The Newt and Demon - Book 6 Chapters 61,62,63 (Patreon)

Chapter 61

Reforge Mind

Theo, Fenian, Khahar, and Tresk sat in a circle around a magical fire. The Arbiter’s Citadel—the tower dominating the center of the largest city on Khahar’s world—had a lovely balcony that overlooked the city below. Unlike a real skyscraper, there was no wind that rushed against them as they sipped the drink of the world. Screwdrivers. Of course Yuri would want his people to drink nothing but vodka in whatever form he could provide it. It wasn’t enough that they all spoke Russian. No, they had to get the true Russian experience. With a flair for the dramatic, of course.

“This drink is lovely,” Fenian said, taking a few sips. He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders, shivering from the cold.

“Yes, we all enjoy some trashy drinks,” Theo said.

“This is mostly a formality,” Tresk said, taking a few gulps of her drink. “Your magic Russian elixir is making me feel funny, Khahar.”

“A simple formal meeting where we discuss issues,” Khahar said with a shrug. “Let’s talk about the players who could send things tumbling down before the transition.”

“Is that what we’re calling it?” Theo asked. “I was thinking of calling it ‘The Reset’.”

“The Cataclysm,” Fenian put in.

“Anyway, let’s all list our loose ends,” Khahar said, gesturing to Theo and Tresk. “I assume you’ll have the same elements of concern.”

“Twist, Jan, and Hanan,” Theo said with a shrug. “I have Hanan close at hand, so I’m not as worried about him. But both Twist and Jan are in the wind. No idea where I sent Twist, and no idea where Jan went.”

“We’ll need to kill them both,” Fenian said with a nod. But Theo’s intuition told him there was more to the words than the others realized.

“Care to share with the class?” Khahar asked. “They’re loose elements, not enemies.”

“Twist is unpredictable,” Fenian said. “He was integrated from a world we’re not familiar with. His people were scooped up by Death before most could assimilate.”

A look of confusion spread over Khahar’s face. “Death just took his seat. Twist appeared well before that.”

Fenian smiled. “And Jan was always a pain in the ass.”

“How about you start from the start, buddy,” Tresk said, glaring. “What use is there holding back information to the council?”

“Is that what we are? Oh, fine. Are you fine folks ready for a tale?”

“I like a good story,” Theo said, rubbing his hands together. “And answers.”

“A very long time ago, Iaredin was a system world like any other. We had a few gods, some wars, all that fun stuff. One day, the entire system reset. Everyone was sent back to Level 1, and almost everything changed. Especially the monsters. They no longer worked how we expected, sending the world into chaos. To everyone’s surprise, things came together. The monsters organized, seeking to destroy the things that held the world together. But the adventurers and armies of the worlds united, fighting against the horde and pushing them back. Four cities, four decisive battles.”

“I don’t remember that from this world’s history,” Khahar said once Fenian had paused for breath.

“Because the sixty-thousand years you know as ‘history’ only happened after another reset,” Fenian said. “We called it the Change.”

Theo put it together before Fenian went on. He had heard as much from the system and the other gods, but this confirmed it.

“Anyway, the thing about the change was this small hitch. We had outworlders coming in and out of our realm. I thought it would be a problem at first, but they gave their lives to defend our world. They helped us find a solution in our darkest hour, sealing the world away until it could stabilize.”

“The outworlders were from Earth, right?” Theo asked, scratching his head. He released a heavy sigh. That would have been common knowledge, meaning it happened well before Earth went to hell. That gave the governments enough time to cover up, or forget what happened. Iaredin being sealed away made sense in that regard. “You fought alongside Twist and Jan, didn’t you?”

“Naturally,” Fenian said with a shrug. “Among others.”

“This helps us how?” Tresk asked.

“Because there are a few others we need to bring into the fold,” Fenian said. “Or kill. Whichever. I don’t care.”

“So, hold on. You lived back in… what, 2030? 2050 Earth time? That means you were added to the queue. When did you get released from the queue?” Theo asked.

“Some time ago,” Fenian said, his tone becoming evasive. “I have answers, but not all of them.”

Khahar shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“How much did you know, Khahar?” Theo asked.

“Enough to get the ball rolling. Fenian was the first element to help with our plan. Zagmon, The Burning Eye, Fan’glir all had plots of their own. They would have worked if they accounted for rogue elements such as yourself and Fenian.”

“One more gripe,” Theo said, pointing an accusatory finger at Fenian. “You said Iaredin was sealed away. Is that what destroyed Earth?”

Fenian shared a look with Khahar. The arbiter nodded.

