Ar'Kendrithyst

Ophiels descended upon the mountains west of the Firemaw Volcanoes, far away from the deep lava pools and open, red maws of Firemaw itself. It was here that the land was still covered in black and cooled lava drifts, but green grew in the cracks. In some of those valleys, the green took up more space than black and brown, and tiny streams of water wound through nascent river beds. This place was a lush bit of land, where the Forest was a far-off idea to the north and west.

The Firemaws hadn’t opened in this place in centuries, and may not open here ever again.

This was a land of budding green, and many, many rock monsters. Elementals, mostly. Standard stone, but also rarer variants, like cutting obsidian that glinted in the sunlight, and light-weight pumice that rode the wind like a jumble of black sand. Mud elementals rested at the edges of streams. Water elementals rested in the edges of the streams themselves, cutting whirlpool-lairs out of the banks.

Mostly, the elementals ignored the other lives all around them, or perhaps it was more accurate to say the life around them knew enough to skirt around the elementals; to not disturb them into attacking.

Blackscaled fish avoided whirlpools, staying in the deeper parts of the black sandbed streams. Mountain deer, with their black glittering horns and their dark fur, avoided shiny rocks out in the sun, sticking to the green, shadowed parts of the mountains. Green birds stayed in the trees, or among the grasses, looking for food among the new growths.

It was a really nice place.

Which was probably why Tenebrae’s Castle floated in the distance.

Erick stepped onto the air above a nice valley. Poi stood beside him. Both of them held steady on the light under their feet while Ophiels darted in the windy sky and squawked in joyful violins.

It hadn’t taken that long to find the stone-based Archmage, not comparatively, anyway, but it had been a complicated thing that had taken longer than Erick had wanted it to take.

[Cascade Imaging] had returned blank responses for Erick’s searches for ‘humans’ and ‘rock people’ and ‘golems’ and even ‘castle’. ‘Humans’ was a long shot, since Tenebrae had obviously prepared against those sorts of scans, but as for the other ones, Erick imagined he didn’t understand the archmage’s rock people well enough to scan for them. There had been some false positives in all his Imaging, but Ophiel checked those out easily enough, and found nothing more than adventurers out in the world, doing what they wanted to do; Erick didn’t bother them, for none of them seemed in danger. After a while, and after a dozen more scans, Erick had been reminded of his search for Messalina. He had failed to find the Life Binder until the woman had allowed herself to be found in her cloud giant castle in the sky, in order to enable some convoluted scheme to find the people who had hunted her village in Nergal.

So, going off of that experience, and imagining that Tenebrae’s floating castle was invisible and highly [Ward]ed in special and similarly infuriating ways, Erick had his Ophiel sunform-step across the whole of the entire mountain range, each of them wielding [True Sight].

It hadn’t worked. Erick wasted thirty minutes doing that.

But then he remembered the cloud giants again. They were visible through the heat they emitted, though infrared light. He had his Ophiel manually scout the land again, this time with their sights shifted toward infrared.

This also didn’t work.

Erick had thought back to his freshly created [Sealed Privacy Ward]. He checked that out with infrared sight, and though he couldn’t see inside, he could see that there was something there. Maybe he’d have to remake that spell, now that two vulnerabilities had been found; scent, and light-sight beyond the norm.

But regarding Tenebrae’s Castle, Erick finally got a break when he shifted the weather of the entire thousand-kilometer wide area and called the rains. Brute force solutions! If brute force doesn’t work, you aren’t using enough of it.

Brute force worked. Erick suspected that if Ophiel didn’t have great experience racing through the valleys and mountains of this land west of Firemaw, if they were as slow as they had been the first time in their search, that he would have missed Tenebrae’s castle, for the archmage would have solved the minor issue of blocking the rain from reaching the ground.

And so, Erick found the [More than Invisible] castle, then dismissed the rains.

Now, the land steamed in the bright sun, elementals and animals came back out to do what they were wont to do, the greenery seemed a bit more green, and the castle had dropped all pretense of hiding. It was a normal-enough castle of solid grey stone with a few towers, but it was certainly built for war, and not for comfort. The walls were thick. The windows were small. The upside-down mountaintop that it rested upon looked solid, and the roofs matched that look.

The rock-man standing on the walls also looked rather solid. From a kilometer away, he waved.

Erick waved back. Then he started walking forward. An [Animadversion] held on his left wrist, and also on Poi’s. Erick was happy that he could share that spell with others, though the twisted-silver shield would only last 10 minutes in Poi’s hands. It might be enough to divert any sudden, magical disapproval regarding Erick’s visit.

Erick and Poi reached the edge of the castle with little fanfare, except from the rock man on the walls.

