Exhibit 13: "Rakish Audacity"

These dialogue-heavy ones are the reason I had to have Carmen’s writing prowess for this project. I memorized most of ‘em—we practiced back and forth—but I hope ya don’t mind if I consult the trusty script this time.

But, firstly: Nivae sounded the alarm as soon as we snatched the last Favor from the tentacles. It was a whoop-ing noise that came from who-knows-where, along with their whiny voice telling everyone to Kill the thieves!

They never did manage it. We subdued the guards who stayed at the elevator, then snuck our way back up the stairs with some of Keelo’s magic and my expertise, also helped by a big hope of mine—Nivae and the others are terrified of the surface. If they ever manage to conquer that fear, I reckon we’d have another kind of apocalypse on our hands.

We hopped on our horses and sped off, slingin’ spells behind us the whole time just in case they decided to poke their heads up. When we saw they weren’t gonna, we slumped forward and slowed down, all the exhaustion of Dark’s plane still leeching the energy from our bones.

Camp started solemn that night. It was pretty much always night in Inbraeva—felt that way, at least. We set up our little tents while Promise got a fire goin’ and Euphor found some meager game nearby. Keelo was just starting on cooking when Promise pulled out this here pistol and slapped it onto the ground in front of all of us.

He dumped his entire loot bag from Valdin’s safe on the ground, and we laughed in disbelief as we sorted through it all. Damn, no wonder they were so mad at us.

We had a couple different guns to choose from, and Keelo studied Bug Repellant long enough that night to be able to make somethin’ similar, which is what I carried into that final fight. Just a little something.

Divvying up the loot was an adventuring staple we hadn’t gotten much of up until then, but the big folks on high deigned to give us one joy on our last night. I snagged a war horn that blasted whoever got hit with the sound, and Keelo gave my boots and gloves some magical upgrades… pretty good ones.

Each of us stared at the Favors we’d managed to collect over three grueling months. We hadn’t even felt most of that time—barely a month had passed in our minds, and it felt like so much longer and shorter.

Keelo held the rainbow quartz Cora had left behind. It reminded us of her strange fixation on pretty rocks in riverbeds; she’d never seen freshwater before.

Euphor held the emerald from the queen’s own crown. He said he’d never seen a royal family who could speak their minds freely with each other—he was part of a different home now.

Promise held the ruby from the tomb in Howe. It was right across from the Repellam crypt, housing those the three living members had killed. He hoped it would bring him some luck—we all did.

For my part, I held up the star sapphire we’d appropriated from the tentacle-maw beast, right outside the shadow portal. It shone more brightly than I thought I deserved, but—damn it all, I couldn’t help but hope for some sort of advantage, too. Even just in my head, even just as a prayer, maybe this worthless rock would propel me forward.

That night, as I did any night I had the chance, I slept out under the open sky. The dark night gulped up any stars that might’ve winked their niceties at me, so I just closed my eyes and pretended they were there anyway.

“You need to eat something,” Keelo was saying to Promise, again.

“I will on my watch.”

“It is your watch.”

Last I looked, Promise was staring into the fire, eyes a million miles away. He plucked at his mandolin steadily, filling our little camp with melancholy ambience. Euphor’s dinner was weighing heavily in my stomach, so I tried not to fall asleep as I listened.

“You know how many fireballs I’ve dropped at his feet?” Promise said after a minute.

Keelo hesitated. “Whose?”

“He’s immune.” The mandolin strings were old and worn sounding, but I knew he took great care of that thing. They still sang.

“I… didn’t think you’d seen him recently.” Keelo sat slowly.

Promise inhaled. “Not really. Apparitions in the corners. Notes from the fires. Everywhere we go, he follows, only to torment me.” He sighed. “Not physical fireballs—forgive the flowery verbiage.”

“Oh.” They thought for a moment. “You’ve tried to reach out the same way?”

He let the idea linger. “I thought I could, being his son. I’m a devil, after all.”

