Cliffs edge we stood

  A direction told, a direction intended

  moving and achieving

  fighting for trophies

  for the end, for the platinum of completion

  This walk of ours, to hundred percent the tale

  fighting, we would grind till the morrow

  puzzle solving, item finding

  Pointless ventures we would take in our quest to do all

  Friends, a party, we smiled and jumped

  That cliff could not stop us!

  Descending, falling, our laughter and cheers told the truth

  Villains beyond the power of this nemesis, we would crush

  Items of lore greater than ours of legend, we would attain

  The ground rushing towards us, our smirks foretold its failure

  Power was what approached it

  Heroes plummeted with defiance

  Friends we made in our fighting

  Friends never to contend

  Compare their achievements with our own

  Count our golds, silvers, and percentiles of completion!

  We were the heroes!

  We were the greats!

  Pointless things we did not do

  Padding our reputation was not needed

  A point to every action, we had

  Birds cried in our passing

  Fae followed the trail

  The dice could not predict

  This was talent, no cheats or ego

  nothing but pure power to own

  Combos and commands were not necessary

  Life and reality

  Rules, cannon sets the creation

  Fool were the cheaters

  Lazily setting life to easy, applying fiction as fans

  It does not apply to our fall!

  To our quest!

  Through the clouds, our current goal can now be seen!

  Foundation, ground, the earth awaits us with with confidence.

  Do not worry!

  This nothing to face us!

  Invincible, is what we are!!

  The end of the beginning!

  Faster!

  Faster!

  This is it, time to land!

  We shall show it means nothing, conquer the fall!

  Victorious over gravity!

  Now to land unsca-

  ~Splat

  ~Feldyn Goldchord, the Endless Bard

  * * *

  The group woke much earlier than the previous day, several having hangovers. Caleb and Ally were fine, despite drinking as much or more than the adults. Adam looked on the brink of death. Mike was dehydrated and his head was pounding. John did not have a headache, but he felt there was not enough water in the world to quench his thirst. Reba fared as well as the teenagers.

  And turns out when Reba drinks, she becomes a rather bad influence; encouraging everyone to drink more, and act up. She even get Trixie a bit drunk.

  Where the kid had been quite put off by the IPA, Ally noticed and gave her a standard light beer, which the girl didn’t mind. When she snuck a drink of a hard -and high ABV- lemonade, she had loved it. Thankfully, Trix hadn’t drank much for volume, even though she snuck more than the “adults” had realized.

  Of course, those adults were pissed at Reba's action, but she ignored and dismissed them, explaining any alcohol poisoning that might happen could easily be dealt with. John, reluctantly, had admitted that was the truth, though was still vehemently against the two youngest ones drinking.

  Gigi barely drank anything, even slapping Reba when she got in the kid’s face to tease her. Geeg still defiantly had enough to get tipsy, which did nothing but make her pouty and whiny, before falling asleep, surprisingly not naked. Trix ended up being the type to crawl all over boys when intoxicated. That hard lemonade hit her like a ton of bricks, and she glued herself to Feldyn, making him uncomfortable, despite the kids attention seeking being purely innocent. The glares from Jeff and John not helping.

  Iiyni had such a crazy constitution (and a Reba speculated, immunity to poison), alcohol had no effect on her. Didn't stop her from trying all the booze they had. Hard liquors were horrible, and she agreed with Trixie about IPA's. Though the IPA hatred seemed the general consensus. Stryker and Adam were the only two drinking them. The rest of the beers? Mostly pretty damn good! Beer had a taste she wasn't expecting. Wasn't good like soda, but you could drink them easier. Like... adult water, or some shit.

  The demon had began to understand why people got fat. Bacon? Beer? Bread? Cheese? Chips? Soda? Pickles (‘Do pickles make you fat?’)? It was paradise! Seriously, when she imagined Paradise, it was a fucking buffet of beer and bacon! She couldn't wait to try pizza, and burgers, and tacos, and, well, everything!

  The group was gathered back into the hybrid kitchen-lab room near the entrance. Coffee had been passed around to those that wanted it. Feldyn assessed the room. He knew the day after a party hurt many things, but not a story. Well, not usually. Depended on your headache level, which was something Reba was handling. Took a good amount of bitching, but she finally gave in and agreed to make some headache meds for the man babies in the room that had not drank enough water. Her words.

  Ally was of course in the kitchen. She had taken time to go through the minimart-like-pantry again, and brought a good bit back. “I trust ye are caught up?” Feldyn asked the newcomers. Adam and Mike both nodded, their focuses elsewhere. Looking everyone over again, the newcomers appeared calmer than yesterday. Which was probably for the best. Masque's usually brooding vibe was replaced with a rather homicidal aura. Likely still due to him finding out X'al'antra had survived. He had not been pleased, and spent most of the evening in a grumpy pout. Couldn’t blame him.

  Catching the eye of Mike, Feldyn hesitated in his thoughts. Every sense told him these two were to be trusted. He hoped his intuition was correct. For their sake.

  Thinking of trust, Feldyn refocused on Iiyni. She was talking to -and laughing at- Gigi, whom was laying on the couch beside her. She abruptly hiked up the large shirt the kid was -only- wearing, and slapped her butt, inciting a lot of kicking and complaining. Lance (whom appeared to be developing a fondness for the moody blonde) appeared in a pop in front of the imp, glaring, while she laughed and waved a hand at him like ‘It’s nothing, chill!’.

  “Sweet Jesus,” Mike moaned when the aroma of cooking bacon hit him. “He is. But watch it,” Ally warned from the kitchen. They might all be fucked-up sinners in many maaaaaaany ways, but using God’s name in vain was something they did not do.

  Iiyni hadn’t understood that logic at all. None of these fuckers incited God to damn anything. Ever. Or once used Jesus as a reflexive curse. It was weird. A good thing thing, but weird. Everyone did that! Well, everyone but the super churchy types, which this group most definitely was not.

  “Can we hurry up and finish the story already, please?” Stryker asked loudly. Feldyn was wildly insulted. “Aye, we shall!” he answered, agitation clear in his tone and volume. “As soon as all will pay attention!”

