It was incredible. Awe-inspiring. I turned to Annette and grinned, “Whaddya think?”

The question was pointless; I could see everything on her face. This was it.

The wind howled, blowing snow into our faces and whipping Annette’s scarf into my shoulder. The sky glimmered and sparkled with a million stars. Ice-capped mountains circled a vast boreal valley, sparse with tall trees but otherwise a featureless expanse of snow. No one had touched this place in a long time.

A singular structure stood magnificently atop the tallest mountain, just short of its apex, looming over the pristine landscape below. An abandoned palace, the center of an empire gone with the wind; darker than the night sky, with jutting towers like spines. It looked evil, demonic. We couldn’t have asked for a better home.

Annette didn’t look at me as she spoke, her gaze still fixed to the scenery. “Hey Claire.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Kinda reminds you of Capital, huh? When we visited it that time.”

It did. “Isn’t it way cooler, though?” It wasn’t destroyed like Capital was. And the mountains really added to the splendor. “Plus, I bet we’re the only people to see it in a hundred years.”

The idea visibly excited her. “You really think?”

“Uh huh. And I bet it’s really cool inside, too.”

Annete’s eyes damn near sparkled. “Yeah.” She squeezed my hand, and I squeezed hers back.

I picked up my pack off the ground. “Wanna check it out?”

Annette’s whole face damn near sparkled. “Yeah!”

I hadn’t realized how exhausted Annette was. The trek up to the palace was long and frigid, and as soon as we got inside and sat down to take a break, the warm, comforting air of the palace lulled her to sleep.

I laid her down in a more comfortable position and sighed. I didn’t want to explore around without her, but I wasn’t that tired. I sat down next to her and looked around.

The foyer was completely devoid of furnishings. I wondered if the rest of the palace would be so barren; I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been ransacked and looted several times over in its age. The place was dark, too. It was night, and the moon wasn’t particularly bright, so very little light came from outside, and there was no internal lighting whatsoever; any candles or lamps had surely burnt out hundreds of years ago, and then been stolen anyway.

I grabbed my staff and twirled it around. We didn’t own much in the way of entertainment, and I was running out of things to occupy myself with. For a castle, the place was surprisingly boring, although I supposed this was only one room.

I pulled over my backpack and rummaged through it. Items you’d want often or on short notice at the top; medical supplies we barely knew how to use, small water vessels and snacks, a bundle of rope, and small tools it would be inconvenient to carry outside the pack, among other things. Underneath that was the heavier supplies. Cookware and the bulk of our food, a much larger water vessel, a densely packed glob of clothing, materials to set up a tent. On the bottom, accessible through a secondary opening, were the lightest, largest objects; sleeping supplies, a large tarp.

I dug through the second layer until I found a wrapped up ball of cloth. I pulled the ball out and unwound it, revealing some metal trinkets and a hollow glass orb, full of little bits of metal and various gemstones, arranged in a complex, three dimensional pattern.

I laid everything out and grabbed a folded up piece of paper that had been stored with the materials. I unfolded it and read over the instructions written within. I had already memorized it, reading it to myself often when I got bored, but I really wanted to make sure I had everything right, if I was going to actually set this thing up. I figured the foyer was as good a place as any, and if we changed our minds, there were instructions for dismantling and moving it as well.

I finished reading and set the paper aside for reference. Then I stood up, put my staff back on my belt, and started assembling the apparatus, reading the instructions aloud as I went. “First, assemble the base…”

Some curved rods that fit together to form a large circle that sat on the ground. Then, a few straight rods attached onto that; these would support the actual machinery.

“Attach the core…” Three rods converged in the center, with semicircles on the ends that fit together into a ring that comfortably supported the glass orb.

“Arrange the…” I placed the miscellaneous pieces in their miscellaneous places. The end result looked somewhat like a model solar system.

