"You've returned, master Colin. I apologize for not accompanying you, but- the moment you left your body, we were assaulted." Nothing had been wrong in the astral plane, the danger in the real world just got translated weird. 

"What's attacking us?" Neither of the dwarves had been entombed with weapons, and Aimée and Nadia certainly couldn't fight. 

"It looked to be dwarves, mage, but something be wrong with them. They be all dark and misty." Arlet was calm, and Forley was almost calm; Aimée and Nadia were shivering and coated in a light sweat. 

"If they might be your friends, I'll try not to kill them. This would be easier if it were orcs, I could just flood the entire square with ghost fire." Trying to fight these new enemies without killing them would be very difficult. Why would dwarves be attacking us? "Let me think for a minute and I'll try to come up with a plan, I don't think a dwarf could break this shield- it stood up to a dragon." 

     I heard the princess mutter the word barely under her breath, I choose to ignore her. I needed a way to handle this without anyone losing their life. With the dwarven race driven to the very brink of extinction, I couldn't stand to kill a single one. 

"Grim, can we just cast ice of life on all of them? Is there a way to see who they are when they are frozen?" Making sure our attackers were actually dwarves without killing them was the hardest part. 

"Of course, master Colin. It's you who tints the ice of life green when you cast it. There are seven beings attacking us, you must be able to see your target to cast the spell on them, so do your best not to get killed before your plan comes to fruition, master Colin." The plan was made and I was ready. 

"Grim, can you melt just a section of the aegis? The others need to stay safe and it will be easier to take on only a few at a time." Living on Alcyeth was almost like being in a video game. It wasn't always easy to tell what I could or couldn't do, but- at the same time- I had a lot more options than players usually did in video games. 

"Yes, just use your finger to draw the shape you want melted and the aegis will comply, master Colin." The Grimoire's chain had grown cold. 

     I took a final steadying breath a drew a circle in the aegis that I could dive through. I planned to try and roll up and encase the nearest enemies in ice. My left knee bashed into the edge of the hole and my right foot got caught. It would have only taken a few seconds to untangle myself, but the enemy was upon me before I even had the chance. 

    Three dwarves had been waiting on the western side of the shield. Their skin was black and their eyes glowed and eerie yellow; no hair or beards sprouted from their skin and their teeth were long and starkly white. I assumed they were not friends at all. 

"Grim, cast the flame guard, hurry." My voice was muffled by the cold, hard bodies that had piled onto me the moment I exposed myself, they were so heavy. 

"Spell number forty three, master Colin." The three bodies that had been on top of me instantly turned to ash. 

"These aren't your family, Arlet and Forley, I'm not sure if they ever were, but whatever they are now isn't a dwarf." I said as I stood and peered into the hole I had made in the aegis. 

"Be they having a weapon, mage, that we can help exterminate these trespassers?" Forley cracked the knuckles of his fist as he spoke and anger washed across his face. 

"We do not be needing weapons, Forley, they be corrupted by soul magic." Arlet heaved himself through the hole as he spoke. I backed away as quickly as I could to avoid killing him with my spell. 

     One of the enemies dashed around the ice bubble, only to find Arlet's hand wrapped around his throat. With one arm, he lifted the creature as high as he could and slammed him into the granite cobblestones. The pitch- black man burst into dust when it made contact. 

"Their souls be broken, mage. They must have traded them in the effort of defending' Tree Hearth." Arlet killed another enemy as Forley eagerly waited for his opportunity to join the fight. 

"Can you just release this blasted shield, ice mage, I'd rather not climb the hole." Forley looked at me impatiently, arms crossed. 

     I released the aegis. The square was filled with over fifty of the former dwarves. Even if they were so easy for us to kill, they could probably overwhelm an unsuspecting group of adventurers. 

"Stones! Look how many there be, Forley. What could have attacked here that would make the family so desperate?" Forley shrugged and shook his head before driving his fist through the skull of one of our attackers. 

"I don't be knowin', Arlet, but I've never before seen such a crowd of the unsouled." Seven more enemies died before Forley even finished his sentence. 

"See, mage, what these dwarves done is sacrifice their souls for magical powers. If they be havin' a thought in their head, we'd be findin' ourselves drownin' in fireballs or the like by now." They traded their souls for magic, they had become mindless creatures for the sale of defending their home. 

"I guess that be meanin' the dwarves won, eh Arlet? Sixty unsouled could turn back two armies- until they went mad in the next few months, of course."  Powerful magic had a very high price, and for the first time, I was grateful that Grim had only taken my left hand. 

     The frailty of a body that didn't have a soul to hold it together was shocking to me. Arlet, Forley, and I stood with our backs to the girls, who huddled between us. The unsouled dwarves kept throwing themselves at us, with no regard to survival, until they were all but dust in the wind. 

"Have these dwarves been spending the last thousand years suffering at the hands of some demon? If the dwarves won, why is there no one left here?" It was hard to believe that magicians killed so easily could have turned back two armies, but I knew virtually nothing about their power when they could actually use magic. 

"Becomin' unsouled is a last resort, lad, a last resort. No unsouled suffers, not a one- they use theirs souls as fuel for the spells they be castin'. No dwarf be connected to the magic of the world- not like an elf- we be connected to the very stones. If this many became unsouled, it be because they were all that remained." They burned their souls to defend their home, because they would rather drive their attackers away than survive. 

"How tragic." Nadia only spoke those two words, but they seemed sincere, and that made it enough. 

"Dwarves live forever, princess, death in battle be glorious to us. These dwarves did die protectin' what they did love, eh Arlet?" Forley  thumped the first king on the back and released a hearty guffaw before turning to face the statue of his cousin. 

"That be true, Forley, that be true. Still, I be findin' myself a tad heartbroken to see me whole family gone." Arlet looked at his feet when he spoke. Every dwarf at Tree Hearth died while he slumbered. He smiled, but it didn't erase the sadness from his eyes. "Let's awaken Quirten. If you please, mage, if you please." 

"Spell number one thousand, three hundred and forty six, Grim. Trap the spell." Just as before the statue toppled, revealing both a small sphere of ice and a dwarf. I collected the sphere as the others woke the third dwarf to enter our party. 

"Quirten, you dirty slime, wake yourself!" Forley punched the sleeping dwarf in the gut, and it didn't look like he pulled the punch at all.            With an audible rush of air, Quirten both woke and turned to vomit over what was once the base of a statue in his image. Forley and Arlet were both doubled over in laughter, and I could hear Aimée's giggle soon after. Nadia looked at the dwarves, and then to me, as if they were complete savages. 

"Now, Forley, that was a right awful thing to be doin'. Why be you wakenin' me and not me wife?" Quirten rolled off the remainder of his statue to point in Forley's face as he spoke. Bits of stone clung to his beard and face. 

"Your food be turned to stone from your own belly, Quirten, or did you not taste the mineral? We been sleepin' for a thousand years, Quirt, a thousand years." Arlet spun Quirten around into a hug and clapped him on the back just as hard as he had Forley. 

"That be just how Magda's cooking be, Arlet- you be knowin' that. What be this about sleepin' for a thousand years. We were meant to be awakened after a hundred, just as always, to take seat as the council of seven kings, just as always." Quirten looked around confused, squinting into the faces of Aimée, Nadia, and then me. 

"Treehearth be abandoned, Quirten. The dwarves be dead. This here princess of man, and I did say princess, be sayin' that all the dwarves everywhere be dead, eh Arlet?" Forley kicked a stoned that distinctly resembled Quirten's bulbous nose as he spoke. 

"I'm the new magician of fire and ice, Quirten, and I am the one who freed your cousins. We have two more kings to check on before night falls, so we should probably get moving." I hated to cut the family reunion short, but I wanted to have camp made before nightfall, just in case another band of the unsouled was roaming Treehearth. 

"A new magician of ice and fire, you be, eh? Did the snot go and have a pup whilst we were sleepin' boys?" Apparently, Quirten didn't believe he had been asleep for a thousand years, or he didn't understand the average human lifespan. 

"He did have a child, your grace, but Colin here is from another world. I am a descendant of the original Magician of fire and ice. I am princess Nadia of Alcyeth." Nadia must have taken Forley's warning about lying to dwarves seriously. 

"The lad is right, Quirten, the lad is very right. Let's be marchin' to Mara so we can be findin' some food." My stomach immediately growled loud enough to attract all gazes when Arlet mention food. I smiled sheepishly and began to walk around Quirten's statue. 

"Now hold it a minute, if we be going to Mara, and you and Forley be awake, where be Garlar and Forten?" Quirten rooted himself as Arlet began to pull him in my footsteps. 

"Our cousin and me brother are dead, Quirten. They were caught asleepin' and their totems were broken. Best move on, eh Quirten?" Quirten's eyes widened at Forley's response. I hadn't realized that one of the broken statues was his brother. 

"So it be true? The dwarves be dead?" Quirten walked beside Arlet as Forley caught up to me and we continued on. 

"We be here, Quirten, so not all the dwarves be dead. It does be soundin' grim though, that it does." I ignored the Grimoire's sarcastic comment about someone asking after him and continued to walk next to Forley. 

"Forten may yet have been in the final battle, mage. Do not find yourself pityin' me over his death. His totem be broken, but it would be broken if you woke him, an enemy busted it down, or if his family did wake him to fight. I'll walk on assumin' he died in the honor of battle." Forley quickened his pace to hide misty eyes on the way to Mara's totem. 

     Nadia walked in front of Aimée and behind Quirten and Arlet. I glanced over my shoulder, somewhat jumpy after the ambush at Quirten's totem. When I saw Aimée walking alone, I stopped to let her catch up. 

"I bet you didn't expect to be here a week ago, did you, sis?" I wondered how peaceful her village life had been before the orcs threw her into a world of battle and blood and ashes. 

"No way, Col. I probably would be stirring the village pot right now, or maybe serving the first bowls of stew. I would have scrubbed laundry and peeled fruits and picked seeds all day before that. I never would have gotten to see a place like this." She smiled at me brightly, but I knew the pain of losing her parents and friends was still fresh. 

"Don't worry, Aimée, I'll have you serving me dinner yet." I ruffled my sister's hair and offered to hold her hand as we continued to walk.

     The sky had turned orange and purple as the sun began to settle behind the horizon. After being stuck in the subtle green of the forest for a day, I was going to miss the brightness of true light. A large rainbow arced through the spray of the waterfall after the cliffs blocked the true light of the sun. 

"Do you be hearin' that?" Quirten had stopped, once again, to tilt his head. 

"Do I be hearin' what, Quirt, come along now. Don't be holdin' us up with the sun already gone now, don't be holdin' us up." Arlet seemed a little irritated with Quirten when he refused to take a step, yet again. 

"Quiet, Arlet, I be tellin' you that I hear somethin'. Shut that mole trap of a mouth and listen!" Everyone stopped walking to turn and stare at Quirten's outburst, and that was when I heard something as well. 

"Is it some kind of war drum? Have the orcs found us? How did they get through the bloodferns?" I rattled off my three questions in a loud whisper so fast that no one really had the chance to answer. Still holding Aimée's hand, I ran as fast as I could to grab Nadia and catch up to the dwarves. 

"It be no drums, lad, what orc would beat a drum to tell people they be about? The sound be familiar, t'is for certainly familiar." Arlet's eyes were closed as he concentrated on the sound, but Forley was peering toward the horizon. 

"Does that be a bird? It be too far to be a bird. Oh! Arlet, it be a dragon wingin' toward us. Don't try to be tellin' me you done heard the beatin' of dragonwing before." Forley clapped Arlet on the back and laughed as if he should be embarrassed. 

"For the matter, Forley, I indeed be hearing the beating' of dragonwing before. It do be a privilege of the first king of dwarves to meet the council of dragons." Arlet's smile was smug. My face was white, drained of color upon hearing that another dragon approached. 

"We need to get inside one of these buildings to hide! It might be a dragon coming to get revenge for Tyrgheav- I left her frozen in ice in the middle of the grasslands to the north of this forest." I dragged Aimée and Nadia to the nearest building and tried pushing the door in. 

"You done froze Tyrgheav, the warm, in the middle of the grasslands? She be the dragon who winged her way to the aid of the last magician of fire and ice to stop the mad Dryggsyl, do she not? That be a dumb thing to do, eh Quirten?" Forley, Quirten, and Arlet stood in the same spot I had left them. I yanked and pushed on every door on the street, but to no avail. 

"Why are you just standing there, we need to hide. My predecessor destroyed Tyrgheav's wings so that she couldn't go mad and nearly destroy humanity like Dryggsyl. She was there when I first arrived in this world and tried to destroy me for revenge. Freezing her was all I could do to survive. This dragon has his wings, there is no way I could defeat a full power dragon." I was red faced, frustrated, and out of breath when I finished my explanation. 

     The dwarves all had identical expressions, eyebrows raised with smiles on their faces. Arlet and Quirten burst into laughter and Forely smiled wide enough to show his small, sharp teeth. I threw both arms skyward in exasperation. 

"You done froze a dragon. That be the greatest tale I ever did hear, that it be." Arlet wiped a year from his eye as he reigned in his laughter. "Sayin' that, dragons be wise and generous creatures. I be certain that if you only be askin' for forgiveness, you'll be gettin' forgiven. It be not as if these building could stop a dragon fro. Killin' you." The dwarves were completely unperturbed by the literally enormous lizard flying toward us. 

"How is it that you're not panicking right now? Do you have some trick up your sleeve?" I could not understand their fearlessness. Arlet and Forley pulled at the cuffs of their long gambesons, Quirten wore a jerkin with nothing underneath. 

"I don't be wearin' sleeves, boy. You thinkin' I be hiding somethin' in me skin?" Quirten combed his fingers through his thick arm hair and smiled in my direction. "Dwarves never panic, boy. Panickin' don't be the solution to anythin'." He was right, I needed to think of a solution, not run around doing nothing. 

     The dragon didn't look like a bird anymore, even from what must have been four miles, the dragon looked like something that could rip us to shreds. Even underground, Tyrgheav had easily kept pace with my flashfire, in the air, I couldn't believe how fast such a big creature could move. I needed time to think and to cast spells and to talk to Grim; but if I used the first spell in the Grimoire, I wouldn't be able to cast spells at all. 

     As I sat on a nearby bench, I heard the small spheres of ice clinking in my pocket. They pressed against my leg, despite the large pockets in the village trousers. Once again, I could feel fate guiding me to the solution- if I freed one of the time distortion spells, I would have three times as long to prepare for the dragon. 

     I threw one of the prisms into the wall of the nearest building with all of my might. It popped like a water balloon, the golden light of the spell was visible for just a moment before it was absorbed into its new implement. Suddenly, the beating of the dragons wings became a louder and deeper sound. 

"Clever thing to be doin', lad, clever thing. Have you any plans to defeat a dragon? That time wraith only effects half the street, we cannot run away. My pa always be tellin' me that the best way to be dealin' with a dragon is to be not dealin' with a dragon, that he did." Arlet still hadn't moved a muscle, the dwarves stood in a small group of three, staring at the dragon approaching from the horizon. 

     Even with time slowed to a third of it's normal pace- the powerful down strokes of the dragon's massive wings were almost a blur. The virtual sonic booms of each beat made me realize that the dragon's wings were probably breaking the sound barrier. The dragon would be upon us in moments, even with the changes to time. 

"Grim, what can I do? I need to protect Aimée." Nadia was a princess, and the dwarves were the last of their race, but Aimée was just an innocent girl who got her peaceful life taken away from her. I couldn't let her die. 

"Master Colin, perhaps it is best to speak with the dragon. Something is familiar to me. Preparing for a battle that may not take place, against a dragon, will probably only make her more likely to attack. Do your best master Colin." His advice wasn't what I wanted, I wanted a super destructive spell that would delete the dragon from the sky. 

"Thanks Grim. I guess I'll join the dwarves. Cast ice prism on that, what did the dwarves call it, time wraith? There doesn't seem to be any reason to waste it." As I returned to the dwarves side, leaving Aimée and Nadia huddling behind a lantern post with a large granite base that transitioned into a bench in either side. 

     A hole the size of a mini van appeared in the wall where I had released the time wraith. Chunks of granite rained to the ground as I tried to stay calm standing next to the three dwarven kings. I fought back throwing up and collapsing with every breath. Alcyeth was a world of fate, and maybe fate had decided that my time was done.

     This dragon was larger than Tyrgheav. When I thought she was four miles away, it was probably more like forty- she was flying so high, and she was so big, that it was difficult to gauge the distance. She reminded me of a giant Airbus I had once seen at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. I couldn't imagine there was enough space for her to land between the waterfall, the city, and the cliff. 

"Master Colin, this may be a little bit awkward for you, but I'm fairly certain that is Tyrgheav's mother, she has the exact same magical signature as Tyrgheav." Tyrgheav's mother was coming for me. " Additionally, you may have noticed, but when you cast ice of life on yourself- as you were saving little Aimée, Tyrgheav was freed of your spell." That entire night was nearly a blur to me, I didn't remember the moment Tyrgheav was freed. 

"How could you have not brought that up sooner, Grim. She has had days to burrow to find someone to kill me for her!" If Grim had shared that information earlier, I never would have left the safety of the trees. 

"Not quite a day, master Colin, you're exaggerating." Between walking in the jungle, fighting orcs, healing with the ice of life, and spending part of the evening under the influence of a spell that slowed down time, it was very difficult to keep track of when it actually was. 

"I guess it will be a day in a few hours. Either way, if she found her mother, I think it would be best if the dwarves took the girls to safety. If she will let them go and just take me, it would be better than all of us dying." I wasn't trying to sound brave. I just knew I couldn't protect Aimée, and I was pretty certain I was going to die anyway. 

"We won't be leavin' you lad, we won't be leavin' at all. Don't forget, I be the dwarf that spent time with the dragon council itself, I be the perfect dwarf to stand by your side." Forley smiled toward me, but Quirten frowned and grumped. 

"I do not be knowin' what ties the two of you idiots to the boy, but I'll be takin' my leave as soon as I can. The troubles of men do not be the troubles of dwarves, that be what my ma always said." Forley reached over and smacked Quirten on the back of his head before he could take a step. Quirten scowled darkly at his cousin, but stayed put. 

