#road to cragwall

[demigodforfend]

Twilight of the Demigods: Forfend Edition - Session 5

"Haha, yes!" Callan laughed, excitement overflowing. "This battle will be legendary!"

He clanged his metal fists together and launched himself at Kagoshi. He reared back and slammed his fist into Kagoshi's midsection. Fire sputtered beneath the contacted point, burning into Kagoshi's blackened flesh.

Callan didn't slow. He swung wildly, connecting with Kagoshi's knee in an attempt to topple him.

Kagoshi was doubled over from the gut check, but he didn't so much as flinch at the shot to his knee.

Kagoshi's eyes flared with dark flame. He snarled at Callan with too-sharp teeth as oily black magic spilled from his back. It coalesced into skeletal wings which clung tight to his shoulders just as they had the first time Forfend had seen him do this.

Kagoshi put off a deathly necrotic aura, contrasting sharply with Callan's radiating heat.

A savage roar split the bleeding sky. Kagoshi slammed his oversized fist into Callan.

A resounding metal clang rang out, but Callan was remarkably undamaged. In fact, he looked elated.

Kagoshi hissed in wild rage. He crashed into Callan's unguarded side with his other massive fist.

This time the metallic clang was followed with a creak. Callan grunted. The grin on his face never faltered.

"Good strike!" Callan praised. The fire harbored in the creases of his body dimmed as Kagoshi's necrotic energy seeped into him.

Kagoshi growled deep in his throat.

Callan struck at Kagoshi's knee again, glancing off with nothing to show for it. Kagoshi's stance was solid and his skin unnaturally tough.

Callan barely dodged raking claws, slipping under Kagoshi's arms to punch him in the stomach again. Fire erupted from his elbow and rocketed his fist forward.

Kagoshi grimaced, roaring through clenched teeth and staggering back a step.

Forfend glanced at its companions. Kairi looked concerned, but not nearly as panicked as Forfend felt. Melzaryn sat in the grass, watching the fight with detached curiosity.

Forfend turned back to the fight, apprehension rising ever higher within it.

Callan was like Forfend. It was quite certain of that now. It hoped he would win the fight. It prepped a spell in case he didn't. Kagoshi would certainly kill him.

Kagoshi clasped his hands together and slammed both fists down directly on top of Callan's head. The ground cracked beneath Callan, burying him up to his knees in the dirt.

"Yes!" Callan screamed, inexplicably elated. He didn't even seem to notice he was trapped in place.

Kagoshi brought both his fists down again, this time slamming one into each of Callan's metallic shoulders.

Callan sank further into the earth, laughing manically in his excitement, "Fantastic!"

Suddenly, he jolted and panic crossed his features. He chanced a glance down at his entrapped feet.

Kagoshi roared into Callan's shocked face. The burns on his scarred and glowing flesh mended themselves back together.

Callan glared intensely. He hauled back and swung at Kagoshi's kneecap. He fell short as Kagoshi shifted out of the way. Undeterred, Callan struck out with his other fist. It connected with a heavy crack, fire spurting from beneath his knuckles.

Kagoshi dropped to one knee, the boiling heat of Callan's body catching the scraps of his mangled shirt alight with radiant flame.

Kagoshi wavered and fell.

There was a moment of tense silence as Kagoshi slowly shrank back to his proper size.

"That was fun! Oh, uhm..." Callan nudged Kagoshi's arm. "He's unconscious. Whoops."

Forfend hesitated briefly. It looked up at the sky. The unsettling red was beginning to slowly fade away.

It began making its way across the field. It tapped the symbol on its chest and felt the magic stutter uncertainly.

"Oh, no, it's alright," Callan called. "I can heal him."

He reached out again, soft orange magic drifting from his hand and closing Kagoshi's wounds.

Kagoshi groaned and slowly sat up. He looked irritated.

"That was very well fought!" Callan praised. He dragged himself awkwardly out of the dirt and brushed himself off. The metal rescinded, leaving his flesh its proper color. "Fantastic, honestly! I genuinely felt those blows! I have to say, I have not felt, well, pain in a very long time!"

Kagoshi grumbled, "Glad I could help." He stood shakily.

"Did you enjoy our bout?" Callan asked.

"Hmph," Kagoshi huffed noncommittally.

"I'll be perfectly frank with you," Callan began, undaunted by Kagoshi's ever-foul mood, "this was one of the best fights I have had in a very long time. I honestly didn't expect to find anyone like you--like me--here. I only came here to train. This has been a very pleasant surprise."

"May I ask a question?" Forfend interjected, stepping further out onto the field.

It strayed more towards Callan and paused a distance away so as not to be too close to Kagoshi. The sky was still bleeding overhead. Though the wounds were moving from throbbing red to muted purple, Forfend did not trust Kagoshi to be in control of himself while this symbol of his rage still stood.

"Of course," Callan welcomed, glancing between Forfend's tense form and Kagoshi's spent one.

"What deity blesses you?" Forfend asked.

Callan stepped forward, actually placing himself between Forfend and Kagoshi, and sat down in the soft grass. "Why, the Apostle of Iron himself," Callan answered, confirming what Forfend already knew. "I'm not wholly certain why or how I was chosen, or why this particular ability was given to me, but who else could have gifted it to me but Fornax?"

Forfend's chest lit up bright orange. It had never met others like itself.

"If I may ask," Callan began and looked Forfend over, "what precisely is your nature? I have seen many stone creatures in my travels, but you seem a bit more unique. Especially given that." He motioned to Forfend's glowing runic face.

"I am a Fornaxian," Forfend answered proudly. "Fornax built me himself during the Sundering."

"During the Sundering, you say!" Callan nearly shouted, impressed.

Forfend nodded.

"You fought during that time?" His eyes grew wide as he considered the thought.

"I did," Forfend nodded again.

"Would it be presumptuous to ask if we could have a friendly bout?" Callan's hands were twitching, an adamantine sheen glinting off his fingertips.

Forfend looked him over. He had heavy bruising already forming around his face and shoulders. His knuckles were bruised and bloodied. His breathing was beginning to steady out, but it was still heavy.

Even if Forfend did want to fight, which was a rare occurrence all its own, it could not fight Callan in good conscience while he was in this condition.

Forfend glanced over Callan's shoulder to where Kagoshi sulked. He was much worse for wear, but Forfend also feared he would get involved if another fight broke out.

"I would prefer not," it answered.

"Ah, alright. That's fair." Callan dusted himself off a bit more.

"We are actually very lucky your bout did not go awry."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"It is. And Kagoshi," Forfend called sharply.

Kagoshi rolled his eyes before settling an irritated gaze on Forfend.

"The sky."

Both Kagoshi and Callan looked up. The last tints of murderous red were fading back into the proper blue.

"Why does it look like the Sundering?" Forfend was nearly certain it knew why at this point, but it also had a hunch that Kagoshi knew more than he was saying. It wanted him to admit it.

"Oh," Callan said, shock overtaking his features.

Kagoshi shrugged. "I don't know. I've only heard stories about that. So that's what the sky really looked like, huh?"

Forfend hummed grimly.

"Uhm, if I may," Callan studied Forfend's blank face for a moment. "Why are you discussing Kagoshi's ability to become a giant as something, well, bad? He may look like a demon, that's true. But he isn't one. Is he?"

Kagoshi shrugged again. "I don't know."

"He has needlessly attacked me once, nearly twice, in that state," Forfend recounted.

"Is it like a battle frenzy?" Callan asked.

"The first time I was holding a child from my hometown. If I had been slower, Kagoshi would have killed him. It is much worse than a battle frenzy." Forfend had seen battle-crazed warriors. It had never seen anything but monsters of Atrox attack children.

"Oh dear," Callan exclaimed.

Kagoshi grumbled and shrank into himself, ducking away from Forfend's gaze for the first time.

"Well, I have heard that every demigod power--ah, it is safe to assume you're all demigods, right? Given Kagoshi's ability and all of that?" Callan gestured to Forfend as a whole.

Forfend nodded.

Kairi gasped. "That explains so much!"

"I'm glad to know my hunch was correct. I have always heard demigods give off a certain presence, though it isn't necessarily obvious." Callan glanced over the group again, assessing their statures. "Anyway, I've heard that every blessing, every unique power, comes with a drawback. I suppose that is Kagoshi's. Still, that ability is what makes you special. It's nothing to be ashamed of. And who knows? Maybe you will overcome that weakness."

Callan sounded very earnest, but Forfend was struggling to agree.

Kagoshi looked doubtful as well. He mumbled noncommittally.

"You've seen my ability. I'm able to turn parts or all of my body into metal. It does have its fair share of weaknesses, though thankfully none were exploited during that battle. One of the drawbacks is that it sometimes takes a bit for me to register pain," Callan shared. "I'm only just now beginning to feel the effects of the fight."

He gently ran his hands across his heavily bruised shoulders, twinging each time he attempted to apply pressure.

"Actually, those were some fantastic blows! Where did you learn how to fight!" he asked Kagoshi. He was trying to lighten the mood.

"I... grew up learning," Kagoshi muttered.

"Self taught then?"

"No," Kagoshi corrected. "I had a few mentors." He looked to be uncomfortable discussing his situation.

"Oh! Well, you've got a leg up on me in that regard. I taught myself and I've always had my crutches when it came to fighting." He clenched his fist, letting adamantine slide up his arm to his elbow. "You were very lucky to have teachers to assist you."

Kagoshi evaded eye contact. "Mhm."

"What about the rest of you?" Callan inquired. "What are your powers? If I may ask, that is."

"Look, I'm not even certain if anyone else here even has powers or whatever," Kagoshi shook his head.

"They're demigods, aren't they?" Callan countered.

"You've seen mine," Forfend reminded.

"Alright, Chimney," Kagoshi waved dismissively at Forfend, "I don't even know if what you did is actually a demigod power or just something unique to you."

"It is both." Forfend crossed its arms, stone grinding from within it.

Callan glanced between them, a question forming on his lips.

Melzaryn spoke up before Callan could voice his thoughts. "I can tell you the ground here would be a horrible foundation for building." He shrugged. "But that's all I've got."

"Oh, do you have an analytical eye? Is that it?"

"Something like that. Mostly, I just like construction." Melzaryn grinned.

"Oh, then Tallbarius is your patron. Is that right?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Melzaryn looked wholly unconcerned.

"I can see people's emotions, like an aura surrounding them," Kairi piped up. "But I can't turn it off so it gets overwhelming in crowds. Oh, and it doesn't seem to work on other demigods."

"Ah, I have heard that's a problem for many powers affecting others. For one reason or another, they don't work on people like us. Fascinating." Callan nodded.

"Kairi, if I may ask, who is your patron deity?" Forfend was very curious. Out of the group, Kairi had been the one best able to conceal her true nature. Forfend would not have guessed she was a demigod. Only startlingly perceptive.

"I don't know," she shrugged sheepishly.

"Hm, if it's based on emotions, it could be a number of them." Callan tapped his chin. "Perhaps Amare."

Kairi nodded. "That makes sense!"

"And Kagoshi," Forfend turned its gaze to him again. "What is yours?"

"I. Don't. Know," Kagoshi growled.

"It's a very intense rage, isn't it? Your patron could be Pumearon, god of punishment. Or perhaps Maestus, god of vengeance," Callan offered. "Tell me, do you have a grudge of some kind?"

Kagoshi was silent for a long moment. "Maybe."

"Well, for some it isn't quite so obvious. For myself and..." He glanced at Forfend. "I apologize, I haven't caught your name."

"Forfend," it replied simply.

"Excellent. Do you perhaps have a title?"

"I do not."

"Oh, well, I do have one you can use. The Fornaxian!" Callan grinned excitably.

Forfend wasn't certain it needed or even wanted a title. It was a blacksmith by trade, not a leader or a warrior. Not anymore.

"The Chimney," Kagoshi joked dryly.

"Hm, I'm not certain that suits him," Callan muttered as he considered it.

"It does not. I cannot create smoke on command." Forfend rolled its shoulders. The smokestacks on its back were only active during a small handful of events, typically when it was creating. It had no cognitive control over them.

"Well, as I was saying," Callan guided the conversation back on track. "For some, our patrons must be guessed at. But for those like Forfend and I, it is quite obvious. My ability to turn myself into metal and Forfend, well, your appearance including the chimneys is a dead giveaway. I don't mean to offend."

Forfend shrugged. It wasn't concerned with what others thought of its appearance. It had become proud of its divine craftsmanship. If that craftsmanship made clear who had created it, that was for the better.

"There are others who go their entire lives without ever knowing of their demigod status," Callan continued. "Or caring about it either."

That surprised Forfend. It had been aware of its demigod abilities the second it had first awakened.

Flesh and blood beings were very different though. Unlike a blessed construct, they needed to grow up slowly and garner an understanding of the world from the experience. It would be easy for a god to touch their lives long before they had any capacity to remember it happening.

Callan caught Forfend's thoughtful stance and glanced at the rest of the group who had similar expressions.

"Do you not know these things?" Callan asked, confusion showing in his halting speech. "I would think that demigods would be aware of this information."

"For my part," Forfend answered, "I was damaged during the Sundering and reawakened only two years ago. I am quite unaware of recent events."

"Ah, I see, I see," Callan nodded. "Well, I hope you are enjoying the present!"

"I was, up until quite recently," Forfend crossed its arm, irritation cracking stones in its chest.

Callan held up his hand and started to question the rather bitter response, but Kagoshi spoke up instead.

"I've just been busy."

Kairi shrugged.

"I knew a good bit of that stuff." Melzaryn fiddled absently with his staff. He wasn't paying much attention.

Callan stepped over to Melzaryn and held his hand out. "I haven't greeted you properly, have I? What's your name and do you have a title?"

Melzaryn briefly clasped Callan's hand. "Melzaryn. You can call me Mel if you'd like, but I guess my title would be 'The Only One Here With A College Degree.'"

"You went to college?!" Kagoshi yelled.

"So that's why he's so smart," Kairi nodded to herself.

"I've never been to a school before. That sounds interesting," Callan said.

"I am not certain what a college is." Forfend tilted its head.

Melzaryn stifled a laugh. "Well, it's good to know I was right."

"It's a place of education." Callan tapped Forfend's shoulder.

"Ah. Sounds wonderful." Anywhere designed for sharing knowledge was a place Forfend could support.

The thought reminded it that Callan had some knowledge Forfend would like him to share. "What is the Celestial Summit you mentioned?"

Callan perked up excitedly. "This will be a pretty considerable explanation. Let's rest for a bit while I explain."

Kagoshi dropped into the soft grass immediately.

Kairi sat beside him and nudged his head into her lap. She wiggled her fingers above him, letting pink and yellow glittering magic fall onto his wounds.

Melzaryn plopped onto the ground next to Forfend.

Callan placed himself in the middle of the group and glanced up at Forfend with a friendly smile.

Taking the hint, it carefully lowered its bulk to the ground.

"The Celestial Summit is two things. Firstly it's a place. It is a great mountain to the..." Callan trailed off and checked his surroundings. It seemed he'd lost his bearings. "... Northeast of here," he finally decided.

"It's believed to be blessed," he continued. "They say it was actually the place that the gods gathered for the final assault against Atrox and its forces. That's an interesting tidbit, but it is also rumor. Regardless, there are most certainly some kind of celestial blessings going on there."

"The second thing is that the Celestial Summit serves as a gathering place for all of the most powerful and important demiurgic figures through all of Rozdarta." Callan was getting more excited the longer he talked. "All of the major players attend. The Tempestuous King Maggard Stormrike, the Sword Saint Takahiro Suzume, the rulers of the great Azure Sea, and the rulers of the Theocratic Alliance. The Flame's Ire is even there!"

Forfend had heard a couple of those names a time or two, but it couldn't honestly say it was familiar with any of them.

Jessie had talked about them with something between pity and disapproval. He'd never liked the idea of demigods wielding their abilities to gain power and control, but he also recognized that the path was unavoidable for many of them.

Forfend agreed. As a demigod, it felt it had a responsibility to do good and help others. That responsibility did not require it to gain fortune and notoriety. It preferred to live quietly which is why it didn't share its status with just anyone.

Most people assumed it was a blessed statue and nothing more. It was fine with that.

"The Celestial Summit was founded when, ah, well..." Callan shrugged. "To be honest, the details have mostly been lost to time. But they say a group of powerful demigods banded together there to fight back against a calamity of some sort. It was something about a cult, they say."

Callan's eyes lit up. "There were a number of demigods who were members of the Celestial Alliance, namely Takahiro Suzume the Sword Saint! He is still around, though the other founding members have since passed. Takahiro Suzume is a demigod of Deallus and he's known to be able to wield any weapon to its fullest potential with unrivaled expertise!"

"There's also Nero Archontas the Riptide! They say she could manipulate water at a whim to create massive waves!" Callan threw his hands out to emphasize.

"And Tachys Featherhand the Tempest! He wielded control of the weather at his fingertips! Asheaon the Amber Saint for which the land of Ashea is named! He was known as an incredibly kind paladin!" Callan was getting visibly more excited, practically bouncing as he described these people. "Warick Exypnos the All Knowing from the great Adamantine Mountains! He was a great wizard, but he unfortunately passed rather recently. Ah, there's also Casvir Harmony the Inspiring! A great bard and diplomat of the Kuumedian Desert famed for his leadership and kindness. He was actually the one to bring the Desert together!"

"The last member of the Celestial Alliance is Vallurn Senshi the Undying." Callan leaned in conspiratorially. "I've actually heard rumor he's still alive, but no one knows for sure."

"Wait, what was that name again?" Kagoshi sat up, tuning in for the first time since Callan began speaking.

"Vallurn Senshi, the Undying demigod. He was, or perhaps is, a giant. It's said he has the ability to become impervious to damage for a short time."

Kagoshi stared intently, the gears in his mind turning. He didn't seem to find whatever information he was trying to recall. Perplexity settled on his face.

"There's an old tale about a great wave of fire that threatened to destroy the entire Kuumedian Desert. They say he stood in front of the blaze and parted the flames into the air," Callan shared. "It's a fascinating story and it is my favorite out of all the stories I've heard."

Forfend tilted its head. These were all epic tales of extraordinary individuals, but that's all they were. They did little to actually explain anything.

"May I ask what it is they do at the Celestial Summit?"

"It's, um, they..." Callan trailed off. "I've never actually been invited. I don't know firsthand." He rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck. "You either have to be formally invited or make yourself famed enough to earn a title. I hope to gain entry one day but from what I understand, they gather together to discuss the state of the world and keep the peace in Rozdarta. They have something known as the Pact at World's End which is where they've agreed to leave the leadership of... uhm..." He trailed off again and creased his brow like he was trying to remember. "Ah, well, I'm not very into politics, so I can't say. I know all about the Celestial Alliance and the Celestial Summit, but the legal jargon escapes me. They essentially just keep the peace."

Forfend gazed up at the blue sky. "It sounds like racket." The Celestial Summit sounded like demigods ruling the world by abusing their powers, deciding what was right and wrong, what was legal and illegal, what would and would not be tolerated all across Rozdarta without the input of the people they governed. That didn't sit right with Forfend.

"Yes, it is very complicated," Callan nodded. "They do things like make sure no one is committing illegal warfare and that any wars that occur actually have grounds for the conflict. Can't have people warring for no reason. That would bring all our lives crashing down around us."

"And why do you want to join this Summit?" Forfend asked. Callan wasn't political, but he was looking at a great deal of political work if he chose this path. Forfend doubted he'd be suited for it.

"Well, you see, I made a promise a long time ago. I personally want to fulfill my goal of becoming a great hero. One for the legends, as they say. Like Vallurn! Honestly, I'm still surprised you don't know any of these stories."

Kagoshi cast a sharp glance at Kairi and she returned a knowing smirk.

Forfend felt it had missed the context for their silent conversation.

