On the outer edges of Halia’s territory far into the hills and overlooking a sheer cliff lay a looming, massive estate. A series of buildings—the likes of which would take countless man hours both to build and maintain—sat in a crescent layout with the largest and most grand at its center.
Within the opulent manor’s largest bedchamber a human figure slept soundly amidst a legion of silk blankets and goose down pillows, as well as a woman to either side. The man’s features were calm and peaceful. A neatly kept fu-manchu goatee and dark, greasy check-mark shaped eyebrows twitched slightly in the draft coming from the lifeless fireplace at the far end of his bedchamber.
Farlington Wadsworth, Farlington of the Flame to wizards of the realm, and sixteenth in line for the royal throne of the Halian nobility. His dimpled barren head showed signs from his misuse of magic, despite his relatively young age still shy of thirty summers old.
Magic can take a toll on mages, sorcerers and wizards alike, and weathering can form from either great power, or great carelessness.
Suddenly, Wadsworth snapped forward, eyes open wide and bulging. He clutched his belly as pain overtook him.
“Gaahg! W-What?” he gurgled, suddenly beset by the urge to be sick.
Wadsworth knew the unmistakably foul and gut-wrenching sensation; it had to be the death of his familiar. He crawled to the edge of his mattress, eliciting squeaks and surprise from the two women he crawled over; they knew better than to complain. He thumped to the floor and clutched at a chamber pot as he emptied his last meal into it.
“Tiki, you f-fool,” he muttered, before retching again.
Finished, Wadsworth arose to a nearby full sized mirror and waved his hand before it, his reflection rippled away and formed into an inky black abyss.
“Forces of darkness empower me. Show me what’s happened to the dread one, Tiki.”
The image of the alleyway with the deceased imp beginning to disintegrate filled Wadsworth with rage. He clenched his teeth and hands and began to jump and make a sound that was somewhere between whining and growling.
Wadsworth thumped a gangly fist against the wall. “It seems I have severely underestimated Merlos and this pegasus. My necromancy failed, Grilka and her warparty failed, and now Tiki has been dispatched despite being told to keep his distance.”
A woman’s voice piped in from the bed, a hint of helpfulness in her tone. “And don’t forget when you weren’t able to bribe that wizard fellow, either, Master.”
Wadsworth turned slowly, fixing the woman with a little smile as if he had been reminded of something. He gave a little snicker, and matter of factly replied to her, “Oh, I didn’t forget, my beautiful companion. Say, it’s a tad chilly in here. How about I warm the place up a little?” His arm whirled around in a flash, and a beam of red flame stretched from his arm to the speaker.
Smoke rose from the woman’s shoulders, now bereft of a head.
“Clean that up,” he ordered, turning again to sneer at the scrying mirror. “I have more important matters to attend to.”
The other two women—now sitting up on his bed’s mattress—rose up and without hesitation began the task of cleaning up their former companion. Their eyes stared ahead without a hint of personality or thought to their surroundings or actions.
Wadsworth paused to place his skullcap onto his head then strode across the room, speaking to himself once again. “I’ll need to summon Tiki back first… I don’t know how you pulled it off, Merlos, but your luck will soon run out. I have agents everywhere to serve my whim, and I have just the one in mind to send against you next!” He tossed his head back and allowed himself a hearty, villainous chortle. “Ah-haha! Ah-hahahahahaha Ah-hahahahahahaha!”
With a sudden stop and a clearing of his throat, Wadsworth let his features slip into a sinister smile.
A soft knock came at his chamber door. A voice of concern spoke through it.
“Milord? Are you alright? I thought I heard a noise.”
“It was nothing.” Wadsworth walked to the door and opened it a little, speaking to the tired looking maid in her night clothes. “I need to prepare for a ritual. Summon one of my patrons. Spare no expense in getting them here.”
“Who would you like me to bring in, sire?” the woman inquired, the feeling of a night of poor rest falling onto her shoulders once again.
Wadsworth smiled as a plan formed in his head with a trap so devious and clever there was no way Merlos could possibly survive it.
While sound asleep, Stormy dreamed.
Panting, her coat slicked with sweat and her skin burning as if she were in an oven, she tried desperately to blink away the stinging sensation from her eyes and focus on the surroundings.
A peal of thunder boomed around Stormy, causing her to jump in shock as the light all around her became a macabre shade of red.
Dancing in-sync were the silhouettes of hundreds of imp-like figures across the hellish landscape. Chanting of some obscene language that made her ears ache suddenly filled the air.
Stormy looked all around in confusion, not knowing why she was there or what the hay was going on. Just as she was getting her bearings, she was suddenly in a city street, Wadsworth’s villainous form loomed over her with no warning.
A few warrior orcs stood around the street’s center, laughing cruelly at her while Wadsworth sneered and grinned at the same time down his nose at her. Wyverns seemed to swoop down threateningly in the sky, occasionally snatching a dancing imp from a rooftop to tear its form in half with an ear splitting shriek.
Stormy had to escape. She wanted nothing to do with any of this. She turned to gallop down what seemed like a normal street, but it somehow immediately became a maze of metal bars and dungeon walls, the sort that used to be in Wadsworth’s old master’s basement. The further she ran, the taller the bars became, their gates and spikes seeming to blend away into some unknown blurr of a wall.
Wadsworth flew overhead, laughing with his obnoxious, grating voice like a shrill, old man banshee. For some reason he started throwing… what seemed to be ears of corn down at Stormy. As weird and jarring as that was, the events around her never slowed. With a crash, Wadsworth landed in front of her, cracking the stonework beneath his feet, then broke up into dozens of laughing crows who each carried on his insidious cackling.
Stormy shrunk back reflexively in horror as the crows continued on sounding more and more maniacal and unnatural. The distortion made it less and less comprehensible until it was just shrill noise.
The ambient light of her surroundings became a pure red all around her. The ground lost its traction as her hooves slipped and slid wildly under her. Pain shot through her back. In terror, she looked at her wing, and bore witness as her feathers fell off, leaving only bare skinned wings twitching weakling in the red atmosphere.
Stormy shrieked in horror. As she did, loose meaty shreds of flesh sloped away from her wing’s bones. Her other wing was gross and crooked. It flopped around uselessly like a disgusting wet noodle.
“S-Stop it,” Stormy began crying, as she tried to cover her gross form with a boney broken wing.
“Such shaaaaaaaaaaame.” Tiki’s impish voice called to her. “Disgusting filly. We all hate you. Especially your frieeeeeends.”
Merlos and his dwarven tenants ran up as if called. Stormy felt a twinge of hope swell in her.
“He’s right,” the dress-wearing man began. “You’re covered in garbage. I suppose you want to bring that into my home now, don’t you?”
“I’m still cleaner than your kitchen,” she deadpanned, before the ooman and dwarves pulled from their sleeves what looked like rotting tomatoes and cabbages.
“Pelt her!” Kilyra shouted from nowhere.
Wet thumps of food detritus splashed against her soiled body as the imps chorused their laughter.
“You’re never going hooooome,” Wadsworth’s voice echoed, as four of his heads appeared around her and began cackling.
“No! I wanna go home! I wanna go home!”
“Why? They don’t even miss you there, you know.”
Stormy covered her face with her hooves, and suddenly the sounds were gone with an eerie silence.
Taking her hooves from her face and looking around, Stormy found herself surrounded by darkness. She looked up, spotting a faint blue dot hanging in the heavens above. She stared up at it and for a moment she felt like it was looking at her.
“Hello?” Stormy called out to the dot, and with a great speed from so far away, the dot came towards her while the reddish darkness around her began to lighten up into shades of a familiar world.
As the red melted away the nightmarish city was replaced by looming, yet peaceful looking trees.
She knew these trees. Their gloomy visage melted into focus around her as none other than the Everfree Forest. She had only seen them from the air before when she flew over the dangerous and unforgivable place. It was now night time, the buzzes and shrills of cicadas and frogs filled the air, while the strong scents of the non-deciduous forest tickled her nostrils.
Her eyes returned to the sky… and soon a large navy blue blur landed before her.
Stormy’s mouth fell open as she looked upon a creature so resplendent she was at a loss for words, for before her stood Her Royal Majesty of the Night, and she who walks within pony’s dreams. With magnificent wings spread, her regal poise honed with centuries of leadership.
“P-Princess Luna!” Stormy stammered, bowing down and closing her eyes as a soft whimper escaped her. Moments of memories from seeing Luna in Canterlot during big events when Stormy was a foal trickled back to her mind.
The princess stood silently, staring at her. When Stormy opened her eyes to look up upon the Night Princess herself, she found the alicorn wearing a look of... what seemed to be befuddlement mixed with surprise.
“Princess Luna? Your majesty? Are you okay?” Stormy quirked an eyebrow. She was still disoriented from her nightmare, but she’d been broken out of a nightmare once or twice before by Princess Luna, so she was coming to grips with that, at least. Seeing Luna at a loss, however, was far more jarring.
Luna looked away for a moment, a look of confusion played over her features when she looked back. “You look like the picture… Your cutie mark matches… Tell me, are you the one known as Stormy Weather, child of Cumulo Nimbus and Allegria Amati?”
“That’s my mom and dad!” Stormy gave a nod, suppressing the excitement exploding inside her. The princess knows my name! She gave a smile… but this only seemed to pain the Princess of the Night.
“We thought we had lost you months ago. We began to assume the worst, that you had lost your way to the summerlands or perhaps had been taken by some monster or—” Luna cut herself off. “You have met with a terrible fate, haven't you?”
Princess Luna began again with a pair of pumpkin spice lattes each sitting atop a little cafe stool with a table between them. “I beg your forgiveness, Stormy Weather. I know not what you’ve been through, but I require you to remain calm and tell me quickly what your current situation and location are.”
