The Zombie Knight

The heel of David’s shoe tapped rapidly against the marble floor as he eyed his watch for the twentieth time since sitting down at this small table. During his time here in Intar as an Atreyan Ambassador, he’d grown quite accustomed to playing the slow game, to being exceedingly patient, but this particular wait was proving too much even for him. He’d already ordered his meal, finished it, ordered dessert, and finished that, too.

It was hard not to be annoyed.

These “meetings” that he’d been taking of late could hardly be regarded as such. They were always with individuals who were rather low on the political totem pole, but that usually also meant that they didn’t have as much trouble making time for him. In fact, that was the main reason why he’d been pursuing them in the first place.

So it was quite obnoxious whenever one of them was a no-show.

Hector snickered. ‘I’m just trying to make sure you’re being entirely truthful with me. Because, Garovel, if you DO have some sort of dark ambition, I’m going to find out sooner or later. That’s not something you’ll be able to keep hidden from me forever. So I figure it’d be best if I found out sooner, considering the fact that we’re kinda stuck together.’

‘...Hector. You almost sound like you WANT me to harbor such ambitions.’

‘Eh. “Want” would be a strong word. Let’s just say I’m keeping an open mind.’

‘I’m not sure whether to find that heartwarming or very worrying,’ said Garovel.

‘I think you’ve earned the benefit of the doubt,’ said Hector. ‘I’m not gonna jump to some crazy new conclusions about you, just ‘cuz some judgmental little orb tells me to.’

And then it wasn’t just a pulse, anymore. A line of radiant energy lashed out like a great tentacle and snaked toward his intangible form.

Instantly, Hector’s anger returned with equal violence. ‘STOP THAT RIGHT NOW.’

The entire headspace shook with each word, as if caught in a momentary earthquake, and the tentacle retracted back into the orb, which was left shuddering there in his hand.

Hector needed a moment to calm his own fury. He wasn’t mad that the thing had tried to attack him. In fact, for some reason, he felt as though it could not possibly harm him, no matter how hard it tried.

No, he was mad because it had tried to attack Garovel. In that briefest window of assault, he’d sensed its intent. It had wanted to remove the reaper from this place by force, uncaring of the harm it might cause in the process.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ said Hector. ‘What, you think you know everything? That you have full understanding of someone, just because you can sense a few of their secrets? And you think that justifies doing whatever you want to them?’

And Hector left an opening for it to respond, but it had nothing to say, this time.

‘This is my warning to you,’ said Hector. ‘I sense a bit of your hubris now. You think you’re really valuable. Really special. And you are. But don’t for one second think that you’re too valuable and special to destroy. You understand me? You’ve already endangered Abbas. And now you’ve tried to harm my best friend. If you keep behaving like that, then I will make sure you can never harm anyone ever again.’

‘I feel like this is a conversation we should be having in private,’ said Garovel.

‘I’m pretty sure this little guy isn’t gonna tell anyone.’

‘Oh, he’s a trustworthy little guy now, is he? A minute ago, you called him an asshole.’

‘Well, he was being one.’

Another pulse.

‘Yes, you were. Anyway, Garovel, continue. If not in the “literal sense,” then in what sense do you want to conquer the world?’

The reaper sighed. ‘Technically, I suppose... in the sense of wanting to uncover all the world’s lost and hidden knowledge... then yes, one might consider that a form of conquest. I suppose. If you squint.’

There arrived still another pulse.

‘It says you’re leaving something out.’

‘Ugh. FINE. Not just the lost and hidden knowledge. The lost and hidden powers, too. One could argue that I am... a bit... perhaps... slightly... power hungry. Okay? Geez. Why do you gotta make me feel so bad about it, huh? Everyone likes power, don’t they?’

‘Hmm. What do you want to do with all that power?’

‘I--egh--I don’t know! I just--! I want to see it! Experience it. Understand it. Maybe find new ways to put it to good use, if we can. Or... I don’t know. It’s just a... an instinctual thing, I suppose. I’ve never really been forced to articulate the entirety of my feelings on the matter like this, so... genuinely, I’m not sure what I would do. Perhaps it would depend on the exact nature of said powers.’

Hector wanted to scratch his chin. ‘So you’re telling me you’re not interested in oppressing the masses?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Of course you’re not telling me that? Or of course you’re not interested?’

‘Hector. Don’t even joke about that shit. I’ve seen far too many oppressors throughout history to want to become one myself. I don’t even find the idea funny.’

‘Really? Not even a little bit? God-King Garovel?’

‘Shut the hell up. I’d sooner let myself get eaten by a feldeath.’

‘Wow.’

The Mini-Candle pulsed again.

‘It doesn’t believe you,’ said Hector. ‘And to be honest, I’m not sure I do, either.’

