Chapter 46: The Shining City of Silver

The next day was a flurry of activity.  The esteemed Lord Mayor gave us medals publically, then in private demanded assurances that this would be the last major attack on the city.  Which we couldn’t do.  His seneschal and Aurora were arguing about it for over an hour before I hit upon an idea.  “Kira,” I subvocalized.  “Tell Samantha that I’ve figured out a way to hide her involvement in giving us information.  I’m going to need her to pop in, invisible.  She’ll understand when she sees what I’ve got planned.”

Kira went to sleep and returned a few moments later.  “She says she can’t wait to see this.”

Once I could feel Samantha’s presence, I stood and coughed.  “Ladies and gentlemen, please, would you bring your attention to me.  For a feast for your eyes to see, an end to our stagnancy.”  Everyone was staring at me, since I had accidently sung the whole thing.  Oops.  “Anyway, I know one way we might be able to know of the probability of Magnimar being attacked again.  You see, we picked up this ancient Thassilonian artifact that can give us hints to the future.”  From within my bag, I produced a peacock feather and laid it on the table with a sheet of parchment.  “All we have to do is ask the question.  Then it will tell us, albeit somewhat cryptically.  But we need to make sure that the question we ask is worded in such a way that it can only tell us what we need.”

“Excellent!” the Lord Mayor shouted gleefully.  “This should make things much easier!”

“So, how do we ask?”

I had an idea.  “How can we prevent the destruction of Magnimar in the next six months?”

I felt someone boop my nose, then the quill rose seemingly on its own.  A flurry of motion and it had left us a message.  “What does it say?” Geo asked.

“‘Within the cycle of Golarion’s heavenly daughter, all that must be done to protect the city is for several of Magnimar’s new champions to remain in the city at all times.  However, on the last day of the cycle, all champions must begin their journey for the great foe, or his army will destroy the city.  If, on that day a new Defender does not stand guard over the city, then the city will be destroyed ‘ere they return.  To find the new Defender, seek the words of a Doomsday Prophet, words that one or more present have already heard.’”  Elegant.  Just vague enough to seem like the usual MO of the quill, but more information than usual.

“What does it mean, bro?” Paulie asked.

“At the very least, it’s clear that we have less than a month before we need to be on our way to stop,” Geo said.

“How do you figure that?” the Lord Mayor asked.

“‘Within the cycle of Golarion’s heavenly daughter’ is obviously a reference to the moon.  We have roughly twenty eight days before we must depart if we’re to have a chance to defeat Karzoug.”

I nodded.  “And as to the other part, I suspect Lucrecia is watching us.  As long as more than half of us remain in town, I don’t think she’ll spring the final attack.  I also suspect that we’ll find cause for some of us to leave town.  So we must have three or four remain at any given time.”

“What about this other part?” Lenntu asked.  “The part about needing a new ‘Defender’?”

I shrugged.  “I wish I knew.  I feel like I should know, but it’s maddeningly outside my grasp.  Perhaps we’ll find a way to recruit someone like Obrek or Gribbletoo to defend the city?”

“I would certainly feel safer if I knew Gozreh’s or Iomedae’s champions watched over us,” the seneschal agreed. 

“Why is it capatilized, bro?  And where are we going to find a doomsday prophet?  That’s just bugging me, man.”

Aurora clapped Paulie on the shoulder excitedly.  “That’s it!”  We all gaped at her sudden enthusiasm, curious as to how capitalization could be a clue.  “Kyle!  Remember?  When we were walking through town with Sheriff Hemlock!  The doomsday prophet said that you knew how to find someone called ‘the Defender of the Universe’!”

Oh.  Well, crap. 

I groaned.  “Right.  Because of course I have less than four weeks to build that.”

“What is it?” the Lord Mayor asked.

“How much are you willing to pay to save the city?”

“What?”  He looked dubious.

“I’ll work at cost and do what I can to negotiate the best prices possible, but we’re going to need an army of workers and a ton of materials.  And I’ll provide what materials I can at what it costs me to get them.”  I could see he didn’t believe me.  “Call the clerics of Abadar.  I’ll submit to magical verification that what I’m saying is true and necessary to the best of my knowledge, but I implore you to let me send for the Voidstrife factor and ask that you bring in Toth Bhreacher from the Golemworks while we wait.”

I could see that I had convinced him.  “Do it,” he told his seneschal.  “Now, what can you tell me about what you have planned?”

“Not yet,” I said.  “First of all, it’s a bit complex, and I don’t want to have to repeat myself.  Second, as I said, we’re likely being watched.  Before we discuss it, I would like to ward this room against scrying.  I can do it myself, if you want, or we can get a wizard from within the city to do it for us.”

He considered it.  “That sounds reasonable.  Do what you need to do.”

I warded the room and managed to procure some chalk.  One of the walls in the Lord Mayor’s office would suffice as a surface and I could clean it with magic.  I then posted Lenn outside of the room – he would just get bored inside – to protect against intrusion and set to work.

Based on my memories, I was able to work out the scale we were talking.  Then from there, all it would take is a bit of heavy calculus and an application of materials science to figure out what we’d need and how much of it.  On a chalkboard.  In half an hour.

Tony Stark, eat your heart out.

Once things were set up, everyone had arrived and the Lord Mayor was convinced that what I was saying would be true, or at least true to the best of my knowledge, we began.  In truth, it took longer for me to explain the core plan than it had taken to do the math.  Yeah, you try to figure that one out.

I’m not sure many present truly understood what I was saying until we got to the money part.  Then suddenly everyone was an expert.  I first had to convince the Lord Mayor that this was in his best interests.  I did that by tricking him into arguing for it while I fought against it as being better to evacuate the city.  His ego bit and he wouldn’t allow me to “give up”.  By the time the costs came up, he was all in.

Next was Toth Bhreacher.  “Your line regarding the cost of employing the Golemworks is close, but with this kind of project, you’re looking at it costing roughly eighty thousand gold more than listed.”

I shook my head.  “No, we’ve done our research.  This is what it would cost to pay all your workers, including a generous overtime incentive and a ten percent inconvenience commission to make up for the fact that you’ll have to put all current jobs on hold until we’re done.”

He did the math in his head.  “You are surprisingly well informed.  However, you left out the shop commission on the value and difficulty of the item.”

I nodded.  “I did that on purpose.  I’m assuming you won’t waive that simply because survival of the city is in your own best interests?”  He shook his head.  “Didn’t think so.  Then perhaps I offer to pay you in information.”  I motioned for my factor to come over with what I had asked him to bring.

“I’m listening.”

I opened the small case and pulled out a piece of stone.  “You recognize this?”

“Yes.  It’s a pretty common mineral.  Nearly worthless.”

I smiled.  “How about this?”  I handed him a small metal ingot.

His eyes went wide.  “I’ve never seen so much at one time!”

I grinned.  “On my world, that mineral is called bauxite.  The metal is called aluminum.  That’s what I’m offering you.  A method to turn bauxite into aluminum and a promise not to share it with anyone else for ten years.”

I could almost literally see the dollar signs in his eyes as he worked out the calculations.  I had to surpress a smile since I knew he, like medieval alchemists before him, hadn’t considered the effects on market prices when you suddenly glutted a market with a previously rare material.  “Done!” he exclaimed.

“There is one problem,” the Lord Mayor pointed out.  “The amount of mithral there.  We don’t have a tenth of that in the entire city.  I’d bet you could go to the ten largest cities and not find more than maybe two thirds of that much.”

“Actually, that’s not true,” the Voidstrife factor rebutted.  “There is one city where you could find that much.”  I raised an eyebrow.  “I’ve been doing some research since you had me collecting those materials, and I did find one city that could supply the mithral we need.”

“Well, go on, don’t leave the rest of us in suspense.”

You ever have one of those feelings, the ones that creeps up your spine and tell you that someone’s been leading you around by the nose?  I was having one of those feelings at the moment.  As such, I didn’t even need him to say it.  “Valor’s Triumph.”

Yep.  Somehow I knew that would end up coming up.  I should have visited the place earlier, but I’d been making excuses.  Samantha and I were cool now, but there was a part of me that still had hangups about going to her hometown.  Irrational, for sure, but I’m not claiming to be completely logical all the time.  Brilliant, yes.  But not necessarily logical.

<Also, very, very humble.>

<Hush, you.>

“Okay, let me get together initial preparatory work orders.  I’ll have them by the end of the day.  Tomorrow, Aurora and I will go.”

“Why you?” the Lord Mayor asked suspiciously.

“It has to be me.  Someone else might get it wrong.”

“What?”

Right.  No one else here had played Mass Effect.  “Sorry, bad joke.  There are people there who know me, as well as a Voidstrife field office.  I’m our best shot.  Also, I’m a wizard and can just teleport there. So there’s that.”

“That’s settled,” Toth said.  “Let’s get to work.”

“One more thing,” I said.  “We need to talk about something called ‘Operations Security’.  We’re not working against a mindless natural disaster.  We’re up against a living, thinking adversary.  Anything she learns might be turned against us.”

Geo nodded.  “It makes sense.  But as large as this project is, how do we keep her from learning about what we’re doing?”