“It was one or the other,” Fenian said. “And Earth didn’t have the Great Shards to keep it stable during a period of hibernation. People on Earth could attune themselves to the Gates, giving them access to the world. Anyone who was attuned had a chance to avoid watching their planet die over the next several-hundred years.”

“Well, that just sucks,” Theo said, folding his arms. “Earth sucked after that.”

“I was there,” Khahar said, nodding to Theo. “I don’t need to remind you of that. But I made peace with the fact ages ago. Fenian was the first piece that helped us thwart the plan, and the Tara’hek was the next.”

“Yes, nice bit of engineering there, Khahar.”

Theo pressed his palms into his eyes, rubbing them. “Of course. All you have are plots.”

Khahar shrugged. “Face the facts and get over it. We have a job to do.”

“I hate to agree with the cat, but he’s right,” Tresk said. “The past is done, let’s move on.”

Theo only wanted answers. He didn’t feel he had the authority to weigh sins. Something crazy happened on Earth before his time. Things were set into motion without his participation and he had to accept that. He was now in a position of power to change things and make them better, so he would seize that. It reminded him of his time on Earth, where things seemed dark. Nothing made sense if he thought about it as cosmic scales, balanced by the karma of individuals. Instead, it was some long game to make sure the most people survived. He could relate to that, at least.

“So, we should round up our rogue elements,” Theo said, forcing himself to change gears. “Right?”

“Correct,” Khahar said. “Since I’m bound to Khahak, that falls to you guys.”

“Well, aren’t you just a big stinker?” Tresk asked. “Getting out of work like that.”

“I would return if I could. But I am bound to this world,” Khahar said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Fenian said, adjusting his blanket. “I can act as a gatherer of information. The Bridge still works, so we should count that as a blessing.”

“Agreed,” Theo said. “I want to know more about what happened on Earth, but this is important. I hate the idea of rogue elements this late in the game.”

“See?” Khahar said, rising before draining his cup. “Just a quick meeting. Theo can send you back to bed your elven maiden.”

“Oh, thank the gods,” Fenian said, casting his blanket off as he rose to his feet. “Send me to my deliverance, Theo!”

The alchemist smiled to himself, waving his hand. The elf vanished. “Oh, oops. Might have miscalculated the return trip.”

Tresk covered her mouth, giggling. “Gottem!”

“Are you upset, Theo?” Khahar asked.

“I wish I were more upset,” Theo said. With how crazy everything had been, it was hard to be surprised at things like this. Let alone upset. Stuff like this now simply felt like information flowing into his brain, parsed into bins of ‘helpful’ and ‘unhelpful.’ “Feels like a shame dedicating any brain power to something like this. Earth was screwed and there was nothing we could do about it. But your plot to undermine the ascendants was devious.”

“Seriously, that’s some villain stuff,” Tresk snorted.

“Yes. I miss my villain arc,” Khahar said with a sigh. “But it was for a good cause.”

“Naturally,” Theo said.

Khahar had some interesting things to show Theo and Tresk. They hadn’t had time to tour the world in a while, so it was fun looking at the way the fallen ascendants had adjusted to civilized life. Even someone like Balkor had integrated, somehow. It all seemed so beneath the alchemist that he didn’t care. Balkor, Zagmon, and the Eye could all find their homes here for all he cared. Their stolen power was gone. They were rendered as normal people once again, cores purged from their bodies. His mind instead drifted away from the throneworld, back to mortal affairs.

“Been a blast,” Theo said, nodding at his old friend. “We gotta have more meetings like this.”

“So long as you can interdict the other throne holders, I don’t see a reason why not.”

After exchanging a few more kind words, Theo and Tresk left the realm. They appeared back in town. Tresk didn’t waste time, heading off to adventure with Alex. The alchemist lingered in the town square for some time, but headed for the Newt and Demon to check on the brewing potions. Even from a distance, heh could smell the scent of Searing Regeneration and Lightning Poppy in the air. A random half-ogre was manning the store downstairs. He offered a half-hearted wave before going back to reading his book. Salire was upstairs, tending the tiny stills.

“Oh! There you are,” she said, holding up a flask and swishing the contents. “We have a success.”

“Did both distill without an issue?” Theo asked.

“Minor issues like buildup on the iron paddle, but nothing extreme.”

“And the centrifuge experiment outside?”

Salire shrugged. “Still going as far as I know. I haven’t heard an explosion, anyway.”

“We could technically make the potion we need with this stuff. Intelligence Essence, Searing Regeneration Essence, and some Suffuse Potions,” Theo said, tapping his chin. “As long as the new version of the essences get along with the old, we’ll be fine.”

“And if they don’t?” Salire asked.