"Vallurn," Forfend repeated to itself. The more Callan said the name, the more familiar it sounded.

Jace.

Jace talked about Vallurn as a great hero.

Forfend could never tell which stories he'd heard and which ones he'd made up though. He was hardly a reliable source.

"I'm trying to gain some notoriety for myself to achieve my goal and I've recently heard rumor of a sort of festival of combat taking place in the deadlands of the Kuumedian Desert," Callan shared. "I actually came here to Tyrwedia to train for that event!"

Kagoshi leaned forward, listening intently.

"I've also caught wind of a rumor that four famous warriors have all traveled here for one reason or another. I'm hoping to test my mettle against them, but my bout with you, Kagoshi, was a very unexpected event!" Callan flashed a friendly grin. "I mean no disrespect in this, but you don't strike me as someone with a great deal of renown. Especially given that you don't have a title. So I assume you aren't one of the famous warriors."

"No, I'm not," Kagoshi answered flatly. "But they do pique my interest."

"Oh yes, certainly!" Callan almost shouted. "One even came from the great Fulgar Isles! The one with the Swiftblade! Could you imagine that?!"

"So tell me more about the festival of combat," Kagoshi nudged.

"Oh, well--"

Forfend cut Callan off with a sharp sound like metal across a whetstone. "Before we can do anything else, we must get to Cragwall and clear Jessie's name."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kagoshi scoffed and waved dismissively. "How long do we have until the festival?"

"They didn't give a specific date, I'm afraid. Just something about the stars aligning." Callan shrugged.

"Ah, shit. A fucking riddle."

Melzaryn held up a finger. "The stars align in the colder months, but before the first frost. It's already cooling off, so you've got two months, give or take. Maybe three."

"Oh!" Callan yelled. "That makes since! Right around when the winter season first begins!"

"There, ya see," Kagoshi huffed at Forfend. "We have plenty of time to take care of this bullshit for the town and then we can--"

Forfend cut him off. "And then I can go home."

"Sure, yeah," Kagoshi said dismissively.

Kairi nudged him a bit, but he paid her no mind.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is there some sort of issue you've got going on here?" Callan asked.

"Yes," Forfend replied simply.

"Forfend, explain," Kagoshi rolled his eyes.

"I'll help if I can," Callan insisted.

Steam hissed as Forfend released a heavy sigh and allowed its shoulders to hunch. "A monster attacked our town. It was stealing children. We hunted it down, retrieved the children, found military supplies on the way, and brought them with us when we returned to town. The military came into town two days later and we were happy to return their supplies, but they refused to listen to us. They claimed we had stolen them and attempted to arrest the town leader, a very dear friend of mine. I was able to convince them not to incarcerate him until we could reach Cragwall and make an appeal for his innocence, but he is still on house arrest and will be until his name is cleared. We must get to Cragwall within the next week."

"I see. Perhaps you could... Hm, no," Callan stopped himself, rubbing at his chin as he thought. "It's a bit odd, but Tyrwedian doesn't have a ruling demigod. It's been odd how many renowned warriors have been coming here as well. All in all, Tyrwedia is quite new in terms of lordship. It's actually a vassal state for the Howling Plains of Begstrom, though I'm not certain precisely how that came about. Anyway, I'm off on a tangent here. Would you like some assistance with this?"

"Assistance how? Do you know a lawyer I could hire?" Forfend deadpanned.

"Well... no," Callan admitted sheepishly. "But I do know that two or three days northward from here is a town called Brightcrossing. It's on the way. We'll pass right through it on the path to Cragwall. The Summerstead noble family has some investment there. If you can gain their favor, they may be willing to assist you. They have some sway with the other nobles in Cragwall. They could vouch for you."

"That is helpful," Forfend nodded gratefully.

"How would we make them like us?" Kairi asked.

"Hm," Callan mused. "Tyrwedia isn't a particularly powerful nation. Being so new and without demigod leaders, it doesn't have its bases covered in regards to defense and military as well as its neighboring nations. If you were to offer the Summersteads your divine assistance, I'm sure they'd be very grateful."

"That could work," Kairi nodded.

"I think the Fulgar Isles are an excellent example of that. Despite the recent incursion there where some thieves attempted to raid Takahiro's castle, the nation's reputation hasn't suffered. No one dares raise a hand against them simply because of Takahiro's presence," Callan announced and then promptly veered off topic. "They say he once cut a mountain in half with a sword! A mundane one at that! Incredible!"

"Yeah, alright, that's kind of impressive," Kagoshi admitted with a half-hearted shrug.

"Kind of?! Callan stared, bug-eyed. "Really?!"

"What? You don't want to aim higher?" Kagoshi asked.

"What?! I-- Well, I mean, I do! Of course!" Callan stuttered. "But it's still impressive, isn't it?"

"Sure," Kagoshi allowed nonchalantly.

Callan turned his shocked gaze to the rest of the party.

Forfend hummed idly. It had fought on battlefields containing full-blooded deities fighting to their highest and most desperate potential. Cutting a mountain in two was not a mortal feat, but neither did it rival the divine acts Forfend had been witness to.

"It's a nice story," Melzaryn spread his hands noncommittally.

Kairi gave a polite little clap as though she was listening to a bard finish a poem rather than a tale of impossible strength.

Callan gaped. After a moment, he collected himself and straightened the furs wrapped around his shoulders. "Would you be willing to allow me to travel with you for a while?"

Forfend nodded. "I see no reason not to. At the very least, we could have you around to..." it trailed off, glancing at Kagoshi. "Help keep him under control," it finished with less bite than its first thought had harbored.

Melzaryn nodded. "Always glad to welcome more heavy lifters."

"It'll be fun to have you along!" Kairi called cheerfully in a singsong voice.

"It's fine," Kagoshi huffed as though he didn't care at all.

"Fantastic, I haven't had much company in a very long time," Callan admitted. "I still need to partake in my training, so I won't stay for too terribly long. Thank you for having me."

Forfend bowed its head politely.

"I've actually never met any other demigods in person," Callan said.

"Nor have I." Forfend looked over the odd group in this new light.

"But you've all met each other," Callan observed with some confusion.

"I was quite certain of Kagoshi, but not Melzaryn or Kairi. Not until now."

"Ah, I see."

"I am still not certain if I would call Kagoshi's transformation a demigod ability," Forfend admitted.

"I understand," Callan nodded. "Sometimes people do claim to be demigods when they're not. You can never be too certain until you see their powers for yourself. Kagoshi's ability and its drawbacks do fall right into line with everything I know about demigod abilities though."

Forfend hummed. Callan was an odd one, but he seemed to be a library of demigod information. Perhaps it was best to defer to his expertise.

Callan clapped and stood up. "Well, since you're all on a time limit and I think we've rested adequately, how about we get a move on, yes?"

"Yeah," Kagoshi grunted as he climbed to his feet. Kairi's healing had certainly helped but he still looked rough around the edges. "And off the demigod topic."

"Oh. Alright." Callan looked crestfallen.

Forfend's rune light flicked on. It had heard Callan grunting and huffing as he'd followed his training routine before he'd gone to bed last night, but he was already up and performing a similar routine this morning.

Sunlight cast dim rays over the horizon, but it wouldn't be morning proper for a while yet.

Forfend stood and turned from where it watched the road.

Callan struck at the air with vicious punches, dodging invisible fists swinging back at him. When he caught sight of Forfend, he paused and rolled his shoulders.

"Oh, good morning," he panted.

Forfend lumbered toward him and glanced around the campsite. It felt like it should be lighting the forge and attending to the morning ritual with Fletch. They always took the time to offer their hard work and routine up to Fornax before they opened the shop in the morning. Sometimes, Fletch burned an offering.

That routine had been shattered by these unexpected circumstances and Forfend wasn't certain how to worship Fornax properly while traveling like this. It felt like it had nothing to do with its hands.

"Uhm, good morning," Callan repeated, leaning back into Forfend's field of vision curiously.

Forfend locked its gaze on him. It had lost itself in contemplation. "Good morning," it finally returned.

"I accidentally acquired some breakfast this morning." Callan scratched at the back of his neck, a sheepish smile following the blush climbing his cheeks.

"I heard," Forfend nodded.

Callan had turned himself to metal and been slamming himself into trees for a good portion of the morning. One of them hadn't been able to withstand the force. It had fallen and crushed a startled deer.

Given that it didn't sleep, Forfend had watched the event play out and, subsequently, it had also watched Callan skin and cook his impromptu kill. Forfend was shocked no one else had awoken. If they had, they'd gone straight back to sleep without investigating.

"Oh, did you? I apologize," Callan ducked his head.

After a moment, he stepped over to the campfire, disrobed completely, turned himself to adamantine, rearranged the wood with his bare hands, and sat down in the middle of the flames.

"You did not wake me," Forfend assured. "I do not sleep."

"Oh, well, that's good, I suppose." Callan settled into the fire, his metal body slowly heating up.

Forfend gathered some of the firewood they'd set aside and added to Callan's careful arrangement, stoking the fire around him.

"May I ask how you first discovered you had been blessed by Fornax?" it asked as it sat down in front of him.

"Hm. I've had this ability for as long as I can remember. Since birth, actually." Callan smiled fondly. "My mother likes to tell the story. My father held me just after I was born. I turned to adamantine and, between the sudden weight and how severely I'd startled him, he dropped me. I hit the floor without any damage at all."

Forfend gave a rumbling chuckle.

"My parents took a look into it and determined I was indeed blessed by Fornax. They were both blacksmiths, you see. They thought perhaps my abilities had been gifted to me to better suit forge work. After all, I can withstand high temperatures using my Forge Body. That's what I've named my demigod ability, by the way. Forge Body." Callan held up his metallic hand, watching the reflected firefight dance across his skin.

Forfend caught itself staring as well. The effect was entrancing.

"Over time, we realized that my abilities extend beyond just turning into metal." He reached down and tapped one of the logs crackling in the heat. When he nudged it out of the fire, it continued glowing with a golden magical Light. "I have celestial blood of some type as well. My parents did more research and we asked a traveling arcanist for his thoughts. We came to the conclusion that I'm both Aasimar and a demigod."

"Very interesting," Forfend hummed.

"What about you?" Callan asked. "Well, you're quite sure of your creation though, aren't you? Since you were built during the Sundering."

"I am," Forfend confirmed. "I was designed specifically to fight the forces of Atrox and I did so up until I was damaged."

"Is the metal part the damaged part or the stone?"

"The metal is quite new. The blacksmith that discovered me designed it for me," Forfend answered. "In fact, he is the reason I reawoke."

"Ah!" Callan exclaimed. "Isn't that interesting? We both have blacksmiths in our lives."

"I am a blacksmith myself now. I decided to learn Fletch's craft in the absence of further instruction from Fornax." Forfend twiddled its fingers together. It still felt like it should be working on that craft right now, though it had no means to do so.

"In an odd turn of events, I'm actually not very talented in that regard," Callan admitted. "I'm excellent as an assistant in the forge, but my hands are too clumsy to perform the craft itself."

"Odd," Forfend commented and held up its thick, stony hands. By all rights, it should've been quite clumsy itself. "I have become quite skilled, even if I do say so myself." It didn't intend to brag, but it had surprised itself with how quickly it had picked up the skill and how quickly it had surpassed Fletch.

"Really? What are some of the things you've made?" Callan leaned forward, interest sparkling in his eyes.

Forfend slipped its shield from its arms and pulled its mace from its belt. "Both of these were my doing, though I was still somewhat new to the craft then. Fletch assisted greatly."

Callan reached out of the fire and ran his red hot hands down the edge of the shield. "It's expertly crafted, I must say."

"Thank you," Forfend nodded graciously.

Callan tilted his head. "I've shared my demigod ability with you, but I don't believe you answered that question yesterday, did you? Would you mind sharing now, since we're on the topic of it again?"

Forfend hesitated. Jessie and Fletch had warned it to be careful of sharing its status and abilities. Demigods were predisposed to long lifespans, but many who became well known suffered short and tragic lives. Many, perhaps even most, demigods did not know peace.

"It does require significant trust. I'll understand if you don't want to," Callan promised.

Forfend hummed. It did like Callan. They shared a blessing after all. It may even be a disservice to Fornax to scorn another of his chosen.

"Alright," it decided. "I refer to the ability as Soul Forge. I can create a raw material from nothing and magically convert it into a form I can use. For example, I could manifest a length of raw wood and fashion it into a bridge in the span of around three seconds. The drawback is that it uses my life essence. The ability is very painful and potentially deadly under the wrong circumstances."

"That is... Frankly, that's amazing if not a little frightening. It could really kill you?" Callan asked.

"It nearly did the last time I used it. I took a dangerous risk," Forfend confirmed.

"Incredible." Callan started to say more but the tents rustled behind them.

Kagoshi and Kairi crawled blearily out of their bedrolls into the early morning light. Melzaryn followed shortly from his own tent, though he looked much more awake and aware.

"Good morning," Callan greeted as he pulled a chunk of firewood over his bare lap to cover himself. "There's venison for breakfast. Help yourself."

"Thank you," Kairi almost sang as she made herself a plate and sat down a ways off, closer to the road so she could watch the sunrise.

Kagoshi snagged two hefty handfuls of meat without a single word and joined Kairi.

"Thanks," Melzaryn grinned cheerfully, filled his plate with more than he should reasonably be able to eat, and returned to his bedroll to enjoy the meal.

Once everyone was settled again, Callan turned back to Forfend. "I've heard that there are many demigods who aren't proud of their power. Perhaps because they never asked for it or because the drawback is more than they can handle. Sometimes simply because the ability doesn't suit them. I feel that your power suits you well though. You're a creation of Fornax and thus able to create from nothing the way he can, though as a mortal you suffer consequences."

Forfend nodded. It also felt its power was an excellent fit for its personality and abilities, though Callan was technically wrong about it being mortal. It could die, yes, but only if it were killed. Disregarding outside factors, it would live indefinitely. Its inorganic body wouldn't age or decay.

"It does suit me," Forfend said aloud after a moment. "That said, it is still very dangerous. As I told you, I am quite lucky my last use of it was not the end of me."

"May I ask what you created?"

"A massive block of lead," Forfend shared. "I used it to crush that monster I mentioned to you. The one that was kidnapping children."

Callan snorted. "Frankly, that's hilarious."

"It is now, yes," it agreed. "At the time, it was quite terrifying."

"I'm imagining this great creature trying to flee from you, thinking it's almost gotten away and then..." Callan stifled a laugh. "Have you ever heard those silly bard tales, the ones for children, where an anvil falls from nowhere and hits someone on the head?"

A deep rumbling sounded from within Forfend's chest as it chuckled.

"Like that, but even more absurd," Callan let the giggle escape him properly this time.

Forfend's chest lit up bright orange.

Callan grinned. "That's an incredible power. When it comes to demigods and their abilities, I am quite the fanatic. I'm sure you've noticed."

Forfend nodded.

He grew more serious then, glancing at Kagoshi's back. "Some demigods see our powers as a gift, but for others... They feel like they've been cursed. Like the downside outweighs the upside."

Forfend hummed and watched Kagoshi chat absently with Kairi as the morning sky turned golden in front of them. "I can see how some would come to that conclusion."

"Those downsides, though. I believe they can be overcome. I believe the ability is worth the drawback. Look at you, for example," Callan spoke adamantly and gestured at Forfend's body as a whole. "I mean no offense by this, but you are a statue. You're an artificial being, but your blessing allows you to do something on par with the power of gods. You can literally create something from nothing!"

Forfend nodded, listening intently.

"In contrast, I turn myself from flesh into an object," Callan continued. He stood and stepped out of the fire. Once his body had cooled from glowing red back to its silvery sheen, he returned to his original form and pulled his clothes back on. "I become something soulless and artificial."

Forfend heard rocks grind in its chest, but it let the feeling go. Callan meant no offense. In fact, he seemed solemn, reflective.

"It caused me quite a bit of trouble growing up back home. Since then, I've come into my own. The power is mine." Callan perked himself up, determination strong in his stance.

"I understand that certain powers have very serious drawbacks," Callan continued, gesturing slightly in Kagoshi's direction. "Dangerous, even. But those drawbacks can be overcome. It seems unfair to judge him based purely on the worst aspect of his ability."

Forfend averted its gaze and straightened its back, considering Callan's argument.

"During the transition, he was at least somewhat aware of his surroundings. That means he's got some lucidity so there must be some way to calm him," Callan theorized.

"Kairi can help him. Somewhat," Forfend acknowledged. "It seems he does not want to harm her."

"Well, there it is then!" Callan exclaimed, then cleared his throat and lowered his voice again. "If one person can assist him, then others could surely learn as well. Maybe he could even eventually learn to calm himself and become capable of channeling his power."

"I hope so," Forfend hummed solemnly. "He is exceptionally dangerous."

"Sometimes danger is worth it," Callan insisted. "My drawback is rather unpleasant in combat. Fighting for sport and glory is what I want to do, but my ability is a double-edged sword. It helps as much as it makes things more dangerous for me. You see, I cannot be healed while in my adamantine form."

Metal ran up Callan's arms again. He flexed his metallic fingers.

"You cannot heal? At all?" Forfend asked incredulously. It grazed its stone hand over Callan's forearm. Something about touching the metal made Callan's claim sink in.

Unlike Forfend, the inorganic material was not his body. It was only his power. It wouldn't respond to magics meant for living beings.

"If I were to be, for example, impaled while using Forge Body, no healing could be performed until I returned to my original form. At that point, I'd begin bleeding very significantly. If I wasn't already in the presence of a talented healer, I would certainly die. I also can't be healed in the midst of battle if I'm using it, so I can't magically enhance my stamina either." Callan let the metal slip back down his arms and disappear. "It's a delicate dance discerning how much damage my Forge Body can handle before I start sustaining serious injury."

"It sounds difficult," Forfend sympathized.

"It is. It has been," Callan blurted. His eyebrows twitched upward as though he was surprised by his own comment. He gave a slight shrug and continued the thought, "I grew up in frigid lands. It was cold enough for metal to freeze and become brittle. When people learned that even clerical healing magics could not heal me, it... It garnered some ill intent."

"I am sorry," Forfend said sincerely. It had been lucky enough so far not to be ostracized from a community. It couldn't imagine how difficult that must've been, especially for a child.

"It's alright." Callan lifted his chin up. "The downside to my ability does not define me. I am not my flaws."

Forfend gazed towards Kagoshi again, more intensely than before.

"I don't believe they should be all he is either." Callan placed a hand on Forfend's shoulder. "From your kin--if I may be so bold?"

Forfend nodded. It certainly did feel kinship with a fellow demigod of Fornax, and especially one so open as Callan.

"From your kin," Callan repeated, "please don't judge him only for his drawback. He can't help it. He didn't choose it. And I honestly believe he's already making attempts to overcome it."

Forfend hummed.

"Perhaps you could even try to help him, rather than only remaining paranoid. I've seen how you try to either stay away from Kagoshi or put yourself between him and everyone else, like you may need to protect us all from him."

Melzaryn got up from his bedroll and deposited his plate next to the fire. He made his way over to the other pair and took a seat right by Kagoshi, striking up conversation amicably.

Callan and Forfend both watched the trek.

"They don't fear him," Callan insisted. "You shouldn't either."

Steam hissed loudly and for a long moment. "I understand your point," Forfend allowed. "I think I will still harbor distrust for some time yet though. I cannot escape it. The first time he attacked me, I was holding a child from my village. If I had been a second slower, Kagoshi would have killed him. It was also the first time I had been damaged since I awoke in this era. It was frightening. I am still frightened, I must admit."

"I see. Well, those wounds will heal with time," Callan assured.

Forfend nodded. It hoped they would.

Callan was right about what it should be doing regarding Kagoshi. Fearing and distrusting him would not help his plight. If it allowed itself to let go of its fear, it could meaningfully assist him. If Kagoshi allowed it, that was. It found itself hoping he would.