  ‘Bloody hell, what is wrong with me?’ Stryker had every right to be moody. Regardless of "plans" Reba had to fix the man, nothing could restore the home, the life, he had lost.

  When the room chose silence at the bards rebuke, and gave him their attention- he knew it was time to continue. Selfish as it was, and a flip-flop from yesterday, Feldyn needed to finish his tale. Guilt had been holding him back for too long. The sooner he could face his past, admit what a liar and monster he was, the sooner it could be put to rest. Feldyn was a link, a warrior of legend! He couldn't have emotional baggage stunting his growth as a combatant!

  “Where was I...” the bard began awkwardly, embarrassed at his outburst, and subsequent attention. “Your aunt is a bad guy,” Gigi reminded, moving to sit in a manner that kept her mostly covered. “and your dad was arrested.”

  “Ah, yes!” Feldyn remembered now. There was such detail he could give about those events. He had to admit, however important the details were to him, they held little importance to the overall.

  “My admission of being a link sparked a coup. It was sudden, and it was swift. Rebels stormed the palace, and many of our own guard sided with my aunt. Resistance was... minimal. My father was freed during the chaos, thanks to my- thanks to my uncle. Both of them came to mine and my sisters’ aid, to help us escape. And both fell before we escaped the grounds."

  How casual he just mentioned the death of his uncle and father got the groups attention. If the death of his father and uncle was almost an afterthought, what other tragedies were in his past? "Thanks to my training, I managed to get my sisters out, where we met with emissaries from the Esseff. They assured us my mother and the rest of our house were safe, and on a caravan to Letethin. A wood elven city just over the border of Wayn; they were friendly to my mother, and opposed my aunt vehemently."

  Knowing he was going to have to add extra detail here and there, Feldyn also needed to explain to them how little he truly knew. Politics, history, science, even Christianity... his knowledge base was small. Or perhaps it was best to say he knew a little about a lot. It was his natural charisma and story telling skill that allowed him to come across as knowledgeable. Though if one were to record and study his words, they would quickly be declared lacking.

  "Wayn was not one of the Ruling Kingdoms, though had their fair share of influence. A mostly woodland... nation, they were home to many races that favored nature and the freedom to live in it.

  “It was a long journey, fraught with peril. My aunt did all she could to stop us. Though my sisters and I arrived in Letethin safely; our mother… did not. Ironically her fall was not at the hand of my aunt's forces, no, her death came at the hand of random bandits. Her own entourage had risked taking a dangerous smuggling route, likely believing it safer than facing their well trained pursuers. They were wrong. There were no survivors, though the bodies of several Ilcai dragoons were found among the bodies, bearing marks of the Akur." Feldyn paused for a moment, finally showing some emotion as he looked at his feet, hands clasped.

  After a decent pause, Feldyn continued. “The news crushed my sisters. We had lost everything and everyone. And they were soon to, in a way, lose their brother as well. You see, the Professor bade me to come with him to learn more of the Esseff. To officially join, and aid them in their cause. All I needed to know was they were enemies of the Akur. Of Antioch. And siding with them I would be taught to be a warrior worthy of going against the Akur. If I had the strength to fight the greatest evil Aethra had ever known, surely I could also go against my aunt and reclaim our home. That knowledge, the chance at revenge, was all it took for me to sign on with the Esseff. Tressa and Trella would be hidden somewhere safe, where they could live without fear of being found.

  “Which, of course, they refused. Trella almost destroyed a training facility to prove she was worthy of joining the Esseff. Tressa, no small talent herself, challenged one of the puppetmasters, who was also a Puppeteering instructor. He was on his heels from the start! She defeated him so soundly, he begged the professor to allow her admittance! Hah!" Feldyn slapped his knee. Ally was passing out plates of bacon and eggs. Handing Feldyn his, she saw a look of pained nostalgia in his eyes.

  “Puppetmaster?” Iiyni asked, after raising a hand. She did wait for Feldyn to motion to her. She kept her mouth shut about dragoons, but grrr, she had to ask some questions, jeez! “Ah, my apologies. Yes, um… it is an art of controlling inanimate objects.”

  “How does that work?” Mike asked and Adam glared at him mumbling he needed to raise his hand before speaking. Feldyn answered anyway. “There are a few ways to puppeteer. It can be through science, like remote control of a machine. Magic. Psionic arts. For Tressa, it twas special. She was born with the ability to manipulate psinantic threads.” With how much this world's fiction had in common with his world's truth, Feldyn forgot there were still some truths unique to reality.

  “They were both admitted into the ranks of the Esseff, without objection," he continued, and several expressions showed disappointment at not explaining puppeteering further. "Not that such displays of drama from them were needed. The Esseff would never have turned them away, being whom they were. Scandal of their birth aside, the twins were loved by the people.” Feldyn realized the group here did not fully understand the nature of the Esseff.

  He felt a popping sensation in his head, which continued, almost like… bubbles in his brain. It brought a moment of confusion, but nothing else. He made a mental note to ask Reba about it later, to make sure the Zombie King hadn’t done something, since this wasn’t the first weird feeling in his head in recent days.

  And immediately forgot.

  “Ye all know of the Esseff. Some more than others. Yet ye do not know them. The Esseff are militarized Christians. In fact, they were the first to be called Christian, the word not exactly synonymous with good, on the tongues of most. You see, other groups, some I had... mentioned before, have drastically differing views. The Esseff claiming Jesus was the son of the only true God and the only way into heaven, was loony enough. It didn't help they claimed only their version of the Holy Scriptures were true, where the other sects recognized all. I am... quite ignorant of most scripture, but from what Lance and I- what Lance read of the Bible on Earth, it does appear to line up with the one the Esseff uses, though it would seem we have much less of it back home."

  There was so much more for him to say, but should he? Did it matter? Was he a liar for not telling them he had not truly found salvation until recently? That his faith had not bloomed until his feet rested upon the world of origin? And that he still knew oh so very little of the Word, and about God?

  "They exist in the shadows, and do not interfere in politics or war. Instead they focus all of their time in growing as a secret nation, and preparing for a war against Antioch; which is viewed as a sort of end times.

