Chapter 5-128: From Fire to Shadow (1/2)
The Autumnal Equinox was a time of handing over the bright to the dark. It wasn’t the apex of dark power, like the Winter Solstice was, but it was significant, the inevitable power of the Dark overcoming the Light, until it reached its depths and began to climb inexorably once again...
Whatever they were going to do to that baby, they were going to do at the equinox. All my instincts were screaming at me, my rationality was agreeing after I’d spent all that effort locating where they were, and they had to know the splash I was making at Heavenbound Hall.
I knew where they were. Word had gotten out. One way or another, without my asking, there were a lot of interested parties down in Mexico investigating things going on there... and not at all accidentally, violently removing certain parties allied to a training temple of Shoul and Sinbound down there.
Only the fact they were in a Shroudzone, and reportedly with a lot of shielded undead and other creatures in the vicinity, had kept their base of operations unassailed directly.
That was going to be my job, and oh, they were not going to like how good I was at my job...
This was the 58th night since I’d entered this world, I’d arrived here on July 1st, 2018. It was August 27th now, coming to a close.
I had 26 days to go get him. 25, really, and if I waited until then, I was a blooming idiot.
It looked like my plans for reaping fire beings were going to be taking a back seat, as there was no way I was going to wait until the last minute for a rescue.
By my calculations, I would need seven more days to round out this set of Class Levels at Four. Then Five would arrive... and things would start taking off.
But I had less then a month to work with. I had wanted to blood everyone on fire and the burning undead, but it looked like things would be happening much sooner.
Well, the fire resistance wouldn’t be going to waste, but I’d have to tell everyone about the change in plans. The Firezone could wait, the supervolcanoes and Yellowstone weren’t going anywhere.
I glanced back at Master Fred, waiting calmly there out of sight, silent and unobtrusive. He caught my eyes, and I could see a fatalistic quirk in his gaze as he realized this time of day had thrown me another loop. SOMETHING HAPPENED?, he asked in letters of flaming gold.
“I took my Skill Ranks in Astrology and Astronomy. You know that whole saying about ‘the stars are right’, which usually means the stars are very wrong for us?” He nodded slowly. “The Autumnal Equinox is coming. It’s a handover time from the light to the dark. How might that be impacting me?”
His nonesuch eyes narrowed, and he thought quickly. He glanced at my waist, and then turned to look southeast.
YOU WERE PLANNING ON HEADING THERE AFTER YELLOWSTONE, AS I RECALL. CHANGE OF PLANS?, he asked grimly.
“I’m certainly not going to wait until the last moment. That’s their job.” He smiled thinly at that. “It does mean I don’t have time to complete everything I want to get done... but some of that was Firezone-dependent, so I really don’t care.
“We still need those Amulets completed, but that should finish up in eight days. Then we’re going.”
NOTED. I WILL MAKE THEM AWARE OF THE CHANGE IN PLANS. There was only a moment of hesitation, and then he smiled. YOU KNOW, THEY’LL PROBABLY BE HAPPIER ABOUT GOING INTO THE SHROUDZONE ON A HEROIC RESCUE ATTEMPT THAN JUST BUTCHERING FIRE CREATURES FOR KARMA...
“There’s going to be mountains of Karma either way, from our perspective. Coldphasing just isn’t as mandatory... and there’s not going to be as much money made.” I thought about that. “I think I’ll have The Mick haul along some raw gemstones, just so he doesn’t feel put out at the lack of income...”
A GOOD IDEA, he agreed, and just like that, all the plans changed once again...
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Two days later...
“Come in, Brother Firesword. I don’t bite.”
There was suddenly a presence outside who was very startled that he’d been noticed. I was in the middle of learning a few Native American languages that were ready to go extinct, and had plenty of time to waste.
Master Fred shot me a startled glance, and looked at the door. He’d only heard me mention Void Brothers a couple of times, and had memorized the names and terms, but he’d definitely never seen one, or even knew they really existed.
Then again, he was just a Warlock, playing his part in the Alignment War. I was a Powered Caster making waves. Of course a Void Brother would notice me!
The man who stepped in was on the thin side, with dark eyes that glanced about keenly, looking for surprises, and loose black hair. He looked sort of a like a young slacking Keanu Reeves, alert for treachery and hidden tricks and traps... and kinda surprised there weren’t any.
“You too, Brother Shadowknife.” I lobbed a pencil over my shoulder into the corner of the room furthest from me. Master Fred tracked it with astonishment, and when it stopped in midair, not hitting the wall, he rather frowned.
The halfling in the grey hoodie was just abruptly there, too, looking at me in some alarm. I ignored his surprise and a chair zipped into place across from me, while a Disk hovered at an appreciably higher height after blinking into existence.