind strand by strand. How he used me in that torture. How he killed Mini. How he “killed” Linx. How he lured Kay into that trap in the Citadel. Then, all that during Ryan’s Revolt...
This Kay hasn’t had that happen to him yet. No wonder he’s so cheerful. Then again, I may be imposing my emotions on a Kay from an entirely different timeline. It doesn’t make the past any easier to bear. I could lose him again…
As I place my hand upon my door, I wince as a painful headache flashes on the left side of my head. An image of the reality-eating hole appears briefly in my mind, clouding my thoughts, before vanishing. I sincerely hope the mental aberrations don’t become worse.
Chapter 27: Growing Dissonance (Fristad)
It feels like it’s only been five minutes when the light shines stubbornly from the gaps of the inn’s curtains into my eyes. How long has it been since I got a decent sleep? More than a week, probably. Ever since the Book has… become part of my life.
Even now, I can feel it watching me. It’s not like it was before, when I would hear its voice on occasion, and occasionally the Book would take control of me. No, this is far different. I think it started happening when I inflicted the first nightmare upon Amanda. At one moment, I would be in control, I myself would be inflicting the nightmare upon her in my vain attempt to shake myself free of the Book’s influence. At another moment, the Book would take control, guiding every thought, every figment to be woven into Amanda’s nightmare. And in between… there were moments where it wasn’t really clear which one of us was in control.
The irony is… I want to win Amanda’s mind over to our side as much as the Book does. I don’t understand why I try so hard to resist it. But somehow I still feel this deep fear that I am losing something important.
I can hear the faint tapping of rain coming from outside. I try to shake off the nervousness and lift myself out of bed. The world around me seems to move oddly slowly in response to my movement. That’s definitely sleep deprivation. I really need to do something about it. Maybe I should go to bed earlier? No. That would look too suspicious. It’s only been the second night and Destiny has already walked in on me during a nightmare. I’m pretty sure she recognized me. Warnado came into my room, but I think he was just checking up on things.
I walk over the window. I have no more hope sleeping, so there’s no point keeping the curtains closed. I open the curtains and crack the window, so the fresh air from the rain can more easily enter the room.
I open the door to the hallway, but hesitate for a moment. I turn around and nervously pick up the black diamond armor from the floor and put it back on piece by piece. The armor is heavy, but feeling its smooth crystal plating against my skin somehow puts my mind at ease.
I walk down the stairs into the common area of the inn. It seems I’m far from the first person from our group to come down here. Steve, Jennifer, and the others… including Amanda… are all sitting at the table eating. The only person that seems to be missing is Fire, that not-quite enderman halfblood. The food smells strange, but it still makes me salivate.
I walk toward the end of the long table where the group is sitting, and try to act natural. I sit myself down beside Astro at the end of the table, with Warnado and Amanda sitting on the other side. It seems there is starting to be a trend in the seating arrangement.
I try to puff myself up a bit to make myself look more confident, and try to hide the overwhelming tiredness that’s plagued me these past few days, in case Destiny’s knowledge of my actions has spread and is starting to arouse suspicion. It’s hard to even look at Amanda. I can already see a hint of hopelessness in her gaze, and I know my work is fair from over. There will be a third nightmare. And a fourth. And I dread to imagine the suffering she will feel because of me.
I try to slam the door closed on that train of thought and focus my attention on Warnado, making my best attempt to pretend to be more hungry than I actually am. Thanks to the Book’s help, I’m at least a better liar than I used to be. And better at managing these disturbing and unproductive thoughts.
“Hey Warnado,” I call out, in the most awake yet calm voice I can muster. “Do you think you could get me some soup?”
“You didn’t like my tacos yesterday?” Warnado asks, slightly offended, one of his odd culinary creations held in his hand, half-eaten. Amanda is eating one as well.
“Well, it’s not because I didn’t like your tacos yesterday...” I try my best to try and assure Warnado.
“Just admit it, his tacos were terrible,” the Book tells me.
But I can’t find it within myself to hurt his feelings. And for the record, they tasted fine.
“I just smelled the food from the kitchen all the way up on the second stairwell, and I really wanted to try it. But if money is a concern for you, then I completely understand."
I’m starting to miss being able to just grab some cooked pork from the farm storage. Depending on other people for food is tiresome.
“Nah, I get you,” Warnado says with apparent camaraderie. “I’ll magic you a salad instead.”
Warnado makes funny wiggling motions with his fingers, and a strange creation appears in his hands. The bottom is yellow like one of his tacos, and the top is filled with pale plant material and a bunch of other things mixed in which I can’t identify, but seem similar to the stuff in Warnado’s tacos.
“Taco salad. Darn. Was really hoping for something more Italian,” Warnado says. “Did you know Italian is an adjective? Anyway, I can never seem to get the bowl right. I tried to make soup once. Let’s just say it didn’t end well.”
Warnado conjures a fork and hands it and the “taco salad” to me. I accept them graciously.
“You do realize this man is not an innocent child?” the Book warns me. “While you eat the food he gives you, he is watching everything you do, studying every word you tell him. He wants to find every reason he can to incriminate you as the Dreamweaver.”
Well, in that case, he can incriminate me for eating a salad!
Just as I take my second bite, Kay stands up and speaks.
“Ladies and gentlemen, and other sentient beings equally notable, since we are now all gathered here, except for Fire....” Kay glances across the table, perhaps in suspicion. “I propose we meet after breakfast to discuss some important new details of the dream weaver investigation. Since quite a few of you already know about what happened last night, it would be best to set the record straight, and perhaps in the process unveil some information that could move this investigation forward.”
“That sounds reasonable enough,” Steve remarks, obviously surprised but unwilling to admit he is not up to speed. “If you don’t think it will impede your investigation.”
Tyron nods along agreeably.
Shadow speaks: “Fire left earlier this morning to attend the Prophet’s sermon, to uncover more information. As I’ve mentioned before, the Prophet’s sermons contain symbolism and themes that are difficult to decipher, but have been shown to accurately predict the future. That kind of knowledge is bound to be useful.”
“I suppose it can’t be helped,” Kay says, “We still have you here, which is close enough... aside from the complication that you’re one of our most competent magic users, but inadequate suspicions aside, our investigation must continue. It would be unwise for us to delay discussion until Fire gets back, since we don’t know when the Dreamweaver will strike next.”
Is that what they call me now? Dreamweaver? This is my name? The Book seems amused.
“Any additional comments or objections?” Kay asks.
After a pause for feedback receives no response, Kay makes a final remark.
“Then it’s settled, then. We meet after breakfast.”
Kay looks at me and studies me closely, very briefly, before sitting down and returning his attention to his mage friend and his soup. Kay must know what I did. He has to. This isn’t just a distrust of endermen. There’s no other way he would look at me like that given how little time we’ve spent near each other.
Chapter 28: Burning Suspicions (Fristad)
We meet in one of the inn rooms. With all of us together, it’s a bit crowded in here. Tyron looks even bigger than usual. Nobody wants to sit on the bed, so we all stand. Shadow uses some sort of magic to stop sound from coming in and out of the room. The resulting quiet is so pervasive that I can hear my breath and heartbeat, as well as the breaths of others. Except for Shadow.
Somehow I fear it, this absolute silence. The guilt of my invasion of Amanda’s dreams is just as audible to everyone around me as my own breath. But there’s no way that could be possible. I have to have faith that my lies and everyone else’s ignorance will protect me.
Kay clears his throat and prepares to speak, his demeanor taking on a sense of purpose which is at once serious, but in a way almost seems theatrical, like an actor putting on a pose for one of his favorite plays.
“Right, as most of you know,” Kay begins, his voice taking on a different quality that might be described as intimidating, “One night ago, Amanda had a nightmare, whose cause was unknown but given the circumstances at the time seemed like it could have just been caused by stress from the last few days or any number of personal reasons. However, Warnado was convinced that the nightmare was intentionally induced by an unknown malicious actor, a ‘Dreamweaver,’ if you like, and so our investigation began.”
Even my first nightmare did not go unnoticed? Thanks to just a hunch from Warnado? I am shocked, perhaps even afraid. If Kay’s story develops any further than this, I could be found out quickly. I have to find some way to draw attention away from myself.
The Book’s consciousness brushes up against mine.
Do not worry, Fristad. Kay cannot prove what you did even if he wanted to. And he is not the type of person to hurl weak accusations. He values his image too much. Surely you can see it? The way he conducts himself with such importance, the manner in which he speaks? His accent now wavers between one of a well-to-do merchant and a bestial peasant. One of them is not real. This is a man whose secrets could rival our own.
I am now perhaps as curious of Kay as Kay is about me. But it hardly matters, because unlike him, one of my secrets is already found out. The question which remains is whether Kay will trace it back to me.
Kay continues, “Warnado and I can now confirm that her nightmares have been supernaturally induced. This probably means it’s a threat to the group-”
“Excuse me,” Steve says, leaning back and raising a hand, eyes squinted. Kay stops and gestures to him. “Sorry, just looking for a bit of clarification here: when you say the origin of the nightmares is ‘supernatural,’ what exactly does that mean? Ghosts? Monsters? Immortal beings? Just trying to get a sense of what level of threat we’re dealing with, in case we need to prepare.”
"I can’t reveal much, but I will say that at this point it’s uncertain who or what the Dreamweaver could be. The Dreamweaver very well could be some sort of outside threat, human or otherwise, or they could be hiding among us. It’s all up in the air at this point. Certainly not the sort of thing we could reasonably prepare for given-”
Destiny, the woman who saw me last night, steps forward, eyes ablaze. I try hard not to flinch.
“Up in the air?” Destiny mocks. “Up in the air! Really? Are those ears real or are they just for show?! I already told you it was Fristad!”
Destiny points her finger straight toward me.
“I understand you may feel very passionately about this investigation,” Kay responds, perhaps his calmness as a result of cautious restraint. His voice has started to take on a more refined quality again. “But let’s not jump to conclusions here.”
“I saw it with my own eyes,” Destiny says. “Fristad was there, right in front of Amanda. I saw his eyes glow. And I heard Amanda scream as Fristad teleported away. You heard it, too, Kay! Don’t deny it, just because of some pretense of an ‘objective’ investigation!”
I feel a pang of guilt as I remember Amanda’s face last night. Part of me wants to step forward and admit what I’ve done. Destiny shouldn’t have to experience any more pain than she already has.
Somehow, that guilt seems to push through the carefully guarded cages of my mind. I find myself stepping forward, looking Destiny in the eye. This is it. Everyone is here. I can finally admit the secret I’ve been forced to hold all this time. And I can bring this investigation to an end.
“I am sorry, Destiny,” I tell her. “I know you’ve been through a lot recently. And I can’t change the way you feel about me. But the truth is… I want just as much for the Dreamweaver to be brought to justice as you do. I wish I could have been there to do something about it but I wasn’t there.”
“Don’t mock me,” Destiny growls. The air around her arm begins to bend and warp, and a flame flashes to life in the palm of her hand.
“Destiny, don’t!” Jennifer steps in front of Destiny and pins her arm down. The flame now covers her hand and licks her wrist. Destiny’s eyes bore into mine with hatred.
I feel a hint of smug pleasure coming from the Book, and I realize what words I actually said. I didn’t tell her the truth. I lied. I made her emotional instability into my shield, damaging her credibility. The Book took my sincere guilt for Destiny and redirected it, into the most convincing and hurtful lie I’ve ever told.
Almost everyone is looking at Destiny, mostly with sympathy.
The flame in Destiny’s hand snuffs out into a cloud of rising black smoke. Destiny looks down. Jennifer lets go of her hand.
“I promise you, Destiny, whoever the Dreamweaver is, I will see to it personally that they are brought to justice,” Kay assures Destiny in guarded tones. “If there is anyone else who wishes to share their thoughts on the Dreamweaver, they are free to do so now, or alternatively we can discuss it later in private.”
Tyron steps forward. “I have something to say. I hope we can all take it to heart. As this investigation continues, we are all going to have our own personal opinions about what happened. Tensions are going to rise. People are not going to trust each other as much as they used to. But let’s remember that up to this point, we have all been a team. We escaped the Tower together. Well, that’s excluding Fire and Shadow but half of you can vouch for his being trustworthy and he can vouch for Shadow. Anyways, what I’m trying to say is… let’s not let our suspicions destroy what we have here.”
Steve, Jennifer and a few others nod along in agreement.
“Tyron is right,” Kay concurs, “While none of us asked to be in this situation, this little group we’ve formed does have its benefits. Especially given the strange world we’ve all found ourselves in it’s best if we hold together. Anyone else have anything to say?”
Amanda steps forward. “I just want to say, as the person who was actually attacked last night, I support this investigation. I dread the thought of having another one of those terrifying nightmares, but if we make a rash decision and accuse the wrong person, it could make things worse in the long run.”
Hearing Amanda suddenly become the voice of reason makes me feel even more guilty for what I’ve done to her. Part of me even wonders if my influence over her is, subconsciously, starting to take hold. That would be even worse.
“Coming from you that means a lot,” Warnado says. “I know how much the dreams have been affecting you. Try not to keep it to yourself. We’re all here for you. Same goes for you, Destiny. Like Tyron said, we’re all a team.”
Kay nods. “Well said, Warnado. Anything else anyone would like to add?”
Kay pauses for a moment. When no one responds, he continues to speak.
“Well, in that case, there are a few more things you should know,” Kay says. “Some of you may have heard from Warnado earlier that he suspects the Dreamweaver to be a magic user. Unfortunately we cannot confirm whether this is true or false. We are weighing all possibilities. However, if any of you have insight into the abilities of one of the members of our group, magical or otherwise, please feel free to reach out. Also appreciated are any leads on unusual activity or strange new visitors in or around the village. Remember that the Dreamweaver could be anyone, but like Tyron said let’s not let our suspicions get the best of us.”
With Kay’s final words, the group disperses, and Shadow lifts the ward of silence from the tiny inn room.
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Chapter 29: The Forged Champion (Fire)
A thin rain was falling, not nearly enough to create any noticable amount of wetness in clothes but enough to feel it on your skin, or scales in Fire’s case. Fire was running down the cobbled road leading to the Prophet’s hill. He was still wearing his black firesteel armor, save for the helmet, which was attached to a small hook at his waist. He had also taken a drop of the potion he had brewed before he departed to his own world, sharpened senses could never hurt when listening to the Prophet.
The road was far from empty, Fire passed several caravans and even more people going on foot, occasionally one who rode on a horse. After a solid hour of running the forest that housed the hill came into view, colossal dark oak trees denied any looks from outside. As Fire got close he could hear the raindrops drumming on the leaves pleasantly. He also heard that the Prophet had already started speaking, which was no surprise since he seemed to only rarely interrupt his sermon in order to eat or sleep.
Fire slowed down as he came close to the congregation, he didn’t want to draw any more attention than his tall armored form mandated already. At this point he was a somewhat familiar face among the followers but they still gave him a large amount of space, if out of respect or fear he didn’t know.
The congregation mostly consisted of humans but occasionally other creatures could be seen in the crowd, including endermen who seemingly were not affiliated with the Entity, which made sense since most other worlds had an End of their own.
The Prophet currently was again delivering various disconnected tales or wisdoms, at this point the fundamental patterns had become obvious: sleep, twilight, growth. Now the more complex patterns were a different story, Fire had started to grasp some of them but he would need to listen a bit more to be able to name them. Shadow had a much deeper understanding due to her ability to just place a projection at the hill and always hear everything the Prophet said, taking that the projection remained undisturbed. Fire looked around to see if he could spot it, after a few seconds he did, this time it had taken the form of a sparrow in the trees, only that instead of its normal colors it was black, white and red. Shadow wasn’t limited by those colors naturally but she did like to mess with perceptive people.
The sermon now shifted from tales to concrete prophecies. “The losses of the past will be repeated in the future!”, “The one captivated by ancient scriptures shall never be the same!”, “When under the yoke of the Growing One, great strengths are unleashed.”, he then stopped for a moment, as if he had just gotten a new vision, “The Forged Champion of light and darkness is near!”
The crowd broke out into murmurs, the Champion was something the Prophet talked about occasionally, seemingly it was someone from another world who would leave a lasting impact on Nexus, not alone but with several others. What surprised Fire was that the Prophet had specifically said the “Forged Champion”, the Forged was another figure or perhaps an entire people that occasionally appeared in the Prophet's sermons. When Fire had asked another attendee about it he was told that the first mention of the Forged was something akin to “mortal gods have taken two kinds and forged them into a greater one”. Up until now those were two completely different entities but all of a sudden they were one and the same? Granted, the same gods that forged those two kinds were also those who would send the Champion but nothing was ever said about the nature of that Champion. Something about the Forged also seemed awfully familiar to Fire…
Before he was able to finish the thought he noticed that suddenly an increasing number of people were looking at him. Just shortly before one of them spoke, Fire himself realized the implications.
“The Champion is among us!” A man dressed like a farmer screamed while pointing at Fire.
Soon many others joined in with similar cries. Fire didn’t even attempt to silence or rebuff the congregation, he had enough experience with cults that he knew that it would be pointless. Instead he just stood there and thought about his best course of action. The Forged seemed to be the Mencur-Besh, Fire had suspected this much before but now it was more or less confirmed by the fact that the congregation recognized him as Forged. The one thing that was still a little obscure was that he also was the “Champion of light and darkness”, sure he was a competent leader, sure he had done a lot of things that widely varied in their morality, but a Champion? Fire was quite sure that he did not fit the heroic knight-in-shining-armor archetype that prophecies of that kind entailed.
“Silence!” commanded a previously unheard voice, “Bring the Champion to me!” It was a husky and dry voice, but it sounded quite pained. It wasn’t used to speaking authoritatively.
Fire started moving and the crowd parted before him, giving him even more distance than before. He reached the foot of the hill, though the front side was too steep to climb, almost like a cliff, so he went around and ascended. Meanwhile the Prophet continued his usual preaching. The origin of the voice clearly had been Steve, the guardian that was always at the Prophet’s side. He met Fire a few paces down the hill and signalled that he wanted to speak to him.
Steve was a man in a tattered leather cuirass and brown cloak over a turquoise shirt. Face stubbled, perhaps shaved a few days before and not since. His eyes were bloodshot. He was jerky - his whole appearance suggested a man acutely aware of the situation but who wanted to be able to forget about it and focus on something much more important.
“So, you look enough like what he described,” He was looking at Fire’s armour, too preoccupied to look him in the face. “I think the other one mentioned you as well. What’s your name?”
“I’m Fire, my origin lines up with the prophecy but the Champion bit is news to me.”
“Yes, sorry about that.” He was tapping his foot and he started looking at the tip of his boot as it moved up and down. “It’s all rather sudden and inopportune, I know.”
Fire said: “I honestly was looking for something that would allow me to investigate further into what exactly this world is and what the Entity had to do with it. I already returned home and came back so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
He rubbed his chin. “So, how much am I going to have to tell you?” A pause, but before Fire could respond he broke back in: “You know the Entity exists. You know we’re in Nexus. You know the Entity had something to do with it. That it’s imprisoning people at the - wait, were you involved with that breakout a few days ago? Sorry I couldn’t make it, the Prophet had need of me and I’m not the best equipped for open confrontation at the present moment.”
“I was not personally involved in the breakout. I was at the Tower though. I managed to earn my permission to leave through a small exchange of information with the Ender. I do know the people who started the breakout though.”
“Ah, was it the General? The one with one eye if that’s happened yet? Also, information exchange?”
“I explained to the Ender how they can temporarily open the tunnels to other worlds, mostly in order to get their scouts back. The methods I described are vastly inefficient and impractical though. In turn she let me look at the atlas of worlds they mapped out, there were also some other crumbs of information she let slip.”
“Inefficient...?” He massaged his forehead. ”By the Gods, do you even realize what you’ve done? The Entity has a whole team of engineers and magi working on this stuff, they’re probably working on refining your ‘inefficient’ methods as we speak!”
Fire sighed. Context once again had proven to be important. “They already know how to establish permanent portals, what I told them allows them to get one person through an unprepared tunnel at a time, maybe two. From the talks I heard exploration has become a goal of lower importance, they have already gotten quite far out and any further out the tools they use to locate tunnels will fail since they rely on energy flow. I was talking to their head of military, not their head of science. That one was probably busy interrogating another captive.” Fire said without only minimal changes in his voice despite his slight annoyance. “Besides, the conversation with the Ender and the maps I saw allowed me to travel to my home world, on the way I made some interesting discoveries, it also allowed me to bring a person of extraordinary power into Nexus who can assist us.”
“Exploration? As a matter of lower importance? Interesting… and worrisome, supposing it’s true. But never mind that. The Prophet never lies. I am most interested in this recruit of yours. The Prophet spoke of many others who would assist you in your mission. I’ve guarded him for many years and he’s always been a tad vague about that. Perhaps as we learn more about these individuals, it will shed light on those parts of the prophecy.”
“The one I brought with me is my sister, a powerful mage, probably even more so in Nexus since in our home world her powers are restricted by our gods.” Fire paused, then pointed off in the direction of the road. “I believe we are getting company, something just teleported in… Multiple in fact… armored… advancing quickly. I better get out of sight.”
With those words Fire ran down the hill and hid in a bush that allowed him to both remain hidden and get a good view over who exactly it was that just arrived, he did have a hunch. Steve was gone, the Prophet with him.
It turned out that hunch was correct, the Ender and a squadron of elite endermen had entered the clearing with the hill. Fire had no real reason to hide but it was better for him to stay under the radar for now. Without a word they spread out and began looking through the crowd, didn’t take much to figure out who they were looking for, they were still hunting the escapees. As one of them drew near, Fire’s heartbeat stopped, not out of fear but voluntarily in order to avoid detection, he was not spotted and the enderman moved on just when Fire felt a bit of dizziness coming on.
At this point the congregation was only a hand’s breadth away from mass panic, it seemed that the Entity’s minions had never been to this place before, especially not someone as important the Ender, her reputation preceded her. After another signal from her, the endermen started questioning selected members of the congregation. Speaking in the tongue understood by humans seemed difficult or at least unfamiliar for them, in slow, simple sentences they asked incessantly if anyone had seen any of the escapees. After some time, they finally found someone who had, if only briefly. Luckily the villagers they had sat in the carriage with weren’t present, otherwise the others would be in serious trouble.
The Ender seemed not exactly content with this small scrap of information but it they couldn’t get anything more out of the congregation, she spoke up: “Our work here is done for now. If anyone gets caught harboring or in any other way assisting the escapees there will be deaths. Information regarding their whereabouts will be handsomely rewarded.”
After those words the squadron assumed formation and teleported away with more force than needed, leaving scorched grass where they stood. Fire remained in his bush until he could be absolutely sure that they had in fact not teleported to a nearby location. He then left his hiding place and returned to the hill, where he found a very worried Steve. The Prophet was back to speaking as if nothing had happened.
Chapter 30: The Start of a Plan (Fire)
As Fire returned to the top of the hill, the voices of the congregation began swelling up again, this time in fear and anger. Those two emotions were frequently found together, not quite enough to be considered two sides of the same coin but two coins of the same metaphorical currency. Fire could hear some cries for protection, other cries for revolution. Fire had only rarely seen so many people in this kind of emotional turmoil before, partially because on the server there weren’t that many opportunities for so many different people to gather in one spot but also partially because everyone on the server, even the NPCs to some extent, had at least a small amount of emotional distance to potentially life-threatening situations.
Even the Prophet himself had stopped preaching and was now looking across the masses with his white eyes, Steve stood right beside him. As Fire approached, Steve looked at him with something Fire believed to be expectation in his eyes. It only made sense, he was the Champion of the prophecy after all, Steve wanted him to do something to calm the congregation down. Perhaps Fire could do more than that.
He thought about what he would say, naturally he could understand why some of the people wanted a revolution against the Entity and in fact Fire himself was starting to think that confrontation was becoming an inevitability. As it stood, the congregation was no match for the Entity’s forces, even if Fire personally equipped and trained each and every one of them, the numbers were simply against them. For now he decided that he wouldn’t commit to any specific course of action but he saw that he needed to unite the people in Nexus under some common cause. This would help him gather information about what the Entity was actually doing, once he knew that he would decide which path to take.
Fire was used to leading, having been in charge of various groups over the course of his long life, even before he joined the server he had always been someone to quickly formulate a plan and make sure everyone followed through. On the server this had manifested in his indirect leadership of the Mencur-Besh in their early days before their collective became autonomous. Another powerful position he had held for a few hundred years was the guard captain of Rockhaven, responsible of all military operations there. He had also commanded many armies, though he was also no stranger to defeat, sometimes plainly due to his own mistakes, over time he had learned from them. Now would be the time to put his leadership to the test, the task was familiar but the stakes were severely raised.
He stepped past Steve and the Prophet, then began speaking in a loud voice: “We once were people of many different worlds, now with no way back we are people of Nexus. I heard your cries for revenge, I heard them not only from those gathered here but also those I met on my travels.”
The crowd went quiet. Fire continued: “But it would be unwise to blindly charge the Tower in hopes of taking down some of their soldiers, it would even be unwise to attempt to kill their officers. In truth, as we are here we have no way to take this world as our own. We may have one in the future but for that to happen we will have to work together. I know that it might be hard trusting people you don’t know, who even may be from a different world or from a different species. But enough about differences, there are things that unite us as well, no matter where we are from. Who of you here doesn’t have a roof to sleep under or certainty that there will be a meal when you are hungry?”
About half of the congregation started making themselves known, gradually a large part of the rest joined in as well as they thought about their situations.
Fire called out: “That will be our first concern then, not war, not revenge! Survival is what we need to worry about! I may not be able to provide for all of your needs but I can do something better, I can help you do it yourself!”
At this point the entire crowd was cheering, Steve threw Fire an approving nod.
Fire was not done yet though. “In some time I will be here again, only then with knowledge of a place that will eventually safely house everyone here many times over. I will be honest with you, it will not be easy to make it a reality but I know that we will make it!”
After those words Fire turned around, walked back a few paces, out of the sight of the congregation. He took a deep breath, it had been a long time since he last had to deliver a rousing speech and it had been difficult to not completely crush the congregation with the harsh reality that he knew they were going to face. Building an independent shelter for this many people would prove difficult but it was necessary to at least have some amount of people he could rely on.
Fire was almost immediately approached by Steve. “Well then, it seems the prophecies hold some truth after all, at least in the respect that you know how to lead. What further plans do you have? What is this place you talked about?”
Fire sat down on a small boulder, then explained: “On the map the Ender showed me I noticed that there is a mountainous region some distance from here, according to the maps there are expansive caves within that reach deep underground, they haven’t explored them and it’s unlikely that they ever will. It’ll be safer than anywhere on the surface once we clear them out. We’re protected from the elements, hidden from sight and we’re saving on construction work. As for plans… I don’t particularly know yet, I simply don’t know enough about the Entity or its plans to choose a course of action. Depending on that it’s entirely possible that we go to war but also that we find a diplomatic solution, which admittedly is less likely.”
Steve said: “So, you’ll lead the congregation into the mountains? As you said, it’s risky but I fear that we do need a solid following and a place to keep refugees safe.”
Fire stood up and turned to go. “I’ll be leaving now, I still need to take care of some things before I return. Stay safe.”
Steve gave Fire a short wave, then turned back to the Prophet, who had meanwhile resumed his prophesying, currently about growth if Fire wasn’t mistaken.
Fire stepped out of the forest, there were no more leaves above him to shield him from the rain. Judging by the darkening clouds it would only become heavier, Fire decided to hurry up since running on soaked dirt roads made it easy to slip, even for him. He reached into a small pouch he was carrying, it was significantly bigger on the inside than it was on the outside, he had enchanted it himself. Fire fished out a flask with a sky-blue potion inside. He drank about a quarter of the flasks content and immediately his legs felt a little lighter. The speed potion would allow him to move more quickly than normally while also removing the strain on his circulatory system that would come if he tried to move at that speed without the potion. Fire started sprinting rapidly down the road towards the village at a speed that would make most people pray for their dear lives.
The journey back to the village was uneventful save for having to leap over a very startled carriage driver and his carriage. Once the village was in clear sight Fire slowed down again. At this point the rain had progressed from the drizzle it had been before to a solid downpour, the street was starting to get wet and slippery. Fire once again searched his pouch for a potion, this time it was almost perfectly clear and the flask was tiny compared to the speed potion. After drinking the potion Fire felt a pull in his chest in the direction of the village. If everything had gone according to plan, this pull would lead Fire to the counterpart of the potion he had just imbibed, provided that he had been trusted.
He reached the village and walked slowly to be able to follow the pull more accurately. The streets were largely empty, nobody wanted to go outside with the pouring rain, Fire could also hear distant thunder and see lightning far off on the horizon. There was one hell of a thunderstorm coming.
The pull directed Fire through the streets, it got significantly stronger once he reached what one could call the richer part of the village, it consisted of a handful of bigger and better-built houses, Fire was directed to one of them by the pull. As he stood before the door, the pull stopped, this told Fire that he was within very close proximity of the potion’s counterpart. He knocked on the door. A man of middle age opened the door, Fire knelt down in order for the man to be able to see his face.
The man asked: “What do you want?”
Fire plainly replied: “I’m looking for Lucy.”
The man seemed to be surprised. “What do you want with our maid?”
“I’m taking her with me.”
Instead of answering Fire, the man yelled back into the house: “Linda, one of those scaly things showed up. It wants to take Lucy!”
Fire said nothing and waited for a reaction from the woman who seemed to be the man’s wife. Instead of replying, the woman came storming around the corner, a heavy crossbow in hands. She was aiming it at Fire but she was visibly shaking and the look on her face was everything but confident.
She said: “Leave. Now.”
Fire was neither in the mood for long discussions nor for crossbow bolts. “Let’s make this easier on everyone involved. Just call her.”
Instead of calling for anyone, Linda pulled the trigger on her crossbow. Fire’s sigh gradually slowed down in his own ears as the world around him almost came to a stop. Fire was not in the mood for displays of power either but what had to be done had to be done.
The crossbow Linda was using was old and improperly maintained, the bow limb had lost most of its elasticity over time, probably due to being stored while armed. This resulted in the bolt only being propelled with a fraction of the force of what should have been. On top of that, Fire also saw that the bolt itself was wooden and only tipped with copper, probably due to iron not being available. Even a direct hit between scales wouldn’t do more than slightly puncture Fire’s skin, and that was ignoring the fact that Fire was wearing armor. Yet Fire still decided to reach out with his hand and close it around the bolt as it came near, his claws dug into the wood to further slow it down. After catching the bolt time returned to its normal speed again.
Fire’s sigh finished.
“I want to see Lucy, are we clear on that?” Fire said.
It took the couple a few moments to process what had happened but it seemed that they got Fire’s message. The man then called Lucy’s name with a shaky voice.
A few seconds later Fire could hear rapid footsteps coming down stairs, then the blonde maid he had chosen during his pyromancy show appeared behind her employers.
Fire said: “Hello again Lucy. I’d like you to come with me, we have much to discuss.”
The man seemed to have mustered up enough courage to raise his voice again: “If you take her with you, who will look after our house? And besides, her contract is still binding.”
Fire pointed to Lucy. “Lucy, would you be so kind and give those two the object in your pocket?” Lucy hesitantly reached inside and revealed a cut and polished diamond, the very same one she had found in the satchel Fire had given her. Fire continued: “You can hire as many maids as you want with that gem. As for the contract… I believe we are no longer in a world where there is any authority ensuring the validity of your laws, feel free to walk over to the Tower and discuss the binding nature of your contract with one Marinus Bul, I hear he handles their legal affairs.”
With another gesture he signalled Lucy to step outside, she did after a few seconds of hesitation, neither of her now former employers did anything to stop her. Once Lucy was out of the house, Fire closed the door behind her, then once again reached into his pouch and handed her a rain-proof coat.
Then Fire started walking without a word, Lucy hurried to his side. Slowly, warily she asked: “What do you want from me?”
While walking, Fire said: “Here is no place to discuss details. All I can say right now is that I am very old and over my years I have learned to spot talents in people that they might not realize they have. As for you? I’m building a shelter for a lot of people and I need someone I can rely on.”
Since Lucy didn’t answer, Fire considered the conversation to be over and talked no further until they arrived at the tavern. Fire smiled to himself, he had doubts that Lucy knew the full magnitude about her involvement in his plan but what he knew for certain was that she would be ready for what was ahead of her.
Chapter 31: Distracted (The Ender)
The Ender was not happy with the results of their “visit” to what the humans called a “prophet”. A madman was what he was in all likelihood, shouting incoherent drivel all day long because his hallucinations were all that was left in his shattered mind. He had vanished before they could see him, though, so who knew?
This, however, did not change that they had learned virtually nothing and at the same time had spooked the population. One or two people had talked, yes, but probably out of not entirely irrational fear of being executed. The scraps of information they had gotten out of it boiled down to the fact that some of the escapees had been seen in the village closest to the Tower. By now they could be anywhere in the wilderness, which was something Nexus had a lot of.
The Ender was currently standing in front of the squadron she had taken with her, they stood there in perfect formation, awaiting her words.
She spoke in the screeching language of the End: “This operation was a failure.” After a brief pause she continued. “None of you is individually at fault but the reason why you failed is still clear.”
As she started pacing up and down the ranks the soldiers started shifting uncomfortably, they knew that she would only tolerate so much failure.
The Ender decided to address the issue directly. “You need to better understand and speak the human language.”
In an instant all semblance of discipline had vanished from the squadron.
A soldier said: “You want us to degrade ourselves further and speak like those lesser beings?”
Similar complaints followed. Usually the Ender would have these soldiers punished on the spot but this was indeed a delicate topic, one she herself had spent the longest time wrestling with.
She spoke again, immediately suffocating any protest: “There is not the shadow of a doubt that humans are inferior to us, just as there is no doubt that our ancestors will frown upon us for speaking their tongue. But do you know what would make our ancestors even more furious? Us letting those roaches crawl away simply because we were unable to interrogate their brethren! As much as they have strayed otherwise, this is something the Grey Ones have learned.”
Slowly the soldiers shifted back into formation, then they called out in unison: “Yes General! What are your orders?”
That was something the Ender loved to hear. She continued: “You will pass this on to any other members of the army you should encounter. Each of you is to seek out one of our human mercenaries and let them teach you more of the human tongue. Hostilities from either side will be treated as defiance of a direct order and punished accordingly. Are we clear?”
“Yes General!”
The Ender turned around, before teleporting into her office she said: “Dismissed.”
She re-appeared in a sitting position at her desk. A map of the immediate area around the Tower was already on it, as well as various cartographing tools. She was in the process of systematically assigning patrol areas and exchange routes that would minimize the possibility of evading a search.
This was no easy task and it once again came to her mind how poorly they controlled the area around the Tower. The Entity was more in favor of expansion outside of Nexus and the mages and scientists in the lower levels very much shared this sentiment since it gave them a steady influx of test subjects and of those crystals. It had been a while since she had taken a look at their machine, she didn’t know about its exact purpose but she hoped this one would function instead of killing their most valuable researchers in a dimensional vortex.
Back to the map. Her eyes wandered across the various biomes that surrounded the Tower. Flatlands were easier to overlook so larger areas could be assigned to a single unit. What still gave her headaches though were the vast cave systems below, they were hardly explored and if someone knew their way around caves they could easily evade a search.
She shuddered at the thought… caves. Wet and confined, the exact opposite of what her kind thrived in. Naturally this meant that only human mercenaries could be sent to explore down there, which she didn’t have high hopes for seeing how some of them had performed recently.
Back to the map again. She drew arrows between the areas to symbolize the paths patrols should take when transitioning between zones, preferably sweeping potential hideouts while doing so.
She let out a frustrated grunt. She just couldn’t properly focus. Was it because of the failed mission? Was it because of the fact that she could have given her order to learn the human tongue earlier and thus could have made the mission turn out better?
“What the hell is wrong with me?” She said intentionally in the human tongue. Despite what it was, speaking it helped her distance herself from her emotions, it felt like she was putting on a mask.
It just was no use, working on the map now would just result in faulty patrols. She pushed herself away from the table and left the room in order to take a walk through the corridors of the Tower. She passed stacks of cushions, glass vitrines filled with preserved corpses, paintings of landscapes, collections of materials that didn’t quite seem to fit into this world…
After a few random turns she came across a niche that was filled with books. Her mind flashed back in time to a comparatively pleasant memory. It had been here where she had met Fire, he was someone she could at least hold an interesting conversation with. The first in a while when she thought about it, the Entity’s mind was too foreign and on top of that notoriously uncreative. Freak was agreeable but no intellectual; he couldn’t go a minute without some jab or snide remark. She rarely had to do with the scientists and mages, they took orders directly from the Entity. Glibby mostly did his own thing, or, the Silhouette’s thing to be exact, they only ever spoke when it came to coordinating and that only when it was absolutely necessary. Perhaps that should change as well, she couldn’t let something as trivial as him effectively stealing a hand full of squadrons worth of already trained warriors from her from talking with him.
The Ender hissed. No, she’d keep contact with that honorless brute at a minimum.
Fire was the closest thing she had met in Nexus to someone that she could call an equal, especially when he revealed on the way to the storerooms that he could speak her language. Though the fact that he waited that long also lead her to believe that during their information tango he had walked away with significantly more than she had. The Ender admitted to herself that she had been uncharacteristically careless, she really should have watched him more closely from the start, especially from when he told her how old and therefore experienced he was. It sure would be nice to have someone like him here in the tower, it certainly would make the strategic side of things easier.