  “Every one of them is a warrior; man woman and child are taught to fight. It is their way. The Esseff has leaders, a hierarchy, but they bend knee to no one. Aside from, as they tell it, the Lord God, and eventually... their earthly king.”

  Feldyn could not bring himself to say 'Dragonheart'. Thinking of the Esseff, the entire world of Aethra, bowing to… Caleb… Irked him. He did not hate the boy. Caleb impressed him to no end. In combat. The thought of him ruling... did not make the bard happy.

  “And they have no small obsession with the Esseff Codex. The Esseff Codex is a book of what reads as gibberish. The reason for this is it is written in many languages and scripts, combined into one. You have to not only translate each word, but also puzzle which language that sentence was structured from. In the case of dead or unknown languages, well, ye can imagine why much of the Codex is untranslated. To make it worse, the passages themselves are jumbled, and out of order. It was a young February-Csaie'ben girl named Uun, whom discovered the key to arranging the passages.

  “Oh, my apologies. The Febru are what you might call rabbit people. Bunny people fit them more, in my opinion. There are many types of Csaie'ben than just the Febru. Csaie'ben have human or elf like appearance, with animal traits unique to their specific race. I believe there are... five races of Csaie'ben?" he looked to Lance, whom was ignoring him. "Let me say there are cat, bunny, dog, lizard and bird,” he hesitated a second before saying: “people. Though for any of you whom might meet them, I beg ye, do not call them such. They way I just described would be rude at best, horribly racist at worst.

  "Their animal traits are much more subtle than say the Rah'kit'karr." The stares he was receiving.... Feldyn sighed heavily "as I have stated, Aethra has many many races... let me see...

  "Human, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome... Csaie'ben, Veirnairo - uh, bird, very bird people; Wings, feathers, beaks. Rah'kit'karr - humanoid felines. Orc, of course. Dhevil, which are an aptly named race of demonic looking... large... orcs?" It was harder to describe races than he had first thought. To him, they just were. "Pixies, fairies, brownies, Kinender, Tikirin, and the Narsicci..." He figured that was enough. At least the faces before him now looked thoughtful instead of dumbfounded.

  “Back to me own part of the tale. I joined the Esseff, learned many things, agreed with their ways, and truly felt like I belonged. However, when I learned how they may not go up against Antioch for thousands of years, I decided to leave. Believe I explained before that Links can -if scholars are correct- be reborn. Shards and the Dragonheart exist only once. The odds of me being the first Link discovered, as well as the time for the Dragonheart to be now, were slim, at best.

  "Nonetheless, the Professor insisted. He believed the criteria for Links was too specific for multiple people to match. I… was not convinced. The 'proof' seemed thin to me." This time it was Caleb to raise a hand. Feldyn motioned to him. "Sorry, but I was just wondering, what is the proof, or criteria or whatever, for you and Lance being Links?" Feldyn looked about to sigh, but he didn't. "For myself, that Link would have dreams revolving around events and people mentioned in the Codex. And more specifically, those dreams would lead him to find the Dragonheart. He would be a bard who's journey found no end, would travel the heavens, and also, be of royal blood. Hard to deny knowing all that, though I did.

  "Lance... You see, the knowledge of him being a Link didn't, uh, reveal itself until shortly before we came to Earth. Which I will explain during my tale. Though if I remember correctly, the prophecies said he would be freed from slavery, re enslave himself of his own will to a Link, could be detected by none, and would remain forever faithful...." Feldyn was looking at Lance as he spoke, hoping he was remembering right. The tikirin -curled up with Gigi- nodded in agreement of Feldyn's words.

  "That isn't a lot to go on," Mike said. "Aye, yet it really is quite specific. You will understand more by the time I am done with this story." He looked the group over, "If I ever get to finish." There were many smiles, including his own. Feldyn couldn't blame their curiosity. He just wished they would wait to express it until he was done.

  "When I first joined the Esseff, I was in no way yet a bard. To further verify prophecy, they tested me in the performing arts, and decided I more than fit the skill requirements, and began my training immediately.

  "One thing ye need to understand is that your fantasy view of things is not the normal for my world. Just like here, there are societal systems in place that compliment each other, and the allied nations. Even within the armed forces of my world, the more unique combat disciplines are not studied, nor accepted. Would your army in this country simply admit self proclaimed survivalists? Wrestlers? Martial artists? No.

  “And within society they served little purpose outside of showmanship, or becoming adventurers. Many simply learn and teach the disciplines for fun, like, from what I understand, martial arts on this world. Where Aethra is vast, and the freedom to live as you will is a more plausible thing than a smaller world like Earth, it is still not exactly a popular or socially accepted option. Uniformity and fitting in, would appear, is the cosmic norm.

  "What would any of ye here think if you were to meet someone who was a self proclaimed ninja?" Feldyn struggled to not look at Masque, feeling the vampires glare. "Ye would think them a loon. It is not much different on Aethra, aside from their being more... wilderness and unknown, so those types have a place to focus their talents. Adventurers. And yes, they are what ye would expect, and yes, there are adventurer guilds. Although I can not think of more than a handful of times that adventurers were involved in anything grand or of any historic import.

  "One exception, however, would be hunters. Well, two exceptions, the other being mercenaries, which I do not believe requires an explanation. Hunting Guilds, like the name implies, are paid to seek out dangers creatures, monsters, and deal with them. It's their specialty. One thing Aethra has in high supply are monsters. Most cities and towns are well guarded, as are common roads and countrysides. However, from time to time, monsters still cause serious problems. Lower tier threats are generally kept in check by adventures, looking to make a name for themselves. Local soldiers also are dispatched to handle growing threats. That said, there is no end to the variety of what classifies as a monster, and problems frequently occur that adventures can't handle, and local authorities either will not or cannot themselves.

  "My own role, as a bard and member of the Esseff, would fall somewhere in the middle of adventurer and hunter. Though my skill would need to be... the best, really. An impossible bar was set, and I was expected to not only meet it, but surpass. I can honestly say that more doubt was directed my way during training than not, however I was quite skilled, and did receive plenty of praise. It took little time for my instructors to decide it was time for me to set out on my journey.