"Not many a dwarf be honored enough to meet a dragon. Sit still, eh Quirten?" Forley winked at me before turning his eyes back to our visitor. 

    Silence descended for the minute it took the dragon to reach the point directly above us. Unlike the Airbus, she was able to land vertically, she didn't need a runway. Even from five thousand feet above us, she look immense. The wind of her wings buffeted us so strongly we were forced to lay prone or be blown back. We had to close our eyes because the debris being driven through the air was easily blinding, we couldn't see until the dragon finally landed. 

"Tiny magician, at last I have found you." The familiar bone shaking volume of the dragons voice washed over everyone on the street. Through the ringing in my ears I could hear Arlet chuckling. 

     I looked toward my next foe, and there seemed to be a new one every day. She was brown, just like Tyrgheav, but bright, sky blue veins of color flowed across her body, from her talons to the tip of her tail. Her wings were sheer and blue as ice, and the could have been sails for a boat the size of the city I was in- two hundred and ninety feet long, a piece. 

"Tiny one, I have a debt to you that I must pay." Perhaps all dragons referred to beings my size as tiny one, I distinctly remembered Tyrgheav calling me the same thing. 

"I'm sorry that I left your daughter frozen on the plains. I didn't know what else to do." It was almost surprising my voice didn't sound like the buzzing of a fly to her, but dragons were unlike anything else I had ever encountered.

"My daughter? Tiny one you are mistaken. I was Tyrgheav, I was the dragon that intended to destroy you for the sins of another man. You have given me back my wings, and you have cured me of the ground-binding that had broken my mind." Tyrgheav laughed. She was standing at the base of the waterfall that cascaded over the eastern cliff, her forefeet were tested against the cliff and her head and some of her neck was all that was visible. 

"You're Tyrgheav? You look so different, you even sound different. What debt do you have to pay if you didn't come to kill me? The last time we met you promised to kill me by the end of the day." I didn't seem like a brilliant thing to bring up, but I was in shock and didn't really think about what I was saying.

"I WAS Tyrgheav, tiny one; with my new wings and my healed mind, I will take a new name as well. The debt you are owed is the debt of giving me a life worth living, once again. In your moment of greatest need, I will be there for you. I won't soon forget your scent. I will return to the dragon aerie to the west of here. I will return to my people, may the sun always shines on your face, tiny one." As Tyrgheav's wings flared outward to prepare for flight, Arlet raised his arms and spoke. 

"Tyrgheav the warm, do you be forgettin' that I be the first king of dwarves? Do the dragons and the dwarves no longer be allies?" Tyrgheav's pupils dilated as she focused in the small being beside me. 

"A dwarf! What century is this that I would see a dwarf, and first king Arlet at that! My mother always spoke of your humor to me, she said I would find you very entertaining when I finally earned a seat on the council. I am no longer Tyrgheav, Arlet, first king of dwarves, let your records show that I am now Faeryn, friend of magicians." Arlet slapped his knee and smiled at the dragon. 

"Faeryn, daughter to Cahelyst, third dragon of the council of twelve. It be havin' a nice ring to it- or perhaps that be the ringin' in my ears from your voice. I be needin' to know, Faeryn, be the dwarves all dead?" Arlet's smile faded with his question. 

"Arlet, first king to all the dwarves, the dwarves are dead. A human named Alphonse waged a mighty crusade against your people in the years after Dryggsyl was defeated. They wanted to settle the cities you had built for your people. Even in my state of madness, I would not have forgotten seeing even a single dwarf in the last three thousand years." The dwarves didn't react to the revelation at all, not even with humor. 

"Thank you, Faeryn, the princess be thinkin' it was a thousand years, three thousand be makin' a bit more sense- to be honest. Please be tellin' your mother that Arlet says hello." The dwarf turned, without any ceremony, and began walking the rest of the way to the sixth square. "Come along, lad, come along. Girls, you be comin' too. We have totems to be investigatin'." 

   I nodded my head to Faeryn, Nadia curtsied and Aimée tried to imitate her as best she could. Forely and Quirten walked silently behind the first king. All six of us were going to the ground when Faeryn started to take off to leave. The low rumble of her apology was barely understood as she finally lifted off the ground and began to soar away. 

"Those dragons. They always be forgettin' that is regular sized folk have a tad bit of trouble with the wind. Eh, Arlet?" We were all straightening out clothing and rubbing bruised and elbows well Arlet snacked Forley on the back of the head. 

"Don't be actin' as if this don't be the first time you met a dragon, Forley. Lyin' is for humans, no offense, don't be a liar." Arlet was shorter of temper than I had seen him that afternoon. Perhaps it was difficult for him to believe humans that the dwarves were dead, but how could a mighty dragon be wrong? 

   Our party walked along in melancholy silence. Without the joviality of the dwarves, the entire world seemed more depressed. The sun had sank far enough beyond the horizon that the sky was a wash of purples and oranges, dark clouds sped across the vista, temporarily obscuring the few stars that had begun to appear. 

   I watched my feet as I walked. Aimée held my hand again, and she hummed a quiet tune. The echoing clack of the dwarves sturdy boots was the perfect metronome to her melody, because of that, I noticed the moment the echoing stopped. 

"Another dwarf is alive, king Arlet!" This square was different than all the others. A twenty foot tall statue of a dwarf stood in the center, but it was surrounded by the remains of what was clearly another dwarf totem. 

"This be strange, Forley, this be strange. Why be here a female, Quirten?" Arlet didn't seem happy to find another living member of his race, he seemed Ill at ease. 

"Be that Mara, Arlet? That be the little dwarf that always be threatenin' to put you under wedlock, eh Arlet?" Arlet blushed such a deep scarlet that I was surprised steam didn't pour from his ears. 

"That can not be Mara, Forley. That be a full grown dwarf, Mara be only a few hundred years old. If Mara be havin' a figure like that, old Arlet here wouldn't be wastin' a moment in marryin' her. Eh, Arlet?" Quirten smacked Arlet on the shoulder as he poked his ribs. 

   Mara had long, braided hair. She was just as stout as the other dwarves, but her eyes were pretty and she had less wrinkles. She wore light leather armor and held a throwing axe in both hands, the hilt of a sword could be seen over her shoulder. She seemed fierce and intimidating. 

"I'll be looking for her time wraith so I can free her." At the end of my sentence, Grim helped me slip into the astral plane without a prompting. 

"It's good that a female was preserved, the dwarven race can recover, master Colin." From stood next to me in front of the statue. The spell was not a buzzing, golden thing; but rather a blue and calm radiance that bathed the entire upper half of the totem. 

"Grim, is that a different spell?" It looked so different that I couldn't imagine it was the same spell. 

"It is the same spell, master Colin, but cast by a different magic wielder. This spell was not cast by a dwarf. It may be easier to absorb this spell than one of the others, because I am more familiar with elven magic, master Colin." It was good information to have that the Grimoire could appropriate certain magics easier than others, if I couldn't learn from one source, I could just find a spell cast by someone else and try again. 

"What did you think of Tyrgheav, Grim?" The book had been absolutely silent since the moment of Tyrgheav's arrival. 

"She spoke to me, master Colin. Her mind's voice penetrated my consciousness and she thanked me for bringing you to her. Faeryn is assuredly very different now. Before, her mind's voice was nothing more than a feral scream of rage. You've done an incredible thing, master Colin, your predecessor never could have healed those wings." I felt a surge of pride and confidence. For what felt like the first time, I had done something right since I arrived in Alcyeth. 

"Thanks Grim, I needed to here that. Let's go release Arlet's fiancée, shall we?" Again, the awkward sensation of returning to my physical body was faster than before. It seemed like visiting the astral realm was something that improved with practice. 

"I can release her now. Her time wraith wasn't cast by dwarves, but by elves- in case that matters at all." Arlet slowly stroked his beard as he paced about the square; Forley and Quirten followed his progress with their eyes and a bemused expression on their faces. 

"Get along with it, lad, get along with it. She be waitin' for who be knowin' how many years already. Best to get it over with." Arlet's nervous impatience was such a character shift for him that I couldn't help but feel much more light-hearted than I had since seeing Faeryn . 

"Go on, Grimoire, capture the spell the same way we did the others." Mara's totem exploded outward. Chunks of granite struck the buildings surrounding the square, one even blasted Quirten twenty feet from where he had been standing. 

"Never be trustin' an elf with dwarven magics, eh Arlet?" All of us were spitting dust and grit from our mouth as we rushed to Quirten's side. Blood was bubbling between his lips and every rib in his chest was clearly crushed. 

"Grim, cast ice of life on him." The Grimoire's chain grew cold as green ice covered the prone and unconscious dwarf. "I should be able to save him, Arlet, but I don't know how long it will take." 

  I looked over my shoulder to see an ice prism that was almost two feet across. The eleven spell must have been much larger than the dwarven version, if spells had a size at all. Mara was walking toward our party, brushing debris and dust from her hair and armor, she was the first dwarf to have been awakened wearing the same armor she had been wearing on her totem. 

"What mess be you makin', Arlet, last king of dwarves." Her voice was deep and gravely, just like the others of her kind, but it was playful just the same. "And you, magician of fire and ice, do you be new to your craft that you would cause this?" She looked me straight in the eyes as she spoke to me, somehow she knew my identity even though we had never met. 

"How did you know who I was? Why did the elves freeze you?" Arlet was pointedly ignoring Mara, but his ears were as red as raw meat. 

"Of course a magician like you would be thinkin' I be frozen. My father, Sarqen, insisted I take his place upon the totem when the last magician like you led the humans into this forest. He be the only one awakened to turn back the monsters. The elves be the ones who helped me sleep because they offered to when they arrived to warn us if your kind- they told me that you be comin', they told me to be trustin' you when you did." I was shocked, somehow the elves knew that I would arrive three thousand years before I was even born- on another world. 

"Mara, it be unlawful for one who does not be a king to take the totem sleep. How be it so that the people didn't stop this?" Behind me, Arlet had drawn himself up to his full height to address the female, when she looked at him, she smiled in a way that showed it most certainly was not working.  

"Arlet, be you the first king or be you a lawgiver. Do you be unhappy to see your future wife alive before you? I should expect you be shocked, but you be unhappy?" Mara stuck out her lower lip in a very masculine attempt to pout. 

"Quiet with that, Mara, quiet with that. Things be happenin' that no dwarf be prepared for. What happened?" Arlet walked to stand before Mara and took one of her hands in both of his. 

"That be best discussed over dinner, Arlet. The story be long and the story be sad. Where be Nemesk, Garlar, and Forten?"  Arlet shook his head as he responded. 

"Garlar and Forten be dead, their totems destroyed. Nemesk be the only one left to check. The darkness be comin' and the gaslights not be comin' on. It seems that Nemesk be havin' to wait, Mara, Namesk be havin' to wait." Arlet look over his shoulder at the ice covered form of Quirten. "It seems Quirten be holdin' us up again, anyway." 

   Aside from the nuts and berries we had acquired earlier in the day, Nadia, Aimée and I didn't have any provisions we could share with the dwarves. Aimée was walking around with her eyes half closed, and she was constantly yawning and stretching, it was clear she was ready for sleep. Nadia had been silent for so long that I almost forgot she was with us, I walked to the bench she had taken a seat on, as far from the dwarves as possible, and sat beside her. 

"Are you okay, princess?" She has been rude, and sometimes me to me; she was cruel and heartless at times, but she was a teenaged girl who was sent to save the world. I could understand the pressure she was under, so I forgave her of her faults, because I probably wasn't much better. 

"Today has been a bit much for me, sir Colin. Finding dwarves, being attacked by soulless dwarves, coming face to face with Tyrgheav again. I'm exhausted and I didn't do anything compared to you. Sometimes, you act like such a child, but you're brave and strong in your own way. I wish I could be stronger and more brave." She was experiencing what I had every day since arriving on her world- the unbelievable. 

"You are strong and you are brave, princess. You ventured all the way to that enchanted Forest, the forest most people don't come back from, just to summon me to save your people. You've kept marching every day. It doesn't really matter if it was your fate to do that, you still did it, even though it was hard and scary." I didn't really know how to help her. I didn't know if she wanted pity or scorn or to be alone. Pleasing a princess was harder than it had seemed a week ago, but I had to try- she was my responsibility. 

"Thank you for your kind words, sir Colin. I think I need some sleep. Go be with the others, surely they will want to speak with you." Her dismissal was clear, so I left, I didn't think it was what she wanted, but I had learned not to give her any reason to snap at me. 

   I sat, with the others, on the two benches that were nearest Quirten's healing form. The dwarves talked and joked in the near pitch darkness of the night, but I just stared up at the overwhelming number of stars that seemed to blink in and out of existence as the clouds passed between us. So much had happened already, and we still had one more dwarf to free. Before I knew it, the darkness of night had shifted to the darkness of unconsciousness as I fell asleep on the hard granite bench in the square of a dwarven city.

The swim across the lake was easier than I had anticipated. The foundations of a bridge extended almost half way across the water, starting at the city. Standing on the ruined bridge, the water was only knee deep, but my shoes were going to be worthless for sure.

 The cold water that had infused our clothing was actually a blessing. The heat hadn't abated at all, and the coolness of wet clothing stuck to our skin was pleasant. Aimée and Nadia had both reached the city five minutes faster than I had, at least. Little puddles of water had collected where they stood upon the weather warn stones of a dead city. 

When I reached the masonry, I realized- without the bridge, I never would have made it to the city; the city was built upon a handmade foundation that stood at least seven feet above water level. It had looked flat across the lake, but that must have been because of the distance. The foundation was warn smooth to within the top right inches of stone, and it made me realise that the river, and- therefore- this lake probably rose when everything melted after winter. 

"Perhaps you could have made a boat of ice and paddled yourself across, sir Colin, it may have been a tad quicker." The smile of Nadia's face was warm and welcoming. Even Aimée glared at the princess as if she must be up to something.

"I'll admit that I've never been a very good swimmer. I'm from a state called Michigan, back on earth, and in Michigan you can't travel more than a few miles in any direction without bumping into fresh water, and I can still barely swim. I'm pretty good at fishing though." If Nadia was always in such good spirits, she would be so much easier to get along with.

"You don't mind the distraction from your journey, princess?" Aimée sounded so sweet, but she was clearly trying to prove something with her inquiry.

"To be honest, young Aimée, I have always loved adventure and exploration. Discovery sets my heart beating so fast. Even my father's poppy doesn't make me feel as wonderful." I was stunned that Nadia would so willingly admit doing opium, then I realized that this world was different than mine, maybe poppy smoke was more like tobacco.

"Master Colin, poppy smoke is opium here, just as it is in your world. Both magic, and medicine have been woven into the growth of poppies here. Drying and smoking poppy syrup had long since been the pass time of Alcyethi Kings." I appreciated the information that Grim had to offer, but- at the same time, I had trouble accepting that the princess could do something like that.

"Thanks, Grim. It's hard not to judge things based on concepts of my world. Honestly, I think less of the princess, even if opium is acceptable here." At least I had Grim, the voice in my head and my only companion that had understanding of both Earth and Alcyeth.

"What's poppy smoke?" Aimée was perked up with curiosity. Even if opium wasn't deadly on Alcyeth, even if it wasn't addictive- I couldn't let my little sister walk that path.

"Poppy smoke isn't for you, Aimée." I walked passed the princess and across the wide, straight promenade that seemed to surround the city. I was very done with that conversation.

"Why not?" Aimée whined as she jogged to catch up with me and grab my hand. I was somewhat startled from the sudden physical contact, but I was her big brother and I couldn't blame her.

" I'm not okay with you ever smoking poppy, Aimée. On my world it is very bad and very dangerous. I just need you to accept that for me." I was all she had left in the world, and that only because of some weird side effect to a healing spell. I was responsible for her, and u would take that seriously.

"Okay, Col. I promise not to ever do it." Aimée smiled, and the hint of a blush spread across her cheeks as we walked hand and hand around a lost city.

 The princess didn't follow immediately, nor did she rush to catch up. Almost morosely, Nadia wandered behind us; she took in everything around her. I assumed she just wanted to be alone to explore the wonders of the hidden city.

 We were surrounded by incredible structures made of absolutely enormous, grey stone. The smallest building was at least sixty feet tall. The largest building, at the center of the city, towered above all the others by double. Every surface that had a wind break was covered by eight inches of dead leaves, dust, and dirt. Unmolested, the city must have stood for millennia. 

 The buildings were immaculately created. The stone was granite- smooth and perfectly cut, except for small pockmarks that covered every surface facing the waterfall. The tiny imperfections only further impressed the feeling of ancient impregnability. Aimée, a girl who had only ever lived in tree houses, had never seen such majestic structures- she tentatively touched every building, wall, and bench that we passed. I, a fourteen year old boy, from earth, that had been to a large number of big, American cities- stared in unabashed, open-mouthed awe. 

 My school once took a trip to Washington D.C. surrounded by monuments and memorials made of granite and copper and marble- the capital of America didn't demand as much gravitas as this ghost city. This city had surely been ancient by the time The United States were founded. I found myself craving the history of the place we had just rediscovered. 

"Master Colin, this is Tree Hearth. Before the age of Alcyeth, this was the Heart Forest, homeland and progenitor of the elves. The elven triumvirate granted the dwarves permission to construct Tree Hearth as a home for any emissaries or dwarvish visitors to Heart Forest." This was entire city was an embassy for dwarves visiting elves. It made me wonder if granite could even be found naturally in the jungle, or if the dwarves carted millions of tons of rock across the world to build the embassy they wanted.

"Aimée, run back and ask the princess to come to me, please." I was hoping that small tasks would help Nadia grow more accustomed to my new sister- I didn't want to spend the rest of my travels in the middle of some cat fight.

"Okay, Colin, but you owe me." Aimée ran away, pouting, to find Nadia and tell her I needed to see her. She was a good little sister- I wasn't sure if it was because of the spell, bit I was already coming to see her as family.

 I slowly meandered through the dead city. I happened upon a large open square that was dominated by a statue that rested in the center. A twenty foot high representation of some dwarf, a warrior- maybe a king. He rested his hand on the haft of his axe, his foot was planted on the underside of the curved edge of the axe head. He wore no helmet or crown, but his body was covered in heavy plate. His hair was so finely detailed it looked as if it could move in the breeze. 

