“You certainly are diligent. I’ll give you that, boy.” Fiery red hair and a red cloak to match. Tall. Dagger-like black heels. Blazing, piercing eyes and razor-sharp nails. A woman who exudes such a powerful presence that he felt every inhale burn his throat. A woman he had hoped never to see again.

“Don’t let me interfere with your playtime. Go on.” The woman glared at him as she pushed a book across the table. Friction caused the book to stop just at the edge. “Continue your studying.”

Jake didn’t budge from the room entrance. “What do you want?” Not wanting to repeat his initial meeting with the woman, Jake elected to remain as close as possible to his only exit. By not entering the room, he would have a head start if things got heated.

The woman eyed him, her bright eyes glowing faintly as the mana within them looked through his own face. “You’re in a pinch, aren’t you?”

“What concern is that of yours?” He didn’t know this woman’s plan nor her angle. Yir wouldn’t share with him who she was nor would either of them identify who she was. All Jake could surmise from the prior conversation was that she was related to Lady Ferynith somehow. And they may not have been on great terms. Ah, she also didn’t like Lady Rastua.

“None.” The woman answered sharply. “But you are useful and it would be a pain to waste you.” The woman looked down at the table. A single nail slid just over the smooth surface as she looked over the various open books and even his notes. “Of all the Apostles my sister has made a bond with, she has never chosen someone so young. Why do you think that is?” The woman paused at one of the books focused on Detoxification, her eyes glazing over the exposed page.

Jake swallowed a lump in his throat, unsure how to answer. “Uh… Potential?” He spit out the first thing that came to mind, the one thing he thought he could figure might be true.

It inspired a laugh. The woman scoffed at him. “No, fool.” She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at him. “You may have potential but you’re an idiot. A fool who wastes his time fighting a useless battle against an enemy far beyond your understanding. I like to think she did it as an experiment of some kind.” With a flick, she closed the book. Clap.

Her words caused Jake’s stomach to churn. “You’re in the Ravine fighting the Maedra, correct?” She moved on to another book.

“Yes,” he responded flatly. She huffed. Clap.

“Why? From what I have learned, you’ve been there for quite some time. I’ve also learned how little progress you’ve made.” She moved to the next book, her finger dragging along the text as she spoke. “What is your purpose in the Ravine? Are you trying to play Guardian yourself now that the Arachkin is dead?” Clap.

“Or is it out of spite? Anger and revenge? Hatred for the Maedra themselves?” Clap.

“Or is it a personal, selfish wish?” Clap. “Maybe you’re clinging to something down there, unable to let it go." Clap. “Unable to leave and return to whatever hole you left after my sister granted you whatever pitiful request you asked for.” Clap.

Jake's ears rang from both her sharp voice and the thunderous clapping of each book she closed. His emotions boiled beneath the surface and he felt his hands instinctively curl as he restrained himself. Fighting this woman would only result in his own suffering. He was nowhere close to her level yet.

She stopped walking at the edge of the table closest to him. Finally turning to face him again, she looked down from her height advantage. “Answer, brat.” Clap.

The boy took a slow breath, keeping his annoyance contained. “I’ve stayed behind to help the inhabitants of the Ravine. The Maedr-”

“Who asked you to?” She cut in. Jake’s mouth hung open for a moment as he paused.

“Uh… No one. I chose to do it.” He blinked. She crossed her arms.

“You chose to meddle in the affairs of the Ravine? For what purpose?” Her question dug at him.

“None. I just felt like it.” Jake had his reasons, his hate. Something she had mentioned but he had no reason to say it to her. Not when she looked at him with such disdain.

“You were friends with that bug, weren’t you?” Her insult towards Chul caused the burning in his core to heat up even further. Yet, he struggled to stay cool.

“What bug?” He retorted, earning him a heated scoff. She shook her head and then ran her fingers through her hair. Several strands of hair scattered and burned away in the air.

“And when the Maedra killed him, you made it your mission to get revenge. How poetic and righteous of you.” The woman turned away and returned to her circling of the room. “Your youthful nature makes you predictable. You let your emotions dictate your choices and while it certainly leads you to power, it will also lead you to failure. Possibly even your own death.” Clap.

