Victor

  Last time as you’ll remember, the plucky me encountered a nasty trap that gave him ideas! Ah, I’m aquiver with anticipation! After that dead end was taken care of, we spent a good deal of time checking the other side passages, breaking traps as we went, but found nothing. Confident that the left turn led to nothing but traps, we returned to the first fork. Sure enough, when we got back there was a pair of cult members trying to open the door and looking puzzled.

  They attacked us, and these guys meant business. Rather than the simple gambeson armor like the goons upstairs, these guys were wearing black brigandine armor complete with black rivets. Their swords glowed with pale light, and they moved supernaturally fast. They nicked me and then one of them tried going for the princess, but Charlean managed to stop that; she even used footwork to keep him locked down. These guys were good at feinting and going for weak points; but ultimately they were outnumbered and we ended them.

  Then we took the next hall, and this one had fewer turns than the last, but a fair bit more standard traps which Mal set about disabling. There was even a magical one that would have filled the entire hallway with lightning!

  Then we reached another door and oh here we go. There were four heavily armored guys standing at the ready with swords and shields with a wizardly looking guy behind them. Their armor was black, as one might suspect, but etched with some sort of red logo or heraldry. I wouldn't call it full plate armor, more like half and half chain and plate, but it was clearly high quality. No time was wasted. They moved in to close in on us while the wizard attempted to pelt us with fire bolts. We were able to avoid the flaming barrage but it left our formation in shambles.

  Thankfully, the princess had managed to trip one of the dark knights up with a stone rifle, which proved surprisingly effective against the mail protecting his legs. Mal and I drew our swords as they came within range, Charlean's was already out, while the princess started running towards me - ah, yes, this maneuver - I gave her the old alley-oop and she cleared their front line to engage their wizard in a duel of spells. I couldn't see much of what was happening given that I had three guys in front of me, no, make that two, Mal hit upon the idea of nailing the inside of one of their helmets with shadow magic, which disoriented him. The sounds of various incantations and spell effects interacting with stone told me the duel was intense and well underway.

  The guy the princess hit was wounded pretty bad; that leg of his was toast unless he had some way of healing it, so until that other guy figured out that he had only to take off his helmet in order to see again it was two on three. Mal pirouetted around us and thrust his rapier into the side of one of the black knights, which wasn't enough to drop him but we pressed the attack; focusing on him. I let Charlean duel the other one while I assisted Mal. I had to admit, Charlean was a really competent swordswoman - she could have taken two at once, I thought.

  Eventually our guy went down. I'd gotten around his shield and stuck him under the arm, then Mal turned himself invisible just long enough to confuse him only to reappear behind him and deal a lethal thrust through the collar. Dark helmet came back to the fight but without that helmet he was easy pickings; Mal presented himself as an easy target while I rolled behind him, smacked him over the head with my shield, and stuck his vitals with my arming sword.

  “Nice feint,” I said.

  “Thank you, old boy,” said Mal with a bow.

  Then there was a pained grunt - gah! Charlean had taken a nasty hit and what was worse, the other guy was back and he'd also injured her. Did he have a healing potion or something? No, he was still bleeding from the wound. Had he just decided to stand on it despite the pain? Well, of course I exploited that weak point with a good old fashioned kick, and nailed him with my shield while I was at it. There was a loud crunch. I was certain I’d broken his knee, but he didn’t seem to care. Between Mal and I we were able to end the threat before us but Charlean had dropped, and was bleeding heavily.

  Shit! I glanced over to see how the princess was doing - she wasn't much of an attack mage, but she was holding her own. Mal threw one of his knives into the wizard's side which gave the princess an opening to end him with her saber. She came rushing over and started to tend to Charlean. Ah, thank God we weren't too late. That was too close for comfort. Damn. No more sending the princess on wizard duels, I thought. But that guy was bad business and we might have been in worse trouble if he'd kept flinging fire at us the way he had. Yeah, next time we go searching for a permanent party member we'd best grab ourselves someone good at attack magic so that the princess can focus on healing more.

  After a few moments Charlean opened her eyes, I assume, hard to tell with that visor.

  She said, "W-what? Flatborn…why do you heal me after all-"

  The princess smiled, kindly "That's my primary party role, silly. I may think you're a boor and a musclehead, but I can't just let you die."