I grinned.  “We can’t.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t prevent her from learning that we’re up to something.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t make it difficult enough for her to put things together that she’s unable to prepare a counter for it by the time it’s ready.”

“I take it you have ideas for that?” Aurora added.

“I do.  The first thing we have to do is obscure the big picture.  Aside from the material quantities, I’ll be erasing the writing on the wall before we leave.  From this point on, there is to be no discussion about what we’re doing outside of either this room or my bedroom, which has similar anti-scrying protections.  Also, we compartmentalize information.  None of the workers are to be told anything more than they need to do their jobs.  Your picked supervisors will know what each team under them is doing, but nothing about what other teams are up to.  The large amount of basic labor we’re going to have to hire doesn’t even need to know what they’re doing, necessarily, just how to do it.

“More than that, we need to stress to people that talking about what they’re doing, even with people they know and trust, is not acceptable.  Anyone caught discussing their work with someone not on their team – and even then, only as much as necessary to do the work – will be fined.  Repeated indiscretions will be cause for greater and greater reprimand.  Remember, we’re talking about preventing the destruction of the entire city here.”

“That seems paranoid and needlessly complicated,” Geo responded.  “I like it.”

“There’s one other measure.  Lord Mayor, please have someone compile a list of guards who can be thoroughly trusted.  Eliminate from that list anyone who has any kind of debts, unless you care to pay off those debts for them before our enemy can leverage them to force the guards to turn against us.  Then, for the rest of month, everyone in this room is to have at least one of these guards with them at all times.  Two would be better.  For Geo, as long as Lenn is with him, one will easily suffice.  Aurora and I will be fine with just a single guard each as well, so long as we stick together.

“And finally, our enemy is a known shapeshifter.  Work out a way to confirm identity without raising attention with each other and especially with your guards.  A sign and countersign you can work into normal speech is probably ideal.  And that’s it.  Any questions?”  Surprisingly, no one had any.  “Okay, there’s one final thing.  Everyone, out into the courtyard.”

Once outside, I created an anti-magic field, confirming that no one in the room had been magically shapeshifted.  Then, after explaining that, we got to work.  Teams were organized.  Team leaders were briefed.  And the largest logistics operation in the history of Golarion began.

Chadwick came down with a team of wizards to help transport materials from other cities.  Even his brothers got involved.  I spent my day building a system to convert bauxite into aluminum and showed the Golemworks team operating it how to use it.  At the same time, I worked with Toth Bhreacher to set up assignments for each other team, giving them at least something to do for the next day while I had to go to Valor’s Triumph.

Aurora had already gone to bed when I got home.  Genji informed me that she hadn’t been feeling well and that he had arranged for a physician to visit in the morning.  It was bad timing, but it couldn’t be helped.  If she wasn’t feeling up to it in the morning, I could take a couple picked guards from the local Voidstrife office with me to make her feel better while I was in Valor’s Triumph. 

Not that it mattered.  There was a reason I hadn’t ever gone to visit.  Valor’s Triumph was either the absolute safest city in the world, or the bad things happening would be too much for regular guards to handle.  The city was a shining beacon and a doom magnet all at once.

The next morning, Aurora was still feeling a bit out of it.  I spoke with the doctor – who I confirmed to not be under any enchantments or shapeshifting – and let her know about Aurora’s condition, stressing that she wasn’t to let my wife know that I knew.  About half an hour later, she returned and let me know that Aurora was just going to need rest. 

My mom had gone through the same thing during her last pregnancy.  I had researched it and it was fatigue caused by hormonal changes, very common during the first trimester.  Nothing to be concerned about.

I checked in on Aurora, who was propped up in bed, a mystified yet happy expression on her face. I’m pretty sure she had already suspected, but now she knew.  Absolutely knew. “You okay?”

It took her a moment to even register my presence.  “I-I’m… no, it’s nothing.  I’ll be okay.  I’ve just been overdoing it, is all.”  I’m not sure why she didn’t tell me.  Probably didn’t want me leaving her out of things to protect her.

“Well, then I guess you just need to spend the day in bed, love.  I’ll set up a pulley you can use to ring a bell if you need Genji for anything, and I want you to keep your guards with you, just in case.”

She hugged me tightly.  “Just be careful.  I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”

I hugged her back.  “It’s a city full of paladins.  What’s the worst that could happen?”  A sudden shiver down my spine made me wonder if I’d just set off a death flag.  “I love you,” I told her.

“I love you too,” she responded, her eyes watering. 

As much as I wanted to stay with her, I had work to do, so I got on with it.  Less than an hour later, I was on my way to Valor’s Triumph.

I could feel it when our teleportation stream – for lack of a better descriptor – was shunted off target near the end of the trip.  I had intended to teleport into the city square with the statue of the silver dragon who had founded the city on the site where he and his elven rider had led a great force against a terrifying black dragon and his demonic army.  With the description I had been given, it would have been an easy teleportation.

But someone had warded the city against incoming long range teleportation, so I found myself instead in stone room, with a dozen crossbows pointed at my head.  My guards were also there, but they were more focused on the mithral-clad goblin with the massive culverin, at least two sizes too large.  His wolf companion was glaring at them with its one good eye. 

I couldn’t help but smile inwardly.  To the people of Magnimar, goblins were a nuisance at best, utterly dangerous at worse.  But Valor’s Triumph had a group of goblin refugees who had assimilated into the city.  And this goblin was their most prominent figure, the first of the goblin knights.  Or ‘Shinymen’, as they called themselves.

“Shinyman Rocktooth!” I barked in my most sergeant-like voice.  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The goblin lowered his weapon and saluted.  “Sir!  Sorry, sir!”  Samantha hadn’t been kidding when she said she was planning to put him through proper US military training after she’d listened to the recording of that one scene from Full Metal Jacket I had on my mp3 player.  You know which one.

“Drop and give me twenty!  Then fall out and give that weapon the proper maintenance it deserves.  There is no excuse for rust on that firearm.”

“Sir, sorry, sir!”

“Repeat the rifleman’s creed while doing those pushups!  ON THE BOUNCE!”

“This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.  My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.  Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will.  I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will.

“Before all gods, I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my city. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.  So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace.”

The entire time this was happening, I had over a dozen crossbow carrying guardsmen and guardswomen staring at me, jaws agape.  Once he was finished with the creed, I commanded him to stand.  “FALL OUT AND ATTEND TO THAT WEAPON, SOLDIER!”

“SIR, YES SIR!”  And with that, the goblin and the wolf left.

One of the guards, a disheveled man, was grinning.  I gave him a glare.  “DO I AMUSE YOU, MAGGOT?!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

I stared at him for a moment and then returned a grin of my own.  “Good.  Which one are you?  Biggs, or Wedge?”

That surprised him.  “Biggs.  Wedge is the shorter, rounder one.”

“Of course he is.  So, tell me, are all the crossbows necessary?”

“We’re wary about people who teleport in.  Care to state your business here?”  That made sense.  The town had a bit of a problem with evil wizards and fiends teleporting in to attack.

“Fair enough.  My name is Kyle O’Halloran of the Voidstrife cartel.  I am here as a purchasing agent on behalf of the city of Magnimar, which is currently in the middle of a massive emergency public works project.”

Now that the shock had worn off, the actual leader of the guards, a no-nonsense woman in a uniform that had obviously been kept up to strict military standards, responded.  “The Voidstrife cartel?  So, if we were to bring the head of the local office here, she’d be able to verify your identity?”

“I do not believe I’ve ever met our agent here personally, but everyone working for us at that level has at least seen my portrait.”

“Then make yourselves comfortable.  I’ll send a runner.  Don’t try anything stupid or we’ll have to shoot you.”

“So that’d be a no on making a pile of C4 and juggling live detonators?”

Her eyes narrowed.  “What is C4?”

I couldn’t help myself.  That look on Aurora’s face had left me in a great mood.  I gave her a serious look.  “C is for COOKIE.  OM NOM NOM NOM NOM.”  Biggs was on the floor laughing.  The guard captain just rolled her eyes and left to send the runner.

We took a seat on some provided benches and Biggs joined us.  “So, how is Samantha?”

I laughed.  “That obvious?”

“Yeah.  Your sense of humor reminds me of her.”

“Ah.  Well, she’s doing well, as far as I know.  We didn’t talk for a number of years, but I’m pretty sure during that time she put my life in danger a number of times for my own good.  And now she’s dating my twin sister, whose soul is trapped in my body.”

He looked at me for several moments, trying to decide if I was goofing on him.  After he was sure I was telling the truth, then he responded.  “Man, that girl doesn’t do anything normal.”

“Did he just call me weird?” Kira asked.

“Hush you,” I said aloud, prompting Biggs to give me a strange look.  “‘My twin sister, whose soul is trapped in my body,’” I repeated.

“Right.”

“So, how about Valor’s Triumph?  Any near-apocalypses lately?”

He laughed sardonically.  “We cleared out another Xill cult infestation a couple weeks back.  But nothing major in the last two years.  And don’t ask about two years ago.  I don’t want to talk about it.”

