The Journey Never Ends (Original Fantasy Quest)

You sigh as you settle on informing Amina about the weapons and investigation. It isn't up to you to decide how she wishes to live her life, and the human can be considered an adult from what you understand of the current age of majority for the race. Certainly, you've performed more dangerous operations with people even younger than her. That hesitation… you're not sure if it's you unconsciously looking down on her or something else. Regardless, you shouldn't leave her in the dark anymore now that you have a reasonable suspicion of what might be happening,

Approaching the woman casually, you speak up when you're sure the two of you are far enough away from others, "Ser Amina, there's something important I need to tell you."

She stiffens to your surprise, before turning to you with an awkward smile, "Lady Dee, I am not certain if I can accept thy heartfelt confession—"

"What, no!" You hiss out. "I'm not asking about that."

Amina cocks her head innocently, "Oh? Did I imagine thy shy glances towards me?"

You narrow your eyes at her even as you groan in exasperation. Not only does it seem like she enjoys being clever with people, she's more aware of her surroundings than you thought. You curse to yourself. It really does seem a tad suspect how you kept looking towards Amina in your musings and recent internal debate about her, doesn't it? You need to leave it be and press on however.

"... you may have been involved in my most recent thoughts—"

"Aha!"

"—but no. I swear I do not have any intentions towards you. This is something else, and a matter I need your discretion on," you finish, before tacking on something else to show the importance of the situation. "Please?"

The human's smile dims a little as she senses your seriousness, "Very well, Lady Dee. What troubles thee?"

You reach down to pick up a crate and speak during the motion, "I checked the inside of one of these crates since I thought there was something peculiar about this commission. There's firearms and lancers inside them, Amina. I believe this is a weapon smuggling operation of some kind."

Amina tenses, her smile fully dropping as her mouth parts slightly. Blinking, she looks down at the stack of crates she was about to pick up with widened eyes before shaking her head. The human looks back up somewhat uncertainly at you, but she doesn't look scared or fearful of the implications.

"Amina, I need you to listen carefully," you continue on after giving her time to process what you just revealed. "There have been signs of serious demonic cult activity in this city. I'm afraid that this is something related to that scourge. Several cultists are probably already here watching us, and I'm uncertain of will happen when we are transported to the next location."

"Should… should we not try to call someone? Or inform some of the innocent here?" She asks.

"We can notify the relevant authorities, but what I've found isn't definitive proof of anything. It may be safer for the people here to continue on without knowing if it turns out to be unrelated or stays a simple job if there are armed cultists nearby…"

"But if matters become dangerous, we will need to act," she finishes, eyebrows knitting together.

"Amina," you say. "You have my trust, as the one who informed me of this. If you wish to walk away now, rest assured I will not judge—"

"No. No, I'm not fleeing from this," Amina says, fingers clenched into fists as she stares in your eyes. "I… this is why I'm doing any of this. If I run now… why am I even here?"

Why else am I still here? You suck in a breath as you hear words so reminiscent of your own from the knight before you. The crate creaks from your tightening hold on it. You desperately hope you're not making a mistake here.

"And what of thou, Lady Dee?" She asks pointedly, her poise recovering. "I will not leave another alone to see this through."

You tap your foot in thought, conceding the point. Didn't Grog just ask you not to go into things like an idiot? Amina seemed like she would do something rash and impulsive to you, but your first instinct was to try and handle this all by yourself while sending her away. You constantly warn people and yourself to not underestimate demons and their cultists, yet you've been brazenly putting yourself in situations where you're confronting them on your own. It's... perhaps you need to start changing things now. Turning away, you jerk your head in the direction of the trucks.

"Well, let us be off then. We've spent too much time here. Remember, pretend you heard nothing from me. Here is what we shall do…"

---

You and Amina chat amiably with three other workers in the truck with you, half genuine interest from the human and half you pretending for the fourth "worker" watching everything silently. A message was already sent to Jasiri and the others, and Amina had informed her group and had her tablet being tracked by them. She is handling the pressure well, but you notice her tense posture despite her smile.

