《Chained Darkness》


 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 1: Liberty

    The outside of a prison isn''t the most auspicious place to start any adventure; perhaps slightly more auspicious than the inside of one, but then, anyplace would be.


    The guards; not wearing the normal heavy armor of Imperial troops, but still bearing the clockwork crossbows that were the Empire''s weapon of choice, just watched as the girl approached the gate; she was pretty enough; unusually pale, almost grey in color, dark of hair and with a long grey and white dress, and the bundle of pouches on a band from shoulder to hip that practically screamed ''spellcaster''.


    In the south, guards might have taken advantage of such a prisoner; but here, they would simply admire, knowing full well that the warden would throw them into the cells if they dared do anything.


    One of them opened the gate with a nod. "The one in charge of you from here is waiting. Don''t end up back here." He pushed the gate open...


    Terra took a deep breath, and stepped out into the sunlight. She had hopes, but hadn''t really expected to see this place for a decade. She was a criminal. Convicted of untold gold worth of property damage, after a failed attempt to kill her rapist. And yet... she was free. Sort-of. She had her hand clasped over the silver amulet around her neck, and wondered just who had control of it... before looking at the gathered group... and staring.


    One of the figures was familiar. Kylie Eastwatch, a decent enough girl, the vastly superior younger sister of the bastard who... best not think of it for now. She was always in the usual red and bronze colors of the local nobility, but this time there was actually chainmail beneath a robe, and a flail hanging from her hip; she was a priestess of light. A healer. The fact that she was carrying a weapon was... odd. Especially a chained one. She also had the ring to match her necklace; silver, with a tiny blue gem that Terra was dead certain would be carved into an image of a shackle were she to look closely enough.


    The young man beside her was a complete unknown. She''d only met Kylie a few times, and this man beside her was a stranger; tall, thin, with hair as black as her own; and who bore garb that she was immediately jealous of; the black and gold badge of the Imperial Academy of Magic, over a set of green and silver robes that most likely meant -something- she was unaware of. He also had some sort of odd birthmark over his left eye; a blue-ish blotch he was trying and failing to hide with his hair.


    Neither of them seemed so big a deal, however, beside the hulking armored figure in front of them. Her grandfather. The first time he''d met her was at the trial, when he''d appeared seemingly from nowhere to save her; and then later visit her in prison, to assure her that he would get her out of there, one way or another.


    His gaze was... disturbing. Her mother had warned her about it, that he''d used it on her a few times when she''d done something especially bad. His kind had a form of lesser shapeshifting, or illusion magic; or something somewhere in between crossed with some sort of empathy. They could read people, and adjust their face and appearance subtly... to strike fear and horror into their enemies. He always seemed to know what she feared most, and apparently had once appeared to have rows of spider-like eyes when her mother had painted her grandmother''s cat.


    Even now, when he wasn''t actively trying to disturb anyone, they were dark orbs that just oozed menace.


    Terra took a deep breath, and met her grandfather''s gaze. "Sir... what''s going on?"


    The gaze changed. His armored helmet concealed everything but the eyes, but she could still feel the grimace, that the menace had changed to irritation. "They agreed to release you into the custody of their daughter. Apparently, with that little rapist idiot dead, they need to make sure she''s tough enough to handle her future role in the family... and I''ve been assigned to keep her and her stupid little boyfriend alive as she goes ''Adventuring''. We do this for a year, or long enough for her to be considered ''acceptable, and you go free."


    Terra stared... and started laughing. "Oh god. I... my mom always went on about how much you hated all the adventuring nonsense, and only went along for grandma''s sake."


    He shrugged. "And to kill demons. If I can wrap a chain around the throat of some succubus and watch the life drain from her eyes while she struggles, I''ll consider it a good day, even if I have to put up with a bunch of people calling me a hero after. Now. Come along. I won''t stand in your way or you idiots won''t learn anything, but I''d prefer this to be less than a whole damned year. I have things to do."


    Over to the side, Kylie coughed. "Ahem! While of course any advice is appreciated, I believe I am in charge of this particular venture, am I not?"


    Her grandfather turned and looked down at the girl; who shivered and backed away a step; Terra couldn''t see it, but it was likely that he''d put a bit of power on that glare. "Child. You are a priestess of the light. This sets a bottom on just how stupid you could possibly be. While this is an odd set of circumstances, you need to understand that, right now, I am essentially a devil under contract to try to keep you and little idiot over here alive as you try to reach a level of capability that he should be staying in your academy, and you in your temple, until you reach. While you may choose what sort of insipid, foolish nonsense you drag us into, I will stop you in a heartbeat if I choose to... and if you wish to head north, into demon-infested lands, I will knock you unconscious and drag you home. We go south."


    He looked at the boy, and then back at Terra. "The kingdom is far worse about handling things than the Empire; virtually every town and village has some sort of problem or infestation you can deal with. The only places that are fairly clear are places where some adventurer decided to retire."


    Kylie blinked, looking at the boy, then at the devil. "....I... can we at least go to a dungeon? I always dreamed of going into one, they''re in all the books about adventurers..."


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    His gaze abruptly turned back to Kylie, who seemed to hold it together a bit better this time. "......I revise my earlier estimate of your intelligence. Lets start heading south. Come on." He glanced at the sky; seeming irritated at the sun itself; and then turned to the right; marching directly toward the forest, rather than walking along the road. The prison had a wide cleared area around it, longer than crossbow range, to ensure they could shoot down any fleeing prisoners; and her grandfather rapidly set a pace the three younger folk struggled to keep up.


    Kylie struggled to speak, as she marched beside him. "We... have.. a cart. And horses! Supplies! We need to... collect them!"


    "Horses are good for quick sprints. A good, tough, adventurer should be able to outrun them in a long haul. You should also be able to hunt for food, or carry enough on you... or learn enough magic to make some."


    "But... tents! Supplies! Derek''s magical research!"


    This brought him to a halt... and he glanced back at her, then to the boy. "...Magical research. You haven''t graduated yet, and are conducting magical research?"


    The boy seemed far less out of breath, and able to handle things, than either of the two young women. "Yes, sir. I''ve been conducting research on trying to imprint abilities from other, magical, species into humans, permanently, rather than with some sort of transmutation magic. So far all I''ve managed is to bind a bit of blue dragon scale to myself, and, well." He snapped his fingers; a sudden spark of lightning flashes between then. "It''s been of limited use, but shows promise. I was hoping we might get some samples to work on, out in the field. I was the one who wanted to see a dungeon, more than Kylie."


    He looked at the trio... Terra seemed much more interested, and was now staring at the blue splotch on the boy''s face with dawning awareness... and wondering why, if you were going to start with such a thing, you would do it in such an obvious, visible, place.


    "...Fine. That actually seems interesting. I''m not an expert on magic, as such, but the only methods I''ve heard of that achieve that sort of result involve either selective breeding, or magically merging two living individuals... with unpleasant results for all involved. We can retrieve your cart, and your horses. But we immediately head south. No more lingering."


    ***


    It was an exhausted group that loaded up onto the cart for the journey south a few hours later; with the devil marching alongside the cart, seemingly unconcerned. If he got tired, or had any concern for the journey at all, he didn''t show it, as they started on the long journey to leave the relative safety of the Empire; and acquired an additional companion, of sorts; Kylie''s butler, an older gentleman named Parkins, who wore a simple red outfit, and immediately took to driving the cart, ignoring the devil; as the remaining three took up places in the back.


    Once everyone was comfortable; with Kylie in an actual chair mounted into the cart, complete with a cover that could protect her from the rain, while the other two simply sat on packs; Kylie cleared her throat. "Well now. Since we''re on the road properly, and I''ve only met you a few times... let me introduce my betrothed. Derek of the Northern Reach, fifth in line for the North-Reach baronny, and until recently, student of the Imperial Academy. Derek, this, of course, is Terra; I knew she was applying for the academy, and needed a sponsor, but otherwise I only met her because of my... brother."


    Terra gave a short bow, pulling the rims of her skirt as if she were giving a curtsy. "Terra Xius. Sorceress extraordinaire, mistress of fire." And chains. She didn''t want to include that bit. She might be able to tell this necklace to loosen and crawl off of her body, and this woman might be uncomfortable holding her ''leash'' if she knew the leash wasn''t exactly fastened securely.


    Derek nodded. "Of course, of course. We all saw your handiwork back at the Eastwatch manor. I, of course, am a third-level master of the arcane, researcher and spellcaster of various descriptors; I''m not about to start felling armies, but I can summon up a few monsters which... unfortunately vanish at the end of the spell, making them useless to my research."


    Terra blinked. "Third... level? Does the school have ranks like that? Does it mean you attended three years of classes?"


    "Oh, do you not... Well then! I get to be the teacher for once!"


    Kylie smacked Derek on the back of the head, and turned to Terra. "Everybody knows there''s high-magic areas, and normal ones. The Academy has it all neatly divided into levels, because of the circles of magic; if you live in a high-magic area like the grounds of the academy and the temple, just living and breathing there long enough will eventually make you strong enough to use a third-circle magic spell. They call it ''level five'', and have to reach that point to graduate, usually in about six or seven years."


    Derek signed. "Fine, fine. And if you''re already above the first level.. You feel not too far off from us. Can you cast a second-circle spell?"


    Terra shrugged. "I know about seven spells, and I''d say there''s the weak ones, the strong ones, and the really strong ones. The one I used to... well. The one that I tried to kill her brother with was a sort-of living ball of fire that rolls around, setting things alight, and I can make chase people, and the one I drove everyone else out of the house with first filled the whole place with a sort of irritating, choking smoke, somehow."


    Derek nodded. "There we go. The Academy requires anyone like you to get a sponsor to learn there. They have to make a specialized training course for you, sometimes use expensive materials... if someone has reached your level of power, but its mostly embedded in their bones and muscles, it takes quite a bit of work to break all that down and turn them into a proper mage."


    Terra gave a slow nod as well; and glanced out of the cart at her grandfather. "...Do you know what level he is? I know he''s centuries old... if you get more with time, shouldn''t he be like... a hundred?"


    "Higher than myself, certainly, by quite a bit. But... there''s a limit. If you''re too strong for the area, you start to... leak... the magic out. I don''t know what the cut-off point is, but certain archmagi can''t leave their towers or they''ll start to get weaker, and dungeons that get really old usually have monsters with the same problem; if they leave, they can feel the magic draining out of them and usually run back. Its also why the absolute strongest of devils, demons, and angels don''t come to our world, and why when they destroy a dungeon, they usually built schools, or fancy homes for royalty, on the grounds."


    Derek glanced over at her grandfather. "Speaking of which... do you know what sort of devil he is? He seems human enough, and so do you."


    "He''s a chain devil. Kyton. He told me that while he wouldn''t do it, because it was illegal, anyone who had the audacity to pick a fight with him there in the prison.... he can control chains. He could wipe out an army in there."


    Kylie blinked, and looked down at her hip... and then over at the devil. ".... He gave me an enchanted flail. Said it would help if we ever got in a real fight. Can he... make it swing back at me if he wants? Is... is that why he gave me the flail? So.. he can..."


    A deep, gravelly voice suddenly took over. "If I wanted to, I could make your necklace strangle you to death. Its harder on things people are holding, or wearing, but still easy enough for someone with as much experience at it as myself. Don''t worry about it. If I wanted you dead, and my daughter freed, and didn''t care about your laws, it would already have happened."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 2: Departure

    The foursome made their steady way south, towards the edge of the empire; and slowed down to a stop as they approached the border.


    For Kylie and Derek, this was a moment of excitement. They''d never left the Empire before, and had grown up with stories about how chaotic and poorly managed the kingdom was; a band of eleven barons under a single king, with villages that didn''t see anything but a tax collector for years, rampant problems with cults, rebels, curses; if not for the wandering bands of adventurers the whole thing would''ve fallen apart over a century ago. They looked out of the cart at the bridge, as if they expected  a group of bandits to be waiting to charge at them the moment they crossed.


    To their disappointment, they instead saw one last bastion of law and order; a stone tower, overlooking the bridge, with a guardsman watching them; the heavy plate breastplate with the imperial sigil hidden from this angle, but obviously there. Another guardsman emerged from the tower, and slowly approached, using a pike almost like a walking stick, and nodded up at the group.


    "Sir Praxius. No signs of bandits since you last came through. We checked it out after you left; they never came across the border, so there was no bounty on our side. Might be one on the other side, if you care to check."


    The others seemed a touch confused, as the massive armored figure of Terra''s grandfather stepped forward, and removed his helmet, settling it under his arm. "The survivor say anything interesting? I didn''t really have time to interrogate him properly, I had pressing business in the capital."


    The guardsman glanced at the cart; he recognized Imperial Academy robes at a glance, and the other robes looked expensive, even if he didn''t know what houses might wear red and bronze. "His friends were based out of an old goblin warren, from before the war. The ones you killed were about half of them; they rob quietly at night, stealing livestock and anything not nailed down, and only ambush small bands of stragglers or messengers. You already got their leader. No way to know what they''ll do now, and while they supposedly had some prisoners at the time, its likely they''re dead by now."


    The devil gave a slow nod. "Don''t suppose you''ve got a map? I''ve been saddled with watching over a few fledglings, and butchering a band of inept raiders seems like a decent starting point. And seeing the remains of what such garbage does may help them get past any illusions of what this sort of work entails."


    He chuckled. "Inside the Empire, I''ve got good, clean maps. On the other side... I''ve got a garbage merchant map I made the bandit mark where his warren is. I''ve got decent maps, but we''re not officially supposed to be scouting out the kingdom, so I can''t give you one of ours. I can only imagine the faces of those raiders when they see one of your kind breaking down their door."


    "They won''t be making any sort of face at all for long. Don''t suppose you know of anything else interesting, across the border?"


    The guardsman frowned. "Well. We did have one desperate idiot come beg us for help, seems people were disappearing in the night and their baron couldn''t be bothered. But really... we don''t cross the border, and they know it. You know how the whole bounty board nonsense works?"


    "Ugh. Yes. I... ''adventured'' in this light-cursed place decades ago with a friend and a couple of idiots I tolerated. hundreds of temples, mostly to those stupid goddesses of light and darkness, not nearly so many to their husband, and every single village seems to have some weird quirk that springs up if left alone for a few years. I''m surprised the Empire hasn''t conquered them and cleaned the place up yet."


    "Well. Honestly, if it weren''t for all the demons up north, we probably would have. Don''t suppose any more of your sort are going to be coming down to help? Or any of the other side?"


    "....... If I can manage it, I''ll help myself." After a few more pleasantries; and a small pouch containing a map, and what little of value the surviving bandit had carried; he rejoined his younger companions.


    Terra tilted her head as he stepped closer. "So. Praxius. You used your real name."


    He turned to her. "You can call be grandfather, child, and speak with respect. Didn''t your mother teach you better than that?"


    "Grandfather is a bit long to shout out when we''re fighting some monster or something."


    "Then Sir works just fine. Now. When we cross the bridge, we''re going to be heading southeast. I butchered a handful of bandits on my way north from her mother''s house, and we''re going to go finish the job. Obviously I could do it on my own, but these people will be pushovers, a good place for you to get your first real combat experience."


    Terra coughed. Praxius glared at her. "What."


    "Mom wouldn''t let me head north until I''d notched a hundred kills. Mostly gloom spiders."


    "...Why were there a hundred gloom spiders near there? I thought Shira kept the area cleaned out?"


    A low chuckle. "When I was around twelve, she deliberately started cultivating some for use in training me. I''ve been bitten dozens of times, but the little bastards burn really well."


    "Hmm. So at least you won''t panic when you get hurt. You two. Am I fortunate enough to have all of my little fledglings have some actual fighting in their past?"


    The two glanced at each other. Derek spoke up. "Not really. The academy actually bars strenuous physical activity. They don''t want people building up muscle and bone density instead of magical power."


    Kylie grimaced. "The temple isn''t that much better. We have training intended to work both body and soul, weapons training, we learn so many things, but... they don''t really expect us to use any of it."


    Praxius sighed. "Well then. Come along. Terra, you try to help me keep these two alive. We''ll go handle ourselves some bandits, let you two get some real experience under your belts."


    ***


    The roads through the kingdom were miserable; instead of a steady, smooth ride, constant bumps, rocks, and crossing of ruts left the cart shaking its occupants constantly; to the point that by the time they reached the edge of the forest, the foursome were all walking voluntarily.


    As Praxius directed the group off the trail and into the brush, he glanced around at the trio of youngsters he''d be dragging along. "Now. These are going to be men and women we''ll be killing. There will be blood, screaming, and dying. These people are thieves, murderers, rapists, and butchers, and their friends tried to kill me just a few days ago, so there''s no need to feel even a hint of remorse about this; but if you do anyway, try to hold back the weeping until the last one falls. I can''t be everywhere at once, and if you''re too stupid about things, a stray arrow or dagger might end your careers here and now."


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    He glanced at the three of them. "You. Mage. You''re the most fragile out of the lot of us. You might think you want to protect your girlfriend, but as woefully inexperienced as you both are, she''s at least got armor; and that flail I gave her will help her a bit up close."


    He turned to Kylie. "And you, priestess. The flail is enchanted, something I did myself before I made my current pair. The chain has a mind of its own, and if you swing it properly, it''ll help guide it the rest of the way. Just think of what you want it to do, and get to work. You''re going to get cut. Possibly beaten over the head. You know some healing magic?"


    "...Yes. Every temple teaches its disciples that, devil."


    "Good. You''ll probably be mostly using it on yourself. Don''t waste your magic on me; I heal on my own from most ordinary weapons. And lastly... granddaughter."


    Terra smiled. "Yessir?"


    "You filled the Eastwatch house with smoke to drive out everyone but your target. I''m assuming you can do that to a cave?"


    "Of course. It''s not generally fatal, but it causes painful coughing and blindness in enclosed spaces. If someone were tough and strong-willed enough they might be able to just hold off and bear it, but.... well. I doubt that includes bandits."


    "Good. Anyone have anything else to add?"


    Derek raised a hand. "I can summon up a few monsters to help. There''s one called a Magma Sprite that would be good for this; heat and smoke don''t bother them at all, and it can just splatter them with bits of fire and molten rock as they run out."


    Praxius gave a slow nod. "Well. There will be a guard, probably. We''ll need to kill a few outside. Then we smoke them out, and butcher them as they try to escape. Once the smoke clears... I''ll let you inspect what''s left. I''m not likely to fit inside a goblin warren. We go at sundown. Rest as best you can; the bandits should be just a few minutes walk away, when the time comes."


