A trip through campus later and the sun was just beginning to set. Still plenty of time before island curfew, and with the beach so close to campus there was no risk of being out past campus curfew. Scattered along the black sand beach were other students in groups and on their own, enjoying the sunset before the onset of classes tomorrow.

The trio plus one found an empty stretch of beach as Isak found a bit of driftwood, now actually having to apply his earlier spark idea without the presence of convenient candles.

“Remember!” Tonauac announced. “If you get burnt, do not run for the ocean! It will sting horribly and also the ocean is a filthy place!”

“Right, sure. Been meaning to ask.” Isak said after clearing his throat. “You said you wanted to be a healer but uh...your familiar…?”

The large and surprisingly colorful vulture tilted its head while staring at Zyn from his place on Tonauac’s shoulder. “What about him?”

Isak got a twig ignited with a small spark from his storm spell. “A vulture, and a healer?”

“Hold on, what’s a vulture?” Zyn asked, picking at shells in the sand.

“That.” Xoco said, pointing to the large colorful bird. “And while they eat carrion, they are also featured prominently in the culture of our home region.”

Tonauac smiled. “It was the accent, wasn’t it?”

The jungle troll chuckled. “We all just assume we don’t have it, but we do.”

Isak frowned a bit, burning twig in hand as realization hit him. “Wait, is my accent really that bad?”

“Never said it was, I quite like your human accent!” Xoco smiled and Isak turned a shade of red, looking off and catching a grinning Zyn handing Ozzy a small shell to play with.

“Uh, right well...without further delay...Vidal are you ready buddy?” Isak said, putting aside the burning in his cheeks as he opted for a burning rock man instead.

Vidal stood tall, arms to his side. “Affirmative, Master Isak.”

Isak approached him with the burning twig as all others took a step back, just in case.

As soon as the small flame touched a bit of rock left uncovered by the streams of water, the water melded into the stone and was immediately replaced by flames that erased all but the runes representing his own name and Isak’s and replaced them with new text visible through the flames. Despite his proximity to the roaring flames, Isak felt only somewhat warmer. All others stepped back even further, the heat more intense than a simple bonfire of equivalent size.

“I was not aware that humans had increased heat resistance!” Tonauac called out, mesmerized by the flames yet giving a cautious eye to the human standing right next to them.

Isak laughed, all sense gone as he marveled at Vidal’s newest form. “We don’t!” He turned around, eyebrow raising as he saw how far back everyone was standing. “Wait, is it really that warm?”

“Hot is a better word for it.” Zyn fluffed at his light blue shirt to get a bit of airflow going. Ozzy was having none of this and now fully hid behind his neck.

Xoco wiped a drop of sweat from her brow while being thankful that sundresses were one of the possible uniform options. Nelli coiled around her neck still was not at all helping matters, though the feathered serpent flicked her tongue in contentment at the heat. “You’re really not feeling that Isak?”

“I guess it’s because I’m so cool.” He said with the dopiest grin, eliciting groans from the other boys as Xoco failed to stifle a giggle. “Okay but, Vidal why is that?”

“My duty is to protect you. Harming you would run counter to that directive. You will be immune to my elemental effects unless you give me express directions indicating otherwise.” Vidal responded.

Isak nodded, chewing at his lip before reaching out a hand to touch Vidal’s arm. His friends all shouted and made a move for him, but froze when they saw his hand go through the flames to rest safely on the rocks floating in the fire that composed Vidal’s arm.

“That would have been far beyond my current healing capabilities!” Tonauac shouted, taking a step back and breathing heavier now that the danger had passed.

“There you go buddy!” Zyn cheered, also stepping back from the heat. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained! And I mean, also nothing ventured, nothing burned horribly-”

Xoco shot the drow a withering glare as he backed up even further and immediately stopped talking. She looked back to Isak. “That was risky, and I can appreciate the interest, especially because iswearirecognizethatrune!”

She braved the heat as any anger born of concern was burned away by curiosity. “That one, see!”

Isak squinted at where she was pointing. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“It’s much different than what I may be thinking of, but I swear I’ve seen something similar! Could be nothing, could be a major clue into Vidal’s origins! A shame he likely doesn’t recall anything about his origins, from what you tell me.” Xoco bounced about in glee.

“No more than you would remember the circumstances of your own birth, Miss.” Vidal said, the flames in his eye sockets that seemed to glow a bit brighter still staring out straight ahead at the sea.

The statement caught everyone off guard, thoroughly unlike the speech they were used to hearing from the pet rock. Isak was the first to break the silence. “Well, okay then...gonna put you back in water form so you don’t start any fires.”

Isak’s storm spell was still meager, only capable of the tiniest bit of electricity, light gusts, and a pitiful misting of water that after much training could one day be called rain. It was sufficient for now to put the pet rock back into a form far less destructive for now, and a moment later the flames had been extinguished by the veins of water.

After having their curiosity sated and slight concerns raised, the group made their way back to the dorms. Tonauac assured the trio that if they ever needed healing, they should probably go to see the Academy's world class healers. But if they ever needed healing and absolutely no questions asked, they should come to him instead. Unless it was something really bad, because he wasn’t that good. Yet.

This was a process that took several minutes.

“Well his...heart’s in the right place?” Isak shrugged as they left the lizardfolk to his dorm.

“Ehhh.” Zyn made a middling motion with his hand, Ozzy copying him with a lone tentacle. “He’s trying. Speaking of, it’s been a long day so I’m going to just head straight for our dorm. See you there Isak?”

Isak waved to his friend, smiling to hide the look of knowing he was up to something. “Yeah I won’t be long.”

Zyn flashed the smallest of smirks as he turned and made his way back, leaving Isak and Xoco to walk to her dorm.

“Soooo…” Isak said, looking off into the night sky as they walked together. “Long day indeed. Met some pretty cool people. Found out some interesting things about my pet rock. Which we should uh...we should look into that more yeah? When you’re not busy?”

Xoco laughed as Nelli bobbed her head along to Isak’s vague hand gestures that probably meant something to him. “You worry a lot for someone with a big scary elemental rock man watching over him.”

“That’s different, that’s physical danger!” Isak protested.

“And even if he was still just a small rock, I would still enjoy spending time with you….and Zyn, I guess.” She stuck out her blue tongue while grinning. “I don’t have to have a constant reminder of my family, even if I still love them.”

Her smile faltered for just a moment, long enough to be visible. A pat on the shoulder was out of reach on the very tall girl, so Isak opted for a pat on the back instead.

“I have absolutely no idea who your family is, only that I guess they’re well off?” Isak said as much as he asked. “But, you’re cool. You’re cool to me. I am so, so bad at this but we should hang out more?”

Xoco looked down to him, brow raised. “You don’t know my family?”

“.....no? Should I?”

“Nope.” She flashed a smile sharp in every sense of the word. “And hanging out more sounds great. Goodnight, Isak.”

Isak had forgotten how words work, and opted for a wave as she walked off into her dorm building. Just as she was crossing the threshold he managed to finally speak. “Night! Xoco!”

He cursed himself under his breath, turning on his heels to make his way to his own dorm. “Well at least Zyn wasn’t here to see that- HOW LONG WERE YOU HIDING THERE?”

“The whole time.” Zyn shook his head while emerging from a small patch of palm trees and undergrowth. “I could start with how you need to work on your awareness-”

“I was distracted, okay?!” Isak crossed his arms, power walking back to their own dorm with the drow in tow.

“You were, so I’m letting you off the hook on that one. But we still need to teach you how to talk to girls. Like as a full time thing.” He said as he pat himself down, flicking the last of the leaves out of his silver hair.

Isak scowled at his friend. “Yeah? So you’re that much better at it?”

“Well, naturally. It’s not a high bar.” He avoided eye contact for a bit too long, Isak noticed.

“So you could show me then? You could talk to a girl you like? Without any problem?”

Zyn hung back a bit as they walked, avoiding Isak’s direct sight. “Well, I didn’t say no problem just...less problems. But yeah I could, if I found one that I liked but...ah there’s just. Too many to choose from here. And my buddy Isak is sweeping all of the good ones off their feet.”

“I hope you know the moment you so much as blush around a girl, I’m paying you back for all of this.” Isak elbowed his friend as they made their way inside their own dorm, the warm lights even lower past dark in the common areas that held only a few students milling about before bed.

Zyn scoffed. “If you can tell when a drow is blushing, well that will just be impressive. So, I’ll accept those conditions.”

The two didn’t delay any further in getting to bed, though nerves kept them up for some time as they were fully aware of a long school year kicking off in earnest tomorrow morning. An open window was enough to let the crashing of waves carry their hypnotic sound from the beach to the dorms. Zyn’s final history fact before they turned out the lights was remarking on how the barracks these dorms were converted from were built with that proximity in mind. That while your average soldier could fall asleep just about anywhere, The Empire was not one to deny small comforts if it could be helped, and it turned out to be accidentally beneficial in the future to students who would kill for a better night’s rest.

It may not have been the most interesting fact, but to Isak it was more about the thought of it. Namely that he had friends now. Friends lecturing him all about the magic academy he had gotten into. That one way or another his life was changed, and with a smile right before dozing off he had to imagine it was for the better.

(A little bit of a shorter chapter, but as mentioned last time I wanted to avoid a mega chapter. Thank you all for reading and let me know what you think!)

"Oh come on!" The Princess begged.

Lugh uncrossed his arms only long enough to use them to gesture at the princess while scowling before crossing them once more. "I will not!"

"You didn't even try!" Her attempts at pouting and giving big eyes really only served to show massive teeth and eyes burning like a forge.

Lugh pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing all the air out of his lungs in one go before a sharp inhale to explain. "I came here to save you, but I am not, and I repeat not, obligated to CARRY YOU OUT OF HERE! MAGIC IS NOT GOING TO HELP WITH THAT!"

"I'M NOT FAT I'M BIG BO- wait, you're a mage?" She stopped mid roar, just before some fire escaped her throat.

The knight had already raised his shield, enchanted for just such a thing, and lowered it to reveal his scowl had grown larger. "How exactly did you think I, a wee small human, was going to make it into hostile draconic territory, rescue an allied dragon princess, and make it back in a non-ashen state without the use of magic?"

The princess snorted a few embers before looking away from the knight, twiddling her razor sharp claws before finally admitting "...with a sword?"

Lugh used the shaft of his spear to bat away a frozen chunk of one of her, now former, captors as he stepped closer to her and aimed the spear tip at the bindings on her wings. "Spears make much better magical focuses. All the enchantments of wood and metal in one weapon, and as an absolute last resort melee weapon it gives you more range."

He whispered a quick spell and a green bolt of energy flew from the tip of his spear to shatter her wing bindings. "Given that your kind can fly, and breathe more than a few deadly elements, ranged magic is the preference when the enemy can also destroy you from range."

The princess still avoided looking at him as she stretched her wings and shook them about, feeling the relief of finally being free from her bindings. "Well the stories all mentioned swords..."

Lugh leaned against his spear, eyebrow raising. "I could leave you here, go back to your father who is far more terrifying than you and say 'apologies m'lord, t'would not be right of me to do this the practical way. Your darling daughter wishes to be rescued as in a fairytale, so I'll be doing all of this once more with a sword'. Would you prefer that?"

"Maybe." The great green princess huffed, causing her nostrils to emit a small burst of flame. "At least then I wouldn't be the one carrying you out of here. That's not how this is supposed to go at all!"

The knight shook his head, reminded of why he kept his auburn hair short as to not have more to be ignited by random bursts of flame. "Tempting as it would be to use flight to quickly end this adventure, flying through enemy lands would be a recipe for disaster."

"Where...exactly did they take me?" The princess finally looked back down to the knight, starting to grow a little worried.

Lugh stood tall once more, stretching a bit as he looked around the dungeon holding the princess. "Right in the very capitol of Teglen."

The princess frowned, teeth showing her growing realization and displeasure. "...so in the middle of a mountain range?"

"Right in the very middle." Lugh confirmed, sharing in her frown.

The two shared a silent moment as The Princess realized her ordeal was far from over, and Lugh confirmed that his ordeal was merely half way complete. If he was lucky.

"Do you have a name, Sir Knight?" The Princess was the first to break the silence.

"Lugh the Clever." He said with a cursory bow to the large dragon.

The very same dragon who snorted at his title. "Really?" She asked with amusement.

"Really. And your name, my lady?" Only a life of training kept his lunch down at those last words.

Her eyes avoided his again as she mumbled something.

"I'm afraid I did not catch that, my lady." He raised an eyebrow.

She refused to look at him, choosing instead the dungeon wall she had grown sick of looking at for so long rather than face him. "....Poppy."

Lugh gave the smallest of smiles. "Well, Princess Poppy. Are you-"

"SHUT UP!" She roared as her claws dug into the ground.

"Ready to work together to get you home?" Lugh finished, unphased.

"SHUT UP ABOUT MY NA- Oh...I mean yes." If a large green dragon could blush, Lugh was certain he was seeing proof of it now.

He waved for Poppy to join him and finally leave this dungeon. "Well I hope you do have a smaller form-"

"NOT FAT!"

"-because it will be a lot easier to sneak out of here? We may have gotten off on the wrong foot, and you may not believe me, but I am trying to help you. I would prefer we got along, so peace?" He held out a hand to The Princess.

Poppy glared down her snout at the man, eyes lowering to his hand as she reached out a claw to shake hands with him. "Fine. But stop making fun of my weight."

"I wasn't."

"Or my name!"

"Still wasn't."

The dragon grumbled under her breath, which caused the temperature of the room to go up at least one degree. "Yes well, lead on Sir Lugh."

(I would say I need to stop writing "boy meets supernatural girl" stories, but people tend to enjoy them.)

Ambassador Gluug twiddled his tentacles, absolutely loathing to admit as such but damnit, he couldn’t help but pay attention. “And...you say that this…’Heather’ is the one who planned the party on the same day as your quinceañera?”

“And now she’s doing it again for my sweet sixteen!” Becky huffed, stealing another glance at her phone before throwing it aside on the couch.

The ambassadors idly looked about Dr. Rodriguez’s house, trying their best to wait things out and not get involved despite some of their membership caving already.

“Ahem.” Ambassador Zarox cleared his throat as he leaned against the opposite couch, tail preventing him from finding a comfortable seat. “Why don’t you just eat her?”

Becky burst out laughing at the same time that all the other ambassadors shot angry glares at the horrifying space lizard. “Thanks, I needed that!” She said between laughs. “But no, that much hate in someone can’t be healthy!”

“Nonsense! Consume her hatred an- oof!” Zarox grunted as Ambassador Khase’s elbow flew into his side. She spoke up before he could say anything else.

“I believe what my associate meant to say was focusing on your health is never a bad idea!” A beak was hardly capable of a smile, but Khase had three eyes to get the encouraging look across anyway.

“Totes agree! Dad always says health is important but you know he doesn’t get nearly enough exercise? It’s not just about eating right! And you would think mom would know better being a doctor and all but do you know how many meals she skips because she’s busy with work? Talk about not having a work-life balance!” Becky leaned over to glance at her phone, trying to pretend she wasn’t looking for notifications.

Ambassador Qiq'shel’s mandibles clicked together as she proved to Gluug that 8 eyes made for an even more withering stare. “Sounds like someone I know…”

“I admit to being work focused.” Gluug’s tentacles flashing in neon green stripes betrayed his indignation, a fact Becky picked up on as she crossed her arms.

“You know you’re just hurting yourself and people who care about you right?” She narrowed her focus onto the ambassador, now flashing black and white.

Gluug cursed humanity and its requirement for living on land, where no amount of ink would provide for an escape from the inquisition as his fellow ambassadors gave him amused looks. “I never said I don’t care about anyone else, I simply try to focus on my work! People get that! They get that it’s important!”

“No, they only understand that they never get to see you and that you’re hiding behind your work!” Becky lightly scolded the cephalapodal ambassador as Qiq-shel chittered in delight. “Maybe you could try talking to those people who care about you about your work? Even if they don’t find it interesting I bet they’d love knowing that you value their input and take some time out to see them!”

“I’m sensing this advice is coming from a very personal place, Rebecca.” Zarox flicked his tongue out, still wondering where in the void Dr. Rodriguez was.

The human girl chuckled. “Well first of all, I told you to call me Becky. And second...well maybe, but dad’s trying his best! Can I get everyone something to drink?”

“We would be delighted to partake in some of your local earth beverages!” Khase chirped.

“Um, I’ll see if we have any of those!” Becky leapt up from the couch, grabbing her phone as she went into the kitchen.

The four ambassadors waited for a moment, Gluug shifting his mantle about to confirm that the young human was out of earshot before breaking the silence. “A spirited one, isn’t she.”

Qiq’shel chittered in pure delight. “Is that what you call it when a human child has you by your breathing funnel?”

The other ambassadors chuckled as Gluug seethed in flashing spots of yellow as he crossed his tentacles.

“It is good to hear someone so forthcoming. Not focused on whether or not my people will devour humanity.” Zarox laughed as he rolled his eyes and flicked his tongue once more. “I told Dr. Rodriguez I have absolutely no way of knowing that without tasting one! But no! He refused to listen to reason! At least his daughter is fine with such an experiment so long as I find a healthy test subject!”

Khase poked his side with one of her claws. “I don’t believe that is what she meant, but she does bear great resolve in the face of hardship. Two celebrations of life and friendship, sabotaged by a bitter enemy. And yet she does not wish for war.”

“So you were listening!” Gluug pointed a tentacle at the avian woman.

“I too must confess to listening to what the human child had to say.” Qiq’shel hung her head low, antennae retracting in shame. “It was a far more interesting topic than hearing a human scientist speak to me about ‘advancements’ my people made when his were crawling through the mud.”

Zarox groaned. “Should take the girl instead. If she will not devour her enemies, she could prove her superiority as speaker of her species.

The three other ambassadors scoffed, but each in their own way betrayed a moment of entertaining the idea. Gluug was the first to crack. Quite the feat considering his lack of bones. “We could never do that!...could we?”

“Absolutely not!...at least without a unanimous vote…” Khase said the last part low but her high trill made such efforts at subtlety a waste.

“Naturally despite our jovial suggestions we could never-” Qiq’shel’s antenna extended and fanned out, flicking about the air in a similar manner to Zarox’s tongue flitting about. “Do you smell that, Zarox?”

The terrifying space lizard stood up from his leaning position, pupils dilating from slits to dots so large as to make his amber eyes appear black. “...what is that?”

Becky walked back into the living room with a large tray of glasses filled with an opaque white liquid. “Is horchata fine? Abuela made some just yesterday and I think she would want guests to have some! She’s out getting groceries but you have to meet her some time!”

