Elder Thrash led us through a different doorway than the one we had entered from and we came out around the center of Tuskrep. Off in the distance, somewhere behind us, I could hear Tailwind speaking loudly about roofing. There was no sign of the other white dots, however.

  We crossed the cobbled stone street to reach the pit I had seen on my map. It was a truly wide hole in the ground. Just eyeballing it, I would have wager it was about as big around as New Fraustan towers, which were uniform in size in the city center. I stood at the edge and looked down, frowning.

  I couldn’t see the bottom. The sun wasn’t in the right position anymore, but it seemed like no light at all reached the deepest depths of the pit. Cojisto was the first to kick a stone down, shrugging when I frowned at him, but I didn’t say anything; I was too busy trying to hear it hit something solid. It didn’t.

  Turning away from it, I looked at Dalsarel. Out of everyone here, the Dark Elf would be able to see the furthest without any light. Her face was one of confusion, however, as her eyes darted around to different parts of the pit as if searching for something to focus on.

  “What is this?” she finally asked, speaking first. I repeated the question so that our guide could understand.

  “It’s a portal,” Elder Thrash explained, settling into a sitting position a foot from the edge. “Completely dark. That’s why you can’t see the bottom.”

  “And it leads to the Nexus?” I asked, still frowning.

  “Yes, though I can hear the skepticism in your voice, Badger,” the gorilla replied. “I have not lied to you, and I do not plan on doing so. You and your companions are the first ray of light I have seen in a long time, and if you can keep CC from returning by taking over or destroying Tuskrep’s dungeon, then you will have my eternal gratitude.”

  With a huff, I squatted at the edge and stared down the pit again. If there was any point where I would become distrustful of Elder Thrash, then this was it. Even though his words had stirred the divine oath I had made to Cheroske that had settled in my chest, I couldn’t just shrug off years of suspicion and paranoia. Not without actively trying to, at least.

  It was nigh impossible to fool a deity, after all. If I couldn’t trust my oath and faith, no matter how new, then there was little that I could.

  “So we jump, then?” I asked.

  “Badger,” Tabitha warned, her voice full of concern. Apparently she, too, was having second thoughts about this whole thing. I nodded at her, letting her know that I understood what she wanted to say. She backed off, but still looked worried.

  “The Nexus only allows two through,” Elder Thrash said apologetically, and he held up his hands when I scowled at him. “Don’t give me that look. It was a rule set in place by the Maker himself, with only stories as to why it works that way. Some say it was to keep from getting overwhelmed by visitors, keeping the number manageable. Others say it was to annoy the lords and ladies coming to visit, making sure they could never bring their entire retinue. Still more say—”

  “It doesn’t matter what his reasoning was,” I interrupted, shaking my head. “It only matters that a rule like that exists.”

  “Like what?” Tabitha asked.

  “That only two people can pass through it.”

  “Only two?” Ferrisdae repeated questioningly. “What happens if more than that go?”

  I translated the question, and Elder Thrash shrugged. “The third, fourth, fifth, or any other return afterwards. They can never tell you where they have gone; it is as if they jump in and then reappear the very moment the first two come back.”

  “And what’s on the other side?” I asked, looking back at the pit.

  “One of the Maker’s homes,” he answered wistfully, as if imagining the scene. “It’s a silver dome at the foot of a huge stone tower that seems to reach for the sun. I have gone a few times, though I hadn’t made it far before I was stopped by a silver man.”

  That was likely the protector the gorilla had talked about earlier. “A construct?”

  “I’m not knowledgeable enough to make such judgments as to what it actually is, Badger,” Elder Thrash sighed with a shake of his head. “He does not speak, just points me away. When I attempt to ignore him, he clearly readies himself to attack. I had tested him, once, to see if he could end my dungeon-given immortality.”

  “Clearly, it hadn’t worked,” I stated.

  “Clearly, but I hadn’t even seen him move,” the gorilla said seriously. “One moment I was alive, then I felt myself become crushed, and the next thing I knew I was waking up back in Tuskrep.”

  “The Maker might have wanted things to be even if someone came looking for a fight,” I mused as I crossed my arms. “Two on two sounds fair even if they would likely be more powerful than most of the people on the continent.”

  “I couldn’t tell you if that’s the truth or not.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I sighed before standing back up.

  Turning around, I regarded my team. One of them was going to have to come with me.

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  Right out of the gate, Tabitha and Moose were out. My wife was the only one here with decades of leadership experience, both as the head of Reliable Rhodes and as the owner of the Bottom’s up. It wasn’t nepotism to put her in charge when she had such a great track record behind her.

  Moose, on the other hand, was the team’s dedicated healer. I had my own divine magic that allowed the mending of wounds. Even though I would never reach his heights, what I had access to would be more than enough to keep myself and one other healthy. In theory, anyway.

  Out of the kids, I ruled out Ferrisdae first. Magic was iffy against constructs and, from the sounds of it, this one was fast. Years of practice had me putting Elder Thrash on a far lower level than any of us, but even the least trained fighter should have caught some kind of movement. It didn’t seem like she would be able to cast any of her spells if the enemy managed to get around me.

