- Interlude -

  “Wait! Just wait a second!” Marcus yelled.

  Damien paused with his wand in the air.

  “What!” He yelled. “Every second counts. Drew is trapped in a dungeon!”

  “Yes I know.” Marcus said. “I am worried about him too.”

  “We all are.” A John said. “But we can’t go bring ing down this cavern on our heads.”

  “He has a point old friend.” Thrain said cautiously. “Let’s look for the enchantments again.”

  “I already inspected every inch of this fountain. There are no enchantments here.” Damien growled and pulled at the collar of his robes.

  “Well Drew found them. So they must-“ Marcus said.

  “Miia’s Tit!” Damien swore loudly.

  Marcus stepped back away from the angry enchanter.

  Damien waved his Mana Lens around violently.

  “For the last time! There are no enchantments remaining!” Damien yelled.

  “Then you have decided to dig down into the stone below our feet and circumvent the entrance.” Marcus said.

  “Easier said then done. This stone is part of a dungeon. It’s infused with mana.” Damien said.

  Marcus watched Damien fiddle with the necklace he wore around his neck.

  “There’s got to be another way.” He said.

  “That’s why we are searching deeper in the caves.” John said.

  “We searched all day yesterday.” Marcus said with a shiver.

  “These caves could run all the way to Roddok for all we know.” Another John said.

  “You may be right. Isabella, Monroe, and Jeff followed a long series of caverns for a couple hours before they decided to turn back.” The captain of the mercenaries said. “It’s massive. Certainly large enough for a dungeon to form down here.”

  “Can you break through?” A John asked.

  “Of course I can,” Damien said. “Given time.”

  “Don’t waste your time digging.” A chipper voice said.

  Borealis allowed himself to become visible. He was floating above their heads listening to their conversation.

  “A Wisp!” A John said.

  Marcus froze in place. Thrain and Krag reached for pendants they wore on silver chains around their necks.

  Damien had the biggest reaction, he set his shield up and glared daggers at Borealis.

  “Do not test me today Wisp!” He shouted.

  Borealis laughed and bobbed in the air.

  “I’m not here for you Ressian,” Borealis said. “You are old but your time will not be cut short by me.”

  Borealis followed the tangled web around him with his eyes. He could not see beyond Damien’s shield anymore but he had gotten a good look at it before revealing himself.

  “You all have traveled far together.” He said.

  Thrain and Krag pulsed mana into their pendants and their threads disappeared from Borealis’s sight.

  “Now that is simply rude.” He said.

  “You can kindly keep your eyes off our fates wisp,” Thrain said.

  “I understand why you all are so hostile. It’s true that my kind have been a threat to you fateless for a long long time.” Borealis said, turning slowly around to follow Drew’s String of fate.

  It stretched out touching each person here and several others that were deeper in the cave.

  “But fear not. For I am not free to do as I please. I am in service to Nature. You will speak with me.”

  “We should run.” Marcus whispered loudly. But Damien could not hear him.

  “Actually, you should not run. There’s still a large swarm of monsters outside.” Borealis said matter of factly.

  “Great wisp,” a John said with a small bow. “What do you wish to know?”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Finally a sensible one.” Borealis said.

  He looked the John over carefully, and then his identical brothers. His eyes darted from the three of them off towards the exit, where a string of fate whirled and swooped like a kite in the wind.

  “You are a friend of Drew’s, yes?” He asked.

  “I like to imagine so.” The John said.

  “Your brothers are too.” He replied.

  The John simply nodded.

  The wisp turned to consider the elf, the Dwarf, and the Ork.

  “You lot are his friends too,” Borealis said. “Your fates are not closely tied to the Skurr’s.”

  “You cannot have Drew either!” Damien said from inside his shield.

  “You are his dearest friend then?” Borealis asked, drifting closer to Damien’s shield. “Drop this shield so I can see your fate.”

  “I certainly will not. We are acquaintances. I have invested a fair amount of time and resources training him as an enchanter.” Damien said.

  “That’s all?” Marcus said and Damien scowled at him.

  “You are the one training him! So I have you to blame for the giant spider melon?” Borealis said. “Come along now and drop your shield.”

  “Begone wisp! We do not fear you.” Damien said, brandishing his wand at Borealis. “You will not have any souls today.”

  Borealis sighed and activated his Fate Map spell. Suddenly the strings of fate were visible to everyone there.

  Everyone had at least a handful of strings between each other, the Johns each were bonded so closely together it was as if they shared one bright fate.

  Marcus stared in awe at the strings erupting from him. They were countless, hair thin strands stretching sharply off in every direction.

  “Are these… all my children?” He asked.

  The Wisp floated over to strum a few of the strings, assessing them.

  “Do you have many children? Perhaps. And their mothers I assume.” Borealis said with a shrug.

  “Don’t listen to him!” Thrain growled. “He cannot steal your fate if you resist him.”

