"So… you're telling me… we have a little over sixty platinum in the form of a pocketful of diamonds PLUS the ten plat diamond I got for a leader bonus?" Dawn uses her forearm to wipe the imaginary drool from the side of her mouth.

"Well," Kona begins, "From what Vic told us, the half carat Princess Diamonds go from one to five platinum, depending on where you sell them and we have twenty. One carat PD's are seven to thirteen. Luckily, the best place for us to sell them is Kes Solomas, where they use them in the Andersignette process."

"If we can figure out how it's done, do you think we should try to make them, too?" Dawn asks.

"I would think it's a highly guarded process, considering how much money is involved," Kona says, shrugging her shoulders.

Serenity looks around the room, "I-- I think we should focus on the Spell Cards. They… worked so well during the boss raid."

"And the advanced equipment," adds Sonny, "Crafting them has been the bread and butter of Linqs since the beginning. We have enough materials, areas for gathering more, and willing and experienced Crafters. From what I can recall about the area where the Sphinx has made its home, there is an abundance of various resources. I chose it because of this, its proximity to two dungeons, and the unique microclimate created there. This didn't even include the proximity to the Denagrin Plains and everything that can be found within it."

"Tcha." Richter makes a noise in agreement, "I mean, the Lich Lord must have thought it was worth trying to take over this whole place and leaving a wraith behind when he failed."

Kona holds up a fork-skewered piece of meat, dripping with sauce, "We found a bunch of those ruined cities, too. Should we see if we can find anything of worth in them?"

Dawn scratches at her horn, "Maybe not yet. Denagrin has to be the big prize around here, so we should focus on it first. Sonny, maybe later you can lead some of the Alchemists and Foragers to see if we can do anything about the red stuff growing on the books in the library? Richter, can you go with them and see if you can decipher the walls of the library's fourth floor?"

The group affirms her requests and they take a moment to eat. Distraught as he was to lose two of his soldiers, one being a good friend and the other an exceptional Cook, Gorm continues to make amazing meals. And, by the looks of his tightening clothes, taste every single thing the kitchen produces. But before anyone can take a teasing jab at him, he voiced his desire to focus on his work in the kitchen. He didn't want to directly disobey any order for a return to combat, but he did bring up the point to Victoria that he and the other soldiers had seen more combat during the last couple of months than the entirety of their tour in Kes Rentas. Except for Conner, all the remaining soldiers voiced a similar opinion and hope for the possibility of retiring alive someday.

Even the reserve units, Linqs citizens who were willing to supplement the main force in times of great need, faced things that normal soldiers in other armies would have nightmares about. Even though they leveled up higher than they would ever have thought possible, they used their points to learn out-of-combat Utility Spells and Skills. They already learned basic combat Spells through Scrolls, so why learn more when they weren't really soldiers?

Of course, the question soon came out of Dawn's mouth after finishing her food and a quick wipe with the cloth napkin, "Do we need a military force while we build up our settlement?"

Even if they didn't, and they focused on city development and Crafting, when and how would they create an army? The rag tag force that defeated Kilmosoth wouldn't stand a chance against an equally sized one of highly trained individuals. Victoria might be up pulling Drill Instructor duty along with the other soldiers. They could train their replacements and pursue an Artisan career afterwards. Well, as soon as they can get more people flowing into Linqs.

"We should have tried to recruit people while we were in Kes Solomas," laments Dawn. Her mood lifts when someone drops off a stacked tray of what look like simple shortbread cookies.

"Like, we were popular enough." Rachel has the largest share out of everyone and talks with her mouthful. "We could've gotten loads of people to join."

"But… that's just quantity." Serenity looks over her cookie before taking a bite, "That's good… We should consider things like loyalty and work ethic. We have both in excess due to our unique circumstances." One of her hands strokes her prosthetic and is joined suddenly by another. Kona's body is turned, giving her girlfriend its full attention.

"We'll figure something out when Vic and Ardy come back," Dawn says, "Actually, I have a temporary idea that might be beneficial for everyone involved. Dola?" She turns to the startled Kobold who struggles to swallow his cookie and scrambles to raise a claw in salute.

