Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Guys, welcome to a whole new universe,” Steven announced, watching as his friends slowly picked themselves up from the rough landing.

“Oh, wow!” Shubble exclaimed, admiring the trees that lined their path.

Steven admired the horizon, letting the nostalgia wash over him.

“Suddenly I feel very underdressed,” Cheesy muttered, brushing dirt off of his jeans.

“Don’t stress it too much. I know some folks here that can definitely hook you up,” Steven said.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around how you managed to get here on accident,” Tay exclaimed.

“Well, I still haven’t figured that out myself. Now, let’s head into town. Hopefully we’ll run into some of my friends.”

“So you’re really just gonna gloss over the fact that you brought all of us with you into a completely different universe?” Platy asked, incredulous.

“I mean, there’s really not anything else I can say. I already told you everything I know, which is very little,” Steven shrugged.

“Okay then,” Platy said. “Where’s this town?”

“Follow me.”

Steven led the party down the familiar path, feeling yet another wave of nostalgia as the town came into view.

“Oh, wow! It really is like a super-realistic Ren Fair!” Shubble beamed, eagerly picking up the pace.

Steven led them through the town, stopping in front of the first tavern he had visited. From the sound of it, a very rambunctious drinking game was already underway inside. Steven was almost certain that Taylor would be at the center of it.

“All right, guys. One of the first people I met should be inside, drinking her head off. Let’s go say hi.”

The rest of the group exchanged confused looks before following Steven into the tavern.

Sure enough, Taylor was standing on a table, fiercely chugging a large keg. Shelby was seated nearby, staring up at her with an amused smile. Taylor finished swallowing and tossed the keg down triumphantly.

“Who’s next?” she shouted, looking around the tavern.

Her eyes went wide when she finally spotted Steven and his friends. She hopped down from the table and nudged Shelby, pointing towards the group.

“Um, Steven? I think you have some explaining to do,” Tay said, unable to take her eyes off the elf that was now approaching them.

Steven grinned. “We’re in a different universe, remember?”

“Melloniant! Nae saian luume,’” Taylor exclaimed, pulling Steven into a tight hug.

“It’s good to see you, too,” Steven replied, hoping his response was correct.

“We should probably head back to your house, Taylor,” Shelby said, greeting Steven’s friends with a nod. “We don’t want to cause a scene.”

Taylor laughed. “I already caused a scene, Lotarien. Besides, all of our troubles are to the West, remember?”

“We should probably talk about that, too,” Shelby said.

Taylor frowned. “All right. I’ve had enough drinks tonight, anyway.”

“That’s more like it,” Shelby chuckled. “Come on, Steven and friends. We have a lot to catch up on.”

Tay grabbed Steven’s arm, keeping him at the back of the group as they left the tavern. “This is crazy,” she whispered. “Not only is there a universe where I’m a super hot elf, but I’m in that universe right now!”

Steven laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s a lot to take in.”

“Did you actually understand any of that stuff she was saying in Elvish?”

“Nope. Though I might take the time to learn a bit while we’re here.”

“This is so cool,” Tay said, mostly to herself this time.

Steven smiled. He was delighted to see that his friends were just as excited as he was.

The group finally arrived at Taylor’s house after a few more minutes of walking. As she invited them inside, they were all suddenly overcome by a wave of awkward silence.

“So, how have things been?” Steven asked.

Taylor frowned. “No way. You’re going first. What’s up with the doppior?”

“These guys? They’re friends from my universe. I thought it would be cool to introduce you all to your alter egos.”

Taylor shrugged.

“I’m afraid it’s kind of a bad time,” Shelby said.

Steven frowned. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a huge war going on in the West right now. An army of druids have been trying to seize the kingdom. As a matter of fact, Anthony has been helping to maintain the front lines along with Chaos and some of the King’s armies,” Shelby explained.

Chilled was intrigued by the two names mentioned.

“And Bleu has been working with Skadj and his men to come up with a plan to infiltrate the druids’ camp,” Taylor added.

Platy frowned slightly. “So, does everybody have a match in the universal buddy-system?”

Taylor and Shelby exchanged somber looks. Steven felt his heart sink.

“The druids were able to completely take control of Max’s swamp before the King heard there was trouble,” Shelby began. “Max didn’t make it out.”

Steven ran a hand through his hair. “He would’ve been really helpful.”

He glanced over at Platy, who seemed extremely conflicted by the news. His gaze shifted over to Chilled, who jerked his thumb towards the front door. Steven frowned slightly as he stood up.

“Just a second,” he muttered, following Chilled out onto Taylor’s porch.

“This has been a really interesting experience, Steven. But, if there’s an entire war going on, don’t you think it’s about time we head home?”

Steven crossed his arms. “You probably don’t remember what you said to me the day I got back from my first adventure, do you?”

Chilled frowned.

“You said that if you had the chance to save the world, even at the risk of your own life, you would absolutely jump on that chance.”

“The risk was getting hurt, not dying.”

Steven huffed. “That’s not the point I’m trying to make. What I’m trying to say is: what you said to me that day inspired me to go back and finish what I started.”

“That’s nice and all, but I’d rather not die when literally no one else knows where I am, or what happened to me.”

“I get it. But trust me, when you meet the other you, and Chaos, you’ll be in seriously capable hands.”

Chilled made a face. “Dammit, Steven. Why’d you have to mention Chaos?”

“Trust me, Anthony. We’re going to be fine. If things get really bad, I’ll bring us all home, okay?”

“Okay,” Chilled relented.

“Great,” Steven replied, opening the door for him.

“Is everything okay?” Taylor asked.

Steven nodded. “All good.”

“Good to hear. Why don’t you all get some rest, and tomorrow we can go help Skadj,” Taylor suggested.

“You should introduce Anthony to, uh, you know…”

Taylor rolled her eyes. “If you insist. I’m sure he’d love that.”

“What about the rest of us?” Shubble asked.

“We can work out the travel arrangements in the morning. I’m going to bed,” Taylor muttered, heading upstairs.

“I guess that means sleeping arrangements are up to me,” Shelby said, slightly annoyed.

“I doubt there’s enough room for all of us, anyway,” Steven said. “We can stay at that inn down the street.”

“All right. See you back here in the morning?”

“Of course.”

Steven’s friends were suddenly abuzz as they left Taylor’s house.

“I’m sure you all have a million questions right now, and that’s totally understandable. But there will be plenty of time for all that tomorrow while we’re travelling. We could all use some rest before then, so just hang on for tonight, okay?”

“You’re crazy if you think I can sleep peacefully while I’m in a completely different universe,” Cheesy exclaimed.

“Dude, relax. Like he said, there’s gonna be plenty of time for explanations tomorrow. You can survive for one night if you just keep thinking it’s just a Ren Fair,” Platy said.

“Thanks, Max,” Steven sighed.

Platy crossed his arms. “And you better believe I’ll have lots of questions for tomorrow.”

Steven nodded. “I’m definitely going to need all the sleep I can get.”

Chapter Text

Steven woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his door.

“Who is it?” he called.

“It’s Zach! Just letting you know that those other versions of Tay and Shelby are downstairs waiting.”

Steven sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Be down in a minute!”

He got out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes from his bag, checking to make sure that the talisman was still secure before finally heading down to join the others.

“There you are, kaimaellon en amin,” Shelby teased as he approached.

“This is gonna be a long day, huh?” Steven asked.

Taylor nodded. “Getting to the front lines will take almost two days by horse.”

“Wait, we’re supposed to ride horses?” Chilled asked.

“Actually, I thought ahead. I was able to buy a road wagon from my neighbor. That way we can go see Anthony without having to worry about whether or not you can ride,” Taylor smirked.

“I guess that works,” Chilled said.

“Oh, can I come with you guys?” Tay asked. “I’d love to get to know you some more.”

Taylor shrugged. “If you really want to.”

“Cool,” Tay replied.

“So that leaves the rest of us to go see Skadj and Bleu,” Shelby commented, looking around at the others.

“Where are they?” Steven asked.

“They should still be at the castle. And that will also take nearly two days to reach by horse.”

“I don’t like the idea of being split up for that long,” Steven said.

“Well, why don’t you try some magic? Surely if you can visit different dimensions, you can easily travel somewhere you’ve already been, right?” Shelby suggested.

Steven frowned slightly. “I’ve never done something like that before. But I guess it’s worth a shot.”

Shelby grinned. “That’s the spirit! It’ll be so exciting to see you back in action.”

Steven smiled. “Yeah.”

“Well, you all have fun with that. We’ll be off in the conventional way,” Taylor commented, rolling her eyes. “Come on, you two.”

She led Chilled and Tay out of the inn and back to her house, where the road wagon was waiting.

“I don’t suppose either of you know how to harness a horse?”

Tay and Chilled shook their heads.

“Keep an eye on the wagon, Anthony. And you’re with me, Caradelle.”

Tay followed the elf to the back of the house and into a small stable. Taylor carefully introduced her counterpart to one of the horses that was kept there.

“This one’s Shelby’s. She calls him Major. Go ahead and take him back out to the wagon. I’ll be right after you.”

Tay did as she was told, slowly leading the horse along. Chilled laughed a little as she approached.

“You look a little nervous,” he commented.

“Shut up, Anthony,” Tay muttered, awkwardly stroking the horse’s face.

Taylor joined them a few minutes later, leading another horse and carrying a mess of straps and buckles.

“Follow my lead, Caradelle.”

Taylor tossed her counterpart one of the harnesses and set to work hitching her horse up to the wagon. Tay did her best to follow along, only managing to mess up once.

“All right, climb aboard,” Taylor said, looking over the harnesses once more.

“So, how long will this take again?” Chilled asked.

“About two days. Don’t worry, you guys can just sleep in the wagon if you get tired. And I packed plenty of food for all of us.”

“Sounds good,” Tay said, getting comfortable in her seat.

Taylor climbed onto the front of the wagon and took the reins.

“I get the feeling that this trip will be chock-full of you doing all kinds of unbelievable magic stuff, huh?” Platy mused.

Steven couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t know about that.”

“I’m sure Steven is more interested in doing practical magic whenever it’s needed,” Shelby commented with a chuckle.

“Still, the fact that you can even do magic is pretty awesome,” Cheesy added.

“Yeah, it is,” Steven said. “But I haven’t been here in over a year, so I need a moment to concentrate on the castle before I start transporting us blindly.”

“That’s fair,” Shubble said quietly.

Steven closed his eyes and thought about the castle courtyard, where he had helped Anthony reunite with Chaos. He also visualized the surrounding town that he and the Crew snuck through on their way to the dungeons.

“Okay. I’m ready. I think.”

“If you aren’t sure, we can still get there the normal way,” Shelby said.

“No, no, I got it,” Steven insisted. “I want to give it a shot.”

“Maybe you can start with something a little easier. Y’know, work up to it?” Cheesy suggested.

“That’s honestly a good idea,” Steven replied. “Be right back, I guess.”

He closed his eyes, this time imagining the inside of Bleu’s bakery. After a moment, he opened them again, delighted to see that he was there. He returned to the inn seconds later, amused by the looks of shock on his friends’ faces.

“Woah,” Cheesy said.

“Are you guys ready?” Steven asked.

“Let’s do it,” Shelby replied with a grin.

She grabbed his hand and the others followed suit.

“Here we go,” Steven announced, once again picturing exactly where he wanted to be.

“So, what kind of things do you do when you’re not fighting in wars or whatever?” Tay asked.

Taylor stared at the road ahead. “I’m a ranger.”

“Oh, cool. What exactly does that mean?”

Taylor simply shrugged. “It’s mostly mootan leithmegil. I wander the realm in search of anyone that might need my help.”

“Oh, okay. That’s basically freelancing, right?”

Taylor nodded. “That’s what I meant by leithmegil.”

“Check it out, Anthony. I’m learning Elvish,” Tay said, looking back at Chilled with a smirk.

Chilled laughed a little as he leaned back in the wagon. “Congratulations.”

Taylor smirked. “If you’re really interested in learning Elvish, I can teach you a nice greeting for when we meet Anthony.”

“He knows Elvish, too?” Tay asked.

Taylor nodded. “He spends a lot of time with me and a few other rangers. Anyway, when you see him, just say ‘urrmel lle.’”

“Urrmel lle,” Tay repeated.

Taylor held back her laughter. “That’s perfect.”

Steven gripped his friends’ hands tightly as they were whisked off to their destination. Within seconds, they were standing in the middle of the town square, and the castle wasn’t very far off.

“Wow, that was so cool!” Cheesy exclaimed, looking around in awe.

“I knew you could do it,” Shelby said with a grin.

“Let’s go see what the guys have been up to,” Steven said, heading towards the castle entrance.

“Halt! Who goes there?" the guard at the front gate shouted.

"We're here to see Skadj!" Shelby replied.

“What’s your business?” the guard demanded.

“Just some old friends here to help,” Steven inputted.

The guard squinted at him. “Wait a moment, aren’t you the one with the magic compass?”

Steven nodded. “Yep, that’s me.” He fished the talisman out of his bag and showed it off in confirmation.

“All right. You can go inside. Skadj will be in the war room.”

“Thanks,” Steven said.

Shelby laughed a little as they walked inside.

“What’s up?” Steven asked.

“I forgot how much of a legend you became around here,” she commented.

“You even have your own legend here? How cool,” Shubble said.

Steven rubbed the back of his head with a chuckle. “I mean, I didn’t do anything that crazy. And I had a lot of help, too.”

Shelby gave him a friendly nudge. “Don’t be so modest. You’re the one that got us all together in the first place. And you turned Skadj around for the better.”

“Was Skadj some kind of bad guy?” Cheesy asked.

“He took over the kingdom for a while and killed a lot of people,” Shelby said.

“But he’s chill now?” Platy asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“Yeah. He sort of had a rude awakening when he killed this dimension’s version of me,” Steven replied.

“Holy shit,” Platy muttered.

“But now he’s making up for it by helping the new king defend our lands from invaders,” Shelby added with a smile. “He’s doing a lot better.”

“Good for him, I guess,” Cheesy said.

They arrived at the war room moments later. As they walked inside, they could see Skadj standing at the head of a central table. He was looking down at a map with a concerned expression on his face.

“Commander, I believe we have some guests.”

Skadj looked up from the map, a smile breaking out onto his face when he spotted Steven. He leapt over the table and rushed to pull his old friend into a bear hug.

“It is so good to see you again, Steven!” he said, giving him one last squeeze before letting go.

“It’s great to see you, too, Skadj,” Steven replied with a grin.

“And you found Max! We may actually stand a chance against the druids now that the two most powerful magicians in the land are back!”

Steven grimaced. “Oh, about that-”

“Is that me?!” Bleu exclaimed as he entered the room.

Cheesy turned around quickly, his eyes lighting up when he spotted his counterpart. “This is so cool!”

Platy gave Skadj an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, but I’m probably not going to be much help.”

Skadj smiled softly. “I think I’m starting to see the bigger picture here. But don’t worry about it. Any back up at all is appreciated. Thanks for coming at such a great time, Steven.”

“I’m happy to help.”

“We have so much to talk about, you and I,” Bleu said, throwing his arm over Cheesy’s shoulder and leading him down the hall.

Skadj rolled his eyes. “Don’t take too long, you two! We still have a war to fight!”

Chapter Text

“Steven told me that you actually invented bleu cheese?” Cheesy said, following his counterpart into the castle armory.

Bleu shrugged. “It was honestly an accident. But it helped keep me in business when I opened up my first bakery and cheese shop. And of course it’s where the nickname came from.”

“That’s pretty cool.”

“What about you? What do you back where you’re from?”

Cheesy made a face. “I mean I just play video games, but you probably don’t know what that means.”

