“This could benefit one of you, however,” I said mysteriously…

  That got their attention.

  “It seems that while I was visiting former guild masters-” I began.

  Adriana interrupted. “And schmoozing for free magical stuff.”

  I glared at her out of the corner of my eyes. “And building foundations for future magical relationships.” I countered.

  Biff snorted again. This time, sending flecks of elderberry pie across the table.

  Wilma sighed, picking up her napkin. She wiped away some leftover pie around Biff's mouth and beard. Biff was unusually quiet and still while she did this.

  I cleared my throat again. “Yes, well, during my meeting with Emeritus Guildmistress Ilyana Farseer for the sorcerer’s guild-”

  Adriana gasped. “You met with her?” She looked around the table and saw blank stares until she met eyes with Bido, who nodded at her. He knew about her as well.

  “Why, what's wrong with her?” Steven asked. As a cleric, he was not overly fond of sorcery because it tended to drift toward darker applications.

  Adriana waved to me. “I don’t know what happened, but I bet it was…unusual.” She motioned for me to continue.

  I cleared my throat for the third time. “Yes, it was a bit odd,” I admitted.

  “How so?” Wilma asked, folding her napkin and placing it on the table before her.

  “Well, for one thing, she never said a single word. And we met for three hours.” I stated.

  “What did you do for that long?” Biff said with a smirk.

  “I read a book that she handed me.”

  “Oh.” He said, disappointed.

  “Skipping the drama of a good read, what does this have to do with us?” Bido chanced to ask, looking at the others to ensure he was not stepping out of line. They all agreed and looked at me again.

  “Well, she left me an inscription in this book.” I opened my backpack, which was on the floor beside me. We each had a similar type of pack near our feet. I withdrew the book she gave me and passed it around.

  Steven got it first and looked at the inscription, which raised his eyebrows. He started to pass it to Wilma, who was sitting next to him, but then hesitated. “I’ll pass this around, but maybe one of us should read it out loud so Biff will understand.”

  Even taciturn Simon grinned at that.

  Wilma took it and said, “Fine, I'll read it.”

  “Hey! I can read, too.” Biff complained. “Mostly.”

  Wilma held the book up and read,

  For Gwydion Istari,

  Enjoy life. Learn patience.

  Seek your staff before this day ends.

  Return to where you sang it before Winter End.

  The life of one you care about depends upon it.

  Yours truly,

  S.S.

  P.S. Please give me four silver ones.

  My friends all sat around the table, quietly absorbing her words.

  Biff asked, “She made you pay her for the book?”

  Adriana rolled her eyes. “Biff, she asked for four of Gwyd’s enchanted silver rings to gift him spells.”

  “Oh.” He said again.

  Simon added. “Important as that observation was, Biff, it was the threat to our lives that I think Gwydion was referring to when he brought up this subject.”

  “At least he let us eat our meal first,” Steven added.

  Bido turned to me. “Was that your first foretelling?”

  I thought about that for a moment. “I believe so, yes.”

  He nodded. “What spells did she give you, if you don’t mind sharing?”

  “I don’t mind at all. The four spells were 4th Essence spells Hide from Spirits, Ectoarmor IV, Banish Spirits, and the 3rd essence spell, Locate Spirits.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Bido and Adriana whistled appreciatively. “Nice spells, Gwyd,” Adriana added.

  After another short pause, Simon stated. “Today is the last day of winter.”

  Everyone looked at me again. “Yes, I thought it might be a good idea to head over to Park Pond before we go to the bay.”

  “More water?” Biff complained.

  But nobody laughed this time. “I am a little worried about this, too,” I said. “I have been dreading talking about it, but if her words have even a chance of truth to them-”

  Bido stated, “Her prophecy ability is well established. It is a toss-up who has the greater mystical insight, her or the Bishop.”

  Steven ruffled a bit at the comparison, and I intervened to prevent an argument right before we walked into what could be something very dangerous together. “I sensed something at the pond recently,” I said quietly.

  Steven paused with his finger poised in the air, ready for a lecture on the evils of sorcery. He looked at me. “What did you sense, Gwyd?”

  I looked at each of them and nodded slowly to Bido, letting him know that was the issue he sensed. “It felt evil. Wrong. Dark. Something I felt like I had just barely avoided.”

  “Then I guess it's clobbering time,” Biff interjected loudly.

  Bido and Wilma jumped slightly, startled at his intensity.

  Biff looked around the table. “Seriously, guys, what's the big deal? How hard could it be?”

  Adriana shook her head. “You had to go and say it out loud, didn’t you, Biff? Now we really are in trouble.”

  The brawler looked confused, and the rest of us looked concerned.

  I cast my weapon enhancement spells on each of their chosen weapons. The magical enchantment would stack with any other magic already on the weapons. Biff had magical gauntlets that sparked when I cast the spells on them. Since I had learned that my two spells would stack, I cast both on each weapon. At two casting points a pop, it cost me twenty-four points since, while Simon preferred to use his hands, we all discovered a couple of weeks ago that I could cast my spells upon his hands as weapons. Since I was not trying to make them permanent, I did not need to cast Enchant Item spells. But making his hands and feet permanent magical weapons was an intriguing thought and worthy of future research. But I kept us on pace and avoided going down the rabbit hole that thought process would take me and the others.

  “My tank is a little low, but I don’t have much offensive spell ability anyway. My rings will do most of my talking.” I admitted.

