“Oh dear.”

“Don’t ‘oh dear’ me,” Maraz said, shooting Theo a look. “I- how strong is this enchantment? It broke a tier 6 dungeon gem.”

“At least tier 7?” Theo said, a smug smile pulling at the corner of his lip.

Maraz raised a fist. “I just lost platinum, Theo. Not gold. Not the time.”

“Oh-”

“If you say ‘oh dear’ one more time, you’re going to haunt this forest,” Maraz threatened, pulling Theo to him by his vest.

Theo extricated himself from Maraz’s hands carefully, dusting off his vest. “Well, um, what are we going to do now?”

“Walk out and have a better gem made, I suppose,” Maraz said, making a frustrated noise. He whispered something under his breath and, in a blur of motion, kicked out.

With a horrible snap the tree next to him broke, sending chips of wood and bark flying. It fell to the ground with a crash, birds and fauna fleeing the scene.

Theo yelped, jumping back a step. After the embarrassment faded, he put a hand on his hip and regarded Maraz. “Now, what did that tree do to you?”

Maraz turned back to Theo. “It made me feel better. Let’s go.”

Tirr shrieked from a tree, having shifted to a bright, angry red.

Theo waved to Tirr. “It’s okay, Tirr. He’s just… angry.” His eyes focused on Tirr for a moment, before he realized something. “Maraz, wait!”

The man stopped, pivoting on his heel. Never had more exasperation existed on one face. “What?”

“How big was the field of protection on that gem?”

Maraz bent down to pick up the remaining chips of the gemstone. “I don’t know, not big? It was supposed to be a concentrated defense. Probably only enough to cover us. Why?”

“Tirr lived in this forest,” Theo said, pointing at the zilant. “He wasn’t in your protection field and he was keeping up with us no problem. I could be wrong but… I think the spell doesn’t affect wildlife.”

Tirr made an annoyed noise at being called “wildlife.”

Maraz’s eyes widened. He stood up from picking up the remnants of the pendant, pocketing them. “That’s- that could work.”

“Right,” Theo said, turning to the dragon in the tree. “Tirr, there’s an enchantment on this forest that keeps us from getting to where I met you. ‘Nice day,’ remember? Do you think you could guide us to the entrance?”

“Nice day!” Tirr chirped, gliding down from the tree to land on Theo.

Theo turned to Maraz, smiling ear to ear. “I think this is going to work.”

“I’m not sure that thing understood a word of what you said,” Maraz said, shaking his head. “But, we don’t have any other options, do we?”

“He… may have understood,” Theo said, shrugging. “I’ve been able to teach him table manners. I think the Terrent family must have spoken to him enough that he understands some human speech. He is a dragon, after all. They’re intelligent. Isn't that right, Tirr?” He scratched the zilant under the chin.

“We can try, at least,” Maraz said, dusting off bits of wood from his pant leg.

“Okay, but we have to follow Tirr,” Theo said, scritching behind the dragon’s horn. “Keep all of your focus on him. The enchantment is designed to make you walk around the forest. It was made to be subtle. We’ll lose our way if we don’t follow him. Tirr? Find us ‘nice day.’ Please.”

Tirr chirped, flying into the air.

“Oh dear, he’s fast,” Theo said, settling into a jog after the zilant.

Maraz sighed, following after the two of them.

The path Tirr led them was not the path the Terrents had described.

Several times, the enchantment nearly misdirected Theo. He found his legs moving of their own accord off the path until Tirr shrieked, catching his attention.

Even Maraz couldn’t resist the enchantment. Theo had to call out to him each time he noticed the man walking another way.

It was powerful, but in such a subtle way it was minutes at times before he even realized he was going the wrong way. Tirr simply left his thoughts at times, and he began to walk away from the epicenter of the enchantment.

After an hour or so longer than it’d originally taken Theo to reach the enchantment, however, they reached the stone.

Without the brooch on him, he found it harder to even view the runes with his mana-sight. But he was sure it was what he was looking at. Knowing the function of the enchantment helped him resist its push, even if to this very moment every fiber of his being was telling him to walk away.