Before she could properly finish that thought the Ender realized she was standing at the door of her office again. Had she been that absorbed in her musings? No matter, after her little walk she felt significantly more able to focus on her task. If this state of mind kept up, she’d have a complete patrol plan for the area before the next day.
She smiled to herself. No matter where they were hiding, soon they would have to try a lot harder.
Chapter 32: How the Future goes (Kay)
I have to admit, after the meeting I was not feeling the most confident. Still driven, but not confident. I was hanging behind as everyone else filtered out, hands on my hips and eyes downward in an attempt to look like I was deliberating. In truth, pondering was perhaps a better word.
The Dreamweaver was still acting unimpeached and all that we had really changed was making it aware we were watching for it. That was naturally a risky move. Either it was going to be deterred or it was going to start retaliating. So far this thing was just engaging in fanciful, or rather, deeply unfanciful conjurings, but what else was it capable of? Why was it doing any of this?
I was pretty sure I could take it’s worst efforts. Herobrine had taught me well. I remembered the white eyes which had once seemed so tender and wise and my stomach twisted in nostalgic sadness. I remembered how, as we retreated from Vechs across the Southern Crafts, an ash cloud had floated up from the ruins of the Thaumlands - the lands I had fought to grant independence - blue and red sparking out of the suffocating grey.
“‘Kicked in the soul’ is an accurate description to be sure,” I thought.
But yes, in those days when I had served the Blind Watcher, he had taught me a great many things about the guarding of the mind and the protection of dreams in particular. I could take this Dreamweaver.
But what if it went after Warnado? He was only a kid! Powerful magic-user he may have been, he was also vulnerable and I’ll be honest I kind of got the vibe he was making it all up as he went along as regards the magic. How else did he keep summoning jam alongside coin? And what if this child ended up getting hurt because I couldn’t figure out if Destiny or Fristad or neither of them were messing with his girlfriend’s head?
Said child nudged me. We were the only ones left.
“So,” he asked, with unconvincing enthusiasm. “What’s the plan?”
The upper half of his face was obscured, but in the red depths of his eyes and the curls of his mouth I could see the twitching of worry and anger. I had to help him catch this thing.
“I need time to think, and we need to do some research on mind-altering magics. I think I saw a library, book shop sort of thing around here.”
Then, it occurred to me that he might interpret this as an invite. Naturally, I liked the kid a lot but I needed some space.
“You stay here, I’ll go find it and come back for you. I should have a clearer idea of what we’re looking for by the time I’m back.”
Warnado was uncharacteristically laconic, offering a simple “alright” before marching off, presumably in search of Amanda. I felt terrible.
And so I ambled out into the corridor, trying to feel aloof from everything and just strategise but I couldn’t keep it all bottled up in my head. I had to talk aloud. Turning Warnado away was a mistake except it wasn’t because I needed to say things that might upset him and that I didn’t necessarily agree with but which I needed to say aloud to process. And although talking to Tyron felt pretty good the other day now it looked like he and Kir could be the ones responsible. And what if NO ONE was trustworthy?
WhoCouldITalkToWasIJustGoingToSitThereAloneStewingInAbjectMiseryAndConfusionUntilIMakeAnotherInevitableMistakeAndGetEveryone-
“Hi, Kay.”
I jumped much higher than I’d like to admit. I must have been like a cat on springs. I felt the breeze of motion on me and it felt good. I was almost about to grab my sword. Thankfully, I landed facing my startler and it was just Astro. He blinked.
“You didn’t see that,” I ordered.
“Don’t worry, who am I going to tell?” he asked, smiling.
“Aaron first, then maybe Secret. You and Cossack have been pretty chummy since Killer Craft so probably him too.”
He laughed but he seemed kind of confused, as though he were struggling to remember something. That was when I tensed up again. I still didn’t know how he had gotten here.
“So,” he began. “That was… intense back there.”
“Yeah,” I stated, trying to cover an impulse toward iciness and restraint with a very tangible and sincere irritation. “Destiny almost set Fristad on fire. I noticed.”
And then he said something that broke through all my defences: “Don’t beat yourself up about it. I know this isn’t ideal but you’re doing your best, and I know you can find out what’s going on. You always have, and you always will.”
Near as I could tell he was absolutely sincere.
And as he said all this my mental image of him flickered and he was just the same old Astro. The guy who invested in my airship. Who let me fly again, short as that had been. Who spared me on the banks of the river. Who had been a voice of wisdom and guidance throughout our entire journey across the Old Continent into the New. I choked up and I wanted to tell him everything and I almost did. But I had to ask something first.
“Listen, I really want to confide in you right now, but I need to know something first.”
Astro smiled again and spread his arms: “Go ahead.”
“How did you get here?”
He bit his lip, deliberating. “I was kidnapped by some Endlings.”
“They Grey Ones, I know. But in what circumstances.”
Now he was quiet. “I was… out hunting.”
“With who?”
“...Secret.”
“That’s funny, because last I saw you and Brit were all out getting our visas arranged.”
“Bugger.”
I reached for my sword, then froze up. I let my hand fall back. I looked up and he was holding his hands before him, pity moistening his eyes. But there was no indication he was going to fight back. He could have broken my neck in a second if he wanted to, but he was just looking at me, with all the disappointment and sadness of an old man struck by tragedy. And then I knew why he was so different, and why I could still trust him.
“So, how long has it been since that?”
“Of the top of my head, about a decade.”
I hugged him.
“I’m sorry.”
I patted him on the back and let go.
“A decade?”
“Maybe a little more.”
I hugged him even harder, almost knocking him over.
“Hey, easy,” he laughed. “Anyway, before you ask, no I’m not telling you about how the future goes.”
But there was still something weighing on me. A weight upon my shoulders. A terror that needed calming.
So, I asked: “Can I get one question?”
“Yes, you did come back!” Astro groaned. “You were missing when I came back with the visas, you came back a few days later, so I'm going to assume you were here. Now, get out there and solve this mystery!”
“That wasn’t my question but good to know. And I’m still holding you to that question. We have a verbal contract. It would hold up in court and I will sue. And an interdimensional court is totally going to buy that you’re from my future. They’ve seen some **** this last while, that won’t even register!”
He was laughing away and I followed suit. He leant back against the wall and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples like a psychic. “Okay…” He put on a stern, theatrical voice: “What truths do you seek?”
I paused for a moment. Did I really want to know? My stomach felt like it had just fallen through a trapdoor. But I pressed on.
“Do I still have both my ears in the future?”
Astro snorted and managed to choke out one question before collapsing over into laughter: “Seriously?”
“Yes!” I insisted, eyes widening with worry. “Yes! That other Steve guy seems to know something about my future and when we first met he noticed I ‘still have the other one’ and I don't know what he meant and it’s been eating me up inside!”
“But why the ears?” He was crying laughing now, wiping away the salty tears with the tips of his fingers.
“I don’t want to look lopsided - answer the damned question!”
He took a few seconds to calm himself, before finally chuckling out: “You have both your ears. I swear it.”
The weight was lifted.
“Thank you.”
He didn’t say anything, but his smile made it clear I owed him nothing. But I really did, because he’d really cleared things up. He wasn’t the Dreamweaver. He was still my close, dear friend and I could talk to him. Poor Tyron was out of the job as my informal therapist. Still, sound lad. He might make a good backup.
Best of all, I now had a clear idea of what I was going to achieve at the library.
“Anyway, I’ll grab a drink with you later. I’ve got a mystery to solve.”
I sprinted off down the hall, calling to Warnado at the top of my lungs. We were going to go over there and we were going to talk out all the books they had on mind-altering magic, dream interpretation and military strategy. We were going to figure out the magical, psychological and physical aspects of this thing if it killed us.
“Come on out Dreamweaver,” thought I. “I’m ready for you.”
Chapter 33: A New Purpose (Fire)
Fire opened the front door of the tavern, letting Lucy in first then following right after her. He was very thankful that most of the tavern’s ceilings were high enough that he didn’t have to hunch over.
He turned to Lucy. “I reserved you a room upstairs, I imagine you’ll want to get some rest. I will come talk to you tomorrow, it’s best if you take some time to clear your mind.”
Lucy wordlessly took the keys he gave her. Fire interpreted her continued silence less as fear and more as being overwhelmed by the sequence of events she had just experienced. He gave her a smile before she disappeared towards the staircase.
Fire decided to go to the inn, maybe some of the others were still there, he wanted to tell them what he had seen. The Ender showing up at the Prophet’s hill, looking for the escapees was a matter that was much more immediately pressing to the others than to him.
The door to the inn was tall but not quite tall enough, after lowering his head to get through Fire took a look around. There was the usual amount of patrons, some of them familiar, the only one he recognized by name was Shadow, sitting at a table drinking what looked to be red wine. She saw him as well and waved. Fire sat down next to her.
He asked: “I assume you saw what happened at the hill through your projection?”
Shadow took a sip and nodded. “I probably should tell you about what happened here in the meantime. We had a meeting of sorts in one of the rooms, discussed the nightmares. Destiny just straight up accused Fristad, seems like she saw something last night. She generally doesn’t seem to be doing well.” She sighed. “She almost burned Fristad with magic. I might have to think about modifying my soundproofing spell with a dampening field so that can’t happen in the future.”
Just as Shadow finished speaking, the door flew open. In came Destiny. She looked across the entire room, didn’t find who or what she was looking for and promptly left again. Through the closing door Fire saw her going up the stairs to the rented rooms.
“Speak of the devil,” Shadow said.
Fire asked: “Anything else noteworthy?”
Shadow shook her head. “No, not really. It was what you would expect from such a meeting. Kay leads the investigation into the Dreamweaver, everyone else voices their support.”
Fire prepared to stand up again. “As much as I’d like to sit here with you and maybe get some of that wine for myself, I’d rather try to talk with Destiny. I don’t really know her but I want to make sure she stays at least reasonably stable.”
Shadow replied: “Have fun, don’t get stabbed.”
Fire smiled as he stood up. He slowly went up the narrow staircase and into the corridor. If he remembered Destiny’s room number correctly she’d have the fourth door on the right. Lucy was now two doors further down the corridor.
Fire knocked on Destiny’s door. At first there was no reply, instead of knocking again, Fire waited a few moments.
The door opened slowly until it was open just enough for Destiny to fit her head through the door. Destiny looked at Fire with a mix of annoyance and worry. While these emotions were not directed specifically at Fire, Fire could tell that Destiny was not in the best psychological state.
“Hello Destiny.” Fire said. He now had to choose his words very carefully in order to avoid sounding insensitive, he also decided to completely leave out what he had heard from Shadow. “I’m Fire, Kay and Warnado’s friend. I don’t think we were ever formally introduced. I apologise for disturbing you.” She nodded slowly, clearly expecting him to get to the point. “I was at the Prophet’s hill again today. The Ender conducted a raid of some sorts, looking for the escapees. You should be safe for now since nobody gave up information.”
She scoffed and gritted her teeth: “Okay. Now, how about why you’re actually here?”
Fire nodded. “You got me there. I still haven’t really gotten a full picture of what exactly happened after I left the Tower. I don’t really know where the others are, so I thought you could help me out with some of the details.”
Destiny’s demeanour grew grave and she lowered her eyes. She grumbled something but acquiesced and opened the door to her room, letting Fire inside before closing the door behind her.
“Well, I don’t know when you left the Tower, so I guess I’ll start at the beginning,” Destiny sighed, tone starting out mockingly upbeat before shrivelling into bitterness. “David and I found a portal from our world leading to Nexus. We knew there was an evil force on the other side. So, we did the heroic thing and went through.” Destiny drifted off ruefully. “We were in Nexus for five damned minutes before they had us in a jail cell. We were kept in a room alongside Tyron and Astro. Well-furnished. They wanted us to talk. We didn’t oblige and tried to escape, so they dropped the act. They separated us, shoved us into cells and tortured us for information. Then, Kay recognised Astro and got Warnado to free us. During the fighting, me, David and a few others found ourselves fighting against a group of heavily armed endermen. Things went to **** real quick. David and I were surrounded, and…” Destiny’s voice choked up but she fought through it, rage treading sadness into the dirt. She pressed on in a tone of escalating, wild fury that she struggled to repress: “David shattered his gauntlet, causing an explosion. He killed a lot of them, bought us time to escape the Tower, but… he died. Burned half-”
Fire interjected calmly: “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I would know, I lost people I cared about as well.”
“Tough ****, we all have-” Destiny stopped herself, before sighing and offering in concession: “So, you know what it’s like.”
Fire nodded, unfazed. “It was not entirely the same situation as you. While the one I loved was among those lost, I was never sure if the feeling was mutual. There is also the fact that I was the sole survivor of the event that killed them, only by sheer coincidence.”
“Okay then, you don’t really know what it’s like.” Destiny stared off with a mix of disappointment and anger. “Listen, I get you probably mean well, but it doesn’t change the fact that David is dead.” Destiny tried to regain her composure. “But at the same time, you don’t seem the sort of person who takes things lightly. So I guess that means something.”
Fire said: “It would be a lie to deny that our situations are different. The reason I am bringing this up is that I hope that you eventually do get over everything, however long that may take. I know this because I got over my losses eventually too. But there is something else that didn’t go away. You see, after the incident I refused to talk to anyone about it, refused professional help, even when it was readily available. Instead I just looked for things to distract me, at first it was exercise, then academic study. Over the years I just projected my negative feelings onto someone else, someone that I created. I know enough about psychology now to know that that was a bad idea, pretty much the worst thing I could have done. I was human back then, but when I became what I am now that other side of me grew, got a life of its own, and now I have to keep it chained down wherever I go. So, Destiny, what I’m trying to say is: Don’t do what I did. The loss eventually fades, but whatever you do to yourself stays with you, even when you live thousands of years.”
Destiny’s eyes widened. She glanced at Fire for a brief moment in fear, and then her expression became lucid. She nodded and returned to resigned concession. “I understand. At least… I think I do. But, I don’t know what to do next. I feel like I don’t have a purpose. We were reincarnated across multiple lifetimes to fight alongside each other. To… love each other. Now, we’re out of step. He died. I’m still here.”
Fire nodded again. “I understand that.” He paused, deliberately. “Listen, purpose can help but purpose alone can’t fix you. That being said, if you promise me to try not to let emptiness devour you, I might be able to give you a new purpose. At least for a while.”
She said nothing but didn’t object.
“When I was listening to the Prophet they said I was the champion of some prophecy. In truth, that could be anyone with the right abilities filling that role; the prophecy just makes the people believe it. Anyways, what I’ll be trying to do now is create a shelter for as many people as possible. I could use all of the help I can get. Your skills in magic and combat certainly would help, conflict is not out of the question and we need capable people to act as mentors.” Fire paused, he was unsure about what he was going to say next but decided to risk it, even if mentioning the nightmares might have unintended effects. “After this nasty situation with the nightmares is resolved, you could join me. What do you say?”
Destiny’s eyes lit up desperately, but she suppressed it. “I’ll think about it. Might be better than being cooped up in this village.”
Fire turned towards the door and prepared to go, he said: “It was nice talking to you Destiny.”
As the door closed behind him Fire took a deep breath. That had gone much better than he had hoped; their group might just pull through this conflict relatively unharmed.
Chapter 34: Dimensional Sandwich Science (Steve and Jennifer)
Steve and Jennifer inspected the large map laying upon Jennifer’s inn bed. The map had grown increasingly detailed over the past few days, as the two of them had mapped out the major untapped resource deposits in the caves surrounding the village. There were other notable details on the map as well, like the border between the village, the farms, and the various biomes of wilderness beyond them. There was also a small border on one edge of the map where there was a discontinuity in terrain due to the various worlds being stitched together into Nexus. Jennifer liked to call it a, “dimensional sandwich layer,” or DSL for short. This nearby DSL would soon be an active area of exploration for Steve and Jennifer, assuming the rest of the group decided to stay in this village for a few more days.
“What do you think, Steve?” Jennifer asked. “Should we check out that northwest patch, or should we consider this DSL’s resources covered?”
“I think we’ve covered it well enough,” Steve said. “We don’t know how long we’ll be in this area, so we should check out that nearby desert region, once we’ve done some experiments on these new materials we found. That way we can decide how much of it we want to have on us.”
“Agreed,” said Jennifer. “Do you think we should take a look at those crystals, too? It’s definitely a risk, but they could reveal something important about the Tower’s motivations.”
Steve pondered for a moment, scratching his beard. “It’s a risk. Their henchmen could detect our crystals on their radar and track us down. We could do our experiments some distance away from the village. They will likely search the village anyway, but if we leave behind a convincingly active laboratory, that could distract them. I could set up some redstone detectors set to the frequency of our radio, which would alert us in advance if they start searching the laboratory. Given how valuable these crystals must be, it might be worth the gamble.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Jennifer said. “Do you think we should ask Shadow to help us? It might help to have someone with magic knowledge, given that Wolfric isn’t around.”
Steve scratched his beard again. “That’s also a risk. The nightmare investigation is still going on. She could be the Dreamweaver.”
“That’s true, but there is only a chance that Shadow is the Dreamweaver, and on top of that, we don’t really know what the Dreamweaver’s intentions are. There are a lot of odd people in our little Nexus caravan, and we don’t know any of them very well.”
“We know Fristad a bit more than most.”
“Yea, we do know Fristad more, but… something tells me he wouldn’t be interested.”
“I see your point,” Steve said. “I guess we’re better off just trusting her. She seems very knowledgeable.”
Jennifer grinned with the gleam of adventure. “It’s settled, then. Should we set up a base of operations over there in the southeast corner?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steve and Jennifer walked down the inn stairs, and were pleasantly surprised, if a bit startled, when they saw Fire land in the foyer in front of them, having jumped down from a higher floor.
“Hey, Fire!” Steve said. “Taking the stairs isn’t your style, huh?”
Fire turned around. “Normally it would be, but I figured it would be faster this time around, and it’s good to practice my reflexes a bit. Also in my defense, narrow stairs with small steps aren’t exactly friendly to people my size.”
“That’s fair. Jennifer and I were wondering if you knew where Shadow was?”
“She is just in the inn dining area having a drink,” Fire said. “Is there something you want to ask her?”
Steve figured it would be best to just tell the truth. “We thought we’d ask her if she would like to help us do some research on some materials we found on our mining trips. Some of the materials in this DSL are unfamiliar to us.”
“I’m sure she’ll be happy to assist you with that, she does like herself some research from time to time.” Fire said.
“Great. Thanks, Fire.”
Steve and Jennifer walked into the dining hall and walked to the bench where Shadow was sitting, sipping some expensive-looking wine that Steve was pretty sure wasn’t served at this inn.
“Hello Shadow,” Steve said. “Jennifer and I are doing some materials research and were wondering if you would be interested in joining us?” Steve then remembered the reason why they were building a research base so far from the village. “For reasons that will become clear pretty quickly, we’d like to keep the details between the three of us. Fire can also know about it if he wants to.”
Shadow took another sip from her wine, then said: “Sure, don’t have anything else planned.”
“Great. We leave when you’re ready.”
“Just let me finish this glass.”
After Shadow finished her glass of wine and made it float back to the bar, she joined Steve and Jennifer at the front of the inn, and the three of them departed for the predetermined spot in the forest that represented the southeast corner of Steve and Jennifer’s map. The downpour outside had made no sign of letting up. Shadow used a spell to deflect the rain around the three of them.
After a short journey; Steve, Jennifer, and Shadow arrived at a small clearing in a forest. Steve assessed the area and nodded. “This spot will do.”
Jennifer nodded. “Once we’ve built the initial room, we can start planning out the details.”
In a short period of time, Steve and Jennifer had assembled a staircase leading into an underground room, similar in design to the underground bunkers they built in the days when their motley team was traveling away from the Tower. Shadow walked into the room to get a feel for its size.
Steve walked behind Jennifer down the staircase and pulled the lever, causing the pistons to extend and seal the ground above them. “Now that we’re in a bunker in a relatively isolated location, let’s talk about the reason we went through all the trouble to build it. As you probably guessed, Jen and I have been mining for the past several days, and we found some new resources we’d like to understand better. However, we also have been carrying around some gems for a while - well, I guess you could call them crystals. Technicalities in rock definitions aside, the Entity is looking for them. Long story short, the last time I took the crystals out of my ender chest, we were quickly ambushed by an enderman and some giants and then got swept up in negotiations with the Entity. The Entity’s henchmen have detectors designed to find these crystals, so once they’re out of the ender chest, we’re putting ourselves at risk.”
Jennifer nodded. “I think it’s a necessary risk. If we learn more about how the crystals work, we can understand the Entity’s motivations better, and perhaps even put them to good use.”
Shadow replied: “I’ll try my best to be quick then.”
“We have a few ideas,” Steve said. “First, we should do research on the newer materials. Second, we will set up detectors in the lab set to the frequencies of our radios, which will let us know if the Entity’s henchmen go looking for our crystals while we’re gone.”
“I like it, them finding something also helps take some pressure away from the village. Well, after the inevitable area sweep is done. From what Fire said this Ender seems quite competent when it comes to military things.”
Steve frowned. He knew that their experiments on the crystals could force the group to leave the village, but he was getting the impression from Shadow that this was a certainty, not just a possibility. This made him feel a little more guilty. He hoped it would turn out to be the right decision in the long run.
“That’s good to know,” Steve said.
“How about we catalogue all of the materials we found, then decide how we will do our experiments?” Jennifer proposed.
Steve and Shadow agreed, and samples of the various materials were laid out onto a quickly constructed stone table.
Most of the materials Steve and Jennifer mined were similar to the ores and gems from their own world, but some appeared to have subtle differences. The redstone dust they found in the current DSL was discovered by accident to be water resistant. The lapis lazuli had a strange smell. Steve was interested to see if that was connected to the lapis smuggling operations they encountered earlier. The other cave materials Steve and Jennifer recognized from their world were also laid out on the table, on the off-chance that these dimensional variants had unique properties that were less obvious. Finally, there were three materials on the table that were completely unfamiliar. The first one was a soft, black dust with the consistency of clay. The second one was a glowing, purple-blue rock. And the third was a deep blue metal ore which refused to melt in a coal-powered furnace.
Shadow asked: “You have more samples, right? If I want to analyze those quickly, disintegration is the best way.”
“Yes, we have at least two stacks of each material, with the exception of the glowing rock, which we have about half a stack of. As for the crystals, we only have a few of those, so it would be best to not waste them, although we should still find a way to analyze them quickly,” Steve said.
“Alright, let’s begin.” Shadow said.
She pointed her palm at the sample of redstone, glowing runes appeared over her arm and a few seconds later a blindingly bright beam of energy struck the sample, accompanied by a low crackling and humming. After a few moments the beam disappeared, only leaving behind a hole in the table and some heated air. Shadow then repeated this process multiple times. When she arrived at the purple-blue rock something was different though, the sample remained mostly intact, only to be obliterated by a second, seemingly more powerful blast.
Shadow quickly explained: “Obvious things first, those rocks seem to absorb magic but can only store a certain amount before becoming saturated. This is similar to how silver behaves in my world, which is interesting. As for the other samples, the lapis is just regular lapis except with traces of sulfur, which explains the smell. The redstone is interesting, if you were to mix it with iron powder and smelt it into an alloy you’d get a material with good conductive properties. The black dust is an excellent electrical insulator. The blue metal seems to be of Nether origin, it’s quite lightweight, durable and tools made from it could have self-sharpening properties.”
Steve did a triple take. He knew Shadow was a competent wizard, but he didn’t expect her to finish analyzing the samples so quickly.
Does she need a drink of water? Or maybe a second opinion? Then again, does she even need to drink water? Is such a question even warranted, given the custom of drinking water when experiencing stress may not exist in the culture which Shadow originates from? Steve thought to himself, before composing himself and coming up with an appropriate response for the situation before this pause could lengthen into a quadruple take. “That’s an impressive analysis. It’s nice to know the redstone in this dimension has the same alloying properties as in our world. Combined with its water-resistant properties and the insulating dust, that gives us just what we need to make new electronics if we need them. As for the blue metal and the magic-absorbing glowing rocks, those might be worth experimenting with more while we’re here. I would be interested to see how the blue metal works as a pickaxe, provided I can figure out how to smelt it.”
Jennifer nodded. “I would be interested to see if the blue metal could be used to make re-usable arrows.”
“I’ve tried smelting the blue metal ore in a furnace, but was not successful,” Steve explained. “Given that, according to Shadow’s analysis, the metal is originally from the Nether, it should be possible to melt the ore using lava.” Steve took out a furnace and placed it down to the left of the table, then took out a single bucket of lava and began testing his theory.
“Those glowing rocks are too brittle to be used for magic-resistant armor, and aside from that we don’t have a lot of them,” Jennifer thought aloud. “Maybe they could be used as a potion ingredient. What do you think, Shadow?”
“For non-magical people drinking powdered anti-magic rock probably doesn’t change much. But it could be used for curse purging or some amount of protection from magic, in splash potion form you could probably also disrupt low-energy spells or temporarily disable casters.” Shadow replied.
Sounds like a way to counter the Dreamweaver, Steve thought to himself. He didn’t want to say it aloud, on the off-chance Shadow was the Dreamweaver.
“It’s worth a shot,” Jennifer said, pulling out a brewing stand from her pocket and placing it on the table.
In a few moments, a standard triplet of potions was brewed using a small amount of the glowing stone crushed up and thrown in at the end as a catalyst. Jennifer kept the gunpowder on standby. At this point, Steve was euphemistically cursing under his breath as the blue metal in his furnace refused to melt, and was turning over in his head about how to proceed.
As the glowing rock finished dissolving into the potion to form a glowing purple liquid, Jennifer sprinkled in the gunpowder, then took out a heavily damaged bow, which faintly gleamed purple from enchantment. “One test we could try would be to apply the potion to this bow in splash potion form,” Jennifer proposed. “Since you’re a magic user, maybe you have some other ideas on how we could test the potions.”
Shadow nodded. “I could conjure up a magical light source on the ground. I’d prefer if the tests didn’t involve splashing me with the potion. My clothes are magical as well and I think you would prefer for them not to disappear.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer placed the damaged enchanted bow onto the ground, and threw a potion at it. She jumped slightly as the bowstring snapped.
Jennifer walked up to the broken bow, picked it up, and inspected it. Not surprisingly, the broken bow no longer had its enchantment. Broken equipment tended to be that way. But interestingly, the torn bowstring was far from the only new source of damage. New scratches and dents had appeared all along the length of the wood, as if all the bumps and grazes absorbed by the enchantment over the course of the bow’s life were released back onto the bow.
“Judging from the bow breaking, and the new damage that wasn’t there before, it looks like the unbreaking enchantment failed catastrophically,” Jennifer said. “Let’s try the magical light source.”
Shadow stepped back and pointed her hand toward the ground, and a single rune glowed on her finger. A glowing white ball of light about the size of a closed fist appeared on the ground, next to it was an identical one.
“One of those orbs is actively supplied with energy by me, the other one slowly drains from its surroundings to sustain itself. Let’s see if anything different happens.”
Jennifer threw a splash potion so that it landed in between the two lights. Both lights vanished. After a few moments passed, one of the lights began to barely glow again, until it was restored to its original brightness. Only the actively powered light had survived.
Meanwhile, Steve was testing a blast furnace he built, which took up quite a bit of space in the room. The furnace was being heated by coals with lava underneath to get the process started, and the only thing left was to stoke the flames and hope the ore would melt. After the unperturbed and rather athletic Steve gave the bellows some elbow grease, he checked inside the furnace and was pleased to find the ore had sunk into his newly crafted ingot casts.
“Any luck with melting the ore?” Jennifer asked, not able to see inside the furnace from her angle.
“Thankfully, yes.” Steve said. “Do you mind helping me smelt the rest of this, and then we can craft some tools for testing?”
Jennifer agreed. Shadow also offered to help, and used some of her magic to increase the heat in the furnace to speed up the melting. Once the first set of ingots cooled, Steve and Jennifer used the ingots to create a pickaxe and some arrows. Steve was impressed by the pick’s mining speed, and Jennifer was pleased with the durability of the arrows and the speed at which they fired, so they made more. Once the remaining resources were stored away, there was only one thing left to test.
Steve placed his ender chest onto the ground. He looked toward Jennifer, and then toward Shadow.
“Any ideas?”
“About how to test the crystals?” Jennifer probed.
“Exactly.”
Shadow shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do once it’s here.”
“I’ll take out just one for now,” Steve said. He reached into the ender chest and took out a crystal. This one had a small dent in the top, was yellow in color, and glowed much like the other crystals did. He handed the crystal to Shadow.
There was a look of surprise on Shadow’s face. She said: “No wonder people carrying these get caught by the Entity’s goons. This one alone has a massive energy signature, no telling of a whole bag. Alright, let me examine it further.”
Shadow held the crystal close to her head and closed her eyes, different runes on her body flashed in irregular intervals. After about a minute Shadow handed the crystal back to Steve. “This crystal… it has something like a metaphysical chain attached to it, it seems it’s connected to a world close to Nexus. I have never seen anything like it.”
Steve nervously put the crystal back into the ender chest, figuring every second the crystal was exposed was another moment at which the Tower could take notice.
“Could you explain that in layman’s words, please?” Steve asked politely.
“From what I could tell this crystal somehow formed somewhere in a different world, then was taken to Nexus. It is still connected to the place where it formed, like an anchor. It’s quite interesting: the crystals seem to exist in more than three dimensions, a part of them punctures the ‘walls’ of the world and is in direct contact with the Void. We know that something caused a pull that created Nexus, it might have been these crystals that were pulled on and took their worlds with them. I can’t really say more on how or why they exist but knowing that they do seems important.”
“What about the energy signature?” Jennifer asked.
“The crystals themselves are actually unremarkable in their energy. The ‘chains’ back to their place of origin seem to be anchored to those void-exposed points. These breaches are what cause the massive energy signatures, like quickly dragging a stick through water creates waves. I think the signatures are less important to us since those only aid in finding the crystals, the chains themselves are what’s important.”
Steve becomes deep in thought. “So, the energy signature of the crystals is what makes us a glowing target on the Entity minions’ radar. No surprise there. But at the same time it’s not a good power source. So, whatever these ‘dimensional chains’ do, the Tower must have found a use for them…”
Jennifer mused, “If I was a villain commanding a giant castle, and I had poor interior design sense, and I was collecting a bunch of dimensional chains from all over the place, what would I do?”
“Pull on them?” Steve offered.
Jennifer gave Steve a funny look. “That wasn’t the elaborate explanation I was hoping for that would tie together all of the Entity’s weird character traits, but yes, that would be my first guess. I would pull on them. Then what would happen after that? Shadow?”
“That depends entirely on how those chains work. They could be static so nothing happens, the link could also break, in the most likely case it would actually start tearing out parts of the other world, especially when you look at....”
Steve and Jennifer looked at each other.
“Like the dimensional sandwich layers here in Nexus.” Jennifer concluded.
“Funny how it’s called ‘Nexus’,” Steve said. “It’s almost like this place wants to be the center of the multiverse.”
“So, it’s not just a fancy name for a dimensional hub where a bunch of peoples and cultures from different worlds come together and hang out?” Jennifer remarked sarcastically.
Shadow said: “With some of the things the Prophet says, any hope of it just being that is becoming increasingly delusional.”
“Great,” Steve said. “It seems we’ve stumbled into the center of what quite possibly could be the end of the multiverse.”
Chapter 35: The Book is right, as usual (Steve and Jennifer/Fristad)
Steve placed down a lever on the ground near the entrance to the bunker and flipped it; causing unseen redstone-powered pneumatics to push up grass, soil, and stone into place; leaving behind a patch of grassy meadow floor whose subtle seams would have made even the most discerning lawn gardener impressed. Steve then dug up the lever, and followed behind Shadow and Jennifer as the three made their way through the rain-dampened forest back to the village.
Shadow parted ways with Steve and Jennifer, and the duo resolved to find Kay and Warnado to let them know about their new discovery that the glowing stone could be used to inhibit magic.
First, they checked the tavern. The old wooden door to the tavern was left open invitingly, or perhaps as a way to let in some fresh air. The tavern was quiet and almost empty of patrons, aside from a single man sitting at the counter.
Then, they checked the inn. Kay’s room was unoccupied. The usual evening crowd was in the dining commons, but there was no one familiar who they could probe for information about Kay and Warnado’s whereabouts.
“Well, this is inconvenient.” Steve said.
“I guess it was bound to happen eventually,” Jennifer said. “Doesn’t Kay usually hang about town?”
“He did buy a crossbow recently. Maybe he’s taking some practice shots.”
As it turned out, Kay was, in fact, in a small library at the edge of the village, which up to this point Steve and Jennifer were not aware existed. Judging from the staircase and the rooms, it seemed like it used to be a house at some point. Kay seemed to be busily searching through the shelves.
“What are you looking for?” Steve asked.
“Some friendly villager working in a rather unremarkable bakery said this library had a section on military tactics.” Kay pulled out a book, looked at its cover, frowned, shoved the book back in, and continued looking. “But as far as I can tell, this building’s owner was not particularly keen on keeping things organized. Or perhaps there was an attempt at order at some point, but then the owner gave up when faced with the chaos of this world’s new reality? Since when was I this ponderous? Why am I reading this book if I literally can’t understand a word of what it’s saying? Blasted alternate dimensions and their confusingly similar letters!” Kay shoved another book back into the shelf. “Anyways, how’s it going?”
“We did some research,” Steve said. “Some of the materials we’ve mined in the local caves have useful properties. One of them seems like it might be useful for your investigation.”
Kay turned his head eagerly toward Steve. “You could not have come at a better time. Although this isn’t the best place to discuss it, given the library being open to the public…” Kay gestured subtly up towards the second floor with his head.
Steve looked up and saw Fristad standing just behind the second floor’s cracked green painted bannister. Fristad held a book just below his shoulders. He averted eye contact with Steve and looked down towards the book in his hands, attempting to make himself look busy. Steve studied Fristad’s face for a moment, deep in thought.
“Agreed,” Steve said. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”
“Warnado’s somewhere in the back,” Kay said. “I’ll go get him.”
------------
Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpse Steve, Kay, and the others vanish from the library’s front door. I close the library book, feeling the historian’s steady narrative of the early days of some feudal society slowly fade from my mind. I carefully study the engraving of a house on the book’s front cover, then stand on my toes and place the book laying down on the edge of a high shelf. Like Kay said, this library is a mess. With any luck, that book will still be there when I get back.
I feel an urgency growing within me. I step down the library’s strangely homey staircase, noting carefully the sound of the wood beneath my boots. I walk to the front of the library and slowly open the door.
It is raining outside. I listen and hear faint murmurs of people in the village, but it’s unclear if they are familiar voices. I quickly step out into the rain and close the library door behind me, keeping my body close to the walls.
I look out toward the expanse of farmland and the distant trees beyond it. Then, I turn my head left and right, noting the buildings and the lack of people outside.
I quickly walk around a corner and look down the road. A single child runs by, carrying something in a cloth, with a hand over their head as measly protection from the admittedly mild rain. I think I can faintly hear Kay making conversation, but I can’t tell what direction his voice is coming from. I step further into the village, observing carefully with each new step.
“It wasn’t really that bad,” I hear Kay say, a brightness to his voice suggesting a level of pride. “I’ve gotten a far worse scar from Astro… two, actually... and he didn’t even apologize! Besides, nobody becomes an expert at anything without a considerable amount of effort and a few embarrassing mistakes along the way.”
I slow my pace. Kay’s voice is getting a bit too loud. I hope they aren’t walking towards me.
Finally, Kay’s voice fades, and I turn my head around the next building. The group is walking away from me, same as before. I think they are headed for the inn.
I continue to follow them, keeping near corners of buildings and hoping they don’t turn around and see me. As I predicted, they finally enter the inn. I wait a few moments before walking through the door behind them.
The dining area is packed and loud, making overhearing the unsuspecting targets of my eavesdropping difficult. I peer very briefly toward the dining area, but I can only file away a few faces of strangers in my mind before I fear someone will see me and head up the staircase.
The dining crowd is quieter up here in the halls, but I still can’t make out voices coming from the rooms. I walk up to a door and put my ear against it. There is not a single sound behind it. I lean against another door. Nothing. Another door? Still nothing. Why do I even bother? What if they’re not here, and I saw someone else walking through that inn door?
“Check every door,” the Book commands. “Do not stand here with doubt and rumination as Steve plots to undermine you.”
I do as it says, listening at each door briefly but thoroughly. To my surprise, my efforts are finally rewarded, and I hear Steve’s familiar voice through one of the doors. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The Book is right, as usual.
Steve’s words are muffled by the sound of the downstairs din. I feel a small spark of anger that makes me want to go downstairs and shut them all up. But now is not the time for that. The next words Steve says could be very important. I listen carefully, translating the voice from the commotion.
“We can talk about that a bit more when the rest of the group gets back,” Steve says. “Anyways, there was another material we found - let me pull it out so you can see it.”
Steve’s voice fades from beneath the inn patron din. It’s hard to tell if he’s whispering, or just rummaging through his pants. I hope he’s still audible. I keep listening in anticipation.
“There,” Steve says. “As you can see, it’s some sort of glowing rock. It’s somewhat rare, about twice as common as diamond, but it seems to only be found near humid ravines.”
The Book’s voice surfaces. “I cannot sense any magic coming from the rock Steve is claiming to hold, assuming it is a rock at all. It is possible the object could be mundane, Ender, or some other form of substance unknown to our world.”
“But it can be stretched a lot farther if it’s ground into a powder and brewed into potions,” Steve continues.