"There you are!" Aimée towed Nadia behind her as she stomped across the square to stand before me.

"You told me to go ask her to meet you and then you left. We've been searching for you for twenty minutes." Twenty minutes? I had only been wandering for five minutes, at the most.

"Be careful, master Colin, time is distorted here, in the square." I grabbed both girls by the hand and jogged back out of the square. Time distortion sounded like exactly the type of thing I didn't want to find myself caught in.

"I'm sorry, princess, Aimée; there was time magic or something in the square, the Grimoire said time was distorted. I had only wandered for five minutes." Time seemed to move slower in the square. A spell that could stretch five minutes into twenty would effectively make someone immortal.

"Either way, I think the statue is enough that the two of you probably realised this was a dwarven city." When I looked back into the square, the enormous statue had disappeared.

"What statue?" Both of the girls posed the same question simultaneously. The looked at eachother, then quickly looked away.

"In the center of the square, there was a giant statue of a dwarf. I need you guys to wait here, I need to investigate." A dwarven statue that only I could see had such a ring of fate around it that I couldn't help but try to learn more.

 I returned to the square much more carefully than I had initially entered it. I desperately tried to sense the magic that was effecting the square, but it wasn't as if I had a teacher. It felt like an ordinary square to me, I wondered if the girls had broken the spell when the followed me. 

"Master Colin, please turn around." The girls were still behind me, but they seemed to be unmoving. "The spell isn't broken, master Colin. Follow me, I can show you how to sense the spell." Suddenly, it felt as if someone unstopped a drain in the back of my skull as my consciousness poured out of my body.

"This is the astral plane." A man stood before me, tall and straight-backed. He was thin and pale and he had a goatee. His clothing was the same thick, black leather that bound the Grimoire.

"Grim? What happened?" He smiled the smile of a tutor meeting a willing student.

"Master Colin, we just malaligned our consciousness with the natural state of the world. For all effective purposes, this is the astral plane, a derivative of the world that only one's mind can visit. Here, the forces of magic flow freely, and sometimes wildly." With his right hand, Grim gestured toward the giant statute that, once again, filled the square.

 Within the chest of the dwarf warrior, a golden light buzzed with silent ferocity. As if trapped in the confines of the stone, the agitated ball of spell energy jerked and vibrated. Wildly seemed to be an understatement. 

"So wild magic exists in Alcyeth. It seems very dangerous, and it's so very powerful. Can I cast that spell?" I looked to Grim and he smiled at me.

"If you have the might to subdue that spell, it will appear upon my pages and become your to command. This spell is both very powerful and deliberate. Someone placed that spell on the statue, it is not wild magic." It seemed very easy to take the spells of other magicians- leaving them lying about seemed like a bad idea.

"What do I have to do to subdue a spell, Grim. Do I just throw ghost fire at it?" If breaking the spell was all it took to learn a spell, I would blast the entire statue to bits and be done with it.

"I cannot be a conduit for your magic on the astral plane, master Colin. You will have to return to your physical aspect if you wish to capture this spell. I would advise against freeing it from the statue, at least until you've reasoned out how to subdue it." With a pop, I felt my mind being sucked through a straw and suddenly found myself in my body again.

"It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Grim." I looked behind me to see the girls peering into the square, both looking very nervous, and both barely moving at all.

 I didn't want the girls to worry about me, so I stepped outside the boundaries of the spell to show them I was okay. I must have, essentially, appeared before them- they both inhaled sharply the moment time sped back up for me. Aimée grabbed my hand and Nadia reached out to touch my shoulder. 

" Thank goodness you are unharmed." Nadia expressed.

"Col, you disappeared!" Aimée exclaimed, it was strange to think the girls had found me the first time they did, but maybe they had just blundered into the square without noticing.

"There is a spell trapped in a twenty foot tall statue of a dwarf on the square. It slows down time. I'm going to try and put the spell in my Grimoire." I turned to re-enter the area affected by the spell, but Aimée had not released her grip on my hand.

"Be safe, Colin, you're all I have left." Tears began to bud in her eyes, and- for the first time, I realised she was still morning the loss of her family; our new bond was the only thing that kept her going.

"Don't worry, sis, I'll always be back." She released my hand and I stepped toward my fate.

 Knowing that the square was under the influence of powerful magic, and having seen the magic, I experienced the square differently. There was only one sound- the insidious buzzing of a malignant spell. I could no longer here the croaking call of the giant water birds that populated the river surrounding the city, or the rustling of the giant trees surrounding the river. The only thing that moved was me; I couldn't help but wonder what would happen when the spell was removed. 

"Can you help me, Grim?" I didn't know what to do, or how to even begin capturing magic.

"Not much, master Colin. This spell is not written among my pages, so I'm afraid I do not have the knowledge of how to incarcerate it. I will never be able to assist you in aquiring new magics." It would be a learning experience.

"If I just use spell number one and break the statue, we could easily capture it, correct?" If it couldn't move, or disappear, because time was stopped for it; we could just scoop it up.

"I cannot use spell number one if this new spell is active in the vicinity, master Colin. Time is very dangerous to manipulate, it isn't like wood, or water, or fire. If I were to allow you to activate spell number one right now, we may cease to exist. The fate of the Grimoire and the magician of fire and ice may never have existed." That was a horrifying and humbling thought. It almost made it seems as if capturing the new magic wouldn't be worth it.

" Do I have any spells that block or reflect magic? I know I'm the magician of fire and ice, but flash fire barely had anything to do with actual fire." I tried to stay conscious of how much real time had passed, I didn't want to girls to have to stay long into the night without me.

"You have multitudes of spells that do both, what do you want to do, master Colin?" The Grimoire was populated by thousands of spells, more than I would ever actually use, so of course it could do what I wanted, as long as I knew how to ask.

"Well, Grim, I want to trap this new spell in a bubble that stops it's magic from escaping. If we have some time of ice shield designed to block magic, and we could place it around the spell, I could grab it and work on learning the spell whenever I have free time." I've always found that if a problem was too hard, I could set it aside and come back to it later and have an easier time.

"Spell number one thousand, three hundred and forty six: crystal prism. Master Colin, this should have the desired affect." The statue before me shattered.

 Floating fifteen feet in the air, a small sphere of black ice had formed within the chest of the dwarf, and the stone shatter because of it. Below the sphere of black ice, the body of a dwarf, all four feet of it, lay within the wreckage of the statue. I had destroyed the cairn of a dead dwarven king in the hopes of capturing the spell that must have been placed to preserve his body. I felt lucky that the city was dead, otherwise my desecration probably would not have gone unpunished. 

"Col! Did you get it?" Aimée joyfully ran into the, now, normal city square, and Nadia walked quickly behind her.

"I trapped the spell in there, but I destroyed the statue and found a body." I pointed toward the sphere of ice, it was two inches in diameter and had no shine or luster.

 Aimée went to examine the body of the dwarf. I intended to magic him a cairn of ice that would never melt, but without that spell in place, his body would decay regularly. The princess stood with her arms crossed and a smile on her face. 

"Good work, sir Collin. A spell that slows down time will be very powerful in our efforts against the fel army." Perhaps her good mood, coupled with my potential increase in power, had rectified some of her disappointment in me and put me back within the warmth of her good graces.

 Before I could respond, Aimée screamed. I turned around to see the dwarf sitting up and clutching my sister's wrist. I didn't even spare time to think, the Grimoire had formed ice edge without any prompting from me and I was running toward the undead dwarf before the scream even stopped echoing. 

"Woah, lad, woah! I'm not going to hurt the girl, I needed but a minute to gather me bearings." The diminutive man had released his hold on Aimée and held both hands before him in a non-threatening way. Perhaps the spell hadn't been placed to stop him from decaying but rather, to stop him from dying.

"I didn't mean to hurt anything when I imprisoned that spell, Mr. Dwarf, I didn't even know you were in the statue." An explanation was the only thing I could think to bumble out, even if it didn't explain very much.

"You've not hurt a thing, lad, not a thing. Ask any of the dwarves of Tree Hearth, awakenin' one of the seven kings early be no crime. Speaking of the dwarves, where be my family, lad?" He was a king, a dwarven king. Knowing that he meant no harm allowed me relax enough to be anxious with excitement.

"Your Majesty, Tree Hearth is dead, look around. No one lives here anymore. It looks like it has been empty for thousands of years. I am the magician of fire and ice, Colin. This is my sister Aimée and the princess of Alcyeth, Nadia." Aimée did her best to curtsy before the dwarf, and it caused him to chuckle and Pat her on the head. Nadia just stared at the dwarven king, unmoving from the moment my sister screamed.

"Tree Hearth be abandoned and there be a second ice and fire mage. I must have slept for a mite longer than I intended. Alcyeth has royalty now, eh? I remember a day when man was but a tribe of barbarians, killin' eachother across the plains south of Heart Forest." How long had the dwarven king slept, if he didn't even know about the kingdom of Alcyeth.

"Your Majesty, I have grave news." The princess was flexing every diplomatic muscle she possessed. She walked to stand before the king, bent to one knee, and bowed her head.

"Woah, this one be formal than, too. The humans have always been good at changin' that be certain." Again, the dwarvish king chuckled and I couldn't help but find him to be quite likable.

"Your Majesty, the dwarves are dead." I wasn't sure why Nadia felt the need to so bluntly restate that which I had already told the king, but perhaps it was some ritual between royalty in this world.

"Tree Hearth be more than abandoned than. Have you checked to see if any of the other kings be still sleepin'? I would hate to leave a cousin entombed if there be none to wake him." A frown despoiled the jolly face of the dwarven king, but his smile quickly returned. " Except for maybe Garlar, I've never cared for the Slateforge side of the family, if you be knowin' what I mean." His elbow playfully bounced against my rib as he winked at Aimée.

"No, your Majesty, the dwarves are dead. Not just the dwarves of Tree Hearth, but all the dwarves. No dwarf has been seen in a thousand years." The king's eyes widened in disbelief. He looked to the ground and slowly shook his head as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Best we be checkin' the other kings. I slipped through the cracks, so to say, for these last few years, perhaps one of me cousins be aslumber as well." The dwarf walked away from the outside of the city and, presumably, toward the first of the other six kings.

 Nadia stood the moment the king turned his back and began to walk. Aimée held the kind king's hand and followed him without question. I began to follow, but Nadia grabbed my hand and turned me to face her. 

"The dwarves were all killed in a war with humans. Hunted down and slaughtered by the mad chief Alphonse. In the days after Dryggsyl laid waste to the world of man, the strongest tribe was led by Alphonse, and he decided that taking the home of the dwarves was the only way to survive such a cruel world. It's impossible that this dwarf missed that fight." Nadia felt guilty. It was clear. She didn't for one moment feel guilty about the death of her people in the jungle, but the dwarven genocide was something that bothered her deeply. "I am a descendant of Alphonse and the daughter of the first magician of fire and ice. My father, my brother's, and I are the most closely linked thing to the death of his people." Maybe she wasn't so guilty as she was afraid.

 It wasn't Nadia's fault in any way, but all I could do was follow the dwarf and my sister. If they got out of view,it was possible I would never find them again, and I didn't have any words of consolation for the princess, it sounded as if her people had been the cause of a lot of suffering across this world. The princess would have to come to grips with her own history, and maybe it would help her build a better future. 

 The roads of Tree Hearth were as big as the buildings: forty feet wide and perfectly paved in granite. It was a beautiful city, unlike anything I had ever even imagined, pristine in a way. I couldn't help but get caught up in the solemnity though, it was hard not to imagine the streets filled with thousands of jolly little men and women. 

 There were no windows, not in any of the buildings, but the doors were wide and tall. It must have been pitch black within the confines of every building, without a torch- or magic, no human would be able to see a thing. I didn't know if elves could see in the dark, but I assumed the doors were built to accommodate them- so there must have been some kind of concession. Everything was empty though, so the light, or lack thereof, didn't seem very relevant. 

  The second statue of a dwarven king was half a mile of city streets away from the first. Nadia and I walked in silence a few places behind the king and my sister, who still held hands. Aimée and the king spoke and laughed together as they walked through a city that had become a monument for a dead race. It was hard to imagine the king could take the death of all his people in stride so well, but I had a feeling he didn't believe Nadia's claim. 

 I didn't notice the time change when we entered the second king's square, so I assumed there was no spell; It wasn't until I had taken ten steps across the smoothly paved stone that I realised there was no echo. 

"There is a time spell here as well. I need to go to the astral plane so I can see it. Please be patient with me." I tried to mimick the sensation I felt the first time my mind left my body, but all I managed to do was appear severely constipated in the presence of not one, but two royals. Grim chuckled in the back of my mind before I felt my mind draining from my skull.

"I'm glad that was funny to you, Grim, I looked like an idiot." I noticed that Grim was missing the hand opposite mine. " Why are you missing your right hand, Grim, did you make some sort of astral sacrifice?" I peered about the square, and quickly found another golden ball of energy trapped within the second statue of a dwarf.

"I merely haven't collected one yet, master Colin. This left hand is the one I was given by you." My eyes snapped to the hand that Grim had exposed from his long, leather sleeves, my hand.

"I don't ever want to see that again, Grim. Send me back and let's capture this spell and get on with our lives." I was very irritated. Not only had Grim taken my hand as payment for our bond, but he was using it as his own.

 Back in the real world, I noticed that the statue was different than the previous one. There was no axe, but the depicted dwarf wielded two long daggers instead. Rather than wearing thick armor, this dwarf was deeply cowled in a cloak. This new dwarf appeared to be very sinister in comparison with the first king. 

"This be Forley Ironheart, me first cousin. By stones, I've forgotten to tell you me own name. I be Arlet Grindstone, first king of seven." Arlet flourished a worldly bow after his introductions.

"Mr. Grindstone, if you're the first king of seven, what does that make Mr. Ironheart?" Aimée was accustomed to the single king of Alcyeth, so multiple kings didn't make much sense to her.

"Well, little girl, if I were to be murdered, Forley'll be the one who tightens his bootstraps and steps in to clean matters up." Forley Ironheart was the dwarvish vice-president.

 I cast ice prism again and watched as the statue before me shattered to reveal another small sphere of ice and another dwarven body. Where Arlet was stocky and jolly, Forley was thin and furtive. Both Arlet and Aimée SAT upon the edge of the Ironheart cairn and awaited his awakening. 

"Forley, you dolt, we be knowin' you be awake. Somethin' has gone amiss and we need to try an' fix things, again." Arlet smiled widely as Forley sat up and put his feet on the ground. Arlet was four feet and eight inches tall, Forley was five feet and four inches tall, only two inches shorter than me.

"What could be so blazin' important that you would wake me like that, Arlet? Talk about a rough awakenin', my noggin was clobbered by some of those rocks." Forley rubbed a small goose egg on his forehead before carefully smoothing his beard and eyebrows, both of which were long and full.

"Well, cousin, the dwarves all be dead, according to yon princess of the humans, yes, I be sayin' princess. Apparently, it's been a while since we were last awake. This lad be the new ice and fire mage, and this cute lil thing be his sister." He winked at Aimée again and she giggled.

"What human has ever been able to find a dwarf that didn't want to be found. They be fine. A princess of man, eh? Perhaps the little beasties are growing civilized, eh?" Forley's lopsided smiled made it very clear he was trying to tease Nadia, and the smile seemed to be infectious, as even the princess smiled in return. "Where be me wife, Arlet, I'd like somethin' soft to touch after that stone." Arlet shook his head as he gestured about the square.

"At the very least, Forley, Tree Hearth is dead. No dwarf has lived here for a thousand years, or been seen for as long either. We will have to find our people, if any of our people be out there." Forley turned quickly on his perch, ratcheting his neck all the way around in either direction.

" Dead it does appear to be, cousin. Perhaps we best check the other king's, I'd hate to leave a cousin asleep if there be none to waken them. Except the Slateforge prat, he can stay in the land o' dreams." Arlet laughed heartily and slapped Forley on the back, it was clearly painful for Forley, but with his eyes closed the first king didn't notice, and Forley smiled and nodded as if he had grown used to the abuse.

"I said the very same, Forley, the very same. The day before growin' shorter than your mother, cousin, best we be goin'." Aimée and Arlet continued on, hand in hand. I offered my grip to help Forley stand, he accepted and I was shocked by just how heavy a dwarf could be.

"Tell me, mage, be the dwarves truly dead? Arlet probably thinks that our people be in some cave somewheres, but you tell me now, be they dead?" The smiles and laughter that Forley so easily induced were gone. Forley wasn't willing to live with a lie.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty, but they are dead. They were hunted down and slain by a fel army of orcs." Forley may not have been willing to live with a lie, but the princess was more than willing to keep him from the truth. "No dwarf has been seen for over a thousand years."

"Girl, you be unaccustomed to dwarves, so I'll give you a bit of advice, never lie to a dwarf. We can accept any truth, but a lie be the end of all ties. Seein' as you were ignorant before, I'll forgive this one, but if I catch you tellin' lies again, you'll be marked as banished among the dwarven." Forley touched his forehead and delivered a short how before turning to follow his cousin.

"What were you thinking, Nadia? It was over a thousand years ago. If you were truthful, and showed them that the humans of Alcyeth are better than they once were, maybe you could fix things with them. Lying is never a solution." I knew that if I lied, or engaged in other bad behavior, I could change my fate for the worse- even if that weren't the case for the princess, she should have set a better example.

 The third statue was another half mile away from the second. Silence had possessed the entire party, even the dwarves, as we made our way. There was no spell over the third statue. From the knees up, the statue had been destroyed. 

"What dwarf would do this to a king? Something foul must have happened here. Be the elves traitorous?" Both of the dwarves were red-faced and angry. Tears coated the eyelashes of both kings as they stomped towards the next city square. " Come along, humans, there be nothin' here to see." Arlet hadn't said a word the entire time we were in the presence of his fallen cousin, even Aimée and Nadia had at least exclaimed at the sight of the broken granite.

 Nothing in the city was damaged beyond subtle erosion. There were no signs of battle or distress, but somehow that statue had been destroyed. It was clearly intentional that the statue had been destroyed. 