“Hello!” the rock guy called out. “Archmage Flatt, yes? Sorry for you to come all this way, but Tenebrae isn’t accepting visitors at this time. We are thankful for the rain, though. You have exposed a vulnerability that we normally have more time to prepare against.”

“I am glad I could assist in some small way.” Erick politely said, “Tenebrae owes me a bargain of trade, and I have come to collect. Can I please see the man?”

“He wishes you gone.” The rock man stood resolute. “Please leave.”

Erick maintained his civility, but he pressed forward, “He owes me a Gate.”

The topmost tower’s window slammed open, the glass cracking.

Tenebrae stuck his head out, yelling, “I ain’t owe you SHIT! Get the fuck off my property!”

Erick lost his civility. He called back, “Give me my damned Gate, old man! AND the plans to this floating castle!”

“Tell me how this new Particle Magic is supposed to work!”

“… I’m going to throw a spell at you now. Figure it out, but don’t use fire! It explodes if you do that!”

Tenebrae started sputtering. Defenses went up across the stone, like hexagons of grey light suddenly manifesting. Erick pointed, and cast. [Merciful Ether Slime] coalesced around the window like a bag of thick air, failing to make its way inside the castle’s window. Instead, it hung on the hexagons of light that covered the stone.

Tenebrae shot ice through his own barrier, at the creature. Ice locked around the ether slime, trying to hold it frozen in place, but the slime was an ethereal spell. It slipped out of the ice and kept trying to enter the room.

Fire came next.

This time, the slime exploded. It was a small explosion; barely more than a puff of fire and a thunderous crack sent through the air. The ice that failed to hold the slime lost its grip and plummeted to the courtyard below, in the center of the castle.

Tenebrae did not stick his head outside, but he did put his face to the edge of his barrier, as he called out, “What a shitty spell! That level of explosion wouldn’t hurt a child!”

“It’s a non-violent Particle—”

“Then it’s even shittier than I thought it was! You can’t call a spell that explodes ‘non-violent’! You truly are an idiot!”

“That would have put any breathing person to sleep, and without Mind Magic, but you destroyed it and you’re not getting another. I have fulfilled my bargain with you twice over! Give me my bargain of trade! Give me my Gate!”

Tenebrae sputtered curses as he retreated into his tower. The grey hexagons vanished.

Erick waited.

The rock man on the wall, who had simply watched all this time, said, “My Master does not wish to be disturbed. Please leave, Archmage Flatt.”

Erick sputtered, “What the— He just went back inside? He’s not going to get me my stuff?”

“That is correct. You may leave now.”

Erick spoke loud, saying, “Then I suppose I must ask the Headmaster about the honoring of bargains of trade.”

Tenebrae appeared at his window, calling out, “You damned bastard! Can’t you solve your problems yourself?”

“I am! I solve my problems by getting other people involved!” Erick called back, “What’s the problem, eh! Just tell me where the damned thing is and tell me how to make my own castle! You owe me both answers.”

Tenebrae muttered more curses in languages Erick did not know, then he called out, “Ransack a Cloud Giant city and take it for yourself! There. You got one out of two. Not bad! More than most! I ain’t givin’ you my Gate!”

“You said you were done with the damned thing!”

“I still want it! It’s mine, dammit! Find your own!”

“There are no more!”

“Not my problem!”

Erick glared.

Tenebrae glared right back, then said, “I’ll give you a recreation. I got the thing copied years ago. You can have that—”

“NOPE. I want the real thing, and you’re going to hand over the location.” Erick offered, “You can come with us when we go inspect it, but Redarrow said you’d die if you came with!” Erick thought about, but did not tell the man, that if he didn’t come, then others would die.

Tenebrae glared. He glared for a long minute. Erick had no problem glaring right back.

The stone archmage frowned, calling out, “You’d die without me there, so fine! I’ll go. Idiot youngster.”

“I’m fucking 50!” 49, but whatever.

“Could’a fooled me! And I’m 90, shit-for-brains!” Tenebrae retreated back through his window, muttering about young stupid people and how they never changed.

Erick called out, “I’m leaving for the place today! In the afternoon! I hope that’s okay with you!”

Tenebrae slammed right back through his window, almost falling out, but easily preventing a defenestration, as he yelled, “Well NO SHIT we’re doing it today! Get your asses in here!” He relaxed, either unable or unwilling to maintain his anger. “We’re taking my castle.” He retreated back into his tower.

The rock man instantly turned and gestured to the courtyard down in the castle, saying, “This way, if you would, Archmage and guest.”

