We will grant you a portion of our tax revenue if that is what you ask for. Lord Vaania will accept any reasonable demand so long as it does not require his death or vacancy of office. Please, Lord Waterlily, we beseech you to remove the sheet of Everlasting Ice from Lord Vaania’s seat in court.

- Excerpt from a letter scribed by Lord Pida Vaania’s secretary, addressed to Lord Taranath Waterlily.

In the stories there were often descriptions of townsfolk fleeing from disaster while the heroes of the story ran towards it. The passages were included because it illustrated how obscenely dangerous whatever was causing the disaster was, while also highlighting how awesome the hero was. None of that happened in Veliki.

As Torment ran himself ragged through the streets of Veliki, people were just stopped in whatever they were doing and were looking on with mild interest. This was minutes after someone had shaken the earth, and people were erecting arcane and divine seats above the rooftops just to get a better look.

One man punched the ground, then six pillars erupted underneath him and five people who were urging him to cast the spell. Torment had to weave through those stone pillars.

The fight had remained in mostly the same place as we ran towards it, which let me realise it was happening right next to, if not on top of my house. Three of the meteors from earlier had actually landed far away, and the smoke pillars they made were much thinner than the one with the light show happening underneath. Torment shortly rounded a corner and what I saw was difficult to make out at first.

Right in the middle of where everything was happening was a square where the ground was burned and broken, but much less so than the crater surrounding it. There was nothing indicating why that square had been left relatively untouched except for the man in dented yet shining armour who was pacing in the small space. He had a familiar ornate sword of black and blue metal that shone and dripped blood, but he wasn’t doing anything but pacing.

Whatever Garner Shepard was doing in that armour of his, it wasn’t having any effect on the conflict surrounding his little untouched square.

Directly above him was a gargantuan black form that curled around the small pillar in the crater, and was so tall that its body was still above the man even while it crouched. It shifted, and a sickly white glow rippled across the form in scales before its maw opened and a gushing torrent of black energy spilled out, washing over two figures that danced out of the way.

I felt my heart skip. That was a dragon.

What the hell was a dragon doing in Veliki? Why were there so many people just sitting in chairs?

Far above, a burst of pink flame briefly erupted against the sky, but didn’t sound of an explosion. Instead the pink fire vanished, except for where it burned harmlessly against a humanoid form. The partially invisible person waved their hands and vanished, reappearing on the other side of the dragon.

The caster of the original spell swore loudly. I had to twist my head to look at them, and saw Vycar on a rooftop grumbling to himself as he started floating at a rapid speed to get closer to the now kind of visible person. His skin was unnaturally pale, almost matching my current pigment, but the colour was slowly returning from his core. He must have been caught by the dragon’s breath.

It didn’t seem like he needed to follow the flying one though. Another character riding through the air on golden wings that were clearly magical intercepted the person on fire that was pink. There was the sound of a sword drawing blood, then an arrow appeared in the winged one’s side. It provided enough distraction for the now-visible mage to channel a spell through their staff and erect an arcane shield around themselves, and flick the staff to direct the next dragon breath at their adversary.

I looked at where the arrow must have come from, and barely caught a glimpse of someone ducking behind a house before the torrent of black energy got in the way. A glimpse of a very familiar figure. It was Adjutant.

Just like that everything slotted into place. Wrenn must have delivered my message to Brynn, then explained my situation. That would’ve sent him to my family and then the Shepards for answers. Clearly the answers had been unsatisfactory.

It explained the timeline too. Torment and I had set out just after Wrenn did. The doctor obviously must have moved faster, but it wasn’t too much of a difference. The realisation of all that did send another wave of fatigue through me, though. I slumped against Torment again just as he started setting me down, and I hit my chin on his armour.

“I’m going to see if I can call this off.” Torment told me as quietly as was possible with a raging dragon nearby.

That sparked a reaction. “No. I want it to be me.”

Torment gave me a look that said he was going to be hard to convince.

“Brynn’s doing this because Mary killed me. If Mary dies, I want it to be because I had a hand in it. Not, died and then someone avenged me.” I considered what I just said, then hardened my voice through the fatigue. “I want to tell my avenger to do it.”

“Dangerous motivation.” Torment repeated.

I gripped his wrist and pulled, but getting to my feet was hard. “Help me up. Get me to a good spot.”

The ranger just sighed and swept me into a bridal carry. “Don’t.” He hissed when I started to protest. “Hold on.” Then he started uttering an incantation I didn’t recognise.

I had the sense to wrap my arms around his neck before the vine that sprouted on the nearest roof wrapped around Torment and tugged us up. There was a brief moment of weightlessness as we were pulled up to the roof, and then I hit my head against Torment as we landed. I grumbled as he adjusted how he was holding me, then cast another spell that coalesced magic beneath him before running in the direction of Brynn.