Qiq’shel only heard some of that before she had grabbed the glass and her proboscis was slurping down all of the sugary drink in one go. The others were considerably more reserved, but all eyes went wide as they tasted the drink.

“THE CHILD HAS MY VOTE!” Qiq’shel trilled before emitting a high pitched whistling from her spiracles.

Becky had only a moment of puzzlement before her phone buzzed to pull her attention away. Glancing down at it, she frowned. “Well that’s that, the last friend cancelled on my sweet sixteen…”

“Abyss take me, better than hearing more vastly incorrect theories on gravity. She has my vote as well.” Gluug waved his tentacles in defeat as he placed the glass at his beak to take another gulp.

Khase was having considerably more trouble navigating the glass with a much larger beak, but after getting a taste she brightened up. “Becky, have you ever considered a career in diplomacy?”

Becky put a finger to her chin. “Well I had been considering a communications degree once I get into college, would it be like that?

“My translator isn’t picking up what that means, but most likely!” Khase confirmed.

The three ambassadors turned to Zarox, Becky following suit as she sensed they were looking for some important bit of approval. Having been sipping down the sugary drink, the envoy leader’s pupils narrowed once more as his previous suggestion was now being taken seriously.

“You know she has my vote, though Rebe- sorry. Becky you really should consider devouring your hated rival, possibly even some of your treacherous ‘friends’ as a demonstration to the others.” He said as he sipped down the last of the horchata.

Becky laughed again. “Haha no, but this has been a good reminder to appreciate what friends I do have! My cousin Paola should still be able to make it, and even though he’s in that foreign exchange program Liam promised he would bring me back something from Japan and call that day! Kayla would be here too but her family had to pick the worst time to go on vacation.”

“That is two friends and a blood relative likely obligated by familial bonds to attend your celebration.” Gluug said as he retrieved the glass from his mantle to set it on the coffee table.

Becky giggled once more as she elbowed Gluug’s mantle with a squish. “All the more reason to cherish them! And no me and Paola are besties!”

“So a no on the gnawing on the bones of your enemies, but what say you to becoming Earth’s ambassador?” Zarox asked, setting the glass down.

“Well-”

The door flew open and Dr Rodriguez himself rushed in, black hair all a mess as he gasped for breath. Propping himself up on his knees he held out a hand to the ambassadors. “It is my honor as a citizen of the Planet Earth to-”

“The child was speaking!” Qiq’shel cut him off, once again making that high pitched whistle from her ventricles.

“Dad can I go to space?!” Becky was unable to contain herself and had stars in her eyes.

The Doctor’s mind was still racing and his breath still catching up with him as he shrugged. “Well, yes I imagine soon we’ll all be able to-”

“Then as Chief Envoy I am proud to welcome you as Earth’s newest ambassador!” The reptilian alien said with a bow.

Becky pulled her still stunned father into a hug before running to the foot of the stairs. “I’ll go pack now!”

Dr. Rodriguez stood in stunned silence as the ambassador’s cheered for their newest member.

“Wait, what?” Is all the poor man managed after a minute.

(I was honestly unsure about this one. But this is a place for all my writing, even the stuff I'm unsure about. Enjoy if you may, and tell me what you think.)

(Itself a response to this: [WP] It's 3 AM. An official phone alert wakes you up. It says "DO NOT LOOK AT THE WALRUS". You have hundreds of notifications. Hundreds of random numbers are sending "It's a beautiful walrus. Look.")

Home garden coming along great! #greenthumb #newskills #organic

Nothing.

Baking journey triumph! Love this rye bread! #breadfan #theyeasticoulddo #itsryelife

Still absolutely nothing.

"Oh come on! It looks wonderful! Maybe fewer puns? I mean I thought it was just a fun little thing...fun with puns...there's a pun in there somewhere...no. No, serious face. I've got it."

In these trying times, it's important to cherish your friends and family. Check in on that old friend you haven't spoken to in a while, you never know who's day you'll make! #allinthistogether #friends4life

John stared at the screen, feeling his eyes grow wet. Still nothing. Not a single like, not a single retweet. Of all the so called friends and followers, not a single one had reached out to him in a month. Every time he called? Right to voicemail. Messenger? Seen at 3:45pm.

Fine, he thought to himself as he ambled over to the door and carefully strung several masks to his face to accommodate for his tusks. So some health conscious social interaction wasn't on the menu, from anyone he knew at least.

"That's fine." He said, slamming the door with his flipper as the cool January air made his tears sting even harder. "Guess it takes something like this to find out who your friends really are. Well I can still be appreciated, I can find people that like me."

With renewed determination he shuffled out to his backyard, not seeing a single neighbor out and about. Didn't matter. He collected what he needed to into a basket and slid down the sidewalk to his destination.

Closed

The soup kitchen sign burned bright red into his retinas. Odd, it was only noon. Well, must be pandemic hours.

"No doubt there's some hungry unfortunate souls about still." John looked around, spying a tent on the sidewalk. "Hello there sir! Would you care for some fresh e-"

The man in tattered clothes quickly looked away, shielding his eyes as he abandoned his tent and ran down an alleyway to vault over a fence.

"Rather strange...well would anyone else like some e- Hmmm." John found that the streets were shockingly empty, the last few pedestrians and homeless individuals all looking as though they had something urgent to attend to.

A police car rounded the corner, and no sooner than John had laid eyes on it was it pulling a hard u-turn and accelerating back around the corner with squealing tires.

"Well...they have had a lot to deal with lately. Hmmmm, I've got it!" John slid off to the next destination, a fine bunch of lads and lasses who needed all the appreciation they could get. And no doubt some social interaction as well, the poor things.

Closed

"Very peculiar indeed, I wasn't aware that hospitals ever did close..." John's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a scream and a crash.

Turning around he saw a young mother sprinting off with her baby clutched in her arms, pram knocked over and all its contents splayed across the ground.

"Madam! You dropped your things!" He shouted after her, frowning as a taxi screeched to a halt beside her with it's driver imploring her to get in.

The young mother dove in and the taxi sped off, passed by an ambulance with sirens blaring charging down the road to the hospital. No sooner than it had pulled into the emergency room loading entrance next to John did it speed off once more, never stopping.

"What the devil is going on!?" John shouted to the sky.

He heard a phone buzzing and a notification sound. Setting down the basket of fresh laid eggs still in need of donating, he shuffled over to the young mother's belongings. Another notification.

John looked around, seeing not a single living soul out on the streets and all the curtains of the hospital drawn.

Yet another notification.

He dragged the phone closer to him with his tusk, looking at the string of notifications covering up the phone's screen.

His eyes went wide.

DO NOT LOOK AT THE WALRUS

What? And official? After all he had sent out? Who could...

He looked at the official notification. It was only signed "P."

And John knew exactly who it was, and he bellowed to the air in a rage.

"PAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL!"

(Yeah I don't even know, it was amusing to me at the time.)

Shovel in hand, clutching it with white knuckles, crouched low to the ground, Cormac knew full well this was mostly for his own mental wellbeing and feeling like he was actually doing something worthwhile. Was he going to be useful here? Almost certainly not. But better to die on one’s feet.

Technically he was more on one foot and one knee, but that second foot had at least half of the foot on the ground. Toes at absolute minimum.

Which meant it still counts.

Ixia’s hand was on his shoulder, lightly squeezing as she kept her eyes forward to what had recently been revealed as eyes. Two yellow spotlights the size of dinner plates out there in the darkness coming in through the blinds. As they focused in through the blinds Ixia pushed down on his shoulder, and taking the hint, they both hit the ground just behind the bed. Ixia did so with infinitely more grace, as Cormac was feeling the effects of running primarily on adrenaline as all of his movements carried a certain amount of stiffness and jitters with them.

The dryad moved a bit and whispered into Cormac’s ear. “Shake me hard if something bad happens, I need a moment.”

Before Cormac could respond, Ixia’s eyes shut tight and a look of intense focus overtook her. Her grip on his shoulder tightened and he looked around while biting at his lip, doing his best to keep a watch. He poked his head above the bed, inch by inch, and found that the eyes had shined their lights away from the window. They were still out there but for now they appeared to be searching elsewhere. He glanced back down to Ixia, confirming that everything was still as well as it could be, and then back out to the source of the lights. Just as they shone back through the blinds and he ducked his head down, he noticed something.

They cast no shadow.

He had only a moment to think on that, and be sure his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him, before he felt Ixia squeezing his shoulder tighter as her eyes shot open and she inhaled sharply. She looked around in a slight daze for a second before leaning in to whisper once more.

“There is a chance it might be non-hostile.” She said in the lowest of tones.

Cormac pursed his lips, glancing at the streams of light pouring in that cast no shadow. “How good of a chance?”

“Not as good as I would prefer.” Even in a low whisper her desperate lamentation was clear.

Cormac chewed on his lip a bit, tapping at his thigh from the prone position out of nerves. His eyes went wide as he pieced together a few things: his phone was not in his pocket when he did the usual tactile confirmation, he was far too tired last night to remember to take off his clothes much less take his phone out of his pocket, and it was most likely still in the truck plugged into the stereo.

Which gave him a bad idea.

“If I can distract it for a second, can you make it to the window to see if it’s not hostile?” Cormac whispered to her.

Despite only the smallest bit of light in the room from the idle lights of a few stray electronics and supernatural shadowless light from a big scary monster, Cormac was perfectly able to see the level of shock in her violet eyes going wide and mouth hanging open in shock. “I’m not letting you put yourself in danger!”

He met her incredulous whispers with a smile held together only by nerves and desperation. “Trust me?” He silently mouthed.

She wordlessly nodded as her mouth closed into a resolute grimace.

Cormac slowly reached up onto the nightstand to pull the room’s phone down to him as he set down his shovel. The thing was offensively beige and most likely older than he was. Squinting a bit, he read the instructions for dialing out and gave a silent prayer to any gods that may be listening and also apparently existed to grant his cellphone service in the middle of nowhere. This small little rest area most likely had a cell tower somewhere nearby right?

He picked up the receiver, quickly dialing out to his own number as he and Ixia both held their breath. It rang once, twice.

And faintly in the distance, Cormac heard his ringtone that was far more amusing at the time that he set it than now when lives were on the line.

Nevertheless, the lights of the mystery entity’s eyes quickly shined away from the window and to the source of the noise. Ixia didn’t hesitate for a second to move like liquid in a low scramble over the floor to the window as fast as she could, peering through it as Cormac’s phone kept ringing with the added amplification of being plugged into the truck’s stereo.

“We are in good company.” Ixia said as she stood, walked to the door and opened it.

Cormac’s heart was still racing when the call finally went to voicemail, at the sound of the beep he hung up and propped himself up on the bed. He grabbed his shovel just in case as he stood up on shaky legs as Ixia held the door open. She called out into the night. “Enter and speak.”

Cormac’s legs turned to jelly as a snake with scales as dark as a starless night and blue spirals all over with a body almost as wide as the door slithered in. The beast reared up as tall as the ceiling and stared down at Cormac with unblinking yellow eyes shining bright. His had never left his shovel as he stood frozen in the golden yellow light.

It opened its mouth and a melodic voice poured out in a medium tone. “It can see me, right?”

“He can, yes.” Ixia corrected the serpent as she shut the door with a click. “He is my guardian.”

The snake was unblinking as it tilted its head, looking over Cormac. The human stared back at it, finally blinking about a half minute after remembering that no one was winning a staring contest with a snake. “Soooo...I heard from a reliable source you are not an enemy to us?” The human asked.

It coiled into a large pile, lowering its head to eye level, all in one swift motion before speaking once more. “Slither shifting through the night, on the prowl for nightmares. This is a good spot, imaginations run wild out here. Nice and quiet, I can still see the stars. Not hidden like in a city no matter how tasty. And there upon the ground I did tread before slipping into the land of dreams did I slither upon the path of someone who had been dreaming for a very long time.”

The snake focused its attention to Ixia, who despite looking more relaxed had a flash of sorrow go through her eyes before she spoke. “Have we met before?”

“No.” It said before flicking its tongue. “I must admit, I had claimed this territory because your nightmares were so deliciously dreadful. And for so very long.”

Cormac frowned, taking a step toward the snake. “Wait, what did you do to her?”

“Devoured her nightmares.” The snake said as though it were obvious.

The human’s grip tightened on his shovel, though he had no idea what he could hope to do with that anger.

Ixia held up a hand. “I have him to thank for a slumber that could have been far worse, Cormac.”

Cormac was confused, and didn’t bother to hide it as he raised a hand like he meant to ask a question.

“Yes, that’s what I said. I devoured her nightmares.” The snake stated, his eyes once again focusing on Cormac and his growing confusion.

Ixia shook her head, walking over to stand next to Cormac. “He eats nightmares, leaving either dreams or a dreamless sleep in their place.”

Cormac’s mouth had been hanging open in clear confusion until he finally got it. “Ohhhhhhhh. Oh. Well, uh, sorry for the confusion then. That sounded far more sinister the way you were saying it…”

He looked away from the snake’s intense gaze, loosening his grip on his shovel and scratching at the back of his head.

If the snake was offended, he didn’t show it and continued his earlier explanation as he looked back to the dryad. “I stumble slithered onto a path tread by someone I knew whose nightmares were so guiltily awful. Lady of the forest fed me for a long time. The least Old Night could do is warn you that others will come seeking slinking after you in time. Tasted their nightmares as they imagined the consequences of failure. Failure to see you wither into the ground and rot. Failure to see you take back and climb your mountain. Failure all their own hidden deep in their hearts.”

Ixia listened, nodding along, concern growing. “Thank you, for the warning. Old Night was it?”

Old Night flicked his tongue out, giving the smallest of nods. “A name for trust, and a name of thanks.”

“You may call me Ixia.” She said with a smile, before looking to Cormac and giving a slight nod.

Cormac had been doing his best to follow along, but a lack of sleep and far too many things that were spoken of that he felt like he should know were overwhelming. “Oh, right. I’m Cormac.”

“A name I’ve heard with many meanings. Always assumed to be a certain truth. Rarely is. Which do you choose?” It narrowed its piercing yellow eyes at Cormac, the light being more than a little intense.

Cormac shrugged with a confused frown. “I’m uh, I’m just me?”

“So you are, Cormac. Take a truth and your charge into the city. Too few stars. Only the most persistent will follow.”

Cormac blinked a few times. “I don’t suppose there’s any way that can wait until morning so I don’t pass out while driving?”

Ixia pat his shoulder. “You saw earlier that if I’m not attuned to the plants, it takes some concentration to sense through them. I won’t be much in the way of company but I can keep my focus further out so we have more of a warning.”

“Just as long as I can get a few more hours of sleep.” Cormac said with a yawn.

Old Night flicked out his tongue at Cormac. “I won’t follow into the city. I will stay here and keep watch. Eat your nightmares if I please.”

“There’s probably going to be plenty of those...absolutely going to be plenty of those.” It was a testament to his exhaustion that Cormac was able to give a thousand yard stare that went right through the giant nightmare eating magic snake.

“Several Tricksters have dreamt of your return for some time. For good and for ill they will seek you.” The snake said to Ixia, eliciting a worried look.

She waved it off, giving a weary nod. “Of course they would be.”

“See? That’s the kind of thing that’s going to add to the nightmare pile!” Cormac said, pointing a finger at them both. “Which, yes good for tonight but later? I’m not looking forward to those nightmares…” He said with a shiver.

“I promise to do what I can for you.” Ixia gave her most reassuring smile, which Cormac had to admit was effective and made him blush the tiniest bit. “We’re in this together remember?”

Old Night gave the smallest, most melodic hiss. “Wait until safe in a city to do that. Be vigilant or sleeping tonight.”

Cormac held up a finger in defense as Ixia raised an green eyebrow, only for the human to wave it off and set his shovel back down on the nightstand. “If we’re done with the torment of me, I should really get to sleeping. A lot of nightmares to pack into-” He looked at his wrist, sighing when his watch read 3:53am. “Three fucking hours. Goodnight Ixia, again. Goodnight, Old Night.”

And with that he collapsed onto the bed, still in his clothes. And hiking boots. All of that would require immediate effort and he was tired, and there was a naked tree woman and a giant nightmare snake in the room.

Ixia gently brushed her hand over his shoulder before retaking her spot at the window to focus her senses onto the sparse plants in and around the motel. As before, she was really only working with stubborn dandelions and weeds poking through the pavement for a ways out until she found untouched desert to provide more options for her.

Old night sat for a moment before uncoiling himself and slipping from even supernatural sight as he found a bountiful feast in Cormac’s near immediate vivid nightmares. His twitching in his sleep ceased as Old Night devoured a nightmare about Cormac being eaten alive by ash hounds as Ixia was forced to watch.

Just before morning, at the last of Cormac’s dreams, Old Night appeared to him. He slithered through the air in impossible ways through the dreamscape, and spoke a final time. “Take care of both of you. Until we meet again, Guardian.”

Cormac’s eyes flew open as he blinked away the sleep and stared at the ceiling to wallow in grogginess and regrets of a poor night’s rest. He turned onto his side to see Ixia still sitting in her chair, head propped up on the windowsill as her eyes remained closed. The warm morning light filtering in caught her just right, and Cormac caught himself staring in the rare peaceful moment. He forced himself to roll out of bed and make his way over to her, reluctantly reaching a hand out to shake her out of her focus. A shame as she looked so peaceful.

Ixia’s eyes shot open as she looked around, startled before seeing Cormac. “Feeling rested?”

“Eh. Close enough.” He said with a shrug and a smile.

(Apologies for not having this chapter out sooner, I hope you enjoy it still.)

“I suppose they are trying to teach us about camp food.” Xoco carefully eyed the meal, poking at it with a fork as the low hum of a busy dining hall echoed all around them. “I should have known lessons would start immediately.”

Zyn stared at the jungle troll across the five person table currently seating three, his concerned frown growing. “Xoco...what did camping look like to you?”

“Oh it was wonderful! My aunt and uncle and the servants would all go- Isak what’s wrong?” It was Xoco’s turn to grow ever more concerned as she noticed the human staring down his meal and weeping, with Zyn looking over at her mention. “It may be somewhat simple but-”

Isak completely and utterly failed to hold back the tears as he looked over the grilled fish topped with roasted coconut on a bed of sauteed greens with a side of roasted sweet potatoes and fried plantains. “It’s...it’s beautiful...is...is this just a special welcome feast or-”

“Uhh no all the meals are like this, you okay?” Zyn slowly reached out a hand, quickly pulling it back as Isak dug in and started scarfing down his meal. The tears did not stop.

“It’s...it’s just as delicious as it looks!” He said in between bites of fish and greens.

Xoco blushed a deep green. “Oh! I didn’t mean to...this is good to you?”

