--- Pex, Cardinal of Aphrodite POV

Pursuit of him is in a way, gratifying. Doing so in good company; Alba a Priestess of Aphrodite and Ottar the Oaf, my dependable Initiate of Aphrodite all the better. My Snake Kin lower body glides over the beach sand, Ottar’s tall legs reach across in great bounds, only Alba seems to struggle which with bellowing laughter Ottar often scoops her up into his arms to prevent her from tiring. The thrill of the chase is upon us!

Our target is a speck lumbering ahead upon the same beach as us and as the sun travels across the sky we make up the difference in the distance late afternoon with the setting sun almost in our eyes, his lurching form is easy for us to make out. During the chase, Alba and I agreed we would need to cast [Discerp Spirit] as neither of us wished to capture his Spirit in any way and separation from his stone form and forcing him to return to the confines of the Spirit Plane would be fit punishment for his interference.

We also cast [Protect Being (Spirit)] upon ourselves and Ottar, without his captured Spirit servants he shouldn’t be powerful enough to overcome the protection and force us into Spirit Combat – we hope. We charge silently into combat!

Ottar’s Axe fortified with [Bless Weapon] strikes him upon the thinnest section of his right leg, oddly just below the knee. Magus’ stone humanoid shape is not in proportion, simply a vague representation. Initially, we drew ourselves to a halt and were prepared to begin our spell casting from afar when Ottar shook his head and pointed to his ears. In truth, the stone statue lumbering before us never once moved a limp or extremity which wasn’t used in moving forward. Staying quiet, as any trying to approach an enemy would do, we found ourselves within weapon striking distance of Magus’ stone self.

A chip of stone flies off from the firmly set right leg, the left leg is in mid-stride and the force of the blow causes a wobble forcing Magus’s left foot to angle while landing onto the beach which starts a leaning, falling stagger. His head and upper torso smash into the beach throwing up a cloud of sand while nosediving forward a short distance. Ottar doesn’t hesitate and strikes again at the right leg to claim another stone chip.

Alba completes her casting of [Discerp Spirit]. An eery scream assaults our ears reaching down into hearts as a stabbing chill. Exploding despair devours my concentration interrupting my casting of [Discerp Spirit].

A voice. His voice surrounds us. “What have you done? You have destroyed Tor! He is no more, utterly vanquished. Who gives you the right to exact such a high toll upon him?”

We didn’t know which of the two would be targeted as both occupied the statue. Therefore, I planned to delay my casting so both of our attempts wouldn’t target the same Spirit. We both boosted our respective castings by draining magic from Ottar. Now my casting is a failure and I need to try again, yet does enough magic remain to do so successfully?

Ottar keeps swinging his axe determine to exploit any weakness and the statue’s right leg separates from the rest below the knee, the break ugly, peaks and troughs along a stone fault line. Magus’ feeble, baby-like attempts to stand end. He continues though, crawling on hands and knees away from us, while his voice remains beside us.

“I will resist your evil spell, unlike like poor Tor. I am not the greatest of all magic users for no reason and I doubt you will have the reserve of magic to attempt again? So, I bid you both farewell.”

Ottar growls, not of frustration though. Laying upon the sand in pain he flexes his upper thigh, instead of following our foe. Alba sprints to reach Ottar and lay her hands upon his thigh and a warm glow emanates, the tell-tale sign of a [Healing] spell. While I cast [Shield] upon a now snarling Ottar, once again chasing after Magus.

“That’s not fair ladies …”

Immediately Alba screams clutching her chest dropping to her knees. Between tears she casts. A warm glow emanates. He is injuring us to drain our magic. I cast [Shield], my last iteration, upon myself and upon reaching Alba urges her to do the same. We reach Ottar and he is striking Magus’ statue below the right arm shoulder. Magus struggles on, crawling …

Our spells fade and Magus must sense our vulnerability. His arm is weak, yet remains intact when in turn Ottar, Alba and I are struck with his wounding spell whatever it is called. We halt our chase and heal ourselves further depleting our magic while in the distance he continues his escape. This will repeat until we have no magic and then we will be at his mercy. I can’t let him simply escape, inside my stomach turns with the thought. Then I buckle over in pain.