    ***


    What followed was a brutal slaughter. There was a bit of yelling, at first; there were three guards, sitting near the entrance to the warren, playing a card game; and one of Terra''s firey attacks slammed into the winner before they were aware anyone was coming, as they were counting out winnings. The table and chairs they were using were surprisingly nice; likely looted from some rich man''s home; while their armor was... pitiful.


    Two of them weren''t really wearing armor at all, and the man whose leather armor was currently on fire was rolling on the dirt, screaming in agony... even as a hesitant Kylie struggled for just a moment... before lashing out with the flail, and hearing the solid ''crunch'' as the spiked metal ball impacted the head of one of the bandits... and he dropped, limp; either dead or unconscious at that single solid blow.


    Praxius calmly crushed the third man between his own pair of flails; one coming in from each side to send him dropping to the ground.. and unlike Kylie, seemed to relish the blood that splattered across his form.


    The burning man laying on the ground stared up at them as he finally got the fire out; and when he looked up to see a massive flail-wielding knight, he raised his hands flat; for a moment, Praxius almost crushed his head with a blow... but he paused for a moment... and dropped one of his flails to the dirt, extending an arm towards the man.


    A length of chain lashed out; wrapping around the man, painfully bending him into a pretzel, hot-tying him in place; before Praxius stepped up to the entrance, and glanced at the others. The goblin warren was very simple; a literal hole in the ground, likely just the entrance to a cave-system with carved and natural paths, uncomfortably small for normal people but perfect for smaller races.


    He looked to Terra; who had already started chanting some sort of focus; and a sudden billow of smoke formed; at first, just an orb in her hands... and then started pouring into the hole as if it were a river. He gave a nod; she seemed to need to focus on channeling the smoke, but it was the most important thing for her to do at present, so all was well.


    Derek... and his strange little Magma Sprite, a creature roughly three feet tall made of tendrils of boiling rock emerging from a tiny central orb... hadn''t contributed at all to the battle; but now the tiny sprite dived into the smoke... and simply lurked there, waiting for something to emerge, even as the mage prepared some magical attack of his own; ready to blast the first person to emerge.


    The bound captive was too close to the entrance, and was forced to breathe the smoke as well; until Praxius sent him away with a swift kick. He glanced at Kylie. "Stand over there, just out of the smoke... and be ready to swing at whoever comes out. You get the first, I get the second."


    The girl inhaled deeply; let out a small, controlled, cough; perhaps she was too close to the smoke, or might have accidentally inhaled a bit of the blood dripping down her face; either way, she readied herself, gripping the flail in both hands.. as screams could be heard. Coughing, choking.


    A loud hiss and splatter, as the magma sprite lashed out; the first man to emerge was covering his mouth with his hands, coughing, stumbling... and Kylie gave an overhand swing, slamming the flail down at him with all her might... and leaving a corpse right by the entrance.


    The next man to emerge started to stumble and trip over the corpse of the first; only for Praxius''s own flails to dispatch him just as swiftly.


    There was a loud pop, and more screaming; and a new Magma Sprite popped up, charging forward into the smoke. Praxius glanced at the wizard; he''d thought most wizards could only keep a single summon spell of the same type active at a time. "The first one died. They explode when you kill them." and gave a nod, before turning back to the entrance.


    The battle that followed lasted for another couple of minutes; but while Kylie picked up a single wound in her thigh from a thrown javelin, and a few blades uselessly rebounded from Praxius''s armor... it went absolutely terrible for the bandits. At least a dozen had emerged from the warren, and their bodies were now piled around the entrance.


    Praxius walked over to the bound captive, after a solid minute had passed without any more leaving; Terra was starting to visibly sweat from the strain of keeping up the smoke; and kicked him again. "You. How many bandits were in this den?"


    "fff... Ffifteen! Sixteen including me!"


    The devil glanced around... and gave a slow nod. Including the captive, fifteen were outside. If one of them had succumbed to the magma sprite on the inside; at least a couple had died from being set on fire as they ran out; that would be about right. Possibly one more inside, trapped, or waiting to ambush them.


    "If you''re lying, I''m going to bind your limbs to a tree, shred your flesh into uselessness, and leave whats left of you for the wolves. Understand?"


    "I swear, there''s a few captives down there, but only sixteen of us are here! The rest are all out with the boss still!"


    Praxius gave a slow chuckle. He''d handled the boss already. "How many captives?"


    "Four. Three women and a boy. The boy is the son of some local mayor or something, we were trying to figure out if we could get a ransom for him. The women we kept... well. We usually kept a few women."


    Praxius gave a slow nod. Unsurprising. Just because the punishment for rape was death didn''t mean it wasn''t a popular hobby among the worthless dregs of humanity. A popular pastime among Kytons as well, now that he thought of it; though it wasn''t one he was fond of himself.  He glanced back at Terra, and gave a cut-off gesture, finger across his throat; and the girl finally relaxed; the billowing smoke stopped, and started to slowly dissipate.


    "Alright then. Congratulations, the dangerous part is mostly done. There is, at most, one more of these scum still in the warren, hopefully already dead.. and possibly some surviving hostages. Some of the tunnels down there will be too big for myself, which means... send the sprite in first to check for any surviving enemies, haul out anything you find, and watch for the last one. So. You three. Head on down. I''ll stay up here and start making a pyre for the bodies, check them for anything useful."


    He made a gesture. A set of chains lifted one of the bodies into the air, and started casually removing the dirty chainmail that was wrapped around it; the devil clearly not wanting to touch the corpses anymore than necessary. The three were all watching with a mix of horror, shell-shock, and amusement.


    He glanced at the trio. "Stop gawking. There might just be a bit more fighting left, and prisoners to free, or decide what to do with. Get to it."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 3: The Warren

    For Terra, this had been a brief bit of excitement; and then rigorous, steady focus. The spell she liked to call ''Choking Fumes'' was one that required active focus, and to just keep pouring power into it to keep going; as if she were casting a lesser spell, over and over. She didn''t have much left in her; if there were any real threats down there, she could toss a few sparks at them that wouldn''t be much worse than smacking them in the face with a torch; but she still had that.


    And not only had she only scored a single actual take-down, and that man had survived, even, to be taken prisoner; but she refused to look weak in front of her grandfather. So, of course, she went down first; holding up a tiny orb of fire, ready to throw it in case she needed to, or needed light... but the magma sprite was already there, and the bandits had lit the place with torches... and, well.


    The last of the bandits was already dead; lying there, clearly having been burned to death in the explosion of that first magma sprite. It was a half-orc, oddly enough; she hadn''t seen anyone with a tinge of green on their skin in the kingdom; or even anyone but humans and those with a bit of elf blood; in her entire life. Well. So much for that.


    She heard a cough, and something shifting in the tunnel behind her. "That was a damned impressive spell! I would have thought it was third circle, at least! Where did you learn it?"


    She glanced back. Ahh. The schoolboy. "I made it myself. That one was a mix of a spell she made to make a nice thick fog, clouding out vision, and one that made an irritating illusion to distract. They work well together."


    As they went deeper through the warrens, only the main chambers had enough room to stand; they had to crouch; and even crawl; in a few parts of the tunnels. Good lord, why would humans, or anyone bigger than a halfling, willingly stay here? There were offshoot tunnels; filled with random crates and boxes; one with beds; both simple bedrools and a nice, ornate one, likely from some noble house...


    Derek laughed. "Amazing! You learned how to make your own spells! Who taught you? Only the most elite at the academy make their own spells!"


    "My mother taught me some basics as I was growing up, and wanted me to take over protecting the village someday. I... wanted more."


    A sudden interruption. The eastwatch girl. "Shouldn''t I be going first? I''m the one wearing armor, after all. What if there''s some trap, or threat still left?"


    "The bandits should all be gone... but you''re welcome to lead the way. Have at it."


    Well. Perhaps some of the things in those crates would be valuable. They''d see after finishing the search.


    Which... wouldn''t take much longer. There was a single, enormous cave at the bottom; no more of these 3-4 foot tunnels and chambers they could almost bump their heads in; a massive, open space, one that felt oddly humid, with water dripping from the ceiling... and a set of old, rusty cages against one wall, holding two women and a child, all wearing dirty rags... while a bed nearby held... well. What was once a woman. As Terra averted her gaze, and headed towards the cages, she could hear Kylie gasp, and run off to the bed with the woman''s corpse chained to it.. and as she assessed the lock, the two women in the cage looked up.


    They both looked to be in absolutely terrible shape; bruises, possibly broken bones; wearing the torn remnants of dresses which hadn''t been washed in months. There was no hope in their eyes; just a broken miserable expectation that whoever this was was just going to be another tormentor.


    "...We''ve got a healer here, who can help you. And then get you home. Where is home, for you?"


    One woman shook her head, and opened her mouth; showing a long-since healed over tongue. The other looked at the floor, and then made a gesture as if writing, before giving her a look. Terra frowned. "I... don''t keep anything with me to write..."


    Derek abruptly stepped forward... pulling out a black cylinder, and a sheet of parchment; "Miss, I''ve got these. If you can''t speak, but could write the name, or even better, directions to your home village..." ; the woman seemed hesitant, backing away; before reaching out to snatch the two objects, and start furiously writing on the paper... as Derek gave a nod... and turned to examine the lock.


    Terra blinked. "Do you have a lockpicking spell? I think one of grandfather''s friends had such, but.."


    He pulled what looked to be a tiny knife, and... a sewing needle.? Free from his sleeve, and started gently working at the lock. "...Second-years aren''t supposed to have access to the sort of thing my research needed at the academy. Some things had both physical, and magical locks. It took time, but, well. If I wanted a dragon-scale, I needed to... ahh." The lock snapped open with an audible click; and from the crunching sound, something had broken inside. The woman was still working on whatever she was writing; but the other in the cell abruptly pushed it open, and started stumble-running for the door; clearly something was wrong with her leg.


    Terra could hear Kylie speaking behind her, as she watched Derek simply move on to the other occupied cage, with the boy inside it, and start on the lock.


    "Excuse me, ma''am. You can go if you''d like... but while its too late for your friend, I would gladly heal your leg. That looks like it must hurt."


    Terra ignored the healer for the moment, and extended a hand to the other trapped woman; who, after a few more marks on the page, turned it to face her.


    ~My name is Natalia. I am a maid in the service of mayor Kelson of Brendale. If you return me and his son to him, the mayor will undoubtedly reward you. The other woman is a stranger, but has been hurt badly, please treat her well.~


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    Below these lines were a fairly simple map of the area; it looked familiar, compared to the one grandfather had. "... Don''t worry. We''ll get you home. We''re a group of... well. New adventurers, looking for people to help, things to do. This is exactly the sort of job we''re out here for."


    ***


    The long-dead goblin warren was surrounded by debris; and a trail of smoke rising into the sky from a ''funeral'' pyre lighting up the night, as a strange summoned creature Derek had called forth; something looking like a turtle, almost, except bipedal and about four feet tall; was dragging crates, corpses, and anything other than rocks and dirt it could find out of the warren into the cool evening air.


    The smell was awful; and Terra couldn''t really bring herself to eat, even as her grandfather was calmly devouring a piece of meat that she sincerely hoped wasn''t human, and the other two appeared equally squeamish; sitting beside each other on a log, almost but not quite touching as they looked at the pyre from their own tiny campfire nearby


    The former prisoners were laying together on the grass, looking at the stars, with the boy whispering something to the women; he had refused to speak to anyone else; and just seemed to be enjoying the fresh air, undisturbed by the smell of burning corpses.


    When the creature made its last trip; and grandfather had finished sorting through the piles; he approached the smaller blaze, and stood towering above the party, looking them over. "So. This is what you have to look forward to. If you want to advance, as an adventurer... you need to kill. Every time you kill something, or destroy some magic item or construct, a bit of the magic in it leaks out... and everyone around gets a bit of it. For someone so much stronger, like myself, it doesn''t make any difference. But for people like you? Some of those bandits were similar to you in strength. If we did this regularly, you''d grow stronger, dramatically, quickly. We do one of these a week, and you''ll be as strong as a graduate of your Imperial Academy in a month or two."


    He grimaced down at the hole. "Back when Terra''s grandmother was still around, and demon-blooded goblins infested this region like rats, we did this sort of thing to goblin warrens just like this one; dump poison in them, and murder the lot as they came running out. Not sporting. Doesn''t teach you as well as a real fight does. But its a good way for the weak to get strong, and quickly. Helped your grandmother stay live through the hard fighting to follow."


    Terra blinked. "Demon-blooded? They weren''t just normal goblins?"


    He gave a low chuckle. "The whole reason I came here, and met your grandmother, was because of the demon invasion, and the contract. A whole cohort of devils all out helping humans kill demons of all sorts on behalf of the king down here, and of course helped the Empire as well simply by virtue of killing more demons there too. In exchange for the soul of the king and six hundred and sixty six of his subjects, an equal number of devils would come and butcher demons until they were all gone. Should''ve been a relatively short thing."


    She tilted her head. "But... most of the devils left. The king''s dead, and there''s still demons here."


    He shrugged. "The king broke the contract once most of the demons were dead. Didn''t want us to take his soul, so he conspired to hide some demons... smuggled them up north. A whole batch of demon-spider eggs delivered to the country that used to exist north of the Empire. Once we found out... the contract was null. We devils could do what we wanted. Some went back to hell. The boss killed the king. Me... I wanted to keep killing demons. And, well. I''d already met her by then. Still. We''ve been sidetracked."


    He swept his arm at the scene. The pile of corpses; the random, mostly almost worthless, loot. The broken victims they''d rescued. "This... is normal. I''ve encountered at least a dozen almost identical scenes over the years. If you don''t have the stomach for it, its time to turn around and go back home; because I will guarantee if you don''t, you''ll have ended up waist-deep in corpses by the end of the year."


    He focused on Kylie. "So. What''ll it be?"


    The priestess looked down at the flail. Bits of bone, blood, and hair were still sticking to the cold metal. She looked up, with a strange fire in her eyes that Terra didn''t recognize. "...I''m in it as long as you are. The full year. Longer, if you''ll stay longer. This.... punishing evil where it lies... it feels like what I was meant to do. My calling. I... do we know where more bandits are?"


    ***


    "Seventeen knives and daggers, five spears, four sets of leather armor, one iron breastplate, eight crates full of various random sets of clothing, a mass of silver cutlery, some fairly nice, high-end furniture, and a few dozen gold worth of various currencies. They had plenty of swords and bows that were quite simple garbage, and a single clockwork Imperial crossbow that appears to have been struck by a club while it was firing and is damaged, but fixable... if any of you know how to do that."


    Derek studied the device for a moment, then looked up at Praxius. "Well, sir... I''ve seen them working, but never used one. I may be able to figure it out, eventually. But... doesn''t them having this here mean they killed an Imperial Guardsman at some point. Wouldn''t we get a reward for handing it over?"


    Praxius shrugged. "Perhaps. On the other hand, they are excellent weapons. Not magical, but the ability to rapidly put bolts into a victim is unquestionably useful, even if its shorter ranged than a longbow. We may encounter enemies resistant to magic, or even dead magic areas. I''ll get along well enough... but all three of you rely heavily on magic at any significant distance."


    "...I''ll take a look at it with my tools while we''re on the road. What do we do with the prisoner?"


    Praxius looked at the bound raider. A relatively ordinary-looking man, if a bit dirty and unkempt. He looked up at Praxius, made a smile that better resembled a grimace of pain. "I''ll do anything you want. I can help you hunt other bandits. I''ll serve at your feet.. on my knees...chain... daddy?" He gave an odd grin. The devil blinked, and focused on him. The others could see the subtle shifts; his face seeming to become a horrific rictus, a savage beast... and the chained prisoner screamed and shifted around in his restraints as if trying to get further away.


    "He might be useful. Still..." Praxius reached down; and the man''s limbs were suddenly freed, as the chain returned to its master... only for a smaller length to snap free. He dropped down, wrapping it around the man''s throat. "Chain of Binding. I command you to grow tighter every time he speaks a word. Should I or one of my companions pass, tighten until he dies."


    He rose to his feet. "I don''t care what your name is, or what you''ve done. Our agreement is simple. In exchange for not killing you, you will provide us with a map of any bandits you know or suspect operate in the area. I know where that chain is at all times, and if you try to remove it, it will kill you. If I go to one such spot on the map, and find nothing of interest, I will have the chain kill you. If you make this agreement, and do not appropriately provide the requested service, I claim the right to take ownership of your soul. Do you understand?"


    The man opened his mouth... but stopped, and nodded.


    "Good." He glanced to the others. "We''ll pack everything worthwhile on the cart, and head out at dawn. Try to get some sleep, if you can. I''ll take the first watch."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 4: Into the Dales

    Praxius stared at the map with mild irritation. This particular region of the Kingdom; probably the Kingdom of Harold, nowadays; had about fifty different towns and villages all called dale this, dale that, and was just towns, villages, of various sizes, scattered over a whole mass of hills, small forests, all of them along the side of one of the various rivers. He''d never liked forests. Too green, too alive. And with such stupid names.


    ''Hillsdale''. Wasn''t a dale a valley of some sort? So a Hill-dale was a hill-valley. Might as well be called mount pit. And if this Kylie girl was anything like his wife and daughter, she''d want to stop and stay at every inn they came near, even if the sun was only beginning to go down. He studied the map, and looked up at the terrain. They''d need to go at least five miles out of the way to avoid seeing the village today, and that assumed there weren''t other signs of the village around.


    He shook his head slowly... and glanced up at the cart at the young noblewoman. It was irritating to look up at someone shorter than he was. "Alright. We''ll be at this place.... Hillsdale... soon. One of the next few big hills we go over and we should see it. If we keep going instead of stopping, we''ll make it a another few miles towards this ''Brendale'' to drop off the boy and the maid, and can be in Brendale in less than two days."


    The girl nodded, and looked ahead. "We should let them rest a bit, in real beds. I hate to re-break their legs to heal them properly, and they need a more experienced priest than myself for the tongues. Perhaps we should check, see if they have a temple here... and we can settle in for the night, check to see if there''s any bounties, anything interesting going on."


    Praxius gave a slow nod. "You''re from the Empire, where its all either the oddballs who worship the Emperor, or the joint temples of the Lord of the Earth and the Lady of Light. Here in the kingdom, usually, they have three shrines in each village. Lord of the earth, lady of darkness, lady of light. If they can manage it, to the north, west, and east respectively. Some of the most ass-backwards worship I''ve ever heard of. There''s either "


    Kylie blinked. "Well... the Emperor discourages worship of the Lady of Darkness. But that''s not so strange. There hasn''t been a war or anything between the gods for millenia."