  "You see, a bards true training is on the road. Once they have adequate training under their belt, they are sent on a journey taking years, from town to town, tavern to theater, living on the road. And on the road they stayed until... well, it was different for every bard. Some never left the road, others retired to focus on more unique ventures, and the more talented generally using their fame to enter the entertainment industry.

  "The Esseff, not wanting to lose track of their first Link, mapped a route for me to take. I, of course, decided they could go fuck themselves, and snuck away, choosing to let the road take me where it took me.

  “I went from town to town, performing where I could, living off what coin my skills earned me. Often times I was turned away, many inns and taverns having full time performers. Many night were spent hungry and cold, as were many days. It was in a small town along the Troll Spine Mountains where I both hit my lowest, and also found my way.

  “Having not ate in days, I found myself again at a point in life where stealing felt justified. A sandwich. A very large sandwich. Even going to far as to assault a man to get away. Not one of my prouder moments. During my flight, I tripped over a beggar. After losing my pursuit, I returned to offer the man some of my food. He was dead. Days dead. We were a not far from a main thoroughfare. Others had surely known the the man had been laying here, and was likely deceased; they had simply not cared. Something inside of me broke, and I carried the man out of town, where I buried him, and shed tears for the stranger I had never known.

  “Continuing on my journey, I now sought out the homeless and forgotten, choosing to live as they; eating garbage and drinking storm water; settling in a town with a particularly impoverish slum. My talents I used to try and bring some joy to their lives. Eventually word got out of a young bard that lived in the mud and ate from the trash, which drew attention of other citizens, many of whom were generous enough throw coin. Coin I would not touch, allowing those whom I lived among to take instead.

  "Weeks of living that way, I grew ill. Nay... not just ill, I was dying. Alone, in the mud. How long I lay there, I do not know. Yet I remember clearly when she found me. An elderly dwarvish woman. Hulun. She had warped legs and walked with thick staff. With her were two of the strongest men from the slums, and they carried me to a ramshackle building. Little more than a shack, but compared to the way many of the people in that part lived, it was a palace.

  “And Hulun said it was for me. The coin I had let them collect, was more than they could collectively beg in a year! The food and medicine it bought saved the lives of many. The community, wanting to pay me back, built me a home; filling it with the nicest things they could gather! I think I cried for a day straight." Tears were running down his cheeks at the memory, his voice struggling to not break.

  Gigi rolled her eyes, and re focused on petting Lance. The not-cat didn’t really like being pet, but he liked it when Gigi pet him. And he liked her. And he was her friend. And she felt better petting him. And- … there wasn’t an and. Feldyn was dramatic, no one liked Gigi, and she liked Lance. At least the story was kinda real and not all lies.

  "Hulun came by each day, nursing me back to health. When I was again healthy and strong, I wrote two notes: one telling Hulun the shack was hers to use as she saw fit, and thanking them; the second I sent to the Esseff. I told the Professor of these people, all they had done for me, and demanded they send people to provide aide.

  "It was a time before I heard their fate, having left the same night I wrote the letters. I was surprised the Esseff's response. They indeed sent aide. Aide that found a purpose and home, for every last individual trapped in those slums. Hulun's legs were even healed! A treatment that cost a small fortune! And because of their actions, people began to talk; about the benevolent actions of the Esseff, and of a mysterious bard that had lived among the poor.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  "My time there taught me more much. I no longer worried so over food and lodgings; eating what I could find or was given; sleeping in alleys, stables, anywhere offered or available. And not only was it easier, there was a peace I had not before known. A peace that others noticed. It even drew bards to me, who took the time to advise me in my walk. Advice that, for a change, I took to heart.

  "Thereafter my time was spent in a cluster of communities west of the spine, taking on the tasks of an adventurer. They had none in those parts, and the requests little more than word of mouth, or the occasional note posted to what passed as a board. Still, I learned much, and gained respect, making a name for myself. I even spent time as a fill in teacher. Time I filled with stories and games- earning me no favor with the administrators.

  "Everything changed after deciding to cross the spine, and continue east. Crossing the Troll Spine Mountains is a story unto itself..." Feldyn trailed off, eyes distant, brow furrowed in confusion. After a moment, he blinked, looked lost, shook his head, and continued, rubbing palms on the top of his legs.

  "Things were different east of the Spine," he continued, obviously having no intention to speak of his crossing. Though the obvious was actually something else entirely. He couldn’t remember crossing the spine. More he tried to remember, the more he kept remembering something else entirely, though wasn’t sure what that other memory was from, nor could he grasp it with clarity. Like it was a memory of a dream. "Harder. Less peace. Stronger creatures, more crime... At least some of that was to be expected, as I was heading to the city of Arjl.

  “Cesspool of a city, and mecca for the most vile of criminal activity, and home of the largest UTZ. Unregulated Trade Zone. Lawless zones of pure anarchy. As long as the... activities remain within the borders of the zone, authorities would not get involved." Feldyn took a deep breath, exhaled, and sat silently for a few seconds before continuing. "My intention for traveling there was to... further enhance my world view and experience. Most of my life had been spent in relative safety, with minimal crime, and monsters needing to be sought out.

  "Having known what to expect, I tried to not care. To harden my heart. Turning my eyes from rape in the streets. Murder. All manner of evil. How such evil was allowed to exist..."

  Going to drink from his empty mug, Ally handed him a large glass of juice. Telling her thank you, and handing over his mug, Feldyn took a long drink of a juice he couldn't identify, though it tasted familiar, and was a yellowish orange. He liked it.

  "I killed a man," Feldyn told the room, setting his glass down beside his empty plate- which was no longer there; Ally apparently having retrieved it as well. “He was raping a very young boy whom had been stolen from an auction pen. When I told the child he was free, and to run, to escape - he took a knife and slit his own throat. So afraid of what would happen if captured again, he took his own life instead. God knows I tried to save him, but the cut was too deep.” Feldyn again paused, to wipe tears from his eyes, and drink more juice.

  “That place changed me. The pure evil of it... Thinking back, that was when I began to understand what it meant for their to be an absence of good. Of God. I swore one day to put an end to the lawless zones. Not that I could continue to turn a blind eye. No, I needed to leave Arjl before I got myself killed. But before that could happen, I had to save at least one. Anyone. So I waited. Waited, watching endless rapes and murders... Onlookers laughing, cheering... But none that could be saved. Not one could I have stopped.