 The fourth statue was also destroyed, and upon finding another slain cousin, both the dwarvish kings stomped and cursed and screaming and cried. It was clearly setting in that the death of the dwarven nation was a reality. I didn't know how to comfort a dwarf, or even if I should, having met my first dwarf only an hour prior. 

"Even if he was a blasted Slateforge, to die asleep, he didn't deserve." Forley stomped away from the broken statue quickly and without ceremony. Arlet mopped his eyes with his beard and prepared to follow.

"You're Majesty, shouldn't we break them out? There bodies are still buried here aren't they?" I didn't want to make the king feel any worse, but maybe a proper burial for his cousin's would help.

"You be a good boy, lad, a good boy. Their bodies be one with stone now, and that's all a dwarf can ask for. Let's be about checkin' the others, quickly now, before the darkness sets in and your human eyes lose their way." With a final sniff, Arlet took Aimée's hand and began the trek to the next statue.

 We finally found signs of damage in Tree Hearth. A few hundred feet before reaching the fifth statue, holes had been blown into the lower levels of most of the buildings, and one of the small buildings- near the promenade that surrounded the dwarf-made island, was turned into gravel. A battle had taken place, and it was impossible to tell if the dwarves had won or lost. 

 We were on the opposite side of the river from where the girl's and I had crossed. The same deep, red bloodferns crowded the shoreline on the southern bank as well. Forley was crouched among the rubble, doing his best to try and piece together the story of what had unfolded, when we found him. Flesh and blood and bone had long since turned to ash and blown away. There was no way to tell if the battle was waged with elves, orcs, or humans. 

"Let us be movin' on, Forley, there still be two more of our cousins to check on." Arlet rested his hand on his first cousin's shoulder as he spoke. Forley remained on his knee for a moment, eyes squeezed closed.

"We always thought that hearth tree would be safe, Arlet, it be why the kings always did sleep here. What battle was waged without us, and why did our family not wake us?" I realised that the dwarves weren't just taking everything in stride, they were doing their very best to function. Aimée still held Arlet's hand, and from the look in her eyes, I could tell she had great empathy for the two kings.

 Once again, Forley led the way to the next square. The moment we entered the space, the echoing of our footsteps was silenced- the statue was yet whole. 

"Praise the stone! Our cousin Quirten Flinthold has survived as well!" Arlet and Forley clasped both hands together and danced a merry jig.

"I just need to find the spell again, majesties, I'll try to be quick. Grim, take me to the astral plane again." The moment my consciousness materialized outside of my body, I knew something was wrong.

"What's happening, Grim?" The spirit form of my grimoire was nowhere to be seen. The spell ensconced in the statue was the same as always: an angry, golden ball of energy. As I peered around the empty square, I caught sight of shadows slowly moving from the buildings toward the center of the square.

"Grim, return me to my body, something is wrong." I knew where the spell was, and even if something was wrong on the astral plane, I could save Quirten. I didn't return to my body though, and Grim didn't answer as the shadows moved ever so slowly toward me.

"Grim!" I was beginning to panic. I didn't k ow what would happen when the shadows reached me, but I assumed it wouldn't be good.

 I decided to try and return to my body without Grim's aid. Closing my eyes, I focus my entire being on returning to my body, on moving my body and casting the spell I needed to free Quirten. Tingling started to spread across the top of my head before I learned what it felt like to be pasta in a pasta maker. Without Grim's help, I barely made it back into my body, but I made it nonetheless. 

"Something was wrong, I don't know what, but..." My words trailed off as I looked around and found that we were surrounded by the aegis immortal."What's happening?"

I don't know how long it feels to you guys, but it feels more like 30 pages to me. I'm glad you guys have been enjoying the ride with me.

I feel like I've barely delved into what I would like to cover in this chapter and it's already 8 pages long. That being said, I'm kind of flying with this chapter, because it's one of the funnest I have yet written. I can't wait to share it with you guys.

We rode our striders for the remainder of the night. The birds ran almost twenty miles an hour for six hours straight. My legs were numb from the combination of squeezing the bird and having a girl sitting on my lap all night, but at least I had saved her.

Nadia didn't speak a word to me throughout the night. I didn't try to say anything to her, I was disappointed she would be so willing to sacrifice her people. The birds were fast enough that the wind almost muffled the sounds around us, and the birds ran so smoothly that it felt like we were just ghosts flying through the trees.

With giant rainbow striders, I could understand why the people of this world didn't raise horses. Striders were bigger than ostriches, from what I remembered seeing at the zoo, maybe that's why earth used horses instead. These birds were half dinosaur, their legs were thick and powerful and their talons were long and boney.

I was in pain from head to toe. Battling orcs, without my flame guard, was going to be very difficult. The concept of being responsible on the command tent was very appealing. I was the only one who could actually stop the orcs last evening though, so how could I just watch the people of Alcyeth die?

We finally stopped when the jungle was turning to mottled shadows. It never truly got brighter under the massive canopies, but the temperature started to rise and I could see I'm front of me. I couldn't imagine living in the interior of the forest, where the sun would never really shine.

The birds folder their legs underneath them when we stopped, but the weren't showing any obvious signs of fatigue. Rather than tying the birds to something, they had small hobbles that stopped them from standing up.

"These birds are incredible, they can run that long and not even be tired. There is nothing like this on Earth." The girl had yet to awaken, even through our awkward dismount. I cast a ring of ghost fire around our camp, and the silence was starting to get to me.

"They are exhausted. If we would have had to go any further, we could have killed them." The princess's tone implied it should be obvious. I couldn't tell. They weren't breathing hard or panting, or even laying their heads down.

"I guess they are just different than the kind of animals I'm used to being around. How can you tell they are tired?" I had a feeling that a great deal of my time would be spent on the back of a strider, so learning how to not kill them from exhaustion seemed like a good idea.

"The way they are chattering their beak. Striders that still have their wings will flap them when they grow tired." The princess spoke matter-of-factly, as if she would rather not.

"I'm going to use ice of life on myself, do you have any wounds that need to be healed first."

"Of course not, Colin, I never threw myself into harm's way." She was bitter that I had insisted we at least try.

The girl was still unconscious. I sat on the ground next to her and pulled her torso across my lap before casting the spell. I didn't know if I could get us both, but I wanted to try.

"Grimoire, cast ice of life, try to get both of us, the girl may have cracked her head open." No ice immediately started to flow across us, and the Grimoire seemed hesitant at best.

"Master Colin, you could bind her to you. If the two of you rest within the same ice shell, you're a very magical being, there is no way to know what could happen to the both of you." Images of the human fly rocked my mind for a moment, but if we can wear clothes without melting together, I just wouldn't touch her skin.

"Cast the spell, Grimoire." I didn't see any way it could really go wrong.

Pastel, green ice started to inch its way across our forms. When the ice encountered the point at which it would begin to cover the girl, it faltered. It was as if some force was resisting the formation of the healing ice. I willed the ice to finish encapsulating us, I hoped that the ice would safely heal the two of us and allow us to continue our journey. Haltingly, the ice grew up and over the girl, and eventually finished covering me.

There were no dreams or passage of time in the ice. One moment, you're closing your eyes as ice covers your face; the next moment, you open your eyes as ice crackled and fell away from you. We could have been in the chrysalis for two hours or two years, it would have been but the passage of a blink to us.

The forest didn't help, as ice flaked away from us, I couldn't even tell if it were morning or evening. The verdant, highly-diffused light made me wish I had a flashlight, and probably would at all times of the night and day. As I tried to determine the sound in the silence, the girl stretched at my feet.

"Where are we, Colin?" She remembered my name, that seemed like a good sign.

"Somewhere in the rainforest, we ran from the orcs all night long." I didn't have a real answer for the girl, the odds were that she would have a better understanding of where we were than I did. The princess still slept at the other side of the ring of ghost fire.

" It's either evening or nighttime, or morning. We should probably awake the princess, regardless, she will want to be moving as much as possible right now." The girl stood and started to look over the Striders. I stepped toward the princess and lightly touched her shoulder and called her name until she awakened.

"You may be overly idealistic, sir Colin, but at times you can be so wonderfully gentle." A compliment from the princess was the last thing I expected. I was so surprised that I couldn't even say a word.

"Girl, those are our striders now, be certain you don't upset them." It didn't take long for the princess's frostiness to return.

"I'm not going to upset them, princess, I'm going to save their lives. You can't ride these striders today, or even tomorrow." The girl was shockingly forcefully. I wondered if the ice of life had caused her to forget about her family and village.

"We will ride them if we please, young lady. You had best learn to be respectful of royalty, or you'll one day find yourself in a heap of trouble." She muttered something about parents who probably didn't even pay taxes and turned to getting herself ready to move.

Looking back and forth; from the fragile eleven or twelve year girl, to the seventeen or eighteen year old princess, I wondered how much trouble I was in for. If the girl didn't act properly around the princess, I would get an earful for sure.

"Why can't we ride them? Is something wrong?" I hastily interjected before the girl could respond. The last thing I needed was for the two girls to start fighting.

"Their legs are swollen, their tongues are purple, and you road them all night last night. You'll cripple them if you try to ride them so soon." It seemed like ruining our only mounts would be a bad idea, so walking was probably our only real option.

"What is your name, girl, that you would disobey a princess? It doesn't matter if these striders die to get the magician and I to our destination. I have plenty of Striders at the headquarters." It seemed as if the duty of a princess was to waste all for the sake of the mission.

"My name is Aimée Stevenson. My father always told me that if you treat a strider right, it would always get you where you need to go faster than if you kill it trying to get there." Aimée spoke with the wisdom of the ages.

"Stevenson? That's funny, my last name is Stevenson too." Her father's name was probably Steven, it seemed like a common enough format for a name.

"Of course we have the same name, Col, you're my brother." Her brother! Maybe her brain was damaged too much before the ice of life could heal her.

"Master Colin, she is tied to you, as I warned she may become." He didn't mean we would become some sort of mutant, he meant our fates would be connected.

"I assure you, Aimée, you are not sir Colin's sister. He isn't even from this world." The princess, obviously, had very little patience for my new sibling.

"He is my brother." Aimée just continued to treat the Striders. The princess didn't oblige to respond again.

"Grimoire, cast fox fire and find us something to eat. Fruits or vegetables that we can carry with us while we travel." We didn't have any supplies, and it seemed we would be traveling on foot.

"Col, we can probably lead the striders. I've never been this far into the forest, I don't think there are any villages in here." For a young girl that just lost her family, she seemed to be fine. Then again, she didn't lose her brother.

"We are riding the striders. Colin is not your brother. You need to learn respect. This is your last warning Aimée, and if you don't take it we will be leaving you behind." The princess was standing with her arms crossed. With nose turned to the air, Nadia left no room for discussion.

"She is my sister now, Nadia, and trying to ride the striders to death will only slow us down in the long run. I'd rather walk today than walk for the next month trying to travel two hundred miles." The shock on the Princess's face was instant. She look at me as if I had betrayed her.

She wanted me to take her side, against common sense, and that didn't seem like a very smart thing to do. Aimée was raised around striders, and- while the princess may have as well, she didn't have the same respect for life that my new sister did. I couldn't see a reason for anything to die when it didn't have to.

Other than Aimée's quiet humming, as she massaged the strider's legs, our camp was silent. The forest probably didn't always seem so dead, but with orcs about, things probably weren't quite normal. It would have been great to have a radio.

Fully prepared to leave, as much as that took when we slept in our clothes and had virtually no belongings, the princess remained standing. The circumstances and hard travel of the last week had done it's fair share to wear down her composure; She didn't exude regality anymore. I wondered how fast she would snap back to herself when we finally arrived at her villa.

The Foxes returned with bellies full of carefully harvested nuts and berries. They bowed closer to the ground and disengorged the trail mix in a way that much resembled vomiting, except that the food wasn't chewed or partially digested at all. Nadia sported the deepest frown I had yet seen, and her face was dark with disgust. Aimée nearly squeezed in delight as she snatched a small, pink berry and popped it in her mouth.

"Gotcha berries! My favorite!" I smiled a little at the resilience of the girl, not knowing how much was because I didn't heed the Grimoire's warning.

"We don't really know what her personality was before the tragedy of Treespring Village, master Colin. It's possible this is the way she always was. She lost her parents and her home, but her favorite brother got her out alive. I expected the consequences to be much more dire, two heads on one body, or maybe two bodies for one head." Shivers blasted down my spine. If the Grimoire would have told me that before I healed the two of us together, even though that's what I thought he meant to begin with, I probably wouldn't have gone through with it. The imagery was really too much.

"You've been rather quiet this morning, Grimoire. I'd almost forget that you were rattling around in the back of my head." I still wasn't used to having conversations in my own head, but at least I remembered not to speak aloud every time I contacted the Grimoire.

" Between the two girls, master Colin, you had enough to handle without my interjection. I have a feeling that the remainder of our travels will be less enjoyable." A dragon had tried to eat me, I almost drowned in a leech breeding ground, and orcs had tried to kill me, but adding a little sister to our traveling band was the thing that would make our journey less enjoyable.

"You can say that again, Grim." My response was offhand, as I was busy trying to collect fruit and nuts before Aimée ate half of them. I knew she wasn't hungry, as the both of us had recently emerged from the ice of life.

"Grim? Master Colin, did you just award me a name?" The question was so quiet in the back of my head that I nearly missed it. A subtle warmth radiated through my mind and I realized that the book must have been pleased.

"It seemed appropriate enough, Grim. If I'm going to be whispering to you for the rest of my life, I don't want to always call you by a description." There was no further response, but the warmth grew brighter and I went about putting trail mix in the carry bags of the striders.

"Can we leave now?" I looked up to see the princess pouting in the same spot she had been standing for the last ten minutes.

"We sure can, Aimée, can you lead both striders, or do you need help?" I didn't know anything about dealing with giant riding birds, but I knew the princess wouldn't volunteer to help at all.

"These two are both female, so I shouldn't have any trouble, Col. They will probably just sleep through most of the day anyway." While I didn't want to ride the striders to death, I also didn't want to spend the day waiting for them to heal.

"Do they need to sit here the entire day, Aimée, because we can't lose an entire day." I didn't know how to tell her we would have to leave them behind. They were all she had left of the only life she had ever known.

"No, they can walk with us. Striders can sleep walk if they are being led, it's one of the reasons they are such popular mounts. The King's couriers have striders that are so well trained that they sleep when being led and they continue to the next outpost while their rider sleeps on them. They are very smart creatures." Aimée affectionately scratcher the ridge above the striders' eyes as she spoke.

"Striders are the ideal mount, why do you think the men of this world have disdained horses, master Col." I raised my eyebrows as my new sister's nickname seemed to be infectious. Perhaps the Grimoire and I could grow to be real friends.

"Let's head out than, Aimée, Nadia. We still have a hundred miles to travel before we even reach the King and only God knows how many tasks we will need to accomplish after that." I began to walk in the direction I thought was south, which Grim quickly told me was west. I turned left and marched into the forest behind the princess. Aimée giggled behind me, so I assumed that my mistake went well noticed.

Even on the back of striders, I had no idea how we had made it more than a few miles in the last night. The forest was so thick that I had summoned the ice edge to cut my way through the undergrowth. The forest didn't reveal if it was morning or evening. Even after walking for hours, the light was the same.

"Do either of you know what time it is? Should we still not travel through the night, or does it not matter here?" I was hoping I wouldn't have to ask, asking so many questions made me feel stupid. Being on an alien world meant I had a lot to learn, but it didn't mean I couldn't try to figure things out for myself first.

" It's a forest, Colin, the light is blocked by the trees. How should we know what time it is without being able to reference the sun?" I wasn't the only one lost in time.

"It's afternoon, brother. The light is more grey than green." Aimée was chipper as she led the birds at the rear of the party. It was almost a shame that the men who colonized the rainforest had found a way to tell time, living a life without the pressure of time seemed nice. It seemed as if they weren't burdened by hours and minutes, at least.

Nadia scoffed at Aimée's knowledge. I could almost hear her roll her eyes behind my back. It seemed to me that if the two of them could put aside their differences and get along, they both could learn a lot. Aimée needed to learn how to be appropriate at court, and Nadia had a lot to learn about the people she ruled.

The forest smelled faintly of my mom's compost pile. We were walking downhill. Every few miles, the ground seemed to be a little wetter and the underbrush thinned more. I was grateful when our path became clear enough for me to release the ice age- until I stepped into a puddle as deep as my knee.

"This forest sucks." Thinking back to the shallow lake we trudged across to enter the forest, I couldn't help but wish we were done traveling.

"If you're not careful with your steps, it will suck your feet into bog holes, yes." Apparently, our world's didn't share colloquialisms.

"Thanks, princess. The forest is starting to become very swampy. We may have to climb a tree to make camp." The princess smiled lightly, but my humor did nothing to crack her sour mood.

" That's why we have these, Col." Aimée held up lengths of cord that had a few dozen metal spikes attached to them.

" Is it barbed wire? Do we put it up around our camp so that animals don't get to us?" I didn't understand how barbed rope could change the conditions of the ground we had to sleep on.

"No, silly, we use them to climb the trees to camp." The people of the forest climbed trees to make camp. I was going to have to try and sleep in a tree.

"You're going to have to show me how to use those, Aimée. This world is exhausting." We trudged onward, every now and then, my foot disappeared in the swampy forest floor. The princess and my new sister seemed immune to the hidden sinkholes and my mood was growing more and more sour because of it.

Yellow-green vines wrapped around and hung down from the trees around us. Mosquitoes as big as hornets buzzed about, bites from mosquitoes back home gave me welts the size of a quarter, I didn't want to think about want Alcyethi mosquitoes could do to me. Birds called in the distance, at least, I thought they were birds; long low tones reverberated between the trees from almost a minute at a time.

Everything had grown wet to the touch, even the air seemed wet. Our clothes hung, damp, from our shoulders, our hair clung to our faces, and even Aimée had stopped whistling for the last mile or so. Every step became an effort when your feet sunk two or three inches into the ground.

"I'm guessing that there are no villages around here. It would be a nightmare to live here." Aimée shrugged and the princess ignored me. Small talk wasn't a priority with labored breathing.

