Chapter 27: Tomin Part 1

“Whoah! Wait a minute...” Darien called in alarm at the Talin’s excited declaration, “Like I said not a minute ago, my men and I can handle Tomin. I only wanted to know how to handle the glyphs. I believe I said that much already. I only told you what happened because I thought one of you may know what that child is. Something that neither of you have yet answered.”

Nodding and moving to the door, Selene looked into the store before shutting the door again and turning back, “We appreciate that you want to keep us safe. Well, keep Tobi safe for your tournament thing...but that child you spoke of was created through blood magic. It is one step below necromancy but it is no less dangerous. Have you ever heard of the Alchemist named Farrant?”

Never having heard the name before, Tobi looked to Darien in expectation.

“I take it by your expression that you have. What do you know about him?” Selene asked.

“I know that he blew himself up ten or eleven years ago. I also know that he was wanted for conducting illegal experiments that polluted the land and poisoned the water supply. Some say he even attempted to raise the dead. The men sent to arrest him also died in the explosion. All of that happened in Northern Lybernia though, what do you know about it?”

Moving across the room and shifting a box so she could sit on the table, Selene sighed and looked at Tobi for a moment. She didn’t like thinking back on her time as a slave but there were some memories that would stay with her forever.

“What do I know about it?” Selene echoed, “When I was a young girl, I met Farrant. He was an ambitious man who wanted to create a potion of immortality. He belonged to a group of people that believed men could transcend life and become gods. He believed you needed the divine ability though and because he didn’t have the affinity for it, he knew he could never transcend.

Even back then I had Divinity. He believed I could transcend if I applied myself. He wanted to take me away and teach me everything he knew. He wanted me to become a God and give him immortality. I only met him three times, and each time was in secret, but one day he didn’t show up. A week later I heard he had blown himself up and heard stories that he’d killed many people.

I left that place not long after and returned to Anderon a couple of years after that. As soon as I was back in Anderon, I joined the church. I learned then what Farrant had been doing. The horrors he committed and the things he did... I vowed that if I ever met another man like that again, I would put a stop to him instantly.”

Putting together everything Selene said like a little puzzle, Tobi frowned, “So you think this Tomin guy is trying to finish the work Farrant started? Or do you think he is part of the same group of people that want to become gods?”

Selene shrugged, “I don’t know if he belongs to the Sept of Origin, but that child: One of Farrant’s many experiments was one that involved children. He did something to them that sent them mad. They didn’t eat, sleep or drink and yet they didn’t die. They simply killed everything they came across. It wasn’t limited to people either. Whether a frog, a rat or a person...they only seemed happy when killing something. The Novali spent a full year hunting down and killing the abominations Farrant created. Those children are just one of many. I think Tomin is trying to create one of his own.”

As all three pairs of eyes fell on Tobi, his mind blanked. He couldn’t understand why they were looking at him instead of everyone looking at Darien; he was the one that knew Tomin and how to handle the situation.

“Well?” Darien asked.

“Well what?” Tobi replied feeling as though he just missed something.

“I didn’t plan on taking any of you but your wife is determined to come.”

“And you want me to what? Give her permission or try to stop her? Selene wants to save the kid, or try to anyway, so that’s what we’re going to do. I will need to check on how to handle those glyphs though. Meanwhile, you need to make sure Tomin is still there. If it were me, I’d have packed up and left as soon as you escaped. He obviously knows you will go back. If he doesn’t leave, that means he is prepared for you. Luckily, he will be expecting you and your merry band of thieves; not a hulking Talin and a Priestess, which will work in our favor.”

Sighing and rubbing his eyes with both hands, Darien’s shoulders slumped, “Fine. I still think me and my men can handle it, but if it will put you all at ease then so be it. I doubt the kid can be saved but who am I to decide that. I will do as you say and see if Tomin is still there before getting some men together. Meet me back at the house this evening. We will go tonight.”

---

After Darien left, Tobi instantly realized the problem they now faced. Tobi was planning to go see the enchanter that taught him the profession, but Darien hadn’t left any extra men to keep an eye on Selene for him. Left with no choice but to leave the Talin behind, Selene told him she would be fine as long as she stayed at the store.

Tobi refused. He didn’t trust a single person like Romun looking after her—if he did, he wouldn’t have spent the past few days doing the job himself. He’d much rather the Talin stay behind.

Selene argued equally well that Tobi couldn’t go alone and said that Scrim and Kleetz would be after him—not her. He couldn’t deny the truth behind the words, but he really wasn’t worried. In actuality, he really didn’t care. As long as she was safe, he was happy.

Finally deciding to take at least one precaution, Tobi eyed up the various leather armours around the store and asked Bernie if she had any other types of clothing so he could hide who he was.

To answer him, Bernie rooted through a box and pulled out a long, swamp-green coloured hoody, “It’s a Ranger’s hood. To finish the disguise you would need leather breeches—pants normally worn by rangers—but you can probably get away with it. Hides your face when the hood is up too, so it should work. Try it on.”

Tobi obliged and flipped the hood up. All three pairs of eyes frowned instantly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your eyes are glowing.” Selene answered with a sigh.

“Really? What does it look like?” Tobi asked in excitement as he imagined a dark space with blue eyes floating without a face.

“Hard to say…” Bernie muttered to half to herself, “it’s bloody creepy though. If they were red instead of blue, you’d look like a Spook.”

Tobi had no idea what a spook was but he liked the fact his eyes were glowing from the dark abyss.

“We need to cover them up.” Selene decided, “Any ideas Bernie?”

“I have some ideas, but nothing on hand. Maybe this will work. Tobi, drop the hood.”

Doing as he was bid, Tobi lowered the hood. Bernie grabbed some thin black cloth and tied it around his head.

“Can you see?”

“Yeah. A little dim but I can see you all just fine.” Tobi answered and threw his hood back up, “Eyes still glowing?”

All three of them shook their heads.

“Can’t see the cloth either. That should work.” Selene explained happily, “I’d be happier if you wore the pants too. Nobody wears pants like those except you.”

Tobi agreed. Promising to return them all when he got back, he accepted a pair of pants from Bernie and put them over his own trousers.

Closing the boxes that warned him of a reduction in magical power due to the leather, Tobi looked down at himself and wondered how good of a disguise it really was. Deciding he was all set and ready to go, he asked how he was going to get out without Romun seeing him.

“Well I don’t put my trash out front.” Bernie replied, “If you only have one of his little rats following you, just go the back way out.”

---

Checking the street as he approached the enchanter’s store, Tobi was surprised to find that very few people actually bothered to pay him any attention. He didn’t know how common it was to see rangers walk around with their hoods up, but each person he passed gave hardly a glance. One man even gave a small nod and continued as if it were perfectly normal.

Deciding it was safe to do so, Tobi removed the cloth from his face. Taking care not to look at anyone, he approached the door and waited until the last second to drop his hood.

“Hello again.” The Enchanter called without even turning around. He was sat behind the counter with his back to the door but the fact he used the word ‘again’ made Tobi hesitate.

Tobi looked around the store for a mirror or something but couldn’t see anything at all.

“It’s right there.” The Enchanter called pointing to a glyph on the wall in front of him.

Opening his mouth to say he didn’t understand, Tobi instantly closed his mouth again. The Enchanter had turned around and had an identical glyph on his forehead.

“New invention, do you like it? I have been sat here for two hours waiting to do that.”

“You have been sitting there for two hours...just for that?” Tobi asked incredulously.

“Yes. So, what can I do for you master Tobi?”

Looking from the glyph on his head to the glyph on the wall and back again, Tobi tried to gather his thoughts. He wasn’t quite sure where to begin.

