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  “Oh,” was all he said out loud to Shim. There was no point in saying anything to her. She’d probably blow him off the same way Celeste always did when he tried to argue her being dead set on dueling dragon-gods.

  Besides, if her brother was going along with it, his input would probably mean nothing.

  Still… if it was all about magic… why did they need Celeste?

  “So… what does someone strong have to do with getting a magical weapon away from a dragon-god?” Mahnii asked Shim in a hushed tone.

  She stopped mid-step, staring at him.

  “What?” he asked, glad Celeste was continuing forward obliviously.

  “Seriously? Your friend is practically oozing magical energy,” Shim said. “If we’re going to steal from a dragon-god, we need someone powerful enough to face him on our side.”

  Mahnii did his best to keep his composure. Being a non-magical human, he had very little sense about magic related things. ‘What?!’ Celeste was that strong… and she had magic? In hindsight, it actually made sense. But then, what exactly was she? He couldn’t help also wondering if she was even aware of her magic or how much control of it she had.

  Or maybe it was all part of her display of strength. Was she using magic to enhance her body?

  He got the feeling that was definitely not the case. She was way too simple for that. Not to mention how much pride she constantly put into talking about her pure brute strength. If anyone suggested it was just magic, she would probably be offended. In fact, she would probably think that was cheating.

  Instead of saying anything further about it, however, he thought it was best to leave it alone for now. If Kah and Shim sensed that she was that powerful, he wasn’t sure how they’d react if they learned she wasn’t even aware of having magic, let alone being able to use it.

  Mahnii just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. “So how far away is Kami-Shi’s palace?” he tried to make conversation.

  “It’s over a volcano at the heart of the mountain range. It’ll probably take us a couple of weeks to get there, maybe a bit more,” said Shim.

  “Oh,” he said, again. Mahnii glanced toward Shim’s brother, who had been quiet this entire time.

  Kah simply ignored them, only glancing at his sister whenever she spoke and then focusing on the road.

  “You’re okay with this?” Mahnii asked him.

  Kah showed no reaction. “Feel free to duck out,” said Kah. His tone was completely flat.

  Mahnii couldn’t tell if he was dead serious or not. “Uh… I’m good…”

  “Don’t worry, Mahnii,” Celeste chimed in with a grin. “I’ll protect ya.”

  “Right,” he muttered, feeling a warmth in his cheeks.

  He was more than relieved when the conversation fell silent.

  Chapter 4

  ·-`*´-· Kami-Shi ·-`*´-·

  “Lord Kami-Shi, he’s finally ready to talk.”

  Kami-Shi’s blue eyes fell on the large man, bowing deeply before him. “Well, good,” he said, slicking his golden-brown fingers through his brilliant golden hair.

  About a week ago, they had caught one of his sister’s spies in a nearby village. At first, he had refused to talk, mumbling something about a secret that must be kept at all costs. Now after several days of relentless interrogation and other methods of coercion, it seemed they’d finally reached his breaking point.

  In truth, he didn’t have much interest in torturing anyone, but he had a point to make. Kami-Shi had little fear of threats, attacks, or wars being started. They all lived in relative peace. Still, he, Ru-Kai, and Cel-Lok had long ago agreed to stay out of each other’s ways and since then, only he and Ru-Kai had attempted to live on cordial terms.

  Cel-Lok, on the other hand, had seen fit to hide herself away from the world, having no contact with either Kami-Shi or Ru-Kai for several years. If she was sending out spies to venture into his territory, he knew there was something going on – and not something pleasant. He highly doubted his sister had intentions of reconnecting. Further, the mere fact the spy had refused to share his reasons for being there was reason enough for Kami-Shi to use force. He knew better than to simply let him go without finding out more information.

  ‘What are you doing, sister?’

  Kami-Shi followed his dungeon keeper to a cavern in the volcano lying under his castle. Inside, a man was chained to the wall, slumped to one side. He stirred as the two entered.