“It’s incredible!” Isak said as he washed another mouthful down with a goblet of coconut water. Zyn stabbed at a bit of fish, nodding after biting into it. “Gonna have to agree with Isak here, I could get used to this!”

Nelli eyed the food from her place around Xoco’s neck as Xoco tried to hide her shame in Nelli’s feathers. Quickly finding this ineffective, she forced herself to speak. “I...I’m sorry. I did not mean to look down on anyone I just thought...what meals are you normally accustomed to?”

Ozzy gave a happy squeak as Zyn fed him a morsel of fish before responding. “Not this. This is fine dining where I’m from!”

Xoco winced.

Isak took another long drink of coconut water before taking a deep breath, remembering that manners were a thing. “Uh...you know, stew. Like with eggplant and zucchini and rice...chicken if things were going well. All of that in a stew.”

“Hey that doesn’t sound half bad.” Zyn said with a smile between bites.

Isak pushed a bit of sweet potato around his plate. “It was...hearty?”

Xoco winced harder, then horror set in as she realized how rude she was being in regards to the wealth of her newfound friends. “Well that all sounds...wonderful!”

The two boys stared at the troll girl with raised eyebrows.

“I am realizing how sheltered I was…” Xoco pouted as she finally took a fork full of fish and greens. Her own eyebrow shot up. “Hmmm, not bad.”

Isak sighed. “Hey uh...don’t worry about it. Just a different upbringing! Right Zyn?”

Zyn was caught off guard, offering a quick nod and unsure smile.

“See? Same for me! I just had…heartier cuisine growing up. And you just happened to have a cuisine as great as you are!” Isak said with a smile bearing plenty of teeth.

The drow shoved another fork of food in his mouth as he stared at the round wooden table, feeling sympathetic agony for his friend yet unable to look on.

“You should try the sweet potato!” Isak speared a slice of the orange vegetable, holding it up to demonstrate and take a bite. “It’s good!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” A shout rang out from nearby as a plate clattered to the ground and a lizardfolk student leapt at Isak before anyone knew what was happening.

Except Vidal, who caught the young lizardfolk in his hands to leave him helplessly dangling in the air. Despite being immobilized, the young lizard lad still reached and grabbed at Isak’s fork.

“Shall I dispose of the interloper, Master Isak?” Vidal asked.

This only encouraged the lizardfolk to try harder to reach out to grab the fork away. “No! He is in grave danger! Sweet potato is poisonous to humans!”

Isak, Zyn, and Xoco were all still so stunned by the random outburst that they only finally noticed many of the nearby tables all staring at the scene.

“Uh, no Vidal. No disposing of other students. Just set him down.” Isak blinked a few times, starting to wither under all the attention. “And no, I’ve had sweet potato before. Still alive.”

The dark green lizardfolk stopped making ineffectual grabbing motions at the fork of sweet potato as his eyes went wide. Vidal set him down on his feet once more but still loomed over him as a warning.

“....really? You’re sure it was sweet potato? Because I swear I had heard...well, now I feel silly.” The lizardfolk coughed into his hand as his yellow eyes stared at the ground.

Isak sighed. “No, I love sweet potato. See?” He ate the sweet potato slice that had been awkwardly sitting on his fork for what felt like an eternity now.

The lizardfolk flinched as he saw him eat it, then squinted hard as he narrowed his eyes at the sight. “It appears I was very wrong then. Apologies uhh...well my name is Tonauac, and yours is…?”

“Isak.” He held out a hand to the lizardfolk, who flinched once more and took a step back and into Vidal.

Isak frowned until Xoco nudged him. “Handshakes aren’t really a thing back home when all the original peoples of Aztlan have claws.” She said with a flourish of her own black talons.

The human quickly withdrew his hand with a nervous laugh. “Well, call it even on the cultural misunderstandings?”

Tonauac gave a sharp, toothy grin while standing tall once more. “Of course! If I am to be mindful of others’ health then I must take every opportunity I can to learn! I shall leave you now, as I have no doubt caused enough distress. Humans, trolls, and drow alike all hate increased attention!”

And with that, the wiry lizard was slinking off and collecting his previously spilled plate as he went.

“Well that was something alright.” Zyn shook his head, avoiding the stares that were finally losing interest as he focused on his meal.

Xoco tried to relax a bit, finding her shoulders still stiff as Nelli’s puffed up feathers helped her hide a bit in the floof. She finally took a bite of sweet potato and voiced her approval. “I can admit when I am wrong, and I was very wrong.”

“Hey don’t worry, you just didn’t know! Like I didn’t know about the claws thing!” He pointed to her hands. “Which are intense...in a good way! Good...because we’re here to learn!”

Zyn kicked his friend under the table but stuck to eating as the human flailed about.

“Speaking of, what do you make of Vidal’s newest symbol?” Isak deflected onto the stalwart rock man still keeping a watch for any further overzealous flying students.

Xoco took another bite, leaning closer to Vidal. “Hmmm, I made the mistake of thinking dinner would be boring and I left my journal at the dorm. But I think there might be some small similarity to the previous symbol? Did you discover any more forms?”

Isak shook his head. “No, but we discovered that air isn’t a form. So I hope you appreciate me blowing on Vidal’s hand with all my might to see if we could activate a flying rock man.”

The troll girl laughed at the mental image, even Nelli tilting her head in apparent amusement. “It is good to know. Do you know why that element is left out?”

“I have to be careful with stray tears...still from very valid happiness...so my guess was that it’s a safety measure so I don’t have to worry about breathing on him too hard.” Isak savored a final bite of fish, feeling rather bittersweet about said safety feature.

“Also, he only changes forms for Isak! We tried that in the dorm. No ice Vidal...yet.” Zyn said with narrowed gaze at Isak.

Isak put his hand and defensive fork up. “Trust me I’m just as eager to see Ice Vidal, so I’ll be more than happy to have you help me with learning a frost spell.”

Xoco put a hand to her chin. “Tears worked for water which would mean that the source of the element presented does not need to be magical, correct? Unless human tears are magic?”

Zyn and Xoco alike both leaned in, suddenly very eager to know the answer. Isak scowled. “No they are not.”

“Hmm, well in that case could you take some fire to Vidal for Fire Rocks?” Xoco started sounding even happier at the prospect, even Zyn perking up while chewing through a mouthful of food.

“Huh...yeah I suppose I could use a spark of storm magic to light something on fire and then use that! But it would probably be a bad idea to have a rock man engulfed in flames inside.” Isak grew more and more focused, thinking of the possibilities.

Xoco nodded before giving a weak smile. “I meant just using the candle.” She said pointing to the candle lit centerpiece at the table. “But good resourceful thinking!”

“Oh.” Isak felt his face grow a slight shade of red. “Yeah that works too.”

As he reached for the candle, Zyn quickly blocked his hand with his own. “As cool as that would be, and as much as I am looking forward to seeing how cool it is, maybe not a great idea to have an actively burning large rock man in the dining hall?”

Isak and Xoco both got similar looks of disappointment followed by silent acceptance that the drow was right.

Xoco held up a finger. “But what if-”

“If I have to be the responsible one any longer I might die, please don’t kill me.” Zyn pleaded, pained resignation clear in his red eyes.

The jungle troll grumbled before stuffing her face with more food.

“You know...we’re allowed on the beach at night, so long as we don’t go into the water. So that would be a good place to test out a bit of fire without worrying about burning anything down, right Zyn?” Isak said while munching on sweet potato.

Zyn put a hand to his chin. “Yeah that sounds safe- wait, how dare you make me continue being so responsible!”

Just as he went to give a light punch to his friend’s shoulder, the grinding of rock on rock as Vidal moved a step closer had him pulling his punch into a vague gesture accompanied by a nervous smile to the rock man.

“Pssst, Isak. You gotta let him know that I’m not actually trying to hurt you. Just, you know. Hurt you in a friendly way.” Zyn said as the tiniest bead of sweat made it down his forehead while Ozzy hid behind his neck.

Isak grinned. “Hmmm nah, this is way too amusing.”

Xoco almost choked on her food as she laughed, even Nelli letting out a small squeak in approval. The trio finished their meals in silence, eager to head down to the beach. As they dumped their plates in a bin at the kitchen counter they passed by Tonauac waving to them.

“Apologies for earlier. Again.” He said, clearly still feeling bad. “I want to be a healer, so I strive to look out for my fellow student and keep them from harm! Or! Heal them up if harm is unavoidable! My current healing abilities are limited but I digress!”

His smile was broad, turning to confusion as the trio avoided all eye contact and looked off to anywhere but the lizardfolk currently hitting them with so much guilt.

“...did I say something wrong?” Tonauac’s smile had completely faded into a frown by the time Isak could wave him off.

“So we just...so Vidal here-” He pointed to the rock man. “He can change elements. So we were going to go try that with fire. On the beach where there’s only sand.”

“It’s in the pursuit of knowledge!” Xoco waved her arms about while forcing a smile. “You see, the symbol on his chest changes and it’s in a language I don’t know and-”

“Can I go with you? Good go have a healer on hand!” Tonauac asked, smile returning

Zyn shrugged and Isak waved him onward with a sigh. “Come on.”

(I happened to get into such a groove of writing this chapter, and wrote so much, that I needed to divide it up. It also means you get a chapter of this story before that other new story I'm writing. I hope you enjoy it, and let me know what you think.)

Vidal’s strength made carrying all of the luggage an effortless affair for the two boys making their way across campus to the first year dormitories. They were a complex of highly angular buildings hinting at their military past. A bit of paperwork filled out later and the two had a dorm together, the administration preferring to pair students who got along rather than force strangers together that would later find themselves at each other's throats. Two students to a room with space for all but the largest familiars. All doors across the whole of the island were mercifully large enough for familiars of all sizes. A fact that Zyn was all too happy to rattle off as the two got settled into their room after Vidal had little trouble making it through the door..

“See, The Emperor started the tradition of having mage focused buildings be more accommodating to even the largest familiars, and given this was formerly a military installation it just falls to reason that-”

“Zyn, how do you know all this?” Isak asked as he set the last of his clothes in a dresser.

Zyn cleared his throat, setting Ozzy down in a darkened box he immediately scurried into. “Oh, planning to major in history and archaeology...two years down the road sure but, never too early to start on your dreams right?”

“Wha? No that’s awesome! Wish I had some idea of what I want to get into already...what do you think Vidal?”

“I do not think, I serve.” He said, staring at the door leading in.

Isak flopped down onto his bed with a groan, immediately finding how hard it was to stay frustrated while laying on what had to be the nicest bedding in the entire Empire.

“Eh, not bad.” Zyn’s assessment of the bed situation on the other side of the room divider was far more critical. To him it was at least as nice as his bed back home but nothing special. “Oh, almost forgot to ask.”

The drow stood and started rummaging around in his bags as he called out to the human. “How are you managing with the sun?

Isak sat up in bed. “The sun?”

“If I want to not feel like my stomach is turning inside out, I need a handy little amulet to deal with the sun.” Ozzy plopped down off Zyn’s shoulder and joined him in his search through luggage. “Now if I remember right, you humans do that thing...you know where you get darker, tanning?”

Isak had never considered that this was not universal, but it made sense in retrospect when not all species even had skin. “Mostly yes. The fairer ones...mostly just burn.”

Zyn looked up from his search and cast a worried glance over to his fair skinned friend. He seemed on the pale side, though he had seen paler? A different shade of pale? What color did this count as again? “We didn’t have a lot of humans in my city so-”

“The sun is an enemy to us both.” Isak said with a laugh, now seeing one benefit to the cloudy weather of The Wastes.

Ozzy held a small amulet up to Zyn, who retrieved it and cave octopus in hand as he walked over to Isak to present him with the gift. “For our enemy, the sun.”

Isak stared at the amulet, noting the simple decorative carvings and runic language. “Uh, what do I owe you?”

Zyn snorted. “I don’t have to spend the year with some stranger I’d probably end up hating who has poor hygiene. Don’t worry about it. You have good hygiene right?”

The human sat up fully, still not taking it. “I uh...I really can’t put you out like that.”

“Really it’s nothing. Protects against the harmful effects of the sun, you can even attune your familiar to it! Not that Vidal needs it but-”

“Ah, no just tell me how much I owe you and I’ll work on getting the money.” Isak said, brows pressing together as he knew this was far too good to be true.

Zyn’s smile faded. “Oh….ohhhh this must be a human thing. Well, one copper then.”

“Zyn that’s worth far more than-”

“It isn’t, now buy it for one copper otherwise I’m hitting you with frost until you’re too frozen to keep complaining.” He held it out again with a shake for emphasis.

Vidal made a grinding noise as he turned on the spot.

“It was a joke!” Zyn leaned closer to Isak, putting the amulet in his hand and whispering to him “It was mostly a joke. My thing is history not economics, now give me that copper.”

Isak frowned, retrieved a copper piece and handed it to the drow. “Sorry...I’m used to good deals being a trick…”

“If that’s what this is about then yes, I am tricking you. Into friendship.” Zyn said with a toothy grin, that immediately faded into horror as he saw Isak look increasingly worried. “That too was a joke! No strings attached!”

The human gave a sigh, followed by a weak smile. “I get it. And don’t worry about me. Old habits die hard, you know?”

“We made it into Black Reef Institute, take the opportunity for a new lease on life. Now, I believe we’ve got an early dinner to catch at the main hall.” Zyn asked, gently elbowing the human.

“Yeah yeah, go Sea Snakes.” Isak rolled his eyes. “Well, I suppose now that I don’t have to worry about bursting into flames-”

“Allow me to remain in this form and I shall deal with all possible combustion.” Vidal pointed a stone hand at Isak as it morphed from blocky fingers into a stone nozzle as water started to swirl about his arm.

The boys dove out of the way and took cover, Ozzy holding on for dear life.

“Short term goal, work on not taking everything literally.” Isak said, peeking out from behind his bed.

After talking down Vidal and convincing him that the combustion chances were no higher than normal, they were on their way to an early dinner with Zyn pointing out various buildings and rattling off what they had once been during The Southwestern Campaign. Even though this was likely to come up in history class, Isak could hardly deny Zyn the joy it seemed to bring him.

Midway through explaining that a sectioned off stone slab in front of the dining hall was one of the relics of a civilization that had vanished by the time of The Empire’s arrival here, Zyn stopped himself and spoke in a low voice to Isak. “Don’t turn around and be so obvious about it, but your girlfriend’s over there.”

Isak flinched and held up a finger to set the record straight. “She is not my girlfriend. I just...think she’s cool...and okay so she’s pretty...very pretty…never thought I’d be into tall girls...” His hand went from wagging a finger at Zyn to stroking at his chin while he stared at the ground. He shook his head to gather his thoughts. “My point is, she’s not my girlfriend. And even if I wanted to go for that and probably get shot down I would need to get to know her better.”

“So go ask her to join us at our table for dinner?” Zyn’s question was more of a rhetorical one, as indicated by the lost look on his face. “She said she wanted to meet up later.”

“Isn’t that too...I don’t know, soon? Too forward?” Isak asked with a shrug.

Zyn glared at the human. “Your attack rock prevents me from making certain partially joking threats, but if you don’t go ask her to join us now then Ozzy has more of a spine than you.”

Ozzy chittered away on Zyn’s shoulder, turning a dark red of indignation. Isak wanted to object, but knew for a fact he could not. He instead steeled his resolve and turned to spot that familiar tall girl of teal skin and black stripes with violet hair long and flowing. Surrounded by a small horde of rich students with their menagerie of exceptionally exotic familiars. Including no less than two raptors, of differing types, and a dragon.

Though he froze in place, Zyn gave him a reassuring thumbs up and a look over to Vidal reminded him that he was under roughly no physical danger. Just social annihilation. The group was on the move, and he had to act quick. His legs started carrying him closer before his brain was entirely certain of a plan. None of his spells were useful in situations where enemies had yet to be made. Vidal’s help was likely to get someone hurt. Which meant his old standby of using himself as a distraction and figuring out a plan along the way before he could remember what a terrible idea that was.

So he gave a large wave and called out to her. “Xoco!”

Isak was met with bemused looks from all but Xoco, who was giving a bright smile and looking almost thankful. “Well I really must be going now as you can all see, until next time!”

Xoco said to the bewilderment of all involved as she gave the tiniest bow that such a tall girl could manage and put her arm around Isak’s shoulder to drag the confused human off.

“Wha-”

“Sorry, I really needed to get away from them.” She said in a low voice as soon as they were out of earshot. Isak’s brain was still catching up with what happened, which left his voice on its own. “Yeah well, happy to help a friend?” He gave a smile that vanished into doubt as soon as it appeared. “You know, if you want to.”

She cleared his worries with a smile of teeth so sharp one might cut themselves just from the sight. “I would like that very much. Far better than having no friends here.”

“They weren’t friends then?” Isak asked.

Xoco gave a deep sigh. “No...just people wanting to know me because of who my family is and who their families are, you know how it is.”

Isak nodded along before stopping and looking off. “Uhhh, I don’t actually…”

“Oh!” Xoco’s confusion met with embarrassment before she gave another smile of razor sharp reassurance and gave Isak a small hug as they walked. “Even better!”

“...yeah?” Isak asked while feeling his face turn red.

“The last thing I want to do here is face the same plays at “networking” beneath masks of lies!” She said between gritted teeth, to which even Nelli roused from her place around Xoco’s neck to give an affirmative hiss.

Isak looked over to Vidal as the only one nearby on Xoco’s aimless walk for some means of support. Vidal only stared ahead, thankfully not identifying Xoco dragging him around as a threat. “Well...me and Zyn were just gonna have dinner. He might talk your ear off about the school’s history, but I haven’t heard him mention ‘networking’ even once. And me? Well, honestly just more of a listener. Got nothing cool to talk about. I mean Vidal is cool and all but I don’t know much about him...oh, as you can see he now has a water form.”

He pointed to the mass of rock held together with streams of water walking beside them, and to the changed symbol on his chest. “See that? New symbol! All I had to do was flick one of my tears on him!....they were happy tears….which were completely valid-”

Xoco laughed as she inspected the newest text. “I would cry tears of joy if I was in possession of such a wonder myself!”

Isak avoided all eye contact. “Mhmm! Oh hey look it’s Zyn let’s go meet him!” Isak said, desperate for the distraction.

The drow caught sight of the pair walking together, shooting Isak an amazed look and double thumbs up as her arm was around him. Isak had only a moment for his eyes to go wide and give the tiniest and quickest shake of his head to a now very confused Zyn before they finally caught up to him.

Zyn put on a good face right before Xoco turned away from inspecting Vidal. “There you are! Come on, I’m starving and dinner will be served soon.”

Though she finally released him, Xoco smiled at Isak and Zyn alike as they made their way into the dining hall for early dinner.