It continually screamed itself as the most logical thing to do. There was nothing down this path for him. He even found the other paths significantly more appealing, in a way he couldn’t define.

“Gods, this is a strong spell,” Maraz said, coming to a stop near Theo. And then taking a step away for a moment before slamming his foot back in place. “This may be tier 8, even.”

Tirr sat in a tree above, chittering. He turned grey and tilted his head at Theo.

“You did a great job, Tirr!” Theo said, beaming at the dragon. “I’ll give you extra treats tonight, okay?”

“Nice day!” Tirr said, flapping his wings and turning a bright yellow.

Theo turned to Maraz. “Told you he understands me.”

Maraz groaned. “Can you deactivate this enchantment? I’m getting a headache at this point resisting it.”

“I-I forgot about it already,” Theo said, surprised at himself. “This truly is a powerful enchantment. A small lapse in focus and I forgot it was next to me.” He began to run his fingers over the stone, trying to comprehend what he was looking at.

“It’s- this may take me a while,” Theo said, pulling out his inscribing stylus.

“How long is ‘a while,’ Theo?” Maraz asked, approaching the stone himself. “Gods, this is… complex.”

“Beautiful latticing, isn’t it?” Theo asked, admiring the work. It hurt him to have to disable it. “And whoever this is can achieve 3D rune-spacing. The runes go into the stone, they don’t just coat the outside. This could take me… hours? Days, maybe? I’m not sure, I don’t have any spells for internal inscription. It may very well be impossible for me to do anything. I’m not even sure what the inner runes do.”

“I don’t have that kind of time,” Maraz said, crossing his arms. “The sooner we have this stone, the sooner we can prove that the Relicors were hiding this forest. Can’t I just smash it?”

“That- that wouldn’t be a good idea,” Theo said, swallowing. “It’s heavily reinforced against damage. Your leg would break before it would, but, I-I can try my best.” He delved into his work, a headache beginning to bloom at the sheer flood of information he was dealing with.

Mere minutes into Theo’s inspection, Maraz began to tap his foot.

“Maraz, please, that’s distracting,” Theo said, turning to the man.

“Just- try something,” Maraz said, hissing through his teeth.

“What has you so impatient with this?” Theo said, gesturing to the stone. “These things take time.”

“I don’t- Can you just hurry this along?” Maraz said, the first hints of pleading in his voice.

That caught Theo’s attention. “Is um, do you have a history with Phrenic magic, Maraz?”

“I don’t-”

“Maraz, you can tell me, I’m not going to tell anyone,” Theo said, meeting the man’s honey-gold eyes. “Promise.”

Maraz’s brows knit together. He huffed. “Fine, yes. My parents… They used Phrenic teaching. To make me a ‘good’ child. Happy?”

Theo’s eyes widened. “They what? That’s been illegal for centuries! It can cause permanent damage to your psyche!”

“Those with money don’t tend to care,” Maraz said, turning to face the forest. “Can we just- can you try something?”

Theo’s lips set into a line. “I can- I can try something. But… you’re not going to like it.”

“What is it?” Maraz asked, turning back to Theo.

“This enchantment is tier 8, I simply don’t have the strength to overload the enchantment, but if we Union Casted…” Theo trailed off, eyeing Maraz.

“...Just keep working at it,” Maraz said, facing the forest again.

Theo sighed, delving back into the runes. The sun continued to pass overhead, the forest darkening. His head began to pound a steady beat as he strained his mind against the runes.

Maraz had given him some paper to take notes on. Not all were notes that would help him deactivate the enchantment, but he was learning so much. He had to take some personal notes, at least.

“...I’ll do it,” Maraz said, rounding on Theo.

“Do what?” Theo asked, looking up at the man.

“Union Cast,” Maraz said, quietly. “Just… you sure it’ll work?”

“I’m tier 3 now, and I suspect you’re at least tier 6,” Theo said, nodding to the man. “It’s… I’m not sure we’ll have enough power, but hopefully my spells will do the rest. How good is your Inscribe spell?”

“I’ve always used a stylus,” Maraz said, shrugging.

