Devin was too far from Casey to catch her when she stumbled and fell to one knee. She waved him away when he tried to help her up.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “I just need to catch my breath.”

  “You don’t look fine,” Devin said.

  “She’s not,” Milo said. “The withdrawal symptoms have begun.”

  “What?” Devin said. “I thought you said 12 hours?”

  “It would appear that the expenditure of energy from walking has quickened the process,” Milo said.

  “I’ll carry you,” Devin said.

  “I’m fine,” Casey said.

  “No, you’re not,” Devin said.

  She pushed herself to her feet. “See? I’m fine.”

  Devin shook his head. “You’re even more stubborn than I am, and I got an Achievement for being stubborn.”

  “If you want to help, distract me by talking about something else,” Casey said.

  “Like what?” Devin said.

  “You had a million questions for me,” Milo said. “You must have as many for Priestess Casey.”

  Devin nodded and thought for a moment, trying to sort out his questions by importance and what he could talk about out loud. Then he sighed, gave up, and asked the first thing that came to mind.

  “I’ve been wondering about your healing,” Devin said. “Is that something your god gives you, or is it something different? And how is that related to your alchemy magic?”

  “How much do you know about magical spheres and abilities?” she said.

  “Not a damned thing,” Devin said.

  “There are six magical spheres,” Casey said. “You can think of them as oceans of mana that we can’t see. When someone gains enhancement, it creates a link to the spheres that increases their physical and mental powers. An enhanced who can use abilities in a particular sphere is called an adept. I’m a Life and Matter adept.”

  Devin nodded. He didn’t need Milo’s eyes on him to know not to say out loud that he didn’t have any spheres yet. That was information that their enemies didn’t need to know.

  “Each sphere is different?” Devin said.

  “Yes,” Casey said. “For instance, the Life sphere provides magical abilities and spells that affect living organisms.”

  “Like your healing power,” Devin said.

  “Right,” Casey said.

  “I thought that came from Rainford,” Devin said.

  “The mana doesn’t,” she said. “The spells do. A god also helps refine the mana so a worshipper can use it more efficiently.”

  “If you think of the mana from the spheres as raw materials,” Milo said. “Then the abilities represent the tools you need to craft those materials into something you can use. You can hit someone on the head with a tree branch, but you can also carve that branch into a club that works much better. A guiding power can provide both the raw materials and the method of crafting.”

  “Does that mean I have to follow a god to use my spheres?” Devin said.

  “No,” Milo said. “It’s a more difficult path to proceed without a god, but it also comes with advantages, such as not being required to follow certain strictures. Though Priestess Casey may argue over whether that’s an advantage.”

  Casey shrugged. “Everyone has to choose their own path.”

  “That’s a strange thing to hear from a priestess,” Devin said. He winced. “I’m sorry. Some of the religious types on my world are ... pushy.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Casey said. “You can’t believe in free will if you get upset every time someone wants to debate your theology and doctrine.”

  “I wish some of the preachers I grew up around thought that,” Devin said.

  “You’ll find no shortage of fanatics on Senarci,” Milo said.

  Devin nodded. He wanted to move away from this line of conversation. He’d lost more than one friend by arguing about religion.

  “Where do Boosts come in?” Devin said. “Are they juiced-up spells?”

  “In a sense,” Milo said. “To extend my previous metaphor about raw materials, a Boost would be like an already-crafted mallet one can pull from the spheres and hit someone over the head with. They are made from the material of one or more of the spheres and are both powerful and permanent.”

  “And what are the six spheres?”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Life, Matter, Elemental, Dimensional, Fundamental Forces, and Universal Knowledge,” Milo said.

  “Like the shards!” Devin said.

  “Yes,” Milo said. “Shards each contain a fragment of mana from one of the spheres. It’s like using a battery instead of plugging into the electrical grid."

  “And gods help you tap into the grid,” Devin said.

  “Certain parts of it,” Casey said. “Rainford grants his healers access to Life and Matter spheres, and abilities to go along with them.”

  “What does Rainford ask in return?”

  “That depends on the follower,” Casey said. “Healers are charged to heal the sick, the weak, and the champions of their deity. We destroy un-life wherever we encounter it, and we right wrongs.”

  “You were telling me not to be a rules lawyer,” he said. “It sounds like the gods of Senarci are the biggest rules lawyers of all.”

  “Someone has to be,” Milo said.

  Devin nodded “So, who writes the rules?”

  Milo sniffed. “You don’t really expect me to answer that, do you?”

  “A guy can hope,” Devin said.

  They walked on through the night.

  Devin invited Milo to a Private Chat.

  Milo accepted.

  Devin – OK, it’s truth-telling time. I’ve got something to ask you.

  Milo – Go ahead.

  Devin – Are you a Guide or a puppet master?

  Milo – A Guide, as I told you. Though in fairness, I suppose a puppet master would say the same thing.

  Devin – Don’t get me wrong. I trust you. I don’t know how you survived me falling on you, but you saved my life. And you died. I know you died, because I got an achievement out of it.

  Milo – You did? Hmph. Oh, well. I suppose the interface does have its drawbacks for all of us.

