Jack had thought he had seen some tough opponents. He stared down a wave of monsters. He fought a real knight. He even had his fair share of golem fighting, though admittedly the last golem didn’t go without a hitch. Still, he had seen his fair share of danger, whether it came in regular or ogre size.

But the armored wall of metal galloping towards them sent him in an instant state of panic.

“Wait, no- I can fix this!” he yelled at the enemy commander.

The man however was retreating towards his troops, barking at them to get the mages and archers prepared. Not that they would be needed, since their cavalry was almost upon them.

Jack reached out, ready to cast a spell, hoping to trip the horses up.

“|Target of Enmity|! |Repulsing Visage|!” Brom shouted.

Instantly, the riders turned towards the dwarf and flinched. But though Brom’s Skill spooked them, they still came. They were trained soldiers. They’ve seen worse.

The riders had abandoned their bows and were all holding short swords. Not that good for a cavalry charge, but still good enough to deal with them.

Jack cast his spell at one of the first riders, hoping to trip up his horse. To no avail. The vines came into being but were ripped apart the very same instant by the horse’s hooves. Yet while the horse ran on, its rider fell of its saddle, an arrow lodged into his shoulder.

“Jack, pull back!” Ava shouted.

That would have been the logical course of action, but Jack couldn’t simply let his friend stand alone. He watched, as the first rider collided with Brom’s shield.

Use your Skill, Brom. Damn it, let it be enough.

“|Shield Block|!” he yelled.

The horse screamed as the first rider was thrown off by the impact. The second and third riders tried to tackle him the next second, but the first impact charged up Brom’s shield. He used his artifact and the blow detonated, making one horse fall on its side and the third fall on top of it.

And still they came. Brom tried to use his axe, swinging at the riders, but they were warier now. They circled him, swinging at him with their swords. His axe’s shaft had lengthened, the axe head growing. It still wasn’t enough. For every swing he deflected, two landed on him.

Use the helm!

“|Bolt|, |A Fire a Day|, |Bolt|!”

A rider turned towards Jack, perhaps wondering where he got hit from before his face caught fire. Another was distracted by his comrade’s shriek and didn’t manage to deflect the blow that broke his nose and made him fall off his horse.

Mrk had entered the fray as well, dashing around Brom, targeting the horse’s hooves. It still wasn’t enough. He and Brom were getting beaten down, little by little. Jack’s magical attacks only served to attract the ire of the magic users, now fully assembled and pissed at seeing their fellow soldiers downed.

The first among them, a man dressed in long robes, came forwards, raising a long staff.

“|Mana Link| Channel your magic towards me!” he said, pointing his staff towards Jack. “|Great Arrow of F-“

He didn’t get to finish that as an arrow hit him in the stomach. It bounced off, a shimmering light coming into view around the mage, even as the magical shield broke into pieces. Still, it interrupted the man and whatever magic he was going to use on Jack.

“Shit!” Ava cursed. “I used my Skill with that arrow. Jack, pull back! Protect Moran. I’ll get them off Brom and Mrk.”

Jack figured out what she was doing in a second. Normally, he might have told her not to do it. It was dangerous. They already hated her. But she was right. Their friends were seconds away from being cut to pieces.

“|Foe on Sight|! The Satyr yelled.

Brom’s Skill made the soldiers flinch and attracted their attention. Ava’s Skill was on a whole other level. Jack could see the wave of repulsion pass through the enemy soldiers.

And their commander.

“Riders, leave the secondary targets. Swords back in their sheaths, bows out!” the man bellowed. “Crescent-moon formation, focus fire! Archers, protect the mages. Mages, I want shields on the front line. Come forth, soldiers of the Barony! We fear no monster!”

It would have been incredible, if not for the stupidity of it. The soldiers were assembling themselves in a battle formation, with Ava as a target. They were treating her as an army-level threat. Like the dark metal golem was.

The upside of it was that the soldiers had retreated, leaving Brom and Mrk alone. Brom had fallen to his knees and was struggling to get up. Mrk was trying to help him, but was limping himself.

Jack looked at Moran and jerked his head towards the two. The young man looked conflicted, but nodded. Though not before looking Jack straight in the eye and mouthing “Protect her”.

Jack went to stand by Ava, not that it would do her much good. The soldiers had already assembled in a half-circle and were pointing their bows at them. Flickering shields of light were coming up in front of the first line of mounted archers.

