“This is going to take ages to fix...Memo to myself, never ever go to the Platroix Nebula again. Perrault, make sure to remind me of that.”
There was no answering bark.
“Perrault! Heel, girl!”
The wolf did not appear. Priestess reached inside her hood and paced around the room, muttering about the possible things that could block or sever a familiar’s bond. She walked past Basilard and said, “Mr. Bladi, would you mind tracking my familiar using my blood?”
Before Basilard could reply, she gasped and bonked herself on the head.
“Of course you mind! You’re about to do that thing I can’t tell you about because of the person whose name I’m not supposed to mention. That is the correct year, isn’t it?”
She bonked herself again.
“I can’t ask you that; you have no idea what I’m talking about. I’m sorry to trouble you. Thank you for your time.”
She bowed to him and then left through a nearby wall. Before Basilard could fully process and become confused by that, the elf tumbled back through the wall. Then a second, identical priestess stepped through the wall accompanied by a wolf.
“Perrault!” the first girl exclaimed. “Does this mean I found her?”
“No, I found her,” the second girl explained. “Well, we found her. We, that is, you and her got separated when crossing through the Second Tree Ring Nexus. You crashed here, but she was swept away into another world fruit.”
“That would explain why she can’t hear me,” said the first girl.
“Right,” the second girl said, “so you need to go the World Fruit Senotlil with a horseshoe and knitting needles to trade for an access pass into the petting zoo on the planet Absercan where she’s being held. Make sure you avoid eye contact with the children because it will link them to your soul.”
“Got it,” the first girl said. “When I’m done there, I’ll come back here and tell me what you just told me because by then I will be you.”
Future Priestess sighed and smiled. “It’s so nice that I’m used to this by now.”
Present Priestess nodded. “That first time was a catastrophe.”
The two of them did a secret handshake and the first pet the wolf before walking through the wall again. The second one remained with the wolf, and she walked to Basilard. Bowing, she said, “I’m sorry for ignoring you earlier. I don’t think straight when my familiar is missing.” She rubbed Perrault behind her ears and the wolf wagged her tail. “I have good news and bad news. Which one would you like first?”
Basilard shrugged.
“Bad news it is, then. I can’t help you right now. What I didn’t tell my past self just now was that rescuing Perrault was a lot more complicated than simply going to a petting zoo. I’m a year older than her, or at least I think I am; it’s hard to keep track these days. Anyway, I know what’s going to happen next and you’re not going to like it.”
“Then why hint about it?” Basilard asked.
“Because I’m going to give you vague and general but still helpful advice,” Priestess said. “That’s all I can do without changing the timeline. Timelines don’t like changing. It causes wonkiness. This attracts attention from both Authority Time and Order himself. There is one event I really want to change, so I have to step lightly with the others or I’ll jeopardize my chances. I can’t tell you what this event is because that would set off an avalanche of alternative possibilities that I’m not prepared or willing to wrangle. Does this make sense so far?”
“No,” Basilard said.
“Good enough,” Priestess said. “I want you to be honest with your next actions. It won’t be easy and it won’t be pleasant, but it’s the best way to chart the coming future. I will make sure that everybody survives, or at least as many people as I can. You have my word as Priestess.”
She turned away but stopped when Basilard cleared his throat. She looked over her shoulder in confusion, and then she blinked.
“Oh right! You want the good news.”
Basilard nodded.
“Ax has become your father-in-law!”
Basilard’s eyes bugged out at the implications of this sentence.
“Arf!”
“Oh, that’s right. That was just a possible future, and there are a lot of other ways that event can unfold. In that case, the good news is that you yourself don’t become a grandfather. No time spent beating away hormonal teenage boys with sticks. Then again, that means that your line ends...so I suppose...the good news is that...uh... you have us on your side!”
“Arf!”
Basilard dropped his head.
“I know, I know, it doesn’t inspire much confidence, but it should. I saved this whole world fruit one time! I’d tell you about it, but it would take four weeks and someone else is coming in one minute. I will see you soon. Come, Perrault.”