“Cardinal,” gasps Alba as she wraps me in her arms.

Her cry draws Ottar back, with reluctance he lets Magus escape from his vision and peers at me instead, frowning.

“I … I am giving birth!” I can’t disguise the surprise in my voice.

“Birth?” exclaims Alba. “How? None have laid with you, have they?”

“None,” grunts Ottar. “While I have guarded her.”

I hear them, yet the pain prevents me from answering … I grab at Alba for support and in a flash of recall I remember some words; Goddess double speak I thought at the time … nothing meaningful. Then her divine embrace, ecstasy beyond divine, sexual … could the Goddess have … did she?

I scream.

“We are with you Cardinal,” her words a comfort, Ottar’s stomping, wishing he could do more yet unable to, cute.

I scream.

Then the urge for more pushing passes and I feel the glowing warmth of Alba’s healing.

“All better, Cardinal. Yet what do we do with these?”

My eyes flicker open. She holds an egg, silvery copper in colour in the palm of each hand, larger than each struggling to hold the weight and once she is certain my look is questioning, she lowers them to the sand.

“They aren’t Snake Kin eggs,” I say. Certain I am stating the obvious yet being a Gar then Human how do I know what she knows.

“Wrap your tail around them, warm them at least,” she suggests.

Once I have them snuggled warm and tight, Ottar places several bedroll blankets over me and the eggs. When I smile at him, he shrugs and decides to keep watch. Alba though is silent her eyes lids flickering. A large crow settles upon her shoulder and squarks. Alba answers with words and this unusual conversation continues until the crow flaps its wings and takes flight. Alba opens her eyes, a shyness to her countenance.

“My familiar.” She touches my forearm. “Originally his yet I have his soul and body and some of his past talents and magic became mine. I apologise for … my secrets, yet my voice and face, were already a torment to you and I didn’t feel I could inflict further pain and I am …”

My hand caresses her cheek and I smile. “You don’t need to keep secrets, remember the Goddess Aphrodite told me to trust you and if I can’t believe her who can I believe?”

Saying that now is easy, I suspect if I met her crow familiar when I first met her, I doubt I would have been able to maintain my sanity. Now I will never be able to know for sure and perhaps her wisdom, her restraint in not telling me was what the Goddess trusted in her and why I could trust her not to reveal too much too soon? Perhaps I am making an excuse after the truth is revealed to explain why it couldn’t be revealed before? Was I so fragile? Am I still so fragile?

“My familiar, Sirfah. I have asked her to find a large nesting bird. We will then place your eggs in that nest.”

I arise from my lethargy. How can I accept that? “We don’t know who or even what will hatch from them? What if the nesting mother decides to reject them or worse feed them to her young?”

Alba hugs me and upon release, she says, “Sirfah will keep an eye on them. I sense their hatching won’t be far away as they are from a Divine mother but even a Divine mother can’t skip the various steps … feel the eggs with your hands, hold them and listen. They will tell you more given you nurtured them than I who held them for mere moments.”

I curl my tail to draw them closer and lean over them a hand on each and an ear on one and then the other. They radiate strength, eager to begin their lives and assure me they will strive to honour their mothers, myself, and the Goddess Aphrodite.

A squark interrupts my communion with my eggs and I turn my head towards Alba who waves her hands and mumbles words new to me. Sirfah grows before my eyes.

Alba tears off some blanket and wraps one of the eggs within and then offers the knot to Sirfah. The black feathers ruffle due to an onshore breeze while her claws lock upon the knot. With rapid flapping of her wings, she lifts herself and my precious egg into the above. She is away long enough for me to become anxious. The second flight is a repeat of the first.

“The spell Magus cast at us was a Sorcery Spell, which twists and warps flesh … I can also cast this spell, yet I fear it would be useless against a stone being. But I have others because I carry his Amulet. I could protect myself from his magic by using his amulet and cast [Manipulate Stone] and carve away his limbs and then his head, until he is left with his magical centre, probably a large gem.”