Theo rolled his eyes, facing away from Maraz. Rich people… I didn’t start with a stylus.

“We’ll use mine, then,” Theo said, beckoning Maraz down.

The man squatted next to him.

“We um, we’ll begin now,” Theo said, walking behind Maraz and placing his hand on the middle of the man’s back.

“Is it too late for me to pull out?” Maraz asked, frowning.

“It’s not.”

“...I was hoping you wouldn’t say that,” Maraz said, shifting on his feet.

Theo moved his hand until he was satisfied that he was close to the core of the man’s mana pool. “I’m going to cast my Inscribe spell and target what I believe is the outer core of this enchantment, okay? It’s a bit rough, but I’m essentially scribbling out that portion. You simply need to reinforce the runes with your own mana once it passes through you.”

“Where should I put my hand?” Maraz asked, touching to the stone.

“Oh, right,” Theo said, his cheeks heating. He reached over, moving Maraz’s hand to where it needed to be. “Don’t move it in the slightest until we’re done, okay?”

The man nodded, pursing his lips.

Theo repositioned his hand where it needed to be. “I’ll count down. You ready?” He watched the man’s head nod once again. “Okay. Three… Two… One… Inscribe.”

Pulling on his mana pool, Theo pushed the Infusion mana into Maraz’s mana pool. There was the tiniest resistance, but it pushed through, the runes of the spell following the mana.

Maraz grunted, but soon a silvery glow flashed from his hand.

Previously glowing blue runes went dark. The force against Theo’s mind that he’d slowly accustomed to went dark as he broke the enchantment.

Letting out a whoop, Theo jumped for joy. “We did it!”

Maraz turned to Theo, his lips quivering as he tried to suppress his own smile. His shoulders slumped, and he let out a deep breath. “It was… adequate work, I’ll admit.”

Theo looked over, and saw that the bushes and shrubs disguising the forest entrance had disappeared as well.

The ground tremored. And the runes on the stone lit up again, but red this time.

“Theo, what’s-” Maraz’s eyes focused, he jumped back, grabbing Theo and yanking him out of the way as a stony fist clasped where they’d just been standing.

Large stones dotting the forest around them flew by, gathering around the enchanted stone, forming… a body.

The enchanted stone rose to the top, flipping to reveal a head with a massive dungeon gemstone set in the center.

“Maraz- That’s-”

“Way beyond my pay grade, run!” Maraz grabbed Theo by the collar, sprinting away.

Just as they gained speed, however, walls of stone rose up around them. Maraz punched at one, but his fist didn’t even break off a single piece.

Setting Theo down, Maraz pulled off his suit coat, dropping it to the ground. He ripped off a portion of each pant leg as well to just above the knee. “Theo, I can’t jump those walls, they’re too tall. We’re fighting.”

“W-W-We’re-” A cold chill ran down Theo’s spine. He looked at the… golem in front of him, but all he could see was the garden snake, bearing down on him. It flashed in, about to strike. A force struck him from the side.

“Theo?” Maraz said, looking down. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Doing this alone, Ruvenan.”

He walked away as Theo’s world began to pale.

“Titanic Strength. Titanium Skin. Body of Lead.” Maraz chanted out his Named Spells as the golem approached. It had trouble navigating the trees, so it knocked them down.

Theo tried to move, but every time he did, the garden snake was striking at him again, locking him in place. His ribs screamed with phantom pain. He felt them shatter all over again.

The golem’s head locked on to Maraz as he ran in, a brilliant orange light glowing in its gemstone eye.

Several glowing rings appeared in the air around the eye. The air shifted, and the perspective of its eye shrunk in Theo’s view.

Maraz moved to dodge to the side, but several spikes of earth stabbed out at him. He jumped into the air, dodging each by jumping off the one before it.

The golem’s eye followed Maraz’s path through the air. Theo felt the mana in the air pull in as its gem shone brighter and brighter.

“Helping!” Tirr shouted, flying toward the golem’s head. He sucked in air, his entire body expanding to double- triple its size in moments. The zilant blew out, a torrent of wind blasting the golem’s head fractionally to the side.

