The sound of footsteps running up behind him was the only warning Orrin got before he was tackled from behind. Orrin was lifted into the air and the air was crushed from his lungs as two strong arms squeezed him. He gasped for air and clawed at the armored forearms but couldn’t get a good purchase on his attacker.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!”

The attacker dropped Orrin from the hug and spun him around. Daniel stood in the moonlight with a grin on his face. Madi was standing a few feet away looking slightly concerned at Orrin’s hard breathing.

“Daniel! You scared him,” Madi chastised. “He’s shaking like a leaf.”

“Oh shit,” Daniel said and took a step back. “I’m so sorry! We got lucky on our way back from that asshole’s house and found you. I didn’t even think, I just ran at you. I’m so sorry.”

Orrin heaved in deep breaths as his friend apologized over and over. “You just surprised me. I thought someone was attacking me. I’m a little jittery.”

Daniel’s look of concern and apprehension faded back into his normal smile. “It’s good to see you. We tried to come and visit, but Anthony wouldn’t let us inside.”

“Wouldn’t let you inside. I never would have willingly gone into that madman’s house,” Madi chimed in behind Daniel. “No offense meant to you, Orrin.”

Orrin waved her comment off. “So you did try to visit.” He felt conflicted. On one hand, his friend had actually tried to come through for him. Orrin realized it must have taken a lot for Daniel to try and visit, even after the little fight he’d picked. Madi had even gone as far as visiting the outside of Tony’s house...her equivalent of facing a nightmare in real life.

On the other hand, Daniel had let Tony drive him off. Orrin had understood the reason Tony had given him for not letting his friends inside. Tony needed to be focused completely on keeping Orrin alive. The internal magic trying to rip him apart after turning off [Mind Bastion] was not something he could turn from for long and he’d been annoyed enough at having to drive Daniel away the two times he’d visited.

“Of course we did,” Daniel said with a frown. “I wanted to push in anyway, but he promised you would be fine. He said he needed to focus on keeping your mind in one piece and to go away. Madi convinced me he was probably telling the truth.”

Orrin looked over Daniel’s shoulder at Madi standing a few steps back. She seemed gloomy standing in the dark shadow of a building.

“Thank you for talking some sense into him,” Orrin said. “And I have no right to ask for it, but I hope you’ll forgive me what I said before I left. Tony thinks me turning into an asshole might be a side-effect of too much mana use.”

Part of their conversations had been about ways to monitor how much he overused cycling. Tony had him go over as many details as Orrin could remember, from how many times he used the bathroom, to how hungry he was, and to any odd behaviors. Tony saw the pattern from both overuse periods right away. Orrin became a bigger prick the more time he spent cycling.

Madi hesitated but stepped forward and put her hand out. “I’m not sure you need to ask my forgiveness. As I already told you, I know I’ll be in your debt for a long while. I promise not to do anything that makes you question me.”

Orrin took her outstretched hand. He noticed her wince a small bit as he squeezed and turned her hand over. The inside of her hand was raw.

“What happened? Do you want me to heal your hands?”

Madi pulled her hand back. “No, thank you. I’m supposed to let them heal naturally. So they’ll callous.”

Daniel stepped close and put an arm around Madi’s shoulder. “We’ve been practicing our teamwork and our skills. Madi can take on Brandt now nine out of ten times.”

“It’s more like two out of ten, but I am improving. Brandt said it’s because Daniel has a higher [Spear Proficiency] than me. Someone with a higher level proficiency training you can help you move your own skill up faster.”

Orrin tucked that nugget away for later.

“So tell us everything!” Daniel grabbed Orrin and threw his other arm around his shoulder. He held both Orrin and Madi close. “We left Anthony’s hours ago. He said you left an hour before we got there and we searched forever trying to find you.”

“I made a friend,” Orrin ducked out from under Daniel’s arm and gave him a light push. “Let’s go back home and I’ll tell you guys all about it. Most of the week was just pain and puke but Tony and I had a good conversation and we think there might be a way to regulate my cycling...as long as I can create a skill.”

Madi frowned again. “Creating a skill is really difficult, Orrin. It can take years of study and focused research.” She looked at him and quickly continued, “But I’m sure you’ll be fine. Maybe just don’t use your mana skills for a while. We don’t want to lose you.”