Now, let’s see. The side with the two long rods and bi… optic… the two things in the diagram was the front, and that was…

I picked up the instructions again. It looked right. “To activate the tunnel gate, simply say, ‘Take me,’ followed by your desired destination, then step through the tunnel. The core is very advanced; there is no risk of teleportation errors… For an example of how to use the gate, try these phrases: ‘take me to town-’”

The gate made a noise. I startled backwards-

A brief moment of incredible nausea. My head spinning; an indescribable, deeply confusing smell; bizarre noise in my sense of touch, and then-

Clarity. Cold, fresh air. My feet on solid ground.

I stumbled and nearly fell. I was in some kind of town? It was cold out and there was snow on the ground. An abandoned village close to the castle?

This thing really worked. Mixed awe and annoyance. I fumbled around for my tunnel link and found it in my shawl's inner pocket. Good thing I had kept it on me, or I’d be stranded.

…Well, since I was here, and I could get back whenever I wanted, I may as well look around. Find things to scavenge with Annette, or just cool spots to hang out.

I seemed to be in a residential area. Cozy one-story houses were lined up and down the street, huddling snug against the cold. This one had smoke coming out of the chimney. It would have been the very picture of a comfortable small town if not for the fact that they were abandoned.

…Smoke?

Hold on a minute. There was light coming from the window. I stared in disbelief. Was… was someone living there?

I twirled around. This and that other house had smoke or lights or both. Most of the houses on the street had some or another sign of active use.

I wasn’t prepared for this. When was the last time I had even seen someone who wasn’t Annette?

Wait, no. I wasn’t just dealing with any old town, here. Because those didn’t exist anymore. These houses had to be full of-

“Demon!”

I spun around, still processing old news, and found someone staring back at me. We probably had the same expression on our faces.

Utterly surreal. No horns, no mask. I stared like an idiot.

Seconds crawled by. I brought my hand up to wave. Why the hell was I waving at them?

"What do you want, monster?" Shaky breath, uneasy. I hadn't even done anything yet.

Man, this was so weird. Rehearsed lines and imagined scenarios fell out of my brain and disappeared. A few more humans gathered.

"Are you here to destroy our town?" What an assumption. Although I supposed I didn't know what I even expected.

I think someone was watching through their window. Maybe a few people. The commotion had started to draw in a small crowd.

"Uh, yeah."

Yeah?? Man, that was so lame. My one shot, gone forever. Yeah.

My audience visibly tensed nonetheless. They had pretty low standards for this kind of thing, I guessed.

Time dragged itself forwards with all the vigor of a person who was just about to finish bleeding out. No one did anything. I ran down a mental checklist. My staff, in its sheath on my hip. My protection charm, adequately hidden under my shawl. My tunnel link, in case things got bad.

These humans really were not quick on the uptake. "So, are you all just going to stand here and watch me do it, or…?"

Had I said any of that right? I had only ever practiced the language with Annette, and she knew much less than me. What if I had said something really stupid just now?

Well, judging by the humans' reactions, I must not have been too far off. Some of them backed up, others turned to run. They seemed to prefer flight to fight.

"Hey there." From behind me.

I turned to look. The speaker was a man wearing large metal gauntlets and sabatons, and a big golden visor like you'd see on a knight's helmet sitting on his forehead. Under his strangely incomplete armor was a plain shirt and pants.

"Hey, Golden Man."

He put his gauntlets on his hips. It looked strange, with their size. "That's Golden Visor to you."

"Humans have strange names."

"Not my real name. My persona."

His what? I had read plenty of books in Elysian, but actually speaking and hearing the language was a different beast. "Okay then."

"And what do I call you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well, I'd like to know the name of the person I'm going to fight."

"I suppose it would be good if you could tell everyone who destroyed your home town. For my rep-ah-tation." That was a hard word. I should have chosen an easier one; I probably sounded stupid.

"Sure. What is it, then?"

"Midnight." Spoken in my own language.

"Med...nocht?"

"Midnight."

"Mednite."

"Midnight."

"Mednight."

"Midnight."

"Mednight."

