“The villagers said that the mine was filled with all sorts of undead.” the Hero Athos advised everyone sitting at the table. “Naturally, as the Hero Party, we’re going to deal with it.”

  Everyone at the table nodded, save one. He was busy looking into a kaleidoscope and then taking notes on a notebook about what he saw.

  At the table, and standing close to the Hero Athos was the Saintess, Sellini Sheiru. Next to the Saintess was the Martial Artist Kanon Haruna, who wore a simple robe that hugged her body and a long bandana wound around her forehead.

  Standing next to Kanon was Indrigal Greenleaf, the party’s elven Ranger, a taciturn and laconic man with a scruff of beard and at least twenty knives about his person. Propped nest to him was a bow that looked to have been grown from a tree.

  Sitting indifferently to the side of the Ranger was the Ashen Mage, with the title of Sage. He was the one that was carefully jotting notes while peering into a magical device that resembled a child’s kaleidoscope.

  To the other side of the Sage was Alessandra Dawnshield, the party’s Paladin. She gave the Sage an irritated look- he was often distracted or disinterested when the party came together to discuss their quests.

  “With three Holy Power users in the party, the mines could be taken care of in twenty minutes.” the Sage Daniel observed indifferently. “I don’t understand the point of the meeting.”

  Athos frowned at the man wearing the ash-gray robes. “We’re about to discuss our party formation.” He replied patiently.

  Sage Daniel rolled his eyes, then glanced to Sellini. “Saintess, if these amulets you gave us work using Holy Power, how do they work when you’re not channeling?” He asked instead.

  She blinked as he offered an off-topic question.

  “They condense free mana in the air and then with the Blessing of Sinhilde, convert it into Holy Power.” She replied. “More importantly, do you have anything to add to the conversation?”

  Daniel nodded. “I suspected as such.” He nodded to himself.

  The other members of the party eyed him disdainfully.

  “Oh. Right. The mines. How long will it take to get out there?” He asked.

  “An hour’s hike.” Indrigal replied tersely. He didn’t believe in speaking four words when three would do.

  “And when do we leave?” Daniel asked curiously.

  Athos sighed. “An hour.”

  Daniel nodded. “Two hours... plenty of time. The Star of Auriga is still ascendant; we should be able to sit down to a comfortable lunch about then.” He decided enigmatically. “I hear this place has fantastic spiced potatoes.”

  “Haven’t you been listening to anything?” Kanon asked, standing up. Her lithe body was dense with muscle, what was visible of her chest was tightly wrapped with a sarashi.

  He nodded. “Of course.” He agreed.

  Sellini grimaced; the Mages worshipped the Constellations, and not the Goddess Sinhilde. In the beginning she was certain that they would come to blows over their differing faiths, but Daniel politely acknowledged Sellini’s power and didn’t try to bait her into any theological arguments.

  “Daniel, I would prefer it if you would pay attention.” Athos demanded stiffly. “We will not be sitting down to eat lunch, we will be cleansing the mines so that the villagers can return to work.”

  Daniel blinked. “Ah. As to that, it won’t be necessary.” He replied.

  Athos’ eyes narrowed; he shifted in his seat, his gold-and-blue armor clinking.

  “Saving these villagers is an important responsibility to the Hero’s Party, Daniel.” Alessandra prodded him, her own cream-and-gold armor clinking as she poked him with an armored finger.

  “I’m sure.” Daniel agreed. “Using the amulets I got from Saintess Sellini, and the Summon Xan go Boa Lightning Serpent spell, we should be able to sit down to a pleasant lunch in two hours.” He explained as if it were obvious.

  “Auriga being ascendant allowed me to successfully transcribe a spell that would use the amulets to transform them from lightning summons to Holy Power summons. Simply by slithering through the mine, they purify it of miasma. The undead will be destroyed, and we get to enjoy an easy lunch of spiced potatoes.” He clapped his hands together in anticipation. “I’m looking forward to it already.”

  The rest of the Hero Party twitched at Daniel’s casual announcement.

  “You did what?” Athos growled.

  Daniel blinked a few times at Athos’ dull, angry expression. “I’m saying, it’s done. Or will be.” He explained with a roll of his eyes. “Twenty amulets- twenty snakes, all traveling as fast as lightning- or close to it- all through the mines, attacking undead and dispelling miasma.” He explained. “If there’s an undead there that twenty Xan go Boa crafted from Holy Power can’t handle, then we have a problem, but,” he shrugged, “I don’t think that’ll really be the case.”

  Alessandra shook her head. “Daniel, while that’s extremely clever, I also think it goes against the ethos of the party.” She offered patiently.

  Alessandra was soft on Daniel because she was fond of him; he was not reckless or intentionally offensive. Also, when he wasn’t completely engrossed in his magic, he could be charming. Sometimes.

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  He glanced up at her, and then did a double take, and then peered myopically at the others.

  “Is this something else I ‘shouldn’t have done’?” He asked, a somewhat wry twist to his mouth.

  Alessandra nodded. He’d been castigated for his behavior before.

  He sighed, and gathered his things up, and stuffed them into his robes indifferently. “Fine. Whatever.”

  He left the table, and as he did, Sellini put her hand on Athos’ arm.

  “We should go through the mines anyway.” She suggested quickly. “At least the villagers will see us-”

  Athos shook his head, a look of frustration on his face.

