With his minions taken care of, there wasn’t anything blocking my path to my new nemesis. Before I knew it, I’d already cast a fireball out of pure anger. It impacted some sort of dark barrier and then scattered into flames.

“Useless,” He muttered but his comment didn’t seem directed at my attack but rather at the loss of his soldiers. At least I assumed so since that was what his eyes were looking at. “Just like your resistance.”

I didn’t know what he meant with that, and honestly, I didn't give a damn. Selleron appeared at my side and started walking forward, but I was far quicker than him. This guy was mine, and the captain halted when I skittered up to and past him, a firm grip on my weapon and fury burning in my eyes.

“My resistance,” I said calmly, but loud enough for him to hear. “I’ve fought hard for it, and I will use it to stop people like you.”

He started laughing maniacally while raising both hands into the air, forming a ball of the same dark, swirling mists that I’d seen earlier. It eventually became more compact and was flung my way.

I was quick to create a fire wall which absorbed most of the attack, but his magic was a strange one and part of the spell got past my first line of defense and impacted my barrier. I was too angry to care and simply refreshed my barrier as I closed the gap.

“Nothing here makes any difference,” He continued before laughing again. “Nothing will.”

“Like hell it does,” I said as I jumped the last bit, landing right before him. “Say your prayers.”

He continued laughing and I tried to stab him with my weapon’s tip, but the attack was blocked by the same barrier. I swung wildly several times while the laughter continued, yet he didn’t attack again for some odd reason. He just stood there as I hacked and slashed away at the magical shield until I saw parts of it splinter off.

“Futile,” He said as I withdrew my weapon before pushing it forward in a mighty thrust. As soon as it hit his barrier, it finally shattered into a thousand tiny fragments of dark-shaded glass before impaling his stomach.

“Your actions are futile,” He said again with a grin even after he’d suffered a mortal wound, black blood oozing down the metal of my weapon to the ground. He laughed one last time before his legs gave out, however, my steel kept him in place. “The master will have you. You cannot escape your fate.”

After those last words, he let out a deafening, unearthly scream, and even more of the nasty, ominous mist was ejected from his mouth before the same happened in other places. Like roots on a tree, they spread out from his body into the air around him before they vaporized and disappeared.

There wasn’t a body left, and his armor fell to the ground, just like the equipment of the skeletal warriors had, except, in this case, the metal and cloth all melted together without ever growing the red-hot that would usually require. The resulting mixture formed a puddle of what looked like liquid metal, and then, after a few seconds, it seeped into the soil, not leaving behind a single trace.

I’d finally come to the realization of what was going on here, and I kicked myself in the head with one of my large legs for not noticing it earlier. My heart was still beating like crazy, and my arms were still shaking with anger, when Cellestra appeared at my side.

She didn't say a word, and simply leaned her head against my torso. I was still considerably pissed, but her presence and closeness at least helped me to calm down. My hand found its way onto her shoulder and I let out a deep sigh, somewhat happy that this was over but still worried about the consequences of this.

Selleron stood by idly, still next to the building, and inspected his men, giving us some time before he walked up to us.

As soon as he did, Elle and the others thought it was safe to come out of hiding and also approached me, with the first carefully putting a leg on my back in an attempt to comfort me. Smiling slightly, I put a hand on her head in appreciation as I wiped the sweat off of my own forehead.

The captain coughed once, getting my attention.

“Well fought, but do you know what he was talking about?”

“Unfortunately, I do,” I said, before taking a pause and heaving another deep sigh. “Hograd…”

A momentary shock ran over his face before he narrowed his eyes, seemingly fishing for more information.

“Hograd is apparently quite pissed with me. He and Elysa have some kind of feud when it comes to my fate. This…” I said as I looked down at my pedipalps and into my lower eyes. “Is part of that. I don’t want to go into it too much, but I guess it’s safe to say I am a target for his followers now.”

I kicked the dirt in front of me with two legs in frustration.

“And I knew about this too. I just hadn't expected them to find me this quickly. I fear things will get worse from here.”

“Hograd…” Selleron muttered quietly. “An angry god sounds like terrible news.”

“Yes.” I nodded slowly. “And what’s more, it seems they want to capture me alive too. For what reason, I do not know. You saw for yourself how hard this pile of garbage tried to not harm me.”

“Never mind that,” He said. “How do we continue from here? What do you plan to do?”

“I doubt there is much I can do. If he knows where I am, there’s no doubt more will show up soon enough. The only thing I could do is run, and that’s just not in me. I have my family nearby and I fear that if I disappear, they’ll take it out on them.” I shook my head. “No. I’ll stay here and fight my way through whatever he throws at me.”

“Well,” He continued. “Know that you are under the guild’s protection and that we’ll be there to help out our members, against whatever may wish harm upon them, even if they are followers of a dark god.”

“I’m sorry about that,” I admitted in earnest. “I didn’t intend to be a burden. Thank you, by the way, for the help. I really appreciate… everything you’ve done so far.”

“You have the dungeon guards to thank for that. They contacted Felmar as they felt something was off.”

“That is correct,” The person in question appeared from behind the captain. “When they mentioned the emblem of Arlnore, I heard alarm bells ring in my head. I know the guild master of the place and he is not quick to hand out emblems to anyone, let alone a shady figure like him. I, of course, immediately called Selleron and laid a trap. I’m quite happy it all worked out.”

For the first time, I let out a small chuckle.

“I can imagine. I saw how nervous you were earlier, but good job on hiding it so well.”

“Can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

“Nope,” I said with a smile. “I have too much experience, and too many eyes.”

Cellestra burst into a fit of giggles while Selleron was left chuckling and Felmar with an awkward grimace.

“But really,” I continued on a more serious note. “Thank you all so much. If you want to talk later, and I have the feeling that we’ll talk again soon, I’d be happy to have that conversation, but right now, I’d love to just get home to my family. It’s getting late, and I don’t want them worrying.”

“Understood,” Selleron spoke confidently with a nod. “I’ll inform Soranir of the situation and may just request for the guild to have some additional guards stationed here, just in case.”

I felt bad to be responsible for the mess and had Felmar take another gold coin from our income to account for the additional expenses of the guild. He wouldn’t accept it at first, but I insisted on the fact, even if it was to give me better peace of mind. Finally, after that was all said and done, Cellestra, the spiderlings, and I made our way back to the farm.

“How are you feeling?” Cellestra asked. As always, I could feel the genuine care in her voice and couldn’t help but savor the moment, my eyes closed.

“Angry I guess is the easiest way to explain it. I'm being hunted for reasons that I’m unaware of and it’s pissing me off.”

“Yeah,” She whispered. “That seems harsh. Glad that everything worked out well.”

“For now,” I added. “But my goals are unchanged. I won’t allow anyone to take my happiness away. I hope you’ll be with me for it?”

I understood I was putting her at risk as well and knew that she loved me, but this was still asking a lot. Her eyes trailed down my elven back and to the long hair behind it as she seemed to think, but only took a moment before a slight smile appeared.

“Always, Kealyna.”