Ar'Kendrithyst

The forest looked mostly normal, and there was a path to follow, so it was mostly a normal walk through the woods. The evergreen trees were larger than average, though, at over a hundred meters tall and with the trunks and canopies to match, but this was certainly not the Forest of Glaquin, for every tree in the Deep Green was at least a kilometer or more in height. Ar’Cosmos was located inside the Forest of Glaquin, though. Erick still wasn’t sure how that worked, but he would likely find out soon enough.

This space had a lot of little Fae Magic touches, if you knew what you were seeing.

Two things stuck out the most to Erick. The largest event happened when they circled a large tree with decorative white-thread rope tied loosely around the trunk; they took a right, and then another right, and then another right, and they never crossed the path they had started on, even though they should have. The second major thing was that the tallest spire of Fairy Moon’s mansion always appeared through a gap in the trees, if Erick looked for it. He tested this twice to make sure he was seeing what he was seeing, but then he noticed Fairy Moon with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk. She was watching him figure it all out. Erick didn’t like that at all, and he almost shut down again, but he powered through that tough emotion.

All in all, his problems were not as large as they could have been. Erick had already experienced what it meant to be truly helpless once, and he was not eager for a repeat performance. He could play along…

And if Fairy Moon’s goals turned out to be true, then Erick could do what he needed to do and then get the fuck out of here. Hopefully.

The green forest gradually gave way to a land of autumn, with red and gold leaves on the trees and in golden and brown drifts nestled at the bottom of every trunk, and wrapping around every boulder. The air smelled faintly of spices and cold, but it was a far off scent.

They traveled around another roped tree, and the springtime returned, but this time the green trees were smaller. A craggy grey mountain rose in the distance, like the edge of a continental shelf rising up, dividing the land between a forest on the lower half, and a castle town on the upper cliffside. White spires and barrier walls and cathedrals rose upon that upper cliff, looking like the whole thing would both fall off the edge at any moment, and like the white stone garrison had been stable upon that land for the last millennia.

Erick and Fairy Moon had been walking for an hour and would likely walk for another hour to get all the way to that castle, which seemed to be where they were headed. All this while, Erick had been cycling his mana, and feeling a lot better for it. It was strange how much better he felt when he kept his core maintained with proper upkeep. Was this a substitute for therapy? Or was he drugging himself into complacency? Or was this Fairy Moon’s doing?

Hard to say, really.

Erick ignored that problem for now, too. He was coping. It was enough.

Eventually, they reached the mountainside below the white castle. Fairy Moon had guided them directly to a ten meter tall grey stone door that looked as though it was carved out of the rock of the mountainside. There were no guards, or obvious defenses, but then Fairy Moon went up to the door and knocked.

The grey stone transformed into white, and then simply vanished.

Beyond lay a curving hallway lined with white pillars. Bright red-flame torches in black iron sconces merrily burned away at the side of each pillar, but they still cast out white light into the deep hallway that looked as though it would have gone on forever, if not for the slight curve going left. The ground was solid white stone, and the ceiling was arched. Red flame, black iron braziers hung from the ceiling, too. Fairy Moon went in, and Erick followed—

The world transformed.

Behind them lay the hallway of white pillars and red fire. They had traveled the entire hallway in a single step.

Ahead lay a foyer of white stone with a twenty-meter tall blood-red crystal in the center, and two curving staircases leading upward on both sides. This was some central location, for sure, because everywhere Erick looked there were archways that led to ballrooms and libraries and more hallways.

And the whole place was sized for dragon sensibilities. The crystal was 20 meters tall. The arching ceiling was 50 meters high. Erick saw no dragons, or anyone else at all, but as the enormity of the castle quickly dawned on him, he saw human-sized amenities here and there. That staircase’s main steps were two meters tall, but there were side staircases set into the main one, with runners every third meter, like normal. The open doors to the library had smaller doors set into them for people to use. The books upon the massive shelves of the library looked small from this distance, but the fact that Erick could see the individual books at all meant that they were huge, but there were small, mobile ladders that were like long toothpicks leading up to those big books. Human-sized people worked here, under the dragons, or rather, above. For far above, on the ceiling, catwalks artfully crossed through open air, leading this way and that so that people didn’t have to walk where dragons stood—

The red crystal shimmered.

A red dragonkin covered in normal dragonkin scales stepped out of the crystal, onto the ground a fair distance from Erick. The man wore a sharp white dress-robe, like a mage would back at Oceanside if they were going to a party, and he had both a tail, and horns. And as the man came closer, Erick saw that he was an orcol-sized dragonkin. He reminded Erick a lot of Apogee, back at Spur, but a lot taller.

A sudden thought occurred: Had Apogee come here? He had been on the Worldly Path before. He had gotten all of the way, too, hadn’t he? But then he decided that he didn’t want to connect the people of this world with each other, or with other worlds, because none of them deserved it. Apogee had spoken of the dragon overlords of his homeworld, too, hadn’t he…

Apogee had always known how shitty these people were to others.

And now Erick understood Apogee a whole lot more. He was a grouch because he had very good reasons to be grouchy. If Erick ever made it back to Spur, he decided he would need to buy that man a drink. But that would come later.

The red dragonkin’s eyes went super wide and he almost stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Erick; there was a clear look of recognition there, though Erick thought it more of a ‘holy shit, it’s Erick Flatt’, and less a personal recognition. The man acclimated to what he was seeing quickly though, and went right up to Fairy Moon and bowed politely, asking, “May this one be of service, Fairy Moon?”