Stormy straightened up, fully prepared to give her princess a full report. “Right! Uhm…” She deflated a bit, at loss at just where to start. So much had happened, after all. “Weeeell, it’s hard to explain…”
The Princess gave her latte a quick sip. “Well, can you tell me where precisely you are in the world? Familiar surroundings, or names of places?”
Stormy followed suit with the Princess and slurped down at the delicious treat. “Oh my Celestia, is this a real pumpkin spice latte!?” She could feel tears streaming down her face from pure joy. “It’s so delicious! I thought I’d never taste anything this good ever again! Oh, Princess, it’s been so horrible where I am, you have no idea! Well, not all bad, because I’ve made some friends that are trying to help me, but—”
Luna clapped her hooves together loudly. “Focus, Stormy! I can feel our link growing tenuous. I think the only reason I’m even able to speak with you now is thanks to the full moon itself. Wherever you are, it is far from Canterlot, and I need information from you if you are to be found!” She stared into Stormy’s eyes expectedly. “Let’s try this, what was the last thing you remember doing before you went missing?”
“Oh!” After another quick sip, Stormy continued. “So, Princess, there I was minding my own business practicing for the best young flyers competition, when suddenly! I was taken from my home by a powerful ooman wizard named Galeron to—and you won’t believe this—another universe! Maybe even another dimension! Reality? Anyway, there are no Equestrian ponies, pegasi, unicorns or anything here at all! I mean, magic is crazy weird here, although my pegasus magic still works, so maybe it isn’t that weird? Anyway! I’m honestly amazed I’m even talking to you right now, assuming you are you and not another demon or something trying to trick me… but, I’m rambling, ahem. Luckily, the local oomans in charge around here took Galeron away and sent him to jail, and after that I got sold to this other wizard named Merlos, but he’s nice and is trying to help me get home along with his kooky friends! Althooough, he’s been pretty bad at it thus far, and there’s also this other wizard named Wadsworth that wants to kill me for some weird world domination reason! Soooo, I’d really like to get back home now, Princess, and I’m ready to get out of here!” Stormy held her hooves outstretched to Princess Luna expectantly and shut her eyes. “So let’s go!”
“A-Another universe?” Luna goggled at Stormy, while also clearly trying to digest everything that had been said. “Oh dear, that would make this an Isekai incident…That explains the hole that is in the canyon.”
Stormy raised an eyebrow. “An ise-what now?”
Luna put a hoof to her mouth and cleared her throat roughly. “Nevermind that, Stormy.”
Once her shocked look from Stormy saying so much without taking a single breath abated, Luna took in a deep breath and composed herself. The signs of pain remaining behind her eyes spoke volumes, though.
“Stormy, first I must tell you to not despair, as all of Equestria itself will help you with all of its resources to get you home safely, but I must regretfully inform you that if you are indeed not on our plane of existence presently… then returning you home is not so simple.” Princess Luna tentatively tapped her front hooves together with uncertainty, not especially looking as regal as one would expect of a princess. “I fear that while I may have browsed a few theories on travel to other worlds, I know of nopony living that has attempted such a thing with success.”
Stormy wilted, sighing. “No, I didn’t think it would be that easy…” She gulped at her pumpkin spice latte, expecting to finish it, but it seemed to be bottomless. She could feel tears of joy welling up in her eyes again in spite of the awful news she’d also been given.
“There there, Stormy, there is still hope. You must not despair!” Princess Luna went on, having misinterpreted the filly’s tears. “Nonetheless, we, that is, I, Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and anypony else able to help in doing so, will absolutely bring you home.”
Luna grimaced and put a hoof to her brow. “I fear our time grows short, Stormy Weather. You must write down all that you remember as you awaken, as dreams are fleeting for most ponies.” Her form began to grow misty, and her voice distant sounding. The light in the room dimmed and the cafe-table and stools were suddenly gone. “In a month’s time with the next full moon, I will dedicate the night to reaching your mind once again! Stay vigilant, and stay safe, my subject!”
“I will, Princess! And thank you for finding me! Oh, and also the latte!” Stormy paused and thought for a moment while chugging at her unlimited latte some more, savoring the flavor. She then widened her eyes at a haunting realization. Something that she didn’t think about until now that Luna would want to hear.
Tiki had not just threatened Merlos’ world, Terras… but also Equestria.
“AH DEVIL-MONKEY!” Stormy’s eyes shot open to a strange scene around her, she had awoken to find a blanket draped over her up to her withers, laying on a bed with lots of hay under her. Her keen nose told her right away that countless different oomans had slept in that very room. Something there smelled very sweaty… and gross.
“Wha—? Where am I?”
Stormy sat up and looked around; some of Merlos’ things were in the room, as well as a second, much larger bed.
“Oh, I’m not in the alley anymore, so this must be the inn we were staying at. The bed dragon, or whatever. Awww, and Merlos got me a bed of my own. Stormy got up and hopped out of her sleeping place, which turned out to be a small cot with lots of fresh hay piled atop it. “Kind of… although I’m more annoyed that I have to share a room with him than about the smaller bed.”
Realizing she was hungry, Stormy nipped a few strands off the cot and picked a few fruits from her saddlebag.
“Wait… wait wait wait, I was supposed to remember something. Something important…” Stormy pressed a hoof to her head and clamped her eyes shut, groaning in frustration. “Dangit, I can’t remember.”
“Maybe it—” Stormy curled around to look at her bandaged wing, finding the icky smell coming from the bandage. It looked to have been changed, which made sense as it had gotten quite dirty with her tussle with Tiki, but there was some smelly slimy stuff in it. Wait, my wing isn’t hurting anymore?
“Awesome!” Stormy gave her wing a few flexes; it was stiff and didn’t want to move quite normally, but at least it didn’t hurt at all like it had the past week. She let it relax against her body and ate a few more slightly squishy fruit—they really weren’t even half as good as fruit she could get from the Whole Foods in Canterlot—from her saddlebag.
“Well, it still beats raw hay any day,” Stormy chirped, and set about washing up at a big wash basin set in one corner of the room. There was even a fresh towel placed beside it, along with a note. She was able to read it, which meant she must have a new casting of Merlos’ spell active already.
‘Stormy, we’re downstairs in the common room,’ the note read.
“Simple and to the point, that Merlos,” Stormy mused. “Didn’t I want to write something in a note, too? Hm.” The feeling that she’d forgotten something got worse as she washed up with the fresh water, but whatever it was escaped her.
“Dang, it feels super important, too…” Stormy sighed as she felt the familiar pull of magic from her bag syncing with her and she took a moment to adjust a few things like setting it to map as she explored and to bookmark her location.
Finished, the room’s door creaked open at her push and she peeked outside. “Merlos?” she called out, but was greeted with a dank and dark wooden hallway, a few fancy lamps with dimly burning wicks flickering weakly. There was, however, a short, chubby, darkly skinned ooman in a maid’s uniform at the end of the hallway, lazily sweeping the floor.
“No, no Merlos, no…” the ooman maid mumbled, not looking up.
“Oh, uh, thanks.” Stormy decided to wander the rest of the Bad Drag-Inn in search of everyone.
Going down the stairs was a bit of a challenge, as unlike Merlos’ stone stairway, these boards were worn smooth and rather slippery under her hooves.
Stormy longed for her grippy horseshoes that she wore when visiting any large home with slippery halls and stairways. They were cut with a little pattern of some kind of rubbery stuff on the bottom that acted practically like glue on smooth surfaces.
Upon reaching the staircase’s bottom, Stormy found that the large common room was quiet now and most of the tables in the almost-theater sized room were empty. The mass vacancy was a startling contrast to the wall to wall crowd the room had sported the night before. She made her way to her friends—who were easy to pick out—as they had selected a table in the floor’s center and faced the inn’s entrance. The two dwarves, Kilyra, and Merlos were on one side, and a nervous looking adventurer was on the other. They seemed to be going over papers and asking questions to the person.
Stormy stopped a little way off and listened to some of the conversation, which seemed to go south, and the adventurer left, head down in clear disappointment.
Merlos’ stiff posture and bored demeanor implied he’d been up and doing this long enough to get cranky already. Although, with him, that could mean anything from one interview on up.
“Morning, guys,” Stormy said, waving to everyone from the table’s side, and was returned the greeting in turn by everyone in their own personal fashion from the dwarve’s nods and grins to Merlos’ mumbled grunt that really could have been anything.
Kilyra was bright and cheerful with her greeting, flashing a winning smile. “Well, good morning, my apprentice.”
Merlos gave Kilyra a glare, but didn’t take the obvious bait.
Kilyra continued, pretending with perfection to have not noticed. “It’s so good to see you on your hooves after last night. We began the auditions a while ago, but I’ll be honest, it’s not looking good so far.”
Stormy looked at the list held in Merlos’ hand and the tons of names on it and immediately got excited. “Oh! Get somebody with a giant suit of armor! Those are cool. No, wait, a tower shield! I bet I could combo some cool tricks if we got a girl like that on our team.”
Stormy blinked around at her companions, who were all giving her blank stares. She sighed. “Alright, my bad, I know it's current year. I guess a stallion could be using a tower shield, too.”
Merlos harrumphed loudly and spoke over the sound of Kilyra’s giggles. “Stormy, this is very serious! We will bring on someone that is both professional and experienced, as well as a good fit for our team. We have no time for silly jokes. Our lives could very well depend on this decision.”
“A good martial fighter trained in the use of a tower shield would probably be a good pick though,” Kilyra piped in.
Stormy pumped a hoof. “Hah, knew it.”
Merlos rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his pipe hand.
“Oh, and if possible get one named Terrence! I’ve noticed alliteration is a big thing here—”
Ges put a meaty dwarven hand on the filly’s withers, detecting the rise in Merlos’ temperature. “Stormy, let’s just sit and watch while we let Merlos handle this,” he whispered.