“I know plenty of games,” Bleu responded with a shrug. “Anyway, how would you like your very own sword?”

Cheesy’s eyes lit up. “That would be amazing!”

Bleu grinned, proceeding to unsheath his blade. “I prefer an axe myself, but this is King Maron’s standard.”

He held it out for Cheesy, who eagerly took it and attempted a few practice swings.

“Woah, there! Save those swings for the practice targets. I’d prefer to keep all of my hair.”

Cheesy lowered the sword with an awkward chuckle. “My bad.”

Bleu waved it off. “Come on, I’ll take you to the training field.”

Steven smiled to himself as he watched both Shelbys quietly chatting. He shifted his gaze over to Platy and his smile faded.

“So, uh, how have things been? I mean, aside from all this… y’know,” he asked loudly, stumbling over his words a little.

Skadj frowned slightly. “Honestly, things have been very up and down lately. Prince Maron- er, king now, kindly decided to forgive me after everything. That’s why I’m sitting here, somehow in charge of an army again. And that was pretty nice. But then he was insistent on having a public execution for Kara. That was definitely a low.”

“What did Kara do?” Platy asked, joining them at the table.

“She took over after I…” Skadj looked up at Steven, silently pleading for a way out of the conversation.

“Oh, right,” Platy whispered in understanding.

Skadj’s eyes widened. “You told them?”

Steven frowned. “It’s all right Skadj. No one here hates you for it, right Plat?”

Platy started, wondering why Steven had decided to bring him into it. “Yeah, totally. The Skadj we know back home is actually super chill, too.”

Steven let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Well, I hope you at least had a few more good experiences before this war broke out.”

Skadj snapped his fingers. “That reminds me of something! Your birthday is coming up, right?”

Steven nodded. “It is, actually.”

“Perfect! If we get a chance, I have a present for you,” Skadj said, pure delight in his voice.

Steven smiled. “That’s pretty cool. I can’t wait to see it.”

Skadj was grinning from ear to ear now. “You’re going to love it!”

Cheesy lifted the sword over his head and began hacking at the painted bale of hay in front of him. Bleu was laughing his head off while he watched.

“This is pretty fun,” Cheesy said, satisfied with his destruction of the target.

Bleu wiped his eyes with a smile. “It sure looks like it. But if you really want to know how to use a sword properly, you’re going to need a lot of training.”

Cheesy held the sword out for his counterpart. “I don’t know how long we’re planning on staying.”

Bleu shook his head. “You can keep it for now. I’ll teach you the basics as long as you’re here. And maybe, if you guys come back, we can do some more advanced stuff.”

“Sounds pretty cool,” Cheesy said.

Bleu unhooked his belt and carefully strapped it around Cheesy’s waist. “There. Now you can carry it around with you.”

Cheesy sheathed the sword. “Awesome.”

Bleu’s attention suddenly shifted back towards the castle. Cheesy turned around, eager to see what his counterpart was seeing.

A large party of soldiers was currently making their way inside. They seemed to be dragging along a captive as well.

“We better alert Skadj,” Bleu said, heading towards the castle.

Cheesy hurried after him.

They burst into the war room, quickly gaining everyone’s attention.

“Commander Skadj, you’ll want to see this,” Bleu announced.

Skadj stood up, gesturing for Steven to follow as well.

They made their way out to the entrance hall, where the soldiers were struggling to hold on to their agitated captive.

“What’s this, Apollo?” Skadj asked, addressing the leader of the group.

“Found this one scouting the swamp’s perimeter,” Apollo said, pulling off his helmet with a huff. “Might be able to give us some inside knowledge, if we can ask the right questions.”

“Long before my whistle is blown, King Maron will be knocked off his throne!” the druid captive crooned.

Apollo groaned. “He’s been singing stupid songs like that the whole way here.”

“Do we at least have a name to work with?” Skadj asked.

“You won’t be saved by names when your kingdom is in flames!”

Apollo growled. “Shut the hell up, draugr svein!”

“Madra rí,” the druid retorted.

Apollo took a deep breath. “Would you like to have a go, Commander?”

Skadj sighed. “I doubt I’ll get anywhere. Steven, do you think you could use some magic to coerce him?”

The druid began struggling once again. “Wretched traitor who left Cúig to die, do what you will with me; your end is nigh!”

“What the hell are you singing about now?” Apollo blurted. His agitation seemed to be growing exponentially.

“I don’t want to use my magic for something like that. But, I can tell you his name is Ozza.”

The druid stopped struggling almost immediately. “So the draoi does remember? Shame that won’t quell his temper.”

“Who is ‘he?’” Apollo asked, pleased to have finally gotten somewhere.

Ozza laughed. “The great shaman will destroy you to make this land, at last, anew.”

“Great shaman, huh? Sounds delightful. Take him to the dungeons, please,” Apollo ordered, letting out a long sigh. “I’m sure whoever’s down there will love his songs.”

“You said you found him scouting the swamp?” Skadj asked.

Apollo nodded.

“I wonder if they’re planning to make a move soon.”

“If they do, Chaos can easily hold them back,” Bleu chimed in.

“I hope so,” Skadj muttered.

Apollo and the remaining soldiers began making their way down the hall. Cheesy and Bleu went back out to the training field.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” Skadj said quietly.

Steven laughed softly. “I just wish the circumstances could’ve been better.”

“You and me both,” Skadj said, starting to walk back to the war room.

Both Shelbys were eagerly waiting for them when they got back.

“What happened?” Shelby asked.

“Some of my soldiers managed to take a druid prisoner. He hasn’t been very cooperative yet, but he could provide some useful information,” Skadj explained.

Steven looked around the room with a frown. “Where did Plat go?”

Shubble blinked. “Um, I don’t really know. He said he’d be right back.”

“That’s a bit weird,” Steven muttered to himself. “I’m gonna go look for him.”

He left the war room and headed down the hall, silently pleading that nothing bad had happened somehow. He rounded the nearest corner and nearly bumped into the man in question.

“Woah! You good, buddy?” Platy asked.

“Yeah. Where’d you wander off to?”

Steven frowned as he realized that Platy was not talking to him at all. He was instead looking down at something that was cupped in his hands.

“Whatcha got there, Platy?” Steven asked, this time speaking a little louder.

Platy looked at him with slight surprise. “Oh! This cute little guy came up to me and is just refusing to leave me alone,” he said.

He lowered his hands slightly, revealing the small but recognizable mushroom creature that was situated there.

Steven stared at it for a while as a smile found its way onto his face.

“What is it?” Platy asked.

Steven grinned at him. “That’s one of Max’s familiars. This means he’s still alive!”

Platy’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? That’s awesome!”

“Here, set the little guy down. Maybe he can show us where Max is.”

Platy did as he was asked, laughing a little as the familiar immediately sprinted off.

“Let’s go,” Steven said, chasing after it.

The pair followed the little mushroom through the halls of the castle until they finally made their way outside. The mushroom waited for them to catch up a little before it darted off again. It led them down an alley between two houses, and the pair stopped in their tracks.

Max was resting against the wall, his breathing slow. His clothes were torn and he was covered in scrapes and bruises.

“Let’s get him back to the castle,” Steven said, leaning down and lifting Max’s arm over his shoulder.

Platy took his other arm and did the same.

They walked back to the castle, carefully dragging the necromancer’s body along with them. All the while Steven kept telling him that he was going to be okay.

Cheesy and Bleu met them at the entrance when they finally got back.

“Is that who I think it is?” Bleu asked.

“Yeah,” Steven replied. “Go get Skadj and the others.”

Bleu nodded, running down the hall with Cheesy not far behind.

Steven and Platy made their way to the nearest room and eased Max’s body down onto a bed.

The others arrived moments later, their expressions a mixture of worry, shock, and relief. Shelby took a moment to assess his wounds before gathering the herbs she needed to heal him.

“You’ve got this, right?” Platy asked.

Shelby nodded. “Yeah, he’ll be okay. Fortunately he didn’t run into anything too serious.”

“Man, there sure are a lot of woods around here,” Chilled muttered.

Taylor rolled her eyes. “Not your kind of view?”

“There’s a lot more buildings and people where we come from,” Chilled replied.

“Sounds crowded.”

“Mhm,” Chilled hummed. “Hey, do you think you could teach me an Elvish word, too?”

Taylor shrugged. “How about dina?”

“What does that mean?”

“Stop talking.”

“Max!” Steven exclaimed as the necromancer finally came to.

Max squinted up at him, forcing out a laugh. “I finally joined you, old friend.”

Steven frowned slightly. “No, it’s me! The other Steven,” he said, speaking slowly and clearly.

Max struggled to sit up. “You finally decided to come back, huh? What great timing.”

Steven chuckled. “It’s not that much different from the last time we met, though, eh?”

“S’pose not.”

Max took a moment to scan the room, smiling at Shelby and nodding to Skadj.

“Huh,” he muttered, his eyes stopping on Platy. “I’ll bet that’s what did it.”

“What are you talking about?” Steven asked.

Max rubbed his head with a grunt. “The druids had total control over me. I can barely remember anything after they invaded the swamp. But I snapped out of it sometime yesterday; when you guys showed up, I’m guessing,” he explained.

“Sounds like it,” Steven said. “But how?”

Max pointed at Platy. “The slightest mental disruption. When I woke up, I saw a woman’s face for just a moment. It wasn’t anyone I know, but I still had an odd sensation of familiarity. And I vividly remember the name Taryn.”

Platy’s eyes widened. “Woah.”

“Like how I saw the Sorcerer’s memories the last time,” Steven inputted.

Max nodded. “It was just enough to break the druids’ hold over me, and I knew I had to get here so that I could warn the king about the druids’ power.”

“How exactly are we supposed to fight mind control?” Skadj asked.

“We’ll have to figure something out if we want to have a chance of winning,” Max said.

Chapter Text

“Okay, everybody out," Shelby said. "Max needs to rest.”

“I'll be fine,” Max said.

Shelby glared at him. “Don't even think about it, mister.”

Max laughed as he laid back in bed.

“We should all get some rest before we go meet with Anthony and the others,” Skadj said.

Max's eyes lit up. “Are more of your friends there, Steven?”

Steven nodded.

“I can't wait to meet them,” he said with a grin.

“Everyone will be very happy to hear that you're not dead,” Bleu commented.

“Did you really think I was dead?” Max asked.

Shelby and Bleu exchanged looks.

“We heard that the druids turned the swamp into a deadly fortress. I’m honestly impressed that you made it out of there,” Shelby replied.

Max nodded. “It definitely wasn’t easy.”

“And that’s exactly why you need to rest,” Shelby concluded triumphantly.

Max rolled his eyes. “All right, all right. You got me there.”

“We’ll get on the road first thing in the morning, then,” Skadj said. “Glad to have you back, Max.”

Steven was standing in the middle of an empty throne room. His eyes widened in horror as he spotted the mangled corpse in the corner of his vision. There was an axe firmly embedded in its chest. Blood pooled around the corpse, spreading out from some never ending source.

“You deserved better. This isn’t what I wanted for you,” an indistinct voice echoed.

Someone was crying in the distance.

“I’m so sorry for this.”

The voice resounded through the throne room even louder, and now he recognized it.

A shadowy figure stepped out of the dark and wrenched the axe from the corpse’s chest.

“What are you doing?” Steven asked.

The figure looked up at him with a blank expression, holding the axe out in front of him.

Lanmò se pa lafen.

The corpse lurched to life in a gangling struggle to stand on its feet. It tore the axe from the figure’s passive grip, holding the bloodied weapon high above its head. The horrible creature then let out an inhuman roar that sent chills down Steven’s spine.

The ground beneath Steven’s feet opened up suddenly, and then he was lying in a deep grave. He stood up, struggling to claw his way out as dirt began to rain down on him. Before he knew it, he was completely engulfed by the dense soil, unable to move or breath.

With his last breath, he cried out in furious anguish.

Steven jolted awake, taking in large gulps of air to recuperate from the nightmare.

“What the hell was that supposed to be?” he muttered to himself as he climbed out of bed.

He looked out the window, somewhat relieved to see that the sun was starting to rise. At least he managed to get enough of a good night’s rest. He put on a change of clothes and headed down the hall to check on Max.

When he walked into the room, he was surprised to see that Platy was already there.

"It's really fortunate that you're all here," Max was saying. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

"I don’t think I'll be that much help. I'm not a wizard like you," Platy said.

"Steven felt the same way until he found his way here," Max replied, nodding towards the man in question.

Platy turned around in surprise. “What are you doing up so early?”

Steven shrugged. “I guess I’m just a little restless from all this new excitement.”

“Man, I get that. I could barely sleep at all,” Platy muttered.

Max frowned. “Well, I slept great! I feel much better, thanks to Shelby.”

“That’s great to hear,” Steven said with a smile. “We’ll be ready to head out as soon as everyone else is awake.”

“Time to wake up! We’re finally here.”

Taylor pulled back on the reins, bringing the wagon to a halt in front of a large camp. She hopped down and went to the side of the wagon to help Tay out.

“Man, two days went by surprisingly fast,” Chilled commented, struggling to climb out of the wagon.

“Yeah, that happens when you sleep through most of the journey,” Taylor jeered.

“No need to get snappy,” Chilled sighed, following the two Tays towards the camp.

As they got closer, they saw a younger woman practicing with a sword on her own. Taylor started to move faster, seeming to recognize her.

“'Quel amrun, Tiffany. Have you seen Anthony around?” Taylor asked.

Tiffany lowered her sword as she turned to acknowledge their arrival.

“Very funny” she muttered, shifting her gaze to Chilled.

Taylor groaned, not interested in making the effort to explain things.

“Is that Taylor I hear?” Anthony called, suddenly emerging from a nearby tent.

Tiffany’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between the two Anthonys she was seeing. Anthony also did a double take when he finally registered the doppelgangers.

“Wait a moment, is Steven around?” he asked, scanning the horizon.

“He’s with Skadj. They’ll probably make their way here soon enough,” Taylor said. She looked back at her counterpart expectantly.

“Oh, right! Anthony, uh, urrmel lle,” Tay said with a smile.

Tiffany and Taylor immediately burst into laughter as Anthony’s face contorted in frustration.

“Very funny, Taylor,” he groaned.

Tay put her hand over her mouth. “What did I say?”

Anthony sighed. “It’s just a stupid swear that Taylor came up with.”

“Of course it is,” Tay chuckled. “Thank goodness it wasn’t anything too bad.”

“I can’t believe I have to deal with two of them now,” Anthony muttered under his breath, watching the elf struggle to breathe.

“How do you think I feel?” Tiffany asked through her laughter.

Anthony crossed his arms. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Taylor took a deep breath and let it out slowly, finally reaching the end of her laughing fit.

“Where’s the fight?” she asked.

“I’m so glad you’re taking this seriously,” Anthony said, rolling his eyes. “The druids have been holed up in the swamp for quite a while. We’re having a hard time getting past the defenses.”

“They’re not attacking?”

“We’re worried that they’re planning something big,” Tiffany said. “But we have no way of getting inside the swamp to find out what.”

“What about Chaos? What have they been doing?” Taylor asked.

“The druids’ magical barrier blocks Chaos’ power, too,” Tiffany said.

“They’re a lot tougher than you’d expect,” Anthony commented.

“No kidding,” Taylor muttered.

“But that’s obviously not what’s important right now. What about these guys?” Anthony exclaimed, making a sweeping gesture towards Chilled and Tay. “It must be very exciting seeing a whole new world with your friends.”

“It’s pretty crazy,” Tay replied. “I definitely wouldn’t have believed it if Steven hadn’t brought us here with him.”

