Into the Hells

by Christopher Johns

  So we would go talk to him after we finished the pie.

  I like pie, man. Leave me be.

  Though before leaving, I pricked my own finger with my right hand to show them I was cool.

  Once we were finished, everyone but Bokaj and Balmur decided to head over and see Questis. They stayed for the next round of ‘observations’ while the rest of us went to see if the Druid was open to being our mouse to catch these snakes.

  These treatments for Balmur would end soon, and we would be able to take him home. At least to Sunrise and let him see everyone. It would be nice. We could get him some better gear, even though he was a higher level than all of us.

  We walked the multi-colored crystal hallways with impunity now, King Telfino having had to order his guards to leave us the hell alone after some of them had detained Jaken and Muu for training together.

  When we came to Questis’ quarters, we found a strange person standing in deep brown robes with their hood up. Next to them stood Shellica.

  “About time we met again, lad,” Shellica greeted us warmly. The figure just stood statue still as we moved forward. “It’s alright, Zell. They’re good folk—personal friends of my clan. They won’t treat you differently.”

  The figure spoke then, “If you say so, then, Shell.”

  They reached a gloved hand up and swept the hood of their cloak back, and I saw an older version of Questis, but the man’s skin was gray like Yohsuke’s—his eyes a hauntingly beautiful silver color and his hair a shaggy brown close to his cloak’s coloring which hung down past his shoulders.

  I nodded to the man before sweeping Shellica into a bear hug, stealthily pricking her shoulder, “Ouch! You blasted thing, let me down!”

  She was Shellica all right. I then reached out to the cloaked figure but his hands were covered by gloves.

  “Hey, Zell!” Yohsuke grinned and stepped forward to shake the other man’s hand.

  “Ah, Yohsuke, tell me how the weapon did for you.” Zell’s eyebrows shot up, and he seemed to instantly forget about the rest of us.

  “Perfectly, but I did notice a wavering in the astral. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to take a look at it?”

  “Please, show me.” Yohsuke complied to Zell’s request, pulling the weapon from the strap on his hip.

  The weapon was artfully made, and thanks to my own fighting, I hadn’t been able to look at it in detail before. The hilt was essentially a normal looking sword hilt with a small cross guard to protect the which, but the weird part to me was that in the center of the weapon was a metal bar that was shaped like a sword but it was thinner, almost like a rapier, and short as well.

  Yohsuke gripped his weapon and breathed out at the same time the weapon sprung to life. The astral warped out from the base of the cross guard and curled around it to engulf the full thing past the top of the center bar by more than a foot and a half. The whole thing looked kind of like a laser sword, and I was so jealous.

  He took a few steps toward the unoccupied space behind us and began to take the weapon through a series of swings, chops, and thrusts. At certain points, the blade did seem to flicker slightly while he was bringing the weapon up from a lower position.

  “Stop. I know what the issue is, and it’s a simple fix.” Zell stepped forward to take the weapon from Yohsuke.

  Taking a set of tools out from his inventory in a tightly rolled bundle, he sat the weapon on the table and then took a seat in front of it. He took his gloves off, the long sheaths of leather folding next to the makeshift workstation.

  “You don’t have to break it, do you?” I asked, more than a little concerned about the loss of his craftsmanship.

  “Whatever gave you that idea?” Zell looked at me, horrified.

  “Well, because Questis had done that to look into Yoh’s first adaptor,” I explained a little less worried now.

  The gray-skinned Elf held a steadying hand to his head. “I will be having a chat with my savage little brother about his care of weapons. Thank you, Master Erebos” He turned his focus back to the item before him. “Now, I need quiet, so please hold your questions, comments and observations until after I finish. Thank you.”

  Over the course of a few seconds, he took a small saw out and began to carve through the glue that held the leather on to the hilt near the pommel in seconds. Taking a couple minutes after that, he worked the leather strips off in quickening succession. He must have found his stride.