Finally, the truck comes to a stop and all of you walk off. Looking around, much of the area is much more dilapidated than the previous location, and you can't find signs of anyone else nearby. There seems to be more people walking inside the building as well than there were back during the job.

More than that, you feel... something in the air. It isn't obvious, but the atmosphere almost crawls into your senses, rendering the isolated location at night even more foreboding. The others seem to notice something too, as their conversations almost immediately trail off as they get closer to their destination. There isn't any active magic being performed or some sinister ritual from what you can tell, but places didn't need them to be influenced by other factors.

The interior of the building is dimly lit as the workers stream into it. Told to stay in a particular location until ordered otherwise, the group of around twenty people mills about uneasily. They fidget with tablets but don't use them, and any hint of the casual camaraderie from before dies down. Some of the workers, including the silent one watching you and Amina in the truck, aren't present.

You meet the eyes of Amina and nod towards her. In the event that this did turn out to be dangerous, she'll be the one focusing on getting everyone out safely. Your duty is to subdue any hostiles. Leaving someone who likely hasn't ever seriously harmed or killed anyone to fight others in a life-or-death situation is... unwise. You can only hope that she escapes this mostly unscathed if the situation deteriorates.

Footsteps finally are heard around you, and as the workers perk up at distracting themselves from the oppressive air, confusion spreads as several figures reveal themselves to them. Masked people in dark, concealing clothing start surrounding everyone while carrying firearms in their hands. You look around and take in their locations, ready to jump in if they attack now. It's just about confirmed then. Something as blatant as this is almost definitely related to the cults.

"What… what the hell is going on here?" A panicked gnoll calls out.

A miu lowers a hand into his belt, "Why the fuck do you all have lancers!?"

The door suddenly shuts with a loud bang, and most of the lights switch off. You instantly tense and ready yourself to spring into action, but stop yourself as a circle glowing with a sickening purple light springs to life underneath everyone. Intricate symbols and lines decorate its interior, and a brief glance is all you need to realize that this is a setup for a mass sacrificial ritual. How did it remain completely invisible to you? Something of this scale…

"We thank you all for your contribution to our great cause," a voice coming from some sort of speaker interrupts your thought process. "Now, we ask you to—"

This is your chance. A scenario like this didn't warrant you having to listen to someone else's monologue. More than likely these cultists are prepared to act as soon as the person on the speakers gives the signal, and acting first will throw them off. But what to do in order to ensure the best likelihood of everyone making it out safely? Your heart begins to beat faster and the world almost seems to slow down as you prepare to take the initiative.

You didn't have your bow, and that will definitely make taking everyone out quickly more difficult. However, you are hardly helpless without it and can most definitely move faster than many of these cultists can react. Aggressively taking out a few first will disorient them and focus their attention on you most likely for a short while before they think to attack the others. But some will eventually decide to shoot more defenseless targets, and you and Amina will both need to be constantly aware of those times. The people will be vulnerable in those precious few seconds with nothing shielding them after all.

Alternatively, you can form a magic barrier around most of the group and slowly retreat. It'll involve less initial risk for the crowd around you while giving Amina less to focus on. Perhaps the people might even gather themselves with a moment to breathe and contribute. However, it puts almost everything on your ability to maintain the barrier, and you aren't the best at creating them. They worked against the occasional arrow or spell in the past, but can they take sustained lancer fire from multiple directions? You aren't sure.

The investigation members assigned to help are on their way as well as Amina's friends. In either course of action, you'll likely need them. But you don't know how close they are or how soon they can act. Is making it out of the building faster by charging at them better, or will that lead to everyone getting fired upon outside? Is hunkering down inside while waiting for reinforcements better, or will that allow the cultists to gather together to break your barrier while trapping you inside?