Damn it. Damn it!

He knew why Brom didn’t use the helm. It was their way of protecting Helmrest. Without it, this entire ordeal would have been for nothing. They had already used most of the artifacts recovered after fighting the ogre. To go back empty-handed… But it didn’t look like they had much of a choice.

Could we fight them all with that helm? Probably… but, even if we can, can we run all the way back to Helmrest without another force catching us?

…

And with Ameron on top of us, Helmrest can’t afford another enemy.

It was a ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’ type of situation. Which only started to get worse.

“You are soldiers of The Barony. The lance of The Baron. We will hunt down his enemies until there are none left!” the commander spoke, spurning his horse a few feet forwards.

He stopped, in front of his troops, though his eyes never left Ava.

“Have no fear of this foul thing! For today you ride with me! |Piercing Volley|, |Improved Aim|, |Seeking Arrows|. Ready! Aim!”

This had just gone from stupid to frightening. No way they were going to survive this. There wasn’t even enough time to shout at Brom to use the bloody helm. The man had raised his hand and was a moment away from giving the signal to fire. So, Jack did the only thing he could.

“Please!” he yelled, dropping to his knees, hands outstretched. “Please don’t kill us!”

“Those who keep the company of monsters are to be treated as monsters.” The man said.

“Please, it wasn’t our fault. She… she made us! She made us fight for her, using dark magic!” he yelled out.

He felt horrible for doing this, but what other choice did they have.

“Jack…” he heard a murmur behind him.

The hurt and… acceptance in her voice broke his heart apart. Like she was being torn apart by what she heard, but also like she expected it to come. A sound of surprise came from his other friends and when spared glance he saw Moran give him a look of abject fury.

“You fuckin-“ the young man started.

“Please!” Jack said again, speaking over him. “My friends and I, we were all bewitched by her. They are still under her control, I think. But I can see now. I can see how she used us, how she used the magic of her race to play with our minds.”

He had been going forward towards the commander, walking on his knees. Begging, even as he felt his dignity and honor slowly trickle out of him. She would understand, he hoped. They all would. They needed to live.

“Is that why you’ve protected her?” the man asked. “Mage Sergeant. That monster. Is her race known for this type of magic?”

The same man from before stepped forward, his magical shield renewed and glowing with the same color as the one laid over the commander.

“I am unsure, sir. Yet her people are known for their way with words. And you saw her attack us with a mind-altering effect. Her having another Skill, but one that makes others adore her instead of fear her is certainly a possibility.”

“I see.”

Jack had been slowly inching forward, trying to get as close to them as he could. As far away from Ava.

Please believe me. Please believe it was all her doing.

“He’s right.” Ava yelled out.

Her voice was hollow. Jack didn’t trust himself to look back. Didn’t trust himself to look back and not fall apart.

“I used them. I manipulated them through my Skills. I have a Class for it.”

“No!” Moran shouted. “Ava, what are you doing? Jack, you fucking liar!”

“I got them to work for me.” Ava pushed on, though her voice was now throaty. “They’re innocent. They only did what I told them to do. I used them. And now… I’m going to die…”

She started crying after that, as the last ounce of dignity left Jack’s body. He had managed to reach the commander, still on his knees. Moran was screaming obscenities, while even Mrk and Brom were calling out to him, begging him to stop.

“Jack no do that! They kill Ava!”

“Jack, I beg of you. Have honor. Please, have honor!”

He felt like the world’s greatest fiend. And still he looked up into the commander’s eyes and lied to him.

“They are still under her control. But they get free as well. I am sorry for not breaking off from her leash earlier.”

“That’s alright, son. You are too young to fight off such a monster.” The man said, not unkindly. “It’s a sign of willpower that you managed to do at all.”

“Thank you, sir. I just want to thank you for helping us get rid of her. I also want to compliment your magical shield. It’s very much like the one the Mage Sergeant is using.”

The man had been nodding kindly until he heard those last words. Then… he was just confused.

“Oh… thank you. Though it is not mine. The Barony has magic users among its soldiers. The fine men and women behind me are those who use such magics.”

“Yes, I compliment them all. For such a fine shield. Identical to the one on the head mage.” Jack said, raising his voice.

“Uhm, yes. On behalf of them, I thank you.”

“I-DEN-TI-CAL!” Jack yelled, eyes straining to remain locked on the commander.

