– Beginning of Arc 5, Self-Made Fate –

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 51 –

“Oh Great Dark One!” The lizan leader bowed once more. “Please assist us in our plight!” When Terry still failed to respond with anything but an incredulous stare, the lizan leader performed another bow and continued: “We know we are not worthy but we are pleading with you to show mercy towards these forsaken ones!” The lizan pressed his forehead and palms to the ground again.

Terry silently observed the lizan leader and he noted that the scales on this otherrealm folk individual carried a blue shine to them. The leader was the only one among the lizans with such a scale color. Terry noted further that while only the leader radiated mana, all of the lizans were heavily armored and armed.

I figure with these muscles, claws and thorns, they might not need mana to pose a threat. Damn…

“Uhh…” Terry rubbed his eyes. He knew that he had missed yet another utterance of the lizan leader but he was still too bewildered to believe this was real. It seemed too surreal. And yet, no matter how often Terry sneakily pinched himself, the scene in front of him did not change. Eventually, Terry had to admit that it was too strange to not be real. There was no way that Terry’s imagination would hallucinate a scene like this.

Is this how Devon feels during the looney season? Ugh…

“Wh-what?” Terry cleared his throat and warily observed the lizans’ movements. “I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

“Oh Great One!” The lizan leader crawled slightly forward on his knees.

“Stop that!” shouted Terry testily. “Stay where you are and don’t come any closer!” Subconsciously, Terry let go of his mana cloaking. He rapidly circulated mana out of his mana pool, condensed it tightly and guided it effortlessly through his mana channels.

The fast and intense flare-up of Terry’s mana caused the lizan leader to halt. With his head pressed to the ground, the lizan was sneaking glances at Terry. His smile shifted between docility and satisfaction. “As the Great Mage commands! All according to the wishes of the Great Mage! Oh Great Dark One, please—”

“Okay, hold it there…” Terry felt a headache coming and pressed his hand to his forehead with a sigh. “What’s with all this nonsense? All these weird titles? I’m really not that great, trust me.” Terry scrunched up his face. “And that other adjective doesn’t sound like me either. I believe you must have the wrong person. I’m just passing through and—”

“Impossible!” interjected the lizan leader without raising his head from the ground. “I hope you can forgive this one’s insolence in refuting your wisdom, but there is no doubt in our minds that you are the Great Dark Mage of our prophecy. You are destined to be our only hope of passing our current tribulation! Please, oh Great Mage—”

Oh boy… Terry was so dumbstruck that he forgot to blink. Where do you even start with this crap?

“Putting my supposed greatness aside, I may…” Terry stumbled over his words when he recalled some of the warnings about not leaking intel he had received in the past. “...or may not be a mage, but what is this ‘Dark’ title supposed to mean?”

“Yes, oh Great Dark One!” The lizan leader sat up on his knees.

The rest of the lizans continued bowing.

“When I asked the great spirits of our blood for guidance, they granted me the prophecy of your arrival!” The blue-scaled lizan was evidently considering another bow and only Terry’s stern gaze prevented the act of worship.

“The Great Mage will rise from darkness to stand above others.” The lizan leader almost chanted when reciting his prophecy. “An appearance of soft black with head held high, the Great Dark One will succeed where we have failed!”

Oh boy… Terry was taken aback by the lizan’s demonstrated fervor. “I honestly don’t remember having risen from darkness.”

“Pardon my insolence, my Great Mage…” The lizan leader spoke with hesitation.

“Please speak freely,” said Terry. Pretty please. Otherwise, this will take forever.

“Thank you, oh Dark One, but don’t you remember ascending the dead dungeon?” asked the lizan leader with a pointed glance to the dungeon where Terry had exited not long ago.

Terry blinked. For real? Wait a second, what ‘dead’ dungeon? That dungeon was in no shape or form dead. Not even dormant. Suspiciously devoid of dungeon creatures perhaps, but not dead. Why would a dungeon be considered darkness— nevermind, it’s dark, true… Terry rubbed his temples. His headache was getting worse.

