Gladesbale Grove Book 3 - Chapters 43,44,45 (Patreon)

Chapter 43

Doom Portal

Discovering the secrets of casting spells like a real druid wouldn’t come in a day. Rud understood that, and didn’t allow himself to get frustrated when it didn’t come to him right away. He and Nulsa went crazy, though. They didn’t stop working on the line of forest until a few hours before dawn. It was hard to tell how far they had gone, but it was a sizable section they had done in such a short time.

Perhaps they would reach the northern coast sooner than expected. A week or two of similar nights and they would be done, according to Rud’s estimations.

The next morning, Rud found himself slightly more tired than normal in the longhouse. It was nothing a few cups of strong tea couldn’t remedy, though. But with his absurd Vigor, resting currently at 23 compared to his base score of 3, he thought he would keep up with Nulsa better. The advantages of rank, perhaps.

“You look chewed up and pooped out,” Taz said, serving the druid an overly full bowl of soup. “Did you have a late night?”

“Yeah. Don’t make friends with an owl,” Rud said, accepting the bowl. “You’ll be up all night.”

“Duly noted.” Taz paused for a long time. He scratched at his beard, lingering nearby. “Say, do you have any other giant crystals you need me to smash?”

Rud laughed. “Eager to use that pick of yours?”

“Absolutely! My baby is wasted on the soft rock in the mine. You should’ve seen me… Like caveshrooms before the knife, that stone fell! Massive sheets of the stuff falling with every swing. You’ll need to pay my little mine a visit and grow those supports some more.”

Taz was having a great time with his new tool, and Rud couldn’t help but feel the infectious excitement. As he was working on his own big project, he understood the feeling of success. That hammer had come out to be something amazing, and there was no better wielder of it.

“I’ll let you know the moment I find something that needs a good smack,” Rud said. “And after I kill a few more cups of tea, I’ll head down and reinforce your mine.”

A devious smile lingered on the dwarf’s face, but he just nodded.

Before heading to fix up the mine, Rud spent time at the table concentrating on stuff. His ability to focus on one thing for more than a few seconds wasn’t great, but he did his best. There were concepts of nature and balance he considered, but no revelations came to him. He’d work within the confines of the system for now, hoping that one day he might understand what it all meant.

As expected, the fire within the forge was burning. Taz wasn’t there, but Fairy Peat burned, sending tendrils of smoke snaking into the sky. The scent of the burning material was somehow nostalgic, even if it was something he had smelled for the first time in this world. After lingering around for some time, Rud headed into the mine where he expected to find the dwarf. He didn’t hear the same clatter of a pick against stone when he entered. Instead, the thumping sound of the new tool reverberated through the mine.

After taking the path to the left, bypassing Taz’s sleeping area to delve deeper into the stone, Rud entered an unfamiliar area. The dwarf wasn’t kidding. He had gone absolutely insane on the formerly lowest section of the mine. After following down a wide staircase, he found his way into a massive room. Far in the distance, a lantern light burned.

“Ho there, Rud!” Taz shouted from afar, his voice echoing off the cave walls. “Might wanna get those supports up!”

Looking around, Rud had to agree. The ceiling of the newly formed cave was maybe thirty feet up. He couldn’t tell exactly, as the light was pretty awful. He jogged over, pointing up. “How did you chip away the stuff up there?”

“Jumped really high,” Taz said. “Nah, I worked from the top down. Left some pillars of stone as support, but I don’t think they’ll hold. Could use some underground trees instead.”

Nodding, Rud looked around to size up the job. He figured the effort Taz had put into the task was already a big help. The biggest problem was that the ceiling lacked bracing supports and would need a nice lattice of roots to hold it together. Even if the entire thing didn’t collapse, it was possible that sections would break away, putting anyone below in danger.

“I’ll get to it,” Rud said, eager to get this place safe before he died in a horrible accident. Perhaps he could also convince some of those glowing flowers to sprout. That’d take care of the darkness problem…

No matter how much material Rud pulled from the roots he had already run into the mine, they never seemed to run out. Although he had a sense they would eventually run out, the massive trees he had used the original roots from were large enough to handle the load. Weaving them into the large room was easy enough, and the roots obeyed his commands when he sent them along the ceiling. He created a powerful web that would prevent anything from falling.

Pretty glowing flowers sprouted from select roots, although there weren’t enough to fully illuminate the interior. But it was enough to banish enough of the darkness. That gave Rud a better view of the area, and a new appreciation for the work Taz had done.

