THE DRAGON CULT OMNIBUS

ISAAC KEYES

BRANDLESS

THE DRAGON CULT: BOOK 1

ISAAC KEYES

1

“Excuse me, do you work here?”

I looked down at the woman from on top of a rolling metal staircase, holding an empty box that had contained the furnace filters I’d lined up on the shelf. I was wearing my despised uniform of tan slacks, sensible brown shoes, and a pale green polo shirt that, even after years of wear, was still vaguely uncomfortable. Pinned on the front of it was my nametag that read, ‘Hi! I’m Michael! How can I help you today?’

A few years ago, the desire to give this woman a flippant answer would have been almost overwhelming, but now, I just nodded and said, “Yeah, I do. What can I help you with?”

“I need a padlock, and I can’t find them in this maze of a store.” The annoyance in her voice didn’t bode well for this interaction.

“They’re in the last aisle of hardware, that way.” I pointed to the far wall. I was supposed to offer to walk her there, but I had more filters to stock.

She curled her lip at me and scoffed. “I was just over there and I didn’t see them. Are you sure that’s where they are? I don’t need any more of my time wasted.”

“Let’s go look.” I stepped lightly down the metal stairs and walked out of the aisle with the only joy I knew blossoming in my chest: proving an annoying person wrong. I didn’t make eye contact as we headed towards the far wall of the store. Halfway down the aisle was a four foot wide, six foot tall section of nothing but padlocks in all sizes and colors. “Here they are,” I said, gesturing at the display.

“Hmph. I must have missed them.”

I nodded and said, “Yep. Let me know if you need any more help,” before I walked away. She didn’t say anything else, and I didn’t smile smugly in her face. 

I sighed as I made my way back to the pile of furnace filters. Once, that sort of situation would have made my day, but now, I was just happy I hadn’t gotten yelled at, or that she hadn’t found a manager and made up some terrible things I’d done, both of which happened with rather alarming regularity. Although, that second one still had some time to materialize.

I spent the next half hour stocking the filters and breaking down the boxes before I figured it was time for an on-the-clock break. 

The break room vaguely smelled like coffee and a variety of microwaved leftovers, but there weren’t any customers and it was well air conditioned. I sat down in a hard plastic chair and pulled out my phone to scroll through an endless sea of memes.

A little while later, my boss, Jeremy came in and gave me a look. I idly wondered if he knew I hadn’t clocked out for the break, but instead of commenting, he sat down across the table from me and said, “I just had a customer complain about you.”

I died a little more inside. “You don’t say.”

He smiled a little and nodded. “I do say.” He was about a decade older than me, with brown hair just starting to go gray, even though he was probably too young for that. He mostly did things by the book, but he’d worked retail longer than I had and knew how things went. “Said you were, and this is a quote, ‘frightfully rude’ and ‘completely dismissive’ of her questions.”

“I’ll bet she did.”

“What actually happened?”

“She asked for padlocks and I took her to them. She was not friendly about it. Wasn’t the worst I’ve dealt with, though.”

“You know I gotta write you up for this, don’t you?” Any time a customer complained about a specific person, that person had to be written up, no matter the actual circumstances. I’m sure that’s not how it was worded in the employee handbook, but that’s absolutely how corporate wanted it handled.

“Yeah, I know.” I also knew that Jeremy didn’t care how many write ups I had, he would never fire me over them. It wouldn’t make any difference anyway; any “raises” I got were based solely on hours worked. Still, it didn’t make me feel good.

“You, uh…?” he said, gesturing at the clock.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll get back out there.”

I pulled a huge, rolling cart out with me and loaded it up with all the filter boxes I’d broken down earlier. As I pulled them slowly through the backrooms toward the machine that crushed them down, I idly wondered if this was all there was to life. I really tried to keep those thoughts at bay with video games or tv or anything else I could, but still, they often wormed their way into my mind, especially after soul-crushing situations. 

Nothing extremely bad ever happened to me: no one ever attacked me, even though some people threatened it, I had an apartment and my bills got paid, if only barely. But most days were hours upon hours of doing unsatisfying or often pointless work. And if I complained, people were always quick to tell me how lucky I was to have work at all. So I’d stopped complaining. I just did as I was required to do and not a thing more. 

But the thoughts still came when I least wanted them to: Couldn’t I be doing something more? Something worthwhile? I didn’t have to save the world, but wasn’t there something purposeful I could be doing? 

I was engrossed in these thoughts as I walked mechanically through the massive storerooms. I didn’t hear the scraping of metal on metal until it was nearly too late. 

A forklift came barrelling at me. I shouted and jumped out of the way, landing hard on my elbow. The machine crashed into the three-story tall shelves, bending in the lower steel supports. I thought they would all fall on me, but though they wobbled ominously, they held. I shut my eyes and breathed out in relief.

Cracking wood sounded from above me and I looked up just in time to see a shrink-wrapped pallet full of vacuums falling straight towards me. For a second I froze, and by the time I even started to move the entire thing was coming down on me from thirty feet up.

I felt my bones crack. Lots of them. I was in serious trouble, crushed flat on the floor underneath an avalanche of boxes, but the situation was so surreal; it had happened so fast. People were screaming, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. Pain coursed throughout my body, but it was like it was happening to someone else.

Strange light glowed around me, and I saw little runes dancing in the air amidst complex and swirling geometric designs in all different colors. I tried to focus on them as everything around me faded away. At the back of my mind, I knew I should be scared, but I was suddenly so tired, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Oddly enough, I could still see the runes and shifting lines even with them closed. They still didn’t look like anything I’d actually ever seen before.

It felt like I was falling. Sideways.

I blinked away the sleep that had threatened to overcome me, and the pain drifted away like it’d never been there. Color and shapes burst into existence and dwindled away as I fell, all the while the runes surrounded and enveloped me, while I looked on with a disconnected curiosity. After an indeterminable amount of time, they began to line up in circles around me, the lines and shapes molding themselves into one complex pattern, spinning faster than I could see.

Suddenly, they snapped inwards, pressing against my body, pulling me towards who knew what, even faster than I’d already been falling.

Then, even though I thought they already had been, I opened my eyes.

2

Iwas laying on a hard stone surface. At first, I thought it was the concrete floor of the store’s backroom, but as I blinked the blurriness from my vision, the night sky spread out overhead. The moon was full and looked much bigger than normal. More concerning than that, though, was the breeze that drifted over my shoulders.

I brought my hand to my chest. I wasn’t wearing my green polo shirt anymore, which was a plus whatever the reason. But the breeze didn’t stop there; I lifted my head and saw that I was completely naked. 

The thoughts of falling through a dreamscape of color and swirling runes stuck in my head and I had trouble registering my nudity, or that it might have been a problem. It took some minutes for the roiling thoughts in my head to finally calm down before I sat up. 

I was in a crumbling, stone ruin, open to the stars and the wind. Trees surrounded the relatively small place, and their leaves looked blue for reasons I couldn’t fathom. My clothes were nowhere to be seen, but it was a warm night, even though it had been day not so long ago. 

I turned to look around me, and was shocked to find a woman standing a little ways behind me. At least, she appeared to be a woman, or something very close. She had pale blue hair, almost white skin, and two long white horns that curled up over her head. She wore a white robe cinched tightly at the waist with a leather bodice. But most striking of all were her bright yellow eyes which seemed to shine with their own light. She was beautiful, in a rather otherworldly kind of way. She stared down at me in what looked to be surprise. 

I stared dumbly back for a few seconds before I remembered I was naked. I yelped and quickly crossed my legs awkwardly, my hands covering whatever they could. It was quickly turning out to be one of the weirdest dreams I could remember.

She took a tentative step forward and gave me a small smile, like she was looking at a wild animal and was not the least bit sure if standing there was safe. “Can… you understand me?”

Her accent was strange, to say the least. The words had flowing ups and downs and an odd cadence. I tried to answer, but the sounds that came out of my mouth didn’t match what was in my head. I tried again, but the same strange sounds came out. I raised an eyebrow and shrugged before I looked back up to her and nodded.

She nodded back. “My name is Revana Shaelira. I am a priestess of the Mulaq’Shae, the old ways.”

Okay. That meant absolutely nothing to me.

She continued, “I know this must seem strange.”

“You got that right,” I blurted out. The sounds coming out of my mouth were still weird, but just slightly less weird than last time.

Either way, she smiled like she understood me. “I will try to explain. I know you did not ask for this.”

I shrugged. “Well, dreams come as they please, I guess. So, like, do you have any extra clothes laying around, or…?”

“Oh! Yes, yes of course!” She hurried away, ducking behind the broken remnants of what was once a stone wall. 

I took the break in our ‘conversation’ to really look around. I was indeed on a flat section of stone, cut the same way the walls were, in long, thin blocks. Surrounding me was a tangled mess of circles and lines, every bit of which was inscribed with what looked like the same runes I’d seen during my fall. How’s that for dream continuity, I thought. There were tiny plants and bits of grass sticking up through cracks in the stone floor, and most of them were the same light blue that the leaves on the trees were. Anything that wasn’t, like the bark of the trees, was a very deep purple. It was a little hard to keep looking at, so I turned my eyes to the stones. At least they were the normal gray that I expected. 

Revana returned a minute later with a dark gray robe and nothing else. Apparently I was going commando, but it was still worlds better than sitting here in nothing. She handed it to me and didn’t turn around when I rose to put it on. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks while I turned and slipped into it. I tied the belt very tightly before I faced her again. She didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed about this situation, but there was still a hesitancy in her eyes that I didn’t like the least bit. Something big or weird was coming. Maybe both.

“What’s your name?”

“Oh right, yeah. It’s Michael.” My name came out of my mouth perfectly and sounded the same to my ears, but the other words were still off in a way I couldn’t quite understand. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Michael. I’m sure you’re confused as to why you’re here. I’ll explain, and while it may seem odd, please trust that everything I say is true.”

This was by far the most realistic dream I’d ever had. It occurred to me that it was probably the only lucid dream I could actually remember. “Okay, sure. Lay it on me.”

“I have summoned you to this world from your own, which has, in a metaphysical sense, grown close to mine, making this possible. I could only summon someone whose spirit’s connection was waning, so it is likely I called you here near the moment of your death. Can you remember it?”

Well, that was weird. “Uhh…” I played along and tried hard to think back to the last thing I could remember before going to sleep. The only thing I could think of was that I had been at work. There had maybe been a forklift and… “That’s not… I…” It had hit the shelves? There was a pallet of something. 

It had fallen on me.

But that wasn’t real either, was it? I sat down on the hard stone and tried to think, my brows furrowed with the effort. “Some… I was… I was crushed?” I looked up to her, liking this dream way less with every second. 

She gave me a tight little smile. “Yes. As your spirit’s connection faded, I pulled you here. You felt like you were falling, and perhaps you could see the runic mandalas that formed the summoning circle?”

My breath came fast as an overwhelming feeling of dread descended upon me. “No.”

“I’m afraid so.”

I shook my head hard, my eyes wide. “No, that’s not possible. This is a dream. A dream. I’ll wake up any minute now.”

She stepped over to me and knelt down. She reached out and took my hand in hers. I gasped; the back of her hand was covered in tiny, golden scales that trailed down her fingers that ended in white claws. Actual claws. They weren’t fingernails or gloves or armor: the tips of her fingers came to white points. And they felt real. Completely real.

Was this all… really real?

I must have said that last part out loud, because she nodded and looked into my eyes before saying, “It is. You are no longer on your world; you are here, in Vendira.”

I looked back into her shining, yellow eyes, a torrent of emotions surging inside me. “I… died?” Tears pooled at the corners of my eyes. 

“Almost. But I was able to bring you here because of it.”

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to think. I sat there, dumbfounded for an indeterminate amount of time while she held my hand and let me process the unbelievable. Eventually, I said, “Why me?”

She released my hand and sat on the stone next to me. “I’ll be completely honest—I wasn’t searching for you. I was searching for anyone like you. You were the one that happened to be in the right place at the wrong time. I know it was cruel of me, and that you might never forgive me for it, but things are desperate here, and I want you to know I didn’t do any of this lightly. It is my fervent hope that once I explain, you’ll see why I did what I did, and won’t resent me for it.”

“Okay,” I said, looking at her with narrowed eyes, “assuming that this is actually real, which I’m still not one hundred percent on, and what you say is true, which I have no way of verifying, you essentially saved my life.”

“Yes, that is likely.”

“Just likely?”

“You were dying, but not dead. It is possible you might have been saved in your world. My summoning ritual is just that. It is a spell to summon anyone that it could; I couldn’t see who it would choose or their exact predicament.”

“Uh huh. Well, I’m going to give you the benefit of a doubt and say you saved my life then. In which case, assuming you have a good reason for summoning me here at all, I doubt I’ll resent you for it.”

She nodded, her shoulders relaxing. She glanced up into my eyes and opened her mouth, then sighed. “I’ve been planning this for years now, and I’ve rehearsed what I would say hundreds of times, if not thousands, but now that you’re here, I find myself unable to say much at all.”

Relatable, I thought. “Well, just start anywhere. I doubt most of it’s going to make sense to me, so just start talking and I’ll eventually catch up.”

She chuckled softly. “Yes. That’ll do.” She looked out of the ruins towards the sweeping hills and oddly-colored trees, but it was clear she was looking farther than that. “Our world is controlled by an empire that’s existed for centuries. We are born into castes and that decides our fates for our entire lives. We do as we are told, we are used and thrown away, and there is no hope of resistance. Anything approaching it is met with swift and vicious reprisal.”

Unexpectedly, she untied her robe and pulled it open. 

I gaped; her breasts were amazing. And while she clearly didn’t have any modesty about displaying her body, they were unfortunately not what she was showing me. I pried my eyes off them to the circular mass of black lines making up a sizable pattern on the left side of her stomach. “What in the world is that?” It looked like a tattoo, but it was clearly more than that.

“It is my shadowbrand.”

I also belatedly noticed that she got to wear underwear under her robes. They were white and slightly lacy and I did my absolute best to keep my eyes off of them and my thoughts on the matter at hand. “I’m guessing it’s not a good thing.”

She closed and tied her robe again, making the conversation much easier to focus on. “No. Everyone is branded upon birth, and it’s used to control us. Imperial enforcers can channel their magic into anyone’s brand at will.” She shook her head and shuddered. “Painful barely describes the sensation. A single imperial could immobilize more or less any number of people instantly. Like I said, we’ve no hope of resistance.”

I nodded, not really following much of this explanation. It was clear I was only hearing the barest amount of what was actually going on. But one point stuck out pretty clearly in my head. “So, what does any of this have to do with me?”

“You are brandless.”

“Uh huh.” I was trying so hard to keep up with this conversation, but I felt so far out of my depth. “You’re telling me that that’s special? That literally every single person here has this… shadowbrand?”

“Yes. There have been attempts to hide newly born children from it, of course, but…”

“...the ‘empire’ didn’t take kindly to that?”

She took a long, deep breath. “Yes, and that’s quite the understatement. Anyone even tangentially related to any attempt is put to death. And not a quick death either.”

I sucked a breath in through my teeth. “Oh.”

“Mhmm. You can imagine that after long enough, people stopped trying. So it is that every person has a shadowbrand, except the royal family.” She shrugged with a little smile. “Or so it’s said. I’ve never even seen one of them before, let alone searched them for a brand. Someone from my station would never be anywhere near a royal; it would be the honor of a lifetime to even see one from a distance.” Her lip curled at the statement. “Or so they say.”

I nodded, hoping I could remember any of this later. “So back to me being brandless and that being important?”

“Yes! Wait here.”

She leapt up and ran off into the ruins again while I sat on the stone with a creeping sense of dread for what was coming. So far, it seemed there was an evil empire with a vicious method and habit of controlling people that I was immune to, which was apparently of monumental importance. I started silently rehearsing an explanation that I was not, nor had ever been, anything even resembling a fighter.

The bottom dropped out of my stomach when she returned, carrying some cloth and, to my horror, a sword. It was a very nice sword; it was made of gleaming, rune-etched metal with a filigreed, golden hilt and what looked to be a ruby set into the pommel. My eyes were locked on it as I stammered out, “Uh, yeah, I, uh, look here. I’m not… I’m not…”

“You’re not a fighter,” she finished for me, matter-of-factly.

I looked up into her eyes while my mouth opened and closed uselessly. Eventually, I said, “Not even close. I’ve never been in a single fight in my life, especially not one that involved swords.”

She nodded, the ghost of a sad smile on her lips. She sat down beside me, laying the cloth and sword on the ground. “I didn’t expect to summon a warrior. But that’s not actually important. Let me tell you a little of Vendira’s history.”

Okay, more things I was probably going to be expected to remember. I was going to do my best.

She must have seen my expression, because she snorted before saying, “I’ll keep it brief. In the early days, the shae, which is our magic and the practice of using it, was the only known form of magic in the world. 

“But the Gorvani, the people who would become the empire’s ruling class, set about experimenting with other latent powers in the world. After decades of research, they were able to tap into what would later be known only as the tenebrae, a dark power coursing through the depths of our world.” She lowered her eyes and shuddered. “What they were able to do with it was staggering, and they were ruthless in its application. They swept through their neighbors with brutal efficiency. After the first city-states fell, the rest of the world either joined them, or resisted and were conquered. Honestly, neither option ended up being a good one; the ones who joined in the beginning were treated largely the same as those who resisted.”

I stayed silent for this story. Revana recited it quietly with downcast eyes and I figured anything I had to say would pale in the face of it all. It was clearly very personal despite being centuries in the past. Although, I supposed the ramifications of it all were very much not in the past.

“Wait, hang on. This is probably a really dumb little point, but your last name was…Shaelira, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is it just like, a massive coincidence that that’s part of the, uh, mallikshae…”

She laughed. “Mulaq’Shae. And no, my birth name is Lira. When I became a priestess, my name became somewhat of a title, changing to Shaelira.” She glanced up at me. “Anyway, you’re probably still wondering what this all has to do with you.”

I smiled. ‘I was just going to let you get to it rather than asking a third time.”

She laid a clawed hand on the sword. “This is a holy relic formed from the shae, from the time before the empire’s rise. It contains generations of knowledge, passed down from wielder to wielder across the centuries. Merely using it can impart its knowledge to you.”

I raised my eyebrows but said nothing.

“Not immediately, of course. That would likely shatter your mind. But over time, this can impart the expertise of hundreds of warriors to you. And what’s more, it can directly counter the tenebrae.”

My first impulse was to act like I remembered what that was, but if I was going to continue assuming this was all still real, I figured I should just ask and look stupid rather than miss important information. “Uh huh. And that’s…what now?”

“The empire’s magic.”

“Ah, yes. Right. Ok, so you need someone like me to use this because…?”

“The shadowbranded cannot use them. The tenebrous magic sealed into our bodies prevents us from wielding them properly. I can still pick it up and swing it, but for me, or anyone else here, it’s just a sword, nothing more.”

We sat in silence for some time after that. I had no idea what Revana was thinking, but she kept glancing up at me, maybe waiting for me to reply. Inside, I was set to explode. The fact that any of this was actually happening was still catching up to me, but more than that, I was being asked to fight. To be a warrior. And while it was, in some ways, something I’d always wanted, it was so alien and terrifying that I had no clue what to do or say. On one hand, I’d always wanted something with a purpose, but on the other, could I risk my life for this? Although it seemed this was the life I had now, and my options were to run and hide in a foreign world or fight against an evil empire, and neither of them sounded amazing.

I let the thoughts drift in and out of my head, and Revana was seemingly content to let me think, but eventually, one nagging thought stuck prominently out. “So, this weapon, and weapons like this, can nullify the… the tenebrae?”

“They can.”

“But the empire won, right? Surely there were actual warriors at the time who wielded these…and still lost?”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “The relics were never openly used against the empire.” Her voice was soft and her words slow; it seemed like she was working hard to keep her voice level. “Only a few existed, and they were all in the care of a special faction of the Mulaq’Shae, high practitioners of our ways.

“And they were betrayed. From within.” 

“Oh.”

“Many of the relics were captured then. While they cannot be destroyed by the tenebrae, the empire surely has buried them so deeply that we’ll never find them again. Only a few were spirited away during the chaos that ensued at the time. And these two were placed in my care many years ago, that I might one day summon a brandless to use them. And today, after so long, is that day.”

“Wait. Two relics?”

She unfolded the pile of cloth she’d brought with the sword, which I’d assumed was just something to wrap the blade in. It turned out it was a long shirt, dyed in red and embroidered in gold. Or was it a tunic, I thought. What was the difference? Was there one here? I decided I was just going to think of it as a tunic, because that sounded better than calling it a shirt.

“I know this one looks a little underwhelming, but believe me when I say it’s just as impressive as the sword, although it might take you a long time for you to wield it properly.”

“I’m gonna wield a sh- tunic?”

She laughed. “It’s just a garment now, but it can teach you how to weave armor directly from the shae’s currents: weightless, shining armor that can deflect any blow.” She took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes. “And I think it’s time. Pick up the sword, if you would.”

I looked down at it. Although fancy, it really did just look like a sword. I reached out slowly for it, plagued with doubt. I was just me; I wasn’t anything or anyone of note. What if it didn’t work? What if I was just fundamentally too lame to use this thing? I picked it up. The hilt was wrapped in soft leather and the whole thing was balanced very well, or at least it seemed to be. Would I really know if it wasn’t? 

For a few seconds, my fears were confirmed as nothing happened. The apologies for being a massive disappointment were on the tip of my tongue when a soft, glowing light began emanating from the sword, flowing around it and swirling around my arm. 

Revana gasped softly, tears beginning to form in her yellow eyes. 

An odd, but strangely pleasant sensation flowed down my arm and through my entire body as I stared, frozen in place by the spectacle. Despite what Revana had said, I still half-expected my mind to be deluged with centuries worth of battles and forms and experience, but nothing of the sort happened. But based on her reaction, this was exactly the hoped-for outcome.

I tried to think of something suitably cool to say in the moment, but eventually settled on silence; it seemed like I should just let it happen rather than forcing a movie one-liner, which they probably didn’t even have in this world.

The moment was spoiled anyway, however, when Revana glanced up behind me let out a choked scream.

I spun, sword still in hand, and a chill went down my spine.

3

“Well, well, well,” the man said. “I knew I’d have you one day, Revana.”

I’d never seen anyone from the empire before, but there was no question that this guy was one of them. He didn’t have horns and claws like Revana, but he wasn’t quite human, either. He had pale blue skin, orange eyes, and black and gray hair that had been aggressively slicked back. His ears sported small points at the top, just like an elf’s, assuming elves were real, which, who knew, they might very well be on this world, I thought. He was not, however, attractive in the way I thought elves would be. On the contrary, he was rather off-putting if not straight out ugly.

He was covered in smooth, overlapping plates of armor that looked way more like chitin than metal, and they weren’t black, more of a deep purple, but they weirdly didn’t seem to reflect any moonlight. His hands and head were bare, however, somewhat implying that the armor was much more for show than practicality.

But all that was moot compared to the insufferable smirk he was wearing. I’d dealt with a lot of assholes in my day. Way more than my fair share, I’d say. And this man or whatever he was immediately had the most punchable face I’d ever seen, and that was saying something. 

Revana was backing slowly away across the stone, her eyes locked on him. 

“Jorel! Y-you shouldn’t have been here.”

That stupid smile was planted firmly on his face. “Plans change, little Revana, and how fortuitous that they did. I felt the pull of your paltry magics and it led me here. And finally I have an excuse to kill you.”

Revana’s eyes were wide and terrified. Apparently this guy was a lot more dangerous than he looked, armor notwithstanding. 

I was still sitting on the ground, the sword in my hand. I stood, my own fear rising rapidly. I pointed it at him and said the most forceful thing I might have ever said to anyone. “Hey, why don’t you back off, buddy.”

He laughed loudly and derisively at me. “Who is this, Revana?” He looked at my sword and smirked. “And what, exactly, do you think you’re going to do with that, boy?” He held out his hand, and black waves began emanating from it, and I watched as a dark blade, seemingly made from the same material as his armor coalesced in his hand. “It’s been some time since I’ve had some sport, so I’ll give you the honor of being cut down rather than the usual treatment.”

Jorel shifted into a fighting stance as the blood drained from my face. I was in a sword fight. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to have immediately gained any wisdom from these relics, but I sure didn’t feel anything. And here was a man who actually knew how to use one. And we were fighting. And there was no way it wasn’t to the death.

He must have seen my face go pale because he laughed again, even louder. He didn’t waste any more time, however; he stepped towards me and lunged.

I’d rarely felt actual muscle memory in my life, but when I swept my sword up and parried his blade, it was exactly the same. I didn’t think, I just reacted. He scoffed, swung at me again, and I stepped lightly out of the way, as if I had a clue what I was doing. The fear still pounded in my veins, but a calm slowly took over for reasons I couldn’t fathom. He swung again and again, and I could see the flaws in his strikes, and there were a lot. In the moment, I had no idea how I knew, but this man was a terrible swordsman. I avoided and batted aside his strikes over and over with little to no effort. 

His arrogance quickly turned into rage as it became clear that he wasn’t going to cut me down. His attacks became more wild, more desperate, before he finally screamed in frustration and let his sword vanish. “I will not be mocked like this!” He held up both hands, and both of them burst with shadows.

Revana screamed and curled in on herself.

Jorel grinned in triumph, but his expression turned to bewilderment when I didn’t do the same. “How are you resisting!? Fine! You asked for this, lowborn.” The arrogance swiftly returned as he raised his hands higher and the cloud of shadows around them grew in size. Revana was still on the ground, and I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, but it wasn’t going to be anything remotely good, and he was apparently going to enjoy it.

So far, I’d only defended myself, but the time for that was clearly over, so I stepped forward, careful to keep a wide stance, and I slashed at him. The shadows fell away from his hand as he tried to knock my sword away. It sliced through his dark armor like it wasn’t even there.

The sight of his face morphing from smug condescension into abject terror was probably the most satisfying thing I had ever seen in my entire life. 

I hadn’t cut his hand off, but it was still a deep injury with blood flowing freely from it. He sputtered, his face as pale as mine had likely been minutes ago. He looked back and forth from me to Revana, but I was sure he was unable to make sense of it all. He tried to form a few words, but they wouldn’t come, and he eventually turned and ran. I’d known people like him: nothing but arrogance when they think they’re not in any danger, but would turn tail and run the second they were vulnerable.

I rushed over to Revana, but she was already stumbling to her feet. “Can’t…let him run,” she said, breathlessly.

“But he’s no threat.”

She gripped my arm hard, and it hurt. She looked into my eyes and said, “If he gets away, the empire knows about you, and all our plans go up in smoke.”

“Oh.”

We ran.

I did a lot of walking for my job, but not a lot of running; Revana outpaced me easily. We ran through the bright blue forest, down a beaten, winding trail. The huge moons shone brightly and it was almost like daytime in that strange place, but I still had trouble navigating the underbrush. I was about to call out when I heard Revana yell. It wasn’t in pain, though; she’d clearly caught up to Jorel and was…trying to…kill him.

My steps slowed as the thought became all I could think about. It was one thing to hold a sword and say you wanted to help, but the reality was so much more messy and brutal. I knew this man would have killed us both and probably thought nothing of it, but still, I’d never been in a fight in my life, let alone killed a person. I’d never even been hunting or cleaned a fish. 

I walked slowly towards the sounds of the fight. Revana had him pinned to the ground, her hands intertwined in his, but he was doing all he could to get away. I watched, transfixed, unable to move as they vied for dominance. Eventually, Jorel got his knee into her stomach and was able to kick her off. He scrambled up, and before she could lunge at him again, both of his hands burst into those horrific shadows, roiling faster and larger than they were before.

Revana screamed.

A chill slid down my spine; I’d never heard anyone scream like that. It was wild, animalistic, and terrifying. For a second, I thought about running. I really did. I’d love to say I’d been brave and fearless, but I hadn’t been. I considered leaving her there. I didn’t know what else this man could do, and I didn’t know if I had it in me to kill someone.

Those thoughts passed briefly, but mixed in was the certainty that even though I had no idea what would happen, I wasn’t going to stand there and watch Revana die. I’d known her for, at maximum, twenty minutes, but I wasn’t going to live with the memory of her death. Especially if it came because I was a coward. 

I took a step, and another, and then I was running. I held the sword up and yelled. I knew it was a stupid way to attack. I didn’t even need the relic’s wisdom for that. I announced myself, I raised my weapon up and left myself open. But nothing was moving my legs except adrenaline, so I just kept going.

Jorel’s eyes went wide as he turned his hands and his evil magic at me. I don’t know if he thought it would work this time or if it was just reflex because it was all he’d ever needed to do. Either way, I didn’t stop, and I brought the sword down between his glowing hands, directly into his face.

I’m pretty sure normal blades have trouble slicing cleanly through bone, but this one didn’t. I brought it down on the top of his head, and it sank all the way through to his chest, splitting him cleanly apart.

I froze, looking at the gore. His body slumped to the ground, blood flowing freely and pooling on the dirt while I stood completely still, sword still held out before me.

A moment later I turned around, vomiting loudly on the blue grass. That went on for a couple of minutes, I think. After I’d thrown up everything I’d eaten, I just dry heaved for a little longer. 

I crawled over to Revana, who was still curled in on herself and shuddering. I laid a hand on her shoulder, worried that if she was really hurt, I had no idea what to do about it. “Are you okay?”

She took a long breath and nodded. “I’ll… be okay.” Her voice was small, and quiet. 

I sat beside her for a few minutes, imagining how much pain she had had to be in to scream like that. It wasn’t a sound I ever wanted to hear again. 

Eventually, she opened her eyes and slowly sat up. Her gaze moved to mine and she must’ve seen the concern there, because she smiled softly and said, “I really will be alright. It’s hardly the first time I’ve been branded.”

“That’s what you call…?”

She nodded. “Yes, we use the word to mean having the brands applied and for having them…used in that way. They channel the tenebrae into us, and as you could tell, it’s rather agonizing.”

I just nodded in reply. Anything I thought to say felt sorely lacking. I glanced over at Jorel’s body, unable not to. His armor was completely gone. I was shocked, but I noticed he also got to wear underwear. Were they called smallclothes here? I made a mental note to ask later. “So, where’s his armor?”

Revana looked at the corpse with a curled lip. “It was solidified from the tenebrae itself. When he died, it dissipated.” She slowly stood and limped over to the body. “He was ever a thorn in my side. He knew I was a priestess but could never prove it, but not for lack of trying.” She leaned over and spit on him, apparently not at all distressed by the gore. “You can’t imagine how fulfilling it is to know that he’ll rot here in the woods, or be torn apart, eaten, and shat out by any animals that find him.”

Wow.

She spit on him again.

Apparently I had not gotten the full measure of her personality during our short conversation. 

“Hand me the sword, would you?” I did, and she bent down on still shaky legs and began to hack Jorel’s hand off. I must’ve made a noise, as she looked up and said, “I’ll need it to convince the village nearby to leave.”

I didn’t really know what she meant by that, but I was almost ready for another round of dry heaving, so I let the conversation drop and turned around. It took a moment to get the job done; the sword didn’t slide through flesh for her like it did for me. Eventually, she came up beside me and handed it back, and she’d apparently been courteous enough to wipe the blood off. She was holding the severed hand in her own. Just…holding it, although it wasn’t like we had a bag to put it in.

She held my arm as we started walking back towards the ruins and we took it slow. “We’re even now, you know.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Even?”

“You saved my life.”

“I suppose I did. I couldn’t just stand there and let that happen.”

“Was it the first time you’ve killed anyone?”

I shuddered. I thought back to the look on Jorel’s face as I brought the sword down on him, and I was fairly certain that I would never forget it. “Oh yeah. I’ve never killed anything, short of like, stepping on a bug or something. Have you?”

She nodded, sadly. “Yes. More than once.”

“Huh.” There was apparently much more to know about her than it seemed at first. “Does it…does it get any, you know, easier? I think that…his face is going to stick in my memory forever.”

“It will. And no, it doesn't get any easier. Although you get a little used to doing it, if that makes sense.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I took a long, slow breath. “I’m going to have to do a lot more of it before this is over, aren’t I?”

She stopped, suddenly, looking deep into my eyes. “Does that mean you’ll do this? You’ll take up our cause? You’ll help us?” Tears formed in her eyes and her hand tightened almost painfully on my arm.

“I…” I looked down at the sword in my hand, and despite the bouts of cowardice that had flowed through my thoughts a few times now, I knew that I wasn’t going to turn her down. I was going to fight. Of course I was. This was what I’d always wanted, wasn’t it? “I’m not going to lie and say it’s not deeply terrifying. I’m scared shitless. But yes, I’m going to help you. It’s not like I can go home anyway, is it?”

She looked down. “No. And I’m so very sorry I stole you away from—”

“Oh no,” I said, cutting her off. “Don’t be sorry. I know why you did what you did, and believe me, you didn’t steal me away from some great life.” I gestured towards the ruins and we kept walking.

“What’s your world like? You don’t speak fondly of it. It’s surely not worse than this one, is it?”

I laughed, mirthlessly. “Well, no, but also yes. It’s certainly less violent. Well,” I immediately amended, “okay, so that depends heavily on where you live. But for me? Yeah, less violent. And while I was physically safe, there was no joy in my life. I worked, I went home, and I killed time until it was time to work again. And the worst part was that there wasn’t much hope of it ever getting better. Just… dull days for the rest of my life.”

“Huh,” she said, nodding.

I knew she didn’t really understand what I was saying. How could I convey the monotony in a way she’d understand? I probably couldn’t, really. “Anyway, I always wanted something worth doing, and I never found that in my life. I tried a lot of things, but it was all so hollow in the end. I say all that because this,” I said, holding up the sword, “is something worth fighting for. I’m sure I understand practically nothing about this world and what the situation really is, but I want to know more. And I want to help in any way I can, even if I’m not really sure it’ll be all that much.”

I glanced over at her to see rivers of tears silently flowing down her face as we walked. I stopped, concerned I’d said something wildly stupid or inappropriate somehow. I started to apologize for whatever it was, but she waved that away.

“It’s not that.” She took a deep, shuddering breath as the tears continued to fall. “I’ve spent years, a decade of my life planning and preparing for this. So much work, not just from me but many others, went into planning the summoning, finding the materials to make it work outside the shadowbrand’s limitations, finding the right celestial moment, and the right place to perform it. You could easily say it’s been my life’s work.”

She looked at me and smiled, and I thought again how otherworldly beautiful she was. Her eyes shone with what seemed like their own light, her horns curved and curled back from her brow, and her golden scales, of which I could only see a few, shimmered in the reflections of moonlight. I smiled back, and as horrific as my short time had already been in this world, I was glad I was here.

She continued, oblivious to the thoughts swirling in my head. “It could have been anyone that I summoned. The only real criteria we could add to the spell was that a strong spirit be chosen, someone in the prime of their life, someone able to be what we needed. But that’s all we could do. It wasn’t possible to know the mind of who came through. I’ve spent years rehearsing speech after speech to convince whoever I summoned to help us. 

“Who would just agree to such a dangerous proposition? I expected to plead, goad, or perhaps manipulate someone into helping. I had never really held out any hope that a mere explanation of our world would suffice.

“When I ran after Jorel, I was so scared you wouldn’t follow me. It’s not like we know each other. It would have been so easy for you to walk away. To throw down the sword and leave.”

I wanted to say something suitably valiant, but nothing came to mind. It didn’t seem to matter, though; we continued our walk in a comfortable silence. When we at last came out of the trees to the stone ruins again, Revana let go of my arm and ran the rest of the way. Once I caught up, I saw that she’d gone straight back to the tunic that we’d left sitting in the open.

She laughed. “It didn’t occur to me until just now what we’d done, leaving this irreplaceable relic behind. I’m not sure what I thought would have happened to it, but it’s exactly as we left it.” She held it out to me. “You should put it on.”

I sat the sword down in the grass before accepting the tunic. She made no move to avert her eyes; I was beginning to think modesty wasn’t a thing here, which was nice in concept, but it really took some getting used to. I turned around and hoped I looked natural doing it as I shrugged out of my robe. I pulled the tunic over my head, which covered my hips and a little more, before stepping back into my robe.

So I was standing there wearing a long shirt under a robe and literally nothing else. It felt extremely weird, but I was determined to just stay quiet and roll with it. I followed Revana back to a small but mostly intact room where it seemed she’d had a few things and a leather bag. She stowed the severed hand in it, packed up the rest of her things and slung it across her chest. 

“What now?”

She looked off towards the trees in the direction we’d come from. “We go see if we can convince an entire village to save itself.”

4

She’d given me a sheath for the sword, so now it hung from my hip, and even though I’d never worn one before, it felt natural swaying at my side. My fingers twitched, the eagerness to draw it again was almost overwhelming. But I didn’t; I just let it hang. I was sure there’d be many more chances to use it, and the thought of using it on a person again quelled a little of my impulse to draw it. 

The light blue grass was soft under my feet and in between my toes. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone barefoot outside, and while the fear of stepping on this world’s equivalent of a hornet was real, Revana also went without shoes, so it was probably fine. Probably.

Her feet, I belatedly noticed, were much like her hands: golden scales came down from the sides of her legs and trailed down to white, pointed claws instead of toes. 

She caught me staring as we walked and raised an eyebrow. I blushed and said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to gawk, it’s just…this is probably a weird or offensive question, but um, what are you?”

She narrowed her eyes at me before saying, “I am Dravini, of course. Do you not have them in your world?”

I barked a laugh. “Uh, no we don’t. Do you… have humans in this one?”

“Yes, of course we have Humani.”

I stopped, staring at her. “You…do?”

She looked back at me with a tilted head and pursed lips. “Yes. There are many different types of people in Vendira. Do you not have many in your world? Also, what do you call it? It’s odd to keep saying ‘your world.’”

“Oh, it’s Earth, and no, we don’t have anything but humans there.” We started walking again, and it was clear we both were having trouble making sense of each other’s lives.

“One people!? That’s it? Over the entirety of this Earth, there’s only Humani?”

I nodded. “Yeah, and what’s more, I’m pretty sure humans are from Earth, so I’m shocked to hear you have them here.”

She shrugged. “Centuries upon centuries ago, when there were still dragons, travel between realms was commonplace, or so the histories say. The ones that survived, anyway; the empire has erased much from Vendira that they dislike. In those times, different peoples came and went. I’m sure our humans must have come from Earth, in ages past. But travel is no longer possible in this way. The ritual I used to bring you here took the combined efforts of many of us, and the components used were…beyond rare, to say the least.”

I  was trying so, so hard to keep track of everything she was saying, but there was so much so quickly, and one thought crowded out the rest. “There…were dragons?”

“Mhm. Can I take it to mean you have them as well?”

“Uh, well, not really. We have stories of them, but they never actually existed.” This was all a bit much at once. A lot of my ideas about life, the universe, and everything were being heavily challenged. “Unless there…were dragons. Did…they travel between worlds?”

She gave a soft little laugh with downcast eyes. “Yes. They were the ones who mastered travel beyond the stars. They visited so many worlds, brought back so many wonders. I’m not at all surprised you have stories about them.” She sighed heavily. “I wish they were still here. I feel like Vendira is so much less without them.”

This was clearly a very personal subject for some reason, and I didn’t know if I should let it go or not, but I really just had to know. “What happened to them?”

Her voice was flat as she said, “They sided against the empire.”

“Oh.”

“They couldn’t be controlled, couldn’t be branded. And the Gorvani wouldn’t stand for that. So they…they…wiped them out.” She was holding back a well of emotion, I could tell. 

I still didn’t understand why it seemed so personal, and I had no idea if I should ask, so I elected to stay silent. I kept glancing over, seeing how she was doing, seeing if I should try conversation again or not, when she raised her clawed hand and just…stared at it while we kept walking.

Oh. “Oh!”

She was startled out of her reverie and looked over at me, confused.

“Are you…part dragon?”

“Oh!” She smiled and let her hand fall back to her side. “You don’t have Dravini. Yes, yes I am.”

“I see. Here I was wondering why it was so personal to you if it happened so long ago.”

“Yeah. I feel like there’s a part of me I never got to know. A piece of this world, of my people, that we lost before I was born. And we’ll never get it back.” She spread her hands, gesturing out towards everything, “Just one more sin to lay at the Gorvani’s feet.”

“I can see why you hate them so much.”

“Well, yes. But honestly, I’ve only scratched the surface of what they’ve done and continue to do. We could spend days talking, listing their various sins against everything and anything.”

I rested my hand on the hilt of the sword that hung lightly on my hip. “I hope I can change things. I hope I can live up to who you need me to be.”

She kept looking ahead, but the biggest smile spread across her face. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

We arrived at the village a little less than an hour later. It was not at all what I had expected; I liked to read fantasy novels in my spare time, and I had naturally assumed it would be all swords and horses style: dirt roads, thatch-roofed houses, lanterns and candles, and maybe, at the higher end, glass windows. 

I just stood and gaped for a minute as the gears in my head slowly turned and overwrote those idiotic notions that I had based on absolutely nothing. Ok, maybe not nothing. The only “building” I’d seen so far was a ruined stone fort, which completely lined up with those expectations. 

I had sold this world short in pretty much every way I could. The streets were smooth, well-fitted cobblestone lined with glowing lamp posts sporting a rich, blue glow, a bit darker than the leaves and grass. I thought the buildings would all be short, but three stories was very common, and one or two were even more, and they were all shingled in tile. Not a single thatched roof in sight. 

It was still late night or early morning, so there was little activity on the streets, but they weren’t empty: a strange looking creature was pulling a cart down one of the roads by itself with no driver. It looked like a sideways barrel with legs, all made out of mud or something.

“It’s a golem.” She was doing the tilted head and narrowed eyes look at me again. “You don’t have those either, then?”

“Nope. Again, we have stories about them, but they’re not real. Maybe I should have explained this earlier, but we don’t have magic at all. Just stories about it. Nothing real.”

She stopped and stared at me like I’d just told her we didn’t have a sun. “Y-you…don’t have any? At all? Just…just nothing?”

“Yep.”

“H-how…I just…how does your society even function?”

I shrugged. “We have technology instead.”

This didn’t seem to be much of an answer. “Yes, we have that too! Not everything’s magical, but to have nothing at all!” She shivered. Actually shivered at the thought. “How do you travel and move goods around?”

“We have machines for that. They’re called cars and trucks. They move really fast and carry things long distances.”

“Move…fast. So you don’t have portals either?”

My jaw dropped. “Nooope. You do then?”

“Of course! They’re the basis for all travel! I-I think I need to sit down.” We didn’t stop or sit; she just looked over at me and laughed. “I’m sorry! I’m sure your world is very nice.”

I held up my hands. “Oh, no. No need for platitudes about it. It’s not actually very nice. It can be at times or in places, especially if you’re rich, but I was not and I…” I stopped and stood for a moment, letting the new emotions flow through me. “Yeah,” I said, looking at her and the village, “I don’t think I’m going to miss it.”

“That’s a little sad, but maybe for the best.”

We hurried along the streets before coming to a large house with an ornate gate and lots of lights amidst a very well manicured lawn. Revana hurried up to the door and hammered a small button next to it. I was about to ask what it was, but before I could open my mouth, I reminded myself we weren’t in the dark ages and it was just a doorbell, even though I couldn’t hear whatever sounds it was making inside.

It didn’t take long for the massive, wooden door to open, and standing behind it was an older Dravini man with tall, curling black horns, short dark hair, and round glasses. He glanced at the both of us, his eyebrows climbing high at the sight of me. Without a word, he ushered us hastily inside. I’d seen some fancy houses in my day, mostly on TV, but this one left me staring. It wasn’t just the polished wood floors or soft blue lights, but everything was made to be looked at it seemed. Every table was exquisitely carved and topped with colorful cloth runners, plants of all different kinds sat and hung in potters themselves covered in loops and swirls, and even the doors were carved with various scenes and painted brightly. Yet somehow, there was still enough flat, unadorned space in between that none of it was overwhelming. 

“It would be better if we talked in the basement.”

He led us to a door painted with a forest scene, filled with animals I’d never seen, and we descended a spiral staircase lined with more lights. I gaped as he led us downwards; he had a tail! I kept my shock to myself, made a mental note to ask if Revana had one underneath her robe, and tried to focus on the more familiar details in order not to make an idiot of myself. The man was well dressed despite the hour in a light green shirt and vest and brown slacks. Part of me was a little disappointed this world also had slacks; I never wanted to wear them again. If there were polo shirts here, I might be forced to run away from all of this after all, I thought.

The basement had a cool air, all stone walls and stout wooden beams. It was filled with all manner of things: boxes and crates and barrels; shelves full of junk; and a decent portion of the room was dedicated to a series of tables topped with tools and machines of which I couldn’t even begin to guess the purpose. In short, it was a lot like basements on Earth.

We all sat in padded chairs by the crafting benches, and the fact that I still was only wearing a tunic and robe made me feel like an idiot in front of this well dressed man. 

Revana spoke first. “Michael, this is Oronir. Oronir, Michael.”

He tipped his head at me and smiled. He had a kindly, “everybody’s grandpa” sort of feel, and although he hadn’t said a thing, I found myself already liking him. He looked back at Revana and raised his brow.

“Yes! Yes, it worked. Michael is from another world. He is brandless.”

“Amazing, truly amazing,” Oronir said before turning to me. “Although I’m sure Revana has said as much, let me apologize for forcibly bringing you here. Please be assured that we would not have done such a thing were there better options. But can I assume by the sword on your hip that you have agreed to take up our cause?”

I looked down at the golden sword and placed my hand on the hilt. “I have,” I said, letting the idea really settle in my head. Up until that moment, I had mostly been operating on fear, adrenaline, and momentum. But sitting in the warm, safe basement, I decided; I really was going to do this, and not because I was stranded in this world, but because it was what I had always dreamed of: something worth doing. Anything at all, really. But this was a chance to make a real difference for real people.

I was sure the practicality of it all would be much more horrific than the noble idea I had dancing in my head at that moment. I knew I’d have to fight, have to kill, and have to risk my life. And while those things still terrified me, I knew I would much rather be here than go back to my old life of dull routine and fleeting joy.

Revana had pulled her pack onto her lap and was rifling through it. “Don’t get too pleased; there’s been a complication. A rather serious one.”

Oronir frowned. “Nothing we can’t deal with, hopefully.”

Revana didn’t answer, just kept looking through the bag until she slowly brought out Jorel’s severed hand. I did notice she’d wrapped it in some cloth, so that everything else in her bag wasn’t covered in coagulating blood.

Oronir sucked in a fearful breath and his eyes went wide. “No…oh no no no.”

Revana nodded. “The village will need to be abandoned.”

“What!?” Apparently this was what she’d meant about the village saving itself? I’d completely forgotten about the comment.

She turned to me and said, “Yes. There will be retribution for Jorel’s death. Everyone here will most likely be held accountable. If they’re executed, that will be a lucky turn of events. The only thing we have going for us is that there are limits to the empire’s cruelty. They’ll kill one village to make an example, but they won’t kill everyone in the surrounding area. Everyone here will leave their homes and split off, finding new ones wherever they can.”

“That’s…that’s horrible.”

She shrugged. “It’s hardly the first time it’s happened. The empire knows they need us; we’re farmers and craftsmen, so they can’t just kill us all without hurting themselves. And it would be too much work for them to sniff out where we’ve all gone. The fact that we all left will tell them we understand the seriousness of the situation. As long as they know we fear them enough to take these actions, they’ll think that’s reprisal enough.”

Oronir laid his black-clawed hand on Revana’s and said, “No, Reva. It’s so much worse than that. There’s an Inquisitor in town now.”

Revana’s jaw dropped and her eyes went as wide as I’d seen them go. Her mouth worked soundlessly for some time before her head dropped in her hands. “No,” I could barely hear her say.

I looked down again at the sword. “Well, I had hoped it would be a long time before it happened, but I guess I need to fight, and maybe…kill someone again.”

“NO!” they both yelled at me in unison.

I sat back, staring at them. “Uh, no?”

Oronir shook his head. “Killing Jorel was one thing. But the Inquisitors are one small step below the royal family itself, so killing one is one small step down from murdering a royal.”

Revana nodded, fear still clear in her eyes. “For all that he was a pompous, puffed up asshole, Jorel was still a bottom level imperial bureaucrat. His death will demand repercussions, but like I said, there will be a limit to how far the empire will go.

“If we kill an Inquisitor, they really will wipe out the entire region for it. If one even goes missing, ten more, with the support of the army, will show up and ruthlessly find out the truth. And there’s almost no scenario where no one dies.”

“I think there was one single occasion,” Oronir said, “where an Inquisitor was legitimately killed in an accident. It was as Reva said; a host of them came surrounded by soldiers. In the end, they believed the accident was real, but the methods they used to ascertain that were brutal, to say the least. No one died, but some received lifelong scars, both mental and physical, from the affair.”

Revana shook her head. “And there was the time someone in another province pulled a knife and tried to stab one. It was never known if it was one person or a conspiracy, but it didn’t matter. I don’t think they even tried to find out.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but curiosity got the better of me. “What happened there?”

“Pick a method of execution and it was performed. They forced people in the area to come watch. In the end, it was only the one village that was killed, but no one forgot what they saw there that day.” The room was silent for some moments after that statement. But Revana eventually added, “I should know.”

I wanted to comfort her, to reach out and take her hand in mine. So, surprisingly, I did. Her scales and claws felt odd against my skin, but I squeezed tightly and held on anyway. I was sure it wouldn’t go well, but while she barely reacted, she squeezed my hand back, and we sat there for some time, no one seemingly knowing what to say.

We all jumped when there was a knock on the basement door.

5

I’m not sure why we all expected doom to come down the staircase, but it was just a servant coming down with early morning drinks, a hot, dark red drink called hachi that I expected to taste like coffee but didn’t. It was a little fruity with a weird aftertaste almost like sausage. I figured I’d be in for a long and unending adventure getting to know the foods in a brand new world. 

The servant, whose name I didn’t get, was a young Dravini man with white horns and long, braided light blue hair, much like Revana’s. He didn’t seem taken aback at all at my appearance, so humans must really have been a common enough thing. Which was a huge benefit; I didn’t know how I’d be able to accomplish anything here if I was immediately recognizable by anyone and everyone. 

I sat and drank the hachi while Oronir and Revana discussed possible plans. They didn’t know exactly why this Inquisitor, a woman named Isik, was in town to begin with, although that was no surprise, I was told: Inquisitors didn’t announce their arrival or their goals. They swooped in, issued orders that were expected to be followed to the letter, and left. Oftentimes even after they left the reason for their presence remained unclear. And this time was no exception.

All of that was somewhat moot, however. The most relevant fact was that Jorel would be expected to provide a routine, in-person report, which he was going to have a real hard time doing while being dead. 

I chimed in with many suggestions, but they were all shot down. We couldn’t act like he died accidentally and only his hand was left - we couldn’t reliably claim he’d just wandered off or deserted - we couldn’t impersonate him; I was told that a person’s brand could be used to verify who they were, and it wasn’t possible to fake one.

Revana shook her head in frustration, although I didn’t think it was aimed at my terrible suggestions. “He has to appear before Isik. Anything less than that is supremely suspicious and will bring more Inquisitors.”

“He’s dead though.” I kind of meant it to be funny, but no one laughed.

Jorel’s severed hand laid on the floor where Revana had thrown it moments before when the weight of the problem really began to press on our shoulders. Even in death, he was proving to be a complete pain in the ass. I almost wished I could kill him again, but I knew that was just the bravado talking; actually murdering him was something I honestly still needed to process. I’d been blocking out the image of his corpse on the blue forest grass. Bleeding. Split in half. I shuddered and forced my thoughts back to the present.

Another knock sounded from the door above, but we seemed to all be much less jumpy than before. Maybe we should have still been on high alert, though, as Oronir’s servant came back down the staircase with a pallid complexion. He said without preamble, “Inquisitor Isik is here to see you.”

We all shared a look before Oronir wordlessly left.

“What’s she doing here?” I asked.

“Oronir’s the mayor. It’s not that abnormal for her to be here, although it is early. But who knows what her objectives here are. If she wants to come down to the basement, there’s nothing he’ll be able to do to divert her.”

We poked around the room and found a suitable box I could hide in if Isik came downstairs. Revana would make some excuse as to why she was there.

The minutes dragged on and we returned to the chairs, confident we’d have enough time to get ready if the door opened. But it didn’t, and we found ourselves revisiting the problem of Isik’s presence. “So, we can’t kill her. But we can’t produce Jorel, which is strictly necessary?”

“Yep.”

“What if we convinced her to leave immediately. How would we do that? Make her think there was some emergency elsewhere?”

Revana was nervously tapping her claws on the wooden table, and it was a second before she looked up and replied. “Oh, uh. Well, the only thing she would leave for was if she was directly ordered to do so.”

“Okay, okay, maybe we can work with that? Can we forge some new orders? Does a person bring them, or…?”

Revana shook her head. “It’s a good thought, but imperial orders are stamped with a tenebrous seal, a tiny little bit of the empire’s magic to make it official. It can’t be faked; the stamping artifact used reacts with our shadowbrands. Only someone of a high enough caste could use one.”

I nodded, liking where this was going. “Okay, so, this is really important. Does your brand prevent you from using it, or do their brands allow them to?”

“The fir— oh, oh! The first one! Which means—”

“Someone who conveniently doesn’t have a brand could fake a set of orders. Well, I can use the…the thing. I assume you know someone that can forge the actual papers?”

“Yes! There are a couple people I think could…” The joy slid right off her face and she plopped back down into the seat. “But we’d need a very high ranking stamp for it. We could steal Jorel’s, of course, but like I said, he was just a low ranking bureaucrat.”

I leaned back in my chair with a cocky smile, overly pleased with myself for having this thought. “Would Isik have a suitable one?”

Revana sat back in her chair with wide eyes and pursed lips. Her already light skin had gone a little more pale than usual as she nodded softly. “Yes. Yes she would.” She was silent for a minute before saying, “So we’re not going to harm an Inquisitor, we’re just going to steal from one.”

“Borrow! We’ll put the stampy thing back, of course. The perfect crime. It is better than killing her, right?”

Revana snorted, the ghost of the smile on her lips. “Only the smallest amount, and perhaps not even that. If we get caught, the consequences might well be the same, honestly. Although we could really make a case for a quick death in that situation.”

I laughed but she didn’t. 

The basement door opened, but before we could react, Oronir called down, “It’s just me!” He didn’t look pleased as he came down the stairs, and he stopped in front of us with a pained expression on his face before he said, “Revana, you have an appointment to speak with the Inquisitor.”

6

“‘As soon as I can find her,’ is what I told Isik, but she made it clear that I had better find you quickly.” Oronir had sat down and looked like he might be sick at any moment. “She didn’t bother to tell me what she wanted with you, and I, of course, didn’t ask.”

Revana nodded, a little more in control than she had been minutes ago when we were coming up with the plan. “This could actually be a good thing. If we know she’ll be out of her room at a specific time, then that’s the best time to sneak in.”

We filled Oronir in on the plan and he groaned and dropped his head into his hands. But he still couldn’t fault it; it was the best plan we could all come up with in the terrible situation we found ourselves in.

Revana and I stayed in the basement as Oronir left to make a few phone calls to find out exactly where Isik was staying in the town. They weren’t phone calls per se; it was some sort of direct communication device that was an odd hybrid between technology and magic; they tried to explain it to me, but I didn’t have much of a frame of reference, so I just kept thinking of them as phones in my head.

While he was away, his servant came down with what I was absolutely thrilled to see was a huge pile of clothes. He dropped them on the table with the explanation that they were assorted at best, but I didn’t care. I was over going commando. 

The servant left and we started looking through the pile of clothes. There were a few pairs of slacks mixed in and I made a joke about wanting to burn them. Revana gave me an incredulous look and I tried to explain why I disliked them so much, but I couldn’t accurately describe my soul-crushing job. “Alright, imagine the empire forced you to wear them for pretty arbitrary and illogical reasons despite there being way more comfortable options that you’d like a lot more.”

We each found some likely options and set them aside. I was about to ask if I should go behind a set of shelves or something when Revana casually slipped out of her robe and threw it on the table. I couldn't help myself; I pretty much just stared at her, especially when she took off her underwear as well. Her golden scales came over the tops of her feet from her white claw toes, snaked up the outsides of her legs, hips, and sides, continuing on down the backs of her arms into the claws on her hands, and up her neck all the way up to her pale blue hair, which trailed down her back in a long braid. She was curvy with a hint of muscle under her skin, and I could barely take my eyes off her large, pale breasts. 

And she did indeed have a tail starting at the base of her spine, and it was covered completely in the same gold scales with a small ridge down the top. It was relatively thin and hung slightly below her knees, so it would have been pretty unnoticeable under the robe. Between all that and the big, curving horns on her head, she was the most beautiful woman I might ever have seen. 

It was hard to beat horns.

She turned her head and saw me looking; I was still standing fully dressed, or as “fully” as I had been this entire time. I was about to stutter out an apology, but there was a twinkle in her eyes and she gave me a little smile, completely comfortable standing there naked.

I gave her a big smile back and turned to the clothes I’d picked out. For one thing, there was a dark pair of underwear, which I was entirely too happy about. It had a small opening just under the waistband in the middle of the back, which closed with a button. I was about to ask, but Revana slipped a pair of her own on, buttoning them closed just above her tail. “You know, I didn’t realize Dravini had tails until I saw Oronir.”

She giggled. “Really? Well, why would you have, I suppose. We do. Do you like mine?” She turned around and stuck her butt out at me, waving her tail back and forth and looking over her shoulder. 

The urge to reach out and touch it, and everything else, was overwhelming. While I thought she might be into it, it really didn’t seem like the time or place to put those thoughts to the test. Instead, I just opted for saying, “It’s beautiful. It really is. And your scales, and claws, and horns. They’re just amazing.”

She blushed and gave me the biggest smile that crinkled her eyes and I almost passed out at the sight of it. It felt like we were having a moment; I wanted so much to reach out and slide my hands all over her body, hold her tight, and kiss her deeply. 

But she turned and started pulling on a pair of dark gray leather pants, which did absolutely nothing to dampen the desire I felt for her, but I blinked myself out of my reverie and slipped out of my robe. I couldn’t say I was comfortable standing there in just a tunic, but I was already getting used to the idea of more or less throwing away the concept of modesty. “So, should I keep wearing this thing?”

She turned back to me and put her hands on her hips. She was still topless and I made a herculean effort to keep my eyes on hers. “Yes, probably. At least for now; I don’t want to risk losing it, so just keep it on.”

I nodded and pulled the pair of underwear on. It felt amazing to be wearing some again. The tail hole felt weird but not uncomfortable, and my shirts were going to cover it anyway. I pulled on a pair of dark green pants with its own tail opening, and an additional bright yellow tunic over the red and gold one I was already wearing. Yellow wasn’t my color, but Revana said it was very fashionable, so I didn’t argue. 

On top of her leather pants, she put on a red, form fitting shirt that showed a considerable amount  of cleavage, an open leather vest, and after we searched through a few boxes in the basement, we each found a pair of boots that fit well enough. I buckled the sword around my waist and reveled in the feeling of wearing actual clothes again. 

Once we were dressed and I didn’t have Revana’s naked body to cloud my thoughts, the weight of the situation settled around my shoulders again. We sat, discussing it for lack of anything better to do. The fact that Revana had to meet with Isik, assuming she wasn’t just going to be executed, was a good thing; we knew there would be a time when Isik definitely wasn’t in her room, which was likely somewhere in the town’s inn.

Oronir eventually came back down the stairs with the same sick expression on his face. “I don’t doubt this is the best course of action, but I can’t say I like it one bit.” He held out his hand to me and in it was a small, regular looking key and a weird allen wrench thing. “Isik is at the inn as I assumed. Top floor. The innkeeper isn’t one of our trusted friends, but one of the employees is. He just ran over here and gave me these, which are the best he could do. The key is to an empty room next to Isik’s.”

I took them from him and slid them into a pocket. “And that’s helpful because…?”

“He wasn’t able to get the actual key to the room. Isik, in what I assume is standard procedure, took all keys that could unlock her door, including the master keys. Any inconvenience that would cause would be irrelevant. Anyway, the rooms have balconies, and the only way you could conceivably get in is by jumping to her balcony from the one next to it.”

I sat there, staring dumbly ahead as I processed the plan. “You want me to jump balconies…four stories up?”

Oronir gave me an apologetic look. “Five.”

“Uh huh. Great. Also, if Isik’s gonna be that paranoid about her room, don’t you think she’ll, you know, lock her balcony door?”

“I do, yes. And that’s what the second tool is for. She did not requisition anything that could unlock balcony doors. I don’t know if that’s an oversight or just not standard procedure, although who really thinks about unlocking a balcony from the outside? The tool you have is for maintenance and repair, but it will get you in her room.

“To be very clear with you, though: no one in their right mind would even think about stealing from her personal room. No one. Not ever. And that’s the life she’s lived for decades. I'm sure the thought of it actually happening would scarcely occur to her.”

“But you don’t actually know that, do you?”

He shook his head. “I do not. But still, it’s not a thing anyone in their right mind would even consider. However, Jorel’s death and the looming death of us all puts us firmly out of our right minds, I should think.”

We spoke for a little longer, but there wasn’t much to say. I was told exactly what I would be looking for in Isik’s room and was assured that I wouldn’t be remarkable or stand out in this world, even with a sword on my hip. “I’m surprised they let you have weapons.”

Revana scoffed. “It’s not like it matters when they can just brand us. They allow just enough to let us be comfortable day to day, as long as we don’t step out of line. Anyway, let’s get this done.”

7

Revana and Oronir went off to the meeting and I left the house by a different door. I waited for them at a cross street and eventually followed far behind. They’d explained where the inn was, but I thought it better that I follow along anyway. I didn’t want to get lost and spoil the plan just because I got lost.

The inn was huge, a five story tall building of cut stone and dark wood. Its doors had also been carved in lavish detail, and the windows were large and clear. I waited around after they went in; I didn’t really know what to do. It seemed like the exact time to get a phone out and stare at it for a bit, but it wasn’t necessary as no one was really around to see me standing awkwardly just to waste time anyway.

I pushed the heavy doors open and stepped into the huge foyer. It was a lot like Oronir’s house in that everything was decorated and there were plants everywhere. It immediately felt more inviting than any hotel I’d ever been in. 

I glanced around and saw the two in a large room off to the side with another woman, who could only have been Isik. I had to adjust the expectations I didn’t know I’d made; I’d heard the title Inquisitor and just assumed she’d be stern and emotionless with severely pulled back hair, a constant scowl, and ramrod-straight posture. 

She had the same pale blue skin and orange eyes that Jorel had had, and long, flowing hair that was a purple so dark it was nearly black. I had assumed that all Gorvani were ugly, but it seemed that was just Jorel. Isik was stunning, really, in a completely unapproachable way, but I couldn’t put an age to her at all. She wasn’t sporting the spiked armor that Jorel had either; she wore a tight black sweater, leather pants, and boots, in addition to a few rings and dangling earrings. I had to remind myself that she was the enemy, and an extremely dangerous one at that. I turned and headed towards the large set of stairs at the other end of the foyer, hoping I hadn’t been standing there gawking for too long. 

I quickly walked up to the fifth floor. The adrenaline was pumping in my veins, making it difficult to slow down and act normal. I passed two people on the way up, a Dravini man and woman coming down. If they noticed me, they didn’t give any indication, which was heartening; I still felt so alien and out of place here. The concept that there were humans in this world still seemed so unreal in my mind.

I came to the door and tried the key. It fit and turned easily. The room was as lavish as everything else I’d seen here, and while I was well aware I was on a serious mission, I spared less than a minute to flop down on the bed.

I sank deeply into the warm and plush comforter. I wasn’t sure if the mattress was foam or some kind of sorcery, but it ranked easily as one of the most comfortable beds I’d ever been in. A took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes, enjoying the moment. But then I was on my feet, stepping out onto the balcony. 

Although the sun was up, it was still a little early in the day and the streets weren’t packed. One of my biggest fears was making a racket and having a crowd down below see me breaking into the room. But the balconies were actually rather close together, and it only took a few seconds to safely climb across. 

On one hand, I was immensely relieved at how easy it had been so far, but I also felt that I was on an adventure, and this wasn’t really living up to my expectations of how exciting it should all be. I shook my head and threw away those stupid thoughts. I was sure things would be exciting soon enough and I’d regret ever wishing for it.

The little allen wrench thing slotted into the door and easily opened the lock, checking another thing off the list that I’d been worried about. Isik’s room was much the same as the one I’d been in, with the addition of a bunch of clothes and assorted items laid out on a desk. I recognized some and not others, but the stamp I was looking for was obvious, sitting in a small box with other, probably sorcerous things. It was round, had a handle on one side and complex, runic designs on the other flat side. It looked to be made of the same metal or material as Jorel’s armor had been, which meant it was coalesced magic itself. Or something like that.

I had an impulse to see what else I could find while I was in here, but that was another stupid idea, so I turned to leave. 

Just as the doorknob began to turn.

8

My eyes flew across the room. I was too far away from the balcony to make it there in time, let alone close and lock it again. Thankfully, I had pulled it shut when I came in. There was nothing to be done and no time to do it in; I did the stupidest, most cliche thing I could think of: I launched myself to the floor and rolled under the bed. 

There was room for me and that was about it. I pulled the sword close so it wouldn’t make any noise, held my breath, and hoped against hope that I’d been quiet enough while doing it.

I looked out at the small sliver of the room I could see and two pairs of boots stepped into the room. One of them I didn’t know, but the others were the ones Revana had picked out less than an hour before.

Revana. The other person was obviously Isik then. They both sat on either side of a small table. Isik spoke, and despite the early hour, she sounded very tired, her words slow and an undercurrent of irritation in them. “I have questions for you. And I would appreciate you not wasting my time. Now, what is your name? Your full name.”

“Revana Lira.”

There was a brief pause before Isik said, “Don’t lie to me.”

“I…I’m not.”

Isik took a long, slow breath. “Do you want to know a secret, Revana Lira?”

“I suppose so, sure.” Her voice was shaky; it seemed she was just as afraid of what this secret might be as I was.

It was some moments before Isik replied. “Most people think it’s unthinkable to lie to an Inquisitor. You think that, don’t you?”

“Uh, yes, of course.”

“Mhmm, of course you do. No one in their right mind would ever lie to an Inquisitor.” Isik stood, the chair sliding back on the smooth wood. She paced the room, back and forth a few times, and took another long and drawn out breath before continuing. “Everyone lies to me.” She walked back over to the little table and I could hear it creak as she must have been leaning over it into Revana’s face. “Do you know how I know?” she asked softly.

My pulse quickened; there was venom in those words. 

Revana didn’t answer immediately, but when she did, her voice didn’t waver. “Because you find out the truth.”

“Yes!” Isik slapped the table and laughed mirthlessly, turning to pace the room again. “Because I find out the truth. I always do. I always do. And yet! And yet people keep lying directly to my face! It doesn’t matter how many I punish, or how many I put to death. They all just. Keep. Lying.” She stopped pacing and by the shadows I could see she’d thrown her arms out wide. “I ask you one, single question, and already you lie to me. I’m going to ask you one more time. What is your name?”

The silence that stretched out was maddening; the desire to roll out from under the bed and cut Isik down thrummed through my veins. It would be so easy; a few seconds and I could have been standing over her headless corpse and this entire situation would be done and over with. But obviously that wasn’t true, and really, my desire to fight was mostly because I could barely stand how uncomfortable and potentially dangerous this all was. So I stayed still, immobile, hardly breathing, waiting for Revana to answer.

“Revana Shaelira.”

Isik released a breath she’d clearly been holding. She sat down in the chair and took another long inhale and exhale. “You have no idea how good that feels, Revana Shaelira. To ask a question and just have it answered. You are a priestess of the Mulaq’Shae?”

“I am.”

It took all the willpower I had to keep my breath even there under the bed. Revana had answered in an even voice, but surely this was extremely bad, wasn’t it? She’d just admitted to the enemy that she was a practitioner of forbidden magic. I felt my hand straying towards my sword. I forcibly brought it back to my side, but my blood ran cold at Isik’s next question.

“Do you know where Jorel is?”

“I don’t, and I don’t want to.”

Isik snorted. “Not on friendly terms?”

“You could say that.”

“Hmm…I went through his files upon my arrival, and there’s extensive notes on you in here. He’s labeled you as an ‘agitator of the highest echelon.’ Now, why might that be? No, don’t answer. I’ll tell you something else: I’m not here for you; I had other business that I’ve already completed, but Jorel’s absence is suspicious, and according to his notes, he’s completely convinced you’re up to something. Something more than your usual antics with your…order. Did you kill him?”

Oh shit.

“What!? Of course not!”

Isik chuckled. “You know, I wouldn’t hold it against you if you did. Well, not personally; I’d be obligated to kill you and everyone here if you had, naturally. But I doubt I like Jorel any more than you do. He’s a pompous little ass who thinks far too highly of himself. Personal distaste aside, however, he’s usually competent and thorough in his investigations and note taking. And his notes speak of you quite a bit lately. So, what is it you’ve been doing to warrant this attention?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Isik sighed. “No one ever does. Do you know how long I’ve been doing this, Revana? No, don’t guess; I’ll just tell you. Thirty-two years. Over three decades of questions and non-answers. Solving problems that shouldn’t even be problems. And they never end.”

“Why…why don’t you just quit?”

Isik laughed, loudly and clearly amused. “Do you really think I have any choice in the matter? You think any of us do?”

“But…you’re an Inquisitor.”

“One small step under being a royal, I’ve heard it described by people like you. It amuses me to no end that you think that. Yes, we speak with the authority of the royalty. But only as long as we enact their will. You have no idea of the vast chasm that lies between my kind and them. I’m little more than a puppet.”

I was baffled at the turn this conversation had taken. I idly wondered if she was trying to create a rapport with Revana, like countless cops did on TV. Surely even if that was the case, this wouldn’t be how it would go, would it?

“You might be wondering why I’m telling you this.”

Oh. Yeah, I sure was.

“On one hand, it doesn’t even matter. You knowing is irrelevant. But on the other hand, I’m so tired, Revana. More than thirty years of conversations exactly like this one, and I’ll keep on having them until I’m told I’ve done enough, and I can retire. If that ever even happens. What have you been doing that has Jorel so interested?”

“I honestly don’t know what he—”

Isik scoffed. I heard the weird, flowing sound that Jorel had made when he channeled the tenebrae.

Revana screamed.

It was that same scream. It was almost inhuman. She flailed, kicked over the table and fell to the floor. I could see her writhing an arm’s length away from me. I shook, the sound of her scream tearing my soul apart. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes from fear and anger and impotence. 

I had to stay silent. I knew it. If I jumped out and killed Isik, it was a death sentence for hundreds of people, maybe more. If I jumped out and couldn’t kill her, it was a death sentence for all the same people. The only way to save Revana and everyone else was to stay still and watch her suffer. Nothing in my life had ever held a candle to how awful it was. In the end, it went on for probably only seconds, but it was the longest wait of my entire life, enduring that scream.

Finally, it ended.

Isik knelt down, and for a horrifying second, I thought she was going to lean all the way down to Revana’s face and see me under the bed, but she didn’t. “I’m aware that pain is oftentimes not the best way to uncover the truth. But as I’ve told you, Revana, I’m so, so tired. And perhaps as I age, I just don’t care anymore. What has Jorel so interested in you?”

She didn’t answer immediately and I heard Isik channeling again. Fear and panic flooded my body. I didn’t know if I could endure the scream again. I didn’t know if I was strong enough. 

Please, I silently begged, please say something, Revana. Anything. 

“He wants…”

The channeling stopped, and I unclenched my entire body, but I was still terrified of what she would say.

“He wants to fuck me.”

Well, that wasn’t what I expected.

“Well, that wasn’t what I expected,” Isik said.

“He’s always tried to get me in bed,” she said between deep breaths. “Lately he’s been fixated on me, and I don’t know why. I’ve always rejected him. He’s been so much pushier of late.”

Isik stood, and it was full minutes before she said anything again, during which Revana’s quick breathing eventually slowed. “Get up.” She righted the table and chairs and waited for Revana to get up and sit before she continued. “Did you think I wouldn’t believe you? Or that you weren’t supposed to speak ill of my underling?”

“Something like that.” Revana’s voice was unsteady.

Isik sat down again as well and I could hear her paging through some notes. “That would explain a lot of what he’s written about you.” She sighed loudly. “Which is good. I don’t need to be troubled by this. But let me make one more thing clear, Revana: we know about the Mulaq’Shae. As long as it remains a quaint little group to keep your old traditions alive, we’re content to let it be. But don’t get any notions of it being anything other than that. It exists because we allow it, and it will end, should we demand it. You may go.”

Revana left without another word, and as much as I wanted to run to her and make sure she was alright, a gnawing panic set in as I wondered just how long it would be before Isik left the room. What if she took a nap? What if it was hours and I had to take a really bad piss? These thoughts swirled in my head as I laid there silently listening. 

Isik paced around the room doing who knows what, and I also hoped she’d not notice the missing stamp. She muttered to herself occasionally, but I couldn't make anything out except Jorel’s name. 

Fifteen of the longest minutes of my life later, she left the room. I waited another minute or two just in case, but when I decided to move, all the pent up energy exploded. I rolled out from under the bed and basically sprinted to the balcony and was out the door in one fluid motion. Somehow, I remembered to lock it again from the outside, and I barely checked the street below before jumping over the railing to the other room. I stepped inside and let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. I flopped face down on the plush bed and tried to slow my breathing and stop the adrenaline flooding through my body. 

Some time later, once I’d calmed down enough to not be excessively suspicious, I left the room and headed down the stairs. I almost tripped and tumbled down them when it occurred to me that this was only half of the plan; I was going to have to put the stamp back when we were done with it. Well, deal with that when I got there, I supposed.

I pushed the heavy front doors open and almost choked when I saw Isik standing right outside, a stack of papers in her hands. There was no way she’d know me, of course, but I could only assume someone like her would pick up on anything suspicious immediately.

I walked by her, trying with all my might to keep my face neutral. I glanced over at her and nodded, really, really hoping that was acceptable social etiquette not only for this world, but for interacting with an Inquisitor. To my immense relief, she nodded back, looking me up and down before going back to her papers.

Walking at a reasonable speed back to Oronir’s house was a chore, but I did it. When I pushed his front door open, Revana was already standing there with Oronir. I rushed over and wrapped her in a crushing hug. I didn’t know if it was appropriate, but I was firing on pure impulse. “Are you okay!? Tell me you’re okay!” I stepped back, my hands still on her shoulders.

One eyebrow went way up high as she said, “Yes…I’m fine. Why do you—” Both eyebrows shot up and her eyes went wide. “Were you…in the room!?”

“Yeah, I was under the bed the whole time. It was not fun.”

Revana laughed, her eyes still wide. “I cannot believe you were there. I can’t imagine what Isik would have done if she’d found you.”

“It was torture under there. Nothing I’ve ever done was as hard as staying silent while she…she…”

“Branded me?”

“Yeah.” I looked into Revana’s eyes, trying to hold back tears at the thought.

She took my hands in hers and said softly, “It wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. But I’m very happy you care.”

She smiled at me and I wanted so much to kiss her, but it would’ve been rather inappropriate for a few reasons, not the least of which was that Oronir was two feet away. “I do, and listening to you…scream…was the most awful thing I’ve ever heard.”

Her smile turned sad and she said, “Well, you’ll probably hear it again, so…I won’t say get used to it, but…” She glanced back up at me.

I took a long, deep breath. “Alright. I’ll, uh, I’ll do my best.”

Oronir cleared his throat. “So, were you able to obtain the stamp?”

“Oh, right, yes I was.” I pulled it out of a pocket and the two just stared at it like it was a viper ready to strike. 

Oronir nodded. “Excellent, please come upstairs to my office.”

The rest of the house was the same as the downstairs, decorated in the same lavish style that I never knew I wanted, but now that I was in a world where it seemed commonplace, it made all the hotels and nice places I’d ever stayed in look like hollow, soulless trash. The office sported an extremely fancy desk, carved in idyllic scenes just like every single door I’d seen in the entire town. Aside from the usual clutter, books and papers and ink, there was a single sheet of paper with no more than a few paragraphs of writing on it.

“You already had someone forge the orders? It’s barely been an hour!”

Oronir smiled. “This was the easy part. It’s just a paper and some words. We see enough official missives that copying them was simplicity itself. But that’s useless without your stamp. Please press it to the top of the paper.”

“And do what? Does it need ink or something?”

Revana chuckled. “It’s a sorcerous tool. Just pressing it firmly down will be enough to activate it. It should form a seal on the page.”

“And only I can do this?”

“Oh yes. It would activate our brands if we even tried. I’m not sure what would happen if we were to even pick it up. Either way, it wouldn’t function for us.”

“Huh.” I stepped over to the desk and pressed the stamp down. It didn’t seem like much happened, but both Revana and Oronir backed away. There was a little sound that vaguely sounded like the channeling I’d heard from Jorel and Isik, and little dark tendrils of magic curled out and up my arm. I eyed them warily, but they didn’t feel like anything. When I lifted it back up, there was indeed a writhing, circular form on the page. The fact that it didn’t stay completely still weirded me out on a couple levels. 

The other two leaned over, still leery to even be near it at all. Oronir delicately picked up the paper and folded it in thirds. “Wonderful! I’ll give this to our allies and they’ll see that Isik receives it through the proper channels. It wouldn’t do for just anyone to hand it to her.”

“Oh, I didn’t even read it. What does it say?”

Revana answered, “It recalls her to the capital immediately.”

I looked back at her, unimpressed. “That’s it? Does it say why?”

“Of course not. Inquisitors’ business isn’t something that’s written on a missive. She won’t think it odd at all.”

“Uh huh,” I said, beginning to wonder if this had actually been a good plan after all. “And once she gets there and finds out it’s a fake?”

“That’s just the thing! There’s absolutely nothing to indicate it is a fake. By every standard, this is an official order. The stamp you’re holding is one of very, very few. And once you replace it, no one will consider that one’s been stolen. And no one besides someone of Isik’s station could use it anyway. She’ll likely end up in a bureaucratic nightmare chasing this lead that won’t go anywhere.”

“Wow, poor Isik.”

The two of them gaped at me and I realized what I’d just said. “Oh, I mean. Well, she kinda sounds over her job, and that’s something I can really relate with.” Their expressions did not change. “I mean, sure, she’s evil and everything, but…wow can we just move on now?” I felt the color rising to my cheeks and I just stopped talking before I started rambling endlessly trying to explain myself.

Oronir wasn’t having any of it, but Revana smiled a little. “I can see what you mean, but it’s difficult for us to have any sympathy for any of them.”

“Yes, yes. Of course. I understand.”

Thankfully, the conversation moved on from there and I soon headed back out to the inn or hotel or whatever it was called here. I made sure to go in a side door in case Isik was still standing out front, and I only got slightly lost before I made it back to the staircase. 

I was about to go into the room I had a key for when I realized I didn’t know if Isik was back in her room or not. Throwing all caution to the wind, I left my door open, stepped over to her room, and knocked loudly before rushing back to the safety of the next room. I didn’t hear a reply and the door didn’t open as I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Who knew if knocking on an Inquisitor’s door was a grave offense or not? It seemed most things were in this world. 

I hopped over the balcony and lowered down, peeking into the room. It was empty. I let myself in, hurriedly replaced the stamp in exactly the position I’d found it, and left as quickly as I could, scrambling back into the other room. I sat down again on the plush bed, thankful that I hadn’t had to dive under Isik’s again. 

I leaned back and enjoyed the bed again just as the doorknob turned.

9

Ibolted upright, the urge to throw myself under the bed or jump off the balcony racing through my thoughts.

A surprised Dravini woman stood in the doorway with eyes as wide as mine. She had light skin like Revana, but golden horns and blue eyes. She very slowly stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. I had no idea what to do or say, but she spoke first, “Michael?”

She didn’t look dangerous. And she was Dravini, not Gorvani. Were all imperials Gorvani, or did they have other races serving them as well? She did know my name, which I’m pretty sure only two other people knew. 

I nodded, wondering if that was the right move.

She spoke softly, “I’m a friend to Oronir. I got the keys for you. I couldn’t help myself; I came to see if they’d been used.”

I had no idea if she knew I was brandless, or what I was using the keys for, so I didn’t mention any of it. “Uh, yes. I’m done with them now.” I assumed she was telling the truth, so I got them both out of my pocket and set them in her gold claws. “Uh, thanks.”

She winked at me and said, “Anything for the Mulaq’Shae.” And then she turned and left, leaving the door open.

I peaked out into the hallway, sure an ambush was coming, but everything seemed normal enough. I rushed down the stairs and back out the side door before powerwalking back to Oronir’s house.

When I was back inside, he confirmed that the woman was an ally and I felt the relief flowing through my body; I hadn’t completely screwed everything up. We spoke briefly before he left Revana and I alone in a guest bedroom.

It was late morning, but I still hadn’t slept since…well since I’d got here. I put the unpleasant thought of my near-death out of my head. I didn’t know what to think or believe about it and I surely didn’t have the mental wherewithal to handle it right then. As I sat there, in relative safety, the magnitude of what I’d done settled over me, and within minutes, all the action and worry caught up with me; I was bone tired. 

“You’ve done more than enough for now, Revana said. “Please, get some rest, and I’ll wake you up later when things are in motion again.” She reached around me, unbuckling the sword from around my waist. I wasn’t sure why I’d even worn it; if I’d had to use it, everything was already screwed anyway. But I took that thought and a hundred others and pushed them away, sinking gratefully down into one of the large beds in the room. To my unending delight, it was just as nice as the one I’d tried out at the inn. Within minutes, sleep easily overcame me.