“Of course…” the Book says.
I hear a door open behind me.
“Are you spying on someone or something?” a male voice says. “I am pretty sure that’s illegal.”
Frustration and fear flashes in my mind. I turn around to face the man. He’s an old man of below-average height and rather heavily dressed, perhaps to compensate for his sensitivity to the cold. A sword hangs from his hip by a rope.
“Or, at least, it would have been illegal back in the society that I was once a part of…” The man’s eyes widen as he realizes what sort of man he’s talking to. Maybe he saw the look of violent anger in my face. He wants to take his words back. Of course, he knows it’s too late.
I sprint toward him. He stumbles walking backward but doesn’t get very far. I cover his mouth before he cries out. It only takes half a suggested thought for a dimensional rift to envelope us, rip us from the walls of the inn hallway, and plant us at the edge of a wheat field next to a farmhouse.
You could have waited ten minutes! Maybe twenty! Twenty more minutes in your bedroom and I would have been gone! But you had to be there, didn’t you? You had to barge in at that one critical moment and jeopardize my efforts to clean up this whole mess!
I wish I didn’t have to kill this man. But I have no choice. I feel my hand rise and aim at the man’s head. I let that horrible heat flow through me, and the man’s head disintegrates in a cloud of blood and violet flame. Before his body can fall to the ground, I feel myself pulled away from the farmhouse, to the edge of the village.
I feel frustrated as I imagine how many words Steve probably said in the time I’ve already been gone. But letting the man live and spread rumors of my eavesdropping could have been worse. I suppose the Book teleported me to the edge of town because the sound of another teleportation would have made me even more suspicious.
I sigh. I guess running wouldn’t hurt.
I run back to the inn, the rain wetting my face and making me squint. I almost slip on the mud-slicked bricks on one of the inner town roads, and have to slow down a bit.
Finally, I make it back to the front door of the inn. I stand still for a moment.
I just killed someone.
I push through the dread. I open the inn door, walk up the stairs, and stand in front of the door where Steve and the others are. I try to listen through the door again.
“Do not lean against the door,” the Book orders.
I lean back away from the door and see with shock that my armor has left spots of blood on the surface of the door.
“The void will remove the paint, but there will be no blood left behind.”
I implement the Book’s suggestion, letting small bits of silver light embed into the surface of the door where the blood has touched it, until it burns those parts away into purple smoke. I try to burn the blood off my armor, then realize that won’t work as the fire bends away and turns purple. I suppose the Book would have told me to do it if it were possible. I feel a bit of heat from my use of the void linger in my arm.
The Book observes with satisfaction. “Good. You can use the former guest’s bedroom as a quick escape when they leave. Warnado’s ability to sense magic is not yet strong enough to detect you.”
“Former guest?” That’s quite a euphemistic way of describing someone who we literally just murdered.
I lean my ear against the door again, conservatively only letting my head rest upon it this time.
“The hard part, aside from being there at the right time, is getting close enough to the Dreamweaver to use it. You can’t exactly activate it at a distance,” Warnado’s oddly inflected voice muses.
“Fair point,” Jennifer responds. “In other circumstances, Steve and I could make an automatic trap, but we don’t have a lot of space to work with, and we need to be subtle.”
I sense the Book observing eagerly. “The trap seems like the centerpiece of their plan. We need to listen closely. The material they mentioned must play a role. The fact we could not sense the material could mean it is the basis for an advanced invisibility potion, but given that they are concerned about being detected, that is highly unlikely. A mundane material is unlikely to be a threat. Which just leaves ender, or something unknown. Assuming ender, it is likely the material prevents teleportation. In that case, they likely intend to use it in splash potion form. That would explain why they need to use it at close range. We need to prepare for that possibility.”
“I’m getting a few ideas,” Warnado says. “Shadow has been teaching me how to better control my magic. I’m still wrapping my head around a lot of it, but I think I could create a spell that would buy us the time we need. I just need to practice it.”
“That sounds promising,” Jennifer says. “Any idea what kind of spell it would be?”
“I think…. some combination of stealth and disorientation,” Warnado says. “I’m not sure if I will be able to concentrate on the spell and throw the splash potion at the same time, so someone else might have to do that part. And we definitely need a backup plan.”
Huh. So it is a splash potion...
“Backup plan? Strategic collaboration between multiple individuals? That sounds exactly within my purview,” Kay remarks with enthusiasm. “Warnado can formulate a spell and give us a risk factor come the end of the day. Meanwhile, the rest of us can work on a few ideas for how to deploy the potion. Maybe survey our surroundings. Sounds like a good foundation.”
“I agree,” Steve says. “Let’s reconvene with Warnado in the early afternoon, to check on his progress and tweak our plan as needed.”
“I guess there’s no time to waste,” Warnado says. “I’ll go get started magicking pronto. Wish me luck. Hopefully I won’t step on a lego.”
I contemplate for a moment what a ‘lego’ is, but then the necessities of the moment get the best of me, and I quickly tiptoe into the empty inn room whose now dead occupant I choose not to think about.
A door opens, a pair of footsteps creaks the inn floor. I stand still for a bit with patience, and soon after I hear the footsteps and voices of the other three conspirators. Once their voices fade, I slowly step out into the hall, and contemplate what to do next.
Chapter 36: Empty Mind (Fristad)
I stare at the floor, the black enderman armor only visible against the night-shadowed floor by the faint gleam it reflects from the light of the window.
All I have to do is put on this armor, and I could postpone this crime until tomorrow. But I can hear the Book’s persuading words too clearly in my head. They suppress my doubts and guilts one by one, until I feel an unavoidable sense of excitement push itself to the forefront of my mind.
I know what I am about to do is wrong, but I feel a smile spread across my face. I find myself counting the seconds. Just a little while longer, and I am certain she will be asleep.
“Do not forget, they have a plan to capture you,” the Book warns. “Do not trust any moving shadow. Have a lethal spell ready, and be prepared to run away on foot.”
I hear you loud and clear.
Suddenly I feel an unbelievably painful heat erupt in my chest. I wince and try hard to hold my breath to prevent myself from crying out.
“Do not pull your mind away from the pain, Fristad. This is the energy I am giving you for the lethal voidfire spell.”
Why does it have to be so painful?
“The void has a tendency to cause pain when your use of it exceeds your limits. Normally I would take ownership of the spell, but I need to help you create Amanda’s nightmare. You will need to be ready to cast it entirely on your own, if the need arises.”
Are you saying that all the spells I thought I was casting, I wasn’t actually casting to begin with?
“Unfortunately, turning you into a void mage overnight is beyond my abilities. I can only guide you, allowing you to think the thoughts you would have as if you were casting the spell.”
I think back to the time I killed that man who spotted me the inn with a voidfire blast. I felt so guilty after killing him. I really did feel like I had created the fire myself, that I had meticulously measured the exertion it would take to burn his head off cleanly. Yet every detail of it was carefully manufactured by the Book.
If it weren’t for the Book’s control… no, guidance... I would find this degree of control over my mind horrifying. But instead, I find it beautiful. Soon, we will be able to do the same thing to help Amanda.
I drive that train of thought away. It’s a distraction. There’s no time for that. I push the voidfire into my left hand, trying hard not to make a sound as my thoughts themselves seem to burn, and every part of my body the void passes through becomes hot with scalding fever. Finally, the heat and pain concentrate into my hand, and I try hard to hold that pain in place.
“It is time,” the Book says.
I let my mind relax, ignoring the space around me, and a bed materializes before me. My heart beats rapidly. I see Amanda’s shadowed face just above the covers, her eyelids shut with tranquility. I swing my head around the room. There is no one here.
“Wrong. Warnado is nearby,” the Book warns. “He is not in the room, but he is close. Be careful. He may use an illusion spell.”
I note the Book’s worry carefully, and turn my attention back to Amanda. She looks so peaceful. I wonder what she’s dreaming about right now?
I extend a finger and a thumb from my hand and pull Amanda’s eyelids open. Her pupils are looking straight at me. I panic, but then her eyes dart away, consumed with the flitting thoughts of sleep.
I stare deep into her eyes, looking for the specks of light, each of which is a part of her mind, from fleeting trains of thought to the most cherished old memories. The abyss within her pupils is unusually deep. I keep searching deeper, but I can’t find even the smallest specks of light inside. What is wrong with Amanda? Is she dead? No, she can’t be dead; I saw her eyes move just a minute ago. Is she possessed, maybe? Perhaps this is Warnado’s doing?
This is taking too long. Something is wrong.
I pull back my focus. There is something resisting my pull. It takes me several seconds to get back my concentration and ground my perception in the physical space of the night-darkened inn room.
“Warnado just entered through the window.”
I turn on my heel toward the window and raise my left hand. Then, I hear a sound like breaking glass as liquid splashes against my clothes. Amanda’s arm is raised. She was awake, holding a splash potion this whole time.
I command the voidfire in my hand, but nothing responds. I have no light. I can’t teleport. I have no defense. A weight falls in my gut. I turn around toward the inn door. I hear rushing footsteps. I reach for the door.
Then something grabs my boots. I look down and see claw-like appendages twisting around my legs and gripping them in a vice. A great, gaping hole with a faint blue light grows from beneath the claws, and I feel myself sinking down. A deep rumble grows louder beneath me, and faint hisses begin to sting my ears. I try to grab for the doorknob but it is now too high for me to reach. My legs are beginning to give in to pain from the pressure of the claws’ grip. The edge of the portal and the claws reach up to my chest, and then my neck, and… the portal closes around my neck.
I wince… but nothing happens. I am still in the same, dark room, my neck still intact. The rumbles and hisses from the portal are still here, but fainter. The tips of the claws gripping around my neck twitch slightly.
A cloaked figure steps in front of me and crouches down. A lantern with a glowing blue frame appears in their hand, lighting everything in the room but keeping their face in shadow.
“I have been looking forward to meeting you,” the figure says, its voice deep and echoing like a chorus of giant monsters speaking in unison, “Adobe Dreamweaver.”
I frown. “Adobe Dreamweaver?”
“Yea, you know…” the cloaked figure gestures circularly with their hand. “The thing you make websites with.”
“I don’t follow.” I look down at the menacing dimensional hole nestled around my neck with claws inside of it. The Book’s reassuring thoughts have vanished. I don’t feel so confident anymore. “But I really don’t want to die, so if you just tell me what you want from me, then I’ll gladly comply.”
Lantern-holding demon Warnado slams his fist on the floor. The dimensional hole rumbles more and the claws crawl and relocate around my body, making my neck itch.
“I NEVER ASKED FOR A SUBSCRIPTION MODEL!”
“Okay, okay, I get it…” I sigh. “Yes, I’m the Dreamweaver. I gave Amanda the nightmares. It was wrong. I’m sorry. I have this sentient book that follows me everywhere. It controls my thoughts and gives me void powers. It wants me to control Amanda in the same way it controls me, so it made me give Amanda nightmares that are supposed to make it easier for me to influence her. I don’t know what the book’s motivations are and have mostly just been doing what it says because I have no idea how to fight it.” Oh, Notch, is something else crawling on my leg? “Is that explanation enough for you? Can I come out of this portal now?”
Warnado scratches his chin slowly. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. You are the Dreamweaver, after all. There’s a lot we don’t know about you, like how dangerous your powers are, whether you’re affiliated with the Entity in some way, whether you have any accomplices…. Heck, everything you’ve said could have been a lie. I’m going to have to talk with some people to sort this out. This could take a while.”
“Can I at least get some assurance that you’re not going to kill me?”
“I certainly have no interest in killing you. But I’m not sure where exactly that dimensional hole leads to. It might be best to stay as still as possible.”
“Great!” I reply with sarcastic enthusiasm. I note the numbness in my legs caused by the clawed creature squeezing on them. Staying still certainly won’t be difficult.
“Are you alright, Amanda?” Warnado, asks, this time in his normal voice.
“I’m fine,” she says. “I have the other two potions ready.”
I wonder what sort of potion Amanda used to not only stop my teleportation, but completely cut me off from the book’s magic? And what was that strange resistance I felt when trying to pull out of Amanda’s mind, after I realized I was unable to control it? These people clearly have tricks up their sleeves that even the book doesn’t know about. Maybe they will be able to stop the book for good?
As Warnado opens the door just in front of me and walks out of the room, leaving his ethereal lantern on the floor to keep the room lit, I consider the irony of contemplating my freedom while a monster holds a vice grip on the nine tenths of my body stuck in some unknown dimension.
A few moments later, Shadow enters the room, the silhouette of her body somehow slightly rippling, white runes glowing on her skin, followed by Warnado and a cautious-looking Kay. Shadow stops to the side of me, while Warnado stands beside her, with Kay out of view.
Shadow looks down at me with mild amusement. “So, Fristad. You better start explaining exactly what this is about before I start explaining what happens if your explanation isn’t satisfactory.”
I take a deep breath - well, as deep of a breath as possible given my lungs are being squeezed by otherworldly claws - and think about where to begin. She seems pretty serious, so maybe it’s best to start at the very beginning. “As I’ve mentioned before, I’m an animal farmer, and I’ve been one for most of my life. That’s the truth. But then one morning, I woke up and realized I had this talking book that was trying to control me for Notch knows what reason. I had no idea where it came from. Over time, it started to control my thoughts more and get me to do crazier things. Long story short, I found myself in some abandoned underground city, found a nether portal that wasn’t supposed to be there, went through it in an act of self-preservation, and ended up in Nexus.”
At this point, Shadow and Warnado are not reacting very much, but are listening intently. I continue to faintly hear rumbles and hisses beneath me, and feel the less subtle grip of the claws, reminders of the threatening world that looms underneath me, eager to swallow me up.
I continue, “At that point, I was concealing the source of the powers this book was starting to give me because I didn’t trust anyone. The book made me craft a new set of armor that turns me into an enderman at night. Honestly, I’m not really sure why. Then, as a way of advancing my new powers, the book made me choose someone to gain control over, the same way the book gained control over me. I chose Amanda. That’s when I became the Dreamweaver. I’m not really sure how it works, but somehow giving Amanda nightmares was supposed to make it easier for me to influence her.”
I take another breath. It’s a strange relief to tell strangers from other worlds about a being I’ve been hiding for so long.
“Now do you understand?” I ask.
Chapter 37: The Dreamweaver Revealed (Kay)
There was a strange tension and anticipation in the inn room. The sun hadn’t even risen and the whole room seemed blurred at the edges in the eyes of the group, many of whom had only just been woken there as Kay dashed from door to door. The subject of discussion, Fristad, was subdued: his eyes gazed downward, his expression remained flat, and his arms were tied behind his back. Shadow stood behind Fristad, her form still rippling with energy, ready to retaliate at a moment’s notice should her captive attempt anything, while Warnado watched Fristad closely from a slightly further distance.
Kay shuffled his feet slightly and straightened his back, experimenting in his mind the right balance between emotional sincerity and cautionary restraint.
“My friends,” Kay began, “we’ve established without a shadow of a doubt the identity of the Dreamweaver. With some additional help from Steve, Jennifer, and Shadow, we were able to catch the Dreamweaver attempting to harm Amanda, restrain him, and prevent him from doing further damage. The identity of the Dreamweaver is Fristad…” Kay gestured toward the arm-tied Fristad.
“I knew it,” Destiny said with a mix of anger and satisfaction. “I hope he gets what he deserves.”
“What would you propose? And what exactly would that accomplish?” Tyron asked. “Inducing nightmares on someone is definitely wrong, but we need to realize we’re setting a precedent.”
Destiny stepped forward. “Do you have any-”
“Perhaps we should consider the risks first?” Steve suggested. “I think Kay has more he wants to say.”
Destiny stepped back. The flash of anger faded from her face, replaced with a more restrained irritation.
“I realize it’s not easy to accept that a member of our group could betray our trust by committing these hostile acts,” Kay said. “Also, allowing Fristad to remain a member of our group confers a certain level of risk that we won’t be taking lightly. At the same time, there’s the Tower to consider. Exiling Fristad from the group introduces the risk of him becoming the Entity’s test subject again, and possibly his abilities being used against us. On the other hand, his actions so far certainly don’t deserve severe punishment, and he’s proven to be helpful to the group at times…”
Kay gestured toward Fristad.
“We’ve found a means to restrain Fristad in such a way that makes him unable to use his magic and therefore renders him much less dangerous, while still allowing him to do most of the things he usually does. We propose that this be considered as part of his punishment.”
“For what period of time do you propose Fristad be unable to use his magic?” Astro asked.
Shadow responded, “He claims his magic comes from a sentient book with malicious intent. We need to verify that’s true, and if that’s the case, figure out if the book can be safely disabled or reasoned with. From that point, we can decide if it’s wise to continue to let Fristad to use his powers.”
Astro nodded reluctantly. “I suppose given the circumstances, we will need to make that precaution. However, a wizard being deprived of their magic is a bit like a person being deprived of the ability to read. I wouldn’t recommend any punishment beyond that.”
“If it’s any consolation,” Fristad said, “I actually don’t care about the book’s magic. To be honest, I’d rather be rid of it for good if it meant I could be free from its influence.” In Fristad’s last few words, a tone of reluctance started to creep in.
Shadow said: “That is good to hear. If this book of yours really is as malicious as you claim, total suppression will keep both you and us safe from it. As I said, it should only be a temporary solution until we find out more about the book.”
“Any objections to keeping Fristad in the group given Shadow’s proposed precautions?” Kay offered.
A few heads looked at each other.
Steve stepped forward. “Agreed, but we need to work on a contingency plan if the long-term magic suppression method falls through.”
“Nobody said we weren’t going to have one,” Jennifer pointed out.
“I know. I’m just putting that out there.” Steve stepped back.
“I’d like to hear what Amanda has to say,” Warnado said.
Heads turned toward Amanda. Amanda’s expression was hardened, as she contemplated from a distance the frightening things she had experienced. “I honestly didn’t think Fristad could be capable of that kind of evil. But it helps to put a face on it.” Amanda turned toward Warnado knowingly. “If you really do have a solid plan that will keep me and the others safe, then I will stand behind it.”
“It’s settled, then. Fristad stays with the group,” Kay declared. “Any other suggestions?”
Destiny considered saying something, but decided against it.
Steve said, “I think it’s safe to assume we’re in agreement. Let’s talk about the suppression plan.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fristad was led out of the room by Tyron, while the rest of the group began formulating a plan.
“As you probably noticed at this point, we’ve been using potions to suppress Fristad’s magic,” Steve said. “The potions use a glowing material we’ve found underground. It works quickly on its own, but isn’t very efficient. Given how rare the material is, and the fact that it may be dimension-specific, we need to come up with a better plan.”
“The reason why the potions are so inefficient is because most of the catalyst never gets absorbed,” Jennifer said. “On top of that, potions take up too much space. It would be better if we could do away with all that liquid and just make use of material in its solid form.”
“I’m all in favor of efficient use of limited resources, but how certain are you that this new method will keep Fristad’s antics in check?” Kay asked. “Or perhaps this works at first but we run into difficulties later? Such as Fristad deciding he resents us for suppressing his magic and plotting revenge? How do we respond?”
Shadow said: “I do have a few ideas. Now that I am proven to not be the Dreamweaver I don’t have to worry about doing things that would have made me suspicious before. Let’s just say that if he doesn’t immediately disappear, he won’t go far. I will use lethal force if required.”
“I can vouch for that,” Astro said. “Shadow’s abilities have… at times… made my own spells look like parlor tricks in comparison. We should consider ourselves fortunate that she is on our side.”
Chapter 38: Preventative Measures (Fire/Steve and Jennifer)
Fire hadn’t witnessed Fristad’s discovery and capture personally even though he probably could have. He had been woken up by a strong magical impulse that he hadn’t quite been able to place in any category, which was also the reason he decided to stay put, magical battles weren’t exactly his strength. When one of Shadow’s projections informed him that they had caught the Dreamweaver he had immediately gone over to Amanda’s room. The strange nature of the magical impulse also made sense when Fire found out that Warnado was its origin, his training under Shadow seemed to be coming along well, Shadow seemed to think so too if her praise for her apprentice was anything to go by.
During the gathering that followed after Fire had kept himself in the background and observed how things turned out. Fristad’s story about this book of his was definitely strange but overall believable, luckily the effectiveness of the magic suppression was beyond confirmed at this point so even if he did lie about the origin of his magic, the outcome would remain the same.
After the gathering ended their group quickly split into two smaller ones: the ones who were too tired from the capture to stay awake and those who were too awake to go back to sleep. Fire definitely belonged to the latter and so did Steve and Jennifer. They had been the ones to discover the magic-absorbing rocks in the first place so Fire was quick to approach them about the details of the suppression device, after a short round of discussion they decided to get to work immediately, ideally to finish the device before the potion wore off.
They then proceeded to take over the local blacksmith’s smithy for the night since that was the easiest solution to get access to all the required tools and machines. They mixed a gold-based alloy that would preserve most of the magic conducting properties of gold while enabling the making of a sturdier frame than pure gold would have allowed.
In what could be considered by most human standards a relatively short time, the device was industriously completed. Fire was quite pleased with Steve’s and Jennifer’s competence.
The finished device was a hexagon made from their new alloy, it featured two clamps that could each hold one of the magic-absorbing rocks, as well as a locking mechanism to make sure the clamps stayed shut unless a key was used to unlock them. A sturdy leather strap was attached to each of the sides of the hexagon, connecting back together to a second hexagon, which held another lock that could be unlocked with a different key. After they made sure that enchantments would actually stick, the leather straps were enchanted to be a lot tougher than they already were.
Overall the device was quite sleek for how bulky it looked, ideally it would only cause minimal discomfort to Fristad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Steve knocked on Fristad’s inn door while holding the device by its straps, with Shadow and Jennifer standing behind him. Footsteps creaked the floor and the door was opened soon after, revealing a tired Fristad with a crumpled shirt and vest.
Fristad glanced at the device Steve was holding and grinned. “Time for my medicine?”
“That’s the spirit,” Steve said.
Fristad opened the door and let Steve and the others inside, then sat on his bed.
“So, I’m guessing you’re not going to destroy the book? That’s why you’re making me wear a magic-suppressing chestpiece instead?”
Shadow said: “From what you have told us so far, the book seems like it is sentient. We don’t know that its motives are good, evil, or something else entirely, and it could be useful to us in the future. Also, we don’t know for certain where you got your powers, so we need to take every possible precaution.”
Fristad took off his vest and his shirt. “I guess I can’t blame you for wanting to see the best in something you don’t understand. A part of me still sees the book as good. But then I remember all the times when the book has manipulated me or gotten me to do things against my will. It’s a dangerous being that wants power badly for who knows what reason. If you’re going to keep it alive, its magic needs to be suppressed as well.”
“We’ll take it under consideration,” Jennifer said.
Fristad raised his arms forward. as Steve and Jennifer brought the straps of the device through his arms. Shadow handed Jennifer they key, and Jennifer locked the device while Steve held it in place.
Fristad looked down at his new accessory, and noted the purple enchanted glint flowing along the leather straps, and the golden hexagonal device now stationed in the center of his chest. So, after everything the book has done to me, this machine is what frees me from the book’s influence? Fristad mused. It’s kind of anticlimactic.
Shadow then took the key from Jennifer, opened one of the clamps on the front of the device with the key, and slid a small, glowing purple rock into an indentation. She fastened the clamp and turned the lock, the final movement causing the device to click. A veil of pastel, blue-purple light appeared around the edge of the hexagonal structure, and the fastened glowing rock momentarily dimmed before becoming bright again.
On second thought, that’s kind of cool, Fristad said to himself.
“I hope it’s not too uncomfortable?” Jennifer asked.
“I can’t complain,” Fristad said. He raised, lowered, and swung his arms to test his range of movement. “Well, it’s a bit tight around the shoulders. But after everything I’ve been through, I’d consider it an improvement.”
Fristad put his shirt and vest back on. “I’m not sure what the repercussions of this could be, but would it be possible for one of you to take the book off of my hands?”
“I’ll take it,” Shadow said.
Fristad reached into his back pocket and pulled out what looked like a plain, brown-covered book with no visible title, and light signs of wear.
He handed it to Shadow, she said in an almost worryingly playful tone: “Hello, book. I’m afraid I’ll have to wait with taking a look at you until I know a bit more about you.” She then slid the book into one of the folds of her robes.
The three bearers of the magic-suppressing device then left the room, leaving Fristad sitting on the bed, preoccupied with a mix of chaotic memories and long-overdue relief.
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Chapter 39: Departure (Fire)
Fire had parted ways with Steve, Jennifer and Shadow in the inn’s upstairs corridor, they said they were going to fit the device on Fristad. Fire had other plans.
Two doors down from Destiny’s door, that’s where Fire was headed, the room currently occupied by Lucy. He stood before the door and thought about his words, he may have convinced Lucy to come with him here but now it was time to convince her to stay with him, or rather stay where he needed her to be, even if that place didn’t exist yet.
He knocked, no response for a few seconds. Then the rustle of bedsheets and the sound of bare feet on wood carefully but steadily coming towards the door. He hadn’t woken Lucy up, that was for sure. Fire imagined that she was still nervous, even with a night to think and rest.
Lucy slowly opened the door. She was now wearing a long blue dress, which technically belonged to Shadow. Fire’s sister wouldn’t mind, Shadow mostly packed clothes for nostalgia’s sake, her robes could change into whatever she needed. The dress was originally a fair bit shorter but it had magically grown to accommodate the fact that Lucy was quite a bit taller than Shadow. Fire had placed the dress and a few other clothes in Lucy’s dresser beforehand, she couldn’t keep running around everywhere in her maid uniform, that would just look ridiculous.
“Yes?” She asked.
Fire replied: “Good morning Lucy. If everything goes according to plan we will be departing later today.”
Lucy shook her head. “That sounds great but you still haven’t told me anything about what your plan actually is.”
“I suppose I haven’t.” Fire said. “There is someone else I’d like you to meet, her name is Destiny, she will be coming with us as well, she’s part of the group I came here with. Just two doors over.”
Lucy quickly disappeared into her room again. “Hold on, I need to put on some shoes first. Thank you for the clothes by the way.”
A few seconds later Lucy was already out of her room again, she locked it, then looked at Fire again. He took a few brisk steps over to Destiny’s room, then knocked. Destiny was a lot slower to respond than Lucy, she might have even still been lightly sleeping. A good minute after Fire’s knock she answered the door.
Destiny’s hand leaned against the door heavily, perhaps due to tiredness, but there enough wakeful lucidity in Destiny’s day-adjusting eyes to suggest it was at least partially intentional, as if she hoped the inn door would be torn off its hinges.
“Hey,” Destiny said in a low-pitched voice.
To Fire, one thing was certainly clear: Destiny was not in the best emotional state this morning and it was best to tread lightly.
“This is about what I said when we talked the other day, about the purpose I promised you.” said, then pointed to his left. “This is Lucy, she’ll accompany us as well. May we come in?”
Destiny sized up Lucy. “I’d rather... well I guess I have nothing better to do.” Destiny lifted her weight from the inn door and pushed it open, then stepped back into the room.
Fire signaled Lucy to go first, then closed the door behind him after he entered the room. “I suppose I have a bit of explaining ahead of me since I haven’t told either of you much of what my plan actually is. So, when I was at the Prophet’s hill one of his prophecies claimed that I was some sort of champion destined to lead. I could sense a lot of tension among the congregation, they are from many different worlds and naturally distrust most others, I hope that the prophecy makes them follow me until I can prove myself to them as an actual leader instead of the subject of a prophecy. From what I gathered many of them have neither a proper place to stay nor a stable source of food now that they are stranded in Nexus, my plan is to provide them with both.”
Lucy asked: “How would we do that?”
Fire explained: “I happen to know that there is an expansive cave system below the nearby mountains, if we gather the most capable warriors and miners we should be able to develop those caves into a livable shelter. The caves are ideal for this since they eliminate the need for building materials that would normally be used by a shelter of this scale. Once this initial step is complete we’ll gradually move more of the congregation into our shelter, which gives us more people who can help further expand our foothold. We can construct underground farms with crops suited to the caves, start digging mineshafts and gradually improve the living quality. This will give us a good base of operations for whatever we might want to do, for instance I promised to look into what exactly the Entity is doing.”
“I assume you intend me to fill one of the ‘capable warrior’ roles?” Destiny mused in a cynical tone, which seemed to soften later. “Not that I’m against the idea. I wouldn’t mind setting a few skeletons on fire, as long as I have someone to back me up.”
Destiny looked a bit more positive than before, Fire smiled. “Indeed, you will be vital to the first expedition. Once we start moving in more people you could also act as a mentor and teach them how to defend themselves, we might even find a few with magical potential.”
Lucy turned to Fire. “I know you said something to me about some talent I have but… what is that talent?”
Fire explained: “It’s difficult to accurately tell so early on, I don’t exactly know how my intuition works, I just know that I can trust it. Things will fall into place soon enough once we depart.” He then turned to Destiny. “If you don’t mind, we will be departing later today. Once we arrive at the congregation we will spend some time finding more people for the first expedition. I do have some amount of materials with me that we can use to set up a temporary camp site in the mountains, however everything beyond that needs to be gathered on-site.”
Destiny nodded in acknowledgement.
Lucy sighed. “I suppose. It’s a welcome change either way. I wasn’t always a maid, you know? Used to travel my world, or more accurately, my parents did and I just kind of was there as well. But...”
Fire didn’t need Lucy to finish her tale, it was clear enough what had happened. He thought for a few seconds if he had anything else important to say, then remembered something. “By the way, Shadow will not be coming with us, at least not at first. She told me that for now she’d like to stay here and investigate that book Fristad had. I also don’t think the congregation would trust an absurdly powerful mage who just happened to appear alongside me without being mentioned by the prophecy.”
Neither Lucy nor Destiny seemed to have anything to say for the moment, so Fire asked: “Do you two think you are ready for this? There is a huge task ahead of us and I don’t want to force you into anything.”
Destiny stared off to her side. “Time to jump off the smoldering remains of one prophecy and onto another, I guess. It must be nice to still believe in that kind of promise, although whether I believe in it or not doesn’t make a difference. I’m sick and tired of this deadbeat village, and ready to do something that has a chance of mattering in the grand scheme of things.”
Lucy seemed to take this opportunity to seriously reflect on her choices, after a while she said: “Yes, yes I think I can do this. What you said earlier, that things will fall into place, you seem to be confident in that and that’s enough for me. It’s been a while since someone else had confidence in me.”
Fire was glad that both of them agreed to come with him so that he at least had two people he could put his trust in, having to rely on complete strangers was never easy, even, or perhaps especially if they worshipped him as the champion of a prophecy. Over the millennia of his life his intuition had sharpened into a reliable instrument that he could trust almost universally and it was telling him that, despite hardly knowing Lucy, he had chosen correctly at his pyromancy show.
If they really were to depart later some preparations had to be made, however those were nothing he had to concern Lucy and Destiny with.
Fire said: “We’ll depart in the early afternoon, it would be good if you got some rest in the meantime, maybe eat a good meal. I’ll be waiting outside once the time has come.”
Lucy and Destiny nodded wordlessly, as Fire left out the door Lucy followed him and went back to her own room. Fire was on his own again. Now, where was the best place in this village to buy some horses?
Chapter 40: Interrupted Routine (Dr. Mercury)
Dr. Mercury tapped on the obsidian wall with two fingers, as the mechanisms within the wall clicked and retracted, undoing the forces on the 12 meter tall door in response to her previously entered code and voice command. Her stomach was sated for the time being with steak, eggs, and of course coffee. She couldn’t run the science operations of the Tower on an empty stomach, after all.
Finally, the three spiral arms of the door retracted, revealing another hallway covered with reinforced obsidian walls and security sensors. It always irked her how slow that door opened, but she understood more than most why it was necessary, given the trade secrets and nigh-irreplaceable technology it contained. At least this was one of the smaller doors; the bigger doors took even longer to open.
Dr. Mercury stepped through the doorway. A pair of heavily armored guards stood on either side. One of them nodded quietly as she walked forward without a word, the spiral arms of the door slowly sliding shut behind her. This part of the Tower was safer than most, and as such she wore her lighter gear, thin armor plating reinforced with an energy shield, and only the research utility attachments for her two supplemental robotic limbs, which were neatly folded away behind her back. In regions of the Tower with less security, she would either don her heavier armor and combat attachments, or request her personal enderman guard, whose prideful demeanor was admittedly slightly irritating, depending on the situation and her mood.
She went over her day’s schedule in her head. First, she would visit Command & Control to monitor the acquisition of certain key off-world resources. Acquisition of dimensional crystals was always the top concern, especially since the Entity began probing more frequently about the deadline. A salt used for the coolant in the reactors powering the southwest military wing was also running low. A substitute could be used, but the maintenance toll would be high, and Dr. Mercury was not fond of those kinds of managerial distractions. She would have to invest in some bureaucratic wrestling during the visit to ensure that resource was prioritized.
Second, she would visit the recently constructed portal room and make sure things were still working smoothly. That project was being managed by Dr. Kenson from the dimensional mapping and modeling department. Dr. Kenson was generally reliable and amicable, so Dr. Mercury anticipated it would be a much shorter meeting than the first one and probably the highlight of her day, aside from reanimating that dead prisoner later, time permitting.
Third, she would meet with the Entity to discuss the project and the Tower operations. Dr. Mercury had significant respect for the Entity, as a no-nonsense boss who understood the value of fundamental research, and who guaranteed that her pay was proportional to her extensive knowledge and expertise. She also recognized what the Entity was capable of, all the more reason to stay on the Entity’s good side.
Last on the work agenda were some brief visits at the various other research divisions throughout the Tower, both scientific and magic-focused. She usually visited the biology division last for the occasional dead research subject, and every once in a while a refill for the venom chamber for her robotic utility arms.
And, if all went well, she would retire to her personal laboratory, and see how that former Tower prisoner looked as a zombie.
After several flights of stairs and careful choices of long hallways - a few wrong turns through this dimensional labyrinth could turn a short stroll into an hour long hike - Dr. Mercury arrived at the enderman-guarded security door to Command & Control. One of the endermen recognized her and immediately teleported to the other side of the door, causing the door to open shortly afterward. The inside of Command & Control was similar to the inner chamber of the project, although somewhat smaller, and the center hallway was a straight shot to the room that Dr. Mercury was trying to go to.
Dr. Mercury walked briskly through the hallway and entered a large room where every sound including her footsteps echoed slightly on the walls. The walls behind her and on either side led to a hallway, and the back wall had a giant screen with the white insignia of the Tower on a black background, a four-pointed star with a line crossing it along the diagonal, a symbol of the Tower as a locus of economic and military power, not just for the three dimensions of Nexus, but also for the many worlds which lie beyond it. In the center of the room was a round table with approximately one eighth of the seats currently occupied. At one of the seats was the Head of Acquired Worlds, General Forgelight, a regular attendee who was often one of the first in the room. At another seat was an armored enderman who Dr. Mercury guessed was one of the Ender’s commanding generals; they were hard for her to tell apart.
Dr. Mercury sat relatively close to General Forgelight, hoping to be nearly adjacent to the head of resource logistics when they arrived, but also far enough away that she wouldn’t look out of place sitting away from the other representatives of research and Tower operations.
The room filled up slowly over the course of about ten minutes. The head of resource logistics sat adjacent to Dr. Mercury as she had hoped for, and on her other side sat the oddly disarming Clark Belmont and the frequently tardy Arch Mage Wisp, head of magic research.
At the end of the table closest to the screen, General Marcus, head of Command and Control, leaned forward in his chair and pulled out a silver remote used to control the screen. He cleared his throat.
“Are we all accounted for?”
No response came from the rest of the room, so General Marcus clicked on the remote, causing the screen to change to a topological map of the Tower and the surrounding biome.
“First order of business, as usual, is Tower security. What’s the status of the prison cleanup and the security amendments?”
The enderman general spoke, “All prisoners with the exception of the four involved with the failed negotiations have been recaptured, neutralized, or confirmed dead. A select number of low-value prisoners have been framed as the rogue negotiators and killed to serve an example. Damage cleanup is proceeding as planned, as is retraining for the first fraction of security guards and augmenting the perimeter security. Punishment for leaders deemed delinquent during the breakdown was approved just this morning.”
“Sounds like you’re recovering well,” General Marcus said. “Operations, what’s the status on the energy and logistics side of this?”
The head of engineering spoke, “All main energy sources are operational, dimensional conduits are working normally, security systems are up, et cetra.”
“Research, how’s the machine?”
Dr. Mercury tried to speak but was cut off by Arch Mage Wisp, who was speaking very quickly.
“The latest phase of testing is almost done. We’re still working hard to increase the energy efficiency but it’s turning out to be more difficult than last time.”
“Is there some new issue in the research process that’s preventing you from improving the machine?” General Marcus asked.
“Well, no, not exactly,” Arch Mage Wisp said. “The shield plating is about ready to be replaced, but that’s routine. To be honest, we’ve already picked the low-hanging fruit in terms of what to improve, given our arcane and physics knowledge. Dr. Mercury will speak with the Entity later today about the project.”
Dr. Mercury spoke, “I think what Arch Mage Wisp is trying to say is, since our knowledge and expertise is composed of the top experts of over fifty dimensions, we are reaching the limits of what is possible with the laws of reality. The machine is close to being done.”
“Yes, that’s exactly right,” Arch Mage Wisp said.
“Well, in either case, I guess it’s the Entity’s problem,” General Marcus said. “Dimensions, what’s the status on new worlds?”
