"Epsilon the Red." Lyra echoed in disbelief "Are we thinking of the same Epsilon, the dream-walker, the wandering flame, the mage of the inferno, the walking volcano, the magician of the ashen hair, the Firebaugh. Epsilon the Bast?"
Doric nodded "Exactly. That is exactly him. What you failed to recall, was the twenty four thousand platinum Link reward for the one who catches him."
Lyra thought of the little, almost bratty boy that she'd greeted that morning. He didn't seem remotely capable of the many great and terrible things she'd heard Epsilon had done.
Doric continued "Now, I know you don't pay attention to such things Lyra, but this sorcerer, it doesn't matter that he's a boy or not! He's trouble, not because he's a malicious magician, but-"
there was a clunk from the doorway.
"I see you two do know something after all. And here I was just about to apologize for bothering you."
Doric and Lyra exchanged glances. Lyra stepped forward "I'll have no fighting in this house! If you have a quarrel, then you must settle it outside!"
"Girl. Do you have any idea who I am? I'm Markus McMarkson! Leader of the Blackthorne Talons! I've brought in dozens of bounties and never once missed my man. If Epsilon is around here, he'll be gone by morning. He pulled his little hocus pocus and managed to escape me in ranger point, but Miss Fortune smiled at him. Instead of ending up half a continent away, we picked up his signature here."
He leaned in and continued, breathing heavily in Lyra's face.
"Now, Twenty four thousand Links will set me up for life and so no inn house bitch or her scumbrain master is going to keep me from collecting. Where. Is. He?"
Lyra hesitated "This Epsilon, isn't he incredibly powerful?"
"Yes."
"He's bested every bounty hunter that's come after him."
"Yes, and?"
"Causing a bunch of collateral damage."
"Your point?"
"What makes you think you're going to do anything other than destroy our tavern and get yourselves killed?"
He laughed, a deep booming noise which had nothing to do with happiness or humor.
Quick as a whip, he lunged, grabbing for the necks of both Doric and Lyra.
Lyra ducked but Doric ended up with one of the man's massive metal gauntlets encircling his throat.
Markus lifted Doric off the ground and let him dangle "I know, that the whelp with the twenty four K L on his head, hasn't killed anyone. He always runs, never fights, but that ends today."
Lyra swallowed "Let him go and I'll tell you."
Markus dropped Doric.
Lyra was almost surprised, she hadn't expected that to work.
"Upstairs attic. My room."
Markus walked out of the kitchen, while Lyra ran to Doric. He lay on the floor, coughing and spluttering.
Grabbing Lyra's apron, he pulled her close and between gasps, told her to get everyone outside.
Lyra stepped out into the main inn. Two of the hunters remained. She reached below the bar and drew two pints from the special barrel.
She whistled and motioned for them to come over, laying the mugs on the bar.
The first man, a stocky fellow with a red beard and a crossbow walked over and reached for a mug.
The second man strode over and slapped his hand away "Pleasure later. Work. Now."
"Ahh, getorf with ye. This is on the house, Isn't It miss?"
She put on her best brainless smile and nodded, even managing a giggle.
The rest of the bar began to quiet, as everyone began to size up the pair. Eyes darted to the mugs and coins slid across tables, visible only as secretive glimmers.
Crossbow guy picked up one of the mugs and began to drain it, stopping for breath with a satisfied sigh.
"Real cider Calron, I haven't tasted this since, since… since when I was hunting for that greenthumb in the Aqua labyrinth Canals."
His comrade hesitated and then took up the other mug with a cautious sip. His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he started gulping it down.
In moments he laid the mug on the counter "It wasn't cider you fool, it was arctic Champaign. From one of the floating orchids… I only ever drank it once in the four years I lived up there."
The bearded man opened his mouth to argue, but instead of words, simply let out a long sigh.
He toppled backwards. Moments later, his partner did the same.
Lyra was unsurprised.
Doric's greatest secret; Desert cactus blooms, fermented and mixed with tangleweed sap and rock-flower. If you brewed it up properly, it tasted almost exactly like the drink that you most longed for.
It also induced unconsciousness for three hours and nausea, vertigo and short term memory loss for a week.
The tavern burst into applause as the bodies hit the boards and men started settling their bets on how long the bounty hunters would stay standing.