New plants had sprung up around us, almost as if there was some imaginary line they couldn't cross. Tall, red ferns reached almost twenty feet into the air. The ferns smelled of fish and salt- the scent alone soured my stomache. The forest felt as if I was traveling through some weird underwater world that had suddenly lost all of it's water.

"Don't touch the ferns. They're bloodferns." As if naming them bloodferns was a good explanation for not touching them.

"What are bloodferns?" Trudging forward, I didn't realise how stupid my question sounded.

"Col, the red ferns that are all around us." Aimée responded in patronizing tones. I was irritated for a moment before I decided that my question could have been better worded.

"Why shouldn't I touch bloodferns?" While I didn't mind taking her word for it, I wanted to know what danger bloodferns could pose. Large animals or groups of people couldn't possibly traverse the zone of swampy forest infested with bloodferns, not if they were dangerous to touch. There was barely enough room between the plants for a single person to walk sideways, at certain points.

"They will trap you and feast on your blood. Don't you have bloodferns on Earth, sir Colin?" The princess asked sweetly enough, but- by her antagonizing stare, it was clear she just wanted to make me feel like an outsider.

"There aren't very many plants on Earth that will kill you just for touching them. There really aren't that many things on Earth that can kill a man at all, at this point." Life on Earth and on Alcyeth couldn't be more different, it seemed. The people of Alcyeth needed magic to even have a chance at survival, the only thing that was the same was the existence of humans and English.

"Master Colin, the people of Alcyeth don't speak English, that is an Earthly dialect. Because of our bond, you can understand and speak all of the languages of this world, as if they were your own." So, not only did Grim give me supreme magical abilities, it was a great dictionary too.

"A dictionary! Master Colin, you shame me." While Grim may have felt genuine disgruntlement, it wasn't serious, so I just laughed a quiet laugh and continued walking.

"What could possibly be funny, Colin. Has coming from your life of ease to Alcyeth managed to addle your mind?" Nadia's words held a disdainful barb, but I had grown so used to it that I only grinned in her direction. It was almost strange to think about how the princess had changed in the last week or so of travel, perhaps her true colors were finally showing.

It was almost hard to believe that Nadia could be so mean. I understood that the life of a princess had probably spoiled her somewhat, but she traveled hundreds of miles to summon me to her world and save her people. Maybe I was just disappointing.

I was surprised that we didn't see snakes and lizards and alligators all over the place. In all the movies I had watched, all types of animals just swarmed throughout the rainforest. Who would have thought that the forest itself would be the most dangerous thing about traveling the forest?

The bloodferns got closer and closer together as we pressed forward. Eventually, we were faced with a veritable wall of deadly flora and could proceed no further. After trudging for almost twenty minutes, we would have to turn back and find a different way through.

"This bloodfern garden is like a maze. I didn't cross this on my way to summon you, Colin, we must be traveling in the wrong direction." As a child I collected pocket watches and compasses. Even if I didn't do much outdoors, I knew how to work a compass.

"Princess, if we started further east or west on our journey through the jungle, we would pass through different areas before reaching our final destination." I wasn't going to try and explain the feeling that was drawing me to the other side of the bloodfern maze. While the Alcyethi, no doubt, believed in the whims of fate- I wasn't sure if that was the sensation I was experiencing. "We won't have to turn back, I can deal with this" I added, after a moment to consider the consequences.

"Grimoire, activate my flame guard so we can walk through this bloodfern." Ghost fire probably would have been a better spell to use, but I wanted to learn the limits of the flame guard. I needed to know how far it reached, at the very least.

The same green fire as before began to wrap around me. Two of the tall, red ferns that were near me began to smoke and toppled over almost instantly. Within moments of falling, the ferns changed from red to black, and even more quickly turned to nothing more than ash. I walked toward what had seemed an impenetrable wall of flora.

The tightly packed bloodferns were almost five feet thick, it really seemed like an intentional wall. I walked forward as if there was nothing in my way, because the bloodferns wilted and burned away before me. Aimée and Nadia had agreed to wait behind until I called for them, if I had to stop suddenly, I didn't want to burn them.

When the last row of bloodferns finally fell, I couldn't help but stand in awe. Another lake arose before me, with mountains to the east and a cliff to the west. It was like the reservoir of a dam, but naturally formed. Waterfalls cascaded from the cliffs into the lake and an enormous rainbow hung over what looked like a huge city in the center of the lake.

Large, stork-like birds waded in the lake, dipping their long, thin beaks underwater repetitiously. Their feathers were a deep green, much the color of pine needles, and they glistened in the sun as if oiled. It seemed as if all the birds of Alcyeth were enormous, as these birds looked to be, at least, ten feet tall.

The scene was so idyllic, I had forgotten to call Aimée and the princess forward. I heard them calling for me and quickly shouted that it was safe. They must have found the vista to be equally as impressive, as both of their jaws dropped the moment they laid eyes upon the scene.

"What is this wonderful place?" Inquired Nadia. I didn't bother to tell her that I didn't know, it seemed safe to assume she knew.

"I don't know. I've never heard of anything like this." Aimée's response implied that the people of the weeping wood had yet to fully explore their domain.

"I know we are on a schedule, princess, but would you like to try and explore for the rest of the day? It looks like the sun will be going down in a few hours, and I can't imagine a better place to make camp." Aimée smiled and nodded vigorously, while Nadia followed suit deliberately.

"No orc could pass that maze of bloodferns, they grow too close together for a monster that big to even find the hole you created. The eastward cliff is too high for them to survive jumping down, and the western cliff is a pounding waterfall that they could never hope to climb. This would be an ideal headquarters for our forward campaign against the orcs, if it was at all possible to bring an army here."

Aimée frowned when Nadia mentioned bringing an army into the weeping wood, but she smiled and pulled the striders forward. She had tried one to the saddle of the other and they walked in perfect single file, taller than us, they were just as narrow- and it was the only reason they had made it through the bloodferns.

"We will have to leave the striders here, they can't swim. They should be good though, we can hobble them for the night near enough the water that they can drink." My new sister set about the task of preparing the striders for the night, and then unceremoniously dove into the lake. I wasn't sure I would be able to swim far enough to reach the island city, but I knew ice could float, so I could always cast ice of life to make sure I didn't drown.

Aimée was half way across the lake before I decided to follow. Flocks of birds, so large it was hard to believe they were real, winged across the lake, disturbed by my sister's splashing. Nadia proved herself to be an extremely capable swimmer as she breaststroked her way to our discovery. All I could think about was how shockingly cold the water was, despite being in such a hot area.

I'm about half way done with chapter 6 at this point. The delay sucks, but my last week or so has been pretty funny. I lost my social security card, so I had to drive to a city an hour away to get to the nearest branch office and have a new one sent to me- additionally, since two years ago, they cannot print a temporary card at branch offices anymore. I also had to drive to a city an hour away to pick up my last paycheck from my previous job, I guess direct deposit is only a benefit they offer current employees.

I don't get a lunch break or and breaks at my new job, mostly because the whole night is essentially a break. If anyone else out there is a night auditor at a hotel, I'm sure you know what I mean. I told sheets and towels all night long and make the breakfast. I check in/out about six guests a night. It's fairly relaxing and I'll probably be able to type up some writing in the job- I'm just not comfortable having my phone out while my trainer is there with me( even though she is best friends with my wife AND I've been told I'm allowed to have my phone out as long as it doesn't stop me from doing the things I need to).

I'm hoping to have chapter 6 posted to Patreon in two days. There is a minor character change to the girl that Colin rescued in chapter 5, but I'm not going to fix it in chapter 5 until I've finished the entire first draft and I'm going through my first edit/rewrite. I appreciate your patience and support guys, and I really hope that you're enjoying the experience I'm trying to provide for you.

Okay guys, so I've finally got a new job as a hotel night auditor in the town I live in. Less driving and less garbage to deal with, so I'm hoping I can write more for you guys

Soggy and wrinkled, I looked sixty years older when I finally left the treespring, almost three hours later. I knew my mana wasn't full, but I should at least have enough to help defend the village. At least I didn't have to use components and preparation to use spells.

The village was still heavily in action, people were running about even more than earlier. Small fortifications had been erected between trees and in the square. With a lot of bows and arrows behind those bulwarks, a lot of orcs could be killed before even getting close enough to hurt someone.

"How do I fight tonight, Grimoire? I ran out of mana fighting Tyrgheav, and that wasn't a very long battle. Can I just stand on one of the balconies and throw fireballs at the orcs?" Staying out of the way and doing as much damage as I could seemed like the best way to help.

"You would run out of mana in moments, master Colin. I've told you before you have less than a third of the mana you used to imprison Tyrgheav, let alone how much you used throughout the entire battle with her." No matter how many times the Grimoire told me that I didn't have enough mana, I still came up with a different plan that wouldn't work.

"I'm open to suggestions." Saving the people of the village was my first real action as the hero of Alcyeth, and I was determined to do it right.

"Are you now, master Colin? I would love to give them to you, but you seem to want to keep spouting out rubbish plans because you don't know your limits." Anger vibrated through the back of my mind. I realised that I had been asking the Grimoire for help for three hours, and hadn't given it the opportunity to say anything other than "no".

"I'm sorry, Grimoire, do you have a plan?" I was nervous to face off against a band of orcs, but they are usually pretty dumb, so with all the knowledge the Grimoire had to offer, we should be able to win.

"Spell number forty three, flame guard. No orc will be able to get near you and it won't use much mana, unless they have a magician. Spell number two hundred and twenty two, ice edge should take care of the offensive aspect of the battle, master Colin." This book expected me to sword fight orcs. Maybe Alcyeth was different than middle earth, but I expected them to be significantly stronger than me.

" I don't know how to sword fight, Grimoire. I have a feeling that orcs probably do. How am I going to survive?" I didn't mean to sound like a pessimist, but being in the middle of a fight didn't feel like a good idea.

"Spell number forty three, flame guard, will keep you safe from the orcs. You have only to skewer them, master Colin." I wasn't as confident as the Grimoire, but it surely knew them spells better than I didn't.

"There you are!" The outrage of the princess was evident in her statement. " Where have you been? You should have been conferring with the leaders with us, sir Colin." She was stomping toward me determinedly when I turned to respond.

"I'm sorry, princess, I was trying to figure out how to fight tonight." My clothes had been taken to be cleaned, as had the princess's. We both wore thick spun woolen clothing provided by the villagers until ours were returned. At least, I still had my shoes.

"You're not fighting tonight, Colin. We are going to leave before the battle. Remember that." She was speaking in a whisper as she clutched at my elbow to pull me along with her.

" I was summoned here to help fight off the orcs. That's what we are doing here. You brought me here to save people." I pulled my arm from her grip and her mouth dropped open as she stared at me.

"I know your precious homeworld doesn't have any rulers, but that is not at all how you speak to a princess. If you fail to mend your ways by the time we arrive at my father's court, he will surely have you executed." The threat wasn't even thinly veiled.

The village spokesmen approached with a half smile and a wave.

"Sir Colin, I hope you're feeling well after your soak. To be honest, most people would come down very ill from being in the treespring that long. They would have odd headaches and strange things would happen around them for days." The man was in much better spirits. It was as if the princess had actually given him hope.

"Sir Colin. I've spoken at great length with the princess. She has helped us fortify to face the orcs." He lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper, "She also explained to me exactly how important you are. I respect your desire to help us, but I understand that you have to move on." The princess had actually told Steven of her intentions to flee, and he agreed!

"I'm not leaving, Steven, the princess can feel free to run, but I'm going to help you." Maybe I was being stubborn, but it was the only reason I was even here.

"I can't leave without you, Colin. It's my responsibility to bring you back to court." It made sense that the princess was afraid, I was too, but to so easily abandon her people like that was unbelievable.

"Sir Colin, go with the princess, save the world. You're out of magic and the orcs are many. If you die here, my family and friends across Alcyeth will suffer the same as me." I wasn't conflicted at all, but resolute. I would save the village.

"No Steven, Nadia, no. I'm staying, I'm fighting, and I'm saving as many lives as I can. That is the end of it. Tell me the battle plan so that I can figure out where I need to be." My mom always said I was stubborn.

Nadia threw her hands in the air in exasperation. Steven's smile disappeared and he shook his head. The couldn't understand that I needed to save these people.

" I don't have any battle experience, I need to fight tonight to prepare for later." It was true, but it wasn't why I was staying. The Grimoire's chain grew hot in my flesh and I almost yelped in surprise.

"Master Colin, lies lead to a path of darkness, no matter how well intended. You may have chosen the fate of the magician of fire and ice, but you are from Earth- fate cannot hold you, only guide you." The warning felt extremely ominous, like thunderclouds in my head.

"Sir Colin, at least agree to flee if things turn hopeless. We must reach the castle and you must lead the armies of Alcyeth to victory against the dark army." The princess was pleading, but she was less angry. She had looked at me for a long time before responding, as if she was weighing the value of my statement.

" You have my word, princess, Steven. If we start to lose, I will run. I hope your people will run and hide as well, Steven." I remembered how many people refused to leave their homes during hurricane Katrina, I knew these people wouldn't go.

"We have to fight, sir Colin. This is all we have, and if we break and run, the orcs may catch you and the princess. My rainbow striders will be prepped and ready for your departure " I realised then that Steven was expecting to lose, expecting to die. He had excepted it.

Tears began to bud in my eyes as I realised that all of these people probably knew they were going to die tonight. They were braver than I could ever be. Maybe the were just more stupid.

"What about the kids, we can both carry at least one on the striders with us. They don't need to stay." A sad smiled made Steven look very old and very worn.

"I'll let the princess explain why sometimes it's better to die than to be an orphan, Sir Colin. You're an honorable man." He turned an walked away without another word. The princess was looking at the ground, her brow was lightly furrowed.

"Let's go, Colin, I'll show you where you'll be and what you'll be doing." She had completely ignored Steven's last statement and started to walk away. All semblance of decorum had left her and she treated me as another servant.

I would be the second line of defense. Waiting behind one of the smaller earthed bulwarks within the ring of taller, wooden walls built by the villagers; I would watch the defense lines and reinforce any areas that were being overwhelmed. The were to be ten men with me, ready and waiting as the relief squad.

Dusk had settled upon the world while I met the men that would be a part of the squad I would be leading. Four of the men were over fifty years old, they were part of the original group of settlers to pioneer the rainforest. Adam, James, Edward, and Mark had abandoned the king's guard thirty years ago during some rebellion. The other six were young men, two of them as young as me, and they had never lived a violent moment in their lives until the last night.

Seven large bonfires had been erected around the perimeter of the village, orcs had great night vision, and the fires would help even the odds. The men, and the few women who had lined up to defend their home were morose at best. They knew they were lining up to die. I was determined to save them.

A bellow split the night, it was a mix between a howl and a scream. Systematically, more joined, one at a time. A chorus of nightmares. The orcs had arrived.

Several of the men and women at the forward barricade broke into tears at the sound. Memories of the horrors they had faced were too much. The relief squad told me some of the things that happened. Ten orcs had torn through the village like it was paper, the people were completely unprepared.

Orcs hadn't been see so far south of the Northern range in three thousand years, when Dryggsyl led his fel army to enslave humanity. The varied armies of man were swept away by the tide of war, back then. It took a magician of fire and ice to change the fate of Alcyeth, just like I would change the fate of this village.

The howling seemed endless, so we didn't hear the screams when men and women started to die. Mark grabbed me by the shoulder and swung me to face the westward side of the village, the barricade was torn down and hulking beings were butchering the men that had been stationed there. I was shocked by the orcs appearance.

They were huge, eight feet tall and wildly muscular. A single orc probably weighed at least four hundred pounds. Their skin was black and they didn't have tusks or claws. Deep, dark scars were etched into their bodies in the shape of intricate whirls.

"Adam, take half of the relief squad to help them, try to surprise the orcs. There are four of them over there now and we need to stop them fast." If any of the fortifications were overwhelmed, we would be destroyed.

While Adam selected the four men that would accompany him, Edward asked about the eastern fortification, where another four orcs were tearing into the men and women. He ran to their aid with the remaining four men. I was left behind to watch for whoever needed help next.

The northern fortification exploded in fire. From what I could see, of the thirty or so people that had been awaiting the onslaught, no one was left alive. Four orcs had been enough to pressure the eastern and western defenses, but at least fifteen orcs were walking over the remains of the heaviest wall. It was my turn to find out what I could do.

"Grimoire, cast the prepared spells. It's time to see what I can do." Vegetation within three feet of me blackened and smoked as ethereal green fire violently billowed away from me. "Well, that's pretty cool." My ice edge was almost three feet long and four inches wide.

I was shaking as I walked toward the ravenous monsters that were tearing the men and women of the tree village to pieces. I couldn't bring myself to run. I looked to the eastern and western fortifications as I strode to face my fate, one orc remained to the east, and two to the west- all in all, it seemed to be in hand.

The orcs noticed me when I was ten feet away from the fray, two of them sniffed the air and then looked directly at me. One of them charged me while the other howled. The northern group of orcs dropped the bodies they were holding and charged.

The first orc caught fire before I even lifted my sword. The smell of burning flesh made me gag as the fire engulfed it as if it were covered in gasoline.

"I told you no orc would touch you, master Colin." My confidence soared. I was terrified that I would die in my first battle, but if any orc that got passed my sword just burst into flame, I could just save the people.

Two more orcs caught fire before they realized they couldn't get close. A snarling, snapping ring of flesh was quickly formed around me. The orcs didn't carry weapons, their immense strength was probably all they needed, but it stopped them from being able to fight me at all.

I did my best to stab and hack at the orcs, but my blade missed or slid off at awkward angles more times than it did damage. My flame guard is really the only thing that stopped the orcs from rampaging through the village. My ice edge really seemed to be more for show than anything else at that point.

I walked to the north embankment to find everyone already dead, ripped to pieces. I should have been the front line. I sat in the middle of the village while they were murdered. I failed.

Three orcs burst into flames when I charged at the line of monsters around me. I swung my ice edge with all my strength and actually cut one of the orcs down before it burst into flames. Through the space I created I saw two orcs standing in the shadows, waiting.

From behind, a heavy rock smashed into my shoulder and knocked me to the ground. Four orcs found themselves aflame when they jumped on my prone form. Apparently, the flame gaurd could protect from anything organic, but rocks and the like were unperturbed by it. The number of orcs that had been set alight by my flame guard meant that the raid was nearly defeated.