My heart lifts upon hearing her words, a means to destroy his presence upon the land and yet what of the danger to her?

“You will be in danger though?”

She shrugs. “We are always in danger. Sirfah even now flies ahead to find him for us, yet the range of her vision is such she should be safe but we are dealing with a magic-user so I cannot guarantee my familiar is absolutely safe. I suggest I hitch a ride with Ottar, and we protect him with [Shield], yet he will be the diversion, I will meditate to cast [Manipulate Stone] with [Duration] and [Empower] to gouge through his stone form before Magus realises, I am the true danger. When he first attacks me, he will not be prepared for my defences, courtesy of his Amulet and he will need to boost the magic of his spells. This should give me the time I need to remove his limbs, which Ottar can throw into the sea, anywhere so he can’t remake himself.”

“And me?” I ask.

“You need to follow within spell casting range of Ottar and I and save us if my brilliant plan falls foul of the Magus’ prodigious magic-user talent.” Her smile is reassuring, but I am certain she underestimates the danger to herself and us, but especially herself.

We rebegin our chase, not waiting for Sirfah to return as we assume with an ocean on one side and a cliff face on the other the Magus can only escape along the beach and the tide is yet to fully turn and wash away his eerie crawling tracks in the sand.

Before we sight the Magus, Sirfah returns to us squawking in Alba’s ear and I wait for a translation.

“He isn’t too far ahead. He sat down and used his time to reshape his stone body. Shorter, yet two arms and two legs and now able to jog, I think. Sirfah’s perception of scale is sometimes at odds with ours, he certainly isn’t crawling or walking. Yet I doubt we will catch him before dusk. I could cast a Sorcery [Light] spell yet I fear he will see us coming long before we locate him.”

I notice Sirfah is now her usual size and I glance at Ottar. “What if we increased Ottar’s strength so he could carry us without much effort, and he could easily jog and perhaps we could catch our prey.”

“And I add [Haste] for speed …” Alba mumbles.

Alba needed to meditate to [Combine] the two spells so they both shared the same [Duration] and [Empower] to conserve magic and Ottar didn’t disappoint with his huge strides across the wet sand, the incoming tide now washing away the Magus’s crawl.

“We will need [Light] now,” suggests Alba and as she begins her casting, I lay a hand gently on her arm so she can cancel the casting instead of being interrupted and expending her magic.

“I taste something on the wind, human sweat, yet unfamiliar …” I snap my tongue out trying for a more accurate read. Ottar slows down to a walk and sniffs. He crouches as the breeze turns, blowing onshore at dusk. Several different scents, ten or twelve at least. Also smoke from a fire, which in part masks the number of beings. Ottar jogs up the beach, over wet sand, clopping through dry sand until we arrive at the base of the mountains cliff face. We continue our chase, this time though we edge along the solid sheer unclimbable stone on the landward side. I come to understand the protection the mountain range offers now, separating the Kin from all accidental landings, especially here where the beach meets the cliff face. Further east beyond the Town, towards the original landing settlement there is a liveable yet wild land, a deliberate exception, I wonder? Was this a lure to attract these humans to the Dungeon perhaps?

Yet here, sand is everywhere, why would men land here?

We peek around a final edge, there is a cutting into the cliff, natural I suspect as a gentle stream, flows down the centre and out to sea. On the far side the men, wearing strange garments, billowing, flowing in bright colours huddle around their campfire. Swords hang from their hips and daggers sheaths protrude from a belt, or the sheath runs horizontal, hanging from the belt behind their backs. Their campfire rests upon some sort of platform, stone platform … now I see what I don’t believe. The Magus lays flat as a board and their fire is upon his head and limbs. While peering at the fire I notice at least two prone unmoving bodies, possibly victims of the Magus.

The huddle moves forward as one and from within the huddle, a huge hammer is given to one of the strange men. They clear from directly behind his swing and with a crack the hammer smashes into the stone head of the Magus. Three more blows and a loud crack sounds off and the men cheer. They deliver the same treatment to each arm and his legs. All the extremities fall away as the torso is positioned on a modest hill of beach sand. With wooden planks, they push the embers of the fires towards the torso and as one move to gather more from a nearby stack. Some are broken in two, others in smaller pieces yet all end up over the statue’s chest linking to the flames below and shortly aflame also.