“No,” Keelo said firmly, brokering no argument.

Promise knew it. The beautiful music stuttered. “I meant him—fireballs at his feet. He’s dodged every one.”

Keelo snorted, disbelieving. “He’s lucky like that.”

“Lucky. Stupid. Caring and hating it.” His playing grew louder. “More like me than I care to admit under the sun.”

“Well…” Keelo hummed. “He’s a kid.”

“A kid of increasing consequence. You know that.”

“A kid who says every thought that comes to his head and gets us in trouble. And—still—“ Keelo exhaled carefully. “I want him to go home.”

Promise let his music peter out. He let the echoes fade from the rocky valley before saying, “Me too.”

The next day’s travel was nearly silent. Our heavy hearts beat as one with every step, in spite of the cracked ground we cantered over. Magma poured out of the rising mountains that grew to surround us—classic. In better spirits, it might’ve been as awe-inspiring as the ocean.

Tension grew in my shoulders the closer we got. The final point on the map—startlingly close to Solas Domum, circling around the other way from where we’d left—said Devil’s Lair.

We talked strategy.

“Will these, like, actually help during the fight?” Euphor held up his emerald. Every Favor we’d rounded up was a pure gemstone, about thumbnail-sized, with dozens of subtle facets making ‘em nearly spherical.

“They’ll help us enter Life’s domain once we have the Scythe,” Keelo said. “As for the fight… hard to say.”

“I worry about my usefulness in this showdown.” Promise held his hands up. “Reishan is immune to any sort of fiery damage. A trait I wish I’d inherited.”

I held up the six-shooter Keelo whipped up for me in one night. “Is he immune to gun damage?”

Promise clicked his tongue. “Can’t say I’ve tested the theory. I look forward to it.”

We were almost on top of the final dot. Half an hour out, it started drizzling. Made it a little harder to see the dark cave when we arrived, but it was damn near impossible to miss—like the mouth of that nasty tentacle thing, filled with all its jagged teeth, but this opening was freakishly smooth. Kinda manicured, almost. Shaven? Anyway.

“Think Timera’s in there?” I helpfully said.

“About her.” Promise pulled up on Aramis, who’d decided to grace us with her fiery, disgruntled presence, and said, “I have to put the question forward.”

I squinted at him. “That is?”

Promise tried to make himself look as innocent as possible. “I have to question her loyalties, at this point.”

“Now, if that ain’t a crock of—“

“I’m putting forward every possibility,” he interrupted. “If we get down there, and she’s willingly accepted his power and purpose, she could turn us inside out.” He raised his eyebrows. “Both of them. Together.”

Then he told the others what we’d learned in the crypt in Howe. If Reishan had resurrected her, it had to be for this. He needed a successor, or an agent.

“Perhaps,” Promise said infuriatingly reasonably, “she’s the one who stole the thing in the first place.”

I laughed, hating everything that had happened in the past week. I looked to Keelo for support, but they just studied their horse’s mane. Euphor had no stake in the fight—he shrugged.

“Can’t fuckin’ believe this,” I muttered, brushing gnarls out of Shimmy’s mane.

“Who else?” said Promise, who seemed a little too eager. It was unsettling. “Why else would it be connected to Reishan? What other intersection would there be?” He listed points on his fingers. “Someone aligned with him, with access to powerful magic, magical knowledge, and a hatred towards the gods? I’d be pointing fingers at you, if I didn’t know your alibi.”

I dug my teeth into the insides of my cheeks. “Ain’t happening.” I shook my head. “We’re gettin’ her out.”

“For what reason?” Promise’s voice had an eentsy-weentsy hint of desperation—past unsettling, that was downright scary shit to hear from him. “She’s clearly bait. I’m not sure you can be trusted to act with a level head. Tell you what—“ He held his hand out. “I may be useless otherwise, but I can inflict gun damage with the best of them. You’ve had a rough go of it lately, so—“

“Okay, the fuck are you gettin’ at?” I caught Keelo’s expression getting more concerned, but turned back to Promise. “You think I’m gonna sit this one out?”