Daniel let his arm fall off Madi and turned back toward the street. “Ok, then. Let’s head back.” He started walking, leaving Madi and Orrin behind.

Orrin watched his back and sighed.

“Don’t judge him too hard,” Madi whispered as they followed. “He’s been a wreck all week. He blames himself for you being sick and rightly so.”

“I had already used a lot of mana to heal that crowd of people,” Orrin hedged for his friend. “It’s not completely his fault.”

Orrin could feel Madi’s glower darken. “True and he didn’t know he would have such a strong pull to fight demons. Something my Father failed to mention to us.”

The way she said Father made it obvious that Silas was in the doghouse with Madi.

“I figured he knew,” Orrin admitted. “At first, I thought he was trying to protect you because sending us away to avoid the Wall quest seemed a little thin. But when Sof...the leader of the Dragoon team, mentioned it, I realized your dad had to have known.”

Madi crossed her arms in a tight hug. “I’m sorry.”

Orrin sighed. “Listen, I was an asshole to you before I left. I can’t keep blaming you and your dad for everything. I think we have just been terrible at communicating.”

Madi put up a finger and started counting. “I threatened to kill you because I thought you were a [Vampire]. That was my fault. I should have asked more questions and not jumped to conclusions.”

Orrin laughed. “I forgot about that one. I probably should have tried explaining my skill better.”

She put up another finger. “My dad testing Daniel with a bunch of low-rent thugs. It never should have been more than a light rough-up and they took it over the line.”

Orrin rubbed his chest. His healing had taken away the damage but a slight light scar still puckered between two ribs. He kept quiet.

Madi put up a third and fourth finger. “Trying to push you away when we thought we struck gold with finding a [Hero] all for ourselves. Trying to strong-arm you into leaving.”

“Luckily I was able to fight back a bit that time,” Orrin half-joked.

Madi shook her head. “My father saw an opportunity. He told me whatever spell you used weakened him a bit but he still felt confident he could have taken you. He just rearranged his goals to include you.” She made her hand into a fist. “That’s all he ever does. He plots and plans and moves pieces on the board.”

Orrin and Madi walked behind Daniel. He kept looking back but sensed the mood and stayed ahead.

“You mentioned your mom was an adventurer when we were in the dungeon,” Orrin said. “When she was around, did your dad do the same stuff?”

Madi turned her head toward the sky. The flame off a lamppost winked off her eyebrow piercing...or maybe it was a tear. “She grounded him. He’s always been about the end, no matter the means. She just wanted to protect people no matter the end. I...I think they balanced each other well. He’s not a bad man, Orrin. He’s responsible for thousands of lives and makes decisions daily that I never want to make. He sends guards to their deaths so that the people of Dey can sleep in peace. I know that in my head. He makes choices for our future that keep him up at night...and I love him...but...”

“You can love somebody and still not like their choices.”

Daniel waved at them to hurry up. They were approaching the Catanzano house.

Madi waved back. “I’m telling him tomorrow that I’m going to reject becoming the next Lord of Dey. I have cousins. It’s been done before. I want to follow my mother’s path. No. I want to follow my own path and it’s well past the time I’ve told him that.”

Orrin didn’t know what to say. Turning down the role of being in charge, of doing the thing she’d been groomed to be, wasn’t a small thing. “Are you sure?”

Madi nodded. “He’ll tell me I’ll change my mind and be back in a year’s time, but I’m committed. Not just to Daniel as the...well you know...but also to our team. To you.”

She stopped within a stone’s throw of her house and turned to Orrin. Daniel was talking to the one guard stationed outside the house. “I’d like to start over and be your friend. Just like Daniel has become.”

Her sincerity in the entire talk hadn’t wavered and Orrin knew what the right words to say were, but as he opened his mouth...all hell broke loose.

Out of the corner of his eye, Orrin watched as the guard waved back to Daniel and then fell as if in slow motion. A small feather puff sprouted from the side of his neck.

Two dark-cloaked figures fell from the rooftops on either side of the street and raced toward Daniel, even as he rushed to catch the falling body of the Catanzano guard. One took something long and thin and put it to his face. Daniel reached back and grabbed his neck. He turned and saw his attackers, took two steps, and collapsed facedown.

