Father Yelgris escorted me through the catacombs. In his hand sat the light which had been the inspiration for my own version of the spell. Behind me was Jsvil and Nox walked at my side. It had been a few days since Sofia started serving her ‘penance’ and Father Yelgris had only recently found the best route through the catacombs to get to her cell.

  “We’ll need to move these things out of the way, but straight ahead should be where they’re keeping her,” Yelgris said, scratching his chin as he gazed at a wall of bones.

  With little ceremony, or respect for the dead, the three of us started moving the bones out of the way, until the stone wall was exposed. Jsvil shifted the pages of his grimoire until he found the spell he was looking for. One hand channeled mana into the page while the other was flush against the stone wall. He spoke some command phrases in his native tongue, which I didn’t know, before the stone wall crumbled into pebbles. From there I casted an earth moulding spells until my mana ran out. I crawled out and Jsvil went next. He was a more experienced mage so his mana pool lasted longer than mine.

  “I can break the stone for the cell and I can reseal it, no more.” Jsvil said while we were still looking at a tunnel of dirt. It was a small tunnel, one you had to crawl through like the one from the dormitories.

  “I’ll take the lead then,” Father Yelgris said, grimacing while looking at the dirt hole. “Why is it always the catacombs.”

  Yelgris began taking off some of his robes, until he was left wearing only barely enough to maintain modesty. He neatly folded them and rested them on an area of stone he cleared off.

  “Must you do this every time, hmm?" Javil asked, rather annoyed. “These aren’t even your fineries.”

  “Says the cat covered in dirt,” Yelgris grumbled. “It’s much easier to clean scales than cloth.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Could we just get this over with…”

  “...Fine.” Yelgris crawled into the hole, leaving Jsvil and I in relative darkness. I could hear him chant his prayers while dirt flew out of the hole that Jsvil and I had to manually clear. “I think this is it,” Father Yelgris called after a while. He crawled his way back out, shivering when he looked down and saw the dirt that caked his scales and underclothes. “I propose a bath when we get back…”

  “Well, the two of you can have fun with that,” I said dryly. “But, I share the sentiment of not wanting to stick around here too much longer.”

  Jsvil went back into the hole. A few moments later I heard the sound of him talking though it was too faint to really make out. “Well, we found the right cell,” he said after crawling back out. “There’s no curses on her I can tell. I’d’ve preferred someone with more experience make the call.” He looked over to Yelgris.

  “I trust your judgement.” He shifted his gaze to me. “If you think something’s awry, call out.” He probably didn’t want to go back in.

  “No worries, that was the plan from the beginning.” I grabbed the knapsack of food and water and clicked my tongue. “Follow me Nox.” The little devil cat followed behind me. By this point it was pretty clear he knew what I was saying, which he shouldn’t be able to at this point. Yet, for some reason he never responded over the telepathic link. Jsvil’s summoned puppy can use it just fine, though he bears the burden of hearing barking in his head all night.

  The tunnel went on some ways before reaching a small opening. It was only around a square foot so not big enough for a person to fit through. Sofia sat kneeled in the middle of a small room nervously fidgeting. There was some light that came in from between the bars of the door behind her. It was enough to see the new scar that ran from her nose to her chin.

  “Are you alright?” I whispered from the small opening in the stone wall.

  “Maeori?”

  “I’m here, I brought some food.” I reached into the knapsack and pulled out some bread. Reaching through the hole for her to take it.

  “I-Is it okay?” She responded with a flat tone. “I know, I shouldn’t be in here, but I still should serve my penance right?”

  “Please, just take the bread.” She moved over quietly to where the hole was. Instead of taking the bread she grabbed my wrist with one hand and the back of my hand with the other. “What’re you-”

  “Be quiet for a moment… P-please.” Sofia held my hand in what seemed like silent prayer. I felt a familiar chill run down my spine, like when she prayed at Stultvultan’s altar for the first time and received a spell. It would happen occasionally when Sofia brought me to pray with her. The feeling of her connecting with the gods and them seeing me. She opened her eyes, her lips quivering a bit. “W-why?” She asked in a painfilled voice. “Why is it only with you? Why am I not good enough alone?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The gods never bless me, unless I’m with you.”

  She moved to drop my hand, instead I dropped the bread and held hers. “I’m sorry. I think you’re worthy. We’re going to make it out of this alright?” Sofia was silent. “We made a deal. You can use me all you need to get spells, and in exchange you’ll stay with me and heal me up. Damn whichever gods don’t think you’re enough.”

  “I-I don’t understand. Why do the gods favor you when you speak so blasphemously?”

  “Maybe you should try to be a little more irreverent? Though preferably after we leave. I do need to ask a favor…” My tone turned more serious. “I don’t think I can get you out of penance, the risks are too high. I’m sorry, but could you hold on? We can leave soon after and never come back to this city.”

