Prismar was the largest town I’d seen in the Nideland after Nuinaer, and it took us a little while to walk through to our hotel for the night.

Once we’d checked in, Halbraker and his Dwarves left us immediately and headed to the bar. I wasn’t even sure if that was goodbye, nor did I particularly care.

All of the people with me went to their rooms, including Sania and me. Though the room was of a much higher standard than we’d been staying in of late, it barely registered anymore, and I longed for our room back at Far Reach.

Looking over to Sania, I found her watching me already returned, her eyes full of emotion.

“I know,” I said, responding to the look. “We need to go and see Danivra.”

“We must. That can't have been easy for her, and I have no idea how she’s keeping it together.”

“It was tough for everyone, I think. And thank god Halak let me go or we’d all have been dead.”

“Was it that close?”

“Closer,” I laughed weakly as we made our way back out into the corridor.

Danivra was four rooms down from us, and as I raised my fist to knock, the door swung open with Danivra already heading back into the room.

“There’s nothing you can say that can make this any better,” she said, turning and sitting on the bed. “I’m witnessing the continued genocide of my people and I am helpless. If you really want to help me, then keep striving to become stronger and somehow make this right. If there is a way to gather whoever survives thus far, then I will be content with that too. I want you to know that my hatred of the Dwarves and Darkness grows ever deeper, and their continued interference with you and Far Reach weighs ever more heavily on me with each passing day.”

“Shit, Danivra, I get you, I really do. But as you say, there is not much I can do about that at the moment. I will promise to get as strong as I possibly can and right as many wrongs as we can.”

“I believe you, Clive, and I believe in you. You never even considered leaving those children behind to die, even when every last person around you suggested that you should. You could be callous with those you bond, and yet you treat them with kindness and do not bond lightly. You are a good person and beacon of hope to me.”

“Whoah, steady on there. I’m really not that good. I just have principles, you know?”

Danivra actually smiled and shook her head. “Modest too. Now tell me. What did Halak say to you?”

“Honestly, Danivra, it wasn’t much. He tried to pull my power out of me to strengthen himself and only stopped when I said it would kill you. After that, I offered him the bond and explained a few things about my motives, but he outright refused. He said he would die happy knowing you were still alive to save the Dokalfar, and for me to look after you. Then he ended his struggle.”

Danivra had a tear in her eye, though she wiped it before it could fall. “Your words bring me some solace, Clive. I’m glad that at least he didn’t die alone and took the knowledge that there was still hope for our people with him.”

“Yeah. He seemed like a good guy in the end.”

“He was. He will be missed. If you hadn’t ordered me back to the tunnel… I was ready to attack when he died. I would have attempted to rampage across Rushing and rescue what remained of my people, and I would have died without saving any of them. I would have left those who do survive without any hope for the future. So thank you.”

“May I ask you a question?” Sania said.

“Of course, Sania. But if that question is how am I a giant spider?” Danivra smiled. “Then sadly, the answer to that Mystery has been lost to my people in the mists of time. Even further back than the origins of the beast kin. It is quite something, is it not?”

Sania nodded, looking bemused.

“I damn near soiled my kegs when I saw you appear in front of us. For a moment, my animal instinct brain overrode the fact that I could feel it was you.”

“Yes, I felt that.” She smiled.

“Well, I’m glad to know. I’ve learned a lot about you today, Danivra. Like don’t tell you to run as fast as you can if I think I’ll need your help. Going forward, I’m only going to ask you to run as fast as I can,” I laughed.

“Until you become faster than me,” she warned, and I was glad to see we had managed to take her mind from her grief if only for a few moments.

“It’s going to be a good while before that’ll happen!”

“I disagree,” Danivra said, full of confidence and intensity. “With the amount of our enemies I intend to maim for you to kill, it should happen in no time at all. This disaster has shown me the need to power level you as quickly as possible in our future battles. I intend to power level you in our future battles, Clive.”

