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There were a few conversations Valreth had eavesdropped on between his parents in the past. This was one he wished he hadn't. It was as he was returning from the prison after his conversation with Revin Redfur that he heard it.

"--hoped she wasn't telling the truth," his father was saying. His hand hesitated on the doorknob. "But Fess just gave word; a messenger from Zrivosh just showed up, bringing word of an army. They're five miles west and headed our way."

"I assume they've sent word to the capital as well?" his mother's voice said.

"But they say the Alpha's Army won't be able to lend aid for a few days."

A silence filled the small room and he took this as his cue, opening the door. His parents looked up as he entered.

"It's okay," he said, stepping through the doorway. "I think I have a way to fix this."

Ash showed up shortly after and he patiently explained his proposal.

"It could work," Ash offered, after a long silence of deliberation. "She's a wizard, not a sorceress, so she did have to work hard to gain her power. It was all learned, not given by birthright. She's powerful, and that would have taken decades of work. It's no wonder she's prideful."

"So, just so we're clear," his mother said slowly, "your plan is to suggest to the power-mad witch that she free the people she's enslaved and only use her mind-control powers on those who want to be enslaved?"

"It sounds like a longshot, I know," Valreth sighed. "But we might as well try. And... I think it's only technically slavery if it's unwilling. This would be more like..."

"Magically-enforced servitude?" Ash said. "I agree. We should at least try. If there's even a chance she'll call off her army..."

His father nodded, and his mother sighed, pushing herself off the bed with a groan.

"I was sort of looking forward to fighting an entire army again," she said. His father chuckled.

***

The duality of it sent his mind reeling. On the one hand, this was everything Val had ever wanted, to fight a heroic battle against impossible odds. On the other, he knew how rare the events of real epic tales truly were. More likely than not, this would all end bloody. Which is why he had to stop it from happening, if he could.

"If this plan of yours doesn't work--" the guard captain was saying to his parents as they made their way back to the prison again.

"We'll all do everything we can to protect the city," his father said. "We know what's at stake."

The pain and worry in his voice was something Val hadn't heard in years. He glanced around at the high walls of the proud city, guards rushing about in armor. It was a military city, after all. If there were a place to have a final stand against an evil witch's army, this was good as any. But looking closer, so many of them were just trainees from the military academy, not much older than him. Lives that didn't deserve to be wasted.

The captain looked about to speak, but Ash broke in--notable because she didn't seem the type to interrupt anyone unless absolutely necessary.

"Have we looked into any kind of magical shielding? Some way to break her hold on this army of followers?" she asked.

"About that," the captain said. "We appear to have reinforcements."

"The Alpha's army?" his mother asked.

"No," the captain said. "A group of sorcerers from the Nexus have offered aid."

Their ears perked, but Ash was the one who broke the stunned silence.

"The Nexus guardians?" she asked. "I never thought I'd even meet them! But... don't they have... other things to do?"

She had a point. If the Nexus were left unguarded, it would open the immense source of power up to capture by other groups, not all of which had the best intentions. Val shuddered to think of what Vex herself might do, offered unlimited power. Could she control the whole world?

"Their leader is apparently Vex's younger sister--one of them, anyway," the captain said with a shrug. "She appears to hold a bit of a grudge."

"Putting it lightly."

They turned at the new voice and saw a young wolfkin woman in light grey armor, the edges etched with ancient runes that glowed blue, pulsating with magical power, though as bright as they were, it wasn't brighter than her eyes and the blue markings in her brown fur. She looked very similar to Ash, only slightly shorter and with fur a shade darker and richer than his sister's. She radiated raw magic, and even with no connection to magic himself, Val could feel its tingle under his fur as she stepped forward. But she looked a bit uncomfortable in the armor, kept adjusting it in places, like she wasn't used to it, and he knew she wasn't a warrior.

He'd heard legend of the Nexus and the sorcerers that drew from its power, sharing their magic with others who needed it. This ancient power was never more evident than in the she-wolf before them. She was not just their leader, she was the one with the most direct connection to the ancient well of magic. She was the avatar of the Nexus, the embodiment of its power, given this duty by birthright, same as his power was. She looked to be in her early twenties, no older than Ash, maybe younger, but the grim determination that shone in her glowing blue eyes was crystal clear. She was more than willing to put herself before them, sacrifice her life and all the power that came with it. She was as much a hero as anyone. That was all it took.

"I'll stand with you if my sister's followers attack," she said. "I'm so sorry she's thrust all this on you. None of you deserve this..."

"If they do decide to--" the captain started, but the she-wolf broke in.

"Due respect, Captain, but they don't decide anything. She controls them," there was a bitterness in her tone, but a weariness with it. "If it were up to me, we'd find a way to sever her control, save them. But I've tried for years, it's harder than you'd think."

