“Hey, gents,” Jack greeted two of his three friends after returning to their little village with Jonas, before adding, “And lady,” with a rogueish smirk, despite knowing that Samantha wasn’t interested in him. The flirting had become a habit he just couldn’t seem to break, and he wouldn’t even try unless Samantha gave him clear signs of discomfort. Until that happened, he was content to continue, even if it was only to keep others from flirting with Samantha.

  “Hey, Jack,” Daniel replied, though it was obvious that the man’s mind was elsewhere. It was an expression also visible on the faces of the other two, making this even more peculiar than usual.

  “Did something happen?” Jonas asked, his eyes scanning the threesome sitting at their usual table. The village had decided to set up a communal kitchen for the many people who just didn’t have the time or energy to prepare food after a long day working the fields or patrolling the surrounding area. The food wasn’t fancy, but it was hot and of sufficient quantity, which were the two main criteria. The decent taste was a bonus, as was the welcoming atmosphere, even if said atmosphere was a little strained within their group.

  “It did,” Murray replied, his voice maybe just a little more subdued than usual. Not by much, but for a stoic like him, that was quite remarkable.

  “Must have been a doozy, given that you three look like you’ve been slapped with a fish,” Jack tried to prod them into speaking, but he only received a tired look from Daniel before the man sighed.

  “Would have been less exhausting,” Daniel admitted, “No, we’ve had an extraordinary visitor today. You know, the kind of visitor that makes you wonder if the world will ever be normal again, or if we have to come to terms with beings that may as well be weapons of mass destruction shaped like a person.”

  “So, Miss Morgana came to visit?” Jonas asked, making the connection almost instantly.

  “Indeed,” Murray nodded, while Samantha only let out a soft, tired sigh, “And if that had been the only thing she did, it wouldn’t have been as disturbing.”

  “What did Miss pale blue and edgy do?” Jack asked, an eyebrow raised while doing his best to mask his growing concern with irreverence.

  “Not so much what she did, but what she told us and what her actions imply. Though what she did is concerning enough,” Daniel admitted, letting out a sigh.

  “I am not certain which part is the most concerning,” Murray admitted, his eyebrows curled into a frown, “But all three are concerning in their own right.”

  “The thing with Lorgar and that city in the hills,” Samantha spoke for the first time, her voice a little hollow.

  “That’s what you are going with? Not the fact that Miss Jade was somehow able to bring about a blessing? A divine blessing, without any ceremony, invocation of any deity, or even explaining what deity had given the blessing?” Daniel asked, his voice getting a little higher as he spoke. “Or that the blessing apparently came from the Mother, you know, the same deity that uses Miss Jade’s likeness in that temple of hers?”

  “Wait, what?” Jonas blurted out, his eyes about as wide as they could go, “What do you mean, blessed by the Mother?”

  “Apparently, Lenora, the mother of little Jade, was able to read the system’s text for the blessing, or maybe just part of it, I’m not sure. She said it was creatively called ‘The Mother’s Protection’, came from ‘The Mother’ and would protect little Jade from injury and illness,” Daniel explained, though his voice was only marginally calmer.

  “So, Miss Morgana is… what?” Jonas asked, clearly as confused about this as the others, “An avatar of sorts for that Mother? Or the Mother herself, somehow both normal person and goddess, all wrapped into a single, pale blue package?” he paused for a moment, before shaking his head, “Cause, let me be honest, I don’t really see Miss Morgana as some sort of divine mother, at least not to humans. How does that even work?”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “No idea,” Daniel admitted, “To any of your questions, no idea. But the blessing wasn’t arcane in nature, but beyond that, neither my students nor I have any real idea.”

  “But it would be prudent not to make Miss Jade upset,” Murray suggested, his voice as calm as always, “It might prove to be unhealthy.”

  “Thanks a lot, big guy,” Samantha quietly growled, aware of the potential trouble her failed relationship with Carnelia could bring, even if Morgana hadn’t been overly concerned. Who knew what was going on in that sparkly head of hers?

