JULES

  Anya carried the small box that hummed at Jules the other day, and led Jules back through the village of Whispering Pines to a group of Etherealists that had gathered around Cyrus, Whiskers, and Katarina, still struggling to revive herself. Cyrus shook the High Priest Edmund's hand. Guess I should just say Edmund, now.

  "I see you made friends," Jules said.

  "Friends, allies, trading partners," Cyrus said. "I'll be in touch soon."

  "See that you do," Edmund said. "But not until you've returned the First Tome."

  "High Priest Edmund." Anya bowed slightly. Technically exiled from the Faction, but still accepted. Seems she's true to her word. "Good to see you're alive and well."

  "Aye," he said. "And where did you two run off to?"

  "Another pass at a plea for help." Anya whistled and beckoned over to their side. A few Etherealists escorted some of the largest—and ugliest—ant-eaters Jules had ever seen, led over by leashes and harnesses. Looks like their ancestors bred with some naked mole rats at some point. And a horse, if only for their size. "And now for the final appeal."

  Oh Salvos, no. "That's the transportation you mentioned?"

  "Of course." Anya grabbed a rein and pull one beast over. "This is Bobbie Sue, an antroph. That one over there is Billy Joe. Ornery to their very souls, I'm afraid, but some of the fastest animals in all The Verdant Domain."

  "Great, thank you?" Time to take our leave before I have to endure her whole spiel again. "Well, I'd love to stay another night and rest, but I'm afraid our time has come." Anya whistled again, and motioned for some other Etherealists to join them. Oh come on.

  "One final set of gifts, Jules Tideshaper, to help you on your journey. And one final piece of advice."

  Cyrus walked over to Billie Joe, who snapped at him, but he didn't give up trying to tame the beast.

  "Beware of those who'd use Scripts without invocations," Anya said. "Our ancestors, the progenitor Elders, were the first to discover Runes in the Ethereal Rift. They'd inscribe them on giant rocks and invoke them elsewhere. There's a reason they stopped and transitioned to…other means of invocation." I wonder if those rocks are still there.

  "People like me can't help but not use Scripts," Jules said. All my magic comes from my Seal. Kat's like that, too, and I'm sure the others are.

  "I've had visions of this man, This Painter." Cyrus stopped feeding the antroph to listen to Anya, and it nipped his hand. He yelped and called it a bastard. "I can confirm he is not who he seems."

  "She said The Painter's been to Coralhaven, Cy," Jules said. "She's not sure when, though. But something to note."

  "This Black Sacrament troubles me, too," Anya said. "It seems the tides are ever-changing. Since you have an Etherealist with you, I can trust you to hold on to something for us."

  "Anya," High Priest Edmund snapped. "You don't mean—"

  "I have a premonition, Edmund. It needs to go with them. Today." Edmund mumbled some aggravated response. "You will find the Arcanians and Guardians in Eldertree Enclave. They are most unwelcoming folk." Like everywhere else I go. "They know the location of the Tree of Wishes. If you push them for it, you might be able to get what you're searching for much faster."

  "Thank you for that information, Anya," Jules said. That certainly would speed things up. Jules grabbed Bobbie Sue's rein.

  "I understand you must live, so we will stall Cyrus' ritual to fully join the Etherealists. Please take this instead. All will understand the marker." Anya gave Cyrus another crested emblem, similar to the Space Rune, but it bore the Etherealist's Faction crest. She gave Jules a glass draught. "For the girl. The best medicine we have to offer."

  Jules didn't know what to say. That meant more to him than the transportation, at least in the moment.

  "There is a new Shrine in Riftwatch Outpost," Anya continued. "Rumor is it opened up just a short while ago, Jules Tideshaper…" I see. When one closes, another opens.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "Why are you helping us out so much?" Cyrus asked. "I almost killed your head honcho." High Priest Edmund scoffed. Anya stared into Jules' eyes.

  "Because maybe one day Jules will feel indebted to us. To me. Now, for the final gift. This is the greatest resource we have to give." Anya handed Jules the box she'd been carrying, the box that had sat near the altar in the Silenced temple room. It hummed in his hands and begged him to open it, just like it had when they'd first sat down together for tea. "You are the only one powerful enough to take it to have come here, but resisted its calling."

  "Why now, Anya?" Edmund looks ready to fight again. Jules glanced around at the other Etherealists, who all stepped back with shocked expressions. One woman even hurried her child away. "You have no authority to hand that over so blindly—"

  "Blindly?" Anya glared at him through narrowed eyes, through a look that shut him up.

  "Another vision?" Jules asked. Fucking visions, man. The High Priest stormed away, back to the trailhead Jules refused to go down. Anya didn't answer him. "What's inside?"

  "Why don't you open and find out?"

  "Given how it's making me feel, I'd rather not. Not yet, anyway."

  Anya smiled. "Then it seems I have made a good choice after all. It is the Unlock Rune."

  "What does it do?"