“‘To stand above others’?” Terry shook his head.

The lizan leader smiled. “You literally stand a head taller than all of us and from the glimpse of mana you have shown before, I can already tell that this statement applies in more than just one sense.”

Terry suppressed a groan and held back his retort for now. “‘Soft black appearance’...?” Terry’s voice trailed off as he looked down at the velvety black fabric created with his magic brooch. Ugh, for mana’s sake…

“You do realize that this is incredibly vague, right?” asked Terry hesitatingly. He recalled the time he had compared the Bright Lady to a soul spirit in his first conversation with Cadence. This felt rather similar and Terry hoped the lizans were open-minded enough for some basic inquiry.

“I understand your skepticism, oh Great Mage.” The blue-scaled leader spoke amicably. “You are not familiar with our traditions and prophecies. Yes, divining the future is challenging.”

No shit, thought Terry snarkily.

“...but the great spirits in our blood are not as vague as you might think,” continued the lizan leader. “We have been led to this location to receive the Great Mage.”

Terry tilted his head and furrowed his brow. Okay? That’s a bit odd, but there’s always a… ah! “So you’ve been waiting here for how long exactly?”

“For half a cycle,” replied the blue-scaled lizan. “We are at our wits’ end and require your help!”

Terry ignored the last part and only focused on the timespan. “Someone roughly matching your vague prophecy would pass by eventually, right? Wait long enough and interpret loosely enough and someone will fit. That doesn’t mean I’m really who you are looking for.”

“Beg your pardon, oh Great Mage, but you misunderstood me,” stressed the lizan leader. “We have waited for half a cycle for the day that the prophecy would be fulfilled, but we always knew which day it would be. The date of your appearance was part of the prophecy. Please assist us in our plight!”

Terry was stunned to speechlessness. He blinked in silence while looking for another loophole in this supposed prophecy. Terry had absolutely no desire to join in any prophecy shenanigans. He remembered many horror stories involving all kinds of prophecies – most of them of the self-fulfilling kind where the prophecy’s realization was entirely built upon the belief in the very same.

‘You don’t read the future, you create it.’ Terry recalled the dismissive attitude that the Veilbinder had taken on any form of future divination beyond the short-term scope of the Premonition spell. Terry sighed while trying to ignore his aching head.

“Okay…” Terry felt his headache throbbing up in anticipation of the next exchange. “Let’s put aside this prophecy for now. What is this ‘plight’ you keep telling me about? What is it that you need help with?”

“We need you, oh Great Mage, to help us get past a wyvern!” The blue-scaled leader bowed again. “The wyvern is blocking our path north.”

Terry first noted how odd it seemed that this lizan was the only one speaking from the whole group. In fact, all the other lizans were always keeping their heads pressed to the ground without so much as a single utterance of any kind. Next, the leader's words caught up in Terry’s mind. “Wait, WHAT?” Terry stood with mouth agape. “A wyvern? Gigantic snake body, wings, thorny tail and all? A real wyvern?”

They’re still around? Did they not disappear together with the dragons? I should have signed up for the introduction to primordial magical creatures. What the heck do they expect me to do against a wyvern? Politely ask it to leave?

“Why can’t you…” Terry paused when he noted something off in the explanation. “What do you mean the wyvern is blocking your path north? Why don’t you just walk around? Wyverns may have wings, but they have a fixed territory, don’t they?” Terry had no real understanding of wyverns but assumed that they would resemble dragons in their behavior. “Why don’t you move around the wyvern instead of waiting around for half a cycle?”

“I’m sorry to fail in my explanation, Great Mage,” said the lizan leader apologetically. “But it’s not that simple. The wyvern is blocking the only safe passage through the Elusive Fog of Frost.”

‘The Elusive Fog of Frost’? I’ve heard about that. Terry searched through his memory until he recalled a discussion on the difference between forbidden zones and other magical phenomena.