“You seem to be struggling,” The enchanter noted, “Start anywhere and we’ll work it out as we go. Is it about the staff carving?”

Tobi shook his head, “It’s more about what to do when facing harmful glyphs created by others—but if there is something I should know about enchanter and staff carving, I wouldn’t mind knowing that as well.”

“Another person’s glyphs, eh? What kind?”

“Any kind. Actually, how about we just start with how glyphs work.”

The Enchanter sighed and rubbed the glyph off his head, “That’s no easy subject and nobody really knows the answers. They work a lot like that Arcane magic the elves use.”

Eye’s lighting up at the implication he could learn about his own magical ability, Tobi steadied his racing heart and finished crossing the store.

“What do you mean, how the elves’ magic works?”

The Enchanter shrugged, “Exactly what I say. Arcane magic is based on several factors, chief among them being knowledge and creativity. You take what you know and apply it in a way that suits your needs.”

“That’s not how it was explained to me. I was told it’s based on imagination.”

“Precisely.” The enchanter smiled, glad that Tobi was able to keep up, “If you know that much, this will be easy. Here take this.”

Taking the small blue stone the Enchanter passed to him, Tobi looked back at him puzzled.

“Tap it on the counter.”

Tobi did as he was bid. A small ‘tink’ kind of sound bounced back.

“Very good. Now do it again on that board there.”

As the stone made a small ‘thud’ kind of sound, the enchanter nodded. After he wrote a small glyph on the counter, he activated the glyph and instructed Tobi to tap the counter again. Unlike on the first tap, the counter made a thud that almost perfectly matched the sound when he hit the wood.

“This glyph is sound.” The enchanter answered before Tobi even asked the question, “As long as the glyph is active, the stone will always make the sound of hitting wood. However! Sound isn’t limited to one single sound. In fact, it’s not necessarily a noise at all. Sound could in fact be silence.”

Frowning and trying to put his thoughts in order, Tobi worked out what the man actually meant, “So you can use the sound glyph to remove sound as well as create it?”

“Oh, you’re good. I think I like you. Anyway, that’s how glyphs work. Like I said, nobody really knows the finer details, but it is still like I said: You take what you have and what you know to create something else.”

“So what about a barrier?” Tobi asked, wondering what kind of thinking was required to make a such a thing.

“Depends on the barrier. What kind do you have in mind?”

“I don’t understand.” Tobi answered, confused. He thought his question was self-explanatory.

“Are you trying to block a sword, an arrow, a spell, a charging bull? What kind of barrier.”

“Oh. Like if I didn’t want anything to walk through my front door.”

The enchanter frowned for a few moments before telling Tobi to wait and walking into his back room. He appeared again a few moments later with a small wooden box.

After punching out the bottom and standing it on its side, the Enchanter stuck his arm through the hole, “This will be your door.”

Tobi nodded and kept his silence.

“To put a barrier on the door will require high level enchanter and a lot of stored power. You really can’t do this kind of stuff until you reach intermediate level. Anyway, it works like this:”

The Enchanter proceeded to draw 3 identical glyphs on the base of the supposed doorframe. He drew the same glyphs on both sides and the roof.

“This is a multilayered glyph. Explaining it is complicated and pointless. Even if I explained it and you had the level for it, it wouldn’t necessarily work. Remind me later and I will explain it. For now, just watch.”

The enchanter activated a single glyph but all twelve lit up almost instantly.

“OK, stick your hand through.”

Tobi attempted to put his hand through the box but found that he couldn’t.

“Keep hitting it until your hand goes through. Not too hard, don’t hurt yourself.”

On the 11th attempt, the force disappeared under his light punch and his arm passed through.

“So the barrier is limited to a number of strikes?” Tobi asked pulling his arm back through the box.

The Enchanter smiled and reactivated the glyphs, “Do it again.”

On the 9th hit, the Enchanter activated a second glyph. On the 18th strike, the Enchanter activated a third glyph.

“Wait,” Tobi murmured as he stopped his punching, “So it will be the same number of hits per glyph in the sequence? Er, I worded that poorly. If I keep activating the glyphs in succession, I can keep it going indefinitely?”

“Hardly.” The Enchanter scoffed, “You are hitting with the same amount of force each time and I only put in a small amount of power. To accomplish the same on a door, you would need to have at least … I don’t know... four on the top, four on the bottom, ten on either side? Twenty eight in total. To top it off, you aren’t planning to stop a light punch so the amount of power you put in the glyphs has to be a fair amount. Everything just gets more complicated after that.”

“I am a quick study.” Tobi assured the enchanter, urging him to go on.

“Fair enough. Let’s use mana as a power source. You use 28 glyphs on your door and each has 1,000 mana. Let’s call that ten strikes with a sword. If you have two glyphs active, you still only repel ten strikes. Three glyphs active, and still only repel ten strikes. But because you had three active, those ten strikes break the power of all three.”

“So that’s why you activated the second and third glyphs on strike 9? Because that way you were only losing one or two strikes worth of power?”

The enchanter nodded, “It doesn’t end there either. A glyph with stored power requires that much power to be activated. That means it will cost you 1,000 mana per glyph you attempt to activate in the sequence.”

So how did Tomin trap Darien in his basement? Unless it was a bluff and Darien just didn’t hit it enough.

“Is there no other way?” Tobi asked, convinced that Tomin was not wasting so much mana on his glyphs.

“Think about it a minute and then tell me.”

After almost a full minute thinking about it, Tobi felt like hitting himself in the head, “Whether it is possible or not depends on the person.”

“Exactly.” The enchanter replied, “I may not know how, but that doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t thought up a method. Even if I knew his method, it doesn’t mean I could replicate it. We are bound by our own knowledge, understanding and creativity; no matter how much we imitate others, we can never become the original.”

“I think I am starting to understand. Why did you say it is like Arcane magic though?”

The enchanter laughed, “Because it is exactly the same. It is not the symbol that matters, but the intent when activated.”

Intent when activated… Tobi repeated in his mind, “Wait...does that mean I can change a glyph’s meaning if I activate someone else’s glyph?”

The Enchanter began laughing instantly, “I really do like you. Now I have a question for you. Right now your little door still has a barrier protecting it; how would you go about disarming it?”

“Ah.” Tobi said as he realized the dilemma. He couldn’t exactly bang on his own door until the glyphs ended, “I don’t know.”

“Me neither.” The enchanter laughed, “I do know I can break the glyph though. I don’t have the tools on me, but I could, for example, drill the bottom and break one of the glyphs from the other side. Wouldn’t help much for your door situation, but maybe there are other ways to break the glyph. This particular one is intended to block everything, so nothing should get through from this end.”

Narrowing his eyes at the box, Tobi asked the enchanter if it was OK to break the box and test something. The enchanter shrugged and agreed.

Leaning forward, Tobi gathered mana and blew on the wood. If the enchanter was right, he could use Lion’s Roar to achieve a different effect. Instead of blowing out a silent strike that caused an explosive boom, maybe he could simply blow the wood away.

Wherever his breath hit the barrier, Tobi saw ripples in the air. The wood being hit directly however disintegrated into sawdust. In little more than a second, Tobi blew a direct path to the glyph and broke it.

“I’ve never seen a priest do that before.” The enchanter noted with a smile.

“I’m an Arcane mage.” Tobi replied with an equally pleased smile as he confirmed the barrier was broken by sticking his arm through the box.

With countless questions filling his mind at the potential of enchanter, Tobi dismissed them all. The answer to every question was the same: It depends on the individual and how they apply what they know.

