As we sped off, Meleri followed as fast as she dared. She was nervous at first, but soon she was flying circles around the carpet as she gained more confidence. As she flew up beside me, Irenji jumped and turned misty for a moment before materializing beside Meleri on the tail of the broom. That was enough to make Meleri lose control of the thing for a second.

  I let her struggle but was ready to use magic to help should she need it. “Careful now, you really don’t want to crash from this height!” Meleri got the broom under control. “I can manage, thank you, just didn’t expect Irenji to do that.” Irenji made a soft whimper while wagging his tail. “I didn’t mean to surprise you.” Meleri looked down at him, then let out a soft sigh. “It’s fine. I just didn’t know you could do that.”

  She reached down and began to scratch the Great Wolf behind his ears, earning some happy growls from him. Bahruun cleared his throat. “Well, he is a magical creature and one closely related to spirits, so things like that are not beyond him.” Meleri looked down at Irenji. “Well, it surprised me, that’s for sure, you lil rascal.” Irenji nuzzled into Meleri’s hand. “I didn’t mean to surprise you.” Meleri kept patting him for a bit before turning her focus back to her flying. “It’s fine.

  She sped up once more, and soon the two were off on their own. They were still within sight but clearly just enjoying themselves as they bobbed and weaved both up and down. It took a while, but soon the farm came into view, and as always it was a marvel to see the sheer volume of land that the farm covered. From a small hilltop farm to covering a fair chunk of the surrounding countryside.

  As we landed, Faye pranced over to greet us. “Morgana, how glad we are here… wait, where’s Alder?” I glanced at the others. “Alder? Shouldn’t he be tending the fields?” Faye’s smile faded. “Oh dear, you must have missed him. Well, that’s fortuitous misfortune then. Morgana, we need your help.” We all hopped off the carpet, and I gave her an inquisitive look. “Oh, how so?”

  Faye waved for me to follow. “A while back we picked up a new shepherd, a rather poor young ‘un, and a massive black beast of a hound, a strange pairing but even so they have been a great help at protecting the fields. Then the other day, the big dog staggered into the field looking quite worse for wear. We have tried many things, but no amount of healing concoctions or magic seems able to ease what’s wrong with it.”

  That sounded ominous. “I see, Soot, with me, the rest of you can relax here. We can handle the other stuff afterwards as this has priority.” Bahruun and Millid nodded while they and the others scattered around the farmyard to relax. Faye gave Bahruun and Millid an inquisitive look but didn’t comment on their presence as she led me away from the yard and down a small trail towards a series of small huts. These likely housed the employees who weren’t part of their direct family.

  She led me to one of the larger huts and opened the door. Inside was a small bed, a kitchen corner a small fireplace and a massive beast lying in the corner. To call this dog massive was an understatement, as it was the size of a grizzly bear, jet black and with glowing red eyes. It didn’t react to our presence at all. “Woah, is that a Barghest?” I glanced over at Soot, then tried to remember what I’d read about Barghests. “Could be, though it’s a bit on the larger side. Anyway, Soot, do you see anything?”

  Soot stared at the beast for a few moments. “It’s its stomach, magic detection should show you what’s wrong.” I gave Soot some appreciative scratches, then cast a spell to see magical auras. I stepped back immediately and began to curse under my breath. “Damn, Faye, get the owner in here immediately, I need their consent for an operation. And while you’re at it get a magic blocking container if you have one. If you don’t, I will need to request that you send someone to Nekkal to get one.” Faye nodded and disappeared back towards the farmhouse at a rapid trot.

  I put my hand on the massive hound’s head, which seemed to finally get a reaction out of it. “Who… what are you-?” I shook my head. “Save your strength, big guy. You will need it for what’s coming.” I gave his belly a soft pat, which caused a soft groan from the big guy. “Ah, sorry about that.”

  The door opened, and Faye returned. “The owner gave their consent and rushed off to Nekkal for the anti-magic container.” I gave a nod. “Alright then, I take it you have some healing ointments and other on-touch magical healing?” Faye nodded. “I do. What's the problem?” I nodded towards his stomach.

  “Something it ate, whatever it is, it’s nasty, even by my definition of the word. We need to get it out, but the only way I can think of is…” Faye got the idea, and so too did the hound, by the look of things. It weakly turned its head towards me. “Cutting me open, eh?” Its voice was weak, strained. “If that’s the way it has to be, then so be it.”

  I looked down at the Barghest. “It’s the only way given how weak you’ve gotten, I will be putting you into a magical sleep first, so you won’t feel a thing while I work.” The Barghest gave a weak grunt. Faye went to fetch the healing ointments while I put my hand on the Barghest's massive head. “When you wake, it’ll all be over.” I cast the sleep hex, and despite the Barghest’s innate magic resistance, it succumbed to it almost instantly, too weak to muster any resistance even if it wanted.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Soot flew up to the crossbeam while I tossed my hat onto the nearby table so it wouldn’t get in the way. I pulled out my hunting knife, it was no surgical scalpel, but it was still enchanted to be as sharp as a razor’s edge. The door opened, and Faye returned with the ointments. “Good, no reason to delay then.” I worked quickly and methodically, and I was grateful for Faye’s help as she used the ointment to stem the bleeding so I could work with minimal delay.

