The Battle

The Artificer

The room was dark. It was the dead of night, the door and curtains long since closed- only thin beams of moonlight, streaming through gaps in the window covering, provided any sort of illumination, glittering on the walls and ceiling and making the place look less like a bedroom and more like the depths of space, a star-filled dark void.

The room was also mostly quiet- but some faint noises did disturb that. Specifically, the rustling of sheets, and faint grunts, grumbles, and whines.

The source of all these was the husky laying in a bed. He was asleep- but the sleep was clearly not restful. He was twitching, tossing, turning, and making distressed noises. An outside observer would likely conclude he was having a nightmare- which wouldn't be inaccurate, but failed to tell the whole story.

For his part, Ars was currently going through what he did most nights. The landscapes in front of him were twisting, morphing, changing- his room slowly depleted of objects until emptied, before other objects formed and vanished in their place; then he was in a sort of metal chamber, covered in glowing lights and emitting a sound of whirring machinery; then he was in a field, watching blades of grass nearly twice his size recede into the ground.

Bored, he bent his legs and jumped upward- and suddenly he was in what looked like a canyon, but with endless numbers of holes carved in them, with what looked like purple clouds moving between them. But this quickly streaked past, and he soon found himself in what looked like a dark canyon studded with giant green crystals, which in turn gave way to a city street abutting some apartment buildings- which then swirled around and fell apart, reforming into tall structures of metal, glass, and smoke-spewing pipes covered in lights.

So it went nearly every night. It wasn't unpleasant, not at all- but moving through the multiverse is less impressive when it's mostly a part of one's sleep schedule. He was mainly just idly taking in the sights, occasionally getting a flicker of interest from something but mostly killing time until his body decided to wake up. Doing otherwise would leave him with a pounding headache.

Something did eventually make him pause and linger, though, when he recognized someone. He smiled as he saw a large goat-man in a crown and regal garb- a king he'd become acquainted with not long ago. But this pleasant blip of recognition was soon replaced with unease.

Melthurian was in a kneeling position, clutching his ribs and baring his teeth at something. Ars followed his gaze- then shrank back.

Flying far above them was a creature with teal skin, and wild hair that looked to be made of quills. It was covered in tatters of black fabric rather than actual clothes, and it had no eyes- rather, black, empty sockets, dripping a slick oily-looking fluid. Floating around it was a sphere of pink fire, looking like an eyeball with a thin, slitted silver pupil in its center.

Ars immediately felt startled and fearful as he looked at the creature, it was grotesque and fearsome... but also... familiar? He squinted at it for a moment- then it clicked, and his eyes widened again. "...D...Dion?!" he asked.

Immediately, the eyeless head snapped in his direction. As he jumped back in surprise, the pink eye also turned its gaze to him- then began barreling down at him with alarming speed.

Immediately, Ars staggered backwards, falling down to land on the floor and rapidly trying to scoot away-

-and then woke up, finding himself flailing with his blankets before inadvertently bashing his head on the wall. "OW-!" he cried, reaching back to grab and then rub the pained spot.

As he grunted and panted in the dark, simultaneously rubbing his pained head, trying to calm down, and still trying to wake up, he heard sudden movement outside his door- which then opened, and what looked like a larger, older version of himself stepped in. "You alright?!" the man inquired in a rusty voice.

Ars turned to look at the speaker, blinking into the dark, before closing his eyes and moaning. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine," he reassured his father. "Just... had a nightmare, I guess."

There was a long pause. "A 'nightmare,' or... a nightmare?" the older man asked grimly.

Ars didn't answer for a moment. "...Honestly... not sure which." He paused again, looking at his sheets, then looked up to give the man a wan smile. "Not like it matters, anyway- here now."

His father didn't look entirely reassured. "Any... Anything I can do?"

Ars shook his head. "No, really, it's fine. Sorry for waking you up."

The man still looked unconvinced, but did yawn. "...Alright. Sleep better."

"Definitely gonna try."

His father left the room. Ars waited, listening for the sound of his footsteps padding toward his own bedroom, then the telltale signs of his door opening and closing- then waited still longer. He wanted to be sure his dad had gone back to sleep.

It was a good twenty minutes before he could just about, very faintly hear the telltale snores that told him he was in the clear, at which point he vaulted out of bed, throwing on a gray shirt and pair of pants before reaching for his glasses. Once dressed, he made a gesture- and a faint lilac aura formed around his hand.

A poster on a nearby wall peeled back, and behind it, a rectangular patch of wall started to shine with that same lilac color. There was a sudden faint sound, a bit like turning gears- and then the hatch opened, revealing a small compartment, and inside that was a rolled-up piece of parchment. Ars quickly walked over and pulled it out. He stared at it grimly for a while, then carefully unfurled it.

"Keep hold of this parchment, and don't damage it- it originates from here in Briarwood, and I will see if I can hone in on it magically. If I can, it may perhaps be possible for you to return here more reliably. And should I succeed, your presence would be appreciated once more. Be well.

-King Melthurian"

Ars smiled faintly as he recalled the circumstances that had ended with this note getting stuck to his back, but the smile quickly fell, and his eyes moved to the winged sigil at the top of the page. Eventually, Mel had managed to establish a connection, and this symbol was the way to use it- all Ars had to do was touch it and invoke his magic, and he'd be whisked to the parchment's place of origin- a kingdom in another universe, known as Briarwood.

He grimaced as he considered the parchment, though. Was he... really going to jump to another universe? All over what may well have just been a bad dream? Mel was a bit less annoyed by the actions of friends, magicians, and otherworldly visitors, and Ars technically filled all three roles- but still, the king did anger fairly easily, and might not take kindly to a sudden drop-in in the middle of the night.

But... most of his "dreams" usually weren't such at all, and if it had been more than a bad dream... then Mel clearly needed help, and sooner rather than later. And so did his friend Dion...

Ars closed his eyes and took a breath. Only one option really made sense- a mildly annoyed Mel would be preferable to an injured or dead one. Grimly, he pressed his thumb to the royal crest, calling on his magic and channeling it into the mark.

The crest shined lilac for a moment- then the edges of the parchment started to glow likewise, followed by the letters on it, before the whole thing was blazing with light. Ars quickly dropped the parchment to the floor- where it expanded outward into a large ring, which he quickly vaulted into.

He fell for a bit into this magical tunnel. He'd only used this portal a few times before, though knew from those uses that after a few seconds, he should land in Mel's throne room-

The lilac below him rapidly turned black, and as he continued to fall he found himself hurtling through a black void, making him tense up and pull inward in surprise. "What the hell-?!" he started to yell-

-only for something to shoot up from the void below and grab him, halting his fall. For a moment, he was stunned into silence as his stomach dropped before proceeding to do backflips- then cried out as whatever was holding him started squeezing. Instinctively, he lashed out and bit his captor.

The whole mass seized up- then with a flick, hurled him away, sending him sailing horizontally before he smashed straight through the tunnel wall.

***