‘Well, it’s a good thing that I don’t have to prove shit to either of you, then. I know I’m speaking the truth, and that’s all that matters.’

There came a sudden period of silence as apparently no one knew what to say next.

Eventually, Hector came up with something. ‘Okay, but if you DID want to conquer the world literally, you probably wouldn’t think of it as oppressing anyone. It’d be, like, “for the greater good” or some shit, right?’

‘I hate this conversation.’

‘Uh. Are you talking to it?’

Hector’s anger abated, and he might’ve blinked if he could feel his eyes. ‘Garovel! You’re here.’

‘I am. Though I have no idea what in the world is going on.’

‘Oh. Um. Well, this... Mini-Candle or whatever you wanna call it... uh, it’s alive, just like we thought. And it’s being an asshole, right now.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘It’s got an attitude problem. It wants me to abandon Abbas and take its power for myself.’

‘Wow. Talk about ungrateful.’

‘Exactly!’

‘But, um. How are you able to communicate with it, precisely?’

Hmm. That was a good question. ‘I don’t know. I guess I’m just... reading its aura?’

‘Ah. So it’s a new, unprecedented thing you can do. Cool.’

‘Garovel...’

‘No, I’m happy for you. That’s super neat. I’m sure it’ll come in handy.’

‘The sarcasm in your voice is painful.’

‘Is it? Ah, my bad. I frequently find myself wanting to give you a hard time for no reason.’

‘Well, at least you’re acknowledging it.’

The Mini-Candle pulsed in his hand another time. It was protesting again, Hector realized. It wanted him to remove Garovel from this headspace and talk only to it.

‘What’s it saying?’ asked the reaper.

Rather than getting angry, however, Hector couldn’t help being amused. ‘It doesn’t like you, Garovel. It wants me to abandon you, too.’

‘Wait, what? The fuck did I do?’

‘Dunno. Hey, Mini-Candle, what’s your problem with Garovel?’

It pulsed again. Hector listened. For a while, actually. It just kept going on.

‘...Well?’ said Garovel.

‘Uh. Okay, first off: you’re a reaper. It doesn’t like reapers.’

‘Oh, so it’s racist, too. Excellent. Wait, how does it even know what reapers are? It was just born, wasn’t it?’

‘Beats me. Maybe it absorbed knowledge from the Candle.’

‘Okay, well, what else? I assume there was more.’

‘Er. To make a long story short... it said that it can sense your desire to conquer the world.’

‘What the hell?’

‘Well, Garovel? What do you have to say for yourself? Have you secretly wanted to conquer the world this whole time?’

‘N-no...’

‘Oh yeah? Why’d you stutter there?’

‘Agh, bec-because! It’s such an out-of-nowhere question! I was taken aback!’

‘Hmm...’

‘Hector, please. You’re killin’ me here.’

‘I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time someone’s told me that reapers are secretive and ambitious...’

‘Buddy. I don’t want to conquer the world.’ The reaper paused. ‘At least, not in the literal sense.’

The small orb pulsed yet again.

‘It wants to know what you mean by that,’ said Hector.

This was dangerous.

Supremely so, Hector felt.

No. Actually, he didn’t feel that. In fact, that was the whole problem. He felt the power there in his hand. Felt the desire to hold it closer, to use it, to wield it wildly and experimentally. To begin limit-testing right away.

But he knew this feeling. He’d felt it once before. During his meditations.

When he’d gone so deep into his own mind that he felt like he’d touched the so-called Void.

This was like that. Almost exactly like it, actually.

Which was more than enough to give him pause.

Wow.

If he hadn’t had that experience already, then he might not have realized the danger here. His emotions, his feelings--they were telling him to push on. To grasp this power and do as he pleased.

It was only his rational mind that was keeping him in check.

His focus lingered on the ball of molten energy in the palm of his hand. Such a curious thing. Like it wanted him to use it. Like it was daring him to, even.

It made Hector wonder something. Had Abbas made contact with this, too? And had he, perhaps, been seduced by its energizing allure?

This had happened many times before. Countless times, in fact, across history. Brilliant minds creating or discovering something incredible, only for it to destroy them.

The memories from the Candle told him so.

Dammit. Perhaps he should’ve warned Abbas. Agh, but how could he have? It hadn’t seemed like his place to warn such an old and experienced servant about anything. Had Abbas truly never encountered this sort of thing before?

Impossible to tell now.

Worse still, Hector was realizing that Abbas’ current condition might actually be much worse than a mere week-long coma. If the man had not only touched this but actually embraced it fully and tried to wield it immediately like it was tempting Hector to do, then...

There was a chance that Abbas and Worwal would never wake up at all.