“That’s been tried when I first got here. It’s easier to say than do.”

“It has never been tried for you by the Queen of Helvien. The webs in my Dokala form are paralyzing,” she said with just a hint of smugness.

I shuddered as I caught her meaning. “You will paralyze enemies for me to finish?”

“I will. And you will do it because you have promised to do everything you can to increase enough in power so that we can save what remains of my people.”

Sania prodded me in the shoulder. “You should do it, Clive. It’s an amazing opportunity.”

“I can’t see it doing my mental health much good, though. You know, if you don’t want me to end up a nutter like Natom and this Stada and whoever else.”

“We will be your moral guide,” Danivra said, and Sania agreed eagerly.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” I said seriously, to which they both laughed.

“Remember, Clive. Most of the enemies we face will offer me very little experience whereas you will gain the full value and more. Also, by leveling you, I level myself if that makes any sense?”

I felt hemmed in by the logic, but still felt uncomfortable with the idea of wading through swathes of paralyzed enemies and murdering them while they were helpless.

“I’ll see how it goes when the opportunity presents itself. Until then, can we please go have a drink?”

“I neither drink nor wish to sit in the same room with those Dwarves,” Danivra said sourly.

I understood her thinking, but now I felt self-conscious about it. “You should, though. It is important to keep up appearances. They will expect you down there for the evening meal.”

“I will expect me there for the evening meal too,” Sania said.

We said goodbye to Danivra, and I felt that we had helped a little to break up an evening of remorse and misery for her.

Halfway down the stairs, Grigor’s voice came across the bond. “I will join you in the restaurant, Clive.”

When we entered the bar, Grastad and Ralaex were already there with the other Nystiobek and Krysan. They were already drinking.

Halbraker caught my eye and waved me over. He was sitting with another Dwarf with a hook noose and intense eyes that were framed by a bright red beard and hair. He wore similar armor to Halbraker’s, only more ornate with more gold-gilded detail.

Egard Stonehands: Level 82, Guardian of Agorak, Dweml (Dwarf III).

“Wait here, guys,” I said to Sania and Grigor. “I won’t be long.”

I headed over, surprised to see their table was empty of ales and humor as I took a seat with them.

“You beckoned, Master Halbraker?” I said with barely concealed sarcasm.

“I did, Lord Clive. This is Guardian Stonehands from Agorak. He and his men will be taking over your escort duty from us for the rest of your journey.” His demeanor was completely neutral, as if none of the animosity existed between us.

“Pleased to meet you, Guardian Stonehands. I hope the rest of our tour of the Nideland is as pleasant as what we’ve already experienced.”

“Egard will do,” the flame-haired Dwarf said seriously. “And I’m sure the rest of your journey will meet your expectations. I’m one of the chosen few who Darkness deigns to contact, and it seems that is a necessary requirement around you, Lord Clive. That said, how long we continue this endeavor is a matter of debate. Your limited success so far leads us to believe you should return with me to Agorak. At least until such a time as you're powerful enough to survive an encounter with Natom Hilgresh.”

I was taken aback by the barely veiled command. I didn’t like it at all, and I knew Danivra wouldn’t either. “Yeah, if I still need to hide when we’re done scouting for reinforcements, then I’ll think about it. But if I manage to get some more tier threes on our side, then I’m not going to need to, am I?”

Egard raised a bushy orange eyebrow at me. “Your quest so far has yielded dismal results, Lord Clive. You have failed to increase in level in the three weeks it has taken you to reach Prismar and you have drawn Destruction's eye to Darkness’s interference on the surface. Worse still, you have failed in recruiting the first two tier threes you have met with so far. Out of respect for you, I can allow you one more chance at recruiting people to your own forces. Though our faith in this quest you set out on has diminished substantially.