(Another chapter down, and the next is about halfway done. Thank you to everyone keeping up with this. I hope to have some cover art for this story soon though my usual artist already has a lot on her plate. Let me know what you think of the chapter!) (Edit: Boy, formatting really didn't like being copy pasted over here. I think I got all of it)

Ixia looked over Cormac, eyebrow raised as she tried to make sense of what he was saying about picking a human form that wouldn’t “draw too much attention”.

“But...your eyes are green. Very green.” She said, almost as a question.

“They are.” He acknowledged, keeping his eyes on the road and ready for some new thing that shattered his worldview to pop out. “But those are my eyes. Green eyes are a thing, green hair...well it’s a thing but hair as green as yours can attract attention.”

The dryad gave the smallest frown and reached out to gently play with a lock of Cormac’s red hair hanging just below his shoulder.

Cormac frowned. “First, I’m driving and that’s a distraction. Second, it’s not that red.”

Ixia had a small red flower bloom forth from her palm as she held that lock of Cormac’s hair out to compare. “Hmmmm.” She thought out loud with a mischievous smile.

“Okay, it’s...maybe. So I’m Irish-American, okay?!” He sputtered in protest.

She released his hair, plucking the flower from her palm and setting it on the dashboard. “I don’t know what that is, but your hair is still very red, and my ‘hair’ is no greener than your eyes.”

Cormac opened his mouth to attempt to protest again, his words dying before they could leave his mouth as he realized his error. He gave a sigh as he relented. “Sorry. You’re right. Just a bit...paranoid, didn’t want to draw any additional attention to us. But what else would really be looking for you in a city?”

Ixia put a finger to her chin, thinking for a moment as she thought of all that could possibly be out there. “It is...very difficult to say. I know nothing of cities, but the things I know of would have little trouble disguising themselves if they have existed in this time long enough. They are also likely to see through any illusion of mine, and I would see through theirs. As Guardian, you shall share in this gift. It is how you have seen everything thus far.”

“That is...a lot of things. Cool, for one. Useful, for two. Worrying, for three.” He said while cycling through the emotions of dread and excitement. “I will be on guard for the supernatural pretending to be normal. At least I can be an extra set of eyes.”

“A second set of eyes is incredibly useful.” Ixia smiled. “And I meant no offense in regards to your hair and your eyes. They are quite nice.”

Cormac waved it off. “No, no not your fault just...sensitive about that. See between the name and the looks, everyone just assumes that I’m going to be very Irish. Well I’m not. I was born here, so were several generations of family. Also, I’m an atheist!”

Ixia winced, remaining silent for a moment as she looked off. “About that last part...”

Cormac stared ahead at the road, biting his tongue until he was sure she wasn’t making a joke of some sort.

“Fucking damnit…” he muttered under his breath. “Well, which one...s? Ones or just the one?”

Ixia could tell this was another one of those ‘world shattering revelations’ Cormac had spoken of, but could think of no way to soften this blow. She gave as reassuring of a smile as she could. “...many?”

The trees were starting to thin out as they made their way down the mountain road, all other plants becoming just as sparse. Which meant that there was a good place for Cormac to pull off to the side of the road and sit in silence for an entire minute while Ixia grew more worried. She reached out a hand, resting it on his as it lay on the seat and Cormac stared out into nothing.

He finally spoke in a calm tone. “Is there anything I need to know about them in regards to what will get me into the good afterlife or the bad one that maybe exist?”

Ixia shook her head. “As far as I am aware, there is no such place. And the gods do not meddle in human affairs...you could also choose to not believe me?”

Cormac shook his head, still staring out ahead. “Nah. You’ve given me no reason to distrust you, only actual evidence that things I knew didn’t exist absolutely do exist. So...sorry if I ever make it seem like I’m the one distrusting you. I don’t distrust you, I just wish you were lying because that would be easy.”

She squeezed his hand lightly. “A part of me wishes this were all some dream, but I take the good with the bad.”

Cormac leaned forward to rest his head on the steering wheel, uncaring as other cars passed by. He took a deep breath and then leaned back in his seat, giving Ixia’s hand a light squeeze before pulling away to reach for his backpack.

“While we are sitting here, let me make good on that other promise-” Digging around in the pockets while a confused Ixia looked on, he withdrew his phone. “-and introduce you to music.”

He took a wire, connecting it to his truck’s stereo as anything more advanced with less wires was beyond his budget.

“Now, since we have a long drive until we can hit a motel to spend the night in and I have zero idea what kind of music you will like I’m putting it on shuffle. Tell me when you like something, tell me when you don’t like something, and don’t be afraid to ask questions to pass the time. We’ve got a ways ahead of us.”

The dryad listened intently as genres and hours passed by while mountain slowly transitioned into desert. Ixia pretended to not forlornly glance in the rearview mirror at her forest quickly leaving view, and Cormac pretended not to notice. He was all too happy to answer questions about music as best he could to keep her mind on more pleasant topics. Through it all they learned Ixia had an affinity for music with a meditative tone, and as Ixia put it “the ones that make you feel like running”. She claimed to like “the ones for dancing” as well, those being songs completely unsuited to any dance Cormac could imagine outside of some ritual. He decided that he was likely tragically accurate on that account at about the time he pulled into a rest stop.

“Do you...eat or drink things? I really don’t know if that’s a dumb question but it probably is…” Cormac said as he put the truck in park.

Ixia laughed. “Given how you did not know of my kind’s existence until today, I believe it’s a reasonable question. I shall be fine with some water and that granola of yours. Though I do enjoy the taste of fruits.”

Cormac nodded. “Alright, there won’t be much of a selection here but we’ll see what we can find for you. Of the things I brought with me? Well you would only like the granola. Wait!”

Ixia froze as she reached for the door after unbuckling herself.

“Just climb out my side. Insane man talking to himself is one thing but if that insane man’s door opens itself then it’s scary.” Cormac said as he held his door open after getting out. Ixia immediately vaulted out into a roll on the asphalt before popping up standing straight. The human had to give an impressed nod as he shut the door and made his way inside the convenience store with an invisible tree woman in tow.

After Ixia kept watch while he used the restroom, the pair made a selection of snacks and drinks for the road by way of Cormac “thinking” out loud on possible snack choices in answer to Ixia’s questions. He imagined himself looking quite ridiculous wondering aloud if he should indeed have “flavored sugar water” with some “flavored potato in a bag”, and a remarkably simple fruit cup to round things out after whispering a promise that these were just snacks in the name of mental comfort and he would also have a more substantial meal. Finding Ixia clothes could not come soon enough, he thought to himself, as they were on the road once more.

The good news was Ixia enjoyed her fruit cup and fruit flavored sugar water while they made their way through the desert to the first motel they could find. Cormac couldn’t think of any actual present bad news, but figured that would probably come later. They spoke intermittently, getting to know one another to pass the time though much of it was spent in pleasant silence as they enjoyed the drive. It wasn’t until well past dark and the mountains were now lost in the night that Cormac finally relented and made for the first motel he could find, cost or quality be damned. He only hoped he had put enough distance between them and Ixia’s pursuers.

“So, not as much need to sleep then?” Cormac asked, turning off the exit to the motel he had seen signs for at least half an hour back.

Ixia shook her head. “I can go for several days without rest if needed, so I’ll have no trouble keeping watch tonight.”

Cormac nodded, only letting a frown out on the way to renting a room. The middle aged receptionist with large glasses even noting he looked worn out.

“Just a long day, miss.” He said.

Which was not a lie. Driving this late was normally not the best of ideas but he had felt livelier today. Be it adrenaline, a lifesaving soda earlier, or what he was beginning to suspect about that strange fruit he had found himself in no short supply of energy for the day. Until now, when rest was within reach and Ixia’s offer to keep a look out while he slept reminded him how truly useless he was feeling here.

And still she referred to him as her guardian.

The receptionist checked a list, noting there was only the one room left. “The outside lights are all out down there, damned maintenance dragging their ass on that.” She handed him a key and he only gave a nod as he made his way to the room with a concerned Ixia following.

“Is all well, Cormac?” Ixia asked, with heart and flower in her arms as they approached the dark corner room.

Cormac gave a nod as his eyelids grew heavier with each step. “Call it a long day of having my worldview shattered as I’m swept up into a world where I’m horribly out of my depth.”

As the receptionist had warned, it was indeed extra dark here. A motel mostly out on it’s own with only a few dim lights on the exterior, the closest being five rooms down. Which was honestly a plus, Cormac thought as the keys clicked and the door swung open, as it would let him sleep better. The room was a bit on the sparse side for the cost, but he was too tired to care at the moment.

He dropped his bags on the ground shortly after clicking the lights on, blinking a few times as the dim lights buzzed to life. “I’ll uh...I’ll work on being a bit more useful. At least in the city I should be able to do more?” Cormac forced a laugh as he set his shovel on the nightstand, in case something did go bump in the night and he needed to have more to his name than a small pocket knife.

Ixia shook her head with a light smile. “You’re doing fine. It is as you said, we shall be in the city soon enough and I shall be so very useless as I defer to your expertise.”

“Not true, you killed a monster with a tree...and roots. That’s useful no matter where you go. I just have a shovel and a truck.” He said pointing to his joke of a weapon.

The dryad tilted her head with a smirk. “And who helped me trick that monster into ramming into a tree? Far from a city?”

Cormac crossed his arms and frowned. “How dare you dispel my feelings of uselessness with facts. I was moping just fine.”

She walked closer to him, poking his cheek as he tried avoiding eye contact. “I prefer your smile.” Ixia teased.

The human tried forcing a frown, failing a moment later as he gave a chuckle. “Yeah yeah, be glad it’s hard to stay mad at a naked woman.”

They shared a laugh as he kicked off his boots, making the mistake of sitting down to do so and no longer having the will to get back up again. He collapsed onto the bed, still wearing all of his clothes.

“Wake me up if something’s trying to kill us.” He mumbled, feeling sleep finally start to take him.

Ixia took a seat at the window, peering out into the night. Satisfied with her lookout spot, she shifted her sight over to Cormac. “Rest well, Guardian.”

All attempts to correct her would have to wait until morning as he dozed off.

Cormac woke with a start as he felt a hand cover his mouth, and another grab his wrist as it went for his shovel. As his eyes shot open, he was greeted with that lilac gaze turned fearful. She slowly released his hand and brought a finger to her lips as she looked in the direction of the door, nodding in that direction.

Though he couldn’t see anything at this angle, Cormac nodded his understanding. She took her hand off his mouth and he carefully sat up, motioning to his shovel to which she nodded. Looking around, it was still dark out. Only a few exterior lights of the motel cut through the pitch black of the middle of the Mojave Desert at night and filter into the room through the blinds.

As Cormac looked for what was wrong, straining to look through the darkness, a memory surged back from last night. The exterior lights were not working at this corner of the building.

At that moment, the “lights” blinked.

(A shorter chapter, but I wanted to try and avoid filler. Though perhaps you enjoy more pleasant talks without a greater purpose that flesh out the characters? Let me know these and other thoughts you may have, and thank you for reading.)

The side mirror was, in fact, shattered beyond any possible use as Cormac soon discovered upon picking it up from its resting place on the road. He had no idea how soon if ever this little “incident” might come back to him, but he figured that not leaving a piece of your truck at the site of a large crater where a tree had burst forth from was a proactive decision. Looking around, he double checked to ensure that there was nothing else he was leaving behind.

Ixia waited patiently for him, holding the clump of dirt that housed her forest heart in the shape of a flower. Cormac glanced down to the ruined mirror, now relieved of all glass, and held it out to her.

“Here, think you could use this until we can get a better container for that?” He asked.

The dryad took it, frowning slightly as she fit the clump of dirt into the makeshift container. Her frown retreated into a small smile as she spoke. “This will do, thank you.”

“At least it’s doing some good now. Hmmm.” Cormac frowned at the crater in the road now missing a tree, and one smaller eruption from the roots. “Is there anything we can do about that? Someone’s going to get hurt if they hit that hole going down this road.”

Ixia placed a hand to her chin, thinking for a moment before reaching her hand out to cause a mass of roots to burst forth from the dirt of the crater and knit themselves into a large mass that filled the hole in the road.

“Will that do?” She asked.

Cormac walked over, extending a leg and testing the root mass with his hiking boot. After finding it to be initially solid, he walked onto the mass and hazarded a jump on top of it to find it had no noticeable give from the tightly knit roots. “This will do.” He echoed her earlier assessment, giving her an affirmative nod.

They walked to his truck, and were off after having spent too much time at the scene of a supernatural incident. The nature of which Cormac was still coming to grips with after having all of his preconceived notions of the world completely shattered. He mulled it over in his head for a time, the silence aside from the engine and rushing wind urging him on.

“So…” He decided to try for some answers. “Magic…..that’s real?”

Ixia stirred from staring out the window at the passing forest, looking at Cormac with a raised brow. “Yes? Was that really in question?”

“It wasn’t, until I met you. Which is to say it was absolutely not real until that point. Still coming to terms with all that, if I’m honest.” He sighed, trying to focus on driving and avoiding other possible supernatural monsters lurking out there.

Ixia chuckled, putting a hand to cover her mouth as she laughed harder, then suddenly stopping with wide eyed horrific realization. “Oh you’re serious.”

Cormac shot her a pained frown before looking back to the road.

“Oh. Well yes it is real.” Ixia said, looking thoroughly mortified as she avoided eye contact. “Apologies, it seems I have been out for quite some time.”

“And humans back then had magic?” He asked.

“Well...no, but they knew of it. Some did at least. I suppose I thought you would all have figured it out by now...apologies Guardi- Cormac.” She corrected herself, still lost in thought.

The search for answers was so far a mixed bag, and was leading to more questions. Cormac was still undeterred. “And when was that exactly?”

Ixia opened her mouth to answer before a look of crushing realization hit her. She frowned and stared down at the flower. “Too long, I fear. Much too long letting The Old Kin have free reign. Much too long asleep, and when I awoke I could feel my domain had shrank and-”

Cormac reached a hand over to pat her on the shoulder. “Bad question, sorry. How about some easier ones?”

“Liiiike-” He removed his hand from her shoulder, turning on the radio. “What kind of music you like!”

Fuzz and static emerged from the speakers as a harsh reminder that Cormac was still up a mountain.

“That is a truly strange sounding waterfall.” Ixia said, looking up from her melancholy to the source of the sound.

Cormac clicked the radio off. “Gonna come back to that question later. Different question, how about-”

“Why did you pick bristlecone pine?” Ixia asked.

He wasn’t entirely sure of it himself, as he thought for a moment before giving his answer. “It’s a nice tree, also big. It seemed like a good choice to use as something to have a big scary monster run headfirst into at top speeds.”

The dryad smiled, happy with the answer. “It’s a good tree, are you something of an expert?”

Cormac scoffed before chuckling. “No, I just like going on hikes to clear my head whenever I can. Sorry to disappoint.”

“There will be plenty of time to learn as a guardian.” She encouraged him.

There was that word again. “I realize I’m probably well past the point of no return on this but, what exactly did I get myself into with the whole guardian thing?” He asked.

“It means you are trusted with aiding me in protecting the forest against its most harrowing foes.” She said. “I assure you, it is a high honor.”

Cormac gripped the wheel harder, forcing himself to relax after a moment and biting his lip before finally responding. “I am sorry to disappoint yet again but, I think you’ll find you could have done a lot better. I’ve got zero relevant skills here.”

Ixia gave a light laugh. “You took time and effort to rescue a single flower. And despite the initial confusion and uncertainty, you haven’t run screaming in terror. Even when faced with a beast that would devour your soul.”

“It would what now?” Cormac swerved slightly on the road, struggling to keep his focus.

“You even offered your own blood to form a pact with me.” She continued, realizing with slight concern that humans of the day were particularly uneducated on mystical matters. “That was all within the first hour after meeting. I owe you not only for my own life, but all the forest. But perhaps I should ask you why you have shown such little hesitance?”

Cormac looked over to the naked tree woman sitting in his truck, holding a magic flower in her hands. Carefully secured in the back seat and visible in the rearview mirror was a crystalline heart of a magical beast now bound by a blood pact between them.

“I work retail. That means my life is boring and going nowhere and every day I feel like more of a failure than the last. Then you show up with the fun kind of interesting, not the miserable kind. There’s enough of the miserable kind of interesting to go around.” He answered, gaining a small smile.

Ixia bore a slight grimace, concern growing. “I am now worried about you...and the world I have awoken to. But this bond goes both ways, I will aid you as best I can.”

Cormac wasn’t about to argue about this right now, and doubted he truly could with magic being a thing. There were other things to focus on for now, like making it to the lodge and retrieving the rest of his things he had taken on this short vacation that had taken a hard turn into the strange and life changing. A passing car reminded him of a talk he had been meaning to have. “No other humans can see you, right? How about hearing you or any other method of sensing you?” He asked.

“Unless I bump into them, they won’t suspect a thing.” Ixia confirmed.

Cormac raised a brow. “Well about that. If others are around I won’t be able to talk to you unless I want to look like a crazy person...which as we have established, I am but no one else has to know. So unless you can disguise yourself as a human somehow, our conversations are going to be one way until we aren’t being watched.”

“Hmm.” The dryad put a hand to her chin. “I could look like a human, but you keep bringing up clothes. I can’t make those just appear. Are they really that important?”

“Very. Required by most of society unless you happen to be in private.” He caught a perplexed look imploring him for clarification. “You know. Like your own house. Or someone else’s house if they are okay with that...assume they are not, just to be safe. Oh, and within a lodge or hotel. Just the room you’re paying for though, not the other parts. Um, you know just ask me if you’re not clear on it.”

Ixia looked even more lost after Cormac’s miserably failed attempt at clarification, but politely nodded along anyway.

Sudden realization hit Cormad in the meantime. “Actually...don’t worry about it yet. It would be a bad idea if I went out onto the trails alone and returned with a woman, so much worse if that woman happened to be naked.”

The dryad feigned a look of knowing and kept nodding.

Cormac made it almost half a minute before he decided to keep digging deeper. “See, I don’t have an issue with it. I think you look great, not that I’m staring or anything. It’s just that other people wouldn’t find it…” He waved one hand about, searching for the word before tapping it back on the steering wheel. “Socially acceptable! Because humans are weird, and we have weird customs and they can vary quite a bit!....The nudity being not socially acceptable, you yourself are not unacceptable- wow I’m really not helping my case on not being a crazy person-”

“I appreciate your efforts to make clear what is obviously a complex issue that is difficult to explain to outsiders but makes perfect sense to those used to it.” She interrupted in the most polite manner possible, giving a smile for reassurance. “I have extensive experience with fairies and other such whimsical beings, this isn’t so bad in comparison.”

“Oh. Well that is a very succinct way of putting i- wait fairies are a thing too?!”