"I trust you will make the right decision for yourself and your friends," Callan spoke up again.

"You are quite the interesting person," Forfend complimented, pulling its gaze away from Kagoshi for the first time in a while.

"I could say the same to you," Callan smiled.

"Have you tried eating before?" Callan asked, nudging Forfend. He held a chunk of dried venison in his hand.

Forfend didn't take it. "I have no idea how I would achieve such a feat."

"Perhaps you could drop it down one of your chimneys." Callan jumped up onto Forfend's back, not unlike how Jace usually did.

Forfend twisted, a panicked rockfall tumbling loudly from within its chest as it tried to snag Callan. "I think all that will earn you is smoke-covered meat and then a rotting smell I will have a great deal of trouble removing!"

"Smoked meat is good though," Callan insisted, laughing as he evaded Forfend's grasping hands.

"I disagree," Forfend protested.

Callan's foot slipped and he fell to the ground in the midst of a giggling fit. The venison lie wasted on the dirt road.

Steam hissed. Forfend crossed its arms. After a moment, the light in its chest lit up. It chuckled despite itself and offered Callan a hand.

Callan accepted, collecting himself.

Kairi and Melzaryn both wore amused grins.

Kagoshi was stone-faced as always.

Callan grinned at him and tossed his head towards the dropoff they walked alongside. It wasn't nearly so deep as the last, but it was still a good thirty feet. "Would you like to jump off the edge here as a test of endurance?"

Kagoshi scoffed and rolled his eyes. It was the dozenth little challenge Callan had offered. Kagoshi had just bested him in an impromptu arm wrestling contest only an hour ago.

"Sure, yeah, we can jump off the cliff," Kagoshi shrugged and stepped up to the edge.

Callan strode up beside him. "Alright. On the count of--"

Kagoshi pushed him off the cliff.

Forfend rushed to the edge and watched as Callan's skin rapidly transmuted into adamantine. He landed headfirst in the mud at the bottom and struggled uselessly to free himself.

Kagoshi laughed scornfully.

Kairi summoned her glittering purple wings and floated softly down towards Callan.

Melzaryn snickered.

Forfend turned to ask him what he was laughing at, but suddenly found itself wrapped in magic.

In a blink, it was teleported over the edge of the cliff. It only just had enough time to lock its startled gaze onto Melzaryn's smug face before it fell.

Melzaryn jumped after it and swung his staff.

Forfend jolted as it suddenly stopped falling. It was floating now, as gently as Kairi under the effects of Melzaryn's Feather Fall.

Melzaryn giggled to himself as they drifted downwards.

Below them, Callan gave muffled cries for help. In his hurried attempt to free his head, he'd ended up sinking up to his elbows. He kicked and struggled, but he was getting nowhere. All he was really doing was sinking faster.

Kagoshi half climbed, half slid down the steep drop.

Forfend landed lightly on a drier section of ground than Callan had hit and tugged Melzaryn out of the sky.

"You have me quite a start," it reprimanded, the light in its chest shining through with an embarrassed reddish-orange.

Melzaryn pat its arm. "Sorry, but it was pretty funny."

Standing safely on relatively solid dirt, Forfend couldn't disagree. It wasn't often involved in practical jokes, but it couldn't deny the humor in them.

Kagoshi tromped through the muck and snatched Callan's furs, hauling him upright just the way he had the first time they'd met.

Kairi fluttered over and wiped the mud from his eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked through a laugh.

Callan spat mud, his face screwed up with disgust at the taste. "I'm quite alright," he assured as he shook himself off and allowed the metal to recede from his skin. "And what a test of my agility that was! I think I can safely say I won this round."

"Ya sure can," Kagoshi smirked.

"You realize we now have to climb back up the cliff, yes?" Forfend inquired.

There was a group groan from everyone but Kairi. She was already soaring back to the top and laughing gleefully at her companions.

"Oh, wait a minute," Melzaryn shook his head and rolled his eyes like he thought himself dull for having forgotten something. He snapped his fingers and was gone. "Good luck," he suddenly called from the top of the cliff.

There was another groan from Kagoshi and Callan. Forfend joined with a rush of steam.

"We're nearly to Brightcrossing," Callan mentioned as they walked.

It was the fifth day of travel already. Forfend had found the time passing more easily with Callan around. He joked and teased and told stories, keeping everyone's spirits up.

Forfend had even begun joining him at the end of his morning routine, stoking the fire around him and meditating on the flickering licks of flame.

It was only a few more minutes before they crested a hill and saw the town in the distance.

Just at a glance, Forfend could tell the town was larger than Foumedo. It wasn't the largest city Forfend had heard about, but it was still larger than anywhere Forfend had been before.

Farmland surrounded the area, fruits and vegetables and grains offering a fresh scent in the air.

It was a beautiful day. It struck Forfend as odd it hadn't seen anyone tending the fields yet. It started to keep an eye out for farmers.

"Hey, guys," Kairi said, pointing to the road ahead. "Wagon."

"Wagon?" Melzaryn asked.

"Wagon," Forfend confirmed as it caught sight of the tipped carriage stranded in the middle of the path.

"Yeah, it's a wagon!" Kagoshi griped harshly. "Can we move on?"

Callan tilted his head, confusion knitting his brows as he glanced between the group and the carriage. "W-wagon," he repeated hesitantly.

"Oh, shut up!" Kagoshi huffed.

"It is strange though," Forfend mentioned. "We should see if they need assistance."

It picked up its pace.

As it gained a better vantage point, it spotted three farmers standing at the back of the carriage. In the ground it front of them writhed a mess of black shapes. Forfend couldn't make out what they were, aside from creepy.

One of the farmers yelled something and another took off running as quickly as he could toward town.

The two remaining farmers pulled pitchforks from their fallen cart and jabbed at the approaching mass of what might've been oversized centipedes. Forfend still couldn't get a clear look at them as it rushed closer with its companions right on its heels.

The black wiggling monsters disappeared beneath the earth.

"What's happening? I can't see," Callan yelled from behind Forfend.

"Is everything okay?!" Forfend yelled to the farmers. "Do you need help?!"

"Who the hell are?!" one of the farmers yelled, his voice shrill with fear. "What do you want?!"

"Nothing nefarious! We are travelers!" it called back.

"You need to get out of here! There's monsters!" the second farmer hollered.

"What monsters?!" Forfend asked.

As if on cue, the ground fell away in several places. Creatures much larger than the ones it had first seen burst from the holes.

Forfend finally got a good look at them and wished it hadn't.

Their dark carapaces harbored a purple sheen while their undersides were the fleshy pink of exposed intestines. Snapping reptilian jaws produced gutteral hisses and snarls. All six of the monsters' legs ended in serrated knife points.

There were six of them in total. Three were significantly larger than the others. They skittered toward the frightened farmers.

Melzaryn didn't waste a second. He hefted his staff like a crossbow, his eyes glowing as magic audibly crackled. A massive white bolt split the air like thunder, launching free of the staff with enough force to slide Melzaryn backwards a few inches despite how he'd dug in his heels.

The bolt separated. Each Magic Missile slammed into its individual target.

Every monstrous bug on the field chittered and writhed in startled pain. They whipped around, clicking their sharp teeth together. They all scattered at once into their burrows.

Kagoshi charged forward and froze, fists at the ready for when the beasts emerged.

Kairi stepped off the edge of the road. Magic crackled around her fingers. She scanned the ground for any sign the bugs were burrowing beneath her.

Forfend freed its mace from its belt and shifted its shield in front of itself. It quickly tapped the medallion on its chest. "Fornax, lend me your hammer," it muttered.

Fiery orange magic spilled from the symbol. The sound of metal striking metal rang out as the magic coalesced into a massive forge hammer. Forfend willed the weapon to position itself right in the middle of the group.

Forfend prepared to strike at the insects the moment they showed themselves.

The farmers scrambled up onto their cart's side. They held their pitchforks at the ready, but they were watching the demigods much more than their own feet.

Callan spun around, seeing everyone else take battle stances. He'd never actually gotten a glimpse at the monsters and was quite bewildered.

"Alright, okay, a fight," he nodded and took his own battle stance. Metal shot across his body at lightning speed. He clanged his adamantine fists together.

"Good news, I got their attention," Melzaryn grinned. "Unfortunately, I got their attention." He slid himself between Callan and Forfend's floating Spiritual Weapon.

Melzaryn's eyes darted across the earth. "The ground's weak where the monsters are burrowing. They're headed straight toward us, fast." He still sounded perfectly cheerful.

All at once, the dirt beneath Melzaryn's feet rose and then buckled. Clacking teeth burst up and tried to snag his feet as he all but danced out of the way.

Callan yelped and swung at the monster, but his foot slipped into the collapsing earth. "Aah!" he yelled, "I'm trapped again!"

"Eep!" Kairi startled, blasting a glittering pink Guiding Bolt at the thrashing bug. She missed in her haste and the sparkling stars dissipated into the grass.

"Where are the others?!" Kagoshi demanded.

"I don't know!" Melzaryn snapped. "They're underground!" He kicked the monster before it could sink its teeth and claws into his leg.

Kagoshi dashed up to where Melzaryn had pointed out weaker ground caused by the first insect's approach and punched through the slightly disturbed soil.

He ripped one of the smaller twisting monsters out of the earth by its throat and crushed it with his bare fists.

Kagoshi dropped the dripping, twitching corpse and slammed his hand back into the hole. He ripped another small bug into the sunlight.

This one squealed and hissed.

Kagoshi crushed it too and tossed it over his shoulder.

Kairi giggled manically as an idea struck her. "Kagoshi, watch this."

She raised her quarterstaff and spun, chanting and trailing sparkles as a rainbow portal swirled into being a few feet above the hole Kagoshi had made.

Water suddenly gushed from it with deadly force, rocketing into the hole.

The summoned Tidal Wave filled the underground rapidly, cracking the earth and sending spouts of water gushing high up into the air.

Melzaryn, Kagoshi, and Callan all got thoroughly soaked by the sudden rain.

Bugs were launched out of the ground, screeching wildly, and splattered on the road. One curled up and died on impact.

Forfend's Spiritual Weapon struck at one as it fell, launching the beast into the mud. Blood and viscera splattered as its carapace shattered.

Forfend nodded at another squirming bug and the Weapon zipped to it immediately, slamming down on the creature with reckless abandon.

More gore spilled and blood sizzled on the hammer's scorching surface.

Forfend paced to the last struggling monster and crushed the thing beneath its mace with a satisfying crunch.

Forfend shook the blood from its weapon, dispelled the Magical Weapon in a spray of sparks, and turned to face the slack-jawed farmers.

"By the gods!" one of them yelled.

"Are you alright?" Forfend asked again. It slipped its mace back into its belt. It didn't want to appear threatening.

"What the hells?!" the other farmer hollered.

"I'm still stuck," Callan sighed. "I think I can get myself out."

Forfend spared a glance at Callan. He was muddy, sopping wet, and visibly disappointed at losing his chance to hit something.

Kagoshi and Melzaryn looked only a bit less damp and dirty, but they didn't have their legs stuck in a pit of muck so it was still a significant improvement.

Forfend realized even it had gotten splashed.

Kairi giggled, dry as a bone.

Kagoshi offered his hand, allowing Callan to pry himself free with the added leverage.

Melzaryn shook himself off like a wet dog, Prestidigitation freeing the muck from him and splattering some of it onto a disgruntled Callan.

Forfend turned back to the farmers and made its way towards them. It stopped well short and knelt to make itself less frightening.

Kairi followed it, twirling her skirt as she stood at its side.

"That is one hell of a golem," the taller farmer whistled, impressed.

"Are you alright?" Forfend asked.

"Oh gods, it speaks," he jumped. "Are you really a golem?"

"I am not," Forfend shook its head.

"Then what do I call you?"

"I am Forfend."

"You're one hell of a Forfend!" the farmer praised.

"Forfend is my name," it corrected. "I am a Fornaxian."

"Well, you're one hell of a Fornaxian, Forfend!" He took off his hat and slapped his knee with it for emphasis. "Whew, that's a tongue twister."

"Are you alright? Do you need healing?"

"Nah, nah, we're all good. Just a couple scrapes and bruises from those damn bugs tipping our cart. We were not expecting it," the farmer shook his head vehemently. "Nor were we expecting what the hells you just did here! That was amazing!"

"Thank you." Forfend stood slowly and approached the cart. Neither human looked panicked so Forfend reached out, letting a warm glow flow from its fingers to the farmers.

The tendrils of light found their wounds, slight though they were, and converged around them. Within seconds, the light dissipated along with their pain and injuries.

Both farmers stuttered.

Kairi tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "For a real tongue twister, you could say, 'Fantastic Fornaxian Forfend.'"

"I-I don't think I can," the shorter man managed.

"Who are you?!" the taller one shouted.

"I am Forfend."

"Kairi."

The men gaped incredulously.

Eventually, the taller one wrenched his jaw shut. "Maybe we should get Jimmy. He was running into town."

"I don't think he saw the water explosion," the shorter farmer shook his head. "He ain't gonna stop running. Let him do it anyway. He's so damn lazy."

"That's true, that's true," the taller one agreed and turned to address Forfend and Kairi. "I take it y'all are new around here."

"We are. We are only passing through on the way to Cragwall," Forfend confirmed.

Callan and Melzaryn finally made their way over to the cart. Both waved.

The farmers returned the gesture, though they were both still quite stunned.

"I gotcha. Well, y'all did a great job of handling our little infestation problem there," the taller praised.

"Little," scoffed the shorter man. "It's fucking huge."

"Either way, they did a great job."

"Can't argue with that."

"We appreciate what you've done here," the taller farmer said. "We work for the noble family here, helping out mostly with getting them their fruit for the winery. Do y'all do this sort of thing often? Because if ya do, I'm sure they'll pay you to do it."

"Hush!" the shorter ordered and lightly smacked his companion on the back of the head. "You're being presumptuous! These folks are just passing through! You don't know if they've got the time to help us and you don't know if the guard'll pay them to do it either! They ain't gonna do it."

"I would be happy to assist regardless of a monetary reward," Forfend stated.

"Well, I'll be damned. I stand corrected."

Kagoshi wandered up, a pile of goopy bleeding bug heads stacked in his arms. "We can use these to prove we can help around here. Get on those noble guys' good sides or whatever."

Forfend hummed. It hadn't actually considered that yet, but it was an excellent point. They could use this opportunity to gain favor just as Callan had suggested.

It shook itself from its thoughts to focus on the task at hand. "Do you need help righting your cart?"

"Oh, please." Both farmers nodded and hopped down from on top of it.

"Hang on," Kagoshi huffed and dropped his mound of disembodied bug heads.

He strode over to one side of the wagon and lifted it effortlessly. He had it upright again in seconds.

"Really though, who are you people?" the shorter man asked. "This one's strong as fuck." He pointed at Kagoshi. "And Forfend is a Fornaxian, whatever the hell that means, with some kind of fire magic. Kairi caused a flood. Blondie there was throwing all kinds of magic spells. And that one's metal! Are y'all monster hunters?"

"No," Kagoshi said flatly.

"Not usually," Melzaryn shrugged.

"We've picked up some experience lately," Kairi nodded.

"Crazy stuff," the taller man shook his head incredulously. "Better than we've been doing with our pitchforks, I'll tell ya that."

"You've been fighting these monsters with only pitchforks?" Callan asked.

"Well, normally we run from them. We're usually a little quicker on the draw, but they ambushed us this time," the shorter man explained. "Seems like they're getting smarter as the damn infestation gets nastier."

"Chased our horses off," the taller farmer lamented.

"I will get it," Forfend offered. It took hold of what was left of the reins. It looked like the bugs had bitten them in two. That had been an exceptionally smart move and Forfend hoped it had also been a fluke.

The farmers stared at one another, but slowly they clambered back into their cart.

Forfend tied the remaining rope around its belt and set off, tugging the wagon behind it easily enough.

Melzaryn and Kairi hopped onto the back.

Kagoshi tied up his mess of insect heads to keep them bundled together and walked alongside the cart.

Callan followed, moping a bit.

Forfend watched the city gates draw closer and wondered what would await it and its companions within.

It figured it was about to find out.

#forfend #twilight of the demigods #session notes #session 5 #road to cragwall #brightcrossing #dnd

[demigodforfend]

Twilight of the Demigods: Forfend Edition - Session 4

Forfend tore its gaze off Melzaryn's bloodied face. "What in the gods' names was that?"

"I'm, uh, not sure," Melzaryn shrugged. "It's never happened before. Let's hope it never happens again." He spun on his heels and made for the exit.

Forfend started to follow, to demand more answers. It thought better of it though. Melzaryn likely wouldn't have more answers. He was probably spooked, even if he did have a strange way of showing it. There were other things that needed tending to anyway.

Forfend limped carefully back to the boy on the ground. He'd passed away some time ago, but it seemed crass to abandon him without even a proper burial. It wished it had something proper to cover him with, but there had been nothing in the cave. All it had was the bloodied patchwork of the demon's cloak. That would have to do.

It hobbled back across the room and dispelled the block of lead crushing the monster, sending the incredible weight up in a hiss of thick black smoke. It leaned down and carefully disrobed the blasphemous creature.

Crossing the room a third time, Forfend's body creaked dangerously. It knelt slowly and leaned its weight away from its damaged side. It had been cleaved nearly in two. It feared it would fall apart if it wasn't aware of itself or its movements.

"Forfend?" Kairi called.

It wrapped the boy gently and respectfully in the cloak before sparing a glance over its shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Kairi asked.

Jayden and Louis eyed Forfend, both silently encouraging it to answer honestly.

"I will be alright, but I would not turn away assistance."

Kairi stretched her arm out towards it. Glittering stars left her palm and crossed the room in a meandering wave. They coalesced around its side.

Within seconds, Forfend felt more solid around its middle. The wound was far from gone. Golden ichor still spilled unhindered. But it was far more manageable now.

"Thank you," it nodded as it lifted the corpse into its arms. "Let us get out of this awful place."

"Wait, the armor," Kairi spoke softly. "It has more of the gems like the one that did this to Kagoshi."

Forfend swore lowly. That was true. They couldn't leave such dangerous things lying around for anyone to stumble across. Someone could get hurt or even killed.

Forfend placed the body next to Kairi and waved the children over as well. "Stay with Kairi. She will take care of you while I handle this." It placed a gentle hand on both their heads.

They nodded.

"Be careful," Jayden pleaded.

"And prepared," Louis added.

Forfend nodded. "I certainly will."

It gathered the armor sets from around the room and dragged the clanking pile back to the large empty crate that had originally concealed the passageway.

Forfend removed the lid entirely, threw the armor inside, and then gathered up all the armors scattered in this room as well before moving to the next.

It caught up with Melzaryn going through all of the boxes on the far side of the cavern, the side they hadn't yet explored, as though he was conducting inventory.

"Valuable things here," he commented idly.

Forfend hummed and continued gathering armor sets. It was tedious work. By the time it was done, it had gathered thirty armors, each one bearing a tiny obsidian crystal with a strange blue sheen. All of them were thrown haphazardly into the crate.

Forfend latched a rope around the box and tied it securely. Dragging the mess in its current state would be difficult, but certainly not impossible.

Forfend returned to the children who were huddled around Kairi and poking curiously at Kagoshi's prone form.

"Alright, now we may go," it announced.

"What do we do with Kagoshi?" Jayden asked.

Forfend sighed like escaping steam. "I'll add him to the crate of armor."

Kairi looked skeptical, but she wouldn't be able to carry him herself so it would have to do.

Forfend hefted Kagoshi up.

Kairi hesitated before lifting the wrapped corpse. She held it against herself with careful reverence.

Forfend returned to the box and unceremoniously added Kagoshi to the contents. He didn't so much as flinch, though his eyes were still open. Forfend wondered if he'd ever wake up at all. It seemed increasingly unlikely.

