by Tamryn Tamer
“Quit teasing the familiars,” Raven said as the entire room went cold with murderous intent. Jinx used the opportunity to quickly take the seat next to Raven and smiled triumphantly as Ariel ended up several seats away from Jericho. Raven looked at Terra, “So, I suppose we should start with the reports from the warmaster and spymaster. What’s happening?”
Jinx adjusted herself until she was comfortable. The meetings were always long and boring. Half of the time she fell asleep before the end but recently the others kept her on her toes. They were all proving their value to their master and she had to do the same.
“I’m honestly not sure,” Terra answered while looking through the various reports Mirage had given her. “A ton of resources are being transported to Grim’s stronghold in the east but the spy networks haven’t figured out exactly what’s going on.”
“Don’t blame my networks,” Mirage said judgmentally. Jinx perked up hoping for another fight to break out between Mirage and the slutty elf. “They’ve provided you with plenty of useful information. Unlike your army which never seems to capture anybody of value.”
“I’m not blaming your spies,” the slutty elf groaned. “All I’m saying is that there are large convoys of raw materials all being funneled to Grim’s main base.”
“What kind of materials?” Jericho asked.
“No idea,” Terra said. “That’s part of the problem. I have a full list here but…”
“He’s mixing in his real shipment with other items,” Raven said grabbing the paper from Terra’s hands. “He knows all we’d have to do is capture a convoy to find out what he’s transporting. So, half the convoy or more is made up of decoy items.”
“Ooh, you’re so smart,” Diana said cheerfully. “But this is boring. Can we get onto the new dungeons? My raiders cleared all the ones from last week.”
“There’s a process,” Raven glared at the scaly red woman.
“The process is boring,” Diana grumbled. “How do you even know he’s mixing in decoy items anyway? You’re just assuming it. Maybe the list of items there is the real list.”
“Owl was an officer in Endgame,” Raven answered while pulling out a pen and underlying items on the parchment. “That means he was familiar with how we transported goods. If merchants found out we were buying a lot of a single resource, they’d try to figure out what we were making and then corner the market on one of the raw materials. To prevent that we started mixing in decoy purchases.”
“Maybe this will help,” Mirage smiled as she handed Raven a scroll. “It was a recent acquisition from one of my spies in Amber Hawks.”
“And why wasn’t it in the documents you gave me?” Terra looked at Mirage judgmentally. Jinx smiled excitedly expecting a fight to break out any second.
“Oh,” Mirage smirked. “You asked for a list of everything being transported so that’s what I gave you. Raven on the other hand,” Mirage started while walking behind Raven and began massaging her shoulders. “She’s so much smarter than you.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Raven laughed while shooing Mirage off her. “Don’t use me for your weird sex games.”
“You’re one to judge,” Terra mumbled under her breath. A good portion of the room stifled their laughter at the comment, Jinx included. Raven’s regular sessions with Cynthia were anything but a secret.
“Save it,” Jericho said authoritatively. “All that matters is that we have the information.”
“Interesting,” Raven said as she compared the parchments. “Star Ruby, Blood Diamonds, Red Lotus, Crimson Mantis, Sun Citrine, lots of gemstones here and rare flower. All…”
“Gemstones? Thieves. Bandits.” Jinx perked up excitedly at the thought of increasing her stockpile. Her hoard had grown to an impressive size but even she didn’t have very many of those particular gems. They were exceedingly rare and her selfish master refused to buy them for her except on special occasions.
“Hm,” Eberis grumbled while grinning. “That’s not good.”
“You don’t look too concerned,” Terra said as Eberis beamed. Jinx was happy to know she wasn’t the only one who found his expression odd. “What’s going on with you.”
“I’m high,” Eberis waived his hand. “It’s a long story, well, no, it’s not. I mean, I was visiting somebody and I drank some special wine and this just happens.”
“Sounds like some good wine,” Diana said excitedly. “You should have brought some for us.”
“I’ll consider it,” Eberis said. “But back to the point at hand, he’s gathering materials for a grand summon.”
