The Vanquisher: The World of Geoe, #3

By Shawn McGee

Paladins filled the Knights of Honor Guild Hall. Every eye watched the Argrenn Dawnstrike on the screen struggle against barbed bindings. The room fell silent; the demons cut Argrenn off from his source of power and the archmage was a ninety-eight-pound weakling trapped in hell.

"You will die here today and your team will know foolishness caused you to abandon them." The demon kneeled on his hooves to taunt Argrenn face to face.

"Open the door!" Talindra Dawnstrike screamed and unhooked her shield.

"A lone paladin in hell against five demons?" Her elven friend Shelley tried to get Talindra's attention.

"That is my husband. Open the door!"

"Make a path." Cassiel held the door open and his order parted the room.

Argrenn laughed. "You're in trouble now. When I hear music, I'm about to dominate."

"What do you hear?" taunted the demon.

 "I hear…" Argrenn frowned. "Chick music?"

A magma javelin flew.

Talindra screamed and threw her shield across the planes. The magic lit up the guild hall and all shielded their eyes. They knew Talindra blocked that javelin, and Talindra followed her shield.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Assetstor
• Release date: Jan 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215067161

Shawn McGee

Shawn McGee writes fantasy and is an IT professional with hobbies in mathematics and gaming. Along with his current series he is writing a new gaming system. Please this book as reviews are the life blood of independent writers. You can join Shawn's discord channel, join his email list, and find out all the book information at https://worldofgeoe.com

Book preview

Chapter 1 - Argrenn

Ihad worked hard to become a team leader and check my impetuous actions, so when I levitated two hundred feet in the air over the planar college of Caemlynn with my staff rotating in battle position and smoke emanating from my fingertips from the fire I’d already thrown—many were about to have a terrible day from a prepared Master of the Prime Material.

Dame Teffin, a war mage from Atlantia, held a shield of pure primal material in front of us, and an incarnate, whose name escaped me, flung bubbles on Caemlynn defenders to assist them. The three of us, wizard, warmage, and an incarnate, were part of the conference to share the knowledge of magic to help the planet of Geoe and put the game aside for one day. Of course, two cities in the games, Lutetia and Barossos, chose this as the opportunity to risk war and attack Caemlynn, hoping to kill us. What they did not count upon was participants becoming friends and willing to work together to defend the city instead of escaping.

Argrenn, we’re setting up a base on the building! yelled Dame Teffin. She and the incarnate stepped onto the Creative Magic College’s roof while duplicating her shield. We were on the city’s college grounds and the gentle sloping stone roofs didn't have defenses. The housing below us used red slate from my new lands. One reason I had agreed to the conference was Caemlynn was my most important trade partner, which was a weird thing to say as a mage vying for the Battle of Champions, but the game added degrees of difficulty the more powerful you became.

I scanned the torn-up roads and fallen walls below us. The planar mages here had a lot of work in front of them since we hadn’t been gentle with the surrounding area while expelling Lutetian invaders. To my left flank, Lutetia sent a platoon of shock troops against an open city gate of Caemlynn. Protecting the gate! I yelled to the two on the building, then used my specialty to extend my materials’ power and grabbed two dozen cubic yards of packed dirt in front of the group, creating a wave of the dirt and rocks with the power of a few incantations and formulas worth of my spell power and rolled the earth at the shocked troops. No training protected a platoon of soldiers from twenty tons of earth landing upon them.

Screams pierced through the din of cannon fire and explosions from balls of magic. I jerked my head around to my right to see civilians caught in the blast were falling to their deaths. Quickly, I ripped up a stone wall from the ground, flung it underneath them with my materials’ power, and caught civilians who fell from a destroyed tower. They landed unceremoniously on my makeshift platform, and I moved it to the roof, where Dame Teffin stood. Saving their life was the best I could manage. Keeping them from becoming injured or making them comfortable wasn’t in my repertoire.

