“This here’s the Nine Sacred Orbs of the Maker,” Battelata announced as we stopped at a monument. He gestured towards it, beaming all the while. “It represents the Maker's mythical allies. He was a bit of a storysmith himself, weaving grand tales of other worlds, dashing heroics, and great tragedies for all of us to learn. A cabal of artists from Winleshire decided to turn these stories into monuments.”

  “Yes, that’s quite beautiful but perhaps we can hurry on to the mayor’s office?” I suggested, trying to be diplomatic. “We’re in a time crunch.”

  “Ah, I hear you, friend, but this won’t take but a few seconds,” the Gnome insisted.

  We hadn’t made it all that far from the gate and I was hoping this wouldn’t become a recurring theme. Grumbling, I turned to look everywhere except at the monument out of spite.

  It was placed on the side of a busy plaza that had a lot of foot traffic. The Gnomes here wore shirts bearing strange geometric shapes and pants of various shades of blue. There was the occasional dress or suit, but most of the outfits weren’t so formal.

  They came and went from the different buildings. Most of them had colorful signs above the door with cute mascots or stylized letters, though I couldn’t read what they said. Sadly, Allspeech only worked verbally.

  I didn’t need to understand the language to know that the majority of businesses here were for food. Not only was everyone here eating, but the smells wafting throughout the plaza were heavenly. They mixed together in delightful ways, creating a tapestry for my nose.

  “It is rather interesting,” Ferrisdae remarked. “What did the guard say about it, Badger?”

  “Nine Sacred Orbs of the Maker,” I answered flatly before muttering under my breath. “Which is wasting our time.”

  “At least it’s a pretty waste of time,” Tabitha said, tugging at my sleeve. “It wouldn’t hurt to give it a look, would it? Or are you going to be grumpy and contrary the whole time we’re here?”

  “Someone’s gotta look out for us,” I replied before sighing. I turned to look after one more sweep of the plaza.

  Tabitha was over with the girls and Cojisto, with Moose standing behind them. I frowned as I reached over to touch my sleeve, but walked over to see the monument at my wife’s behest.

  Nine marble columns surrounded a fountain that shot water ten feet into the air, and each one had a sphere on top. They were all a different color ranging from yellow as the lightest to almost black. There was a deep red orb with a dark strip through it. This one caught my eye, reminding me of a Kitsune’s fur.

  The centerpiece was purple, though. It was closer to us than the rest, and it reminded me of the strange coat and hat that the Dungeon Master had worn during our first meeting. They were the same shade, at least.

  “Yes, very pretty,” I said. I was about to turn back towards Battelata when it seemed like the orbs pulsed in the corner of my vision. Pausing, I narrowed my eyes at them, waiting to see if it would happen again. When it didn’t, I gestured toward the Gnome. “Can we go to the mayor’s office now?”

  Despite my gruff tone, the guard smiled and gave me a small bow. “Right this way, Inspector.”

  “Thank you,” I replied. We followed after him, and I lowered my voice when I thought he was out of earshot. “This guy’s acting like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Makes me think the mayor’s up to something, and just needs some time to prepare.”

  Tabitha smiled and patted me on the shoulder, but didn’t say anything.

  “And here we have the Heavenly Trio,” Battelata announced, stopping at another monument and gesturing towards it.

  I blinked and looked back behind us, but the plaza was long gone. We were in a well to do part of town with large mansions behind trimmed hedges. The monument took up one of the plots of land even though it was much smaller than the last one. But I wasn’t focusing on that.

  “Weren’t we just at—” I started to say, pointing from where we came from, when I was interrupted.

  “The Heavenly Trio consisted of the Maker and his two erstwhile companions, as told in his stories,” the Gnome continued, offering me an apologetic wave before gesturing towards the monument. “Logan and Alexis, whom he endearingly called Lexi. They, too, had spectacular powers. Logan was said to be an unparalleled martial artist with the ability to alter gravity on a whim.”

  That got my attention, and I turned towards the monument, our path forgotten. First and foremost was Keith Carr, though he was wearing that ridiculous getup that the Dungeon Master had on during our first meeting, the one the orb reminded me of. It was a long coat and an obnoxiously big hat, and he had some kind of strange wand holstered to his belt.

  Logan had the same musculature as the silver man who had been guarding the Dungeon Nexus. There was actually no change between them, other than the fact that this one was made from marble. Unlike the orbs, there were no colors to match like I had Keith Carr to the purple one.

  Alexis, who I now assumed was going to be the guard for Camp Lexi, wielded a sword in one hand and a manifestation of lightning in the other. She was depicted wearing a thick cloth outfit that enveloped her from feet to neck.