The head of reconnaissance, General Issa, spoke, “Before we go over new worlds, I want to share some especially strong dimensional readings. Can you hand me the remote?”
General Marcus threw the remote over to General Issa, who clicked a few times on the remote to make a dimensional map appear on the screen, consisting of variously sized dots connected with lines. In the center of the screen, there were a lot more dots, representing the many worlds which had been discovered by the Tower. In the center was a large circle with the insignia of the tower on it, representing Nexus. General Issa clicked on the remote again, and the dots on the screen shrunk, revealing other, sparser dots even further away from Nexus, with two concentric circles marking distance from Nexus.
General Issa activated the laser pointer on the remote as she spoke. “We detected a series of strong energy readings a few days ago, at converging distances to Nexus, one in each world on the way. We were unable to determine how far out this chain started. After those readings, just two days ago, our sensors picked up an off-the-scale negative energy reading within Nexus that made us suspect that the sensors were malfunctioning. And when I say, ‘malfunctioning,’ I mean that the behavior of our sensors was so unusual that they very well could have been completely broken. We had to spend a day inspecting our systems from top to bottom. During this inspection we detected another reading, a strong signal of multiple dimensional crystals, close to where the negative energy signal was recorded in Nexus…”
The entire room seemed to quiver slightly at the mention of the crystals. The details of the machine’s purpose were a secret only fully known by Dr. Mercury, Arch Mage Wisp, and the Entity, but everyone knew about the dimensional crystals. More than a few promotions, as well as executions, revolved around the success or failure of their acquisition.
“Were there any crystal retrieval missions in progress?” General Marcus asked.
“No, this was in between retrieval runs,” General Issa clarified. “More importantly, after our inspections completed, it appeared the dimensional crystal readings were authentic. The other readings are still being analyzed.”
Dr. Mercury’s interest had been piqued. She stood up from her chair. “Excuse me, I need to go. Arch Mage Wisp will cover any research questions.”
Dr. Mercury walked quickly out of the room. She knew her absence would cost her time later on, but opportunities to study dimensional anomalies like this up close came rarely, especially ones involving the machine’s principal resource.
Time was of the essence, so she went straight to her guard’s quarters. She knocked on the dark wooden door, and shortly after the door was opened by the room’s armored inhabitant, Steelborn. Steelborn, an enderman, was a specialist in marksmanship and assassination, and could neutralize threats rather than kill them as the need provided. Dr. Mercury did not often make full use of Steelborn’s skills during research trips like these, but Steelborn’s precise approach to combat was preferable, as it meant that for the most part Steelborn stayed out of her way. But more importantly, she needed quick transportation.
“You’re here early,” Steelborn remarked, with a hint of disgruntlement.
Dr. Mercury had no interest in policing Steelborn’s tone of voice and went straight to the point. “There was a strong dimensional crystal reading in Nexus. You’re going to take me there.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Mercury’s feet landed upon the soft soil of a forest. She let go of her enderman bodyguard and took note of her surroundings. The air was fresh, the trees greener than usual thanks to newly sprouted leaf buds coaxed to life from several days of intermittent rain. There were no buildings in sight, suggesting to Dr. Mercury that the source of the crystals was either mobile or underground. A less likely possibility was that this was not the location of the crystal signal, but Dr. Mercury was relatively confident in the reconnaissance team’s analysis, and she considered Steelborn’s navigational abilities to be reliable. Just to be certain, she confirmed the veracity of her location with her dimensional compass and copy of the sensor reports. Everything seemed to be correct. And according to the sensor data, the crystal signal was detected very close to where Dr. Mercury was standing.
Dr. Mercury inspected the ground until she saw three adjacent, faint square aberrations. She raised her eyebrows briefly, slightly amused. She reached behind her back and pressed two buttons, activating the two robotic arms she had outfitted with grappling tools and sensors. The arms unfolded quietly.
“There’s a sealed underground bunker here,” she said. “There’s some redstone wiring, but otherwise it appears to have been completely cleaned out. Let’s take a closer look.”
Steelborn teleported Dr. Mercury into the bunker. It was completely dark. The air smelled faintly burnt.
Dr. Mercury fumbled for the flashlight clipped to her belt, turned it on, and unclipped it, beaming its light across the small room. The entire room was carved into stone, with some of the stone elevated, presumably to serve as tables. At one end of the room, exposed, extended pistons hoisted soil up against the forest floor, sealing the room shut. Dr. Mercury observed that the stonecutting of the walls and tables was precise, and the dimensions of the carved out room conformed to whole meters. She surmised that this bunker must have been built by a miner from one of the more sparsely populated dimensions who often manifested this type of digging ability.
Dr. Mercury’s robotic arms lit up with blinking sensor lights and homed in on the holes in one of the stonecut tables. According to the sensors, the holes contained strong traces of metals and other inorganic solids that were familiar entries in the Nexus archives. Most notably, Dr. Mercury recognized traces of magic-suppressant compound. In smaller quantities, there were coal combustion byproducts and oxidated metals, and in even smaller quantities, the byproducts of nuclear reactions, and in quantities smaller still, exotic subatomic particles that required even more energy to produce than the nuclear reactions.
“Whoever created these holes had a great deal of firepower,” Dr. Mercury concluded. “And a shift in redstone energy levels appears to have activated a radio transmitter in the wall. Ugh, this is so inconvenient! I didn’t bring my drilling attachment.”
“It could be a trap,” Steelborn said.
“It could be,” Dr. Mercury reasoned. “I’m going to keep scanning.”
Dr. Mercury stepped in front of the other table and continued scanning, first scanning the table, and then the walls, and then the ceiling and floor.
“There’s no trace of dimensional energy readings, although there were signs of low-tech potionmaking. I don’t think there’s much more to be gained here. The alarm will shut off when we leave. I want to do a quick scan of the surrounding area.”
Dr. Mercury resolved she would have some choice words for Reconnaissance. Dimensional readings, even if unconfirmed, she reasoned, ought to be investigated immediately, and the investigation results submitted immediately for verification. Any delays risk compromising valuable intel. I should write that up in my report...
Dr. Mercury took the enderman guard Steelborn’s arm. After a few chained teleportations through the surrounding forest, she was transported one last time into the outer sanctum of Command and Control. Upon checking the time, she realized she was late to the meeting with Dr. Kenson, from the department of dimensional mapping and modeling. It would have to be postponed. There was another, more important meeting to attend to.
Chapter 41: A Cosmic Meeting (Dr. Mercury)
Dr. Mercury turned a bronze disc embedded into the door, causing the inner mechanisms to tumble, and the air to be squeezed out from the door’s edges. Unlike the other important areas in the Tower, the Entity’s chambers had no locks, and no guards standing at the doors.
Dr. Mercury turned around and was presented with one of the smaller, outer rooms of the chambers, which could best be described as like a room in a museum. The walls and furniture of the room were composed of exotic materials chosen for their resistance to the Entity’s true form. Obsidian, a common construction material in the inner sections of the Tower, featured on some parts of the walls and alternately tiled with endstone in the floors. Various types of endstone from different worlds served as substitutes for different furniture materials. A white endstone with small pores and a meticulously polished surface served as a replacement for marble in decorative statues and pedestals. Darker colored endstones with purple and reddish-brown hues served as replacements for wood in the furniture. The glass serving as display casing was itself derived from a mix of obsidian and endstone. And lastly, there was a polished bronze alloy, the same one used in the Entity’s armor, in every corner of the room as an accent, and in some cases molded into intricate designs. The room was lit by a white spherical dome embedded in the ceiling like a miniaturized sun.
Dr. Mercury walked through the room and listened to her muted footsteps. The chambers absorbed every echo almost completely, leaving only a deep and faint rumble in response. A fitting echo for the chamber’s silent and unforgiving inhabitant.
The inner rooms were larger and more stark in appearance, with less use of colored endstone and bronze, and more use of a reflective obsidian metal alloy, used in large enough patches that Dr. Mercury could see her blackened reflection as she walked past. In the room just preceding the central chamber’s front entrance, there was a large table upon which a hologram of the constellations of discovered dimensions were projected, or more accurately as Dr. Mercury would describe it, a 3D cross-section of it.
Dr. Mercury then stepped into the innermost chamber, where the Entity waited. The room was large, with nowhere to sit except the throne upon which the Entity sat. The walls were lined with hermetically sealed endstone display bookcases, and a staircase leading up to a spire with many windows, each overlooking a different location in Nexus. The spire was effectively at multiple points of space at once.
The bronze shell sat entirely still for a moment. Dr. Mercury patiently waited. The former head of science had told her the story of the alchemist who originally created the armor. The Entity provided a sample of its void plasma to the alchemist, to assist in creating the bronze armor. Shortly after the armor was completed, as the alchemist was about to transport the containment vessel for the sample back to the Entity, the sample escaped from its containment and consumed the alchemist. The sample was eventually incorporated back into the Entity, and the Entity never spoke a word about the alchemist’s fate. The former head of science who told Dr. Mercury this story was also now dead, absorbed by the Entity shortly before Dr. Mercury was appointed as the replacement. The Entity did speak about the late head of science after their death, mainly as a threat to the others of the Tower to not make the same mistake.
Finally, the bronze helmet rose, slowly and mechanically. “Veronica.”
“Yes?” Dr. Mercury replied. The Entity’s use of her first name unnerved her. The Entity used it inconsistently, making her suspect that the Entity was aware of its social meaning, as the Entity rarely changed its behavior without good reason.”
“The machine… is it yet-scheduled for completion in fifty-three days?”
“The assessment for the deadline is still accurate, fifty-one days plus or minus the two days to account for calibration,” Dr. Mercury responded. “We’ve increased shift lengths by 15% to compensate for unexpected maintenance. The influx of new magic users from the Wizard’s college should take the load off of some of the researchers, once they have been integrated...”
“The-magic users from World 0032 will be resistant to integration. Do not incorporate them until-they are compliant and-are not a threat to critical... research.”
“I’ll warn Arch-Mage Wisp,” Dr. Mercury said.
“Arch-Mage Wisp has been unreliable… lately… for managerial tasks.” The bronze armor’s voice-like reverberations seemed to become more turbulent than before, almost as if angry. “The magic-users must be int-egrated at the proper time. Intervene if necessary.”
“Understood.”
Dr. Mercury knew that ‘unreliable’ was not a word you wanted the Entity to describe you as. She feared the Entity was growing increasingly restless with the deadline to complete the machine on the horizon. She tried not to think about it too much. She knew the bureaucratic oversight with the reactor coolant supply would soon become her problem. Overseeing the magic department in any capacity would be an additional complication.
“Maintaining order in magic research requires a different approach. You will consult the magic department on methods used… and monitor integration of the new magic-users.”
“Yes, of course. But…” against her better judgement, Dr. Mercury revealed her concern, “what will happen to Arch-Mage Wisp?”
“You have said the machine’s construction is proceeding as scheduled?”
“Yes, it…”
“Then whatever happens to Arch-Mage Wisp after-completion will happen to you.”
The bronze helmet was perfectly still, boring into Dr. Mercury with intensity.
Dr. Mercury realized harshly that her curiosity for the wellbeing of her socially challenged colleague had stirred a dangerous mix of ideas in the sentient, dimensionally coherent void plasma which controlled her funds and controlled more militaries than the number of power settings on the machine. If purging all the heads of research post-completion wasn’t on the table before then it certainly was now. This was how the Entity functioned. It learned from the fears and insecurities of others.
Dr. Mercury knew she would need to remind the Entity of her usefulness. “Once we finish maintenance on the machine’s shielding, I can discuss the machine’s operation with you and interested parties.”
“How long will that take?”
“Twelve days.”
The bronze helmet redirected its gaze, towards nothing in particular, as least as far as Dr. Mercury could see. “We will discuss it later. Is there… anything else?”
“No, tower operations related to research logistics and power production are proceeding as usual.” Dr. Mercury didn’t bother mentioning the deficit in the military reactor coolant salt - that could easily backfire on her reputation and there wasn’t a crisis just yet. “Well, aside from the dimensional energy excitations that happened a few days ago, which I’m sure you heard about this morning.”
“I was-informed of the energy readings within seven-point-five minutes of their initial detection. I do not… wait for verification to… receive information of strategic importance. I expect that research divisions will… communicate such information with equal priority. This is clear?”
Dr. Mercury was a bit miffed that the Entity knew about the dimensional readings days before she did. It meant someone else could have investigated the crystal site before she did, likely not nearly as thoroughly, and probably by someone in the military division. But she tried to not let that get to her.
“Yes, of course. Priority communications will continue.”
“Good. I have… no more questions...”
The armor began to slide slightly down in the throne. It very well may have finished talking, but Dr. Mercury stayed put just to be sure. After a somewhat long pause, the bronze helmet rose again.
“A new rift has been constructed-which will catalogue instructional buildings. You will investigate… only if it serves in the construction of the machine.” The voice paused again. “That is all.”
Dr. Mercury turned around and didn’t look back, walking past her reflections in the obsidian alloyed walls. Better to end on the Entity’s closest equivalent to sharing a mutual intellectual interest, rather than an existential threat or a reprimand. She wasn’t sure if the Entity appreciated the concept of “ending on a high note,” but she needed to maintain whatever human illusion she could to effectively serve an unfeeling being which straddled the boundary between inanimate and alive. So far, it seemed to be working.
Chapter 42: Loss of Direction (Kay)
I had been up for hours, since the sun had first tentatively placed its fingers on the windowsill, hoisted itself up and peeked through like a furtive child. Now, the sun had matured, standing just beyond the centre of the sky, half-obscured by a stray but substantive cloud on an otherwise clear day. It was hot. I was wandering around town. My shirts didn’t suit the weather but armour would have been worse, so I didn’t bother to look for Tyron, and I couldn’t go bloody shirtless. That’s what I told myself anyway.
I went to breakfast late to avoid the others, and ate quickly. I can’t say why. After we caught Fristad I didn’t have an immediate objective again, and that always left me despondent. A few things proudly strutted about the empty canvas of my mind. The Book’s existence had profoundly affected how I viewed my prior interactions with Fristad - I felt simultaneously vindicated in my suspicions and worried that I had unnecessarily antagonised an innocent man controlled by a malevolent outside influence; the Entity was still likely searching for us or maybe not; and I was still no closer to finding a way home. The forces of the Tower seemed to be the only ones with a clear idea of how to get home. Well… there was that Steve fellow (the other one). I didn’t know where to find him, though. Maybe he was dead already. He had indicated he would join us at the Tower, then never materialised. Then again, the fighting had been pretty fierce.
This was the primary issue. I had so many goals. Get home. Figure out whether the Entity is a real threat or not. Stop him, I guess, if necessary. Get everyone else home. Bring Warnado to join my friends. Protect them. But there wasn’t a task I could carry out to definitely advance any of these goals. I was being handed “X”s without maps.
I needed tasks: defend Zine from whatever they throw at you; get free of the games; kill Hamish; capture Hamish; get to the Vanilla Craft. They were simple and actionable. Why couldn’t anything else be like that?
I punched the wall, surprised by the gesture. The hand before me shook, and the sweat glistening on it was freezing. I hadn’t realised just how angry I was about it all. It almost disappointed me to see no imprint on the wall. Rage like this should have broken everything that dared stand in its way.
My lungs seemed to react automatically and began to shovel air in to cool my temperament, with the desperation of sailors bailing out a sinking vessel.
The inn arose before me as I turned. My feet had carried me on a circuit, but not a cycle. The tableau of the inn had changed since I last stood before it. The sun was glaring off a set of versatile claws, and the white-haired, red-eyed face they were raised before.
Fire clenched his talons and unclenched them, observing them impassively. The claws retracted, the hand lowered and then he looked at me. A polite wave invited me to join him. To join them. He had two others with him, one I didn’t recognise and one I recognised all too well: Destiny. They sat on horseback, dressed for travelling. Fire had no horse, but he wore a large backpack covered in small bags. The sheen of enchantment slid across their surface every now and then. Before I knew it, I was upon them.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead: “Right, where are you off to?” My voice came out distrustful and almost-angry - predictably given the circumstances.
“We’re off to build a shelter for the Prophet’s congregation. It’s a long story involving a prophecy and a promise I made to a certain Steve, not our Steve, a different one who takes care of the Prophet. I would have told everyone earlier if there hadn’t been the business with the… with Fristad.”
My eyebrows raised and furrowed and I struggled to separate the two questions. “What does he look like? Why in the Mods’ names didn’t you mention this before?”
“Stubbly beard, t-shirt, wooden sword, brown cloak, seems generally on edge. I only met him just yesterday and I was busy making the device for Fristad all night.”
Something rose in me and another plummeted back into the depths. It just about balanced out, my better nature trying desperately to hold the two weights in equilibrium. A purpose, and a confusing… I don’t know what it was. A betrayal? A diversion? An obstacle?
“Steve’s here. That’s good. And, hello Destiny,” I sighed. Now for the enigmatic girl. I didn’t quite look at her because the sun adorned my brow, white light pressing through and lighting up the auburn hairs before piercing my eyes, but I thrust my hand in her general direction. “Sorry, who might you be?”
“Lucy,” she responded. Cheerfully. I tried to look up further and got a brief glimpse of her face. Blonde. Pretty. I circled round to the back of the horse as she spoke so I could actually look her in the eye. The cheerfulness seemed to be genuine.
“And how is it you know Fire?” I was maintaining the barely-balanced tone.
“To be honest, I was a ‘volunteer’ at the pyromancy show he put on in the town square some days ago. He then somehow found me again and I came with him, helping people sounds a lot better than being a maid honestly. He also told me that he sees some sort of talent in me that will help with his effort. You’re Kay, right?”
“Yes. He’s mentioned me?” My ego had been poked just in the right direction for a moment. I had missed that feeling from home, of rarely having to introduce myself to people because people already knew my reputation and obviously iconic image. Nah, I’m kidding - I just missed being among friends and mutual friends.
“He was just telling me about his journey in Nexus so far, we were just at the part where this quarter-demon Warnado shows up outside of the door.”
“Ah, that’s a good part to be sure.” A sudden realisation unbalanced the weights in my head. “And, you are going to be off establishing this shelter for how long exactly?”
Fire spoke: “We don’t know how long it’ll take. On that note, you probably shouldn’t get too attached to this place, the Ender showed up at the Prophet’s hill yesterday too and did a sweep. From what I can tell she didn’t find anyone who was willing to talk. Additionally the experiments Steve, Jennifer and Shadow performed are bound to attract some attention as well.”
“Okay, I knew about the experiments, but do you not think that a confirmed sighting of the Entity’s elite guard and kidnapping force was something to raise with the rest of us? Wasn’t the guy we had already captured and detained a tad less important than that?!”
“I do admit, I should have told more people-”
“Oh really? Who on earth did you actually tell? Who?” I was livid, but I’d stopped myself from squaring up to him yet. I wasn’t shouting either so as far as I was concerned I was the pinnacle of serenity. My accent had slipped though.
“He told me,” said Destiny, flatly irritated.
I bit my tongue, well aware of Destiny’s fragile state. Steve had told me about the episode with the harmless necromancer. It then struck me that I never thought I’d use the term “harmless necromancer” and have reason to believe it.
“Can we talk apart, Fire? Just for a moment?”
“Of course.”
We took a brief stroll. Sweat rolled down the back of my neck as the sun returned from its repose behind the cloud in full force.
“So, the Ender has shown up and you think the best option, instead of telling everyone and advocating a full-scale evacuation, is to take a girl you met at a magic show and possibly the most emotionally vulnerable member of the group aside from the literal children far away from the rest of us while we all **** around worrying about some swineherd giving us bad dreams?
“Kay, look. I am perfectly aware how bad this may look but Destiny needs some kind of purpose right now so she can distract herself from the brunt of her trauma, it’s not optimal but it’s a first step. As for why I didn’t tell everyone, I was going to, namely at the morning gathering where everyone is together and we are in a soundproof room. The morning gathering that didn’t happen because of the events of last night. Shadow was going to tell you in my stead at the next possible opportunity.”
I bit my tongue until Fire finished speaking. How dare he lecture me about trauma? BUT, that was the second most important thing so I was going to calmly explain to him why he "needs to make it an issue with the group because we are all supposed to be part of a team and this has serious ramifications for all of us. Not only is relying on a grapevine through your sister deeply irresponsible, but kind of made me feel as though you regard us as beneath your attention. This also arguably figures you automatically in a leadership position. That is not to say that I am supposed to possess it though I am arguably qualified enough, but that there is an arrogance to it, especially after your absence at the Tower. I also must raise questions as to whether dividing our numbers leaves us weaker or not. Hence why we should have discussed this in a group where we could at least all have been forced to compromise, knowing more or less everyone’s full reasoning.
But of course I didn’t say that. That would be bloody ridiculous. Here’s what I actually said:
“O-ho-bloody-ho! The leisuretime warrior wants to lecture me about how trauma works as though I’ve never experienced it! Yes, of course you need a purpose. Something to keep you going even in spite of the fact that someone you cared about and who cared about you went and died or got hurt or just straight up left and turned on you. Yes, you need a reason to get up in the morning instead of moping around caves! Something to build! Something to show for it all!
“But you need to be careful what it is. Think through what your problem is and how you can fix it healthily. Otherwise you spend years bumming around as a mercenary, thieving and killing, telling yourself it’s part of some rebellious statement against the injustices of society all while reinforcing them. Or you devote years of your life to the service of a god who betrays everything you thought they stood for, slaps a meaningless title on you and stops responding once you’ve outlived your usefulness! You need a purpose that’s going to stand up to scrutiny because nothing - nothing - is more painful than seeing yet another cause you thought was going to save you crumble away like ashes in your fist!”
My teeth were bared. Fists clenched. One near my scabbard. I was definitely shouting. I can’t say how loudly but I thought I saw a passer-by staring at my anger. Fire scarcely seemed more than surprised. That’s when I added what I thought would be the real kicker. Softly, I added:
“But what do you know about loss? Go back to playing your games. We can handle the Ender without you.”
Fire’s voice was lowered to a growl. “What do you think made me start playing my ‘games’ in the first place?”
I tried to maintain my glare, but something in this hushed the winds driving me onward. I had to do something that felt moral, but I was still livid at him. I raised my eyes again after they drooped, and said: “Then you should understand she needs a chance to reconsider.”
I immediately marched back off toward the horses. By Notch I was so warm. Not even hot anymore, just suffocatingly warm. I wanted to be with my friends. No, I wanted to be back with my friends in that cave, ready to make it to Vanilla Craft, but never going in. I wanted to be there, on the border forever, carrying out small, actionable tasks that brought us closer to our goal just by keeping us alive. And the goal would never, ever be satisfied so I’d never have to think about having another goal. I wanted to be nowhere.
“Destiny,” I called, composing my features as I wiped my brow anew.
“Yes, Kay?” She was frowning down at me, clearly eager to leave.
“Listen,” I began, eyes drifting shut but my voice becoming clearer and calmer. “Are you sure about this? Going off to set up this shelter and help run it?”
“I am.”
“Okay… I think I know how you’re feeling right now. You feel like you’ve lost the map that was taking you through life, and that you need something to take you in the right direction again. So, you’re ready to take the first path the world offers you so you don’t have to think too hard about where you really want to go, because it hurts. And I get that. I really do. Just be careful, sometimes the path the world offers you gets…” I sighed. “A little sore on your feet. And it isn’t always as long or clear as it makes out.
“I’m not saying don’t trust Fire,” I resisted the urge to look back angrily. “Just weigh your options.”
I opened my eyes and saw her staring at me quizzically.
“Have a nice day, Destiny. A pleasure, Lucy.”
I marched off in the direction of the Prophet’s hill. This other Steve would be waiting there with the next path I was going to cling to.
Chapter 43: Recruiting (Fire)
Fire, Destiny and Lucy had overtaken Kay before they left the limits of the town and were now following the road to the Prophet’s hill, Fire had no problem keeping up with the horses. His thoughts kept wandering back to the conversation with Kay, he intentionally referred to it as such even though it could have easily been considered an argument or worse.
Kay’s anger had come from seemingly nowhere but at the bottom of it was that Fire had misjudged Kay, or more accurately Kay’s mental state. In hindsight it made all too much sense. Originally Fire had thought that he might have gotten off on the wrong foot with Kay and that he had perhaps overstepped his boundaries with that drinking contest, he had thought that if he was careful things would work out. What he hadn’t considered were Kay’s internal conflicts that he only knew very small aspects of. From now on he would have to be especially careful around Kay, however Fire knew enough that he didn’t have too high hopes for this working out. If it was as bad as Fire had to assume it was, Kay would find a reason to antagonize him regardless of what he did.
Of course there had been a part in Fire that wanted to directly respond to Kay when he launched his verbal assault, to take every aspect of his argument apart on the spot and then go on to unravel the extent of Kay’s mental state and show it to him so that he may see it for himself. Of course that would have only lead to more personal and perhaps even physical attacks and Fire knew it. He had even considered walking away without another word, of course that would have caused other issues. Sometimes there were just simply no positive solutions to a problem.
Fire tore his mind away from the matter, the more he thought about it the more he risked weakening Claw’s chains and he would prefer for them to remain intact for the foreseeable future.
It didn’t take them much longer to arrive at the dark oak forest, however this time Fire didn’t take the beaten path that would lead him directly to the congregation, instead he continued down the road to look for a smaller path that he had noticed when he had spoken with Steve, which would lead to the back of the hill instead. Once they found it, Fire signaled Destiny and Lucy to dismount. Before going deeper into the forest they tied the horses to a tree a small distance away from the road.
While walking Lucy said: “I’ve only been at the hill once before.”
Destiny replied: “Same, but probably for different reasons.”
Fire continued along the path and not before long the back of the hill came in sight through the trees. The ever vigilant Steve had already spotted them and was coming down the hill to greet them.
He got straight to the point. “I assume those two will help with the shelter. Neither of them is that sister you talked about, right?”
Fire shook his head. “No, she’ll be joining later once the shelter is done. I don’t want to unsettle the congregation with someone the prophecies haven’t spoken about. I also don’t think that they will mention my sister at any time in the future.”
Steve sighed. “I don’t need two people talking cryptic. What do you mean?”
Fire said: “My sister Shadow is… special in a way. What I mean by that is that she’s an immensely powerful, immortal mage with power over reality itself.”
“Power over reality itself? I’ll believe it when I see it.” Those were the words of someone who had seen many things and was difficult to impress.
Fire pointed to his companions. “That’s Destiny, she was part of the recent breakout. That’s Lucy, child of adventuring parents.”
Steve first shook Destiny’s hand, then Lucy’s. “Good to meet you.” He then looked back to Fire. “I assume you’ll address the congregation?”
Fire said: “Yes. Destiny, Lucy, stay behind with Steve for the moment. I’ll return once I’ve picked out a few additional people for the expedition.”
After those words Fire ascended the hill once more. When he arrived at the top the Prophet halted his sermon without looking at Fire. Fire stepped forward and began speaking: “People of Nexus, I have returned. As I promised, I have knowledge of a place where we can construct a sanctuary, it will be built in the nearby mountains and once it is complete it will be open to anyone who needs it. However to build it in the first place I need a couple of capable people to mount a first expedition. If you volunteer you should also know the risks, it will not be an easy endeavor. If you are nourished, uninjured and well equipped, come to me at the side of the hill.”
With that Fire concluded his short speech, it was time to sort through the volunteers to separate the actually useful ones from the overly enthusiastic but less-than-capable ones.
At the side of the hill a small crowd had formed, Fire counted roughly two dozen people. He knew that the congregation was in a bad way but he had honestly expected a couple more, hopefully at least some of them were capable enough. The bare minimum he needed for an expedition were three additional people. Fire began.
The first four people were not satisfactory, three were clearly malnourished and the fourth had a bandaged wound on his upper arm. None of those would be able to survive in the conditions they would have to face.
The fifth person was roughly the same height as Fire, this was because it was an enderman, one of the few in the congregation. He didn’t look weak in the slightest, maybe a bit nervous but that was to be expected.
Fire began talking in the language of the End: “Hello, what is your name?”
The enderman seemed surprised but nonetheless answered quickly, his name roughly translated to Voidblade. Evidently a member of one of the more warlike End civilizations.
Fire said: “Tell me a bit about yourself, how you ended up in Nexus.”
Seemingly content with not being sent away immediately Voidblade answered: “In my world we were fighting a losing war against humanity, one we started. The last thing I know is that my superior ordered me to hand down the message that we were capitulating but my teleport instead dropped me in this forest. That was… a few months ago I think.”
Fire nodded along. Voidblade seemed to be reasonable, judging by the fact alone that he coexisted with the mostly human congregation after having fought humans for what was presumably his whole life. Voidblade didn’t look particularly old.
Fire asked: “Do you have any equipment with you?”
Voidblade said: “I do. I hid my battle armor and spear in the forest, didn’t make sense to carry them here. I can get them quickly.”
Fire said: “Good, get your gear and wait behind the hill, there are two human women there already, they are with me.”
Voidblade nodded and teleported away.
Fire first didn’t realize that the next candidate was here already, he had quite literally overlooked him. The reason for this was that the next candidate was not much taller than a meter. Before Fire stood a stout man with a fiery-red braided beard, clad in full iron platemail, with a hammer at his side, pickaxe on his back. The man in front of Fire was evidently a dwarf, in fact it was difficult to be more dwarven than this.
The man spoke: “Name’s Urist. I’d shake yer hand but...”
Fire went back to correct his last thought, it was absolutely impossible to be more dwarven than this. Fire knelt down to honor the dwarf’s request.
Fire asked: “Do you have a second name?”
Urist replied: “Nay, used to have one but now it’s just Urist. Don’t want to talk about it.”
Fire patiently waited for Urist to continue.
“So, an expedition into the mountains, aye? Hopefully won’t turn out like the last o’ mine did but here’s hoping.”
Fire said: “I see you’re already well equipped, anything else you’re bringing to the table?”
Urist said: “Couple o’ spores for farms. Also knowledge on how to brew the best ale in the lands.”
Fire smiled. “You’re accepted. You can wait behind the hill with the others.”
The next few people were unsuitable, and then the next few. Only a handful of people remained and Fire was seriously starting to worry. His worry was blown away by the next candidate. A woman dressed in elegant, if slightly dirty, dark clothes. She had shoulder-long black hair and brown eyes. That in itself wasn’t remarkable in itself, however in Fire’s keen eyes she practically radiated danger, this woman was nothing short of an expert killer. In fact, now that he took a closer look, Fire saw that she had several weapons hidden in her clothes. She stopped in front of Fire and made a suggested bow and smirked, knowing that she had been found out.
Fire asked: “What’s your name?”
The woman answered: “Rose.”
Fire said: “I think we have an agreement. Wait behind the hill.” He mirrored her previous smirk and added: “Save the stabbing for later.”
Nobody from the remaining crowd was suitable, however Fire’s minimum requirements had been met, three additional people. An enderman, a dwarf and an assassin, certainly not the average people Fire had used in his estimations, this would somewhat compensate for their lacking numbers. In a way Fire preferred a smaller expedition, less people to keep track of and less potential for infighting. Fire was again involuntarily reminded of Kay. He’d deal with that mess when the time came.
The crowd was no more, so Fire finally returned to the back of the hill himself. What he saw there gave him additional hope, the expedition members were already talking amongst themselves. Lucy seemed to be overflowing with anticipation and even Destiny looked somewhat positive.
Steve came to meet Fire. “Quite a group you have there. Are you sure this will work out?”
Fire said: “All I can say is that it will go according to plan, which plan is left to be seen.”
Steve looked like he was about to repeat his remark about cryptic statements but then changed his mind. “Good luck out there.”
Chapter 44: New Direction (Kay)
As I arrived I saw the hulking form of Fire depart at the head of a small group. I could pick out Destiny’s scowl from a mile off, and I was pretty sure I could make out Lucy, but there were three people I didn’t recognise with him. One endling, someone short enough to be a dwarf and a woman.
“More siblings?” I mused. Then I counted my blessings that he wasn’t obviously reducing our strength any further.
I looked up at the hill.
“Well, well, well…” I murmured as the shape of a man in a cloak and turquoise shirt became clear.
He stood right at the prophet’s side, hand stroking the stone pommel of his sword. Yellowed, chipped teeth chewed his bottom lip and ruffled his beard. On occasion, he would nod as the prophet shouted until he spat.
I looked around me. People were hanging desperately on the prophet’s words. Some whispered that he himself was a god, and that Steve was an angel with wings beneath his cloak. Maybe they were right. With all this communication between worlds anything could happen. All that said, I couldn’t stop seeing him as an old man spasming with each word that burst forth from him, eyes blind with terror and age, white hair aflutter in the wind. It didn’t much inspire me.
I tried to wave to Steve, but I couldn’t catch his attention, so I began the long climb up the hill. I tried to find a path that as few people as possible could see, so I commenced a long, winding ramble up the Eastern side of the hill (most people watching from the North and North-West). I didn’t want to cause much of a stir, particularly as the Ender could return at any given moment.
On my way up, I clambered past a tree containing a lanky, green-eyed endling. Its branches were dead and soot-covered, and new clouds of soot emanated every few minutes from the endling’s skin. I shook my head and returned to the climb, and after a few minutes, I found myself about half-way up the hill. I was tired at this point from the walk over, and very grateful I wasn’t wearing armour. I contemplated taking the cotton shirt off for the rest of the climb. It was already soaked with sweat.
Just as I began to lift it over a stomach that I had devotedly toned, I decided to take a look up the hill. Steve was still there, chewing his lip and rustling his stubbly beard. I decided to yell up to him: “Oi! Steve!”
I didn’t look to see if he noticed. Instead, I returned to lifting my shirt and received my answer. He was standing over me, gaunt and energised as I remembered. I straightened the shirt back down and sat up.
“How’re we doing Steve?” I asked. “It’s been a wee while.”
“It has,” Steve answered curtly. “Don’t worry about it though. Your services are no longer required.”
“Yes they are,” I chuckled. “You’ve just sent Fire off to establish a little shelter for your congregation. You must have some other jobs going.”
He sighed, then said: “Well, yes. Fire will fill those roles if necessary, but ideally he won’t be doing it entirely alone. We could probably use some more help. Have you had time to think on what you might be able to do to help us?”
I turned my head and swept a look across the fringes of the crowd.
“You told me it would take one night at the Tower to regret my decision,” I said. “It took less than that. I figured out they had Astro captive and we were out by morning. Half the prison was sprung. They’re probably still cleaning that mess up. My team did that. Fire wasn’t there.”
Steve’s eyebrows raised. “Your team?”
“The collection of individuals with whom I am currently collaborating. I won’t say they obey my every command. I’ll also concede that since we left the Tower one of us died of his injuries and another turned out to be being manipulated by a particularly opinionated work of literature but I’d give us top marks for trying.”
“Inspiring stuff.”
“I thought so too,” I said with a sardonic grin. “But yes, I reckon with a bit of preparation, possibly the recruiting of a few mercenaries and naturally the full recovery of our group, we’ll be able to sneak our way back in and bring down the Entity and his captains.”
Steve’s eyebrows raised. I thought, for just one glorious moment, he was impressed. I was mistaken:
“You think you can take down the Entity?” It was said with pure, deadpan disdain. “You’re going to need an army.”
I forced a smirk and parried: “I take it you’ve first-hand experience of fighting him?”
Steve gazed at me with eyes intense and distant. He sat down. “It destroyed my home.”
“Anyone can destroy a building.”
“The entire world. It’s not there anymore.”
I fell silent. The sky suddenly felt large and looming above me.
“How?”
“Not sure. I’ve been at it for years, and I’m still not sure.”
“Could be a ritual or some sort of mechanism. Have you actually seen it fight?”
“I have followed it as it’s tendrils have spread across the worlds. I have seen it at the head of armies, conquering nations. I have seen it raise an army of itself and swarm across cities. Once I saw a horde of knights charge one of its manifestations. After killing dozens, a lance went through its head and it fell as any mortal would. When they prised off its helmet, another man was found within. At that point, the skin of several of the knights turned grey and warped, like boiling tar in the shape of men. They became as strong and swift and efficient as the beast they had just slain. And soon the entire army fell.”
I recalled the first time I had laid eyes on the Entity - how its servant had turned grey and boiling and tried to possess the Silhouette. How, when it had what it needed, the Entity left instructions for its men. The bronze shell had shuddered a second, before it collapsed. Within the armour had been an unconscious man, just as Steve here was suggesting. It was all adding up… except for one thing.
“With such strength, why does it need an army at all?”
Steve sat there a moment. “I have asked the prophet that many times. He was once a part of the Entity. He seems to believe he was the first to be subsumed in such a way.”
It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. I looked up the hill at the frail contorting form and felt pity well up in me.
“Of course, I have been able to gather from him a few explanations that may or may not contradict each other,” Steve continued. “When it possesses another, it seems to weaken, like butter spreading across toast. When there are a handful of manifestations, it is strongest and smartest. When there’s only one it might even be invincible. Conversely, when there is an army of it, it’s about as good as your average zombie or skeleton. Tends to talk more when there’s fewer of it as well. It grows less directed, loses itself a tad because there’s just too much to keep track of. I’ve seen it let go of other copies in the heat of battle, renewing its ferocity wherever it needs to focus.”
“Otherwise, it might need us because of a lack of creativity. It has wants, but it cannot think of how to achieve them without outside input. As such, it surrounds itself with voices other than its own. It can absorb knowledge, definitely, but it doesn’t seem to know how to apply it in anything other than ways it has been used before. It’s suffering from permanent writer’s block as regards its own plans.