    Praxius chuckled. "The Ladies of Light and Darkness, here in the kingdom, preach subservience of women towards men. And the Lord of the Earth advocates subservience of men towards women. On at least seven different occasions I got to listen to an argument between a priest whose god told him to treat women as authorities, and priestesses whose goddess told them to treat men as authorities. None of them wanted to appear to be calling the other wrong, but they also couldn''t agree with each other. Obviously, thats not all, they can argue about nurturing versus culling and so forth, but it was genuinely fun to bring up the subject."


    The priestess looked confused. "I''ve... never heard of such a thing. Don''t we worship the same goddess?"


    The devil laughed. "I don''t think I''m the best one to ask. I overheard the arguments, I didn''t participate. The lady of chains and Asmodeus have a very different set of rules."


    Kylie started to say something, but then stopped; likely having only now realized that devils might worship something at all.


    At this point, they''d crested the next hill; and could see, in the distance, Hillsdale; a small town surrounding a modest river in the distance, surrounded by a fairly pretty wall that appeared to be painted a vibrant red in color, clearly visible.


    "Anyways. I would prefer to keep moving; the one thing that I''d agree on is checking for bounties, and these other bandit camps if they happen to be close."


    Kylie nodded. "But I''m in charge, right?"


    "You''ve got me for a year, or until you reach the same threshold as an academy graduate, whichever comes first. I''d recommend not wasting that time."


    The priestess smiled. "Then we will check for anything interesting here, stay the night, and move on for Brendale at first light."


    ***


    Red appeared to be quite a popular color in Hillsdale. The wall seemed to be a blend of stone and wood, painted with it; the gate built into it a solid wood fixture with the same paintjob; and of course, the guard''s chainmail had a strip of red cloth with an odd flower logo across it; clearly what served as a uniform. The flower was even tied onto the haft of the pike the guardsman carried, and he gave a pleasant wave to the cart as it approached.


    It seemed almost disturbingly friendly. The only thing out of place was that the man was enormous, and had a tinge of greenish-grey to his skin; either another half-orc, or someone part-fiend like his granddaughter; either one of which should be rare.


    As he looked past the gate, and saw at least one more massive form wearing a guard uniform further in, talking to some woman in a floral dress, he grew a bit suspicious. Should and were might not be the same thing.


    "Well hello there! Welcome to Hillsdale!" A friendly wave, the pike not pointed anywhere close to them. "There''s a tax for incoming carts if you''re here to trade.." He pointed at a sign; which had a listing of various taxes, either based on the value of incoming merchandise, or on the fullness of the carts. "Just pick whichever one would charge you less, we''re not that picky. Looks like a half...cart..."


    He stopped. Stared at the crates for a moment; the cheery, happy demeanor suddenly vanished. "Where did.."


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    "Found an old goblin warren full of bandits. Rescued a couple of prisoners they took, who we''re taking to Brendale. The crates are whats left of their loot." He reached into his pouch, felt around for a moment... Ahh, there.


    He slid out a small bronze token, bearing the logo of the former king, Thomas Elfslayer; most of the devils who''d stayed to fight after the contract broke had ended up getting one, as had many other heroes, during that war. The guard looked at the token for a moment; and gave a salute, tapping the haft of his weapon to his forehead. "Sir! Adventuring parties are offered a reward for the return of stolen goods. If you wouldn''t mind taking your cart to the guardhouse, we can get it sorted out."


    Praxius glanced at the cart. "Appreciated. I wouldn''t begin to know the value of a crate full of cloth bundles. We need to get these people to a healer, they aren''t the best at walking just now, then you can take it. Lady Eastwatch can choose where she''d like to stay for the evening, and if anyone has any shopping to do, go right ahead. This place seems safe enough, but either stick together, or stick with me and the cart." He glanced back at the guard. "The last time I came through this region, they had bounty boards in every town, with reports of demons, monsters, that sort of thing that needed killing, from nearby villages and farms. Still got that, or anything else odd going on?"


    "Oh, goddesses, yes. There''s a few requests from nobles and officials, there''s reports of critters attacking farms... traders and messengers drop by on the regular and the town crier copies em down. Likes to shout all about em during the day, too. And... what do they need a healer for?"


    Kylie hopped out of the cart; the armored woman landing with a solid thud, as Derek and Terra soon followed. She glanced back up, then at the guard. "The bandits kept them for a while. Broke their legs to keep them from running, and cut out their tongues. I got their legs working, they''ll walk fine with time, but their tongues... I can''t regrow lost parts, we need someone more skilled. I understand there are usually three shrines in towns down here.. do you have a recommendation?"


    "Hmm. Well. Honestly, we don''t really have dedicated priests at the lady of light or darkness, only for the god of the earth. And he''s... okay? Can heal minor injuries, but mostly works with crops. Nobody who can heal a missing tongue." The guard grimaced for a moment, then glanced around... and back at the group. "There''s actually something that might help, but I''d appreciate if you kept it quiet, alright?"


    Praxius blinked. "...What, something illegal? Demonic?"


    "No, no, nothing like that. Just a bit of a local secret we try not to spread too far. There''s a wishing well outside of town. Wrap you name and your wish around a gold coin, drop it in. And if you''re not too greedy, it gets granted by the spirit of the well when next you sleep. Had a fisherman get his hand grown back that way, no reason it won''t work on a tongue."


    He gave a slow nod. "... and it only grants what, a wish a day or something, so you don''t want everyone to know?"


    "Maybe a handful a day, but otherwise... yes. It never made anyone rich, but it made me big and strong.." he slapped his arm "So I could make a good guardsman, and when my sweet Sheila wished I''d fall in love with her, it did the trick."


    Possibilities ran through Praxius''s head. The most likely? Some devil was taking people''s souls in exchange for these wishes, and had some script on the well... in a language the wishers didn''t understand... saying so. A lesser hag or fey was always possible, but... "Tell me. I''ve noticed you and some of the other guards are Half-Orcs. Greenskins are vanishingly rare nowadays. Do you have the same father?"


    A low chuckle. "No, no. I''m pure human, through and through. Once my friend Tommy used his wish and got bigger and stronger, we all did. All of us turned out the same way. Makes it tons easier handling bar-fights."


    So. He didn''t want to ruin this devil''s game; whoever it was likely had scored hundreds of souls this way. The lack of priestesses might be his doing as well; the lest folk with that sort of magic around, the harder it would be to spot. The mage or the priest might be able to understand script the locals didn''t, so if that was the trap, he''d need to keep them from looking closely. Best avoid the well entirely. "Well. We have business elsewhere. If the ladies wish to stay here, and try their luck with the well, so be it. Just some directions to help get the cart sorted out for now, please."


    As the befuddled guard shrugged, and started giving directions, Kylie looked at the devil suspiciously... and as they started to head further into town, alongside the cart for the moment, she moved closer.


    "Is there something I should know? I''ve never heard of a well like that, but it might be worth trying." She muttered in a low voice, as the others gathered in closer.


    Praxius rolled his eyes. "Too good to be true generally means it isn''t. There''s undoubtedly a catch. Perhaps it stops working if you leave the town; the locals would never know. But the kind of magic that would regenerate a lost hand, or turn a human into an orc? Not something you can buy for a gold coin. If you care about the women, I''d take them  with you to the next town, or plan to leave them here. Whatever the deal is, if it caused problems for the locals, they''d have noticed. So if the magic is strictly local, it would explain it." Or if the catch isn''t something you''d be aware of until you died.


    The group shared a glance as they kept moving.


    Kylie shook her head slowly. "You don''t want to investigate a magic well that grants wishes? What if it could help me get stronger, faster? Wouldn''t that make your job easier?"


    "I don''t know if its a fey, some evil spirit, a devil, if its secretly replacing these people with copies of themselves, or what it could possibly be. What I do know is that for a group like us, its a trap. We need to move on. Find simple, easy things, that involve, say, killing some demon-wolf and its pack that have been terrorizing a farm. We don''t want to just hang out and absorb energy like a bunch of idiots, but we also don''t want to stop and inspect every tiny thing we come across."


    "...A wish-granting well is a tiny thing?"


    Praxius stopped. The cart kept moving for a bit, as the butler kept hauling them off towards wherever the guards did their inspection. "Today, its a wish-granting well. Tomorrow, the flowers change colors at random. Next week, people changed there names and don''t seem to realize it. Next month, all the followers of light moved to the temple of darkness instead. A million different ''interesting'' things which are all wastes of my time. I''m not here to find out why a well grants wishes. I''m here to keep you alive and get you strong enough for whatever position the Eastwatches have for you."


    Kylie frowned. "... Fine. I won''t investigate the damned well. We''ll just... look for a different solution for the women when we drop the kid off."


    "Good."


    He turned, and headed back to follow the cart; as the noblewoman dragged his granddaughter and the mage off, clearly heading to the town''s marketplace; hopefully just to check out the inn. Unfortunately, he knew her type. There was no hope whatsoever that she wasn''t going to at least take a look at the well. With his luck, he''d be battling a bone devil who was angry that he''d  cut off an easy source of souls by midnight. He just needed to figure out a good way to turn this into an object lesson, hopefully get the damned fool to fly straight from then on. Maybe if he let the boyfriend die....

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 5: The Well, Part 1

    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."


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    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.

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 6: The Well, Part 2

    Terra simply couldn''t understand why they were so focused on figuring out this wishing well nonsense. Yes, healing the women would be nice. She wouldn''t mind losing the grey tint to her skin; it would be good to fit in a little better. But if she had to just be a pure human to do it, well. Would that cost her her magic? She knew most humans had a hard time learning spellcasting; it took years of training, memorization, practice, while she and her mother just had an instinctive grasp on it. She''d learned her first two spells... setting something on fire and telling a chain to start pulling itself and rocking her little sister''s crib... before she''d become a woman, and had no idea that being a capable spellcaster before showing up would cause such a problem at the academy.


    Still. She liked who she was. From what she''d seen so far, her grandfather was a competent, intelligent man.. well, devil... and while a bit vicious and cold at times, he was here, wasn''t he? He''d crossed the planes and marched hundreds of miles for her, simply because she was family and needed help. Being related to someone like that wasn''t something to be ashamed of. He''d been rewarded by both Kingdom and Empire, and they hated each other, that had to mean something.


    At present, he was sitting on the floor, between the beds; at first, Derek and Kylie were going to get their own room; the noblewoman could certainly afford it; but they''d ultimately decided to get the largest room; one that apparently was used by a few adventuring parties before, amusingly enough, as there were a few sets of names carved beside the fireplace; so they could keep an eye on the two women. Take turns keeping watch; everyone who could detect magic, which, amusingly enough, was everyone in the group, would watch over them, see if they could learn more.


    She ran her fingers over the chain around her neck absently as she watched the women sleeping. She didn''t need to be awake right now; Derek was on this watch. But she wanted to see when it happened. She absently toyed with the chain, feeling it with her magic. She could command a mundane chain, if it was unoccupied. She''d never tried an enchanted one. She made it shake, move back and forth.... could she tell it to unclasp itself?


    As she was studying the way it now seemed to be a smooth, claspless length of chain; it had simply grown shorter when she''d put it on; she started to feel drowsy.... and drifted off to sleep, not even noticing Derek falling face-first onto his book at the same time.


    ***


    Praxius stayed as still as possible. He wanted the intruder to think he was asleep, as he quietly slipped through the room. He identified three spells; one creating an aura of silence. One putting everyone in the room to sleep. And the last an enchantment of some sort that just made an area uninteresting to people looking at it; if he weren''t resistant to such things, he''d probably be completely unable to look at the bed where the two injured women lay, or the boy wrapped in a sleeping bag at the side of the bed, refusing to get far from them.


    The intruder was.... an elf. The first full-blooded elf he''d seen in centuries who hadn''t mutilated his ears and enchanted his eyes to hide his species. He almost moved involuntarily; this wasn''t just an elf, but a ludicrously powerful one. He could undoubtedly kill Praxius in a fair fight, without a challenge. What was he doing here?


    The elf walked up to the bed with the two women laying on it... and laid down a book, before withdrawing two small vials and dropping to his knees beside them. He examined a vial; poured it into one of the women''s mouth; and then simply watched; writing something down in the book. He nodded after a minute or so; and poured the second vial into the other woman''s mouth.


    There was no lingering magical effect. No curse he could see. No pacts, or bindings. Whatever the potion did, it lasted for roughly a minute... and then the elf was satisfied with his work. He rose to his feet, looked at the sleeping figures... and stopped, looking at Derek''s book. He gently moved the human''s head so he could see what he was writing; and then slowly pried the book out from under him. Flipping through pages. Studying. After a few minutes of reading, he suddenly jerked, as if startled, set the book beside Derek... and stepped out the door, quickly.


    If Praxius weren''t able to see invisible subjects, the only thing he would have been aware of was the book appearing, and the sudden silence of the noise from the surrounding rooms... then of Derek''s book floating on its own. This... made no sense. If that potion had just healed the woman''s tongue, it was something that would sell for hundreds of gold pieces. If he wasn''t getting a soul out of it, enchanting her, cursing her, whatever... why was he doing this?


    This whole situation reminded him of an elf he''d known in Hell. Back when the elves still had a kingdom of their own, he''d spent centuries torturing the souls of their soldiers. One had been burning down a human village, and screwed things up. Been trapped in a burning circle of flames he himself had set, with buildings collapsing around him, and no way out.... and jumped into a well. A building had collapsed onto the well, and he''d drowned there, weighed down by his armor, in the darkness, too confined to even try to take his armor off.


    His torment had been easy; Praxius had made him relive the suffering of the hundreds of humans he''d burned alive in their final moments, over and over, each time only able to escape his burning fate by diving into the well to drown once more; until he''d broken, his soul becoming good material to create a lesser devil, all trace of the proud soldier he''d once been lost.


    This couldn''t possibly be related... but it was an elf. A powerful, old, elf, who hid in a dungeon beneath a well, and... wandered the countryside granting wishes, asking for only a pittance in return? It made no sense at all.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    He was also ridiculously dangerous. He was a spellcaster, so if Praxius took him by surprise he could handle him, but even a momentary mistake and he''d be disintegrated or worse. He''d get a bit of rest, and decide what to tell the foolish youngsters in the morning. Ideally they''d just get the hells out of Hillsdale.


    ***


    When Terra awoke in the morning, she felt surprisingly rested; she hadn''t slept that well since... leaving home, really. Was it because she had someone she trusted watching over her... or just that this inn actually had comfortable beds? Either way, she was a bit more on-board with the idea of remaining here for another night; even if she didn''t make some stupid wish, the sleep was amazing.


    When she stretched and sat up, she could hear... a babble of noise. "Nah-tah-lee-aaaa." "Nah-tah-lee-aaaa." The two women were speaking back and forth... Terra smiled. It had worked! "My name is Natalia. Goddess it feels good to say it!" The other woman sighed. "Serra. Seh-rah. Serra." She looked at the other, then down at the boy. "Kell." The boy gripped her leg tightly, still silent for now. "....can I come with you to Brendale?" "I can''t make any promises, but Kelson senior will undoubtedly be so happy his son is back he''ll be willing."


    Praxius glanced around at the group. He didn''t know any spells to ward off scrying. All he had were the sort of inherent powers a devil developed over time, as he grew in power, and practiced, honing them into a fine edge; and at the moment, he could really use something, anything, to speak with his granddaughter in private.


    Perhaps.... "We need to speak privately. Away from the women we rescued, and any outside ears. I would recommend the shrine to the goddess of darkness. I believe there is one on the western side of the village."


    Kylie would rise to her feet, shifting, her red curls an unusual fluffy mess at present. "What? Why not the goddess of light?"


    "I can''t explain until we get there, but I will not allow you to interact with that well further, even if I need to drag you away in chains, until we have this discussion."


    She frowned. "But... I''m in charge here... right?"


    "You told me you weren''t going to investigate the well. I warned you it was probably dangerous, and not worth our time. Either come with me to the shrine, or I load you onto the cart and drag you home."


    There was a sudden knock at the door; firm, but polite; Kylie looked a bit flustered, and glowered at Praxius. "..Fine. We''ll go to the shrine." She stepped up to the door, pulling it open...  to reveal one of the town guards, wearing the same sort of chainmail with the red lines threaded through it, and a club belted to his hip.


    "Hello there, milady. The contents of the cart have been sorted, and there''s a reward for you. I''ve also got a note from one of the local shopkeepers asking for one of your party members; didn''t mention the name, just that it was the man with the books. Something about research opportunities."


    He glanced around the room, his gaze settling on Praxius. "Am I supposed to give it to you, sir, or to her?" He was holding two objects; a piece of parchment, and a cloth bag that must hold at least a few dozen gold pieces. Kylie snatched the bag, practically glowering. "Ugh. Lets get some breakfast, and go to this shrine."


    When she glanced at the parchment; it simply contained directions to Fabled Sundries, and an invitation for ''the scholar''.


    Terra was a bit amused at all the hubbub. "Grampa wouldn''t want to go to the shrine without a good reason." She probably knew. The goddess of light was a goddess of truth. The goddess of darkness was one of secrets. Most such shrines were warded to protect one from scrying eyes; and even the ones that weren''t, the goddess herself frowned on spying on said shrines, and doing so was a poor idea.


    ***


    The shrine was... about as impressive as any middle-of-nowhere shrine. A carved statute of the Lady of the Black, facing to the west; circles of benches and seats, clearly abandoned now; even in major cities, there were rarely anyone in these shrines during daylight hours. Services started at dusk; and they rarely saw anyone beforehand.


    Still. It was a modest building, with all the windows heavily covered, and so dark inside that Kylie stumbled as she entered. Once they had crossed the threshold, Praxius came to a halt; and gave a bow. "Lady of Shadows, lady of  secrets. You are not my goddess, but I show my respect, before sharing secrets within your domain. May they remain there, enshrouded."


    Praxius looked up. The room seemed somehow darker. He felt... approval. He turned to the others. "The well was once a dungeon. An elf cleared it out, centuries ago, and now hides there. For whatever reason, he''s been slipping out at night and quietly granting requests to those he chooses to. I have no real idea as to why... but having watched the process, I can confirm he isn''t stealing souls, or names, or cursing the victims. All I do know... is that he''s powerful. Extremely so. He could obliterate me in moments, unless I took him by surprise."


    The group was quiet, as he relayed the events of the night before. The sleep spell; the potions; and the careful note-taking.


    Kylie gave a slow nod. "Well. That.... puts a new light on things. Perhaps he''s a researcher himself, using the locals as test subjects for his potions and concoctions?"


    Derek frowned, crossing his arms, absently fiddling with the golden logo of the Imperial Academy on his robes. "That... is possible. Its also possible he''s trying to slowly work his way into local mythology... bind himself to a land spirit."


    She blinked, and turned to her boyfriend. ".Bind himself to a land spirit?"


