We walked out of there later. She was quiet. Not a word since I'd spoken. Just a look in her eyes. Betrayal. Good way to explain it. She looked betrayed. In a very real sense, she had been. We all had really. Even I, despite my lack of religious belief in the Chapel, had thought them to be at least an attempt at doing the right thing.

We kept walking.

Finally, we took another turn, and found ourselves in a cave filled with glowing strands of light that hung from the ceiling. A river flowed through it, reflecting the lights in gorgeous ways. We stood, stunned at the sight. Katya sat against one of the rocks around us, amazed.

“Light, this is—” Then she stopped, grimacing.

I knew why. She’d been about to pray to the Light. The Light, after I’d told her the Chapel lied to her.

“Katya,” I said softly.

She held up a hand. “No,” I clamped my mouth shut. “I… what am I supposed to do now? Everything about me is a lie…” She looked down at the water, staring into the water. “I’m supposed to be able to save everyone. But if I can fail… if I can die. Then all those people will die too.”

“You don’t know that,” I kneeled down. “I mean, if the prophecy isn’t true, then the threat it says is coming might not be either.”

She sniffed. “Great. So I’m useless too?” she waved my sputters away. “No. That’s selfish. It would be great to know that I’m not needed. That people will be safe. But…” she looked at me, eyes full of tears. “If you’re right? Then what good am I, Char? I’m just a tool for a bunch of jerks to keep their power? Do I keep doing that? Do I tell everyone the truth, and leave them to feel the same way I do?” she tried to rub her face, only for her arm to bounce off her helmet. She giggled a bit crazily when she realized her mistake. “Light, I don’t know what I am anymore! I might be nobody! I don’t know what to do!”

I tried to figure out what to do as well. “…Me neither,” she smiled at that. “But, you can’t be nobody. Otherwise I wouldn’t have made such nice armor for you.”

She chuckled. “Must have been a surprise. Knowing your armor was being worn by just some girl.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Not some girl. My friend. Someone I know, trust, and care for. My first real friend,” she sniffled again. “I don’t have the answers. Our issues won’t be solved in a day, or even a week. The real problems, the ones that shake us to our core, can take years to get over. Sometimes they never do.”

“Not the best at this comfort thing, Char.”

I smiled. “But we can learn to live with them. To make sure they don’t define us. Sure, you may not be some prophesied child. But you just took apart three small groups of mercanaries, monsters, and wizards faster than I could even believe. You are a damn good fighter. You save my life in that alley. You are my hero. Maybe the prophecy is fake. But you’re still here. You can still fight. You can still show people the Light, and be an example.”

She looked up at me again. My smile faded to become the calm, stoic expression I took in my most serious moments. I gave her a nod, steadily eyeing her.

When she spoke next, the hesitation, sadness, and fear in her eyes was gone. All there was, was determination. “We’re going to find the others. Then… I need to talk with the Arch-Bishop.”

We went further into the cave. Step after step, we traversed the dark caverns. It was both boring and tense. Hearing the sounds in the darkness, knowing that they could have been enemies, made me clench my teeth with every little scrape and groan around us.

It was a relief when we were attacked.

Katya and I met the group in a cavern about as large as the forge. Strings of blue hung on the ceiling, giving everything an odd glow. We'd entered the cavern at the same time, only noticing each once we entered.

The group was four people. Two were human women, one of whom was dressed in full plate armor. The others were a dwarf man and a true surprise.

He was as large as me. He wore plate armor. A helmet was held in his hands, revealing his features. The features of a black leopard.

“What...” Katya asked.

“A Beastman,” I said quickly as the other group prepared for battle. “Humans and Dwarves have Orcs. Elves have Beastman.”

Katya didn't have a chance to respond. Which was good, because I was reeling.

Beastmen. I didn't know a lot about them. What I did know was that they were the sworn enemies of Elves. They were beings who were somehow filled with an energy that changed their bodies structure to match those of vicious predators. They claimed their abilities came from the spirits. And they had a reputation for being strong, fast, and extremely tough.

And they were as hated as I was.

I didn't have time to think about the implications. The beastman rushed forward, simply tossing aside his helmet. In an instant, he was a blur. He rushed towards Katya so quickly I couldn't see him. I leaped forward on instinct.

