After a brief explanation on the situation the burly man took off his helmet and ran his fingers through his unkempt hair. He shook Rolada and she sat up calmer than before. Rolada held her hands together and did a brief breathing exercise to sort herself out.

“Well we are still alive, and we have new friends,” she said, mostly to herself.

The man gestured between our two groups and smiled. “The ‘ol character swap?”

Everyone grunted in agreement and two new lines appeared in my vision next to them.

Rolada, Fox beast-kin, Level 3 Scholar

Sten, Dwarf, Level 5 Berserker

Deception check : Failure!

That was weird. I did a double check and found my keeper status was still hidden. Maybe it was for something else, or one of them was trying to size me up. I heard a gasp from Rolada, and I cautiously glanced towards the fox girl. Her eyes were down, as if she was reading something shocking. Her tail twitched and her gaze rose to meet mine.

“I forgot I had a skill point, sorry,” she said.

Insight : Partial Success!

I had a weird feeling, like someone watching me over my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw a few cobwebs on the ceiling with some rather large spiders the size of my fist. They retreated out of the light and I frowned. Rolada kept looking at me, then Lin, maybe she thought it was weird I was a battlemage.

“Interesting combo, but I got to ask, what is a berserker doing working for an academy?” I asked.

“That’s the fun part. I showed up to learn poetry and the next thing I know I got a scholarship for archaeology. Rolada here needed some material for her thesis and we decided to look at old abandoned religious centres,” Sten said.

Lin raised a skeptical brow. “You're a poet?”

Sten cleared his throat and raised his hands. He held the pose as Rolada took out a flute and began to play soft mournful notes.

“The mirror of glass, a pale imitation. I see my otherside on you. The moons are the mistresses who change you. A fish breaks the illusion,” Sten said, following the notes with his dark rich voice.

Lin scratched her head and leaned into me. Her hot breath tickled the back of my ear as she whispered to me. “What the hell is he talking about Josh?”

“It’s about a lake,” I said. After Sten and Rolada bowed I clapped my hands. “That was pretty good, but why is a musician and a poet investigating some evil cult?”

Lin’s ears shot up and she stepped in front of me to confront them. “That’s a great point Josh, why are you two really here?”

Rolada tapped Lin on the leg with her wooden flute. “We could ask you the same thing.”

“We’re here to rob the place,” Lin said.

“Grave robbers!” Rolada gasped. “All you adventurer types are the same.”

“Didn’t you guys break into some of the graves to loot it for yourselves?” I asked.

Sten and Rolada looked shameful as they took out of their bags fistfuls of jewellery. Lin tapped her foot and leaned over the fox girl with an expectant look.

“Ok sorry, but don’t judge us. We have to pay off our school loans somehow,” Rolada said. She scratched the base of her ears to make them stand up. “Also I hoped to find rare talent information here, but so far all I got was getting foxhandled by that trap.”

“Apology accepted. Besides these guys have some evil vibes going on with that artwork so I don’t feel bad about it at all,” Lin said, inspecting the pearl bracelet she had taken from me. She noticed me staring and she purred. “I’ll sell it and split the money with you.”

“Aye, they worship that dark god who shall not be named. We were under the impression it was a burial site for some Iskaka or Heinekia worshippers. It seems our source may have fibbed to us.” Sten said.

I started to pace around the room looking at the odd machines. It was a reminder I was in such an alien place and I could scarcely make out what the function of these could be. I might not even get the chance to if I couldn’t make it out of this alive.

“We can’t even go back to the academy now because of the mayor.” Rolada said, crestfallen.

“What the fuck did they do now?” Lin asked, shaking the small woman’s shoulders.

“New stupid rules for any non humans. We planned on going out for a year or more so everything can cool down by the time we get back to Dastow,” Sten said.

I turned over in my head the idea of being on the road for over a year. I had drifted town to town picking up odd jobs until I got full time at Dan’s store. It had probably been the worst year of my life and I couldn’t imagine poor little Rolada going through what I did. I wasn’t sure if I could even tell Lin I was a keeper yet, but at the very least we did have a roof over our heads above ground we could all cram into.

“Why don’t you team up with us for now. After you can come back to the ghost town we are staying in, I can’t offer much but a roof over your heads,” I said, holding out my hands to them.

Their faces lit up and they eagerly took my outstretched hands to shake them. Rolada then hugged me around my waist and wagged her tail. I rubbed her hair between her ears and was shocked how soft it was.

“Now you did it lad, she's a hugger and won’t be letting you go any time soon,” Sten laughed.

