Mind Maiden Enolda: ?-Rank

  The puppet woman sat on her chair, watching us with eyes that felt like staring into the abyss. Her hand hovered over her head, and the sheer energy in it felt all but overwhelming. I braced myself; not including the God of Thunder, this was my first encounter with a monster at S-Rank. It was also my first one with a monster that powerful and undeniably hostile.

  There was a massive gulf between an A-Rank monster—even a Paragon like Queen Mother Yalerox—and an S-Rank one. Delvers had two bottlenecks: the C-Rank one, and another between A-Rank and S-Rank. Most monsters didn’t grow the same way that delvers did. A D-Rank hobgoblin couldn’t rank up to become a C-Rank goblinoid, for example. Paragons were the only exception to that rule.

  But that didn’t mean they didn’t mirror the two gulfs in power. A C-Rank monster had no chance against a B-Rank one with an aura—or even against one without that power. In the same way, S-Rank monsters stood alone as the most powerful beings on Earth when they broke free from their portal worlds. They were always trouble.

  Worse, Mind Maiden Enolda appeared to be both sentient and capable of conversation.

  And even worse, she knew who—and what—I was.

  “Mind Maiden Enolda, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.

  Her eyes narrowed at me, slats of wood lowering like eyebrows over the twin abysses. “Dost thou take Mother Mine and me for fools? The evidence of thy master’s espionage is as clear as day follows night. He hath turned his eye upon Mother Mine, and Mother Mine is understandably wroth.”

  I turned. Ellen stood behind me, face pale. Then I cleared my throat and started complaining to the team. “Uh, I think I might be in trouble. It’d be great if Eugene would clean up his own messes instead of dragging me into them. How about you wait outside while I try to figure out what this Enolda wants?”

  Sophia nodded quickly and started to retreat. Ellen touched my shoulder. “Be careful. She’s much more powerful than you are.”

  “I know. I’ve got some idea of how to handle her. In the meantime, you know what you have to do, right?”

  Ellen looked me in the eye. For a moment, she looked confused. Then she nodded. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Then she was gone, and so was the rest of the team. It was just Mind Maiden Enolda and me.

  I cleared my throat. The puppet still hadn’t sat up. It sprawled, crumpled, over the chair, only its hands hanging mid-air on invisible strings. But when I did, both eyes locked on me again. “Mind Maiden, I have many questions.”

  “I shall be the one asking them,” the monster said.

  That was what I’d figured, but I still had to try. “The truth is that I don’t know what’s going on. The only Paragons of significant power I’ve encountered are the God of Thunder and Queen Mother Yalerox, and—“

  “That name is unfamiliar to Mother Mine.”

  “She was an A-Rank Paragon of the Hurricane. I fought her—“

  Mind Maiden Enolda interrupted me. “She matters not. Mother Mine’s only concern is the God of Thunder and his interference. Thou must explain his purposes to me.”

  I closed my eyes and rubbed them. My heart hammered in my chest, and I breathed deep to try to settle down as the pools of darkness kept a lock on my face. Even with my eyes closed, their presence was obvious.

  This monster shouldn’t be here. She was S-Rank—she had to be. This was a B-Rank portal. Monsters higher than a portal world’s rank were incredibly destabilizing for both the monster and the world around it—it was the number one reason I didn’t expect the God of Thunder to ever appear on Earth. So, if she shouldn’t be here, but she was, there had to be a reason.

  The problem was that I couldn’t maneuver. Mind Maiden Enolda’s disinterest in answering my own questions, and her assumptions about my role in whatever the God of Thunder had been up to, gave me no space. I had to figure out a solution—and I had to do it quickly, before Ellen and the rest of the team finished what they were up to.

  The portal was both a riddle and two traps.

  Ellen hadn’t caught any of them in time to stop Kade from stepping into the snare, but she was impressed that he’d managed to keep the rest of the team from getting stuck, too. The first trap was simple, and it tied to the riddle. Eight doors, spread around the Ghostdream portal’s central room. Defeating the monsters in each spur room filled the middle chamber with more and more of the glowing, star-like orbs.

  In a way, the second trap—the presence of a monster so far beyond the portal’s apparent strength that even Kade hadn’t bothered trying to fight it once it made its power clear—had saved everyone from the riddle, though.

  She stared at the myriad glowing orbs. The entire room was bathed in light, light that poured in from every possible angle and tore at Ellen’s shadow until it was nothing, not even a faint outline on the floor. Her connection with Pepperoni grew weaker than it had since the moment she and the winged serpent formed their bond. But it wasn’t gone completely. Mana flooded in through Shadowstorm Battery—from Pepperoni, and from Kale.