There had to be limitations though. Enchanter, as indeed now seemed to be the case for his Arcane magic, was beyond comprehension. Limitless even. Nothing was absolute in the world. Even this one. Especially this one—what with Gods being killed by Dragons and Basilisks.

“So what are the limits on Enchanter then? Besides the obvious that is the limitations of the enchanter in question. Surely there are some absolutes that have to be considered.”

The Enchanter nodded, “Glyphs are one of the absolutes. Originally, the elves only shared with us a bunch of basic glyphs. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Sound, Air, Wood and a few others. They are not entirely limited though. We know for sure the elves have hundreds of glyphs but we do not. Every glyph outside the original dozen was either created or discovered by enchanters. Old tombs, relics and books mostly. But one glyph was discovered through experimentation. A multilayered glyph of fire and water. Mist. Wonderful discovery. We have been experimenting ever since.”

“And that glyph on the wall is one you have discovered?”

“In a sense.” The enchanter replied fondly as he glanced at the glyph behind his head, “I was trying to recreate something described in an old book. I failed to do it, but it wasn’t a complete failure.”

“How does it work?” Tobi asked, unable to hold back any longer.

“Hm. I layered sight with travel, distance and time. It should have let me see anything in front of it no matter where I am. Unfortunately, it is limited. I am still experimenting with it, but if I try to look through it while I am in the back room, I can only see the wall.”

Staring at the glyph and wondering how it worked, Tobi thought back to the moment he walked into the shop.

“When you look through it from anywhere else, can you always see yourself?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Maybe the glyph always looks toward you. If you had it above your door, maybe you would see the store while in the back room.”

The enchanter thought about it for a few moments as he scratched his chin, “That’s not a bad conclusion. I will test it later and let you know how it turns out. Now my question: How did you learn to be an Arcane mage?”

---

Hearing a strange muttering as he walked back to Bernie’s Spindles, Tobi’s stream of thoughts evaporated into nothing. All of his daydreaming for Arcane Arts, Magic and Enchanter were washed away at what sounded like the words ‘blue eyes’.

Quickly checking the cloth was properly covering his eyes, Tobi confirmed it covered them properly and moved closer to the alleyway.

“Stupid curse.” The voice muttered to itself, “Doesn’t know. Can’t understand. No choice.”

Backing away and leaving the strange voice to itself, Tobi resisted the urge to investigate further. He’d stayed at the enchanter’s so long he was getting dangerously close to being late for Selene.

As the Talin nodded at him, Tobi nodded back and realized he’d just announced to anyone watching that he was Tobi. Or at least gave them a clue. On that thought, he looked back at the alley and remembered Romun.

“Seen the little spy around?” Tobi asked as he reached the Talin.

“I saw him after you left. He was down there.”

Looking at the alley the Talin gestured to, Tobi turned and glanced back at the alley he passed. Seeing as the alleys were on opposite sides of the road and the one he passed didn’t give a clear view of the store, he decided the voice couldn’t be Romun. He was still pretty sure he heard the words ‘blue eyes’ though.

Shrugging and dismissing his thoughts, he walked into the store to give Bernie her clothes back. As soon as he was done, Selene packed up her things and passed Tobi his staff back. He hadn’t taken it with him due to his inability to hide it in the hood. He had taken his wand though, for whatever use that could turn out to have.

“Where to now then? Back to the house?” Selene asked untying the ribbon that kept her hair out of her face while she worked.

As her hair fell loosely around her shoulders and partly down her back, Tobi reached out and gently moved her hair behind her ear, “How about some food? I haven’t eaten properly all day. I am guessing you haven’t either. Since you skipped breakfast and everything.”

“Skipped breakfast. That’s a nice way of putting it. I could eat though, where do you have in mind?”

“Is there anywhere else?” Tobi replied with a smile.

---

Opening the door to Sal’s Copper Lantern and walking inside, Tobi marvelled at how the entire room lit up in a strange rustic orange color. The light from the windows changed the ambience of the entire room. It was both weird and impressive at the same time. It had a calming effect that made the place seem more majestic than it did during the evening hours. Tobi decided he prefered the rustic lighting of the day compared to the romantic atmosphere when the day grew long.

As the woman welcomed both Tobi and Selene, she suddenly stepped back at the sight of the Talin and looked ready to scream.

“He’s with us.” Tobi said quickly in an attempt to calm her down. She wasn’t the girl that he met on his previous visits and she was definitely not as adaptable as Sulil.

“He can’t come in here!” She demanded as she pointed a shaking finger.

“Really? Then perhaps you could bring Sulil here to tell me why.”

“But...he’s…”

“...A Talin.” Tobi finished, slightly annoyed, “And he speaks human and you’re being very rude. You do have a choice though. You can either feed him, or he can just eat you.”

As the girl stepped back wide-eyed, she looked from Tobi to the Talin in obvious fear, “I have to ask Sal. Wait here.”

“Hmm...” Selene breathed almost dreamily, “I don’t think I like her.”

Tobi chuckled and nodded but the Talin only shrugged, “I like it when humans do that.”

Looking back at the Talin in surprise, he just shrugged again like it didn’t matter and looked around the room, “Oh, shield man.”

Shield man?

Following the Talin’s gaze to a table beside the window, Tobi spotted Sax in full armor—minus the headgear—and two shields beside his chair. It didn’t look like he had been served yet and was reading a menu. Surprised at seeing Sax sat there, he wondered if he should walk over. He was still staring when Sax suddenly looked up and spotted the three of them.

“Tobi!”

Struggling to get up in his armor and knocking the table, a few of the customers nearby gave him distasteful looks and turned their backs to him.

“It’s alright,” Tobi called as he walked over, “stay sat down.”

Sax blushed but promptly sat himself back into his chair.

“I was just coming to see if you paid a visit.” Tobi called as he pushed a table beside the one Sax was sitting at. Selene and the Talin didn’t bother waiting for the waitress either and grabbed both of the chairs where the table had been a moment earlier.

As all three of them sat down, Sax nodded and scuttled his chair over a bit, “Yeah, I came to see Sulil like you said...but he isn’t in. You never said this place was so expensive. I don’t think my purse will survive.”

“Haven’t you eaten here before?” Tobi asked adjusting the seat to sit directly opposite him.

“I have... I just never had to pay before. Perks of having contacts in high places.”

“Your lucky day then, because I will foot the bill for you. What was the message you were planning to leave for me anyway?”

Catching the words before he spoke, Sax nodded across the room. Tobi turned to look and watched as a large man with olive-colored skin navigated his way around the tables. As soon as the man was close enough, Tobi stood up and turned to face him.

“You are Tobi of Brackley?” The burly man asked as he stuck out his hand.

“I am.” Tobi replied and shook his hand, “You must be Sal. I can see where your son get’s his good looks.”

The man chuckled and his third chin wobbled a little as he shook his head, “Maybe in my youth. I have been snacking a little too often between meals. A temptation many cooks cannot resist. Not you though it seems. My son said you are skilled in the kitchen.”

Giving a small bow, Tobi let his arm fall and glanced at Selene, “Only those that eat my food can tell you whether or not my skill is noteworthy. Still, no complaints yet. Your waitress said that my Talin friend is unwelcome here. Your son had no problems with it though.”

Sal shook his hand dismissively and waved it off, “She is the fragile sort. I wouldn’t be surprised if she were scared of you for having the wrong color skin. I see you are acquainted with the Novali.”

“I have my religious duties to perform, so yes.” Tobi answered, dismissing the racial comment and attempting to ignore it.

“Of course, of course.” Sal replied, “Well, even with your duties, I would very much like to see you in my kitchen sometime. My son told me he offered you a job here, I would like to see for myself if you can measure up to his praise.”

