Waiting in one of the communication rooms of the Tower of Magic, Vera thought back to the last time she’d spoken with her mother. It had been just after her wedding had been officially finalized and registered with the Tower of Law, and she remembered the conversation well.

  After having taken her husband’s name, Vera had finally cut ties with her mother’s family, the Pendeltons. Allowing her to finally make a name for herself on her own. During the brief but heartfelt conversation, her mother had wished her well and congratulated her on having taken the first real step on her intended path. As a supportive and loving mother, she’d made sure Vera knew that if she ever needed support, she would have it. Although, while It had been left unsaid that she fully expected Vera to handle things on her own, Vera had also sensed that she had been hinting at something more.

  While the Pendeltons operated primarily in the Capital, they had a presence in many cities across Oglivarch. Many branch houses, allied houses, and numerous independent houses had all been created by her mother’s many children. Their fathers had all been great men, Vera’s included, and it was expected any child raised in their house was destined for great things. All of her life, Vera had known that she would need to prove herself. And now, she finally had.

  She and her husband had founded their own house, taking advantage of the chaos of the density shift and the kobald war to ensure that they would have time to shore up their house’s foundation. Their new house, House Verena, was a registered subhouse under the kingdom’s newest unique, a great honor, and an even greater opportunity.

  Even in the capital, word must have spread of Lord Walker’s status and she could only assume that her house’s ties with him were the reason for her mother’s requested communication.

  “Signal acquired Lady Verena, the room is now active,” said one of the technicians monitoring the control desk.

  Offering the young woman a nod of thanks, Vera strode into the room as the doors silently closed behind her. There, standing in the middle of the room, was her mother’s hologram. The woman’s presence filled the room like a thick fog of essence not even bothering to make an effort to restrain itself.

  Greeting her, Vera said, “Hello, mother. It’s good to see you. I’m assuming this is in regards to Nicholas’ and my founding of House Verena?”

  Looking exactly as Vera remembered her, the woman was nothing if not elegant. Tall and thin, not a single hair was out of place. Everything about her screamed competence, while also carrying an intrinsic warmth that unfailingly endured her to everyone she came into contact with. She looked like someone had gone out of their way to give political mastery and power a physical form with the sole intent of unleashing it on the world to see what would happen.

  “My dear, Vera. What have I told you about assuming things?” she asked as if their most recent conversation hadn’t been decades ago.

  Smirking slightly, Vera tipped her head in acceptance of the rebuke. “Apologies, mother. While I’m no doubt overdue for a lecture or two, my guess at the purpose of your communique was not to confirm anything, but to merely open up a dialogue. As you taught me, there is no better way to entice someone to tell you their plans than to allow them the opportunity to prove you wrong.”

  Lord Pendelton’s voice filled the room with the delightful sounds of her laughter. With the addition of her presence altering itself slightly, everything about her skillfully put Vera at ease… despite how carefully Vera had mentally prepared herself to counter her.

  “Oh, Vera. I have missed you. And in a way, I suppose my communication request is tangentially related to your new house’s founding. But most likely not in the way you no doubt assume it is,” she replied slyly, her face adopting a smirk filled with love but tinged with a smidgeon of intrigue.

  While being sure to keep the curiosity out of her tone and her expression, Vera asked, “Oh? So this isn’t about our kingdom’s newest unique, or the intercity trade opportunities that my house’s status will likely position me to take advantage of during his upcoming travels?”

  Still smirking, Lord Pendelton replied, “Not at all, my dear. Not at all. While I’m no doubt proud that you managed to acquire such a strong backer, that is not why I requested this little reunion.”

  Like a seasoned politician, Lord Pendelton’s expression smoothly transitioned to one of utmost seriousness. “Vera, my dear. I wanted to check in with you concerning the Tower of Fate’s recent troubles, and Dorchester’s growing relevance as the centerpiece of the attacks against them.”

  As the local Tower of Fate in Dorchester hadn’t existed for many years, Vera very rarely, if ever, thought about that particular social power. While it wasn’t as if no one knew about them, citizens in Dorchester usually had few connections with the fateweavers… aside from a few nobles and people who had ties to other cities where the Tower’s presence was much more prolific.

  Wary of what she realized might be a blind spot in her intelligence gathering, Vera asked, “Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by ‘troubles’, and specifically what role Dorchester plays in them?”

  “Of course, dear. Although, your ignorance of what I’m referring to is in itself an answer to several of my questions,” Lord Pendelton replied smoothly.

