Session 14 pt 1: Too Far

Dear journal,

I messed up. I messed up really bad. It’s a long story, but it all started with a friendly game of a sport called creigball. 

“Friendly” may be subjective. I challenged Juno to be the other team captain, wanting to have someone in charge who could match my prowess on the field. From there we split into teams. Juno took Olaf, and I took Matanza. Slender then decided he’d much rather be on Olaf’s team than mine, so Mole joined me. I’d make sure to show him the error of his ways for not wanting to be on the winning team. 

I asked if we were allowed to use magic, and everyone seemed to be cool with it. Particularly Slender, but with how scrawny he is, I would have felt bad to leave him without it. Juno’s fastest, so she touched the rune on her cloak and sprouted her dragon wings from the cape. She beelined towards me and tackled me to the ground. We tumbled across the dirt, ending with her having pinned me. She sat on my stomach and smiled. I turned pink, and my eyebrows bunched together in an embarrassed scowl. 

I gave her a warning and made my goggles glow. I don’t think she thought I was going to take the game very seriously– the joke was on her. I came to win. Her smug smile quickly faded and her eyes grew wide. 

“Don’t you dare!” she managed to say right before the BOOM. 

I thunder stepped right into their goal and dusted myself off. Juno also stood up and gave me a furious glare. I was relieved to see she didn’t look too injured from it. It was definitely not the nicest way I could have handled that. The situation only escalated when Slender swung a dagger at me. Mole saw him do it, and even though I sidestepped the strike, they took it as “weapons ready.”

They swung into Olaf with Holy Avenger, their huge greatsword, as he was wrestling with Matanza. Juno winced and scooped our ball up to take off with it as soon as it reset back to our goal. Slender waved his hand and vanished into thin air. Mole said a word in draconian and their eyes began to gleam. 

I was going to run for Juno, but it was clear there was no way I’d be able to reach her. Matanza tried to command her to land, but she avoided their magic. I held up my hand as some purplish glow began. 

“Last warning,” I said. “Drop the ball or I’ll do it.” I think there was definitely a moment when she thought I was going to really hurt her, but I promise– that wasn’t ever my intention. She held it closer to her chest, and in the heat of the moment, I made possibly my worst mistake yet. 

I closed my fist, and Juno was gone in a shower of purple sparks. I flicked my tail back and forth, satisfied that I had actually managed to get that spell to work. Slender yelled at me immediately from wherever he was hiding, demanding an answer for what I just did to Juno. He didn’t get one before Lil’ Mole charged at his invisible form and knocked him to the ground. I saw the cloud of dust kick up and readied my eldritch blast. I cast it, knocking him further away from our goal. 

Meanwhile, during the time the rest of us were screwing around, Juno was actually not off on some nice vacation. I sent her to the feywild, but not out of malice. I had only ever seen pictures of the place in children’s storybooks and been told stories of the wonder that come alongside the realm. It was beautiful, with a sky perpetually colored the vibrant pinkish hues of dusk or dawn. The flora looked like nothing I had ever seen on the material plane. The creatures were all fantastical. I was very much under the impression she would be safe, but gods was I wrong. 

Juno told me what happened after the fact. I guess she arrived just above the canopy of a blue forest, disoriented and confused about what had happened. She tried to fly higher into the sky to get a better vantage point. Poor thing probably thought I had trapped her there indefinitely. She said she saw some lights below her, and one of them called out to her. It must have charmed her pretty good, because she thought it was a close friend of hers. She gave it her name, and luckily before it could hurt her, I pulled her back to get our ball. 

Juno landed next to me, seeming incredibly confused. She was looking around wildly, asking if I had brought her away from her friend. My eyes narrowed, and Slender wiggled free from Mole’s tackle to again ask what I had done to Juno. I slowly reached out for our ball from her, but she knocked my hands away and demanded, “send me back to my friend!” 

“I– I can’t,” I replied. Behind me, Slender was once again tackled by Mole. They shoved his face into the dirt as he tried to talk. “I’m out of pact magic.” I opened my palms and held them out towards her. “Who are you trying to get back to, anyway? What’s their name?” I had figured Juno had never set foot in the feywild, but she was an elf. Maybe there was more to her past than I thought? I actually became jealous for a second over how she was talking about the person. 

