I returned to the village around that time of day when the air is hottest and the sun passive-aggressively decides to hover just low enough in the sky to burn your eyes should you decide to look in the wrong direction. At this point my shirt was soaked, I was tired of all the nonsense with prophecies and the Dreamweaver, and really was just downright tired in general. I had a purpose and I could afford to rest for a little bit before I acted upon it… assuming the Ender didn't kill us all in our sleep.

So, I walked into the village's local tavern. The air was just a little bit cooler than the air outside. I sat at the counter and called to the bartender for the usual. I took note of my surroundings. The place was more crowded than average for the time of day, no surprise given the weather. My mind was spent, and the world seemed to be moving slightly faster than usual. I almost didn't notice when the bartender put my glass down in front of me.

I picked up the glass and drank from it. It was a bit flat, but the liquid was still cool. It was nice to finally sit down after walking back from the hill in that blasted heat, and I could feel myself slowly recovering.

A few sips later, I was starting to get the sense that I was being watched. I turned and saw Astro beside me, looking as if he was waiting for his drink.

"Hello, Kay. Back from the heat?" Astro asked.

I glanced toward the inn entrance, half-expecting someone to barge in with a knife. "Did you just get here?"

"Yes, I just sat down. Shadow's here too, right behind you."

I turned around in my stool 180 degrees and saw, to Astro's veracity, the black-robed wizard sitting at the counter. "For Jeb's sake, I'm not even properly inebriated yet and somehow I can't keep track of a close friend and a well-meaning-albeit-suspiciously-powerful acquaintance sneaking up on me!" thought I.

I then recalled Fire and I's argument, and felt a discomfort that wasn't quite shame, but wasn't quite suppressed anger either. I was becoming increasingly familiar with that feeling since the end of the Onslaught.

Shadow waved. "Hello."

"Are you here for a drink? Or some other more important reason with lasting consequences?" I quipped.

"Actually, this is about the book Fristad had on him." My ears pricked up. "Before I take a closer look at it, I'd like to find out a bit more about what it could be capable of. From what I gather there is mind-altering magic in the world you are from so I thought of asking you and Astro to give me some pointers."

I deliberated and weighed my words. I didn't want to impede them but I also needed to make sure I got a look at that book myself. So, I decided to be honest enough:

"I've encountered it, but I can't say I know anything I could explain academically..." I looked toward Astro, wondering how much I'd told him about what Herobrine taught me and whether I was going to tell him much more over the years to come. However, even if he did think I was holding back, he'd understand if I wasn't forthcoming. I couldn't just give them Herobrine's teachings right off the bat. That was a religious thing as much as it was a practical skill.

Then it occurred to me that he might have seen some things himself in the years that separated us. For all I knew, he now knew more on the subject than I did.

He continued to avoid eye contact with me… At least I think he did. He seemed to be making a real effort to keep a straight face. Not as though he was going to laugh but as though something was causing him physical discomfort. I resolved he could be hiding something pretty serious and that I should bring it up with him later. Whether it was a wound or a secret was up in the air.

Shadow shrugged. "I'm happy with anything you can tell me, really. In my own world mind-altering magic is theoretically possible but the creators of the 'game' world made a conscious decision to make anything with permanent consequences impossible to use. There is very rudimentary mind-reading and very superficial suggestion but when it comes to anything beyond that I am honestly at a lack of experience, which is less than ideal when dealing with this book."

"I've encountered it a couple of times," Astro revealed, reanimating his features. "It's not widespread. Mostly it's used as a tool in torture and interrogation. One time I saw it used in some hokey religious rite. As you can imagine, that tends to attract certain kinds of less-than-stable personalities. I only know the basic principles behind the methods used, but I do know it can be countered with a certain amount of psychological training and mental discipline. For example, recognizing your own thoughts, and strengthening your willpower."

Shadow said: "That's good to know. But honestly, here isn't the place to discuss this further.

After we're finished with our drinks, I can tell you about my plans in a more private place."

A small rune lit up on Shadow's lower cheek, and the acoustics of the inn room deadened. I could almost hear my own heartbeat.

"So, I mentioned at the pub that I wanted to take a closer look at the book. We have only just recently become aware that the book even existed, and it is also not clear whether it has some level of self-awareness or is just passively inducing hallucinations that drive the afflicted to acts they wouldn't normally do. In either case, we also need to determine if the book can be useful to us, and if so decide how to manage it."

I nodded along with every beat, soaking it in absent-mindedly, thinking about what methods this book might be using. I had no doubt it was sentient, because it had to be. It was useless to me otherwise. I needed a collaborator, not a cursed object.

Shadow continued, "If it turns out the book is not of use to us or is too dangerous, I am reasonably confident that I will be able to destroy it quickly, and barring that, we know that the magic suppressing material can keep it in check, at least for now. On the other hand… if it is indeed sentient and cooperative on top of that we might get great use out of it."

Astro considered the matter carefully. "Honestly, given the behavior I've seen and heard of from Fristad over the past few days, and even supposing the book has some level of consciousness, I'm not sympathetic to it. Tampering with people's minds and eroding their free will is rather vile behavior no matter what sort of lens you view it through. With that said, we are not in the best situation, given we have made some powerful enemies and are facing a lot of uncertainty beyond that. I think it's worth exploring further."