Dawn smiles and motions for him to calm down, "Relax, Dola. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Now, how much real combat experience do you and the kobolds have?"

******************************

The closer we got to the mountain range, the denser the trees and the darker it became. With the sun setting soon, the last rays of light fought hard to penetrate into the forest. I wouldn't have a problem walking around in the moonlight, but as amazing as being a Valkyrie is, it didn't afford Victoria a Darkvision Feat. Also, we didn't want to attract too much attention with a single torch walking around the woods so, while the sun still had a couple fingers of light left before dipoing below the horizon, we focus on finding a place to rest.

A clearing large enough for our tent and a campfire would have been nice, but these old, abandoned woods haven't seen visitors in ages. Even though they're outside of the area formerly under the wraith's control, there are other things to deter weak kneed explorers. Still, these woods were probably the only source of lumber in the area far enough away to steer clear of the Lich's Tower for the longest time. The easiest thing to do back then would probably have been to cut trees down and process them into lumber nearby, before carting them back to whichever city they needed to go. At least, the ruins of a logging operation that we found would suggest this theory.

All sorts of vegetation now covers the ancient building, nature seeking to reclaim the area where countless trees were sent to be stripped and chopped into pieces. Vines drape all over the outside and snake into the hole-ridden roof as it groans under the weight of time and decaying foliage. One side of building has been crushed by the massive trunk of a tree that fell, nearly missing it and creating a generous opening. A few more feet to the left, and the fallen tree would have given the lumber mill a gloriously appropriate middle finger, like using a grenade to blow up your killer in a shooter game.

I keep Vic from getting any closer to it, "The whole thing is filled with hostiles. My nose says they're pink, so nothing too dangerous. There must be a nest of something in there." I relay information about our targets back to Vic.

>Scan[360/360HP, 120/120MP, 9/9SP

[Corrupted Fey. Banished from their Court and cursed by their Queen, these creatures no longer seek amusement through mischievous behavior. Instead, due to their curse, they seek to drain all living creatures of their life and mana energies.]

[Shadow Bolt, Life Drain, Mana Syphon, +Fey Touch, +Fey Dust(Hex)]

Their twelve inch tall, slender faerie bodies are a pale lavender, engulfed in a dark purple flame aura that casts no light in the rotting corpse of a building. They have ears similar to Elves, long, pointy, and standing straight up like antennas. At first, my suggestion was for me to talk to them, seeing as we are both magical, flaming beings, but Victoria had to stop me by the shoulder, telling me that she was familiar with the creatures.

"We ran into a colony of them during my officer training course. They don't engage in conversation and they don't like sunlight."

"I still have my Glorious Dawn Elixir, it has a Daylight Spell. But, is it worth drinking it for this situation?" I look at her expectantly and hover my hand over my bracelet, but she shakes her head.

"They're HP is low so their real power is in their numbers. It took a platoon of recruits to clear them out. But, with our level and Abilities now we should be able to do it ourselves. So, a moment after we get their full attention, they will all send a volley of the Shadow Bolts. That means our initial attack has to clear out as many as possible or we risk getting melted by magic."

That shouldn't be difficult since the Dark Wisps are still asleep or something, none of them moved an inch since we first spotted them. I grimace, placing my hands on my hips, "Damn. Body of Smoke doesn't work on magic. What we need is a diversion…"

A moment of silence drifts by as we ponder the possibilities. I go through my character sheets, looking for an idea and settle on an item. "What if I take a Faerie Dragon into their midst and spray them all with Glamour Breath? It'll set off a bunch of mental Debuffs and I can Blink Step out of there. Then, you and I can sweep through in the confusion."

"But what about your pet?" Victoria asks.

I answer her with a shrug, "My summons aren't really alive and I didn't even bother to name this one. Plus, the only real use I got out of it was when Richter borrowed… Anyway, I have Blue and the Dire Wolf we got on our way here."

"I was wondering what you were doing earlier. And what was that Skill you used? The short range, energy one?"

"Air Cutter?"