“You did all this yourself?” Rud asked, still looking around in bewilderment. “How?”

“Been working on this for weeks,” Taz said, waving a dismissive hand. “Just got through the hard bits with my new tool. Anyway, I found something pretty cool. Wanna see?”

“I love cool things,” Rud said, rubbing his hands together.

The dwarf was a bit too overjoyed about showing Rud this “cool” thing. Taz held his lantern high, leading the way to the far side. The druid spotted it long before they approached. When he had been reinforcing the ceiling, he had ignored the distant shape on the wall. It looked like any other unevenly hewn bit of rock on the walls. But as they drew closer, he made out the shape of an archway.

Rud froze, brows knitting as he looked upon it. He would say it a thousand times if need be, but he was no master of the arcane. Yet the symbols on that archway were clearly of an arcane origin that radiated power.

“Uh, Taz… What is that?” Rud asked.

“Fancy door,” Taz said with a guffaw.

“A door that you carved, or what?” Rud asked, getting a better look at it. At first, he thought the stone blocked the center. But that wasn’t the case. In the center was a sheet of impenetrable darkness. His instinct was to reach out and touch the veil, but he resisted.

“It was here. Ran into it by accident,” Taz said.

“I’m not going crazy, am I?” Rud asked. “This thing looks dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Taz asked, his bushy brows knitting. “Nonsense! That’s a Stoneweird!”

“A who-what-now?” Rud asked.

“A Stoneweird. Ancient dwarven artifact,” Taz said, approaching with slow steps. Rud reached his hand out to touch the shifting space between the arches. The dwarf slapped his hand away, shouting. “Absolutely do not touch it. Not unless you want to summon some long-dead guardian or something from the deep.”

“I have just one question, Taz.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“WHY ARE WE STANDING SO CLOSE TO THE DOOM PORTAL!?”

“Woah, woah, woah!” Taz said, holding Rud by the shoulders. “It isn’t a doom portal… Just a near-doom portal. A giant deadly monster portal. A world-level threat portal.”

“None of those options are better,” Rud said with a flat tone. “If anything other than a fluffy bunny named Tim comes through that portal, it is bad. Got it?”

Taz rubbed his beard, looking between Rud and the archway. “That could be possible…”

Rud threw his hands in the air. “So what do we do about it?”

“Well, as long as no one touches it or thinks too hard near it, we should be fine.” Taz placed a comforting hand on Rud’s shoulder. “We find these often in the deep places of the world.”

“So, do you dwarves have a way to deal with these?” Rud asked.

“Yup. Just need a Runepriest and we’re good,” Taz said.

Something had taken over the dwarf. Rud was certain of it. The druid rubbed his face vigorously, considering the gate with a concerned eye. His instinct was to wrap it in roots and leave it there forever, but the interaction between Ban’s energy and the archway might end poorly. Getting a Runepriest anywhere near the Grove was unlikely, since they were dwarves and it was hard enough to get one dwarf. Two dwarves? The Grove might spontaneously combust.

“You’ve dug too greedily… Too deep,” Rud said, allowing himself a slight chuckle. “So, we’re gonna block this room and never look at it again.”

“Best not to leave it alone until we get a Runepriest in here,” Taz said.

Rud decided a few things at that moment. He doubted Taz actually knew much about these doom arches. If someone studied in dwarven runecraft could actually do anything about it was anyone’s guess. There was also the possibility that this was some kind of cursed object. The conclusion he reached was that he didn’t have enough information. Yet the person he wanted to turn to was saddled with enough work to keep anyone busy for a lifetime.

“Keep an eye on this thing while I look for information,” Rud said. “Can you watch it without the world ending?”

“Yeah, of course,” Taz said. “I’ve got this.”

Although he doubted it, Rud trusted the dwarf for now. He grew himself a bush and dove into it, using Thicket Travel to arrive outside of Elm’s new tower. Thankfully she was in, doing some magical stuff on the second floor. Although he couldn’t hope to understand what she was doing, he nodded along as she explained the process. Once it was polite to do so, he asked for any texts she had on dwarven runes.

“Translated, if possible,” Rud said, offering a sheepish smile.

“Dwarven runes?” Elm asked with a laugh. “I might have a few in my collection… Hold on, let me head over to Barlgore with my new fancy teleporter to check.”

