And so the Fool, Chosen, Champion and Sage planned their future.

It wasn’t the first time they’d talked like this, but this time—at last—they spoke with all their secrets out in the open.

Or, at least, most of them.

Midnight had come and gone, but no one’s eyelids had grown heavy. They weren’t yawning. They hadn’t nodded off. Excitement filled the air…capped with residual anger.

As they talked, Alex noticed heat returning to Cedric’s voice every now and then as tension played around his mouth. But, his body language was more relaxed, his movements less forceful. The fullness of his anger would take time to drain away, Alex thought—and hoped—but at least, he wasn’t throwing punches anymore.

At least, not at Alex.

He had something else to focus his anger on, now.

The Chosen’s fist slammed into his palm. “I feel like a bloody wolf in a cage,” he growled. “I’d like t’be off t’this Irtyshenan Empire ourselves and turn the place upside down ‘til we find what Drestra saw through the Traveller’s portal.” He nodded in the direction of the castle. “But we can’t leave if the Ravener’s pullin’ out all sorts o’ extra nasty tricks, we’re gonna be needed here. An’ besides, Merzhin’s already gettin’ kinda twitchy. I can jus’ hear 'im now, scoldin’ us fer shirkin’ our holy duty and all. He might even go t’the priests t’complain.”

“Yeah,” Hart grunted, thumbing the pommel of his sword. “We don’t want him or the priests looking at us too hard, especially since that invisible beast could mess us up real good if we get caught off-guard.”

“That’s not even what worries me the most.” Drestra pointed to the earth beneath them. “We can fight monsters. With Aenflynn’s forces and any Ravener-spawn that we control, we can build our own armies and kill our enemies, even unknown ones. But what happens if the Ravener starts overloading a dungeon core with all its power while we’re insidea dungeon? You heard what Baelin said, it held him off for a while.”

“Aye, an’ if two o’ them could put up a fight against that scary bastard, then one could likely squash us bloody flat,” Cedric grunted. “They could kill hundreds o’ soldiers too, an’ there wouldn’t be one bloody thing we could do. All o’ that trainin’ they gave us in the capital didn’t do nothin’ t’get us ready f’dis kinda shite.”

“Yeah, the Ravener’s escalating,” Alex said darkly. “And if I had to guess, it’s reacting to us taking control of its dungeon cores. I controlled one for just a second in the Traveller’s Cave and the Ravener sent out an entire hunting party of assassins to track me all the way to Generasi.”

“Aye, an’ that means it can get Ravener-spawn off the bloody island,” Cedric said. “An’ that ain’t supposed to happen.”

“But if it can get those clawed things off the island, why doesn’t it attack the rest of the world?” Drestra asked. “What makes us so lucky?”

“It’s like a predator, stalking through its territory.” Theresa glowered at the horizon, as though the Ravener were hovering in that direction, just beyond sight. “It treats our whole kingdom like its hunting ground.”

“I’m not not sure about that, Theresa,” Alex thought aloud. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it does hunt us but…if it’s a predator and we’re its prey—and since our fear is what fuels dungeon cores—why doesn’t it keep following us outside of Thameland?” He gestured to the west. “Most of our people are right across the channel between here and the mainland: that’s a hell of a lot closer than Generasi. If it could follow me, it can definitely send those clawed things—and who knows what else—after our people in the Empire. But it doesn’t.”

“Predators are not ravening monsters that chase down and eat every single scrap of prey, Alex,” she pointed out. “Wolves don’t slaughter an entire herd of deer, they hunt the weak and eat their fill.”

“Right, but our weak are gone,” he said. “All that’s left in Thameland are our Heroes, priests, the army and anyone else who can fight. If it’s actually behaving like a wolf or a bear, then what it should be doing is chasing down everyone who leaves. Imagine how much fear it’d have to feed on if it had those clawed monsters stalking the Rhinean countryside, striking from the shadows, killing our old, our weak and our young.” He shook his head. “Imagine how much terror a tactic like that would create? The Ravener would be drowning in power.”