I awoke an indeterminate time later, in pitch black, footsteps sounding beside me.

I jerked awake, unsure of where I was, fumbling for a sword I only vaguely remembered having. In my sleep, I’d wrapped the blankets around myself, and my panicked thrashing didn’t help, so while I meant to stand and confront whatever attacker was here, I instead found my legs hopelessly tied together as I rolled gracelessly over the side of the bed and onto the hard, wooden floor.

I came down hard on my arm, letting out a muffled scream while the footsteps beside me shuffled away. Groggily, I tried to make sense of what was happening, but I couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

Until Revana pulled open the heavy curtains and flooded the room with the afternoon sun, blinding my sleep-laden eyes. I couldn’t see a thing, but I could certainly hear her laughing her ass off at me. Eventually, I untangled myself mostly by feel, letting my eyes adjust gradually. Once I got up and sat back down on the bed, she’d nearly stopped laughing at me.

“Maybe a knock on the door first,” I said, a smile on my lips.

She brought her hand to her mouth, her eyes still crinkled. “I’ll try and remember that.” She really was beautiful; this was the first time I’d seen her unguardedly happy, even for just a moment. I wondered how much weight sat on her shoulders, how much of this crazy plan she was responsible for, and what I could realistically accomplish here.

I rubbed my hands over my face. Best not to start thinking like that, or I’d get overwhelmed; better to take things one at a time. “So, what’s next? Is Isik gone?”

“Yeah,” she said, looking out the window. “The plan worked perfectly, which never happens. I’m told she took one look at the orders, swore up and down for a minute, and left to pack her things. And she was out the door headed towards the portal shortly after. Once she was gone, the town started getting ready.” She stood and stepped over to the window and looked down at the street below. 

I joined her and gasped. The street was packed with people and the golems they used, loading everything up and apparently getting ready to leave their homes. I noted that almost everyone I saw was a woman; I wondered what all the men must have been doing. “So it’s really happening.”

“Of course it is.”

“I know, I know. It’s the plan, but it all seems so insane to me. They all have to uproot their lives for something we did? They’re just gonna…leave? The empire’s really going to just…kill them all for it?”

Revana shrugged. “All. Most. Make some extreme examples, so that everyone who watches never forgets. None of the options are good ones. It depends on exactly who shows up—which Inquisitors—and how much retribution they want to enact.”

I shook my head. “That’s insane. Just…absurd. I know you told me it was going to happen, but I just, I don’t know, thought you were exaggerating or something. Surely one guy isn’t worth all that.”

She snorted. “No, Jorel wasn’t worth anything. But it’s not about him, it’s about maintaining control. Any act of resistance, however small, is punished wildly disproportionately. Why do you think I had to summon you? How easy would it be to hide away a newborn, or many? It’s been tried many times. It never worked well, and was never worth it. I won’t even tell you what happened to those families.”

I shuddered. I was curious, of course, but I thought it was indeed much better that I didn’t know. I was beginning to realize exactly how awful this Gorvani empire actually was. And what an act of desperation summoning me had apparently been. “But, we are going to resist, right? What happens when—”

Oronir knocked on the open door and stepped in. “Sorry to intrude, but it’s nearly time to go.” There was a sadness in his eyes, but his voice didn’t waver. We nodded to him and he briskly turned and left.

“I still can’t imagine how awful this must be,” I said.

Revana stood and handed me the sword from the nightstand. “Oh, it is, but don’t worry too much about it. This is hardly the first time for any of us.”

“I…seriously!?”

“Yeah,” she said, turning to go. “It’s just how life is here.” She didn’t look back or say anything else before leaving the room. 

I buckled the sword around my waist and sat heavily back down on the bed. She’d said it’d take a while to list the empire’s sins, and I was becoming more convinced of that on more or less an hourly basis now. I sighed and put my hand on the hilt of the sword. I hadn’t asked for any of this. I didn’t know what I could honestly accomplish. But I was here, and I was the one that could do things no one else could. So I was going to try. I was going to do the absolute best I could. I really, really hoped it was enough.

Downstairs, I helped with the last of the packing. It seemed no one was taking very much, just the most important and necessary things and little else. It seemed like no time at all, and we were all walking in a huge caravan out the town gates. I still couldn’t tell where most of the men were, but that thought was pushed aside as I noticed that Revana had acquired a sword of her own somewhere, and it hung on her hip just like mine did. I was about to ask about it, but I looked back towards the sun shining out over the empty buildings and yet another thought popped into my head. “Are we not taking the portals?”

Revana shook her head. “Portals are the most regulated form of travel. An exodus through them tells the imperials exactly where we went. If they have that information, some of them might think it worth their time to go after us. But if we just walk into a handful of other towns, it’s impossible to track anything, really. Some will just go to the neighboring places, and some will head across the entire realm. Once we scatter enough, it’s safe to use portals again. For most, it largely depends on where their family is, although everyone will find a place somewhere. Everyone knows what it’s like to need one, even if not firsthand.”

I just nodded along like it all made sense to me. I had thought my own world was pretty shit. And it was, but there was nothing like all this. “What’s the village’s name? No one ever actually said it to me.”

Revana curled a lip and scoffed. “12-CU-79.”

“Wow…that’s a pretty…unattractive name.”

She laughed, with just a touch of genuine humor. “Twelfth province, seventy-ninth community unit.”

I let that sink in for a while, not replying. I watched the town fade away behind the blue-leaved trees. I was still getting used to the colors of this world. Some of the plants had green on them, but it was mostly a sea of blue and purple. My eyes had stopped hurting from looking at it, but I wasn’t anywhere close to thinking it was normal.

The sun was almost set when there were cries from the front of the caravan. Revana’s eyes went wide as she grabbed my arm and started pulling me that way. “I forgot to tell you! But there’s no time now, draw your sword and let’s go!”

I started to stammer out a stream of questions, but there wasn’t time for it. So I did as she asked and I drew my sword, running after her.

10

We reached the front of the group to find fifteen or so people standing across a clearing, all with their own weapons drawn. They wore armor—real metal armor, not the shadowy kind Jorel had worn. I looked around and noticed a decent number of our own people were brandishing weapons as well—almost all women.

Revana had her own held in two hands, and judging by her stance, she knew how to use it. It only softly registered in the back of my mind that I apparently knew what a good fighting stance looked like, and that I was standing in it myself. “What is this?” I asked her quietly.

Her eyes were narrowed as she looked at the people across the divide. “I’ll explain later. But the fighting is inevitable, and it’s alright to kill these ones. We have to. Every last one.”

I steeled myself; I could do this. It was us or them. Apparently.

Both sides stood, watching and waiting, and no one spoke. Judging by the electricity I could feel in the air, fighting was indeed inevitable. Everyone was just waiting for it to begin. Eventually, one of the other side took a step. And another. And more joined in, and then we were all running towards each other. 

I  expected the fear to explode inside me, but it didn’t; my breathing was even and my thoughts focused on the enemy. The only worry in my mind was for Revana, but the best thing I could do for her was end the fight as quickly as possible.

The first person I came up against was a man, a Dravini, I saw with surprise. But it seemed not all Dravini were allies; he didn’t hesitate to swing at me. He was a foot taller and much wider than I was, and based on his somewhat sloppy swing, he’d been used to intimidating and overpowering his opponents. I sidestepped his attack like it was the most natural thing I’d ever done before bringing my sword up under his armpit. 

I somehow knew my weapon was going to cut through him. It didn’t make a lot of sense: there was no way a sword the size of mine, swung with the force I was capable of, would penetrate armor, flesh, and bone.

But it did.

It cut straight through him, severing his arm completely, with almost no resistance at all. I took a step and brought my weapon through his neck, and with the same lack of resistance, his head rolled off his shoulders and hit the ground.

I noticed the gore, the horror in front of me, but they were like thoughts someone else was having. I turned and saw Revana fighting with another Dravini man, her eyes wide and a vicious snarl on her lips. She was clearly an accomplished fighter, and she yelled with each swing, putting everything she had into the blows, which were meant to kill. I thought about letting her have the deathblow, but that kind of impractical thinking might get us killed, so I stepped lightly over behind the man and thrust into the back of his neck, the sword passing easily through. I didn’t stop to see Revana’s reaction; I knew she was safe for the moment and that was enough. There were more people to fight.

The battle ended remarkably quickly, which I was told was largely attributable to me. I’d cut down six or seven of the enemy, and the rest, shocked that their numbers were dwindling so quickly, were swiftly overwhelmed. The townspeople started searching their corpses for anything worth taking with grim efficiency. 

“Who were they?” I asked Oronir as we stood by and watched. 

He curled a lip and paused before answering. “Travel by anything other than official means is strictly prohibited. These were enforcers, meant to patrol the areas we’re not allowed in, to prevent the exact thing we’re doing now.”

They had all been Dravini, to the last. “And it’s okay if we kill them?”

“They were,” he gestured out over the carnage, “the same caste as we are; they’re not imperials. They are, however, traitors. People who threw their lot in on the side of the empire for a slight elevation in status.”

“Oh. They’re your own people.”

Oronir shook his head. “They were once, but no one views them that way after they become enforcers. And it’s acceptable to kill them because they’re not actually imperials. The empire views them as expendable as the rest of us. They use them, however, because there aren’t enough Gorvani to go around for this type of task. I'm sure they’d consider themselves above it, if there were.”

We hadn’t lost a single person in the fight, although there were some wounded that would need to be loaded onto golems for the remainder of the trip. I walked through the crowd, helping where I could, hearing whispers when my back was turned. My exploits during the fight were making their way through the caravan, many wondering who, indeed, I was.

Revana and Oronir hadn’t told anyone about me being brandless, figuring that information should be kept as secret as it could for as long as possible. I don’t think anyone made the connection, but I was clearly being hailed as an exceptional fighter, and I had no idea what to think about that.

It had been my first honest battle; the fight with Jorel could hardly be called as such. He hadn’t known what he’d been doing, but these people had. And I had still cut them down easily. It appeared the relics were working, although I couldn’t feel a thing. And they weren’t just teaching me how to swing a sword, but how to fight. I’d been calm, focused. I knew what to look for and how to react to it. It was a supremely odd feeling.

I turned after helping with a golem, and Revana was standing there, covered in someone else’s blood. She smiled at me, seemingly completely at ease with what had just happened, despite the rage I’d seen on her face during the battle. I had thought myself attracted to her before, but seeing her there, bloodied and with a sword on her hip, I nearly swooned, which would have been supremely embarrassing. I told myself it was battle fatigue.

I smiled back and took her hand in mine, delighting in the feel of her claws and scales. “I’m not going to bother asking if you’re alright, because you clearly are.”

She looked down at our hands and squeezed mine back. “You did exceptionally well out there. I see the relics are working.”

“I wouldn’t have said they were, right up until the fighting started. I just…knew what to do.” I looked into her bright, golden eyes and back out at the field. “You’re…okay with all that?”

She gave a little shrug. “Oh, I don’t know. On one hand, they’re traitors and deserve it. But on the other, they’re Dravini. Who would they have been in a better world?” She shook her head and curled a lip. “Did Oronir explain the situation?”

“Yeah. Just another on the list of the empire’s sins?”

“Yep. I told you it would take forever to list them all.”

Despite the rather grim conversation we were having, our eyes were locked on each others’, and I could feel the blood still rushing in my veins and wondered if she could as well. We stayed that way, in silence, for a moment before she leaned in and kissed me.

I, just barely, had the wherewithal to return it, but it was over as soon as it began, and she turned and walked away, her cheeks bright red. 

11

Istood there stupidly and happily dumbfounded, thinking of nothing but the feel of her lips on mine. I eventually shook myself out of my revelry and continued helping the caravan where we could. In a short time, we were moving again.

Oronir told me we were heading towards a particular clearing by a stream that would make a good place to camp for the night and would make it easier to post guards and patrols. Apparently the town had a small number of fighters, which I’d seen during the battle against the enforcers, but at the end of the day, this was a small farming community, not a military outfit. 

No one knew the likelihood of running into more fighting; we could see three to four more bands or none; the enforcers were given free reign and were notoriously undisciplined and erratic. Almost everyone was on edge as we got going again. We’d been lucky this time and not lost anyone, but they all knew it was a very real possibility. Better than staying and rolling the dice on the empire’s mercy though.

Thankfully, the rest of the day was uneventful, and we reached the clearing we’d been aiming for. Everyone settled in the best they could, and I was provided a tiny little pup tent-looking thing. It wasn’t much, but as long as it kept me dry, I didn’t care. I was also handed a dinner that consisted of jerked meat and vegetables; I didn’t ask what they were and no one told me, but they weren’t too different from what I was used to and they all tasted surprisingly good. 

I volunteered to take one of the first watches after dark since I’d slept most of the day. I didn’t think I could sleep either way, with all the thoughts racing through my head. I set up my tent the best I could and headed out to patrol, as if I knew how to do that. Some time into my shift, I heard footsteps creeping up behind me and turned to find Revana there, the moonbeams through the trees reflecting brightly from her blue hair.

“Mind some company?”

“No, of course not.”

We walked in a comfortable silence for quite a while, listening to the sounds of birds and insects that weren’t very far from the sounds of home. Eventually, I caught her smiling and glancing over at me. “What is it?”

She turned shyly away, trying to hide a big grin. “I told you we’ve been planning this all for years, right? The summoning of a brandless and all of it. I imagined what it would be like a thousand times over, thinking of all sorts of different people that might come through. And while I had some wild ideas of what it might be like, I never honestly expected to like the person I summoned.”

I laughed. “You didn’t?”

“Oh, no. Not really. I  was pulling a stranger from a strange land into our world against their will. I’ve already said I didn’t expect anyone to agree to fight for us very easily. What we’re asking is madness, more or less. But who knew what your world was like, what kind of person you would be, what thoughts and expectations would be normal to you. We could have ended up with a pacifist, or someone too eager to fight and kill, or,” she threw up her hands, “someone who’d immediately say, ‘screw this, I’m going to join this empire you keep going on about!’

“Hardly in my wildest imaginings did I think we’d get someone like you, someone willing to fight, someone who would care. There’s no reason for you to care about any of us, really.”

“Well,” I said, smiling, “I suppose that might have originally been true.” I shrugged, a little uncomfortable with this praise. “But still, I don’t feel like I’ve really done anything. I’ve more or less just gone with the flow since I got here. You handed me the relics and I just went with it, first because I thought none of this was real, but then, I’ve just been doing what you wanted me to. I don’t feel like any of it’s all that special.” I made a conscious effort to lower my shoulders, which were rising up to my ears; this all felt rather embarrassing.

She reached out and intertwined her fingers with mine as we kept walking through the night. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. You’ve always had a choice. You didn’t have to accept the relics, you didn’t have to save me from Jorel, you didn’t have to come with me or do anything you did with Isik.” She squeezed my hand tightly and looked over to me, her eyes bright and her smile wide. “You didn’t have to come with us here, and you certainly didn’t have to fight and risk your life for us. Those were all choices you made, and you were always free to make different ones. And the fact that that barely even occurred to you speaks so highly of who you are.”

So many emotions were roiling inside my chest. No one had ever said anything so kind about me in my whole life. We kept walking, and a small voice in my head hoped Revana was actually keeping a lookout, because I was in a daze and probably would have missed a hippo running up behind us. “I’d never thought about it like that.”

She laughed softly. “Well, you should start. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.”

I glanced over at her. The moonlight reflected off her hair and her horns made curving shadows in the air, and if I thought she’d been otherworldly before, it was nothing to the fairy or goddess she looked like then. I wanted to pull her close and kiss her more fiercely than I’d ever wanted anything before.

So I did.

I wrapped my other hand around her waist and pulled her body tight against mine. We leaned in and closed our eyes, our lips pressed together again. My breath came faster and I pushed my tongue between her lips. She let out a soft moan and returned the pressure. The blood hammered in my veins as I pulled her tighter against me. I let go of her hand and slid mine under her shirt, reveling in the feel of soft skin and scales. 

Her hands drifted across my chest, neck, and back, and the feeling of her claws lightly trailing across my skin drove me wild. She moaned softly, cupping a hand around the back of my neck and pushing her tongue deeper into my mouth. 

I cupped her breasts as well as I could with the space I had before I reached up and caressed one of her horns. She leaned back out of the kiss and groaned, so I wrapped my hand gently around it and pulled her mouth back down to me. Her breath came fast and hot as she urgently pushed her tongue back against mine.

I’m not sure how long we stood there, hands gliding over each other’s bodies in the moonlight, but eventually, she put her hands on my shoulders and pushed me lightly away. The desire in her eyes matched what I felt thrumming in my chest, both of us breathing heavily. “We should,” she said between breaths, “probably stop.”

It was obvious that we both would rather tear our clothes off and lay down in the grass, but we were ostensibly on patrol, and the possible threat out in the night was very real. “Yeah,” I said, hating the thought. We stood there, her hands still on my shoulders and mine on her sides, mustering a truly heroic amount of willpower. 

“I’m going to take a step back now,” I said.

She nodded, biting her lip. “Okay.”

I did.

About ten seconds went by. I’m not sure who made the first move, but at the slightest motion, we were back together, our tongues pressing desperately against each other as I squeezed her ass. Soft little moans escaped her lips before she growled and began pulling my tunics up, trailing her hands over my bare chest. 

Almost instantly, my own hands were reaching under her tight, red shirt, pulling it up and exposing her breasts. They were big and soft, and the squeal she made as I pinched her nipple sent electricity surging through my body. We kissed and writhed together, pressing our bodies close but never close enough, but finally, Revana pulled away, blinking out of the daze. “Okay, okay,” she said breathlessly. “We, uh, actually do…need to…stop.” She pulled her shirt back down and looked up at me, smiling widely. “Not that I’m not enjoying this, of course.”

I smiled back and took a few deep breaths, trying to get myself back under control. “Yeah…we’re…we should be, you know…”

“Yes. Yeah. Patrolling.”

“Yeah.”

We stood there smiling like idiots for some time. 

12

The rest of the night was uneventful, which was for the best; I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts, reliving the time with Revana, that I probably would have missed an entire battalion charging through the woods at us. 

A Dravini woman came to relieve me and I made my way back to the camp and my tiny tent. I was hoping to catch sight of Revana, but she was nowhere to be seen, so I curled up in my thin blankets and drifted off to sleep still thinking about her.

The sounds of people milling about woke me up, and I crawled out to see the sun just barely shining through the trees. I wasn’t exactly a morning person, but I got up and helped out where I could. Breakfast was more of the same jerky and a cold drink I immediately forgot the name of, but it was fruity and surprisingly good. We got all the golems packed again and continued on with the second day of travel. 

It had been probably an hour into the day and much brighter when Revana found me again. She came up behind me and squeezed my hand and we walked in a comfortable silence for a while. 

I looked around at the townspeople we were with, and a thought I’d been meaning to bring up popped into my head. “Where are all the men? I kept thinking they were out of sight doing something else, but I’m beginning to think they’re not even here.”

“They’re not. Would you like to hear another of the empire’s sins?”

“We should turn this into a drinking game. Take a shot for every sin that comes up in conversation.”

She smirked. “Are you sure we could handle it? Is there even enough booze to play the game with?”

I knew the subject was inevitably going to be a grim one, but I was glad to see she was still willing to joke about it. I supposed that if you’d lived with it your whole life, you might as well make jokes. That was a sentiment I knew very well. “We could tone it down a little, maybe only take a shot for every ten sins or something.”

“Hmm, we might still get too drunk. But to actually answer your question, the men get taken away a little ways into adulthood to work for the empire. They get put in mines or quarries, things like that. Backbreaking work. They get to come home occasionally, and after twenty years, they’re allowed to move back permanently.”

I looked around again, and there were barely any men of any age older than children. I’d expected older people like Oronir, but he too was a rarity. “Um…you mean if they survive?”

She nodded. “I do. It’s not exactly common. It happens, but it’s a surprising joy when it does. They’re worked to the bone and seen as very expendable. It’s one of the main reasons men decide to become enforcers like the ones we fought. They’re not exactly well taken care of, but as long as they do as they’re told, they’re provided a somewhat comfortable life, and they keep out of the mines. Of course, they’re anathema at that point; they’ll never be accepted back with us after that.”

“So, Oronir?”

“Yeah, he put in his twenty years and lived. He has some horror stories, I’ve heard, although he doesn’t like to talk about it. That time of his life was over by the time I knew him, and I’ve never really asked him myself. That he turned out as one of the nicest, kindest people I know despite all the things he must have lived through…I look up to him very much.”

“So, not to be weird, but, um…how do…I’m not sure how to ask this.”

She gave me a wry smile. “How do relationships work?”

“Yep. That’s what I was going for.”

“It’s very common for many women to be romantic with one man. I’m to understand that before the imperial years, this wasn’t the way things usually worked, but now, it’s somewhat a matter of practicality.” She glanced over at me with the ghost of a smile and said, “So if you find yourself attracted to another woman, I won’t mind, as long as you don’t leave me high and dry.”

I blushed furiously and stared straight ahead. 

She giggled at me. “Can I take it that things don’t work that way where you’re from?”

“Uh, no, not usually.”

From there the conversation moved on to more mundane things. We told each other what kinds of foods and books and activities we liked; most of the things we said the other one didn’t really understand, but it was enjoyable anyway. We didn’t encounter any other groups of enforcers and the weather was pleasant. It was the most fun I’d had since I’d come to Vendira. We made camp again as the sun touched the horizon. We’d left the forest behind hours before, and when night came, we could vaguely see a bright spot miles and miles away. It was the village we were making for, a bit larger than the one we’d left. Revana said that some of the people would end up staying there, but most would travel elsewhere, meeting family or friends willing to take them in.

As we sat around small campfires, judging it safe enough to make them, I asked her about our plans afterwards. So far, it had been dealing with immediate problems only, but I knew there was much more we were meant to do.

“We’re fighting the entire empire, right? Hopefully you’ve got something worked out, because I sure don’t know where to start with that.” The stars overhead shone brightly, and for the first time, I noticed there were two moons in the sky. One was much like the moon I knew, but the other was much smaller, but both looked to be full of craters. I found myself not very surprised by it; I was getting used to the fact that this wasn’t Earth and nothing was necessarily going to be the same.

“You recall our talks about the tenebrae, the imperials’ magic? It’s a deep current of Vendira, unlike the Shae, which is all around us, or the arcanae, which travels through the land itself.”

“Wait, arcanae?”

“Yes, it’s what powers…everything. Our lights, our technology. It’s a little different in that people can’t channel it; it must be collected and distributed through a series of wires and devices.”

“Sounds like electricity,” I said.

“I don’t know that word.”

“Uh…imagine bottled lightning…or something.”

“Hmm, yes, the arcanae is perhaps like that. Anyway. I was talking about the tenebrae. Like I said, it comes from deep within the land. At the heart of the imperial capital, known as Telorn—”

“Oh, they get cities with names, huh?”

Revana laughed loudly. “Indeed. And at the heart of their named city is the Tenebral Font, a focus that reaches deeply into the land and taps into the tenebral current.”

I sat back with widening eyes, “Uh, we’re not going for that, are we?”

“Oh my no. That would be suicide.” She shrugged and gazed off into the distance. “Although one day, yes, that is the goal, to destroy the Font and break their power completely. But that’s so far away it’s not even worth thinking about now. 

“The Font taps into the tenebrae, but foci over the length and breadth of the empire let it flow freely; they’re known as sigilariums. They’re massive structures, huge buildings unto themselves, and they’re complex machines filled with runic inscriptions that pull energy from the Font and allow imperials to channel wherever they are. Our first goal is to destroy the sigilarium in this region.”

I leaned back and let this all sink in. I was pretty sure I was following along, but one part of the plan bothered me. “So, killing Jorel was pretty bad, right?”

“Yes.” Revana’s face and tone were neutral; I assume she knew where I was going with this, but she let me talk.

“And killing Isik was unthinkable.”

“Correct.”

“And we’re gonna bust up the very thing that lets them use magic.”

“Also correct.” She didn’t say anything more, just watched me and waited. 

“What are they gonna do when we do that?”

She crossed her claws and stared into the fire for a while before answering. I waited silently, dreading what the answer would be.

“The short answer is that we don’t know.”

“Don’t…know?”

She shook her head. “It’s never happened before. No one’s ever assaulted a sigilarium, let alone destroyed one. We have no idea how the empire will react. Their power will be broken in this region, but only their magical power. They can still march soldiers in for a more old fashioned approach. However, they’ve cowed us for so long with our brands; we don’t know how effective they can honestly be without the tenebrae. But…it was never going to be easy. This was never going to happen without a struggle. The empire will fight back mercilessly. But it’s either that, or always be slaves to them.”

“When we destroy this sigilarium, will, uh, will your brands…”

She raised her eyebrows at me, confused as to where this question was leading.

“Will your brands go away?”

She snorted and laughed in my face, which I endured stoically. “Oh no. No. No, they won’t. Early on, people tried sailing out into the ocean away from the tenebrae, but it doesn’t matter. Our brands are seared into our bodies, and nothing can take them away. It’s a nice thought, though.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I kinda got my hopes up there for a minute.”

She pulled her shirt up, and we looked at the circular design, filled with very, very subtly shifting runes. “I would love to get rid of it. I mean, of course I would, but…it prevents me from channeling the shae.”

“Uh, but you summoned me here.”

She shook her head. “I know the ancient rites that use the shae. Before people could channel it, it was manipulated through runic circles and reagents. The summoning ritual was like that. I know by heart so many spells that priestesses of old could cast, but…” She traced her hand over her brand and her head fell as she pressed her lips together and a tear fell down her cheek. “I never will. I’ll never know what it’s like to feel the shae flowing through me.” She looked up into my eyes, her own filled with newly falling tears. “It’s what I want more than anything else. I’d do almost anything for it. I’m as much of a priestess as I can be, but that will forever be beyond my reach.”

I slid over and wrapped my arms around her. I didn’t say anything; there wasn’t anything to be said. She sank into my embrace and quietly cried into my shoulder as I held her tight and watched the flames of our fire dance in the night. 

13

The last morning of our trip, I woke up to find that everything was ready to go. Revana had let me sleep in, handing me the same breakfast to eat while we walked the last handful of hours to the next village. I still didn’t know what the meat or fruity drink were called. She’d told me again, but it just didn’t stick in my head.

As we got closer, the aura of danger that had always been present but never commented on noticeably lifted from everyone. The threat of more enforcers just around the corner had been very real, and we were lucky, apparently, that we’d only met one band of them. And we’d not lost a single person from the caravan; those that had been wounded in the fight were still doing well enough, even though some of them had ridden golems the entire rest of the way.

A runner was sent to the town to make sure our arrival didn’t coincide with any imperial visits, another problem I hadn’t thought about along the way. But it was safe; no Inquisitors this time, not even low level imperials like Jorel were present. 

As we all filed in the town’s gate, I felt the tension fall out of my shoulders, and I couldn’t remember when I’d last wanted a shower and a proper bed more, which I said to Revana.

“Oh…” She gave me a pained face. “That’s going to be too bad. If you want to shower before we leave, it can be arranged, but our path isn’t going to be any nicer than the last few days. Quite a bit worse, actually.”

I just stared slack jawed at her. “Do I even want to know? You know what? I don’t. I’m gonna take you up on that shower, and then you can tell me all about the horrors we’ll be walking into next.”

We said our goodbyes to Oronir, who was headed across the empire to stay with a sister. Revana hugged him tightly, clearly not wanting to let go. They whispered their goodbyes to each other, he and I shook hands, and he was on his way. Despite knowing him for only a couple days, I was pretty sad to see him go. 

The room at the inn was much the same as what I was familiar with. I still had to adjust my expectations of this world: I kept thinking of elves and dwarves, taverns with ale, oil lanterns and outhouses. The fact that this world kept having things like indoor lights and running water kept surprising me, even though I really should have known better by this point. 

I thought about asking Revana to shower with me, but I’d barely gotten into the room before she was out again, off to make whatever preparations were needed for the next arduous step in our adventure.

I’d never taken a shower that felt as good as that one. I stood in the hot water much longer than I needed to, just to enjoy it but also hoping that Revana would come back while I was still in it. But she didn’t, so I eventually got out.

Part of me was amused that I felt so strongly about it after a few days of what was essentially light camping, the fighting aside. It felt like I’d been roughing it for weeks, but I’d done little more than walk, help pack, and be handed food. Granted it was a lot of walking, but still.

When I stepped out of the bathroom Revana was sitting on the bed, rebraiding her hair. On the floor beside her were two heavily laden backpacks, complete with sleeping bags and an array of crystalline devices wrapped in metal and wires. “Well, okay. I think I’m ready. Lay it on me: where are we going, what are we doing, and what are the crystal things?”

“Those are lights.”

“Oh, are we traveling by night then?”

She gave me a little amused smile. “Maybe, maybe not. But that’s not why we’re going to need them.”

A wave of dread washed over me. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

She shrugged. “Depends on how claustrophobic you are.”

“Wow, you are not selling it.”

She snorted at my fearful expression. “We’ll be traveling through an abandoned mine and cave system.” She said that in the same tone someone would use when they were saying we’d be traveling by train. 

“Oh, not just a mine, an abandoned mine. That sounds a lot more fun than taking a portal somewhere.”

“Once we get where we’re going, we can get you some proper, official papers for identification. Portals, like I said, are highly regulated. We won’t be able to get you through them now. Even trying to would raise a lot of questions we don’t need examined by anyone.”

“That reminds me. Does anyone know I’m, you know, brandless?”

She shook her head. “No. Not outside of me and Oronir. It’s best no one does for a while. Eventually, that’ll change, but for now, it’s far, far too dangerous.”

There was something there, a distant part of the plan I wasn’t being told, but I didn’t push it. I put the idea out of my head. I was committed. I wasn’t going to back out. So all I could do was take this one step at a time. Honestly, the wild amount of danger we were all in was something I’d forced out of my mind; I knew if I really thought about it, I’d be terrified constantly. So, I pushed it away. Besides, working my old job had ended up being just as dangerous, right? That was, of course, a stupid thought, but I held on to it and just looked at the next step in front of me. “Alright, are we heading out now?”

As we left town, I wondered how everyone else’s journey was going to go. This hadn’t been the first time for most, I’d been told, but still, the concept of leaving your home behind at a moment’s notice still felt like too much. Oh well, I guess I’d just have to bring about the collapse of an evil empire. 

We traveled over meadows of blue grass and all kinds of flowers, and soon enough, we lost sight of the second town over rolling hills. I kept watch for more enforcers, but again, we encountered none. And only a few hours later, we were standing at the entrance of a derelict mine. “So, this is the type of place the men get sent?”

“Just so. The luckier ones get posted in the bigger cities, hauling goods and moving freight. It’s not a great life, but better than toiling under the ground for days on end. Also, it’s…a lot easier to die in a mine than it is in a city.”

“That’s brutal. Do you know what Oronir did?”

“Rock quarry for most of his years. Only one small step up from this, honestly.”

We took the lights from our packs, turned them on, and hung them around our necks. They were surprisingly light and gave off an impressive glow for something so small. “How long are these things gonna last?” We walked in through the huge, wooden doors and I felt the weight of the rock above settle over me. I had never been claustrophobic before, but this was going to test that resolve, I was already sure. 

“They’re good for a few weeks, actually. And no, before you ask, we’re only going to be down here for a few days.”

“A few days.”

“Mhmm. The path is clearly marked, if you know what to look for. It should be very straightforward.”

I groaned. “Don’t say that! Saying it almost assures that we’ll get hopelessly lost and die horribly in the crushing dark!”

She scoffed. “Yeah we will with that attitude.”

We both laughed, but I still kept a hard check on my imagination

We went down a wide and winding path that descended noticeably for quite some time, before opening up into a large room, the ceiling so high our lights barely reached it. It was filled with haphazard piles of rusted machinery, so we picked our way through the wreckage and I desperately hoped I wouldn’t cut myself and need a tetanus shot, which this world might or might not even have.

We kept our mouths closed and our eyes on what we were doing, and before I knew it, Revana came to a stop in front of me, a wide elevator standing open in the far wall. “This is it,” she said.

I looked on with a raised eyebrow. “This thing? Does it even work anymore? We’re not going to have to hand-crank it, are we?”

“Of course it works! Arcanic devices hardly ever fail.”

“Hardly ever. Super reassuring. And it having power wasn’t exactly what I meant. Is it not completely rusted solid?”

“I used it less than a month ago. Is that reassuring enough?” She stepped into it and batted her eyes at me. 

“Ugh, fine. Okay. But why were you here so recently?”

She hurried me onto the platform and slid the door closed. It only screeched a little, which did wonders for my apprehensions. She pulled a lever, and the whole thing shivered before slowly starting to descend. “The reagents for the summoning ritual were…how do I say this? Severely illegal. I couldn’t risk being searched while taking them through the portals. I had to perform it as far away as I could from any imperials, for various reasons. And still, Jorel had to show up and screw it up.”

The elevator was slow, but we were in it for what seemed like ages. “How deep does this go, anyway?”

“Deep.”

And indeed it did. We must have stood there for more than fifteen minutes, just watching the rock go by outside the cage. I had wondered if the rock would be different colors from home, but it wasn’t. I was a little disappointed after the bright blue plants above.

Eventually, finally, the lift came to a stop and we pulled the door open, looking into a roughly round room with many passageways leading out from it. Scratched into the wall next to each of them were runes or symbols. I pointed to a random one. “I assume these mean something?”

“They’re what’s going to lead us along the right path.” Revana strode confidently towards a random tunnel and I followed behind. For a while, it was easy going. The tunnel was wide and tall, braced often and felt relatively safe. It branched off multiple times, and each time, Revana barely hesitated before choosing a new path. 

I was getting rather hopeful the entire trip would be the same, easy walking, but my hopes were dashed pretty thoroughly when one tunnel narrowed, forcing us to bend over and later, crawl. Our packs scraped against the rock overhead, and a seed of anxiety became firmly lodged in my chest. I just powered through until it opened up and we were able to walk again.

“Glad that’s over,” I muttered to myself.

Revana glanced back at me, a pained expression on her face, but she didn’t say anything.

All too soon, my hopes were crushed. 

We stood in front of a narrow opening that was about as high as my knee. I stood there, staring at it, feeling the anxiety bloom inside me. “In there?”

She nodded. “Yep. We’ll have to take our packs off and push them ahead of us. It’s very straight and there aren’t any forks, so it’s not possible to get lost.”

I looked her in the eyes and steeled myself the best I could. Still, I couldn’t help but ask, “There’s no other way?”

“There is, but it adds three days onto the journey. This will take us about a half hour.”

A half hour. Of that.

She took my hand in hers. “We can go the other way if you want. We have enough food to last, if we’re careful.”

I shook my head. “No, let’s do this. Let’s get in there and get it over with.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I can handle it,” is what I said. I was pretty sure I meant it.

We unstrapped our packs and she knelt down and pushed hers in. My eyes locked onto her ass, half because it was nice, and half because I needed something else to focus on. Anything at all. 

She crawled in with her head turned so her horns wouldn’t scrape on the ceiling while I gaped at her; she’d probably have to do this entire crawl with her head held sideways. It put my own experience a little into perspective.

Once her boots slid into the opening, I pushed my own pack in and got down on my stomach and crawled in, taking long deep breaths. I wasn’t claustrophobic, but this was really pushing the limits of that idea. I took it one bit at a time, and luckily our lights were really bright, especially in the tiny tunnel, so the darkness didn’t weigh on me as well.

The minutes ticked by, and I let my mind wander since I could only see my pack in front of me and rock anywhere else. I thought of anything else I could, from what I now considered my old life, to everything that had happened on Vendira and everything else that was supposed to happen. Where else would we go, and what would we do? Would we actually bring down the empire? The thought seemed so ridiculous, but that was the end goal, wasn’t it? I shook my head and tried to not think of anything at all. Just one hand in front of the other.

Some indeterminate time later, I looked up to see my light shining down a side path and I called ahead, “Hey, you said there weren’t any branches in the tunnel!” The side route was about as high but much narrower. I doubted we could have traversed it if we’d needed to.

“Oh, don’t worry about it.”

I immediately started to worry. A better, more reassuring answer would have been, ‘Oh, I guess there were,’ or, ‘That doesn’t count as a tunnel.’ And there was something in her voice, a little tone that implied there was more she wasn’t telling me. “What is it?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Worry flooded my body. “Is it like, erosion or something?”

There was the barest of pauses before she said, “Yeah.”

One hand in front of the other. I looked down and focused on my breathing and putting one hand in front of the other. I ruthlessly stuffed the gibbering panic and wild thoughts back down and thought of nothing but one. hand. in front. of the other.

Some unknowable time later, I heard Revana scuffling and looked around my pack in shock to see her boots and just her boots; she was standing up! I pushed on the last little bit and the ceiling opened up higher than our lights could even see. I stood and reveled in the freedom, stretching out every muscle I could. I held my eyes closed and took deep, calming breaths. “Is that the only time we have to do that?”

“Yes, it is. There’s some light crawling left, but it’s with our packs on and only once more. Nothing like what we just did.” She had her head cocked at a funny angle, stretching out her neck, which must have ached fiercely after all that.

“You okay there?”

“Oh yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“So, uh…” I thought about not asking. About not worrying about it, but I was just too curious. “What was the side passage thing about?”

She paused in her stretch and looked at me. “It was…just erosion.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Okay, okay. But are you sure you wanna know? It’s not actually something you need to worry about.”

“That might be the least believable thing I’ve ever heard. And no, I’m not sure I wanna know, but tell me anyway.”

She sighed. “Alright. Well, you don’t have korids on Earth, do you?”

“Nooope. Is that…an animal?”

“Yep.”

“And here I was really hoping it wasn’t gonna be some little monster thing.”

“You asked! You said you wanted to know!”

I held up my hands. “I know, I know! I did. And you might as well tell me what they are now, because if you don’t, I’m just going to imagine something a hundred times worse.”

“Alright,” she said, laughing, “but you asked for it! I told you not to worry about it!” She held out her palms, a little wider than her body. “Ok, so they’re these tough shelled little things. They’ve got eight spindly legs and two massive claws in front. Their eyes, which we’re pretty sure are useless, stand up on little stalks. They have a few mouths, and they chew and use their claws to tunnel through rock.”

I shivered. “Multiple mouths. Tell me that’s not a common thing on Vendira.”

Revana was trying very hard not to laugh. “Not really. Only two or three classes of animals are like that.”

“Ugh. Well anyway, besides that, you just described crabs to me.”

“Crabs? That doesn’t sound like a nice thing.”

“They’re not so bad, I guess. They only have one mouth, like sensible animals. And ours live in the water or on beaches and stuff. They don’t burrow through rock.” A sickening feeling swept through me. “We could have come face to face with those things in the tunnels, couldn’t we have! And you didn’t warn me!”

She couldn’t help it apparently; she started laughing at me.

“I don’t think that’s funny at all!”

“Sorry, sorry! But really, they stay far away from people. I’ve been through caves loads of times in my life, and I’ve literally never seen one up close. And I come across their tunnels all the time. They’re really shy creatures.”

“How do you know what they look like then?”

“People trap and eat them.”

My first reaction was to be disgusted, but honestly, they probably tasted like crabs. “You promise we’re not going to see any?”

“I can’t promise, but I would be shocked if we did.”

I was sorry I’d asked, but I would have thought up something much worse than rock crabs if I hadn’t, I was sure.

14

“So, you did this entire thing before by yourself?” I asked. “You came all the way through these caves alone.”

“I did. I’ve made this trip a few times and used other cave systems as well.”

“I don’t know if I could do this alone, even if I knew the way. I hope this doesn’t sound condescending, but I’m really impressed.”

She turned and smiled widely at me. “I appreciate you saying so, but it’s not all that impressive. It had to be done, so I did it.”

We continued on in the massive, open chasm we’d come out into. It was a welcome change from the crawling, but also from all the rest of the man made tunnels we’d been in before that. There were stalagmites and stalactites everywhere and most everything was vaguely wet. It was a refreshing change of pace. Instead of traipsing through an abandoned mine, we were sightseeing in a natural cave, or so I told myself while I desperately tried to put crabs out of my mind. 

Later, the floor opened up into a huge, yawning trench that we couldn’t see the bottom of, and our path was a narrow walkway along the cavern wall. I didn’t like it, but the fear of falling to my death was somehow much easier to deal with than the crushing feeling inside the small tunnel. Perhaps I was just more familiar with it.

That didn’t last for long before the floor evened out and we found ourselves in a large, flat plateau overlooking the bottomless pit, which was probably not actually bottomless, even though I’d thrown a little rock over the side and not heard anything.

Revana turned to look at me, and I was glad to see she was just as dead on her feet as I was. The day had been endless walking and crawling and for part of it, low grade terror. I didn’t want to be the one to say it, but I had been done walking an hour or two before. 

Apparently I looked the same to her, because she laughed and said, “Stop for the night, then?”

“Yes. A thousand times yes. Also, is it night now?”

She shrugged. “Probably. It doesn’t really matter down here. You want a fire?”

I gaped. “A fire!? Yes I do!”

She unstrapped her pack and rummaged around inside it and pulled out a small little device. After tinkering with it for a couple minutes, it lit up, producing a surprisingly big flame. The warmth that radiated off of it was wonderful after a full day spent underground getting either dusty or damp. I dumped my own pack and scooted close to the flame and closed my eyes. I was intensely looking forward to more of the same jerky I’d almost turned my nose up to the day before.

We ate in silence, the only sound the occasional drop of water sounding from somewhere in the dark. After “dinner,” we laid out our bedrolls around the little fire. “How much longer?”

Our flame was dancing in her eyes as she turned and said, “We actually made much more progress today than I thought we would. It’s possible we can make it out of here by late tomorrow, assuming it’s still night today.”

“What?”

She laughed. “Probably one more day; we won’t have to camp out like this again.”

My bedroll was surprisingly soft as I leaned back onto it. “I’ll be glad to get out of here. Especially if I can do that without seeing a crab monster thing.”

“Korid.”

“Uh huh. Are there a lot of horrifying things on Vendira I should know about?”

“Well, do you mean awful to look at or wildly dangerous?”

I side-eyed her. “I meant the first one, but I guess the second’s not great either. Is this going to be a monster-heavy sort of adventure? I had really thought we’d be mainly fighting people.”

“If all goes to plan, yes, but things rarely do. As for monsters, if you want to call them that…the most awful to look at are probably deep ocean creatures. I highly doubt we’ll encounter a lot of those. But most dangerous—the yargeth, no question.”

“Yeah, we don’t have whatever that is on Earth.”

“They’re as tall as a ten story building, covered with white scales and fur, and incredibly territorial. They also,” she said while smiling with crinkled eyes, “have a lot of mouths. There are large sections of land left wild, because fighting them is out of the question. Even the empire and all their tenebrous power couldn’t dislodge them.”

“Huh, can we piss one off and lead it to the capital?”

Revana laughed loudly, the sounds echoing off the cave walls. “You go ahead and try. It’s more likely you’ll just get swallowed whole.”

We took our boots off and I opened up my sleeping bag. 

“Want to freshen up a little before bed?” She asked, pulling out a couple little towels from her pack and getting them wet with some of our water.

It wasn’t exactly a shower, but it was nice to rub some of the grime and dust away. Afterwards, she slid into her sleeping bag, and despite the fact that I was fairly exhausted from a day of nonstop walking, I said, “Room in there for two?”

She looked up at me, and without a word, held the bag open. I settled down in beside her and we moved and adjusted until we found a comfortable position. We leaned in together, kissing softly, much less urgently than a few nights before. I slid my hand under her shirt, gliding over the skin and scales on her side. She wrapped a leg over me and pulled tighter.

We stayed just like that for a while. The thought that we were in a cave was weird, but I was sure we weren’t going to be interrupted.

She pushed me back, smiling, before pulling my two shirts over my head and throwing them on the stone floor before doing the same with hers. I bent down and kissed her big, soft breasts before taking one of her nipples in my mouth, sucking and licking gently.

She squirmed and made cute, little noises as she pulled me in with a hand on the back of my neck. I switched to her other nipple, giving it the same treatment and getting the same results. I reached behind her and undid the small buttons of her clothes above her tail and then opened the front of her pants. She wriggled out and kicked them aside.

I took the briefest moment to look her over. The golden scales started on her neck, wrapped around her shoulders and most of her back, and trailed all the way down her sides and legs. The outside of her arms and legs were covered, and the tops of her hands and feet where they met her white clawed fingers and toes. Her tail was fully scales, and I ran a hand down it as she pulled me back in.

Our tongues met again, sliding over each other as our hands drifted anywhere they could. She broke off again and undid my pants before I kicked them off. She reached down to my already rock hard cock, and I braced momentarily, fearing what her claws might do, but she was gentle, and the feeling of her hand moving up and down on me was electrifying. 

I pushed my tongue in between her lips again and lightly pinched and rolled her nipples before my hand slid down between her legs. I rubbed her in small, delicate circles, reveling as she moaned and writhed, her hand moving faster on my cock.

We’d barely begun, but she pulled back and said, “Let’s…how do you wa—”

“Oh, whatever you…”

“Can I…?” She pushed my shoulders lightly down.

I smiled. “Yeah! Whatever you want.” I laid down on my back and she brought her leg over to straddle me. Just watching her do it, knowing what was coming, seeing how beautiful she was: it was the hottest single moment of my life. 

She lifted my cock up and slid slowly down onto me. Her head dropped back and she moaned, the sound echoing off the cave walls. I groaned and slid my hands around to rest on her ass.

It wasn’t my first time, but it was already the best.

We looked at each other and smiled stupidly. I reached up, grabbed her horn, and pulled her down to me. We kissed as I started sliding slowly in and out of her. She moaned into my mouth and her hands tightened on my shoulders, her claws digging into my skin. 

I kept pace, my hands gliding all over her body, as her moans got louder and louder and started turning into screams. Her hips moved and writhed, riding me hard, and she arched back and pulled my face into her chest. I squeezed and sucked and licked while she rode me faster and faster.

I matched her speed, my face pressed in between her boobs and my hands on her ass. She got quiet as she pulled me in and rode me hard. “Fasterfasterfaster,” she said breathlessly.

I went faster.

Her claws dug into me as she screamed, bucking wildly, her legs shuddering. 

It was impossible not to: I came hard inside her. 

I wrapped my arms around her and thrust into her as she spasmed on top of me, still screaming and moaning. We writhed together, completely lost in the sensation. I pulled her face to mine, our lips together again as we pressed and squirmed against each other. 

We laid there, still together, for some time, letting our breaths and the blood pumping in our veins finally slow. She turned her head and whispered to me, “Sorry I screamed in your ear.”

I laughed. “I loved it.”

Belatedly, a distressing thought occurred to me. “Oh shit, I…we, should I have?”

She put a finger over my mouth. “It’s alright. Humani can’t get Dravini pregnant.”

I let out a long breath. “That’s convenient.”

“Mhmm.”

We cleaned up again as best we could with a little more of our drinking water and afterwards, the weariness set in hard. We turned off the fire device and laid down in our sleeping bags. We were asleep almost instantly. 

I jerked awake, blinking sleep from my eyes and wondering where in the world I was, a feeling of dread sitting low in my stomach. I sat up, the glow from our lights far too bright as I looked out with narrowed eyes, remembering the cave and the night before. But the warm feeling I’d fallen asleep to was gone, replaced with creeping apprehension.

A small but persistent clicking noise sounded behind me, and when I turned, I had to suppress a shout as two beady little eyes looked back at me. Or didn’t, who was to say. Either way, the korid stood unmoving just beyond our packs, clicking its claws and softly gnashing the teeth in its many mouths. Its carapace was the same gray as the rocks around us. “Revana!” I hissed. “Revana!” I reached over and shook her awake.

“Hmm, what? Is it time to get up already?”

“No idea,” I whispered. “But we’re not alone.”

Her eyes went wide and she sat bolt upright, her eyes locking onto the creature. “Oh…that’s unusual.”

“Are they dangerous?”

There was an uncomfortably long pause before she said, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

She threw up her hands. “No! I don’t know. I told you, I’ve never seen a live one up close! They’re very skittish and never come close to people. I’ve never heard of one just…showing up.”

“We should leave.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

We both very, very slowly got up and started rolling our beds up. The creature sat unmoving besides clicking its claws in an eerily steady rhythm. My eyes never left the thing as we got our stuff together and shoved it back into our packs, which were uncomfortably close to it. Once they were strapped onto our backs, I turned to leave, but Revana was inching closer to the korid, a weird look on her face.

“Hey. Hey, let’s go. What are you…?”

She stayed a reasonable distance away, but her expression was scrunched up and curious. “Do you see that?”

I had no idea why we weren’t getting the hell out of there right that instant. The little monster was creeping me out in so many ways, but I took a few steps towards it anyway. “See what now?”

“Do you see the shadows dancing around it? Little fluctuations around its shell?”

That didn't bode well, but I took another step and really looked. Revana was right; tiny dark tendrils were emanating from its body. “I don’t like anything about that. Can we please leave now?” I put a hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her back away from it.

“Yeah. You’re right. We should get out of here.”

Finally.

We backed away slowly, step by step, our eyes on the monster as it was eventually swallowed back up by the darkness. We made our way along the chasm, the same pace we’d been at the previous day, but the feeling of turning my back to that thing was supremely unnerving. I couldn’t stop imagining its claws on my legs and back as I shuddered and kept looking behind me. I kept expecting Revana to tell me it was completely safe and the korid was harmless, but when I glanced over, she seemed as weirded out as I was. “So we can get out of these caves today, right?”

She gave me a smile that did nothing to hide the unease in her eyes and said, “Definitely.” 

We made quick progress, taking things a little faster than we had been the day before. The sore muscles in my legs protested almost every step of the way, but I didn’t complain. If Revana had sped up, I’d have joined her without a word. 

As we walked, I swore I could hear the clicking behind us still, echoing off the cave walls. “It’s not…following us, is it?”

Revana looked at me and didn’t answer. 

I could see the concern on her face and feel the rising panic in my chest. “Surely it’s not,” I said. “We’re just hearing echoes.”

“Yes, surely,” she said.

We kept pace for least another hour before I had to take a break on account of my aching feet. Revana nearly collapsed the second I recommended a stop; she’d been pushing herself pretty hard too, it seemed. On the plus side, this was much faster than we’d been going the previous day, so we were well set to get out of the underground hell much faster. I idly thought I’d go until my feet bled to see the sun again.

While we were sitting there drinking a lot of our packed water, it seemed very much like the clicks were getting louder and possibly faster. “You hear that?” I asked.

“I do.”

“It can’t be good.”

“Nope.”

The ache in my legs and feet hadn’t lessened, really, but we got up to start moving again anyway when I saw a leg step into our pool of light. The korid took a few more steps towards us, clicking that steady rhythm and moving its mouths. “Okay. I don’t like this at all.” I put my hand on the hilt of my sword, slowly pulling it out of the sheath. Once I did, it glowed faintly in the gloom.

The korid reacted immediately, scuttling back and forth, raising and clicking its claws wildly.

“Oh shit,” Revana breathed. “I don’t think it liked that. Get ready.”

“For what!?”

“I don’t know!”

The creature was only two feet tall, but it was relatively wide and its claws looked like they could do some serious damage. I gripped the sword in two hands and fell into a stance, although I didn’t know if there was any real way one was supposed to fight crustaceans. It clacked for a second more and scuttled directly towards me.

The whole situation was far too creepy crawly for my liking and I had to violently suppress a wave of fear that crept down my spine. As it got close, I brought the weapon down in an overhanded swing, and just like everything else, the korid’s shell offered no resistance to the blade, which sliced cleanly through to the rock. As it fell open, a burst of dark shadows shot forth from its dark blue innards. 

Revana grunted and doubled over, falling to the ground.

“Ah!” I rushed over to her, unsure what had happened. “What’s wrong? Did it spit poison at you?”

She looked wide-eyed at the split corpse, her mouth working soundlessly for some time before she said, “No, it was…” She shook her head, her hands both on the left side of her abdomen. “My brand. That thing was… it wasn’t the same as being branded, but it wasn’t not that. It must have been…” 

I looked over, belatedly processing what I’d seen. “No…no surely not.”

“When you killed it, you saw the darkness too, didn’t you?”

“I…did. What does that mean?”

“It was infused with tenebrae. It’s the only explanation.”

I stared, slacked jawed for a moment. “Yeah, ok so I don’t understand how magic really works or anything yet, but I didn’t think it was like that.”

She shook her head. “It’s not. Or…it never has been. I’ve never heard of anything like this before.” She stood with my help and we continued on, neither of us, I think, wanting to look at the korid anymore. After a while, she said, “The tenebrae is a deep current. Very deep, but with the Font and the sigilariums, it’s brought up and siphoned through the land. I suppose it’s possible the creatures…lived in a current? The tenebral network has been in place for a few hundred years now. Perhaps the korids…changed? Evolved? I’m not sure.”

I did not care for that thought. “Okay, let’s say that did happen. You’ve been through here tons of times, right? Why did that one show up now?”

“I don’t know.”

We continued our hurried pace, but it quickly became clear that the clickings in the dark hadn’t stopped.

They’d multiplied. And they were getting close.

Much closer.

Revana turned to me, looked back at the shadows behind us, and said softly, “Run.”

15

We ran.

We’d left the massive chasm room behind and were back into the smaller tunnels. Revana picked out our route without slowing down, which I was impressed with and thankful for. The clicks hadn’t stopped.

We were heading down one passageway when the ceiling began to lower and we were forced to our knees. I drew my sword again. “I’ll go in backwards, ok?” It was going to be slow and frustrating, but better than getting my legs clipped.

I was thrilled we wouldn’t have to belly crawl through any more sections, but this wasn’t a vast improvement. We moved as fast as we could, my boots pressed close to Revana’s and my ears straining to hear anything in the dark. There were clicks; they’d never stopped, but were they close? Were they just echoes? It was impossible to tell.

Right up until a multi-mouthed horror rushed me from the dark. I knew, in a detached sort of way, that this was pure nightmare fuel. If I didn’t dream of this one moment years from now, it would be a miracle. But those thoughts aside, the calm I’d felt in battle came over me, the mental focus the relics had to have been imparting to me, because nothing else in life had ever prepared me for this. I thrust the sword into the center of the monster, under its eyes and between a few of its tiny teeth-filled maws. The blade passed cleanly into it and likely out the back. Its claws briefly clamped onto the sword before they fell away as a dark emanation burst forth from the thing.

Revana grunted in pain but said nothing. We kept moving.

Another korid scuttled into the light, the corpse of its kin not slowing it down at all. This one tried to dodge my attack, turning and nearly pinching my face. I swept to the side, cutting it down the center, a flood of blue blood gushing out of it alongside the tenebrous power. Revana cried out and collapsed. 

“Shit! Are you okay?”

She was immediately up again, crawling down the tunnel. “I’ll be fine. It’s not nearly as bad as being branded. Cut down any of them that come.”

It went on like that. I didn’t know how long the short section of the tunnel was and I scarcely had time to ask between the fighting of crab monsters and inching backwards as fast as I could. Which was not very fast. Every creature I took down clearly hurt Revana, but she said nothing and kept going, so I focused on keeping us safe and in one piece. After five or six more korids, they stopped coming. The clicking, however, kept echoing off the rock, steady and unnerving. My knees ached. My legs were on fire. My arms were heavy. But I kept going; there was nothing else to do. 

Finally, the ceiling floated upwards and we were able to stand. Revana clutched her abdomen and looked at me with exhausted eyes. “We’ve made incredible time, considering. We’re actually approaching the other end.”

“Wow, really? I thought this was going to take all day.”

“Yeah, and I thought we were going to be walking at a reasonable pace. That and we came much further yesterday than planned.” She smiled at me, but it was clearly just for show. All the exertion coupled with being low-grade branded over and over was wearing on her. 

I let her take my arm as we went. We didn’t run, but we didn’t take our time as we listened to the everpresent clicking bouncing off the walls around us. We scurried down more tunnels as I focused on taking the next step. I knew I was running on adrenaline and little else, and worried what I would still be able to do if we slowed down.

After enough twists and turns, I began to see more signs of civilization: old pickaxes and broken machinery became more common by the minute, and before long, we found ourselves in a large, squared off room with a shaft leading up into the ceiling. “We’re here,” Revana said, stumbling over to a rusted console and pressing a few buttons. It wasn’t immediately clear anything happened, but she assured me the lift was being lowered from high above.

If it was anything like the one we took down, it would be forever before it actually got here. Based on the sounds coming from behind us, we weren’t going to have that long. “We’re going to have to make a stand here.”

Revana nodded and drew her own sword, which I’d forgotten she even had. “I don’t think this is going to do anything,” she said. “Even normal ones have incredibly thick shells. There are special tools for cracking the ones harvested for food.”

We waited, standing almost perfectly still, hoping to hear the sound of the lift over the sounds of the creatures. Within a minute or two, it was clear we weren’t getting out of there without a fight. 

I heard the sounds of legs hitting rock before they burst into our light, and there were so many. They were practically crawling over each other to get at us. I hacked into them, but the ones behind didn’t stop for a second. I sliced them apart as fast as I could, but with each one I cut down, I had to step back out of the way of reaching pincers. They eventually had enough room to start flanking me. 

Revana brought her sword down hard on one, but it clanged off the shell and I could see the reverberations in her arms. She held onto the weapon and tried thrusting it into the korid’s mouths, which worked a little bit better. But only a little bit.

I’m not sure how long we fought them. It was likely a minute or two but seemed like hours. Finally, the lift lowered into view, so we turned and sprinted to it. We had just jumped over the threshold and I put all my weight on the lever when Revana screamed.

I turned to see a huge claw clamping down on her leg. 

I thrust my blade into what passed for the monster’s face, and in a swift movement, drew it out and across, cutting the claw away. 

The door to the lift grinded shut and I cut the severed claw at the joint, pulling it off of Revana’s leg. She hadn’t cried out again, but the creature’s death must have hit like all the others. She was laying back, her eyes unfocused. “It hurts,” she wheezed. It wasn’t clear if she meant the cuts on her leg or just everything, but it didn’t matter.

I tore my pack off my back, pulled my shirt over my head and started ripping it into strips. I didn’t particularly know what I was doing; my medical knowledge, such as it was, came mostly from movies, but Revana’s leg was bleeding pretty fiercely, so I wound strips of my tunic around her leg. “This is probably gonna make it worse.”

She nodded. “Do it.”

I pulled the strip tight around her leg and tied it off. I added a second one for good measure. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she said, so softly I could barely hear her. She was sitting against the side of the lift cage, her head falling forward. She’d also dropped her sword, as it was nowhere to be seen.

“Stay with me, okay?” I sat down beside her and slipped my arms around her shoulders. 

“Uh huh.” Her eyes slowly closed and her head fell onto my shoulder. For a moment, a jolt of abject terror ran through my body, but upon panicked inspection, she was still breathing. The strips around her leg were already pretty bloody, but I didn’t know what I could do except add more, which seemed useless. 

I held her close to me in an effort to keep her warm, as if that was necessary. I tried to keep my breathing steady and the anxiety under check, but I didn’t know where we were even going. She’d mentioned that this elevator shaft came up under a city, but I had no idea what that actually meant. Was I going to be thrust into another cavern with symbols I didn’t understand? Would it be like popping out of a sewer grate in the middle of a street? How would I help her? Where would I go? Did they even have hospitals the way I knew of them? The endless questions swirled in my head; I wasn’t able to stop them. 

One step at a time, I told myself. 

The lift either took way longer than the last one or it just seemed that way; I was willing to believe it was the second one. I listened to Revana’s breath the entire ride, making sure it remained even and, most importantly, still there. 

The lift finally ascended into a small, square room. Its squareness was extremely heartening; I had no idea what I would have done if I’d ended up in a cavern. I pulled open the grate and knelt down to lift Revana up.

I wasn’t any stranger to lugging heavy things around; I had moved furniture on a daily basis, but an unconscious body was so much more trouble than I’d expected, especially since I was dead on my feet after hours of running and fighting already. 

There was nothing to be done, though.

I hauled her up as gently as I could in my arms and stepped out into the room. Our lights were still the only illumination as I headed towards the only door I could see. The room seemed less like a mine and more like a storeroom: there were many low shelves covered in old and dusty things. They weren’t machinery though; they looked a lot like the assorted crap in Oronir’s basement, which ranged from boxes of clothes to broken household appliances. 

I sighed and plodded on, kicking the door, which opened into a hallway made of cut stone with many other doors and a couple of dim lights hanging from the ceiling. I was clearly in a house or building or something. Ahead of me was a narrow, two part staircase with a small landing, and I groaned loudly at the sight of it. Still nothing to be done though. Each step was torture, the muscles in my legs and back straining at the effort. I growled as I went up, desperately trying to balance without a handrail of any sort. 

I reached the top and could barely lift my hand up to turn the knob while holding Revana’s still limp body. I breathed a massive sigh of relief when it was unlocked, but it opened inwards, so I took a step back and almost fell down the stairs. Only through a herculean effort did I remain standing, though I was pretty sure I pulled a couple muscles, but I stepped out of the basement or whatever it was into yet another storeroom, albeit a somewhat nicer one with nicer junk on the old shelves. 

The second I got on even ground, I collapsed, doing my best to take the brunt of the fall. We were laying there on a cold, concrete floor between a box of hats and a tall shelf of what I could only assume were replacement golem feet. I was spent; there was nothing else I could do, so I threw caution to the wind. “Heeeeelp!” I cried out a couple times and just hoped an Inquisitor didn’t show up. “Help us!”

I heard a door open somewhere in the room, followed by rushed footsteps.

“Who the fuck are you!?”

16

Iwasn’t quite sure what I was looking at.

She was a woman, to be sure, but she wasn’t human and she wasn’t Dravini. She had huge, furry, triangular ears on the top of her head, a seriously bushy tail twitching behind her, and claws that were similar to Revana’s. And she looked pissed.

Belatedly, she looked down and recognized Revana. If anything, she got more pissed, and she balled up her hands and took a few steps towards us. “What did you do to her, you asshole!?”

I held up my hands. “I didn’t do anything! We both just made it out of the caves. We got attacked by crabs or korids or whatever they are!”

“Oh, bullshit,” she yelled. She reached down and grabbed me by my shirt with one hand and raised the other to hit me in the face. 

I batted her strike away in another instance of muscle memory I didn’t know I had, before getting a foot up into her stomach and kicking her back. “Revana’s injured, you idiot! You should be helping us!” I mentally chalked that up as the new, most forceful thing I’d ever said.

She looked at Revana, and back to me, and back to Revana. “Shit. IRINA!”

I instinctively covered my ears; she could yell. 

“Don’t think you’re off the hook!” She pointed a claw at me. Hers were gray and she didn’t have any scales. Her hair and what fur she did have were a dark brown and I was shocked to see her eyes were vertical slits framed by bright green, although they didn’t glow from within like Revana’s. Her hair was cut a little shorter, hanging just above her shoulders.

We stared each other down for a minute before another woman rushed into the room saying, “Coming Vashe,” and I was thrilled to see she was Dravini. I’m not sure exactly why it was comforting, but it was, all the same. Her horns and hair were black and her scales were green, and she exclaimed when she saw Revana. “Oh Reva, no. Oh, Reva.” She knelt down and we laid Revana out so she could look over her.

The first thing she did was lift Revana’s shirt to look at her brand. I didn’t know what she was looking for, but she seemed satisfied, whatever it was. She poked and prodded various things and gingerly took a look at the bloody strips on her leg. “What happened?”

I was very relieved that she wasn’t immediately blaming me. “We got attacked by korids. One of them clamped down on her leg as we were getting on the lift.”

Both of them looked at me with raised eyebrows. 

“Bullshit,” this Vashe said.

“We did, okay!? Go look in the lift! There’s a piece of claw still sitting in it from where I cut it apart.”

She scoffed. “Attacked by korids? And then what, you cut it apart!? With a sword? This crap’s getting more unbelievable by the minute. Who even are you, anyway?”

Since I couldn’t think of anything else to do and telling them my name wouldn’t mean anything, I pulled my tunic up, showing them the smooth, unmarked skin.

Both of their eyes went as wide as they could go. I kept it held up while they stared.

“Incredible,” Irina said.

“Aw, shit.”

I supposed that would do, so I let my tunic fall back down. “Are we good now? Good enough, at least? Can you stop focusing on me and help Revana?”

They both blinked out of a daze, and Vashe said, “Yeah, fine. Let’s go, Irina.” They carefully picked up Revana’s unconscious body and began walking out of the room. “You, sword boy, you stay right here.”

I would have been pissed if I hadn’t been so exhausted. I watched them go, hopeful that they’d be able to take care of Revana better than I would. Irina, at least, seemed to be competent. I didn’t think Vashe would be able to do anything helpful unless it involved punching, but maybe I was selling her short. Still, she hadn’t made a wonderful impression so far.

I sat there for a moment and seriously considered laying down on the floor and sleeping, but I knew I wasn’t going to. I also wasn’t going to stay here just because Vashe told me to, which, upon reflection, wasn’t really like me. While I had long said I was done with people’s bullshit, I’d sure put up with a lot more of it than I should have. I slowly picked myself up off the ground and trudged out the door the others had used and up yet another staircase.

I came into a hallway that was much nicer than the multiple floors of storerooms below; everything was smooth, dark wood and the doors were carved like all the ones in both towns I had seen. Someone was making an absolute killing carving doors in this world. I tried one of them and found it opened into a storefront with large glass windows and rows of shelves of machinery, some broken and some not. Maybe it was a repair shop? I couldn’t really tell and it didn’t matter anyway. 

I tried a few other doors and found more storage, a bathroom, and finally, a comfortable looking office with a big couch that Revana was laying on. Irina had her bandages off and was caring for her leg while Vashe stood over her and watched. When I stepped in, she turned around and pointed a finger at me. “I told you to—”

“Yeah, yeah. You did, but I’m here now. Is she going to be okay?”

Irina replied without looking up, “She should be fine soon. I imagine she’ll be awake in no time.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.” I stumbled over to another large, leather seat on the opposite side of the room and sank into it. I pointedly ignored Vashe’s seething glare. My eyelids were insanely heavy, but I did my best to stay awake. I wanted to make sure Revana was going to be alright and I also wasn’t sure how safe I was with Vashe around. 

Irina finished sewing up and cleaning Reva’s leg and turned to the other woman. “Could you run out and get more bandages? They’ll need to be changed a few times, and we’re almost out.”

Vashe goggled at her. “What!? Now? With,” she gestured in my direction, “this going on? I’m not leaving you alone with—”

Irina held up her hands and smiled. “It’ll be fine, I promise. Reva will really need clean dressings.”

“But you…”

Irina stood and started shooing her out the door. “It’ll be fine. Off you go. The sooner you leave, the sooner you’ll be back!” She gave the stuttering woman the brightest smile as she herded her out, before closing the door firmly behind her. She stood at it for a moment, I was guessing to make sure it didn’t immediately open right back up.

She came over to me and sat on the arm of the huge chair I was in. “So, what’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m Michael. You’re Irina, right?”

She nodded with the ever present smile on her face. “Thank you for taking care of Reva.”

“Yeah, of course. I’m glad she’ll be okay.”

She looked to the couch and then back to me, a twinkle in her blue eyes. They glowed like Revana’s did. “Is it true, then? You’re brandless?”

“I, uh, yeah. I am.” I didn’t think I needed to pull my clothes up a second time.

“Truly amazing. Reva’s been waiting her whole life for you, you know.”

“Uh, yeah, I uh…” I took a long deep breath. “I know. I just, um, I really hope I can be what she wants me to be.” I gestured vaguely at everything. “Whatever this world clearly needs me to be.” The weight of it all settled on me again. I was just one person. What would happen if I failed? If I got killed by a stupid crab before I managed to help anyone? Although I was winging it pretty well so far, I thought.

Irina smiled brightly and her eyes crinkled at the gesture. “I know you will; I can already tell.” She patted me on the shoulder with her black-clawed hand and got up without another word and left the room. I couldn’t tell how old she was, but she was giving off some serious mom vibes. If she’d come back to the room with a tray full of snacks I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised. 

When she returned, she didn’t have snacks but she did have a change of clothes and a towel. “Here you go, I daresay you could use this.” She handed them to me with an apologetic look on her face. “And don’t mind Vashe. She’s, well…”

“She has a tragic backstory?”

Irina snorted. “No. Well, not more than anyone else, really. I was going to say…oh, it’s not really a nice thing, but…”

“She’s an asshole?” I supplied. I instantly regretted saying it, but Irina just brought her hand to her mouth and laughed behind it.

“I was going to say that she can be challenging to deal with at times, but…you wouldn’t be the first to give her that assessment, yes.” We laughed a little together and she continued, “But please try and give her the benefit of the doubt. She really does mean well and wanted to make sure Revana was safe. Unfortunately, that took the form of being aggressive towards you.”

“I’ll, uh, try to get along with her as best I can.” I got up and looked back down at the chair, which was now covered in cave dust and dried bits of mud. “Sorry about that.”

She waved my comments away. “Think nothing of it. Barely a price to pay for bringing Reva safely to us.”

She led me out of the room, and I took one last look at Revana before we left. We went upstairs to a very nice bathroom with a shower stall, and despite the bone-deep tiredness, I was looking forward to it as much as…the last shower I’d taken. It turned out that I really, really missed consistent showering. 

I stripped off my dirty clothes and dumped them in a pile, even the holy relic tunic; I was just too done with everything to care. The controls were two nozzles that not only turned, but pulled in and out with various clicks and it took absolutely forever to get the water not only flowing at a decent speed but also a suitable temperature. The whole thing, while needlessly frustrating, made me homesick in a really weird way.

To say it was the best shower of my life was an understatement. Not only did a sea of gray and brown grime swirl down the drain, but there was a noticeable amount of blue korid blood that nearly made me gag. After I was clean, I just stood there in the warm water, letting it wash over me while I thought about what had happened and what was to come. 

I’d suppressed any real thoughts about my old life, but standing there in the shower, I let them flow freely through my head. I’d been terrified that I wouldn’t be able to deal with the reality of it all, but as I really thought about Earth and never seeing it again, I found I was pretty okay with it. There were things I’d miss of course, but I was somewhat shocked to find that despite the danger and the constant reality that I might be killed, that I was strangely happy. Although, was it really that strange? I was important, even if only because of random chance, and I had a real opportunity to do something worth doing. And there was Revana too. Smiling like an idiot to myself, I shut the water off, which only took three or four tries, and stepped out of the shower and started drying off.

While I was drying my hair, I heard the door open. I’d hoped it was Revana but assumed it was Irina.

The smile faded from my face as I saw Vashe standing there, looking me up and down. While it was intensely uncomfortable, it did seem to confirm that modesty wasn’t really a thing here and not just one of Revana’s quirks.

She held a hairbrush out to me. “Here. Irina said to give this to you.”

“Uh, thanks.” I was naked and we were standing in the bathroom, but for some stupid reason, I thought I should try to at least say something to her, make an effort like Irina had asked me to. I wrapped the towel around my waist and thought desperately for something to say. What came out was, “So, I’ve not seen anyone like you before. Are you…a catgirl, then?”

Her eyes went about as wide as I’d ever seen anyone’s and she yelled, “What the fuck!?” And then she punched me in the stomach, probably as hard as she could.

I was on the ground in a second, curled in on myself, the pain pretty overwhelming, while she stormed out the door yelling various things. I hadn’t seen that punch coming, but why would I have? I had clearly said something wrong, but I had no idea what it could have been in one sentence. 

I laid there groaning for some time.

The door opened and I prayed she hadn’t come back for more, as I wasn’t sure I could even sit up, let alone defend myself.

“Oh, Michael! What happened?”

I looked up as much as I could and saw Revana’s feet a little ways away from where I was laying. I wanted to tell her how happy I was that she was okay, but I just kinda groaned instead.

She got down on the floor and sat beside me. “Are you okay? Did you slip and fall? I don’t see any blood.”

“Nope,” I said in a strangled voice. “Vashe punched me.” I managed to get out the details of what happened.

“Why would she do that? What did you say?”

“I was trying…to make…conversation, for some reason. I asked if she was a catgirl.”

Revana hissed through her teeth. “Oh no! You didn’t!”

“Uh huh…why?”

“Oh, Michael,” she said as she put a hand on my back, rubbing it slowly. There was humor in her voice when she continued, “That’s actually a slur here.”

“Oh.”

She tried not to laugh, but she failed. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you don’t think it’s funny.” This was followed by more laughing. “She really should have realized you wouldn’t know that, but she is kind of a ‘do first and think later’ type of person. I’ll go explain the situation to her. And she’s a Surini.”

I took a lot of deep breaths and managed to sit up. “Thanks. And please, please let her know I’m not an enemy or whatever. She’s been insanely suspicious of me. But anyway!” I took her hands in mine and looked into her glowing eyes, “I’m so glad you’re okay. When you passed out on the lift, I was terrified.”

She leaned over and hugged me tightly, which I returned. “I’m okay. Or I will be.” We let each other go. “It was just too much. All the running, the terror, and the…not branding but not not branding. And then getting grabbed and cut. But I’ll be fine. After a lot of sleep, which I think you need to, huh?”

I agreed and she left to get a bed ready for us. I dried off, brushed my hair, and put on the clothes I’d been given, which were soft, red pants and a shirt. I took the tunic and sword with me but left the other, soiled clothes where they were. I tried a few doors and found Revana naked and slipping into a huge bed.

I went around to the other side, and without a word, got under the covers myself. I looked over, and she was already asleep, or looked like it. Less than a minute later, I was as well.

17

“Wake up! Wake up!”

I awoke to a clawed hand on my shoulder, shaking me rather violently. I expected to open my eyes and see Revana, but a panicked Irina was there instead. “W-Wha…”

“Hurry! Get up! I’ve got you some new clothes here. Inquisitors are on their way.”

A pit of dread dropped into my stomach. “They’re coming here? Now?”

“Mhmm.” She ripped the covers off me, mom-style, and pointed to a pile of clothes on a table beside the bed. “We need to get ready.”

I rolled out of bed and did the best I could to push the sleep away that was still clinging pretty hard to my eyes. I still wasn’t completely at ease with the whole ‘no modesty’ thing, but I stripped out of my sleeping clothes without a second thought and started dressing as fast as I could. “Do they announce when they’re coming, or what?”

Irina laughed nervously. “Oh my no, but we’ve got ways to find out, and we just got tipped off. Reva’s already up, and I need you to head down to the sub basement and help Vashe.”

Great. Being woken up by surprise and then having to deal with Vashe. The last two minutes had really sucked and it didn’t seem like the rest of the day was going to be any better. I glanced out the window to see soft light filtering in between the buildings. “Is it morning now?”

“Mhmm. You slept all yesterday afternoon and through the night. Although it is pretty early still. The Inquisitors like to show up at inopportune times, you know.” Yesterday Irina had been so calm and in control, but now her lips were pressed into a thin line and she kept looking out the window and seemed ready to bolt at a second’s notice. 

The clothes were pretty nice: a pair of dark pants, a dark green shirt that fit surprisingly well, and a leather vest to go over it. I wasn’t really into vests, but when in Rome. My boots from earlier were also there, cleaned and polished to a shine. As soon as I had them on, Irina practically pushed me out of the room and down the stairs. It took me a minute to remember which doors went all the way down, but I found my way to the second basement and called out, “Vashe?”

“Finally! Get in here!” 

Her voice came from a hallway of doors and I again had to check a few before I found her.

She was pulling a huge sheet off a big, rectangular…something. “What the hell is that?”

“Stupid questions later, just help me get it into the hall.”

It turned out to be a huge section of wall, cut stone in the same style as the hallway, but it was only a few inches thick. I just kept my mouth shut and helped her drag it out of the room. Despite how thin it was, it was still a total pain to move at all, so we scooted it, inch by inch from the back of the storeroom. Vashe wasn’t fretting like Irina, but I noticed the fear in her eyes as well, the desperation to get whatever we were doing done.

Once we’d dragged the facade out into the hall, we stood it up and walked it slowly back towards the door that went into the mine. It scraped the ceiling and really, really wanted to fall over, so we had to put all the muscle we could into keeping it straight. Finally, we backed it up flush against the end of the hallway and pressed it snugly against the door, where it just barely fit. Vashe went into a side room and came out with a box piled with junk and dropped it unceremoniously on the floor before doing the same thing with some random boards and shelves. 

“There.”

We both slumped down to the floor, leaning against opposite walls, breathing heavily. “Don’t want the Inquisitors to find the mineshaft, I take it?”

“Nope.” I’d expected some snark with that reply, but it didn’t come.

“Hey, about yesterday…”

She looked up at me and scoffed. “Yeah, yeah. I talked with Revana. Not only are you a massive disappointment in what I expected as a brandless, but she tells me you’re a total dumbass too.”

I couldn’t help myself, I smiled widely at the comment. “Did she phrase it that way?”

She snorted and looked away, trying valiantly to hide a smile of her own. “No. She was nicer about it. But that’s just how she is. I knew what she meant.”

“Well, at any rate, I’m sorry.”

She shrugged, not looking at me. “Whatever. It’s fine.”

It was the best interaction we’d had so far. We headed back upstairs to find a nervously fidgeting Irina, who yanked Vashe away to the storefront the second we came out the door. “Reva needs you Michael! She’s in back!” was all she said before they were gone.

She didn’t say the back office, but that’s where I went, and I did find Revana peeking out the window from behind the curtain.

“Shit shit shit.”

“What’s wrong?”

She glanced at me before looking out through the tiny gap again. “They’re already here. They’ve surrounded the building.”

I imagined a SWAT team, but when I went to look over her shoulder, it was just one man standing in the alleyway. “That’s us being surrounded? Also, why are they surrounding us?”

“Damn it,” she said, letting the curtain fall back and stepping away from the window. “It’s standard procedure. If they’re looking into a place, they don’t want anyone slipping out the back, which is exactly what I had planned.” She gestured to the desk where a package or something sat, wrapped in light cloth and tied with various loops of thick string. “Those are your relics.” She bit her lip nervously, something I’d never seen her do before. “You and I were going to get away, but they’re here much sooner than we expected them.”

“Will they know what the relics are just by looking at them?”

She shook her head. “No, but if they’re here on official business, they’ll be thorough; they always are. And we cannot risk them finding the relics. All our plans will be shot if they do.”

“Oh.”

“That’s not all.” She sat heavily down in the big, leather chair, which Irina had apparently cleaned since I’d sat in it the day before. “We were supposed to hear from another of the Mulaq’Shae by now. It’s actually way past time, and it’s crucial to our plans going forward.”

“Any idea why?”

She dropped her head into her hands. “I don’t know. It could be anything, from something awful to nothing relevant at all. But it is concerning. And the Inquisitors showing up here, now…it’s possible it’s a coincidence, but…”

“But they might know about our plans?” Our plans. That’s what I’d said. 

“They…might.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay, what do we do?”

She looked up at me and I tried to put on my best I’ve got this, and it’ll all be okay face, which apparently worked at least a little; she gave me the tiniest smile and seemed to focus. “Well…none of us are getting out of this inquisition. And by us I mean me, Vashe, and Irina. But they don’t know you. We’ve all had dealings before and are unlikely to be let go easily. But you can act like you’re a customer of the repair business and just walk out, assuming they believe that.” She deflated a little. “I don’t know what to do after that. And the relics…”

“Do they keep watch on the outside the whole time?”

“Kind of, but it’s a little more lax once they know who all’s inside.”

“Okay, okay. So, here’s the plan. You pitch that bundle with the relics out a window into a trash bin out back when they’re not looking, I leave because I’m just a regular customer here, and then I pick them up. After that…”

“That’s…I don’t know if that’s a wonderful or terrible idea. But either way, we’re going to be detained here for some time. Who knows how long. It depends on the actual reason they’re here and what we all say to them. Although don’t worry too much about that; we all know our stories by heart now. But…it might be a while before we can get away. And they might watch us afterwards, to see where we go. Shit! There’s just so much we don’t know about this.”

“Okay, well…I get away with the relics and then…I track down your phantom contact.”

Her eyes went wide and she sat back, staring at me. “What!? No, you couldn’t!”

“Why not?”

She gave a small, incredulous laugh. “I…well for one thing, she’s in the capital.”

“Teluck? The city with a name?”

“Telorn. And…you’d have to get all the way there, alone! And then Tiquette is a high ranking member of the Astrologia. And…”

“Is there any real reason I couldn’t get there and find her?”

Revana shrugged. “I guess not, but…” A hundred different emotions seemed to flit across her face in the span of a few seconds. She started to say something a few times, but no words came out.

“What?”

“I…” She looked at me with wide eyes, silently pleading.

“You don’t want me to go.”

Her shoulders slumped and she looked down, before quietly saying, “No. I don’t. The capital is dangerous in ways you don’t know. If anyone found you…if they captured you…it would all be over.”

I sat down beside her, scooting her over and squeezing onto the big chair. I put my arm around her and said, “Look, I know a lot about not being seen. Trust me. I know how to blend in, to be unnoticeable. Seriously! I’ve spent a good portion of my life doing it!”

She looked up and laughed, one eyebrow raised. “Why in the world is that something you’re skilled at?”

I smiled back, thinking of Earth. “Oh trust me; it’s super useful where I come from. Gets you out of a lot of hassles. One thing, though,” I said, gesturing down at myself. “These clothes are pretty standard, right? Nothing special?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Great, I’ve got the rest handled. You tell me how to get to Telord, where to go once I get there, and I’ve got the rest handled.” That’s what I said to her. I think I was not only lying to her, but to myself as well. Not about being dull and unnoticeable—I was great at that—but about my confidence with the entire plan. But this whole time, I’d been riding the currents and going where the situation took me, and it was well past time I took charge, even if doing so was terrifying.