"Everybody out! Shows over, the unlicensed mage, Epsilon the Red is upstairs and the bounty hunters are planning on making a grab for him. If you don't know why that's a bad thing, find out while you take cover outside!"
Those who had heard about Epsilon began to hustle out those that hadn't. Lyra hurried back and helped the still stricken Doric out of the kitchen.
She barely made it out onto the wooden boards of the front porch when she ran into the back of the crowd of evacuating in patrons. She poked the man in the back and he turned around, revealing himself to be Rivenhal. "Why has everyone stopped?" she asked, shifting Doric's weight on her shoulder.
"We're surrounded."
Lyra's brow furrowed "We'll see about that." she raised her voice above the crowd "Will everyone please stand aside!"
The townsfolk knew her voice and obeyed, the mob parted down the center and at the end of the channel, Lyra saw them.
Hubtown troopers.
She laid Doric on the ground and strode over to them, coming to a halt in front of a man with the peaked cap of a captain. She looked him up and down, from the waxed moustache and gilded shield, to the monocle and saber scar over one cheek.
"Why exactly are you preventing my patrons from evacuating the premises?" She stared into his blue eyes, willing him to fold.
He did not. Instead he snapped the fingers of his free hand. An Observitall floated over.
Lyra eyed the black spheroid with suspicion. The Observitall's were the eyes of the crystal ball observation network owned by Hubtown.
The Captain lifted his shield. The Hubtown crossed circle had been emblazoned with an extra insignia.
A melted candle on a bronze dish.
The symbol of the United Mages Council.
The captain announced himself just as she began to figure it out on her own.
"We have been sent here on official U.M.C business. I am required by statute to explain the situation, so listen closely. Hubtown authority does not allow guilds to have military strength of their own, in return it does not impose its will upon the guilds, instead administering over them and ensuring fairness and honesty in all dealings. However, guild may request that the forces of the administration be placed at their disposal in return for continued support, political and financial, of the administration.
Hence, this company of the Hubtown millita is here to apprehend the known Unlicensed mage and criminal element, Epsilon at the bequest of the United Mages Council. Any who aide or abet this fugitive can be expected to be held accountable to the full extent of the law."
He looked at Lyra "You are the Proprietor of this establishment?"
Lyra shook her head "Master Doric owns the Rocky-Road, but listen, Epsilon isn't in this crowd-"
She stopped short as the Observitall hovered closer.
The captain closed in on her "How do you know that?"
Lyra's mind raced as she desperately tried to still her beating heart and come up with an acceptable lie.
"Uh-" The windows of the Inn's second floor exploded outwards in a gout of roiling fire. Four singed bounty hunters smashed through the wooden walls and slammed into the wall of the general store opposite.
The captain gestured to the Observitall, which blinked and focused on Lyra's face.
"Don't try to run, We'll continue this chat later."
The rest of the townsfolk began to disperse rapidly out of the firing line.
In a much louder voice the captain commanded his men; "Ready magical rifles! Swanson, get me an ice bloom on that second floor, I don't want that fire spreading. Mages! Stop hiding and do the job the council sent you with us to do!"
Two men, wearing the pointed hats and blue robes of journeymen battle-mages, faded into view behind the captain.
"Get the encompassing vacuum sphere or whatever the hell you call it, set up around that building NOW!"
The mages decided not to argue, one rushing around the back of the building, the other standing directly in front.
One of the Hubtown soldiers hurled a pulsing blue crystal into the gigantic hole that had been torn in the 'Rocky-Road's second floor.
Moments after the crystal disappeared from sight, frost began to form on the surface of the walls visible from the street, snuffing out the spot-fires within.
The mage immediately began his chant, a transparent barrier, tinged with silver, expanding from his splayed hands.
It expanded and joined with an identical sphere being emitted from the other side to create an all encompassing barrier.
In a slightly strained yell, the mage holding the front end of the barrier announced "That's it! We're draining the air now, in moments there will be nothing left to breathe, let alone fuel a spark. He's finished!"
The captain frowned and then nodded "Shut it off when you think he'll have passed out."
Lyra was conflicted. Something was telling her that it was pure folly to expect a grand mage to fall for a cheap trick like that, but she didn't want him to win, did she?
"That's it! No more air. No more fire. We've won!" He sounded relieved, almost shocked at his success.