Lin winked at me and made a crass gesture with her fingers. She walked off snickering to herself as she left me turning bright red. I did catch her stealing a glance at Rolada, and she seemed pleased with what she saw.

Rolada finally broke the hug and wiped away a tear. She smiled at me and curtsied. “I would be glad to team up, Josh the Battlemage. I would be happy to answer any questions you have.”

I had a million questions but it would be best to take it slow. When we got them back home we would have plenty of time to have a discussion. That was if we survived. I still got the vague notion from her that she was inspecting me carefully.

“What is a scholar?” I asked.

“I’m like a travelling bard, but instead of performing I collect stories. I’m really good at reading and I can learn new skills a little quicker than most. I do have some magical talents, but I lack the punching power of what a real mage can do with spells,” Rolada said.

The sound of shattering glass made us flinch and we looked to the source. We saw at the north east point of the room Lin climbing through a broken window with Sten in tow. Rolada and I followed them and watched them pick around some kind of testing room.

Testing dummies laid broken and battered on the floor beside chipped weapons and empty bottles. It looked like a war zone in there and despite the quantity of items scattered around the room they were left empty handed.

“Not even a secret weapon hidden here,” Lin said, throwing up her hands. “Mage’s are boring, no offence Josh.”

“None taken, I don’t really consider myself a real mage just yet anyways,” I said, shrugging it off. “Two spells is kind of lackluster for a wizard.”

“Well as long as you don’t leave things around to kidnap innocent women then you will be my favourite mage,” Rolada said.

She poked me in the side and motioned for me to get closer to her. As I lent her my ear I kept an eye on Lin so she wouldn’t have more ammunition to tease me with later. I was already dreading what the cat girl was planning.

“I have some talents to help me learn magic as well as teach it. When we get to your home I can help you out and even let you learn a spell or two from me,” Rolada said. Like Lin she had a warm smile and she tapped her fingers together. “Can I see some of your talents, so I know what you have?”

“I would love that, I haven't had any time to read or practice since I got my magic talent. It’s also been years since I was in school so my study habits are pretty much non-existent,” I said. I tapped on the request from her, and clicked on a button that let me list any talents I had so she could see them. I was able to exclude any keeper related information thankfully.

“Sounds like someone’s getting a date!” Lin hollered across the room.

I should have known she could hear us. Lin was having a heyday and I feared for the future. So far Lin had taken any chance she had to tease me when it was just the two of us and with more victims around it would only increase. I groaned and rolled my eyes but deep down I rather enjoyed the attention and company of the cat girl.

“It’s just a study date- I mean study session,” Rolada said, her pale face slowly turning a hue of red to match her hair.

“Have you found anything useful?” I asked, trying to change the conversation. “There is a horde of undead waiting for us.”

Beside the broken viewing window was a heavy iron door that Sten opened up from the otherside. I struck my palm onto my forehead when I realized that it meant the door had been unlocked this entire time. Sten held up a bundle of broken blades and stuffed them into Rolada’s little satchel. They all vanished from view into the little bag and it didn’t seem to weigh her down any more than it did before.

“Just a few pieces of quality metal or weak enchanting runes on them. Might be able to salvage it later on or flip them for a good price,” Sten said.

“Was there any switches inside with a big sign saying flip this to stop the tower making a million bad guys?” Rolada asked.

Lin walked out behind Sten and they both shook their heads. I went back to the waterwheel to observe it and look over the cables again. They covered the ceiling in a terrible tangled mess and only a few of them I could actually follow to see where they led. One cable was thicker than the others and it ran along the north wall and headed west, disappearing in the wall above a reinforced iron door painted blue.

“I’m going out on a limb here, but the tower must draw the most power,” I said pointing out the cable. “Guess there must be a way to reach it over there.”

“Why don’t we stop the wheel?” Sten asked, hefting his pickaxe. “No power means no magical wall and no skeletons trying to tear us apart.”

We all walked along the edge of the pool trying to find a way to stop the waterwheel easily. There was a lack of any controls that I could see and the parts it was made up of looked tough. Sten claimed he could break it down, but it might take all day.

Rolada jumped up and waved her arms, getting our attention. Tucked away out of sight in the dark at the end of the pool was a door. It was made of rotting wood and barely held onto its hinges. When Rolada pushed on it the door turned to dust and broke apart collapsing at her feet.

“You complain when I break down the doors and here you are turning it into a little pile. I left some usable material behind at the very least,” Sten said, crossing his arms in mock anger.

Rolada’s ears flattened and she quickly tried to defend herself. “It’s not my fault, its super old and-”

“I’m just having a laugh with yah lass, relax. You have two more people to watch your back and if anything scary pops out just get behind us,” Sten said, trying to calm her down.