“It’s Telorn. You should probably get the name right if you’re going there. Oh…you’re going there, aren’t you. Michael, I don’t like this one bit.” She grabbed my hands in hers and squeezed tight. “There has to be something else we can do.”

“Well I can hang out in the alley for a few days, get spotted for being really suspicious…”

She groaned and lowered her forehead to my shoulder. “Maybe you’re right. And we do need to find out why Tiquette’s not contacted us. She’s instrumental in the assault on the sigilarium.”

“It’s settled, then.”

The fear was evident in her eyes, but she just leaned in and we kissed. “Please be safe. If you’re not successful, come back here, just wait a while first.”

“I will. And I’ll find Tiquette, whoever that is.”

Revana leapt up, headed to the desk and got out a sheet of paper and started writing quickly on it. “I forgot to tell you, and this is incredibly relevant, but Irina made you a fake ID and drew up some paperwork for you.”

“With a tenebrous stamp, or what?”

“Oh, no. Only the royals and Inquisitors use those. These have some security features, but nothing we can’t fake. I’m writing you some basic instructions on where to go, but you’ll have to figure out the portal system yourself. You can do that?”

“If it’s like a subway, then sure. I’ll be fine. Just follow the signs, right?”

“That’s more or less it, although I have no idea what a subway is. When you get to Telorn, find the Astrologia and find Tiquette there.”

She pushed a lot of things into a reasonably sized shoulder bag and thrust it into my hands. I looked at the little ID, and apparently my name was Michael Troian. We shared a look, we knew time was running out and the more we lingered there, the worse it would be. We kissed again, very quickly, and she pushed me out to the front of the store, but didn’t follow.

She turned and left, and for the briefest of moments, it occurred to me that this might be the last time I ever saw her if things went badly. The thought ripped through my insides, but I pushed it away as best I could. Everything would be fine.

It would be.

18

Vashe and Irina were both behind the counter in the front. Vashe handed me a small, cylindrical object made of metal and ceramic rings.“It’s a boiler for one cup of tea.”

It seemed they’d already been apprised of the idea that I’d pose as a customer. I was about to reply when the door opened and a Gorvani man with short cropped hair and a thin beard stepped in. He wore armor a little like Jorel’s, but his was much nicer, more patterns and nuance in it. He raised his hands, which burst into dark energy and said, “On your knees, lowborn.”

Irina screamed and fell to the floor.

Vashe’s fists were balled up on the counter, and she grunted, a determined look on her face, but she didn’t scream.

It was the briefest of seconds, but I realized I’d be expected to react as well.

I doubled over, grasping my left side where Revana’s brand was. I panicked and hoped that that was a normal place for one; I’d never actually seen anyone else’s. I didn’t think I could deliver a realistic scream without the pain, so I grunted and writhed and shut my eyes tight, muttering a list of swears.

I apparently sold it well enough; the man barely even looked at me. I opened my eyes the tiniest amount so I could see when he’d stop. The seconds ticked by, and he just smiled and kept doing it.

“Oh, that’s enough, Rykan.”

My blood chilled at the voice. I looked up and it was her. Isik. Isik was here.

She, again, wasn’t sporting the tenebrous armor, but was dressed in dark red pants, a black shirt and a floor length, red, flowing shirt over top that was normal in front but draped down to the floor in back. Her hair was braided, and a short, filigreed sword hung at her hip. It was made of the tenebrae like Rykan’s armor, but it just hung there, in the air by her side, without anything actually touching it.

Rykan stopped channeling, Irina stopped screaming, and I stopped pretending, although I stayed curled up on the ground. 

He sighed dramatically. “Oh, you’re such a killjoy, Isik.” He was obviously much younger than her, but neither apparently outranked the other. 

“Mhmm. Just get on with it.”

He sighed again and rolled his eyes. “Do you remember when you lost your passion for this?” He gave her the shittiest grin I’d seen in a while.

She looked back without expression, said nothing, and walked into the room. “You,” she said, prodding me with her boot. “Up.”

I got up.

Rykan attended to Vashe, who’d remained standing the entire time. 

“What’s your name?” Isik asked me. Her deep orange eyes bored into mine. I tried not to stare too hard at them, but the strange color was somewhat hypnotizing.

“Michael Troian.” I said, relieved I had looked and remembered what it was. I couldn’t imagine how the situation would have played out if I’d been unable to remember my own name. That thought would have been funny if it hadn’t been so horrifying.

She scoffed. “Michael. That’s a weird name.”

“Uh…thanks?”

Her eyes flicked up to mine, and for a second, panic exploded in my chest, but the corners of her lips turned up in the barest hint of a smile. “Why are you here, Michael?”

”I’m here to pick up my tea boiler.” I held it out so she could see it.

“Uh huh. Come here often?”

“Not really.”

“Show me your ID.”

I first thought she was asking to see my brand. I held out the little paper, hoping it was convincing.

She barely looked at it, before pointing to Vashe and saying, “What’s her name?”

“Oh, I think it’s Vashe.”

She pointed to Irina. “Her?”

“I’m…I’m not sure.”

“What’s in your bag?”

“Oh, just some—”

She didn’t wait for me to finish whatever it was I was going to say, but just took the bag from me and started looking through it. She pulled out the paper Revana had written with instructions to Telorn. She read it slowly, looking up to me occasionally, and I hoped I wasn’t sweating too obviously.

“Visiting the capital?”

“Yep.”

“First time?”

“Clearly.”

Her face froze, as did my blood. But then that tiny, ghost of a smile was back. “Why are you going?”

“Visiting a friend.”

“Why are you here?”

“Pickin’ up my boiler.”

“Mhmm.” She pointed at Irina again. “What’s her name?”

“I, uh, still don’t know.”

She didn’t move or channel in any obvious way, but the sword at her side floated up between us, and it slowly twisted in the air until it hovered by her head, pointed directly at me. “Why are you going to Telorn?”

My eyes were as wide as they could go. “Going to…see a friend.”

“Where are you from, originally?”

Well shit. I didn’t have an answer for that one. I just picked some numbers and hoped they worked; the only thing I made a choice on was to pick a province number lower than the one I knew existed. “Seven-CU-six.”

“You like it there?”

I shrugged.

“What do you know about the Dravizek Celestori?”

“W-w…what!?” I didn’t have to fake my incredibly confused expression for that one.

“What are you here for?”

“Boiler,” I said, meekly.

She took a long, deep breath while the sword floated down by her hip again. She handed the papers back to me and said, “Off you go, Michael.” She gestured towards the front door. “Don’t come back today.”

“Okay, yes, thank you.” 

I gave her a little bow for some reason, and then I practically ran, which was probably expected anyway, but just as my hand touched the door handle, she said, “What’s your hometown, Michael?”

“Uh, Seven six.”

She nodded. “Okay. You may go.”

Outside, I tried to get my hammering pulse under control. I glanced around and there were a few people on the street, along with a couple golems pulling carts and various things. A couple people loitered around, and I’m not sure if they were trying to be inconspicuous or not, but they were clearly either Inquisitors themselves or working alongside them. After I got myself calmed down, I made my way around the side of the building and to the alleyway in back. Luckily, for the moment, there was no one around. I slipped the tea boiler into my bag.

Revana hadn’t told me when she was going to pitch the relics out a window, but I assumed it would be at the earliest opportunity, and since the place was clear, I started rooting around in the big trash bins. I found the bundle easily and shoved it into my bag as fast as I could, terrified that someone would come around the corner and I wouldn’t be able to make up an excuse for that.

I got the bag closed and slung over my shoulder and was just starting to walk away when I heard a voice. “You. Stop. Now.”

I stopped and turned around slowly. It was one of the people I’d seen loitering around the front. He was a younger Gorvani, dressed in clothes similar to mine, but he had the same haughty air I’d noticed in all the imperials I’d ever seen. Which was only three, but still.

“Yes, sir?”

He sauntered slowly up to me, a satisfied smile on his face. “This isn’t the normal route someone would take, don’t you know?”

I looked down at his feet and muttered, “Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Hmph. What are you doing back here, then?”

The answer was obvious; it was something I did a lot back on Earth, either at work or not. “I don’t really like people, sir. I pick routes to avoid them.”

He scoffed. “Pathetic.” He looked me up and down, clearly reveling in the power he had over me. “I could haul you in for this. For anything, really.”

“Again, I apologize if I’m doing something wrong.” I kept my eyes downcast and my tone low and level, making sure to apologize when I could. It was alarmingly like dealing with an irate customer: say you’re sorry even though you’re not at fault and give them what they wanted. The second part never felt good, but it often worked.

“What’s your name? You know what, don’t answer. I don’t even care. Get out of here, lowborn.”

“Yes, thank you, sir.” I gave him a little bow too and turned on my heel and briskly walked away. The thought of drawing the sword from my bag and going back to cut him down played out in my head a hundred times, but of course I wasn’t going to do that. I just kept walking until I found some street signs pointing me towards the portal…station?

As bad as it felt to have the whole powerless retail employee at the whims of a jerk situation play out on Vendira, I was still proud of myself for having navigated it successfully, both with Isik and the street bully. It was looking more and more likely that most imperials were bullies, and I knew how to deal with that.

The sun was starting to rise above the buildings, and as I looked at the bright rays shining through the town, it occurred to me that it wasn’t my sun, and that I didn’t even know if I was in the same universe at all. I supposed those were questions for Revana, later. I still fervently told myself there would be a later; we would be seeing each other soon.

I finally came to the portal station or whatever they called it here. It was a rather large, windowless building in the center of the city. I walked boldly in the front doors like I knew what I was doing, but when I got inside, I groaned. “Well, shit.”

19

Inside, it was clear the building stretched for blocks, filled with circular, stone archways on three different floors, with a huge open area in the middle. Massive signs hung at regular intervals with schedules and directions and a host of symbols I couldn’t make out. The portals themselves glowed with the blue light of the arcanae, odd lines and alien geometries wrapped around the stone.

I went and sat on a bench and took Revana’s directions out and read them, probably ten times over. It turned out she’d also packed a small bag full of coins. I laughed a little to myself; a coin purse was exactly the fantasy-style sort of thing I’d been expecting at the beginning of my time on Vendira.

In the end, I somehow managed to not only figure out how to pay, but to take the correct series of portals. Only certain ones were active at scheduled times during the day, so a lot of my traveling time was spent on benches, waiting. I was nervous stepping into the first one, and it was certainly a weird feeling, like having every part of my body pulled in all directions at once, but it didn’t hurt and and was over in seconds. I went through five stations or portalariums or portports or whatever they were, and the vast majority of my time was spent waiting on surprisingly plush and comfortable benches. Most of them were carved on the sides and back, much like most of the doors I’d seen. There must have been a carvers’ guild in this world, and it was probably the richest one by far. In the third portport, I bought a sandwich piled with weird vegetables and a cup of hachi, which I was really starting to like.

Each portport was bigger than the one before, and when I finally reached the capital a few hours later, it went on almost further than I could even see. It took me a while to find the exit, and when I did, I looked up and just stared. There were skyscrapers here. Maybe not nearly as big as legit ones on Earth, but they were massive all the same. I readjusted my expectations of this world again. It seemed the towns I’d been in before really were provincial little farming communities or something.

My eyes were locked onto the tops of the biggest buildings and I heard someone snickering beside me. 

“First time in the city, boss?” It was a pair of men, one human and one Dravini, both of them amused at me.

I glared flatly back at them and didn’t reply.

They just laughed harder. “Try not to get lost, farmboy.”

I just walked away. I was severely unimpressed with their attempt to insult me, and I was also pretty disappointed that this world seemed to include all the same types of assholes Earth did. 

I wandered for a while. The city wasn’t laid out in blocks it seemed; there was a completely massive building in the center, which I could only assume was the imperial palace or stronghold, and everything else radiated out from that. The roads were still haphazardly placed, or if there was a design, I couldn’t see it from the street. Every road I went down was packed with people, all moving quickly, and in all manner of dress. I even saw a few wearing robes like the ones Revana and I had worn in what seemed like forever ago.

I found my way back to the portport only to notice the sign overhead, declaring it a Portal Nexus, which wasn’t as fun to say as portport, but was a lot more dignified. I found something resembling an information counter and asked for directions to the Astrologia, as Revana hadn’t included anything past getting to Telorn itself.

I listened to what the woman told me, but I just had her write it down anyway.

I arrived there in the early afternoon. It was one of the taller buildings, covered in decorative arches and statues and gargoyle-looking things. I was very impressed at how much more effort the people of Vendira put into making things look nice. 

The front doors seemed open and had people coming and going, so since I lacked any better plan, I walked right into the large lobby. It was at the same time very similar to Earth, but so wildly different in so many little ways. There was a long counter with people sitting behind it, and a little hallway that looked like it had elevators, and lines of people waiting.

But there were plants everywhere I could see, sitting in little pots and huge planters, trailing down the tall walls and hanging from the ceiling. Obviously, everything in the room was carved. But unlike most places, they didn’t feature people or nature scenes; every single one consisted of huge, circular designs, overlapping and in complicated patterns, many filled with runes, although I couldn’t tell if they were the same ones used in my summoning. There were multitudes of tiny little circles with three trailing limbs, apparently Vendira’s version of a star.

I picked a line at random and joined it, rehearsing what I was going to say when I got to the front. It didn’t take very long for that to happen, and I was face to face with a young Surini woman. She seemed bored and she didn’t bother giving me a polite smile when I stepped up, which I actually liked. “Yes?” was all she said.

“Hi, I’m here to see Miss Tiquette.” That was it. That was my master plan. Who knew if Tiquette was an executive, a janitor, or an accountant. Or if that was a really common name and there were twenty to choose from, so I also really, really hoped I didn’t need a last name.

“And your business?”

“Relaying a message from a colleague.” 

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Uh, no. Unfortunately, I do not.”

She took a deep breath and her ears twitched, and I was pretty sure she was suppressing an eye roll. “You need an appointment to see someone like Lady Tiquette. Come back when you have one. No, you can’t make one right here. Next.”

I opened my mouth to say who knows what, but the look she gave me implied that We Were Done Here, and the next person more or less brushed me aside. I walked outside again. Apparently Tiquette was someone of note, and seeing her wasn’t going to be easy in the least. 

I started circling the building, wishing I had my phone with me. This world didn’t seem to have anything I could pretend to be doing as easily as looking at memes, and I was worried I’d be immediately noticed as suspicious. It turned out, however, that people on the street were as uninterested in each other and me as everyone was on Earth. I put my hands in my pockets, cleared my face of anything resembling an expression and  went with the flow, and no one looked at me twice. I thought again how lucky I was that humans existed here, and how odd that was. Where did the first Vendiran humans come from? When? Earth seemed like a distant and arcane memory. I also wondered, for the first time, what races actually were native to this world. 

I walked down half of the Astrologia, wandered off for a couple blocks, and came back for the rest. The whole thing was, overall, vaguely round, but still made of straight walls that jutted out in places, and the entirety of it was covered with decorative arches, statues, and stained glass windows. Doors, however, were in very short supply. Aside from the massive front entrance, I only came across two other places that looked like loading bays. One was filled with activity, large crates being taken down from and strapped onto the biggest golems I’d seen yet. Their design was largely the same, but they stood three stories high and had chains supporting platforms below them for their cargo. 

That didn’t seem promising, so I doubled back to the other bay, which only had a few people milling about. Again, I wished I could brainlessly look down at my phone and have an excuse for standing still. I just leaned against the wall and watched the people around me go by. Still, no one looked at me twice. I looked back into the Astrologia’s loading bay and saw it was completely empty. 

Well, this was it, I thought. It wasn’t getting any better than this. 

My blood thrummed in my veins as I casually strolled into the bay, my ears almost twitching for the sound of someone yelling, but no one did. I came up to an open door, and with reckless abandon, I walked through.

At the last second, too late, I noticed a dark, wavy aura in the air, covering the doorway. My vision blurred for a split second as I passed through it, but nothing else happened. I looked back, and it was much more noticeable from the inside. It looked similar to the dark waves I’d seen coming from Jorel’s hands when he’d channeled the tenebrae, so I could only assume it was a magical defense of some kind. And almost assuredly linked to people’s brands. 

Footsteps sounded from the other side of the huge room I was in, so I ducked through a side door into a locker or dressing room with rows of dark wood lockers or cabinets. They were not, I noticed, ostentatiously carved. There were two people sitting close to the door, a Dravini man and Surini woman, who both looked up.

Inside, I panicked, but outside, I gave them a casual nod and kept walking. She nodded back and he waved before turning back to their conversation. They’d both been wearing normal clothes with a dark red vest over top. I quietly opened some cabinets where they couldn’t see until I found a vest I could slip on myself. It was a little big but not obviously so, and it was worlds more comfortable than a polo shirt. 

I stood there, trying to come up with any reasonable plan I could to actually find Tiquette. I was in the building and disguised as far as I knew, but it didn’t seem like bumbling around and peeking into random doors was a good idea. I had glanced around in the foyer, but there didn’t seem to be a directory, and even if there was, would I look out of place wandering up to one and taking my time looking through it? I took a long, deep breath as I decided the best, most reliable way to find out was to ask.

The two people I’d seen were still in the room. I threw even more caution to the wind and said, “Hey.”

“Hi. You new here?” the man said.

I nodded. “Very. I actually have some work with Lady Tiquette today, but I don’t remember where to find her.” He winced pretty hard at that statement. “Uhh…what?”

He gave me a pained smile and said, “Well, first of all, Lady Tiquette is…she can be…you know what—you’ll see. Also, you should really know your way around, even if you’re new.”

“I know, I know. I’m doing my best here,” I said, and it was completely true. “I just don’t wanna get branded because I forgot a thing, you know?”

He scoffed loudly. “Don’t I know it.” 

He gave me directions that I pretended to totally understand. I thanked him and left through a different door that I fervently hoped was appropriate, but as I was leaving, I heard the woman mutter, “Tiq the freak, huh?” That didn’t bode well.

I wandered down some hallways, doing my best impression of myself at work: head down, neutral expression, busy but not important. I made eye contact with exactly no one. I passed a decent number of people, both men and women, and saw at least one of all the races I knew about. Only one Gorvani, whom I stepped out of the way for. He didn’t even look up.

I found the elevators without too much trouble, and to my surprise, they were made for single people. They also weren’t enclosed, just a small platform with a button pad, all in a row. The shaft, such as it was, was just open, so I could see all the other elevators coming and going. I rather liked it.

I pressed the button for Tiquette’s floor and the machine buzzed to life, shooting me upwards way faster than I was accustomed to. Once it stopped, I only had to go down two empty hallways before finding the door I needed.

I stepped inside, amazed. The room was easily three stories tall, had wraparound balconies overlooking the main floor, and it was jammed full of rows of bookcases and tables strewn with all sorts of things I could only guess the use of. I didn’t know if I should announce myself or not, but that thought just hung in my head as my feet started moving of their own accord, taking me past all manner of odd and interesting bits of machinery and tools of all sorts.

I turned a corner around a bookshelf and had to suppress a scream. There was a human woman standing there, silently looking at me with her head tilted to the side. She wore a long, dark blue, flowing coat with two columns of buttons all done up over swirling and looping embroidered designs. The bodice was tooled leather and its sleeves fell past her wrists and the bottom almost touched the floor, just barely revealing dark leather boots underneath. Her hands were covered in rings with a colorful assortment of gems and bright metals. Her hair was long and black, flowing far past her shoulders, and she wore large, dangling earrings very reminiscent of the constellation designs I’d been seeing all over the building, in addition to a golden nose ring, pierced through the septum. 

Her eyes were a bright blue and she looked at me through a pair of glasses with enormous rounded lenses. Her face was so devoid of expression aside from slightly raised eyebrows that she seemed more like a doll than a person. 

Being in that lifeless stare made me extremely uneasy. I had the strong urge to turn and run, but instead I said, “Hi, I’m looking for Lady Tiquette. Is…that you?”

“Yes,” she said, barely blinking, barely moving. 

“Oh, good, I’m—”

“No.” She raised her hand. “Don’t tell me.” She swiftly strode up to me. A little too close to begin with, but she also leaned in and smiled. It was almost as eerie as no expression at all had been. “I’ve never seen you before. I wasn’t expecting someone new. New people are always announced. They all have appointments.” She spoke crisply and quickly.

“Yeah, I couldn’t get one.”

“But you’re here.”

“Yeah, I—”

“No. No. Don’t tell me.” She tilted her head again and kept smiling. It was almost…cute. “You’re here without an appointment.” She looked me up and down in a way that made me feel like a guinea pig. “You’re dressed as a runner, but I know all the runners. That means you’re a fake. But it would be impossible for just anyone to get through the tenebrous wards. And you say you’re here to see me.” She looked into my eyes and giggled, her hand to her mouth. Without warning, her other hand shot down to my shirt and yanked it up. 

I stood there, frozen, wildly unsure of how to react.

But her face lit up, her eyes going as wide and round as they could and her jaw dropped in a massive smile. “Brandless,” she breathed. She let my shirt go and balled up her hands into fists as she closed her eyes, her head dropping back. “I was right.” She laughed loudly, a hint of insanity trickling in I thought. “Yes! I knew it! I was right,” she said through clenched teeth. 

I took a step back and let her celebrate whatever was happening.

A moment later, she calmed down, her perfect posture returned, and she looked at me again, but her eyes shone and her smile seemed permanent. “Perhaps you’re wondering about my excitement?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“I was the one who mapped the celestial alignment to determine the best time for Revana to perform the summoning, in addition to procuring some of the more…difficult to obtain items needed.” She tilted her head again, which I was almost beginning to find endearing. “I have a thousand and more questions for you. About you, about your world. But I suppose there are more pressing matters first. Please, come with me.” She turned on her heel and I followed behind as we snaked around endless bookshelves until we came to a small room with an array of comfy furniture and huge windows that looked out over the city. “Have a seat. I’ll be back with some tea.”

I didn’t question the fact that tea seemed to count as “pressing matters.”

After she left, I looked out the windows, marveling at the city that stretched out before me. Almost every building looked to have been designed with aesthetics firmly in mind. Many had walkways and bridges connecting them, and they all had arches and swirls and were covered in statues and carvings. I didn’t see a single uniformly square one at all.

Most impressive was the city center, taken up by a massive palace. Whatever it was called, it was absolutely a palace. It towered over the rest of the city, a gigantic, solid structure with roads and bridges leading into and out of it. I shuddered to think that it was very likely that the Tenebral Font was in there too. 

Tiquette returned minutes later with a large teapot and two cups, which she sat on a little table with two chairs. She sat and gestured for me to join her. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Michael.”

“Hmm,” she said, looking me over again. “That name was common hundreds of years ago among the Humani here, but eventually fell out of fashion. Are you from,” her eyes twinkled, “Earth?”

I sat back, stunned. “Y-yeah. You know about Earth?”

She gave me a little shrug. “As much as the old legends say. Is it true that it’s the Humani’s homeworld?”

“Yeah, it is. There’s actually only humans there. We don’t have any other races.”

Her eyes were still locked on mine. “Humans. Not Humani. Interesting. But yes, Earth was one of the possibilities for the summoning.”

“Wild. So, um, not to change the subject, but Revana and the others were expecting to hear from you by now. That’s why I came to find you.”

She looked away, her eyes narrowing in annoyance, which was the most human expression I’d seen on her yet. “Yes. Communication has been difficult lately. The Gorvani are spooked about something, and I don’t know what.” She shook her head. “And that galls me to no end, I assure you. But I haven’t been able to contact Irina in a safe manner.”

“Could it be…us? Me? The summoning?”

She slowly shook her head. “No, it’s something else, although they have been more interested in the Mulaq’Shae, probably tangentially.”

“Oh, yeah, I actually kinda escaped the Inquisitors at Irina’s shop to come here.”

“Oh. Did you now?”

“Yeah. I posed as a customer and got out, but Revana, Vashe, and Irina were all still there. Do you think they’ll be okay? I’ve been worrying nonstop about it since I left.”

“I should imagine so. There’s nothing there for the Gorvani to actually find. Hmm…speaking of which, do you have the relics?”

“I do.”

“May I see?”

I opened my bag and unwrapped them from Revana’s packaging, holding them out for Tiquette.

“Hold the sword, please.”

I did, the hilt glowing softly around my hand. I still didn’t feel anything from it.

She leaned in close, examining the golden light before she laid her hand on mine, and I couldn’t help but notice that her skin was very soft between all the rings. Her eyes flicked up to mine and back down, a look of longing on her face. I thought she might start to cry by the looks of it. “Unbelievable. Just…unbelievable. After so long, and so much planning. To see you here, sitting in front of me. Amazing. You have no idea how much went into this. So many sleepless nights charting the course of the heavens, among other things.”

I pressed my lips into a line, as uneasy as I usually was when people said things like that. “I hope I can live up to what you need me to be. I’m trying to.”

She smiled but said nothing else, before pouring the two cups of tea. 

We chatted for a little while over the tea, with her asking me questions about Earth while I tried to paint a little bit better of a picture than I normally would have. I didn’t know why. Maybe because it seemed so exciting for her, and I didn’t want to tell her how soul-crushing my life had been and how much I didn’t want to go back. So I talked about the beautiful places I had always wanted to visit, and what machines we had and what they did. 

Her questions were endless, but I didn’t care; she was enjoying every second of it so I didn’t want to stop. But eventually, I had to get the conversation back on track or we would have been sitting there for days. “Revana said you were instrumental in the assault on the sigilarium that we’re planning.”

She laced her hands together and sat back. “Oh yes. That. What she’s referring to is the interior layout of the building, which I was indeed able to obtain, along with the security details. Any action against it would likely fail without that information.”

“So, Lady Tiquette…”

“Please just call me Tiq.”

“Okay, Tiq. Are you like, high up in society here? Or something?”

“Yes.” She looked down a little sadly. “You’re wondering why someone of my station would act against the status quo?”

“Yeah.”

She closed her eyes and sighed before getting up and walking to the window. “Regardless of who we are, we’re all slaves to the Gorvani, who themselves are slaves to the royals. People like Revana, Vashe, and Irina get branded more often than I do, but it’s not as if I don’t. And I am allowed my station as long as I do what I’m meant to do. If they knew I was part of the Mulaq’Shae, I’d be flayed alive. I like my life at the Astrologia, but there are more important things than maintaining my comfortable existence. And with the celestial alignment, we were afforded a chance we couldn’t ignore. Perhaps I’ll die because of it. But it was worth doing anyway.”

I stood and joined her at the window. I took her hand in mine and said, “I don’t know what I’ll be able to do; I’m just me. But if I can, I’ll tear the empire down.” I looked up at the palace looming overhead. “I’ll break the Font and free everyone.” I smiled despite it all. This world was massively screwed up, but I had the power to do something about it, and I knew then and there that I would die trying. I would give this world everything I had.

Tiq wrapped her arms around me unexpectedly, in a very tight hug. 

There wasn’t anything more to be said, so I hugged her back.

20

We talked for a little while longer before Tiq laid out a small journal, detailing the sigilarium’s layout and security information. It was written in some kind of code and made no sense to me, but she assured me that Vashe and some other people I’d yet to meet would be able to decipher it. I dumped it unceremoniously in my bag, alongside the ancient, holy relics that would be crucial in freeing the world and made a mental note to not leave the bag unattended in the portal nexuses.

Seeing the sun dropping down to the horizon, I steered the conversation towards an end so I could get going, but Tiq shut that quickly down.

“Not possible. Telorn has a rather strict curfew I’m sure you’ll be surprised to hear. You won’t have time to exit this building and make any of the last portals. And you don’t want to be on the streets at night. You’ll need to stay here tonight.”

“Oh. Should I just empty out a big bookshelf and sleep there?”

She smiled at me. “You can, but there’s a bed here. This place is not only for my research; I live here as well.”

“You live here?”

Her smile turned sad as she said, “Yes. I am largely confined to this building, and I spend almost all my time in these rooms.”

“You…can’t leave?”

“I told you we’re all slaves.” She looked wistfully out over the rows of bookshelves and tables of weird apparati. “I love this place. It is my home and I love the work I do here. It is a very, very gilded cage. But it is still that, nonetheless.”

“You’re not locked in here, are you? You couldn’t just walk out the door? Take a stroll around the city?” She looked me in the eye and I immediately felt like an idiot for saying it, after all I knew about the empire.

“Not every cage is made of bars.”

With that, the conversation came to a standstill, so we cleaned up the tea and shortly ended up in Tiq’s large bedroom. “Oh,” I said, “is there somewhere else you’d like me to sleep?”

She gestured towards the bed. “No. Here will be just fine.”

I didn’t know what I should do, so I just stripped down to my underwear and hoped that was appropriate, as I didn’t want to sleep with pants on. I slid under the covers and was instantly impressed at the softest set of sheets I’d ever felt in my life, and I noticeably sank down into the mattress. 

I sat back awkwardly while I waited for Tiq to come out of the bathroom, wondering what she thought of the situation. She’d not hesitated to offer me a place in the bed, even when there were a lot of couches that seemed perfectly serviceable. Maybe it was part of Vendira’s complete lack of modesty. After a few minutes, I heard her clear her throat and glanced over.

“Oh.”

She was standing in the doorway completely naked. She’d taken off most of her rings, but a couple remained on her fingers. Her hips swayed as she walked slowly over to the bed with her eyes locked on mine. She slid under the sheets and pressed close, sitting beside me. “Warrior from another world,” she said as she trailed a hand across my chest.

“Oh, I’m not…” But I was, wasn’t I? Or I would be. I had to start thinking that way. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Doesn’t get any more exotic than that.” She bit her lip and leaned in, raising an eyebrow at me.

The blood pumped in my veins at the feel of her incredibly soft touch, but at the same time a wave of guilt rushed through me. I knew Revana had specifically said this was alright, and by the standards of this world it was perfectly normal, but I still couldn’t help but feel weird about it. However, those feelings were overwhelmed by the desire already surging through me. I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. 

She moaned faintly as our tongues slid over each other, leaning further into me. 

As shocked as I was about the suddenness of all this, my reservations slid away as I turned into her and pulled her leg over mine. I slid my hands up and down her body and she writhed along with them. Her breasts weren’t nearly as big as Revana’s, but they were round and soft, her areolas almost as pale as her skin, and both of her nipples were pierced with silver loops of braided metal. I broke the kiss to lean down and suck her nipple, licking and very gently biting, looking up to see her reaction.

“Harder.”

I bit a little harder.

Her bottom lip quivered and her eyes closed as her head lolled back. “Harder.”

I bit harder.

She arched her back and brought her hand up to pull me closer, a loud moan escaping her lips. 

I let go and switched to her other breast, licking and sucking before I bit down as hard as I dared, my hand on her other nipple, pinching and rolling around her piercings. She moaned, bordering on a scream, and I did my best to stay with her as she arched and writhed, her entire body in motion. Her hand slid down between her legs, but when I moved to help, she pulled my hand back to her nipple. I slipped my other arm around her and pulled her close, the maddening feeling of her skin pressed against mine sending electricity pulsing through my body. I sucked and bit and pinched and licked, riding her body, staying connected as she thrashed and moaned, until finally her legs trembled and she arched her back and let loose a string of swears in a language I’d never heard. 

She bucked and shuddered, and I stayed close until she finally relaxed and laid back. We stayed there, catching our breaths for a few minutes before she sat up. “If only I’d known you were going to be here, I’d have taken some precautions.”

I was almost painfully hard and extremely disappointed to hear those words. After it not being an issue with Revana, Tiq being human hadn’t occurred to me as being a problem. 

“But of course, that’s not the only thing we can do.” She pulled my underwear off and laid down on her stomach between my legs. She looked into my eyes as she started stroking my cock with one hand. Between what we’d done and the smoothness of her skin, I thought I might blow instantly, but somehow I held it together. She scooted a little closer, keeping her gaze on mine as she took my cock into her mouth. 

I leaned back and moaned loudly. The pent up desire exploded at the feel of her tongue on me. She kept one hand on my shaft and played with my balls with the other, her tongue dancing on the head of my cock, and I tried with all my willpower not to thrust too hard into her mouth.

It was clear this wasn’t going to last long at all. 

She seemed to see that too, and she made no effort to slow down. 

My breath came fast and my blood pumped in my veins as the sensation became overwhelming. “Oh fuck, Tiq!” She sped up, her mouth wrapped firmly around my cock as I exploded. I gripped the sheets tightly as I moaned and came down her throat.

She held my gaze the entire time she swallowed me down.

Afterwards, we laid there in a sweaty heap, catching our breaths. Eventually, she got up without comment and went into the bathroom, and a few minutes later, I heard the sound of a bath being run. I got up and stumbled in to find her perched on the side of the huge tub.

“I won’t make it too hot.”

I smiled and nodded before heading to the toilet, which was thankfully off in a tiny little alcove by itself; I didn’t care how bereft of modesty this world was, I still had some limits. I came back out to find her already in the bath, adding a colored liquid from a glass bottle. She held it up and let me smell it. I didn’t recognize it, but it was wonderful. I stepped over into the water, and as promised, it was pleasantly warm. 

She had her glasses back on, which looked even more adorable with her tangled and messy hair. “So, am I the first Vendiran you’ve been with?”

I sat back, my eyes wide. I wondered if this was yet another example of Vendiran proclivities or just Tiq. Either way, there was no reason to be anything but truthful. “Well, actually, Revana and I…”

“Oh,” she said wistfully. “too bad. But I can hardly fault you for that.” She eyed me with a little smile, saying nothing.

“What?”

“I was wondering where you found time for that. I can’t imagine you’ve been here for all that long.”

“Well…” I could feel the color rising in my cheeks. “We were actually in a cave at the time.”

She giggled, sending ripples out over the water. “How dreadfully romantic.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing.”

“Mhmm. It often is. But… a cave of all places? Through the abandoned mines to Irina’s?”

“Yeah. We stopped for the night. Had a good time. Then,” I groaned, “woke up to monster crabs.”

She arched an eyebrow at me. “To what now?”

“Oh, sorry. Korids. We have similar things on Earth called crabs. Ours have a sensible number of mouths, which is to say: one.”

“You saw…korids. Like, plural? And you saw them… up…close?”

I scoffed. “Oh yeah, plenty close, as they were trying to kill us. Tons of them too.”

Tiq tilted her head at me, that doll-like expression, or lack of, on her face. “Korids don’t do that. Any of that. But…they did? Tell me more.”

I half expected her to not believe me, as Revana had said the same things about normal korid behavior, but I explained the entire ridiculous situation to Tiq, and she barely said a word aside from asking for clarification on some points.

“Infused with tenebrae? Naturally? Fascinating. Intriguing. Possibly useful. Oh, how’d I’d love to cut one open. But there’s no way to get one here. And no way for me to get there. Hmm…” 

She was off in her own head, and I let her go for a while as she mumbled to herself. “How would it be useful?”

She didn’t look up when she said, “The royals are infused with the tenebrae. Makes them functionally immortal. Impossible to study them, of course, but a naturally occurring surrogate would be invaluable.”

“The royals are immortal?”

She looked up, blinking out of her reverie. “Oh, no, that’s not accurate. They can be killed, probably. Ageless would be a better term, I think.”

“Probably.” I didn’t like where this conversation was going at all.

“Yes, but it’s very likely. I will admit to not knowing definitively, as it’s never happened. The royalty has been the royalty for the entirety of the empire’s existence.”

“You’re telling me the royals have all been alive for hundreds of years, and are puffed up with evil magic way beyond anything I’ve seen yet.”

“Yes.”

“And we’re going to have to kill them all if we have any hope of actually getting rid of the empire.”

“Also yes. However, suffused with tenebrae as they are, that isn’t proof against the shae. You sliced the korids apart easily, did you not? The shae is a higher order form of energy; it should be more than enough to combat the empire, once you attune yourself with the relics to a suitable degree.”

“That’s…huh. Okay.” One step at a time. I pushed the thought of super wizards or whatever the royals actually were far out of my head; I really didn’t have the wherewithal to deal with it right then. Tiq seemed the type to get stuck on a topic, so I did my best to change it. “Hey, something else I meant to ask you about. When Isik, the Inquisitor at Irina’s, was rapid firing questions at me, she asked about something weird I’d never heard of.” Although to be fair, there was an entire world of things I hadn’t heard about, but this one seemed a little more important than usual. “I’m going to butcher this name horribly, but she asked if I knew anything about the, uh…drazik…celery? Something? That might be the best I can do.”

“Oh, you mean the…” She trailed off and just kinda sat there for a minute, her eyes flicking back and forth, before growing wide. “Oh. OH. OH!” She stood up quickly, splashing water everywhere. “That…that makes so much sense! It would…yes!” She hopped out of the bath and dried her hands off but nothing else, before she threw the towel on the ground and shot out of the room.

I sat in the warm water, completely confused. When she didn’t come back, I got out, dried off, and wrapped the towel around my waist. I found her a few rooms over, sitting, dripping wet, in a chair at a large desk, flipping through a few handwritten journals. “So…?”

She turned towards me, brushing some wild hair out of her grinning face. “Yes! So, what you were asked about was the Dravizek Celestori: the Dragon Cult.”

“Dragon cult. There’s…that’s a thing?”

“It is, or more to the point, it was. About a hundred and fifty years ago, there was a movement to summon a dragon or dragons back to Vendira.”

“Aren’t they all dead?”

“Ostensibly. But they were unmatched in their ability to travel between worlds, and it’s long been surmised that some were aware of the war that was the empire’s founding, and that they stayed wherever they were, never to return. The Celestori tried scrying out into the cosmos, searching for any survivors, hoping to call them back.”

“Would that matter? The empire wiped out their entire species. Would one dragon be able to fight against that sort of power?”

She looked up at me and smiled. “Says the single warrior hoping to do just that.”

Fair.

“Anyway, it wasn’t about one dragon, or even a few, fighting directly against the Gorvani. If one could be called back, it would be a symbol of hope, something for the people to rally behind. Ultimately, there are few Gorvani compared to those they oppress. Branding or not, if enough people were to openly revolt, the empire would be hard pressed to quash such an uprising. Those are, to be clear, our hopes for you. We never expected you to crush an entire empire yourself. You will be instrumental, of course, and while destroying the first sigilarium is an integral step, it is more than merely practical. Its destruction will be a symbol to everyone, Gorvani or not: We are not helpless. We will resist. Be afraid.” She sat back, a soft, humorless laugh escaping her lips. “Or that’s the hope.”

Her eyes met mine again as she absentmindedly turned a journal page. “But back to the matter at hand. If there is indeed a resurgence of the Celestori and the Gorvani suspect it, it would explain so much of their attitude lately and the increases in Inquisitor activity, not to mention their renewed interest in the Mulaq’Shae. They probably assume we’d be working together, which, if we could, we would be. Hmm…”

The stress of the long day was weighing on me pretty heavily, so I told Tiq I was heading to bed, which she didn’t seem to hear as she pondered to herself and flipped through various books and piles of notes.

I thought I’d be asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, but I pulled the sheets over myself and laid there worrying about Revana for some time, tossing and turning, unable to shut my brain off. Sleep must have come eventually, because I woke briefly in the night to find Tiq next to me.

The next thing I knew, my eyes cracked open, the morning light blinding in my face. I pulled the covers over my head and let a tiny bit sneak through while I woke up, glad that no one was shaking me awake, telling me that everything had gone to shit again. I had half expected Isik to somehow show up here. It was the kind of luck I had.

I slowly woke up, got dressed and stumbled out into Tiq’s massive library, eventually finding her in the small room we’d had tea in the day before. True to form, there was more tea there again, along with a variety of sugary breakfast foods. Tiq herself was wrapped up in her long, tight blue coat again. Or were they robes? Something in between, probably.

I helped myself to a couple round things with orange, fruity filling. They were obviously just packed with sugar, but I had to admit that so far, they were the best thing I’d eaten on Vendira.

Tiq had apparently let me enjoy them while I could, because after I wolfed them down, she said, “So, there’s a problem.”

I groaned.

21

“Travel to and from the twelfth province is being heavily monitored and restricted,” Tiq said, and in the face of my expressionless stare, she added, “The province you were summoned into? The one that has the sigilarium we’re targeting? I’m sorry. I forget things like this are all very new to you.”

“Yeah, they are, but I’m doing my best to keep up. So how exactly do you know this? I doubt it’s being broadcast anywhere.”

She snorted. “No. I’ve actually been in contact with Oronir this morning. You know him, right?”

“I do! Is he okay?”

“Yes, he’s fine. And more to the point, Revana and Vashe returned to the area before the restrictions. They are also well.”

“That’s…a huge relief. Please lead with that next time.” A weight lifted from my shoulders knowing Revana was alright. And Vashe, I guessed. That was good news as well. Harder to get excited about, though.

“Oh, yes, apologies again. But to the problem at hand; you need to return to the twelfth. Somehow. It’s exceedingly unlikely you’ll be able to enter through the portals at all without good reason, as only official and necessary people are being let in and out. And seeing as how you’re a made up person, officially, there’s no good excuse we can drum up to get you in. Besides which, your things would be searched and examined, and we can’t take the risk of your relics being found.” She took a red glazed, rectangular breakfast cake and practically stuffed it into her mouth. Around it, she said, “I’ve been thinking all morning, but I can’t find a way to get you in.”

“Well, who all is going in and out? Anyone, I mean. Everyone.”

She grabbed another cake but just held it. “Inquisitors, of course. Gorvani transit officials will be working the gates. More teams of enforcers will be inevitably moved to the area. Anyone transporting necessary goods. And…that’s it, really. No casual travel.”

I sat back, trying to think of a solution. Although if Tiq couldn’t, I didn’t really think I was going to be a lot of help. She had neglected to mention one thing, though. “So, why are they doing this?”

She had sat back and was eating the second cake at a much more reasonable rate than the first one. “Impossible to say. It could be any number of things, and they’re very efficient at keeping their reasons hidden. It has been happening recently, though, and as I told you, they’re spooked about something. And while it’s very likely the dragon cult, because little else would engender the kind of fear they’re showing, I cannot be sure. At any rate, the reasons for it are somewhat irrelevant.”

“Can we just wait it out?”

She slid down in her chair and sighed. “It’s not the worst option, but these things can last for an impressive amount of time. And the information I gave you about the sigilarium gets less and less accurate as time goes by. Obtaining updated information would be another large risk, and something I’m not sure I could reliably pull off again. I called in many favors to ensure it was done quietly and correctly.”

“Are there any other ways into the province? Can I stow away on a boat?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Boat travel for anything other than recreation died out a long time ago with the advent of widespread portal use. And besides, any boats that did make landfall would be under the same scrutiny as portal travel.”

“Can I fly in?”

Tiq laughed loudly in my face for a moment before she was able to calm down enough to say, “Like, grow wings and fly in like a bird? No, I don’t think that’s a valid option.”

“What? I mean like on a plane or something.”

She was still smiling widely, but she did her head tilt and asked, “What’s that?”

“A plane? Like an…airship?”

“Air…ship. A ship that flies through the air?”

“Yeah.”

She just kept laughing at me. 

“I take it you don’t have those?”

“No!” She scoffed. “Of course not.” Slowly, the smile slid right off her face like it’d never been there, and she leaned in towards me and said, “Do you?”

“Yeah.”

“WHAT? Oh dear, sweet, shae. How!? What…I…”

“They’re like, tubes with wings and they have engines—machines that produce thrust—and they fly through the air. It’s actually the fastest way to get around, since we don’t have portals.”

She sat back in her chair, a vacant look on her face. I think she’d have been less surprised if I’d told her I’d gone down to the palace during the night and blown up the Font. “You have…travel craft…that fly. How high?”

“Above the clouds. It’s really fun to ride in them. For the most part.”

“What do they…no. No.” She shook her head. “I can’t get into this. We really need to stay focused on the problem at hand. And if we really get started talking about this, I won’t stop.” She sighed heavily, and I could see the pain of loss in her eyes.

“I’ll tell you all about them later.”

Her eyes flicked up to mine. “Yeah you will.”

We sat there lost in thought for a while, so I started pitching any ideas I could, regardless of how stupid I thought they might be. “So I can’t impersonate a Gorvani, right?”

“From three streets over, we might make that work. Up close? Not a chance. They have differing facial structures from humans, and while you or I might not be able to tell at a glance, they sure would be. Painting your skin wouldn’t be enough.”

“Anyone wear masks that never come off?”

“Nope.”

“Can I load up a golem with cabbages and claim I’m a cabbage salesman?”

She smirked. “I don’t know what that is, but no. Peddlers aren’t on the approved list of merchants.”

“Can I pose as an enforcer? I can rub some dirt on my face and scowl a lot. I don’t know if that’s what they’re all like, but it’s what the people I fought seemed like.”

“Oh, that’s pretty accurate…and…” She tilted her head again. I wasn’t sure if she even realized she did it, but it was becoming very endearing. “You know what…that plan might actually work. I know you posed as a runner pretty easily; do you think you can pull it off?”

I had actually proposed the idea as somewhat of a joke, but if it would get me to where I needed to go, I could wing it. I’d been winging everything so far with success. Besides, being an enforcer was probably just like being a bottom rung grunt anywhere else, with the only addition that I put some of my low key anger at the system on the outside. And while I’d never been a bully, I’d been on the receiving end enough times to be able to fake it. Probably. “Yeah, I think I could. Can you get me into a group that’s heading to the twelfth?”

“Oh yes. That part would be easy. Someone of my station could issue such orders. There would never be a real reason why I would, but my name won’t be on the orders. Come with me.”

She led us through her maze of bookshelves and haphazard mini-laboratories to a room off the side I’d have never noticed myself. “I kinda thought you’d pull a lever somewhere and a bookshelf would slide away, revealing a hidden room.”

Her eyes twinkled as she said, “I actually have two such places, although only one’s behind a bookshelf.”

“How’s the other one hidden?”

She sat down at a desk and started writing on some official-looking paper. “I’ll show you one day. Maybe. Oh, bring me your relics.”

I very much wanted to know what she was hinting at, but I went and got my things rather than pushing it. Tiq was finishing by the time I got back, setting a dark mark into the paper with a similar stamp to the one I’d borrowed from Isik, black lines emanating from it and wrapping around her arms, but unlike the time I’d used one, the tenebrae swirled around her body, pooling where her brand was. “Does it hurt?”

“No. There’s a sensation, but it’s not painful.” She folded the paper and handed it to me. “I’ll find out where the enforcers are gathering before heading out. It’ll only be a matter of finding the right group and presenting that paper to the right person. You should know that while this is all above board, it’s not common. Most will assume it’s nepotism, so that won’t get you any goodwill.”

“My rich uncle got me a job as a small-time bully?”

“Still better than the quarries or mines in a lot of people’s opinions. Contrary to widespread belief, not just anyone gets to be an enforcer. And another thing. Your sword is far, far too nice for where you’re going. Luckily, however, I have a solution for that as well.”

We went back out into the main room, to a table strewn with all manner of things. It was one of probably a hundred or so. Tiq mixed a few things in a large bowl and handed it to me to stir. After some work, the multi-colored mixture turned into a dull gray. While I was doing that, she wrapped the hilt and pommel of the weapon in strips of kind of crappy looking leather, sewing the ends together rather expertly. 

We coated the blade with a thin layer of the gray mixture, completely concealing the thin runes etched into its surface. It had the bonus effect of making the entire thing look way worse overall. 

“There,” she said. “No one’s going to look at that twice. And the tunic doesn’t need anything done, really. Just wear it under something else.”

“So is there anything you can’t do?”

She looked down and blushed. “I’ve spent my life dabbling in everything I could, really.” She spread her arms wide. “These rooms are filled with years of experiments, trying things to see if I could, if I liked them or not. Lots of failures, but lots of successes, too. And I will admit that being able to put most of it on the empire’s tab has been supremely useful.”

“That’s…amazing, really. I gotta say, I’m pretty jealous.”

“When this is all over, you’re free to visit me in the massive laboratory I’ll build. We’ll do whatever you want.” She smiled sadly and took my hand in hers. “But, now it’s time for you to go.”

I’d known her for about a day, but it broke my heart to have to leave, moreso since I didn’t know if and when I’d see her again. We wrapped our arms around each other and hugged tightly. We stood there for a while, neither one wanting it to end. 

We finally stepped back. I put the relics on as she stood there and watched. 

“Come. I’ll walk you out.” She turned on her heel and started briskly walking away, maybe wanting to get the goodbyes over with. On the way down, she told me where I was to go to join a group of enforcers.

Everyone we met on the trip down either hurriedly got out of Tiq’s way or gave her a respectful nod, and a few bowed. I didn’t think I’d actually realized how high up she was. But all too soon, we were at the front foyer. I looked around but didn’t see the Surini woman who’d rebuffed me the day before. 

Tiq had her hands clasped in front of her and a neutral look on her face. “Farewell, and good luck.”

I very much wanted to kiss her goodbye. Instead, I bowed low and said, “Thank you, Lady Tiquette. Until we meet again.”

She gave me the smallest of nods, turned, and left.

I was about to stand there like a moron and just watch her go, but there were enough people in the room that someone would probably notice, so I forced myself to turn and head out the front doors into the shining sun.

22

It had only been a day, less than that, really, but being with Tiq, safe in her rooms and in her company, had been wonderful, and I was more than sad to leave, especially knowing what was coming next. I had half a mind to wander around the city, see the sights, and get something to eat, but this wasn’t a vacation and I wasn’t a tourist. As much as I wanted to pretend for a little while that people weren’t depending on me, how stupid would I feel if I blundered into a bad situation and ruined everything because I wanted to get this world’s version of chicken strips.

Telorn was actually laid out very well and easy to navigate. The streets were all clearly labeled and very clean. It occurred to me that it was the nicest city I’d ever been in, and on the surface, it would be so simple to assume that life was good here. 

But it wasn’t.

Tiq was comfortable, but willing to throw that away to make the world better. Isik was dissatisfied with her life, but kept on doing it because she had no choice. Entire villages were culled for little to no reason. Everyone lived in constant fear of running afoul of the empire for a thousand reasons. I couldn’t see it on people’s faces on the street, but everyone moved with rapid efficiency; I barely saw anyone just standing around or enjoying themselves. The buildings were beautiful, but they seemed like a hollow facade over the lives everyone was living.

I noticed myself walking much slower than anyone else, stuck in my thoughts, so I sped up. The place I wanted was easy to find and turned out to be a large, iron-fenced courtyard in front of a shorter building. The gates were open and there was a huge crowd of people, so I just walked in and shuffled around until I found a Gorvani with what looked to be a uniform on. I walked up to her but waited for her to speak to me first.

She glanced up from a stack of papers she was sifting through. Her ears were a little more pointed than the other Gorvani I’d seen and her eyes were a very deep shade of purple, That coupled with a completely shaved head gave her a somewhat demonic look. “Yes?”

“Hi, I’m here to join.” I handed her the paper.

She looked me slowly up and down before she replied, probably taking in my seeming lack of martial prowess. Honestly, I didn’t really blame her. It seemed like she was suppressing a smile when she snatched the paper out of my hand. She unfolded it while maintaining eye contact with me, only looking down after I was massively uncomfortable.

She snorted, the smile she was trying to hide creeping more and more onto her lips. “Wanna be an enforcer, huh?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She actually had to turn away to keep from laughing in my face. 

I still wasn’t angry about it. I knew what I looked like.

“At least you have your own sword, such as it is. I’ll give you that.” She tapped the paper. “Says here I’m supposed to send you to the twelfth immediately. Looking to make a quick name for yourself? Carve up some dissidents and get promoted to captain?”

“Something like that.”

“Uh huh. Look here,” she glanced down at the paper again, “Michael, could be as you don’t quite know what you’re getting yourself into. I know it can seem glamorous, and you’ll avoid hard labor, but the rich uncle or whoever you have here isn’t doing you the favor you might think they are.”

I was taken aback; I hadn’t expected sympathy from a Gorvani. But they were all just cogs in the machine too, weren’t they? Aside from the royals, everyone just did as they were told. Even Isik wasn’t happy with her lot. I made a mental note to be less judgemental while also allowing that Jorel had been a pretty terrible introduction to their people. “This is what I want, ma’am. I’m sure.”

She shrugged. “If you say so.” She wrote a quick couple lines on the paper and handed it back to me. She pointed across the yard to a small group milling about near the building and said, “That’s your group. Headed to the twelfth very soon. Fordral is the captain. Obey his every order.”

“I will.”

“Oh, and Michael? Don’t expect a warm welcome.” She jerked her head in dismissal.

This Fordral was a catboy. Catman? I tried very hard to put those words out of my head. If Vashe had punched me for saying it, there was no telling what this Surini guy might do to me. He was even more than a head taller than I was and probably three times as wide. I had to assume that a lot of it was muscle, but it didn’t seem like it to look at him. I didn’t think I’d ever use the word mangy to describe a person, but this guy was it: he had long, reddish brown hair, tufted ears and a long, patchy tail. His bare chest, underneath a cracked leather vest, was covered in hair, as were his arms. I couldn’t tell if Surini men had fur like that or if he was just a really hairy person. 

Either way, I wasn’t about to ask, as he wore the deepest scowl I’d seen on a face in my life, and he layered a generous amount of disgust over it when I had the apparent audacity to approach him. “The fuck do you want, you little shit?”

I brandished the paper at him. “I’m in your group now.”

His jaw dropped a little and he stood there staring at me, waiting for the punchline perhaps. When it became clear I was done talking, he grabbed it out of my hands and flipped it open. I could see his eyes slowly moving down the page, getting wider and a sneer working its way onto his lips as he read it. He traced his hand over the shadowseal on the page before he crumpled it up and threw it in my face. 

I caught it before it hit the ground, but said nothing.

“No.”

“What?”

“No. You’re not with us. Fuck you, and that. Go get a different assignment. I don’t take losers.”

“No. I’m in your group.”

His ears twitched and he jerked a little bit before he leaned right into my face and said, “I said—”

“I heard you. I’m in your group. Those are the orders.” I brandished my wadded-up paper at him again. I felt remarkably calm during this exchange, which surprised me to no end. I’d never really been one to take things in stride; while I could be calm on the outside, I’d usually be livid when a customer spoke to me like this. I’d deal with it, then spend a lot of time simmering about it before I could let it go, no matter how many times it happened, which was a lot.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t actually joining this guy’s team; he wasn’t actually going to be my boss, and this whole charade was just to get into the twelfth province and back to my friends. Maybe the relics were helping me control my emotions—the feelings were similar to what I had felt on the battlefield. Or maybe I just felt more in control of my life than I ever had. Whatever the reason, this bully’s words rolled off my back like I’d spent my entire adult life wishing they would.

He was anything but calm, though. I could see some veins sticking out on his forehead and he’d become noticeably red. He gripped my shoulder hard, leaned back into my face again and said, “I said piss off. I don’t want trash on my team.”

“No.”

Fordral’s grip tightened painfully on my shoulder, but I was committed to not reacting to it. His breath came fast and he somehow got even more red than he’d been before as he shoved me roughly away. His shoulders rocked back and forth with barely restrained rage, and I guessed the only thing keeping him from hitting me in the face was that he wasn’t allowed to do so, and would almost definitely be branded for it. “Fine! You wanna roll with us? Your funeral, trash. But know one thing: I’m the boss here. You understand?”

“I do.”

“You do what I say, when I say it? You got that!? You don’t get to disobey me. Every single order I give, you do it immediately, yeah? Got it?”

I nodded. “I do. You’re the boss.”

“Damn right I am!” He turned and kicked the wall he’d been leaning against, growling angrily.

I shoved the paper into my bag, which contained Tiq’s journal. A cold tingle went down my spine at the thought of it just sitting there. It was encoded, sure, but I was positive it’d be suspicious if anyone happened to see it. Never, ever take the bag off my shoulder, I told myself.

Fordral had been openly hostile, but the rest of his group didn’t like me one bit more than he did, which was made clear by the open looks of hate on every single one of their faces. I wondered if it was difficult or special to be in the group, and me walking up and demanding entrance was a slap in the face for all of them.

Or maybe they were all just assholes. Who knew?

I slid down the wall at the edge of the crowd and kept my head down. The only way I was going to get through this was to be as forgettable as I could, but it was possible I’d already screwed that up. Still, I waited quietly for close to an hour before Fordral started yelling at us.

“We’re up you lazy pricks. Get up! We’re going now!”

He led us inside the building, which turned out to be a small portal nexus, and it was probably the least decorated place I’d seen on Vendira. Smooth stone walls, no carvings, and white tile floors covered the entire place. Fordral directed us to load up with a bunch of supplies that were being handed out by Gorvani with tired expressions and utilitarian movements. These were my people, I thought; they wanted to be anywhere but here. I sympathized in a few different ways.

I was tasked with lugging around a truly unreasonable amount of baggage. Fordral eyed me with a half smile after telling me what I was to do. I strapped the bags around me, feeling my knees ache at the prospect, but I didn’t say anything, didn’t make eye contact with him. I just picked it up and did my best to remain standing.

He scoffed, a disappointed frown on his ugly face. “Line up! It’s our turn next!”

No one offered me any help, not that I had expected them to. We lined up in front of a portal, a large stone and metal archway covered in runic symbols. In no time at all, we were heading through it, the odd pulling effect rolling through my body, and then we were in another compound under the sun, surrounded by forest. I honestly didn’t know if my legs were going to make it, but I was going to collapse before I gave anyone the satisfaction of giving up.

I had, until that moment, held out a small hope that we’d end up somewhere familiar and that I could ditch this situation at the first possible opportunity, but we weren’t even in a town, let alone the two I’d been in. With a massive sinking feeling pulling down on me, I realized I didn’t actually know where I was supposed to go. The original town had been abandoned, and I didn’t know the number of the second one, which I’d seen once and that was it.

Tiq had clearly forgotten to mention it, and I only knew Revana and the others were in the province and nothing else. Should I head to that second town and hope the others were there? Could I even articulate where that was after traveling to it through a forest?

My thoughts swirled in my head when suddenly, the weight of the bags weighing me down lifted. I turned to see a grinning Fordral holding the bags, which he threw to the ground behind him. 

“Got an assignment already. That’s the kinda group your sorry ass somehow lucked into. We’re the best, so we get the best, most important jobs.”

That seemed like one of the most untrue things I might ever have heard, but I just nodded. “Alright.”

He sneered at me, picked up one of the bags I’d been carrying and shoved it back into my hands, then started yelling orders at the group, which was comprised of ten people, including me. Within minutes, we were heading back through the portal, this time ending up in a small village, but much to my disappointment, it wasn’t one that I knew. I decided that wherever I ended up, I’d try to get to the second village, where the residents of the seventy-ninth had fled. I wanted to leave right then and there, to ditch this group and get lost in the town and make my way back, but there were literally no opportunities for me. I was in the middle of the pack the entire time, and so many of them couldn’t stop looking over and sneering at me that there wasn’t a second when I wasn’t being watched.

We left the town immediately, heading through a few miles of farmland before descending into a dark, thick forest. The group was pretty evenly made up of humans, Dravini, and Surini, and they were all men. Conversation was light and none of it was directed at me, although I still got more than my fair share of shitty looks and occasionally an insult said just loud enough for me to hear.

I let it all wash over me, silent. I’d heard far, far worse in my day. I debated telling them their insults were subpar, but quickly dismissed that as overwhelmingly stupid. I just trudged on through the trees, happy that I only had one extra bag on my shoulders.

We made quick time through the woods towards whatever our goal was. I had, of course, not been told. I kept pace with my mouth shut, wondering how long I’d have to endure this ordeal before I could slip away. We stopped intermittently, so Fordral and some of the others could examine something I couldn’t see, which they quickly discussed before heading off again. It seemed like we were tracking someone or something, but I didn’t know the first thing about that.

After what seemed like a couple hours but was probably just one, Fordral hissed at us to all be quiet. To my surprise, he called me up to the front. 

“Time to get some real world experience, newbie. Get your sword out.”

A sinking feeling dropped into my gut. I’d been thinking during the trek through the woods about what our objective was, and it had eventually occurred to me that enforcer groups existed to keep the populace in line. I purposefully pushed those thoughts and their natural conclusions away, as I wasn’t ready to face the reality of the position I had blundered into. 

Fordral, a Dravini man, and I broke away from the group, silently creeping between the trees. They were following a trail I couldn’t see as I followed behind, the dread sitting heavy in my chest. 

All too soon, we came upon what we’d been tracking: a human man, tired and huddled in the hollow of a dead tree. He was young, probably the age at which people were forced into servitude. His eyes went wide when we crept up on him, and he scrambled to run, but there was nowhere to go, so he slid back down to the ground against the remains of the tree. 

“Draw your sword, newbie.” Fordral looked at me expectantly.

I did.

After I stood there dumbly, he added, “Well? Do it.”

I glanced over to him. “We’re…not taking him back?”

He snorted, a sneer on his lips. “Ain’t worth it. Runners always keep runnin’. Finish it, and do it quick. We’ve got more to do today.”

I stepped up to the terrified man. He had blond hair and the beginnings of a beard. His clothes were nice enough, but stained with dirt and grass. He looked up at me, his eyes pleading. “Please…”

My breath came faster as I considered doing it. My eyes were probably as wide as his, my sword held up towards him. It wouldn’t be the first time I killed someone, after all. How far was I willing to go to save Vendira? Would I, could I, sacrifice this man, who’d in all likelihood done nothing wrong? 

I imagined it. My sword going through his neck, quick and easy, as merciful as I could be. He was dead already anyway, wasn’t he? Whether it was me or someone else, he’d be killed either way, and I could ensure that it was as easy as possible. No mess, as little pain as I could inflict, and it would be over. 

I took a step towards him and he whimpered, but didn’t try to get away.

I pulled my arm back, ready to strike.

“Do it already.”

I took a long, deep breath, and let my arm fall. “I can’t.”

Fordral shoved me roughly out of the way, drew his own sword and drove it into the man’s neck. 

I looked away, listening to the gurgling and thrashing that followed, my hands shaking.

The Dravini that had come with us looked at me in disgust. “Fucking pathetic.” He spit at my feet and walked away, his shoulder slamming into mine.

I turned and looked at the corpse on the ground. Fordral hadn’t cleanly severed his spine, and while it had been fast, it had been worse than if I’d done it. 

He wiped the blood off on the dead man’s clothes before turning to me. I had expected anger, but there was a calmness I hadn’t seen before. He stepped up to me, bent down right in my face and said, “Get used to it. This is what you signed up for.” He stood up and casually placed the flat of his blade on my shoulder. “So man the fuck up, or you’re going to have an accident out here. Understand?”

I stood perfectly still, looking down at the sword beside my neck. “I understand.”

“We’ll see.” He sheathed the sword and bent down to search the man’s pockets, scoffing when all he came away with was a few coins. He walked off, back towards the rest of the group, and I followed behind, wondering if I should just turn the other way and disappear into the woods.

But I’d probably get lost, and the other enforcers could easily track me down. And I didn’t like my chances against all of them at once. 

We continued in the forest, tracking what was certainly more people. The thought of the dying man replayed in my head over and over, and I wondered if I should have done it after all. It would have been cleaner, and I wouldn’t be checking over my shoulder constantly for a knife I was sure was coming.

The other enforcers were more openly hostile than they’d been before. The insults weren’t just muttered, they were regular conversation for me to hear. I tried to ignore it, but every minute that ticked by without a dagger in my back was a surprise. My attempts to fall to the back of the group were laughed off and I was shoved ahead. They probably assumed I was going to desert, which I absolutely would have had the opportunity arisen. 

The hours slowly passed as the sun lazily made its way across the sky, and every single second of it was torture. I jumped at every little noise, on constant high alert, afraid for my life, which the others found endlessly hilarious. I was poked and prodded from wherever I wasn’t looking, swords and daggers were drawn at random times for no reason. 

Finally, later in the day, Fordral called for a halt, pointing at the Dravini man from earlier, myself, and another human to follow him. Much like the first time, we caught our prey unaware, huddled over the edge of a small stream. The other two went out to flank them, so when Fordral revealed himself, there was nowhere to run.

This time it was a Surini man and woman. They stood perfectly still on the bank, terrified. Fordral marched over to them, his sword drawn, and forced them both to kneel. After which, of course, he beckoned me over.

“Do it. Both of them.”

I stepped up, my sword in my hands again. I looked down at them, imagining the killing blows. They’d be a mercy, compared to what Fordral or the others would do. And if I didn’t, I’d be dead right along with them, and the hopes everyone was pinning on me would be gone; the empire would win. Were these two people worth throwing away my chance to change everything? After a long, deep breath, I looked into both of their eyes and drew my arm back.

“Nope,” I said, lowering my sword. “Can’t do it.”

“Fucking useless.”

The Dravini had circled behind me while I stood there debating, and a second after Fordral had spoken, I heard a step on the ground behind me.

I spun and parried the blow I knew would be coming, sending him off balance. I sliced up and out, cleanly across his neck. His hand came up as the blade fell from his grip. His eyes were huge with surprise, and he fell backwards onto the ground.

“The fuck?”

Fordral rushed me, and while I managed to get my blade up in time to block his, he kicked me savagely in the gut. I actually lifted off the ground a little as I was knocked back prone. He brought his sword down at my head, but I somehow managed to roll out of the way and get partially back up to my feet, only to receive another kick to my side. I dropped my sword and stumbled before pain exploded in the side of my face. I neither saw the punch coming, nor the ground rushing up to meet me again, knocking out what air remained in my lungs. 

Fordral’s huge boot landed on my sternum, his considerable weight excruciatingly pressing into me. His sword loomed above me, the deathblow seconds away. I panicked, groping around for anything I could find, my hand coming across a rock on the streambank. I threw it as hard as I could right between his legs. 

He crumpled in on himself, and I was able to scoot out from under his weight, pushing him so he toppled over and away. I shot up as quickly as I could, scooping my sword up from where it lay.

Fordral had almost managed to stand, one hand on his groin and white hot rage in his eyes. He tried to rush me again, but he was slow and the calm of battle I’d felt before finally descended upon me. He swung, one-handed, but I easily side-stepped and brought my blade down, slicing cleanly into his chest. He came to a stop, looking down in disbelief at his body, his sword falling away, unnoticed, from his hand.

I stepped in and thrust my sword through his neck and out the back, and he collapsed to the ground.

I breathed a sigh of relief just before I heard a scream from behind me.

For a second, I had completely forgotten about the Surini couple and the other enforcer. While I had fought Fordral, the two had saved me by the looks of it, as they were grappling with the human man, trying to hold him down.

But the Surini man fell back, blood running down his arm. 

The woman had her hands around the enforcer’s sword arm, but he punched her in the face, and she fell to the side. He stood, his weapon raised.

“No!” I screamed, running towards him. 

He turned just in time to see my sword driving straight between his eyes. I let my momentum carry me through, and I buried it hilt deep in his face.

He fell and I looked away. 

The Surini was on the ground, holding his blood-covered arm. I looked quickly around, decided on the dead Dravini, and ripped his shirt into strips. The woman helped me wind them around his arm as he winced in pain, clearly doing his best not to cry out. Once we were done, I said, “We need to get out of here.”

She looked at me warily and said, “So who are you?”

“”I know what it looks like, but I wasn’t one of them. I was with them, yes, but I only joined so I could get back into the province. I’m trying to get back to my friends. It’s important. I’m looking for a specific village, but I don’t remember its number. But,” I said, looking down at the man’s arm, “we can deal with that later. We need to get out of here, somewhere safe, and get your wound properly taken care of. You do know where you were headed, right? I’m afraid I don’t know where we are.”

He looked up at me, the pain clear on his face. “I don’t have the first idea what you’re talking about, but if you’re willing to help us, we’ll take it.”

She shook her head. “Nothing for it. Let’s go.”

We helped the man to his feet and headed west. I kept my ears open; there were six more enforcers behind us, and I had no idea if they’d disband once they found out what had happened, or come for my throat.

“I’m Michael, by the way.”

“Sera,” she said, “and he’s Bairn. And I’m only trusting you because I have to, Michael. It looked like you saved our lives twice over back there, but nothing about this adds up.”

“I understand, believe me. And I don’t know if you attacked that guy back there for me or not, but you probably saved me from getting stabbed in the back, so thank you.”

We made our way through the woods, blue leaves reflecting the midday sun. We tried to move as fast as we could without making noise, and while Bairn did his best, he was clearly deeply wounded and the pain was getting to him.

I’ll admit that I considered leaving them behind. It wasn’t brave or heroic; it was deeply selfish, despite me telling myself it was for the greater good. Either way, I didn’t. I stayed by them. I knew if they were caught, they were dead, and while I wanted to save the world and crush the empire, I knew I wouldn’t do it at any cost. In spite of my selfish feelings, I wouldn’t. I idly wondered if other heroes had thoughts like this, and then I wondered when I’d started thinking of myself as a hero. 

But I wasn’t a hero. I was just some guy, doing his best.

Or maybe that’s all heroes were.

I was broken out of my reverie by a twig snapping behind us.

23

Sera turned and screamed before clamping a hand over her mouth.

Two of the enforcers, both human, had been creeping up behind us, swords drawn.

I drew my own, standing still. I’d hoped to try and talk them down, but they advanced slowly, each walking to either side of me.

I didn’t need the relics to know I couldn’t afford to get surrounded, and I couldn’t let them get in between me and Sera and Bairn, but rushing them both wasn’t a stellar idea either. “Hey, we can talk this o—” I pretended to take a step backwards and trip, my eyes wide with what hopefully looked like fear. 

They both relaxed their posture very subtly, and one of them couldn’t help but smile. I scrambled away from them, picking up a decently sized rock as I did, before getting awkwardly to my feet, sword held out in front of me.

The one who hadn’t smiled said, “How in the fuck did you get the best of the captain and two others? What kinda bullshit did you pull?”

They hadn’t stopped moving, and I’d soon have one of them at my back. I rushed the smiling man and raised my sword for a one handed, plunging attack. His smile got even wider as I left myself open for a quick stab to the gut, and I threw the rock straight into his teeth. I heard them crack, and while he recoiled, I brought my blade down into his wrist and it passed through with almost no resistance. Before he could react any more, I swept across, cutting his throat open. I turned, letting him fall, forgotten. 

The other man was about to cry out, and I knew I’d have four more people to deal with soon. There was no way I could get to him in time, to silence him.

A pair of hands lifted a rock over his head and brought it down with grim efficiency. He collapsed, revealing Sera standing behind him. She didn’t hesitate; she was on him in a second, bashing his skull in with repeated and merciless blows.

I’d killed my share of people since coming to Vendira, but it wasn’t anything like this. Sera’s eyes burned with naked hatred, and she kept bringing the rock down over and over, well past any reasonable point, her tail held out straight behind her and her blond ears twitching.

I crept up to her, and between strikes, I said softly, “Sera?”

She froze, bloody rock in the air, and looked at me, and then back down at the corpse under her, and her eyes grew wide. She threw the rock aside and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths. When she opened them again, she was shaken, but all she said was, “Let’s get going.”

I didn’t question a thing. We helped Bairn back to his feet and kept moving.

No one spoke as we rushed through the woods, all three of us looking over our shoulders constantly. An hour later, we’d seen no one else. The enforcers that had been doing all the tracking were dead, so I kept up hope that the remaining four wouldn’t be able to follow us. Not that I had any idea of where we were headed. We could have been walking in circles for all I knew.

As time wore on, Bairn slowed noticeably, his grunts and winces getting more obvious. Sera had taken his good arm some time ago, supporting him as much as she could, but he was limping more and more.

I didn’t want to say anything, but it was evident we needed to stop. Still, I held my tongue, hoping the village would rise up over the next hill. Or the next.

Bairn collapsed, pulling Sera down with him. He didn’t cry out, but his face was twisted in pain, his breathing fast and heavy.

They whispered together before Sera looked up at me, a plea in her eyes.

I spread my hands. “I don’t know what I can do. Do you know how far away the town you’re heading for is?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t think it’d be this far. We should have made it by now, but we got off track once we knew enforcers were after us.” She didn’t look at me or say anything else for a moment before her lip trembled. “We…were traveling with another person. Do you know if…?”

“A young, human man?”

“Oh…yes.”

That seemed answer enough, but I looked her in the eyes and shook my head.

She shook with suppressed emotion, willing herself not to cry and almost failing.

“I’m…I’m so sorry. I…I was there, and I didn’t…I didn’t do anything to save him. I couldn’t…I…”

She shook her head. “It’s…just help us now.”

I knelt down beside Bairn, and it was obvious he was done walking. But staying there was death from any number of things, so I did my best, with Sera’s help, to pull him up onto my back. My knees groaned with the effort of standing, and the first few steps were almost the last, but I finally evened out. The strain was just this side of bearable; I could do it, but who knew for how long.

Until my legs gave out, I guessed.

Sera scouted out ahead as I plodded along, still looking back constantly, sure that we’d soon be found out.

The sun lazily crossed the sky during our flight, the minutes taking hours, the neverending stress fraying my nerves. 

Bairn was still conscious but didn’t speak. His grunts were becoming less frequent, which I did not take as a good sign. Sera came in and out of sight. I didn’t know what she was looking for, and each time she reappeared, my hopes shot up that she’d have good news, but time and time again, she just shook her head.

I was flagging pretty hard when I finally heard Sera cry out, and a moment later, she came running out of the trees, waving frantically, with a big smile on her face. “”We’re here! We’re so close!”

Physical relief washed through my entire body and for a second, I thought I might just collapse then and there, but the thought of having to pick Bairn up off the ground again kept my legs upright and working. Within minutes, I could see rooftops through the forest, and before I knew it, we were at the town gates. Sera spoke quickly with a human man standing just inside them, and we were shuffled down various alleyways, the man scouting ahead, looking for any Gorvani that might be about.

It seemed like Sera didn’t know this man, but had immediately assumed he’d help instead of turning us all in, which he did, but I thought it a pretty big risk. Although Bairn had stopped responding by that point, and while he was still alive, it was probably worth taking a chance on anything that got him help faster.

We ended up at the back of a large building, knocking frantically on an intricately carved door. An older Dravini woman with golden horns, white hair, and more than a lifetime’s share of wrinkles on her face and hands opened it, took one look at us, and ushered us in. 

We were led to a surprisingly modern, in my opinion, medical room, and finally being able to lay Bairn down on the table and sit down myself was one of the best feelings I’d ever experienced. My muscles screamed and ached, and I didn’t think I’d be able to stand, possibly ever again.

I whimpered when the old doctor jerked her head towards the door and told Sera and me to leave. I somehow complied, but once in the hallway, I slid down to the floor and only my pride kept me sitting upright instead of falling over and lying prone on the dark tile floor.

Sera paced and fretted, and I could only imagine how difficult it was for her. During one of her trips up and down the hall, she glanced down at me, seeming to only then realize I was still there. She kneeled, looked me in the eyes and took my hand. “Michael, whatever happens, thank you. I know we’d never have made it without you. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I still don’t understand anything about you or how you ended up there, but thank you.”

I shook my head. “Oh, no. Don’t apologize. And you’re welcome. I only wish I could have saved your friend too.”

She gave me a sad little smile. “It’s a miracle any of us made it. It wasn’t just the three of us.”

“Oh.”

“It’s how it is.”

I squeezed her hand and she stood and resumed her pacing. I had intended on leaving as soon as we’d arrived, but I found that I couldn’t bring myself to stand, and within minutes, I was asleep, right there on the floor.

The sound of a door shutting woke me up, and I heard the doctor speaking to Sera.

“He’s stable for now, but he’s lost a lot of blood. His chances are decent, although what happens in the next few hours will be of great importance.” She turned and went back into the room, Sera moving to follow her.

“Sera, wait. I’m going to go, but could you help me figure out where?” I gave her a halfhearted smile. “I don’t remember the town name, er, number. Do you know of a village that was abandoned recently?”

“Oh, yes.”

“The one I want is the closest one east of that.”

She thought momentarily and said, “That would be the seventy-second.”

“Then that’s where I’m headed.” Mostly to myself, I added, “I sure hope my friends are there.”

She gave me a raised eyebrow and an appraising look. “You’re not sure?”

“Not…really, no.”

Smiling, she said, “I still have no idea what your situation is, Michael, but I’m glad we met you. Be well, okay?”

“You too. I’ll be hoping for the best for you both.”

She went back into the room and I left out the back door, a wave of sadness coursing through me at the thought that I’d probably never see either of them again or find out how they fared. It probably wasn’t the last time that it would happen to me, I thought. I tried to put it out of my mind and focused on finding the portal nexus.

The city I was in was much larger than the others and I found myself pretty lost. I asked for directions no less than three times, each time getting closer to my goal before losing track of what I’d been told. I finally managed it, though.

Once inside, I ducked into a public bathroom as it occurred to me that I should check myself for other people’s blood, but I found none. If there had been any, it would have probably come up before then. I was rather filthy, but not overwhelmingly so.

I found the portal I wanted and only had to wait briefly. Tension ran through me as I showed a Gorvani attendant my ID, but she barely looked at it before waving me through. I barely noticed the weird feeling of traveling through the portal, not because I was getting used to it, but because my thoughts were centered on what I should do next. If the lockdown of the province was related in any way to the Mulaq’Shae, I probably shouldn’t start asking around for Revana or Vashe. I didn’t know if Oronir was an actual member or just a friend of Revana’s, but his name seemed safer to ask for.

I stepped out of the portal, left the building, and stood there on the side of the street, exhausted both physically and mentally. How long had it been since I’d eaten anything? Years, it seemed like. I decided to fix that before anything else.

24

The seventy-second was smaller than the places I’d recently been, so I just wandered around until I found something that looked good. My money was dwindling, so I fervently hoped I’d find the others soon.

I happened upon a restaurant called ‘The Beetle and Star,’ whatever that meant, and it seemed to be something pretty close to a pub. The two front doors were carved with a stylized beetle and what passed for Vendira’s version of a star, a circle with three trailing tendrils, which I’d seen a lot of as embellishment at the Astrologia. I sat at a booth by the window, thinking that if I somehow lucked out as hard as anyone ever had, Revana would walk by.

I ordered a cup of hachi and looked over the menu. It was filled with things I’d never heard of, since up to that point, people had just been handing me food without any input from me. With nothing to really go on, I ordered a sandwich called the ‘blooming sky’ which only had a couple of toppings, one of which seemed likely to be meat. 

The waitress was a young Dravini woman with white horns and blue scales, something I hadn’t seen before. Since I had no plan in mind, it seemed a reasonable idea to start asking around with her. “So, I’m in town looking for a friend of mine named Oronir. You wouldn’t happen to know anyone of that name, would you?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know anyone. You want me to ask the owners? They’re the chatty types and probably know everyone in this town and the next.”

“Yeah, that’d be great, thanks.”

She went back to the bar and spoke with an older Surini woman, who shortly came over to my booth with a completely fake smile on her lips. “So you’re looking for a friend of yours, I hear? Ironar, is it?”

“Uh, it’s Oronir, actually.”

“Oh. Alright. He’s a friend, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Is he a Dravini?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh huh… well, I don’t know anyone offhand by that name…”

I was no great detective; I had probably been successfully lied to a thousand times in my life, but this woman was the absolute worst liar I had ever seen, hands down. Her eyes could not stay on mine and she was actually wringing her hands together as she spoke. I didn’t think calling her out on it would be fruitful, and I was probably being suspicious just asking around, so I said, “Look. Can you just ask around for me, then? I don’t need anyone to walk me to his door or anything. My name is Michael. If you could pass the message along that I’m looking for him, that’d be great.”

“Uh…okay. I can ask around for you.”

“Great, thanks.” There, even if I was an imperial spy or whatever she thought I was, this would get word to Oronir, whom she so clearly knew.

My sandwich came, piled high with sliced white meat and a lot of multi-colored things that looked and tasted like vegetables and some cut up, yellow berry-like things on the side. Whatever it was spiced with was unlike anything I’d ever eaten, so much so that I would have worried for my safety had humans not existed in Vendira and probably eaten this sandwich before.

I took my time and drank a few cups of hachi, sitting in the booth long after I’d paid the bill, leaving my coin purse almost empty. The older woman talked often with a man, likely her husband, behind the counter of the bar and looked my way more or less constantly. I’m sure she thought she was being surreptitious, but if I noticed, she wasn’t.

I thought about leaving, but this was the best lead I’d had, so I sat there for a truly uncomfortable amount of time, only leaving the booth for the bathroom. The woman smiled when I got up and was noticeably aggravated when I sat back down. I ordered more hachi.

As the sun started down to the horizon, I contemplated leaving and seeing if I could find a room for the night for the money I had left. But before that could happen, there was an excited conversation at the back of the pub, between the owners and someone standing behind a partially opened door in the back. 

Hope blossomed in my chest; I really, really needed this to be what I thought it was.

And it was.

The door opened and Oronir came out, striding up to my booth and sitting down across from me, a huge smile on his face. “It really is you!”

I grinned back at him like an idiot, the weight of the last couple days lifting off my shoulders. “Oh, I can’t tell you how good it is to see you, or that you’re even here in this town at all. I guessed, pretty much. If you hadn’t been, I don’t know what I would have done. Is Revana here?”

“Yes! Yes she is, and she’s been a wreck since you left. There was a brief respite when I was able to contact Tiquette, but later she told us of your plans and well, I must say, we were beside ourselves with worry. But it worked out fine, and you’re here.”

“Oh, yeah…” I gave him a pained look. “I wouldn’t say it worked out fine, but I’m here and uninjured, so there’s that.”

We left out the back, which I didn’t question, and despite Oronir’s obvious acceptance of me, the pub owner still looked at me like I might stab her as we left. Oh well. 

I briefly caught him up on what a complete shitshow the trek back here had been, glossing over a lot of the unpleasant details. I thought about waiting and telling both him and Revana at once, but once we started walking, safe within the walls of a village, I just started vomiting out pieces of the story as fast as they would come. He nodded and made sounds of acknowledgement, but mostly stayed silent and let me talk. I had time to give him a decent overview before we came to a large, three story house, very reminiscent of the one he’d once lived in.