“Yes.” Fairy Moon said, “We wish for a history lesson for Erick Flatt, regarding the creation of Ar’Cosmos, along with the fall of Idyrvamikor and the creation of the Dragon Curse.”

The man looked torn for a moment. He didn’t know whether to inform Fairy Moon that his master was away, or to inform his master that Fairy Moon had come calling. Or maybe it was something to do with Erick’s presence.

The man looked up, and then back to Fairy Moon. “Master Redflame has been informed of your arrival. He asks you to wait wherever you wish to wait, and he will get to you when he can. He has been informed that Erick Flatt has come calling, too.”

Fairy Moon turned, saying, “We’ll be where we are.”

Erick watched as Fairy Moon opened a human-sized door in the wall that was not there to begin with. Beyond lay yet another massive room, with—

Fairy Moon went through and Erick followed before he was left behind.

The red servant remained behind and the door shut, and then vanished, leaving a perfectly flat expanse—

Of open air. They had walked through nothing and arrived at the center of a large room with a wooden gazebo-like structure to the side. It was the only thing in the much, much larger room and it was— Oh. It wasn’t a gazebo at all.

Erick realized he was looking up at the bottom of a massive table, at least 20 meters tall with tree-trunk thick legs and what appeared to be a small balcony on the side. A staircase wrapped around half of the table, leading up to that balcony space. Fairy Moon started walking up the curving stairs and Erick followed for fear of being left behind, again.

The rest of the room was stone with open windows from floor to ceiling, which was only 40 meters up there, maybe. Erick wasn’t quite sure. Red flame on the columns of every pillar in the room illuminated the space with white light, showing off that this was a dining room, of sorts. Erick noticed a chair by the window that was more like a massive bed than a chair any humanoid-person would use. Perhaps a large cat? As they reached the top of the table, Erick saw chairs that were sized for him and Fairy Moon, set to the side of the large table...

Yes it was a table; Erick’s initial guess had been correct. They were in a dining room and this large thing was a table with settings for 2 meter tall people on one quarter of the structure, so people could sit down and eat food on the same level as the other people, who Erick could only assume would be dragons in their full size, who would be eating on the other sides. At least they wouldn’t suffer the indignity of eating on top of the larger table; that would be like the smaller people setting themselves up as a meal, or the larger people setting themselves up to eat ‘off of the floor’.

A four meter tall red splash of crystal sat in the center of the table, no doubt for easy movement between kitchen staff, for that thing was obviously part of a quick-movement system set up inside the castle—

The pillar flames stirred to a great whirlwind of fire on the other side of the table—

Erick almost panicked.

But Fairy Moon didn’t seem to care about the whirlwind of fire. Erick decided not to feel jumpy, too, because apparently he was goddamned jumpy these days. Or maybe just recently? No… This had been going on for a while. Everything was surprising him and it was only getting worse.

He cycled his mana and felt calmer.

Anyway. The fire in the braziers on the pillars came to life and a massive wyrm-like dragon spilled out into the room and solidified on the other side of the table. Redflame, for this had to be him, stood as tall as Erick expected him to stand, and for some reason Erick’s thoughts wandered to wondering if the man was connected to Arbor Redarrow back in Treehome, if only because of the name and how Arbor Redarrow had an Old Dragonkin-shaped false-person body.

Redflame stood tall past the edge of the wooden table, but only the tallest several meters of him showed; his face and up to his arms. He had to bend his neck over to make his position comfortable enough to eat, though, and Erick wondered just how comfortable that could actually be. Whatever!

His voice was warm fire and solid strength, “Welcome to my home, Fairy Moon.” He turned to face Erick, and he smirked, “And Erick Flatt.”

A woman dragonkin stepped out of a red crystal on the table, pulling a cart behind her like she was stepping out of a kitchen door. A full roast cow came out on the cart that resembled a large plate, and the woman moved it over toward Redflame where she locked it into position on the table. A second server came out with smaller meals for both Erick and Fairy Moon.

While Erick was busy realizing that Redflame knew him, which of course he did, he was also mentally wrestling with the idea that he was somehow in a baby chair at the ‘adult table’. His server set down a beer and a water for Erick, while Fairy Moon got wine to go with her food.

Fairy Moon readily took the wine and had a sip, saying, “You always do have the best vintage, Redflame.”

Erick followed along and sipped his beer, since it seemed like the right thing to do, and everyone was watching him out of the corner of their eyes. After he had a sip of the quite good beer —it tasted like amber honey— everyone relaxed.

Redflame even gave a little chuckle. “Is it good?”

Erick honestly said, “It’s great. Love it.”

Redflame smiled wide, though he tried to keep his teeth mostly hidden while he did so. White fangs still showed a little. “I was wondering when you would show up here in Ar’Cosmos. I was all prepared to shove my weight around and prevent a war to talk to you on even terms, and to get Fairy Moon to assist you, too, since you seemed to be amenable.” He looked to the gem on Erick’s neck, saying, “I am glad to see that I didn’t have to do any of that.”

Erick felt a wave of sudden, unexpected gratitude at those words.

It passed quickly.

“I would have loved for that to have been what happened. But that is not what happened at all.”

Redflame’s eye ridges went up. And then he glanced from Erick to Fairy Moon, and then back, then he stared at Fairy Moon and frowned. He muttered, “… You didn’t.”