  “So, that’s the first issue, right? What else happened, if that’s not necessarily the most disturbing thing?” Jack brought the conversation back on track, curious what could possibly match this particular revelation.

  “First, last, who cares?” Daniel asked with another sigh. He seemed to be doing that quite a bit since Miss Jade had left.

  “The issue with Lorgar is that the entire city they built is under some sort of mind control, at least that’s what Morgana says,” Samantha said, her voice now better controlled. And I don’t think she was lying. Not when she told us about the people she had seen tortured to death as a backdrop to Lorgar’s preaching while crowds watched. It’d be too big a lie.”

  “Yikes,” Jack tried to keep his tone light to mask the sudden horror he felt, “That’s some disturbing imagery there. Though we do know that Lorgar was after Miss Morgana, are you confident that she doesn’t just want to limit the guy’s reach and destroy his reputation?”

  “I do not believe so,” Murray replied, “She seemed to be sincere in her belief, though it will be difficult to confirm. If the people there are mind-controlled, they might be unable to speak about it. The only way to confirm would be to witness the next execution,” he reasoned after a moment of consideration.

  “True, that could be problematic,” Jonas admitted, “What are we going to do about it? I mean, no benign community would set up some sort of elaborate mind-control, just having it means they are up to no good,” he paused, looking at the other four with a bit of uncertainty in his eyes. “Right?”

  “If the mind-control is the primary purpose, no, there’s no benign reason,” Daniel sighed once again, wondering if his morose mood would continue after they changed the topic, “But even Miss Jade described it as a side-effect of their protective wards. Or maybe the protetivce wards are a side-effect of the mind-control, I don’t rightly know,” he admitted, looking at Samantha and Murray, trying to get their opinion.

  “Either is possible, but I believe the protections to be the primary purpose,” Murray told him, “But it is just as possible that I am wrong.”

  “So, what are we going to do?” Jack asked, “Just warn people away from that place, if anyone wanders into the area? Maybe keep an eye on them, just in case there’s more trouble coming from there, or do you think we should try to get the people living there out?”

  “I don’t think we can get the people living there out,” Daniel shook his head, “Not just because of the mind-control but simply because of the food. We only have so much food to last us through the winter and early spring. We can’t open our own doors, and I doubt that the other communities in the area are much better off, if they even have the stores to get their own people through the winter.”

  “And starving people would be a problem, even without any mind-control involved,” Jack agreed, putting a pin in the issue for now, even if a part of him was disturbed by the idea of mind-control.

  “So, what was the last issue?” Jonas asked, “You said there were three, and with those you already named, the last one has to be a doozy, right?”

  “Just another realisation about Miss Jade,” Daniel admitted, trying desperately to sound casual, “She’s apparently almost too powerful to walk through our wards without tearing them apart. As in, if she isn’t very delicate in her actions, she’d destroy the protections and my alarm without even meaning to, simply because she’s too strong,” he paused, another sigh escaping him and causing Samantha to giggle, while Murray raised an eyebrow. “She’s also able to teleport at will, or something like that. Or maybe just go invisible, I’ve got no idea. But it’s frankly insane.”

  “Indeed,” Murray nodded, “And while I do not know enough about magic to contribute, I could hear that she has a lot more knowledge, power and experience than all our arcanists combined. She is truly dangerous.”

  “At least it doesn’t look like she’s holding a grudge against you, Sam,” Jonas grinned, “Not even after that mess with her daughter.”

  “No, it didn’t look like it,” Samantha nodded, “Though I’d love to know just what went wrong there. Why didn’t Lia come with us, or at least give me an indication why she couldn’t?”

  “Who knows,” Daniel shrugged, “Maybe you’ll be able to meet her soon,” he paused for a moment, “Jonas, didn’t you mention that you had some weird feeling the last few days when we were out there? Maybe you’ve got a vampiric stalker,” he suggested, trying, and failing, to lighten the mood.

  Luckily, Jack decided to break out one of the numerous bottles of hard liquor they had secured after the change. That was enough to change the mood and topic, especially after the first bottle was gone.