“A close friend of mine lives here,” he told me. “And she’s been kind enough to put Revana and I up while we figure things out. You can trust her; she knows all about the Mulaq’shae, and you.”

We went in the front door without knocking, and it didn’t seem like anyone was around. The place was decorated in similar fashion as I’d seen: everything carved and loads of plants. This house, however, was much brighter with lots of white paint. 

“Holy shit.”

Vashe stood in the doorway from a side room, looking at me like I had three heads. She strode right up to me, leaned in way too far, and said, “You actually made it. Did you bring the thing?”

A took a step backwards. “Yeah.” I rustled around in my bag, which I’d barely removed at all over the trip back and pulled out Tiq’s journal.

Vashe took it from me and flipped through the pages, apparently pleased with what she saw. Her eyes flicked up to mine, and a weird expression passed across her face, like she was uncomfortable with something, but she didn’t say what it was.

I had no patience for anything at this point. “What? What is it?”

She looked away, embarrassed. “It’s just…I mean, I guess…” She finally looked back at me again. “I suppose you’re not as much of a disappointment as I thought you were or as you look.”

I blinked at her and decided to take this insult as the compliment she intended it as. “Yeah, thanks. Just glad things worked out.”

She turned and walked away without another word, and I guessed she didn’t know how to interact with people without being aggressive at them. 

Oronir had watched this exchange with a big grin, which I didn’t fault him for. “Revana’s downstairs in the basement. I’ll let you two catch up, and I’ll introduce you to my friend later.

I thanked him and practically rushed down the stairs. My patience for anything other than seeing Revana again was nonexistent. This house’s basement was actually finished, and I ended up in a little sitting room, complete with an array of plush furniture and its own fireplace instead of the dank cellar crowded with junk I’d expected. 

I was about to call out when Revana came through a door on the other side of the room, wearing the robes I’d first seen her in, tied tightly at the waist. She froze, and we stared at each other, wide-eyed for a second before we ran across the room, enveloping each other in a crushing embrace. I hugged her as tight as I could, and it seemed like she was doing the same. We stayed that way for a little while, not saying a thing, just trying to squeeze each other for all we were worth.

She let go first, stepping back with small tears in the corners of her eyes. “I was beside myself with worry the entire time you were gone.”

“I, uh, can’t say all of it was misplaced. I had quite the adventure, if you want to call it that, on the way back.”

“Oh,” she said, running her hands over me. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t hurt. Not physically. Although there were a lot of close calls.”

She threw her arms around my neck and leaned in for a long, slow kiss, and I felt tears forming in my eyes as well, as the relief flooded through me. I was safe. She was safe. I pulled back and said, “I worried about you the whole time too. I was so relieved when I heard you’d gotten away from the Inquisitors.”

“It was up in the air whether we would or not, but in the end, there wasn’t actually anything for them to find at Irina’s, aside from the cave entrance, and they’ve never found that before. Anyway, let me get some tea and I want to hear everything.”

She went upstairs, and for lack of anything better to do, I lit a fire since the fireplace was stocked with wood and kindling already. I sunk into the soft couch and watched the flames while I waited for her.

She returned with a huge teapot and some cups on a real silver platter. She poured two steaming cups, but we both waited to drink it. She asked for the long version of what I’d been through, so I started with the non-eventful trip to Telorn and learning how to use the portal systems, and I stopped myself from calling the building a portport just barely. She watched with silent, huge eyes as I detailed how I actually got inside the Astrologia, and I detailed my initial encounter with and impressions of Tiq.

She laughed. “I probably should’ve warned you. She can be a lot, sometimes, and not everyone gets on well with her.”

“Oh, well, I liked her a lot after she stopped looking at me like a new experiment.” I looked into Revana’s eyes and felt the blood rush to my cheeks. “And I…I, uh, there’s something I should probably tell you.”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Okay? I’m pretty sure you were already telling me a lot of things, but…what?”

“So…um, oh, how do I say this? Well, Tiq and I…”

“Uh huh?”

“So, we didn’t actually have sex, per se, but we… we kinda fooled around.”

Revana looked blankly at me for a moment before a huge smile lit up her face. “Michael, are you…confessing to me?”

I blinked back at her. “Uh, yeah?”

Her hand came to her mouth as she started giggling at me, clearly trying and failing to not laugh in my face. “Okay? I explicitly told you that kind of thing was fine. And especially if it was with Tiq! I’m happy for the both of you.”

“I know, I know. You said it was okay, but…I don’t know.”

“It’s not okay where you’re from, right?”

“Nope. And wait, you’re happy for us?”

She leaned back on the couch, still smiling at me with crinkled eyes. “Of course I am. I care deeply for both of you. I’m glad you had fun together. And if we’re being totally honest, Tiquette doesn’t get a lot of opportunity for that, being who she is, cloistered away in the Astrologia.”

I told her the rest of the story as we drank our tea, not leaving out anything, and she followed along, mostly silent, just letting me talk. It was a relief to say it all to her. After I was done, I sat there exhausted from the telling, from it actually happening, and from the emotions that I’d tried to hold at bay finally coming out. 

She squeezed my arm and gave me a sad smile. “You want me to get a shower going?”

I looked down at myself and laughed softly. “I sure need it, huh? But yeah, that’d be great.” She left the room and I shortly heard water running, glad I wouldn’t have to endure the herculean task of walking back upstairs. 

She came back naked and held out her hand to me.

I took it, and we walked into a very nice bathroom, covered in dark and light tile with a standing shower. I let her help me strip out of my dirty clothes before we stepped into the water. It was the shower with her that I had desperately wanted a few times now, but I was too tired for it to be overly sexy. For the first few minutes, we just hugged each other and let the water wash over us, swaying gently back and forth. 

She got a little glass bottle and opened it, pouring out the shampoo into her clawed hands. She massaged it into my hair while I just closed my eyes and let it happen. Her fingers came to points at the end, and while I was certain they could be dangerous if she wanted, they weren’t razor sharp. Once she was done, I did the same for her long, pale blue hair, taking the time to run my hands up and down her horns. 

She closed her eyes and made appreciative noises, but I think she knew I wasn’t in any state to start something sexual. We rinsed our hair out and got out a bar of soap, lathering each others’ bodies slowly in the warm water.

My eyes were heavy and I struggled to keep them open. “We should probably finish before I collapse right here.”

She giggled at me and nodded. We washed the soap off before we got out and dried off with the fluffiest towels I’d ever used. She handed me a normal robe, not at all like her priestess robes. It was green and seemed to be made out of the same material as the towels. She ushered me out through the living room and into a bedroom she’d clearly been using and pushed me down in the messy bed. “I’ll be out in the living room. Sleep as long as you want.” She leaned down and kissed me before leaving the room.

I tried as hard as I could to keep my mind in that moment and not think about the battles to come. I was mostly successful as sleep claimed me within minutes.

25

Apparently a lot of people had been waiting for me and, just as importantly, Tiq’s journal, because the house was a flurry of activity for the next few days. The Mulaq’Shae was a much bigger organization than I had assumed, and a cavalcade of people were in and out, and while I tried to remember names, I mostly failed. Everyone was so busy, though, that no one seemed to notice. 

Up until this point, I had envisioned assaulting the sigilarium with Revana and Vashe, sneaking around patrols and slipping into unguarded doors under the cover of darkness. And while that probably was going to happen, it wasn’t going to just be the three of us versus the might of the empire. Tiq’s journal had been decoded within hours after my return, I was told, and scouts around the sigilarium were comparing her notes with what they could see from the outside. 

Something I’d forgotten to ask suddenly became all I could think about. After one of many meetings in the basement, I found myself alone with Revana. “So, does anyone know why this province was locked down in the first place? Do the Gorvani know what’s coming?”

She grimaced and gave me a pained look. “The short answer is we don’t know. These sorts of things aren’t unheard of, but the timing does look bad, yes.”

I thought back to all the people I’d met in the last few days, faces coming and going so fast I couldn’t possibly keep track. “Is it possible someone’s tipped off the empire?”

She leaned back onto the couch and sighed. “It’s possible, of course. We’re careful and we think we can trust everyone we bring into the group, but you never really know. It’s happened before. But if the Gorvani know we’re coming to hit the sigilarium specifically, they’re not acting like it. Patrols have increased, but they’re still operating under the same schedule and rotation that Tiquette outlined in the journal, and it’s not like they can change the layout of the interior of the building, so our plans remain the same. There might be a traitor, there might not. But no one’s come for us directly, and you know they would if they knew; the Inquisitors would be on our doorstep in a second if they even heard our names said in a way they didn’t like.”

An uneasy feeling sat heavy in my stomach at the thought of a traitor. I wished there was something I could do, but I couldn’t even keep people’s names straight yet, so I would probably be the opposite of help. And if the plan was still the plan, the only thing I could do was follow it, since I was the crux of the entire thing.

I didn’t have a lot of time to myself to worry, though, because I was soon swept up into the hive of activity the little town had become. I got my hopes up when I was measured and fitted for armor, but apparently plate mail wasn’t really a thing, and I ended up with a few pieces of leather armor that I could wear over my clothes and, more importantly, the holy relic tunic that had finally been washed after so long. Tiq’s alterations to my sword were taken off, and I was given a new sheath for it, tooled leather to match the designs on my new armor pieces. 

As the days went on, I became a lot more comfortable with the swirling mix of people and started to remember some names. It was no secret now that I was brandless, and on no few occasions I was asked to lift up my shirt, so people could look at my unmarred skin and marvel. It was all pretty embarrassing, really, but the fact that I even existed seemed to be giving people hope, so I always obliged when anyone asked to see.

Finally, after enough reconnaissance, a day was picked for our assault. Well, a night. I could feel a change in the air once the date was picked. Before, we’d been working towards a somewhat nebulous goal, but now the hours could be counted, and I wasn’t the only one counting them. 

Revana and I had been sharing the bed in the basement the whole time, but every night, we’d collapse into it and be asleep within minutes. The night before we were to attack the sigilarium, she asked me to come back early.

I found her in the bedroom, smiling and dressed only in a lacy, dark blue nightie. 

She stepped over to me and put her arms around my shoulders. “We can’t know what’ll happen tomorrow, and I don’t want our only time together to have been in a dank cave, as nice as it was.”

I leaned in, our foreheads pressed together. “Tomorrow will be a huge success and everyone will come back unscathed.”

“Of course.”

We slid together, her head buried in my neck while we stood there, just hugging. I closed my eyes and told myself it would be alright. No one was losing anyone tomorrow night.

She leaned back with a sad smile on her face. “None of those thoughts, okay? Right now it’s just you and me and this bed.” She didn’t wait for a reply, just leaned in and kissed me, her tongue immediately sliding between my lips. 

I slid my hands up under her nightie, reveling in the feel of her soft skin and smooth scales as I pressed my tongue against hers, the blood pumping in my veins. I let the stress of the last few…weeks slide away as much as I could, focusing on the feel of Revana’s body in my hands and pressed against me as we kissed. 

Our hands wandered over each other as our tongues writhed together, never getting enough. We fell onto the bed, rolling over each other until she landed on top and pulled back. She wordlessly ripped my clothes off and threw them across the room, and was back on top of me in an instant, her mouth back against mine.

I pulled her nightie up and over her breasts, moving her up so I could bury my face in them, sucking and licking, taking her nipples into my mouth as she moaned. I never wanted to leave them, but I reached around her legs and pulled her up. She scooted forward, sliding up to my face. 

She was already soaking wet, and she squealed when I slid my tongue between her folds. Her body gently rocked against my face, and the sight of her on top of me was maddening, even though I couldn’t see her face over her boobs from this angle.

Her moans got progressively louder, and without warning, she scooted back down and reached back to raise my rock hard cock up, sliding easily down on me as we both moaned in unison. She leaned in and kissed me again, and began riding me hard as my hands glided all over her body. We stayed that way for some time, just going nonstop, delighting in the sensation of each other and the fire in our veins.

She eventually pulled away, breathing heavily, and said, “I’m almost there, but I want you to get behind me.”

I needed no convincing. She rolled off me and bent over, her scaled tail wrapping lightly around me as I moved up behind her and slid inside. I resumed the pace we’d been at, thrusting quickly inside her, reveling in the sight of her ass bouncing and jiggling. I leaned forward and put one hand on her shoulder and with the other, grasped one of her horns and pulled her head softly back. 

“Oh, yesyesyes, keep going!” Her clawed hands gripped the bed sheets tightly and she pressed her face firmly into the pillow before letting out a long, muffled scream into it, her legs trembling and shaking as I kept going until she finally started to quiet.

Laughing, she fell to the side, and once she got her breathing under control, she rolled onto her back and spread her legs. “I want you to finish on my chest.”

I crawled over to her and slid inside again before laying down against her, our mouths together again. I thrust madly inside her, the desire overwhelming, and in no time I was pulling out, shooting all over her huge, magnificent breasts.

After I was done, I fell to the side, exhausted and spent. 

26

The day had finally come, and the entirety of the Mulaq’Shae, at least everyone I had seen, were collected into a large warehouse we’d been using for a variety of things over the past few weeks. Assignments were being handed out, everything checked and rechecked, and last minute intel was coming in.

I went over our plan for the thousandth time: An illicit portal had been set up in the town that led to a small outpost that had been built and heavily disguised in a forest very close to our goal. After a series of distractions at various places around the massive building that housed the sigilarium, Vashe, Revana, and I were to slide out of the forest and between any remaining patrols. I’d use my sword to cut a hole directly in the outer walls, bypassing any tenebral wards and any actual security that would be guarding the doors from the inside. There were two other small teams that would follow us in and head off in different directions, hopefully drawing any attention away from our wall-slicing route. From there, we’d make our way through, cutting down anyone who got in our way. Revana and Vashe would both carry swords and crossbows, but it would be my primary job to dispatch any Gorvani we encountered before they could brand anyone. 

Dispatch.

That’s the word that had gone through my head, but it was just a nice way of saying kill. Which I had done multiple times already, and I would do many more before it was all over. But that didn’t mean I liked it. 

I pushed those thoughts away. 

In the center of the facility, the actual machinery that focused the tenebrae throughout the land was supposedly a massive, constantly moving mass of enchanted metal, glowing sigils, and flowing magic. I’d asked Revana how I was supposed to disable it, and she’d laughed, telling me that the plan was to just start cutting, anything and everything. Despite its size, it was all a somewhat precariously balanced apparatus, and once I threw a wrench into it, it would quickly destabilize into a series of cascading failures that would bring the entire place down and cut the province off from use of the tenebrae.

It was only that morning that I began to wonder what the next step of the plan might be, because destroying the sigilariums one by one didn’t seem like a very viable idea. Once the Gorvani knew what we could do, they’d clamp down on all the others. I thought back to what Tiq had said about me, and probably this entire endeavor, being a symbol for everyone who’d been oppressed by the empire, which was basically every single person ever except the royals, if Isik was to be believed. At any rate, I’d think on that more if I survived this mission. 

As the sun was finally dropping down to the horizon, the tension in the air rose, and I could see the fear on many people’s faces. It was one thing to think about defying the empire, or even preparing to do so, but it was completely different to know you were actually minutes away from doing it. To my knowledge, something like this had never even been attempted, let alone been successful. I noticed many people in the crowd look to me and I realized that for the first time in my life, I was the most important person in the room.

I didn’t love it, if I’m being honest.

In the days leading up to this, I’d overheard whispers about me. People called me Michael to my face, but I often heard them refer to me as The Brandless when they didn’t know I was around. I thought again of Tiq’s words and that I wasn’t just the guy who could use the sword, I was a symbol, something to rally around and give people hope. And I probably wasn’t doing the best I could by standing around looking as frightened as everyone else.

If I was scared, they would be too.

I was scared, though. I was fucking terrified. For myself, of course, but largely for Revana. I didn’t want to lose her. I shoved those thoughts away as well though, stuffed them down with all the others that I’d been repressing for later, or hopefully, never.

I’d never been a leader, or even someone people listened to. But I was Brandless, and whether I liked it or not, I was the symbol of hope that everyone was starting to look to. I went to the front of the room and stood on a chair in front of the assembled crowd. It probably shouldn’t have surprised me, but it still did when conversations stopped and everyone turned towards me. 

“This isn’t my world. Or at least, it wasn’t. I didn’t come here by choice, but I can honestly say it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I won’t lie to you and tell you I’m not afraid of the upcoming battle, because I am. But Vendira is worth fighting for. And the Gorvani are worth fighting against. And after tonight, after we destroy their sigilarium and break their power here, they’ll know, maybe for the first time, that they should be afraid. And what we start here will sweep across the empire, and everyone, all the oppressed people of Vendira will know the empire  isn’t invincible, and one day it’ll be gone, and everyone will be free.”

There was a slight pause when no one had reacted and I was out of things to say. I thought the whole thing might fall flat, but Revana yelled from the crowd, “For Vendira!” and raised her sword. I drew mine as well, smiling, and raised it up while most of the people did as well, shouting in echo of Revana.

It was instantly one of the best memories of my entire life.

I quickly got down from where I was, as I couldn’t do any better than I already had. But it seemed to have worked; the feeling of the room was better than it had been, more excitement and less fear. I made my way back to Revana and got a big, tight hug, which I returned as hard as I could. 

We all made awkward smalltalk for the little time that was left, but it flew by and before I knew it, we were all heading out to wherever we were going, which for me was yet another basement, this time in a house I’d never been in, down a staircase behind a hidden door. The portal was smaller than the official ones I’d seen, but more or less the same: a circular arch made of stone and infused with glowing blue runes, powered by the arcanae.

Vashe joined us in the small room and nodded, saying nothing. She was wrapped in the same type of leather armor we were, a sword on her hip and a crossbow slung across her back. Her silence wasn’t fear, or if it was, she’d stamped it down to where it didn’t show. Not that I was surprised; if anyone was itching for a fight, it was probably her. 

We checked and rechecked everything one last time, even though it’d all been done many times before. I wasn’t complaining, though. If we hadn’t done it, I would’ve left my sword behind or something stupid. I laughed softly to myself at the thought. It was a joke, but only kind of.

We stepped through the portal.

The forward base or whatever they thought of it as, was cramped. It was a small, wooden building just large enough to hold the undersized portal, and it was covered in branches and stuffed with moss. A tiny door was open, and I had to quickly step out of it to make room for Revana and Vashe when they came out of the portal. 

Vashe looked over to me and said, “You ready for this?”

I slowly shook my head. “Not really.”

She snorted. “Yeah, you don’t look like it. That was a pretty nice speech you gave, though. Guess I really did misjudge you at first.”

“Well, it’s not as if I look particularly heroic. You were probably expecting some big, confident guy that would yell orders and get things done?”

A cool breeze wafted by, the stars shining down on the bright foliage. “Something like that, yeah. But,” she said, shrugging, “you’ve got some things done. I heard the story about you comin’ back from Telorn. Not anyone coulda made it through that. And, well, a lot of people woulda just killed because they were told to. Or left that couple to die. You’re still a disappointment, just not as big a one.” She looked out of the corner of her eye at me, smiling.

“Wow, such high praise. I’m sure that’ll carry me through the battle.”

Revana came up behind me and squeezed my hand. We waited for the other groups to arrive and then headed out into the dark of the forest. 

The night air was chilly, but the woods were easy enough to navigate with the soft light of the stars and two moons reflecting off the leaves and grass. I had envisioned that the little portal base would be close to our target, but that would clearly have been a pretty stupid idea. We walked for at least an hour without stopping. I would have been lost within minutes, but Vashe knew where to go. I couldn’t tell whether she just knew the way or was looking for markers, but if it was the second one, I couldn’t see any. Either way, we eventually reached the sigilarium.

I didn’t really know what I had been expecting the whole time, but it wasn’t that.

It was probably five or more stories tall, made out of a mishmash of white and black marble and smooth gray metal. The main structure was a wide, curving, windowless dome, and it was surrounded by six evenly-placed towers that stretched up into the sky, each one radiating a mass of undulating shadows. I wondered if they had actually designed it to look evil, or if that had just been a happy accident. 

There were a few places scattered around the base of the dome that looked like doors, but our target would be somewhere in between them. There were a few patrols we could see from our vantage point at the edge of the forest, walking up and down the large clearing around the building. It would be practically impossible to sneak in without being seen.

We waited for another fifteen minutes without conversation before the action began. 

An explosion boomed from the other side of the building. We sat silently and watched as most of the patrols ran towards the sound. They didn’t all leave, but enough that we could get through, hopefully completely unnoticed, but if we had to take out a few people, that was fine too.

Vashe moved first, creeping slowly from the treeline into the cleared area around the building, while Revana and I followed closely behind, ready to act at the slightest sound. We slid silently across as I tried to look everywhere at once, and we really pushed our luck in my estimation as we brazenly came within fifteen feet of a small group of guards. Had any of them turned and looked, we would have been right there, but they didn’t.

As we crept ever closer to the huge marble wall, our luck didn’t hold out. A group of four came around the edge of one of the nightmare towers and were seconds away from seeing us. I whispered at the others, and when they turned, their crossbows flew into their hands, and not seconds later, two bolts were flying through the air. Vashe’s hit a man square in the face, and he went down without a sound. Revana’s hit another guard in the throat, and he fell with a strangled yell.

Unfortunately, neither of the two hit were the Gorvani in the middle of the group, who immediately raised his hands, which exploded with undulating shadows with little trails lifting up towards the mass in the tower above.

Revana and Vashe both immediately went down, but for a mercy, neither screamed. I could only imagine how hard it was for Revana to keep it inside. I drew my sword and rushed towards them as the last remaining soldier, a Dravani woman, moved to intercept me. She stood in a practiced defensive pose, ready for me. She did not, however, expect my sword to slice through hers, as evidenced by her wide eyes as her attempted parry became useless and my strike moved fluidly through, never stopping, as I took her head off.

I pushed the horror down again, the calmness I’d felt in earlier battles overtaking me once more. The Gorvani man stopped channeling and attempted to form a blade of his own from the tenebrae, but I sliced through the coalescing weapon and up through his neck. I didn’t decapitate him, but the wound was deep and fatal, and he fell, clutching at the river of blood pouring from his wound.

I rushed back to the others, but they were already recovering. Vashe brushed away my attempt to help her up, and while Revana took my hand, it was clear she didn’t need it. “How did you manage to stay quiet for it?” I was immensely relieved that I didn’t have to hear her scream, but it must have been difficult to keep it in.

Vashe scoffed. “Not everyone’s loud when they’re being branded. She’s just a screamer.”

I looked at Revana and blushed, unsure whether Vashe knew the entirety of what she was saying.

Revana’s light cheeks colored heavily as well when she saw my face. 

“Oh for shit’s sake,” Vashe said when she turned and saw our exchange. “We’re on a fucking mission here you two.”

She was right, so we smoothed the smiles off our faces and continued on, reaching the edge of the sigilarium without further incident. We were evenly in between two of the small entrances scattered along the outside, roughly where we had intended to be. I pushed my sword into a section of white marbled wall, and while it didn’t slide in without resistance like I assumed it would, and as it had for everything else, it didn’t take much pressure to cut the light stone, and soon, a rough circular wedge fell inwards, revealing a room with massive tanks, a complete maze of pipes, and whirring gauges. And once again, I had to adjust my expectations of this world and how much technology it really contained.

The room was empty of any people and well lit. I went in first, followed by Vashe and then Revana, and we all climbed through the network of pipes that had not been designed to be passed through. Some were hot, some weren’t, and some vibrated alarmingly as we passed by while I imagined them exploding in my face. None of them did, though.

We’d been over the layout of the place time and time again in the days leading up to the assault, so I had a pretty clear map in my head, but translating that to reality was going to be difficult, especially since the place hadn’t exactly been designed with ease of navigation in mind. We finally extricated ourselves from the labyrinth of hot, rattling metal and made our way between massive tanks filled with who knew what.

The door was made of the same marble I was getting more and more convinced wasn’t actually marble, and while it was extremely thick and heavy, it wasn’t locked. It did creak loudly, but the sound was somewhat drowned out by all the background noise going on inside the facility. Either way, the hall was clear, so we slowly made our way out before wordlessly choosing a path we all hopefully remembered correctly. We went down two hallways without incident, but at the next turn, we found another group of guards and were unable to pull back before they saw us.

There were two Gorvani, a human, and a Surini, all men. Both Gorvani raised their hands and channeled, dropping Vashe and Revana instantly. It seemed they all had the same instinctive reaction, probably because it had always worked. Further reinforcing that thought was their wide eyes as I advanced on them, unaffected by their power. The two others stepped forward, drawing their own swords, and while they kept their distance from each other, the multicolored hall was too narrow for them to flank me. 

Both of them  came at me at once, both in measured steps, not getting in each other’s way. They attacked at once, but I danced out of the way of one blade and parried the other on my right, trying to draw my sword across his hand or arm once I’d severed his sword, but he recovered and stepped back, unharmed. If he was phased by his naked hilt or the steel clanging to the ground, he didn’t show it while he drew a long dagger from his back. They both advanced again and I readied for another double attack, but a sound snapped behind me and a bolt hit the man on my left directly in the eye. He crumpled to the ground, unmoving.

I turned to look as briefly as I could, keeping my sword up, to see Vashe on the ground, her face a rictus of pain, her crossbow in her hands. She’d fired it while being branded. 

I didn’t have time to be amazed; I was still in a life or death fight. The man with the dagger knew he was screwed; I could see it in his eyes. I had a sword that couldn’t be blocked and the advantage of reach. To his credit, he tried to dodge my swing, likely readying for a counterattack, but I sliced neatly into his neck, down into his torso. 

The two Gorvani left standing balked and lowered their hands before turning to run. Though they were covered in the tenebrous armor, they had probably never had to fight themselves. I pounded down the hallway after them, catching the slower man and slicing down through the back of his neck.

The other kept running and never looked back. I didn’t think I’d be able to catch him before he got away, but I heard another snap far behind me before a bolt whizzed past me and into his back. He cried out and fell. I looked back again to see Revana on one knee, her crossbow in her hands. I caught up to the thrashing Gorvani and swiftly put him out of his misery.

The two reloaded and we continued on, but minutes and a few hallways later, we heard the sounds of battle from around a corner. Vashe stopped and cursed. “One of the other groups must be having trouble. You two go on; we’re almost there. I’ll help the others and be right behind you.” Before we could reply, she was off, racing down another hallway. 

I called out after her, sure that was a terrible idea, but it was too late. It was either go after her and waste more time, or continue on and do the thing only I could do. “Well,” I said, looking at Revana and shrugging. “Nothing to be done, I guess.”

She nodded and gestured down the way we’d been going. “That’s Vashe for you. We’re almost there anyway.” A few more turns and we came to a massive door in a curving wall that matched the angle of the entire place. It was, like the outer wall, an amalgam of stone and steel, but it glowed with the dark tendrils of the tenebrae. We both stared up at it, completely in shock, as it hadn’t been in Tiqette’s layout. I pushed my sword into it, but it resisted, pushing back against me. I made a cut or two, but the effort was enormous, and the door appeared to be much thicker than my blade was long. I could cut through it, given infinite time, which we absolutely did not have. 

As we stood there, weighing our non-existent options, a voice sounded from behind us, “Well, well. Look at this.”

We spun, and standing behind us was Inquisitor Isik, a smug smile on her lips.

Revana tried to bring up her crossbow, but Isik was faster: her shadowy sword sliced through the air, whipping directly up to Revana’s neck, where it hovered, a hair’s breadth away from her skin.

I screamed and Revana froze.

“Don’t move, either of you.” Isik casually walked towards us, wearing the tenebrous armor of the Gorvani, but hers was unlike any I’d seen before; it was thin, molded closely to her body, and covered in swirls and looping, almost fractal-like designs. It was a work of art that I might have appreciated more if the thought of Revana’s impending death hadn’t been at the forefront of my mind. “Lower the crossbow, would you, Revana?”

She did, slowly.

“Hello, Michael, if that is your real name.”

I stared at her. “I’m surprised you remember it from one passing meeting.”

Her insufferable grin grew a little wider and her dark hair, tied back into a severe braid, tossed back and forth as she shook her head. “Oh, it’s been more than that and you know it. You passed me coming out of an inn nestled in an inconsequential little town that’s no longer there. That sword was on your hip. A little too nice for a town like that. Noteworthy,” she said, shrugging, “but not remarkable. That was, however, the same inn where Revana and I had just had a little chat.

“Then just imagine my surprise to find you in a random repair shop so soon after. No sword, but it was you. Again, noteworthy, but nothing more than a little mystery. But who did I find in the back of that shop? Revana Shaelira, again.” She shook her head. “Clearly you were in league with the Mulaq’Shae, but who were you? It only took the smallest amount of digging to find that Michael Troian did not exist, not officially. And that was very interesting indeed. But did it mean anything? Was it relevant?”

We stood there, transfixed, unable to do anything but listen to this speech and wonder if she was going to kill us when she was done.

She chuckled to herself before looking Revana up and down with narrowed eyes and a wry smile. “You fooled me, Revana. You really did, wholly and completely, and that’s something I can only say for a few people during my long years. I truly thought the Mulaq’Shae were nothing but a toothless little band of relicts, desperately clinging to a long dead past. Oh, what I would have done had I known.” 

There was something in her voice that I couldn’t grasp, an odd tone that implied she meant something besides murder, but I couldn’t imagine what. 

A reverent look passed across her face as she looked again at my sword and the marks I’d made in the door behind us. “You know, I’ve seen a shae relic before, but only once, in a vault so deep that you wouldn’t find it in a century of looking. Even Inquisitors weren’t often allowed there. And yet here you are, not only wielding one, but wielding its power too. Which can only mean one thing.” Her gaze swept back to Revana’s eyes. “You really did it.” A bright smile graced her lips as she held out a hand towards me. “You summoned a brandless into this world.” Her eyes shone with the crazed joy I’d only ever seen before in Tiquette’s. “Did you do it, Revana? Did you perform the summoning yourself?”

I glanced over to her, and she looked back at me before she answered, “Yes. I did.”

Isik laughed, loudly and with her hands on her hips. “Oh, wonderful! I’m so impressed, Revana. I really am.” Isik kept smiling at us, but there was still something behind that grin. She wasn’t just pleased with having caught us; there was something else I couldn’t understand.

“What do you want, Isik? Why haven’t you raised an alarm? Or just tried to kill us?”

That smile was still on her lips, smug and confident. I wanted nothing more than to punch it off of her. 

“I’m sure this will surprise you, Michael, but I’m not in the habit of giving out answers.” She gestured at the huge door behind us. “You didn’t expect this, did you? It’s rather new, installed recently mostly to cut down on maintenance for a variety of reasons, but it’s also quite impregnable, as I’m sure you’ve found. Unless you know how to unlock it, your path ends here; you won’t have enough time to circumvent it.”

She raised a hand into the air, shadows exploding from her palm.

I winced, waiting for Revana’s scream, but she just looked back at me with a raised eyebrow.

The tenebrae from Isik’s hand trailed up and over us, disappearing into the complicated designs of the enormous door. They started to shift and move with loud clunking sounds emanating from inside. This went on for longer than seemed reasonable before the entire thing started to groan and slowly open, splitting in two and ponderously scraping across the floor. Now that I could see a cross section, it looked like it was about as thick as four lengths of my sword. Cutting through it really would have been impossible.

What lay inside, though, was beyond anything I had imagined. The room in the center was domed as well, completely filled with flying metal pillars, rivers of dark magical currents, and layers upon layers of circular runic sigils rotating in the air, independent of anything else. I couldn’t tell if they were the same runes that had summoned me here, but they were close, except instead of bright, golden light, they were made of floating shadows, seeming to suck the light out of the air around them.

“Marvelous, isn’t it,” Isik asked. “Truly a wondrous feat of magic and engineering. You’ve no idea how much work went not only into the construction of it, but the concept itself. It represents the work of thousands of people over many years. It is, however, precariously balanced, which I’m sure you already know. That little toy of yours, liberally applied, will be more than enough to bring it all crashing down.” 

The dark sword by Revana’s neck flew away, landing and hovering by Isik’s side, just where it would have been in a scabbard. 

“Why are you doing this?” Revana asked. “Why on Vendira would an Inquisitor betray the empire?”

She just kept smiling. “You better run along now, while you still have time. Should you live, we’ll meet again.” She turned and walked away from us, not a care in the world.

Revana raised her crossbow at Isik’s back, but looked askance at me.

I shrugged, truly confused at what had just happened. “Let her go, I think? At any rate, we don’t have any more time. She was right about that much.”

27

We turned and ran into the central chamber. The floor, such as it was, was a huge marble lattice work over a roiling mass of shadows that were being pulled up from the depths underground, which danced around cylindrical, floating metal pillars that hovered around the space, before being siphoned out to six points around the room, plainly being fed to the towers outside. The sigils floated freely in the air seemingly without reason, and I worried walking through them would be like being branded for Revana, but she strode through without flinching.

The only real thing I could see to do was to start cutting into the floating pillars. There were probably hundreds of all different sizes, and the only consistent thing about them was that they all stood perfectly straight, even while soaring around the room.

We made our way into the center, being careful of the gaps that looked into the shadows below, and I just started cutting anything I could reach that went by. Mostly I just managed to slice into the pillars, but once in a while, I was able to carve a chunk out of one. “Is this it?” I asked. “Am I doing it?”

Revana looked around at the chaos and nodded. “Yes. It might take a little time, but it’s already starting to work. Keep cutting.”

“How can you tell?”

She pointed to the far edge of the room where some of the rotating sigils were crashing into the wall and shattering into ethereal pieces before vanishing. 

I kept slashing, doing the best I could with whatever floated by, all the while, expecting the room to be flooded with guards, but no one ever came. Maybe they didn’t think anyone would actually make it inside the room, but it would be pretty obvious from the massive open door. 

A few minutes later, Revana said, “Uhh…Michael?”

I looked over after completely whiffing one of the pillars. 

Revana’s eyes were wide and darting all around the room. “It’s, uh, happening faster than we thought.”

I looked up just in time for a massive crash, one of the pillars careening into the dome. Cracks splintered up the marble and metal wall, and as more and more pillars careened off course and slammed into it, huge chunks crashed to the floor below, some staying where they fell, but some smashing through the lattice to fall into the torrent of shadows below. 

“I think we’ve done enough,” she yelled, and we both turned and ran, our feet pounding on the stone as chunks rained down around us. We weaved and dodged, watching the great debris crack and fall. Some broke through the floor and fell and were swallowed up by the shadows below our feet. “There!” she said, pointing towards two larger pieces that had fallen beside each other, creating a small space underneath. We crammed ourselves into it and rode out the deadly rain, feeling the reverberations of everything around us. Somehow, the dome itself stayed up despite the massive fractures marred into its surface.

Finally, the metal pillars themselves came crashing down, rolling and flipping, falling into the boulder holes as well. Revana and I had an arm around each other, and I fervently hoped the floor wouldn’t give way below us.

Thankfully, it held, and we watched, transfixed, as the sigils themselves began to spin uncontrollably, breaking into vapor, spreading little explosions of shadows all around us. Once the last pillar fell, the floor began to shake violently, the tenebrae under us finally destabilizing. With a massive, bone-rattling WHOOMPH, it retreated back into the ground, falling away until the only thing we could see was normal darkness.

We crawled out from under the debris into the sudden silence, brushing dust from ourselves and Revana screamed in joy, hopping up and down. She grabbed my hands and made me jump with her. “We DID IT! We actually did it! The tenebrae is broken in the twelfth!” She hugged me tight and I hugged her back as hard as I could.

“Whoa…” I stepped back, my hand to my head.

“Michael? What is it?”

Images swirled before my eyes, thousands upon thousands, unbidden, forcing themselves into my mind, a myriad of ideas and visions assaulting my psyche, shooting pain through my temples until I fell to my knees, grasping at the sides of my head. I tried shutting my eyes tight, but the visions persisted in the darkness, without end.

“Michael!”

I could barely hear Revana over the cacophony of static that filled my ears, although it seemed to only be in my head, the same as the visions that wouldn’t stop. I heard footsteps, and I was able to open my eyes and see Vashe and the others despite the repeating images. They were shouting and crowding around me. I wanted to reply, but I couldn’t. All I could do was curl up into a ball and grasp at my head, trying with all my might just to breathe.

I don’t know what they said or did, if anything, but finally, after an agonizing few minutes, the visions slowed and the sound quieted. I was able to piece together some of the barrage of information flooding into my head, and it was centuries of not only fighting styles and battle strategy, but complex incantations directly involving the shae. I could only understand the basic concepts of what they were, though. So much of the knowledge that tried pressing itself into my brain was a few orders of magnitude above my pay grade.

Blinking away the last few images, I looked up at a wide-eyed Revana, and everyone around us was silent. “Uhh…” was all I could manage to say for a moment. I tried to relay what had just happened to me, and while finding the right words took time, I finally managed to stammer something out, Revana holding my gaze the entire time.

She took my hand in hers and held it up, and the faint golden glow I had only ever seen on my sword was now coming from my own hand. No, that wasn’t right. It trailed down my arm into my entire body. As the pain subsided, I felt a new sensation pulsing from my toes to the top of my head.

“Michael,” Revana said with tears freely flowing down her pale cheeks, “you’re channeling the shae.”

I looked at my hand in shock, the golden aura emanating from my skin. “W-what? How?”

She squeezed my hand tightly. “You’ve been bonding with the relics this whole time, but their power must have still been blocked by the tenebrae. Now that it’s gone, what they would have been imparting to you the entire time had to catch up.” She shrugged. “I mean, that’s the most likely explanation.”

Vashe scoffed in normal fashion. “Well would you look at that. You’re not useless after all. I might even go as far to say that you’ve been useful.”

Revana shot her a look as I said, “Wow! High praise indeed.”

“Yeah. Don’t get used to it.”

They both helped me to my feet as the three of us and a few other people whose names I couldn’t quite recall looked out over the destruction. We’d really done it. Not only that, but we’d done it and lived. So far, at least. We still had to get out.

I caught Revana looking at me out of the corner of her eye, and for a second, I couldn’t decipher the odd expression, but then it came to me. I channeled the shae. I did the thing she’d wanted her whole life but had been forever denied. Now wasn’t the time to discuss it, though.

Sounds drifted through the open door, footsteps and voices, and it looked like we’d have to fight our way out. Although, I thought while looking around, the dome had had massive sections broken away; it was possible we could just leave that way. I could see the stars and one of the moons through a long crack that went to the top of the ceiling. 

Since it seemed a fight was inevitable either way, I tried to dredge through my tumultuous thoughts and tried to quickly make sense of the infodump that had been jammed into my brain. There was so much, but I focused on one thing I assumed would make a big difference.

I closed my eyes and felt the energy that was now flowing through me, imagined molding it to my will and making something solid from it. Everyone around me gasped, so I tentatively opened my eyes and looked down.

I was covered in shining, golden armor, made directly from the shae. It was smooth and utilitarian, not fancy or made with the complicated designs I’d seen the Gorvani use, but it covered me from the neck down without any gaps. And my sword glowed with a tremendous light, like it never had before. I could feel the shae moving from my body and into it, ready to tear apart anything in my way.

It was exhilarating.

My euphoria was short lived, though.

Revana and a few others looked towards the door, and all eyes went wide and everyone paled. “Oh shit no!”

I followed their terrified gaze to a man walking into the ruined room. His skin practically glowed with the same dark, tenebrous aura of the magic itself. He was bare from the waist up and wearing flowing white robes that billowed out around him. He was trailed by three Gorvani with the most elaborate and spiky armor I had yet seen. It was like the tenebrous armor, but it must have been made of real metal if they were still wearing it. Had they hedged their bets about us successfully destroying this place?

“Who the shit is that?” I asked, already sure of what the answer was going to be.

Revana could barely choke out the words, “It's…a royal.”

“Oh, fuck. They never leave Telorn,” Vashe said, and it was the first time I’d ever heard genuine fear in her voice. And if she was scared…

But the power flowing through me was unlike anything I’d ever experienced, and I knew that I could take this asshole. Not only would we have destroyed the sigilarium, but we’d kill one of the royalty while we were at it. Even better.

“VERMIN,” he said, and his voice boomed throughout the room, and we all winced at the force of it. He wasn’t yelling; he was clearly amplifying his words through magic. I wondered if I’d be able to do the same, eventually. “VERMIN, TOYING WITH THE WORKS OF GODS!”

Yeah, that was exactly how I would have expected him to talk.

I took a step towards him, but Revana grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“No, Michael, we have to run!”

“I can take him.”

She shook her head, pulling me back, “No, no you can’t! You don’t know how powerful they are!”

I turned towards her, “I know I can, Revana. I can feel the power flowing through me. I can take this asshole. Besides, this place is broken; he can’t use magic anymore.”

“YOU WILL ALL SUFFER FOR THIS TRESPASS! 

“He can, Michael! The royals are different! They don’t need the sigilariums for-” She cut off as the royal lazily flicked out a hand, dark energy pulsing from it.

Everyone around me fell, some screaming, some not.

“FEEL THE WRATH OF GOR’DRELAR, SIXTEENTH SON OF HIS MOST GRAND MAJESTY, THE EMPEROR OF THE GORVANI EMPIRE!”

He just kept talking like that.

There was nothing else to be done. I couldn’t drag everyone, or really anyone, to safety; the only way out was to kill this man and his entourage. Revana had thought I couldn’t, but she didn’t know just what had happened to me.

I had thought the relics were imparting a lot of knowledge to me beforehand; my fighting abilities were worlds above where I had started, but now, I could not only fight, but could mold the shae to protect myself and funnel it through my sword. I could barely begin to imagine what I’d be capable of once all the knowledge that had been given to me finally made sense in my head.

I shook those thoughts away. There was only one thing to do now.

I ran towards Gor’drelar, my sword in both hands and ready to strike, while a wry thought in the back of my mind mused on how stupid I thought his name was. I smiled, imagining the look on his face as I cut him down.

If he was surprised that I wasn’t debilitated like the others, he didn’t show it; he didn’t even move, just kept channeling. His lackeys flowed out around him, drawing physical weapons and falling into defensive stances. Apparently the ability to channel without the sigilarium really was confined to Gor’drelar only.

The three moved to flank me, but I rushed the one in the center, slicing cleanly through the polearm he was wielding and down through his head and into his chest, mirroring my first ever kill.

The other two barely stood a chance. They both had swords, but without the ability to block mine, they could only attempt to dodge, which they did a handful of times before I was able to cut them both down.

The royal watched this all happen with a condescending sneer, obviously not the least bit concerned with the deaths of his men. 

I wasted no time; I leapt towards him.

In a split second, he’d disappeared. “USELESS.”

I spun, finding him behind me, and attacked again, with the same result. I tried a few variations, then I tried pouring the shae through my sword, lashing out with a wave of pure energy. It connected, but he barely flinched. 

But he did flinch.

I kept it up, pressing the attack, and I noticed that while he was dealing with me, he wasn’t channeling into everyone’s brands anymore. I wanted to end this without endangering anyone else, but if they could just distract him momentarily, I might be able to land a decent strike.

He appeared in front of me and I swung, but his hand came up and caught my sword. The blade dug into his skin the barest amount as energy pulsed and sparked at the meeting of shae and tenebrae, but for all that I put everything I had into the strike, I couldn’t move, and for the first time ever, my sword didn’t cut cleanly through.

He slammed his palm into my chest and tenebrous magic exploded into me.

I was thrown away, soaring through the air, my armor cracked, and the pain roared in my chest, and all I could do was maintain the grip on my sword. I tumbled end over end through the air, and while I tried to land with anything approaching grace, I came down sideways onto a large chunk of ceiling.

My armor shattered completely, breaking into pieces and dissipating away. Pain wracked my entire body, and I couldn’t tell if I’d broken all my bones or just some. My vision wavered as I tried and failed to move.

Coming towards us, I could see Gor’drelar channel again, knocking down everyone who’d started to get back up.

My vision darkened and went black.

The last thing I heard was Revana screaming.

To Be Continued

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks Mom and Dad for your support.

For the books, and for everything

Thanks Brett. Your positivity kept me going

SHAE WARRIOR

THE DRAGON CULT BOOK 2

ISAAC KEYES

1

Someone was sobbing.

I was moving. No, that wasn’t right. I was being moved.

I struggled to open my eyes, and when I did, I saw blue grass in the moonlight, very slowly moving under me. My senses gradually came back to me, along with a world of pain and aches that ran the entire course of my body. I was on someone’s back, being carried, and they were quietly sobbing with each slow, plodding step.

“Re-Revana?”

She fell to her knees, then forward on her hands, and we fell to the side, landing in the soft, pale blue grass, surrounded by trees. She took long, shuddering breaths, interspersed with groans and shaking sobs. 

I sat up and rolled her onto her back.

Her face was stained with tears and it seemed like she could barely focus her eyes on me. “Are…” Her voice was low and shaky. “Are you…okay?”

I gaped at her. “Me!? Are you okay? What happened?” I pulled her hands into mine and waited while she closed her eyes and gradually caught her breath. 

When she opened them, she seemed a little more alive, the edges of her mouth turning up into a fond smile. She squeezed my hands back and said, “You were knocked out by the royal. He came for us, but Vashe managed to get a shot off into his back, distracting him, and I was able to drag you out through one of the holes in the dome. I don’t know what happened to anyone else; I could barely see or think as he channeled at all of us.”

“No…” The enormity of what she’d done settled on me like a shroud. “You carried me out while being branded?”

“I did.”

“Oh no… no no no.” Tears stung my eyes as I bent down and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m so sorry you had to endure that. I’m so sorry. I screwed it all up. I should have listened to you and ran. I…I thought I could beat him, I really did. I’m so sorry.”

She pushed me away and took my face in her clawed hands. “You did not screw everything up.” Her voice was still soft, but very insistent. “Fighting him was a mistake, but what happened would have happened either way. Once he was there, there were no good outcomes. Okay?”

I looked deep into her glowing golden eyes and tried valiantly to forgive myself. I still felt like a complete idiot, though. I had been so sure I’d be more than a match for that royal bastard, that the power flowing through me would be far more than enough to end it quickly. I had been wrong. Incredibly wrong. She’d tried to tell me, and I hadn’t listened.

“Hey,” she said, “look at me. Michael, look at me.”

I looked at her.

“It’s not your fault. It’s the empire’s fault. All of it. We all did the best we could.”

I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Okay. I understand.” She didn’t look like she believed me the least bit, but I didn’t believe myself, so I couldn't fault her too much.  “What now?” I tried to help her up, but only barely succeeded; we were both pretty beat up.

“We have to make it back to the portal and see who else managed to escape. If anyone did…” She took a long, slow breath and started walking. “We’re probably halfway there. We need to make it before the sun comes up, as I’m sure there are enforcers and Gorvani looking for us.” 

We began walking again with slow, tired steps. As we went, I became more and more aware of an odd feeling in my chest, an unpleasant, itchy and painful sensation. I looked down inside my shirt and my eyes went wide. “Uhh…Revana?”

She turned to regard me with half-lidded eyes. “Hmm?”

I pulled my shirt up, exposing a deep black mark etched into my skin with a faint miasma trailing away into the night air.

She wobbled on her feet and blinked at me. Then blinked again. “That’s where the royal struck you?”

“Yeah.”

“It looks as if the tenebrae has been imbued into your skin.”

I paled, my thoughts racing as to what the consequences of that were. “Like a brand!?”

Revana shook her head, though, clearly unconcerned. “Only the barest imitation of it. It should dissipate soon. Or…can you,” she hesitated for just a beat, “channel the shae. That should burn it out.”

“Ah, yeah, okay.” I tried to remember what I’d done after the sigilarium fell, pulling the energy out of the world around me and into my body. It was slow, and I obviously needed a lot of practice, but it started to work, the black mark on my chest started to react, almost spark, and while it was painful, the relief pulsing through my skin was wonderful. Eventually, all that was left was a soft golden glow where the tenebrae had been.

Revana’s eyes were wide, her gaze transfixed on the magic, tears just beginning to form at the corners. She glanced up at me and shook her head. “We should get going.”

There was probably something I should have said. I was living the dream she’d always wanted and had been forever denied: to channel the shae. I’m sure there was a torrent of emotions under the surface, but she just turned and kept walking, saying nothing. So I kept my silence and followed her.

All too soon, we had to stop; it was obvious. As much as we wanted to make it to the small base and the portal, our legs wouldn’t take us any further. She was the first to flag, dropping to her knees with a sigh, but I immediately and gratefully followed her, collapsing on the grass, and I did my best not to hit my face on any tree roots as I went down. We both sat there trying and failing to catch our breaths. If we’d have been found at that moment, it would have been over.

I didn’t remember how long we’d been awake, being knocked unconscious by evil magic notwithstanding, but it had probably been most of the earlier day and the night. Factor that in with the punishment and stress we’d absorbed, and it was all too much. We fell asleep, exposed and helpless in a dangerous, enemy-laden forest.

I had no idea how long I’d laid there asleep, but I could see a little light filtering through the trees when I was awoken by a snapping twig. I turned, expecting to see Revana, but instead, there was a Surini man holding a short sword up in both hands, ready to drive it down into me. Panic surged through me, and I scrambled to move, but before I could, Revana dove out of the shadows and collided with the man.

She ended up on top, slamming his hand into the ground until he dropped his sword, which clattered away over a patch of gnarled tree roots. She’d lost her own weapons during the battle in the sigilarium, but that didn’t matter. She raked his face, over and over, with her claws. I’d thought many times that even though they weren’t razor sharp, they’d be rather dangerous if she’d wanted them to be. And wow, they were. Her face was contorted in rage, her teeth pressed together as she snarled and kept up her merciless attack.

I had killed people in ways I would have labeled as horrible, but those paled in comparison to what she was doing to this man. Finally, she reached back and struck with a flat hand, plunging her straightened fingers into his neck, where they sank into his flesh up to the second knuckle. She leaned her weight into him, and he gurgled and jerked before falling silent. She pulled her bloody hand out.

I sat up and resisted the urge to vomit. “Holy shit, Revana.”

She looked at me and back down at the corpse, then wiped her hands off on his clothes before standing up. “There’ll be more close by. We should go.” She unbuckled the dead man’s scabbard, tying it around her own waist and went and retrieved the Surini’s dropped weapon. 

We resumed our walk in the woods, and I didn’t say any of the things I wanted to. There would be time for talking later, when we weren’t in mortal danger. My muscles screamed at every step I took, but I didn’t comment about that either. I was sure she was much the same. As with our journey to the sigilarium, I was completely lost, reliant on following someone else who either knew the way or was looking for signs I couldn’t see.

Eventually, finally, we found the tiny, hidden base that housed the portal back to civilization and safety. We squeezed into the camouflaged door and activated a small light, but we both groaned and sagged to the ground when we saw the portal. “No…”

It was intact, the looping arch of stone and its plethora of carved lines and angles unbroken, but there was no light, its stores of arcanae depleted.

2

We both just stared at it for a while, saying nothing.

I was the first to slump to the floor, and Revana quickly followed. “What now?” I asked.

She took a long, slow breath. “Either we find another arcanic battery, or we walk to the nearest city, which is very, very far away by foot through the forest.”

“If we go the battery route, we’d have to steal it from the imperials.”

“Yep.”

“Shit.”

“Yep.”

We wordlessly moved against the wall and leaned against each other. I knew I wasn’t capable of anything more at that point, and it didn’t seem like she was either, as she rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.

I didn’t mean to, but I was asleep again almost immediately.

We woke to the sounds of the door opening and daylight filtering in. I reached for my sword, but it was pressed between us. It wasn’t the enemy, however; it was a man from one of the other teams that assaulted the sigilarium, whose name I couldn’t remember.

Revana perked up and said, “Marin!”

Yeah, that was it.

He was human, younger with long blond hair tied back behind him, and he looked like I felt. His leather armor was battered and covered in dried blood and dirt.

He blinked, looking around the tiny room. “Just the two of you?” His voice was terrible, low and gravelly. After he spoke, he went to a small supply closet and pulled out a canteen of water, which he guzzled in its entirety, not waiting for a reply.

After he was done and had belched loudly, Revana said, “Yes. I don’t know if anyone else got back and was able to use the portal, but it was inactive when we got here. Is there no one else with you?”

He shook his head. “Things went sideways pretty fast. The initial assault was fine, mostly according to plan, but then a fucking royal showed up and started screwing everything all to shit.”

“Yeah,” I said. “We met him.”

Marin shook his head and scoffed. “Things would have been fine if that bastard hadn’t turned up. But how can you plan for that? They never leave the capital. Even seeing one is considered an honor.” His grimace showed what he thought of that. “Anyway. I was able to get away, somehow. But I stuck around to see what happened.”

Revana leaned forward, her eyes wide, “Did anyone else survive?”

“Yeah.” Marin lowered his head. “Unlucky bastards. You know what the Gorvani will do to them. What they probably would have already done if their shit powers still worked here.”

“No…” Revana said, “they’ll definitely want to make examples of people over this.”

We were all silent at that statement. I’d never seen such a thing, but by what I’d heard, they were over the top in brutality. 

“If they don’t think they’ve captured enough,” she continued, “they’ll find more and butcher them for the spectacle of it all. We…we all knew it would happen once this began.” 

I was about to make a comment about breaking eggs to make omelets, but it seemed pretty inappropriate, so I didn’t. We’d discussed it before, what the empire’s reaction to this would be, and the short answer was no one knew because it had never happened before. But the Gorvani would do something, the only question being exactly how bad.

We stayed there, ruminating on that thought before Marin shook his head. “Oh yeah, one other thing. They’re keeping everyone in a temporary camp outside the building. I don’t know if it’s too smashed or they just can’t hold people inside or what. Anyway, they’ve been keeping Vashe in a separate cell, inside a little building they’ve constructed. Sometimes, there are gaps in the patrols, and if they stay consistent, you could get to her. The others,” he shook his head, “are probably a lost cause at this point.”

“Well that sounds a lot like a trap,” I said.

Revana made a sound in agreement. “It does…but Vashe…” She leaned back against the wall and let out a frustrated sigh. “Would we be stupid in going for it? We could try and steal a battery while we’re there.” She looked over to Marin. “Is the royal still there?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I can’t be sure, but I think he left the second it was over. Probably felt too good to stay out in one of the lowly provinces.” He groaned and laid down on the rough floor, resting his head on his hands. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking a nap. Please wake me up when you’re back with Vashe and a new battery for the portal.”

“Sure,” Revana said, “we’ll be right back with that.” She jerked her head towards the door and we went outside, but not before loading up on some emergency provisions and water from the supply closet. “Well, what do you think?”

I sighed greatly. “I mean, we’re gonna go, aren’t we? We need a battery and we can maybe save Vashe. Not that I think she’ll thank me for doing so. But…we’re not just gonna walk away, are we?”

Revana shook her head, her pale blue hair trailing down her back. “No. Not if there’s a chance. But…we stake it out and make sure the royal is actually gone.”

“Yes. Agreed. I don’t need to fight him again. Um, now may not be the time, but if the long term plan is to kill all the royalty, how are we, or am I, supposed to accomplish that?”

We started walking back out into the woods, towards the ruined sigilarium and possibly our own messy demise. 

“With time, your…powers should grow, and you’ll be able to do much more with the shae. But, if possible, we should find another relic for you to bond with.” There was a noticeable hesitance in her voice, a quietness and an unwillingness to look at me when she spoke. Surely this had been the plan all along, but perhaps there was a difference between knowing it was coming and actually having to see it. 

I elected to remain quiet about it for now. “How would we do that?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

I grinned. “We could ask Isik where that one she claimed to have seen is.”

Revana snorted. “Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s do exactly that.”

This trek through the woods was much slower and careful than our first one had been. We stopped many times when we heard, or at least thought we heard, enforcers making their way through the trees. We deliberately took our time, being as careful as we could, but we also agreed that waiting until dark came around again would be our best bet, so we killed at much of the daylight hours as we could.

During the trip, we took out the ‘food’ we’d brought: little, brown, rectangular bars wrapped in what looked like strips of large leaves. It tasted like paper and was probably the single most dry thing I’d ever eaten. Even guzzling from the canteens with every bite didn’t help that much. Against my better judgment, I asked what they were made of.

“Dried and powdered roots, insects, and linmeal.” Revana side-eyed me with the ghost of a smile on her lips. “Very nutritious.”

I grimaced at her. “Ok. Roots, fine. Insects, not great. Do I want to know what linmeal is?”

“Probably not.”

I groaned. “No, probably not. But tell me anyway.”

She giggled softly at me. “Lins are these big birds that are raised for a lot of things like meat and decorative feathers and such, and every part of them gets used. Linmeal refers to, uh, their dried blood.”

“Blood meal. That’s…I’m pretty sure people don’t eat things like that on Earth. Reasonably sure that’s for fertilizer. But it’s in ration bars here. That’s…just amazing. I’m glad I asked.” I was not glad I asked.

Revana just laughed at me a little more. “It’s only a little bit in the bars! And yes, it’s used for fertilizer here too. Just…not always.” She smiled widely as we walked and looked over at me with crinkled eyes. “When this is all over, we’ll have to go riding lin together. It’s really fun once you get used to balancing on top of one.”

“I’d like that. It’s a date.” We walked a while in silence, the sun finally heading down towards the horizon again as the forest quickly darkened. “Once this is over, huh? Once…what? The emperor’s dead? Will that be the end of it?”

She nodded. “Yes. Once all the royals are dead, once the Tenebral Font is broken, and everyone is free. And everyone born after will live unbranded.” She unconsciously brought her hand to her stomach where the circular swirls of her shadowbrand lay on her skin. “One day, the last branded will grow old and die, and such a thing can finally pass out of history forever.” She looked over to me, smiling, and said, “But here I am getting all poetic about it.”

It didn’t take all that much longer before we reached the edge of the forest looking out over the clearing around the now defunct sigilarium. There was indeed a thrown-together camp outside of it that looked to have been cobbled together from hacked-down trees and pieces of the broken dome. There were patrols in the clearing, but many fewer than there had been before the assault. 

The sun was still barely peeking over the tops of the trees, so we waited and watched. There was no sign of the royal and we could easily make out the little temporary building that Marin had said Vashe was inside. Where we might find an arcanic battery, however, wasn’t nearly as obvious.

Marin had also been right about the noticeable gaps in the security of the camp, mainly around the side that Vashe was supposedly in, which didn’t make me feel great, truth be told. “This has just got to be a trap, right?” I asked.

“I don’t know. This is all so unprecedented. It’s possible the Gorvani don’t actually know what they’re doing in this kind of situation.”

We agreed to wait until the sun had fully set and then try to make our way to the little building. As we waited and watched, my apprehension grew and grew; this was all just too perfect. But what other choice did we have? We could try walking through a hostile forest with barely any supplies towards a distant destination and leave Vashe to whatever fate she was in.

We barely spoke during the wait, and once it was fully dark, I only nodded to Revana and we were on our way. Breaking out from the cover of the trees left me feeling naked and completely vulnerable, but we’d been watching the security patrols for a while now, and they kept a very regular schedule.

In no time at all, we’d crossed the grassy clearing and slipped inside the perimeter of the encampment. The wall that had been hastily erected around it was mostly solid but had a few small gaps, and it was through one of these that we slipped quietly through. 

The small, makeshift building stood before us, and we drew our swords before heading inside. I was ready to take down anyone I could as fast as possible, but after I pushed the unlocked door open and stepped quickly in, it was clear that no one was there, aside from Vashe, who was locked into a metal cage just wide enough for her to sit down in.

She was leaning back against the bars with her head down and she didn’t move as we crept closer. The blood thrummed in my veins, my eyes darting everywhere they could, looking for the obvious trap that this was, but the room was silent and empty, as if it had been made to hold the single cage. I glanced back at Revana, and judging by her own restless gaze, she was as uncomfortable with this as I was. I fervently hoped I could slice through the bars with little noise.

“Stop.”

3

We froze. The voice had come from inside the room, but there was still no one there but us.

Until there was.

Shadows in the far corner twisted and roiled, and before our eyes, a woman materialized from thin air. And it was Inquisitor Isik. Again. She wore her tenebrous armor, the design still unmatched except by the royal’s personal guard. She didn’t move or cry out. She didn’t attempt to channel the tenebrae. She just looked us up and down with a very self-satisfied smile. “Michael.”

“Isik.”

Revana stepped forward. “How…how did you do that? The tenebrae is broken here! Only the royals should be able to wield it anymore.”

Isik shrugged. “That’s mostly true, yes. But there are some tricks that can be used in a pinch, should one know what’s coming.” That smile was still plastered on her face and I found it more irritating each time I was forced to look at it.

“Why did you help us?”

“You can’t imagine how surprised I was to be called back to the twelfth so soon,” she said, and I knew instantly this wasn’t going to be a short answer and we were going to be prisoners to this speech. “Not because it’s uncommon to return, but because we’d received word that there was a threat to the sigilarium. A credible threat. Unthinkable.” She looked down in silence, seemingly lost in thought before she continued, “As far as I knew, there was only one real threat to the empire, and I already knew they weren’t behind this. Who, then, would show up?”

I could barely endure this speech any longer. “What do you want, Isik? Why haven’t you raised an alarm? Why did you help us in the sigilarium? None of this makes any sense.”

“I asked you once, Michael,” she said softly, “If you knew anything about the Dravizek Celestori. And you did not. Your confusion at the time was genuine, I’m sure. Have you learned any more since?”

Revana and I shared a look. “The dragon cult,” I said.

She laughed softly. “A crude name, but yes, the dragon cult. Once thought dead and gone, rumors started to filter into Telorn. A few at first, easily dismissed, but then they rudely and rather tenaciously kept coming.”

“That’s why,” Revana said, “you’ve been pressuring the Mulaq’Shae more and more in the past year?”

Isik nodded. “Yes. Many among the Inquisition wrongly believed that you were either in league or one and the same.”

“Wait,” I said, “wrongly?”

Revana and I looked at each other with wide, incredulous eyes, both of us having come to the same conclusion, but she was the one who voiced it. “If you know the Mulaq’Shae isn’t working with the Celestori…”

Isik said nothing in return, just stood there looking back at us, her insufferable smile back on her lips.

“It’s not possible,” Revanna said. “This has to be a trick.”

“For what?” I asked. “She’s already got us. What would she get from deceiving us now?” I said it, but I still didn’t really believe it. I was also pretty sure this was a scam of some sort, but I couldn’t imagine what.

We stood there, both unsure of what to say, when Isik broke the silence. “Once the rumors of the Celestori became persistent enough to warrant an actual response, many of the Inquisition were dispatched to trace them back to the source. And crush it, of course.

“It’s with no small amount of pride that I tell you I was the one that found them first. I caught a few of them unaware, branded and bound them, and forced them to tell me everything. Which, of course, they did.”

“Then what?” Revana asked. “You expect us to believe you joined them?”

“I did. And with my leadership and direction, they’ve remained hidden from the empire and my fellow Inquisitors. However, I don’t expect you to believe me right away, of course. That’s just foolishness. But think on this: summoning a dragon back into this world would require an immense invocation of the shae. I don’t have to tell you that such a thing can be accomplished with the right materials, but do you know what would make it much easier, simpler, and more likely to succeed?”

“A channeler,” Revana said. 

We still hadn’t said a word about it since the sigilarium. I was planning on staying quiet on the subject until she brought it up, and if she didn’t, I wouldn’t either.

“Michael can channel,” she said, “but the spells required for such a summoning would take years of study to even begin to grasp. Even if we believed you, which we don’t, Michael wouldn’t be what you—they— wanted.”

Isik shrugged. “Beggars can’t be choosers, you know. And perhaps the Celestori know things that you do not. Perhaps the Inquisition knows things that you do not.”

Revana’s jaw dropped.

I didn’t know what she was thinking, but I knew what was in my head: If Isik really was a traitor to the empire, she would be the most powerful ally we could have never have hoped to have. “Prove it,” I said.

She waved a hand at Vashe’s unmoving form, and I was ashamed that during this exchange, I had completely forgotten about her. 

“In her pocket are instructions. They will lead you to where you need to be, and once you’re there, find the person in the note and tell them that you need shelter from the sweltering sun. Once you find your way in, I will be informed and will join you as I’m able. And as for now, you are free to go.”

We didn’t move.

“I applaud your wariness.” A little portion of her dark armor melted away into nothing, and she reached into a pocket, pulled out a key, and placed it on the ground. “Here’s the key for your friend’s cell. You may only take her with you; the others imprisoned here are beyond your reach. And I make no more guarantees. You’re on your own to get out unseen.” She gave us a huge smile, turned and started to walk out the door.

“Wait!”

She turned and looked coolly back at me.

I threw caution to the wind. “We need an arcanic battery. If you really want to prove you’re telling us the truth, go get us one.”

“Is that all?” She turned and left.

Revana and I stood there unmoving for a minute, both completely floored by what had happened. She recovered first, stepping lightly to get the key, which she gingerly picked up with the end of her thumb and forefinger, as if it might explode. She looked at me and shrugged, coming back to Vashe’s cell. “I suppose you’re right. Why would she let us go just to trip some other trap?” She tried the lock, and it opened easily. 

Vashe barely stirred.

“Is she drugged?”

“No, they can induce this sort of thing through our brands. It takes a little time to do, so it’s not commonly used. It’ll wear off eventually, but not soon enough, I think. We’ll have to carry her out.”

“That’s…not convenient.” We briefly went through our options and decided I’d try a fireman’s carry, which was not called that on Vendira. I did my best despite never having attempted it before, but with Revana’s help, I managed to get Vashe up over my shoulders. 

The door clicked open and Isik came back in, clearly amused at the state in which she found us. True to her word, she placed a small, cylindrical object that glowed with a soft blue light on the floor. “One battery. I won’t even ask what it’s for.”

“Because you already know,” Revana said.

Isik chuckled under her breath, winked at us and said, “Shelter from the sweltering sun,” before she left again.

Revana turned to me with a curled lip. “I do not like this, Michael.”

“Nope. Me neither. Let’s get out of here.”

We stepped back out into the night, and I was pleasantly surprised not to find an army of Gorvani with weapons drawn. The moons were high and shadows were everywhere. It was impossible to tell if we were being watched or not, so we pressed on, winding through the same route we’d taken coming in. 

We were almost at the gap in the perimeter when I heard a gasp.

4

We turned to see a wide-eyed, lone human enforcer who’d just come around from behind a particularly large chunk of marble. He was steps away from us, but it was far enough. Even if I hadn’t been weighed down by Vashe, I still wouldn’t have had time to draw my sword and attack.

I saw everything that would happen as he drew in a breath. He’d cry out and there would be nothing we could do to stop him. My options then would be to drop Vashe and fight him, wasting time while more imperials poured in on top of us, or to run, weighed down, and maybe get stabbed in the back and overrun anyway. 

As visions of our deaths danced across my vision, something whipped through the air, almost faster than I could see.

The man’s cry never came, and he held a hand up to his throat. In the moonlight, I could see the blood pouring out over it. He took a few stunned steps backwards and collapsed. The black sword that had killed him spun in the air, throwing drops of blood to the ground, then zipped back from where it had come from, settling firmly at Isik’s side as she stood in the shadow of the little building. She gave us a rueful smile and shook her head before raising a hand and shooing us away. 

We went.

Neither Revana nor I spoke as we pressed through the forest as fast as we dared. The blood hadn’t stopped pumping in my veins, and I jumped at every little sound we heard. I carried Vashe most of the way, hoping with each step that she’d wake up and be able to walk herself, but that never happened. Revana carried her a few times when my legs just couldn’t take it. We took a few breaks when neither of us could go on, but we were quickly pushed along by our fear.

When we finally reached the hidden outpost, I collapsed on the ground, sucking in deep breaths, letting the adrenaline finally start to leave my veins. The entire, grueling walk had been a monumentally stressful experience, expecting imperial enforcers to be hiding behind every tree. We hadn’t met a single one, though, which I was grateful for. I didn’t think I’d’ve been able to functionally swing a sword had the need arose.

Marin was asleep when we got back. He jumped up, scrambling for his weapon when we loudly burst in through the door, dragging Vashe between us.

“Oh shit! Is she dead!?”

“No,” I said, panting. “Just sedated. We got a battery too.”

Revana held it out to him, her half-lidded eyes betraying the fact that she was likely as beat and exhausted as me.

Marin reverentially took the battery, looking at us like we were ghosts. “I can’t believe you did it. You got her back, you got this, and you didn’t even show up with a band of imperials on your tails. Amazing. How’d you manage it? Did you kill everyone there or something?”

“We didn’t kill anyone,” I said. “And I really doubt you’d believe me if I told you how we did it.”

He was already fitting the battery into the portal frame. “You can tell me all about it once we’re finally out of the place. I had already made up my mind to only wait a few more hours for you before I assumed you were dead. Was gonna load up on all the supplies I could and head out into the forest and hope I didn’t get eaten.”

Revana was sitting on the floor, leaning over onto her hands. “I don’t think anyone really thought things would work out this well, if you can even call it that.”

Vashe stirred, a small groan passing through her lips. My hopes jumped up that I wouldn’t have to carry her anymore, but she didn’t open her eyes or make any more noise. 

The portal flared to life, the bright arcanae pouring through the odd geometry of markings that were carved into it before a swirling vortex burst forth in the middle before calming down into a flat, seemingly solid wall of dark blue energy. I closed my eyes and relaxed my shoulders, the hours of tension finally releasing at the thought of being safe once again. Marin and I picked up Vashe between us and headed through the portal, and whether it was because I was so tired or not, I barely even noticed the pulling sensation before we were standing in the large warehouse building again.

Revana stepped through behind us and immediately deactivated the link from our side, the portal winking out with a crisp popping sound. She looked at us and said, “I don’t think anyone else is left to come back. No one who hasn’t been captured, anyway.”

We all went silent at the thought of those people. I didn’t want to imagine what the Gorvani would do to them. It was all well and good to say they all knew the risks and that the mission had been successful, but that wouldn’t save them from a grisly end. 

I caught Revana’s eyes and saw the sadness reflected in them. She shook her head softly. “This was never going to be easy. Or without a lot of sacrifice.” I knew she was right, but we all still just sat there in silence again until the door at the far end of the room opened.

“Revana! Michael! Marin!” Two Surini women ran into the room and stopped short when they saw Vashe.

“She’s okay,” Revana said. “Just sedated. But we should get her to a bed instead of laying her here on the ground. Michael, can you search her for…the information she’s supposed to have?”

I threw my hands up. “Nope. Nope. Not happening. I’m not risking her waking up the second I have my hands in her pants. I like being alive, thank you.”

Chuckling, Revana nodded and looked through Vashe’s pockets herself, coming up with a small, folded piece of paper. “We’ll look through this later.”

The others agreed to take care of Vashe, for which I was infinitely thankful. Revana and I made our way through the back alleys to the house we’d been staying at before, and it occurred to me that I had never actually met whoever owned it and had been thinking of it as Oronir’s place this whole time.

The back door was unlocked and no one seemed to be home, so we retreated to the basement, which was apparently our way now. Revana collapsed face down on the couch and said nothing. I assumed she wanted to sleep, so I let her lie there, trudging my way into the bathroom instead.

All my bones, muscles, and organs ached, if that was even possible. It sure felt like it was. My chest, while clear of any tenebrous magic, still felt weird and unsettled, but it was only a shadow of the weariness that had wormed its way into my very soul. I slowly stripped out of my clothes, glad to be free of the dirt, grime, and sweat that they were now imbued with. 

Even at the best of times, I had trouble with how showers worked on Vendira, and now I could barely get my brain to focus long enough to figure it out. I did, eventually, get warm water to flow from them, but I seriously considered laying down naked and dry on the smooth tile at least three times before I did. I did end up sitting down in the shower, just letting the water wash over me as what had happened flitted through my head. 

We’d done it. We’d actually done it. And we’d lived.

The sigilarium was destroyed, and we were back. It occurred to me that I’d never heard anything resembling a plan for what happened now. Was there a plan? I sure hoped so.

We would never have succeeded without Isik’s help. And as much as I distrusted her, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what possible con she could be running, aside from what she’d said. Did I really trust her word just because I couldn’t think of another angle? She was an Inquisitor; she’d spent her whole life working for the empire, manipulating people for nefarious purposes.

But…surely the empire wanted me and the rest of the Mulaq’Shae dead. Just dead, and nothing else. If she was working for them, she would have tried to kill us when she could. She surely wouldn’t have opened the massive sigilarium door for us and walked away, and she wouldn’t have let us take Vashe and leave. I shook my head, the water still splashing down directly on top of me, trailing down my body to the floor. 

Maybe Revana could see it from another angle, but for now, it seemed to me that we would have to trust Isik. The possibility that we could have the aid of the dragon cult, however big or small it might be, and an Inquisitor was just too much to throw away without investigating it.

My thoughts trailed off and I just sat, enjoying the water washing over me. A few minutes later, Revana came in. We looked at each other without expression or comment before she started to slowly take her own dirty clothes off and join me in sitting on the floor of the shower. We leaned against each other, saying nothing for quite some time. 

Eventually, she stood up and got a bar of soap. She sat back down and we scooted out from directly underneath the water and slowly lathered up each other’s bodies. Despite our weariness, we smiled, lazily running our hands over our slick skin. We rinsed off and washed each other’s hair in a similar fashion.

It would have been the perfect time to start something, if we hadn’t just escaped from horrific danger and been running for what seemed like days, all under constant fear and stress. I wanted it, theoretically, but I didn’t think I could physically do it with the bone-deep weariness suffusing my entire body. So instead, we just leaned back on the tile wall and let the water run over us, hand in hand, glad to have a moment to relax and forget everything that had happened.

5

After we dried off, we both fell into bed naked and were asleep within minutes.

Up until this point, I had tried to forget about the massive amount of information the relics had forced into my head when we’d broken the sigilarium. I’d been too tired, too overwhelmed, and certainly too exhausted to put any effort towards thinking about it. But once I was asleep in a safe bed, it all came roaring back, giving me the most vivid dreams I’d ever had. 

In dream after dream, I was a passenger in someone else’s body. Human, Dravini, Surini, but never Gorvani. I fought in battles, I trained with allies, and I practiced spell after spell, channeling the shae to give shape to complex rings of sigils and esoteric shapes. I’m not sure how long I slept, but I’m pretty sure that every single minute of it was spent reliving these old memories, which is what I was sure they were, not just my own dreams.

I woke to someone knocking loudly on the door.

“Revana! Michael!” Oronir’s voice was muffled by the heavy, carved door.

Revana was already awake and moving, pulling a robe around herself before she opened the door. “What is it?” No light came through the small window at the top of the wall, so it wasn’t anywhere near a reasonable hour, which did not bode well.

“Get dressed as quick as you can, take everything you’ll need. I’ll explain on the way.” And with that, he was gone, heading back upstairs for who knew what.

We didn’t waste any time or words; we just did as Oronir had told us and rushed upstairs to find him tapping his foot nervously. 

“Good, come, come.” We all exited through the back of the house, and while we weren’t exactly running, we covered the streets hastily. “The Gorvani are shutting down the entire twelfth province. Not just the lockdown - the entire region’s going to be quarantined within the hour. We only just found out from our spies that this is the plan, and they’re enacting it even faster than they normally work.”

“Quarantine…” Revana said. “You think they’re going to try and suppress what happened?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know, but either way, we need to get you out of here while it’s still possible. And there’s only the smallest window. Also, I’m sorry to say that it’s not going to be comfortable.”

I sighed to myself. At least I had gotten a few hours in a nice bed before everything went straight to shit again. “We’re not going through the caves again, are we?”

Oronir barked a laugh. “No, but I’m not sure this is going to be a better option. It’s the only one there is, though.”

I didn’t question him. I just followed along and hoped whatever it was was going to be a little less claustrophobic. We ended up at the warehouse again, but there was no sign of the portal from a few hours ago; it had been completely dismantled and taken away. I fervently hoped there really was no one else that needed to come through it.

In its place was a large assortment of cargo crates, stamped with a variety of markings. A sinking feeling settled in my stomach as I realized what would be happening. “You’re going to ship us out of the province, aren’t you?”

Oronir nodded. “Yes. There’s only one more shipment going out before the imperial army gets here, and we had to pull a lot of strings to make this happen; only very trusted people have been permitted to operate throughout the lockdown. A few of our friends put a lot on the line to orchestrate this.”

Revana put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Thank you. I’m sure you’re one of the people risking themselves for this.”

“I am, but,” he said, shrugging lighty, “I’m an old man. I’ve lived my life. I’m more worried about the younger generation. Be safe, you two.”

We said our goodbyes and were summarily packed into a very large crate containing bags of rice, or whatever Vendira’s equivalent was. They were arranged to form two low seats in the middle of the huge crate. The top was slid on and secured, putting us in complete darkness. In short order, the crate was moving, being loaded onto a golem, I’m sure. We then felt its plodding steps taking us out of the warehouse and across town.

We sat in dark silence while we moved, trying to keep the bags at our back from falling over. Eventually, we heard people yelling out orders and I assumed we’d arrived at whatever portal nexus we were bound for. We stalled there, though, our golem probably sitting in a line or waiting on a portal’s schedule. 

My dreams swirled in my head, and this seemed as good a time as any to try out one of the endless things I’d experienced in the night. I pulled the shae into and through my body, a supremely weird feeling, like there was a light breeze blowing under my skin. I held out my hand and concentrated, a soft glow building between the tips of my fingers. I kept it small, but we could easily see each other.

Revana’s golden eyes shone brightly even in the gentle light. She didn’t look at me or say anything; she just stared longingly at the magic.

“So…” I ventured, “are we going to talk about it?”

Her eyes flicked up to mine before she closed them with a sad little smile. “I was kind of hoping it would never come up.” She reached out a claw, passing it through the ball of light hovering over my palm. “I can’t feel it.”

“This was always the plan, wasn’t it? That I’d be able to do this?”

She nodded. “Of course, but…”

“Thinking about the future and seeing it in front of you are different things?”

She sighed and leaned back as much as she could. “What does it feel like?”

“Like a soft breeze, but under my skin, through my body. It’s…odd. It’s not like anything else I’ve ever felt.”

Her eyes were downcast and it was a little while before she spoke again. “I’m happy for you, I really am. But I’m sad for me, too, you know?” Her lips quivered and a tear slowly made its way down her cheek. “I’d give almost anything to feel it, to be able to use it. I’ve spent my entire life learning about the magic and how to wield it. I’ve performed my fair share of rituals, but only through outside reagents. And every time, I just looked at the golden light, wishing so hard it’d come from…me.” The tears were flowing freely now. She looked back up at me. “But you know all that already.”

I leaned forward and put my non-glowing hand on hers. “Yeah, but it’s good for you to say it again.” I reached out and pulled her shirt up, looking at her shadowbrand. “So, some of the things the relics crammed into my head are starting to make sense, and I’ve been wondering, in the last hour or so I admit, if your brand can be removed.”

She ran her hand over the brand. “No. That’s not possible. We’re branded at birth, the magic merged into our very essence. There have been many attempts to remove brands with a wide variety of methods over the centuries, but every one, every single one, resulted in immediate death.”

“Hmm,” I mumbled, leaning back. “If it can’t be removed, can it maybe be contained? Wrap it up in the shae so it doesn’t affect you anymore?”

“Oh, Michael,” she said, shaking her head. “It means a lot to me that you’re trying, but it’s not going to work. I’ve made peace with the fact that I’ll never channel the shae. The best I can do is create a world in which other people can.”

“That’s…” Tears were forming in my own eyes. “That’s not good enough. You, of all people, deserve this. I’m going to make it work. I’ll do whatever I can so you can live your dream.”

She gave me a big smile, but the look in her eyes said I was being naive. “That’s a beautiful thought, but I think you’ll just have to accept that it’s not realistic, eventually.”

I sighed. “If you say so.” The conversation dropped off from there while we still waited to be moving again. After a few minutes, we did start to move, but quickly stopped again. This repeated a few times and I got my hopes up, but after four or so small events, we stalled out again. I didn’t want to leave the conversation where it was, but there was nothing more to really say about the shae, so I asked another question that had been sitting in my head. “So, the plan has always been to destroy the sigilarium, but I don’t think I ever heard what we were going to do afterwards.”

“Well, there’s actually a lot of half-formed plans, but it’ll depend on what the empire actually does. Since something like this has never happened before, we couldn’t anticipate what their response would be. It’s usually overwhelming reprisal, but with something like this? They can’t honestly wipe out the entire province for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is they depend on the people they ‘govern.’”

“So we’re just waiting on them now?”

Revana nodded. “Yes. This quarantine is unexpected; it’s not something they’ve done, but it can hardly be their only response. So for now, we wait. And in the meantime, we’re going to investigate the dragon cult. Or I assumed we would. What do you think?”

“Yeah,” I said, leaning back, “I don’t think we can ignore that. I’ve been giving it some thought and we might as well trust Isik at this point. Not because she’s trustworthy, but because I can’t, for the life of me, figure out any other angle than that she’s telling the truth. Can you?”

Revana was silent for some time before answering. “No. I can’t. It’s been stuck in my head too. There’s just nothing I can think of to explain her actions other than taking her at her word. Which, to be clear, I still don’t like the least bit, but…I don’t know. Trusting an Inquisitor goes against everything I know, but I think we should. And by the time we do, we’ll probably be in a better position to plan our next move. Whoa!”

The golem lurched into motion, and before I knew it, I felt the odd pulling on my entire body that meant we were going through a portal. I thought our little journey was almost over, but we sat wherever this destination was for a while as well. I let my little light fade out and we sat silently in the darkness until we finally started moving again. 

I could hear the sounds of a city outside the crate and guessed we were heading down a road, and soon enough, we were sat down on the ground. Minutes later, the top was slid off and looking down at us with the biggest smile on her face was Irina. “Reva! Michael! I’m so glad you're both safe!”