That realization made Hector bristle with irritation. His focus shifted again, bringing everything to bear upon the power in his hand.

Damn light. This was not going to happen. Hector was not going to allow it.

‘We are not going to let Abbas stay that way,’ thought Hector. ‘You understand me, you little ball of fury?’

He felt it shudder in his grasp. It was saying something. Protesting? Telling him to seize its power for himself. To forget Abbas.

That pissed Hector off immensely. ‘Out of the question,’ he thought, his voice booming with reverberation. ‘He created you, goddammit.’

He wanted to circle around the outside of the globe in order to perhaps find a better place to attempt this, but there were still branches all over the place, barring his path. Hacking through them didn’t seem worth the effort, and he supposed it wouldn’t make much difference, anyway. What did he expect to find? A hidden connection port somewhere in the globe’s base? Not likely.

This spot would have to do, he decided. And with one hand clutching the encased flame, he placed his other hand on the big orb.

He’d witnessed both Abbas and Agrian working with the Candle. This was how it was done. It was an entirely mental process.

Whether or not this would work for a non-integration user... well, he was about to find out. Technically, he’d done this before, with Abbas’ help while the Candle was still dormant. He hadn’t tried it since then, though.

He pressed his soul into the glass.

Instantly, he felt it. The full breadth of its physical volume. Like an extension of his own body, almost. And there was so much more, too, just waiting for him to push further.

But he was familiar with this feeling now, so he knew to hold himself back. To not walk off the metaphysical cliff in front of him.

But wow.

The Candle’s power was clear to him. A radiant ball of concentrated energy, filling his mind’s eye like a sun. Or a volcanic pit, perhaps.

It seemed quite tepid, somehow. Despite all that energy sitting there, it was still... quite calm. Maybe even... tired?

Ah. From creating a new object, of course. Right. It wanted to rest. The more he observed, the more obvious that feeling became.

Interesting. Thinking back to his observations of Agrian’s work, he didn’t recall the Candle ever appearing tired or drained. Which, he supposed, further supported his theory that Agrian had never really managed to summon the fullness of the forge’s power.

Either that, or Agrian had just been better at maintaining control. Rendering the Candle ‘tired’ wasn’t exactly a desirable outcome, nor was putting oneself into a coma, as Abbas had apparently done.

Hmm. But what of this weird new object? He could feel it there in his hand, radiating with that very same energy. And the metal band, too. It glowed just as brilliantly in his mind, making him feel... rather strange, honestly.

And quite powerful. Like the energy was also an extension of his body.

Like he could bend it to his will, maybe.

Whoa...

‘Oh, come on,’ said Hector. ‘You’re exaggerating. I mean, yeah, okay, it’d be dangerous, but not THAT dangerous. Not number one.’

‘And you’re even downplaying it, too! It’s like you’re trying to outdo me!’

‘The Candle’s not that dangerous, Garovel. It’s calm and gentle.’

‘It just got done putting Abbas into a coma, Hector.’

‘I--er, I mean, we don’t know that was the Candle’s doing. He might’ve, y’know, just exhausted himself from overwork.’

‘Worwal was a puddle on the floor.’

‘So they both exhausted themselves. As a team. Which is what we are, right? A team.’

‘You’re really grasping at straws here, pal.’

Hector wanted to argue, but he couldn’t. Instead, he shrugged and shook his head. ‘I know.’

‘You really wanna connect to the Forge that badly?’

‘...Kinda, yeah. Who knows what we could learn from it?’

‘Didn’t it already teach you everything?’

‘No, I mean... well, maybe it did. I don’t actually know.’

‘Ah. More uncertainty. Great.’

‘Look, Garovel, it’s just... my time spent inside the Candle was... well, it was pretty useful and cool, okay? And it’d be amazing if we could establish a way to reconnect with it whenever we wanted. The sheer volume of information that the Candle has access to is... astounding. And I still don’t even know how it’s sourcing that information. If this works, we might be able to answer some important questions. And not just about the Candle itself but maybe even about Fusion Forges in general.’

‘Hmm.’

‘Don’t you want to know more? There’s a chance that you’d be able to come along with me this time.’

‘Now you’re just saying whatever you think I want to hear.’

Hector had to relinquish a nod at that. ‘I’m just trying to make my case. C’mon. I know you’re just as intrigued by the possibilities here as I am.’

‘Ugh. I really hate how right you are. None of these arguments should be convincing me, and yet here I am, ready to go along with whatever dumb shit you wanna try next.’ The reaper broke for a pause. ‘This better not be your weird aura bullshit influencing me, fucking with my sense of reasoning. I’m gonna be pissed if I find out that’s the case later.’

‘You say that as if you’re normally some paragon of rational thinking.’

‘I am. And fuck you for suggesting otherwise.’

