Jackal Among Snakes

At an unspecified time, Argrave found himself in an unspecified place. Considering he’d jumped into a pit, that was the intended outcome. But this was a little different than falling, he could tell—rather, it was like he fell out of the world they’d been standing atop rather than falling into it. He’d found a tiny crack in the firmament and slipped through like water.

“Parasite.”

Argrave couldn’t look around, not really. But he heard a voice. It came from somewhere in the direction of everything all at once. Or perhaps it was just behind him. The two weren’t mutually exclusive.

Though he tried to speak, he didn’t have a mouth anymore. He didn’t really have anything anymore. It couldn’t be some delusion, either—the Ravenstone was meant to protect him from all mental interference, all the machinations of the psychic and the divine. Yet somehow, the question he’d been intending to ask emerged from somewhere.

“Who’s talking?” Argrave’s tone was a strange combination of the voice he’d become and the voice he’d once had. “What is this?”

“Couldn’t leave well enough alone. Now you come picking at the bone.”

Argrave remained rational enough in this strange trance to puzzle out that whatever he was conversing with was directly related to Sandelabara. And if he hadn’t died following the psychopathic Alchemist into an untested pit, there was knowledge to gain from this encounter. “What exactly am I parasitizing?”

“You’re the first to arrive. Move quickly. If you cannot, more than your light alone shall be snuffed out. It would be better to accept a parasite than fall into a abyssal chasm.”

#####

Argrave once again found himself in a specified place at a specified time—namely, falling through the same pit that he’d jumped into moments ago. The wind magic that the Alchemist had cast to shield his body lowered him gently with his will, and finally, this vast pit began to open up into something grander. He looked around at the others floating about him frantically, but could tell at once that this experience was his alone.

“Anneliese,” he called out. “Look at me closely. Do you see anything off with your [Truesight]?”

Anneliese watched him as she descended, catching his unease. She did study him closely, but then shook her head. “What happened? You look pale.”

“Got a message. Just a message, I think,” Argrave looked down below, where the Alchemist continued to descend. “I’ll… I can’t even describe it with words,” he managed, shaking his head. “But there’s something here. Called me a parasite, yet urged me to hurry all the same.”

questioned, listening closely

that wasn’t it. There was always something vaguely mortal about Gerechtigkeit, but this… not a chance,” Argrave shook his head. “I’d only be speculating if I guessed further. That something, whatever it is, knows we’re here. And I’m not entirely sure what

still persisting in the drained chamber, but other than that, this vast place had been completely purged of all molten rock. As in the magma moat where the dwarves persisted, miles

a vast and empty cavern, drained as it was. Argrave couldn’t yet see the floor. Persisting heat warped the air, but Argrave felt no discomfort, likely due to the Alchemist’s intervention. Now, that same

looked like a portal into another world. An idyllic world, seemingly painted into the floor. Argrave saw a distant city past the grasslands. It could be likened to a portal into one of the gods’ realms—a split in this reality through which the divine and mortal both could travel. Yet there was something off about it. Lingering pools of magma

a lovely coastal city. Argrave could see seagulls, even, and trees flowing with the light sea winds. But something about the way the seagulls moved was… off, and the trees were odd in much the same way.

you seeing? Anything unusual, anyone?” Argrave asked, the question largely

few moments as

off,” Anneliese begrudgingly admitted when no one else refused

Stolen novel; please report.

said the Alchemist. “It’s as

on its side, obeying different gravity entirely. It was

the temperature… it’s impossible to tell this is a portal, and indeed I’m not sure it is one. I sense not magic nor divinity. But it’s certainly a different location.” The Alchemist reached within himself, then pulled free the vial. Argrave could

Even Argrave’s jaw clenched when he saw the way the light fell upon the giant, as though he’d just walked out beneath

Alchemist looked back at them, then stuck his hand out. It reemerged from the portrait-like scene. Soon after, the rest of him came,

to stress caution. But the curiosity had set in on her face, and he knew then

led the advance, then Argrave. As the giant had said, as soon as they passed the imperceivable threshold, it was as though they moved into another place entirely. A new gravity, new suns, new winds, new temperatures… Argrave judged by the two stars in the sky that this must be somewhere in the world they currently resided, but he could recognize nothing

wrapped in magic. “Do not

around the verdant countryside for a moment. The bright blue ocean stretched ahead without an end. He could see farms in the distance near the outskirt of the city. The structures weren’t quite primitive, but they lacked the uniformity of something built by magic. They looked to be made of stone, and solely by hand. The style was blocky and rigid—function over form, put simply. And as they proceeded, the strangeness of this land

teleported from place to place in their flight path. There were so many it was impossible to determine any reason to it all, but Argrave thought he noticed patterns. The trees, too, though few, snapped from place to place as the wind blew through them. They were teleporting just the same

Orion, watching a tree. “A woman. She’s holding

They headed her way as quickly as they could. Her movements were jerky, too, and Argrave thought he might be able to study this phenomenon more closely. Yet then… her head turned as she noticed them. She saw them, and her head pulled

head was turned

the air, yet the Alchemist proceeded. She turned her head again as his huge body cast a shadow over her… and like it never moved, her whole