The coffer, that damn coffer, sat in front of me. I was in the calm surroundings of my wind-oak tree, high up on the cliff of my Demesne, staring at the coffer and nothing but the coffer. The damn coffer.

“Damn coffer.“ I swore.

“Well, what did you expect, Hannibal?“ Lily said, hovering in the air beside me. “How would I know how the legendary forge of the Pathforger works? The work is just...miles above me. I just don’t know what even half of it does.“

Well, so did I. If Lily could not understand what the skillforge did, it was hopeless for me. We sat there, trying to understand what exactly we had brought into my sanctuary. You very well could bring art and literature to a pack of wolves and expect them to explain the cultural implications, it was just like that.

I could not see past the coffer, but Lily as a being made out of Essence knew what was the truth behind the image. A complicated weaving of Essence with fractals and symbols that did a lot. And she knew not half of it. She knew that it was self-fueling and where to activate it.

Very much like the Web of Lies we had installed outside of the Gate. One activation and away it went to build up what was meant to.

“Do we just...do it?“ Lily asked.

I stared at the coffer, the damned thing, with my head in my hands. I needed it. I needed it...did I need it? I wanted it.

“There is power sitting right in front of me, Lily. Not just sheer power, but the tool I need to shape everything I see to my heart's desire. It fell into my lap...but that is life, is it not? We just aren’t used to a lucky windfall.“ I mused. And it was true. A lot of misfortune had befallen me, but by struggling through it I had gained what strength I now possessed. I was not used to luck.

“It’s just that I don’t know what it does. It is a forge I think. But after that, I have no idea.“ Lil

“Then it doesn‘t matter. An uninformed decision is no decision at all. There is no boon to win in being too cautious and there is something to risk in being overeager. If it doesn’t matter, I might as well gamble on the best outcome.“ I decided and got up.

“But the risk...“ Lily started but I cut her short.

“It is as big a risk as the advantage I would miss out on would be, it is in balance. If things can go either way, you take the route that would bring you the most benefit, if the negatives are a toss-up.“

I turned the key in the lock of the coffer.

Light exploded out of the lid that slammed back, shooting in the air and illuminating the nightly scene of the Demesne. A fountain of Essence splashed onto the ground and began to grow glowing branches and tendrils, weaving themselves into an ever-growing mass.

Quickly, a structure rose from the light and the Essence, building itself with remarkable speed, until I could discern the shape and form the final construct would have. It resembled the newfangled instrument of the harpsichord, in form at least, but with endlessly more...things. I had only seen the instrument once, so I was not quite sure on the details, but there had not been a prism turning on top of it, illuminated from within, I was pretty positive.

There were mirrors, one to the left and one to the right of the keys. As the strange instrument built itself, my eyes were drawn to these mirrors, as they were like windows into another world. There were Skills there, as I knew them and had woven them before, as if on display. Now, they were not Skills I had ever seen before, but I knew the general look of one.

In the turning prism on top, there was a combination of these Skills, it took me a couple of minutes to see it, but it was a demonstration. You could somehow put a Skill into each of the mirrors and then combine them to the image floating above, using the forge and its control elements.

The question was just, why were there Skills there? Why was the Skillforge filled? Music began to spring forth from the finished structure, a light, unearthly trill floating around.

And the forge began to work.

Lily dove into the structure of light, disappearing completely.

“I can‘t see what‘s happening!“ She yelled. “Essence is being woven, but it looks like a Skill.“

“The forge is complete?“

“Yes, The forge is complete as far as I can tell. It is working.“ Her voice was muffled through all the noises.

That finally made me snap and scream as well. “Then what by the dead gods and the damned is this forge working on?“

“I have no idea! I don‘t understand any of it!“

“Can you stop it! Shut it off!“

“How? There is no way to....wait. No, it is not reacting to me!“ There was a slight hysteria in her usually so chipper voice now, while I walked around the thing with evergrowing unrest.

“Can we...I don‘t know...destroy it?“ I asked.

“How would I know? Why don‘t you just try and let me work?“ She shouted back.

I summoned Kingsbane into my hand and screamed, while I smashed the blade onto the construct. It felt like hitting solid rock. The dark steel bounced back, while the music and the movements of the forge continued unabashed.

Again and again, I tried to cut off...something, but I failed. This construct was not mine, and although it was anchored to my Demesne, and thus my mind, I could not just change and destroy it. It was an alien, foreign presence growing inside my most private place, growing roots, settling down. Whatever I tried, I could not make it stop.

Then it stopped by itself.

Lily came out, floating beside me as always. “That was not me.“ She said. “What is happening.“

I sighed. “Whatever those Skills are supposed to make happen.“

They opened a Gate.