“And it’s completely different from our world. I mean, who even is this Chaos person you keep talking about?” Chilled asked.

Anthony was suddenly brimming with excitement. “Oh, they’d be so excited to meet you! What an excellent idea! Allow me to introduce you, doppio en amin.”

“There’s that word again,” Tay commented.

“You know, Taylor, that one would have been the better choice for a first Elvish word, don’t you think?”

Taylor smirked. “I couldn’t resist urrmel, though. But you’re right. With all these new doppior, it’s only fair.”

“Sounds like they mean doppelgänger,” Chilled observed.

“That makes sense,” Tay replied with a nod.

“Ha! I didn’t even need to teach them,” Taylor scoffed.

Anthony rolled his eyes even harder this time. “Whatever you say. Let’s go see Chaos, doppio en amin.”

“You can just call me Anthony. Or Chilled, if that’s less confusing.”

“Chilled, huh? What an odd nickname,” Anthony said.

Chilled shrugged. “It’s not really a nickname-”

“What are we waiting for?” Anthony interjected, practically dragging Chilled away.

“How long are you planning to stay?” Tiffany asked, a hint of exhaustion in her voice.

“I have no idea,” Tay replied. “So who is Chaos?”

“They’re sort of our patron deity. Anthony and I are paladins. Though I’d say that Anthony and Chaos have been getting a lot closer.”

Taylor scoffed. “Those two were cut from the same cloth.”

“We’re less than a day away from the camp now,” Skadj announced. “Let’s take a quick break for food.”

“Sounds like a great idea,” Bleu said, pulling his horse to a rest.

He and Cheesy started working on putting together a small campfire while the rest of the group tied up their horses for the time being.

In a short while, the group gathered around the fire to enjoy a light snack of fruits and bread that Shelby and Bleu had provided, respectfully.

Platy eyed the mushroom familiar as Max treated it with bits of his own food.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why the mushroom?” Platy finally blurted.

Max scooped up his familiar with a smile. “Oh, I’d hate to bring down everyone’s mood with that story.”

“You realize that only makes us more curious, right?” Cheesy interjected with a smirk.

Max shrugged. “Eh. Don’t let it eat at you too much. You really don’t want to hear it.”

Cheesy crossed his arms with a relenting huff.

“Chaos! There’s someone here you absolutely have to meet!” Anthony called, stopping in front of a very oversized tent.

Chilled’s eyes widened as he watched the breathtaking deity emerge from the tent. As overwhelming as their stature and extra arms were, what threw Chilled off the most was their remarkable resemblance to Jess.

Chaos gasped with delight. “Where did you find this handsome fellow?”

“Steven brought him along. You remember Steven, right?”

“How could I forget? He’ll be very useful against the druids.”

Chilled remained utterly speechless, unable to stop staring at the enormous being.

“You’re much quieter than the Anthony I know,” Chaos commented, kneeling down in front of them.

Chilled blinked. “S- sorry. I guess I just didn’t know what to expect. You’re, uh, very big.”

Chaos chuckled. “You must be very overwhelmed.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Chilled muttered, making a mental note to rip Steven a new one later.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, regardless. The two of you put together will come up with the perfect plan to defeat the druid armies.”

“Anthony! We’ve got company!” Taylor shouted, running over to them. “But it’s not the good kind.”

Chapter Text

Anthony and Chaos quickly rushed to follow Taylor, with Chilled shortly behind. A pair of druids were making their way towards the camp, holding their hands high above their heads.

“Crazy how we keep running into people we know,” Tay muttered.

Chilled nodded, sneaking a glance up at Chaos.

“You recognize them?” Tiffany asked.

“I mean, we know the versions of them in our world,” Tay replied with a nod.

“We come in peace!” one of the druids called.

Anthony drew his sword and quickly moved to the front of the group. “How are we supposed to trust you?” he shouted.

The druids exchanged looks, still holding their hands in the air.

“Our shaman’s quest of conquest has driven him insane! We fear that he will lead our people to destruction.”

“Anthony, the doppior know them. I think we should give them a chance,” Tiffany said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“If they try anything, we can still take them out with ease,” Taylor added.

Anthony sighed, finally sheathing his sword. “Very well. Let’s hear what you have to say,” he said.

The druids cautiously lowered their hands and continued forward.

“My name is Courtney,” the friendlier of the two druids began, “and he calls himself Brood.”

“What do you have to offer?” Anthony demanded.

“We understand the magic that our shaman uses,” Brood explained. “We can help you counter it during fights.”

“That will definitely come in handy,” Taylor said, glancing toward the swamp.

“Do you think you can help us break through the swamp’s defenses?” Tiffany asked.

“It won’t be easy, but it’s possible,” Courtney replied.

Anthony tapped his chin. “What do you think of them, Chaos?”

“They seem trustworthy, and your new friends claim to be familiar. I say we keep them around.”

“All right. Tell us everything that you know,” Anthony said.

As they came closer to the camp, Steven could finally see what the druids had done to the swamp. Thick, thorny vines were growing all around the perimeter, completely suffocating the plants that were already there.

“The camp is just ahead!” Skadj called. “Everybody stay alert. The druids could strike at any moment.”

The party rode their horses over the top of a large hill, finally able to see several tents that had been set up in the valley.

“No druids?” Bleu questioned.

Skadj frowned. “I hope we aren’t too late.”

“Do you all see that?” Shelby asked, pointing towards the center of the camp.

A pillar of smoke billowed up, glaringly silhouetted against the twilight sky.

“We’d better hurry,” Max said, urging his horse forward.

As they rode through the camp, their fears were quelled by the sight of soldiers calmly chatting and sharing drinks by their tents. The smoke in the center of the camp was coming from a large bonfire. Several soldiers were gathered around it, drunkenly singing as they watched a boar being spit-roasted.

“I guess we aren’t too late,” Skadj muttered, climbing off of his horse.

“Commander Skadj! We weren’t expecting you so soon,” a soldier called, awkwardly saluting.

“We have important information to deliver. Where is Anthony?”

The soldier pointed towards a large marquee tent. “Some druid defectors came to offer their support. He is interrogating them now. I’ll have someone tend to your horses.”

“Thank you,” Skadj said, gesturing for the others to follow him.

“What about the shaman’s plan? Why is he waiting so long before attacking?” Anthony asked.

“I’m sorry, but he hasn’t shared his plan with anyone that we know of,” Courtney said.

“Then what was the point of you coming all this way?”

“We just want to help in any way we can,” Brood replied.

Anthony threw his hands in the hair. “What a great help you’ve been!”

A soldier burst into the tent. “There are some people here to see you.”

Anthony took a deep breath. “Taylor, keep an eye on these two. Hopefully this isn’t another waste of time.”

He exited the tent and his mood immediately shifted.

“Steven!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms around the other man. “It is so good to see you again!”

Steven patted him on the back before letting go. “It’s great to see you, too. Where is everyone else?”

“Inside,” Anthony said, gesturing vaguely. His eyes shifted towards the rest of the group, growing wide as they stopped on Max and his doppelgänger.

“You- you’re alive! I can’t believe it!”

Max smiled as Anthony pulled him into a tight hug as well. “It’s good to be back.”

Anthony let go with a frown. “Wait- did you actually die?”

Max let out a laugh. “No, nothing like that. It’s what we came to talk to you about, though.”

“Let’s go inside, then. Everyone else will be so glad to see you’re okay.”

Anthony held open the tent flap for them as they went in.

“Welcome to the party, guys,” Taylor said with a smirk.

She put her hand over her mouth when Max came in after Platy.

“You better not start crying,” Max teased.

Taylor punched his shoulder lightly. “I would never.”

“Is your entire army made of cúpla?” Brood asked in amazement.

“Right,” Anthony said. “These are our new allies, Courtney and Brood.”

“The druid defectors that the soldiers told us about,” Skadj nodded.

“So far they haven’t been able to provide us with very useful information,” Anthony muttered.

“Maybe they know something about the mind control,” Max offered.

“Did you say mind control?” Chilled asked, incredulous.

“The mind control is what shocks you? Are we all just going to completely glaze over the giant, four-armed woman that’s in the tent with us?” Cheesy exclaimed.

“Chaos isn’t a woman. They’re a timeless being with unimaginable power,” Tiffany remarked flatly.

Cheesy remained speechless.

“Your bewilderment will have to wait, Bleu Two. I think this supposed mind control is a much more pressing issue,” Anthony said.

Max nodded. “I only remember bits and pieces, but when the druids came to take over the swamp, they were somehow able to take control of me. I can’t quite remember what they made me do, but I know it was nothing good.”

“Do you remember a harp?” Courtney asked.

Max nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes I do!”

“When he plays the harp, our shaman draws on the magic of Uaithne, which allows him to control anyone that hears it,” Brood expounded.

“Something like that could completely change the outcome of a battle in an instant,” Skadj said, the realization filling him with dread.

“I think I might know a way to counter the shaman’s magic harp,” Chaos inputted.

“That’s great news!” Anthony said. “What did you have in mind?”

“Do either of you remember the tune that your shaman plays?” Chaos asked, looking down at the druids.

Courtney and Brood exchanged looks. After a moment, Courtney began humming an upbeat and somewhat sad tune. Max started to feel dizzy as the tune became more familiar.

“Seems like that’s the right song,” Platy observed.

“Okay,” Chaos said, holding their arms out. “This might feel a little funny.”

They began to chant something that sounded vaguely like Latin. As they chanted, Steven started to notice a faint ringing in his ears.

“Does everybody hear that?” he asked once Chaos stopped chanting.

The group was silent for a moment.

“Yeah, that ringing definitely wasn’t there before,” Cheesy commented.

Chaos smiled proudly. “I call it my Focusing Fugue. It should keep the shaman’s music from taking hold over you.”

“Great work,” Anthony said. “Now that we’ve solved that issue, we can start coming up with a plan to invade the swamp.”

Anthony’s brilliant planning was interrupted by the sound of several soldiers shouting outside the tent.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Shubble muttered.

“Commander Skadj, we’re under attack!” a soldier shouted from outside the tent.

Skadj drew his sword. “The druids are finally showing their faces.”

Anthony and Bleu drew their weapons as well, following Skadj out into the fray. They were only gone for a moment before returning to the tent.

“What’s going on out there?” Shelby asked.

“It’s not the druids,” Anthony replied.

This time everyone left the tent to see what he was talking about. More screams and shouting could be heard as the group realized that several tents in the camp were on fire.

“What the hell is that?” Chilled asked.

They could just barely make out a creature darting through the camp, setting tents ablaze as it passed.

Bleu lowered his weapon in shock. “Did the druids summon a demon?”

“Our shaman would never go that far,” Brood said, though he didn’t sound very sure of himself.

“Whatever it is, we need to stop it before it destroys the entire camp,” Taylor said, notching an arrow.

“Are you crazy? You’ll only upset it with that,” Anthony hissed.

“We should split up into teams. Some of us can distract that thing while the rest focus on putting out fires and tending to the soldiers,” Skadj said.

“I can help with the fires,” Shelby offered.

“So can we,” Courtney said, nodding to Brood.

“Steven, you should help them. Your magic will speed up the operation.”

Steven nodded.

“Chaos, do you think you can slow that monster down?” Anthony asked.

Chaos stretched out a hand, their face contorting with concentration. “There’s nothing to manipulate,” they said, dropping their hand in frustration.

“What does that mean?” Tiffany asked.

“It’s as if that monster doesn’t exist,” Chaos replied, more confused than anything.

Max frowned in thought.

“I guess we’ll just have to distract it the hard way,” Skadj said. “Anthony, Bleu, Taylor, on me! Let’s do this!”

The four rushed out into the camp, shouting and waving wildly in an attempt to get the monster’s attention.

Chapter Text

Shelby and the druids started getting ready to help put out the fires.

“Steven, can I talk to you real quick?” Chilled asked quietly, gesturing towards the tent.

Steven frowned slightly. “Sure.”

They went inside the tent and Chilled walked all the way to the back.

“Is everything okay?”

Chilled turned around with a huff. “So, did you just forget, or did you want me to have a heart attack when I got here?”

“What?”

Chilled threw his hands in the air. “Chaos, Steven! I’m talking about Chaos. Did you intentionally leave out the part where they look exactly like Jess or what?”

Steven raised his eyebrows in realization. “It honestly slipped my mind. I didn’t see much of them the last time I was here.”

“Unbelievable,” Chilled muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“We’ve got bigger things to worry about, anyway,” Steven said.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Crazy druids and demons and shit. Everything a birthday party needs.”

Steven laughed a little. “You have to admit it’s pretty cool, right?”

Chilled nodded. “It’s not everyday you learn that your friend has awesome magical powers.”

Steven rolled his eyes.

“Hey, Steven? The other me is starting to freak out,” Platy called, poking his head into the tent.

Steven quickly followed him back outside, where Max was rocking back and forth slightly, his head clutched in his hands.

“Max? What’s going on?” Steven asked, grasping his shoulders. “Are you okay?”

"I remember…" Max muttered.

“What's he saying?” Platy asked.

Max jerked his head up suddenly. “Chaos, you have to get Skadj to safety, now!”

Chaos frowned, but did as they were told, immediately rushing into the camp.

“Talk to me, Max. What’s the problem?”

Max ran his hands through his hair. “This is very bad, Steven.”

“What is? Stop being so cryptic,” Tay demanded.

“That monster out there, I think I know what it is. And if Chaos can’t touch it, nothing can.”

“What does that mean?” Chilled asked, looking utterly horrified.

Max turned to Steven. “I need your help to do a warding spell. If it’s really what I think it is, the spell should keep it away for a while.”

Steven nodded. “Okay. Tell me what I need to do.”

Max grabbed Steven’s hands and held them out, forming a small circle. “Just repeat after me, okay?”

“Got it.”

Max closed his eyes, speaking the spell slow and clear so that Steven could follow along.

“Pouvwa anwo ak anba, prete fòs ou.
Gad tè mwen kanpe a; bani sa ki revnan madichon an.
Pouvwa anwo ak anba, prete fòs ou.
Pwoteje tout moun bò kote m 'e kenbe sa ki mal byen lwen.”

A halo of light burst outward from their clasped hands as Steven repeated the final word. The light spread across the camp until every tent was encircled in its glow. As it went, an unearthly screech echoed through the camp.

Steven felt a chill run down his spine. The sound seemed eerily familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite place it.

Max let go of Steven’s hands, staggering backwards slightly.

“That took a lot more out of me than I thought it would,” Max said, taking slow, deep breaths. “How are you feeling?”

Steven frowned slightly. “I’m fine. What exactly just happened?”

“Guys, that was so cool!” Platy exclaimed.

Max chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a pretty one. I don’t know how long it’ll last, though.”

“What the hell is your problem?” Skadj shouted as he was carried back to the tent by Chaos.

“I got him, but he’s really protesting.”

“Put me down already!”

Chaos rolled their eyes.

Anthony, Bleu, and Taylor rejoined them moments later, looking rather worn out.

“Let me guess: none of you could land a single hit?” Max muttered.

Anthony sheathed his sword. “You seem to know quite a bit about that monster.”

Max nodded. “It happens to be in my field of specialty.”

Bleu’s eyes widened. “The druids have necromancers, too?”

Skadj frowned. “They had Max under their control, remember?”

“Max, what did you do?” Taylor demanded.

Max let out a sigh. “That thing out there, it’s called a revenant.”

Skadj’s face went pale. “Feik.”

Max grimaced, running his hands through his hair. “It’s starting to come back to me, but it’s just bits and pieces. While I was under the druids’ control, they had me summon an undead army to double their numbers. And that’s not even the worst of it.”

