by Loftis, Nick
"So, what Liv has 'hired' me to do is basically kill the father of the Gods before he can devour them and Vaude," he finished, taking a bite of bread and potato. "These are good," he said, waving the bread in Winter's direction before adding ham to it.
"You're kidding, right?" Gwen asked, astounded. "Why can't the gods handle it? This definitely seems like a problem for them."
"It can shield itself from Ethereal Magic. They can't hurt it. My cloaking ward worked against it though."
Winter leaned back with his mug in his hand. "But mortal magic can? Do you know how backwards that sounds? In every experiment I've performed, Ethereal Magic always outpaces and outperforms Mortal Magic; how can this thing be susceptible to it?"
Wil shrugged. "No idea. The Silver Daughter said it was because it created the gods and their powers. There's some gaps in that logic, but we'd probably have to capture it to find out more, but that's not possible. The only evidence I have is that my cloaking spell worked when it came after Liv and I; it couldn't see or hear us." He drained his mug. "Do you mind if I get more?" he asked holding it up.
"Of course. Go for it," Gwen told him. "How can you be so calm about this? A god asked-"
"Goddess," Wil interjected.
"A goddess," Gwen restarted dryly, "has asked you to kill the being who is going to destroy the world and you're not freaked out by it?”
Wil filled his mug until the froth crested the top. "I've been killing and stopping revolutions for centuries because a god didn’t give me a choice in the matter; I find it kind of refreshing to be asked to do something for a change." He sat back down carefully so he didn’t spill any beer. "Besides, it’s a little exciting, isn’t it?” He grinned forcefully as he asked, “How often do you do something where the entire Pantheon owes you a favor?”
"You're talking about killing the god of the gods," Winter argued, clearly not amused at Wil's feigned enthusiasm. "And if Crell hadn't given you a new life, you would have died when we killed Death who was a god stripped of almost all his power. I don’t think there’s any way we can survive this. Besides, what about Crell? Did he just let you go with the Silver Daughter?"
Wil took out his pocket watch and began playing with it before answering. "I'm not sure. He hasn't summoned me or shown up yet; I don't think he can touch me under Liv's protection. Besides, he promised me that I was done after I finished one last task; which never came. I think killing a threat to the entire world, and the gods, should be enough to appease him."
Gwen and Winter looked skeptical. Wil stared down at his watch as he took another drink. "Well?" he asked after a minute of silence went by. The situation with Crell wasn’t something he wanted to dwell on.
"Give us a day or two to arrange for someone to cover here for us," Gwen told him. "Do you have a plan?"
"I wanted to stop by my old office at the school," Wil told her. "There might be something in my collection to get us started. I have books and scrolls dating back to when the Crellians were here.”
"Will your office still be there?" Winter asked. “It has been a very long time since you’ve been there.”
Wil shrugged. "It should be. After it locks, it won't open for anyone except me. And the enchantments were laid into the stone, so as long as the school is there they should still be active. It is still there right?” A flash of concern crossed his face at the thought of his office, with all his belongings, being destroyed. It wasn’t that he was materialistic, but that was a lot of history to be lost before it could all be cataloged and copied for anyone to access. The idea of it all being lost made him sad.
“It is,” Winter confirmed with a small smile. “What if we don’t find anything there? What then? If the gods question his existence what makes you think an early civilization would know anything about stopping him?”
Wil finished his second mug of beer and got up for another. “I’m not really sure,” he answered while pouring his third mug. “To be honest I don’t expect on finding much. There’s a lot I never went through. I do remember finding a scroll that mentions a being older than the gods, but I couldn’t translate the entire thing, just a few words. It predates anything the Crellians wrote by several centuries, but there isn't any evidence of an earlier culture. I figure that’s as good a place to start as any.” He sat back down and took another swig of beer. “Are you sure you want to do this with me?” He was looking at the table now. He was asking a lot after just reconnecting with them.
“We’ve ran this bar for nearly five-hundred years now, I think we can use a break. Besides, it’s like you said, who can’t use a favor from the Pantheon?” Gwen smiled pleasantly. She took his hand from his mug and squeezed his fingers. “Saving the world seems like a pretty good reason to travel anyway.”
It was Winter's turn to shrug. “I’m happy to experience anything new. And if we succeed we would definitely be the first. I’d never argue against that chance.”
Wil smiled sheepishly. The beer was starting to hit him and he was suddenly exhausted. He forced the last half of the mug down. “Thank you, it really does mean a lot.” He lifted Gwen’s hand to his mouth and kissed it. “Really, I mean it.” He stood up, swaying a little bit. He was definitely feeling the alcohol. “Is there a bed I can sleep in tonight?”
Gwen nodded. Her cheeks were pink again. "Through the kitchen, upstairs, and last door on the right. Winter and I are going to clean up and get some stuff packed. We’ll be in and out all day tomorrow, so feel free to help yourself to anything behind the bar and in the kitchen."
