Avani approached me late the next morning as I fished in a canal, Dylas following close behind her. Today it seemed we would be a party of three. I had no objection, since I found him rather entertaining. He was such an easy target, especially regarding both Avani and his arch-rival, Doug, a dwarf who evidently had moved into town only a few weeks before Avani’s sudden appearance. Dylas was not the brightest candle in the chandelier, but he was very strong—and although socially awkward, his affection and concern for Avani as well as others in the village was evident. Apparently he’d been training with Avani since shortly after his rescue, much as I had now begun to do, and now he was easily the strongest man in the city—perhaps even stronger than Venti’s butler, who was powerful indeed. If it came down to it, he and Avani would be formidable opponents for any who considered attacking the town. And I intended, should that come to pass, to be ready to stand with them to defend my newly adopted home.

Dylas and I spent the next several days training, shepherded by Avani, who stood back and let us fight and only joined the fray if she felt that things were getting out of hand. I wondered how she managed to keep in such excellent condition when she did so little fighting herself. It wasn’t until later that I learned that, after returning us to town, healing and feeding us, and sending us home to sleep, she’d venture out into the wilds to fight alone and unaided against the creatures of the night.

Dylas learned about it after catching her returning well past midnight one night, and I found him scolding her in the courtyard the following morning for taking such risks—a scolding that seemed to both annoy and amuse her rather than persuade her. Although I privately agreed that it would be far wiser for her to take a companion, I also realized that doing so would present some difficulty, given her skill level compared to the rest of the townsfolk. Even Forte, the Dragon Knight of Selphia, was no match for her. So as I strolled up to them, I took her side, pointing out to Dylas that while she was certainly brave and strong, she also was not given to foolish risks as a rule, and even if she did get in over her head, she knew how to cast an Escape spell. Then I smiled my most condescending smile at him and commented that he must be completely addled by his love for her if he couldn’t see that. That sidelined the discussion effectively, as Dylas turned red and sputtered flustered denials. Avani sighed and turned to walk back to her rooms, and Dylas and I followed, he still grumbling a little. She tossed some new equipment to both of us—she’d been working on her crafting and smithing skills it appeared, though when she found the time I couldn’t imagine. We suited up in our new gear and headed out.

“Your skills are improving nicely,” she said to me as we left the city walls behind us, “so I think today we’ll attempt something a little more challenging for you. There have been reports of trouble by travelers in the vicinity of the old haunted mansion in the western plains, so we’ll go clean it out and try to make the road there safer, at least for a while. You’ll be facing a variety of monsters, including some spirit creatures and a marionetta—the type of monster that Dolce was bound to as Guardian. Dylas will be your backup, and I will be his. Ready?” I nodded, and at that, she took off at her usual pace—a brisk run. That was tiring in itself: running over all manner of terrain fully equipped. But it was also good for my stamina, so I didn’t complain… much. I also had the sense that, as fast as the pace seemed to me, she was holding back so that we didn’t fall too far behind.

The battle through the old manor house was tough, but I felt I had acquitted myself well. Avani nodded her approval as I stood where the last stricken monster, the marionetta, had vanished in a column of light a moment before. She had needed to heal me a few times, and Dylas had delivered a few blows himself, but I had done most of the fighting. In order to better insure the safety of travelers, we turned around and fought our way back out of the mansion, cleaning up the monsters that had escaped us before. Then we returned to the city gates, planning to go to her rooms to clean up and have a late meal, as was usual after training.

However, as we approached the town’s fortified wall, we could hear voices raised in anger. Avani stopped short, her brow furrowed as she listened. “I wonder what’s going on,” she wondered out loud, though in a low voice. “I hear Forte and Doug, but there’s a third voice I don’t recognize.” Motioning us to keep quiet and well behind her, we silently entered the town.

In the courtyard, we saw a trio facing off, with Forte confronting a stranger in a foreign armored uniform with her longsword drawn. Doug stood to one side, his own short sword drawn, looking ill at ease. The stranger was shouting at Doug, something about honoring his agreement and implying he’d been acting as a spy, when suddenly the old lady that had taken Doug in, Granny Blossom, appeared. She scolded the soldier for making wild accusations and trying to turn us against each other, shaking her cane angrily at him as she spoke.

Before any of us could react, the soldier snarled a curse and lunged with his sword drawn at the frail old woman. Doug, who had remained mostly silent in the face of the soldier’s tirade, cried out and leapt between Blossom and the soldier’s weapon, taking a heavy blow that knocked him to the ground. Fortunately, he was alive, though wounded and bleeding. The soldier stood over him, gloating as he said, “So, I guess you figured out that it was us that killed your tribe, not that dragon. I hadn’t thought you were clever enough to see through our little ruse!”

Doug looked at him blankly, saying, “You what?”