  “Fearing myself close to madness, a trader came into town with... exotic wares. Tikirin, Kurninder and Kinender. Lance was one of them.” He saw their expressions. Feldyn did not want to stop, but he knew they needed an explanation to understand. “The Tikirin, Kinender, and Kurninder are, to my knowledge, the three youngest races on Aethra; created by a madman named Facist Horsinth.

  “He was a wizard of great and horrible renown. To keep this tale from growing too long, I'll summarize. Horsinth's created the Tikirin first; Lance’s race. He made them to be the perfect familiars. And that is what they are. Once familiarized to their master, the synergy level exceeds the top percentile.

  “Kinender and Kurninder were created as… sex toys. Yes, a race designed to be sex slaves. Worse, they look like children and never age. Kinender are female, Kurninder are male. They were designed with... abilities to enhance the... enjoyment of their master. That said, they are not races with an inherent sexual nature, no, they are as diverse as you or I in their personalities, wants, and desires. It was their wicked creator that gave them their… racial gifts, though it does not dictate who they are.

  “Despite gaining their freedom and autonomy, most of known Aethra does not recognize their rights, which has forced them to live in hiding; prime targets for slave traders and the like.

  “It was for those that the window for action was finally opened. Their rescue was… dramatic, but successful. Only a few fell. Dead, not captured. Death a more fortunate fate. Once safe, everyone headed out, to their own personal destinations. The direction of Lance happened to be the same as mine. We were also accompanied by two Kinender. Lovely girls.” Lance growled, and Feldyn flushed a little, not going unnoticed by the group.

  Clearing his throat, “Lance and I became good friends!” Feldyn announced with a bit too much energy. “He chose to accompany me on my travels. Rin-rin also stayed with us for a time, despite her sister choosing to go her own way,” Feldyn could feel the red in his cheeks. Lance sighed audibly. “Eventually, I chose to return to the Esseff. Life on the road had grown old. Pointless, really. And I desperately needed a purpose. The Esseff, I believed, would provide that purpose.”

  “During the journey back, I had one of my dreams. In this dream I saw Lance, and-” his voice caught in his throat, “another, for the first time.”

  “Who?” Gigi asked. “WHO?!” she asked again in a shriek, before Feldyn could reply. “Why?” Mike said, looking and sounding personally insulted at the screech. “The most beautiful girl I had ever, or have ever seen!” Feldyn told to the child in a -playfully- loud voice, before the room could fall to grumbling. “I do not know who she is, as I have yet to meet her!” he chose to leave out the part of seeing her in place of Caleb for the role of the Dragonheart more than a few times.

  “Cuter than Rin-rin or Trella?” Ally teased with a smirk, and Feldyn blushed instantly. “Damn boi, you’re a lot more perverted than I thought," Iiyni joined in the teasing. "Straight too. Never saw that coming. Let alone being a lolicon." A heavy scowl replaced the bard's blush. “And now he’s pissed. My bad. Chiiiiill, I was just playing!” Iiyni tried to pacify.

  Gigi poked her in the eye.

  “BITCH!” the demon cried and jerked back, holding back her reflex to kill the kid. The fuck was with her getting poked and hit in the fucking eye?! Super powerful badass or not, getting poked in the eye was still getting poked in the fucking eye! Gigi sat calmly. “Continue, good sir,” she told Feldyn, motioning for him to continue. Feldyn leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling. He loved these people. And also wanted to strangle them.

  Choosing to ignore the jibes (he was not sexually attracted to bloody children!), and accept the imp was awkwardly trying to be playful, Feldyn took Gigi's queue. “Once we reached the Esseff, Lance and I were met with joy. Which surprised me. The Professor had tears in his eyes! I had expect violence! He kept on with ‘my boy’ and pacing around trying to act occupied.”

  How Feldyn longed to see the man again. The old bastard better still be alive and waiting for his return! Yes, he was angry and hurt at being lied to... But he had to hold to the belief there was a reason for it. A good reason. Otherwise…

  “After settling in and going through a very long debriefing, the Professor told me of an elite strike force they were putting together. "It was but a handful of members, and still had room for a support role or two. This strike force was going to be going against the Akur head-on. The Esseff were finally ready to come out of hiding. Not only had I, the first Link, been confirmed, but they now believed Lance may be one as well. The Professor desperately wanted me to join their elite force; thinking I would lead them to the Dragonheart. Going against Antioch had been my goal all along, so I agreed. And that was where I met my first real friends.

  “The leader of our group was Lenner. One of the finest with sword and board I have ever known. Celin- our healer, Enriad - a wood elf with outstanding dual sword abilities, Titch, a stealth expert, and Ruby, our secondary thief and mage.” Feldyn struggled to keep his emotions in check. Remembering, saying their names...

  “All of them were amazingly talented. Lance being Lance, easily found his place. Me? I could support with song and was decent with a blade, could cast some spells, and wasn't bad with stealth. A bard. That was not enough. I needed to be a front line combat bard, weaving song magic while I fought. Something I was... not skilled with." Lance made a noise from where he lay on Gigi’s lap. "Okay, so I was bloody horrible!

  “Lenner and Enriad took to training me better in the way of the sword, and how to integrate it with my songs. Never once did I best Lenner. Enriad..." Feldyn grinned. "To be fair, it was only once, and by the skin of my teeth. It was because of him that I adopted my dual sword technique,” he looked to Ally and John, as they were the only two that had seen him properly fight. Both were smiling.

  "For the next part of my tale to make more sense, ye need to understand a bit more about the Akur. No one knows why Antioch disappeared. Many believe him to be a myth, yet none deny the existence of his empire, nor the trouble it causes to this day. Every time the Akur rear their head, chaos and destruction follow. Not much is known about the Nation of Glass, and planning an invasion is nigh impossible. Instead, through much effort and sacrifice, an armistice of sorts was brokered.