No more enemies showed up in my sights, and I looked over the university and religious districts of Caemlynn through the marble, slate, and rock roofs. Without warning, a wave of poisonous yellow gas soared toward me and collapsed around the shield Dame Teffin had placed around me.

Argrenn! she cried out. The Witch from Lutetia is in the city and his cauldron is over there!

My eyes traced where she pointed, landing on a cloud of smoke that rose from a two-hundred-foot-tall tower. I couldn’t see the witch or his cauldron, but he and I had engaged in a war of words before my new found control over my mouth. Can we get some metal over there? I yelled back.

The incarnate made strange motions, and a slew of metal arrows covered that tower. In Geoe, one rule of magic was if you mastered one way to cast magic, none of the other ways made sense to you. However, metal created with magic was still metal, and metal was my domain. I used my materials’ sense and discovered he had created hafnium arrows. Back when I was on Earth, and thirty years younger, I’d been on a nuclear submarine and had learned hafnium had six stable isotopes. This meant it was great for a myriad of magical applications. It also meant that I could store considerable energy in it before I removed its physical state.

With my materials’ power, I pushed through the magical shield around me and focused on one hafnium arrow, extending the energy, and putting three conjurations’ worth of force into my title power. Dean Mehli’s masterwork, fifty years in the making, had taught me how to combine my specialty with my magical prowess to increase the effectiveness of my title powers. While breaking the prime material bonds at the nuclear level was beyond me, I was able to remove the state of an item. I routinely set items to their zero state for mundane tasks like repair and cleaning. However, if I removed its state from an object, it no longer existed in the prime material.

I used IT developer terms for magical spells because that had been my job before I landed on Geoe. Now, our team played this life and death game on Geoe for Worlds Project’s viewers as a propaganda tool to build support for Earth.

I removed the state from the hafnium arrow now. The explosion from the collapse of material back to its origination form destroyed the two-hundred-foot-tall tower. Everything within five hundred feet of the tower ceased to exist and an explosion around another two hundred to three hundred feet destroyed the buildings and street around the tower. I hoped they would rebuild the marble and rock structure. Standing within the force-field, I watched as primal and planar components from destroyed matter wafted away, though only a few others in the city beside Dame Teffin and I saw it. The incarnate and I had disagreed this was possible while out for dinner one evening and had enjoyed a fun evening doing things the other thought was impossible while Dame Teffin laughed at the fact that I, a Count from Sardyna, the incarnate, an Earl from Wadon Refuge, and she, a Dame from Atlantia, played outside the city walls, acting like kids.

Were we irresponsible? Maybe a little, but we all had so much mundane activities and this was the first chance we got to associate with the promise of no political ramifications, that many mages present had treated this as a vacation. The conference was closer to a college spring break than a conference of intellectuals. Most mages avoided Dame Teffin and me since we were on camera, but that was fine. I was not ingesting any substances like Druidic Dream or considering any activity that would upset Talindra. I really wanted to play with magic with other magic users.

Of course, killing a rogue witch from an enemy state with magic was nearly as good, and I searched for him. Planar material dissipating in wafting smoke and dust showed the witch Brencis floating in a bubble with his cauldron levitating next to him. I ripped a gargoyle off the building behind me and threw it at the witch with an extended incantation-worth of power. He vanished before it connected and the gargoyle flew over the thirty-foot stone wall and into a logging camp to the north.

Material mages had no ability to track magic or signatures. He was gone.

Argrenn, lift that rock with those people up to the roof so we can rescue them! Dame Teffin pointed to a large flat piece of rubble with a dozen dignitaries herded onto it by Viscount Renaudin, the Paladin and leader of Dame Teffin’s team in the game. He and Dame Teffin had traveled to my lands in Sardyna a few times for trade negotiations and my teammates and I liked the Viscount and Dame. It didn’t hurt that I was married to a Paladin.