The soldier laughed, replying, “Ahh, so maybe I gave you too much credit after all! Yes, we exterminated your people, not Ventuswill—we told you that in order to convince you to spy for us. Well, no matter why you turned against us, you know what we do with traitors!”

Avani gasped, then she leapt forward, crying out Doug’s name, and, standing by Forte’s side, she turned to face the stranger. To everyone’s surprise, he looked at her and began to laugh. “So!” he sneered, “Somehow you survived your little fall from the airship, eh, Avani? I didn’t think you were that tough!”

“Who are you, and how do you know my name?” Avani asked slowly in a cold, steely voice that sent a shiver down my spine.

Unperturbed, the soldier again laughed. “Me? Why, I was the one tasked with appropriating the rune spheres that you carried. My underling was the one who pushed you off the airship, although he has been… dealt with for that transgression. I had hoped to gain much useful information from you, you see,” he replied mockingly.

“Stop right there!” Forte interrupted before Avani could reply. “I don’t know who you are or what you hope to accomplish, but you have attacked an innocent citizen of Selphia. You must now accompany me to the castle, where you will be detained to face criminal charges.”

“Ha ha ha! Oh, that’s rich!” the soldier guffawed. “You—detain me? When I hold the power of a rune sphere in my hands?” With that, he pulled a glowing blue orb from a pouch fastened to his belt.

Everyone gasped at the sight of the large blue stone glowing brilliantly in the night, and Avani stepped forward, asking angrily, “Where did you get that?”

“Oh, this? Why, you so kindly left these lying unattended out and about in the wilderness, so I simply helped myself. This was the last of them. Yes,” he sneered as shock and horror registered on our faces and Avani quivered with barely-suppressed rage, “your poor, dear Ventuswill. She must have slipped into a deep sleep by now—one from which she will never awaken. Ah well, all good things must come to an end, even the Gods themselves. And as for you—see now, the power I control!”

With that, he held the orb up high, and shouting an incantation, he summoned a massive gate with a burst of blinding light. When the light faded, a large red dragon crouched before us, hissing angrily as it lashed its massive tail. Calling out another incantation, the soldier disappeared as he and the dragon were pulled together and merged. “Now! Show me what you are made of, Earthmate! For we will surely exterminate all of your kind!” he roared in the dragon’s voice.

Dylas and I leapt forward, weapons drawn, and without taking her eyes off her enemy, Avani shouted, “Granny, Doug—get to safety! Now! Go! Dylas, Forte, flank him! Leon! Stand back—you’re not yet strong enough for this battle, so I’m relying on you for healing and spellcasting. Stay out of his attack range, no matter what! Let’s go!”

As she quickly shouted her instructions, she crouched, gathering strength for her powerful longsword attack, then lunged forward in a blur as she unleashed a mighty, slashing blow that penetrated the dragon’s armored scales and sent it staggering back with an enraged shriek, blood seeping from the gash across its chest and one of its forelegs dangling uselessly. She whirled and executed a series of aerial spin attacks that turned her sword into a whirlwind of devastation across the beast’s back and wings, rendering it incapable of flight.

Meanwhile, Forte, who was certainly courageous but far less experienced, lunged straight for the beast’s heart, despite Avani’s instructions to flank it. The dragon swiped its good foreleg at her, using its large claws like a massive war hammer and knocking her flying across the courtyard. She lay, stunned and gasping for air, and I quickly cast a healing spell on her. She rose to her feet, staggering slightly, and shook her head to clear it before charging again. At the same time, Dylas had been aiming a series of powerful kicks and punches at the monster’s sides, preventing it from attacking effectively as it continually staggered under the barrage of blows.

As it began to weaken, the beast’s head swung side to side and it hissed angrily, snapping its huge jaws at Avani and Dylas, who, despite their fatigue from the day’s training and the weight of their equipment, moved too quickly for it to find purchase. I could see that Dylas was wounded, though, despite his alacrity, and Avani appeared to be slowing as well, so I cast a healing spell on all three of the fighters. Then seeing the monster rear up on its hind legs, standing over Avani and opening its jaws for the attack as she fearlessly held her sword ready and crouched in preparation to lunge forward, I cast an Earth Spike that knocked the tiring beast to its side. Avani catapulted through the air, sword held high above her, and with a mighty cry, she plunged her sword deeply into the beast’s neck. It bellowed in fury, shaking her off with a last frenzied effort before it succumbed to the tamitaya spell of her weapon and vanished in a stream of light, leaving only the wounded and weakened soldier behind.

I ran to Avani, who struggled to her feet, the wind knocked from her, helping her up and casting another healing spell on her before assisting Dylas, who had been knocked from his feet by the monster’s tail as it had thrashed convulsively. Forte ran towards the soldier, but she, too, had been caught in the animal’s final struggle and was not able to reach him before he rose and fled through the gates, shrieking enraged threats of retribution and destruction as he disappeared into the night.