“What is a revenant, anyway?” Tay asked.

“It’s an undead creature solely fueled by vengeance,” Skadj replied.

Max nodded. “As if an entire army wasn’t enough for them, the druids’ shaman forced me to resurrect Steven.”

Steven’s eyes widened. “He’s the revenant?”

Skadj shuddered.

“How do the druids even know about Steven?” Shelby asked, her face full of worry.

“Steven was content; he didn’t want to be resurrected! So he came back as an uncontrollable monster whose only goal is to drag Skadj down with him,” Max ranted, his tone growing in frustration and volume.

“That’s terrible! Isn’t there anything you can do to stop it?” Shubble asked.

“Everyone calm down. Now’s not the time to be distracted by ghost stories,” Taylor said, causing everyone to get quiet. “We’re on the brink of all-out war with the druids. Max’s revenant can wait.”

“No it can’t,” Max argued. “That warding spell won’t hold forever, and the moment Skadj is vulnerable, he’ll be targeted. Steven will not stop until Skadj is dead.”

"Hang on, if you're the one that made the revenant, can't you control it?" Cheesy asked.

Max shook his head. "A revenant isn't like any other wight. It has its own will, and like Skadj said, it's driven solely by a desire for vengeance. No force on Earth can control it."

“But Taylor is right. You can’t let yourselves be distracted from the battle ahead,” Courtney inputted.

"Then we need to split up," Steven said. “Max, is there anything we can do about the revenant?”

“I know of a very complicated cleansing ritual. It will take a lot to prepare, but it will help him return peacefully to the afterlife.”

“Should Skadj stay here under the warding spell’s protection until your ritual is ready?” Bleu asked.

Max shook his head. “It could falter at any moment, especially once Steven or I are outside of its range.”

“Why would you need to leave?” Tiffany asked.

“Unfortunately, a lot of what I need to prepare the ritual is back in my cabin.”

“You mean the cabin that’s currently in the middle of a massive druid plant blockade?” Shelby clarified.

Max nodded.

“There’s no way you’ll make it through there!” Taylor argued.

“I did it once.”

“And I can help this time,” Brood offered.

“What am I supposed to do, then?” Skadj wondered.

“I’ll write down the warding spell for Steven,” Max said, searching the tent for something to write with.

“I assume that means we’ll be keeping the revenant occupied while you work?” Steven asked, exchanging worried looks with Skadj.

Max nodded. “Shelby and Mr. Handsome can help me set things up.”

“I already told you I’m not magic or anything,” Platy protested.

“You can still help, I promise,” Max said, handing Steven the written spell.

“You’re all crazy! You can’t just abandon the battlefield before the fight’s even begun!” Courtney cried.

“No one’s abandoning anything,” Anthony interjected. “If the revenant gets what it wants, that’s letting the druids win. They wanted this thing to come after Skadj, so part of our fight is stopping it. There are a lot of us, so we can cover all our bases.”

Courtney let out a long, heavy sigh.

“Don’t worry about me, either,” Brood said. “I’ll get them in and out of that swamp with no trouble.”

“We should rest for the night,” Tiffany added. “We’ve got a lot ahead of us for tomorrow.”

“This one hell of a birthday party,” Chilled muttered.

Max turned to Steven. “Even your birthday is the same as his?”

Steven shrugged. “Seems that way. I guess whatever gift you were hoping to give me will have to wait, Skadj.”

Skadj shook his head, his eyes suddenly alight with excitement. “Actually, my gift will be very useful.”

“Is it what I think it is?” Max wondered, also starting to look excited.

Skadj nodded.

“You’re going to love it,” Max said, patting Steven’s shoulder.

As everyone headed out of Chaos’ tent to get ready for the night, Steven pulled Max aside for a moment.

“I’m not going to say anything. It’ll be so much better if your present stays a surprise,” Max said.

“This isn’t about that. Remember how you saw some of the other Max’s memories?”

Max nodded, frowning with intrigue.

“Do you think that would still apply for the revenant?”

Max tilted his head. “Did you see something?”

Steven nodded, shuddering at the memory. “It was awful. How much do you remember about what you did?”

“I summoned him with a seance, trapped him in my cabin, then forced him back into his body,” Max explained, letting out a long sigh. “He was begging me to snap out of it the whole time.”

Steven played with his hands anxiously. “I remember hearing you say that it wasn’t what you wanted for him. I doubt he blames you for what happened.”

Max let out a desperate laugh. “That doesn’t stop me from blaming myself, Steven. If anything happens to Skadj…”

“We’re gonna fix all of this tomorrow, Max. I promise.”

"For their sake, I hope so."

Chapter Text

Steven was woken up by the sound of a loud bell ringing throughout the camp. Chilled started to stir in the bedroll beside him.

“Did you sleep all right?” Steven asked, attempting to tame his curls.

Chilled grumbled. “My back will never recover from this.”

Steven chuckled, glancing over at the other empty bedroll in their tent. He felt a slight panic as he remembered that they had shared the tent with Skadj. Scrambling to his feet, he quickly went outside and scanned the area. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Skadj putting on his armor.

“There you are! You had me worried for a moment,” Steven called.

“I’m fine, for now,” Skadj replied. “We should probably get going, though.”

“Not until we’ve had a chance to go over everything with the others,” Steven said. “I want to make sure things go smoothly.”

Skadj nodded. “All right. We can head over to Chaos’ tent together.”

“So, how much do you know about revenants?” Steven asked, glancing into their tent to check on Chilled.

“Not a lot. I’ve heard that they aren’t as active during the day, but I doubt that’s actually true. Nothing stops a revenant from getting its vengeance.”

“Nothing but Max’s cleansing ritual,” Steven added.

“Right. As long as they can get through the swamp.”

“Someone’s in a really great mood this morning,” Chilled commented as he exited the tent.

Skadj crossed his arms. “I’m sure your outlook would be just as sunny as mine if you had a revenant on your ass.”

“Let’s go see how everyone else is doing,” Steven muttered.

“Happy birthday, by the way,” Chilled said.

“Thanks, Anthony.”

“Once we get to your present, I guarantee I’ll be in a much better mood,” Skadj inputted.

They made their way through the camp and saw that several of their friends had already begun to gather in front of Chaos’ tent.

“Good to see you’re still alive,” Taylor said, nodding to Skadj.

“You could at least try to put a positive spin on the situation,” Shelby commented, rolling her eyes.

Anthony poked his head out from Chaos’ tent. “There is nothing positive about any of this, Shelby. Optimism can’t beat reality.”

“Thank you,” Skadj said with a smug expression.

“How long have you been in there?” Tiffany asked, watching Anthony tie open the tent’s entrance.

“There’s no need to make it weird, Tiffany.”

“I’m not the one that made it weird,” Tiffany teased.

“So what’s our battle plan?” Brood asked, joining the group moments later.

“How many of you are planning to stay and fight?” Courtney added.

“Well, Max said that he wanted my help,” Shelby said. “And you also wanted to help, right, Brood?”

Brood nodded.

“Do you need anyone to help you distract the revenant?” Anthony asked, turning to Steven.

“We’ll be just fine,” Skadj said. “Trust me.”

“I guess not,” Steven shrugged.

“I guess I can stay, but I’ve never really used a sword before,” Chilled said.

Anthony pointed at Bleu and Cheesy as they walked up to the tent. “Bleu can help you with the basics.”

“What are you volunteering me for?” Bleu asked.

“Teaching my doppio how to use a sword.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s no trouble at all. I can show you some more moves, too, Cheesy.”

“Sounds great to me,” Cheesy replied.

“You're all here already; great,” Max said, finally joining them all. “Where’s the best place to get into the swamp, Brood?”

“The barrier is the weakest to the south, by the nearest reservation. That’s where supplies are carried in.”

“You want to sneak in with the supplies?” Courtney asked in disbelief.

“Can’t you use magic to get through the barrier?” Shelby suggested.

“That’s much riskier. The moment we start tampering with it, the druids that cast it will know,” Brood explained.

“That’s impressive,” Bleu muttered.

“What if we tamper with several sections at once? Then they won’t be able to narrow down our position,” Max offered.

“How are you going to do that?” Courtney asked.

“They call it the Haunted Swamp for a reason,” Max said. “I’ve got lots of friends on the inside that can help us out.”

“Sounds like we all know what our parts are,” Anthony announced. “Quel marth, everyone.”

Shubble tapped Shelby’s arm. “I’ll just stick with you, if that’s okay.”

“Sure! I’m sure Max will appreciate the extra help, magic or no.”

“Hey, guys? Does anyone else see the magic dome-thingy flickering?” Tay asked, staring up at the sky.

Max clenched his fists. “You two should get going now.”

Skadj nodded. “Good luck sneaking into the swamp.”

He led Steven to the stables and climbed onto his horse.

“Hop on,” he said, holding out his hand.

Steven did as he was told, awkwardly clutching the viking’s waist as he cracked the reins vigorously.

“Are you going to fix the warding?” Bleu asked.

Max shook his head. “The revenant won’t bother us anymore. It’s up to Steven now.”

“You trust him that much?” Tiffany questioned.

“Don’t underestimate him, Tiffany. He’s the one that rescued me from my banishment, if you recall,” Chaos said.

Anthony nodded. “Skadj is in very capable hands.”

“So, I guess we’re heading into the swamp now?” Platy asked, glancing at the brambly walls with concern.

“This side of the swamp is the most heavily-guarded. We should still head South, just not all the way to the supply line,” Brood said.

“Then let’s get going,” Max said.

“We should launch an assault on the barrier, too,” Tiffany said. “It’ll help create more distraction for them to sneak in.”

Anthony nodded. “That’s a great idea. Get that cleansing done as fast as you can, Max.”

“I’ll reach out to you if things start to turn sour,” Max called, putting his right hand to his forehead in salute.

“Good luck on your rith féinmharaithe,” Courtney muttered.

“Think we’re far enough?” Shelby asked, glancing at the wall of vegetation.

Brood squinted in thought. “Looks like a good place to me.”

“We should hide. I think I see a guard coming,” Shubble whispered.

The group quickly ducked behind a cluster of nearby trees.

“I’m pretty sure they saw us,” Brood muttered.

“I’ll take care of it,” Max said.

Brood grabbed his arm. “Don’t kill them. The druids will know something is wrong if they don’t check in.”

Max nodded. He directed his attention to the guard, stretching out his hand and taking a deep, focusing breath. “Te kaptire lonbraj.”

The group watched as a shadowy figure suddenly overtook the guard. Once the deed was done, the guard carried on as if nothing had happened.

“What the hell was that?” Platy asked.

“I just called on a friend to make sure that guard only sees what I want them to see.”

“Good thinking. Now let’s hope the rest of your plan works,” Brood said, slowly approaching the barricade.

“So, how long have you and Anthony known each other?” Chilled asked while awkwardly swinging his sword.

Bleu shrugged. “A few years now. He used to come into my bakery and hassle me for food. When I found out he was a paladin, I asked him to train me in exchange for free bread for life. I sort of regret that now, but at least I have one hell of a story to tell my grandkids.”

“You’re planning that far ahead?” Chilled laughed.

“It’s uncanny how similar you are,” Bleu observed. “Now quit distracting me and work on your form.”

“You’re up, Bás,” Brood said, turning to Max.

The necromancer knelt down and pressed his hands firmly against the ground. “Ann fimen yo deyò.”

The ground around them shook slightly as several small mushrooms began sprouting up.

“Okay, Jerry. You know the plan?” Max asked, scooping up one of the familiars.

The mushroom gave him an affirming salute.

“Do they all have names?” Shubble wondered, giggling as the mushrooms scampered through the thorny vines.

“Yep,” Max replied, setting Jerry back down. “It won’t take long for them to get into position.”

“Do you need help breaking through the wall?” Shelby asked.

Brood frowned. “I don’t know how much help you’ll be. This is powerful druid magic.”

“I’ve been studying herbalism my entire life. I know a thing or two about druid magic,” Shelby replied, crossing her arms.

Max grinned. “She definitely knows what she’s doing.”

"All right, then. When the time comes, just follow my lead," Brood said.

Steven and Skadj rode around the northern side of the swamp, reaching the base of a familiar mountain range after several hours.

“What kind of gift is this, exactly?” Steven asked, frowning up at the rugged peaks.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Skadj replied, pulling back on the reins. “I just wish it wasn’t in such a hard-to-reach place.”

They climbed off of Skadj’s horse and continued walking through the mountains on foot. There was evidence of a worn path that seemed to have been undisturbed for several years.

“When King Maron took back the throne, he was ready to put me back in a cell,” Skadj said, making conversation as they walked.

“Luckily your friends were all willing to speak on my behalf, despite barely knowing me. It was Anthony who convinced King Maron that I could carry out my punishment in the form of community service. King Maron was in need of a new army, so that’s what he decided to do with me and anyone who didn’t stay loyal to Kara.”

Skadj let out a sigh.

“King Maron had her executed.”

Steven stayed quiet, not sure how to react to the news.

“But I didn’t drag you all this way just to make you miserable,” Skadj continued. “After everything that happened, you can imagine I felt miserable. Luckily, Max sort of understood what I was going through. We started spending time together, reminiscing about, y’know, the other you. That's when he decided to show me what I'm about to show you."

"Was it something of his? Steven’s, I mean," Steven asked.

Skadj huffed. "I don’t want to give away too much before you see it."

"Okay, okay," Steven chuckled. "Continue leading the way, Skadj."

Skadj nodded. "I think we're getting close."

The sun was almost directly overhead by the time Jerry returned to report on the mushrooms’ positions.

“Looks like it’s time,” Max said, lifting the familiar onto his shoulder.

“Are you ready, Shelby?” Brood called.

“Ready!”

“Ale!” Max shouted.

The vegetation that made up the barrier suddenly began to writhe and thrash angrily, a sign that the plan was fully in action. Brood and Shelby quickly set to work, withering every plant in their path.

“Quickly now! Before the guards make their way to us,” Brood ordered, directing everyone through the gap.

Once the group had passed, he stopped to close the wall behind them.

“Stay close to me and don’t wander off,” Max said. “Steven and Skadj are counting on us.”

Chapter Text

“Skadj… what is this?” Steven asked, staring up at the enormous cave mouth they were currently standing in front of.

Skadj had a huge grin on his face as he put together a torch and lit it. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Steven stayed close to Skadj as he led the way through gloomy, arid tunnels. The torchlight’s wavering shadows combined with the occasional rumbling left Steven feeling very on edge as they made their way deeper.

“Trust me, Steven. You’re gonna love this,” Skadj said, finally stopping at the entrance of a massive cavern.

With the aid of the dim torchlight, Steven could just barely make out a large, scaly creature that was curled up in the cavern’s center.

“Is that a… dragon?” he whispered, looking back at Skadj.

“She’s called Peach,” Skadj replied simply.

Steven’s heart was racing. “This is crazy.”

“Happy birthday,” Skadj said with a smile.

Steven turned to Skadj with wide eyes. “This is your present? What am I supposed to do with a dragon?!”

“You don’t have to take her back with you,” Skadj laughed.

Steven froze as the ground beneath his feet started to shake. He watched as the dragon stretched out its limbs, looking a lot like a dog that had just woken up from a nap.

“Looks like she’s coming to say hi,” Skadj commented.

“Skadj, this is terrifying,” Steven whispered through his teeth.

“Relax. Hold out your hand and let her sniff you, just like you would with any animal.”

Steven took a deep breath to calm himself down before reaching out with a very shaky hand. Peach stood in front of them, slowly leaning down to sniff her visitors.

Steven braced himself as she came closer, hot breath filling the air around them. He relaxed a little when the dragon pressed the tip of her snout against the palm of his hand. He chuckled nervously and rubbed her snout a little before pulling his hand back.