    Terra laughed. "That''s... Land spirits are just a sort-of... thing that exists over a forest, a region. If enough people and animals think of a place a certain way, it makes a land spirit. It lasts as long as people think of it that way, and over time it can influence the place, grow a mind and personality of its own. Honestly, there''s probably a simpler reason."


    The others turned to Terra. Praxius sighed. "I''ve been thinking it through for hours now, and no idea. What is this ''simple'' reason?"


    "For the same reason mom takes care of things around her village. She lives there, likes to help take care of things, keep the peace. Why can''t it just be that Hillsdale is his home, and he wants it to thrive and be a good place to live? And, well. Being an elf, he doesn''t want people to know he''s doing it, so he doesn''t get lynched."


    Praxius blinked, staring at his granddaughter. "...It couldn''t possibly be that simple. He''s an archmage! As strong as you could possibly be before your magic starts to leak out just walking down the street! People like that don''t just... try to make a community thrive!"


    Derek gave a low chuckle. "Well. Honestly, exactly that sort of attitude would mesh with my land spirit theory. And even more honestly, I''m more interested than ever in asking it for help with my research. A chance to get ideas from a century-old archmage? Who wouldn''t want that? This is going to be amazing!"

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 7: The Well, Part 3

    Kylie sighed, and put a hand on Derek''s shoulder. His boundless enthusiasm for knowledge was remarkable, wonderful, even, but if it wasn''t contained a bit it might just get him killed. "We should listen to the devil. You realize he''s also centuries old, right?"


    He seemed slightly downcast... and shrugged. "Okay. So we don''t go down and check out the well, or the dungeon anymore. Why don''t we just follow his rules. He didn''t hurt them, so if we just make wishes like normal folk, he won''t hurt us, right?"


    She glanced at the devil, then back at Derek. "We''re outsiders. Magically capable outsiders. If we vanished, the locals wouldn''t notice. Even those women are from a nearby town; we''re from a whole other country. Knowing that its not some magical force, but definitely an actual person, an elf, even, with his own motives... elves used to butcher humans. Harvest us, like cattle. If it weren''t for the regalia, they''d still be doing it today."


    She grimaced. What if he had already been taking people, and just re-writing memories. That dungeon under the well might contain hundreds of townsfolk, for all anyone knew. "...Maybe.... we should tell people. Do something about the well?"


    Praxius looked down at her. "I wouldn''t go after someone like that without a good solid null-magic shield. If you get strong enough to make one in the next year, I''ll help you take him down. Otherwise.... no. He''d kill me, you, the lot of us. The kind of spells someone of that level of power can cast would turn Hillsdale into a cinder in moments. If there''s any more last-minute purchases you need, make them. Otherwise, lets just head on to Brendale."


    Kylie nodded. "Yes, lets. We''ll load everyone up, and get moving."


    Derek frowned. "I was going around asking for help with the research, both about the well, and my own, yesterday. There was a message for me from one of them, that ''fabled sundries'' place. Can I stop by there first, meet you at the gate?"


    Praxius sighed. "How about this. I''ll accompany you to this shop. Everyone else, get the ladies, the boy, make any last purchases, and head for the gate." He turned to Derek. "We are not spending hours waiting for you to discuss magical theory. We''re in, we''re out, and we''re gone."


    ***


    Fabled Sundries sat next to the river; an isolated shop, across the street from the last full row of houses and shops that made up Hillsdale; not a bad position; a straight shot from here to the gate. Derek gave a nod, and looked back at the irate devil following him; as he opened the door, stepping inside.


    After he stepped in, the first thing he saw was an older gentleman; a quick scan showed him as level 9, and he looked to be a half-elf; so well over a century old, wearing some dusty but well-kept grey leather; and further back in the shop, a much younger one he only briefly caught a glimpse of; before the old man shut the door, and stepped up to the counter.


    Derek glanced around the shop, and blinked. This... shouldn''t exist here. The lamplight flickered for a moment, as Praxius stepped in, but it didn''t distract Derek from the fact that virtually every item he looked at had a magical aura. None significant; these trinkets likely all did things like starting campfires or cleaning rugs. But unless you were exceptionally powerful, creating magical items was a drawn-out, challenging process; if Derek wanted to make one of these... ''Enchanted Ice Box'' objects on the shelf beside him... it would take a month, meticulous casting.


    He opened it for a moment; and sure enough, the inside was chilled. Perfect for preserving food on the road. He turned back to the shopkeeper... who was staring at Praxius. Level 9... it would take the shopkeeper a week to make something like this. Who were his clients? How did this place stay open?


    "I... got your message. You heard about my research?"


    He glanced back at Praxius. He knew the devil was at least level 10, but he couldn''t pinpoint it. People of this level were rare in small towns like this. He could probably feel the devil''s power... and his nature.


    The half-elf glanced back at Derek. "Interesting company you keep, young scholar. That''s got to be the strongest chain-devil I''ve ever seen... and I''ve seen a few. Contracted work?"


    Derek shrugged. "Not my contract, but yes. He''s got to keep me and my g... and the lady Eastwatch safe on our journey, if possible."


    He seemed to relax a bit. "Well. Strange, but understandable. I am, of course, Fabius... and this is Fabled Sundries. I''ve heard from a few friends you were a magic researcher, trying to learn how to harness the powers of magical creatures... and to learn more about the well. I actually asked the well for help with that myself, long ago. Magic, that is."


    Derek smiled. "Amazing! I wanted to wish for some help with my research, but my companions want to get a move on. We''ve got a couple of kidnap victims to return to Brendale."


    Praxius coughed. "And we don''t have forever here, either."


    Derek rolled his eyes. "So you sent for me. Mind if I ask why? Did you have something I could buy that might help?"


    "To an extent, yes. The well seems to operate on a path of least resistance sort of method. If someone wishes something, and it wants to grant it to them, it picks the easiest possible route. Which for folks wishing to live longer, a remarkably common wish, means transforming them into part elf. After studying dozens of the people its changed over the years, I''ve got an elixir that, I believe, combined with a bit of the other species, will help change you partway into that other race. I don''t have any samples of exotic races around here; but I was able to use it on a dog with... interesting results. Its like a baby human, but with dog-ears. Cute, but disturbing."


    Derek practically started drooling at the idea. This could make some of his own research trivial! "Amazing! That''s... how much do you want for it?"


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    He smiled. "When I heard what you wanted, I had my son start copying my notes. I''ll give you the notes, and a few samples, for five hundred gold."


    That.... was a more than fair amount of money. A tiny fraction of what this was worth. "Of course! I''d gladly take that! Thank you so much, for your generosity!" Derek practically ran forward to the counter, and started setting down both the more valuable, platinum coins; and when he only had 45 of them, a handful of gold to make up the difference.


    The old half-elf leaned back, and shouted something at the door.. and a bundle was handed to him. A pouch, sitting on top of a book; fresh, clean, brand-new, it smelled strongly of fresh ink. Derek lifted the book, looking at it for a moment... and extended his hand. The shopkeeper studied it for a moment; and took his hand, shaking it firmly. "Always a pleasure to help a fellow researcher. I''d appreciate... and be willing to pay for... whatever you learn based on this. My own research has been a bit stunted of late, I seem to have hit a wall."


    The elixirs, the book... Derek wasn''t certain which was more valuable. "I''ll likely be heading back to the academy, at least briefly, after this, and doing a term of service with the Imperial military. But of course. Its great to talk to someone who isn''t focused on necromancy or combat magic." He looked down at the book again. If only he could spend more time here, talk to the shopkeep. Of course he wouldn''t be the only one wanting to study the well; the very idea was absurd. But...


    He glanced back at Praxius. "I''ll see you another time, sir." He turned, heading back to the door, and slid it open, heading off for the gate, and a rendezvous with the others.


    Praxius glanced back at the departing mage, then at Fabius. "Appreciated. I don''t know what you''re doing here, or why. But you''ve done nothing to interfere with my dealings, and I''ll do nothing to interfere with yours. Just remember that not all creatures are affected by sleep spells, the next time you go out at night."


    The shopkeeper stared into the devil''s eyes for a moment. For just an instant, a flicker of the true, golden color of the elf''s eyes manifested. "You wouldn''t believe me if I told you. My interest in the boy''s research is genuine. I would appreciate it if you ensured he survived. He has more potential than I did, at his age."


    The devil held the door for a moment. "..How much would you appreciate it?" He didn''t really care about the boy. The family wanted him protected, but the contract-holder was the eastwatch girl. Well. Sub-contract. Such a tangled mess, because he needed excuses to come here to protect his family. But if an archmage cared about something, the kind of help he could provide...


    "Not enough to sign a contract. But.... enough to tell you that I''m not the only one experimenting around here. Someone knows the kingdom doesn''t keep good track of this region, and if a town is peaceful and calm enough, its been getting involved. Adventuring parties have been going missing. I can protect Hillsdale. On the plus side, you and I are likely the two most dangerous things in the region, so if you stay close to them, they should be fine."


    Praxius gave a short nod. "I planned on it anyway." He shut the door firmly behind him, and headed for the gate. No way he would believe an elf. If there were experiments wandering around, it was probably the archmage doing it. Still. That meant there were likely more things out there worth hunting. Hopefully nothing too dangerous for the whelps.


    ***


    Terra stayed well ahead of the cart; she''d started copying her father over an hour ago, and walking rather than riding; claiming it was to help build up her stamina, rather than just riding along while Kylie and Derek went on about research, going over the book, and the elixir.... and the two rescuees blathered on about gossip,  about the nearby towns, about the men they knew, their hopes for Brendale...


    When they were mute, it was easy to forget the women existed. They had huddled together, cowered when anyone approached, and generally kept to themselves. The elf seemed to have healed both their bodies, and their spirits; they were so much happier and calmer than before that it seemed infectious, with everyone but Terra and her grandfather seeming to perk up as the trip went on. The constant talking... was annoying.


    She watched the chain-devil as he kept a steady pace, surveying the forest to either side, and wondered. What had grandmother been like? What kind of woman would marry a devil? Her mother''s books warned that Kytons has habits most other devils lacked, like tendencies to care about families and relationships, because unlike most, they were an actual, distinct, species; the tormentors and enforcers of their region of hell, actually born and raised rather than simply elevated from the status of a lesser devil like their kin.


    Her mother called herself a witch; using all sorts of magic to defend their home, with a special fondness for her legion of animate plants and trees. How much of her power was from the devil side, and how much from whatever grandmother was? She was rarely spoken of. Perhaps...


    She picked up the pace. It took a few minutes of half-jogging before she was side by side with her grandfather, slowly eating up the miles towards Brendale.


    "I... was wondering if you would be willing to tell me about my grandmother. How you two met, and ended up together?"


    Praxius glanced over at her... then resumed his measured pace; examining a stretch of forest to the right... examining a stretch to the left... following a meticulous pattern he''d worked out centuries ago that caught most... but not all... probably ambushers. "You don''t want to hear most of it. I suspect you don''t want to hear about the sex lives of your grandparents. Initially all we shared was mutual attraction, and a love of killing demons. Didn''t really intend anything long-term, at first."


    "...Sorry for the side-track there. But why do devils hate demons so much? Mom said they''ve been at war for as long as they''ve both existed... I know devils are supposed to be just as evil and all that, but the Empire barely even mentions that, just focuses on the sheer mass of those irritating spider-demons your people butchered."


    A slow nod. "When a soul dies, it moves on to its final reward. For those souls that weren''t good in life, they go on to both the hells, and the pits. The ones that show up in the hells were the ones who were more... organized. The ones who lived by codes, who followed laws, who had some respect for hierarchy. The pits... are all the rest. Most souls go to the pits, by a huge margin, unfortunately; and if the world is filled with chaos, it gets worse. You mortals tend to only follow laws when threatened with violence, arrest. Devils are made from the souls who typically wouldn''t break them regardless... though we''ll gladly bend and twist them whichever ways to get what we want."


    He gave a slow whistle. "In the pits, soul eats soul, they fight and butcher each other, getting stronger with time; and as they get stronger, they start to develop intelligence... but still never change their innate nature. While devils want a rigid, structured society, both in the afterlife, and here among mortals... demons just want to eat, consume, grow stronger. They outnumber us, and you mortals, by a vast margin.. more of their kind of souls arrive in the pits every passing moment... and if unchecked, would simply swarm over everything, devouring it all."


    "So. If the devils were ever to somehow win... we''d establish order, both here and there, and destroy the demon''s souls as they arrived in the pits. It would be an eternity of peace and order beneath our heels. If the demons win... it''s done. They''ll consume and destroy each other til only two demons are left, and then one will eat the other... and a single demon will be all that lives, until it finally grows so bored with it that it consumes itself."


    "...I can see why the Empire prefers the devils then."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 8: Brendale, The Cave

    To say Brendale and Hillsdale were different would be a dramatic understatement. No vibrant red paint here; no wall at all, in fact, they seemed to have gone for a canal/moat, effectively turning the whole town into an island, with a clearly manmade waterway splitting off from the river it was built up against. The buildings didn''t follow any uniform theme either. simple rock structures, thatch huts, wooden buildings; to Praxius, it was an offense to the senses. Chaotic. Abysmal.


    As the party approached the town, Natalia and Kel; ''Kelson Bren Junior''; leapt from the cart, sprinting forward, shouting... and the guard standing at the bridge over the canal seemed outright shocked... and just watched them run by him, heading for the center of town. Praxius shook his head, and glanced back at the other rescuee, Serra, before resuming his steady march... and coming to a halt at the gate. The guard; wearing a simple chainmail suit that seemed popular in this region; nodded at the group.


    "If''n you''re just here for the reward, you can wait, and Mayor Kelson will be out shortly. He might throw in a few extra for Natalia..." He glanced back at the town behind him, then to the group. "I always thought he fancied her. "If not, you can head on into town."


    Praxius sighed. "Collecting the reward and moving on, yes." We collected a listing of bounties in Hillsdale. Have one that''s a bit odd for the next town down the road, ''Rockdale'', but there were two for this area; a farmer had a bipedal monster, maybe a goblin, steal a sheep, and thought he saw more, and something about a cave eating people."


    "Ahhh, yeah. Ohgram''s had six more sheep vanish this past month. Haven''t seen a goblin in these parts in a long, long time, but there always seems to be something out there, and who knows... the cave might be related. After Johnny vanished going in there, nothing''s come out; including a dog who was tracking him, and a few birds. We''ve left it alone ever since. The board''s at the town hall; thats where the mayor will be, so might as well head on in and collect before you go hunting."


    Praxius looked down the town''s streets to the tall wooden structure, covered in faded grey paint, that likely served as the town hall. He grimaced. Hopefully he could get them to just move on, hunt whatever these creatures were, rather than another full day hanging out in a village.


    ***


    Fortunately, it wasn''t drawn-out, or complicated. There were hugs; laughter. Enthusiastic greetings, from father to son; a paying out of a reward for the boy''s safe return; and an offer of a steep discount; less than the reward, even; for a plot of land inside the moat, as well as a free stay at the only tavern in town. Praxius seriously considered the offer for a few; technically, if he owned the land, he could claim it as a domain of hell, and summon other devils there freely. But... the mayor likely didn''t actually have the sort of authority to grant true ownership that way by their laws. Inside most of the Kingdom, the local Baron technically owned the land; fortunately not all of it was like that, or his daughter would have had some issues. But then... ''Mayor'' was an elected position, and they didn''t do much of that here.


    He''d postponed the offer; he could review exactly where the mayor''s authority started and ended and come back later; and the group had set out once more, on a hopefully much shorter journey; to a nearby forest supposedly infested with some sort of small, goblin-like, humanoids, and a man/dog/bird-eating cave. He was walking beside the cart, close enough to speak with the youngsters... and Parkins... as he went through the possibilities.


    "So. We''re most likely looking at one of three situations. The first... the farmer was mistaken, and the locals are just paranoid. We''ll end up killing some demon-cursed wolves or some other beastie and be done with it. After we reach the cave, if we find bits of dead sheep and some of them... the whole thing is done."


    He glanced at the forest; and at the wide open, cleared-out patch that made up the farm. No farm worth anything was run by just one man; either it''d be a large family, or multiple smaller ones together; and they could check things out after they hit the cave up.


    "The second is that the ''cave'' is actually the entrance to a warren of some nasty little humanoid critter. Goblins, kobolds, there''s a dozen sorts, and not a one has been seen around here for a long time. If we''re lucky, its a small one like the last one, and we can clear it the same way."


    He sighed. "And the third... is that the two are unrelated. We''ve got bandits or something else stealing sheep, and a monster in a cave, or even just a cave filled with some toxic gas. We''ll have to go back to the farm and track whatever took the sheep. Hopefully its the second; clearing out a few dozen more goblins would help make up for lost time."


    The bounty paper for the cave had a rough map; using the farm as a guideline, he figured roughly where the cave was... and of course, they ended up leaving the cart behind a quarter mile away, with Parkins settled back; the old man had a crossbow, just in case, but was likely doomed in the event of a serious attack; one of the various reasons Praxius had disliked the idea of taking the cart, or him, along.


    ***


    Kylie glanced up at the man as Derek and Terra stretched their legs, getting themselves ready, and let out a sigh. "Well, sir. I''m sorry for dragging you out in the middle of nowhere for this nonsense. You be fine without us for a few?"


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    He gave a low chuckle. "The fresh air does me some good. I certainly prefer this over the old Eastwatch house, and, well. Its not like I have anything to do til the new one is built. It''s a nice vacation. I''ll wait til I see you on the way back before I start cooking, but I''ll go ahead and make a fire."


    A brief nod. Kylie looked at the others, and when the devil started marching off towards the probably cave site, she practically skipped to catch up. She''d... well. She''d enjoyed crushing those goblins. She''d been warned before about fear, panic, all the responses a fight would bring... but it was exhilarating. She wanted more.


    The forest started to grow oddly quiet as they approached the cave mouth; the trees still looked perfectly fine, but the ever-present noise of insects and birds chirping was only made obvious by its absence as they peered into the darkness... and stopped around an entrance.


    It didn''t look like a goblin warren; too big, a bear could fit through this thing... and was a more likely case than a goblin. Could she... fight a bear? Would she win? She... honestly wanted to try, even if it sounded like a terrible idea.


    The smell by the entrance was terrible. A mass of rot and decay, something worse than anything she''d ever dealt with; even with excitement pumping through her veins this was... awful. She hesitated, and glanced at the devil.


    He shook his head, slowly. "Wonderful. More than just a sheep and a solo farmer had died here. And they weren''t eaten, either; this isn''t what I expected. Between the smell and the filth I''m hesitant to go in there; we should see if we can draw whatever it is out. Priestess, if you can try some light; and if that doesn''t work, the boy can go with a summoned beastie."


    Terra frowned. "You don''t want me to smoke the place out?"