Torment made several supernatural bounds as he closed on where the conflict was happening. More exchanges of magic had happened between the two sides, with a portion of razed earth now frozen with visible ice. Mary, because there was no other person who would hurl that kind of magic here and now, had loosed a beam of green energy that barely missed Brynn, only to travel across the town and reduce a wall to fine dust. More arrows appeared in both Vycar and Brynn from various places around the battlefield and were shrugged off.

The moment we were as close as I was comfortable getting, I took in a deep breath. “What the fuck are you doing!?”

Torment skidded to a stop, barely stopping before a low gutter. The urge to move overcame me and I struggled in his grasp until I was allowed to stand on my own. Brynn paused in his flight, which Mary used to bathe him with another devastating breath from the dragon under her command. A crack sounded, and displaced air threatened to bowl me over as Vycar Flamefall appeared next to me, still floating half a step off of the ground.

“We’re settling a disagreement, Amber.” Vycar told me as a second voice muttered an incantation. “Just between you and me, I think I overreacted when I heard what happened.”

Right. Only he would’ve cast that spell here. I shivered as I overlooked the devastation, though the feeling was ruined when I saw the audience again. “Should’ve done more.” I mumbled.

Adjutant stepped around a corner not too far away with an arrow knocked in a simple looking bow. It was aimed in our direction, and surprise reached her eyes as Vycar waved his wand in her general direction and she ceased moving. The floating man offered me a wink and a mischievous smile.

“Ceasefire!” Brynn yelled off to one side, and when no new magics appeared, I had to believe that Mary had been taken by the magic. After a few tense moments where he raised his glowing sword and recited incantations in preparation, Mary became visible once more, twisting a ring on her finger.

The dragon remained, though. This wasn’t over.

Vycar lowered his cracked wand from pointing in Adjutant’s direction and raised his voice. “This has been exciting. Let’s all have a pause so we can get Amber’s take on things, and then we can get back to settling this dispute?”

“No matter how reasonable your motive for igniting this conflict, Vycar, your actions have been disproportionate to any of my crimes. This will not end here.” Mary promised from a spot still in the air. She didn’t touch the ground, but she lowered herself to a reasonable speaking distance.

“You killed Amber.” Brynn said. Just Brynn. That was freakier than I thought it would be.

“And I funded her resurrection.” Mary rebuked without missing a beat. “There are no permanent consequences. I ran every test I could before allowing myself to rest.”

“You mean you cast more fucking magic on me?” I demanded, nearly swaying when my head suddenly became lighter. I grit my teeth and forced myself through it. “After you fucking did that?”

Mary spoke a swift and familiar incantation to send a spark my way, only for Vycar to wave his wand and dissipate the magic. “Your experience has imparted no wisdom, it seems. Amber Jewel, you should watch your tongue.” Then she turned on the Living Magic next to me. “And really? On a cantrip?”

Vycar tutted. “You forget, Ms Shepard, that even a poorly executed spell of the first tier in the evocation school can kill most people. I could not tell how much magic you were letting loose with that cantrip, but if you even included half, Amber would’ve been fried steak.” Normally, I would glare at Vycar for that, but I was fucking shattered and I was focusing the entirety of my hatred on Mary. “Which, now that I think about it, reveals a potential reason as to why Amber suddenly spent a night in the realm of the dead.”

Mary hadn’t told them how I died? Or even why?

“Whatever thoughts are running through your head,” Mary said, “I assure you I have never intended for Amber’s death.”

Brynn didn’t react to that, so it must have been the truth. That didn’t make me happy, however. Normally, that would’ve just furthered my anger. This resurrection fatigue was taking a greater toll on me than I thought it would, even after all the warnings.

“Migh’ you share what your intentions for Amber were, then?” Torment asked, still standing close to me.

Mary sized him up. “Who are you? Inserting yourself into matters you have no part in.”

“Sir Torment, Knight of the Silver Steps, the Twin Peaks, and Half of My Ass.” Torment delivered completely seriously, bowing as formally as he could while still supporting me. “I am a person Amber would prefer to spend time around after returning from death.”

“Why?” Mary demanded.

“Sir Torment actually raised a good point.” Vycar spoke before Mary’s question could be answered. “What are your intentions for Amber?”

“For her to be married to Avien as the Heavens have suggested.”

I snorted. If the Heavens ever gave a mere suggestion, I would happily slit my own throat.

“You’ve misinterpreted my question.” Torment said. “What were your intentions for her last night?”

I stared at Mary, daring her to try telling a lie. Mary did not waver under my gaze, but instead gave me a concerned look that I had learned long ago was false. The three retired heroes with me didn’t know her that well, however. They might buy it.