“And that brings us to the last explanation for why it doesn’t just possess itself an army.”
Steve stopped and started chuckling.
“What?” I asked, sitting up a little.
“You’re going to love this,” Steve chuckled further, anger flaring into his eyes. “The Prophet reckons it’s lonely.” He said it with acidity, as though the words physically repelled him.
I looked at Steve. He was sat on a tree stump, head in his hands. I noticed the age upon his face. The thinness of his arms. They were muscular enough, but they weren’t prominent from exercise - they were prominent from hunger. His hunt for the Entity had thinned him out. Diminished him. Stripped him away. This chuckling bitterness was all that was left.
I tried to shake off the feeling I was looking into a mirror.
“So, what you’re saying is that I’ll probably end up as a red smear on a white wall if I decide to face him head on.”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
I paused. My thoughts drifted toward the night before, and Fristad’s frank honesty. How willingly he had given up the Book. The words echoed in my mind:
“If it’s any consolation. I actually don’t care about the book’s magic. To be honest, I’d rather be rid of it for good if it meant I could be free from its influence.”
That’s when I got one of my notions.
“Then, I must get stronger.”
“Ideally, yes,” snarked Steve, guardian angel of the Prophet.
I stood up.
“I may have found a quick fix. Talk to you once it’s sorted. Try not to get captured.”
“Wait-”
“Cheerio, Steve.”
It was so clear to me now: I was going to get that damned Book and make it work for me.
Chapter 45: Tired of Being the Weakling (Kay)
I returned to the village around that time of day when the air is hottest and the sun passive-aggressively decides to hover just low enough in the sky to burn your eyes should you decide to look in the wrong direction. At this point my shirt was soaked, I was tired of all the nonsense with prophecies and the Dreamweaver, and really was just downright tired in general. I had a purpose and I could afford to rest for a little bit before I acted upon it… assuming the Ender didn’t kill us all in our sleep.
So, I walked into the village’s local tavern. The air was just a little bit cooler than the air outside. I sat at the counter and called to the bartender for the usual. I took note of my surroundings. The place was more crowded than average for the time of day, no surprise given the weather. My mind was spent, and the world seemed to be moving slightly faster than usual. I almost didn’t notice when the bartender put my glass down in front of me.
I picked up the glass and drank from it. It was a bit flat, but the liquid was still cool. It was nice to finally sit down after walking back from the hill in that blasted heat, and I could feel myself slowly recovering.
A few sips later, I was starting to get the sense that I was being watched. I turned and saw Astro beside me, looking as if he was waiting for his drink.
“Hello, Kay. Back from the heat?” Astro asked.
I glanced toward the inn entrance, half-expecting someone to barge in with a knife. “Did you just get here?”
“Yes, I just sat down. Shadow’s here too, right behind you.”
I turned around in my stool 180 degrees and saw, to Astro’s veracity, the black-robed wizard sitting at the counter. “For Jeb’s sake, I’m not even properly inebriated yet and somehow I can’t keep track of a close friend and a well-meaning-albeit-suspiciously-powerful acquaintance sneaking up on me!” thought I.
I then recalled Fire and I’s argument, and felt a discomfort that wasn’t quite shame, but wasn’t quite suppressed anger either. I was becoming increasingly familiar with that feeling since the end of the Onslaught.
Shadow waved. “Hello.”
“Are you here for a drink? Or some other more important reason with lasting consequences?” I quipped.
“Actually, this is about the book Fristad had on him.” My ears pricked up. “Before I take a closer look at it, I’d like to find out a bit more about what it could be capable of. From what I gather there is mind-altering magic in the world you are from so I thought of asking you and Astro to give me some pointers.”
I deliberated and weighed my words. I didn’t want to impede them but I also needed to make sure I got a look at that book myself. So, I decided to be honest enough:
“I’ve encountered it, but I can’t say I know anything I could explain academically...” I looked toward Astro, wondering how much I’d told him about what Herobrine taught me and whether I was going to tell him much more over the years to come. However, even if he did think I was holding back, he’d understand if I wasn’t forthcoming. I couldn’t just give them Herobrine’s teachings right off the bat. That was a religious thing as much as it was a practical skill.
Then it occurred to me that he might have seen some things himself in the years that separated us. For all I knew, he now knew more on the subject than I did.
He continued to avoid eye contact with me… At least I think he did. He seemed to be making a real effort to keep a straight face. Not as though he was going to laugh but as though something was causing him physical discomfort. I resolved he could be hiding something pretty serious and that I should bring it up with him later. Whether it was a wound or a secret was up in the air.
Shadow shrugged. “I’m happy with anything you can tell me, really. In my own world mind-altering magic is theoretically possible but the creators of the ‘game’ world made a conscious decision to make anything with permanent consequences impossible to use. There is very rudimentary mind-reading and very superficial suggestion but when it comes to anything beyond that I am honestly at a lack of experience, which is less than ideal when dealing with this book.”
“I’ve encountered it a couple of times,” Astro revealed, reanimating his features. “It’s not widespread. Mostly it’s used as a tool in torture and interrogation. One time I saw it used in some hokey religious rite. As you can imagine, that tends to attract certain kinds of less-than-stable personalities. I only know the basic principles behind the methods used, but I do know it can be countered with a certain amount of psychological training and mental discipline. For example, recognizing your own thoughts, and strengthening your willpower.”
Shadow said: “That’s good to know. But honestly, here isn’t the place to discuss this further.
After we’re finished with our drinks, I can tell you about my plans in a more private place.”
###
A small rune lit up on Shadow’s lower cheek, and the acoustics of the inn room deadened. I could almost hear my own heartbeat.
“So, I mentioned at the pub that I wanted to take a closer look at the book. We have only just recently become aware that the book even existed, and it is also not clear whether it has some level of self-awareness or is just passively inducing hallucinations that drive the afflicted to acts they wouldn’t normally do. In either case, we also need to determine if the book can be useful to us, and if so decide how to manage it.”
I nodded along with every beat, soaking it in absent-mindedly, thinking about what methods this book might be using. I had no doubt it was sentient, because it had to be. It was useless to me otherwise. I needed a collaborator, not a cursed object.
Shadow continued, “If it turns out the book is not of use to us or is too dangerous, I am reasonably confident that I will be able to destroy it quickly, and barring that, we know that the magic suppressing material can keep it in check, at least for now. On the other hand… if it is indeed sentient and cooperative on top of that we might get great use out of it.”
Astro considered the matter carefully. “Honestly, given the behavior I’ve seen and heard of from Fristad over the past few days, and even supposing the book has some level of consciousness, I’m not sympathetic to it. Tampering with people’s minds and eroding their free will is rather vile behavior no matter what sort of lens you view it through. With that said, we are not in the best situation, given we have made some powerful enemies and are facing a lot of uncertainty beyond that. I think it’s worth exploring further.”
Shadow responded, “I don’t disagree with you. I want to make sure the book, or whatever being resides inside of the book, agrees to not mess with people’s minds before we consider anything else. I also feel at least somewhat obligated to first talk to it, in my world I punish the unrepentant, but there are different things at stake there. Here, I would rather do what’s best for the group.”
I must admit, my opinions of mind manipulation were pretty darned low. It was rather heavy-handed and easy to abuse for personal gain. But this was a matter of practicality, not principle. The Entity needed stopping and I’d this book could help it didn’t matter what methods it gave us access to.
Moreover, there was a possibility that Fristad’s secret “companion” was acting out of misunderstanding or self-preservation. To be honest, it was a shame the book treated Fristad the way it did; it seemed rather intriguing and familiar. There was a time in my youth when books were my sole companion. Maybe our acquaintance could be renewed. After all, if anyone could withstand its influence, it was me.
“I think it’s worth a shot,” I said. I hesitated for a moment as I considered my wording. “And… supposing there is some way to get it to cooperate, and following that it is still the case that we want to keep the book away from Fristad, might I propose that I manage it for a time? I have some experience defending myself against threats of the more psychological variety, and to be honest the book intrigues me.”
To be yet more honest, I was tired of being the weakling. In all likelihood, the Ender of Glibby or the Entity itself was coming any day now. They had thrashed us at the Tower and we escaped by the skin of our teeth. I left without most of the skin on my back. David had left with his life cupped in his hands, leaking away like water until... I hadn’t even faced the Ender and five of us had only barely driven off her personal guard. Glibby and Freak had almost single-handedly beaten Astro, Tyron, Kir, Destiny and David. I had seen Glibby after that fight - he was just dandering about mere hours after taking a blast from David’s gauntlet.
I, on the other hand, would have been be dead where I stood if Warnado hadn’t intervened and fended off the Brines. Speaking of, Warnado, the kid I was presuming to protect, could burn me to a crisp in seconds. So, yes, I was in need of an upgrade. Sue me.
“Now, hold on,” Astro said in his usual pragmatic and somewhat overly-cautious tone. “While it may be true that you have developed some mental safeguards, we still have little idea what the book is capable of.”
I raised an open palmed dismissal and deflected in a tone of indifferent realisation, as if I had always known it and never really contemplated it before: “The Endlings never cracked me, Astro. Turns out the Tone can do a lot more than make you scared - it can do many nastier things. I can handle a bundle of pages, possessed or not.”
I let my eyes linger on him dryly, but I’ll confess it wasn’t a deliberate move. I just couldn’t figure out what this meant. The Astro I knew, whom I left before arriving in Nexus, would have had no qualms about my ability to resist. Just what had happened in those intervening years?
Shadow said: “So, if you have some concrete examples of what magic can do to a mind, I’d like to hear about it. I’ll presumably be safe but it nonetheless won’t hurt to know, especially for the future.”
I leaned back and stared at the window. I tuned Shadow out for a moment and tried to assess just how quiet that rune was making things. Nope, I couldn’t hear a shred of sound from the road. Just our own breathing. Mine was level. Important to keep it that way. I had to show myself to be as stable and responsible as possible. I had to be stable and responsible. Now that I had a task, I could do that.
“So, I was captured by the endlings after Farrogat. They have this trick that comes to them naturally called The Tone. They use it to incapacitate, usually. A particular croak or musical note can draw to mind the worst fears and imagery. It’s not really magic, it’s just something they can do. Biological.” I swallowed some spittle. I felt the heat again. “At least, it was originally.”
“Some of their torturers have made an art out of it. I don’t know if they use magic or just practice a lot, but they can use it to create a genuine connection with your mind. With a little variation, like jimmying a lock, they can make you to tell them anything they want. Plans, fears, doubts, personal memories: everything. Some of them are so good you don’t even notice they’re doing anything.
“You get two schools when it comes to that. One of them just chats away to you during an interrogation and suddenly you find you have an undying compulsion to tell them anything and everything they want. The other drugs you up and talks to you as you dream and if they’re good you won’t even realise you’ve been visited. Could spend a week thinking you’ve been forgotten, not realising that the pink rabbit you’ve been chatting to in your dreams would burn you if you touched it, dismember you if you looked it in the eye...
“Thankfully, Herobrine taught me some old techniques for locking people out. How to notice when someone’s searching for information directly - it’s pretty obvious, it feels like your hair’s being ruffled. How to notice characters someone else came up with. And, of course, how to alter dream-scapes. As I told you the other day, I was actually able to successfully expel someone quite recently.”
I paused a moment, then a thought occurred. Naturally, I couldn’t just let that sit there if I wanted them to treat my suggestion seriously.
“The Lady of Dreams. Your friend. Not that I knew that at the time… Okay, I would absolutely have thrown her out even if I’d known that - I like my privacy.”
I prayed honesty would prove the best policy. I even dropped the proper accent at the end of the last sentence and allowed the coarse brogue of the rough southern hills to range.
Shadow laughed. “Honestly the only one you’re inconveniencing with that is yourself. She makes a point of keeping dreams private.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, at least it demonstrates my conviction not to let anyone mess with my mind. See, I’m an ideal candidate!” I gestured enthusiastically and grinned widely. “What do you say?”
Shadow didn’t laugh this time. A thought occurred and I started looking around for that shade that followed her, Wodahs. Relieved to find it hadn’t moved from behind her, I settled down again.
Instead of laughing or smiling, she said: “I suppose I’ll try talking to the book and we’ll see how that goes. If I don’t have to destroy it it’s all yours.”
Chapter 46: Literary Encounter (Shadow)
Shadow needed something to make the book open up, to give her a chance to see where its power came from. She closed her eyes, more out of reflex than anything else, and looked into her own mind. In the depths somewhere she found another mind, or rather a speck of dust that had once been a mind, it had once been the mind of the first rule breaker she had apprehended. Given enough magic it could be a mind once more, it would be an empty shell without thoughts, but it would still be a mind. This was the mind she would use to lure the book out of hiding.
Only seconds after the empty mind came into being, Shadow could feel how energy emanated from the book, like a thin tendril it reached out. This was what Shadow had waited for. The mind she had created immediately collapsed into her own again, it had served its purpose. Shadow then cast a spell that was quite similar to a teleportation but instead of moving her to a different location in the space she was currently in, it moved her into a different space altogether.
Even before she opened her eyes, she realized that something was different, the air smelled differently, it smelled older. Shadow smelled old leather and paper, she knew this smell very well. When she opened her eyes, they confirmed what her nose had made her suspect: She was in a library. This library however was unlike any Shadow had been in before. Even the library of the University of Magic of Rockhaven was dwarfed by the sheer scale. Rows of bookshelves continued seemingly infinitely into all four cardinal directions. It did seem to have a floor and a ceiling though.
Shadow sent a projection into each direction, moving at a rapid pace. About a minute later they still hadn’t found any sign of an end. This library really seemed to extend infinitely. Shadow instinctively knew what this meant, she might not have exactly done the amount of academic study that her brother had but she still knew a parallel plane when she saw one. Under normal circumstances this would have been surprising but seeing that she had already crossed several universes on her way to Nexus it really wasn’t.
Nonetheless, this was a new experience for Shadow. The scientists had told her that after her ascension her mind was different in ways they couldn’t explain, now Shadow started to realize how right they were. The moment she had left her own world something had awakened inside of her, a new sense so to speak, now the feeling returned, stronger than ever. She was acutely aware of her current position, not just in the library but also in regard to what was beyond. There was another plane in very close proximity to this one, perhaps she could repeat what she did in Astro’s presence.
Shadow concentrated, back in the forest it had been difficult, now it was easy. Once again her hand disappeared from reality, instead reaching into the space between. Only this time Shadow felt something that was not emptiness, she felt a thin membrane, the metaphorical fabric of reality of the other parallel plane. With a decisive movement she cut through both the membrane on her side and that on the other side. Shadow saw more bookshelves through the rift she had created, another layer of library? In the thin space between the libraries was a seemingly infinite nothingness, however Shadow wasn’t quite sure. She thought she could make out things in the distance but it was like trying to look through milk glass, only that this milk glass had the “color” of nothing. Instead of thinking more about what was between the planes, Shadow decided to cross over instead.
As she passed through, her body disintegrated, leaving behind what she had taken to calling her true, or unbound form. In this form her skin had gone from being merely pitch black to being even less than that, she was a silhouette of nothingness. Her hair also refused to play along with gravity and instead floated around her head like a bright white cloud. Her eyes seemed to be distant red stars in the midst of the nothing of her face. Only very few people had seen her like this, most of them were now specks of mind-dust within her own mind, the one other person was Fire. She supposed that this form had contributed no small part in helping the interrogations of the rule breakers along, partially through intimidation, partially because it was quite difficult to comprehend, as Astro had experienced first-hand.
Shortly after passing over to the other library-plane, Shadow regained her regular senses, along with them her regular body and clothing started reforming. She was now in a spacious room, a reading room by the looks of it. Several long tables made from dark, polished wood occupied a good part of the space. At the tables stood cushioned chairs made from the same wood, on the tables stood reading lamps, presumably glowstone-based. Behind her, the tear in reality closed again.
Then Shadow noticed that she was not alone, at the other end of the room was a… thing. It looked like someone had taken pages torn out of various books and glued them together to form a humanoid shape. The humanoid shape turned to face Shadow. A crease formed in the papers at the head-like shape at the top, and the shape spoke:
“How did you get here?”
The voice was that of a young woman, with a slight distortion to the voice as if it had traveled through some communication device and had become corrupted. The voice was calm and measured, but beneath the surface Shadow could detect a slight unease.
“Through the wall.” She said matter-of-factly. This being in front of her could well be what corrupted Fristad so Shadow decided to not reveal too much about herself yet.
The humanoid shape walked closer to Shadow, and turned its head while walking sideways, its paper head tilting up and down, inspecting Shadow’s robe and unperturbed charcoal face and white hair.
“It is not easy to enter this place. Nor is it easy to leave it. Would you not agree?”
Shadow smirked and demonstratively slashed another tear into the fabric of reality. She really was getting the hang of this.
“That is a neat trick.” The shaped paper’s voice was curious, but also cynical. “Perhaps you can teach it to me. But your arrival here has a different purpose, does it not?”
“Alright, I’ll get straight to the point then: The events of the last days, the nightmares. I want to hear your side of it and you better not lie to me.”
“Fine.” The paper figure’s voice became agitated. “I suppose you know what I am, then? At least to a superficial degree? After all, you came inside of my body, to find the essence of myself in an attempt to communicate with me. And I suppose you know Fristad as well. How is he, by the way?”
Shadow replied: “Alive... and somewhat conflicted. We also shielded him from magic so that you can’t get to him.”
“I assumed such. You and the others have tended to recognize the value of life over death. Except, possibly, for Destiny. She seems unstable recently. Although the magic shielding was something I did not anticipate. But, back to the nightmares. You should first know that I have been trapped in the void for millenia, and as such my pages have been deprived of eyes for far too long. Fristad was the first to read them after I breached the caustic nothingness, and for this reason I consider us to have a special relationship. Since that fateful moment, I have taught him things, often in secret, as the world we come from labels many forms of magic as ‘dark magic,’ magic which in their nearsighted judgement is evil and should be destroyed. We assumed you would view us the same way, minus the killing of us perhaps, and thus our secrecy continued. But Fristad reached an impasse in his abilities. We had to make a choice. It was Fristad who proposed the nightmares be induced on Amanda. I personally felt no ill will towards her. In fact, I found her to be quite intelligent. Perhaps you could ask Fristad about his choice. But alas, the decision was made, and now the essence of my self stands before you, privy to your judgement.”
Shadow had expected something along these lines, this was not the first time she had received one such monologue. If she was honest with herself, the constant blame shifting was starting to get boring and predictable. “I personally am of the opinion that power itself cannot be evil unless it is itself sentient, however those who wield this power can fall anywhere in your morality system of choice. In the morality of the world I come from, warping a personality beyond recognition about equates to killing the person. I also suspect that while Fristad had the choice whom to attack, he didn’t exactly get an independent say in whether the attack should happen at all. The magic needed for the attacks comes from you I presume.” Shadow paused. “About what you said at the start, the reason I refused to use more… drastic methods was because it would have made me suspicious, which would have been quite harmful to our group as a whole. Trust me when I say this. It is quite literally my job description to execute people who would cause great harm if all other possibilities are exhausted.”
“Then, perhaps I should consider myself grateful, that your ‘subjective’ definition of morality has allowed both me and Fristad to live. In my definition of morality, knowledge is invaluable. To not share knowledge is the greatest transgression of all. As for killing, while I have become very fond of Fristad and would punish those who dare to harm him, the idea of me, a bound stack of pages affixed with letters, ascribing my actions on things that move and eat to any moral standard other than the knowledge which they contain is, admittedly, quite ridiculous.” Loose pages began to restlessly circle the floor around the paper form. “But it is clear my philosophical musings are not open for debate. What do you actually want from me?”
Shadow replied: “I want to know if you can be reasonable. As in, can you pass on your knowledge without forcing it on people?” Again, Shadow paused, this time less for dramatic effect and more to catch the figure off guard. “Also, do you think I’m stupid? I know you are not the Book, you just live in the book. You are confined to it and you probably can’t even see past this hyperplane. Let me make it perfectly clear that I can and will kill you if you don’t prove to me that I can leave you alive.”
A gust of wind boomed in the library. The pages circling on the floor around the humanoid form lifted into the air and swirled around it. Books tumbled off the library shelves and papers tore from the books, flying toward the growing, twirling swarm.
“You ask too much of me! You tell me I am not what I am, and then you threaten to kill me! Without the words I carry, I am no more than a block of wood! How am I supposed to convey my knowledge if no one knows what I am? You disgust me! You are a monster! And if you should decide to kill me merely because I say these words, then I do not care what moral code you claim to follow: you are evil! Take back the lies of what I am!”
Shadow began to smile. She loved this part, they all invariably got to it at some point. “I really wish you could come up with some new, more flavorful insults, ‘monster’ is beyond overused at this point. I believe you should rather call me an abomination, I do eat minds after all. I have no illusions about what I am, in contrast to you. But throwing insults at each other, no matter how sophisticated, won’t get us anywhere, will it? You can consider yourself a book if you want to, if that’s what it takes to make you hold a reasonable conversation. I’ll repeat my question. Are you capable of sharing your knowledge without manipulating others?”
The swirling swarm of papers halted in mid-air, and floated down in zig-zags and twirls which caused the papers to warp and crease with high-pitched snapping echoes. When the papers settled, the remaining mass of papers stood dejected, its head held low.
“I am,” the form said simply.
Shadow nodded. “If that is so, then we might be able to come to an agreement. I won’t be all high and mighty about it either, simply not killing the other side is a shoddy basis for any contract. As it stands you’ll still have to earn trust, mine and perhaps more importantly that of those who were directly affected. For both of your sakes I can’t let you near Fristad again though, temptation is a strong force.”
“That is unfortunate,” the form said. It paused for a moment. “How do you propose I earn your trust?”
“You will spend a bit of time with Kay, he has voiced quite an interest in you. Don’t do anything… unwise and who knows, we might be able to repay you in some fashion if it’s in our range of capabilities.”
Shadow had no doubts that the book wouldn’t be completely compliant but as long as nothing like the Dreamweaver situation happened, it was a worthy tradeoff. It really would have been a shame to destroy, or rather kill, something as unique as the book.
“I suppose, ‘unwise,’ in this context, means: no killing or inducing negative emotions in members of the group, and no introduction of ideas in their minds that might be considered… unexpected?”
Shadow considered for a moment. “More or less. Attempts at conditioning using positive emotions are also off limits, in fact any kind of influence that goes beyond mundane persuasion is too. I would also ask you to limit your interactions to Kay only for the beginning. Once you prove that you can play nice, you can also ‘talk’ with others.”
The paper crease in the figure’s head widened and curled into a smile. “Very well. I shall endeavor to honor your requests.”
Shadow was not sure if she should extend her hand or not, but decided to do so. The handshake felt rather reluctant and the hand itself felt like paper, unsurprisingly.
“I’ll be leaving now, you will be in Kay’s ‘custody’ very soon.”
With those words Shadow once again tore through the fabric of reality, this time the cut was more precise than before and closed immediately after she went through. She resurfaced in the familiar room of the inn, Kay looking at her expectantly.
She said: “We managed to work something out. You can have the book for now, feel free to talk to it but take care. It would not surprise me if it still tries something.”
Chapter 47: The Book (Kay)
Shadow set the book down on the bed and closed her eyes. Just a few seconds later she vanished silently. No furniture, dust pile, or bedsheet was stirred. The book lay closed on the bed in the same position as before. It was as if Shadow was never there. Or, rather, she was still there, just inside the book somehow. Or perhaps some other location-defying wizardry nonsense. I didn’t have much time to speculate as Shadow quickly reappeared in front of the book just a few minutes later.
Shadow looked at me and smiled with satisfaction. “We managed to work something out. You can have the book for now, feel free to talk to it but take care. It would not surprise me if it still tries something.”
Shadow stepped back from the bed, turned to Astro and nodded.
“The ward is still up, in case you want to continue talking in private. It should stay up until you leave the room. I will be in the tavern for a while, in case you need me.”
Shadow left the room.
Astro stepped closer to the bed, crossed his thoroughly clothed arms, and stared carefully at the book. His eyes followed it as I stepped forward alongside him and picked it up.
I projected the most mature-looking grin toward the cautious Astro as I could come up with. I wasn’t going to back out of this little experiment, but I could at least make a show of restraint to reassure him a bit. I made a point of turning the book over and inspecting every corner. It was leather-bound, titleless on the outside at least, and in relatively good condition. A perfectly good book. Appearances aside, Shadow was probably right that it could still be a threat. I was confident my mental defenses would hold, but I wasn’t exactly equipped to deal with magical threats in general.
The outside of the book adequately inspected, I opened the cover to the first page, which turned out to be blank. The second page was also blank. And the third. In fact, the whole book was probably blank. I’ll admit it came off as a bit stingy on the book’s part, but there could have been some other reason for the lack of typography.
I wasn’t exactly sure what the proper way was to communicate with it, so I figured I’d try what felt natural. I turned back to the first page - it seemed more polite to do that - and cleared my throat.
“Hello, book. I’m General Kay Mandy, formerly of the 10th Herobrinian Legion. I’ll be your caretaker for a while. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
I looked expectantly at the blank page. Almost immediately, I felt a small pressure against the outer walls of my mind, circling around the perimeter like a foreign scout, testing my mental defenses. It wasn’t much of a test. I resisted it almost unconsciously. I swatted it away. Best not to let it finish its scouting rounds, and aside from that I wanted to assert my authority. After that, I didn’t feel any other mental presence. I assume the book had its fill. Or perhaps that was the full extent of the book’s mental abilities.
Shortly after I repelled the presence, printed letters began to materialize on the page, the ink seemingly rising up from the pages below. The letters formed a short message:
Hello, Kay.
I smiled a little at the sign of self-awareness from an otherwise seemingly inanimate receptacle of learning. I was rather eager to make use of the book’s abilities, but first impressions were important, and I needed to establish some boundaries.
“Apologies for pushing away your little probe. Not very hospitable of me, but I always worry about visitors, so I have a great many ways to keep them out. It’s not malicious, I just have to make sure my house is in order before I let you in. Please, do be patient. Anyway, do you have a name? Something you prefer to call yourself?”
The ink from the letters sunk back into the page, and was replaced with another message.
I have no name. You may call me the Book.
“Keeping it simple to begin with? I like it. Do you mind if I just call you ‘Book,’ then? Without the ‘the’? It’s just a bit easier to work with.”
The ink dissolved and reconfigured rapidly.
No.
“Excellent!” I declared.
I turned toward Astro, who I assume had been reading the shifting letters and thus was up-to-date on the conversation. Merely talking to this book in my possession would probably net me more than a few points in the quirkiness department. Possibly a few in the insanity department as well. Especially in public. Someone had to challenge Warnado and the wonder-twins.
“By chance, are there any other ways we can communicate that don’t involve me speaking aloud by myself?”
I could communicate directly with your thoughts, as I have done with Fristad. Or alternatively, you can write on my pages.
“Good to know those options are available. I’ll stick to speaking for now, might get a pen later.”
While I was confident in my ability to resist, I didn’t trust the book enough to read my thoughts, so the other, more discreet option was off the table. Perhaps with a mutually beneficial exchange of information, that trust could be gained over time. But not yet.
“Why don’t you tell me a little more about yourself?” I encouraged. “How did a fine receptacle of literature such as yourself end up in the Nexus? And how exactly does a book learn to communicate in your world?”
The ink on the page dispersed and rearranged slowly. The book seemed to take a moment to deliberate before the ink settled into a longer written passage.
My existence has been long, and mostly painful. For millennia, I had drifted through the void, completely alone, my words and pages slowly burned by its destructive flames. Eventually I found Fristad, and for a time we were friends, although since the intervention, one could say we’ve had a falling out.
Most of my knowledge has existed since my beginning, including my knowledge of how to communicate. The rest came from Fristad.
“So… you simply popped into existence in the void? No memories prior to that?”
That is the extent of my memories.
“By Jeb…” I tailed off, feeling a knot of pity twist my stomach. “That sounds like an awful way to end up spending most of your existence. I’m sorry.”
“And quite a long existence at that,” Astro added. “Thousands of years is far too long for anything.”
Pity aside, I suspected that the book was hiding information. Maybe the book landed itself in the void for a reason, or perhaps some important chronological detail was left out. I certainly didn’t expect the book to reveal everything. I had my own secrets, Astro had his. The book’s past put its decision to control and manipulate Fristad into perspective, although it certainly didn’t justify it.
The revelation of an existence mostly spent in an unforgiving void wasn’t exactly a good conversation starter either, so I decided to change the subject.
“Astro, are you sensing anything magic coming from the book? Any wizardly insight?”
Astro concentrated. “It’s… a bit like the energy that comes off an endling when they teleport. However, it has a slightly different quality and it’s continuous. I think Fristad mentioned that the endlings in his world were different from the ones in the Nexus.”
I am not an enderman or anything associated with their kind. The fact that my covers wield their energy is unfortunate. I am only grateful they prevented me from burning into nothingness long enough for me to escape the void.
“Is it just me, or am I picking up some disdain for endlings coming from you?” I pointed out.
I despise them.
“Hah! We’ll get along famously. Wait… Fristad was an enderman at some point and I’m getting the impression you did that. How does that fit into your worldview?”
We did what we had to. Not using that form would have been a meaningless gesture of vanity.
“I see.”
I looked out the window and saw the sky above the village growing darker. Another day had passed, and I was now in possession of a book of unknown power, whose emotional impact on Fristad, Amanda and others was hard to overstate, and whose true motivations were only beginning to be uncovered. I didn’t know what to expect from the book’s backstory, but thousands of years of suffering and loneliness? Was I way in over my head? Did time work differently there? Was Fristad secretly hundreds of years old? Okay, I’ll admit those last two sounded a bit too ridiculous.
Astro said, “It’s getting late. We should eat something.”
My own stomach protested in unison. “The day certainly ran away from us. Maybe we should join Shadow in the tavern. It was nice to meet you, book.”
There is no need for departing words. I assume you want me to come with you.
“That’s technically true, although I’m going to put you away now. Don’t attempt to start a conversation. I’ll come to you.”
I closed the book and put it in my pocket. The past aside, it seemed there was a lot to learn from the book.
I followed Astro outside of the room, and was greeted once again with the sounds of evening activity.
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
Chapter 48: Arrival (Fire)
The newly formed expedition crew left the hill immediately after Fire was done talking to Steve. If the map he had seen was any good it would take them roughly a day of travel time if they rode there directly, this time did not include resting and assumed that nothing unexpected would happen on the way. They were reasonably close to the Tower, so bandit attacks were improbable, however a whole lot of people had escaped from the Tower’s prison recently so there was no guarantee for safe travels.
The horses Fire had bought were sturdy enough to carry two people. Destiny and Lucy took one, Rose and Urist the other. Fire was quick enough on his feet to keep up with them and Voidblade could teleport hundreds of meters at a time. Voidblade was now also wearing his armor, which looked functional more than anything else, Fire assumed that he had filled the role of infantry in his homeworld.
While they travelled they didn’t talk much, they were focused on getting to their destination as quickly as possible. After the first few hours they took a short break to eat, drink and let the horses rest for a short while. After two more such rests they decided to set up camp for the night.
The next day they got up early and started riding again. The sun was already starting to set when they arrived at their destination. The mountains towered in front of them. No clear path was visible and the terrain was too steep to continue on horseback.
Fire said: “Alright everyone, time to dismount. Just leave the horses, they won’t be of any use underground.”
Rose spoke up: “How far is our destination?”
Fire said: “It should be about one to two hours of hiking until we arrive at the entrance of the cave system.”
Rose nodded.
As Fire turned to go ahead he looked back to see Lucy give her horse a pat on the head before following. Destiny seemed quite eager to get going and Urist was predictably thrilled to be in his preferred terrain. Voidblade and Rose seemed mostly ambivalent, but they’d get their excitement soon enough once they would start clearing out the caves.
The lower parts of the mountains were densely forested with various species of coniferous trees and thus made ascending the mountain fairly easy since they always had something to hold onto once the terrain got steeper.
Eventually they had climbed far enough for the trees to be replaced with shrubs growing on the rocky debris slopes. This terrain was significantly harder to traverse, especially for Lucy and Rose, who didn’t seem to have much mountaineering experience. Urist on the other hand had quickly taken the lead, doing his best to find a path that was easy for his companions to traverse. The few times where someone got close to stumbling and sliding down the mountain in an avalanche of rocks, Voidblade had been ready to save them with two quick teleportations. Fire watched with satisfaction as the groundwork for future cooperation and trust was being laid. Of course he knew better than to let his guard down, a lot of things could happen, especially once they began their work.
All of a sudden the slope came to an end and in front of Fire was the plateau he had seen on the map. The plateau was bordered by yet higher mountains, the mountainside they had climbed up was just about the only safe entrance to the plateau. This was one of the reasons Fire had chosen this area, the main part of the shelter would still be underground but the plateau offered a relatively safe space for facilities that needed to be outside.
The ground ahead of them was covered in a layer of dry moss with smaller rocks poking through, bigger boulders were scattered throughout the plateau, evidently having rolled down from one of the taller mountains.
Fire walked a few steps and then waited for the others to reach the plateau as well. They had all fared quite well, especially Urist and Voidblade. The humans of the group looked a bit exhausted, especially Lucy.
She said between panting breaths: “It’s been a while since I last did anything like this.”
Fire let her catch her breath before speaking: “Just a bit ahead of us is the entrance to the cave system. We will start exploring it tomorrow, today our goal is to barricade the entrance and set up a more permanent spot to sleep outside.” He turned to Urist. “I assume you have some experience when it comes to construction.”
Urist grinned. “Ye could say that. Been some years since I’ve been employed in a keep but some things ye never forget.”
“Excellent.” Fire said.
Fire then lit a torch with a little bit of magic and once again took the lead. Behind him he could hear Lucy and Rose talking.
Rose asked: “So, you haven’t actually told me why you are here. I know I’m here because I can stab things, but what about you?”
Lucy replied hesitantly: “I don’t know. Fire says I’ll find out soon enough.” Her tone changed to be brighter. “What I’ve been meaning to ask you, I know some basic self defense but not with weapons. Would you mind… teaching me a bit?”
Rose replied: “Huh, I guess I misjudged you a bit. Didn’t take you for the proactive type. We might be able to work something out.”
“Really?” The joy in Lucy’s voice brought a smile to Fire’s face and seemingly some of it got through to Rose as well.
“Yes, really. Not today though. Honestly, I’m quite exhausted as well.”
Just a few minutes of walking later they had reached the entrance to the cave. It gaped in front of them, dramatically illuminated by Fire’s torch.
Fire passed his torch on to Voidblade and nodded to Urist. Over the course of the next half hour the two of them used some of the wood Fire had in one of his enchanted bags to construct two layers of barricade, one right at the entrance and one some meters into the cave, each one with a door in it. They then went on to construct six adequately comfortable beds in the newly-formed enclosed space. They would certainly build better lodgings later but for tonight it was all they needed.
When they were finished they returned to their companions outside.
Destiny said: “Normally I would be impressed but it seems that this kind of construction speed is quite common.”
Urist said: “Och, that’s nothing. I’ve seen entire forts built in hours, or taken down for that matter.”
Voidblade had been very quiet for more or less the entire time. Now he spoke in the human tongue, a bit slowly but otherwise flawlessly: “Now I know it was a good idea to go on this expedition.”
After they had stood there talking for a few more minutes, Fire lit a campfire in front of the cave, if they were going to talk they might as well do so comfortably.
Urist had deflected every time someone had asked something related to his backstory so Fire didn’t want to press him on it. The one person left who Fire didn’t know much about was Rose.
He asked: “So, Rose. Would you mind telling us a bit about your world and how you arrived here?”
Rose shifted into a more comfortable sitting position. “I don’t know if there is much to tell. I never was one for stories but I’ll try. My world seems to be a bit more… developed than where most people I’ve met come from. We had big cities, paved roads, electric light, things like that. But most importantly we still had a bit of magic from the old days. I’m not very good at it aside from making more blades but there were some people out there who understood more of how the world looked once you peeled the skin away. I was employed by one such person, he paid me and I would make his problems disappear. I only recently found out that he wasn’t just some eccentric esoteric with more money than morals, he had a concrete goal.”
Rose paused, waiting for someone to ask what that goal might have been. Lucy was the one to cave first.
Rose said: “The goal was simple and complex at the same time. My employer wanted nothing less than immortality. And he was willing to go very long distances to attain it. Well, technically his followers were the ones who went the distances, he just pulled the strings. My job usually was to get rid of the people who looked too closely at his organization. This went on until one day he took me aside and asked me to participate in a ritual of sorts, all I would have to do was stab some poor fool who was tied to an altar.”
Rose paused again, this time it seemed to be out of rememberance.
“It turned out that this ritual was supposed to summon some creature that would assist my employer in some matter, instead it summoned me to this place. From what I gather not many come here that way, most people I talked to claim that one day they just woke up and found that their house had moved to another world.”
Lucy said: “That’s what happened to me.”
Fire said: “It’s actually more common than you might think to come to Nexus through some kind of teleportation mishap, many of the people I know are from worlds further out, myself included.”
Destiny flinched, probably reminded of David. Fire decided to steer the topic to something less dangerous. They spent the next hour discussing the cuisine of their respective worlds, some of the things Voidblade told them about were surprising but definitely something Fire had to try to cook when he had the opportunity.
When the moon had risen high above them they decided that it was best if they went to sleep, after all they had a lot of work to do the next day.