Rolada fell in line behind the group and held onto my cloak. She lifted a smooth stone out of her satchel and tapped it with her thumb. She whispered something to it and I felt a little spark in the air as she used magic on the pebble. It glowed as brightly as my flashlight and she leaned around me to illuminate the dark entryway.

Ahead of us was a natural cave the mage must have found and cutting down the middle of the cave was an underground river. The current was strong and it flowed into a cut out in the wall to power the wheel. There was a second cut out down below and whatever water didn’t go into the pool instead went further underground.

Across the underground river was a metal box covered in levers and above it on the wall was a mass of gears and pulleys. They had to be hooked up to the wheel which meant we had found our control room.

“Five silvers says I can take it out from here,” Sten said, reaching into his pack.

“Ten silvers you miss.” Lin shot back.

Sten took out a clay pot covered in wax with a thin string coming out the top. Etched into the sides of the pot was a collection of symbols and writing. I might not have been able to reach it but they looked eerily similar to the warning labels on propane tanks I had sold.

I grabbed Rolada and Lin and dragged them into the other room despite their protest. As soon as we crossed the threshold of the door I heard the jingling of the rings of Sten’s mail shirt.

“Last one there is a rotten cockatrice,” Sten said, blowing past us and heading for the blue iron door.

Lin tried to pull out of my grip and asked. “What are you doing Josh-”

The south wall exploded sending the bricks and gears crashing into the pool of water. The weight of all the material lifted the water out into a tidal wave and it struck us in the back propelling us towards Sten. The dwarf had just managed to get the door open and looked behind him. His brows shot up just as we crashed into him and rode the wave down the corridor. We were washed up on a set of stairs and we all spat out water.

“Sorry, I didn't think she was going to end up like that,” Sten said, raising a mitt and laughing to himself. “Well the bloke I bought that from wasn’t lying when he said they packed a wallop.”

Lin took a tentative step on the stairs and fell down onto her knees. She shook her head and got the water out of her ears. Her voice came out muffled as she laid down on the stair. “I think I need a vacation after this.”

After a brief moment of rest we went up the stairwell watching out for danger. At the top of the stairs was a locked wooden door that Lin had to pick. The wood looked worn down in places with layers of peeling paint, but that told me it had been cared for in the past.

The door opened an inch before the rusted hinges seized up preventing our entry. Lin sent her foot into it and the door slammed open announcing our presence. With the element of surprise gone we rushed in with our weapons drawn and found a quaint little kitchen.

Sunlight spilled in from a nearby window and we crowded around looking out to see the hordes of undead milling about the outside world. A red waving shimmer distorted the sight meaning we didn’t shut down the tower after all.

“Damn it!” Sten said, punching the stone wall. “Wasted a bomb for nothing.”

“Maybe it has a backup source. The tower will eventually power down, we could just wait it out,” Rolada said.

“Mages tend to be paranoid eggheads, it doesn't surprise me if they did have a mana storage place. Let’s break it too because gods know we probably don’t have the supplies to wait it out,” Lin said, driving her fist into her palm.

I looked around and saw the cable was embedded in the wall and headed towards the roof. I pointed it out to the others and we started to look for the stairs. The small kitchen was connected to the dining room with a worn table and a set of four chairs. The others kept going but I saw on the table an open book and my curiosity got the better of me.

The book had a sketch of a nude woman with pointed ears and beside her was a similar looking woman that was taller and had horns. The entry beside it was written in a foreign script but as I stared at it the words began to twist and transform into English ones. Just as I started to read the entry my vision exploded into stars as hot pain shot up my leg.

I jumped back holding onto my leg and cursed. “What the fuck-”

The chair I had been leaning over bent one of its legs and tried to kick me. The chair then slid out from under the table and started to rear back, brandishing its legs. As I stood there completely stunned it rushed at me and kicked me in the shin again.

“Stop it!” I hissed, swiping at it with my dagger.

The chair ducked under my attack and came at me again going for my shins. I dodged and weaved around the room being forced on the defensive as the chair came at me with reckless abandon. In the corner of my eye I saw Sten was being grappled by several coats on a coat hanger with Rolada and Lin trying to help free him.

The chair delivered another swift strike to my other shin this time and I saw red. Balling up my free hand I opened it and felt my blood run hot as I forced magic to pool into my hand.

“Produce fire!” I shouted as I felt the blazing heat erupt in my palm. “Take this you bastard!”