A brilliant, searing orange light shot inches to the side from hitting Maraz. Even so, his skin charred from the sheer heat. An explosion rocked from behind him, sending the man tumbling forward.

In the shock of the moment, the world came back to the present for Theo. He felt… something burning inside of him. The desire to help.

He may not like Maraz, but that didn’t mean the man deserved to die.

Tirr dodged and weaved as the golem swung its stony arms at the dragon. He continued to call out “helping!” and blasted more wind shots at the golem.

As Maraz stood up, his right arm hanging limply at his side, Theo reached into his bag. He grabbed the first thing his hand reached. A wand.

Giving it only a passing glance to identify it, Theo leveled the wand on the golem. It’s not a person. Come on, Theo, just say it!

“Searing Shot!” He shouted the casting word again and again, until all the stored mana in the wand and its stardust crystal was expended. On the final shot, he pulsed in his own mana, fueling the spell beyond its limits. Wood snapped. He tossed the wand aside.

All it did was leave burn marks on the stone of the golem’s body. Theo hissed as its gem-eye leveled on him.

Rifling through his bag, Theo’s hands closed around glass. “Maraz!” He whipped the container toward the man, who fortunately caught it in time.

After a quick glance, Maraz grinned, and poured the liquid over his arm. Flesh knit back together and he could move the limb once more.

Tirr pulled the golem’s attention away from Theo once again with a wind blast, but only for enough time that he could pull another wand.

Theo raised this wand to the sky, pointing above the golem as its eye glowed once more. The… focusing rings, Theo realized, were amplifying the light just like his own idea on how to do it. A Light Beam, then, as far as he could tell.

A small part of him wanted to be disappointed at his idea being stolen, but this golem was likely far older than him. Perhaps he was the thief.

Shaking his head at the thought, Theo gripped the wand. “Vortex Hammer!” The crystal on the wand shattered, along with the wood as he forced more mana into the spell. Magical water formed over the golem’s head, spinning violently.

The hammer crashed down, smashing the golem’s head toward the ground just as its beam fired once more.

Pieces of rock blew off of its own legs from the resulting explosion, sending burning shrapnel flying through the air.

Theo dodged most of it, but yelped in pain as a burning rock seared his calf.

Maraz seemed to be spared, and he moved in, striking at an arm joint with an axe kick from the air.

Dropping the second wand, Theo pulled out a smooth, spherical stone. He hurled the thing with all of his might at the golem. “Maraz! Flare Orb!”

With the forewarning, Maraz jumped away as an explosion rocked the golem, sending it careening back. It caught itself and righted, gathering mana for another beam.

“Theo, these spells aren’t doing much!” Maraz shouted, rolling to dodge a swing by the golem. He let out a horrible noise when the rock shifted, catching him with a new extension.

“It’s spell resistant, not immune, I’ll break through eventually!” Theo shouted, hoping the man was okay. Those were some powerful-sounding bodily reinforcement spells he’d heard cast earlier, after all.

Theo pulled another wand. “Maraz, stay back from this one! Flare Finale!” An orb of burning flames and compressed air shot toward the golem. It struck dead center on its right leg, exploding on contact.

Stone on its leg showed a small crack running up the length of it - the same leg that had been hit by the Light Beam explosion earlier.

Having identified his target, Theo knew what he needed next. “Come on, come on… Where is it…” Theo muttered to himself.

“Theo, watch out!” Maraz shouted.

Looking up, Theo saw a stone hurtling toward him.

“Helping!” Tirr called out, blowing another wind blast. The stone landed a hair's-width away from hitting him as he fell to the ground.

Theo pulled a different wand out, reacting to the situation at hand.

Leveling his wand at the giant stone next to him, he swung it toward the golem, aiming for its leg. “Titan’s Sling!”

The stone rose up from the ground and flew back through the air. It missed. The golem sidestepped the stone, and swung a fist at an approaching Maraz.

“Air Cage!” Theo shouted, sticking out a hand. The air around the golem’s fist solidified, and shattered in the same second.

A throbbing headache turned into a splitting one as Theo felt the spell backlash hit him. But, his mana pool wasn’t torn. He’d been through that too much, and now he was stronger for it.