Erick pointed in a different direction, at Tenebrae’s window. “I’m not done talking with him. We have to pick up my daughter and my other guard, as well as make a visit to the auction. I only physically came here because he wasn’t answering my calls.”

The rockman said, “—

Tenebrae happily stuck his head back out the window, his voice turning pleasant, as he said, “Why don’t you go get them? Come back here when you’re ready and then we can leave for the Gate.”

“So you can vacate this valley and abandon your bargain? Maybe learn how to hide your castle better?”

A hateful look briefly crossed Tenebrae’s face, then vanished. His voice was full of sugar, “Ohhh. Nooo. I’d stay right here, for sure! Promise! I’ve got a few things to do before we traipse across the Forest, so we can wait for your auction to be over. Go ahead! Go be with your daughter!”

Erick weighed the possibilities of casual treachery and found them very high, but he liked Tenebrae pretending at being nice, so Erick decided to adopt a saccharine tone as well, either in mocking, or to keep the conversation at least partially pleasant. Maybe this almost-’Polite Society’ interaction would last past one verbal joust.

“I’d be ever so pleased to take some tea and crackers with you so we can discuss where to meet to venture into the Forest. That way, even if you aren’t there for some, I’m sure, completely valid reason, we can just mosey on in without you.”

Tenebrae almost spat some horrible words, but then he paused. He calmly said, “You’d never be able to find it without me.”

“Exactly. You are necessary, Tenebrae. I wouldn’t want to cut you out of any discoveries, either.”

“You can’t move it either! You can’t— Just! Just…” Tenebrae’s voice dwindled. He called to the rock man, “Get them a table and a room for—” He asked Erick, “How many?”

“Four people.”

“Four is fine. Good number. And I make five. Rocky. Get them their room.”

Rocky, the rock man, which if that was his actual name was rather rude or strange, Erick wasn’t quite sure, gestured behind him, to a building in the castle, saying, “This way, Archmage Flatt and Guest.”

Tenebrae vanished back into his tower.

Erick did nothing to stop that or to interrupt what was happening. They seemed to be moving in a good direction. So, he followed Rocky onto the castle walls, and then down a set of stairs, to the courtyard below.

Tenebrae’s Castle was a well-lit, austere sort of place, with a square curtain wall and an organized jumble of stone, box-like buildings inside that wall. The only bit of color in the place was a gnarled tree in the center of the courtyard, atop a small dome of stone. It wasn’t very tall, but it was brown and vibrant green, and the roots, small as they were, went everywhere, in every crack or along every wall of the stone. To Erick’s [True Sight] and mana sense, that tree was a beacon of light and air in the center of this heavy place.

It didn’t look like a [Familiar]. It looked like a natural tree. Highly magical, though.

Erick only paid a little attention to the tree, interesting as it was, for there were other rock men in doorways and windows of the castle’s buildings. Only a few of them stopped whatever they were doing to look at Erick and Poi as they passed through. Most of them were simply talking with each other. There weren’t many, maybe a dozen to be seen, but they all looked somewhat the same.

Human-sized bodies, with thick arms and thick legs, they all looked like someone had attempted to sculpt a person but stopped when they had gotten to the ‘human-looking’ stage. There was definitely some sort of ‘uncanny valley’ thing going on, but at least they were all slightly different looking, but none of them wore clothes. None of them had visible genitalia, either, but for some reason, Erick got the impression that they were all male.

‘Rocky’ led them to a building on the other side of the tree; a small house built into the curtain wall, with a nice little porch in front, where sat a table and a few chairs.

He said, “This is our guest house. Meetings will be conducted at this table outside. Master will not venture inside while you are a guest. We ask that you respect his privacy as well; do not go past any black lines in the stone. Other than that, please avail yourself of any amenities you might find in the Estate. Also: do not adjust any of the stone with any Shaping; it is all thoroughly enchanted, so you shouldn’t be able to, but please do not try. For the duration of your stay in this Estate, you will be cooked for by the same chef who cooks for our Master. Dinner is served across the courtyard in that building there. If you wish for more food, then it will be provided, or, you can acquire it on your own terms and bring in back here. There is a kitchen and other such amenities inside the guest house. I, or someone else, will always warn you when our Master is coming. We Stone Men thank you in advance for bearing with his eccentrici—” A pause. “Master is coming right now. Any quick questions before he arrives?”

“Is your name actually ‘Rocky’? Are you being insulted every day?”

Now that Erick looked again, Rocky seemed like a person. He had a soul, but it was a thin thing. Thicker than Ophiel’s. Maybe Rocky was a summon, too?

Rocky smirked, only a little, the stone of his face moving like the metal of a wrought, but rougher. “I am still a member of the collective and have yet to differentiate my self or my name. All of us here are like that.” Rocky gestured to the table. “Please, take a seat.”

