Gunwitch

I touched the cover of the book. The magic had been faint before, barely perceptible, but now… now, the book almost felt alive. I put the book back into my satchel and felt the magic fade away. I pulled it back out and as soon as the moonlight touched it, it started glowing again and the magic increased in intensity. The enchantment must have reacted to the moon. To Mēnē?

I opened the book, not sure what to expect. The first page was still blank, because of course it was. As was the second. The third page had been blank before as well, but not this time. Silver text stared back at me, glowing in the moonlight.

To walk beneath the silver moon is to see the shadows for what they truly are. If you are able to read this passage, you carry her mark, which means you are worthy of the information contained within this volume.

I almost called for Vasil to come check it out, but he wasn’t here. Whose mark did I carry? Bies? Surely, I didn’t. The only thing I carried that could be considered a mark was my eyes, which marked me as a follower of Mēnē. Did Bies also answer to the moon? Or was Mēnē’s light simply the universal key to things hidden in the dark? I decided to read on.

She had been warned of her end, in the final days of the war that would see her followers scattered and her name struck from history. To ensure her survival, and to protect what little remained of her faithful, she enacted a terrible final ritual. She tore her own divinity apart, splitting her soul into nine shards. These fragments now rest in nine separate dimensions, sealed below her sanctum, awaiting reunion upon her altar.

Hear this, seeker: whoever attempts to gather her shattered soul must be forged in blood and fire, for the guardians who hold these fragments will not relinquish them willingly. This is by design, a final test of worthiness. To aid you in this endeavor, I have included several runewords, crafted by Bies’ own hand, within these pages.

She waits in pieces, and she demands a champion.

Below the text were nine symbols. Symbols that reminded me of the ones I’d seen on the nine doors below my cathedral. It didn’t take a genius to connect the dots—even if I just happened to be one. Also the dots were actually pretty clearly spelled out so there wasn’t much to connect in the first place. The author connected it, which was great, because I didn’t enjoy mysteries or surprises.

That gave me another reason to head back to the cathedral as soon as possible. At least, if I was planning on gathering up all pieces of Bies and putting her back together. Not really sure why I’d want to do that, though. She might want her cathedral back. She might be mad about what I’d done to the place and try to kill me.

Though she did seem like a nice woman. Not that I knew her. But she seemed kind of nice from the extremely limited information I had on her. Unless you were to believe the Church. Which I didn’t. They also thought I wasn’t very pleasant, even though I was. Super pleasant, actually, so maybe Bies was super pleasant as well.

Maybe she’d be super happy and give me some really good rewards. I’d be happy if someone rescued me, especially if I was in a bunch of pieces for a long time. I can’t imagine she’d be having a good time. Maybe I should rescue Bies! Just another goddess to add to my long list of gods I was supposed to save. Well… two if you counted Stvora. If he was even trapped in some way. One, if he wasn’t. Zero, if Bies wasn’t even a goddess. I still wasn’t sure about that. A list with nothing on it was an awfully short list. Hardly a list at all.

Besides, how hard could it be? A couple of Clean Entries to the face and those guardians would be gone and I’d glue Bies together again and I’d get my well-earned reward. If she was able to make runewords, maybe she would even make me one to show her gratitude. Not doing so would be ungrateful. Now, I wouldn’t kill someone for being ungrateful—because I was no homicidal maniac—but I would have some words with her.

I’d have to get back to the cathedral before I could do any of that, though. And I was always in the market for some runewords. I hadn’t seen them yet, so I didn’t even know if they were any good. And even if they were good and I used them, that didn’t obligate me to save her.

I flipped to the next page, but that only contained normal text, and I was here for the silver glowy text. I’d read about what Bies liked to have for breakfast some other time. Who cared if she enjoyed eating beetles? Definitely not me. Maybe it didn’t actually say that, but like I said, I was here for the glowy text and I wasn’t about to waste precious eyesight reading a bunch of non glowy stuff.

I flipped past more lame, regular ink until I found another page filled with beautiful, not lame glowy ink.

To those who walk the path of the moon, she leaves this gift. Let it be known that Bies favored those who fought not for glory, but for the protection of others.

This runeword bears her wisdom: that strength without endurance is wasted, and power without healing is hollow. May it serve you as it once served her last defenders, in the final days before the silence.

[Bies's Wisdom - CloverFrostHeartSquareClover]

25% Chance to cast [Slow] on striking

25% Chance to cast [Blink] when struck

20% Chance to cast [Greater Healing Nova] when struck

+30% Faster cast rate

+20% Skill Effectiveness

+20 Mana after each kill

+20 Health after each kill

All Resistances +20%

+20 Attunement

+20 Luck

It was in that moment that I decided I was totally going to save Bies. Not because I wanted more power, or because I wanted more cool runewords like this. No, that was not the kind of thing I wanted. I wasn’t on some kind of mad quest for power and revenge. I was a protector. A defender of the weak and downtrodden. And what was weaker than a woman in nine pieces? A woman in ten pieces, yes, that’s true, but I didn’t know a woman who was in ten pieces. I knew a woman who was in nine pieces, which was already a lot. A lot worse than a woman in eight pieces, if you ask me.

Bies was in a state of severe structural compromise. I was a noble guardian and also a woman. I couldn’t not help her. And if this entirely noble and selfless act of rescue resulted in an absolute avalanche of similarly incredible rewards that would be completely coincidental. A secondary detail barely worth mentioning. Above else, I was a savior. A people’s person. A person’s people. I didn’t do it for the rewards. I did it because it was the right thing to do.

I stared at the glowing text, my heart overflowing with sincere righteousness. I was going to save Bies, even if I had to kill a million people. I mean… demons? Whatever was guarding her and whatever would step between me and saving Bies I would kill. Just one noble soul saving another in a noble way. Not in a murdery way, of course.

I reread the runes I needed to complete the runeword and noticed I actually had all of them. I could make this! It didn’t specify if I should put it in a weapon or something else though. That was a very unfortunate oversight on the author’s part. What if I put it in my revolver and it turned out to be something you put on your pants? It did specifically say on striking though, so that probably meant it was for weapons.

I should probably put it in one of my weapons. Then I’d finally get to see how [All is One] interacted with runewords. If at all. I had a good feeling about it. I doubted it would make it worse. If it didn’t do anything at all that would also be fine. The runeword was good as it was.

But if this was the first runeword… then it would make sense for the other runewords to be even better. You always save the best for last. You give a little tease at the start and then work your way up to better and better things. That’s just how it worked. The next runeword must be even better. Unless the author didn’t play by the rules and this was as good as it was going to get.

For a moment the thought entered my mind that this might be a fake runeword and the author just wanted me to waste my runes on an elaborate prank, but I dismissed the thought. It would be a lot of effort to create hidden text that only someone with my eyes would be able to see, in a book that may never reach me. No one would do that. Probably. Maybe Phisto would do that, but he wasn’t here.

Anyway, the author said he included several runewords. How much could several be? More than two, but less than many? I’d estimate between three and six. Seven runewords would be many. Time to find out what exactly he meant.