  It was a torrent of Mana, threatening to become a flood if she didn’t use it.

  But Ellen had figured out the riddle. She started casting, and as she did, the stars all around her grew brighter.

  My goal wasn’t to win the discussion with Enolda.

  If Ellen did her job and the rest of the team survived what she was about to cause, the S-Rank monster would solve herself. If they didn’t, Enolda would figure it out, and she’d kill me instantly. I could try to fight back, but I didn’t have even half of the advantages I’d had against Yalerox, and the Mind Maiden’s aura seemed to be suppressing my skills.

  It didn’t feel bad—not like when my core had shattered—but it was obvious that I couldn’t win. I couldn’t even really fight.

  But this was a B-Rank portal. That meant a B-Rank boss, not an S-Rank monstrosity, was in control. There was no sign that the Mind Maiden had killed the portal’s boss and taken its role. She didn’t seem to care about the portal world as a monster tied to it would—and even more interestingly, she didn’t seem bloodthirsty.

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  If Ellen, Jeff, and the rest of the Desert Wind Guild could kill the portal’s boss, the portal world would almost certainly destabilize, and Enolda wouldn’t be able to stay. That’d be our victory condition.

  “Speak, Paragon Kade Noelstra. What dost the God of Thunder wish to achieve with this intrusion?” Enolda asked. For the first time, she sat up in her chair, movements jerky and quick.

  And in the meantime…I had a goal of my own.

  “Mind Maiden Enolda, the God of Thunder hasn’t told me anything about his plans, other than that at some point, we’re going to fight. I already knew that, so it’s not new information,” I said. “Maybe you know something I don’t, but—“

  “I know many things you do not.” Enolda’s body extended, two impossibly long wooden legs emerging from the dress. Now that she stood, the dress was clearly too big; it slumped off one shoulder, exposing a chest that was little more than the rough suggestion of a woman’s bust. The puppet loomed over me, hunched, with her head hanging between her shoulders.

  “Then maybe you can enlighten me, since the God of Thunder isn’t interested in doing so.” I stared up at the monster’s face, ignoring the rest of her body.

  An arm lashed out. It draped over my shoulder, and I put all of my will into suppressing a shiver as cold, hard fingers touched the back of my neck. Then, before I could pull away or stop her, Enolda’s carved mouth was inches from my face. “We shall see, Paragon Kade Noelstra, if thou art being truthful.”

  The world contracted to a multicolored pinprick for a moment. Then it expanded again, and when it did, Enolda was back on her chair, slumped over, her eyes closed. For a moment, I wondered if the team had already cleared the portal.

  But no. The S-Rank puppet’s eyes opened. Her head jerked upright, along with her two left arms. Then she spoke again. “I…understand, Mother Mine. I am thy faithful servant. Yes, I shall. I shall!”

  She stood again. And then she bowed deeply. The dress slid off her shoulders and down her body, but the puppet ignored it, stepping out of its crumpled form and moving toward me. “It appears, Paragon Kade Noelstra, that I hath made a grievous error. Shall the two of us begin anew?”

  “I’d like that,” I said. Then I coughed once and pressed my attack. She was vulnerable, and now was the time. “Mind Maiden Enolda, what is Mother Mine?”

  Enolda’s mouth opened. Then it clacked shut. When she spoke again, it was with the most reverent tone I’d heard a monster speak. “Mother Mine is my queen, my star, my mother, and my goddess. Her light rules this portal world, and thou shalt speak of her with more respect than that, or I shall smite thee immediately.”

  Then her head jerked, and she murmured, “My apologies, Mother Mine.”

  Her answer wasn’t helpful—at least, not in the immediate term. But it was concerning. I pushed further. “Why does she think I’m here on the God of Thunder’s behalf?”

  “Because why else would thou have entered her Ghostdream?”

  “I was sent here by a power on my own world, to shut this world’s portal and keep my people safe. It has nothing to do with the God of Thunder. Consider me an independent agent, if that helps.”

  Enolda’s eyes passed over me. Her hand raised up into the air, as if she was ready to slap me. I mentally prepared to try to summon Stormsong and make a fight of it, even though I knew it was probably futile. Then, before she could say anything, I asked my next question. “Do you have any control over the Ghostdream?”

  “Why would thou believe that? Mother Mine is the sole power in this world, and thou art a fool if thou think otherwise. Mother Mine keeps this world intact against all threats and intruders. It is she who requested my presence in this chamber. She who maintains the dream. She who determines what path forward it shall take.”

  “Can I meet her?” I asked.

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Why not?”