Theo thought about it for a moment. He waved a dismissive hand. “I’m thinking a minor reaction. The two things aren’t incompatible. They’re just different, which would cause a small-ish explosion, or a lot of foam. Either-or.”

“Such confidence, big alchemist man,” Salire said with a giggle. “Why don’t you volunteer to mix the ingredients?”

Theo let his intuition guide him on this. He looked at his ingredients and considered what he knew. Each suffuse potion he had made so far was constructed from second tier reagents to create a fake third tier potion. If he mixed what he had on hand, he would use first tier reagents to make a fake second tier potion. Even if it wasn’t powerful enough to cure the space elves, it would be a start. At least he would know he was on the right track. The alchemist wrapped his arm around Salire, dragging her to the table.

“We live together. We die together,” he said, starting the mixing process.

“No thanks!” Salire said, pushing against him.

Theo took on the visage of a mad scientist, ready to take the half-ogre woman out with him. She went from being playfully afraid, to actually afraid. “I can see the future,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll stop if we’re mixing a bomb…”

“Oh… Right.” Salire laughed nervously. “I just thought maybe today was the day.”

“The day for what?” Theo asked, adding the Suffuse Potion to a vial. He watched himself add the other reagents. Nothing exploded, but that fate branched off. A few more appeared, and then more.

“The day that you went insane.”

Theo hummed, holding off on adding the essence as he watched the possible futures. “This is weird. I’m seeing a few outcomes. None are explosions… Oh, that one is. But that’s one in one-hundred.”

“What happens in the others?”

This is where some more Intelligence would pay off. While he could view each fate, his mind hard problems processing them. But it wasn’t possible to go above his current Intelligence. Not unless he wanted to become that insane person Salire feared. But the chance that anything went wrong was low. He mixed the ingredients, watching as the air sizzled within the vial. Lightning actually crackled from the surface of the mixture, shocking the end of his finger like a static discharge. A plume of purple smoke rose into the air, filling the lab with the scent of ozone and burning hair. It wasn’t a pleasant mixture. But the concoction settled down, the bubbles rising to the surface to release burps of that same foul scent.

“Hooray. We’re not dead,” Salire said.

“Not yet,” Theo said, hoisting the potion to look at. “Winner, winner.”

“Let me see!”

[Reforge Mind]

[Potion]

Epic

Created by: Theo Spencer

Purity: 75%

Imbibing this potion reforges a mortal’s mind. The process is extremely painful, but all illness, damage, mental fatigue, etc are scoured clean.

“No more fancy alignment effects,” Theo said, shaking his head. “And the purity sucks.”

“How could you complain?” Salire asked. “That will work, won’t it?”

Theo pursed his lips, thinking about it for a second. The description was vague enough that it should work. But he didn’t know how serious this sickness was or what kind of damage it would do to the person who drank it. At worst, it could fry their brain. But they would be wiped out if he didn’t try something. This was the only thing he could think of to save the space elves.

“Does this imply there’s another version of this potion?” Theo asked. “Reforge Mind is tied to Intelligence because that’s the attribute that influences how quick a person’s mind works. What would the other ones be?”

“Reforge Muscles for Strength?” Salire asked with a shrug. “That makes sense to me, anyway. And… Wait, what would Dexterity be?”

“Might be worth checking out. If only we had a way to test this potion.” Theo gave Salire a look. He held the potion out. “Check out this new drink I invented.”

Salire gave him a flat look. “Why are you feeling so sassy?”

Theo grinned to himself. The reason why he was feeling ‘sassy’ was… He felt the haptic buzz in his inventory.

“I’ll have you know I find no humor in what you’ve done,” Fenian said, speaking through the communication stone. “When I get back to Broken Tusk, I’m going to smack your rump. I’m here to kill Balkor’s shade, you know.”

“More pranks?” Salire asked, folding her arms.

Theo laughed to himself. “Heh. Yeah.”

Chapter 62

A Cure for Madness

As long as Void didn’t oppose the idea, Theo could test his new potions whenever he wanted. Something inside him told him to test it on something less valuable before he tried the space elves themselves. But there were few subjects he could think of, and most of them were animals. That wouldn’t be a good test, and he couldn’t afford to waste time. Although the gods had sealed themselves away, they left behind a ticking clock. There was work to do, and he couldn’t put off progress much longer.

Sitting at the massive table in the manor, Theo took small bites of his food. Sarisa and Rowan had prepared a pasta dish tonight, slathered in a light brown sauce with chunks of mystery meat inside. They refused to tell him where the meat came from, but were eating it themselves. Therefore, it wasn’t poisonous. They poked fun at him for being so pensive, but there was a lot to consider. The coming days and weeks would be packed with excitement and challenges.