He looked back at the building and his eyes widened in slow motion.
The roof of the inn bulged. Solid wood warping outwards like soft earth, timbers literally melting from the volcanic force within. Huge dark hands reached through the hole, vaporizing the timbers they touched, even as the massive form of the grand fire spirit emerged from the roof of the inn.
It was demonic, gigantic horns and onyx skin, with traceries of molten lava running across the muscled surface.
It laughed, a deep tectonic boom that sent nearly everyone to their knees. Reaching up, it grasped the barrier and pulled. The sphere crumpled as easily as a house of cards on a windy day. The mage in front of the inn shot across the street, propelled by the feedback from his broken barrier-spell.
Lyra watched in awe as the infernal creature protruding from the inn folded its arms and with a last chilling laugh, transformed into a pillar of flame.
The solid beam of yellowy balefire dwindled and eventually winked out, leaving only the scent of Sulphur and melted wood to act as a reminder of the behemoth that had been.
Townsfolk and guardsmen alike picked themselves up from the dirt and all heads turned toward the Inn.
In the silence of the desert night, the soft footsteps and regular tap of wood on wood carried far on the still air.
Lyra looked up at the irregular hole punched in the wooden wall of the Inn's second floor.
He was standing there, clothes rippling in an otherworldly wind.
The hand she'd been unable to look at that morning was now, no, maybe it had always been carrying a long, wooden staff.
There was one thing she was reasonably sure of though. If that guy up there wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Really, really dead.
The staff was glowing, blanketing everything around it with greenish flame… and either Epsilon was totally fireproof, or the flames didn't burn.
The solider rose up, aiming their crystal-lock rifles at the figure now wreathed in fire.
In the dark of the night, they couldn't have had an easier target.
The captain drew his sword and with a downwards sweep, yelled the order to fire.
Crystals snapped downwards, shattering the phials of Winterwine and sending blasts of frost towards the mage.
Epsilon raised his staff a fraction of an inch and then brought it down. Lyra could barely make out his lips moving and then, there were five circle crossed stars, drawn in red light.
The center of each magic circle disappeared, turning into a hole into some realm of pure flame.
The blasts of ice were but a breath of cold air in the face of a roaring inferno.
Epsilon dismissed the circles with a gesture and leapt down from the second floor to land in the street.
"Leave me alone."
He looked around. Across the street, Markus coughed up a lump of soot.
"I don't know if I should be pleased or insulted that they sent but a dozen men to take me. The powers that be seem to be as frugal as ever." He looked around slowly, daring anyone to challenge him.
The captain of the guard stepped forward. "I have my orders, I will not shirk my duties."
Epsilon looked him up and down.
"I don't want to kill you."
The captain smiled, his mouth a vicious curve of bone white teeth.
"I know. Everyone knows, about how you're too afraid to turn the powers under your command against anyone… Which is why I was given this!" He drew a second blade, a knife about the size of Lyras index finger.
Epsilon leveled his staff at the man, "That is illegal! You talk about duty and at the same time you carry around that."
The man advanced, "I also know that you don't have any weak fire spells. If you attack me alone at this range, I'll surely die."
Epsilon backed up.
"And if I let you touch me with one of the Vampires Teeth, I'll be left as a lifeless shell. I don't want to kill you, but you draining me of my power and then giving it to another would be even worse than that." Epsilon continued to circle.
"You're wrong though, I know plenty of spells that can stop you- Ingnis infernus Terrax!"
His last words were directed that the ground beneath the man's feet.
The captain paused to look as his boot sank into liquid glass.
He grinned and fished out an amulet from behind his breastplate, "Fire elemental heart. I'm immune."
Epsilon grimaced and swung his staff to block the captains next sword swing.
He was swiftly disarmed and the stave tumbled across the ground.
The captain stood over epsilon, now lying in the dirt, face flushed with his triumph.
"There's nothing you can do now, be graceful in death!"
He raised the dagger and hesitated. Epsilon had put his wrists together and splayed his palms and fingers out flat.
"I'm sorr-"
He didn't get to finish, because at that moment there was a dull thwack.
The captain toppled over, revealing Lyra, standing over the body with epsilons staff.
The curled head of the gnarled wood was sparking with electricity.