  Enolda stiffened. The hand didn’t come down, but it didn’t relax, either. “Thou art corrupted by a rival of Mother Mine.”

  “I don’t think I am.”

  “The God of Thunder has not offered you power, and you have not accepted it?” Enolda’s wooden eyebrow raised high, and disbelief covered her carved features. “Thou hast not followed the Stormsteel Path in your journey as a Paragon? Thou art not his disciple?”

  I nodded slowly. “I have accepted his power, I do follow the Stormsteel Path, and I am the God of Thunder’s student. But I’m not blind, either. He can’t be trusted, just like you and Mother Mine can’t be trusted. I intend to kill him when the time comes, and my Path is deviant to his. I am his disciple, not his slave.”

  The wooden puppet stared at me. Then she threw her head back and laughed, and once again, the power behind her laugh was all but overwhelming. “Well said, Paragon Kade Noelstra. Yet still, I must bar thy path. Your ambitions are foolhardy, for a man such as yourself cannot kill a god like the Paragon of the Stormsteel Path. And even were thou able to do it, it would be conscionable for me to let thy corruption into the same place as Mother—“

  Portal Collapse In: 59:58

  I readied myself. The timer ticked down. The walls of the Ghostdream portal shook and wavered, suddenly translucent. Mind Maiden Enolda seemed to stretch impossibly into the sky as she stood, sprinting at the door with everything she had. Her four arms stretched out, reaching for it, and wooden claws erupted from her fingertips. If she left the room, she’d kill my teammates in seconds.

  Instead, she froze.

  A ghostly woman, beautiful beyond description, stood before her. Her own four arms extended from her body, reaching out to grasp the puppet’s, and in the moment they touched, I understood. The puppet—Mind Maiden Enolda—was S-rank. She was far, far stronger than the phantom in front of her.

  And yet, she was the one dropping to her knees, her head between the woman’s breasts as she first shivered, then began to sob. “I am sorry, Mother Mine. I attempted to prevent the interloper’s threat from reaching thy being, but I failed.”

  The phantom’s mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear a single word. Then it stopped, and Mind Maiden Enolda’s arms wrapped around her mother’s waist as she cried in her embrace. I waited, but neither of them moved. And, after a minute, I summoned Stormsong and retreated from the circular, moon-floored throne room as mother and daughter embraced.

  The God of Thunder stood in his humanoid form, in the middle of a clearing in the woods. Stars flickered overhead—stars that were far too large to be real in any world he’d visited except for this one. He hadn’t wanted to come here. It was a last resort.

  But if the Crone was interested in Earth, he was curious why, and the only being who could explain it to him was…her.

  He was also wildly bored, though. Eugene had been standing in this clearing, leaning on his spear, for close to two hours. It was a beautiful night, still and clear, and the stars provided plenty of light. But even in the stillness, the sounds from another clearing a mile away rippled in. Eugene glared in the direction of the Crone’s camp. He didn’t regret the decisions that had gotten him banned from it for life. They’d been necessary.

  And if push came to shove, he’d follow their agreement. He had to. The Crone was powerful enough to force it, and the God of Thunder wasn’t quite arrogant enough to resist. Besides, she’d sold him a dozen bronze needles. Maybe their relationship could be salvaged with time.

  What was taking the Crone so long, anyway? Even one of the few beings more powerful than him would have to know how rude it was to leave an SS-Plus-Ranked Paragon waiting. Eugene sighed. Lightning surged from his nostrils as, for a moment, the thunder dragon inside pushed and tried to force its way forward.

  “Apologies. I had some trouble I had to deal with.”

  Eugene turned around.

  The Crone was gnarled, ancient, and twisted. She bent over her staff, tangled, matted hair covering her naked body, but her wrinkled eyes peered from behind a hooked, broken nose. No shoes. No dress. The Crone had long since stopped caring about trivial matters like modesty—at least in the presence of equals.

  Eugene inclined his head slightly. He cleared his throat.

  “Don’t bother. You’ve been poking around my workings for a while. What do you want?” the Crone asked.

  The God of Thunder considered his next words carefully, then, for the first time in a long time, spoke with nothing but respect. “Crone Mother, I wish to know why you’ve taken an interest in Earth. I hadn’t made a formal claim to the world because I didn’t see anything of value in it beyond the one Paragon I’d already taken. What did I miss, teacher?”

  “Stop that, Eugene. We’re friends, and friends don’t use titles.” The Crone laughed. It sounded like two branches rubbing against each other, and the God of Thunder shivered. There wasn’t a feather’s weight of power in that laugh—and that fact was the most terrifying thing Eugene had ever encountered. What was the Crone doing with all her power, if none of it was here?

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