“That feels like it took longer than necessary.” Steve commented to Dave as they approached the walls of the capital.

  “I don’t know why. I feel the same way, we had some important things mixed with some unimportant stuff. But we’re here and those aurochs didn’t kill us.” Dave nodded and adjusted his pack.

  The auroch hides and the lion hide felt heavier every day. And without Dave’s katana, the fights were decidedly unpleasant. But Steve was well on his way to level six, he suspected, and Dave was new to level eight.

  “The important thing is we made it and that means you can tell me what we’re actually doing here.” Steve smiled at Dave.

  “Not in public. First, we buy equipment and then we go to the mage guild.” Dave shook his head.

  “You didn’t say we were cleaning up a magic mess. That’s no joke. I am not the right guy for that.” Steve remembered the first time someone tried to use magic in Davtown. An entire stone building had been turned to jelly and collapsed in a heap of bouncy stone blocks.

  “It’s a monster, not just a magical mess. I’ll explain after we get to the guild.” Dave took a sharp turn and picked up his pace inside the walls. Steve had a hard time keeping up. The capital was impressive after Davtown and just taking in the differences was difficult.

  Soldiers in uniform armor with uniform arms. Stone walls that stood three stories high. Paved streets with wells placed every hundred yards. And lots of people. People with business carrying logs, pots, bales of goods, and every imaginable useful thing. He could even smell a cartload of pale peat go by as he hurried to catch up to Dave.

  “This place must be really safe.” Steve commented to Dave when they stopped at a merchant’s stand.

  “From the big stuff, yeah. We don’t get raided by lizardfolk enmasse. But dude, there are so many little things that hate us too. The sewers are so dangerous and we’ve had to seal off the crypt for now.” Dave shrugged non-commitally.

  “What did you bring me now?” The woman at the stand asked Dave.

  “Three full auroch hides and one nemean lion.” Dave said with a smile and the woman pulled her hand back.

  “Lion? There might not be enough to be useful.” The woman winced at the furry tan hide among the dark brown hides.

  “Have you dudes all neglected the classics? Trust me, you want it. It’s huge.” Dave let out a sad sigh. They haggled and the woman ended up giving Dave six gold and twelve silver pieces for the hide.

  “What are we going to spend that on?” Steve asked as Dave passed him three gold pieces.

  “You are going to get something enchanted. A shield, boots, a helmet. It’s probably not enough for a good breastplate, but it’s got to be something good. We’ll have to hurry to get anything before dark. And once it gets dark, you don’t leave my side.” Dave spoke seriously enough that it concerned Steve.

  The merchant Dave led them to was not at a market stall, but in a shop attached to a large warehouse.

  “Dave, I hope you brought me some good stuff. Those gauntlets of dexterity I passed you last time were worth a lot more than I realized.” A balding man at the desk said immediately when Dave came in.

  “Three intact auroch horns and a customer. He’s from one of the villages and needs a good upgrade.” Dave took the three horns and set them on the man’s workbench.

  “Aurochs are really common now and the hunters are strong enough to bring them in regularly. But I don’t get a lot of horn yet. We’ll call it good for now, but if I’m going to wholesale to you I need something big.” The man slid the horns aside and turned to Steve. “I hope you’re not here to beg, enchanting is difficult and the materials are hard to come by.”

  “What do you have?”

  “Honestly, the only thing I can part with right now are these.” The man went to a shelf and brought back a pair of heavy boots.

  “Come on, what are these?” Dave interrupted before the boots even clonked on the table.

  “These were obtained at great personal expense of my employees. They don’t look like much, but they are enchanted and double your sprint speed.” The man rubbed his scalp. “If you don’t want them, don’t take them. They’re all I have.

  “You have got to be kidding me, this is it?” Dave didn’t let Steve get a word out.

  “Black Rose has been buying enchanted equipment all week. They took just about everything and these boots just came in with an exploring team. We’re opening a new section of the sewers, which might bring in new gear next week if you can wait.”

  “Black Rose, bunch of thieves.” Dave said the name like it was a curse.

  “Maybe I should wait…” Steve started but Dave held up a hand.

  “How much for the boots?”

  “Four gold.” The man didn’t look Dave in the eyes when he said it.

  “We’ll pay two and you better hope the enchantment is good. If it isn’t your little shop is going to be inspected so thoroughly you won’t need a dentist appointment.” Dave scowled and nodded at Steve. The two coins hit the table and disappeared before the second bounce.

  “That guy enchants things?” Steve asked after they left the shop and before the steam stopped coming out of Dave’s ears.