The instant we met in the air, I realized what a mistake I had made. The Beastman was very different from the other people I'd fought. He was bigger than me, something I'd never encountered. And as he slammed into me, I found, for once in my life, I wasn't strong enough.

Never, in my life, had I ever been so completely overpowered so quickly. I'd never found myself lacking the strength to fight, not even against the armored bear I'd fought.

Then and there, as I felt myself getting lifted up and slammed into a wall, I felt as weak as a child.

“Graagh!” I spat out as my already hurt back slammed into a wall.

The beastman opened his mouth. The sound that came from his mouth reverberated through the air. His jaws clenched outwards, and his claws easily pierced my gauntlets as I desperately tried to hold him back. We yelled out in exertion as his clawed hands dug into the backs of my hands, causing blood to fill the space between my armor and skin.

“Char, hang on!” Katya cried out as she desperately fought to reach me.

“Kill her!” The Beastman roared. “I've got the orcling!”

“Be careful, Januse!” The armor plated human woman cried out. She and Katya locked blades for a moment.

“Leave him alone!” Katya cried out, pushing the woman back. She leaped out of the way of the dwarf, who was firing at her with a crossbow. I felt a bit of worry under my fear. Of all weapons, a crossbow was most dangerous to Katya. It might be able to pierce her armor, and while her carbon sheets would protect her from the arrow cutting through, it would still do damage from sheer kinetic force.

Katya did a backflip, and the two human woman leaped towards with just as much atheltic skill.

“Focus, orcling,” the beastman, Januse apparently, growled. “Or I'll kill you.”

I quickly raised a knee, slamming it into his chest. He winced, then smiled. “Good.”

His jaws slammed into the chainmail around my throat. I screamed, terror filling me as his powerful jaws squeezed down on my neck, and struggled. I kneed him in the ribs again and again, screaming desperately.

I was moments from blacking out when he finally let me go. I gasped, air filling my lungs, blood flowing once more.

He punched me in the face, sending me into a stumble. I turned my stumble into a quick run, my body struggling for breath. I spun around, trying to get myself ready to fight once more as I gasped for air.

When he rushed towards me again, I lifted my fists into a rough imitation of a fighting stance I'd once seen Katya use. Januse came at me ridiculously fast, and I aimed a punch at the center of the blur that was him. I felt my fist bounce off his armor, then he lifted me up in a tackle and took me to the floor. He raised up and started raining blows on me, his claws digging and scratching my armor, then alternating into crushing blows with his fist. On my back I struggled, covering my face with my arms and desperately punching upwards.

I thrust to my side with hips, roaring as I bodily tossed him off me. He rolled for a moment and quickly spun to meet me as I rushed towards him. In seconds, we were on each other.

It was madness. My muscles burned with the struggle of matching his strength. I felt my wounds burning, and my throat was raw as we roared. I punched him in the shoulder, and got a clawed hand stabbing into my bicep where my armor had been torn up by the bear. His teeth bounced off my chest armor, unable to grip, and my right fist slammed into his stomach.

My eyes seemed to burn. We both roared.

But in the end, our fight had an inevitable conclusion. I was a blacksmith who studied magic, and not even combat magic. He was a warrior, clearly trained and far more ready for battle than I was.

He suddenly got me by the right arm. I tried to pull it back, but I was out of energy. He easily pulled me into his grasp and twisted me around, wrapping an arm around my neck. I struggled, roaring, and the pair of us shuffled across the stone floor, our armor clanging and dust rising. His arm began to squeeze.

“Let him go!”

The both of us stopped to look at the speaker.

Katya was panting hard. Her armor was scuffed, and her hair had been released at some point. A bloody scratch rested on her forehead, blood pouring down her face.

The dwarf was coughing, clutching at a dagger that had been stabbed into his thigh even as his bloody nose dripped onto his stomach. The human woman in leather was crumbled on the floor. Her right hand rested a few feet from her.

The last woman was on her knees facing us, Katya holding her sword to the woman's throat. The woman had a large stab wound in her shoulder, but her eyes blazed with fury, struggling against the tight hold Katya had on her.

“Hmm,” Januse hummed. “I see. So you'd threaten her life for your friend?”

Katya nodded, her eyes hard. “Let him go. And we all walk away.”