“I can read the Skills now.“ Lily whispered meekly as I watched the rift in space that opened up right in front of me. “It is [Sapper Essence Veil] and [Undermine Assault Gate].“

“Is that so?“ I asked absent-mindedly not even completely having registered her words. It was obvious, anyway. Kingsbane already was in my hands, leaning on my shoulders, as I tried to calm myself for what was to come.

Was I surprised? Was anyone? No, but that's what it meant to make big decisions. Assess the risk, take it, and deal with the consequences.

What I did not expect was the shadows and flames that poured out of the Gate like all floodgates of hell had been opened, sweeping me off my feet with the force of a tidal wave. here, in Limbo and my Demesne, concepts like shadows and flames obviously had weight behind them they would not have in reality.

I screamed in frustration as I tumbled around the cliff. I had no need to breathe, I did not even have the need to feel pain, here in my own soul, so I did not. But the force pushing and pulling me around was real, as it was not mine to control.

“How dare you!“ I roared, as I managed to grab on to one of the roots of the tree, dragging me out of the tide. “How dare you sullen my sanctuary with your filth?“

Three entities stepped through the Gate, walking through the tide of darkness and flame like it was nonexistent - no, like they were a part of it. Long, dark robes flowed down their bodies, they themselves rose out of the shadows like candles flickering to life.

Their heads were spinning, literally spinning, showing different silver masks, switching from one gruesome face of a creature to another. One of them I knew. The manticore mask of the man whom I had sold the information on the whereabouts of the Dragon of Darkness to. He had called himself the Tongue, then. The other masks I did not recognize, but surely one of them would be Heron, who had sold me this trap and who had a thing for changing faces.

“Pitiful little dump.“ The man to the right hissed, his face changed from a man in pain to the roaring jaws of a dragon. “As expected from the vermin that snuffs out the crypts of the mighty. Not worth my time.“

“No, master. You will see. It is him I got the secret from. He knows. He knows more.“ I was not quite sure if that truly was the voice of the Tongue, but his mask I would recognize everywhere.

“This you made me risk the forge of the Pathforger for?“ Now that was the Heron, even if his voice sounded nothing like the man he had been. He turned to the Tongue, snapping at him with words like a rabid dog. “Are you mad? This will never be worth the risk. I would have you flogged and quartered If you had a body to torture.“

Around me, the shadows and flames devoured my Demesne. But it was mine, and I held on to it. Here, in Limbo, things were fluid. It was a battle of will and meaning. What I saw now was what would happen if my will faltered for just a second. But my will was iron and my rage close to the boiling point. They would never get my Demesne with cheap tricks and scary voices.

“You want to have what is mine?“ I snarled. “You will have to fight for it then.“

The three bickering masks turned to me, changing to more intimidating creatures and faces. One human carved as if in anger, one in malicious intent, and one in desire.

“Ohh, look at that! The dog of freedom came to bark at the darkness.“ The voice I did not know laughed with a hollow, lifeless sound.

Now there answered a growling, as deep and threatening as an earthquake, so fierce even the shadows around my feet trembled under the pressure.

“Wrong.“ I said as the massive black Mastiff of Dread came up behind me to growl and stare with vicious, glowing eyes at the intruders, steam blowing out of his nose, while saliva dropped onto the ground, sizzling with heat. It was a being of barely contained violence and murder in the form of a dog bred to kill. “That is my dog...and he does not bark.“

There was a second of hesitation in the three servants of darkness, but they laughed it off finally. “If you think us unprepared, you are sorely mistaken, whelp. Nothing you can do will stop us from getting what we want. We will tear it out of your mind, and if we have to eviscerate every shred of your being to do it, we will.“

“Prepared, are you?“ A voice colder than the winter mountain winds cut through the noise and the darkness. Contempt so absolute, it undercut even the threatening growl of the Mastiff of Dread. “The worst day in the life of a master of the sword is the day he realizes there is no one left to challenge him.“

The Betrayer stepped up with cold confidence, an unshakable attitude, and a gaze that told everybody it met that they were nothing to him. “This is what became of the servants of darkness? A life and an afterlife spend fighting the tide and this is what I feared, what I prepared myself against? If I had known the state of my enemy I would have spent my time whoring and gambling.“

He looked at me, his face as much a mask as the three standing before me. He held out his hand. “Give me my sword, boy. There is some punishment to serve out I have been holding on for ages.“

“And what are you? You smell of the dead, mortal soul. You have no power here.“ The Tongue hissed.

“Ahh, but you are mistaken. My sword is here, and a true Whisper it is. What else does destiny need but a sword and a master to wield it?“ He did not bow, he did not assume a stance, but as soon as Whisper, the true Kingsbane I gave him, was in his fists he stood straighter, grew if not in size than in sheer personality. What was divided was whole again.

And Whisper whistled through the shadows as he raised it, and the shadows fled before the blade.