Wil grabbed his jacket and bade them goodnight, leaving his dishes on the table. He stumbled on his way up and almost tripped on the top step. The fire was still going in the kitchen, which warmed the floor above. The room he found himself in was small, but had a fully dressed bed and a washbasin that had clean water. Wil stripped, washed his face and arms, and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
III
When Wil woke up, Winter and Gwen had already left. There was a bowl of cut fruit, a plate of toast, and a glass of orange juice on the bar with a note for him written in Winter’s flourished hand writing. The note let him know that the two of them would be in and out all day and that he was free to anything in the kitchen or behind the bar. He vaguely remembered them mentioning the same thing last night. Underneath the note was a key that he guessed was for the front door. He pocketed it and then ate the breakfast that was left out for him.
Once he finished breakfast, and washed his dishes this time, he wondered what to do. He wasn’t sure how long Winter and Gwen would be gone. He could hang around the tavern all day, but that didn’t seem like a good idea. Doing nothing like that would stress him out too much. That really only left walking around the city. Before leaving he took some of the money from behind the bar and left two of his gold coins in its place. He knew they wouldn’t mind, but he felt weird just taking it. He put on his jacket, locked the heavy wood doors behind him, and was on his way.
From what he could tell, the third floor was dominated by nothing except storefronts and stalls. This was also where most of the bridges were, connecting both sides of the pass. There was probably close to about a hundred people walking around. Most were dwarves, doing their daily shopping, but just barely. The rest were made up of humans, some elves, and even a couple of lizardfolk.
Wil meandered from stall to stall. Most were just food vendors, with the odd tchotchke and clothing option available. The stores that were carved into the cliff seemed to sell the larger farming and mining equipment for the locals.
“I can’t believe the trash that gets to walk free.” A snobby woman balked.
Wil looked up from the cave fruit he was looking at to see who was being so rude. His eyes settled on a group of four robed figures. Each of them were wearing matching cloaks and robes with the hood pulled low over their face. True God Cultists.
He set the fruit down and moved his hand to his revolver, but didn’t draw it. He kept his back to them while ke
eping them in his peripheral vision.
“Be patient, Sister. He will release them soon enough from their suffering. We have to keep in mind that they didn’t choose this life for themselves,” a tall man assured her calmly. He was walking behind her, ignoring everything around them.
They stopped at a stall next to the one Wil was at.
He turned to face them. “Isn’t it a little closed-minded to not like somebody because they aren’t human? There doesn’t seem like a good way to build a church to me,” he cocked his head a little bit and smiled slightly, “but I guess I’m not the best one to ask about that.”
All four turned their heads towards him, shocked to find someone talking to them. “Well, a good thing we weren’t asking you then,” the woman snapped. “Sympathizers are almost just as bad. The magic abominations don’t have a choice, but you do, so you can expect your punishment to be long and severe,” she finished knowingly.
Wil smiled. “You aren’t the first of your cult to make that promise to me.” He suddenly became aware of the crowd around them when two little boys ran by. He didn’t like it. The crowd was too dense and if this confrontation broke out into violence there could be a lot of collateral damage, especially with the cult’s beliefs. This was a dumb move on his part. He should have just let them go about their business.
“Well what is that supposed to mean? Did you suddenly realize you were outnumbered?” this time it was the shortest of the bunch to ask. He was standing in front of what Wil suspected to be the woman of the group.
The crowd continued to grow around them, trying to find out where the tension was coming from. Wil needed to get out of here. If he didn't, he couldn't be sure no one would die that didn't need to. “Don’t worry about it. It isn’t any of your business.” He turned and began to walk to the other way, making it back to the second floor before he was stopped.
“That was very unlike you,” a very familiar, unwelcome voice said from the dark corner across from the stairs. Brax stepped out of the shadows. He was still dressed in all black, with the ridiculously large brimmed hat on his head. His eyes were a grim purple.
“Are you here to collect me? I doubt you’re here to help,” Wil said with disgust. He made it point to keep his hands visible. Brax may not like to fight, but he was deadly when he resorted to violence. “I’m surprised it took Crell this long to send you after me. He's never liked it when his property was taken without permission.” Wil couldn't help himself. He always ran his mouth when things got too tense.
Brax hung his head. “He’s dismissed you from his service, upon my wish, with no penalty or debts owed. I have no wish to help the Silver Daughter or her whims. You are on your own with that.”
“Okay,” Wil answered in a drawn out mutter. “So can I help you with something then? I'm kind of busy trying to save the world and what not.” He was surprised and relieved that Crell had given up on him, but still didn't like being so close to Brax right now. He was acting out of character. The Crellian was never sentimental or remorseful. Wil wondered if he knew about Winter and Gwen still being here, but didn’t say anything about it. He didn’t trust Crell to not contact them.
Brax raised his head up again, his eyes a neutral green now. “No. I’ve been following the four cult members you tried to instigate a fight with since last night. A priest overheard them boasting about an attack that was planned.” His joints clinked softly as he walked past Wil up the stairs. “Do not expect to hear from me again. Both of us are finished with you; now you can live your life as you wish.”
Wil didn’t say anything back, just stood there. Brax was long gone before Wil moved. He walked back numbly to the tavern. What had Brax given up to get him off the hook for good? The doors were open when he reached it and Gwen was sitting behind the bar, working on paperwork and counting money. The two gold coins he left earlier were off to the side away from everything else. She looked up at him as he came in, closed the doors, and then locked them. “The cult of the True God is in town,” he explained taking a seat in front of her. “So is Brax.”