  “You may wait outside,” Kami-Shi told the keeper before crouching and addressing the prisoner. “I already know who you are and you know who I am, so let’s skip formalities. What are you doing in my kingdom?”

  The spy stared at him for a moment, spitting to one side. Then, he coughed before opening his mouth. “Cel-Lok is looking for the girl.”

  “Girl? What girl?” Kami-Shi frowned, his brow creasing together.

  The man coughed again, “The one that will save Aeros.”

  He was being awfully cryptic and slow to spill his guts. Kami-Shi remained still, though his frown deepened. What the hell did this man know about Aeros, and why was Cel-Lok worried about it? They had specifically come here to this world, Dragnai, in order to get away from there – Aeros – their homeland, and as far as he was concerned, life was fantastic.

  Though maybe that was the point. With the way Cel-Lok had isolated herself, he really wouldn’t know anything other than whether or not she still lived. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if she were trying to keep something a secret just so that she could rise as sole hero and goddess. She was rather vain that way.

  Kami-Shi frowned, looking into the spy’s eyes.

  “Cel-Lok has seen a vision of what’s to come. A great evil looms over both worlds, though she can’t see anything specific about who. Regardless, alone and with her illness, she can’t do anything right now.” The man spit again. “Maybe you’d know that if you visited her,” he mumbled under his breath.

  “If you truly knew anything other than the lies Cel-Lok has spun, you’d know that she is the one who sealed herself away in the first place.” Kami-Shi paused, considering the validity of the spy’s words. Finally, he stood, folding his arms over his chest. “And so what, she thinks this girl is going to…?”

  The man’s face scrunched as he lifted an eyebrow toward Kami-Shi. “No, you fool, Cel-Lok recreated herself as a newborn so that she could actually leave her tower and do something about the threat she foresaw. She meant to manifest herself inside the girl when she came of age. The only problem is the girl was banished by her village as they feared her strength and abilities and she has no idea who she is. So now Cel-Lok needs to find her so she can put things back as they should be.”

  Kami-Shi’s jaw dropped, though as soon as he realized his mouth was gaping, he clamped it shut. ‘She… what? Is it even possible to recreate the self... is this girl a clone? Or a reincarnation? No, I’d know if Cel-Lok were dead.’ He gained his composure slowly.

  “Okay, so how exactly do you plan on finding this girl, hmm?” he pressed.

  The man scowled. “They look exactly the same. Don’t you understand? Cel-Lok and the girl… forget it! I’ve given you your information. Now release me so I can do m’lady’s work.”

  Kami-Shi glanced toward the dungeon keep, who was standing just outside the room, and shrugged. “Fine, let him go.” He stepped aside as the keeper moved across the room and loosened the spy’s chains before giving him a solid kick in the rear on his way out of the door.

  He had gotten the information he needed. What he didn’t understand was why Cel-Lok thought this one girl could save Aeros single-handedly, if the danger was that grave. Had being in isolation made her delusional? Granted, she was incredibly vain, selfish, and probably was still holding a grudge against himself and Ru-Kai, but what was she thinking? It had been far too long since he’d even talked to her for him to really know.

  Kami-Shi leaned toward the keeper. “Send someone to follow him. I want that spy returned direct
ly to where he belongs. Any side-tracking and he comes straight back here.” It was possible that by having the spy followed, he could learn more information. More importantly, Kami-Shi decided he needed to contact Ru-Kai and that they should take matters into their own hands. If Cel-Lok had to recreate herself in the first place, and given that the spy had mentioned an illness, her state must be dire.

  With that, Kami-Shi left the dungeon and moved easily up the stairs of his castle to his study.

  Regardless of their poor relationship with their sister, if what the spy said was true, this girl was going to need a little help.

  Kami-Shi grabbed a roll of parchment from a stack on his desk, as well as a quill, and quickly scrawled a note to his brother asking if any spies had been caught in his realm and detailing the information he had gathered. As soon as it was done, he rolled it tightly and with a soft whisper of a spell, it vanished in a flourish of white-gold light.