“So, there he was,” Tresk said, giggling to herself. “In his underpants…”

Theo half-tuned Tresk out as she retold the story of the mostly naked elf for the tenth time. His only hope for testing his potion was within the Dreamwalk. Using it in the real world would be too costly, assuming there might be an issue with the way it functioned at a lower rank. At least he could hope…

“Rumors are spreading about a worldwide party,” Sarisa said, hitting Theo with a cautious look. “I wonder who came up with that.”

“I wonder how news spreads so quickly through the town.” Theo sighed. There was no reason to keep it from them. “I want to invite as many people as I can to attend. Which gives us the best chance of moving many souls to the other worlds.”

“Yeah, we’re gonna have a party!” Tresk said, bouncing in her chair. “A big one. With booze and games. Maybe a few more fights.”

“I’d like to keep the fighting to a minimum,” Theo said.

“Yeah, right,” Rowan scoffed. “You went all in on that fight with Fenian.”

“He didn’t, actually,” Tresk corrected. “Theo and Fenian both held back. I’m certain they feared the safety of the crowd.”

While that was only partially true, the alchemist wouldn’t correct her. But the sentiment for a worldwide party seemed exciting. Theo thought back to when he first arrived, dealing with constant monsters waves to the point where they feared the entire planet being overrun with them. Now they had mastery over their dungeons, and monsters hardly posed a threat so long as they were cautious and proactive. Now he gazed forward, into a future where he could let loose with people from the other nations. Once that was over, the party would continue into a wedding in their new world.

“What are we going to call the new town in Tero’gal?” Theo asked.

“Broken Tusk,” Tresk said, thumping her fist on the table. “What’s the point of bringing all our crap if we’re gonna rename it?”

“Agreed,” Rowan said. “If your plan is to move us, why change the name?”

Theo nodded along. That was an excellent point. There might have been some history to the name, but it was also just a decent name. Some ogre had likely chewed on a rock, breaking his tusk along the way. They then called it Broken Tusk because… why not?

“Let’s get to bed you little scamp,” Tresk said, poking Theo in the side. “I can feel how eager you are to test that potion.”

“Theo nodded, dabbing the corner of his mouth with a napkin.”

 Dropping into the Dreamwalk was always a comfort. Theo felt his feet fall against cracking sticks. A landscape of sparse trees and snow-covered rocks spread before him. It was a memory from back on Earth. Somewhere in Canada, but he couldn’t remember exactly where. Not that it mattered. He had only been there once. They had delved into this place before, revisiting an old memory as some kind of magical therapy. While it had worked, he now found the environment uninteresting.

“Get to work, alchemy boy,” Tresk said, mounting Alex.

The dragon-goose had experienced more changes. Her face had taken on the appearance of half-goose, half-dragon. She had stunted teeth and little horns poking from her head. Patches of feathers had gone, leaving them more sparse than before. Her front legs were almost long enough for her to walk on all-fours and something of a tail was sprouting from her butt.

“You are the most hideous creature I have ever seen,” Theo said.

Alex performed a honk-roar that was somehow more haunting than either sound alone. “I’m beautiful.”

“Yes, you are,” Tresk said, patting her on the side. “And you’re almost a dragon-goose. Hooray!”

The pair darted off, leaving Theo to his grim work. He cleared the area before him, bringing forth an imagined thing he never desired to see. An elven man, similar in stature and skin tone to Xol’sa appeared. His eyes darted around wildly before he settled into a sneaking position, edging toward the alchemist. The Dreamwalk pushed back slightly, but only just. This was well within the parameters it held to for so long. He wasn’t doing anything weird yet.

“Time for your medicine,” Theo said, holding a bottle of Reforge Mind up.

The elf moved with erratic motions, darting across the distance between them in an instant. It wrapped its hands around his neck and squeezed, but nothing happened.

“Truly insane, huh?” Theo asked. “Outside of time and space for so long you don’t know what you’re doing…”

The alchemist kicked forward, sending the elf tumbling onto its butt. He planted a foot on the man’s chest, pinched his nose, and poured the potion down his throat. The Dreamwalk pushed back further, but couldn’t find a way to object. Theo had knowledge of the potion, what it should do, how the elves were behaving, and the likely reaction they would have to taking the potion. It had no grounds to oppose him according to its own rules. Tero’gal was the only one that could stop him, and it seemed uninterested in stopping him.