The fire shot out of my hand as the chair came at me for another attack. Unable to change its momentum the fire hit it directly and the dry old wood burst into flames. The chair ran around the room running into other objects in a desperate attempt to put it out. The table lit on fire as did the other chairs and they all came to life running around the room frantically.

I dove past a blazing seat to nab the book off the table before it could be damaged. The chairs ran out of the room lighting the kitchen and the room the others were in on fire too.

“Josh!” Lin screamed from the doorway. “Do not tell me you just used fire magic.”

“Oops, my bad.” I said, holding the book tightly to my chest. My ears went red and the sudden heat in my blood vanished, along with the anger. “How odd…”

Smoke rose and started to choke the air around us, someone grabbed my arm and dragged me through the black clouds. My foot struck a set of stairs and I had to hold my breath as we went up them. I heard a door open and I fell onto a cold stone floor as the door slammed shut behind me.

“Shape rock!” Rolada shouted, stretching her hands out towards the door.

The stone door frame started to change, looking like it was melting and pouring down the doorway. As a thin solid sheet of it was stretched over the door it solidified into a solid mass and blocked off the rising smoke.

The soot covered fox girl collapsed onto the floor with shaking hands as it looked like she had over extended herself. As she fell back I rushed over and caught her with Lin. We gently lowered her head onto Lin’s lap to let her recover on something softer than the ground.

The higher level of the tower was divided into two rooms. A study room covered in shelves containing books, jars filled with bugs or plants and a shelf full of ruined writing supplies. The other room was a bedroom, stocked with a queen sized bed, a full length body mirror and a tall standing dresser.

“Josh came here, I got something for yah,” Sten said from the bedroom. “It’s the only thing of value here.”

I found the dwarf had opened up the dresser and had taken out a beautiful purple cloak. It was lined with silver stitching and the inside of it was lined in soft plush fabric. The clasp around the neck of it was silvered as well with a purple stone in it that shone with an inner light.

“A proper piece for an up and coming wizard,” Sten said, smiling and lightly elbowing my side. “Go on lad, try it on.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

Knowledge Arcane : Partial success!

Cloak of Arcane Mana

This enchanted cloak is protected against wear and contains in it an arcane crystal capable of holding three mana points. A wearer of this garment is able to store and later retrieve their mana from the crystal. Expending a mana point can change the colour of this garment to red, blue, purple, black or white.

Now that was a wizard cloak. I took off the wool blanket and stuffed it into my bag. I picked up the weighty cloak, feeling the soft fabric and tried it on. I looked in the mirror seeing my soot covered face and the wild mane of hair I had and pulled up the hood. Now I looked much more dignified and more representative of my class. The ends of it reached just above my boots and it sat comfortably on my shoulders, it’s like it was made for me.

“Come on, give us a twirl,” Lin said from the doorway.

“Oh my gosh I love it,” Rolada said, clapping her hands. “Do it, Josh.”

“We really need to disable this tower guys. Sorry, I’ll stop playing dress up and we can get going,” I said.

My voice fell on deaf ears as they all waited expectantly for me. I walked back and forth in front of the mirror, seeing how I looked from either side. I did as they asked and spun around in a circle feeling the edge of the cloak rise up as if an ethereal wind lifted it.

“Oh look at this naughty lad, eh ladies?” Sten whistled.

Lin waved and meowed at me while Rolada held a hand over her mouth to quiet down her hysterical laughter. I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. Sten then opened the rest of the dresser and took out a matching set of purple panties and a bra to go with the cloak.

“Put them on Josh. I bet it has a bonus if you wear the set,” Lin teased.

Sten held them out to me and I huffed trying to hold my tongue. The lace of the ladies undergarments had silver threading to match the cloak and I felt like it was possible they might have a connection. I wasn’t about to put them on however and stuffed them in my bag just so they would be out of sight.

They walked past me towards the stairs at the back of the bedroom and I pulled on my bag to follow. Lin fell back from the others and purred into my ear. She leaned in close and lightly bit at my ear while wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

“Well next time we sleep together one of us can wear those before things get exciting.” She whispered the words so quietly, only I could hear her.

Before I could stammer a reply she went ahead and met back up with the others. I felt where she had bit me and tried to calm myself down. I had to remind myself that if I didn’t keep a clear head I might never get the chance with her because we might get killed. That sobering thought calmed my body down and I squared my shoulders ready for the next challenge.

The next floor of the tower was empty, showing signs of being under construction and then abandoned. Rusted tools laid down beside raw materials and we gave it a wide berth in case it came alive to attack us. We kept going on the next set of stairs heading up to the fourth and final floor.

