Macsen smacked his lips and let out a long, satisfied sigh after downing half his entire quart of beer. Foam rimmed his lips and he licked it away quickly, smiling at the taste.

“Good stuff, buddy. Not the best I’ve had yet,” he picked up the mug and looked down into it, watching the golden liquid swirl, “…but still pretty snappin’ good.”

“Great to know,” I said with a little nod. I took a sip of my spiced cider, relishing the taste of apples and a spice akin to cinnamon filling my mouth. ‘Glorious.’ I had been tempted to try the alcohol, but it was too dangerous. Drunkenness made the tongue loose. The head foggy. I couldn’t risk making a mistake. So I left the alcohol to Macsen’s enjoyment.

We sat in the corner of the Bessy Barstool. Smoke swirling overhead. Laughter bouncing off the walls. Everything finally peaceful and allowing me a moment of real rest, and a good meal at that. The fish was nicely fried. The meat dry, but not awful to what I was used to… but considering jerky, bread, and dried fruit had been my staple for the past few days, freshly cooked meat tasted like a feast for kings. The plates before me, once full, were now practically licked clean.

Ivy sat beside me, sleeping. Earlier, after tugging on my arm and begging for a tiny taste of the ‘foamy cloud water’ I relented. She took one sip. Hated it. And five minutes later just fell asleep. Alraune physiology was different from a human’s it seemed… ‘Who knew?’ I chuckled to myself, running my fingers through her hair. I looked up at Macsen.

“Are you going to tell me of your Chaos meeting?”

Macsen took a final chug of beer and set the mug down, “Sure thing, buddy. See, I used to be in a guild called Rune Watch.” He indicated the runes laced over his chest.

“Fitting name.” I wanted to ask him how the runes worked, but I was going to let him finish his tale first.

A knowing grin formed, “Yeah, s’pose it does. Anyways, we were close knit. Twenty-three of us in all. Close friends, like family, and we had a lot of fun. Our leader… though, well, he had a thing for sleeping with high profile women. Nobles, bureaucrats, deities…”

“Deities?” I asked in surprise.

“Yeah, low level ones, but still deities. Like local deities like a Kitsune or Nymph of the Forest type of thing.”

“Aaaah… I see,” I nodded, urging Macsen to continue.

“Well, he made the mistake of bringing two of these high profile ladies into his lover’s circle… and they fought, and fought, and caused all sorts of trouble with all his other lovers and even his two wives. Because of how miserable he was, the guild started to suffer. More and more of his personal life got in the way. Eventually it tore Rune Watch apart,” his face fell and he tapped the mug. “In-fighting killed Rune Watch. We disbanded, planning on giving him some time to get his mess sorted out before we reformed. That was a year ago, almost.”

“I am sorry,” I dipped my head. “That would be difficult.”

“It was. Is. I don’t know if Rune Watch will ever come back…” With a little shrug, a half smirk formed on his face. “But it led me to take on jobs. Mostly mercenary work. Some quests and that type of thing… and one person I quested with was a Chaos follower, like you. About… six months ago? Yeah, something around there.”

He nodded to himself. “Yeah, definitely six months at least. And so this Chaos follower and I… Xniara was her name. Anyways, Xniara and I got whooped. You know how a little dog can try to take on a big dog, but then the little dog gets whooped? Like, there’s not even a competition. No fairness to the fight… and that happened to us when we went after a Greater Snow Drake. We got cooked. Bit. Tossed. And we were both in bad straights. No extra help… I thought we were dead.”

“But then she came…” he said, laying his chin on his hands like some lovestruck dreamer. “Everything turned white and black. Color just bled away from everything. And with a single bolt of lightning, the Drake turned to scales and ashes faster than a blink. She walked up. So gorgeous… those wild eyes. That hair. And that gorgeous body that even succubi cry to have… the smirk… ahh…” He went silent.

I felt like barfing. Sure, he was in love… but with Chaos? It made me sick. But, I planned to put up with it.

“And what happened?” I asked, hoping he would just get on with the story.

Macsen snapped back to reality, “Right! Right… ummm… she healed us both, since she ‘felt like it’ or something. I was Basilisk-Stoned because of how Foxfire she was.”