“A certain pet of mine has been watching you. Keeping tabs on what you’ve been up to in the Ravine. You’re facing an enemy you have almost no understanding of. An enemy that is far more willing to resort to great lengths so long as it means your death than I think you are ready for.” The woman paused, her finger holding up the back cover of a book.

She stared down at it for a moment before finally letting it fall closed. “Have you heard of Crux, boy?” She looked over at Jake and then turned to face him.

“I have.” Uncertain of what she wanted, he felt it fair to at least tell the truth. She spoke as if she had all the answers anyways so lying likely wouldn’t help him. Not now.

“Do you know what the Maedra are?” The follow-up question led Jake to wonder if she was alluding to something. A possible connection between the two. It made him pause for a deep breath. Crux. The Maedra. The Black Knight. Were they all connected in some way?

“Aside from rampaging beasts who eat mana, no.” Jake finally decided to enter the room. He stepped over to the table and folded his hands behind his back. Assuming a comfortable, neutral stance. The woman let out a low hum, the noise making a low bellow before she finally continued.

“They are remnants of Crux’s army.” She spat. Jake’s jaw tensed and his teeth squeezed together. “They are a plague that is an echo of his former army. In his attempt to conquer the Overworld, Crux made several pacts with the Myr, taking on numerous curses in exchange for power. With one of those curses, the Myr granted him the ability to conjure up an army.” She raised one of her hands and turned it over, her eyes looking over her nails as she spoke. As if bored. “The Maedra were born and with it came an eternal enemy for the Seraphym. One that today lives deep beneath the surface, waiting for their Master to come back to life.”

“So?” While it was helpful information for someone looking to fight Crux, he didn't really care. If it wasn’t able to help him kill them, he wasn’t interested.

“The Maedra aren’t foolish like you might think they are. They might be a bit childish in nature. Clumsy. Slow. Instinctive at times, but they are far more vicious and cunning than you might give them credit for.” The woman lowered her hand and then looked at Jake again. “Why do you think the Guardian was placed in the Ravine?”

Jake knew that answer. “To protect the Summoning Circle to the God’s Realm and to protect the Dragon Vein from the Maedra.”

She hummed and nodded. “Partial answers receive partial points. Initially, your insect friend wasn’t there for either of those. However, his presence was convenient for the Gods and they adjusted his orders to suit them. Originally, he was there to suppress the Maedra. That was all.” She paused, taking in a slow breath before raising her other hand to inspect her nails.

“The Ravine is special, you see. A large battle was fought in the Lands of Maur which destroyed much of the landscape, leaving it barren. Empty. Eventually turning it into the wasteland desert it is today.” The woman huffed, remembering where Jake came from. Jake didn’t flinch, however, and waited patiently for her to continue.

“Due to the gruesome fighting that had ground both side’s advances to a halt, Crux realized that if he wanted to beat the Seraphym out of the southern zone, he would need a much closer location for his army to be birthed. Thus, he tore open the ground and created the Ravine. There he carved open the underworld of the maw, scattered the seeds of his children within it, and the perfect location was formed for the flesh bags to reproduce. The new location quickly replenished Crux’s forces and he was able to overwhelm the Seraphym, forcing the angelic runts back to the north east and eventually out of the Overworld itself.

After the war, and after Crux’s downfall, the Maedra found themselves in trouble. Without the protection of their Master’s Curse, they could not survive on the surface anymore and they were seen as vile remnants of the Harbinger of the Myr. In their weakened state, they were either killed or forced to retreat into various caves and dark places to wait out the centuries in hopes of their master one day breaking free from his imprisonment. As you can tell, he isn’t awake and they are now being hunted almost constantly by Elves and Dwarves. Adventurers encounter them regularly and kill them off.” She paused, folding her arms beneath her chest in order to support the large mounds she carried. It wasn’t sexy.

“The Ravine is the one place they have continued to make trouble. Its deep, dark pit is far outside the reach of the sun. The strength of the Gods is low within its walls, and they cannot see through the thick fog enveloping it. So, their answer was to send a powerful force to subjugate them. A Guardian. A being powerful enough to bring the rampaging Ravine to its knees. This will ensure Crux, should he return for some reason, is left without an army to support him.” The woman paused again, turning her eyes down to Jake’s notes. She plucked the stack of loose papers off the table and began to read them.