  “A-alright… Maeori? D-do you believe me when I say my father’s a cruel man?” Her hand trembled slightly in mine.

  “Yes,” I said without hesitation. “I don’t know how often I can visit, or even much at all, but I have some rations for you and some company. Come say hi Nox.” I squeezed to the side of the tunnel, as Nox moved past and through the opening. “This is my familiar, I summoned him a few days ago. He’s rather smart. I’ll keep the food here and he should be able to bring things to you so the supplies won’t be discovered. If you could feed him some mana that’s all he needs. Oh, also he should be able to send me messages telepathically, he hasn’t done it yet, but if anything happens hopefully he should be able to send me something.”

  “I- err, is he a devil?”

  “Yeah… I told him to hide in the tunnel when it’s not safe. I don’t really have any better alternatives. I’ll need to go now, don’t want to get caught. Take care.”

  I crawled backwards through the tunnel, eventually meeting up with Yelgris and Jsvil. We closed up the hole and adjusted the bones so that it looked like they fell over before we made our way out of the catacombs.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  ***

  Not that I could resist the allure of being in a dark, damp, and dingy tunnel surrounded by corpses and with small roving packs of giant rat-mole hybrids for long. Ah a true paradise unparalleled by anything. The best part was Father Yelgris couldn’t resist the allure either as the two of us made our way to a clandestine meeting in the backroom of a shady tavern.

  It certainly wasn't something I had in mind when I first came to this world or discovered it was my own world. I had wanted to avoid interrogations, but Father Yelgris’d been an unexpected, yet invaluable, asset over the last few months. The oft ostentatiously dressing blue lizard wore only plain drab that made him seem little more than a wandering traveler. I hadn’t decided if I couldn’t personally trust him, perhaps it was better for me not to, but I certainly trusted in his faith. Which was beneficial for me.

  In a weird, but perhaps not entirely unexpected way considering the god he worshipped, Father Yelgris has been carrying himself rather calmly in all parts of our trip; from while we passed through the tavern’s main entrance to a barrage of accusatory looks, to when we said the passphrase to the barkeep, even while we sat waiting for the other party to arrive. The only exception was the catacombs, but I expected that at this point.

  For my part, I took a breath to steady my nerves. It took several months of planning, dumb, and rotten luck to get here. All I was trying to do was change the future and I only had one shot with the knowledge I had. This meeting wasn’t the be all, end all, but certainly a first step. It was a hard puzzle, trying to change the world, or part of it, when you have no raw power, no credibility, and tenuous connections at best. Yet knowledge was a power of its own. What had irked and unnerved me was that my knowledge hadn’t been quite right.

  The Xaturian Empire and Principality of Velshraine did invade the Kingdom of Olzen, but it was much later than expected. Apparently the Prince of Velshraine poked a nest of dragons and when that inexplicably failed the moron started threatening to invade them personally instead of Olzen. His generals convinced him to push on Olzen instead. It just took a while…

  “You know, I never thought that meeting you when I was breaking my fast would lead me back here,” Yelgris said, with a chuckle breaking the silence. “How’re your nerves doing? You’ve been fidgeting at those scars for sometime.” I gave him a stern look to which he grinned and replied, “it’s your tell.”

  I looked around the room. The enchantments to prevent sound from leaving as well as the ones to prevent scrying other forms of divination were in place and active. “I’ll be fine. It’s not every day you try and pull the strings of whole countries.” I leaned back in my chair looking up. “You know an indefinite vacation in Xaturia would do you well. Things will likely get far worse before they get better.”

  Yelgris gave a small smile. “It’s tempting, but there’s still people here relying on me.”

  “I see.” I closed my eyes and rehashed all the information. It wasn’t a good plan, but it was a play. Drawing out the Severance Knights so that those with actual power and a vendetta could squash them. An unfortunate amount of my plan still involved the assumption that I’d grow strong enough, or leverage what I know about the different NPCs I made, to steer things back on track if needed. I was stuck relying on others who don’t necessarily share my goals, but what other choice do I have?

  All I wanted was to study and learn how to use magic, but I’ve been scurrying around the under-city like a rat ever since I took Sofia to the slums. I’ve been keeping a closer eye out. On the clergy and those around them. The symbol of the Severance Knights was far more widespread than I thought. An infection that’s taken over the church. I wouldn’t forget the face Sofia gave me when I showed her the symbol to see if she knew of it. Her face went pale and her body tensed. It took a while for me to assure her I wasn’t secretly with them.

  A few taps on the door meant it was go time. Yelgris smirked at the plainly dressed human woman. She seemed older than me, but young looking despite her gray hair.

  “Good afternoon Corie,” Father Yelgris said with a faint smile, while never glancing at her, “I do hope you’re doing well. It’s been some time hasn’t it?”