"Yes! I still have my Dexterity VigeStat point and I was impressed by the way that it works. Thanks for the inspiration." She punches me on the arm and her face explodes in suprise, "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to--"

"It'll take more than that to take me out," I say with a smile.

[Victoria Grandersil punches you for 15 unarmed damage.]

That phrase sparks a moment of deja vu, but I can't seem to place where I've experienced it before. Nevermind, I have to focus. "So, what do you think? I can't summon more than one at a time, but if the Faerie Dragon dies, maybe I can Distill one of the wisps?"

She agrees, but adds that maybe we can use Body of Smoke to better position ourselves. Soon, the winged lizard and I find ourselves in the center of a sleeping colony. The effect of seeing a purple inferno from all the bodies inside of an old, wooden building, but feeling no heat is messing with my insticts.

As soon as I'm ready, I'll cast three Glamour Breaths from my hand, mouth, and the battle wand I draw from storage while my summon works another side of the building. Then I'll Blink Step outside to join Victoria while the colony goes apeshit, and hopefully attacking mainly each other from Confused and Charmed. As soon as things start to sound like they're clearing up, I'll send the Dire Wolf around as another distraction while Vic and I sneak in from the back.

As plans sometimes do, ours starts off perfectly. First, I silence my notifications. I'll be buried by them with the amount of targets I'll be hitting all at once. Once the dragon and I successfully maneuver our way towards the center of the biggest cluster, we let loose our Spells. Each Dark Wisp within range is affected by different mental Debuffs and the lumber mill becomes a mosh pit of mayhem. As they wake up to a random Debuff, they all act accordingly and at odds with the others. The Charmed ones float around dreamily, searching for the one who affected them. The Dazed ones hover in one spot, unable to do anything else. The Frightened ones screech and fly off, slamming into others as they try to escape. The Confused ones, however, end up being the ones to complicate things.

They perform randomly, including casting their own Spells at the rest of the colony, further exasperating the confusion. Thinking another revolution is under way, the Dark Wisps turn on each other, regardless of their Debuff status.

"Yeah, that worked a little too well…" I say to myself, garnering the attention of some of the remaining lucid, dark-pixie people. I teleport right out of there and appear several feet away from Victoria, "I think I may have started a revolution inside."

"Easier for us then," she says with a grin as she equips a Thunderstruck and Ramona's Memory to her wings and holds a rapier in her hand. I try to summon the Dire Wolf, but an urgent notification flashes before my eyes.

[Unable to summon! You are currently only allowed 1 summon. Return your current summon Y/N?]

I can sense the general direction of the dragon and am suprised to see it's still in the fight. "If it lives through the fight, I'm naming it," I tell Vic as I summon my Arcane Shield and lead the way through the back door. The moment we step through, dark bolts splash against the wall behind us. I return fire with six of the seven innate Arcane Beads. At the same time I will my summon back to me.

"It's not like I don't like the thing," I argue to myself out loud, firing two bolts and turning the last one into a rapier. "And even though she's half my level, I've grown a little too attached to Blue. We've been through a few adventures already."

"Don't cry, love." As a soldier who has trained her instincts to be razor sharp, her blades slice through the wisps with deadly precision. Her rapier is just as surgically accurate as she uses her new Skill, sending crescents of energy into her enemies and cleaving them in two. "I'll help you pick up a new pet."

At her words, the Faerie Dragon appears around a corner and floats toward us. My momentary relief in seeing it is cut short when a swarm of the Dark Wisps descend on it. Their wings beat furiously, fanning their flames and sprinkling what I can only describe as anti-glitter all over my summon. The specks of total darkness stick to it, covering patches of its glowing blue body in shadow. The dragon hisses in agony, jerking in mid air until hitting the ground and flopping like a freshly caught fish. I check my notifications just to see if the system tells me what happes to my creature.

The effects range from lowered Stats to Debuffs to straight up damage, not a sign of any sort of pattern or limit to what the hexed Fey Dust can do. I try to will the creature back into its orb form, but there are too many Dark Wisps attacking us for me to concentrate. And then, when a shower of Shadow Bolts hits my shield, I exhaust my MP and the purple lens shatters.