  I used magic to extract the cause of the Barghest’ woes, a jet black pulsing orb that even to mundane sight seemed ominous. A trio of runes was emblazoned onto it, each one glowing ominously on the thing’s black surface.

  The first was a circular maw, glowing in an angry blood red, the rune for hunger and gluttony. The second was a simple empty circle with a purplish sheen inside it, the rune for vacuum, emptiness, and the void. And the final rune was the rune of destruction, entropy and decay, a dark grey rune with a lightning bolt pattern cutting through its circular mark.

  Faye eyed the thing with disgust while she healed the Barghest’s wounds and I set it to hover above our heads so we wouldn’t accidentally touch the thing. “That’s a nasty piece of work. Those runes in any combination cause effects that are illegal in most civilized lands, let alone that specific combination.”

  Faye looked up at it, with open disgust on her face. “Whoever made this did not have any thoughts outside suffering and death, that’s for sure.” I nodded. Just then, the door opened. “I have the container Ms. Faye, I-” I turned my gaze towards the door. “Hmm, that explains a few things, I suppose. I’ll be taking that.” I magically grabbed the container, a small box, and made the orb, or whatever it truly was, float into it.

  With the item secure, I snapped the box shut. “So… You seem worse for wear, Milnair.” Milnair flinched, then glanced over at the sleeping Barghest, her old warg’s evolved form, no doubt. Barghests came into being when a Warg overcame its hunger in favor of other pursuits or survived long enough to lose its appetite naturally. Both were rare occurrences.

  Then again, given the time between then and now, it wasn’t impossible for it to happen. Milnair turned their gaze back to me. “Lady Morgana, I… Thank you for saving Irrunin. I know we have done nothing to deserve your mercy, but thank you.” I waved her off. “Oh, I didn’t do it for you, but for them.” I pointed over at Faye. “Allen and Faye have done nothing but sing your praises since you began working here, so I expect you two to keep up the hard work.”

  Milnair froze, I wouldn’t be surprised if she expected me to banish her, or worse. “Oh, I haven’t forgotten what you did to Midnight and Soot, nor are you forgiven. I am simply giving you the chance to earn that forgiveness through dedication and hard work. Again, not for your sake, but for the sake of this farm. The fauns are friends of mine, and I shouldn’t need to tell you that if they get hurt because of you…”

  Milnair straightened up. “You won’t have to worry about that, Lady Morgana, they are my benefactors as well, and I owe them a great debt. I promise I will not let the chance you have given me go to waste and do my best to be of use to the farm. And for what little it’s worth, I am sorry about your familiar.” I glanced up at Soot. “You can tell that to her face before we leave, though don’t expect her to take kindly to your presence for a while.”

  Milnair seemed confused, and just then there was a scratching at the door. I went past Milnair and opened it. Midnight was sitting outside. Midnight jumped into my arms and stared daggers at Milnair as she made a low, hateful growl. “Case and point.”

  Milnair stared at Midnight as if they’d seen a ghost. “Meowstress, are we really letting Milnair off the hook?” I glanced down at Midnight. “I figure it’s better that we keep them in a place where we can keep an eye on them, and they, now bound by their own promise, won’t be causing any trouble.”

  Milnair was shaking. “H-how?” I glanced from Midnight to Milnair. “Turns out death isn’t as permanent for Midnight as for anyone else. She still experienced the death, however.” Milnair swallowed and opened their mouth to say something. Just then the Barghest stirred. “Irrunin!” Milnair rushed over to the Barghest and gently stroked its head. Midnight looked at her. “Milnair’s different. The Milnair I remember cared for their Wargs, sure, but only so far as their usefulness was concerned. But now… there was genuine concern in their voice.”

  I looked at Milnair too, but from a different perspective, Milnair’s pale form looked more, and less, and more, at the same time. Milnair was openly displaying care and affection and emotions other than self-centered rage. Could it be that I cursed Milnair with empathy back then? For the old Milnair, such a thing would have been terrible, after all. I could investigate that later, for now I needed to deal with the orb and my promise to Bahruun.

  I waved for Soot to follow me outside, and Faye followed suit. She glanced back at the cabin. “I take it you want to keep her around then.” I nodded. “She won’t be causing you any trouble, and it’s better to keep her around than let her just wander off. Besides, she's different from our last encounter. I placed a curse on her brought about by rage, and it might have changed her in ways I can’t even begin to fathom since we last met. For instance, as far as I could tell, empathy was an emotion unknown to her back then.”

  Faye glanced at Midnight. “I can guess the circumstances, and given your lack of detail I suspect you don’t even know what you hit Milnair with?” I shook my head. “No, but given her change in demeanor, I can make an educated guess. That aside, we have other things to worry about right now. Namely, this thing. And also the reason I brought Bahruun along.” I shook the box containing the orb. Faye’s expression grew serious. “Right.” With that, we headed towards the main building again, where Bahruun and Millid were waiting on the porch.