Hector decided to step out of the big glass orb. He still didn’t really know how he was going to try and ‘connect’ this thing to the Candle, but somehow, he felt like doing so while inside the main workspace would’ve been even more stupid and dangerous. Like trying to start a car while sitting inside the engine.

Hector concentrated, though he wasn’t entirely sure on what. The orb? The flame? The metal band? He felt like he had to pick one.

He chose the flame. It seemed to be the centerpiece of the contraption, after all.

And as such, he did not close his eyes. Instead, he fixated them upon the fire.

It was certainly no normal flame. That much had already been obvious, but as he stared at it further, he began to sense something even stranger about it.

Yes. It had an aura.

Subtle. Quiet. But there, nonetheless.

How did that make sense, though?

As far as he knew, only living things possessed an aura.

Unless...

‘Garovel, I think this thing might be alive.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘I think this little flame in here is alive. A living flame.’

‘Huh.’

Hector waited. ‘That’s all you got for me? No ancient insights into the nature of life or whatever?’

‘Well, I do sense ardor in it, but that doesn’t confirm life. Rocks in the Undercrust, for example, are often chock full of ardor. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?’

‘Of course I’m not sure. I’ve never seen anything like this before. But it has an aura. And... I don’t know... I just feel like it’s... waiting.’

‘Waiting? For what?’

‘Good question. For me? The wearer? To do something? I’m not sure what else would make sense.’

‘Hmm. Okay. Let’s think about this, then. It’s not guaranteed, of course, but I’d say it’s a fair assumption that Abbas invented this object in order to assist with his goal of making powered armor usable by non-servants. That’s what he kept talking about when you asked him, right?’

‘Yeah.’

‘So... maybe this is some sort of... neural interface. Meant to safely connect a person’s brain to Abbas’ armor.’

Hector bobbed his head a little. ‘That sounds like a pretty good guess to me.’

‘Thank you. But if I’m right, then that might also mean that this thing actually does nothing on its own. And that we’re wasting our time, right now.’

‘Aww... In that case, I hope you’re wrong.’

‘Wow, Hector.’

‘Maybe we just need to connect it to something.’

‘Well, it’s probably meant to connect to Abbas’ armor and not anything else.’

‘You don’t know that. Maybe it could connect to all sorts of things.’

‘Oh yeah? Like what?’

‘Uh...’ Hector looked around the room from within the great glass orb. ‘I mean, there IS a big ass Fusion Forge just sitting here...’

Garovel was quiet a moment. ‘Y’know something, buddy? In terms of the most stupidly dangerous ideas we’ve ever contemplated, that might be the new number one. Genuinely, I am impressed, right now.’

‘That’s as good an idea as any,’ said Garovel. ‘Give it a try.’

Hector slipped his bare hand through the band. It was quite loose around his wrist, however, which made him think that this wasn’t quite right.

But then the band shrunk.

It fit snugly around his wrist. So snugly, in fact, that he couldn’t slide it back off.

“Uh-oh.”

‘Wow, did you fuck it up, already?’

‘I might’ve...’

‘Well, before we resort to chopping your arm off, why don’t you just take a moment to reassess? How are you feeling, right now?’

Hector shrugged. ‘Fine, I guess. No different.’

‘Hmm. And your senses? Your concentration? You could try focusing. Or meditating.’

‘I could,’ said Hector with a bob of his head. ‘I’ve got a different idea, though.’ He took a breath and held his wrist up. “Hey, Candle, can you show me how to use this thing?”

And they waited, but no response arrived.

‘Damn,’ thought Hector. ‘Guess that would’ve been too easy.’

‘It was worth a try. You keep reminding me that the Candle has a mind of its own, and yet somehow, I keep forgetting. It just doesn’t seem possible, but I guess that’s the whole thing about Fusion Forges. Doing the impossible. Maybe you should try asking it something else. Something a little easier.’

Easier, huh? “...Can you show me how to activate it, at least?”

Still no response arrived, however.

‘That wasn’t much better, Hector. In fact, that was almost the same question.’

‘Look, man, I don’t know what I’m doing here.’

‘I can tell. Why don’t you just ask it to wake Abbas up for us while you’re at it?’

A beat passed as Hector chewed on that. “Hey, Candle, could you wake Abbas up for us? And, er, heal Worwal, too?”

A response did not arrive for that, either.

‘Hector, I was joking. There was no way that was going to work.’

‘Yeah, but I mean... what if it did, though? You were just talking about how forges can do the impossible.’

‘I feel like your expectations for the Candle are increasing with each new sentence out of your mouth.’

‘It’s called keeping an open mind, Garovel. Not that you’d know much about that.’