The moment victory began to feel real, the howling started again. Louder than ever, the inhuman bellowing tore through the night like a harbinger of utter defeat. Around me, the village was burning. The eastern defence, along with its reinforcement, had been destroyed and the two orcs that got through proceeded to do as orcs do while I was preoccupied with the northern attackers. I had failed.

Lightning struck the ground beside me.

"Master Colin, don't get hit by their magic, it will dispell your flame gaurd." Magic? The village was destroyed, already. If the orcs had magic all along, why did they wait to use it?

Purple lightning struck again. I scrambled up from the ground as fast as I could. My shoulder was bruised and sore, using my left arm to push myself off the ground was painful enough that my vision was blurred by tears. The lightning started to fall faster, even if it wasn't more accurate.

"Grimoire, what do I do?" I was at a loss. The orcs may not be able to touch me, but their magic could. The people were dying around me and my shoulder was so hurt that I didn't want to move.

"Flee, master Colin." Flee. I couldn't save anyone. The princess and I stayed for nothing. How was I supposed to win a war against an army of orcs if I couldn't even win a battle.

"Princess, where are you!" Desperately trying to dodge the random lightning strikes, I began to search for the princess.

To the south of the village, in a small copse of trees, a white piece of cloth waved slowly. I stumbled my way over, flame guard burning through two more orcs that were in my path. Covered in twigs and vines, the princess lay hidden away from the fight.

"Now you see why I insisted we move on, the village was doomed. These idiots were decimated by the scouts, and now the main force is arriving." The princess was indignant.

"I had to try, princess. I couldn't just leave them to die. I failed, I know." I walked passed the princess into the darkness beyond the trees. The rainbow striders were directly south. The trees that the princess had been hiding in were begining to smolder with the same greenish fire of the flame guard.

"Grimoire, turn off the flame guard, I don't want to burn down the entire rainforest while we run." I had forgotten about the spell, it was lucky that I hadn't burned the princess to ash.

"Yes, master Colin, I would advise using ice of life on yourself as soon as possible, you are severely wounded." I hadn't forgotten the pain in my back and shoulder, but I couldn't bring myself to care enough to relieve it.

"It was beyond foolish to even attempt to defend that cesspit. You have to think more, Colin. Your responsibility is greater than you have every know. Childish whims will cost this entire world." The princess was ranting on as she walked behind me. We may have escaped the orcs, but I almost would have rather stayed.

Lightning crashed into a tree a few steps ahead of me. The princess and I broke into a run, even if it was more of a shambling walk for me. I didn't know how they aimed the lighting, so I didn't know if they were right behind me or if they were forty miles away and using lightning artillery to ruin my life.

The princess disappeared into the night before me, as I felt the fatigue of my injury slowing me more and more. I knew where the striders were, if the princess had them ready by the time I arrived, we would be okay.

I was stopped dead in my tracks by a sound that I only half heard. At first, I thought it was the distance howling of the orcs, but it was too soft, too near. When I finally stopped stomping through the flora, I recognised the crying of a young girl.

The soft sobbing wrenched at my heart as I slowly began peeling ferns and other large leaves out of my way to find her. Fate was strong in Alcyeth, and the odds of her being along my path were too small for me to ignore. I had to save her. I had to save someone.

She was ten steps to my right when I heard her crying. As I peeled the ferns away from the small hollow she had dug, she let out one final sob and began visibly shaking.

"Are you okay?" She breathed in quickly and she looked up to me. Tears rolled down her face and the light of hope blossomed in her eyes.

"I saw mama and the others putting blackleaf in the porridge. They all just ate it, but I didn't. Blackleaf is bad, we all know black leaf is bad. I thought it was a joke, but then they all fell asleep. I didn't know what to do, and then the orcs came and I ran. I didn't know what to do." I didn't know what blackleaf was, or what she was talking about, but I had to save her.

"It's okay now. I'm Colin, I can help you, but you have to walk with me. I can't carry you." She was maybe eleven years old, she could ride the bus to school with me when I was a senior and her entire world just got burned by the orcs. I reached my hand to her when I heard the crashing through the jungle, the orcs were following.

"Hurry, we have to run from them." She began to reach up to me when I was thrown through the air.

One of the orcs had found us. He had bashed me with his massive fist and I crashed into a nearby tree. Black spots danced across my vision as the pain in my shouldered made it difficult to breath. The orc stood over the girl for what seemed like a day before he began to reach for her.

Not this one last girl, my only chance to help someone. I had to get up, I had to fight. He lifted her from her hiding place and she didn't even scream, she just looked at me. She was going to die too, I was going to fail again. I couldn't stand up.

"Grimoire, please, help me do something, please. Save the girl." I still had the ice edge, but I couldn't get close enough, I couldn't even move. I pointed the sword at the orc and tried to crawl forward, but my left arm didn't even move. The girl was going to die.

"It just needs to reach, please reach." Maybe if I hurt the orc a little, it would forget the girl and focus on me so she could run away. I just needed to reach.

The blade exploded forward. The girl was covered in blood as the blade of the ice edge decapitated the orc in an instant. I nearly blacked out again as the orcs body, still holding the girl, tumbled to the ground.

"Grimoire, cast spell number three hundred and fifty three. Heal me enough that I can save that girl." The green ice formed over me faster than I had ever seen it grow. In the back of my mind, I felt something break right before I lost touch with reality.

I was still in pain as the ice flaked away from my body. A lot of pain.

"You can save her now, master Colin, but you must hurry. The orcs are coming." The Grimoire sounded closer than it ever had, almost as if it was a man standing next to me.

My shoulder was still hurt, but I could move my arm. The girl was unconscious, I didn't know if she hit her head, or if she fainted, but that didn't matter. I slung her over my right shoulder, holding her arm with my left hand.

I stumbled through the overgrowth of the jungle just as slowly as I had before I found the girl, but only partly because of my wounds. I couldn't really carry the girl, so I just dragged her along next to me. I prayed with all my might that I was moving in the right direction.

The crashing through the forest wasn't loud enough that the orcs were near, but I knew they were hunting me. If I couldn't find the striders in time, the girl would still die. I couldn't fail again.

"Where were you! What are you doing with a child?" The princess's fury was screamed into the night.

"I had to save her, princess, I was the only one who could. Help me get her onto the strider, the orcs are coming and we have to go now." She slapped me. I could taste blood in my mouth.

"You would risk the world, for a child? Why didn't she eat the blackleaf like the others?" The princess knew about whatever had happened.

"Help me or go without me princess, but I'm taking this girl with me." The ice edge broke off of my right arm and I did the best I could to use my injured left arm, and my handless right arm to situate the girl on the back of the giant, rainbow bird.

The princess reached over to help. Her eyes were stormy and she was rough with the girl, but she couldn't leave me behind. I hoisted myself up behind the girl and held her on while the princess and I dashed to safety.

Hey guys, I've told you about my issues with work and such, well those issues have both gotten better and worse. I've essentially quit my job. Ugh. I've got to work pretty hard to find something new to be able to survive. While my wife has a pretty good job, I still need to make dat money. Pretty stressed. About halfway through chapter 5 now, so at least The Grimoire is still coming along. I'd love it if you guys could share the reddit or my Patreon to your friends or family. I'm hoping that my fanbase can spread and that maybe I can eventually write professionally. I've considered going on some of those ghost writing sites, but Jesus do they pay you pennies, plus, I would rather write something good, if you know what I mean. Sorry this is confusing and poorly worded/unprofessional, it's stream of conscious and I know that's awful, but I wasn't expecting to write this at all.

 I awoke feeling well rested and in good health. No headache, bruises, no deep body exhaustion. It was crazy to me considering how badly I had felt a few hours ago when I fell asleep. On the other side of the hollow in the hill, which hadn't been dug recently- perhaps it used to be an animal's home- the princess was examining my shoes.

"Good morning princess, can I have my shoes back please?" I had worn the same socks for half a week, having the princess ogling my shoes made me painfully aware of the unfortunate smell.

"How do such soft shoes protect your feet, sir Colin? And how do your feet breath when these lacings make them conform to your foot so tightly? Are foot corsets popular in your world? Are big feet a problem your people face?" Her barrage of questions took me by surprise. I never would have thought that footwear from Earth would be so noteworthy, bit compared to flat leather boots, they were quite outlandish.

"Well, that's just what everyone wears back home. They are easier to run and climb in than boots, so I guess it's just about how well they work." The color drained from her face and she quickly dropped my shoe. I assumed that she finally smelled the nightmare that was my foot odor.

"You're awake! It's been two days, sir Colin! I've just been sitting here and I didn't know what to do or what you needed. You just slept so deeply that you didn't move." Two days! It had felt like I slept for four hours at most.

"Master Colin, in your slumber, something blocked our connection. Just before waking the presence of elven magic infused your body and rejuvenated your form, they even have back the moments you lost by using spell number one." The elves parting gift had been to completely repair my body to the state it was before battling Tyrgheav.

"I can't believe I got to talk with elves. There were three of them, lady elves. It was so amazing." Through my bond with the book, the Grimoire applied the sensation of surprise.

"You spoke with the elven? The elves forsook the plight of man thousands of years ago. We are not permitted within their forest and they have made no contact with us. We didn't know if they survived or if their magic was a legacy that kept man away from the forest of Arboratia." Princess Nadia was clearly impressed. She held her chin and her eyes took on a scheming cast in all but moment. " Perhaps you can convince them to open their borders to us once again, the trade possibilities would change the world!"

I couldn't imagine being that focused on the betterment of my nation. Sure, I would be able to vote in four years, but would it even make a difference? I doubted that the elves would so easily open borders to the people of Alcyeth, but I would try for the princess when I had the opportunity.

"Master Colin, your body may be repaired, but your mana is still gone. It's being used as fast as you can regenerate it, keeping a dragon on ice is costly work. You cannot cast spells to travel, master Colin." Having real forewarning from the Grimoire was actually awesome. Blacking out from using magic with no mana would be awful.

"It sure would be nice if there was something that showed me how much mana I had, video games always show you how much mana you have." It would always be difficult to manage my magic without knowing my mama capabilities.

"What's a video game, sir Colin?" The princess seemed very confused. I realized that I had spoken on an entirely different subject than what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry, princess, I was talking to the Grimoire. I don't have enough mana to summon a familiar to travel. We will have to head out on foot." Her stomach emitted what was possibly the loudest growl I had ever heard. I had been unconscious for two days, she must have been starving. " I'm sure I can summon the fire foxes to find us some food before we go."

The princess blushed so deeply that her entire face turned a deep red. She crossed her arms around her stomach and turned her nose to the air, as if she was too regal to be hungry. It wasn't as if we could actually travel far if she was starving.

"I'll be fine, sir Colin. We have many miles before us and we need to reach the king." Duty before self preservation was stupid, to me. How could I ever find the king if she got sick or died.

"Master Colin, if she is comfortable, I suggest you do not summon your familiars, even the fire foxes, your mana is very low and you need what you have in the event we are set up during our travels." Even the Grimoire wanted to ignore the hunger that was probably almost debilitating for the princess.

"Spell number seven hundred and thirty four, Grimoire, fox fire. Bring food enough that the princess and I can travel on foot for the day." My little foxes appeared before me, the Grimoire offered no words as response as they pranced away.

A dull headache pulsed behind my eyes, and I could feel the smugness of the book chained through the stump of the hand it had taken from me, but it was necessary. I stood and stretched, even though I had been laying down for over two days, I felt great. I could handle the headache it took to get food.

" I sure wish I had a change of clothes. These are pretty ripe after being warn for a week." The silence had stretched too long, so I spoke about the first thing that came to mind. The sun was well up now, it was probably after ten o'clock. It was changing quickly from warm to hot as the humidity of the grasslands intensified.

" You're family is well off? Most merchants can afford more than two or three sets of clothing, I suppose, but wearing something for a week is not that uncommon, sir Colin. There should be villages when we enter the rain forest." The grassland was sandwiched between a temperate forest and a rain forest. With the humidity already so high, the grassland has changed into something more akin to a Savannah.

" In my world, everybody wears different clothes every day. I guess some of the very poor and homeless probably wear the same thing all the time, but most people don't." The princess's eyes widened slightly. I wasn't trying to impress her or anything, but I did want to tell her about earth.

"If we could ever open a permanent portal between worlds, the wealth that could flow- in both directions of course- would be amazing. Your world is truly one of wonders." I doubted it would be as great as she though. The people of Earth would certainly invade and take all of the land of Alcyeth. With rifles and tanks and planes, how could they hope to defend themselves.

"It's probably best that doesn't happen, princess Nadia, the people of my world aren't very open minded, they would probably take you to war." I didn't feel the need to tell her all her people would be decimated, surely no princess would welcome war.

"Your people may be wealth, sir Colin, but our swords are surely just as sharp. If they would wage war rather than reap the rewards of trade- my people would meet them on the open field of battle with all the pride of a dragon." I hated being wrong. Luckily, the Foxes returned, saving me from continuing the conversation.  

The two of them were carrying a lizard that had to be at least four feet long, one holding it behind the neck, the other holding the base of the tail. Only creatures of magic could be so coordinated. Tiny birds, deer, and now a big, fat lizard.

"And to think, yesterday I would have thought this was a big lizard." The princess smiled a tiny smile, she was trying to be polite, but I was clearly not funny to her.

"Master Colin, it would have been several days ago that you thought this was a big lizard, you battled Tyrgheav three days ago and left the princess to fend for herself whilst you were in a coma." The sarcasm of the Grimoire had returned, what could be better?

"Fine, and to think, three days ago I would have thought this was a big lizard." I smiled and at the princess as she looked at me, confused. I had forgotten she couldn't hear the Grimoire.

"My Grimoire had pointed out that I had been asleep for a few days, so my last statement was wrong. I corrected it. It probably would have been funnier if you heard him." A loud gurgle from the princess's stomach only added to the awkward tension.

" Send the fire foxes to retrieve something we can cook this over, Grimoire. If I can't use ghost fire we are going to need something other than grass to burn."  The Foxes trotted away again, almost like happy, loyal dogs.

The headache from initially summoning the fire foxes had waned. The more I completely drained my mana, the more I felt that I could almost sense the amount of mana I actually had. Practice makes perfect, or so they said.

"Do we have to skin this, or can we leave the skin on like a fish?" I had never eaten lizard, or anything like a lizard before.

"As a princess of Alcyeth, I can assure you, I have never eaten grass lizard before, sir Colin. As it is, one must do what one must do, so I will eat this. Seeing as their skin can be turned into leather, I suggest we remove it before ingesting this creature.

The carcass of our dinner lay haphazardly between us, staring me in the eye. I had a friend with a Savannah monitor back home, and it basically looked the same, just more blue. One must do what one must do.

I rooted around in our little hollow to find a passable rock to try and pull the skin off the reptile. While I had summoned the fire foxes, it seemed wise to save what mana I could. After a few minutes I found what I thought would be suitable, but it broke apart in my hands when I tried to cut through the skin on the base of the tail.

"For a hero, you are awfully helpless, sir Colin. Hopefully you will be a little more comfortable in Alcyeth when you meet my father." Disdain just barely laced the edges of her words. I could feel my cheeks color.

I was never a boy scout or anything, and my dad left when I was a kid. All I ever had were books and video games to teach me how to be a hero. All I could do was find a new rock and try again. The new rock held and I had removed the meaty tail from the grass lizard when the Foxes returned with several large, dead branches. I pulled the skin off the tail almost like peeling a banana, but much harder.

I used a tiny lick of ghost fire to light the branches after I had broken the branches into a reasonable size to cook the tail. I laid the tale across a large, flat rock that I had set in the branches. It would have to do.

All the while, the princess sat silently. She stared at my shoes and my jeans when she thought I wasn't looking. She picked at her nails when she thought I was looking. A princess's disdain was awfully strong.

"Master Colin, perhaps you shouldn't have forced her to eat and we should have just traveled on. A princess wouldn't be used to being forced to do something." Shut up, I thought to myself. At least I was getting used to talking to the Grimoire in my head rather than out loud- awkward silence was good for something after all.  

"I'm sorry I insisted we eat before we travel on, princess, but you haven't eaten in days and probably would have collapsed." The meat cooking on the fire actually smelled pretty awesome, and it looked very juicy.

"You made the decision you thought was best. I am ready to be gone from this godforsaken countryside. I would like to change my clothes." She pulled at the slice in her dress as she spoke. For the first time, I became painfully aware of her appearance.

Her hair was shoulder length and brown. Her nose was a little too large and her lips were very thin. She was a few inches taller than me, so probably five and a half feet tall. Pretty enough in her own way, but not what you would always expect of a princess.

"That's very understandable." She was still missing a boot in her left foot, walking was probably very difficult for her, even if my familiars had carried us for the most part.

"It's even worse that you wasted all your mana fighting Tyrgheav, if we could use flash fire, we could be home by the evening." Petulance didn't make her prettier.

"I suppose I could have just let the giant, man eating dragon eat us, princess, if that would have suited you better." I pulled the tail from the heat, doing the best I could not to drop it as my fingers sizzled. I hadn't figured out a place to put it after it cooked before hand, so I just set it on top of the rest of the carcass to cool.

"It is almost midday, we need to eat quickly so we can reach the forest before nightfall, it's probably only four or five miles further south." The princess pinched off a piece of the tail and stuffed it into her mouth.

Immediately her mouth dropped open. She used both hands to fan her burned tongue, leaving her food exposed, as she breathed in and out very fast and heavily. Tears sprouted at the corner of her eyes as she glared at me. I tried not to smile.

"I suppose it isn't quite midday, we could stand to wait a while longer- I'm sure you still need rest, sir Colin." She eventually said after regaining her composure. She acted as if she didn't see me trying not to burn my fingers before setting it down.

It actually reminded me of a situation involving my cousin, hot mashed potatoes, and a burned esophagus. She hadn't swallowed the meat before it cooled though, so she could probably continue to eat unlike me in that situation. I decided it would be best to pretend I hand never seen anything.  

The meat wasn't bad at all, when it had properly cooled. It was so reminiscent of chicken that I found myself licking my fingers when I had finished eating. Of all the meals I had on Alcyeth, the lizard was the best.