You run all this through your mind in the second before you step forward and…

Choose One:

[] ...charge them to direct their attention onto you while leaving Amina to lead everyone out the building quickly:
(Requires a series of moderately difficult physicality checks from both Deirdre and Amina to make it out without any injuries or casualties)

[] ...form a magic barrier around as much as the group as you can and slowly move back while Amina handles anyone at the rear:
(Requires a single difficult magic check from Deirdre, and a moderately difficult physicality check from Amina to make it out without any injuries or casualties)

Investigation Reinforcements: 1d6 roll to decide how soon they arrive, lower is better
Amina's friends: 1d6 roll to decide how soon they arrive, lower is better

Panic, fear, and dread suffuse the air as you prepare your spell. The eddies and swirls where the Currents mingle with Orbis spin erratically when you loosen the tether holding you to the material world. Foul energies snake their way between the connections, ranging from an almost smoky substance to all too solid writhing organic limbs and tendrils coiling around the frantic currents. Hair standing on end and your body tingling, you call to mind the most powerful barrier you can cast.

Unlike your teleportation and arrows, this isn't magic you know intimately and can cast through either sharp calculations or any intuitive sense. For this, you'll have to rely on ancient incantations and methods to make up for any shortcomings. You begin by recalling the sanctuaries of your people cloistered within the forests that once covered Kiengir and the safety and assurance its wards once granted, cementing its image in your mind. The chaos of the energies around you slow, and you seize the opportunity by reciting an incantation to focus your vision as your intent begins to crystallize.

A great veil to hide from foes,
A great ward to fend off danger,
A great shield to protect against harm,
Oh Gefn, show me how to safeguard those around me,
Reveal to me thine wisdom,
To craft anew an aegis to shelter the defenseless…

You continue chanting in your mind, eyes darting from various lines and structures slowly coming together and becoming visible. It's a hodgepodge of tricks to form a simple barrier, but it'll have to be enough. You painstakingly begin stitching together the unwilling energies yearning to flow freely, forcing it to form a solid wall between the crowd around you and everywhere else. Precious seconds are wasted as you hastily finish the necessary calculations, and as the spell nears completion, you sense a surge of hostile intent by the sharp chill running through your back and ringing in your head.

Briefly imagining all the different imagery and symbols associated with elven protection spells you can think of and uttering one last plea to the elven goddess of magic to help protect those under your care, you release the surge of energy, connection, and thought from your form as you raise both bands in the air.

The material world snaps back into your vision with painful clarity as a green veil of light suddenly forms around the group with a loud crackling sound. Decorative yellow-white lines ran through it, the plant-like imagery vaguely reminiscent of the old inscriptions your people once used in their own wards and barriers. That's where the similarities end as you can already see parts of the barrier sparking and blinking. The surface is rippling and uneven as well when you look closer

The drawbacks of a vague spell with a heavy reliance on abstraction and metaphor. It'll have to do.

You yell at everyone behind you, "Everyone! I can hold this barrier for a little while, but you all need to stay calm inside here! We will slowly walk back towards the entrance. The tall human at the back will handle anything that comes from behind, follow her lead! We can—"

You're cut off when a bullet slams into your barrier. Hissing as you feel pins and needles running through your hands, you're forced to trust that the workers are following your orders as you focus all your attention on maintaining the barrier. Covering every point of vulnerability and fixing every patch of damage the projectiles cause, you feel the strain on your senses and mind multiply. As a magic structure essentially built from scratch to resemble a barrier due to your lack of knowledge, it unfortunately requires you to be as patchwork with your modifications as with its construction.

Taking a single step back, you're almost overwhelmed by the sensory overload moving the barrier even slightly causes you. Flashes of color dance before your eyes as a constant ringing in your ears disrupts your concentration with how it shifts with each impact on the barrier. You become more and more aware that this spell isn't meant to cover such a large area against so much firepower, but you have little choice but to continue on.

More steps are taken, and you continue to struggle against the onslaught. The pins and needles have seized the entirety of your arms at this point, and it becomes more and more difficult to focus on anything else. It's inevitable that eventually your concentration slips as you frantically mend and adjust the barrier, and a moment's indecision is all it takes for the damage to accumulate to the point where it is almost impossible for you to fix all at once.


Unbidden, a memory bubbles up to the surface right when the barrier is about to falter. It comes in bits and pieces, but the meaning of it is clear. An acerbic and critical lacerta you once traveled with consistently looked down on the magics of other peoples and races, especially the elves. He claimed that the "long-ears" got too lost in unimportant details and minutiae, and the two of you never saw eye to eye despite the surprising amount of time you spent with him. He wasn't always wrong though, and you take his lesson to heart in looking at the overall spell and its application.