“He got eaten,” came a voice from the doorway.  A voice I couldn’t possibly be hearing.  I looked over to see the familiar face of a certain Chelish ambassador’s daughter.  A single lock of her raven hair fell across her face, past emerald eyes that held promises of the fulfillment of one’s greatest desires and ruby lips opened slightly into a knowing smirk that revealed pearly white teeth almost like fangs, ending just above the top of her impossibly low cut dress.  “It’s been a long time, Kyle.”

“Valerica Straticero?  What on Earth are you doing in Valor’s Triumph?”

“It’s a long story, but the short version is that after you deflowered me and taught me just how much fun life could be, I got into a couple situations that embarrassed my father further and eventually he disowned me.  Luckily, we were in Korvosa at the time and I managed to find one of your field offices.  I seduced the woman you had in charge there and got her to teach me the business, then managed to get myself promoted.  So now I’m running your office here.  Even now, all these years later, I’m delighted to find myself under you.”  The last sentence came out as a purr.

From the look Biggs gave me, I’m pretty sure he would have given me a high five had he been an American.

“So I assume that you’ll vouch for his story?” the guard captain asked in a pained voice.

“Only if it’s exceptionally lurid,” Valerica replied.

“Kyle?  What did you do to that woman?” Kira asked.

“More than I had thought,” I subvocalized back.

The guard captain ordered us released and we followed Valerica outside, where Kira and I got our first view of the Valor’s Triumph.  Words cannot possibly do the city justice.  Large parts of entire buildings were sheathed in silver – real silver – a byproduct of mithral mining.  It was the kind of sight that spurred on fleets of conquistadors.

Yet, there was another aspect to it.  The entire city was designed with military purpose in mind, so every bit was built with that in mind.  Since military minds were not known to be the most creative, things were uniform and downright dreary.  Even the base material of the buildings had been chosen for military purpose.  There were no buildings of wood anywhere.  Everything was stone, steel and silver, which would not burn if the town came under attack.

It would have been a terrible eyesore, but amongst the uniformity were pops of art.  Sculptures and fountains lay within every square.  Murals – some the chaotic and primitive works of the city’s goblin population – covered nearly half of the walls not covered in silver.  And there was greenery everywhere, from beautiful parks to simple places where random evergreen trees grew.  Even the scorch marks from previous battles had an artistic quality to them.

And that’s before you got to the people.  Dazzling warriors marched in silvery mithral armor.  Men and women in clothes both utilitarian and fashionable went from place to place, completing various business.  In the skies above flitted minor celestial beings in numbers that would put even the imps of Korvosa to shame.  The overall effect was no less than completely breathtaking. 

I had to bring Aurora here sometime.

We reached the Voidstrife office, which was little more than the top floor of a three story tall building that also housed other businesses.  My guards were completely winded, unaccustomed as they were to the elevation and not benefiting from having a magical bubble of properly concentrated air around them.  I told them to rest and drink plenty of fluids while I discussed business.

Once we were alone in her office, Valerica bade me to sit, then leaned over me, giving me a good look down her dress.  “So, shall we first attend to business, or can we get straight to pleasure?”

“Just business,” I said, giving her an apologetic smile.  “I seem to have gone and gotten myself married.”  I held up my hand to show her my ring.

With a practice roll of her shoulders, her dress fell to the floor.  Her already impressive body had grown positively voluptuous in the years since I had last seen her.  “I don’t see any real problem with that,” she said, settling herself on my lap.

“I do,” I said.  “Now you’re going to get up off of me right now and put your clothes back on, or in exactly six seconds, we’re both going to be drenched in enough ice cold water to freeze our toes off.”

She pouted at me, but did as I had told her.  “You’ve changed,” she accused.

“Yes, I guess I have.”

“A pity.  I’ve learned so very much since our last encounter.  I was dying to show you an afternoon beyond anything you’d ever experienced.  Your loss.”  A sentiment echoed by my libido, which demanded I pounce on her that instant.  And believe me, it was very difficult to fight.  Everything about her told me that I absolutely needed to experience what she was offering.

I focused and remembered the look on Aurora’s face after the doctor’s visit.  Suddenly my will was bolstered.  “Yes.  It is at that.  But we have business to attend to.”

“Fine,” she said, rolling her eyes and pulling on her dress.

I felt relieved.  My whole life I had held a belief that while it was perfectly acceptable for unattached people to sleep around as much as they wanted, attachment meant something, whether formal or understood.  Cheating bothers me more than most things. 

I’ll defy a strict father or protective brothers, but I absolutely refuse to sleep with married women.  Not because I felt that the husband – or wife, though if both women in a partnership wanted a threesome, well, that was something I could accommodate – had some kind of claim to his wife.  No, the part that bothered me was that she had given her word to be faithful.  Lying to an enemy is one thing.  Lying to a stranger is another.  But lying to one’s partner was a much bigger deal.  An oath made in good faith from a place of trust is binding, or at least should be.

So I was really happy that the first real time my oath to Aurora was tested, I had managed to find the strength to resist.  So I wasn’t a complete hypocrite.  ‘I’m not a coward, I’ve just never been tested.  I’d like to think that if I was I would pass.  Look at the tested, and think there but for the grace go I.  Might be a coward, I’m afraid of what I might find out.’  Well, I’d faced this test, and I did indeed pass.  So here’s hoping I’ll retain that ability, though I hope even more that I never have to face a test like this again.

<Also, if you screw up, I’m going to rat you out.>

<What?  Is that some kind of female solidarity thing?>

<No.  It’s a “you ratted me out in four of our past lives” thing.  Revenge is a dish best served extra, extra cold.>

“So, what is it that you need here?” Valerica asked once her clothes were back on.

“Mithral.”

“That seems obvious.  No one comes here for much else.  How much?”

“All of it.”

“All?”  I could tell she was intrigued.

“Everything they’ve produced in the last month or so.”

She let out a low whistle.  I could see the wheels turning in her mind.  “That’s a lot of mithral.”

“More would be better, but I need at least that much.”

“Of course, we’ll do what we can, but it might be difficult.”  She sighed.  “The Aspis Consortium is here.”

That was news to me.  And it was not good news.  “What.”

“They seem to be trying to corner the mithral market.  Princess Velandhrathal has done what she can to keep local concerns from being stormed over by the Consortium, but it’s a losing battle.  She is unwilling to do what is necessary and just kick them out, claiming that it would be dictatorial.  She might act if they had done something illegal, but so far they’ve been above board.  They also seem to have a noble backer here in the city, so that’s offered them a fair bit more protection.”

I sighed.  “Recall every one of our operatives in the city.  I want the location of every single bit of mithral in the city when I return.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to go speak with the Princess.”

“Just like that?”

I grinned.  “It might take a little doing.  But, in the words of Tommy Pickles, great thinker of my generation, ‘I have idea.’”

Without elaborating, I stepped out of the office and set out into the city.  “So,” Kira said, “what’s this great plan of yours?”

“Not a plan,” I replied.  “An idea.”

She rolled her eyes.  “Okay, what’s your idea.”

“We wander for a few minutes until we run into someone who can get us access to the princess.”

“What?!  That’s your big plan?!”

“Idea,” I insisted.

She ignored me.  “You’re just gonna walk around until you find someone who can get you in the door?  Do you have any idea how stupid that is?  What do you expect, that someone’s going to just drop from the sky right in front of you?  My brother, the idiot, everyone.  Now I’m certain that Mom dropped you on your head as a child.  And I’m stuck in the same body, so we’re both brain damaged.”

She went on for several minutes, ranting and raving at my stupidity.  She’d probably still be going, but out of nowhere, something crashed down from the sky, leaving a smoldering crater a few feet in front of us.  “Oh, ye of little faith,” I said triumphantly seconds before he hit.

“What was that?!” Kira said with a start.  She had missed the descent, so wrapped up in her rant.

“‘Someone dropping from the sky right in front of me,’” I replied smugly.  I peered into the crater and saw an ifrit man of early adult age lying in a daze.  “Agniray, buddy!  How have you been?”  I reached down a hand and helped the still smoldering man to his feet.

He looked bewildered.  “Hey, uh, you.  I’m good.  How have you been?”

“That’s great to hear!  Accidentally blown up any enemy fortresses lately?” I slapped him on the shoulder familiarly.

“Not in the last couple years.”  He looked like he was desperately trying to figure out who I was and how I knew him.  It took a lot not to laugh.  Kira, having completely moved past her rant and shock, showed no such restraint.  The whole time she was humming ‘Enter the Fat Chocobo’, trying to make me laugh.

“Good, good.  Hey, listen, I need to go talk to Veil about a thing and I seem to have misplaced my pass.  Think I could get you to help me get into the palace?”

Another voice spoke behind me.  “He won’t be able to do that.  They confiscated his pass after he blew up the royal garden.”  I turned and saw a sylph woman floating down from above, her wispy hair blowing in the soft breeze.

“Ah, Tikal.  Gribbletoo’s lovely assistant.”  When he wasn’t working as Gozreh’s champion, as the leader of Valor’s Triumph’s magical academy or as a mad pancake scientist, Gribbletoo was a stage magician.

“Tell me, Agni, who is your friend here?”

He gave her a look of panic and whispered to her, loudly enough for me to hear.  “I have no idea!  I was hoping you knew who he was!”

