After a few moments, Ihra shook Jasper’s shoulder. “Come on. We probably shouldn’t linger here. Who knows how many Tannin might be lurking in the shadows.”

Jasper fumbled for the coin in his pocket, squeezing it tight. It had gone stone cold. Rising to his feet, he took one last look at the smoldering wreckage before shaking it off. “Yeah, the coin’s gone cold, so I think we completed the mission. Hopefully, the Whispers have taken care of our troll problem.” The trek back to the city felt shorter, a weight lifted off their shoulders as the two almost dared to hope that perhaps their long, dark nightmare was coming to an end.

When they reached the lights of the city again, Jasper held up the coin and called out. “My side of the deal is done. Are you prepared to fulfill yours?”

The lights around them flickered as a whisper hissed behind them. “Go to the temple.”

They climbed a steep corridor leading up to the temple grounds. Crouching down, they saw the trolls still guarding the entrance, the Atrometos hidden within the building. Jasper frowned. “The trolls look very alive to me,” he softly called out to the whispers.

A tendril shot out from the darkness, wrapping around Jasper’s head. It tightened for a moment around his neck, as if about to break it, then slithered back, caressing his cheek as it left. “Enjoy the show, Jaaasper.”

In a sudden burst of violence, the trolls guarding the stairs were tossed into the air by an unseen force. Their fall was intercepted by dozens of shadowy tendrils which, with a sickening crunch, tore the bodies apart in a shower of gore. The whispers spoke into his ear. “Head for the portal now. Run.”

Jasper and Ihra charged up the stairs, racing past the ravaged corpses, as they fled into the depths of the temple compound. The shrieks and cries of the trolls echoed all around them as they were torn asunder by the unseen death that stalked the halls. Breaching the rotunda, they slid to a halt at the sight of the Atrometos. Their corpses had been lined up in a row on the ground before the gate. Despite their armored black scale, the Atrometos’ chests were ripped open, the ribs splayed out, evidence of a strength Jasper could barely imagine. Pa’al lay sprawled in from of the gate. He was barely breathing from the extent of his injuries, but the shackles that bound him lay open the ground, shorn through.

Jasper and Ihra rushed over to Pa’al. He was a mess. One of his arms was bent at an odd angle, a foot was missing, and the breastplate of his armor was smashed in so thoroughly that Jasper could not understand how he was still alive. But the gentle rise and fall of his chest testified that he was.

“Quick, lend me a hand.” Jasper reached around to Pa’al’s side, and with Ihra’s help, lifted him onto his shoulders. Then, staggering beneath the armored man’s weight, he turned to the portal. The portal was a tall, three sided triangular shape that appeared to be made of a solid, golden-hued metal. On each side of the three sides of the portal, a pressure plate was sunk into the ground. “Did Rashpa tell you which side to use?”

Ihra shook her head. “Nope. If she knew there were three destinations, she didn’t mention it.” Ihra scanned the three sides of the portal looking for any clues as to their destination. “Nothing.”

"Damn it." Jasper shifted under the crushing weight of Pa’al. “I can’t hold him much longer. Just pick a side, quickly.”

Ihra pointed to the third side. “Something about that one feels better to me than the other two.”

“Well, you’ve got a higher vision stat than me, so let’s hope it guides us well.” Jasper stepped forward onto the plate, Ihra close behind. There was a clicking sound, and then the metallic side of the portal melted, turning into a viscous, metallic liquid. Jasper waited for a second, expecting the liquid to flow away, and leave some giant glowing doorway. But the liquid only slowly swirled around the gate. “Are we supposed to go through the liquid?”

Ihra shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never even seen a portal before.”

A scream rang out behind them. One of the trolls, fleeing from the unseen nightmare that was tearing through the temple had escaped into the rotunda, hoping to flee through the portal. Bellowing in fear, it charged towards them. Jasper made his decision in a moment, plunging into the liquid with Ihra close on his heels.

As soon as Ihra stepped off the pressure plate, the portal closed behind them with a click, as the liquid instantly hardened back into a metal. The troll barreled into the now solid wall, and was thrown back from the force of the impact. Panicked it leapt onto another of the pressure plates. As the portal’s metal turned to liquid, the whispers sent a tendril arcing through the air towards the troll’s unsuspecting back. At the last minute, the tendril diverted to the side, slamming into the far side of the rotunda’s wall with a resounding crack. The portal opened and the troll leapt within, the liquid quickly sealing up behind him.

Jasper had had more than his share of unpleasant experiences since coming to Corsythia. The fact that having his heart repeatedly ripped out by an emo goddess wasn’t even at the top of the list was a pretty good indicator of how his new life had been going. But traveling through the portal became an immediate contender for the top of that list.

The instant he made contact with the liquid, Jasper was met with excruciating pain. The metallic liquid was scalding hot, and he slowly sunk deep into the viscous mixture, sinking like a stone beneath the waves. On reflex he opened his mouth to scream, and the liquid poured in, flooding his lungs as a raging inferno burned within and without. The agony only swelled as he sunk deeper and deeper into the liquid. This is it. This is how I die.

