Squid

“You were freed by some…. Northerner?” Herminius was taking too long to tell this story, but I was able to get the broad strokes of it. “Wait, how did they capture you in the first place?” The last I’d seen the councilman, he’d been in the outer reaches of the temple, still lost in the maze. I frowned. “And did you find a harpist along the way?” I was starting to get a little worried about Gnaeus. I’d assumed he would eventually catch up to us, but…

“A harpist? No. And, uh… it doesn’t matter how we got caught.” He had finally managed to make his way around the pool, kneeling down next to the priestess. “Ah, no need to be upset! They’re friends!”

“You say that about everyone!” She refused to look up, batting him away.

I sighed. In front of me, the squid turned, a giant eye blinking at me again. I thought I saw another tentacle twisting in the water. It made me nervous. “We need to stop wasting time.” There was no noise coming from the doors behind us, but I knew it was only a matter of time. Eventually Katla and her little group of attackers would make it through, and I wanted to be out of the temple by then. “We have some final test?” I glanced over at the priestess. “How do I get checked over by, uh, Her?”

“She’s right there. You can endure her test anytime. Although anyone of your caliber is sure to fail.”

The…. Squid?

“She would never lie,” said Herminius, which sounded less than trustworthy. I glanced back over my shoulder again at the door. It wasn’t like there was another way out, but…

“Why don’t you go first, then, since you trust her so much?”

Apis was helping Duran nurse his hurt finger, and Balbinus was pressing his ear to the door, presumably checking to see if anyone else was coming. Herminius was left to be my test subject. I watched as he approached the water, leaning over and putting a hand in. After staring into the surface for a moment, he blinked. It looked like he was talking, but I couldn't hear any words.

Quick as a blink, a tentacle lashed out, grabbed him, and pulled him in. He barely even splashed. He was just gone.

“What was that?” I was running forward and down towards the water before I even realized it, trying to rescue Herminius even though he was long gone. How could the priestess not be disturbed? “Did he- did he fail?”

When she didn’t respond, I stumbled up the steps, getting close enough to see every change in expression. “You just let him die!”

“He didn’t die,” she snapped, finally. “He succeeded! The temple approved of him! Even now, Teuthida's power accepts him and fills him with dedication and truth. Something you would never understand!”

“Really?” Duran interrupted before I had the chance to tell her where exactly she could put that tentacle. “Can I try?”

“Duran, wait-”

He was taking the steps too quickly, already kneeling down. I watched his lips form vague words, and then with a snap, the tentacle lashed out. With nothing more than a small splash, Duran was gone, too.

Well. Now I had to do it. I couldn't just let my apprentice be eaten by a gigantic squid. I glanced over my shoulder, just to make sure Apis wasn't rushing to the rescue.

No. Looked like it was up to me.

“Make sure no one breaks in!” I said, mostly to feel like I was helping, and stumbled down to get on my knees in front of the water. Any moment now, the squid would...

All I saw was my face, poorly reflected over uneven ripples. She looked disturbed, this Elysia reflection, and older than I remembered. I had gained countless gray hairs over this journey. Not to mention there was a smudge of dirt on my left-

“So, you’re trying for the temple,” said my reflection. “Interesting. I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten a paladin for a different goddess before. I should write it down in my diary.”

I reared back, then looked over my shoulder. No one had reacted.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “It’s just you and I. And, well. Her.”

Reluctantly, I turned back to look in the water. Sure enough, there was a hazy figure just behind my reflection’s shoulder. It shone gold. “How are you-”

“Teuthida is a little…. tied up right now,” said my reflection. “But she put quite a bit of her magic into the squid. It should last…. Oh, a few more minutes. Enough for one more test. You're a tricky one, though. Don't think about your own motivations much, do you?”

“You’re…”

“Well, you didn’t think I was a normal reflection, did you?”

"I've been hit on the head a few times," I muttered. "This could just be an injury coming back."

"This is the final test," she said, ignoring me. "You have to be honest. I'll know if you're lying. Why do you need to go into the temple?"

I hesitated. Before I could reply, her eyes widened. Her mouth opened and she let out what looked like a pained cough. For a minute, she was a normal reflection again. Just my face, rippling over the water, a few stones visible below. Then her irises flashed and were replaced by pure gold.