  Charlean said no more. No, I don't mean she died, I mean she stopped talking. In fact I don't remember her saying another word until we were almost done down there; well, okay she said four. Mal and I gave the fallen man whose knee I’d busted. There was something sizzling around the injury, something sickly and yellow - moreover there were traces of yellow powder on his tattered mail.

  Mal grimaced and said, “Lichor, I see, so that’s how it was.”

  I scratched my head, “Lye-core, huh? What’s that?”

  “A powerful narcotic alcohol distilled from an unholy mixture: the flesh of a ghoul and some special flowers. It numbs all pain and can allow a damaged limb to function. It is very powerful but it is also very, very dangerous…which is why it is also outlawed in most reputable places.”

  A damn drug, huh? Damn. Each of the guys we fought had a vial of the loathsome stuff which I smashed against the wall; the princess washed it away with her water magic and that was the end of it.

  Anyway, there was one final set of doors leading into the inner sanctum - we healed such injuries that we'd sustained during the fight, and prepared ourselves. The inner sanctum was sort of widget shaped - big circle in the middle, two oblong protrusions at either end. Sitting on a stone chair in the middle was a man wearing a long black robe with red trim; he was about the same age as Mal and I but he looked older because everything about him was unkempt, and he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. When he noticed us he began laughing.

  "Well, well. So even my best men couldn't stop you," he said.

  "Fayd," said Mal, grimly.

  "Oh, if it isn't my old friend. Brought me a gift of sacrifices, have you? Surely you weren't actually going to betray the Black Order, the Mastermind, and our god, after all we've done for you, old friend?"

  I opened my mouth, but Mal stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. I saw a fierce look of determination in his eyes, brow thoroughly furrowed. All right, I’ll let him cook.

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  "Friend. I don't even think you know what that word means," he began, "You, sir, are what Victor old boy here calls," finger to chin, lolling his head to the side, "Ah yes, an enabler and a gaslighter."

  Mal began to caper about as he spoke, gesticulating with his hands, "I had been depressed for quite a long time, you see, unable to escape my sadness for reasons I could not fully grasp. Then you came along, and it seemed to start to make sense - it was my fault the whole time, you'd said. Ah, and was it not you, yes, you, who convinced me that the only way to feel anything but numbness and despair was exciting chaos? Yes, my life wasn't even that bad, all things considered, the job paid tremendously well, I had the ear of the queen, and was even allowed to partake of her most exquisite feasts!"

  He took a deep breath, and continued. "And just where had my thoughts that nobody understood me or even cared about me even come from? Why, once Victor put the question to me there was but one answer: the idea that everyone despised me, saw me as nothing but a sub-humanoid rag, as utterly worthless-"

  He spun around and pointed at Fayd. "-Had first come from you! You saw me as an easy target, yes, an orphaned noble boy in a deep state of depression, and then you formed me into a monster of your own design only so you could taunt me at the very end because you knew fully well that the death of the queen would not bring me any joy!"

  After a long pregnant silence Fayd grinned, and said "Precisely."

  Dude just straight up admitted it, ugh, that expression looked way too much like his vinegar strokes for my comfort. He rose from his seat and began to pace, hands behind his back.

  "But do you want to know the most delicious part of it all?"

  Mal turned away from Fayd and waved dismissively, "Fine."

  Fayd took a deep breath, "the dearly departed Wylt, the poor fellow, he was Nurven's last student."

  The princess said, "that was the guy who caused the plague in Kennie!"

  The one I hit head on with my car.

  Fayd nodded, "Yes. He was good at concocting magical plagues, but not the genius his predecessor was, ah so many secrets lost with his passing. Plaguemaster Nurven. Even Wylt, whom he trusted, hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of his knowledge ere old age finally took him."

  I scratched my head, "I was under the impression that powerful mages lived longer."

  The princess scowled, "Not when they practice evil forbidden magic like death and decay."

  "Evil?" He spread his arms and shrugged, "That is just the selfish perspective of those who do not understand. You say something is evil because you do not want it. I merely do what must needs be done to ensure my god's resurrection."

  "I say something is evil because it is evil!" cried the princess.

  "Moral relativism is a vile belief system," I said, "And I don't know what scenery chewing demon you worship, but he ain't a god."