The Elusive Fog of Frost was one of the examples for a self-contained magic phenomenon that was dangerous but not concerning. This phenomenon did not lead to the appearance of new dangerous creatures. On the contrary, it acted like a very large barrier that blocked creatures from passing in or out.

A skilled mage can bypass the fog with space magic or other advanced forms of teleportation. Without such means, however, the fog was near impenetrable. It was thick, wide, and even invaded deep underneath the earth. It assaulted your senses and disoriented you. It froze your blood and shattered you into pieces.

Terry bit his lips in thought. Finally, he opened his eyes wide. “Wait, what does the fog have to do with you here?” Terry asked with dread: “Are we inside the fog right now?”

“Yes, oh Great Mage,” affirmed the lizan leader.

Just great. Terry cursed inwardly. If this was true, then Terry would be trapped too, because the fog was supposed to cover the sky as well.

Something gnawed at Terry’s mind. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion and looked at the blue-scaled lizan. “I don’t see any fog in the sky.”

“I know, oh Great Mage.” The lizan leader nodded. “ The fog is elusive and only becomes visible when moving closer.”

“Hm…” Terry did not remember any details about the magical phenomenon, but he vaguely remembered that the Elusive Fog of Frost was supposed to be near Thanatos territory, which matched Terry’s current southern location indicated by his five-point ring. Terry looked from side to side. “So where are we relative to the fog’s borders?”

“We are south, oh Great M—”

“Please just call me Terry,” interrupted Terry. “I can’t stand these titles.”

“As you wish, oh Gr—” The lizan leader stopped himself. “As you wish, Terry. We are south of the center. We can bring you to the northern passage.”

Terry’s ears perked up. He was still searching for a way to politely reject the request because he did not trust these strange lizans, but the talk of a northern passage made him remember something else: He still needed a way to return to Arcana. Terry observed the lizan mage closely and asked: “How would you bring me there? On foot?”

“No, Terry,” replied the lizan leader. “We can transport our group directly there.”

“Transport?” Terry became wary and prepared himself to fight at a moment’s notice. “If you have access to space magic, then why don’t you breach the fog yourselves?”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” said the blue-scaled lizan mage with a shake of his head. “We have tried, but our magic fails to pass the fog or the passage obstructed by the wyvern.”

Terry suspiciously eyed the group of lizan and waited for a better explanation.

“Our magic is different from yours,” continued the lizan leader. “We are relying on the magic gifted to us by the great spirits in our blood.”

What in mana’s name is that supposed to mean? Terry’s headache worsened at this confrontation with newfolk mana use.

Terry thought back to a conversation with his only closer newfolk acquaintance: Tara – the canan disciple of Sigille. Terry had once asked Tara about the mana use in the native canan realm. Apparently, the canans mostly relied on some rudimentary mana cultivation skills. They accumulated mana but did not know about structured magic like spellwork. They had a basic understanding of aspects but had no idea about spell structures or refractors for separating aspects.

The fact that had stood out in particular to Terry was that in Tara’s home realm, unaspected mana was seen as a sign of weakness – a prejudice rooted in their ignorance about the means for isolating aspects. In their realm, only single-aspected or certain mixed aspect mana cultivators were able to use their mana to great effect. A fire-aspected cultivator could punch fire with a simple discharge. Without a refractor, an unaspected cultivator could only punch plain mana, which does not have the same offensive applications.

Even though Terry had a reference point for newfolk mana use with the canans, he unfortunately had no idea about the mana usage in the lizan realm.

“Please accompany us, Terry!” implored the lizan leader.

“To make it clear: I won’t join you in an unanchored transport,” stressed Terry firmly. He still remembered the warnings from his family when he had first heard about dimensional mages in Arcana. “I have to see where we are going.”

“Understandable,” said the blue-scaled mage. “Luckily, our magic should be considered comparable to your dimensional gates. Allow me…”

The lizan mage switched to another language and Terry could only make out a barrage of hissing and slurping noises. The blue-scaled lizan took a chain of beads from his cloak and firmly grabbed one of the beads while continuing to speak in the lizan tongue.