“Bloody frightenin’ thought that is,” Cedric was somber. “But it’s true. If it could send monsters after you all the way t’ the south, then why can’t it chase the rest of our people?” He paused. “...‘Less it don’t want to.”

“My thoughts exactly, mate!” Alex nodded emphatically. “That’s why I don’t really think it’s hunting us. I think it’s herding us, like a sheep dog herds a flock of sheep. When our people escape to the Rhinean Empire, well, that’s the same as putting sheep out to pasture, so it lets our people go.”

“But when you took control of the dungeon core, that was the same as a fat, juicy sheep escaping,” Drestra said. “So it needed to send out hunters to either kill the sheep, or bring it back.”

“And now more sheep are escaping,” Hart jumped in, nodding to Alex and Drestra “You two can control dungeon cores, and so can that Carey girl.”

“An’ when more sheep start escapin,’ y’bring out all yer shepherds and herdin’ dogs,” Cedric finished. “Aye, it fits. Explains why it’s escalating’.” He looked at Drestra. “An’ why you’ve got a big, nasty target on your back now.”

“Yes,” the Sage said. “And that brings us back to the point: if it’s escalating, there’s no way we can leave. We’ll be needed here.”

“And that’s where I think we can divide and conquer.” Alex made a chopping motion in mid-air. “Except in this case, it’s us we’re dividing, and our enemies we’re conquering.”

“Go on,” Hart said.

“Well, first of all, we have an advantage in that I can count the number of people who know I’m a Hero on both hands,” Alex said. “You’re all likely to be watched by the church; if they’re keeping secrets, I can’t imagine they’d want to risk having Uldar’s mightiest weapons all going rogue, especially since one’s already missing.”

“You’re probably right,” Drestra’s voice crackled, her eyes hardening. “When I really think about it, we have priests constantly following us to supposedly give… ‘support’. They let us act on our own now, but back when we were first Marked, I could hardly sneeze without a priest popping up to wipe my nose. Maybe they’re there for more than nose wiping.”

“And now that we’ve been good little Heroes for over a year, they let us have our run of the land,” Hart added, giving an amused snort. “The look on their faces if we all just pulled an Alex and ran off, I’d pay solid gold to see that.”

“Oi, don’t even joke about that,” Cedric said firmly. “Lotta people’d die if we did.”

“Oh no, look out, Cedric’s mad. He just might punch me!” The Champion held up his hands.

The Chosen’s face turned beet red. “Not funny, mate.”

“Funny to me,” Hart rumbled, then looked back at Alex. “But I see your point. We can only go so many places since the priests don’t want us too far from their sight, but they don’t know enough to have any interest in you.”

“Yeah, which means I can look into things outside of Thameland,” he said. “Though, I’ve got to admit, progress has been slow because of that. But! I’m hoping that Baelin and my little trip down to the lower planes can give us some clues. I really believe the Traveller is a key in all this. If not the key, then at least a piece of the puzzle.”

“At the very least, I want to know why a Saint of Uldar would build a secret temple in the earth near her hometown and not have one single image of Uldar in it. And why would she have a portal that slams shut as soon as a Hero comes near it?” Drestra said.

“Yeah, me too,” Alex said. “And that’s what I’m hoping we figure out in the hells.”

“I can’t believe you’re goin’ to the hells before y’go t’an empire right here in our world.” Cedric shook his head. “You’re completely bloody crazy, y’know that don’t cha?”

“Well, I’ve got Baelin to give me a ride down to the hells, and we know where we’re going,” Alex said. “As for the empire…there’s no way I can think of exploring it without learning some kind of long-range teleportation spell. Even then, it’s going to be rough, with how they’re gating out outsiders and all.”

“I still think it’s bloody madness that y’think goin’ to the hells is an easier thing t’do.”