  Kami-Shi turned, leaning forward against his windowsill, going through what he had learned on repeat in his mind.

  In truth, it was a lot to process. On one hand, he was perfectly content staying in his realm where things had been going great. Further, if the evil Cel-Lok foresaw only concerned their homeland, then he’d probably dismiss it, but the spy had said the danger in Cel-Lok’s vision threatened both Aeros and this world too.

  While they had been able to live here as gods, that also meant they had an obligation to protect it. He and Ru-Kai might not get along with their sister, but he knew it would be foolish to disregard one of her visions.

  A slight popping sound behind him followed by a flash of light indicated his brother’s response had arrived.

  Kami-Shi turned back to his desk, grasping the rolled parchment and opened it.

  Brother,

  I too have caught several spies recently from Cel-Lok’s territory claiming to search for a mysterious woman who is the embodiment of our sister.

  I’ve learned that this woman has no memory of her true self or abilities and was lost to the giants as a young girl. However, the spies saw no trace of her in the giant territories and that’s when they began searching within our borders.

  It seems the spies intend to bring her to Cel-Lok to not only merge and restore her memories but also train and develop her abilities to take on whatever evil our sister has seen. However, now that we know, I do feel we should intervene. I have a plan, if we get to her first.

  Ru-Kai

  Kami-Shi glanced around his study for a moment. Ru-Kai was right. And if Cel-Lok suspected this woman was somewhere in either his or Ru-Kai’s territories, one of them was going to find her.

  Whether it was him or his brother, they could at least move forward afterward.

  Kami-Shi grabbed another parchment, scrawling quickly a note back. If he did encounter this woman first, he’d be sure to point her in Ru-Kai’s direction and so he asked that if Ru-Kai found her, he would let him know about it.

  With another whisper and flash of light, the parchment vanished from his desk.

  In the meantime, he wondered if he should try to reach out or even visit Cel-Lok to try and learn more, but soon reconsidered. He didn’t want to stir up more fighting for no reason. Not to mention he suspected she would learn that he and Ru-Kai knew of her plans soon enough from her spies.

  No, instead of worrying, he’d go about his business as normal. If others started to suspect something was off, it could lead to unneeded chaos.

  He would simply carry on and trust that soon enough the woman would show up on her own. In his experience, fate had a funny way of taking care of things like that in its own way.

  Chapter 5

  ·-`*´-· Mahnii ·-`*´-·

  As their journey would take some time, the companions chose to learn more of each other. After all, they would need to be able to trust each other to some extent, at least, to pull off the heist.

  Especially from a dragon-god.

  The terrain gradually turned from the beautiful grassy slopes of Ru-Kai’s realm to flat-lands consisting of rock and dried earth indicating they were moving into Kami-Shi’s domain.

  Mahnii didn’t have much to say. He felt so boring mentioning nothing more than a small merchant’s shop and a simple family. In his mind, his life before Celeste had invited him to join her on her journey had been dull. It wasn’t like he could even say anything exciting about the shop either.

  Sure, they’d had all kinds of people passing through. But he didn’t have some grueling story of his father starting it from nothing and building it to success. Or even any epic battles or adventures. Just a boring shop, passed down through his boring ancestors.

  Ugh.

  When he finished sharing, he merely shrugged, lacing his fingers behind his head and glancing at Celeste. He was slightly nervous to hear more of her past, and found himself far more curious about Kah and Shim.

  “Wanna know how I got my hammer?” Celeste asked, grinning arrogantly.

  There wasn’t much of a response, so she continued.

  “All tha giants have ta prove themselves when comin’ of age. So, it was time for me ta show my worth. We had ta choose a cave from tha mountain-dragons north of tha giants and defeat whatever dragon lived inside.”

  She paused, moving a finger to her chin as she recollected her battle. Then a proud grin spread across her face once more, “I picked tha biggest cave with tha biggest dragon of all! All tha giants thought I’d never come out.”