I extended my materials’ power again and lifted the large rubble gently up to the roof, where Dame Teffin guided the dignitaries to safer ground. The first group was bandaging each other and making makeshift splints for injuries gained from their unceremonious dumping on my emergency platform.

Another man pushed a window out of the tower on top of the administration building and screamed, They’re in here! He tried to jump to the building with the other civilians but missed the roof and screamed as he began the fall of hundreds of feet. I cast Planar Pull on him and pulled him to me, levitating him by touching him with my staff. He wet himself, covered his face with his hands, and cried. Even the bravest of adventurers say the jerk of Planar Pull scared them.

With a moment of relative calm, I took advantage of the reprieve and glanced around to take stock. At the main entrance gate into Caemlynn, the local guards were reorganizing after the ambush from inside the city. They formed up and began closing the gate with the cover of archers. I floated over to the building where Dame Teffin was organizing chaos, let Mr. Pee Pants off, and joined in the regrouping of assets in play. Under us, on the streets, squads of guards performed a methodical clearing of the roads and buildings.

Argrenn, you are the only mage with teleportation skills, said Dame Teffin.

Traversal spells, I said. Planar mages don’t teleport. We go into another plane where space and time do not exist and travel through a break in the plane. I create a traversal circle and journey to one of my circles already created, which is a break that I lock onto the other plane. The looks on the faces of those on the roof told me that now was not the best time for a semantic argument, even though this was supposed to be a conference to share knowledge. I shrugged and let the professor side me indulge in the warrior side. We taught Lutetia a lesson and the people here are safe. Let’s get to the docks and teach Barossos a lesson.

They’re already retreating. She pointed to the harbor where Caemlynn’s frigates were underway, harassing the retreating galleons from Barossos.

This was where my new skills came into play. When I had first landed on Geoe after being rescued from Earth during the Vrelth attack, I would have attacked the ships and sunk them, though they retreated. Now I realized the resulting political fallout of a mage from Sardyna attacking ships from Barossos outside of a battle had dangerous implications. Not to mention those extensions I’d cast had exhausted me physically, and I needed to be careful. Grumbling inwardly, I contacted my wife Talindra using the earring Kitara, one of my teammates, had created. I have copious amounts of unscreened refugees coming. Ready for them?

Yes. Kitara found an unauthorized feed a truth diviner is broadcasting.

That explained why Barossos knew to retreat. Someone was keeping watch on us and understood that the three of us would make mincemeat of the attack fleet. Teams in the game were on camera twenty-four hours a day for the entertainment of the Worlds Project viewers in the galaxy, and we had learned the hard way that even if we were doing nothing exciting, our enemies still searched for our feed to learn our strengths and weaknesses.

While I appreciate the offer of sanctuary, I cannot bring myself to use a traversal circle, despite the proof of your powers last night, said the incarnate. He shook my hand, kissed Dame Teffin’s hand, and gathered four people, including Mr. Pee Pants, close to him. They turned into an orange light and left eastward.

I’d never trust teleportation, so I cast Create Circle without coordinates and Dame Teffin led the first dozen to Salas Keep. I gathered the rest with Viscount Renaudin and traversed to my circle at Salas Keep, where my team and our staff waited for us.

The others shuffled, limped, and ambled forward, and I strolled behind them, past the circular stairs at the bottom of the mage tower, and through the arch leading into my tiled throne room.

Knight Brigham wore his blue and silver Dawnstrike tabard without armor and introduced Yeoman Carzummin, who addressed the newcomers. Please be patient. All of you will travel to Sardyna after lunch. Get some sleep if you can, and we’ll use official transports tomorrow to travel home. Sardyna recognizes Caemlynn’s offer of peace. We are organizing a meal and preparing communication channels for you to contact your home city.

Talindra walked up to me and gave me a kiss. Copious? You used the word copious? My wife sheathed her sword and removed her winged paladin helm to give me a kiss. The relief on her face at my safety was evident, as well as how her hug flattened me against her plate mail armor. Look at you, your eyes are already drooping. You said you were going to be more careful using extensions.