  Continuing on, she said, “The Tower of Magic, along with several other organizations including the Royal Academy, various city centers, and even Oglivarch’s military council have all been releasing information onto city Thought Hubs countering the Tower of Fate’s veil of mystery and enigmatic practices. They have been systematically undercutting any belief that the fateweavers have any actual power to affect things outside of just reporting what is ‘likely’ to happen. Dorchester’s current troubles have been highlighted as proof that the Tower of Fate is not all-knowing and that their prophecies can easily be misinterpreted or outright wrong.”

  Vera, raising one eyebrow in surprise, tried and failed to keep her mother from reading her.

  Smiling down at her daughter, she said, “Yes, when looked at on the macro level, it is clear that someone or some ones in power is attempting to discredit or curb the Tower of Fate’s power in the kingdom. While you may not be aware of it, for many years Dorchester’s doom had been all but assured. By now, according to the prophecies, the city you live in should only just now recovering from a change in leadership. Yet, to the surprise of everyone who’d been made aware of what would have likely happened, the Dorchens failed in their war and the prophesied density shift has come early. On top of all that, the kobalds whose very presence would have made the area no longer worth defending have now been exposed and your surprisingly full-strength army is embroiled in a war to eliminate them as a threat.”

  Vera’s mind was racing. She’d heard here and there that there had been some talk of Dorchester likely falling, but she hadn’t realized there was any truth to the belief that an actual prophecy had been given. If that were true… then her mother had obviously believed Vera and Nicholas’ plans to found a house here had been doomed from the start.

  Feeling her mouth going dry from the shock of hearing that her mother had expected her to fail, Vera took a moment to rewet her lips. “I have noticed that a few people are working at unknown purposes with ties to the capital here, but I hadn’t realized they’d gone out of their way to save the city with the intention of avoiding a prophecy. There has been no mention of it on the Thought Hub, and no one has purposely spoken about it in that light,” she said somewhat calmly.

  Vera’s mother nodded in understanding, before replying in the tone Vera was used to hearing when the woman wanted to teach her something, “If I were to tell you that no one from outside Dorchester has done anything to save the city, and the only interference I’ve detected was the kingdom pointedly ignoring what specifically is being said on the Thought Hub there, then what conclusion would you draw?”

  Thinking quickly, Vera replied, “I would say that either the Tower of Fate had been tricked into making a false prophecy deliberately in preparation for the smear campaign against them, or something else is going on and someone took the opportunity to eliminate them as a rival… Most likely the Tower of Magic, considering the head of the mage council is currently serving as the court mage while ostensibly only being here to watch over our kingdom’s newest unique. Who, coincidentally, has been at the center of everything from the beginning.”

  Smiling in appreciation of Vera’s thought process, Lord Pendelton looked down at her daughter and said, “Perhaps you might want to widen your gaze to include the rest of the kingdom while you work on building up your new house. I’d hoped that losing your city would temper your resolve and teach you to focus more on your information-gathering skills through the benefit of connections, but the situation seems to be teaching you the same intended lessons albeit in a completely different manner than I’d expected.”

  While Vera’s mind hurriedly analyzed the various plots and plans that were likely in play, she stood in silence unable to formulate an appropriate response to the situation she found herself in. Her mother had intended to watch her fail, all so that she would learn to focus on politics and connections more. The woman would have allowed an entire city to fall, just to teach her a lesson.

  Chuckling lightly, Vera’s mother interrupted her thoughts, “Well my dear, as I’ve already received the answers to my questions, and you now have a great deal to ponder… I’ll take my leave. It’s been wonderful to see you, and now that you’ve succeeded in your goal to found your own house, I expect to hear from you more often. If what I’ve heard about your house’s finances is true, you have plenty of funds to contact me at your leisure. Do let me know if you need anything, won’t you? And if, heavens forbid, the city falls, you and your delightful husband will always be welcome here in Hennings, or any of our other cities. You’re still quite young enough to start over, so don’t feel that you must go down with your ship if you feel the winds shifting.”

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  Vera felt her mother’s presence retreat from the room as the woman’s holographic image vanished. She was left alone to think about everything her mother had said, while also considering everything she’d left unsaid. As always, the woman was both helpful and confusing in equal measure… leaving Vera both unsettled but also enlightened.

  —--

  As usual, Cathleen had not taken the bait and had instead simply walked off while expecting Nero and his entourage to follow. Having no doubt already arranged things due to Natalie alerting her to his plans, Nero merely walked behind her with an amused smile on his face. Something about the way she handled herself always made him feel like a naughty child being dragged to the principal’s office.