  “No, that dude pays mercenaries to go into the sewers, local ruins, and anywhere else stuff can be found. The enchanted stuff he sells, the rest he has a team trying to enchant, and he makes a killing off it. His workshop doesn’t make a lot of new enchanted equipment yet, but they are getting close and when they do it’ll be mass produced out the wazoo.” Dave ducked around a wagon loaded with coal and ran to a noisy section of town. He ducked into a courtyard and Steve slid to a stop in the entryway.

  The courtyard had several large forges, anvils, and a big pile of coal to feed the work. But against the back wall sat an overlarge man. While sitting, he could reach into the second story windows like they were bookshelves. He was bald and had a heavy eyebrow ridge. His hands didn’t have the pinky finger, but the other fingers were thick and clearly strong. From where he sat, he pumped a massive bellows that fed the furnaces and with the other hand he moved heavy goods around the blacksmith area.

  “Don’t mind Bur, he’s a good worker and likes flute music.” Dave realized Steve was not right behind him and turned back.

  “What is he?” Steve asked. His hand twitched with the desire to draw his sword.

  “Bur Ogre, Bur live here. Matter Edden save Bur. Bur no hurt you.” The ogre waved at Steve with a coal stained hand and smiled.

  “I forgot, I brought something for you.” Dave pulled an auroch femur out of his pack. Bur snatched it out of his hands so fast it almost pulled Dave off his feet. Bur stopped pumping the billows and immediately began chewing on the bone.

  “He’ll be useless for hours with that.” An irritated voice drifted out of the nearest forge. “Ok guys, knock off early. Last shaping and then we’ll let Bur get extra sleep tonight.”

  “Bur smash tomorrow?” Bur excited asked around the large bone in his mouth.

  “Yes Bur, tomorrow you can smash.” The blacksmith smiled at the big guy’s glee. “You’re late Dave, we’ve had your swords ready for three days. Do you want me to hold onto one of them until the other breaks?”

  “Nah, I need both of them tonight.” Dave held up his lacquered scabbard and drew the broken blade.

  “What are you doing with my weapons? That is the sixth one in almost five months. This pair shouldn’t be so fragile, this true steel is almost as good as tool steel IRL.” The blacksmith sounded more amused than irritated. He took a key from his pouch and unlocked a sturdy cabinet with several finished swords. The other workers in the forge finished their work and began leaving the shop area.

  “Are you handling that thing two streets over?” The blacksmith pulled the swords back from Dave’s eager hands.

  “I can’t talk about that.” Dave answered and he made the most frustrated rabbit Steve had ever seen.

  “Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it. I want to talk about something it drops. When it’s over and it falls to pieces, its heart is going to be extremely valuable. If it gets to me, I can preserve this and make even better swords for the same cost. Think about it.” The blacksmith passed the swords to Dave, took the broken one for recycling, and bid them good evening.

  “Don’t listen to him. We have orders and we’re going to follow them. That means whatever the problem leaves behind when we kill it.” Dave whispered to Steve. They went two streets over and entered a three storied building with a round tower attached to the back. The beams were scorched in places and the stones were blackened and sooty. Pieces of the street were broken and a neighboring building had been reduced to glowing embers.

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  “Dude, sit down. I can tell you what we’re fighting now.” Dave slipped his scabbarded swords into his wide sash and pointed at a bench inside the entryway of the building. “One of the new arcanists experimented with summoning an extraplanar servant. It didn’t go well. The summoning failed and the fabric of reality or something was weakened on this street. A demon has taken advantage of this to dip into our world, cause some chaos, and then dip back out.”

  “No way.”

  “Yeah dude, it’s way more metal than you think. After the second time it dipped in, we got gathered up to deal with it permanently. We were all level six and it killed us all twice before leaving anyway. So now, we’ve brought more friends and I hope I’m not the only level eight. Understand?”

  “I understand. Why couldn’t we talk about this publicly?” Steve asked.

  “The last time it came, it brought a bunch of little friends and they were trying to set up something else to tear the fabric of reality and let in more friends. So, we want to handle this quickly and without panic. We expect it to come back in two days and we have to kill it before it brings more friends.”

  “I’m in, you don’t have to sell me anymore.” Steve hadn’t been nearly killed by bulls to turn around now.

  “We’re going to die, probably a few times.” Dave warned one more time.

  “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

  ******

  “The etching will be done in an hour and then your true steel blade will be a true steel runed blade.” The rune graver reported to Steve.

  “I can’t wait an hour, the demon could show up at any moment. I need that sword.” Steve was supposed to be out of the guild watching the street. It wouldn’t do any good to be present for a demonic incursion without a weapon.

