part0001

Diane looked up from the map of the sewer system, raising an eyebrow as her shorter companion, Kat, pulled at something. She lowered the map further, watching the frantic attempts to get what was probably some sticky sludge off with a bemused smile. Of course, she probably would have panicked too if something had latched onto her. Diane smirked as her dear companion straightened. Now that they were facing each other, she could see the crablike creature that had decided that the other woman’s face would be a good home.

“Kat, stop playing with the local wildlife.”

The red-headed girl waved her arms as another muffled scream escaped her. Diane just rolled her eyes, stepping forward, her black dress sliding along the pavement sidewalk, before she pointed two fingers at the shellfish’s back. A small, black pulse ran over the crab and it became still, just before two lines bisected it. It then split into fourths as the force cracked its hard exterior, and sent the pieces flying against the walls.

For Kat, the spell felt like a wall was slamming into her face. Her arms flailed desperately, an ill fated attempt to get her balance back before falling off of the walkway. Where this led was the place all sewers led, the shallow, disgusting green water below. She gasped for air as she resurfaced, and then stood in the shallow muck, twitching a few times before barfing.

Kat looked up at Diane’s small smirk with a furious glare. “I have other people’s crap where nothing is supposed to go!”

“So you’re fine?”

Kat gritted her teeth and grabbed ahold of her companion’s leg, before pulling her down. A muffled curse escaped Diane before she was forced all the way off, and even past the knight with how much force was put behind what should have just been a playful tug. As she forced her way out of the gunk, her black robe drenched in the same sludge that her companion was, she hissed, “Do you know how long it will take to get the stench out of this? You have spares!”

Kat rolled her eyes as she pulled herself back up to the walkway and helped the other woman back to dry land. “I told you you should have put on my old barbarian stuff. This kind of place just isn’t right for silk.”

Diane huffed, before focusing for a moment. A ripple ran through her clothes, and while it was still freezing cold water, at least now it was clean and could get rid of some of the gunk on herself. “Look, can we just go now? We still have a job to get done.”

Kat groaned and began to walk as she took a rag from Diane’s shoulder bag and wet it with her canteen. While her chainmail wouldn’t be a problem with the crud on it, the straps and buckles on her breastplate would start to chafe if she didn’t clean them out. “I hate doing stuff like this. I mean, we’re big, tough adventurers, so why are we doing city maintenance?”

A light sigh came from Diane as the sound of their steps bounced off the walls. “I have told you many times before that while our expeditions are fun, they require capital, and these are the best types of jobs to get that capital with.”

Kat turned back to the taller woman with a scowl on. “Don’t you mean the most degrading?”

Diane took in a deep breath as she forced herself to stay calm. Even after almost three years of adventuring together, Kat still couldn’t help but complain unless they were actually dungeoneering. She turned back, her hands on her hips. “Look, I’ve been planning this next expedition for almost two months. You were the one who broke their weapon, so stop complai-”

Time almost seemed to slow for Kat as the sound of a loud slam echoed through the large, sewer tunnels. She watched as Diane just barely began to turn towards the sound before a short, wooden shaft slammed into her shoulder. The drops of blood hadn’t even hit the cement before the short warrior reached for her broadsword, before cursing at the empty scabbard, and instead pulling out her knife. As another bolt scratched the stones beside her, she slammed her shoulder onto the wall beside the open intersection. Her breath was coming in short, raspy gasps as she could feel a howl echo through her bones. She shut her eyes for a moment and stopped them from dilating before looking past the corner. Her concentration almost shattered though as the other crossbowmen fired a bolt at the stone next to her head.

“Fucking bandit! Okay, let’s see how well you can track through this.” She reached into her belt. While Diane held onto most of their dungeoneering tools, the sorceress had made Kat a few things to help her with ranged opponents. “Just in case.” Two silver balls rolled around in her hands, slowly getting warmer as they gained friction. She clenched them tight as they almost began to burn, before rolling them around the corner.

Diane smiled from knee deep in the sewage as she saw the harsh light come from the corridor. It would take her almost an hour to recharge them at camp, but it was better then whenever Kat thought she could dodge arrows. She sat up before stiffening and gritting her teeth, the pain of the crossbow bolt being very real. She knew she should just ignore it, instead of trying to pull it out like most adventurers might. Treating a wound in combat usually just led to more being made, and it had been her folly for not checking around the corner before scolding Kat, so she now needed to make sure neither paid for that further.

The bandits were only just getting their sight back when the first felt cold steel being thrust into him. Kat slammed her left fist into his cheek to free her blade and saw the two crossbowmen almost jump at seeing her. A small smirk crossed her face as she crouched and charged at the one on her level. The other was on top of the makeshift barricade that they had been instructed to get rid of, along with two other meatheads, but she knew better than to worry about them. The panic in the archer’s eyes had guaranteed the miss that he now made while the other took a deep breath so he could actually make his shot. The last two were slower to recover..

It was too late though, as Kat rolled forward, making the misfire all the more certain, before she sprang up, her knife making its way across his broad chest, before sinking between his ribs. She could hear the other two bandits fall onto the concrete, screaming at her to stop, but that only made her chuckle. She had a job, and they’d already made a fatal mistake.

Diane had watched all of this from the cover of the sewer way, even if it meant getting coated in the shallow filth, and saw her companion freeze. She held her good arm out, aimed straight for the remaining crossbowmen. Her magic flowed from her chest, into her arm, before down onto her fingertips to crackle outwards with yellow energy. The bandit had just reloaded, but she knew she was faster.

The crack of thunder rang through the sewers as the spell’s sound bounced off the stone walls. The bandit it was aimed at heard nothing as his weapon was splintered by pure electricity. Electricity that then shot through him. He looked down at his smoking chest, his head twitching as his breathing stopped, and he fell back onto the other side of the barrier with a splash.

Kat blinked a few times to try to get her world to stop spinning as she made her way towards the last two. She could tell that one had two knives in his hands, while the other wielded a short sword and a shield. Child’s play to her, especially when the sword was swung at her. She stepped back and let it hit the wood before grabbing the shield, pushing it out of the way, and thrusting forward into the bandit’s chest.

The other watched his partner in crime fall, before looking into Kat’s eyes. Her once green eyes had an odd red added to them as she pulled her blade free. She ran a tongue over her mouth before shutting those eyes and breathing deeply. She heard the daggers drop to the ground and looked back to see the other bandit running.

Kat looked back at Diane, who was only now pulling out the crossbow bolt while also grabbing some bandages. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

Diane rolled her eyes. “It’s by far not the worst thing I’ve been hit by. It definitely isn’t worth your bloodlust, even if it caught you by surprise.”

Kat kept eye contact with Diane for a few more moments, before blushing slightly and turning away. “You saw that, did you?”

“Yes, and,” she paused to help the sorceress up and peck her on the cheek, “it was very sweet of you.” She then smacked the warrior upside the head. “It was also very stupid. If you’re going into it, either stop it without stopping everything else, or focus on the fight. You could have gotten yourself killed.”

Kat chuckled a little as she patted just below Diane’s shoulder. “Oh yeah, because we both were great about that today.”

The sorceress bit into her cheek, before shaking her head and sighing, despite there being a smile on her face. “Alright, you have a point. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Kat grinned wide. “Ah, sweet music to my ears. Now,” she said with a crack of her knuckles, “let’s get rid of this, shall we?”

Diane’s eyes widened as Kat slammed her fist through a support beam on the ramshackle dam. No warning, no hesitation, she had just gone ahead and broken the dam. All Diane could do was spin a protective bubble around herself, but she didn’t have time to get one around Kat before the structure collapsed.

Kat looked down as brown liquid started making its way through the crumbling wood. “Oh shi-”

It would be almost an hour before the ‘water’logged barbarian was fished out, safe, but humiliated.

The mayor took one sniff, and knew the job was done. Every hair on his flabby body rose from the stench of victory, but at least it was victory, and not failure. He swallowed hard, his gag reflex threatening to break him as his hands gripped into the chair that he sat in behind his desk in. Two silhouettes appeared on the other side of the door, and he made sure not to show his disgust.

As the two walked in, he was pleasantly surprised. Despite the foul odor, the two woman at least had had the decency to clean any filth that had clung to their bodies, so he could hope one day the smell would leave his office. He got a scowl from the shorter, redheaded girl as he accidentally licked his lips. With her breastplate gone, currently drying at the inn, she was only in her chainmail and a light tunic, and her well curved body was on much better display than the first time they had met. It was far easier to control himself as he glanced to the soaked sorceress, her dress clinging to her tall, lithe figure, while her hair was matted down against her head. “So, it looks like you two had fun.”

Kat scowled at him further. “Oh, tons. Almost drowning was a real plus.”

The mayor shrugged and leaned back in his chair, before rifling through one of his drawers for the money he owed them. “Well, all a normal day’s work for you gals, isn’t it? Fighting monsters, getting filthy; just common work hazards I bet.”

Diane stepped forward and put a hand on his table. “It isn’t normal; at least, not when I explicitly asked you to divert the sewage so there would be less when we broke the dam. If I hadn’t been on the walkway, you would likely need to pay nothing, instead of having to pay more for your negligence.”

The mayor leapt from his chair, one hand raised in the air, his eyes level with Diane’s piercing gray gaze. “How dare you accuse me of such things! You should be honored that I would allow you to do service for my town. Most would take one look at two stupid love birds like you and wait for a real adventurer to come. So, if you think I’m going to allow you to rob me of my city’s-”

His voice was filtered out of the room as Diane’s hand glowed and she started rubbing her temples. “Kat, your thoughts on this? I’m leaning towards nightmare fuel, let him see what sort of things we’ve had to face, so he knows exactly what we face on a normal basis.”

Kat shrugged before checking the sheathing on her sword. “We could take a souvenir, so as to allow mayors after this one know that we’re done taking their shit. I’ve even heard of a band of mercs who take their employer’s hands if they argued prices with them. Treat them as they treat thieves and what not.”

Diane sighed as the mayor became quiet, only now noticing that he had been silenced. “Where would we put the hands though to keep that reputation? We don’t need heavier packs, especially since I usually end up carrying more than half the equipment.” Diane then shivered. “Besides, I like to think we’re above brutes like that.”

The mayor nodded while Kat rolled her eyes. “Fine, we’ll just take one of his ring fingers then. That sound good? I could even start a necklace, like the one my dad used to wear.”

Diane put a hand to her lips, just before the poor man started shaking his head frantically. “I’m almost certain his thumb would be far more efficient, as it’s easier to make a clean cut then, but that is taking into consideration that we’re even weighing this as an option.” It was only then that she noticed the poor sap beside her and snapped her fingers. “Your thoughts sir? How would we get you to fear us?”

“I’ll give you an extra twenty gold pieces each for my negligence, but only if you go, now!”

Kat snickered at the pampered, old fool. “Darn, and here I was hoping to get to have a little fun. Maybe even accessorize.”

Diane tried not to smile as she took the gold from him and started leading her companion out. “I would have thought the last mayor was enough fun to tide you over for a while, so no. Instead, let’s leave this nice man alone. He looks mighty ill, and I don’t like to pick on the wounded.”

Kat looked back as they closed the door, a wide grin on her face. “Bye, nice man!”[1]

Once outside the building, they both looked at each other and burst into laughter, their old routine having worked again. After about the fifth time you got shafted by an employer as an adventurer, you got creative about how to keep them honest. Diane stopped chortling first as she tried to walk into the street. “I really wish we didn’t always have to do that.”

Kat shrugged as her sides finally stopped shaking. “ Mayors are dicks.[2] [3] It’s just how it goes.”

“I suppose.” Diane reached into her bag and pulled out a list she had made two weeks ago, and then remade last night. Each item detailed just how much of what they would need. Happy with what she saw, she stashed it back into her bag and pointed forward. “I suppose it’s to the market first, and then the blacksmith.”

Kat’s ears twitched at that, and she grinned at her friend. “I wonder what sorts of meat they have. I hear the cows in this area are-”

“But Diane, don’t you want to-”

Diane, in one fluid motion, reached over, brought her pointer finger and thumb together, and flicked Kat’s nose. A small crackle accompanied the moment of impact, and a mild curse escaped the shorter woman as a bolt of lightning passed through her body. “Ah, you didn’t have to shock me!”

A small hum escaped Diane as they got onto the main streets of the town. For now, they were fine, as only a few people were passing by to take care of their work. Soon they would enter the market though, where loose pockets meant losing one’s coinpurse, either to a vendor wanting more than what something was worth, or from the thieves that passed by. “I remember what happened last time we bought a land’s ‘delicacy’, and I don’t want a repeat of the mutant, undead chicken incident.”

Kat sighed as she glanced at the one of the farmer’s table and the glistening haunches of meat that were waiting for someone to buy them. “Come on, Diane! You have to admit that after we killed it seven times, it tasted so good!”[4]

Diane tried to push the thought from her mind, remembering better how her part came back for one more round before she could enjoy her meal, and turned to one of the nearby fruit stalls. “Excuse me, but do you have any dried fruits or preserves for sale?”

Kat let her shoulders slump, but stayed quiet. While she liked to argue for better supplies, she did it mostly for both of their amusements. Besides, the one time Kat had been left to her own devices with their money, they had to take any work they could from the next town to float them to the next, larger pay off. Even slaying rats. So, quiet she stayed, letting her companion get to work. Unfortunately, another, from within the throng of people in the center of the market, decided not to stay so quiet.

“Gertrude, save yourself from the corruption of that witch, and spare your fruits from her magic before she makes them all rot!”

Both girls froze as a murmur ran through the crowd, but nothing more. Like so many other towns, they were reacting to their local friar’s yelling, rather than the words themselves, and wanted to continue on their way. Unfortunately, that was not an option for the two of them, as the burly man quickly made his way over to them. While the white robes over his body were nothing new, the glint of gold on around his neck and the shine of jewels on his fingers forced Diane to mouth, ‘fraud’, at Kat, who merely pinched the bridge of her nose as they waited for this idiot to pass.

This meant listening to him first, as he raised both of his hands to the sky. “My lady Kesra can see you for what you truly are, plague setter, and I will not have you stay here. I cannot force you out, of course, but I implore you to leave, lest pestilence come, and the townsfolk see through your disguise as I do.”