“Oh?” Out of the corner of my eye, Januse's jaws opened into a smile. “And why should I believe you? Or you me? Hell, who says I even like those people?”

The two stared at each other. I tried to shift, but stopped when I felt his arm tighten around my neck. Katya shook her head. “We don't have any assurances. But I want my friend. And something tells me you want yours,” Katya looked behind her at the woman whose hand she'd removed. “All of them are losing blood. The longer we talk, the sooner they'll die. Choose. Save your friends and possibly leave here without me attacking you? Or lose them, and know that I will kill you if you hurt Char.”

Januse laughed, his voice a deep growl that reverberated in the air. Just like my voice. “How interesting... You know Char,” Januse said softly. “I was intrigued when I first heard of you. Beastmen and Orcs... we have a lot to rise above, hybrids like you and me,” he chuckled again as my eyes widened in surprise. “I wonder what sort of fighter you'd have been if you actually had time to grow... Lets find out.”

He dropped me. Katya released her prisoner. For a moment, the tension rose. The room was still.

Katya and Januse strode over to one another. When they met in the middle, they met eyes. Slowly, they strode around each other, never leaving the others field of view. Then they stepped back to join their respective allies.

Katya rushed to me and hurriedly lifted me up. I struggled to move, and we began to hobble away. As we did, Januse chuckled.

“Come on,” I heard him say as we left. “Let's get you idiots to a healer.”

Strange how fond he sounded.

------

Katya healed me. We didn't speak while she did. In truth, she couldn't do much. I was just too beaten. My body had taken a massive amount of damage, more than even my Orc physiology was meant for. Still, it was enough to let me move, and at least fight if needed.

When we met the others, they were fighting giant spiders.

Not what I would have expected, but somehow unsurprising. Richard was in the middle of it, his sword already soaked with green blood as he slashed through limbs and bodies, his armor pockmarked where acid had hit him. Hasha was launching balls of ice around the others, not only stopping spiders in their tracks, but also freezing any webs that would entangle the group. He’d follow up with fire, shattering the ice to break away the webs. A good idea, considering spider webs tend to be pretty fire resistant.

As Katya led me along an outcropping above the clearing the group was fighting in, I watched Mountain leap towards a brown-gray spider almost as big as he was. The beast hissed in anger as hundreds of kilograms of dog ripped into it. Venom drenched fangs tried to dig into flesh, only bouncing off Mountain’s black fur as though it was armor. Mountain’s teeth, on the other hand, slashed deep into chitin.

I shook my head as Mountain fought and growled. “That dog is way too strong.”

As I spoke, I looked around. Webs hung from the ceiling, clearly having been there for a short time. The rocks that the webs hung from were glowing softly with runes.

“Containment spells then. Part of the trap set up for you,” I mused as I watched the spells glow. “No natural creature of that size can survive on the diet a cave system would have. They must have been brought for you to fight.”

“Hn,” Katya frowned, clearly displeased. She sighed. “Come on. Let’s go help.”

She leaped into the air. Her jumpjets, more advanced models than mine, propelled her towards a spider that had been coming down from the ceiling. She grabbed the spider as it screeched, riding it down as its spinnerets released its web. Halfway down, she took out Stormcall and slashed outwards. The spider’s lower and upper abdomen separated in a pouring of pale green liquids. She landed on the ground, rolled, and swung her hands out. An orb of Light energy with her at the epicenter blasted outwards, sending spider flying.

“And Jeremy thought he could kill her?” I asked with a frustrated sigh. I took several steps back, then leaped forward. I didn’t use the jumpjets, simply landing on one of the spiders. The poor creature screeched when a massive half-orc in armor squashed it, dying under my big feet. I roared, partly for effect, partly in pain as my beaten body protested the rough landing.

“Katya!” Richard called gleefully. Then he winced when a giant spider, this one black with angry red stripes across its back, spat acid at him, propelling them from it’s fangs. He ducked, barely.

“Focus Richard,” Hasha admonished. He launched a bolt of fire with a hiss of ‘Furo’, sending the red stripped spider spinning away.

Richard, looking chagrined, returned to battle. He ducked a smaller spider leaping at him, slashed through another, and blocked a pair of fangs from one of the larger, red-striped ones.