He shook his head, face not changing. Like we were havin’ a friendly chat. “No, I don’t think you will. I do, little as my opinion may count, think you should.”

I had a worry they’d try to pull some shit like this after hearing them last night, but that never grew to a true suspicion. I guess it should’ve.

“So—I should let y’all go in there and get butchered?” I brought my horse closer to get up in ol’ Prommy’s face, but Shimmy’s nervous snort told me I’d gotten too close to Aramis. Sorry, bud.

That cooled me off a little. I let out a long breath and shook my head again, forcing a smile. “You think I’ll be acting out of sorts? This is your pa, man.” I lightly punched him in the arm. “You just stand back and watch.”

He held my eye contact for a long time. It was even more difficult than it was when we first met, but I held it best I could. Eventually, he nodded. “Thought it was worth a try. Even if not, I’d hate—“ He cleared his throat. “Time to go.”

Since it was so close to Solas, Keelo gave our two horses a scent to follow to their new home on their own. Aramis was an actual demon, so we thought it’d be good to have her around.

We’d been down so many evil sets of stairs in dark, stony locales, I thought we might’ve been back in the maze under the temple, or Tenelis, or wherever else. Keelo smiled at me, while Euphor said he didn’t remember the maze. We chuckled a little, but that died out when torches lining the spaced-out walls started lighting up in time with our descent, revealing the chasm on either side of the un-railed stairs. Wasn’t nothin’ funny about that.

A steel door met us at the bottom. When we pushed it open, a hellishly lit cavern greeted us. There was one large, ominous, pale-colored throne on the back wall, flanked by two smaller ones. On the left one was Timera.

She looked injured, and scared, and distinctly unwilling. It wasn’t a relief just yet.

When she saw me, those expressions intensified—panic spread on her face immediately. “You’re not supposed to be here.” Her voice shook along with her head; her horns had grown a lot, pushing back and wrapping around her ears like spirals.

“Come on, now.” I felt more numb than I ever had. I beckoned her forward, not enjoyin’ this bit of theater.

“No, I—“

“Yep. Come on down.” I stepped forward further.

“No, you’re not supposed to—“ She stopped when she saw Promise behind me. She lifted her finger to him. “But you are.”

Promise grunted quietly, nodding mockingly. “Sure, sure.”

“Timera, this is gettin’ old.” I walked up to the foot of her throne, not even caring if I’d ever see Harvest anymore. I could die in here if it just meant she’d get out. The rest of us wouldn’t make it either; only the homebodies would carry my millstone.

As I held my hand out to her, an enormous furnace on the northern wall roared to life. With it, a hellish silhouette.

He looked exactly like I pictured. Reishan Repellam, the Repulsive, the Risen, the Fiery Duke of Medudas and Rogue of Hell, emerged. His horns grew long and thick, curling left and right. He had the thin, whipping tail, the pitchfork, the burning red eyes—everything. Most of all, his leathery wings unfurled with more presence than a goddamn dragon. He was ten or twelve feet tall, at least, and was spiked and planed all over, covered in burning red embers and motes of ash and blackened charcoal. He would starve this world into subjugation, and make it his own personal tenth Hell.

Reishan might’ve moved to take his throne, if not for the figure half his size behind him.

When she emerged after him, I forgot about the smoke choking the air. I was struggling to breathe for a different reason.

“Let him leave,” Viola said to the devil, in a commanding tone. “He shouldn’t have to die.”

HE’S ENCROACHED ON MY DOMAIN, came the reply. It was ear-rending, even if it didn’t actually reach them. HE WILL SUFFER ALONG WITH THE REST.

“That wasn’t part of the contract!” Viola screamed at him. That hurt my ears even more—she tended to be so soft-spoken, I’d forgotten her voice was so powerful. “If you’ve broken it, I can—“

READ MORE CLOSELY, Reishan “said” dismissively, then turned to us. HAS THE MULE DONE HIS JOB?