Melzaryn returned with an armful of miscellaneous items. "I believe this is everything useful." He also jingled heavy pouches of coin. "And we can split this between us too."

Forfend nodded, but it wasn't really paying attention. It tied the excess rope around its box of armor to its shoulders. "Let's just get home. I'm certain we are all sick of this cavern."

Everyone made different sounds of affirmation.

The trudge home was slow. Melzaryn spent it rifling through the things he'd found and distributing them amongst everyone. Kairi spent it downcast and fretting. Predictably, Kagoshi spent it staring into the void with empty, glassy eyes.

Louis and Jayden stuck close to Forfend's side. They were exhausted from their ordeal and flagging quickly. Louis stepped onto Forfend's foot mid-stride and wedged his hands into stone gaps to keep himself balanced.

He weighed very little for a creature of Forfend's size and had rightly earned his rest. Forfend shifted its gait slightly to make the ride easier on its charge.

Jayden took the opportunity to step up on Forfend's other foot. She chose her handholds very carefully and leaned away from the gold-dribbling gash in its side.

"I'm sorry I could not get to you sooner," Forfend apologized sincerely. "You should not have suffered."

"We're gonna be okay. You got to us in time." Loius squeezed Forfend's leg in a cumbersome hug.

It nodded, though it still felt it should've caught on quicker.

Beside it, Melzaryn whipped out a fanciful quill and opened a scroll.

"What is that?" Forfend asked.

"New spell," he answered simply.

Ink rose from the page and funneled its way into the quill, leaving the scroll blank. Melzaryn pressed the quill to an empty spot in his spellbook and scribbled rapidly.

He shut the heavy book with a dull thump and put everything away again.

Forfend returned its gaze to the road. Foumedo's gate was just ahead. Lights were lit and people, shivering in their pajamas in the chill night air, awaited the results of the monster hunt.

Forfend was glad to have mostly good news for them. Circumstances could've been far worse given the dangerous situation they'd been in. Still, they'd caught their share of losses too.

Jessie was chatting with Byr and hadn't yet seen them. He pointed towards the bridge.

Byr begrudgingly headed in that direction, a scowl firmly affixed to his face.

Jessie sighed and glanced up in Forfend's direction. His eyes went wide as he sprinted over. "F-Forfend," he stuttered, staring in shock at the bleeding wedge cut from its midsection. "What happened?!"

"We found the children," it answered.

Jessie blinked, his eyes barely flicking away from the injury to the children clinging to its legs. Relief flooded him, washing away his unnatural stiffness.

"Joel! Rosie!" Jessie called.

Both parents broke from the forming crowd and scooped up their respective children.

Rosie was in tears as she checked Jayden over. She thanked Forfend and its companions in a torrent of completely jumbled gibberish.

Joel was silent as he took in Louis's tired state. He nodded slowly. "You survived and I'm very proud, but you've got to be more careful out there. Check in at home base more often, you got it?"

Louis nodded, wavering on his feet.

Joel picked him up and looked squarely at Jessie. "I told you something like this would happen one day. We've got to be more prepared."

"I understand," Jessie acknowledged. "We'll discuss it tomorrow. The whole crew."

Joel nodded, apparently satisfied, and left to get his son fed and rested.

Avery the Huntress stopped him just long enough to push cured meats into his hand. He humphed his thanks.

She offered the same to Rosie who took them with even more tearful gratitude.

Avery slipped her bow into her hand and pat Forfend's shoulder as she passed it. She stationed herself at the town entrance, eyeing the dark meadow beyond. She was wholly prepared to fight anything that may have followed them.

Forfend doubted anything had.

"So, uh, two things," Jessie mentioned. "Where's Kagoshi and what's with the box?"

Forfend tugged idly at the ropes around its shoulders. "Kagoshi is in the box."

"Why? What happened out there?"

Kairi climbed the edge of the box and watched her comatose friend. "I hope he's alright."

Forfend tilted slightly, its body grinding precariously. "If I'm sharing the whole story, I would like to see Byr while we do it."

"It was... definitely a lot," Kairi agreed.

"Ah, well, I understand since something managed to damage you like that, but Byr's looking at the bridge. He's already busy," Jessie said apologetically.

Forfend sighed.

"What's in the box though?"

"Armor, mostly."

"And Kagoshi," Kairi noted.

"And also Kagoshi," Forfend nodded.

Forfend pulled the wrapped gem from its pocket. "Do not touch this," it forewarned. It held the cloth at eye level and carefully exposed the black gem within.

"All of the armors have these strange obsidian power sources. They're very dangerous and very potent. Touching them causes people to experience intense emotion and do strange things."

"I'll be certain to tell Fletch that," Jessie assured, watching the gem with suspicion.

Forfend returned the item to its folded cloth and dropped it back into its pocket. It hauled the box to the back of Fletcher's Forge.

Fletch halted his conversation to follow. "Whatcha doing?"

"Do not touch anything in this until I can tell you what it is," Forfend iterated carefully.

"Alright, that's fair," Fletch nodded as he hopped up on the side of the box to peer into it.

"And whatever you do," Jessie added, "especially do not touch the blue gems in the chest pieces."

"What, you mean these?" Fletch teased as he reached into the box. He stopped well short of contact with anything, but Jessie snagged his waist and hauled him off the box anyway.

"Be careful!" he admonished his husband.

Fletch chuckled.

Jessie heaved an exasperated sigh.

"Hey," Fletch tapped Forfend's arm. "You need to get some rest. You look like you've seen some shit."

Forfend nodded.

"Byr's busy with the bridge and probably will be for the rest of the night," Jessie reminded. "He's been sleeping a lot lately because he hasn't had much to do, so he doesn't mind working through the night. I'll ask him to come by in the morning, alright?"

"That would be excellent, thank you." Forfend turned towards its home.

"Could you get Kagoshi out of the box?" Fletch asked.

"Ah, right." It scruffed Kagoshi by the back of his collar, which was very nearly the only thing left of his jacket, and lifted him out of the box.

It carried Kagoshi to Kairi and set him down, taking the wrapped corpse from her instead. "Get some rest. We will reconvene in the morning and see if anything can be done for Kagoshi as well."

"Thank you," she said. She hoisted Kagoshi up as well as she could and half dragged him towards the inn.

Melzaryn had already disappeared. Forfend wasn't certain when he'd made his exit, but he was likely in his tavern room by now.

Forfend returned to Jessie and Fletch, kneeling carefully.

"What's that?" Jessie asked, turning his face away from the bloody cloak and covering his nose.

"This is a young boy who we found caged the same way Louis and Jayden were. Unfortunately, he had been there for much longer and has been deceased for weeks. I hope that we can give him his burial rites. He deserves that much, since we could do nothing else for him." Forfend gently laid the child on the ground.

Jessie nodded, sadness befalling his features.

Fletch placed his hand on his husband's shoulder, though he wore the same expression.

"We'll see what we can do," Jessie sighed. "Just rest tonight. You've been through a lot."

Forfend hobbled into its home without another word.

It wanted to lie down on the massive straw bed, but it feared it would struggle to get up again. It settled for sitting down on the soft pile, wrapping its oversized blanket around itself, and leaning against the wall so that there was no weight on its injured side.

The light of its rune flicked out.

Forfend found itself thinking of very little in its exhaustion. It was rare that it wished it could sleep as other creatures do, but tonight was among those rare instances. What few coherent thoughts cut through the droning, muddled tiredness were worrisome, prickling its mind like thorns.

A memory wedged itself into the edge of Forfend's consciousness. It fumbled for the distant thing, desperate for something other than deep-seated concern.

The warmth of its body beginning to slowly knit itself back together fled from it all at once. It felt cold, right into its very core.

Flashes of another place crossed its vision. Somewhere distant in time or space or both. Its imagination was playing tricks on it, likely due to how severely damaged it was. There was nothing to be done for that.

It saw great iron pillars for a fraction of a second, then darkness.

Crucibles, hammers. Darkness.

Iron clanged against iron in the confines of its memory. Steel against steel. The hiss of water steaming off red-hot metal. The sounds of a forge, one so hot Forfend was certain its stone body would melt in the flames.

Had its body always been stone? The thought startled it, but it couldn't hold onto the idea. It was dismissed as quickly as it had arisen. It simply didn't matter.

Forfend wasn't certain anymore that it recognized this memory. It was old. Perhaps older than Forfend truly was.

Darkness filled its mind again, bringing a nothingness with it. Peace, in a sense. Nonexistence, more accurately.

"No, it's not right," a deep voice reverberated into the nowhere the concept of Forfend floated in. "It's the same, same as all the others."

A heavy metal tang sounded, light flashing blindingly across Forfend's vision.

A feeling struck it. Warmth, but not its own.

"Hm. Different," the voice spoke again. "Yes, different. Good."

Forfend should recognize the speaker. It couldn't dwell. If it wondered too far from what it was recalling now, it may not find its way back.

Another heavy strike of a hammer against steel. The metal sang, vibrating in the depths of Forfend's chest.

The same flash of light, this time followed by a thought. A simple one. Acknowledgement of its own existence.

"Yes," the voice brimmed with emotions Forfend lacked the awareness to recognize. "This is good. Almost done. What else?"

The hammer struck. White flashed.

An emotion hit Forfend. Reverence, or love? Love. Certainly love.

"Iron for the body, for fortitude and will," the voice explained. Whether the speaker was talking to Forfend or someone else, it could not be certain. "Magma for the muscle, the ability to change and be grounded all the same. Liquid metal for the heart for strength ever growing, tempered in the first fires of new life. Quenched in tree oil for spirit and clear mind."

There was a pause.

"Hm. What else? Something is missing."

The voice huffed as it mused.

"Ah," it spoke again. "A flame. Not fire as to strengthen, but a flame of its own. Hm. What to start it with?"

Silence abounded.

"Hm. Ah, a flame from the hearth."

A presence Forfend hadn't realized was there left its side. It felt colder and quite alone, missing the speaker with what little awareness it had.

"The first furnace. The birthplace of the forge," the voice said from a short ways away. "This, this will do." The presence returned. "Hearth flame for bravery, for kindness. For soul. Yes."

Warmth of its own filled Forfend once again, traveling through it from its core to the tips of its extremities.

"Ah, there it is. Good, good," the voice praised either itself or Forfend. "Now, what to call it? No, what to call them?" the speaker corrected. "Hm. What would they want to be called? Would they prefer to have their own name? Or perhaps one I give them? Hm."

The speaker paced, humming thoughtfully.

"For now," the voice decided, "let us call you--"

"FORFEND!" Byr shouted.

Forfend jolted upright, the light of its rune flickering several times as its mind struggled to escape the memory. The light steadied, but Forfend's head still felt like it was spinning.

It couldn't speak yet so it just transfixed its gaze in Byr's approximate direction.

"By Fornax's shiny metal head, you got fucked up!" Byr swore irritably and slammed the doors open wider. They banged off the wall, hinges creaking.

"What the hell did you-- What the hell did that to you?" he continued yelling without pause. "Jessie said I should head over to help you out, but godsdamn!"

Forfend glanced around the room, gathering its bearings and assessing its surroundings.

It was morning. The time had gotten away from it.

Byr watched it for a moment, arms crossed. When Forfend failed to respond, he continued talking. "Seriously, I never would've thought something like that could happen. I've seen some shit hit you and it didn't do anything. You never even flinched."

Forfend nodded, distinctly recalling the time it had assisted Byr with a repair and a granite block had fallen from well above it. The stone had broken over Forfend's shoulders. There had been no damage to Forfend. It had regretted moreso that it hadn't been quick enough to catch the stone. At least it had caught the mason.

"Do I need to change everything in town to prepare for something like that?" Byr approached Forfend, staring directly into its face and awaiting an answer.

Forfend realized it still hadn't spoken. A metallic hum rose from its core, its own version of clearing its throat. "The monster that did this is quite dead."

"Well, that's good." Byr leaned back, less concerned now.

He grabbed a stool and sat himself at Forfend's wounded side. "Alright, let's see what we've got to work with here. Who's blood is this?"

"The gold is mine."

"Yeah, I gathered that much," Byr grumbled. "I meant the dark, nasty shit."

"It was the monster's."

"We're cleaning that off you."

"Please," Forfend almost pleaded. The thick dried goop was very uncomfortable against its stone skin.

Byr reached into a bucket of rocks Forfend hadn't noticed he was carrying.

The pieces were raw, unpolished. However, they were remarkable quality. Byr had brought his best.

The first stone was broken into a wide wedge and carefully slid into the depths of the wound.

Golden ichor coated Byr's hands.

Heat flared up in Forfend's side, melding the rock into its body.

Byr broke another stone into the approximate shape and added it as well. He kept observing, breaking, and inserting stone until the heat was more than he could stand.

He sat back, watching Forfend's body transmute the different stones to marble as it incorporated them into its form. Ichor, almost boiling, dripped down its side.

"Took that 'heart of gold' thing literally, didn't you?" he quipped.

Forfend tilted its head slightly. "Literally speaking, I do not have a heart at all."

"You missed the joke," Byr tutted and shook his head.

Forfend lit its chest up, a slight grinding sound emanating from within it. A chuckle, of sorts. "I suppose I did."

Byr carefully wedged one last stone into Forfend's side.

It seamed tightly into place, marbled, and the wound was gone.

"There ya go." Byr pat Forfend's shoulder.

Forfend tested its range of motion. Twisting and bending was easy again and no longer came with ominous creaking. It leaned down and turned to show Byr its cracked upper back.

"Could you fix this as well?"

Byr stood up on his stool and ran his stubby fingers along the thick cracks. "Just needs a little mortar. We'll get you patched up in no time."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. I throw the material at you and you do the rest. Easiest damn repairs I've ever made." He cracked his knuckles and hopped off his stool, gathering supplies. "Lay down. I ain't reaching over my head to do all this."

"Yes, sir." Forfend followed the order.

Repaired and cleaned, Forfend squeezed carefully into the Scattered Hawk Inn. It couldn't honestly say it was excited to be checking in on Kagoshi. Truthfully, it was more worried for Kairi than the feral monster she was charged with handling.

"Oh, hi, Forfend, I don't see you here too often," Narad greeted with some confusion. "What brings you around?"

"Good morning. I am here to--" Forfend paused as it caught sight of Kagoshi and Kairi sitting at one of the tables. "Oh, Kagoshi, you are awake." It was genuinely surprised.

"Yep," Kagoshi shrugged.

Melzaryn sat on the far side of the room. His pointed ears tuned into the conversation, but he continued eating without looking up.

"How are you... feeling?" Forfend asked, trying and failing to keep the suspicion out of its voice.

"I mean, I feel more or less the same as I did when I got up yesterday." Kagoshi glanced sharply at Narad, who raised his hands up placatingly and took his leave to the kitchen.

"Would you like to explain yourself?" Forfend fiddled with the hilt of its mace. It hoped it wouldn't need the weapon, but it didn't feel it could safely conversate with Kagoshi without it.

"What do you want me to explain?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"All of it. Why do you turn into a demon? What happened with that strange gem?"

"Oh." He scowled even deeper, if that was possible. "You won't like the answer to either of those."

"I expect as much," Forfend nodded.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Forfend balked. "You're extremely dangerous. You need to figure that out!"

Kagoshi shrugged. "I've been trying. The gem thing was new. Normally, I don't have any rhyme or reason for what I do when I'm enraged. But that time, I felt pulled in a specific direction. That's never happened before."

Narad slinked back into the room, pretending he couldn't hear the tense conversation from the kitchen. He set down a plate piled high with every breakfast food Forfend had ever heard of.

"It's on the house," Narad smiled. "As a thanks for rescuing the children."

Kagoshi wasted no time digging into the meal like a starved animal.

"Lady Kairi, what would you like?"

"Same thing," Kagoshi mumbled through a mouthful of bacon-flecked pancake. "It's so good."

Kairi nodded. "Same thing," she confirmed.

"Alright, I'll be back shortly." Narad bowed his head politely and returned to the kitchen. "Oh," he poked his head out from the doorway. "Not really any of my business, but, Melzaryn, didn't Jessie give you reward money for those two?" He ducked back into the kitchen.

Melzaryn stood up, waved shortly to Forfend, and left.

"Hey, what the hell?" Kagoshi started to stand until a floating coin pouch bumped his face.

He paused, going cross-eyed to look at the note attached. "'Going for a walk,'" he read. "Is this from Melzaryn? Okay, cool, I guess." Kagoshi snatched the money and pocketed it.

Forfend hummed. "Well, it is nice to see you are up and about, Kagoshi. Now please refrain from causing anymore trouble. I am going to report the full situation to Jessie."

"Yeah, whatever. I'll be fine." Kagoshi dug back into his food, waving Forfend off.

It left, shaking its head exasperatedly.

One lengthy and detailed incident report later, Jessie stood stunned. He swallowed hard. "I'm glad we've got you. Nobody else would've survived."

Forfend nodded grimly. "May I ask what arrangements are being made for the departed?"

Jessie hid his face and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Right. About that..." He trailed off.

Forfend patiently waited for him to gather his thoughts.

"I took a look at him. He's from a noble family. I could tell by the clothes."

Forfend tilted its head. "Yes, I recall he looked as though he may have been affluent."

"I know we haven't told you that much about the ruling families and Tyrwedian politics and all, but we can't bury him here." Jessie shrugged helplessly. "They'd take exception."

"Will you contact them then? And they can perform their own rites."

"I hope it's that simple," he sighed. "I am going to try to get in contact. For now, he's in Fletch's storage building. It's not great, but it's cool and dry. That's the best we can do."

Forfend hummed. "Alright. So long as he gets his burial rites."

"I'm sure he will." Jessie pat Forfend's arm gently. "In lighter news, there's a party planned this evening to celebrate the safe return of Louis and Jayden. You can invite your... friends? Are they friends? If you want."

Forfend rolled its shoulders. The mortar on its back had assimilated into its body and the wound was gone, but Forfend had not forgotten the pain. "I like Melzaryn and Kairi. They are friendly acquaintances. Kagoshi, on the other hand, is quite unpleasant for a number of reasons."

"I can see that," he nodded.

"Nonetheless, he certainly did help us," Forfend allowed. "I will invite them if I see them again today. For now, I need to see Fletch regarding the armor."

"Right. Be careful."

"I will." It lumbered towards the forge.

Fletch was carefully assembling a sculpture of bent nails. He could use them for scrap, but he'd instead chosen to create a shaky tower of odd angles and sharp points. It wasn't far enough along yet to resemble anything specific. Maybe it never would.

"Oh, hey, Forfend. Glad you're looking better!" he grinned.

"I am feeling better as well. If you are not busy, could you help me go through this crate?" Forfend asked.

"The one I'm not supposed to touch? Sure!" Fletch practically bounced up and hauled himself over the edge, staring down at the contents. He whistled. "Tyrwedian military. Gorgeous craftsmanship. We can't be fucking with this stuff."

Forfend grabbed its oversized pair of gloves and pulled them on. It dragged the first armor set out of the box. "I do not intend to have us melt it down or resell it."

"That's good. I'm hesitant to mess with anything here. I don't think the noble houses will take kindly to us having their stuff." Fletch eyed the armor with a rare display of apprehension.

"You may contact anyone you would like about returning it."

"That's probably a good idea," he nodded. "So what's the deal with the little gems?" Fletch leaned down and squinted at the miniscule stone.

"If you touch them directly, they will overwhelm and injure you," Forfend warned.

Fletch pulled on his own pair of gloves and grabbed a set of tongs. "Noted."

"I want to remove them all."

Fletch blinked. "This is looted Tyrwedian military armor. I don't know if we should do that."

"If they wanted these back, they should not have lost them. They are far too dangerous to be left lying around. They are part of the reason the children were kidnapped," Forfend stated firmly.