Katya on the other hand was having trouble. She was tossing aside the spiders with ease, but I could tell they were now focused almost entirely on her. In fact, every spider out or the dozens of them that was within twelve meters of her was attacking her exclusively.

One unleashed a web that surrounded her body. She let out a burst of Light, burning away the web, but the time she was trapped allowed another two to attack her. She fell under their weight, rolling as fangs bounced off her armor. I joined, using my bare hands to rip into the crowd of spiders. For a moment, the both of us were surrounded in a storm of fangs and hairy legs.

I took a moment to be glad I didn’t suffer from arachnophobia.

I pushed through the crowd, pulling Katya to her feet and grunting at the feel of another spider crushed by me. Then we were surrounded again.

Those were tense moments. I crushed, tore, and bulled my way through the creatures, feeling overwhelmed. Acid tore into my armor, fangs bounced off my steel cotton, and many eyes seemed to gaze at me as a loud chittering filled my ears. Katya’s Stormcall sliced through spiders with ease, but had more trouble against the webs, which her Light could burn away. We fought, and fought, and fought, cutting down spiders as they tore at them. By the end, my armor was barely holding together.

Then the horde was gone. The spiders ran away, screaming. Only five of them however, were left, and Mountain leaped forward to joyfully tear those apart.

When we were alone, Richard and Hasha walked up, Mountain following once he was done with his meal.

“Katya!” Richard said, relieved. “I was—”

“So it’s true,” Katya said sadly. “You’re here. Which means you don’t believe the prophecy either. Which means it’s not real.”

Shocked, Richard lowered his arms from the hug been about to give her. He looked at me. “You told her?”

“I had to,” I said softly.

“Maybe we can have the conversation somewhere else?” Hasha said calmly.

“Outside,” Katya looked around, her visor turning orange. “There’s no other monsters here. And I need to talk to the Arch-Bishop.”

She began walking away, forcing us to follow.

“My lady,” Richard said, moving after her. “I understand your frustration. But you must understand, the Arch-Bishop has changed. He may not respond with the same calm that you remember, especially if you accuse him of, of, of whatever this damn farce is!”

“I know,” Katya’s face was a mask of determination. “But I need to know. I can’t have the doubt hanging over my head. I have to know Richard… why did they pick me? Are there anymore like me and this, this Jeremy person, if he really is a former Prophesied Child? I need an explanation from the Arch-Bishop. I deserve an explanation. If I’m not the Prophesied Child, then I...I have to learn how to deal with that. To learn how to keep moving forward.” There was an odd note on the last three words. Almost like a promise, an oath, and a wish, all rolled into one.

Richard’s craggy face became even more wrinkled, before all the tension left him. He turned to look at Mountain.

“Can you lead us out?”

The big dog nodded, face oddly intent. He turned and loped out of the den, leaving us to follow.

------

Running out of the cave was better than entering it. I was constantly amazed by the beauty of the cave system, with its incredibly detailed ecology, the delicate rock formation, glowing sections of stone, and sudden chambers revealing a beautiful sky above us. I made a note to come back sometime, with armor better suited to the task. For now, I followed the others.

When we got out of the cave, Katya was leading us. We left the tight cave systems and entered the massive valley at the bottom of the canyon to find things much the same as we left them. Katya was the first to appear, so the crowd waiting before the den immediately began cheering. The various guards bowed before her, and a swell of happiness seemed to follow.

Then Mountain came out. Then Richard, Hasha, and me. The cheering paused for an instant, before someone picked it up again.

The guards were less willing to go with the flow. They rose from their bows to reach for their weapons, shocked to see us behind her, and clearly remembering us from when we’d ran through them to enter the caves.

“Stand down,” Katya said, marching towards the tent.

“But, my lady!” one of the guards said in protest.

Katya didn’t reply, simply moving forward. We followed her, a pack of wolves in the wake of the Alpha. The guards came after us. With this procession following her, the two guards in front of the tent seemed unable to decide what to do. Katya removed her helmet as she walked, letting her hair bounce free. It was a bit matted to her forehead, making her look odd, but the look in her eyes made up for that.

“Where is the Arch-Bishop?” she asked the two guards. They looked at each other. She frowned, far from the sweet girl I was used to. “I asked a question.”