Rud was left in the magic room with nothing to do. The temptation to mess around with the fancy things scattered around the room was great, so he found a chair and sat on his hands. Fortunately, she was only gone for 30 agonizing minutes. She returned with a large stack of books and a broad smile on her face.

“I’ve got quite a few translated instruction manuals for dwarven runes. They range through the ranks.” Elm groaned as she placed the hefty stack of books on the ground. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Rud was glad she didn’t ask what he was doing. But he wanted to get better at handling these magical problems on his own, so he shoved the books in his pack, reserving one to read along the way.

The text was dense. Although Rud had selected the introductory book to start with, the contents seemed difficult to understand. After wandering toward the mine and descending into those depths, the druid finally understood exactly how hopeless he was gonna be with the runes. They were complex in a way he wasn’t prepared for.

Looking up from the book as he walked through the massive cavern, Rud blinked a few times. In the distance, he could see the darkness of the archway’s portal shimmer in a way he hadn’t seen before. Taz, with his hammerpick held high, stood nearby.

“For the ancestral homes!” the dwarf bellowed.

Rud stood, wide-eyed as he watched the portal collapse. The blast that issued forth pushed the reinforcements he had created to their limits. A pair of gilded horns pushed forth from the place where the arch just was.

Chapter 44

Billy

The heat washing through the room was almost unbearable. Rud had instinctively pulled nearby roots under his command, surrounding himself in a protective orb. Perhaps that was an instinct learned from his close call in the underground city, but it served him well. Outside, the roots burned, but it was only kinda toasty within. When the first wave of withering flames subsided, he cracked the roots to look upon a strange scene.

Taz stood near the ruined archway, hands on his hips as he looked up at a massive figure. A humanoid creature looked down at him, pointing with an accusatory finger. That figure had a pair of horns that curled from his forehead, the tips looking as though they had been dipped in gold. It wore simple garb of cloth robes with some sandals. Also, it was like seven feet tall with glowing eyes.

“How dare you!” the figure shouted.

“Nah! How dare YOU!” Taz said, gesturing with his hammerpick. “Trappin’ yerself in a dwarven artifact like that. Thought we’d see something cool! Like a giant pig monster or something.”

The creature roared, throwing its head back and shooting fire from its mouth. Then its shoulders went slack. Whatever it said next was too quiet for Rud to hear, forcing him from his protective ball. Whatever the creature was, he was amazed to see Taz arguing with it. Despite the being’s massive size, it seemed to shrink the more intense the dwarf’s voice got.

Even Rud was scared as he crept forward, feeling as though the giant demon-thing was less of a threat. It was practically kneeling by the time he got close, shielding itself as though the dwarf would lash out and strike him down at any moment.

“What’s going on here?” Rud asked.

“This? Oh, this is nothing!” Taz shouted, waggling his hammerpick at the demon. “Just a Devil Lord named Billy, of all things.”

“Excuse me?” Rud asked, squinting as he got a better look at the devil named Billy. “Doesn’t the title of Devil Lord mean he’s… I don’t know… Strong?”

“I was strong,” Billy said.

“But not now!” Taz shouted with a booming laugh. The devil cowered.

“He looks pretty strong,” Rud said. “Shouldn’t we seal him away or something? Call Mint to tear his head off? Bury him in the desert. You know, something extreme.”

“Not unless you want to kill a mostly innocent sapient creature,” Taz said. “On your feet, Billy. I’m not gonna kill you.”

“My dwarf is too fired up. You want to explain this, Billy?” Rud asked.

The devil rose to his full height, dusting his knees off and sighing. “The dwarves of your world are the worst. Us Devil Lords can travel to other worlds through a hidden path in the universe. Unfortunately, those dwarves sometimes create Gates which we fall into. I’ve been stuck in that one for a few hundred years.”

“Your backstory is very cool. But that doesn’t explain why you’re not setting me on fire, or perhaps goring me with your horns.”

“That’s because our system doesn’t work with this world,” Billy grumbled. “I’m no more powerful than any unclassed mortal in this world. I used to command armies!”

“Well, that explains why Taz is taunting you,” Rud said, punching the dwarf in the arm. “Give the guy a break.”

“What!? He’s evil!”

Rud pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. This was a tough one. Now that he had the full picture, he wasn’t afraid of the devil at all. It didn’t matter how big he was. If Billy didn’t have access to a system, he didn’t have attributes. There still wasn’t a clear path forward, though.