"Alright, I guess that's true," Fletch conceded. "I'll help you with that, but then we put them back in the box and I'll figure out who to write to come pick up their shit."

Forfend nodded and began the painstaking process of pulling every individual gem out of every individual armor.

The process was significantly easier with Fletch's assistance. Altogether, however, it still took the better part of the day.

When the last armor was freed of its gem and tumbled into pieces, Fletch tossed it back into the box and brushed his gloved hands off. "That does it."

Forfend nodded. It carefully wrapped the last gem in a tiny scrap of cloth as it had all the others and added it to the collective pouch. "I will store these away for now."

"Alright. I'm gonna get ready for the party. You're coming, right?"

"Of course."

Fletch grinned. He headed into the house while Forfend made for its room.

It tossed the bag of obsidian shards into the large chest at the back of the room and, for the first time, it locked the chest closed. Forfend added the key to one of its belt pouches. It grabbed the key to its door next and locked that behind it for the first time as well.

Forfend sighed with the long, slow hiss of a steam leak. It hadn't been so paranoid in a long time. It did not welcome the feeling.

At least the night's party would alleviate some stress. Hopefully.

Avery offered Melzaryn a massive cut of beef almost as soon as he walked in. He took it, nodded politely, and found himself a seat to eat at.

Kairi and Kagoshi followed a few minutes behind Melzaryn. They also made for the food first.

The party was split. Some people were eating. Some were dancing.

Forfend was with Fletch on the dancefloor, listening to its friend laugh and prod it for details on the monster fight.

Jessie couldn't relax and neither could Joel. Both were circling the room every few minutes, making certain windows were locked and doors were closed.

Forfend spotted Mavis and Jace slip in a bit late. It hadn't expected to see them so soon after the incident, but Jace was practically vibrating with excitement.

Forfend made its way to them. "It's good to see you." It rested a gentle hand on Mavis's shoulder. "Are you both doing alright?"

Mavis nodded. "We'll be okay."

"Forfend, you're so cool!" Jace yelled. "I didn't know you could get hurt."

Forfend hummed. "It has been a very long time since I have been hurt."

"Did you kill the big blue thing?"

"Yes, it is quite dead."

"How'd you do it?" Jace's eyes sparkled, wide with wonder.

"I dropped a block of lead on it," it answered simply.

"Did you pick it up and throw it at the big monster because you're so super strong?"

Mavis smiled apologetically, but Forfend wasn't bothered by the deluge of questions.

"Something to that effect, yes."

"Did you use your magic?" Jace asked next.

"I did."

"What did you make with it? Did you make fire?" He mimicked tossing fireballs.

Forfend nodded.

"Was it scary?"

"It was very scary. I am glad everyone is safe." Forfend lightly tapped Jace's helmet. A steady orange glow spread across the surface.

Jace grabbed the helmet and took it off only long enough to look at it. "It's glowing!"

"It will wear off in a while, but enjoy it while it lasts." Forfend's chest lit up the same color.

Jace squealed. "Mom, look!" He barely gave Mavis a chance to glance before he took off like a shot, showing everyone in the room in turn.

Forfend chuckled with a sound like grinding stone.

"Thank you for looking out for him," Mavis said seriously. "If it weren't for you and those travelers, I would've lost him."

"We only did what needed to be done."

Mavis smiled. "I'm going to try to catch up to him before he bumps into something."

"Best of luck," Forfend chuckled again.

Mavis had barely passed it before the telltale ting rang out.

"Jace, be careful!" Mavis called with much exasperation.

"I'm okay!" Jace yelled back.

Forfend checked in on Loius and Jayden next.

Louis was eating and chattering. He kept trying to get his father to stop pacing and sit down. Fletch was having the same argument with Jessie just a few feet away.

Jayden was stuck to her mother's side. Rosie encouraged her to talk and enjoy the company.

Forfend spoke with them for a bit, but eventually it decided it needed to help Fletch.

Forfend found Fletch following Jessie on his hundredth circuit around the room.

"You gotta enjoy yourself. You're gonna worry yourself to death," Fletch complained.

"It's basic safety precautions. Somebody has to do it," Jessie argued.

Forfend picked Jessie up off the ground.

"What, hey?!" He kicked at the air.

"Have you eaten?" Forfend asked.

"Well... I will," he mumbled sheepishly.

"You will," Forfend repeated and carried Jessie to the table.

"Yeah, that's my boy!" Fletch cheered.

It plopped Jessie down in a chair right between the two affected families.

Fletch sat next to him and hooked their elbows together. "Sit. Eat. Enjoy yourself. It's a party!"

Jessie sighed deeply, running his hand down his tired face. "I dunno."

Joel watched the ordeal suspiciously before slowly giving in to Louis's begging. He sat down as well. Sharp eyes kept darting towards the doors and windows, but he ate and spoke with his son.

With even Joel giving up the endless rounds, Jessie had no excuse.

Fletch pushed a full plate in front of him as Forfend sat down on his other side.

"Alright, okay, you got me." Jessie dug in, suddenly starving now that he wasn't otherwise focused.

Forfend awoke early. All in all, it felt less on edge than it had lately. It was a good sign. Things could go back to normal.

A rapid knock sounded on Forfend's door.

It hauled itself up. "Is something wrong?" it asked as it crossed the room, unlocking the door.

Fletch opened the door as soon as the kerchunk sounded. "There's a whole caravan coming."

"I'm not sure they're merchants," Jessie added fretfully.

Forfend hummed. "We should greet them and find out what they need."

Jessie nodded.

"I'll stick by the forge. Keep an eye on all our stuff," Fletch offered.

"Thank you." Forfend followed Jessie into the town square.

It wasn't long before the caravan entered the city proper. The astounding twenty soldiers escorting the three wagons were worryingly well armed and dressed in the flawless armor of Tyrwedian military. It was certainly a far more serious display of force than a town like Foumedo needed.

Forfend wondered where they were heading.

They stopped. Five knights stepped out of the middle wagon and stood in careful formation. The middle one stood slightly more forward than the others, a scroll in hand

He unraveled it and read, despite how difficult it must've been to see the words through the slats in his helmet's visor.

"In the name of Lord Clayton of House Galloford, merchant house and vassal under King Falco Feldrian, we request the leaders of the town of..." the Knight trailed off, squinting at his scroll. "Fou...mee-do," he mispronounced, grumbled under his breath, and continued, "to present themselves."

No one moved.

After a moment, Jessie hesitantly stepped forward. He was the only leader this town really had. He lacked official titles, but filled the role nonetheless.

The knight waited, watching the rest of the crowd.

Melzaryn opened the tavern door and stepped outside. His eyes flicked over the commotion briefly. He spun on his heel and went back indoors.

Kagoshi and Kairi stepped out shortly after. They watched whatever was about to unfold. Kairi looked curious. Kagoshi wore his ever-present scowl, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

Remiss to leave Jessie alone, Forfend stepped up behind him and to his right like an assistant.

"Alright," the guard started slowly, realizing no one else would be joining them. "Very well. Leader of Fou-mee-do, we are in search of a shipment of Tyrwedian military goods. As per our orders from Lord Clayton, we are to search the merchant route that the shipment traveled upon and recover the shipment. Upon arrival into each town we are to request an audience with the town's leadership and receive a detailed report of the last five weeks. We will remain in Foumedo until we receive the report and a full search of the town has been completed." The man rolled his scroll back up and stood at attention.

"I can show you precisely where the caravan crashed and where most of the supplies are," Forfend offered.

If that's all they were looking for, the knights would be in and out very quickly. They could return home. Forfend and its companions had already handled the hardest part for them. Fletch and Jessie wouldn't even need to contact anyone anymore. It was a stroke of luck.

"I see," the man spoke, slightly startled. He scanned the crowd, overlooking Forfend each pass in his search of who spoke up. "That, uh... And the goods are present here? Is that correct?"

"We have some of the armors in a crate by the forge. We only found them the night before last."

The knight continued to look right past Forfend. For some strange reason, he was wholly incapable of pinning the voice down as belonging to it.

"Hm. I see." The knight took a deep breath. "In the name of Lord Clayton of House Galloford, merchant house and vassal under King Falco Feldrian, I hearby place you under arrest for theft, possession, and use of military property, kidnapping a noble, and ransoming."

Gasps and murmurs ran through the crowd.

Forfend was stunned. The only thing in that list they were technically guilty of was possession and even that had been a faultless happenstance. They'd done nothing wrong.

The knight continued, "You are to be transported to the Tyrwedian royal capital of Cragwall and, further, the castle of Feldrian to be held under trial for your crimes. This action will be carried out immediately."

"Oh hell no!" Kagoshi yelled out.

The knight ignored him and approached Jessie, pulling manacles from his belt.

Kagoshi rushed forward with Kairi right on his heels. He glowered at the man with unbridled contempt.

Several guards intercepted, suddenly on edge. Tension filled the air.

"Wait, wait," Kairi warned.

"Oh good, you've got shields. That means the rest of your buddies have got something to carry you home on," Kagoshi threatened darkly.

The tension sharpened rapidly. Every single soul in Foumedo was overwhelmed with apprehension.

"Kagoshi!" Forfend and Kairi yelled at the same time.

"What?!" he yelled back. "They're trying to make an arrest on falsehoods!"

"Yes, but this is not a problem one can solve with violence," Forfend argued. "They will perform an investigation and find that the wreck happened weeks ago and was only recently discovered. No one here was involved. None of us are guilty of anything."

The knight shifted his focus from Kagoshi back to Jessie and continued his advance.

"Wait, Jessie had nothing to do with this," Forfend insisted.

"As the leader of this town, he is held liable for everyone within it," the knight explained loudly, still blindly failing to acknowledge Forfend as the speaker.

"Oh, fuck," Jessie swore, panic in his eyes. He stepped back and bumped into Forfend.

Forfend pushed Jessie behind it and stood staunchly in front of him.

The knight paused. He looked Forfend up and down.

"And where did you procure this golem?" he asked suspiciously.

"I am not a golem," Forfend responded evenly.

"It speaks," he marveled.

"It has been speaking for a while." Forfend gazed stiffly down at the man.

He seemed to realize all at once that Forfend had done most of the talking thus far. He cleared his throat and eyed Jessie where he nervously stood against Forfend's back.

"Leader of Fou-mee-do, if you do not command your golem to move out of the way, we will have to take more forceful methods."

"I am not a golem," Forfend repeated adamantly.

"If you do not order this construct to stand down," the guard enunciated, "we will be forced to escalate the situation."

The sound of stone cracking resounded from somewhere within Forfend's body as its frustration peaked. "Jessie, give the order."

Jessie inhaled sharply. He glanced at Forfend, then at the guard, and back again. "Forfend, get out of the way," he whispered shakily. It was only just loud enough for the knight to hear.

Forfend held its ground without a word.

"I see," the guard said slowly.

Fletch pushed through the crowd behind the guard and locked eyes on Forfend. He caught sight of Jessie next and Forfend knew his desperate expression was a plea to protect his husband.

Forfend nodded so subtly no one but Fletch would catch it.

"I just wanna punch him. Just one hit," Kagoshi announced aloud.

Kairi whispered something to him.

"I'm not gonna hit these two," he waved dismissively at the guards directly in front of him, their spears crossed and their anxiety skyhigh. "I just wanna punch him." He pointed at the knight currently stalled uncertainly in front of Forfend.

"Kagoshi, you are not helping," Forfend admonished harshly.

It knelt slowly and hunched its shoulders until it was nearly eye level with the guard.

"May I ask that before you make any arrests, you investigate for yourselves," it requested.

The knight sighed. He turned to the guards and nodded.

The guards and a couple of the other knights scattered to scour the town.

The head knight returned his attention to Forfend. "These are orders from our lord, golem," he scathingly emphasized the last word. Forfend had no intention of letting the man get a rise out of it though. "We are to arrest this person immediately and transport them to the royal capital."

"Why is that?" Kagoshi called.

"We are given strict orders. It is our duty to adhere to them," the knight responded sharply.

"I understand this, but you do not have all the information you need to make a judgment here," Forfend said carefully. "I will tell you everything that we know about this situation. I only ask that you allow me to share our story before your guards return. I am quite certain they will find nothing that contradicts what I will tell you."

The knight looked irritable, but he motioned for Forfend to keep talking.

"Alright, from the very beginning." Steam hissed as Forfend gathered its thoughts. Jessie pressed against its back, both giving and seeking comfort. "Two of our town's children recently went missing. We were on the hunt for them when a third was nearly kidnapped. Myself and a handful of companions were able to prevent the kidnapping. The perpetrator was a strange blue demon-like creature. I have never seen such a thing before. If you would like to see it for yourself, the remainder of its body is likely still in the back of a cave due north from here. My companions and I tracked it there after it escaped from us during the attempted abduction."

Forfend paused. It was already getting ahead of itself.

The knight crossed his arms skeptically.

"During our initial hunt for the children, we stumbled across a cart wreck also perpetrated by this same creature and its will-o-wisps. The wagon was destroyed and everything raided from it already. We found evidence of a previous wreck as well, though the wagon itself was gone. We found it later in the monster's lair, similarly raided. Most of your missing goods are likely still scattered around the cavern, though we do have what I believe to be your armors here in town. You will find them in a crate behind the forge, dismantled but undamaged."

"Why are they dismantled?" the knight asked suspiciously.

"To better fit in the crate. Storage space for that much armor is not something a town so small as Foumedo has in abundance."

The knight nodded, apparently satisfied with that response.

"In the back of the cavern, we caught up with the monster and slayed it. The missing children were there. We were able to bring them home safely. However," Forfend sighed like a rush of steam, "there was a third child in the cave. I believe him to be the child of one of the merchants from the caravans and he has passed away. He had already been deceased for weeks when we found him."

One of the passing guards still searching the town snapped his head up and stared at Forfend, concern clear even through his visor.

The head knight held a carefully neutral stance. "So, golem, it was you and your companions who commenced this investigation. Is that correct?"

"Yes," it nodded. "Jessie was not among those companions. No citizen of Foumedo save for myself was."

The knight glanced briefly at Kagoshi, who was being mercifully silent, and Kairi. He seemed to glean the unspoken identities of Forfend's companions quite easily.

"Everything he's told you is true," Kairi piped up. "We were there."

Kagoshi nodded.

A number of the townsfolk shouted their support, backing up every aspect of Forfend's story.

"I see," the knight hummed. He looked around at all the people nodding and yelling. Every testimony matched every other and they all matched Forfend's. "It would appear this golem is telling the truth."

He nodded at one of the knights that had stayed behind.

She nodded and set about rounding up the guards and their findings.

The massive crate of armor was hauled out. One of the guards also carried the carefully wrapped corpse of the young noble. He held the body at arms length, apparently apprehensive to touch the bloodied cloth.

"What the hell is he wrapped in?" the head knight asked.

"The monster's cloak," Forfend answered. "It was all I had for him. There were no other blankets or articles of clothing in the cavern. Please, just make certain he gets his burial rites."

The knight nodded. He took a deep breath. "I've made my decision."

Jessie peeked out from behind Forfend. All of Foumedo leaned in to hear the verdict.

"Our orders still stand."

Foumedo erupted in indignant swears.

"However," the knight shouted over the din, "in accordance with our laws, you may be able to travel to the court itself and make an appeal. That is all. Our orders still remain."

The crowd quieted down. It was a chance, a reason to hope.

"Now will you continue to obstruct the official business of the law?" he asked Forfend. "Or will I have to resort to more forceful means?"

Forfend sighed deeply, steam whistling for a long moment. "Please. Do not take Jessie from this town. I am more than happy to go with you, but Jessie was not involved and Foumedo needs him here."

The knight looked Forfend up and down carefully. "You are not willing to relinquish the town leader, but you are offering to travel in his stead. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Very well then. In that case, I will permit it." The knight nodded to another who spoke into a rune-marked stone.

"You are to travel to the Tyrwedian royal capital of Cragwall and seek audience with Lord Clayton Galloford. We will remain here to make certain you complete the journey." The head knight cocked his head. "Is that agreeable?"

"It is. Thank you, sir." Forfend bowed slightly.

"You and your companions must depart immediately."

"May I have half an hour to gather my things for the trip?" Forfend asked.

"That will be allotted," the knight nodded.

"Thank you," it said again.

Forfend took its leave immediately. It headed straight to its home and unlocked the door.

Luckily, it looked like the guards hadn't been too keen on damaging property in their search. They had left the building alone.

Forfend unlocked the chest in the back of the room and added the sack of obsidian shards to a pouch on its belt. It grabbed its shield and a handful of other supplies it might need.

All in all, it was ready to go in less than fifteen minutes.

When Forfend went back outside, the guards were escorting Jessie into his own home. Thankfully, they hadn't shackled him.

"Be careful! Stay safe! And come home!" Jessie yelled.

"I will," Forfend called back.

Melzaryn, Kairi, and Kagoshi were already at the town gates. As was Fletch.

When Forfend approached, the former three struck out immediately. Forfend started to follow, but Fletch's hand grazed its arm.

It turned.

Fletch had tears in his reddened eyes. He swallowed thickly and wrapped his arms around Forfend's waist.

It placed an oversized hand gently on his back.

"Thank you, Forfend," he managed, his voice cracking with emotion. "If they'd taken Jessie, he... They never would've let him come home. I never would've seen him again. I don't--" A sob cut him off. He dug his fingers into the cracks of Forfend's body, trying to hold it tighter. "I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Everything is going to be alright," Forfend assured. It pressed Fletch into its chest.

Fletch stepped back, sniffling and wiping at his eyes. He looked directly into Forfend's face. He had never looked so serious before as he did now.

"You'll come back to us, right?" He barely got the question out before he had to grit his teeth to bite back another sob.

"Of course."

"I'm gonna hold you to that. Alright?" He took Forfend's hand. "Come home."

"I will," Forfend nodded.

"That's a promise?"

"It is. I will return." It lightly squeezed Fletch's hand and gently pulled away.

"You got everything you need? All your supplies? Your mace? I guess you don't really need any food for the road, huh?" Fletch sniffled, trying out a weak smile. He was prolonging the moment.

Forfend allowed him to do it. It didn't want to leave anymore than Fletch wanted it to.

"Do you have stuff to repair your body with? Your shield? Ya know, just, have you got everything?" he continued his line of questioning.

"I have everything I need. I am certain of that."

"You're, uh, you're really gonna leave," he said softly. Tears brimmed in his eyes again.

Forfend picked Fletch up and pulled him into a hug, squeezing him as much as it safely could.

Fletch sobbed against its chest. "Come home. Please come home," he begged.

"I will." It set Fletch down and kept its steady hand on his shoulder until he composed himself a bit.

"You better. That's a promise. Okay?" Fletch shook with emotion, trying desperately not to fall apart for a third time.

"I will. I swear to you, I will return," it promised.

"Alright," he almost whispered. "Alright. I'll, uh... I'll let you go." He pat Forfend's arm one more time and trudged back toward his home, which was already surrounded by guards.

Forfend pulled its gaze away. It couldn't risk seeing the gathering of somber citizens there to see it off. They were all its friends and its family. And it knew Jace was crying. It couldn't stand to see him in such a state.

Forfend followed after its companions, jogging to catch up. Its metal core had never felt so heavy or so low in its chest. It was scared, worried, and remarkably alone despite the group it traveled in. Already, it missed home.

"Gods, what a pain in the ass," Kagoshi remarked of the road ahead.

Forfend glanced up, distracted from its thoughts. The first day of travel had been wholly uneventful, though very sad. It had watched everything it knew disappear over the horizon.

The second day, however, was going to be a long, strenuous hike.

Ahead of them was a sheer dropoff. The road zigzagged carefully down it.

Shortly after they began the descent, a voice called out from below.

"Hello? Is anyone there? I'm quite stuck!"

Forfend leaned over the edge of the cliff, followed by Kairi then Melzaryn and finally Kagoshi.