Suddenly, he found himself falling through the air. He landed face first in a prickly bush, the pain barely registering after the agony of the portal. The heavy weight of Pa’al, who was still draped around his shoulders, drove him even further into the soft ground. A second later, Ihra plopped out of the portal, landing on him in a disorderly sprawl.

He lay there, relishing the cool air on his burning lungs. Gasping, he coughed up streams of the still burning mixture on the ground, as the pain gradually melted away. With a heave, he managed to dislodge Pa’al and Ihra from his back, and stumbled up. Examining himself, he was relieved to find that, despite having felt as if he was plunged into molten lava, he was in fact entirely unharmed.

A whimper escaped from the form beside him. Jolted into action, Jasper rooted through his bag for a potion. Dragging it out, he carefully poured the mixture into Pa’al’s mouth. The effects were slow - the damage Pa’al had taken was far too extensive and had lingered for too long to be immediately reversed. But, slowly his broken ribs reset, his open wounds closed, and he regained consciousness. Jasper carefully dragged Pa’al over to a tree, propping him up against the trunk. While the majority of the tank’s injuries had been healed, two remained. His broken arm, which had been bent at a very unnatural angle was still misshaped, and his missing foot had not regrown, the stump merely healing over with the healing potion.

Pa’al’s eyes were glazed at first, his consciousness still hazy, but at last he managed to form words. “How the hell did you manage to get me out of that hell-hole?” His words croaked out, barely above a whisper.

Jasper grimaced. His deal with the whispers paid off, but it had come with a heavy psychological toll. A shudder shook him as the horrifying memory of those tendrils caressing him rose unbidden to his mind. He decided not to mention the whispers, at least immediately. “Rashpa told Ihra about your backplan, the portal in the temple. We escaped through there.”

“But all those Atrometos and trolls, how did you-” Pa’al trailed off, his mind latching onto a more important priority. “Qara, the others?” He struggled to sit up, supporting himself along the tree trunk.

Jasper shook his head. “I think they are all dead. You were the only one we found. Can’t they just pay the resurrection price?”

The giant man resting before him suddenly looked very small and tired. Sorrow laced his speech. “May the Lord of Mirth and Frost will it. But I fear that they may have suffered a final death. All of them have already resurrected a few times, and the price increases quickly. But still, they might have been able to afford resurrection if they had not been killed by an Atrometos.”

He spat on the ground, a surge fury warring with the sorrow in his eyes. “Atrometos deal massive soul damage to their victims. Their souls may well be damaged beyond repair, or at least, far beyond any price they could afford. We would never have accepted the commission if we knew there would be Atrometos. Atrometos are a task for the Imperial Guard, not lowly guilders like us.” He lapsed into silence, his eyes staring, unseeing, into the void.

Jasper turned to Ihra, and was disturbed to realize that she had still not awakened. She appeared physically unharmed, but placing his hand on her head, he found she was burning up. His ears pricked up as he noticed the gentle babble of a stream in the background. Picking her up, he started off in the direction of the sound.

He reached the stream quickly, and gently lowered her in, taking care to keep her head above the water. The water hissed as he placed her in, and copious clouds of steam roiled off the surface. How could she be that hot? He waited anxiously as her body cooled, and a wave of relief washed over him when she finally opened her eyes. Ihra stared at him in confusion for a second, his face looming over hers until, her body responding fasting than her mind, she punched him in the face. Startled Jasper, dropped her in the water, and she swiftly floated down the river before colliding with a log draped across the stream. Splashing and spluttering, she made her way to the side.

“Feeling better?”

She shook herself dry, wringing as much water off her as she could before finally responding. “I’m, uh, I’m sorry about the punch. You surprised me…” she trailed off, an embarrassed look on her face.

Truthfully, Jasper felt a peeved about the punch. He was just trying to help. But he pushed his annoyance and gave a gracious smile. “I know, but you were burning up with heat. I guess the portal was a lot harder on you than me.”

She squinted her eyes, as she wrung the water out of her long, blonde hair. “Well, you’re a fire-boy, aren’t you? Most of your kind have pretty good fire resistances. I don’t know if that portal is broken, or if it’s just a really painful experience, but your fire resistances had to help you a lot. But, uh, thanks for cooling me off.”

Jasper hadn’t considered that, and the thought gave him pause. It had been, by far, the most painful experience of his life, and he had 70% resistance to fire. Had the pain she experienced been several times worse? His annoyance with her melted away, replaced with sympathy.

The two walked back to the tree where Pa’al still sat, unable to easily move about without his leg. “So, anyone know where we are?”

Pa’al shifted, trying to stand. He pointed to the stream. “I think that’s the Rahne, one of the rivers that flows out from Yar-Khennor, so we probably came out on the north side of Hargish, quite a bit down the mountainside.” He paused, struggling again to stand to his feet, before settling back down in defeat. “I don’t think I can make the hike back to the city like this, and neither of you have a high enough strength stat to carry me all the way back. Just leave me here, and when you make it back to the city, the guild can send someone to retrieve me.”