    "That spell takes quite a bit out of you; and you don''t seem able to do much else while its on. You might be wanting to apply some fire instead; we should see, we don''t know what''s in there."


    Kylie looked around on the ground for a few moments before picking up a fist-sized rock. She focused on it. "Lady goddess, please shine your light to reveal the truth of this world." She focused on the stone... and closed her eyes as it became vibrantly, vividly bright... and hurled it into the cave. Beforehand, only the devil could see clearly. But now...


    There were piles of rotting, decaying flesh, masses of mushrooms; a humanoid figure, probably the farmer. Sheep, in various states of decay. A few wolves, a dog, birds, snakes... it was as if something was killing things and dumping them into the cave, then just leaving them to rot.


    There was no response to the light; Kylie frowned. The cave was deep, hundreds of feet, at least. She sincerely hoped they didn''t have to go stomping through that mess into the smell... but the devil would likely make them do just that if the creature that did this didn''t come to them.


    The devil called out. "No response to the light. Derek, you''re up. Whatever it is, it drags the things here, so it wants them for something; summon something that can drag the bodies out."


    A nod. The boy studied the cave for a moment, and then started casting his spell; he placed one hand on his head as he chanted, focusing on a spot on the ground; and then an audible pop. A creature appeared that looked like a giant, man-sized crab; only with a blue shell, crackling with electricity. He pointed at the cave. "Start with the human, grab corpses, drag them out into the daylight."


    The crab gave a subtle bob of its carapace before tromping into the gave; grabbing a human corpse with both claws; and starting to drag it out. By the time the body reached the cave entrance, they could hear a faint groaning coming from inside the cave.


    Kylie saw the devil nod again. "That seems to have done it. We''ve got its attention. Everyone prepare something to hit it with; your best shot, whatever it might be. No idea what exactly we''ve got coming out here."


    The crab deposited the corpse in the daylight, and turned, starting back towards the corpse pile... when something emerged into the light shone by Kylie''s rock... some sort of blob-like creature?


    No... it was a giant fungal mass; rotting flesh and bones bound together by some sort of grey-green fungus. The thing was a horror that was difficult to describe, and the smell was just awful as it slowly crawled forward; limbs whose bones had likely belonged to deer, bears, and a variety of other forest creatures, now held together by fungal strands as it moved for the entrance.


    She lifted her flail, ready to move forward. Praxius glanced at her, and held up an arm to block her path.


    "No. This thing is too slow to catch a human, or a sheep. Either it has something to use at a distance, or there''s other, smaller, faster ones. Boy, have the crab go first. Lets see what it does. Then I''ll try to chain it down so you can all blast it."


    Kylie turned to the creature; and when the crab charged forward, its claws sparking, arcs of lighting running from its flesh into the monster as it chopped at the numerous rotting limbs... it managed to sever four or five of the limbs... and then the monster grabbed hold of it, pulling the summoned beast into its mass even as it kept tearing at and shocking the thing. It let out a shriek... and the corpses started to rise.


    Kylie backed away a step in fear as she saw... wolves with fungal blooms growing from skulls. Tiny monstrosities made of a bird and a squirrel whose bodies were joined in decay. And worse... the smaller ones were faster; while most of them stayed in the cave, just gathering, watching for now, seemingly letting the invaders flee if they chose to, a few would fly out, trying to snatch She flicked out; the flail crushing one not much bigger than her head, sending bits of matter splattering across the rocks. "..Do we... do we back off?"


    Derek stepped up to her side, hands raised. "It looks scary. But its only level five, or six at the most, and none of the small ones are a real threat unless we let them swarm us. The devil could handle it himself. If we work together, maybe we won''t need him." Kylie saw him glancing at Terra, and the two shared a glance.


    The devil studied the trio. "If you want to try it without my help, I''ll let you; you don''t just need the power you''ll get from wiping these things out, but some real combat experience. But this thing is dangerous. I''ll have my chains out and ready to grab at a moment''s notice."


    Kylie nodded, and braced herself. "I''m in. You two?"


    Terra smiled at her. "We planned this out. The stupid thing''s even giving us time to get ready. Hells yes."


    Kylie caught a grin on Derek''s face; and he''d already begun a new spell; likely summoning a replacement for the crab that had just vanished after being crushed. Time to see what this horrific monster was made of. Aside from, well. Everything.

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 9: Fungal Horror

    Derek studied the creature; it was a fungus, a living, maybe sentient, but definitely animate, fungus, capable of perceiving its environment and murdering things nearby. Lightning likely wouldn''t do much good against it, unfortunately, so he''d probably need the magma sprite again; then he could switch it up and start blasting the thing with fire magic as the sprite cleared out the smaller ones. As he focused on calling up the magma sprite, one of the smaller creatures; a cluster of wings that must have once been a pair of vultures; flew towards him, apparently attracted by the noise; but Kylie smashed the thing out of the air with a swift stroke.


    He gave her a nod as he finished the spell; and soon the ball of fire and tendrils was lashing out; keeping its distance from the big monster as it splattered the smaller creatures with bits of molten rock; apparently quite effective, as they started catching aflame immediately.


    Kylie, for her part, slowly advanced after dispatching the small one, chanting something he hadn''t heard from her before; and as she did, the flail in her hands glowed. After a few seconds, a second flail... one made out of radiant light... emerged from the real one... and when she swung it down at the monstrosity, it flew a few feet to the right... and did exactly the same. Both weapons, real and magical, tore through the monstrous flesh and bone, shattering limbs and sending bits of flesh flying; even as they heard Terra cry out the end of her own spell...


    As an orb of red-hot light burst into existence amidst the mass of smaller creatures, setting dozens of them aflame immediately as it started to roll towards the big one; and while it wasn''t an aware, targeted thing like his magma sprite, the orb was a wide, indiscriminate battering ram as it rolled through, making dealing with the swarm of lesser creatures far easier; as both he and Terra almost simultaneously blasted the thing with bolts of fire.


    There was another shriek; louder.


    More movement was coming from deeper in the cave; and Terra sent the orb rolling further, deeper, letting it wreak random chaotic havoc, as she turned her own attention to the mass before her; as Kylie struggled to keep smashing at the thing, backing away constantly as it kept trying to grab hold of her, her weapons, and the vile stench made everyone feel as if they were going to be sick... suddenly the larger monstrosity hurled one of the smaller ones at Kylie like a projectile; slamming her off of her feet to the ground.


    The flail she''d summoned lashed out, knocking the creature off of her; sending what was mostly deer and racoon parts off into the underbrush; but it was too late; the bigger creature had managed to grab her legs, and start pulling her into its mass... even as giant chunks of it started actively burning, as it appeared the fungus itself was flammable. Kylie let out a scream that tore at Derek''s soul as he stepped closer; wishing, for the moment, he was a warrior rather than a mage so he could do something a bit more blunt, more direct, as he focused and pumped even more fire into it, knowing he might burn Kylie but not wanting to let this thing eat her.


    This couldn''t happen! This was their first real fight! He''d said they could...


    A sudden crunch. Kylie was ejected onto the ground before the beast, as a massive chain wrapped around it tightened, squeezing it; the audible sound of hundreds of bones breaking, as the devil stepped forward; and swung with both hands; massive, heavy flails slamming into it from both sides at once.


    He stopped the constant outpouring of fire long enough to grab Kylie and start dragging her back, away from it, and rose to his feet; immediately focusing on the right words, the right gestures, the right feel, and unleashing another burst of fire at it. He checked on his sprite; it was still busily swatting and sweeping away the smaller ones, and Terra''s work with the orb seemed to either keep the others from fleeing, or effectively clear whatever was in the cave...


    As the devil crushed the thing, shattering enough bones to render it immobile, it quickly became a mopping up action. An exhausted, irritated, but still mostly fine, Kylie rose back to her feet; a bit unsteady at first; and joined the devil and her companions in methodically crushing and burning every errant, moving limb of the giant mass.


    The most disturbing part of the whole mess was crushing the lumbering corpse of the farmer... and of course, the fact that even after the bones were broken, the thing was still alive, and burning, just... immobile.


    "...What the hell is this thing?" Derek stared at the larger mass, and all the smaller pieces... Terra seemed almost gleeful as she was throwing bolts of fire into every tiny bit of squirming mass, while he and Kylie were just standing back, exhausted... and the devil used the chains to move all the squirming bits into the pile which was taking its own sweet time catching alight.


    Derek looked it over more closely... and frowned. "Its flammable, but not too flammable. You break the bones, it can''t move around... but is still alive. We either need a hotter fire... or to add in fuel."


    Terra gave a nod. "That orb is still rolling through the cave, and I can only focus on one at a time... and there''s still more of them dying in there, in droves. Its gotta keep going. We need something else."


    Derek glanced into the cave, as the devil kept working to keep the mass of fungus together.. and gave a nod. "Kylie, while me and Terra keep blasting it, grab any dry wood you can, and throw it onto the thing. Its got too much water in it to burn well, but once it gets hot enough..."


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    She frowned, staring at the fungus, then at Derek. "Just... start throwing sticks at it?"


    "As big as you can find!"


    ***


    At first, it seemed to be a terrible mistake. The fungus seemed to be unable to make tentacles more than a few feet long; but was almost immediately able to use one of the sticks Kylie threw into it as if it were a bone, extending a limb outward... only for it to break under the weight of the fungus. And once the stick lit aflame.... it started burning, steadily hotter; and lighting more of the wood the priestess kept adding.


    Soon, between the burning wood embedded in its flesh, and the constant lesser bolts of flame, the thing finally stopped its moving; and everyone was able to relax, as the creature was turned into a funeral pyre. Terra stood at the cave''s entrance; she seemed to be ordering that rolling orb of firey death back and forth through the cave, ensuring the whole place was cleansed.


    Praxius turned, and glanced at Derek. "That thing felt like it was as strong as all of you put together. And you go into this saying ''its just a few levels higher''. I think whoever taught you these numbers, to assign levels to things, didn''t know what they were doing."


    The boy stepped closer; and carefully placed a sample of the fungus in a glass bottle, using a knife to cut it. "Look... the academy maintains a long tradition of study. Before they came up with their classification system, we compared things to how many circles the spells used; like, say, if you were a spellcaster, you''d be able to use a fifth or sixth circle spell, right?"


    Praxius sighed; and used a chain to shift and turn the mass, ensuring every bit of the fungal mass was burned, not wanting to leave any pockets to cause problems. "There''s a problem with that, as well. Two people who can use a third-circle spell can be dramatically different in terms of danger they pose to you. A succubus can cast third-circle spells, generally. But a human wizard that can cast a third-circle spell is usually far more dangerous, and knows a larger variety of them. At the same time, if you meet one of my people who can cast a third-circle spell, he''s likely able to crush both of those."


    Derek stepped up next to Terra, looking into the cave; both the first rock Kylie had thrown, and the orb of fire, which was finally starting to die off but not there yet, revealing a long trail of bones and ash. "Yes, that''s true. And out of a whole mass of level five spellcasters, some can use a third-circle spell, some can''t, because magic tends to accumulate however you use it, not just in spellcasting. But at the very least, it would give me a good base amount of power the thing has. And seeing that the depths of this cave are a level four area lets me know that creatures who grow up here naturally are going to be at a certain level of power... and that the ones that kill and eat them higher still. Two level five creatures might be dramatically different... and I should probably be a bit less confident in fighting things I don''t have good information on. But... the classification system itself is eminently useful for training purposes. For example, I know that the energy we got from the lot of them got us far closer to the fourth level. If we had to do it again, or that warren, we''d be there."


    The devil rolled his eyes, and, once satisfied the thing was truly dead, joined the women at the mouth of the cave, looking in. "Hmmm. Stay here, and be wary of anything else coming. I''m going to head in and make sure Terra''s fire got the job done, check for any valuables... or signs of what made this. Sometimes creatures just naturally change as they get stronger, but... this seems odd."


    He started walking into the darkness... glancing back to ensure the others were following directions... and started examining the cave as he advanced.


    Bones. Sheep bones, deer, bear... a few more strange, exotic skeletons. Piles of ash and debris he had to walk through. That spell his granddaughter used would be trivial against some big monster, but against confined swarms like this, it was perfect.


    And when he reached the end of the cave... he found a small, green gem, glowing softly, mounted in a sconce hammered into the wall. He had no idea what it did, exactly.... but it reeked of transformation magic. For a moment, he considered destroying it; extremely good odds that a few months ago, this fungus was just an ordinary mushroom, and constant exposure to this thing had altered it with time, along with the normal effects of a creature reaching adulthood in a high-magic area...


    He looked around. This was a valuable spot. Like rivers and lakes, villages were often founded on places like this; the Imperial Academy was on such a spot, only a much larger one. Some conflux of how magic moved through the world caused it to accumulate here. So... if they built a barracks, and started training guards here, they''d steadily improve over time, even without killing any monsters. Or raise guard beasts here; a dog raised to adulthood in this cave would be an intimidating creature for most humans.


    He gave a firm yank; pulling the gem, and the sconce that it was attached to, from the wall, and headed back out of the cave; emerging covered in ash up to the waist.


    "I''ve got something new for you to research. We should mark this spot down on the map, it could be valuable. Otherwise... we can return for a reward with the dead farmer if you''d like, but otherwise... we should keep moving. We''ve got bounties for other towns here in the dales to collect, and I''m growing more optimistic about getting you to your goal quickly. This thing was more powerful than anything I expected you to encounter out here."


    He handed the sconce to Derek; who stared at the gem, and gently touched it with a finger. "This... just amazing."


    The boy simply stared at the gem for a few seconds, as if enthralled. "I can feel it... the magic in this thing....I''ll need to study it thoroughly to understand its effects, but there''s some sort of basic transmutation effect built into it, constantly working on its surroundings. Whatever it is is extremely slow, but... we should keep it covered. I don''t think we want to see what would happen if we were exposed to it for days or weeks rather than minutes."


    Terra stepped up; and casually yanked the gem from Derek''s hands, dumping it into a leather pouch; and abruptly the light winked out, as she shook it a bit, then tied it shut. When the aura completely vanished, the others turned to stare.


    Praxius gave a low chuckle after considering it for a few seconds. "Sea salt?"


    "Sea salt. Good for seasoning if you aren''t a mage yourself, or for making some basic, cheap, wards if you are. Not exactly the most effective, but hey. Useful, and in this case... more than enough."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 10: Self-Cooking Bacon

    After a brief side jaunt to advised the village of exactly what they''d found, and collect a reward, the group gathered once more; for the journey to the next town on the list. The town of Rockdale had a pair of bounty requests that had been passed around; one for a boar, possibly a demonic one, which was apparently spitting fire and running about causing a fuss out in the fields between themselves and the neighboring town of Allendale.


    It had gored a few people, burned down a few buildings, but didn''t seem interested in actively hunting people, just eating whatever it could find and attacking those it happened across, thankfully enough.


    And the second was... odd. Just a request to meet the Lord who ran the place for a conversation about something important, and a 500 gold reward for ''solving a mystery''.


    Praxius, of course, was extremely interested in the former; and had zero concern whatsoever for the latter. Demonic animals were a terrible issue, spreading a vile taint of chaotic, destructive evil and of course multiplying; as well as an excellent challenge for these young fools to deal with.


    The absolute worst were the demon-spiders up north; a single cluster of eggs could produce hundreds of the damn things, and despite constant hunting by both devils and the Empire, they never seemed to completely go away.


    He''d been happy to meet his granddaughter; a bit irate that she''d been in prison, granted, but she reminded him quite a bit of the only woman he''d ever truly loved. But as they arrived at the most recent farm the demon-boar had attacked, he could feel it. The true joy of his life; demon-hunting. He was walking fast enough that the horses had a bit of difficulty keeping up while pulling the cart; because he could smell it, in the air.


    Blood and brimstone. Death and fire. Demon. Somewhere, nearby, living or dead, there was something that traced its origins back to the pit; and he was either going to get to kill it himself, or, less satisfying but still good, get to watch it die at the hands of these fledglings, and probably get to tear out and eat its heart.


    Even better, it was a demonic boar; one of his favorite traits of only partially demonic creatures was that their resistance to fire was of a magical nature; and tended to fade once they died. Considering they often started fires, and enjoyed fighting amidst burning debris, there was an extremely strong possibility that by the time they finished killing it, it would already be well on the way to delicious.


    When he stopped in the middle of the trail, looking off to  the right, he grinned, and looked back at his companions.


    "Alright then. Don''t bother with fire here. Lightning is good. Poison, acid... Terra, I haven''t seen you use much other than fire and smoke. Are you good against something that doesn''t care much about fire?"


    His granddaughter looked at the other two, and grimaced. "I... generally prefer not to show it off, but yes." She studied him for a moment.. and then opened one of the pouches wrapped around her torso, dumping something that crinkled into her hand; and took hold of it with a yank.


    One moment, it looked to be a cord or wire, or an extremely fine chain. The next... the chain became far less fine. A thirty-foot long, thick, heavy chain was pooling out onto the ground, and it seemed to have spikes at various points along its length; in fact, it appeared to be a chained boat anchor aside from the misplaced spikes. He blinked.


    "Thats... well. On the one hand, I''d think using chain weapons would come naturally to you. On the other, that''s a bit unwieldy. I''d recommend something shorter; I could cut it for you if..."


    The chain suddenly lifted itself up; and while she held it in her hands, she was barely moving them; it danced around her like a snake, a living thing, as she gave an experimental swing; and the anchor slammed into a tree with an audible crack, shattered bark and chunks of wood going flying before it coiled back towards her. She gave a nod, and wrapped it over her shoulders.


    Praxius gave a slow smile. There we go. He could do that himself, but to see a tiefling do it? Excellent. "That''s my girl. Why don''t you show what it can do against a demon?"


    She had an odd, unreadable expression, and then carefully pulled out two bottles, turning to Kylie. "Here. I trust you''re familiar?"


    The priestess studied the bottles; and blinked, accepting one from her. "They had holy oil? That''s.... huh. How much was it?"


    "Four silver a bottle."


    Praxius studied the bottles for a moment. Holy oil hurt demons, devils, and undead.  Unholy oil hurt the living and angels. It wasn''t that expensive, but its use was limited. The only time he''d seen it actually be effective was when archers used arrows with bottles of it for tips. Terrible accuracy, but grevious wounds on its victims. "Sweetheart. I appreciate trying to come prepared, but that stuff doesn''t work the best on things like a flail, or a boat anchor. You''d need to oil up the whole thing. And the flail I''ve lent the priestess is... well. Not best to use holy oil on it, I''ll leave it at that."


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    Terra smiled. "Of course. But if you burn it, it blinds and confuses nearby hellspawn, and breaking a bottle of it over them it burns and distracts for hours... or until they die. If we encounter a substantial group of them... pigs do have substantial litters after all... we might need it."