“I did because I had to.” Fairy Moon said, “Adjustments needed to be made due to certain discoveries, and so I made those adjustments. I would have preferred diplomacy, too.”

Erick glared, but then he just sighed.

Redflame kept his frown, but then he glanced around, speaking his thoughts, “What could have happened? As far as publicly known Erick wasn’t going to Melemizargo to get [Gate]… Ah?” His face fell. “The wrought have a Wizard— No wait. Not that. … No. I give up. What changed—” Excitedly, he looked to Erick, saying, “Oh! Of course! I know. It’s that [Renew] you were working on! Wasn’t it! Oh, with that you should be able to gather up enough mana to enact some near-Wizardry of your own in a decade or two.” Fervor faded. “… It might be enough. Don’t think Melemizargo would let you linger that long on the Path… Nor would the wrought. And if you made [Renew] even at tier 4 or 5, proving that capability exists in the mana, then that would lead to Wizardry, too.” He nodded, like he had solved a puzzle. “That is my final guess. Am I right?”

Near-Wizardry through [Renew]?

Erick did not like the sound of that.

Fairy Moon said, “A lot has happened since last we supped. Rozeta has come to me demanding details of magics to make Sunderings never happen ever again, for all always. And then, when I spoke with Erick and the heads of the wrought on the beach of the world tree, Erick’s Path twisted. It demanded him make this miracle happen. And so, that is but one of the reasons he was rescued from the wrought—”

“Rescued!” Erick said, “Are you fucking kidding—”

Fairy Moon waved him off like a child. “He doesn’t believe me at this moment, but that’s normal.”

Redflame glanced away from Erick, saying to Fairy Moon, “You shouldn’t have done that. I had diplomatic plans in place should he show. We all had plans. You would have known this if you spend more than a day here every five years, or if you talked to anyone else besides Illustrious and your Maid Maria.” He said to Erick, “You’re quite the divisive topic around here, you know. I heard that House Handinoi tried to attack you to get you to come to us when it became clear you weren’t receiving our letters, or our other attempts to reach you. Of course House Handinoi’s largest attempt didn’t work either, though, and now they have Dragon Stalkers coming their way, and what’s more: you went to that Ordoonarati fellow instead. Fate twisted hard to make this not happen until now.” Redflame said, “Ordoonarati is a vile little hermit who wants nothing more than to live in his grasslands; very regressive, that one.” He looked to Fairy Moon. “You still could have handled this better.”

Fairy Moon shrugged and dug into her meal like she hadn’t just eaten three hours ago.

Erick eyed Redflame, though. “… You sent letters?” he asked, having a hard time reading Redflame to tell if he was lying or not. He didn’t seem to be, but what the fuck did Erick know about anything? Not a whole lot, apparently.

“We tried, but after the first three attempts ended in the outing of a dragon, that plan was stopped.” Fairy Moon said, “We think Melemizargo was intercepting them, directly.”

“No one was willing to risk a personal visit, either.” Redflame said, “Too much of a chance that one of us would encounter each other out there, where who knows what could have happened. No. It is probably better that you are here now, even if your arrival was under stressful methods. Especially if you want to solve the Sunderingproblem!” Redflame huffed a small laugh, saying, “Good Fire! That’s a tough one. Well time enough for all that.” He turned to Fairy Moon. “Now that you’re here and look to be here for a while, Fairy Moon, I have lots of things to discuss with you but that will have to happen later.” He turned to Erick. “And now that you’re here, Erick, I desire to speak with you about [Renew]. As I implied earlier, you might be able to work a [Renew] into coalescing mana into a crystal that, once large enough, you can enact a small Wizardry, based on the starter mana crystal. My own plans for this particular magic are theoretical and— Ah! This is all out of order. I had plans and I am being unconscionably rude. We can do all of those plans later, too. For now—” He asked, “You all came here for a reason, I take it? Something about history?”

“… Well now I kinda want to ask about this idea of [Renew] leading to Wizardry.” Erick said, “I hadn’t even considered that. No one has.”

In retrospect, maybe he should have.

As far as Erick’s understanding of Wizardry went, anyone could enact ‘wizardry’ if they gathered enough personal, focused mana, but the timescales for that gathering were rather rough on most people. Everyone naturally produced mana, including non-Wizards. Normal people produced 10 mana per day, but dragons produced about 500-5000, according to Rozeta. In the Old Cosmology there were immortals who had cultivated their own mana for centuries just so they could create within their souls the perfect magic, and then use that magic. Wizards made millions of mana over a period of days, though, so it was very easy for them to make and cast Wizardry.

Erick still wasn’t clear on the exact difference between shaping mana and casting spells, and whatever the fuck Wizardry with mana crystals was, but he would likely find out soon enough.

Except...

Erick had serious doubts that [Renew] would allow for easy Wizardry. He let that doubt show, saying, “I don’t think it would work like that. For one, even if people are using the mana gifted to them by the Script, to prop up spells that they did not make themselves, the end result is a spellwork consisting of the input mana of everyone; not single-source mana. As far as I understand you need perfect, self-created mana to make wizardry.” He added, “At least that’s how I understand it.”