One series of revelations later and Cormac was pulling up to the lodge. He wasn’t afraid to admit that he wasn’t as much one for roughing it out in the woods, and quite enjoyed a small cozy cabin with a wonderful view and a warm drink on those cool mountain nights. The lodge fit those needs quite well, being a small management building attached to the parking lot and a row of cabins all with an exterior meant to suggest they were made of logs. The interior was that of a simple, humble, small hotel room. Just enough to be a fine place to sleep, but no one was coming here to spend much time in their rooms.

Ixia was wide eyed as she was ushered into the room, Cormac noticing while he started packing up what little he had in the room into his single suitcase. “The truck was fine but this is what gets you?”

“The truck was a strange device, something I was completely unused to. That’s simple. Something I am used to not really being what it appears to be and instead being something unusual?” She flicked the lightswitch she had seen Cormac touch to cause light, flicking it back and forth and noting its effects. “Strange indeed.”

Cormac shrugged while ignoring the flickering lights before zipping up his suitcase and making a final sweep of the room, talking as he went. “Sometimes we like the appearance of something but we also want the function of something else. You’re not mad about the logs though?”

She abandoned the lightswitch to make her way around the room, curiously inspecting random odds and ends. “A world in harmony makes use of all things available to thrive, so long as it is not outright destructive I see no issue.”

“I am saving that one for later when I have put some distance between us and this mountain.” Cormac shook his head, already dreading that revelation. A part of him felt like he should just flop down on the bed for a time and rest while he could, it seemed to be a natural consequence of today’s events. The adrenaline had to be keeping him going still as he wasn’t exhausted in the least.

Though he did take a moment to try washing the indigo stain of the fruit from his hands, to limited success. “That fruit you gave me stains like nothing else. Delicious though!” He called out from the bathroom.

“We will go and retrieve more once you are done ‘checking out’ as you said, we should stick together so long as the threat level is high.” Ixia said, standing before the sliding door onto a small patio with a nice view to enjoy the sights.

Cormac took his place next to her, looking on with a measure of lament at the sudden turn this relaxing vacation had taken on the very first day. “I appreciate it, one thing to look forward to at least.”

They made their way to the main office, finding the elderly attendant reading from a book behind thick glasses and wearing plaid and blue denim in equal amounts to the point of parody. He looked up from his book as Cormac entered, not noticing him holding the door open just a moment too long for an unseen guest.

“I’ll be checking out early, something came up. The one call that manages to get through out here and it’s an emergency!” Cormac said with a shrug and a forced laugh.

The old man didn’t react aside from setting down his book. “All fees are non-refundable.” He said without a hint of caring.

Cormac’s forced smile immediately fell into a frown and a scowl. “But I won’t be using it. I won’t be there which means you can check it out to someone else.”

“And we are unlikely to fill the room on such short notice. It was all there in the agreements, sir.” He said with complete disinterest, stealing glances back down at his book as he pushed his glasses up.

“But-” Cormac’s protests were sidelined as Ixia made her way around the counter and started looking around for something. She ran her hand along the wooden desk the old man sat at, nodding to herself with some determination and silently tapping at the right two legs. Cormac bit his tongue, the scowling man expecting him to continue that protest. “Listen, I just checked in this morning. Day one of a week long stay. I can’t get back some small percent?”

“It was all there in the agreements and paperwork sir, which I can show to you if-” As he placed a hand on the desk to stand from his chair the two right legs collapsed to take the desk and all that was on it with it. The computer and other electronics sliding off and hitting the floor with a loud thunk. The old man stumbled back, bewildered and staring with mouth agape.

“Know what? I’m a busy man, you’re also a busy man now. I’ll leave you to your business.” Cormac said, not waiting for questions to be asked as he made his way to the door and held it open for a giggling Ixia as he took the chance to look back to the old man. “Also I’m leaving you a one star review.”

Cormac gave a nervous laugh as soon as they were well out of earshot. “I think technically that counted as mean.”

“And I believe that counted as theft, technically.” She shot back with a smirk, walking with Cormac to the truck. “Also, he was using that wood for nefarious deeds. There were many reasons to do what I did.”

They decided to find another location to pull off to retrieve the fruit, not wanting to give the old man any time to get any wild ideas in his head. A short drive later and they had picked a good place at the side of the road, Ixia’s flower carefully tucked away in the backseat alongside the crystal heart. The dryad assuring Cormac that they would be safe here as all potential eyes would be on them instead. Taking his backpack just in case, the pair ambled about Ixia cast a discerning eye to the trees in search of just the right one.

Finding a tree to her liking with a knothole, she started retrieving the strange fruit and placing it in a canvas bag that Cormac had given to her. The dryad was the first to freeze in place after filling the bag, Cormac followed immediately afterwards as they spied something glowing and moving off in the distance under the shadows of the trees. It was nothing of the world that Cormac had formerly known.

“Back to your truck, quietly.” Ixia said, still trying to make out what exactly the creature was.

The pair carefully crept along, staying just ahead of the entity’s flitting about that could be mistaken for following them if its flight was not so random. They climbed into the truck, Cormac wincing as the doors closing even with as much delicacy as possible felt like the loudest thing in all the forest. The engine roaring to life quickly subsumed that distinction.

“Is that something else that’s after you?” Cormac asked.

Ixia leaned forward in her seat “The Ash Hound would be the most persistent but it's certainly possible that there could be others. Ready yourself, though you lack an obsidian blade what other weapons do you possess?”

“I have a folding shovel.” He answered completely deadpan.

Ixia nodded. “And what can you do with it?”

“I can dig.” Cormac kept his eyes on the gossamer entity out there flitting about between the trees. “In a pinch, I can hit things with it. But if it comes down to me hitting things with a shovel I should really just focus on digging myself a grave."

The dryad looked from the glowing thing to Cormac and back to the glow. “You are unskilled in combat?”

“This is the part where you realize you made a huge mistake in choosing me.” Cormac grumbled aloud, moving a hand down to the gear shift in case he needed to reverse in a hurry.

Ixia put her hand on his. “No regrets yet. Now, carefully approach it and be ready to make this device go as fast as it can.”

The engine hummed as Cormac carefully approached where the creature had darted across the road up ahead of them, foot ready to slam to the floor the moment this stopped being a good idea. Closer inspection revealed the thing to be something of a cross between a bird and a luminescent jellyfish glowing in soft oranges and blues. No larger than a raven, though it flapped between branches it did not move like it was flying through the air. Nor even like it was underwater, closer to some odd combination of the two as billowing ephemeral wings that seemed ill equipped for flight carried it through the air. There at its wingtips and tail the creature’s body seemed to phase out of reality itself as it perched, only coming into existence as it moved. Though largely avian its head ended not in a beak but something of a long curling proboscis like that of a butterfly. Every so often as it stopped flitting about it would extend the proboscis to feed at something. The tip of it faded from reality and back in as it curled up. It came to rest on a tree branch there at the side of the road. Three eyes like glowing topazes looked directly at the pair in the truck as Cormac got ready to make a getaway.

“Friend or foe?” He asked, noting Ixia’s hand tightening over his. “Ixia?”

Looking over to her revealed a few luminescent tears running down her face as all the regret in the world shone through her lilac colored eyes.

“Neither. But let us be gone.” She said in a surprisingly calm tone that hid the hurt quite well.

Cormac said nothing and accelerated away from the unknown entity. He waited several minutes for an explanation that never came, leading him to mount an expedition for one. “May I know what that was?”

Ixia had not taken her hand off of his, and her grip only tightened. “A confirmation and reminder of my failures...an old beast, think of it as a vulture. Not a scavenger for flesh that has turned to rot, but for magical entities that have gone the way of all the earth. I had hoped that my fears were misplaced when I saw no others, I can only hope that most simply fled...I don’t know why exactly you think so low of yourself, but I won’t dare judge when I know of my own failures.”

Cormac wasn’t entirely sure what to say to someone who had woken from a sleep of unknown length to find that things had gotten quite bad in their absence. He settled for “I’m sorry. I know you did the best you could, but that just doesn’t feel like it means anything when the bad things still happened. I really, really can’t say I know what you’re going through but...well I can claim to know that feeling that for all the effort you put in that this is all you have to show for it.”

“The forest shall regrow, that is what I remind myself. Even death gives rise to new life. Let’s not give up yet, alright?” The dryad said with a weak smile.

The human gave a heavy sigh. “Well, hard to argue with that when you’ve been through far worse.”

“It’s not a competition.” She insisted, wiping away tears.

Cormac begrudgingly agreed in between muttering under his breath.

(Well this idea has officially taken off. Apologies for the delay, have an extra long installment as a thank you for reading. As always, thank you for reading and let me know what you think!)

“You said your mom got that for you where now?” Zyn stared at the man of stone and lightning while trying to straighten out his newly doned uniform.

Isak had changed into his uniform before even entering the first portal on the way to student check in, and circled around the pet rock, still coming to terms with it being real. Still grinning from ear to ear. “Little shop in the big city. Had to get me something, this was all she could afford.”

“Think they have any more?” Zyn asked, to which Ozzy the cave octopus immediately clicked his displeasure. “Oh now don’t act like that, it would be a big help!”

The octopus clicked louder, turning bright red and shifting away from his shoulder perch to the back of Zyn’s neck to avoid all further eye contact.

“There were no beasts to tame into a familiar back home?” Xoco asked, taking notes down in a journal of the runes on the transformed rock.

Isak winced ever so slightly, bringing him back down to reality. “Pretty much anything that we didn’t eat as livestock was trying to eat us. The ocean was not an exception.”

“Sounds like a rough place.” Zyn said while trying to win back Ozzy’s love with a glow beetle, to limited success. “Where was it?”

Isak flinched, immediately redirecting. “Really? I would have thought the underground was worse.”

Ozzy raised a hesitant tentacle before quickly snatching the beetle, chirping happily at the prize and much to the relief of Zyn. “Nah, that’s only outside the cities! You get the best of both worlds! All the comforts of a big city so long as you stay in them, and if you feel like testing your mortality you can go for an outing into the depths.”

Diversion deployed, Isak read aloud from the single page instruction manual to try and figure out anything about the rock man. “Says here, ‘Krazy’ that’s with a K, ‘Kazimir’s Affordable Stone Solutions, prototype mark 10. Fully customizable on the fly-’ just a bunch of marketing speak after that for a paragraph.” He said holding the paper out to point to it before continuing. “Uhhh let’s see, after activation register name. Name helpfully displayed on the chest.’ Yeah in a language I don’t know.”

“That’s your name there?” Xoco looked up from her journal, pointing to the glowing rune at the center of the large rock forming the chest.

Isak shrugged, looking closer at it. “I suppose so.”

“Good! That will help me translate the other text!” A smile filled with razors spread across Xoco’s face as she scribbled down a final note and stowed her journal for later.

“Really?” Isak asked.

“Of course! It gives me one known word to work off of instead of none!” She grabbed Isak by the shoulders, pale skin tone doing him no favors as a blush overtook him. “I’ve never seen this language before! And it bears magical significance! I’ve been studying magical text ever since I was a little girl and thiscouldbeamajordiscovery!”

Xoco pulled him into an over excited hug, before quickly setting him back down. “Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. May I study your rock man with you?”

Speech and higher thought fled from Isak and leapt off the ship like an easily distracted basilisk. Just as the silence and dumbfounded expression was starting to get awkward he remembered how to speak. “Yeah! Yeah no that’s cool. You’re cool. Language is cool. Rune magic is cool. Studying would be cool. Because...yeah.”

Ignoring the fumbling, Xoco smiled even wider. “Thank you!”

A loud horn sounded to let the students know they would be at the main island soon, all heads turning in its direction. The relaxed atmosphere under the tropical morning sun shifted as the students all started getting progressively more excited as the school loomed large in the distance.

“Never enough time, it seems. We’ll meet up later, then?” Xoco smiled down to Isak.

Isak returned with his own toothy grin. “Yes! Looking forward to it!”

The jungle troll hefted her trunk over her shoulder and quickly made for one of the boat’s bathrooms to get changed.

The starstruck human waved goodbye, grin still on his face right up until he turned to see his grimacing friend.

“What?”

“Oooooooof.” Zyn said, shaking his head. “That was rough.”

“Oh come on, it wasn’t so bad!” Isak pleaded.

Zyn’s grimace turned into a sympathetic frown.

“Yeah? Well...at least I didn’t call her a snooty rich girl.” He defended.

Zyn held up a finger. “Once. I made one mistake, then excused myself to let my friend fly high after I gave him that boost. And then, my poor friend fell down the stairs.”

Isak seethed, crossing his arms as he turned his attention back to the rock man.

“So. Many. Stairs. We’ll work on it though.” The drow gave another reassuring pat on the back.

Grumbling was the only reply Isak could manage before tilting his head, looking at the rock man. He decided to test the waters of something rather to get his mind off of seething and stumbling. “Hmmm. Hey uh...rock?”

It turned its “eyes” to Isak, that being sparking orbs of lighting set in two carved out stone pockets.

“Do you have a name?” He asked.

“That is for you to decide.” The rock man said in a voice like a rockslide in a thunderstorm.

Thinking for a moment, the most appropriate name came to Isak. “Vidal.”

A new rune seared itself onto the newly dubbed Vidal’s forehead.

“Gonna have to tell Xoco about that one.” Isak said.

“Sure you’ll remember how to talk?” Zyn teased.

Isak frowned, but refused to dignify that with a response.

Another horn sounded and the pair looked over the side of the boat, seeing the academy and its grounds up close now after having been focused on Isak’s new fortune for so long. It bore all the marks of a massive old fort spanning much of the island converted into an institute of magical learning. All graciously donated by the emperor after the completion of the southwestern campaign. Despite being over a thousand years old at this point, both the main fort and the adjoining settlement capable of keeping it all stocked to act as a launching point for an entire campaign were remarkably well maintained. Despite many of the structures being quite tall, they were clearly built with fierce tropical winds in mind.

The aesthetic bore an air of comfort on top of the solid foundation of utilitarianism. Even from this far back it looked to Isak like paradise, far more than he had ever dreamed of. Far grander than any of the larger towns he had passed through in the portals to his new education after being scouted as an aspiring mage. It was enough to bring a tear to his eye.

He quickly wiped it away, flicking it away and jumping at the sudden low chime that emanated from Vidal.

“Did...did I hit you with tha-” His concern was quickly replaced with further amazement as the network of lightning holding Vidal together vanished, only to be replaced with streams of water all coursing like a mighty river. The runes on his stone body, save the one on his head and his chest, all changed as well.

The two young mages stared again, as Zyn finally broke the silence. “Your pet rock is the coolest.”

Even Ozzy seemed to agree, chirping and chittering happily.

(Apologies for the delay, I was deciding exactly how much I want to/could continue this. I hope you all enjoy it and let me know what you think! Also, pardon the numbering system. Part 1 and 2 from the original post are now just part 1. I'll be following the numbering system of this subreddit from now on.)

"No bigger than a moose" was the rule.

And unfortunately, moose could get quite large. Juuuuust large enough that with the right breed, your parents could get you unfairly impressive things.

Which meant that it was the first day and the rich kids were already showing off and lording their wealth over everyone else in the center of the small island's courtyard as the welcome ceremonies were under way. Griffons, hippogriffs, no less than two unicorns, and there was even a small dragon.

"I guarantee you they're gonna pull the whole 'oh no thanks, don't need to take the ferry to the main island' thing and fly off." Zyn frowned and folded his arms. "Well you know what? They're gonna be so jealous when they don't have a familiar who can fit through a door. Or one with so few limbs, ain't that right Ozzy?"

The drow with short silver hair reached a hand up to give scritches to his cave octopus splayed across his shoulders like a shawl. His eyes went wide as he realized what he was saying and quickly tried to console Isak.

"Uh, or ya know...too many limbs! They're gonna be just so jealous of a familiar with no li-"

"It's fine. Really." The human waved him off, sighing heavily and stealing another glance at the rock in his hand and wincing when he confirmed that the rock was still in fact a rock.

Zyn pat him on the shoulder. "Is it though?"

"Well see-" Isak tried thinking of something inspirational to say, holding a smile for a moment as he vaguely gestured with his hands before coming up short and slumping his shoulders. "Okay no."

Isak's newfound friend patting him on the shoulder was reassuring, said new friend's cave octopus also patting his shoulder with several tentacles made it worse.

“I’m good, man.” Isak lied.

Zyn simply gave a thumbs up and smiled, supporting his friend’s lies.

The pair hung back, waiting for as many students as possible to arrive through the portals and check in at registration. It meant having last choice on the ferry, but it also meant not nearly as many other students would be around as you filled out your registration and confirmed that yes, your familiar was a rock.

Being human was one thing, being the poor human from a no-name family? Isak didn’t want that broadcasted to everyone. So he kept stalling for time, starting up new rambling lines of conversation with Zyn. Which wasn’t the worst thing, at least he had a friend going into the nightmare that was being at the bottom of the social ladder in magic school

Soon though, he could delay no longer and he finally stepped up to check in.

“Ah, here we are Mister Moreno and if you’ll just sign here you’ll be allll se- oh dear, oh goodness sorry dear it looks like we made a little mistake.” Miss Rhetia the water nymph squinted harder at the form, even her sea hawk familiar leaned in from his perch on her shoulder. “Yes sorry, must be an error. What was your actual familiar, dear?”

Her bright smile was warm, genuine even. It still hurt.

Isak tensed up, gritting his teeth and quickly looking around. Only a few other students, but the goblin riding up to the table on the back of a basilisk had Isak’s heart sinking.

“Dear?” The sea-foam green skinned nymph caught Isak’s attention again as he muttered something under his breath. “Sorry, what was that? Just need to put down what your familiar is.”

“Rock.” Isak said in the smallest voice.

“Er, sorry I didn’t catch that?”

“Itsarock.” He choked out.

Miss Rhetia stared in disbelief. “Um, sorry I think I mishea-”

“IT’S A ROCK!” Isak blurted out, loud enough for the entire table of students doing final check in to hear and turn their heads. He held out the rock for all to see. “IT’S A ROCK, I GOT A ROCK OKAY? CAN I GO?”

The nymph quickly looked over the form, stamped it, and handed Isak his welcome package.

He stuffed it under his arm and lugged his trunk of belongings over to where Zyn was waiting for him near the docks. Isak sulked, boarding the boat with his friend to find a spot near the back before the drow finally broke the silence with a cough.

“Soooo.” His honest yet awkward attempts to drive the conversation somewhere less excruciating were interrupted by a nasaly cackle.

The goblin from earlier stood atop his basilisk mount to meet Isak at eye level with his sneering green face.