“Then you shall, but not today I am afraid—we don’t have the time today.”

“Of course. I will send someone over to get your orders in a moment. Do stop by again though, I am very interested in that sauce you created, I would like to see what else you are capable of.”

Tobi gave his agreement and watched Sal leave before sitting back down.

“You certainly know how to make an impression on the right people.” Sax noted.

“Sal?” Selene asked before Tobi got the chance.

“Yes, Sal. He has good connections all over the city, not least of which is the King himself. This fortnight he has been traveling with the King and the Princess as their personal cook. They returned just yesterday.”

Tobi filed the information away for later, at the moment it wasn’t really that important. He wanted to get beyond the idle chatter and get down to business.

“So what did you want with me, anyway? News about Baylon?”

Sax shook his head and shifted in his seat, “I was more interested in a different matter. Something more along the lines of who might represent Chadú for you.”

“Oh?” Tobi answered in surprise, “You have someone in mind?”

“In a manner of speaking. I was thinking that I would like to take up the position, if you will have me.”

---

After discussing his reasons for why he wanted to be Chadú’s representative, ordering the food, eating it and waiting for the bill to arrive; Tobi considered everything Sax had told him. He’d made a good case for why a Novali should be the representative, not least of which that the Novali knew the views of every Chadú faith in the entire country. Despite all that, Tobi couldn’t help think that Sax was holding back.

“I don’t think you understand the position you are asking for.” Tobi finally replied as he closed a stat buff window the food had granted him, “If you take the position, you won’t be a Novali anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Sax replied as he looked at Selene.

“Exactly that.” Tobi answered and also looked at Selene’s white robe, “Do you know anything about the Anderon faith?”

“I know that only the White Priestess wears white. The rest wear Blue, Black and Red.”

“They also follow only one of the twelve.” Tobi added, “The colors represent the kind of God they follow. Of the twelve Anderonian Gods, some are good, some are neutral and some are...well, to say bad or evil is wrong, but they aren’t what we would call good. Their alignment falls into that grey area where you would find vengeance, wrath, chaos, destruction and so on. Selene here doesn’t represent just one of them though, she represents all twelve. She isn’t part of the Anderonian faith, she is a separate entity. You too would be separate from the Novali. You wouldn’t just represent your faith, you would represent every faith belonging to Chadú.”

“So I was right, a Novali is perfect for it. We are the only ones that know the details of every faith.”

Tobi nodded and sighed, “That is only the start of it. You wouldn’t just represent Chadú, you would be the representative of each faith. Son of Chadú, Sanctuary, Novali...you would be the spokesperson for them all... but you wouldn’t actually belong to any of them.”

After a long pause, Sax finally nodded, “I can do that.”

“Really? And what if the Novali leaders ordered you home to fight alongside your brothers and sisters against invaders. Would you follow their orders, or mine?”

“I would trust that Chadú wants me to do as you bid and follow your orders. Unless Chadú himself tells me otherwise.”

“OK. And what if I were to tell you to break into a man’s house, kill him, destroy his experiments and then help me steal all of his stuff. Would you do it without question? Or would you object and walk away?”

“I can’t imagine you would—”

“—Whether I would or not isn’t the question. Would you do as you were ordered?”

“Unless Chadú told me otherwise, I would do as I am commanded.”

“Hmmm. OK, let’s go put that to the test, shall we?”

Calling the waitress over, Tobi passed her the money for the four meals with a small tip. Asking her to pass on his regards to Sal, he turned to Sax and gestured for him to follow. As Selene and the Talin fell in step behind him, Sax nodded and grabbed his shields.

---

Closing in on the house with Sax close behind, Tobi couldn’t help but wonder how Darien would react. Not that he was overly bothered, he just wasn’t sure how much he could trust Sax. The feeling that Sax had been withholding something was still niggling at the back of his mind.

“Where do you normally stay anyway Sax? With the Sanctuary?”

“More often than not. I have my own home in Kelmir, but I usually stay at a Sanctuary rectory when travelling. I am currently lodging at a Tavern though as the Sanctuary lodgings here are full. Partly on account of the tournaments. The amount of people that will be arriving this week will be chaos. Lucky I got a place already.”

“Kelmir? Who is the Lord there?” Tobi asked, ignoring everything else Sax had said.

“Baylon’s Father; Lord Jubari.”

“Don’t the Lord’s here go by family names?” Tobi asked, keeping the conversation going a specific direction before he addressed his real intentions.

“Either is fine. Jubari and Baylon prefer it when people use their first names. Less confusing as to which Lord we are talking about.”

“Do you have allegiances to Lord Jubari outside of your allegiance to the Novali?”

“No.” Sax replied instantly.

“Good. Whatever happens while you are with us stays with us. If you are to accompany me from now on, you can stay with us. This will be your home until after the tournament.”

Opening the door and looking back at Sax, Tobi waited until the man nodded before entering. As Selene walked by and gave Tobi a doubtful look, he made note to ask her about it later. Sax followed her in, quickly followed by the Talin. All three of them waited in the hall while Tobi moved passed and went through to the living room.

Selene had never shown that kind of formality before, but Tobi guessed it was a show for Sax or something and ignored it.

Walking into a room half full of people, Tobi located Darien quickly and gave a nod, “Is this everyone you are bringing?”

“Only half.” Darien answered, shaking his head, “I have two out front of his house right now, two at the back and two in the sewer. Those six will be joining the others in the sewers. If he tries to escape, that’s the way he will likely go. I doubt the two I have there could stop him by themselves. The other six I haven’t decided yet. As we don’t know what each of us are capable of, I wanted to discuss it with you first.”

Surprised by Darien’s response, Tobi looked at the table the were gathered around. It seemed like a floorplan of some sort, probably Tomin’s house.

“Who is that?”

“Sax.” Tobi replied without looking away from the table, “Is that Tomin’s house?”

“Yes. Is he coming with us?”

“The Novali beat Farrants monsters in the past. Seems appropriate we bring a Novali with us now.” Tobi answered as he moved a man out of his way so he could see properly.

“Farrant?” Sax asked muscling his way through the group of men and looking at the table, “What does Farrant have to do with this? He is dead.”

Backing away from the table slightly and sitting down, Darien stared at Tobi until he lifted his head and looked back, “You didn’t tell him what he is here for?”

“He isn’t really here for that, but now he is here, he will be joining us. He is my chosen representative for Chadú. Isn’t that right, Mr Sax?”

Noting how Tobi had deliberately dropped the title of Novali, Sax nodded solemnly.

“Frickin’ religions.” Tobi muttered to himself. A comment that earned him a raised eyebrow from Darien who heard him perfectly.

“So does the Novali get a special new title like the White Priestess?” Darien asked, pushing Tobi’s buttons after hearing what he said.

“I didn’t consider it. Wouldn’t surprise me though.”

“Don’t you decide that?” Sax asked, following the conversation better than Tobi realized.

“For God’s sake, we can worry about that later. Can we just get down to the business at hand? And for the record, I didn’t call Selene the White Priestess...it just happened.”

“Fair enough.” Darien began, breaking the atmosphere with ease and taking control of the room, “This is Tomin’s first floor layout. As you can see, it is different to mine. His house is three stories, not two, but the upper floors are basically the same as mine. Five bedrooms on each floor, a hallway and stairs. The only real difference is the size of the rooms and positioning of the stairs.

I don’t know which room is Tomin’s bedroom, but chances are that we don’t need to know. He will probably be in his basement anyway. When we get inside...what is it?”

Lifting his head in confusion, Tobi followed Darien’s gaze and looked at Sax.