  "The Akur would be allowed a small presence outside of their Empire, as long as their was no acts of aggression. And for the most part, the Akur have honored their end. They keep their presence minimal, and to themselves. It is unheard of to run into an Akurian unless they are a deserter. Even then, it is rare. Also, I should add that only soldiers of Akur have been seen, never a civilian.

  "That said, the Akur outposts were left alone, no one daring to go against them. The Esseff, however, were already little more than terrorists. We knew going after the Akur could bring disaster upon the land, however sooner or later that disaster was going to come anyway; best to meet it head on.

  “Our first mission we struck at an Akurian outpost that had grown worrisome in size. And destroyed it! Lenner, always the pragmatist, told us not to get cocky, they had simply not expected an assault. And they apparently continued in their ignorance, as our attacks on them multiplied, never once did we fail, their security never improving.

  "At first, no one knew who was behind it. Then as our legend grew, the legend of the Esseff, we began to get the support of the people; and their requests for aid. Usually anonymous, on bulletin boards and the like. Turned out the Akurian forces were more troublesome than the powers that be would have the people believe."

  “Those early times were grand in deed, though no winning streak lasts forever,” Feldyn had now turned grim. “There was a large outpost, known in common as the Listening Post. Our intel suggested they were on the verge of figuring out how to open an actual portal. If that was not bad enough, Darlothz himself was said to command it.”

  Again looks from the group, and this time he sighed. Feldyn had mentioned Darlothz many times to them, but had never told them of the villains past or power. “I am reaching the end of my tale, and would greatly like to finish. After, I am more than willing to explain deeper and answer your questions.” They appeared satisfied with that.

  “We lost… many, getting that information. Information the Esseff would not put to waste. A plan to assault the base was drafted immediately, and assigned to my group. Our goal was to take down two of the defense perimeter towers to cause confusion, then withdraw. Twelve hours later a large strike force would attack one of the two destroyed tower locations, and my group would infiltrate during the chaos, find, and destroy all technology inside that we could, while retrieving as much information as possible. We never even made it within a kilometers of the first tower.

  “It was an ambush! There were dozens of them! We fought and fell many, shaking their morale and emboldening our own! Then, Titch-” Feldyn's had to stop and clear his throat, “he saved us. A magister successfully cast a spell that traveled in a line to its blasting point; a type of flare. Titch threw himself onto the line, triggering it early, and saving us.” Feldyn's voice was strong but tears were welling in his eyes. “Our main escape route was blocked. They had even more soldiers at every one of our possible escape vectors.

  “For two days with no sleep, hiding, fighting, we kept moving, holding out in hope of backup. It never came. The battles felt endless... but we... managed to finally get away, slaying the last of our pursuers. There was a small town a ways from where we lost the enemy. We didn't want to involve them, but we were too exhausted to continue. Breaking into an unoccupied home on the outskirts of town... We simply needed rest. A few hours of sleep..."

  Feldyn had to close his eyes and take a deep breath, slowly exhaling. "We woke to fire. The entire town was ablaze. Darlothz himself had come after us. Alone. He looked so bored. Disinterested in it all! At all the death, the screaming... the smell.

  "Lenner chose to fight rather than submit. Of course we all agreed, confident we stood a chance. In seconds, bloody seconds: Lenner, Celin, and Enriad were dead! Having no choice, Ruby, Lance, and I fled. Darlothz didn't even bother to pursue us himself, sending his minions instead. Our flight was wild, and we got separated from Ruby. Darlothz's minions were close, giving us no time to search for her.

  "Eventually, Darlothz either called them back or-" a raised hand by a sheepish looking Adam, stopped the bard mid sentence. "I am so sorry, but you said Darlothz was alone yet his minions were chasing you?" Feldyn figured it was a valid question, though common sense should have answered it. He had told them all of Darlothz being a necromancer. ... Hadn't he? "Demons and undead. He had began summoning before we were even out of sight." Adam nodded his understanding to the bard, still looking sheepish. How was he supposed to know this Darr Loth guy summoned zombies and demons or whatever?

  "Lance and I went as far back as the original ambush point, gambling they would not expect us to be so foolish, then continued on a ways, before looping back to a small Esseff heaven. To our surprise the Professor and my sisters were there, along with a handful of Esseff. Our main bases had been attacked shortly after we left to assault the Listening Post. My sister had demanded to risk traveling to locations where I might take shelter. Luckily, only a handful knew of this heaven. Locations of safe houses and larger heavens were shared sparingly, in case of a mole or a traitor.

  “IT WAS RUBY!” Feldyn shouted, Jeff jumping enough his coffee splashed on him. “It was her, that traitorous cunt! She sold us out!” The rage now emanating from the bard was tangible, and unsettling. Especially for Trixie. Seeing this level of anger, she couldn’t help but think of her grampa. “We never found out when she turned, or if she had been with the Akur the entire time!” Anger was pulsing from him, even though he now controlled the volume and tone of his voice.

  Iiyni was surprised. This was the rage of a warrior. Only those she had met in mortal combat had shown her such controlled fury. Dude was also a bard. Wore tights, sang ballads and shit. What she was hearing, and seeing, didn't really fit the mold of a bard. She had to admit, listening to his story, Iiyni had started to see him differently. Literally. Until the other day, he was just some faggoty elf. Now she saw... Well, he actually looked attractive now. And strong. Fucking wild how that shit worked.

  Feeling a wave of emotion like she had done something wrong, Iiyni was confused, and ashamed. Which was annoying, since she didn't know why. Was she really feeling bad about a thought? Why? And which one? That she used to think Feldyn looked like a flaming queer? Or the fact his image had eerily changed? She hadn't thought anything lewd for fuck sake! Or even rude! You thought and felt what you thought and felt, so why the shit would it even matter?

  Uuuuugh, fucking Christianity! This salvation thing needed a ten step program, a support group or something. Not the happy happy Church fuckers that came at you with those bug-eyes and huge grins that just freaked you out, but more the 'holy shit, Christianity is hard' type. Fuck, even the worst game devs usually gave a tutorial of some kind! If God had tossed one out there, he needed to mark it better...

  It briefly crossed her mind that there was the Bible, the actual word of God. Iiyni dismissed the notion quickly. The Bible was more of a convoluted rule book than a quickstart guide. Or so she, and many others, told themselves. When in fact, her exact problems was addressed within.