She was about to grab me, but that question made her freeze. Her expression became blank, and her eyes fixed to a point a million miles away. 

“Their name?” she said in her stupor. I gestured with my hands for her to keep going. “I don’t know their name.” 

“They’re your friend, but you don’t know their–” I was cut off mid sentence. 

“Jadeth, you asshole!” Slender kicked Mole off of him and gave them a choice gesture. They stuck their tongue out back to him. “Where did you send her?”

I told him that I sent Juno to the feywild, and just like that the game was over. Slender shoved me away from Juno and squinted into her eyes. She brushed past him and came at me again. I took a step back.

“You can have this–” She held out the ball. “If you send me back there.” Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if I wanted it anymore. She wasn’t acting like herself.

“I already told you; I can’t!” I snapped. 

“Juno– your friend is waiting for you at the Blackberry Inn up the road,” Slender said quickly. Good thing he’s so damn clever. Juno shoved the ball into my arms and smiled as she jogged that direction. As soon as she was out of earshot, Slender turned to Lil’ Mole. “Follow her– I don’t know how long that charm is going to last, but we need a way to keep her somewhere.” Finally he looked at me and shook his head. “You– what the hell is wrong with you?!”

“What do you mean?” My shoulders sank. 

“Are you really dumb enough to not know how dangerous the feywild is? I grew up there– it’s not just some happy magic forest full of friendly fairies and sparkles. Juno could have really gotten hurt, and you would have sent her back if you weren’t out of your stupid magic.” I stayed quiet as he circled me. “Got any brilliant ideas for how we can keep her safe until the spell wears off?” 

“If you help me recharge, I could trap her.” I shrugged. “Better than nothing.” He continued pacing, finally nodding in agreement. 

I sat down against the brick wall at the edge of the creigball court and pulled out a sickle to clutch against my chest while I meditated. Slender cast the spell on me, and after a short time passed, I blinked my eyes open again. He led the way towards Olaf’s inn, and we both paused outside to create a plan to attack. 

We kicked the door open, both of us having spells at the ready. Juno, Mole, Matanza, and Olaf all stared at us from across the room. Juno pushed herself back from the table they were sitting at and approached me. Her eyes no longer still had that same dazed look to them, so I shrunk down and looked away. 

“You’re mad at me,” I said. It made Juno pause. She let out a huff that didn’t sound fully infuriated with me. 

“I…” She trailed off and looked back over her shoulder at everyone else. I let my mask activate to hide more of my face in shame. I really didn’t want her to see me. “I wish you would think before you act. I almost got eaten. I know that you didn’t know, but maybe don’t send one of us to a dimension you’ve never been to.” I muttered that it must have been better than the realm of the dead. She flicked my glowing goggles, but ultimately agreed with that. 

Juno led the way to the bandit camp. I stayed towards the back of the group, listening carefully in case my musket warned me of any incoming danger. Besides the game of creigball gone wrong, things had been quiet since we killed the false hydra. Olaf and I went hunting for the bear, and even that was just… ordinary. We rarely did ordinary things. Not anymore. Not since the beacon brought Slender, Juno, and I together. 

Juno held a hand out to halt all of us before she ran ahead. She tapped the rune on her hood, and the pair of draconic wings transformed from her cape. We all ducked down behind a tree, knowing that none of our stealth came close to hers. She returned after a few minutes passed. Her eyes were narrowed. 

“These aren’t your average bandits,” Juno said and looked back towards where she came from. Olaf perked up and swung Talon around. Anything would be more interesting than another pathetic bear hunt. “They have a summoning circle– it’s like the mist from the Border Ethereal. There are so many men in robes, a couple mercenary guards, and Jadeth…” I tilted my head. “He’s here.” 

So much for thinking before I act. The gleam from my eyes intensified and the darkness obscuring my face began billowing from the valves on my gas mask like umbral smoke. Everyone tried to stop me, but I couldn’t even hear them anymore. His name was repeating like the deafening beat of a wardrum in my head. Ward. He had escaped me for the last time, and I would put a stop to whatever he was doing by messing with the Border Ethereal. He tricked me into my pact. It was time to show him what kind of mistake it was to fool me. It was time for him to bleed.