“She took to you really fast,” Skadj observed. “Are you ready to go for a ride?”

Steven’s eyes went wide once again. “Excuse me?”

Skadj grabbed Steven’s hand and practically dragged him around to Peach’s side. “You’ll love it!”

He clambered onto Peach’s back and held out his hand for Steven. Reluctantly, Steven took Skadj’s hand and carefully made his way up.

“Are you ready?” Skadj asked.

“I guess so,” Steven replied, searching for something to hold on to.

“Fjúka!”

Peach immediately broke into a gallop, slinking through the cave tunnels with incredible speed. Steven wrapped his arms tightly around Skadj and held on for dear life.

When they arrived at the entrance of the cave, Peach came to a sudden stop.

Steven peeked over Skadj’s shoulder. “What happened?”

“It’s close,” Skadj replied with a grim tone. He patted Peach’s back. “We need to keep moving.”

“Can you take us into the mountain range?” Steven asked. “There are some guys around here that I think can help.”

Skadj nodded. “Let’s go, Peach. Fjúka!”

After narrowly avoiding several carnivorous plants and rescuing Brood from quicksand, Max and his party finally arrived at the cabin. There were only two druids standing guard at the door.

"I was expecting to see a lot more of them around here," Max muttered, peeking at the cabin.

"They must be investigating the barrier," Brood replied.

"We'd better make this as quick as we can, then,” Max said. “Shelby, can you put those guards to sleep? I’ve got rope in my cabin that we can use to tie them up once we’re past.”

Shelby nodded.

The guards didn’t notice the poppies that started to blossom at their feet until it was too late. Once they had both collapsed, the party quickly made their way into the cabin.

“They’ll be asleep for at least an hour,” Shelby explained.

Max grabbed a large bundle of rope. “I don’t want to take any chances. It'll be really bad if the ritual is interrupted."

Brood grabbed the rope and went back outside to take care of the guards.

“Now it’s time to get to work,” Max said.

"I hope you're ready, boys, because the druids are out on the offensive," Anthony called, jogging over to Bleu and his trainees.

"Do I look ready to you?" Chilled asked.

"You'll be fine. We're not gonna let anything bad happen to you, right Bleu?"

Bleu nodded intently. "Absolutely! You can stay near the back and help with the trebuchets. If things get intense, just remember what I taught you."

Chilled and Cheesy exchanged worried looks as Anthony and Bleu ran off to join the front lines.

"If we survive this, remind me to confiscate Steven's magic compass thing," Chilled muttered.

Cheesy nodded. "Flush it, too."

They made their way over to the trebuchets, which were currently in the process of being moved into position by a small group of soldiers.

“Anything we can do to help?” Chilled asked.

“Start pushing,” one of the soldiers replied. “The faster we’re in position, the better chance we’ll have.”

“Man, what the fuck did Steven get us all into?” Tay commented as she approached the group.

Cheesy grunted as he put all his strength into moving one of the trebuchets. “We were talking about getting rid of that magical thingy he has so that this never happens again.”

Tay shrugged. “Hey, if he wants to put himself in danger, I say let him. In the future, we know that if he wants to surprise us for his birthday, it’s a trap.”

“You make a good point,” Chilled replied with a laugh.

“Less talking, more pushing,” another soldier barked.

“Everyone will have a part to play,” Max began, rummaging through a large trunk.

He took out two sets of altar bells and handed them to Platy and Shubble.

“How did you get your hands on those?” Shelby asked, frowning at the tarnished gold instruments.

“I borrowed them from an old cathedral,” Max replied with a shrug.

Shelby raised an eyebrow.

“Anyway, you and Brood will be smudging,” Max continued, now scanning a shelf of herbs in his kitchen.

“What do we do with the bells?” Platy asked, mindlessly ringing his set.

“Just think of a song that calms you and ring the bells in rhythm,” Max replied, grabbing a ginger root. “Shelby, it looks like I’m all out of sage. Any chance you can grow some?”

Shelby nodded and stepped out of the cabin.

“When I give you your cue, just smudge this ginger around,” Max said, holding the root out for Brood.

“You weren’t kidding about this being really complicated,” Shubble commented.

Max grabbed a hefty book from a nearby shelf and set it down on the table with a loud thud.

“It only gets more complicated from here," he replied.

He flipped through the book and stopped on a page with a very intricate symbol.

Shelby reentered the cabin with a small bundle of sage in her hand.

"That'll do, Shelby," Max said, glancing up from the book momentarily. "I forgot how annoying this vevè is to make."

"What's the vevè for?" Shelby asked.

"It's the gateway between our world and the afterlife; the most important part of the ritual."

He grabbed a half-empty jar of ash and set it down beside the book.

"All right! There's one more thing I need from you two before we're ready to start," he said, turning to Platy and Shubble.

They exchanged nervous looks.

“When Steven first came here, he didn’t think he had any magic in him. By now, I’m sure you’ve seen him do plenty of magical things. I believe that you two also have the potential to be just as magical as Shelby and I.”

“But Steven has the talisman,” Shelby inputted.

“We’ve already established that the talisman never had any magic in it,” Max explained.

Shelby shook her head. “I know, but that’s not what I’m saying. What if the talisman somehow created a link between both of them? And that’s why Steven is able to access magic in this world.”

Max’s eyes widened with intrigue. “We can test your theory right now!”

He returned to the trunk and rifled through it once more, finally emerging with a gnarled wooden staff. He held it out for Platy with a wide grin.

“Here. This is the staff I used to cast my very first spell.”

Platy took hold of it carefully and a strange sensation washed over him. “Woah.”

“Did you feel something?” Shelby asked.

Platy nodded, shifting his grip on the staff. An unfamiliar phrase had come to his mind, and he decided to speak it aloud.

“Kapo nan fènwa.”

Shubble gasped as he suddenly disappeared from view.

“Where did you learn that?” Max blurted, both delighted and confused.

Platy reappeared moments later, a look of shock on his face. “I don’t know. It just sorta came to me.”

“If it worked for you guys, does that mean I can do it, too?” Shubble asked, looking eagerly at Shelby.

Shelby frowned. “I don’t have anything like Max’s staff to give you, unfortunately.”

“That’s okay. I’m sure we can find time to test it out later.”

Max picked up the book and the jar. "All right, everybody back outside. I need a lot of room to make this thing, and then we'll be ready."

Chapter Text

The view from Peach’s back was absolutely breathtaking. Steven couldn’t help but smile a little when he spotted the familiar ruins of the crew’s castle.

“Put her down over there,” Steven said, gesturing to the castle in question.

“Oh, I think I remember these guys,” Skadj mused.

Steven nodded. "I bet they'll get a real kick out of seeing a dragon up close."

Skadj chuckled. “So, how are they gonna help us keep the revenant occupied?”

“They’re really good at making traps. I figure their skills combined with your knowledge about revenants will be pretty formidable.”

A large, flaming boulder came flying towards them, and Skadj quickly yanked the reins to avoid it.

“What was that?” Steven asked.

“Looks like those lunatics have air defenses now,” Skadj muttered, steering Peach to avoid yet another hurtling ball of fire.

Steven peered down at the castle, just barely able to make out the tiny shapes of three catapults. “Can you try to land?”

“It’s gonna be pretty hard with giant rocks flying at us,” Skadj huffed.

“Then I’ll just have to go down there myself,” Steven said.

Skadj looked back at him with wide eyes. “What?!”

Steven took the talisman out of his pocket and concentrated his focus on the catapults. Moments later, he was standing just behind the catapults, watching the crew frantically load another massive boulder.

“Can you guys stop trying to kill us?” he called.

They were so startled that they nearly dropped the boulder on their feet.

“Steven? When did you get here?” Lucas asked, helping to carefully set the boulder down.

“Just now. Thanks for not killing my dragon, and Skadj.”

“When did you get a dragon?” Albi exclaimed.

Steven shrugged. “Like an hour ago. It’s cool to see you all again.”

“You too! Bring it in,” Lucas grinned, holding out his arms.

Steven chuckled as he returned the hug.

“Looks like Skadj is coming in for a landing,” Cooper observed. “We can meet him downstairs.”

A strong breeze came their way as Peach lighted in front of the ruins. Steven followed the crew down to the main hall, where another bandit was waiting with a crossbow in hand.

“You can put that down, Carter. These guys are old friends,” Lucas said. “Steven, meet Carter.”

Carter unloaded his crossbow and set it down. “Nice to meet you, I guess.”

Steven shook his hand. “Likewise.”

Albi and Cooper opened the doors to the main hall and Skadj walked in.

“How the hell did you do that, Steven?”

Steven flipped the talisman into the air and caught it. “Just a little magic.”

Skadj rolled his eyes. “I could have figured.”

“So, what brings you two here?” Lucas asked.

Albi glanced out into the courtyard. “You weren’t just showing off your dragon, were you?”

Steven shook his head. “As cool as Peach is, we’re here for something pretty serious.”

“I’ve got a revenant on my tail,” Skadj explained. “And we were hoping you guys could help us trap it for a while, or at least keep it occupied.”

Carter held up his hand. “I’ve actually been doing a lot of reading on revenants.”

Lucas looked at him in surprise. “Isn’t that convenient?”

Carter shrugged. “Guess so. I’m -uh- Carter by the way.” He held out his hand to Skadj.

“Skadj. What do you think we should do?”

“There’s a lot of different herbs and spices we can use to make a border of protection,” Carter explained, rubbing his chin in thought.

“I have a protection spell as well,” Steven said, taking out the paper Max had given him.

“As for keeping the revenant occupied, I know that they are especially attracted to their target’s blood.”

Skadj raised an eyebrow. “Good to know…?”

“I think I see what you’re getting at, Carter,” Lucas interjected. “We barrier the castle with whatever herbs and spells, and then sprinkle a little blood to really rile up this revenant and keep it in one place, yeah?”

Carter nodded. “Yeah. That’s pretty much what I was thinking.”

“How does that sound, Skadj?” Lucas asked.

Skadj looked at Steven with worry. “How long do you think Max’ll take?”

Steven shrugged. “They have a whole guarded swamp to get through, and then who knows what else they have to set up.”

“All right, what the hell. Let’s do this.”

Lucas clapped his hands. “Sweet! What herbs and spices are we going to need?”

Carter thought for a moment. “Definitely garlic, and also sage. Oh, and ginger.”

“Great. Boys, it’s time to raid the pantry. You can do your spell right here in the main hall, Steven.”

Steven nodded, watching the crew disappear down the hall.

Chilled ducked behind the trebuchet as another round of artillery was hurled towards the swamp’s border. The sound of swords clashing and general mayhem echoed across the battlefield.

“This is insane,” he said to himself.

“Tell me about it,” Tay muttered, plopping herself down beside him.

Several soldiers in their squad began loading the trebuchet again. The sounds of fighting died down as gentle harp music resounded through the air.

“What is that?” Chilled wondered, peeking over the side of the trebuchet.

Cheesy squinted in the direction of the swamp. “Is that Vikram?”

“Oh my gosh, it is.”

Tay almost laughed. “What the fuck is going on?”

The druid who bore a remarkable resemblance to Vik was calmly strumming his harp as he walked through the battle lines.

“Where is your leader?” Vik called. “I would like to make arrangements!”

Anthony exchanged glances with Bleu and Tiffany. “We’re still immune to the music, right?” he asked, looking up at Chaos.

They nodded.

“Here goes,” Anthony muttered, walking towards the druid leader.

Vik continued to strum his harp as Anthony approached. “Hello there.”

“My name is Anthony. Our commander is occupied with other business, so you’ll have to talk to me.”

Vik strummed a little harder. “Fine with me. I have come to demand your surrender.”

Anthony scoffed. “It won’t be that easy.”

“Are you sure I can’t persuade you?” Vik asked, furiously strumming his harp now.

“Positive,” Anthony replied with a nod.

“Okay, seriously. What the hell is going on?”

Anthony frowned. “What do you mean?”

Vik huffed. “Is my harp broken or something? You’re supposed to be more agreeable.”

“I’m not a big fan of harp music,” Anthony shrugged. “Could you try playing the flute?”

“Augh! Fine then,” Vik exclaimed. “Am do na mairbh a imirt.”

“What was that?”

Vik smirked.

The ground started to rumble as hordes of the undead poured out of the swamp. Anthony quickly rejoined his troops as Vik let out a sinister laugh.

“I think I made him mad,” Anthony muttered.

“Nice going, n’handelaer,” Taylor scoffed.

“Focus, you two. We have bigger things to worry about than insults,” Tiffany said.

Anthony looked up at Chaos. “Got anything for zombies?”

“It’s hard to kill what’s already dead,” they replied. “But, I can slow them down.”

“That’ll do,” Anthony said. “Here’s hoping Max and the others won’t be much longer.”

Steven recited the protection spell and watched the circle of light spread out just enough to cover the main hall.

“Wow, two people really does make a difference,” he observed.

“It’s good enough,” Skadj said.

The crew came back to the main hall after a while, gawking at the shiny dome as they entered.

“Looks like we’re ready to make an angry ghost even angrier,” Lucas commented.

Skadj laughed curtly. “That’s the kind of crazy that I can get behind.”

“Our door is always open,” Lucas replied with a smirk.

“So, how would you like to do it, Skadj?” Carter asked, holding out a dagger.

Skadj stared at it for a moment. “How much do we need?”

“One drop is all it takes,” Carter replied.

“We brought bandages,” Albi added, holding up the item in question.

Skadj took the dagger and quickly ran it across his palm. He squeezed his hand closed, dripping a small trail of blood in front of the door. He returned the dagger to Carter and Albi helped him wrap up his hand.

“Now we wait,” Steven muttered.

Just outside the doors, Peach was clearly starting to become restless. She reared up on her hind legs and roared, the sound echoing through the mountains.

“That didn’t take long at all,” Lucas commented.

Carter crossed his arms. “I told you the blood would do it.”

“So, where is it?” Cooper asked.

As he spoke, a fiery creature came barreling around the corner, headed straight for the castle’s open doors. It slammed against the barrier and let out an inhuman screech that sent chills down everyone’s spines.

Once again, Steven was overcome with an uncomfortable feeling of familiarity. But, now that he was face-to-face with the revenant, he finally understood why the sound was so recognizable. Despite knowing the revenant was his undead counterpart in this universe, that fact hadn’t completely registered with him until that very moment.

“Holy Mercumes, that’s disturbing,” Lucas said with a grimace.

Skadj took Steven’s hand with a tight grip.

“You okay?” Steven asked quietly.

“Are you?” Skadj replied.

Carter looked around at everyone awkwardly. “I’m not the only one that sees the resemblance, right?”

“We’ll explain later,” Lucas said.

Carter frowned. “Okay then?”

The revenant was continuously pounding against the barrier, clearly becoming more and more furious. With every hit, the barrier’s light seemed to dim a little, and Steven could feel himself getting a little weaker as well.

“You’re not looking too hot, pal. How much longer do you think you can hold this spell?” Cooper asked.

“As long as I have to.”

Max poured the last of the ash to complete the vevè and let out a low whistle. “Okay. Everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing, right?”

Shelby nodded, holding up her bundle of sage.

“I guess so,” Platy said.

“So, how are we going to let Skadj and Steven know we’re ready?” Shubble asked.

Max put the lid back on the empty jar. “Usually I travel the astral plane.”

“That’s sick!” Platy blurted.

Max looked a little confused. “Interesting word choice… but you sound excited, so I assume it’s a good thing.”

Platy nodded. “Totally. So, since I have your staff thing, do you think I can give it a try?”

