The enticing smell of bacon permeated the air as I walked through the magical portal into my old bedroom in my family’s home. I smiled, grateful that I hadn’t missed breakfast. Though I was far from sure that the Xerith were all gone, the bedspread on my bed was blue, not red, so I knew we were all right for now. Bran’s bed was made neatly, and with an impish impulse, I yanked the bedspread up and back down, creating some wrinkles and messing up his work. I grinned, knowing it would irk him a little bit, and made my way downstairs.

  Elric and Samirah had bought a house nearby in the upper city and had moved out recently with their two boys, so they were not present in the common room. My brother, Darek, was sitting on the sofa with his son Berond on his knee. They were amusing one another with all the funny faces they could make. Berond’s laughter made Bethan look over where she was helping Nora prepare breakfast and smile to herself. She briefly ran a hand over her swelling belly, surely wishing the pregnancy was over with. Elle sat on the farther side of the sofa reading from the holy book we found hidden in the catacomb beneath the Temple of the Overgod in Aerie. Bran sat in the center of the sofa between Elle and Darek, just content to be there. Dortham sat in an armchair reading a book, wearing a pair of lenses that magnified the words on the page. Whizzbang made them for him a year ago, and that was the only concession to aging that Dortham showed. I walked over and gave Nora a kiss on her cheek as she cooked eggs at the stove. We all exchanged pleasantries.

  “Things must be settling down if you’re here for breakfast,” Nora said.

  “Bran and I have swept through the major cities around Blue Bay, but we haven’t searched everywhere yet,” I said. “It takes a little while for word of major events to be heard in every corner of the land, and we need to strike while the iron’s hot.”

  Elle used a bookmark to hold her place and closed the book as she stood. “Surely, you’ll be satisfied soon, though, won’t you?”

  “It has nothing to do with me being satisfied, Elle,” I said gently. I glanced at Bran, who looked uncomfortable suddenly. They must have had words about this recently. “We dealt the Xerith a heavy blow, and those that are far away from Aerie won’t know that their leadership was removed from the field. They may not know that anything has changed, and they certainly won’t know that they’re the ones who are being hunted now. Fear may make them hide, in which case they’ll be able to formulate new plans and wreak havoc in some other way. The world is too big to search under every rock.”

  “So, the best way to find them is to use Jeron as bait,” Bran said helpfully. That comment got grim looks from everyone except little Berond.

  “I know this isn’t a popular plan, but it’s the best one we have,” I said.

  “I still don’t like it,” Elle said, hugging the holy book to her chest.

  “I’m making it as safe as I can,” I said. “I haven’t made new shields yet because I was still hoping to figure out how the Pirate King made the Reflector. I haven’t had any luck with that yet, though. Even so, with the armor we have and Bran’s prayers, we’ll be safe.”

  “Breakfast is ready,” Nora announced.

  “Don’t forget about the misdirection of Jeron’s illusions,” Bran said. “They don’t know that they’re discovered already, and they can’t see that we’re ready for them until it’s too late.”

  We all converged on the table and took our usual places. Bran reached out for the eggs, but Elle cleared her throat noisily. He froze with one meaty arm reaching out, looking at Elle uncertainly. Dortham hid a grin behind his hand.

  “I’d like to say a blessing over the food, if nobody minds,” Elle said.

  Bran cocked his head, looking at Elle quizzically as he retracted his hand. It was new to me, too.

  “It’s something I read about recently in God’s book,” Elle said. “The ancients used to ask God’s blessing on the food and thank Him for providing it.” I was sure that we had provided our own food by the sweat of our brow, but I said nothing.

  “Go ahead, Elle,” Dortham said softly.

  Elle bowed her head and clasped her hands together. The holy book was on her lap under the table. She said a simple prayer of thanksgiving and asked for God’s blessing like He was standing there at the end of the table. She also prayed for a couple of sick people we knew and for God’s continued provision for us. When she was finished, we all began helping ourselves and passing the platters around.

  “Aren’t you worried that you’ll spill food on the book?” Darek asked.

  “Berond already has, but it didn’t even stick to the page,” Elle said as she brought the book up so everyone could see it. The leather-bound book was in perfect condition, and the small gold plate on the front cover that bore God’s name didn’t even have a scratch on it. “The pages look like they were written and bound yesterday, and there isn’t even a smudge or a folded page in the whole book. I don’t think that there’s anything in the world that can do harm to it. The Xerith would surely have destroyed this if they could have, wouldn’t they? All they could do was bury it. Besides, look where it is now.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “It is pretty remarkable,” Dortham said.

  “I wish I had a copy,” Nora said.

  The words had barely left Nora’s mouth when the plate on the front cover glowed slightly and suddenly there was another copy sitting on top of the one Elle was holding. Everyone blinked in confusion, then looked over at me.

  I held up my hands. “I didn’t do that,” I said. “I didn’t even sense anything magical happen.”