Stormy gave her dwarven friend a wink and drew her hoof over her mouth. When the gesture seemed to confuse him, she drew a zipper with the quill and paper at the table.
Satisfied with the newly established quiet, Merlos gestured to the next adventurer waiting on the benches lining the wall. “State your name, class, and what you’ll bring to the group.” He held a sheaf of papers between himself and the interviewee, a pipe in his offhand.
The adventurer facing the party was a raggedy looking elven male, who could easily be a cousin or sibling of Captain Thull judging by his unkempt looks alone. “Mah name is Raz, and ah’m a half elf trickster. Ah’m really good with a sword and Ah has a familiar named Chek’um. Say hello, Chek’um.”
A fuzzy little masked face of a ferret peeked from Raz’s jacket pocket to silently wave a paw. Its near silent dookdook noises drew Stormy’s attention. Looking into its eyes, she saw something more than a mere animal: the warmth of something very intelligent.
Ges held up his hands and shook his head. “Och, lad, we’ve been burned by tricksters before,” he stated, looking to Merlos.
Kilyra chimed in too with a hushed whisper. “And I’m really, really not fond of rats.”
A high pitched voice piped up from his bag, with a tiny fuzzy head wearing a monocle and top hat quickly inquired, “I do say, I am no rat, but a Ferret, or as we call ourselves, lucky space worms.”
Merlos tapped his chin with the tip of his pipe, clearly mulling the details over heavily. “Hm, we’ll keep you in consideration, though the group needs more of a frontline fighter at present. However, since our bard doesn’t seem to like your ferret I may overlook that if better prospects do not arise. Next!”
Stormy awed sadly, waving goodbye to the ferret as Chek’um and Raz the half-elf left.
A robed ooman stepped to the table. His heavily waxed mustache seemed to be his only recognizable facial feature as he was missing both hair and eyebrows. A simple pair of lines were drawn in their stead, and his intense stare made everyone a little uncomfortable. Judging by his robes, he was another practitioner of the arcane as was Merlos.
“State your name, class and what you’ll bring to the group,” Merlos droned, not looking up from his papers.
The ooman cleared his throat briefly, before then launching into a raucous tirade. “Feast your eyes on the ONE! THE ONLY! MAD MAGE R-R-R-REDFLAUR!” Casting a large plume of fire, he took a well practiced dramatic pose. He kept his arms wide as if to hold an invisible world above him.
Stormy hummed, and whispered to Merlos a question. “What’s a mage?”
Merlos whispered back, frowning. “A confused wizard.”
“YEEEEAAAAAH! REDFLAUR! I am THE mage of the flame. Our enemies will feel the buuuuuuuuurrn! The ladies—” Redflaur paused to brow-wiggle with his sharpie-brows. “—will feel the yearn! Take me with you on your quests and I’ll show you who’s the best. Need a wing-man? I’m your guy! Need a fire? I AM the fire! Well look no further friends for I!” He fist pumped the air. “Am the master of the FIRE BLASTER!”
The angry bartender shouted, “No fire magic indoorsh or yer gettin’ thrown out, ya shcurvy ridden bilge rat!”
“APOLOGIES, my good innkeep!”
Stormy pondered if Redflaur’s eyebrows and hair were missing as a result of his pyrotechnics or a style choice… Oomans were so weird sometimes.
Merlos paused, his mouth agape in both shock and confusion as he stammered a moment to try and articulate something.
“Can you do something other than casting fire spells?” Kilyra asked, smirking wryly.
Redflaur bent down, taking Kilyra’s hands in his. “For you, beautiful, I could cast anything… you… wish.” He winked and gave her hand a gentle kiss.
While Kilyra laughed and Stormy made a retching sound, Ges spoke up. “So is that a no?”
“Yeah, pretty much..” The dress wearing ooman answered calmly, then struck a pose. He held up a candle in a holder in one hand and gave it spirit fingers with the other. “But I am also the holder of THE EVERBURNING CANDLE OF NEVYN’RAAL! It illuminates the hallways I walk into from even the deepest magical darkness! What more could you ask for in a companion?”
“Next,” Merlos shouted, sounding very eager to move on.
“Wait! I also carry—” Redflaur pulled a book out, and he held it up so that the covers opened, but the pages kept turning in a buzz. It reminded Stormy of her mother’s Rolodex. “—THE TOME OF INFINITE PAGES! I’ve even been working on a theme song.” Redflaur then began what only a deaf person looking on would call singing. He jabbed at the air with a book in one hand and his lit candle in the other with each syllable. ”REEEDFLAUR! The mage of powerrr! Evil creatures better cowerrr!”
“I said next!” Merlos dismissed again as he leaned over to look eagerly at the benches, irritation crawling into his tone. Stormy tittered a little.
“Very well. Redflaur knows when he’s not wanted. Instead, he’s going to pick up—” He paused again grinning at the group and brow wiggling again. “—some ladies.”
“Just go,” one of the dwarves groaned, both of them facepalming, so Stormy was unable to discern who said it.
Redflaur strode away, his goose stepping march making his departure rather awkward while giving himself a little chant, “Yeah! Redflaur. Yeah!”
Kilyra shrugged at his going. “Say what you will about him, he was confident.”
“Well I’m confident he was an idiot,” Merlos intoned, while furiously scribbling notes. “This is what we get for recruiting in a city…”
Stormy horsewhispered to Merlos behind a hoof. “Have they all been like this?”
“Pretty much,” Merlos replied solemnly. “On a more important note, how’s your wing doing, Stormy?” He gave her a sideways glance, looking at the appendage in question without too much concern on his expression.
“It’s not hurting anymore, thank you.” Stormy replied, feeling unusually warm from Merlos’ concern, for what it was.
Merlos replied gently, which was unusual for him. “Good. Now, if you can be patient with me, we’ve got to conclude these interviews before we can discuss last night’s events.”
Stormy gave a wide-eyed look toward the ceiling. “I’d almost forgotten about last night…” An image of Tiki lunging at her face from a foreleg’s reach away flashed in her mind.
Merlos nodded solemnly. “Well, we’ll talk as soon as we finish the interviews.” He faced the newest adventurer, who was just having a seat. “For now, listen in and pay attention.”
“State your name, class, and what you’ll bring to the group,” Merlos said politely.
A dwarf had taken the mage's place. Clad in a fine vestment of heavy armor plate and a padded leather hood which he swept back after stepping up. The dwarf cut a truly imposing image for someone of his stature. The weapons looming over his shoulders were a hefty double headed warhammer and a cruel looking curved greataxe.
Stormy whistled, and leaned over to Knott. “Hey, how come your equipment doesn’t look that shiny and awesome?”
Knott shot her a glare and didn’t dignify her with a response.
The dwarf adventurer spoke in a deep, dignified voice. “My name is Ragtharn Ironhammer, a warrior and master of many arms and armor. The las’ century I’ve been abou’ these southern lands meeting surfacers and testing me weapons and armor on many a beast. In me youth I worked as a humble smith, but I wish now for grander things and to bring honor to Clan Deephold.” He rubbed at his beard before offering in a quaint tone, “Me friends call me Ragnar.”
Stormy held up a hoof, butting in. “Wait, your clan isn’t named after a rock or precious metal?”
Ragnar’s eyebrow rose, caught completely off guard by the sudden question from the odd little winged horse at the table. “...No?” he answered, uncertain.
Merlos waved off Stormy, who was already pelting Ges with questions he didn’t follow. “Nevermind her, Ragtharn. More importantly, you’re the first promising martial focused adventurer we’ve interviewed all morning. Assuming your skills hold water against our paladin here, you’re in.”
Ragnar hummed, looking between the group seated before him. “Very well, but I do have some concerns before we proceed… How many decades will we be traveling together? And your flyer mentioned you had some very dangerous undertakings in store.” He stroked his beard, peering up at the ceiling in thought before continuing. “With that in mind, do you have a health plan? Dental?” He tapped the table a few times to accentuate his questions. “Where I’m from those are standard, but adventurers here don’t seem to understand the concept of a good employer and employee relationship.”
Once again, Merlos stammered. “D-Dental? Well, no, we don’t, but I’m sure we can find some arrangement to make up for that…? Well, not right away, perhaps. You see, our finances are minimal at present and we’ll need to complete a few quests and collect the rewards before we see any significant gain in that department. As for our groups tenure, we’re not even sure how many adventures we’ll be undertaking yet, let alone adventuring for decades—”
Ragnar sighed, holding up a hand. “I’m afraid I’ve wasted both our times here. I seek a long term team with professional grade financial support, not a one off with minimal backing.” He rose from his chair, and gave them all a deep bow. “Till we meet again, brothers of stone, and surfacers.”
Merlos made as if to get up and go after Ragnar, but Ges stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Let’m go, lad. That there’s a dwarf that’s too good fer us, ‘n he knows it.”
Merlos wilted, while Knott grimaced and crossed his arms.
“Bah, he didn’t seem that good,” Knott groused, producing an oiled rag as he began to polish his axe.
Despite looking rather put out at being rejected by the one promising looking adventurer thus far, Merlos straightened and raised his voice. “Next adventurer, come forward!”
“I already did, sir.”
Merlos raised an eyebrow and looked around, not seeing anyone, then peered down and over the edge of the table.
A diminutive looking reptilian creature stood there, leaning slightly on a gnarled staff and peering up at Merlos and his companions wearily.
“My name be a Suhp'Dei, yam a kobold druid, and yam able to shapeshift into many mighty forms. De alligator around your feet is my companion, and he is also very powerful. Have you questions for us?”
Ges extended a hand to Suhp’dei. “Ach! A fellow keeper of the wilds. A pleasure to make your acquainta—”
“Alligator!?” Merlos shouted, and a loud hiss answered him. In a mad scramble he tipped his chair over backward as well as the table itself.