Redflame smiled, saying, “My final goals are likely unreachable, but I am still going to try, for there are historical records of wide scale muddled-Wizardry being enacted in ritual by a thousand mages at once, with each one of them attuned to the ritual and to each other. [Renew] should be able to shortcut this level of organization to some degree, but we shall see! I’m very glad that you are here in Ar’Cosmos now, Erick, because I have the mana necessary to make [Renew] at Basic Tier, and I want to! I have been saving up for just such a special occasion. I would dearly like to speak to you of what you think is necessary, and if I succeed, then I will gift this magic to you, and you can take it back to Veird with you when you go.” Erick surely had a surprised expression on his face, because Redflame’s own face morphed into joy. “And that is my spiel to you. Most of it, anyway. It was all in the letter, but you never got it, which is fine. You’re here now.”

“Why do you want [Renew], though?” Erick asked.

“Because I can hand it out to you and help you in your goals, but I can also hand it out to all my own people, too.” Redflame said, “Upkeep on a castle this large and on the borders of Ar’Cosmos is costly and [Renew] would solve most of those costs. And then there’s the big hope…” Redflame got a shine in his eyes, as he said, “If [Renew] is actually capable of Wizardry, then we will be able to cease our hunting of wild Wizards out in Veird and still be able to Paradox every newborn child into one of our three Houses. Maybe we could even undo the source of the Curse itself by targeting through an afflicted and hitting Kirginatharp. Ohh! Now that is the dream!”

For a long moment, Redflame’s hope for the future mirrored Erick’s, and he felt a deep kinship. This man had gone after [Gate], and according to the rules to get [Gate], he had to be the kind of person who wanted to expand civilization through the use of [Gate]. That was pretty much exactly Erick’s idea of [Gate], too.

Erick almost blurted out that he had created [Renew] already, and that Redflame’s experiment was already out there and ready to be performed. But he could not.

Not after being kidnapped into this land. Not after the shit that he had been put through. But mostly, because that would be outing himself as a Wizard, right then and there, and he didn’t trust anyone in this land. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

But something didn’t sit right.

He asked, “If you can do small Wizardry already with the mana you already have, then why not use that to free your children from the Curse?”

Redflame blinked a bit, then eyed Erick from afar. “… Ah. You truly know nothing of this land, do you?” He nodded. “Ah. I see it now. I see why Fairy Moon stole you away— To answer your question: We do use our small-wizardry to free as many children as we can. It’s an imperfect system we can only do every other year, for one person, but it is not nearly enough and those freed usually end up as dragonkin. It is rare that we can make full dragons. Sometimes the process goes well…” His voice trailed off. He came back. “Ar'Cosmos is at its population and mana and self-Wizardry cap. The only way we have found to actually expand is to use real Wizards.” He added, “And just so you know: We do treat our Wizards well, here in Ar’Cosmos. I know you likely have some wrong-headed ideas of what we do to our Wizards here, because in Veird they kill and imprison them, or strip them of their power and leave them to languish in some watched-over city. But here in Ar’Cosmos we do try to see that they are comfortable and happy and fulfilled.” He looked sad for a moment. “We’ve fallen so far from the heights of the Old Cosmology, but it is what it has to be, for the Old Wizards truly did destroy the Old Cosmology.”

Erick had a lot of thoughts about that. He picked one, and asked, “Did they truly kill the Old Cosmology?”

“… Well.” Redflame said, “That’s a course of study at the arcanaeum. If you wish to audit classes while you’re here you may do so at your leisure. We even have some former Wizards there, if you wish to speak to them? If you do find any nascent Wizards out there in Veird to help you make your [Gate]— I might be able to help with [Renew], but certainly not with [Gate]. If you find any Wizards, I would have you know that we don’t just ‘Break’ them and steal their power and then throw them away like they do out there on Veird. We do treat them well, and between Fairy Moon and I and an untouched Wizard, we could certainly help you to make [Gate] if you find a Wizard of sufficient power.”

He had already received such an offer from Stratagold.

Erick decided to tell them that. “Yours is a competing offer from the one I got in Stratagold.”

Redflame smiled wide, though he tried to keep his fangs hidden. “Tell me how to tip the scales and I will do so.”

Fairy Moon brought the conversation back around, “But before all that, we need you to explain the history of Ar’Cosmos; Erick has no basis for understanding our problems, yet. He still has many wrong-headed ideas.”

Erick did not have that many wrong-headed ideas in his head… Probably.

“Oh yesyesyes. I’m simply excited; don’t mind me,” Redflame said, waving an arm. “Where would you like to start?”

Fairy Moon said, “Begin before the Sundering, and continue on until the stabilization of Ar’Cosmos and the Three Houses. Tell all the secrets that you usually leave out. Erick is on the Path and he needs to know of [Gate], but keep most of that talk for another time.”

“Oh my.” Redflame lost a bit of his mirth. “That far back? I usually don’t go that far back in my lesson plans. Modern day history is much more relevant. Also: those secrets are graduate level work and they put ideas into people’s heads— Op! Wait. Yes. He’s on the Path. Of course. Might as well lay down the truth as early as I can.”

If Erick was reading him right, Redflame wasn’t sad or angry about the Sundering. Perhaps he had put it behind him? Most immortals Erick knew had not.

“Erick doesn’t know the true story of Idyrvamikor, either,” Fairy Moon said.

“Ah. Well. You would tell that part better than I, but I will give the usual seven-hour Sundering Lecture with the usual caveats. Feel free to eat and drink while I speak, or to ask for a break, for I know I will be taking some breaks now and then.”

Erick sipped his beer and settled in. The beef was great, but he was still full from lunch, and yet… he could eat again. It was quite good.