“Your Arachkin friend was that Guardian. He did a mighty fine job of killing the Maedra, from what I’ve heard.” She let out a low chuckle as she continued to read.

Jake sighed. “He did. When I first stumbled into the Ravine, there were no Maedra to speak of. When we returned a month later it was kind of scary to see how many had returned. He killed most of them but a Maudrake had developed that he couldn’t handle.”

The woman hummed lightly. “The Maudrake were created specifically to counter the Guardians and my kin. They were Crux’s favorite toys and his trump card. That is, until the Titans were made.” She scoffed again. “To think they dared to carry part of my species' name…”

Jake raised a thumb to his mouth and nipped down on the tip of it, biting at the thick meat as his mind rolled over the thought. Piecing together his experience and the new information, the Maedra were beginning to make sense as a fighting force. The Maedra, the Maudraga, and the Maudrakes. Each was an evolutionary step in power that would inevitably give Crux enough strength to combat the Seraphym, the forces of the Overworld, and whatever powerful creatures that would be sent against him. If the Titans came later, then there was no doubt Crux might have tried to make another spawn of his own with power to match it.

It seemed this woman was also a dragonkin. Having called Lady Ferynith her sister, Jake had his suspicions but he didn’t want to put them to paper until she’d acknowledged them. He now understood her power with magic. Yet, if that were true, why did she hate him so much?

“So did the Ravine create the Maudrake to kill Chul and free up the Ravine again?” It seemed plausible, but he wasn’t sure. The Ravine wasn’t a living thing. It was just a place. Unless there was something influencing the birth of the Maedra, all he could guess was that the creation of the Maudrake was a coincidence. Bad timing.

“No, not the Ravine but someone within it.” The woman set down Jake’s notes. “Have you encountered a Black Knight wandering around in it? Tall. Carrying a long sword. Maybe he has a long plume sticking out of his helmet, full of wretched mana.”

She didn’t need to describe him. Jake could picture the individual well enough.

“I have. And I plan to kill him.”

“He is the source of your current troubles.” The woman smirked and began to slowly circle the table. “That Knight is the Captain of the Ravine and his appearance is a premonition that Crux’s forces are attempting to resurrect their Master. That Black Knight in particular likely came from the Cradle, slipped through the forces bordering it, and found his way into the Ravine. There, and with no Guardian to stop him, he is likely attempting to form the Maedra into a fighting force that he can bring to the surface when his allies finally break Crux’s seals.”

Jake bit down firmly on his thumb. The Knight must have entered the Ravine during the time Chul left it. Once more, inconvenient timing. Or maybe the Knight had entered earlier and had already begun to prepare to attack Chul. According to Chul, the creation of the Maudrake was almost too quick. Especially the creation of two. The Black Knight had likely been working on the two together in hopes of catching Chul off guard. The issue was that Chul returned early and killed the Arachkin Maudrake before it was ready. The other, the one they had faced at the Dragon Vein, was most likely finished and had performed to expectations.

How unfortunate.

“So if I kill the Captain, the Maedra will stop?” While he appreciated the information, that’s all it was. She hadn’t given him anything tangible just yet. He needed a way to focus what she was telling him on an objective he could complete. A task and purpose that could be executed that would lead them to victory.

“The Maedra will never stop. No matter how many you kill in that place, they will always find a way to spawn within the maw.” She told him the one thing he didn’t want to hear. Though, he wondered if she knew about the purification spell. If not, then it would explain her thinking. “Killing the Captain will simply make them stupid again. It will cause the Maedra to lose their leadership and the beasts will return to their pitiful, instinctive state. It will make them easier to hunt and easier to suppress.”

Killing the Captain would give the Oryx a chance to survive.

“How do I kill him?” While Jake had fought the Maedra, he had only encountered the Black Knight at a distance. The Knight was capable of cutting his spells and he was also able to lead quite a number of Maedra. If Jake wanted to kill him, he needed a plan and a surefire way to suppress him.

The woman held up two fingers. “Destroy the crystal in his chest. Or, seal him away and throw away the key.” Her fingers lowered and her eyes locked with Jake’s. “Both of which I will assist you with.”