  “I’ve had to etch fourteen weapons in two days. There is only so much acid to go around and I couldn’t do it any faster.” The rune graver gave the narrow trough a shake to get a bubble off the blade.

  “If the alarm bell sounds, I’m taking my sword and running.” Steve paced past a window and back to the stairs.

  “A deep etch is best. If we could have engraved the runes, they’d be nearly permanent. If we don’t neutralize the acid right, it’ll look terrible.”

  Steve didn’t care about clean lines or a deep etch. It was almost noon and that was when the demon appeared. The street had been evacuated and the guards had roped off either end. There shouldn’t be anyone outside of the attack team insight.

  “There’s a wagon at the end of the block.” Steve stopped at the window. Three members of the attack team approached the wagon and were explaining to the driver why there was a rope blocking his way. Three armored individuals came forward to see why the wagon was stopped.

  “Ok, the etching is good now. We just have to neutralize the acid and remove the wax.” The rune graver removed the sword from the acid and dipped it into a water tank.

  “I need it now.” Steve said as the newcomers appeared to be arguing with the team and then cut the rope.

  “There is still beeswax on the blade, it’ll handle poorly.” The rune graver began, but Steve already had the hilt in his hand. He tipped over the tank as he bolted for the stairs and the front door.

  “You can’t come through here, this road is closed due to the threat of attack.” Steve could hear someone shout, but one of the armored people slapped a horse on the butt. It staggered forward, the other horse joined in, and then there was a wagon in the street. The four wagons behind the first started moving too.

  “The demon could arrive at any moment.” Steve saw the rest of the team approach to try to deal with this incursion.

  “Shove it Silver Wing stooge. We need to get this ore to the foundry and this is the fastest route.” Two of the wagon guards ganged up on a team member and shoved him aside.

  The sound of ripping interrupted the argument and the lead horses broke into a startled run. The other horses panicked and tried to turn around.

  A wad of grey matter dropped onto the lead wagon and split into a horde of leathery monkeys. The little monsters scattered, but quickly homed in on the terrified horses. The planning meetings had called these things manes and they were Steve’s first assignment.

  The manes grabbed the horses and dug in with their sharp fingers, causing the horses to scream wildly. The leather harnesses snapped and entangled while the horses struggled to escape their tormentors.

  Steve ran in with his sword ready. It was hard to hit a mane while it was clinging to a thrashing horse and the first wagon had already overturned itself after running over some barrels on the street. Slowly the horses succumbed to clawing and bites, falling over as their struggle to escape failed.

  With the horses stilled, Steve clove clean through a mane perched on the carcass. His sword flared with hot, white light as it cut through the boneless mane. The wax on the blade slipped off with the heat and the two halves of the mane smoked from the wound.

  The rest of the team rushed in and attacked the manes as well. Weapons flared white as they cut the manes in pieces. The lower level team members had been assigned to deal with these little threats. The newcomers drew their own weapons and tried to help, but their plain weapons did not scorch the manes and the little demons healed quickly and turned on them savagely.

  A hot wind whipped through the street, causing Steve to flinch away from it and when he looked back the demon stood on the street. It stood seven feet tall and had four horns curling around its head. Red light emerged from the gaps in its leathery armor and a long whip uncurled in its left hand. The demon opened its mouth and exhaled a red mist past its sharpened teeth.

  “Oh crap.” Steve muttered. The temperature on the street went up uncomfortably and the manes began to give off the red light, like the demon’s presence filled them with the light that escaped through their mouths and wounds.

  The more powerful team members descended on the demon silently. Heavy arrows thudded into the demon’s left arm and a thick, black chain snaked out of the shadows to wrap around its right leg.

  The whip spun and lashed across two attackers while the right hand grabbed Dave by his breastplate. The metal plate bent outward in the demon’s grip and Dave’s katana chopped on the demon’s arm. It left a long gash across the armor of the arm, but failed to cut through it. Dave fell heavily to the street and tried to pull away from the heated metal he wore.

  The team members lashed by the whip had a long welt where it cut through clothing and hit skin. The welts began to blister.

  The demon strode to one of the fallen horses and picked up its head. In the grey grip, the head came away from the neck with a rip. Yellow flames burst around the horse’s head, burning away the hide and meat, leaving only a skull.

  Swords chopped at the demon’s free leg and they succeeded in peeling away the armor over that thigh.

  The whip lashed again and three more team members got the painful welts. The horse’s skull went into a large sack tied to the demon’s belt.

  A mane grabbed Steve as he was shocked by the fight with the demon. It’s grip was immediately uncomfortably hot. The runed blade angled over Steve’s shoulder and flicked through the mane’s body easily. Fires were starting where the whip touched wood and the corpses of manes turned to ash. The street was a horrid mess.