She smiled dangerously.  “Tell me, friend, just who are you?”

“Yeah!” Agni agreed.  “Who are you?”

“Excuse me? I think the question is, who are you?!  We’re in a war, man!  There’s no time for stupid questions!  I should have your hat for this, snatch it right off your head.  But I’m feeling gracious today, so carry on before I report you.”

Agniray clutched at his non-existent hat protectively.  Tikal gave him a look.  “No, but seriously.  Identify yourself before you make me angry.”

I pulled off my hat and bowed with a flourish.  “Apologies, kupo!  My name is Kyle, kupopo!”  I don’t know why I said it like a moogle.  For some reason, that city had put me in some kind of odd mood.  Kira seemed like she didn’t know whether to berate me or burst out laughing.

“Does he remind you of someone?” Agni whispered again, once more far too loudly.

“Yes, I’d say he does at that, though I can’t quite put my foot on it.”

“Careful, I might get stuck to your shoe that way,” I replied.

“Who are you, really?”

“I’m just the dude stuck on a world trying to save a city from being destroyed.  And to do that, I think I need to speak to Veil.  So, if you can’t help, I’m going to need to find another way.  Time is short, so unless you can help, I really need to get going.”

“Sorry, can’t help.  Too much danger in letting in a stranger.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said.  As we began to walk away, I heard Tikal humming and stopped cold.  “Haven’t heard that song in ages.  Where’d you hear it?”

“A friend of mine used to hum it all the time.”  She seemed amazed that I recognized it.

“She ever teach you the words?”

“No.  She said it was too painful.  I think she may have taught Veil, though.  Wait, how did you know it was a ‘she’?”

“Lucky guess,” I said with a wink.  “Thanks again.”

I began making my way straight to the palace.  “Kyle,” Kira said, “don’t you need to find someone who can get us in?”

“Don’t need to.  Just need the right passcode, and I just got it.”

We made our way to the palace and I took a few minutes to find the closest place whose acoustics would carry my voice over to the palace proper.  I pulled out my violin and played a few notes to tune and draw in the crowd.  I had to hope that busking wouldn’t turn out to be illegal here.

I cleared my throat and unleashed a spell to further project my voice.  “Ladies and gentlemen!  Boys and girls of all ages!  Gather round and listen!  For now I’m going to play for you a song that has never been performed on this world!  So listen and please enjoy!”

I hadn’t ever played this song because it had been too painful.  It was the song Samantha and I used to sing as a duet.  We had sung it shortly before she abandoned me on Castrovel.  But that had been a long time ago.  We were once again friends and both had moved on with new loves.  It might sting a small amount, but it was a pain I could manage.

Fly me to the moon

Let me play among the stars

Let me see what spring is like

On a-Jupiter and Mars

In other words, hold my hand

In other words, darling, kiss me

Fill my heart with song

And let me sing forever more

You are all I long for

All I worship and adore

In other words, please be true

In other words, I love you

Fill my heart with song

Let me sing forever more

You are all I long for

All I worship and adore

In other words, please be true

In other words, in other words

I love you

Apparently, not everyone was a music lover, as a number of guards moved to disperse the crowd and force me to move.  “Fine!”  I said exaggeratedly.  “But I’ll only leave if you’ll tell me a nearby tavern.  Singing is thirsty work.”

Just wanting to be rid of me, they gave me directions.  “That didn’t work.  What now?” Kira asked.

“We go get a drink.  Besides, it hasn’t failed yet.  So far it’s all according to plan.”

I went to the recommended tavern, grabbed a mug of passable mead and found a table in a quiet corner.  I nursed the mead, but still ended up needing a second mug to not arouse suspicion.  It was taking a bit longer than I thought.  Spoke to the carefulness of the city.

Guards eventually came into the tavern, their faces serious.  After a moment of talking with the owner, he pointed me out and they approached.  “Was getting caught part of your plan?” Kira asked me.

“Wrong Batman villain,” I responded silently.  I stood up.  “Good day, gentlemen!”  I smacked my lips as I spoke.  “Why so serious?  Surely a mug of this establishment’s fine mead will put smiles on those faces!  In fact, everyone please have a round on me!”

“No!” one of the guards barked.  “No one’s drinking any more today.”

“Careful, sergeant.  You’re going to lose the crowd that way.”

“Cut the act.  You’re under arrest for kidnapping.”

“Kidnapping?  Oh dear.  It has been quite a while since anyone accused me of that one, and I assure you that each of those maidens joined me willingly and were returned safely home, if perhaps a bit inebriated.”

“Kyle, you’re not helping yourself.”

“Hush, I’m establishing my character.  If you’re not over the top in Valor’s Triumph, you’re not worth noticing.  And I’m trying to get noticed.”

“Come along quietly,” the other guard said, unamused.

“Oh, I might consider coming along, but I’m afraid quietly just isn’t an option.  On a day as breathtaking as this, I simply must fill the air with song.

The devil went down to Isger

He was lookin’ for a soul to steal

He was in a bind

‘Cause he was way behind

And he was willin’ to make a deal!”

That’s when the guard tried to punch me.  I say tried, because his arm was caught by invisible hands.  “Stand down, guardsman,” a woman’s voice commanded.  Due to her action, the invisibility spell wore off and a gold armored knight nearly as tall as me shimmered into view before me.  The most striking part of her was her ice-white hair.  She also had golden eyes.

Also, she had a pair of gold-scaled leathery wings on her back.

“Lady Valoria?!” both guards said at once, dropping to a knee.

“That never ceases to be annoying.”

“You have to buy them a beer or something once in a while.  You know, let them see that you’re a normal human, or dragon, or whatever,” I suggested.

I heard a silvery peal of laughter from behind her and another figure shimmered into view.  This was a much shorter woman, perhaps a few inches shorter than Aurora, and I could see very little of her features under the silver cloak she wore.  From what I could see, she had hair the color of a red fox.

It matched the tail I could see peeking out from under her cloak.  “You are a bit unapproachable, old friend,” she teased the taller woman.

“Special Agent Veil!” one of the men gasped.  From their expressions, I could tell that they were terrified of her.

“So, guardsmen, tell me what this is about?”  Her voice was serious.

“This man is wanted for questioning regarding the disappearance of Princess Velandhrathal.”

“Missing?  The princess isn’t missing.”

“Lord Noctis went to the garden to speak with her and she wasn’t there, even though none of the guards she left outside the garden saw her leave.  As this happened around the time this man performed his little concert, we suspect he was involved.”

“As Veil said,” the gold knight chimed in, “Velandhrathal isn’t missing.”

“She’s not?”  The guard seemed mystified.

“No.  She took a sabbatical and is visiting my distant cousins to learn more about being a dragon.  She pretended to be out in the gardens because she can be left alone there for the several hours she expected to be gone.  So you’re to report to your captain immediately and let him know that I’ve ordered the search called off.  You may tell him the real reason she’s gone, but in order to not alarm people, everyone else is to be told that she was found in the garden, napping in the highest branches of the tallest tree.”

“Understood!  But what of him?  His little concert still seems suspicious.”

“That was his way of contacting us,” Veil said.  “The song was a one-time code meant to identify him to us given by another agent.”

“Apologies.  We did not know.”

“You weren’t meant to.  Now go, and speak no more of it.”

After the guards left, I motioned for the women to join me.  “Still keeping up the dual identities?” I asked the princess.

“Not so loud!” she whispered.

“Sorry,” I apologized.  “Shall we find somewhere more private to talk?”

“Do you have such a place?”

“I do, but it might create a stir if you’re seen going there with me.”

They exchanged a worried glance.  “Not a house of ill repute, I trust?” Valoria asked.

I couldn’t help but laugh.  “That depends on how busy and how careful our factor has been.  Sorry, let me introduce myself.  My name is Kyle O’Halloran of the Voidstrife family and I’m here on behalf of the city of Magnimar.”

Veil sighed.  “Oh, that organization.  Your factor does indeed have a reputation.  And you’re right, us being seen going there could cause problems.  But we can follow you without being seen and have a few questions we’d really like answered.  So lead on.”

We made our way to the company office, which I enchanted against scrying.  Valerica was surprised when the other two appeared out of nowhere.  On an unrelated note, I have no idea why all three of their names start with the letter V.  One of life’s mysteries, I guess.

“Okay, ladies.  You’ve been patient, so I’ll answer your questions first.  Ask away.”

“I only have two,” Veil said.  “How’s Sam?”

“She’s doing well, as far as I can tell.  She’s dating my sister.”

“She hadn’t told us she’d brought anyone else with you.”

“None of us knew.  It’s sorta complicated.  The short version is that my twin sister we thought was dead was instead living in my body in a semi-dormant state.  Here, let me get the telepathic interface and a speaker so she can join the conversation.”

That was a mistake.  As soon as she was hooked up, she squeed.  “Ohmygod!  VEE!  I’ve been anxious to ask you this question for forever.  Is it really true that Falric once climbed the highest mountain during a blizzard to get you a rare flower that only blooms during the full moon on the night of the winter solstice because you were sad your father had forgotten your birthday?”

The fox-tailed girl who reminded me very much of Holo the Wise Wolf for some reason blushed furiously.  “I’m going to kill Samantha,” she muttered to herself. 