“I’ll let you try it once, but we don’t have much time to spare.”

“That’s fair.”

Max crossed his arms. “I’ll explain it as simply as I can. You just have to imagine yourself leaving your body and focus on who you want to see. It helps to be in a quiet environment, so you can try back in the cabin. When you’re ready, just say: ‘lespri mache.’

“Good luck,” Shelby said.

Platy headed to the cabin and sat down on the floor, laying the staff across his lap. A few of Max’s familiars watched him inquisitively. Platy took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He replayed the necromancer’s instructions in his head, thinking about Skadj and Steven.

“Okay,” he whispered. “Lespri mache.”

The crew kept the revenant under a constant barrage of rocks and arrows in an effort to keep it away from the weakened barrier. It seemed as though one more hit would tear it down completely.

“Man, I really hope they’ve figured out that ritual,” Skadj muttered.

In a stroke of fate, a ghostly figure appeared in front of them.

“Max?” Steven called. “Is that you?”

“-an y- … -ear me?”

“Sort of. Are you guys ready? Things aren’t looking too good here.”

“-e’re -ady. -hat’s go- … -n?”

“We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

The ghostly figure faded out of sight.

“Why was he so choppy? Do you think they’re in trouble?” Skadj asked.

Steven frowned. “We’ll find out when we get there.”

“The whole leaving thing is a bit of an issue, though,” Skadj muttered, nodding towards the door.

Steven huffed. “Is there anything else you can remember about revenants, Carter?”

“Why don’t you just make another warding spell around your dragon so you can fly away?” Lucas suggested. “Pretty sure that thing can’t fly.”

“That’ll work,” Steven replied.

He took out the spell and read it again while focusing on Peach. The revenant let out another unearthly screech as the barrier pushed it farther away.

“Do you guys want to come with us? You can never have too many people fighting for a good cause,” Skadj offered.

The crew exchanged glances.

“Sorry, but we’re staying out of this one,” Lucas replied. “Cooper has history with the druids and we'd rather not get into it.”

“You know about the war?” Skadj wondered.

Lucas shrugged. “We don’t spend all our time here. We have to go out and get supplies every once in a while.”

"Well, thank you guys for all your help," Steven said, holding out his hand. “It was great seeing you again, despite the circumstances.”

Lucas shook his hand with a smile. “We always love a challenge. Good luck out there.”

Chapter Text

Once they were safely in the air, Steven released the warding with a heavy sigh.

"Are you gonna be okay doing the cleansing ritual? It seems like making those barriers took a lot out of you."

Steven nodded. "I'll do what I have to."

"I just don't want you to hurt yourself," Skadj said, glancing back at Steven.

Steven gave him a quick smile. "It's nice that you're worried about me, but you have bigger problems at the moment."

Skadj let out a sigh. "Okay, I'll admit you have a point there. But once this is over, I want you to take an actual break from the magic stuff, okay?"

"All right, all right," Steven replied with a chuckle.

"There's nothing in this world that I hate more than zombies," Anthony grumbled, thrusting his sword into an undead chest.

"You're telling me," Taylor replied, notching another arrow. "I hate feeling useless."

Tiffany ran over to them with an armful of unlit torches. "The undead don't respond well to fire, remember? Try using these."

"It would be nice to have a flaming sword like you two," Taylor muttered, dumping out her quiver and filling it with the torches.

Anthony glanced at Taylor with a smirk before easily cleaving a zombie's head from its body. "One of the perks of being a paladin of Chaos."

Taylor rolled her eyes as she lit a torch. "Yeah, yeah. Keep on preaching, meledan."

"Did you give everyone torches?" Anthony asked.

Tiffany nodded. "Chaos and Bleu were helping distribute them to everyone. But even so, fire won't hold them off forever."

"I really hope that Max is okay," Anthony muttered.

“Looks like things went over smoothly with Peach,” Max called, a proud smile on his face as he watched the dragon land.

Skadj got down right away and pulled Max into a tight hug. “We were worried something bad happened to you. Your projection was all over the place.”

Max chuckled a little. “Just like my first time.”

"Steven, that was me! Can you believe it?" Platy exclaimed, happily showing off the staff in his hands.

Steven’s eyes went wide. "Wait, really? How?"

"It was Shelby’s idea," Max said. "She figured the talisman was sort of like a magic link between you and our Steven. So we decided to test it out by creating a magic link of our own, and it actually worked!"

"That makes a lot of sense," Steven replied with a nod. "Congrats, Platy."

Platy was grinning from ear to ear.

"But, back to more important things, the ritual is ready to go," Max said.

"What do you need us to do?" Steven asked.

"You're going to help me recite the cleansing words," Max replied. He turned to Skadj with a sympathetic look. "And you're going to be the lure."

Skadj frowned. "Excuse me?"

"We need to make sure that the revenant is inside the vevè for the ritual to work properly. The best way to do that is to have you stand in it as well. When the time is right, you'll leave the vevè and light it. Then the revenant will be trapped, and we can finish the ritual."

"That sounds incredibly dangerous," Skadj commented.

Max nodded. "It is, but you’re really the only person that can do it."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be your bait."

"So, what are the cleansing words?" Steven interjected.

Max handed him a rolled-up paper. "I wrote it down for you, but you can just repeat after me if you get lost."

“Max told us that you would have a good song recommendation for us to play on our bells,” Shubble said, looking at Skadj expectantly.

Skadj frowned in confusion. “What do you need a song for?”

“It’s part of the ritual. We’re supposed to play a calming tune in the background,” Platy expounded.

Skadj gave Max a look. “I’m guessing you had Marglóðblóm in mind?”

Max nodded happily. “I think it’s the perfect song for this occasion.”

“What does Marglóðblóm mean?” Platy asked, doing his best to copy Skadj’s pronunciation.

Skadj’s face scrunched up in thought. “It’s just a kind of flower.”

“That’s what I thought it might be! It almost sounds like marigold,” Shubble said.

“Anyway, it was our song,” Skadj explained, his cheeks flushing a little as he glanced toward Steven.

“That’s why it’s exactly the right song for this ritual,” Max said. “You can work on it with them while I go over the spell with Steven.”

“You cut down one zombie and five more show up!” Tiffany groaned.

Taylor huffed. “I don’t think we’ve even made a dent.”

Anthony scanned the battlefield with a frown. Soldiers armed with swords and torches were doing their best to hold off the undead forces. Steven’s friends were cowering behind the line of trebuchets, now armed with flaming stones to counter a seemingly never-ending zombie horde. He looked around frantically when he realized there was someone he couldn’t see.

“Anthony, something’s wrong,” Tiffany said, cutting through his worried thoughts.

“I know something’s wrong,” he snapped. “Taylor, have you seen Chaos anywhere?”

“Anthony! Will you listen to me for one second!” Tiffany yelled.

Anthony looked at her with panic in his eyes.

She held up her sword, its fiery glow almost completely dimmed. Anthony looked down at his own sword, his heart stopping when he saw that it was also dim.

“Shit.”

Max called everyone to gather around the vevè to go over the plan one more time.

“How are we all feeling?” he asked.

Shubble and Platy exchanged nervous looks.

“I trust you guys,” Skadj said, looking around at everyone.

“We can do this,” Shelby nodded.

“And it should go without saying, but make sure you do not mess up the ash lines,” Max added.

Peach lifted her head suddenly, moving into a defensive stance.

"Looks like we've got company," Max muttered. "You ready, Skadj?"

Skadj lit the torch in his hand, maintaining a tight grip. "Let’s do this," he muttered, carefully stepping into the vevè.

Steven followed Peach’s gaze and spotted a fiery silhouette approaching them at a frightening speed.

“Make sure to keep the vevè between yourself and the revenant,” Max called, directing everyone’s attention to the advancing threat.

Embers were trailing behind the revenant’s every step as it barreled towards them.

Skadj adjusted his hold on the torch, taking a cautious step towards the edge of the vevè.

"Not a moment too soon, Skadj," Max warned.

As the revenant came closer and closer, the rest of the group experienced the terrifying realization of exactly what they were looking at.

"Holy fucking shit," Platy whispered, unable to take his eyes off of the undead horror.

"It looks so much like you," Shubble muttered, putting her hand over her mouth.

Max turned his head slightly and screwed his eyes shut. “Mwen trè dezole,” he said under his breath.

While everyone else was focused on the revenant’s appearance, Skadj was focused on its feet, preparing for the right moment to move. He held his breath, taking another small step backwards.

But the revenant was much too fast for Skadj, snatching his wrist with a harsh grip. Skadj looked back at Steven with determination before dropping the torch at his feet.

"Skadj!" Steven cried, taking a step forward.

Max held his arm. "Stay focused! We have to finish the ritual for Skadj to have a chance."

Skadj stared back at them with lifeless eyes. “Do you really think you’re any better than me? No amount of spells can ever erase what you’ve done.”

Max took a deep breath. "Let's make this quick," he muttered.

"What's happening?" Steven asked.

"He's being corrupted," Max replied stiffly. "There's no time to waste. You two, start ringing your bells."

Shubble and Platy were quick to follow the necromancer’s instructions, their faces full of worry.

“Kite kòlè w ale epi gen lapè.”

Steven looked down at the scroll in his hands, reading along as Max spoke.

The revenant finally let go of Skadj's wrist, angrily hissing in response to the spell.

“Look at what you turned him into,” Skadj growled. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had decided to hunt you down instead.”

Max looked like he was holding back tears. “Bliye bagay ki te ranpli w ak rayisman.”

“You’re a disgrace to the man that taught you. Such a waste of talent.”

Max clenched his fist as the tears started to flow. He turned to Steven with pleading eyes. Steven frowned in confusion, then realized what he needed to do.

Steven slowly read out the last of the spell, careful not to mess up any of the words. "Kenbe sou bagay ki fè ou kontan. Kite yo mennen w tounen nan domèn lespri a."

When he finished reading the last line, the weight of his constant magic use finally pressed on him. His legs turned to jelly, but Max was quick to catch him. The necromancer vaguely gestured to Shelby and Brood, and the two immediately lit their smudge sticks.

The smell of ginger and sage filled the air, and the revenant's unearthly wailing started to die down. The corpse collapsed in a lifeless heap as glittering embers began to float into the sky. The fiery border of the vevè also dissipated, not leaving a single trace of its existence behind.

Platy set down his bells and rushed over to his counterpart. “Are you okay?’

“Look after Steven for a moment, okay?” Max said, ignoring his question.

He sat down beside Skadj, who had fallen to his knees once the ritual was done. He wiped away the last of his tears and tore off part of his sleeve to wrap Skadj’s burned wrist.

"I'm sorry for what I said, Max. I wasn't really myself."

Max patted his shoulder. "I know. It's all right."

"Here, I have some aloe that should help with the burns," Shelby said, rummaging through her satchel.

Steven patted Platy’s arm when he was able to feel his legs again. He looked up in time to see the last few embers fade into the sky and felt a sense of relief wash over him.

"I'm glad that's over," Steven said.

"Now we just have the druids to deal with," Skadj chuckled, wincing slightly as Shelby applied aloe to his wrist.

"Maybe your dragon will be enough to scare them off," Brood shrugged, not seeming too confident in the idea.

Max brushed off his pants as he stood up. "She'll definitely make getting out of the swamp a lot easier."

Steven nodded. "Are we all ready to go?"

Platy glanced around in confusion. "We're not gonna talk about what happened, like, at all?"

"We don’t exactly have a lot of time to sit around and chat," Brood replied.

"I'm sorry, but my man was full-on crying, and Steven almost passed out less than a minute ago. We’re supposed to just move along like nothing happened?"

Skadj flashed Steven an amused look before turning to Platy. "Listen, I appreciate that you seem to really care about other people's feelings. But, we are still in the middle of a war, so feelings will have to wait a little longer."

Platy let out an exasperated sigh, reluctantly clambering his way onto Peach's back.

"I know I say this a lot, but it's amazing how similar people can be across universes," Skadj muttered, helping Steven up.

"Tell me about it," Steven replied with a laugh.

Chapter Text

Taylor glanced back and forth between the two anxious paladins. “There’s no way the druids could’ve done something to them, is there?”

“Something definitely happened to them, Taylor!” Anthony snapped.

Tiffany placed a steady hand on Anthony’s shoulder. “Now isn’t the time to panic. We have druids on our side, remember? Courtney might be able to help.”

Anthony’s expression suddenly lit up with hope.

“See? All you had to do was stop and think for a second,” Tiffany said.

Anthony frowned at her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear anything you said. I was too busy seeing that Steven and Skadj made it back okay.”

Tiffany spun around, her eyes growing wide when she saw the dragon that was tearing through the undead army.

“When did they get a dragon?” Taylor asked.

“Max told me that was Skadj’s present for Steven. Pretty cool, right? Whatever the druids did to Chaos, Steven will have no problem undoing it.”

They watched Steven and the others dismount the dragon and hurry across the battleground.

“I take it things went well with the revenant?” Anthony commented.

“It certainly could’ve gone better,” Max muttered.

“We can play catch-up after the zombies are gone,” Taylor hissed.

Max nodded. “Fair point.”

“Well, well. The pride of the swamp makes his triumphant return. Slumming it up with the villains and the oppressors.”

Steven had to stop himself from blurting out Vik's name.

“I’ll shoot you in the face if you come any closer,” Taylor said, notching an arrow.

Vik held up his hands. “And everyone’s favourite connoisseur of magic. How do you think Cúig would feel to see you hanging out with the tyrant that killed him?”

“You talk a lot for someone that’s about to lose the upper hand,” Max smirked.

“Is that what you think you’re doing?” Vik scoffed. “It’s a shame to see such a waste of talent.”

Max clenched his fists. “Oh I am going to love making you eat those words.”

"Kite pouri terib la bay tè a madichon a repran sa ki te reklame anvan!"

The grass at his feet began to rapidly decay, spreading out at an alarming rate. It covered the battlefield in a matter of seconds, taking out every single zombie in its path.

Vik seemed oddly impressed by the feat. “You may have cut my army in half, but I still hold all the best cards.”

They watched him run back into the fray before taking out a large horn and blowing into it with all his might. The druid armies were quick to respond to the call, frantically retreating back into the protection of the swamp.

“What the hell was that about?” Skadj asked.

Anthony held up his sword. “They got Chaos somehow.”

Steven’s eyes went wide. “How did they manage that?”

“Vikram was working on a spell for months,” Brood muttered. “I didn’t think that he would ever be able to actually pull it off, though.”

If looks could kill, Anthony would have utterly vaporised Brood.

“You knew this was a possibility? And you didn’t say anything?!” he shouted.

Tiffany and Taylor grabbed his arms, doing their best to keep Anthony from tackling the druid.

“I just said I didn’t think he could do it. If I thought there was even a remote chance, I would have told you.”

“We don’t have time to be upset at each other,” Skadj said. “We need to find Chaos and free them from whatever spell they’re under.”

“Steven, holy shit! I’m so glad you’re okay,” Chilled shouted, running across the empty battlefield.

Steven gave him a quick hug. “You too,” he replied.

Anthony cleared his throat. “Happy for you both, but we have much more pressing matters at the moment.” He turned his attention back to Brood, once again shooting him a killer look. “Is there anything else damningly important that you neglected to mention?”

Courtney looked worried. “Why do I feel like I missed something?”

Someone on horseback came riding onto the scene, stopping just in front of Skadj and the others.

“Commander Skadj, I have urgent news from Captain Apollo.”

Skadj frowned. “How much worse can today get?”

"The druid prisoner escaped and has taken King Maron captive. Captain Apollo believes he’s bringing the King into the swamp. He and his soldiers should be here shortly to help."