This language barrier was going to be annoying.

"Well, anyway, Meidnight-"

"Midnight."

"Right. I'd appreciate it if you'd stop threatening to, uh, destroy everything. And whatnot."

"Uh huh. Goldiné, was it?"

"Golden Visor. Or just Visor."

"Goldie."

"It's Visor."

I giggled. "No it's not."

"Well, you seem pretty personable. How about we talk this out?"

Talk it out? Okay, buddy. "What is there to talk out?"

"No one destroys a town for no reason."

I put my hand on my staff. "Yeah, I've got one of those."

"Alright. What do you want, then?"

I put my other hand on my hip. "Revenge, is the main thing."

Goldie retained his composure. "That makes things difficult."

"Makes things easy for me, though." I drew my staff and twirled it around, immediately messing up and fumbling it. Oops.

Goldie snickered and I felt my face flush with embarrassment. "Threatening terrorism isn't supposed to look dorky, you know."

I snapped, "I'm still getting the hang of it!" and immediately felt even more embarrassed for it.

"Oh? Do you want more time to practice?"

Enough. I charged. Goldie easily dodged several swings of my staff and taunted, "You don't seem cut out for this."

That pissed me off, so I charged again. He thrust his gauntlet at me, open-palmed, several feet before it would have connected. "You don't seem-"

It glowed and then blasted some kind of fog at me. I put my arms up and scrambled backwards; the fog solidified into a block of something like ice, trapping my arms within.

I retreated several feet. My arms were restrained in a weird position; I couldn't really do anything with my staff and it was pretty uncomfortable to boot.

Goldie did a bit of a pose and said, "You're in over your head, Mednight. Go home before you get yourself hurt."

Patronizing jerk. I tried to get my arms out, to no avail. At least the ice wasn't cold.

Goldie hadn't made a move yet. I spent several seconds struggling against the ice. "How long does this last?"

"Long enough."

Frustration coursed through me. Frustration made good fuel for magic.

"I've got more tricks. Ever wonder what it’d feel like to be a popsicle?"

What was that, some kind of farming tool? "Cooky bastard." I'd show him. I focused inward.

"That's 'cocky'. Surrender now and I'll throw in some Elysian lessons with the 'Not Killing You' package."

The more he ran his mouth, the more pissed off I got. Emotions had a physical feeling to them, if you focused, and if I imagined pushing that sensation into my staff…

It crackled and sparked to life, a violet glow pouring out of its cap. From here, casting would be comparatively simple.

Goldie noticed the change and put on a more serious face, but didn’t approach. I commanded the energy in my staff to surge into the ice…

The block split down the middle, freeing my arms. As I separated them, a bunch of shards fell out from the two halves – everything touching my staff seemed to have shattered, while the rest of the block remained more or less unharmed. Seemed it was good at absorbing force, or something.

Goldie had fully gotten back into fight mode. My arms were still encased in ice, but at least I could move them now.

I pointed my staff at Goldie and commanded some energy to fly towards him. By the time my staff had launched a bolt of energy at him, he had already created a wall of ice to shield himself; the bolt’s detonation damaged it but did not destroy it.

I tried launching a few more bolts to little effect; Goldie could replace the walls much faster than I could break through them.

That ice-conjuring ability was really irritating. I didn’t want to get close and risk getting trapped again, but I couldn’t break through his defenses from range.

Well, I guess I just had to risk it, then. I wasn’t gonna win a battle of attrition.

I focused and filled my staff with more energy. I could feel a weird sort of emptiness start to pool up in my chest. If I kept using magic, I’d tire myself out…

It seemed like Goldie couldn’t form that ice without first launching that vapor from his gauntlets. Maybe I could bait out a whiff, and…

Goldie came out from behind the wall and charged at me. Wuh oh.

Wait, this was good. I readied myself to swing with my staff. There, he was about to be in range. I-

Goldie slid under me. I tripped on him and faceplanted.

Okay. I pushed myself-

My whole body was encased in ice. How did that happen?