Diane’s eyes narrowed as a subtle popping came from the ends of her sleeves. She wasn’t about to let the bigot see her annoyance though, not when she could dismiss him without giving the annoyance its satisfaction. She raised one hand to her chest, holding it close in a fist, before extending it away, and letting go of the natural, healing energy within them all, as were told in the Kesral teachings. “Hello, good friar, and may you be having a blessed, and pure, day under the protection of Kesra herself.”

The man paled at the response, and turned to the sound of snickering, only to see Kat trying to not completely lose it. “What are you laughing at, demon familiar? Do you not-”

Diane stepped forward, her hand shooting out like a snake from its den, and grabbing his wrist. Ice formed around the tips of her fingers, and the man tried to pull away, to little avail. “Now, my dear Kesral fool , I do believe you should calm down. As our lady said in passage twelve, line fifteen, ‘we are to spread tenderness and joy to all we see as possible allies, as such things can be passed on to improve one another, unlike what hate and vitriol may’. So,” the frost on the man’s arm began to spread along it as her eyes shot daggers into him, “would you like to follow your teachings, or will you continue to insult my companion?”

He was white as snow at this point, and garbled up nothing in response. It was still enough for Diane to feel free to let him go. She rarely liked resorting to such an extreme method, as it always brought along issues, but they would be gone from the town soon, and she had more pressing issues on her mind at the moment.

A whistle came from behind her, and Diane turned to her friend who was holding their fruits for the journey. “No matter how often I see you do that, it always unsettles me to watch you get your scripture on. And hey, you didn’t have to lose your cool on him, not for little ol’ me.”

Kat stuck her tongue out at Diane, but the sorceress could tell by the gentle squeeze on her arm that Kat had noticed that something was amiss, and she would ask question soon. Diane tried to wave it away, but she soon noticed she was between a rock, and a hard place. She could either leave with Kat to hear her companion’s questions, or stay under the shining eyes of the older woman and-

The woman reached out and grabbed Diane’s hand before pulling her in close. “Please, priestess, won’t you come back with me? I would be happy to give you a discount on the fruits for a blessing, as my son, well, you see, he is very sick, a-and we so rarely-”

Kat slid forward, placing a hand on Diane’s arm and pulling on it, just to make sure she had a grip on her friend as she looked the woman in the eyes. “What’s wrong with him?”

The woman glanced at Kat, a scowl making the lines on her face all that much worse, before gesturing for her the redhead to leave. “A warrior knows nothing about healing, so please, do not interrupt,” She then turned back to Diane, all signs of annoyance evaporating as she put her hands back together. Her voice lowered as she whispered, “her.”

Diane took in a deep breath, trying to stay calm as a sweat broke over her brow. She did manage to force a smile on and tilted her head, just as she had seen so many healers do before. “Please, my companion is correct that the first step in any healing is to know what sort of condition the patient is in, and how they got into said condition. If his case is beyond my capabilities, I may have to send for someone better.”

She nodded furiously, now eager to give the information that she had kept before. “Well, you see, a week ago, he was playing by the river, and found some purple flowers. As he is so young, and I am so old, I did not notice he was eating them until it was too late. I thought little of it until he began to throw up his favorite meal that night. Please, help him expel the curse those little plants put on him, for it has been over a week, and all he does is sleep, sweat, and vomit!”

Diane nodded as she put up a hand, each breath being forced as she simply tried to calm down the woman. “Let me speak to my companion, and I will see what I can do.” She nodded as the woman did, and slipped only a few steps away, though the roar of the market crowd behind them would make sure Kat and her had privacy. “Why do they always assume I’m a priestess?”

Kat kept her arms crossed, one of her sharp canines showing as she growled. “It’s the same reason the friars leave you alone when you quote that religious shit.” She shut her eyes, slowly breathing in and out. “Have the disrespect to tell me to go jag off while your son has eaten poison. Who does that?”

Diane nodded, her stomach slowly returning to normal. She wasn’t a healer, never had been, never wanted to be one. Even back in the church, when given the option to watch the clerics work on the sick, she usually went and read within the confines of the library. When people looked at her to save their children though, she wished with all her might that she had taken the chance. “I need to start memorizing your remedies so I don’t feel so…” She stopped, feeling a strong hand on her shoulder, and looking down at Kat.

The shorter woman brushed some of her orange hair out of her face as she sighed. “I know, trust me, I do. Luckily, this one shouldn’t be deadly; it just wreaks havoc on the body. My clan and I would get it into a city’s water supply a couple days before a raid, dump a barrel of the stuff in, and the guards would crumple by the time of the attack. Luckily, any herbal shop will have the yellow sarasun that she needs to cure it; doubly so if she mixes it with some beef broth… though that may have just been how mom got dad to ever take his medicine.”

Diane managed to smile with her friend as she nodded,and recomposed herself. Everything would be fine. Kat knew what to do, just as she always did when it came to such things. She just needed to remember that more often, especially with the quest she had set them upon.

“Hey, healer, she’s waiting on you!”

Diane snapped herself out of her thoughts and spotted her friend standing by the vendor, leaning against one of the poles as she waited. Diane nodded and came over to deliver to the woman the good news, and watched the elder’s face light up in joy. Soon, the shop was closed, and Diane was leaning to the side, forced off balance by the heavy satchel on her shoulder. “Well, at least we’ll be eating well in the dungeon.”

Kat’s eyes narrowed, and she pointed at Diane. “You better buy me some meat to go with those damned prunes. You know how much I hate them.”

Diane nodded, shifting the satchel slightly as she frowned. The woman had been in a rush, but a little better organization would have meant a lot less work tonight trying to get them situated properly so as to not snap her spine in half tomorrow. “I’ll grab it once you’re back at the hotel, practicing with your blade, okay?”

Kat’s smile grew and she nudged Diane in the side. “Give me the money for the blade, and I can go get it myself. Besides, a blacksmith is no place for such a pure and innocent, Kesral healer.”

Diane gave her howling friend a look that would kill lesser girls, before turning away, and stomping off. Kat would know she wasn’t mad, and a quick look back guaranteed that, as her friend was holding one hand in front of her in an odd hook. Diane did the same, lining up her half with Kat’s and feeling a flood of warmth in her chest as she completed the little heart symbol.[5] Kat nodded, and turned away, soon being lost to the crowd as Diane headed for the butcher to get the last of their food for tomorrow’s journey.

Kat smiled as she heard a groan come from beside her, and began to chuckle as her partner’s muffled curses met her ear. She opened one eye, noting Diane’s pale skin before she swiveled her vision to the rest of the room. Above her was the hard, wooden rafters of the inn, and the breastplate that was hopefully dry by now. Of course, the smell would probably be another case altogether, but they had tried their best to remove it, so it would be her job to grin and bear it for now.

Kat fell out of bed, landing on her hands and knees, before scrambling over to their packs. Her hands moved with practiced ease, before they sank into what felt like squishy organs. For a moment, the young woman wondered if she should be concerned about that being what came to her mind instead of preserved prunes, before shrugging it off, and actually searching the bag now. By the time Diane was finally making her way over, Kat had successfully retrieved a canteen, coffee, and a cup for her friend.

Diane mumbled, “Mo’ing,” as she weakly gripped the cup. Kat helped pour out some of the water and coffee, a smile growing on her face as it did every morning. While Kesra always asked for its followers to stay pure, they were also the ones who were most responsible for Diane’s addiction to the bitter drink in her hands, and the irony was so sweet on the redhead’s tongue. Kat nodded once she saw small licks of fire escape her companion’s hands, and she walked to another bag as the sound of boiling water met the air.

“Shirts, breaches, and an almost dead sorceress. No better way to start the day of a dungeon trip, is there?” Kat waited for Diane to turn and open her mouth to throw her a shirt, and watched as she jumped at the sudden motion. “Careful. Don’t wanna get burned by hot water now, do you?.”

Diane narrowed her eyes, before bringing the life giving cup to her lips. While she had undergone miracles, healing spells, and even what was considered being given immortality by a cult, she had found nothing quite cured what ailed her like the bitter drink between her digits. Well, that, and getting back at her companion for her jokes by pointing one finger at her and letting the sparks fly.

“Yipe!” Kat jumped up from the pack, glaring at Diane as she rubbed her bum. “You’re lucky I wasn’t wearing my breeches yet, or else that would be another ruined pair.” She gave it one more squeeze, wincing at the now sore spot on her backside. “I will need to get you back for that.”

Diane nodded as she put her coffee to the side, and began working with her own clothes. Of course, she had tried leaving both of their tougher sets at the top of the pack, because you never went dungeoneering in just cotton. She frowned for a moment as the stiffer, leather reinforcements on her arm gave a bit more feedback than normal, but such was the cost of them having been tucked away for quite a while. “You can do so at camp tonight. Sound fair?”

The barbarian nodded as she unslung her breastplate from the rafters and began working on the intricate straps. While in most regards the steel plate was a regular piece of armor, she did have custom made straps for it. While they made getting the damned thing on even harder for the shorter girl, if, in a pinch, she needed to get it off, all it would take was about a half a minute of work, instead of the normal few minutes for knights. “Fine. What do you wanna do for breakfast though?”

Kat looked up as she smelled something foul, and scowled at the piece of bread with a prune on it. “Oh, how I wish we got apricots, apples, or anything that was not prunes yesterday.”

Diane winced as she took her own bite of bitter breakfast, but ignored the less than appetizing meal for the most part. “Tis part of the price we pay as adventurers though, and you should know it.”

A sigh escaped Kat as she got to the door to the hotel and popped it open while watching Diane pat down her robe. “How is the chainmail in there doing?”

Diane slowly came over, letting the armor in her sleeves settle as she walked. She had about three versions of these robes; one with chainmail, like this, one with more leather reinforcements, like her shirt, that she had worn for more odd jobs, and then a regular one, for supply runs. All of them were a little cumbersome, but they did their jobs well, and it helped her feel comfortable, even while underground. “I’m not noticing anything, though we may want to see a tailor or blacksmith soon to make sure.”

Kat nodded as they both finally walked out of the room. Kat had most of their stuff with them for now, as a safe trip through town wouldn’t really need her ready to move. It did not mean they were light though. “I really hope this is a dungeon that doesn’t focus on reusable traps, because I’m guessing you didn’t leave a ton of room for any treasure.”

Diane nodded as they made their way past the guards at the town walls. The place they were going to wasn’t far, but one usually avoided building a town around a place that monsters may end up sneaking out of. “No, I didn’t, though from what little I’ve gathered, The Bound Bands should be the most valuable thing we find in there.”

Kat groaned as they began walking through the forest. “Yeah, well, if that’s the case, we may have not wanted to piss that mayor off. We may need to get some more work before we shove off for the next town.”

“Oh…” Diane slowed for a moment, before shaking her head clear. “Sorry. I suppose I’ve been so nervous about this raid that I didn’t think about that possibility.”

A whistle escaped the knight as the ruins came into view. It was a large, stone block, with a door as tall as two men at the front that was made of solid gold. It shone in the early daylight, but time had not been kind to the metal. Otherwise, Kat and Diane would have been blinded at this point. “Hey, it’s been awhile since we went treasure hunting, so I don’t really blame you. I know I wouldn’t have heard about this thing, or been able to find the sparse clues you have.”

Diane nodded as they came ever closer to the open plain before the monument. She was a bit worried that this could be another town’s way of attracting adventurers to ‘treasure’, but with doors like those… “Damn. I didn’t even know about those. I know little is known about this dungeon, but for even the entrance to be kept secret? Why?”

“I can tell you.”

Kat and Diane turned to the voice, only to see a young girl, even younger than them, standing there with broom in hand. Kat growled as Diane smiled, and they both walked closer to the blond stranger. “What do you mean?”

The girl nodded, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet as she smiled wide at them. “Well, the queen, in respect to the one who had this tomb built originally, wanted to honor the memory of her by keeping this place well maintained as a memorial. Thus,” the girl gently curtsied to them, “I, Abigail, and my family, are paid to keep this place looking nice. We even have a nice, little bed and breakfast behind the temple.”

Diane nodded as Kat groaned. “Great. Just another fucking tourist trap, using the royalty as an excuse for this existing. Just great!”

Diane frowned at her companion as the shorter girl huffed. “Now, we aren’t certain about that. If this was a tourist trap, the town would have sent us here, so as to make sure we paid the premium price for better access to the dungeon.”

Diane glanced at the blond girl beside her. “Are your prices higher than in town?”

Abigail raised a hand while her jaw lowered, and then froze. Her cheeks then turned red as Kat let out a sharp bark of laughter, earning her a glare from the teenager. “Hey, it’s only because the commission that the crown gives us isn’t enough to pay for everything. Well, that, and my cornbread is the best you’ll find this side of the Charafiga[6] !”

Diane and Kat glanced at each other, both of them remembering how many times they had heard that in the past month, because everywhere had the best cornbread this side of something. Diane put a hand on her forehead as she took in a deep breath. “Look, Abigail, we’ve had a bit of a hard time in town, but that does not excuse how my companion has treated you. Still, if you have any information on the dungeon, or the legend of The Bound Bands, that would be very useful.”

The blonde girl and Kat spent another moment exchanging dirty looks, before she shook her head and turned back to Diane. “Well, I suppose I could, especially since it’s the most interesting part of…”

“Anything you do?’

A sigh escaped the girl as Kat chuckled at her little joke, before patting the girl on the head. “Hey, a quiet life isn’t always so bad. Take one whiff of my hair, and you would probably agree.”

A small giggle escaped the girl, before she straightened herself out and put one hand on her hip, while the other jutted out straight, now holding the broom like some sort of staff. “So, as legend foretells, three hundred years ago, there was a man who lived in this fair land, a farmhand. His name was Carnick, and for much of his life, combat was not who he was. Instead,-”

Kat smacked the broom from her hand, startling the girl as she let out a yelp, and stopped her story. “Look kid, we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t know that much. We don’t need to hear the long winded, royal version of Carnick meeting the princess of the time, falling in love, and becoming her knight. We know all of that.”

Diane couldn’t help but give a small chuckle herself as she came next to her companion. “We would not be seeking the bands if we did not know of their power to share buffs between one another. I will admit though, I was a little excited to hear the romanticised version, as they’re always wonderfully over the top.”