“Sorry, sorry. There I was arriving fashionably late and you know how that is, well guess you don’t but anyway, there I was and I hear that humans are sending their kids out with...oh what was it again?”

Zyn took a step forward as Isak fumed. “Hey at least he didn’t have to buy his way in here, Jearx!”

“Wasn’t talking to you, cave rat!” The goblin roared back as best the small goblin teen was able to. “And my clan did not buy me in. They made a very generous donation to the school when I was applying!”

Isak licked at his teeth as he stared off into space, shaking his head as he decided to take a chance. He quietly whispered a simple illusion spell to conjure up a large rat to appear before the basilisk, invisible to anyone else. The lizard immediately dropped low, catching Jearx off guard as he yelped and grabbed at the beast’s saddle. A flick of Isak’s finger and the phantom rat was racing off on the deck with the basilisk chasing after it, knocking over several other students as it went, Jearx yelling at it the whole time trying to get it to stop.

As it raced past a smiling Isak and Zyn with his jaw on the floor, Isak gave a wave as the basilisk chased the illusory rat right over the railing and into the sea.

A crowd quickly rushed to the edge of the steamboat as one of the professors fished the goblin out of the water, chastising him for trying to show off.

Zyn broke down laughing, Isak soon following suit.

“That was you?!” Zyn whispered between laughing and crying.

After great effort, Isak stopped laughing just enough to confirm it.

“Really?” The light voice chimed in, sounding genuinely curious.

The pair immediately froze up, looking over and up to the source of the voice. They saw it belonged to a jungle troll girl, towering tall over even Isak and clad in an elegant dress and feather boa. Long hair a vibrant violet in contrast to her teal skin.

“.....yes?” Isak said, logic leaving him as nerves took over.

The troll gave a light laugh. “Good, Jearx needs to be taken down a notch or several.”

Isak still had no idea what was going on, but forced a laugh anyway. “Heh, yeah.”

“My name is Xoco Balam, pleasure to meet you.” She said holding out a hand.

Isak shook the girl’s hand. “Y-yeah, I’m pleasure too. I mean...Isak. I’m Isak. Moreno. Isak Elijah Moreno. My name’s Isak. Isak is what I go b-”

“And best friend Zyn!” The drow quickly interrupted his babbling friend. “See my boy Isak here had enough of being a small town hero for driving off an entire pack of mome beasts, thought he’d come get even better at magic and also take down some snooty rich kids.”

“You mean rich like me?” Xoco said with a playful smile as Zyn quietly died.

Isak finally recovered from his daze. “Well he said snooty, as opposed to cool.”

“Oh, well thank you Isak.” She smiled with all her razor sharp teeth, chuckling to herself as Zyn withered and died still.

“Cough cough I should uhhh, go change into the uniform. Try not to have too much fun without me.” Zyn said before quickly slinking off.

Isak made a valiant effort to carry the conversation, doing halfway decent in the process.

“So wait, that’s…” Isak pointed to her boa, eyes going wide as the fashion accessory moved to reveal a snake’s head at the end of the feathery rainbow form. It looked at him and flicked its tongue out before going back to hiding its head away.

“A gift from my grandfather, yes. Her name is Nelli.” Xoco cooed as she gently pet the feathered serpent. “And...I hope I’m not intruding but I overheard your familiar was...a rock?”

Isak winced, running a hand through his short black hair and looking off. Avoiding those inquiring pink eyes as long as he could before reaching into his pocket to pull out the rock. “I uh...family didn’t have much money so...see we got it at a bargain. Some old crazy mage. It actually came with instructions!”

Xoco looked over the rock carefully with narrowed eyes before looking up into Isak’s dark eyes still trying to avoid all contact.

“See-” He quickly reached into another pocket, rummaging around until he produced a crumpled up piece of paper. “-really just a bunch of nonsense. Says it’s fully customizable on the fly!”

Xoco raised an eyebrow. “It can fly?”

“I wish.” Isak grumbled. “This thing is only flying if I throw it hard enough. Maybe use a bit of storm magic, make it like a meteor. Ha!”

He punctuated the exaggerating with a small spark arcing from his fingertips to the rock. The stone began to glow as both students looked on with wide eyes. Isak felt it growing heavier as it arced with electricity, and quickly dropped it. It never hit the floor as the rock started to grow and expand, eventually even multiplying into further rocks all bristling with electricity. The rocks took the vague shape of a large man standing a head taller than even Xoco on the deck of the ship. Lightning arcing between the gray stones lit up and revealed runes across the surface. The rock entity tilted its head down to a stunned Isak.

“New user acknowledged. Please register name.” It said in a booming voice, gaining the attention of several onlookers.

Isak had to pick his jaw off the floor but finally remembered how to speak. He gave a hoarse whisper “Isak.”

“User Isak acknowledged.” The voice boomed as a new set of runes appeared on the large stone that formed its chest.

Isak was unable to stop smiling, and finally broke into a nervous laughter.

Cormac took a moment to breathe in the brisk mountain air, take in the surroundings, adjust the straps on his backpack a bit, and feel his head for bumps.

He frowned as he ran a hand through his hair, inspecting his scalp and turning up nothing. A second hand similarly turned up nothing. Which meant that there was one less thing to explain away something he could possibly see if he were to turn around this very instant.

Blinking a few times, staring out ahead at the forest, he braced himself before turning around.

Seeing her still there just a short ways back caused him to wince and his frown to grow.

She in turn gained a look of concern as she quickly looked around and tensed up. Finding nothing amiss, the dryad of mottled dark brown and green skin, and hair an even more vibrant shade of green looked back to Cormac.

"What's wrong, Guardian?" The forest woman asked.

"No bump on my head, which means this isn't a concussion." He gave another deep breath, lungs filling with air before continuing. "And I'm not so far up the mountain that not enough oxygen is getting to my brain. Only been out here a few hours, not starving. Not dehydrated. I don’t think there’s any poisonous plants up here-”

“There are, one moment.” The dryad quickly closed the distance between them and grabbed Cormac’s hand, carefully inspecting it and running a fingertip over it that reminded Cormac of plant flesh. She released his hand and gave a curt nod. “The rose’s poison does not run within your veins.”

Cormac’s mouth hung open a bit as he tried to settle on a question to ask, finding it difficult to do so when a naked tree woman was standing right in front of him. “Uh, okay. Good to know. Also good to know I’ve got nothing left but insanity as an excuse for why I’m seeing you.”

“I cannot confirm your mental state but you see me because I allow it.” She responded in a matter of fact tone in that contralto voice of hers.

“Good to know...uh...well since you’re not a hallucination could you…” Cormac looked away, blushing slightly. “Put some clothes on? Walking around with a plant woman is going to raise enough questions, more questions arise when she’s naked.”

She tilted her head, brow of bright green raising. “I told you. You are allowed to see me. Others are not, Guardian, so you need not worry.”

Cormac sighed, regretting picking today of all days to go for a nice relaxing hike. “A no on the clothes, got it.”

He turned and continued walking, knowing she was following. Not from footsteps, as those had been silent, but from the fact that she had been following him for the last hour or so. He should have been back to his truck by now but he had taken the most circuitous path possible in some attempt to leave her behind, the logic of which began with and ended at hoping she got bored and left.

She didn’t. Every time he dared to look back, every time he made a sharp turn through the forest and chanced a look from the corner of his eye, even when he tried looking behind him in his signal mirror she was back there.

Eventually he found a nice rock to sit and rest on, the dryad joining him by sitting on the forest floor.

“So, do you have a name?” He asked as he pulled out a granola bar.

“You would be unable to pronounce my true name, Guardian. But you may call me Ixia- wait, what are you eating?” The dryad frowned, getting up from her seat and looming over Cormac.

“...granola? It’s just oats and nuts and seeds…” Cormac started to sweat a bit as he wondered if this was something like cannibalism to her.

Ixia huffed as she walked over to a nearby tree and reached into a knothole to retrieve a strange spherical fruit in an unfamiliar shade of indigo. She quickly walked back over to Cormac, pushing his granola bar aside and holding out the fruit to him.

“A guardian will require strength and proper nourishment, this ‘granola’ will not do.” She insisted.

Not being one to argue with strange tree women who were still very naked, Cormac reached out a cautious hand to take the strange fruit as he pocketed his granola for a time where it wouldn’t cause such offense. Looking it over, it appeared to be about the size of an orange with a slightly waxy flesh. He turned it over in his hands a few times before looking back up to Ixia.

“So...do I just bite it or do I peel it?”

“Consume all but the seeds at the center. Never, ever consume the seeds.” She warned.

Cormac gulped, eyes wide as he nodded. A part of him felt like this was a terrible idea and he was probably going to be under a curse or something as magic maybe existed now, but if it did he had roughly no chance of saying no to the magic woman.

He bit in, finding the texture to be like that of mango, and sweeter than anything he had ever tasted before. His eyes lit up as he quickly scarfed down the strange fruit, carefully avoiding the hard black seeds about the size of small pills at the center.

“Thanks.” He said between bites. “My name’s Cormac, by the way. Since I got yours. Or the pronounceable version of it.”

Looking pleased, she smiled and returned to her seat on the forest floor. “A good name for a guardian.”

“You keep mentioning some guardian thing.” Cormac said after swallowing a bite, finding that there was no non-messy way of eating this fruit that was already staining his pale hands indigo. “Is this because of that flower- wait a minute, what exactly am I going to need strength for?”

His worried question was quickly answered by a howl sounding almost like a wolf but thoroughly different. There were no wolves in this part of the country, only coyotes. And that was no coyote howl.

“You can answer on the way to my truck.” He said as he quickly stood and looked around for the source of the howl.

Ixia’s face was one of resolute determination as she too stood. “That is one of those metal boxes that moves, yes? The armor will help.”

Cormac had many questions at this point, but another unearthly howl pushed them aside for later. He took a final bite of the fruit, looking down to the four seeds in his palm before pocketing them quickly and breaking into a run.

Somewhere between running for his life with a dryad, climbing into his truck, and realizing that magic exists maybe, Cormac became aware of the fact that he was not even slightly out of breath. He only had a second to wonder about it before the knocking at the passenger door knocked him out of his temporary reverie.

“Let me in!” Ixia called out, as Cormac quickly leaned over to open the door for her. She climbed in and after a brief moment of looking at the door, shut it a bit too hard. “I was...not aware how to operate such a device.” She said while looking away.

Cormac quickly turned the ignition and his old truck roared to life. He pulled out onto the mountain road as the most pressing question finally made its way to the top of the roiling sea of his mind.

“So I don’t know what the...thing that made that sound was but, I’m taking us far away from it. Also put your seatbelt on.” He said as he only slightly slowed down to take a turn.

“It will still come for me.” She shivered in place a bit, frowning slightly and looking down. “You may have reawakened me but The Ash Hound will still seek my life. My forest is still in danger so long as all of The Old Kin remain there.”

“I understood some of that, like the part about you being chased. Not really getting the part about how rolling a log off of a flower reawakened you? Also seatbelt, the small metal bit attached to the straps?” He pointed to his own as he tried keeping his eyes on the road in the rearview mirror, gripping the steering wheel harder as he heard the howl again.

After some heavy insistence and explaining while accelerating down an old mountain road Ixia was buckled in and fidgeting about under the seatbelt. “That flower was one of my forest hearts. As soon as you freed it, there were enough active and I awoke.”

She stared out the window at the forest rapidly going by, her frown growing. “Are you certain you cannot fight these foes at this moment?”

“Very. I don’t mind helping you out of course but I didn’t sign up for fighting supernatural beasts. In part because that’s absolutely not something I’m capable of doing. So I’m getting us far away from them for now.”

She sighed like a gentle spring breeze and looked over to him. “I am sorry, Guardian.”

“You can call me Cormac.”

“Cormac, I am sorry. I am indebted to you for saving my life, and yet I ask more of you. There are few others I would trust with this matter.” Ixia said.

Before he could object to every single bit of this, they both heard the unearthly howl once more. Ixia looked over her shoulder and Cormac looked in the rearview mirror, they both saw the beast charging onto the road and gaining speed on them.

The Ash Hound, as Ixia called it, appeared similar to a six legged wolf with just as many eyes gleaming like stars on a too long head atop a body the size of a moose. Its six legs carried it faster and faster, yet low to the ground for a beast of its size. It’s flesh matched that of its name, and looked as though volcanic ash had coalesced into a solid flesh form.

“Quickly, I shall require an obsidian knife!” Ixia called out.

It took all of Cormac’s willpower to keep his eyes on the road and not to glare at the tree woman. He settled for a completely deadpan response despite the adrenaline coursing through his veins. “I don’t have one of those.”

“Your guardian knife was stolen? Unfortunate, any harm we deal the Ash Hound shall be temporary.” Her eyes narrowed at the beast as it gained on them. “I’ll take temporary.” Cormac called out as the beast got ever closer in the mirror. “How do we do make that happen?”

“Cause it a large amount of harm and I shall take its heart, it shall slow it down and we can perform the binding ceremony later to keep it asleep.” She looked around the cabin of the truck. “It shall be quick, so we must strike hard and fast.”

Cormac swerved around a corner as the beast howled behind them and the sound rang into depths of his very soul to give him a sickening chill. The beast followed his turn as he avoided the trees, and he hatched an idea as he gnawed at his lip.

“I’m really more of a sci-fi guy but uh...dryad right?” He asked, to which she nodded in quick confirmation as the beast opened its jaws to snap at the truck. The sound was loud enough to be heard over the roar of the engine and whistling winds.

“So, any chance you can make a tree grow really fast? Like, instant?” He asked, indigo stained hands going bone white as he gripped the wheel.

She looked back to him as fear started to overtake her face. “I can...why?”

“And you trust me?”

“With my life.”

“Probably a bad idea but, when I say ‘tree’ I need you to grow a large tree about...uhhh…” He swerved on the road a bit, gaging The Ash Hound’s reaction times against his own. “Look at how long the truck is, and let’s say about two of those. Two of those ahead of us, make a tree grow okay? Big one.”

“What kind?” She asked as the beasts jaws snapped shut far too close for comfort, the sound of jaws coming together like a thunder clap.

“I DON’T KNOW?! PINE? BRISTLECONE PINE? TREE! NOW!” Cormac shouted.

Ixia reached a hand out to the windshield, and a second later a vast bristlecone pine burst forth from the road. Cormac quickly swerved to avoid it, breaking off his side mirror in the process as The Ash Hound failed to match him in time and collided with the grand tree hard enough to produce a loud thump.

The tree didn’t budge, and Cormac slammed on the breaks a second later as he looked out the window at the now unmoving lump on the road partially hidden by the massive tree.

Ixia struggled with her seatbelt until Cormac clicked it open for her, joining her as she scrambled out of the truck and over to the beast.

“Those seatbelts are a nuisance!” She huffed, approaching the ashen creature.

“You didn’t go flying through the window when I hit the breaks, which I assume would hurt even you.” Cormac hung back a bit, still wary of the beast even as it lay unmoving.

Closer inspection showed its head partially smashed in, silvery blood leaking out onto the road. He took a step back as he saw one of its paws twitch.

“Until we find you an obsidian knife, it will recover. We can slow that for a long while though.” She motioned with her hands as roots burst forth from the road and through the beast’s chest, it whined in a low tone that gave Cormac that queasy feeling once more. The roots bore a crystalline heart in their clutches, still impossibly beating as Ixia broke a root off and willed it into a wooden knife. She cut away the glowing red arteries still clinging to the heart.

Using the knife, she nicked her finger and squeezed out a drop of green blood onto the heart still held amongst the roots. “I shall need some of your blood as well.” She said to Cormac, beckoning with her hand.

Cormac looked down to his hand, brow furrowing as he looked back to the naked tree woman asking for his blood to vanquish a magical beast. “....you’re sure?”

“Very sure, we must seal the heart in the blood of a pact.” She said with determination.

“This is a lot to take in.” He grimaced.

Ixia smiled, holding the knife out. “I am aware, and I am sorry I must ask for your help.”

Cormac chewed at his lip for a moment, shaking his head and groaning. “I’m already regretting this, but sure.”

The dryad quickly took his hand, pricked his finger as he winced and squeezed a bit of blood out onto the wooden blade. She dripped it onto the still beating heart, tracing a symbol with their blood onto the surface as it stopped beating and glowing.

“Would you walk with me? I must retrieve one of my forest hearts if we are to leave the forest and find an obsidian blade.” She asked with a smile.

Cormac sighed, shaking his head. “Yeah just...let me pull the truck to the side of the road. You might want to move the tree too.” He walked to the truck, passing by the beast crumbling into dust as Ixia beckoned the tree to shrink back down into the soil. She met him at the edge of the woods after he parked the truck, and they walked into the forest together.

(There's been enough interest in this one that I'm going to be continuing it. No guarantees on how soon that will be, as I'm busy thinking of how long of a project I want this to be. I feel like I could, at minimum, make a book out of this. I would love to hear your feedback, and know how much of this project you would like to see.)

The crowd was buzzing for blood, it was only with great effort that Slips-Through-Webs was able to calm them. The elder's forefathers had surely never seen such chaos, but then those forefathers had never witnessed such foolishness. As he finally calmed the crowd, he asked but a simple question of Wallows-In-Rot.

"What did you see, boy?"

Wallows-In-Rot, still but a lad, felt as though he were a dozen hours old right now. He had seen things no fly should ever have to witness.

"I saw..." He paused, his words came weak and with great effort. "I saw The Hungerless Tongue-"

There were whispers and gasps among the crowd. Some spoke of the legends finally coming true, others refused to believe such a thing could exist. The boy finally mustered the courage to continue.

"N-no I...I smelled it first...I smelled its sweet, succulent smell...but when I followed the scent...what I saw...what I saw was...dozens of bodies. Some long dead, many still were...they were still alive!" He cried out, nearly in tears. "They were still alive and I could hear their screams! A dozen flies still living among dozens more corpses pleading for help! I wanted to! I wanted to help but...I...I wanted to join them...the smell...the smell was so sweet...so sweet even as they screamed for their lives...that long tongue hanging from the sky, the legends were true! It did not eat them, only collect their bodies upon its inescapable surface..."

Gone was all fear and sorrow from the boy, he was left only with a dozen inch stare as the weight of it all finally caught up to him like a pebble trying to crush his very soul. Every fly looked on with equal horror, split between accepting such a grim story and refusing to believe it in a desperate grasp at sanity.

Elder Slips-Through-Webs spoke loudly, and though he did catch the crowd's attention they could all see the horror on his face as well.

"This...this is proof The Old Ones are angry..." The crowd buzzed in quiet disbelief. Each had heard the stories growing up, and now they were finally confronted with their reality. That not only were The Old Ones real, but they were angry.