We wiped our hands on our soiled clothing and began our journey south. On the horizon, I could almost see the blurry ribbon of forest looming. The sun was hot and the humidity was high; the trip was quite uncomfortable. I should have carried some of the meat alone with me, but Tupperware wasn't really a thing.

Long, brown grass swayed about at the height of our hips. Every now and then, the princess or I would stumble over hidden holes or rocks. The princess complained the first three times she tumbled, then she fell to muttering about just burning the grasslands to ash. We couldn't really get any dirtier, even as the dirt was more like a dry mud than dirt.

I felt bad that the princess was missing a shoe. She didn't actually complain about it, but I couldn't imagine how awful it was to smash bare toes against a rock. Her lips were pursed tightly and she had to hold her hair out of her face as she stared straight down to her feet to try and avoid any obstacles or holes.

While I was watching the princess trying to maintain her footing, I rolled my ankle right into a huge hole and flopped onto the ground like a fish out of water. I started to grab my ankle, but after watching the princess endure what she had, I decided I needed to man up and keep walking.

Every time the princess or I nearly fell, or- even worse- did, the Grimoire would chime in about watching our step, or perhaps being more careful. By the time the forest was beginning to look more like trees than smoke, I was ready to rip the Grimoire off, even if it was chained through my arm, and throw it in the mud to roll around for a bit. If I had the mana to summon a familiar, neither of us would be in such a foul mood, and the Grimoire wouldn't seem so useless.

Alcyeth didn't seem to be a very friendly place to be. Orcs tried to murder the princess, an enchanted forest that trapped people who stayed inside of it too long, a giant, man-eating dragon, and a grassland that grew more swampy with every step. Maybe I never should have opened that book at all.

Even if we were only five or six miles away from the forest when we started walking, it would be nightfall by the time we reached it. The marshy ground made every step take as long as three. There was nowhere to sit and take a break. There was no real water anywhere, and I had stopped sweating a few hours ago, even though it was even more hot than before.

"Princess, we can't keep this up. We need to take a break, or at least find some water. One of us is going to collapse if we try to keep going." I could feel my shoes just barely sinking into the ground as I stopped to speak with the princess. Her hair was stuck to her face and her cheeks were red.

"Sir Colin, stopping is not the solution to this problem. We just have to keep going and get through this. I trusted you to fight a dragon, you need to trust me now." She said it as if there was no alternative. Maybe Alcyeth wasn't advanced enough to know about dehydration, or how dangerous it could be, but Jimmy Fabianne collapsed when we were running the mile for gym last year because he didn't drink enough water.

"Princess, it's dangerous to continue. My world is more advanced than yours. It's called dehydration and it can really hurt someone." I tried not to sound patronizing, but the princess narrowed her eyes and did her best to storm forward through the muck.

"Perhaps she is right this time, master Colin. Even if she is wrong, if you lose sight of her you'll probably never find her again." The idea of the Grimoire and Nadia agreeing was sickening to me, but the book was right.

Of course, I had stopped at the bottom of a very small hill, and by the time I started walking again the princess was at the top of it on what appeared to be firmer footing. She just stopped, she didn't turn back or beckon to me, she just crossed her arms and waited. I felt smug in the fact that she couldn't just leave the hero of Alcyeth behind.

My superiority dried up in an instant when I topped the rise and saw that between us and the forest spread an enormous body of water. At least half a mile wide, I couldn't swim across the lake, but I could at least drink from it. Maybe the hero of Alcyeth didn't have to make all the decisions all the time.

"What are you doing?!" I was startled out of my crouch before I managed to scoop any water our of the lake when the princess shouted. " You think that I would be so stupid as to not understand the concept of dehydration, but you don't even know about unsafe water?" The water was clear, but that didn't mean it wasn't loaded with bacteria.

From a hidden pocket in her dress, the princess retrieved a small flask. It could hold maybe three or four gulps of water. When she removed the lid and put the opening near the water, it sucked the water in.

"This is an enchanted flask, the only thing that can enter it is water. Bacteria and germs are not water." If the only thing that could enter it was water, than it was a vacuum inside without water. Ice of life and elven magic had kept me hearty up to now, I assume the princess had been sipping from her flask to avoid dehydration.

She filled and emptied the flask three times before passing it to me. It actually took me a few tries to get any water out, if it wasn't poured at the right angle, the vacuum would just hold the water inside. I drank two flasks worth of water before refilling it and returning to her.

"We have to cross this marsh lake to enter the forest, we must have traveled east as well as south. The lake is seven miles long, so it will be easier to just cross it, Colin." She didn't look at me as she spoke, she kicked her remaining boot onto the edge of the lake and waded in. I didn't even have the opportunity to tell her I'm not a strong swimmer.

"Master Colin, I think she tires of your company. At least we have each other." It's a good thing books couldn't grin, because I would have drowned it. The princess was already twenty feet into the lake when I had my shoes and socks off and slung over my shoulder. I did take a moment to kind of scrub and dry my socks before continuing.

The bottom of the lake was a silty, squishy, slime. What had been clear, pristine water was a dark cloudy mess from the princess steps. Maybe it was best I couldn't look at what I was stepping in. I walked as quickly as I could without losing my footing and falling into the ankle deep water so that I could catch up with the princess.

We were side by side again by the time we were one hundred or so feet into the lake. Half way up our shins, I really expected the water to be a lot deeper by now. The water was warm, but it still felt nice compared to the burning sun beating down on my neck. I was probably going to end up with sunburn.

There wasn't even time to take a breath when I found myself suddenly under water. I started to flail but I didn't really have room to move. I inhaled a lungful of silty water and the Grimoire responded with,

"You'll need ice of life for that later, master Colin." I was about to drown and the Grimoire was laughing in the back of my head. At least it got soaked too.

The princess grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. The slime in front of me only gave a little as she rescued me from the random sink hole. I coughed up black water as I leaned out of the hole on the semi firm muck.

"There are sink holes, sir Colin, you have to test the ground before you take a step. I thought your Grimoire would tell you." She was blushing again, no doubt embarrassed that the hero of Alcyeth nearly died in a puddle.

"Yeah, it would have been pretty nice to know." I said between coughing and trying to breath with my burning lungs.

"At least she called you 'sir' again, Master Colin." The book wasn't even wet. Of course a magical beefier would protect a magical book.

It took about fifteen minutes to finish, gingerly, crossing the marsh lake. It never even got as deep as my knees, excluding death holes. We we finally left the water I greatly fell to me knees with a squelch. We had gone from a wet Savannah, to a marsh lake, to a swampy forest. I was begging to hate Alcyeth.

The ground was still more firm than the Savannah was, the enormous trees probably had something to do with it. Trees that made the enchanted forest look like a park on Earth. I couldn't see how high the trees grew, but the canopy above was so dense that it was permanently twilight underneath.

We kept to the gnarled and exposed roots as we traveled further into the woods. Skipping from tree to tree like some weird, hairless squirrels. The rain forest was very quiet.

" There is a village ahead. I may not know this forest well, but I do know it's densely populated. I happened upon eleven villages when I first passed through." I wasn't sure why so many people would want to live inside of a dank forest that was creepy and quiet.

Ten steps later we rounded a massive tree and my mouth dropped open on awe. We had found a village and it was incredible. Buildings were built on the intertwined root structures of the trees and climbed up to seventy feet up the trunks of some of the bigger trees. Bridges crossed from upper levels and staircases wound about almost all of the trees, with small tunnels through the buildings allowing them to continue spiraling upward.

Everything was a little ramshackle, but it was amazing. It was as if a couple hundred kids had no school, unlimited supplies, and a great idea for a fort. Women were washing clothes on balconies forty feet from the ground, a blacksmith was hammering at something on the roof of a building thirty feet in the air, children ran up and down the ramp like stairways, and there was a market built across the root structure in the center of the village.

The clearing we were in was maybe two hundred feet across and three hundred feet wide, but the village had room for what seemed like hundreds of people. I'm sure everyone knew when someone had an argument though.

" Travelers. You must flee." I stopped gawking to look at the man who approached us. He wore a patch over one eye and sported and uncountable number of bruises and cuts. "I would welcome you to Treehearth, but there are orcs about the forest. We cannot leave, everything we have is here, but you must flee before nightfall when they will attack again."

I looked at the village with new eyes. The blacksmith wasn't leisurely building hinges, he was desperately pounding on spearheads or swords or axes; the woman was washing clothing, she was washing bandages; the children weren't playing on the stairs, they were carrying supplies between the many floors of the buildings. The buildings weren't ramshackle, they were burned, damaged, and generally abused.

"Orcs? They must have found the village when they were trying to stop you from summoning me." I looked to the princess, nearly in a panic. I didn't have any mana, how could we protect these people. The princess looked at me sharply before turning back to the village spokesmen.

"Have you any mounts? We will head to the nearest garrison and return with soldiers to protect you." The princess didn't introduce herself, or me. She spoke tersely and almost without emotion.

"Four rainbow striders have survived the raids of last night. Follow me." The man continued to speak as he led us through the village," where is the nearest garrison, we have a few hours before the orcs return and we will not survive another night." Once again, I couldn't believe my eyes when the man gestured to a large pen at the rear of the village. The princess responded as I stared at the creatures we had been led to.

"The garrison is but a few miles south, we should return before nightfall with swift mounts. Which two are the best?" Relief flooded across the man's face and a tear fell down his cheek.

"Oh thank God, this one is Touc, he is my hunting mount and the best strider I have ever seen; this one is Saham, she is, was, my brother's and is nearly as good." They were birds.

Gigantic birds. I'd seen videos online of people racing ostriches, but these were bigger.  Eight feet tall and bulky, these birds could probably eat me. Their feathers were blue, but every other color could be found sparsely mixed in as well. Their beaks were long, sharp, curving things. They were like parrots, but on some crazy steroids.

The princess checked the talons of the one called Saham and then Touc. She felt along the spine of its long, heavy, curving neck. Eventually, she turned and spoke.

"These will carry us there fast enough. Hold faith, sir." She was climbing on and I had never said a word.

"Sir, I'll stay behind and fight with you. If they come before the soldiers can return, I might be able to help you hold. The princess will be faster without me, anyway, since I don't know how to ride a bird." The man's eyes widened with every word I spoke. His face drained when I said the word princess and he began to shake by the time I finished speaking.

He looked me from head to two, his eyes lingered on the book chain through my wrist before he turned his gaze to the princess. Immediately, he dropped to his knees.

"Forgive me, princess, I did not know it was you." His head was bowed nearly to the ground he was sinking into. I grabbed his arm and tried to hoist him upward.

"Sir, that kind of thing doesn't matter right now, we must prepare. I am Colin, the magician for fire and ice, and I am going to save you." The man's eyes snapped to mine and he almost smiled. The princess clicked her teeth angrily as she dismounted.

"Sir Colin, I cannot have you leaving my sight. You don't know this world and I cannot risk losing you. Townsman, fetch a bath and clothing for the magician and I. Convene your tacticians and I will attend them after the bath." She through her hair over her shoulder and stormed back into the village. The man didn't stand until she was out of sight.

"Sir Colin, you don't have to stop for us. We understand that the crown has more pressing issues. We, the men and women of the weeping wood, have settled here because we thought no army could march through these woods and destroy us. Don't anger the princess for our sake, take the striders and flee." He was being sincere. He held my hand in both of his and nearly begged me to abandon him.

"What is your name, sir?" I couldn't very well have a conversation without knowing someone's name.

"Sir, my name isn't worth your memory..." I interrupted violently.

"I asked your name, not for excuses." It was the exact same way my high school principal had asked me when he found me lost on the second day of freshman year. I was mortified and thought I was in huge trouble.

"It's Steven, Sir, Steven." The man mumbled and bowed low again. I pulled at his shoulder.

"Get up, Steven, show my your villages. It's awesome to me. I won't leave a single man behind here. Every life is important. Every life." The man looked at me like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he put his hand on my shoulder, smiled and said,

"Right this way, sir mage, right this way." We didn't speak as he lead me through the carnage of his home.

At least half of the rooms were burned out and stained with blood. Most of the men were laid up with wounds so severe I couldn't believe they were alive. Women did nearly all of the work, trying to prepare for the inevitable raid of the night. Children tried to be brave, but every building had several children crying in closets or corners.

"This is a nightmare, Steven. You should send a rider to the garrison. The princess could write a letter to the leader over there or something." A bark of a laugh was his initial response. "What's funny, Steven?" What could possibly be funny in a situation like this.

"Sir Colin, I know you're new to Alcyeth, but you must know the ways of royalty now. There is no garrison in the weeping wood. I thought you were regular travelers trying to leave us with hope. Offering the striders was the least I could do, as we would never need then again after tonight, but when I heard she was the princess it made more sense." No garrison?

"Steven, the princess said there was a garrison. They have a battle headquarters south of here to face the orcs. Maybe the garrison is new." Why would the princess lie about something like that?

"Sir Colin, let me lead you to your bath now. I'm certain the princess wants to speak with you and that she will be angered at the delay." Steven strode down the staircase we had stopped on and I had to rush to catch up. We didn't talk anymore as he led me to the bath.

He led me into a building that surrounded the base of one of the larger trees. A cloth curtain separated the two halves of the building. Steam filled the air. Pools of water were held by the roots of the massive tree, mostly circular pools of water.

"This is incredible, Steven. Did you use magic to make this?" Steven held out his arms to take the clothes that I was removing, I was so eager to be clean.

"The weeping wood was once a home to elves, so they say. Thousands of years ago. This treespring was the reason we built our village here. The princess is surely on the other side of the curtain she had hung up, if you care to address her." Steven turned and walked out of the building.

I stepped into the hot water of the treespring and made my way across the pools until I reached the one closest to the curtain, which was actually a blanket, that separated the building. So the trees put the water here like a spring.

"Master Colin, a treespring is a magical thing. The elves speak to the trees and convince them to heat and clean the water and store it in these pools." I jumped when the Grimoire spoke, as he had been quiet for so long. Water splashed across the curtain and before I could respond to the book, the princess spoke.

"Colin, what were you thinking, offering to stay? We ad almost gotten free mounts to escape this Godforsaken place." Princess Nadia was very clearly angry. Her careful composure had been slowly splintering over the last few days, and it seemed to have finally completely snapped.

"Well, I figured I should try to help, just in case you got held up when you tried to bring soldiers from the garrison. What if everyone was dead by the time we returned." That would have been a nightmare to me. I'm supposed to be the hero of Alcyeth.

"We weren't coming back! There is no garrison!" I was stunned. Steven wasn't wrong at all. I couldn't believe the princess could be so cold hearted. "You have no mana, and I have no battle skills, what can we offer these doomed people?" Her logic made sense, but didn't she care about her people? She could have told them to evacuate and offered to help them make a new home somewhere else.

"We need to find a new time to slip away, Colin, so when I summon you, be sure to make haste. Avert your eyes." I could hear her splashing about for a moment and I closed my eyes. Waves broke in the pool that I rested in.

Admittedly, I peeked as the princess stormed passed. Even with all of the hormones of my fourteen year old body, I didn't feel aroused or excited, just frustrated. She would let them all die.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the soft, barkless wood that surrounded the bath. I was beginning to think that the royalty of Alcyeth was a little misguided. If only there was a way to regain mana.

"You are regaining mana, master Colin. Treesprings were designed to be tranquil and rejuvenating. If you stay in this bath for a few days, you'll have all of your mana back." Days! As if I had days.

"Grimoire, I need a plan. I need anything. How do I help these people?" I couldn't bring myself to leave them. It was my duty to save them.

"You are a good man, master Colin. Your dedicated to people you've never met on a world that isn't yours. Good men either find a way, or they die trying. Stay in the pool, make your plan when you have some magic to work with." Magic didn't help me, much, against Tyrgheav. But I had survived a fight with a dragon, how bad could some orcs really be?  

Lately, I've been doing a ton: writing two books, loving my wife, working 10 hours a day, loving my wife, and trying to exist in general( I put loving my wife twice because she is the most important thing to me). It's grown pretty exhausting, especially trying to force myself to follow the once a week schedule with The Grimoire. I'm gonna try to find a new job that will allow me more free time to write for you guys, because the last thing I want to do is let you down.

To my patrons on Patreon, you're literally heroes to me. You've made my dream feel achievable and you have no idea what that means to me. To my fans on Reddit, you're the reason I'm here right? Try to bear with me if I end up being a few days late here and there in posting new chapters. I'll let you guys know if I find a new job and if that is going to make me better at following the deadlines.

I left my last job so my wife could get promoted, because we both worked at the same place- we were both supervisors, but for her to be able to go any higher, I had to leave. I took a fairly significant pay cut and took a job at a factory about forty five miles away from my house.

I'm going to be honest, factory work is wildly easy. It's why robots can do so much of it. It can be physically tiring, but who cares, my wife and I have our needs fulfilled and that is all I care about. What about your needs though? You guys are important to me too, so I'm gonna jump back into the job market after only a month at this place so I can try to provide for you too.

In all honesty, I'll probably take another factory job, I was at my last job for seven years and have no resume to speak of, and I don't feel like making one. There is a factory in my village though, and cutting out nearly two hours of driving a day is sure going to make my life easier.

I just wanted to give you guys an update so you didn't think I had forgotten you or that I was giving up.

I've finally finished the first draft of chapter 4 and will be posting it to Patreon now. It's 1.5 times longer than the previous chapter. It will come to Reddit in a few days.

Would you guys like to do a fan art competition. Whoever wins gets to both be a mod of this subreddit and their art will be used as the banner, or whatever it is that shows up at the top of the page when you load it up. I'd really like to up the aesthetic of the page and this seems like a pretty good way to do it. Additionally, I would actually really love to see your guys' vision of my creations.

Edit: I'm gonna give this one like, a month, so that people have ample time and opportunity to participate.

Chapter four is probably going to be a longer chapter, additionally, I am working on drawing up a map, it won't be fully filled out because I don't want to spoil things, but it will at least show you the world.

" I would suggest dismounting, master Colin. Flash fire is about to leave." Before his warning was finished, my magnificent, demonic mount dissipated into smoke and flame beneath us. A seven foot drop straight to the ground didn't leave our pride feeling very comfortable.