Viola turned with a smoldering grimace, locked eyes with me, and raised her hand quicker than I’d ever seen her move. The rapier she’d made for me buckled in its scabbard and shot out, shifting in a shower of golden light before landing in her hand as a ten-foot tall golden scythe. “I’ll be poring over every clause in—“

“Hey,” I said, gesturing for her to stop. “Not… right now.”

Keelo looked poised to engage her in some moralistic questioning, which I knew would make them both insufferable, so I held up my hands to ask for ten quiet seconds. Strangely, I think this actually stunned the room into giving me about five of those. Every nerve in my body, mind, and soul had peaked; overcharged and blown out like those lights in Tenelis. I couldn’t react—I could barely think.

Feeling the manifestations of all my restrictions at once, all the things made impossible, I think I might’ve finally understood my place—what I could do. I just needed to know one more thing.

“So what’s the deal?” I finally asked. “Why are you up here?”

Viola was openly fuming. Didn’t scare me anymore. “They killed him.”

“Hey—I know. I was there. You weren’t.” I let my hands drop to my sides. “You did this before they killed him—before she did. She killed him because you did this.”

“I didn’t know that would happen,” Viola protested. She took a step forward, but Reishan held his pitchfork in front of her. She breathed heavier, seemingly not struggling with the smoke.

“So… why?”

“You know why,” she spat. “You’ve known your entire life. The gods need to be replaced.”

“I… you…” I grabbed uselessly at the air where my trusty, homemade weapon had hung seconds ago. “You had it on me the whole time.”

Viola drew herself up to her modest height, regaining her calm. “They promise us bountiful living, and truth, and justice, but they lie. They portray themselves as good, and competent, but they’re not. That was my first attempt at traveling planes, and I took her most powerful tool.”

“The map didn’t even sense it?” I puzzled out loud. “Didn’t point right to us the whole time? Guess Keelo was right about the Favors. Damn.” I rubbed my chin.

She pointed the Scythe toward Reishan, which he—recoiled from. “He’s a lying bastard who’d kill us all—or worse—if he got the chance, but he’s bound by his word. I can work with him to make things manageable. If I misread the contract—“ She seethed. “That’s on me.”

I DON’T WISH TO INTERRUPT, Reishan interrupted, BUT I FEEL AS THOUGH I SHOULD BE THE ONE GIVING THE EVIL SPEECH.

Viola barked a laugh, holding the Scythe closer to him. “You’re more of a tool than this.”

“But then, why didn’t a dot appear on me when we got four of ‘em?” I continued. “Did she fuck up the map that bad? Seems like an oversight—“

“Are you listening?” Viola slammed the Scythe’s handle into the ground next to her, holding it like a staff. “Fortune—we can make this right. He can have the power of the gods, and we can steer it. I’ve got him locked in an ironclad contract, other than—your immediate survival. But you’ll be fine.” She took a small step forward, pressing against the pitchfork. “You just have to sign next to me.”

I looked at my one sister, standing in a forge instead of over one. I looked at my other sister, sitting upright, visibly shivering, making no noise and tryin’ to incur no further wrath.

I looked at my new brother, the rage and fear and sorrow of a lifetime in his eyes, and said, “Nah.”

MY, Reishan intoned mockingly, standing even taller and wider than should have been possible. The fire grew larger. THE AUDACITY.

Genuinely, I think I would’ve joined. It was the moment I’d thought about forever: some way to unseat those bastards, even if it meant chaos. Especially if it meant chaos. But it wouldn’t—it would be another form of carefully controlled, regulated tyranny. And I didn’t have a better replacement in mind.

The gods weren’t fixin’ to catch me when I fell, no. But not catching your own son is a crime I’ll never forgive.

GALLERY OF FORTUNE SIMPLECREEK—RECEIPT—9/18/1316

EXHIBIT #13: "RAKISH AUDACITY" SOLD TO KEELO KILDERKIN (200 GP)