Kaden leaped first through the FarPortal—and emerged to an explosion of fire that took a quarter of his health. The [Mage] standing five feet away stood frozen by fear as Kaden stalked out of the FarPortal, drinking another fireball with the [Eldritch Shield]. Thick clouds of smoke blotted out the stars above.


    “Someone got through before I could destroy the FarPortal! We’ve got—” The man drew a messenger bird and activated [Fire Shield] as Kaden charged ahead.


    The [Eldritch Shield] absorbed much of the shield and then crumbled in burning flakes. This was no first tier puffball, his mana made spells—oh. [Mana Drain] caused the remaining shield to drop even as the man did, gripping his stomach as he tried to scream. The mana bird flitted into the darkness and perched on a charred post.


    Kaden caught the mage and slammed him to the ground. “Who are you? Where are the Resyr? You know what? I don’t need your answers. But I do need your bones.”


    “Kaden.” Trella’s voice held calm. “Let me try. I just sent a bird, the others will arrive momentarily.” She drew a black potion from Inventory. “This is not a poison. I want you to know this, Ivan Franz. It’s a [Truth Potion].”


    Ivan clamped his mouth shut, so Trella sliced his cheek open and rammed the flask into place until the man choked and wheezed. “What are you doing here, Ivan?”


    “Destroying the FarPortal,” he answered, his voice shaking.


    Trella nodded. “Excellent decision. If you don’t, someone like Kaden might come through. Followed by someone like me. Who told you to destroy the FarPortal?”


    “Serious Sammy.” Ivan once more clamped his mouth shut. The man wasn’t going to have cheeks at this rate.


    “Sammy. That’s a name. What do you like best about Serious Sammy?”


    “His loot. He’s a second-lifer. His G\god told him to bring civilization to the North. Please. Don’t tell him I told you.” Ivan began to weep as Trella drew an Inkblade. “I didn’t want to tell you.”


    “I remember him, now that you mention it. Did any of the Resyr survive? Think, Ivan. Your death could be long and hard, or almost painless. There was a [PolyMage] and some children she was training. Do you know where they are?”


    Kaden rarely feared Trella, but the tone in her voice was darker than the Deceptions that served her. No malice. No anger. No fear. Colder than the winds that whipped through the destroyed shelter.


    Ivan’s tears turned orange and burst into flame as they trickled down his cheeks. “The Resyr somehow knew I was coming. There weren’t enough of them to be worth sending a full Party, so the rest of mine mine went hunting the [Polymage]. I was just going to burn the village, slaugher the guards and kill the [Makur]. Stupid beasts stampeded at my first [Fire Tornado].”


    Remembrance felt right in his hands as Kaden drew it. He drained mana from the mage again. “You’re a fool. You’d never make it on foot, alone, to another village, or even to meet up with your party. Or are they coming for you?”


    “L-l-linked P-p-portal.” Ivan acted like the words were hammering at his teeth to get out no matter how he held them in. “Sammy had a dozen of them. I can portal to one of the other villages. I’ll kill you. I swear, I’ll—”


    Kaden drained mana until Ivan’s groans cut off his curses. “How do I use it? I’m going to kill this Samuel.”


    Ivan gasped as he recovered from the drain. “You and what kingdom? His skill lets him create loot with any attribute. He has a dozen parties at his command. He’s picked from the best, and trust me, for equipment that will last until level one hundred, a priestess of Varun would murder her own mother.”


    “Varun is not worshiped by this party.” Eve spoke from behind Kaden. “And I know better than any what her followers will or will not do. The potion is impressive but we must prioritize Ashi.”


    Sara stepped up beside Trella. “Agreed. Getting information is good, now find her is the goal.”


    You have received a new Quest: Mistakes Were Made - Even the best employers occasionally choose the wrong personnel. Force Serious Sam to retreat before he further destabilizes the north. Reward: Your Choice of Vendor


    “Choice of Vendor?” Kaden asked Sara.


    “Mine says ‘Choice of Business Venture,’” she answered.


    “I’ve got ‘Choice of Blood Spells,’” Eve said.


    Trella stared into the distance. “Oh, I want mine. I want that so badly. I wasn’t even aware there skill scrolls for [Shadow Armor] existed. I’ve never even heard of a [Shadow Blade] with it, though it makes sense. Why are we all getting custom quest rewards?”


    “Because I refused the first quest offered,” Sara said. “This mess was created by the Mercari. I needed to enforce the cost of failure was higher than allowing us to finish would have been.”Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    A stone on Ivan’s belt glowed and a voice echoed out. A voice Kaden recognized as Serious Sam. “Good news, everyone! The Yul have seen the error of their ways and become the first to embrace civilization. I’m going to stay here and start building New Spokane, you all have your assignments. If anyone resists, kill them. Destroy their livestock, tools, and crops. We’ll start again in a more civilized way once we’ve wiped the etch-a-sketch clean.”


    Trella stabbed Ivan with both [Ink Blades], driving them clean through him, then repeating over and over. “I’m not a fan of the [Skeledeer]. I could do without the cold, but I’ll be damned if I stand by and watch this. Thanks for the level, Ivan.”


    “Check out the spell book,” Sara held it up. ”They are ranked by the type of spell they hold. This one increases mana, offers soul bonuses, holds three additional spells and will become sentient.” She banished it to Inventory. “If everyone we’re facing is equipped like this, the clans don’t stand a chance.”


    “I don’t like our odds, either,” Eve said. “Beserkers are deadly given time to build Rage, but against coordinated parties with this kind of equipment, we’d need an army. We’d need time to plan, and I assure you, this ‘Serious Sam’ won’t give us that.”