“Arf!”
This second Priestess and her wolf walked through the wall. Two seconds later, she walked back in and admired a work of art that survived the fire. Perrault snapped up a mouthful of skirt and dragged her away from it. She laughed nervously and followed her familiar back through the wall. To the confused clerics, Basilard said, “The girlfriend of one of my students is time traveling randomly as a side effect of invoking Lady Chaos. I don’t understand what she’s talking about either.”
They nodded and the group moved on as it did before she arrived. The door to the Fire Sage’s office was left ajar but Cremia knocked regardless.
“Your Holiness? Basilard Bladi has a request to ask of you.”
A baby’s babbling answered her.
“Your Holiness, is there a baby in there with you?”
Again, a baby’s babbling answered her, but this time, it sounded frustrated.
“Your Holiness, forgive me, for I am coming in.”
The stove was unattended and the bath barrel was empty. Neither the forge nor the kiln created anything. No papers of administration or theology lay on the desk. Instead, an old man watched in amusement as a baby attempted to greet its visitors.
“Uncle Omnias? What are you doing here?” Cremia asked. “Where is the Fire Sage?”
“A reaper killed him,” Omnias replied.
Cremia gasped and covered her mouth. “He’s dead?!”
The baby raised its chubby arm and pointed at him with its stubby fingers. Omnias bit his lip to hold in his laughter. The baby stamped its tiny foot, and as a result, it fell on its butt. This brought on a peal of giggles from Omnias until the baby crawled over and bit his toes. Cremia dashed forward to pull the baby away.
“Bad boy! You shouldn’t...”
The baby opened its mouth to reveal its forked tongue and inclined its head forward to show the faint fire symbol on the top of his head. Cremia hastily turned him around and saw tiny phoenix wings on his back. Then she sighed.
“Oh, thank goodness.”
The baby babbled again in a most indignant fashion.
“The Fire Sage says, ‘Be more gentle with me next time. This body is still fragile.’”
“You speak baby?” Zettai asked.
“I also speak tree, love, and gibberish. Furthermore...”
The spiritual pressure in the room suddenly increased. Everyone except Basilard was forced to their hands and knees by its might. Omnias smirked and increased the pressure further, until he too was forced down. Then, all at once, it was gone and everyone could move freely once more. Omnias went to his knees simultaneously as Basilard stood up.
“I am also more than capable of guarding a little girl against any number of Bladi warriors. I can put the Fire Sage into a chest harness and watch Zettai at the same time.”
Basilard gripped BloodDrinker’s hilt and scowled at the chaos priest. “You are certainly qualified, but you wouldn’t do it out of the kindness of your heart.”
“Oh no, I would, I would. However, if you would be willing to exchange favors, then I have something in mind.”
“You want a sample
of my blood.” Omnias nodded. “If I give you that, then the Old Blood faction will want my head on a stake.”
“They already want it on a stake.”
Basilard conceded the point with a shrug. “Regardless, I cannot entrust sacred blood or the safety of my daughter to a stranger like you.”
Omnias lifted his head. “Priestess is willing to entrust me with Eric’s.”
Basilard shook his head. “Priestess has no choice; I do.”
“Your Dragoness, I assume?” Omnias stood up. “Then please allow me to teleport you to the Dragon’s Lair. A mage of your knowledge and understanding will be able to read the address of any teleportation circle that I would use.”
“Go ahead and try.”
Lighting the infinity end of his staff, Omnias drew on the floor of the Fire Sage’s office. First, one large circle to contain all the subsequent circles and then lines to connect them all. Runes for magical functions and formulas filled them one by one. Basilard explained, in brief, what they meant for Zettai’s benefit. She soaked it in and asked questions when she needed to. About three-quarters of the way done, Omnias paused and said,
“Your daughter is bright and inquisitive. She must be a joy to teach.”
“That she is.”
Zettai looked down bashfully and swayed side to side. “I know it’s a lot more complicated than what we’ve been talking about, but I feel I understand the basics. What I don’t understand is where you’re going to get the energy to fuel it.”
Omnias laughed. “Fueling costs aren’t something a member of the Sacred Order of Primordial Root needs to concern himself with. My mana is functionally limitless.”
He drew in the last couple runes and then wrote out the final destination for the teleport. Basilard inspected it and the rest of the design. He spent longer doing this than Omnias did constructing it. Finally, he concluded, “It’s set to drop us off outside the Dragon’s Lair.”
“That is true,” Omnias admitted. “I’d teleport you directly into the Dragon’s Head, but Aaloon is too good at warding. That paranoid little rabbit has been keeping me out of places for three thousand years.”
Basilard stepped back and muttered, “It’s good to know you have limitations.”
“For now,” Omnias replied. In a louder voice, he said, “If you wish to return, the circle will deposit you in the center of town.”
Basilard leaned over the magic circle again to confirm that this was the case. From that position, he asked, “I take it the Fire Sage is also frustratingly good at warding?”
“He coined the computer term ‘firewall.’ Now, are you ready to go?”
Instead of answering, Basilard pulled out his scry and called his niece, Mia. He gave her instructions and told her to repeat them to make sure she understood. Then he put the scry away, turned to Zettai, and said, “As soon as we arrive, I want you to put your barrier up as strong as you can make it. Understand?”
Zettai nodded repeatedly. “It’s not paranoia when you know for sure that someone is trying to kill you.”
“Good girl.”
He picked her up and hugged her. She grabbed handfuls of his coat because her arms didn’t reach all the way around his chest. He stepped across the primary runic circle and it rotated. As he stepped to the center, other runes activated. Its luminescence increased and, in a flash of light, the father and daughter disappeared.
Miles away, in the streets of Roalt’s warrior district, a brilliant blue array formed in the dirt. Basilard emerged from it with Zettai in a protective grip. Both of them projected their barriers moments before a swarm of arrows rained down on them. Basilard grunted as they punctured his barrier one after another. Seven in total found their mark before he could take a step towards the Dragon’s Lair. Then he dashed. Then he fell.
His legs had locked. He lost feeling in his arms and Zettai tumbled out of his grasp. She rolled across the ground, sprang to her feet, and continued her father’s dash to safety. In mid-step, she wiped his blood on her clothes and chanted, “Bladi Defense Technique: Plasma Shield!”
A red sheen colored her barrier and stopped all incoming arrows. She was only a yard away from the door when a wall of rock blocked her path. She skidded to slow down and bit her forefinger. Pushing her now bleeding finger into the dirt blockade, she shouted, “Bladi Offense Technique: Ancestral Beam!”
Red light shot from her finger and cut a hole in the earth wall, but only one as big as her finger. She pounded her left palm with her right fist.
“Rock wall as tall as AHHHH!”
One arrow finally found its way past her defense and lodged itself inside her chest. It struck with enough force to further lodge itself into the earth wall. She raised her hands to push herself off, but the pain was too intense. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a stout man carrying a giant hammer. The red sheen of her Plasma Shield drained away. It wouldn’t protect her from his incoming swing.
Then the earth wall vanished.
Lacking its support, Zettai fell forwards into Mia’s arms. Her cousin smiled kindly down on her like always. It didn’t fade in the slightest as the brute swung his great hammer down on both of their heads. Mia simply held out her left hand to block it. The weapon disappeared. While the thug stared in puzzlement, Mia leaned forward and grabbed his empty fingers. He disappeared too.
The earth under her feet was giving way and small objects that weren’t nailed down were flying in her direction. Still holding out her left hand, she created a field that caught everything within a foot of herself and sent it straight to her pocket dimension. The only thing that didn’t vanish was Zettai.