“What?” He blinked. Unsure if what he heard was correct.

The woman smirked and raised her chin. “My pets have already entered the Ravine. One is currently hunting the Maedra within it as we speak. She is causing quite an uproar in the lower tunnels. Places well beyond your current reach. I have instructed her to avoid you until I could ascertain your desires and your ability. Another has been watching you very closely. I told her to keep a distant eye on you and to inform me of any irrational choices of yours. To my surprise, you have proven quite effective at killing Maedra. While you can be stupid in your decisions at times, it is clear that my sister’s choice to make you an Apostle bears some weight.”

Jake hesitated to take all of her words as truth. Something tickled his mind, warning him to be suspicious and to question her motives. Something like an internal instinct that kept him from being too trusting. The more he learned about the Overworld and its workings, the more he found himself being exposed to its expansiveness, the less he realized he knew. The black veil over everything was so thick and he had only just begun to dip his toes into the depths of the world. The woman before him had been quite rough with him the first time they’d met. Now that it seemed convenient for her, she was looking at him as a potential tool to use. If that were true, then she likely would tell him exactly what he wanted to hear in order to sway him to her side.

However, there would be a benefit to at least following along for a brief while. The potential to learn more about her, learn about the Maedra, and potentially gain an advantage in the coming fight were all on the table. In the grand scheme of things, a personal sacrifice could result in an overall gain. He found it difficult to properly choose a side.

“What kind of help are you offering?” Before making his decision, Jake at least wanted to know what she could give him. Was it more knowledge? Magic? Or maybe a direct asset that would fight with him?

The woman’s lips curled slightly as she eyed him. She extended a hand and at the tips of her fingers, a bright flame with several enchantments began to burn and sizzle. “Power.”

Hearing that word spoken so plainly, Jake let out a sigh and his shoulders drooped. It seemed to be an unexpected reaction, as the woman’s face twisted with annoyance. She snuffed out the display in order to see his face clearly beyond it.

“You don’t want power?” She rumbled, confused by his response.

Jake shook his head and stepped up to the table. He grabbed a book and raised it. “It sounds weird when I say it but power is earned. Not given. Sure, Lady Ferynith’s blessing has allowed me to use magic and she has granted me access to this Library. But everything I can do, everything I’ve learned- it’s all stuff that I’ve achieved with my own hands.” Jake returned the book to the table. “To be given something without having earned the right to use it is…”

He paused, his mind struggling to find the right word. He first thought it boring but such a description seemed too simple. Jake enjoyed the process of growth. He enjoyed the effort, the long hours spent reading and struggling. He reveled in failing just to learn how to be better. He enjoyed achieving something after stumbling for hours. Answering a question he had a hard time with was euphoric.

“...sad.” He muttered finally. “Everyone around me that I’ve learned from has earned their skill, their experience. I won’t let myself be so weak as to accept handouts.”

The woman’s arms crossed beneath her bosom as she stared at him, her fiery eyes piercing through his own. Her expression was stiff and her tail swayed slowly behind her stanced hips. After a long staring contest, she smiled. “Maybe you’re not the child I thought you were,” she said.

“Fine. What is it that you desire, boy?” It seemed she was willing to negotiate. With that, Jake understood that she was at least genuine in her desire to help. Or she was willing to be flexible if it meant getting him to cooperate. From what Jake could garner, her goal aligned with his own. Suppress the Maedra in the Ravine. It likely would be easy for her to do it herself but Jake assumed that she could not get directly involved for whatever reason, hence why she had sent underlings in her stead. Her underlings probably weren’t strong enough to take on the Black Knight as well. So, she was likely gambling in hopes of getting Jake to help in that effort.

Which meant he had the advantage.

“Magic. You’re a dragonkin, right?” Jake straightened his back and watched as her face soured. “I’m a battle mage and the only reason I’m here is to learn more magic, develop my skills, and explore the world. From what I've heard and what I can guess, Dragonkin have some of the most advanced magic in the Overworld. Magic I can also assume isn't gathered within these walls.” The more he spoke, the more he felt the temperature in the room rise, and the more he felt the ice in his veins thicken.

