The Newt and Demon

The scent of earthy moss tea spread through the Newt and Demon. Theo, Elrin, and Tresk sat downstairs, finding whatever chairs they could to wait out the brewing process. The smell of the Moss Nettle had become something of a comfort for the alchemist. Late nights in the lab—often working hard to create potions for the defense of that same town—were an event. At least his attributes would reduce the negative effects the next day.

Theo poured a cup of tea for everyone, watching the way Elrin leaned back in his chair, halberd propped against his shoulder. That guy must have been through the ringer. He was just happy to have been able to stop the fight before things got out of hand.

“I’m guessing you’ve been on a wild ride,” Theo said, popping the lid of his kettle to check the water. It was boiling enough, so he dished out three cups of tea before blowing on his own. “And the fun has just started.”

“You could’ve let us fight a bit longer,” Tresk said, folding her arms. She could only be grumpy for so long before she drank her tea. Theo knew that. She knew that. Everyone knew that.

“From what I understand, you’re from Earth,” Elrin said. “Near-future, or something like that. Tell me, are you aware of my exploits defending your planet?”

“No. In the several-hundred years that passed since your time, the information was lost or covered up. I can’t really say.” Theo shrugged, taking a sip of the empowering tea. He felt energy race through his body the moment he sipped. “So, did your system work on Earth?”

“Indeed. We made a deal with someone to seal the worlds away. Unfortunately, certain powers prevailed against my wishes. Betrayal and all that.” Elrin looked around the room taking in a deep breath. “But seeing Iaredin survive is encouraging. I’m sorry Earth didn’t make it.”

“I was born here,” Tresk said, smiling to herself as she sipped her tea. It hadn’t taken her long to cave.

“I don’t remember your race from before. Or the large ones guarding the wall. Actually, most of you are quite big. Even you, demon.”

Elrin nodded, taking a sip of his tea. He grimaced. “This might be the worst drink I’ve ever had. Do you have any sugar?”

“Of course,” Tresk said, producing a sack of sugar from nowhere.

“Where did you get that?” Theo asked. “That’s an alchemy reagent, you know.”

“And he wonders why I hide all the good stuff,” Tresk tutted. “When will you learn, Theo?”

“The tea takes some time to get used to, but the effects are great. It’ll keep you up all night if you’re not careful.”

“I don’t sleep,” Elrin said, spooning some sugar into his drink.

“You don’t ever sleep?” Tresk asked. “Well, that sounds horrible.”

“That’s how I got so powerful. Everyone else had to sleep while I leveled. That’s what allowed me to become the strongest fighter and the strongest crafter at the same time. No one could keep up with me.” Elrin cast his eyes to the ceiling, a smile spreading across his face. “I can switch locations with my companion. Since he can take the form of an eagle, that means I can be anywhere I want on the planet within a day or two.”

“That’s a fast bird,” Tresk said.

“Someone told me he was as fast as a ‘fighter jet’ at one point. That was near the end, though.”

“So, you’re a crafter. Like me. What did you make?”

“Everything,” Elrin said, gesturing to himself. He pulled back his cloak, showing intricate earrings hanging from his ears. He showed his rings, cloak, and various weapons. “The message the lizard was telling me to accept was related to my position as the Guardian of the Shards. It gives me some interesting powers.” Řà₦ȏᛒĘṢ

“He doesn’t sleep, he can craft everything… Hey, craft me some stuff,” Tresk said, jumping from her chair.

Elrin’s gaze locked onto her. He unclasped a leather pouch from his belt. “Okay, what would you like?”

“Uh… uh… Daggers?” Tresk asked. “I guess.”

Elrin withdrew a small crystal from his bag, holding it out. His brows knit. “You’ll have to wait, little lizard. The system is yelling at me about using a crafting method that isn’t supported.”

“Any errors you have now should be cleared up during the reset,” Theo said. “We’re working on that.”

“Right. You’re in charge of that, right?” Elrin asked. “What are you waiting for?”

“A few things,” Theo said, clearing his throat. “There are some elves trapped in the void. We need to rescue them first, then we need to get the shards from the same place. After that, I guess we’ll have a few meetings with the gods and we’ll initiate the restart.”

“Don’t forget to tell him about how we’re going to kill Death,” Tresk said.

“I’d like a part of that plan,” Elrin said. “I have some unfinished business with Kuzan.”

“That guy just sticks his nose in everyone’s business, doesn’t he?” Tresk asked. “Anyway, I’m sure the ascendants are happy to work with you. You’ve met us, but you still need to meet Fenian and Khahar.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“It might be harder to meet Khahar, though,” Theo said. “It depends on if I can convince the system to let us into Khahak. I mean, getting into the void is easy enough. But that might just be a fluke.”

“We’ll get a defined list of rules after the switch,” Tresk said, nodding a whole bunch. “Think we should have a chat with the system about this guy? He should get special permissions, right?”

“I already have those,” Elrin said.

“Fancy pants over here.”

Theo left for a few minutes to go check his alchemy stills. Everything was progressing as it should have, and there wasn’t a dangerous buildup of vapors in either room yet. As long as nothing catastrophic happened, the run shouldn’t be a problem. Observing the collecting essence, he didn’t believe there would be a secondary brew process for this version of the Reforge Soul potion. It should have been a process of going straight to the bottle and down the gullet of the space elves.

“Tresk here explained your plan to bring the shards back through the void,” Elrin said, nodding to Theo as he descended the stairs. “I don’t understand how this void works, but I know the shards. The wizard… What was his name?”

“Xol’sa,” Theo said.