  He took what looked like a wand and began to carve through the side of the bared portion of metal just below the cross guard, and with a pop, the metal released to show a crystal inside.

  “Shellica, look at this and see if you can tell me what the issue is,” Zell ordered softly.

  The Dwarven enchanter walked over to the desk and peered inside, lifting the weapon and turning it to and fro. “The crystal isn’t seated properly, and it looks like the only thing keeping it in is the minor rune on the inside of the setting and the sheer size of the crystal.”

  Zell’s lips curled into a soft smile. “Correct. How do we get the crystal seated then? Explain as you go about it.”

  She motioned to the tools, and Zell stood to allow her to sit down.

  “First, we slightly heat the metal of the improperly bent prong in the setting. Then we slightly hammer it back to allow the crystal to fall in.” Shellica took a small tool that looked like it had a weirdly hooked hammer head on it and began to gently tap the cherry red prong toward her. “The crystal will then fall into place thanks to the purified rune of holding. Then we re-heat and tap the prong into place, ensuring at the same time not to strike the crystal and conforming it to the facets.”

  As she worked, Zell closed his eyes, his ears shifting slightly like a dog’s might. He frowned. “You struck the crystal, Shellica. Do be more considerate, please.”

  “Yes, sir,” Shellica responded calmly. She refocused on her work, and I had to admit, while it was good to see the tables turned, it made me realize how much of a dick I had been in venting my frustration on her during my own training.

  As she finished, she held the item out to Zell for him to inspect.

  “This is wonderful work—Dwarven artisanal work is as superb as I recall,” He pointed to a minuscule blemish on the crystal itself. “This can be fixed, but it is something to always be mindful of. A crack or chip in a mana crystal like this could explode and kill someone of Yohsuke’s strength and mana depth.”

  “I will be more careful in the future, Zell. Thank you.” Shellica nodded to him as she stood and relinquished her seat so that he could focus on putting the item back together.

  That process was much simpler and a damn sight faster as well. After putting something on to the blemish, the opening was sealed with some kind of putty that melded with the metal perfectly. He applied a bit of strong adhesive glue to the metal as he perfectly rewound the leather about the hilt once more.

  He handed the weapon back to Yohsuke, who went through the same motions, but there was no flicker this time.

  “Hey, thanks, you guys!” Yohsuke grinned happily.

  Before Zell could put his gloves back on, I crossed the distance between us and grasped his hand, my nails digging into the back of his in my ‘excitement’.

  “That’s some amazing work, Zell. Have room for another apprentice?” I asked hopefully as I noted his demeanor only changed to that of an annoyed Elf when I touched him.

  He lifted my Fae Iron hand in front of us and blinked at me with his silver eyes deadpan as he asked, “How did this come about then?”

  I blushed fiercely but ducked my head. “I got cocky and took on an enchanting project I shouldn’t have. I’m glad that this was the worst of the damage, and that I was the one worse off.”

  “This was born of a carelessness that would cost you and possibly many others their lives.” I had no doubts that he didn’t need the exact details to know what he stated was the truth. “No. I cannot have such a reckless person under my tutelage in suc
h a precise and exacting art.”

  He dropped my hand then, leaving me feeling more than a little defeated and embarrassed.

  “It is nothing personal, young one, but I cannot accept any but a grandmaster in the craft in the best of times, and the only other I have taught of less than grandmaster rank was an especially gifted and studious child. She was a wonderful student.” He broke from his small reverie and blinked at me again. “I assume that you still have Shellica to teach you so that you never make that same mistake again, but what she decides that you are ready to know is up to her and her esteem of you.”

  “He’s a good student when he doesn’t have his head lodged up his furry arse.” Shellica beamed at me, but I saw a new emotion under her teasing.

  Anger. She was angry with me. I’d have to weather that later.

  “Do you guys know where Questis would be?” Jaken asked, seeing the tension beginning to go above what he was comfortable with.

