I stepped out of the golden doorway into my home. It was littered with injured people and corpses thanks to my wife’s efforts, but as long as she was okay then it didn’t matter. The sound of combat immediately put me on alert, and I pulled my Hilt of Holding off of my belt as I located the source of the noise. I turned towards the kitchen, where the doors had been sliced off of their hinges, and rushed through.

  Tabitha and Sticky were fighting. It only took me a second to assess the situation.

  She was tired and injured, with cuts and bruises all over her body. Her movements were sluggish, playing a defensive game using her axe as a shield more than it was used as a weapon. Britear was alight with its green flames, and I could see the magical item was scuffed up.

  The Half-Pint’s boss, on the other hand, was still fresh with his rapier held high. It looked like he had stayed back while his underlings had done most of the hard work, approaching only when he thought Tabitha was sufficiently weakened. Given what I knew of the man, I had no doubt that was what happened. He demanded loyalty, but felt no such thing himself.

  He was a pox on this city. One that I was about to excise. I took a step forward.

  “Don’t you dare take this away from me, Badger!” Tabitha shouted, and I stopped.

  Despite her wounds, there was still fight in her. A fire I hadn’t seen in ages blazed in her eyes. I kept my grip tight on my blade, but prepared to jump in at a moment’s notice. Less than a moment’s notice, even.

  Sticky jumped backwards, avoiding a wide slash from my wife, and subtly turned to get eyes on me. A look of rage appeared on his face followed by panic, and he backed even further off. “My lord,” he said, bowing towards me. I arched an eyebrow, glancing towards my wife, but she was looking behind me. “I am almost done here, if-”

  “Badger!” a booming voice came from behind. “Tabs! Oh, we truly live in a small world, don’t we?”

  The hair on the back of my neck shot up as I took a step and turned, activating and raising my shield. No one had been behind me just seconds before. I knew that for a fact. There hadn’t been any footsteps, no one was breathing, and I couldn’t sense them.

  My shield drooped as I laid eyes on the Human who had appeared behind me. He was tall and shirtless, showing off an absurdly muscular physique. His fur pants and shoes were all he wore, but his upper torso was covered in glowing runic tattoos. Some of them I could read, and others belonged to the Southern Continent. Rings of all shapes and sizes adorned his fingers, and he had on a plethora of necklaces and earrings.

  “Ulrich?” I asked, squinting to get a better look at him.

  “In the flesh, my brother!” he roared happily, throwing his arms in the air in greeting.

  Ulrich Throm had been Reliable Rhodes’s wizard before we parted ways. His focus at the time had been on Transmutation magic, changing things into forms they weren’t supposed to be in. Most of the time he had shapeshifted himself into exotic and sometimes terrifying monsters. He lived for battle, and his spells and physique said that.

  He was also supposed to be nearly 60 years old, but the man in front of me now couldn’t have been older than 20.

  “Actually Ulrich?” I asked again, suspicious. “Or something that ate him and took his form?”

  The man’s grin somehow became wider. “Figured out Abara’s secret, have you? No, I’m really me. Look a little different, maybe, but I’m the same man you traveled with.”

  “Ulrich, what’s going on?” Tabitha asked cautiously. She was just as confused as I was.

  “We’ll get to that in a moment, Tabs,” the Human said. His mirth faltered as he looked over me towards Sticky. “You didn’t tell me that Tabitha Rhodes was the subject of your ire when you said there was someone down here in the Bottom that could threaten our plans.”

  “It didn’t seem like you cared much about the details, my lord,” Sticky replied.

  I took a breath, not liking where this was heading.

  Ulrich took a moment to think about this before nodding. “It seems as though my renewed youth has made me a little less careful of the details,” he lamented. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I don’t think I would have noticed this until much later in my renewed life.”

  “I live to serve,” the Half-Pint said, his voice oozing satisfaction now that he was certain he was going to be rewarded.

  “Lived,” Ulrich corrected. “You lived to serve. Unfortunately, Tabitha is still an old friend of mine. We go way, way back.

  Sticky's eyes went wide with confusion. “What do you-”

  The wizard snapped his fingers, and I cautioned a turn to see that the mob boss had disappeared, leaving behind only his clothes and gear. There hadn't been any words, no flash of light illuminating the room. He was there one moment, and then he wasn’t.