‘Hoho,’ laughed the reaper. ‘Alright, Mr. Free Thinker. How about, instead of trying to get the Candle to do everything, you actually put that open mind of yours to work? Try focusing, like I said.’

‘Fine...’

‘I swear you used to be the responsible one in this relationship,’ said Hector. ‘What ever happened to that, huh?’

‘Well, yeah, in the beginning, I had to be. You didn’t know shit about shit. I had to take care of you. Or try my best to, at least. But now that you’re all sauced up and weirdly powerful, it actually frees me up to be my truest self, unburdened by things like worry for our combined well-being. Great, right?’

‘I know you’re being funny right now, but you’re also just... telling the truth, aren’t you?’

‘They say jokes are funniest when they have a vein of truth to them.’

‘Rrgh...’

‘C’mon! Touch that shit. I know you want to.’

Hector shook his head. But he also reached his hand out. ‘Why am I so stupid...?’

‘Many a time throughout history, genius has been indistinguishable from stupidity.’

‘Oh, really? Well, this is definitely not one of those times.’ And his gauntlet made contact with the small globe.

Nothing happened.

‘C’mon, we went over this with the mirror at the Gate. You gotta touch it with your bare hands.’

Inside his helmet, Hector’s brow flattened, as did his mouth. ‘As I recall, you told me to do that, and then it made no difference whatsoever.’

‘Your recollection must be flawed, then.’

‘Nope.’

‘Hector, please. Leave the remembering of things to a professional. And do as I command of you, my loyal servant.’

‘Oh, shut up.’ He did dematerialize his right gauntlet, however. He braced himself, then pressed his bare hand against the orb.

A few long beats passed.

‘...Anything?’ asked Garovel.

‘Uh. Well, it’s warm.’

‘How thrilling.’

‘There is something weird here, though.’

‘Oh?’

‘Er, uh, not like with my senses or anything. It’s just that... I mean, the flame inside the orb is completely encased. There’s no hole for oxygen to get in, so how is it burning?’

‘Ah.’

‘Can ardor do that? Maintain a flame without oxygen?’

‘Dunno. Maybe the cord is letting oxygen in.’

Hector picked the orb up to inspect it more closely. As far as he could tell, the cord didn’t seem like a hollow tube. To the touch, it felt more like rope or string. And the metal band that it was connected to looked about as simple as could be. Featureless steel.

‘Hmm.’ Hector held up the band next, eyeing it closely. ‘Maybe I’m supposed to wear this? Like a bracelet or something?’

The gnarled pedestal cracked and then began to shrink, slowly retracting itself into the ground as it revealed the item more fully.

And gradually, Hector saw that there wasn’t just a little glass globe. It also had a cord wrapped around it in an X-pattern, connecting the orb to a round metal band.

Which confused Hector further.

A tiny orb with a flame flickering inside. And a little circular hoop. What in the world was this thing supposed to do?

He probably shouldn’t touch it. In fact, he knew he shouldn’t.

But then again...

Abbas was unconscious and would likely remain so for at least a few days. And Hector wasn’t about to let anyone else do something this stupid, so that would mean they would all have to remain in the dark about whatever this thing was until Abbas finally woke up and explained it to them.

Or he could just touch it and find out, right now. Maybe.

This was Abbas and the Candle’s creation, after all. They wouldn’t make something that could rip his soul out through his asshole or anything, right?

Hmm...

‘Whatcha thinkin’ there, buddy?’ came Garovel’s echoing question.

And Hector hesitated. Because he had a rather strong feeling that if he explained what was going through his head right now, then Garovel was actually not going to be the voice of reason here and tell him not to do it.

The reaper was gonna tell him to touch the hell out of that shit, wasn’t he?

‘...I’m just wondering what to do now,’ said Hector. ‘I, uh... I probably shouldn’t touch this thing until we know more about it, right?’

‘Probably,’ said Garovel.

And Hector just remained there, awkwardly standing in silence.

Apparently, Garovel couldn’t bear it for very long. ‘Or...’ The thought went unfinished, though.

Not that Hector needed it to be. ‘I shouldn’t...’

‘Of course not. Definitely. You’re right. Let’s just. Let it sit there. For the next week or so... taunting us with its mysteries...’

Hector exhaled a curt breath. ‘Hold on. You’re inside my armor. Can you even see this thing?’

‘Oh, I found some nice little cracks to peer through. The slits you made in the faceguard in front of your mouth are actually quite helpful, because everywhere else is so closely fitted together that, if I didn’t know better, I might’ve thought you somehow made this suit airtight.’

‘Ah...’

‘Anyway, touch it.’

‘Garovel...’

‘Go on. I’m sure it’ll be fine.’

Huh.

