Derek watched the crowd as he headed alongside the group into town, thinking quietly. No matter what the rest of them did, he was going to go check out that well; and he figured Kylie would tag along with him. First, though, they should do some research. Find other people it granted wishes to, and since the guard had said it didn''t always grant wishes, what sort it did, or didn''t. Was there some sort of negative consequence to making a greedy wish?


    The basic details were fairly clear; it turned someone into a stronger species when they wished to be stronger. This was impressive, but not unheard of. Making someone fall in love? Impossible to be sure. Minor charm spell? Curse? Or perhaps there was already some attraction, and a simple dream sending did the job? He needed to learn more, to get more details... but the devil wasn''t interested at all.


    When the devil and the cart moved on, Derek tried to pull Kylie away; only for her to beat him to the punch, rapidly pulling Derek away, but not far.. and glance back at the retreating back of the devil, before turning to him.


    "Okay. I want to check out the well and maybe even try it. See if its safe, and use it to heal those girls... or just how trustworthy it is. What do you think?"


    Derek smiled. "My sentiments exactly! We should talk to the guard, see if we can learn what kind of wishes it granted, what kinds it rejected... and then go check it out in person."


    The devil-girl... well. Part-devil. There was some sort of word for that at the academy... Ahh! Tiefling. The tiefling girl seemed thoughtful. "Look. I''m gonna be honest here. Gramps used to be an adventurer, back in the day. And he was a soldier before that. I''ll admit I''m curious about what it could do... but not enough to try it. If you two want to... I''ll watch from a safe distance, and help if I can."


    "Excellent! If we deem it safe, I''ll wish for help with my research. Samples, understanding, whatever it''s willing to give. And, of course, get the ladies to write down their wishes to be healed, if its what they want."


    This was going well! Not only was Kylie interested, but the Tiefling girl would help make sure they didn''t die. Which, of course, meant the devil would come to help if it came down to it; no way was he abandoning the grandfather he''d gone all the way to the Empire for.


    ***


    The old woman leaned on her cane, and gave a long sigh. "No, no. I wished to be young again, and it sort-of helped. All my aches and pains vanished, I felt better than I had in years... and it made my ears all funny, like I was elf-blooded. Had em snipped, later. Ended up outliving my husband, all three of my children... I''m almost two hundred years old now, but the doc says I shouldn''t hope for many more winters."


    "Thank you so much, ma''am. The poor women we helped, who had their tongues removed... I really just wanted to make sure its safe for them."


    People who grew stronger; gained in ''Levels''; tended to live longer; and different species also lived longer than others. The old woman was, by his own senses, level 4; which meant, by his notes... if she were pure human, she should''ve died at most around the one-twenties. The only humans who lived to be this long would be in the teens, or the mythical 20 that almost no-one reached, and in theory those who went past that might live forever; but never be able to leave a high-magic area or immediately drop back down to 20, like some of the dungeon monsters and dragons of ancient histories. This was fairly normal for a half-elf, though. Another clear sign it could easily swap the species of subjects... and she''d lived over a hundred years after making her wish, and left town many times.


    He nodded slowly... and returned to Kylie, who was examining a rack of dresses; she''d been checking on a seamstress who had made a wish herself, years before. "Well, sweetheart. I''ve cross-checked what we''ve got, both people who made wishes, and ones who heard about it. The well seems to be able to make people forget, heal people, change someone''s species, repair broken homes and objects, make crops grow better, and help people have kids. It doesn''t seem to have any negative side-effects, and has been working for centuries; the first wish anyone knows of was after the great war, before there was even an Empire, when someone wished for his kids to recover from a plague; they didn''t think it would work, but it did. Been an open secret ever since, they share with people that seem honest, and in need."


    He smiled. "I''d say its safe enough for them. Probably for us as well. We should take a look for ourselves."


    She gave a slow nod... and held up a sleek, silk black dress. "Do you think I''d look good in this? When I''m not stuck wearing armor?" She looked at him askance. She almost always wore red and gold of house Eastwatch, but had almost never left the Capital before; nobody would know, or care, if she was appropriately attired out here.


    Derek gave a look, and a slow nod. "I... think red hair, your lovely skin, a black dress... it would suit you wonderfully. Ahh... not that your house colors don''t, of course!" He wasn''t completely certain what she saw in him; his own house wasn''t nearly so important, and he was a middling spellcaster. Mediocre mage, mediocre house... with a hideous blue mark he''d given himself...


    She chuckled, and blushed... quickly turning away. "I''m not testing you, silly. I''ll get the dress for later. We can check out the well as soon as our little firestarter is ready."


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Derek smiled; at least he''d done okay, there. "You might want to help her in that department. Don''t get me wrong, she''s not ugly, but her skin looks almost grey when she''s mad.... which seems to be almost always."


    "Don''t judge her too much. That''s mostly my brother''s fault, may the goddess curse his damned soul."


    The two looked across the street; the girl was in a shop that neither of them would have bothered; a witchdoctor of some sort, selling oddities. Derek had been briefly interested to see if it might have any samples of an exotic species he could study; but no. Bits of toad, pig, newt, so forth. Potions that may or may not do anything.


