"I don’t recognise any of this!" Genoes exclaimed as they turned down yet another dead-end corridor, its damp stones mocking them in silent complicity.
Donal, Eliud, and Daine trailed a few steps behind, deliberately holding back to let the boy and Kirstin—along with their odd assortment of animal allies—venture ahead.
At first, Daine had opposed the idea, her mind spinning through the risks: every shadow could hide an ambush, each turn a trap, and she was under no illusion about the creatures that called this place home.
"It’s not safe for them to scout," she had said. "This place could chew them up and spit them out before we can intervene."
But Eliud had brushed her concern aside with a wave of his hand. "If this place were logical—or obeyed even a single rule of architecture—I'd be worried about such matters myself," he’d said. "But as it is, I doubt even the resident monsters know where they’re going. Consider this, my Lady, practice for our newest recruits."
Daine had given him a dubious look but ultimately relented.
The speed in which a pack of giant rats were, first, eviscerated by a combination of energy bolts from Genoes and arrows from Kirstin and then consumed by Savage, with Josul barking enthusiastically, convinced the Templar that she could probably afford to worry less about letting them take the lead.
"I am no expert in such matters—oh, wait, I am," Donal said. "And from where I'm standing, it appears this Castle is going to great lengths to ensure we don’t leave.”
Daine glanced up at the man's face, still not used to the lack of mischief in his voice. She still was not sure what to make of his latest incarnation. For sure, she appreciated his increased use in a melee - she doubted, even with her own enhanced talents, she would have prevailed alone in the mountains - but it felt like he had lost some of his essential 'Donalness' during the Class change. She even thought she might have preferred the Dark Warlord version of him from the siege of Swinford.
"I was thinking the same thing," Eliud said slowly, his voice a notch lower than usual. Daine noticed the wariness in the Pendragon's gaze as he glanced toward Donal, his hands perpetually flickering with latent mana, ready to unleash.
The Duskstrider rarely showed discomfort, but the perceptible tension in his stance was unmistakable. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one finding Donal's evolving Class unsettling. "Well, you know what they say about great minds," Donal said.
"That they rarely differ?"
"No," Donal said. "That I have one. Why would great minds rarely differ? The whole purpose of 'great' Intelligence is, I’d think, to reach for unique solutions—solutions not accessible to the common rabble, or even the slightly less-than-great minds.” He shot Eliud a look. “I’m, of course, pleased our esteemed friend here—who, despite his best efforts to hold lightning in his hands without anyone noticing, is currently failing at the subtlety part—is having similar thoughts. But let’s not pretend he’s achieving my level of insight. Let’s just be honest, shall we?”
Daine wanted to smile at the snark, but there was something in Donal's tone that made it feel like he was going through the motions. That he was reading from a conversational script, rather than having an actual conversation.
There was a roar from up ahead, a series of explosions and then a sound that Daine was coming to realise was Savage feeding.
"We're fine!" Genoes shouted back to them, and this time, Daine did smile. There was such an easy enthusiasm to the boy's voice that it was easy to forget he was no longer the carefree young man she had met in the Village.
"And do you have a solution to propose, sir?" Eliud asked, allowing some of the mana he was channelling to dissipate into the air.
Eliud could not make sense of Donal Assay.
When they had first crossed paths, during the ill-fated attempt to confront the Trellecs—when Genoes had been taken from Eliud’s protection by the Dark God—Eliud had sensed something fundamentally different about the Secretary.
In a life that had seen him encounter every manner of being, human and supernatural alike, Donal was a curious blend of both. His aura resonated with a strange energy, one that felt distinctly beyond human, even by the standards of those Eliud had met among the gods.
Daine, of course, seemed entirely unphased by the whirlwind of Class changes Donal had undergone in the past month. Secretary, Dark Warlord, Druid, Frontiersman, and now Doom Reaver—each title a sharp pivot from the last, each more dangerous than the one before.
To Daine, it was just another eccentricity, something to roll her eyes at and move past. But Eliud was not so blasé. He had never come across anything like it.
There was a dark, cryptic pull to Donal that made him feel like something was always just out of reach—something too dangerous to be left unchecked.
He was aware there were Skills - the King had one, for example - which could cause Class changes to occur, although not without considerable cost to that ability's target: there was a reason Hanya used that Skill as a punishment rather than a boon.
And, of course, the gods had the power to bestow new Classes upon those who pledged their loyalty to them. But for a mortal—at least one who appeared mortal—to shift between Classes with the casual ease of a maiden choosing a new dress?
No.
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That was an affront to the very nature of the world. Such a thing should not have been possible. It was as if the very fabric of fate itself were being torn, re-sewn with thread pulled from places it ought not to reach.
"A solution?" Donal's asked and Eliud, meeting his gaze, was chilled to realise he had only seen their like when, briefly, tangling with a great fish with serrated teeth. It was the cool regard of an apex predator debating whether you were its next meal.
"I would have thought that the way out of this difficulty would be obvious to a man of your talents," the Pendragon said.
The three of them rounded a corner and caught up with the rest of their little group, where Genoes, sitting cross-legged and stroking Josul’s fur, greeted them with an enthusiastic wave. Savage, perched comfortably on Kirstin’s shoulder, was in the middle of a meticulous paw-cleaning ritual, her tail flicking in lazy satisfaction, completely unfazed by the chaos they'd just left behind.
Kirstin, offered a sheepish smile. "I didn’t even see what it was this time," she said, looking apologetic yet unbothered. "It was already dead and gone before I even drew."
She looked back at the others with a grin, as if the whole thing was a bit of a game she’d played too easily.