Redflame nibbled on his cow, which involved biting off a leg and swallowing it whole. He followed this with draining half a barrel full of ale. He licked his lips with a curling non-forked tongue, then he smiled, and began, “Back before the Sundering, I was doing the same thing as I do now; teaching history. That universe was very different from this universe, but mostly it was the same…”

- - - -

The Sundering happened on a Fourthday while I was teaching a class on the history of the Radiant Depths. By a quirk of fate I happened to look out the window and saw Primal Lightning consume my homeworld’s sister plane. I and a hundred thousand of the people I could reach within the next hour managed to bunker down in what you all would call my [Gate Space], which would one day become Ar’Cosmos, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. I didn’t get a second hour to search for more survivors. The Sundering ripped through my home plane and severed all the Paths leading everywhere.

We were cast adrift, along with the [Gate Space]s of every other person who had ever managed to make the spell, and who managed to get inside before the Primal Lightning came. There were quite a few of us, huddling down for safety in the Deep Paths, gathered together, but as the Old Cosmology began to fully collapse, even those spaces weren’t proof enough against The End.

When the Primal Lightning crossed the mana ocean, it left the Yawning Voids in its wake, and those True Voids eventually began to link together. Our gathered Paths were like boats in an ever-shrinking ocean. This is why we had gathered; it was not by choice, but by the magical laws of the Old Cosmology. We didn’t understand that foible right away, but we did soon enough.

And as the ocean drained away, some of those Paths began to fall into the Voids, even though we could not see them, or touch them, or know them at all.

Almost all of those Paths fell into the Yawning Void. I and the people I rescued were lucky, though. We managed to stay afloat in the mana ocean. We found solidity on Veird.

The rest of our time in the Old Cosmology you surely know. The final trip into the Yawning Void. The Script holding us together. The sacrifice of gods and monsters and everything that could not survive on the other side for at least a few minutes. In those few minutes, we lost so very many [Gate Spaces], but then the Grand Translation happened. We survived.

Pure chaos followed for about four years; both on Veird and also inside all the surviving [Gate Space].

There were wars everywhere on Veird, both above and below. Melemizargo killed 95% of everyone in the Underworld. About 50 different [Gate Spaces] from just as many Travelers were set adrift as their owners were killed or lost to the Deep Paths, trying to get back to the Old Cosmology. The fae took over about 50 other [Gate Spaces] from their owners and had their own Fae Wars out of sight of everyone else, for the Script trapped them all here on Veird, even those who should never be left in the same room together. A lot of them just went insane. Most fae actually committed suicide-by-wrought as they left the Paths and sought rest. Temporary rest, but all the same; effectively dead.

For the fae normally cannot die, you see. They are reborn in the mana with the memories of who they were before, but those memories are like faded thoughts. And thus, most fae passed on from this world, one way or the other.

Fairy Moon stayed, though. She’s been killed and reborn countless times, choosing to come back each time to ensure the stability of Ar’Cosmos, because of a pact formed between myself and her soon after the Sundering.

I normally would not tell you the wording of the Pact, for it was a sacred act of cooperation made between us back then, but she has told me to tell you, and so I will.

“To never forsake and to always help flourish, no matter the times or tribulations that may occur. To never ask for something that cannot be given. To always give what you can.”

It was actually a marriage vow, for those were some crazy times back then. Ah! Anyway. We still love each other in our own ways, but Fairy Moon is a hundred lifetimes removed from that old life, and I would not hold her to the marriage part of those vows, but the old vows still hold when we wish them to hold.

And so, Fairy Moon is reborn in Ar’Cosmos, and Ar’Cosmos is about a thousand times larger than it could be otherwise. Normally, [Gate Spaces] are much smaller than this. Normally, they’re about the size of a field of flowers with a hundred different waypoints of travel. The extra space in this land is attributed to those early years, when we spent 25 years gathering up all the [Gate Spaces] left by those who had passed on. Due to that, Ar’Cosmos was the size of Glaquin itself. It was almost a whole plane separated from Veird and the Script, and we had taken in all kinds of refugees who could not live inside the constraints of the Script. We even had a few rescued fae, other than Fairy Moon, but those people have mostly gone to their temporary rests, for now.

It was a complicated, messy time.

Fairy Moon died a few times, going on more dangerous missions. And one time she came back with Idyrvamikor at her side; her new husband. I was furious of course. But Idyrvamikor was, at the time, the strongest dragon on Veird, and so he had a certain amount of power over all the other dragons, including me. Not Rozeta, though, or Melemizargo, of course. I did not fight Idyrvamikor’s arrival, and after a while, I decided I did not want to. He was a good man who proved his goodness, and Fairy Moon and I were quits, anyway.

Idyrvamikor had come to Ar’Cosmos on a mission, though. A mission of peace to finally ascend to Rozeta’s Second, to fully stabilize the Script. To patch up old wrongs and make right the future. But more specifically, Rozeta had sent him on a mission to secure his power as the Second and to stop the small fights that he and Kirginatharp were getting into all the time. So he came here, and he tried to secure our power under his aegis.

Now that man was a true Wizard, in every sense of the word. He moved and magic moved with him. He spoke and magic made his words true. He wanted the best for everyone, and he did what he needed to do to get it done.

This was 24 years into the New Cosmology.

At this time, Ar’Cosmos was still quite close to Veird. The Script was actually active in this place, but it was a figment of what it is on Veird. You had to touch specific stones to gain access to your Status; it was a compromise...

And then, in late Year 25, the Death of All Halves occurred.