The elf went rigid, clawing at his throat for only a moment before freezing in a pose. Theo planned to let the potion do its work for a while before speeding up time. If he tipped the scales too far in one direction, there would be issues from the Dreamwalk. It had to work the biology out on its own while he waited. Until then, there were some other things he could test. So long as he stuck to the rules…

First was something loose. A thing that he could only imagine and let play out as a conceptual thing. He imagined a mine below him, stretching deep into the rock below. Discovering mythril was a boon for the town, even if they didn’t know it yet. Because once the power of Drogramath faded from the nearby dungeons, something interesting would happen. The alchemist turned his eyes to the sky, imagining the swirling purple energy there. It soaked into the ground beneath his feet as a small section of the Dreamwalk zipped past in fast-forward.

A few hundred years later, nodes of Drogramathi Iron appeared in the mine below, replacing iron nodes. He cut the energy off, removing the nodes and fast-forwarding about 60 days. The nodes didn’t regrow, which meant the energy faded quickly. They would be without Drogramathi Iron in a few weeks if they were lucky, along with the other aligned ores. That might include Barrowsteel, although it was hard to say if that was a truly aligned metal. It didn’t grow in Broken Tusk, so they only needed to worry about those aligned with demon ascendants.

It was unclear if Tero’gal ore would grow. The connection the throneworld held with the mortal plane was strange. It was more of a tunnel rather than a shotgun blast, making the effects of the world more direct. Theo couldn’t figure it out with the Dreamwalk, though. It refused to bend to his will, only giving him glimpses of what might be once the energy was all gone.

“Next phase,” Theo said, waving his hand. The mine disappeared, replaced by a sprawl of alchemy equipment.

The first tier of Tero’gal’s alchemy was as good as it was gonna get for now. There might be improvements they could make in the future, but what they had was pretty good. The alchemist approached Throk’s design for a centrifuge, inspecting the apparatus and nodding with appreciation. He loaded it with imagined liquid. First tier essence this time. Once the device went to work, he increased the scale of time and waited only a few moments.

The centrifuge transformed high-quality first tier essence into mid-quality second tier essence. Which meant they were missing something, but this was a fact Theo had anticipated. With Drogramath’s alchemy, they needed to perform a second phase of distillation to get second tier essences. While he tried hooking up the condenser to the chain, the Dreamwalk refused to allow it. Perhaps the alchemist had taken too many liberties tonight, but it was close enough to confirm it for him.

On Theo’s big to-do list, he still had the bones of the Dragon Ascendant Quindalias to experiment with. After checking off that item, he would need to discover how to make third tier alchemy essence, which likely involved more contraptions. Although he wanted to race to the third tier, it was important to get the second tier process down before they moved on. As the purity of the essence dropped, so did its stability. And the more complicated the third tier process, the more likely they would have a violent reaction.

Theo tore his mind away from the work of alchemy, heading off to watch Tresk and Alex practice their fighting. As the goose evolved, so did their tactics. Her wings became better for making swift maneuvers, allowing them to dart through the air with more grace. Those little forelimbs also added a lot to the way they fought, allowing Alex to latch onto enemies, dropping them from a height to hill them. The alchemist didn’t know what he thought about this change. He would claim to have no desire to change what he looked like, but here he stood in the body of a dronon. Belgar’s borrowed body, of course.

The more he watched them work together, the more Theo realized what Tresk had been doing over the past few weeks. Alex’s evolution into a proto dragon-goose was slow, but she had made steady progress. Those bones she was consuming were the catalyst but there might have been something more important. Tresk had given her an outlet to express those dragon aspects of herself, bringing them to the front with battle. Whether that was flying around, doing mock battles, or fighting monsters, she found the key to expressing those traits.

The Dreamwalk was unwilling to allow Theo to see the results of his experiment with the space elf. It seemed to hint at the elf getting better, even if it would take a while. But he was confident enough to test his potion in the real world. At least the elf hadn’t died.

Theo spent the rest of his time in the Dreamwalk planning his next day and watching his companions practice. When dawn finally came, he found Tresk rushing off to scarf breakfast down and work with Alex some more. It was a gravy and noodles breakfast, leftover from whatever Rowan and Sarisa made last night. The alchemist took his time eating his food. His assistants ate in silence, seeming willing to leave him to his thoughts.

An older version of Theo might have dropped through the fabric between the mortal plane and the void to test his new potion. His impulsiveness had been driven out of him by a good amount of mistakes, all reinforcing his need for caution. Instead, he made his way around town, finally finding Sulvan praying at the temple.

“How are things?” Theo asked, interrupting the man’s prayers.

Sulvan turned from his crouched position on the ground, giving Theo a stern look. “This is a place for prayer.”

“‘Bout to be a place for a bunch of voided up space elves,” Theo said. “Can you care for some elves being reforged?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course. I’ll just be upset if you decline.”