Here’s a little background information from what Samantha told me.  Falric was her cousin and was betrothed to the princess for political reasons.  He was Obrek’s mentor and the former Scion of Iomedae until he died of Terminal Mentor’s Syndrome – the same disease that killed Obi Wan in Star Wars, Duncan in Dragon Age and Kamina in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.  He ascended and became a Solar, one of the most powerful types of angels, because Terminal Mentor’s Syndrome usually ends with the mentor becoming more powerful than you could possibly imagine.

“Oh my god!  It’s true?!”

“We are not talking about this.”

“But it’s so adorable!”

“Kira,” I said, “that’s enough.”

“Spoilsport.”

“Thank you,” Veil said.  “Now, for my second question.  Why are you here?”

“Ah, one of the human questions.  It is simple.  If I can’t secure a huge amount of mithral, the city of Magnimar will likely be destroyed.”  I brought them up to speed on what had been going on and gave them a rough idea of what we were doing to protect the city.

“That’s terrible,” Veil said.  “Say the word and I will deploy a force from the Silver Legion to assist in defending your city.  If you need aid in evacuating the people, I will do everything in my power.  But mithral might be difficult.  Everything currently mined has already been spoken for.  If we had a month or two, I can easily reserve new production, but you don’t seem to have that kind of time.”

“So there’s nothing you can do?”

“I’m sorry.  Any attempts I made would only strengthen the case made by Lord Noctis and his friends within the Aspis Consortium.  We’re barely fending off their attempts to grab power in the city as it is.”

“That’s fine.”  My mind had already begun trying to work out other solutions.  “Maybe if I got enough pearls of power at the right strengths I could blood fabricate what I need?  Or maybe teach the workshop spell to someone else just to have them use it to turn gold to magicite and magicite to mithral?”  I asked no one in particular.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.  Valerica opened it and one of our agents came in, he had suffered several minor wounds.  The two conferred for a moment, then she pointed at me.  “Tell him what you just told me.”

“My lord, I managed to track down where the Consortium is holding all of the mithral.  There’s something going on over there.  I don’t think it’s just commerce.  They look like they’re prepared to start a war.”

“What?!” Veil exclaimed.

“They’re gearing up for something.  And it’s going to be soon.”

“Anything else stand out as being of note?” I asked.

“The man leading the operation seems to be one of their silver level agents.  He was talking with a local noble.  I couldn’t make out what they were saying.  I was pretty far back looking with a scope.  But I did see one interesting thing.”

“Out with it.”

“They both had the same tattoo.”

A chill ran up my spine.  “Describe it.”

“It’s hard to describe.  It would be easier if I drew it.”

“Do it.”  I turned to Valerica.  “Send out a general order.  All agents are to pull back immediately are return to base to await further instructions.  Also, send a runner to whoever the White Grotto has out here.  Tell him or her that something bad might be about to happen and I may need their support.”

“What is it?” Valoria asked me.  “What has you so worried.”

The man had finished his sketch and held it up for us to see.  I swore.  “That.  That’s what I was afraid of,” I said, pointing at the sihedron on the page.  I had been a fool to think that they were limiting their activities only to Varisia.  An attack here would end a major potential threat to Karzoug’s consolidation of power before it had even realized he was coming.

But why the mithral?  If they were going to make it into weapons, it would have taken longer to hide.  And if they took the city, there’d be no need to stockpile it beforehand.  And trading it was a silly reason, as gold or platinum would be more portable.  Unless…

“Oh crap.  It’s an offering.”

“You’re starting to irritate me with your habit of not making any sense,” Veil said.

“Tell me about it,” Kira agreed.

“One of Karzoug’s agents set this up.  They’re going to destroy and/or subjugate the city.  The mithral is an offering to whatever they’re summoning to do the heavy lifting.  Some kind of fiend, most likely.”

“In a city of paladins?  Are you daft?” Valerica said, pointing out the flaw in my logic.

“It might not matter, if it was strong enough.”

“And what could someone possibly offer one that strong to get its help?” Veil asked.

And that was the final piece of the puzzle.  But I had already thought of that.  “A metric ton of mithral just to listen to his or her proposal.  And the reward is the task:  A chance to destroy a city filled with holy relics and housing the world’s greatest order of paladins while its greatest defenders are away.”

The realization hit everyone else in the room at the same time.  Jaws dropped and people sprang into action.  “Valoria, mobilize the Legion, the town watch and the Shineymen.”

“Valerica,” I added.  “Have our people report get ready to Valoria or a chosen lieutenant.”

“And what are you going to do?” Valoria and Valerica asked simultaneously.

“I’m going to sneak into the warehouse and confirm what they’re up to,” Veil and I replied, also simultaneously.  We exchanged a look, realized there was no chance of convincing the other not to go and immediately.  “Can you be stealthy?” we asked eachother.  “Fine, don’t slow me down.”  Another pause.  “Stop that.”  Another pause.  “Fine.  Just don’t slow me down.”

Kira, meanwhile, was laughing her ass off.  I ignored her, passed out several hands-free radios and explained how to use them.  Then we set out to save the city.

 “Juiz, interface with the power suit and begin equipment checks.  I may need to pull it out in a hurry if things go south.”

“Acknowledged.”

The people running security on the building were rank amateurs.  Good security is layered, with parts for show and parts to do the real work.  The former keeps amateurs from trying, while the latter is meant to stop pros.  But these were armed thugs.  All for show.  The only thing they’d stop is a brave amateur.  And while I’m not a professional thief, what I am is a wizard, which more than makes up the difference.

Luckily, while I hadn’t prepared more than a couple combat spells for the day, I had thought ahead enough to prepare for stealth operations, since you never know what you’ll need to steal during the course of a proper business day.  Secrets usually, but sometimes substantially larger things.

We used magic to open an upper window and invisibly float inside, then found a position where we could see what was going on with little chance of being seen in return, even if someone was snooping for magical auras.  Which I had hidden.  Because this was not my first rodeo.

What we saw was bad, to completely understate the facts.  Someone had drawn a massive conjuring circle upon the ground and filled it with crates of mithral.  Priests stood around it, chanting a calling spell.  I hate being right.  I mean, it was only logical considering the facts I knew, but still.

What I hadn’t seen coming was the emblem of the azure coin stamped on the side of each crate.  This offering was meant for Mammon, Lord of Erebus and Hell’s gods damned accountant.  And if not him specifically, it was meant for one of his underlings.  I can’t imagine anyone would go to that trouble for anything less than a pit lord.  It was even possible we were talking about an Infernal Duke, the direct lieutenants of the Archdevils.

If that was the case, the city was absolutely screwed.  There was little we could do.  Hopefully we could evacuate some people before things went literally to Hell.  But the truth was, I was tired of thinking like that.  I had to find a way to stop it.

Only…the ritual was past the tipping point.  The creature being summoned had already heard the call.  The only thing disrupting the spell could possibly do now was cause a magical feedback loop that could turn this entire mountain into another Mana Wastes.

So we did nothing, and watched as the spell completed.  If it was just a pit lord, perhaps we could act.  But I somehow knew that it wouldn’t be.

And again, sometimes I hate being right.  The mithral disappeared and a twenty foot tall golden flame replaced it.  After several moments, the flame coalesced into a fifteen foot tall devil with gleaming golden skin, the head of a jackal and the tail of a snake.  Because of course he did.

The being in the center of the circle was Amun, former lieutenant of Astaroth.  He had left her services when she had rebelled against Asmodeus and allied herself with a powerful black dragon to destroy Valor’s Triumph.  It had been said that he had supported her goal, but had refused to turn against Asmodeus.  So it was that he found himself in the employ of Mammon.

And here he was, in Valor’s Triumph, potentially poised to destroy it.

Hell had sent a token force to aid in the defeat of Astaroth, but that had been about capturing a traitor, not because Asmodeus had any love for the city.  Amun would likely have nothing stopping him save whatever defenses the city could raise.

An elven man with raven black hair and a particular reptilian quality confidently approached.  “Noctis!” Veil hissed.

“Greetings, Lord Amun!  I thank you for accepting my invitation and granting me this audience.”  He bowed with a flourish.

“It was an intriguing invitation,” the fiend replied.  “Such a supply of mithral simply to hear your proposal.  You have my attention.  I only hope you do not regret gaining it.”

“Go,” I whispered to Veil.  “Warn your people that Astaroth’s former lieutenant is here.  Get everyone you can to shelters or evacuated.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Buy time and then run away.  If all goes well, I’ll rejoin you all on the defensive lines shortly after things get crazy.”  I pulled the carefully folded portable hole from my non-magical pocket.  “Do me a favor.  Take this and open it up outside, then cast a fly spell on the construct that comes out.”  She nodded, turned invisible once more and flew out the window.

I sent my instructions to Juiz through the telepathic interface along with a mental image of the room.  “Acknowledged,” came the reply.

I listened for about a minute as Noctis laid out his plan.  I won’t bore you with the details, but it was a trade.  In exchange for the deaths of Velandhrathal Argentus and the rest of the ruling class, Noctis offered destruction of all holy artifacts within the city, one tenth of all mithral and silver production in the city for the duration of Noctis’ rule and the souls of every goblin within the city.  Noctis indicated that he was certain that he could get them to follow along and agree to pledge their souls to Hell because they were weak minded.