    Kylie, for her part, stared at the flail in her hand for a moment; it was big, menacing-looking, all black and dark grey. "Is it... unholy? Have I been using an unholy weapon this whole time?"


    Praxius gave a shrug. "Its head is made of a piece of Hellwrought Iron. It has extremely fine trace amounts of the blood of the Lady of Chains in it, and was my weapon of choice fifty years ago; much like the two I use now. The wounds it makes are difficult to heal, especially for angels and demons."


    He was amused at the discomfort of the priestess.. and even more amused when she seemed to calm herself, and look back up at him. "Well. I suppose its good there''s demons to kill. You can smell them?"


    "Even worse than normal pigs. Come along. They''re likely eating something, this way. Too strong a smell to just be one."


    ***


    The tearing, snorting, and growling sounds could be heard from a fair distance; and as they arrived, Kylie stared with horror... before gripping the flail tightly. They would die for this. They would die for this. She chanted it, over and over in her mind, as she watched.


    There was a cart, upended on its side; a massive load of what looked to be fruit spilled all over the ground. Two dead horses; and two dead people, probably a father and son, judging by the size.


    She studied its position, how it was all arranged; the boar had likely spooked the horses. The horses run off the road; the cart tipped. And then the others had moved in.


    There was one adult boar; about the same size as the horses. A massive beast, with heavy, barbed tusks, black fur across most of its body, and a slow trail of smoke rising from its mouth. It was currently tearing apart one of the corpses; Kylie deliberately ignored which, not wanting to think about that happening to a child.


    At the same time, about a dozen smaller demon-pigs were scattered around the cart; smaller being relative. Each was at least a couple hundred pounds, and their fur was almost pure blood red; some were eating at one of the horse corpses, while the others were digging through the loose fruit scattered around.


    Kylie inhaled deeply. This was it. Something inside her was growing excited at the idea of killing again; of breaking bones and flesh, seeing the blood splatter; and with the targets being demon-beasts, there was no resistance. She wanted to enjoy this.


    She glanced to either side. The tiefling girl had her chain out, and was ready; the anchor looking far to heavy to be swung by the slim girl in silver. Derek seemed to have finished fixing the crossbow; but it simply hung on his back now; there was a creature beside him that looked... like a glowing blue dot of light. It certainly didn''t seem impressive.


    The devil, for his part, seemed relaxed. Obviously, he could just butcher them all without a problem; he was going to back off, let them handle things; and catch any that escaped. He didn''t seem to like that idea; but he still had a job to do.


    She would be the one to start it. They needed to clear out the babes, and quickly, so they could focus on the mother, or they''d have to rely on the devil to save them again.


    She raised the flail; and began the now familiar spell as she started charging forward... and as she swung, the spiked ball crashing into the skull of one of the pigs, sending it limp to the ground, an apparition of a flail of golden light emerged and swung at another, nearby, pig; slamming into its back, wounding the thing but not killing it.


    At first, the pigs were panicked; the babes started to run, the boar backing off a few steps to look at the newcomers, as a swift chain slammed into a piglet... and wrapped around it, hurling it into the air, where it slammed into another... even as she grabbed another of them with the chain.


    The boar swiftly got its bearings; and seeing these attackers murdering its children, the demon-pig; which would likely have gleefully murdered them without any provocation; screamed out in rage, charging at the closest of them... and crushing one of its own children beneath its hooves as it headed towards Kylie. Both real and magical flails slammed into the larger beast moments before she struck the priestess; and as she lifted the girl into the air, another howl of rage; and a burst of fire filled the area, covering Kylie, forcing Derek and Terra to both step back, before the now-burning girl was tossed onto the grass.


    A few of the pigs had tried to run; only for the devil to rapidly snatch them up, snapping their spines with a casual jerk of the chain; while Derek unleashed a surge of lightning into the big, momentarily stunning it, even as the small orb floated about the clearing; tiny jolts of lightning hitting every nearby pig at once. It seemed perfectly suited to stunning and crushing large groups of weaker enemies; and did more damage than its summoner to the pack of them as the battle continued.


    The boar stomped on Kylie once, as  it turned to Terra, and let out another roar... charging after the tiefling girl, ignoring the glowing flail smacking against her side... and Kylie, burning, in terrible pain, struggled to her feet as she saw the boar trying to stomp down a second victim; only to be redirected and sent slamming head-first into a tree by a deft twist of her chain... ending with a boat anchor point slammed into the boar''s spine.


    It let out a bloodcurdling shriek; and tried to turn towards them to charge once more... only... its rear legs had stopped working. It was reduced to crawling, pulling itself forward.


    Kylie gritted her teeth, raising the flail with both hands, charging forward; and slammed it down onto the demon-pig, directly between the eyes... and the creature went still.


    Kylie started batting at the flames, trying to put herself out.... but even as the flames died down, the world started to look... dim. She blinked, looking down at herself. Was she always this red? And then... it all went black.

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 11: Cookout

    On the one hand, Praxius loved the smell of bacon; unlike the humans, he and... probably his granddaughter as well... could safely enjoy a bit of demonic pork without much problem. The creature was actively burning already, and if he waited til the right time to put it out, perhaps even laid some dry wood in the proper spots, he''d have a delicious meal; they could camp here, check the bodies for anything useful, and the others could eat their rations while he showed the girl how best to prepare demon-pig.


    On the other... the damned priestess had managed to get herself knocked out. And without a healing potion, likely would have died from blood loss; the things were cheap, but it was terrible to rely on them; far too easy to break, or get knocked out and have no recourse.


    He glanced down at the girl, still unconscious, but seeming well enough.. and then at Terra. "Sweetheart. Come on over. Time to have the most delicious thing I''ve encountered in this world."


    His granddaughter had been circling the area; making sure none of the demons were still alive; and stopped when she reached him, blinking. "That... you''re going to -eat- that thing?"


    A low chuckle. "Here''s the thing. Somewhere down the line, some demon beastie bred a pig. Lord knows those monsters aren''t too picky. And while the babes are part-demon, they''re mostly pig... and delicious. Unfortunately, they stay pretty close to the original species, or they wouldn''t be such a problem. But... while ordinary humans can get sick eating them... folks like you? No problems at all. Did your mother never cook any for you?"


    "...She can talk to animals. She doesn''t eat much meat at all, much less demon. Why is them staying close to the original bad? Wouldn''t it be worse if they were more demon than pig?"


    Praxius pulled a short, sharp, knife, and started carefully carving the pig; it would go bad too quickly for them to be able to make more than two or three meals out of it, which was unfortunate... one of those little boxes that kept food cold would be handy about now. "Whatever you are, power has to come from somewhere. A demon-pig isn''t gonna be that much stronger than a normal pig... unless he goes out killing, destroying, eating, sucking up magic from wherever. Unless it grows up in a high-magic area, it can''t get too powerful just by being what it is. Its gotta work for it. Like..."


    He ignored Derek''s rocking back and forth, gripping his unconscious girlfriend, as he slowly sliced some of the meat into thin strips. "My people. Kytons. Hell is a high-magic place, and many of our natural abilities... our faces, the way we heal, our control of chains.... we need to grow up in a high-magic place to develop them properly. If one of us were born here, in the mortal realm... our growth would be stunted. If we were lucky, we''d end up, eventually, reaching our full strength, after years of work, fighting, killing. If we were unlucky, our bodies would develop our magic, at the cost of our flesh... and we''d just end up dead. Same thing for all but the weakest varieties of demons, devils, and angels; if they''re actually born here, they''re pretty much screwed. Its why you only see hybrids, even after an invasion, and why the demons are always so... well. Amorous."


    His granddaughter was focusing more on him than the cutting. He sighed; and took a strip of the meat, laying it out on part of the pig that was still burning. "You really need to try this. I promise the effort is worth it."


    "....Is that why my mom exists? And me, and my siblings? Helping make an army to fight the demons by making part-devil kids?"


    A slow shake of the head. "No. I..." He glanced at the duo, Kylie finally having recovered enough to start embracing the boy holding her.


    "I loved her. The number of things I would break a contract for, a true, proper agreement, before I met her, were zero. I''d sooner die. After I met her, and the others... I don''t know why. Just something about her. Even worse, she was too good for me. When she did pass, she went into the city of light, for her eternal reward. The only way I ever get to talk to her is to get some angel to pass along messages, and they mostly would prefer to try to kill me."


    She absently started helping with the bacon; steadfastly ignoring the drama behind them as well. "...I thought Hell was a bad place. People went there to be punished. Why would you want her to go there?"


    He shrugged. "Well, yes. I wouldn''t want her stuck in hell, unless I could somehow make her one of my people. No... there''s realms for the good, and the bad, but most people don''t go there. They go to a sort of... middle ground. An endless, timeless place, where most of the dead spend eternity. Its extremely difficult to do anything to anyone there... or for anyone there to do much of anything at all. Most of it is trapped in thousands of time-loops, repeating events over and over for eternity; not good, not bad, just.... there."


    He looked down at the knife. "...I wouldn''t have minded being stuck in a time-loop, if it was with her."


    He shook himself. "Anyway! That''s about that. Try a piece."


    After she took her first bite of the bacon, she made an odd, scrunched face... before eagerly chewing down the rest. She licked her lips. "...Okay. Yeah, that was amazing. Show me how you did that."


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ***


    Derek squeezed Kylie tightly against his chest. "...I know you''re stronger than I am. It just... feels wrong that you''re the one standing in front, getting hurt, while I''m behind you, working on spells.. it feels like I''m not really doing enough."


    Kylie gave a low sigh, relaxing against him as she looked at the duo eating the pig, and the whole battlefield; dead demon-pigs scattered in every direction. "You know what I see, when I look out there? You stunned the big one. Maybe saved my life. And killed more of the little ones than anyone else. You don''t feel like you''re doing enough because you''re comparing yourself to a centuries-old devil instead of other people our age. Your summons, your spells...." She shifted, and sat beside Derek after a bit of struggle.


    "Give it time. Your brilliance, your research... they''ll carry you far, if you keep working at it. And I''ll be right there beside you."


    Derek gave a brief nod. "Well. If it makes you feel any better, you''ve reached the fourth level. Not enough to use third-circle magic yet, but getting close. So did I." He glanced at Terra. "The tiefling girl actually was there before the fight, I think, but I didn''t notice when it happened. Must have been sometime after... or during... the fight with that fungus thing."


    Kylie studied the girl for a moment. "That chain was impressive enough. Using a boat anchor as a weapon, combining a spell with it like that so she can wield something too big for her normally, and shrinking it down when it isn''t in use... an interesting approach. I wonder.. my weapon of faith lets me call up a copy of the weapon I''m using, to attack with. Could I take some massive, oversized weapon like that and take one swing, casting the spell... and then switch to something more reasonable?"


    Derek laughed. "Almost died and thinking about possibilities? I take it this didn''t discourage you?"


    Kylie reached down, and pulled up her robe; and the chainmail beneath, showing a hole, with traces of blood down it. "It encouraged me to get better armor before I fight something bigger than me again."


    She glanced around at the others. "Well. Do we mind camping here tonight? We don''t want to leave the corpses behind, get the local scavengers sick on demon-flesh, and it''ll take quite some time to make sure all this is burned.


    Praxius glanced back at her. "Not at all. It would also let me scout around a bit; make sure there aren''t any left; hopefully this lady here is the only one, and we got all of her young, but if not... we may need to do some hunting."


    ***


    The massive fire lit up the clearing as the sun began to set; and smelled just wonderful. Kylie was a bit jealous that she couldn''t eat any of if, but the devil warned her it was ''bad'' for humans, without being too clear about why.


    She studied the map of the area, and the stack of bounty notices they had collected.


    "So. We can turn in the head of the demon-boar for a reward over in Rockdale, and then move on. The next town over.. hells, all these ''dale'' names are annoying... ''Valdale'' listed a bounty months ago for some creatures defacing the shrine of the light. And the cart the demon-boar upended and ate the occupants of, that was from Valdale; we should let them know about the people they lost."


    Praxius glanced at Kylie, who was currently holding the map, as he hefted the massive demon-boar head onto the cart. "Isn''t Valdale closer? Why don''t we go there first, track down the beasties, and we can head to Rockdale later."


    Kylie glanced at the head; drained of blood and wrapped in a cloth that was used for carrying a pile of fruit earlier, it was massive. "That thing''s gonna start rotting. Do we want to have it with us stinking up the cart for days? Oh yeah. Did you find any other demons?"


    The devil shook his head, glancing out into the growing darkness. "Not at all. Nothing that smells like demon. A faint hit of almost-angel, oddly enough; perhaps a half-breed came through, or a Paladin. Odd, if so; I''d think such would kill the demons itself."


    She gave a short nod, and glanced at Derek. It had been days since the two had last had any privacy; and they likely wouldn''t again until they reached town. And this time, they''d get separate rooms. "Then lets get as much sleep as we can, and head for Rockdale at first light. They aren''t too far away; if we don''t linger in Rockdale for too long, we can collect the reward, get some sleep, and investigate their ''mystery'' the next day. I''ll take the first watch... it may have been involuntary, but I took a nap earlier, not sure if I can get to sleep just yet if I tried."


    The devil stepped up to the girl. "Unconsciousness and sleep are not the same thing. Lie down. I can go days without sleep without a problem. I''ll take the watch tonight."


    Kylie started to object... but stopped. She had no idea if he was telling the truth, or trying to spare her; or if devils really needed to sleep at all. But.. he might be a murderous bastard, but oddly enough, he was also trustworthy. Such a strange blend.  She walked over to Derek, and the two curled up beside a nearby tree; they could get some sleep. Head off to collect yet another reward in the morning.


    ***


    Praxius stared at the sprinting figure, approaching down the path in the dead of night. He was carrying a lantern, and looked to be in a panic as he kept running, looking behind himself as if he were being chased; but the devil saw nothing behind him. Not a bandit, or anything of the sort, and undoubtedly could see the fire from the still-burning pile of demon-pigs.


    He took out a few of his chains from the various bags around his hip, laid them out on the ground in the figure''s path; enough that, if the figure weren''t who he appeared, just some random townsfolk in old, ragged clothes, he could be snatched up and trapped in a moment.


    And then he simply stepped into the man''s path, raising a hand. "You. Halt! Explain yourself."


    The man didn''t even notice the chains as he focused on the armored figure in front of him. "Oh, thank the goddess! A hero! We need your help, please! Valdale''s been overrun! Every day they come in and murder people on the streets! Its only been safe to go out at night for a week, and there''s more every day! I''m the third one to run for help, but the others must not have made it!"


    Praxius blinked. Something that only attacked during the day? That was... odd. "You said ''they''. What exactly are we talking about?"


    "Oh, zombies, sir! Or some sort of undead! Walking around, plain as day!"


    He blinked again... and turned to the camp. If they came at dawn, best be there beforehand, be waiting for them. But... Zombies? That went into hiding at night? This... didn''t make any sense.

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 12: Zombies?

    Terra grumbled as she was shaken awake, glaring blearily up at her grandfather. "..Blerg. Whu?" It was still night. She didn''t feel as if she''d slept more than an hour. What the hell was the old man up to?


    "Opportunity knocks, child. We''ve got some zombies to crush. Ones that will be arriving about dawn, apparently. But if want to be there waiting for them... we''d best get moving."


    She blinked a few times, before glancing around. The wizard and the priestess were already up and moving, crawling onto the cart despite being only half-awake; and the pile of pig carcasses was still burning merrily into the night. "Ugh. If they don''t show up til morning.. why are we leaving now?"


    "About a six, seven hour walk for the horse. I''d like to be there, waiting, when they show up. If you can sleep in the cart, feel free... but we''re moving." He had a hand extended downward, as if to help her up.


    She glared at the devil with irritation for a moment... before a scent caught her nose... and she noticed that the outstretched hand smelled strongly of... Bacon! She quickly grabbed the offered strips, rising to her feet... and started absently chewing on one as she used one hand to shove her bedroll back into a vague shape worth carrying. She checked herself over... piling the ward stakes she usually kept planted around her just in case into the improvised bag... and started dragging it to the cart.


    By the time she reached it, an equally irritated Parkins was getting the horses ready... and soon enough, she managed to get back to sleep, laying atop her bedroll on the bench in the back. For a moment, she forgot about the poor horses, and wondered why they didn''t just drive through the night in general.... and then it all faded away amidst the sound of hoofbeats.


    ***


    Kylie shook awake at the sound of shouting in the distance; and looked up; seeing Parkins almost nodding off, and the horses tromping on ahead, she could also see that the sun was rising; an auspicious time for the servants of the goddess, and normally when she would make her prayers for the day... and see... a town, up ahead. It had a stout, wooden wall, with boulders and gravel piled up at its base, but a gate that was... currently wide open.


    She could see clearly all the way through town in the pre-dawn light, and frowned. "Where is everybody?"


    The stranger the devil had dragged along looked at her, clearly terrified. "Hiding! Some in basements. Most of us in the temple of the lady of darkness. They don''t seem willing to enter."


    "But... they entered the temple of the light?"


    "Well. It had been damaged. Some creatures had come through, made a nest, destroyed part of it. Its why we called for adventurers the first time. Now..." The cart slowed down, and stopped at the gate. As they started to pass through the gate, they could hear a shouting; and a loud banging, cracking sound. The man shivered. "Just... protect me, please."


    Kylie stretched for a bit, working each of her joints, checking the patch she''d made on her armor... and slid off the side of the cart, pulling the flail from where it had rested beside her.


    Even as she did, she could see that Derek had passed Parkins the crossbow; and he and Terra slid off as well, everyone keeping an eye out as they moved further into town.... but nothing happened.


    They made it halfway through before seeing their first zombies, and the sun was fully up by then; three creatures, flesh seemingly bleached pale, obvious wounds; missing chunks of flesh of the arms and legs, holes in the torso; each holding a rock as they smashed uselessly at a cellar door. The stranger in the cart whispered, so she could barely here. "If they know someone''s inside a place... they just hammer at the door, or window, or anything, trying to get in... and if they get in, they beat them to death with a rock."


    They came to a complete stop there, in full view of the three zombies... who still hadn''t noticed them at all.


    Kylie started walking forward, flexing, swinging the flail slowly back and forth. She glanced back at her companions... the Devil was waiting, clearly wanting to give the ''fledglings'' a chance for more fighting, but there if they needed him, while Parkins was waiting, crossbow at the ready... and Derek and Terra both had some sort of spell prepared. She gave a nod.