The girl huffed at first as she reached for her broom, before giving into the warm heat of the day, and giving the two a smile. Besides, they were by far not the worst travellers she had ever experienced, even in her little time as caretaker. “Well, spicing it up makes it more interesting for the storyteller, which I’ll admit, I’m guilty of myself. However,” she held one hand up as Kat had begun to turn away, “do you know of the trials that Carnick set up in order to protect his bride’s tomb?”

Kat glanced over her shoulder at Diane, who was smiling as she stared at her companion. The redhead paled as she realized what she had to do, and grumbled as she stepped back over to Diane and Abigail. “Alright, I’ll bite. What did he do?”

The girl grinned wide as she leaned back, and looked into the sky. “It was a dark, stormy night when Carnick had to finally give up his bride. The gravel underneath him was pounded into solid stone as he cursed the gods for her passing, but he had no one to blame for it. Time had merely taken its toll, and decided to whisk her away to the heavens first. Of course, with her being younger, he found this even more insulting to his pride as her husband and defendor.”

Diane glanced over to Kat, who had buried her face into her hands, and forced herself not to chuckle at her companion’s misery. Besides, she somewhat assumed that Abigail was doing this on purpose now.

“A long progression swept through the countryside, so as to allow the land to see their queen’s unfortunate fate. Miles upon miles, the beauty of the innocent woman was shown to all the land, and no matter how far they travelled, Carnick did not rest. He did not take assistance, he took no horse to help in his travel, but merely ran alongside the progression, supposedly holding her hand the whole way.”

“Yes, that our current royalty decides to honor their ancestors and pay the keeper of their tomb to tell such nice-” Kat’s eyes bulged as Diane’s hand caught the back of her had with a very loud thwack. The sorceress understood the want to actually get to what they did for a living and for fun, but she would not allow her friend to keep insulting the woman trying help them.

Abigail glanced between the two of them, before resettling herself. “Alright, I’ll speed up. Besides, I’ve had my fun.” She cleared her throat, before tapping against the temple’s walls with her broom. “When they finally got here, the same place that his lady slipped away at, Carnick demanded they halt. Here would be her tomb, but it would also be their last home, and his last way of protecting her.”

“While work began on digging out the subterranean levels, Carnick sought a body that would not decay. With the help of court wizards and master masons, he found it. As the final touches of the tomb were made, so was Carnick’s, supposed, stone body. The golem then took the body of the queen, and with the magic and supplies given to him, made the five deadly trials of the temple: Infancy, Fantasy, Reality, Eternity, and Death.[7] ”

Kat raised an eyebrow. “So there is a deadly trial called death? Well, I’ll give them points for creativity I suppose.”

Diane ignored the comment, her eyes already narrowed as she processed the new information. Even if she doubted Carnick being able to switch his spirit to a new body, the trials sounded real, and were a staple to most dungeons like this. Of course, since neither had heard of these before, she had no specific supplies to combat them, which left her uneasy. “What can you tell us about these trials?”

Abigail opened her mouth for a moment, before her eyes slid to the side, and she lowered her head. Her fingers drummed on the side of her broom as the sound of her clearing her throat filled the silence. Kat stepped forward, already opening her mouth to demand the truth, before Diane put a hand in front of her companion.

“Abigail, why don’t you tell us what you know over that wonderful cornbread you mentioned earlier?”

The girl shifted her weight a bit, before looking to the temple. “Sure, but it’ll need to be on the house, because,” she paused again, before feeling a hand gently pat the top of her head.

Kat grinned down at her, before stepping past the young lass. “Hey, don’t sweat it. When we come out, we’ll tell you about just how not deadly those trials are, alright?”

Abigail smiled, before turning to Diane, who placed a hand on her shoulder and gestured for her to lead the way. “Please, don’t feel sorry for them. It’s an occupational hazard for us, and we’re used to it at this point.”

The blonde woman nodded, before slowly walking forward and leading them down the path to the cottage that her family lived at. The whole way through, her steps were made heavy by a simple desire. For them not to go, not when they had been fun, and kind of nice, even the rude knight, because if they went in, she doubted they would come out.

Because no traveller, scholar or raider, that had entered those golden doors ever came out, not for three hundred years.

Diane and Kat looked behind them as the sound echoed from within, their hands still on the heavy, golden doors. A ball of magical fire had lit itself in the middle of the room, bathing the large, circular chamber in blue light. Diane let out a small whistle, congratulating the builders on their forethought to use enchanted flames, as other, more common means would have gone out by now. Kat on the other hand, let out a groan. “You know, if they were going to automate anything, why not the door? Pushing hot, heavy metal while full of cornbread and tea is not my definition of fun.”

Diane nodded as she slowly walked over to one of the walls, her hands tracing the carving as she tried to make it out. From what she could tell, it was of a farmer, tilling his land. “Well, if the legend is true, Carnick wouldn’t have wanted that door to ever open again, so I’m personally surprised that it isn’t made of something heavier, or welded shut.”

Kat nodded as she slipped her hands behind her head and looked to the flame in the middle of the room. It gave off a bit of heat, but for the most part, it was fairly small, which was odd, seeing as most royal buildings tried to blind you with the largest braziers in the land. “Say, do you think it would burn me if I touched it?”

A scowl crossed Diane’s face as she walked along the wall. From what she could see, the regular tale of Carnick, the brave knight who never felt fear, had been a lie at the beginning, as the carvings depicted something else. A scared, quivering boy, barely in his teens, who only met with the princess because she needed supplies. She barely even heard Kat as she followed the story carved into the wall, but still managed to say, “Don’t be an idiot.”

Kat rolled her eyes at the insult, knowing it was minor at best, before she drew her blade and stuck the metal in the flame. While it happened slower than with most fires she had fed her steel to, it still began to make the blade glow with the power of the fire. “Hey, after we had to leap through a firepit for a quest, I always at least wonder.”

“I suppose.” Diane smiled as she saw the tale end with Carnick riding with his princess, and turned to her companion, who was making her way over to the other side of the chamber as well. “I would highly recommend taking a look at the walls. They’re quite entertaining.”

Kat kept her arm rigid as she held her blade perpendicular to the ground and shook her head. “Maybe once we’re done. We lost a lot of time with that Abigail girl, and while she was fun to mess with, I would rather…” She looked into Diane’s regularly blue eyes, and saw purple. “Umm, Diane?”

Diane blinked as her head became fuzzy. She had just touched the door that led out of the first chamber… or had she? It was weird, because she swore she had. The sorceress gently shook her head while closing her eyes. She took one step back, but instead of the tap of sole against rock, there was the crack of brittle bones snapping beneath her feet.

Her eyes flicked down, and she watched as she slowly brought her foot out of the skull she had stepped in. For a moment, Diane wondered how she had missed the corpse, before looking up, and seeing more. Bones and bodies lay strewn across a plain of scorched Earth, flames still fresh on most of their bodies. Her eyes widened, but instead of shrieking, she smiled.

She took a step back, her mind reeling at what she saw, and what she knew she had done. She of course knew that something was wrong, because she would never act like this. She wouldn’t just burn everything in sight, even if her powers allowed for it. Sure, it was something Diane had always feared, but she wasn’t even tired, and this level of destruction-

Diane spun around, having felt herself step onto something… soft. Looking down, her body and mind froze. Blood oozed down the side of the woman as she clutched at the wound. Diane could see sparks of her magic coming from the wound, but her smile didn’t, no, couldn’t leave. The words that came out of her lips were not her own, and even though she fell, she now could see herself standing over the soon to be corpse. “Really, we should have known this would always happen. You’re simply too stupid to keep up with me.”

The red headed girl reached up for the Diane that wasn’t her, and the real Diane tried to grab her fake one’s leg, but simply fell through. She knew how this dream ended, and she refused to let it happen. Even as her companion begged for help, the fake her raised a hand covered in lightning.

Diane tried reaching out to her barbarian, to help her, but just as she had with herself, she merely slipped through Kat. She was face down in the dirt of the scorched land when the spell came, and despite feeling warm drops of liquid against the side of her face, she stayed still. She would not look, would not see the heartbreak she had caused in one moment. She would not face the stoic, or even happy face that had done these atrocities.

Diane could feel her own gaze fall upon her and stayed still, for she would rather die than become the emotionless monster that stood above her, and haunted her dreams. She shut her eyes, and accepted the heat.

Kat tilted her head more as she pushed against the door herself, but found it stick fast. “Great. Now I’m gonna need to wait for my sword to cool down to use both hands. Unless you see somewhere good in here to put it. I don’t really want to just lay it down on the ground.”

“Of course. Carnick and his lady were perfect for each other. Complimentary sides of a coin, two parallel lines that would stay by each other for eternity.” Diane placed a hand on her face as she slowly shook her head. “Why did I ever consider walking in here with anything less?”

Kat looked over to Diane, one eyebrow raised as she came closer. She brought her fingers up to her companion’s face and snapped, before waving the open hand in front of her. “Hey. Yoo hoo, anyone ho-”

Smack! “Will you please act like an actual woman for once instead of a needy pup?”

Kat stepped back, holding her hand as she blinked a few times. Her confusion quickly converted itself to rage, and she stomped back to being right in front of Diane. “Hey, what are you talking about? You’re acting weird, so I asked a fucking question!”

Diane rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. Her gaze looked down upon Kat, but not in the normal ‘she’s taller than me’ way. No, these eyes told her she was nothing, and turned Kat’s blood to ice. “Really? Because most children can’t curb their tongue, beg for little treats that they don’t need, and get angry at the drop of the hat, all things that describe you. And honestly, I’m sick of it.”

The muscles in Kat’s hand that were holding the broadsword stiffened, and for one moment, her vision turned red. One swing at this range would be all it would take, and with how Diane wasn’t even looking at her, the hot headed warrior bet she could do it too. The thought was gone as fast as it came though, as she knew something had to be wrong. This wasn’t Diane, but her fears going rogue. She didn’t know why it was so vivid though. “Oh yeah, like you’re fucking perfect? Last time I checked, you needed me to protect you, so maybe you should be-”

“Since when have I needed you?” Diane stepped forward, now looking Kat dead in the eyes as they came only inches apart from one another. “I can control the elements themselves, have surpassed most mages in existence in spellcasting ability, and what have you done? Gotten your ass kicked by a master swordsman, won’t let yourself use what you were born with, and just keep playing a knight when all you are is a dirty, disgusting, barbaria-”

“Shut up!” Kat reached over, her other hand taking ahold of her blade, before she rose it high above her head. The blade was warm, so warm that she could feel the white hot metal beating against the her back. “Y-you need me! We’re partners! And… and I could prove why in one swing!” Kat’s body was shaking as tears came down her face, and her mind begged for an apology from Diane.

The sorceress merely tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes still level with Kat’s as she said, “Really, we should have known this would always happen. You’re simply too stupid to keep up with me. So go ahead, kill me, if you can’t stand losing me.”

Kat’s hands clenched the blade with all she had, the heat against her growing by the second. Her instincts demanded she do it, that she cleave the thing that was hurting her, and was making her so angry. She opened her eyes again though, and looked into that face she had spent so many nights staring at. Whether it was to help her sleep in the cold, or make sure the one she had pledged her services to was safe, Kat hadn’t always known. She did know that she could not harm it, and let the blade fall from her hands, and clatter behind her.

The screeching of steel against stone cleared Kat’s vision for a moment. Diane wasn’t standing in front of her, but instead was laying on the ground, sobbing as the blue fire came ever closer to consuming her. She glanced to her own side, and saw the blue flames beginning to approach again, just as they also faded from her vision. When she blinked, the fire was gone, even from the center of the room, and she heard the mocking words, “You couldn’t even do that right. Really, I should just put you out of your misery.”

Kat shut her eyes, stopping her blood from boiling. She would not let her rage take over, not now. Instead, she reached to one of the pouches on her belt, and took out a single piece of white parchment. With a solid smack, she attached it to the door, before collapsing to the ground. Her fingers were numb from how much energy the seal had taken, but she could feel the magic on her dispelling and being sealed back into the doorway.

Diane slowly pushed herself up, off of the stone, trails of smoke slipping away from her body as she looked up. Tears fell down her face as she crawled closer to Kat, who was still breathing hard, and the two met each other with a firm embrace. “I… I thought I had lost you. Th-that I had lost myself.”

Kat patted Diane’s head, before giving her beloved’s forehead a soft kiss, and squeezing her tighter. She didn’t even care if it was possibly uncomfortable, as she just needed to make sure she was there, and herself. “Yeah, well, fear magic will do that to you.”

Diane glanced up, a question in her eyes as Kat groaned and leaned back. “I fought it, and saw through the spell when my blade hit the ground. That stupid fireball up there,” she weakly pointed at the glowing ball in the middle of the hall, “apparently is there to kill anyone who succumbs to their fear.”

A small chuckle escaped Diane as she slowly sat beside her companion. “Well, couldn’t have been too hard for you then. I mean, your deepest fear is becoming a crazy cat lady, and I doubt that would do much to you.”

A weak smile crossed Kat’s lips as she looked away. “Say, dispelling that really seemed to take it out of me, and it’s kind of late in the afternoon. What do you think about just setting up camp, and heading to bed?”

Diane slowly nodded as she felt the weight of the pack stop herself from standing. “Some help up? What I saw is leaving me a touch weak.”

Kat stared at where her blade was on the ground for another, still envisioning what she had almost done, before turning back to Diane. “Yeah, I’ll help you up, but I need you to promise to be on your guard now. It seems like Carnick made some really nasty traps for us.”

Diane nodded as she jumped to her feet with Kat’s help, and walked past to start the fire for the night. “Luckily we have each other, and that should be enough to get past anything that tries to take us down.”

Kat blinked slowly, watching as Diane set up camp, before looking to the ground and whispering, “Yeah, together.”

Kat sat in a field, her head resting on the stomach of one of her wolves while she stared into the setting sky. She recognized the scene from her youth, before she was a knight. She wasn’t there to daydream, as she had so many times before. No, she was with her clan’s wolves to calm herself, for soon she would be taken to her ancestral grounds.