“An interesting offer,” Amun said approvingly.

“Perhaps I can make a better one,” I said, appearing before him in a puff of smoke.  I had turned my hair black and my clothes now bore a red and black motif with a silver star on the back.

The men in the room were startled, but the devil only laughed.  “An intriguing development.”

“Who are you?!” Noctis demanded.

“It is fitting that you do not know me,” I said.  “As, unlike you, I have the patience to act carefully, playing the long game.  You seek to rush things, to seize power through blood.  You are a fool!  I will take this city quietly, a piece at a time.  When I am done, I will not need to trick the goblins.  Not only the goblins, but also the humans, the dwarves and elves – lo, even the Aasimar! – will offer their souls to me willingly, a currency I may trade freely with those who hold what I want.  Therefore I find it distasteful that your imbecilic plot forces me from the shadows to deal with your incompetence.”

“Your response does not answer the question,” the fiend noted, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Alas, you are correct.  My apologies.  That was rude of me.  Please allow me to introduce myself.

I’m a man of wealth and taste.

I’ve been around for a long, long year

Stole many a man’s soul to waste

I watched with glee

While kings and queens

Fought for ten decades

For the gods they made

Just as every cop is a criminal

And all the sinners saints

As heads is tails

Just call me Lucifer

As your soul I taint.”

At the end, I bowed.  “A florid introduction.  I find such ways with words sorely missing,” the fiend said.  “So, Lucifer, tell me of your counter offer.”  Noctis looked ready to object, but decided against it.

“Of course.  As I said, I am a man of great wealth.  So I shall offer you wealth.  Perhaps we start with a trade for that mithral.  I’ll give you say, twenty percent, no twenty five percent since I have taken a shine to you, above market value for the mithral that the good Lord Noctis has given you.  I can certainly wait for more, but the truth is that I need that for another operation I’m working on and now is the optimal time to make that deal.  I’m sure you understand.”

“I am amenable to such a trade, though I do believe this to be a seller’s market, so we’ll have to further negotiate the amount.  I’m sure you understand.”

I smiled.  “Of course.  It was merely an opening bid to get your attention.  Now on to the heart of the matter.  All I want is for you to reject Noctis and do nothing.  In exchange, I offer you wealth.  Say, perhaps, a life-sized platinum statue of you?  Or if that is too lacking in portability, I could give you the same weight in platinum in bars, carried in steel chests lined with the supple hides of dragon whelps.”  The last part was to confirm something I suspected.  As I thought, Noctis’ face showed a look of anger.  Interesting.

“A good start.  I like that you ask that I do nothing, but the recompense is lower than that your rival offers.  Can you sweeten the deal?”

“Of course.  How about I offer you magical items as well?  Say, an equal value to the platinum in magical items?”

“I up my offer to twenty percent of the monthly mithral production,” Noctis said.  I had hoped for that.  A bidding war would buy more time.  I mean, sure, I would have happily found a way to make that first payment to save the city, but I didn’t suspect it to be enough.  It is likely that Amun was also just using me to raise what he could get from Noctis.

I smirked.  “Ah, so at last he gets serious.  I shall add in an equal weight in gold and silver to the platinum I have offered.  Now let us talk of his promise to destroy artifacts.  Short-sighted.  I instead offer corruption.  The artifacts will be corrupted and used to spread my empire to the four corners of the world.”

“A fair point,” Amun conceded.  “That is indeed an added value.”

“Thirty percent,” Noctis interjected.

Amun smiled to himself.  He then looked at me.  “I find your offers equal but on one point.  Souls.  What souls do you offer me?”

“Alas, I can offer none.  It is a point of pride that all souls I gain will be mine to do with as I please.  But perhaps I can offer more exotic items, more than just precious metals and artifacts, but instead items none but I can procure.”

“I’m listening.”

“I have many things I can offer, from simple carbon nanotubes to aerogel or even C4.  And these are just the start.”

I waited a pregnant second before someone broke the silence.  “What is C4?” Noctis asked.

I smiled.  I couldn’t help myself.  “‘C’ is for Cookie, motherfucker,” I said as I raised my hand and snapped my fingers.  And then the ceiling exploded.

Juiz had been hard at work while I’d been buying time.  Sure, there was little chance an infernal duke could be killed by that, I figured it could at least bring down some of the people summoning him.  And it would make a good distraction for an escape.

And escape is what I did.  I teleported up to the catwalk vantage point and leapt out of the window I’d come in.  Normally, it would have been enough of a fall to hurt a bit, but magic boots.  Wizard: one.  Gravity: too many to count.

Once I was safely outside, Juiz set off a second set of explosions, collapsing the building walls inward.  I hadn’t told her to do that.  She was improvising.  That’s the power of an AI over a VI.  Best decision I ever made.

To say Amun was pissed would be an understatement.  To say he was livid would be too weak of a word.  There is no possible word to describe how angry he appeared.  He made ‘angry Lenn’ look like a Zen master.

And I was the target of his rage.

He spotted me quicker than I would have liked.  “YOU!” he roared, charging me.  He picked me up by the front of my shirt and flung me with a snarl.  I slammed into the wall of a building fifty feet away so hard that I would have gone through it had it not been solid stone.  I’m not sure how I didn’t die, to be honest, though I was in such pain I wished at the time that I had.

He charged at me again, but this time he was intercepted by a silver dragon.  “You will not harm anyone else in my city!” Veil shouted at him, her dragon-voice echoing through the mountains.  She slammed into him, her momentum smashing him into another wall.  A quartet of mithral blades whirled around her scaled body, but could not pierce his tough skin. 

She wheeled back and dozens of guardsmen fired crossbows at him.  Paladin-archers joined in the volley, declaring the fury of their gods upon him.  And Juiz shot him with my rail gun.

But he was an infernal duke, and they were like gnats before him.  A spiked mace that looked like something Sauron would wield appeared in his hand and he struck Veil.  Just one swing sent her flying like a rag doll.

She actually went through the wall.  I could only hope that all the buildings nearby had been safely evacuated.  Agniray and Tikal unleashed volleys of fireballs and alchemical bombs on him.  Then someone reminded Agniray that devils are immune to fire and he began using his bow.  It would have been comical if the situation weren’t so dire.

Agniray and Tikal’s attacks were at least doing damage, but again, there was no way they could beat him.  He reached out a hand and unleashed a ray of hellfire from his fingertip, cutting the building they stood on in two.

“Is this all your vaunted city of heroes can throw at me?!  I will reduce this city to rubble!  None can stand in my way!  But first, I will kill this insignificant pest who has interfered in my deal!”

From within a cloud descended a glowing figure, a Solar, one of the most powerful types of angels in existence.  “You will do no such thing!” the Solar’s voice carried the fury of the heavens and bolstered the hearts of the faithful.

“You think you can stop me, angel?!”

“I shall play my part, certainly.”

“Even with your help, this city is doomed.”

“We shall see,” the Solar responded, drawing back the string on his bow.  An arrow, or perhaps a spear, appeared within.  He released the string and the projectile shot forward with a mighty twang.

And shot right past the fiend.  “You missed!  Pathetic!”

“I wasn’t aiming for you,” the angel replied.  “I came here as a delivery boy, nothing more.”

“Then what were you aiming at?”

Meanwhile, the ‘arrow’ that had flown past him had ricocheted off of several walls and had come straight at me.  I thought it would strike and kill me, but something happened.  I could feel a power growing as the projectile approached.  Kira could feel it too.

“My heart: UNLOCK!” she shouted.  I felt myself shunted from control as she took over our body.  She reached out and grabbed the projectile, spinning it like a flag bearer, whirling and twisting her own body as she redirected the momentum and brought it to a perfect stop.  As she did so, she kicked up a ton of dust.

“I thought you hated using that phrase for transforming,” I said.

“It’s growing on me,” she replied.

When the dust settled, Kira stood there, twelve feet tall.  She was wearing armor that looked like some kind of futuristic cross between ancient Spartan, Roman legionnaire and Viking armor made of a metal I had never seen before, all over a short dress made of what can only be described as leather, but again seemed unfamiliar.  And in her hand was a very familiar weapon – the spear I had willed into existence in the afterlife.

The air thrummed with music that had no source.  War drums that didn’t exist rumbled the chests of all around.  Some of the sounds were from electric guitars and other instruments from Earth that had no presence on Golarion.  More than that, I could feel something, murmurs of past lives.  Kira had been all three of those things, a Spartan soldier – one of the Three Hundred whose name lost to history! – a Roman Legionairre – serving both during the age of Hannibal and during another life around year 100 CE – and as a Viking raider.

“If you are so bored with the fight that this city has offered, then perhaps I shall give you a better one,” Kira proclaimed to the fiend.

Without a word, he charged and the two exchanged a series of blows.  His strikes hit her, but her armor perfectly deflected and cushioned the blows, such that she didn’t even feel them.  In return, he suffered several shallow wounds.