Shouts and confusion filled the room, mostly from Kilyra and the dwarves trying to calm them down and the lot of them all talking over one another.
“I was just surprised, that’s it! I wasn’t scared at all!” Merlos picked his chair back up and waved off Ges with finality. “Er, where’s the kobold?”
Ges sighed. “Took off as soon as you shouted and caused a ruckus, along with his gator.”
Merlos harrumphed, sitting back down. “He seemed like the flighty, easily scared sort, anyway, and we have no need for that in the group.”
Stormy giggled as she watched Kilyra roll her eyes so hard she thought the ooman might get dizzy.
The next adventurer was already approaching, this time swathed in a great dark cloak that covered him from head to toe, and revealing nothing. His form however, was truly massive and imposing, even larger than Klee-Tusk had he been present.
“Hm. Good day, sir. State your name, class, and what you’ll bring to the group, if you please.” Merlos looked up at the looming figure with his head craned back, both bushy eyebrows raised.
“Is that music?” Stormy said to herself, looking over in time to see a group of people suddenly singing and playing instruments behind the adventurer. Immediately after, the large ooman threw off his cloak, revealing bulging muscles and that he was in fact wearing only a loincloth and a steel mask with a cone on top and horsehair flowing from its tip. The oiled individual struck a bodybuilder’s pose, then somersaulted gracefully through the air and into place atop the table.
“No! It can’t be!” Knott exclaimed, pure dread painting his features.
“Yeeeeeeeees. It is I! The Buffstodian of Halia! With oil slickened body I prostrate myself before you seeking a wonderful adventure. My one desire on the battlefield is to squeeze our enemies between my quivering pecs, and make them yield to us in disgrace! Behold! My! Physique!”
“I am so confused right now,” Stormy said in as monotone a voice as she could manage, hoping to not attract the bizarre human’s attention.
Merlos put his head into his hands, Kilyra took a mental picture, Ges and Knott both buried themselves into their mugs of ale, and Stormy tried hard not to make any sudden movements.
The interviews continued for hours after that, and to much of the same poor results as all of the others that had come before. There were far too many rogues, bards, and magic users, although most of those were far too weak or too strange to consider seriously. A lot of consideration went into making a good adventuring party, clearly. Perhaps too much consideration.
In the muggy heat of the tavern’s indoors, Stormy had begun to wilt. She lay head down on the table now, a pool of sweat forming under her head. “Merlos, just hire the next one to come in the door and let’s call it a day. This is awful.”
Kilyra gently cooled herself with a large folding fan. “How about that big girl with the swords? She seemed nice.”
Merlos grumbled, shuffling through his papers tensely. “She threatened to kill me after I mistakenly referred to her as a man, then kicked Knott in the face for ‘looking at her funny’.”
Kilyra laughed. “Like I said, she seemed nice.”
Ges chugged down a cool mug of punch, fighting to stay hydrated. “Ach, I canne’ believe the state of adventurers these days. There were barely a handful I’d even consider trusting to guard me back, and of them none seemed at all compatible with our group composition.” He shook his head in dismay. “Where are all of the martial fighters? The hedge knights? Clerics?”
Merlos sighed, dropping his sheaf of papers on the table and snatching up his own mug. “I’d be willing to bet with all of these orc incursions lately that most of the sane ones were snatched up by the army and the city guard. Blast, I should have seen that coming. Maybe I could go track down Ragnar and beg him to—”
“Augh!” Stormy broke in, flopping over in her seat to look at the ceiling. “Whatever! I wanna go flying and cool down. It’s like an oven in here and I can’t stand it!”
Merlos harrumphed and blew out his beard. “Come now, it’s not so bad.”
“Yeah, you would say that, Mr. I-have-a-spell-of-endure-elements-cast-at-all-times! It’s a schwajillion degrees right now! Or, it was.” Stormy blinked in confusion, suddenly feeling a slight chill. Great, I better not be getting sick.
Merlos scowled, looking away. “Perhaps we should take a break, then. Noone’s stepped up for a good fifteen minutes, anyway. If the gods of fortune are willing, perhaps we’ll have better luck tomorrow. Perhaps we could talk about you fighting that fiend last nigh—”
The door to the tavern banged open, and a misty cloud dotted with small snowflakes billowed into the room. With the cloud came a pleasant, cooling breeze after the stifling heat from the summer day.
A dainty, sapphire colored slipper stepped out of the mist, followed by a lithe woman’s leg, and finally the slender woman to which it belonged in a stunning, equally sapphire gown.
“I’m not too late for the audition, am I?” The woman’s voice was like morning frost on the tips of leaves in late fall; cool, yet beautiful. She flipped her braided, blonde hair and swept an appraising gaze over the party of adventurers before her.
Merlos’ jaw fell open, while his companions all stared with mixed levels of apprehension at the newcomer.
Taking notice of Merlos, Ges leaned over and pushed his friend’s mouth shut.
“Well?” The woman looked around between the members of Merlos’ group. “This is the right tavern, I hope?” she asked sweetly.
Kilyra noticed Merlos’ wide eyed stare at the comely newcomer and rolled her eyes. “Yup, this is the place, gorgeous, and this old, dusty gentleman here is our fearless leader, Merlos the Musty!” She slapped him hard on the back.
Merlos made a startled sound and scowled at Kilyra, before turning a pleasant smile forward. “Yes, I am Merlos! Merlos the Magnificent, leader of this intrepid band of adventurer’s and a recognized wizard of the Arcanum.”
The woman batted her eyes and leaned forward, hands clasped at her waist. Everyone present watched in abject astonishment as Merlos ate up this blatant show of pandering.
“Oh my, truly, you’re a recognized wizard of the Arcanum? I am blessed to have encountered such a well vetted and experienced leader!”
Stormy turned to Kilyra, mouth agape, and gestured out with both hooves to her side. “Is she for real?” she mouthed.
Kilyra shrugged, grinning.
Merlos, for his part, was dripping ink onto the table with a quill that was paused mid-air.
Knott elbowed his wizardly friend—hard—in the ribs in order to jump start his brain.
“Ahem! Yes! Lucky you are, indeed!” With some difficulty Merlos cleared his throat, his voice cracked as he inquired to the beautiful newcomer, “If you would be so kind, state your name, class and what you’ll bring to the... uh, to the group?”
“Of course, how silly of me to not introduce myself properly.” The beautiful woman bent her waist and made an ever-so-slight bow. “I am Lucifyra Corruptanise, of Ice Crescent Isle. It’s a pleasure to make everyone’s acquaintance. I am a mistress of sorcery and would bring an eager helping hand to all of you. You see, I’m well educated in my craft and powerful, but not as experienced as I’d like to be with real world situations, and felt joining a group like yours would be a great way to hone my craft. I’d be more than happy to demonstrate my prowess in any magic ranked up to the fifth arcane tier.”
“The fifth?” Merlos steepled his hands in front of himself, clearly deep in thought, though of what was no mystery to everyone around him as he looked at the group’s latest recruit up and down.
Kilyra sighed, watching her leader. “Well, looks like you’re hired. Welcome to the team there, Luci!” She leaned forward, grabbed the sorceress’ hand and gave it a good hard few shakes.
Merlos sat up. “What? That’s not for you to decide—!”
“Yeah, but you were totally just about to hire her, weren’t you?” Kilyra grinned, and traded knowing looks with everyone else. “Might as well just skip past all the pleasantries and get on with this, right?”
“I-I suppose, but you should still follow protocol and ask her more about—”
Kilyra butt back in. “Look, Merlos, what are bards experts in?”
“Hmph. Dancing? Singing? Orating? Acting?” Merlos offered. “Being nuisances...”
Stormy looked around, whistling.
“No, tropes. Cliches. We know them like the back of our hands and personally I like to avoid them when possible!” Kilyra flailed her arms enthusiastically. “Or at least cut them short. If you want her in the group and she’s as strong as she says then it’s best we not bicker over the details and let what may come be, or we’re going to be here all night. Besides, compared to everyone else, she’s the obvious choice considering how bad the rest of our options were. Well, the ones we didn’t scare off, anyway. Let's let her join and call it a day before she changes her mind, too.”
Lucifyra quirked an amused eyebrow at the tirade, but by its end nodded appreciatively.
Merlos cleared his throat. “Yes, well, that may be, but… we should still hear everyone else’s thoughts. Ges, Stormy, what do you think?”
Stormy opened her wings a little and gave a pleasant sigh as she cooled down a little bit. “Well, I like the built air conditioning she comes with.” She grinned up at Miss Lucifyra, and was confused when she was ignored. Lucifyra instead kept her gaze focused on Merlos. What the hay, why’s she so gung-ho about him? She scrutinized Merlos, confused.
Ges rubbed his chin, mulling the details over. “Well, if Knott were goin’ with us, he’d bring up that we still could use a martial fighter for the frontline.”
“I’m not goin’, and ah’ll still voice that concern,” Knott chimed in.
“Ahh, a valid concern, sir dwarf. Here’s my response.” Lucifyra held up a hand to the dwarven brothers, grinning. A moment later and her hand was instantly encased in a light blue gauntlet. Rolling mist flowed off her body as it was slowly covered in a bulky yet semi-translucent full plate set of armor. A hilt appeared in her now gauntleted hand and slowly a blade grew in length until it ended inches from Ges’ beard.
“I’m a proficient fighter, you’ll find, my good dwarf, as I quite prefer to rely on my own strength than that of others.” For but a moment her expression was mirth filled, but it quickly flashed back to doe-eyed pleasantness.
Knott squinted his eyes at Luci, and pushed the sword leveled at his brother away with one thick finger. “Tha’s a good mindset to be havin’, to be sure,” he murmured. “You lose points for the sorcery, though.”
“I find a sorcerous blade far more reliable than a metal one, as it is an actual extension of myself.”