  I tilted my head as I tried to focus on the woman’s face. It was muddled and hard to make out, as if my eyes weren’t working right. I wiped them clear before looking again only to see that her visage was fine. She had the same eyes as that she-dog, Sophia, with delicate features. I felt it was odd that I hadn’t been able to discern her at first, but there was something else I needed to find out that was more important than her looks.

  “Electricity and swordplay?” I asked, gesturing towards the statue of the woman. “What else was she known for?”

  “And we’re moving on,” Battelata said. “This way, please.”

  Scowling, I turned to see him backing away with a smile, gesturing for us to follow him. The others did as they were told, threatening to leave me behind.

  “Hey, I have a question about Alexis!” I complained, giving chase.

  “This here is called the Stalwart Companion, modeled after CC herself,” the Guard said. He was now standing in front of another monument with his arms out, as if he could frame such a massive thing all on his own.

  I looked around to see that we were in a part of town that reminded me a lot of New Frausta. Large buildings, the tallest of which were four stories tall, surrounded us on all sides while the streets were set up in a grid pattern that went in-between them. There were more Gnomes, but not many. I didn’t remember walking here, but I couldn’t focus on that.

  “Where’s Moose?” I asked. The healer was nowhere to be seen, and it wasn’t like he’d be hard to spot in a crowd. Especially such a thin one as this.

  “What do you mean?” Cojisto asked, confused. He pointed back with his thumb. “We dropped him off at that inn we passed. He’s in the stable.”

  “Why?” I pressed. It almost came out as a snarl.

  “Because that’s where mounts go,” Tabitha answered before approaching me. She touched the back of her palm to my forehead. “Are you okay, Badger? You’re not acting like yourself.”

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  “I am fine,” I insisted, gently taking her hand and pushing it away. “Moose does not—”

  “Now, this may come as a surprise, but our CC is not the same CC as the one who came before,” Battelata interrupted, drawing our attention to him and the monument. I blinked, and I saw that Tabitha and Cojisto were already over there. He had their rapt attention. “According to the Maker’s stories, our CC is a copy of what he had previously created. She was such a delightful companion, he could not stand to be away from her.”

  “That’s not right,” I said, taking a step towards the guard.

  “Of course it is, that’s what we’ve all been told since we were children,” the Gnome said before gesturing behind him. “Here, look at the monument.”

  I very specifically did not look at the monument. “No, I need you to tell me what’s going on, right now.”

  “Badger, you’re making a scene,” Tabitha warned, looking around. The only reason why I followed her gaze was because my wife said it. This part of town may have been sparsely populated, but the two dozen or so Gnomes were all staring at me. “The more information we have, the better, isn’t that right?”

  “Look at the monument, Inspector,” Battelata said again.

  I turned back to my wife to see that Dalsarel was standing behind her, and I looked up at the Dark Elf. “If we insult the mayor, then there’ll be less of a chance for us to get to the Nexus,” she reasoned. “It’s a little bit of sightseeing and, while I usually find your grumpiness endearing the same way I would my cantankerous grandfather, it’s getting in the way of the mission.”

  “Inspector, the monument?” the Gnome insisted.

  “Kind of busy here, Battelata,” I called, narrowing my eyes at the women in front of me.

  I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but it sure would have been a good time for Knowledge Check to activate.

  Which meant, of course, the seemingly random ability didn’t start to work. I was just as much in the dark as when the thought passed through my head.

  “Sir,” Battelata said from right beside me, and I jerked away from him as I reached for my sword. “If you would take one look at the monument, all will be revealed.”

  When I turned to face him, he was several feet away. That hadn’t been where he was, but I finally looked at enough of the monument for it to get my attention.

  Sitting atop a marble cube was a much smaller cube, though it was still bigger than I was. It looked to be made out of glass that had been treated to not be completely transparent, making the buildings on the other side look strange and out of focus. Several globules of a bright orange substance floated through the monument, moving freely except to bounce off of the sides. When I blinked, they were back in the same position as when they started.

  Looking at it made my head hurt. Or, rather, it made me realize that there was a growing pressure inside my skull. It hit me just behind both ears, and I reached up to massage those spots in the hopes that it would relieve some of the pain. My efforts were in vain.

  “And we’re moving on,” Battelata announced, walking away.

  “Do you guys not feel this?” I asked, turning towards the group.

  They were no longer there, but were quickly following the Gnome guard. A part of me felt compelled to follow after them. To remain a part of the group. That was my wife, my juniors, and Cojisto, and clearly they weren’t in their right mind.

  Moose probably wasn’t, either, but I couldn’t focus on him right now. I was having a problem focusing on anything. My foot lifted off of the ground involuntarily, and I forced myself to freeze.

  I didn’t want my foot to go back down, because then I would be walking. If I were walking, then we would go to the next monument. I stood there, leg raised, looking like a fool because I could no longer trust myself. The pressure in my head intensified into pain, and I winced.