"Well," Val said, "we may have an idea, actually."

***

The witch was... intimidating, for lack of a better word. Even inside an anti-magic cell, the arcane runes carved into the bars and floor, she sat casually at the small table she was provided. She regarded them with a thin smile, eyes sparkling with mischief and power, as if all this were exactly according to plan.

"I don't suppose you've come to beg for mercy now that you've seen the extent of my power?" she said. Her voice held a power all its own. Even with her magic suppressed, she knew how to control others indirectly.

"No," Val said, letting out a nervous breath. "We've come to make a deal."

He glanced back at the others, his parents offering to help with their sympathetic gaze, but he steeled his nerves. This was his plan. He'd present it himself. Despite the nerves, he believed this would work.

"A deal?" the she-wolf laughed. "What could you possibly offer me besides servitude?"

"What you've always wanted," Val said simply. "What you deserve."

The witch's ears perked at this, but the steely cold didn't leave her eyes. He kept his own locked with them.

"And what would that be?" she purred.

"Love," Val responded. "Appreciation. What anyone deserves."

Her ears flicked. The air was filled with a tension, an energy, not unlike magic.

"You've spoken to Revin," she said. Val nodded.

"Here's the deal: You release everyone under your control who's there unwillingly. We'll send word throughout Talidran--even beyond, if you like--telling others of your power. You can offer it as a service, under the bounds of the law, and those who come to you will be those who respect your ability. Not those you take."

The silence that followed was one of the longest in Val's life. Vex's eyes were distant, but shining with consideration.

She sighed, eyes closing for a moment.

"Very well."

Val's ears perked, unable to believe what he'd heard. A new tension filled the room, a lighter one, filled with joyful disbelief.

"What?" he said.

The witch's ears flicked back.

"I accept your terms," she said.

He almost said 'What?' again, but stopped himself.

"Well... Good."

Yes. Much better, Val. Very heroic.

"You'll still have to serve a sentence for unlawful magic use," the guard said, crossing his arms. "Magical enslavement and unethical casting of--"

"Yes, yes," she sighed, waving a hand. "I'll return all the poor unwilling simpletons I turned into loyal slaves to their homes. Forgive me for bringing meaning into their little lives."

The guard captain grumbled, a low, dissatisfied growl. The witch rolled her eyes.

"Yes," she sighed. "And I will return all the money and magical artifacts I've allegedly 'stolen'. I can even donate some rare metals and a considerable amount of finely-crafted armor to you and your friends, if it will help."

The guard blinked.

"It, uh, it will," he said.

"Mm," she hummed. "My serving staff will get smaller, of course. But I am willing to downsize."

There was a true weariness in her voice, one Val suspected she rarely showed. Her eyes were soft and distant for just a moment. He turned back to the others with a smile, one they shared. It had worked. It had really, actually worked.

His mother swept him up in a hug, and he was glad for his near-invulnerability, or she would very likely have crushed him. She was joined by the others, a familial group hug--until they remembered they were in the middle of a prison. He glanced back toward the witch in her cell and saw a burning jealousy in her eyes before she glanced away. He felt a twinge of guilt and wondered suddenly if that was it, what had started her down this path. There must have been some disconnect with her family.

They turned to leave and he saw the she-wolf from before standing in the doorway. Vex's sister. Another stepped out from behind her, even younger, though still a few years ahead of Val himself. The two made their way through them and up to the bars of the cell, the guard opening the door at the older sister's request.

"Melora?" Vex said, sounding genuinely shocked, looking at the glowing she-wolf, then to the youngest. "Kera?"

Her voice broke just before the sorceress abruptly pulled her into an embrace, the other eagerly doing the same. Hesitantly, Vex reached her arms up, and then proceeded to melt against her sisters, the three breaking into joyful laughter. A warmth stirred and slowly filled Val's chest, seeing the three reunite. There had been a lot of reunion lately, he thought, glancing at his long lost sister, who smiled, dark violet eyes gleaming.

"Hm," the guard captain hummed, seeing the three. "Veshra, Melora, and Kera Spiritfire. Or, as most know them, Vex, Nex, and Hex."

Ash snorted, "You're kidding."

"No," the captain chuckled. "The first two are spellcasters, of course, and the third is, I think, a travelling alchemist."

"Mmhmm," his father confirmed, nodding. "I heard the potion bottles and supplies clinking in her bags when she walked in."

Something in Val's mind clicked.

"Wait," he said. "Alchemist."

The others looked at him and it seemed to hit them: they'd forgotten all about Sava Woodwalker, still in the alchemy lab attempting to recreate his invincibility through a potion mixed with his blood.