The younger version of herself rolled over, allowing the wolf’s musk to be all that filled her nose. It was dirty, and stank of fresh hunts, but to her, those were the smells of home. Even when her dad got back from his raids, he would smell just the same. These were the days before a nice, lilac shampoo was what told her good times were to come. The thought of the change brought a weight to her chest though, that her younger self couldn’t understand. Just like she wouldn’t the next day when she would be tasked to kill the very wolf she now laid upon. “If only I could warn you-”

“-That you’re an idiot?”

Kat tried to react, but the words came with a solid boot to the front of her face, and she found herself falling through the ground. Darkness was the first layer as she shut her eyes, and brought her hands in front of her face. Something slammed into her chest, fastening itself to her body as she violently spun in the nothingness, and she could feel the battleaxe of her youth fall away from her.

She opened her eyes as trails of green blazed through the black, following after a large wolf that streaked through the aether. Kat instinctively reached behind her, soon finding the hilt of her sword on her back. As soon as she did though, the wolf barked, and the shockwave threw her against an invisible wall.

Another bark pushed her into what felt like heavy stone, pinning her in place. Its force felt like a hundred rocks on her chest, crushing her, threatening to cut off her breath. She tried to look at it, but was even so helpless to its will that all she could see was a giant green mass. Her heart hammered in her ears as she shut her eyes, waiting for the wolf to consume her.

“Are you really this weak?”

She opened her eyes to the words, only to see the flat of a blade coming straight at her. She was still trapped underneath the howl, and so the sword came against her temple with all the force the wielder could muster. Upon touch, it felt like like being punched by about a thousand drunk assholes at once, and it threw her through the stone.

The next thing Kat knew, she was rolling upon hard rock, tumbling over her herself as she was launched along the ground. She only came to a stop when she crashed into a firm pair of legs. Her body felt like it had just fallen down a mountain, and she swore she must have broken something, but just didn’t know it. All of this was minor compared to when she looked up, and saw a man with a feather in his cap, while a blue fire burned above him. “Aren’t my spirit trips supposed to only involve animals?”

The spirit pushed her away, applying enough force to toss her a good twenty feet away. Kat landed with another groan, but this time didn’t just stay down. She knew she had to face what was there before her, no matter how annoying. “So, how have you been, Mazu?”

The man across from her, maybe in his mid-fifties, rolled his shoulders as he stretched out his neck. His short, blond hair was kept neat by a tie in the back that forced it down, though to Kat, that wasn’t nearly as stupid as the glorified red robe he wore. He then smiled at her, and drew the blade at his side, the weapon shining in the light. “Because we met, fought, taught, and then dueled. Experiences like those form who we are, how we fight, and what makes up one’s spirit. I am simply the one who thought it would be best to motivate a pup to remember her place. Would you not agree, Katherine?”

A small growl escaped Kat as she reached back. She had been on less intrusive spirit trips before, when her mind would not learn what her self did, but she doubted that this was going to be any sort of fun. “Don’t call me that. Only my dad and Diane are allowed to call me that.”

The older swordsman shook his head as a small chuckle escaped him. Kat noticed how he began to walk to the side, coming closer with what she assumed was a razor sharp edge, and began to circle him too. “Now, is that because you’re close to them? Or is it rather that you’re afraid it isn’t tough enough? Too fancy for an unsophisticated barbarian if you ask me.”

Kat’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her blade harder. She would not fall for the taunt, not now. She was better than that. Are you? She shut her eyes and heard the shuffling of feet. Her eyes flew open as her blade moved almost on its own, catching Mazu’s only a split second before she lost her head. “Why are you trying to make me mad? I thought you were here to help!”

“Because,” Mazu said as his next strike forced Kat to slide away from the impact, “if you are going to deny everything, I will force you to accept at least that!”

Kat grit her teeth under the next blow as she now backpedaled for space. For possibly the first time in her life, she wished her opponent would simply taunt her, goad her into attacking, instead of just cutting to the combat. Shouldn’t you be prepared though? She shut her eyes to the words and swung blindly.

A loud clang rang through the room as she felt his sword come against hers, and immediately push it back. Kat tried to loosen her grip, let it flow with the impact, but it was far too late for that. She could hear her joints pop as her hand was ripped open, and soon watched as her blade flew into the sky. She then turned to Mazu, and grit her teeth as he spoke.

“Is this really all you have? I offered to be your teacher once, knowing you could be better, and this is how you are now? I swear, if I could, I would team up with Diane just to not force her to be with such an idi-”

Kat couldn’t even smile at the sound of bone snapping as her fist jabbed into his nose. It should have brought her some satisfaction, to just get a hit off on him, but it didn’t, and she didn’t even know why. Diane would have put him down in that hit.

Kat froze at the thought, staring at her hand as she thought that, and Mazu lunged. She glanced up, watching the cold, heartless steel come her way. She could just give into it, as there was no way she was going to be able to dodge it. Even Diane probably wouldn’t be able to get a spell off in time to stop it.

Kat slowly lifted her hand. She couldn’t stop the sword, but if she could change its path, make it target something that could take it, she would have done enough. It hurt like hell, taking a sword through the hand, but she didn’t let it show. She simply stared into the swordmaster’s hard face, and twisted her wrist. One of her eyes shut as the metal sank into her shoulder, but it also gave her a chance to close her other hand into a fist.

“So, finally remembered your place, knight?”

“Shut,” Kat swung, and connected with her fist, watching as green cracks came off of his chin as she said, “up.”

Her opponent and old teacher exploded into green, and Kat was sent flying back into darkness. It didn’t stay long though, as she soon opened her eyes, and sweat, lilac, and sewage were all present in her world as she looked in front of her. There was Diane, her sorceress, just… sleeping. A small smile slipped over her face as she nestled into her tighter, and let out a brief sigh.

Diane was safe, and that’s all that mattered right now.

“Avatar Maxwell, what are paladins?”

The elderly man in a sparse robe looked down upon the child looking up at him, smiling as her large, blue eyes gleamed in the candlelight. It was the orphan that had joined the monastery only a few years ago, and had quickly become part of their family. He reached down and patted her short, black hair, before cupping her cheek in his wrinkled hand and tilting his head. “Now, why would you ask about such a thing?”

The girl stepped closer, flattening out her dress as she looked at the floor. “In class today, one of the other girls said that not even my wicked parents wanted me, and that the day I followed them and got magic, paladins would come t-to cut my head off!”

Maxwell’s eyes narrowed, before he pat his lap, and helped the little lass up onto it. “First, I am disappointed that your peers would be so cruel. Just because you are an orphan does not mean you are evil, or that your parents were. They’re simply unknown to us. But, if it makes you feel any better, I promise that even if you do start showing an affinity for the dark arts, no harm will come to you until I am gone, just as I promise all under my care as Avatar.”

The girl reached out to him, and he smiled again as her arms wrapped around his. He knew where the words from her peer came from, even if he didn’t want to. The unknown scared many members of the Kesral church, even other ones who were supposed to be embodiments of her will, just like him. It was something he hated, even if it endeared him in a child. “Do not worry. Our monastery does not train those sorts anyways, so you are unlikely to meet a paladin so long as you are within these walls. Instead, my teachings focus on purity by our cores. Can you tell me what they are?”

Kindness, care, and the spread of knowledge.” Diane blinked as a tear ran down her face, the memories of Maxwell’s passing only a few years later coming to her mind with the rest of his explanation when she pried further into the holy ‘knights’. “They are members with a drive to cleanse the world by force, with weapons of fire, light, and steel. Trained to never let emotion embellish their abilities or take control, they are capable of great feats, but equally horrific atrocities. Never let this be how you become, no matter how wise or powerful you find yourself.”

The sound of boots came up from behind her, and Diane slowly lifted the cup of coffee she had closer to the blue flames she had been staring at this whole time. Yesterday it had come so close to taking her, all because she feared of becoming that paladin. Feared of making the world desolate, which would be especially horrible the morning after, for there would be no coffee then. She smiled at her joke, even as the tightness in her chest refused to leave.

A hand slipped itself onto her shoulder, and she glanced down to a mop of red in front of her face. Her smile grew, and she leaned in closer, letting her weight gently rest on her companion. Kat decided a light touch like that would not be enough, and pulled her close, almost off her feet even. For a moment, Diane was a little surprised, but then remembered how little the two had talked last night. She put a hand onto her companion’s head and slowly ran her fingers through the rough hair. “Are you okay?”

Kat shook her head for a moment, before giving Diane another squeeze and letting out a sigh. “I’m alright. Had a rough night’s sleep after that stupid fear spell, but I should be okay. Still, if this is number one, I am a little nervous about what trial two might be.”

Diane took another sip from her cup, humming as the bitter liquid slipped down her throat. She wished they could afford sugar, honey, anything really, but such luxuries were for other people without travel budgets. “We could get lucky and have a trial that’s only as tough as this one, but still entirely mental. I know you love those.”

A growl escaped Kat’s throat as she looked down and shook her head much harder than before. “Please, Hekam, no. I would take punching indestructible rock over another mind trip after yesterday.”

Diane looked down at her annoyed companion and bit into her lip. “Do you want to tell me about what you saw?”

“…Is that bread I smell?”

Kat glanced over her shoulder, before scratching the back of her head and walking towards the fire she had set up in the room. It was there because you needed a bit more control for actual cooking that a miniature sun would not give you. This would have been especially hard to do when your dad’s recipe for fire side bread was specifically designed to be made into a ring. “Yeah. I knew you were feeling pretty bad yesterday, so I thought I would treat us.”

Diane slowly walked over, her mouth already watering at the smell of the bread. It wasn’t the best, having been designed by a barbarian, but almost anything was better than the normally stale stuff they had. She didn’t let it show though. It was too much fun to make Kat wait for the praise. “Yes, why don’t we use up the last of our flour on our first day?”

Kat’s eyes narrowed as she glared at her partner, before simply shrugging and taking a bite out of the first piece of bread. “Well, if you’re going to be like that, then I’ll keep the other day’s worth to myself. How about that?”

Diane paled, remembering the hardtack they’d had the day before, and how wonderful that had tasted. She quickly waved a hand in front of her face as she forced on a wide, unnatural smile for her, and said, “W-why don’t we finish up packing, and not worry so much about our rations?”

A smile crept onto Kat’s face as she handed Diane a piece, and began to wrap the rest into cloth bundles. It wouldn’t be as good tomorrow, but literally anything was better than ‘high quality’ rations. The dealer had even said you would find the same quality with the army. “Oh, but you never know when we might run out of food. We wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we?”

Diane stuffed her bedroll into the pack, unable to stop herself from giggling at the jab. It wasn’t a new joke, not by any means, but it still made her laugh, and brought thoughts of her purpose for being there back to her mind. “Get packed. The sooner we’re ready, the sooner we can go, and you can find something to punch.”

Kat nodded as if this were sagely wisdom, before handing Diane the tent, all packed up and ready to be stored. “Ah, so you were taught how to focus on the good parts of life! And here I thought you only believed in stuffy rags and proper coffee pots.” She giggled as one of her hands bat at the sleeve of Diane’s robe, and she got a well deserved glare.

“You’re intolerable.”

“And yet you love me, so I think you’re the one with a problem.”

A sigh escaped Diane as she shook her head, and began to walk towards the door. She suspected Kat was also trying to use the playful jabs and jokes as a way to relieve herself of yesterday’s trial, and its effects. That, or the stupid barbarian was using the jokes to cheer her up, just like so many times before. “Ready?”

“Anything you say, m’ lady.” Kat then put her hand on the door, and pushed. And then pushed harder. And then she turned to it, just as a blue light shined from the door, right into her eyes. “Ah, you son of a b-”

“Travellers.” The voice was deep, booming, and most importantly, male. Diane blinked as a wind came through the slowly opening doors. She had never heard of the guardian having a flare for showmanship, but it was a possibility. Her true suspicion though, was brought to life by the next few lines.

“I do hope this is how this stupid magic thing works. Oh well, if it doesn’t, the walls will work. Anyways,” the voice went from its softer, pensive, and old tone, and back to the booming authority it had begun with. “Travellers! You have seen how my tale begins, and faced that which I did when I accepted my lady’s offer. Now though, I wish for you to join me in the trials I had to go through to prove myself. The feats I so gladly did, all in the name of h-”

The blue light faded, leaving the two woman staring at the open door. Diane blinked once, before turning to Kat. The two blinked again, before a snicker escaped Kat’s mouth, and Diane couldn’t help but join. “P-please tell me you’ll figure out how to use magical recordings before doing something like… that.”

“And rob the world of such a wonderful beginning? Never!” Kat cracked up at her own joke, and Diane couldn’t help but let her light tittering turn into a full fledged laugh while she covered her mouth.

They didn’t let themselves savor it for too long though, as their explorer’s instincts began to kick in. They had just opened the door, and while there was a long staircase down, it could also contain anything. Kat took in a sharp breath as she reached into one of her pockets, but Diane stopped her with one hand, while a fire erupted from the other. “No reason to waste your fire stones while I’m still fresh.”

Kat’s mouth scrunched up slightly, before she shrugged, and began to skip down the steps. The quickness caught Diane off guard, and she began to run after her fast friend. “Kat, wait up! Robes and a heavy pack don’t normally agree with stairs!”

“Well then, let me scout ahead. I’m just ready to go!” Kat raced through the next door, and all Diane could do was grimace. While the brash idiot was the reason they had passed the first trial, that did not guarantee that they weren’t both going to be needed here. As if to prove her point, Kat came back through the door at the bottom of the staircase, landing face first onto the ground.

“Kat, are you okay?”

The mop of red hair shook as Kat got her arms underneath her, before she brought her head up and grinned. A slight trail of blood came down from her mouth, but otherwise, she seemed okay. In fact, she was so okay that she then jumped onto her feet and shook her head wildly. “Oh, this is going to be fun!”

“What is? Kat, I need some sort of clu-” Diane stopped yelling as she followed her companion into the room. When Carnick had said that they would need to face what he had, it seemed fairly literal now, as this room was filled from top to bottom with sparring posts. However, her companion soon demonstrated that they were a little more than that, as she tapped against one, and another one spun to get her. This time, Kat squatted, and drew her blade on the rebound, cleaving the assaulter into two with ease.