  Furiously swinging his sword and beating with his shield, Steve and the others struggled through the manes and struggled to maneuver around the crashed wagons. Three of the manes team had died and four of the demon team were no better. The demon collected more bones, almost at a leisurely pace, as if he was completely unconcerned by his attackers.

  An arrow deflected off the demon’s horn, causing it to smile and look up to the window where the shooter perched. With the manes dealt with, the two teams joined to attack together. Axes and swords chopped at its legs, spears searched for openings in the armor, and the spell caster looped a second chain around the left hand to neutralize the whip.

  The demon swept four team members to one side with its thick tail and pointed a finger at the shooter. Black lightning leapt from the finger and knocked their only shooter to the street below. The demon gripped the arcane chain on his leg, pulled with some effort, and then snapped it into non-existence.

  It stomped on another team member, sending her to respawn immediately. Then it slapped another, sending him to respawn just as suddenly.

  Dave darted behind the demon and chopped at the only exposed skin he could see. The tail. His sword flashed before it rebounded and the demon, for the first time, screamed in pain. Dave ran away to avoid the demon’s free, snatching hand and the demon angrily grabbed the chain on its arm. The tail suddenly swayed in front of Steve, the tough muscle not entirely cut through.

  While the demon broke the last chain, Steve chopped into the cut Dave had started. The demon’s foot kicked backwards into his chest. Steve crumpled backward, falling on a horse carcass with his chest screaming of broken bones.

  “Get the tail!” Steve didn’t know who screamed it, but someone darted in and picked up the tail. They ran before the demon could lash them with the whip and then tossed it to another team member before the whip sent them to respawn.

  “You run, right?” A team member ran to Steve’s immobile body.

  “Yeah.” Steve managed to say against his rib’s best efforts to stop him.

  “Good.” The team member extended a hand and ribbons of yellow light unwound from his fingers and wrist. The ribbons stretched across Steve, numbing the pain as they touched him. This felt like Dave had given him another dose of the healing potion, but much faster to take effect.

  “Now run, they won’t make it.” The team member pointed after the running demon and Steve didn’t need a second invitation. The boots stretched out each step, propelling him further as his toes pushed off the stones.

  Two more team members went to spawn as the demon lashed out with spells and whips. But the tail was still running away.

  Steve passed the demon and caught up to the minotaur team member who had the tail. They passed the second street from where they had started and turned onto another business street. Citizens, soldiers, and merchants ran to get out of the way of this lethal game of tag.

  The minotaur tripped, tossing the tail forward, and getting stomped to respawn before he could get up. Steve grabbed the tail, it was still uncomfortably hot, and the whip tangled around his legs. Burnt and falling, Steve could go no further with the tail. The demon knew this and summoned a jagged knife to offset the whip before he approached Steve.

  Bur the ogre burst out of the blacksmith courtyard with a bundle of stock iron in each hand. The furious iron tore the demon’s armor, exposing the wiry demon underneath. The plain iron failed to injure the demon, but its armor screamed in obvious pain as it was torn like tissue paper.

  “It’s EXPOSED!” The team members who had been sent to respawn first arrived and attacked furiously. Spears jabbed through the gaps and axes widened those gaps. An arrow found the demon’s chest with a flash of light. Bur dropped his irons and wiped the tears out of his eyes. The whip was dropped, the knife was kicked aside, and more team members arrived. With each strike, the runed weapons flared with light and heat.

  The armor stopped screaming and stopped too. The armor withered like a corn husk and the demon curled up defensively, but only made it half way to the fetal position. The horns fell off its head, an iron tooth fell out of its mouth, and a purple stone emerged from its chest. The demon flesh turned to smoke. With another thunder clap, the smoke curled into a single point and winked out of existence.

  “Suck it, demon.” An orc teammate scooped up a horn and cheered. The street erupted in a cheer too.

  Dave scooped up the purple stone. It cracked, letting out an angry gout of fire. Dave ran past Bur to the furnaces. Steve followed as soon as his legs were freed of the whip.

  “What did you do to Bur? He’s going to be a mess for hours, days maybe. I told you not to involve him.” The blacksmith was furious, even as Dave dropped the very hot stone into the charcoal furnace.

  “It wasn’t me. They wanted to have him on the street and let him do that right off. We got you the heart, I’ll get him another femur. With meat this time.” Dave wiped his hands.

  “You can’t just buy him off, he’s just a kid.” The blacksmith wanted to keep shouting, but Dave disappeared right then. Not run away. Not turned invisible. Disappeared just as certainly as the demon had appeared on the street.