  Biff reached into his bag and handed me three blue vials. “These were going to be a gift for you later, but here, they could be helpful now.”

  I looked at the vials. “What type are these, Biff?” I asked.

  “They are only minor magical restoration potions. Ten points each, according to the alchemist I bought them from a few days ago.”

  That was a hefty gift and had to have cost him quite a bit of gold.

  “Well, thank you, Biff,” I said gratefully and a little surprised.

  I could tell that the others were equally surprised by the size of his generosity and that he had even bothered to think of it. Biff was a good man and my best friend, but he tended to live in the moment and did not think much about things like that.

  Wilma patted him on the arm. “There’s hope for you yet, you big oaf.”

  Biff grinned, even more pleased by Wilma’s attention than by my thanks. He was genuinely smitten by her, but he never said a word about it.

  “With that in mind, and nearly every other gift handed out, I have one more,” I added as I reached for my backpack.

  Everyone looked on expectantly.

  I pulled Biff’s armor out of my pack and handed it to him. “That’s for you. I helped make it earlier today.”

  More oohs sounded around the table as they encouraged him to try it on.

  He stood up and swung it around his beefy shoulders. The armor expanded to fit him snugly as he put it on and looped his buttons.

  “Gwyd, are those sockets for buttons?” Addy asked.

  Wilma stood up and examined them. “Wow, Biff, you have a five-socket armor.”

  The brawler grinned, his remaining teeth gleaming white in the light cast by the wall lamps. “Thanks, Gwyd! I can tell this has some other magical protections as well. This should help me as I tank whatever sea creature we encounter tonight.”

  That thought made everyone pause, bringing home the seriousness of our plans tonight.

  It was time to leave. I paid the bill and left a nice tip for the excellent service. We all left the Double Dragon, turning right and heading down St. Michael’s Way toward the park. It was the opposite direction we would need to go later, toward the bay, but the park was nearby.

  I had my mage staff and all 49 magical rings placed upon it. Every one of the rings was imprinted with single-use spells. It took a lot of effort and generosity on the part of others, but I had an arsenal of offensive, defensive, and miscellaneous spells that ranged from spell protections to lightning bolts, from levitation to healing. I even had a few duplicates in a pocket that were mostly low-level copper ring spells. I wore my new potion vest over my robes, and it contained my six originally granted potions (two each of Lesser Healing, Lesser Magical Restoration, and Lesser Skill Recovery), as well as all ten of my minor magic restoration potions, and now the three additions from Biff. I also had ten rings on my fingers, five very special rings, and five duplicate shooter rings. Each of my companions received a special ring as well as the SUS spells they received for their help earlier during the month.

  We were all packing some serious bling.

  Their special rings varied in unique power, but they had a common thread with five socketed Single Use Spells anchored in crystals. My own special rings had actual 7pt gemstones, but I did not have enough of those to spread around even after the bonanza with Blinky and the wisps. The five crystal 1st level Single Use Spells that I used in each of their rings were Heal for ten points, Mage Blast I for 10 points of damage, St. Michael’s Breath (water breathing), good for four hours, Pebble Blast area of effect spell for 10 points of damage, and Water Walk which was also good for four hours.

  I was starting out really OP, or overpowered, for my level compared with many other golden cognitos. Still, unless I continued to make rings regularly, my power would diminish over time, while many other personas would increase. It’s the nature of being an enchanter.

  Steven, my close friend and cleric, wore chainmail armor, carried two potions on his belt—one for healing and one for magical restoration—and carried a mace and a shield. He assured me that he was fully rested and had an array of spells available as needed. He looked concerned as we marched down the road, but he was someone I could count on like a brother.

  Biff had no potions, having used up those given to him early on because of the rough and tumble nature of his work as a brawler. He had on charmed gauntlets for pummeling and carried a large iron banded club that he could swing one or two-handed. He wore the new leather armor and had no shield.

  Simon wore simple monk robes, was barefoot, and carried no weapon. I had expected him to bring a staff or a bo stick, but he said they would not be necessary. His serious combat used his martial arts skills and powers. He did have a simple corded belt around his waist, on which two small belt pouches rested.

  Wilma, the illusionist, also had a magical staff and a wand on her belt. She had a potion belt with three potions on it. I recognized a healing and restoration spell, but not the third. She remained mysterious and would not tell us what it did.

  Adriana, my oldest companion and elementalist, wore her robes with a modified potion belt. She had four potions, two heal, and two magical restorations, but she also had a long sheath on both hips, which housed a wand in each. One wand involved earth magic since earth opposed water. The other wand used air magic since air opposed earth. Our quests took us underwater and across the marsh, so she thought those two wands would serve her best. She had a wand for each elemental type, but decided not to bring the others. She said with a meaningful look at me that she had not considered just how crazy my plan would be.

  Bido rounded out our troop and wore his red thaumaturgist robes and potion belt, along with a magical rod, which was like a combination of a wand, shortened staff, and mace all rolled into one. He twirled it occasionally and appeared to have some martial arts skills along with regular warrior weapon training that many mages get at a basic level. He wore my gifted Dwarven copper ring on his left hand and an unusually engraved ring made of silver on his right hand. It was made of the same dark silver material as his rod and almost seemed to go together somehow. He also had a polished silver mirror in a robe pocket that I saw him check just before we departed the Double D after supper.

  We were not the most powerful adventuring group that had walked out of the Double Dragon, but we were determined and would look after each other.

  I felt ready.