“Give me time to create an infirmary. How many are we expecting?”

“A few hundred.”

Sulvan groaned, turning back to his prayer. “I’ll inform you when I’m done.”

Before getting to some serious alchemy experimentation, Theo headed to Xol’sa’s tower. He made more noise than he needed to before entering, knocking a few things over on his way up the stairs. Zarali and Xol’sa greeted him. Considering the amount of strange magical device parts on the table before the elf, Theo assumed the tether and beacons were still in development.

“Any progress on those?” Theo asked.

“Just a bit.” Xol’sa said, shrugging. “Early testing shows we have some issues.”

“More than a few issues,” Zarali said, placing a comforting hand on Xol’sa’s shoulder. “Something in the way the magic functions changed.”

Theo clicked his tongue. “The heavens were sealed. That makes sense… How far did this push you back?”

“I can’t say.” Xol’sa swept a few devices from the table. Straight onto the ground. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

“No disappointment here,” Theo said, shaking his head. He withdrew his newest potion from his inventory, holding the Reforge Mind Potion out for him to see. “I made a cure for your people.”

Xol’sa’s eyes went wide. “Are you serious?”

“That’s amazing!” Zarali shouted, clapping with excitement. “Are you certain it works?”

“Not really.” Theo didn’t want to lie to them. “I’m about 90% confident, but it could always fail. Sulvan will help with the effort.”

“So will I,” Zarali said, placing her hand on her chest. “I have a healing core. Perhaps I can help them. Once they’re here, that is.”

“Right. Keep me updated. I don’t expect the tethers to be ready tomorrow, so don’t rush.”

“As long as the gods don’t smite you first… Okay. I can do it, Theo.” Xol’sa locked eyes with Theo. “We’ll make it work.”

Chapter 63

The Bell Rang

If not for the elves lurking in the distance, the realm the space elves had established was beautiful. The heat was almost too much, but the sprawl of tropical trees and the scent of salt air in the distance was pleasant. They had taken some section of a beach area from the real world, commanding not only a beautiful strand but all the world’s shards at the same time.

Theo ran his hands through his hair, watching as more elves snuck out of the jungle, only to freeze like statues. He stood atop the stairs to a ziggurat, contemplating the purpose of these shards. The information he had was vague. Each shard stabilized the world… somehow. But the world had done well without them for a long time, heading down whatever messed up path since the elves left.

“So why isn’t the world exploding?” Theo asked, turning to Xol’sa.

The only space elf in the realm with his mind intact shrugged. He seemed to pick up on the topic. The giant, dead shard behind them was enough to inspire such knowledge. “I feel like a child researching advanced magic. This is all well beyond me, no matter how hard I try.”

“We have the system, the monitor system, gods, and now the ascendant thrones. What purpose would crystals serve?” Theo asked with a sigh.

“Perhaps a conduit. Ah, perhaps you should consider motives.”

“The motive of who, exactly?”

“Void, actually. I feel like an idiot or a genius, thinking I’ve put it together. But he needs something from you, right?”

“I’ve made that leap,” Theo said with a nod.

“If he wants the shards back on Iaredin, that means something. Have you made the next leap?” Xol’sa asked.

Theo turned to his companion, raising an eyebrow. He couldn’t remember the last time someone was ahead of him on assumptions like this. It was an easy jump to make between Void needing something and that effect on Void as a person. As a god.

“Seems obvious now,” Theo said, scratching his head. Although he had considered the shard to be massive lodestones for something, he was unsure of what they bore the load of. “The gods need the shards. But what good would that do them? A way to exert their will on the mortal world? Or a way to gather power?”

“This is all conjecture. The more the gods cloister themselves, the less we’ll be able to probe. But we have to assume the gods do something, right? Actually…” Xol’sa trailed off, knitting his brow. “I need to take some readings when we return. You got me thinking about something troubling.”

“Really? How are you ahead of me… again?” Theo asked. “My Wisdom should be able to figure this out, right?”

“The test I want to run should be brief. Let’s capture an elf and leave.”

Xol’sa’s personality shifted slightly, and Theo didn’t miss it. The elf might have been ahead with theories about the gods, but that tiny shift was enough to send the alchemist’s mind down many pathways. But he halted his thoughts as Xol’sa descended the steps.

“This should only take a moment,” the elf said, raising his hands in the air. A pair of glowing blue chains sprung from the ground, subduing the nearest elf. The other space elves edged toward the jungle at the sign of magic, moving as though played frame-by-frame. “Shove the potion down his gob.”