I darted forward, flame already beginning to creep up my arms. The solid chant was interrupted when they saw me on the cliff face above them. Ward’s eyes became huge. I reveled in his fear. It was addictive– the look in someone’s eyes right before the end. This wasn’t murder. This was justice. I thrust both my fists forward and a ring of fire burst from the ground at the edge of the spell circle. 

The screams didn’t last very long. All the cultists at the edge of the circle caught fire immediately, and their charred forms began to drop like flies. Ward ducked away behind a pillar from the ruins behind him, and the group’s orc mercenaries began to make their way towards me. A wall of flame not unlike mine shot out of the ground behind me, hitting all of my friends in a single attack. The flame reflected in my goggles, and my heart stopped. 

Slender jumped out first, and I exhaled the breath I was holding in. 

“Have I mentioned that I hate warlocks?” He grumbled as he came over to me and brushed himself off. He pulled me out of the way of the swing of an ax. I looked over my shoulder to see the big orc mercenary glaring down at me. The paladins jumped out of the flame next, followed by Olaf and Juno. Everyone was okay, for now. 

“Ward!” I howled. “Face me!” He stayed hidden, the damn coward. Suddenly, a voice whispered in my head.

“Approach,” it hissed. I turned like I was in a trance and saw one of the cultists beckoning from inside the ring of flame. My shoulders went slack, and before I knew what I was doing, I had jumped off the cliff and walked into my fire. I was fortunate to have such a high heat tolerance– I barely even noticed the burn on my skin. The man smiled as I came over to him, but as soon as I was in front of him, I snapped back out of the trance. 

I swung Ifrit into his chest with fierce precision that caused blood to trickle from his lips. He looked to the second orc mercenary, but before help could arrive, one of Juno’s arrows pierced through his eye socket. The cultist hit the ground at my feet, and the glowing blue circle below us became brighter. I took a step back, feeling trapped between the orc and the flame. 

“Jadeth, get out of the circle!” Juno screamed at me. A glowing hot sword cut through the fire as the orc tried to slice me without getting burned. I turned to the other cultist who was readying a spell. “Don’t kill him in there– we don’t know what it’ll do!”

“Running low on options!” I snapped back just before a bolt of magic whipped into me.

I was thrown back out through the flame again, struggling to maintain concentration on the spell. I managed to remain on my feet as I skidded towards the cliffs. Both orc mercenaries now had me in their sights. I shot my eldritch blast back at the cultist, hoping I could use it to push him out of the circle. Instead, it ripped through his chest and he fell over onto the glowing runes. 

“Really. Are you deaf?!” Slender shouted. The one orc turned his attention off of me and towards the scrawny bard. Both Paladin’s got ready to rush to his aid, but he held a hand out and cast a spell. “Nope, not happening. Big strong guy like you is probably getting paid well, right? I’ll give you ten thousand gold to help us out here.” The orc stayed quiet for a moment, and I was positive he was about to cleave Slender in half. To my shock, he nodded and leapt down next to me to intercept his bond brother just before he could reach me. 

Ward’s laugh cut through the air, and I wondered what he thought was so funny until a beam of light shot up from the spell circle. My flame wall extinguished as heavy mist began to pour forth. Something let out a roar that made everyone spin to watch as the biggest skeleton I had ever seen clambered its way out of a growing portal. I quickly climbed to the top of the cliff and took a few steps back towards my friends. 

It looked like it was once a dragon, but one that had been dead for a millenia or two. It shook off a thick layer of dirt like it was recently buried in the ground. It was easily 10 meters tall, with clumps of decaying skin clinging to its bones. Only a thin webbing stretched between its wing bones, but it still tried to flap them. It upset the dust into a filthy cloud around it with the motion, but it wasn’t able to take flight. Thank the gods for that. It turned to look at me with its sunken eyes. An eerie blue glow seemed to stare right into my very soul as it sized us up. 

“Shit,” I whispered. 