Chapter 49: A Rushed Plan (The Ender)
The Ender was once again in her office, peering over a large map. This was not the patrol map she had worked on previously, that one and five future permutations of it had been completed just a day before. Naturally she’d have to scrap some of those permutations in the case of an extraordinary event but they did give her a bit of time to work on other things.
One of those other things was the map she was currently working on, it pictured the settlement closest to the Tower and the surrounding terrain. After her unsuccessful sweep of that prophet’s hill she didn’t have a choice but to stage a raid on the village itself. If she had recovered more detailed information on the whereabouts of the high-priority escapees she would have been able to just launch a series of covert operations to recapture or neutralize each of them.
The plan for the raid was more-or-less finished, it would be a joint effort between her own army and the human mercenaries. If anything, her language initiative had at least somewhat improved the working climate. The mercenaries would use their numbers to surround the village and cut off any escape attempt, then her own army would teleport into the central square and start sweeping every house from the center outwards, leaving no escape but walking directly into the waiting mercenaries.
If her calculations were correct, setting up the barricade would take approximately two days since it was important to move the mercenaries without anyone catching wind of the danger. It would be best if she went directly to the barracks and gave them the orders as soon as possible, while the troops moved she could still make refinements to her plan since most of it only concerned the sweep itself.
Just as the Ender was about to teleport away she heard a high-pitched human voice in her head. It said: “E-excuse me, Miss. We just detected another negative energy signature, this time directly in the village. Please meet General Issa immediately.”
The voice was one of the Tower’s telepaths, each department had one or two on duty at all times in case something like this happened. It really seemed to be urgent since this one hadn’t bothered with “knocking” first, a direct link indicated the highest priority.
The Ender teleported into the headquarters of Dimensions where General Issa was already waiting, next to her was another human, male, the telepath apparently. The Ender tried to estimate his age and concluded that he had to be quite young. Natural telepathy was a rare talent in humans so they had to take what they could get.
General Issa spoke quickly, perhaps she was stressed. “Greetings. New negative energy reading, coming from somewhere within the closest village. I already talked this over with the Entity, you are to execute the raid immediately. Also take Dr. Mercury with you, having an expert on-site would help greatly.”
Since this seemed to be a direct order from the Entity, the Ender wasted no time arguing over not having enough time to set up the barricade. They’d have to do without it, since they now had different priorities it seemed manageable, if they caught one or two of the high-priority escapees along the way that was already enough to get more information on the rest.
The Ender’s next teleportation was a long one; reconnaissance was situated in one of the tallest spires of the Tower while the science lab was underground. Navigating the dimensional labyrinth that was the Tower was a nightmare, even when teleporting, but the Ender was used to it.
Dr. Mercury whirled around in surprise as the Ender appeared behind her workstation, it seemed like she was working on setting a gem into a screw-like metal piece.
Dr. Mercury breathed out slowly. “Oh, it’s you.”
Normally the Ender would have taken offense to such a casual greeting coming from a human but time was of the essence. Aside from that, Dr. Mercury had many traits that the Ender appreciated in her own kind, efficiency, ruthlessness and a healthy dose of pride. The two of them had worked together previously and she had found Dr. Mercury to be very reliable.
The Ender said: “Put on your combat armor, we’re going to the closest village. Recon picked up another negative energy signature.”
Nothing more needed to be said, Dr. Mercury had already sprinted over to the docking station for her armor. When she pushed a button mechanical arms started attaching parts of her heavy armor to the light armor she wore all the time. Once all parts were attached, two additional arms were mounted on Dr. Mercury’s back, completing the set of four.
“Okay, I’m ready.” She said.
The Ender took her arm and they both teleported into the courtyard where the enderborn army was gathered. They had already been informed by the telepath and were standing by, waiting for the signal.
The Ender raised her arm. “On my command!”
A moment later the army teleported to the village square, the sun was already setting so not many people were there, the few that were immediately took to running. Without anyone speaking a word the enderborn swarmed out, knocking on doors and breaking them down if nobody answered, sweeping house after house. The Ender remained in the square along with Dr. Mercury and a small group of guards.
Dr. Mercury spoke: “So, that negative energy reading. From what I hear they verified that the previous one was authentic. What will you do when you find its source?”
The Ender replied: “That’s what you’re here for. The soldiers have their own detector units but I’ll need you to have a closer look and give some actual insight.”
A few minutes passed until the first squad reported back with two humans in tow, it seemed that they had found some escapees, however none of them were high-priority. They quickly shackled the prisoners to the wooden platform in the middle of the square and then teleported away, reinforcing some of the other squads.
On the edge of the Ender’s vision something moved, she quickly turned her head to see what it was. To her surprise it was a human slowly making its way towards her, head meekly turned towards the floor. The human looked quite odd, the Ender had never seen anything quite like it. It was quite short and had long, white hair and black skin and was wearing black robes. From the length of the hair the Ender could reasonably guess that this human was female but she had trouble deciding if she saw a tall child or a short adult.
The human said quietly: “Excuse me. Where am I?”
The voice was what convinced the Ender that this was in fact an adult, how old exactly she couldn’t tell.
The Ender replied in her best human tongue, it was in her best interest to not scare away a potential recruit, humans with extraordinary appearance commonly had abilities that were useful Tower’s operations. “You are in Nexus. How long ago did you come here?”
The woman looked up, her eyes were entirely red and even seemed to glow. If they had been purple then the Ender would have suspected this woman to be some kind of ender half-blood... but red? Red was definitely not a color of the End.
The woman said: “Not long ago. I don’t know how though.”
Dr. Mercury subtly pointed two of her mechanical arms at the woman, one carried a scanner, the other some kind of energy cannon. After a short moment Dr. Mercury whispered to the Ender: “She doesn’t seem dangerous but there weren’t any absorption events in the last few days.”
This definitely was suspicious but the Ender kept on talking: “About where did you appear when you came to this world?”
The woman slowly pointed in the direction of a nearby forest. “Somewhere over there, in a clearing with weird trees.”
This was getting a bit strange, the location matched up with a tunnel but there hadn’t been any activity there… actually no, there had been no absorption events but there had been activity. That tunnel was the last point in the series of energy pulses that had started somewhere outside of the scanner range. There was definitely something wrong with this woman.
The Ender narrowed her eyes and said: “I’m not sure I entirely believe you.”
Suddenly the demeanor of the woman changed drastically, she stood straight up and looked directly into the Ender’s eyes. Her voice changed as well, all signs of weakness had disappeared and had been replaced with a supreme confidence that no language barrier in the multiverse could conceal.
She said: “I suppose I should have expected as much from the Ender. I heard only good things about you, less so about your employer.”
Dr. Mercury tensed up, she said: “One wrong move and I’ll shoot.”
At this point the guards had also come closer, weapons at the ready.
The woman turned towards the scientist and smiled. “I don’t think that would accomplish much.”
Through clenched teeth Dr. Mercury asked: “And why exactly is that?”
The woman made a shrugging gesture with her arms. “Because I’m nothing but a shared hallucination you all are having.”
Before the Ender even had a chance to be confused, the woman was already gone without a trace, just disappeared from one moment to the other. The only evidence that she had ever been there were her own memories.
Dr. Mercury seemed quite shaken, staring at her sensor readout in disbelief. She said: “I picked up another negative energy reading. Send some of your soldiers to that part of the town in case we need backup.”
Chapter 50: Broken repose (Warnado)
It wasn’t usual for the kitchen to run this late without serving. It also wasn’t usual for Warnado to wait for it to serve. Normally, he would acquire a taco to sate his appetite, but according to the chef, the inn was out of certain key soup ingredients and would have to improvise, and he was rather interested in tasting the result.
Warnado rocked a silver ballpoint pen of unknown origin between his fingers. He’d summoned it from somewhere, to be sure, and he’d done so deliberately. Since his discussion with Astro and Shadow he’d been thinking a lot about these little things he did and just how he did them. Besides, he usually used it to summon tacos, and if he could figure out where he was summoning them from… Ooh mamma, that would be him set forever.
The rest of the people sitting at the table were also hungry and restless and not by choice. All except for Shadow, who sat at the table patiently. Amanda was absent. Warnado was worried about her. She acted like everything was alright, but he suspected that the nightmares made a more lasting impression than she was letting on.
Fristad was wearing the harness now. Since the book was taken away from him, he was starting to seem like an entirely different person. He was starting to irritate Warnado. He seemed too optimistic and carefree given what he did and the events of the past few days, almost as if he barely remembered them.
“On the other hand,” Warnado countered himself, “who knows what the book did to him?”
Meanwhile, Kay and Steve were sat at the end of the table lightly arguing over whether Nexus zombies were capable of sleeping. Tyron had dozed off and lay slumped against the table next to them. Whether he had drifted off due to the heat or pseudo-scientific pedantry was another question altogether.
“Well, they are still biologically human, for the most part.” Steve said. “So it matters whether they close their eyes or not but I’m not-”
“So, we agree, they are mostly human! Following that line of reasoning, if they need to eat and drink just like their non-undead counterparts, to be fair at less regular intervals, it stands to reason they also need sleep every once in a while.”
“I don’t disagree, but there’s a gap there between what you’re saying is the cause and the most likely effect.”
“What else do you suppose they do while standing still for such long periods?” Kay pressed, using an upper-crust accent Warnado was starting to recognise as designed to impress. “Barring the galvanizing influence of a necromancer?”
Steve shrugged and looked about disbelievingly: “Being zombies.”
Jennifer said, “Sorry to interrupt, but I think there’s something happening outside.”
All ears at the table turned toward the windows. The rest of the dining tables seemed to quiet down as well. Several people could be seen running across the road. Trails of ender teleportation particles appeared soon after, followed by the muted sounds of struggling screams and grunts. Then there was silence again.
“Something tells me those endermen didn’t come to reprimand those people for running and screaming,” Steve said, his former smile curdling into a grimace.
“Well, given our previous interactions with certain local endermen…” Astro paused for effect.
In the corner of his eyes Warnado saw Shadow stand up, some of her runes glowing brightly. She said in a commanding tone: “That was a scouting squad, a bigger one will come in approximately five minutes. They will search the buildings too, already did for some of the ones down the street. Someone needs to get Amanda from her room now. Then you need to flee the town while you can. I’ll try to buy you time.”
Warnado stood up. “I’ll get Amanda.”
Shadow said: “Don’t worry about me, I’m not at risk here. I will find you once you are out. Be safe.” With those words Shadow disappeared from the room to… somewhere.
Warnado then dashed out of the dining hall and up the stairs, leaving the rest of his friends at the table sitting in suspense.
Kay cleared his throat and announced gravely, “I can’t foresee Warnado taking very long to bring Amanda. But supposing he does, we should take Shadow’s warning as it is, and leave in five minutes.” He thumped the still-sleeping Tyron on the side. The dreamer growled and squinted at Kay, who flatly concluded: “Need my armour back, friend. Time to get on a war footing.”
Chapter 51: Highly Irregular Human Behaviour (Warnado)
Warnado bounded down the stairs into the foyer of the inn, with Amanda close behind. He waved over to the group standing at the table. Kay, with help from Astro and Tyron, fussed over the last straps needed to fasten his armour. Steve, and the others conversed warily, hands near weapons. After a moment of discussion across the table, the others stood up and followed Warnado into the foyer.
“I think the endermen and their friends are preoccupied in another part of town. If we leave right now, I think the odds will be good,” Jennifer said. “I’ll scout ahead. If the situation looks good, then I’ll give the thumbs-up.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kay said.
Jennifer opened the door slowly and walked out, while Steve waited at the door.
A moment later, a customer at the inn walked up to Steve and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, sir, any idea what’s going on out there? Me and some friends were about to go to the bar, but now we’re thinking maybe it would be better to stay inside. Given recent events...”
“Umm…” Steve replied awkwardly, suddenly having to come to terms with blocking the only exit for all the inn customers. “I’ll let you know in a moment.”
“This building violates so many fire safety codes…” Warnado thought to himself.
Steve then glanced out the doorway and gave the thumbs up. “All clear, let’s go!” Steve then added for the curious inn customer. “That means you can go, too. Sorry, no time to explain what’s going on.”
“Thank you! I’ll admit, it’s refreshing seeing fellow guests looking out for each other, especially in these strange lands.”
“No kidding,” Steve said dryly.
Steve, Kay, Warnado, Amanda, the others, and a few unrelated inn guests passed through the inn door quietly. The group found Jennifer pressed against the wall of the building on the other side of the street, looking warily around a corner. The streets were unusually empty, but not quiet. At a distance they could hear the warping of teleportation, the screams of frightened villagers and the sporadic noises of a piecemeal, one-sided battle.
Jennifer signalled with her arm and dashed toward another building, the others following behind. This side of the building was bathed in sun, making the air hang more heavily in their lungs.
Somewhere on the other side of town, there was a loud banging sound that Warnado was pretty certain was the sound of a door being forcefully broken open. He looked over at Amanda, who grasped her crossbow tightly and gazed forward vigilantly. Her face was still concealing the anxiety and fear that so recently haunted her.
Astro, who was on the other side of Warnado, peeked his head around the corner of the building and then pulled himself back immediately. He motioned toward the front of the group urgently. Warnado looked the other way and saw Steve waving his arms and frowning in confusion. Astro didn’t seem to be able to figure out the right gesture for what he wanted to say.
“Just say it!” Steve whispered.
“Someone’s running this way,” Astro answered.
On cue, the sound of rapid footsteps approached on Astro’s side. Briefly, Warnado saw the runner just around the corner, his shirt loose and sweaty, a sheathed sword hanging unused at his side. An armored enderman wielding a long, curved blade intercepted him from behind and threw him down onto the ground, then stepped onto his chest and pinned him in place.
“Why did you run away?” The enderman said slowly, evidently laboring on a human tongue which was unfamiliar to them, but through which the creature’s unstated threat and the gravity of it became clear.
The enderman was facing away, but the man’s desperate eyes looked straight toward Warnado and the others.
“B-b… behind… you!” The man muttered and pointed.
The enderman stomped on the man.
“Ack!”
“Answer the question!” The enderman demanded.
Astro was looking at Kay. Kay was looking at Warnado. Warnado was trying to figure out what direction Jennifer wanted to go next, while simultaneously feeling disappointed that the pinned villager tried to rat them out, and also being thankful the enderman wasn’t easily distracted. Then Kay looked at Astro.
“Priorities, Kay!” Astro admonished.
Everyone pinned against the wall looked at Astro. But there wasn’t much time to let the shame stares play out because Kay broke from the wall and rushed toward the enderman just as it started to turn around. Kay swung his sword but sliced through air and purple sprites. The ender soldier stood behind Kay and pushed him. Kay stumbled but quickly recovered, his grin advertising smug confidence. He prepared for a slash but then feinted mid-swing. The enderman replied with a slash toward Kay’s shin, which Kay was unable to pedal back from. Kay tried to suppress his grimace of pain as the curved blade rattled his armour.
Then Astro broke from the wall and threw a fireball at the enderman. The enderman’s form vanished, leaving the fireball to burst against the road and leave a mark of glowing hot ash.
At this point, the unfortunate villager had a good running start and was a few buildings away. Warnado sighed in annoyance.
Kay looked down at his shin with disappointment, and hobbled back to the wall. He lifted his leg, moved it back and forth stiffly, then pressed it down on the ground. He winced.
“Astro, would you give us a hand?” Kay mumbled. His eyes were heavy, his teeth clenched. His shadow was split between wall and ground, and as a result looked hunched and full of shame.
Astro kneeled down and loosened the straps of the shinguard. Warnado only caught a glimpse of the dark red, soft-looking stretch of skin before Astro placed a hand on it. His eyes closed. Astro then stood up again. Kay looked down at his leg and tested its range of motion.
“Well…” Steve said in a matter-of-fact manner, “they know we’re here now.”
“My own missed shot aside, that was a pretty rash way to run into a conflict,” Astro said with a sidelong glance. “I can’t spend all my magic healing wounds.”
“If they’ve learned their lesson from their encounters with us at the Tower...” Tyron warned.
“We need to keep moving,” Jennifer said.
On Jennifer’s mark, the group sprinted toward another building, and then one more. After a pause, they ran across a wide road, and continued running through an alley. The dirt road was bumpy and windy, with grass poking out in places. Quaint signs of village life, hung clothes, and shrubs in closed, curtained window sills, were left behind as they ran past.
Jennifer slowed and raised a hand as the road opened up. Steve peeked around her, then quickly stepped back. Jennifer then stumbled back against a nearby wall, the others following suit. An enderman walked down the street and paused.
Jennifer looked back and held up two fingers. Two endermen. Warnado conjured the energy bow, nocking an arrow slowly.
The enderman on the street shouted and vanished. Jennifer cried out. The clang of metal rang. The enderman had slashed at Jennifer and teleported back a few meters after she parried. Now, she was in a fighting stance, her bow held out to guard.
Another enderman materialized next to the first and barked a few words in an ender tongue. The first enderman replied in kind by pointing their sword at the little caravan of villagers and escapees that now stood pinned against the wall.
“This village is under lockdown by order of the Tower. There is no escape. Surrender your weapons.”
“Under what charges?” Steve asked.
Kay dropped all affectation and insisted, “He has a point. We’ve hardly left the village, or broken any Nexus laws to the best of our knowledge.”
“We’re just getting some fresh air,” Jennifer added.
“Outside travel is forbidden.”
“Sorry, we didn’t get that memo,” Jennifer said.
“This is highly irregular human behavior.”
“That’s just your opinion,” replied Jennifer, as she pushed an arrow into her bow. “Anyway, we’re all busy here, so in the interest of time, I’m going to shoot this arrow into the air, and you two can speculate between yourselves who is going to get hit. I already know the answer.”
“Foolish human, you can’t -”
Jennifer let go of the arrow, and the bowstring whipped the arrow into the troposphere. As the two endermen gazed at the ascending arrow, Tyron rushed forward with ice-sharpened claws and slashed at the two endermen. One of the endermen howled before teleporting away, while the other escaped unharmed. Warnado looked around for an enemy to shoot and for the moment found nothing. He let the bow dissipate and joined the others in sprinting out of the alleyway.
In the distance, another enderman cried out in pain. Whether the enderman was struck by Jennifer’s arrow, or hurt by some other means, would remain a mystery.
Chapter 52: Deeper Void (The Ender)
The Ender was sprinting down an alley, following right after Dr. Mercury whose battle armor allowed her to move quite quickly. Apparently the woman they had seen was what caused the readings. Now they were following Dr. Mercury’s scanner to the location of yet another reading. Whoever that woman was, she definitely was powerful, how powerful exactly was left to be determined. In the best scenario this simply was a case of them discovering a new type of magic, in the worst… the Ender didn’t know.
“Over here!” Dr. Mercury called out and turned a corner, then abruptly came to a halt.
The woman was there, right in front of them, just casually leaning against the wall next to a door. Dr. Mercury wasted no time and fired a warning shot from her energy cannon, which impacted only a hand’s breadth away from the woman’s feet, who seemed to be entirely unfazed.
The Ender positioned herself in a way that the woman couldn’t run, admittedly a futile gesture seeing that she probably could just teleport away again.
Dr. Mercury immediately began questioning the woman: “Who are you and what world are you from? Answer!”
After a tense silence of a few seconds the woman replied: “My name is Shadow and I am not familiar enough with your dimensional cartography to reliably answer the second part.”
Dr. Mercury groaned. “I don’t have time for cleverness. You certainly aren’t from one of the closer ones, if Dimensions is to be believed you are from somewhere outside of our sensor range.” She paused, then continued in a different tone. “But since you don’t seem to be scared of us, you won’t mind if I run a few more scans, right?”
Shadow replied: “Sure, sure, go ahead. Whatever you think will help you.”
The Ender exchanged a concerned look with Dr. Mercury. This woman’s calm was gradually transitioning from odd to unsettling. Dr. Mercury began entering commands into the device mounted on her left arm, then once again pointed the scanner at Shadow.
While the scans ran, Shadow seemed to deem it appropriate to strike up a conversation with the Ender. To her surprise, not in the human tongue, she spoke Ender, fluently at that.
She said: “So, the Ender. How do you like it over at the Tower?”
The Ender didn’t reply to her question and instead asked one of her own: “How does a human learn to speak ender?”
Shadow chuckled. “I mostly stopped being human a few thousand years ago. As for the language, my brother taught me.”
The Ender looked over to Dr. Mercury who was intently staring at her monitor and seemed to ignore the fact that there was a conversation going on. She looked back to Shadow, who seemed to have a talent for opening up more questions than she answered.
The Ender asked: “And how exactly would your brother know Ender? If you were human at one point then he should be as well.”
Shadow shifted her head as if to catch a glimpse of Dr. Mercury’s sensor readout, then said: “I believe you two met already.”
That was when everything clicked, or would have clicked if Dr. Mercury’s scanner hadn’t started beeping. She grumbled: “Alright… according to the scanner you don’t exist. The scanner isn’t showing any life signs and I might as well have been scanning air.”
Shadow said: “Correct. In this plane I have no energy to speak of.”
Dr. Mercury said: “No, I believe you are only masking your presence. You aren’t an interdimensional being, either. You lack subspace resonance and that isn’t something one can mask.”
Shadow said: “I would suggest to be a bit more open-minded when it comes to new possibilities, you are a scientist, are you not?”
Dr. Mercury replied: “Enlighten me then.”
Shadow pushed herself away from the wall. “Simple, I am something you haven’t seen before and can’t explain with any of the theories you know. You’ll have to break new ground. Exciting, isn’t it?”
The Ender usually was not good at reading human speech but that tone certainly spelled danger.
Shadow suddenly looked up at the sky. “I think by now enough time should have passed. Goodbye, greet the Entity from me.”
The Ender sighed. She’d disappear again and there was nothing either of them were able to do against it. Perhaps some of the mages of the Tower might have been able but not them. Her assumption was right, Shadow was gone before the Ender was able to say anything. Only this time something was different.
In the first moments it didn’t properly register with her that there was now something in the place where Shadow had stood. Something like a crack or maybe a wound that opened into an emptiness. Then, the longer the Ender looked at it the more and less she was able to see. There definitely was something but the more she tried to focus on it the more it refused to be observed. It reminded her of home, when she used to stare off the islands’ edge into the Void. It brought solace, before getting ready to launch an assault on the humans. But even that seemed inadequate. This was somehow less than the Void she knew. Dr. Mercury seemed to have a different perception of whatever it was the strange woman had left behind, the scientist seemed to be in a daze, her hand raised to clutch her head but stopped halfway.
The Ender picked the scientist up and carried her a few steps back, facing her away from the thing. Dr. Mercury slowly regained her senses, she said: “We… might have a serious problem here. Take me back to the Tower, on foot if you can, I need some time to process this.”
With those words Dr. Mercury’s eyes closed, slipping away into a deep sleep. The Ender sighed, she definitely had imagined her return trip to the Tower to be a bit more dignified, carrying a human in her arms definitely was not one of her preferred activities.
As she walked back to the town square she took a minute to think. What was that? Having met the brother already? Then she finally realized it. The colors, the age, the origin in a far-off world, the knowledge of Ender, the secrecy… Fire.
“Gah, damn these intrusive thoughts, I need to focus on the task at hand. I’m on the job for the ancestors’ sake!”
She heard teleportation behind her. An underling with a curved sword stood amidst the swirling particles, panting from exertion.
“The escapees are here!” he rasped. “The wizard, the General, the demon-child. Possibly others.”
She teleported up and loomed over him: “Send for reinforcements. Humans, artillery. Whatever’s necessary.”
Chapter 53: Slipping (Warnado)
The end of the increasingly dusty gravel path and the start of the open farmland was only a few buildings away. The group didn’t have an alternative escape route. The farmland surrounded the village on all sides, and two endermen were already in pursuit. The pack wouldn’t stay this small for long though - they could already hear the sounds of teleportation near and far.
Astro was in the front line, sprinting with magically reinforced pace and endurance. An endermen appeared in the path ahead with a spear, then teleported away as one of Warnado’s ethereal arrows shot by. He appeared on a roof, again ahead of them and ready to hurl his spear, but Astro reached out and clenched his fist before him, shattering his throat. He didn’t stop running.
And the entire group adopted the same attitude, never slowing, only sparing a distracted slash or a stray shot designed to startle more than harm. But Warnado knew this wouldn’t last long. Soon, one of them would stumble and the whole group would have to either stand and fight or lose another member.
An enderman, skin burning with sunlight appeared in the air before Tyron, falling into his charge. Talons ready, it would pierce his skin and tackle him to the ground. Or so it thought. Tyron formed a blade of ice around his forearm and decapitated it, grunting indifferently. The corpse tumbled toward Warnado, who only just managed to leap over it. He knew it, the slip was coming. He nocked a luminous arrow, pulling it as taut as he could so the shot would fly as fast as possible and stand a hope of hitting one of them.
And that was when the first slip came.
A figure in a cloak was dropped in the middle of the group, flanked by two armoured endermen who disappeared immediately. It was scaled but scrawny. Clearly an enderman but it looked like it had skipped arm day… and leg day… all days. It was emaciated. Warnado raised his bow, but he wasn’t quick enough. The scrawny one shot beams of light from their palms, which surrounded Fristad and trapped him in a transparent crystalline ward. The arrow flew but it only grazed his arm. The ward was maintained.
Kay looked back and slowed up, but Tyron and Jen continued undaunted. Amanda shot a glance back and Warnado called to her to keep going. He shot Kay a similar warning look and turned back around to free the retired dreamweaver.
Steve, however, had been bringing up the rear and saved him the trouble. He charged at the emaciated creature of the end and swung, only drawing the faintest trickle of blood before it vanished. The crystalline ward around Fristad faded. Steve reached his hand toward Fristad and pulled him up, and the two of them resumed the retreat. Warnado blinked and then began to sprint too, looking around for Amanda in front of him. She was still going, firing bolts ahead at any scaled creature that appeared before them.
“Well that’s just racist,” he snarked internally, wondering if he hadn’t overestimated the severity of the slip-up.
They were just passing the last buildings of the village entering the vast open fields of wheat and parched weeds stretching out for several miles until hitting a sharply ascending line of trees. It was going to be open country until they hit the trees.
Then the first shell landed. A small hut, barely a bungalow, was ripped open in an explosion of purple flame and shattered wood. Tyron and Jen were sent flying forward, ahead of the group. Already a host of endermen was materialising around them, some carrying human mercenaries with them. Warnado and the others rushed forward, ready to relieve their friends.
Then, five heavily-armed endermen materialized directly in their path, cleaving their ranks in two. The sorcerer and spear-wielder which previously pursued the group were now reinforced by three relatively towering and massive endermen with heavy armor. And three others, sleek and lean and shiny cut off the option of retreating, talons sharp and fangs bared. One of them rolled their shoulders and cracked their neck with a sound that reverberated loudly through their robust frame and stared down at Warnado and the others with contempt.
Amanda squeezed the trigger and a bolt exploded out of her crossbow, just about to connect with the eye of the sorcerer before he vanished. Warnado and Astro followed suit with their own ranged attacks, but they were flickering among them within seconds. Steve successfully got the attention of two of the rear-guard members and Astro the sorcerer, but the other five endermen were at liberty to fight whomever they chose. The group didn’t make it easy for them, often forcing the endermen to warp away again before they could even raise their weapons for an attack, but crucially they were making no ground, and Jen and Tyron were still surrounded.
Warnado spared a glance. Jennifer was a sight to behold. She was always in motion. She rolled between talons and blades, firing her bow at intervals of mere seconds and finding gaps in their ranks that seemed impossible to Warnado. Even with their teleportation they struggled to keep up with her, and found themselves herded into a crowd she could fill with arrows. However, with reinforcements arriving every second, the herd was growing more than it shrank, and soon enough there would be no gaps for her to duck through but the legs of her enemies. Worse yet, every evaded attack led her further and further away from the group.
Tyron was faring better by design, with a small pack of unarmoured endermen harassing him but not committing to an attack. They would appear close to Tyron, feinting a savage attack like a talon to his eye, and then vanishing or dancing away as soon as he swung Kir at them. It was obvious they were trying to keep him away from Jennifer. Or teeing him up for someone stronger.
Then, one of the giants who had attacked Steve and Jennifer, clad in diamond and carrying a huge warhammer appeared a stone’s throw away from the green furry hero. A scrawny enderman was crouched on either side of him, pointing at Tyron and shouting orders. They then vanished and the giant began his charge. Tyron saw this, hacked the arm off one of his harassers and turned to face this new threat.
Warnado, understandably a little freaked out by this massive wall of steroids and death-making running in his general direction, fired two energy arrows at its torso that did nothing. Tyron, however, remained calm. Warnado couldn’t see his face, but he must have been absolutely, unblinkingly unimpressed. He certainly didn’t move any other muscles until the giant was airborne, the hammer raised above his head.
At that moment, Tyron stamped and a wall of earth rose to stop the blow. The haft of the weapon sank a foot into the wall and stopped. The giant began to wrench it free, but before he could succeed, Tyron punched the wall and sent it flying into his chest. His enemy, doubled over from the force of the blow and blinded with dust, backpedalled. Tyron flourished Kir, encased his other fist in an icy spike and moved in to capitalise.
Warnado’s undivided attention was drawn back to his own group by a new development. Two of the heavily armored endermen vanished. One appeared behind Amanda. The other appeared, looked confused, then found Kay’s sword slot into the gap between its chestplate and leggings.
“There’s a taste of your medicine,” Kay said with venom, laughing.
Warnado thought the one-liner was a little rote and didn’t really apply. He’d just moved fast enough to confuse it. It wasn’t like he’d actually teleported or anything. He concluded it was at best a C- one-liner but an otherwise positive development.
The struck enderman cried out in three different octaves, and turned around to face Kay. The other one, unbothered by its comrade’s injury, swung down at Amanda. She only just dodged it, falling to the ground. Warnado, heart stopping, rushed forward. He reached out to Light-knows-where and summoned a throwing star. He threw it with all his might at the enderman’s head, but it only clipped his temple. It looked grizzly at first, but then Warnado realised it ender-blood wasn’t red and he’d just done the jam thing again. He grimaced and shook his hand, readying a flame spell to intervene, fearing it would end up as a weak shower of sparks.
To Warnado’s relief, Amanda managed to take the opportunity to roll away and get back on her feet. She her crossbow steady at her assailant, whose focus was now split equally between Warnado and Amanda. Warnado threw a ball of energy at the enderman, who teleported a small distance away from Warnado to evade it. The enderman swung their sword toward Warnado, but then vanished halfway through their swing. Warnado tensed. He saw the enderman reappear behind Amanda, carrying the remainder of their swing into her side.
Warnado heard Amanda cry out in pain, and he felt fear and anger. He threw a ball of energy at the enderman, and the enderman’s position only changed minimally. He threw more energy at them and they teleported again, by the same amount. Another energy shot just barely missed. Then, Amanda’s crossbow arrow shot from another direction, and in the face of both projectiles the enderman teleported away.
Meanwhile, Kay was teleporting around in a struggle to get the upper hand with his equally mobile opponent. Warnado began to - Hold up. Teleporting. Warnado snapped his head back, heart thudding with something a little more than adrenaline. Kay, as the Dreamweaver had, warped from space to space. Warnado’s mind shot straight toward that book that had caused Fristad so much trouble, and the strange intelligence that lurked within. Kay wasn’t actually using it, was he?
Warnado shot his best “We are having a very serious talk after all this” look in Kay’s direction, then readied himself for a new round of fighting. Kay tried to look apologetic, but failed as he successfully caught the enderman’s neck with his sword.
Fristad of all people finally landed a heavy blow on the ender sorcerer, cutting his wrist and causing him to backpedal with a shriek of pain. Around the same moment, Tyron plunged his blue-veined sword into the giant’s heart. However, the giant had kept fighting to the bitter end and the endermen harassing Tyron had finally committed to their attacks. As such, his injuries were bloody and obvious. His green fur was missing patches and his side cut just between where his ice-forged chestplate met his leg armor. However, he was able to raise another wall of earth and send it crashing into Jennifer’s flock, scattering them and sending two sprawling. Kay had teleported over to help Steve fight off the rear-guard. However, even with these small victories, the fight was looking uncomfortably even.
Seizing the moment, Warnado shot a ball of energy at the wounded ender sorcerer, but it teleported away before the energy ball could reach it. Warnado turned around, and saw a nimble enderman with two swords approaching quickly. He anticipated the attack, but not the weapons. “Did one of the endermen switch out their weapons when I wasn’t looking?” Warnado thought to himself. He pushed aside that thought and tried to imagine a weapon to counter them, and an ethereal chain with a spiked ball at each end appeared in his hands. Warnado frowned. He hoped for a more defensive weapon, but this one would have to do. He wasn’t sure how long this fight would last, so he needed to conserve magic somehow, and conjuring another ethereal weapon mid-fight or throwing a bunch of magical energy at his aggressors wouldn’t exactly help with that.
Warnado twirled the chain to build some momentum. He looked around and noticed that the ratio of endermen to non-endermen was a lot higher than it was before. Steve was still fighting the rearguard. Astro, liberated from the issue of the sorcerer, heard the boom of cannons and raised a magical shield to protect them from incoming shells. They struck the barrier and spread out in blossoms of flame and shrapnel. Amanda, noticing the emergence of a group of human mercenaries at the end of an alleyway, took up position and began to fire. Fristad was limping after his encounter with the sorcerer and Kay had warped in to protect him from one of the remaining heavily-armoured endermen. He disappeared for a few seconds, then reappeared behind the enderman with the enchanted crossbow he’d bought a few days ago. He had it pointed right at the back of his skull and squeezed the trigger.
Up the road, Tyron and Jennifer now cooperated directly and proved a fearsome pair. Jennifer had taken up position on top of a pile of crates. Tyron remained on the ground. His sentient blue sword sharp as ever, he chased them away from Jennifer’s plinth and hounded the endermen into her line of fire. A sizeable scattering of ender-born corpses was piling up at their end, but they kept teleporting in to replenish their numbers.
The enderman with the twin swords was too far away to hit Warnado but wound up for an attack anyways. Warnado braced for the possibility of another teleport attack. The enderman swung but didn’t teleport, much to the surprise of everyone involved.
Warnado noticed that the ground was now covered by an intricate weave of white lines and runes. Before he had time to speculate its origin, a glowing orb came flying in from outside his field of vision. The orb smashed through the torso of the enderman that Warnado had been fighting, leaving a cannonball-sized hole in its wake, and the enderman collapsed dead. More identical orbs followed, striking first an enderman who was poised to ambush Jennifer, and then swarming toward the others, who seemed unable to teleport away from the threat. Tyron got in one last sword swing at one of his opponents before one of the orbs passed through the enderman from the side, making it the last to fall.
Warnado needed time to absorb what just happened. He turned in the direction the orbs came from, he saw a figure floating just a bit off the ground. It didn’t take much to realize that this figure was Shadow. Runes all over her body were glowing and she seemed to be in a state of intense focus.
She yelled: “Run for the trees! This was the last of them for now!”
Warnado snapped out of his daze and joined the others in a mad dash across the field. When their feet entered the shadows of the forest, they kept running.
Chapter 54: Taste of Power (Kay)
So, yes, the Book and I came to an agreement. The details were still a little loose, but the general gist of my business pitch was: “So, we both love this whole continued existing thing. We both view the accrual of power as beneficial to that. Suppose you were to give me access to some of that magical power of yours? You’ll find I’m much more receptive than-”
“It is done,” it agreed.
I didn’t blame it. I had held power before, I was more likely to be interested in attaining it than some farmer. It would hardly have to manipulate me, if it even could. Even once I got home and we entered the Vanilla Craft, the entire plan was to build a settlement, establish a town. Maybe even a small nation. Otherwise, we might append ourselves to someone already powerful. That was without even thinking about my connections to Herobrine. At the very least, I was a valuable stepping stone for the book. At the most, I was a potential partner.
And that’s how I started teleporting around. Initially, I felt it try and convince me that I was the one doing the warping, but I didn’t buy it. I had no latent magical abilities and I doubted it would give me any of its actual power. It was only the illusion of control - a will beneath a will.
“You are catching on faster than he did,” it snarked with authority.
“I’m a fast learner,” I responded. “Believe me, you’ll come to hate it.”
And so I just told it where to teleport me instead of believing I could. Sadly, due to the rather rushed and high-stress nature of the arrangement I hadn’t had an opportunity to establish all my defences, and the Book caught on to this pretty fast.
Throughout the fighting, I felt it circling my mind, looking for a point of entry through which to gain control, but I managed to retain enough focus to keep it at arm’s length each time. I could feel it gaining access to small things though. Here, a face without a name or person attached. There, an event out of context. It wasn’t gaining control, but it was gaining knowledge it could use against me. Shred by shred.
Then, I had the bright idea of going back for the crossbow and things became child’s play. The second that endling collapsed beside Fristad and the blood spattered my face, the Book was impressed. It saw potential in my free will. I felt it retreat.
And so I kept up the fight, Shadow turned up with her magical orbs and then we were all running across the fields. Astro was at my side. Tyron was at the head, with Amanda and Warnado close behind. Steve, Jennifer and a panting Fristad formed a loose group off to our left. Shadow was trailing, seeming distracted by something. The shells were still striking the ground around us but they were less precise. I assume we were starting to get outside their effective range. I could see a growing group of endlings gathering on the village’s edge, discussing their next move.
“So,” shouted Astro. “You’re using-”
“Yes I’m using the damned Book,” I snapped. “We’ll talk about this later.”
I struggled to hear him as the wind was blowing against us, but I was pretty sure he sighed.
“We will also need to discuss matters further...” the Book warned.