“A grand summon,” Jericho smiled. Jinx was inclined to agree. It’d been a while since she fought anything really powerful. “It sounds exciting.”
“Yeah,” Eberis said. “Here’s the problem. A grand summon can be used to summon a Primordial. Primordials are bad. Well, not bad…they just are.”
“They’re like darkness,” Sable said. “It’s not as though it’s evil or good, it just is. Primordials are the embodiment of that power.”
“Exactly,” Eberis nodded.
“He’s probably trying to summon a familiar,” Jericho said. “He already has a dark familiar. He’s likely trying to summon a familiar he doesn’t have or something that can destroy me. If you wanted to kill me, what Primordial would you summon?”
“Me?” Eberis paused for a second and then clenched his teeth. “Eh, that would be bad. You’re immortal so if I wanted to actually get rid of you, I’d have no choice but to summon the Primordial of death. He’s the only one that could permanently erase you.”
“Dad doesn’t require a contract,” Morgana added. “He can rip your soul out by force.”
“Dad?” Jericho asked as the entire room grew quiet.
“Well,” Morgana shrugged. “I’m a reaper. All reapers are children of death. But if my dad is summoned into this realm, he won’t stop with you. He will kill everything and leave.”
“Does Owl know that?” Terra chuckled nervously.
“He might,” Jericho said pensively. “If everybody in the world is killed, what do you think happens?”
“A restart,” Raven said knowingly. “He gets a chance to start over from scratch.”
Jinx glanced around the room at the other familiars and they were just as confused as her. If they died, they died. But it wasn’t unusual for Jericho and the other immortals to talk about confusing things in their presence.
“Okay,” Terra grumbled. “Let’s assume that Owl has decided to flip the gameboard over. Is there anything we can do to stop a Primordial of death?”
“Do you know any immortals?” Morgana asked.
“Right here,” Sable raised her hand. “All Nyxians are…”
“Oh,” Morgana laughed. “No, no, no. Nyxian’s aren’t immortal. I mean actual immortals. Not to be confused with immortals like Jericho either who come back to life when they’re killed. Eberis, you know what I’m talking about, right?”
“Immortals are people who can use both life and death magic,” Eberis answered. “And no. The only immortals I’m aware of are the ones they call game masters.”
“Like Machiavel!” Luna said excitedly. “Jericho. Do you think if you did that really dangerous thing again you could get him to pop in?”
“Jericho,” Terra said anxiously. “You know a game master?”
“I’ve met a game master,” Jericho shrugged. “I wouldn’t say I know him.”
“Interesting,” Raven smiled.
“We don’t need him though.” Jericho got that stupid lecherous look he always got when he was thinking of acquiring a new familiar. “All we need is a life magic user. Who knows one?”
“I believe if any of us knew a life magic user we would have told you,” Sable said politely. “I haven’t found any references to life magic in any of my research. Even death magic only comes up in mythology.”
“Goddammit,” Eberis banged his head on the table. “No, no, no. Ew. No. Gross. Ew. Fuck. Ew. Ew.
Ew. No. No. No. You know what, we’ve had a good run. Let’s just let the world end.”
“You know a life magic user,” Jericho smiled. “Why don’t you want me to, oh. Valaria. The goddess you won’t tell me about no matter how much I ask you. It’s her isn’t it? Do you have a crush on her or something and don’t want me near her?”
“Ah! Ew! Fuck! No!” Eberis snapped furiously. “No! I do not like her!”
“I don’t know,” Raven smiled. “That’s an awful lot of protesting.”
“Eberis,” Morgana said pointedly. “It is not just your soul you’re talking about. It’s the soul of every one of your followers. Every woman in your temple. Do they really mean so little to you that you’d let them all die?”
“I’m not letting them die,” Eberis said. “If you go now you can probably stop Owl from summoning the Primordial. Problem solved. In the meantime, I’ll look for another life magic user. Somebody more suitable.”