The rest of the lizan stood up and formed a half-circle around the mage leader. Terry was surprised to find that he was able to sense mana from all of them now. More surprisingly, the mana was being siphoned completely into the hands of the lizan leader.

What a weird application of magic. A group spell? A chant? Some kind of mana-sharing ritual? Terry tried to memorize as much detail as possible from the movements in his mana sight.

Finally, a portal with a purple hue opened.

Terry squinted. On the other side of the gate, Terry could see fog in the distance. He warily watched the lizan leader. “Do you mind stepping back from the gate for a moment?”

“No, of course not, Terry,” agreed the lizan leader and all the lizans did as Terry had asked.

Terry cautiously approached the weird transfer gate. He first put a metal rod through the gate… nothing happened. Next, he put his five-point inscription ring on a metal rod and then poked the ring through the gate. With the inscribed ring on the other side of the gate, Terry moved his mana along the rod to activate the ring from a slight distance – enough to check the marker without having to pass through the gate himself.

“Hm…” Terry nodded to himself. The marker indicated that the position on the other side of the weird gate was much further north than their current location. That much of the lizan’s story appeared to be true.

Terry pulled back his items and stepped back from the transfer gate. “Do you mind if one of you goes first?”

“No, of course not, Terry.” The lizan leader agreed again and two of the other lizan stepped through the gate without any apparent harm befalling them.

“Hm…” Terry retrieved his vampire spirit projection ring and sent out the translucent bat to scout the area on the other side. He sensed nothing out of the ordinary.

“Hm…” Terry weighed his options. In the end, he decided that the lift further north was worth the risk. If the lizans wanted to cause him trouble, they could have already done so here, which meant that they definitely wanted something from him. He still had the option to make a run for it after passing through the transfer gate where he would be closer to Arcana.

“Alright, I can at least have a look. No promises on the whole wyvern thing, mind you.” Terry finally agreed, to the delight of the lizan leader and his followers.

Terry approached the weird transfer gate cautiously. He took a deep breath. He thought about his group of companions whom he had left to teleport to the Libra Outpost on their own. He thought about his family back in Arcana. He thought about the uncertain fates of his accepted parents. Finally, Terry mustered the resolve to take the step through the transfer gate, the step that brought him so much closer to where his heart and thoughts were truly pulling him.

After Terry had passed through, the lizans followed one by one. The lizan leader was the last to step through the transfer gate and then the lizans performed their own magic to close the transfer gate.

***

Later on that same day, a tall figure appeared out of thin air. Hands decorated with dull black scales grabbed a mage hood and pulled it back to reveal the head of a lizan woman with blue eyes that were brightly illuminated with mana.

The lizan woman walked forward cautiously while letting her inquisitive eyes wander over the surroundings. She shaped a spell structure and ignited it. With the assistance of her active spellwork, she searched the spatial signals to read how much her unachored transfer had destabilized the space in this area.

More mana gathered at the lizan’s scaled fingers. She cast several spells to ease the spatial disturbance and hide her tracks. Her mission did not allow for any mistakes. She must not fail. She must not be caught. She must find them without being found first. Or else.

The lizan woman cursed in her native tongue and then paused to remind herself to practice the tongue of the local realm. “This… magic… still amazes… useful… but so tedious.” Her complaints were accompanied by the proper spellwork that was the trademark of this human-native realm.

She respected this magic but she also feared it, because this magic revealed. This magic revealed things she should not know, things those like her were forbidden from knowing. Things that had already brought her close to death so many times.

She had initially begun studying this otherrealm magic on a whim. No one had paid her much attention back then, not until this magic had revealed the terrible truth to her younger self. It had not been easy to remain hidden after learning the truth.

After she had smoothed over the destabilized space, the lizan mage cast another spell. The purpose of the scrying spell was to reveal insights to find her targets. “So frustrating…” The spell only repeated the same information as before. “So vague…” The lizan stopped her spellwork and looked over the area.

“Dungeon…” The lizan woman walked slowly towards the dungeon entrance. “Strange interference…”

***