“Okay. Billy, are you evil?” Rud asked.

Billy shrugged. “I’m a Devil Lord,” he said, too meek for such a big dude. “I’m a bit evil.”

“Far more than a bit, I think!” Taz shouted, waggling his hammerpick some more. “You’re extremely evil. I know your sort.”

“On a scale from one to ten, how evil are you?” Rud asked.

Billy relaxed for the first time, scratching at his chin. Up close, Rud could see that his skin was a dusky ash color. His eyes burned like smoldering coals, but there was something behind them. For such a weak little thing, he was rather intimidating by appearance, but the druid sensed no nefarious intent.

“Before I was trapped? Ten out of ten,” Billy said. “But I’ve been trapped in this Gate for quite some time. I’d put myself at a repentant two or three.”

Rud wasn’t sure where this line of questioning was going. As much as he felt he had been making progress in his role as a custodian, nothing could’ve prepared him for this.

“You’re in charge of him,” Rud said, poking a finger at Taz. “As much as I’ve tried to avoid it today, I need to ask Elm what to do about this.”

“Wizard knows best, huh? Don’t care for the wisdom of the dwarves?”

Rud ignored the dwarf’s jab and found the nearest underground bush. He popped out near the wizard’s tower and took a moment near the lake before making his way to the entrance. Elm was inside again, this time on the third floor. She was levitating a bunch of glowing orbs, the purpose of which the druid could only guess.

“Is this a bad time?” Rud asked. “This must be a bad time. You’re in your orb levitation part of the day. I’ll come back later.”

Elm laughed, allowing the spheres to fall to the ground. Each thumped on the wooden surface, rolling slightly but otherwise not shattering or causing other problems. She offered a bright smile. “Need more books?”

Rud withdrew the books from his bag, wincing as he saw one was slightly burned. “Okay, you’re not gonna believe this. But I’m not going to need the books anymore.”

“Why?” Elm asked, her expression changing in a moment.

“The archway I wanted to study exploded.”

“I suppose that explains the burned book,” Elm said. She took the offending book from him, shrugging. “It wasn’t damaged too badly.”

“While that’s a relief, it isn’t even the worst problem. Taz accidentally summoned a Devil Lord.”

Elm paused for a long moment, eventually narrowing her eyes. After another beat, she laughed until she was rolling on the ground. All Rud could do was chuckle along nervously.

“That’s a good one!” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Imagine if Taz summoned any planar lords. We’d be in a fair amount of trouble.”

“Ha… ha… Yeah. That’d be a real doozy, huh?”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Elm asked. “Why is it always you? Why has my life become a weird ride where I watch you engage in such strange things? You seriously summoned a Devil Lord?! What were you thinking?”

“It wasn’t me! Taz must’ve been thinking about something evil by the portal and the lord came through. While you’re at it, why don’t you just explain to me what these planar lords do.”

“They’re very strong near-monster entities that occupy planes. Wizards have visited their planes to make deals, but it is extremely dangerous. I’ve never heard of one making their way here, though.”

“That’s the only good news. The Devil Lord that showed up here doesn’t have a system, so he’s super weak,” Rud said. “I think a stiff breeze would injure him.”

Elm gawked for a few moments before shaking away whatever it was that impeded her process. “Take me to this Lord.”

As much as he didn’t want to take her away from her work, Rud was happy to lead the elf through the bush outside her tower. A moment later they arrived in Taz’s newest underground mine, staring down the Devil and the dwarf. At some point in the druid’s absence, the pair had produced a table and two chairs and were sharing some venison jerky.

“Elm, this is Billy the Devil Lord,” Rud said, gesturing to the giant man sitting in the too-small chair. “Billy, this is Elm.”

“A pleasure,” the devil said. “I’ll say this: you folk know how to make some very fine dried meat.”

“Wait until you taste the cheese,” Taz said with a wink.

Rud resisted the instinct to ask what had happened in the five minutes he was gone, but gave up well before he started. There was no point. The dwarf was willful and would often do whatever he wanted for reasons that only the dwarves knew.

Elm kept her distance, the air sizzling with her magic. She took tentative steps forward, staff held at the ready just in case the devil tried anything. “Foul demon,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “What brings you to the mortal plane?”