The collective? Well. Okay…

Erick found no reason not to comply, for he had checked out the place rather well with his Ophiel flying all around in their tiny bodies. The stone seat was not comfortable, but it would do. Poi took his place standing behind Erick.

Rocky stepped away, to the side, but he did not leave. Another Rocky came forth with a plate of small sandwiches and a glass pitcher of cold tea, with three cups. He set them down then walked away, but not too far, right as Tenebrae opened the courtyard door of his tower.

Erick put on an easy expression with a slight smile and relaxed shoulders. By now, the [Animadversion] had expired from Poi’s arm, but it remained on Erick’s as a twisted silver buckler. Erick silently asked Poi if he wanted another. Poi shook his head.

Tenebrae walked around the courtyard, spitting, “Show me that damn thing on your arm.”

Erick paused. Then he held up his arm as Tenebrae stopped in front of him. Erick forced politeness and kindness out of his mouth, “Why of course, Tenebrae. I can show you some functions of it, too, if you wish to tell me about your castle.” The silver buckler extended a few thorny snowflake-like arms, but Erick kept them small. “It’s just an [All Reflection] spell.”

Tenebrae leaned over, slightly, and stared at the buckler, his eyes roaming across the thorny silver protrusions. He flickered with a few spells, but Erick couldn’t quite tell what they were.

Ophiel whistled in unsure guitar thrums.

Tenebrae said, “Looks like you can give it away like it was a normal [Conjure Weapon], but it’s a shield. I approve. Probably the best thing you’ve ever made!”

While Erick was suddenly dumbfounded, Tenebrae ignored the shield and sat down on the other side of the table. He served himself some tea, but did not do the same for Erick. He picked up a small sandwich, took a bite, and stared. He hadn’t even set the pitcher of tea close to Erick, or even halfway; he had set it directly in front of him, on his side of the table.

… Erick stood up and reached over to grab the pitcher. He served himself some tea, then set the pitcher halfway down in the center of the table. He sipped the tea. It was good.

Tenebrae said, “The Gate is inside a Twisted Vision of the Forest.”

“I assume it’s more complicated than that, and that there’s a reason you can’t just kill the Vision to get the Gate.”

With a deep frown, Tenebrae said, “You don’t know what a Twisted Vision is, do you.”

It wasn’t a question. Erick gave his answer, anyway, “They inhabit parts of the Forest and copy monsters, growing their preferred pets like a mayor grows a city, or something like that.”

“You don’t know—!” A sigh. “That’s barely a tenth of the common knowledge in any Adventurer’s Guild near the Forest! Ignorant, dumbass— Archmages need to know more. Here’s a lesson: Twisted Visions are products of [Duplicate] and other spells gone wrong. Don’t know what the ‘other spells’ part is, and don’t care, but some Shade made them 1300 years ago or more, for sure. Their ability to copy is not limited to monsters and biologicals. They can copy gold and jewels and other stuff, if they want to. Almost none of them do, but this one does. It copies everything.”

Erick sat straighter. He frow—

Erick jumped to the obvious conclusion, “It’s copying Gates?”

“Among other things. It’s classified as a 9-star threat— You do know about the ranking system the Guilds use, don’t you?” Tenebrae stared at Erick.

“Yes.” Erick withheld a rebuttal that would have gone along the lines of ‘killing the Shades was a 12 star threat’, for many reasons, least of all that he didn’t actually kill them all. He only killed a few. “I am aware of the ranking system. 10-star requires nations to get involved. Your 9-star means it's just below a national-level threat. It’s probably killed thousands of people.”

“… Correct. Before we go further, I will have your promise that you will not endanger the life of this Twisted Vision. It is rare. It is valuable. And it doesn’t just ‘copy Gates’.”

Erick almost lost it. Exasperation, disgust, anger, all of these emotions swirled, and more. But he kept calm. As politely as he could, he asked, “Why can’t we just kill it and take the Gate? Are you really that—” Erick stopped himself before he said something unkind. This place did not look rich. Was Tenebrae poor? A poor archmage? Was that what was going on here? How, though? Why? Erick almost asked those questions, but he did not. Instead, he said, “Okay. It’s valuable. More valuable than the Gate inside?”

Tenebrae eyed Erick, then said, “Long time ago, a very, very long time ago, don’t know which idiot did it, but someone found a Twisted Vision that copied stuff besides monsters. That wasn’t the only criteria this unknown person searched for, I’m sure. This particular Vision is one of the calmest Visions I have ever seen. Maybe it’s a byproduct of what was done to it. Maybe it’s a byproduct of how old it is, for this Vision is old. It’s also extremely deadly if irritated. That is why I choose to approach this Vision with care and quiet. We will not be killing it. Understand this?”