  “What did you do?” Tabitha demanded, still holding Britear up in a combat stance.

  “Sent him to the local jail without any of his usual ways to be free of it. The ‘lived’ part was really just for dramatic effect; I figured our newly minted paladin here wouldn’t like him exploding outright, though that’s still an option. Congrats, though! I remember how angsty you were back when you lost Tegril,” Ulrich said conversationally as he cracked his neck. He reached forward as if to pat me on the shoulder, and I took a step back.

  “You know you’re going to have to do better than that, Ulrich,” I hissed. “I came here to help my wife against an invasion, and you pop up moments later. What is going on?”

  He regarded me for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I suppose that’s fair. We should sit down for this,” he said before turning his back to me and walking into the common room.

  I shared a look with Tabitha, and she shrugged before wincing. Moving to her, I placed my hand on her cheek. She leaned into it as I infused my touch with healing energy. A soft, golden glow spread over her body, and she shivered before placing her hand on mine.

  “You really did it,” she remarked softly.

  “I did,” I replied.

  “It better have been one hell of a story,” Tabs said with a smile.

  “I think so, but I don’t think it’s going to top whatever we’re about to hear,” I said, offering her a quick smile in return before following the wizard.

  Immediately, I stopped. Ulrich was standing in the middle of the room, hands on his hips, as he looked around. Everything that had been broken was floating all around him, and they were all being fixed. Tables and chairs were mending back together. Glass was fusing into bottles, complete with liquid inside. I wasn’t sure if it was the right liquid, but they looked like they had been separated.

  The bodies were being unceremoniously tossed outside whether they were alive or dead. It was a worrying display of power. One that only had one explanation, considering Sticky had called Ulrich his lord and the tattoos on his skin. I was hoping that I was wrong, but I wasn’t nearly naive enough to believe it.

  “What happened to you?” I asked, ducking under a table as it floated over me. It wasn’t meant to harm, it seemed, just moving naturally as part of the process.

  “I got younger, Badger,” he answered. “But I suspect you’re not going to be happy with the full answer. Bet you’ve figured it out already, though. You always did have a sharp mind. Inquisitive. Would have made a great wizard.”

  “CC,” I said, ignoring his blathering.

  “Glorious, powerful CC,” he said, pointing at me like I had just won a prize. I stiffened, but nothing happened to me. "Traveling all by my lonesome to the Southern Continental Dungeon was one of the best decisions of my life. They really treat you different when you're not an entire expedition of warmongers, you know?"

  “So you’re, what? Just another lackey in her cult now?” I scowled.

  Ulrich opened his mouth, but closed it immediately after as he nodded. “It really is a cult, I can’t deny that,” he chuckled. “But I wouldn’t call myself a lackey. Mercenary, perhaps. Someone who’s only in it for the perks. We’ve got an understanding; she knows that I’m not one of her true believers.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “She told me she was going to burn everything to the ground to get what she wanted,” I said, crossing my arms as best I could with my sword still in my hand. “Abara didn’t believe me when I told him, but would you?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he replied, waving a hand dismissively. The tables and chairs all descended gently to the ground. He took a seat and offered us spots across from him.

  “Doesn’t matter?” Tabitha repeated incredulously. “Ulrich, if you’re a part of this whole thing, then that means you attacked New Frausta just like the rest of those monsters. We used to be heroes, and now you’re attacking cities?”

  I glanced at her, worried. Just how much had I missed out on by taking Abara’s invitation?

  “Heroism is overrated,” he said quickly, his tone losing some of its good nature. “I shouldn’t be saying that in front of a paladin of all people, but I stand by it. Reliable Rhodes was a group that I calculated would lead me to make great strides in my search for power, and CC is a continuation of that after you all decided to quit because of one small failure. Hence, my decision to travel south in the first place.”

  “Ral wasn’t just a small failure,” she snapped, gesturing angrily.

  I placed my hand on hers. Tabitha glanced at me, and I walked with her over to the table. We sat down, placing our weapons in front of us though not taking our hands off of them. Britear’s flames turned off so it wouldn’t leave burn marks.

  “I assume we’re not fighting,” I said.