  Cojisto was on the other side of the spectrum. He had his Fluid Force, but that was it when it came to magic. While I fully expected most spells to fizzle out on a construct, it was often true that a handful of them came with extra effects depending on what we were up against. Not only that, but the pugilist was likely the most durable member of the team after me, and it made sense to pair him with the healer, friendship or not.

  Which left Dalsarel. She was a healthy mix of mage and martial that had spent the majority of her life as the latter. I wouldn’t have to worry about protecting her as much as Ferrisdae, and she’d be more versatile than Cojisto. With what little information we had to go by, she was the best option.

  I turned towards the Dark Elf. “Dalsarel, you’re with me.”

  A grin bloomed on her normally stoic face. “Excellent. I was hoping you’d choose me for this mission.”

  “Badger,” Tabitha said again, the concern in her voice even more dire. She moved closer to me. “Look, I’m only getting about every other word at the best of times, but you seem awfully ready to jump into this pit with very little to go on other than this gorilla’s word. That’s not very… you of you.”

  I offered her a small smile and whispered back, trying not to let Elder Thrash hear what I had to say because I was the only one he could understand. “Your concern is warranted, but I’m working off of more than just faith in his words at the moment,” I whispered, trusting her to understand.

  My wife gave me a look before looking at the sky and sighing. “Alright, I trust you.”

  “Thank you,” I said, taking and squeezing her hand. I turned to Ferrisdae, who looked upset that she hadn’t been picked, and nodded at her. “Tabitha is in charge while I’m gone, with you as the second. I want you to continue using the Sending Stone in order to gather and send information. Has there been any word from Justisius yet?”

  “I haven’t felt it buzz,” the Forest Elf answered, retrieving the stone tablet from her robe’s pocket. She checked it again before shaking her head. “Still nothing. Noknok Dor appreciates the information, while it’s been acknowledged by the other two teams. They haven’t sent anything nearly as substantial as we have.”

  “Okay, keep up the good work,” I praised. Communication really was important, and I was glad that she was handling it. “While we’re in the Nexus, I want you all to check Tuskrep for anything useful and prepare a fallback point in Queen Moss Keto’s neck of the woods where there’s no dungeon.” When the four who were staying nodded, I turned to the gorilla. “Elder Thrash, Tabitha here knows a version of Gnomish that is different from yours, but it should be close enough that you two can communicate. I trust she’ll have your full support?”

  He looked from me to Tabitha before nodding. “Of course. If it is your wish that I aid this woman and your cohorts, then I will do so.”

  “Good, thank you,” I replied before taking a breath and looking back at the pit. There were no stairs or ladders along the rim, just the hole. Absently, I shoved the magic crystal sword into my Dimensional Pocket. “We have to jump, then?”

  “That is right,” Elder Thrash confirmed.

  “And when returning?”

  He pointed at the ground beneath him. “You’ll reappear on the rim.”

  “Okay, good.”

  Retrieving my Hilt of Holding, I dialed in the rune for my holy sword before considering if it was the right choice. Instead of going through with that, I changed it to the rod that corroded anything it touched instead. If this creature on the other side was made of silver or some other metal, then it was likely to be the best option I had.

  “Are you ready, Dalsarel?” I asked, looking up at my junior.

  The Dark Elf nodded and retrieved her oversized sword from its sheathe on her back. It required two hands to wield, and she rested the flat of the blade on her shoulder. “I am.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  Knowing that hesitation would only beget more hesitation, I jumped into the pit. It was a literal leap of faith that Cheroske was right about Elder Thrash telling the truth on everything he had to say so far. Dalsarel jumped in after me. I fell roughly twenty feet before it suddenly felt as though I was being forced through a food strainer.

  It was an unpleasant feeling, but not a harmful one. I recognized it as traveling into an extradimensional space, which was different from the portals we had taken so far. Our destination was some kind of pocket dimension, which really lent credence towards the theory that the Maker, Keith Carr, just wanted some peace and quiet. Most diplomats wouldn’t care for such modes of transportation.

  The process took a handful of seconds to finish, and we found ourselves with our feet planted firmly on the ground. Tuskrep was nowhere to be seen, and we were now in some kind of gray, rocky terrain. In front of us was a silver dome, no larger than a regular cottage back in the village we had just left, though there was one tube-like entrance.

  Behind it was a truly impressive spire. It had to have been a mile across, and I had to lean back to even try to see the top amongst the clouds. There were stairs all the way around, carved amongst giant pictures of the elements. It almost appeared as though there were rooms a couple of hundred feet up, but there was no telling for sure unless we went up there.

  And that didn’t look like it was going to happen any time soon. Just as Elder Thrash warned, a silver man appeared from the entrance to the silver dome.

  His head was bald, and his eyes were made of the same sheen as his skin. He was completely silver except for his simple white and blue clothing. It was pristine, too, with no damage showing either from the passage of time or through battle. There were no words, but the demand in his motion was clear as he pointed behind us.

  “There’s a gateway,” Dalsarel announced, having turned around to see. “Looks like he wants us to go without a fight.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s not getting what he wants,” I replied as I clapped my shield hand against my chest. The buckler expanded into a proper shield as I readied myself for combat.

  This domain’s protector tilted his silver head at an angle, as if realizing we weren’t going to give up so easily. He mimed cracking his knuckles and neck, which didn’t make a sound, and we prepared ourselves for combat.