A slight shimmer appears around the group and then becomes clear. Some sigh while others wipe their brows, yet all smile and congratulate their companions. I am certain the Magus is observing his destruction, yet he seems impotent to do anything, his spirit is trapped in an inanimate object of stone. After a good while, night surrounds us now and the hammering returns. Each of the men takes several swings each in turn and then they repeat and when the first cracks appear they yell and celebrate. This continues until the stone cracks away from the centre of the hammering to reveal a clear stone the size of a baby’s hand. Firelight reflects and sparkles from the clear surface. They all draw in a breath as they crouch down to peer at their treasure. They shift the fire aside, gathering the embers into a separate pile, which makes spotting the Magus easier, he is within the clear gem as a black shadow, bouncing from one facet to another on the inside.

“Cast you protection spells upon me Priestess, I intend to introduce myself and hope they believe an enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“Cardinal …” she whispers and yet I am certain she understands our dilemma, if not now, when?

They probe and poke the gem with swords. Mumbling chit chat grows into grumbling dissent when I step out and slither towards them. I am closer to the dying fire than I am to Alba and Ottar when one smacks another and points towards me, others repeat his alarm. Some draw their swords, while others rest their hands upon them. All stare at me. Snake tail instead of legs, human torso with a near enough to snakehead resting upon the shoulders, what is not unusual about a Snake Kin?

“Greetings, I am Cardinal Pex and within the gem is my enemy,” I declare.

They glance at each other, shrug, and some sheath their swords. There is a disturbance at the back, some push and shove until a young human presents himself before me. He reaches into his shirt and withdraws a small gold in colour, if not solid metal pendant. Rubbing the pendent and mumbling with his eyes shut seems to be appropriate as those around him hold their breath.

He opens his eyes. “I am Berg, yes, I am Berg!” The firelight reveals the blush on his cheeks.

Several of the men take turns to tousle his black hair and chuckle. In their language, I am certain they congratulate the youth.

I bow my head slightly, keeping my eyes upon them. “Greetings, I am Cardinal Pex and within the gem is my enemy.”

He glances over his shoulder, speaking my words in their language.

“How can you understand me, and I can understand you?” I ask already knowing the answer. My question isn’t about the answer, more about ensuring this human youth is comfortable in my Snake Kin presence.

He holds the amulet out and shares a proud smile with me.

“What is it?” He points at the gem, his finger wriggling about.

“An evil spirit. He should be attacking you and yet …” I quirk my head.

The youth, reaches back and pulls out the amulet of a man to his left and flashes the trinket at me. Then he taps the chest of several others.

“They have protection from magic spells, and I have, understand languages.” His voice drops. “They thought my spell useless, until you.”

I try to smile, opening my maw, not too far though, to prevent exposing my teeth.

“Would you ask if I am permitted to cast my magic at the evil spirit?”

He swivels about and they huddle. There are at least three dissenting voices and several times I am given harsh looks. Then the youth returns to face me.

“If we can keep the gem.”

I nod. “Certainly.” I coil my tail underneath me and begin my casting as he turns away.

I share a [Mindlink] with Alba and Ottar and draw what magic they have left and add my own and cast [Discerp Spirit] at the gem containing the Spirit of Magus Drexel Marner.

The black shadow within swirls and darts and then snap. My human audience steps back while trying to peer forward. The firelight causes an odd reflection and then another snap.

“You have failed Cardinal of Aphrodite. I am the greatest Magic-User of this land and I resisted Tor’s fate. All you have succeeded in doing is to send me back to the Spirit Plane … we will meet again, I am certain …”

I slide back into a resting position on my tail. All our magic … spent and he still exists. Spontaneous yelling and shouting draw my interest. The humans are running and jumping, maybe dancing?

“We thank you, Cardinal Pex,” he yells. Others can mimic my simple name and they add their voices.

I tap the Berg on his shoulder. He jumps and then faces me with his hands over his face.

