“Hey, Kid.”

“Fisher?” I said, opening my eyes slowly. “I thought you were gone for good this time.”

“No, Kiddo,” he stood up from a crouch and offered me his hand, “This time it’s all me.”

I shook my head, refusing to take his hand as I stood.

We were in a dusty brown field full of winding cracks and sparse, yellow grass. Dawn was just beginning to appear, painting the sky in orange and blue. I smiled as unfiltered sunlight warmed my face for the first time in days.

“Where are we,” I said, “this doesn’t feel familiar.”

“Augustus, my son” he grasped me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes. “You’ve known this place all your life. It’s who you are.”

I looked around at the arid desert but found nothing familiar. It was just dry, cracked ground devoid of life stretching as far as the eye could see in almost every direction. Tall mountains, blue and snowcapped, stood like giants to the west, as dark storm clouds gathered behind them.

“If this is all I am,” I shook out of his grasp, “then I’m worse off than I thought. Perhaps it’s all the lies I’ve been told. My whole life has been a lie, hasn’t it? Dad. Fisher? Whoever you are.”

“No,” he shook his head, “not that. “Everything else was a lie, but not who you are. The power. The truth of our family, our past. We are not gods, Gus. Not like we were, like all men can be. We are merely the descendants of fools who made a poor choice in allies.”

“Then tell me where we are, why any of this is happening. Tell me why a girl, a child I barely knew, had to die. My child, Dad. And tell me why the monster that killed her still lives.”

“Gus … son. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you. I can’t answer your questions. I am just a memory, a fragment left by a dying man. The world has become a dangerous place, but I’m afraid you will have to make your own way once you leave here.”

“Then tell me just one thing, you’re useless to me if you can’t.”

“I will, if I can.”

“How,” I growled, “do I kill a god?”

“The source of a god’s power, son, is the Dreamscape. It is a world that binds all minds, from the lowest insect to the beings that play marbles with our universe. Perhaps even creatures greater still. The power to visit that world is what allowed my grandfather to create the first generation of ‘gods’. It’s a power you share.”

“I don’t understand. If I’ve had this power all my life, why have I never used it? Why did you never tell me?”

“The mantle, a shackle really, suppressed it. Recently though, you’ve felt it haven’t you? Perhaps you’ve even begun constructing your own Mindspace?”

“That’s …” I thought back to my chats with the Fisher and the floating island in the middle of a black void. The creature had said it was a part of my own mind. His part.

“Maybe,” I conceded, “and the Fisher, and the burning Eye?”

“Creatures of the Dreamscape, yes, but also more. Beware the temptations of Madness, Finn. It is what first gave rise to consciousness and is a powerful weapon, but it’s a sword that cuts both ways.”

“And I can use this place,” I waved my arms in front me, “to kill Liv?”

“She is not a god,” he shook his head, “not like those of us who once ruled in Midgard. The Liv you knew is long since dead, but now is not the time to mourn. Not until you face our true oppressor, and the true source of Liv’s strength.

If the Founders return, I’m afraid it will be too late. That’s why I’m here.”

“You’re here to tell me it’s too late?”

“No, Finn,” he smiled, “I’m here to train you. Here, in this place, anything is possible. Weapons, opponents, even time can be created and destroyed with a thought.”

“Train me?” I raised one eyebrow, “to do what? Fight gods and level up?”

“No,” he shook his head, “not to kill gods, but to create them. You’ll need to grow powerful, but you’ll also need allies to face your true enemy.”

“The creature at the source of that giant pillar of light?” I asked. “The creature at the very bottom of a dungeon that already almost killed me once?”

“Yes, son,” he placed a hand on my shoulder, “and the source of Liv’s power and the architect of the machinations that have ruined our world. Our family’s shame has come to fruition, you must set it right.”

“So … what you’re saying is, we need to go on a boss raid?”

“Gus, I have no idea what that means.”

“I know, dad. I know.”

***

“Oh, thank fucking God.” I heard Tiller’s voice. “He’s awake!”

He sounded muffled, and faraway. My eyes slowly opened, but I quickly shut them under the assault of a powerful glare. I saw only white light as I blinked away the crust that had formed in the corners of my eyes

“Finn,” I heard Telvy’s voice, “Can you hear me?”

“I’m here,” I moaned. “Where am I, though? How long have I been out?”

I slowly sat up, my muscles felt stiff and unresponsive. I hadn’t been this weak since before the system. Was atrophy still a thing I needed to worry about?

I felt like I’d been gone months, but I had no idea how long had passed outside the Dreamscape. Everything seemed hazy, and unreal – like a dream. Something had called me back early.

“It’s been a few days, Finn,” Tiller said. “But you were very injured. We tried spells, and potions but you just kept getting worse —”

“What my apprentice is saying,” interrupted Telvy, “is that you would be dead if not for me. I devised a brilliant formation that isolated you from all outside interference, allowing your natural healing to take effect. You’ll find you have no mana, or Ancestors forbid, eldritch energy, to call on, but you should make a full recovery quite quickly.”

I flexed my right arm, finding it to be just as strong as ever. It seemed the archmage could be wrong.

“Thank you, Telvy,” I said. “You’ve truly done wonders.”

“As usual,” she preened. “Now tell me, did you witness the entity? I can’t imagine how any backwater godling could escape my ritual.”

“I did,” I sighed, “Her name is Liv Swanson, and she’s apparently connected to everything that has been happening. Eldritch Night, the abominations, the dungeon, the cultists, all of ….”

I paused for a moment before continuing, “She killed Sebbit.”

“Wait a fuckin’ minute,” Tiller said. “Your childhood friend, grew up together, married your best friend Liv? She’s the motherfucker that just killed an entire army single handedly, and took out Sebbit, as well?”

“Does your little sister know you’ve got such a mouth on you?”

Two pairs of eyes stared at me unapologetically.

“Fine! Yes,” I said, “It’s her, but she’s not the same. Something about founders and mantles. She … I can’t, won’t talk about it now, but it’s fucking bad … The things she told me. I just don’t know.”

“I’m s—” Tiller began.

“Wait, Catayla. Is she okay? Did you find her?”

I leaped up from the sleek, white hospital bed but Tiller and Telvy both stopped me from leaving and guided me back to the bed. “Let me go!”

“Wait, Finn,” said Tiller, “it’s okay. We found her. She’s alive and already up. At first, she looked worse than you, but she recovered two days ago. She’s checked on you constantly, but she was called away. She should be back tonight.”

“She’s alive,” I fell back into the bed. “She’s alive. At least someone is. Everyone is dead, because of me. It’s all my fault.”

“A soldier never blames herself,” surprisingly it was Telvy who spoke. “And if she falls she never blames the shield beside her. All soldiers die, only the unlucky few die old and fangless within piss stained beds.”

“You don’t understand, this isn’t self-pity …”

“Captain Xern, Sebbit… was a friend. You dishonor him and those who fought beside him by taking his death unto yourself. We will find the one responsible, and I will gut her personally, and feast on her entrails.”

The Peacekeepers were a terrifying bunch, especially the women.

“So, what now then?” I asked.

“You know her, she spoke to you,” there was no hint of a question in Telvy’s voice. “You must have some idea where she went, or what her plans are.”

“… I do, but it’s not going to be easy.”

“The best hunts,” said a mouth full of pointed teeth, “never are.”