“Except he’ll try again and again,” Jericho answered.
“You have a responsibility to your followers,” Jinx growled at the spineless golden-haired god. “It’s your job to take care of them. Coward. Chicken.”
“Fine!” Eberis snapped. “Valaria is the goddess of life. Happy?”
“And where can I find her?” Jericho asked.
“She’s locked up in a golden castle floating over the middle of the ocean,” Eberis grumbled. “Only one person can enter the castle and you need a special key to enter it. Fuck! Fuck all of this!”
“I don’t understand why you’re so upset,” Morgana said. “This is a good thing.”
“Because,” Eberis paused and cringed. “Never mind. I don’t want to fucking talk about it. I’m going to throw up in my mouth a little just thinking about it. Let’s just rip the fucking band-aid off. Fuck!”
“Oh,” Luna hopped up. “Does that mean we’re going somewhere?”
“I only have one key,” Eberis said. “So only Jericho will be able to go inside of the castle. You can all come along but you’ll all be sitting outside waiting for him.”
“Oh,” Luna glanced at Mai and Riseva. “Well, I suppose I had something more fun to do anyway.”
“Like plan a party!” Ariel said excitedly. “If Jericho’s going to come back with another familiar...”
“Fuck!” Eberis snapped. “Gross. Please, stop talking about it. I just want to get this over with.”
“Are you okay?” Theia asked politely. “You look like you’re about to be sick. Would you like me to get you some medicine?”
“No,” Eberis said while opening a dark portal in the middle of the room. “Medicine isn’t going to help. I just want to get this done and over with.”
“Okay,” Jericho laughed while hopping up from his seat. “Then let’s get started. The rest of you stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”
Jinx smiled maliciously as her master and Eberis both vanished into the portal. She glanced around the room at the assembled familiars and spread her spirit energy out to detect even the slightest movement.
“Oh god,” Terra grumbled. “Not again. Don’t you fucking dare!”
“Get them! Mutts! Mongrels!” Jinx roared as the spectral wolves rushed to capture their targets. She was going to be first wife, even if she had to secure the votes by force.
“Haha!” Diana laughed while jumping away from the fray. “It’s so much fun here.”
“This is your fault you know,” Raven said to Cynthia as the dark fairy watched the scene.
“I do as my queen commands,” Cynthia smirked. “Just like you.”
“Dammit,” Raven blushed as Jinx and the spectral wolves attempted to capture the others. “Okay, let’s let them wear themselves out before we get involved again.”
“Good plan,” Terra nodded.
Chapter 5
The Golden Castle
“This is the place?” Jericho looked at the gaudy golden castle sitting on a platform over a sea of clouds. He opened his map and saw he was in the center of the ocean. The sun’s light reflecting off the castle blinded him. “God it’s ugly.”
“I know,” Eberis said. “I’m not the one that designed it.”
“Obviously,” Jericho said as they walked down a long narrow path toward the front door. There was one massive black door covered in magical runes. “Weird door.”
“Because it’s not a door,” Eberis answered. “It’s a portal. Well, not really a portal. You put your hand on it, it teleports you inside. But you need a key for it to work and I only have one.”
“So, hand it over,” Jericho said while holding out his hand.
“There are conditions,” Eberis said while tightly gripping his small silver ring. “If you want me to give you the key you have to promise to adhere to them.”
“I can just make you give me the ring,” Jericho smirked.
“No,” Eberis shook his head. “But there are worse things to live with than that annoying discomfort that comes with disobeying an order from the person with my soul.”
“Okay,” Jericho said suddenly intrigued. “What are your conditions.”
“The first and most important condition is that you absolutely do not tell me what happens inside of the castle,” Eberis said while wincing. “I just don’t want to know.”
“Why?” Jericho asked pensively. “I mean…”
“I don’t want to get into it,” Eberis interrupted. “I don’t want to talk about why. I don’t even want to be here. Even talking about why makes me think about why I don’t want to know. So, don’t ask me why. Is it that hard?”