The Old Demons enacted a Demonic change upon the Script, and the mana followed the Script’s decree. All of the Old Dragonkin died. All of my children. All of my nephews and nieces and neighbors and 90% of everyone I worked with on a daily basis.

It was another Sundering, of a different sort.

All of the [Gate Space] that we had managed to gather instantly began to fray and split and fall off into the True Void, for the controllers of those Gates and the people we had appointed were either broken, or dead. An entire civilization of dragonkin died all at once.

In this crisis, Idyrvamikor helped to contain and strengthen some of our Ar’Cosmos, to prevent further disaster, but he was needed elsewhere. He went out into the world to fix the problem with the Script before the whole world broke apart.

Idyrvamikor succeeded, but halfway through his success, Kirginatharp attacked, for Idyrvamikor was weakened by his act of High Wizardry. Kirginatharp would not have won that battle, it would have been one of their normal spats, if not for Melemizargo intervening and securing Kirginatharp’s victory.

Now. I will say this:

The truth of that battle is only known to the dead, the insane, and the one that yet lives but who has his own version of events. I would not call him a liar, but I would not call him a truth-teller, either.

The outcome of this horrendous act was myriad.

The first outcome was the orcols. Some people argue that the orcols came about directly because Kirginatharp attacked when Idyrvamikor was in the middle of his High Wizardry. Some argue that Idyrvamikor was too in tune with the dead and the hateful of the world when he was dealing with all that death, so he created the orcols on purpose, and he would have combined all people into one, erasing all lines of race and species and preventing all wars based on those lines, ever again. Some say that this act was too full of Idyrvamikor’s rage, and in doing this, he created Elemental Carnage and put it inside the orcols, and that Idyrvamikor had planned this, and thus he needed to be stopped. Some say that Idyrvamikor was always full of Elemental Carnage, and he used that dangerous power to good cause, but the orcols and the Rage were an accident. Some say that Idyrvamikor called for aid against his brother Kirginatharp, and the orcs and the trolls responded first, and thus they were caught up in Idyrvamikor’s spiral of power.

That was only half of the battle, though.

The other half was when Kirginatharp responded with Wizardry of his own, and attempted to wrest all of Idyrvamikor’s power from him. The outcome of that was recorded for all time; made indelible onto Dragon Essence itself, if you know how to look. But it also might be just something that Melemizargo did, all on his own.

Kirginatharp Cursed.

Idyrvamikor laughed in the face of True Death, and his laughter was a Curse as well.

Melemizargo did something at the exact wrong time.

Hate melded with hate. Rage melded with rage.

And thus was born the Dragon Essence Curse.

I knew none of this at the time, though. I explain this here, at this juncture, simply because that was how it chronologically happened.

The next part is a complete blur, for I was also afflicted by that Curse. Every single dragon was. The Death of All Halves almost caused the extinction of us dragons, too. So I will touch upon some major points and skip over most of what came next. Mostly, it was war.

The Rage Wars.

Back then, [Teleport] had not yet been invented. All we had to move around easily were the [Gate Space]s that were now falling apart and also untended. The newly-formed orcols came for those [Gate Spaces] in order to spread their war. The war progressed, but I didn’t care. In my own personal Rage I killed everyone in my [Gate Space] and finally knew peace. I instantly went the way of Melemizargo; rejecting the Script-filled world, trying to find the way back to the Old Cosmology, even though I knew it was impossible.

But the Deep Paths were still there.

In my grief, and my pain, and with every Path rapidly filling up with Orcols, who were the only people I could stand to be around for we shared a kind of Rage, but it was not the same, and so we could not coexist.

I took my Gate Network and twisted it. I knew that the Script was ‘distant’ inside Ar’Cosmos, so I went deeper with that Truth. Deeper than anyone should ever go in the Paths. I could have fallen off into the True Void at any moment in time, but I did not care. I was running. And then a curious thing happened. As I ran, I felt better. As I ran faster, I felt better faster. The Rage slowly drained away as the Path became ever-more twisted and distant.

And so, I buried myself in the Path until I was under so many layers of distance that I found my salvation once again.

I found Fairy Moon in the mana. It wasn’t till then that I knew that I had not been running from pain, but running toward love. In that act of reconnection the Rage finally left. I revived Fairy Moon, and she brought me back to myself.

In this act, we lit the way toward the future.

This land would eventually blossom into the Ar’Cosmos of today; a respite from the Dragon Blood Curse that exists only out there in Veird.

Fairy Moon and I reconnected, but I would not leave this land. The world out there was too painful. So she left instead, and she returned with refugees. No dragons, though. All of those who had survived were in deep hiding. We began to grow Ar’Cosmos once again, though even 1400 years later it has still not reached the heights of those first 25 years, Post Sundering.

Eventually, though, after stabilization occurred, I went upward and outward for the first time in three decades.

The Rage came back in small parts and then deeper, the closer I got to Veird. I thought my core had been completely corrupted by the actions of Idyrvamikor and Kirginatharp, though I did not know that the problem was a lot deeper than that until later. I did what anyone does when their core does not suit them: I divested myself of it. It still had some use, though, so I set it down in Ar’Cosmos and gave it the assignment of stabilizing the land. It worked. This system continues to work to this day.

And so I went out into Veird without any problems at all, searching for answers to what had happened between Idyrvamikor and Kirginatharp and the orcols and the Rage and all the rest. I had heard snippets from refugees, but none of them had a complete story.

I needed to find out what had happened.