"Hello! Help!" Despite the calls for aid, the deep voice sounded more inconvenienced than endangered.

It took them all a moment to spot the man. He was at the very bottom of the cliff, firmly embedded up to his shoulders in a crater in the ground.

"How did that happen?" Forfend wondered aloud.

"Hello?" the man called again. "Is anyone there? I could use some help!" He slumped, mumbling to himself too quietly for Forfend to hear from so far above.

"We're here!" it called down. "We can help!"

"Oh, good! Ah, are you at the top of the cliff? I can't see you!"

"We are!" Forfend answered.

"When and how?!" Kagoshi yelled.

"Oh, well, I assure you when I travel this is usually faster! Um, but I would appreciate if you could help me out of this hole!" The stranger wiggled ineffectually.

Forfend tilted its head. Had he jumped? It seemed likely based on his predicament, but it should be impossible. From the top of the cliff to the bottom was easily a hundred feet. Maybe more.

"Ugh, fine!" Kagoshi responded and continued the path down the cliff.

Everyone followed, picking up their pace to keep the man from waiting too terribly long.

"Ah, hello, friends," the man grinned when they finally reached the bottom level.

"Hello," Forfend greeted, taking in the stranger.

His eyes were a striking steel color and his shaggy brown hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. He had a scar notching out a small section of his eyebrow. If Forfend had to guess, he was a survivalist like Joel and Louis.

"If you could just help me out of here, that would be greatly appreciated. If I could move my limbs, I could free myself but I cannot. They are quite pinned."

"Do you have any particular method you'd like us to use to free you?" Melzaryn asked, pulling his spellbook from a holster on his belt.

"Oh, not really. I'm quite sturdy. There's no need to worry about hurting me," he responded earnestly.

"Oh, good." Kagoshi reached down and snatched the furs around the man's shoulders.

"Oh, you're just going to pull me?" the stranger asked incredulously. "Are you sure you're quite strong enough?"

"Ready? One... Three!" Kagoshi yanked sharply upward, straining against the tight hold the earth had on the stranger. Slowly, the ground cracked and gave way.

"Oh, you're very strong," the stranger complimented.

As soon as his arms were free, the man hauled himself the rest of the way out of the the pit.

"Oh, thank you!" the man shouted, stretching stiff muscles. He popped his neck, then braced his hands on his back and popped it with a series of loud cracks. "That's much better."

Forfend began dutifully refilling the deep gap left in the ground. This was the middle of the main road. Such a dangerous hazard couldn't be left for cart wheels to get stuck in, or people to fall down, or horses to trip into.

"How did you end up in this situation?" Forfend asked.

"Well, I travel a lot and I usually find that it's faster to just jump off the edge of the cliff."

Forfend craned its head up to look at the top of the cliff face.

"I can take the fall," the man assured.

"Correct me if I am wrong," Forfend started, "but I do not believe that is something a normal human could survive."

"Well, you see, I'm very durable." He smiled proudly.

Forfend looked him over again. He wasn't wearing a shirt, only a fur wrap around his shoulders. Muscles bulged from his chest and arms. It had no doubt he was durable, but this was not the kind of thing human durability would let a person do. This man was more than he was claiming.

Kagoshi eyed Kairi, a hungry look in his eyes.

"If you ask him nicely, maybe," Kairi answered a question that hadn't been asked.

"Mm," Kagoshi responded and turned to the stranger. "I have an important question for you."

"Yes, my friend, uh..." He tilted his head quizzically.

"Kagoshi," Kagoshi supplied. "We're not friends."

"Ah, but we will be. I am Callan. Callan Hearthborn."

"Sure, I'll try to remember that. Listen, I want to fight you. I wanna test your durability claim." Kagoshi cracked his knuckles.

"Good! I was about to ask the same! Would you like then--and I hope it's not too presumptuous of me to ask--to partake in a friendly bout?" Callan was rocking on his heels, getting just as excited as Kagoshi over the prospect of a fight.

Kagoshi glanced at Kairi, a spark in his eyes.

"Go for it," Kairi encouraged.

Forfend shifted nervously. It did not like the idea in the slightest. It didn't understand why Kairi would enable his violent behaviors.

"Let's do it!" Kagoshi smirked.

"Excellent! Let us get into our starting positions." Callan took a fighting stance.

"Not on the main road," Forfend interjected. "I have just filled the hole you put in it. We should not damage it further. It is needed."

"Oh, that is fair," Callan acknowledged. He moved a good distance off the road.

Kagoshi followed and both got into position.

"Well then, friend Kagoshi, do you have a title perhaps?" Callan asked.

"No. None at the moment," Kagoshi answered somberly. Forfend couldn't read the sudden distant emotion in his eyes.

"That is fair. You see, I have not been officially recognized by the Celestial Summit to have any titles either," Callan shared. "But I hope to be recognized soon and named Callan Hearthborn the Unbreakable."

"Celestial what?" Kagoshi asked.

"What is the Celestial Summit?" Forfend inquired.

Callan looked wholly puzzled and very caught off guard. "How..? What..? Do you..?" He shook his head. "Ah, questions for later. For now, let us spar. What rules are we using?"

Kagoshi shrugged. "I dunno, just whoever gives up first."

"Oh, perfect!" Callan clapped and assumed a wide stance, arms outstretched. "Perhaps, would one of your companions like to start the countdown?"

Kagoshi tilted his head at the stance. "Oh, you're a confident bastard. I like you."

"You're quite confident as well," Callan returned. "Let this duel be something to remember."

Forfend fretted at the sidelines. Its fingers tapping nervously on its shield. It hoped Kagoshi would stay under control.

Melzaryn tilted his staff forward.

A glowing three appeared between the two fighters with a beep. It faded. A two appeared with the same noise. Then a one. When it faded, a loud ding rang out.

Kagoshi charged across the field without a moment's hesitation.

Callan made no motion to get out of the way or strike back.

Kagoshi reeled back and slammed his fist into the man's face. A surprising metal twang rang out, rattling up Kagoshi's arm.

Kagoshi swore and bounded back, hands still up despite his undoubtedly bruised knuckles.

Callan leaned forward slightly, adamantine slowly being replaced by skin once more.

"That was a good first hit, friend," he praised. "Do you mind if I take mine?"

Kagoshi looked a bit bewildered.

"I can tell that wasn't your full strength. Are we doing this or not?" Callan cocked his head.

"Don't ask him for full strength," Kairi warned.

"Alright, fine," Kagoshi growled and rolled his shoulders.

"No!" Forfend yelled.

"I guess it is your turn," Kagoshi said.

Forfend and Kairi both breathed a sigh of relief.

Callan crouched low and aimed a devastating uppercut to Kagoshi's stomach. The distinct sound of dull metal against flesh resounded across the clearing. When Callan pulled his adamantine fist back, Kagoshi had burns on the front of his shirt.

Kagoshi doubled over, staggering a bit.

"Alright, this is just trading blows. Are we actually going to fight?" Callan asked idly.

Kagoshi gave a wheezing laugh.

"Do not!" Kairi yelled.

"C'mon, friend, I know you've got more in you," Callan egged him on.

"Please do not ask him for more," Forfend shouted. It feared what would happen.

"He's obviously having a good time! Let him have a good time!" Callan argued.

"You don't understand," Kairi shook her head.

"No one else will have a good time." Forfend edged sightly in front of Melzaryn in case it needed to protect him.

Kagoshi looked up, fire spilling from his mouth and a wild look in his eyes.

"You have your own unique abilities too! C'mon, use it!" Callan was practically jumping with excitement. "C'mon! Do not worry, everything will be fine. I can take it. In the battle between you and I, nothing else matters."

"'Everything will be fine,' he says," Kagoshi chuckled darkly. "Let's see if you can deal with hell on earth!" he roared, his body contorting as it grew.

Callan stared with wide eyes, a grin plastered to his face as Kagoshi burst into flames and doubled in size.

The sky darkened, turning the same violent red as Kagoshi's pulsing scars.

"Fantastic!" Callan screamed. "I feel a shiver run up my spine. This is fear! This means this fight is worth undertaking!"

Kagoshi growled, breathing heavily.

"Look at this, we do have a title for you!" Callan announced. "Kagoshi the Giant!" Callan slammed his fists into one another, a metallic clang ringing out as adamantine crawled up his arms and covered his entire body. "Versus Callan Hearthborn the Unbreakable!"

Forfend stared at the sky, shock and fear filling its body. It readied its shield and pulled its mace from its belt. If Kagoshi came toward it, Forfend would be prepared.

A magic flash reading "Round 2" appeared between the fighters, accompanied by a loud ding.

#forfend #twilight of the demigods #session notes #session 4 #foumedo #road to Cragwall #dnd

[demigodforfend]

Twilight of the Demigods: Forfend Edition - Session 26

Melzaryn suggested waiting until nightfall to begin gathering evidence.

The easiest way to do that, after all, would be to take the underground tunnels into the Galloford and Sagemantle noble houses respectively. It would be best if the homes were largely empty and sleeping.

The group whiled the day away tending to whatever small things needed done.

Forfend checked up on Duncan, Farley, and Howell. All of them seemed to be doing well. Narmouth had taken good care of them in its absence.

Forfend took a walk around Cragwall as well. Unfortunately, it didn't run across Erzor, but the rest of the city seemed to be recovering from all the recent excitement.

It made its way back to the Brass Buffalo at dusk.

Melzaryn, Kagoshi, and Kairi met it out front.

They quickly set off, following Melzaryn through the streets to a discreet access tunnel.

This particular tunnel was tucked into a quiet, forgotten corner in a narrow alleyway that looked like a dead end from the road. There didn't appear to be any reason to walk into it, but venturing down it revealed the tight left turn into a more open space. Perhaps, there had once been a shop here that used this space as excess storage, but that was no longer the case.

Weather-damaged crates and trash littered the space.

At Kairi's request, Forfend and Kagoshi took a moment to stack some of the crates and throw a tarp over them.

"Alright, Wisty, just hide in here and take a little nap," Kairi instructed, holding the tarp open.

Wisteria shuffled into the makeshift shelter and settled down. It chittered.

"Thank you. We'll be back later." Kairi dropped the tarp corner and dusted off her hands. "That should keep her warm and hidden while we're gone."

Forfend nodded.

Melzaryn cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. He held open a hidden trapdoor.

Thankfully, this one was large enough to accommodate Forfend without too much trouble.

Melzaryn descended first, followed by Kairi, Kagoshi, and Forfend.

They walked through the silent, sullen tunnels for quite some time.

"You know, my best guess is that these tunnels run everywhere that they do because they were meant as noble escape routes," Melzaryn piped up. He was only whispering, but the echo amplified his voice disconcertingly. "They go to all the noble houses, every major location in the city, the docks, and the Teleportation Hub. That sounds like an emergency exit system to me. Of course, it could be an entry system too, but I think it was originally meant for escape. Why else would these have been built at the same time the city was? The only strange thing is that they don't go to the Grand Cathedral at all and there's only one small tunnel leading into Castle Ledrian. You'd think they'd want to be certain their king could escape."

Forfend hummed low in its chest. "Perhaps they were paranoid about having tunnels throughout the castle," it guessed. "Enemies could, and are, exploiting these passages."

Melzaryn nodded thoughtfully. "Can't shake the feeling that something doesn't add up here. I want to check out the tunnel to the castle."

"Let's do it," Kagoshi grumbled. "They dragged me into it when they fucked with my brain. I want to know what's up with that fucking place."

Melzaryn led them to what Forfend presumed was the entrance, but all of the tunnels looked very much the same.

"There's two of those big statue guard things that Farley killed," Melzaryn noted, pointing out where they stood nestled into alcoves in the wall. He held his staff out, channeling magic into it. His eyes sparked silver. "Looks like there's more of the frozen Envema members and wards similar to the Alarm spell. The tunnel leads into the courtyard inside the castle, under a statue that would have to be slid out of the way. I don't think there are any guards stationed around the courtyard."

"I wonder who the alarms go to," Kairi whispered.

"Someone in the high court, I'm sure," Melzaryn replied. "Otherwise, this wouldn't be so easy to access from the inside. There'd be guards patrolling the courtyard like there are in every other castle, but there's not. Whoever comes and goes from here isn't suspicious to the rest of the castle's inhabitants and they're trying to keep it that way so they're never seen accessing these tunnels."

"Prince Halt brought me down here to meet that Odolan guy. Maybe it's him," Kagoshi suggested.

"Maybe," Melzaryn hazarded. "For now, there's nothing much we can do about it. Let's check out the patriarchs we came down here for."

They left the castle tunnel and headed back toward the noble district.

There were Envema members in the walls here just like they'd seen the first time they'd come down into these passageways. All of them stared blankly straight ahead.

There was an effort now to free these people. Forfend wasn't sure how long it may take that effort to reach this depth in the tunnels, but it had to trust that they would. There was precious little it alone could do for so many victims.

Melzaryn paused a few times to inspect both the empty alcoves and the occupied ones.

"There's some kind of ward here and it's waiting for something," he mumbled to himself. "I'm not sure what it is or what effect it's dependent on, but it feels sinister. Every single indent has the exact same effect."

"Concerning," Forfend hummed.

They kept moving ahead. The sounds of their echoing footsteps changed as they reached a tunnel leading beneath one of the noble houses.

"This is the Sagemantle household," Melzaryn informed them. "There are tunnels leading into the house through the walls, but we'll need to be silent to get through them undetected.

Everyone looked to Forfend's bulky frame.

It hissed steam. It was not cut out for stealth. It never had been.

"Here, I have an idea." Kairi drew in a deep breath. She exhaled slowly. A sparkling white fog rushed from beneath her folded wings and engulfed the party.

The fog dissipated into them.

Forfend was immediately aware that it didn't creak when it moved anymore.

The sound of everyone's breathing had gone completely silent. No one's clothes ruffled. Their feet didn't scuff against the stone floor.

"Pass Without Trace," Kairi grinned mischievously, her voice nearly muted by the magic.

"Perfect," Melzaryn complimented.

They began their careful ascent into the narrow passages throughout the mansion's walls.

"There are magical traps here," Kairi breathed. She pointed out all the hidden triggers, maneuvering the entire group past them.

They made their way up and up into the Sagemantle's private archives.

Melzaryn peeked through a tiny hidden crack in the wall. "Mages doing late night studies," he whispered. "Keep extra quiet here."

Everyone nodded.

Forfend peeked into the room as well.

There were indeed high elves studying, but Forfend's attention was caught by the guard detail in the room. Animated armors populated the area, standing sentinel by every entrance. They were of the very same design as the ones that had been in Foumedo.

Suspicious.

It pulled away from the peephole and followed after the rest of the group.

Soon, the smell of food wafted into the tunnels. Despite how late it was, there were still some cooks hard at work in the kitchens. Likely, to feed the scholars in the archives.

Melzaryn didn't slow. He seemed to have somewhere very particular in mind he was trying to get to.

Eventually, he stopped them and peered through another thin crack in the wall.

"Odolan Sagemantle's study," he muttered.

Kairi peeked through the crack. "I can't see his emotions," she whispered. "I want to see what he's doing."

She Wildshaped, the Pass Without Trace spell completely muffling the sound of the transformation.

Kairi, now in the form of a tiny pink spider, slipped through the crack into the room.

Forfend and Kagoshi both chanced their own glances into the room.

Odolan was currently in there, scribbling rapidly into a book at his desk. He looked intensely focused.

He didn't glance up even once as Kairi descended on a thin web over his head and watched him write.

Over an hour later, Odolan finally set the book aside. He opened a drawer at his desk, dropped the book into it, shut it, locked it, and whispered something.

Forfend guessed it was a magical phrase of some sort.

Odolan finally got up and exited the study, locking that door behind him too.

He was paranoid. And rightfully so.

Kairi skittered back into the tunnel and returned to her proper form.

"What was in his book?" Melzaryn asked immediately.

"Theoretical arcane practices involving constructs," Kairi answered. "At least, that was the title on the first page he was writing in. It got really technical really fast and that's outside my expertise. I just know the gist was magical experiments on mindless, soulless things."

"Curious," Melzaryn hummed.

"I did catch the word he whispered when he locked the drawer though," Kairi shared. "I think it was Elvish."

She repeated the word.

Melzaryn nodded. "For those who seek," he translated it into Common.

Melzaryn touched a hidden lever.

Quiet mechanical whirs clicked in the walls as a thin panel slid aside.

Melzaryn let himself into the silent study and gestured for the others to follow.

Everyone filed into the room as silently as they could.

Forfend inspected the painting that had slid aside to allow them entry. It was a stern portrait of Odolan Sagemantle. He wore the sort of harsh expression that probably kept most eyes off the painting and, thus, off the hidden escape route.

"He's a scholar," Melzaryn said. "That means he definitely forgot something he'll realize he needs soon. We have to be quick."

Forfend turned to see Melzaryn carefully inspecting the massive desk that took up the majority of the center of the room.

The entire room was covered in gaudy deep green accents. Bookshelves filled with thick tomes lined the walls.

Decorative armors in stoic poses stood at attention in each corner, their swords pointed downward and their shields propped against their legs.

Over the desk, a dragon skull hung ominously and morbidly.

Forfend's core dropped into its center. If it could feel sick, it would have.

The skull had to belong to an emerald dragon. The bone had a greenish sheen to it when the light struck it just right.

The light, Forfend tore its gaze off the skull to notice, was a magical orb set up on a stand next to the desk.

It was the least of the magical things strewn about the rooms.

Alchemical tools and arcane texts littered the table. Forfend couldn't name even half the supplies and nearly none of the texts were in Common. It was thoroughly lost.

Melzaryn, however, seemed to be exactly in his element.

"Funny, all the work Odolan did to secure this place just for us to walk right past every single one of those wards," he said, pointing to the door.

Forfend glanced up to it.

Sure enough, the door was covered in locks and runes and magical chains that would prevent the door from being opened with the wrong key or broken down by force.

Yet, none of that had mattered. They'd bypassed everything and walked straight into the room. It was embarrassing, really.

Melzaryn spoke the Elvish password. The magical sheen glinted across the lock on the drawer.

"We still need the key though," Melzaryn mused. "Anybody have a lockpicking kit?"

"Nope," Kairi said.

Forfend shook its head.

"Kagoshi?" Melzaryn prompted.

"Why the fuck would I have one?" Kagoshi snapped.

"Why wouldn't you? That's the better question," Melzaryn retorted.

"Because I'd just punch it open."

Melzaryn rolled his eyes. "Forfend, could you please?"

Forfend touched its face. Heat rose in its core. It glowed, golden ichor spilling as it drew a lockpick from its rune. "This is what you wanted?"

"Thank you." Melzaryn accepted the pick and set to work on the lock. "I'll have to buy a set of these soon so we don't have to do this again."

Forfend nodded. It watched the ichor drip from its face and dissipate before it even hit the ground.

"I haven't done this in a long time," Melzaryn mentioned. "I'm rusty."

A soft chink sound emphasized his point.

Melzaryn swore.

Kairi leaned down to the broken lockpick in his hand. "I can fix it."

She cast Mending, melding the tool back together.

Melzaryn made a second attempt. This time, the lock clicked open.

He slid the drawer open, pulled out the thick book, and rifled through it. He chuckled at one of the spells written within, though Forfend had no idea how he was reading it. Between the highly technical arcana and the personalized shorthand, Forfend understood nothing on the page.

Melzaryn copied down a few things before setting the book aside. "That's all theory and experiments. Nothing sinister though."

He tilted his head at the drawer.

"Oh, that's interesting."

"What is it?" Kagoshi grumbled. He stood by the door, listening out for anyone coming up or down the hallway.

"This drawer isn't deep enough. It's got a false bottom." Melzaryn rubbed his hands together. "This is going to be fun."

He cast Detect Magic. Light flashed from beneath the drawer, highlighting a rune.