“Somewhat. But not really. Please go on.”

Tenebrae huffed. He continued, “Either someone got the bright idea to throw the broken pieces of several Gates inside, or maybe the Vision found, or was birthed on, a dumping ground for Old Dragonkin Gates. When the Rage Wars were going strong, people destroyed the Gate Network so the orcols couldn’t use them anymore, you see. But every single Gate was guarded. Those attacks that took out the Gates were suicide hits. Most were not properly destroyed. Most of the broken Gates were left behind for the Raging orcols to pick up and try to put back together. They failed.

“And thus, those broken Gates likely went in a laboratory, or a pile, depending on how one views primitive Orcol society. Truth is, I don’t know how it happened but it happened. and it doesn’t matter. Point is: Almost every Gate in that dungeon-like space is broken, but all of them appear to work, but that is just part of the real illusion of the place. All Twisted Visions are odd, disjointed spaces, but this Twisted Vision figured out [Gate].” He finished with, “And that’s why we can’t destroy the Vision. The monster itself is a clue to [Gate] just as much as those Gates are.”

“… Huh.” Erick immediately said, “You talked about recreated Gates that you brought out. How close are they to the original?”

Tenebrae frowned. He breathed in, then out, calming himself, then he said, “I’ve been inside twenty times.” Slight lie there, but Erick let it slide. Tenebrae continued, “I’ve managed to find a reasonably intact Gate ten times and copied them as best I could, but all I ever got was a long way down a false path.” With venom, he asked, “Do you want to see my own attempts?”

“No. I want the real one.”

“Good. Fine. I ain’t letting you see my failures, anyway.” Tenebrae said, “But there’re complications to this Vision. Every time I go in there, all I mostly find is near-death, because this Vision’s Domain is stronger than most.”

“Ah. Complications.” Erick’s words were an understatement.

Visions had Domains?

“Quite.” Tenebrae said, “Using Spatial Magic inside this Vision will get you [Partial Teleport]ed into a wall or the floor or some other shit. Elemental Bodies are constrained. Shaping spells alert the Vision that you’re inside if used on any ‘wall’, though Visions don’t really have walls— You do not want to alert it that you’re inside. As soon as you try to move a Gate… Any number of things could happen. The Gate could activate a [Gate] and monsters or water could flood out and try to drown you under claw or ocean pressure.” Tenebrae spat, “You can’t move any of these Gates inside. I already told you that before! Didn’t you listen! All I made were bad copies.”

Erick did not explode back at the man. Instead, he calmly absorbed all of that, then he said, “I assume manual Spatial Magic is blocked?”

Tenebrae calmed a fraction. “Correct. I have not discovered all the limitations of that place, for I do not test it anymore.”

“How do you get inside, then? What are the actual limitations of this place that have allowed you to explore it?”

“Physical hiding —no magical hiding!— with minimal monster contact. Minimal use of magic. The Vision is larger than most Visions, and also calmer; this combination causes oddities that you would never find in other Visions. This one will ignore campfires, for instance. If you use magic that does not harm or attempt to hide, then it might not react. The best way to investigate is to cast your magic outside and hope that you’re not stuck inside when the duration ends. Any spell exposure beyond 50 mana might mean that you have to run, for it might notice you, then. NO DOMAINS! It senses those right away. Elemental Bodies might not work that well, but they’re the preferred way to operate.” Tenebrae said, “This Twisted Vision is among the largest, most hidden, best defended Visions in the entire Forest. It spans thousands upon thousands of kilometers, though you’d never know it because almost all of that space is the Border Vision. We will NOT be going into the Vision more than a hundred kilometers; somewhere at the Middle Vision. We will be coming in from the sky, and dropping directly into the Middle Vision, through a [Gate] attached to a Gate. That Gate is the most broken one I have ever seen, but we can stick around and eye it for a while, if you want. What we’re after is one of the better Gates deeper in.”

Erick refilled his tea, and said, “Okay. That sounds dangerous. I thought Twisted Visions were just out in the open monsters that adjusted how you viewed the space. From what you’re saying, it sounds like they don’t exist in the real world. Elsewise we could just scout the Deep Vision from the air and not have to walk through a [Gate] in order to explore the space.”