"I would not worry about that. We will not encounter anything friendly in the heart of the Dark God's realm." Daine said reassuringly, even as she found herself alarmed at the devastation around her. Had the release of Genoes' power scorched the stone in such a way?
Eliud obviously felt the same. He sat next to him, clearly intent on explaining the delicate art of mana conservation. "One of the things you’ll learn, as you get older," he said, "is that you don’t need to blow the doors off it in every single fight. Think of it like this..." The boy nodded, trying to digest the advice, but the explanation was long-winded, and the only thing Genoes seemed to be absorbing was the idea of not burning himself out in a single explosion of power.
Daine, her attention drifting from the impromptu lesson, turned toward Donal.
"Speak," she said "How do we return to our own realm?"
"Seems obvious to me," Donal shrugged. "We have two mages that can create portals in our party. The boy summoned us here, and from what I've read about that fancy Dan, teleportation is very much his thing. Even if the lad isn't up to another go yet, I'm sure Eliud Vila must be. I don't understand why we're wandering around looking for an exit when we have a way out right there. Sooner or later, we're going to bump into something nastier than a pack of rats, and then things will get . . . unpleasant."
Kirstin joined them, eyeing Donal suspiciously. It might have been Daine's imagination, but she thought Savage was hissing at him, too. Or, at least, muttering the word 'hiss'.
"An interesting bow, my dear," Donal said, his unsettling gaze falling on the weapon in the girl's hand. "But I do not think you've used it properly yet, no?"
Kirstin shuffled slightly to the side, putting Daine between her and the man. "As I said, there has not been any need. Genoes, Josul and Savage have been more than enough for everything we have come across thus far."
"Ah, but it is more than that, is it not?" Donal continued. "You're carrying a thing of beauty there, and it wants to be bound to you. I can feel it, calling out, frustrated with you for keeping it at - heh - at arm's length. What is your hesitation?"
Kirstin glanced at Daine, feeling immense reassurance in the older woman's presence. She would not have exchanged her time with Eliud for anything, but 'safe' was the very last thing that she had ever felt when travelling with him.
The Pendragon seemed to view life and death situations as training opportunities. It was very different being stood in the Lady Darkhelm's presence. "I don't know what you mean, sir," she replied, raising her chin.
"Come off it, girl!" and there was raw steel in Donal's voice now. So much so, that Kirstin took half a step back in surprise, and Eliud glanced up from where he was helping Genoes smooth out his mana usage.
"Take a care, sir," Daine murmured, her hand dropping to her sword's handle, "we are not on the battlefield now. You will speak civilly."
"Oh, will I?" Donal's lips drew back, exposing his teeth in a snarl. Then, there was a flash of light behind his eyes, and his expression softened. "My apologies," he said, voice gruff. "It has been a while since I have spent much time in this Class. Far lower Charisma than I am used to, you understand?"
Daine's hand did not move. "If you wished to change into something more . . . comfortable, that would be fine. After all, we have less need for - " she gestured towards his twin axes - "brute Strength right now. Your more thoughtful counsel may be more useful?"
Donal stared back, and for a moment, Daine was struck by the certainty he was about to attack her. Then, the tension cleared, and he smiled. "Maybe. However, let us not count our chickens before we have even purchased our eggs. I see some use for this Class in our futures."
Kirstin cleared her throat awkwardly. "Sir, what did you mean about my bow?"
Donal's gaze swivelled to the girl who, once again, quailed under the intensity of his regard. In response, Savage's yowl increased in volume. "Be quiet, hellcat," he growled, then continued, staring unblinkingly at Kirstin. "Unless I am mistaken, that beautiful piece of workmanship is a threshold bonus? Ah, I thought so," he said as her eyes widened. "Very well done. It has been an age since I heard of someone moving a Skill to Rank 2. I was beginning to think humanity had got soft. Lost its edge, as it were."
Thinking about the agony she had gone through to evolve her
"Well, as surprising as this may be to hear, the Duskstrider is not the font of all knowledge. If you want, say, a mountain blown up, of course, he is absolutely your man. However, if forbidden and esoteric information is your heart's desire, then you will need to look elsewhere."
In his previous incarnations, such a speech would have been wryly amusing. Delivered with a glint in the eye or a smirk on the face, it would have lightened the increasingly dark atmosphere around the man. However, spoken in such a gravelly, flat tone and with no humour in his face, it was not just Kirstin who found it disconcerting.
"Her bow, sir?" Daine prompted, trying to mask her disquiet.
"Ah, yes. Unless I am much mistaken - and I am not - the girl has somehow earned a piece of soulbound equipment, which she has not yet bound to her soul. Impressive, especially at her age. I would encourage you, child, to make use of it at the next opportunity. Not everyone who comes across an unbound threshold bonus will be as sanguine about it as I. People have been murdered over much less. Trust me, I should know."
There was an awkward pause. Donal did not seem anxious to break it, and Daine was unsure what words to use to diffuse the tension.
Then, Genoes gave a delighted shout and clapped his hands. "Daine, Daine, look what I've done!"
Relieved, Daine walked up to where the boy was sitting next to a kneeling Eliud. Before them was a small, glittering gold circle. "What is it?"
"Well," Eliud said, pride etched all over his face, "it appears our budding little powerhouse here can understand the principles of transdimensional spatial confluence manifestation. And, what is more than understand them, he can actually put those principles into practice!"
Genoes beamed at the praise, and Daine's heart ached to see how much the kind words meant to him. She did not think he had heard anywhere nearly enough of it during his life.
"Well, I'm glad he understands, because I have no idea what any of that means," Kirstin said, also smiling.
"It means I can create a stable portal. It means I can get us all home."