“See, not so tou-” It was Kat’s turn to get cut off as another got her with a rouge swing, and she barely made her way out of its range. That wasn’t the end of the odd movements though, as soon the ear bleeding raucous of what had to be hundreds of wooden sparring stands began to clank their way towards them. While Diane felt a small seed of dread get dropped into her stomach, Kat grinned. “Just sit back, Diane. I’ve got some steam to let loose.”

“Just be careful, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, whateve-whoo!”

Diane shook her head, placing a hand onto her forehead as Kat narrowly missed another attack. Of course, with the fact that the knight could down one of these unarmed things in one swing of her sword in mind, Diane was inclined to agree with her companion. There was no reason to waste her mana pools if Kat was feeling up to handle the bar brawl to end all bar brawls.

So, for the next minute or so, she began to rummage through her bag. She could have watched the fight, but so long as she kept her ears out for signs of danger, she should have been okay. A backstep here and there, and she found herself in fairly good shape. Not everything was so fine though. “Hey, Kat, where is your blade sharpener?”

Kat planted her blade into the ground, mainly for kicks, both literally, and metaphorically, as her \feet soon spun the head off of one of the posts. “It’s in my belt, why do you ask?”

Diane kept walking away from the sounds of the enemies, who seemed to be focusing mostly on the whirlwind of death and screaming in the middle of the room, rather than her. She continued rummaging through the pack, making a mental list of what they could buy if they brought some real coin back with them. “Just to pass the time I suppose. By the way, do you think we could pack any of this iron into our bag on our way out and sell it in town?”

Kat shrugged, before slamming her head backwards, and almost immediately regretting it as her ears rang. Luckily, the wooden ‘enemy’ still went down, and a quick roll got her out of the thick of the mob around her. “I bet we could, but blacksmiths always cheat travelers like us. They know we want to pack light.”

“That’s a very good poi-” Diane stopped, cut off in mid-sentence by a knife driven into her gut. She blinked, looking at the pinpoint stiletto for a moment, and the trail of blood forming down the front of her robe, before she looked up. This wasn’t just a wooden post. No, this was a dummy, equipped with a shield, a basic weapon like the one in her now, and, most importantly, wheels that made it impossible to hear amongst the rest of the noise.

Diane winced as the thing drew the blade out of her stomach, and one of her hands slammed itself onto the wound. Fortunately, it was still just a dummy, and while its shield almost knocked her head off, the attempt to block a non-existent counter gave her time to leave a barrier over the wound to seal it, without permanently scarring herself with cauterization. She would be feeling it until they were done though.

Fortunately, lightning bolts aren’t too hard, and one to the chest with her amount of magical force was more than enough to splinter the damned thing. The moment it was gone, she turned towards where she could hear Kat, and yelled, “Watch out, they’re getting better!”

Kat blinked, and for a moment, paused. While she normally trusted Diane on such judgement calls, she couldn’t possibly be- Why is that one wielding a battle ax? “Oh sweet Hekum.” She dropped to all fours, breathing hard as the weapon passed over her head. She didn’t recklessly swing as she came up, but instead intentionally performed an arc to cut off the well armored dummy’s arm. One more, and its head left too. “Well, at least now I can have some real fun!’

Diane scowled for a moment, but bit her tongue. Kat had taken a lot worse than a simple stabbing when it came to trying to protect her, and Diane had plenty of focus left to continue to splinter the things that came after her. As she raised a hand to blow up the fifth that made a beeline for her, she paused, the image of a scorched plain coming back to her mind.

She changed her spell almost instantly, and even let out a slight giggle as she pointed to the ground, and let out a torrent of fire that clung to the ground. The dummy raced right into it, but it didn’t just burn its metal base. Instead, it melted the wheels, leaving it rooted to the spot. Soon the metal became hot enough to ignite the wood, and the dummies she gave this treatment to became burning effigies. “Alright, you’re correct. This is kind of fun.”

For almost the next minute, that’s how it went for the two. Kat continued to bob and weave through the now advanced warriors, disarming them, mostly by simply ripping through their arms with two handed swings. Every now and then, she would get close to the circle that Diane had made for herself, and feel the flames of a spell nip at her heels. She didn’t bother commenting until- “Yow!”

Kat slammed herself flat onto the ground, one hand on her rump as she felt the sting of a particularly powerful stray bolt. “Hey, keep an eye on those chain lightnings, alright?”

Diane blushed slightly as she held one hand up and pushed the air. Soon, the knight in front of her went wheeling backwards and fell upon the blades of two of its ‘compatriots’. “Sorry. Just trying to stretch my spell list.”

“Just make sure I’m not caught in the crosshairs, and we’ll be fine.” Kat still rolled her eyes as she began to cleave into the next knight. It was merely one of the more… annoying parts of working with a mage, especially one that liked fire and lightning as much as Diane did. At least during things like this, it wasn’t much of a problem.

And then her blade bounced off of one of the thing’s armor. The vibrations from hitting the fortified steel caused Kat’s teeth to quake as she stumbled backwards. Looking up though, she saw a slight bit of reason to be concerned. The dummy in question this time was twice the size of Kat, towering above her with a shield almost as large as her, and a greatsword to match. It moved slowly, letting her easily dodge the first swing, but with such a hulking behemoth, how were you supposed to beat it?

Diane on the other hand, took one look at it, raised a single finger, and fired a single shot of pure arcane its way. It was a simple spell that every mage knew, and flew in a lazy arc towards its target. When it thudded though, it was pure impact, scaled by the user’s magical power. In other words, it blew the behemoth’s head off, and knocked it out of balance. One heavy slam later, and the thing wasn’t moving.

Kat blinked a few times before turning to Diane, who was currently looking through the bag for the bandages they had. “You know, you take the fun out of things sometimes.”

Diane merely smiled, and extended the bandages towards Kat. “You’re the one that says they love me.”

The knight’s eyes narrowed, and she took the bandages from Diane. “You’re too cheeky for your own good sometimes.”

That brought a smile to Diane’s face, along with a slight shrug. “If it helps, since you cleared more of these guys, I’ll set up the tent while you cook dinner.”

“Hmm, seeing as dinner is jerky, preserves, and hard tack tonight, I’ll take it!”

A chuckle escaped both of them, before they simply smiled at each other, and continued to plan for their tasks for the night, because no good adventurer goes from a hoard fight straight into more danger.

Kat let out an almost silent growl as she looked up from the bottom of the staircase. She had just finished bounding down them as she always did, though today it was with a touch more… aggression. Of course, when you slept on splinters of wood, metal, and were inhaling pounds of dust with each breath, you didn’t really wake up too well. It only became worse when she saw Diane wincing with each step. Whether it was because of her own failure, or Diane’s own inattention, it didn’t matter. It only provided fuel for the fire in her. “And I thought I had trained you better than that.”

Diane glanced up as tears sprang back to her eyes. She had been fighting them off all morning, but from Kat’s work rebandaging her as she sipped coffee, to the aches and pains of the ground they had slept on, it had been getting harder and harder. She let one fall now, turning away from Kat, just like the barbarian had done to her. Neither were in the mood for casual chit chat, to say the least, and Diane suspected she wasn’t supposed to hear the last comment. “So, are you ready to head in?”

Kat nodded and pushed against the heavy door. If luck was on her side, it would be something akin to what they faced the day before, and she could work her kinks out. Instead of a crowded room though, or one with obvious traps, there was almost nothing. Simple torches outlined the circular arena, letting them see just how much nothing there was, and Kat could feel the hairs on her neck rise. “Stay close to me. There has to be more to this.”

As the door they came in closed behind them, the door on the other side began to open. Kat’s hand wrapped around her sword as she caught her breath, and the two waited. Trying to rush past whatever may come rarely was good for anyone, and if it was trying to see them attack and use that against them, a quickspell would be the last thing they wanted. As the beings were revealed though, Kat’s hand drifted off of her hilt.

They both were completely black beings, and the shorter one’s eyes glowed red the moment she saw them. Iit reached back for the bastard sword on its back, before swinging it out in front of her with a two handed grip. Kat began walking towards it, drawing her own blade in the process, but keeping it loose with only one hand on it. The tall shadow-like creature cocked her head as Diane did so as well, and they both began to walk behind their respective warriors, their robes dragging along the ground.

As Kat got to the center of the room, she attempted to smirk at the thing, only to find it doing the same. She opened her mouth to call it a copy, and merely stood there as the creature mouthed out the words, but said nothing. “Hey, stop doing what I’m about to do, you shadow freak!”

It stopped speaking, before it’s smile grew wider, and it shrugged. One arm didn’t stop there though, as it raised the sword in one hand now. Kat’s body tensed as she began to move her own, knowing that it probably would hurt like hell without both hands, but didn’t have enough time to get the support because she had been distracted. Diane had noticed the action first though, and hadn’t hesitated. Instead, six of the bolts she had used to end yesterday’s trial with flew in arcs towards the shadow Kat. They were met right above the two warrior’s heads with six bolts of matching power.

A high pitched whine made both Kat’s wince, before the projectiles exploded.

Before either knight could properly react, the conflicting forces threw their bodies into each other, and their blades clattered far away from them. Kat’s ears were ringing as she placed a hand on the ground and tried to get a grip on her bearings, something that an elbow smashing into her face made a little harder. For a moment, her eyes turned red, and her leg moved on its own, slamming into some sort of metal, and getting the creature off of her. Getting up though, she heard Diane yell something, right before two fireballs slammed right in front of her and the shadow version of herself.

Kat gripped her arm as her vision stayed red now, and she screamed out, “Will you watch it with the magic for once? I know I’m nothing, but at least you could acknowledge that I-” She had turned to Diane to let out the screeches, and had even watched as Diane looked horrified, an expression that Kat almost never saw. It was somewhat warranted as her shadow self brought Kat back to reality with a jab to the face, followed by an uppercut that knocked her flat on her ass.

She wasn’t dazed now though. No, she was quite aware of what was going on, and watched as the other Kat raced towards her. She wasn’t angry enough, and Kat had no difficulty bringing up one of her boots and slamming it into the fake’s face. She was done with this shit, and glancing at Diane didn’t help.

The sorceress was blocking magic for once, instead of overpowering it. Kat knew Diane sucked at defensive magic, and the proof was in how the shadow spell slinger was cracking each new barrier with simple arcane bolts. Was this one of Diane’s little games? See how much of her own magic she could take? Kat felt the rage in herself begin to boil, and could see red, glowing bite marks appearing on her hand.

She heard movement behind her, but it wasn’t worth her attention. Instead, she grabbed one of the flashbangs in her pocket, and spun around. This time, the shadow version of herself grabbed her arm, stopping her as they both glared at each with red eyes. Kat then smiled, and squeezed down on the ball in her hand.

Unfortunately, while both Diane’s winced at the sudden explosion of light, it also forced Diane to frown. She was already hurt, and not just from the stabbing, so to hear Kat cry out from being blinded by her own flashbang… She grit her teeth, and let two tears fall. Why did she have to listen to a brash idiot complain about her magic when Kat was supposed to be the one good at her environment?

She placed her hands together, and breathed in deeply. Opening her eyes, she saw that her shadow counterpart was doing the exact same. The sting of lightning and heat of fire began to crackle between her fingers, broiling into a mass of magic. The other one was already taking aim though, and it was straight for her companion. If their spells collided over the two Kats...

Diane shut her eyes as tears streamed down her face, and she clasped her hands. “Dual Cast-”

Kat opened her eyes as she heard the clap of Diane’s hands, or, were they the shadow Diane’s hands? She didn’t know, but something told her that the sudden, blinding light she saw now was not just from the flashbang. Kat’s muscles tensed as the heat of the large, cataclysmic fireball made its way towards her. She blinked, and felt her muscles stay put. They weren’t willing to move, and Kat sighed as she knew what would come, all because she couldn’t do this right.

And then, she wasn’t there, but on the ground, watching as the shadow her, who had been given just a little more time, jumped out of the path of the shot. As the haze of the spell cleared, she could see Diane trying to smile, on her knees. For a moment, Kat tried to figure out what spell Diane had used, before the pain in her side told her that it was probably just a shot of magic. Just to get her out of the way, and… and protect her.

She looked to her hand again, and watched the red marks fade into nothing. She couldn’t bring herself to be angry anymore, and couldn’t even really move. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to.

The crunching of gravel brought Kat back, but only in time to watch as her shadow self fell upon her. The creature’s hands went for her neck, but she stopped it, grabbing the thing’s wrists and spinning the two to try to get on top. It didn’t last long, as they both simply began predicting what the other would do, and so kept slipping through the others grapple.

For Diane, it was simpler, easier. The small blast of magic was supposed to mean something, show that she did know the consequences of her magic and wasn’t just a spellslinger. It wasn’t even her fault that it was harder in open combat for her to not also hit Kat, but simply how things worked, or at least, that’s what she thought the case was. Did their dynamic change at some point, or was this something Kat had thought of before?

She turned away from Kat’s sad eyes, not willing to take it anymore. Instead, with every part of her feeling like ice, she turned to her shadow self. She was staring at Diane while down on one knee at this point. Diane had assumed the position out of relief, because she had been able to protect her companion. The shadow now knew the other half of why most spellcasters couldn’t use double cast. They were too afraid of the physical tax that channeling so much energy took. Something Diane had gotten quite used to by now.

Diane looked to her knight one more time, before turning back to her double, and wiping away the last of her emotions. She raised one hand as her robe began to flutter, and lightning arced all the way down from her shoulder, to her fingertips. The shadow sorceress tried to summon a barrier, but it wasn’t going to be enough, not now. Not with Diane as she was. “Fine, I’ll be your destruction mage then, Kat.”

Kat heard the crack of the lightning, and all was still for a moment. The shadow Kat blinked once, before every marking appeared on her body. From bite marks, to paw prints, to wolf heads themselves, the shadowy figure was covered in the red markings of a berserking barbarian. Kat tried to do something, but the creature’s fist seemed to come out of nowhere as it almost cold cocked her.

Then it moved off of Kat, and began walking towards Diane. Diane almost didn’t even look at it, but instead clapped her hands together. From the ground beneath the shadowy beast, lightning and fire erupted from the ground and sent it straight into the cieling, where it could not move from the torrent of magic it was under. It wouldn’t be long for it to die, not under the white flames and enhanced lightning that cracked the stones. No, it was for Diane that it continued to burn, all the way until she was out of magic, and had to turn off the magic.. By then, Kat was standing, and waiting.