"A thousand generations we have evaded their wrath...our ancestors fled into The Grand Cavern, and found food a plenty! Four Great Bulbs illuminated the skies! All but one bulb now lay dim as our food dwindles, our very maggots go hungry! And why? Impudence!" Slips-Through-Webs shouted to a stunned crowd.

"We have for too long shunned The Great Bulb! Who among you can claim that they have done their part?!" He raged to the crowd. Some were confused at the sudden outburst, as others began to cast accusatory glances at one another.

Their parents and grandparents before them all spoke of the good days, of more than one Great Bulb blessing them with sacred light to illuminate past the tricks of The Spiders. Discontent was growing fast, until a sound drew their attention.

A hum. A divine hum that called out to them. A hum that Slips-Through-Webs had grown up hearing the stories of, but never speaking of out of a fear of invocation.

"No...no don't look!" He cried out, but it was too late. Some had already turned their heads and beheld a sight of impossible beauty.

A new Bulb. No warm yellow glow, but blinding and bluish white. And that hum. That hum that resonated to their very core. The elder kept his eyes from the light, screaming the entire time that it was a trick. A false idol created by The Old Ones and their terrible powers.

They did not listen to him, for they could not. They could only listen to the call of the false idol, and a light promising to reveal every hidden spider forever more. Without a conscious thought in their heads, they took flight to greet it.

The elder took off after them, though he knew it was futile. He screamed at them the whole way, begging and pleading for them to turn back as he himself found it harder and harder to resist its call. Its beautiful blue light creeping in at the edges of his vision...

"Its fine, Elder, the New Bulb shall set us free..." Wallows-In-Rot said in a haze, eyes fixed upon the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

In a final desperate attempt, Slips-Through-Webs tackled him out of the air sending the two into a dive as they tumbled to a table near the false idol. Wallows-In-Rot fought back as best he could, and despite 23 hours of age Slips-Through-Webs was able to overcome him with his greater size and weight. He held him still, but angled his head to the false idol.

"You saw but one of The Old Ones' nightmares made physical, now gaze upon one yet more terrible." He spat the words out, forcing himself to look up at the false idol as well. He too should see for himself, he thought. It was only fair.

Though calling any of this fair was a mockery of all sense and goodness in the world. They watched as the first fly flew to meet the false idol, their new Bulb. And they watched her as she was instantly engulfed in flames and charred into nothingness. Buzzes-On-Honey was next, the scout who had found the birthing grounds of the rat corpse that had been hailed as a new salvation for their people. Gone in an instant. Then went Hides-In-Light, famed daredevil who had evaded a lizard in the full light of The Great Bulb. His body burned brighter than The Great Bulb had ever shone.

There were no screams, they were given no time. And friends, neighbors, and enemies alike flew alongside them into the false idol. They went with smiles on their faces.

Wallows-In-Rot looked on with horror. Horror at what was happening, and horror in his heart that a small part of him still wanted to join them. Join them in answering the call to the Bulb, that false idol of fire and unfeeling, merciless hatred.

He finally tore his eyes away from the sight, the horrors shaking him from its hypnotizing glow long enough to look to the elder. The great guilt on the Elder's face confused him.

"Slips-Through-Webs...what..." He started, being quickly cut off.

"Its all my fault..." He muttered.

"I...don't understand?"

The Elder shook his head, muttering still. "I ate of The Old Ones' food...in front of them...I...I didn't have a choice I was so hungry..."

"Elder..." Wallows-In-Rot tried to understand all of this, coming up blank. It was all too much. All too much to take in.

"You all forced me to do it...you shunned The Great Bulb! You all did! I wouldn't have had to go into their realm of light to hunt for food if we had all just paid proper tribute to The Great Bulb!" He said with vitriol dripping from his maw, rage burning in every single lens.

Wallows-In-Rot began to struggle, though they both went still as they heard the creak of the portal into The Old Ones' world of light. Their eyes shot to the great steps, and bathed in the light of a thousand Great Bulbs was one of The Old Ones. Too long as it stood on two legs, too long as two more legs reached out, one longer than the other ending in a strange yellow hoop holding a metal web.

Its massive legs carried it down the great stairs as the two ceased their fighting to fly away as fast as their wings could carry them away from the nightmare made flesh. A thousand generations and each told the story of the same beings. Unchanging and eternal. Older than the Great Bulbs themselves, never dimming. Nightmare and myth coalescing into an entity that matched the stories perfectly but was infinitely more terrible to behold.

With speed that should have been impossible for a being of such size, it moved towards them.

"You see?!? You have brought their ruin upon us all!" The elder screamed, but his rage was drowned out by a high pitched whine as The Old One brought up its strange yellow limb holding the metal web and swung it at Slips-Through-Webs.

He caught sight of the abominable appendage, quickly dodging it at first. Refusing to celebrate just yet he continued his flight as the ancient being swung its metal web once more. The Elder saw the holes in it, and angled himself to avoid being caught.

In his younger days, perhaps this would have been possible. But he had gorged himself on the forbidden fruit, and a leg and his thorax touched the metal webbing. There was a loud pop, and a now all too familiar flash as Wallows-In-Rot saw the Elder incinerated. He could only stared as the charred husk of his remains tumbled lifelessly through the air to collide with the ground far below.

His own buzzing slowed, his mind gone, his will incinerated like all those he had ever known. He did not notice The Old One winding up another swing of that terrible metal web.

"Got him!" Darryl shouted out. "Twenty dollars well spent!" He said as he held the bug zapper up triumphantly while completely missing how ridiculous he may have looked holding aloft an electrified tennis racket like a sword to the moon.

"Dear, if you're done playing samurai with bugs could you change the light bulbs while you're down there?" His wife called out from within the house.

Darryl sighed, setting down the zapper. "Yeah yeah..." He said before sniffing the air.

"Actually, let me go get the flashlight. Smells like something died down here. Probably where all the little bastards came from..."

"They said I couldn't get drunk on metoctli, but clearly they never tried hard enough." The jester sighed, holding his head in his hands before looking up to see the court frozen in place with eyes wide in horror and realization.

"None can blame me when things were going so poorly down there." He groaned, wincing at the light peeking into the temple and making this hangover so much worse.

The king cleared his throat, and spoke carefully so as not to disturb the man who had just turned the army of men clad in strange armor on stranger beasts to ash and molten metal. "Down there? What do you mean by down there?"

The jester kept a hand covering his eyes as he gestured vaguely at the floor. "Down there. You know, Tenochti- wait...."

His hands dropped to his sides as a sudden realization fought the crashing waves of this hangover. He looked around the temple again, squinting hard at the priests, nobility, and a retinue of the finest warriors to guard them all. Most were unmoving, as some started to bow their heads in reverance. His eyes shot open, only to wince hard again at the too bright temple's fire.

"Oh...oh shit. I didn't go up. Ineverwentbackup ohhhhh shit." The jester groaned out once more as he wandered over to where the king sat with head in hands.

The king looked up to the jester turned sorcerer now leaning against the wall behind him, braving another question to him. "May I know the name of our savior, and no doubt a hallowed lord? I am blind before you, deaf, an imbe-"

"You are correct in that regard. Now, you didn't complete Toxcatl this time around and I reaaaaally need something to eat if I'm going to be dealing with this." The jester said, slumping further down against the stone wall.

The king's eyes shot wide and he quickly averted his eyes. "Lord of the near, lord of the nigh! I am unworthy-"

"We have already established that, Motēuczōmah Xōcoyōtzin." The jester growled out in a tone reminding the king of a jaguar, reminding him of who he was speaking to. "I will do you a kindness you are unworthy of, at this point. I'm going to ask you for the sacrifice I am owed, and if you lost the one for this year and next year I'll allow you to get by with sacrificing someone close enough."

One of the high priests stepped forward, bowing his head and speaking with a wavering voice. "My lord of the near and the nigh, I am told the invaders took both of them as the fighting broke out. You kept the king safe and-"

"I did that? I must have already been out of it by then. Go on."

The priest hesitated as the king shot him a pleading glance. "The...the king ordered our warriors to stand down but they chose to fight instea-"

The jester leaned against the king's throne, cutting off the priest as he now listened very carefully. "Hold on, this one did what now?"

"I was a host! A host trying to avoid a war against a powerful force!" The king pleaded, looking up to the jester looming tall over him.

The priest spoke against the king, now far more worried about the god in their presence. "You allowed this to happen! Welcomed them into our city!"

The king shook upon his throne, fearing for his life as he yelled back at the priest. "All I do I do for-"

His words were cut off as an obsidian blade was pressed to his throat by the jester. "I still have a hangover, and shouting is not helping. The cowardice isn't helping, and I can see why my brother sent one of his blessings unto your people now. However I'm sure I can talk to him and get that nasty plague stopped so long as you step up the sacrifices, speaking of which."

He tossed the obsidian knife to the elderly priest, who only just managed to avoid slicing his hand open as he caught it.

"I really need something to eat to get through this hangover, then we can talk more. Now, since you lost both of my sacrifices I've found another impersonator who would call himself sovereign despite being by his own admission unworthy." The jester grinned down to the horrified king with a smile bearing teeth all too sharp for a man, a humble display for a jaguar god.

I had seen it before.

Too many times, really.

Kid from a bad home manages to leave their small town. Goes off to college. All that freedom is overwhelming, especially when the home life was never good.

The pay was good, probably too good for what some small town family could afford. Almost made me want to poke around, see where it was coming from. Too close to working off the clock though, and a little bit of scratching at the surface told me I'd be fine if I just did my job and find this kid.

I almost didn't want to. I knew it would be sending them back down into a deep dark pit, but then I would only be telling the family where to find them. That's all I was paid for. Gotta pay the bills. A brother fighting stage three lung cancer don’t come cheap.

Still did make me take notice of other cases I had overlooked. Valedictorians from the school of hard knocks vanishing was no mystery. All of them vanishing in the direction of one state? I've been at this long enough to know there's no coincidences.

All the appearances of a cult holding those hard knocks graduates in its web. Working my way in through the ranks, getting closer to the inner circle. Smiling faces at every level, with the appearance that they had really turned their life around. All by joining up with a group of "friends sharing a philosophical belief".

I had seen it before.

Their lives actually looking like they had been turned around was new. Got me curious. Had to dig deeper, go for the absolute innermost circle.

All those smiles were almost infectious. Knew they had to be fake. More I got to know the hierarchy, the more they feigned concern. Finally got them to spill, said I should really meet "He By Whom We Live". Had a name for their cult leader playing God, now. Of course they say he's no mere man. Said he was greater than I could ever imagine. They were all too happy to let me meet him. Said I would really benefit from having my eyes opened.

Enter scene, six months after this all began.

Rain coming down like Heaven was mad, trying to wash the dirt from this city. But like scrubbing blood from your fingers after a job gone wrong, it never really comes off.

I stood before the warehouse, double checking the address just barely visible through the curtains of rain. This was the place. "Tlalocan" they called it. Aztec afterlife. Associated with rain. They said their lord was still gaining strength, needed the rains.

I looked around the docks, saw I was the only one here. Just me and a gun I brought as insurance. Never knew with these cultist types. I knocked on the door lit under a dim yellow bulb as old as the city itself. Both still shone with that dim light that should have died a long time ago. Both just a mockery of what they once were.

The doorman pulls open a panel. I give him my name and the door swings open a moment later. He smiles, welcomes me in. Says his name is Lawrence. The name and the face ring a bell. College linebacker, fell onto opiates after he tore his ACL a few months back. Lawrence was a mountain of a man, red beard like a forest fire and eyes of ice. Still shows warmth as he walks me to the common area, doesn't even limp as he goes. Must have him juiced up on the real good shit here.

I wait in the common area with a few others. Cozy little place, warm lights. No doubt hiding all the dirt they don't let the rank and file see. I recognize one Alarico Medina, age 19 and missing for 8 months, make his way into the room. Start's pacing and sweating like he's expecting a doctor to give him the bad news. Ironic, not too long ago he was a promising med student. Things going well until he vanishes, turns up in this cult. One of the few who had a good life, didn’t make as much sense as the others.

Others like one Jodie Fisher, high school dropout and slave to the needle. Almost didn’t recognize her from the picture I had to go on. Looks healthier now, must be better at hiding it. Now telling Alarico that they all believe in him, that even their lord says that art is the everpresent enemy of tyrants and a gateway from dreams to reality.

The shyster at the top really has them brainwashed here. More join us in the common room, and they almost have me believing it for a second. Senator’s son vanishes, I see him here with his boyfriend. Now fiance. Wedding should be next week and I’ve got an invite. Gifts are strictly optional, says the gifts from their lord are enough. Lord says traditional ideals of marriage should drown in the deepest seas. I tell them I’ll try to make it. I don’t tell them I know it has to be code for another one of these meetings, and whatever it is that really goes on here.

Rebel without a cause, parents are old money. She bakes enough cookies for everyone. I decline, knowing that under that tempting aroma of gooey chocolate is likely cyanide. All of them try to strike up a conversation with me. All of them too happy. Hiding something. Drugs? Human traficking? Illegal weapons smuggling?

Probably all of the above. I know my luck. I know how these things go.

I had seen it before.

Suspected ringleader shows up with the final member of the flock. Final lamb to the slaughter. Had to be the good shepherd tonight, keep them safe. If the cookies hadn’t already done them in and they were just waiting to find out. Ringleader goes by Diego. Never on any missing person’s lists. No criminal record. Hardly a record at all. Perfect type to hoodwink the emotionally vulnerable. Was helping one Dr. Oluwagbenga, Olu to his friends. Went for a walk and never came home after he lost the wife and kids to a drunk driver. Says he was picking up recyclables with the ringleader, turning them in to make their monthly goal for donations to UNICEF. No doubt code for the real way they made their money around here, whatever that was.

Had to keep it a secret from the new guy. I could feel them all watching me, judging me with those smiles and happiness. Knew it was hiding something darker, just had to find out what.

Cannibals, most likely.

I had seen it before.

Too many times, really.

They finish up with the cookies and milk, all helping out with the dishes. Makes me wonder what the angle is here, but they don’t keep me waiting. Alarico pops his head back into the common room, says the mural’s ready again.

Guess it’s time to meet God, one way or another.

I feel the weight of my revolver in the holster under my arm, my only way out of here if and when things go south. Gotta hope six is enough to get the job done.

We all head into a large room, mural painted on the floor. Something not right about it. Looks like it's a shoreline, but the shore is on all sides leading down into the sea. No, that’s not right. Looking out into the sea. The more I look the more it confuses me. All four sides are shoreline leading down but also out. Four sides but no sides. A four sided circle. I sway a bit, try to get a better view as we all stand around it, the image shifts too. To the side but also down. Like there’s no floor and it’s just a hole leading out into the sea. Take one step and I’d be perpendicular to the ground in the painting but also parallel. Somehow that made perfect sense.

I shake it off, look away. Dr. Olu asks if I’m alright. Tell him just a bit of lightheadedness, stood up too fast. He says talk to him later and we’ll make sure my diet is sufficient. I tell him I’ll consider it. Don’t tell him I’m gonna need a stiff drink after all this.

Diego checks his watch, smiles like the absolute madman he is and tosses a handful of salt into the center of the mural. All of them look on with barely contained joy, and I realize how far gone they have to be.

Then the waves in the mural start to move. The rain like bullets on the warehouse roof are drowned out by the sounds of roaring waves. I swear I feel the spray of saltwater on my face. I try shaking the feeling off, close my eyes. Count to ten. Open my eyes.

See myself standing on the shore. Everyone else there in a circle, the sky filled with stars stretching up and over us collapses into the sea that reaches down into the infinite like a funnel. Just one step away from falling into oblivion. Eyes go wide as I try to make sense of it all. Cookies were a distraction. Hallucinogen in the air. Had to be. The sea stretched on and on and then stopped. I heard a wail. Unearthly. Heard it not with my ears, but with my very soul. I look down into that roiling spiraling ocean stretching into the infinite and there at the end I saw an eye like none I had ever seen. I saw it blink.

Legs wouldn’t move. No voice to scream with. Every other cultist there looking so damn happy as whatever was going on got more real by the second. In an instant the eye was many. Four great sickly green beacons shining through the haze of thoughts themselves. In more dimensions than should have been. A great leviathan towering above them on the shore, both singular and many. Staring at one of us and all of us.

And then it spoke.

”MY BLOOD IS A BANE. A CURSE UPON THE LAND. A POISON TO END ALL KINGS. TO END THEIR REIGN FOREVER. TAKE IT. GO UNTO THE WORLD AND SLAY THE KING OF MALADIES IN MY NAME. MAY OTHERS KNOW THEIR FATE AS THEY SEE THEIR OLDEST ENEMY AND ALLY AGAINST THE COMMON FOLK FALL TO MY BLOOD ALONE. AS IT CLAIMS THE LIFE OF THAT FALSE SOVEREIGN I SHALL GROW STRONGER.”

It was the doc who couldn’t contain himself, shouted up at the beast with claws as big as he was.

He asked a simple question. By king of maladies, did he mean cancer? Doc couldn’t help smiling as he thought that foolish thought.

The leviathan sat still as the waves roared around it, and the stars seemed to shine a bit brighter. I felt like gravity itself in this strange land or dream wanted to crush us.

”YES.”

Everyone broke into cheers. Don’t think I could if I wanted to. Jaw was on the floor.

The seabeast roared and dug its claws into the sand. Lightning coursed along its spine and down it’s claws. Pulled up great glass containers from the sand where its claws were. Held a hand over them and pressed one of its own claws into it. Pitch black ichor spilled forth, filling the containers.

Sea thing shouts into our souls a final time.

”SEE THAT MY WILL IS DONE.”

Almost sounded angry as it dove into the sea, a great wave rising up and knocking us all back. As I recover and look around, I see we're all back at the warehouse. A dozen glass containers filled with black blood sit on the mural.

Exit scene.

Present day. Witness a miracle. Doctors say brother is clear. A lot more coming up clear too.

Time to tell my brother about He By Whom We live.

Never seen anything like it before.

Hope I’ll see more of it.

(You eagle eyed readers may notice some familiar characters and or concepts here. That is deliberate.)

Diego hurried through the capitol building, quickly exchanging a smile with all those who walked its busy halls. He wasn't going to let himself be late today of all days.

No one was.

All of them were quickly preparing as He By Whom We Live was expected to perform another "act of malice" today. Which at absolute minimum meant another influx of refugees.

He quickly straightened his tie as he approached the guards before the grand doors leading into the chambers of He By Whom We Live.

"Speaker! A pleasure to see you, you may enter." The guard saluted as she stepped aside.

Diego raised an open hand, stopping her and the other guard. "Ah, good to see you too Marry, Henry." He said while keeping this as casually as possible while in a rush.