"Of course. He's a scholar of magics. If he hadn't trapped this, I would've been disappointed," Melzaryn said. "I can Dispel it easily enough, but that'll prove for certain we've been here and we might not want to do that. Or, hm. Here's another idea."

Melzaryn held his fingers over the false bottom of the drawer. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.

The magic in the air changed.

Melzaryn slowly lowered his hand, palm flat, until it connected with the false panel. He slid it back and pulled out the book hidden beneath.

The ward pulsed softly and undisturbed on the true bottom of the drawer.

"I moved it," Melzaryn grinned. "I can keep it there for a few minutes, but it's going to snap back into place on the bottom of the fake panel eventually."

Melzaryn opened the book he'd found and tilted his head at it. He squinted.

"Mating Rituals of Bronzewing Falcons?" Kairi asked.

"That's his super secret book?" Kagoshi cocked an eyebrow. "Freak-ass."

"It's an illusion," Melzaryn said. "The real book is..."

His eyebrows shot up as he rapidly flipped through the pages.

"What is it?" Forfend asked.

"Wildly incriminating," Melzaryn answered.

He replaced the false panel, returned the first journal to its place, and closed the drawer. He dropped the secret book into one of the pouches on his belt.

"We're taking that with us," he said. "It's full of diagrams of the Envema runes, mind-wiping spells, unethical experiments, and it outright states Adhron Galloford is funding this little project."

"Oh." Forfend straightened its back. "That is certainly damning."

Melzaryn fiddled with the drawer's lock until he got it to latch again. He shoved the lockpick into his pocket and repeated the Elvish pass phrase. Magic glinted across the lock.

"There," Melzaryn nodded once. "No reason to think anyone was here. Everything is exactly where we found it, except this book. It's not something I think he should need to look at every day either, so we should have time before he realizes it's gone. He has no reason to think it's not right where he left it."

"Ready to go?" Kairi asked.

Everyone nodded.

She drew in a deep breath and exhaled. A new bout of silencing fog encircled the party and clung close to their bodies. "Let's go," she whispered.

The group carefully, quietly made their way back through the tunnel behind the painting.

Kagoshi pulled the lever to close the panel.

Mechanics in the walls clicked and chugged as the entrance closed itself off once again.

Nearly as soon as the sounds stopped, the door to Odolan's office opened.

Everyone froze in their tracks, despite the Pass Without Trace spell that should prevent Odolan from hearing them through the wall.

"Forgot my damn pen," Odolan muttered to himself.

He snatched it off the desk and promptly left again.

"Told you he forgot something," Melzaryn whispered. "Scholars always do."

"That was close," Forfend hummed. "A moment longer and we would have been caught."

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Kagoshi rumbled.

The group made the painstaking trek out of the walls of the Sagemantle mansion and back into the main tunnels beneath.

"I want to visit the Galloford house," Melzaryn decided.

"Why?" Kagoshi growled.

"Two reasons." Melzaryn held up his fingers for emphasis. "One, the Gallofords are throwing a formal ball tomorrow. It's been the talk of the town since you all left to visit Foumedo. I'm planning to go to it for more reconnaissance. Maybe I won't need to do that. Maybe I will. Better safe than sorry. And two, Odolan's book is very damning evidence but the information on Adhron is hearsay at best. We don't have any solid proof he actually did it. We just have a book where someone else claimed he did it. That's not the same. I want hard evidence against both of them."

Forfend nodded. "That is sound reasoning. I will accompany you."

"Me too," Kairi seconded.

"Draw me a map," Kagoshi demanded. "I want out of here. This sneaky shit's not for me. It's too damn quiet. Call me when someone needs punched."

"Fair enough. Meet us at the adamantine beetle in an hour or two," Melzaryn agreed.

He scribbled up a perfect map and passed it over.

Kagoshi swiped it, stared at it for all of two seconds, turned on his heel, and stalked off.

Melzaryn led the way toward the Galloford estate.

Forfend and Kairi followed him closely.

As they reached the tangle of tunnels beneath the mansion, traps began to crop up throughout.

Forfend took note that these traps were no less clever than those beneath the Sagemantle estate, but they were mundane rather than magical. The difference between magic and a craftsman's ingenuity was often negligible. Both types of traps were equally dangerous.

Between Melzaryn's magic and Kairi's sharp eyes, however, not a single one was tripped. They made their way up into the walls of the expansive house without much issue.

Melzaryn led them through the winding rooms until they finally happened past what looked to be Adhron's personal office.

A thin crack in the wall just barely afforded a look inside.

Melzaryn tugged a lever.

A section of the wall flipped around to face them, revealing a large statue. The panel slid aside out of their way.

The three of them filed into the room.

The panel slid back into place and flipped around again, returning the decorative statue to its rightful place in Adhron's office.

Forfend tilted its head at the ostentatious visage of a man who looked a great deal like a much younger Adhron Galloford. He struck a dramatic, powerful pose. His muscles bulged to an unrealistic degree. He wore a toga that left startlingly little to the imagination. In one hand, he wielded a pen and, in other other, a sword.

Forfend wasn't wholly certain if this depiction was meant to be Adhron himself or one of Adhron's ancestors.

Either way, it was an awfully pretentious thing to have stationed in an office. Perhaps in the same way that Odolan's stern portrait kept eyes off it, the awkwardly exaggerated statue was also meant to keep eyes away.

"That's a disgrace to art," Melzaryn commented dryly on the statue before beelining to rifle through Adhron's desk.

"Oh gods!" Kairi gasped. She slapped her hand over her mouth.

Forfend turned to see what had startled her.

In the corner of the room, stanced up as though about to charge, was a taxidermied adamantine beetle.

Kairi turned away from it, but it was hardly the only morbid thing in this overlarge room.

Overhead hung a pair of emerald dragon horns. Emerald scales were mounted in mosaics in several spaces around the room. Pelts from creatures Forfend couldn't name were scattered about the floor. The whole area reeked of violent disregard for others and the natural world.

Melzaryn pulled a strange wand from one of the pouches in his belt and held it aloft.

A ding sounded. The wand blinked brightly.

A sconce lit up and so did the enormous bookshelf in the back of the room.

"This reveals secrets," Melzaryn explained simply as he dropped the wand back into his bottomless pocket.

The light on the sconce and bookshelf faded.

Melzaryn pointed to the sconce. "That's going to be a lever. I distinctly recall getting poisoned last time I messed with a hidden trigger, so I'd appreciate it if you'd do it this time."

Forfend nodded. It grabbed the sconce and pulled downward.

A cloud of poison hissed out of the wall directly into Forfend's runic face.

"Ha, it was trapped," Melzaryn smirked.

"It was," Forfend hummed.

The poison hadn't done anything to it. It wasn't an organic creature after all. Most poisons couldn't do anything to it.

"Ah, the lever goes both ways," Forfend noticed. It pushed the sconce upward.

The bookcase pulled backwards and slid aside, unveiling a much more eccentric and esoteric study hidden behind.

Papers and maps littered the desk haphazardly. A book laying on top of the desk was wrapped in chains and locked shut. A box sat in the corner. The box looked ordinary enough, but something about it was off-putting in an unexplainable way.

Melzaryn immediately approached the desk. He rifled through the maps.

"These are maps of the tunnels under Cragwall. They're annotated."

Forfend and Kairi leaned over his shoulders to look.

Entry points, abduction sites, and placements for future Envema attacks were all marked.

"That's pretty damning evidence," Kairi said.

"Yeah, but I'm looking into that chained book too," Melzaryn decided.

Forfend tilted its head at the book. "It has no title. It may be a journal."

Melzaryn reached for the book. He paused, his ears twitching.

Kairi tensed.

Forfend couldn't hear what they were hearing, but a moment later they both relaxed. It assumed whatever had spooked them had moved on.

"If somebody comes down this hallway, Forfend, I want you to stand in front of the door," Melzaryn instructed. "Just stand in the way so they can't open it while Kairi and I get back into the tunnel. I'll teleport you in once we're settled."

"Certainly," it agreed.

Melzaryn turned, the chained book forgotten. "If we're going to need to get out of here quickly, I'm more interested in this box than the book." He crouched down and casted Identify.

A single sentence of information popped up in front of Melzaryn's face. He blinked at it. His brow furrowed.

"This box is completely mundane and unlocked. Why does it feel so creepy?"

Forfend and Kairi both shrugged.

"I want to open it up," Melzaryn immediately stated.

"That may not be our best idea," Forfend hummed nervously. "It could be dangerous."

"Well, if there was any magic affecting it at all, Identify would've shown it to me. Which means whatever's giving off that scary aura has to be the thing inside the box," Melzaryn argued. "Touching the box itself shouldn't do anything to me."

"Yes," Forfend said slowly, "but what if the contents of the box are the sort of scary thing that will jump out at you?"

"Hm." Melzaryn paused to consider this. "Alright, the book it is then."

He immediately returned to the desk and grabbed the book.

"Locked, but not magically locked," he observed.

He pulled Forfend's lockpick out and began fiddling with the padlock.

The lockpick snapped.

Melzaryn sighed. "I'm rustier than I thought."

Kairi grabbed the lockpick and cast Mending on it once again.

Melzaryn gave the lock another try. This time, it clicked open.

Melzaryn unwrapped the chains and flipped through the book.

As he was reading it, footsteps sounded in the hallway. The slow tromping grew closer and closer.

"Would you like me to be in front of the door now?" Forfend asked as quietly as it was able.

Melzaryn snapped the book closed. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea," he whispered.

Forfend nodded. It immediately strode to the door and stood directly in front of it.

There was a kerchunk as the door unlocked. The knob turned and the door just barely cracked open before audibly thudding into Forfend's back.

The person on the other side froze. "What the fuck?"

He tried to open the door a second time with the same result. He paused again, shut the door, and opened it back up. Again, it simply bumped Forfend's back and would open no further. He slammed it into Forfend several times.

Predictably, Forfend didn't budge.

In the meantime, Melzaryn and Kairi silently scrambled.

Kairi got the tunnel behind the statue reopened while Melzaryn stuffed the book and map into his belt pockets.

Melzaryn closed off the secret office again, watching to make certain the bookcase slid back into place before he ducked into the tunnel.

"What the fuck was that?" the voice behind Forfend whispered to himself as the quiet mechanical whirs of the secret doors filled the otherwise silent room.

He slammed the door into Forfend harder, though not hard enough to hurt it and far from hard enough to move it.

"What the fuck is wrong with this thing?" the man growled. "What are you stuck on?!"

Melzaryn closed off the statue tunnel.

Forfend heard the stranger back up, presumably to tackle the door. It braced itself for a slightly more significant impact.

The world fell out from beneath its feet.

In a fraction of a second, it contacted the ground again in the darkness of the tunnels. It could feel Melzaryn and Kairi standing at its side in the tight space.

In the office, the man charged the door and slammed into it with all his might.

Without a great weight blocking his path, he crashed straight through and tumbled into the office floor.

He groaned for a moment before forcing himself to jump to his feet and have a frantic look around.

Forfend watched him through the tiny crack in the wall.

He was a house guard. A thoroughly befuddled one.

"Gods, what the hells was that?" He paced the office, then checked the door.

He shut the door and immediately yanked it open again. He faced no resistance. He frowned.

"What the hells?" he said again. He fiddled with the door for several more minutes before giving up. He threw his hands into the air and left.

He made it only a few steps down the hallway before turning around to open the door one more time. He grumbled through grit teeth. He tensed up to slam the door, but seemed to remember he was in a mansion full of sleeping people. He sighed heavily, shut the door gently, and finally left.

Several silent seconds passed before Kairi started giggling. She covered her mouth to stifle the noise.

Melzaryn also looked to be holding in laughter. "He's going to have a vendetta against that door for the rest of his time working here," he wheezed.

Rumbling chuckles emanated from Forfend. "I suppose he will."

"Let's go, let's go," Melzaryn hustled, leading them back down into the proper tunnels as quickly as he quietly could.

Once they were clear of the estate and far from anyone who could hear them, Melzaryn pulled the stolen books from his bag.

"Adhron's book is full of documented transactions he's had with Odolan, probably for blackmail purposes. It also has a lot of information on the Calamity Crystals and the ways they theorized they could use them. It's got notes on experiments to remove the brains of creatures to use them as powerful, mindless pawns. And it discusses hiring the other warriors like Howell for a simple bodyguarding job. My best guess is that the plan is, or maybe was because they might've already done it, to kidnap them like they did him."

Melzaryn opened the books and started tearing a handful of specific pages out of each of them. He stuffed the loose pages into one pocket and the books back into another.

"I'm leaving as much of the evidence as I can, but I don't want these experiments to be complete enough to be repeatable," he explained.

Forfend nodded. It agreed fully. "I think we should take what we have found back to King Falco immediately. Before we are discovered and retaliated against."

"It's the middle of the night," Kairi pointed out.

"Yeah, but this is urgent and we have a letter stating we're on business for the king," Melzaryn said. "They'll let us in."

Forfend and Kairi both nodded.

With that, the group quickly made their way back to the entrance Wisteria and, hopefully, Kagoshi awaited them at.

When they arrived, they did indeed find Kagoshi dozing against the hidden beetle.

"Come on." Kairi shook him gently to wake him.

He grumbled and hauled himself up. "What?"

"We have what we need. We are going to speak with King Falco immediately," Forfend said.

"Sure. I love bothering people at fuck-all hours of the night." Kagoshi didn't hesitate to immediately start tromping toward the Mountain Quarter and Castle Ledrian.

Kairi nudged Wisteria awake and hopped up onto the beetle's back. They skittered after Kagoshi.

Forfend and Melzaryn rushed after them, both intentionally pulling ahead of Kagoshi.

They'd be running into guards shortly and neither of them wanted an incident. The last thing they needed was for Kagoshi to get arrested again. And they especially didn't need him arrested for threatening the king's guards.

"H-hey!" a nervous guard called as they approached the Mountain Quarter's outer gate. "You can't be here."

Forfend tilted its head. "We are on urgent business for the king and we need to speak with him as soon as possible."

Melzaryn pulled the letter from his pocket with a flurry of rumpling paper. The king's seal was unmistakable.

"Oh!" the guard exclaimed, barely skimming the letter. "Head right on in then."

"Lower the gate!" he yelled up to the guards stationed above him.

Loud cranks shattered the still air. A thud signaled the gate settling firmly into its place on the ground.

Forfend nodded politely to the guard.

It and its allies made their way into the Mountain Quarter.

Forfend found it strange to think they'd just been here, albeit well beneath the cobblestone streets.

Castle Ledrian loomed ahead of them. Dark skies framed the even darker outline of the imposing structure. The castle was massive.

Forfend wondered what was being done with all that space. Not much, if it had to guess. Nobles seemed to be wasteful like that. Forfend didn't understand it.

The group approached the castle gates.

They repeated the same interaction with this guard as they had with the last, though he insisted Wisteria wait outside.

Kairi begrudgingly slid off Wisteria's back and instructed her friend to wait.

The drawbridge came down slowly.

When it finally thunked into place, Forfend and its allies traversed it.

The drawbridge spanned a deep ravine. Enormous wooden spikes were embedded haphazardly all across the bottom of it. If the fall weren't deadly enough, the spikes would make certain no one survived.

The drawbridge clanked and clattered, beginning the rise back into place the second they stepped off of it. Within moments, they were closed inside.

An ancient mage looked up from his paperwork and frowned, dragging deep, furrowing lines down the sides of his mouth.

The mage was Odolan Sagemantle himself.

"Oh, hello." He dripped condescension and irritation. Whatever he'd been working on, he was making immensely clear he'd rather get back to it. They were bothering him.

"Who are you again?" Kagoshi growled.

Odolan arched his brows and set his jaw. "I am Highlord Odolan Sagemantle. I don't think I've had the pleasure to meet any of you."

Kagoshi nodded slowly and looked Odolan over. He seemed to be assessing the man for a fight.

"What is your business here?" Odolan demanded, getting up and circling the desk to stand before them. "It's the middle of the night."

"Just doing some work for the king. We're hired mercenaries. You know how it is." Melzaryn shrugged.

"Hm, of course. May I see the documentation regarding your hire?" Odolan held his hand out expectantly. "I'm certain King Falco wouldn't hire you without documentation and, as his advisor, I need to make certain nothing is amiss here."

"Certainly." Melzaryn pulled out the first letter King Falco had sent them, rather than the second.

The first barely stated they were working for King Falco, but there was a vague mention of a job to be done after their trip to Foumedo. The second was far more descriptive and mentioned Odolan as an Envema suspect by name.

Forfend hoped the first letter would be sufficient.

Odolan tugged a jewel-encrusted monocle from his breast pocket and held it to his eye. He inspected the letter thoroughly.

Forfend tilted its head. He hadn't been using a monocle at home in his study and he hadn't been using one when they entered to see him doing paperwork here either. Was the garish piece just for show?

"Careful, you'll break your wrist with the weight of that stupid thing," Kagoshi grumbled under his breath.

Odolan's eyes cut from the letter to his almost comically thick monocle, then briefly to Kagoshi before returning to the letter.

The monocle's rim had to be that large to accommodate the ostentatious jewels encircling it. If Forfend had to guess, the monocle was much heavier than any sight aid needed to be.

"What did you say?" Odolan played ignorant, the harsh edge in his voice offering Kagoshi one, and only one, chance to change what he'd said.

Ever stalwart in his rudeness, Kagoshi crossed his arms. "You heard me."

Odolan scowled.

"How old are you anyway?" Kagoshi cocked his head. He made a point of staring at the purple veins beneath the thin, pale skin of Odolan's hands.

"Old enough," Odolan answered through grit teeth.

"Yeah, I can tell," Kagoshi stifled a chuckle. "Your wrinkles have wrinkles. I can see the wax growing out of your droopy ears. Your skin looks thinner than paper."

Odolan was struggling to maintain a calm demeanor. The letter crinkled in his hand as his grip tightened. His lips drew into a taut line. The tips of his ears turned red. He sniffed once and upturned his nose.

Melzaryn sidled slightly in front of Kagoshi. "Sorry, I did say we were mercenaries, right?"

"That explains the vulgarity," Odolan spat.

Kairi ducked behind Forfend to hide her snickering with its broad back.

"Despite your churlish personalities, everything here seems to be in order," Odolan determined. He dropped the letter back into Melzaryn's hands. "I'll notify the king of your arrival."

He returned to his desk, grabbed his staff from where it leaned against the wall, and quietly cast a spell. Magic glowed dimly around him.

Odolan waved dismissively at them. "A guard will escort you up in a moment. And do show more respect to King Falco."

He turned his nose up, grabbed a stack of papers, and strode away.

A guard entered the enormous foyer and motioned for them. "Alright, I can take you up to King Falco now."

The group followed him through expansive hallways and enormous stairways.

The guard glanced over his shoulder a couple of times as they walked. He seemed to have something on his mind, but he wasn't sure if he should voice it.

Finally, he made his decision.

"Hey, uh, listen, not to be annoying or anything, but... are you guys the ones that helped at the Teleportation Hub? When it collapsed?"

"We are," Forfend hummed.

"Yeah, I thought so!" The guard pointed to Kagoshi. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"He does that," Forfend deadpanned.

The guard chuckled. "I heard you also helped out the Brass Buffalo."

"Yep," Kairi confirmed.

"I just wanted to say thank you." The guard ducked his head respectfully to all of them. "I don't know if you know this, but you saved my grandpa. He's there a lot."

Kagoshi and Melzaryn shared a glance. "Does he like cookies?" they both asked at the same time.

"He does like cookies," the guard confirmed. "I try to visit as much as I can, but I don't get down there too much, you know? Always busy with work."

"I believe I sat down and had a nice chat with him," Melzaryn smiled. "Kind man."

"Really?" The guard blinked. "Well, thank you for keeping him company."