“…are you alright, son? Has her magic… mentally affected you?”

“…damn it, Ava!” Jack yelled.

“Oh, right!” he heard her say. “|Piercing Shot|!”

Her arrow flew and hit the man in his head, dispelling his shield, even as Jack pointed both hands towards him.

“Wh- Treachery!” he said, going for his sword.

“|Dispel Compulsion|!”

The spell hit the commander in the face, even as his sword cleared its scabbard and swung towards Jack’s hands. It stopped, almost in time. The blade nicked Jack’s palms, but at least it didn’t cut them right off.

However, the soldiers were still enraged. Their commander had been attacked. They would have unleashed their arrows on Ava, since Jack was too close. Would have, had the commander not raised his hand and barked out.

“Hold fire! No one shoots.” He roared, before turning back to Jack. “Good thinking. But. Might I ask why you didn’t do that from the start?”

***

“-and then you know, it was already too late, your archers would have shot me. So I did the only thing I could think of.”

The commander of The Barony’s troops, Maleh, as he had introduced himself to Jack, was listening to Jack explain himself. He had given the order for the same spell Jack had used on him to be used on his soldiers. Luckily, his mages knew it. A few questions arose as to why would their commander order his mages to target his own soldiers, but it seems the man had earned himself enough respect to be trusted without question. Not that he didn’t bark the order a few times more, just to be sure.

“I understand, son. Jack, is it? You aren’t a real Jack, are you? No? Well then, I’d ask about the name, but I think I’ve heard enough strange things for one day.” He said, looking at them.

In the time Maleh had given the order and his troops had been cleared of Ava’s Skill, his friends had gathered around Jack. Ava claimed that she knew what Jack was doing ‘from the very start’, but the remaining tears in her eyes spoke otherwise. Moran had approached Jack and apologized, saying that he shouldn’t have imagined he would betray them. Jack told him to forget it. If he ever acted like an asshole, Moran would be in his rights to tell him that. Acting or not.

Brom and Mrk had been warier to get near the soldiers, since they were the ones to receive the most amount of damage. But the offer of healing potions and the desire to stick together was too much, so they neared the others as well. That was how the five found themselves queried by the commander.

“So, you were telling the truth. This really is a dungeon. You wouldn’t know what that flare of light was, wouldn’t you?”

“No, sir. We-“

“Maleh.”

“Sorry?” Jack asked.

“Just Maleh. You are not subjects of The Barony. As such, I do not outrank you. Maleh is fine.”

“Right. Maleh. Uh, we don’t know what it was, but we think it was probably a beacon of sorts. Like, a cry for help.”

“Help.” The man repeated, disbelievingly. “Help from who? The Barony had no awareness of this dungeon. And there are no treaties signed between it and us. And who would we help? Monsters?”

It was Brom who answered him.

“We believe this dungeon was once a city. The beacon of light was supposed to call for aid from this city’s allies. However, both the city and its allies are long gone. This dungeon is all of what remains.”

“A city… underground.” The commander mused. “And you are sure of this, master dwarf?”

The keen look in his eyes fooled no one, so Brom didn’t bother with a lie.

“I believe this dungeon to be the remains of a lost city of the dwarfs. I recognized the sculpted designs, as well as the style of the architecture. And… the dungeon let us passed through its traps after recognizing me as a dwarf.”

“Gods be merciful.” Maleh looked at the sky, groaning. “A lost dwarven city. As if we didn’t have enough problems already. And I suppose your people would like to claim it, am I right?”

“I… do not know. I do not speak for my people. But I imagine they would.”

“I’ll send the news higher up. Alright, any threats I need to be aware of?”

“Treats?” Jack asked.

“Monsters. Undead. Any kind of threats that are bound to come out of this thing. Did you encounter any? Fight any?”

“Oh, we fought a lot of…”

Ava had energetically started talking, until she notices quite a lot of the soldier’s heads swing in her direction. But Maleh just smiled and nodded and that seemed to give her enough confidence to continue.

“Uhm, yeah, we got into a couple of fights. Like Brom said, the traps just let us pass, but we also came upon a couple of clay golems. Taller than you are, with rocks for skin. And they had clubs!”

“Understood.” Maleh nodded. “Have they been terminated? Any others?”

“The golems have been broken.” Moran spoke up. “And they didn’t seem to be coming back to life. We didn’t find any other golems like them, but we did meet a final guardian.”