The two looked at each other, before Kat looked away. Diane couldn’t read the expression, but she bet it was anger. That’s all a dumb barbarian could feel anyways, even if it shattered her heart. She didn’t say anything though, and merely set the bag on the ground so as to start getting ready for camp.

Diane’s hands trembled as she grabbed the clasps on the bag. What had become routine for her, done over and over again, a hundred times at least, now was as impossible as crossing the oceans. No matter how she tugged, teased, or pulled at the leather, it wouldn’t budge. Tears stung at her eyes as she could feel Kat’s eyes on her, watching her, judging her.

Kat meanwhile was working with the bandages in her belt to treat the burn on her arm. She had plenty of other cuts and bruises, but those she didn’t care about. They were simply part of the job, the job she had no business being in. The image of Diane simply obliterating her shadow self flashed into her mind, and the bandages began to blur as the binding over them became too tight, and she could feel every inch of the singed flesh on her. She should have put a salve on them first, but that was in the bag that Diane was opening.

A grunt came from Diane as she pulled on the steel clasp, and Kat glanced over. The sorceress was supposed to keep the pack, because while it slowed her down, she, the knight, was supposed to draw away enemies so the fairer maiden never had to worry, and could fire spells from a concentrated position. However, even after five years of work together, Diane still had a good ways to go herself as an adventurer. “I thought she had at least that fucking down.”

The words felt empty though. Even the curse felt hollow, like an excuse. Her body wanted to scream at Diane, while her soul wanted to cry for being a failure, and she doubted Mazu was coming back to smack some sense into her this time. Not now that Diane was hurt, and had to protect her. The only part of her that simply wanted to go over and hug Diane was her heart, but that also meant sacrificing her pride.

A small whimper escaped Kat as she tightened the bandage too far again, and Diane winced in sympathy. If she had ever been able to take healing lessons at the monastery, she could be of some help, but Maxwell had died before she could be admitted, and the new Avatar after him wasn’t about to have an orphan healer dirtying the prestige of the holy class, not when she held her own suspicions. Not that it would have mattered, as even teasing the buckles to come undone with her magic was a chore. All she could do was mindlessly destroy and hurt, even when it came to the best friend she’d ever had.

The tightness in the tall woman’s slim chest grew at the last thought, and she shut her eyes. She could talk for days to convince others to give her what she may need, knew how to act in the highest courts, and could be considered the most cultured explorer out there. But when it came to Kat, she still defaulted to things like best friend. How was she supposed to execute on her plan in the dungeon, when she still paused to call Kat her lover? Kat never had, not when she had taken Diane’s first kiss, or held her close in the tent the first time. It was all natural for her, but Diane still had to hesitate.

The buckles finally loosened, and Diane began to search through the bag. She had been such an idiot yesterday by deciding to search through this stupid thing. Diane knew better, of course, but she had been so nervous about this whole thing expedition going well that she just made screw up after screw up. And now Kat thought she meant nothing to Diane, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. She just didn’t know how to tell her. Should she be tactful? Wait for the right moment? She looked into the bag, and bit her lip.

“Kat, are you… are you feeling hungry?”

Kat glanced over at Diane, who had the open bag held close to her chest. The knight considered being difficult, saying no and simply tending to her wounds. Her stomach’s rumbling demanded otherwise, especially as her… sorceress pulled out jerky. She slowly walked forward, but stopped a few feet away when Diane, face into the bag, asked, “Do… do you really think I don’t care about you?”

Kat felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle. Of course Diane would have hung up on that point, and would probably lather her with praise Tell her how good of a knight she was, or how strong she was. It wasn’t going to work tonight though. “It’s not that you don’t care, it’s that when compared to you, I am nothing, and you seem to have finally picked up on that.”

Diane’s body shrunk as she put her head into the bag, trying to not let Kat see her cry. She would either think they were insincere, like the idiot that she was being would, or she would simply come back to her because she cared, but Diane was scared that that wouldn’t help. Instead, she steeled her voice, and kept ahold of what she needed to keep close. “I haven’t picked up on anything, and I thought you got over me being a strong mage; that there was simply a gap there.”

Kat balled her fists, the back of her mind and soul nagging at her for trying to give into the fear, for letting what was supposed to be resolved come back. But how was she supposed to not? These were things that always came back, always smacked her in the face, and proved how futile trying to get these stupid rings was. It would just be another way for Diane to fail to put her on the same level as her. “B-because we’re not the dumb teens we used to be. Because I can’t just keep trying to think that this can work, not with how little progress I’ve made over these years. Honestly, I.. I’m beginning to think it would just be better if we went our separate ways at this point, because you no longer need me to keep you safe, not… not when all I am is a weak link.””

Diane finally looked up, unable to stop herself now. The images of a broken cathedral, of bodies everywhere, and of her laughing as the world burned would not leave, not while the one thing that made her life always filled with something worth caring about tried to say they couldn’t keep this up. She held out the bread, her voice coming out as nothing but a squeak.

Kat glanced away from Diane’s face almost immediately. She had to do this for Diane’s sake, to make sure she didn’t have to be burdened by her anymore. That brought her eyes to the bread though. It wasn’t the hard tack from this morning though. No, it was the fireside bread, slightly beaten and battered, but still looking a bit fresh. Kat placed her hand on it, letting the soft dough press back against her fingers. “I… don’t get it.”

Diane swallowed hard, and pushed the bread harder against Kat’s hand. It had grown slightly hard by now though, and so instead of bending, the bread broke into two halves, and one fell to the ground, where Diane quickly tried to save it. Kat stepped back, watching her lover scramble for the bread while Diane muttered, “I can’t even do this right.”

Kat got onto one knee, placing a hand onto Diane’s shoulder and struggling to smile. She hadn’t seen her like this in a long time, and it scared her, even if it was warranted now. “C-come on, it’s just some bread. We have more.”

Diane looked up, her red, puffy eyes blinking as she looked into Kat’s green pair. She swallowed hard, but couldn’t shake the words in her throat. ‘It’s not just bread. It’s m-me slowly walking down steps, or using the wrong spells, or how I can’t even heal you. When we go into dungeons, I’m usually useless, because I can’t detect traps, or climb big ledges. And yet you’re nothing? All I can do is-”

Silence came as Kat’s hand came over Diane’s mouth, and the barbarian hung her head. Tears slowly stained the ground below her, before she shook her head. “Stop. Stop. I-I’ve… I’ve let that stupid fear spell hang over me way too long, and… and I’m sorry. Just more proof why I need someone with at least half a brain to keep me in ch-check, r-right?”

Diane gripped one of Kat’s hands close, her fingers intertwining with her beloved’s as she smiled at Kat’s own, weak grin.. “We both do. No matter how many times we’ve said we’re fine, or nothing troubles us-”

“-We’ll always be little babies and have our fears.”

A small giggle escaped Diane, before she began to cry again. “That… that’s one way to put it.”

Kat squeezed Diane’s hand, before raising her other hand in an odd crescent. “Just promise that you’ll never let me be enough of an idiot to let you go, okay?”

Diane put her half of the heart between them, her smile brightening as she whispered, “Only so long as you stay to make my life a real adventure.”

Kat smiled, and pulled Diane in close, holding her tight, and forcing the other woman’s face into her chest. “I promise, I will.”

The stayed there, ignoring the hard rock as they smiled at each other, and they fell asleep.

“It’s just a hallway…”

“...with a lot of doors.”

The two of them tilted their heads as they looked at the ‘trial’. Neither had wanted anything difficult for this one, not after the anger of the last one, but even this was… underwhelming. Diane frowned a bit more, before squeezing Kat’s hand. “We should stay close together nonetheless. With so many passageways, there are bound to be ambushes and traps laid out for us.”

Kat checked her sword, before sliding ahead of her companion and keeping her hand on the pommel as she took a deep sniff. “All I smell is dust, but I agree. These have been only getting harder, so stay behind me, and be ready to blast whatever may come.”

A small smile crossed Diane’s lips as she waited for Kat to take point, and started following. While she was keeping her eyes and ears on full alert for something to come, she knew Kat would be far more likely to be able to give her forewarning with her heightened senses. That, coupled with the morning of quiet smiles, and bits of tension, led to her wanting to be just a touch silly. “Say, since I’ve been choosing poorly with my spells recently, would you like to tell me if the one I’ve picked for this will work.”

“I’m sure it’s fine, Di-Agh!” Kat jumped as a jolt of electricity landed right on her rump. “Son of a bitch!”

The smile on Diane’s face brightened as Kat glared at her, before she said, in as flat of a tone as she could, “Something like that, but a bit stronger, right?”

Kat held up a finger, her arm shaking as she puffed out her cheeks. Diane didn’t even flinch though, and so the barbarian was left staring into that stupid grin. It grew to be too much, and soon Kat couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and punched Diane’s arm. “You cheeky jerk.”

Diane couldn’t hold it back either, and covered her mouth as she giggled too, ignoring the soreness now in her arm. The two stayed in the middle of the corridor, spending several moments trying to calm down, only to then erupt in more laughter as they looked back to each other. “Oh, if people saw us like this, our reputations would be gone.”

She knew she would regret it, but Diane held her growing smile as she reminded her friend of quite where their reputation was. “Oh, yes, us laughing at our stupid jokes would be so much worse than the times a drunken barbarian has streaked through town, stolen a pig because she wanted bacon, started a fight in three bars at the same time, and, oh, and let us not forget the incident pertaining to a broom, a locksmith, and-”

“Ah, no, no, no, no! Please do not remind me of that!”

Diane began to laugh as Kat huffed, and stomped along the corridor. Once Kat’s back was to her companion though, she couldn’t help but begin to smile, and giggle a little bit at the memories too. It only got worse as she realized just how stupid she had been this whole trip, when it all started with a fear that should have long ago been vanquished.

Once the two adventurers were feeling up to actually adventuring again, they found themselves at the end of the hallway, unmolested. While it was still a nice change of pace to them, it also made their nerves go on full alert. Kat kept an eye on the hall as Diane pushed against the door, and found it locked. A look down told her why.

On a large, stone slab read, For those who desire to see my lady’s tomb, I wish for one final test of perseverance. Within these hundred rooms, is a key. Find this key, and it will open the door. Do not find this key, and you will wither into nothing, for the way back cannot be changed, or reached again.

“Hey, Kat, how do you feel about meticulously searching through a hundred rooms for one item.”

There was a silence from the barbarian, before she looked over her shoulder. “Y-you’re kidding, right?”

Diane shook her head, and Kat began to curse.

Diane shook her head as they entered the room. “I know you hate when we’re asked to find cats and such, but please do recognize that this is different.”

Kat turned around, her hands on her hips as she raised an eyebrow. Diane tried not to pay attention to it, and moved on to the sparsely decorated room. There was a bed, a desk, a bookcase, and… that was it. “How is this different? We have to search all over a place for one thing, and bring it back. It’s not exciting, it’s not fun, so it’s just annoying!”

The drawers yielded nothing, and Diane slowly moved onto the bookshelf. There, classic titles such as, The History of Mold, How to Watch Paint Dry, and The Art of Grass Growing, sat upon the shelves. While they made her smile, it also made her wonder just how serious Carnick had been when making this dungeon. “Well, maybe we’ll start getting followed by a shadow beast or something. Would that make you happy?”

Kat flipped the bed up, and sighed as all that greeted her was a cockroach that squeaked at her. “Yes, yes it would actually.”

A small giggle escaped Diane as she put back the last of the books, and turned to Kat, who was waiting at the door. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to keep an eye out for it too.”

All Diane got for that was a glare as Kat moved onto the next room.

Kat rolled into the room, crouched low as she bent her knees, and swung her weapon in a deadly circle. Her blade caught nothing, and only helped to make the dust swirl around herself. As the small motes of dirt rested upon her blade, the barbarian screamed, “Please tell me this isn’t all there’s going to be!”

Diane poked her head in, only to see that Kat was correct. Another desk, bed, and bookcase was all that sat in the room. Just like the last one, and the one before it. It was slightly amusing though, if not just to have the opportunity to watch Kat get continuously angrier. “Now, now, if there was a room unlike the rest, it would tip off any tomb raiders like us, so of course they all need be the same.”

Kat turned around, an eyebrow raised. “Oh, is that the case? Well than,” she stopped midsentence, spinning around to cleave the desk in the room in half, “I hope Carnick doesn’t mind if I redecorate!”

Diane rolled her eyes, and placed a hand on the stone wall. It glowed briefly from licks of flame, before she took it away, having left a mark on the wall. It was a rather plain symbol, merely a black circle with a smaller white circle within, but completed by the black dot in the middle, but it was one Diane had been taught as a child, and still thought fondly of. “If only Kesral followers could remember that her sigil even admits to the darkness within us all.”

Kat panted as she walked back to Diane, having reduced the furniture to nothing but splinters now. “Are you ready to move on?”

Diane hummed to herself as she sat at the desk, slowly leafing through how one was supposed to grow grass artistically. It was actually rather interesting to her, as she did hope one day to have her own garden. Of course, such a thing wasn’t really possible when you never stayed in one place for more than a month, but still, it was nice to think about. Especially while your friend panted on the bed. “What have we learned?”

“I’m not giving into any of your teachable moments, alright?”

“Oh, come now Kat. No one got hurt, and it’s good to reflect upon one’s mistakes.”

“It wasn’t a mistake.”

Diane sighed, putting the book down as she walked over to Kat. The shorter woman was currently resting on the bed with a bandage around her head. She would have had to rest anyways, as she had destroyed all of the furniture in the previous rooms for some excitement. This time though… “You don’t consider making a bookcase fall on you as a mistake?”

Kat was silent for a few moments, before nuzzling her face into the pillow, and grumbling, “Shut up.”

Kat put her head to the wall, sighing as Diane began working on casing out the room. Her head still rang a bit, but she wasn’t about to let it put her down, not when the two were certain at this point that the roms were meant to be an endurance and wisdom test. As proof even, they had checked one of the rooms she’d had a tantrum in, and seen the place spick and span, minus for the mark on the wall. Kat had almost gone on a rampage again, as Diane had suggested that the dummies they had fought two floors before now might have the same enchantment, but splitting pain in her skull had stopped her. That, and the consolation that the walls didn’t seem to repair themselves.