“You’ll allow us, will you?” I said raising my own eyebrow. “I hadn’t realized that was the nature of our relationship as I set out from Far Reach. Otherwise, I would have gone in a different direction,” I snapped. “You’re also wrong on a few counts. For a start, a number of people have increased their level, even reaching their next evolution. That directly influences my own survivability. Secondly, I’d only just reached Level 42 before we left on this journey. In fact, that is the entire reason I had to come on this journey. To help put your minds at ease, I am on the cusp of Level 43. Though how the fuck you expect me to level when the vast majority of those weeks have been spent walking through your tunnels with the most risk averse Dwarf in the Nideland here,” I said, pointing at Halbraker. “I’ll never know.”

Halbraker shifted uncomfortably at the accusation, while Egard took a deep breath ready to speak again. But I hadn’t finished.

“You’re also missing out that Halak would have joined us, and we could have saved and sent a lot more Dokalfar south, if the door into Rushing hadn’t been kept locked while they all died.

“Wind of the Wild has said he would help under certain conditions, and we’ve also sent people south to Far Reach to help with the efforts down there, too. So, Egard, with all due respect, don’t be pissing on my parade with your dismal assessments of how this is going down. Even if we don’t get the next tier three, I’ll be continuing on my merry way up to Stada the Gran and Cushec, and if I have to go across the surface to do it, then I bloody well will.”

Egard fought a look of irritation to finish up his facial gymnastics with a wry smirk. Meanwhile Halbraker puffed out his cheeks, exasperated but trying to stay calm, before failing.

“You see?” he spat out. “You see what I’ve had to put up with? He doesn’t care!”

Egard ignored Halbraker, staring at me, now deep in thought. “You can't go across the surface. You’re too valuable and it’s too dangerous. Like I said earlier. We’ll go to the next stopping off point and see what you can do with the Fae. Your chances are not obsolete with Olata, and I need to check on Justice’s progress. From there we can re-assess?”

“Look, I’m not totally unreasonable. I’ll agree to having another look at things after the Fae and you can tell me all about how I would level and develop in Agorak. I’m not agreeing to anything yet, but I hope to have a better relationship with you than I have with this miserable fucker. Honestly, he’s worse than my own father, and that’s saying something.”

“The feelings mutual,” Halbraker said. “Though my kids are not as rock-brained as you, and that’s saying something,” he replied tersely.

Egard laughed, which brought a smile to my face, too. I looked back to Halbraker and even he’d cracked a smile.

“Okay, Clive. We can talk as we walk tomorrow. I’ll speak with Halbraker tonight. Good to meet you.”

I responded with a nod, taking the dismissal for what it was. Halbraker surprised me by standing up as I did and thrusting his hand out toward me.

“No hard feelings, hey? I had my orders despite what you might think. It’s hard times for all of us.”

“Sure, man. I understand. Mostly. Thanks for guiding us this far too. I bet you’re looking forward to getting back home.”

“Damn right, I am. I don’t much like being away anymore.”

“Well, safe journey, Halbraker.”

“You too, Lord Clive. Go easy on Egard, too. His word carries a bit more weight than mine does.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied as I backed away from the table, grateful to be away so I could rejoin my friends and have a drink finally.

“How’s it going, guys?”

“Apart from the low ceilings, it’s not too bad,” Grastad slurred, raising his tankard.

“The ceilings really aren’t that low, dude,” I chuckled, looking at the fifteen-foot-high ceilings in question.

“Bah, what do you now, mini man?” he bellowed, draining another beer.

“How’re you feeling about visiting Stada the Gran?”

“I feel nothing!” he lied happily. “Let’s talk about the fairy instead. I am looking forward to seeing a big fairy.”

“That could kill you in a heartbeat,” Grigor added.

“Bah, the fairy will like Grastad. Everyone likes Grastad except his enemies.”

“Will Stada like Grastad?” Grigor asked.

Grastad paled a little then drank again. “Sure, he’ll like me. I’m family and I’m likable. We talked about this, didn’t we?”