  Krag moved to their cart and pulled a lever. The storage containers shifted and folded over eachother until a dark wooden box rested on top of some fine rugs.

  “Don’t start any trouble now,” Borealis said.

  He waved one of his shapeless hands and all but the thickest strands disappeared from everyone’s view.

  “Everyone calm yourselves.” He said. “If you all will direct your attention down. You will see one string leading from you down deep into the dungeon below.”

  They all followed his gaze and they could in-fact see strings disappearing into the ground. They did not go directly down but off at a sharp angle to the south west.

  “Yes. Much better.” Borealis said. “Now, can someone explain to me why Drew is in a Dungeon in Roddok?

  “He cannot be in Roddok. That’s a weeks ride away!” John said.

  “That would be a massive dungeon.” Damien said. “It must be thousands of years old.”

  “Even more reason to go down there after him. Who knows what monsters are down there.” The Mercenary captain said.

  “Bring your men back.” A John said. “We will all go down and rescue Drew.”

  “We don’t know what danger he is in, or if we can even help.” Thrain said, he signaled Krag discretely.

  “If the enchanter there would drop his shield we could know for sure.” Borealis said. “Why with a little participation from him, we could scry and see what Drew was up to.”

  “I can scry him on my own.” Damien said.

  “Even through the dungeon’s stone? I cannot pass through this stone.” Borealis scoffed. “You would be an oracle of great renown then. Why do you stoop so low as laboring as an enchanter?”

  “You can enchant a mirror steel bowl and some holy water to scry.” Marcus said.

  “There! See! Begone wisp!” Damien shouted again.

  “Alright listen. I’ll go, but you should know the name of the mines he visited briefly.”

  “We won’t owe you anything.” Damien said confidently. “But share if you must then leave.”

  Borealis smiled.

  “Deepgreen. The mines are owned by the Deepgreen family.” He said then disappeared from view.

  -

  “It’s foggy but I think I can see him.” Damien said, he leaned over a small enchanted bowl of mirror steel.

  “Are you sure?” Thrain said. “Looks like a garnt to me.”

  Thrain packed up his liquid silver and the rest of the materials he volunteered for the project and handed it all to Krag.

  “Put this all away and bring me an ale, would you Krag?”

  “Yes it’s him. See there he’s got his mage hand out and is crafting something.” Damien said excitedly.

  Through the foggy liquid, Drew was boring through a cylinder of metal with a cone shaped drill bit. There were rough sketches around him. He had a crate of scrap metal that William was bending into shapes. William’s armor was laid out on a table beside them.

  “I cannot tell what he is working on exactly. Based on the notes around him…”

  Damien tried to zoom in by pinching across the surface of the cloudy liquid with his thumb and first finger. But that only made the image fuzzier.

  “Can you enhance the image?” Thrain said deep into his second ale.

  “This is the finest image we can get with such a shallow bowel.” Damien said and zoomed back out a little and squinted closer to the surface of the liquid silver.

  “So he is safe for now then?” John asked, walking over.

  While the enchanter had been scrying, the mercenaries had returned with Isabella and the whole group had made new plans.

  “There’s a way through the mountains, but the wagons won’t fit.” The John said.

  “And the swarm is still outside.” The mercenary Captain said.

  “Are going to head through the mountain and try to find this dungeon?” Marcus asked.

  “This entrance is blocked. We are not getting in through this rock.” Thrain said, he looked forlornly at his wagon. “Shame to travel on foot.”

  “Would Drew come back out this way?” Isabella said. “It is the only exit he may know about.

  Damien mumbled something about waterproof rings and scribbled in his notes.

  “It will be an adventure.” Her John replied and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  “They are cages!” Damien cheered.

  “What are cages?” Marcus asked.

  “Drew is making cages,” Damien said triumphantly. “But what is he planning to capture?”

  “Might be something exotic we can sell to a rich noble.” Thrain said.

  “Might be some delicious monster we can cook and eat,” said a John.

  “Could be a beautiful beast we could protect and bring back as a pet.” Marcus said.

  “Well he’s making quite a lot of cages. Best get a move on and find him already.” The mercenary captain said. “Otherwise we will be of no help at all.”

  -

  Borealis had grown bored of the groups ceaseless chattering. He decided to watch them, floating invisibly the whole time.

  They will find a way into the dungeon and then I’ll finally be able to catch up with Drew.

  The party packed up their supplies for the long hike through the mountain.

  They had to pry Damien away from the scrying bowl, and he eventually poured the silver liquid back into the container.

  The Johns packed a few of the food storage containers and cooking gear onto Krag’s back. The identical brothers hefted the camping tents and spare rope and supplies up onto their own backs.

  Borealis floated impatiently.

  Mortals are so fussy!

  Damien’s traveling trunk eagerly sat beside him while he set warding enchantments on their carts to deflect wandering eyes.

  Borealis floated along eagerly behind them as they marched off into the dark caves.

  I just hope I find him before Augusta checks in. And before anything happens to him. I like being in one piece and not scorched.