  "I'll ignore that, for now, as I still have yet to finish my tale," said Fayd "before he was killed, Wylt told me a very interesting story, about a conversation he had with the Mastermind. You see, the Mastermind was very intrigued when I told him your name, Malcolm Kavian. It was a name he had heard before, yes, by sheer coincidence, we had prior dealings with your family. Then the Mastermind told Wylt where he had heard it before. Specifically…"

  He smiled, paused, and continued, "Nurven was crucial in many operations across the continent involving magical plagues. You might know about what happened to the Cara royal family long ago, or the red death outbreak in Hylaria, or perhaps…”

  He said, with a wicked grin, "...The Spellscourge."

  The princess and Mal started, Charlean remained taciturn, I said thoughtfully, with crossed arms, "So, that was their doing too."

  Fayd nodded, smugly, "You see, the mastermind had information about all of the high-ranking spellcasters living at the university, including known kin and their places of residence. Our original goal was merely to end Archmage Tarian, who had foiled some of our plans in the past - too much of a nuisance - and to kill as many others as possible while we were at it. But to think that we got four other archmages in the process: that was quite an unexpected bonus. That's right, old friend, you've been helping the selfsame organization that caused the death of your grandmother!"

  Mal clenched his fist, the princess and I looked at him, he had an intense look in his eyes, and were those tears?

  The princess said, "Malcolm…is it possible…are you a quarter beastfolk?"

  Mal nodded and was silent for a moment. "Yes. You have the right of it, your highness. As you may have just realized, the name of my dear gran-gran was Merlinda. She was indeed a cat-ears beastfolk." He turned to Fayd, bowing theatrically. "Well, you certainly have given me more of a reason to seek out the Mastermind and bring him to justice! Thank you for giving me answers."

  "What is this?" Fayd was incensed. That wicked gleam of confidence was gone, leaving only blind rage and surprise.

  Mal laughed, "Oh, what indeed? What. were you expecting me to go mad from the revelation, to fall into such despair that I would rejoin your side? Or perhaps you expected me to kill you in a blind fury for your part in the whole affair, thereby succumbing to the darkness. How old are you exactly? You would have been a child yourself back then - someone's page-boy no doubt with the stupid haircut and all, and clearly had nothing to do with the matter."

  Fayd ground his teeth, "How can this-" he snarled. “The mastermind said you’d-”

  Mal winked, damn he really was cooking, so I kept silent, "I looked in the mirror this morning shall I tell you what I saw? I saw pride! I saw power! I saw a spirit of unyielding iron, who shall brook no insolence from any breathing soul! That’s something that I’d never have witnessed were it not for Victor over here!"

  He thumbed at me, and I couldn't help but bow while smirking smugly. Mal, you bad-ass mother.

  "The point is, old friend, or should I say, foul enabler, you can't make me hate myself any more. I'm done. You have no power over me!" He held up his hands and released a burst of multi-colored sparks, like confetti. "That also goes for your Mastermind, and his lackeys on the council - lapdogs, all of you!"

  I laughed, "You did great, Mal." I turned my gaze upon Fayd. "As for you, why go to such lengths anyway? Why cause so much carnage?"

  Fayd said it plainly, "To create despair."

  I groaned. "Oh come on what are you, reddit?"

  "As I said. We cause wars, devastation, famine, plagues and pestilence - for the sake of fomenting despair. All the better if you add in some misplaced rage, such as what we attempted in Anaura. Yes. Any negative emotion, as long as there's a great deal of it all at once, that is what we need. Our god commands it, and so we obey. By stopping our plans here, you only delay the inevitable."

  The princess said, "What does all of this war and death have to do with your god, and just who is he?"

  Fayd said, coldly, "I'm not going to tell you. That is a secret known only to the circle."

  I said, "Well then we'll just have to make ya talk then. I know a guy who knows a girl who's really good at that. It's over for you."

  "Over," he laughed, nervously, "Over? Oh, no, not at all."

  I could feel a strange pressure in the room, then he spread his arms out and there was a tremendous surge of energy. The stones around us shimmied as black electricity coursed through the inner sanctum, nobody was hurt but that was a hell of a display. The ground began to shake and red static bolts began to run over his skin and black clouds began to form.

  The princess cried,”This miasma…he intends to summon a demon, or become one!"

  "I suggest we leave," said Mal, clearly struggling to keep his eyes open in the wind that was picking up.

  Charlean readied her sword and took a fighting stance right beside me, "I fear no demon!"

  I clicked my tongue and said, coldly, "I don't fear demons either."

  I drew my Colt. I fired twice rapidly into his torso, then blew his head off with a third. The evil energy dissipated and the room fell silent. I sheathed my weapon.

  "They fear me."