“Right. Xol’sa sounds like he knows what he’s doing. The theory is sound, but there’s a missing piece,” Elrin said. “I’ll need to prepare the sites for the shards. Otherwise, the concept of a beacon won’t even work.”

“Sounds like a path forward,” Theo said, taking his seat. He withdrew a communication crystal from his inventory, sliding it across the table and explaining how it worked. “Just don’t kick anything off until I’ve rescued the space elves. It should only take a few more days, depending on how many I can transport at once. Use this if you need to contact me.”

“Understood,” Elrin said, standing after snatching the crystal.. “Thanks for the tea. Thanks for bringing me in on the plan to murder Death. I have a feeling that one won’t end the way you expect.”

Without another word, he vanished in a burst of blue energy. Theo couldn’t determine the flavor of the magic, but it seemed familiar. He didn’t have to share his thoughts with Tresk. They were used to dealing with otherworldly forces by this point. It was unlikely they would be able to kill Death. Kuzan was a smart guy, and had been around for a long time.

“Killing him won’t be possible,” Tresk said, rolling her shoulders. “But I’m pretty sure we can force him from the throne. Maybe just get him to cough up some souls. Or we can bind him in restrictions.”

“All of which needs to happen before the switch. Once we have more restrictions, taking actions against the gods might be impossible.” Theo sighed.

It was a boon to have someone like Elrin around. He would be the first to admit that. Even if they couldn’t control the man, he would be a valuable asset if only for his knowledge of the shards. The plan to remove Death from his realm was extremely simple and was based on the Venom potion. But it made Theo wonder if they would get a more friendly version of Death.

“Do you think Fenian is right?” Tresk asked. “Could his wife be at Death’s Gate?”

“Everyone might be there,” Theo said. “Every soul that had ever lived or died in this world might be waiting for the system to fix itself. We can hold out hope.”

“Just don’t have too much hope,” Tresk winced. “I don’t think she’ll be there.”

“No, I don’t think so either. But everyone who died under the unfair bounds of this system deserves a fresh start. Hell, Kuzan might not even be a problem. If our assassination attempt fails, we can try to negotiate. He seemed like he was taking his role seriously, right?”

“Makes you wonder if we should even try to remove him… How do you pick the right move for something like this?” Tresk asked. “Something worse could happen if we made a move and he was ready.”

They could speculate on the best path forward all they wanted, but that wouldn’t do them any good. The plan was simple enough. Someone like Kuzan couldn’t be trusted with the souls of everyone. Perhaps there was another path forward they hadn’t seen yet…

###

“Why have a Seal of Passage if you’re just going to break it!” Omen’s voice echoed through the golden forests of Eral Dum—the elderling realm of Fate.

Fate turned, looking at her twin brother with a scowl. They had been through this too many times for her to argue again. An old friend had finally been awakened. Well, she had only waited a few weeks of mortal time, but that was too long for her to endure. There was a time whens he was known as Aline, granddaughter of King Leon. Since she had been sealed away, there was only one thing on her mind.

“I’m following the threads. I’m not leaving. Not again, anyway,” Fate said.

“Remember what happened last time?” Omen asked. “My prediction came true.”

“Think of it like astral projection. Anyway, the system said it was fine,” Fate folded her arms, glowering at her brother. “Don’t you want to see our dear uncle? Perhaps father is still out there… somewhere.”

“He’s not even our uncle,” Omen grumbled.

Fate glared at her brother long enough that he slunk off into the forest, leaving her to her work. Reading the threads of fate was hard enough without Omen badgering her all the time. With a steady breath, she invoked the power of her station. Her vision was clouded with gold until she plucked through the threads, finding the ones she was interested in. The threads of fate were whittled down to five, all pulled through her metaphorical loom and ready for investigating.

“There he is,” Fate said, pinching the fibers between her fingers and plucking. The scene before her shifted, and she soon stood on a rocky field. The shadow of a ruined fortress lingered on the dawn’s horizon. Becoming a god as a child had its advantages. It was disarming for people to see someone so small with so much power. Fate giggled to herself as she remembered an encounter with a huge man on Earth. She remembered breaking his arm with barely a twist of her hand.

“You haunt me,” a hooded man said with a sigh.

Fate bounded over the rocky landscape, laughing to herself. She loved bothering this one. Even if it kinda sorta broke the rules. Just a little, anyway. “You’re so intimidating! That’s the badass fighter I remember. Where’s your gun?”

“System took it,” Elrin said, turning to lower his hood. “I had to give up quite a few of my magical items, actually. Have you found Silvain?”

“How did you know I was looking… Oh, right. You always see through me.” Fate sighed.

“And Cyril? Armel?” Elrin asked. “Where are the others? The Defense Force?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Fate said. “Even now, I’m close to being shut down. This job belongs to another, now. The Dreamer and the Herald. New titles, same job.”

“I met the Dreamer,” Elrin said, his pale eyes locked on Fate’s golden eyes. “I’m not confident in her skills.”

“You’re so stuffy. Makes me want to puke… Anyway, what are you doing here?” Fate asked.

“Do you remember which shard was here?” Elrin asked, gesturing to the ruins.

“The Shard of Strelon,” Fate said. “My father used to take us here sometimes. When he had the time…”

“I doubt there are many that remember where the shards go,” Elrin said. “And I don’t know if I have the power to set them all in place. The power gifted to me by the Shard Network is fading. This may be the last thing I do.”

“Oh, stop being so dramatic.” Fate sighed, hanging her head. “You were always such an optimist. Suck it up and do your job.”

Elrin smiled, nodding to the god before him. “You’re right. Let’s get to work.”

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