The Basilisk-Stoned expression I understood; similar to shell-shocked. But the Foxfire? ‘Is that like hot or sexy?’ I wondered.

“Foxfire? Does that mean… sexy? As in sexually attractive?”

“Ummm… yeah.” He nodded wistfully, threatening to daydream again.

“Then just call her ‘hot’ and continue the story,” I quickly said. Snapping my fingers in front of his face brought him back.

A laugh bubbled in his throat. “Sorry buddy. The memory just gets me every time.”

“I understand. Please continue.”

“Sure. So, she healed us. And she left me with a message.” He deepened his voice to sound more ominous and official as he said, “If you want to be one of my toys, head North to the lands of wood ruled by vampires. Be a good toy now.” Again, another cloudy sigh, “Then she blew me a kiss and vanished.”

I internally cursed. Anger boiled in my stomach, blood churning. I had wondered why I had met Macsen. It was so convenient. A Chaos-loving guy just showed up and happened to see me? Out of all the locations in the world, he just happened to be in some backwater country controlled by a vampire? Impossible… unless a goddess were pulling the strings. And she was! Six months ahead of time based on Macsen. Possibly years… decades, or even centuries of manipulation all in preparation of whatever grand scheme she had planned. And I was her main piece, the king of the chess board.

And till I had enough power to stop her, I was her piece… but pawns could act unpredictably, as I had proved to her with my magic. I would just have to outplay the puppeteer. Not quite simple… but a challenge I was more than willing to attempt.

Shunning my internal conflict, I focused on Macsen again. “And?”

“And so I came up here straight away. Been running around Wuudsaw since, looking for what she was talking about… then, a couple days back, something like a star falls to the ground near here. The storm… definitely Chaos’ and something important. I tried heading over there…” A shrug followed his words, “But the official armies had the place blocked up tight. So I came here in hopes of eventually hearing what happened. It’s the trading hub of this area, so I guessed my best chances were here.”

Perking up suddenly, he asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know, would you?”

‘Oh crap.’ I didn’t want to answer that. It could cause problems… so I considered lying. But, if the news ever reached him, my lie would crumble and he’d know I lied. While telling the truth risked him becoming suspicious of me… ‘Or, because I am so truthful and up front, he won’t suspect me. The best tricksters are those you trust the most to be the least trustful.’

I would tell him.

“Chaos summoned a Thalwesse to serve as her prophet,” I said bluntly.

Macsen peered dumbly at me a few seconds. He quickly stood, slapping his hands onto the table loud enough to quiet the room and to stir the groggy Ivy.

“What?!”

I shushed him, “Shhh… the world does not need to know this.”

He looked around at everyone’s stares and waved, “Sorry folks. Nothing important. Just found out great aunt Nan fought another dragon.” A chuckle rumbled through the room and Macsen quickly took his seat, swigged a drink, and waited a minute for the room to return to its own conversations. I could hear his foot tapping in impatience as he died of waiting, on the edge of his seat, literally. Finally he hissed, “What’d ya say?”

“I said, Chaos summoned a Thalwesse to serve as her prophet.” I spoke nonchalantly, just in a slightly hushed tone.

“But… a real live Thalwesse? Like the legends?” He could barely believe it. I could barely believe I just told him so plainly. I sent up a quick prayer in hopes that he didn’t figure it out.

I nodded, “Precisely so. That firestorm a few days ago was from the Prophet.”

“Ohhh… I saw a little of that. Brightened the night sky like day…”

“It was something to see.”

“Oh no…” A look of horror crossed over his face, “Is the Thalwesse a guy?”

“Why does it matter?” I was instantly worried that he was probing me for information. But, I found that my fears were unfounded.

He hid his face in his hands, “What if Chaos falls for him and my chance goes poof?”

‘That’s what you’re worried about? A world bender shows up and you’re worried about your crush’s romantic attentions going elsewhere?’ I couldn’t help but smirk a little. Macsen was a pretty simple guy. I liked that.

I smiled and waved it off, “I doubt it. From what I saw, Chaos and her prophet are on shaky terms… at best. I highly doubt romance will ever bloom between them…” If it did, I would consider myself Joker levels of crazy.

Macsen let out a relieved sigh, slouching back into his seat. He wiped imaginary sweat from his brow, “That’s a relief. So you know the guy?”