Although they had talked about this, Theo was surprised at the swiftness of Xol’sa’s approach. They didn’t want to transport an elf through the void unless that elf was out. The Reforge Mind potion would put them out for a while, if the Reforge Soul potion was anything to go by. And it didn’t pass their notice that the soul potion might be needed, since Xol’sa needed one himself. But there wasn’t time to think about that. The elf was struggling against the chains, his mouth open as though to scream but emitting no sound.

“Stay still, you little…” Theo uncorked the potion and poured it down the man’s throat. His eyes went wide as his body went stiffer than before. A moment later, his entire body went slack, falling into the net of magically enchanted chains. “I guess that works.”

Elves rushed from the forest, pausing before taking a few steps.

“Let’s go,” Xol’sa said. “Quickly.”

Theo dropped them into the void, dragging the sagging elf along with them. He breathed a sigh of relief the moment they were in the void, looking back at the glittering ball that represented the elven chunk of reality with concern. How many elves would they need to do this for? The Newt and Demon’s capacity to produce powerful potions like this was hindered.

“I might vomit,” Xol’sa warned, his face turning a pale shade of green. “We’ve been here too long.

Theo urged them forward faster than before, spotting the mortal orb before long. His eyes locked onto the sun at the center of the system. A sense of approval flooded through him. If Void hadn’t locked himself away, he would have shown up with some quip. Perhaps the god could leave once they were done doing whatever they were doing. But for now, the void was for Theo to explore as the Dreamwalker. And the mortal world came rushing up moments later, greeting the party.

The moment Theo brought the group back to the mortal world, the space elf sucked in a breath and groaned. But he didn’t wake from his slumber. The plan to bring the first elf back had shifted over the previous weeks. Theo’s first idea was to bring the elves to the House of Healing, but it was now cut off from them. His next idea was to bring them to Tero’gal or Khahak, but something niggled in the back of his mind when he thought about that. Their gamble was to bring a test elf back to the mortal world.

“Sulvan!” Theo shouted. He had landed them slightly off from where they told the priest to meet them. 

The big man came rushing over moments later, laying his hands onto the space elf. Silver-gold light sprung from his hands and he shook his head. “Is anyone surprised with the amount of damage he has in his body?”

“Not even slightly,” Xol’sa said. A crowd was forming in the area, encircling the group as they inspected the prone man. “How extensive is the damage?”

Sulvan pulled away from the elf, offering a shrug. The man’s blue robes were tattered. Every feature seemed touched by the void. From the gaunt expression to the thinness of his limbs. “Organ damage. Malnutrition. Mana poisoning. Another type of poison I don’t recognize. His soul is also damaged beyond repair, so there’s that.”

“Sounds good,” Theo said, looking to the sky. “Hallow?”

“That’s not how you pray,” Sulvan said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

“Okay, fine. Show us how it's done,” Theo said, gesturing to Sulvan.

“Well, that’s the thing.” Sulvan took a few steps back, tilting his head to the side as he assessed the elf. He passed his hand through the air, leaving a trail of gold-silver mana. It seemed to catch on a current, floating up into the sky. “I’m guessing this is void energy bleeding from his body.”

“Can’t be. That falls under my domain,” Theo said. “My Dreamwalker’s Core would have activated.”

“Maybe. Except we don’t know how that core works,” Xol’sa countered. A spell array sprung up before him, creating an intricate circle. His brow knit. After swiping his hands through the formation a few times, he pressed his hand through to activate the spell. The void energy became visible for all to see. A black cloud rose from the space elf, going into the air and off to the west. “That’s… Hmmm.”

Theo watched the energy float away. But it wasn’t just following the current of magic in the air. It appeared as though something was coaxing it in that direction. 

“I must return to my tower,” Xol’sa said, hiking his robes up and rushing off.

“Okay, thanks!” Theo shouted after him. “See ya later, buddy!”

“Elves, am I right?” Sulvan asked. He scooped the unconscious space elf up, carrying him off. “Help me restrain him.”

“Restraints?” Theo asked. “Do you have a secret dungeon in your house?”

“I have a secret dungeon in the temple. Built for this purpose, since you asked for my help.”

“That makes more sense,” Theo said. He tried not to prod Sulvan much. He jogged along, allowing his Wisdom of the Soul to process the situation. There was something strange about how the void energy acted.

Sure enough, Sulvan had a secret dungeon. It wasn’t a true dungeon, just a living area underneath the temple. Theo wasn’t sure when someone had dug the place out, let alone lining the walls with stone, building individual rooms complete with restraints, but he wouldn’t complain. The padded manacles within the darkened room would keep the elf secure. If the potion failed, he would wake and be unpredictable. The alchemist helped chain the elf down.