  While I was at war, the group was getting farther and farther away. One moment they were walking, and then the next all five of them were facing me. I hadn’t even blinked, but they were suddenly waving at me.

  “Himia, what is going on?” I asked as the pain made me lose my balance. I put my foot down.

  As I expected, I was now somewhere else. A garden, in fact, with a temple. I cursed whatever was doing this to us. But I couldn’t focus on—

  No, I had to focus on that.

  “This monument depicts the Three Moons of—”

  “Stop it,” I growled, holding my head with both hands. “No more monuments, no more tours, no more nothing!”

  “Badger, this isn’t like you,” Tabitha scolded, putting her hands on her hips like she would when chastising our children. “What has you acting up like this?”

  “It doesn’t make any sense, Tabs!” I argued, making a sweeping gesture at everything around us. “We take five steps and there’s always a monument. How many historical sites does this place need?”

  “As you can see, the monument is over here,” Battelata remarked.

  “We’ve been walking for about twenty minutes,” Ferrisdae interjected, sounding confused and concerned. “There’s nothing—”

  “Kid, if you tell me that nothing’s wrong then I will leave you with every scrap of paperwork we’ll need to fill out once we’re back home,” I said, interrupting her as I brought a hand up. “This situation doesn’t make any sense. It’s as if we’re…”

  My voice trailed off as I figured out exactly what was happening. The quick transitions, how my thoughts slid off of the important things until I grasped at it. My mind had been trying to warn me, giving me small hints in the hopes that I would notice.

  “As if we’re what?” my four team members asked in unison. They had me surrounded, and a menacing aura seemed to exude from all of them.

  Battelata didn’t notice the change at all. “The Red Moon was actually a—”

  “We’re in an illusion,” I realized.

  My mind was fighting it off by making me think of Sophia. First the orb, then Alexis’ face. It might have been too late by the third monument if I hadn’t already known something was wrong. I pinched myself, and it hurt.

  Channeling divine power through both of my hands, I healed myself. The pain in my head toned down, but my surroundings didn’t change. Pain didn’t break me free. I knew I could break curses, among other things, with my Lay On Hands and that didn’t work, either.

  “This monument of the Three Moons symbolizes—”

  I reached out to punch Battelata square in the face. His helmet had been open, giving me an easy shot. The Gnome flinched, but clearly wasn’t going to be able to dodge in time. My fist cracked as it slammed into something hard and unyielding.

  When I pulled my hand away, it was as if I hadn’t struck him at all.

  “May I continue with my story, Inspector?” he asked, nonplussed. As if I hadn’t punched him with enough force that his face should have caved in.

  “No,” I answered before closing my eyes.

  Pain didn’t work, and neither did divine magic. Whatever illusion this was, it went deep. Deeper than Sophia could ever do on her own. This was on a whole different level.

  Which made sense. We were wondering where all of CC’s fiercest protectors were, and we had wandered into the nest of one here. Whether it was a solitary foe or a group performing a ritual didn’t matter so long as we defeated it.

  Reaching inward, I searched for the divine power within me. The core that Cheroske had gifted me with upon becoming her Paladin was warm and energetic. It was a sense of comfort no matter what was going on.

  And, right now, it was cold. There were divine dead spots throughout the world where a deity’s magic wouldn’t work, and I had been to them before when I was still a paladin of Tegril. This wasn’t the same feeling. Which left a very specific idea in mind.

  “I’m dreaming,” I announced, opening my eyes again. Everyone was around me. My party members, Battelata, the Gnomes of Winleshire. They had me surrounded from all sides. I felt a calm hit my mind as things suddenly made sense, and my mind righted itself. “Tell me, do you know Ulrich Thom?”

  Battelata flinched, but didn’t say anything.

  “Then you must have been the one, or the many, or the thing that taught him dream walking. Because there’s no way he’d spend his time trapping me like this when he could just fight me in the real world,” I stated, and the Gnome gritted his teeth.

  “You can’t escape from me,” he said, his voice suddenly alien and disturbed. His speech had a slight echo to it.

  “That’s what you believe,” I replied, pulling the Hilt of Holding off of my belt. When I held it up, the creature sneered. I put it against my chest, right over my heart. “But, really, it’s the opposite. You can’t escape from me. And if anything happened to them…” I paused to nod towards my friends and family. “Then your death will not be a slow one.”

  “You’re bluffing,” the thing said, confident. “You have no way to escape my power.”

  “Sure. Be as wrong about me as your mistress was. I’ll see you on the other side.”

  Before the creature could say anything else, I thumbed the rune on my Hilt of Holding. Its summoned blade speared through my heart. The pain was immense and I took in one last gasping breath as everything went black.