It was still concealed a bit by the branches, but it seemed quite small--and not terribly intimidating, either, when considering the state of Lord Abbas and the giant mess around here. Perhaps he’d allowed his expectations to build up a bit too much. Abbas was still relatively new to using the Candle, after all.

But this lantern. He remembered seeing Agrian make a lantern, too, actually. That one had looked quite different. Bigger, darkly metallic, and more rectangular, almost like an entire suitcase. This one was more like a snow globe in size--and a small one, too--barely big enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand.

In fact... it looked rather like a tiny version of the great glass orb that had created it.

Which gave Hector pause. Hmm.

During his last few visits with Abbas, they’d discussed the man’s work a bit. Naturally, with the Sunsmith looking so disheveled each time Hector showed up, the subject of why the guy was pushing so hard had come up.

And repeatedly, the answer had been that Abbas wanted to retake Sair as soon as possible. Which was fair enough, Hector thought. So Hector had stopped asking about it, more or less.

But there’d been one time when the answer had been a bit more elaborate than that. And now that Hector was looking at this object in front of them, he was beginning to think about that answer more.

“...It is my hope,” Abbas had told him, “to establish an entirely new class of armored warriors. Warriors who will not require reapers in order to stand up and protect our land and our people. That has always been my end goal, ever since I began drafting up plans for my prototype suit.”

Hector had blinked at that revelation. “You mean... you want to mass-produce your armor?”

“Ah. Well, that would be quite a few steps into the future. I do not know about that. Perhaps. At the moment, my foremost concern is rendering it usable by non-servants. My armor, if you have not already been able to tell, drills directly into my brain in order to establish a neural link. Obviously, this is only possible because I am a servant. Before any other strides can be made, I must find a way to change this.”

And now, as he stepped closer to the wooden pedestal, sizing it up, Hector wondered how in the world a lantern might’ve been meant to address that problem. Or if it even was meant to. Maybe Abbas had pivoted and made something completely different.

That seemed unlikely, though. Knowing Abbas as he now did, that man did not strike Hector as the type to get distracted or change his mind very easily.

The branches directly in front of him shivered, then stretched themselves to create an opening for him--some to the point of even snapping apart and falling to the floor.

“Ah, geez,” said Hector as he moved through the hole, “don’t hurt yourself on my account.”

The branches formed a narrow tunnel for him, arching around the great orb until leading him over to it.

He remembered seeing Agrian, one of the forge’s two creators, standing here and working with it. This was the spot where the orb could open itself up and reveal its contents.

During all the time he’d observed Agrian using the Candle, he’d never seen this kind of overgrown state from the forge. He had to wonder what prompted it.

Well, clearly, even if Abbas succeeded in creating a powerful new artifact, some part of this must not have been intentional. Abbas wouldn’t have been trying to exhaust himself and end up unconscious. So perhaps all these vines and branches were merely the result of things going a bit haywire at the end.

It might also make sense as to why he’d never seen Agrian end up in a state like this. Agrian’s main problem, by Hector’s estimation, was that the Candle itself ended up turning on him. Over time, it simply refused to work for him, anymore. Its power never went out of control for Agrian, probably because the Candle never allowed the man much access to its power in the first place.

Hmm.

Thinking about it like that was a little exciting, Hector felt. And worrying, too. Because if that was correct, then it would mean that the Lord Abbas Saqqaf had already accessed more power from the Candle than Agrian ever did. In fact, given the state of things, Abbas may have accessed more power than even he himself realized existed within the forge.

He remembered Abbas telling him about the Candle’s “disposition.” About its gentle nature. Calm and warm with an affinity for flame, not unlike a crackling fireplace.

As a perfectly straight crevice appeared in the great orb and the drooping green vines all trembled around the opening glass, Hector had to wonder what Abbas might say about the Candle’s disposition now. If his opinion might have changed at all. Or if the Candle itself had changed, perhaps. That didn’t seem impossible, either, at this point.

He stepped through the opening and pushed away the vines in order to finally get a clear view of the object waiting therein.

It was entangled on a pedestal of branches, and he still couldn’t quite tell what he was looking at. Some sort of lamp? And was that a flame encased inside it? A lantern, then?

Inside the tree again, he took his time. It wasn’t making him feel any different compared to outside, and now that he’d refreshed his armor to get rid of the goo, it was much easier to move around in here, too.

The overgrown branches were still a problem, though--even moreso now, because he was reluctant to cut a swath through them, in case they were in some way important to the Candle itself. Which reminded him.

“Uh. Hey there, Candle, um... sorry about before. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just trying to reach Abbas quickly.”

As ever, the Candle remained silent.

He hadn’t actually expected it to respond with noise, but some wiggling vines or branches wouldn’t have been out of the question. No such answer arrived, however.