  “Really wouldn’t be much of a fight, if I’m being honest,” he replied nonchalantly. “You’re almost powerful enough to give me a run for my money, but then you have Tabitha weighing you down. No offense meant, of course. That’s just a fact.”

  “Then why are you here?” I asked, frowning. “You’re working for CC, I’m working for the Department of Dungeons. Your whole attitude has me perplexed.”

  “Perplexed and aghast,” Tabitha added. “This is our home, Ulrich. Just because you didn’t seem to know that doesn’t make it okay.”

  “I’m here because an absolutely obscene amount of divine energy entered the city, and I was on watch,” Ulrich said, ignoring my wife. “And then it turned out to be you! An old friend. My whole role here was to take out any strong individuals that showed up, and it was one that I took seriously. Fought a few of the king’s guards, a couple of the Mage’s Guild fops. I was in the middle of fighting a couple people and their pet moose when you appeared. Absolutely blew my mind when the damn animal cast a healing spell. Never would have imagined.”

  My grip on my weapon tightened. “And how many of them did you kill?” I asked through grit teeth.

  “None of them,” he answered, and I blinked in surprise. Ulrich grinned, throwing his arms out. “Come on! The pursuit of power is all I need. Dead men don’t seek revenge. Let them get stronger, then let them come after me. I told them all just as much. They’ll either break or reach greater heights, and I hope for the latter.”

  “So you fought Cojisto and Moose and didn’t kill them?” Tabitha asked, clearly as confused by this as I was.

  “And Dalsarel,” I added before glancing at my wife. “Dark Elf that's been helping us. It's a long story.”

  “You know them?” he asked in return before nodding. “Yeah, that was a fun little distraction. Though, in hindsight, it really was good that the moose knew healing magic, because that Cojisto kid probably wasn’t going to get back up again without it. I almost felt bad about that, to be a little honest. The kid was so earnest, introducing himself before we fought. Reminded me of a younger version of myself.”

  “Gods damn it, Ulrich,” I said, pissed but relieved that they were still alive. “If you’re supposed to be here to fight me, then why are we talking?”

  The wizard nodded, looking away as he crossed his arms. “A few reasons. One, you’re both old friends and this is a courtesy. Two, because the cult’s forces are pretty much routed. Three, because the moment the fight gets out of hand then the two children upstairs are going to get caught in it and-”

  My eyes locked onto Tabitha. “Brackenhorst told me that he was going to get you and the kids somewhere safe.”

  “He warned us,” she said, not meeting my eyes.

  “That was not what he was supposed to do.”

  “We’re not abandoning our home, Badger,” she said sternly in a tone that told me that was that. I scowled, but now wasn’t the time.

  “Yeah, figured the kids were yours,” Ulrich interjected. “And, given what I remember of you two, Tabitha would have fought all the harder but you, Badger, would have given up if you thought it would stop me from accidentally killing them.”

  “I won’t apologize for that,” I said.

  “Nor should you. That’s your own prerogative. I mean, I don’t understand it, but I don’t have to understand something to accept it.” He paused, his eyes staring into the middle distance for a moment before snapping back to us. “And fourth, it’s simply not time for you and I to fight yet.”

  “Excuse you?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “Not time?”

  “Of course it isn’t. I mean, look at you!” he said loudly, sweeping his hand towards me. “Look at you, wearing that divinity like an oversized coat. Trust me, I do want to fight you. I really, really want to see what heights you could reach right now, but it just wouldn’t be satisfying. You’ve got to get used to it again. Back before you dismissed it all for love. No offense again, Tabs.”

  “I’m choosing to take offense anyway, Ulrich, but I suppose I can’t complain about you not wrecking our home,” Tabitha replied, though I wasn’t happy with it. She hazarded a glance around the room. “Or about you fixing it back up.”

  “It is quite a nice place you’ve built for yourself,” he said as he looked around, nodding approvingly. “But, you seem to think we won’t be fighting at all. That’s wrong. If I thought you wouldn’t come down to the Southern Continental Dungeon, I would be all over you right now. But you will, won’t you?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Is this what you mean by it not being time?”