  The mustering yard Cathleen led them to was not far, and Nero could see that the wackos were already gathering. Knight Angleton was there along with many of the former soldiers. The criminal, or former criminal contingent was there as well. Interspersed throughout were some of the other people he recognized from the oath-giving ceremony. One and all, they turned toward him and lined up as he took the stage which had been previously set up so the commanders could address their troops.

  As they were on somewhat of a time crunch, Nero didn’t have the opportunity to touch base with anyone and instead got right into his pitch.

  Taking his place at the center of the wooden platform, he infused a little more essence than was necessary into his voice so more than just the wackos would hear him and said, “Thank you all for coming. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the kobald’s portal that they’re building and what the little lizard bastards are up to. I’m also sure that you’ve been told that it would be suicide to try and stop them from succeeding. I, and many others, have been assured that a larger force is going to be assembled to fight through their defenses to shut it down after it activates.

  What you may or may not know is that some troops have been allowed to volunteer to attempt to stop them before the damned thing even activates. Now, I don’t know who exactly they’re sending, or if anyone is even brave enough to actually try. But, what I do know is that nothing ensures failure like giving up without a fight.”

  Just as he’d hoped, many of the soldiers who’d been getting ready to retreat were listening in on what he was saying. The mustering yards were basically in the center of the base, and Nero’s voice was carrying quite far.

  Standing ramrod straight, Nero tried to project as much confidence as he could as he began pacing back and forth across the platform.

  “Many of you fought the kobalds with me on the surface. We stormed their base and kicked their teeth in, forcing them back underground. But, before that, we charged their lines and closed one of their damn portals all on our own while it was spilling out kobalds by the hundreds. Both times, we were outnumbered, and expected to fail,” Nero declared proudly.

  Running his gaze across his wackos, Nero shouted, “But we didn’t. We succeeded! We won!”

  Having expected a raucous cheer, or at least some enthused shouting, Nero paused. Annoyingly, all he got in response was the sound of metaphorical crickets. However, he still decided to keep going. After all, he knew the key to sales was to continue talking until the customer agreed with you.

  “Granted, the kobalds currently attempting to open the portal have had time to set up defenses. And if we do attack them, we’ll most likely be doing it all by our lonesome. That’s right, the army’s given up. They’re going to play it safe. Or at least that’s what they think they’re doing,” he said sarcastically.

  “In reality, they’re purposely giving up the initiative. The kobalds will use that portal to bring in more troops, improving their numbers and increasing their defenses. Once that portal opens… that’s it… we’re done. From what I understand, this portal is going to be different, it’s going to be much harder to close after it’s opened. You’ve all heard the same briefing I have and can read between the lines. Command is both terrified of what that portal is capable of and too afraid to do anything about it!” he shouted.

  Rubbing the back of his neck as if he were empathizing with their point of view, he added, “Now, I may be wrong, and the best thing to do is to wait for reinforcements. Maybe the portal won’t be so bad, and a coordinated assault with more troops will end up being able to close it. That’s a possibility, sure. But I don’t think so.”

  Looking around at the wackos, Nero realized that he hadn’t actually told them that he intended for them to fight. Yes, they were listening intently, but he’d botched his pitch and weren’t yet on board with what he was selling. Stupidly, he’d just begun talking while assuming they knew about what he’d already decided. While he’d already told his own team his intentions, he’d accidentally skipped that part of the speech for everyone else here. Instead, he’d jumped ahead to the ‘convincing them’ portion of his salesmanship.

  ‘Okay, moron. Redo your opening and explain your reasoning. It’s in their best interest to ‘buy’ the assault you're selling, you just need to explain to them why,’ he told himself stubbornly.

  “We came into this mountain to eliminate the kobalds. Letting them succeed in their plans in any way is unacceptable to me. They want to open a portal, I say we stop them. Maybe they outnumber us, but you’ve fought them… they’re weak. Especially the ones we’ve been fighting. They’re clones, barely sentient meat bags that are basically just little rage monsters having tantrums. Without their leaders, they would barely be worth the effort of killing,” he said dramatically.

  Pointing out at the crowd of wackos, he said, “You are the Wackos of House Walker! You joined up on the promise of adventure and excitement. Every one of you followed me into these tunnels knowing what we’d be facing, and what we’d be fighting for. One of you is worth a hundred of those pathetic excuses for toddler lizards. We can beat them! More importantly, we can STOP them!”

  Nero felt the crowd beginning to come around, he could see it in their essence fields. The longer he was up there on that platform, the more he could see their fears dying down and their hope reigniting.