“Jadeth!” Juno yelled. She was either worried about me, which was cute, or furious at me, which… was a bit less cute. “What did I just say?!” Well. There was the answer. She was furious at me.

Juno took flight towards where I was hiding behind cover and landed next to me. Slender began backing up, but Olaf ran forward off the cliff to smash it with Sunforger. The orc mercenary that Slender paid finished off his brother, and he warily turned his attention to the golem. Ward laughed as it knocked Olaf back with a whip of its tail. When I peeked over our cover, I saw it still staring right at me. 

“End of the line, little Godslayer,” Ward called out. Just as I thought we had finally gotten him cornered, it turned out that he had baited me once again. I buried my masked face in my hands and breathed in and out as I tried to think of something we could still do, but I was terrified. My mind was blank. He was finally going to kill me, and I knew he wouldn’t stop there. I couldn’t let him hurt my friends, I needed to think. Think!

The dragonbone golem jumped up into the air and burrowed through the earth. It left a trail of shattering earth as it went, and my gods it was fast. Juno took off to try and outrun it, but it shot out of the ground directly in front of her. Its jaw fell open, and by now I had seen enough dragon breath attacks to know we absolutely didn’t want to be hit with one. 

I thought I was being smart when I pulled both of my arms in front of me and called upon my infernal heritage to entomb myself in a protective shield of ice. That was easily the worst thing I could have done. 

The dragon’s necrotic breath came out as a wave of darkness, swallowing me and my prison whole. The grass around me immediately turned to a gray marbling of concrete, spreading far and wide and stopping just short of hitting Slender and the paladins. It began to creep up Juno’s legs, but she flapped her wings and hovered into the air. 

I wasn’t able to escape from it. 

Turning to stone is not an experience I would recommend, honestly. It started at my feet, and I quickly tried to shatter out of the ice. I wasn’t fast enough. By the time I did, the petrification had already begun to spread down my arms. I could only turn my head, and as I did, I saw Ward emerging from behind cover, looking right at me. His wicked grin was the last thing I knew I could ever see. I wish that I could say that was what I was afraid of. I quickly looked over my shoulder, seeing my friends slowly begin to back away from the dragon. I prayed to The Aeon to save them, not even caring if this was how I met my end, as long as they could survive. 

My world went black. I had to ask Slender what happened after I was turned to stone, and he was all too ready to give me the details. He recapped that he had bravely told everyone we needed to stay and fight the dragon to save me– Juno later told me that was bullshit and he was yelling to ditch me and run. He did, however, give up his wish to The Aeon to restore me. It was just in time, too. 

Ward had come up to me while I was frozen, and he channeled a lightning spell through my petrified form. I woke up in searing pain with him right next to me. His smile faded, and he flinched back. My gleaming eyes met his own from behind my mask. The darkness once again swirled around me.

“How?! How did you overcome petrification?!” He demanded. I raised a hand out towards the dragonbone golem. 

“Because we’re Ashen Cabaret, bitch,” I growled. I closed my fist, and a portal appeared at the dragon’s feet and pulled it in. Ward snarled and cast dual walls of fire at me, but I kept my focus. I wasn’t going to let this thing stay here and petrify my friends. 

The paladins ran past me to intercept him, and Juno and Slender were by my side in an instant. Slender looked rattled, but otherwise healthy. Juno had seen better days, and I guess I had as well. Ward got ready to escape, but right as he created a dimensional door, I used my other hand to claw through it with even more powerful magic. His escape route was gone.

“End of the line… Starfarer.” My voice was smug. For the first time since I had met him all those decades ago, Ward looked truly afraid. He should have been. Together, we were unstoppable. 

Ward knew I couldn’t hunt him down while also maintaining my focus to banish the dragon. He began to run, but Olaf intercepted him. 

“Going somewhere?” He laughed before swinging Talon into his knee to bring Ward to the ground. He collapsed onto his palms, and as soon as he looked up, Olaf twirled Talon around. It was an immensely satisfying crack as the weapon split his skull. Blood splattered across the dirt road, and I let out a long exhale as I dropped down to my own knees. Just like that. We were safe. Ward the Starfarer was dead. 