Hmm. Was that a good or bad thing, he wondered? Because it seemed kind of bad.

Having spent so long inside that strange space with it, learning from it and about it, he felt a certain connection to it now. Granted, he hadn’t actually communicated with it since returning to the real world.

In fact, now that he was thinking about it, that moment when it settled down had been the first time. He’d been talking to it like crazy during that so-called “soul coma,” but ever since waking up, he hadn’t talked to it at all. He hadn’t even really tried, either. He’d just taught Abbas everything he’d learned about its operation.

Maybe that was a problem.

“Candle,” Hector tried again as he pushed through the opening in the branches toward where Abbas had been, “I’m also sorry that I haven’t been talking to you more during my visits. I hope you haven’t been unhappy here.”

Did Fusions Forges actually feel happiness or lack thereof? He had no fucking clue. It didn’t seem outside the realm of possibility, though.

There was still no response.

He neared the big glass globe at the center of the room. Vines were draped all over it, almost like curtains, to the point where he couldn’t quite see inside. He thought he spotted something, though, in between the gaps, but he had to get even closer first, which was difficult with the gnarled branches everywhere.

“...Did you and Abbas make something new?” asked Hector.

And at that, a shiver ran down the vines along the globe, as if a slight breeze had arrived from nowhere.

Huh. “...Can you show me?”

Raheem seemed relieved upon seeing Hector approaching. “Lord Goffe. How would you like us to proceed? I do not think my father would want us venturing in there without him, even if only to investigate what happened.”

“He told us endlessly how dangerous it was,” said Munir at Raheem’s side. Munir was much younger, though it hardly showed by appearance alone. “We should wait for him to wake up before doing anything rash.”

“We cannot just sit here,” said Jibril, the balding man on their right. He was even younger than the others--a great-great grandson of Abbas, as Hector recalled--and yet he looked older than everyone here. “Didn’t you see the state Worwal was in? They will be out for days, at least.”

Hector could understand their reticence, especially after seeing what had happened to Abbas, but he was already in agreement with Jibril here. “It’s alright,” said Hector. “I’ll go in first. I already have a... rapport with the Candle. Wait for my word before following.”

Raheem returned a nod. “As you say, lord.”

Munir seemed less certain, however. “And what if you also fall unconscious, Lord Goffe?”

“He won’t,” said Jibril. “He already went in there once to retrieve him.”

“Briefly, yes,” said Munir, “but we have no idea what prolonged exposure may do. If you are to go, lord, then you should not be alone.”

“Hmm,” hummed Hector. The man might’ve had a point. But Hector really didn’t want to put any of them at risk when the situation was still so uncertain. “Alright, here’s what I’ll do: I’ll go in alone, but I’ll keep a materialized orb hovering outside the door. As long it remains hovering, you’ll know I’m still conscious. Sound good?”

And Munir took a moment, but he nodded, as did the others.

Jibril reached into a pouch inside his robe and pulled out a radio, handing it to Hector. “This probably won’t be necessary, but take it just in case.”

Hector did so. And without further ado, he walked over to the open hole where the door used to be and reentered the tree on his own. Privately, he asked Garovel if he wanted to wait outside with the others, but the reaper refused, of course.

‘I actually feel safest inside this spiffy new armor of yours,’ the reaper told him.

Hector didn’t argue. Without knowing more about what they were dealing with here, it was anyone’s guess what the safest course of action really was.

When he finally reached Abbas, he confirmed that the man was indeed unconscious. Moreover, he saw that his reaper, Worwal, was right there alongside him, reduced to a formless puddle on the floor.

He knew it was not typically a good idea to move people with unknown injuries, but this was a servant and reaper, and he was worried that this environment could have been draining their soul power or something.

‘Sucking their souls out of their still-living bodies’ was how Abbas had once described it to him.

So he grabbed them both. With some vigor from Garovel, he hoisted the Lord Saqqaf over his shoulder and brought him and Worwal outside, where he laid them both down on the open grass.

He looked over and saw Raheem taking care of the fire as requested, having bounded up the tree like a leopard in order to smother the flames with the thick robe that he had been wearing.

Huh. Did the man not have a better way of dealing with fire? Ah, wait, no, that made sense. He recalled that Raheem’s power was also materialization, but it was potassium. If he’d tried to use that, it might’ve set the whole tree ablaze.

The man seemed to be managing just fine, though. Only a bit of smoke remained, and Raheem was already patting his blackened robe down. More Saqqafs were running up to the tree as well.

They’d set up an encampment for themselves not terribly far away, concealed by the edge of the Imara Forest. Abbas had wanted to stay close to the Candle but also remain hidden from any unexpected visitors.