Taking a wider view, you peer at the whole of the aetheric structure of the barrier for a moment before flooding it entirely with every bit of energy you can direct into it. You start losing sensation rapidly as everything starts becoming maddeningly numb, but the barrier holds firm. It is terribly inefficient and redundant mana-wise… but all it needs is to work for just a few more moments. With the connections of the barrier becoming stronger overall, the rippling slowly gives way to a more solid surface.

With the burden eased for a few precious seconds, you risk a look back to see how the crowd and Amina are doing.


You catch sight of Amina getting up from where she was pummeling a cultist with fists, looking somewhat frazzled but nowhere near as panicked as you've seen others react to these situations. When another cultist steps around the barrier with their firearm pointed at everyone, she immediately charges and tackles them to the ground after grabbing their legs. Tossing the weapon away, she rains blows on their head like an experienced prize fighter before quickly standing up once they are unconscious.

The workers aren't just watching either. Some quickly move to strip the cultists bare of any weapons and gear while others tie them up with what's left. The miu who was taking something out of his belt earlier is gripping onto a knife for dear life as he stands at the front, while a younger looking human is frantically attempting to bypass the interference and send a message on what you recognize is Amina's tablet. You suspect that if the knightly human wasn't here to support you, the crowd wouldn't have been nearly as calm and cooperative.

You turn your head away to focus on the barrier again, quickly mending it and smoothing out any weaknesses in its structure. Your whole body is trembling as you push yourself further and further, the almost unbearable paralyzing sensation running through your body threatening your focus and will. Gritting your teeth and clenching your hands, you do everything you can to maintain your connection and concentration with the spell and not collapse.

Once you estimate that the workers can safely go for the door, you risk another look back and find the crowd watching with bated breath as Amina gets to a running start before sprinting forward shoulder first into the door.


Despite whatever they did to block off an entrance that large, Amina's shoulder wins as it shatters the material with an explosion of debris and splinters. She continues running forward even, stumbling slightly as she comes to a stop. After a brief pause, the workers begin streaming out as well before either of you can tell them to wait. Cursing as you hear the distant sound of lancer fire outside, you begin to slowly dissemble your barrier and move to follow them, but know you'll end up being too slow to stop anything outside.


Just when you're about to crumple from the strain, you sense a very distinct mental prod, like something poking your mind. Rapidly tracing it, you catch from the opening left by Amina something… flying towards all of you? You watch in bewilderment as some floating platform suddenly rushes towards the building, a figure wreathed in a violet and pink aura standing at the forefront. A black blur suddenly leaps from it while at the same time you catch a crackling red energy from behind the leading figure.

You realize these must be Amina's friends, and you're shocked they arrived to your aid before the investigation. Weren't they scattered across the city? How in Orbis did they create whatever… setup they had now? Watching as crackling red lightning shoots out to the side and presumably impacts a group of cultists judging by the cries of pain you hear, you can only stare as Kiran quickly descends when the platform gets low enough and moves to check on Amina and the workers.

Dan stands tall as he floats away from the platform and towards you after looking to make sure Amina is alright. The slouching, exasperated member who seemed relatively unassuming when you met him takes one look at your barrier before waving a hand and forming one of his own in a fraction of the time it took for you to make yours. You drop yours and collapse as the pinkish violet veil surrounds the group, the translucent barrier forming a perfect sphere around you all.

Bullets and energy blasts impact against his construct, but they all bounce off as it holds firm. He raises his other hand and layers another barrier with a swirling surface on top of the first soon after. The projectiles immediately begin to be deflected back at their shooters, and as their attack wanes, his hand squeezes and collapses the front of the building with a loud crash. A cloud of smoke and debris forms, and the yuren pushes it all towards the cultists with a wave of force.

After a few seconds of silent focus, his body sags heavily when nothing seems to be attacking back. He stays silent as you wring out your hands and shakily stand back up, clothes and purplish hair rustling from the psionic energy coming off from him in waves. The yuren is still in relatively ordinary clothes, but the amethyst parts of his body glow with an eerie light in the night. If you haven't encountered all the different magical phenomena you had in life, it would've made for an imposing sight indeed.