“Avien was incredibly worried about you. He should be around here somewhere.”

“He can wait.” I snapped, “Don’t dodge the question.”

The subtle way Mary’s eyes squinted told me to respect my elders. The fact that she wasn’t saying it out loud and coupling it with that cantrip meant she was backed into a corner here. That felt good.

“I was merely attempting to ensure Amber’s safety.” Mary said.

“You failed spectacularly.” Brynn stated.

“If you would detail the accident that led to Amber’s demise, Ms Shepard.” Vycar said. “Please be candid.”

Mary took her sweet time picking the words to say. “Since you all seem familiar with Amber, you must be aware of her brash nature. It gets her into trouble often, and recently has been leading her to mortal danger. We were attempting to convince her to take her life more seriously.”

“You’re leaving out something.” I butted in.

Mary closed her eyes as she continued. “In light of recent events, I admit that my methods may have been… extreme.”

“Stop beating around the bush.” Torment said.

“Her father agreed to the placing of a geas spell on Amber.” Mary explained. I felt Vycar tense beside me. “It was designed to stop her from seeking conflict, and to ensure that she keeps to a reasonable schedule.”

“That’s impossible with one geas spell.” Vycar said. “You placed two instances of the spell on Amber.”

Mary opened her eyes and met Vycar’s. “I did.”

“What were the terms? Word for word.”

Mary glanced around at the destruction that had taken over this part of town, at the audience the fight had attracted, and finally at her husband, still pacing in that square. In the end she swallowed her pride and repeated the words she had attempted to make my life’s rules the night before.

Vycar listened with a focused expression, while Brynn became more and more visibly disgusted. Mary finished her explanations, and Vycar checked with Brynn to see if it was all genuine. Then he asked if Mary had repeated the whole thing, which she confirmed she had to no reaction of lying. After all that, Vycar sighed.

He turned to me, still floating above Torment and me as if he had forgotten how to make contact with the ground. His gaze lingered on my wrist before he spoke. “What were your thoughts while the geas was being cast, Amber?”

“How to get out of it.” I answered easily.

“What methods were you planning?” He asked.

“Whatever was necessary.”

“And that would be why the geas activated immediately.” Vycar decided.

Mary made a sound of irritation. “It did not activate immediately. None of us said it did.”

“The magic you attempted to use is supposed to gently warn the subject whenever they stray close to breaching the terms of the spell. Then there is a point of no return that the subject can choose to pass, yet I’ve heard no mention of that from Amber. Honestly, you war wizards cast a spell once, and then claim to have comprehensive knowledge of the spell inside and out. Let me be clear, Ms Shepard, you are arrogant.” Vycar declared, eliciting an expression of indignation from the woman.

“Who are you to make such brash allegations?”

“Each casting of geas is intended for one compulsion.” The Living Magic cut her off. “Not three as you were intending to make with the line ‘must not touch weapons, willingly participate in physical conflict, or seek out situations which would force conflict.’ All may have let you accomplish the casting since the three compulsions were similar in nature. It also may have allowed it because of what happened immediately after. Any delays you witnessed is because of ritual lag, likely thanks to you twisting two castings into one.”

“Impossible.” Mary declared. “Amber is to mother Avien’s child. She cannot die before that time.”

“Fool.” Brynn hissed. A choir of furious angels hissed with him. “The declarations of the Heavens can be subverted. Have you forgotten the significance of your retirement?”

“Amber did not die a permanent death.”

“She could have.”

“And yet she is here, standing before me.”

“What Brynn is trying to say,” Vycar ‘stepped’ in before Brynn could escalate the argument. He was still floating. “Is that Amber had the decision to remain dead when the resurrection spell concluded, yet she decided to allow the ritual to succeed. That is the only reason why she remains warm and breathing.”

“It wasn’t for you.” I told Mary. Then I realised how she would interpret that. “It wasn’t for Avien either.” Honestly, I didn’t know why I made that decision. I didn’t remember making it. Though, there was reason to believe that one day I would recall whatever informed that call.

It would be a long time before that day came to pass, however.

“So what is to be done?” Mary said stiffly, pointedly talking to Vycar. “I may have made an error. But there are no lasting consequences to Amber’s death, and you have not only destroyed my home in retribution, you have destroyed Amber’s home as well.” She glanced out to the perimeter of Veliki, where the three plumes of smoke were still rising. “You seem to have destroyed some of my property outside of Veliki in addition to all that. This is an outrageous and unfair response.”

“When I was Chosen of the Heavens, I killed for less reason than you have given me to act upon here.” Brynn shifted the way he held his sword, and the glow shifted into a more silvery light. “Now that I Champion the Forgotten, I must be more specific. You were responsible for a person’s death, which was enough to justify our initial conflict. Since then I have learned you placed compulsions in the mind of another.”