Gwen’s eyes widened in concern. “You didn’t…” she began before trailing off in horror. She knew how hot-headed Wil was.
Wil shook his head. “I didn’t attack Brax or the cultists. He’s been following the cult members since last night. He spotted me when I mouthed off to them and let me know that I’m off Crell’s shit list.” He couldn’t figure out why he felt so bad; why he felt so betrayed by Brax’s decision to stay with Crell. He'd always known where he sat with Brax.
Gwen sighed in relief. “Well, it means we won't have to worry about being attacked by Crell. Winter said we should be able to leave tonight.” She smiled at him and squeezed his arm, trying to bring him out of his funk.
He nodded but didn’t say anything. Something didn’t sit right with him about the situation but he would wait until he was on his own to work it out.
“I’ll go make us some lunch,” she said getting up and going to the kitchen.
Wil turned around to lean on the bar and look around the empty tavern. They really had set themselves up with a nice place. Now that he thought about it, he was kind of surprised they had settled on a bar as a business. They were both skilled magic users and could live much more comfortably if they marketed those skills. He walked around the bar and start poking around underneath until he found a bottle of fairy brew. This would make a nice distraction until they left.
“Didn’t you have enough last night?” Winter said out of nowhere behind him.
Wil slammed his head hard against the overhanging counter. “Damn it, Dragon!” he cursed, rubbing the new lump on his head. “I didn’t even hear you come in.” He lifted the bottle to the counter above him and pulled himself up by it. “Do you mind?” he asked, rolling the bottle around on the bar by its neck.
“I don’t think it would stop you,” Winter answered. “From what I saw today you had a pretty rough one.”
Gwen came out with two plates of food. “I wasn’t expecting to see you back so soon. If I knew you were here I would’ve made you a plate too.” She gave Wil his plate, who was pouring himself a glass of fairy brew. “Did you find someone to run the tavern while we’re gone?”
“Thanks,” he said before taking a sip. He looked down at the food; it was a smaller plate of what they had brought out last night. “You didn’t think to interfere?” He started to eat.
Winter shrugged, looking annoyingly pompous for no other reason than being a dragon. “It looked like you handled it okay. Besides, I was having an early lunch with the new managers of this tavern.” He turned to Gwen. “I went with the Lyrel twins. They seemed like the best choice after talking to seven other candidates.”
Gwen nodded along while eating. “I’ll trust your judgment. I guess we're free to go; whenever you’re ready,” she said to Wil.
Wil corked the bottle. “Tonight would probably be best. Brax may say things are cleared up with Crell, but I don't fully trust either of them right now. At least nighttime will provide some cover.” He took a bite of ham and potato together. He was feeling a lot better, excited to see the school he used to teach at.
“I’ll fly us,” Winter said, taking the bottle of fairy brew and taking a sip. “There's a clearing just outside of the pass I use when I want to fly.”
Gwen pushed her mostly empty plate away. “Wil, if we don’t find anything-”
“Then we look for another string to pull on,” Wil replied sternly. “We're going into this with almost nothing already. If my office doesn't have anything, then maybe the library in the school will. It's the best I've got right now.” He knew it was a long shot that they'd find anything, but he wasn't sure where to go for information now. “I don't know what else to do. Everyone I would go to for help are either dead or going to be damn near impossible to find.” He took the last bite of food.
“Who do you know that would still be alive?” Winter asked.
“A handful of elves and one, maybe two,
other dragons. Like I said, near impossible.”
“Were the elves part of a clan?” Gwen asked. “Most of the Elf Clans are still in the same areas they were before.”
Wil shook his head. “They were loners; most of them had come to me as students. The dragons were just colleagues of mine that shared research with me.”
“I don't know of any other dragons left in the area,” Winter stated. “I've never cared for the company of my own kind, but I did try to keep tabs on them just in case I needed help with anything particularly difficult.”
“No worries,” Wil said, shrugging. He stood up. “We should rest before heading out tonight. I'm not sure the next time we'll get to sleep in a good bed.”
Winter stood and nodded. “Good idea. I guess we'll meet down here?”
“Where else would we meet?” Gwen asked dryly. “I'm going to finish up what I was working on and get some food packed. When will the twins be here?”
“Oh. I nearly forgot about them. They should be around in an hour or two.” He slumped back down in his chair. “I guess I'll wait with you then.”
“See you in a few hours,” Wil said, taking his dishes with him. He washed them before heading back to the room he slept in last night to try and sleep for a few hours.
IV
Sleep eluded Wil in his isolation. Too much had happened for him to rest. So, after laying on his back for nearly five hours, he made sure he had everything and headed downstairs. Gwen and Winter were waiting for him.
“I have food packed for tonight so we could get going,” Gwen said to him when he got close. She was wearing a jacket very similar to his. “We're ready if you are.”
He nodded, wishing he could have slept when he had the chance. He felt exhausted. “Let's get going then.”