Maraz, however, went careening through the air and slammed into a tree from the hit. The tree split, breaking under the force from the golem and the man’s enhanced body.

“No!” Theo called out. Not again. The fire that had been burning in him grew, he grabbed wands one after another, calling the names as fast as he could identify them. With every cast, he pushed more and more mana into them, boosting the strength as much as he could.

“Inferno Tunnel! Sky Blitzer! Spark Effigy! Splitting Maelstrom! Voltaic Crash!” Devastating forces of nature blasted out of the tip of each wand. There was no aim at this point. All Theo cared about was hitting the golem.

When the dust cloud cleared, Theo groaned as the golem walked out of it, worn, but not broken. He spared a glance at Maraz, but the man lay limp on the ground.

Tirr flew in, knocking yet another Light Beam astray. Theo thanked whatever god or goddess that was listening that the creator didn’t inscribe some kind of learning process into this golem.

The supply of wands he’d brought was running low. Theo pulled out the final three that he thought would have any effect, aiming the first at the golem. Please, please work.

He leveled the first. This one is for Adam. “Dynamic Bolt!” Lightning lanced out from the tip of the wand, smashing into the golem. Its pace slowed, but it continued toward him, another beam charging up.

Theo looked left and right, but there was no way he’d navigate the rubble in time to run.

“Tirr, give Maraz this!” Theo said, tossing another healing potion into the air. He desperately hoped the zilant knew how to use it. He’d probably seen Maraz use it just minutes before, right?

Number two. Theo pointed his next wand at the golem. This one's for the Terrents. “Gale Wrecker!” A funnel of harsh, empowered wind blasted out from the wand. His feet slid on the ground under him from the sheer force, until the wall behind him stopped further motion.

“Oh come on!” Theo shouted as the debris cleared and the golem continued its slow lumber toward him.

It’d slowed down, at least. That was progress.

Another beam charged. And Tirr wasn’t here to misdirect it. The Cinder Strike wand in his hand wasn’t going to do much against that. He’d given up on breaking the leg, that clearly wasn’t progressing past the small crack phase.

One idea, however, sprung forth to the forefront of Theo’s mind. He pulled another potion from his bag. Stamina. Whatever, it didn’t matter the type. He only had enough mana left in him for one try, though.

Theo held the bottle up in his hands, gritting his teeth. “Heat!”

It burned his hands, oh it burned, but he kept his grip through sheer force of will. He needed to do it in this order if he wanted maximum instability at the right time. “Distill!” The bottle began to shake in his hands. Theo hurled it at the golem, just as its magnification rings appeared again.

He pointed at the bottle. “Diffuse!” The mixture inside glowed, bright as could be as the potion’s stability plummeted.

Theo wasn’t done, however. Pulling on his mana pool with all the force he’d learned, he held his hand out, closing it into a fist. “Air Cage!”

The air around the golem’s head solidified, and the potion shone, brighter than the golem’s eye as the destabilized mana inside finally lost all semblance of control.

A lance of pain shot through Theo’s mind as he contained the blast - and the golem’s own Light Beam - exploding within.

Soft, glowing light started up once more from the smoke. Theo’s eyes widened when it cleared, and the magnification rings were floating in the air.

A large crack ran across the golem’s gem eye, but it was still charging another beam, even if he’d disrupted the last cast.

Heart rate spiking, the gears of Theo’s mind began to turn. Did he still have it? He rifled through his bag, checking the additional sewn-in pockets. There. He thanked his past self for forgetting to put this away.

Kneeling down, Theo held the enchanted metal tube up to his eye. Through it, he lined up his shot using the golem’s own magnification rings, until he was dead-center with the construct’s eye. “Air Lance!”

Runes activated, and a near-invisible lance of wind cut a path through the smoke and dust.

The sound of shattering had never been so beautiful.

With the world wavering on Theo, he forced himself to stay conscious, and watched as the golem fell, crystalline shards falling out of a hole where its head had been.

Theo almost breathed a sigh of relief, until he realized Maraz still lay on the ground, unmoving.