Lyra knew she would be targeted by one of the bandits but was surprised to see it wasn't Gerritt. He was focused on Alex. She caught the motion of a slim man darting between the fighters on a path to her. She caught the eyes of one of her party with a nod, then launched her whirlwind spell. Containing it to such a tight space to not impact the others was incredibly difficult but she pinpointed a spot before her and launched it as the greasy man lunged into the space. Then, he was no longer a threat. She could direct her attention to party members who needed healing now. -=- Bingg found himself suddenly airborne, spinning, and flung to the left. He landed inelegantly and lost his wind as his sword bounced away. As he struggled to his knees, head spinning, he tried not to lose his stomach contents. Instead, he lost an ear. Then the other as he turned his face from the pain. Next went his nose. Screaming in pain and terror, he managed to reach his feet and face the terr

Alex floated amongst tart clouds and warm music. He could feel energy seeping back into his worn body and a faint red glow surrounded his head as his eyes slowly tracked movement before him. They were hidden behind a veil of abstraction for his safety, but he knew the Gods were watching him. The first emotions he recognized were elation and relief. He'd done something the Gods were happy about. An image of the portal collapsing rushed by, and he felt Agron's pleasure. Ffornexa and Ullentra were pleased as well. The mission. He needed to close the portals! Agron's impatience spiked, but Ffornexa slipped forward, and Alex felt... expectation? More? The portals were only part of the mission? Now Agron and Ffornexa were very pleased, and Alex felt that like a pressure wave rushing at his mind. Ullentra intervened, and the red glow surged momentarily over his mind, taking him from their presence. When Alex's perceptions returned, he felt Ullentra's anger directed toward the o

Flipping open the end cap, Alex tipped the tube, and a rolled sheet of flexible material slid out. When he unrolled it between his hands, it became a stiff square and maintained this shape. He looked at Eon. "Place your hand on the middle of the map," the drone instructed. The sheet was remarkably light, so he held the edge in his left hand and placed the palm of his right on the center of the square. The entire surface pulsed with a gentle light and then displayed a wireframe model of GreenTree Dynasty. Controls appeared along the outside edges of the map. Some were easily deciphered, while others he'd need instructions for. He touched a symbol resembling a book, and a guide appeared. "Holy shit!" Dale exclaimed. "A complete map! Do you know how valuable that one artifact is? This party and each of our one hundred best friends could retire for life on just that!" Alex snorted in amusement. He recalled what Eon said about the drones. "Does this map work outside the city?" "N

They were surprised to discover that the beasts near the entrance of the eighth floor wouldn't be too much of a threat. They'd dispatch them first. The monsters farther in were a higher risk, but they could avoid them for now. "Which rooms are closest to the elevator, and what will we find in them?" Alex asked. Eon listed off three of them and two sounded like they had potential for containing technology. These items were in high demand by the University. They took the elevator up to the eighth and got into formation. The baggage stayed in the elevator this time, and Alex carried his bow. When they encountered the pack of creatures that looked like wild, armored boars, Halle saturated them with a spray of water, and Thorn hit them with lightning, which stunned the beasts. Those carrying bladed weapons waded in and finished off the monsters. They kept eight of them for butchering later, but the others were carried away by drones to be fed into the reclamation machine. Alex tu

Prince Ungar was a man of strong passions. Jalviere used that to his advantage. They were sitting in the prince's office, facing each other across his desk. "He's taken control of the city?" Ungar gasped as he heard the report from his man. Gordier nodded grimly. "This is what my agent has reported. Frost had a team of mechanical drones at his service and had one of them disable the agent I assigned to watch him while the others easily killed his supporting team of skilled warriors. With the level of technology available to him, he could set himself up as a rival to the Kingdom of Thale. There wouldn't be much we could do about it." He let that thought sink in for a moment. "We were given signs. He bears the marks of three Gods, yet he was allowed to move into our society unimpeded. With his freakish ability to become monsters and communicate with them, he could lead an army this world has never seen. Monsters and now advanced tech weaponry. No one would be able to stand in