I roll out of the way of several more bolts and stand back to back with Victoria, her weapons whirling around above us. "That was the last of my MP, gonna shout and switch to Reach."

"Do it," she commands as she stows her shield and withdraws another rapier.

Hellbent Roar could have been used earlier, something we would have to go over in our own little meeting, but its affects spread throughout the whole building. Victoria lunges forward, a tornado of steel tearing through the Dark Wisps with speed and grace. My ghostly yellow claws suprise the evil Fey with the suddenness of their appearance.

With my significantly higher Willpower, the damage dealt to me by their bolts is much lower than Vic would receive so I try to move in and out, taking some of the hits intended for her. Obviously not blind to what I'm doing, she moves us over to a doorway to another room, instead of the shooting gallery the main open area has become. The hinges from the door had rusted and fell apart a long time ago, leaving the door lying tilted on a rock on the floor for bugs and other small critters in live under.

"Drink a Mana Potion," she calls out as she pushes me into the empty room first, covering the doorway with her tower shield. As soon as the order escapes her lips, a blue bottle found mine, refilling a portion of my MP. We swap places so she can down a Health Potion of her own and I focus on using Reach with my claws.

"How many more do you think are out there?" I ask, swatting wisps before they can get too close and taking small Shadow Bolts to the body.

"Probably a couple dozen left. How's your MP? Got enough to summon the wolf yet?"

"More than enough." (140/404MP) It doesn't take me long to refill as long as I can get the regeneration going and the potion gives it a good start.

"Get it to charge out and we'll cover it with ranged attacks." She stows her rapiers and withdraws one of the Spectral Nomad Recurve Bows. Using her ring as a quiver, she nocks an arrow and waits for me.

"Right."

The enormous, blue Dire Wolf erupts from my outstretched hand, casting a dim glow, and immediately tears into the crowd surrounding our doorway. At once, the Dark Wisps shift their attention to the aggressive summon while Vic and I take full advantage of the distraction. With a supply of MP again, I withdraw the battle wand and cast Arcane Bolts through it, slamming into any wisps that get within range.

"So what was it like?" I ask Victoria as she fires an arrow right into the chest of a wisp. "I mean, for me it's a black space and the guide named Azrael. Was-- was it the same for you?"

"It… it was very different from the way you've described it." Her aim drops an inch before picking back up and she looses another arrow. "I was in a bright and expansive space, standing at the end of a table that stretched into the distance." Her weapon wings drop to the floor and she curses to herself, something about getting the timing down.

Vic reactivates her Skill, throws her weapons on her back, and pops up an eyebrow, motioning with her head for me to follow her. Her bow disappears, replaced by a rapier and a torch, which she lights with her Survival Craft Skill. With the Dark Wisps numbers greatly reduced, we rush out to finish them off. The Dire Wolf is in poor condition, HP below thirty percent, but still biting and slashing at his attackers. I successfully return him to his core so that Vic and I can talk and fight in peace.

"There were many seated at the table, but I couldn't see their faces. I did recognize the armor of a Legate, my grandmother, and empty chairs close to her." While she talks, I attempt several times to refill the empty Essence Core spot with one of the creatures, failing twice since we left the room. A quick glance over my shoulder shows me a vicious whirlwind of sharp metal and the swinging torch that, even with my speed and Agility, I have a hard time keeping up with. If we were playing the score game, the only way I could win is if my summon's kills could be added to mine.

"Before I could say or do anything, I received a notification, like I would if I were alive, saying that a Feat was Awakened and that I would be returning to my body. When I woke up, you were already gone."

The second to last Dark Wisp gets distilled and Victoria slays the other. We take a breather to look around at our handy work. Holes where the Fey missed us with their bolts pepper the walls. Loot sacks and debris litter the cutting room floor. The second floor, or what remains of it after many of the monsters didn't bother to use the stairs and just crash throught the floor/ceiling, continues to make noise even though no hostile scents remain. It's just the sound of objects falling on it and the natural creaking and groaning of the building desperately trying to stay standing. A breeze outside rustles the trees, like the feint sound of applause for our victory.

