By the time we finally found Jack, the sun was already starting to dip toward the horizon. That alone should explain how absurd this castle was.
We entered sometime in the morning, quietly slipping through the courtyard under Veneri's invisibility enchantment and from that moment onward we've been exploring nonstop. Veneri systematically mapped the structure using his Awareness Eyes while Elyonari and I covered distance at speeds that would make most people dizzy and yet, it still took the entire day.
Entire halls led to other halls, which connected to staircases that branched into towers that somehow connected to more corridors. At one point we discovered a gallery that was so long that Elyonari flew down it at full speed for nearly thirty seconds before reaching the end.
The giant clearly liked space. Or maybe giants just had a completely different idea of what "reasonable housing" meant.
Either way, by the time we had explored enough of the castle to identify the important sections like courtyards, servant quarters, living chambers, dining halls and several suspiciously well-guarded storage rooms, Veneri's enchantment finally started fading. I noticed it first.
"Uh, your Enchantment is dying."
Veneri glanced over his shoulder.
"Yeah. It was only meant to last nineteen hours."
Before I could argue, his gaze suddenly turned.
"Wait."
Elyonari and I followed his line of sight. Someone was walking down the hallway toward us. It was a boy. Well… technically a young man.
He looked about sixteen or seventeen, tall and lean with neatly combed hair and surprisingly expensive clothes. In fact, the outfit he was wearing looked less like something a farm boy would own and more like something a prince might wear to a formal gathering.
"Is that Jack?"
Elyonari tilted her head slightly.
"He's dressed like royalty."
Veneri sighed quietly.
"That's him."
Jack walked toward us completely unaware of the three extremely suspicious visitors standing in the hallway. His expression looked relaxed, maybe even smug. This made what happened next even funnier. Veneri stepped forward casually and flicked the back of Jack's head with one finger.
He collapsed instantly. His entire body dropped like someone had cut the strings of a puppet. He didn't even have time to make a sound. The problem was that the impact had been… slightly stronger than intended.
Jack's head started bleeding immediately. I stared at the unconscious boy lying face-first on the floor while blood pooled beneath him.
"Wow..."
Elyonari looked mildly concerned.
"You might have overdone that."
"I barely touched him, you know."
He crouched down and grabbed Jack by the collar before dragging him across the floor like a sack of potatoes.
"This kid is unbelievably weak."
We followed him down the hallway toward the treasure room we had discovered earlier that afternoon. The room itself had been locked with a heavy iron door, which normally would have been inconvenient if Jack hadn't conveniently been carrying the key. Elyonari knelt beside the unconscious boy and reached into his pocket.
"Found it."
She held up a small key before stepping toward the door. The lock clicked open easily. We slipped inside quickly before closing the door behind us.
The treasure room was exactly what you would expect from a giant's hoard.
Gold coins covered the floor in glittering piles. Chests filled with jewelry and artifacts were stacked along the walls. Several massive shelves held objects that looked old enough to belong in museums. But the real centerpiece sat in the middle of the room.
A golden goose rested peacefully on top of a massive mound of coins, Elyonari stared at it.
"Well, that was easier than expected."
She stepped forward slowly. The goose noticed her immediately. For a moment neither of them moved.
Soft green energy began flowing gently around Ely's body. The goose relaxed almost immediately. Instead of retreating, it hopped down from its golden perch and waddled toward her. Elyonari crouched slightly as it approached.
They stayed like that for a while for thirty seconds maybe. Neither of them spoke. Veneri and I just watched in silence while the two apparently had a quiet conversation that we couldn't hear. Eventually Elyonari stood up again and turned toward us.
"That was informative."
Veneri crossed his arms.
"What did it say?"
"She told me everything. She's decided to follow us."
The goose walked past her and stopped near Veneri.
"Oh," Elyonari added casually, "her name is Griselda, by the way."
Griselda began slowly circling Veneri, tilting her head slightly as if examining him. Then something strange happened.
The goose spoke.
"Interesting."
"I can understand you."
"Of course you can," Griselda replied calmly.
I floated a little closer to the goose.
"I can understand her too."
"That's because of your connection with me. I have a Divine Creature. That means if I can understand you, you're a Divine Creature too."
Griselda nodded. She puffed her golden feathers slightly with pride.
"Correct. I am the Divine Creature Griselda, guardian of the Verdarite Demesne."