There was only one dragon living openly, though, so I went to the only place I could to find answers. I went to Oceanside, and I visited Kirginatharp. This was a mistake.

I learned, first hand, that something had happened to Dragon Essence itself. I barely survived the battle, and only because I was able to kowtow to Kirginatharp and almost die in the process, while also escaping back to Ar’Cosmos.

Kirginatharp knows I exist, though, and his Curse compels him to eat the hearts of every dragon he finds, and to rip the essence out of every person who so much as touches Dragon Essence. He is cursed with the original Curse. There is no saving him, for he likes it that way, for the Curse makes him like it that way. It is a self-deepening spell.

And that is the problem.

The problem is the Script, and the Curse. They are a self-recreating cycle. The Curse exists, and so the Script makes the Curse exist, but the Script makes the Curse, so the Curse makes the Script make it all over again. It would take an act of Wizardry on the level of the now-dead Idyrvamikor to break that cycle.

But anyway.

Ar’Cosmos is a land divided from Veird, where dragons can live and where the Script is too far distant, through winding, tricky Pathways, to allow for the Dragon Blood Curse to reach us here. But we have found ways to go back to Veird and not be affected by the Curse; mostly, this involves dragons leaving their cores behind when they come here, and then they’re okay. Every trip into Ar’Cosmos is a permanent weakening of the dragon who makes the journey, but there is no other way to keep the Curse out of this land.

Except to shift one’s Dragon Essence into something else.

And so, that is what we do. In those first years after we started reestablishing Ar’Cosmos, an orcol Wizard was brought in by Fairy Moon. This man managed to turn my Dragon Essence into Carnage Essence, which is not the same thing at all, but functionally, for me, it is. I can now travel on Veird without falling prey to the Curse. It was the only way.

But make no mistake: Dragon Essence itself is not the problem.

Kirginatharp and the Curse and the Script; These are three individual problems that reinforce each other, and which Rozeta is content to let happen.

Some people prefer to live as what they would call ‘True Dragons’ here in Ar’Cosmos. I am not one of those people, but I would not begrudge anyone their own choices in this life.

Anyway. Eventually, Fairy Moon found two more Wizards of great skill, and that is how we got the three Great Houses of Ar’Cosmos.

House Handinoi, also known as House Fae. Current Matriarch by the name of Illustrious Moon. She has held the position for the last 1100 years and done great things with it, ensuring that outside Wizards are continually found and brought into the fold, so that we might keep them safe and also prevent them from breaking the world ever again. House Fae are the builders of Ar’Cosmos, and the keepers of the Path.

House Welixor, also known as House Death. Current Patriarch by the name of Inferno Maw. He has held the position for 800 years. He ascended to his position as Master Necromancer at the young age of 125. He and his necromancers oversee the outside defense of Ar’Cosmos; they guard the Paths in, and out.

House Fizacaw, also known as House Carnage, is my own house, though I stepped down as patriarch many, many years ago. Current Matriarch by the name of Bright Smile. She has held that position for the last 150 years. We are responsible for the defenses inside Ar’Cosmos.

Then there are the unaligned dragons; those with unshifted Dragon Essence who come and go, but who are unable to settle down either due to personal choice of not wanting to shift their Essence, or unable to get a shift, due to the lack of Wizards.

And…

Hmm.

I think that’s it. Yes.

Oh, sure, there’s 1300 years of history I’m leaving out, but that’s not important right now, since all the actual [Gate Space] stuff is mostly from those early years or better explained by Fairy Moon and others in House Fae. I did not make my [Gate Space] myself; I walked the Worldly Path back in the Old Cosmology, and the Darkness helped me take that final step. The fae have always been inside any [Gate Space] they ever wished to find, though. Mostly they just leave people alone unless you go poking at them directly.

One thing I will say, though, is that unless you’re willing to support the growth of civilization, like I am, then you are simply never going to get [Gate Space], no matter what sort of tricks or knowledge you learn. Of that, I am certain.

- - - -

Erick sat back in his chair. Breaks had been had and drinks had been sorted and Erick switched to water and light mead somewhere around hour 3. But Redflame was a great speaker. Erick almost forgot his own problems with Fairy Moon in that half a day of listening; in hearing how she always worked hard to rescue so many others.

Erick hoped that was true, and not propaganda.

Erick was pretty sure it was true enough. Redflame definitely gave off the air of a true historian who knew his stuff, and wanted to impart the truth to you as much as ‘truth’ could exist in the chaotic depths of history. Redflame had even said as much a few times during his lecture, in the more controversial parts.

And now the lecture was over.

Redflame finished off another barrel of his own mead, smiled, then asked, “Questions?”

“A lot, but I will content myself with one:” Erick asked, “If Ar’Cosmos is under space constraints, then why is there a whole empty forest out there?”

Redflame smiled wide again, but he was still very aware that he had large fangs, so he smiled without showing his teeth. “An astute observation! That’s all a fae trick. If you could see through the Paths then you would see that it’s ten people per ten square meters, and some of us are dragons! Ah ha! But yes— There are space constraints here. We try to keep everyone comfortable by hiding that as much as we can.”

“… How does that work?”

“As good as we can make it work,” Fairy Moon said. “Actual learning on that subject would need to happen at House Fae, though, with Illustrious Moon and my people. Redflame can manage the land, but he cannot make it more.”

“Quite right!” Redflame stretched up to his full height. “And I think that’s a good place to leave it, for now. I would give you a token to let you return here whenever you wished, if you desire, Erick. I’m sure we have lots to discuss!”