  “We had proof. Indisputable proof it was her,” Feldyn stomped his foot. The wound was still raw. He tried so hard to not think of it, to shove it to the back of his mind on a daily basis. “Despite our… losses, we had to continue. Our first order was to move, split, and root. To be implemented immediately. Orders I was having trouble following even before that traitorous bitch had the nerve to write me!”

  Lance was quickly to his pissed off friend’s shoulder, and Feldyn sensed what he should. His current rage being caused by the same thing that caused him to lose it before. To… do what he did. Feldyn laughed humorlessly. Sometimes when we realize the level of our own patheticness, what else can we do?

  “I am sorry everyone, I am. As ye can see, my anger, at times it can flare; taking over like a fevered dream. I am me, just... overwritten. There is so very much heat struggling to escape. I know not why I have this affliction, for I do not remember any of my family having such a problem." He took a moment to calm his emotions before continuing. The group let him.

  "That letter from Ruby… she wanted to meet me. I knew it would be a trap. Or, more likely, she wanted me to… join her. For you see… we were lovers. No, more than that; I had been in love with her fully and truly. Her deceptions, evil as they were, I find it hard to think that what we shared was also a lie. Ruby was privy to all the same knowledge as I. Having me in her bed, sharing with her my heart, gained her nothing.

  “Against my better judgment, I decided to meet her. It was near to our current location, practically on top of us. Should have warned the others, but rage burned within me. I wanted to confront her alone, so I delayed, helping to plan and pack, and hoped she was near. Watching. Furious I was not prioritizing her. After loading up the last, I volunteered to be the one to stay behind and destroy any evidence of what may remain. Which I did. Quickly, but thorough, before making my way to the location Ruby had requested we meet. An empty cabin, on the other side of a hill, in some trees. Not more than a couple miles from the hideout we were vacating.

  “Reaching the small one room building, she was not there. I... heard someone approaching. My rage returned. Her betrayal, the memories of watching my friends die, I knew what I was to do. Ruby needed to die. With my own two hands, I would avenge Lenner and the others.

  “Had I not been so consumed with hatred, I would have known Ruby would have made no noise as she approached. I would have also noticed being chased after. Heard her calling my name. Instead, I hid within the shadows of the dilapidated cabin. My eyes more than able to see in such lighting, but they were clouded by rage. And when she stepped into the building, so close in size to the traitor- I attacked.

  “Knocking her to the ground, I kept hitting and hitting.” Feldyn was pale as a ghost, his words forced, jaw quivering. “I… would have killed her If not for Lance. He clawed at my face, trying to knock some sense into me. I grabbed him and threw him violently into a wall, furious that he would defend the bitch. When I looked over, and saw him struggling to get to his feet, I regained some sense; rushing to him, to see if he was okay. He was shouting at me, but I didn't understand. Then someone screamed. I turned and... Trella was standing in the doorway, the scream having come form her, as she looked at Ruby in horror.

  “Only… it was not Ruby. The shade of her hair, tone of her skin, unrecognizable from the blood; her face destroyed; still, I knew it was not Ruby who lay there. A large, white stuffed bunny, Tressa’s bunny.” Tears were pouring down his face, and it was obvious he struggled to maintain a story format in his speech. “It was Tressa! It was my sweet Tressa! So blinded by rage, I had beaten my sister near to death!” He was shaking violently. More than a few glares were focused his way. And the only visible sympathy he noticed came from a very unexpected source: John.

  “Trella was a magnificent healer, but there was little she could do. I... I grabbed her broken body in my arms, and we rushed back to the remnants of the base." Feldyn caught a roll of toilet paper Reba tossed him, and blew his nose several times.

  "After they had originally departed, Tressa had been worried about me, so they came back. The silly girl had seen me running off and followed; Lance and Trella tailing her. That stupid, beautiful silly fool just wanted her brother!" Feldyn broken into sobs. No one said a word as he struggled to composed himself. It didn't take him long; he didn't want to stay in this memory any longer than he had to.

  “Thank God the Professor had remained to wait for them. Between him and Trella they saved Tressa's life. She was in a coma... all her visible wounds healed, bones mending, and medication administered... But they could not heal… some things can not be…

  “I...um... Trella said she never wanted to see my face again. The Professor… told me... she needed time. As did he, for he was afraid if I did not leave he would kill me. Lance too said he wanted me gone. So, I left.

  “Months passed. I wandered near, but never close enough to be seen. Lance eventually came to me. To tell me Tressa had woke days after I left them, but would or could not speak. And had developed some sort of... fear disorder. She was even afraid of the Professor, and would fly into a panicked hysteria if he tried to touch her or was alone with her. It seemed only Trella could be close without causing hysterics. And even after those months of my wandering and waiting, she had not improved.

  "From what the healers could tell, it was partly and rightly psychological. It also seemed… I had… damaged her brain. Permanently. They were not sure what to do to correct it and were afraid of making things worse if they tried. Instead, teaching her to… How to… live... in her new state, was deemed the best course of action."

  Listening to this part of Feldyn's past, Reba could sympathize a bit. She had her own rage problems, though hers apparently came with super powers... Though she had almost killed innocents before, in the beginning, before learning to control it. Or, more like, focus it. Unlike Feldyn, Reba had always blacked out when the anger took over. Until she had fought X'al'antra. something about it that time had been different... She could actually sort of remember it. The way you remember a dream you had no control in. Freaking out on Pazely's dad she could remember perfectly, even if it had felt odd. Just more things on her list of weirdness to look into once things got settled.

  “I was eventually, for whatever reason, forgiven enough to return, though I chose to remain on my own," Feldyn continued. "Tressa… could not be near me. The look of terror in her eyes anytime I crossed her path… was too much for me to bare. Out of everyone, Lance spoke to me the most, often visiting for long periods.

  “Then one day while out patrolling, I ran across a group of Akur. They were preparing a raid on our nearby hideout. Lance was with me then, and we needed to warn the others. Able to cover distance much faster than myself, Lance headed back on his own and I remained to try and stall. If I had known what would happened to me from that choice, I would have ran. Would have been more a coward than any I had met. It is good I did not know, for it is also the reason I am sitting here today.