“With permission.” Mary pointed out.

“Not mine.” I quickly added. “You never asked me.”

Mary turned on me. “You told me to cast the spell.”

“I said ‘get it over with.’”

“You are arguing techni-”

“Enough.” Brynn stated, and there was no more bickering. “That alone demands contrition beyond what has already been served to you, Marylyn Shepard, but the knowledge that this crime was done to a child…” Brynn paused, disgusted by the thought he was describing. “The Forgotten demand so much more of me because of it.”

Mary’s eyes twitched with racing thought. “You cannot demand my life. I’m too important.”

“You’re lying.” I snarled, stepping forward and almost falling as my knees gave out. Vycar was the one to catch me, and I realised that he- the wizard- was actually stronger than Torment.

Mary stared at me. “I’m not lying.” She turned to Brynn. “There are seals on cursed items and savage entities that are tied to my presence among the land of the living. Should my soul be separated from my body, then these seals will fail. My crimes over the past day cannot be equated to what would be unleashed.”

“Unless these attachments were transferred over to the soul of say, this rock.”

I could barely make out the gnome as she decided to be observed. She was sitting apart from the group, but was still on the level of the roof. When I squinted, it looked like she was sitting on a chimney, but then I squinted again, and I realised she was sitting on a rock on the roof. It was in the shape her familiar liked to take, that of a grumpy old man.

“Rocks have a very long life span.” Voxis continued. “We could bury it, and it would erode thousands of years in the future through natural causes. On the other hand, you live an active life and I’m sure there are guilds of assassins looking to take it from you. That’s why I took the liberty to go ahead and make the transfer.”

Mary paled, and my appreciation of Voxis improved. “You couldn’t have.”

Voxis sneered. “I didn’t, but I could.”

“Then do it.” Brynn said, glaring at Mary, who was rapidly cycling through emotions. “I would see Mary’s life ended for what she did to Amber.”

“Yes, yes.” Voxis waved a hand dismissively. “And then her body would be resurrected just as Amber’s was at the behest of her bottom boy. I have a better idea. But first, Vycar, please remove that eyesore.”

“Yes, it is a stain on the skyline.” Vycar spoke as he recited the incantation and pointed his cracked wand at the great dragon. It froze, then disappeared like flame being snuffed from a candle. It had only been an illusion.

“Mary has done what she has done because she doesn’t respect consequences.” Voxis informed everyone. “Which is why she will not be dying this day. This should be an educational experience. After all, it’s been so long since I imparted any lessons, I’m itching to help a fellow arcane practitioner learn.”

Voxis stared at Mary. “Is that agreeable?”

“I don’t know what I’m agreeing to.” Mary said.

“An antimagic field will be established in the place you take up residence in.” Voxis stated. “And there will be a transferral of ownership regarding your favourite tool. Temporarily, that is. You will be without it for one month, one week, and one day.”

Mary frowned, and she wasn’t the only one to. She pondered, probably on what tool Voxis was referring to. “In the interest of ceasing hostilities, I have no choice but to accept.”

Voxis gestured vaguely. “Angelica, you may now prevent the Shepards from indulging with their favourite threesome partner.”

Angelica stepped out from the gap in building beneath us and into the visible spectrum. She smiled honey into her words. “Gladly. Die.”

The word felt wrong. When the sound graced my ears I realised with certainty that if Angelica had chosen to, then I would be the target of that command and would’ve needed resurrection all over again. Adjutant, who still hadn’t moved since Vycar cast his spell on her, suddenly relaxed and fell over. Angelica made a gesture as she produced a silver cage, and a white form flitted towards the cage from just above Adjutants body.

Mary stared at the corpse with an impassive expression.

“Does that satisfy you, Brynn?” Voxis posed to the man still burning with angelic fervor.

Brynn gave Mary a long stare. “I will forever be disgusted by wizards of your ilk.” The glow surrounding Brynn dimmed, and eventually vanished. “The Forgotten have agreed this punishment is justified, though lenient. The method with which the crime was committed can no longer be used, and the accomplices have been punished. Though I remain unsatisfied.”

“That’s the best you’re going to get.” Vycar informed Mary. He pointed his hand at Garner and loosed magic I hadn’t heard him cast. A green beam of energy identical to the one that had dusted a wall lanced towards the armoured man, and impacted an invisible wall. Magic shattered, and Garner was released from his invisible prison. “Now take your husband and scram.”

Mary looked at me, and I glared at her. She almost said something, then decided against it and vanished in a burst of mist called forth by hastily recited magic

In all, that went better than I possibly could have expected. “Thank you.” I said to no one in particular. Then my body decided that had been enough excitement and I faded into unconsciousness.

\V/