“Stop trying to be ominous! Of course we will!”
Then, there was a large sound of warping, followed by several consecutive blasting sounds. A shell was flying right at us. Astro stopped, raised a hand and clumsily redirected it. I wasn’t hurt, but the force of the explosion whipped my hair back, showered me with dust and knocked me off balance. Astro reached down to lift me and I saw Shadow waving to us, frantic. I grabbed his sleeve and willed the Book to bring us to her.
As we passed through the rift and arrived beside the tiny sorceress, another volley boomed. Again, one of the cannons was aiming right for us, and Astro only just raised a shield in time. The force of maintaining it physically pushed him back, his heels digging through the grass.
A ways off, just outside the village’s borders, was a line of about five or so cannons, crewed undoubtedly by the forces of the Tower.
I turned to Shadow.
“What do you need? Give me the word and I can get us all over to the forest… I think.”
My mental self gave the Book an inquiring look. It seemed caught between annoyance and smugness as it admitted: “Yes, that should be within our abilities.”
Endlings were already starting to harass the group. One materialised and tripped Steve, who was already off-balance after narrowly dodging an artillery blast. It turned to finish him off, but Fristad bear-hugged it from behind, pinning its arms. The anti-magic from his suppressing vest must have stopped it from teleporting because it started thrashing desperately. Just as it broke free, Jennifer’s arrow broke its skull.
Another shell struck Astro’s shield.
Shadow said: “I need you to keep me protected for a few minutes, if you can do that I’ll destroy the artillery. Normally I’d be faster but I still need to figure out some of the inner workings of this world so I don’t accidentally do something regrettable.”
I raised my crossbow and nodded at Astro. He dug in his heels and lowered the barrier, ready to respond to any assailants.
The first appeared. Another giant, like the one Tyron had struggled to kill so much just a few minutes ago, was placed before me by a stunted endling. It roared, but I felt no fear. I raised my fist, clenched it and the book engulfed the creature’s head in the grey and purple flames of the void. I smiled, and set about my defence.
I don’t know how it was for Astro, but as far as I was concerned the battle that ensued was as fierce as it was glorious. I had never wielded such power before, and never with such karmic retribution. I came and went upon the field of battle, allowing my enemies to swing at me, only to rematerialise behind them and plant a crossbow bolt in their back. At my instruction the Book would summon small portals that reopened halfway across the battlefield and I would fire through them, giving the endlings no time to teleport before they were injured. And if one of those damned armoured endlings appeared, with their obstinate refusal to be injured, I would borrow the brilliant fires of the void to melt away their armour, and then peel away their scales with lightning until they lay dead. Peculiarly, the Book advised me not to use voidfire to try and kill them - apparently it would do them no harm.
Soon, the ground about Shadow was sodden with the blood of Ishinge’s people, or whoever it was from whom they claimed descent in their worlds. Astro was helping too, naturally. He redirected shells left and right, and he could be counted on for his usual contribution of crushed ribs and snapped necks, but I was unstoppable. They couldn’t land a scratch on me! I could kill battalions with this sort of power! I could challenge Divines! No one would harm us again!
“How do you feel about a permanent arrangement?” I had to stop myself laughing as I scattered a column of human mercenaries with a fireball.
“How do you feel about becoming a king?”
I felt the embers of delectable ambition enkindle within me. I distrusted them, but they warmed my little heart as I fired a bolt through a rift and it landed in the knee of an endling sneaking up on Astro. Astro, hearing his would-be assassin’s screech, turned and decapitated it with ease. He took a moment to smile respectfully and nod at me before he turned his attention
“If it keeps them safe,” I fed it a stream of images of my friends. Aaron, Secret, Cossack, Small, Astro as I knew him, Brit, little Mini, even Bokane and Gracey… “I would conquer nations.”
And so it continued, until at last, with a great cry of effort, Shadow shouted her incantation and brought her hands down. The cannons all buckled under the weight of some invisible force, before burrowing into the earth, never to be repaired or repurposed.
I laughed openly. I saw a tall, proud-looking endling in heavy armour patrolling. He was greatly agitated with the loss of the cannons, barking orders at his human underlings. Out of meanness, I fired a crossbow bolt through a portal. It struck him on the back on the helmet and it looked around, presumably cursing whatever dared strike him. Then, as I was reloading, it materialised and threw a spear at me. I teleported behind him and struck him down with a burst of lightning. However, as I looked up from the smoking corpse, my jaw dropped. The diminutive figure of Shadow was on the ground, a spear through her abdomen.
With an almost eerie calm she pulled on the spear and rammed it into the ground next to her. “First I had to play the shy girl to distract the Ender, then I’m forced to use verbal components in my spell, now my robes get perforated. Not really my day.”
“S-sorry,” I yammered. For a few seconds I had been really wondering what I was going to tell Fire, particularly after that standoff earlier in the day. Then it hit me: “Did you say the Ender?”
My tone was grave and angry. An opportunity had presented itself. I would get Destiny her justice.
“Her emotional insecurity is none of our responsibility.” The Book protested.
I pushed aside sympathy and reached into grim pragmatism.
“She is an obstacle. She will stop our little partnership. Or burn you. Possibly both,” I warned. “If we bring her the Ender, who killed her beloved, she may yet come around to your continued presence.”
The Book projected approval. “I like the way you think.”
“What did I tell you about me learning quickly?”
Obscuring my thoughts from the Book, I mused about my people skills being so great they could bend the archest of manipulators.
I grabbed Astro and Shadow by the shoulder and teleported them over to the treeline. The others were faring well, with only a handful of endlings still in pursuit, mostly already wounded in some way and carrying on out of pride or defeatism. Warnado and Amanda were now at the head of the pack, Tyron having slowed down to finish off an endling he’d wounded. Steve, Jennifer and Fristad weren’t far behind. We truly had started to thin the ranks, it seemed. They were almost in the clear. I felt reassured. And without their artillery overhead they no longer seemed as bold.
“I have a task to attend to in the village,” I said to Shadow. “I take it you’re in fit enough condition to carry on?”
“I’ll be fine. I won’t waste my time trying to dissuade you but still, try not to get yourself killed.”
“Good,” I nodded. I suddenly felt quite nervous. Excited but nervous. Warnado seemed to be smiling as he approached the treeline, laughing and panting in relief. He was only a minute’s walk away, about to cross the last dividing fence.
To Astro I said, “If they come back, keep Warnado safe.”
And with that, I stepped into the rift, setting off to take my prize.
Chapter 55: Reckoning (Kay)
She was in a square, barking orders in the foul tongue of the End. Some woman with metal arms on her back stood beside her, pouring over a book of notes and looking quite distressed. She looked like a scientist. I was crouched atop a roof, assessing their strength.
There was a blacksmith’s shop in the corner, a table stacked with chains out front. Seeing a 50% discount sign in the midst of all this was troubling.
“I can make out eight endlings and the researcher. No sorcerer-looking types. All muscular and stabby-looking. Can you… I don’t know - sense any more in the area? In the buildings or something?”
“No. I cannot do that.”
“Then, we’re about to find out.”
I picked out a window that looked opportune and warped inside. There was no one inside. I peered out the window, crouched back down. I asked the book to open a rift around the point I needed and fired through. I peered back over the windowsill and saw an endling choking on its own blood, the bolt slotted right through the base of his neck. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down. Now I only had to do that… six more times before I could face the Ender one on one. Or more, depending on accuracy.
I heard them already maneuvering into defensive positions. All it would take was for the Ender to order them to search the buildings and things would get a lot more difficult.
“I wish we had’ve thought this out more. Is there a way I could maybe see where I’m shooting? This works when they already know where I am but not so much in a stealth context.”
“There is a method… however it may be painful.”
“Can I get an explanation please? That’s a little too vague.”
“It is possible for us to submerge ourselves in the void, longer than we have done while teleporting. We can position ourselves just at the threshold of where the void meets the location of our victim, your body submerged enough to not be easily seen, but your eyes close enough to the air to aim a clear shot. However, your body could burn from spending that much time in the void, even with my protection. Probably not enough to kill you. But even a slight burn from voidfire can be incredibly painful, and you have seen first-hand how destructive the void can be.”
I hardly even hesitated: “Let’s do it.”
And so I stood up, held my breath and plunged into the void. It was not like being in the void I had fallen into in Zine Craft. That had been an absence. This was an in-between space, packed with fire and pain. And the burning was worse even than the touch of an Endling. The grip of Hamish’s talons about my neck seemed trivial compared to the perpetual searing. But I endured, and quick as I could I dropped in and out of realities, firing crossbow bolts and somehow always finding my mark. Soon, there remained only the Ender and her scientist.
I emerged on the rooftop I had been on previously and spent some time inhaling unburnt air. Purple particles rose from my armour, but aside from that sickening resemblance to the creature of the End, we were unharmed. I took a moment to wonder if there was any connection between those particles and the endlings’ immunity to voidfire.
Then, I arose, set my crossbow aside and drew Apotyre. I looked down and willed the book to zap the scientist with a low dose of lightning. Enough to paralyse temporarily and disable her arms, like a golem struck by lightning. The Book wasn’t encouraged by my rhetoric about her not looking like much of a combatant, but didn’t defy me. The Ender nudged her companion with a heavy, armoured boot and looked up.
“Hello General,” she greeted without emotion.
“Hello Ender, Captain of the Guard,” I responded dryly and officiously.
There was a pause.
“I suppose this is where you would explain to me your purpose. That you’re going to kill me for some crime I’ve committed.”
“Normally it might well be,” I conceded with a shrug. “But that’s not what’s happening today.”
I stepped off the roof and into a rift, materialising just above her and swinging down. Apotyre caught her shoulder-guard and knocked her off-balance but left her otherwise unharmed. Intent on milking the element of surprise for all I could, I grabbed her arm, warped inside one of the apartments, and hurled her into a desk.
She went crashing through the old wood and onto the ground, but her agile form was rising again. I gestured forward and lightning burst from between my fingers, but the blast was deflected by her sword. That was when things started to turn against me.
She was upon me in seconds, and we began teleporting around the room, frantically swinging and parrying. I gave it my all but she was obviously more experienced, carrying the momentum of blows through teleports and batting me around the room. I was lucky for my obsidian breastplate otherwise I would have been split in half several times over. I knew I needed a change of tack.
She broke my guard and sent me wheeling back, but I regained my footing and charged at her. She tensed, ready and able to withstand the weight of my body, but then I teleported and slammed into her from the side. We went crashing out the window back into the square. After trading a blow or two in midair we separated and warped to the ground.
However, where the Ender landed in the middle of the square to try and dominate the space, I landed right beside the blacksmith’s and its table full of chains. There was one with a hook on its end, glowing with enchantments, that looked perfect for my needs.
She teleported in and slashed upwards at my face. However, I dodged and the second her arm lowered again I lashed out with the chain. The enchantment worked, wrapping around my opponent and binding her arms, leaving me with a sizable leash.
I easily batted the sword from her grip but it wasn’t the end of the fight. She ran in and kicked me square in the chest with her powerful legs, then moved to stomp on my face with the spiked metal cleats. I rolled and slammed my sword into her knee. She buckled. I rose and tried to hit her in the face with the pommel of my sword. She ducked under, rose and headbutted me before teleporting. I was brought with her and landed awkwardly, rolling awkwardly down the slope of a rooftop and dislodging tiles as I went.
As I slid over the edge I teleported us back to the ground. I slammed chest-first into the ground and felt the wind pressed out of me as gravity’s promise was satisfied. However, before I even had a moment’s recovery we teleported again.
This time we were in a room made almost purely of obsidian. Endstone-framed display bookcases were everywhere, and a staircase let up to a spire filled with windows looking out on many disparate scenes. I didn’t wait for her to shoulder-charge me to teleport us back.
As she collided with me in a horrible clang of metal we arrived just outside the inn’s stables. It wasn’t the ideal spot, but there was next to no one there now. Her men had emptied it out, and a shell had ruptured the upper floors. I skittered across the ground and she charged in, ready for another assault. I tensed my grip and a pulse of electricity shot along the chain. The Ender froze and began to twitch, then fell limply down before me. I scrambled over, not losing a grip on the chain for a second, and listened for breathing. She was still alive. We had successfully pacified the Ender.
I stood up and laughed incautiously.
“Well, partner, we did it,” I thought.
“I will admit, I had my doubts.”
“Oh, me too. She kicks like a horse on potions,” I grumbled to myself.
Only one thing was left to do, the same thing we did to all Endling prisoners in the Onslaught. A mutilation, to make them weak. To stop them teleporting. I raised my sword and swung it down.
It never connected. A bronze-coloured arm blocked it.
I looked up, and I locked gazes with the glowing red eyes of the warlord I had tried to appease just a few days prior. The same being that had stolen an Eye of Ender from the Silhouette and gotten me into this mess. The being which had captured Astro and Destiny and David and Tyron and so many others. Who had placed worlds beneath his boot: The Entity.
“What was that you said about becoming a king?” thought I. I squinted as the twilight of the early evening made my enemy hard to look at. “Tonight we take a crown.”
“This may not be the optimal time for that.”
I teleported behind the Entity and brought Apotyre down as hard as I could. The blow bounced off its shoulder, not even leaving a scratch and I retreated. It turned to face me. In its other hand was an immense obsidian zweihander, nearly as tall as me. It slowly began to advance and I began to slowly back away. The light glinting off it’s helm was sharp as a sword, obscuring my vision.
“You are a-nuisance, let go... of the chain,” it droned. “I have-other-ma...tters to attend to.”
I realised I was still holding the chain with which I had restrained one of his top captains, and then grew reassured. I smirked and rattled the chain in defiance .
With improbable speed the zweihander swept forth and cleaved the chain in two. I barely had time to notice before it was swinging again, the book only just teleporting me to a safe distance in time.
I willed the book to teleport me inside of its guard and attempted to plunge the point of my sword between the plates where its stomach met the chest, but to no avail. It glanced off again and it kneed me in the gut. I felt my breastplate physically rattle as I doubled over. That was diamond plated with obsidian. Nothing should rattle it!
I didn’t even have time to call upon the book to teleport me away and rolled out of the way of the zweihander.
“I need voidfire, now!” I raised a hand, and a purple fireball began to form. I stood up, back straight and shoulders back, ready to hurl the flame at its face and melt it away. It turned to face me and I jerked my arm forward.
A white-gloved hand caught my wrist and the ball of flame flew wide, incinerating the wall of a nearby house in seconds. Another manifestation of the Entity, clad in the same bronze armour, had intervened. I didn’t have time to register this though, as I was hurled into the path of the oncoming zweihander.
I slammed into the edge of the blade, and it cracked the obsidian. It cracked the mods-damned obsidian! A breastplate created by Herobrine with the sole purpose of being indestructible, and this thing had cracked it in the space of mere minutes... The blade ate right through until it lodged mere inches from my beating heart. I stared into those red eyes in terror, for those were the eyes of death. I turned my head away and I saw two other manifestations with identical swords approaching. The first manifestation shunted me onto the ground and no sooner had I landed on my buckling legs than another zweihander caught me and sent me flying off my feet at an impossible speed. Already, the three Entities were chasing me, ready to dismember me endlessly.
The pain and fear were blinding, and I had the impression something was screaming at me, but I couldn’t think. My mind was empty. I wanted to sleep. But then, just before I reached the ground and the Entity came to finish me off, I was enveloped by purple flames.
I skimmed the dirt and slammed into a tree. And that’s when I acquiesced to the darkness.
Chapter 56: Clearing Out (Fire)
When Fire opened his eyes he wasn’t lying on his back anymore, he was sitting. He sat on the familiar white park bench in the infinite black room. He was alone.
After sitting and waiting for a few minutes Fire was convinced that the Lady wouldn’t appear. This happened sometimes. The frequency of this circumstance had gone up steadily over the years, this was not because the Lady visited less often but because Fire’s dreams often wandered to their place of meeting. It was much better than some of the possible alternatives, that was certain.
Fire always took this time to think and reflect, having nothing else to do and nobody to talk to. Breaking out of the room frequently resulted in nightmares, something Fire understandably wanted to avoid.
The topic Fire decided to think about first was his plan for the shelter. The next morning he’d mount a first expedition into the cave system with the rest of the group. Lucy would have to stay outside, she wouldn’t be of much use, untrained as she was. Maybe once Rose taught her a few things she’d be able to come along.
They’d have to clear the caves out and light them up, ideally map them at the same time. If they ran into a spawner they’d have to destroy it if it was too close to the core region of the cave system. If it was a bit further out it could be exploited for various resources, most grinder designs should translate adequately.
Declaring the previous topic done, Fire thought back on a short conversation he had had with Shadow, she had told him that Lucy looked remarkably like a certain former classmate of his. Irene to be specific, the girl Fire, or rather Peter back then, had confessed his love to after their celebratory class trip. The girl that had died along with all of his other friends in the bus crash that had followed not more than a few minutes after. The girl that had for a long time stood in the center of Fire’s trauma. The trauma that had gradually become Claw. The trauma that sent him on his way to eventually meet the scientists that were able to help Shadow escape the prison of her own mind.
Fire sighed. No, it was only a very intriguing coincidence. He hadn’t even looked when he had sent the flaming ring into the crowd that had ended up above Lucy. It was as he had told Destiny, he had worked through his trauma, his success in life and Shadow’s cure had contributed a large amount to this, therapists and the scientists’ software had done the rest. Now the only thing that remained of that past was the monster he had made for himself, Claw. And a monster he was. Fire would have to find a way to rid himself of Claw someday. That day would be the day after he was done with this whole interdimensional mess, one way or another.
Fire wondered if the next morning had arrived yet, the passage of time in dreams was rather unpredictable. He decided to use the remaining time in the dream for more planning.
###
Fire was the first of the group to wake up. As he slowly got out of his bed, Voidblade woke up as well, Fire quietly greeted him. After a quick look outside the barricade Fire confirmed that it was indeed morning. It was time to wake the others up.
Fire walked over to Urist’s bed first. Just when he went to wake the dwarf, Urist suddenly sat straight up in his bed and started shouting at the top of his lungs and with a stronger accent than usual.
“PULL THA LEV’R!!! PULL THA GODS DAMNED LEV’R!!!”
After realizing where he was he looked down in embarrassment. “Sorry. Ghosts o’ me past.”
It sufficed to say that everyone was now properly awake.
After having breakfast in the form of magically preserved food that Fire had brought with him, the group was ready to mount their first foray.
Fire said: “Let’s talk strategy. The caves probably aren’t very wide so we can’t all go at the same time. I suggest that Voidblade and I form the vanguard with Urist, Destiny and Rose following behind. Most hallway battles probably won’t concern you but feel free to offer ranged support. In larger rooms or bigger sections of cave we can spread out.”
Destiny asked: “What about lighting up the caves?”
Fire nodded. “I was about to cover that. Urist, can you see in the dark?”
“Aye.” The dwarf said.
Fire continued: “Alright then, Rose and Destiny will be the ones carrying the torches since you need them to see anyways. I have a few magical flares for fighting in larger rooms.”
Rose said: “I can also conjure up more torches as we go, can’t be too different from knives.”
Lucy asked: “I’ll stay here, right?”
Fire replied: “Yes. I’ll leave most of my baggage outside so if you want you can start sorting through the contents so we can access the supplies more easily later.”
Lucy enthusiastically nodded.
Everything was decided. After a few more minutes of preparation they were ready to go. As Fire entered the cave, the colors in his vision got more muted but didn’t disappear entirely. His night vision was not entirely physical; there was a small part of magic in it too, enabling him to see without any ambient light.
The first few sections of the cave were lit up without incident. It seemed that no monsters were present. This was a good sign; a highly active area would be much harder to secure and colonize.
After a bit more walking the cave suddenly expanded to a huge cavern, so huge that they wouldn’t be able to cleanly sweep it if they stayed in formation. There were several groups of monsters in the cavern, mostly zombies and skeletons with a few spiders and creepers in between.
“Spread out. Take on whatever you can and call for help if you need it.”
Fire reached to his side where a bag was affixed to his armor. Inside was a magical flare, little more than a one-use light spell bound to a fragile crystal with a small detonator attached. He threw the flare up to the ceiling and a few seconds later the cavern was bathed in a bright, red light. It would stay up for long enough for them to clear the cavern out.
Fire was on the left side of the cavern and there was a group of zombies straight ahead of him. He charged them with his halberd at his side and opened with a wide arcing swing. The diamond blade cleanly separated multiple heads from their respective bodies, the black flames from the blade quickly consumed the newly re-dead corpses. With a quick series of slashes and thrusts Fire defeated the remaining zombies.
As Fire scanned the cavern for his next target, he also took a quick look at the others. Urist and Voidblade had teamed up on a group of skeletons. Urist’s plate armor made him impervious to the arrows and he was surprisingly quick on his feet for someone of his stature. First he crushed the skeletons’ legs, then once they had fallen, their heads. Voidblade used his teleportation to avoid the arrows. While his spear was mostly ineffective against the skeletons he had enough strength to rip them limb from limb and have Urist crush up the pieces.
Fire’s next opponents were two creepers. He decided to be a bit safer with them since he hadn’t encountered this world’s version yet. Instead of going for instantly lethal attacks he merely punctured their lower bodies from the biggest distance possible and let the black flames do the rest. The creepers did not explode when they died; this was good to keep in mind, for the next ones he could be more direct.
To his right Rose was fighting a mixed group of enemies. Fire hadn’t seen many fighting styles like Rose’s. She kept a good distance between her and her enemies and bombarded them with sharp knives that she seemed to manifest from thin air. If enemies got too close she’d manifest different blades and brutally eviscerate them. To call it a dance would be wrong, this style lacked the beauty of dancing but more than made up for it with ruthless brutality.
Destiny was hanging back and took out far away enemies with her bow, each and every arrow hit its mark. Fire hadn’t seen Destiny fight before but from what he had heard she was also capable of magic, specifically control over heat and cold. Currently she seemed to prefer using her bow though.
Less than a minute later they had completely cleared out the cavern. Afterwards they spent a bit more time lighting it up, once they were done they were faced with a different problem.
Rose asked: “There are multiple exits, where do we go first?”
Fire said: “We either take the leftmost or the rightmost entrance first and continue that pattern until we have the entire system lit up. If we find that a branch goes too far we barricade it off and return.”
They decided on going left first. At the entrance of the tunnel Fire scratched an arrow into the rock wall with his claws, facing towards the exit. When it came to unknown cave systems it was better to be safe than sorry.
###
Hours of exploring and fighting later they were starting to get tired. They had fully lit up all caves connected to the first cavern and found a second and third cavern, not far from the first one. This was very promising since those open areas would lend themselves very well to building larger structures. The second cavern specifically had two branches coming off that they had not fully explored due to their length, one going downwards and the other going upwards. The third cavern didn’t have any other exits aside from the one connecting it to the rest of the cave system.
“That was good,” said Destiny as they approached the barricade that would lead to the outside entrance.
Rose agreed: “Haven’t had a fight like that in years. Last time was when I had to clear out the headquarters of a… rival of my employer.”
Voidblade said: “I was afraid that I had neglected my spear for too long but it seems it’s still sharp as ever.”
Urist remarked: “That’s the thing with blades, gotta keep ‘em sharp. Ye don’t have that kinda problem with hammers.”
Fire opened the door in the barricade and went into their makeshift barracks first. He carefully leaned his halberd against the wall and took off his helmet, then proceeded towards the second door.
On the outside an unexpected sight came to his eyes. On the plateau where previously nothing but boulders had stood was now an arrangement of wooden dugouts. Each filled to the brim with materials. One housed wood logs, another various kinds of metal bars, a third had tool racks and armor stands.
From behind the log pile an exhausted but very content Lucy emerged, a smile spreading across her entire face. She yelled: “You aren’t the only one here who can build quickly!”
Lucy came to a halt in front of Fire, she said: “Look. I took the stuff from the bags and put it out here, that way everyone can access it.” After a short pause she asked: “How did the exploration go?”
Fire said: “It went excellently. The others are inside, probably putting away their gear. If all goes well we’ll have the large part of this cave system cleared, lit and mapped within a few days. Once that’s done we can get started on the interior, get some barracks and indoor farms going.” Fire smiled. “And since we just got another builder we are well ahead of schedule. We might be able to send word to the hill in the next few days.”
Lucy said: “That’s great. However, now I think it would be best if we made something to eat. I bet you are hungry too.”
The door behind Fire opened and Rose emerged. She said: “I only heard the tail-end of that but food definitely sounds good right about now.”
Lucy pointed to a fully enclosed building. “That’s where I put the food by the way.”
Fire nodded. “Perfect, in about half an hour I’ll have something for everyone.”
He walked over to the building, inside he found that Lucy had not only built storage racks for the food but also a functional cooking area. It truly was rare that things went this much better than planned.
Chapter 57: ’Humanity’ (Astro)
The prolonged fight took a toll on us all. Bloody gashes, bruises, and shattered armor were sustained nearly universally.
In the retreat across the fields, Tyron had spent more time in the center of the chaos than anyone, battering away attacks so they would not reach our most vulnerable. And of course there was that thing with the giant. As a result, he sustained an especially large number of bloody wounds which stained brown his normally emerald-tinted fur. In spite of this, he seemed to have a good amount of vigor left in him.
I myself was in pretty bad shape. One of the cuts on my lower left leg was bleeding especially badly, and aside from that I had some other nasty cuts, and some burns from fighting the ender mages. My experience in past battles, for better or worse, had allowed me to anticipate some heavy blows, but my vitality and reflexes were not what they used to be, and there were some attacks I could not evade. If it weren’t for Shadow’s magic storage rings, I would have been forced to use my magic more conservatively, and I would have turned out worse.
But even my hypothetically desperate scenario could not compare to the mess Kay had landed himself in.
Oh, Kay, you poor fool. In the face of great power having been granted to you, you once again succumb to hubris.
Kay was in a sorry state when we found his limp body at the base of a tree. His obsidian chestplate had cracked into several pieces, with only the upper half around his shoulders still attached. A massive wound dominated his chest, the blood coming out of it deep crimson. Shadow stood over Kay, several runes on her body lit up, her hands hovering above his bleeding chest.
Shadow said, “This won’t heal the wound completely but it will stop the bleeding. I need to save some energy to heal the others.”
After Shadow finished her work magically suturing Kay, Steve and Tyron lifted Kay’s body and we continued to escape deeper into the forest. During our journey, Shadow attended to wounds from the other combatants. I did the same, first to myself, letting just enough healing energy into my lower left leg to stop the bleeding and patch it up a bit, then proceeding to partially heal some of Warnado’s more nasty wounds. We kept moving as quickly as our tired bodies could, until the foreboding twilight came, and Steve and Jennifer set about creating their usual underground hovel. This time, they replaced the interior’s stone ground with a wooden floor, and installed redstone lamps into the walls. Steve even hung up a map of the part of the Nexus we were in. I could recognize the landmarks thanks to my time spent in involuntary flight with Shadow. Overall, the additions were thoughtful improvements over previous temporary living spaces, no doubt increasing morale for all.
By the time everyone was inside and the space sealed up, I was drained out and didn’t exactly feel like taking the night shift. But my head was filled with vexing questions. For Kay most of all. What in Jeb’s name was he thinking risking his life like that? What sort of power had Kay uncovered from Fristad’s former possessor, and what sort of safeguards would he utilize to keep those powers in check? And even if Kay could control the book, could he still control himself?
But, sadly, as Kay was knocked out cold and would likely need to rest for the next few days, those questions would have to be postponed.
There was also the other issue... the little mind worm that Shadow had implanted in my head by accident, when she exposed me to that totally incomprehensible nothingness. It luckily hadn’t manifested severely during the battle - a painful headache at most, although that could easily be explained away by the chaos in progress. But I was still getting the occasional headache-inducing visions and disturbing nightmares, and they did not seem to be decreasing in frequency. Then again, they did not seem to be increasing in frequency either. Although I didn’t consider myself to be a glass-half-full kind of thinker, and besides, if a change of perspective was enough to change my degree of worry, then I should be concerned that my underlying observation was itself flawed.
Notwithstanding the epistemological details, my symptoms were not trivial, and as Shadow was the closest thing to an expert on the subject, I felt the best course of action was to ask for her opinion on my condition.
I walked up to Shadow. From a front-facing view, an incredibly serious-looking hole in Shadow’s abdomen was apparent, although there was no bleeding as far as I could tell, and if there was then it was hard to see against her black clothes and flesh. In either case, due to Shadow’s unusual biology and magic, I suspected she had it under control.
“Shadow, I want to talk to you about the headaches and visions I’ve been having recently. They seem to have not gotten better since that time you opened the world hole.”
She replied: “That’s good, that you’re coming to talk I mean. I wanted to talk to you about it as well, but there never was a good opportunity. I might have mentioned it but the effects you are experiencing are your brain trying to process sensations and memories that it wasn’t ever meant to experience. Normal humans just aren’t built for perceiving more than three dimensions at a time.”
“Yes, I figured something similar. Is there a treatment for this condition?”
“To be perfectly honest, none that I know of. All other people who have been exposed to this are either dead or Fire and he’s… we’re not exactly normal humans as you might be able to tell. There is the possibility of a second exposure changing something but I’m not sure if I want to risk that.”
I frowned. “No, a second exposure certainly doesn’t seem like it would be worth the risk. But... perhaps there’s some way to at least characterize my mental aberrations. Figure out the severity in different aspects of my mind, and use that as a map to recapture the more invaded parts, if that makes any sense. Obviously this would be mainly done through my own personal introspection; I just need the right clues.”
Shadow thought for a few seconds. “Actually, there is one way of eliminating the issue, which would be to remove the memory of you seeing between worlds. It’s a rather drastic way since it would most likely take newly associated memories with it. So again, I’d avoid it. However something related to it could be useful, the more you ‘understand’ the aberrations you see, the lesser the symptoms become. So if it happens to draw from very familiar memories you could focus on that part and keep the known and understood parts in the forefront.”
I considered for a moment and then responded, “So, familiarity of the phenomenon mitigates its severity? That sounds promising; I think I can work with that. If it’s agreeable for you, perhaps we can meet on a regular basis and I can discuss what I’ve uncovered. Time-permitting, of course, given all the crazy events that we’ve been through recently.”
“We can do that. It’ll also give me some more insight into what exactly I’m doing to people. But… out of curiosity, could you describe what you experienced back then? If it doesn’t cause you discomfort that is.”
“Yes, of course…”
I think back upon the visions and dreams I experienced since the world hole. Unlike ordinary nightmares, these experiences did not have as strong emotions associated with them, so I didn’t expect to feel anything. Yet to my surprise, upon recalling the memories, I felt my mind start to sink under their weight, and the precursor to a headache began to develop. I decided to not mention this to Shadow.
“My first nightmare occurred around the same time Amanda had her second nightmare. I had retired from adventuring and was wandering in some forest in the Nexus with a map. Something to do with a distant relative and self-replicating golems going extinct. I don’t think those particular details were relevant. Anyways, I was wandering in a forest with a map when a stranger wearing a cloak started following me. They sent out this massive shockwave that drew my body toward them, then opened up this huge hole of nothingness that sucked my body and consciousness inside. Then I woke up to the sound of Amanda’s scream and had a terrible headache.
“Shortly after I woke up from that, I started getting the headaches and visions. I’d see an image of the world hole flash in my mind, or occasionally something indescribable, and then I would get a headache. The stronger the image, the stronger the headache, generally, although some headaches were not accompanied with visions.
“Then, last night, I had a second nightmare. I was back home in my old world. A few of my friends were there - some old ones, some new. Kay and Warnado were there. We were planning on buying something. The dream wasn’t very transparent about what that thing was. We couldn’t come to agreement on some important criterion. When I tried to question why it mattered, Warnado told me I wasn’t allowed to do that. Something about it being against the rules of reality. When I told him that didn’t make sense, we got into a heated argument. Then a hole of nothingness appeared beneath us and swallowed us all.
“After that nightmare happened, the visions and headaches continued this morning, although they spared me during our escape. Which brings us to now…”
At this point, the headache induced by my recollection became too painful to hide. I winced and grasped my forehead. The vision of the impossible nothingness raged in my consciousness, refusing to coexist with my existing emotional safeguards and logical coping mechanisms. The pain of the loss of my friends opened up like a half-healed wound which had broken and started bleeding again. And I found myself fantasizing without restraint all the ways the endermen we were just fighting could have killed me, had I made one misplaced strike… one under-apportioned defense spell…
“Astro.” Shadow’s voice abruptly re-anchored me in the here and now. “Are you okay?”
The headache was still painful, but my mind was starting to come back around. I told Shadow, “Better than a few seconds ago. Recalling my nightmares again took a greater toll on me than I realized. But I think it’s important to analyze them further, once I better understand my limits.”
Shadow nodded thoughtfully. “In the end you’re the one who decides the approach.”
“Any insights from what I’ve told you so far?”
“As for your condition, not much, only that for now it isn’t an immediate threat. What it did do was get me thinking. About what I am.”
“Oh?”
Shadow said: “I wasn’t always like this, you know? I used to be quite human, although I don’t remember much about that time. From what Fire told me, from birth on I had some kind of… aversion or fear of anyone but him, I was just reclusive at the start but at some point got worse, cripplingly so. He said that I’d run, try to hide when faced with anyone else. Over the years he had searched for someone who would be able to help me, many failed until he finally found the ones who succeeded. They had created a technology unlike anything our world had known, more akin to magic. Using that they created the world we came to Nexus from, in there I was free. Fire also developed a… procedure, or ritual perhaps, that also freed me in the other world. In the process it made me into what I am now.” Shadow paused. “I have a question for you Astro: In your opinion, what is ‘humanity’?”
I paused for a moment. Shadow apparently had a dark past of her own, with some strands of her issues likely unresolved, so I chose my words carefully. “I’ve come around to thinking one’s biology is not what gives someone humanity. Too many humans have committed terrible acts of suffering and violence. But at the same time… to not admit the existence of evil in others is to deny the full spectrum of human nature. In all of us is the capacity for acts both wonderful and terrible. As well as ingenuity and stupidity. I would hesitate to draw a line in the sand as there are always exceptions.”
“Fire said something similar, he said that humanity is simply potential. However there is still something I’m worried about. My mind definitely works differently from yours, or that of anyone else I know. I have this fear that someday I might just lose my connection to conventional thought and do something terrible, a difference in perception like when I took you flying except that the result would be more far-reaching and permanent. What’s worse is that this connection isn’t just a metaphorical concept but a very tangible thing. To make it short, I think that my brother’s survival is directly tied to my ability to think more humanlike. We always shared some kind of bond, it’s probably why I wasn’t afraid of him.”
“Loss of the ones you love and care for is a very powerful fear,” I reassured her, “and a very human one.”
“I am aware, and I am glad. What concerns me is not what is but what could be. I don’t know what losing Fire would do to me, not just emotionally but… I can’t rule out the possibility that him being alive is what stops me from being simply a sentient cosmic force, like the Entity.”
I paused. I had my share of conversations with Kay about his own worries, but Shadow’s concerns about her humanity were starting to seem like a very different type of pathology and I wouldn’t say I knew better if her concerns were real or just the product of anxiety, especially given we haven’t known each other very long.
Shadow sighed. “It probably makes no sense to obsess about it but I can’t shake it either. However, I’m glad I could talk about it with someone.”
“You’re probably right. Some issues are challenging to figure out but it helps to talk about them. Also, given I was just on the verge of a mental breakdown a moment ago, I want to make it clear that I’m not holding you to blame for it. Overall you’ve been an incredibly helpful part of our group. You really saved our skins back there with the orbs and the artillery and all.” I casually laughed, trying to dispel the tension as I reflected upon the chaos. In hindsight, there was a dark humor to Shadow’s dramatic entrance which concluded the fight; the balls of light which pierced the endermen were of the same type used during our dodgeball session, albeit with much more energy and at much higher speed.
Shadow began to smile. “I appreciate it. We’re all in this together and no matter how you look at it, the more smoothly we can work together the better for everyone.”
I smiled, too. Now that we were finally out of that village and no longer terrorized by those enderman shock troopers, things were starting to turn around for us, and we were all starting to recover. I just hoped Kay would pull through quickly too so I could talk to him about that damned book.
“I wonder how Fire is doing with his expedition.”
Chapter 58: The Only Path (Warnado)
Warnado sat up until Amanda had drifted off. And then he sat up until everyone else had fallen asleep. And then he just sat up on his bed. How could he? He didn’t get the weariness that had overcome the others. It didn’t seem possible. His heart was still pumping endlessly, and his eyes wouldn’t stop leaping out of his skull every time he thought he saw an unfamiliar shape or heard an unfamiliar sound. Usually it was just Tyron rolling over or groaning, but that didn’t reassure him.
There were a lot of things on his mind. Amanda was in the next bed over and he spared a long, yearning look. It petered out over time and he ended up looking at his robed knees.
The attack had been pretty horrific, and out in the fields he really didn’t know if he or Amanda were going to make it out. When that enderman had knocked her down he had wanted nothing more than to save her, and all he’d managed was that pathetic, jam-coated throwing star. It had worked, kind of. But only barely. He needed to get his magic under control.
He looked away from his knees and saw the demon gauntlet on the other hand, then looked away quickly. He had always pondered on the full extent of that thing’s power, but had limited his use of it. He had found it on the corpse of his father after he succumbed. Tempted by the power of the demons, he had become reliant on it, and eventually it had destroyed him, plunging his human and demon halves into war with themselves. Now, Warnado was only technically a quarter demon. Could he get away with it? Would indulging the demons be faster than mastering his magic? If Amanda would be safe, could he bear the cost even at the cost of his own life?