  “We had been wondering for ourselves that same thing, actually.” Shellica scratched her head and looked around. “There are so many components strewn about here that it’s making me want to enchant things. Come here, lad. Let me take a look at that contraption attached to you.”

  I did as she requested, and she grabbed it roughly. It didn’t hurt really, but I still grunted. “Ow, you old bat!”

  Her eyes whipped to my face, and her grip became crushing as she pulled me down toward her where she whispered harshly, “You learned a hard lesson, lad—harder still if ye think that it’s over. Should you ever put ye’self in danger from lack of forethought for enchantin’ again, I will beat yer hide until yer hide is as blue as yer eyes, and I’ll nae teach ye again after. Think lad. Think. Use that lump three feet above yer arse.”

  Thoroughly chastised, I could see the worry in her features, and I answered her, “Yes, ma’am.”

  She slapped my cheek and turned her attention to the arm once more, “This craftsmanship is unrivaled, and the enchantment like things I’ve never seen. Where did you get this?”

  “Queen Maebe called in a favor so that an enchanter she knows would make it.” I flexed the arm and waggled the fingers for her to show her the range it had—how it was just like the hand I had lost.

  “Cost you dearly, then with that experience cost, and I hear the one who made this is teaching Vilmas?”

  “She’s a grandmaster now!” Muu squealed excitedly.

  “Oh, aye? Well, I always knew she had it in her.” Shellica smiled proudly. “Just needed to break out of her shell is all.”

  “What are all of you doing here at once?” A disheveled-looking Questis shuffled into the room. “Brother, friends. How may I help you?”

  I stepped closer to him, and as soon as I did, I wondered, “Where’s Fern?”

  Questis looked confused a moment. “Fern? He’s out getting some supplies for me from vendors.”

  Unless all the vendors could speak to animals, how would they know what he needed to collect? And Questis hadn’t had the neatest office, but this was still messier than the norm.

  Might have a Dofilnarr here, guys, I warned the others.

  Do what you have to, man. We got the enchanters taken care of. Jaken stepped forward with a smile. “We were actually here about the festival in a couple days. We wanted to know if you could help us with a surprise for the city.”

  “Oh?” He looked genuinely interested. The evil bastard. “What is that?”

  I closed in on him casually, as though I was going to hand him something out of my pocket, and when I was about to drop this ‘thing’ into his open hand, I sliced down as swiftly as I could, bloodying the offered hand.

  The fur on the back of my neck raised, and I ducked just beneath an astral weapon of some kind. I shifted into my fox form to avoid another swipe.

  “Would you stop trying to kill someone in my apartments, Zell?!” Questis bellowed as he held his injured hand to him. It glowed with golden energy. “Thank you, Jaken.”

  “He injured you, Questis. That was malicious and uncalled for!” Zell growled as he stalked after me. My friends stepping in front of him.

  I shifted back and looked to my friends. “No change?”

  James shook his head, and Muu pointed toward my six. “Duck.”

  I sighed and ducked as the attack sliced a bit of the excess fur from my right ear tip.

  “We’re cool, Zell. I’m not trying to hurt anyone. We’re on a quest from the King.” That got him to stop, but his weapon stayed activated.

  “Speak,” the gray Elf ordered.

  “We need to be sure we’re not heard,” Yohsuke stopped me.

  Zell muttered some kind of incantation, and James was on top of him as he finished, just in case. A small dome the size of a tent appeared in front of him, and James smacked it, sailing through and losing his balance.

  “Come in, and be quick about it.” Zell’s head poked outside the thing, and we wandered inside. “This is a dome of peace and solitude. A spell of my own design so that I can work silently. We hear dulled noises from outside, but nothing can hear us outside from in here. Speak.”

  And I did. We told them about the Dofilnarr and how we were trying to help stop people from being taken. We left Maebe’s predicament out. Didn’t know if these guys were team Unseelie or not, and I wouldn’t risk that.

  He blinked at me before asking, “What?”

  “You look disheveled, the place is a mess.” I motioned around us. “You okay?”