  Devin – You didn’t know? I thought you read my character sheet.

  Milo – I only had time to skim the important things. I’m not a computer, Devin. I don’t know everything, I don’t remember everything I see, and I certainly can’t read your mind.

  Devin – You seem to know a lot about my past.

  Milo – Well, of course. I’ve spent decades studying it.

  Devin – You … studied my life?

  Milo – Of course I did. Do you think they send out random Guides who don’t know anything about the people they’re supposed to be guiding?

  Devin – I … I guess … well, how am I supposed to know? I don’t even know what a Guide is! You won’t tell me anything!

  Milo – My point is, I’m not a puppet master.

  Devin – I believe you. But there is a puppet master.

  Milo – No, there isn’t.

  Devin – You expect me to believe that I just happened to catch a disease from a tree and meet the only healer who could heal me? And she just happened to need rescue?

  Milo – Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. You did just happen to catch a disease from a tree that led you to Casey. Even an enhanced brain couldn’t count the number of paths you could have taken, and they were all open to you.

  Devin – And I bet all of them would have led to Casey.

  Milo – I suspect most of them led to your death. Don’t confuse planning with a pre-written plotline, Devin. This isn’t a story or a game, even if it feels like one to you.

  Minutes passed while they walked down the path in the dark. He could hear millions of insects chirping and the occasional hoot of an owl or howl of a wolf coming from the forest around them. The stars in the sky twinkled along with the fireflies. It brought back memories of nights filled with fireflies when he was a kid in Arkansas.

  Devin – I’m still not sure I’m not lying in a psych ward or in a coma or something, but I’ve decided to act like this is real. If I’m nuts, I lose nothing by playing along, but if this is real and I don’t, the consequences are pretty dire. I trust you, and that’s enough, for now. But I have a lot of questions to ask once we have time to ask them.

  Milo – I hope I can answer them.

  They halved the time Devin’s ride to Horgoff had taken, and it was a few hours after noon when they got close to the farm. Milo ranged ahead to scout out the farm. He’d been their dog after all, so him showing back up would hardly raise suspicion.

  Casey was struggling. She’d used one of the sustenance unguents earlier, but the withdrawals were already back. She was breathing hard, and her hands shook. Every now and then she’d reach for her belt where the remaining unguent was attached, then pull her hand away.

  Devin kept up a steady stream of conversation to distract her.

  “That speech you gave in Horgoff... that was something else!” he said. “Where did you learn to do that?”

  “Excuse me?” she said.

  “In my world, people take classes and practice for years to learn to give speeches. Motivational speaking is a whole career. You went so long unable to even speak, and then you turn around and give a speech that bring a whole town to our side. It was impressive ...” He trailed off.

  “I’m good at speaking for the same reason I’m talented at healing,” she said. “They both use the Social Attribute.”

  Devin frowned. “What?”

  “Just like a bow uses Agility and a club uses Might, each magical sphere uses a different mental Attribute.”

  Something clicked in Devin’s brain as he remembered the list of Attributes. He could have kicked himself.

  “Of course! How did I not see that? There are six mental Attributes and six spheres. And the colors. The Life shards are green, and so is the light when you use your powers. But why is Life a Social power?”

  “Life energy is … well, it’s alive,” Casey said. “It’s not like Alchemy, which is all about Concentration. You have to coax Life energy to do what you want it to.”

  “You’re telling me you have to talk wounds into healing themselves?”

  “No, not the wounds. The energy.”

  Devin shook his head. “So, healers have to be charming to heal. You’re the best healer around, so you’re very charming.”

  Casey looked away. Was she embarrassed? He held back a smile.

  “Life energy is good energy, then?” he said.

  “The spheres aren’t good or evil,” she said. “Only the people who use them. Having said that, a Life adept’s relationship with their powers is very close. People who use their Life powers for dark purposes can become twisted. The worst of them become hollow shells of people who feed off the life force of others.”

  “Vampires?” he said.

  “Vampires, liches, necromancers … they all specialize in dark Life energy,” she said. Her voice was as hard as he’d ever heard it. “That’s what we followers of Rainford call it. We consider dark life adepts to be as monstrous as the horrors they raise into false life. A child of Rainford is charged with the destruction of the unliving and their creators wherever they appear.”

  “I see.” He shivered at her tone. “You don’t use your Life energy to kill, then?”

  “I can, but it has a cost,” she said. “It’s better if I stick to the Matter sphere for fighting, and the Life sphere for healing and defense.”

  Devin remembered when she twisted the knife into the Enforcer’s eye and shuddered. He’d rather fight a dozen of those tree things than Casey.

  “What sphere is Alchemy?” he said.

  “Alchemy is a specialized subset of the Matter sphere,” she said. “Shaping matter requires Concentration, which is why it’s associated with that Attribute. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. In alchemy, after you’ve brewed the correct mixture, you have to hold the composition of the potion you want to create firmly in your mind while …”

  Milo’s voice came over Party Chat.

  Milo – I need you both at the farmhouse, now.

  Devin – What’s wrong?

  Milo – Just hurry.