Opening her eyes back up, Kat noticed something she hadn’t before. On the stone, faded from time, was a heart. Backing away, she saw that it wasn’t just one. Of varying sizes, skills, and even materials, probably painted to look like stone, were hearts. Kat began to walk along the wall, her hand tracing over them until it found words sketched into one. Sorry you had to wait for this one. It was chiseled into one of the larger, smoother ones, denoting a more practiced hand on it. “Hey, Diane, have you really looked at these walls?”

Diane dusted her hands as she moved away from the bookcase, and looked upon the wall too. A small gasp escaped the sorceress as she noticed the embellishments implanted into the seemingly smooth wall. “How did I miss these?”

Kat shifted her weight a little bit, looking to the ceiling and starting to feel somewhat unnerved by the amount of them. None were up to the quality of the carvings in the previous chambers that depicted Carnick’s story, which only made their origins more confusing. “I’m just trying to figure out why they’re here, other than to be cute.”

Diane tapped her foot, staring at the one that apologized, before shaking her head. “Well, at least now we have something to think about while we walk, right?”

A sigh escaped the shorter woman, before she nodded, and they trudged to the next door.

Diane hummed to herself as she ran her finger along one of the hearts, staring at the golden sheen that broke through one part of the paint. The inscription was unlike the others, for it was done entirely in cursive. For our Queen, Salasune, from your dearest Carnick. May this find you in good health, and make up for my absence. “Salasune.”

Kat’s ears perked up as she heard the name, before she turned around. Instinct had caused a red glow to come to her eyes, along with the red outlines of two pawprints to flash onto her cheeks, before fading back to nothing. She stomped over to Diane, and began looking at the heart that she was examining. A scowl deepened on Kat’s face, before she shut her eyes, and began to breathe deeply. Diane’s hand soon came onto her back, and helped assuage the rage that had spiked within her. “Sorry.”

“You’re forgiven, but I would like to know what that was all about.”

The knight squeezed the bridge of her nose as she shook her head, and then sighed. “The barbarian lands are called that for a reason. We’ve almost always been treated as our own nation, though, of course, with no actual government. Well, one generation of us tried to be ‘clever’ and put on knight’s armor, only to then rip through the town that welcomed them. Salasune is the name of the queen who retaliated, and while she was justified in the wars she waged upon us, it’s in our blood to not forget the blood of half our kin that bled along our land.”

Diane placed a hand onto her companion’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Kat squeezed back as the sorceress turned back to the wall and nodded. “That would explain why the legend is so small, but this tomb had so much effort put into it.”

Kat frowned for a moment, before her eyes widened, and she smiled. “Wait, you mean I get to pillage the tomb of my kind’s old enemy? Oh please, her fortune be in the last trial, please please please!”

A giggle escaped Diane as she shook her head. Sometimes her companion could be a little… silly, and show her true colors far too strongly. “Yes, though, tell me, especially because of how these these hearts had to have been added into the stone work, how long do you think making this whole place took?”

Kat stopped, holding a hand up. While the magical elements wouldn’t have been super difficult, especially with a team of court wizards to handle the enchantments, they still had to build all of this underground, get every piece of furniture and enemy made… “Sweet Hekam.”

“Exactly. Now, for a queen deserving such a large tomb, why is it that the legend of her champion is not a well known story about a hero, but seen as just a fairy tale?”

Kat delved back into her instincts and could hear the distant cries of her ancestors screaming for Salasune’s death. Very few things past rage could even get her into contact with her spirit or blood, so for this to be a trigger meant that it was a time that every last one of her kind knew, and hated. “She overshadowed him, didn’t she?”

Diane began walking towards the door as she nodded, her hand on her chin. “Queen Salasune, known as The Judge. While many people debate about how correct she was in with how far she went in trying to get back at the barbarians, Kesral churches spend an extra long time on her, as one who fought against the savagery of the world, even before the Kesral church had the strength to do so itself.”

Kat smiled wider as she got to the door as well. “I’m guessing Maxwell didn’t even mention her?”

Diane rolled her eyes and opened the door. ‘Yep.”

Silence came to them as they entered the room. The dungeon had seemed fairly automated, and this one was meant to look uniform,so it only made sense for there to be no changes to any of them. For them all to still look as they had when they first were made.

That didn’t mean that at least one adventurer had made it through eventually though.

Diane knelt before the rotting corpse as she held the collar of her robe over her nose. It didn’t beat out the stench of death, but it did let her be able to at least breathe. “You poor man.”

Kat now was holding the bag, breathing into the myriad of smells from it, before her heightened senses killed her. She did raise an eyebrow to what Diane had said though. “Well, I suppose if we were going to find a corpse, it would be here. The others probably have ways of removing even the bones.”

The sorceress nodded, before slowly reaching forward and taking the book from the man’s chest. It was slightly sticky, and she found herself forcing back her gag reflex as she opened it. “Do you mind if I see what may have happened to him?”

Kat waved a hand, before she gagged from the bag slipping away from her nose. “Nope, no pr-Ack!” The barbarian darted back to the doorway. “I’m just gonna stay over here though, if that’s okay.”

“Of course.” It was an almost automatic response now as she skimmed the pages. The man had apparently come in with a thief of a partner, and had made it through the first two trials together alright. It was the third where the man’s happy, love filled, and horrible, poetry stopped, and the scribbling became more frantic. She couldn’t blame him though.

Not when it was his doppleganger who had killed the young woman.

For two weeks after that, he travelled these halls. Lines about needing to reach Carnick so that her loss was not in vain. He checked the rooms over and over again, but to no avail. Some days he was certain he had checked them all three times over, while during others he feared that he had only checked the same four over and over.

Diane closed the book, a tear falling for the man who thanked his body’s dependence on water, for without it, he would not be able to be reunited with his thief. She then placed it on his chest, and thanked him for the knowledge.

“Why did you insist we come back here?””

Diane bit into her cheek. Each step brought the two closer to the exit, to which they still had no key. If her thoughts were correct though, that would soon be remedied. “That man had checked all of these rooms already with no luck, so why should we believe that we’ll find it in those rooms?”

Kat paled for a moment, letting her knuckles pop as she looked at Diane. “Please tell me you know where the key is then, because I do not want to end up like Mr. Bones back there.”

Diane stopped in front of the door, and charge a bolt of electricity to her fingertips. For a moment, she glanced back at Kat, who hissed out, “Don’t you even think about it,” before she looked down. There were the instructions, right on top of a thick stone slab. She pointed down, and fired.

The stone split into two from the impact, sending shards of stone up, before revealing, tucked away between the two halves, a fine, golden key. Diane picked it up, before turning to Kat and smiling. “You always keep a spare under the doormat, right?”

Kat blinked a few times before she simply placed her head into her hands and screamed. “That’s not funny!”

Diane on the other hand, had to disagree, even if the joke had come with a heavy heart.

The two turned the key, before glancing to the other. Diane smiled, running her hand along the bandage around Kat’s head, just as the barbarian grinned, and she ripped it off. As Kat kept her hand up, Diane wrapped her own, softer pair over the barbarian’s one, and sent a small pulse of warmth to her companion. Kat just smiled, and turned to the door. They were ready to finish this.

The doors grated as they were forced open. From the heavy dust that fell off, both girls assumed that this was the first time they had ever been opened. Looking within affirmed the thought, as dust covered everything. Kat forced herself not to smile at the glint of gold that was at the back of the room, but instead kept her eyes on what she thought may be the final trial.

As the door closed behind them, a green energy flowed in from every crack in the walls. It became increasingly thick as it approached the middle of the room. Over the tomb, the gold, but all toward the statue that sat before the coffin. The thick dust on it shook as energy seeped into stone, and the golem gave a soft rumble in return. It was clad in stone armor that screeched as it began to move, but Diane actually smiled at the imposing figure. While the armor was meant to scare, it matched every depiction of the man, even down to the golden pendant around his neck.

The golem moved to stand, planting one of its feet flat onto the ground as his left hand ran along the pendant. Upon touching it, the green energy rushed into the remaining crevices, and his eyes flared to life, glowing a dull, light green. His right hand slammed onto the large, stone blade beside him, and he stood tall. Kat looked up at the man who was almost twice her size, and took a step forward. “Stay behind me. If he wants to fight, I don’t want you near that slab of rock.

The golem’s eyes narrowed, before looking past the small warrior, and to the sorceress who radiated magical power off of her. He lifted one hand and pointed straight at Diane before bellowing, “I, Carnick, the giant, the guardian, the faithful, and eternal, beckons you to come!” When instead the insignificant stepped forward, he brought his other hand forward, putting the blade before Kat’s face. “I only wish to speak, but if you do not honor my trial, I will fight you.”

Kat growled as her hands curled into fists. She didn’t like this at all. Something so large and imposing getting a one on one with Diane rang as a thousand red flags in her mind. Than again, it wasn’t really her place to decide when the alternative was a seven foot greatsword in her face. Diane helped in her backing down as the sorceress squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Carnick is an honorable man, and probably wishes only to see if we are deserving.”

Carnick nodded as Diane stepped forward, before she put her fist to her chest, and extended it outwards. “A warm greeting to you, Master Carnick. I, humble Diane, beseech you as one who loves now, to one who loved before.” She grabbed the edge of her dress and extended it outwards in a half curtsy.

The golem smiled at the gesture, before planting the blade back into the earth. He then placed a hand onto Diane’s shoulder, and looked deep into her eyes. “Tell me, young one, what brings you to the tomb of my beloved queen? Is it treasure, power, or are you here to honor her memory with tribute?”

Diane turned to the bag at her side, soon undoing the clasps and rummaging through the supplies within. While unprepared for the final request, she saw no harm in obliging in it. Still, as she grabbed a thin, tightly bound parcel, a pang of hurt rang through her chest. This is nothing though, not… not for Kat, especially after all the stupid stuff she has done for our relationship. With a small bit of flame, the bundle was undone, and a beautiful, black book revealed itself to be within.

The symbols on top, of fire, ice, lightning, and earth made the possession clear. It was a grimoire, and not just any grimoire, but the best grimoire that Diane had ever found. Even with her capabilities to learn magic, she had not even begun to learn, let alone master, every spell in the book. And now, she offered it to him. “I give you the best that I have on me now, and apologize for not having brought more.”

Carnick nodded, able to see the magic that radiated off of the book as well. It was indeed a mighty gift, just like if a warrior were to give him their own blade. It was touching, and the lack of any hesitation made it seem like her words were true.

But no gift or words would ever be able match his love.

In a practiced swing, he brought his free hand up, and Kat tensed. The eyes had deepened to a darker shade of green, and it took all her will to not attack. All he had to do now was to bring that hand down upon Diane, and she… Kat pushed the thought away. Diane knew what she was doing… she had to.

“Your offering is great, and your words heartfelt. I can sense the bond between you two is strong, even of the same sort as me and my queen. A guardian and protector, with one who would throw her life down for the other. However,” his raised hand curled into a fist, and time seemed to slow for Kat, “No love is as great as mine is for my dear Salasune.”

One second, and his hand began to descend. With the second, Kat forced the bottom buckles off of her breastplate. Three, and Diane looked up, only to see the sickly green of Carnick’s eyes, and to open her mouth. At four, the breastplate fell into Kat’s hands.

And on five, his fist found its mark. Kat froze, watching the first cracks appear on Diane’s head as time seemed to almost stop. Blood came soon after, gushing against the golem’s hand as her beloved’s head began to give, and her neck bent. The sound of the impact made Kat’s knees weak, and the sorceress was lifted off of the ground. With the next moment, and Diane was flying as Carnick followed through.

Kat closed her eyes. All around her was still, calm, but she knew the truth. She had let a little of it slip out against herself. It was always there, always wanting out, but that wasn’t her role. She was a fighter, but she was no killer. She was a protector, not a destroyer. And normally, she was a knight. As she slammed her foot down though, she didn’t hold back. The red fury in her veins surrounded her spirit, and she screamed the primal cry of a barbarian.

Markings covered her whole form as she opened her eyes. Bite marks and scratches where her wolves had placed them on her in her youth, along with the prints of her bloodkin, and wolves’ eyes that marked her clan painted themselves upon her body as she looked before her. Carnick was turning away from her, and to Diane. That wasn’t acceptable. Not now, not ever.

The breastplate came first, knocking Carnick off balance as it slammed into the armor on his back. A green aura flared as the shield bounced off, and soon came again as Kat approached. Her sword was in both hands now, and she could hear the wind screaming in her ears as she thrust forward. Upon impact, she could feel every part of her body shake and scream from the force, made only worse as the aura forced her blade away, and left no mark.

Carnick turned around, growling as he moved. “What do you think you will do to my-” He was cut off as he had to plant his raised foot. The gnat’s blade had come against his right side like a bull, and he saw the glow of a savage on the woman. A smile broke over his face as he straightened out now. He had faced plenty of these things in the wars, and was astonished at himself for not recognizing the fool before. “Unbreakable armor?”

Kat’s arms shook as she clenched her blade tightly. Unbreakable? No such thing existed, her dad had taught her that long ago. Everyone always thought it was real, when in reality, it just never had the right force applied to it. She swung her sword behind her, staring Carnick in the eyes as she swung again for his right side.

Her blade caught stone again, but it wasn’t the stone she had expected. Instead, it was his fist, slamming into the side of her blade midswing. Her arms cried out in pain again, but it was too late to go back, so instead, Kat pushed all the power she could into the swing. She felt something give, before the screeching of tearing metal met her ears, and she was thrown back, along with the now shorn off majority of her blade.

She slammed into the wall, panting as her vision swayed for a moment. She was against rock, and even before she had lost her blade, she knew he had reach on her. Now the bastard held its own blade, and she could hear Carnick muttering an apology. She didn’t know to what, and honestly, she didn’t actually care. Kat forced one of her arms off of the wall, and pushed herself out of the small divot she had made. As long as he posed a threat to Diane, she would fight.

Carnick turned to her, extending his arm so as to let to blade be between them. “I killed plenty of you in my lady’s service. If you think you will be the one to break me in my eternal body, than you are mistaken.”