    Kaden had become master of bad ideas, and this, too, was one of them, but he couldn’t come up with one better. “We need to gather the clans. We need to prepare for war. And I know where we can do that.”


    “Please, don’t say the Domain,” Sara said. “You’re going to say the Domain. I know it. You might as well say it, now.”


    “We have someone who can brew potions. I’ve been through it and know the patterns. This time I won’t be alone. We have an [Ulf Ravager] to help detect threats. Healing. Protection from Frost. Sheer damage, once we get Ashi.” Kaden looked to each of them. “Sevin, I’m guessing anything we kill, you can re-animate. Is there an upper limit?”


    “In theory, depending on what I’m re-animating. Let’s find out what that limit it is,” he said. “My jungle skeletons are already swarming the village. He spoke the truth, there are only the dead here.”


    “I’m in,” Trella said. “After we get Ashi.”


    Sara dispatched ten separate messenger birds. “How will we find Ashi?”


    “I can find her.” Kaden couldn’t explain it. A steady thrum in his soul told him exactly where she was. “Is Skully safe in this cold?”


    Sevin shook his head. “The [Dense] talent will let him fight, but he is not unstopable. Though he is unique, if it is a choice, let him take the mortal blow.”


    That matched Kaden’s expectations. Skully could be reconstituted with nothing more than a few abandoned skeletons, and Adventurers were abandoning skeletons every day. “Eve, can you resurrect anyone who can be? Anyone who can’t belongs to Sevin.”


    “Of course.” Eve looked to Sevin. “Would you mind having your servants bring the corpses?”


    “It will be done,” Sevin said. “We will guard you while Kaden retrieves your [Polymage].”


    Kaden summoned Garm and let the [Ulf Ravager] range ahead. Obviously Samuel hadn’t seen the Resyr as a serious threat, not worth a whole party. But the fact that he’d sent someone to destroy the FarPortal said even a Second-Lifer knew he could be overrun.


    The only sound was the cracle of burning shelter and the cries of frightened [Makur].


    Sara looked to the others. “We’ll gather as many of the clans as we can. I’ll coordinate getting survivors to the Domain.”


    “I need to start brewing [Fire Soul] potions, and I need to do it now,” Trella said. “Kaden, are you ok going after Ashi by yourself? You don’t have to kill that party, you just have to get past them.”


    “I’m never by myself.” Kaden turned and sprinted into the night, following a path that would lead him to Ashi. A path he felt in his soul. Why hadn’t she sent a messenger dragon to him? Why Eve? The answers, he was sure, lay ahead.


    Garm circled back, his muzzle bloody. The emotions that surged off him spoke of lesser [Ulf] who hadn’t respected a [Ravager’s] strength. And others who would carry the blood-scent of the one back.


    With [Ulfen Boots], Kaden sprinted through the darkness, deeper into the icy wastes. [Stealth Aura] wrapped him tightly, and the steady pulse of mana in his soul said he was closer with every moment.


    A light snowfall became a heavy one, and a heavy one became a blinding storm, and yet Kaden pressed onward. Garm’s emotions said the ulf would rather nestle down and wait out the storm, but if Kaden went on, so did Garm.


    Until the ravager stopped so suddenly it sent Kaden sprawling as he tripped over the Beast.


    A dome of light stood ahead, nearly covered in snow. One one side, Kaden made out the forms of Adventurers. He crept closer and closer. The voices within were muffled, too muffled for him to make out.


    He risked drawing an [Echo Beetle] and tossing it into the opening that let smoke out.


    Beetle 9774632 has perished (frozen).


    Again and again, he hurled echo beetles—until one fell inside, momentarily stunned by the cold. The effect was instant.


    “—a fact, she’s not moving, not in this. We wait. We heal what we can of Lissa’s wounds. And when the storm clears, we kill drive the [Ice Gorger] back so it kills them all. I won’t usually kill children, but accidents happen.”


    “I can get behind that. That cave system is probably chock full of monsters. As far as I’m concerned, they were probably killed by one of them,” a woman answered.


    The other murmurs of agreement, Kaden couldn’t identify.


    “If Lissa had [Tamed] it—”


    “Can’t. Be. Tamed. Anymore.” A woman spoke, her voice broken and wheezing. “Just. Kill.”


    “Lay still until we can get another healer. Zig’s gone to get us better [Mage] hunting gear from Sammy. Something that’ll turn spells to health, or reflect them, or something. She’ll be back soon and once we’re properly outfitted, we’ll kill the bitch, feed her flock to the [Ice Gorger] and get someplace where we don’t have to huddle in a dome to keep from freezing to death.”


    “One of her messenger dragons got away. The [Mansquitos] have been eating them as fast as she can send, but one made it through,” a man said, his voice filled with trepidation.


    Now Kaden knew where he was, and where Ashi was. The [Ice Gorger] was deadly when allowed to ambush, but without that edge it was a boss with limited mobility and a host of weaknesses, including a vulnerability to fire. No surprise Ashi had exploited this, hiding in the caves with her students and using it as a shield.


    A shield that would be worthless soon.


    Kaden snuck off into the frozen night with Garm in his footsteps. Ahead, the narrow hills that formed the [Ice Gorger]’s lair waited. “Ok, good boy. You thinking what I’m thinking?”


    It was unlikely. The [Ulf Ravager] was a survivor, while Kaden’s plan involved heading straight into the lair of an ambush boss. It wasn’t the best plan, but it would do to start.