Deep within Quel’thalas, in the greenest and most dangerous reaches of the elven continent, a young elf tended to a dying bonfire atop an elevated ridge that offered a panoramic view of the plains below. He had silver hair and a strikingly pretty face, smooth and almost porcelain in appearance, with a beauty mark placed just beneath his left eye.

  As he fed the fire, a sudden shadow swept across the ground, blotting out the sun and bringing with it a powerful gust of wind. A piercing screech echoed through the area as a massive red wyvern flew overhead. Clutched in its talons were the bloody remains of a reptilian creature, another draconian by the look of it.

  “Seems like Gaelle secured her lunch too,” a voice said proudly.

  The voice belonged to an equally young man with bright red hair, messy and wild, who descended from above using the skill Flight. In one hand, he carried two unusually colored birds, presumably what would be their meal.

  “Yep,” Goblin nodded. “What was it this time? I didn’t get a good look.”

  “Me neither, but it didn’t look very appetizing.”

  “Unlike her rider, she at least isn’t picky about food.”

  “Don’t blame me. My stomach isn’t as strong as a monster’s.” Sensing the retort Goblin was about to make, Licht immediately added, “nor as strong as that of a guy who can make his stomach as strong as that of a monster.”

  Goblin grimaced, his rebuttal neatly cut off. He simply grabbed one of the birds, plucked it, and set it to cook. The two worked quickly, as they always did. Within thirty minutes the meal was ready, and fifteen minutes later they were finished eating.

  It was then that Licht asked, “So what are we doing this evening? Hunting again, obviously, but where this time? North? West again? Or do we get bold and head east?”

  As he spoke, he noticed Goblin’s gaze suddenly go vacant, as though he had entered communion with something far away.

  At a glance, it might have looked like contact with some foreign entity or deity, but Licht knew better. He had seen this before. It was either one of the beings Goblin had fused with, the ones he affectionately referred to as his babies or his other half.

  After a dozen seconds passed and Goblin’s expression returned to normal, Licht asked, “Something happened?”

  Goblin nodded. From the grin spreading across his face and the faint twitch of his ears, Licht immediately knew the answer. Whatever it was, it was good news. Very good news.

  “Honey, it was my other half,” Goblin said as he stood. “She summoned me to the Land of Men. It’s time for us to be whole again.”

  Licht understood instantly why Goblin was smiling. As things stood, there were two Lees roaming Eldoria. Two Goblins. One remained in Quel’thalas, training and leveling alongside Licht. The other stayed in the Land of Men, watching over young Theta. Both hated being split, and both had been waiting eagerly for the moment they could become one again.

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  “I see,” Licht said, genuinely happy for him, before another thought occurred. “For them to want you whole again, does that mean something big is about to happen in the Land of Men?”

  “From what I’m told, yes,” Goblin replied. “Something really big.”

  “Hm. Was anything said about me?”

  Goblin paused, briefly communing with his other half, then shook his head.

  “I see,” Licht nodded.

  “You want to come with me?” Goblin offered.

  “I was planning to,” Licht said as he extinguished the bonfire and reached for his trusted blade. “I have business there.”

  “Oh? What kind?”

  “Since no one needs Licht the adventurer anymore, I’ll go visit Dungeon Master 00.”

  Goblin’s eyes widened in understanding.

  With a simple hand motion, Licht summoned a pillar of light. Moments later, Gaelle answered the call, her screech echoing across the plains as she flew toward them.

  “It’s been a while since I last visited the guild,” Licht continued. “They probably think I’m dead by now. Got to fix that. Can’t let them forget about me. Also it’s been a while since my last expedition. I’ll start a new party and challenge the Voidborne Catacombs again. We won’t win, but I’ll make sure my party and I will entertain him enough for another fifty years.”

  “I want in.” A wide smile spread across Goblin’s face as he spoke. “If I get the opportunity, I’ll accompany you and your new party on your odyssey. It’ll be fun.”

  Licht patted his shoulder before walking toward the hill-sized wyvern that had landed beside them. “You’re going to be too busy for that, I’m afraid, my friend.”

  Goblin followed after him. “Oh, come on, don’t tell me you want to ho—”

  “Oh.” He cut himself off mid-sentence as Gaelle took flight, the sudden realization striking him. “Before we leave, we should tell White. He’s going to be sad he can’t join us back to the Land of Men. I pity him, truly. Stuck with that swamp witch.”

  “I’d agree with your first point,” Licht replied, “but that second one… she isn’t that bad of company. She’s actually great company, when she isn’t questioning me about what we did to the elves family of the Aurian capital.”

  “Tch. That wannabe saint. Why does she even care about them? She should mind her business instead of wondering what I do with “my” subjects.”

  Hearing that, and understanding the concern that woman had for the elves who had fallen under Goblin’s dominion after he replaced their matriarch, Licht could only sigh. “Anyway, my point is that you just hate her for the sake of hating her. Her and her kind. You racist prick.”

  “Who are you calling raci—” Goblin suddenly fell silent, slipping into communion once more.

  “An update?” Licht asked when Goblin returned to himself.

  “Yes. Actually, there’s something that could involve you. Well, you and I.”

  “What do you mean, could?”

  “She has something for you, but she’s not sure whether she should tell you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you, my dear Honey, might blow the whistle.”

  “Blow the whistle? To whom?” The answer came to him almost immediately. “…Dungeon Master 07.”

  Goblin nodded.

  “What is it that you’re doing this time that you feel the need to hide it from him?” Licht asked. “It has to be something nefarious again.”

  “It is,” Goblin said with a wicked grin. “So? Are you in on the fun?”

  Licht hesitated for a moment before giving in. “This is bringing me back to our days with Arianna.”

  “What did you expect? Some things never change.”

  “I suppose, yeah,” Licht admitted. “Alright. I’m in. Tell me. What did she come up with this time?”

  As their conversation ended, Gaelle carrying the two Dungeon Masters soared eastward, heading toward the largest elven settlement in recorded history. It was a city that housed elves of countless lineages, once dominated by the Argyrian family, but now also home to elves of Noctil and Solvan descent. Fearing the fate that had befallen the Umbryan and Aurian capitals, they had gathered beneath a single banner, that of the elven Queen Aquaflora.