Billy rolled his eyes. “It is not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. It is mortals that wish to pay me tribute. And a bit of curiosity that led me into this dwarven trap, but I’d rather place the blame on someone else.”

“So, you’ve been here before?” Elm asked.

“Not this world, but yes. Another mortal world,” Billy said, popping another piece of jerky into his mouth. “The last time, I was able to return to my realm. But this one feels different…”

“Very curious,” Elm said, getting close enough that she could reach out and touch the Devil Lord if she wanted. She tilted her head to one side, finally letting her staff fall to her side. “Is this why you needed to borrow my dwarven books?”

“Yeah, I was gonna fix this problem by myself. But Taz activated the Gate,” Rud said, pointing an accusatory finger at the dwarf.

“Nothing to worry about. We’re officially friends,” Taz said, reaching across the table to pat Billy on the shoulder.

“Unfortunately, we should send him home,” Elm said. “This is extremely dangerous.”

“I’m perfectly tame,” Billy said.

Elm shrugged. “I guess they’re best friends now. Nothing would possibly go wrong here, right?”

“Uh… yeah!” Rud said. It was one more problem off of his plate.

“Wrong. We need to banish him back to his plane,” Elm said. “And, unfortunately, I know the perfect person to do the job.”

Rud understood the implications and was surprised to hear her even suggest it. If this was some kind of old school rpg junk then the healer could banish things like demons, ghosts, and so on. Which meant Elm’s sister Oak was the perfect candidate to do the job. Although she had made the proclamation, Billy didn’t seem too upset about it. Maybe being banished was a good thing.

“Walk with me,” Elm said, heading for the nearest bush.

Rud was happy to follow along behind her. He felt her using the Thicket Travel upgrade as they got near to the bush and latched onto her intentions. They passed through it, arriving somewhere he didn’t recognize right away. It was a ways away from her tower, further to the west and near the logging camp. But it was isolated enough that the sound of the wind blowing through the canopy above provided a soothing soundtrack for his troubled mind.

“I know things have gone well for you so far,” Elm said, still facing away from him. “But a lot of the things you contend with are impressively dangerous.”

Rud shrugged. “I wouldn’t have to face these problems if I didn’t have the tools to tackle them. The Grove gives me everything I need to make it right.”

Elm turned. She had a faint smile on her face. “I’d like to think you’re right, but that’s not the case. You’re the one who has the tools to handle these problems. Perhaps the Grove has given you a path to power, but the one who brings you to your destination is you. Don’t doubt your own abilities for a second.”

For Nulsa to suggest that Rud could approach druidic spellcasting through some skill-based route and then Elm give him a similar pep-talk was suspicious. But the druid wouldn’t let that stop him from soaking in the praise.

“Maybe that’s just you giving yourself a similar talk,” Rud said with a wink. “Maybe we both need a bit of self-confidence if we wanna make it as members of this Grove.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” Elm confirmed with a sigh. “The tower Ban constructed for me is far nicer than I deserve.”

“Nonsense. You deserve a bigger tower. With gold plating and a big sign that says ‘Elm is the best’ because why not!?” Rud shouted. “You just sit cozy in your tower and I’ll go check on your sister. I’ll ask her about banishing a devil.”

“Good luck with that.”

Chapter 45

Do The Thing

Barlgore was always a nice place to visit. Rud flew above the small town, watching as the streets were more lively than normal. On a typical day, one could see a few hundred people lingering throughout the entire town. But today seemed different. Only when the druid flew lower did he see what was going on. The adventurers who had desired to flee from the region were stuck. They were now awaiting orders to move on Gladesbale, clearing the hundred-some dungeons that now threatened their only way home.

Today was apparently the day they moved out.

Rud landed next to the pair commanding the group. Oak and Barrow stood with Feather, looking over their troops. The druid shifted into his true form, gaining a frightened screech from Barrow, of all people.

“You scared me,” the mighty warrior said.

“Looks like you guys got the band back together,” Rud said, patting Barrow on his armored back. “Hey, mind if I have a quick word with Oak?”

“She’s her own person,” Barrow said with a shrug. He didn’t look away from the gathered adventurers. Instead, he gazed out on them with a look of pride in his eyes. If the wind shifted the right way, blowing the cloaks of some of those adventurers in a heroic way, he might even cry.

“Hey, quick word,” Rud said, dragging Oak by the arm. She looked slightly offended at first, but relented. The good thing about being weird all the time was that people didn’t think much of it when he did those weird things.