  Her eyes locked onto Yelgris first and an annoyed look briefly flashed across her face. She grumbled a bit and took a seat. “You here to bring trouble again?”

  “Is that anyway to greet a friend? I’ve done nothing wrong this time and was cleared of wrongdoings for all the others.”

  “Friend is a strong word,” Corie said with a sigh.

  Before their conversation could continue a portly man dressed in a black vest and dark gray shirt entered the room. He was the spymaster I’d be meeting with. He stopped in the doorway taking some time to examine myself and Yelgris. The man’s discerning eyes shifted to the runes and active enchantments before he turned and whispered something to someone outside the door.

  “Corie if you don’t mind,” the spymaster said as he took his seat. “I’d like to get started.”

  Corie and Yelgris both began to cast the classic Compel Truth spells. Whelp, time to abuse their trust in that spell yet again. I looked over the Yelgris who nodded in confirmation that both Corie and the spymaster were under the influence of the spell. Before turning my attention back to the spymaster.

  “I, Lord Eldris, acting in my official capacity as Spymaster under Duke Rolocher, hereby guarantee your safety within Firstlanding. Nothing you reveal here today will be used to prosecute, inhibit your movements, or used as motivation to cause harm to you. Now, I understand you're quite knowledgeable about Ainswalde Wulfric, is that correct?”

  “Yes, in fact I have a rather accurate idea of his thought process as well as quite a bit of knowledge over matters of state for the Principality of Velshraine,” I said. Ainswalde had been a character I designed after all. The prince of Velshraine was a big bad for a campaign that fell apart not long after it started. “Though, before we begin in earnest, I trust that Archie already has handled the negotiations for payment?”

  “Yes, that was handled,” Lord Eldris confirmed. “Your information about the Olzen invasion was rather intriguing. I understand, though, that you have insight as to how Velshraine will react, should there be conflict in Hylesse?”

  “It’s less a question of if Ainswalde will get involved and more which side will he choose. Regardless of whether he marches south to Bauernhof or southwest to Haenor, he’ll see this as an opportunity to increase his prestige.

  “Ainswalde’s a man who honors personal agreements far more than historical treaties,” I continued, slowly feeling more at ease in the conversation. I was just roleplaying in a way and I could certainly do that. “His eyes are focused on expansion and dispelling the myth that the Kingdom of Aunkein is fit to rule the Oshonan Empire. In fact he’d rather dissolve their empire than let the farce that it actually exists perpetuate. If nothing else than for the mere fact that with it gone he can call himself a king. That’s all to say for the right price Velshraine’s old treaty with the Dukedom of Montire can be nothing more than a dusty relic.” Surprisingly the nerves of waiting subsided now that I could actually speak what I knew.

  “And what do you expect this ‘price’ to be?”

  “Give him a narrative to act on, the Princes of the Empire are wary of proselytizing and inquisitions from the Severance Knights. If you coordinate with him and have them attack some settlements on his border with Montire he can use that as justification to break their treaty and invade. Doing damage to a bigger power would certainly add to his prestige. It also gives him the narrative that he’s strong enough to defend the Empire in place of Aunkein.”

  “An interesting proposal,” Lord Eldris said, seeming slightly amused at the very least, “nevertheless, this is more speculation than fact.”

  “A speculation that’s not unfounded. Without intervention, should the Dukedom of Montire request his help he’ll be aiming for Haenor likely with a similar justification. Perhaps knowing some of the particulars of his army might show its merit.”

  The conversation lasted for some time. As soon as I had access to the church’s archives and more importantly paper, I began writing down all the super specific things I knew I wouldn’t remember longterm into a vigenère cipher. Not the most secure thing, but good enough. Part of the reason I chose Velshraine to begin with was the discontinued campaign. One of my players was into military history and part of their backstory was that they were part of the Velshraine army. Long story short he got really into contributing to the world building of the army, which ironically I was planning on using against them in the campaign. Either way, I happened to know a lot about their tactics, formations, training, and manpower. All of which I didn’t see a huge reason not to sell off here.

  My stomach began to twist a bit halfway in. The fact that I was playing games with people's lives wasn’t lost on me. However, I guess I’ve always been doing that. Only this time it felt more real. All I could tell myself was that I’ve already done worse.

  “This was all quite informative, thank you, Maeori was it?” Lord Eldris said towards the end. I nodded my head. “If you don’t mind making your leave, I have a few questions for Father Yelgris here. We won’t be long.”

  I looked over to Yelgris, this wasn’t part of our plan or script. He gave me a reassuring nod. “Alright then,” I said. I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to hang around the shady tavern so I slinked back into the catacombs.

  I spent fifteen or so minutes waiting until. “My apologies for the delay,” Father Yelgris said as he entered the catacombs. “We were… catching up slightly.”

  He didn’t budge when I tried to get more out of him. It was rather worrisome. The last thing I needed was another Fionn situation.