  “I’m not sure if you know this, but there is a reason I’m always talking about adventure. It’s not just about who I am, or what I want to do with my life. You see, I wasn’t always like this. I used to just be some guy working in a shop like so many people in the city outside this mountain. I was a nobody, just another face in the crowd,” he said sadly while ensuring that his voice still carried.

  “Then one day, I decided that I no longer wanted to just wait for life to happen to me. I wanted to be the main character in my own story. I made a choice. I stuck my nose into somebody else's business when it would have been smarter to just sit back and watch. Was it smart? No. Did I care? Also, no.

  To me, being an adventurer means putting myself in the dumb position of trying to make a difference when the odds are against me. I’m not saying adventurers are suicidal, as I don’t have any immediate plans to try to slay any dragons. But, if there’s a chance that what I do can make a difference? That the fight in front of me is worth fighting? Then the question becomes ‘What kind of person do I want to be’?

  There is plenty of talk about paths here, and I’ve seen my fair share of evidence that it’s actually a real thing. But I think people forget that paths only matter when they are going somewhere. It’s not about who you are now, or where you’re headed, it’s about where you want to end up.

  Do you want to be someone who trudges along just doing the minimum required of you every day? Or do you want to be someone who ends up looking back on who you are now and be able to say, ‘That was when my path truly began’?

  Today, the kobalds and command have given you a gift. You have the opportunity to do something crazy that can end up saving the entire damned city!

  A noble will tell you that we need to prepare for all eventualities, carefully considering our options. While a commoner will tell you that you need to hide and let someone else handle it. Even a soldier will most likely tell you that command has it handled and to follow orders. Logically, command will tell you that we’ve been caught unprepared and therefore need to restrategize. But an adventurer? They’ll tell you that there is glory waiting for you up there,” he said, gesturing to the tunnels with excitement in his eyes, silently pleading with them to recognize it with him.

  “We have healers and magic at our fingertips. Friends by our side and comrades in arms willing to fight alongside us. We have everything we need to stop this disaster before it happens. You can all feel it, can’t you? That possibility that we might succeed? The ether is practically screaming at us with the potential futures that might happen. The kobalds are up there waiting… plotting… hoping that we will be too scared to confront them. They’ve been hiding in this mountain for years, hoping and praying that we wouldn’t find them.

  But, we did. And now we’re going to let them call in reinforcements? I say HELL NO! I say we go up there and ruin their shit, smash their toys, and defy the damned odds. I’m an adventure… and THAT,” he declared while pointing at the tunnels, “Is an adventure!”

  Panting, he took a moment to catch his breath. “I told you before I would never order you to follow me. Instead, I’m letting you know that I’m going to go up there. You all can choose to come along and earn yourselves some bragging rights along the way. So,” he said as he swept his gaze across the assembled men and women of House Walker, “Who’s coming with me?”

  As if he were hit by a tsunami of noise, he was rocked back onto his heels as the crowd erupted in cheers. They were practically frothing at the mouth in excitement.

  Feeling people stepping up onto the podium, Nero looked over his shoulders to see both Cathleen and Knight Angleton approaching.

  Placing themselves alongside him, Nero wondered for a moment what they were planning.

  “Wackos of House Walker, and any of you soldiers that wish to come along. Our command channel is open, and team leaders are to join up after your members are geared up. Frontline fighters will be under Knight Angleton, ranged and magic will be with me. Ms. Keening will be coordinating healers and support at the back. I want a finalized count and troop composition ready as soon as possible so we can assign positions for shields,” she ordered, her voice thundering across the mustering field like a cannon.

  “Heroes of Dorchester! Time is wasting! Let’s move it!” shouted Knight Angleton, spurning everyone to action.

  Nero watched with a giddy smile as the entire crowd exploded like a bomb, everyone running off to get ready.

  Knight Angleton turned to Nero and said, once again speaking in a normal tone of voice, “My lord, all I’ve ever wanted to be was someone willing to fight the horrors of the world so others don’t have to. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be the man I’ve always wanted to be.”

  Nero, forgetting that he was still in the mindset of infusing his voice with essence, replied much much too loudly, “Being an adventurer is a dream come true for me too. We’re going to stop inter-dimensional lizards from calling home by fighting them with swords and magic. And the best part is, as long as we aren’t being idiots, we get to do it all while having infinite respawns! How freakin’ cool is that!”

  Realizing that everyone had paused what they were doing to listen to him, while Knight Angleton had backed away from him wincing in pain, Nero snapped his mouth shut.

  After shutting off the essence infusion into his voice, he said quietly, “Sorry, I forgot to turn off the mic. But, either way… the point still stands. This is going to be freakin’ epic!”