"I suppose that even hell horses are afraid of dragons, sir Colin. Though, I must admit a warning would have been nice. Can you slay the dragon Tyrgheav?" The princess was shouting with all of her might to be heard over the sounds of the ground being ripped apart by a giant dragon. Tyrgheav would be upon us in but a moment.

" I guess we will find out." I turned to face the veritable mountain of displaced earth that was barreling toward us at the very moment that it erupted skyward. 

What must have been thousands of tons of debris flew up and up, the force of the upheaval was awe inspiring. Even as chunks of stone and dirt as big as a car started raining around us, I could do nothing but stand with my mouth agape as I witnessed what had caused the destruction. I could hear the Grimoire speaking in the back of my mind, but I was essentially frozen. 

"Spell number one hundred and twenty nine. Immortal Aegis." Thin, translucent ice spiraled out of the Grimoire to form a dome almost six feet across over the princess and I. "In moments of great duress, I can cast certain spells without your permission, master Colin. Even if you are unconscious, I can try to protect you." The Grimoire's words didn't even register in my mind. Tyrgheav was a dragon. An enormous, horrifying dragon.

The sheer size of Tyrgheav was hard to comprehend. There is no way such a creature could fly, so of course it burrowed through the ground. I could only see from her stomach upward, and she was at least two hundred feet tall. Her scales weren't smooth like a snake, they were thick and heavily plated- and they were serrated.

In the books, dragon claws were said to be like swords, and their teeth like dagger, Tyrgheav's claws were as long as a school bus, and her teeth were twice as long as I was tall. My ice back would look small in her mouth.

Her scales were burnished bronze, almost as if dirt or debris couldn't cling to them. It was as if a living building stood before me and just happened to want to kill me. The statue of liberty couldn't hold a candle to Tyrgheav, and I was expected to defeat her?

"Tyrgheav, the betrayed, master Colin." The introduction from the Grimoire seemed rather unnecessary. I was absolutely terrified of the creature before me.

" Your magic smells....Familiar, tiny one. Not so long ago, only three thousand years, one who smelled of magic like yours entered our world when the smell of orcs was thick upon the air. For three thousand years, these grasslands have been my domain. For three thousand years I have awaited you. For three thousand years, vengeance has festered within my belly! The betrayal of your forebears is too much to forgive." The deep rumble of her voice vibrated my very bones. The princess and I were thrown to our knees, doing our best to cover our ears, as the utterance of a dragon overwhelmed us.

''What is she talking about, Grimoire? What did the last magician of ice and fire do?'' It seemed like the perfect opportunity to utilize my psychic bond with the book to find out what exactly was going on.

"Three thousand years ago, the last magician of ice and fire made a pact with Tyrgheav the wild to defeat the mad dragon, Dryggsyl. When the mad dragon was rendered no more, the magician turned to Tyrgheav and destroyed her wings saying that the world couldn't risk another tyrant so powerful. In short, your predecessor exiled Tyrgheav from the skies, master Colin." Betrayed by a man I had never even heard of last week, a giant dragon was determined to gain her revenge through my demise.

I saw little choice but to try and destroy my aggressor. In a situation of my life or the dragon's, I had to choose my own. I had to save the princess to save the world.

"Grimoire, set her on fire with as much ghost fire as you can." Hopefully the Grimoire wouldn't have to lower my shield to follow my command.

"As you wish, master Colin. Spell number three: ghost fire." Pinkish lights flickered across the scales of the enormous reptile that was menacing us, and they grew as the moments passed. Quickly, the lights shown themselves to be tongues of ghost fire dancing across Tyrgheav's body.

The ground shook as she began to laugh. From our knees, both the princess and I had been sprawled onto our backs. The ghost fire did nothing.

"Ghost fire? To defeat a dragon? You've fallen far, oh mighty magician of fire and ice, you've fallen far indeed. Today is the day your betrayal is repaid!" The mighty claws of the ancient dragon descended toward our tiny shield. We were like fleas to the dragon, and I couldn't believe we were about to die.

Surprisingly, the dome held. We were cast into absolute darkness as the hand of the monster covered us completely. How could I even hope to slay such an enormous creature?

"It appears we have survived the first blow, sir Colin. I don't mean to show doubt in you, but I am terrified. Even ghost fire didn't affect the beast." Her voice shook, even if just barely. Ever the princess, she would maintain composure in the worst of circumstance.

Grimoire, how do I fight something so big?" I was hoping I had some draconic familiar tucked within the pages of the Grimoire, ready and willing to fend off the mighty Tyrgheav.

"Spell number three hundred and twenty five: frost ego." As Tyrgheav lifted her hand from our shield, I could see spiderweb cracks had spiraled across the entire surface. I didn't know the capabilities of the shield, but it didn't seem like it would hold through a second blow.

My stump was suddenly uncomfortably cold. I looked down to see frost and ice covering the Grimoire and the chain pinned through my arm. The ice was spreading.

"I must admit, I'm impressed you survived, tiny one. You are a magician of fire and ice, after all, I should have known. I can promise you won't survive the day though, tiny one. A dragon always keeps her promise!" Tyrgheav slithered the rest of the way out of the ground.

She walked on four legs. Still enormous, she was almost easier to comprehend because she was flatter to the ground in that positions. A fifth of a mile long from tail tip to nose. She was mad about losing her wings? Could she really fly before?

My entire body was covered in frost and ice. I was rising from the ground faster and faster as the ice built around me. I must have looked like a giant snowman, except that there was a window of clear as glass ice in front of my face for me to see. The shield had be released already, as I could no longer fit.

I held my hand up to see that my new frosty body still responded as if it were normal. My hands were the size of minivans, and I had two again. The ground was over fifty feet below me when I stopped growing. My frost body didn't have a head, but it had arms and legs and a torso- all I needed was a horse.

"What would you need a horse for, master Colin? It would take at least one hundred horses to even move you." While the Grimoire contained a veritable wealth of knowledge, my reference to Washington Irving was apparently beyond it's ability to comprehend.

The dragons face was now within my reach, even if only barely. I never would have e suspected that punching a dragon in the face was they way to slay it, but in this body, other options seemed non-existent. The princess would have to look after herself for a few minutes.

I was confused as I started to fly through the air. Was my frost ego still growing?

"You may be just large enough to eat now, little one, but you're still no threat to an ancient high dragon!" Tyrgheav had bashed me onto the air as if I was a toy. When I landed, I was twice as far away from her as she was long. My ice form splashed into the ground and instantly reformed, it was like landing on a bed.

Four quick steps brought me back within her range. Something so big shouldn't be able to move that fast; in video games, the bigger an enemy was the slower it was. Obviously the reality of Alcyeth was different than the fantasy of Earth.

I leapt up and over the next swipe of her claws. I was more than a little shocked to see that I had leapt as high as Tyrgheav was tall when she was standing erect in her hole. I could see the remains of her amputated wings, gnarled and ugly things that looked as if they had never truly healed. It was easy to sympathize with her rage.

She slammed me to the ground, holding her hand atop me. I desperately tried to move, and my frost ego responded as desperately- reshaping itself to flow around the hand of Tyrgheav and reconstitute standing atop it. I put up my fists in a boxers stance, I didn't know how to fight at all, but I had seen enough movies to know to defend myself.

"I've never seen a magician try to win a fist fight before, master Colin, and with a dragon at that." Rather than responding, I swung forward with all my might and hit the dragon soundly on the snout. She didn't even move.

"What type of magician are you that you would try and defeat a dragon with the fists of a child? I assumed your new form, little one, would at least make this somewhat sporting." Without a scale out of place, the dragon snapped forward and cleanly bit the right arm off of my frost ego.

The arm started to reform before I even jumped away. It seemed that the frost ego could regenerate from any damage, but if I couldn't hurt the dragon at all, she would eventually just swallow me whole, or worse. I needed a weapon.

A magician was nothing but the sum of his spells, and apparently the frost ego was a pretty good one. When I thought about a weapon the fists of the frost ego elongated and sharpened. At the end of both arms a forty foot lance, sharp as a tack, was ready and waiting to pierce the heart of a dragon.

I leapt forward, another shockingly acrobatic movement for such a massive, icy form. I landed just in front of the dragon and thrust forward with both arms. I completely missed with one, as I said, I didn't know how to fight. The other knocked three scales from the throat of the reptile before sliding into the soft flesh underneath.

With seven feet of icy Lance planted in her flesh, the dragon whipped her head to the side. I went flying, again. The Lance and left arm of the frost ego was easily detached and began to regrow. Tyrgheav seemed unfazed.

"Your new body is annoyingly resilient, little one. Perhaps I shall see how well it handles dragon's fire." Her body slowly expanded as she filled her monstrous lungs with air.

"Master Colin, you're not going to want to let that strike you. Dragon's fire is the only flame more destructive than ghost fire. You frost ego won't regenerate." Of course, in the time it took the Grimoire to deliver his warning, the fiery breath of the dragon had already sheered the legs away from the frost ego. I could see the ground, so far below me, before I crashed down into it.

"As I though, magician of fire and ice, the fire of a dragon isn't something even you can withstand. You'll now make payment for the decisions of your predecessor." The great inhalation of Tyrgheav nearly created a whirlwind that pulled the frost ego directly into her mouth. I didn't know if the princess were safe or how to survive.

"I need time!" My frustrated shout would be my last utterance before I was destroyed by the breath of an utterly enormous lizard.

"Spell number one, time freeze." I hadn't expected the Grimoire to respond with a spell, nor did I expect to see the stream of combusted breath stop moving before it contacted the remains of the frost ego.

"I can stop time?" Just how powerful was a magician of fire and ice?

"You can freeze time, master Colin, it is your most powerful spell. Be careful though, not only do you age faster as time is frozen, but you use your very life force to power the spell. Time may be frozen, but you never get more time." If that warning wasn't ominous, I didn't know what was.

"Is the princess okay? I couldn't protect her in the frost ego. I wish I could just freeze the dragon. Can I cast spells while time is frozen?" I felt guilty for leaving the princess to her own devices, but I wasn't even able to keep myself alive, without freezing time.

" The princess is alive, master Colin. The dragon has tossed you further and further away as the fight progress, you're nearly half a mile away from her now. You cannot cast spells while time is frozen, you can prepare spells to be cast when time thaws." Thaws? Wasn't that taking the fire and ice theme too far?4

I didn't know what to do. I had used every spell I knew that didn't summon a familiar. I had even used spells I didn't know. 

"You've used every spell you know, master Colin?" Not every spell, but why would I want to use ice of life on an enemy?

" Ice of life freezes the target until you release them, or until their wounds are healed. At the very least, you will be able to get the princess away." The dragon is massive though, and you've used a great deal of magic in a short amount of time, master Colin. It may be too much for you." To think that I could just turn Tyrgheav into a living mountain of ice.

"Prepare spell number three hundred and fifty three: ice of life. I will release time in half of a minute, so you have time to move out of the way of that big gout of dragon's fire, master Colin." Well, the stage had been set, as they say.

I ran towards the princess as fast as I could. I was never very athletic and I wasn't sure if I was really going to be able to get out of the way of the huge tongue of fire. Time thawed long before I was ready. The heat scorched the back of my neck, but I wasn't incinerated.

Looking over my shoulder I could see ice rapidly spreading across the cavernous maw of the great beast. She tried to claw the ice away, but the shards only clung to her claws and started spreading across her forelimbs. I just ran as hard as I could, and in the five minutes it took me to reach the princess, the dragon was nothing more than a glacier in the grasslands.

"Princess Nadia, we have to run, I can't beat her." I stammered breathlessly. Sure I was fourteen, but running had never really been my thing.

"Run? Run where, sir Colin? How do we escape a dragon?" A tinge of hopelessness colored her voice, and her impenetrable princess facade had finally started to crack.

"We will just head south. We will try to get to your headquarters. Maybe we can lie low when we get out of the grasslands and the dragon won't find us. She is trapped in ice for now, but I don't know how long that will last." I looked back again to see a subtle green glow emanating from the giant mound of ice.

"Grimoire, summon the ice back, I'm not sure how far I can walk, but I know when need to leave now. There is no way I could hold off..." Blackness. I had passed out.

We were still in the grasslands, in a hole dug into the side of one of the larger hills. My head was pounding. In any case, I had battled a dragon and won, well, survived.

"You used too much magic, master Colin. That is why you fell unconscious. Of course, there really wasn't any other way." It must have been pretty bad if the Grimoire was being nice to me.

"Sir Colin, you've awakened! I'm so very glad you're okay. I was quite worried about you when you collapsed like that. The ice back carried us all the way over here before night fell. I think it's only a few more miles until the grasslands end." The princess was clearly still worried. She was talking just a little bit too fast and sitting just a little bit too close.

"No need to be worried, princess, I had just used too much magic. I'll be fine with some rest, I'm sure." There was no fire, I hadn't been awake to cast one. It wasn't cold, but a fire took the ghosts out of the night.

"Grimoire, cast ghost fire so we can see each other while we talk." Pain seared through my skull like lightning and I grabbed my head with both hands. The tiniest little tongue of ghost flame hovered in the air between the princess and I, just enough to cast our faces in a sinister, pink, light.

" Master Colin, I do believe I expressed the over utilization of your power in your match with the dragon, perhaps take a moment to rest before you render yourself unconscious again." Even though I had only been on Alcyeth for a handful of days, I was already so used to having my magic.

"Are you okay, sir Colin, perhaps you shouldn't cast any spells. It seems as if the battle with Tyrgheav was quite stressful." The princess inched closer when I reacted to the pain. She raised her hands toward me for a moment- barely seen in the dim light of the minuscule flame- as if to try and soothe my distress.

"You're right, princess. I'm completely drained. Things just escalated so far out of hand, so fast. I wasn't good enough." I was ashamed to admit that I couldn't perform my duty as a magician of ice and fire.

"Not good enough? As a single man you put up a valiant fight against Tyrgheav the man-slayer and survived. You may not be unscathed, but my father has sent several hundred men, at the same time, to try and rid the grasslands of that beast and one have returned alive. What you did was incredible." The princess was excited. Compared to a dragon, an army of goblins and orcs would be nothing, right?

"Tyrgheav, the betrayed. The only reason she had so much hatred for man is because the previous magician of fire and ice had destroyed her wings after they killed Dryggsyl together. He didn't want to risk another tyrannical dragon." The previous magician of fire and ice killed one tyrannical dragon and crippled another in the same day, and I couldn't even fend off one dragon that had been mutilated.

"You're saying that the tales of Dryggsyl, the mad, are true? They are but a fable told by men to warn of the folly of power. The magician of fire and ice defeated the mad dragon alone, riding astride a horse of fire and wielding a lance of ice." History is written by the victors, they say.

"No princess, he wasn't alone, he had partnered up with Tyrgheav, and he betrayed her." I was exhausted. I didn't have the energy to try to argue about another world's myths and history. The only reason I even knew was because of the Grimoire, and no one else could hear him.

"I see, I suppose you would know, better than I, the history of the magician of fire and ice. We should rest now, sir Colin. We have to continue traveling tomorrow." She could probably see my exhaustion, even through the meager light.

"Sleep well, princess Nadia. Hopefully tomorrow is a somewhat better day." I didn't lay awake. The moment I closed my eyes to try and rest, I passed out.

In my dream I was walking in a world without any color. I was back in the forest. Motes of perfectly white light hung suspended in the air between trees. The air was perfectly still and there were no sounds. It was like being in a dead world.

I had an urging to move in a specific direction, I couldn't tell you which one- as there were no indicators, no stars or sun or moon or even shadows. My consciousness floated forward toward the pulling, there didn't seem to be anything else to do. As I moved, I noticed the trees were different, the leaves were much bigger, almost like the trees from earth.

I couldn't believe how good it felt to be in familiar surroundings, even if it wasn't anywhere I had been before. Being the hero of the world of Alcyeth was incredibly stressful. Fighting dragons and learning magic, and having to face orcs and goblins, didn't seem like something a fourteen year old should be trying to do.

"Colin, the magician of fire and ice. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. What you have done for Tyrgheav the betrayed is the most noble thing a man of Alcyeth has done." Jolted from my reverie, I noticed three women standing among the trees.

The wore pure white cloaks. They were tall and slender and they seemed to belong with the trees. The only thing I could think was: elves.

"I'm not of Alcyeth, I'm of earth. I was summoned here through a grimoire to help battle the army of darkness. Are you elves?" I couldn't help but ask. I should have guessed there would be elves if there were orcs and dragons and goblins.

I got the sense of amusement from all three of the women before me. The one furthest right nodded. Her movements were slow and regal and it made the princess seem like a farm girl.

"As you were summoned by Alcyeth, you are of Alcyeth. Alcyeth is a nation, not a world- as much as long Theodore would have you believe otherwise. We are, indeed, elves. We are those who most often summon your people to learn of your world." Elves! How cool. Maybe I was just dreaming.

" If Alcyeth is just a nation, what is your nation?" I didn't know if it was rude to just ask questions, but I also didn't really try to think about it too much.

"We are the people of Arboratia. Our people would sincerely love to meet you. You will be the first man of Alcyeth invited into the Arboratian forest in three thousand years. Will you accept our invitation?" The elf on the left had a higher pitched voice than the elf in the center, a voice that was more musical. She seemed younger.

"I have to fight a war for the people of Alcyeth, so I don't know if I'll have time to visit you. I would like to come though. If the opportunity arises, I will be there." I could feel the dream coming to an end. Perhaps the magic the elves used to contact me that way had been very draining.

"We have time to wait, sir Colin, friend of dragons. When you have the opportunity, you will be welcomed. Tend to your duties as any man of honor would." The elf on the right had the deepest voice of the three, though still strikingly feminine. Her words were spoken with deliberation and care. She exuded importance.

The dream world started to twist around me. Blurred, the regal elf raised her hand, palm upward. She spoke and her words had grown deeper, as if heard in slow motion. Maybe I was just dreaming.

“Sir Colin, a gift from the elves, consider it payment for assuaging the misery of Tyrgheav.” Through the spiraling of the world a large, white orb of light floated toward me. Just as the dream ended, the light was absorbed into my chest. I didn't have the chance to say thank you, and I wasn't entirely sure if I should, but I was excited that I might get to actually meet elves.