Orrin realized he was moving. He pulled every spell in his arsenal down. He boosted his Dexterity, Strength, Intelligence, and Will; he inversed the same and tried hitting each of the figures. One of them stumbled but the other kept moving, barely casting a glance at Orrin.

Madi was screaming. Not yelling in panic, but screaming orders at the Catanzano house. The front doors slammed open and three guards rushed out. The assailant that Orrin had tripped cast a spell and icy bars grew in the doorframe, blocking the rest of the house. Orrin saw Brandt start hacking at the ice, yelling orders at the men around him.

The three guards who had cleared the door sprang into action. One grabbed Daniel and started dragging him back toward the house, while the other two ran at the closer cloaked attacker. The figure swirled and raised their arms into the air, with two vine-like whips that lashed out. Each guard took a single hit from the whips and went down.

Orrin’s practice with [Increase Dexterity] finally paid off, as the burst of speed didn’t trip him up. He reached into his pocket and plucked his sword out just in time to run through the one he’d made stumble. They were just pulling their arm back to cast another spell and Orrin heard the shock of air leave their lungs. The third guard raised a spear to meet the closer attacker. Orrin tried casting inversed debuffs on the figure again but other than another look back, they didn’t stop spinning the dual whips.

Orrin tried to pull his sword out of the dying attacker. He’d run them through the back with all his strength. The blade was caught on something and stuck.

Brandt was yelling at Orrin to leave the sword, but he needed something to attack with. The third guard was holding off the whips. Brandt wasn’t hitting the ice bars anymore but another guard was doing something that looked like a blowtorch at high power.

After another tug, Orrin let go and moved as if in a dream. He looked over his shoulder. Madi had her spear extended and was fighting a third figure. His head snapped back and he watched one of the whips move around the guard’s spear, yanking it from his planted position. The second slipped through and wrapped around the man’s neck. He let go of his spear and started grabbing his throat but to no avail. The guard was out in seconds.

Orrin used [Ice Sword] and then threw a [Lightstrike] at the whip-wielder. They just ignored the hit and grabbed Daniel’s leg. Then they turned and started dragging him back toward Orrin.

Orrin continued to pelt the figure with debuffs. He cycled and didn’t care. He screamed in frustration and held the sword up.

“Orrin, they’re going to kidnap him. Don’t let them tel-“ Madi’s voice was cut off as she was knocked back into a wall.

“Orrin... You are the friend?” A feminine voice came from under the dark hood. “Move aside.”

“You’re not getting by me,” Orrin growled, planting his feet in the stance Brandt had taught him. He held the point of the ice sword at the person trying to take his friend. “Let him go now and I’ll let you live.”

A small laugh escaped from under the hood. “Don’t be absurd. You’re so below me, I shouldn’t have even brought the others. I only need a few steps to be outside this pathetic [Hold] field.”

Orrin cast another round of debuffs and threw a [Lightstrike] for good measure. He also focused on something else behind him and waited.

The attacker sighed. “That is getting annoying. I’m not sure what that is, but please stop. I quite like my stats right where they are, thank you.” She flicked her free wrist and snapped the whip near Orrin’s face.

Orrin saw what he was waiting for and quickly applied a few [Ward]s and [Utility Wards].

“Where are you taking him?”

“A [Hero] is rather valuable. He’ll be much more useful elsewhere. Don’t worry, you can visit in a few months.”

Orrin threw his sword at her and summoned another. She easily parried it away with a flick of her whip.

“You know you can’t hurt me. Don’t make me ask again. Move.”

“Madi, now!” Orrin yelled and threw himself to the side, landing heavily on his arm.

Orrin had sent an invite to her to join his party and then boosted her stats. The sounds of battle behind him had faded and Orrin had noted the annoyance in the attacker’s voice as she watched over his shoulder.

He cheered as the easily-recognized streak of light blasted past him and raced toward the figure holding his friend.

Then Orrin’s heart dropped as another cloaked figure with a sword stuck in their chest jumped into the line of fire and dropped.

The female tsk’ed and stepped over the still body of her comrade, dragging Daniel’s body over him. Orrin had time to see Daniel’s wide and scared eyes begging for help right before she teleported them both away.