“Oh, do not be such a prude, Alex!” The chancellor rolled his eyes, pouring himself a cup of pineapple juice. He waved the pitcher. “Care for a cup?”

The young wizard shook his head. “Don’t think it’d stay down right now.”

“You do have such a talent for the dramatic!” Baelin snorted in amusement, taking a long sip of his drink.

“But…you two were flirting?” Alex sounded unsettled.

“Well, I most certainly hope so!” the ancient wizard laughed. “Come now, don’t tell me that today’s youth have lost their zest for such activities and become puritan again, or is your reaction due to my age?”

Alex stared at him.

“I am old but I am not a corpse, after all.”

“No, no, it’s not that!” Came the partial lie as he waved his hand and sank deeper into the chair. There was a little bit of what Baelin had suggested going on. A mix of cringe, embarrassment, and icky thoughts were running wild in his head. It almost felt like he was under Zonon-In’s chaos magic again. “It’s just that, well…she’s a demon.”

Baelin raised an eyebrow. “You would be surprised at the number of half-fiends in this world. And they do come from somewhere, Alex.”

That brought an image to the young wizard’s mind that threatened to freeze it mid-thought. He called on every meditation technique he knew to save himself.

“Okay, okay, but this demon tried to kill me! And my friends!“ he complained.

“Oh, bah!” Baelin waved a hand. “You have to learn to let such things go since today’s enemy could very easily be tomorrow’s ally. As a matter of fact, at one time there was a trend in epic poetry that focused on dangerous enemies growing to become lovers—”

“Baelin…Baelin, you gotta stop. I’m literally dying.”

“Alex, you are not dying, you are fine. Fine!”

“Well, there’s like…look at…well, she’s a giant!”

Baelin shook his head. “Demons, my young friend, are beings of chaos, and greater demons have significant power over such chaos. Remember, they are shapeshifters, though some use the ability more than others. And as for me, I can assume just about any form I damn well please, so the physical barriers you are entertaining are of no concern whatsoever.” His face had an innocence to it.

The image came back into Alex’s head. With a vengeance.

He leaned back on Claygon for support. “Baelin…Baelin, please.”

“Bah, make it less fun to torture you and I might consider stopping.” the ancient wizard’s eyes twinkled. “But in full disclosure, much of that was an act.”

Alex shuddered. “Much of it?”

His mentor shrugged unapologetically. “As I said, I am old. Not dead. But still, this works out well for us. In this case, we now have a route to gain information on Hannar-Cim, and it was all done with our guest being none the wiser that there is a plan in the works for you—and your friends, of course—to slay her. Come now, this is a moment to celebrate!”

“I…yeah, I guess you’re right,” Alex took a deep breath, forcing himself to stop thinking about bile…and other unpleasantness. He began thinking of the possibilities ahead instead. “By the Traveller, I can’t believe we actually found a major clue and didn’t even need Burn-Saw.”

“True, but our search still bore fruit for us, however: it spread word that I was on the hunt for information which was what caused Zonon-In to volunteer what she knew in order to forge a deal with me.” Baelin stroked his beard-braids. “And this is excellent. It will give you time.”

“You mean thirty-three years?” Alex asked.

“Oh, goodness, no,” Baelin said. “I am hoping that we will be ready to move on this mysterious demon and take the knowledge we desire sometime next year.”

“Oh, I see. Okay.” Alex nodded. “But, why next year?”

“It is simple.” The chancellor swirled the juice at the bottom of his cup and drained it. “That's when we will be ready to fetch the information together if all works out according to my vision.”

“Together?”

“Indeed,” Baelin said. “In short, I think that your connection with this Traveller could be useful when it comes to searching for what we need. Not to mention the excellent learning experience it will be for you.”

Alex’s eyes lit up. “Damn, how many mortals can actually say they’ll be going into the Hells? Right now I’m terrified, but I’m also excited, which means by the time next year comes around, I should be a total wreck.” He grinned, rubbing his hands together.

“It will be good for you in particular since you engage in summoning magic as a focus,” the chancellor said. “Most magic learners would indeed be curious about what it’s like on a plane that they have learned to summon from.”

Alex considered it. “Yeah, I know I am. I wonder what we’ll find? Knowledge, an artefact, maybe just some demon who met Hannar-Cim in passing once? …whatever we find, I like the idea of following our clue down there.”

“Excellent, then it’s time for you to get to work.” The chancellor poured two cups of juice, this time handing one to Alex without asking.

The young wizard took the cup. “Get to work? Oh…I guess you mean on growing my power.”

“Indeed. If you wish to defeat Zonon-In, you will need a major progression in strength,” the ancient wizard said. “I would humbly suggest having mastered fifth-tier spells before heading into the lion’s den, as it were. With Claygon, Theresa, and the Heroes, and perhaps members of your cabal at your side…you might get away with fourth-tier spells. Either way, I would suggest lots of practice and growth.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Alex said. “I’ll put in the work. Still, holy shit. …what a stroke of good fortune.”

“Now you see the bright side!” Baelin said. “Good show. In the meantime, I will be considering Ezaliel. That is a problem which needs a remedy.”

“Yeah, definitely…but I think I’ll let you handle that one.” The young Thameish wizard grinned and sipped his juice. “Oh, by the way, can I ask you some questions?”

“Of course. I am a professor. I am meant to answer questions. Most of them, anyway.”