“Is that not just power, runt? They’re the same!” She hissed. Words that told Jake she hadn't been born with nothing. Her strength came from her birth, from her blood. Jake and thousands of others scattered across the Overworld were not the same.

There was a storm in her eyes but Jake kept his footing. “I don’t want power given, but I want you to either teach me Dragonkin magic or give me a book with magic in it that I can learn from.”

“You’re an expensive brat, aren’t you?” The woman rumbled. Jake shrugged.

“If that’s how you want to put it, then sure. That’s the cost.” He looked down and tapped on a close book. “With or without your help, I’ll fight the Black Knight and kill him. I’ll kill the Maedra. I’ll clear the Ravine, and I’ll continue to learn more within this Library.” His extended finger curled and instead he rapped his knuckles down onto the table, pushing his fist against the surface. “You’re an accessory to the outcome. Not a necessity.”

Before she even appeared, Jake had the full intention of training up and fighting the Black Knight. With or without this woman’s help, he planned to kill the Knight. If she could offer him an additional tool to add to his arsenal, he would welcome it. But he wouldn’t let himself become reliant on such things. If she wanted to help, it would ideally have to be something he wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. In addition, it would need to give him an opportunity to truly build on the foundations he had established. It would also need to be something he could learn quickly lest it be useless in the upcoming fight.

Much to his surprise, the woman’s expression remained unchanged, and instead of snapping at him she simply raised her nose. The red in her eyes glowed with heat. Her breath ignited the air and the swaying of her tail caused the air to stir. “You humans never fail to surprise me,” she spat.

Jake shrugged and pulled out the chair in front of him. After organizing the books, he sat down to continue his studies. “Unless we have a deal, please leave. I have to study.” The boy opened the book he had left off on and began searching for the page he’d last read over.

The woman huffed and eyed him. “What drives you, boy?”

Jake sighed and turned a page, annoyed that she was still loitering. “I told you already. It’s to help the inhabitants of the Ravine.”

“No human man does things for such simple reasons.” Her voice rolled into the air with a rumble. Slowly, she moved around the table. Once more, she circled the room, like a predator cornering her prey.

“I’m a simple man,” Jake retorted. He tried to focus but the clicking of her heels and the pressure of her stare on the back of his face made that difficult.

“Are you? A man with no passion, ambition, or fruitless desire?” She stopped just behind his shoulder. She leaned down and placed her hand on the table beside him. The temperature spiked as she let out a heavy exhale over his shoulder and onto his neck. “Why do you fight the Maedra so seriously? There’s more to you than just revenge and hate.”

Jake clenched his jaw and his fingers gripped the book. “No, it’s just that.”

His answer must not have been satisfactory. She let out a rumble and pulled away. “Why?” Her circling continued.

“They killed my friend. They threatened my current companions and their homes. And if I leave them alone, they might attack my village or other innocent people. If something like that is left unchecked, it will become a serious problem.”

She laughed. “Who are you, some kind of hero?” Her tail whipped as she stopped at the far side of the table. “How kind of you to perform such a service to the world.”

Jake’s jaw relaxed and he sat up, meeting those burning eyes of hers. “I’m no hero. Never said I was and I never intended to be one. But if I can do something to help, then I would hate myself if I didn’t.”

She stared at him. Her left finger tapped against her right bicep. “Value yourself more, boy. Unnecessary bloodshed will only lead to unnecessary tears.”

Jake froze for a moment. He held her gaze before his own eyes drifted down to the table in front of him. The scattered books, notes, and the scattered hourglasses all reflected the effort he was putting into learning Light magic. The bookshelves were crammed full of various spell books he had gathered to strengthen his abilities. Even the practice room looked different now than he initially remembered. All in hopes of developing his magic further.

“You think I’d sacrifice myself?” He asked.

“Would you not?” She returned his question with her own and Jake found it difficult to answer straight away. At first, he thought the obvious response would be ‘no’. Of course he wouldn’t just throw his life away. Yet, the more he thought about it, the less he found clarity in such a straight forward response.

“....I’m not sure.”

She nodded. “And that is enough. Most mages of your kind are cowards. They will flee the moment danger arises that threatens them. They are fragile of body and weak of heart. Their minds, though refined and filled with knowledge, are easy to break. Their resolves are only strong enough to make them stubborn, but not brave."