“I would take that token.” Erick said, “And be back later. I have a lot to think about right now.”

Redflame nodded, then turned his eyes to the part of the table directly in front of Erick, where his plate had been. His eyes flickered. A bright red flame coalesced out of the air and shrunk down into a tiny ruby ring. “Just wear that however you wish and you can always find your way here.”

Erick picked it up, but he did not put it on. He slipped it into a pocket, saying, “This is a welcome gift.”

Redflame smiled.

Fairy Moon stood from her chair, saying, “I would take the shortcut back home.” With a smirk, she added, “It was good seeing you again, my ‘husband’.”

“And you as well, ‘wifey’.” Redflame said, “Ah! And now I must get back to my students. I gave them the day off but then there’s the night classes. I will prepare all my [Renew] materials for when you decide to show, Erick. I look forward to working with you! And I hope you get [Gate Space] working, without Melemizargo’s Wizardry. Even if he is acting better these days, I wouldn’t trust him.”

Fairy Moon stood from her seat. Erick followed, saying he appreciated the meal; he decided against ever saying ‘thank you’ while here in Ar’Cosmos. The large, red dragon nodded, then vanished back into the braziers on the sides of the room, and Erick and Fairy Moon walked through a white stone door that hung in midair.

- - - -

They landed in the dining room where Erick had met Illustrious Moon.

Fairy Moon held up Redflame’s red ring, saying, “I’ll give this back to you if you promise only to wear it in most-dire circumstances. I won’t have your presence portend the end of my dearest dragon.”

Erick touched his pocket, but he could already tell that yup, the ring was gone. He was slightly miffed about the small theft, but it was honestly small potatoes compared to everything else, and to the realization that just now entered Erick’s mind.

Erick said, “You’re worried that I am going to kill everyone here. That’s why you’re doing this.” He added, “You know. I would consider that rude of you, if you hadn’t overshadowed that small failure to trust with all the other ones already demonstrated.”

“I have many weary worries, and the outcomes of your actions are but one of them. Also, this ring will reveal your Wizardry to Redflame. You were smart not to put it on.”

Erick felt a chill. Yes; he had considered that a possibility when Redflame offered the chance to come back and then gave a ring to enable his return. But to have it spelled out so blatantly...

Erick asked, “What would he do if he found out?”

“About your Wizardry, or your [Renew]?” Fairy Moon asked, guessing at the rest of Erick’s thoughts without him needing to say them.

“Either.”

“A golden cage and every need met, including speaking to the outside world; the same for any Wizard we capture, but on the better end of the spectrum of fates— DO NOT get captured by anyone else from House Carnage. If such a thing looks to happen, then run to Redflame, if you are able.” After a tense moment, Fairy Moon continued, “The difference between Redflame and I is that I am willing to let you leave when you prove your power and capture the Silencing of all Sunderings, in addition to making [Gate]. But he would never let you go; you would have to force that future.”

“… I’m going to bed.” Erick looked around and saw a window. “Does the sun ever set around here? How long have I been here in Ar’Cosmos, anyway? How much time has passed on Veird?”

The sky shifted outside the window. Night crept in and barley-pink flames all throughout the house threw deep shadows and warm light across the stone and the wood and the sculptures in the walls.

“Night happens when I want.” Fairy Moon asked, “Would you like a normal cycle, or a chosen cycle?”

“… Normal solar cycle would be fine; 12 hours of sun, 12 of night.”

Fairy Moon nodded. “About five days have passed since I stole you from Stratagold, both in here and on Veird. We don’t tinker with time here in Ar’Cosmos; it gets too confusing.”

Erick nodded, then held out his hand. “Ring.”

Fairy Moon handed the ring over.

And then Erick walked off, saying, “Good night!”

“Your room is down the other hallway. Just follow your necklace; it will always lead you there.”

Erick turned around and went the other direction. And now that he tried to feel his necklace… Yup. It was pulling him in that direction. The ring, now in his pocket, was pulling him in a different direction. Well okay then.

Fairy Moon said, “Sleep well.”

Erick hurried to get out of the woman’s direct line of sight, but he wasn’t foolish enough to think that that was something he could ever actually do.

- - - -

Back in his room and once again alone enough to relax, but probably not alone at all if there were truly ‘10 people inside every 10 square meters of space’, Erick instantly went to the bathroom, puked up nothing because he had eaten five hours ago, and then he had a nice long bath. As steam rose all around him and Ophiel played in the water, Erick watched a very large, subtly green sliver of a moon cross the sky outside the picture window. It was an unnatural moon, and it was only half there. The parts that were in shadow actually had stars floating where the moon itself should have occluded all view. It resembled a child’s drawing, made by a kid who didn’t understand that moons were actually spherical even if parts of them were in darkness; they were not simply the slivers of light they sometimes appeared to be.

The wind blew outside. Candlelight danced all around.

Erick let himself sink into the waters. He hoped Jane was okay. How was she doing after the soul slime? What was the outcome of that? Was Spur okay? They probably were. How was Stratagold responding to Erick’s disappearance? What were Tasar and Sitnakov and Riivo doing? Had Koyabez’s church gotten the Crystal Star back, yet?

… Could he phone Phagar?

He had a hundred mana. He tried it. Nothing happened.

Ah. Well then.

Eventually, Erick surfaced, dried off, and went to bed—

He had an idea.

[Renew] as Elemental Benevolence? That could work.

… Tomorrow. He would work on that tomorrow.