“Answer her,” Richard growled. Mountain growled as well, though his rough burst of sound was far more intimidating than Richard’s.

“Well… he left my lady,” the right guard said.

“Said something about setting up the celebration,” the other guard added.

“Light…” Katya closed her eyes, thinking. “He must be at the Chapel.”

“We can go there,” Richard said softly.

“Yes, we can,” Katya turned and strode over to Mountain, placing her helmet on. Mountain lowered down to let her get on his back, and she swung on. “Get horses, all three of you.”

“You sure you want us there?” I asked her stoically.

She smiled, a genuine Katya smile. “Of course… you’re my friends.”

I nodded, feeling a rush of warmth at her words. “Hasha and I have horses at the back of the crowd.”

“And I have mine over there,” Richard nodded at one of the tents. “We’ll meet at the back of the crowd.”

“Okay then,” Hasha sighed. “I have a bad feeling about this though. Confronting the Arch-Bishop at his home…” The elvish wizard trailed off, and simply walked into the crowd. I followed, ignoring the stares I was getting.

We had a long ride ahead of us, after having been through combat. My muscles were already sore, my armor ripped and dented, and my mind beginning to fatigue from the magic, beatings, and revelations I’d been under.

“Keep moving forward,” I said softly, pushing through the crowd. “Keep moving forward.”

With those words echoing in my mind, I moved on to the next battle.

------

The Chapel was in chaos when we got there. We got off our rides in front of the main castle that led into the grounds, Richard, Hasha, and I letting our own mounts rest in the grass in front of the castle. Our horses were exhausted from the breakneck pace we’d taken, trying to match Katya and Mountain’s incredible speed.

A group of servants, priests, and knights were pouring from the Chapel Grounds in an organized panic. One of the servants, the Halfling woman I’d seen the day I’d first been brought to the Chapel, was covered in soot, her eyes wide in shock.

“Richard! Katya!” One of the knights called.

The two Chapel leaders stepped forward, the people streaming around them.

“What’s going on here?” Richard and Katya said in unison. They looked at each other in surprise. Then Richard waved for her to take the lead.

“Uh,” The knight was clearly thrown, but easily adapted. “My lady, the servant’s quarters have been set on fire, as well two of the other castles. The flames refuse to be put out by water! And the Arch-Bishop isn’t helping! He’s sequestered himself in the library, and he refuses to come out!”

Katya didn’t hesitate. “Hasha!”

“The fires are probably fueled by a chemical mixture, but dirt and a lack of oxygen will do nicely at putting them out,” Hasha said quickly.

“You heard him,” Katya shone briefly with the Light. In her glow, people stopped panicking, and simply stared at her. “Everyone! Retreat calmly, and help those who can’t move! Contingent Knights, begin aiding in the efforts to escape! Regiment Knights, we’re moving onto the grounds. You, you, and you,” she pointed at two female knights and a male. “Head to the servant barracks and organize a brigade to begin shoveling dirt onto the fires. If we have any magic users still here, get them to bar oxygen from the flames. Come on!”

We marched forward. As we moved in, I sped up to walk alongside Katya. “I don’t understand, did the Arch-Bishop start these fires?”

She nodded, her face almost crumbling before she resolved herself. “It is part of the prophecy. ‘And the prophesied child rose from the ashes of the old.’ But if he’s forcing them to come true, then—”

“What’s next?” Richard said grimly. “The Arch-Bishop has never been like this. Something very wrong is happening.”

I noticed Hasha looked thoughtful. As our group of armored knights marched out of the tunnel, I went to join him. “What is it?”

He bit his lip. “Something I noticed…I have a hypothesis. One I think I can prove. But…we’ll see.”

On the other side of the tunnel, we saw the lake. With the sun slowly lowering in the horizon, and the four roaring fires slowly eating building, all reflected by the lakes waters, the once calm lake had a terrifying beauty to it.

Katya went into action, yelling at the knights to form four groups and go aid in the fire marshalling efforts. She never stopped her steady march towards the library.

I couldn’t help but be a bit shocked. For as long as I’d known her, she’d never seemed like a commander. A good fighter, a sweet girl. But not a soldier. Not until now. She snapped commands with the expectation they would be obeyed, and soldiers twice her age moved. Soon we were alone, just the five of us.