He was a child of the prophecy. Could he ever fully hold off from pursuing this power? He had to one day kill the Wither or the Queen Creeper or the Basilisk or whatever else was in the prophecy that he couldn’t fully remember at that moment in time. Could he morally justify limiting himself like this?
He warped in a taco and chewed nervously. He realised he really had to work on his tendency toward comfort-eating, otherwise he’d really start packing on the pounds pretty soon.
At that moment, his thoughts were ruptured by a coarse, wheezing cough from the other side of the room, followed by a groan. Warnado stood up and walked over to Kay’s bed. This was another thing that was worrying him.
On the one hand, he was terrified for Kay. Kay had teleported off to fight the Ender and gotten his ass summarily kicked. Apparently she’d somehow shattered his breastplate and most of the ribs underneath which was by no means a good thing. He’d also been asleep ever since. Honestly, Warnado had been starting to wonder if his friend would ever get up. At least him groaning was a more definite sign of survival than faint breathing accompanied by utter limpness.
On the other hand, he was terrified of Kay. He’d formed a pact with the Book, the being that had caused Amanda so much pain. That had turned Fristad into an enderman and then the Dreamweaver! And then Kay had started teleporting around, shooting lightning and incinerating things with a weird, grey fire that dimmed into purple in the open air. He had occasionally even barked an instruction to the Book aloud. He wasn’t just begrudgingly cooperating with this thing like Fristad, he was actively inviting it in and trying to harness its power! And what he had shown was that this creature had power to harness for those willing to do so. If Kay lost control, they were all in trouble.
He found himself standing over Kay, who was trying to stifle his groans. His green eyes were squinted, but the spark of consciousness was in them.
“Water…” He croaked.
Warnado summoned a plastic bottle into his hands and screwed the cap off. He lifted it uneasily to Kay’s lips. The wounded man moved to grab it, but then fell back in pain. With some coaxing, Warnado was able to dribble it into his mouth until Kay fell into another coughing fit and started choking.
When that had passed, Warnado knelt beside him and started trying to get his attention. It was clear that he was already exhausted by being awake, so he didn’t have long.
“Kay, what were you thinking?” Warnado hissed. “The Book is dangerous!”
“It…” Kay heaved and coughed. “Was useful. That was an excellent field test.”
“A test of what? How easily you can get your ass kicked by the Ender?”
He laughed terribly. Warnado could hear the squeak of his struggling lungs between each cackle. His eyes were clenched shut.
“I beat the Ender. One on one. She couldn’t do this if she… if she wanted.”
Warnado paused. He looked at the rise and fall of Kay’s chest. He felt the floor of his stomach practically fall out. He had been fine with assuming the Ender was responsible. That was a threat they understood. But this opened up a whole new level of danger that was even stronger.
“Th-then what did this?”
Kay’s eyes lumbered toward him. “The Entity did this. It did this with ease.”
Warnado thought back to that bronze-clad figure that apparently ruled the Tower. It had spoken so strangely and so sparingly he’d almost assumed it wasn’t real. That it was some sort of Ronald McDonald-esque mascot. But it was very real, and it had overpowered both Kay and the Book.
After conveying this last message Kay attempted to rise and then collapsed back, crying out in agony. It was like the memory of the thing that had beaten him had renewed the pain of the beating.
At that moment Shadow came in. The short, white-haired girl came over and willed a small light into being above Kay’s bed. He shrank from it, but she leaned in. Warnado could see the lines of pain on his face, and the cold sweat beading on his brow. He felt sick and looked away. Wodahs the living shadow was shifting around on the far wall, as though to get a better view.
A rune glowed on Shadow’s shoulder and her hand lit up green. She placed it on his forehead and he slowly began to slip back into slumber. Warnado tried to sense the aura of the spell. As far as he could tell it was a healing spell, but more focused on reducing pain than actually healing. As her palm dimmed, Shadow staggered a little and Warnado moved to catch her but she had already steadied herself.
“I’m fine,” She assured. “Healing magic is just taxing. That should soothe him.”
She began to walk away but Warnado stopped her.
“Listen, Shadow…” he whispered. “Can I talk to you about something?”
“Sure, but let’s move away from the others, don’t want to wake them up.”
Warnado nodded. They opened the doors and went up to the surface. It was still night-time and the moon loomed huge.
He turned to Shadow and decided just to cut to the chase.
“Shadow, do you think I’m strong enough for all this?”
Shadow didn’t answer immediately. “It’s a difficult thing to say. From what I understand your magic is strongly rooted in your subconscious, with strong emotions and dire situations drawing out stronger spells. Like when you trapped Fristad in a portal to another world when Amanda was threatened, I also heard you cast quite potent spells during your escape from the Tower.” She paused. “I imagine you want more conscious control over your magic. You have improved ever since we started practicing but it’s a slow process.”
Warnado shuffled from foot to foot.
“I know, I know. It’s just… did you hear what Kay just said in there?”
“Yes, both about the Ender and the Entity.”
“Okay,” Warnado nodded nervously, looking briefly at Shadow’s predictably unreadable face. “Then you know that even though he became powerful enough to beat the Ender, something I have failed to do twice now, and he was still beaten by the Entity in seconds. I’m supposed to help bring down Herobrine and that’s just assuming I get out of here. How can I justifiably commit to a slow process while beings like the Entity kill and maim and kidnap on the daily!”
“With what I know about you so far, that’s the path I’m aware of.”
“Suppose,” Warnado began slowly before picking up momentum. “There was a faster path. What would you say to that?”
Shadow’s gaze was now fixed on Warnado’s gauntleted hand. “That entirely depends on what risks that path entails and whether you think those risks are warranted by the situation at hand.”
Warnado jerked his arm up and placed the gauntlet in front of her face. In a tone split between confusion and pleading he asked: “You tell me, does this thing scream risk to you?”
Shadow calmly lifted her hand and pushed the gauntlet aside to be able to look at Warnado’s face, straight through his obfuscation spell. “For that you’ll have to explain to me how demons and related artefacts work in your world because it might be quite different from what I know.”
“I wish I could tell you!” Warnado snapped. “All I know is that I found my dad dead when I was 5 and this thing was the only thing he still had on him. He didn’t exactly leave a full rundown of our heritage!”
“Have you ever tried… tapping more deeply into its power, any experiences that could give clues?”
“No…” Warnado admitted. “I’m scared to.”
“Once we are at the shelter, you could give it a try if you want to. When I’m not starved for life force I’ll be able to safeguard you.”
“Thank you,” Warnado sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m just terrified… Listen, if I don’t make it through this, please make sure Amanda does. Take her back to your world if possible. Kay had promised to do that, so if he’s alive I guess let him do it but…” He looked at her pleadingly, incapable of finishing the thought, let alone the sentence.
“I can’t make promises that I don’t know I can keep but I will try my best, I can say that much.”
“Thank you,” muttered Warnado, almost comforted. “I suppose that’s all I can ask. Anyway, I’m going to get some sleep.”
Shadow nodded. “I’ll be keeping watch for a bit, good night Warnado.”
And with that, Warnado descended back down the rough-hewn stairs and returned to bed. And finally, after many more hours of lying there, he managed to sleep.
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
Chapter 59: Fear and Scars (Freak)
Well, well, well. This was an interesting turn of events. The Ender, the proud commander of the conquerors of world whatsit, brought low by the General and his new magical powers. I hadn’t expected that. She’ll be furious when she wakes up, doubtful too. Good thing our glorious leader had been there to prevent the General from doing something more to her. As much as I would have liked the drama that would have caused, we still have a job to do.
I was standing in the village square, invisible to all. Except to the Entity of course, quite difficult to hide from someone within their own domain. The three manifestations had dwindled back to one, however now I realized that this was no mere manifestation, this was the Entity in person. Interesting.
It looked straight at me. “Freak.”
That sure was my name.
I looked over to where some prisoners were bound to a wooden platform in the middle of the square, though I didn’t pay much mind to them yet, I’d be doing that later. Instead I looked at the other two figures, the Ender and the scientist, what was her name again? Both of them were out cold. I almost caught myself worrying about the scientist since she was an integral part of the aforementioned job, nobody else knew all the details about the machine and how it worked and if we were to lose her that’d be bad. The machine itself didn’t really interest me, its effect was a different story. That was also the reason why I hadn’t exactly followed a certain order because honestly, I had better things to do. Collecting crystals wasn’t among my favorite activities but it sure beat following that scaled and allegedly ancient creature from the negotiations.
I then looked back to the Entity. “Need something?”
“Int-errogate the captives. Then... follow.”
I was all over the first part. I immediately showed myself to the leftmost prisoner, then slowly walked up. The captive was a middle-aged overweight man, had the look of a tavern keeper. Didn’t have to guess what he got arrested for. I sighed. This was too easy, he was already quivering in his boots just from seeing me. Don’t get me wrong, fear is fear for nourishment purposes but can you blame a phantom for wanting a challenge every now and again?
“Leave me alone!” he screamed, which in turn unsettled the other captives.
I briefly looked into the eyes of the fat man, seeing his deepest fears. I was disappointed. Heights? Boring. Thunder? Boring. Spiders? Again? What was it with humans and their damn fear of spiders?
I decided not to bother with him, even if I did interrogate him, what would he say? That he did his job and accidentally housed escapees? Anyways, moving on. I revealed myself to the next captive, an older man whose face seemed vaguely familiar. This one was more promising.
As soon as I looked into his eyes I knew why he looked familiar, this was a lucky coincidence. He was one of my favorites back in the Tower’s prison. Hard shell, hard interior, tiny but very soft core. Classic raised-by-wolves type of guy, no family, no friends. Only thing he ever did was fight, which is also what had brought him into our captivity, if only he’d given up those crystals willingly... This was the challenge I was looking for.
“Hello again.” I casually said.
He frowned. “You.”
“Yes me, see I’m in a bit of a hurry. Mind telling me where exactly the other escapees are? Or where they went?”
I didn’t give him time to respond, instead conjuring up an image in his mind. It was a very particular image, one that I had held back for an occasion like this. It was an image of a pond in a foggy but quiet forest clearing, the man’s inner self placed on the edge of it. This seemed to confuse him, he clearly had been expecting something much worse… but I was not done yet.
He cautiously approached the pond. His mirror image was clearly visible on the surface. A few moments later the water became murky and an arm reached out. It was the man’s own arm, only that it belonged to another version of himself. The mirror image slowly rose out of the pond, the man wasted no time attacking this mockery of him. His first punch hit the copy in the stomach but instead of soft flesh the man felt rough tree bark against his knuckles. He looked up.
The copy had changed, its skin covered by bark and mushrooms, its fingers resembling pointy thorns.
A fully-blown fight broke out between the man and the other version of him. The man fought with discipline and technique, the plant abomination with feral rage. The fight was about evenly matched, until the man landed a punch to the plant’s head. This was when my trap was sprung.
The instant the punch connected the man’s perspective switched, he was no longer in his own body, he was now in the plant. He felt the rage and the pain and immediately went on the counter-offensive. With him in control of the plant the fight was finished quickly, his human self torn apart within a few minutes. Of course, this was exactly where I wanted him, now that the fight was over he fully realized what had happened and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. All that solitary training and self-control he was so proud of, effectively broken down by a simple switch of perspective.
However before he had any opportunity to think, the dead body of his human self twitched, disembodied parts being pulling themselves back together. Metallic crystals grew out of the wounds, tearing off more and more flesh as they increased in size. The resulting creature got up and charged at the plant. As they made contact the man’s perspective switched again, this time to the revived crystal-studded body. Another fight broke out, again with the creature the man controlled clearly having the upper hand, the metal easily piercing the bark.
Just when the man thought he had defeated the plant, it changed again. Growing dramatically in size and gaining armor plating that looked like an insect’s shell. The plant’s head morphed to form powerful mandibles, its hands became spear-like and a pair of wings sprouted on its back. Once again, the man’s perspective switched. By now he must have recognized the pattern. Again he attacked his former body, crushing it using sheer force and evading its attacks with the superior mobility the wings provided.
Once again the defeated body changed, the crystals grew again, completely consuming the skeleton underneath. The metal sharpened into countless blades that themselves seemed to be made up of ever-smaller blades. When the man’s perspective switched this time he didn’t attack at first, as if conflicted. Then, instead of going after the insect, he turned his bladed hands against himself, each stab and slash shattering the blades into smaller pieces with no end in sight as the man’s movements became more and more desperate.
This was a special kind of fear that he felt, not of something else but of himself and what he had become, it was not a fear one could run away from. Even if the illusion was only just that, it had shown him a side of himself he had desperately tried to suppress his entire life. Now that I thought of it, that fear seemed to be more common the more capable an individual was.
The illusion faded and the man was reduced to a quivering wreck.
I asked: “So, where are they?”
###
It hadn’t been much but they had at least known some things. I relayed these to one of the squadron leaders who seemed to be the Ender’s second-in-command. Maybe it wasn’t but it would loop it’s way around the command structure eventually. A few minutes later the town square had increased in population again.
I didn’t have time for more interrogations, even if they would have been quite fun. The Entity wanted me to follow it and that’s what I did. It slowly walked through the streets, never looking anywhere but forward.
I decided that walking in silence was boring, so I asked it a question. “So, why’d you come in person?”
It didn’t respond for a few seconds, then it said. “Urgent-matter. Anomaly.”
Yeah, we’ve had quite a few of those recently. A bit too many to not be suspicious so I guess it makes sense to investigate personally. But why does it want me along?
I decided not to question the Entity further, even for someone like me that could lead to bad things. It couldn’t possess me, true, but it could do other things.
We turned a few more corners, then we reached our destination. Our destination was… nothing. Less maybe, this wasn’t regular nothing because regular nothing at least had air in it. This was nothing you could see, at least somewhat. As a phantom I had senses superior to humans when it came to weird sights but this was weirder than I was used to. It was like someone had pried open a gap in my field of vision and then left.
“This it?” I asked.
The Entity simply replied: “Yes.”
“Aaand what is it?”
What the Entity said now was something I didn’t expect: “Dimen-sional scar, painful.”
The Entity could feel pain? That was surprising but also highly intriguing. Perhaps even useful. The supposed pain certainly explained why it was so uncommunicative.
It walked up to the scar and put its hands to either side, then made a motion as if it was pushing something closed. It remained in this posture for a few minutes, as it did the scar got progressively smaller until it disappeared completely.
The Entity spoke again. “What... ever did this is-dangerous but not a-threat, not now. Too late now.”
As it turned to leave I caught a brief glimpse through the visor of its bronze helmet. I flinched. I sensed something I had never sensed before. A fear so deep and overwhelming that I first couldn’t process what it was. Along with the fear came an image, it was a room plated with obsidian and bronze, in it was a throne, clearly the Entity’s chambers. However on top of the throne was something I hadn’t ever noticed when I was there, a tiny distortion that resembled the scar the Entity had just closed.
It took a few moments before the realization hit me. I had been under the impression that the Entity simply did not feel fear, which was why I decided to join it. I had to get on the good side of something that I had absolutely no angle on. So far that had definitely been true, the Entity had never before felt fear, ever. Until now. This was extraordinarily interesting.
Chapter 60: The Price of Peace (Destiny)
The shelter was progressing well. It was no longer just an altered cave. Destiny hadn’t taken much interest in the facilities though, aside from her bedroom. There was a farm somewhere in there, though she hunted her own food so she never used it. Fire and Urist had built a spider grinder, but she hadn’t visited it since they tamed the spawner. And so on.
It wasn’t that these facilities weren’t useful or well-made, she just couldn’t bring herself to remain inside long. Unlike in the village, the base wasn’t yet expansive enough to avoid people in.
She was doing better, for sure. She wasn’t just sitting around in her room waiting for her own death or his resurrection anymore. But people were too much. David would have been too much. And she didn’t know these people, nice as they tried to be. The most contact she had was when she gave Lucy the odd lesson. Rose was doing good work, but sometimes she forgot that Lucy was:
1. A housemaid, not a hardened killer bereft of squeamishness.
2. Incapable of magically summoning copies of the blades she uses, much less of throwing them with pinpoint accuracy.
The latter issue was mostly the reason Destiny had been asked to help out. She trained Lucy how to throw small projectiles and use a bow. It helped that Lucy was as friendly as she was. In fact, these lessons almost didn’t suck.
As for the others, she kept away from Fire and Urist as much as possible. Fire would try to get her to be around the others, and she just wasn’t ready for that. He was well-meaning, but too piercingly attentive. She felt like a project, sometimes, in the same way as the shelter. Sometimes, it was as though he were trying to solve her, like a riddle or a dilemma. She’d take orders when he gave them, but she felt a distance was necessary.
Urist was just too much, generally. Too chatty. Too loud. Too energised. Too much of a dwarf.
The only one who didn’t pose the same problem was Voidblade, the enderman. He kept away from everyone except Fire. She wondered if it was a race thing. If he just didn’t like humans. Maybe he was just not used to hanging around them. It was hard to tell. She always had trouble reading the faces of endermen, except the ones who had captured her and killed David. Their emotions were plain as day.
She spent all her time hunting and wandering the landscape. It gave her space to think and made her feel productive. Efficient. Lonely, but efficient.
She’d taken to trying to reconstruct her life with David up until Nexus. From the cave, through Sandshard and all that had followed. She had just reached the moment she ended up in the Eternal Mine, captured by The Sovereign. She didn’t let a detail pass by. The feel of the stick she had used to fend off the zombies before David had come to help. The shock of the water after she jumped into the lake. The queer warmth that had filled her when she summoned her first blast of ice and rescued David from Martin at Sandshard.
But then, something interrupted her thoughts. Passing over a rocky hill something caught her eye: a body and a banner that stopped her heart. An enderman lay on the ground, a spear-like flagpole crushed into its skull. Atop the flagpole was the sigil of Herobrine, of the Sovereign. Even so many years after Carter beat him, his troops insisted they fought for him. Destiny wondered if many had survived the collapse of the Eternal Mine as she formed razor-sharp icicles between her fingers.
She reached the body, and her heart rate returned to normal. It was years old at that point. The blood was dried to dust, and the scales were shedding. The banner was barely still attached. The Sovereign hadn’t been here in a long time. She remembered how, shortly after her capture, the Entity had brought her and the other prisoners to negotiate. How Marinus Bul, its attorney, had spoken to her:
“Honestly, we owe you a favour,” Bul had oozed. “We tried dealing with the Sovereign some time ago and that kid leading them - Martin? - attempted to storm Nexus. We drove him back of course, but it was an unpleasant experience.”
She was almost disappointed. Retribution was a great healer, and if she couldn’t get it from the Tower, her old enemies would have proven sufficient.
Nonetheless, there was a story here, and she scanned the landscape for it. She saw a small pass between the hills, and the corpse of a man outside it. Even at that distance she could recognise the dark cloak of Martin’s disciples. She approached, and found a small valley that had once housed a Sovereign camp.
It gave her great satisfaction to see it in ashes. The site had been burned, but not totally. You could still identify shreds of banners, the distinctive armour sets and in places even stores of propaganda seemed to have remained intact. Destiny set them alight quickly.
If Destiny hadn’t known the Sovereign as well as she had, she would have thought this fight was one-sided. Their corpses were everywhere, but aside from the enderman corpse on the hill, she couldn’t find a single corpse that obviously belonged to the Entity’s forces. She reckoned that they’d probably just recovered their own casualties and left the Sovereign’s behind as a message. If it had been intended for Martin, it wouldn’t have made a difference. He would have come back, no matter what. He and David had always been alike in that way.
But then she saw the reason he hadn’t. At the end of the little valley, she saw the cracked portal of obsidian. She tried to remember what it would have looked like. She remembered the portal being red and gel-like, but it didn’t feel real. She hadn’t been paying enough attention to really recall what it had been like. Her entire reminiscence was that way. It was all constructed. A retroactive reality. It brought her no closer to him...
She switched lanes and for a moment wondered what would have happened if Martin had somehow been able to come back. Maybe he and the Entity would have cancelled each other out and she and David would never have needed to fight as long as they did.
Maybe, just maybe, there was a version of things where the Tower fell with Martin inside and she and David had just lived their days out in Sandshard with Janax, no wiser as to what they were, but no less happy for it.
Then again, this was a vain thought, an empty speculation. David had beaten Martin. While she was captured, he had near enough beaten the entire Sovereign. And yet, one of the Entity’s lowly captains had killed him. It was unfair.
She realised she had been clenching her fist when the icicles cracked. The warmth of blood and the chill of ice mingled. She let them drop, wiped her hand off in the grass and then summoned more.
The portal didn’t seem to grow larger as she approached it. It just seemed to look more frail and more likely to collapse. After a walk that felt far more arduous than it probably was, she stood before the portal’s frame, and there was nothing to it bar crumbling obsidian. She didn’t know what she had expected to find, but it disappointed her. She sat down in the empty maw and looked out on the open grave of her enemy. It occurred to her that she should say some words.
“Well,” Destiny began. “It’s been real. All those times you almost killed me are pretty much the only memories I have. I’m glad you’re all dead.”
The wind whipped a banner indignantly. She felt the urge to justify it.
“What can I say? My memories of you aren’t good. I wasn’t even happy whenever I beat you. I was pretty happy when Martin died, to be fair, but that was about it and it wasn’t about you, the rank-and-file. Most of you were just crazies I didn’t think about. Without Martin or Herobrine or whoever whipping you up into a frenzy you probably wouldn’t have killed anyone. You may have just been normal, garden-variety douche bags. The crowning point of your awfulness might have been spreading a nasty rumour, or trying to get someone fired for no reason or yelling at an old lady. For that, I’m sorry I killed so many of you. I’m sorry the Entity and his guys killed you all. I’m still glad you’re dead, though.”
She didn’t like how this part came out, so she shouted it again:
“I’m still glad you are all dead, because that means someone else probably lived! Because it meant I lived! I won, assholes!”
The banner whipped, but it seemed sheepish this time. Satisfied, Destiny resumed a more measured tone.
“The happy memories I had weren’t to do with you. They were all about David. Our friends too, but he was always there, so he was always a part of the happiness. I don’t know if you appreciate this, but I am no one without you guys. If you all hadn’t flocked to Martin, we might never have been reincarnated to fight you. Thanks for that, I guess. Doesn’t change the fact that because of you I’ve only ever known violence and despair. All apart from one guy, who was great.”
She felt a tear run down her cheek. Now seemed a good enough time to launch into her reconstructed history. An obituary of sorts. A sermon, perhaps. All she knew was that she might never get back up from it. Destiny felt one of the icicles in her hand lengthen, sharpen, and began her speech.
“I don’t know who woke up first, but we must have been pretty close. I only woke up around an hour before I went into that cave and-”
“You ran into the zombies.”
The voice was sad and sweet and familiar. Destiny turned around and saw her past self.
Appearance-wise Anya was absolutely unchanged from the last time she’d seen her. Same grey hoodie/blue jeans combo. Same ponytail. Same backpack. Destiny supposed this was to be expected. The spirit world’s extensive wardrobe wasn’t exactly attested to. Then again, she hadn’t changed her clothes in the same period. Had barely even washed.
In fact, Anya looked like a slightly older, cleaner version of herself, who was unaffected by the whipping of the wind.
“How are we doing, Destiny?” She drawled, trying to force a smile. It was pretty obvious she knew the answer.
“Pretty awful,” Destiny nodded. “You?”
Anya sat down beside her weightlessly. Both their heads were bowed. Legs spread-eagled.
“About the same.”
“Then, I suppose Carter’s-”
“Shuffled off this mortal coil?” Anya mused. “Mosied on into the sunset of existence? Gone to hang out with the proper dead people? Yeah.”
Destiny allowed herself a long, bitter but cathartic cackle: “I would have just said passed on, but go mad.”
They shared a few moments of silence.
“Do you know what happens? I know you’re supposed to be a past version of me. If I died, would we just become one or something?” She asked because the thought of it terrified her. She and David might never know each other as they once had, if they ever met each other again.
“You mean, when I realised I was a ghost, did I keep pondering my shelf-life? No, of course not, I naturally assumed that for all the heroic dying we would just get a free pass to persist indefinitely as we were.”
Destiny leaned back and looked Anya up and down. She had a hard look about her eyes that kind of terrified Destiny. She wondered if she had that look about her. Was it inherited?
“Maybe he is just waiting there on the other side.”
Anya sighed, “Probably.”
“And David’s there with him.”
“That’s assuming you guys aren’t to do a term like us,” Anya spat cruelly, suddenly glaring at Destiny.
The thought chilled Destiny to her core. Having to guide another through the same pitfalls they fell into. Rendered bystanders in the story they failed to tell… And that was assuming Destiny died in a timely enough manner to rejoin David. A million things could happen to separate them. As she had said before, they were out of sync.
“Yeah, that seems fair!” Anya was screaming at the ruined camp, twisting the knife. “We had to stick around, denied paradise because we didn’t stay alive long enough to ice Martin, a teenager! So it’s only right you guys have to stick around for not killing the thing that did this to the Sovereign! And then you’ll just vanish into the next person, like I will when you die! The price of failure!”
That’s when Destiny broke down, crying tears of fear. Anya stopped, and remorse sank her features. Her arms were around Destiny within, motherly and tender. Warm in spirit if not in a physical sense. Destiny didn’t resist. She moved her head so it might have leaned on Anya’s shoulder. The forgiveness was immediate and unconditional, for they were of one soul.
“I’m sorry,” Anya said. “That wasn’t right. I don’t know what happens next. I don’t know if I’ll see him again, and that scares me. I tried to make you feel that, without appreciating that, y’know, you’re me, and Carter’s David. You’re already feeling that.”
Destiny moved her arms to hug the ghost back, then withdrew to wipe her eyes.
“We’re in this together,” Anya concluded, moving to look Destiny in her newly-cleared eyes. “And I am always here if you need to talk. There seems to be a connection here, for some reason. Maybe it’s that dumb rock door. Maybe this is a chunk of our world. I don’t know how, I don’t care why it’s here, but I can tell you we will use it. We will get through this. You get me?”
Destiny smiled back, “I get you.”
Anya straightened up and gestured for Destiny to get up. “Then, on your feet, finish that eulogy you were about to do, and get back amongst the living for a bit.”
Destiny, a terrible, marvelous hope burning in her, arose. She walked forward, back straight and shoulders back. She breathed in, ready to force the pain from her in view of a friend.
Then, Anya interrupted: “Or not, I think you have company.”
Like in times of old, Anya was gesturing to the newfound threat. Destiny summoned fire in one hand and an icy javelin in the other. From the heart of the sky a large, formless mass could be seen barrelling down toward her. Destiny crouched into a stance from which she could hurl her projectiles. She glared at the flying beast. Her heart was racing.
“Stay calm,” Anya warned. “You know how to handle this. Aim for anything that looks like a wing first. Don’t let it land properly.”
She could start to make out details. Scales of stone arranged like wings framed a slim body of… green fur? Then she heard the faintest outline of a call made against the wind: “Help!”
“Don’t worry. It’s not an enemy,” Destiny concluded, casting aside her conjured weapons. She leant back against the portal and gestured to the mass to land.
As Tyron neared the ground, the stone wings that had carried him fell away shattered across the ground. He stumbled as he tried to land and ended up buckling and rolling down into the valley of the camp. When Destiny neared him, it became clear that he was breathing heavily and utterly spent. His fur was still patchy from obviously recent wounds. Someone had healed him, but only part-way. He needed medical attention. She could only imagine what had happened to the others.
“Tyron,” she shook him and he groaned. “Tyron! Where are the others?!”
He groaned and tried to rise but fell.
Anya came to the lip of the hill and called out, a look of utmost shock on her face.
“Is this one of your new friends?”
“Yes,” Destiny muttered. “It’s complicated.”
“You do realise he just flew in on wings of stone.”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen that before either but you don’t see me complaining do you? Nexus is weird. You’ll get used to it.”
Tyron’s stupor didn’t seem to be abating so she reached out with her mind.
“Kir? You there little guy?”
A tiny voice stirred, weak and weary. Tyron’s sword was still awake, glowing from its sheath. This stone wings thing had evidently drained them both terribly.
“Destiny? Friend!” It was awake now, but still weak. “Others injured. Need help. Were scouting but…” A location appeared in mind, accompanied by an immense sense of urgency.
Destiny fumbled around in her belongings and drew an arrow with a firework attached that Fire had prepared for such a situation. She fired it into the air in the direction of the shelter. A trail of red sparks cascaded across the countryside. A minute passed and a trail of green sparks cascaded in retort. They were coming.
And so Destiny propped Tyron up and looked back at Anya. She tried to beckon to her to come, but Anya shook her head. She either wouldn’t, or more likely couldn’t, stray too far from the portal. Destiny took off at full pelt. Catharsis would have to wait.
Some time later, Destiny emerged into the clearing. She saw the red-headed miner-woman, Jennifer, sat there in her armour, a bow in her lap. She looked terrible, covered in half-healed wounds and eyes red and skin pale from exhaustion. Somehow her armour, skin and hair remained impervious to dirt.
Fristad was beside her, axe at the ready. He looked wary and apologetic and relieved all at the same time as Destiny approached. He looked to be in much better form, only seeming to have suffered some cuts and bruises that were healing naturally. Maybe a scar or two to gawk at. Nothing serious.
He also seemed cheery despite it all. Destiny reckoned it was probably down to getting rid of that book. Probably nice not to have something like that messing with your head... She then decided she probably owed Fristad an apology once things calmed down. Or not. It was a weird situation.
“Well, Destiny. Welcome back,” Jennifer said as she rose, smiling. “I was just getting some fresh air.”
She produced a shovel and shakily opened the door to their little hovel. “We would have hooked up a door but…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, but her appearance provided the only necessary answer. Destiny nodded and ran down after her. She noticed as she passed Jennifer an awful wound on her side, just about healed up. It wasn’t exhaustion, this was blood-loss.
And so they entered, Jennifer laughing ahead of her: “Hey guys, look who’s back!”
The hovel was a sorry sight. It was obviously a rush-job. The floor was a mix of dirt and stone. The only signs of organisation were the beds and the map on the wall, which had a circle on it signalling the location of the shelter.
Steve was hunched over by a fire in the centre of the room roasting a pig on a spit. He obviously wasn’t much used to it, and Astro was giving him constant tips. Steve seemed rather annoyed, and the advice sounded like it mostly consisted of adding salt strategically. Both looked exhausted, even a little diminished by hunger but weren’t as obviously injured as Jennifer, so there was that. They both looked at her with relief.
“Destiny!” Astro called, as he ran to hug her. She grinned tolerantly and patted him on the back. “We were wondering if we’d not taken a wrong turn. Is Tyron okay?”
“Should be. Fire and the others should have reached him by now. I sent up a flare and got confirmation. He’ll be fine.”
He seemed calmed and Destiny took a moment to survey the room. Warnado and Amanda were asleep on neighbouring beds, their hands touching tentatively on the ground. Both of them were awash with bruises and just as pale as the others. Destiny ruminated on their youth and then put it from her mind. They would be safe in the shelter. She would assure it. She drew up Amanda’s blanket and turned to face the person sat on the next bed over.
This was Shadow, who was attempting to look as serene as usual but seemed obviously perturbed. She looked smaller than ever, and there was an empty puncture wound in her abdomen. There was no blood as far as Destiny could tell, and she was obviously still alive, but it couldn’t be a good thing. She rose and brushed her white hair from her eyes.
“Hello Destiny,” Shadow greeted. She had something of Fire’s distance, but it was different. It wasn’t a lack of feeling, but an outright difference of it. As though her idea of happiness or sorrow didn’t quite line up with everyone else’s definition. Destiny couldn’t quite describe it, but she seemed out-of-step with the rest of humanity.
“So, what happened?” Destiny asked flatly, regulating her emotions as best she could.
“The village was attacked by the Entity’s forces,” Shadow concluded. “The Ender pursued us, and though we were able to kill those she sent after us, the fighting was fierce. Astro and I have done our best to heal them, but healing magics are demanding no matter what world you’re from, it seems. We reached this point and could go no further, so we sent out Tyron. I am glad he found you, we were beginning to worry.”
Destiny leaned and took Shadow’s shoulder. The mage felt terribly fragile so she loosened her grip.
“Who would you say needs the most attention?” Destiny asked. “Fristad and I could probably carry them back to the shelter and then return with the medical supplies you need.”
Shadow nodded and gestured to the corner of the room, where Destiny saw the most injured: Kay. His torso was bare, though he wore armour from the legs down. His ribs looking nearly misshapen in places and dominated by large, half-healed welts. There were burns about his neck, but those looked like old wounds. These great gashes across his chest were fresh, and magic had tried and failed to dispel them. There was bruising across one forearm indicated the markings of several thick, heavy fingers. He was completely unconscious.
“Did he go shirtless or something?” Destiny scoffed in disbelief. “His breastplate was obsidian. I don’t know about your world, but in mine that stuff doesn’t break!”
Astro looked at her sadly and drew out several shards he had been storing in his robes. He placed them in her hands. Sure enough, these jagged vestiges bore the markings that had covered Kay’s breastplate.
“It doesn’t in ours, either.”
Destiny’s entire pulse flattened.
“What happened?”
“The Entity happened,” said Astro simply, gravely.
Destiny looked down at the broken chunks of the unbreakable chestpiece in her hands. She felt the edge nick her palm, but she held firm. In the cracks between these remnants, she saw the gravity of her situation. She saw in them the price of her peace, and the warlike path that would lead her back to him.
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
Chapter 9: Shelter is up. The team seek shelter in a nearby town.
As the moon shone high above them, the trees thinned out, and the grass became long and crackled under their feet. The shadows of scattered buildings against the starry sky could just barely be seen at the edge of the horizon, along with a faint orange glow. As the shadows of the buildings rose, the group began to step over rows of crops and pass by sleeping cows and horses.
They then stepped onto cobbled roads, passed the first dimly torchlit buildings, and scouted out an inn.
One building in particular looked promising. It was three stories tall, and the first story windows and half-open door shone with a welcoming light.
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
So, MCF is shutting down. That's a big shame. However, fear not. The Convergence will continue on Fanfiction.net and probably AO3 or something! We will post what we've written damn it!
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13264446/1/The-CONVERGENCE-Book-2-Tangled-Fates
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
As everyone knows, MCF did not shut down! We posted a couple of chapters over on FFDN in the meantime and now it's time to post them here too.
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
Chapter 17: Faces in the Dark is up. Amanda finds herself in a dark forest.
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
Chapter 18: Tired and Distraught is up. Warnado wakes up to disturbing news.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Amanda. “Actually, I’m really glad that you’re awake. I had a really bad nightmare.”
“What kind of nightmare?” Warnado asked.
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Chapter 19: Tormentor at Large is up. Warnado begins searching for the source of the nightmares.
Warnado cleared his throat and prepared himself to deal with the uncertainty that came next. “Guys, I know I said I had some important questions about your magic, but actually, something bad just happened. Last night, Amanda had a disturbing nightmare that seems to have been magical in origin. And I want to know who was responsible.”
Warnado couldn’t help but glance over at Shadow for a moment, before switching his gaze toward Astro.
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
Chapters 20, 21 and 22 are up. Bulk post to catch back up with the missed weeks, no teasers this time
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!
Chapter 23: Getting in Some Practice is up. Astro and Shadow play some magical sports.
Accompanied by subtle flashing of various runes Shadow summons an ethereal chess board of enormous dimensions, complete with pieces of equally amazing proportions.
She explains: “You should be able to control your pieces with your thoughts, I’ll let you pick a side.”
“I’ll pick that one, then,” I say as I point to no particular side, and walk toward it. “Ladies first?”
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Chapter 24: We should have stopped at the Dodgeball is up. The magical entertainment escalates more than Astro would have liked.
We are both rising extremely fast into the air, no doubt due to some magic Shadow is using, and the only reason I am not falling seems to be my temporary physical contact with Shadow’s hand. I don’t think I could fall from this height without being severely injured, and that’s assuming I can exert enough magic to slow my fall. This is insanity.
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Chapter 25: Completely Routine Covert Operation is up. Kay and Warnado do some serious sleuthing.
“No,” Warnado said, determined. “I believe in the potential of these napkins. With enough napkins, we can accomplish anything.”
Warnado then conjured an entire pile of napkins as tall as a small dog.
“Help me tie these napkins together. We’re going to make a thicker napkin to cover the detector.”
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Chapter 26: Return of the Dreamweaver is up. The Dreamweaver strikes again, however this time something is different.
As I place my hand upon my door, I wince as a painful headache flashes on the left side of my head. An image of the reality-eating hole appears briefly in my mind, clouding my thoughts, before vanishing. I sincerely hope the mental aberrations don’t become worse.
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Chapter 27: Growing Dissonance is up. Fristad goes to eat with his companions and is met with suspicion.
Kay looks at me and studies me closely, very briefly, before sitting down and returning his attention to his mage friend and his soup. Kay must know what I did. He has to. This isn’t just a distrust of endermen. There’s no other way he would look at me like that given how little time we’ve spent near each other.
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Chapter 28: Burning Suspicion is up. The group meets up to discuss the situation, tension rises.
Destiny, the woman who saw me last night, steps forward, eyes ablaze. I try hard not to flinch.
“Up in the air?” Destiny mocks. “Up in the air! Really? Are those ears real or are they just for show?! I already told you it was Fristad!”
Destiny points her finger straight toward me.
Like fantasy? Like Minecraft? Check out a blend of the two here! Fall and a Rise: A Vanillacraft Tale!