  “It was Fern who did this. The naughty little thing has been acting up because he felt slighted over your last visit.”

  That did sound like Fern. The little asshat.

  “Let me venture a guess—you wish for me to be the bait in this trap?” Questis asked as he ran his hand through his hair.

  “Pretty much,” Muu replied indelicately.

  Leave it to the fuckin’ Dragon in the room to be brutish about things.

  “Okay, I will assist you as King Telfino has offered himself in service to this quest.” Questis looked to his brother. “And you, Zell? You required?”

  “I was coming to see how you were and to adequately introduce you to Shellica. She was taken before I could do so previously. She has many Dwarven techniques for gem craft and accessories that we do not. I thought you might like to speak with her at length about these kinds of things as a fellow enchanter.”

  Questis considered the spoken meanings and seemed to find them amiable. “I would be delighted to sit and discuss things over a meal, if you would be willing, lady Shellica?”

  “I would be happy to, Questis,” Shellica agreed. “What is this plan then, lads?”

  “The less people who know, the safer it will be,” Jaken advised wisely. “It’s bad enough we have to put others in harm's way for this, but our options on rooting these guys out are limited.”

  “That’s noble of you, but these are my people, predilections toward my parentage aside. I will assist in their defense.” Zell raised his head in challenge, and it was Questis who took it up.

  “Brother, you can help in your own way. Keep an eye out for things that we cannot. You remember the item you had been working on that detected portals?” Zell nodded with an uncertain look on his face. “We need you to work on that and see if there is anywhere that a portal has been opened within the city. Specifically, one to the Fae Realm. Can you do that?”

  “I will assist you,” Shellica stated. It was fact. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

  Good for her, and their doing that would keep them out of harm’s way. Hopefully.

  Hey—she might have just threatened me, but I didn’t want her to be in any kind of danger. That threat had come from a good place.

  “That’s fine, so long as you are safe—we’re cool,” James spoke before I could. “And so far as your role, Questis, the king and Zeke will fill you in tomorrow when they meet.”

  “Thank you, I look forward to my role and will prepare in any way that I can.” Q
uestis bowed his head slightly, then clapped. “Ah, Fern, I trust the vendors found the note unsullied by your drooling?”

  I turned to see the great cat sauntering into the room with a basket of components and crystals in it. The cat dropped it and growled, “You think your insult is clever, Elf? I will have my vengeance upon you.”

  “Such a wonderful kitty,” the High Elf spoke to the rest of us as if the cat had no clue.

  I snickered and heard the cat growl menacingly, “Druids.” He walked away in disgust.

  The rest of the day was spent in a blur of plotting, enchanting, and more enchanting.

  Questis was a hard but understanding instructor.

  “Your will and intent are good. Your mana control needs work, but you will have plenty of time for that.” He looked over the sheet of metal I had used to practice the engraving I wanted to use on it. “Your engraving is… interesting. Why do you not use runes?”

  “Uh, because I don’t know any?” I replied uncertainly.

  His head tilted to the side in a surprisingly cat-like gesture. “How do you engrave then? Simply by pictures and will?”

  I nodded and motioned to my gear.

  “How delightful.” The Druid leaned closer to the item in front of him. “I could teach you some rudimentary runes, but at your level, incorporating them without formal training to understand the meanings could be a compromising situation that I do not believe you want to be in. Maybe when you are of adept or possibly even master level and have the time to commit to such a study.”

  “That would be nice, but what’s the difference to having runes as opposed to having the small pictographs I use now?”

  “To be succinct?” He raised an eyebrow. “Strength. A properly laid rune in a sentence form or even a Prime one would enhance your enchantments exponentially, but that is an Elven art that most do not know. Even Shellica was surprised, but she has proven an apt pupil under my brother’s tutelage, and I can see her picking up runecraft very quickly.”

  “Yeah, she’s a badass.” I smiled at the memory of her teaching me—then shivered. “She’s a hardass too.”