“Well done my lady,” Richard said proudly.

Katya blushed. “I’m sorry. I just wanted everyone to be safe.”

“Exactly what a commander, a good commander, wishes for when they take the lead,” Richard shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. Be a leader.”

“…I don’t know if I can,” she admitted as we walked up the steps to the library. “I mean, if I’m not the real prophesied child, if there is no ‘prophesied child’, then I didn’t have the right to command them at all,” she frowned. “I basically lied.”

Richard kicked at the doors to the library. When they refused to open, he nodded at Mountain and me. As we moved forward, he sighed. “If it was a lie, it was a lie to protect them. You had to take command of the situation.”

Mountain and I pushed with all our strength. The doors, thick wooden things, held for a brief moment. Then they shattered under our power. As they fell, I heard Katya mumble to herself.

“Yes… I suppose I did.”

Then we were in the library. I kicked down another door barring our way, grimacing as my body struggled. I was getting tired. More than that, I felt odd. Something about all this was making me nervous, and I couldn’t tell what. Besides the situation itself.

When we reach the main library floor, we found the Arch-Bishop. He was standing in the middle of the tables and shelves a floor below us, at the bottom of the stairs we were standing at. Books were laid all over the place in haphazard piles. He would grab one of the shelf with incredible speed, his stooped and ancient form moving from one text to the next with a feverish energy. The odd light in his eyes was stronger than before, a green shade to it. There was an oddly ritualistic form to the process. Focused, deliberate.

We formed up into a line, with Katya in the center, Richard on her right with Mountain next to him, and me on her left with Hasha beside me. Staring down at him, we began to approach. I nervously ran through the weapons I had. No more swords. My armor was half broken by now. My right gauntlet was reloaded with more ball bearings, but the left was shattered. Other than that, I had my strength.

And yet, I felt strong. When I felt Hasha bump into my left arm, I realized why.

I had back-up. No better weapon in the world.

“Arch-Bishop!” I was as surprised as the others when I yelled. They looked over at me, then back at him.

He ignored us.

“Arch-Bishop?” Katya said hesitantly.

“My dear child,” he flipped through another book. “I have failed you.”

He sounded calm. That was disturbing, considering that he had yet to slow down the pace with which he flipped through his books.

“Arch-Bishop, I have to ask you—”

“I see you brought the orc,” he interrupted her. “And the dog. I believe I told you to kill them both Richard.”

Katya bit her bottom lip. Richard frowned. “My lord, I simply could not condone killing two innocent beings for no reason.”

“Hmph,” the Arch-Bishop snapped his latest book closed. “Only animals. Like slaughtering pigs, in the end.”

Both Katya and Richard looked shocked.

“Arch-Bishop…” Katya stepped forward, only to stop at the hand on her shoulder.

“One moment,” Hasha walked around Katya, watching the Arch-Bishop like a man staring down a dragon. “I know what is going on.”

“Hasha?” I asked curiously.

“Char. Look at this from the perspective of an outsider. What do you know of the Arch-Bishop? Based not on popular knowledge, but by your own observation.”

Confused, but always willing to listen, I thought about that.

The Arch-Bishop seemed… manic. Energetic. Quick to anger. He’d been quick to accuse me of ‘corrupting’ Katya. His eyes seemed to always glow, and his magic was… his magic was that of entropy.

Manic, temperamental, paranoid, with magic that seemed to devour everything around it.

My eyes widened. Hasha smiled sadly.

“Yes Char. I think I understand what happened. Why things have become as bad as they are,” he took a deep breath. “The plague. It all goes back to the plague. When people were feeling their organs die within them, when you could tell an infected by the smell of rotting meat that hung about them. Those times were dark, hard.”

“I remember,” Richard said softly.

“I’m sure you do,” Hasha replied. “But I also remember the research. The Chapel of Valor was at the forefront of the disaster, fighting against the disease in every way. But it began to resist all magical healing. And soon, a small group of magic users broke away to find their own solution.”

“Traitors,” the Arch-Bishop whispered.

“Innovators,” Hasha responded. “In a time when madness reigned, they experimented, researched, and dug in to do the work. They discovered the secret of inoculating people to disease. They saved hundreds of thousands.”