The young mage speaks up eventually, "I thought I sensed some weird mana readings from you. But…that was a really shoddy barrier, no offense. I'm surprised it held up for longer than a few seconds."

"I'm surprised as well," you admit. "It's not something I excel with. I thank you for your timely aid."

Dan tilts his head wearily, "Huh. Are you licensed to practice magic? Some people struggle with parts of the basics, that's true, but even those who find it hard to form solid constructs know how to make a decent barrier."

You feel the mental prod again, this time much subtler and difficult to detect. It isn't too invasive or trying to pry at your mind's secrets, but you bat it away anyways. Even spells to help discern someone's intentions and emotional state is deeply off-putting to you. The yuren's curiosity seems even more piqued by the ease with which you deflected him.

"...I didn't study at a formal academy. I simply learned a few concepts here and there, picking up from what I could from others and what texts I could decipher," you say, speaking the technical truth.

"Well, that isn't strictly illegal, I suppose," he says. "Hopefully you're ready for the interrogation of your lifetime though. Feds are always jumpy about magic, and from what I read of the various laws in Sumeri, this place isn't any different about it."

The two of you stand in awkward silence in the middle of the barrier he cast. Most of the lancer fire has died down as the cultists seem to realize they're about to be overwhelmed and need to retreat. It's replaced by the sirens of the police cars as the authorities swoop in to take charge of the scene.

You speak up, "About that thing you flew in on…"

Dan groans, "It's something Rowan came up with. She loves to come up with all kinds of stuff for very situational and niche moments. I told her not to bring something so heavy with us since there's no way we'll find an opportunity to use it. Please don't bring it up to Rowan, she'll get an even bigger head—"

"Who'll be recognized as an absolute genius?"

The yuren sighs as the both of you turn to the sylvan fiddling with her firearm on the other side of him. Judging by the smoke rising from several locations, you suspect that the shot it fired earlier definitely overtaxed it.

"Fine, you were right this one time. It won't happen again. Real life isn't some campaign we're playing through, Rowan," Dan says.

She scoffs, "Not with that attitude! We're adventurers, we're supposed to have unorthodox solutions for irregular situations. Right, Ms. Suspiciously Relevant Person who got Amina involved with demonic cultists on your first outing together? I swear, we had a session just like this…"

You look back at the sylvan casually accusing you and promptly descending into random mutterings with an even expression on your face. Dan looks inquisitive as well, but the two of you are interrupted before you can say anything in response by the officers making themselves known and shouting for the barrier to be dropped. You watch the mage as he begins signaling to the officers before dropping it.

"Time to face the music I guess—shit, Aya! Don't do that!" Dan suddenly cries out.

You look to the side to see the bake-danuki suddenly behind him, having remained hidden despite her outfit. She sports no injuries from what you can see, but the fur on her hands are matted with blood.

"Sorry," she intones quietly. "You okay?"

You can't quite decipher it right now, but you sense there's more to that question than just concern. Dan simply nods though after regaining his composure and turns away fully to regroup with everyone else. Aya peers at you for a moment before striding off to do the same, with Rowan following last.

As the tension and adrenaline leaves your body after another successful operation, a thought suddenly pops into your mind. You're about to investigate the magicians of the city, and here's a mage who graduated from an academy and presumably knows a lot about the current structure of mage society today. As Amina waves at you happily and starts striding toward you, you debate the merits of inviting Dan out with you on your investigation.

He's definitely knowledgeable and the most grounded out of the group despite wielding the most esoteric powers. From his talk of licenses, Dan seems to know what defines and makes a mage in the modern era. Not to mention that he definitely is above-average in terms of sheer ability. On the other hand, he's clearly the most suspicious and unsure of you. No doubt he'll try to investigate you in turn, and you're unsure if that can lead to potential complications down the line. Not to mention his recent comments showing his bluntness about other people's magic. You know mages to be a prideful lot that might be offended by him and turn you away.

Choose One:

[] Invite Dan out with you to investigate the freelance mages of this city

[] Investigate the freelance mages on your own

---

AN: