Alexei had learned a lot from the Mages over his time living at the Mage Temple, even if he hadn’t really been around it very much. Magery was never going to be something he was incredible at, but the bare bones basics? He’d taken to those quite well. With a flick of his foci and a muttered incantation, an orb of glowing light sputtered into life at the tip of his staff, illuminating his direct surroundings. The town, which he had thought looked beautiful and quaint during the day, had taken on a spookier appearance at night. A wind whistled through the streets and the ominous creaking of shop signs in the breeze sent shivers down his spine. “Okay,” Alexei said to himself, “Let’s have a look at what we’ve got here, because something tells me it wasn’t a shade. I’d know if it were a shade…” There was something that he’d learned from the memories of the Demon Lord, and the time that he’d made his own shade by accident. When a shade was created it generated a long-lasting ozone sme
Alexei stumbled through the back doors of the tavern. As he closed the door he glanced at the outdoors one last time to see if he had been followed by the thing he had been fighting. Fortunately, the outside was empty. He shut the door and leaned on it for a moment to catch his breath. Alexei allowed his enchantments to fade. He’d never fought anything like that before, and he never wanted to fight anything like that again. Unfortunately for him, the universe rarely cared about his wishes and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he came face to face with the horror of the night once more. He considered telling Risa about what he’d seen, but the whole reason he’d told Risa and Neave to share a room in the first place was so that he didn’t wake the young beastkin girl up. It’d wait til the morning. He sighed, walked into his room, got undressed and slipped into bed. The mattress was hard and lumpy, not like what he was used to at either the Trout’s Gills nor the Mage
Alexei woke the next morning feeling rested but worried. His overnight chat with the Demon Lord had done much more to worry him than it had to make him feel better about the situation. First and foremost was the fact that he now knew he couldn’t really get into direct conflict with this so-called Proto-Demon Lord. If he were to do that, and then he was to lose, the consequences for the rest of the world were beyond dreadful. Eldreth would immediately break free of the chains that bound him, the Demon Lord’s last ditch attempt to keep the elder god under control would have meant nothing. And it would all be Alexei’s fault.Obviously, that couldn’t be allowed to happen. Instead he was going to have to rely on Risa to deal with the situation. Fortunately, if what the Demon Lord had said was correct, the Proto Lord hadn't yet made its pact with Eldreth, and if that were the case it would be perfectly vulnerable to magery just like any other being was. Fighting it would still be diff
Alexei didn’t like the idea of bringing Neave along on their journey to find out where the Proto Lord was hiding, but he knew that really he had no choice on the matter. If they stuck her in her room there was a pretty large chance that she’d just end up following after them anyway, which was more dangerous than knowing he could at least try to keep her safe. That was why he was keeping Neave close as they were walking through the woods around the town. They had asked around after breakfast, hoping to discover places that the Proto Lord might have been hiding. According to various shopkeepers, there was a cavern to the north of the town that cut down into the dirt and entered an extensive tunnel system that used to be mined for various ores back in the town’s heyday. The veins of ore had long since dried up, so it would be the perfect place for something like the Proto Lord to hide unseen by anyone in the town. However, a place like that was also somewhere that various dangerous
“So, now we’re down here… I’m not really sure what to do,” Alexei said, “This place looks like a total labyrinth, the Proto Lord could be anywhere.” “The Demon Lord didn’t give you any tips or tricks to find the thing, then,” Risa said, “You know, in all your friendly chats with him.” “They aren’t friendly chats,” Alexei retorted, “He steals me from my dreams, I berate him a bunch, and then he gets annoyed until he spits out what he wanted to say.” “You berate the Demon Lord?” Risa said, “That’s risky, even by your standards.”“He won’t do anything to me, he doesn’t understand how our powers interact, honestly I think he’s probably a little bit scared,” Alexei said.“Well, I guess that’d explain why he keeps trying to help you, then” Risa remarked, “Now, come on, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover down here, and I want to find this thing before sundown.” Alexei nodded, she was right, they needed to find the Proto Lord and take it out fast.Every second they wasted was another mome
“You have sent a mage to deal with the likes of me, Light Bringer?” The voice of the Proto Lord rasped, though Alexei couldn’t tell where it was coming from, “There is a sweet irony in that fact.” Alexei felt a chill run down his back. He knew why the creature was calling him the Light Bringer. He’d seen it himself. When he had made his own shade, he’d created it with a strange rim of light around its outer edge. He brought light to the darkness of the Demon Lord, likely due to his Power Divine. “Don’t worry about any Light Bringer, Proto Lord,” Risa snarled, “It’s me you have to worry about, so come out and face me!” “Proto Lord? Yes… I do like that moniker, for now, though it shan’t hold true for much longer,” The Proto Lord said, “What would you do, I wonder, if I just fled this place and left you entombed below the dirt, where your kind belongs.” Alexei felt a ripple of anger blaze up from his belly. He sounded just like the Demon Lord had when he was about to perform his fi
“Neave?” Alexei hissed under his breath. He didn’t even notice her leave his side, and now she was nowhere to be seen. Alexei peaked up over the rock that he had been using for cover, and that was when he saw her. Neave had ducked from cover piece to cover piece so that she could get closer to the fight, and now she was practically in the middle of it all. “Goddamnit Neave,” Alexei muttered to himself as the clash between the Proto Lord and Risa sent spirals of arcane energy rippling across the room, obliterating anything that they came into contact with. Her ears twitched and she looked back at him with a determined look on her face, so Alexei knew that she could hear him. “Don’t do anything you’re planning,” Alexei said, “Risa can handle herself, you’re going to get yourself hurt or worse.” Her eyes narrowed, it was clear she wasn’t interested in listening to anything that he had to say. The only way he’d be able to stop her would be by making his way over to her, but with t
Getting out of the underground labyrinth was easier than getting into it. Risa’s magery trail had held up even through her fight with the Proto Lord, and it acted as a shining beacon that they were able to follow out of the tunnels. What Alexei quickly realised was that Risa was far more injured than she was letting on. As they wound their way through the darkness she still couldn't move her right arm, and she was limping heavily on her left leg. She was also trying to keep herself from whimpering any time she jostled her arm but was doing a spectacularly bad job at it. Alexei felt a surge of relief as they clambered back up the steep chasm that led down into the pits of the mining system and out into the dwindling daylight. “They probably won’t have a medic at the town, but we can ask,” Alexei said, “If they don’t, I’m taking you right back to Alandria, I don’t care about the Assassins Guild, making sure you’re safe is more important.” “Don’t be stupid,” Risa grunted, “I’m not