“Well, that’s that. It was a valiant effort, though.”

Maybe this was really bad? Was I going to suffocate?

“That stuff’s made of air, so you can breathe even while trapped. Pretty fancy stuff, right?”

Oh. Okay. Well, I was still trapped. The panic was still there, and the frustration, too. I pushed it all out indiscriminately, and the resulting surge of energy created a small pocket in the ice. Not big enough to do much with, and it was full of bits and shards, but I could move my arms a little… Man, that was really draining. I needed more endurance if I was going to be fighting people.

Okay. I needed to-

Something slammed into my ice prison. All of the solid air around me suddenly reverted to gas, destroying all of the shards and expanding the pocket. Goldie said, “Okay, let’s get you out of there.”

Wait. I needed to escape. How could I do that?

The tunnel link. I grabbed it and whispered, “Take me home!”

…

“Right. Hey, are you alright in there?”

Why didn’t it activate? Was there not enough space? Was I missing something? “Take me home!”

Goldie made a noise – he must have heard me – and slammed the ice again. Suddenly I was staring at his sabatons.

I slammed my staff into the side of his knee as hard as I could and scrambled to the side. He made a noise, but I was too busy bolting out of there to watch to see how he reacted otherwise.

I ducked around a corner. There were little alleys in between the houses, which were proving to be convenient. I ran all the way to the other end and looked around; no one seemed to be around. Good.

I looked back through the alley. Goldie was giving chase. Although, looked like that armor of his was slowing him down some.

I reckoned I was at the advantage in a chase; I was confident in my raw athleticism, not to mention I had lighter gear. It was still night, too. I bet I could lose him if I ran around through the alleys and streets.

I turned into another alley. There was another, long alley to turn into in between the rows of houses, which I took. A sub-alley? If I kept running around and doubling back like this, then…

“Long time no see.”

I twirled to look. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Wait. Right. Snow. Footprints. I was a moron.

Aggravating. I turned and ran. He wasn't in a hurry to catch me, which meant I had time to think of a plan.

I supposed I wasn't at a disadvantage anymore. I could turn back and try fighting again… but then, he would probably just kick my ass again. I figured escape was the way to go, and then I could try again later with more preparation.

I turned a corner and found a wall of solid air. I immediately turned around to look for another route.

So, he was trying to trap me. If I kept running around aimlessly, I'd get walled in and forced into a second confrontation, this time in an arena of his construction, which translated to another big advantage for Goldie.

I found another wall. I bet if I turned around again, I'd just keep finding walls until I eventually stumbled right into the jerk.

Wait.

I jumped on top of the wall, and then from there climbed onto the roof of the nearest house.

Was it really that simple? I wasn't sure if I was smart or he was a moron.

Well, I wasn't complaining. I found a secure spot and crouched down there, and then grabbed my tunnel link and once again whispered, "Take me home."

I had no idea why the thing hadn't worked before, but maybe I just just used it wrong or something. With Goldie off my back I'd be able to take my time and try a few things, assuming it wasn't just broken. That would be really, really bad.

I sighed and listened. Snow was very loud to walk through, so I had a pretty decent idea of where he was, and it wasn't very close.

For next time, I wanted some way to deal with that ice. And I wanted to not get my ass kicked. If I couldn't handle one jackass with magic pants or whatever, then destroying all of humanity would be beyond impossible.

I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing and my thoughts. Goldie had apparently surmised that I had escaped and brought down his walls to give chase, but had failed to consider the third dimension in his search, so I was growing safer by the second. The other sound that I found interesting was…

Uh. I had no idea. But it was right next to me, so I immediately opened my eyes to see…

Annette, sound asleep in the foyer. Huh?

Oh! The tunnel gate. I touched the portal with my hand and felt a whole lot of… something. Well, that was probably fine. I got up and stuck my arm further in, and the feeling spread.

I wasn’t too worried about it. If I died, I died.

I stepped into the portal.