  “I stalked in, tha dragon was sleepin’. I walked up to it, and jus’ as it opened its huge yellow eyes, I wrapped my arms around its neck. I could barely touch fingers! I squeezed together, stranglin’ it. He was thrashing, but I held on and it finally got weaker and weaker until it fell over dead.”

  “I walked around and kicked its face, breaking off tha tip of its tooth. Then, I carried my trophy and strapped it to this rod. Shocked all tha other giants! And now I take it wit me everywhere.” She patted her weapon, “Cause I’m tha strongest giant of all.”

  Mahnii bit his tongue, choosing not to make any comments. For one, he didn’t understand why she couldn’t seem to accept that she wasn’t a giant. And for another, while her story made sense as to why she was so obsessed with defeating each of the dragon-gods, he wasn’t sure how much of it was true.

  Of course, Celeste seemed the type incapable of lying. But he still found himself uncertain how to respond.

  “So, what about you two?” he asked, glancing toward Kah and Shim. He wanted to know, but he also desired to understand Shim’s focus on gaining the weapon… and why she was a Necromancer.

  It was she who spoke up, as Kah merely remained silent.

  “Our clan Roca, is one of Animancers. It’s said our ancestors learned from Kami-Shi himself. I couldn’t identify with the practice, though, and chose Necromancy instead. I’m far more interested in re-animation.” She smiled slightly to herself as she said this and then resumed her story.

  Animancy, or life magic, was the ability to call upon the very force of life itself. The most powerful Animancers could prevent death or even fully restore life by reuniting a soul with its body.

  “It’s like I was born to practice Necromancy,” said Shim.

  It made sense to Mahnii. She seemed to have a fixation on standing out rather than fitting in, from her dark makeup to her odd clothing. Everything about her drew attention her way.

  “I was exiled from my family, but I don’t care. Cobbleworlds, all of them! I’ll show them how powerful I am and that Necromancy can be just as respected as Animancy.” Her eyes glimmered.

  “Kah came with me despite our family begging him to stay. He was next in line to lead the clan. But, well, he couldn’t leave his twin sister alone.” She nudged her brother playfully.

  Kah only showed a glimmer of emotion as a small smile tugged at the corner of his lip. As soon as he realized Mahnii noticed, his face resumed its cool expressionless look, as if he were indifferent. He merely shrugged.

&nb
sp; “We’ve travelled ever since. Kah mostly just tags along with me… but I will get that staff and I will become the most powerful Necromancer in all of Dragnai.”

  “And I’m going to show that damn Kami-Shi that Necromancy is an art, and have him remove the law forbidding it. How dare he outlaw it when he has that weapon! It’s completely wasted in his possession,” she huffed.

  Mahnii found himself slightly unnerved and also awed at the same time. She was beautiful, fierce, and not at all as unbelievable as Celeste.

  While the latter was incredibly strong, she had little more than brute strength, from what Mahnii had seen. He was still wrapping his head around what Shim had shared about her magical energy. He doubted Shim had made a mistake… but how could Celeste be so focused on strength unless she were completely unaware?

  And for that matter… how could she be completely oblivious to having magic?

  Then, on the other hand… he could believe it. Celeste was pretty much oblivious to everything.

  Shim, on the other hand, had a quiet intimidation that made him certain she could be deadly.

  The remainder of their conversation was either Shim retelling stories of growing in her abilities, or Celeste talking about the giants. She was convinced she was a dwarf version of giant and talked wistfully of how she wanted to be a ‘normal’ sized one.

  Mahnii merely shook his head, holding back laughter. There was no such thing as a dwarf giant… but she seemed to draw some kind of comfort from her belief for the time being.

  “So what’s your plan?” asked Mahnii once they had crossed over into Kami-Shi’s realm. Despite Kami-Shi’s reputation for hosting outrageous festivities, open to his subjects, if Shim had been exiled from the Roca clan of Animancers, there was a good chance there were people within Kami-Shi’s palace who would not only know of her, but might even prevent her and anyone associated from entry.