“The world’s upside down, I’m just trying to react to it,” Alex shrugged. “But while I’m literally going to hell, you can go places I can’t. This is completely up to you, of course, but if I were you, I’d start considering a little burglary.”

“Who’re we burgling?” Hart asked.

“The cathedral in Ussex would by my suggestion,” Alex said. “We need answers, and we need them sooner than later. If the Ravener’s escalating, then we need solid ways to counter it. We need to solve this mystery.”

“Cool. I’m up for that,” Hart said. “I can be sneaky-like when I want to be. I’ll be like a shadow. Steal some books. Snap some necks. It’ll be fun.”

“Aye, but we’ve got to think about Merzhin, though,” Cedric pointed out. “Ach, I feel for ‘im.” He looked at Theresa and Alex. “You two should see ‘im; he’s our age, aye, but he jus’…looks like he’s so much younger. I keep thinkin’ that he’s like a little kid, one that’s too fond o’ Uldar.”

“Hmmmm, can you get him on our side?” Alex suggested. “Drestra was saying how powerful he is and we’d have an easier time investigating the church if we had the Saint willing to work with us.”

The three other Heroes looked at each other dubiously.

“Don’t think that’s gonna work,” Hart said. “We mentioned this a bit before, but he’s a fanatic among fanatics. Like…you ever see those guys standing by the roadside on a rock, claiming that the end of the world’s coming and only their deity can stop it?”

“Can’t say that I have,” Theresa said.

“Me neither,” Alex added. “But Alric’s a small town and religion’s not super prevalent in Generasi, so I’ll take your word for it.”

“Anyway,” Hart said. “So, Merzhin’s like one of them, except he was raised to be one of them. He’s all in.”

“Okay…” Alex frowned. That description reminded him of Carey, but she’d started questioning what they’d been told after learning they could control dungeon cores. Maybe this Merzhin could turn a corner too. “What if we started with some honesty? How would he react if he knew I was the Fool and was helping out?”

Hart, Drestra and Cedric burst out laughing.

“You want to end up in chains?” the Sage asked. “Because that’s how you end up in chains.”

Claygon emitted a mental growl through their link.

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Alex asked.

“Look, ya told me an’ I punched ya. What d’you think he’d do?”

“Yeah…okay,” Alex acknowledged. “But what if we told him everything? About controlling the dungeon cores, about their connection to Uldar, all of it. How would he react?”

Drestra frowned. “I don’t know. He might explain it away, he might have a meltdown…but either way, he’d tell every priest with ears, and then they’d know we know. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready for that fight.”

“Speak for yourself,” Hart chuckled. “I’d meet ‘em in the light with my bow or in the dark with a knife. They want a fight? I’ll give them their last.”

“We’re strong, t’be sure, but we’d be branded traitors, then we’ll have all o’ Thameland after us. I don’t want nothin’ t’do with slaughterin’ my fellow country folk, Hart.”

“If they come at us to cage or kill us, then I have no problem killing them,” Drestra fired back.

“You’re awfully cold blooded, at times,” Cedric said.

“And your blood runs too hot at times.”

The Chosen frowned.

“I think you’re both right,” Alex said. “We’ve got to defend ourselves, if it comes to it: obviously there are people who want this conspiracy to remain. But I’d rather we kill people who want to kill and oppress us, rather than some…poor bastards that don’t know any better. That’s why, if you find out more about what’s going on with the church, we could really narrow down who we need to talk to and whose heads we need to crack. And…”

He looked at Drestra. “You talked about not being ready for that fight?”

“I’m not. I’m trying to break through to fourth-level spells,” she said. “I can’t handle the Ravener and ancient conspirators’ all at once.”

“Well.” Alex leaned forward. “Maybe I can help with that…listen. I’ve learned a lot at that school of mine. A lot about fighting. A lot about magic. Maybe I can talk to Baelin and we can see about a little…training for all of you. I mean, look what I managed to do for myself in the last year.”

He grinned wickedly.

“Imagine what we could do for all of you.”