He bounded back and unleashed another ray of hellfire.  She responded by flicking her left wrist.  Hundreds of tiny plates slid out in much the same way as my collapsible mirror does, though they did not seem to use a spring assembly.  She used this new shield, as big as those used in Sparta, to block the hellfire.  The shield didn’t even get hot.

“That metal doesn’t exist yet,” Samantha whispered to me.

“What?” I replied, startled.

“It only exists in six of several million potential timelines, and in none of them does it come into being for at least fifty thousand years.  Apparently it’s so strong that it has to be forged using multiple controlled black holes.  And even then, very little of it ever exists.”

“Then how…?”

“My girl’s fighting a very powerful foe.  So I cheated and borrowed it.”

“What about the leather?”

“Comes from a creature in another galaxy.  Very dangerous, those.”

“I see.  So, last question.  If this stuff is so rare and valuable, how is it that you were able to find a full suit that just happens to perfectly fit Kira?”

She laughed.  “Guess that’s just one of life’s great mysteries.  Dream-corn?” she asked, holding out a tub of popcorn.

“That’s okay, I’m trying to quit.”

“Oh, one more thing.  You cannot touch the spear when you’re in control of the body.”

That seemed unfair.  “Why not?”

“The music you’re hearing, that can be heard a hundred miles from here in every direction.  But there’s something you can’t hear, we’ll call it eighth dimensional music.  Every being, from gods and fiends to the beings you call the Elder Things, with the power to hear vibrations on the eighth dimension within a several hundred light year radius can feel it.  And it’s unlike anything anyone has ever heard before.  Superficially, every being of extreme power makes such vibrations when we do anything significant in the material plane.

“But Kira’s song contains notes none of us have ever heard before.  Some will be curious, others afraid.  Most will dismiss it.  But if you pick it up, a different song will resonate and others will investigate.  It inevitably leads to the destruction of Earth before its time.  Doesn’t mean you can’t interact with it, if you can find a way to do so remotely.  Just don’t touch it.”

That sounded alarming.  “Before its time?!”

“You know, when the sun naturally explodes.  Or one of the other cosmic things that might normally destroy it comes up.”

“How much before?”

“Anywhere from fifteen to a hundred and eighty years from now, depending on how the rest of the timeline plays out.”

Okay, yeah, not touching the spear.  But that confused me.  “Why didn’t it do anything when I held it while we were dead?”

“Not on the material plane, remember?  Only a problem here.”

“And why is Kira suddenly so strong?”

“I can’t tell you.  World shattering consequences and all that.  Literally.  But what I can tell you is that your spear there is just as powerful as Gozreh’s Scythe and the Will of Iomedae.”

WHAT.  “But those were created by gods.”

“You just used a greater percentage of your will to create yours than they did for theirs is all.  Eighty percent of five is greater than three percent of one hundred, after all.”

“I’m one twentieth the strength of a god while I’m released from my body?!”

“It was an analogy.  I don’t know the precise amounts.  All I know is you used a lot more than they would have as a percentage of your own power.  Now hush, I’m trying to watch the fight.”

Amun charged again, swinging with a powerful two-handed strike.  The massive blow struck Kira’s raised shield with enough downward force that the very ground beneath her feet cracked.  Let me reiterate.  The SOLID STONE beneath her feet broke beneath the weight of his blow and yet somehow her arm was fine.

Kira responded by slamming him with her shield and stabbing forward with her spear, piercing one of his biceps.  He seemed surprised by how much it had hurt.  Again, to make sure you’re not missing the point here, let me reiterate.  The being who had ignored the arrows of a dozen paladins whose faith would allow their arrows to pierce all protections felt an alarming amount of pain from Kira’s attack.

He leapt back and flew up into the sky.  “You are a powerful warrior, I must admit.  But you are still only a warrior.  You cannot touch me here.  I will rain down destruction from above.  You cannot protect the entire town at once.  Just stay there and watch these pitiful mortals burn.”

That pissed me off.  There had to be something I could do to help.  I tried casting a spell, but nothing happened.  The frustration in me welled up to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore.  “FLY!” I roared.  And the spear responded.  From within it came a wellspring of power, imbuing Kira with the ability to fly as if I had cast a spell.  “What.”

I reached out with my mind and I felt the spear respond.  It wasn’t intelligent, not exactly.  But it was my will coalesced into solid form.  It would respond to me.  I tried reaching out with my mind again and asked it to cast another spell.  No response.

Perhaps it needed something more.  A combination of will and word?  “Haste,” I commanded.  It reacted.  Huh.  I began thinking of other spells I could cast to help Kira and began speaking the names I called them by.  It didn’t even seem to matter that I hadn’t prepared the spell, so long as I knew it.  “Displacement.  Greater Heroism.  Energy Protection, Fire.  Shocking Shield.  Fire Shield.  Bear’s Endurance.  Badger’s Ferocity.  Stoneskin.  True Seeing.”

Kira smirked.  “Thanks.”  She rose into the air.  But I hadn’t finished yet.  In touching the spear with my mind, I had learned something else.  I could imbue it with a single weaker spell it would cast on every single strike.

My sister streaked through the sky, striking the foe through his armor and dealing a minor but substantial wound.  At the moment of impact, a burst of radiant light exploded outward.  As when I cast it, the light injured evil creatures, and the fiend was no exception.

They exchanged several more blows and he backed up again.  “I must admit, you’re stronger than me.  But I need only speak a single word to summon enough Erinyes that their black wings will blot out the sun.  What do you say to that?”

Kira shrugged.  “Then we’ll fight in the shade.”  I knew it was coming, but it was still awesome to hear.

<I knew you’d like that one.>

<I never would have forgiven you if you had missed the opportunity.>

That was certainly not what Amun had expected to hear.  He cast his summons quickly, in a near panic.  True to his word, the skies filled with thousands of Erinyes.  “And now you die!” he shouted.  Arrows rained from all directions.

“Wind Wall!” I commanded.  A stream of wind protected her from three sides, allowing her to block the remaining with her shield.

“Nice catch,” she said.  “I can take them, but I need you to do something for me.”

“Name it.”

“Tell the spear to become two swords.”

What.  “I’m not sure I can do that.”

“Try anyway?”

I sighed.  “Fine.  Picture what you want and I’ll tell it to do that.”

To my amazement, it worked.  The spear split apart into a pair of katanas.  Not only that, her armor shifted, looking more like that of a samurai.  And the music changed, incorporating instruments common in traditional Japanese music.

Amun backed away quickly and a wall of Erinyes interdicted itself between us and him.  Kira smirked.  “Pathetic.”

To the naked eye, it appeared that Kira simply disappeared for one point three eight six seconds – or so Juiz tells me – and reappeared on the other end of the swarm.  But I was dragged along with her.  Time slowed down and we moved through the swarm.  It was still too fast for me to see, but I know we went through the entire swarm in something of a spiral motion before ending up on the other side.

“Impressive, but now you’re surrounded!” Amun gloated.

“Tch.”  Kira was dismissive.

“You still think you can win?!”

“You heard it to, didn’t you?” Kira asked, performing chiburui – ritualistically swiping a blade clean – with both blades.  A single drop of blood flicked off of each of them.  From behind us, a soft breeze blew, the air dragged by Kira’s motion.

<Note: I still can’t figure out how she didn’t cause about three hundred sonic booms from her hypersonic movement.>

“What’s that?!”

“The voice of the wind.”  At her words, every single Erinyes fell in half, like something out of a ridiculous movie.

In Amun’s eyes, I saw true, pants-shitting terror.  “We can work this out!” he said.  “You needed the mithral, right?  Done,” he snapped his fingers and every crate returned, lying on the ground around the warehouse.  “That’s not enough?  I will give you wealth beyond your imagining.”  He snapped his fingers and a pile of gold coins appeared near the crates.  “Just let me go.  That’s all I ask.  I swear I’ll never return to this place.”

Kira’s voice was quiet, but heard throughout the city.  “You have conspired with Noctis to overthrow the city’s government.  You have done millions of gold in damages to the city.  Hundreds of people have been injured and just as many are likely dead.  Nonetheless, I can forgive you for those.”

“Then I can go?”

“But you tried to kill my brother.”  She held out her right blade, pointing it at him.  “Yurusenai!”

You don’t have to understand Japanese to understand what she meant.  It was in her voice.  But since you can’t hear that here, please understand that she had made a very serious oath, the kind of oath that led warriors to tear apart entire kingdoms to get at the target of their hatred.  Quite literally, it is a declaration that one’s actions have so offended the speaker that they cannot be forgiven.  Only in death could one possibly atone.

Kira was out for blood.

She looked at me out of the side of her eye.  “Dance with me, shrine maiden?”  Memories suddenly struck me and I recalled some details from a life we lived in Japan long ago.  Our family had been impoverished lesser nobility.  My brother was a samurai in service of his lord.  I had been a shrine maiden, tending to the shrine of our family’s gods.

I had been terrified that my brother would die, so I had secretly trained and learned how to wield a sword.  I never used it in true combat, but I had sparred with my brother, and together we had turned a dance I had created for a festival into a sword form.