“I am sorry,” I say softly. “Your friends do know the gem is cracked, don’t they?”

He nods with energy. “They know but there is still value there and they are alive!” He points to several prone shapes in the shadows, the firelight occasionally spreading in that direction. Bodies, more than two by an unhealthy number. Victims of the Magus.

“How did you defeat him, take him off his feet?”

He places his finger across his lips and whispers, “Ship anchor chain, around his legs, tight and he fell over. But not before several died by his magic. Then we huddled together and shared our protection magic and used fire to make his stone brittle. Then we hammered off each of his limbs and cracked open his evil chest. And then you banished him, and we are alive and happy and maybe the gem will shower us with coin and my mother will be proud of me!”

A large hand clams down upon his shoulder and fearful eyes look up into the face of a smiling adult. He talks to the youth and then leaves.

“He is our new Captain, Arend Dekens and says you can camp with us in safety and come morning, we will try to free our ship.”

“I have friends, can I ask them to join me?”

“L … like you?”

I shake my head slowly. “One like you and one like you but much larger and taller.”

He scampers away and almost crashes into Arend Dekens in his haste. Even from where I am I can hear the panic in Berg’s voice. The Captain shouts for silence and as one, the men end their good cheer and come in from the shadow to stand before me in the light of the bonfire.

The Captain grabs the boy's amulet and concentrates. This is a primitive form of magic use I realise. The spell or spell formula is held within the amulet and by exerting their will maybe and applying some of their inherent magic they can then cast the spell? I watch in fascination, yet I suspect my gaze makes his attempt more prone to failure. Men mustn’t like being watched. I turn away ensuring I slither a short distance away; I don’t wish to be completely vulnerable.

I hear a heavy sigh and turnabout to see the Captain nodding like he just defeated the Magus himself, instead of casting a spell.

“Berg tells us you have two companions. Why didn’t they show themselves and help you? Help us?”

“They did help me. Using magic, I could draw their magic and combined with mine we were able to at least banish the dark spirit in the gem. We did believe we were strong enough to destroy him, but no.”

“They look more like us. One is larger?”

“Yes. I will summon them forth, please don’t attack them.”

He grunts and they all cast their eyes about. I ask Alba and Ottar to reveal themselves.

With a hand on their sword pommel, they all gasp and step back upon seeing our Frost Giant Initiate. Alba, they ignore.

He raises a hand to wave, while I try to calm them by waving my open hands downwards and saying soothing words. The Captain then steps forward and he cranes his neck upwards to inspect our companion. Then he holds out a bent arm, pointing his elbow at Ottar. Our Initiate takes a knee and taps the Captain’s elbow with his own before returning to his full height. This draws the rest of these humans forward and they finally notice Alba, who with halting words greets them. When my eyes land on her, she shrugs.

The humans settle into bedrolls on one side of the bonfire, while Ottar, Alba and I settle on the other side. Alba explains Allene was of the Empire, yet all the Empire didn’t include all the humans in this world. These are from a Kingdom, which defends its independence from behind a mountain range to prevent the Empire from swallowing them up. Trade though was always healthy, and Allene knew a smattering of their language which became soul bound instead of spirit bound. Or possibly the Magus’ amulet offers more than spells to the wearer?

In the morning we break our fast and offer to share our bland supplies with them. Alba explains she will use one of her Sorcery Spells to wade through the stone remains of the Magus’ statue in search of his treasures. Helpfully, the gem has been put away somewhere and as the men finish, they leave. Alba proceeds to quietly pocket several items she finds as discretely as possible while Ottar and I wait to consider our next objective. Berg returns and asks us to follow him, only a short distance he says, around the other side matching arm of the grotto the stream runs down.

Hard-up against the base of the cliff, on a revealing lean, rests their ship as far from the ocean as can be. The design is different to the ships in Queensport. There is a long wooden shell, with significant upwards curves at either end, with a pole upright in the centre and the floor of the deck is also the hull. The ships in Queensport are larger, wider, and many with two decks, some with several, or could be.

I share a glance with Ottar, their need is clear and we, after a night of rest have the means to assist them and perhaps earn their further gratitude.