We climbed out of the box and she enveloped us both in the biggest, tightest mom-hug I’d ever received. She looked into the crate and moved a few things around. “Good, everything else I ordered is here as well. Now come on, let’s get you both out of here before anyone shows up and starts asking questions.”

I hardly thought twice about it when we stuck to the alleyways and avoided the main roads. I never really knew what, exactly, we were hiding from and I had never really thought to ask. At any rate, we were heading into the back door of Irina’s shop in no time, settling down in the little office we’d sat in before.

Revana perched on the huge, carved desk while I sank down into the plush chair that I had covered in cave dust and mud the last time we’d come through and was not surprised to find it spotless now. Irina left us without a word, and soon after she reappeared with a tray of tea and round, orange-glazed cakes. I must have made a face upon seeing them because she stopped and looked at me with a huge smile. “Your favorites?”

“Uh, yeah, you could say that,” I said, blushing. “I had some of them with Tiq, and so far, they’re the best things I’ve had since coming to Vendira.” I took one and bit into it, the flavor just as good as I remembered. I tried so very hard to eat it at a reasonable rate, but it was gone before Irina had finished pouring the tea. 

She just kept smiling and put another one in my hand without comment after she’d passed the tea cups and saucers around. My eyes wandered to her black horns and green scales; I hadn’t seen any other Dravini with her particular coloring. Wondering if it was acceptable or not to bring up, I just kept the thoughts to myself. She was wearing a pair of reading glasses that she hadn’t been last time, and on her dark horns were twined, golden rings. Horn ornaments? Hornaments?

“I really like your,” I waved my hands around my forehead, “jewelry.”

Revana snorted while trying to take a drink of tea. “They’re hornrings, although people mostly just say rings.”

Irina beamed at me. “Thank you for saying so. My son made them for me, before…”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

She waved my comment away. “Oh, no. He’s still alive, thankfully. But I only get to see him a time or two a year. He’s halfway through his mandatory working years. I keep telling myself that one day they’ll be over and he’ll come back home to stay, but it’s just so difficult to bear a lot of the time. I have my two daughters as well, and they visit regularly. And Reva here might as well be my daughter too. The one I worry about the most, I think.”

They shared and look and Revana said, “I wish there was an easier way, but—”

“I know, I know, Reva. What you’re doing is important. It’s what I want too, but I just…I hope it doesn’t cost you your life.”

Revana smiled and blushed, looking away.

I looked over to both of them and said, “Not that she needs it, but please know I’d do anything to protect her.”

“I’m so glad you both have each other,” Irina said. “It’ll help me to worry just a little less.”

In the interest of not having the conversation spiral into a storm of emotion, I asked, “So what are these orange things called, anyway?”

“Dulcet jumpers,” Revana said.

I blinked at her. “What kind of name is…No, no. You know what? It’s not any weirder than the kinds of names things have back home.”

The next twenty minutes or so was then spent comparing Vendiran desserts to what I knew, and while there were a lot of differences, there was actually a lot of overlap between our two worlds. I might have eaten four or five more jumpers during that conversation and then heavily regretted it for a while.

Eventually, we wound back around to more serious matters and Revana produced the note Isik had left on Vashe. We explained the entire situation to Irina, who went through a number of horrified faces as we talked, even though we left out most of the more life-threatening parts. 

“That’s…quite a story. Can I see the note?” Irina took it from Revana, looked it over, and said, “Seven-CU-one?” She looked over to me. “It’s the capital of the Seventh, one of the more central provinces. I’m not familiar with the street address it names, but it’s likely to be a pretty big place. You’re going now?”

“As soon as we can get some new IDs,” Revana said.

“Oh, yes, that. They’re being worked on as we speak. They’ll be ready tonight, but please, stay until morning. I’ll cook for you tonight.”

We readily agreed. As curious as we were about Isik and the dragon cult, the promise of an entire night without worry was too good to even consider passing up.

6

We spent the day doing odd jobs for Irina. Apparently no one had been to visit in a little while and the list of chores had gotten pretty long. I spent the day lugging boxes around, sorting various junk, and helping with minor repairs. It was by far the most mundane day I had spent since coming to Vendira, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. As exciting as being an adventurer was, there was really something to be said for a quiet day helping someone you liked. In no time at all, the sun was on its way down to the horizon and Irina sent us both off to shower before dinner.

When we came back out and into the upstairs dining room, the table was packed with an assortment of shockingly familiar things. They all had different names and weren’t quite like their counterparts on Earth, but there were mashed potatoes and peas and a variety of meat. If I hadn’t been looking, I might have been convinced I was back home eating regular food with slightly different spices. 

Revana and I stayed mostly silent, the only things we had to talk about being our fight with the Gorvani, so Irina filled the time talking about anything and everything. I heard countless stories about her children and her late husband, the places she’d lived and the things she’d done, and it all added up to what sounded like a pretty wonderful life, considering. She didn’t bring up the Mulaq’Shae or the empire, aside from some complaints about irritating local regulations that made owning a repair shop more hassle than it needed to be.

I just let her words wash over me, content to pretend, for a brief time, that I wasn’t a brandless hero from another world, but just me, sitting in a friend’s house, enjoying a quiet dinner. It was nice.

After we were done with dinner, Irina brought out cake and served us all huge slices of it. It wasn’t chocolate, but again, it was close, and it was packed with tiny slices of a bright blue fruit. After we’d eaten far too much of that, she poured us little glasses filled to the brim with a dark red alcohol. It was very strong and tasted sweet. After we all drained the glasses, we exchanged a wordless look and Irina filled them up again.

The sun had long gone down by the time we made it to bed. I thought about trying to start something with Revana, but we were both absolutely stuffed with food and booze, so we basically just face planted into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

The dreams came for me again, a long series of completely lucid memories, one shifting right into the next. The ones about fighting made the most sense to me; I could feel the ebb and flow of battle, the next motion my dream body making coming easily to me before it happened.

The dreams about the shae were much more incomprehensible, though. Spells and rituals rushed past my eyes, and while I was able to understand bits and pieces, much of it was esoteric nonsense. Even though my dream body, or the body of whomever’s memory I was experiencing, went through the motions and incantations without pause, so much was lost to me. I wondered how long it would take to make sense, if it ever would.

The night was long, but I still woke rested, my eyes opening naturally to the light filtering in through the drapes, and I very much reveled in the ordinary morning, instead of someone yelling about the calamity right around the corner.

Revana had gotten up before me and I came downstairs to find her and Irina chatting in the office again. 

Irina hopped up, promising a large breakfast before we left. “I’m not letting you two out the door until you’ve eaten your fill!” She didn’t wait for a reply and what she’d said sounded a lot like a threat, so I obediently sat down and waited.

“I found out a little more about our destination this morning,” Revana said. “It’s in one of the larger towers in the Seventh that houses a lot of the guilds’ headquarters. Apparently we’re to meet someone in the Carvers’ Guild.”

“Ah! I knew it!”

Revana gave me a wide-eyed look. “W-what now?”

I chuckled. “I’m sorry. It’s just that there’s so much stuff on Vendira that’s covered in really detailed carvings. I’ve been assuming that there was a guild or something. Probably a very important, influential, and rich one.”

She gave me a pained smile. “Uh, yeah. It is, actually. Very prestigious. Do you not have something like it on Earth?”

“No, not really. A few hundred years ago, rich people had things like that, but anymore, people like their straight lines and everything’s mass produced anyway. No one has anything like the stuff here. At least not people I know. And it’s just everything here, you know? Doors, desks, the outsides of houses. Honestly, it’s one of the things I like most about Vendira. There’s just so much effort put into making regular things look nice.”

She was still giving me a look like I was an idiot, so I tried to move the conversation along. “Are we supposed to meet someone specific there, or just bust in asking anyone we see about shade from the sweltering sun?”

She handed me the note, which had a name along with the address. “We’re supposed to ask for a Mephina Shorel, which is probably going to be an older woman, based on the name. Also I think it was shelter from the sun.”

“Sweltering sun.”

“Uh huh,” she said, giving me a wide smile. “Let’s go eat breakfast or Irina’s never going to let us leave.

We ended up in the dining room again, and in short order, a heaping plate of eggs, meat, and pancakes appeared. The pancakes were to be covered in a dark red syrup, and they were almost as good as the dulcet jumpers. 

Irina had her own plate, but was clearly more concerned that we eat everything on ours.

I did as expected, somewhat because I didn’t know when we were going to get to eat next, but largely because I thought Irina might try to fight me if I didn’t. Afterwards, for a few minutes, I seriously thought I might need to head out into the back alley to throw up, but the feeling subsided.

Irina finally left us and returned with fresh, fake IDs.

I looked at mine and back to her many times. “Really?” I said.

“What?”

I held out the little card as if she hadn’t already seen it. “Shum? My name is supposed to be Shum!?”

Revana tried not to laugh and failed pretty hard. She finally managed to stammer out, “It’s a real name.”

“It is? Wow, I feel sorry for all the Shums out there.”

Even Irina was laughing at me. “It’s an older name. Not a lot of people with it now.”

“Yeah, I can see why,” I said, giving them both a level look. “Oh well. I guess it doesn’t really matter. Hopefully I’m not going to be introducing myself to anyone.”

Revana leaned forward, a more serious expression on her face. “Irina, I know it’s early, but have you heard anything about the twelfth?”

“No, Reva. No one has. I only know about the quarantine because of our contacts. There’s been no word officially. All contact with the province stopped suddenly, so I can’t imagine what the Gorvani might be gearing up for.”

That effectively killed the conversation, so Revana and I mopped up the dregs of syrup on our plates with the last bits of pancake and left to get our things together. Back in our bedroom, I just had to ask. “You’re worried about what’s going to happen, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am,” she said while strapping on her weapon. “I’m not sure what I want more, for it to not be so bad, or for it to be so hideous that the population has to rise up against it. It’s going to be bad either way, and my biggest fear is that the revolution we planned stalls out here.”

I went over and hugged her from behind. “We’ll do whatever we have to. Hopefully the dragon cult can help.”

“One day at a time, right?”

“Right.”

Downstairs, Irina crushed us both in overly tight hugs and tried valiantly not to cry when we left. “Be safe. I know you know, but be safe, okay?”

We assured her we would, and then we were out the door, the weight of everything pressing down on us again. “So, what’s your new name, anyway?” I asked.

“Suri.”

I scoffed. “Lucky.”

7

The portal nexus was close by and not very busy. Luckily, I only had to show my ID twice and no one asked me to say my stupid new name out loud; I wasn’t sure I would be able to do so with a straight face. We only had to sit around waiting for a half hour before our portal was ready, and in no time, we were in the capital of the Seventh. We stepped out into the sun, and I was both impressed and disappointed. It was indeed a beautiful city, but it was only the barest shadow of Telorn. I’d expected a provincial capital to rival the empire’s capital, but it did not. The buildings weren’t nearly as tall and I thought I could see the beginnings of a forest down one of the long streets. Apparently we were close enough to our goal that we didn’t need to hire a golem taxi, which was also a let down. 

The building itself did not disappoint: the doors were two stories tall and the most intricately carved things I’d ever seen on Vendira, which was really saying something. They were a massive amalgamation of woodland scenes, towering cityscapes, and probably at least one of every single animal that existed on the planet. Revana humored me for a bit while I stood there, just staring like an idiot, trying to notice every little thing I could. I’m sure I looked like the stupid tourist that I was, but I didn’t even care.

Eventually, we went inside.

The huge foyer was almost as impressive, boasting swirling pillars and needlessly ostentatious benches. There was barely a straight line in the entire place except for desktops and the floor. Even the ceiling was a complete mess of gargoyles and scenes the likes of which I’d never seen. I followed Revana who, it seemed, wasn’t as uninterested as she tried to pretend; I caught her gawking at things nearly as much as I was.

We giggled and made our way to one of the front desks. “Hi,” I said, “we’re here to see Mephina…”

“Shorel,” Revana supplied.

The Dravini man at the desk looked lazily back at me, and for a second, I was worried that this was going to spiral into another break-in like seeing Tiq had been. But he just nodded and told us to take a seat, and we’d be called when Mephina was ready.

The bench we sat on was carved in the shape of flowing waves and was surprisingly comfortable for just being a wooden seat. I looked around at the people walking through the huge room and noticed that almost every one of them was Dravini. Many of them wore odd leather gloves that covered their fingers and little else besides a strap around the wrist to hold them in place. I asked Revana about them.

“A large majority of carvers are Dravini, and the guild actually didn’t accept other races for most of its history. The carvers sharpen their claws to a razor’s edge and do all of their work by hand. That is, of course, dangerous for day to day life, so they wear those gloves to protect everyone around them from accidents. Not to mention anything they pick up.”

I thought back to the horrific amount of damage Revana had been able to do to the enforcer in the woods by the sigilarium with her normal claws, and I didn’t want to imagine what a Dravini could do with a sharpened set. I shivered.

She saw me do so and said, “Yeah, it’s a big hazard to have them, but the masters take so much pride in their work and are willing to be inconvenienced in most other aspects of their lives.”

“What about non-Dravini carvers?”

“They just use tools, which some of the Dravini purists look down on, but most people aren’t jerks about it. No one else can match what Dravini claws can do. Even Surini claws aren’t suitable for carving. And humans…well, you know…”

I leaned away from her and raised an eyebrow. “Are you judging us for not having claws?”

“No, no! Of course not. Your soft, weak hands are…charming, after a fashion.” She was able to keep a straight face for about ten seconds before she started laughing at me.

I smiled back and punched her in the shoulder.

“Oh no,” she said, “you didn’t hurt your hand on me, did you?”

I groaned. “dammit. I walked into that one, didn’t I?”

We sat there for another half hour, talking about anything and nothing, waiting to see if this entire trip would pan out or not. 

Finally, an older, bent over Dravini woman walked up to us. “Hello there. You’re here to see me? I’m Mephina.” She had white horns, dark blue scales, and a long, white braid trailing down her back.

We exchanged greetings and I told her my name was Michael, not Shum. She led us into a long hallway that was just as over-decorated as the rest of the place, and into a small office that had, among all the expected things, a stone fireplace with a modest fire burning inside.

We sat on either side of a large desk piled with papers and various inkwells. “Now, what can I do for the two of you?”

I waited for Revana to say something, but she just looked at me and smiled. 

Great. She was going to make me say the stupid thing. I gave Mephina a big grin and said, “We’d like to commission a piece to shelter us from the sweltering sun.” Mephina just blinked at me and a huge sinking feeling dropped into my stomach. This was all a complete waste of time and I looked like a moron to top it all off.

Mephina slowly got up and made sure the door to the hallway was closed, and then she locked it before making her way to a random section of her office wall and pressed something in the flowing leaves of a carved tree. There was an audible click, and she effortlessly pushed a hidden door open.

I was a little disappointed that the fireplace didn’t rotate or something, but it was a relief to have this actually be going somewhere.

“I was told you two would be coming along. Please, come with me.” We followed her into the door, which led immediately to a long, descending staircase.

I whispered to Revana, “We’re doing this, right? We’re trusting Isik about all this shit?”

“We came this far. Might as well keep going.”

Mephina made her way extremely slowly down the stairs while excitement and anxiety blossomed in my chest. My mind wandered to the possibilities and I envisioned sweeping cathedrals dedicated to ancient magic or winding catacombs of monstrous bones.

We came out in a hallway a lot like the one outside Mephina’s office and were led to a small sitting room and offered tea while we waited for her to go get “the big boss.” We declined the tea, for once.

Revana and I sat there in silence. Eventually, finally, the door creaked open.

“Well, well. You made it here after all.” Isik stepped into the room, her usual haughty look plastered on her face. Her purple hair was loose, trailing down over her skin, and her bright orange eyes were filled with the pompous arrogance I was weirdly getting used to.

We both stood and my hand strayed to the hilt of my sword.

Isik didn’t move; she just looked down at my hand without a hint of fear. There was, however, a tightness to her expression, something I couldn’t quite place. “There’s no need for that, Michael. I didn’t bring you all the way here to fight you in a sitting room.” She closed the door behind her and walked into the room, but her movements were slow and measured, like she was being very careful with each step. 

I immediately thought of trapped tiles in the floor, but that seemed pretty stupid even to me. “Well, we’re here. Maybe you could give us some answers instead of more questions this time.”

She smirked and took a step towards us. “I can assu—” Her leg gave out, buckling underneath her, and she fell into my arms. I caught her purely on reflex. She tried to say something, but her face was contorted in pain, her breathing suddenly heavy.

Revana and I shared a bewildered look before I gingerly helped Isik down onto one of the couches. 

She gripped her leg tightly while schooling her face to neutrality.

We waited without comment while she got herself under control. Revana sat down on the couch across from her and said, “What’s…wrong with you?”

Isik couldn’t keep a grimace from passing over her face before she curled her lip and looked away in what seemed like shame. A moment passed before she said, “I suppose there’s no real reason to keep this from you, as much as it galls me to no end.” She sighed heavily, her hand running up and down her leg before her eyes flicked back up to us. 

“The Inquisitors present at the sigilarium were held accountable for its destruction.”

I sucked in a breath. “Oof.”

She laughed humorlessly. “You’ve really no idea.” She looked Revana in the eyes and said, “Anything I or anyone else ever did to you doesn’t really compare.” Isik held up a hand when Revana made to reply. “No. I’m not looking for sympathy, of course. I don’t deserve it and you wouldn’t give me any, and rightly so. Just enjoy the thought of it. You can think of it as a gift.”

“I take it they don’t know you opened the door for us?” I asked.

“No. Absolutely not. I’d be in the dungeons under Telorn, being slowly flayed alive if they even suspected it. Fortunately, the royalty is not the Inquisition, and they have no fucking idea how to conduct a proper interrogation, erroneously believing that the liberal application of pain will necessarily lead to the truth.”

“And what is the truth, Isik?” Revana asked. “Why are we here? Are the Dravizek Celestori actually real?”

“Oh yes, they certainly are. I’ve not lied to you, if you can even believe such a thing, which I’m sure you can’t.”

“Then what do you want, ultimately?”

Isik leaned back and looked us both in the eyes before answering. “The same thing you want, I should think: the destruction of the Gorvani empire.”

Revana gave her an incredulous look. “And why on Vendira would you want that?”

Isik smiled widely, but it didn’t touch her eyes. “I told you once, not so long ago, that you were all foolish for thinking that Inquisitors were a small step below the royalty. It’s a popular thought, I know. And if you’ve never met a royal but you’ve dealt with the Inquisition, I can see how it would seem possible. Inquisitors wield more societal power than the rank and file can imagine. 

“But what do you think now, having met, and fought, a royal face to face? Surely it couldn’t have escaped even your notice that his very body is suffused with the tenebrae, that he wields so much more than societal power. And keep in mind, you fought the Sixteenth Son, by far and away the lowliest of the royalty. By the accounts I heard, all you could manage was to limp meekly away from him while your compatriots were all captured or killed. 

“I understand that there is a world of difference between the Inquisition and the citizenry, but you can hardly understand the yawning conceptual gulf between the royalty and literally anyone else. They are ageless, functionally immortal beings, their power absolute, their every passing whim fulfilled on pain of death. You are aware it would be considered an honor for one to even be in your field of vision? It’s the same for us; we just receive such ‘honor’ more often than most.” Her lip curled, her anger rising the longer she talked. “We Inquisitors do indeed have much more freedom and agency than most, but only if we perform as we are meant to.”

“Huh,” I said. “Tiq said almost the exact same thing.”

Isik’s eyes went wide and locked on to mine, a crazed smile slowly coming to her lips. “Lady Tiquette.”

Horror washed over me as I realized how stupid I’d just been, Revana’s shocked expression not helping the overwhelming feeling of idiocy.

Isik laughed loudly, her mirth interspersed with grimaces, her elation clearly aggravating her injuries. When she was able to calm down and saw my face, she started laughing again. She waved away my expression. “Don’t worry yourself too much. I’ve no interest in pursuing her. I have suspected her for years upon years, though. Despite that, I’ve never once been able to catch her out doing anything improper, or at least not more improper than she’s allowed to be. It’s true, then? She’s Mulaq’Shae?”

Revana and I exchanged a look but said nothing.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Isik said, still chuckling to herself. “But back to the conversation: she’s right. She and I are both allowed our respective freedoms as long as we stay in line with the royalty’s expectations.” The levity trailed off her face, leaving only a ghost of a smile on her lips. “We are just as much slaves as everyone else, the only difference being that the consequences for stepping out of line would be even worse for us.”

Revana shook her head. “Bullshit.”

“Yes, I don’t expect you to believe that. I know very well what you’ve been subjected to, which brings me to one of my points.” Isik held out her palm and just looked at it for some moments before continuing. “When you look at me, you see a monster. And you see that because I am one. I have done unspeakable things in the name of the empire. And when I was young and stupid, I was as brainwashed as any Gorvani. Everything I did, I did for the empire, for justice. I sniffed out and routed rebels proudly; I executed our enemies for the good of society, and I believed, truly, that what I was doing was right and good and just.

“But you can only brutally kill so many families before you start to question your own motives. By the time I finally admitted to myself that what I was doing was wrong, I was in so deep; I was already in line to become an Inquisitor. I spent a lot of nights lying awake in bed, wondering what the best course was. I considered throwing myself off a building. I considered running away. Who knows where I would have ran to, though.

“In the end, I convinced myself that I could do some good if I continued to live. If I became an Inquisitor, I would have power. And I could use that power to spare some people that other Inquisitors would not.”

Revana scoffed. “You expect us to believe you became an Inquisitor out of altruism?”

“No, I don’t. If I’m being completely honest, which I’d like you to understand is an uncomfortable thing for me, I love the thrill of the chase. There are many parts of my life that I truly do enjoy. It’s just that killing is rarely one of them.”

“Uh, rarely?” I asked.

“Mhmm. As much as you might not want to hear it, there are people out there that do need to be removed.”

“Murdered, you mean,” Revana said.

“Yes, murdered. But back to the matter at hand. My choices have long been nothing more than this: serve or die. And I didn’t want to die. So I became the best Inquisitor I could be, enjoying what parts of life I could, and sparing a life or two when I was able.” She looked up into Revana’s rage-filled eyes. “I’d like you to at least try and understand. I don’t expect you to care. I am a monster, as I said. I deserve neither pity nor forgiveness.”

Isik stopped talking and we sat in silence for some time. Revana looked away, the anger still apparent on her face. I couldn’t imagine what sort of thoughts were going through her head. 

For my part, I could see why Isik had lived the life she had. Maybe it was because I’d never been branded or had to endure the empire’s wrath, but I felt my dislike of her slowly slipping away. I also had to admit to myself that I was just assuming she was telling the unvarnished truth; she could have been lying with every word and I wouldn’t have known. But I just kept coming back to the same thoughts: I couldn’t think of what her goals could be aside from taking her at her word.

Isik seemed content to let us sit there and process what she’d said.

Revana still looked pretty pissed off. It would be a while for her to get over those feelings, if she ever even could.

There was a knock on the door and Mephina poked her head in. “Revana? We’ve received a communication for you.”

We shared a look. “You go take care of that. I’ll stay here,” I said.

She nodded, glaring daggers at Isik, who looked coolly back and said nothing.

“Alright.” She stood and headed towards the door.

“We’ll adjourn to the balcony upstairs, Mephina,” Isik said. After we were alone, she slowly got up and motioned for me to follow her, which I did.

We made our way through a maze of confusing hallways and finally found a few elevators. “This will be a nicer place to chat than a stuffy, windowless room.”

I just nodded and we headed up, watching the floors zip by. A few more hallways later, we emerged onto an ornate balcony with a sweeping view of the city. Isik went to the railing, which was, naturally, thick and covered in flowing carvings made to look like blowing wind. 

“Do you trust me, Michael?”

“No,” I said. When she didn’t say anything further, I added, “I trust you to not kill me right this second. You’ve surely had enough chances to do that.” She just kept looking at me so I just kept talking, which is probably what she wanted. “I’m not sure you’re telling the truth about anything, but I can’t think of what you’d stand to gain if you weren’t. Do you really want to bring down the empire?”

She looked out over the city. “I’ll admit that it’s a new concept for me. For most of my life, I would have said such a thing was impossible. But then I found the Celestori, and then you showed up. A Brandless.” She shook her head and smiled. “It’s an odd feeling, having hope. I only ever expected that I could save a life or two, here and there, and that would have to be enough. But now? I still don’t know if it’s possible. But I think that there will be no better chance than this. You’re here, and if we can somehow pull off summoning a dragon back to Vendira, we’ll have momentum the empire will be hard pressed to stop.”

“That’s the next goal, then? To summon a dragon? And you’re hoping I can do it?”

She side-eyed me. “Yes, although Revana was correct: the spells to do so are incredibly complex. Despite you having the relics, I’m not sure you’ll be able to. But it’s still the best chance there is as far as I know.”

I took a long, deep breath. “How much do you know about the shadowbrand? Like, how it works and how to…manipulate it?”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Very much. Why?”

“Can it be removed?”

She scoffed. “No. The shadowbrand is absolute. Any attempt to remove it by magic or…cutting into the body where it resides always results in instant death.”

“I’ve heard people have tried a lot of things over the years.”

“Oh yes, but more than that, the empire is constantly testing it as well. I’m sure you’ll not be shocked to hear that we experiment on prisoners, trying to find any way to manipulate the brand before the populous would. And in all those years, even we have never been able to remove a brand. It’s as I said: it’s absolute.”

There was no real reason to hold anything back at this point in the conversation. “Is there a way to…contain it?” At her skeptical look, I plowed on. “Look, Revana has wanted to channel the shae her whole life. And now, I can.” I raised my hand and pulled on the magic, a soft glow appearing in my palm. “I want her to live her dream, and I’m willing to go to great lengths to see it done, including working with you. If anyone knows something that could help us, it’s you. And I…maybe with your knowledge and my abilities, we can figure something out. Besides, if you truly want to invoke the spells that could summon a dragon, Revana would be the perfect choice. She’s spent her life learning the magic.”

Isik had spent a lot of the time I was talking looking out over the city, and when I finished, she made no reply. Her eyes were flicking back and forth, so I stayed quiet, hoping she was working on possible solutions and not just how to nicely tell me I was a complete dumbass with ridiculous desires.

She finally said, “How skilled are you at channeling the shae?”

“Not very. When the sigilarium went down, a lot got dumped into my head, and I’m still making sense of it. I can do this, though.” I tried to summon the glowing golden armor. For a second, I wished I’d attempted it again after the one time I’d done it, because I thought I was about to fail and look like an idiot, but the power slowly came and wrapped itself around me, molding into a solid, if rather unadorned, set of armor. I held onto it for a few seconds and let it dissipate.

“You apparently don’t know this,” Isik said, “but it takes a lot of power and control to do something like that. Most tenebrous channelers can’t do after years of training what you’ve done rather easily.”

“Oh.”

“It is a matter of power, not finesse, though. However, that’s exactly what I was hoping for from you.” She looked me up and down. “I’ll not give you an answer now, since there are things I need to know and sources I need to consult. I agree that Revana would be a much better choice than you for the summoning ritual.”

It would have been an insult if it hadn’t been true.

Isik then left, presumably to make whatever inquiries she needed to. Although that was just an assumption; she hadn’t told me where she was going and I hadn’t expected her to. She left vague instructions on how to get to the lower floors, but I said I would wait for Revana and Mephina. 

8

The view off the covered balcony was nice, so I was content to sit on a couch and wait, letting the thoughts pass through my head as they would. I tried not to get my hopes up about Revana being able to become a channeler, but I wanted it so much for her. I could barely stand the thought of being able to live her dream right in front of her face. I knew she’d power through it, trying not to let me know it bothered her and we’d both just never acknowledge the obvious lie that it was. 

I jumped when the door opened and she came through, old Mephina right behind her.

“Hey, let’s get out of here and get something to eat.”

We were shown out a back door that was invisible when closed, blending perfectly into the outer architecture of the building, and we were told precisely how to knock on it when we returned so we could avoid coming in through the foyer. 

We wandered for a little while before we came to a sprawling outdoor cafe which had private screens around the tables and, most importantly, served hachi. I ordered a sandwich with an unpronounceable name and ingredients I’d never heard of. When my steaming mug came, I grinned like a moron, disproportionately happy to be drinking it again.

Revana sipped hers distractedly, looking around before saying, “So I’ve heard from the others.”

Oh. We were here to talk business, it seemed.

“It’s become clear what the Gorvani’s response to the sigilarium is going to be.”

A feeling of dread weighed heavily in my stomach, and I got ready for the worst. “Yeah?”

“Nothing.”

“Uhh…”

“Well, maybe that’s not the right way to phrase it. They’ve quarantined the twelfth, obviously, but more than that, they’ve suppressed any information coming out as well. They’re not making any move for retribution. They’re going to pretend it didn’t happen.”

“To what end?” I asked. “They can’t keep it up forever, right? Are they going to try and rebuild the sigilarium?”

She shook her head. “Such a thing would be a massive undertaking. They were all built centuries ago in a campaign that spanned the nascent empire. I’m not sure they have the infrastructure in place to do it anymore. Not to mention it would take an insane amount of time to correctly calibrate. This is all what made it a perfect target: once it went down, it would be impossible to rebuild in anything resembling a timely fashion. Word of its destruction would spread and the empire wouldn’t be able to disprove it.”

“So what’s happening in the twelfth now? Isn’t it obvious the Gorvani can’t channel the tenebrae anymore?”

“In the brief time we were there, all imperials were recalled and non-channeling enforcers took over. I can’t say for sure, but that’s probably what’s still happening there. The general population probably don’t even know anything happened.”

“Can I assume by your tone that this wasn’t one of the predicted outcomes?”

She laughed humorlessly. “It wasn’t. We were sure we thought of anything and everything, but this? Nope. We didn’t see this coming. And it’s exactly what we wouldn’t have wanted. The destruction of the sigilarium was supposed to be this huge symbol of defiance, to say to everyone that the Gorvani weren’t invincible, something to rally around. But…now? I’m not sure what to do, and the others aren’t either.”

I looked over my still hot but mostly empty cup of hachi and said, “We could summon a dragon.”

She bit her lip and took a long, deep breath, looking me in the eyes. “You…you uh, actually want to work with…her?”

“You hate her, don’t you?”

She looked away, a rueful smile on her lips. “You know, I really thought I could hold it in, for the sake of the cause, but sitting there, just chatting with her? It took so much willpower not to leap off the couch and rip out her throat. There she was, talking about how hard she’s had it?” The volume of her voice was steadily rising. “Oh, I’m so sorry you had to butcher all those people!”

I laid my hand over hers and she blushed.

“Sorry. But yeah, to answer your question, I do hate her. She might have never done much to me personally, but she’s an Inquisitor. She deserves any and all the hate I can give.”

“She did admit that exact thing.”

She leaned back and looked me up and down. “Michael, are you defending her?”

“I…” I drained the last of my cup. “Look, it’s probably because I don’t have the lifetime of horrible memories that you do, but I can see where she’s coming from. And I’m not saying she’s great! Just…she’d be an extremely useful ally. And for what it’s worth, I think she is telling us the truth. Although I’m not exactly great at sniffing out lies, admittedly.”

Revana bowed her head and closed her eyes. “You’re right; she would be a useful ally. But…to just set aside everything she and the rest of the Inquisition have done? I don’t know if I can.”

“Well, how’s about this? I primarily deal with Isik, but we throw in with the dragon cult—”

“Which we’ve still met none of!”

“Yes. Uh, that is indeed the case. But…”

“Are you sure you’ve thought this through, Michael?”

I threw up my hands. “Of course I haven’t! I’ve been winging literally everything since I got here. But in lieu of any better ideas, summoning a dragon seems like the next best step. Assuming we can. But…we succeeded at the sigilarium and it isn’t looking like it’s going to get us anywhere we wanted to be.”

We both leaned back, looking into each other's eyes with little smiles on our lips at how absurd this situation was. “I suppose you’re right,” Revana said. “All our plans revolved around reacting to whatever cruelty the empire dished out. That they would do nothing… It’s not like we considered it and discarded the idea — it never once occurred to any of us.”

The waitress came back and I asked for more hachi, and it was a while before either of us spoke again.

“I don’t like it,” Revana said. “But if you think trusting Isik will help…you can pursue that without me. I don’t think I can stand to be in her presence and keep my cool.”

I nodded. “If I stay here and do that, what will you do?”

Leaning back into her chair, she ran a hand down her face. “There’s a few things I could be doing. Looking into the prisoners taken at the sigilarium, how to get Vashe out of the twelfth, make contact with other factions.” She shook her head. “None of it seems important enough. We were supposed to be stoking the fires of revolution at this point.”

“This is just a setback. We’re still here. We succeeded! Just because things didn’t go to plan after that doesn’t mean we stop trying.”

She put her head on the table and groaned. “You’re right.”

Our sandwiches came and we ate them without more conversation. Mine was covered in a spicy, yellow sauce that was eye-wateringly good. As we sat there waiting for the bill to arrive, a young Gorvani man walked up to our table.

Revana tensed, her eyes boring into him.

If he noticed, he didn’t react, just looked us over and said, “I was instructed to give you this note, sir.” He handed me a folded piece of paper, bowed slightly, and left.

“Isik had us watched when we left,” Revana said. “I’m not surprised in the least.”

Neither was I. I opened the paper, which read, What we discussed might be possible, but I will need your assistance with procuring some material. It wasn’t signed or stamped with a shadowy seal. I tried not to look over to Revana as hope exploded in my chest, and I did a decent job of keeping my voice level when I said, “It’s from Isik, of course. She wants my help.”

“Oh, does she now?”

I nodded and looked her levelly in the eyes, keeping a neutral expression.

Her gaze narrowed as it bored into me. “What aren’t you telling me?”

dammit.

I took a deep breath. “Okay. She and I had a talk after you left. I…don’t want to tell you about it.” I couldn’t tell her she might be able to become a channeler when I wasn’t sure it was even remotely possible. To get her hopes up about that and then have them come crashing down? I wouldn’t do it to her.

“...Michael?”

She looked hurt at my words and guilt immediately surged through my entire body. I took her hand in mine and squeezed tightly. “Please believe that I have a good reason. I…really can’t say anything more. It’s nothing nefarious, I just…”

She squeezed back, a concerned look on her face. “Well I sure don’t like this at all. Will you tell me what it’s about eventually?”

I nodded emphatically. “Yes, absolutely. Hopefully soon. But, I just can’t right now.”

“Well…okay. I trust you.”

The rest of our lunch was supremely awkward, if short. We parted ways and agreed to stay in contact with Irina at regular intervals. 

It wasn’t the first time we’d been apart, but it felt different this time. We weren’t headed towards the same goal, and who knew when we’d see each other again. We hugged tightly and shared a kiss right there on the sidewalk before I watched her walk away into the crowd.

I felt terrible. But I had hope.

9

Iknocked on a portion of the wall outside of the Carvers’ Guild, fervently hoping I remembered where the door had actually been. I was very relieved when it swung open, almost soundlessly, a grinning Dravini woman holding it open for me. “Just down the hall,” she said, “and Mephina will be waiting for you.”

I went down the long hall and turned a corner to find just that.

“”Ah, how lucky to run into you, Michael,” Mephina said.

“Uh huh. I know Isik has people watching me.”

She chuckled and waved for me to follow her. “No point in denying it, I suppose.”

As we wound through the building, I had to ask, “So, is this the headquarters of the Celestori? I kind of expected there’d be…something more than sitting rooms and offices.”

“Oh my no,” she said. “This is merely a suitable meeting area for prospective members and a convenient place for the Inquisitor to make contact without alerting the empire to anything suspicious. There are some old tomes and artifacts housed here, tucked away in back rooms, but it’s mostly for meetings.”

“So where’s the actual headquarters, then?”

She shrugged. “Insofar as such a place exists, it’s not my secret to tell.”

She led me to a small room that was covered in bookshelves, and by the far wall, Isik sat at a table, looking through a few open tomes amidst more piled high. It reminded me faintly of Tiq, and I wondered how she was doing, not to mention when and if I would see her again. Mephina made her goodbyes and shut the door behind her.

I walked up behind Isik, who didn’t look up. “You found something?” I looked down at the books and could barely even make sense of them. Much seemed to be written in an old language I could hardly even read the letters to, and much of the pages were filled with diagrams and drawings of alien designs.

She nodded. “I believe so, although I can’t be sure.” She continued flipping through some pages. “If it is possible, and I’m not claiming with any certainty it is, then I’ve found the most likely way. These books contain a few of the experiments the Celestori conducted over a century and a half ago, where they were also trying to subvert or remove the shadowbrand. They were ultimately unsuccessful, but they made some headway.

“They did not, however, have two things that we do. First, myself, a master channeler of the tenebrae. And second,” she said, looking up, “is you. Your control of the shae is lacking, but that might not matter, given how much you can already channel.”

“Okay. What’s the catch?”

She smiled and turned in her chair to look up at me. “We’ll need a focus, a reagent to bind the superbrand onto.”

“Super…brand?”

“Mhmm. A brand to cover the shadowbrand, as it were. A melding of both shae and tenebrae. Would you like me to explain the particulars of how the magic would work?”

“Uh, would I understand anything you said?”

She laughed. “Likely not.”

“Yeah, let’s skip it, then. Except for one thing — both magics would work together? That’s not been my experience with the shae and tenebrae.”

“It’s an outrageously complicated design. However, most of the complexity will be needed for the tenebrous part that will anchor onto the shadowbrand. I believe even you will be able to complete the shaeous portion of the binding.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to absorb this, “but you still haven’t actually told me what the catch is. I’m gonna assume whatever reagent we need is rare or difficult to obtain.?”

She folded her hands across her lap and gave me a level look. “Rare? Obscenely. Difficult to obtain? Not really, not for me, but it will involve an extreme amount of trust on your part.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll get straight to the point. The item we need is housed in a secure vault with multiple layers of protection. I can walk through most of them, but the last line of defense is a tenebrous ward that not even I would be able to lift. However…”

“I could reach right through it?”

“Precisely. It’s been so long since a brandless person existed that the empire has forgotten what might be circumvented by one.”

“So I have to let you walk me into this place, trusting that you won’t betray me and serve me up to the royalty on a platter, right?”

“Yes.” Her orange eyes bored into mine, and I wondered, not for the first time, what sort of thoughts laid behind them. “Not only that, but I’ll require you to leave your relic here. Taking it where we’d be going would be foolishness. It’s one thing to wear it around on the street, but taking it through the levels of inspection we’ll be going through would be nothing short of suicide. Even someone like me will be scrutinized. 

“Should you agree, I’ll secure your sword behind a ward only an Inquisitor would be able to open.”

“Or me.”

“Or you, yes.” She turned back to her books. “You need not decide right this second. I’ll—”

“I’ll do it,” I said.

She paused and slowly turned to look at me again. “Just like that?”

I leaned back against the bookshelf behind me and looked down. “Look, there’s one thought I keep going to, and if you give me time to think about it, it’s going to be the same. You could have screwed me over many times by now. If you wanted me dead, I’d probably be dead.

“It’s probably stupid and naive of me, but I believe your story and that you want to oppose the empire. It’s the only thing that makes sense, so there’s no reason to debate it if I’m just going to come up with the same answer. So yeah, I’ll do it.”

Her chair scraped across the floor as she stood. “Excellent. I’ve already made the preparations.”

“Uh, you have?”

She shrugged. “You were going to accept. I just didn’t think you’d do it so quickly. The prize of letting Revana live her dream is too much for you to refuse.” We looked at each other for a moment before she added, “You love her.”

My eyes went wide. “I…”

“No point in denying it. I saw your reaction when I held a sword to her throat in the sigilarium. I saw how you looked at her when we were sitting here chatting. I am an excellent judge of people, I’m sure you’ll be shocked to hear, and it’s written plain across your face whenever you so much as glance at her.”

I stood there, unsure of what to say, what to think, or how to feel.

Isik stepped up close to me, leaned in, and whispered in my ear, “She loves you too.” And directly after dropping that bomb into my head, she walked briskly out the door, calling for me to follow her.

Dazed, I did.

10

We descended into the building again, finally coming to a small room like many others, this one containing many wardrobes that lined the entire space. Isik opened one and waved a hand towards it and said, “Place the sword in here.”

Despite my words earlier, I paused. We shared a look before I shrugged and unbelted my sword and laid it in the wardrobe. After a beat, I shrugged out of my shirt and folded my tunic and laid it beside the sword.

Isik’s eyes were wide as I did so. “Two relics?”

“Yeah.”

She laughed loudly and shook her head. “I really did underestimate the Mulaq’Shae.” She closed the door and raised her hands, the inky black magic coalescing around them before seeping into the wardrobe.

I opened the door to see a wavy barrier in front of the relics. Just to be sure, I reached in, my hand passing through it without effect.

Isik opened another cabinet and pulled out what looked to be a uniform and handed it over to me. “Put these on. They’ll signify you as my personal retainer.” She also produced a nice looking sword. Not nearly as nice as mine, but I suppose that was the point.

The clothes consisted of a shirt and heavily embroidered tabard and boots to match. “I’ve never seen enforcers with actual uniforms before.”

“They’re very common in Telorn, among the higher ups, but no, you don’t see them elsewhere very often. I myself have rarely taken such people, as I prefer to work by myself.”

As I finished lacing up the boots, Isik’s opulent armor formed from the shadows, weaving itself around her body. We left the room, took a few turns, and were quickly outside under the sun again, emerging from another door that melded seamlessly back into the side of the building. “Where exactly are we going?”

“A very secure place.” Isik maintained a brisk pace, and people moved. I assumed that was why she’d summoned her tenebrous armor, to let everyone know there was an Inquisitor coming and they needed to get out of her way. Now. 

I walked by her side, her authority apparently extending to me as we cut a swath through the crowd. The odd person or two who hadn’t noticed our presence was quickly pulled out of the way by someone who did. Holding up an Inquisitor was probably a grave offense. Although honestly, what wasn’t?

In no time at all, we were back at the portal nexus. Doors were held open for us and the people inside parted just as readily as everyone on the street had. Isik strode up to what seemed like a random portal, ignored the line leading up to it, and eyed the attendant beside it, a young Gorvani man, until he moved away. She manipulated the controls and the portal winked out of existence briefly before spinning back into life, the bright blue energy of the arcanae pulsing in the stone archway. No one said a word.

We stepped through.

While we were traveling through it, it occurred to me that I should probably have relayed a message to Irina first, but Isik’s well laid plans had left me little time for thinking about anything. Not for the first time, I hoped I wasn’t making a colossal mistake. 

We emerged into another portal nexus that looked very much like the one we’d just been in, but the portal we’d come from was set aside from the others. I just assumed it was only used for official Gorvani business. “Where are we now?”

“The fourth,” Isik said. “Downtown, but our destination is rather far from here.” She set off with the same vigorous pace, ending up at a counter near the front doors of the place.

A tired looking human woman perked right up when she saw who was coming. “Inquisitor! What can I do for you?”

“I need transportation for myself and my man.”

“Of course!” The woman waved to another attendant and gave him a few quick orders. “A golem will be waiting for you out front immediately, Inquisitor.”

Isik nodded without really looking at her. “Thank you.”

Outside, the golem was much fancier than any of the others I’d seen; it was more a palanquin than a golem. The stone or clay or whatever part consisted of six fat legs underneath, a short, rotund body, and a wooden platform on top that was carved as ostentatiously as anything else on Vendira. Gold inlay and silver filigree designs covered a domed canopy that provided shade. The seats themselves looked overstuffed and way too luxurious for what was essentially a car. Or I suppose it was probably more akin to a limo.

We climbed on board and I did indeed sink into the seats. Isik channeled into it and off we went. The traffic on the street parted with just as much alacrity as the people on the sidewalks had, and before I knew it, we were leaving through a huge city gate, miles of farmland stretching out on all sides. 

Most of the fields contained short, purple bushes with long, orange fruits or vegetables or whatever they were. A few others had massive stalks as tall as trees that looked like blue asparagus that sported loads of little yellow berries. I was reasonably sure I’d eaten some of those berries before. Probably.

The sun was high in the sky with only a few clouds as we made our way away from the city, miles and miles of farm fields as far as I could see in any direction. We were sitting side by side, but Isik made no move to talk or even look around, and she didn’t seem to be paying all that much attention to steering the golem, her thoughts obviously elsewhere. The silence dragged on for a long time before I just couldn’t take it anymore.

“So, you hate your job, huh?”

She very, very slowly looked over to me, her eyes wide in an incredulous expression. After a moment, she said, “Are you…trying to make conversation with me? Is that what’s happening?”

I couldn’t help grinning widely. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. It’s just that that’s the only relatable thing I know about you.”

“Uh huh,” she said, the ghost of a smile on her lips. “Do you hate being the Mulaq’Shae’s hero, then?”

“Oh! No, not that. I actually like Vendira. I meant my old job back home.”

“And what was that?”

“Well, I was a store clerk.”

“And that was…worthy of hatred?” She looked down and apparently just noticed her armor was still there. She made no movement, but it rippled and faded away, tendrils of darkness trailing behind her. She pulled her braided hair around her shoulder and unbound it, letting it flow back in wavy strands.

I thought, not for the first time, that she was actually beautiful, if you could get past her personality, profession, and all the years of unspeakable horrors she must have committed. “Oh the job itself was fine. It was the people.” I went on a rant, rambling about customers and management and the unending, soul-crushing hopelessness of it all.

She said nothing, seemingly content to let me talk as much as I wanted, but even though she barely responded, she was listening. 

I tried to convey what it was like, working long hours for little pay, absorbing abuse because you had to, trying to eke out any tiny little happiness you could, however small and fleeting. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I just kept talking, telling one anecdote after another about shit I’d had to endure, glad someone was listening, even if it was her. After a while, I ran out of things to say.

“You felt inadequate in your world, so you cling to your newfound sense of purpose here.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much. I’ve never been what I could call useful or important. And I know I was randomly pulled here, but I’m going to give Vendira the absolute best I have.”

“And Revana.”

The blood ran to my cheeks under Isik’s gaze. “Um…yeah.”

“You should tell her how you feel, while you still have time.” Isik looked forward, any expression dropping off her face.

I wasn’t a good judge of character by any stretch, but this one seemed a little too easy. “Who did you not get to tell?”

She glanced over to me with wide eyes just briefly before she balled up a fist and curled her lip. 

“You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to,” I said.

“Of course I don’t,” she replied, all the haughtiness back in her voice. She didn’t say more and I didn’t force it, but it was only a few minutes later before she leaned back and groaned. “I don’t know what it is about you, Michael. Maybe it’s because you don’t have a lifetime of fear of the Gorvani instilled into you, but I find myself wanting to tell you things.”

“Then tell me things.”

She scoffed. “As if it’s just that easy.”

“It is.”

“Conceptually, perhaps. But I’ve lived a life of keeping personal things personal. It’s not only not done among the Gorvani, it’s a liability as well. This is on top of no one wanting to listen anyway.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine Revana would want to hear.”

She laughed loudly. “Exactly. It was a pain earlier to reveal the things I did to the two of you. But I felt it was necessary, so that you might have even a modicum of trust in me. Still, I had to mentally prepare before that conversation. And yet, as awkward as I felt then, we sit here now and memories I’ve never shared with anyone sit so lightly on my lips.”

I almost moved to put my hand over hers, but immediately thought better of it. “Well, you really don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

She smiled and said, “That’s precisely what I would say if I really did want someone to tell me something.”

“I’m, uh, guessing you don’t get a lot of opportunities to be genuine with people.”

“None, actually. Which is why it took a moment of processing to understand what you were saying when you attempted to make conversation with me. It’s not a thing that’s done. No one just…chats up an Inquisitor. It would be a good way to get killed, I imagine. Or at the very least, thrown into an imperial prison, depending on the Inquisitor.”

She stopped talking, and I just watched the weird crops slowly drift by and waited for her to start again.

“Oh, why not,” she eventually said. “I was young once, and in love with a stupid man named Shorlin. He was so sweet, and every time we met, he had a new little gift for me, oftentimes things I had never even heard of before. Cute little trinkets or perfumes, they always impressed. For a low level bureaucrat, I had no idea how he came by these things, but he told me it didn’t matter, and like an idiot, I believed him.

“In those days I was little more than a jumped-up enforcer yet to make a name for herself, for all that I was a Gorvani from a loyal family. This was also when I still believed in the empire, so I fervently sought out any opportunity I could for advancement. 

“It happened that there were rumors of a small group leading a smuggling ring, selling illicit artifacts from before the empire’s founding. You can surely imagine what was thought of that. How they managed to get their hands on them, even I never found out, but I was able to root out the leaders of the operation. And do I need to say more? My darling Shorlin was one of them.”

“Oof,” I said. “What happened?”

“They made me execute him, of course.”

“Oh…wow, Isik.”

“And I did it. I was so closely associated with him, that even though I was the one that brought them to ‘justice,’ it was deemed necessary to prove I wasn’t in league with them. And it was also a completely normal test of obedience and loyalty to the empire. Are you willing to kill for the Emperor? Prove it.

“I cried while I did it. I tried to make it as quick as possible. But, he had also betrayed me and what I believed in. Can you imagine that as awful as it was, I thought I was doing the right thing?”

“It did, however,” she said, spreading her hands, “make me a much better Inquisitor in the end, and it was that event that put me on the fast track to the Inquisition. I trusted no one; everyone was suspicious until proven otherwise. I questioned the motives behind the most innocent of gestures.” She scoffed. “It wasn’t until years later that I began to question my own.”

I had no idea what to say to that. I opened my mouth to see what would come out, but she cut me off.

“We’re here.”

As we rounded a rolling hill, a huge, flat, box of a building came into view. It was surrounded by an extremely high metal fence with only a little decorative flow in its bars before ending with multi-headed spikes on top. The building itself was a white-marbled, smooth-lined cube, the only structure I’d seen on all of Vendira like it. It was oddly reminiscent of Earth in its ugliness. “Ugh. What is it?”

“Imperial Vault number three.”

11

We parked the golem palanquin beside a few others like it and went into the angular building, passing two Gorvani decked out in full, metal armor who held long halberds at the ready. They eyed us as we went in but said nothing.

The deference that literally everyone had shown Isik was not on display here; the guards inside barely moved as we went past. The room contained a central desk and many elevators set around the outer walls. The middle aged Gorvani woman sitting on the other side of the counter gave Isik a slight nod as we approached. “Yes, Inquisitor?” Her tone was level and respectful enough, but there was no fear or hesitation. 

“I need access to the seventh strata.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “It’s not every day someone asks for the seventh.”

“No,” Isik said, “it is not.”

The two shared a long, unblinking look before the woman at the desk nodded and pulled out a large book, flipping it open and shoving it across. “Sign, please. And you, enforcer. ID.”

That meant me, so I took out my ID and hoped it would pass inspection. I doubted that whoever made it, if it was Irina or not, suspected it would be taken to a place like this. My pulse came fast as this dower woman looked it over for probably half a minute before she handed it back to me.

“Here you are…Shum.” There was only the barest upturning of her voice at the end as she said it, but she was clearly amused at my name. Her mouth didn’t budge, but there was a twinkle in her eyes.

I looked at Isik, but she thankfully seemed not to have been paying attention while she was writing in the logbook.

After that awful exchange was over, Isik and I headed towards the back elevator which was flanked by even more guards. Their unmoving, almost unblinking vigil as we waited was supremely uncomfortable. Finally, the doors opened, and we stepped into what looked to me like a normal elevator for once.

After the doors closed and we began to descend, Isik brought her hand to her mouth and snickered in a very uncharacteristic way. “Shum,” she said.

“Aw dammit! I was really hoping you didn’t hear that! I didn’t choose it.”

“Well,” she said, still laughing, “it is a real name.”

“So I was told. I was kinda hoping it would never come up.” 

We spent the rest of the considerable elevator ride down with me grumbling and Isik smiling. The doors opened onto an incredibly long hallway devoid of anything at all. It was a square hall with bright lights in the ceiling, made of the same white marble as the rest of the building.

“Well this is creepy,” I said. “Does it have to be this long?”

“There are numerous wards built into it that I imagine you can’t see. The entire hall is awash in thin lines of the tenebrae. If you had a brand that wasn’t supposed to be here, you’d already be dead, or at least wishing you were.”

I shook my head. “The empire is really sure there’s no brandless wandering around in the world, aren’t they?”

“Yes, very. Perhaps Revana told you about the lengths to which we go to make sure it’s that way? I myself have culled entire extended families for the crime of attempting to hide a newborn from being branded.”

“Oh…Revana said that such a thing used to happen, but doesn’t anymore.”

“Mhmm. Yes, that’s the narrative that the empire wants everyone to think. But it does happen, once in a while. Word of it is just suppressed.”

I laughed softly and without mirth. “I was told it would take days to list all of the empire’s sins.”

“Michael, you still truly have no idea.”

12

At the end of the hallway, which I almost didn’t think would come, was a big metal door, somewhat reminiscent of the one in the sigilarium. And like it, Isik poured in waves of the tenebrae, making its inner workings churn and vibrate before it ponderously opened.

Behind it lay an absolutely enormous room, so huge I couldn’t even see the ends of it. We began walking past rows and rows and rows of all manner of things. There were weapons and armor, machines, furniture for some reason, and a world’s worth of books. I didn’t think anything was going to be longer than the hallway, but I was wrong. White marble pillars formed endless rows into the place, and arcanic lights hung on each one, casting oddly shaped shadows in all directions.

Isik clearly knew where she was going, as we made a few turns during our trek. But unlike following the Mulaq’Shae through a strange forest, this place was extremely organized, cut off into a huge grid with large, obvious signs at every intersection.

“So like, what all’s down here?”

Isik shrugged. “Even I don’t know. The archivists do, but good luck getting them to tell you anything you don’t already know. This particular vault is the most secure in the facility, but I’m not sure what warrants a spot in it. I’m sure you saw the rows of furniture we passed?”

“I did.”

“I’ve asked why they’re here, only to get silence in return. My only guess is that the carvings on them depict something that either shouldn’t be depicted or pissed off one of the royalty at some point. A lot of things disappear into these places that the masses think are destroyed, but the empire rarely, if ever, actually destroys anything. It gets secreted away instead.”

“Hey, so you mentioned seeing a shae relic once, in a vault ‘we’d never find if we spent our lives looking’ or something like that. Is this…?”

She scoffed. “Oh no. Most certainly not. That was housed in the Emperor’s personal vault underneath the palace in Telorn. I’ve only been in it twice and I do not want to go back. Being inside means being escorted directly by a royal, and as you could guess, they do not like deigning to take part in such menial tasks.”

After what seemed like a mile of walking, Isik abruptly stopped next to a display that looked the same as the thousands we’d already passed. But this one contained a black metal housing with a shining, iridescent something. I leaned in closer, and through the constant light it was exuding, I could make out the shape of a  light blue scale, much larger than any I’d ever seen. “Is it, like, a lizard scale, then?”

Isik scoffed. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. You may try again.”

The glowing light was bright and golden, just like the shae. Belatedly, my slow thoughts finally caught up with the situation. “Oh. It’s a…dragon scale. Suffused with the shae.”

“Yes. An unbroken, unmarred scale pried from a nameless dragon during their extermination.”

“Are there any more like this?”

“I believe there are a handful of others in the vault under Telorn, but they’re not obtainable. I don’t know how this one ended up here, but it’s protected by a ward that would easily kill me were I to try and reach through it. Only the royalty could undo it.”

I squinted and watched, and I could barely see wavy lines of tenebrous magic surrounding the scale’s metal housing. “What would it do to you?”

“Course into my brand, burning my soul and body from the inside out.”

I looked up at her. “And you want me to reach in there?”

“Of course. The magic reacts to a person’s brand, just like countless other things you’ve circumvented, probably without even knowing it. This will be no different.” At my incredulous look, she continued, “I wouldn’t risk you unnecessarily; I need you for my own ends. If you can’t trust me for any other reason, trust me for that one.”

“Oookay. Well, here goes.” I reached in, and as my fingers touched the almost invisible ward, small tendrils of shadow trailed out, wrapping slowly around my hand. My eyes went wide as terror surged through my chest, but nothing happened. A few seconds later, they retreated back into nothingness. I slowly picked up the scale which was a bit smaller than my palm but much, much heavier than it looked, and I just as slowly pulled it out.

“Whew.”

Isik held out her hand, and I gave it to her. “Huh, heavier than it looks.” She channeled, wrapping it in a coating of tenebrae, cutting off its glow before she slid it into a pocket. “And that’s that. The Gorvani’s vaunted defenses completely broken. Although I suppose we have to actually leave before calling it a total success.” She looked in my eyes and smirked, “So, you want to lead us out?”

I looked around, not even sure which direction we’d come from anymore. “Yeah, sure, if you like starving to death.”

She scoffed at me and turned around, heading back the way we’d apparently come from and said, “We’d die of dehydration long before that.”

The walk back seemed quicker, but we took just as many turns as we had coming in. I really looked at the myriad things we passed, but I couldn’t make any sense out of the vast majority of them; they all seemed so mundane and unworthy of being in one of the Gorvani’s most guarded vaults. I couldn’t imagine what junk must have been stored in the others.

Once we finally reached the hallway and Isik resealed the door, we turned around to see tiny dots in the distance. “Are those…people?”

Isik squinted down the space. “I can’t imagine what else it would be, but it’s rather unlikely that someone else would be down here the same time we are. Access to this vault is heavily restricted.

We started walking, and eventually, the dots resolved into two people just standing in the middle of the hallway, hands on their hips and waiting for us.

Isik grumbled, and as we got closer, she cursed under her breath. “Well shit. This isn’t going to be fun. I know who it is and there’s only one reason he’d be standing there like an asshole. You’re going to have to fight.”

“I what now?”

“Isik!” the man bellowed. “How fortunate to run into you down here! What are the chances?”

“Hello, Rykan, what the fuck do you want?”

Rykan wore the fancy armor of an Inquisitor, and he stood there wearing the shittiest grin I’d ever seen, and a memory flashed in my head. I’d seen this man, his pathetic beard, and his stupid grin once before, at Irina’s shop, in what seemed like forever ago now. Standing beside him was a hulking Dravini man that was very likely his personal enforcer. “Now is that a way to greet a treasured colleague, Issy?” 

I looked over to Isik, expecting rage at a sentence like that, but her face was completely devoid of emotion. “Say what you want or get out of my way, Rykan.”

He just set his hands on his hips and laughed while we stood there, waiting for him to start talking again. “Always so stern, Issy! You need to learn how to lighten up, you know? Have a little fun! Or were you always this dower, I wonder? What was young Isik like? Surely you had a passion for your work once, didn’t you?”

Isik didn’t move or reply.

Rykan scoffed and threw his hands into the air. “Always such a killjoy! Fine, fine. If we must get right down to business.” He spread his hands wide and looked at me. “I showed up here and heard I’d missed you upstairs! But I was told you had a new, little servant! How unlike you, Issy! I’ve hardly ever known you to travel with anyone else. Getting a little up there in years, now? Need a little, you know, assistance to get the job done anymore?”

I had gotten the impression that Isik wasn’t young, but I could never pin down how old she apparently was. She still had smooth blue skin without a wrinkle and she moved like she was still in her youth. Rykan, though, was clearly somewhat younger — I would have put him in his late twenties if he was a human, but who knew if Gorvani aged the same way?

“Since we’re all here, we might as well have a little sport, right? Play a game, make a wager, maybe?”

“Do whatever you will, Rykan. I’m not betting anything.”

“Oh ho!” he said, clapping his hands together. “Afraid your new enforcer isn’t up to snuff? Well I can’t say I blame you; he does look a little soft around the edges, you know. Or is he not for enforcing, then? Maybe just for a little tumble now and then, yeah? Even sour old Inquisitors need some fun, am I right?”

Isik still hadn’t reacted, but she was taking slow, deep breaths. I didn’t know how she did it; this man was instantly one of the most annoying people I had ever met. And they clearly had a history.

“If you want a fight, say you want a fight, Rykan.”

“Well, I just don’t know! It wouldn’t be fair to sic Erenok on your little man, now would it?”

Erenok looked down at me. He was easily the biggest Dravini, or biggest person in general, I’d seen on Vendira, towering at least a head taller than I was. He had black horns and claws with dark blue scales and was covered in stiff leather armor. A rather large sword hung at his waist, and he gave me a huge, menacing smile.

“But you know what, Issy? I came all the way down here, might as well have a show, right? Be gentle, Erenok,” Rykan said, patting the Dravini on his arm. “By the way, Issy, what’s your little man’s name?”

Aw shit, please don’t let her tell him my name is Shum, I thought loudly.

Isik scoffed and walked to the side. “Stop talking,  Rykan.” She waved a hand at me and said, “Make it quick.”

Rykan laughed louder than ever, the braying laugh of an idiot, and I so wished I was fighting him instead.

Erenok drew his sword and so did I.

He stepped back into a common fighting stance which was mostly correct, but his foot placement could use a little refinement. Inwardly, I was surprised that that thought came unbidden to my mind, but apparently the dreams of old memories were starting to make sense.

Erenok grinned and slashed at me, wasting little time, but it was a feint. His eyes didn’t line up with the strike, so I didn’t react. He switched at the last second, swinging in towards my neck as I’d expected him to, and my sword was already in motion. I barely had to move to direct his attack up and over me, putting him off balance.

I kicked his shin, and he stumbled.

Rykan’s stupid smile faltered and he yelled, “What are you doing, Erenok!? Don’t just play with him!”

I was convinced, however, that that was exactly what Rykan had wanted: a show of me being toyed with to humiliate Isik. I wondered, too, since no one had said, if this was a fight to the death or not.

The huge Dravini tried various thrusting attacks, all of which I sidestepped with minimal effort or deflections. He was skilled, but there were many little gaps in his technique that he’d clearly never addressed because he’d used his strength to make up for them, as he was doing during this fight as well. With every missed attack, his smile slipped further and further away, replaced by a grimace and renewed determination. But his swings got wilder, more desperate, and he kept glancing over to his master.

The enraging smile was gone from Rykan’s face like it had never been there. A few veins began to stand out from his neck, and his light blue skin was turning a shade of pink. After I’d dodged under an attack and slapped Erenok’s ass with the flat of my sword, he just couldn’t take it anymore. “What are you DOING you idiot!? Kill him already!” Rykan’s voice echoed down the hallway, and it looked like he wanted to jump into the fight himself.

Despite what he’d said, I still wasn’t sure if this was meant to be a fight to the death, but it seemed like I should probably end it. I started counterattacking, leaving cut after cut on the scaleless parts of his skin. In minutes, he was covered in dripping blood.

Rykan was nearly vibrating with poorly restrained rage. After a few more cuts to his enforcer, he screamed wordlessly and channeled, an explosion of shadows emanating from his hands, which were held out towards me.

The only thing he could have been doing was trying to brand me, so I played along, gripping my side and curling inward with a grunt, but Erenok wasn’t affected and was coming straight for me with an overhand strike. My eyes went wide; I didn’t know Gorvani could selectively brand people and had assumed Erenok would be incapacitated as well. I didn’t have time to react; I was going to either take the hit or be forced to summon my shae armor.

Isik’s shadowblade whipped between us and buried itself into Erenok’s chin, driving up through his mouth, with the tip sticking out of his head behind his horns. It lifted him very slightly off the ground. His sword fell from his hands, and as Isik’s blade slipped down and out, twirling to throw off the blood, his body crashed to the floor with a resounding thud.

Rykan and I both stood staring at the newly made corpse for a moment before he turned to Isik and shouted, “You bitch!” He lunged at her, the tenebrae issuing forth from his hands again, but he’d barely stepped before she swiftly kicked him between the legs. As her foot came up, she channeled, banishing his armor just before she made contact.

He squealed, the shadows disappearing from his hands. He made a little choked sound before Isik drew back and hit him viciously in the throat. He fell as hard as Erenok had, gasping and writhing in pain as he slammed down onto his back.

Isik bent down and drove her knee into his sternum, leaning all her weight onto him.

He feebly tried to push her off, but was unable.

“Fair play, Rykan. You interfered in the fight, so anything I did was well within the rules of the game,” she said, leaning more and more into him, “that you started. You wanted this, you know?” She just stayed there for a few moments, smiling, letting him squirm. “And then, you attacked me. You know what that means, don’t you?”

She balled up her fist, raised it, covered it in a tenebrous gauntlet, and slammed it into his eye. I heard the bone crack.

Rykan made a noise I could scarcely call human, and I had to look away, a wave of sickness washing over me. 

Isik stood and made her way to the elevator, leaving the destruction behind her, and without anything else to do, I followed her. We stepped in and she activated it, the doors closing before the machine started its long ascent. Once we were moving, she burst out into the loudest and most genuine laugh I had ever heard from her. She had to brace herself against the wall to keep from falling over, her eyes pressed shut as she cackled endlessly. 

I stood there pretty uncomfortably as she enjoyed herself.

Once she calmed down a tiny bit, she put her hands on my shoulders and said, “Oh Michael! That was beautiful!” This was followed by more laughing as she used me for balance. Then, she leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. 

I froze, shocked, aware of her body pressing up against mine. Underneath all the horror, I had to admit to myself that I kind of liked it.

If she noticed or felt any awkwardness, she didn’t show it. “That couldn’t have gone any better! Did you see how pissed off he was! You humiliated that brute of an enforcer too!”

“Yeah, and then you killed him.”

“I know!” she said, still smiling the widest, most joyful smile I’d almost ever seen. “You pissed off Rykan so much he intervened! And then he attacked me! Oh, Michael, it really, truly, could not have gone better. I’ve wanted any excuse to do that to him for years on end!”

“Yeah, you, uh,” I said, shuddering, “broke his orbital.”

I must have made a face because she stepped back and said, still giggling, “As if you haven’t done worse to people.”

I shrugged. “I mean, yeah, I have, but they’re dead afterwards. Anyway, was that all, like, normal for Inquisitors? And was I supposed to kill Erenok or not?”

“Oh well, you shouldn’t be aiming for a kill, technically, but it’s okay if it happens. And is it normal? Dreadfully, really. One of the many reasons I don’t often employ personal enforcers. Gorvani politics are a lot of posturing, and while fighting each other is not allowed, making your pawns fight is not only allowed, but often encouraged.”

“So, what Rykan did was pretty bad, then? Attacking you directly?”

“Oh yes. He’ll spend some time in Telorn’s dungeons, although the torture will be somewhat minimal, based on what I did to him. If he were to do it again, though, he’d be expelled from the Inquisition.”

“Just expelled?”

“Oh, no. I thought it was implied that afterwards he’d die a slow death of pain and misery.”

“Uh huh,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I actually should have assumed. So he’s not going to come after you for this?”

She snorted. “No. This will tarnish his status almost irreparably and boost my own. He’ll spend a long time recovering, physically and socially. I should think he’ll try very hard to not come into my sight again, which is even better. What a complete piece of shit.”

We finally made it to the top floor, and by then, Isik’s face was schooled back to her official neutrality. She said a few words to the guards who then split us up. I was grilled on what had just transpired, and the two men compared stories afterwards. We were told to wait while they went down and verified what we’d said.

We stood there forever, waiting as long as two elevator rides and a few minutes in between. One man came back up, gave us a nod, and we were out the doors soon after. Back on our golem with the cube of a building fading behind us, I asked, “So why didn’t we just portal there and back? No portals?”

“No. None of the vaults have them, for obvious security reasons.”

“Makes sense. Hey, can I see the scale again?”

She looked me up and down and said, “Why not,” while handing it over.

It was still wrapped in the tenebrae, preventing its golden shine, but it was there, in my hand: the thing that would let Revana be the channeler she’d always wanted to be.

13

The trip back seemed a lot shorter than the one out to the vault. Isik and I made some more smalltalk, but nothing as interesting as what I’d learned about her the last time. It did not escape me that she was willing to make smalltalk with me at all, which didn’t seem particularly on brand. 

I had to admit that I was actually liking her more and more, despite what I knew about her and her past. I only hoped Revana could end up hating her less, but even with what we were attempting to do, I didn’t know if that was possible. Maybe a cold civility would be a reasonable goal. Aside from that, what Isik had said earlier finally came back into my head. It was true: we’d known each other for such a short time, really, but I did love Revana, and she apparently loved me? Obviously she cared about me, but…

The thoughts tumbled in my head until we were passing through the gates into the city again; I hadn’t even seen it coming. We wound through the streets, dumped our golem, and in short order were traveling back to the seventh. 

We headed to the Carvers’ Guild and entered through yet another secret door. When we came at last to the room the relics were kept in, I breathed a sigh of relief. It had been in the back of my mind the entire time that we’d return and they’d be gone, either because Isik betrayed me or some other unnamed bullshit. But they were there, and Isik took the ward off the cabinet. Once I’d shrugged out of the enforcer’s uniform and slipped the tunic over my head and had the sword buckled back on my hip, I felt whole again, in a way I hadn’t realized I’d lost.

“So,” Isik said, “I have a couple things to attend to first. Where do you want to perform the rebranding?”

“Can it be anywhere? Irina’s shop is probably the best place I know of, aside from out in the wilderness or something. Do you remember it?”

“Of course. Take the scale. I’ll arrive shortly with the Celestori’s books.”

I found my own way out of the building for once. An hour and one teleportation later, I was pushing open the door to Irina’s repair shop, a little bell tinkling as I came in.

She was sitting behind the counter, her back to me, working on a large machine with a maze of gears and thin pipes inside. “Be with you in a second,” she said. She set a few tiny gears into the contraption, gripped with the very ends of her black claws. The thought of doing such fine, delicate work made my muscles tense. She let out a contented sigh and turned around, her eyes going wide. “Oh! Michael! You should have said it was you!” She shot around the counter and hugged me tightly, which I gladly returned.

“It looked like you were in the middle of something. What is that thing?”

“Boot scrubber. They work wonders but break a lot. Too many moving parts, you know? Anyway, Revana said you were off doing something secret?”

“I was, and it went really well. Actually, I—”

The bell above the door rang again. Irina looked over and paled. “In—Inquisitor… what…what can I do for you?”

Isik walked in with her insufferable grin, but I didn’t find it nearly as enraging as I once did. She had a bag over her shoulder with something angular inside, which I assumed were the old Celestori books.

“Oh, it’s ok, Irina. She’s with me.”

Irina looked at Isik, then back at me, then back and forth a couple more times. “Okay…” Her skin was still pale and she could hardly take her eyes off Isik.

I put a hand on her shoulder and said, “It really is fine. Isik’s proven herself to be trustworthy. She’s on our side.”

“If you say so…”

Isik laughed under her breath. “Well this is a new experience.”

Irina looked at me, clearly unconvinced. “You’re on a first name basis with an Inquisitor?” She didn’t wait for a reply, just shook her head and waved a hand at me. “I’ll take your word for it, Michael. Please show the Inquisitor to the office and I’ll put on some tea? Is that…okay?”

“I’d love some tea,” Isik said.

“Yeah, that’s great,” I said. “Could you also get in touch with Revana? There’s something very important we need to talk about.”

“Sure, sure,” Irina said as she walked away in a daze.

Once she’d left, I turned to Isik. “Sorry.”

“Oh don’t be, Michael. You’re asking her to put aside a lifetime of oppression just because you say I’m not a threat. The very concept of me terrifies her, I’m sure.”

I groaned. “Well, we’ll have to work on it, then.”

I led her back to Irina’s office where I took the large chair I usually did while Isik sprawled out on the old couch and threw her bag down. We sat there in silence, and after a few minutes it occurred to me that it wasn’t an awkward silence. Had I started to think of Isik as a friend? I should probably keep that to myself, I thought. 

Irina eventually came back with a platter filled with a teapot, cups, and dulcet jumpers, which I was over the moon to see. She poured tea for us all, her eyes still barely ever leaving Isik. “I, uh, was able to make contact with Revana and I let her know to come as soon as she could. I…elected not to tell her who all was here. I didn’t know if such a thing was safe.”

Isik smiled. “As much as the empire wants everyone to think they’re being watched at all times, there’s hardly enough Gorvani to go around to accomplish such broad spying.” She got a faraway look on her face and added, “And now apparently I’m just saying out loud anything that comes to mind, regardless of the circumstances.”

I turned away to hide my own smile; it seemed like she had warmed up to me as well if she was becoming so open-mouthed about things. I was not about to mention it, though. I stuffed most of a dulcet jumper in my mouth so as to not inadvertently give anything away.

Irina and I made small talk for a while about anything we could think of, just to waste time. Isik said hardly anything more, but did eat a couple jumpers. 

After what seemed like an extremely long time, we heard the bell ring in the front of the store, and shortly after, Revana opened the door and stepped into the room. She beamed when she saw me, her arms wide as she was about to run across the room for a hug, but she skidded to a halt when she saw who was sitting on the couch in the back. “Oh.” Her lip curled, but she smoothed it down with an effort and said, “Inquisitor,” in a perfectly even tone.

Isik smiled widely as she reclined on the couch. “Hello, Revana. What a pleasure it is to see you.”

“Uh huh.”

Hoping to diffuse this situation, I stood and took Revana’s hand in mine. “Hey! So, you remember that thing I wasn’t telling you about?”

Her eyes flicked from Isik to me while a suffering look passed over her face. “Yes, Michael. I do remember that. In fact, I’ve been worrying about it nonstop since. Are you going to tell me what it is now? I do really hope that’s where this conversation is going.” She glanced over to Isik again, and I could only imagine she was wondering why we were having this personal conversation in the Inquisitor’s presence.

“Yes, and I think once I do, you’ll understand why I kept it a secret.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the palm sized scale, which still had an aura of shadows around it. I held it towards Isik, who made a shooing motion with her hand, dispelling the tenebrae. Once the darkness was gone, it dazzled with bright, golden light. 

Revana and Irina both stared at it wide-eyed for some time before Revana spoke. “It’s…a dragon scale. A real,unbroken scale, completely suffused with the shae. Michael,” she said, looking up at me, “it’s beautiful.” She held out her hand and I gave it to her. She turned it end over end, just staring into its light. “I never thought I would see such a thing. But…”

“Yeah?”

She laughed softly, “It’s amazing, but what’s it for?”

Well,” I said, “the reason I didn’t tell you about the trip we took to get this was—”

“Wait…who’s ‘we’? Did you and the Inquisitor get this?”

“We did. It was in one of the Gorvani’s most protected vaults. I posed as her personal enforcer.”

Revana looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Uh, okay. Anyway, go on.”

“Right, so the reason I didn’t tell you about this was because I didn’t want to get your hopes up for something that might not have happened. And, really, we’re still not sure it will, but it needed this scale to even be possible.”

She put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a pained smile. “Please get on with it, Michael.”

“Yes! Okay. So, between this, the two of us, and old research conducted by the dragon cult years ago, we think we might be able to contain your brand and let you channel the shae.”

Her eyes went as wide as I’d ever seen them and her jaw dropped. Her claws on my shoulder tightened painfully, and she just stood there, saying nothing. 

I kept my mouth shut, letting her process what I’d just said.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh.” Irina stepped over and took Revana’s face in her hands. “Oh Reva… Reva Reva Reva…” They stared into each other’s eyes, tears threatening to fall from both.

Revana shook her head, coming to her senses and looked pointedly at Isik.

“What Michael says is true, Revana. I believe this to be possible, although I can’t be completely sure; the Celestori made progress but were never successful. But they did not have a powerful Gorvani, a shae-infused reagent, or a shae channeler, having to make do with ritual circles as you have done.”

Irina’s hands were over her mouth and tears were falling freely down her cheeks. “Oh, Reva. I want this for you. Your dream…right here in your hands.”

She looked down at the glowing dragon scale. “Why, Isik? Why would you do this?”

Isik smiled. “You’re correct in thinking that this isn’t purely altruism. My goals are the Celestori’s goals: I mean to summon a dragon back to Vendira. While Michael is indeed a powerful channeler of the shae, his finesse would be sorely lacking in the face of the complexity required to actually reach a dragon on another world. But yours…after a lifetime of being a priestess of the Mulaq’shae, you would be much better suited for the task.”

Revana looked in my eyes. “You trust her, then?”

I nodded. “I do. At this point, I would and have trusted her with my life. And I’d trust her with yours.”

She took a long, slow breath. “Okay. If you say so, I’ll do it. I’m not going to get my hopes up until it actually works, though.”

“Fair enough,” Isik said. She opened her bag, pulled out the old tomes, and came over to open them on Irina’s desk. 

Revana flipped through them, making various noises and exclamations as she flipped through pages of magical research. “These…these are genius. They use geometries I’d never have thought of in a hundred lifetimes.”

“They represent the collected research of the dragon cult of a century and a half ago. Not only did they clearly include brilliant scholars, but they were all working under extreme duress, so their ideas branched wildly as they tried anything they could to combat the empire. Obviously, they failed, but these books lived on. While the shadowbrand cannot be removed, they came surprisingly close to containing it with a few of their more outlandish ideas. Ultimately, the shae cannot contain the brand without a conjoined layer of tenebrae underneath, anchoring it naturally to the shadowbrand. And such a pairing of magics would be calamitous without a suitable reagent to anchor the shae to as well. On top of that, said reagent would effectively become ingrained in the person’s very essence and would need to be compatible in a fundamental way. I don’t believe this would work if you were not Dravini; your draconic lineage gives you an affinity with the scale. Many things had to align for this to even be possible. If it does work, it won’t be something we could realistically recreate with anyone else.”

Revana was still flipping through the books while listening to Isik speak. “Do you really want to bring down the empire?”

“My early life was nothing but brainwashed fervor for it. Then, eventually, the doubts crept in, as they do with some Gorvani. Believe me, I’ve rooted out a decent number of traitors in my day. It took years, though, for those doubts to become anything more. I tried to put them out of my head, tell myself my beliefs were correct and just.

“When I finally, at long last, accepted the truth, there was still nothing I could do about it. I went right on culling whomever the empire told me to. But then I found the Celestori, and with them I began to hope. Although, if I’m being honest, I didn’t think they could actually destroy the empire. It was just something to hold onto.

“Now, though? I still think the odds of pulling it off are abysmal at best, but we won’t accomplish it if we don’t try, will we? And how much regret would I have if, at the end of my life, a real chance came by and I didn’t take it? I do think we’ll all be flayed alive under the Palace, but that’s a common enough fate anyway.”

Revana laughed softly. “Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but it’s a real one, I guess.” She tapped the book with a claw. “I’m going to start setting up these sigils. Irina, can I use the big room in the sub basement?”

“Of course, of course! I’ll help you make some room down there.”

They left, and I got up to join them, before looking back at Isik. “You coming?”

“No,” she said, still sipping her tea. “I’m fine right here. You come get me when I’m needed.”

14

Revana, Irina, and I spent the entire rest of the day and well into the night setting up the sub basement for the ritual. I moved so many boxes of stylish hats and replacement golem feet, stacking them all to the side after we pushed all the shelves out of the middle of the huge, stone room. 

Once we’d cleared out a big area, Revana set the books on a table and started laying out complicated designs on the floor, painting them on the concrete with off-puttingly colored paste of yellowish white which smelled shockingly better than it looked; it gave off an almost flowery scent with a very earthy undertone.

I curled a lip as she handed me a jar of it to stir.

She laughed at me and said, “It’s a mixture of ground up minerals and a combination of herbs, which is why it smells nice. But it’s not very appealing to look at, I know.” Her voice was level but I noticed a small quiver in her lip.

“How’re you feeling about this?”

“Oh…well, like I said, I’m trying not to get my hopes up.”

“Right. I hope you can forgive me for not telling you what I was up to when we went to get the scale. Who knew if it would even be there?”

“Oh, of course,” she said, smiling. “I understand. I didn’t then and was actually quite worried, but I would have done the same thing. I’ll be glad to get this done, either way. The tiny bit of hope I’m trying to suppress is almost torture.”

I gave her shoulder a squeeze, and we looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. I thought about telling her. Isik was right, I should just say how I felt, but she looked away to continue drawing on the floor and the moment passed, so I kept stirring the paste.

We went to bed that night exhausted and I fell quickly asleep, dreaming of old memories again. When I woke the next morning, she was already up, and I found her in the basement, still at work, consulting the cult’s old books. I showered and Irina had set out a bunch of things for breakfast, which I ate silently, hoping that this would all work out. In addition to being Revana’s lifelong dream, her ability to channel the shae would be invaluable in ways I probably didn’t even understand. The memories that were starting to make sense in my head showed me bits and pieces of what could be done by a skilled channeler, and the effects were astounding. However, most of what the relics were putting into my head involved up close and personal combat, and I wondered if there were other relics that could teach me other things.

The thoughts tumbled endlessly in my head until I blinked back to reality, sitting there with a fork halfway to my mouth with nothing on it. I got up and went back downstairs after pouring another reasonably warm cup of hachi.

Revana was standing in the middle of a complete mess of conjoined circles, angular lines, and probably

thousands of runes. At the very least, hundreds. She looked up when I came in. “Well, for better or worse, I’m done. This is it.” I could see the tiredness in her glowing eyes and her blue hair was pulled back but still kind of a mess.

“Did you, like, sleep at all?”

“For a while, yeah. I woke up sometime in the night with nothing but runes dancing in my head. I tried to go back to sleep, but it didn’t work, so I came down here.”

“What’s next?”

She walked out of the circles and sat on a box. “Wait until the Inq…Isik gets back.” She gave me a sideways look and a tiny smile. “You really trust her, huh?”

I chuckled. “How many times are you going to ask? Don’t you, yet?,” I asked, gesturing around the room. “After all this shit?”

She leaned back against a set of shelves and stretched her hands behind her head. “I still won’t be super surprised if it’s all a huge trap.” She smiled widely, her eyes crinkling. “It would be a stupidly elaborate one if it was though, wouldn’t it?”

“Extremely.”