Jasper looked at the jungle around them. No obvious threats could be seen, but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving a man behind. If a predator came along, could Pa’al even defend himself right now? Jasper ran his fingers through his hair while he considered his options. “Ihra, I think you should go back to town, and I’ll stay here with Pa’al.” Pa’al halfheartedly objected, but the look of relief on his face was obvious.

Ihra agreed. “But before I go, I think we should meditate. I’m sure we’ve gained a few levels, and you never know if we’ll need to fight before getting out of this jungle. I’ll keep watch over you, and then you can watch for me.”

Jasper sat on the ground with a wince, his muscles grumbling in protest. Closing his eyes, he reached for the void. I am the river…. With each trip, his mantra manifested easier, and within seconds he found himself standing before Kas̆dael. Grasping her hand, he was surprised to see he had multiple notifications.

He pushed them aside for the second, determined to level up first. He was pleased to see that he picked up five levels. Jasper wasn’t quite sure where to invest the points. On the one hand, he wanted to dump the points into strength and endurance, and increase his still rather measly health. Those 400 points, compared to a 1000 in essence felt wholly insufficient. But, he had also found himself low on essence in every fight so far. He finally decided that the best defense was a good offense, and dumped five points each into inspiration and willpower, and threw the other five into endurance.

Jasper Welles (20)

Level up available: x5

Exp: 275/500

Health 400

Stamina 700

Essence 1000

Heritage(s)

Greater Djinn

Class(es)

Acolyte of the Secret Flame

Titles

The Blood Runs True

Betrothed of Kas̆dael

Stats

Racial Traits

Class Abilities

Weapon Skills

Strength 15

Born of Flames

Sacred Star II

Improvised Weaponry I

Endurance 15

Locked

Purge

Slingshot V

Vision 15

Locked

Eternal Night

Glaive IV

Inspiration 30

Locked

Fiery Shackles

Willpower 30

Charisma 15

Then he turned to the three notifications.

Hidden Encounter: Survive the Atrometos

You have faced an evil creature more than 50 levels higher than you, and have escaped with your life. For your reward, you will receive the title Survivor and an upgrade to the skill you used the most during your encounter.

Skill upgraded: Eternal Night > Eternal Night II

Summon the eternal void. For one minute, sap a twenty meter area around you of all light and warmth to supercharge your fire damage. +150% fire damage. Cost 150 essence.

It was a good upgrade; all aspects of the spell were boosted at least a bit, and the higher cost in essence was fully compensated by the double length of the spell. He then checked out the Survivor title: When encountering a foe at least 50 levels above you, gain an increased chance to escape. He frowned at the vague description. How did that even work? Wasn’t his chance of escape governed by his actions? Oh well, it certainly won’t hurt anything.

He drew up the next notification.

Smiter of Evil

You have found evil and purged it from this world. For your service, you have been granted a new spell.

Sin Eater - Feed on the sins of your foes. When cast on a suitable foe, sacrifice 5% of your mana to restore 10% of your health. Inflicts damage on foe equal to the amount of health gained.

Crap. It was the spell he had rejected earlier. I don’t want an inquisitor class! Jasper had a sinking feeling that someone was pushing him towards this path. He had rejected the spell, so instead he was given it as a reward that couldn’t be turned. Begrudgingly, though, he had to admit that the spell was a good spell. A healing spell was never a bad thing.

He turned to the last notification.

Divine Quest: Destroy the Tanin

You have discovered that the Tanin still lurk in the dark corners of Yar-Khennor. Return to the city and hunt them down.

Rewards will be based on the number of Tanin killed, but possibilities include new skills, a new class, or a divine blessing.

Jasper dismissed the notification almost instantly. There is no way in hell I’m going back down there. I barely escaped with my life as it is. He had to admit, though, that the rewards were tempting. The possibility of acquiring a second class, a divine class, was, in itself, motivation enough to reconsider. The quest had no time limit, though. Maybe later, once I’ve leveled up a bit more. He scanned his stats one last time before leaving the void.

Jasper Welles (25)

Level up available:

Exp: 275/500

Health 500

Stamina 900

Essence 1200

Heritage(s)

Greater Djinn

Class(es)

Acolyte of the Secret Flame

Titles

The Blood Runs True

Betrothed of Kas̆dael

Survivor

Stats

Racial Traits

Class Abilities

Weapon Skills

Strength 15

Born of Flames

Sacred Star II

Improvised Weaponry I

Endurance 20

Locked

Purge

Slingshot V

Vision 15

Locked

Eternal Night

Glaive IV

Inspiration 35

Locked

Fiery Shackles

Willpower 35

Sin Eater

Charisma 15

Not too bad for a few weeks work. With a sigh, he released Kas̆dael's hand as he was pulled into her deadly embrace.