The top of the tower was much more exciting, consisting of a single open room with a chest high barrier circling it to keep anyone from falling off. On the ground was the cable coming out of the floor and feeding into a huge red glass globe. Inside the globe was a fist sized gemstone that glowed with intensity. Somehow I knew this one was a plain arcane crystal and not like my special crystal back home.

“Wow that thing must be holding onto enough mana to power this thing for weeks.” Rolada said, pressing her face against the glass.

Sten hefted his pickaxe and readied to deliver a heavy blow to the globe but the girls grabbed his arms and stopped him. Sten relented and waited for us to disable it instead, kicking at the ground and pouting.

With the destructive dwarf wrangled in I carefully looked around the glass hoping to see an easy way to turn it off. I mentally kicked myself for not learning the magic detection spell yet, times like these it would be a godsend.

“I found it!” Rolada exclaimed.

We gathered around her and on the ground beside the cable and the globe was a toggle switch hidden beneath a false stone brick. I gave her a thumbs up and let her flip the switch. The charged crystal glowed dim as it held onto its energy instead of powering the globe around it. The shimmering wall surrounding the tower dissipated and the bolts of energy it was throwing out to raise the dead stopped too.

“The skeletons are coming at us.” Lin said, leaning over the fencing. “More of them are crawling out from the catacombs too, we need to get out of here now.”

"Why are they still active?" Rolada asked. "I'm turning the barrier back on."

Rolada flipped the switch again but a bright spark came off it and it shot the toggle bar into the air. She took out a thin pen knife from her bag and went to jam it into the switch block but I stopped her, shaking my head.

The tower rumbled as the ground beneath it started to shift and we all felt it slide into the ground. The tower first sank about ten feet, throwing dirt and stone into the air as the buildings around us grew closer.

“We have to jump,” Lin said, pushing everyone towards the edge.

Sten broke down the barrier and we looked around for the nearest building. A two story store in decent shape was our only hope so we waited until the tower started to slide back into the earth again. As the rooftop zoomed towards us we ran together throwing ourselves towards it. The space was too great and it looked like we were going to hit dangerously close to the edge. I felt the edge of my new cloak lifted up again, going against the wind. A pop up appeared asking for something and without thinking I accepted it.

A gust of wind crashed into our backs from behind and it gave us the push we needed to make it onto the roof instead of the precarious edge. Lin struck the roof hard and her legs hung over the side. I threw myself towards her, grabbing her hand and helping her get onto more solid ground.

Before she had a chance to speak an armoured hand grabbed the roof, crushing several tiles. The seven foot tall knight with his flaming sword pulled himself up one handed and brandished the blade, stalking towards us with malicious intent.

We sprinted away from him, jumping onto other buildings and trying to head towards the edge of town. The swarm of the undead clogged the streets leaving no place to climb down safely. The more quick and agile ones also tried to get up to us adding to our doom.

“I see the end of the swarm ahead, we just need to clear a few more buildings.” Lin shouted at the front.

The rattling sound of metal behind me grew closer and I pulled out the remaining stamina I had to keep going. We jumped up onto a three story building and slid to a halt sending clay shingles onto the street below. It was devoid of undead and if we could get down we were home free, but there was no easy way to get down.

“We have to go back and find…a way…around.” Rolada said, the words dying in her throat.

The knight got onto the roof behind us, a stone's throw away. The flames on his sword intensified and he took a menacing step towards us. I looked down at the street and saw an overhanging oak beam with a hanging lantern coming out of the building we were on. My mind raced and an odd scene came to my mind, the first night I had met Lin.

“Everyone grab onto Lin, I have an idea,” I said, fumbling in my pocket and producing the string.

Lin’s eyes widened as she looked between the string and the certain death of trying to take on the armoured monster. She shook her head at me and I mouthed an apology while grabbing onto her arm. The knight rushed us with the deadly sword arcing above him to hit us with a killing blow. His sword stuck the tiles as we fell down out of sight.

“Rope of binding!” I shouted, filling the string with magic.

The string twisted and churned as the ends split open and added more lines of rope like a hydra losing a head. It grabbed each of us and coiled around us, restricting our arms while the end of it tethered onto the oak beam half way down the building. As our momentum stopped and the wind was driven out of our lungs I mentally commanded the rope to let us down. The rope extended, depositing each of us onto the ground, freeing us and turning back into a string in my hand.

“Run!” Lin shouted.

We followed her out to the edge of town and made a mad dash towards the woods. The undead were far too slow to give chase and soon we left the town behind us, moving safely towards our house. If the undead did give chase then I might have to show them my dungeon after all.