“You really don’t know shit about anyth— Twisted Visions are pseudo-spaces. They twist everything around and depending on the Vision, if you attempt to leave, you either run into monsters or walk out of the space, and if you attempt to go through the canopy, you will be eaten. You break anything at all and the Twisted Vision will try to break you. Most Visions are the size of hills or valleys. They affect an area that is measured in a handful of kilometers. Those are babies. This one is a mother. It is calm. It is massive. Most people pass through the outer edges without even knowing it exists. It is old. Some would even consider it the first Vision to ever exist, but I doubt it. You will follow my instructions at all times, or I will not help you find it.” Tenebrae said, “And we won’t be killing it!”

Erick frowned.

Who the fuck cared if it was an old monster? Old monsters deserved to die more than most. All it sounded to him was like this Twisted Vision needed to die. It needed to be GONE. He kept those thoughts to himself.

Instead, he asked, “Does it have a name?”

Tenebrae paused. He lied right to Erick’s face, “No. But I call it the Green Labyrinth.”

“Thanks for that, Tenebrae.” Erick spoke with his most sincere, thankful voice, “I appreciate your help with this.”

“You better appreciate it.” Tenebrae said, “The Green Labyrinth pops up in unlikely places all the time, spewing out excess monsters every so often. Most people come across these side entrances and think them young Twisted Visions. Most people never find the true entrance. Only I know where the true entrance is, and that’s where we have to go if you want to look at a [Gate] or a Gate.”

Erick had several thoughts.

Chief among them were, in no particular order:

He needed to talk to someone else about this ‘Green Labyrinth’. If it was as odd of a Vision as Tenebrae said it was, then Syllea would know where it was and what it contained, for sure. Teressa might, too, if only through hearsay and stories, but she would be Erick’s second choice for information. He could also go back to Nosier and ask him for his opinion on why others had not thought to excavate Gates from the Green Labyrinth, or, why others had failed to excavate from the Green Labyrinth.

And why couldn’t he just kill the Labyrinth with a particularly violent set of murderous magics? Erick needed to talk to Arbor Rottundra about that. Him and his Chieftain were all for melting the entire Forest away. Surely such a plan would account for something as dangerous as this ‘Green Labyrinth’.

And finally, did he want Jane involved with this?

Once his daughter found out about such an enticing location… Could he even forbid her from coming? Like. Sure. He could try. He would fail. If it weren’t for the Feast Barrier, she would have followed him into Ar’Kendrithyst. But looking at it from a different way, should he try to dissuade her? Visions weren’t Shades. Visions were hordes of monsters and dangerous ecology. Without the use of his many stronger magics, Jane would likely be stronger than him in such a place, what with her martial bent and all that. She could even cast all of her necessary spells before she went inside. Erick could not.

Tenebrae leaned on the table, eyeing Erick, and said, “And if you go talking to others about this I’m calling the whole thing off. You can run to the Headmaster and force a compromise, but I’ll take my hits and you won’t get shit. I’m not giving up the Green Labyrinth to anyone. You hear me?”

Erick heard the man, but mostly, he considered Redarrow’s warning.

Was he more comfortable with risking Tenebrae’s life, or the life of everyone else?

And also, looking back on it, a lot of Tenebrae’s words seemed contradictory. If all Twisted Visions were pseudo-spaces, didn’t that mean that they were all partially [Gate] capable? How old was this ‘Green Labyrinth’, if it had managed to find a whole stash of discarded Gates? Surely such a stash had to have been impossible to have gone unfound for very long, unless this monster was really, really old.

Erick was sure that he could pick apart what he had been told, to figure out the lies and more, but then Tenebrae would renege on his bargain of trade, and Erick would be risking the lives of his daughter and his people.

Erick said, “I will be researching Visions more.” The man across the table almost exploded, but Erick spoke louder, saying, “I will not tell others why! But I will be researching them for my own needs. If anyone asks, it will be a part of learning what might boil out of the Forest when we set to destroying the whole thing.” He glared at Tenebrae, adding, “If you don’t want to risk such an information leak, start explaining why you have been lying throughout this whole conversation.”

Tenebrae stared.

Erick waited.

Eventually, Tenbrae said, “I’m casting a [Privacy Ward], and then I’ll speak.”

Erick nodded. “Sure.”

A foggy haze, like grey dust, enveloped the world beyond their table, swirling with hidden sights, as Tenebrae’s eyes glittered grey. Ophiel turned blind; gently squawking in disturbed flute sounds. Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye vanished. Poi vanished beyond the grey cloud. It was just Tenebrae and Erick, sitting across from each other. Erick’s mana sense and [True Sight] failed him, as they touched upon that grey expanse. He patted Ophiel, trying to calm the little guy down. It worked, if only a little.

Tenebrae said, “Dragons live inside that Vision. They have for the last ten centuries. The Headmaster has tried a thousand times to get at them, but he has failed a thousand times over. I will not allow you to be the vehicle in which these people are finally murdered.”