Shadow responded, "I don't disagree with you. I want to make sure the book, or whatever being resides inside of the book, agrees to not mess with people's minds before we consider anything else. I also feel at least somewhat obligated to first talk to it, in my world I punish the unrepentant, but there are different things at stake there. Here, I would rather do what's best for the group."

I must admit, my opinions of mind manipulation were pretty darned low. It was rather heavy-handed and easy to abuse for personal gain. But this was a matter of practicality, not principle. The Entity needed stopping and I'd this book could help it didn't matter what methods it gave us access to.

Moreover, there was a possibility that Fristad's secret "companion" was acting out of misunderstanding or self-preservation. To be honest, it was a shame the book treated Fristad the way it did; it seemed rather intriguing and familiar. There was a time in my youth when books were my sole companion. Maybe our acquaintance could be renewed. After all, if anyone could withstand its influence, it was me.

"I think it's worth a shot," I said. I hesitated for a moment as I considered my wording. "And… supposing there is some way to get it to cooperate, and following that it is still the case that we want to keep the book away from Fristad, might I propose that I manage it for a time? I have some experience defending myself against threats of the more psychological variety, and to be honest the book intrigues me."

To be yet more honest, I was tired of being the weakling. In all likelihood, the Ender of Glibby or the Entity itself was coming any day now. They had thrashed us at the Tower and we escaped by the skin of our teeth. I left without most of the skin on my back. David had left with his life cupped in his hands, leaking away like water until... I hadn't even faced the Ender and five of us had only barely driven off her personal guard. Glibby and Freak had almost single-handedly beaten Astro, Tyron, Kir, Destiny and David. I had seen Glibby after that fight - he was just dandering about mere hours after taking a blast from David's gauntlet.

I, on the other hand, would have been be dead where I stood if Warnado hadn't intervened and fended off the Brines. Speaking of, Warnado, the kid I was presuming to protect, could burn me to a crisp in seconds. So, yes, I was in need of an upgrade. Sue me.

"Now, hold on," Astro said in his usual pragmatic and somewhat overly-cautious tone. "While it may be true that you have developed some mental safeguards, we still have little idea what the book is capable of."

I raised an open palmed dismissal and deflected in a tone of indifferent realisation, as if I had always known it and never really contemplated it before: "The Endlings never cracked me, Astro. Turns out the Tone can do a lot more than make you scared - it can do many nastier things. I can handle a bundle of pages, possessed or not."

I let my eyes linger on him dryly, but I'll confess it wasn't a deliberate move. I just couldn't figure out what this meant. The Astro I knew, whom I left before arriving in Nexus, would have had no qualms about my ability to resist. Just what had happened in those intervening years?

Shadow said: "So, if you have some concrete examples of what magic can do to a mind, I'd like to hear about it. I'll presumably be safe but it nonetheless won't hurt to know, especially for the future."

I leaned back and stared at the window. I tuned Shadow out for a moment and tried to assess just how quiet that rune was making things. Nope, I couldn't hear a shred of sound from the road. Just our own breathing. Mine was level. Important to keep it that way. I had to show myself to be as stable and responsible as possible. I had to be stable and responsible. Now that I had a task, I could do that.

"So, I was captured by the endlings after Farrogat. They have this trick that comes to them naturally called The Tone. They use it to incapacitate, usually. A particular croak or musical note can draw to mind the worst fears and imagery. It's not really magic, it's just something they can do. Biological." I swallowed some spittle. I felt the heat again. "At least, it was originally."

"Some of their torturers have made an art out of it. I don't know if they use magic or just practice a lot, but they can use it to create a genuine connection with your mind. With a little variation, like jimmying a lock, they can make you to tell them anything they want. Plans, fears, doubts, personal memories: everything. Some of them are so good you don't even notice they're doing anything.

"You get two schools when it comes to that. One of them just chats away to you during an interrogation and suddenly you find you have an undying compulsion to tell them anything and everything they want. The other drugs you up and talks to you as you dream and if they're good you won't even realise you've been visited. Could spend a week thinking you've been forgotten, not realising that the pink rabbit you've been chatting to in your dreams would burn you if you touched it, dismember you if you looked it in the eye...

"Thankfully, Herobrine taught me some old techniques for locking people out. How to notice when someone's searching for information directly - it's pretty obvious, it feels like your hair's being ruffled. How to notice characters someone else came up with. And, of course, how to alter dream-scapes. As I told you the other day, I was actually able to successfully expel someone quite recently."

I paused a moment, then a thought occurred. Naturally, I couldn't just let that sit there if I wanted them to treat my suggestion seriously.

"The Lady of Dreams. Your friend. Not that I knew that at the time… Okay, I would absolutely have thrown her out even if I'd known that - I like my privacy."

I prayed honesty would prove the best policy. I even dropped the proper accent at the end of the last sentence and allowed the coarse brogue of the rough southern hills to range.

Shadow laughed. "Honestly the only one you're inconveniencing with that is yourself. She makes a point of keeping dreams private."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, at least it demonstrates my conviction not to let anyone mess with my mind. See, I'm an ideal candidate!" I gestured enthusiastically and grinned widely. "What do you say?"

Shadow didn't laugh this time. A thought occurred and I started looking around for that shade that followed her, Wodahs. Relieved to find it hadn't moved from behind her, I settled down again.

Instead of laughing or smiling, she said: "I suppose I'll try talking to the book and we'll see how that goes. If I don't have to destroy it it's all yours."