“Listen,” said Andrena. Her voice was echoing and bell-like as always, even coming from my mouth. “I only have control over this little spell for a few minutes, so we can't waste time arguing like normal. Trust me, this is your best solution. That squid isn't going to let you through without some serious intervention from me."

“What is going on?”

She blinked with my eyes. Something about the way she held herself was so entirely different from me, it felt like looking at a different person. “Excuse me?”

“I’m done with this. You keep sweeping in and not explaining why. Why is this so important? Why are you even here?” I leaned forward, my hands splashing at the edge of the pond and distorting my reflection. “You didn’t do anything for me last time. Now you’re taking over another goddess’s test. Why are you bothering?”

For a moment, I thought I had broken the spell. Then, finally, Andrena spoke. “I…. was wrong.”

I must have heard her incorrectly. “What?”

“Before. When I called you to action. I thought it was, well, a small problem. Easily solved by a woman of your capabilities, without any need for… expensive uses of the few prayers I have stored up. Doing magic is expensive, especially…” She glanced to the side, as if she was nervous. “Well, in situations like this.”

“And? What changed?”

“The others have disappeared,” she said. “The hall of the gods is empty. I think something is very wrong. In a way I can’t fix with only a few priestesses. Please. I need help.”

I was more clever than this. I had come here to bring back an old boss of mine, to help my apprentice. I certainly had heard better recruitment speeches before, and from much more charming people. I wasn’t even sure if I believed her. But… “You can get me through?”

“You will have to go with the squid,” she said. “But I can get you through.”

As I began to speak, she held up a hand. “If you agree to be my Paladin. No take-backs! I said I needed help, and I meant it!”

“Just this once,” I said.

“Not just this once. Until the problem is resolved.”

“But that can mean anything!”

“Fine,” she said. “Until-”

“When the gods are back in the hall,” I said. “After that, you have to leave me alone. For good.” It couldn't be that hard to get them back. For all I knew, they'd just gone on vacation and no one had told Andrena, presumably because she was so annoying.

“Very well. Our deal is made.”

When she spoke the final time, her words echoed again, ringing in my ears. Her eyes shone until I had to close mine to shut out the light. As such, I didn’t notice the tentacle reaching out of the water and closing around my torso. My mouth opened in a shriek as I felt it begin to constrict around me, but I was already underwater, thrashing as I was yanked down. Panic set in quickly. I was many things, but happy underwater was not one of them.

Andrena didn’t say anything. Typical. I was moving too quickly in the water, trying to kick out the tentacle and get free. It seemed the squid was moving of its own accord, pulling me through so fast that I felt my eyes stinging. They were half-open but all I could see were faint shapes.

Then, as quickly as it had started, I was flung out of the water and onto cold stone. The impact rattled up through my bones so harshly that I had to take a minute and just breathe. Stone. I had never been so thankful for it before.

“Another one,” said a voice from above me. “I thought you said the temple was closed.”

“I don’t control the temple,” said another voice. “If you want everything closed, you have to reset the-”

“Did I ask for attitude?” A boot came down and pressed on my cheek. I opened one eye, just enough to peek, while I pretended to be passed out.

A woman towered above me. She was blonde, with a face I vaguely remembered and two swords I couldn’t forget. I closed my eyes again. I had hoped I was wrong when that bartender had told me who had left with Durandus the first. Unfortunately, it seemed I was fated to be correct once again. The woman pushing me down was yet another person from my past.

Flaviana. Duran’s mother. Durandus the first’s ex-wife. And, apparently, the leader of the necromancers, if Aemelia had told me the truth. "Well?" she said, kicking at my cheek. "Are you alive?"

“I thought you went north to find your fortune."

She leaned down at that, eyebrows raising. “And I thought you went south to find the same. Unfortunate that we've run into each other this way. I quite liked your food, when you bothered cooking it.” Before I could reply, she had snapped her fingers and gestured to someone out of my frame of view.

“Put her with the others,” she said. “And if I see anyone else, I’m making it your problem.”

Behind me, I heard a splash as something grabbed me by the arm and yanked me upright. I began to protest, trying to beg for help, when I saw the eyes. Glowing green, set in another face I recognized. Durandus the first, possessed by another one of those creatures. “You have a tax bill to pay,” I said. He didn’t reply.