Ah. So Erick could have gone to the Headmaster. Probably Syllea, too.

Good thing he was avoiding the first and the second was avoiding him.

Erick said, “I will not cause harm where there is no need to harm.”

“That’s not good enough. I need your word that you won’t start shit.” Tenebrae said, “The only reason I am even considering helping you is that you’re on your Worldly Path, and I either have to help you and mitigate your disaster, or let you find your own way forward, killing everything that crosses you. And these people will cross you, and it won’t be on purpose. Do I have your word?”

“Maybe you didn’t understand me, Tenebrae.” Erick said, “I won’t start shit where shit does not need to be started. My record should speak for itself, but allow me to say that nothing I have done has ever been intentionally harmful to people that did not deserve such harm. Or would you say that the Shades did not need to die? That I should not have liberated those shadelings from Treehome’s commune? That the murderers of Treehome deserved to remain at large? That Melemizargo deserved to remain insane, and for this world to not understand the basic building blocks of existence itself?”

“Ha!” Tenebrae laughed. “Tell me, oh great arbiter of what is right and good!” Tenebrae snarled, demanding, “How do you plan on helping the dragons overcome their Blood Curse? Can you actually fix that, or will the dragons you see become like that Carmine Changeling Vine, who was only trying to reproduce?”

Erick’s eyes went wide. “Ah. Yeah. If the Dragons are like that, then I’m murdering them, for sure.”

Tenebrae smiled. “Then run along now and murder the Headmaster. We can rejoin this Forest Hunt after you do that.”

“I’m not sure what you think those words accomplish, but I do know that they have exposed your dumbassery. Like? Do you want the Headmaster dead? Go do it yourself. I’m not involving myself in your suicide mission. Should I warn him that you’re coming? Meh. He probably doesn’t need me to do that, does he.”

Tenebrae flinched back, saying, “That’s not what I meant. I meant that—”

“I know what you meant. All dragons are Cursed to kill each other, no matter what sort of damage that will cause. The Headmaster is out in the open, therefore he’s automatically challenging all dragons the world over. There’s probably something in your words about— some tangled thoughts about how, since I have been allied with the Headmaster, that these dragons will seek to harm me or dominate me in some way, as a way to dominate the Headmaster. What you meant was for me to have empathy for killers who can’t help themselves. And I do. Believe me, I do. I couldn’t even kill a monster without puking when I first came to this world, and though a lot of that is gone, the base remains.” Erick said, “So I ask you! Why don’t you go ask Melemizargo to lift his Dragon Curse? Or was it cast by the Headmaster’s brother, Idyrvamikor? In which case, find yourself a Wizard. I hear stories about them all the time, so they must exist. Or, was Idyrvamikor’s story, which I heard from the Shades, just propaganda? There are just too many things I don’t know about dragons to make a judgment call, Tenebrae. But what I do know is that I know nothing, and therefore I would like to know more.” He added, “But to make myself clearer: monsters deserve to die. So! Are dragons monsters?”

Tenebrae sat there, his face a mask.

Erick waited. He almost took a sandwich, but he did not.

Tenebrae asked, “Do you know any Wizards?”

“Nope. Do you? I’d like to know what makes them so deadly, if you got any ideas.”

“… Nope.” Tenebrae lied, “I don’t know any Wizards.” Tenebrae turned to truth, saying, “But there’ve been a few Wizards to venture through the Forest now and then. I never met one the Headmaster didn’t kill as soon as the world found out about them, but over the many centuries, those few Forest Wizards have lifted the Curse from a few dragons. We might even get to meet one of those Cleansed Dragons. So meet back here when you’re done with your daughter and your other guard, and we can visit them. Once you meet and understand them, maybe you can help me look for more Wizards who can do more than spot-treat Idyrvamikor’s Legacy.” He breathed deep, and with a maybe-genuine smile, said, “Glad to know your measure, Erick. Don’t speak of this conversation to outsiders.” He stood and waved a hand at the grey swirls beyond their table. Erick stood, as well. The clouds began to dissipate. Tenebrae said, “Glad no one had to get hurt, today.”

The cloud cleared.

A pair of Rockys removed a collar from Poi’s neck and let him go.

Erick was suddenly, deeply furious, but he had expected some sort of treachery, and Poi was safe. Poi was safe. Bloody around the neck, but safe. With a stern face, the sapphire man unruffled his uniform and stood tall. Ophiel’s eyes returned to him, he was alone, and Erick sensed his solitary nature as a second moment passed. All of the other Ophiel were gone. Erick had been locked out of sensing through them while he was inside that grey, sandy fog, but he had assumed it was just like the Feast Barrier; no [Telepathy]. That had happened, for sure, which exposed another problem of Erick’s [Sealed Privacy Ward], but the problem was deeper than a [Telepathy] block; his Ophiel had been [Dispel]ed. Tenebrae, or, more likely, the Rockys, had [Dispel]ed every Ophiel aside from the one on Erick’s shoulder.

Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye came back.

Tenebrae stared at Erick, as though challenging him.

Erick almost punched the man. He refrained. He said, “I am glad that Poi is merely bleeding from wounds on his neck, instead of bleeding out. Do I need to make threats regarding what could have happened if you had done more?”

“I’ll ignore everything you say if you pose an actual threat. Until that time, I see no reason not to work together.” Tenebrae said, “But you mistake yourself, Erick. You are merely picking up the scraps that I have left behind, because I am the one in power in this place, in this bargain of trade. If I find you have run off and mouthed off to the unworthy, then… Well. I hope you have the sense to not come back here. You have been warned.”

Erick buried his overwhelming anger as deep as it could go. “I will be back soon enough. Please don’t run off.”

“I would never!” Tenebrae said, mockingly and with a smirk. “See you soon.”

- - - -

Once he was several mountains distant, Erick roared out something unintelligible. His voice bounced across the valley, echoing. Birds flew. Monsters stirred. They’d be gone before the monsters actually showed. Erick calmed. He turned to Poi.

Erick asked, “Are you okay? Did they do anything to you besides that collar?”

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern,” Poi said, pretending to be calm. “And since I deem it necessary, I will answer your other questions that you didn’t ask: I couldn’t get a read on the Rockys because they’re a hive mind. Impossible to break through. We’ve had our eyes on that man for a long time because he fucks around with Mind Magic. His former [Familiar]s are just one of many such issues.”

“I remember. He intercepted a [Telepathy] to Rats, back with the Daydropper stuff. Pretended to be Killzone to find our location. Did anything happen there?”

“He was censured as much as we could for that action, which, as you have already guessed, was for us to do nothing at all.” Poi calmed by the second as he spoke, “Archmage Tenebrae is protected by too many powerful forces. He regularly helps people lost in the mountains, or at least his Rockys do. He murders any major monster asked of him and if enough gold is raised to pay his fee. He has accords with Treehome and Oceanside and every other nation in the world. He’s—” Poi touched his neck. “He’s not a nice man, but he is a good man. Vaguely. We have left him alone for the good of the world.”

Every word sent Erick’s heart to thrumming hard, and angry. He asked, “Has he disappeared people before? Were you in actual danger back there?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. And yes, I was in danger. Right before you went into that [Privacy Ward], he gave his commands to his Rockys. Until he popped that [Privacy Ward] and gave his Rockys the all-clear, I could have died. We both could have. Tenebrae… I barely got a read on him at all. I know I said this back when we met him at Oceanside, but it bears repeating: I cannot protect you from other archmages, Erick. I cannot protect you from Tenebrae.” Poi asked, “Do you want to continue this path?”

“I have to. Do you want to go back to Spur, too? You can.”

Poi smiled, a sad thing, as he said, “No. I cannot do that. I will stay, of course. You couldn’t chase me off with a [Fireball].”

Erick joked, “What about a [Luminous Beam].”

“That would do it.”

Erick chuckled. Poi huffed a laugh. They fell to silence, as wind blew through the valley. Erick resummoned his Ophiel. All of his high-mana Ophiel from when he summoned them with [Death’s Approach] active were now gone.

After a minute of silence and gentle violin sounds, Poi asked, “We’re really doing this dragon-thing?”

“I guess we are. So there are dragons inside Twisted Visions? Or at least inside this one?”

“News to me.” Poi said, “And no. I can’t tell you where the place is. I think I got a location, but it might have been a [Screen]. But besides that, if you show up there without him, he will know how you got that information, and then my people will come down on me, and I might be useful, but I am not a world protector.”

Erick teased, “That thought didn’t actually cross my lips.”

Poi laughed, once, small, then said, “Thank you, sir.”

“I will ask if he's going to run off, though.”

“He’s not. He was. But he’s not anymore.” Poi said, “I think so, anyway.”

“If he runs off, that’s not as big a deal as I initially thought.” Erick gazed toward the west. “Time to go to an auction. Got any [Polymorph] forms that interest you?”

“Nope.”

“Me either. I don’t know how Jane does it.” He added, “And I’m not sure what else is missing in my [Sealed Privacy Ward], but I think it’s something intrinsic.”

“There are always missing parts to a [Privacy Ward].”

“Eh… I won’t break it apart today, but soon. When I figure out the other pieces.”