“...And I’d say a blade forged by my own hand is very much an extension of myself.”
Just as an awkward silence was beginning to fill the room, and everyone present began to weigh on breaking it, the inn’s door banged open once again.
“A herald of the King of Halia has entered the premises!” a thickly armored guard announced through a visored helm, and immediately she stood to the side.
A richly garbed man in flashy blues and yellows stepped into the building and looked about the room while his nose pointed up at the rafters. “Merlos the Ma- Er, the Magnificent! Ranked one hundred and seventy eighth in the Arcanum. Is he here? In this establishment?”
Everyone turned to look at Merlos. Merlos did a double take between the newcomer and his companions, unable to hide his astonishment. Jerkily, he stood up and answered the herald.
“Er, I am he, oh herald. What tidings are brought to me by the grand throne of Hal—”
The herald stepped forward briskly and waved a hand dismissively. “No pleasantries, please, wizard. This is a matter of royal import. You are hereby commanded to attend the King, post-haste, in the castle.” He ever so briefly surveyed those gathered around Merlos. “Your… band, may go, as well. Here are your papers of passage. Report to the north inner-city gatehouse within the hour and you will be escorted within.”
Merlos stared wide-eyed at the sheaf of papers shoved into his arms, then back up at the herald. “Th-The King?” His expression was joyous one moment, then wary the next. “Is this a prank?”
The herald had already turned to leave and stopped only briefly to give Merlos an impatient huff. “A jest? I fear not. You are one of only five recognized wizards of the Arcanum currently within the capitol. Therefore, you are being summoned on a matter of the utmost importance. The gods save us all. Now, I suggest you make haste…”
With that, the herald withdrew, the inn’s door banging shut behind his guards.
Everyone stayed silent for several seconds, staring in silence at their stunned leader.
“Wow, what a jerk,” Stormy spoke first.
Merlos shot her a glare. “Be that as it may,” he started, and turned a joy-filled look toward what he held in his hands. “We have just been given what could very well be our golden ticket, Stormy.”
Stormy gasped. “That’s riiight, kings are totally loaded!”
Merlos shot her another glare, while Kilyra burst out laughing. “Maybe she should find a rogue to train her,” she joked, giving Stormy a wink.
“No! No, that gag has run its course. We’re past that now.” Merlos sighed. “Alright, Lucifyra, you said you’re interested in joining our party. Are you still?”
Lucifyra again clasped her hands together, leaning forward with a too wide grin. “Oh, but of course!”
Merlos pulled on his robe’s collar a bit, averting his gaze. “Ahem, splendid. And what preparations do you require?”
“Let’s see, my things are still packed and waiting outside with my mare. So, I’m ready to leave when you are!”
Merlos gave her a grateful nod. “Excellent! Then we shall meet you outside post-haste!”
“Wonderful.” Lucifyra curtsied, wearing a self-assured look. “And please, everyone, call me Elsie. That’s what my friends call me.” She turned, smiling, and none too subtly sashayed her way out the door.
As Lucifyra left the building, Knott raised his hand and cast a simple spell, one taught to all paladins the moment after they took their oaths. When Knott gazed at her soul’s aura, it was thankfully as pure and clear as your average person’s… however, he still sensed a faint, but familiar oily sensation of unpleasantness. There was undoubtedly an alien will to harm others present… though it was muddled.
Meanwhile, Stormy and Kilyra turned to Merlos, snickering.
“What?” Merlos asked, frowning at the two amusedly gawking… females.
“You’re ranked one hundred and seventy eighth?” Stormy asked, grinning.
“And could you have fallen any harder for her ‘Oh come hither!’ act, Merlos?” Kilyra said at the same time as Stormy.
Merlos blustered, tossing about his robe's long sleeves. “My rank is very high up in the Arcanum for your information! There are hundreds of wizards! Thousands! If you count the auxiliary… And you, what act do you speak of?”
While Stormy laughed, rolling on the floor, Kilyra rolled her eyes. “Oh please, you really mean to tell me you bought that? She’s clearly got some ulterior motive. Can’t imagine what it could be though considering it’s you we’re talking about.”
“Och, I hate to be that lad, but her aura is a bit… dark—” Knott began, only for Merlos to turn around and fix him with a stare.
“Of all things to bring up in this day of age, you want to bring up her alignment?” Merlos shook his head in disappointment. “You can’t judge a book by its cover. For shame, Knott. She came to us clearly wanting to help in our adventure and you’re getting all judgemental before you’ve even gotten to know her.”
Knott deadpanned. “Look, all I’m sayin’ is tha’ you lot should be careful taking her on.”
Kilyra let a melodic laugh bellow out. “A crush is the best disguise anyone can wear.” Yawning, she leaned and cracked her back in an exaggerated way. “I’m gonna get some bean juice and pumpkin pie to go before this debacle gets started. Anyone else want some?”
Stormy’s ears pricked at that suggestion. “Beans… pumpkins… Why does that seem so fami—” She then remembered something really important. “Oh! Oh! My dream! I completely forgot it. Merlos! I need to tell you about something!”
Having remembered her dream in full, Stormy did her best to quickly inform Merlos of everything that had transpired the night before, as well as her lengthy dream and meeting with Princess Luna. This proved to be a hectic affair, as Merlos was also in a hurry to reach the King and answer his summons. After all, anyone fool enough to make a King wait was just asking for trouble.
And so, hasty goodbyes were traded between everyone and Knott, who stayed behind with plans to return north while the adventuring party led by Merlos would go forth to—hopefully—earn a fortune. After quickly collecting their newest member from the stables, the adventuring party of a talking pony, a laidback druid, a silver tongued bard, a mysterious battle sorceress, and a curmudgeonly wizard set off for the royal castle of Halia.
Along the way to the castle, Stormy found herself wanting a pumpkin spice latte to take the edge off from sitting still at the inn for so long. However, to her dismay, Kilyra informed her that there weren’t any coffee shops. At least, none that they could afford or would be allowed into if they could, anyway. Instead, they settled for trying some “goblin bean juice” flavored with pumpkin from an up and coming goblin street vendor. Stormy was reluctant to admit that the questionable concoction was delicious despite looking like it was sand. At least, she hoped the residents of Halia wouldn’t let a goblin sell something if it was dangerous.
“I never thought I’d be willing to consume anything a goblin of all creatures made, but this is rather palatable,” Merlos remarked. “So, when will you be able to speak with this Princess of dreams again?”
Stormy squinted, thinking hard to remember. “Oh, uh, she said it was a full moon, so I think I’ll have to wait for the next one. At least we can predict when that will be.”
Merlos stroked his beard and then gave Stormy a reassuring head pat. In response, she fussed with her mane a little bit with a grunt.
“Well if she does find a way for you to get home my coin purse will certainly appreciate that.” Merlos laughed as Stormy stuck her tongue out at him. “However, this news changes little for us. I need more gold even if you do find a way home on your own. Not to mention, we’ve got plenty to do in the meantime before the next full moon.” He smiled at Stormy’s returning smirk.
“Yeah…” Stormy intoned, her thoughts focused on a far more pressing and deadly affair than her meeting with Luna. “So, uh, what do we do about Wadsworth sending Tiki after me and almost killing Ges?” She looked at Merlos with fear plain on her face. Now that the fight was well past her, it took everything she had to keep walking through the dizziness she suddenly felt.
Merlos tsked. “If what you said to us is indeed true… and that was Tiki…” Pausing, he frowned deeper and deeper, his face straining in thought.
Stormy raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t we just tell the guards about what happened and they can arrest him?”
Merlos laughed, shaking his head, and before he stopped Kylira entered the conversation and consoled Stormy, who had adopted a hurt look.
“Stormy, we have no proof that what you say is true other than your word, and, not to sound hurtful, but… they likely won’t believe what you say.”
Merlos gave an exaggerated nod, his beard flailing in the wind. “Indeed! Even with a spell of truth telling, such a grandiose claim will be dismissed outright. Why, they’ll just say that’s what you thought you saw, or that your memories were tampered with, or worse, that we’re all trying to implicate a member of royalty by some cocamamy scheme to—”
“Alright! Alright, I get it…” Stormy groaned, feeling a headache from pure frustration coming on. She always hated stories and RPG videogames when the heroes didn’t have a simple solution. “So what, we can’t do anything? That whole fight was for nothing? We just gotta wait for him to come and get me again?”
“Och, lass, t’weren’t for nothin’. Yeh defeated a major player in this whole debacle, aye?” Ges patted Stormy’s break, giving her an encouraging smile. “And yeh saved my life.”
“Yeeeah.” Stormy stood straighter at that, and smiled back at Ges. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”
Merlos waved a hand dismissively. “Please, it was just an imp.”
Kilyra swatted Merlos’ shoulder, earning her a glare which she returned just as hard.
Elsie poorly hid a bemused look as she took this opportunity to enter the discussion from where her mare carried her along at the rear of the group. “So, this Wadsworth fellow… is it safe for us to involve ourselves with the King if he’s also royalty?”
Merlos looked over his shoulder and gave a confident bow of his head towards her. “Rest assured, Elsie, that no challenge is too great for us to overcome. We shall plunge forward bravely and without hesitation!”
“And by that he means that there’s really nothing we can do about it right now, so we’ll proceed as planned. Isn’t that right, Merlos?”
Merlos cleared his throat and leaned slightly on his staff, his shoulders hunching. “Well, it is true that our options in confronting Wadsworth over this are very limited…” His expression grew grim. “If he truly desires Stormy’s being for experimentation, as I had truly hoped was not the case, then our only option would be to convince the King himself, or some other powerful noble, of his wrongdoings and convince him that they warrant punishment. Even then, our benefactor would have to consider the fallout of favor with his or her subjects over the matter…” He leaned down to Stormy to whisper. “Royalty isn’t held to the same laws as the common folk for that very reason. Wadsworth undoubtedly has countless allies throughout the kingdom.”