“Nobody has yet told me what we are doing or why.” Sax noted, looking from Darien to Tobi and urging one of them to explain.

“I will explain.” The Talin called, surprising everyone in the room. As every eye turned to him, the Talin looked straight at Sax, “Farrant is Tomin. Not really, but same. Go. Fight. Kill. Leave. Done.”

“Well said.” Darien replied, perfectly happy with how the Talin summed it up, “Now, back to business: The first floor has a different layout entirely. By now he has probably sealed the basement entrance, so I say we just go right through the front door…”

---

Standing outside Tomin’s house in full robes, staff in hand and Selene by his side—who dressed in her white robe with her own staff in hand—Tobi couldn’t help but think of chess.

The entire ‘strategy meeting’, for lack of a better term, had been one big headache. They first discussed points of entry, route to the basement and plans of engagement. They then discussed Tomin’s known abilities and tried to make guesses at what else he was capable of. The discussion went on to discuss Farrant, what Farrant was capable of and what may be in store for them if the man was part of the Sept of Origin.

Finally, they discussed a few of their own abilities and addressed methods of engagement once more—taking into account that Farrant had all kinds of beasts, spirits and whatever else under his control. Each of which they planned to fight if the circumstances deemed it necessary.

By the time anybody agreed on anything, the entire group was irritable, tired, mentally drained and hot tempered.

In the end, Darien, Tobi, Selene, the Talin and Sax would be the only ones to enter. Sax was the meat shield with the Talin to back him up, Tobi was to handle the glyphs and throw in some of his own fighting power—or lack thereof—if opportunity presented itself, and Darien was their rear line of defense. Or in other words, the damage dealer that would act where and when needed; which he decided would be at the back to protect Tobi and Selene.

Nobody bothered arguing by that point and Darien assigned jobs to the rest of his men that included guarding the house or sewers. Three of them had no other job than keeping lookout.

“OK, you’re up first.” Darien whispered as the wagon moved further down the street and left the five of them to it. Darien had originally planned to pick the lock, but Tobi claimed he would be faster than even the best lockpick.

Darien, wanting to see it for himself and doubting Tobi completely, was now waiting patiently for Tobi to show his amazing ability that could pick a lock faster than he could.

Walking up to the front door, Tobi leaned over the lock and blew on the wood surrounding it. With no more than a single breath, every inch of door surrounding the lock disintegrated and the door swung open.

“Guess we’re lucky he didn’t use bolts.” Tobi said, giving a smug look to Darien in response to his attitude.

Darien didn’t bother responded and nodded for Sax to enter first as planned. Out of them all, Sax had been the most hesitant but he went along anyway. He couldn’t risk another Farrant emerging so he was willing to follow Tobi for now. He did warn that he would abandon Tobi if this turned out to be nothing more than personal gain or an illegal operation.

“Glyphs.” Sax whispered over his shoulder as he gently lifted his foot across the doorway.

Sighing in relief as Sax got through the door without a problem, quickly followed by the Talin, Tobi walked over to inspect the glyph. It was none other than the sound glyph he had seen earlier that day, no different to the one on the stone that was still in his pocket.

“Sound,” he told Sax before stepping across the doorway himself.

“...”

“What?” Tobi replied, watching as Sax’s lips moved but hearing nothing.

Sax seemed to speak again but Tobi didn’t hear a single noise. Stepping across the doorway, Tobi asked ‘what?’ for a second time.

“I asked what you said.” Sax replied, “I couldn’t hear you.”

“Oh, I said it is a sound glyph.”

As Selene and Darien followed them into the hallway, Sax frowned, “Does that mean he knows we’re here?”

“I have no doubt he knows,” Tobi replied, “but no, it’s not what you think. Looks like it stops noise from escaping the house.”

“Glyphs can do that?” Darien asked in wonder as he inspected the glyphs along the wall.

“Are we going to talk here all day or go and find Tomin? Yes, glyphs can do that.”

“Makes you wonder why he needs them though.” Selene murmured and moved behind the Talin. Unlike Sax and Darien, Selene and the Talin were perfectly ready to get the show on the road.

Taking the front and readying both of his shields, Sax moved forward and prepared to advance. They were going to attempt to move through the house in a pre-planned formation, just in case anything unpredictable happened.

At that moment, the door slammed shut behind them and darkness filled the hall.

“What’s wrong?” Tobi asked, wondering why his four companions suddenly stopped in their tracks.

“We can’t see anything.” Selene answered, guessing that whatever caused the sudden darkness had no effect on Tobi and his eyes.

“What do you mean? It’s dark? DIdn’t any of you think to bring a torch or something? It is night time...”

Back at Darien’s, Tobi had spotted lit candles, braziers and hanging lanterns all over. They did little to change the spectrum of light for Tobi, but he had to guess they made all the difference to everyone else.

“Well, maybe you can’t tell,” Selene snapped back, “but my staff is actually glowing as much as your eyes. It’s not penetrating the dark though, you need to find the glyph.”

“What’s that sound?” Sax asked, alarmed.

Looking passed them all, Tobi watched as the weirdest dog he ever saw came walking from under the stairs. Just as Darien’s floorplan had said, there was indeed an alcove under the stairs, but Darien’s claim that it was empty was obviously outdated information.

“Dog. Big one too. Really weird looking. Looks like at least three different dogs sewn together and, well, it kind of has two heads.”

“Kind of?” Sax prompted, searching blindly through the darkness and preparing to defend against an unseen foe.

“It looks like it has been sewn onto the left shoulder, so your right, but it’s still alive and kicking—or biting. Definitely alive, that’s the bit that matters”

Turning his attention back to the glyphs in a mild panic, He turned instead for the door. Before the door closed, they had no trouble seeing anything so he surmised that they would be able to see again if he opened it.

“Divine Light.” Selene called, raising her staff into the air. As light managed to pierce the darkness and fill the hall, all four of them took involuntary steps backward. The dog really was big, even the Talin had recognized that much.

“I can’t keep this light going forever, it’s a quick way to use up all my mana, so deal with the dog quickly; and Tobi, find whatever is causing this darkness and get rid of it.”

Tobi yanked at the door but to no avail. There seemed to be no option but to find the glyph—if there even was one. Anything could be the cause for the unnatural darkness, it wasn’t necessarily a glyph at all.

As his thoughts raced, Tobi prayed the cause was a glyph and preferably one that was light—due to the fact he’d never seen the glyph for dark. If he did find a glyph he didn’t recognize, he wasn’t sure what would happen if he tried to deactivate it. Or what would happen if it wasn’t activated at all and his meddling caused it to become active.

Giving up and looking down the hall and everywhere else he could see, both near and far, Tobi finally spotted it. The color was almost identical to the roof and he originally mistook it as a damp patch, but it was definitely a glyph.

“Found it, almost directly above the dog’s head.”

Sax readied his shields and took a step toward the Frankenstein-esque creature and formed a wedge-like shape with his shields.

Tobi gathered his mana and shot a low mana arcane void at the center of the glyph. The glyph’s pattern smudged at the center and Selene’s Diving light exploded outward in dazzling glory.

Coming across the countermeasures for his special eyes for the first time, Tobi dropped to his knees and pressed both hands to his eyes. The sudden bright light felt like a searing heat burning right to the back of his skull.

Hearing Selene apologize as she put a hand on his shoulder, Tobi nodded and waited for the bright, popping lights to disappear. Even if he opened his eyes, it was just a blurry mess of bright circles.

“Was anyone else blinded by it?” Tobi asked, hearing the dog snapping away as teeth and flesh beat against steel shields.

“Only Darien.” Selene replied without concern, “Both of you were behind me so got it full force.”