  “The Akur were not fool enough to send one small group. I had barely began to set traps when three times the amount of Akur arrived. Worst of all was who led them: Darlothz; again on the back of a tribulation. Hmm? Oh, a tribulation is a winged nightmare. A, uh... a black horse with flaming mane and tail." Seeing a few nods, that was good enough. "The Necromancer soared high above, spotting me quickly. I never had a chance. One moment I was preparing to flee, the next I was waking in chains.”

  Feldyn’s entire demeanor changed again. This time he appeared lost in thought. Or a memory. “What happened to me is not important, nor something I wish to speak of. Let me just say I was tortured.”

  Feldyn sighed deeply. He guessed he couldn't just skip this part entirely. “To give ye an idea, one time Darlothz lit me in Hell Fire and left me to burn… for how long I do not know.”

  “He burned you alive?” Mike interrupted, imagining the horror. “And could resurrect you again and again, because of being a necromancer?”

  Feldyn started to answer but Iiyni rose a hand. Feldyn smiled, knowing she understood and nodded to her. “If I may,” she began, “a necromancer can't bring people back to life, only God can do that. Dead is dead. Necros animate corpses and bind corpses, more or less. The really good ones can even control demons. As for Hell Fire, it isn't what you think. It's a soul fire that can also burn flesh. It constantly regenerates what it burns too. There's a fucked up science to it, but you get the picture."

  “So, you just keep burning? Physically and... spiritually?” Stryker finally spoke. Iiyni nodded, “Yup. Figures someone like Darlothz could conjure Hell Fire. In actual Hell, the self awareness of the soul, the mind or whatever the fuck, can never go mad, no matter the amount of torture. So when you burn, you are aware of every second, crystal clear. It's a bit different for human souls cuz, well, you're dead. There's no life in Hell except for demonic, and that isn't life-life. But even in death, or maybe especially in death, torment is possible. And Hell is nothing if not full of torment.”

  “Luckily for me I was not in actual Hell,” Feldyn said, wiping sweat from his forehead. He suddenly felt very hot. “More than once I lost myself, though never quite went mad; though I tell ye I came close. And the Hell Fire, well, I will say that was arguably not the worst of it. I hope ye do not need more details?” Head shakes all around, looks of horror in -most of- their eyes. "There was a good that came from it. It was in that place I finally sought Christ. I am not sure if my true salvation came there or here on Earth, but in my agony, I reflexively sought out the Son of God; begged him to let my torment end... to allow me to die…”

  Feldyn smiled at the tikirin whom had flown back over to Gigi. “But God had other plans. Lance, his invisibility prowess so great that none could detect him, came to save me. Of course that was also not so simple. You see, where there was a chance of escape, we were in a unique position to accomplish something legendary.

  “The Professor revealed to Lance that he had actually been in deep cover during the Post’s early development days, and worked on the team that figured out how to open a portal. Once the portal structure had been near completion, he fled with the key component for it's functionality, and destroyed any information on how it worked.

  "Lance's collar had been programmed to activate the portal structure, and his collar was filled with enough energy for at least a one-way opening. The plan was for the two of us to open a portal, hopefully using crystals on site instead those stored in-collar, and traverse the portal to Earth; find the Dragonheart, and bring him back.”

  Feldyn was smiling and shaking his head. It all felt like a different lifetime. And… well, unreal. The bouts of dizziness and pops in his head didn’t help, though he dismissed them as he had been; exhaustion and trauma wore a person down.

  “At that time I still did not fully believe all the Dragonheart and portal nonsense, let alone Earth; though I was willing to give it a shot. Dying during such an insane mission was better than endless torment.

  "My determination took quite the boost when Lance familiarized himself to me. For any Tikirin to do so willing, ever- the implications are great, and I knew then and there that he believed in this mission, and cared for me more than I had thought." Lance glared as the smirking bard. "After retrieving my gear, we made it to the portal structure, which was a bloody nightmare. Needless to say, we succeeded."

  Feldyn held his hands out to the sides. “I tell ye, nothing prepared me for this. For traveling to another world, searching for a mythical hero, with only a face I saw in my dreams to go by. And now... everything is in question.”

  The looks told him to elaborate. "Darlothz and others traversed the portal. It is written, or at least taught, that only the Dragonheart, Links, and Shards can go through a portal. Yet now when I think about it, why would the Esseff have been trying so hard to keep portals from being opened if that were true? As for other impossibilities, I sit in this room with two saved demons, one being a pure blooded denizen of Hell.”

  “That would be me,” Iiyni let them know, just in case any had forgotten.

  Realizing his story was over, "forgive me, but, now what?” Mike asked. “I don’t mean to be insensitive. I mean man, what you’ve gone through… And oh, I got questions. A lot of questions. But none of this says what you're to do now.

  “As much as I can see I am going to like you guys, we are in danger staying here. Adam and I agreed to a job, and we’re going to live up to that. And yeah, sure, we haven't been exactly open with our own pasts and motives, and ain’t exactly part of this group,” he shrugged and shook his head, as if trying to say he was getting to the point. “We are part of this now. Not quite sure how, this is moved… fast….” Mike realized he was rambling like Adam, and pinched the bridge of his nose, his friend in question smiled at him with a curious expression.

  “Some of you intend to travel to another planet,” Mike continued, surprised he said that with a straight face, “the rest of us have to make our life here; the worlds largest hornets nest has been kicked, and it sounds like no one knows how to proceed… I guess my entire point really is: now what?”

  No one knew what to say. Well, almost no one. “We research,” Iiyni answered. “King nerd and the doll- err, uhhh, fuck- Jeff and Reba(!), can figure out this portal shit. And in the meantime, we train.”

  “Train?” Ally and Caleb asked in unison. “Yup. You’re superheroes. Well, some of you. I mean, that’s basically what the Esseff are supposed to be at their core, right? Dragonheart, Shards, Links, all that. Meaning, you should be able to fight kaiju and shit. Right now you would have trouble with the shit part. Sooooo, I’m going to train you fuckers ‘til you can give Hell a run for its money.”