  Anya's eyes drifted down to Jules' chest. "You will find out in due time. Use it well, Jules Tideshaper, and farewell. I hope to meet again soon."

  Nearly half a day had passed, and Jules and Cyrus had finally made an ounce of progress in taming those Salvos-damned antrophs, without the use of Cyrus' Illusion Scripts. Katarina slung lazily across Jules' lap and the beast's back. Every so often, Jules poured some of the draught on her festering wounds. The sun began to set far to the west, but their Party was equally far from stopping for the night.

  "So what deals did you make back there?" Jules asked. "You seemed all cozy with your fellow duelist."

  "Thanks for not stepping in." Whiskers clung to the back of Cyrus' head and hair. The antrophs terrified him.

  "I had faith."

  Rukia ran through the forest with them, desperate to let loose some of her boundless energy. "Man, Jules! When I grow big and strong, you'll be able to ride me instead—Both of you!"

  "I can't wait, Little One."

  "Enjoy saying that while you can—I'm about to hit my growth spurt!" Cheeky little fox.

  "I established my first trade route," Cyrus said. "Well, sorta. Once I get this Space Rune down, I'll be able to trade their medicine for other things."

  Jules cracked up laughing. "Great idea, if it wasn't illegal. But who cares now, am I right?"

  "I'm almost as infamous as you!"

  "I'm in a whole other league, champ. My Bounty's almost ten times higher—"

  "Not when in comes to Rank." Oof, got me there. "Yeah I knew that'd shut you up. But what about you? You guys talked about The Painter, it seems."

  "Woof. I think I made a deal myself, though indirectly…"

  "See, Whiskers?" Cyrus taunted. "Everything's connected—Ow!" Cyrus flung that pussy through the air. A thin line of blood trailed down the back of Cyrus' neck.

  Whiskers landed in a tree. "Oh Salvos, oh Sweet Salvos—I'm stuck. I'm stuck!"

  A mischievous grin spread across Cyrus' face, and he raised his hand. His tattoos and eyes lit up.

  "No—Not again!" Whiskers shouted.

  

  ? ? Get your ass over— ? ?

  "AAAHHHH!" Katarina arched her back in pain as she shrieked. Whiskers leapt down from the tree immediately and landed in Jules' lap, next to her. She whispered one word. "Jules…"

  JAFAR

  The final rays of the setting sun vanished, along with another life. Jafar removed his scimitar from the Etherealist man, who collapsed to the ground. Join the rest of your accursed people. He looked around at all the terrified villagers, at the sick, the dying, and the dead, and studied each of their faces. Not an ounce of remorse here for the sins of their fathers.

  I hate coming here. It's always trouble, every damn time. Another Etherealist with summoned weapons slashed at him. Jafar stepped aside from each blow. Higher 2nd Rank, maybe even 3rd. But he's grown complacent in this new world. The scimitar slid across the man's sternum, and that was that.

  "Why do you come here?" a little girl asked him.

  "Who the hell are you?"

  "I am the Oracle Anya of the Whispering Pines. Hello, Jafar."

  "I see my reputation precedes me. Go fetch Edmund for me, Anya."

  "Everyone in The Verdant Domain knows who you are. As for the High Priest, you burned that bridge long ago." Fair.

  "They know me, yes. But few recog—"

  "I know all about your misadventures. The ones with your friends, your mentor, and even…The Spider."

  Jafar glanced around. No one else looked like they'd intervene. An Oracle indeed. He sighed. "Then you should know I hate that fucking bug."

  "I ask again—Why have you come? Or I should rather say, why have you returned?"

  "I seek information, not blood, child."

  Anya looked around at the bloodbath. "I see nothing but violence in you."

  Jafar sheathed his scimitar and took one step closer. "I asked those men a simple question. They attacked me."

  "Silence can be violence."

  "Then you'd better fucking answer my question."

  "What you seek has left."

  "What?" Jafar asked. Not who? "Oh, surely not." He glanced over at the trailhead he'd taken not so long ago, the one that'd almost killed him and his friends. "You know, a long time ago, the Etherealists aided the Elementalists."

  "The Nomads, too, if I recall correctly."

  Jafar's eye twitched in rage. "Aye, and my friends at that. But in my line of the work, the other is a death sentence. Commutable, though, at the right price. But you wouldn't know where Kazuma is, would you? No, of course not. So you only have one chance to tell me where Wrath went."

  Anya gasped, her mouth ajar and eyes wide. "You… You don't seek it either?"

  "Of course I do," Jafar said. After a moment, Anya collected her composure. The tattoos all over Jafar's left arm lit up, but not his eyes. "But there are more important targets to hunt today. I'm sure that, since you know so much about me, you're aware that I'm a collector of Runes?"

  "I have witnessed firsthand." Overhead, a circling raven cawed into the rising moonlight. The light from Jafar's tattoos died out.

  "Oh, I see. You were there that day?"

  Anya's eyes filled in completely white. "I was."