"I have noticed that even those who assert that everything is predestined and that we can change nothing about it still look both ways before they cross the street."
― Stephen Hawking, Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays
"That was stressful..."
Mara leaned back, hands pressed to the back of her neck. Her ears drooped flat, eyes barely open.
"Well I think it went great," Ven rubbed his hands together. "They've agreed to slowly move into the Laybirinth fortress, it solves a ton of problems at the same time!"
The colony could manage the monsters of the first level without issue. With the door to the second floor sealed once more, the massive fortress was the perfect place for the ants to live.
"I guess, but the King seemed annoyed..."
"That old tyrant can suck an egg..." Ven smirked. "I'm bulletproof when it comes to the 'mighty' Dragon King."
Ven had it all worked out. Huan would be his shield. Every idea that the King might dislike would now come from the dragon-kin girl. If they came from her, the King couldn't refuse.
"Maybe, but don't push your luck!"
"Yah, yah," Ven waved his hands. "But I did solve his problem for him, the Laybirinth is sealed and guarded. He can break through at his leisure now..."
"And the city has lost over half its revenue!" Mara swatted Ven's nose. "Without the second floor, we're running out of a ton of vital resources."
"Yeah... sorry about that," Ven winced, before a thought entered his mind. "What about this?"
A circular, red gate appeared with a wave of Ven's hand. Its heat filled the room, a suffocated dryness that itched at the back of the throat.
"What the hell is that!"
Mara leaned back. Sweat poured off her body for the first time since her tribulation. A purple mist crept from the door's edge, a cursed light that tore at the eye.
"Put it away!"
"Sorry..." Ven withdrew the gate into his pouch. "The ant's say it goes to a land of darkness and fire, I think it might be the way to the third floor."
"That's not the third floor..." Aangor's gruff voice caused both Ven and Mara to jump. "The third floor is a land of endless water, its gate is blue."
"Then what gate is it?"
Ven frowned. It was good he'd waited to go through. If this thing was for a deeper layer, the creatures there would be well beyond him.
"I don't know... It doesn't match any of the five known gates." Aangor shook his head. "But its aura smells of death..."
"Really?" Ven raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't feel dangerous to me at all..."
Just the opposite. The doorway called to him, a tasty whiff of delicious energy. Whatever lay beyond, it was good to eat.
"Regardless, keep it in your strange pouch for now," Aangor sighed. "The world doesn't need any more problems."
"Fine, fine..." Ven shrugged. "I'll leave it be for now. I do have a question for you though."
"Oh?" The ape leaned forward. "What might that be?"
"Old Ooulin told me to find some guy called Cain, something about learning to use runes..."
"Cain!" Aangor trembled, a mixed look of annoyance and resignation. "He's hard to pin down, but I can get Rafe to find him. He might not see you, he's a bit... eccentric."
"Rafe, huh..." Ven cracked his knuckles. "Kalina tells me he was the one who set the worm on us."
"Yes, but he's been punished enough," Mara stepped forward. "He's too important to the guild to let you or the king vent your frustrations on."
Ok, but I'm still going to get that imp back," Ven smiled, a black-edged look. "He won't die, but I'll get my revenge."
"Whatever, just..."
"We won't need Rafe's help, after all," Aangor cut in. "Cain is outside the guildhall's main door..."
A nearby window transformed, a viewport that displayed a fair-skinned young man. Raven-haired, dressed in a slim suit that matched, he spun a stone dagger between his fingers. His ice-blue eyes glanced up, as if he could see them through the magical glass.
"Not going to invite me in, Aangor?"
Cain smirked. A flick of his wrist brought an ocean of runes into the air. They arranged themselves into a portal and the youthful man stepped through.
"You were always rude, especially compared to Ooulin."
Cain's voice came from behind them. He'd seated himself at the bar, a glass filled with whisky in his hand. Aangor steamed as he stomped his way next to the new arrival.
"Master respected you for your talent, not your personality, Cain."
"He respected me for the knowledge I could give him," Cain shrugged. "But he always remembered his place."
The man's gaze found Ven, a frigid winter on a sunny day. It crawled over his skin, his insides bare to its touch.
'Now, who are you, and why did young Ooulin ask me to train you?"
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Ooulin huddled in his shell, comfortable in its sealed darkness. Kalina's voice petered in from the outside world, a sound that drove him to hunker deep. She was mad, insistent that they only play together from now on.
The turtle didn't want to play at all... He wanted to sleep and grow, the instinct left by his creator told him this was the best way to survive.
His runic wards trembled. Another assault from the relentless goddess. Ooulin's eyes flashed and he settled in with a grin. His runes would hold until Kalina became bored. He was safe.
***************************************************
"You miserable cuss!"
Kalina tossed Ooulin down a tall flight of stairs and abandoned him to his fate. A sulking annoyance brimmed within her. The ungrateful turtle didn't even care that she'd rescued him.
"I'll find the little fish, we can play without Ooulin to make it fare!"
Kalina darted down the hall, headed for Ven's scent. She wouldn't let the rascal go on another adventure without her. It was her fiery time of youth, she had to have plenty of adventures with her friends!
"Ven, let's go..."
She shoved open the door to find Ven and company seated with Cain. The group stopped, mid-story with drinks in hand as Kalina rushed to face the black-haired human.
"CAIN YOU BASTARD, I SAID I'D KILL YOU IF YOU EVER SHOWED YOUR FACE AGAIN!"