The clay bowl slipped gently from the elf’s hands, settling on the floor beside the cushion. She had eaten slowly, with small sips and careful chews, as if trying to decipher each flavor before swallowing. Now, with her hands in her lap and her gaze fixed on some point among the house’s shadows, she seemed more willing to speak.

  Layla was sprawled over the folding screen, arms dangling and belly full. Amy, meanwhile, sat on her usual cushion, arms crossed and nose upturned—just not enough to hide the hungry glances she shot at the still-steaming pot.

  Jay perched on a low stool, drying his hands on a cloth. The scent of black beer, roasted peppers, and black onions still lingered in the air like a persistent enchantment.

  The elf cleared her throat softly.

  “I… think it’s only fair to share what I remember.”

  Jay nodded gently. Layla perked up her ears. Amy feigned disinterest—almost pulled it off.

  “My name… is Nessa.” She hesitated, as if recalling a rehearsed lie. “My mother was an elf, a powerful mage. Before she… died, she left me the sword. She said I’d know when it was time to use it.”

  Amy narrowed her eyes but said nothing.

  “My father…” Nessa lowered her gaze, “is human. A cruel man. Violent. He… he was simply a terrible monster. So I ran. I wandered through villages, forests, mountains… always hiding. For a while, I was alone, drifting from one village to another. But about a year ago, a warlock found me. A man with dead eyes. And a demon.”

  “A demon?” Layla asked, now sitting up, nibbling on a forgotten chestnut from the corner of the table.

  Nessa nodded, her voice quieter.

  “An eidolon called Buer. I don’t know how… but he summoned it. It followed him like a living shadow. It was like… a beast made of spinning hooves and teeth. They hunted me for weeks. Until… they caught me. The warlock wanted to use me in a ritual. Not to hurt me… in that way,” she said, her eyes flickering to Amy, then Jay. “It was a sacrifice. Something about opening paths. Doors. Rifts in time. Eternal life. I didn’t fully understand. I only know… he needed me alive. And then, dead.”

  Amy was now wide awake. Her soft expression masked gears turning in her mind. Jay remained silent, just listening. Nessa seemed relieved not to be interrupted.

  “And then… everything went dark. I don’t know how I ended up in that place. And when I woke up, I was here.”

  She finished in a thread of a voice, her head still bowed.

  A silence settled over the house, thick as smoke. Even Layla respected it.

  Amy sighed, crossing her legs with unnecessary elegance.

  “Okay. It’s not exactly the epic saga I was hoping for… but at least there’s a demon, a sacrifice, and some mystery. That’s something.”

  Jay shot her a disapproving look, to which she responded with an eye-roll and a barely hidden smirk.

  “Oh… I won’t deny the story’s tragic,” Amy said, her tone thoughtful. “But what bugs me… is that sword. You don’t seem to know much about it. And yet… it reacted. Strongly. Like it was protecting you. Why?”

  Nessa hesitated.

  “I… don’t know. But even though I couldn’t use it… sometimes I dreamed about it. About a light. About voices.”

  Amy sighed.

  “Of course. Dreams. Voices. Magic sword. Classic.”

  Jay cleared his throat.

  “She’s still recovering, Amy. Give her a break.”

  The mage raised her hands.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Fine, fine. I’m just the crazy one who helped save the day and cleaned up half the dimensional mess out there.”

  Layla leaned her head against the screen, sighing.

  “You two bicker like a century-old couple.”

  “Shut up, crazy cat!” Jay and Amy said in unison.

  ...

  Blue flames danced in the enchanted torches along the corridor carved by pickaxe and magic. The uneven stone steps descended deeper into the earth’s bowels. The smell of rusted iron and dry mold was almost tangible. Echoes of the four adventurers’ footsteps mingled with the steady drip of foul water.

  “Something’s watching me,” Julie Branfalco murmured, her wide-barreled pistol already spinning between her fingers. Her leather corset creaked faintly with each step, and her golden eyes scanned the darkness as if searching for anything that glinted.

  “Everything here has eyes. The floor. The ceiling. This rock right here, look—” Derek Firandr said, nudging a block with his toe. “I’d bet my bracelet it blinks when we turn our backs.”