I give Victoria the all clear and she stows all of her weapons. She places her hands on her hips, tilts her head back, and sighs. Her head rocks forward and she stares at me with a weak smile, "What is it?"

I push the notifications aside as I approach her, lacing the fingers of her free hand together with mine. I resummon the Dire Wolf, and though its health is in critical condition still, I mentally command it to patrol around the outside of the lumber mill. We stare into each other's eyes for several rapid heartbeats until my chin slowly drops to my chest.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you…" The words seem to burn my throat as they come out, like slow moving lava. "If you had died for real back there, I don't know what I would've done."

She lets out another deep sigh and I feel her head gently collide with mine, "You would get over me, immortal. Just like Ramona and Taymin and the dragon creature. I don't mean for it to sound callous or cold, but that is the gift and curse of the Traveler. Isn't it?"

"I want to keep you safe." I mutter, not knowing what else to say.

"I know you do, love. But we both know it won't work that way. Eventually, one of us is going to resent the other. Possibly both. You'll become overprotective and overbearing. I'll become rebellious and self-destructive. We'll just have to trust each other and look out for one another the way we always have. Nothing is different." We raise our heads at the same time, looking at each other's smiling face.

"Taymin?" I ask, recognizing the words of a psychologist.

Vic laughs to herself, "It was after Spindle killed you. I wanted to keep you in the back, like a regular caster from then on. Maybe even see if you could handle wearing plate armor. But, he talked me out of it." I laugh with her, thinking about how the shoe is definitely on the other foot now. That, and how much we could use the old dog's wisdom right about now.

We wrap each other in a tight embrace and give each other a deep kiss, before splitting the after battle duties. The sun had set some time ago and we have a few places to stand some torches up. So, while Victoria pitches the tent and sets up both of our bedrolls, I sweep up the loot into the Rucksack of Holding I keep in my Pocket Dimension.

[1888XP + 30% War Party Leader III bonus!

[2454XP will be divided among the party!

[2454XP/ 2 members

[You received 1227XP!]

[You received 47*Pair of Faerie Wing(Dark), 7*Faerie Bones, 4*Vial of Faerie Blood(Corrupted)]

[Adaptibility Activated: You learned a Spell!]

[+Fey Touch (30MP) touch/ Heal target equal to caster's Arcane Total.]

That's an expensive healing Spell, 10MP higher than Healing Breeze and they need to be within touch range. I wonder if that's why the Dark Wisps didn't try to use it on each other or if it was just because of their evil nature. Still, a healing Spell that uses Arcane instead of Faith is good in my books and 30MP for 104HP isn't that bad. Minor Survival Craft's First Aid Ability is 3MP and 3SP for 10HP so really, Fey Touch is a more cost effective, faster heal. That is, if I have that much MP left. But, if I just need to quickly stop a Bleeding Debuff, then First Aid would probably work best. Each Ability has situations they're best suited for.

The wings, bones, and blood look like Alchemy ingredients and they're going to have to wait until we get back to the vardo to see play time. I catch a glimpse of the battered Dire Wolf dutifully patrolling and cold guilt flares in my chest. I don't think its sentient in the sense that its a living, thinking creature, but it doesn't stop me from believing it might be. Still, the azure beast is probably the better option over Blue and the unamed faerie for security detail and I leave it to do its work.

I'm not looking forward to the nightmare flashes during sleep, but I am relieved to still have Vic with me. Tired from a full day's travel and the last encounter, we lay on our sides, face to face, just about ready to nod off.

Her smirk and half open eyes inspect my face with satisfaction, a hand reaching up and running through my flames. Fingertips curl around my ear and trace down my neck. The hand finds its place on my chest, pressing to my heart. I can feel the vibrations of each beat pound against her hand. They're quick from the moment she reached out to me, my racing heart begins to slow as Vic's eyelids droop and she let's out a relaxed sigh. The pressure of her hand lets off and it slips down to the bedroll. The smile doesn't leave her face for a while, but eventually it relaxes too and sleep washes over me as well.