When she released me enough to breathe, I gave her a kiss and hugged her back. Hi honey, I brought friends for lunch. This wasn’t the time for that discussion, especially since she was more sensitive about our powers, since using one of her own had nearly gotten me killed in the battle with Feston.

Daisidian jumped his halfling body over to me and gave me a fist bump. You surprised me when you didn’t rip a boat out of the water and throw it at the army.

Our blue-skinned elven cleric from Ardvente, Marick, shook his head at the halfling. He was a compassion-based cleric whose race had originated from the continent to the south of us but still had the same personality as the man who had served in the US army before the Vrelth attack. All we asked was for Argrenn to do recon on other teams while he had fun at his conference.

I had fun when I protected Caemlynn from an unprovoked attack.

Dame Teffin chuckled. Sorry, Argrenn, but chances are you were the target of the two cities. They weren’t after me, since our team is all but out of the running for the Battle of Champions. Although they would have liked to collect the bounty by killing me, removing you from the game, combined with your record-setting bounty, instigated the attack.

The Paladin from Atlantia, Viscount Renaudin, walked over to Talindra and bowed. I don’t want to interrupt, but Argrenn acted within all bounds of politics and defense.

Before Talindra could respond, Kitara joined the group, carrying a stack of papers. Argrenn, did you read the briefing or did you get lucky? Kitara had become more comfortable dressing in woman’s clothing and his sword’s scabbard hung gracefully from his hip. He was still a man in his mind, but the transfer to Geoe had landed him in a half elf woman’s body.

Before I answered, I felt myself waver and shook my head to stay alert. Talindra held my shoulders and turned me to the mage tower. Great, I’m bringing you to a bed in the mage barracks. We’ll handle all the hard work.

She joked, but had a valid point. The team had to cover each other, and as team leader, I should be the one dealing with the political fallout, but the fight left me exhausted. Nylien and Elovar, I called to my two student assistants. Please assist my team and I’ll get you back to the university tonight.

Kitara lowered the sleeve on his formal red dress and offered Viscount Renaudin his arm. They left for the war room for trade negotiations.

Marick, will you and Daisidian get lunch for everyone from the Inn of the Wayward? Talindra asked, then guided me up the enchanted metal stairs to the second floor of the mage tower. Nylien and Elovar jumped up to help them.

My boots caught and slipped on the stairs, causing Talindra to catch me by the scruff of my robes, which wasn’t an appropriate way to treat the Robes of the Noble Wizard. I don’t rate sleeping in the Knight’s tower?

They’re drilling with the ballista, and you need to sleep. We opened the door to the extra-dimensional space the university had created for mage quarters, and Talindra helped me lie down as my body gave out.

Chapter 2 - Kitara

Kitara wasn’t sure what time it was. Of all the technology replicated with magic in Geoe, clocks were not one of them. Life was better without strict timekeeping, and Sardyna ringing bells at six, twelve, and six had worked for us since landing on this world.

After his sword belt, colored to match his dress, hung on the side of the chair, he sat across from Ren. Stupid. He is Viscount Renaudin, and you are still a man. He kicked off his high heels, sat back in the chair and pulled this stupid clingy dress off of his breasts. There was limited time to talk to the Viscount and Dame Teffin before Talindra returned. Something is wrong with Argrenn.

I see it too, said Viscount Renaudin. The paladin wore his full plate armor as he was a Knight of Honor. His shoulders were wider than Kitara’s and a man with broad shoulders caught Kitara's attention compared to the men he traveled with. He and Talindra were the physically strongest in the party.

Last night, the paladin dressed in his red and purple silks and wore a long red leather cape with a cane that he said was the fashion in Atlantia. His muscles highlighted the silk and Kitara felt comfortable around a man larger than he. His short blonde hair contrasted with Kitara’s long red hair, and Renaudin tied Kitara's with a hairpiece and a bow to show the fashion of a woman’s hair in his home city.