The various Saqqafs divided themselves between the tree and Hector. He recognized one of Abbas’ granddaughters, Ghaliya, approaching first. She was a mature woman with only a few lines among her smooth features and a bit of gray in her otherwise brown hair. All in all, she looked older than Abbas, which must have been a strange feeling.

She asked after her grandfather’s well-being, of course, to which Hector had no real answers. She bade him carry them both over to the encampment, and Hector did so.

He did not stay long, however. Abbas seemed to be out cold, and judging by Worwal’s visibly concerning condition, the two of them would not be waking for a while.

For now, he wanted to check on the Candle’s condition. When he returned to it, he found the Saqqafs gathered outside, discussing their options.

The red-hot blade cut through the solid wood and branches behind it, flying upward in one clean stroke and leaving a smoldering crevice in its wake. It went higher than he’d intended and gouged its way up through the rest of the trunk and canopy as well, but he was of no mind to worry about that, right now.

But apparently, Raheem was. “Lord, you set the sacred tree on fire!”

Aw, fuck. “Er, take care of that for me, please!” Hector pushed through the breach in the door with his armor and created a man-sized hole for himself. More branches barred his path, but they were similarly weakened and able to be walked through with brute force.

The branches were less dense near the great orb, instead replaced by an overabundance of snaking vines.

Vines which were moving, he noticed. They lashed against his armor, leaving behind a sticky residue that slowed him down--and stunk, too. It smelled so foul that he thought he might vomit. He choked as he tried to hold his breath and not gag, but then his eyes started to burn, too.

Thankfully, Garovel was still cozied up inside his armor from the flight over here.

‘Can you numb my sense of smell for me?’ thought Hector.

‘Uh. That’s an unusual one, but yeah, I think so. Lemme try.’

‘Pain, too, please,’ he said through his searing tears.

Then it was gone, and he could breathe again. He could also feel his throat and eyes tingling with a very familiar sensation that he felt whenever dealing with acid, but at least it didn’t hurt. It sure would later, though.

The vines were still being a problem, however. And now that he could breathe and think more clearly, he had an idea.

“Candle!” he shouted angrily. “It’s me! I know you can understand me! I’m not here to hurt you! Let me reach Abbas! I need to check on him!”

And it took a moment, but to his surprise, the writhing vines began to slacken and then settle down entirely.

He was still covered in goo, though, and had to trudge the rest of the way toward the Lord Saqqaf as if he were suddenly a hundred pounds heavier thanks to how sticky it was. He realized that he probably could have dematerialized his armor safely and then immediately rematerialized it, but he wanted to play it safe, just in case the Candle decided to go berserk again.

He also figured that he would owe it an apology after this, but that could wait.

“I’ll have another talk with him,” said Hector, making for the tree. He was wearing his darker armor with the standard gray iron coating that allowed him to still fly in it, but as he neared the entrance, he let the coating melt away with dematerialization. One of the other reasons for his semi-frequent visits to this place was to get Abbas to examine this strange new material. Thus far, results had been largely inconclusive with Abbas telling him to come back in a few days.

Haqq Najir, of course, had not stopped pressuring him to buy new, incredibly expensive scientific equipment in order to supposedly make that examination process easier. At first, Hector had thought the man was simply spouting lies in order to get some cool new toys to play with--and in fact, he still thought that--but given how much trouble even the Lord Abbas Saqqaf was apparently having with determining what this stuff was made of... well, maybe Haqq wasn’t completely full of shit.

He still wasn’t planning on blowing that much money on it, though.

He pushed on the door to open it, but it hardly budged.

Huh.

Strange.

Abbas had installed a modern doorknob and locking mechanism shortly after their discovery of the place, but this was the first time Hector had noticed Abbas actually bothering to use it, probably because he was always here, anyway.

He tried turning the knob, only to realize it actually wasn’t locked. It turned just fine, and yet the door still barely moved.

Raheem was approaching from behind. “Apologies. I forgot to mention that he seems to have barricaded himself in this time. We didn’t want to break into your property without your permission, lord.”

What the hell? Why would Abbas barricade the door?

This didn’t seem right. There must’ve been something else going on here.

Hector concentrated on what the Scarf could tell about what was going on behind this door.

Whoa.

“...He didn’t barricade the door,” said Hector. “At least, not with furniture.”

“Lord? What do you mean?”

“The room is overgrown with plants,” said Hector. “They’re everywhere.” He was trying to sense Abbas’ shape, but the chamber was such a tangled mess of branches and vines and leaves that he was having trouble.

Then he realized the other reason why it was so difficult.

Abbas was on the floor, not moving.

“Shit!” Hector took a quick step backward, gently pushing Raheem out of the way as he revved up a bladed disc into orbit around himself. He added heat to it, wanting it almost molten, and then he loosed it on the door.

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