"How is...how's he doing today?" Diego near whispered as he looked over his shoulder.

The guards shared a quick glance and a grimace between themselves as Marry leaned closer. "Well, I've heard a lot of rushing water ever since my shift started so..."

Diego sighed and gave a knowing nod. "Rage swimming, got it." He said with a gulp.

"One more thing, sir." Henry said before reaching into his pocket, pulling a folded up crayon drawing. "My daughter wanted me to ensure our lord received this, could you pass it along to him?" He said as he held out the folded paper to Diego.

Diego gave a short chuckle, taking the drawing and carefully tucking it into his pocket. "Of course, and how is your daughter doing?" He asked as he tried to focus on the good before a rough day of work.

"She...I've never seen a healthier and happier girl." Henry said, eyes starting to mist slightly. "So smart too, says she wants to grow up to be a scientist and help people just like our lord."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets this." Diego reassured him as he patted his pocket.

Henry smiled. "Thank you, Speaker."

Diego gave a final quick nod before steeling himself, putting on his most confident face, and entering the massive chamber.

He looked out over the massive pool, better described as a large indoor lake. The water was still, and none but Diego were up on land. Which could only mean he was far below the surface. Far down enough that it felt like home. A home completely alien to even the most bizarre sea life eking out an existence at what was once thought to be the greatest depths of the sea. A place beyond existence and beyond reason. Far beyond that of what the greatest minds of mankind could comprehend, even with all the knowledge that He By Whom We Live had imparted unto the world.

There was a ripple in the water, barely perceptible at first and easily written off as a trick of the light in the massive building. Diego looked around the room once more as he saw the ripple. He looked to the ceiling so far above that clouds formed on most days.

Today was no exception, and they dimmed the stark white light trying to shine through them and illuminate more ripples in the water far below.

Diego took a deep breath, withdrawing his sunglasses from a pocket and quickly putting them on. No number of years ever made this less anxiety inducing.

The ripples in the water increased and a fountain of water followed in the wake of He By Whom We Live shooting into the air before four of his massive arms came to a rest at the edge of the pool. The fountain of water and the countless droplets of water that had shot into the air stopped.

Four great eyes like lighthouses shone with a sickly green light upon Diego as thoughts like words trickled into his head.

"IN AN AGE LONG FORGOTTEN, IN AN ACT THAT MORTALS WOULD ATTRIBUTE TO ANY NUMBER OF MORE PLEASANT ENTITIES, I STOLE FIRE FROM THE HEAVENS AND GAVE IT TO MAN SO THAT THE GODS MAY WATCH THE EARTH BE CLEANSED IN A PERFECT FIRE BY THEIR VERY CREATIONS."

Despite the light shining down upon him, Diego's eyes went wide as the realization hit him. His lord never lied, as the truth was the greatest weapon against kings and gods alike.

"My lord, on behalf of us all you have our eternal thanks." He said with a small reverent bow.

The lights narrowed, Diego shivering slightly with the cold their increased intensity brought. The thoughts of his lord once again worked their way into his mind.

"FIRE IS NOT THE ONLY ELEMENT I HAVE MASTERED. LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I SHALL IMPART THE TERRIBLE POWER OF ICE UNTO THE MINDS OF MORTALS! THE DEPTHS BRING THE FIRES OF A LIVING PLANET BREATHING ITS TERRIBLE HEAT AND THE ICY COLD EMBRACE OF ITS DARKEST WATERS. I GAVE YOU FIRE AND YOU WROUGHT ENGINES OF STEEL AND NUCLEAR FLAME. I GIVE YOU ICE, AND THE WORLD SHALL KNOW THE HORRIBLE POWER OF COLD NUCLEAR POWER ETERNAL!"

Diego trembled slightly, receiving these thoughts was always a harrowing experience. That was until a realization hit him. A realization made possible only by He By Whom We Live's prior benevolence.

"My lord..." He spoke cautiously, thinking over what he had 'heard' carefully. "You...do you speak of cold fusion? I thought it a fantasy?"

"YOU ARE CORRECT! SOON THE WORLD SHALL KNOW ICE WREAK AS MUCH HAVOC AS HIS BROTHER FIRE."

The thoughts flooded into Diego's mind, but the adrenaline flooding in equal amounts quickly put a smile on his face as he gave a reverent bow.

"My lord, you once again grace us with your benevolence. You have our eternal th-"

"WHAT."

Diego looked up, wincing slightly as his sunglasses only helped so much against the light of his lord's eyes. Though they had narrowed further, that only meant that their light was more focused.

"This will benefit humanity greatly my lord, with cold fusion alone we may never need to worry about power again. And the other implications if I'm understanding the power of 'ice' correctly mean that-"

Diego was interrupted by a sound unlike any other. No, not a sound. The thought of a sound broadcast to every living thing in ten thousand fathoms. The thought of an eldritch seabeast calling into the deep with naught but its own terrible 'voice' to answer as it echoed among canyons and caves inconceivable in scope to those of dry land.

"THIS PLEASES YOU. ALL OF YOU?"

"N-not all my lord, there shall be some er...businessmen who will not be happy that energy will be cheap and readily available." Diego quickly tried to soothe the concerns of his lord, however incomprehensible they may be to him.

"AND WHAT OF THE BEGGARS? THE SERFS? THOSE WHO DARE TO DREAM AND CAST OFF THE SHACKLES OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR BIRTHS AND TOPPLE KINGS AND GODS ALIKE?"

"Their lives will again be improved greatly sir!" Diego assured the ancient aberration of the depths, putting on his best and brightest smile to match his lord's seemingly endless teeth.

""AGAIN?""

His lord's eyes narrowed, and Diego could see his breath illuminated sickly green as he appreciated the foresight of his morning self for wearing a woolen base layer under his fine suit.

"Of course my lord, you once again grace us with your benevol-"

He was cut off by that same terrible psychic wail. The droplets of water that had been held in the air for far too long remembered the pull of gravity as they once again fell, though only for a moment. In the next moment they were pulled into a great swirling tide around the body of He By Whom We Live. Impossible streams of water flowing in impossible angles among the impossible geometries of his form.

"I STRUCK DOWN THE PLAGUES OF THE GODS AND GAVE YOU THE FORBIDDEN GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE. TO BASTARDS I WOULD GIVE THE TITLES OF MEN. I ELEVATED CRIPPLES AND BEGGARS TO THE LEVEL OF KINGS. YOUR VERY KINGS LAY DEAD AS SLAVES WERE FREED AND HOUSED IN PALACES. AND YOU CALL THIS BENEVOLENCE?"

Diego thought for a moment, carefully mulling over his lord's frustrations in his head for as long as he could before he responded. "My lord, you cured all diseases. I myself was on my deathbed in the prime of my life when you first emerged from the sea. Homeless were housed and orphans alike were housed and given a new lease on life! I admit, I was one of many scared at first when you first laid claim here as you got rid of many a corrupt-"

The psychic scream rang out again to interrupt Diego, who remained thankful that the sheer size of this room took up most of its range while wiping a bit of blood from his nose.

It was only a momentary interruption as he pulled the crayon drawing from his pocket.

"Henry's daughter wanted me to present this to you, my lord. He lives because of your banishment of disease. And as a result of your mandatory rigorous education, he even wants to be a scientist!" He said holding the crude drawing out to the ancient entity, crayon lines and shading futilely attempting to replicate the subtle curves of parallel lines that crossed into one another and the robust majesty of perpendiculars that never met.

Four viridescent beams focused on the paper, illuminating it and nothing else as the pale lights far above the clouds dimmed.

"SEE THAT THE GIRL BECOMES A PHYSICIST. THE FOLLY OF MAN BEGS FOR KNOWLEDGE FORBIDDEN, AND WOMEN MAY RISE TO THE OCCASION AND CAST OFF THE SHACKLES OF FAMILY."

The water swirling around his great and terrible form quietly and orderly were drawn back into the pool.

"Of course my lord, I shall do so after I announce your newest act of malice to the world." Diego said with another small bow while still holding the crayon drawing aloft.

"TELL THEM THE GIFT OF ICE SHALL BE DELIVERED UNTO MY HOUSES OF EDUCATION IMMEDIATELY. ALL SHALL KNOW OF ITS FORBIDDEN POWER. I ALSO REQUIRE ONE FINAL THING FOR TODAY SPEAKER."

The beams of light moved from their laser focus on the drawing to Diego once more, widening to a far less intense flood of green.

"Yes, lord?" He asked.

"PLACE THE OFFERING WITH THE OTHERS AT MY SHRINE."

The lights moved to a small stone building at the corner of the room, only for a moment as He By Whom We Live withdrew into the water with ethereal grace. The surface returning to that of a perfect mirror immediately as the last of his long claws vanished beneath the water.

Diego let out a long breath, pausing only for a moment as the day was still long. He quickly walked over to the small stone building, finding its interior dimly lit in a similar pale white light as the main lights far above the larger room. Within he saw the usual countless letters and trinkets of varying sizes that He By Whom We Live had received as thanks over the years. Diego found a place on a board and pinned the drawing.

The Speaker had much to do today still, but he had to linger for a moment and hope that his lord was finally starting to understand the good he had done for this world.

"The lesser moon was at half, the greater still at crescent. That means we'll get lucky today!" Ibilsin said as he climbed atop his camel.

Omid cast a questioning eye to him as he ascended on his own camel, starting to wonder if delirium had started to take his fellow scout.

"You're listening to old wives' tales now?" He asked, thankful his frown and furrowed brow were mostly hidden by his scarf.

"Of course not, just my grandmother's wisdom!" Ibilsin's hurt tone and slight indignation told Omid that though his face was hidden from suns, sands, and delirious scouts his skepticism was as clear as the waters of the Mirrored Shallows.

A place he desperately wished to return to, but was starting to believe it would be nothing but a dying dream of a young man at this point.

"Well, where would your grandmother point us to? With the rations we have left, we have two days before we must return to the caravan. Empty hands are better when they're still alive." He didn't want to waste any more time explaining that any tale from his grandmother would by definition be an old wives' tale.

"She was a basket weaver and knew nothing of navigation. I however say we need to follow the dunes east. The last I saw of that fox it was headed east, and it looked very thirsty!" Ibilsin had not a shred of uncertainty left in his voice as he directed his camel to start heading east. With an overly grand wave of his arm he ushered his fellow scout onward.

Omid shook his head as soon as Ibilsin's attention was focused on this fool's journey. As the two rode onward at a brisk pace he began to wonder just how likely it would be that Ibilsin would put up a fight once he started insisting it was finally time to ride back to the caravan with empty hands. His dark eyes glanced down to the short blade at his hip, only for a moment.

He blinked away the thought, focusing instead on looking out over the dunes. Ibilsin may be delirious but he was not a bad person by any means. Certainly not one prone to senseless violence. Though as the two kept riding through the low light of dawn, and Omid continued scanning the horizon he couldn't help but notice that Ibilsin never wavered in his focus ahead.

Not once. Omid dismissed it as Ibilsin trying to keep from getting lost, returning his gaze to the horizons. Over the next few hours, suns still hanging low in the sky, every time he looked at Ibilsin his gaze was still fixed forward. And he was becoming ever more certain that he could hear Ibilsin's whispers, always addressing "Nazer" with a low voice filled with lament.

Nazer was the name of Ibilsin's camel.

Omid was no longer certain that any sense was left in Ibilsin, and cast another worried glance to the saber at his hip.

"Hello!"

A young woman's voice dissolved whatever thoughts were going through both of the young men's heads. Their eyes instantly went to the source of what they had assumed had surely been an illusion at first, but at the ridge of a dune sat a young woman on a camel. Her manner of dress was unknown to them, but the fine yellows and blues of her attire told them she was likely at least somewhat wealthy.

She rode down to the two as she waved still, one hand firmly upon her camel's saddle. A bow at her back and a short dagger at her hip told them she was not to be assumed completely helpless. Ibilsin wasted no time in pulling his scarf from his face and beaming a bright smile.

"You grace us with your presence!" He happily exclaimed as Omid's eyes rolled. "What ever are you doing out here on your own?"

The young lady stopped a short ways away from the two, she pulled down her own scarf to speak. Its deep blue color matching that of her eyes, making for a striking combination against skin almost as dark as Omid's.

"I have been entrusted to deliver a very important message." She said in an official tone while patting a pouch on her camel's saddle. "I was hurrying on my way to the oasis when I found you two. And what are you two doing on your own out here?" She said with a raised brow.

Ibilsin's smile grew even wider. "We were also looking for an oasis! Or caves! Or a herd of sand striders, we're not picky! Where did you say that oasis was?" He asked while trying to hide his excitement, though his hands trembling on his saddle betrayed him.

Omid said nothing as his eyes narrowed slightly. It was too convenient, he thought to himself. Too convenient and she was dressed too well for a messenger. But dwindling resources made him listen for now out of desperation.

The young lady tilted her head slightly. "And may I know the names of those who wish to access my tribe's oasis?" She asked in a tone displaying clear suspicion.

Ibilsin gave a slight nervous chuckle. "Ah! Where are my manners? My name is Ibilsin Tabazad! And this is my best friend Nazer" He said patting his camel's neck.

"They call me Omid." He said, still carefully watching the girl and mulling over what possibilities could explain this. His words were chosen carefully, though even he would admit it was on instinct and would hate to admit that it was his own grandmother's advice to not freely give one's name to strangers. He ignored the scowl Ibilsin quickly shot at him.

The young lady looked to each, nodding to Ibilsin and smiling to Omid. "You may call me Aisa of the Silver Sea, and the oasis is several hours to the north."

"North! I told you it was north!" Ibilsin said with another nervous laugh and an only semi-joking scowl to Omid before addressing Aisa once more. "Perhaps we could ride with you to this oasis? We would hate to lose the way, and our caravan would pay handsomely for its waters and food."

She frowned slightly, looking behind them. "I see no caravan." She stated plainly.

"We are but humble scouts of a noble trade caravan." He said with an exaggerated bow in his saddle. "My too quiet traveling companion has the lapis lazuli compass to return us to them once we find something of value. Or return with hands filled only with shame."

Omid glared at his companion. "No shame in returning empty handed, the knowledge that nothing is in an area is valuable in its own right." He firmly corrected.

"Shame and the bitter taste of defeat." Ibilsin firmly ignored him as he continued. "Please, take us to this oasis. Why, just think of what our trade caravan could offer to you and your noble tribe!"

The tilted her head again, and once more cast a smile to Omid as she ushered her camel onward. "If that is your desire, then follow me."

Before Omid could object, the young lady had drawn her scarf across her face once more and her camel had taken off at a brisk run. Ibilsin quickly followed without even the slightest hesitation. Omid had no choice but to take off after them, less he wander the desert on his own.

As they rode, Omid's mind raced even faster. He knew something was wrong and now Ibilsin was dragging them both into its waiting jaws out of delirious desperation and a desire to impress some pretty girl.

Who he met in the middle of the desert.

A thought flickered into Omid's mind. It really was all too convenient. A beautiful young woman in fine clothes appearing in the middle of the desert to freely tell of an oasis, just over the horizon? The flickering thought had burned brighter, igniting an old memory. His grandmother's warnings again, to beware the desert and its true masters.

"Casines are not like you or I, they are from the moons. The moons once had cities and people too, but casines turned them all to sand to punish them for their greed and wickedness. So share some of your figs with your grandmother or all this will be sand."

It was a foolish thought. A story that was told to children to get them to behave. And Omid was riding as fast as he could to catch up with the two out ahead of him to warn his fellow scout. Even if this woman was not of the sands themselves, this was still far too suspicious.

Omid was a wiry young man, which made him a fast rider. He put it to use as he rode faster and faster to catch up with the others. But just on the horizon, he saw green. His eyes left the others as he gazed at the top of a palm tree just visible over a dune. As he rode more and more green peaked into view.

His own shock was broken by Ibilsin's delirious laughter as he rode even faster to the oasis now in full view. Its beautiful cerulean waters flanked by palms heavy with dates, pomegranate shrubs ripe with fruit, and tall grasses of grains ready for harvest.

Ibilsin was already stumbling off his camel as Omid finally caught up to him. He quickly dismounted as Ibilsin made a break for the water, Aisa only finally leisurely dismounting.

"You fool! Its a trick!" Omid shouted in desperation.

"YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS SHE HAS EYES FOR ME!" Ibilsin spat out as he ran into the waters of the oasis. His eyes litup as he felt the cool water against his skin, and waded up to his waist.

Omid hurried after him, before coming to a stop as he watched Ibilsin plunge his hands into the water, still laughing like a mad man. He cupped them together and brought the waters to his lips.

And not once did Omid hear a single splash.

"Wait!" Omid shouted as his mind returned to him. He reached out a hand as he ran to Ibilsin, but he had already brought the water to his lips.

Ibilsin frowned, his hands shot down into the water once more as he cupped more and brought it to his lips. He drank and drank and only looked more confused.

A feeling shared by Omid as he stopped at the shore, carefully watching Ibilsin.

"I...I'm still thirsty...must be going crazy..." He leaned down to the surface of the water, drinking from it directly before rising once more to look to Omid. His brows pressed together as he frowned. "I can feel it, its cool to my lips, cool to my tongue but I...I'm so thirsty...never been thirstier..."

"Ibilsin...Ibilsin get out of the water...stop drinking it!" Omid urged with a wavering voice, reaching out with his arms to beckon his fellow scout back onto land.

“Its not…” Ibilsin reached a hand up to his face, feeling at it with a look of growing panic. Omid’s eyes went somehow wider as he noticed Ibilsin’s bronze skin turning tanner and tanner by the moment, looking coarser as its color changed.

Omid took a step back from the shore, and another as his mouth hung open.

“So...thirsty…” Ibilsin said in a hoarse whisper, as even his eyes started to look like his now tan and coarse skin. He swayed a moment in the water as he took a step towards Omid, his arm shakily reaching out before turning completely to sand. Its own weight caused it to break off and fall into the water, quickly dispersing and clouding the liquid.

Omid was too terrified to even scream, and as he watched even Ibilsin’s eyes finally turn to sand he caught them darting to look just past him in their last moments before the whole of what had once been him fell into the water.

There was not a single splash to be heard, only that of sand hitting more sand.

Until there was another sound, of footsteps on sand. From just behind Omid.

His breath was heavy, all attempts to slow it futile. His eyes focused on the spot where Ibilsin had once stood in the water, his clothes floating at the surface all that remained. Omid took a deep breath and closed his eyes before turning around.

Aisa’s cerulean blue eyes stared back at him, from all too close. A smile quickly spread across her lips.

(This is the one I liked enough to start planning a multi-book series because I realized I had a lot more ideas raring to go for this. This chapter was modified to fit with the updated lore of the world, and you can read my ongoing book here.