“What is it?” Oak said, removing herself from his gasp and walking along. “You’re rarely this serious. Why are you so serious?”

“So, Dean is on his way here to ferry you to Gladesbale,” Rud said. “Because I need some help. I’ve got a planar entity that needs banishment.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Oak said. “I’ve banished lesser demons, ghosts, and so on. What are we dealing with?”

Right. Lesser versions of the planar entities visiting this plane was totally normal. Every other Tuesday, two demons and a ghost popped in for a party. Rud shook the thought loose from his mind, focusing on the task at hand. “That’s the problem. Don’t freak out, okay?”

“Whenever someone tells me not to panic, they usually follow it with a panic-inducing statement.”

“We got a Devil Lord,” Rud said.

Oak’s face went white, then her brows knit. In an instant, that color that had drained from her face was back and the furrow of her brows deepened. “That’s not possible.”

Frightened shouts rose up from the adventurers. Those screams blended into relieved conversation as Dean worked his way through the crowd. He didn’t waste time, going down on his front paws to give Oak a way up.

“I’ll explain when we get there,” Rud said. “But you’re right. He isn’t a threat.”

Rud was thankful he had built such a tight relationship with the people in town. Oak didn’t hesitate as she climbed onto Dean. It was rare for the wolf to wear a saddle now, but he had worn it just for her today. She grabbed onto the leather, pressing herself tightly against the wolf’s back. She still screamed when they took off, but at least she didn’t tumble to the ground. The druid took to the air, following as close as he could get to the pair.

“Wait until you see what the devil has done,” Dean growled, jumping and clearing a pretty impressive gorge.

Thanks to Dean’s impressive speed and his ability to ignore almost every obstacle in the Grove, they arrived in the central clearing within a few hours. It was far calmer than the druid had expected. When Oak dismounted, groaning and complaining about the rough ride the entire time, they searched for anyone.

“The devil is at your tea garden,” Ban said, speaking into Rud’s mind.

“What? Is no one watching him?” Rud asked. That got a confused look from Oak, who looked up at the canopy above and squinted.

“He’s fine. Like a powerless puppy, he’s just looking for someone’s approval.”

"What's going on?" Oak asked, the look of concern on her face growing more intense by the moment.

“Here's the deal. This devil lord came to our plane without any powers. While he was a super big, evil guy, he's been trapped in a dwarven trap of some kind for a few hundred years. I don't know how he lost his powers, but now he is weaker than one of the badgers in the grove. He really isn't a threat.”

“That’s what I suspected,” Oak said, snapping her fingers. “There’s a reason they can’t cross between planes so easily. The gods would absolutely forbid it. Not unless there was an incursion orchestrated by multiple planar lords.”

“Right. Politics aside, he’s apparently eating my tea plants or something,” Rud said, nodding toward the tea gardens and pressing forward. He was happy to see Oak following closely behind him.

Making their way up the ramps to the raised tea gardens, Rud gawked; it was not what he had expected. His expectation was that of a devil running loose in his tea garden was of a crazed, seven-foot-tall demon chewing on the stems of his precious plants. Instead, what he found was a seven-foot-tall demon tending to the garden. He was snipping plants that had diseased sections the druid hadn't taken care of yet. He watered those who needed water and comforted the plants that were having trouble growing.

“Is this the woman who is going to send me back to my plane?” Billy asked, looking up from the plant he was working on and smiling.

“He speaks in the common tongue,” Oak said, approaching with caution, Rud could feel the power gathering in her hands, as though she expected the Devil Lord to strike out at any moment.

“There are a few cults here on this plane who worship us, and they prefer to talk in this common tongue you speak of. Anyway, if you could get it over with and send me back to my infernal realm, I would be most appreciative.”

Oak was apparently stunned to hear the devil's proclamation. She was clearly expecting a fight, but Billy had surprised her into a shocked state. Eventually, she shook it off and approached the man with glowing hands shining with silver light. "This shouldn't take long," she said. "So long as your defenses aren't activated, you won't be able to resist this spell."

“Bring me absolution,” Billy said, holding his arms wide.

Rud had to shield his eyes when the light flared, growing so bright that he could see it clearly through his eyelids. The shape of the devil lord lingered there long after the light had faded. Yet, when he blinked away the spots, he saw Billy standing there among his tea plants, looking over himself as though something had gone wrong. Oak was equally shocked, staring at her hands in search of some answer she wouldn’t find.