Well, I guess it would have this effect on normal eyes too… Tobi told himself in consolation. He really believed it had been a side effect of his night-vision eyes. He was glad to know it wasn’t.

Finally regaining his vision, Tobi opened his eyes to chaos.

Pinned beneath an oversized paw, Sax struggled to keep his shields up and stop his head from being crushed. At the same time, the Talin had one arm around the dog’s waist to try and lift it off while his right arm put one of the heads in a headlock. He was doing everything he could to lift the dog off Sax while avoiding the second head. Darien was there too—both arms punching back and forth faster than Tobi could keep track of. Small daggers were stained with congealed blood as the dog gave no signs to feeling any of it.

Gathering his mana and rushing forward, Tobi swung his staff with Arcane Strike and swung it like a golf club.

Connecting to the dogs stitched-on head, Tobi’s spell activated and the dogs head flew upward.

With the momentum giving the Talin just enough leverage to maneuver, he tucked himself into the beast’s ribs and launched it backward—muscles bulging and ripping with the effort involved.

Attempting to help Sax to his feet, Tobi felt as though his own muscles were about to rip. He had no idea how much strength was needed to wear that armor, but he definitely fell short by a good margin. With Darien’s help though and Sax’s own efforts, they lifted him up before the dog managed to flip over and prepare for another charge.

“I’ve got it this time. I just underestimated it is all. Not a mistake I will make again.”

Darien and Tobi moved back and gave Sax all the space he wanted. The Talin moved behind ready to give support, just in case.

Sax lowered his stance and let out a warcry—causing the beast to charge him almost instantly. Caught by more force than he could handle, his feet slipped backward across the floor.

Only managing to stay up thanks to the Talin supporting him from behind, Sax ducked behind his shields as each of the heads snapped at him wildly.

“Underestimated it again?” The Talin chuckled, despite the situation.

Unsure what to do in the narrow space and wondering which of his spells to use, Tobi moved to Sax’s right and gripped his staff. Jamming it under the ribs of the beast, he activated Arcane Strike a second time. The knockback didn’t manage to push it back a full yard, but the explosion that followed did cause the animal to yelp. It was the first sign that the animal actually felt pain.

The dog attacked again and the previous stalemate returned.

Confidence boosted by his success, Tobi gathered even more mana and performed the act again. The dog, however, wasn’t as stupid as it looked and jumped backward at the same moment as Tobi jabbing his staff forward.

Caught off guard by the sudden lack of force against his shield, Sax stumbled forward and took the blast of Tobi’s staff. The knockback blew him into the wall before the the secondary blast connected and caused a very visible dent to the shoulder.

Before Tobi could even register the mistake he made, the dog renewed its attack and rushed Tobi. Reacting late and scrambling backward, the dog’s teeth snapped centimeters from Tobi’s face as the Talin caught it in midair and drove it back.

As Selene, healed Sax, Darien dragged Tobi free from danger, “Be more—oof!’

Watching Darien fly across the hall and bounce off the wall opposite, Tobi looked up in time to see an almost transparent body disappear back into the wall.

“Specters!” Selene shouted and doubled the light given off by her staff—it was no Divine Light, but even Tobi could tell the difference, “Be careful of the walls!”

Feeling out of his depth, Tobi scrambled to his feet and helped Darien up.

“We need more space.” Sax called over his shoulder as he rejoined the Talin against the two-headed dog. He didn’t even comment on the mistake Tobi made which only made Tobi feel worse.

Seeing the specter come back out of the wall and rush toward Selene, Tobi fired off an Arcane Void as quickly as he could. The spell shot through the ghost as though it weren’t even there and took a sizeable chunk out of the wall behind it.

Swinging her staff as best she could in the tight space, Selene cracked the spirit across the face. The staff connected to the ghost perfectly and sent it flying back through the wall. Selene didn’t even bat an eyelid as she cast an area of effect heal over the entire group.

“We should try to get into the living area.” Darien called as the dog and Talin filled the even tighter space between the stairs and the wall.

As the specter flew back out of the wall in a rage, it’s transparent blue coloring shifted into a slimy green and it tackled Darien with incredible force. As the pair crashed at the bottom of the stairs, Darien began stabbing it repeatedly. With his dagger just slipping right through as though it weren’t even there Tobi felt hopelessness settle over him.

“Tobi, help Darien!” Selene called, snapping Tobi back to reality as white light flew from her staff down the hall to the Talin. The light hit a ghost right in the back and sent it flying. The wailing ghost could still be heard long after it shot through the wall.

Not sure how to help Darien but willing to try anything, Tobi rushed forward and swung his staff like a baseball bat. It worked for Selene so he hoped it would work for him too. He didn’t even get chance to see if it worked though as the ghost dodged by falling through the floor.

Blocking a kick from the spectre with her staff, Selene blown off her feet and flew into the opposite wall before falling to the floor winded.

As the Ghost moved in for a second attack, Tobi rushed back and jumped in the way with his arms splayed. With no way to fight against the ghost, all he could do was try and block its path.

The ghost wasted no time in changing target and tackled Tobi instantly.

To his surprise, his arms actually managed to block the punches the ghost threw at him.

Figuring that blocking meant he could also fight back, he attempted to gather mana to attempt a Palm Strike and frowned. He couldn’t gather his mana at all. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he went back to basics and simply hit the ghost in the chest.

The connection seemed just as much a shock to the ghost as it was to Tobi.

Almost smiling at the surprised expression on the ghosts face, Tobi aimed another for its jaw and put his shoulder behind it.

As the ghosts head was forcefully rammed through the wall, Tobi’s fist cracked clean into it.

Back on her feet, Selene booted the ghost’s body. Tobi’s relief was coupled by amusement as the lower half of a ghost’s body flew sideways up the wall.

Darien kicked open the living room door so they could all get through and get some much needed space; but the moment he did something else came rushing out.

Spindly legs and arms moved in weird ways as Darien was knocked back into the wall and the strangely deformed human head bit at his arm. Using his free arm, Darien quickly stabbed the creature in the neck several times and threw it to the side. The creature continued to struggle as Darien dived on top of it, pinning it with one hand and stabbing it continuously with the other.

As Selene helped him up, Tobi thanked her and tried to work out where he was needed. Seeing no space to help Sax and the Talin in their desperate struggle—that only seemed to be getting worse as it went on—Tobi rushed to help Darien instead.

Stepping forward herself, Selene splayed her arms and cast a group blessing and area of effect healing spell in quick succession. Feeling the effects of the blessing, Tobi felt his speed suddenly increase before a ghost came back through the wall and tackled him.

Planting his foot before he lost his balance, Tobi flipped the ghost over his shoulder. It was reflex more than anything else, but he still felt pleasure from managing it.

The ghost was no real person though and instead of slamming into the floor, it fell straight through it . The sudden lack of its presence sent Tobi stumbling forward and crashing straight into Darien.

Finally free, the spindly creature jumped up and launched itself at Darien in angry vengeance.

Despite the countless cuts, no blood leaked from its body at all.

Realizing the creature was actually a boy, Tobi knew instantly it was the child Darien had described—the one Selene wanted to save.

Dismissing his thoughts, Tobi fired off three rapid shots of Arcane Void from where he lay and jumped up—adding a swift kick of Arcane Strike to the boy’s ribs..

Quickly helping Darien back up as the boy flew into the air, Tobi threw him back down again and took the tackle from a ghost shooting from the floor like a spear.

Crashing into the opposite wall, and winded by the ghosts body crashing into him, Tobi coughed and felt bile rise in his throat. The taste of blood filled his mouth and his ears started ringing.