    When she finally emerged, the pouches running down her chest all seemed to be bulging, full; and she saw them waiting, stepping out with a nod. "Ready as I can be. Did you learn anything else while I was shopping?"


    ***


    The site of the well was relatively secluded. A neat, clean path leading out to it. A stone wall, just a few feet high; some scattered trees... and a simple stone circle, with water visible just a few feet down. As the trio approached, they slowed to a stop; Derek focused on the surroundings, seeking anything that had that distinctive flavor of magic... and immediately spotted two things. No... numerous things.


    First... the mushrooms. They formed a vague circle around the well, and seemed to have some sort of magic in them, tied to the well itself. It seemed to be some form of protective magic; it had a taste distinctly similar to the amulet of protection he himself wore, that helped make people miss him. Protecting the well?


    He stopped at the circle of mushrooms; and held out an arm to block Kylie from going further. When Terra saw what had stopped them, she gave a short, approving nod, and started examining the area herself.


    The well, of course, also faintly oozed magical power. A blend of several subtypes; creation, illusion, transformation... it could move things, change things. And as he studied it, he could sense greater magic, deep below the earth.


    It was small.... but this was a high-magic area, not more than about fifty, sixty yards across. Seemed to be... level three, or four. Animals who nested here would be stronger, more dangerous than normal ones, and someone who lived here would naturally, eventually, reach level four without having to lift a finger. Small, subtle ones like this were all over the place.


    "Hmm. Any idea what the mushrooms do? I can tell its a protective enchantment of some sort..."


    Kylie chuckled. "This part I''m quite familiar with. They aren''t real... or at least normal... mushrooms. The well has been sanctified to some goddess or god, and the enchantment makes it difficult to fight or break anything while you''re inside; even each other. Whoever made it didn''t want someone casually destroying the well... or the wall, trees, any of it. It doesn''t do anything to us, here. If we wanted, we could throw rocks at the mushrooms, or do whatever; our firestarter friend could blast it all with fire.... Not that I''d recommend it."


    Derek smiled. "So nothing that will hurt us?"


    "I doubt it. Often spells like this trigger an alarm when you try to break something. This might be an ancient artifact, something like the noble regalia or the like, or it might even be a spirit bound to this spot."


    Derek took a deep breath... and stepped into the circle. He could feel the aura surround him, and slowly stepped further, closer... and stopped at the well, studying the script around its base; in old elven language, something that was seldom used since the last of the pureblood elven enclaves had been wiped out long ago. He could feel a source of power here; either a powerful device, or a creature even stronger than the devil.


    "Okay. So the instructions are pretty clear. ''Write down what you wish, don''t be too greedy or malicious''... to be clear, that rhymes in the original elven...  ''Then wrap it around a single golden coin, and send it to the depths''." He looked down. "And one last line...''Sleep within the grounds this night, and your wish may be granted.''. Simple enough. No other words, no other lines, no symbols... and most people sleep in Hillsdale after, so clearly ''the grounds'' is pretty expansive. Oh, and all the lines were supposed to rhyme, before the translation."


    He glanced at the two girls. "So. What do you think? Should we try a wish?"


    Terra crossed her arms. "As soon as I saw the circle of mushrooms, my answer was no. However much research you''ve done, however safe it seems, this whole thing reeks of Fey to me. Maybe they abduct some of the wish-makers, and erase the memories of their friends and family; we know that boy wished  to forget about his own dead family, and it worked, so its within this thing''s powers."


    She looked to Kylie, and then Derek. "And if I were you, either I''d refuse it... or at least let the tongueless girls go first. Both because they need it more than us... and so that we can see it work for ourselves. All of the stories flat-out say it only grants maybe two or three wishes a day at most, and it stops working for a while if you make too many."


    Derek stared at the seemingly simple stone circle for a bit longer... then sighed, and stepped out of the ring of mushrooms. The oppressive, but safe, aura of protection slipped away as if it never were. "Fine. Are we good with staying here for another night, if it does well for them?"


    "Sure. We can take turns keeping watch on them, see what happens, when. Check for geas''s, enchantments, curses, that sort of thing."


    Terra sighed. "This is exactly why grampa didn''t want us fooling around with this. We''ll spend days here looking into this, without any progress to show for it."


    Derek shrugged. "Look, I want to get level five, and start casting third-circle spells, as much as anyone. But this could be a unique opportunity!"


    Terra rolled her eyes; she didn''t seem to put much store in the ''Levels'' and other measurements of power the academy used; though she did seem to understand the dramatic differences between first and second-circle spells.


    "Well then. Lets go collect some wishes from them. I wonder if it makes a difference, us dropping them off, and not them?"


    ***


    As the group started heading back towards Hillsdale, Praxius watched; he could sense something down there. There was a whole cave system beneath the well; like a house.... or a dungeon. There might be some terrible monster down there, maintaining a friendly facade. The troubling thing was, even with his true sight in effect, he could see no devilish script or contract; just old elven words. His most likely assumption was wrong. What in the hells was going on here? He''d need to let them cure the former captives... and keep them close... so he could see.