Trickster was feeling much better. He had taken a health potion to take care of his wounds. That did not help much with what had happened inside… But he had needed that private moment with Ru-lah. She was a good friend. She had not probed. And they both needed that cry.

And well, what was done was done. He wished he could have avoided that last encounter with Velnir, but at last they were on the right track. And while he made love to her as part of their agreement, she had been very open. He figured that she was a talker when doing that sort of thing.

The witch had opened up about how the Motley Lot were not just some of the biggest heroes on the continent, but they were the biggest heroes. However, they had suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. She had kept a close eye on them and had to hunt them down to keep tabs on them. For her own protection.

Akerbaza was the first to resurface, and he was seen a the dreaded and forbidden Isle of Bardook. A place one went to when they wanted to make a deal with the dreaded gods of the Banished Dimension. Such things were forbidden throughout all the world, and the island was heavily guarded How he had gotten there, Velnir did not know.

But from there, Velnir said she followed the heartlines, the physical manifestations of relationships, back to other members. That is how she found them at the Miami beach. From everything that Trickster had gathered from Trick, Ru-lah, Velnir, and what they had stolen from the witch, they were looking for D&D players. He had shared all of this with Ru-lah as they took an inventory, and she agreed with him that he was likely right.

“Look,” the paladin said, handing Trickster one of the sheets. “It’s un updated version of our own. I checked.”

Trickster took the heavy parchment. It was a long scroll, and had a perfect ink sketch of him, right down to the minutest detail. All of his stats were on display as well, all updated. There was a very long inventory list in spidery handwriting. It was kind of cramped, but still legible.

“Finally, someone got the nose right,” Trickster said.

Ru-lah snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re no Eugene.”

Trickster smiled at the fact that she caught onto the reference. “That would be Flynn Rider, thank you very much! And I’ll have you know my good lady that I have a very dignified nose that deserves to be drawn properly! And proportionally, too.”

The half orc, half elf maiden gave him a very warm smile. He could see it in her eyes. She was glad that he was acting more like his normal self than he had right after being with Velnir. Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t sex before! It was just a very, very different experience doing it with that witch.

He had put a massive hole in her stomach after all, so she had not been gentle with him.

“As for my picture, this is going up in my room,” Ru-lah declared.

“Are paladins allowed to have such trivial things?”

“I didn’t know that thieves were privy to know what paladins are and are not allowed to possess,” she countered.

Trickster cocked an eyebrow and gestured to himself. “Master thief? I’m pretty certain I’ve nicked a thing or two from some prestigious paladins.”

“Not a wise thing to admit to in the presence of another paladin,” Ru-lah laughed.

“I see that we are now level four,” Trickster said, looking back down at his lengthy character sheet. “I like the sound of that, but how did we get there?”

Ticking the answers on her fingers, Ru-lah replied, “We started off already as level ones, though we really should have gotten a boost from the Super Smash side quest. However, that probably doesn’t count since that happened before we became who we are now. Then there was the fight through the streets. There was the rumble in the tavern, and then finally the fight with Velnir. All big and highly improbable challenges. Those would be enough to take up from level one to four.”

“What’s the highest level,” Trickster asked.

“20. I mean, you could go beyond that really, but most players cap themselves there, because then your character just becomes too OP for the game to be much fun after that. See there? Your abilities continue to increase as your level improves. This means that everything from mundane stat checks to the more complicated stuff becomes progressively easier.”

Trickster nodded. “Do you think that part of this quest is for us to get all the way to level 20?”

“Could be,” Ru-lah shrugged. “But I sincerely hope not! It requires a ton of time and effort to get to that point! And by the sound of things from that bitch, we don’t have much time.”

“I agree, which is why I think that we need to try something out right here,” Trickster said, plunging his hand into one of the sacks of holding. Withdrawing the Nokia, he said, “We need to try this out. Look, I know that our, or I mean Trick and Naomi;s phones don;t work, but Velnir would not have this unless there was a possibility. We need to connect with the outside world if we can and figure out what is going on!”

“Good idea,” Ru-lah agreed. “We need to find out if the phenomena that is affecting us has also spread throughout the city. If so, we need to be informed of what others are doing to solve the situation, and also let them know everything that we have found out.”

“And you think I never use my noggin,” Trickster teased.

“You just never use for anything that doesn’t cause mischief,” the paladin huffed.

Trickster laughed to cover his nerves as he began dialing his mother’s number. Even if the Q Files were closed, she would know who to talk to about anything weird going on in Miami. Plus, he trusted his mother with this kind of information and situation. She had proven herself a badass on three different occasions with the supernatural so far and had kept her cool.

He was very proud and fond of his mother after everything he had seen since learning about the Q Files.

Trickster held his breath as he pressed the SEND button. As if against all hope, it rang loud and clear. The call was going through!

Both Ru-lah and Trickster looked at each and fresh tears stung their eyes. He held the phone shakily as his mother’s voice came over the receiver.

“Hello? Who is calling this? This better not be a prank!”

Trickster nearly dropped the phone, before he shouted into it, “Mom! It’s me, Trickster, er I mean, Trick! Patrick!”

“Patrick?” His mother sounded confused. “Is everything all right?”

It was so weird. Just like when Velnir had questioned him, there was a clash of identities. Something was warring in him. It wasn’t like there was a true him that was struggling to get out, but more like two true hims were wondering how they should work together to answer the question.

“Um, mom, have you heard anything about what is going on in Miami?”

“Why,” Susan Brown asked sharply. “Did something just happen?”

Trickster breathed a sigh of relief and then said, “Well, there is both good news and bad news. The bad news is that Naomi and I got sucked into another game situation like back in Provo. We think another Door or something like that has opened up. But the good news is then that it isn’t as extensive as we feared.”

Even saying that made the situation feel worse. He laughed nervously. His mom did not laugh and launched right into interrogating him.

Honestly, it just felt wonderful to be able to hear her voice and speak with her. Trickster eagerly told his mother, as she went full FBI agent on him, about everything that had happened. He explained the strange, grey ripple, being pulled into a death game, creating a character, and now playing everything out from there!

Thankfully, Nokias are hardy phones whose batteries just keep cranking out juice, and so Trickster was able to relay everything he needed to. Susan told her son that she had heard nothing about any strange events in Miami. She had just checked credible news sources, and there was nothing to report. She assured her son that she would come to Miami soon with backup to help them out.

He explained that they were trying to find an old Dungeons and Dragons group called the Motley Lot and find out how they were all connected to the events that were transpiring. He relayed the address where he and Ru-lah had been staying with Naomi’s friends (it was still difficult to know exactly how to refer to whom) and they agreed to meet back up there as soon as possible.

Ru-lah said that she wished to talk with her mother. After a drawn out goodbye, Trickster hung up and reluctantly handed the Nokia over. As his paladin friend made her call, Trickster went about packing up their things so they could continue through the forest.

Talking with his mother was a like a healing spell. He felt lighter and better than he had before. It was almost as if what he was going through wasn’t exactly real. That didn’t make much sense, but it comforted him. And it enforced the notion that he and Ru-lah needed to press forward and bring about an end to whatever was going on.

He glanced the at the strange, glass talisman Velnir had given him before she sent him back. He no longer shivered looking at it. He wrapped his fingers around it and swore that he would soon see his mother again and end whatever this was that was happening to him and Ru-lah.