I don’t know, said Dame Teffin, snapping Kitara back to the here and now. But I will admit he is not taking the increase in his power serious enough. He was ready to sink the fleet after burying an army and the only thing that stopped him was the political optics.

Kitara was relieved he wasn’t the only one who saw this. Exactly. He throws his power around like he is tier one and he has the option to worry about consequences later.

Argrenn was like the old Nick at Night fathers he never had and Talindra, the mother he never knew. Daisidian had been like a brother before the Vrelth attacked and Marick had become his favorite brother after the halfling accepted his change to his new self. The team was his family, and he needed to help keep it together.

The Viscount adjusted in his seat and pulled out the trade forms they were supposed to have negotiated instead of going on a date last night. Did he wink at him?

Anyway, said Dame Teffin, a little louder than she spoke before, with a glare at her paladin teammate.

The rest of the Guardian Knights interrupted her. Talindra laughed at a something with Marick and Daisidian rolled his eyes. Daisidian had been Kitara’s roommate back on Earth before the attack of the Vrelth. He was also the living embodiment of the more you accepted your new body and life on Geoe, the more you became it. Daisidian thought of himself as a halfling and an assassin. It had been that way for months now and it was only a matter of time before Kitara thought of himself as a girl. He already thought of himself as a half-elf when he didn’t pay attention and he certainly was a swordmage, not a business analyst.

Welcome, everyone. We were just discussing that your path forward to achieving forms is clear and you have not had the luxury of learning about them because of the Vrelth, continued Dame Teffin.

Talindra’s face turned downcast at the mention of imminent powers. Her failure that nearly got her husband killed with Feston gnawed at her. Argrenn only survived because he landed at the feet of Lighttouch, the gnome cleric of the Groove Train. Argrenn covered for her, but everyone noticed his increase in damage output and decrease in leadership roles, and it was making the situation worse, not better.

Kitara researched and logged everything and he realized his pseudo parents, while awesome, were still flawed humans doing their best. Talindra was torn between wanting to help Earth and wanting no more power. But she was also torn with a husband who grabbed all the power he had access to. It had paralyzed her and this scared Kitara. Argrenn manipulated the matter of creation and this was not enough for him. He was going for a lot more power and acted as if he'd fight the Vrelth himself.

Marick stood. Dame Teffin, I agree. Kitara and I have talked and we think a team training session would benefit all of us.

What’s the big deal? asked Daisidian. If something goes wrong and Kitara will research something and Argrenn will pull out crazy magic and things will keep going.

Master halfling, said Ren. No. His name is Viscount Renaudin. There are additional forces Argrenn, Talindra, and your sister, Countess Black, needs to be aware of. We only wish for your team to have more knowledge before accessing these new magics.

Am I the only one that’s going to say it out loud? Asked Marick. I get more scared every time Argrenn gains a tier of power or gains a title power.

Argrenn dedicated himself to saving Earth. The Vrelth killed hundreds of millions and are enslaving billions of humans back on Earth and he will do anything to save our family, here, nodding to the team. As well as Earth and Umillion. Talindra’s voice tailed off when she said the word anything. Argrenn and Talindra were partially lucky that one of their children and grandchildren had been rescued the day of the Vrelth attack.

That is why I want to make sure he is safe, said Dame Teffin. Mrs. Dawnstrike, I have similar powers to your husband and have traveled with a paladin. You husband and I have a kinship and I don’t want to lose a friend. Especially one who is an inherently good person.

I could use more instruction myself, continued Talindra. Shelley and Cassiel have been explaining the difference in shapes in forms, but I think it’s great to get more.

Dame Teffin was a curious person. The mage traveled with Viscount Renaudin and when Kitara made the mistake of thinking they were an item, she laughed and added, ‘I’m not his type.’ Stop, focus on the meeting. I’m going to get a form. My form will be a choice long after Argrenn’s first form, but I want time to research it. I’d also like to know what to watch for when Argrenn takes his first form.