Stormy stared in disbelief at Merlos. Before she could reply or ask just what the hay he meant, however, he continued.
“Now, we will speak no more of this, and will instead attempt to see to today’s pressing matters. After all, we have an audience with the King himself, and if opportunity presents itself, we may just be able to speak with him on this matter.” Merlos flashed Stormy a wide, toothy grin filled with excitement, the very first she’d ever seen from him. “So, let’s see just what would bring me a Royal summons out of the blue.”
As they drew closer to the castle the traffic became more regulated, complete with checkpoints, long lines, and gated entries. A large stony archway separated the inner city and castle grounds, large enough that the Wiser Budd could have easily slipped into its grand entrance. Several Guards were speckled around the front, some looking bored out of their minds, some rigid like statues, and others hard at work halting those that desired entry.
Merlos curtly addressed his group as they approached the castle’s gate. “Everyone, I want you to be on your best behavior. Especially you, Stormy, and I mean better than any you’ve been on in the past.” He turned to face the little filly. “I mean it. This is the King's court and I can't afford to leave you with a sitter while I see to his summons.”
Stormy put on a smug look and nodded self-assuredly. “Well, I did just talk to a Princess last night, so I’ve got this royal audience thing down.”
Merlos burst out laughing, enough that a few passersby turned to look at him in surprise. “Oh no-ho-ho-ho, Stormy, you’ll be waiting with everyone else outside of the audience chamber.” He continued to chuckle and even wiped a tear from his eye. “Could you imagine bringing you before the King? We’d be thrown in the dungeon for sure!”
Stormy scowled and crossed her forehooves, watching with squinted eyes as Merlos continued to laugh at her. “I’m not that much of a trouble maker…” she mumbled.
Merlos caught his breath, still shaking with some laughter. “Nevertheless, while you’re waiting, be on your best behavior.”
“Aye, no worries, Merlos.” Ges said reassuringly. “I’ll keep an eye on ‘er.”
Kilyra scoffed. “She’s just a little girl, Merlos, get off her back.”
Merlos made a deep sigh. “Just… no loud outbursts or any of your usual excitements. I don’t want us to be thrown out of his majesty’s court because you did something to offend somebody.”
Stormy crossed her forelegs, correcting Kilyra with fuss. “I’m not a little girl, I’m a teenager!”
Merlos shuddered. “Yes, that kind of outburst.”
Elsie chimed a laugh. “My, but you all are quite the entertaining bunch.”
Merlos gave a weak laugh for Elsie, then turned again to Stormy with a frown at the ready. “Bite your tongue if you have to, but please understand by the eleven lords of the Twilight Mountain that the nobility won’t tolerate your usual shenanigans as I do.”
Stormy gave her brightest, yet most sarcastic grin. “Don’t worry, Merlos, I’ll behave.”
Merlos eyed her doubtfully, humming in suspicion. “We shall certainly see, won’t we?”
After crossing the gate’s portcullis—and some rather invasive searching of everyone’s person by the guards—the party moved through various parts of the castle as directed by the guards. Once they had reached a grand set of doors that were apparently the last checkpoint before their destination, another wizard—judging by his gaudy dress—was already there and being searched.
“Ah, Merlos the Mad, you are summoned here, as well?” questioned the tall, bony looking man. He had long and curled pitch black facial hair that Stormy thought made him look quite a bit like a coat rack in hooman form. “It seems the King truly is desperate to take care of his problem if he’s stooped to summoning you here.”
Without missing a beat, Merlos quipped back to the robed person. “The great Savonelli without dice and a bottle in hand? Truly these are remarkable times. Why don't you run along back to the nearest casino and let a respectable wizard take care of things.”
“You, respectable?” the other wizard, Salmonella or something like that, sniffed the air derisively. “I always love your comebacks, Merlos. You do such a quaint job of trying to prop your credibility back up at the end of each one. Did you think of it before setting foot in this room like a pretentious schoolboy?”
Merlos grunted. “No, they just come to me when I’m faced with arrogant louts like yourself.”
Serengeti snorted a laugh, straightening his robes now that his search was finished. “Name calling now? As I said, quaint.”
“Well, if the shoe fits…”
“Tell me, whatever did happen with that last familiar of yours? Was there enough of him left for a funeral or no?”
One of the guards shook his head. “Poor Iago, tragic that one. “
Stormy pinned her ears back at the ominous mention of Merlos’ last familiar that she kept hearing about. She was going to ask for the details when Ges gave her a slight shake of the head.
Merlos raised a finger as if to whip his verbal combatant with his reply. “At least I’m not some insalubrious street magician, unlike some of the Arcanum. I work for a living!” He earned a glare from the guard doing his best to pat him down.
“Are all wizards jerks to each other?” Stormy muttered.
Kilyra nodded with a smirk. “Most men with fragile egos are.”
Ges chuckled. “I think these two get along better than most, to be honest,” he whispered, smirking.
Stormy stifled a giddy whinny-giggle into the crook of her hoof.
Merlos gave an annoyed glance Kilyra’s way, who grinned and waved.
A guard then asked Savonelli, “Anything in your sleeves, sire?”
Savonelli produced a bouquet of fresh flowers, white and purple Lilacs and crysanthenums wrapped in a crinkly paper, they were then offered, “Only a beautiful bouquet for the concerned gentleman.”
The guard blushed a moment and inspected the flowers a moment before offering them back to Savonelli, “Keep them and pass them to someone more deserving.”
While Stormy and Kilyra gasped, covering their mouths and suddenly enraptured by the sudden tone shift in the guards’ frisking the wizard, Savonelli went on.
“At least that rat of a man, Wadsworth, isn’t here.” Savonelli quipped. “I hear he’s been locking elbows with his uncle in castle affairs as of late.”
Both wizards laughed.
“He keeps inviting himself over to my home,” Merlos shared with a sneer.
“Feh, that dump? I’m surprised he even graces it with his boot.” Savonelli waved a hand dismissively.
“Uh, it’s clean now, you’re welcome,” Stormy let slip. “It’s not a biohazard anymore.”
Savonelli raised an eyebrow down at Stormy. “A talking parlor trick? My, what a wonderful gift for the King! What else does it do? Sing while you drink water?”
“Hay, I’ll show you who sings.” Stormy said, feeling her temper start to boil. “You wanna see singing?” She air boxed with her hooves a few times before Savonelli chuckled.
“That’s adorable! Where did you come from, little one?” he asked, clearly amused, but in a way that just rankled Stormy further.
“I’m normal sized, thanks.” Stormy did her best to put on an air of confidence and not let the tall ooman talk down to her, buuut she also did her best not to upset Merlos. “And it’s kind of a long story, but I got summoned here from my world by some jerk and then this other, nicer jerk bought me.” She felt like she did an adequate job.
Merlos shot Stormy another annoyed look while Savonelli burst out with laughter. Stormy grinned, too.
“Knowing Merlos he probably bought you with the expectation of riding you, I’d wager…” Savonelli gave Merlos a smug look. “Why, this one time he was researching a means of substituting his spell components with—”
Merlos raised his hands and stepped between the two. “Alright! That’s enough of that.”
Savonelli, nodded, grinning as though he’d won. “It’s always fun to match your mettle, Merlos, and I’m glad to see your companions hold their own too.” He bowed his head slightly.
Stormy pulled away as an ooman guard inspected under her wings and tail. “Oh, come on, weren’t the last four checkpoints enough?” she barked, pulling her wing back down defensively.
“I check or I get to throw you out,” the guard barked back, not taking any of her guff.
Stormy grumbled under her breath as she lifted her wing for the guard to inspect, getting tired of the guard’s routine. Another wizard came in, this one dressed in purple and gold colours. At seeing Merlos lock eyes with the newcomer, Stormy groaned, knowing that they were about to repeat the same bout of arguing as last time.
Merlos drew himself up. “Madigar the Magicaster. I knew the King was summoning just about any buffoon with an appropriately pointed hat calling himself a wizard, but now this is bordering on being a complete farce of a gathering.”
Stormy rolled her eyes, no longer able to take any more of the ooman’s ostentatious pandering any longer. “Really? I’m going to have to listen to all that all over again?” She face-hoofed and gave an annoyed huff.
Kilyra headshook, whispering quietly to Stormy. “Imagine an entire tavern of this every friday night.”
Stormy’s eyes twitched as she imagined dealing with that every day.
As it turned out, Stormy’s vision of a tavern filled with loud oomans all trying to one up each other’s insults wasn’t terribly far off the mark. Several more wizards showed up and joined the others, until there were five of them in total all in a circled group and all of them speaking at once with raised voices. It got old very fast.
At some point, everyone else accompanying the wizards also seemed to tire of this and together they followed a guard to a nearby waiting room filled with tables and chairs.
The room left to those who accompanied the wizards held a small feast upon one table to give pages, assistants, and other companions a chance to relax and stay out of the way during the wizards’ audience with the King.
In an effort to distract herself, Stormy sniffed at some of the bread, then backed off from it. Something about that bread’s smell bothered her and made her hackles rise. It took her a second to realize it was stuffed with some sort of red cylinder that was probably a meat product.
“Not to your liking, Stormy?” Ges chuckled, patting her on the back as he took a seat. “Never been a fan of meatlump-loaf myself, either.”
Kilyra, meanwhile, entertained herself by hitting on a young guard. Said guard’s face went bright red in response to the things she said, which were just below Stormy’s earshot, but not Elsie’s.
Discreetly, Elsie tsked at Kilyra, gingerly setting down the cup of tea she’d procured herself. “I’m well aware of the pastimes of so-called arteests, but perhaps you could in some small capacity operate with a higher level of decorum? I’d hate for our newly formed group to earn an unsavory reputation.” Pausing, she took a sip of tea. “I have my good name to consider, after all.”