The ghost didn’t have much substance itself, but the sheer force of it still made a heavy impact.

Delirious and dizzy as he slid back down the wall, Tobi raised both arms to defend himself and took the rain of blows that followed.

Finally managing gain leverage over the dog, the Talin planted his foot on one of the dog’s heads while using his strength to try and rip the other head off. He figured he only had to pull strong enough to rip the stitching and that was his aim.

Sax, finally getting enough space to move, gripped the shield in his right hand and slammed it base first into the stitching. Seeing it rip away a little, he did it again and added his shield bash skill to the attack.

The Talin roared as the stitching pulled free and the head ripped clean away from the body. As a streak of light flew passed them both and took out yet another ghost that was trying to harass them, Sax dropped his left shield and lifted his other high. Nodding to the Talin, he slammed the shield down in the same moment the Talin moved his foot.

Impaling his shield into the beast’s head, Sax felt a certain sense of satisfaction.

As the ghost screamed under a bright holy light that washed over it, Tobi threw it off and crawled free. He could see Darien struggling under the attacks of the boy just ahead and charged forward in an attempt to tackle the body.

Seeing Tobi charge every step of the way, the boy flung an arm and used Tobi’s momentum to send him flying overhead.

Time seemed to slow for Tobi as his body twirled and glided forward on a direct collision course for Selene. Selene didn’t even try to dodge either as her eyes widened and her arms opened to catch him.

Time caught back up the moment his body connected to Selene’s. Both of them crashed to the floor together.

Noting Selene’s health bar flashing at 50%, Tobi remembered the only other time he had seen someone else’s health bar and wondered why. Figuring it was due to physical contact, he wondered instead how Selene knew who to heal. A question he would definitely ask later.

“I’m sorry, are you OK?”

Selene nodded and propped herself up on her elbows.

“Breath for a minute and then heal yourself.” Tobi advised before turning back to help Darien against the boy that still had him pinned.

Tripped by a ghost that reached through the floor, Tobi’s face smashed off the floor and blood splattered everywhere. He couldn’t remember if he’d seen his own blood in Aevitas before, but it wasn’t a welcome sight.

Jumping back in surprise as a lifeless eye stared back at him, Tobi sighed in relief to see the dogs head lacked a body.

As the head suddenly started yapping and snapping at his heels, Tobi’s leg shot out on reflex in an attempt to kick it away. Body or not, the fight wasn’t over and the head clamped itself firmly around his his calf.

Involuntarily letting out a half-yell-half-scream from the bite, Tobi scurried backward and in a mad panic.

Seeing Tobi being mauled by the dog’s head, the Talin broke free from the struggle he was in and rushed forward. Sliding his fingers into the dog’s jaw, he pried the mouth open.

With his muscles straining to break the dogs locked jaw and the teeth pierced his fingers, the Talin arched his back and roared. The motion was slow at first, but the second it’s lock snapped free, the jaw ripped open.

Half mortified and half sickened by the sight of the lower jaw being ripped from the rest of the skull, Tobi moved further back, dragging his wounded leg along with him.

Selene cast a heal on Darien and a quick heal over time spell on Sax before grabbing Tobi by the shoulder and pulling him back to safety. Focusing on healing his leg and failing to give proper support to the rest of the party, Tobi cursed to himself. He was only managing to get in their way.

“We need to get out of this hallway. There is no space.” Selene urged.

Looking down the hall at the battle unfolding and taking a minute to gather his wits, the problem was just the dog really. It was taking both the Talin and Sax to keep it down and the damn thing wouldn’t die. Once that was out of the way, the small body of the overly powerful kid would be easy to get passed.

“Talin, grab the dog! Sax, help Darien!”

Acting quickly, the Talin pinned the dog with his full body and Sax squeezed through to go help Darien, “Selene, help those two. Talin, keep it still.”

Dropping to his knees and grabbing the dog’s head as its eye swiveled to stare at him, Tobi pulled the wand from his belt and placed it right in front of its eye, “Sorry pup, but you need to be put down.”

Critical Hit!

Despite the notification, the dog still struggled so he fired off several more. Even still the dog didn’t stop.

“Try the heart.” The Talin murmured as he struggled to keep the beast still.

Seeing the opening where the other head used to be, Tobi stabbed his wand to roughly where the heart should be and tried again. The explosions of the second part of the spell going off inside the beast rattled its rib cage and life fled from its body.

After all the struggling and attempts to kill it, the body finally crumbled and collapsed in on itself.

You have killed Tomin’s mongrel; Stitches.

You have gained 9,200 experience and reached level 10.

Quickly closing the window without paying it any mind, Tobi looked toward Darien and Sax where the child creature was crawling backward on the roof in retreat.

As the creature backed directly toward Tobi and the Talin, Tobi gestured for the Talin to jump and rip it from the ceiling.

Moving out of the way and ducking passed as Darien and Sax shepherd the boy toward the Talin, Tobi spotted the living door reopen and instantly pulled it back shut. Whatever was about to come through could wait until the child-creature was dead.

Struggling against the door and looking over his shoulder, he spotted several shadows creeping in his peripheral vision.

“Selene! Stairs!”

Looking to the stairs and seeing the ghosts at the top, Selene quickly moved to the bottom and directed her staff in their direction. As they all parted and made way, a much larger figure appeared with a dark aura spilling out around him and a staff of his own.

“Tobi, I might need your help on this one.” Selene called.

Giving a nod as his body jerked with the door and he stumbled inside, Tobi spotted at least eight more spindly child creatures and jumped back again—slamming the door behind him, “Talin, come grab the door!”

Noting the urgency in Tobi’s voice, the Talin rushed forward and ignored the child on the roof completely.

“Do not let this door open.” Tobi warned, stressing the importance as much as he could and handing the duty over to the Talin.

Moving back to Selene and looking up the stairs while Darien and Sax forced the child creature to the corner, he finally looked up the stairs to see the problem.

“What is that?” He asked staring at the dark robed figure with glowing red eyes.

“A spook.” Selene growled, her eyes not moving from the creature for a second.

“Another ghost?”

“Worse. A spectre with magical abilities. They aren’t normally found outside of Whispering Wood. Protect my back from any of the ghosts coming out of the walls or floor. I will take this one myself.”

Tobi nodded and moved behind her. As she took a step back from the stairs, Tobi took a step back too.

---

Selene

The light of my staff doesn’t reach to the gloom above, but I have no doubt what the creature is. Unfortunately, it takes too much effort just to keep the glow of the staff going. On top of my healing spells and everything else...I can’t waste my mana on making it any brighter.

Backing up further and keeping Tobi behind me to protect my back, I wish only that he could use his divine magic properly. I know already that he has the ability, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to physically touch the ghosts.

It was the first time I actually saw him use his Divinity, but he didn’t use his Arcane magic at the same time. I could only guess that he couldn’t use them both together. They were classed as opposites already so the fact that I have witnessed him use both is a small miracle in itself. Aside from the time he gave me my new name, there was no other time I saw him do anything close to Divinity.

With Tobi behind me, I calm down a great deal. I know it won’t help much if the ghosts grab my legs from below the floor or they come rushing out of the ceiling, but at least he can prevent attacks that come from directly behind. I can still see the possessed child in the corner of my eye too; crawling on the wall like some sort of twisted spider.

I can’t give them any attention though; the Spook will be hard enough to handle. I can only work with what I have.

The Spook grins at me and starts his slow descent down the stairs. He takes a grudgingly long time too—a single step at a time. I know he is mocking me, just as I know he takes my retreat as a sign of fear. I am not afraid though and he will learn that soon enough.