“I didn’t want to say this out there, but there’s some time magic in him,” Sulvan said, pressing his thumb into the elf’s forehead. A soft glow emitted from the point of contact. “You don’t mess with time magic. But that potion you gave him repaired that damage. Otherwise, he would’ve awoken insane and out of time.”

“Do you have people to watch him?” Theo asked. “Around the clock.”

“I’ve scheduled some people. Minor priests looking to serve my Lord,” Sulvan said, pressing his palm into the elf’s face. Another glow and a sigh of relief. “This might take a while. How many more elves do we need to cure?”

“A few hundred. Or thousand, I don’t know.”

“What a helpful range…”

“None of them are well. They’ve all lost their minds in the void.”

Sulvan hummed, releasing a heavy sigh. “This is a pious endeavor, Theo.”

“How so?”

Sulvan clapped a hand on the alchemist’s shoulder. Theo remembered that grip being stronger when he served the Burning Eye. It was now warm and gentle, bringing with it a sense of comfort that reminded him of Glantheir. “You could have collapsed their small world, right? But you want to save them.”

“If I have the means, why not?” Theo asked. “Is it hard? Yeah, I suppose. But not so much that any of our people will get hurt. And we save a race by doing so. See, here’s the thing. The space elves had a culture for some time. Xol’sa was born in the void and was sent back when he was young. So these people cared about their own at one point. Before they lost it entirely, that is.”

“You would save them because of that? Because they’re not merciless?”

“I think that’s accurate,” Theo said. “I’m happy to save anyone who has at least a small amount of compassion.”

“Except Uharis,” Sulvan corrected.

“Let’s not walk down this road again.” Theo held his hands up defensively. “We both agreed he is beyond saving.”

“Is he, though?” Sulvan asked. “That’s an honest question, Theo.”

“I guess he could’ve killed me back in the day. And he didn’t.”

“Yet there he remains. On the moon, of all places. The dark moon at that.” Sulvan shivered.

“Oh, man. I’ve been meaning to ask you about the moon-people,” Theo said. “Are they under the domain of the mortal world, or what?”

“I can’t answer that question. They were kind people, although there was more than one race present. One insectoid race and another diminutive, similar to broglings. I enjoyed the second race, though. They were short, fat, and jolly.”

“Moon dwarves?” Theo asked.

“Not dwarves. Elven ears, pot-bellied, rosy cheeks.”

“Reminds me of Void…” Theo trained off, swiping his tail behind him. “So, what’s the treatment plan for this guy?”

Sulvan cleared his throat. “Purging magic as often as needed. I also put him into a deeper sleep than your potion provided, which will help his mind heal. The void energy leaving his body is substantial, so that will take quite a while. His other conditions will be healed within the day, though.”

If the patient was stable enough, Theo’s potion could go to work. He didn’t know how a reforge-style potion would work on someone that was sick. But he didn’t think it would work as well as if the person was healthy. The Reforge Soul potion took the base of a person’s soul and rebuilt it from scratch. A soul contained a lot of information in this world, including a person’s attributes and class cores. But it also held meta information, including void exposure. That condition was more like a scar on a person’s soul. It wasn’t fatal for Xol’sa, but his condition would have worsened without intervention.

“We should be concerned about his soul. I have a few Reforge Soul potions in my lab, but only a few.” Theo shook his head. This would get messy if he needed more. The reagents to craft that potion were rare, only blooming when the shifting moon, Telbaris, was green. That only happened once a week, and the supply of the flower was thin.

“I sense damage on his soul,” Sulvan said, spreading his hand over the man’s chest. “But not as much as you’re describing. Perhaps that will come with time, but even his cores are intact.”

“Really? They survived that long, locked in a time prison?” Theo clicked his tongue, withdrawing some paper and writing utensils. “Could you please record everything you observe? I want as much documentation as we can get. Since we have to do it again. Also, expand this holding area as far as you can. Fifty beds minimum.”

“That sounds expensive.”

“Request the funds from the town and I’ll provide them,” Theo said. “I’ll spare no expense.”

“Right. Sounds good,” Sulvan said, turning back to the elf.

Theo went to leave the dungeon, spotting a few people in blue and white robes near the entrance. They bowed their heads as he passed, but said nothing. That must have been the first crop of the faithful to the new Hallow. The alchemist wanted to know more about the old Hallow, but that wouldn’t be possible. With a sigh, he pushed out into the town.

A bell rang in the distance, steady at first but more frantic as it went on. It took Theo a painfully long time to realize what bell that was. It had been so long since he heard the frantic slamming of the alarm bell. A message appeared.

[Aarok]: This is not a test. Anyone who can take up arms should report to their nearest commander. If you can’t find a commander, assemble at the western gate.