    A sudden snap of lightning as a holt struck one of the zombies, only moments later fire smashing into the same one, sending it falling to the ground, the top and bottom halves of its body split apart... as Kylie charged forward, swinging the flail down, shattering the second zombie with an audible crunch. The second zombie turned as soon as the first fell, giving a low groan; it seemed unusually white and pale for a zombie... and lashed out; smacking her in the chest with a fist-sized rock.. which she barely felt through the armor as she smashed this one''s head clean off its shoulders, sending it falling as well.


    She looked around for a bit, checking for any more... but they were alone, here. She leaned down, and rapped on the hatch three times. "Destroyed the ones out here. Stay put for now, moving on to the temple." After a few seconds, there was a set of three knocks in return... and she nodded, before heading back to the cart. "Well then. Hopefully all of them are that easy. Lets head for the temple. West end of town, right?" They always put temples of darkness there, if they could.


    At a nod from the stranger, she glanced at the sun a moment. "Goddess, shield me from thine enemies." And after a few seconds... strangely feeling a quiet from the goddess.. perhaps displeasure she hadn''t said the usual prayer at dawn.. she started heading west... with the others following behind.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ***


    Derek stared in horror at the sight before them; not certain this was something they could handle.


    There weren''t a few dozen zombies out there, all bleached pale in the sunlight; there were hundreds. At the center of the swarm was the tall black edifice of the church of the Goddess of Night; and her proud statue stood over a building with boulders in front of doors, boards nailed over windows, and hundreds of creatures pushing to try to get closer; most of them holding a single rock, while others were completely unarmed, smashing at the door, trying to get it open, smashing at the boarded-up windows, or just beating uselessly on the walls; clearly just mindlessly trying to reach those inside.


    He gave a quick assessment. None of them were above level 1. Somewhere in there there was a single... Ah! A level 5. And wearing armor, as well; fairly clean steel plate, a single ringleader stood amidst the swarm. These things were incredibly weak, fragile... Terra''s fire orb and his own arc sprite would absolutely devastate dozens of them... and then the rest would swarm over the party and tear them apart.


    Fortunately, they were so focused on the temple they didn''t seem to have noticed the newcomers. He looked at them thoughtfully... then over at Terra. "That holy oil. How much of it do you have?"


    She glanced down at her belt, ran her hands over her pouches. "Five bottles. Not sure how much good it is against mindless undead, though. They don''t really react to pain. Should still blind them. Grampa, you want to just go through them like a cleaver and let us clean up whats left?"


    The devil studied the swarm. "I think our noncombatants should hide in a cellar, and the three of you should figure out the best tactics to use here. These things are faster than regular zombies, but no stronger or tougher... and seem to be oblivious to their surroundings until attacked."


    Derek gave a nod. "Okay. So. They want the people in the temple. We want them gone. So. We make a chokepoint. Tangle it up so that they come through slow. Do something to attract some of them; hopefully not all... and then back off to the choke point. As they come through, me and Terra blast them... and Kylie stays in the chokepoint flailing the death out of them. If its just a handful, we crush them and repeat. If its a swarm, I use a magma sprite, Terra uses her orb, and we just burn them to ash as they mob up at the chokepoint."


    He glanced around. "We can check the shops. There''s a few bars, and other stuff. Look for barrels of oil or strong spirits. Use them to light up the ground even after the magic fades."


    The devil gave a low chuckle. "That... should work. I''m interested to see how it pans out. Go ahead. I can crush them myself if it fails."


    Derek looked around... and then focused on the stranger. "I''m sorry, I never did catch you name." "Ahh... Bart, sir."


    "Bart." Derek blinked. What the hell kind of name was Bart? "You know the town. Can you help us find plenty of flammables to help mop this group up?"


    "Well... yessir. But I don''t know if that will help. The first day, the guards cleared up the zombies not long after dawn... but they just came right back the next day."


    "I''m sure they just missed some... but just in case, lets not use all of it. Just enough to burn this batch. Alright?"


    ***


    The arrangement was simple enough. Two empty carts, flipped on their side, creating a hole around four feet wide in the middle of the street, with stacked barrels and debris on either side to make an improvised wall. A nasty, vile-smelling pool of oil; Terra didn''t even know what kind of oil, just that it smelled horribly of fish and death, and she couldn''t imagine who would want to use such to light their home, or anything really. It was flammable, though; they''d tested that.


    An intact barrel was sitting in the middle of the street, in a spot where, should it catch alight, it would hopefully burst in such a way as to spread burning oil everywhere; with some oil from the first barrel poured onto it to make sure it happened.


    Kylie stood at the gap, ready to call up a magical flail and contain any zombies that attacked... while Terra herself and Derek stood atop chairs, amusingly enough, to let them see over the carts. Grandfather... just stood not far from Kylie, waiting in case things went wrong.


    This was going to be a long, drawn-out fight. She wouldn''t use her most power-consuming spells until she had to. Now... they just had to hope the zombies didn''t -all- swarm the moment they hurt one. If they did... well.


    They''d collapse the barricade, blast all their most powerful magics at it, and run like hell.


    She was the one supposed to start things off. So... she looked around the swarm, and picked one that was trying to crawl  over its companions to uselessly smash at a bit of wall; and carefully released a single bolt of fire, aimed at the thing''s torso; the fragile undead flesh burned and flaked away from the impact, leaving charred bits of, surprisingly not rotting, flesh on the ground... as it, and dozens of its companions turned to focus on her... and started charging in the group''s direction.


    It was perfect. Maybe thirty or forty of them; a small enough number they could handle them, maybe without even needing grampa, using the trap laid out.


    They came in as a mob; with her and Derek both blasting more jolts of fire into them; sometimes just one took out a zombie; sometimes it took two; but by the time they reached the barricade, they''d already cleared off eight.


    And then... the oil burst into flames before the first zombie arrived, Kylie dropping a lit torch on it... and then setting the final piece in place; a simple block for the zombies to be forced to crawl or stumble over as they reached her.


    The swarm arrived, lighting aflame as they reached the oil, stumbling over each other; and as Derek and Terra kept picking them off, one by one, they finally reached Kylie; who, having finally started using a shield ''borrowed'' from a nearby shop, was holding it up in the face of the first zombie down the line, stopping it from advancing; as she lashed out with the flail, crushing the skull of the next zombie in line, letting the first one uselessly smack at her flesh, fists connecting with armor but not doing much harm.


    By the time the zombies had managed to bunch up enough that the sheer weight of them started to push Kylie back, and one of them managed to get a dried-out fist gripping her hair, causing her to stumble and miss, hitting the cart instead of the zombie... that small group were all that was left. The two spellcasters obliterated the one that had grabbed Kylie, and soon enough, the whole group was gone.


    When Terra took a deep breath, and looked out at the mob of zombies, wanting to lure in the next batch before the fire went out...


    The single, armored undead was standing out of the mob, looking at her. Its eyes had a white glow behind them as it stared right into her eyes... and let out a shriek. The rest of them all stopped. The constant background noise of stone and flesh hammering on wood came to a halt, something that had been going so long they''d almost forgotten about it... and all of the creatures turned to face the group.


    Terra nodded. "...The armored one is a leader, then. It tells the others what to do."


    Derek, standing on his own chair not ten feet away, grimaced. "Yeah, that seems pretty clear. If we try to take it out, though, we''ll.... Oh. Fuck."


    All as one, the remaining zombies; hundreds of them; started charging towards the group, as a single, unified mass; far more than enough to overwhelm their meager trap.

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 13: Not Zombies

    "Shit. Run!" Derek called out, and started to climb down from his chair... before he heard a low laugh... and the devil glanced at him.


    "No. Change of plans; the sentient undead might complicate things. Just kill as many as you can. Priestess, handle any stragglers." The chain devil hopped over the barricade, a heavy flail held out in each arm... and as he started to stalk towards the oncoming mob, the group hesitated... and then Terra responded first; calling down that rolling orb of fire that had done so well at cleaning the cave, right on top of a mass of zombies, setting dozens of them aflame...


    Derek nodded, and, picking a different spot, called down his Magma Sprite; the molten orb starting to splatter zombies as it avoided their charge...


    Kylie simple braced herself, hoping she wasn''t about to be over-run...


    And the devil simply charged into the thickest part of the swarm, lasing out with both flails; the heavy spiked balls impacting a single creature, causing a strange burst of white light, and passing through it to hit another, and another; each swing of the heavy weapons crushing several zombies at once. As he began an odd sort of dance; moving to ensure he stayed with the thickest part of the swarm, constantly crushing and shattering zombies, placing a careful foot to stomp on the skull of one that was still wriggling about... the armored figure focused on the devil.


    Another shriek.


    The ones which had been heading for the barricade turned.. and simply charged, joining the group swarming onto the devil, packing in so tightly that the magma sprite and the fire orb couldn''t help but keep killing zombies by the dozen; as the spinning chains of the flails worked like a windmill, grinding the zombies apart as they moved towards the center.


    The display was as impressive as it was horrifying; by the end, the chain devil was standing atop a mound of broken corpses, and Derek bade his magma sprite chase after the armored glowing undead; which... summoned a nearby rock to its hand, and threw it; the glowing projectile instantly crushing the summoned beast.


    Derek frowned; and aimed one of his arc lightning rays at the creature; an audible snap, a jolt of power; and the creature''s armor was cracked over one shoulder. It shrieked again, and charged towards the devil and the pile of bodies; even as Terra blasted it with fire, as well.


    It reached out, more stones flying to it as it ran; and leapt, its body glowing a bright white, even as a blow from a flail tore off one armored leg... and slammed both rocks onto the devil''s shoulder.


    One moment, the devil was standing, an unstoppable knight of darkness; the next... his left arm was missing, a great gouge into his torso, lying amidst the pile, blood splattering everywhere... and he looked down at the missing limb, confused... before collapsing onto the pile.


    Derek was horrified; he thought the devil an unbeatable monster; or, at least, by anything reasonable; and kept pumping electricity into the crippled undead... alongside bolts of flame from Terra... and it shortly stopped moving, just a few feet from the devil.


    ***


    Terra ran forward, unaware of the tears streaming down her face as she hopped over the pile of dried-out, dessicated bodies to reach her grandfather''s armored form.


    He was laying there, limp, unmoving, his blood; more black than red; oozing down onto the pile. "No... No, don''t... don''t die like this... mom said you were immortal.." She immediately withdrew a healing potion... only to notice... the bloodflow had stopped. He was still breathing. He... would hopefully recover? She looked down at the severed arm. What did you do with these, and things that healed? Did you... She picked up the arm with a bit of disgust... and pressed the bloody stump against the shoulder, leaving the broken armor on the pile.


    She watched, hoping... and decided on impulse to pour the healing potion on the spot where the limbs touched. They only worked if drank, or poured into open wounds. This definitely counted.


    She held it there, watching... and sure enough, the grey-blue skin seemed to start stitching together. After a minute, maybe two, by which point Kylie and Derek were both standing over her, watching... the limb was reattached; albeit looking weak.


    Kylie gave a slow nod... and stepped close, placing a hand on the bare flesh... and after a few moments, a golden glow flowed through her, into the devil... for just a moment, she admired the impressive muscle tone; a lean, powerful arm.... especially at the shoulders.


    He jolted awake.... looking around for a moment... and then down at the figure of the armored zombie. "That.... that was..." He placed a hand on his shoulder. "That was a holy smite. What the hell kind of zombie has a holy smite?"


    Terra wrapped her arms around him; the tears seemed to have stopped, though she hadn''t noticed. "Goddess, grandpa, you had me worried."


    A low chuckle; that powerful arm wrapped around her. "I''ve survived worse. But..... the creatures are gone. They probably aren''t zombies, but either way... they''ve been cleaned out." He studied the armor sleeve and gauntlet that was lying on the ground. "...I need to fix that. Where''s that Bart person? I need a forge before we do anything else; it''ll take hours before it gets hot enough to do any good."


    Terra laughed. "There''s a smithy right over there, grandpa. You need some fire to get it started?"


    "I can make some fire. More won''t hurt, though. Come on. I can show you the basics of armor repair; you should get some, yourself. It''ll take time to learn how to use magic properly in it, but everyone can benefit from a good suit of armor. We''ll let them chat with the locals."


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ***


    Kylie rapped on the door a few times, and called out. "This is Kylie Eastwatch, priestess of the Light! We just cleared out the zombies, you''re free to leave!"


    After a moment, she could hear a hammering sound. A low creak. More hammering. She studied the door; clearly quite a bit of effort had been made to barricade and secure it. Derek stepped up beside her, looking the temple over; like most dedicated to the goddess of darkness, it was made from the darkest wood they could find, and painted black-blue when possible; though right now numerous nailed-on bits of wood covered everything.


    Finally, the door creaked open; and the smell was... terrible. In fact, it made her wonder why the zombies didn''t smell so bad, but all looked pale and dessicated.. a man stepped clear; looking likely a half-elf, wearing dirty, ragged clothes, thin, pale, his dark hair ragged and oily, he looked around the area... stopped when he saw the armored undead down... and looked back inside. "Cleared for today! Get what you can, make sure to be back before tomorow''s dawn! We''ll be reinforcing it all day and start sealing the door just after midnight!"


    People started to swarm out of the building, scurrying; they all smelled absolutely awful, and from the hundreds that came pouring out, it was clear that they''d managed to save most of the town; but trapped them all; from the ongoing crowd it must be hundreds of people; inside one single medium-sized structure. No wonder it smelled so bad.


    "..Reinforcing the door again? The things are gone. You can just go back to your lives." Kylie studied the man in confusion. Was he mad?


    He chuckled. "If only it were that simple. No... Every sunset, they vanish. Every sunrise, they re-emerge... and a few minutes after the dawn, they''re back, trying to kill us all. All of them are people who died here... and if they kill anyone, thats just more that appear the next day."


    He looked down at the pile of bodies. "We had twelve guards, and over a hundred volunteer militia, the first day. We lost a few people, but we were okay. The second, there were more of them, and more of us had to fight, and three of the guards had died. After that... we''ve been barricading ourselves in during the day, grabbing whatever food and supplies are left, and hiding. We''ve sent messengers to nearby towns... did one of them get you?"


    Kylie stared at the bodies herself. Were they... illusions? That would just come again with the next dawn? "..Yes. We were on the way to Rockdale, when Bart got us. We can go to get help, but... we need to either figure this out and stop it, or evacuate the town, even if we did get backup."


    The man blinked. "Figure it out? What is there to figure out? We need to get help; a group of knights, and heroes, and carts, to help us and protect the citizens while we evacuate!"


    She sighed. "Obviously something is causing this. Maybe we can just fix it, and you won''t have to evacuate at all. Did anything happen before this started?"


    "Look. I appreciate the interest. But this is too important for some two-bit priestess to handle. We need the Baron involved, and we need real help. Why don''t you and your friends just run along and dispatch a message from Rockdale? All of the nobles can message each other, the Lord there should be able to notify the Baron immediately."


    Kylie frowned. "You''re not a noble?"


    "Of course not. Just a mayor. Oh. I never introduced myself... Mayor Brentley, at your service. Lord Rockson has charge of these lands, on behalf of Baron South Reach. That''s who we really need. The Baron."


    He turned, and walked past Kylie; starting to direct townsfolk to gathering up supplies... even as the smell grew worse, and a heap of chamber-pots started to be piled up outside the door, as the consequences... and smells... of hundreds of people trapped in a single building grew more obvious.


    She watched him leave, frowning. He didn''t want a real solution. Was he crazy? Or... was the cause of the problem something he already knew? Did... he cause this somehow? She needed to ask someone else. Perhaps..... someone who hadn''t been hiding with the others. That basement that had the handful of zombies at it, with a living person inside.... perhaps they would know. She glanced at Derek; who was carefully studying the dessicated corpse of the armored zombie; and stepped up closer.


    "The mayor is hiding something. Did you hear all of that?"


    He glanced up at her, and gave a nod. "Of course. And this.. is no zombie. Not an illusion either, Its real... we gained power from destroying them... quite a bit, actually, I suspect if we stayed here a few days and repeated this cycle our friendly Devil would be released from his bargain... but... there''s no necromancy involved, I can feel it. And..." He showed what he''d found on the corpse; a holy symbol, of the goddess of light. "No weapons... but while its a bit banged up, this looks like the armor of a Paladin of your order. A woman. Which... considering it used a holy smite on our devil friend, makes an odd sort of sense."


    Kylie shook her head. "This whole thing stinks worse than that temple they''ve all been hiding in. I''ve been thinking; we should go find the survivors that first pack of zombies was trying to get to. They aren''t hiding with the others... maybe there''s a reason for it. They might know something."


    Derek gave a slow nod. "Of course. These are likely an odd form of revenant; something holy, rather than unholy. Which means there''s something evil here they''re trying to destroy. If we meet them again... without the devil... we should try just walking by. I bet they''d ignore us if we didn''t attack them first."


    Kylie sighed. "No, no. If that were the case, they wouldn''t be going after whatever civilians were in the basement. Come on. We''ll grab the devil and go check it out. If it''ll take hours for the forge to heat up anyway, might as well come along; not like they''d want to waste the whole time staring at a fire."


    As they turned for the smithy they''d seen, and that the devil and his granddaughter had headed for, they walked over at a casual pace; taking hold of Derek''s hand, thinking about what they''d be doing if they hadn''t made this absurd bargain in a bid to get stronger, faster; she caught a glimpse of the devil; currently shirtless, a powerfully built blue-grey torso with a handful of scars here and there; one likely brand new from the recent zombie incident. She admired it for a moment, wishing Derek looked like that... then looked at him walking beside her; a smile back that sent her heart racing, wishing for some privacy. Would she trade that mind for more muscle? Of course not. Didn''t mean she didn''t like looking at it, though.


    The devil seemed to be showing his granddaughter something; holding up a hammer, and two broken pieces of armor. They''d started a fire going; and even as they approached, the tiefling girl fired another bolt of flame into it, jumpstarting it a bit further.


    Kylie frowned. If they could make it faster, they might not want to go investigate... "Ahem. There''s something suspicious going on here. I''ve been wanting to go check out the folks in the first house the zombies were at, ask them some questions... or perhaps some of these who were hiding in the temple. Would you care to come along?"


    The devil glanced at her. "...Place should be safe enough, for now. You go ahead. It shouldn''t take as long as I''d feared for this, and I may just question a few of them myself."


    He smiled; his face took on the strange, disturbing look, as if she were looking into an endless abyss; the momentary attraction fled, replaced by horror, and fear. "I''m generally fairly good at interrogating, as you might expect."

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 14: Accursed

    If it weren''t for the pile of corpses outside, Derek would have no idea which house they were looking for; thankfully, they''d left plenty of evidence behind; and since the hatch was still closed, there was most likely still someone inside. When they arrived, Kylie approached first; and rapped on the hatch three times. "Hello there! This is Kylie, priestess of the light! Can we speak with you for a bit? We cleared all the zombies from the town, its safe to come out."