Hasha paused.

“But there was more. The Chapel had been fighting for months against the disease. All their best hunted for every advantage they could. And now, for my hypothesis,” he tapped his head. “What if, in their desperation, the leaders decided maybe the fault was with them? With their own intelligence? What if they tried to enhance themselves?”

“Potions?” Richard asked.

“Could that work?” Katya added.

“At first, yes,” I answered in place of Hasha. “But overuse of those drugs is dangerous.”

“Addictive as well,” Hasha shook his head at the Arch-Bishop who had gotten very still. “You wanted to save people. You saw your people dying, and you looked for whatever you could to change that. But then, after all your hard work, a group of random magic-users come up with the solution, becoming renowned heroes in the bargain.”

The Arch-Bishop closed another book, using more force than necessary.

“You must have wished to prevent that again. What if you could control the next disaster? What if you could make sure the next time something like that, happened, not only would you be smart enough to handle it, but have a hero of your own to face the trouble? Someone weak enough to control, but strong enough to handle the issue?”

Katya gasped.

“Not a good plan. No one can plan for every eventuality.” Hasha stepped forward and grabbed the Arch-Bishop’s right wrist, spinning him around. “But a man who’s taken enough brain-enhancing potions will see himself as godlike in his planning.”

Bright eyes shone out at us. They swirled with a storm of colors, reds, blues, and greens flowing together into a thousand other shades.

“Let go of me!” the Arch-Bishop screamed.

“You need help!” Hasha yelled back. “The potions you’ve taken don’t just enhance the brain, they cause damage over time! The paranoia, the desperation to see this prophecy come forth, they’re all because of your madness! Your addiction is killing you, is making you a monster!”

Screaming, the Arch-Bishop raised his left hand, and made a complicated motion. It glowed green with entropy magic, and he reached for Hasha’s throat.

Hasha stepped back. “Arthusa!”

The Arch-Bishop’s hand smacked into a shield of ice. And devoured it.

“One more effect of such potions,” Hasha said softly as he watched the ice floating between himself and the Arch-Bishop disappear, “you’re magic becomes tainted. It can appear in dozens of ways, but the most common is entropy. A body on the verge of death hunts for life. And entropy is that which devours all life.”

“Arch-Bishop?” Katya stepped forward.

“Just, Just one more…” the Arch-Bishop fell to his knees. “One more… and I can rest.”

“One more?” Katya asked. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. Mountain was circling us, whining.

He chuckled. “The prophecy, child,” the Arch-Bishop smiled up at her. “Corrupted or not… you are still my Prophesied Child. And I will see you come into your own!” An explosion, with the Arch-Bishop sent everyone but Mountain and me flying.

Because of that, I saw what happened next.

Several of the books he’d been reading began to glow. Slowly, the swirling colors, identical to the mess his eyes had become, flowed from the books, and into the Arch-Bishop.

I ran forward, trying to stop whatever was happening, only to run into an invisible wall. Stymied, I punched it, clawed at it, trying to tear through the sudden barrier. Mountain joined me, barking as he tried to shatter it with me. We both roared, the Arch-Bishop screamed.

“And so the Prophesied Child will destroy the beast! And save us all!” Blood poured from his lips as more and more magic tore into him, leaving lines of text burned into his body. “All she needs is a beast!” He laughed. “For you Katya! For you my child, my prophesied! A creature worthy of the legacy!”

“Damn it,” I had time to growl.

Another explosion followed, contained within the barrier. For a moment, all I saw was a shadow. Then it rose up.

A being of stone and metal, towering above me. Lines of golden text ran across the surface of its body at a pace to fast to see. It had the shaped of a mortal male, if that male was heavily mutated. It’s body was rough, and bent over in a crouch It opened its eyes. All six of them, glowing green in a head as round as a ball, lined up in pairs of two. The eyes blinked open, then shut. When they opened again, the green eyes had the same swirl of colors that I had seen in the Arch-Bishop. Its left arm ended in a massive drill. As it stared at us, I swallowed. Fur began to form across it in patches, and a pair of horns slowly sprouted from its forehead.

The massive beast roared. Its massive drill spun into action. And then it was rushing towards us, shrieking in electric tones.