I’ve heard it all before, little maggot, so how about you shut up and get inside me already?

Dahlia Howe - The Abomination - Speaking to an unidentified Pyromancer before feasting on him.

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Silas crouched by the foot of the cliff, taking what cover he could in the thin, straggly bushes. They had an alien ambience to them with their forked leaves and off-green colouring, but that could just have well been his imagination acting up. The three suns above were fiercely beaming down with midday zeal, but he was covered by the cliff’s encompassing shade so they weren’t cooking him alive in his armour, at least not yet. Mia sprawled beside him, trusting his perception enough to sit back and relax as if she were at the beach.

“I still think we should have gone at night,” Silas said, his head tilted up as he spied for any sentries on patrol.

During their meeting yesterday after Zyfellir, the purple sun, had set, Clio had given her thumbs up for their plan. The intention today wasn’t to kill Nicon but rather to trace the route they would use during the actual assassination. Because of this, Silas was expected to be in and out within a number of minutes, although he had some leeway as Clio promised at least half an hour of diversion.

Mia clicked her tongue. “I told you, the shaerd are from a dark planet so their night vision is on another level. This midday sun blinds them more than the night’s darkness.”

“I doubt it will - they’ve probably increased their perceptions like I did to deal with it,” Silas replied with a grunt, “At least it would have been cooler at night. You know, I’m going to be scorching up there once I’m out of this shade.”

“Shouldn’t have raised your perception so high then,” Mia said, grinning. “You should have focused on arcana like me.”

He rolled his eyes and was about to shoot back what he thought, and hoped, was a witty response when he spotted a plume of smoke rising above the cliffline. “It’s time,” he said, nudging Mia.

She roused and clambered to her feet, peering into the distance to confirm the signal. “Alright, then. Here goes nothing.” She placed her hands on his arms and softly rubbed down. “Don’t panic, okay? My control weakens the further you get, so stay calm no matter what, especially near the top.”

Gulping, he nodded. A massive translucent hand gripped him around his sides and lifted off. He initially struggled but forced himself to settle as it floated higher and higher, his gaze refusing to leave the cliffside. It wasn’t that he was scared of heights, well, maybe a little, but how could he not be when he was hovering up with nothing to support him from below. If her grip happened to loosen, he would plummet to certain death from this height, even with his buffed body. However, despite these worries, he kept still by channelling the thought of freeing Ethan: Olivia and Bandit were looking after his brother right now, but even then Silas didn’t feel totally satisfied because of Valrun’s Keep’s lacking security. He had to get Ethan out of here and fast before anything truly dangerous happened.

Coming to the top now, he was shaken out of his thoughts by a bout of bone-chilling fear as the metaphysical hand around him began to judder. He frantically searched the cliffside for any place the ledge was low enough for him to leap and grab, but fortunately he didn’t have to take drastic measures as Mia’s telekinetic hand continued on despite its spluttering engine. Plopping him at the top, it tapped him on the shoulders and gave a hazy thumbs up before fading back to thin air.

Legs trembling, Silas forced himself up from all fours and once more took in the fort in all its majesty: its giant, geometric murals of blue and purple stone and its four brilliant spires of purple gems. Although the fort was situated by a cliff on this side, the other side had a gently sloped track leading off from it with great, vaulted gates at its edge. The gates were heavily guarded, just as the walls here should have been, and yet he spotted very few sentries. Clio’s diversion markedly stood out in the sky: dark plumes of smoke streaked with glittering red and yellow. He wondered what she had set on fire to achieve this result as it had been very effective in drawing the guards away from here.

Slinking forward, he crept up to the fortress and started climbing to the princess’s balcony. The walls were made of the same aged cream-coloured stone as every other house, so he had plenty of time-worn cracks and holds to use as purchase, his spear and axe dangling off his belt as he ascended. Although he was hardly a master climber, it wasn’t much of a challenge to hoist himself up with his enhanced agility and strength.

The princess’s balcony was distinct from the others as not only was it the highest, it was also the largest at roughly the size of a living room. On his way there, Silas spotted many a crossbow on the other balconies and peaking through the windows, and he was glad their stationed guards were missing as otherwise he would have been riddled with holes by now. Pitching one strained hand against the ledge of the princess’s balcony, he gritted his teeth and pulled himself up and over its railing, his back muscles stinging from the journey up. Panting, he immediately scoured his surroundings but saw nothing of note: the balcony was nicer than the others, seemingly made of milky marble, but it was plain with no decorations and no one lounging in the sun.

However, Silas didn’t let his guard down as he picked his spear from his belt and made for the doorways. It was as he reached out from about half a metre away that he felt a force push back at his hand - while it wasn’t particularly strong, it got exponentially worse the closer he got until his fingers were quivering in the air as he strained but failed to make progress. He pulled back and frowned agape at his hand, then at the doorway. It appeared to be some sort of forcefield and seemingly one originating from a rune as its very presence injected the image of a shaerd shoving his hand away into his mind, similar to how the constitution runes instilled thoughts of vitality and health.

It was shocking to see such advanced utility of runes, especially compared to his basic buffs, but he quickly realised that it wasn’t his first time learning of advanced applications as Skully had also claimed to have helped a woman control her lightning abilities to the point she could shoot bolts out of her fingertips. This piece of information meant that Valrun’s Keep likely had their own master Runesmith, which was a daunting thought as it meant all the guards here were buffed up to the high heavens.

This made Silas reconsider his entire plan as how was he supposed to break through a master Runesmith’s works in the first place? He didn’t have the time, nor the skill required for such a feat! Disheartened, he was about to turn back and call off the plan when a curious question struck at him: what would the princess do if she got stuck outside? Assuming she wasn’t the Runesmith herself, then it was likely she had a hidden button somewhere to make sure that she never got stuck outside. If he could find that, then…

Breathing deeply, Silas steeled himself and restarted his search over the balcony. Several minutes later, however, he still had no success so he began stamping his foot and patting the railing, hoping that there was a hidden button built into them. It was all looking bleak when suddenly the doorway grumbled and Silas leapt back, scared out of his wits. He tensed, ready to fight, but no one came out from within. Could it be?

He neared the doorway once more and warily reached out, his face lighting up as he realised the forcefield had been disabled. Trying the stone-hard door next, it opened at his touch and revealed thick, bleached curtains. He pulled them aside and peeked through, finding a fancily furnished bedroom the size of a bungalow. He didn’t recognise the overarching style or the materials used, but he could tell all the same that it must have cost a fortune from the ornate designs and the lavish decorations. There were abstract artwork hanging off the walls, detailed sculptures sitting on podiums for delicate viewing, and richly dyed objects that had the potential to be furniture. It looked more like a storage room for a private collection than a bedroom, but there was a giant purple bed in the corner so maybe it was a bit of both.

There was no one here either, so he stepped inside with his mouth gaping. As a small-time thief, even if a former one, he wasn’t used to seeing such riches, so he wanted to take a moment to savour the sight in its fullest. There was just something so delightful about them that he couldn’t quite put into words. Still, he intended to leave soon (or at least he told himself) but that plan too was dashed against the walls as the doors snapped shut behind him.

Panicking, he tried the doors, but they refused to budge for him. Then, remembering the way he had come in, he looked for a hidden button, stamping the floor and slapping the door, frantically hoping that this wasn’t actually happening. Little did he know that there were no buttons to open the doorway in the first place, nor any that could turn the rune off.

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When all that you planned is set into motion, sit back and watch as everything falls apart. That’s usually how things end up, so you better be ready for that too.

Lavanya Sanghvi - the Monster Bane - Adventurer’s Guide to Surviving the Idroan Wilderness