With nothing else to do, we found Irina, who had a long list of things to fill up the time. We moved some heavy machines, swept, replaced a couple cabinet doors, and took a lot of old boxes out to the trash. They were the most mundane things I’d done since the last time I was here, and I found myself enjoying them. Being a hero was certainly exciting, but there was a point where you just wanted a little break with something completely normal. We had lunch afterwards, talking about any number of other, normal things as we all conspicuously made no mention of the magic sigils waiting just downstairs.

As we were sitting there afterwards, drinking hachi that Irina had made just because she knew I liked it so much, the bell on the front door rang. I made to stand, but Irina waved me down. “Either it’s a customer who can wait until after the posted lunchtime, or it’s the Inquisitor and she’ll just barge in anyway.”

Very soon after, Isik barged into the room, sat down at the table, and poured herself a glass of hachi without asking. “Hello everyone,” she said after she’d taken a drink. She had her dark purple hair down, flowing around her face, and I thought again how attractive she was. Aside from the horrors.

“Hey,” I said when no one else replied, “what have you been up to?”

She eyed me over her glass and said, “Do you really want to know?”

“I sure don’t. Maybe we can, uh, get started?”

“Yes, yes. The sooner it’s done the sooner I’ll be gone.”

Revana was clearly trying to keep the distaste from her face, although a noticeable amount crept in. “Did you want to sit around and chat with us instead?”

Isik just smiled at the acidic comment. 

“Well!” Irina said, lightly slapping the table. “I’ll get these dishes cleared and you all can head downstairs if you want. Inquisitor, you’re free to refill and take your glass down with you if you like.”

Isik did just that.

She was the last to enter the basement, and an impressed, “Oohhhh,” escaped her lips. “I see you’ve been very busy since last night. I’ve read of the Celestori using pre-made guidance for their rituals, but I haven’t seen it in action.”

“It’ll help Michael perform his part of the ritual and allow me to guide him to what needs to be done.”

There were a few last minute preparations that Isik and Revana needed to make while I stood off to the side, nearly drowning in anticipation. Irina came down and gave me a nervous smile, apparently sharing my feelings on the matter. We just watched the other two make the last adjustments in silence.

When they were done, Isik was left standing inside a circular formation at one end of the mess of sigils and Revana was in the middle. She motioned for me to stand in another spot opposite of Isik.

“I know you’ve never done anything like this,” Revana said, “but it should be reasonably easy. The shae portion of the ritual is actually not that complicated, and the guidelines we drew will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you; you need only channel into the correct minor sigils at the correct times, which I’ll be helping you with.”

She held the dragon scale which still brimmed with golden light, and without warning, she took her shirt off and threw it to the side of the room. I stood there with wide eyes, but no one else reacted in the slightest. I had completely forgotten about Vendira’s total lack of modesty. I tried my best to focus on the matter at hand.

I pulled in the shae, feeling it coursing through my body, and a soft glow started emanating from my skin. 

The ritual began with Isik; she held up her hands and shadows burst forth, trailing down and away into the designs on her half of the floor. There was very clearly a pattern, some parts needing to be activated before others. I could barely keep up with what she was doing, the shadows from her hands leapt and crossed over each other, falling into the lines on the floor.

“Now, Michael, over here.”

I held out my hands, letting the shae issue forth from them into the place Revana had indicated. After that, it was a complicated mess, her guiding me through the complex list of what sigils needed to be activated before what others.

Once my side glowed just as much as Isik’s was drowning in shadow, a rumbling started under our feet. Revana was quick to rally us on, but as the earthquake grew in intensity, parts of the sigils began reacting on their own without my input. 

I started to feel the shae being pulled from my core as I tried to remain standing. The golden glow was being ripped out of me as fast as I could pull it in, the sigil drinking in the magic without end. 

Isik was apparently feeling the same thing; her face was twisted up as the shadows bled from her hands.

“Keep going!”

The dragon scale lifted from Revana’s claws, floating in the air as the darkness and light formed a mini tornado around it, the ground still shaking under our feet. The pull from the ritual became painful; I tried to supply as much of the shae as I could, but as the sweat dripped down my face, I began to seriously worry that it wouldn’t be enough.

Isik was down on one knee, her teeth clamped together as she snarled, fighting to stay as upright as she could.

Finally, Revana reached out and took the scale into her hand and though it seemed to resist being moved from its place in the air, she pulled it close, centering it in the middle of her brand.

The magic boomed as it touched her skin, and she screamed.

Isik and I were both blown back to the ground and I saw Irina dive behind a pile of boxes. 

The two magics swirled heavily around Revana’s body, blocking her from my sight. All I could do was sit there and hope we’d done it right.

Eventually, the tremors subsided and Isik, Irina, and I sat up. The room was wrecked; things had been blown all over the place, boxes ripped open and the things they held strewn everywhere. Revana was laying face down in the middle of the room and the sigils were gone.

I scrambled over to her, turned her over, and pulled her into my lap. 

She opened her eyes slowly. “Are…you okay?”

I laughed at her. “You’ve gotta think of yourself first sometimes, you know? But yes, I’m fine. Are you?”

“Hmm…” She looked down, lightly touching the iridescent, blue scale that seemed to be partially buried in her skin. Her brand was still there, but it was surrounded by a golden ring of patterns that looked like a natural extension of the design that had always been there.

“Does it hurt?”

“No. It did during the ritual, but it just feels weird now.”

Isik had stood and brushed herself off before coming to stand beside us, looking down. “More importantly, did it work?”

Revana glanced into my eyes before we both stood. She closed her eyes and concentrated, and I did my absolute best to keep my eyes off her breasts and my thoughts on the supremely important event that was currently happening.

For a moment, nothing happened. But then the shae portion of her brand glowed softly, a split second before her whole body followed suit. Her eyes shot open and her jaw dropped. She held up her hands and just stared at them as the tears began flowing freely down her face. “Oh…oh…”

“YES!” Irina yelled from the side of the room. She shot over to Revana and wrapped her in a huge bear hug. “Reva! You’re doing it!”

“I’m…doing it.”

Irina let her go only to assault me with the same crushing hug.

Revana smiled at me as I endured it, her tears still flowing freely.

Irina let me go, and to my, and everyone’s, immense surprise, she ran over and wrapped Isik in a huge hug as well.

Isik’s entire body tensed up immediately, a look of terror writ plain on her face. If Irina noticed, she didn’t stop hugging for some time. When she finally did and turned back to Revana, Isik looked into my eyes with the most bewildered expression I’d ever seen. 

“Oh, Reva! What’s it feel like?”

“It’s…” she replied softly with a trembling lip, “like there’s a cool breeze, but in my soul. It’s… everything I ever hoped it would be.”

Isik shook her head, resuming her usual, hard expression. “What can you do with it?”

Revana held out her hand and concentrated. Golden swirls flowed down her arm and pooled at her outstretched palm before they flowed outwards to form a bright sigil in the air. It pulsed and collapsed in on itself, forming a glowing blade made entirely out of the shae. Revana closed her hand around its hilt and gave it a swing before it dissipated. “Oh…well it worked for a little bit.”

Isik nodded. “This isn’t common knowledge, but it takes some time for brands to stabilize. This superbrand is likely no different. Your ability to use the shae will also grow more powerful with time.”

Irina clapped her hands and exclaimed, “I’m so, so happy this worked, Reva! This calls for some ice cream! I’ll be right back.”

We all watched her go, nonplussed about her choice of celebration. Not that I didn’t want the ice cream, though.

Isik looked Revana up and down and said, “Let me try something.” Without warning, she channeled the tenebrae, her eyes on the brand.

Revana winced, her hands going to the designs on her stomach. “Are you…branding me?”

“I am. As I would normally do it. Are you not in pain at all?”

“It’s unpleasant, but no, it’s barely a shadow of being branded.” She looked up at Isik as she stopped channeling, and she extended a clawed hand towards the Inquisitor. “Thank you.”

Isik glanced down before taking her hand. “You’re welcome, Revana, but don’t forget, I didn’t do this solely out of altruism. You will be instrumental in furthering the Celestori’s goals.”

Revana smirked. “Not solely out of altruism? So there was a little bit?”

Isik shrugged. “There isn’t enough time left in my life to balance all my various sins. But yes, let’s just say that I wasn’t completely displeased that my goals aligned with a positive outcome for you.”

Revana smiled widely and said, “That’s probably the best I could get from an Inquisitor.” She tried summoning her blade a few more times, with varying levels of success. “It won’t be as potent as your relic sword,” she told me, “but it’ll be much more versatile than a regular one. Hey, summon your armor.” I did as she asked, and she held her hands up to my chest, channeling into more sigils that glowed and faded into my shae armor, which transformed from the drab, functional design I’d only been able to manifest into thicker, heavier, and more intricately designed patterns, mimicking Isik’s style.

“Whoa.”

I felt the effect fading and channeled my own energy into it, which held firm.

“It should protect you from much more this way.”

Isik nodded. “You might even be able to stand against the Sixteenth if you can hold onto that during a battle.”

I was about to say that I’d love to take that pompous asshole down, but Irina walked back into the room with a grave expression on her face. “Oh…what happened? I’m going to guess something worse than you’ve run out of ice cream.”

She smiled slightly and without humor. “I just received a communication from Lady Tiq. It only contained two words: Help me.”

15

“It’s suicide!” Isik yelled.

“We have to!” Revana yelled back.

“No! I won’t let you throw your lives away immediately after our success here!”

We had all been shocked by Tiq’s message. Isik explained that if she’d been taken by the Gorvani, someone of her stature would only end up in the prison system below the palace in Telorn, and that she was as good as dead. She said it in such a perfunctory tone, as if it had already happened, and she suggested we accept it and move on.

Revana, Irina, and I, of course, disagreed with her. Revana and I were ready to walk out the door that minute and assault the palace, but Isik threatened to brand Irina to get us to stop. 

“You idiots! Aside from the Font itself, the prison is one of the most heavily warded and guarded places in the entire empire!”

“Warded with tenebral magic?” I asked.

Isik cocked her head at me. “Yes, of course with tenebral magic.”

“The same magic I’ve walked through many times, probably without even noticing it? The same wards that the empire thinks are completely foolproof that have zero effect on me? And perhaps on Revana now too?”

“Ugh…” Isik buried her face in her hands. “Yes. Those wards. But still, the prison will be guarded by Gorvani at all times and you have no idea how to navigate it!”

“But you do,” I said.

“Oh for…” Isik started pacing the room. “No one has ever escaped or been broken out of the Imperial jail. No one! You’ll be walking straight into one of the strongest bastions of the empire’s power! If you think the Sixteenth Son was bad, you can’t imagine who might show up if you’re discovered down there.”

“We’re not leaving Tiquette to die,” Revana said.

Isik looked back and forth between us and saw the determination in both our eyes. She stopped pacing and deflated. “I think I must admit to myself that I’m at a severe disadvantage when I can’t brand anyone.”

“Mhmm,” Revana said. “I’m sure it’s quite a new experience for you. But since we’re going to save Tiquette, you might as well help us do it.”

“Fine. FINE!” Isik threw her hands up. “Although this is complete idiocy.”

“Do we know,” I asked, “that Tiq’s actually in the…superjail?”

“No,” Isik said. “We don’t. But I can’t imagine she sent you such a message without cause, and there’s almost no situation in which she’d be taken anywhere other than the Imperial prison, no matter what transgressions she made. What they will do to her once there depends wildly on the situation, but it’s almost assured she’s there.”

“Almost.”

“Yes.”

“So we should probably go to the Astrologia first, then, right?”

Isik nodded slowly, the disdain still plain on her face. “Yes. If nothing else, it will help to know what she was doing.”

Revana laughed. “With Tiquette, it could have been pretty much anything.”

Once we were all in tentative agreement, Revana and I planned to travel to the Astrologia ourselves and Isik said she would meet us there when she was able. Irina was a mess of emotions, still riding the high of the successful superbranding and suffused with dread at talk of the current rescue mission. Before we left the shop, she pushed a dulcet jumper into my hands.

“I know you will, but please be careful, okay? And bring everyone back to me alive.” Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes, but she seemed to be holding back a wave of emotions during our goodbyes. 

As we walked to the local portal nexus, Revana was completely silent with a decidedly neutral look on her face.

I took her hand in mine and she jumped, coming out from whatever thoughts she’d been mired in. “We’ll find her,” I said.

“Tiquette’s been pushing her limits for years now, requesting more and more exotic and illegal things to experiment on. She’s told me about some close calls, but she’s always managed to slip out of whatever problems she got herself into. I think the Gorvani were often willing to look the other way because of her genius; she’s developed a lot of things they’ve found very useful over the years. I can’t imagine what she’s done this time. It could be practically anything.”

“Yeah, remember what Isik said about suspecting her for a long time? She probably wasn’t the only Inquisitor to take an interest.” I saw Revana’s lips press into a thin line and regretted saying anything. “But it doesn’t matter; we’ll get her out. It’ll be fine.”

Revana gave me a soft, little smile. “I know you’re just saying that, but I’m going to hang on to it anyway.”

The trip through the portals and then the streets of Terlorn was uneventful, and before I knew it, we were standing there, looking up at the massive Astrologia. “So, last time I just walked in through some wards I didn’t even know existed. How are we going to get you in now?”

She bit her lip, following my gaze up to the top of the building. “I think I can shield myself from the relatively minor wards that’ll be placed on the doors.”

“You think, huh? What happens if you’re wrong?”

“Well,” she said, shrugging, “it won’t be able to brand me very much, but it will alert everyone around and we’ll be swarmed with Gorvani and enforcers.”

“That…doesn’t sound great.”

“We can always sprint out of there and hope we can be somewhere else by the time any actual response happens. But…either way, it’ll be a good test of my new abilities.” 

I wished we’d had more time to test her channeling or even just enjoy the success of it being possible, but here we were. “I don’t love this plan, but let’s do it anyway.” I led us back around the building to the same loading dock I had infiltrated the last time I’d come. There were only a few people milling about and it was easy to duck behind golems and piles of material to make our way to the small door. I had to look closely, but it did indeed have the same wavey mass of shadows lazily shifting across the opening. I stepped through.

Revana looked around one last time before she started glowing. A sigil of bright runes coalesced around her before spinning and morphing into a golden sphere that surrounded her whole body. Without any hesitation, she stepped through the door too.

We waited and watched, but nothing happened. 

She dropped the magic and let out a breath she’d clearly been holding. “Wow. It worked!”

“Uhhh…did you think it wasn’t going to?”

“Well I couldn’t be sure, now could I? I’ve never done any of this before.”

“You know what,” I said, giving her a long stare. “I’m glad you didn’t confide that in me beforehand. Anyway, there’s a locker room over this way. We can dress up like runners and everyone’ll just let us walk around wherever we want.” After she gave me a raised eyebrow, I added, “Seriously. No one’s even gonna look twice. We’ll be way below their notice.”

The locker room was empty this time and we easily stole a couple of outfits and were out in the hallways within minutes. Based on Revana’s pressed together lips and constantly shifting gaze, she was doubting my plan. “Well don’t look like that! Look bored and overworked. Pretend you’ve just pulled a long shift and someone told you you needed to do a couple hours of overtime. You’re super annoyed, but you can’t say or do anything about it, right? So you’re just gonna really half ass the job during the rest of the day. Your goal is to do just enough work not to get yelled at, so you can finally go home and enjoy what little of the day is left.”

She very slowly turned her head to look at me. “Michael, that was an oddly detailed explanation.”

“Maybe, but based on the other runners I saw when I was here, I think it’s pretty accurate. You’ll blend right in.”

She did a reasonably good job taking my advice, but she still jumped whenever someone unexpectedly came around a corner. Fortunately, we didn’t see many important people on our trip through the long halls, and the ones we did barely looked at us, if at all.

“See? We’re not even worth looking at.”

Tiq’s door was closed but not locked. A mass of dread sat heavy in my stomach as I turned the knob, and I braced myself for the carnage that would be waiting on the other side. The door swung open to reveal…the room exactly as I remembered it. “Oh. I was expecting this place to be trashed.”

Revana shook her head. “Why?”

“Oh I don’t know. Too many movies I guess.”

“...What?”

“Nothing. Let’s find what we came here for.”

We split up, each taking a side of the massive room. I walked down endless bookshelves and past so many tables littered with experiments that I couldn’t even begin to make sense of. We met each other in the little side room where Tiq and I had had tea. “I didn’t find anything relevant. At least not that I could tell, you?”

Revana shook her head. “No. Nothing.”

As we stood there uselessly, a thought popped into my head. “Oh, Tiq told me she had secret rooms here. One was behind a bookshelf and the other—”

“Oh! I’m an idiot! You’re right; she does have secret rooms. And I know exactly what you’re talking about. She only showed it to me once a long time ago, but I think I can still get into it.”

Revana led us into the bathroom and stood in the tub.

“Uh, you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Not really, but you wouldn’t expect a secret room here, would you?”

I sure couldn’t argue with that. I waited and watched as she fiddled with a couple paintings and wall sconces before she pushed in an otherwise unnoticeable portion of the wall, hidden just as masterfully as the exterior doors at the Carvers’ Guild had been. The wall swung soundlessly back, revealing a short hallway.

Revana stepped over the edge of the tub and into it. “She told me it was a hassle getting materials back here having to walk over the bathtub, but that was precisely why she hid it here; any sane person wouldn’t ever think to look.”

The hallway ended in a thick, heavily carved door that was thankfully unlocked. It opened into a reasonably well sized room with tables pushed up against every single wall. “Oh shit,” I said, involuntarily recoiling from the sight of a half-decaying beast sitting in a large tray to my left. It had too many mouths and I was still getting over the trauma of being chased by an angry hoard of them deep underneath the earth.

“One of the shadow korids!” Revana walked over and prodded it with one claw. Apparently she wasn’t as squeamish as I was after our encounter. The thing didn’t move, but it still trailed shadows that drifted lightly away from its carapace. “Why would she have one of these?”

“I think this might answer that question.” On the table next to the corpse was a mechanical arm holding a tiny yet brightly glowing shard of what looked like metal. It was positioned in a way so it could be easily poked into the korid’s body.

Revana looked at it with wide eyes. “Unbelievable!” She poked it as well, with almost more trepidation than she’d shown with the korid. “It’s a fragment of a shae relic.”

“Oh.” I looked at the piece and back to the korid, an idea forming in my head. “Hey, so royals are suffused with the tenebrae, right?”

Revana nodded. “Yeah. Remember Sixteen? His skin color was changed since he’s absorbed so much of it.”

“Do you think Tiq was trying to figure out how to kill a royal? Or at least how much energy it would take to do so?”

We shared a look and Revana said, “I think you’re probably right. And her obtaining even this tiny piece of a relic…I think she finally overstepped her bounds with this.”

“At least they didn’t find it.”

She shuddered. “Yeah. They probably would have just flayed her alive right here if they had.”

We were standing there, processing what we’d just found when the heavy door started to creak open.

16

Idrew my sword, summoned my armor, and tried to channel as much energy as I could into the blade. It should have occurred to me, but hadn’t, that this place might be being watched. We were completely trapped in the little room.

Revana’s hands glowed and sigils formed around them, but she wavered on her feet and the magic went out.

Not now, not now! I rushed over to stand in front of her, my glowing sword held out before me, ready to cut down any number of Gorvani that stepped into the room. My head immediately went to exit strategies, and none of them were amazing. Even if we made it out of this room, we’d have to leave Tiq’s giant library, make it downstairs, and out of Telorn.

An Inquisitor in tenebrous armor pushed the door open and came into the room. When she saw what lay before her, she started laughing uncontrollably.

I let out a huge breath, cut off my flow of shae, and sheathed my sword. “You could have called out or something, Isik.”

It took her a minute to stop laughing at us. “Called out to the unknown people in the hidden room? I don’t think so. But you were both very cute, backed into a corner as you were. You really should have been more careful.”

I gave her a level look. “Uh huh. Thanks for the advice. Now that you’re here, take a look at this.” I gestured to the korid and the relic shard.

Isik’s eyes got very wide and she slowly stepped over to the table, looking at the things from every angle she could. She didn’t speak for a while, but after a thorough examination, she turned to us. “She’s trying to figure out how to kill a royal. And she has a splintered piece of a legitimate shae relic.” She shook her head. “Oh, Lady Tiquette. Even for you, that would be too much for the Inquisition to overlook.”

“Hey, you two? Come look at this.”

Revana had wandered to the other side of the room and was gently prodding a supremely weird, long metal device. The ends had circular ports of some kind leading into a few smooth, solid joints and the middle was a long series of scale-like, interlocked plates. The entire thing was made of shiny metal and it had grooves wrapping all over it that reminded me of the arcanic channels carved into portal arches. Next to it were long, glowing rods with caps of the same bright metal that seemed like they would attach to the first device. Somehow. “What could it be?” Revana asked.

Neither Isik nor I answered at first.

She picked it up, testing the joints and the flexibility of the middle, scaled section. “It’s much lighter than I thought it would be.” It was like a long snake with two sets of bones at either end. 

I gingerly picked up one of the rods next to it. This one wasn’t glowing like the others so I assumed it was safer to handle. “They’re colored like arcanic batteries.”

Revana turned around from a large, complex machine she’d been looking at. “Hey, give me that.” She took the rod and placed it into a port in the machine where it was clearly supposed to go. She gave me a look and a shrug before pulling a lever on the side of it.

Isik arched an eyebrow but said nothing as the contraption hummed to life. 

It grinded and whirred, and we all watched as the dull rod began to glow like the others that were laying on the table. After it was done, Isik ran her hands over the metal face of it, pulling open a door I hadn’t noticed. Inside were a few rows of regular batteries, all lines up in ports of their own. “I believe that this,” she said while taking out the brightly glowing rod, “is a new version of battery. And based on what I just saw, it holds as much as ten normal ones and is quite a bit smaller as well.”

“Oh my,” Revana said under her breath. “That’s been tried before, hasn’t it?”

“It has. There has been some progress made that hasn’t been released to the public, but nothing like this. It seems as if Lady Tiquette has beaten everyone to a working prototype. The implications to infrastructure are far reaching, but I’m guessing that that wasn’t her end goal.” Isik took the newly powered mini battery, and after quite a bit of trial and error, she fit it into the mystery device. The thing drank in the arcanae, its carved channels lighting up as it powered on. She set it carefully back down on the table and we all stood there looking at it. It didn’t do anything more, though.

Isik and Revana began guessing as to what it was, anything from a new version of boot scrubber all the way to a flying machine. 

I stood there and let them guess for a while. Perhaps it was because I was from Earth and knew enough about humanity’s long, long history with technological innovation, or maybe they had lived too long without hope of resistance, but I thought it was pretty obvious what it very likely was.

“Uh, maybe it’s a weapon,” I said.

They both turned to look at me, then back at the device, and they slowly stepped backwards. Isik said, somewhat breathlessly, “A true arcanic weapon. Such a thing has long been regarded as unstable and too reliant on power. Attempts have been made for large ones that spliced into a city’s power grid, but even then, they’ve never been functional enough to be a real consideration.”

Revana picked up one of the glowing battery rods. “I’ll bet that’s why she refined the design of these. And that’s on top of who knows what the actual device itself does.”

Isik shook her head, a dazed look on her face. “I think that Lady Tiquette’s genius is a magnitude higher than any of us had even surmised.”

“So,” Revana said, “this is all well and good, but we have what we came for, right? We likely know why they took Tiquette. Is that enough, Isik, to give us a probable location for her in the prison?”

Isik slowly looked around the room and at each of us in turn. “I was really hoping the two of you would’ve come to your senses by now. That you, now that you’re standing in Telorn, in the shadow of the palace itself, would have realized the sheer stupidity of your plan.”

“We have not.”

“Ugh…” Isik brought her hand to her face. “I really, really dislike not being able to brand the two of you. But since you’re so dead set on this lunacy, I suppose the best I can do is help you not get killed. If Lady Tiquette was suspected of procuring such severely illegal material as this, she would be subject to intense interrogation first, to root out any and all other details of the situation.” Revana winced at the mention of interrogation, but Isik said, “Oh, it will be incredibly unpleasant, but she won’t be tortured; the Inquisition is completely aware that pain does not produce truth. The truth will be discovered, and then there will be pain. We’re easily a week or weeks away from that, depending on how tough she is to crack. And I’ll bet it will take considerable time for even seasoned Inquisitors to accomplish that.”

“So how do we get in?” I asked.

With a faraway look on her face, Isik said, “You know, I was really hoping I could complete the Celestori’s work and summon the dragon before I overstepped my hand.” She sighed and looked at us in turn. “What I’m about to tell you is only known by the royalty and the Inquisition. I suppose it’s possible they’ll believe you found such things some other way, but it will be extremely suspicious. They won’t suspect me at first, but it’s going to stir the pot in a way I intensely dislike.”

“This was never going to be clean,” Revana said.

“Oh spare me. Anyway, there are maintenance tunnels running all through the palace and everything under it, except the royal vault. Some of these tunnels run along exterior walls and are not exceptionally well defended, besides the fact that they are indistinguishable from miles and miles of mundane stone. If you knew precisely where to cut, you would find your way into tunnels that could lead you into the prison proper. There are, still, numerous tenebrous wards to contend with, and they won’t be like the weak versions in the Astrologia. On that note,” she said, looking at Revana, “when I came in, your magic faltered, which is yet another reason this entire plan is essentially doomed. Should anything go awry and you try to defend yourself, a failed spell will see you dead. Or, more likely, in a situation where you wished you were dead.”

“Yes…” Revana said, her eyes wandering over to the tiny, shae-infused shard. “There might be a way to get around that for now.” She opened the mechanical arm that held it and took the shard, eyeing it warily. “Although it’s older magic, it should still work. Michael, I’m going to need you to help me channel, to make sure this doesn’t fail.”

“Uhh…”

“Oh my,” Isik said. “Is this what I think it is? The Celestori knew of such things, but they didn’t know how to perform them. I never thought I’d get to see such a thing.”

“Revana?”

She gave me a half-hearted smile. “Ancient blood rite.”

“Wow,” I said. “That sounds just stellar. Care to explain a little more?”

“Long before relics like yours, shards like this were the only things channelers of the shae could create. They can’t do anything modern relics can, but they could be used to bolster a channeler’s power.”

“Based on the faces you two are making, I’m gonna guess this isn’t a fun, easy event.”

Isik chuckled to herself.

“No,” Revana said. “The shard has to be implanted in my body, allowing its shae reserves to flow into me. I’ll be able to channel much more while it lasts, but there are some…downsides.”

“Of course there are.”

“Once the shard is spent, if it’s not taken out, it’ll start to pull shae through me, or if I can’t do that, it’ll take my life essence instead.”

“Oh, don’t forget that it might corrupt your blood,” Isik added.

“Right. It might do that too.”

I blinked at her. “This sounds like a pretty damn bad idea.”

“Finally!” Isik said.

“Well, it’s either this or Tiq dies,” Revana said. “Isik is right; without time to let my new brand stabilize, I might be more of a liability. When we came here, I was hoping it would be fine, but even this one failure tells me it’s not completely ready.”

I sighed heavily. “Okay. If we can make this work, how long will the shard last?”

“There’s no real way to know. But we only need a few hours at most, right?”

We both looked at Isik.

“Yes. Assuming this doesn’t all blow up in your faces, a successful extraction, which I still do not recommend attempting, shouldn’t take too long. I can direct you to a tunnel that will end up somewhat close to where Lady Tiquette is likely being held.”

“It’s settled, then. We’re doing it. Michael, place your hands on me and help me channel.”

It seemed that the time for conversation was over, so I did as she asked, pulling the shae into myself and pushing it out through my hands and into her skin. Her own power welled up and coalesced in her clawed fingers.

An extremely complex set of sigils appeared and centered around the shard. Seconds later, Revana held out her right palm and slammed the metal into it.

I was blinded by the resulting light and looked away. When it finally faded, Revana was down on one knee, her left hand grasping her right wrist. Blood trailed down from her palm, and the pain was plain on her face, but she had kept from screaming this time. “It’s…done. I can feel it. It will be enough.” Her words came slowly, but she stood and shook her head. “I’ll be fine. The clock’s ticking now, so let’s get going.”

Without another word or glance at us, she walked out of the room.

17

Isik shrugged and turned to leave.

“Wait, shouldn’t we take the…weapon thing?”

“Assuming that’s what it is, you don’t even know how to use it.”

“No, but Tiq does.”

“Good point. Might as well. I’ll make sure Revana doesn’t rush into anything stupid. Come quickly.”

I went out into Tiq’s rooms and found a suitable bag to put the device in. Aside from its pretty unwieldy nature, it wasn’t particularly big or heavy. I found Revana tapping her foot at the door to the hallway with an irritated Isik standing beside her.

“I’ve given Revana the best instructions I can for your little foray into certain death. I certainly won’t be walking you to the site itself; you’re on your own now. Should you survive, head to the Seventh and find Mephina at the Guild again. She’ll direct you to the Celestori’s headquarters, which is where we should all be going right now.”

“Last time I asked her about that, she barely admitted it existed.”

“She has different orders this time. But go. Now. Get this over with.”

7The trip out of the Astrologia was just as easy as the trip inside, and once we were walking down the streets, I said, “So, Isik told you where we’re going?”

“She gave me surprisingly specific instructions, yes. Like, so specific that she must have planned something like this before. Based on her description of the tunnels we’re after, no one would have such information just offhand without a ridiculously detailed map.” Her right hand was curled up and free of blood, and while I wanted to know how much it hurt, I elected not to ask.

“Is it a public place?”

“It’s near one, but the actual entry point should be hidden, which is yet another convenience that makes me think she didn’t just come up with this.”

“You think she knew we’d want to rescue Tiq?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m pretty sure her disdain for this is real. I think she wanted to bust someone else out a long time ago, but never went through with it.”

“She told me on our trip to get the scale about someone she loved that she had to turn in to the Empire shortly before she became an Inquisitor.”

Revana was quiet for a moment before she said, “That must have been difficult.”

“Are you…hating her any less?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I can’t deny what she just did for me, but it’s going to take some time.”

Isik’s directions were pretty easy to follow and we found ourselves at an outdoor market nestled under the looming walls at the center of the city that housed not only the Palace, but the prison, a fancy vault, and probably a thousand other things. We browsed a few stalls before slipping into a narrow alleyway that crept around a small building and exposed the bottom of the massive wall. It was filled with all manner of junk, which was lucky.

“Here,” Revana said, pointing to a seam in the huge stone blocks. “Cut here, and we’re in.”

I drew my sword, imbued it with the flow of shae, and cut into the rock. The blade didn’t slice stone quite as easily as it did armor and flesh, but it was still quick and easy. I tried my best to carve in at an angle so we could pull the newly hewn door ‘closed.’ Of course we piled up some boxes and large sheets of metal to cover our tracks as well. In no time at all, we’d slipped into a dank hall completely devoid of light.

Runes burst into the air around Revana’s hand, and instantly became a floating ball of light. She looked down at it fondly. “My hand still hurts but there’s no denying the power the shard’s providing. I’ll be sad to lose it.”

I looked at the glinting metal lodged in her skin and said nothing.

We turned right and followed the hall, which very, very slightly curved to the left. “So what now?”

“We follow this for a long time, until we come to an access port numbered 3321.”

“She knew the access port number we’d want. Wow, she really did plan this all before.”

“Right!?”

“And then what?”

Revana gave me a pained smile. “Well, that's when it gets a lot more messy. The area Tiquette should be in isn’t where we’ll come out into the prison. We’re actually going to end up in a cell, which shouldn’t be a problem, but we’ll have to go through a few areas that will be actively guarded. And Isik was very clear on one point: we are not to leave anyone alive or give them the slightest chance to react.”

“Stealth kills all the way, is it?” I imagined it would be worlds harder to pull off in real life than in a game, and there would be no resets.

“Just so. However, I’ll bet there’s not a single person down here who honestly expects there to be trouble. As far as Isik knew, no one had ever broken in or out of the place. So anyone we stumble across is going to be just as, if not much more, surprised than we are. There’s also going to be a complete mess of wards, but with your power and my skill, we should be able to circumvent them pretty easily.”

That sounded nice, but I doubted anything about this was going to be easy. “How do we get out? Same way as we got in?”

“There are two options, apparently. The first is, yes, come back the way we came in. If we can’t do that, we can leave through the sewer system, which should be faster, although it would involve more wards and iron grates to cut through. Also I was told that it’s the way that the imperials have always suspected escapees would take.”

“Okay. Aside from that, why didn’t we come in that way if it’s faster?”

“Well, can you swim up a waterfall?”

“Oh. Unlikely. And that begs the question: does that option involve jumping down one?”

“It does.”

“Huh. Do you have a spell to slow our fall then?”

She gave me a huge smile that didn’t touch her eyes. “Well…no. What I can do is protect us with shields. So that when we, uh, slam into the ground or water at terminal velocity, we won’t die.” After a really long pause, she added, “Probably.”

I stopped and just stared at her. “Let's just come back this way.”

She nodded. “Yeah, let’s.”

It was a while before we found access port 3321, and the entire time we were walking there, I kept thinking about how stupid it was to have a person-sized area to crawl into if it was a prison, like so many air ducts in movies. When we got there, however, it turned out that this ‘port’ was about two inches tall and eight inches wide, tops. “Oh I see. I’m supposed to cut this open too.”

“Yeah, but let’s wait a few minutes.”

We laid down on the floor of the tunnel, our faces pressed to the tiny opening, waiting. The cell, such as it was, was pretty lavish compared to what I had expected. There was a bed and toilet, but the room wasn’t cramped and the bed had actual covers on it. There was not, I was relieved to see, a prisoner currently there. I wondered what we would have done had there been. In addition to that, there didn’t seem to be a door. Just an opening that really seemed like it should have a door in it. I mentioned it to Revana.

“Tenebrous wards, remember?”

“Oh, right. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to remember that. It just seems like there should be more than one layer of protection.”

“You don’t need that if literally everyone has a brand. This is why they’ve historically been so overwhelmingly brutal against anyone who tries to hide a newborn from getting branded.”

Eventually, a Gorvani guard passed by. We waited for a while longer, but they didn’t come past the cell door, such as it was, again. “We might as well go?”

“Let me try something first,” Revana said. She stood and channeled the shae, which glowed brightly around her entire body. She closed her eyes in concentration, and for a brief few seconds, she summoned shae armor of her own. It quickly faded away, though, the glow splintering into nothingness. “Oh well. I tried. Here, give me your bag. It’ll be weird under your armor. Not that you’ll need it, of course.”

“No, of course not. In and out. Easy.” I handed her the bag and started making cuts into the stone, and we slowly and quietly worked pieces out of the widening opening. I figured if I cut it all at once, it’d just fall into the room and we’d be off to a pretty terrible start. Once the opening was big enough, I slid down into the space with Revana coming close behind. We stood on either side of the door, listening, and after a moment, we heard footsteps coming.

We leaned back into the room, let the sound pass, and then I glided out the door, stepped up to the guard, and with the memories of hundreds of warriors and assassins flowing through my mind, I quickly and efficiently brought my sword up and cut into him at the base of the skull, wrapping my free arm around him as he started to fall. His tenebrous armor faded into mist without a sound, and with the shae flowing through my body, I found I could easily pick him up with one arm and drag him into the cell we’d just left. There was barely even any blood, and I’d left none in the hallway.

Revana gave me a wicked grin and said, “Yeah, just like that.”

At the end of the hall was a thick iron door, which I expected to be a huge hurdle, but it was unlocked. I stepped through and Revana covered herself in a glowing shield before she did, and I could see the ward curve away from her body as she came through. We emerged into a larger, central room with a high ceiling and doors all throughout the rounded walls. In the middle was a raised platform with a variety of cages and shackles, and looked to be a stopping point before prisoners were carted off into the other sections of the prison.

There were three Gorvani, two women and a man standing around, and I really hoped luck was on our side, because once we’d come out of the hall and into the room where we could see them, it was too late to go back.

However, luck was not on our side.

One of the women looked up and exclaimed with wide eyes. “I—es…escapees!”

Shit.

I summoned my armor and drew my sword and sprinted at her.

Her eyes were still huge as she brought her hands up and channeled, dark shadows swirling around her hands. She held them out at me, but I didn’t slow down, bringing my sword up through her body, severing, among other parts, her head, which rolled sickeningly on the stone floor.

I felt Revana’s shae whirling around me, bolstering my armor seconds before a weight slammed down into my back and I turned to see the man wielding a massive warhammer composed of the tenebrae. His face was just as shocked when I turned to face him, unharmed. I cut through his weapon and into his chest. He stumbled back as I stepped forward and took off his head. The horror of what I was doing again washed over me without emotion. I didn’t know if it was the relics or if I really was getting used to this.

I heard footsteps running away from me and saw the last woman running for the edge of the room where a group of levers were set into the wall, which were almost certainly an alarm. I bolted after her, knowing I wouldn’t be able to catch her in time.

Tiny runic rings appeared in front of her face before exploding into a huge flash of light. She stumbled and fell, one hand over her eyes. Within seconds, I was on her, and with a quick slash, her head rolled like the others.

I stood there looking around at the carnage. “That…did not go as well. We’re not going to be able to hide any of this.”

Revana stood beside me, glowing with the shae. “No, but they couldn’t raise the alarm. We need to be fast.”

Finding the section of the prison we wanted turned out to be extremely easy, and we came into another small hallway with one more guard, standing away from us. I dispatched him with the same ease as the first. It didn’t feel quite so satisfying after the last bungled room, though.

I looked into the cells here and wow, this was certainly the place for higher status prisoners; they were huge and had lots of amenities and looked quite comfortable. “Why would they bother with this?”

“I don’t actually know,” Revana said, “but if they wanted to extract information, torture and misery aren’t the best ways to do that. At least according to Isik. I’m not sure how much I believe that, given the Gorvani’s penchant for inflicting as much pain as possible at all times.”

“True, but that’s for making an example, I think.”

She grimaced. “You’re probably right. But instead of thinking about that, let’s find Tiquette.”

It took no real amount of searching before we found Tiq, who was sitting on her bed, up against the wall with her head lowered into her hands. She wore a formless, gray dress and nothing else, although she still had all of her piercings it seemed. I stepped into the room and she stirred but didn’t look up. “Oh, here you come again. How quaint. What will it be this time? Another promise of release? You can barely give those to me with a straight face; I can tell.”

I smiled down at her. “They might not have meant it, but we do!”

She looked up sharply and broke into a huge smile just before she launched herself off the bed and into my arms. “Michael! Revana!”

I let my armor go just before she slammed into me, and I hugged her back as tight as I could.

“I didn’t know if my message would actually make it to you or not! I’ve been sitting here fretting, wondering how I could get out on my own.” She let go and stepped back, still beaming. “I’ve come up with no less than a dozen theories, but honestly, not a single one of them seemed like they would have had any real probability of success.”

She turned and hugged Revana, who had a few tears running down her face. “Don’t cry, Revi; I’m fine! They barely had time to begin their overtures.”

Revana wiped her face and sighed. “I see that. I was just so worried.”

Tiq looked her up and down, her brow furrowing when she saw her hand. She grabbed it and pulled Revana’s palm up for a closer inspection. “What on Vendira is this?” Revana started to answer, but Tiq cut her off. “No! No, don’t tell me.”

I wasn’t sure we had time for Tiq’s guessing games, but I didn’t have the heart to stop her.

“You accessed my hidden chambers I see. Before you ask: no, my tests on burning the tenebrae out of the royals had not yet yielded results,” she said, grimacing. “But you have the shard…in your flesh…” She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. “Almost like…a blood rite. But that would only be effective if…” Without warning, she pulled up Revana’s shirt, exposing her new brand.

Tiq froze, her eyes as wide as I’d ever seen them. Her mouth worked soundlessly as she stared. “No…impossible. But…clearly not.” Her hand traced the outer edges of the dark part of Revana’s brand. “A functioning superbrand! Held in place with an extension of the shadowbrand…” Her eyes flicked over to me. “And a shae ring, anchored to an intact dragon scale surrounding…”

She stood up, her hand over her mouth and tears of her own working down her cheeks. “Oh, Revi, does that mean…can you!?

Revana smiled and began glowing. “I can.” 

Tiq squealed and hugged her tight again. She rocked back and forth before releasing Revana, with a concerned face. “If that shard is indeed embedded as a blood rite, then we should get moving.”

I’m not sure why I thought we would need to explain anything to her, but I was still impressed by what she knew and what she could immediately figure out. “One thing before we go, though. We brought something I thought would be helpful.”

“I was kinda dubious,” Revana said, “but Michael seemed to think this is a weapon and that you’d be able to use it.” She pulled the silvery contraption out of the bag and handed it to Tiq.

“OH! Yes! I can’t believe you brought it! Yes, this is indeed an arcanic weapon,” she said, her voice filled with obvious pride. “So many of my contemporaries said it couldn’t be done! Well I sure showed them! I wish I hadn’t been captured and stripped of my station, otherwise I’d be shoving this into their pompous, smug faces at every opportunity! I will admit, though, that it has not been field tested, but this is the perfect situation to fire it up!” She wrapped it around her shoulders, the scaled, flexible part curving around and laying close against her skin while the rigid, jointed sections matched up exactly with her arms. She’d clearly modified it for her own body. “Okay! Oh, wait, one question first.”

“We, uh, kinda need to get moving, Tiq,” I said.

“I know, I know, but we might die and I just need to know.” She gestured to Revana and said, “You needed a tenebrous channeler to make that work. And a highly skilled one at that. How did you accomplish it?”

Revana and I shared a look before she answered, “Isik performed it. And she procured the dragon scale as well.”

“Inquisitor Isik? That Isik?”

“Yeah,” I said. “And she’s pretty much the boss of the dragon cult from what I understand.” 

Tiq’s jaw dropped and she just stood there, dumbfounded. 

“But we really need to get going.”

“...Okay. Okay. I’ll process all that later.”

I left the cell, and Revana took Tiq’s hand and summoned a bright shield that covered both of their bodies before coming through the ward. Just like the other times, it parted like oil and water around the shae and they were safely through. They repeated that for the ward into the central room, which didn’t seem to have changed in the last few minutes; the bodies we’d created still lay still on the floor and no one else had shown up in the meantime. I faintly allowed myself to hope that we’d get out smoothly.

Of course, that was stupid.

18

Tiq stepped on a seemingly unremarkable place on the floor, and a whirlwind of dark magic flew up and enveloped her. She doubled over in pain, her eyes wide, but she didn’t cry out. 

With no help from anyone, all the doors that had been open around the room slammed shut while tendrils of the tenebrae raced over the floors and walls, while some slipped up invisible channels into the ceiling.

“Well, shit.” I ran to the door we’d come in through and found it impossible to budge. I drew my sword and pressed it in, but there was a heavy resistance from the tenebrae. The magics sparked and pulsed against each other, and while I knew I could cut the door open given enough time, it seemed pretty damn likely that we did not have said time. I looked back at the others in a panic.

“dammit,” Revana growled. “Only one way out now.”

I resummoned my armor and rushed to Tiq, picking her up easily and throwing her over my shoulder. 

She grunted but said nothing, her eyes still shut tightly.

Revana sprinted around the room until she found a staircase leading down and waved me to follow. The stairs wound downwards in a soft curve, and I was terrified we’d run into another magicked door I wouldn’t have time to open, but that never happened, and before I knew it, the stairs opened up into a massive, circular room. The entire thing had a mesh grate for a floor, sitting above a huge pool of water that was rushing away down an enormous pipe, probably leading to the waterfall we were heading towards. Despite being a sewer, the smell was not overwhelmingly bad.

Tiq gave me a tap and I set her down before we all began bolting for the other side. I looked back, expecting more guards hot on our tail, but there was nothing. When I looked forward again, I groaned. A free standing cloud of dark shadows had appeared in the center of the room, between us and our escape.

It fell into itself and with a huge crack and wave of power, and after the shadows cleared, there was a man standing there.

“VERMIN,” he yelled.

“Oh for fuck’s sake. Not this asshole!”

It was indeed that asshole, Gor’drelar, Sixtee—

“I AM GOR’DRELAR, SIXTEENTH SON OF HIS MOST GRAND MAJESTY, THE EMPEROR OF THE GORVANI EMPIRE AND YOUR DOOM!” He threw his hands to the side, and like last time, he was only garbed from the waist down, his pristine white robes billowing away from his body.

I glanced at Revana. “Okay. This time?”

She nodded, a bit of fear creeping into her eyes. “I think we have to, but yeah, we might be able to take him.” While Sixteen was still monologuing about us being vermin or something, Revana channeled into my armor, solidifying it more than she had before, covering it with spikes and making it much heavier. 

I pulled the shae into my body, allowing me to easily carry the weight. I pushed it out through my sword which gleamed brightly, the shae extending a foot beyond the tip of the blade. I had one last thought, summoning a helmet for the first time. As I’d seen happen in someone else’s memories, I made the faceplate completely solid, but I was still able to see through it from my side.

Tiq raised her arms and activated her device, sending out blobs of pure arcanae that looked like, and might actually have been, ball lightning. They slammed into the walls high above Gor’drelar and were probably just test shots. Tiq had a viciously pleased smile on her face.

Sixteen stopped talking and just slowly turned and looked at the crumbling holes Tiq had left in the wall, before shaking his head. “YOUR TOYS WILL NOT SAVE—”

“Oh will you just shut the fuck up?” Revana screamed as she lifted her right hand, summoning a huge sigil on the ground centered around Gor’drelar. A second later, it exploded, and he cried out in his amplified voice.

When the light faded, he looked at all of us with complete bewilderment. I couldn’t imagine anyone had ever spoken to him in that way, let alone hurt him. I knew I had barely scratched him with my own power the last time we’d met.

Shockingly, he actually did shut the fuck up. He raised his hands and channeled the tenebrae with a look of strained determination. If I’d had to guess, he was scared of us, which brought a smile to my face. 

I didn’t waste any time; I rushed for him, my blazing sword ready to strike.

He tensed, and just before I made contact with him, he vanished into a mist of shadows, reappearing across the room. When I ran for him again, another ring of runes sprang to life under his feet. He summoned a shield of darkness, akin to Revana’s shae, as the sigil exploded. I leapt into the light, hoping to strike him down, but he’d teleported again, this time next to Revana, who was now on the other side of the room as I was.

“Shit,” I muttered, running back towards her. This was probably his plan; kill the other two who weren’t wrapped in armor first.

He opened his hands at her, releasing a tidal wave of blackness, but I caught a glint of shae before it collided, and while it shoved her away and left her on her back, she didn’t seem to be harmed. He turned to me and four jet black circles opened in the air above him.

I skidded to a halt, unsure of what was happening, but it became quickly clear when magical spears began shooting out of them in rapid succession. I cut as many as I could into trailing tendrils of energy, but one after another slammed into my armor. It protected me from any serious damage, but the endless rain was knocking me down and wearing through my strength to resist.

Tiq’s device fired, and two back-to-back balls of arcanae crashed into the side of Gor’drelar’s head. 

His spear-throwing portals vanished and he was thrown to the ground, where he immediately vanished, reappearing beside Tiq.

“No!”

Revana’s tiny blinding spell burst in front of his eyes, giving me just enough time to get to him. I thrust my sword into his lower back, and it sank up to the hilt, the blade protruding from his stomach. 

He screeched and turned just enough for me to see his terror-filled eyes. I was just about to carve my sword out through his side, but he disappeared again.

“Stay together,” I said. “He’s trying to pick us off.”

He appeared on the other side of the room, on his knees, panting. I didn’t notice any sign of the wound I’d just inflicted on him, but although he’d clearly healed it, it had taken a toll nonetheless. “This…” he said in a normal voice, “isn’t possible! Vermin like you…you shouldn’t be able to…” He shook his head and stood, calling more shadows to him, although judging by his pained face, it was an effort to do so.

Blobs of darkness swirled on the ground, shooting up and out before morphing into six shadowy copies of Gorvani with long, wicked looking claws at the end of their hands.

They started running for us when Revana clapped her hands over her head, and with an effort, she opened four glowing portals of her own. She cried out, and two of them immediately fizzled, but the other two began spewing out golden spears. 

Tiq’s device rang out, sending out balls of arcanae one after another.

Even with all that, two of the shadow copies came close. I sliced at one, separating it through the middle. The second one managed to dodge a few of my strikes until Revana trapped it with a circle of shae, where I cut it apart.

After they were all gone, the two women began pelting Gor’drelar with all they could, keeping up a consistent barrage of projectiles.

If his constant growling and screaming were any indication, he was pissed. He attempted more portals, but between the constant bright explosions and nonstop hammering of Tiq’s device, he couldn’t concentrate enough to keep them open. 

He teleported again, appearing behind Tiq this time, but the three of us spun as a unit, putting me toe to toe with him. The tenebrous strike he’d planned for Tiq boomed against my chest, but I barely felt a thing under the armor. With a snarl on his lips, he tried a double-fisted, overhand strike bursting with black magic, but I spun out of the way, my sword gaining momentum as I twirled around, and it sliced cleanly through both of his outstretched arms below the elbows.

He screamed, his face a rictus of terror. Dark purple blood flowed from both stumps and he stumbled away from me. “You…can’t…you…” He teleported away, but only to the far side of the room where he collapsed in a heap on the floor.

I started towards him, ready to end it.

“Michael, wait.” Revana grabbed my arm, shaking her head.

“What? But he’s—”

The air around Gor’drelar twisted and reality warped, making an otherworldly sound. Afterwards, a tall woman with flowing black hair stood over him, and she wore the same half-robes as he did, although much of her neck and chest were covered in bright, silver jewelry that contained countless, multi-colored gems. Her skin was even darker than his, the magic of the tenebrae trailing visibly from her body. 

“Mina…help me…please”

She looked down at him and started laughing. Softly at first, but then into a full-throated cackle. “Pathetic,” she said, kicking him savagely in the side. “You can’t even beat a few rats.”

“Please…Mina…”

She turned to look at us and smiled. “Greetings, rats. I’ve been watching your fight and you’ve amused me to no end. To think such things were possible now, after so very long; it thrills me. Not just one, but two channelers of the wretched shae,” she said with a condescending smile. “Finally, something interesting is happening after an eternity of boredom.”

She laughed softly to herself. “Your accomplishments deserve a reward; you should know of the unparalleled honor you receive by standing in my presence.” She held out her hands and looked upwards with closed eyes. “I am Gor’mina, The Fourteenth Daughter.” She opened her eyes and smiled. “I see you are not in awe, but that is no surprise. Ones so lowly as you could scarcely conceive of my majesty, even though I stand before you.”

Her speech apparently done, she turned and walked back to Gor’drelar, who could only really groan and look up at her. She looked down at him but said to us, “Thank you, little rats, for in addition to providing the most amusing entertainment, you’ve also given me the barest excuse I needed for this.” 

“Mina…no…”

Her smile and eyes were wide, a look of insanity in her expression as she reached down and grabbed Gor’drelar by the face. She effortlessly picked him up high, his feet dangling above the floor.

He moaned and weakly thrashed to no avail.

“AND THEN,” she yelled with the same voice amplification he was wont to use, “THERE WERE FIFTEEN!”

She crushed his head in her hand.

We could hear his skull breaking. I had performed some brutal kills in my time, but that was particularly barbaric.

Dark magic started flowing out from his corpse, but then it reversed and began flowing right back into Gor’mina. She just laughed and laughed as the power siphoned into her.

Unsure of what to do, I took a step forward.

Revana pulled me back with a terrified expression. “No, Michael, we can’t fight her!”

“But…she’s just number fourteen?”

Tiq shook her head, “Their power isn’t sequential. Gor’drelar just got unlucky in being the last and also weakest of them. She’s overwhelmingly stronger than he was!”

I looked at both of them in turn. The last time I’d been in this exact situation, I’d ignored Revana and fucked it up. I sure wasn’t going to be that stupid again. “Alright, let’s get out of here while she’s distracted.”

We bolted towards the end of the room and I sliced through the grate leading into the massive pipeline. 

Revana covered herself and Tiq in glowing shields as we jumped into the waterflow.

Booming through the air behind us came the Fourteenth Daughter’s words, “SCURRY, LITTLE RATS, SCURRY. I LIKE IT WHEN THEY RUN.”

19

We sloshed through the pipes, just blindly following the water to wherever it took us. Revana shielded both her and Tiq through a truly ridiculous amount of shadowy wards considering we were in sewer pipes of all things. I also cut through various grates along the way, shocked at how far theGorvani had gone to make this entrance inaccessible since it was apparently at the top of a waterfall.

With every ward we went through, Revana grunted, and I could see the strain really beginning to show on her face.

“You gonna be alright?”

She nodded, her lips pressed tight. “Yes, but we’d better be close to getting out of here. I’m not sure how much more I can do.”

We just kept running, following the water, our way lit by a glowing ball of shae that Revana was maintaining on top of everything else. I kept looking back, expecting Gor’mina to be hot on our trail, but she was probably too good to follow us into a place like this. 

Soon after, I saw a light at the end of the pipe, and then we were there, at the edge of a waterfall that plummeted down a sheer cliff face. It seemed Telorn was built on a huge slope, and I could see for miles beyond, over forests and hills where the ground was much lower.

Revana looked haggard, but there wasn’t much I could do. “Let’s go. Hold my hands.”

We all held onto each other.

We jumped.

I’d never been skydiving or bungee jumping, and in the first few seconds of our fall, I knew why. It was absolutely terrifying.

Revana grunted, glowing with the shae. It wrapped around all of us for a few seconds before it trailed off, leaving her gasping for breath. She tried again with the same results.

“She can’t do it,” Tiq yelled over the rushing air. “You two have to survive! Push me away!”

I looked down at the rocks and water below us which were coming up so fast. “Wow, fuck that, Tiq!” I yelled back. 

I kicked the two of them away, their hands unable to hold onto me.

“NO! MICHAEL!”

Revana looked at me for a split second before she wrapped the two of them into a brightly glowing shield that solidified over their skin.

I scrunched up into a ball, channeling as much of the shae as I possibly could, pushing every last bit into my armor. I did the best I could to protect my head and neck while fervently hoping it would be enough.

I could just barely see the others through my arms and legs, and it looked like they were going to hit the water. I, however, was coming down straight onto nothing but jagged rocks. I braced for the impact, but it still knocked me senseless, the wind leaving my lungs in a rush. The first hit was the worst, but it wasn’t the last. I kept falling, kept hitting more and more rocks as I felt my armor denting and cracking, small pieces of it falling away.

The world spun and pain came from all directions, but finally, it ended, and with one final thump, I was on the ground, falling no longer. I let my armor go, or what was left of it, at least. But it had done its job; I was completely battered and bruised, but I was alive and didn’t seem to have any noticeably broken bones.

Once my head stopped spinning, I tried sitting up. 

Out in the river that the waterfall emptied into, I could barely make out Tiq’s bobbing head, struggling to stay afloat in the failing light of the evening.

I would have said I had nothing left, but I was up and moving instantly, all my muscles screaming at me to stop. I dove into the water, swam out to Tiq, and pulled her into my arms to find that she held onto Revana, who was under the surface.

I pulled in what shae I could, brought them both up as best I was able, and between Tiq and I, we managed to make it to shore.

Revana gurgled and coughed, bringing up the water she’d swallowed, but her eyes were unfocused and she babbled nonsense.

“She’s overdone it,” Tiq said, leaning over her. “The shard’s spent, and it’s sucking the life out of her. It needs to come out.”

“How do we…? Is there some counter-ritual or something?”

Tiq shrugged. “Probably. But we don’t know it. There’s only one thing to do. Hold her down and channel as much shae as you can into her, okay?”

I nodded. “Uh, yeah. What are you…?”

“Just hold her down. Oh, put this between her teeth,” She handed me a broken piece of driftwood from the shoreline and set her butt on Revana’s right elbow, her clawed hand laying between Tiq’s knees.

I did as she asked, setting it gently between Revana’s teeth before I straddled her and held her left arm down. I knew what was coming and I didn’t like it one bit, but there was nothing to be done, so I channeled what little of the shae I could and pushed it to her.

Tiq was still wearing her device, and with a couple clicks, a blade opened out at the end near her hand. “Here we go.” With a look of grim determination, she pushed the wicked end of the weapon into Revana’s palm.

Coming instantly out of her torpor, Revana bucked and growled, the wood cracking in her mouth. 

Tiq’s movements were slow and precise. She had one hand on Revana’s wrist and had put all her weight onto it while she moved the blade with her other hand. 

I couldn’t look away. I expected her to just go in under the shard and slice it out, but Revana’s skin had begun to blacken around it, and Tiq was carefully cutting the dead flesh out with it. Although to make sure she got it all, she had to cut into living tissue. Revana’s face was a mask of agony, and it was an awful sight to see; I wished I could make it end sooner, but there was no rushing what Tiq was doing. I just kept channeling more and more, as much as I could, even though I was about ready to collapse myself.

Finally, after an eternity, Tiq said, “It’s done.”

I looked back over to Revana’s hand and paled. Most of her palm had been cut out and I could actually see through it. 

“More, Michael. More shae.” She turned to Revana, who had a river of tears flowing down her face. “It’s done. It’s up to you now, Revi. I’m sorry it was so bad. It kept getting worse as I went.”

I was about three seconds from passing out, but I did what I could, pushing the last of the shae I had in me to Revana.

She growled, her eyes narrowing through the pain. A bright glow enveloped her hand, a complex web of spinning runes, spinning faster and faster into each other until they imploded in a flash.

I had to look away, but when I could see, Revana’s hand was whole again without a trace or scar.

Her eyes fluttered and her head lolled to the side.

“Is she…” Through no doing of my own, the ground came up to meet my face, but I barely felt it as we collided. 

“Aw shit,” was all I could hear Tiq say.

20

Itried to open my eyes, but couldn’t. All I could do was exist, face down in the rocky dirt by the side of the river. As I laid there, I heard footsteps from multiple people slowly coming down the bank.

Tiq gasped, and I heard her say, “Who are you? Get away! Get—”

There were sounds of a struggle, and then silence. The Gorvani had made it down here and we were being taken after all the things we had to do to escape! I was roughly picked up and loaded into a cart. I assumed Revana was as well, and I heard muffled sounds from Tiq. In very short order, the cart started moving, and though the terror coursed through my bones like electricity, I still couldn’t move at all. Overchanneling of the shae had left me drained in a way I’d never felt before.

No one spoke a word I could hear, and after a supremely bumpy ride, we must have come out onto a real roadway because the cart evened out. I expected to hear the sounds of Telorn, but as we kept going, any noise from the city faded away and was replaced by the low nighttime call of owls and insects. Or at least Vendira’s versions of them.

There was no real situation where we’d have been taken by the Gorvani and not taken directly back to the prison we’d escaped. Or maybe just killed. I kept trying to think of what was happening, but I got nowhere; I just listened for anything I could, but there was nothing useful. Eventually, I must have fallen asleep.

I jolted awake and was, for a few seconds, completely confused.

I opened my eyes and it all came back to me as I saw Revana’s unconscious body next to me, and beside her was Tiq who’d been tied and gagged. Craning my head around as best I could, I noticed we were in a covered cart filled with an assortment of boxes, and perched on top of one sat an old, blue-scaled Dravini woman. She noticed me looking and smiled down at me.

“Me…” My mouth was dry and speaking took an effort.. “Mephina?” I finally managed to say, impressed with myself for remembering her name. 

She nodded and said, “Yes, and I’m pleased one of you is awake. Can you tell this one we’re not your enemy?” She gestured to Tiq, who struggled uselessly against her bindings, an angry look in her eyes.

I blinked, not really understanding what I was seeing. “Why’d you tie her up?”

“Oh well, she was making quite a fuss and we didn’t have time for any of that. I thought about untying her once we were on our way, but you see that look in her eyes? I thought it best to let one of you come back to us first.”

Tiq was tilting her head at me the best she could, an incredulous look now on her face.

“She’s telling the truth, Tiq. She’s part of the dragon cult.”

She grunted against the gag in her mouth, her eyes flying back and forth between us.

“Yeah, really,” I said. “Please untie her. I don’t know if I even have the strength for that.”

Mephina chuckled at me and slowly moved to Tiq, untying her bindings with wrinkled but deft hands. She stepped back afterwards warily, apparently not convinced Tiq wasn’t a threat.

“You’re part of the Dravizek Celestori?”

Mephina smiled widely and said, “Yes. Yes, I am. I’m one of the oldest members now, and I can’t tell you how it warms my heart to think that we might actually be close to fulfilling our goal. So many years spent with either incremental progress or none, and now, things are happening so quickly indeed.”

“How did you know to find us where you did?” Tiq asked.

“The Inquisitor told us to be in the area should we be needed, and thank goodness we were. You can imagine our surprise when we saw you lot tumbling down the waterfall. I was so frightened that we’d all been seen; it took us some time to get to where you ended up by the river.”

“The Inquisitor. You mean Isik, right?” Tiq glanced at me. “Inquisitor Isik. Who I’m told is the boss…of the Celestori. I heard that right?”

“Yes,” Mephina said, nodding, “she leads the Celestori. And how lucky we are that she found us. Of course, we all thought we were dead at the time, but instead of that, she joined us. I’ve never seen a more unlikely thing in all my days.”

Tiq sat there, nonplussed, saying nothing else.

“So, where are we going?” I asked.

“Up into the mountains in the Second. You’ll see when we get there. It’ll take all night and most of the morning, so you might as well get whatever sleep you can until then.”

It wasn’t much of an answer, but I was still only able to sit up and talk for a little bit at a time, so I just did as she suggested after a quick check to make sure Revana was still breathing. To say I slept, though, would be a pretty big overstatement. I was never one to sleep much in cars, and trying to do so on the hard wooden floor of a moving cart pulled by a lumbering golem was nearly impossible. I dozed here and there, each time hoping hours had passed, but it was probably only chunks of fifteen minutes at a time, at most. 

I was asleep, however, when we passed over the border from the first province and into the second, which I was thankful for, since it would have been an anxiety-ridden affair. Mephina provided water and we stopped a few times so anyone who needed to could relieve themselves, during which I noticed we were part of a small caravan now, comprised completely of Dravini.

Once the sun had started to rise, I jolted awake again to find Mephina gone, Tiq asleep, and Revana awake. She was leaning back against a large box and had bags under her eyes. “Hey,” she said weakly.

“Hey. You okay?”

“I guess. We did it, huh?”

“Oh, well, barely, but yes. Do you…remember what happened after we fell?”

She held out her right hand and looked at her perfectly healed palm. “I sure do. Would you believe me if I said I’d prefer to get branded a hundred times rather than go through that again?”

I shivered at the thought. “Oh yeah. It was brutal enough to watch. I can scarcely imagine having it happen. Lucky Tiq was there, though.”

“Very. By the way, do you know where we’re headed?”

“Somewhere in the mountains, but I didn’t get much more than that.”

She smiled wanly. “I had to pry it out of her, but Mephina finally told me we’re going to the cult’s headquarters, where, among other things, they plan to perform the actual summoning.”

“You mean where they plan to have us perform the summoning.”

“Yeah, but either way, it might actually happen.” I looked her over, trying to gauge any reaction, but there was only tiredness in her eyes, so I just asked. “How do you feel about a real dragon being back on Vendira?”

After a long, slow inhale and exhale, she said, “You know, I’ve really been trying to not get my hopes up about it. My whole life, I wanted to see one, to know what it was that the Dravini came from, but they were all dead and that was that. But now…” She lightly touched her abdomen where the dragon scale lay. “Impossible things are happening. I will admit, the thought that I would be the person to summon, or even help summon, a true dragon is almost as exhilarating as being able to channel at all.”

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, and I found myself doing the same to valiantly and uselessly try to get a little more sleep. 

I’m not sure why, but I was able to sleep for a couple hours that time, and when I awoke, I was listing to the side as the cart was being pulled up a steep incline. I poked my head out of the covering at the back and saw we’d made it pretty high up a mountain road, the tops of Telorn’s spires looming just over the horizon.

Mephina was back with us and the other two were awake, if you wanted to call it that. They’d apparently slept as well as I had for the duration of the trip. “Well, you’re all finally awake! I’m glad you’ll get to see Skyshard Manor in all its glory!”

Tiq cocked her head. “Skyshard? Like the booze?”

“Oh yes, just so. It’s the primary distillery for Skyshard spirits. The Inquisitor purchased it after she discovered us, and we’ve moved the bulk of our operations and materials there. In addition to being well out of the way, it produces very reliable income, so for the past few years we’ve been able to acquire so much more than we ever did before. Also, we can cite ‘trade secrets’ as a reason for never allowing anyone in. And because the Inquisitor herself owns it, no imperials come sniffing around.”

As we rounded a bend in the switchback road, she gestured us up to the front of the cart where we all peeked out at the unfolding view. 

I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was impressed. The manor house itself loomed high among the peaks, standing five stories tall and covered in some of the finest carvings I’d ever seen, which was really saying something for Vendira. Stretched out around it were endless tiered farm fields growing a variety of things in a complete rainbow of colors. Beyond the manor sat a huge complex of buildings and machines and the entire place bustled with people, almost all of which seemed to be Dravini.

“Is everyone here,” Tiq asked, “Celestori?”

Mephina nodded. “Yes, every single one. But we really do operate the distillery. In addition to the profit, it’s our best cover. Who’d expect a shadowy group of rebels to be producing the realm’s finest spirits? And they are the finest; I won’t hear otherwise.”

We sat back inside the cart and waited to finally stop moving. We ended up in a warehouse where Mephina shooed us out and it felt absolutely amazing to stand on solid ground again. Bonus that we weren’t being actively chased by something or someone that was trying to kill us. I stretched every muscle I could because they all ached, but I felt much better overall and was able to stand under my own power. Given the “sleep,” I was dubious as to how long that would last, though.

Tiq seemed fine, but the bags under Revana’s eyes had gotten worse, if anything. She gave me an unconvincing smile and I wondered if I’d have to help her walk.

As we stood there unsure of what to do, we were approached by the tallest man I think I’d ever seen. He was Dravini, probably seven feet tall and extremely wide, but not with fat. His horns, claws, and tail were bright gold like Revana’s, and that combined with his black scales, which contrasted with his lighter skin, gave him a supremely regal look. He wore a closely cropped beard and long flowing robes with a leather chestpiece, all very reminiscent of Tiq’s Astrologian robes, except his were a dark red.

“Greetings, honored guests. I’m Osaarin, chamberlain of Skyshard, and it’s my pleasure to welcome you to our home.” He gave us a wry smile. “But you don’t seem like you’re ready for the tour just yet. Can I interest you in a meal while we have some rooms made up for you? Once you’ve recovered, we can discuss what comes next.”

Tiq stalked up to him and took a bit of his billowing sleeve between her fingers. “You’re a scholar, then?”

“I am, Lady Tiquette.” His voice was low and deep, but very friendly. “These robes are not just for show, I assure you.”

“Hmm…” She tilted her head. “I have a thousand and more questions, but I suppose they can wait. At least until I get out of this atrocity,” she said, gesturing to the formless dress she’d been wearing the entire time since the escape. 

Osaarin showed us into the manor, and once we were inside the doors, I stood there, gaping like a moron. If I thought I’d seen opulence before, this blew it clean out of the water. The foyer of the house reached three stories high and there were all manner of colorful plants hanging and trailing around. Most were Vendira’s soft blue, but there were spots of other vibrant colors, and of course there were endless flowers of all different shades, some with multiple colors on the same blossoms.

The carvings were ever present, naturally, but they were actually more subdued here. They were far more intricate than what I’d seen except at the Carvers’ Guild, but there were a lot of straight lines that did more to accentuate them than if they’d been everywhere. 

Osaarin stood politely while Revana and I just stared. Tiq had wandered over to one of the larger plants and had her face almost pressed up against one of its bright orange flowers. “This species is outrageously difficult to grow in this region. More difficult than any reasonable person would want merely for decoration. I’ve heard rumors that the roots can be ground into a very sweet mixture, which coincidentally is very close to the flavors in your ‘Cloudberry Brandy,’ one of Skyshard’s more popular flavors.”

Osaarin, with a studiously neutral face, basically shoved her along towards the massive staircase that dominated the room. “Right this way now, Lady Tiquette.” He cleared his throat loudly and said in a higher pitched tone, “That will be quite enough sussing out trade secrets… which that particular plant has absolutely nothing to do with. The spirit you mention is flavored with local berries and honey and nothing else please let’s go oh don’t look at me like that please Lady Tiquette.”

He showed Revana and I to a large formal dining room, and shortly after, Tiq came back down from upstairs wearing much more appropriate clothing, but I still found it odd that she wasn’t in her Astrologian robes.

We were shortly presented with some of the finest food I’d ever eaten, either on Earth or Vendira, although I was a little admittedly disappointed none of it included hachi or dulcet jumpers. 

Tiq ate slowly while her eyes darted everywhere, and I couldn’t tell if she was looking the place over or lost somewhere in her head. 

Revana stuffed as much food as she could in her mouth with little to no decorum, but I didn’t comment. I assumed she needed to recover from the blood ritual and the…ending of the blood ritual. Afterwards, there was still a tiredness about her, but she looked much, much better and seemed more alert. 

After the meal, we were presented with shot glasses of a dark purple liquid. Osaarin had joined us again, standing beside the table and holding his own glass. “This is our finest spirit, Night’s Caress. I thought it only fitting that you try the best we have to offer.”

Revana slammed hers back immediately with a contented sigh. 

Tiq sipped hers slowly, probably trying to figure out where all the flavors came from.

I wondered if it was wise to take a shot in my current state, and I briefly wondered about being poisoned, but I was far too tired and full and worn out to even really care, so I went Revana’s route and just upended my glass. 

To say that it was the best thing I’d ever tasted would be an understatement. It was by far the smoothest booze I’d ever had, but it was a complete explosion of a thousand complementary flavors and spices. Even dulcet jumpers were a distant second.

Osaarin, who’d emptied his own glass, must have seen my expression because he chuckled and said, “Another, then?”

I just dumbly nodded.

Revana held out her glass.

He poured for both of us from a gold-embossed, crystal bottle. “It’s not our strongest drink at all, but perhaps two should be the limit at this time of day.”

The second shot was just as good as the first.

21

After we were all stuffed and slightly tipsy, we were offered a tour of the facility. The fields were a marvel of engineering this high in the mountains, and the machines they used to process everything were massive and complicated like nothing I’d seen before. In one of the highest plateaus, instead of a field, there was an enormous set of sigils carved into the very rock. I thought Revana’s scale-binding had been complex, but this was a few orders of magnitude more complicated. I was instantly relieved I wouldn’t be the one trying to activate it on my own.

Afterwards, we were given some time for ourselves. Tiq, naturally, had an endless slew of questions she wanted answered, but Revana and I parked ourselves on an ornate balcony. It was built into the edge of one of the peaks that overlooked an extremely sharp cliff that faced away from the First province and Telorn.

“So, this is the plan now?” I asked. 

“Hmm?”

“We’re here to summon the dragon. I highly doubt that was part of the Mulaq’Shae’s original plan.”

She shook her head with heavily lidded eyes. “Well, after the empire’s completely unexpected response, or lack thereof, to what we did to the sigilarium, we’re at a loss. We’d expected word to be racing across the realm by now, stoking the fires of rebellion. At this point, I think bringing a dragon back into the world is our best bet to accomplish that. And I’ll admit that…I just want it. For me.

“Anyway, everything since the sigilarium has been this frantic mess, led pretty much completely by Isik; we’ve just been dancing to her tune.” She absentmindedly set her hand on her abdomen. “Not that I’m complaining, I guess. It’s turned out well, shockingly. We’re here. Tiq’s here. All alive. I can only hope this works out, because if it doesn’t, I don’t know what we’ll do. Target another sigilarium? I doubt we could pull it off a second time for a lot of reasons. We need something that will change people’s hearts and give them the courage to resist, because even though we have a lot of great allies, we can’t do this alone.”

I laughed softly. “I’m just glad you’re here. There was no realistic way I was going to pull off that summoning up there on the plateau.”

“Hmm…” She narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together.

“...What?”

“Oh, well, about those sigils…”

I waited. “Uh huuuuh?”

“They didn’t look like the configurations I know for summoning.”

“Maybe it’s different for a dragon?”

“Well,” she said, shrugging. “Maybe? I don’t see why they would be, though. They’d just be bigger and more complex, but not as different as they appeared up there.”

A little anxiety began to creep into my decent mood. “Could they be planning something nefarious? Is this all a ruse or something?”

“I don’t think so…I couldn’t imagine what it would be, but I think there’s definitely something we don’t know yet.”

“We should ask Tiq what she thinks.”

Revana laughed at that. “She’ll either figure it out instantly or be so off in the clouds that she won’t even hear us. No inbetween.”

We sat there for a long time, just looking out at the view in silence. It was so nice to be able to sit down again, and to feel relatively safe. What she’d said about the summoning circles concerned me, though, and I had trouble putting it out of my mind. After the sun had crossed most of the sky, the wind changed and I caught a whiff of myself. “Ugh.”

“Hmm?”

“I stink. Have I this whole time and everyone was just too polite to say anything?”

“I hadn’t noticed, but I went through the same things you did. You think they can smell all three of us and just think we live this way?”

We both laughed at the thought. “I hope not. Either way, I’m going to see if our rooms are ready and get in the shower. You wanna come?”

“Not just yet. You go ahead.”

The shower was amazing, as so many on Vendira had been, and I realized what a luxury daily showering had been. Not that I wanted to go back to Earth in the least, though. My room came with a wardrobe full of clothes, so I picked out some reasonably subdued colors and put them on. I left the tunic I’d been wearing for so long sitting there on the bed. I buckled my sword around my waist, but I didn’t think I needed the soiled shirt for now. After a second though, I folded it and pushed it underneath the bed so it wouldn’t be quite so obvious for someone to steal. 

There was a knock on my door, and I opened it to find a young Dravini man there to tell me dinner would be served shortly. It didn’t seem like it had been all that long since we’d eaten, but I was already incredibly hungry.

In the dining hall, I found Tiq having an animated conversation with Osaarin about botany. Or something that sounded like that. I suppose it really could have been any number of things. I wanted to ask her about the weird summoning circles, but Osaarin was ever present and more people eventually filed into the room, including a freshly showered Revana.

We were given places of honor at the table, or so we were told — we were sat in the middle of the long room, which was apparently honorable. Somehow. Dinner was just as good as lunch had been, and it ended with more shots of Night’s Caress, which I was thrilled about. Revana slammed down three or four. Maybe five? I was too engrossed in my own, as they were still the most delicious thing I’d ever had.

After her shots, she said goodnight to everyone and scooted her chair back. She looked at me with heavy eyelids and leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Have fun tonight,” she whispered in my ear before winking and leaving to fall into bed, I assumed.

I watched her go, wondering what she was talking about. Although, I did have to admit that I was very much looking forward to sleeping in a real bed, but that didn’t seem like what she meant. I asked for another shot.

Shortly after, we all said goodnight and headed up to bed. The room was somewhat small, containing just a bed and a wardrobe, but there was an attached bathroom off the side. The windowsill was carved to look like a forest’s canopy and was covered in brightly colored plants.

Alone and slightly tipsy, I stripped off most of my clothes, threw them to the side and collapsed into bed. The moonlight shone in through the window, illuminating the room rather well. I thought sleep would be on me in seconds, but there was a knock at the door.

“Uh, come in?”

The door opened a crack, just enough for Tiq to slip in, before she closed it quietly behind her. She wore a thick, purple robe and most of her rings, which reflected the moonlight as she slowly stepped over beside the bed.

She smiled widely as she threw a leg over and moved to straddle me. “Otherworldly warrior, came to save a damsel in distress.”

I laughed softly. “I’m not sure you qualify as a helpless damsel.”

“Of course I do! I’ve lived most of my life cloistered in a tower, and then I was kidnapped by evil’s minions, only to be rescued by my hero. And I was certainly in distress at the time. I’m pretty much the textbook definition of one!”

“Well that’s true, I guess. But you probably shouldn’t leave Revana out of the story.”

She nodded. “You’re right. You did have your plucky sidekick to help.”

“Ohh…Don’t let Revana hear you call her that!”

A giggle escaped her lips. “True. She’d probably beat me up for that one.” She opened her robe, and just as I’d hoped, she wasn’t wearing anything under it. She leaned down and kissed me, her tongue slowly pressing into mine.

I brought my hands up under her robe, caressing her incredibly smooth skin. “So…this time, can we…?”

“Oh yes, we sure can. I’ve taken some precautions since last time, so anything goes.” She sat up and slowly walked her way up to my face. 

I hadn’t noticed last time, but her labia was pierced, because of course it was. I slowly ran my tongue against her wetness as I reveled in the sight of her beautiful body. As she groaned and moved against me, I reached up and pinched her right nipple, hard.

She gasped, smiling and bucking against my face.

I kept one hand on her ass and the other on her nipple, pinching harder than I thought was reasonable, but she loved it, moving and grinding against me.

She brought her hand up on her other nipple, her breath coming faster and faster.

I focused on her clit, licking and sucking, riding the movements of her body, staring up at her as she squeezed her eyes shut tight, and a minute later, her legs trembled and her body shuddered. She rattled off a number of what had to be swears in a foreign language as her toes curled and she struggled to remain upright.

After a lot of jerks and spasms, she laughed and scooted back and laid down to kiss me.

I was rock hard, but still content to lie there, our tongues pressing together in the moonlight.

She got up and threw off her robe and motioned for me to move over, which I did. She laid down flat on the bed, face down, and gave me a smile.

I practically ripped my underwear off and positioned myself behind her. I leaned in and pressed my cock against her, and she turned, biting her lip, and said, “Do it. Oh, please do it!” I slid slowly inside her and we both moaned as a shudder went through my body.

I laid down on top of her, slowly thrusting, feeling the electricity surge through my entire body. I kissed her back and cheek, then reached my hands under her. She raised up just enough for me to slide in and squeeze her nipples again.

Her hands gripped the sheets tightly and she closed her eyes and turned to moan loudly into the pillow. 

We’d started slowly, but in no time, I was pounding faster and faster into her, encouraged by the way she moved and writhed, sometimes looking back at me with nothing but desire in her eyes. We settled into a rhythm, and I got lost in the sensation of her body and the sounds she made.

Her moans started to crescendo, and she looked back at me and said, “Oh fuck, I’m almost there!”

“Fuck, Tiq, me too!”

A few more thrusts and I groaned as her eyes went wide.

“Shoot it in me while I come!” she yelled.

I exploded into her as she squirmed and writhed, my arms wrapped tightly around her, our shared orgasm the only thing I could think or feel. I shuddered and jerked, shooting the biggest load of my life deep inside her.

Sorry, Revana.

It was minutes later before the last tremors settled down and stopped. 

We laid, still together, on the soaked sheets as she panted and said in a small voice, “Fuck. Just…fuck.”

My face was buried in her dark hair and I replied, “Yeah. Fuck.”

It was some time before we moved and slowly sat up. She pushed me back down on the bed and kissed me hard, and I was a little worried she was going to immediately want a round two, which I was not currently up for. In theory, sure, but I had serious doubts about my ability to stay conscious in the near future.

Thankfully, she sat up and put her robe back on while smiling brightly at me. “Was that reward enough for my daring hero?”

I laughed. “Oh, definitely, although if there were to be future rewards, I wouldn’t say no.”

“I should hope not,” she said, running her hand over the sheets. “Well, you can sleep here, in this…damp bed if you want, or you can share my room and we can profusely apologize to whomever does the laundry here tomorrow. 

I got my clothes and we moved to Tiq’s bedroom, which was the same as mine. We nestled under the covers and I expected to be asleep in seconds, but despite my exhaustion in more ways than one, I stayed laying there awake and looking at the ceiling.

“Hey, you still awake?” I whispered.

Tiq turned back over towards me. “Yeah. I always have trouble falling asleep. Too many thoughts that never stop, you know?”

“Yeah, I get that sometimes. Can I ask you a question?”

She scooted in close to me and wrapped an arm across my chest. “You know you can.”

“It’s something I’ve wondered a lot since coming here. To Vendira, I mean. Why is there magic here but not on Earth?”

“Oh, I’m sure there’s magic on Earth.”

“Really? What makes you say that? There’s a ton of it in myths and legends, but they’ve all pretty much been disproven with science. And a lot of it was just trying to explain things before we had a good system to explain things.”

As she pulled the covers up over her shoulder, she laughed softly. “I’m sure a lot of your legends were based on fact that got lost over time. But even if they weren’t, all living worlds have magic. There are bits and pieces from ancient lore left over from the time of dragons and their travels detailing so many different places. They all had magic, but they didn’t all have people that could use it. Dragons were the first on Vendira to channel the shae; they’re uniquely attuned to it for whatever reason. And the Dravini share that connection. Knowledge of such things led the Gorvani to search for other types, and they were, of course, ultimately successful, to the detriment of the world.

“But if humans are the only intelligent race on Earth, and they have no special attunement to its magical flows, it could be that they never developed the ability. I believe that the advent of channelers on a given world never, or exceedingly rarely, happens without an affinity at first.”

“Huh,” I said, rather shocked at this revelation. “So if I could go back as a channeler of the shae, it might be the beginnings of real magic there?”

There was a hesitation before she replied. “Yes…do you want to go back?”

“No!” I turned towards her and laid my hands on her shoulders. “I sure don’t. That’s not something you have to worry about. Not that I think it’s possible based on what Revana’s told me, but even if it were, I love my life here, even if it’s dangerous. I’m here to stay.”

“I’m glad.”

She turned away and shimmied in close, so I wrapped my arms around her, and eventually, we fell asleep.

22

Iwoke to sunlight filtering in through the windows, having slept soundly through the night with no dreams I could remember. 

Tiq was facing me, still asleep, her hair a mess half hanging over her face and she was drooling on the pillow. 

I smiled and tried not to laugh before I gently shook her. Then I shook her a little harder. And then harder to the point I thought it might be too much, but she snorted and her eyes fluttered open.

“Wha…”

“It’s morning now.”