Slender of course tried to rip off that poor mercenary he convinced to kill his brother. He claimed he only said one thousand gold. Fortunately, the rest of us agreed to split the cost for a nice funeral for him. The orc came by to thank all of us personally, and I shooed him as I continued meditating. Olaf and Juno both chased him away from me, and I finally exhaled. 

“It’s gone. Not coming back,” I told everyone as we regrouped. Juno pulled me onto my feet, but she winced as she did it. I gave her a full burst of healing light, and she carefully leaned in to look at where Ward had ruined my jacket. It looked like a crack in stone going down my arm, and I lifted the fabric carefully. Sure enough, the crack carved into my skin under the coat as well. Just another scar. Another memory I wanted to bury and never think about again, but it was over. I shook my head in disgust at it and looked at Olaf. “You got Ward?”

“Made him pay,” Olaf’s gruff voice reassured me. In his hand, Talon almost seemed to gleam. I wasn’t really sure that I liked the look in his eye when he wielded the weapon, but he trusted it. I trusted him. He laughed when I pulled him in for a hug.

“Drinks are on me until I help you get your own revenge,” I said. Juno and Slender were both staring at Talon with worried eyes, but I walked away towards Ward’s body. I got Ifrit out and slashed my old mentor’s body in half. I heard a few sharp inhales behind me, but no one said anything. Everyone was used to my violence by now. 

I carved and carved until he was unrecognizable, then scattered the bits of his body around the nearby field. I grabbed a few pieces and shoved them in my bag to throw out in other various parts of the woods on the way back. I didn’t understand how necromancy worked, but one thing was certain. I would never allow him to haunt me again for what this magic did to my family. 

I regrouped with Juno as she was touching her skull shaped pendant. She was looking directly at Olaf, and I wondered why she was peering into our friend’s mind. All of a sudden, Juno jumped back.

“It has thoughts!” She exclaimed. I dimmed my eyes, and my mask stopped obscuring my face with the shadows. Olaf, Slender, and the paladins looked over. She pointed at the war pick on his hip. “Olaf, where did you get that thing?” The dwarf tucked it back onto his belt and made a face. 

“Got it from a dwarven merchant. Odd blue guy, had a lot of neat things on his cart, but he said he stole it from the Ironbeard family’s vault. I figured I’ll return it– into their skulls.” He chuckled, but it didn’t ease the tension in the air. Slender offered a hand out without saying anything, and Olaf handed off the warpick with a raised eyebrow. “Fine, fine. Do your magicky thing.” He waggled his fingers to emphasize the magic.

Slender waved a hand over Talon while we all watched and waited. Slender could identify anything. This would be no different, right? He gasped and threw it to the ground. We all looked at him in confusion, but he turned his arm over, letting us see black veins creeping up his arm.

“What is that thing?!” Slender backed up behind both the paladins, as if their holy magic could protect him. They both seemed on edge as they looked from Slender’s arm to the warpick. Olaf picked it up and brushed it off before putting it back in his holster. “It nearly killed me.”  

“Now you’re just being dramatic,” Olaf retorted. No one looked uncertain to me, except for maybe him. Not that it mattered anyway. Talon was on our side. So what if it attacked Slender. It just meant that we now had something in common. 

We made it back to the bar before nightfall. Our victory still didn’t feel real. Olaf began downing drinks and barking orders at his recruits, but I just wanted to escape into our house for a while. 

Drinking could wait for now. I just wanted some silence. Juno came with me, but she didn’t really seem to want to talk either. She could hide her emotions as well as she could hide in combat, but I knew she was still thinking about what I did. Still thinking about how careless I was with her life. She stopped me for a second, but it was like she second guessed what she wanted to originally ask. She only asked if I would help her with some stronger healing potions, and I too eagerly accepted. It made her cower back– ever so slightly. 

I apologized again, and she shook her head with a smile that felt forced. I excused myself before I could make matters worse. There was so much guilt in the pit of my stomach about sending her into danger, and childishly, I blamed that on Ward too. It was easier to pin the blame on the dead, and there is no shortage of blame around what happened to us all because of what I did.