"What happened?" Rud asked, trotting over to look Billy up and down. Nothing had changed about him. He was still super tall and evil-looking.

“That should’ve worked,” Oak said, craning her neck as she got a better look at the devil. “Did you feel anything?”

“I’m blind, but I don’t feel any different otherwise,” Billy said. “Perhaps you didn’t cast the spell correctly.”

“I cast it directly from my Spellbook,” Oak said, circling the devil and tutting. “Maybe… Well, this would be bad.”

“What is it?” Rud asked.

But Oak didn't answer. She continued to circle Billy, casting a spell occasionally and making disappointed noises. Eventually, she snapped her fingers and withdrew a small silver knife from her bag. She handed it over to the devil and smiled. "Cut yourself. I'd like to see a sample of your blood.”

With a great shrug that showed he couldn’t care what was going on, Billy dug the tip of the knife into his finger. A small bead of strange-looking blood drew forth, dripping and falling to the ground harmlessly. The most curious thing about the blood was that it was bright orange, holding a luster close to gold.

“Interesting,” Oak said.

“Very interesting,” Billy agreed.

“What? Orange blood is weird, right?”

“But it isn’t on fire,” Billy said.

“Is your blood normally on fire?”

“When it is drawn, yes,” Billy said. His eyes shifted from the drop of blood on his finger and the eyes of the elven mage. He pulled his lips into a tight line before sighing. “Apologies, fair cleric. My name is Grodragath Mogradanag.”

“Your name is Billy,” Rud corrected.

“That’s the name the dwarf gave me,” Billy corrected. “Which, I must admit, is a lot easier for you mortals to say.”

“You’re giving me introductions because you know you’re stuck,” Oak said with a laugh. “You’re a smart one, aren’t you?”

“I try my best,” Billy said, bowing.

“I’m just a simple small town druid. Someone is gonna need to explain to me what’s going on,” Rud said.

“If the banishment spell doesn’t work, he doesn’t have his Devil System, and his physical traits don’t line up with the definition of a devil on our plane… That means he isn’t a demon,” Oak said. “His time in the prison must’ve changed him, although how that’s possible is beyond me. This is the kind of thing scholars study for years.”

Rud understood this was a good thing overall, but he couldn't stop thinking about having a devil lord in the grove. Now that they had confirmed that Billy wouldn't be a threat, he wondered what kind of person he would be. Of course, he wouldn't want to stay here. Billy would want to go out into the wider world and make a name for himself. Such was the ambition of demons. He couldn't imagine him sitting here, tending to the trees all day.

“Where is my sister?” Oak asked.

“Oh, hold on,” Rud said, looking off into the distance. “Jasper, can you escort her to the tower? That path is pretty nasty to take on foot. And I think Dean is busy, as always.”

The fox appeared from nowhere, and Rud realized he must’ve been lurking around invisible or something. “At your service,” Jasper said, bowing. “Come. Follow me.”

“Why can I understand him?” Oak asked.

“Long story. Just follow and he’ll explain.”

Oak reluctantly followed behind the fox but was eventually out of sight. Rud let out a heavy sigh, turned back to the devil lord, and shook his head. 

"Now, what are we going to do with you?" he asked. "You likely don't want to stay here. I mean, you've got to be made for much bigger things. I can't imagine a Grove would feel fitting for you."

“I don’t know,” Billy said, taking in a breath of that fresh Grove air. “I feel at home here for some reason. Sure, nothing is on fire. And there isn’t a demon army awaiting my command. But there’s something about these trees that makes me feel happy.”

Perhaps even somebody who had lived a life as a bad guy deserved time in the Grove. After all, Billy said he only had a two out of ten on the evil meter, which was almost good enough for the druid on its own. A strong desire to live in the Grove and just hang out while they farmed tea and did other hippie activities went a long way toward proving his credentials.

A shiver of power rushed through the forest. It was a sensation that Rud almost didn't recognize. He focused on where he had felt that power before. His mouth dropped open. He looked at the very trees themselves, narrowing his eyes as the scandal unfolded before him

“Did you just do what I think you did?” Rud asked. He switched to the telepathic communication method, targeting Ban. “Did you just do the thing!?”

“Why not?” Ban asked. “He is, after all, competent."

“That’s me,” Billy said with a grin. “Mister Competent.”

Rud smacked himself in the face.