Kilyra narrowed her eyes at Elsie briefly, before barking a loud, room-filling laugh that drew several eyes. “That’s hilarious, new girl. Coming from you, I mean.”
"Whatever are you insinuating?" Elsie raised her cup to take another sip.
"Oh… who knows?" Kilyra thought she saw Elsie’s eyes flicker elsewhere for just a moment. “What do you think I could mean?”
“I really couldn’t say, Kiki,” Elsie murmured, a slight smile appearing on her lips.
”Kiki?” Kilyra echoed gruffly, her demeanor finally shaken from her normal calm. She neglected to notice the guard slink away from her, having begun to be ignored. “I’m only going to say this once, it’s Kilyra, and not anything else. Unless you want that gaudy snowflake shaped staff of yours jammed so far up your—”
Ges and Stormy had been watching the entire trade between the two women from the start, and it was at this moment that Ges decided to try his luck at intervening.
“Ah, ladies, perhaps we ‘ught cool our tempers with—”
“Oh, don’t get so flustered, Kiki,” Elsie responded, talking over Ges’ attempts to assuage. “We’re going to be the best of friends during our travels, you and I!” She clearly meant to keep pressing that button now that she’d found it.
Kilyra’s glare at Elsie deepened. “Oh, my temper’s perfectly cool, Ges,” she intoned, her fist clenched around a chair’s back so tight Ges could hear it creak. “Nothing to worry about. I’m just beginning to have… certain regrets.”
Elsie smiled knowingly at Kilyra. “Let’s just focus on our adventure and getting to know one another better rather than fight like this. It’ll be lots of fun. You’ll see.” Her tone just made Kilyra balk. “Would you fancy some tea, Kiki?”
Kilyra’s eye twitched erratically by the time Elsie was done talking, while Ges continuously tried to get a word in and divert the conversation, to no avail.
Meanwhile, Stormy’s attention had drifted to the table. “Definitely don’t want to get drawn into that…” she mumbled. Her mom’s friends would fight a lot, and the way Kilyra and Elsie had begun to argue sounded just like them.
Stormy hopped into a chair and listened in on a pair of oomans at the table—both were servants of the other wizards—dressed in nice tailored clothing that hung a little loose on their bodies.
“So on me last travel tah Lut Gholein wif Sire Pollenward through the Canyon o’ deh Magi, we run into deh likes of dis wizard named Rick— an’ he polymorphs ‘imself into a pickle. He’s called Pickle Rick. Funniest t’ing I’ve ever seen.”
Stormy rolled her eyes and inspected the food; atop it was a smattering of hors devours which she was a little hesitant to eat, not knowing what anything was. “Geez, is there anything decent to eat here— Oh, bingo!”
There was a single apple sitting in the bottom of a wooden bowl.
“Last one, too. I’m super lucky— Ah!” Stormy was caught by surprise when an ooman bumped into her shoulder.
“What the devil?” A grizzled, portly ooman with a brown beard that covered his front scowled down at Stormy. “Bloody wizard pets. Watch where you’re going!”
Stormy frowned up at the rude man. “Uh, buddy, you bumped into me. How about you go forsooth yourself some manners or something because your mom clearly never taught you any.”
Blustering, the fat ooman turned and walked away. “Well, I never.”
“Hmph, never bathed maybe...” Stormy grumbled quietly, as she then set about finding where her apple had rolled off to. She spotted it by the door, right beside a guard’s foot. “Ah, my precious...”
Stormy’s bad luck, however, continued. Another guard came to relieve the first, kicking the apple out through the door and into the hall. No! Wait! Come back! You’re delicious! She dove after it, sliding out through the doorway across the slick floor.
Just as Stormy was about to nab the fruit as it slowed down, yet another ooman again kicked the fruit and into another room.
Oh, come on! Stormy groaned, and sprinted through the other doorway after her apple. It had better not be bruised!
Finally catching up to the runaway fruit, she exhaled in relief. “Phew, and just before I caused any trouble, too.” She lifted the apple with one wing and took a bite… only to find it was actually a really convincing looking wax apple.
“Bleh! Gross!” Stormy spat out the bite and pitched the now disfigured wax decoration into a nearby bin. “Well that just figures.” Whistling innocently, she opted to put distance between herself and the round black container near the door just in case it wasn’t a bin.
Unaware of where she’d ended up, Stormy followed the sound of voices and trotted further into the huge chamber. “Wow, there’s a lot of people in here, too.” The new room was massive, the small crowd at the far end barely filling a tenth of its space. “Is this the vip room or what?” It was quite an impressive sight, everything sculpted from either white marble or some kind of shiny gray metal she couldn’t put her hoof on. Stepping up to any of the metal, it seemed to react with a slight blue glow to it.
The chamber was daunting as it would easily fit one of Canterlot’s massive private airships inside of it. She paused to let her gaze drift further and further up. The strange metal seemed to run in a grid-like pattern to the ceiling, connecting slabs of marble and the spiral pattern columns which supported the large and lofty roof.
Stormy had never been in Canterlot castle, but she briefly wondered how it would match up.
Stormy wandered around the throne room’s edge, enjoying the feel of the nice velvety carpet with shiny silvery trim. Her eyes drifted from tapestries to large painted artworks of dignified looking oomans in armor and holding chalices or other obvious props a painter asked them to for hours.
Stormy's eyes drifted onto a portrait that got her to almost gasp; there was a picture of Wadsworth! Well, sort of; maybe if he aged forty years, shaved his creepy fu manchu goatee/mustache and trimmed his super long eyebrows. Oh! And he had hair, unlike Wadsworth who kept his head shaved under his skullcap. He was smiling, not the Wadsworth evil scheming smile, but a happy mirthful one. He had a bowl cut mane and full lips, but it was no mistake that this person was related to Wadsworth. Especially with that beaklike nose and sunken narrow brown eyes.
Just as she started to get the urge to draw some funny faces on the paintings, the voices at the end of the chamber again drew her attention as her wandering brought her closer to them. It then occurred to her that these were the same argumentative, bickering voices from earlier… Indeed, there were several wizards quickly trying to get one in over the other, Merlos’ own deep voice definitely among them.
The ooman who Stormy presumed to be the King himself, looked like he was moments from passing out from boredom. He sat upon a throne at the end of the chamber clad in regal attire, from his white and red mantle of exotic furs and soft fabrics, to the weighty padded clothing on his shoulders. Well armed and armored guards flanked the King, their helmet visors up and topped with the large plumage of some unknown bird.
Stormy studied the king a while, remembering Merlos’ words about Wadsworth’s ancestry in relation to royalty. She considered for a moment why someone like Wadsworth would behave the way he does.
These thoughts were interrupted when a loud nasal voice rang from the royal bellman, “Oyez, oyez, oyez! Ladies and Gentleman of the Thaumaturgical community and the best minds of the collegiate, or the next best available, the King has summoned ye all to solve the mystery of an arcane relic of unknown origin. That mystery being that the relic demands questions answered before it shares its secrets yet untold.”
Stormy’s mouth dropped as the “Mysterious arcane relic of unknown origin” was presented for all to behold. She felt her excitement boil up inside as she instantly recognized it!
The bellman continued, “For it asks us a riddle, we have been left in great befuddlement for what it means. Despite the renowned accuracy of Merlos’ translation spell, the King’s scholars are yet unable to provide a worthy answer to the relic. With your help, we hope to perhaps even be bestowed secrets of the universe, for the relic presents its riddles written in elegant forms of magic.”
“Or maybe old Merlos’ much lauded spell isn’t as accurate we thought!” a portly wizard, Gurabond the Grand, intoned boldly. “Perhaps the issue lay with it, and not the King’s scholars?”
The King—who Stormy noticed was the same old man she almost vandalized back in the painting—stroked his thin facial hair and nodded in thought.
Stormy spotted Merlos’ hands ball up into fists, but he didn’t retort.
The crier continued, clearing his throat. “Ahem, please wait to begin your deliberations until I am finished. As I was saying, occasionally the relic has produced a pleasant chime in the early morning hours, likely to draw further attention to the contents within it. The scholars found that it also roughly matches the description of the lost box of Dinklage the Short, or perhaps something from the world of the transdimensional prophet May-gunn Will-I-ams! Now, without further adieu.”
The crier grandly held the device before the wizards. However, the scene was completely spoiled by a cartoonish looking sphinx character on the relic’s front. Beside the Sphinx was a little speech bubble, and beneath it was what Stormy recognized as a digital keyboard of the Equestrian alphabet.
The crier read aloud what the phone sphinx said. “To access what lies inside and to prove what you are worth, solve my riddles three and my secrets you will unearth. Fail too much and you’ll have to wait, as you're not the one with whom I affiliate; What costs nothing, but is worth everything, weighs nothing, but can last a lifetime, that one person can't own, but two or more can share?"
“Why is it giving them the riddles? They should only deal with that if they failed the pattern a bunch.” Stormy muttered. At this point, she was done watching, and scampered over to Merlos to nip his dress, tugging at the foul tasting clothes.
Without looking, Merlos tried to shoo Stormy away as the wizards all at once offered their various answers. Merlos, of course, had a few of his own to offer, but the crier was already crowded. Eventually, the court quieted after the Bellman gave a ring of his bell, calling for silence.
“We will conduct this in a civilized manner and listen to all parties present in order of rank, starting with Hewbert the Harrowed, and ending with Merlos the Ma— Magnificent. If none can immediately solve the relic’s mystery, we will adjourn and reconvene on the ‘morrow.”
Stormy grumbled at being unconsciously shooed away, and again nipped Merlos’ dress, trying to get his attention.