  “This is an embarrassment.” He griped. “I’m supposed to be the Hero.” He complained. “We’re supposed to be seen as the Hero's Party.” He complained. He glanced around at the others. “How can we show the people of the world that we’re heroes when he pulls things like that?” He asked, bewildered. “Now we’ll have to walk through an empty mine and pretend that we’re doing our jobs! Sinhilde must be laughing at us! How can we defeat the Demon Lord without all of the world’s hopes gathered with us?” He complained, and sat down with a frustrated grunt, his armor clanking.

  The others nodded, Alessandra reluctantly.

  One thing Daniel didn’t understand- or perhaps was indifferent towards- was the need for publicity with the Hero’s Party.

  The Hero’s Party was assembled from people with different backgrounds, all from different countries, all bound and charged with the world’s wishes- to travel the land and free it from the terror of monsters and demons- and be seen doing so.

  Daniel had been offered up by the Tower of Ashes as the next Sage, since his communion with the Constellations was unparalleled out of all of them. Unfortunately, there was no accounting for his attitude- the Ashen didn’t revere one Constellation, they revered them all, and as such were eccentric and prone to flights of whimsy.

  *****

  Alessandra found Daniel in his room working at a painter’s easel, dabbing at something with his brush.

  “Hi.” She offered by way of greeting.

  Daniel didn’t look up from his work. “You know, I’m not trying to be difficult.” He blinked a few times at the incomprehensible ideograms he’d written, and then got up and went over to his bed, where he stared down thoughtfully at a few other canvasses.

  “I just see things differently from you, I suppose.” He offered. “A mine filled with skeletons doesn’t need the unrestrained might of the Hero’s Party, the Demon Lord’s army does.” He picked up a purplish gem from his bed, and tossed it to her.

  “Catch.”

  She jolted and lunged for it. She barely caught it in her gloved hands, and immediately wished she’d dropped it. It radiated a slick foul feeling, and thin strands of miasma leaked from it.

  “What... is it?” She asked, a disgusted look on her face.

  “It was what created the undead in the mines. It needs to be purified by someone with Holy Power.” He ran his hand through his hair and flicked it away. Like every other Ashen Mage, his hair was silvery gray, the color of ash.

  He sighed. “I’ve run every test I can think of on it during the past hour, and all I can say is that it doesn’t belong here.”

  She filled herself with Sinhilde’s grace and gripped the stone in her hand, feeling the Holy Power press itself against the tainted gemstone.

  “It doesn’t belong here?” She asked.

  He nodded. “That leads me to the next thing: if it doesn’t belong here, someone put it here.” He picked up the canvas he was working on and set it next to one of the others. He nodded at whatever it was he saw, and then stuffed the canvasses one by one into his Magic Bag.

  The gem flashed for a moment as it was purified, and when the light faded, the two of them beheld a perfectly clear crystal.

  “I think it’s prettier that way.” He decided.

  “Someone... put it in the mines.” She mused. She had dark hair and green eyes, something that he often commented on as being incredibly alluring to him.

  He nodded. “Either a demon managed to slip through the blockade, or the Demon Lord has human collaborators.” He finally looked up at her, and she saw the distress on his face.

  “Neither of these things brings me peace. You should tell Athos.”

  She nodded in agreement. “Are those canvases... some sort of... spell?” She asked.

  He shook his head and tossed his ash-colored hair over his shoulder.

  “It’s just poetry. Poetry in a language older than we are.”

  “Sometimes you don’t make any sense, Daniel.” She offered, a touch frustrated.

  “You might think poorly of me for saying this, but... Do you mind?” He asked, and pointed to the chair at the simple table. She set the crystal down on the table and took a seat.

  “I believe that Sinhilde brought the world into being and breathed life into all its inhabitants, though I bet Sellini would be shocked to hear such an admission from me.” He trailed off. “Or not. The Ashen have always had a reputation of being... insane, and belief in Sinhilde goes against the Constellations... in theory.”

  She folded her hands in her lap.

  “We acknowledge her. She did her job well. But for the Ashen... well, while the Goddess may have created everything, it was the Constellations that gave us poetry. That’s what we believe.”

  Alessandra eyed her silver-haired, blue-eyed interlocutor with a touch of sourness, of anger. She was a Paladin, someone that dedicated her life to stamping out evil in all its forms, and here was a man- a man she was fond of, true- but a man that was blaspheming, nonetheless.

  Their slow, tentative courtship was something the party liked to gently tease them about, but would that hesitant, awkward bond survive his blasphemy?

  There was an uneasy truce between the Mage Towers and the Church. It was a fragile and tenuous truce, as delicate as spun glass.

  “Please be careful of your words, Daniel. You’re making me angry.” She warned.

  He nodded. “I imagine so. I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.”

  She gave him a wry look. “Buy me dinner tonight, and I may forgive you.” she offered, trying to smooth it over. If he could forgive her, she should try to forgive him.

  He laughed. “A reasonable offer.”

  A chime rang in the air.

  “No doubt it’s Athos, come to curse me out yet again. I always manage to upset the man.”

  He gestured indifferently, and the door opened, revealing Athos and Sellini.

  “Ah, a bargain.” Daniel offered with a smile. “Come in, the two of you. We need to talk. I was about to play some Music of the Stars.”

  All three of them- Allessandra, Athos, and Sellini frowned.

  Music of the Stars sounded wonderful- sublime, even- to those touched by magic, and those that were at the peak of their craft held Starsong as the pinnacle of music.

  But to those that had been steeped in the Holy, in the Church, it was a loud, discordant weight of trashy noise that made no sense and grated on the senses.

  “We’re not here for your... music.” Athos stated flatly. “But you’re right- we do need to talk. Effective immediately, you are no longer a member of the Hero’s Party.”