The conversation rattled around like this for a while before I spoke to Sania and Grigor across our bond, as Grastad wasn’t going to allow for serious conversation.

“I think this Egard is a big deal from Agorak, and he tried to get us to drop the quest and go straight to Agorak to stay until I get stronger.”

“You are joking?” Grigor answered in disbelief.

“I wish I was. He then went on to say that he would give us a chance to woo Olata, but then if we didn’t. the quest was over.”

“And what did you say?” Sania asked.

“You could probably guess. But either way, we will be having another discussion once we’ve visited the Fae. And it won’t go how Egard wants it too.”

“Good. I do not want to spend time in Agorak as a guest,” Sania replied.

“Seconded,” Grigor added.

“Yeah, I can’t see Danivra or the Dokalfar being down for that, either. So be prepared that we might be turfed from the tunnels if we don’t get Olata.”

“Or forcibly taken to Agorak,” Grigor said. “It will be interesting to see how strong the squad Egard has brought with him is. I would suggest that, if it is notably larger in number or individual strength, then we have a problem.”

“Shit,” I hissed. “That’s a good point, Grigor. It’ll be interesting to see.”

We rejoined the conversation of the table for another couple of hours before bed called to us all.

The next morning, we assembled for breakfast. Halbraker and his men were nowhere to be seen, but Egard was there. It was our first chance to see the rest of our new escort members. As Grigor had predicted, there were more of them, forty in total, and there wasn’t one of them below Level 65 this time. It seemed like we were getting the special treatment, and it sent alarm bells ringing.

As I approached the table, they all sat around eating their tasty looking breakfasts.

Egard stood and greeted me. “We will leave once your people are finished and ready. There is no hurry today while we acquaint ourselves of one another. The trip east to Faedan Forest will take four days at least.”

“Sounds good. Halbraker was pushing all the time at the end there, eager to get home. I hope you don’t expect me to gain levels in those four days, though.”

“No, I don’t. You made a fair point last night about your levels. It is unrealistic to assume you would have gained much experience in your actual time on the surface. Sadly, as we walk, there is little we can do about that, but in Agorak, we can ensure you receive the finest training and work to methodically and consistently increase your level.”

I was frustrated that he had already brought the conversation back around to going to Agorak again. Prior to meeting him, I wouldn’t have minded seeing the Dwarven Capital. Now I had a sense it was in my best interests to avoid the place at all costs.

“Sounds interesting. Queen Danivra is going to make sure I get some experience points from our next enemies too, so perhaps we’ll see a marked increase in any case,” I replied without committing to anything.

Egard smiled knowingly. We were in a dance with words here and he knew I was aware of it now. “Quite the stroke of fortune managing to bag the Queen of the Dokalfar in your retinue, Clive. How long did she know of your true nature before she agreed to the bonding?”

His words still seemed to hold more meaning than was apparent, but I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Wary of a misstep with him, I was reluctant to say more.

“She was unconscious and close to death when I found her. She had no choice but to accept a bond with me if she wished to live.”

“Is that so?” he said thoughtfully.

Before he could continue the dance further, I bowed out. “I best go and get some breakfast. I’m starving, and we don’t eat much on the road.”

Egard nodded, his eyes glittering with interest as I backed away to my own table.

I was unsettled, but there didn’t seem to be a direct threat at the moment. The leader of our new escort seemed content to gently prod and poke for the moment.

“It is as I suspected, then,” Grigor said, nodding at the group of forty Dwarves.

“It seems that way. There’s more to this changeover than meets the eye, but I suspect we’ll only find out what when it’s too late.”

“We will be vigilant,” Danivra said. “And be wary of loose tongues.”

“Good idea,” I agreed. “Let’s eat up and get back on the road. I think I’d be happier away from this town and further away from Agorak.”

There was silent agreement as everyone concentrated on their breakfasts.