“Why would they take King Maron? If they had the opportunity, wouldn’t killing him be the move?” Taylor wondered.

Courtney and Brood exchanged horrified looks.

“Oh, gods. It’s his final stand.”

“What does that mean?” Taylor asked.

“He’s going to summon the Dagda,” Brood replied through gritted teeth.

"The Dagda, huh? I'm so glad we're learning about all of this now," Anthony snapped.

“Oh, get over yourself,” Courtney retorted. “You can’t possibly expect us to anticipate every one of Vikram’s moves. He’s absolutely insane!”

“What is the Dagda anyway?” Platy asked, making an effort to move past the conflict.

"They're our patron deity, kind of like your Chaos," Brood explained, nodding to Anthony.

Anthony threw up his arms in disbelief.

"But what does that have to do with King Maron?" Shelby asked.

"The Dagda needs a human vessel. It’s exactly the twisted fate that Vikram would want for your king," Courtney muttered in disgust.

"Sounds like we need to stop Vik before it’s too late," Steven said.

Anthony shook his head. "We need to focus on freeing Chaos first. And besides, if this Dagda really is a deity, Chaos will be our best chance, end of story."

“Anthony, you need to take a moment to relax. I'm not sure you're thinking the most rationally right now,” Tiffany said, resting her hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

“No, he makes a good point,” Skadj interjected. “Chaos will be very useful against another deity. And it’s not like we would have to waste all of our resources trying to free them, either. We have a pretty good balance of magicians and non-magicians here.”

"You'll need strong magic to undo Vikram’s," Brood said matter-of-factly.

Anthony threw his arm over Steven’s shoulders with a proud smile. "This wouldn’t be Steven’s first time. I’m confident he can do it again."

Steven nodded. "I'll do whatever I can."

“Hang on just a sec. You almost passed out last time, remember?” Platy interjected. “This sounds like some hefty stuff. Are you sure you can pull it off?”

“I'm probably the only one that can,” Steven replied.

Courtney glanced at Brood. “We’ll do our best to help, too.”

“If you’re so worried about Steven, why don’t you keep him company?” Max suggested, nodding to the staff in Platy’s hand.

Platy seemed shocked by the idea, but he mustered up a confident nod. “You know what, I will.”

Tay snorted. “What are you gonna do, hit the bad guys with your stick?”

“He can actually do spells with that stick. I saw it myself,” Shubble said.

Her statement was met with several different expressions of shock.

“It’s true,” Steven nodded. “I couldn’t believe it either.”

“What about you, Shubble? Do you have a magic stick, too?” Cheesy wondered.

Shubble glanced at her counterpart. “Not yet.”

“I’m glad we could all have a touching reunion,” Anthony grumbled. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to have mine before it’s too late.”

“While they’re working to free Chaos, maybe we can try to take down that damned wall for good,” Tiffany proposed.

“That’ll definitely make it easier to rescue King Maron,” Skadj said with a nod.

“You’ll probably want one of us to stay, in that case,” Courtney offered.

“Then I guess we all know what we’re doing,” Anthony said, handing Steven the hilt of his unlit sword. “Just in case you need this again.”

Steven took it with a nod. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Skadj gave Steven a reassuring pat. “Good luck.”

“What should we do?” Chilled asked, watching Steven head back to the swamp.

“Bleu, would you show them the infirmary tents? Just do whatever the surgeons need you to do,” Anthony said.

“This will be interesting,” Tay muttered.

Anthony turned his attention to Courtney as Bleu made his way over to the infirmary tents. “This part is all on you now.”

Courtney frowned. “How many magic users does your army have?” she asked.

A loud horn cut through their conversation, causing everyone to turn towards the sound.

“They finally made it,” Skadj observed.

Apollo and his men rode through the camp, stopping in front of Skadj and Anthony.

“I was expecting to meet some resistance,” Apollo commented as he dismounted. “These druids seem to do a lot more running than fighting.”

“I think they’re counting on their leader’s last big hurrah,” Anthony said.

Apollo tilted his head. “What would that be?”

“Apparently they’re planning to use King Maron as a vessel to summon their god to fight for them,” Tiffany explained.

Apollo raised an eyebrow. “We’d better get in there and find him before that happens.”

“That’s exactly our plan,” Skadj said with a nod. “But we need to start by tearing down their magical barrier.”

Apollo glanced back at the massive wall of plants. “I see. Have you tried setting it on fire?”

Skadj and Anthony exchanged sheepish looks.

“Seriously?” Apollo chided.

“It’s protected by magic,” Courtney elaborated. “Fire won’t have any effect.”

“What makes you so sure?” Apollo argued.

Anthony took the opportunity to back her up. “She’s a druid herself. Trust me, she knows what she’s talking about.”

Apollo looked surprised. “You have allies from their side?”

Skadj nodded. “She was about to tell us her plan for bringing down the walls.”

“Oh- right. Well, if we have a large enough group of magic users, I think we should attack different sections of the barrier. While we counter the magical protection, you and your armies will be free to burn it down, sections at a time.”

“Sounds like a great idea,” Anthony said. “Let’s get to work.”

Steven kept a firm grip on the hilt of Anthony’s sword while his party snuck back through the swamp. He couldn’t fully explain it, but he felt like they were headed in the right direction.

He stopped in his tracks and looked back at Brood as a thought crossed his mind.

“Do you know who Cúig is? I've heard that name mentioned before, and there was also some kind of implied betrayal.”

“He was our shaman before Vikram took over,” Brood replied.

Platy crossed his arms. “I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to notice that other Vik definitely recognized you.”

Steven nodded. “I think there’s more to it. Vik knew enough to put the other you under his control and force him to conjure a revenant that would specifically go after Skadj.”

“Cúig had befriended an outsider that was interested in learning druid magic,” Brood continued. “Vikram and several others weren’t happy about that.”

“That sounds like the other me alright,” Steven agreed.

“When the vikings came to conquer the kingdom, Cúig organized a group to help fight against them. He was hoping it would show the king that we were on the same side. Of course, Vikram was also very much against that idea.”

Steven frowned. “I’m starting to feel like it didn’t end well for Cúig.”

Brood let out a sigh. “The vikings easily overpowered Cúig and the few people he had convinced to join him. Only two were able to make it back to the reservation with news of Cúig’s passing. Vikram just happened to be next in line to lead.”

“I guess Skadj working for the new king really solidified Vik’s standing, huh?” Steven muttered.

Brood nodded.

Feeling sufficiently down, the group continued walking. Steven felt a spark of hope as Anthony’s sword started to glow slightly.

“That’s not, like, a sign of danger, is it?” Platy asked.

“No, it means we’re getting close,” Steven replied, walking faster.

“Wait, I think I see h-er- them!” Platy exclaimed, pointing eagerly.

They had found themselves nearing the edge of a small clearing. Chaos was tied up in the center, surrounded by several druid guards. Vikram was nowhere to be seen.

“How are we gonna deal with all of those guards?” Steven whispered.

“Do you think you could replicate the spell that Max used when we snuck into the swamp earlier?” Brood suggested.

Platy frowned. “If I could only remember what he said…”

“Something like: ‘to capture longbrow,’ maybe?” Brood replied, his face scrunched up in thought.

Platy’s face lit up with recognition. “Te kaptire lonbraj.”

“That was it!” Brood said with a snap.

“I don’t know if I can get all of them, though,” Platy admitted.

Steven held out a hand. “We can do it together. Just like how Max and I made that huge protection spell for Skadj.”

Platy shook his head. “No way, bro. You need all of your strength to free Chaos, remember?”

“Alright. Let’s see what you can do, then,” Steven said.

Platy took a deep breath, firmly grasping the staff with both hands. He scanned the clearing, getting a sense of how many guards there were. He was overcome by a strange yet familiar feeling as he realized what he needed to say.

“Chak yon te kaptire lonbraj.”

“What was that?” Steven asked.

Almost in answer to his question, several shadowy figures emerged from the ground. They overtook all of the guards in the clearing, causing them to drop their weapons and walk away absentmindedly.

Brood let out an amused chuckle. “How did you come up with that one?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Platy muttered.

“We’ll talk about that later. For now, let’s figure out what Vik did to Chaos,” Steven said.

Chapter Text

“I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna do it,” Chilled muttered to himself.

Tay let out a short laugh. “Are you okay?”

Chilled huffed. “I can’t believe I let him convince me that sticking around would be a good idea! I mean, here we are, caught in the middle of a war that we have nothing to do with. And Steven’s out there, doing magic and shit, leaving us here to watch all these soldiers die.”

“Okay, but let’s be honest. We can’t do magic and shit, so if he did bring us along, we’d probably just get in his way,” Cheesy commented.

Tay nodded in agreement.

“Then why the hell are we still here?” Chilled asked.

“We’re here for Steven’s birthday. He didn’t know what he was getting us all into, but we’re all here now, so let’s make the most of it,” Shubble said firmly.

Tay grinned. “I think you actually left him speechless.”

Brood kept an eye on the perimeter as the trio approached Chaos.

“What did Vikram do to you, and how can I fix it?” Steven asked.

Chaos shifted against their ties. “He found a way to completely drain my power. It was a spell I had never heard before. And he was using a staff that had unfamiliar magic. He said the final touch was sending me to a place where I could no longer interfere.”

Brood furrowed his brow in thought.

“It doesn’t seem like he was very successful,” Platy muttered.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Chaos admitted. “You probably can’t see it yourselves, but at the moment I’m caught between worlds.”

“Of course!” Brood exclaimed in realization. “It must have been the lorg mór.”

“The who?” Platy asked.

“It’s the staff of life and death. Vikram probably used it to trap Chaos in between our world and the realm of the dead.”

Steven frowned. “How can we undo it?”

Brood thought for a moment. “We need to bridge the gap somehow.”

“All you have to do is restore my power. I can bridge the gap on my own,” Chaos interjected.

Steven glanced down at Anthony’s sword, a crazy idea popping into his head. He gripped the hilt with both hands, holding out in front of him.

“Woah, dude. Care to clue the rest of us in on your plan?” Platy questioned.

Steven sighed. “You’re probably not gonna like it, but I’m trying to give Chaos some of my magic.”

Platy seemed unconvinced. “You think this’ll work just like fuckin’ jump-starting a car? Are you serious?”

Steven lowered the sword. “Do you have a better idea?”

Platy remained silent.

“That’s what I thought. So here goes nothing.”

Brood placed a hand on Steven’s shoulder. “Will you at least let us give some of ours, too? I’d hate to see you overwork yourself more than you already have.”

“Okay, sure. Make sure you’re holding part of the sword.”

Platy and Brood moved to either side of Steven and the three held the sword up together.

“Relax and let whatever you’ve got just flow,” Steven said. “Chaos, you let us know as soon as you think you’ve got enough.”

Chaos nodded.

One of the surgeons approached the group. “It’s Anthony, right? I’ll need your help.”

Chilled shook his head. “I’m not qualified for this sort of thing.”

“I just need you to hold someone down for me.”

Chilled’s eyes went wide. “O-oh, okay,” he stammered.

He followed the surgeon out to a different tent.

“I wonder how Steven is doing,” Shubble commented, her eyes locked on the tent entrance.

“He wouldn’t do anything too crazy, I’m sure. He’s, like, our designated driver,” Cheesy said with a shrug.

As he finished speaking, the ground shook violently. Several injured soldiers were rocked out of their cots. The trio looked at each other with worry.

Anthony and Bleu burst into the tent moments later. “You all need to come with me, now.”

“What the hell was that?” Tay asked.

Anthony looked grim. “The Dagda is here.”

“What just happened?” Platy asked.

“That must have been the Dagda,” Brood replied.

Chaos nodded. “I sense a very powerful being that just appeared not too far from us.”

“I hope it isn’t too late to save King Maron,” Steven muttered. “Do you know if there’s a way to banish the Dagda from his host?”

“The entire ritual was Vikram’s creation. I doubt he would have included a failsafe,” Brood replied.

Chaos stopped for a moment. “I believe there might be a way.”

Steven looked up at them. “What is it?”

“You should talk to Anthony.”

They scooped up the three confused men and blinked back to the camp.

“Some warning would’ve been nice,” Platy muttered as Chaos set them down.

“Sorry, this all seems quite urgent.”

The Dagda towered above the treeline, seemingly several feet taller than Chaos. He had King Maron's face and figure, as well as a large pair of antlers that protruded from the sides of his head. A large army of angry druids emerged from the trees at his feet, led by Vikram. Now that they were out of the swamp, Steven could see that the wall of plants had been almost completely destroyed.

“Go find Anthony. I’ll hold off the Dagda as long as I can,” Chaos commanded.

Steven nodded. “Good luck.”

He led Platy and Brood into the camp, weaving through tents until they managed to run right into Anthony and the rest of Steven’s friends.

“I am so glad to see you’re okay,” Chilled exclaimed, immediately pulling Steven into a hug.

“You too,” Steven replied, patting the taller man on the back.

“I knew you wouldn’t have any trouble saving Chaos,” Anthony added.

Steven pulled out of Chilled’s hug. “About that- they said that you would know how to banish the Dagda from King Maron's body.”

Anthony's face contorted with uncomfortable realization. "Damn it. They're right."

Steven frowned. "What is it?"

"We have to pay a visit to my old monastery," he replied with a sigh.

Steven's mouth formed an 'O' as he began to realize what Anthony was referring to.

"We'll take Peach," he said. "It'll be much faster that way."

“Can I come with you?” Chilled blurted.

Anthony sighed. "I suppose.”

“What about us?” Platy asked.

“Seriously. This place keeps getting more and more dangerous by the minute,” Tay grumbled.

Anthony looked slightly annoyed. “Well, Chaos is handling the Dagda; you have plenty of people here that can protect you. We’ll be back in no time, so just lay low. If you die, it’ll be Max’s problem.”

Steven’s eyes widened. “You used to be great at giving hopeful speeches. What the hell was that?”

“We don’t have time to arrange babysitters, and I’m not really in the mood. Let’s go.”

Steven flashed his friends an apologetic look before hurrying after Anthony.

“When we get there, you should just let me do the talking. These guys will get tight-lipped if they hear anything they don’t like. And I’m especially talking to you,” Anthony said, glaring at Chilled.

“You won’t have to worry about me,” Chilled replied.

They made their way across the camp to Peach and climbed on.

“It’s almost hard to believe that I’m actually riding a dragon right now,” Chilled commented.

Steven chuckled. “Is this the real reason you wanted to come along?”

“Maybe a little bit.”

They flew for almost half an hour before Anthony instructed Steven to bring Peach down at the edge of an unfamiliar mountain range. There was a structure that looked like a fortress built into the side of the nearest mountain.

“I never thought I’d see this place again,” Anthony muttered.

He led the group up to the front gate and performed a secret knock. Several minutes later, the gate slowly creaked open.

Steven suppressed a laugh as Chilled repeatedly elbowed him in the side. While he was fairly accustomed to seeing familiar faces, he just knew that Chilled was certainly getting a kick out of seeing their old friend, John, dressed in monkish robes.

“There’s two of you? Somehow, I’m not surprised,” John muttered.

“Good for you. We need to get into the library.”

John crossed his arms. “I can’t let you in, Anthony. You’re disavowed, remember?”

Anthony clenched his fists. “You people didn’t give me any other choice!”

“This is really important,” Steven interjected, completely forgetting Anthony’s instructions. “The entire kingdom is at stake here.”

“And who are you, Anthony’s blasphemous whore?” John's face contorted with furious revulsion.

Steven was completely floored.

“How dare you talk to Steven like that!” Anthony snapped defensively.

At the same time, Chilled found himself blurting, “How fucking dare you?”