“Uh…Aphrometh…” Alex said. “You mentioned them and their temples?”

“Oh, that,” Baelin chuckled. “That was as a result of some of my research on Zonon-In. I discovered that her servants were lurking about the temples of the dead god known as Aphrometh, seeking some artefact of the deceased deity’s power.”

“Oh, that…that doesn’t sound good,” Alex muttered.

“Of course ruins of temples are plundered all the time. Sometimes such places yield great sources of power. Sometimes they do not. But, that is not relevant to us, though. What is relevant is that I knew her servants were seeking such places and so I led her where I wanted her to go by mentioning the god’s temple. She naturally assumed that I asked her to leave the material plane because I have a vested interest in Aphrometh myself, so with that to occupy her attention, she will be less likely to put together that I summoned her to stop her from attacking you.”

He smiled. “Information has value, as I said, and there is no reason for me to simply volunteer that you and I have a connection. Let her figure that out herself.”

“Right,” Alex said. “I guess that’s another advantage of making a pact instead of cursing her. She’ll be less hostile toward you and even less likely to put together that you’re associated with what happened in the Crymlyn.”

“Precisely. Now what was your other question?”

“Well, you used this strange word when you told her not to come back without your permission.” Alex scratched his growing whiskers. They were scraggly, but starting to look like the beginning of a real beard. “I didn’t understand it. Now, I’m far from familiar with every dialect in all the nearly-infinite tongues of demons, but I couldn’t tell if it was ‘country’, ‘continent’, ‘kingdom’, ‘land’, ‘world’ or ‘plane’. What was it?”

“Hmmm,” Baelin mused, looking at Alex closely. His eyes seemed to be reading the young man’s soul. “You know? I think I shall save such a lesson for a different day. There are some things that a young wizard is not quite ready to grapple with. I hope you understand.”

Alex felt a sharp twinge of curiosity, but he knew better than to push.

Baelin and he had a great relationship and the ancient wizard gave him a lot of privileges, but there was an unspoken understanding about parameters, and one reason that their relationship was as good as it was was because he knew when to ask questions, and when not to.

This was one of the times not to.

“I do, I understand,” he said. “Well. I guess this is our last time summoning demons for information.”

“Perhaps, however, there might be a need in future. Remember, demons are always creatures of chaos.” Baelin said. “But for the time being, I will likely use the time to research my new enemies. And how will you spend yours?”

“I’ll probably use mine researching more summoning magic and trying to solidify my breakthrough to third-tier by learning more spells. Haste would be nice. I can brew haste potions, but it’d be better to have more than one path to get there.”

“Very wise,” Baelin said. “But, tonight, we have finished a journey we have been walking for a long while. Go and relax. Celebrate in your own way, though it is late. It is important to acknowledge milestones, or in time, every accomplishment will simply become another in a series of endless grey steps.”

“Thanks Baelin, I’ll do just that,” he said. “Maybe I’ll make Theresa and me a nice dinner if she’s up. Selina’ll probably be asleep by now, though.”

“Oh, yes, how is your little sister? Still having struggles with her affinity?” the chancellor asked.

“Well, I’m not sure.” Alex scratched his head. “She’s been asking a bunch of questions about fire and heat lately, but she won’t really say why. I think she’s gotten really curious since I told her I put out a fire using another fire.”

“Most excellent, I would hate to see another young wizard crippled by something as futile as self-hatred,” the chancellor said. “Such occurrences happen more often than they should, unfortunately. In any case, I will not keep you any longer. Go, take the rest of the night for some recreation.”

“Thanks for this, Baelin,” Alex said. “Really, thank you.”

The chancellor chuckled, then his chuckle grew into a booming laugh. “No need to thank me. I am gaining from this too, after all!”

“…by that do you mean the loot from the other demons? Or…something else?’ Alex asked nervously.

The ancient wizard’s chuckle turned darker than the night sky. “Do you really want to know?”

“Nope! Leaving now!” Alex cried, running for the door. “Let’s go, Claygon!”

He’d made it halfway when Baelin called out to him.

“It is both, of course!” his voice boomed madly.

“Aaaaaaargh!” Alex screamed, desperately pulling on the door. “You could have left it alone! You didn’t have to say that!”

“And to think your partner’s a hunter, have you learned nothing from Theresa?” the chancellor chuckled as Alex scrambled into the hall with Claygon right behind. “What good is the chase if you do not finish off your prey!”

The young wizard slammed the door and fled as Baelin’s laughter chased him into the night. It only occurred to him much later that the ancient wizard could have easily teleported after him, if he really wanted to keep tormenting him.

Zonon-In’s words came back; about waiting for when someone least expected an enemy to return. Would Baelin do that?

He could imagine the ancient wizard biding his time for days, weeks, or even months and then hitting him with the horror of Zonon-In when he least expected it.

“What did I ever do to deserve this?” he moaned as he exited the castle and stepped into the moonlight. Claygon walked by his side, tightly gripping the war-spear that had once belonged to the demon. Someday soon, he would get a chance to return it to her…though not in the way she wanted.

“Well, buddy,” he looked up at Claygon. “Theresa’s going to be happy to hear we have a solid lead, and Cedric will probably like the idea of a rematch, a lot.”

He stood still for a bit, looking up at the moon.

“You know, I bet the Heroes reached Alric by now. Makes me wonder if they’ll find out something about the Traveller and who knows, maybe they’ll find something unexpected too.”