With her foot, she turned the captains body over in the dirt.
"Don't screw around! What the hell kind of officer are you? Trying to kill him, even as he's sparing you?"
She brandished the staff under his nose "That isn't honor, that isn't fair, that's both despicable and cowardly! I don't care what your orders are, if you're the kind of man that decides to kill a child just because you were told to, then you don't deserve to be called an officer or a gentleman!"
The captain wasn't focusing on the words anymore though, he was looking at the head of the staff.
"You, have magic?"
It was Epsilon, he'd picked himself up off the ground and held his hand out for the staff.
"No, I don't, it must be just residual from you." Lyra looked at the sparks at the head of the staff and then pressed it into the boy's hands.
The sparking was replaced by the dull glow of fire.
Epsilons eye's narrowed and he swung the length of wood around like a rifle, sending a burst of white hot intensity across the square to incinerate the Observitall.
"Curses! Of all the rotten luck." Lyra felt slightly offended when he turned back to her, face serious.
"I'm sorry, but you can't stay here. They will have a bounty on your head by morning, for aiding and abetting me."
Lyra couldn't believe it. "What, no! I can't leave, Doric needs me. Anyway, I didn't help, I just stopped him from killing… you. Oh, so I did."
Epsilon glanced around "We're not alone." He pointed to the end of the street. A series of blue circles were spinning into existence.
"It's an arch-magister, one of the four that supervise the districts under the ruling council. Since it's me they're trying to catch, they'll have sent her. The Aquameistress."
Lyra looked to the end of the street. "Can you beat her?"
Epsilon shook his head "Any other arch-magister, I might have a chance if I didn't hold back, but her domain is in direct opposition to mine. I can't beat her."
Lyra looked between the determined expression on the boys face and the blue light at the end of the street.
"Why are you still here? Aren't you going to leave?"
"If I leave, they'll take you. You can't leave because of your master Doric. It is my fault that you'd be a target and so it is my duty to prevent you from being taken in my stead."
Behind the pair, the captain had arisen, drawing back one shaking arm to strike.
There was a cry of pain and a deep thud. Mage and maid turned to see the captain standing over Doric.
The old innkeeper had the Vampires tooth embedded in his chest.
Lyra swallowed the sobs. He'd meant so very much to her, but it would be meaningless if he'd died to simply delay their deaths by mere moments.
He'd have no words of wisdom, no dying message for her. He had been killed the moment blade pierced flesh.
She cursed the captain and dashed into the Inn, epsilon in tow.
"How do we escape? I've heard of you, I've heard of how you can disappear from anywhere, escape anyone and anything! Do it now!"
Epsilon hung his head. "I'm afraid I cannot. There is a reason I asked for a bed. You've heard my title dream-walker? Well, that's more a description than anything else. I can move through the dream-world to escape, but for that I must fall asleep."
Lyra dragged him behind the bar "Can you take me with you?"
He nodded "Maintain skin contact and you'll be dragged with me, but there's no point. She is upon us. Had I ran the moment her portal appeared, I might have had a chance, but now…"
Lyra dragged out Doric's legacy- the special cask. "I have a solution. Drink some."
She poured it into his mouth straight from the spigot, as little as she could.
He smacked his lips "Fireflower and sunbeams. This is what they had in the light-room atop the Hubtown tower, how did youuuuu…." The drink took effect quickly.
She held the cask under one arm, the staff in her left hand and epsilons hand in her right. She just hoped that the unconsciousness would do the same thing as true sleep and-
The roof of the building was torn away in a shower of broken wood. Outstretched, jelly-like fingers of water reached out for her and Epsilon. Lyra shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the crushing pressure of the water to reach her.
It never did. Before the hand could touch her, there came an irresistible tug. She felt herself be dragged off, through the walls of the inn and across barren clefts and dunes cast in silver by the desert night. The world shifted around her and she felt the pull of the invisible and irresistible force increase as she was lifted from the ground and soared high into the air. Down below, the towns that dotted the stone road were coloured with the golden sparkling lights of their people's dreams.
On the distant horizon, she could see the yellow sunburst glow of the dreamers in Hubtown.
It seemed so far away.
The wind whipped about her, but it wasn't cold. The only sensation left was the warmth she held in her right hand and the fantastic scenery of the desert night before her eyes.