***

They hurried up to the city's alchemy lab, a tall tower of grey stone whose air smelled of all sorts of ingredients. Sounds of hissing and boiling, bubbling mixes and crackling flames came from within its rooms. Caustic, acrid scents crept out from under doors, and smoke of various colors sometimes swirled in the air. Attendants, assistants, experimenters, and students from the academy all rushed about, tending to one brew or another, skilled experts and aspiring amateurs alike working on their own concoctions. The bustling and crowdedness would have been a problem, but most of them kept well clear of his mother's intimidating form.

Finally, they reached the top floors, the restricted area, where private experiments were conducted. Asking around, they found the small laboratory which Sava had rented. His father, naturally, was the first to the door, throwing it open. No noxious smoke or caustic odor billowed from within, nothing bubbled or brewed in bottles or cauldrons. The room was dark and empty.

Ash helpfully shed light by summoning a fireball in an open hand, but the lamp dangling from the ceiling lit itself as soon as Katok dashed through the door. In the middle of the neatly organized workstation was a single small piece of paper. Katok snatched it and read the words, written in black ink and elegant script. His face was unreadable, perhaps disbelief, perhaps anger, but it certainly was not relief.

"'Don't worry'," he read slowly. "'I'll use this power responsibly.'"

They all looked at each other.

"So..." Ash said, turning toward Val. "She did it. She..."

"She replicated my power," he said.

***

He knew his father would look for the Alchemist. He'd devote all of his considerable speed and his long history of tracking down those who didn't want to be found. But Val knew it was unlikely he would find her again. She was smart, enough to stay hidden from him all these years, and could probably brew something up to help her hide. They just had to trust that she'd hold to the words on the note and not become corrupted by this power.

Stepping out of the alchemy tower was refreshing in more ways than just the fresh air, a welcome respite after the many chemical smells of the labs' interior. The clear sky had never been so blue, the sun glinting off the armor and weapons of the soldiers that walked the streets. A father pulled off his helmet and picked up his young son, placing the oversized thing on the little pup's head. A brown-furred sorceress--one of the many magical warriors of the Nexus who'd apparently decided to linger behind after her kin had teleported home--walked arm-in-arm with a dark-furred male in red leather armor, laughing.

"So," Val sighed, looking around with a smile. "This is what it's like."

"What?" Ash asked. He smirked.

"The end of an adventure."

His mother broke into a hearty laugh, the rest of them joining in.

"Hey, aren't you the guy who literally talked that evil witch into backing down?" a young soldier asked, armor clanking noisily as he ran up to Val.

"Oh," Val said, turning with a grin. "Yeah, that's me."

"Not how I'd have played it if I had fucking invincible fur," said a much bigger soldier with dark grey fur and a big smirk on his muzzle.

"No, I'm sure you'd have just barged into the prison and beaten her against the walls of her cell," the first laughed.

"I don't know, I thought she was kind of hot," remarked another from the same troop. A few chuckled, some gave him concerned or disturbed looks.

"Ugh, settle down, boys, the fight's over," said a female soldier. "I can practically smell the testosterone."

Another loud, hearty laugh from his mother.

"Yeah, I don't miss that part of sleeping in the barracks," she chuckled. "Almost makes me miss when they separated troops by gender."

"Holy Goddess, it's Fara Flameblade," one of the soldiers blurted. "I grew up on stories about you! Are you really his mother?"

"Oh," Val said, "if you think that's good, wait until you hear about my long lost part-phoenix sister."

Ash laughed.

***

Author Note: So this came to an unexpected end. But hey, that was always a risk in doing this: in case you missed it in the intro, this little series was written using the mechanics of DnD, in that whenever a character needed to do something, I'd roll a die and write the determined outcome into the story. So the plot was never fully in my control. This story was driven entirely by the motivations of the characters and their individual successes or failures.

Needless to say, things could've gone very differently if Vex had managed to mind control all of the protagonists. And in the end, Val ended up just talking his way out of a big conflict, which while it was somewhat anticlimactic, I'm not entirely upset about, because it would've been hours of dice rolling just to write out the combat between them, let alone the massive army.

The thing is, I'd planned for this to be a precursor to a much larger campaign, something to test the waters before an even longer series involving other characters I've developed a bit and really like. But seeing how this one went, I'm not 100% sure if I want to stick to the idea of leaving things up to the dice. I might decide to roll for more minor things and then just write the most narratively satisfying outcomes for bigger, more important parts. Or maybe I'll write a whole story set in this same world and not use any dice at all, just pure writing. But hey, plenty of people have had very satisfying stories in DnD campaigns, it'll just be a test of my skill to make it impactful, even if a major character perma-dies in Chapter 1. And I won't deny just this little series was an interesting and fun challenge. So I guess I'll just see how things go.

I'm just glad no one important died. (Well, Ash did, but that wasn't a problem, 'cuz of her whole deal, lmao.)