Silence filled the treasure room. Veneri slowly turned toward me. Elyonari did the same. I stared back.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"You know about divine domains," Elyonari said.
"So?" I replied.
"What is the Verdarite Demesne?" Veneri asked.
"I have absolutely no idea what she's talking about."
The treasure room became very quiet after I admitted that I had absolutely no idea what Griselda was talking about. The golden goose looked at me for several seconds. Her beady eyes narrowed in what I could only interpret as deep disappointment. Then she sighed.
Now, if you have never heard a goose sigh before, I can confirm that it is one of the strangest sounds imaginable. It was somewhere between an annoyed honk and the tired exhale of someone who had just realized they were surrounded by idiots.
"Vasreveilder really is annoying."
"You know him?"
Griselda turned her golden neck toward him.
"Of course I know him. He's the one who made this world."
Veneri stared at her for a long moment before speaking carefully.
"What do you mean he made this world?"
Griselda hopped onto a slightly higher pile of coins like a teacher preparing to give a class.
"Vasreveilder was the previous Split of Creation. More specifically, he was a Creation Nexus. And being an Aeterium on top of that made him extremely powerful. He was the one who turned the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk into an actual living world."
I looked around the treasure room slowly.
"So we're literally inside a fairy tale made real by a cosmic creation entity."
"Yes."
"That explains absolutely nothing."
Griselda shrugged in the way only a goose could shrug.
"Reality is often confusing."
"Wait."
Griselda looked at him.
"I thought Cassandra was the previous Split of Creation."
The goose suddenly made a strange choking noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Which again, hearing a goose laugh is an experience I never expected to have in my life.
"Cassandra?" she said between honks. "Oh that's hilarious. Cassandra was never the Split of Creation."
"But historical records say—"
"Yes yes, historical records. Those things are wrong more often than people think. Cassandra was given the Blessing of Creation by Vasreveilder. That blessing allowed him to wield a portion of creation authority but that does not make someone a Split of Creation."
"So people misunderstood," Elyonari said.
"Exactly. History deviation, I suppose."
I floated closer to them.
"Okay that's interesting and all, but you mentioned something earlier."
Griselda looked at me.
"The Demesne."
"Oh."
The goose sighed again.
"A Demesne is a trait that all Ancient Races possess. It's essentially a domain that belongs specifically to that race. A territory of existence that resonates with their origin."
"So it amplifies their natural affinity."
"Exactly, little Verdarite."
"And you're the guardian of one?"
Griselda puffed her chest proudly.
"I am the guardian of the Verdarite Demesne."
That name meant nothing to me but apparently it meant something to Elyonari.
"In the past, a Royal Verdarite chose me for a specific task to find the perfect Verdarite to serve and to grant them the Demesne. In fact, Vasreveilder told me that someone would eventually come here to save me and help me complete that task."
She tilted her head slightly at Elyonari.
"Turns out that person is you."
"Me?"
"You are a Verdarite High Elf. Elyonari, correct?"
Elyonari looked mildly uncomfortable.
"Yes. What if I don't want it?"
Griselda answered immediately.
"Then you will die."
That response was delivered with the casual tone of someone discussing the weather.
"That escalated quickly."
"Royal Ancient Races require a Demesne if they want to ascend properly to become a Deity or to achieve an Overwrite."
Elyonari's expression grew more serious.
"And if they don't?"
Griselda flapped her wings slightly.
"Unless you have the full support of a Supreme Entity, your body and soul will eventually collapse under the strain of your own power and die. Ancient Races can't live long outside their original world unless you get a Demesne."
I slowly glanced at Elyonari.
"Well that's not ominous at all."
She didn't laugh. Griselda then turned her attention toward Veneri.
"Fortunately for the three of you, you will all receive Demesnes."
Veneri's eyes narrowed.
"That explains the trials."
Griselda hopped down from the coin pile and walked across the floor.
"Correct. The three trials exist because each one is meant for one of you. If you pass the trials, you will each gain your own Demesne."
I looked at Veneri. He looked at Elyonari. Then we all looked back at the goose.
"So let me get this straight. We came here looking for a golden goose and instead we found a cosmic fairy tale created by a former Split of Creation and now, we're apparently participating in divine trials that reward us with reality domains."
"Yes."
I floated backward slightly.
"This day escalated way too fast."