The woman reached up into the air to her right. Her nails began to glow as she seemed to cut a hole through space itself. When a large enough gash had been formed, she reached inside. From within, she pulled out a medium-sized tome. The writing on the cover was in a language Jake had never seen. Its bindings were red. The covers were black. The lettering was orange. The woman blew off a thick layer of dust off the cover before placing it down on the table.

A long nail stabbed into the book as she pushed it forward. An offering. Payment. “A warning. Magic developed by my kin is dangerous to you lowly humans. The mana we use is far purer than your own. Using one of these spells may cost you more than just mana.”

Jake sat up from his book and looked across at the black tome. “I think I’ll manage. Will those spells help me defeat the Knight?” Worrying about whether or not he could use the magic wasn’t something Jake would waste time on. He was more worried about whether or not he could actually use the magic in his fight.

“This tome contains the foundations for Aura magic. We teach it to our infants to protect them. For us, it’s almost natural to use but for you humans with your feeble mana control it should prove to be a fine test.” The woman tapped the book before stepping towards the door. “Aura magic will prove useful against your coming enemy. Crux’s underlings fight in vile ways. Learn it before your fight and you’ll find the Black Knight to be far easier of an enemy.”

The clicking of heels faded and the woman wearing them left Jake to his studies. The boy stared at the black tome, lingering on the choice put before him. One more thing to learn. One more thing to crunch into his already short amount of available time. It seemed almost impossible to prepare fully for the upcoming fight. As if all he could do was learn bits and pieces of everything and hope to jam it together into some kind of functional strategy. He hadn’t quite grasped his Light Magic spells just yet and even his physical abilities would need polishing still. To add Dragonkin magic to the mix would require him to not only learn the magic, but also be able to translate the book. Jake couldn’t read the letters on the cover.

He had already burned one day and he only had two left.

“... Dammit,” he cursed under his breath. His fists clenched and the boy lowered his head to the book in front of him. Even with the Library’s extension of time, he was beginning to realize that it wouldn’t be enough. He wouldn’t be ready. He wouldn’t be prepared. The Black Knight would come, the Maedra would be at his doorstep, and Jake wouldn’t be able to do his job to the fullest extent.

Which meant that people were going to die.

“Someone looks stressed.” Just as Jake found his mind spiraling into a dark place, another familiar voice tickled his ear. A fairy with purple wings entered the room. She landed just off Jake’s left and hopped on her toes over towards the black tome. Curiosity burned in her eyes. “What’s this?”

“Dragonkin magic. I can’t read it yet, though, so I’m not sure what to do with it.” Jake sighed and scratched the side of his head. To say he was stressed was an understatement.

“Shall I translate it for you?” Fena asked, nudging open the book to the first page. She began to scan the text within, her eyes glazing over the page.

Jake blinked and stiffened. “You can read Dragonkin?”

“The language is called Alderon, and yes. I can. All fairies who work beneath Lady Ferynith are required to learn it.” Fena didn’t look up from the pages as she began to flip through and scan them. She let out a soft hum as she suddenly flipped to the middle of the book. “This is a book on Aura magic… Interesting.”

“The woman who left it said it was infant magic. She said it would help me in my fight against the Maedra.” Jake paused his own studying to feed information to Fena. The fairy nodded and skipped another large section of the text. It seemed she was looking for something in the book.

“You said woman. Hot-tempered like Alba?” Fena glanced up at Jake who nodded. Fena huffed and then flipped back to the first page. “She’s been meeting with Yir quite frequently lately. I was right to guess she must be up to something. Either way, it will be valuable to learn. Especially as a battle mage.”

“I only have a day to learn it.” Jake spit out the final detail that Fena needed to know and the Fairy looked up at him with a harsh glare.

“...Then you’re in for a hard time. Give me a few hours.” Fena slapped the book closed, tapped it to lift it from the table, and then fluttered into the practice room. “When I fetch you, be ready to sweat.” She left the book behind, darted into the Library, and then returned a few moments later with two other fairies. The trio sealed the practice room from Jake’s view with a white veil and left Jake in silence.

The boy gulped down the lump in his throat and forced himself to return to the books in front of him. It seemed he was in for a rough ride.