“Alright,” Jericho laughed anxiously. “No details. I go in. I come out. I pretend like this trip never happened. I can do that.”
“Good,” Eberis nodded. “The second condition. You promise not to hurt Valaria. No matter what. I don’t care what she does. I don’t care if she’s about to bring about the end of the world and murder all of your familiars in the process. You will not hurt her.”
“Really?” Jericho was actually insulted by that demand. “I should punch you in the cock just for suggesting that. But I promise I won’t hurt her.”
“Final condition,” Eberis said. “If Valaria decides to become your fa…” Eberis gagged and shook his head. “If she decides to be your fa…”
“Are you alright?” Jericho asked as the god turned away. “Are you sick?”
“Getting there,” Eberis answered. “Familiar,” Eberis blurted out before he could choke on his words again. “If she becomes that. You need to treat her nice and make her happy.”
“Is that what this is about?” Jericho laughed as he realized why Eberis was so grossed out. “Why are you so worried about her? Is Terra right? Because it sounds like you’re…”
“Don’t even fucking say it,” Eberis heaved. “She’s my sister.”
“Oh!” Jericho laughed as everything came together. “Now it makes sense! You’re worried about me fucking your sister!”
“What!” Eberis responded furiously as Jericho felt a surge of power unlike anything he ever felt before. The sea of clouds turned dark red electricity began flickering through them. “You do not use that word when discussing my sister! That is my sister and you will show her respect!”
“So,” Jericho chuckled anxiously as he felt the electricity surging in the air around him. “Make love? You’re concerned about me, loving your sister?”
“Ew, ew, ew,” Eberis tensed and the clouds began to settle. “I told you I don’t want to hear about it!”
“Wait a minute,” Jericho scoffed. “Gods sleep with their…”
“Not this god!” Eberis responded. “It’s so gross!”
“Got it,” Jericho stifled his laughter. “No details, never hurt her, if she wants to be my familiar do my best to make her happy.”
“I didn’t say anything about doing your best,” Eberis growled as the clouds darkened again. “You will. Or I will rain down…”
“Got it,” Jericho nodded.
“No details, never hurt her, make her happy.”
“Good,” Eberis said handing him the key. “I’ll be waiting at the platform.”
“As far away from the castle as possible, huh?” Jericho grinned and gestured at the walls. “How thick are these walls by the way? And are they sound proof?”
“Fuck off Jericho,” Eberis said as he walked away. “Fuck right off.”
“Will do,” Jericho laughed as he put the small silver ring on his finger and pressed his hand to the door.
He felt a shock through his body as he appeared inside of a large nearly empty windowless room covered in mirrors. All of the furniture surrounded a king-sized bed in the center of the room. It seemed everything was set up to maximize the space for mirrors on the wall.
“Hm?” An auburn-haired woman head popped up from inside of a pile of blankets. She had dark brown eyes, pointed ears, and thin pink lips that curled into an excited smile. She definitely didn’t look like she was related to Eberis. “Jericho?”
“Valaria?” Jericho asked pensively.
“Uh-huh,” Valaria nodded excitedly while looking around the room. She struggled for several seconds inside of the pile of blankets to free a long slender arm and stared at her fingers. “Everybody says that you need to pinch yourself to see if your dreaming but personally I prefer to look at my hands. If I’m dreaming, they look funny. One, two, three, four, five. All there. Can you hold up your hand? Sometimes it’s not enough to see my own.”
“Okay,” Jericho said holding up five fingers.
“One, two, three, four, five,” Valaria repeated. “I’m not dreaming! It really is you!”
“Yes,” Jericho chuckled as the woman struggled against the pile of blankets she’d wrapped herself in. “I don’t know how to proceed here.”
“One second,” Valaria said while freeing a second arm and finally squirming from the blankets. As she emerged from her fluffy cocoon, she quickly straightened her hair and adjusted the straps on her white baby doll. “Normally Eberis looks away during this part. Well, technically he has his eyes closed when he arrives and asks if I’m decent.”