    There was a scraping sound. A loud ''thunk''. And after a minute or two... a man emerged, tall, heavyset, wearing simple brown leather and with a long beard just as red as Kylie''s hair... and a pair of children, too young to be sure if they were boys or girls, with similar poofy red hair. He looked at the corpses, and then up at Kylie. "Well. That''s good... for now. I know you''ve already done much, if you cleared them out. But would you be willing to take my boys with you when you head out? I''ve got a sister in Rockdale they can stay with, so it would just be for the day, maybe two?"


    Derek stepped in closer. "If the zombies are gone, why do you want the boys to leave?"


    He glanced over at Derek. "...Because they won''t be gone forever. They''ll come back. With every dawn. Until every one of us is dead. The boys probably won''t be safe... but its worth a try."


    Derek looked down at the boys, then up at the man. "And how are you so certain? There must be someone summoning them, or some device, we can stop. How did all this happen?"


    The bearded man slowly shook his head. "It is not for me to tell. But... we deserve it. Every last one of us. The boys though... they only did it because I did. Their mother refused. She cried when she left. She knew it wouldn''t be safe to take them, they''d take her and our daughters as well. Maybe, if they get far enough away, the curse won''t reach. Maybe."


    Derek shook his head. "No, no. Nothing a mere child could do would make them deserve such a fate. What''s their supposed crime?"


    "Murder. If you leave, you''ll be safe. They won''t follow you. They only go after the guilty unless you attack them."


    ***


    "Now you see. For today, I''m going to call this the Flail of Truth. Now... the flail''s purpose in life is to get to the truth. As such... it punishes liars. Do you understand me?"


    The man was wearing a simple white shirt, brown leather pants; and both were stained with read, from t he spikes in the chains holding his arms to the ceiling of his own basement. "But... but I''m just a blacksmith! Kelvin Smith! I told you, I know nothing about the zombies, I just wanted to know why you were using my forge!"


    Praxius gave a slow nod. "Ahh, that''s unfortunate! Our first lie of the conversation. I suppose you know what that means."


    The smith stared at the massive chunk of black, spiked metal in horror; as the devil lifted it... and slammed it into his right foot. He let out a screech of pain, struggling against the chains.


    "Now don''t worry! I''m sure you''ve got at least six, maybe even eight more lies before this becomes fatal to you. You might even walk again someday, now. But I do vastly prefer honesty."


    He groaned, and looked down at his foot. "But... I don''t know more than anybody else! The others all know it too! You can ask them!"


    Praxius leaned in close; focusing for just a moment on the man''s mind; and of course, it was boring; spiders. The face of a spider, covered with numerous eyes and hair-like protrusions, stared at him from inches away. "But the flail isn''t asking others, Smith. Its asking you. There''s blood on your hands. They drip with it. You''re bound for the Pit when you die, I can feel it. Now tell me... what is it that all of the townsfolk know?"


    "....Its.... the things are here for revenge. We.... there was a party of adventurers. They killed some beasties that had camped out in the temple of light, broke the statue... and.. and after the job was done, the next day one of them raped a girl. Killed her. When the mayor put him on trial, and ordered him stoned to death... the others fought to defend him. We killed one, crippled the others... and then stoned the lot of them to death in the town square the next morning."


    A slow nod... "That sounds partially true... but only partially. I''m afraid at least somewhere in there was a lie, mister smith. You know what that means!"


    The smith gibbered in terror as the devil brought the flail back up; and crushed his knee, bending it backwards and sending shattered bits of bone across the floor. It wasn''t bleeding nearly as much as it should; but the smith only knew the agony was terrible; and that he''d just lost half of his leg.


    "Oh goddess! No. No! I was telling the truth! I mean... maybe the adventurer didn''t do it, maybe he did, but that''s the truth otherwise!"


    The devil gave a low chuckle, and examined the flail; tasting the blood dripping from one of the spikes, and then spitting it out, shaking his head. "And there we have it. Why aren''t you sure he did it?"


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Well.. the Paladin with them. She said she wanted to use a spell to see who was telling the truth. And... the mayor said we didn''t need to. He was obviously guilty. Then there was the fight, and... well."


    Praxius looked at the man, and started laughing. "That''s ridiculous! Obviously either the mayor did it, or someone he was protecting. He just blamed the outsiders because they were convenient. Of course he couldn''t let the Paladin use a truth spell. You knew they were innocent, of course. That the whole thing was a farce. Did you throw one of the stones?"


    The smith looked down at the floor, his face a mask of sorrow and misery, tears of more than just pain going down his chest. "..Yes. I... I knew they were innocent. I knew they didn''t do it. But... I threw the stone anyway. The... the Paladin told us that everyone who threw a stone would be cursed, and she wouldn''t rest til we were all punished for our crimes. I didn''t believe her."


    A slow nod. "And you enjoyed it, didn''t you. You enjoyed throwing the stones. Watching the life ooze from their bodies, hearing their cries of pain."


    "...Yes. Damn me to the pits, yes. I enjoyed it."


    "And there we have it. The truth." The devil gave a low chuckle. "Now that I know just what''s going on here, I know how to handle this. But I''ll make you a deal. In exchange for your soul, binding it to my eternal service in Hell when you die, not only will I save you from the pits... but I''ll restore your leg. Give you a bit of hope that you could run, to live a little bit longer... or quite a bit longer if you could get far enough away from this little shithole and make something of yourself."


    "I''ll take it! I''ll do it! Its yours!"


    Praxius studied the man for a moment, and then smiled. His face remained every bit as disturbing to the poor smith; and after a painful rearrangement of the bones, gently unstopped and poured a healing potion on it, before discarding the bottle. It still looked in poor shape; but the bleeding had stopped, and it would likely be able to support his weight.


    "Now, I don''t want you letting the locals know I''m aware of whats going on. So for now, I''ll be leaving you there. Unless this shop burns down in the meantime or something equally unfortunate happens, I''ll release you before I leave."


    He calmly walked to the stairs up, opening the hatch. The smith was too terrified to scream for help, as the devil shut it once more; and pulled a chain taut around the handles, securing it.


    As he stepped back up to the forge, admiring Terra''s work at getting the metal to the right temperature, he smiled. "Excellent work, sweetheart. I think we need to find your new friends, and make plans. It just might be worth staying around for a while."


    ***


    As Kylie and Derek returned to the smithy, they watched the people of the village scrambling. They seemed to be in a rush; ransacking their own homes, looking for anything edible, useful, or even just things to add to the barricade; and dragging them back like a mass of worker ants; but they avoided the adventurers who had ''saved'' them as if they were plague-ridden.


    She could see the work Praxius was doing on the shoulder of the armor; carefully creating a patch and working them back together; she''d learned such techniques herself, as wearing and maintaining armor was considered important for those priests and priestesses of the goddess who served in the field.... and the devil seemed exceedingly skilled at it. It helped that Terra kept pouring fire into it periodically to keep it soft, and help it bind, but still; excellent work.


    Kylie coughed when she arrived; the devil kept his gaze on the armor, but responded. "Welcome back, priestess. I''m sure we have much to discuss."


    She frowned.. "It''s generally polite to look at people who are talking to you... but anyway. They do seem to come back every day. Apparently there was.."


    "Ahem." The devil raised a hand. "I know exactly what''s going on. The only question is what we want to do about it."


    Kylie frowned at the interruption. "Well fine, mister all-knowing devil. Asshole. What''s going on?"


    "First, we can help them win. Burn down the buildings the survivors take refuge in, let the creatures have them. Frankly, its my preferred option, these murderers deserve it. Turn the town to ash and leave. after some looting."


    Kylie glowered. "That''s not going to happen! That.."


    "Second, we can just hang out a few days, and destroy the waves as they come. If we do this again for two days, and I make sure you three do most of the work, the lot of you will get strong enough to use third-circle spells. If we did it for... we''ll say fifteen, sixteen days... you should be able to use fourth-circle spells. After that, it wouldn''t do you any more good. Thats past what I agreed, but it would benefit my granddaughter, and be fast, so I''d still be in."


    Kylie didn''t even bother to try speaking, just glowered at him.


    "Third, we can take out the source of the curse. I will provide exactly zero help with this beyond telling you whats actually causing it, and I might well sabotage your efforts."


    He paused, as if expecting a response that wasn''t coming. "And fourth... we can loot the things that belonged to the adventuring party they murdered... whatever the Paladin had would likely be quite useful for you, Kylie... and just fuck off. Leave them to their fate. As stolen goods, its perfectly legitimate to claim them, and I believe whatever they had is in the mayor''s house; I can sense what was probably the Paladin''s sword there, now that I know what to look for. It would likely be a better fit for you than my flail."


    He glanced at Kylie, finally looking away from his work. "Have to warn you though, the sword might not let you wield it properly while the murderers of its former owner still draw breath."


    All three of them stared at the devil. Kylie looked out at  the villagers and their hurried work, then back at him. "They... murdered a Paladin? I know there was a murder, but... a whole adventuring party?"


    "Accused of a crime the mayor knew they didn''t do, and stoned to death. Every one of those stones that was used for the execution has a bit of curse magic in it, and when the sun rises, calls up a corpse to come help it seek revenge. The spirit of the Paladin animates one of them, the armor appears on it, and it directs them in their attack. All the people who weren''t involved are ignored; apparently they all left a while ago. Only the guilty remain."


    The devil picked up the armor, inspecting it... and then nodded, dipping it into the water. "So. What''s the story? Are you going to help me butcher a village... or am I going to be trying to stop you from lifting a curse laid down by your own goddess?"

 Chained Darkness, Debts to Pay, 15: Decisions

    Derek stared at the devil, and looked back at the temple... the bodies.. and the stones clutched in the hands of so many of the destroyed corpses. Was this... every one of these stones was one used to murder someone who had just come here to help? The innocent were already gone?


    He wanted to doubt the devil. But the man they''d met had even admitted he and his boys were guilty of murder. Which meant... the man had thrown some stones... and likely gotten his boys involved. While the mother, either out of a refusal to be involved in a false execution, or because she didn''t have the stomach for it, had refused. And saved herself, and the man''s daughters.


    "...But... the children. There''s children here."


    The devil stopped. He looked up to focus on Derek for a moment. "Then they can cast themselves on the mercy of the goddess. I don''t think she''s much for child-killing. The dead may just leave the kids alone, if we make sure they have enough room to get to them all."


    Derek looked to Kylie; who also looked conflicted. How many kids were here? If all the innocent had left, why hadn''t help arrived earlier? Weren''t there just a few messengers? "Can we....take that chance, really?"


    He watched Kylie wrestle with her emotions for a few moments, focusing on the dirt, before she looked up. "I... should pray to the goddess for guidance. I felt troubled, as I was fighting these creatures. I don''t think she wanted me to. The... devil may be right, about what we should do here. I..... will go to the temple of my goddess here. It may have been damaged, but its where I''ll feel closest to her. You should get to Parkins, and make sure he and the horses get plenty of rest. We may be riding through the night again."


    She turned, starting to walk away, heading to the east, and the opposite side of the town. Derek watched her go... before turning back to the devil. "Do you have a good way to set these people up for what they deserve, without getting the children killed?"


    Terra gave a slow nod. "I''d prefer not to see any of the kids hurt myself. I''m sure that even if they were involved, it was just because of their parents, not because they were born evil or something."


    The devil turned to his granddaughter. "Being born evil isn''t a particularly awful thing. Its being born a destructive, chaotic, law-breaking little imp that is. A bit of malice in the right place can be constructive, useful, to an organized and stable society." He glanced at the temple. "And of course, if these children were throwing stones at an execution, they likely had no idea what they were doing was criminal. Unlike the adults, I''d expect they were simply doing what they thought was proper. Why, if I didn''t know better I myself would have relished the idea as a child."


    Derek stared at him. "S...So I suppose we have a consensus that we don''t kill the kids?" The chain devil wasn''t generally too blatant about being a sadistic monster, but on the other hand he never really tried to hide it, either.


    "Ehh. We don''t try to kill the kids. If they are genuinely blameless, they won''t end up in the pit after they pass. They''ll go to the Hells, or go up."


    Was going to the hells actually a good thing, in this creature''s eyes? Derek glanced at Terra, who shrugged. "If we break open the buildings before dawn, they''ll probably all scurry out into the open."


    Derek gave a slow nod. "We can check the other cellars for survivors, but the dead seem to home in on the people who threw the rocks; if there are others, there should be one at their doors for each. So we might have found the only survivors who didn''t stay in the temple. We... should wait for Kylie to come back to make a final decision. But it would probably be best if our master of chains here who can chain a door shut in seconds were to go around and seal all of the cellars and basements shut... then we can just start some fires in buildings... and tear open the barricades."


    He looked at the temple. "Everyone will probably just run, and the curse will take those it should. Do you think they''ll escape if they get to other towns?"


    The devil picked up a fist-sized rock. "The curse is in the rocks, and in the Paladin, not the town. Once they get far enough away, it would probably stop working, unless we moved some of the rocks closer. If we took a pack of the rocks with us in the cart, it would probably create a pack of them to hunt down the murderers with the next sunrise. And if we dug up the Paladin and took her corpse with us, it should make another of those armored spirits to lead them."


    Derek blinked. "You''re.... wanting to help the curse hunt its victims who escaped?"


    "Of course. This isn''t just a quest for justice, its an excellent way to inspire horror and terror in the criminals involved, and ensure that their last moments are filled with the misery they deserve. In this, at least, the lady of chains, and the lady of light, would be in complete agreement."


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    The devil waved the rock around for a moment. "Frankly, I plan to take some of the rocks with us, leave them hidden in towns we pass through. Some of the criminals have likely escaped already, and if they haven''t gone too far... well. I can only imagine the fear in their eyes when they realize they didn''t really escape."


    ***


    The temple was a ruin; a desecrated place that had been broken, destroyed. Kylie could feel that someone had used a ritual here to cleanse the place, some time ago, something that would have helped remove any taint before starting to rebuild; but that rebuilding had never happened.


    Once, there had been stone walls. A statue of the goddess. A symbol of hope, of truth, of revelation. A place to help people. Now... a fallen ruin in an accursed place. She placed her hand on the statue, feeling the warmth of the son on the stone, closed her eyes, turning her head towards the sun.


    "Goddess, guide me. I keep ill company, and wish not to be led astray. Is it the truth? Do these people really need to die for their crimes?"


    She heard something... a dragging foot. Movement... and a voice. "Well. Someone needs to die, anyway, for the good of the townsfolk. Did your goddess tell you about the last batch? Guess we best make sure you don''t tell your friends, the knight seems a bit scary."


    When she turned, she could see... three men. Two of them wearing a simple chainmail shirt, and ragged clothing that had clearly been worn a few dozen times too many without being properly mended; no guard uniforms here, just simple brown leather. The other wore what had likely once been a guard uniform; including a good, solid breastplate. None of them had shaved in weeks, if they ever had, and the bedraggled appearance made them look more like beggars who had stolen the armor


    One of the two less-armored men gave a grin. "You know. She''s a pretty one. I like the hair, especially, the red, the curls... we don''t have to just kill her. We could keep her in one of the unused cellars for a few days."


    Kylie studied the men for a moment; Derek had made her practice the ''assessing'' spell he learned at the academy, and while she couldn''t tell what ''level'' someone was, she could still judge how much power was in them. The one with a breastplate was almost as strong as her; probably as strong as she''d been when she left. The other two were weaker. She slowly stretched, and braced herself as she unhooked the flail, settled the shield on her arm; the shield bore the same logo as the breastplate. Clearly it had been meant for the town guard before she''d acquired it.


    "You know... its funny. I''ve been traveling with a devil for over a week now. I don''t even remember exactly how long its been, now. But most of the time when I meet people, I eventually find myself agreeing with him about how I should handle them. What does that say about me?"


    The guards looked at the flail for a moment. The leader glanced at the others. "I''ll take her head-on, you two go to..."


    One moment, he was trying to give orders to the man. The next, the flail was in the air, moving... and as he ducked back, trying to avoid it, a second, glowing one appeared, swinging as well... only lower.


    A solid crunch of metal on bone. A scream of pain; and the guard fell to the ground, his right knee bent sideways; even as Kylie turned to face the other two with a grin. "I think I''m going to cripple your arms and legs, and leave you out to meet the dead on the next sunrise. That''s about what you deserve, isn''t it?"


    The amusement, the jovial nature of the encounter on the side of the guards, had dried up instantly. Now it was anger... and fear. The men raised clubs, charging at her, screaming; Kylie backed away from them, putting their wounded companion between them to force them to go around... and after taking a solid hit from a club onto her shield, swung the flail again; not at the one who had just struck her, but at the other one as he approached; once more aiming for the legs. Her aim was off slightly; instead of the spiked ball striking his knee, it went a bit past; but still, the chain wrapped around his leg, and with a solid yank, he went falling to the cobblestones; even as the weapon of light struck home, slamming into his gut, knocking the wind out of him as his chain shirt partially caught it; and several spikes painfully puncturing his groin.


    The third guard took advantage of the weapon being trapped for the moment, wrapped around the other guard''s leg, charging, trying to tackle her to the cobbles... but Kylie simply let him push her back staying on her feet, shoving her into a wall. As he grinned at her over the shield pressed between them, she started to reach for the dagger at her belt... only to stop, and smile. Without lifting the weapon, she simply gestured, as if she were swinging the flail she no longer held.


    The man frowned. "What...are.." He glanced back just in time for the glowing flail to slam into his face; and as he fell to the ground, Kylie turned to the still mostly intact one; he''d dislodged the flail-head from his crotch and was screaming in pain, holding himself... and she reached down, picking the handle back up, giving it a solid yank; the spikes dragging painfully across his leg. She looked at the three men; only the breast-plate-wearing one was dead from a flail to the face. The other two were just in serious pain.


    For a moment, she was tempted to fulfill her earlier threat. Break their arms and legs. Leave them for the dead. But.... no. They might somehow get away, especially if they had friends who came by.


    When she brought the flail down on the face of the next one, she felt a thrill as she saw the fear in his eyes, and felt the splatter of his blood on her face... and grinned as the final guard started to try crawling away, dragging a badly mangled leg behind him. She let him get a few feet before she stepped up; and another harsh blow. A crunch of breaking bone, the wet sound of bloodsplatter and bone.


    She inhaled deeply, looking around at the three men, then at the temple.


    She''d asked for a sign, whether these people really needed to die for their crimes.


    The goddess had provided. As she turned, leaving the bodies where they lay on the street, she started heading back to the temple of night, and the smithy she left her boyfriend and the others at. It seemed she and the devil were in agreement yet again.