“It was the masterwork of one of my kin. From ages long past. I do not believe we still possess the ability to create such things.”

“Big golem. Huge. Size of hill. Skin of iron.” Mrk said, gesticulating for emphasis.

“Mrk’s right.” Jack said. “It had skin made of iron, but it also had armor made of a kind of dark metal. It was armed too. It could probably take out an army.”

Now Maleh was fixing them with a rather dubious look.

“A metal golem the size of a hill. An army killer, if I understand you correctly. And yet you all still live.”

“Yes, well…”

“Its creator made designs when building it. It inspired it to terrorize, instead of just going for the kill. But more than that, such a creation requires massive amounts of magic.” Brom said. “The dungeon itself had lost much of its reserves, as we had only found a couple of minor golems remaining up until that point.”

Everybody was listening intently, except for Ava, who was muttering ‘minor, yeah right’.

“That last guardian was indeed an army killer, but the dungeon’s remaining magic had only managed to animate it for minutes at most.”

“I see. Thank you for telling me that. In this case, with the exception of the traps, this dungeon should be relatively safe to explore. A final guardian. Huh.”

Jack could see the thoughts connecting in Maleh’s mind, so he hurried to derail them.

“Oh, about the leftover magic. We also had to fight a spectral knight when we first got in. It also didn’t come back, probably from the low magic environment. It can be destroyed, but it regenerates, becoming faster, but also slower. We managed to whittle it down.”

“A spectral… knight? As in, human?”

“Yeah… huh. Didn’t think about that. Hey Brom, how come the knight was human? Shouldn’t it had been dwarf?”

“Not necessarily.” Brom shrugged. “The artifact that conjured it might not have been made by my kin, only obtained by them. But if it was deemed sufficient in both combat abilities and mana consumption, then it seems normal that my kin would have used it. Dwarfs are very efficient.”

Again. Quite interesting. Ava was the only one pretending to be yawning.

“Very well. You five have will still have to pay a fine, for unlicensed adventuring, but you have also managed to clear a dungeon. And provided The Barony with valuable information. Come to think of it, that fine may be waved as well. I offer you my congratulations.” The commander smiled.

Jack and the others smiled as well. Not only were they not hunted down, but they also got to walk away free? Luck be a lady.

“My congratulations on that swindle. I’d say that if you had a Class as a |Liar| or I wouldn’t be as experienced, I might have just forgotten. This information regarding the dungeon certainly gives me enough things to do for a few days.”

Shit.

“We’ve had an amenable rapport so far. Let’s not break it. A regular dungeon without a prize is rare, much more so for a dwarven dungeon. And that gigantic metal golem? That sounds to be like the final guardian overseeing a treasure. Especially if this dungeon used to be a dungeon. Now. What did you find?”

It was a fool’s dream to think that they wouldn’t be asked that. Jack knew it. He wasn’t that good of a liar and Maleh really did look experienced. The problem was the treasure itself. They needed it. Either as it was or in coin form. If these soldiers just took it, in the name of The Barony, what could they do?

They could resist. But that would just get them beaten up. They could hand it over, but then they’d be dooming Helmrest to be annexed by Amenor. Maybe they could trade for it? Jack glanced at Brom and saw the dwarf frown and nod. He didn’t like it either, but they all knew there was no chance of simply walking away with the helm.

“I know you know there is no chance for you to fights us. You may think about lying. Do not. Mage-Sergeant, apply truth Spells to this group. Calibrate them for high sensitivity. I want to know when they’re lying, when they’re fudging the truth and when they’re completely honest.”

The same mage from before came and cast a spell that looked like a wave of air. It hit them and then the mage touched the commander’s head, making it glow slightly. Any hope they had left had just been dashed away.

“Do it, Brom.” Jack said. “Show him the helm.”

Brom nodded and pulled the helm out of his bag of holding. As one, all the soldiers and mages leaned forward. Only Maleh was more stoic about it, though his eyes were fixed on it as well.

“This,” Brom said reverently and a little sadly “is the Helm of Vatrir Stonespine. Hero of dwarfs. It is an artifact forged by him in an era long past.”

Maleh chanced a glance at his mage, but the man only nodded.

Yeah. Like Brom’s going to lie about that.

“It is a treasure of my people, thought to be lost until now. To other races, this may be considered a powerful artifact. To me and my kin, this helm is… history.”