Dame Teffin continued working on Talindra. I tried to bring this up with Argrenn in Caemlynn, but he dismissed the warning. When I told him they will soon classify him as a Wizard of Mass Destruction, he thought this was the greatest joke told. The warmage for Atlantia shook her head. I sit on the board that oversees these wizards, and this is serious business. Countries have treaties based on archmages.

Talindra relented, knowing she had to convince Argrenn to arrive with the proper attitude by herself. Talindra and Marick left for a room in the knight’s tower to pray. Daisidian pretended he left secretly to contact his off planet military contacts and Dame Teffin followed to contact her guild. Kitara and Renaudin were alone in the room. Kitara grabbed the folder, and they worked. If they didn’t finish this before the deadline today, people were going to ask why.

FIVE HOURS LATER, VISCOUNT Renaudin and Kitara signed the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth documents, and they formalized the trade agreement. Countess Kitara Black had negotiation rights through Lord Fergus and though Victory Wharf and Salas Keep belonged to Talindra and Argrenn, it was Kitara who handled the diplomacy and foreign negotiations. He also did a lot more for them, but the Guardian Knights were the family he never had.

He clasped Viscount Renaudin’s hand when they shook on the agreement when Gormesh walked in, causing Kitara to jump away. Oh Gormesh, you startled me.

Hello countess Kitara, said the team’s publicist, the half-orc Gormesh. His tusks rose over his lips and today they covered the brown makings on his face. Kitara sometimes saw it hide the green lines, and could not figure out if his skin changed or his tusks changed position.

This was the last person Kitara knew needed to be convinced to take up team meeting time for Dame Teffin. The Guardian Knights had so few formal meetings, and it seemed like the only time they spent together was on the road or in Gormesh’s meetings. At the start of the meeting, could we give Dame Teffin time to explain forms and shapes to the team?

Could you do this on your own time?

Argrenn isn’t taking it seriously enough.

Gormesh sighed, and it sounded like pebbles bouncing into a stream with the breaks in his breaths. I understand. Yes.

Kitara felt himself relax. He wasn’t going to droop his shoulders because he hadn’t replaced this stupid bra for one that fit his muscular shoulders and needed the support. Sardyna’s summer and fall fashions among the noble were incredibly stupid. He’d rather wear his armor everywhere.

Talindra avoided much of Sardyna’s fashion by joining the Knights of Honor. They had a requirement to wear armor in the city to be available for defense.

Seeing Talindra without Renaudin around reminded Kitara how Talindra wasn’t the only member to let the team down. Kitara had as well. If he had ingratiated himself in the court earlier, he’d have noticed the Isilrings move their best archers out of the city. He would not make that mistake again even if he had to wear heels, clingy silk dresses, and brassieres that made him look like he defied gravity. Could I wear the Atlantia fashions?

Gormesh strolled into the other room to talk to Dame Teffin. Viscount Renaudin had left to formalize the trade agreement back in his home, the City of Atlantia. Viscount Renaudin had researched the Guardian Knights and knew Kitara was a male who played a female character and unwittingly placed into this body.

That was an understatement. Kitara had been a dateless twenty-year-old male who described a hot half elven chick with long voluminous red hair, voluptuous body, large breasts, and then placed many points into strength. One of many problems was, since his shoulders and chest were muscular, adding large breasts to this frame made him look and feel like a cartoon character.

He had gone into Breitour’s magic shop to ask for a brassiere of holding. One where his breasts would go to a different plane, so he didn’t have to deal with them. It should be no problem to create. Argrenn carried a bag that placed items into a different plane and he could open the bag to retrieve them. Make a brassiere like that and life would be better. Instead, the shopkeeper showed him a bustier of protection that covered less to ‘stop the uncomfortable binding that happened when women fully covered their breasts’. Even at Kitara's most immature, he’d have not thought to say something that foolish, and he here had listened to it as the shopkeeper and the guards stared at his chest.

