I followed Cahl into a large chamber. Encore stiffened on my shoulders for a moment, inhaling sharply.

  “The Oakenfather’s Heart,” Cahl whispered.

  The room was a large dome about fifty feet across. The roots that made up the ceiling of the labyrinth all led to a large cluster of roots and other vegetation — branches, leaves, moss— all bunched around a mass that flexed and tightened with a gentle rhythm in the center of the room. Green energy pulsed with each beat of the heart, which stood twenty feet tall. It was held aloft by thick roots above and below, amidst a column of silver light.

  I could feel the pulse. Once I became aware of it, I could feel it traveling through the roots and away from this room. Thud-umph. Thud-umph. Thud-umph.

  The natural beauty of the chamber was marred by the group of people who surrounded the pulsing heart. Fifty individuals stood, chanting softly in sync against the pulse, their voices jarring with syncopation.

  Most were variations of snake beastkin, but not all. I saw a few elves, a few gnomes, even two women that appeared to be bubbling pools of water in a humanoid shape.

  They wore an assortment of clothing. Brown leathers, red robes, dull chainmail, and muddy-looking plate. It all blended, a dark stain on the earthen chamber.

  One figure towered over the rest, twice as tall and half again as broad. The figure was wrapped in a black cloak, hood drawn up, facing the heart with his back to us. He held his hands aloft, two massive, scaled claws holding a small orb that looked smaller still in his large hands. The figure was producing a deep, guttural growling hum. I could feel the vibrations from the throat-singing overture in the back of my teeth.

  Cahl continued forward, and we followed. I prepared my lute, ready to cast Kinetic Overload on Katarina, when the large figure’s head lifted and it turned toward us. The hood shifted, revealing a scaled face. His eyebrows jutted with twisted, black spikes. The head was not that of a snake beastkin. It was more akin to a lizard or… a… drake? Or a—

  “Is that a fucking dragon?” Katarina whispered.

  Everything happened at once.

  Cahl growled, shifting his melody as he broke into a sprint. “Helic! What have you done to Henrietta?!”

  He finished the new motif, a short series of notes woven in a few seconds. Strength flooded my body and mind, a double dose of adrenaline surged through my body. Katarina gasped and Encore shifted on my shoulder. A blue aura coated us.

  The robed figure shoved the small, pulsing orb into the heart of the tree and slammed another object over it. It was half of a cage made from black bars that ended with needle-tipped barbs. The sharp end sank into the flesh of the heart, trapping the gem within and against the heart.

  I recognized the orb then. I had placed my hand on it before taking the class exam, deep within the Adventurer’s Guildhall. I thought of Abernathy and felt a moment of panic — had they already been to the Guild?

  A pulsing, bubbling liquid emerged from the heart where the tines of the cage penetrated, dripping across the orb. It began emitting a smoke that coalesced into a red mist and poured up, absorbing into the roots. Streaks of red pulsed along the roots, away from the room.

  QUEST FAILED! Stop the Senc!

  Thousands of innocents will pay the price for your failure. Chaos will reign.

  New Quest! Restore the Oakenfather’s Heart!

  The metaphorical cat is out of the bag. Put it back in. It might be too late for Verdantbrook, but the mist will spread beyond the city’s borders unless the Heart is returned. Reward: Prevention of a world-wide apocalyptic event. Having branched from a failed quest, there are no other rewards.

  Helic, the massive figure, turned and faced Cahl, tearing his robes away. The others continued their chant, their eyes closed and hands held aloft, swaying as one.

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  “I am Helicfrejyordenheim, Ashborn, Tyrant of the Last Ember!” His form shifted, elongating, transforming. He fell forward on four massive legs, wings that had to have been thirty feet across folded along his back. His bulk took up half of the chamber. Black scales and horns glistened in the pulsing light of the heart, which had begun taking on a reddish hue.

  “Begone, Alendricahl, Stealer of Symphonies, Crawler of Dungeons! Mortalkin!” Helic roared. “Your music has no place here!”