  “No doubt,” Jay replied with a crooked grin. “You’re paranoid enough to think anything has a soul.”

  “Well, you’re living proof that soulless folks still walk around,” the thief shot back, shoving Jay with his shoulder.

  Amy let out a loud sigh from behind the trio, her steps so light they were almost inaudible.

  “If you two are done with your homoerotic flirting session, maybe we can get out of this dungeon alive.”

  “Ouch. The mage speaks,” Julie teased with a lascivious smile. “Thought you were gonna stay silent all night, lil'Amy.”

  Amy didn’t respond. She was focused on the arcane flow pulsing through the stones, vibrating with residual energy. She could feel it. Something big was close.

  And then they reached the final chamber.

  A circular hall, carved from ancient rock, with a natural dome where glowing fungi shimmered like lost constellations. At its center, an obsidian pedestal held a translucent, floating sphere, pulsing like a dormant heart.

  And behind it… the colossus.

  The creature rose from the shadows as if it had been fused to the walls. It was made of black stone and scorched metal, with veins glowing with ancient runes. In place of a face, a massive central eye, surrounded by smaller eyes scattered across deformed arms and knobby shoulders.

  “Oh, crap,” Derek said, already backpedaling. “Is that a Beholder? With arms? And legs? And a jacked-up golem complex?”

  “A gym-bro Beholder,” Jay muttered. “Sweet.”

  “I’ve got the left!” Julie shouted, sliding across the floor and opening fire. Her shots ricocheted off the creature’s metallic plates.

  Amy raised her hands, conjuring a prismatic field that deflected a beam of energy from one of the colossus’s side eyes. Jay darted to the right, leaping over a fallen pillar, his sword summoning golden lightning and living holy flames.

  “Come on, you pretty monster, show me what you’ve got!” the paladin roared.

  The colossus roared without a mouth, an sonic explosion that shook the hall.

  The fight was a violent ballet of pinpoint dodges, arcane conjurations, alchemical explosions, and precise strikes. Derek darted behind the creature, plunging enchanted daggers between loose plates. Julie reloaded while dancing through ocular tentacles, laughing as if it were a circus act. Amy wove containment sigils and redirected destructive spells.

  Jay climbed the beast’s shoulder, drove his blade into the central eye, and, in a final incandescent spin, leaped backward as the creature began to crumble.

  The magical explosion that followed threw everyone to the ground. Dust, light, and silence.

  Then, just the sound of the four’s panting breaths.

  “You alive?” Julie asked, slumped over Jay, her head still down, her hat tossed across the room.

  “Think so. Someone write down that spell’s name—I’m using it as an excuse for a vacation,” Jay replied, lying on his back, laughing.

  Derek popped up from behind a rock, his hair a mess.

  “I’m definitely stealing that eye. It’s ugly, it’s weird, it matches me.”

  Amy said nothing. She walked to the pedestal.

  There, among the sphere’s fragments, was an artifact. A small golden brooch, etched with a spiraling leaf, outlined by delicate runic traces. Something ancient. Something that shouldn’t have been there.

  She picked it up.

  And felt it.

  A familiar vibration. Too familiar.

  Amy frowned. She glanced at the brooch, then tucked it away as if nothing had happened.

  ...

  The mage sat with her eyes fixed on the sword leaning in the corner. The now-empty bowl rested in her lap. The brooch… still tucked in the inner pocket of her tunic, untouched for years.

  Coincidences didn’t exist.

  “I’m out,” Amy said.

  Layla lifted her head.

  “No way! Stay a bit longer! I promise I’ll only talk about kitties and food, meow!”

  Amy smiled, oddly… almost warmly.

  “Can’t. Gotta take care of the tower. And the portals. And about ten thousand enchantments that don’t cast themselves.”

  Jay just nodded.

  She stood, brushing off her tunic with a gesture. She snapped her fingers, and a magical circle flared beneath her feet—spinning arcs of violet light. The scent of the air shifted.

  “Take care of her. And… if that sword glows again, let me know.”

  “Why don’t you keep an eye on it yourself?” Jay asked, already knowing the answer.

  Amy raised an eyebrow.

  “Because I like having others do it for me.”

  The circle erupted in light. And Amy vanished.

  ?