Merlos looked down, very annoyed with Stormy’s insistent tugging, “What is it? I’m very bus— Stormy?” His eyes looked like they were going to fall out of his head for a moment at seeing her. Quickly, he glanced around the throne room. No one seemed to be looking his or Stormy’s way, much to his surprise. “What in the nine Hells are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in the other room! How did you get past the guards?” He put a hand over Stormy’s muzzle as she tried to speak, holding it shut. “Nevermind. I don’t want to know, it’s enough for me just knowing that we aren’t in a prison cell already.”
Stormy grunted around the calloused old hand holding her muzzle shut. “‘ook, ahf knew fwaf ‘at iff.” She pointed accusingly at the little phone, held a loft by the ooman crier.
Merlos raised an eyebrow, then looked at the phone, then very slowly released Stormy.
“I know what it is! That’s my phone! I know all the answers to its riddles, too.”
Merlos almost reached again for her muzzle at her sudden outburst, but instead stopped short. “You what?” He rubbed his beard, stroking it as he considered the situation. With a chuckle, he gave a snide remark, “Of course, it’s always about you, isn’t it? Why am I not surprised?”
Stormy put on a slightly abashed look, but pressed on. “Sorry. Merlos, they took my things when I got here, so that was probably sold at the auction where you bought me.”
Merlos crossed his arms. “Alright, well, we have to wait our turn whatever the case. The other members of the Arcanum hold seniority and we can be expelled for an outburst. The King's time is very important… Also, while that was once your device, it belongs to Halia and the King now, you understand? If they don’t wish to return it don’t press the matter.”
Stormy considered Merlos’ words before giving a nod. “Fine, it can’t help me get home anyways, but you owe me a crystal ball,” she joked, and was surprised when he chuckled and nodded. “Also, we can still solve it and get you some brownie points with the court, right?”
Merlos nodded, smirking. “Undoubtedly. Now, we wait.”
If listening to a bunch of old oomans insult each other was tedious, this was pure torture for Stormy. Every time she’d start to tap, or wiggle, Merlos would gently put a hand atop her head, conveying a silent plea to stop. Which Stormy would look up with a “Are they done yet?” kind of look.
Some wizards tried tilting and hovering the phone in their magic, one even tried some kind of spell where he knocked on it and touched metal keys to it, only to be met without any success. With sunlight now thrown on the other side of the room, the wizards had all given their best guesses and it was finally Merlos’ turn.
Savonelli sighed, his vast array of spells that might have helped exhausted, and held Stormy’s phone out to Merlos. “Alright, I give up. You have a go, Merlos.”
Merlos did not make a showy entrance or introduction. He merely introduced himself and his apprentice, Stormy Weather. Ignoring the few laughs from the room at hearing this, he then said, “If you would do the honors, Stormy.”
“You got it!” Stormy chirped, and fluttered over to accept the phone.
Everyone was suddenly aware of the small, bizarre winged horse-like creature that could speak fluttering around in the throne room, a few jaws dropping open despite having seen all sorts of bizarre sights in their time.
Used to it, Stormy brought up the keyboard.
“Hold on,” the portly wizard, Gurabond, announced. “Why exactly does this thing get a turn?”
Stormy looked up fearfully as the wizard approached her, only for Merlos to step between them.
“It’s my turn, you lout, and I’ll do with it what I want!”
“The Arcanum could have you expelled if you make a mockery of a summons by the King, Merlos!” the portly wizard snapped back, stroking his silken red neckerchief.
“Everypony relaaaax, I got a nat 20.” Stormy replied, trying to soothe Gurabond, who stiffened even more.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Gurabond asked, as he punctuated each syllable with his hands in double dramatic karate chops.
“I dunno, but it sounds kinda right,” Stormy replied as she tapped the keys one at a time until finally the word “Friendship” had been spelled out on her phone.
The phone chimed, and the sphinx character gave a thumbs up.
“See? Easy-peasy,” Stormy assured everyone around her. “Friendship is magic, after all.”
Merlos shook his head. “Juvenile,” he muttered.
The wizards, all of them now crowded around Stormy—pushing an astounded Gurabond out of the way—and peered intently at the phone’s surface. They all gasped, made disgusted sounds, or tried to make it seem like the answer was obvious and they were totally going to try that next.
Stormy had to suppress her laughter. “What? It makes sense, guys!”
The phone asked the next riddle. “What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?”
The wizards shouted in excitement, even the littlest victory in all this tedium was worthy of celebration.
Many eyes were on Stormy.
Stormy snickered and rolled her eyes, “Everpony knows this one.” She typed in 42, much to the scoffing and some jeering from the wizards and academic fellows in the room.
Merlos scoffed openly. “Now that one doesn’t even make sense.”
“It’s a reference,” Stormy cackled with laughter. “Anyway, I didn’t want to make them so hard I might not figure them out, so it’s only the last one that’s really important.”
As Merlos crossed his arms and turned away in disgust, he was met by the sight of the King, who had descended his throne and was standing just behind the gaggle of wizards, a bemused smirk on his face. He jerkily bowed, moving aside.
The cartoon sphinx asked its final question. “What’s green, whistles, and hangs on the wall?”
Stormy typed in “Leafy Green” and submitted. “If I wasn’t here, no one would have ever figured this out,” she commented. In the corner, she noticed the symbols for “No Service” and “NAVLINK lost” caught her eye. She took a moment to re-uplink it to her bag’s NAVLINK, and sighed as it indicated it had nothing to update to her maps.
“So that’s it? It’s open now?” Hewbert asked in a grating tone. “Honestly, that was terribly anti-climactic.”
“What’s a Leafy Green?” Savonelli inquired from behind her, sounding confused.
“A filly my parents made me foalsit last summer. She lived next door to me in Canterlot,” Stormy replied, shrugging. “She was a hoof-ful, lemme tell you.”
The crier broke into the center of the group, obviously trying to put space between the wizards and Stormy. “Do you mean to imply this is your relic?” the ooman asked, leaning over as if to scold her.
“Yeah, it’s my cell phone. Or, it used to be mine, but I lost it a little while back… I can show you how to use it…” Stormy began. “This has music from my homeland on it. As well as a few simple games. It’s mostly meant for talking to people far away, or to find your way around, but it won’t work here without any cell phone towers. Anyway, to unlock it normally you just draw a “u” on the little pattern thing, assuming your hands will work with my phone’s touch screen… it was designed for ponies to use, after all.”
A slow applause drew everyone’s attention as Stormy finished her explanation.
The King smiled downward amusedly. “Thank you, Stormy Weather, apprentice of Merlos.” He was a jovial seeming ooman, with a big round belly and a kind look in his eye. His hair was pure white, however, unlike the portrait she’d seen of him, and his face was weathered with age. “I believe you mentioned something about a game?”
At the word “game” the servants attending that King in the hall all stiffened slightly, though no one else seemed to take notice.
Jerkily, Stormy managed to bow. “Ah, thank you, your highness.” Unsure of what to do next, she held the phone off to her side so that the King could also see it. “So, uh, I’ll talk you through how to use it.”
Stormy proceeded to open her simplest app and show it off to the King. “It can get pretty hard, but its fun…” she passed her phone to the king, who immediately became entranced at its marvels. “The game’s simple. Just touch the screen and your little bird there will flap harder and go up. Let go and he’ll stop flapping. You just want to control him like that and avoid the green things.”
“Forget everything you know about mobile games,” Stormy’s phone interrupted dramatically, showing a well known advertisement, “And get ready to raid.” The King stared in awe at the motion picture before his eyes. Truly this device was pure magic to him.
Groaning in frustration, Stormy booped an X in the corner to close the ad as soon as it came up. “Ugh, I cant believe the ads are still on there. Boo! So that’s how you close the ad, oh and the green rods are pipes.” Stormy’s wing feathers puffed up a little.
“Pipes,” the distracted King echoed back, chuckling and occasionally tapping the phone as the cartoonish creature made its way further into the endless field of obstacles. “How intuitive, for this game teaches one patience with this… ad. It truly is a marvel of magic.”
Merlos marveled at the sight of the King laughing uproariously more and more as he was drawn into the game. Stormy was still trying to explain more of the phone’s functions, but it was painfully clear that the King was completely enraptured by the game.
“Oh dear, the King’s found yet another distraction,” a terse voice muttered. “The clerks aren’t going to be happy about that.”
Merlos turned and was surprised to see the other wizards had all been ushered out of the room, and had been replaced by a cadre of knights and a tall, dark-haired and broad-shouldered man at their front. He had a chiseled jaw and an assured, piercing gaze that Merlos recognized immediately.
The King’s hand strolled up to Merlos, his voice melodic in its delivery. “Merlos the Magnificent, I presume? I think this is the first time we’ve met. I am Duke Wellington, the King’s right hand. For assisting His Majesty the King, you have earned the reward.” He gently guided Merlos away from the King as he played the game, Stormy still trying fruitlessly to explain more about it.
“A-Ah, of course. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Duke.” Merlos didn’t have the bravery to confess that Wellington had actually met him several times in the past at various functions.
Duke Wellington nodded slightly, his expression unchanging. “I would also like to extend to you an opportunity that his Royal Majesty spoke to me about earlier today.” He gestured to an ornate wooden table, where they then sat. “To put it simply; we need a brilliant mind for the protection of our beloved diplomat, Reginald Thornswallop to the undersea kingdoms bordering our shores! If you accept, we will get you better acquainted with him in the morning.”
Merlos blinked, dumbfounded at the man. “T-Truly? We would be honored!” The sound of gold clinking at the back of his mind was very distracting. “To serve the King in such a capacity is—”
“Well, I think the King’s happy with just that one game.” Stormy happily trotted up, a proud expression on her face. “So, what’s next, Merlos?”
“Blast! Those pipes were impossibly close together.”
Merlos sighed. “As I was saying, we accept, Sir Duke.”
Stormy glanced over, and when she looked into Merlos’ eyes, a cold shiver went down her spine while her mind registered the unsettling smile he wore.