Kat slowly walked forward, her fingers tightening around the pommel of her blade. It was all she had left, but with the steel ball at the end, it could still do something. She just needed to wait, and look for an opening. It wasn’t the easiest goal, but it was all she had left. “You said that you understood our bond, so if you think I’ll back down, you’re dead wrong.”

Carnick nodded, before swinging the massive blade in a long arc over his head. It moved surprisingly quick, but when he brought it down, Kat simply ducked under it as if it weren’t even moving. His middle was open now, but she had seen how that worked out. That was also with unbending steel, rather than her own fists.

Carnick performed two more slashes, both coming in quick succession, and both again being dodged by Kat, who stepped away from them easily. As he lifted the sword over his head though, her back hit the wall. He smiled, and brought the blade down, cutting through the rock like butter.

As the dust began to settle, Carnick chuckled. Down, just like all the rest. He went to pull out his blade, but found more resistance than expected, and the weight on it was… increasing? He looked to the smoke, and saw a glowing silhouette in it. It brought its hands down, and Kat’s pommel cracked against Carnick’s helmet. The aura flared back up, but as she felt it try to repel her, Kat pushed back, her body glowing more intensely as she looked Carnick right in the eyes. “Don’t underestimate me!”

He lifted his blade as the pommel cracked, and Kat lost her footing on the slab of rock. She fell to the ground, but didn’t even notice the impact. Instead, she was on her feet in less than a second, and smiled as she looked up. The aura on him was fading, but she could see it. A crack had been there, and she was ready to leave a lot more.

He swung his blade again, but just like a gnat, she was too fast, and too small to possibly be hit. Carnick continued to move against her, cleaving the ground of the room as he yelled, “Stand still! I will not dare allow some imposters defile my lady’s tomb!”

Kat ducked underneath one of his thrusts, her face contorting with rage. This time, she did not think, she only acted. As she ran at his middle, she screamed, “Diane didn’t want to!” She put her right hand behind her, curling each finger one by one into a fist, before she slammed it forward. It came down hard against the stone, and she could see the aura come back at full strength. It pushed against her, but she wasn’t going anywhere. “If you had listened to her, and not cheated, we would be gone already!”

Kat’s gaze turned blood red as she put her second hand on his gut, and pushed. Carnick raised his blade, but she didn’t care. Instead, all of her focus was on her right arm. The fingers were already broken, and as the repulsive force against her grew, she could feel the rest of the bones in her arm give way.

But again, she didn’t care. She only needed power, and as the muscles in her arm flexed, they shattered the bones within. Tears came down Kat’s face, but still she pushed, throwing Carnick off balance as his feet started to drag through the dirt. He only had to bring his blade down, and it would all be over. She would be gone, and then, because she failed, so would Diane, and that simply couldn’t happen. With all of her might, she put everything she could into one last push, and tilted Carnick, before forcing him to fall.

His body hit the ground with a mighty slam, churning up the dust in the room, and shaking the tomb. As Carnick attempted to recover, the stone body weighing him down greatly now, he felt a boot land on his wrist. Panic ran through him, as that stopped the hand that was reaching for his sword. If she could grab it, it would mean trouble, but he had heard the snapping of bones, and knew, there was no way the barbarian could lift it with only one hand.

That is exactly why Kat didn’t even try. Instead, she put both hands around the large hilt, and began to lift it. It was at least the weight of a dozen men, and her body screamed at the force required to get it off the ground. She needed it though, as she was now certain of what this blade could do.

Carnick’s eyes flared as he saw her lift it over her head, and then turn towards him. He raised a hand, but did not dare say anything. If this grave robber was to kill him, he would take what knightly dignity he had left. When the blade came down on his legs though, it became harder to think that. The aura cast upon him was strong, but that much weight, with her strength behind it, was simply too much, and he watched the stone be shattered. With a sigh, Carnick said, “You win.”

“No, I don’t. Not yet.” Kat began to lift the blade again as she stared at the pendant on Carnick’s chest. “I bet you have the same, stupid regeneration that the rest of this damned place does. That necklace looks important though, so maybe,” She grunted as the blade came over her head, and she stood over Carnick, ready to cleave him in half, “if I break it, you won’t come back.”

Carnick’s eyes turned their purest, brightest green as one of his hands curled around the pendant. “Please, no! It has nothing to do with those enchantments, as it is simply my lady’s pendant. It… it was her last gift to me! If nothing else, have the heart to leave it with me.”

Kat glared down at Carnick. He had hurt Diane, possibly even killed her, and yet he expected mercy? ...No. No, the defeat in his last words gave reason to believe otherwise. He just wanted that which helped him hold onto, and remind him, of his love. Of his duty. Of his purpose to still exist. Kat glanced over to Diane, and at that moment, she understood the crazed, old knight.

Carnick opened his eyes as he heard the loud slam of his sword against the floor. Above him stood the short, red headed barbarian, but now her marks were gone. It was a sight he never thought possible, for it meant a barbarian who didn’t go for the kill. “Why?”

Kat slowly moved off of Carnick, stumbling as she tried to walk. Her arms felt like nothing now, and could only hang limply by her sides. Of course, most of her body just wanted to collapse at this point, as the strain of the fight had ripped through the majority of her muscles. She looked over her shoulder, and sighed. “I did it because I am still a knight, and I will not punish a man who just wanted to protect the memory of the one he loves. Not when I’ve gotten mad at others just for looking at Diane.”

Carnick laid back as her footsteps grew more distant, and he ran his hand over the pendant on his chest. Maybe there were bonds as great as his and his queen’s? Looking to the barbarian, he knew it was not a question; not anymore, and so said, “I, Carnick, give my blessing to you to take as you wish from this place.”

Kat collapsed next to Diane, and placed a hand onto her companion’s shoulder. She was too tired to quip back, but instead just tried to squeeze her beloved awake. A tear came down the barbarian’s face as she whispered, “Diane?” When no response came, she shook the sorceress, and cried, “Wake up, Diane.” When all was still, Kat found the strength to grip both of her lover’s shoulders, and ignored the pain as she screamed, “Diane!”

“Will you please shut up, Kat. I have the worst headache of my life.”

Kat began to openly weep as she pulled Diane close, and held her tight. “You fucking idiot! I… I thought you were gone.”

Diane blinked, her vision still blurry as she tried to figure out what was going on. “What are you talking ab-Ow!” She put one hand to the side of her head, only to find dampness there. She pulled it away and felt her veins turn to ice. She now remembered why there was blood there, and soon wrapped Kat up in her own arms. “I’m here, I’m here.”

For a long moment, the two simply sat there in each other’s embrace. Diane could tell that her companion needed this, and she even gave Kat a gentle peck on the top of her red mop of hair. The sorceress’s curiosity soon grew too large for her to contain, and she titled Kat’s head up. “How… how did you beat Carnick?”

Kat forced her stupid smile into a cocky grin, before her limbs finally ran out of jubilation, and went limp. “Well, two broken arms, and the angriest I’ve ever been probably helped in kicking him to the curb.”

Diane placed her hands onto Kat’s arms, and hung her head low. “Damnit. I… I was supposed to lead on this one. Be the one to win it all.”

Kat’s brow furrowed, and she snuggled into Diane’s modest bosom. “Why does it matter? We made it, kicked butt, and, if it helps, you were on my mind as I did it.”

Diane sighed. “That’s the problem though. I’m always on your mind. That’s why you were the first to say I love you, the first to kiss me, and… and everything. I wanted asking you to marry me to be my victory.”

Kat began to roll her eyes, but stopped at the last line as her heart felt like it skipped a beat. “Wh-what did you just say?”

Diane blinked for a moment, before her head turned as red as a cherry. ‘N-no, wait! This isn’t how I wanted to do this! I need the artifact first, and then I can get on one knee, lift it up to you, and-” She stopped as she felt dry lips against her own. She blinked as realized how close Kat had gotten, and hummed as her knight deepened the embrace.

Another long moment passed as the two enjoyed the sweetness of the others tongue. Just like every other time, this felt better than any sort of magic or spell she had ever channeled before, and Diane hummed against Kat’s lips. Kat smiled as she leaned back, before she shook her head. “You can be really stupid sometimes, you know that, right?”

Diane’s cheeks flared up again, and she stammered out, “Wh-what do you mean?”

Kat laid her head against Diane’s shoulder. “We’ve been together for five years now, and they have been the best years of my life, something I thought you knew. We even said our practical vows just last night, so what in the world makes you think that I would ever say no, or need some stupid ceremony to get engaged to you?”

Diane smiled as she ran her hands through Kat’s short hair, and watched as her betrothed began to shut her eyes. “I suppose you’re right. Now, get some sleep. When you wake up, we’ll head on out.”

Carnick watched as the sorceress shut her eyes, and smiled. “If you were still here, Salasune, I know you would be happy to see who was to take our treasure next.” He then shut his eyes, and waited for the repairs to begin.

A knock came to the door as Abigail was finishing up with the wash, and she shouted, “One moment!” A little more scrubbing finally got the last of the sauce off of the plate she was cleaning, before she placed it onto the drying rack besides her, and walked to the door. As she opened the door, she said, “Welcome to The Guardian’s Resting Place, a home for all adventurers seeking…”

Kat smiled as Abigail’s jaw kind of just hung there. The barbarian’s arms were currently wrapped up in dual slings that made sure they weren’t mobile, as when she had woken up, the event had also come with a decent bit of screaming. Diane, on the other hand, simply had a large bandage on her head, and weakly waved to the innkeeper.

Abigail looked between the two before an excited squeal escaped her. “Please, please come in! I’m so happy to see you two!”

Kat chuckled as she walked in behind her. “What, you thought we were going to go out and get ourselves killed? We’re professionals, unlike you.” She stuck her tongue out at the dirty look she got, and Diane shook her head.

“I think what my companion means is that she is happy to see you too, and had agreed full heartedly to tell you about the tomb before we left. Didn’t you, Kat ?” She turned to the barbarian, before placing a hand on one of Kat’s shoulders.

Abigail came out of the back with some water for the three of them, spilling some of it as she bounced on the balls of her feet. “Oh, I would love to hear about it! Maybe that way we could avoid anymore unnecessary adventurers, right?”

Diane sighed as she took the glass of water and drank from it greedily. “Unfortunately, there will always be adventurers who make mistakes, and want to challenge this place for ‘fun’. It’s just like whenever Kat here picks a bar fight while still sober.”

“It’s called training!”

Abigail giggled slightly, though it was obvious she was distracted. Diane watched the younger girl’s gaze as she patted Kat’s head, and smiled. She extended her hand, a ring now where one used to not be. “Do you like it?”

A squeal left the teenager as she grabbed Diane’s hand and stared at the silver band around the sorceress’s finger. “I-is this really the artifact? The one Carnick used?”

Kat smiled as she looked at her slings. She had refused to let Diane attempt to bandage her before getting the stupid thing around one of her fingers, though she was almost sure it wasn’t the ‘right’ one. “Don’t forget about the fact that Salasune used it too.”

Abigail opened her mouth, only to become very quiet. It was obvious that this was a breakthrough for at least her, and Diane giggled, before placing a hand on the poor girl’s arm. “How about something easier to process, like the fact that these are also our engagement rings?”

A small, high pitched whine first came, before Abigail simply screamed as she grabbed Diane’s hands and stood up. “R-really?” Diane nodded, and the girl squealed even louder. “Oh, please, please let me cater your wedding! It is the least I could do after all of… this.”

Kat barked out a short laugh. “Diane, does that mean I have to start showing her some real respect?”

Diane tapped the side of her chin, before standing and walking to position herself behind Kat. “I don’t know, but,” she leaned down, resting her weight onto Kat’s head, “I doubt we’ll worry about that for a while. If we wanted to do a ceremony that would need a caterer, we first need to find a Kesral church that won’t just throw me out on sight.”

Kat sighed and slumped forward a little bit. “Oh yeah, because Hekam churches don’t really do ceremonies, do they? Also, Diane, please, don’t lean on me.”

“Ah, but I know you love it when I use your height to my advantage.”

Kat’s eye twitched as she forced a smile on. “Why are you trying to make me angry?”

Diane held a hand to her mouth. “What, me? Ah, I wouldn’t think of it. Though, if you did get mad, we could finally try out these rings and show our friend what she was guarding.”

Kat rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, you’re gonna have to try harder than tha-”

Diane began sprinting immediately after she did it, and watched as fainter, red markings showed up on her body. She could feel herself getting stronger, faster, more tolerant to pain, everything. It was a wonder to her how barbarians didn’t just decide to always stay like this when it could make one feel so… alive!

Unfortunately for Diane, Kat was still much faster than she was, especially while boosted. The barbarian tackled her to the ground, before trying to hit her with her arms, and screaming from trying to use them.

As Kat grumbled on the ground, Diane laid back, smiling at the clear sky above them, and squeezing Kat’s thigh. “Sorry.”

Kat glanced over, and let out a content sigh as she nuzzled into Diane’s shoulder. “Just remember that now you’re obligated to be stuck with me, so the madder I am, the more you have to put up with, got it?”

Diane leaned back, enjoying the sun as she whispered, “I look forward to it, promise,” and nuzzled her companion, and betrothed, back.

First, I must thank my artist, Fenrox, for the beautiful cover he made for me. He can be found on deviant art, does beautiful work, of which you can see more of in two of my other covers, and I readily recommend him for all of your art needs.

Next, to those who never gave up on me. To the friends who listened to me talk about my crazy ideas for this universe, and have seen how far this rabbit hole goes. To my family, who gave me the chance to follow my passion, and see where it may lead. And especially to my friend Maddison, who without, I don’t know where I would be at the moment.

And finally, I of course, must thank you. For your time, which I pray you enjoyed, for your criticism, if you may have it, for that is the only way I can learn, and simply for your attention. It means the world to me that you would stop and take a look at this piece of mine, instead of any other piece out there. Thank you.

Now, I must add one last thing. A somber request, but one I need to continue. If you enjoyed this, and hope to see more of these two, I implore you to please look me up, Michael Hudson, on patreon. Currently, writing is how I make my living, but to do so, I must take commissions, and that takes away from my ability to work on the original works I wish to make. To that end, supporting me there, supports the continuation of not only this world, but the few others that have formed in my head, that I would love to share with you.