  Elle handed the new copy over to Nora, who held it up in front of her. It was the same as the original in every aspect, except that it didn’t have a golden name plate on the front cover. The name was pressed into the cover of the new book instead. Nora opened the book and flipped some pages. The writing looked exactly the same as that which was in the original.

  “Well, I’ll be,” Nora said.

  “I’d like a copy, too,” Bran said. The original book duplicated itself again right in front of our eyes, and Bran reached out to take his copy.

  “Suddenly things are a lot clearer,” Elle said with certainty. “I’ve been reading and praying about what I should be doing, and now I know.”

  “So, what we’ve been doing has had a purpose,” Bran said, understanding. “Clearing out those evil temples, killing off the false priests, rooting out the Xerith, all of it’s been house cleaning to get rid of the filth before God’s worship is restored here.”

  I wasn’t a very spiritual person myself, but even I could see the pattern emerging. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get Elle to support our efforts now. A world without the Xerith would be a much better, brighter place to live in. In short order, everyone at the table had their own copy of the holy book. Now that Elle wouldn’t be keeping the book to herself, I set a realistic goal of reading it for myself. I was very curious to see what was in it.

  “I’m glad I didn’t go back to working with the Bakers yet,” Elle said. “Distributing the books is what I’m meant to be doing. I just know it.”

  “It’s a good bet that spreading copies of this in other cities will alert the rest of the Xerith that there’s something wrong at home,” I said.

  “Surely, you’re not suggesting that we keep this to ourselves, are you?” Elle asked.

  “No, of course not,” I said. “I just think that we need a little more time to clean house before we take the book on the road.”

  “He has a point,” Bran said to Elle. “Wouldn’t you want to read the whole thing before handing out copies? People will ask what’s in it before accepting it, and we’ll need to be able to answer those questions.”

  “I can wait a little while,” Elle said.

  “We’ll be quick,” I said. “What do you think, Bran? Two cities a day?”

  “If we’re fortunate,” Bran said. “It takes a while to walk a whole city and search out every nook and cranny.”

  Elle activated her mithril bracelet and was suddenly garbed in the adamantine chainmail suit I made for her with the Reflector strapped to her left arm. “Here, Bran. Take this,” she said as she removed the magical shield and held it out to Bran.

  “Thanks. This’ll make things that much easier and safer,” Bran said as he set the shield beside his chair. “You know, I think we’re doing the right thing, and looking back, I get the feeling that God’s taking a personal interest in this. There’s no way we can fail.”

  Personally, I could see a lot of ways we could fail, but maybe Bran was right. I couldn’t help but be optimistic. Looking around at my family as we discussed more trivial things and ate breakfast, I could sense that they were all feeling a lot more positive about our course as well. Dortham and Nora knew that their sons were going into battle every day against some of the most dangerous foes in this entire, dangerous world, but they didn’t look worried at the moment. There was no other family that I knew of that would seriously contemplate doing this sort of thing, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the sort of things a person could get used to. Most people were only concerned about what they ate, or what they were going to wear that day, or when their next customer would show up. The Smith family regularly discussed things that were actually important to the future of Aldon and did something about it as if it was business as usual. I had to keep myself grounded, I knew. The world was full of people like Ithion, people who would grab up as much power as they could and let it all go to their heads as they did it. People like Kromwell. They had a very selfish lifestyle, and I knew that the ego of such people propelled them into doing self-centered things, usually at the expense of those around them.

  I didn’t want to end up like Ithion, ensnared in his own trap, and probably burning in the hells even as I sat here eating. Now that was a sobering thought. After all, I knew for a fact that God exists because of the power He gives to Elle and Bran. I certainly knew that supernatural evil exists because of the demon we fought to claim Vengeance. Because I knew of supernatural good and evil, I couldn’t help but think that places like heaven and hell were real, too. I was certain that the holy book would discuss things like this, and I found myself eager to start reading. That’s exactly what Elle was going to do while Bran and I were out laying traps for Xerith. She had the better end of the deal for certain.

  Dortham stood up from the table when he saw that everyone was finished eating. That was our cue. Bran and I stood and accepted a firmly gripped handshake from Dortham, then a hug from Nora. I didn’t know how they were able to do this so calmly. They knew that this could easily be the last time they saw Bran or me alive, but they let us go anyway. It was another sobering thought.

  “Be careful, you two,” Nora said.

  “We will,” Bran and I said together.

  Bran turned to Elle, who was hugging the holy book to her chest again. She came close and put her head on his shoulder. He gently embraced her then released her. He turned to me.

  “Ready when you are,” Bran said.

  Little Berond was not in sight, so I activated the mithril bracelet I wore. Lightning flared around me briefly and the clothes I wore were replaced instantly by the adamantine suit of plate armor I crafted along with my old steel shield on my left arm. I wanted to make sure my family knew we were well protected before we left. I hoped they would worry less with this mental image. Bran activated his bracelet, summoning his arms and armor with a bright golden glow. Seeing that we were ready, I took hold of Bran’s pauldron and teleported us to the roof of the keep, the first step to making the world a better place.