Jason struggled to his feet.
“How did you all handle the desert so well?” Jason asked. “I was being carried and it broke me. I think I got sunburn through my clothes.”
“How much do you know about the four attributes?” Rufus asked.
“I remember that there are attributes,” Jason said. “Now that you say it. There’s the strength one and… some others.”
“One of the others is recovery,” Farrah said. “Our recovery attributes are all in the upper range of bronze tier, so our bodies replenish themselves as fast as the desert can take it out of us.”
“Unless we push ourselves too hard,” Rufus said. Jason unhappily compared himself to Rufus, whose glistening sweat and casual poise made him look like a model for an athletics calendar. Jason, by contrast, looked like a rag someone had just used to clean up a spill.
Replenished somewhat by the water and the rest, Jason took a closer look at the startling border between desert and garden. It was a straight line, like a border between worlds. A single step went from scorched, desert earth to springtime in an English country garden. Looking along the border, Jason spotted pillars placed periodically along the edge, white stone columns with magic symbols carved into the surface.
“Are those things making it like this in the middle of the desert?” Jason asked.
“They’re only part of it,” Farrah said. “It takes a large and sophisticated system to make something like this work.” She handed out spirit coins to Gary and Rufus. All three popped them into their mouths.
“What now?” Gary asked.
“Now we get to the manor house,” Rufus said. “We find Anisa and we kill everyone else.”
“I like this plan,” Gary said. Grey light started sparkling around him, growing thicker until it formed a full set of metal armour, encasing his entire body. It was thick and heavy, made from dark steel plates held together with large bolts. Engraved into the surface were runes that looked to have been carved out with a blade, rough but radiating strength. Where the engravings dug into the dark metal, red forge light shone from within.
“That’s impressive,” Jason said. “Isn’t it hot in there?”
“Heat I can handle,” Gary said. After seeing him sprint through the desert like he was jogging on the beach, Jason believed it.
Rufus held out a hand, around which motes of golden light were gathering. The light coalesced into a sword in Rufus’s hand, an elegant scimitar that seemed as much a work of art as a weapon. The hilt was a vibrant red-gold, as was the edge of the blade. The bulk of the blade was yellow-gold that shone like the sun, with red-gold inscriptions running down its graceful curve.
After Gary and Rufus called their impressive equipment, Jason looked over at Farrah.
“All the stuff I conjure is made of rock,” Farrah said. “I’m not carrying that lot around.”
“I’d conjure up my cloak,” Jason said, “but even if I had the mana, I think it’d kill me.”
“What can that cloak ability do?” Rufus asked.
“It gets bright or dark,” Jason said unenthusiastically. “It can also make me lighter, so I can jump from high places.”
Suddenly he perked up.
“Oh, and it lets me walk on water,” he said. “I haven’t tried that yet, though.”
“I have some magic boots that let me do that,” Rufus said, then frowned. “At least I did, until they were taken from me. We’ll get our equipment back after we’ve freed Anisa.”
Before sending away the stone chest, Farrah took out two belts with heavy pouches. One was grey, which she handed to Gary, the other red, which she kept for herself.
“What are those?” Jason asked. He watched Farrah loop her belt into her clothes, while Gary tied it around the outside of his armour. The heavy metal suit barely seemed to impede him.
“Summoning materials,” Farrah said.
“Summoning?” Jason asked.
“You’ll see soon enough,” Rufus said. “Let’s not tarry more than we have to.”
They set off through the grounds. The outer areas were manicured woodlands, shaded gravel trails making their way through artfully placed trees and shrubbery. Somewhere he could hear the babbling of a stream.
“This is nice,” Jason said, looking around.
“Indulgent,” Rufus criticised. “They should be working with the surroundings instead of against them. The cost of building and maintaining all this in the middle of the desert is beyond extravagant.”
“I know what you’re talking about,” Gary said. “There’s a desert city not too far from where I grew up. It has a subterranean river, and half the city is built underground around it. They use the natural landscape to their advantage. Hardly any core infrastructure requires magical upkeep.”
“Is that Zartos you’re talking about?” Rufus asked.
“Wait, did you just say Zardoz?” Jason asked.
“No, Zartos,” Rufus said. “Is Zardoz a place in your world?”
“No, Zardoz is…” Jason searched for the best way to describe it. “Let’s just say it’s for the best you didn’t say Zardoz.”
“Have you been to Zartos, Rufus?” Gary asked.
“No, my brother told me about it,” Rufus said. “He said it was definitely worth seeing.”
“Knowing your brother,” Farrah said, “he probably meant the women.”
“He’s not that bad,” Rufus said, prompting looks from Gary and Farrah. “He’s not.”
“Zartos has a large celestine community,” Gary said. “But I suppose your brother didn’t tell you about that.”
“He may have mentioned it,” Rufus said evasively. “In passing.”
“Celestines,” Jason said. “That’s another one of the races in this world, right?”
“That’s right,” Rufus said. “Like elves they’re famous for being attractive to human sensibilities.”
“We only have humans in my world,” Jason said. “The idea of meeting whole new races is exciting.”
He slapped Gary on the back, which was currently encased in metal.
“But you’ll always be my first, Gary,” Jason said.
“I like your attitude,” Gary said. “Humans have something of a bad reputation when it comes to other races.”
“I can believe it,” Jason said. “My world only has humans and we’re still awful to one another. My dad’s parents came from a different country than where I grew up, so I look different from most of the people I know. People in my own country look at me like I’m a foreigner. Even the people who do look like me call me a banana.”
“A banana?” Farrah asked.
“Yellow on the outside, white on the inside,” Jason said. “My mum’s name is Cheryl; why can’t I listen to Pat Benatar without people turning it into a thing?”
The other three looked at each other, shaking their heads.
“I don’t think any of us know what that means,” Farrah said.
“Probably for the best,” Jason said.
The cultivated woodlands were small, soon giving way to gardens of colourful flowers. The pathway continued out from the woods weaving its way through the garden beds. Beyond lay the manor house, which Jason hadn’t yet seen from the outside. Like the grounds, it was in the vein of a sprawling English country house. Three storeys of old stone and dozens of windows, in the old money style.
“I think that’s the hedge maze over there,” Jason said, pointing as they made their way through the garden. “I woke up in there with no idea of where I was or what was going on.”
“That’s where they found you?” Gary asked.
“It would be nice if it was that simple,” Jason said.
“Quiet,” Rufus ordered. “We could meet enemies at any point. We have no idea how many were left behind or if the others came back from the sacrifice chamber.”
“Are you sure I should be going with you?” Jason asked. “I’m not exactly an asset if combat breaks out.”
“You want to stay by yourself?” Rufus asked.
“Uh, no, now that I think about it.”