  Cahl dodged a swiping claw, pulled out his panflute and emitted a swift series of keening notes that summoned a semi-transparent protective shell of gray light, deflecting a stream of flame Helic spewed from his gaping maw. The flames washed over the shield and roots, which resisted the flames.

  The roaring flames jarred the nearest Senc-ists from their trance. Ten of them turned, drawing weapons. Four wore heavy plate, wielding massive spiked mauls. Two wore leathers, drawing short bows. Three wore robes and drew wands. The tenth pulled a flute out of their robe and put it to their lips.

  I finished performing Kinetic Overload just as the flames roared over Cahl. I sent the energy into Katarina, adding a red aura to Cahl’s blue. She shimmered with purple energy.

  “Fuck yes.” She snarled, pushing off of her foot with an explosive charge from the song. She covered the distance to the nearest Senc in a flash. He wore thick armor jutting with spikes. He turned his serpentine head, black with yellow stripes curling down his neck from the corners of his eyes, and raised the spiked maul.

  Katarina took two steps, maintaining the explosive momentum, and punched him in the face. She detonated another charge of Kinetic Overload and blew his head to pieces. Bits of bone, meat, and brain flew behind the corpse in a cone. Fragments of bone hit two of the robed figures, who screamed in pain and collapsed.

  I began performing Kinetic Overload again. Encore hopped on the ground in front of me and crouched, enhancing the song with Harmonic Concordance.

  Katarina swiveled on her metal appendage, swinging a kick at the next nearest figure. Another snake beastkin, with emerald green skin flecked with bits of gold. She was nocking an arrow. Katarina flexed the leg she spun on, hopping slightly as she swung her foot.

  Her foot hit the side of the archer’s head. She detonated another charge, sending another spray of gore. She used the momentum of the blast to pirouette around and kick the other archer, who stared at the display with wide eyes.

  The second archer was slightly taller than the first and took the kick in the middle of the neck. The detonation sent its head flying in a large arc through the chamber.

  Katarina used the momentum of that blast, redirecting herself down into a sweeping breakdance motion. She supported herself on her arms, low to the ground, swinging her legs out in circles. A scythe of wind erupted from the breakdance, powered by the last charge of Kinetic Impact, severing the legs of the remaining two plate wearers at the knees as it rose and hitting the flutist in the face. It didn’t quite cut through the face of the flutist entirely, but the blade of wind bit deep enough to send the corpse spiraling backwards.

  I finished my performance, sending another surge of enchantment at Katarina. Two of the remaining figures noticed this and raised wands towards me. The third screamed, throwing its wand at Katarina as she leapt up and started running towards it.

  Katarina caught the wand, flipped it, and returned it to the sender in one smooth motion. It hit the robed figure and exploded, showering the area in blood. She used a charge of Kinetic Impact to close the distance to another of the robed wand-wielders before the wand impacted, twisting them and using them as a shield. She threw the twitching body, now impaled with fragments of bone, at the final figure. The bodies hit with a sickening impact.

  Abernathy: Guys? Something is happening. The guildhall looks like it got hit with a tornado. I was helping with the wounded, people are saying–

  I looked away from the message, minimizing it.

  Helic roared. Cahl danced around the swiping claws, biting maw, and bursts of fire. He was a storm of songs, pulling instruments out to perform brief motifs and refrains. As I watched, he slid his panflute into its sheath and produced an ocarina, while plucking strings on his lute with his other hand.

  Brilliant flashes of blue, green, and gold shot from the strings as he played, cutting into the black dragon. He placed the ocarina to his lips and started to blow into the mouthpiece when one of the swiping claws hit him.

  He went limp with the impact, slamming into the roots at the base of the heart. The whole column shook from the impact. Helic bit down without hesitation, but was forced back by something emitting a brilliant golden glow that momentarily blinded me.

  The light dimmed enough for me to see Cahl, braced against the base of the roots, gripping two of Helic’s fangs and holding him back. His arms bulged, having grown four times their normal size and torn free from his clothing. Golden scales, the source of the light, dimmed but rippled with strength as he threw back Helic’s head.

  The radiant display woke the remaining Senc-ists from their daze.

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