He created this life from his own ignorance and now he knew better. Everyone who gawked at him reminded him of his old, immature self. Luckily, Talindra had taken him under her wing to help with the womanly aspects and even shown him how to use his ill treatment to gain things the team needed. Need a paper signed? Twirl your hair. Need an agreement? Accidentally lean against the person with your chest. Need a meeting? Smile and tilt your head.

You know you aren’t ready for life if a noble paladin is teaching you how to be a charismatic woman. But Talindra was a woman on Earth before becoming a paladin on Geoe.

Talindra led Argrenn into the room and the rest of the team followed, along with Gormesh and Dame Teffin.

Argrenn walked in with a huge smile and shook Gormesh’s hand. I was on my best behavior in Caemlynn. Just liked you asked and came back early so we can follow your instructions to get back on track. His dress and style were immaculate. It was not because of an ounce of care or time. It was a trick he performed with minor magic. His Tuathan Pearl colored hair stayed in place, his Robes of the Noble Wizard stayed white, his blue and silver silks never looked worn, and those snakeskin boots did not have a scuff. He had been Kitara’s height when they landed months ago, but now he was taller than Talindra by a few inches, but he was scrawnier than even her halfling brother.

Why Geoe gave a man that specific power and not a woman, given Sardyna’s fashion sense, was criminal. Kitara had to spend one hundred gold to buy a ritual spell that took ten minutes to cast to perform the same feat in the morning. Argrenn needed seconds, could do it anytime he wanted, and had done it for the entire team occasionally with little more than a thought.

Gormesh raised one eyebrow, which caused his tusks to tilt. I believe that was your best behavior and Caemlynn has sent an official recognition of your efforts to help them defend themselves.

It was an unprovoked attack, explained Argrenn.

When all of your enemies get together at a city closest to you to discuss sharing weapons information, you may think more like Lutetia and Barossos then. However, Dame Teffin will lead a class before we get started today.

Yes, said Argrenn and his turn made his white robes fluff out. He planted his staff and walked to Kitara with a smile. Kitara, you are saving me again. I am the first person who needs this lesson, and I enjoyed myself too much in Caemlynn and owe Dame Teffin an apology for not listening to her there. Thank you so much.

Talindra must have done a number on him. Of course. You say we are a team with too much on our plates and sometimes we scoop up what gets dropped.

I am lucky that Gormesh put this team together, said Argrenn.

That was the real Argrenn—earnest and honest—and the one Kitara desperately did not want to lose. He had seen how the dozens of other men treated him and Argrenn was the best friend, mentor, father figure, and team leader Kitara could have hoped for. What was Ren? Stop thinking that!

Everyone filed in, and Dame Teffin moved to the head of the planning table. Argrenn walked up to her and said something to her and Dame Teffin hugged him and said, thank you.

Kitara knew it was an apology. Out of all Argrenn’s faults and qualities, he took ownership of his actions and did his best to keep everyone a friend. If he hurt any of his friends, he had to stop everything and fix it. This was the Argrenn the world needed and why Kitara would bend over backward to make sure he did his best to help him.

Hi, Guardian Knights. To get this out of the way, my team has submitted the paperwork to remove ourselves from the game this year. We had an issue that was insurmountable, so I promise there is zero gamesmanship coming from us.

The Guardian Knights were powerful, but our best quality was our naivete. Sure, it made us suckers and caused us problems, but none of us would give anything not to trust people first and let them prove our trust wrong. Dame Teffin needn’t have said there was zero gamesmanship. We were the only team who took that as a starting point.

I was to talk about three items. Shapes, Forms, and Wizard classifications. I need to point out that if you travel with someone who falls into these categories, you are affected, sometimes, legally.

I knew it, joked