Calling on the divinity granted me since birth, I try to remember the lessons I had from books and Priests alike.

Spooks are horrid creatures, if I want to defeat it, I have to pierce its heart with a blessed item. Fortunately, any item carried by someone with Divinity will count as a blessed item. On the flip side, my staff has a 45% damage reduction due to it’s love of life effect. It’s great for my healing, but how I am supposed to force it through the Spook’s ribcage...I don’t even know. It may be classed as a ghost—of a sort—but the body is very real. Despite their ability with magic, they actually prefer close combat fighting.

I know I will have my work cut out for me, but I also know I have the ability to win. Compared to anyone else that is with us, I might be the only one that even has a chance.

---

Tobi

The spook makes its way down the stairs with a grin across his face. As he fires off a black ball of smoke, Selene swats it away with her staff and replies with a streak of light.

They’re testing each other. Warning shots and a nod at each others abilities.

Responding to the fight beginning, the ghosts split up in multiple directions. Tobi knows it is almost time for him to begin his duty to protect her, but he has no idea how he will actually manage it.

Right on cue, a ghost rushes from the wall on the left. Selene doesn’t even flinch as Tobi dives into it and punches it right back where it came from.

Another comes from the right and Tobi curses. His new position placed Selene in the way.

Spinning on the spot, Selene cracks the ghost with her staff, she doesn’t even blink and faces the Spook again.

“Use your staff.” She advises him calmly.

Returning to her back and holding his staff ready, Tobi wonders how she can remain so cool in the situation they’re in.

A vicious face flies from the right with arms outstretched. Tobi lunges forward like a spartan from the movie. The staff pierces a hole in the ghosts chest.

As surprise passes, the ghost enters a fit of rage and turns green. Slimy looking goo appears to be dripping from its limbs and it screams in Tobi’s face. He was as surprised as the ghost by the staffs ability to pierce it, but he wastes no time in re-enacting the same scene.

Drawing the staff back, he rams it forward again and pierces clean through the ghosts gaping mouth—silencing it instantly.

The ghost gags and chokes. Tobi doesn’t know if it was real or if the ghost is being an idiot—either way he pulls the staff free and cracks it over the head, driving it through the floor with brute force.

The Spook reaches Selene at last, they’re almost face to face. Selene acts first and hits the Spook round the jaw with the bottom of the staff. The Spook responds in kind as Selene ducks.

Within a split second, both are wrapped in a frenzied dance. Light and dark dance together in a swirling mess. Her robe flutters just above the floor and Tobi takes a step back, trying to get out of the way. Shadow chases light, light chases shadow.

A hand reaches from the floor and Tobi crushes the fingers with his staff. His eyes are glued to Selene’s fight as a dull thud sounds from within.

With his heart racing and unable to keep track of what is happening, he spots a ghost come flying from the ceiling. He is in no mood for messing anymore and grabs what he guesses was once hair.

Dragging the ghost away from Selene’s fight, he can tell it was once a girl. He doesn’t even care as he slams it toward the wall. Realizing at the last second that she will just pass through it, he lets her go and swings his staff, taking half of her face in a single swing.

Seeing the Spooks face bounce off the wall, Tobi’s heart cheers. The spook seems to be smiling though as his elbow flies back and catches Selene under the chin. He didn’t even know she could fight that well and yet she is. Easily a match for any of the men that were there.

Tackled by two ghosts in his moment of distraction, Tobi bounces off the wall.

Jumping back to his feet instantly, he swings his staff and missed. Both ghosts return from the opposite wall and take him from behind again.

Crashing to the floor and busting his nose for the second time, he flips to his back and uses the wall to help himself up. Before he even gets halfway back to a sitting position, hands fly out of the wall and floor, tying up his own arms and legs.

Both ghosts fall on him and start pounding at his defenseless body.

WIth his life draining quickly, he struggles desperately.

Selene crashes right beside him and the Spook falls on top of her. She uses the staff to hold him at bay, but the spook seems to be toying with her, edging closer, little by little.

Watching in dismay as the Spook’s mouth opens and gets closer to her face, Tobi’s struggles stop. He can still feel the punches but they seem to be happening to someone else. To a body that is no longer his. His half bar shows he is down to 25% health but he doesn’t care. The spooks extends his tongue and saliva drips onto her cheek.

Turning her head to the side and away, she struggles with her staff to lift him off. Her eyes lock onto his and all Tobi’s sees is an apology. Her eyes regret only that she failed. Failed him. Failed Tobi and will now die because of it.

Rage explodes in his chest.

Fuck if he is going to watch Selene die!

Renewing his efforts to break free, goosebumps rush across his body. His hair stands on end. He feels the different energies swirling in mass within his body.

None of it matters.

“Get the fuck OFF!”

As he screams, power explodes outward. Feeling as though his chest just exploded and his body was ripped apart, everything turns black.

***

Back to Main Page

***

Authors Notes:

Spoiler :

*****Breathes and writes huge author comment.*****

Welp, now you all see what I am like with battle scenes. Just this much was SO much effort -.-''

Hm...2 sweat marks isn't enough: -.-'' -.-''

*Sigh* ... Well, if it wasn't for TUSF kicking my butt on an almost daily basis, it probably wouldn't be here today. In fact, it definitely wouldn't be. I think he may have wanted to commit murder at one point—or at least provide me with a cactus to sit on due to my excessive need to delete everything.

At one point, I had a 10k word chapter all ready to be posted. I did some fun stuff with it too, like first person perspectives for Sax, Tobi, Selene, Darien and others. I had scenes involving Zebba and his 2 companion mages Dillon and Caden, (which included a merry chase around town thanks to street urchins)

I kept one of the 1st perspective scenes...just to show you ^_^ (Selene's) — the fight that came after was all done in Tobi's 1st person perspective too. I liked it much more, but I wanted to keep my usual style rather than going crazy with my writing experiments.

Scenes involving Calamity (Lucy) and Lorry were also deleted ... A short bit involving Romun as well.

Lots of deletes. This particular version included a 4k-ish word cut-scene that was a flashback memory of the time Selene met Farrant. — if you can't guess, it was at the point between her sitting on a table (after moving a box out of the way) and answering Darien's question:

Quote:...All of that happened in Northern Lybernia though, what do you know about it?”

Moving across the room and shifting a box so she could sit on the table, Selene sighed and looked at Tobi for a moment. She didn’t like thinking back on her time as a slave but there were some memories that would stay with her forever.

[CUT SCENE FLASH BACK WAS HERE]

“What do I know about it?” Selene echoed, “When I...

This chapter could have easily been 80k words long .... >.>

ANYWAY—Moving on.

I am keeping my shoutout today down to just Vietxtreme. This next bit is for you viet

~~ Thank you for the review, the comments are appreciated. I am happy about how you described the way the story bends around Tobi. That is exactly how I try to get it across.

To me, every person/character is the main character of their own story. The world affected by our circle of influence bends to each of us. That's how I see it.

For that reason, I try to make the world (Story) bend around whichever person's perspective I am using. If I am writing Selene (As I did in the last chapter) I try to make the world/story bend around her. If I write Darien, it bends around him.

And so, with Tobi, the world bends around him. As you said, bends, not revolves...

With Tobi though, the bending of the world is a little more extreme than most people. His circle of influence is kind of large. ^_^

Much love to you and your review. <3 <3

___________

All other comments and so forth for other people, I am 99% sure I responded in the comments of the last chapter.

Thank you to all of you

Please let me know what you think or feel about the chapter. Please also let me know if you spot any mistakes.

~Aspirer

PS. Chapter is 12,420 words long. I think it's a new personal record for RRL chapter.