  “Obviously, Badger. Keep up,” he joked. “CC knows you’re coming, I know you’re coming, if that Mimic wasn’t dead then he’d also know you’re coming.”

  “I’m the one who killed him,” I said.

  “Well done, that must have been a handful,” Ulrich returned with a proud smile. His attitude was starting to get to me, and I scowled. “Either way, we’re going to fight. It’s inevitable. It’s just going to happen in CC’s house instead of yours. And I’m looking forward to it. Once you grow into Cheroske’s service properly, I mean. Given what CC has made me and what the Dungeon Master and your new goddess has given you, our battle will be legendary.”

  I watched Ulrich with intense scrutiny. A part of me wondered if he was simply keeping me here because he was supposed to. Talking things out would hold me longer than a fight would, and if it devolved into violence then that would still hold my attention.

  But I didn’t think he was lying. Ulrich had always had this drive towards strength. It was the reason why he trained his body as much as his mind even though he was a spellcaster first and foremost. When Reliable Rhodes decided the order of adventures we wanted to go on, his destinations were always last because they were, without fail, the hardest of the lot.

  If he said that he didn’t want to fight me because he knew I was coming to the Southern Continent, then I decided to believe him.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Okay?” he repeated, arching an eyebrow.

  “Yes, okay,” I said again. “There’ll be an expedition to the Southern Continental Dungeon, and I’m going to be part of it.”

  “And we’re going to finish that conversation we started before you left for Athir,” Tabitha said. I took a moment before nodding.

  Ulrich clapped his hands. “Fantastic! A chance to fight the Nameless in his prime, better than ever? Oh, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.”

  “Yeah, yeah, keep it to yourself,” I snapped, scowling. “So where do we go from here?”

  “By all counts, the cult lost today,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Abara’s dead, your friend’s moose managed to create a really tricky ritual circle that sapped the strength out of the dungeon the cult members were forming, and the majority of the forces we rounded up to attack the city didn’t live up to the effort of gathering them. But I am nothing if not a team player, so I did what I was told and not much more. I’m not bitter about it. Well, maybe a little. Well, maybe a lot. All I can say is, no one can fault me for my superlative, by the books performance.”

  “Were you the wizard Liddy was chasing?” I asked.

  “That little Gnomish girl with the accent? Yeah. That was actually kind of fun,” he admitted. “Divination was never my forte. Learned a lot from that. Send her my regards for me.”

  “And now?”

  “Now I’m going to go and train,” he answered, stretching. “Back to the Southern Continental Dungeon. It still has a lot for me to discover, and I want to be in peak shape for when you finally come.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Still asking so many questions, Badger,” Ulrich said, laughing. He tilted his head as if listening to something we couldn't hear, and frowned. “I’m being summoned, and so this is it. Tabitha, lovely to see you and sorry for the mix up. Badger, I look forward to seeing you next time. You better not disappoint, otherwise I might have to come back here. Probably won’t be so civil, then, if you know what I mean.”

  “Don’t you make threats like that against me, Ulrich,” I warned, standing up.

  A feral grin spread on his face as he stood up with me. “If you need to take it as a threat, then take it as a threat,” he said, leaning over to put his palms on the table. “But let me make sure you understand one thing. You’re either going to be a stepping stone for me to attain greater power, or you’re going to be the man that kills me. There is no middle ground. That’s a fact, Badger, so it’s best if you don’t fight it. I’ll see you in the Southern Continental Dungeon.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but the wizard was already gone. No words spoken, no somatic sigils made; he simply disappeared. That was high level teleportation magic that even the Director, the oldest spellcaster I knew, would be hard-pressed to do without any outward show.

  Before I could dwell on it, Tabitha dropped Britear and threw her arms around me. I was brought back to the present, and I released my sword to turn and hug her. “Are you okay?” I asked gently.

  “Just some flesh wounds,” she replied bravely. “You fixed me up really good.”

  I could feel her shaking, however, and I adjusted her head so she could listen to my heartbeat as I ran my fingers through her hair. “It’s okay, Tabs, you did really well. I’m very proud of you,” I whispered, not letting my disappointment that she stayed here show. There was a time and place for everything. “Take as much time as you need, and then we’ll go and check on the girls.”

  She nodded, and I rested my head on hers as I held her tight.