Hoisting the smaller girl fully into her arms, she ducked back inside the guild building. She closed the door with a kick. The arrows ceased firing and the streets calmed. The entire ambush occurred in less than one minute. Then a man with red hair flew out of an alley and landed face first in the dirt near Basilard.
A second man followed him from a nearby rooftop and then a woman and then a third man and then a second woman. Eight in total landed in a pile on the street. A motley assortment of warriors gathered around them.
These were locals who heard the commotion. Drawn by the twang of bows and Zettai’s scream, they found the archers and subdued them. One of them contacted Roalt’s Justice Station. Another examined Basilard.
“You okay, Bladi?” she asked while scanning him with her staff.
“I can’t move,” he replied.
“Hmm...I don’t detect any paralysis spells or poison...and your wounds are minor...”
The door to the Dragon’s Lair swung open and another girl with red eyes ran out. Her red ponytail bobbed behind her as she hurried to her uncle. She thanked the locals for their aid, slung Basilard over her shoulder, and then carried him inside.
“Wow, the Bladi raise up their girls strong!” one boy remarked.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” another boy said. “She only likes older men.”
Inside the guild, Mia called Squad Two on her headset. She needed to be hands-free to work her magic on Zettai’s injures. It was all she could do to keep her cousin stable.
The poor girl was a bloody mess. The arrow’s shaft was halfway through her chest and Mia was too afraid of causing more damage to pull it out. She could only watch the precious blood spill.
“HURRY!” she yelled into her headset.
One of the lobby’s doors slammed open and a balding man in green sped out of them. He slid to a halt at Zettai’s body and began his evaluation with Scanning Staff.
“They sent you?!” Mia demanded. “No one else was available?!”
Noisop, the poison master, replied without taking his eyes off his patient. “Beggars can’t be choosers.” He grinned. “On the contrary.” He pushed a button on his staff and popped out a syringe at its head. “I’m the best person for this job.” He stuck the syringe into a pool of blood and withdrew a full amount of it. His staff hummed as it analyzed the blood’s contents.
“Noisop!”
“Relax, Bladi Chief,” Noisop said tonelessly. “I’m not going to keep it or use it. I don’t want your relatives killing me in my sleep.”
His staff inserted light into the bladi blood and rattled excitedly. Then he blinked and it settled down.
“The girl has been poisoned. Black Nut venom; nasty stuff. Fortunately!” He flipped his staff and pressed a second button. A second syringe emerged. “You have at your service,” he reached into his pouch and withdrew a box, “the only person,” inside the box was grey goo and he stuck this goo into the second syringe, “who can cure it!”
He injected this second syringe into Zettai’s body and recited a spell called “Root of Kerifes.” The goo flashed a golden-brown color and settled into a white fluid. While the antidote did its work, he chanted a spell to stop her bleeding. She relaxed as the poison was neutralized.
“This next part I’m not so good at,” he admitted, “so you’ll want to find someone else to finish up.”
“Thank you very much, Noisop,” Mia said. “I’m sorry for offending you.”
“I’m sending an invoice,” Noisop replied. “Root of Kerifes isn’t cheap, you know.”
“I know,” Mia said.
“It’s like my family’s counterpart for BloodDrinker.”
“I know,” Mia repeated.
A flash of light blinded them both. When their eyes recovered, they saw a chaos priestess looking about in confusion.
“This isn’t San Del Chelo...” Then she spotted Mia and smiled widely. “Hi, Mia!”
“Hello, Anna ...I mean...Priestess...what are you doing here?”
“I’m everywhere...oh! You mean locally; well, I was on my way to the Grand Pollocks and then suddenly, Dragon’s Lair. Oh, that looks bad!”
She too knelt next to Zettai. “What kind of poison is this?” she asked Noisop.
“Black Nut Venom,” the poison master said.
“What’s that? Is it bad?”
Noisop arched an eyebrow. “You told me what it was years ago.”
Priestess cocked her head. “I did?” Her eyes widened and she nodded quickly. “Oh yes, of course I did, but I forgot. Please tell me.”
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