“I do. I happened across him and we clicked rather well.”

“Is he… a nice guy?”

I shrugged, “Not overly so, but by no means cruel.”

“So… like a rogue type of guy?”

“Of sorts.”

“Mmmm…” Macsen’s fingers rubbed his chin in thought. “Well, I still have a chance at least.”

“Indeed you do, my friend.” I raised my cider in a toast, “To your success in claiming her heart.” Grinning, he lifted his beer. We loudly clacked our mugs together.

“Here here!” We shouted.

Ivy’s voice quickly shot us down, “Nnnn!” Our eyes turned to her. Cheeks puffed and red, eyes sleepy, and an annoyed look playing on her enchanting features, she glared at both of us. We had woken her from her nap. Twice.

Macsen gave a sheepish grin and a bow, “Sorry, Ivy.”

“…nnnn.” She forgave him. Sort of. She looked to me expectantly.

I leaned forward and planted a kiss on her lips, then moved over to her ear and whispered, “Sorry.”

“Nnnn…” She nodded and forgave me as well. With that done, she snuggled up and resumed her nap. Macsen and I just exchanged a chuckle and continued our drinking. It was a promising start. I felt like I could actually trust Macsen some.

I would just take my time in Swallow Lake, just take life in a slower stride for a while. Learn more about the world. Finally get my feet under me. Learn how to fight. And the most exciting part? A smile formed as I looked down at her head laying against me. I was looking forward to falling deeper in love with Ivy. My beautiful Ivy.

Nary a thought crossed my mind at that time. The drollness of the light slashed at my windows. Incessantly and mercilessly. My staunch protectors bearing shapes of darkened curtains defended my lands from its threat. Valiant were their efforts. Successful. Because of they, shadows huddled within my room, save for a flickering stick of wax where the vicious licking reds and yellows rested.

Stillness gripped the room, a dead lover’s agonized scream would nary stir the tranquility. Dusty tomes, save for the dust, sat on shelves pristine to that of a queen’s palate. They lined the walls, filled the crannies, choked space with overzealous ardor. And I had read them all. Front to back and back again till their phrases and knowledge spun within my dreams.

The room held none besides me. Though, a bug served as my companion. A ghostly white moth flittered with drunken abandon near the candle’s flame. Zipping to and fro. Dully curious was I of its fate… would it touch the light and burn? Or would its inability to fly in a predefined course spare the little thing?

Whilst curious I was, the trite presence held nothing above the tome sleeping in my lap. Mine eyes skimmed its pages with reverence. The knowledge within nigh holy, yet wickedly devilish to point an Imp could have possessed its pages. It spoke of ancient rituals. Civilizations. The doomed and damned who had risen and fell, with their untimely destruction serving reminders to those of the present.

Glean would I their secrets. All my mind could manage. All it could hold. Till my vast stores of knowledge allotted me the wisest of the lands. Till my reach stretched from the rising sun to that of the waning. It would free me from the wretched stick-pit of Wuudsaw’s claim.

Turning a page, glimmering caught the corner of my vision. Faint. As if a flash of light bouncing against the fragment of a water’s easing wave. My head turned to spy it.

What I saw stole my interest away from my reading. Nay, vanquished it. Did alight an excitement and sickly fear within my breast, a jubilant feeling of interest. A smile tugged on mine lips; my fangs surely peeking out, as did they when mine cold heart beat once more.

Upon the way wall lay a message. Etched in burning embers of the purest blacks and tainted whites, it carried a message of horror that surely stirred even mine reverent Luscious.

I read each of the words slowly, feeling the ecstasy of their biting flows, “I dare you to face me. Swallow Lake. One week. Tell no one. Love, The Thailkteyeer.”

I stepped up to the wall. My fingers glided over their gentle cindering canyons and valleys. The heat was as ice, yet wild in its dance, like frozen winds and burning bonfires both. Twas a glorious dichotomy of pain and pleasure. Joy and wretchedness. Delightful.

“One week…?” I asked the words in whisper. My smile grew. Eyes danced. Heart leapt in excitement. “I, Kamra Deshar Als’Tiagan, accept thine challenge… Show me thine might, Thalwesse.”