“What does it do?” asked the commander.

“It turns the wearer’s body into any substance he or she knows of. I must be a pure substance, though. Anything from mineral, to metal to gases can be obtained.”

“So… if you knew of Shockquartz, you could turn into that?”

“I know of it and I could. And I can see your unspoken question. Yes, I could also control its properties.”

Maleh let out a long breath. It seems he caught on fast as to just how powerful of an artifact it was. The soldiers around him didn’t look all that impressed until the latest exchange in replies. They probably just thought it was something like a Stoneskin Potion. But some of the soldiers and a lot of the mages seemed to have caught on from the very start.

And all of them looked covetous. All but Maleh and his senior mage. Only they looked warry. Oh, the glint of treasure still shone in their eyes as well, but in there it was coupled with a sense of uncertainty. This treasure was big. Big enough The Baron would want it. But its nature might very well invite… complications.

“It’s true that you didn’t stand a chance, but you didn’t try to fight us even so. Nor lie to us. Or run. So I’ll be level with you. What I said before still applies. You are unlicensed adventurers, but you have cleared a dungeon, even it was easier for you than most. That means only a fine and maybe not even that since you helped The Barony with valuable information.”

He seemed to be getting to a point and it wasn’t one he felt too much joy in expressing.

“But. This dungeon is still part of The Barony. It’s located on its lands. Whatever you find in there, our kingdom is entitled to a part of it, if no other agreements have been made, which they have not. Normally, I would confiscate this artifact, have it evaluated, then send you a portion of its value as a finder’s fee.”

That didn’t sound so bad to Jack… depending of course on how long it took and how valuable they would value the artifact as.

But the commander wasn’t done. Grimacing, he turned to Brom.

“However, this is a dwarf treasure. I am aware of your people’s views on property master Brom. Give me your honest opinion. As the representative of your kin here and now, would The Barony taking a dwarven artifact from a dwarven lost city be considered an act of war?”

Brom looked at shocked, as much from the question as from him being named his kin’s ‘representative’. Jack desperately tried to make Brom understand that he should lie through his fucking teeth.

“I… am unsure. I cannot be considered a representative of my kin as I… do not hold such a position. But given the circumstances, I believe such an act cannot be expected to simply pass on unobserved.”

Good enough, I guess.

Maleh seemed to be mulling on the decision quite hard. On the one hand, the dwarfs were not an enemy to provoke lightly. Amenor could stand witness to that. On the other, this was a pretty powerful artifact. Sensing that the balance might not swing the way he’d want it to, Jack decided to add a little more fuel to Maleh’s fire.

“Please, we need this artifact to save our village. It’s why we entered this dungeon in the first place, even though we are rookie adventurers like you said.”

“Save your village?” Maleh asked, startled out of his thoughts. “What do you mean.”

Jackpot.

…

I should probably not get into the habit of using that catchphrase.

And that was how Jack told the story of how Amenor came to be into conflict with Hemrest and the danger now looming over their village, with the others chiming in here or there. He also added their adventure with the troll, for added bravery. Also, Jack tried to make their story as sad as possible and themselves as noble as he could. He wasn’t sure if it worked perfectly, but Maleh was looking more and more conflicted.

“Alright, alright.” Maleh spoke up, just as Jack was confessing that Helmrest couldn’t possibly face Helmrest on its own, after being mauled by a monster attack so recently.

“You all have put me in a very tight spot. I’m a commander. I don’t deal with matters that affect other regions. This… this needs to be taken higher up the chain.”

That was when the man turned and spoke in hushed tones with his Mage Sergeant. It was a few minutes before they returned to the group and when they did, Maleh was holding a flat, circular piece of glass in his hand. Or was it crystal?

Looking around, Jack noticed that Brom seemed to know what the object was since he was looking at it pretty intently. But he didn’t seem worried, just focused.

At least we’re not getting attacked.

The very next second, the crystalline object lit up, shooting up a diffuse beam of light. In it, the torso of a man appeared, smiling widely at them.

“Good day, adventurers. My name is Joviel Larue. The Baron. I understand that you’ve just retrieved a powerful artifact from a dungeon placed on my lands. Tell me, would you be open to barter for it?”

The man was all friendly smiles and charm.

So why did Jack feel that if Mr. Winnow had been a snatcher fish, this was a shark?