Kagoshi cocked his head and thought for a moment. "He was the guy I picked up and carried outside because he wasn't going to be fast enough to get out on his own, I think."

"Thank you so much," the guard expressed sincerely.

"What's your name?" Kagoshi asked in a rare display of civility.

"Me? Carston."

"Carston," Kagoshi repeated. "Got it."

"Uhm, I don't know if you have enough people saying thank you, so I just want to say it again. Thank you," Carson said. "Your faces aren't being advertised in the newspapers or anything. But, uh, there's this rumor..."

He trailed off for a moment, but before anyone could ask what the rumor was, he suddenly blurted, "Are you guys demigods?"

Forfend's first instinct was to answer the question honestly, but it instead decided to say nothing at all. The rest of them could decide amongst themselves how to respond.

"How'd you hear that?" Kagoshi grumbled.

"Well, there's rumors everywhere," Carston replied. "I mean, the descriptions are really rough and all, but you guys sort of fit the bill."

"What are the descriptions you've heard?" Melzaryn asked.

"One was this really tall earth genasi, which I guess he could be mistaken for." Carston pointed at Forfend.

Forfend fought down the reddish glow in its chest. Earth genasi were a beautiful people and it couldn't help but to be flattered at the idea that it could be mistaken for one of them. Nonetheless, it tilted its head. "I am most often mistaken for a golem," it hummed. "Which is also incorrect."

"Then there's the pixie," Carston continued, motioning to Kairi. "She's got wings and she's very pink."

Kairi twirled, sparkles swirling off the hem of her dress. "I suppose I do look a little like a pixie, but aren't they supposed to be way smaller?"

"And, um," Carston looked Kagoshi over. "Well, you're not short, but they said, uh..." Kagoshi's perpetual scowl shut him up. He pointed to Melzaryn. " If he's the monochromatic elf, then, well..."

Carston rubbed at the back of his neck.

"The last one that leaves would be the angry dwarf, which is not an accurate description!" he rushed to finish his sentence. He held his hands out placatingly to Kagoshi. "But I have to guess that's you."

"A dwarf?" Kagoshi hissed, nostrils flaring.

"They're calling you a very angry dwarf, yeah," Carston sheepishly confirmed.

Kagoshi growled.

Kairi laughed.

"None of the descriptions are really accurate, but you're the only group I've seen that even vaguely resembles what people are claiming," Carston said.

Melzaryn nodded thoughtfully and shrugged. "An astute observation."

"Thanks." Carston looked the group over again. "I wanted to say thank you because none of your names are publicized, so I didn't know if people were telling you."

"We actually prefer that our names are not in the papers. That is ideal," Forfend hummed.

"Yeah, we like it like that," Kairi agreed.

"Whether or not we're demigods is just a rumor," Kagoshi added. "We keep it that way."

"Oh, okay." Carston nodded. "I won't mention it again then. Just, um, thank you again."

Kagoshi shrugged. "You're welcome."

"We're almost there," Carston informed them. "We're heading past Prince Halt's room now and then King Falco's will be just up those stairs."

"Oh, you call him that too?" Melzaryn grinned.

"Prince Halt?" Carston chuckled. "Yeah. King Falco started calling him that and it's really catching on. He hates it."

Kagoshi laughed.

"I believe it was Kagoshi that coined that phrase originally," Melzaryn shared.

"Really?" Carston asked. His eyes lit up. "Yeah, that's right! You were there when he yelled, 'Halt,' at all those people that weren't going anywhere! I saw that!"

Forfend nodded. "He yelled at us when no one was moving."

Carston laughed. "That's really biting him in the ass now."

He led them up the staircase and to the doorway at the end of the hall.

"I hope things go well for you in there," Carston said. He stood aside to let them pass, placing the butt of his spear on the ground and straightening his back. He was now perfectly at attention. "I'll be right here to take you back down when you're done talking."

"Thank you for your help," Forfend nodded politely to him, its chest lighting up orange.

"Yeah, no problem," Carston smiled. "Thank you for everything you've done for, well, Tyrwedia."

Melzaryn opened the door to King Falco's room and strode in first.

Forfend, Kairi, and Kagoshi followed right on his heels.

King Falco stood bleary-eyed and barely dressed in the middle of the room.

The bedroom itself lacked the general extravagance of the rest of the castle. The room was enormous, but not bejeweled or slathered in silk and gold. There were accents of green and gold about the room, but it wasn't the absurd garishness of the Galloford or Sagemantle houses.

There was also some notable clutter strewn about. Several of the clutter piles seemed to be from various hobbies. Knitting was the most recently attempted.

The top half of a sweater bearing the moniker "Prince Hal'' lay draped across a chair. Forfend assumed the king's rather rough attempt at the craft would eventually bear High Knight Erest Ledrian's new unofficial title in full.

Melzaryn lightly nudged Kagoshi and flicked his eyes toward the incomplete sweater. "We're coming back here in the winter," he whispered.

"Oh yeah," Kagoshi smirked.

Melzaryn clocked King Falco's study taking up one side of the room and nodded appreciatively. It wasn't particularly large, but it appeared to be well used.

A training dummy sat in another corner. It also looked like it had seen consistent wear and tear.

A mannequin stood at King Falco's bedside. His more fanciful, kingly attire rested heavily on its shoulders. It looked like it hadn't been touched in ages, though Forfend knew he'd had to wear it to the court hearing only two weeks ago.

Kairi looked up and around at the walls of the room. Her eyes stopped in a particular spot and Forfend caught itself following her gaze.

The walls were adorned with weapons and paintings. Most of the paintings were portraits of King Falco and his family. The particular one that had caught Kairi's attention was a large portrait of the whole royal family.

King Falco stood smiling next to a woman who must be the Queen, though Forfend had never seen her. Surrounding them was a gaggle of four children.

Though he'd been much younger when this had been painted, Forfend immediately recognized the only one of King Falco's children it had met. Teenage Erest stared sternly forward.

Forfend had never seen his face, but the perfectly upright stance and serious demeanor was in stark contrast with the rest of the more relaxed family. High Knight Erest was unmistakable.

King Falco coughed and cleared his throat, drawing all attention to himself. He wiped his sleepy eyes with one hand and fiddled with his haphazard clothing with the other.

"You guys are back already?" he yawned. "Wow, that was fast."

"We're efficient," Kagoshi said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah," King Falco agreed. "Here, let me get you some chairs."

He dragged one over from his study and two from his knitting project area. He paused to assess Forfend while the rest of the group took their seats.

He stepped over to his training area and dragged a sturdy bench out with considerable effort.

"I think this'll do," King Falco guessed.

Forfend took the offered seat, settling its weight down slowly to make certain the bench wouldn't break.

Slight creaking emanated from beneath it, but the bench held.

"Thank you," Forfend nodded.

King Falco pulled a table and one last chair from what appeared to be a storage corner. He set the table up in front of the party and sat down across from them.

"Okay, so what's the news?" he asked. He was starting to wake up a little more and he was now anxiously awaiting their input.

"Give me a moment," Melzaryn said. "This is a very sensitive matter and I'd like to case the area to make sure no one's listening in."

"Oh. Okay." King Falco nodded once and spread his hands.

Melzaryn concentrated on his staff. He muttered a spell under his breath and slowly scanned the room back and forth.

"Looks in order," he nodded.

Forfend tapped its fingers nervously against the table. "Melzaryn," it hummed and inclined its head toward King Falco himself. "Could you Identify him the way you did our other friend? He has a great deal of contact with our suspects, especially Highlord Odolan, and I am worried."

"Nothing showed up with Detect Magic, but I can," Melzaryn agreed. "Just to be safe."

"What do you mean? Is something wrong?" King Falco asked.

"It's just a precaution," Melzaryn assured. "Would you mind if I cast Identify on you?"

"Oh, okay. Go ahead, I guess," King Falco agreed.

Melzaryn held up his staff and peered through the pearl. Information popped up in front of him and scanned by absurdly fast.

"It's strange, but there's definitely Envema magic here," Melzaryn grimly informed them. "It's in flux, like something's fighting it."

"What?" King Falco looked horrified.

"It's different from what we've seen before, but it's definitely there," Melzaryn said.

"Can you get rid of it?!" King Falco panicked.

Forfend stepped forward. "I will try."

"Use caution." Melzaryn eyed King Falco over, his brows knit. "Something's weird here. Something's off. Try to target exclusively the Envema stuff. Something else might be underneath it."

Forfend nodded, but worry was beginning to tumble stones in its chest. "This was never an exact science."

Nonetheless, it placed a hand on King Falco's shoulder and searched out the Envema magic affecting him.

A flutter of green caught the edge of Forfend's vision. It glanced to the window.

Ry'Ha'Dach in his tiny green bird form sat on the window sill. He fluffed his feathers and scratched nervously at the stone.

Whatever he needed, Forfend would be sure to help, but it could only handle one problem at a time. It returned its focus to King Falco.

Forfend seized onto the Envema magic with its own divine magic. The Envema curse cracked and crumbled away.

Forfend pulled its hand away from King Falco and tilted its head at Melzaryn.

He'd said the magic was different, but that wasn't how the other Envema effects had felt when they dissipated.

"Did it go away?" King Falco asked. "Is everything okay?"

"That's subjective," Melzaryn answered unhelpfully.

"Well, what happened?" King Falco fretted.

"Is it gone?" Forfend asked Melzaryn. "I felt it break, but is it gone? Did the strangeness go away?"

Melzaryn nodded. "I'm pretty sure it's gone. I'm not Detecting any magic on him anymore."

His brow was still furrowed though.

Something about this didn't feel right to him or Forfend.

"This is some very weird magics," Melzaryn appended. His eyes darted over King Falco, but caught on Ry'Ha'Dach still twitching nervously on the window sill.

King Falco followed his gaze and tilted his head. "Huh. I've never seen a green bluejay before."

"We have," Melzaryn cryptically replied.

"Really? What is it?"

"Why's it so freaked out?" Kagoshi asked.

Forfend offered its hand out to Ry'Ha'Dach, but the disguised dragon didn't move. Whatever had him frightened was keeping him firmly in place. He didn't want to leave the window.

"What do you think?" Melzaryn asked Kairi.

Kairi's face was drawn into an uncharacteristically serious expression. She glanced between Ry'Ha'Dach and King Falco. Her eyes settled on the king.

"I still can't read his emotions."

"What?" King Falco shook his head, confused. "What do you mean? What does that mean?"

"It's not as important," Melzaryn dismissed. "We're trying to secure this room and odd things keep happening."

Forfend disagreed. It thought that observation was extremely important.

"Like the bird?" King Falco asked.

"Possibly. I think we know that bird," Melzaryn said.

"What?" King Falco was growing more perplexed by the second.

"We've been around. We've met a lot of things." Melzaryn waved off the concern.

"And birds," Forfend hummed.

"And birds," Melzaryn agreed. "Clearly."

"That doesn't make sense," King Falco sighed.

Melzaryn quickly pulled the two books and the map from his bottomless pockets. He handed them over.

"Oh." King Falco flipped through the books. His eyes widened. "Oh, wow. Well, this is certainly damning evidence. Great! I mean, awful what they're doing, but great for us that we've got evidence!"

He glanced back and forth suspiciously for a moment before striding over to a dresser. He stuffed the evidence beneath his clothes and shut the drawer.

"I'll get this to the courts first thing in the morning," he promised. "But, um, you all still seem very worried. What's been going on?"

"A certain amount of caution is called for, given that we just stole two very important books from two rather powerful people," Melzaryn answered.

Forfend shuffled uncertainly. "I would not be opposed to trying Identify again," it blurted.

Melzaryn shrugged. He held his hand toward King Falco.

"If you want to," the king permitted.

Melzaryn touched King Falco's shoulder and watched the information blip into being from his staff.

Melzaryn froze. "Godsdammit, I didn't see that the first time." He tapped a particular line of the encoded text and pulled up information on it specifically.

Forfend couldn't understand a word of what he was looking at, but it trusted Melzaryn to parse even the most opaque magical information.

"It's disguise magic. Magic to disguise other magic, specifically," Melzaryn shared. "Annoying."

"Can you get rid of it?" Kagoshi asked.

"I can," Forfend offered.

"Do you know what it's hiding?" Kairi asked.

Melzaryn shook his head. "It's making it look like there's no magic on him. Dispelling it will be tricky, but doable. You won't be able to sense what you're Dispelling."

"Ah, forget it," King Falco sighed. "You're too good. Fuck it."

No one had a second to process what he'd said.

He held out his hand.

An illusion dropped off of one of the spears mounted on the wall. A rapier with an emerald green hilt flashed into being instead and careened toward King Falco.

He caught it and immediately thrust forward.

Melzaryn didn't have time to move. The blade pierced his stomach.

King Falco hooked his arm around Melzaryn's neck and yanked him further onto the blade until it protruded from his back.

Kagoshi started forward, his scars already beginning to glow.

Kairi grabbed Kagoshi's arm as powerful pulsing magic coursed through the hilt of King Falco's blade.

Kagoshi grit his teeth, but didn't charge forward into whatever psychic aura the weapon was creating.

The psychic energy lifted Melzaryn off the blade and deposited the wizard's limp form onto the floor. Blood rapidly pooled beneath him.

Forfend dropped into a kneel and immediately placed both hands on the gushing wound. Healing magic coursed through it into Melzaryn's body as quickly as Forfend could channel it.

"I should've known it was only a matter of time," King Falco dramatically lamented.

He backed up, keeping careful guard from Kagoshi in particular.

"Two, no, three hundred years of planning only to be undone by four nitwits that decided to travel to this backwater nation," King Falco spat. "And on a whim, no less!"

He shrugged toward Forfend. "Except you, of course. You live here, but you were supposed to stay in your stupid little backwards village," he growled. "Well, whatever."

The illusion covering him dropped away.

King Falco's previously tousled hair was now molded into a sharply maintained, slicked back style. His steely gray eyes and the new vibrance to his skin gave off a distinctly demigod aura. He immediately looked stronger. Unnaturally so.

He was no longer barely dressed in clothes hastily thrown on for an impromptu midnight meeting. Instead, he wore a cloak of emerald dragon scales.

Forfend faltered. Recognition shot through it. Ry'Ha'Dach had mentioned this cloak. The wisest emerald dragon had been murdered to make it.

"I should've known something like this would happen," King Falco ranted. "But it's fine! Everything's handled. How many days until the celestial alignment? Two, at this point? My power will spread out all I need then. I just have to get rid of all of you."

Kagoshi snarled, starting to step forward again.

King Falco immediately leveled the blade at Kagoshi's chest.

"Don't," Kairi breathed. She tugged on Kagoshi's arm. She was shaking head to toe. "Look at him. He's too dangerous."

Kagoshi didn't look like he intended to heed that warning, but Kairi pulled him backwards with all her strength.

That was hardly enough to stop Kagoshi, but her raw terror gave him a pause he wouldn't normally have taken.

King Falco smirked. "Maybe it's time I make my proper introduction." He spread his arms and took as much of a mocking bow as he could without losing sight of Kagoshi. "Hello, my name is King Falco Ledrian, the Thought Thief. And you have all been a thorn in my side. I think it's time to remove that."

Telekinetic energy swarmed around the hilt of the blade. Trinkets and knickknacks were caught in the swirling magic and thrown. Books were scattered next, tumbling across the floor. The furniture began to rattle with the violent power of the weapon.

Ry'Ha'Dach flew into the room and transformed back into his draconic form as he tackled King Falco.

"YOU!" he roared at the top of his lungs, his voice rumbling through the very foundation of the castle.

His enormous bulk expanding in a space too small for him slammed aside decor, crushed furniture, and knocked paintings from the cracking walls.

King Falco roared right back at Ry'Ha'Dach.

The dragon lunged at him, jaws open wide. His teeth latched around a telekinetic shield rather than flesh.

Ry'Ha'Dach launched upward, crashing the roof off this castle tower and sending it tumbling far down below. He hauled King Falco into the sky.

King Falco's sword emitted a booming blast that threw Ry'Ha'Dach off of him.

The dragon caught himself in the air and whirled around to face his opponent.

King Falco wasn't falling. He levitated, his blade at the ready and a murderous snarl on his face.

"I should've known you'd survived, you fucking cockroach!" he shouted. "Fuck this, I guess it's happening early!"

King Falco snapped his fingers.

His weapon warbled. A massive pulse of telekinetic energy exploded outwards.

Ry'Ha'Dach braced himself against the wave, yet was still rocked so severely he dropped several feet.

Forfend braced itself over Melzaryn as Kagoshi braced himself in front of Kairi.

The blast careened over them and shattered what was left of the crumbling roof over their heads.

Mounds of stone crashed down around them and tumbled off the now fully open-air sides of King Falco's destroyed bedroom.

Far below, people screamed at the horrifying sight and falling debris.

"It was all so well planned, you know," King Falco griped at the growling dragon. "Just two more fucking days! You just needed to stay off my back for two more fucking days! It all would've been fine."

He shrugged. "Guess you can't have everything. But I think I'll take it anyway."

Alarm bells rang out all across the city. People fled from their homes. Panic filled the streets.

Towers and houses suddenly crumbled. The statue of King Falco in the main plaza cracked open. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of the Envema victims trapped beneath the city flooded up onto the streets.

"I couldn't bind myself to all of them to make myself immortal, but this'll do fine," King Falco grinned.

He threw his arm out toward Forfend and its allies. "You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?! You just had to keep snooping! For that, I'm getting rid of all of you!"

"At least the last time I was stabbed there wasn't a speech," Melzaryn groaned, finally starting to come around. He pushed Forfend's hands away and forced himself to sit up.

"You just had to play hero!" King Falco continued shouting. "There's just one funny little thing about heroes. They have to win every. Single. Time. Villains though?" He jabbed a thumb at himself. "All we've got to do is win once."

He spread his arms wide. "Show me what you're made of." A glint sparked in his steely eyes. "Or, no. How about you deal with them?"

He flicked his rapier.

Four figures slammed down one after the other in front of the group.

The first was a wizard with golden blond hair shining in the moonlight. She held a staff topped with a floating blue gem. Abjuration magic flickered in and out of sight in the air around her.

The second was a towering man in a full suit of armor. Eagle motifs covered the silvery metal. A long blue cape fluttered in the night breeze. A massive halberd awaited use in his hands.

The third looked not unlike Kiyori by the tone of his skin and the style of his armor. He was likely of Fulgar Isles descent. He wore a wide-brimmed straw hat. A piece of straw hung from his lips. A weapon Forfend had heard described as the Swiftblade glinted in his hands.

Forfend didn't even need to look at the fourth to know it was Howell, trapped again beneath Envema's wretched curse. It had thought it had freed him. There must be more to King Falco's ability than it could know.

All four of the famed warriors currently traveling Tyrwedia stood before them. All of their faces were wholly expressionless. All of their eyes were solid white, almost as though blind.

"You can handle them, right?" King Falco jeered. "You handled Howell, didn't you? Take care of that while I handle this pest. It'll be fun."

He held his hand out and taunted Ry'Ha'Dach with a cocky come-at-me gesture. "Let's go."

"I will avenge my brethren!" Ry'Ha'Dach shook the very air with the force of his roar. "You have taken too much! I will take it all back!"

Ry'Ha'Dach dropped his jaw and unleashed his psychic breath weapon.

Forfend forced its gaze off the fight above to focus on the inevitable fight right in front of it.

It stood and helped Melzaryn to his feet.

Melzaryn clutched his wounded midsection, but he still held his staff in preparation to cast.

Kagoshi growled deep in his throat. "These motherfuckers are dead."

"They are victims of Despot Falco too," Forfend hummed. Nonetheless, it drew its mace and raised its shield.

"Despot Fucko," Kairi whispered under her breath. Then louder, "Let's kick some ass."

#forfend #twilight of the demigods #session notes #session 26 #cragwall #dnd