<I actually used it in combat.  I killed six men who ambushed me.  I was really looking forward to coming home and telling you about it, but then some asshole with a bow shot me in the back.>

I nodded and we danced together.  I could recall steps perfectly.  While I was nothing more than a mental projection – indeed no one could see me – but Kira was very real.  And Amun was completely outclassed.

Amun’s head fell to the floor beneath us with a wet thud.  We flew down to the ground where the Solar stood, cradling the limp form of Veil.  “Not today, love,” he said, resurrecting her.

“Falric!” she said softly, her arms about his neck and her face buried in his chest.

After several moments in their own world, he noticed Kira.  “I had wondered why I had been ordered to deliver the spear to you instead of using it myself.  Forgive me for doubting.”

Kira held up her hand in a ‘v for victory’ salute.  “Don’t mention it.”  Her knees began to buckle and the swords fell from her hands, becoming a spear once more. 

Suddenly Samantha was there, catching her as she fell.  She kissed Kira on the forehead.  “You overdid it, little shepherd, but the wolves are dead and the flock is safe.  Rest now.”

“Night night,” was all Kira said, before passing out.  My body shifted back to its normal form and I found myself once more in control.

“Think you could let me up before someone tells my wife and she gets the wrong idea?” I asked.

Samantha laughed.  “Sure.  Be careful though.  Kira used all of the – oh what is the word you people use? – glycogen and other sources of quick fuel in your body.  Beyond the point where the ring could keep up.  You’re going to be a bit unstable until you can replenish those.”  She wasn’t kidding.  I felt like I’d been doing another all day marathon of Dance Dance Revolution down at the arcade.

Without prompting, the goblin Rocktooth approached me with a mug of some strange liquid.  “Here, drink.”  I gave it a sniff.  It smelled sweet and had several vaguely familiar notes.  “It just water, plants and bee stuffs.  Goblins drink when need to be full of bounce.”

That didn’t sound too bad, even for more disgusting values of ‘bee stuffs’.  I needed something, for certain.  I downed it quickly.  It was warm, as if it had been hot brewed and partially cooled over time.  “Okay, I’m tasting honey, black tea and… is that ma huang?”  You probably know the latter as ephedra, a Chinese herbal whose use has been banned in the US due to containing a dangerous stimulant.  I knew a guy in college who used the stuff to stay up cramming for tests.  It probably wouldn’t kill me in the kind of dose found in a tea.  And, again, I kinda needed it.

He gave me a confused look and shrugged.  “Don’t know.  Wife makes.  I drink.”  He then turned to Samantha and saluted.  “Sir!”

“Dismissed, soldier.”

“Yes, sir!”

Veil weakly stood from Falric’s arms and gave Samantha a hug.  “You should visit more often.”

“Sorry,” Samantha said.  “I try, but you know how it gets some times.  I get so wrapped up in work sometimes I just forget other things exist.”  She turned to the Solar.  “And you!  Arm wrestle me!”

“Not after that last humiliating defeat.  Have you put in any thought to coming down to the World Wound?  We could use your help.”

She made a gagging face.  “And hang out with paladins all day?  Boring!”

As they caught up, I spoke with Juiz.  “Did you record the music from Kira’s fight?”

“I recorded the fight’s visual and audio data.  Creating separate archive of the music.  Would you like to index and name the file?”

“Yes.”  But what to name it?  “Title the file… Vanguard of Victory.”

“Indexing complete.”

It would have been easy to think the fight was over, but that would have been wrong.  Sure, there were piles of dead Erinyes lying everywhere.  Amun was dead.  The Aspis Consortium’s forces were decimated.  But there was one enemy still alive.

The rubble of the warehouse shuddered and a great black dragon burst forth from the debris.  He looked and saw Veil and let out a roar.  “YOU!  I WILL NO LONGER ALLOW YOU TO STAND IN MY WAY!  I WILL KILL YOU!”

Samantha, Falric and Veil all reacted immediately, but the speed of flesh is not as quick as the speed of thought.  Without even thinking, I reached out with my mind and grabbed the spear, flinging it with all my might.

The impact to its chest flung the dragon backward, pinning it to a wall with a burst of radiant light.  It cried out in pain.  “YOU!”  It struggled and tried to breath acid at me, but nothing came forth.  I had struck a vital point.  I pulled the spear back once more with my mind and slammed it into the dragon again and again.

“Tell me one thing,” I said to the wounded dragon.  “Tell me why you worked with the runelord.”

“I would have ruled this city, as it was meant to be.  He would have his empire, but I would have the city, which is all I ever wanted, the promise of my forebears and my true birthright.”  The dragon coughed up blood.  “He warned me of you and your friends.  He told me that you had an annoying habit of bumbling your way into interfering with his plans.  You resist, but you will fail.”

“We stopped Xanesha.  We stopped Lyrie Akenja.  We stopped you.  We will stop Lucrecia.  What makes you think Karzoug any different?”

“It is not a thing you can comprehend.  There is power within his mind.  His will is singular.  You will bend to it.”

“We might surprise you.”

“You represent chaos.  Dozens of tiny nations clinging to their own ideals.  Under Thassilon…under Karzoug, there will be order.”

“Order?  There will be tyranny!”

“You will bend to his will or you will be destroyed!”

“This conversation is done.  Tell your master that I’m coming for him.”  I began to walk away, but the white hot fury coursing through my veins stopped me.  I turned around and with a singular thought, withdrew the spear and slammed it into the dragon’s skull.  “Never mind.  I’ll tell him myself.  Sic semper tyrannis.” 

I then pulled out my sihedron medallion from the led case in my magic bag.  I was sure Karzoug could see me through it, so I had become paranoid about it.

“KARZOUG!  Hear me!  Your attack on Valor’s Triumph has failed!  We’re coming for you!”

“You’re coming to your doom!” boomed the suddenly visible floating image of the runelord.

“It’s always doom with you.  I wish you’d get some new schtick.  Doom this.  Doom that.  Well, I’m gonna sing the Doom Song now. Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom.”

“I think I’ve begun to loathe you.”

“Good.  The feeling is mutual.  Be off now.  TTFN means ‘ta ta for now’.  Buh-bye.  Don’t let the ethereal door hit you on the way out.”  He glared at me and the image faded.  I carefully put the medallion back in its case.

The others were looking at me like I’d grown another head.  Even Samantha seemed shocked.  I sat down on a large stone and grabbed a skin of water and a travel cake from my magic bag.  The cake was extremely dry and flavorless.  I mean seriously, I’ve had plain rice cakes with more flavor.

The others were still staring at me.  “What?  You said ‘don’t touch it’,” I said to Samantha.  “So I didn’t touch it.  Or what, did that count?”

“No, that was fine.  Just…damn.”

I took another bite.  “So, I’m guessing you’re going to tell me I can’t keep the spear?” I asked with my mouth half full.  Screw manners.  I was starving.  She shook her head apologetically.

“What… are you?” Veil asked.

“I’m just a dude, eating a cake, trying to figure out what to do with a magical spear.”

“But…the fight with the devil, and now Noctis…”

I shrugged.  “The devil fight was my sister.  And the spear does what I tell it to.  After the things I’ve heard about this city, this surely can’t be the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen.”  I gave Falric a pointed look.

They laughed.  “Fair point,” the angel said.  “Should I return the spear to Torag?”

“The Forge Father crafted it?” Veil asked.

Samantha grinned.  “Nope.  A dead guy willed it into existence.”

I was tired.  “Look.  You can tell them everything later.  For now, let’s do this.  No, don’t take the spear back to Torag.  I may not be able to take it, but it should be out being used.  And having seen what I’ve seen today, it should be here.”  I pulled it over with my mind and set it on the floor in front of Veil.  “You keep it.”

“I can’t,” she tried to protest.

“Sure you can.  In exchange, give me the mithral that got returned.  You can keep the gold for repairing the city.  Can you loan me some portable holes to transport the mithral?”

We worked out the details fairly quickly and things took on a semblance of normalcy once more.  The Aspis Consortium was banned from the city under threat of prison.  The Voidstrife Cartel, on the other hand, was given favored trade status.  And I returned back to Magnimar, my sick guards in tow.

After delivering the mithral, I went home to Aurora.  I found her resting on the couch, looking a lot better while sipping some tea.  “Rough day?”

“You have no idea,” I replied.  I threw off my coat and hat and laid down with my head in her lap.  I explained everything, a conversation that took half an hour.  “Juiz has video.”

“I’ll watch it later.”

“It’s almost done,” I said hopefully.

“Almost,” she agreed, running her fingers through my hair.

“Still a lot of work left.”

“True, but it’s just building things for a while.”

“Yes, nice, relaxing heavy machine work.”  At least I’d have an excuse to listen to ‘Live to Win’ on an eighteen hour loop.

She giggled.  Melts my heart every time.  “And I won’t let anyone interrupt you.”

“You can interrupt me a little.”

“Only if it’s important.”

“Fair enough.”  We sat there for a minute before I came to a realization.  “Hey, babe?”

“Yes?”

“I can’t move.”

“What?”

“I can feel my legs and arms, so I don’t think I’m paralyzed.  I just can’t move them.”

“Want me to carry you to bed?”

“Yes, please.”  It was a testament to her love for me that she didn’t laugh.  Not too much anyway.