John simply smirked. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Anthony fumed. “No, John! You’re a complete idiot! This is the man that single-handedly got the vikings to give back the kingdom! You really ought to think before you speak.”

John’s smug expression dissolved into a look of complete mortification.

“And we’re here to save the kingdom again, smartass!” Chilled added, giving Steven a reaffirming pat on the back.

“Whatever happened to letting me do the talking?” Anthony hissed.

“Sorry, got a little carried away,” Chilled muttered.

Anthony rolled his eyes. “We need Aeternum Exilium. It’s our only chance to destroy the druids’ ultimate weapon.”

John rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “You’ll have to talk to Adam.”

Anthony groaned. “He’s still around?”

John nodded.

“Let’s get this over with, then,” Anthony muttered.

“I’ll be right back,” John said, shutting the gate.

Anthony crossed his arms and leaned against the stone wall with a huff.

Chilled broke the silence. “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly happened between you guys?”

Anthony let out a long sigh.

“I wanted to be a hierophant my whole life. I did all the preparation and schooling until I finally made it here. They have a huge library with all kinds of incredible spellbooks. It was just my luck to pick up one of the forbidden ones.

“I was curious, but all my superiors just told me to forget about it. How the hell was I supposed to forget about it? I picked a spell that interested me and found Chaos. Then things just came together. They were - are - the best thing that ever happened to me.

“And these self-righteous bastards just had to take it all away! They were upset when they found out I used the forbidden spellbook, but disavowing me wasn’t enough punishment for them, apparently. They banished Chaos so that I had no way of ever seeing them again!”

He stopped, almost on the verge of tears, and took a deep breath.

“But then Steven came along to set everything right.”

Chilled was awkwardly quiet, not sure how to respond.

The tension was finally cut by the gate creaking open again, revealing exactly who Chilled and Steven expected when they first heard John say his name.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the prodigal son,” Adam taunted.

Anthony gritted his teeth. “As if I’d ever come back to serve you.”

Adam started to chuckle, but became livid when he finally spotted Chilled.

“What sorcery is this?”

Anthony smirked. “That’s a long story, Adam. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a kingdom to save.”

Adam crossed his arms. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“The druid armies? Are you really so out of touch that you don’t even know what’s threatening the kingdom?” Anthony teased.

“What could you possibly need at this monastery to help against those heretics?”

“Aeternum Exilium,” Anthony replied sternly.

A sly grin found its way onto Adam’s face. “Aeternum Exilium? You must be desperate to come looking for that spell. In that case, the library is all yours. John will escort you.”

He stepped aside and gestured for the group to enter.

John started walking down the hall, glancing back occasionally to make sure he was still being followed. When they reached the library doors, he removed a large ring of keys from his belt.

"What happened to Tom?" Anthony asked.

"He was disavowed. They found out he had been sending you letters," John replied stiffly.

He unlocked the doors to the library, using the weight of his whole body to push them open.

The group found themselves walking into an enormous room that was filled with books. The shelves seemed to stretch from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. Smells of parchment and leather permeated the entire space.

“Oh, wow,” Steven exclaimed softly, looking around in awe.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” Anthony said, immediately heading to a specific section.

“Man, he’s pissed,” Chilled muttered.

“With good reason,” Steven muttered. "If something happened to Jess, wouldn't you be pissed?"

“I’m not saying he shouldn’t be angry. It’s just… Do I ever get that scary?”

“Hopefully no one ever has to see that,” Steven replied with a reassuring smile.

Chapter Text

John stood by the doors of the library, awkwardly rocking back and forth. He kept his eyes on Anthony, occasionally glancing at Chilled as well.

Anthony hefted a large tome from the shelf and carried it to the middle of the library. “Here it is. All we need now is someone to cast it.” He looked at John.

“I’ll go get Adam. Maybe he’ll be willing to assemble the council.”

Anthony slammed the book on the table. “No way! As soon as they have the opportunity, they’ll use the spell against Chaos, too!”

"Maybe I could do it?" Chilled offered.

John burst into laughter. "You can't be serious!"

"What's the problem?" Chilled asked.

"The council would never help you, and I doubt you could do it alone. Besides, Adam would never give you his blessing."

"Then I'll do it. As long as you’re okay with it," Steven said, placing a hand on Anthony's shoulder.

"You do what you have to," Anthony replied. "I understand how important this is."

John nodded "I'll take you to Adam." He directed his attention to Anthony. “Don’t do anything while I’m gone.”

Anthony kicked his legs up on the table. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Let’s just go,” John said with a sigh.

“Are you sure we’ll be okay here?” Shubble asked.

Brood nodded. “There’s no way to see through a shroud spell.”

“It’s a good thing they left us with someone magic-y,” Cheesy commented.

Skadj frowned slightly. “I’ll try not to be offended.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Cheesy replied.

“I know, I know.”

“What do you think Max is up to over there?” Tay asked, training her gaze on the two men hiding by the edge of the swamp.

Skadj followed her line of sight. “They’re probably cooking up some sort of necromancy together. Max seems very excited to have an apprentice.”

A loud howl sounded across the battlefield, drawing the group’s attention. They watched as a large grey wolf tramped through the druid army, snatching several of them up in its jaws.

“We have a giant wolf?” Tay asked.

Skadj looked over at the large canid in question. “That's Captain Apollo. He has this old family heirloom; it turns him into that whenever he wears it.”

“That's kinda cool,” Cheesy observed.

Skadj dropped his axe, clutching his bandaged wrist. “Shit,” he grimaced.

“Woah, that's a pretty bad burn. What'd you do?” Tay wondered.

“It happened back in the swamp, but it didn’t look as bad before,” Shubble said. “Skadj?”

Skadj stumbled towards the camp, only taking a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Cheesy asked.

Brood shook his head frantically. “We should take him to Shelby.”

“I think she was helping out with the injured guys,” Tay said, gesturing vaguely to the tents.

“Help me carry him over there,” Brood said, putting Skadj's arm over his shoulder.

Cheesy grabbed his other arm and Tay picked up the axe he had dropped. They dragged him into the camp and found the tent where Shelby was working.

“Skadj passed out. Look at his arm,” Shubble said.

The burn was crawling its way upward, already nearing Skadj’s elbow.

Shelby’s eyes went wide. “That is not good. Go get Max.”

Shubble nodded and ran back out of the camp. She scanned the battlefield, spotting Max and Platy at the edge of the swamp.

“What the hell are you doing out in the open?”

Shubble spun around, letting out a sigh when she saw Taylor.

“I need to talk to Max. It’s important.”

Taylor notched an arrow. “I’ll watch your back.”

Shubble ran over to Max and Platy.

“I don’t know, dude. This is pretty intense. Do you really think I can handle it?” Platy was saying.

“Max, Shelby needs your help. Skadj’s arm is looking a lot worse.”

Max and his counterpart exchanged worried looks.

“We’ll pick this back up later,” Max muttered. “Lead the way, Shubs.”

They navigated back to the camp and found Shelby waiting outside of a medical tent.

“This is really bad, Max. I don’t know what to do.”

Max moved past her without a word. He walked over to Skadj's cot.

“Dammit.”

“Is there something you can do?” Shelby asked quietly.

Max turned to her with a grim expression. “The only thing we can do is cut it off before it spreads any further.”

Brood’s eyes went wide. “Are you positive?”

“The longer we wait, the more it'll spread. If it gets to his heart, he'll be completely beyond help.”

Platy and Shubble looked at each other.

Shelby looked somber. “I'll get the surgeon.”

Chilled glanced over at Anthony, who had been pacing back and forth for several minutes. He made up his mind and got up, standing in front of his restless counterpart.

“I don’t know if Steven would let me say this, but I’m gonna,” he began. “I think you should know that where I come from, I’m married to a wonderful woman named Jess, and she is pretty much my world's version of your Chaos. Well, minus the extra arms, and not nearly as tall.”

Anthony stared at him in shock, his face flushing red. “Wh- why are you telling me this?”

Chilled crossed his arms. “Because from what I’ve seen and heard, you two should’ve tied the knot ages ago!”

Anthony looked down at the floor. “Chaos is all-powerful and immortal. They don’t want to be tied down by someone like me.”

“Oh geez, was I this bad?” Chilled muttered to himself. “Are you kidding me? If sh- they really don’t want to be tied down by you, then why the hell are they spending all of their time with you? Have you ever considered that?”

Anthony’s eyes lit up. “You’re right! I can’t believe that didn’t occur to me before!”

His epiphany was interrupted as Steven came back into the library, followed by John and Adam.

“Your friend seems to think that he’ll be able to complete the spell without any help or practice,” Adam snarked. “You should remember how many of us it took to banish that detestable creature you found. Even with my blessing, your friend will not be strong enough.”

Anthony clenched his fists. “Well, now that you’ve given Steven your blessing, it might amuse you to know that he undid Aeternum Exilium, by himself, and brought Chaos back out from the void.”

Adam looked like he might pop a blood vessel. “How is that possible?

“I don’t fully know myself. But I do know that Steven is a more powerful sorcerer than you could ever hope to be.”

Steven awkwardly made his way across the library to join both Anthonys. “Are you sure pissing him off is a good idea?” he whispered.

“Not at all, but it just feels so good,” Anthony replied. “Let’s go.”

He confidently pushed past Adam as he headed back outside. Chilled and Steven quickly followed him. When they got outside, Anthony was already climbing onto Peach’s back.

“No time to waste, right? Hop on!” Anthony called.

Chilled grabbed Steven’s arm. “Are you sure you can do this?” he whispered.

Steven turned to him with a frown. “What do you mean?”

“It sounds like this kind of spell usually requires a lot of people; a lot of magic. And you have not been looking good ever since you came back from the swamp. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me,” Steven said. He flashed Chilled a smile before climbing onto Peach’s back.

“Skadj? Can you hear me?”

Skadj opened his eyes, squinting against the sudden brightness. “What happened?”

“Thank the stars,” Shelby exhaled. “I was so worried. Max said this was the only way we could save you.”

Skadj remembered his burn and frantically sat up. He looked down at his arm, utterly shocked by what he saw.

“It- it’s gone,” he muttered.

He carefully shifted his arm forward, observing the bandages that covered it. It had been amputated just above the elbow.

“The burn was spreading drastically. Max said if it got to your heart, you would’ve been dead,” Shelby explained.

Skadj continued to move the remains of his arm around slowly.

“Is he awake yet?” Max asked as he entered the tent.

“Thanks for saving my life again,” Skadj said, turning to the necromancer.

Max crossed his arms. “You should be thanking the surgeon.”

“Anthony’s back; I think we’re gonna need every-” Taylor burst into the tent, freezing as she laid eyes on Skadj. “What the hell happened?”

“It was a burn from the revenant,” Max said.

Taylor furrowed her brows. “Doesn’t this seem a little extreme for a burn?”

“It wasn’t just any burn, Taylor. I was hoping that Shelby’s magic would have countered it better. We should have cut it off as soon as it happened.”

“Too late for all that now,” Skadj grumbled, attempting to sit up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Shelby asked.

“You heard Taylor: Anthony’s back, which means Steven is too. We have to give them space to do whatever it is they’re doing to help King Maron.”

“There are plenty of people out there who can do that. You need to rest,” Shelby insisted, putting him back into a lying position.

Max nodded. “She’s right. Keep an eye on him, and let me know if he starts to get worse. Let’s go, Taylor.”

The two left the tent and raced back to the battlefield. Peach had created a wall of fire, preventing any druids from retreating back into the swamp. Chaos was doing everything in their power to keep the Dagda from hurting anyone else.

“Did you guys find what you were looking for?” Max asked.

Steven nodded. “It’s just a matter of me pulling it off.”

“I have no doubt that you can,” Max said with a smile.

Chilled scoffed. “Quite the optimist,” he muttered.

Platy joined them as well. “What’s the plan guys?”

Anthony gave Chilled a look. “We have a spell that will permanently banish the Dagda.”

“There’s a spell for that?”

Steven nodded. “Yeah, I just hope it actually works.”

Platy looked at Steven with wide eyes. “You’re not doing the spell, are you?”

“I am.”

“This sounds way more intense than anything you’ve done before, and I seriously doubt you have enough juice to see it through. Are you sure we can’t help?”

“As much as I would love some help, this isn’t something anyone else can do.”

Platy let out a reluctant sigh. “Okay dude. I trust you know what you’re doing. But seriously, call it off if things start to get really bad.”

“You got it.”

“Steven’s gonna need all the support he can get,” Anthony said. “Obviously, Chaos will keep the Dagda distracted while this all goes down. It’s up to us to make sure no one gets to Steven so that he can complete the spell. We’ll try to give you as much time as we can, but don’t assume you have a lot.”

Steven nodded.

“Let’s do this!” Anthony shouted, drawing his sword.

Taylor notched an arrow and followed him into the fray.

“Good luck, Steven,” Max said. He looked over at Platy. “We have some more training to do, and we better make it quick.”

Platy nodded, following his counterpart to a secluded part of the camp.

Chilled watched everyone disappear with worry. “I really hope you know what you’re doing.”

Steven skimmed through the spell for the hundredth time. “Me too.”

“Get a grip, buddy,” Chilled said, grabbing Steven’s shoulders. “I realize I haven’t been the most supportive since we got here, so I’m sorry for that. But I need you to know; I have seen you do shit that I never would have believed before now! I mean, travelling dimensions, flying a dragon, that whole revenant thing; you’re pretty freakin’ powerful. So yeah, I may not have believed it at first, but I know you’ve got what it takes to do this. And I’m pretty sure the only way you can is if you believe in yourself, too. So pull your shit together and banish that son of a bitch!”

Steven couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Thanks. I really needed that.” He looked down at the spell sheet once more.

“Dominus noster Graund, Altus Elysian, tu qui omnia fecisti et omnia simpliciter mutas voluntate tua. Liga hoc malum ubi stat. Tu salus illorum qui ad te convertuntur. Obsecro vos hanc diabolicam potentiam infirmare et eicere.”

Chains of pure light materialized around the Dagda, causing Chaos to quickly move back.

“He’s really doing it,” Anthony whispered.

“Nonono! Somebody stop him!” Vikram shouted.

Max looked at Platy. “Now’s probably as good a time as any. Just repeat after me.”

Platy nodded, holding out his staff.

“Kite mò yo danse sot nan tonm yo.”

The fallen soldiers on the battlefield clambered to their feet and formed a protective circle around Steven.

Steven already felt like he had nothing left to give. The world started to spin and his legs felt like jelly.

“You good? You’re looking a little shaky,” Chilled’s voice was muffled.

Steven took a deep breath and kept reading.

“Inimicus nullam potestatem habere potest in dominio tuo glorioso. Finem facite suo malo influentia et actus contra populum tuum. Qui amas hominem, obsecro te extende manus tuas potentes tuere eum, corpus et animam. Tu venire in adiutorium illius hominis quem creasti. Hunc hostem pedibus tuis conprime, ne amplius laedit populo tuo.”

The ground started to rumble and crack open in response to Steven’s words. His vision was spotty now. It felt like he was running on empty. He shifted his stance to try and hold himself upright just a little longer.

“Invoco nomen tuum, Altus Elysian Graund, ut hoc monstrum a nostra praesentia expellas in aeternum. Ligate eum et mittite in abyssum, etiam inanem aeternum. Hoc enim tuum est dominium, et potestatem habes ianuas claudendi.”

With the final word, the chains around the Dagda dragged him down into the large hole that had opened at his feet. There was a bright flash, then he was gone. All of the cracks in the earth disappeared as if nothing had happened. Steven let out a sigh of relief when he spotted King Maron standing where the Dagda had been.

Then he collapsed.