She looked up at me and down at the wet pillow, closing her mouth. “Ugh.” She sat up slowly, turned the pillow upside down and laid right back down against it. “Nope.”

“I’ll come get you in a little bit, then?”

“Mmm.”

I took that as a yes, so I got up, used the bathroom, and got dressed just before there was a knock at the door. I opened it to a surprised young Dravini woman with bright blue horns who looked at me and back at Tiq a couple times. She blushed but only said, “There’s a…situation downstairs. No one knows what to do… We were hoping one of you could help.”

“And you came to me? Well, okay. What is it?”

“The High Inquisitor arrived this morning, and she and your friend Revana have been talking…and it’s, uh, not going well at all.”

I groaned. “Oh, wow. I’m not sure what I can do, but I’ll head down.”

The relief on her face was instantaneous.

I went back to tell Tiq where I was going, but she was already asleep again, so I just left, heading back to my room to get dressed.

As I entered the dining room, the tension in the air was palpable. Isik sat at the head of the long table and Revana was a few chairs down from her. Neither of them spoke, but their faces were both in permanent frowns.

When Revana saw me, she stood and said, “Oh, good! You’re here. You can tell the Inquisitor what a load of shit this is!”

“Uhhh…” I managed to say.

Isik rolled her eyes. “Yes, very eloquent. What she’s attempting to say is that she believes I deliberately withheld information from you, whereas the truth is that there was never a particularly good time to bring it up.”

“Never a time?” Revana yelled. “Maybe, oh I don’t know, during literally any conversation we’ve ever had about summoning a dragon? Any of those times? I’m pretty sure those would have been fine times!”

Isik scoffed and waved away her sentiments. “As if we needed to discuss the details of it all before now! Would you have liked me to draw out the sigils for you too? Discuss dragon anatomy? There were more pressing things to talk about! And I’m not in the habit of vomiting out each and every detail in every conversation!” She glanced over to me and said under her breath, “Although that seems to be changing.”

“Oh don’t bullshit me, Isik!” Revana was leaning over the table now, pointing a claw into the Inquisitor’s face. “This isn’t some trifling detail!”

“Hey, hey, hey!” I said, walking slowly towards the two of them. “Can one of you clue me in to what you’re even talking about?”

“The dragon summoning isn’t a summoning,” Revana said in a high pitched tone.

“It… what now?”

“If you could calm yourself for a moment,” Isik said, her voice dripping with disdain, “you might be able to actually convey some real information.” She turned to me. “The summoning is not a summoning, per se, yes. Dragons are too powerful and attuned with the shae to be summoned directly. Also there’s the problem of moving something’s physical body across all that space. For you, just your spirit was summoned, and a new body was constructed on Vendira.”

I supposed that was true, but I’d never really given it much thought; there had been too much happening then. I’d have to ask Revana later, since now did not, at all, seem like the time.

Isik continued, “In order to bring a dragon back to Vendira, it would have to willingly open its own portal. The sigils laid out on the plateau above are to open a pathway for you to travel to where we believe a dragon resides, and then you will need to make contact and convince it to come back. The power required to open a portal for such a being is beyond our ability. Even opening the portals for you to travel to another world strains what we’re capable of.”

Revana gestured wildly towards Isik. “You see!? Is this not pertinent information?”

“Hang on now,” I said. “You believe a dragon is at…wherever you’re planning on sending us?”

Isik’s head fell into her hands. “Yes,” she said through gritted teeth. “I just knew this was going to come up.”

“You see,” Revana yelled, “She’s trying to embroil us in this half-baked plan that she’s just now really telling us about!” She turned back to Isik and said, “What other bullshit have you been hiding!?”

With a growl, Isik suddenly stood, her chair scraping across the tile and falling over. She slammed her hands, which burst into black shadows, down on the table and said through clenched teeth, “I have had just about enough of you.”

“Oh that’s right, JUST BRAND ME, ISIK! It’s all you Gorvani know how to do!”

Isik’s eyes went wide and a vein stood out on her forehead. The magic at her hands flared.

Revana flinched and smiled viciously. “Oh look! You can’t! And you have no fucking idea what to do if you can’t torture anyone!”

Isik looked seconds away from exploding, and to my horror, I saw her shadowblade begin to materialize by her side.

Revana began to glow.

“ENOUGH!” I yelled, and they both froze, turning slowly towards me. It was the first time I remembered yelling at anyone at the top of my lungs, and I certainly had never done so at the two of them. “You,” I said, pointing at Isik, “put that damn sword away and stop being so condescending!” I jabbed my finger at Revana in turn, saying, “And you! Stop provoking her and maybe try giving her the benefit of the doubt!”

Isik’s sword puffed away in a mass of shadows, and while she tried to school her face to neutrality, apparently the best she could do was a curled lip aimed at Revana, who folded her arms and looked away, muttering. 

“Look,” I said, “Isik should have told us about all this before, yes, but can you at least try and believe she didn’t withhold it out of maliciousness?”

Revana’s bright eyes flared at me. “I can’t believe you’re taking her side!”

“I’m not,” I said, exasperated. “But try and think of the Mulaq’shae’s plans! Your plans for summoning me. They weren’t rock solid from the get-go, were they? Did everyone communicate everything at every turn? All of us that are fighting the empire are just doing our best, right?”

Revana’s gaze flicked back forth between me and Isik before she shrugged dramatically and said, “Well, I guess.”

That was probably the best I was going to get, so I turned on Isik and said, “And you need to stop being such a condescending asshole.” The second the words had left my mouth, I regretted them. I was trying to diffuse this situation and that was not the way to do it. I had to admit to myself though, that while I was really starting to actually like Isik, I was feeling somewhat protective of Revana in this situation, even though I was trying to talk her down as well.

However, to my immense surprise, Isik just started laughing. “Oh, but Michael,” she said with a smile still on her lips, “it’s the Inquisitor way.”

Revana immediately looked away, and I could see that she was trying to suppress a smile of her own.

I chuckled softly. “So it is. But for the purposes of this conversation, maybe you can, like, just try a little?”

She sighed heavily. “Oh, I suppose.”

“Good. I won’t ask that anyone apologizes to anyone else, but maybe we can start this all over with a little more good faith?”

Belatedly, I noticed that a small breakfast spread had been set out, and it included some dulcet jumpers, so I took a couple and sat down across the table from Revana. I was about to say something else, but Tiq stumbled into the room in her robe. I wondered if she was wearing anything under it this morning, but given Vendira’s attitude towards modesty, she probably wasn’t, and what’s more, no one would even bat an eye.

Her hair was still a mess and her eyes still heavy with sleep, but she jumped a little when she saw who was sitting with us. “Inquisitor Isik.”

“Lady Tiquette.”

They eyed each other for a moment before Tiq plopped down beside Revana. She brightened a little and said, “Oh, jumpers, alright.” She proceeded to stuff one in her mouth as she looked around at all of us. “Shit. What did I miss?” she asked with a mouth full of pastry.

I briefly explained the situation, leaving out most of the angry parts.

“Oh, that makes sense,” she said, starting in on the second jumper.

Revana stared daggers at her after this easy acceptance, but Tiq either didn’t notice or did a really good job of pretending. Revana stalked out of the room, and instead of sitting there awkwardly with Tiq and Isik, I went after her.

I caught up to her in the middle of one of the terraced fields, which I assumed she’d chosen at random just to be out of the manor house. “Uh, hey.”

She turned, and after clearly wrestling down her anger, she said, “Yeah, so, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, you don’t need to apologize to me.”

“I do, though. I got out of hand in there. I was just so surprised at the whole thing, and I might have let my emotions get the better of me. I’m really trying to do better with Isik, but, I don’t know…”

I put an arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay. You’ve got a lifetime of horrible memories to overcome. No one’s asking you to be her best friend or anything. But maybe don’t antagonize her so much. You came a little close to getting skewered in there.”

She scoffed. “I’d have blocked it.”

“That’s, uh, maybe not the point.”

She groaned loudly and put her face in her hands. “You’re right, you’re right. But this whole dragon thing just got way more complicated.”

We started walking through the field, which was filled with clumps of waist-high, bright red grass with yellow tips. I reached out and ran my hand through a bit of it, and it was incredibly soft. “It is, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re still going to do it, right? We busted up a sigilarium. We broke Tiq out of a prison that no one’s ever broken out of! We’re gonna summon this dragon, assault Telorn, and kick the emperor in the balls until he’s dead.”

Revana burst out laughing and almost tripped over some of the plants. “Is that how we’re gonna do it? Just…kick him in the balls…over and over, until he dies?”

I shrugged. “I mean, he deserves it, right?”

“Oh, wow, yes he does. I had just imagined like, cutting his head off, or blasting him to pieces with the shae or something, but this ball-kicking idea does have some merit, I have to admit.”

“I’m sure he’s completely up his own ass, you know? Totally self-important, probably thinks of himself as a god, right? So how humiliating would it be if we not only beat him, but beat him like that. It’d go down in the history books. ‘Ruled for so many centuries, eventually assassinated by scrotum kicking.’”

It was good to see her laughing after the last few days and this morning. I gave her shoulder a tight squeeze. “We really will do it. We’ll summon this dragon, or convince it to summon itself, or whatever.”

She turned and hugged me, burrowing her face into my neck. “I always knew the road would be hard. But now that we’re walking it, I…I just doubt that I can do it. We’ve been so lucky so far; no one close to us has died, and I still worry that I won’t be able to handle it until the end, that I’m not good enough.”

I squeezed her tight. “Now that’s just crazy talk. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

She laughed softly, without humor. “That’s nice of you to say.”

I took a step back, my hands on her shoulders, and looked into her beautiful, golden eyes. “I am not just saying that. You risked so much to summon me here. You’ve endured excruciating pain many times over even just since I’ve met you. Remember all those korids we fought through? Remember that time you saved me while being branded? Remember all that other stuff I just brought up that we totally did? You’re fucking amazing, Revana, and don’t let anyone, least of all you, tell you otherwise!”

Her lip trembled, and tears started their way down her cheeks.

I took her hands in mine, thinking back to what Isik had said, and if I was ever going to say it, now was the time. 

“Revana, I—”

“I love you.”

My brain stopped working, and I just stared, expressionless back at her for a moment before I could move again. I smiled and said, “I love you too.”

23

We walked through the terraces for some time, not really saying anything else, just enjoying each other’s company before we had to go back to the manor and deal with reality.

The dining hall was empty, but after asking around, we found Tiq in a very richly appointed study on the fourth floor, showered, dressed, and poring over a huge desk covered in scattered maps and what almost looked like blueprints. 

She didn’t look up when we entered. I had to clear my throat before I think she was even aware anyone was there. “Oh, yes, hi! I’m looking over the cult’s celestial calibrations.” She said that like I knew what in the world she was talking about.

Revana glanced over at me and smiled. “She means that the summoning, or whatever we’re gonna call it, needs to target a very specific place, unlike your summoning, which just reached out over a broad area to find anyone it could. This is all going to take orders of magnitude more power, and zeroing in on the target will reduce the energy needed.”

Tiq, without looking up, pointed at her. “Just so. I’m actually really impressed with the work the cult’s done here, but of course, their math could use some refinement. I’ve already located a few small errors and places where sigils can be overlapped to a greater degree and engage in some synergy. Should make the whole thing take less from the two of you, but also take fewer materials in the first place.”

The door opened behind us and Isik stepped in. She eyed the room briefly before walking up to us. “Michael. Revana.”

“Hi, Isik.”

Revana gave her a completely expressionless gaze. “Hello, Inqui—Isik. I, uh…I’m…sorry…about this morning.” She sounded like she was forcing out each word.

Isik gave her a dubious look in reply for a moment before she looked away and said, “Well, perhaps…both of us…could have done better. I suppose.” After they shared a long, tense look, she continued, “I will attempt to be less…Gorvani.”

Revana gave her the smallest smile, but a smile nonetheless. “I’ll try to be less distrusting.”

“Must you all have this conversation right here?” Tiq asked. “I’m doing math.”

“What have you found?” Isik asked.

“They’ve done very good work, but there’s room for improvement. I’ve already identified many areas that could be altered.”

“Of course you have,” Isik replied. “I’d have expected nothing less.”

Revana and I made our exit and once we were away from the door, she laughed. “Oh, those two. I knew they were going to love each other.”

“They…were?”

“Oh come on, now. Both methodical, both love solving mysteries. They’ve got a lot of differences, but they’re so much alike in a lot of ways. Now come on, there’s a lot of things we could be helping with.”

The next few days after that were spent preparing for the ritual. Osaarin had many tasks even I could help with, and they almost all involved carrying heavy things around, but it was nice to be useful, and to feel like we were getting close to actually pulling all this off.

Revana and I sat down with him one evening to talk about what would actually be happening.

“Isik was correct. Directly summoning a dragon could only be accomplished by another dragon; we couldn’t even come close to having enough energy to do so. Instead, we will open a portal to the world on which the dragon resides—”

“Where you think it resides,” I said.

Osaarin nodded. “Yes, just so. However, it is a highly educated guess. We have been scrying out into the cosmos for many years now, and it is extremely likely that our efforts have pinpointed a dragon. Everything we know of them from the ancient Dravizek Celestori’s work is consistent with our current findings. If you would trust Lady Tiquette more than me, you are free to ask her as well; she has reviewed our findings and concurs with the results.”

Revana and I shared a look, and she said, “Well, that is actually very reassuring.”

“However, if we are indeed wrong, all that will happen is nothing. Should the world you travel to be the wrong one, you will just return empty-handed.”

“What if this other world doesn’t have a power like the shae?” Revana asked.

“Your connection to the portal will allow you to draw the shae from Vendira. There is a limit in how far you can travel from it, but our calculations should put you very close to your target.”

“How long do we have once we enter?” I asked.

“Once the portal is manifested and stable, we have supplies here to sustain it for…months, if it comes to it. I can’t imagine such a thing would ever be necessary, though, so you need not worry about it closing and stranding you there. The largest concern will be making contact with the dragon and convincing it to return.”

“And if it just says no?” I asked.

Osaarin spread his hands and grimaced. “There’s little you or anyone could do in such a situation.”

We all sat there in an awkward silence for a few moments before Revana asked, “Are there other dragons, should this one not be willing?”

“We have found traces around the cosmos, but admittedly, they could be other phenomena. The one we’re aiming for now is almost certainly what we seek. Should it prove to be unwilling, or perhaps not even what we think it is, there are other options, but they would require a lot of…”

“Exploratory portals?” I supplied.

Osaarin nodded. “Yes. And given the monumental effort this one we’re attempting is…it wouldn’t be prudent to try the other options until this one is proven to be unworkable.”

The day after that, we all spent it putting the finishing touches on the sigils laid down on the high plateau. All the people in the place came and went, and there was a noticeable excitement in the air as their long plans were finally coming to fruition. Revana and I were treated like minor celebrities, which she enjoyed but I was still somewhat uncomfortable with. 

I had grown accustomed to being Vendira’s hero, but again I was riddled with doubts about what would happen once we began the ritual. Tiq told us she was as confident as Osaarin about there being an authentic dragon on the other side of the portal, but she expressed some concern about our ability to power the ritual. 

“Doing it with only materials is not only prohibitively expensive in all likelihood, but there probably are’t enough catalysts that could be procured anyway. And since there are no records of shae channelers — the Gorvani destroyed or tucked any they had away in their vaults — there’s no way to measure your abilities as channelers against using the catalysts without extensive testing. So no, I can’t tell you that you can do it.”

She said all that in a clinical tone and while I appreciated her honestly, I probably could have used a pep talk instead. But there was nothing to be done but try, so the night before I got as much sleep as I could, which was…some.

24

The morning of the summoning, or portaling?, almost everyone had gathered on a terrace below to watch the proceedings.

I found Revana in high spirits: today was going to be the day she was going to meet a dragon in the flesh. Her mood made me feel much better about our chances, and I did my best to remain positive.

Isik stood off to the side. There was no expression on her face, but she tapped her foot rapidly while her gaze flitted from one thing to the next while Tiq, Osaarin, and a few other people were making last minute adjustments to the ritual sigils. When she saw me, she walked over. “There wasn’t a good opportunity to bring it up before, but congratulations on murdering one of the royalty, even if it was only the Sixteenth Son. News has been suppressed, of course, but it’s been filtering through the higher echelons of the empire.”

“Oh, right, that! Well, actually, it didn’t quite go down that way.” I explained the situation with the Fourteenth Daughter and how she’d finished him off instead of us.

Isik’s expression immediately soured. “Oh. Well, I can see why that story didn’t get out. I’m sure no one knows it besides the lot of you and her. More to the point, her involvement at all isn’t in the gossip making the rounds, so she must have control of the narrative.

“The fact that you’ve got her attention is worse than you know. She’s a complete psychopath,” she said, shrugging, “even more so than the rest of the royalty. However, while she’s as pompous as they all are, she’s not stupid. Her direct involvement makes everything much more dangerous.” She looked around at the buzz of activity surrounding us. “I hope this works. We might not be as safe here as we think if she’s looking for you.”

Our conversation was cut short as Osaarin walked to the edge overlooking the rest of the Celestori below and raised his hands. “Today is the day we’ve worked for for many long years. I appreciate all you have done for the cause, and I hope you have as much pride in our efforts as I do today! But this isn’t the end; it’s only the beginning. Today, we bring back to our home one of the races the Gorvani tried to exterminate, and with it, we bring back a symbol of hope that will race across the land, striking fear into the Emperor and his children and bring hope to everyone that suffers under his rule. For Vendira!”

The gathered crowd cheered, and then it was our turn. I tried to put what Isik had said out of my mind. Revana and I took our places on opposite sides of the sigils drawn out on the stone. She nodded to me, smiling, and I nodded back. It was time.

I pulled in as much of the shae as I could, and I saw Revana glow at the same instant. We pushed the magic into the patterns below us, and one by one, the sigils started to glow, bright and golden. From the sides, standing outside the ritual area, Osaarin and Tiq directed us on what needed to be done next.

I thought the spell to extend Revana’s brand had been complicated, but this was layers and layers of patterns, interlocking and overlaid on each other, some needing to be done before others, some needing to be done at the exact same time. I focused solely on channeling as much as I could and left the thinking to the others; I just did what I was told and when, and after what seemed like hundreds of layers, the entire thing began glowing faster than we channeled into it: it was starting to power itself.

A tiny light appeared in the air above the center of the spell, trailing curving tendrils of golden light. Slowly, ever so slowly, it grew and grew, making the strangest sound I’d ever heard. It was an otherworldly tone that was low and high pitched at the same time, and as the light grew, it became louder.

Once the nascent portal was big enough, I began to see things through it. At first it was just darkness, but then light came through, colors and shifting vistas, and I could just start to make out what looked like landscapes through the still expanding portal.

I kept channeling as hard as I could, although I was starting to really feel the strain of pulling all the shae I could at once.

The view inside the now very large gateway solidified into a land of green grass and blue skies, and for a second, I got homesick in a way I never thought I would.

But that only lasted for a few short seconds before it blurred, and what I saw started to shift rapidly, from one alien world into another.

Osaarin began yelling, directing Revana and I to bolster certain sections of the sigils, but as I pushed energy towards them, they seemed to resist. “No! It’s becoming unstable! Channel directly into the portal itself!”

I did the best I could, and I saw Revana’s gaze raise up as she did the same. For a time, it worked, although the world I saw through it wasn’t the same as the first. 

The weird tone that had been more or less consistent throughout began to fluctuate, and when it became too loud and wild, the portal would shift violently. It opened up onto what looked like a snowy mountaintop, and frigid winds assaulted me along with a barrage of ice and snow. It was cold enough to be painful, but I powered through and kept channeling.

It shifted to somewhere under an ocean, and Revana took the brunt of a massive spout of water that rushed out over her. She was washed to the edge of the plateau, but there were fences in place to keep her from falling off, and she kept glowing the entire time.

The gateway was getting larger with each shift, and I had no idea if that was good or bad. Another deafening peak in the tone and another shift, and I looked up in horror at the black void of space pinpricked with a thousand tiny stars. It began sucking everything towards it. I turned and dove to the ground, wrapping my fingers in the shallow channels that had been cut in the rock to fill with ritual material. It was barely anything, but it was something. Screams erupted from around me, but all I could do was hold on.

Thankfully, the portal shifted again, getting even bigger, and I was able to turn and see that no one had gotten sucked into it during the brief time it was open into the depth of space. This time, it looked into a massive, metal room filled with cages with thick bars. Thinking it was at least less dangerous than the others, I let my guard down a tiny bit, which was, of course, a stupid thing to do.

An enormous creature slammed into the portal and was ejected onto the plateau where it landed roughly before immediately righting itself. It was easily two stories tall. It was covered in thick, white fur, had three tails and two sets of feathered wings, and it stood on four legs, which ended in feathered feet capped with three huge, vicious-looking talons each. Its most noticeable feature, though, was one massive eye in the front; it had no neck or head, just the huge eye, which looked oddly human but bright, neon orange. It reared back up on its hind legs and a sharp-toothed, sideways maw opened up on what I would have called its chest, and it roared, which sounded like a very deep elephant’s trumpeting. It was only the second weirdest sound I’d heard that day.

I drew my sword and reflexively summoned my armor, which naturally cut into the amount of power I could provide to the ritual.

Before I could manage anything, though, Isik was running full speed at the creature. She was covered, head to toe, in tenebrous armor and she had two shadowblades at her side. They both whipped up at the monster, straight into its one huge eye, but they bounced off without a single cut. I think she was as surprised as I was, since she stopped short.

The creature looked down at her and swiped.

She barely avoided it by rolling underneath.

I ran in, my sword held high, and I thrust it into the beast’s leg, where it only sank in a few inches before it batted me away. I soared and rolled on the stone, my armor taking all of the impact.

Revana opened one of the portals she’d used against Gor’drelar, and was able to launch a few shae spears into the back of the monster. They, like my sword, penetrated, but only slightly, before they faded away. She fell to a knee, panting from the effort of all the channeling she was doing.

Isik tried ramming her swords unto the underbelly of the thing with similar, lackluster results.

It hopped back, much, much faster than I would have thought possible, and swiped at Isik again with uncanny speed. Its giant talons raked straight through her armor, which dissipated in a puff of shadows. 

She screamed and was thrown back to the ground with deep gouges in her abdomen that were covered in an orange fluid. I looked up to look at the claws, and they dripped with the vile substance.

Tiq yelled at me, “Cut off a piece of its talons! Cut off the end!”

I didn’t hesitate; I ran full speed at it. I couldn’t remember any memory-dreams that involved fighting huge ass monsters, but the calm of battle fell over me all the same, and I rushed in close, trying to cut it as best I could. I avoided blow after blow, my focus on dodging since it seemed my armor might not be enough to defend against it.

Finally, I saw my opening, and I pushed all the shae I could into my sword, even dropping my armor, hoping Revana could keep the portal open herself for a few seconds. My blade sliced cleanly through this time, and I cut off a piece of its talon about as long as my forearm.

It reared back and screamed its otherworldly scream, and seconds later, bright balls of arcanic lightning slammed into its open mouth. It stumbled back, and I diverted all the magic I could back to the portal. 

Tiq continued hammering its mouth with her device, and seconds later, the beast hopped backwards, directly into the gateway. It was dumped into a dark place, lit only by sporadic blue lights. It wasn’t where it had come from, but I didn’t care.

“Stop!” Osaarin yelled. “Close it! Shut it down! Stop channeling and let it go!”

I did as he said, letting the pull of shae in me fade away. 

Revana stopped glowing as well, and the portal collapsed in on itself with a thunderous boom.

The sigils stopped glowing.

I fell to my knees.

I looked around, assessing how bad things actually were.

Revana was sitting on the ground, panting. Tiq was still standing, her device around her shoulders. Osaarin stood there with a bewildered expression on his face.

Isik was on her back, unmoving, a pool of blood growing around her.

25

Iran to Isik, dropping to my knees.

She looked weakly up at me, grimacing in pain. Her abdomen had two vicious gashes running all the way across her body, both of which oozed with strange, orange fluid.

“W-what, what do I do!?” I stammered.

Revana rushed up to my side and Tiq was yelling orders, but I couldn’t pay attention to what she said.

“Revana…can you heal her?”

She shook her head. “I can heal myself, but healing someone else is infinitely more complicated. Besides which, Gorvani might not even be susceptible to shae healing; they might need the tenebrae.”

“Idiots,” Isik said softly. “Just let me die. Why trouble yourselves over me?”

“No!” I said. “You shut up. You’re going to be okay.”

Tiq shook my shoulder hard. “Pick her up. Follow me and bring her to the warehouse.” She set off, and although I was still in a daze, I did as she said, slipping my arms under Isik and picking her up off the ground. She cried out in pain, but I didn’t stop; I followed Tiq under the hopes she knew what she was doing. I also belatedly noticed she held the severed piece of talon in her hand, wrapped up in a cloth.

Isik looked up at me as we made our way down the terraces. “Michael, just set me down. It’s alright. I deserve this.”

“Shut up.”

She smiled. “But I do. This is a better death than I ever thought I’d receive. It’s almost…a gift.”

I didn’t reply; I just kept moving. Once we were at the facility’s warehouse, Tiq commanded a few bystanders to make space, and I sat Isik down on a table they cleared. 

Revana showed up seconds later with a pair of curved scissors. “Tiq said to cut her shirt off and to staunch the bleeding.” The blades slipped right through Isik’s clothes, exposing her chest. I looked down at her wounds and saw that they weren’t nearly as deep as I had thought, but snaking out from them in all directions were wavy, orange lines. 

Her cuts went straight through her brand, which was different than any I’d seen before. It was just as big, but the lines were much more angular and spaced out. What that meant, I had no idea, but the places where her flesh had been cut, the shadowy lines of her brand still persisted, floating in the open air. 

“Wow,” I muttered, “you really can’t cut the brand out.”

Revana shook her head. “Nope. It’s been tried.” She and I did our best to press a series of bandages over Isik’s wounds, but I flinched each time she groaned out in pain. Finally, though we were bloody messes, the bleeding seemed to have stopped for the moment. Revana left to help Tiq with whatever it was she was doing across the room while issuing a constant slew of orders, some for materials, some for equipment, and some for people to get out of her way.

Isik’s eyes were unfocused and her blue skin looked so pale. I took her hand in mine and said, “You’re going to be okay,” as much to myself as to her. Tears started to fall from my eyes, and it wasn’t until right then that I realized how much I had come to consider her a friend, and how much I didn’t want to lose her.

Her eyes fluttered as she tried to turn towards me. “Idiot,” she said in a whisper. “No one cares about an Inquisitor.” The orange lines were even more prominent on her skin, snaking ever further away from under the bandages.

I squeezed her hand tight. “I do, dammit. I care. I don’t want you to die.”

She smiled wanly. “What…a beautiful thing…that I…never thought…to receive.”

“Michael, get out of the way.” Tiq hurried over and I moved swiftly to the side. Without preamble or hesitation, she raised a large needle in her hands and slammed it down, straight into Isik’s heart.

I’d expected her to sit up abruptly, or shake and convulse, but she didn’t do any of those things, just continued to lie there as Tiq injected whatever she’d just made. 

“Is that…?”

“An antivenom, yes.”

“And you…just like, made it? This fast? On Earth I’m pretty sure it’s a long procedure.”

Tiq finished and pulled the needle from Isik’s chest. “Oh, no, you can synthesize one immediately here as long as you have enough of the venom.”

“Is there anything you can’t do? I didn’t know you were a doctor on top of…pretty much everything else.”

She smiled. “I’m not a doctor. I’m an alchemist. Here come the real doctors.”

We made way as a few Dravini came in with what looked like a portable surgical suite and began to work on Isik’s wounds.

Tiq, Revana, and I stood to the side and watched. I said, “So, is she…?”

Tiq shrugged. “Like I said, I’m not a doctor, but she’s lost a lot of blood. Of course the antivenom will work, though. I made it.” She gave me the ghost of a smile before heading back over to help in whatever way she could.

Revana looked at the scene with a complex series of emotions passing across her face. I raised an eyebrow at her and she said, “It’s weird. My whole life, I’d have loved to watch as an Inquisitor died. Morbid, I know, but still. And here we are, and I just don’t know how to feel. The old me still thinks she has it coming and should have been in worlds more pain. But…” She glanced over to me and looked down. “I know you think fondly of her now, and I don’t want you to be in pain. And, oh I don’t know…maybe she’s not the worst person I’ve ever met.”

She chuckled and ran her hands over her face. “A couple days ago I was ready to fight her to the death for a perceived slight. Well, okay, a real slight. But now? I don’t know. I don’t know what to think or feel. And, well…” She gestured upwards and said, “We failed. We couldn’t open the portal.”

Right. The portal. I’d actually forgotten about it.

I backed up to a wall and slid slowly down it, looking at the people working on Isik. Revana sat down beside me and I said, “It’s been a little while since everything’s gone to shit.”

She laughed softly. “Guess we were overdue.” She took my hand in hers and squeezed. “She’ll be okay.”

“What are you basing that on?”

She shook her head. “Nothing, really.”

“I’m still going to take it.”

We sat there for a little bit before it became somewhat clear that we were in the way, so we stood and stumbled out. We headed up the terraces to where we’d failed to create the portal. I’m not sure why we went there, but Osaarin was standing there alone, looking out over the mountains.

He turned when we approached and asked, “How is she?”

Revana held out her hands. “Tiquette created and antivenom, but the doctors are working on her other injuries. Honestly, I can’t say, but she’s in good hands, and I won’t be surprised if she makes a full recovery soon.” She sounded like she meant it, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she was saying it mostly for my sake.

Osaarin nodded and looked out over the ritual markings. “I suppose it could have been much worse, considering, but as far as the portal goes, I think we can safely say it was a rousing success.”

We both stood there just staring at him for a moment before I said, “Uh, really? I’m pretty sure we failed. Spectacularly.”

He turned and cocked his head at me. “Why would you say that? You two were able to create a legitimate portal! One big enough for that hideous beast to not only come here, but leave again! Do you not see how incredible that is? We were worried that it would be difficult enough to have the two of you cross through.”

“But,” Revana said, “even with both of us channeling as much as we could, we didn’t even come close to stabilizing it. Without another channeler or two, I don’t see how it’s going to be possible.”

He just smiled at her words and said, “Oh, don’t think the Celestori are out of tricks just yet. There is indeed a way to bolster your ability. Well, Michael’s at least.”

“Aaaand you didn’t bring this up until now because?” I asked.

“Ah, well,” he said haltingly as he spread his hands, “the item in question is not…it will be difficult to obtain.”

Revana stepped towards him with a determined look on her face, “Don’t tell me you know of the location of another shae relic?”

Osaarin inclined his head. “Just so. And it will allow Michael to access the power you’ll need for our next, successful attempt. However, there is a complication, which is why we didn’t retrieve the relic this time. We had hoped not to need to send anyone into danger unless it was necessary.”

“This’ll be great,” I said. “Is it in the Emperor’s back pocket? On the moon? In the center of the world.?”

“It’s…” he said with a pained expression, “ensconced in an ancient ruin in the ninth.”

Revana recoiled, her eyes wide in horror. “Fuck,” was all she said.

I waited for one of them to tell me what that meant, but after a few seconds, I had to say, “You two know I don’t know what you’re talking about, right? What’s so bad about the ninth?”

“Oh, right.” Revana shook herself out of a trance. “Do you remember me telling you about the yargeth?”

“I sure don’t.”

“Well, they’re massive creatures, easily ten or twelve or more stories tall, and the ninth is where most of them reside. The whole province was carved into the shape it is because it’s their territory. The empire apparently tried to move or kill them, and even with all their power, they weren’t able to do anything.”

“Wow, these things are that strong?”

Osaarin nodded and picked up the explanation, “They’re covered in fur and scales, and no magic or weapon has ever done more than the smallest scratch. Combine that with how incredibly aggressive they can be, and it was decided long ago to just leave them alone. The ninth is almost completely undeveloped land because of them.”

“If you want to know more about them,” Revana said, “I’m sure Tiquette would be more than happy to tell you all about them. I can see her face now when we tell her we’re going there. She’s going to come and nothing we say is going to dissuade her, since not much is really known about them, and you can imagine what she thinks about a mystery.”

“I sure can. So, can we just sneak by or something? How many of these things are out there?”

“There are methods,” Osaarin said, “of baiting them away and evading them, all of which you’ll need to use to come out of the ninth alive. As said, the yargeth are incredibly aggressive, and couple that with very keen senses, and you’ll be hard pressed to just ‘sneak by’ them. As for how many there are out there? No one has been able to get a good count, but there will be enough that you won’t be lucky and just not happen upon any.”

“This is, uh, the only holy relic there is, right? Not one locked away in some Gorvani vault?”

Osaarin smiled and spread his hands. “Afraid not. And this one was ensconced where it was because even the empire fears to enter the ninth.”

I took a long, deep breath. “Outstanding. Before we deal with any of that, I need to go lie down for a while. Maybe eat something. Maybe have one or eight stiff drinks.”

26

Islept soundly that night and woke late the next morning. After an extremely healthy breakfast that consisted of dulcet jumpers and an entire pot of hachi, I went to see Isik, who’d been placed upstairs in her own room, which was about four times as big as the bedroom I’d been put in.

The doctors had told me that she’d pulled through remarkably well, considering, but she would be in bed for some time. When I entered her room, she wasn’t moving, so I pulled up a chair and sat by the side of the bed, just letting my mind wander wherever it would.

A while later, she stirred, and when she rolled over and saw me there, she scoffed. “Don’t tell me you’ve been sitting by my side this whole time.” Her purple hair was a complete mess, all tangled and laying in all directions, a stark contrast to her usual prim and proper appearance. 

I chuckled. “No, I've only been here for a little bit. Came up after breakfast, but I didn’t want to wake you up. How are you doing?”

She looked into my eyes, unblinking, for some time before she leaned back and said, “I’ll live. I’m not sure why any of you went to the trouble, but I’ll live.”

I wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that, so we sat in silence before I eventually asked, “Is being an Inquisitor really that lonely? Don’t you have, you know, any friends?”

“Friends? That’s rich. I have colleagues and enemies, and there’s a significant overlap between those two groups, and both of them would just as soon see me dead, either for political advantage or vengeance. Or both.” She didn’t move, but her eyes wandered over to me. “You know…Michael…” She seemed pretty uncomfortable with wherever she was going with this. “I’ve given a lot of thought lately as to why I seem to be so…forthcoming with you. It goes against all my instincts and better thoughts, but when you ask me questions, I find myself rambling like an idiot.”

“It’s because I’m just so likable.”

She snorted and laughed, then grimaced and held her stomach. “Oh, don’t make me laugh.”

“You’re…gonna be okay, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. The danger has largely passed. And Revana was correct at the time; the Gorvani cannot be healed by the shae, only by the tenebrae. The royals do it almost automatically, but the rest of us must channel. Unfortunately, my ability to do so is minimal at best right now, and couple that with the fact that I, personally, am just plain unskilled at healing…It will be some time before I recover fully.

“But back to what I was saying. I have not, since my adolescence, had anyone I felt comfortable speaking with, but I do with you. And it’s not just because you asked me questions about myself whereas no one else would. Well, not just that. It’s that…you don’t have a lifetime of hate and fear of the Gorvani. Imagine Revana asked me about myself. No, no, just imagine it, even though it would never happen. Would I just casually rattle off to her all the things I say to you? Of course not.”

“You have been pretty forthcoming in her presence, though.”

“Well, I wanted the two of you to trust me. I still don’t know that she does.”

“She’s trying.”

She closed her eyes and sighed. “I suppose that’s the best I could hope for. Although I can’t say I helped the situation the other morning. It’s just…she was being so obstinate! If she could have just shut her mouth and—”

I held up my hands. “Uh, this is the kind of attitude that’s still not helping.”

She sighed again, running her hands over her face. “You’re right. I’ve spent years upon years branding people for even slightly questioning me. Not because I love doing it, but because it’s how things are done.”

I arched an eyebrow at her. “You don’t like doing it at all? I’m supposed to believe that?”

“Oh, fine. But please understand it’s not that I like hurting people, but yes, I do like them immediately shutting up.”

I thought back to thousands of shitty retail situations I’d been in, completely unable to do anything but stand there and absorb abuse, and the thought of being able to brand those people was really, really appealing. “Yeah, I can only imagine that it’s a really convenient thing to be able to do.” She cocked her head and stared at me after this, so I asked, “...What?”

She shook her head the tiniest amount. “The way you respond to me is so bizarre sometimes.”

“How so?”

“I was talking about essentially torturing people for minor offenses, and instead of telling me I’m a monster, you just…agreed with me.”

“Uh, well,” I said, shrugging, “I can relate to dealing with people being…frustrating. I find some of the things you say to be pretty relatable, and I don’t know, I guess I kinda gloss over the…the horrors. I’m not sure why. I suppose I just want to like you…because…um…”

“Just say it.”

“Because nobody else does. And that’s sad.”

Her smile didn’t touch her eyes as she said, “It’s alright, Michael. No one’s supposed to like monsters, although it means a lot that you’re trying.”

I reached out and took her hand in mine. 

She looked at it, and up at me, but didn’t say anything or pull away. 

“I’m not going to tell you you’re not a monster. I’m sure you’ve done a lot of pretty awful things. And you’ve talked before about ‘balancing the scales’ and such, but I think that’s a bad way of thinking. Maybe you won’t ever be able to do enough good to balance things out in your head, but that doesn’t mean any good you do from here on out is less good, you know? So you’re a monster, but so what? You can always just…stop. It’ll be hard to change, but it’s always a choice you have. And all the good you do from now on is still good, no matter what you did in the past.”

We sat there in the morning sun, hand in hand, for a long time before she moved or responded at all. “Even if I try, who will believe it? Who will see me as anything different? Even the Celestori here, with whom I’ve worked for some time now, still guard themselves around me. I hear jovial conversations around a corner and they fall away the second I come into view. They know what I am.”

“You’re not going to be able to convince everyone.” I gave her hand a tight squeeze and looked into her bright orange eyes. “But there’s someone else you really need to convince first.”

“And that is?”

“You. You need to stop hating yourself.”

She opened her mouth, and I could tell there was some flippant quip on the end of her tongue, but it never came. Her lips worked soundlessly and began to quiver, very slightly. She looked away and pulled her hand out of mine. “Please go, Michael. Thank you for your kind words,” she said, her voice trembling, “but go. Now. Please.” She was clearly holding back tears, and I couldn’t imagine she’d cried in front of anyone for maybe her whole life. It might also have been the first time I’d ever heard her say please.

I stood and said, “We’re leaving soon, but I’ll come see you again before we do.” I didn’t wait for a reply; I just quickly left and shut the door quietly behind me.

Later, Tiq and I were in one of the manor’s many sitting rooms, underneath a huge set of stained glass windows. She’d been reading a book, but when I asked her what it was about, I couldn’t understand a single sentence she’d said. 

“We’re going to yargeth country!?” she exclaimed after I had barely broached the topic. I hadn’t even mentioned that she would be coming, but it looked like Revana was right; she was going to invite herself. Or not even that: she would just assume she was coming along. And I guess she was right.

“I’m going to need some time to get ready!” She was up and out of the room before I could mention that we had no intention of leaving right that second.

Revana was coming in at the same moment and almost got plowed over. She sat down next to me and smiled. “I see she took it like we knew she would. Also, Osaarin gave me the details on the location of the relic, and it’s not particularly good news.”

“Well why would it have been? Is it up a yargeth’s ass or something now?”

“Nothing quite so colorful, no. Long before the empire and before the yargeth claimed those lands, there was a Surini city in what’s now the ninth. The ruins we’re looking for used to be the catacombs underneath a small castle. Unfortunately, there’s nothing left above ground. The buildings naturally crumbled, of course, but they were then just smashed flat by centuries of the beasts walking through. So what we’re looking for isn’t going to be noticeable until we’re pretty much right on top of it, and most of the area is grasslands filled with rolling hills, so there’s not going to be much to go on.”

“Great. So we’re looking for something we can’t see until we’re there. How in the world are we supposed to pull this off?”

“We’ll be traveling mainly by night, because the stars are the best way to figure out where we’re going.”

I assume you know how to travel using the stars? Because I sure don’t.”

“I do, but Tiq’s even better. Because she should be; she’s an Astrologian primarily.”

“Oh, alright,” I said. “Are the yargeth asleep during the night?”

“Uh, no. They don’t actually sleep in the way you mean.”

I gave her a level look, and in that moment, Tiq walked back in. Revana asked that she try and explain.

She smiled brightly, obviously pleased at the chance to talk about them. “They have seven heads—”

“Of course they do.”

She continued as if I hadn’t interrupted her. “And we’re reasonably sure they all have their own brain, because some heads enter a state of lowered activity, but the animals never seem to actually lie down and sleep completely, so it’s theorized that all the heads can independently control the body.”

“Uh huh. So what you’re telling me is that there’s never a really safe time to move.”

“Precisely.”

I sighed inwardly. Then outwardly. The old me would have been completely overwhelmed by this stupid plan, but we’d pulled off so much crazy shit already, that this was just one more thing to add to the pile. “Alright, fuck it. Let’s go get ready. How do we even get to the ninth anyway?”

Revana said, “Well, we’ll take the portals as close as we can and then it’s just walking into the woods from there. No one patrols the border to the ninth because all there is to do there is get eaten or stomped on by yargeth.” Suddenly realizing what she’d just said, she made an obvious attempt to change the subject. “We got a few more fake IDs, and good news! You’re not Shum this time!”

“Uh huh,” I said, neutrally. “Is it better than Shum?”

“It’s, uh, Tem. Tem Tuli.”

I blinked. “Well, you know what? It is better than Shum. Not by a lot, but some. Maybe. I guess.”

27

The next day, we’d gathered what we could and I’d spoken to Isik one last time. Apparently the dragon cult had long awaited just this day, because it turned out that they had a full complement of materials to deal with the yargeth prepped and ready to go. They handed each of us a small but packed-full bag and I was assured that Tiq had already read all the instructions and could brief us both on the way. 

We were dressed in clothes suitable for hiking and sleeping out under the stars, as that’s what we would be doing, and for some reason, Tiq had dyed her hair a bright, neon pink, and she had swapped her big round glasses for smaller, ovular ones.

“I’m a high profile person, and we’ll be traveling through the regular portal system, so I did what I could to change my appearance without going overboard.”

I smiled and took a lock of her hair in my fingers. “I love it.”

She blushed, smiling widely.

I was told our adventure into Monsterland would last a couple days, minimum, so that was just great. I was very much looking forward to being stressed and looking over my shoulder for the entire duration.

We also loaded up with regular hiking packs filled with food and water for the trip, and I was happy I was stronger now than when I’d come to Vendira, since I could’ve probably carried it for an hour or two maximum at that point.

The golems that would take us to the nearest convenient portal nexus that wasn’t located anywhere near Telorn were huge and comfortable, so at least part of this adventure would be somewhat relaxing. Once we got underway and the Skyshard distillery was behind a bend in the mountains, I turned to Tiq and asked, “So, how are we actually supposed to deal with the yargeth?” She still looked odd to me in clothes other than her Astrologian robes, although she was wearing her arcanic device, which was becoming more and more familiar. We were all wearing a mixture of white and bright blues, which looked pretty dorky to me but would actually be pretty effective camouflage in Vendira. At least the clothes were comfortable.

“So, yargeth can’t see, so they rely on smell and hearing, and we suspect, vibrations in the ground.”

“They’re blind?”

“Yes. But that won’t stop them from zeroing in on us with terrifying alacrity. Despite their size, they’re quite fast. The best technique for avoiding them is to leave small, smoldering pouches of pungent herbs behind us as we go, and that will lure in any yargeth to where we were instead of where we are. As for noise, it’s really up to us to do the best we can, but if we’re careful, any noise we produce should be drowned out by the wind sweeping through the grasslands. I highly advise a low speaking voice, or not speaking at all if not necessary.”

“Okay, so traveling at night just makes it harder for us to see, but doesn’t hinder these beasts from sensing us in any fashion.”

“Yes, that’s correct. We can travel a little during light hours with the help of compasses, but most of the time, we’ll be moving at night, and the yargeth will be just as dangerous then.”

“Oookay,” I said, my sense of self preservation having been thrown away a long time ago. Despite what anyone said, I couldn’t imagine the yargeth were more dangerous than infiltrating an imperial prison.

For the rest of the golem ride down the mountain, we were all lost in our own thoughts. Before I knew it, we were coming into the gate of a village like so many others I’d seen, and the portal nexus was a smaller, but similar building to any I had been in.

Tiq and Revana had gotten off earlier in the ride, near the village’s gate and were going to browse some local shops to kill some time. We had no idea if the Gorvani were looking for us, or if Gor’mina had even gotten a close look at our faces, but she could probably have at least discerned what races we were, and if two humans and a Dravini waltzed up to a portal all at once, it would be more suspicious than if we came alone.

I found the one I wanted and there was a small wait until it was scheduled to activate, so I used the time to, of course, buy myself a steaming cup of hachi. I drank it slowly and tried to calm my nerves. I’d been alone once before during all this madness, but that had turned out to be the worst time I’d spent on Vendira, impersonating an enforcer and having to choose between killing innocent people or fighting my way out. As awful as the whole thing had been, I was proud of myself for refusing to kill those people, even if it might have ended up as a mercy kill. I idly wondered if I’d ever see the two people I’d help get to safety. What were their names, now? Sera and Bairn, the latter of which might or might not even still be alive.

The portal I wanted flared into life, and the people around me lined up for it, which I joined at the end. The Gorvani attendant had the quintessential face of an overworked, underappreciated cog in the machine. She looked at everyone’s IDs, but only a perfunctory glance. Until she got to mine.

She took it and looked at it, and I held out my hand for her to give it right back, but she hesitated, brushing a dark strand of hair out of her face as a little bit more life came into her eyes. 

Shit.

“Name?”

She could clearly read it, but I said, “Tem Tuli.” What a stupid ass name. 

“Where are you going, Tem?” If she thought my name was dumb, she was doing a good job of hiding it.

“Off to a research trip into the ninth province.” At her incredulous expression following that, I added, “Not deep into it or anything. Just some geological samples from over the border.” This was the story we’d concocted if anyone asked, which I was sure they wouldn’t, but here I was.

“Research for who?”

“Astrologian Quintel Forj.” This was one of Tiq’s contemporaries, and the eclectic type of man to have research like this conducted.

“Wait here.”

She left, heading towards a raised area in the center of the building with other Gorvani, where she had a long conversation with a gruff, fat man who looked to be in charge. The blood really started to pump in my veins, and I did my best to keep calm and not start sweating in an overwhelmingly suspicious manner. The two returned, both with unfriendly looks on their faces, and the man had a file in his hands.

“Tem, is it?” This man sneered up at me, clearly amused by the name. “Tem Tuli?”

“Yep.”

“Doing…‘research,’ now, are you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What type of research?”

“Geological, sir.”

He scoffed. “I know that. For what purpose?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss the Astrologian’s research, sir.” Wow I hoped that was an acceptable thing to say to a Gorvani, but I was pretty sure someone like Tiq would outrank this man by a few orders of magnitude.

A huge scowl twisted his face, but he didn’t challenge me on it. “You know what’s in the ninth, don’t you, boy?”

Boy. I just let that go. “Yargeth, sir.”

He poked me, hard, in the chest with a meaty finger. “You don’t look like you can handle a yargeth, son.”

I kept my expression as neutral as I could and looked him in the eyes. “No one can, sir. But I’m hoping to not have to deal with them; I’m just going over the border and that’s it. Either way, I’m bound to do as my superiors ask, no matter what I think of the matter.”

He cooled a little bit, stepping back and grumbling. He knew about following shitty orders. “What did you say your superior’s name is?”

“Quintel Forj, sir.”

He finally opened the file he was holding and flipped through a few pages. Apparently he found what he was looking for but didn’t like it. “Huh. Well…” He eyed me up and down, and I got the distinct impression he’d really wanted to exert what little power he wielded to ruin my day. “Get out of here,” he finally yelled, throwing up his hands and storming off.

The Gorvani woman just shrugged, handed me the ID back, and pointed me towards the portal, and I wanted to be out of her as much as she wanted me gone. Just as I was about to leave, I caught her looking at me with an odd expression.

I went through the portal.

On the other side, I got out of the nexus as fast as I could, power walking down the road and constantly looking behind me. If I was being followed, I couldn’t tell, but I still hurried as fast as able without drawing any attention. I left the city and followed a roadway for a while before diverting just before a crossroads and ducking into a forest to wait on the other two.

I kept my eyes peeled the whole time, watching for anyone else suspicious coming down the road. An hour went by, my stress through the roof until finally, I saw Revana walking down the road as well. She also turned off before the crossroad, and I emerged from the trees long enough to flag her down.

I explained what had happened to me in the nexus.

“I can’t say that it’s a good sign, but it could just be Gorvani being Gorvani. They sure like to lord their power over anyone else.”

“Maybe,” I said, unconvinced. “I think the guy sure did, but the look the woman gave me as I was leaving…I don’t know. I’ll feel a lot better once we’re out of here and into…monster country.” Ugh.

We waited and waited, but Tiq continued not to show, and the stress ramped up even higher. “She should be here by now,” I said.

Revana clenched her jaw but said nothing.

We waited.

And waited.

Eventually, I saw Tiq’s new pink hair bobbing down the road, and all the muscles in my body unclenched at once. I went out to wave her down.

She showed up with a worried look on her face and it didn’t escape my notice that she’d been checking behind her as she’d come down the road. “I can’t be sure, but we might have a problem.” She related her story, which was strikingly similar to mine, except they’d actually detained her for a while, bringing her into a room to ask endless questions. “They weren’t Inquisitors, so they didn’t really know what they were doing, but they just kept hammering me with questions. Our cover story involves a lot of true things, so it wasn’t hard to keep to, but I was sure I’d be followed afterwards.”

“Yeah, same here.”

“Oddly enough, they didn’t seem at all taken back by the device. I told them it was a research tool and started talking about soil composition in the various provinces and they were more than happy to not ask anything else about it.”

We watched the road for a little longer before we all agreed we should leave as soon as possible, so we turned into the woods and began walking. Getting away from civilization was good, but it felt worse not being able to watch our backs effectively. I kept feeling like we were being followed. 

“The forest extends for some time,” Tiq said, “and the technical border of the ninth lies inside it, so we’ll be well inside by the time we hit the grasslands, and the odds of anyone else being out there is practically zero.”

I could hear the waver in her voice. I wanted to believe it too, but I wasn’t sure I did. Still, I reasoned, there wasn’t any great way for anyone to track us this far. It could be done, but no one had seen where we’d exited the road. And maybe, just maybe, no one was following us anyway and we were getting all worked up for nothing. 

Maybe.

28

The sun was making its way down towards the horizon by the time we left the trees, so we decided to make camp there and get a little bit of sleep before setting off again once the stars were out. I was assured that there was little chance of yargeth this close to the border; the empire gave their territory an extremely wide berth.

“So no yargeth here, but is there anything else we need to worry about? Getting swallowed whole sounds bad, but so does getting ripped apart by six-mouthed wolves.”

“Whatever those are, there’s nothing like them out here,” Tiq said. “Anything bigger than a house pet stays as far away from yargeth territory as it can. There are the usual complement of insects and rodents, but that’s all. And nothing venomous, so you can sleep without worrying about that.”

“So the only real danger here is other people.”

Revana nodded. “Just so. We should set a watch on the off chance we’ve been followed all the way out here.” 

Not that there was going to be an overwhelming amount of time for sleep, but we each agreed to take a short watch while the other two slept. I took the first, and I tried valiantly to stay calm, and when it was my time to sleep, I did my best to put my fears out of my head.

I was awoken in total darkness, immediately assuming the worst, mostly because anytime I’d been woken up on Vendira, it was because the next calamity had hit, but nothing had happened this time.

Tiq had a sextant out, and I remembered what it was called only because I asked. We’d also been given a map I was happy to see, although my elation faded when I saw the quality of it. I think a toddler with some crayons could have done better. But it was better than nothing. Probably.

Vendira’s blue grasses shone in the moons’ light, waves passing through them from the soft breeze that blew by. They were waist high but easy enough to move through, and we made what seemed like pretty good time. A couple hours in, Tiq told us we should really be on the lookout, which was driven home when she stopped to deploy the first of the safety measures. 

She opened the little bag we’d all been given, took out a small pouch, tore it open and lit it on fire with a small sparking tool. It burned blue for a few seconds before she blew it out, wadded it back up, and laid it on the ground.

“That’s it?” I asked.

“That’s it. Yargeth sense of smell is extremely strong, so any scent of us will get overpowered by this, because for whatever reason, they can’t seem to stand the smell these burning herbs put off. They’ll come stomp around over here if there are indeed any out there.” 

I looked around for any sign of giant monsters or hostile people, but saw nothing except an endless expanse of waving blue grass from horizon to horizon. 

We kept walking for some time, and every once in a while, Revana or Tiq would take new star measurements or one of us would light a tiny bag. I was finally beginning to relax just a little, maybe beginning to hope that we’d get through this entire plan without anything stupid happening, but during one of our breaks, Tiq took out a spyglass and peered off into the distance behind us.

“Aw, fuck.”

I spun, expecting to find a massive monster charging towards us, but I couldn’t see anything in the darkness. “Fuck?”

She looked over to me, her lips pressed into a worried line.

I took the spyglass and scanned around where she’d been looking, and instead of a yargeth, there was a group of people, probably fifteen or so, and three of them were dressed in the bare-chested style of the royalty and sitting on personal golems, with the rest being a mishmash of armored Gorvani and heavily-armed enforcers. “Aw, fuck,” I said.

I handed the glass to Revana who, after seeing what we were dealing with, just said, “Oh. I see. Aw, fuck indeed.”

Wordlessly, we all scrambled to get our things together and started moving quickly away from the hunting party. “What do we do?” I asked, once we were moving. “I don’t think any of them are Fourteen, but we can’t fight all those people, can we? And if they tracked us this far, I doubt we’re getting away from them. Can golems run?”

“Not really,” Tiq said. But they don’t need to run if they can track us this effectively.” 

Revana had a grim look on her face, but she seemed more angry than scared. “What can we do, then? It’s unlikely we’re going to be able to pick them off. If we stop, they’ll surround us. Should we charge in and try to kill the royals quickly and demoralize everyone else?”

“That sounds like a low probability of success, but it’s better than getting run into the ground.”

“So…” Tiq said, “There is something we can do.”

I did not like the tone she was taking there. “This isn’t going to be fun, is it?”

“Fun? Well, I don’t know. Maybe.” 

I was kinda sure I knew where she was going with this, but I let her say it anyway.

“We could get a yargeth’s attention and hopefully lure it into them.”

There it was. “So we all get eaten?”

“Well, if we attract one, uh, or more, the three of us will have a much better chance of slinking away than their huge group will. Honestly, I’m a little surprised they haven’t made enough noise to call one over yet.”

“I’m not sure what other choice we have, except to just fight them.”

“Let’s do it!” Revana said, slamming a fist into her palm. “I wanna see one of those fuckers get eaten whole!”

“Alright,” I said, “How do we do it?”

Tiq abruptly stopped running. “It’s really, really easy,” she said with a huge smile. She closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, and let out the loudest scream I’d ever heard.

I took the spyglass out of her pocket and looked back towards our pursuers. I thought they might have taken that as a queue to charge us, but they were all looking around, clearly flustered. They must have known what was coming.

We ran again, but it was less than a minute before I saw it coming over a particularly tall hill. At first, I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing, which was a mass of white, snake-like forms. At the end of each was a mouth that contained a huge set of disturbingly human-like teeth and apparently no lips, and that was it. No eyes, noses, or anything at all — just the mouths. The creature’s body came into view, and the heads, of which there were seven, were lined up on its body in two rows, one with four and one with three. These heads and necks were more than half of the thing’s height. The rest of it was like a massive hippo or elephant, bulky and round with big, flat feet with a few toenails. It was mostly covered in gleaming, white scales, but some places had patches of fur in the same color.

It didn’t make any noise or cry out, just ran in an earth-shaking gait, but its steps made enough noise all on their own. The heads swiveled this way and that, so that it was “looking” in all directions at once.

I hadn’t given any real thought to how high a ten story building is; I’d just accepted the fact that they were that high and moved on, but the image I’d conjured in my head was probably only three or four stories high. This thing was legitimately massive, and a bolt of pure, animalistic terror ran through my body at the sight of it. I tried to say something, but a strangled grunt was all I could manage.

It was running directly for the place we’d been when Tiq had screamed — the place the Gorvani were just walking into.

We all stopped to watch. It was stupid; we should have kept going. I knew it. I’m sure Revana and Tiq knew it. But we didn’t. We just stood there and gaped at it all like idiots.

The hunting party broke apart immediately, scattering in all directions. I didn’t know if that was cowardice or good strategy, or both. Two of the royals stood their ground, summoning tenebrous magicks and hurling them at the incoming monstrosity. Some of the Gorvani followed suit while running, and I heard the twang of crossbows being fired.

“They’re just gonna piss it off more,” Tiq said.

Some of the yargeth’s heads slammed down into the group, their huge maws open, seeking anyone they could. I couldn’t be quite sure in the chaos, but I thought I saw an enforcer or two get swallowed. Poor bastards. 

The group had fanned out, flanking their enemy, but for all they tried, every single attack just bounced off its scales; even the massive gouts of shadowy magic seemed to be completely useless.

As we stood there, one of the heads turned towards us and just looked while the rest of the creature’s body kept up the assault. 

“Uh, that’s probably bad,” I said, pointing it out.

As if on cue, we heard the amplified voice of a royal barking out orders, and as a unit, they all started heading our way with the monster following behind.

“Tiq, run!” Revana shouted as she began to glow.

Tiq didn’t hesitate for a second, just turned and bolted directly away.

I drew my sword and summoned my armor, and seconds later, I felt the flow of magic as Revana bolstered it. I looked down at the swirling designs and sprouting spikes and hoped it would be enough. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Revana had a blazing sword made of golden light and was wearing her own version of shae armor, and while it wasn’t as bulky as mine, I was happy to see that her abilities had begun to stabilize.

I’m not sure the Gorvani had a plan. I know we hadn’t had one when we decided to call the yargeth. They crashed into us, and all I could think about was slowing them down so Tiq could run and killing as many as I was able, hopefully the royals.

As much as I wanted to protect Revana, there wasn’t really anything I could do but trust her to take care of herself. I launched myself at the nearest enforcer, sliding under his blade and bringing my sword up through his face and chest. I didn’t stop to look at the carnage, just turned to face the next opponent, a Gorvani wrapped up in tenebrous armor. He apparently thought it would be effective, as he whipped two magicked blades at me, leaving himself open. His weapons bounced off my chest, and while I could feel the impact, they were little more than annoyances. I leapt and brought my sword down on him, cutting off an arm and passing through his armor like it wasn’t there. Another swing saw his head rolling in the grass.

I barely had time to dodge one of the yargeth’s heads as it came in from beside me, raking across the ground. A split second later, however, I was careening head over heels, having apparently taken a massive ball of tenebrous magic from one of the royals.

I slammed into the ground hard, but my armor took the brunt of the force, and I used the momentum to roll up onto my feet with only just enough time to get my weapon up to block another wave of magic. Well, sort of, since it wasn’t a shield.

As soon as that attack had passed by, a shadow came over me, but it wasn’t magic; one of the monster’s massive feet was coming down straight on top of me. There wasn’t time to do a thing, so I channeled as much of the shae into my armor as I could. It stomped directly down on me and everything went black.

I’d been driven into the dirt, but thankfully, my armor had held. I laid there in complete darkness, idly wondering what would happen if the thing just never moved until I was out of air, but it soon stepped off of me, and I extricated myself from the me-shaped hole in the ground.

An augmented scream ripped through the air, and everyone turned to look up at one of the royals, a woman, struggling inside one of the yargeth’s mouths. Shadows fired this way and that; I saw one of the spear-throwing portals Gor’drelar had used open up, but it was just as useless as everything else. The beast was trying to swallow her, and while she tried to claw her way out, she was sinking out of view. After one last scream, the beast opened wide and clamped its huge teeth together. One of her arms fell to the battlefield as we all looked and saw muscles moving in the monster’s long neck as she traveled down to her doom.

“Yes!” Revana yelled from across the fight, “Suck her down! Grind her bones!”

I looked around, and there were many fewer people than there had been at the start, and while I know I’d made a few corpses, there weren’t enough bodies to account for that, even considering that Revana must have killed some people by now. That left the only option of them all being in the monster’s stomach as well.

I turned and rushed over to Revana, dispatching another enforcer without slowing down on the way. I grabbed her arm and yelled, “Let’s go! We’ll be the only ones left if we don’t!”

We exited the fight as best we were able. Oddly enough, the royals didn’t seem to be focusing on us. We clearly weren’t the biggest threat, but I had assumed they’d try to kill us and run, but they just kept fighting the yargeth, apparently convinced they could eventually win. I wanted to see it kill the other two, but I wasn’t going to stand around gawking twice.

One of the Gorvani tried to follow us, but Revana blasted him with a spear portal of her own, and he fell. Whether he was dead or not was irrelevant. 

We sprinted as fast as we could across the grasslands. My muscles were burning, but we didn’t stop, and I assumed we were running the way Tiq had gone, but I wasn’t completely sure. After we’d put a few of the rolling hills in between us and the battle, Revana gestured for me to stop. 

Hurriedly, she pulled her own sextant out of her pack and took some rushed measurements. “This way. Probably.” 

We ran into the night until all we could hear was the muffled thuds of the yargeth stomping on the ground.

29

We resumed lighting the herb bags on fire. Not because we thought the same yargeth was after us, but because there might be more in the area. I was told that since they couldn’t be safely studied, no one really knew how many were in a given area since the answer was always at least enough to kill you. And that could mean one or eight, but no one could really report back after they were dead.

Revana still took readings and adjusted our course, and we walked throughout the night. I was terrified that we’d come across Tiq’s body, but we never did. I was not comforted by the additional thought that there probably wouldn’t be a body.

After the battle and the hours of walking that followed, I could barely keep my eyes open. Revana seemed to be flagging as well, but we didn’t stop. After a brief conversation earlier, we’d decided to make it to the ruins before we attempted to rest more than a few minutes at a time. 

Finally, when the horizon was just beginning to show a little light, Revana stopped and nudged me excitedly. Before us was a massive ruin of stone. It was mostly tamped down into the earth with grass growing in between, but it was still recognizably what was left of an archaic castle and a small number of buildings around it. The floors of them, anyway. 

Based on what I’d heard before we left, I thought the thing would be impossible to find, but it seemed the directions we were given were actually better than advertised. At least one thing was going our way. I wanted to rush the rest of the way, but my legs wouldn’t carry me faster than a staggering walk. 

We found a few entrances that led below the ground, but the first couple only proved to be smaller basements or storage areas, but we finally found a somewhat more ornate staircase leading down into the dark.

Revana was about to summon a light ball for us when I held her back. “Here, let me try.” I’d been taking mental notes when anyone else used magic and comparing them to the sparse memories I did have that weren’t strictly battle related. 

The shae was, as always, like a cool breeze under my skin. I let it flow to my hands and tried to coax it into a ball. It took me a couple tries to get it to stabilize, but I eventually got it. I let it float upwards proudly, and Revana’s answering smile was wonderful.

“I’m impressed! It seems like it would be a beginner spell, but it’s really not. Holding anything away from your body is much trickier than you might think.” She looked up suddenly, an annoyed look on her face.

I followed her gaze, and from the other direction from the one we’d come, there was another yargeth’s set of heads peeking over a hill and coming this way. “Well, good thing we’re here. I hope it doesn’t cause an earthquake and seal up the place while we’re down there.

“If that hasn’t happened yet, it’s probably not going to. But let’s get down there and hopefully it’ll forget us soon.”

We walked down into the gloom, down a winding, circular staircase. At the bottom, a hallway led off into shadows with many doors on either side. We’d barely taken a step off the stairs when there was movement from the first room on the right, and before I knew it, I was looking down the end of Tiq’s device, a mass of arcanic energy ready to sail straight into my face.

I raised my arms and bolstered my armor reflexively, but the blast never came.

“Oh, shit, it’s you!” She powered down the device and as I dismissed the armor, she threw her arms around me. “You’re okay!” Revana also got a crushing hug, which she returned just as fiercely. “I’ve been sitting here assuming the worst for a while now. I barely stopped running once the battle started. I’m so, so glad to see you both unharmed.”

We filled her in on how the fight had played out, and she winced but had a satisfied smile on her face to hear about the royal that had gotten eaten.

As we talked, I could feel faint tremors running through the stone. “Oh yeah, there’s a second one up above us now. It’s not gonna wait us out, is it? No, wait. Don’t tell me. No one knows, huh?”

“Yep.”

I sighed. “Oh well. Let’s find what we came here for then.”

The place didn’t look like catacombs as I’d seen them depicted on TV, and if they’d ever housed any bones, they’d long crumbled to dust. The designs in the stone and the numerous archways had held up pretty well, but it was clear that no one had been here in a long, long time. After we found and descended a few more sets of stairs, we ended up in a curving hallway that was clearly mostly natural and there wasn’t a single cut stone block to be seen.

“So we’re in a cave again? That’s just wonderful. The last cave wasn’t all bad,” I said, glancing over to Revana, who smiled, “but I’d just as soon not run into any more magic crabs.”

“Oh, right!” Tiq said. “I have a theory on that. Not that it’ll make you feel good right now, but it’s interesting at least.”

“Okay…”

“Those tenebral korids you fought were probably living directly in the magical streams under the world for a long time, and I think it was your holy relics that they sensed and that directed them towards you. Your bond with them is important as well, since Revana carried them through the caves on her way to summon you without incident.”

“You’re right, Tiq,” I said. “That doesn’t really make me feel better about this cave right now.”

“Keep in mind,” Revana said, “that we’re much more capable and dangerous now than we were last time. If those things show up again, all three of us will just blast them to pieces.”

“Oh, that’s a good point. And now’s a good time to bring up that I saw you summon your own armor during that last battle! How long have you been able to do that?”

She laughed, blushing. “Right then, actually. I’ve been trying it for a while now, but I hadn’t had any good, stable results. I think the rush of fear with the yargeth towering over us helped. I’d heard how big they were but, still, the reality of seeing one was a lot different than what I’d expected them to be.”

“Wow, same here.”

The cave was mostly natural, but it had some obvious cuts made where it had been too narrow to comfortably walk through. The striations on the walls came in a lot of vibrant colors that I don’t think happened on Earth, and they all shimmered in the light I was still holding aloft. Eventually, it opened up into a massive chamber; my light couldn’t reach the ceiling or far walls.

“Here, let me,” Revana said. She concentrated, glowing brightly, and with a cry, she summoned and pushed away a swarm of shaelight balls. They drifted through the air, and we all stood staring at what they showed.

A proper road winded down into a little valley of stalagmites, in the center of which was a stone building that looked a lot like a temple. It was carved with the same amount of skill I’d seen on countless doors and walls of Vendira, but it was leagues ahead of the ruins we’d come through to get here.

“The shit is that?” Revana said under her breath. 

Tiq stood there with her head cocked to the side. “I have absolutely no idea. The ruins above are Surini and everything about them is consistent with the era, but this…this is something completely different.”

We all walked slowly down the path, transfixed by this unexpected turn of events. I only vaguely noticed the sound of running water, an underground river that was slowly trickling by. The temple, or whatever it was, looked almost like it had been carved out of solid stone, but upon closer inspection, it did have seams, just incredibly well hidden ones.

Tiq, naturally, wanted to know everything about it, jumping from one carving  to the next while muttering to herself all the while. 

Revana stood at the front doors staring up in awe. 

I came up beside her and said, “You look like you know something about this place.”

“”It’s…uh…”

“How elucidating.”

She shook her head. “It has a lot of the same designs, or at least similar, as a lot of the most ancient texts about the shae.”

“It’s possible,” Tiq called out, “that the dragon cult of centuries ago built this place. It does have some architectural elements from that time period.”

Eventually, the two were done examining the outside in excruciating detail, and we finally went inside. The thing was one big room, but it was covered in inscriptions set directly into the stone. On the left, there were runic rings that were obviously sigils. On the right, a huge picture with long, irregular lines connected by weird symbols.

But in the middle of the back wall, there was a raised dais and a small, stone pillar that was topped with a necklace of gleaming gold, set with a few bright blue gems. I looked up, but the others had gone to opposite walls.

I figured the relic could wait, so I wandered over to Revana, who’d gravitated towards the sigils, naturally. “Can you tell what they are?”

“I’m…not sure. I’m familiar with all the pieces, but I can’t tell what the whole thing is supposed to do. The spell this is detailing seems to pull something with the shae…but I’m not sure what. Also it seems to be pulling this mystery object, I dunno, downwards, maybe? Towards the channeler?”

“Does it summon meteors to crush your foes?”

She giggled. “No, I don’t think that’s quite it. If it did, it looks like it would crush whomever was attempting the magic, which doesn’t seem ideal.”

We shared a laugh before I left her to ponder and walked over to Tiq, who was standing there with her usual head tilt. At this point, it was about the cutest thing I’d ever seen, and she did it all the time. I thought about bringing it up, but I wasn’t sure she was aware of it and I didn’t want her to stop if she ended up being embarrassed. “So what’s this?”

“Oh, it’s clearly a map of Vendira, if crude and out of date. Some earthquakes in the past century have made a couple small sections obsolete.” The thing was covered in two types of lines, one set wavy and the other straight. At the points they intersected, there were little symbols that looked like tiny sigils, and the wavy lines had other points marked, but the straight ones didn’t.

“What’s it all for? Can you tell?”

“Not yet, but give me some time. I’ll figure it out.”

I went over to the relic, which was just as nice as my sword. I was about to pick it up, but I thought I should ask an expert first. “Hey, Revana! Can I just pick this up? Will it explode, or might there be booby traps or something?”

She half turned, still engrossed in the sigils on the wall. “Huh? Oh, yeah, it should be fine.”

I thought they were pretty underwhelmed by the thing we’d come out here for, but I knew how interesting a new mystery could be. I picked the relic up and glanced around, but nothing happened, so I put it over my neck.

Power exploded inside me, and I gasped and stumbled back. “REV—” I fell to the ground, the shae buffeting at my soul. Whereas before it was a cool breeze, once the relic had touched my skin, it turned into a raging torrent inside me, wracking my entire body with pain. I was dimly aware that light was radiating out of me as I moaned and writhed on the ground. Revana ran up to me, yelling, but I couldn’t tell what she was saying over the cacophony that assaulted my ears from the inside.

She turned me over and took my hands in hers. I could feel some of the power leech out of me, flowing into her, and she screamed as she glowed brighter than I’d ever seen. Her hands tightened on mine and I could feel her channel as I saw the sigils form around us.

“Shut your eyes tight!” She yelled.

I did. But even with them closed as tightly as I could, I saw the blinding light that spawned around us, and I understood what she was trying to do: she was summoning as much light as she could to burn off the power, so I did the same.

The light got even brighter as I channeled, and I thought I might go blind even with my eyes closed, but gradually, so very slowly, the pain started to ebb. I kept channeling as much as I was able, and finally, panting, we both let the light fade.

The shae was still swirling inside me, so much more than I had ever been able to channel, but it was manageable. I opened my eyes.

Revana knelt over me, her own eyes just cracking open. “Shit,” she said.

“Shit,” I agreed.

“Is it safe now?” Tiq called from outside the door. Apparently she’d retreated when things started to get out of hand.

“I think so, yeah,” I said. “But wow…I was not expecting that.”

Tiq came back in and did a quick medical check up on me. Despite her insistence that she wasn’t a doctor, I assumed she still knew a lot of things, at least in an academic way. “Well, you seem fine. How do you feel?”

“There’s a tornado of shae inside me right now. A couple times stronger than I’ve ever felt.” It occurred to me then why we’d come all this way. “And I’ll just bet we can pull off the dragon portal now.” It was difficult releasing the energy, but Revana talked me through it, and I was able to return to normal. “I’m gonna have to get used to that.”

They both were worried about me after that, but I told them I was fine and just needed to sit down for a little bit, which is exactly what I did, trying to get my nerves and pounding blood under control.

They both wandered back to their mystery walls, but Revana kept giving me glances over her shoulder. 

I might have dozed off for a little while while I was sitting there, probably from pure exhaustion from what I’d just done, and I awoke to Tiq exclaiming at her wall. 

Blearily, I went over to stand by her side. “Progress?”

Her eyes were wide and dancing all across the map. “I think so. I believe these symbols,” she said, pointing to the ones linking to the wavy lines, “are where the sigilariums are. Not all of them are on this map, but it is, at the very least, a hundred and fifty years old if the original dragon cult built this place, which I’m now certain they did.”

“So what are the lines, then?”

“Flows of the tenebrae. The sigilariums are all set on ley lines where the magic coalesces the strongest, and that’s mainly what this map details.”

“What are the other lines? Different magic? The shae?”

“Yes, I can only imagine you’re right. And where they intersect are…” The points she was referring to all contained little symbols that looked like sigils. We both glanced across the room at Revana. “Let’s go see what she’s figured out.”

Revana smiled when we approached. “You two look like you’ve found something over there. I’m afraid I’m not getting anywhere more than I did before. I still can’t figure out what’s supposed to be pulled with the magic, and why it would just go downwards.”

Tiq explained what we’d found out from the map and that this was certainly related.

The three of us went back to it, and Revana said, “Yeah, as far as I know this does seem to correlate to what the Mulaq’Shae knows about the flows of the magic, not that there are any maps I’ve ever actually seen. But what could it all mean?”

Again, maybe it was because I was from Earth and everything seemed to get weaponized, but I thought it was a little obvious what should be happening here. “This thing essentially says to use the spell from the other side of the room where the two magics converge, right?”

“I guess,” Revana said, “but they don’t actually converge. The currents of the shae travel through the air and high above, but the tenebrae is a deep magic, the currents only existing far below the ground.”

“Uh huh. Well, here’s what I think. I think that spell over there uses the shae to assault the tenebrae. And I don’t think it pulls something else down, I think it’s to use the shae directly, pulling it down and attacking the tenebrae’s currents.”

Both of their eyes slowly widened as the implications of this settled into their minds.

Revana slowly said, “It attacks the currents themselves.”

Tiq glanced up at the map. “It would break the Gorvani’s power without even getting close to the sigilariums. The shae could theoretically disrupt the currents of the tenebrae, and while such a thing might not be permanent, if you could actually pull it off, it would take quite some time for the natural order to reassert itself.”

“During which time,” I added, “you destroy the empire.”

Revana sat down, hard on her butt, a faraway look on her face. “This must have been the cult’s original plan. To best channel such a spell, you’d have to be high up in the air, which you could do,” she looked up at us, “if you had a dragon.”

30

After the big revelation, we decided it was probably best to camp out for the night and wait for anything happening on the surface to die down. We found the little stream that trickled by between the stalagmites and stalactites, got a little fire going, and laid our bedrolls out around it. 

After we’d eaten some of the dried food that we’d packed, Revana went back to the temple to record the sigils, even though she was pretty sure she’d be able to just remember them. Tiq had admonished her; not writing something down was akin to heresy.

I tried to get my floating ball of light to hover over the fire with limited success; I had to keep resummoning it, since the second my attention wavered, it would go out. The fire, however, was good enough on its own.

As I laid down on my bedroll, Tiq made her way over to the stream. “It’s probably cold, but I need to get out of these clothes for a little bit.” 

Shortly after, I heard her softly splashing around in the water, and I waited all of two minutes before I got up. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity, since our lives probably weren’t going to slow down anytime soon. Her pale skin was just barely visible in the light of the fire and she flashed me a big smile when she heard my footsteps. 

I took off the foolish Vendiran camouflage clothes and tentatively put a foot in the water. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected. Tiq had a small cloth and a bar of soap, which she’d just started to use. I took over as she stood knee deep in the light current, starting with her legs and working the soap the rest of the way up her body, taking a little diversion to pinch and roll her pierced nipples. I went harder than I tended to start with and she bit her lip and squirmed, clearly pleased with the force I was using. 

After she was covered in soap, she took it from me and started up in the same manner. I was already pretty hard at this point, and she stopped and looked in my eyes as she slowly rubbed up and down my shaft, before moving upwards.

Once we were done, we pressed closely together and I pushed my tongue between her waiting lips, and we kissed while sliding our slick skin over each other, writhing slowly together. I wrapped my arm around her and squeezed her ass and cupped her breast with the other while she rubbed hers over my chest and down my arms.

“What’s all this!?”

We both turned our heads to see Revana with her hands on her hips and an irate frown on her face. For a brief second, I was afraid she was serious, but she just threw her hands into the air and said, “You didn’t even tell me!”

She quickly peeled her own clothes off and added them to the pile before splashing into the water beside us. 

I picked up the soap and cloth from a nearby rock and started lathering it again while Tiq bent down and took a few handfuls of water to rinse off my cock. Just as I was starting to soap up Revana, Tiq took me into her mouth, and I had to pause what I was doing and close my eyes.

Revana took my chin in her claws and turned my head towards her and pressed her lips to mine, our tongues quickly meeting and pushing against each other. 

I did my best to soap her up, but was only really able to concentrate enough to get her breasts, which I cupped and squeezed while trying to remain standing upright as Tiq sucked and licked my now extremely hard cock.

Revana’s huge breasts squished against my chest as she flung her arms around me and pulled me tight. She moaned lightly into my mouth as my hand trailed down her body and between her legs to find her already wet. I gently rubbed her before spreading her lips and sliding two fingers inside. Her hips moved against me and she pressed her tongue even deeper into my mouth.

Tiq stood and turned around, her long, wet, pink hair trailing down her back. She reached between her legs and guided me in, pressing herself slowly back against me. We both moaned loudly, the sound echoing around the cave.

Revana opened her eyes and looked down, saying, “Hey! I was supposed to be first!”

Tiq reached back to hold my hands in hers as she slowly moved back and forth. “You didn’t say a thing! How was I to know?” She looked back with a smile on her face before she closed her eyes and moaned again.

“Rude!” Revana said as she smacked Tiq’s ass, who jumped in response, and we all shared a laugh. She bent down and washed the soap off her breasts and pulled my head down to suck on her nipple. 

I groaned and had to slow Tiq down; it was almost too much.

A few minutes later, Revana pushed Tiq away from me and said, “That’s quite enough. It’s my turn.”

We washed what remained of the soap off and went back to the bedrolls. I laid down on my back and Revana stepped over me, pulling me up and sliding down onto my cock. It was all I could do to not finish right there.

Tiq stepped over me as well, bending down to sit on my face.

Revana had clearly been incredibly aroused; she started riding me slowly but picked up the pace quickly.

I had one hand on her ass and one on Tiq’s, trying to focus more on what my tongue could do for Tiq then what Revana was doing for me.

I wanted that moment to last forever, but it was over in short order, which it was always going to be. Revana went harder and faster, and I tried to do the same for Tiq, everyone’s moans and cries echoing off the cave walls.

Revana screamed and I couldn’t hold it anymore; I jerked and shuddered along with her as I shot it deep inside her. Seconds later, Tiq’s thighs pressed in on my face and she screamed as well, and we all writhed and moaned together, letting the sensations race through our bodies.

They both rolled off to different sides and we laid there for some time, catching our breaths and trying to cool down. Eventually, we got up and stumbled back to the river and washed off in a very perfunctory manner. Afterwards we dressed and sat on our bedrolls, the exhaustion of the day catching up with everyone.

“Hey,” I said, “it didn’t occur to me until just now but apparently caves are our thing.”

Revana laughed loudly. “Well, they are really sexy. Totally. At least this one doesn’t have korids in it.”

“Oh, don’t say that. They didn’t show up until after we went to sleep.” The humor fell off our faces as we really gave that statement some thought. “Uh, should we keep watch then?”

They both groaned at the thought of it, but it was the better idea, so I agreed to take the first watch. I regretted it the second the words were out of my mouth, but the others agreed so fast and were already turning over in their beds that there wasn’t time to take it back, which was obviously intentional.

Nothing happened, though. I woke Revana for her watch and was asleep the second my head hit the pillow, and I slept deeply and without any remembered dreams until I was woken up in what was probably morning. Tough to tell with caves.

Tiq had apparently transcribed everything from the temple walls as best she could while they let me sleep for a little longer.

We ate a small breakfast and figured it was time to head up and hopefully home. There weren’t any tremors once we got closer to the surface, hopefully implying there were no yargeth in the vicinity, not that one was patiently waiting at the top of the stairs to eat us. As we got closer to the exit, we heard a soft noise that seemed to be coming from one of the rooms off the central hall. 

Revana and I both summoned our armor, and I could instantly tell the difference in my power while wearing the new relic. I channeled an immense amount of shae and molded the energy around me into thick, bulky plates that somehow still allowed me total freedom of movement. I felt like a walking tank, and judging by Revana’s raised eyebrows, I looked like one too. Tiq hung back while we investigated the noise. I drew my sword and stepped into the room, and there in the corner, huddled up against the wall and shuddering, was a fucking royal.

He glanced up when he saw me and raised his arms, yelling, “No!”

I glanced back to Revana, pretty confused. “This…is a royal, right?”

She nodded, the same befuddled expression on her face that I knew was on mine. She didn’t need to reply, though; it was obvious. This man’s skin had the dark tones of someone infused with the tenebrae, but unlike every single other royal, and pretty much every Gorvani I’d ever met, he wasn’t lording his existence over us. He was terrified and it showed.

I took a step towards him, uncertain of what I should do.

He whimpered and rolled into a tight ball. “No! What are you doing? Kill that thing outside!”

I looked back at Revana again, and Tiq had peeked her head around the doorway as well. I shrugged, completely clueless as how to handle this. It was one thing to kill someone like Sixteen, the most arrogant person you’d ever seen, who was more than happy to kill you, but this guy? Could I just cut down a whimpering, terrified man?

He looked back at us and made a shooing gesture. “I said go! Kill that monster!” When we didn’t move, he seemed to get even more agitated. “Now! What are you waiting for, you worthless trash! I said go now! I command you!”

Well okay. That made things a little easier. I shrugged and took a step towards him, but stopped when I felt Revana’s claw on my arm.

“No. I want to do it.”

Her face was neutral, her eyes locked on the royal. She summoned her shae blade and said to me, “Give me your power. Channel into me.” I did, and her sword glowed brightly. She stepped up to the man who stared back with wide, frightened eyes, his lips working soundlessly. 

I stood ready in case he tried something, but she didn’t give him any time.

She crouched and brought her sword up with two hands, ramming it under his chin and out through the top of his head.

He flailed, his magic keeping him alive even through this.

Revana took all the power I was giving her and focused it into her sword, concentrating it in the blade lodged in his head, and the blinding, golden light issued forth from forming cracks in his skin and shone out of his eyes.

He just sighed and fell limp. When we stopped channeling and her sword vanished, all that was left of his head was a darkened skull, still trailing little tendrils of shadowy magic.

Revana closed her eyes and clenched her claws tight as a small tear began working its way down her cheek.

There didn’t seem to be anything I could think of to say, so I just wrapped one of her hands in mine.

Tiq came up and did the same thing with Revana’s other hand, saying, “I’m pretty sure that was the Eighth Son, Gor’shura. He was a little more powerful than Sixteen, but not by much and I never heard any tales of any of his exploits, as it seems because there weren’t any. The one who got swallowed yesterday was likely the Seventh Daughter, Gor’yen.

“I’d love to say that we’re striking fear into the heart of the Emperor, but we’re probably not. I doubt he sees his children as anything more than tools, which is how he sees everyone and everything by essentially all accounts, except the ‘lessons’ we’re taught when young, which are obviously propaganda. If he feels anything for the deaths we’re causing, it’s probably annoyance, but that’s irrelevant; once word gets out that royals themselves are dying, the revolution will be shortly behind. Especially once there’s a dragon in the skies again.”

I leaned in and planted a small kiss on Revana’s cheek. “We’re gonna do this. We’re gonna win.” And because I just couldn’t let the moment go without making a joke, I added, “We’re gonna march right into the Font and kick the Emperor in the balls until he’s dead, just like we planned.”

She tried not to laugh for a moment, but doubled over anyway.

Tiq looked at me with a wide smile and questioning eyes. “That’s…the plan, is it?”

“Yeah, we came up with it a couple days ago.”

Revana pointed a clawed finger at me, “You came up with it a few days ago!”

I shrugged. “Yeah, but you liked the plan. You even said he deserved it, and we all know that’s true, so yeah. That’s the plan.”

“Dammit,” she said, wiping the remnants of tears from her eyes. “Let’s get out of here already.”

31

“Wasn’t there a third royal?” I asked.

“Yes,” Tiq said. “I can’t imagine a good fate for him, though. Since the Eighth Son was down here, I doubt the last one survived. We can’t be sure unless we see a body, of course, but I think it would be a good bet to say he’s not a threat anymore.”

Once we were almost up the stairs and as I could see the first rays of daylight, an awful sound drifted down to us on the wind. We all stopped, just listening. It sounded like a bunch of things, all at once, repeated over and over, and it had cracking, crunching, mushing, wet, snapping parts all at once. It was deeply, deeply unnerving.

There was nothing for it, so we went up the stairs, myself in the lead, and once I could see over the ground, I looked around and was completely horrified. There were two yargeth, some distance off, but one was dead and the other one was…eating it. All seven heads just ripping and tearing and crunching muscle and skin and scale and bone, taking huge bites and swallowing down without chewing.

I turned away, trying valiantly to not be sick.

Revana followed me up and had the same reaction.

Tiq came last and said under her breath, “No way…It makes so much sense!”

We retreated down to the bottom of the stairs and while Revana and I tried to settle ourselves, Tiq was practically dancing with excited energy. “No one’s ever even seen a yargeth corpse! You’d think…we all thought…that creatures that big would leave massive skeletons, but they just…didn’t. There are many competing theories, but this…this makes so much sense! Also why finding discarded scales is nearly impossible! I’ll bet the living ones eat their own scales when they shed them! OH!”

She bolted up the stairs before we could stop her.

Once we quietly walked into the sunlight again, I was horrified at what I saw: Tiq was slowly creeping towards the monster. There wasn’t anything I could do at that point that wouldn’t just make more noise, so I just stood there like a moron, my hand in Revana’s, and we clutched each other tightly as we watched Tiq do the dumbest shit I’d ever seen.

In less than a minute, she had what she’d wanted and came back, and we practically yanked her back down the staircase.

“The fuck, Tiquette!” Revana waved her hands and was barely holding herself back from strangling her friend it looked like. 

Tiq beamed and held up the scale she’d stolen. “Well, all of its heads were busy chowing down—”

Gross.

“—so it was probably perfectly safe. But look, look!” She held it out, and it was white and reflective and pretty big, but she held it like it weighed nothing. 

She tossed it to me, and even though I’d just been thinking it, it really did weigh almost nothing. “This is super great and all, but this isn’t just for research purposes, is it?”

“Oh my no! Hold it up like this…” She raised my arm and made me hold it up as she positioned the scale on it…like a shield. “So, you can make weapons with the shae, but no one’s ever, as far as I know, been able to mold magic into an actual shield. But with this? You won’t need any magic like that. I’ll affix handles on it with some alchemical adhesive when we get back, and you’ll have a completely invulnerable shield! That protects,” she said smiling proudly, “against the tenebrae. Completely. So! Tell me again how not worth it it was for me to go out there!”

“Shit,” I said.

Revana crossed her arms and pressed her lips together. “I still think it was too risky, and I wish you’d said something before rushing out there.”

“You would have stopped me,” Tiq replied, matter-of-factly.

Revana sighed. “Dammit, Tiquette.”

“Well anyway,” I said, “if that thing really is completely focused on…what it’s doing, then this is a good time to get the fuck out of this place.”

Tiq strapped the scale to her backpack, and in short order, we were out under the sun soon, moving as quietly as we could, and I didn’t breathe easy until the yargeth was lost over the horizon. “Should we start leaving out the scent packs again?”

Tiq shook her head. “Not just yet. We will, but let’s get further away first. I imagine any others in the vicinity would be attracted by the corpse.”

“Do you think the royals were able to kill one?” Revana asked.

“Highly unlikely. Based on what you told me of the fight, they could barely scratch it. I think it’s much more likely the two creatures were both alerted to all the things happening and then had a territorial fight. If only I could get some of their teeth, since they seem completely capable of crushing through their scales and bones…they’d be invaluable…”

We just let her talk, but I was going to start carrying her if she sounded the least bit serious about trying something stupid.

We did start using the scent packs again, but we didn’t see anymore yargeth on our trip out of the grasslands, which took most of the day. Once the woods were in sight, I thought it was time to bring up a question that had been in the back of my mind since our journey out here. “So, we’re not just going to go through the portals like normal, are we? They were obviously looking for us last time, and I can’t imagine they’ll have all forgotten this fast. Also I think that scale’s going to be super suspicious.”

“No,” Tiq said. “I’ve been giving that some thought while I could out here, and I think our best bet is to break into a smaller nexus during the night and override one of their portals, travel to an adjacent town to where we came from, and just make our way on foot or by golem back to Skyshard.”

“Do you know how to override a portal?” Revana asked.

“Theoretically.”

“Wow, that’s not reassuring, Tiq.”

“Well I’ve never tried it! But the technique should work in theory. I know how they operate. I just need to circumvent the normal lockouts and I should be able to set it to go wherever we want.”

We camped out in the woods that night without a fire, and it was uncomfortably cold, but I still managed to get a little sleep. We kept watch again, of course.

The morning came too fast, and we were on our feet again, walking for hours. We made it to the road soon enough, but since we weren’t going to dare return to the town we’d come in through, we took the road the other way, and while I was assured the next place wasn’t all that far, that turned out to be a lie.

We crept in the city gates just as night was falling and my feet felt like they were going to fall apart. The relief of just sitting down beside a building was one of the best things I’d experienced in a while, almost including the recent sex.

It worked out for the best though, since the local portal nexus was set to close pretty soon, so we took what time we had and just found a small public park area and sat down on the first bench we could find and tried very hard not to fall asleep.

Once we were sure the nexus had closed and all the people working there had left, I cut a tiny slice in a side door’s lock and we were in. The building was dark, but we didn’t risk creating any light, so we fumbled our way through a back hallway until we emerged in the main room that was lit by moonlight from huge skylights. 

We were about to head towards a portal tucked away in the back when I noticed some movement. There was a Gorvani man making slow rounds of the room. He didn’t look like a guard, just a bored employee that had to stay because someone had to stay. “Do we…do we kill him?” I asked.

As much as the Gorvani were the enemy, I didn’t like the thought of killing some random person who just happened to be the one there. But all the same, we couldn’t be seen.

“I’ve got this one,” Tiq said.

I really hoped she wasn’t going out there with the intent of blowing this guy’s head to bits with her device. 

She took some cord out of her backpack and looped it in her hands, and I just assumed we were about to watch her strangle a guy. I couldn’t help but think that me cutting his head off would be a lot faster and probably a little kinder of a kill. She snuck up behind him with quite a bit of skill I thought, and she snaked her arm around his neck and executed a perfect choke from what I could see, silently dropping the guy to the ground. She quickly tied his hands and feet and gagged him before motioning us over.

“Quick, just dump him in a side room before he comes to.”

He already was, but Revana and I were fast, leaving him around a corner in a little room. 

We came back out to Tiq already working on the portal. “I’m impressed. How’d you learn to do that so well?”

She didn’t look up from the machine she was elbows deep in and said, “I used to sneak up on my runners all the time. They’d come into my rooms and try to find me in the maze that I’m well aware it is.”

“And you’d…assault them?”

“Well I didn’t actually choke them unconscious! Just got to where I could, you know. It was something to do. I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to use it in real life. I can’t fight, you know, so this was something else that might come in handy one day. And you didn’t have to kill that man. It’d have been better if we could have just avoided him, but we’re leaving a trail whether he’s tied up or a corpse.”

The portal flared to life and we wasted no time getting through it. The nexus we arrived at was much the same as the rest, and we were able to slip out the side before anyone saw us. By the time anyone found the man we’d bound and figured out where the active portal went, we meant to be long gone. We debated stealing a golem, but eventually elected to just move out on foot.

Skyshard was apparently not too far; we were already in the foothills, but the lack of sleep was really beginning to catch up to me. That didn’t matter though. We just kept walking, ducking off the road during the rare times when someone else was coming the other way. I took it all step by step, and an eternity later, once the horizon had started to brighten, our destination was finally in sight.

We knocked on the gates and were quickly let in, and moments later, a groggy Osaarin came out to greet us.

“You made it! Wonderful! Did you find it?”

I held up the necklace for him to see.

“That’s not all we found there.” Revana briefly explained about the temple and the spell it had detailed.

Osaarin listened, nodding, but when she was done, he gestured towards the manor. “That’s incredible news, but please come in. I’m afraid we might not have nearly as much time as we thought.”

32

“Inquisitors who are not Isik have come around recently, and we’ve given two of them complete tours. I don’t know what’d tipped them off, or they’re just canvassing the area, but we had to scramble to take up the ritual circles on the plateau.” We were sitting with Osaarin in one of the manor’s many comfortable lounges, although the mood was anything but comfortable.

Tiq had run off somewhere, saying she’d get caught up on the story later. 

I desperately wanted to sleep, but that could wait.

“I doubt the activity will die down anytime soon, so our best bet is to perform the summoning as quickly as possible.” He gave us a once over from top to bottom and inclined his head. “But perhaps that won’t be right this second, I fear. The two of you are welcome to return to your rooms for a few hours, but I wouldn’t want to wait much longer than that.”

Revana and I nodded at each other, and I saw my own weariness reflected in her eyes, and while I wanted to sleep for a couple days, a few hours was better than nothing, so we retreated to our rooms and collapsed.

I slept the sleep of the dead.

“Hey, hey! Wake up!” Tiq was shaking me pretty hard, and it still took me a few minutes for my brain to start working again. “It’s time! And also, I have a present for you!” She pulled me out of bed and had apparently not slept herself, so I couldn’t imagine how she was not only functional, but fully awake and excited. Way too excited, really.

I quickly changed clothes and followed her downstairs and outside, where she led me to one of the outbuildings she had clearly converted into a makeshift workshop and laboratory. On the table sat the yargeth scale with leather-wrapped metal handles firmly attached. She had me try it on and it fit like a glove. “I’m impressed!” I waved it around, and it still amazed me how light it was. 

I turned to see Revana stumbling into the shop. “I guess we’re up now. Tiquette, did you even sleep at all?”

“Of course not, Revi! There were too many exciting things to do! Did you see this?” she said, gesturing towards the shield.

Revana blinked at it. “Very nice.”

“I also adjusted my arcanic device to deliver two modes of attack!”

She started talking about the science behind the modifications, but I couldn’t pay attention to most of what she said and didn’t understand the bits that I heard. “I’m gonna…” I started to say, but she’d already turned away and was working on the next thing, so I went inside the house and asked one of the kitchen staff for the biggest pot of hachi they had.

A little bit later, Revana and I were sitting in the dining room drinking it and eating more dulcet jumpers. “Anyone know why they’re called jumpers? Or dulcet?”

She drained her second glass. “Not that I ever heard, no. Just one of those names that probably stuck from somewhere random.”

After all the hachi and sugar, I felt reasonably more alive and Revana seemed to as well. “So, are you excited? You’ve always wanted to meet a dragon, right?”

She smiled softly and shrugged. “Yeah, but I’m trying to temper my hopes about this too. I know the channeling thing worked out, but I still don’t want to be too disappointed if this doesn’t happen. There’s so much that could go wrong, you know? Portal doesn’t open at the right place, or there’s not a dragon there at all anyway, or we find one and it’s a complete asshole or something.”

I chuckled. “That would be a pretty big let down, huh? We rock in there like, ‘Mighty dragon, hear our pleas,’ and it’s just sitting there like, ‘Wow, fuck off outta my face already.’”

Revana nearly spit hachi all over the table, but managed to keep it in. Once she’d recovered, she said, smiling, “Indeed that would be pretty disappointing, yes.”

We ate another jumper each and finished off the pot before we headed back outside to find Osaarin, who was at the high plateau. He was overseeing the reapplication of the sigils, but his nervousness showed through in a constantly tapping foot and a shifting gaze, always looking over his shoulder and down the mountain cliffs. “Good. You’re here. We’re nearly ready to begin, and I’d just as soon get this done before the Inquisition comes calling again. I’m not sure what we’re going to do if they show up while you’re inside the portal.”

“Fight them,” Revana said.

He grimaced. “We are not channelers, or brandless. But…we will do what we can in that event. Should you find and convince the dragon, it should be able to overwhelm any Gorvani that might appear. Except possibly the royalty, but I can’t imagine that will occur.” His tight lips and too-quick breathing said that he could absolutely imagine that occurring, but I didn’t want to say it out loud either.

The preparations were nearly done when Osaarin yelped and quickly turned, his hands held up for protection.

“Wrong Inquisitor, Osaarin. Do calm down.” Isik strode up to us and gave me an appraising look, her eyes settling on the necklace. “You were successful. Of course you were. There have already been whispers of a few royals that left Telorn and then…never returned.” She smiled viciously and asked, “So what happened to them?”

“Well, the one Tiq thinks was Gor’yen was swallowed by a yargeth.”

“Deserved it. You saw it happen?”

“We did. It bit her arm off before she went down.”

Isik laughed. “I never thought I’d live to see such times. The Sixteenth Son, dead. The Seventh Daughter, dead. Who else?”

“We found one huddling and cowering for his life. I thought all the royals would be completely sure of themselves, but that guy wasn’t. Scared shitless. Revana killed him. Magicked sword up through his head. I might have helped with some of the magic.”

“Gor’shura, the Eighth Son, undoubtedly. Always an embarrassment, never sent anywhere for any reason. I can’t imagine why he was out there. Maybe they thought it was a suicide mission to venture into the ninth and they could finally be rid of him.”

“Brutal. There was a third, but even though he fought the yargeth, we didn’t ever see what happened to him or any sign of a corpse. But since Eight was alone, we just assumed there was no one left. All the enforcers and Gorvani that went out died, I’m sure.”

Isik was quiet for a little while as she gazed out over the horizon. “The royalty dying and soon, a dragon will be summoned back to Vendira. Oh, no. Don’t object. You’ll pull it off. I know you will.”

It was probably the most positive, reassuring thing I’d ever heard Isik say. I didn’t really know how to reply, but she just kept talking anyway.

“And then the revolution will well and truly kick off. I hope it’s enough. I wonder what kind of world it will be once the empire’s crumbled away.” She closed her eyes and smiled a faraway smile. “I only wish I could be there to see it.”

Before I could ask her what she meant by that, Osaarin started yelling at us all.

“The preparations are done! Gather everyone we need to and let’s get this going!”

We all scrambled to get in our positions as Osaarin’s nervous energy seemed to seep into us all. Revana and I stood on either end of the sigils, and once everyone was where they were going, we began to channel.

With the necklace, I could pull in easily four times as much energy as I had before, and the sigils started lighting up quickly, and in no time, the portal burst into existence between us. I immediately started pouring as much of the shae into it as I could, trusting Revana to keep the sigils balanced and everything working as intended.

For a second, the gateway warped and shuddered and electric terror ran through my body, but it quickly stabilized and as we watched, an image began to form inside of it. The portal grew in size and suddenly we were looking into another world. And even though I’d already traveled between two of them, I was blown away by the sight of a completely new planet right in front of my eyes.

Revana glowed bright as she channeled into the ritual, tying off the spell and sealing the pulsating magic inside the glowing sigils. She came to stand over by my side and she took my hand. “Okay, I’m excited now,” she whispered.

I smiled back at her. “Well, let’s do it.” Louder, for everyone around us, I said, “Wish us luck, everyone! We’ll be back soon, and we won’t be alone!”

With everyone’s cheers at our back, we stepped into another world.

33

Ithought traveling to the new world would be like using one of Vendira’s regular portals, and it was, in the same way that drowning was like taking a drink of water. The pulling sensation was overwhelming and felt like my entire body was being stretched from the Earth to the moon. My head spun and my vision went black, either because eyes can’t see properly when they’re pulled as long as a planet or maybe because we were being yanked through the void of space and there was nothing to see anyway.

Either way, we were dumped into the bright sun, but I couldn’t make sense of anything as reality was spinning without cease. 

Judging by Revana’s moans, she was in much the same state that I was. 

I laid there with my eyes shut tight until the barrage of unpleasant sensations started to diminish. I was about to attempt opening them when Revana gasped and shrieked. I looked blearily up to see her scrambling back and forth, her huge, terrified eyes darting around at some horror I couldn’t see.

“Wha…?”

She looked up at me, the horror still plain on her face. “The…the…the grass!”

It looked a lot like Earth’s grass. “Um…is it poison or something?”

“I don’t know! Maybe! It’s…its…” She looked on the verge of screaming again. “It’s green!” She flailed around, but there was nowhere to go; we were in a clearing of nothing but grass. “It’s disgusting! Who knows what it’s doing!”

I got slowly to my knees. “You don’t like that it’s green?”

She looked at me as if I’d asked her if fire was hot. “It’s revolting! I hate it!”

“Earth’s plants are all green. It’s probably fine.”

I wouldn’t have said it was possible, but she looked even more disgusted than she had. “They are?”

“Yeah.”

She stood quickly, trying her best to not let the offending grass touch any of her skin. She probably was wishing she could float. “Like…all of them?”

“Most, at least, yeah. Green’s a super common color. Green and brown.”

“Brown!?”

“Yeah. Tree bark is mostly brown.”

“Ugh! Your world looks like poison and shit?”

I couldn’t help it; I just laughed in her face, which she did not find amusing. “I mean, I guess, but no one thinks of it that way.” I couldn’t help but continue smiling.

“Gross. Let’s get this over and get the fuck out of here.”

The portal still loomed behind us, but I couldn’t make out anything looking back into it. I hoped everyone we’d left on the other side hadn’t been able to see us writhing sickly on the ground once we’d come through.

“How’re we supposed to…” I asked.

“It’s this way. I can feel it.”

“You…can?”

“Yeah, can’t you?”

“I sure can’t,” I said while following her into a more forested area. “Must be the Dravini in you.”

She held her arms in close, unwilling to touch any more of the plants surrounding us than she had to. “That does make sense.” Revana summoned her shae blade and hacked the branches and vines that blocked our way.

I thought the place looked like a forest on Earth, just much more dense. They weren’t the exact same as the plants and trees I was used to, but they weren’t really all that far off. After we’d traveled for a while, I asked, “Do you hear that?”

She stopped and stood, her head cocked to the side. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Yeah, that’s my point. There’s barely any sound at all, just a breeze passing through. No bugs or anything scurrying around.” We kept going, and more and more, the lack of sound began to get a lot more creepy. I’d never noticed how much difference the ambient sound in nature mattered, but there was literally nothing. Not a single time did a small rodent hop out of our way, there wasn’t a single bird singing or screeching, and I didn’t see the movement of any insects. No large animal paths, no half rotted corpses covered in ants. Just…nothing.

“Maybe the awful plants poisoned everything to death.”

I smiled. “Well if they did, we’re not in a great spot.”

Revana led on, and eventually, we hacked our way into another clearing, but this one looked man-made. The lines dividing the forest and the short grass curved almost perfectly, as if we’d stepped into a huge circle. The ground was uneven, and we pressed on, hiking up a very steep hill.

Once we got to the top, Revana stopped and stared, her mouth hanging wide open.

I followed her gaze to the massive beast sitting in the sun on the next smaller hill. The rays of light danced off its scales in an undulating rainbow of shimmering color. Every small movement caused the light to shift, creating waves of color down its long body. “Well, today’s the day,” I said, twining my hand in hers. “Today’s the day you meet a dragon.”

For most of my time on Vendira, I’d wondered what a dragon would actually look like. Depictions on Earth were pretty varied, and I was only a little surprised to see that a real one in the flesh looked like a cross between traditional eastern and western dragons. It was still very long and curling, but not quite as snakelike as eastern dragons, but much, much longer than western ones. It had one pair of massive wings folded across its back. It wasn’t nearly as big as a yargeth, but it was damn big, still; it could have picked us up easily in one claw.

She stared for a long time before she shook her head and smiled. “I sure hope it’s not an asshole,” she said softly. “That would kinda ruin this once in a lifetime experience.”

We made our way slowly towards the enormous creature, which was obviously aware of our presence. Its huge, shining golden eyes were locked on us as we drew closer. It made no other movement, but I was still a little on edge; disposition aside, no one had ever actually guaranteed me that a dragon wouldn’t attack me on sight. As we got to what seemed like conversational distance, I waited for Revana to speak to it. She was the Dravini after all, and besides, I sure didn’t know what to say.

“Oh, Great One,” she said, her arms spread wide, “we have come far to—”

“Hello, little Dravini,” it said with what I could only assume was a smile, but it was a bit difficult to tell on such an elongated face. And its voice was decidedly a woman’s. “You don’t need to stand on ceremony with me. I’m much too old for any of that.” She leaned down and sniffed us, which we endured. “Only one of you smells of the tenebrae, and only faintly so. And you both are channelers of the shae. How such a thing warms my heart. But tell me quickly — Has the empire fallen? Is that why you’ve come?”

“Uh, no,” Revana said, her voice shaky. “We fight against it now, and that’s why we’ve come. We want your aid.”

When the dragon didn’t immediately respond, I thought it best that I at least attempt to say something. “We’ve been able to destroy one sigilarium and have plans for disabling the rest. And four of the royalty are dead. By our hands. More or less.”

She blinked very slowly and looked out over us to where our portal was. “I’ve felt your eyes on this world before, many years ago. But no one ever came. But then, recently, I felt them again. And here you stand before me, channelers of the shae, claiming to have bested the old Gorvani themselves.”

“Will…you…?” Revana could barely get the words out, but the dragon stood and unfurled her wings.

“Yes!” she said loudly. “Yes! I will return to my home, little sister! Of course I will. How long have I waited for this day to come? A day I feared never would.” She looked down at us and great, shimmering tears fell down her scales and landed on the ground in front of us. “I will ride the winds of Vendira again! I will swim in the shae itself! And even if it costs me my life, I will help you crush the empire that slew my kind! How long I have waited for this very moment!” She raised her head and roared, a sound that made the very ground tremble.

When she lowered her head back down to us, Revana ran to her and threw her arms around the dragon’s face, which was only a little bigger than our entire bodies. Streams of tears ran down Revana’s cheeks.

I was so, so happy for her. So happy we’d accomplished so much, and that she could live yet another of her dreams. She deserved it.

The dragon endured her hug for a while before sitting back and saying, “My name is Shendinalia’surinirin, but you may call me Nir.” After we introduced ourselves, she said, “It will take me a little time to ready myself for the trip home. You may leave the way you came and close your gateway, and I will follow the trail it leaves back to you.”

We said our goodbyes and turned to leave, but I had one more thing to ask. “Is there a reason there are no animals on this planet? We haven’t seen a single one.”

Nir shook her head. “This is a dead world, having suffered some unnamed calamity millenia ago. Perhaps life as we know it will spring anew one day, perhaps not. This is why I chose it, however; it was a silent place to sleep and wait, and a place no one who knew of our travels would think of.”

We left, following our trail that we’d hacked through the underbrush as much as we were the pull of the shae that kept our portal open. “That was shockingly easy,” I said.

Revana nodded, smiling. “For once, it was! Although I understand. She was forced from Vendira without any real chance of coming home.” She glanced over to me and her smile faltered. “Do you…”

“What? Want to go home?”

“I…I thought I’d just never say this. I’d never say it and hope it never occurred to you, but if Nir joins us, she can…” Her voice trailed off and she looked away.

“If she can travel between worlds, she can take me home, right?”

Revana just nodded.

I took her hand in mine as we slowly made our way through the forest. “That’s not something you have to worry about. Ever.” I stopped, put my hands on her shoulders, and turned her towards me. “I don’t want to go home. I am home.” I looked around. “Well okay, I mean Vendira’s my home. This life, with you, even though it’s wildly dangerous and who knows how it’ll all end up, I’d choose it over going back to Earth a million times over. A portal could pop up right here, right now, and I’d do my best to close it. I’m staying with you. I love you.”

She hugged me tight and I returned it, and we stood there like that, not saying a word.

We eventually stepped back and she said, “If someone had told me I was going to summon you, I just wouldn’t have believed them. I’m not sure what I realistically expected, but it wasn’t this.”

In no time at all, we were back at the portal. “Well, are you ready to crush an empire?” I asked.

She took my hand. “You know I am.”

We stepped into the portal.

The sickening feeling was much easier to manage this time, and when we emerged onto Vendira again, I was able to remain on my feet. Which was for the best, since standing there waiting for us with a triumphant smile on her face was the Fourteenth Daughter.

34

“Hello, rats.” She smiled broadly, a tiny hint of insanity in her too-wide eyes.

“Hello, Gor’mina,” I said.

“How extraordinary, that you’ve managed to accomplish this,” she said, gesturing towards the portal that was closing behind us. “I had thought we’d beaten the fight out of you people long ago, but here you are, channelers of the shae, standing in the flesh before me.” She shook her head, still smiling. “I thought maiming Drelar would prove to be the extent of your meager powers. But perhaps…” She raised her hands and the tenebrae swirled around her. Like the other royals, she wore the white skirts and nothing else besides a heap of gem-encrusted necklaces, and all that was covered in a cloud of darkness that formed into a set of extremely thick and heavy armor, covered with the swirls and loops I was familiar with, but the magic kept moving out towards her hands where it coalesced into two massive warhammers. They were much bigger than a person would be able to lift with both hands had they been made of metal, and they featured a vicious spike on the back end. “Perhaps you’ll be more fun than I had imagined possible.” Her armor didn’t cover her head; her long, wavy hair flowed down outside of it, and the crazed smile was still on her lips.

All my inherited memories said dual-wielding was troublesome at the best of times, and no one anywhere ever had used two massive hammers at once. But by the way she held them, I knew those memories weren’t going to help me very much.

I summoned my armor, pulling as much of the shae in as I could to reinforce it, and I was able to match the bulk of her armor, which would have been impossible without the new relic around my neck.

Revana summoned her own along with her blade, and as much as I wished I could tell her that I was going to take this fight alone, I knew that would be foolishness; I would need whatever help I could get. I glanced around quickly, but I couldn’t see anyone else on the plateau, just a bunch of ruined crates of used-up reagents. I pushed those emotions down and just hoped everyone was able to escape before she got here. 

They were all fine. They’d be just fine. I needed to focus on myself right now.

Gor’mina just stood there and watched as I readied my new shield and drew my sword, patient as could be. She held up her hammers and slammed them together over her head, releasing a thunderous boom of dark magic. “Come, rats. Make my blood sing!” 

The portal behind us closed with a thunderclap, and she used that split second of my attention wavering to teleport directly in front of my face and slam both hammers into my chest.

I was lifted off my feet and flew end over end to come crashing down on the stone. I righted myself as quickly as I could and charged back to her. 

Revana ran towards her back, but I cried out as I saw Gor’mina’s eyes flick towards her. 

She spun on one heel, hit Revana into the air with one hammer, and bash her away with the other.

I couldn’t go after her; I had to trust in her and continue the attack, so that’s what I did, as much as it hurt. I summoned Revana’s flashing balls of light right in Gor’mina’s face, and in the brief second of recoil, I thrust my sword into her exposed throat.

She was able to turn slightly, so my blade went out the side of her neck instead of through her spine. If it hurt, she didn’t seem to care, as she just kept smiling. One of her hammers winked out of existence and she pressed that hand into my face, expelling a huge blast of the tenebrae.

Once again, I found myself tumbling end over end across the ground. But this time, once I righted myself, I found Revana at my side instead of engaging again. We shared a glance and slowly approached our enemy, who resummoned her second hammer.

We attacked her in tandem, trying to divide her attention, but she was swift and consistently stepped back, not allowing us to flank her. The shae kept us going, but I wondered how long this fight would last, and if she was the only enemy who’d even come here.

Once again, thoughts of Tiq and Isik and Osaarin entered my head, but I got a warhammer to the face when I wasn’t paying enough attention to avoid the blow, so I put those thoughts aside as best I could.

Revana stepped back and opened two swirling masses of shae above her that spewed out spears at Gor’mina, who I charged and attempted to put off balance. We kept up this strategy for a little while, forcing the royal to fight defensively.

She tired of that quickly enough, teleporting away and opening an absurd amount of tenebrous portals above her head. They didn’t throw spears at us, but massive gouts of pure, flaming magic.

I leapt towards Revana, shielding us both from the heavy blasts.

A second later, Gor’mina was behind us, and I didn’t have any time to react as she swung, knocking me all the way across the ground. 

I flipped and rolled, and was just able to look up to see Revana prone on the ground, her armor cracked and melting away, two dark hammers ready to crush the life out of her.

“NO!”

I thought I had yelled it, but from behind a splintered pile of detritus, Isik stood, her hands flowing with magic.

The Fourteenth Daughter’s weapons puffed out of existence just before they would have crushed Revana.

Gor’mina cocked her head and stared at Isik. A second later, she teleported in front of her and lifted her, one-handed, off the ground by her throat. “Inquisitor! I had wondered how this entire sect had escaped our notice. And here I thought the Inquisition nothing more than lap dogs!”

Isik struggled, her eyes wide with fear. I couldn’t recall ever seeing her afraid of anything, but she was terrified of Gor’mina. 

“Impressive, really, Inquisitor. But still…” She channeled.

Isik screamed. She flinched and jerked, her whole body rigid as she was branded. Gor’mina then just tossed her away, and she lay unmoving where she landed.

With the other two down, I did my best to take up all her attention, weaving feints and parries in as best I could. None of my inherited memories were against this kind of fighting style, but my shield saved me from numerous blows, and I found myself knocked back less and less, getting at least a little accustomed to where attacks might be coming from.

Moments later, Gor’mina flinched from a large mass of the shae hitting her in the back, and I did my best to keep her attention on me and not on Revana, who’d regained her footing. And then, as I was bracing for an attack, her hammer disappeared, as Isik had also rejoined the fight. 

We continued in this way, pressing Gor’mina harder and harder, and it looked like we might have the upper hand. Her smile didn’t waver, though. I could have sworn she was enjoying every minute of this. Finally, after much duress, she grunted and raised both hammers up, and I saw the opening.

I thrust my blade straight down with all the shae I could muster, straight through her armor and into her chest.

That was the plan, anyway, and it worked. Sort of.

As I moved in for the deathblow, both of her hammers winked away, and I thought it was Isik’s doing, but in their place, a long, thin sword appeared in her hands and as I was coming down, she struck.

My sword went straight through her body.

Hers went straight through mine.

The pain was immediate and staggering. She channeled more into her sword, and I could feel the magic leaching through my muscles and bones, and it was agony. In the back of my mind, I wondered if this was what getting branded felt like. I did my best to retain my hold on the shae, but every single bit I had I needed to keep myself alive and conscious.

She grimaced, but her tenebrae must have mitigated most of the damage my sword was doing, even as it poked out of her back. “I didn’t know,” she said, dark blood falling from her mouth, muddying her words, “that rats could be so strong anymore.” She smiled. “I’d thought all the great warriors were dead and gone, never to return. What an unexpected thrill.”

She channeled into me, and my vision wavered. I did my best to not cry out, but it hurt so, so much. I thought it was over, but I saw Revana glowing out of the corner of my eye, runes and sigils beginning to form around her. They looked…familiar, in a way.

Then it hit me. She was channeling the new spell we’d found in the temple; she was calling the shae itself down from the sky.

Gor’mina looked over with an amused smile on her face. “And what do you think you could possibly—”

Revana exploded into blinding incandescence, the sigils activating and flying up to the heavens to create a massive shower of cascading blossoms of light high in the clouds before they started plummeting back down towards us.

“Huh,” the Fourteenth Daughter said.

A tidal wave of the shae washed over us. Gor’mina’s weapon disintegrated and I could feel my flesh knitting together, which was an incredibly good but incredibly odd feeling.

After that, I just rode the tides until the spell was finished, my hand still on my sword.

After the light subsided, I looked up to find Gor’mina still alive, but only barely. Her hair was gone with most of the skin and muscle from her face. One eye looked back out at me, but even then, with only the ruins of a mouth from which a river of blood flowed freely, she managed to smile at me, and then, she started laughing.

She jerked and convulsed, still laughing, her wounds trying and failing to heal. She slowly shook her head and said, “Unimaginable.” She was difficult to understand through the blood. “Well done…rats.”

I pulled my sword from her chest and raised it up, ready to cut off her head.

“Wait.”

In every single movie or show I’d ever seen where the villain told the hero to wait, I’d screamed at them, “Just kill them!” 

But, like a complete dumbass, I waited. I didn’t know why. It was stupid, but she was done for; It was over. And honestly? I guess I just wanted to know what she was going to say.

She looked up at me, and while she must have been in intense pain, her one-eyed gaze was solid. “If I…am…to die…” She coughed up even more blood. “Then it is…only fitting…that…the empire…dies with me.” She couldn’t raise her arm, but she turned her hand palm up, and after clearly making a serious effort, the air around it warped, revealing a key that looked to be made completely of the tenebrae. She dropped it to the ground.

“Thank you…for one…last thrill, little…rats. Now, scurry…along. The others…come…for you.” She closed her eye and said nothing more.

So I finished it. In one clean blow, I took off her head.

35

“Don’t touch it,” Isik said, as we all gathered to look at the key. She summoned a tenebrous gauntlet and still picked it up very gingerly.

“What is it?” I asked. “You know, aside from a key.”

Isik shook her head. “I’m…not sure. It’ll take some time to figure out.” She looked at Gor’mina’s corpse and shuddered.

“You were scared of her. You were…hiding, during the fight, weren’t you?”

“I…” She glanced back and forth between me and the body. “I suppose there’s no reason to deny it. Those creatures — the royalty — they terrify me. They’re scarcely people anymore. They’ve essentially lived as gods for so long, they can only think of themselves that way. And what does that make the rest of us? Expendable doesn’t even begin to describe it. We’re not even people like they are. Look at one wrong, and that’s it: your life is over, and it won’t be pleasant. And they won’t even think of you once after giving the order.” She shuddered again and had to turn away. “I’ll pack this key up for safe transport and see what I can find out. You should head down to the manor. Everyone fled there. Luckily, Gor’mina was focused on waiting for you out here. I was…only able to hide here.” I was surprised she admitted it so readily.

Revana was on her feet, but only barely. “Casting that spell is more taxing than I thought it would be, but I’ll be fine. Let’s go find the others.”

Despite her assurances she was fine, I took her arm as we went down the many stone steps towards the manor house. Once we were close, the doors flew open and Tiq ran out, tears in her eyes.

She wrapped her arms around both of us, sobbing, trying to speak but only managing to choke out more sobs. We endured her hugs and returned them tightly.

“We’re okay,” I said.

“I wanted to help so much,” she said once she got herself under control. “I almost went up there a thousand times. But I wouldn’t have been able to do anything, even with my device. I’d just have pissed her off and gotten killed, I know, but it was torture waiting down here.”

Osaarin came out to greet us and said, “I thought I was going to have to physically restrain Lady Tiquette. But I’m overjoyed to see you safe. Can I ask…?”

“Yes,” Revana said. “There was a dragon. We met her, and she should be coming back soon!”

The elation on Osaarin’s face was like the sun cutting through a stormcloud. “T-truly? After all this time?”

Revana explained our surprisingly fruitful mission into the portal. Although Nir hadn’t told us exactly how long she’d need to prepare, I got the impression it wasn’t going to be a long time. It would have been pretty helpful, really, if she’d shown up during the fight, I thought. Assuming it was going to be soon, a lot of us went back up to the plateau to wait.

While we did so, Gor’mina’s last words echoed in my head. The others come for you. Did she mean the rest of the royalty was on their way here now? I supposed we’d find out if we didn’t leave fast enough. One thing was clear: this place wasn’t the least bit safe any longer. 

The sun had only moved a fraction over the horizon when a tiny spark of golden light burst into existence right where our portal had been. It grew and grew, eventually swirling and expanding into a gateway many times larger than ours had been. In a huge flash of light, it was gone, and standing on the plateau was Nir, in all her radiant glory. 

There were cheers and screams of joy, and Nir took it all in stride, stretching her wings and enduring all the attention that was being lavished on her. I imagined she wanted to take to the sky, but this was just as emotional for her as it was for everyone, I imagined. Maybe quite a bit moreso.

Tiq had a million questions, of course.

Isik just stood back, away from the throng, but there was a persistent little smile on her lips.

I figured I’d let everyone else have their turn, so I wandered over to the edge of the cliff face and looked out on the long road that wound down the mountain and eventually back towards Telorn. A road we’d be walking soon, I thought.

Revana came up behind me and put her arms over mine.

“Done already? I thought you’d be basking in Nir’s presence as long as you could.”

“There’ll be time for that, I’m sure. I thought maybe a quiet moment alone would be nice for now.”

We stood there, staring out over the horizon, her chin resting on my shoulder, her tail wrapped lightly around my leg.

“Wha-what’s…that?” I asked. There was a long, black line of something off in the distance, marching down the road.

Revana tensed. “Tiquette! Tiq, come here!”

Tiq detached herself from the crowd and came over, where Revana pointed down to what we were looking at.

“Tell me it’s not what I think it is, please.”

Tiq was silent for a moment before saying, “It’s…it’s the entire imperial Gorvani army.”

I took Revana’s white-clawed hand and Tiq’s heavily-ringed soft hand in mine.

“We have to go. Now.”

To Be Continued

AFTERWORD

Thank you very much for reading! It means a lot to me that so many people are enjoying my stories.

SHADOWBREAKER

THE DRAGON CULT BOOK 3

ISAAC KEYES

1

It was chaos.

Or, at least it looked like chaos, but it wasn’t really, if you looked.

The Skyshard Distillery, or more to the point, the headquarters of the Dravizek Celestori, the dragon cult, was awash with people running everywhere, yelling constantly. But they clearly knew what they were doing and where they were headed.

Osaarin, the massive Dravini man who led the cult, at least under Isik, stood in the courtyard behind the manor house, issuing orders and fielding endless questions. He tapped his foot nervously, but other than that, he seemed in complete control.

With nothing particularly relevant to do, I’d been standing by him and waiting for people to need help lifting heavy things, which they often did. During a lull, I said to him, “This all seems pretty well organized for an impromptu exodus.” 

He glanced over at me and smiled. “This, like many other days, is one we always assumed would come. It’s only by Inquisitor Isik’s hand that it was put off for so long. And while I’ll be very sad to leave this place, we’ve accomplished everything we’d always hoped.”

Peeking over the edge of the highest plateau was Nir, a real, authentic dragon. Revana and I had journeyed to another world and convinced her to return to Vendira, although ‘convinced’ might have been a strong choice of words; she’d practically leapt at the opportunity the second we’d found her.

But things couldn’t just be good for five minutes, of course. We’d returned, nearly died fighting one of the strongest royals there was, and then, after all that, the Gorvani army was on the march, headed towards us. 

The plan, such as it was, was that everyone would flee through hidden caverns underneath Skyshard while Revana and I stayed behind to harry the army and leave with Nir, who wasn’t even close to being able to fit into the escape tunnels. But since there was a little bit of time before everything went to shit, the cult was trying to save as much as it could, packing up books and ancient texts and rare materials.

Isik strode up to us, the light blue skin of her face slightly flushed from effort. Probably yelling at people. She was really good at that. “Preparations are almost done,” she said to Osaarin. “Start having people head towards the basement. I’ll meet you there and be one of the last to leave.” To me, she said, “You’re really going to stay and fight?”

“Can’t take a dragon through the tunnels. And we’ll buy you all more time and make sure the focus is on us. Although, there is another reason we’re staying; now that there’s a dragon on Vendira again, word needs to spread. And what better way to start things out than by wrecking as much of the army as we can?”

“Fair point,” she said as she pulled her messy, purple hair down to rebraid it. “But don’t overreach. Nir’s death would be catastrophic to everything we’ve worked for.”

I nodded. “Of course. And on that subject, how were the dragons defeated during the empire’s founding? What should we be watching out for?”

Isik raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m sure I have no idea. Such tactics haven’t been relevant in centuries. And I’m an Inquisitor, not a General. Just don’t do anything stupid.” Without another word, she turned and left, heading into the manor house.

After I was tasked with carrying a few last loads of heavy crap, I wandered off to find Revana, who was with Nir, of course.

“Michael!” she said as I came up the stone steps. We’d been through so much together, but my stomach still did loops sometimes at the sight of her. Her bright, golden eyes always shone with what seemed like their own light, and they stood out to her pale skin and white horns and claws. Golden scales went down the sides of her body, all of which I had seen many times and would never tire of seeing again. “Is it almost time?” She wore a ferocious smile, obviously ready for the battle to begin. As much as she was one of the kindest people I knew, there was a vicious side to her, and I’d personally seen her messily kill quite a few Gorvani without preamble or remorse.

“It is. Do we…have a plan? I’m hoping we have a plan. At least one that’s a little more nuanced than ‘kill the enemy.’”

“We do. You and I will briefly make a stand at the gates and kill as many as possible, before we ‘retreat’ back to the courtyard, and once enough Gorvani have flooded into it, Nir will come, roast as many as she can, and we’ll fly off on her back. We’re not going to even make a dent in the army, but that’s not really the point, is it? Let them all see two channelers of the shae,  sweeping their people down, and then once they think they have the upper hand, a creature from myth swoops down and takes even more out.

“It’s…it’s kind of what our plan has always been, you know? You were summoned here to be a symbol, and while that all stalled out for a while, now Nir is with us. And now, you and her and…I…can be the symbols of the rebellion.” Revana had spent her life working towards all of this, but she’d never thought she’d be able to channel the magic herself. But here she was, a channeler in her own right, much more skilled than me if not more powerful, and I was so incredibly happy for her.

I’d decided a long time ago that I’d be what Vendira needed me to be, and that I would do everything I could to destroy the empire because it deserved it. And that was all true, but really, really, at the end of the day, I think I was mostly doing it for her.

While we waited the last few minutes before everything blew up, Tiq ran up the stairs and handed Revana a folded piece of paper before doubling over and panting. “There…I…oh geez…I’m not that out of shape! I just…” She paused for a few seconds and got her breathing under control. Her hair was tied back, which I’d never seen before, but she still wore all of her numerous rings and piercings. “Sorry! I just ran all the way up here from a couple sub-basements underneath the manor. That’s a map of the most strategically valuable places to cast the new spell and sever the tenebrous channels. Anyway, gotta go! We’ll meet at Irina’s, okay?” She pushed her glasses back up onto her nose and without another word or a chance to reply, she bolted back down the stairs.

We just watched her go. I turned to the others and said, “Well, I guess it’s about time.” Nir took off, her massive wings buffeting us with forceful downdrafts before she was in the air, soaring away to hide behind the mountainous peaks until it was time.

I drew my sword and summoned my armor, the shae molding itself around my body in what now felt like a completely normal sensation. I looked over to Revana, who’d done the same. Her glowing, magical armor was more decorative than mine, which had ended up being an intimidating bulk that covered me in a thick layer of protection, but still was able to shift and flow so as to not hinder my movements. In every way that mattered, it was vastly superior to real, metal armor.

We looked over the edge of the plateau, but the army had moved well beyond where we could see and up onto the mountain path. “I imagine they’ll be here soon,” I said. “Let’s be waiting for them.” We walked down through the eerily deserted complex, and I wondered how many of the people here had thought of it as home. We’d only been here a few days ourselves, but already I was sad to know the empire would be taking it over, and in all likelihood, razing the place to the ground.

We opened the front gates and waited.

2

Ihad thought the Gorvani would send some forward scouts or something, but perhaps they thought they didn’t need to since Gor’mina, the late Fourteenth Daughter, had been here first. They probably expected to round the last bend and see a smoking ruin, their jobs already done for them, as the first few people that saw us stopped dead in their tracks. We could see wide eyes in the ones not wearing helmets, and I raised my sword at them, saying nothing. I really wished I’d brought what was left of Gor’mina’s head down here so I could throw it at them and say something menacing, but it was too late to go back and get it.

We stood and waited for them to come, and while it took a moment, the ones in front were eventually spurred on by the ones behind. They drew their own weapons and screamed as they rushed towards us. 

I stepped in front, pushing the shae into my sword until it arced out, essentially giving me an impossibly long, two-handed blade. In the small space of the front gate, I could cover the entire approach, cutting everyone down and not allowing anyone to pass.

Revana was behind me, throwing out countless projectiles made from the shae itself, and both her and my own attacks sliced through armor and bone like they were nothing. Some of the Gorvani had bows and crossbows, but their attacks clinked uselessly off our armor as waves of soldiers quickly fell to the both of us.

I had expected a bit more from the Gorvani army of all things, but these soldiers were little more than the rank and file enforcers I’d fought so many times. The only real difference was that these people had standardized weapons and armor and perhaps a little more discipline, but other than that, it seemed like they only barely knew what they were doing. But was that surprising, really? When would this standing army ever have had to fight? The entire populous was locked down pretty tight and the thought of open rebellion basically non-existent, so these soldiers might very well be fighting for the very first time. I almost felt bad for them. Almost.

As we fought, we kept slowly stepping back, as if we were being pressed, although I could have charged through the enemy ranks at any time. But I needed more space for the ever growing pile of bodies we were leaving in our wake, and trying to kill an entire army would be stupid anyway; there was only so much we could really do.

But we were sending a message. 

And judging by the fear and hesitation that was becoming increasingly noticeable in the soldiers, we were doing a fine job of it. They eventually ‘pushed us’ back to the courtyard and were able to just start flanking us when Nir’s ear-splitting roar washed over the battle. Everyone, Revana and I included, looked up to the sky where she was swooping in from behind a peak. 

A cross between what I thought of as standard western and eastern depictions of dragons, her long, winding body undulated through the air, supported by massive wings and her iridescent scales danced in the light, a different color depending on what angle you were looking from. She opened her mouth and her eyes glowed as sigils formed in front of her face, erupting into fast, lethal blasts of pure shae that slammed down into the enemy ranks and shook the ground under our feet. It wasn’t breathing fire, but I could see how it would easily become that in myths and legends. She swooped around a few times, releasing more and more devastating attacks before she landed behind us. 

We quickly retreated and climbed up onto her back. Revana fired off a few last attacks and then we were in the air and climbing. I’d been in planes before, but this wasn’t anything like that; the wind in our face and nothing around but Nir’s wings was a completely new and wonderful experience.

Until it went to shit.

I noticed something bad happening on the ground. It looked like a royal, which I’d been surprised to not yet see, and they were surrounded by a circle of Gorvani channelers, all suffused with the tenebrae. “Uh, the crap is that?”

Revana looked down and made a strangled sound. “That’s a circle of channelers, all pouring power to that royal for…something bad I’m su—”

The tenebrae exploded out from them and raced up to meet us, a long waving strand that slammed into Nir’s side and stuck there. She cried out as she tried to weave and roll — which was extremely disconcerting — but the magic held firm. “They’re trying to ground us!”

And they were. The magic pulled back towards the royal, and without warning, a second attack pulsed towards us and wrapped around Nir’s foot. She banked and rolled, but the tenebrae wouldn’t let go, and it was pulling us slowly but inexorably down further.

I didn’t have any good ideas, but I had a pretty bad one. “Let it pull us down, and I’ll jump, disrupt the casting, and afterwards, I’ll run off the edge of the mountain. You can catch me as I fall.”

Revana looked at me with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. “That’s…that’s insane!” She shook her head and said, “But okay! I’ll shield you on the fall, so try to land directly on that royal bastard!”

Nir grunted, which I took as acceptance, since she started gliding downwards.

I was still wearing my shae armor, of course, but another layer slid over me as Revana channeled. I kept my sword in its sheath and readied my shield, on which I was planning to land, and once we got close, I did the stupidest thing I had done since coming to Vendira. So far, at least. 

Nir was trying to remain stable in the face of the magic pulling her down, so I thought I was able to do a pretty decent job of jumping. I didn’t hit the royal himself, but I did crush two of the Gorvani that had been helping him channel the spell. I worried a little at myself in that moment, because the sounds of their crunching bones as I landed on them was extremely satisfying. 

I rolled off my shield and had my sword in my hands immediately, swinging this way and that, letting most of the blows directed my way be deflected from my yargeth-scale shield or bounce harmlessly off my armor. Within seconds, a few more of the channelers were down, either dead or wishing they were. The royal looked a lot like the others I’d seen: he wore billowing, white robes from the waist down and nothing but some ostentatious jewelry up top. His shadow-infused face was contorted in anger, but I just assumed that was a royal’s default state at this point. He summoned a two handed sword and attempted to fight me with it, but while it was actually capable of stopping my blows, he wasn’t exactly a pro at it.

I swung in massive arcs, trying to create space and cut down any of the other Gorvani or soldiers who surrounded us. I thought that if it had been a one on one fight, I could have taken this man down relatively quickly, and while it was very tempting to try, I wasn’t here for that. I was actually done with what I’d come here to do already.

His anger turned to angry confusion as I turned on my heel and ran, cutting through more of the lesser soldiers in a blatant attempt to get away from him. I don’t know what they thought was happening, but judging by the gasps behind me, none of them had assumed I’d make for the edge of a somewhat short cliff and throw myself off of it.

Just as my feet left the ground, it occurred to me that I should have been paying the least amount of attention to where Nir and Revana were, but I had not.

Luckily, they were clearly doing a better job than I was, because within seconds, Nir’s huge body appeared underneath me and I was momentarily on her back, scrambling to take Revana’s hands so I could stay there. Once I was righted, I looked back and yelled; that royal asshole was attempting another spell. I took Revana’s hand again and slid down Nir’s scaly side so I could twist and have my new shield take the magic, which deflected harmlessly from it.

“Let’s get out of here,” Revana yelled.

Nir turned downward and sped away from the Gorvani before leveling out.

I looked back to see one more tenebrous blast issue forth, but we were too far gone for it to be a danger.

Nir turned back towards us and flapped her wings. “My apologies to you both. I should have remembered the ways they took down my kin. I shouldn’t have gotten so close, but I wanted…I wanted them to hurt.”

“We’re fine,” Revana said. “And we’ll know better for next time. But I think we did what we wanted. We gave the others time enough to flee and you better believe those bastards were shaking in their boots, seeing a dragon and two shae channelers completely trashing their worthless army!”

We all shared a laugh, but she was right: this was the beginning of the end for the Gorvani.

3

“What the crap is that?”

As we were flying away from the army and the place where we’d nearly screwed it all up just as things were going our way, I had glanced over to the horizon and there was something deeply odd sitting there.

“Isn’t that…Telorn?” Revana asked.

It was, but there was a huge, circular…ball of darkness? Was that what I was seeing? I asked as much aloud, and Revana just nodded, staring and just as confused as I was. “Nir! Can you take us closer to…whatever that is?”

She twisted her head around to look at us. “Yes, but I fear I already know what it is.” She didn’t elaborate any further, but she did turn to head towards the capital. She beat her wings and we flew higher, I assumed so there wouldn’t be any repeats of the last near disaster. We kept below the sparse clouds but only just, and as we came closer, the ball of darkness remained just that, a perfect sphere of what could only be the tenebrae.

Revana nearly slipped off Nir’s back as she leaned forward, her eyes as wide as mine as we looked at it. “It…it covers the entire palace.”

And so it did. It was a gigantic orb centered around the Imperial Palace in the center of the city. The rest of the place seemed to be going on with life as usual; people and golems still made their ways down the streets, but no one was using the many bridges into the palace.

“Is it a tenebral ward?”

Nir craned her head around again. “If you want to call it that, yes. But it’s a ward in the sense that an ocean is a cup of water. Penetrating it will be…difficult to say the least.”

“But we have to, right? If we don’t bust up the Tenebral Font and kill the Emperor, this isn’t over, is it?”

“No,” Revana said. “The Font must be broken and the royalty, all of them, have to die.” She looked down at the foreboding ball of shadows. “What should we call that thing?”

“The shadowsphere?” I said.

Revana shrugged. “It’ll do, yeah. Let’s get out of here, Nir.”

We turned and left Telorn and the shadowsphere behind, flying off into the clouds for quite some time. We didn’t talk further, and I took the time to start worrying about Tiq and the others, hoping they got out from under Skyshard and were able to disperse into wherever they were going. We’d agreed to meet Irina’s, but I didn’t think that was going to be our first destination.

We were in the air for what seemed like hours before we finally landed in a forest’s clearing far away from anything approaching civilization. Nir went off to hunt or whatever it was that dragons did, while Revana and I made a little lean-to. I made a small fire pit and tried my best to start a fire, which was a skill I was taught before our first assault on the sigilarium. I ultimately was successful, but it was for the best that no one was around to hear my frustrated swearing during my many failures. 

Revana had wandered off into the forest to find us something worth eating, a task I wouldn’t be useful for, since I had no idea what was poisonous and what wasn’t. She came back with a couple things reminiscent of mushrooms and some bright orange fruit that was a lot more like strawberries than anything else. As the sun started down towards the horizon, we talked about what our next move might be. 

Revana took out the paper Tiq had given her, which turned out to be a fairly detailed map that showed where we might cast the spell we’d found deep under the ground in the yargeth-laden ninth province. Honestly, they were all appealing for one reason or another, and while our first instinct was to focus on the province with Irina’s shop in it, we quickly came to the conclusion that that was just selfishness.

“We’re kicking off a revolution, right?” I said. “What’s the best way to do that? Everyone’s oppressed by the empire, but who needs our help the soonest?”

“Oh, well, that’s an easy one now that you phrase it like that. We should hit the third province; it’s the one with most of the quarries and mines where the men are sent for labor. If anyone’s going to be primed to rebel, it’s them. They’re pissed and treated like slaves, but also are by definition strong and capable. We take the tenebrae away from the Gorvani there, it should be a simple thing to convince them to fight back.”

After our dinner, such as it was, Nir returned and encircled us and the fire. She didn’t say where she’d been or what she’d been doing and we didn’t ask. I just assumed she found Vendira’s version of cows or something and ate a couple whole. 

Secluded and with a dragon as we were, we didn’t bother keeping watch for once, and the night passed quickly and without dreams.

In the morning, we talked our plan over with Nir, who agreed with our assessment, and in short order, we were back in the skies, making our way to the third province. A few hours later, the landscapes of forests and winding roads started to give way to massive, angular holes dug into the ground. Some of the quarries were still active and some abandoned, and we saw the entrances to quite a few mines as well. The map we followed was pretty straightforward and took us over a large tract of land that was suspiciously undeveloped amidst a sea of cut stone.

“Here we go,” Revana said as she turned around to face me. Nir circled high in the sky as we joined hands and began to channel. I pulled in as much magic as I could, letting it slip through my hands and into Revana as Nir did the same underneath us. I could only imagine what the blinding light we were giving off looked like from the ground; I had to shut my eyes against the glare.

I felt more than saw the shae taking shape around us, the huge, circular sigils forming in the air as we flew overhead. Revana had cast the spell once before, in a limited fashion, in order to kill a royal who’d been actively killing me, but that was a pale shadow compared to this: with my and Nir’s power combined, Revana was able to weave incredible sigils, and when they were complete, they burst with power and the sound of a ringing bell.

The shae shot up above us, high over the clouds, swirling and coalescing, more and more and more of raw shae being pulled from the magical current itself, and Nir flew us well clear before it all came together to rocket down towards the ground, a massive lance of pure magic.

It stabbed into the land, throwing up dirt and rocks and trees before it kept burrowing down. The current of the shae funneled endless amounts of energy into it all, and it lit up the sky like a second sun, bright enough that I had to both look away and cover my eyes. 

The sound was deafening, and I’m not sure I can even describe it; it was a huge reverberation that rattled our bones, and I could only imagine it was causing a massive earthquake down below. 

Once it finally ended, I squinted down to see an enormous, perfectly round hole carved straight down through the bedrock, a yawning pit of black with no visible bottom.

“That’s…” Revana’s eyes fluttered, and I grabbed her just as she was about to fall off Nir’s back. 

“Hey now! Stay with me!”

“I’m…I’m fine.”

She was not fine. But I assumed the channeling had taken too much out of her, so I just held on tight.

I had expected a big eruption of the tenebrae to burst out of the ground, but I hadn’t actually based that on anything. The tenebral currents apparently ran extremely deep, so it was more likely that we’d see nothing at all, but I was still a little bit disappointed. “How can we tell if it worked?”

Nir turned back towards us and said, “We land and see if the Gorvani can offer any meaningful resistance.”

“Is that…a good idea? Last time they were almost able to pull you down.”

She shook her head. “I doubt anyone but the royalty has any idea how to perform such a thing, and even then, you saw how many tenebrous channelers were needed to pull it off. If we land at one of the quarries, there’s not a very big chance of that happening again.”

“She’s right,” Revana said, quietly. “The quarries are guarded by only a few Gorvani because that’s all they need. The ability to brand everyone at once is very…efficient. Aside from that, there will be regular enforcers, which shouldn’t be much of a threat for any of the three of us now.”

She was right, and just the day before I had myself handled an entire, if narrowly funneled, army, but my thoughts hadn’t caught up to the reality of it all. Not so long ago, I’d been hard pressed to fight one or two enforcers without help, and I’d almost been killed quite a few times since coming to Vendira.

But now? No one but a royal would be much of a threat to me, just as Revana had said. Me! I was just some nobody who was afraid of talking back to a rude person. Or, that had been me. When this adventure had started, I’d struggled to keep up, constantly second guessing myself even though I was committed. But I found myself not only sure we’d win in a fight, almost any fight, but I was sure we’d win it all; we’d bring down the entire empire, and we’d just taken a huge step towards making that happen.

I had had all these reflections as we flew away from the crater we’d made towards what seemed to me like a random quarry, functionally the same as any other we’d seen already, but Revana had seemed to choose it. We’d flown for some time and she had recovered enough that I let go of her, and the three of us slowly made our descent towards a big, flat area for Nir to land on.

I didn’t know what I thought we were flying into, but it sure wasn’t this.

“Oh, shit,” was all I managed to say.

4

It was chaos. Bedlam. Maybe other synonyms I couldn’t think of, but it was at least those.

We had come in thinking we’d kick off a minor revolt, but wow, it was already fully underway. The entire quarry was in a total uproar, filled with Dravini, Surini, and Humani men, breaking machines and pushing back against a completely overwhelmed number of guards.

As we landed, smoke billowed up around us from broken machinery and an alarming number of fires. I glanced around and saw a few Gorvani corpses dangling from cranes and hung on the edges of rock faces, and their deaths had not been kind or swift by the looks of it. The survivors were fighting back against the workers, trying to hold small, protected areas higher up and in little buildings, but it was clear that it was only a matter of time before the workers broke their defenses. 

We watched as a small guard post was assaulted and its door ripped off the hinges by a line of people with a long, heavy chain. The Gorvani inside screamed, and I could see them holding out their hands in a last, desperate effort to channel and brand anyone, but the tenebrae was gone along with any chance they had of living. I made myself watch as they were drug out and violently murdered with pickaxes, sledgehammers, and fists.

So many times since I’d come to Vendira, I’d seen some truly awful things. I had thought myself pretty hardened to it by this point; the day before I had personally slaughtered scores of soldiers in hand to hand combat. But at least they’d been actively fighting me.

I looked over to Revana, who was sitting there on Nir’s back with me, a completely neutral look on her face. “Should we…do something?”

She blinked and glanced back at me. “Do what? Things are doing themselves just fine without our help.”

I curled a lip. “But this…this is just awful.”

“Do you think they don’t deserve it?” she asked in a low voice.

A chill ran up my spine at her tone. I knew there was a viciousness inside her. Hell, I’d personally witnessed it many times, but I still didn’t love it. “No, it’s not that…”

She put her white clawed hand over mine and a little bit of sympathy softened her expression. “This was how it was always going to be. There have been generations of violence and oppression. And it’s not just going to be here with the laborers, it’ll be like this everywhere. And you’re right, it is awful, but it’s also inevitable.”

“I guess so. I suppose I should just suck it up and deal, huh?”

Her eyebrows climbed pretty high at that statement. “Oh…no, Michael. No. Don’t think that way. It’s good that you’re reacting the way you are; please don’t force those emotions away. What’s coming really is going to be pretty bad, and while I’m not sure I can muster much sympathy for the Gorvani, they are still people. And I’m sure there are good ones that are going to get swept up in everything.”

“Huh.” I thought back to a comment Isik had made about wanting to see the new world after the empire fell but assuming she wouldn’t. “Like…Isik?”

Revana nodded, a tiny, humorless smile on her lips. “Yeah. I’m still not sure how I feel about her, but I can’t deny we wouldn’t be where we were without her. I guess I…maybe I don’t want her to die.”

I smiled. “Did you ever imagine yourself saying that about an Inquisitor?”

“I sure didn’t.”

We climbed down off Nir’s back and stood there, watching the chaos unfold. Some people had seen us and broken off, and it looked like the last holdouts were about to get overwhelmed. Soon enough, the violence was over and we had a sizable crowd surrounding us.

As people filed in, I turned to Revana and asked, “So, should we make a speech or something?”

“Yes, you should.”

“Me!?”

“You’re the brandless hero, riding in on a dragon after severing the tenebrae. Of course you! Oh, summon your armor for it. And draw your sword and imbue it with the shae.”

She was right, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. I’d rather fight the rest of the Gorvani army than start making speeches of all things, but it was what I was here for and I’d said many times to myself that I’d do anything to free Vendira. Even make speeches, I guess.

I summoned my armor, and as I was doing it, I felt Revana helping mold the magic, so it came out as awe-inspiring as any I’d seen. I drew my sword and pushed the shae into it so that the golden magic arced up as I held it aloft. 

“People of Vendira,” I said, and I noticed my voice carried far better than I ever thought it would — apparently Revana had been able to pick up some of the amplification techniques the royals had been using, “we’ve come to free you from the empire’s grasp! We’ve broken the tenebrae in this province, but I hardly need to tell you that, do I?” There were some assorted cheers and laughter, which made me feel a little more comfortable. “My name is Michael, and I was called to this world to aid in the fight against the Gorvani. It’s not been easy, and there have been many struggles along the way, but I stand before you now, brandless, a channeler of the shae, and along with the help of so many good people, we’ve summoned a dragon back to this world!”

Nir stood and opened her wings before unleashing an ear-splitting roar that was matched by the crowd around us. 

“We’ve broken the empire’s power here, for now, but it’s up to everyone to take the fight to the Gorvani while we have this chance, as you’ve all already demonstrated you’re willing to do. What we ask most of you, however, is to get out and spread the word: The empire’s time is almost over, and together, we’ll grind it into the dust and create a better world for everyone!” Except the Gorvani, I thought. I didn’t say that though.

That seemed a natural end to the speech, which I was immensely pleased about, especially seeing as how I’d never been great at public speaking and I’d had zero time to prepare. 

The crowd devolved back into a more mild form of chaos while people decided what they might do now that they were suddenly free from the empire’s control. Many came up to us and asked a thousand questions, and we did our best to answer them, after a hurried consultation between Revana and I about what all we would actually say. We’d agreed to keep Isik’s name and involvement out of it for now, and we only vaguely alluded to the cult’s activities aside from that fact that there was a dragon right here.

Nir herself fielded a lot of questions, shocking many by being able to talk. I supposed dragons were as much a myth here as they were on Earth, so no one really knew what to expect. 

“Reva! Revaaaaa!”

A younger Dravini man eventually muscled his way to the front of the mob, waving excitedly and calling out to Revana. He had black horns and claws, with bright green scales running down the sides of his shirtless body, which is a coloring I’d only ever seen on one other person so far.

“Reva!” He had the biggest smile on his face, which Revana returned before she leapt down off the stone ledge we’d been standing on and into his arms, hugging him tightly. When they were done, she crawled back up and pulled him beside her.

“Michael, this is Amalir, he’s—”

“Irina’s son,” I said.

“Wh-yeah! How did you know?”

“Irina’s the only other Dravini I’ve seen with those colors. And she did mention a son, once. Oh, and he called you Reva, which no one else ever has, except Irina.”

She gave me a wide, appraising smile. “I’m impressed!”

“Well don’t get too excited or expect that kind of thing to happen a lot, but I’ll take it this time. Anyway,” I said, turning to Amalir, “I’m Michael.”

“It’s…it’s very nice to meet you.”

I almost expected him to call me sir, and I was getting the distinct impression that I intimidated him, which was a complete first for me.

“So you’re…really brandless, then?”

I still had my armor on for no real reason, so I let it drop before I pulled my shirt up and showed him my unmarked skin, which was a lot less weird than the first few times I’d done it. “I am, but I’m not the only channeler here.” I looked expectantly at Revana. I wasn’t going to let her off the hook and let her sidestep her share of the attention.

She smiled a little shyly and held out her hand, where she conjured a small ball of golden light.

If anything, I think Amalir was blown away by that way more than he’d been about me or the freaking dragon sitting with us. After he was done being overly excited about it, which I didn’t blame him for, we asked about the current situation.

“I’m sure it won’t surprise you to hear that we get branded all the time, whether we’re doing anything wrong or not. So it was really obvious, really fast, that the Gorvani were suddenly unable to do it. I’ve heard a couple people talking about how they saw the actual moment when their powers went away. Of course, their natural reaction was to try even harder, but that just made it more obvious what was happening. A few tried to play it off and send in their enforcers, but there aren’t really that many of them here. The Gorvani just rely on branding everyone constantly, so they had no idea what to do.

“None of us knew either, but once some people started shouting about how they suddenly couldn’t brand anyone, and when the imperials couldn’t immediately disprove that…well, things got real heated, real fast. Some of us just hung back and watched it all happen, but there were a lot of people here real willing to start…”

“Killing people?” I supplied.

“Yeah.” Amalir looked around at all the corpses that were hanging from various places and shuddered. “It’s not like they didn’t have it coming, but…”

Revana nodded and said, “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that all or most of the quarries and mines in the province are much the same, which brings me to our next problem: how to organize any of this. I don’t think things are going to end well if we just let everything happen with no direction.”

“We need a leader,” I said.

“We do,” she said, looking pointedly at me.

“Oh, no. Nope. Absolutely not. I’ll give speeches if I have to, but what you’re talking about is something completely different. You need someone to organize the people and make sure they have food and that sort of thing, make decisions about where to go and what to do, and I’m telling you right now: I’m not the person for that. What you want is a general.” I laughed a little to myself. “You know who’d probably be a good choice if she wasn’t a horrible choice?”

Revana paused, but then laughed with me. “Yeah, she might have some of the skills, but I don’t think we’re going to get the people to, you know, take orders from her.”

Amalir leaned in and asked, “Anyone I know?”

“Oh, no, no. It’s not,” Revana said.

There would come a time where I wanted everyone to know what role Isik had played in all this, but today wasn’t it, this wasn’t the right place, and these weren’t the right people. “Why don’t we check on a few of the other places around here, see how the province is faring overall, and see what the empire’s response is going to be. I imagine they’ll send the army if they can, but they’re already…busy, I guess.”

“And we need to figure out what to do about the shadowsphere, but I’m hoping Tiquette’s going to have some thoughts on that one. Amalir, we’ll be going to see your mother soon; do you want to come with us?”

If I thought he’d been intimidated before, the concept of riding out of here on the back of the dragon nearly broke him, but he did stutter out a favorable reply eventually.

5

We flew to a few other quarries and found much the same result in all of them. I grudgingly gave a few more speeches to the people, but mostly we were there to be seen. While we had agonized over what we should be telling people during the trips, that decision was also made largely for us. 

I don’t know if I thought we were going to mold these people into a standing army right then and there, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen for a lot of reasons. What was going to happen was everyone was going to go home immediately. While there were some that were eager to take the fight to the empire — way too eager — most wanted nothing more than to see the people they loved again.

Since they’d been taken from all over the empire, we also didn’t have to do anything to spread the word; it was going to happen quickly whatever we did or didn’t do.

While we were at one of the last places we were going to visit, or make an appearance at was probably more to the point, I asked Revana, “It wasn’t a coincidence that the first quarry we ended up at was the one where Amalir was, right?”

“Nope, it wasn’t. I couldn’t be positive he would be there, but it was the last place I’d heard he’d been assigned.”

I nodded, smiling. “We’re going to hit the eleventh next, aren’t we?” There were strategically better provinces we could prioritize, but we both knew we were just going to do what we wanted now, despite what we’d agreed on in the beginning. Irina’s shop was in the eleventh, and once Amalir had shown up, it was pretty obvious what Revana’s plan had been. She’d probably tell me that since it was next to the twelfth province, the one where we’d directly taken out the sigilarium, that it was a tactically sound choice.

“Of course. It’s next to the twelfth, so it only makes reasonable sense that we get any latent momentum from there.”

I looked at her and she looked at me, and we both held a straight face for a moment before grinning like idiots. “Yes, loads of sense.”

Once we’d done what we came to do and climbed up on Nir’s back, which Amalir was still clearly not completely okay with, we took to the skies and talked over the next step. Since it was so far away, Nir agreed we’d need to teleport close to our target instead of flying all the way there.

“We’re gonna what now?” Amalir asked.

But before we could explain the situation, which was really for the best, Nir pulled in the shae and began to glow. I’d really thought we were going to land before doing this, but apparently dragons were much fancier than I had realized.

The portal burst into life in front of us, and within a second, we were in and through, the odd stretching sensation a little worse than before, probably because we’d soared into it at pretty high speeds. In the blink of an eye, we were in the eleventh, the land mostly the same, but the sun had noticeably risen from where we’d been. 

Amalir had been sitting in front of Revana, with me in back, and he’d taken his first journey through a portal about as well as we had; he immediately leaned over and was sick, the vomit trailing down Nir’s scales.

Revana and I had to tighten our grips and she slipped an arm around Amalir as Nir balked and jerked to the side. 

“S-sorry,” Amalir said, just before his face screwed up and he vomited a second time, at which Nir reacted just the same way.

Nir turned back with a horrified expression written plainly on her face. “Ugh…I…well…I’ll find a lake.” Although she tried to soldier on about it, her movements became very rigid, and her head turned this way and that, obviously looking for a body of water.

Some moments later, a small lake appeared over the horizon and she picked up speed, essentially sprinting for it. We crashed down into the water; she didn’t wait for us to get off, and while she didn’t submerge us, the huge splash from her entrance to the water drenched us pretty thoroughly anyway.

After she shimmied around and got the puke off her scales, she swam towards the shore and let us get down. Amalir took two steps onto the beach and basically collapsed. “Sorry again,” he managed to mutter.

“It’s…fine,” Nir said, although her narrowed eyes said otherwise.

I pulled Revana away to the side and said, “Why don’t you drop the two of us off near Irina’s town and head off to perform the severing spell yourselves. Can you do it without me?”

She nodded. “We should be able to, yes, although it’ll be quite a bit more taxing.” She looked down at the prone form of Amalir. “Buuut, maybe it’s a good idea anyway. Let’s give him a couple minutes before we go, though.”

Once we were back in the air, Nir kept glancing back at us, probably concerned about Amalir, but within no time, we were setting down a little ways outside town. We’d agreed to keep it a little more discreet than what we’d done so far in the third.

“We’ll come find you soon, Revana said, and then they were off, heading into the clouds once again.

I glanced over to Amalir, who was pointedly not staring at me. I was really going to have to get over this intimidating people thing, but I wasn’t sure I knew how, seeing as how literally no one had ever been intimidated by me before. Maybe some casual conversation would help, I thought. “So, uh, you grew up here, right? Did Irina always have a repair shop?”

“Yep, she sure did. Had it since before I can remember.”

“Did you work there?”

“Yeah, until I was old enough to…you know.”

Get enslaved was where he was going with that, and we both knew it, and I decided maybe a somewhat comfortable silence was actually a better idea for the trip into town, which I could already see through the trees. Thankfully.

Our incredibly uncomfortable silence was indeed short lived and we were in through the gates of the town in no time. I didn’t remember the layout very well, so I let him lead us to the shop. The little bell tinkled when we went in, and there she was: Irina was sitting in the back of the room, bent over some paperwork. “Be right with you.”

Amalir and I shared a look and a small smile, and we just stood there, saying nothing, waiting for the explosion that was coming. 

Irina hurriedly finished up the paperwork before turning around. She screamed when she saw us standing there, her hand trembling in front of her mouth. She stood, stunned, for a brief second before vaulting over the counter and slamming into Amalir and giving him what I could only assume was a bone-crunching hug.

He grunted and choked out, “Hi, Mom.”

Irina was crying into his shirt. “Lir! Oh, Lir!” She rocked him back and forth before finally letting go, her black-clawed hands still on his shoulders. “I…wow, I didn’t…I didn’t expect this at all!” She let him go to also favor me with a bone-crushing hug, which I did my best to return. She stepped back and said, “So…what!? What’s happened!? Tell me everything!”

“It’s kind of a long story since we last left here. Maybe the kind of thing best told over tea?” I said, which I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist and there’d probably be some orange-iced dulcet jumpers too.

“Yes! Of course!” She rushed to the front of the store and flipped a sign saying ‘temporarily closed’ and was off into the back. 

Amalir and I made our way to the large dining room and sat across from each other, the awkward silence only lasting a little while before Irina returned, bringing a huge platter with tea and jumpers, which I was just over the moon about. Judging by the look she gave me when she set it all down, she was well aware of that. I showed enormous restraint in that I poured a cup of tea before jamming one into my mouth whole.

I idly wondered if I should be composing myself better in front of Amalir, but quickly decided that I didn’t care about that and ate five jumpers and drank three cups of tea while I gradually got through telling Irina what had happened since we’d been gone.

She had an endless barrage of questions for the both of us, but Amalir’s story boiled down to: I broke rocks for a long time, then I rode a dragon here.

“So,” I said, “Have you heard from any of the others? I’d really hoped we’d walk in to find them here.”

Irina shook her head. “No, Michael. I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard anything from anyone recently, except Vashe; she managed to make it out of the twelfth some time ago.”

Vashe was probably last on my list of people I really wanted to hear from, but still, it was something. “How’ve things been going in the province since we busted up the sigilarium?”

“Apparently life went on as usual for everyone inside, with the somewhat noticeable lack of anyone getting branded, but the amount of enforcers around went up, so there was still a lot of oversight from the empire. I can’t say if the population really noticed a change besides the complete lockdown, which is still in effect. They really just tried to pretend it never happened, and I think they’re trying to rebuild the sigilarium and get things back to normal before anyone really catches on.”

“Is that possible?”

“No one knows. The sigilariums were constructed so long ago that we had no idea how long it would take to rebuild one, aside from, you know, quite a while.”

The chime over the front door sounded and we all turned, and a moment later Vashe herself walked in, her brown ears and tail twitching in excitement. She stopped short when she saw us all sitting there. “Shit. Hi, Lir.” She pointed at me and said, “Since you’re here again, get off your ass; there’s some shit happening at the portal nexus.”

I didn’t ask what shit she meant and I didn’t think she’d tell me. She just ordered Irina to keep the shop closed and locked and to stay inside, and without another word, she pulled me out of my chair before I could grab one last jumper and we were quickly out the door, Irina locking it behind us.

“So you’re not dead, huh?” she asked, which I assumed was her trying to make conversation with me, which was nice but very surprising.

“Yeah, we managed to get through. I’ll have to tell you all about it later.” Or someone else could, probably. “Revana’s fine too, and last I knew, the others were as well, but it’s been a while and I’m getting a little worried.”

She grunted in reply. “Well there’s something else to worry about for now.”

We ran the rest of the way, and as we got closer to the portal nexus, it became very clear that something bad was going on. We could hear loud cries and yelling like a battle was going on, and as we turned the last corner, we saw that that was exactly what was happening.

I assume it had all started inside the nexus, but the fighting had spilled out onto the streets. It was a pitched battle between a huge crowd of what could only be the quarry and mine workers we’d liberated and a whole lot of enforcers with a few Gorvani scattered in between. The latter were branding as many people as they could, but they seemed to be getting overwhelmed. The workers were armed with a variety of things including pickaxes, long lengths of metal bars and pipes, and broken chairs by the look of it. Some wielded real weapons they’d taken from the enforcers themselves.

The only reason the battle was lasting as long as it was seemed to be because the Gorvani were able to brand large swathes of their enemies, but it didn’t look like it was going in their favor overall.

And then we saw the exact moment that the tenebrae winked out of existence. 

One second, every single Gorvani had the swirling mass of shadows around their hands, and a second later, every single one of them lost it.

The entire battle paused for a few brief, deeply confusing seconds.

And then it was the quarries all over again.

A lot of the enforcers, once they’d seen what was happening, turned and ran. Without the threat of being branded themselves and facing a much larger group of enemies, a large portion of them just dropped their weapons and fled.

The Gorvani kept trying to channel, many of their faces screwed up in confusion, anger, and fear. A few started to turn and run as well.

The workers, after a few seconds of surprise, realized exactly what was happening. And since none of them were being branded and there were a lot of weapons laying on the ground, they surged forward and absolutely decimated any that remained, and it was just as brutal and savage as the scene at the quarries had been. 

Vashe and I just stood there, watching it all happen, and the entire battle was over within a minute or two, with the exception of some of the more bloodthirsty workers who were sprinting down the streets to find anyone who’d tried to run.

“Damn,” Vashe muttered, looking out over the chaos. She turned to me and asked, “So what the fuck was that? Why’d the Gorvani just…stop branding people?”

I gave her a shortened version of what had happened lately, centering mainly on the new spell we’d found and what it could do. “So Revana and Nir will probably show up here shortly.”

“Nir. The dragon.”

“Yeah.”

“Revana’s gonna show up here. Riding a fucking dragon.”

“Yep.”

She took a long, slow breath and said, “Okay.”

This was when a few of the people still standing around recognized me, which I was going to have to get used to. I was quickly surrounded and I did my best at being Michael the Brandless, congratulating them on their excessively bloody victory just now. Thankfully, I didn’t have to give a speech, just stand there and be seen, so it wasn’t so bad. 

I was able to get their story from a few of them, and it seemed after the tenebrae was lost in the third province, thousands of workers had gotten the same idea to head to their homes, but shockingly, it was a little more organized than anyone would have guessed. People heading towards the same places grouped up and assaulted the portal nexuses and waited on scheduled openings, so they could surprise the imperials at their destinations. And based on what had just happened here, it was working pretty well, but I still feared what the empire’s response was going to be.

After most of the people had gotten their fill of gawking at me, Vashe walked up. “So you’re some kind of savior, now, huh? Don’t let it go to your head, or I’ll have to bust you down a couple pegs, right? Can’t stand pompous assholes.”

I laughed and assured her that that wouldn’t happen. It was actually pretty reassuring knowing that not everyone was going to start treating me like a hero. It was nice in theory, but in practice, I’d always been pretty uncomfortable with it. Especially now, when it was crowds of people who’d only heard about the idea of me and didn’t know the real me, who was still plagued with a decent amount of self doubt. But maybe lots of heroes were like that. Who knew?

An ear-piercing roar echoed over the city, and seconds later Nir flew low over the rooftops.

“And here she is,” I said.

6

Nir circled a few times before landing in a relatively open town square between buildings. 

Vashe and I ran up as Revana slid down Nir’s scales and slumped on the ground. “You, uh, you okay?”

She nodded but was having a lot of trouble focusing on me. “Yeah, yeah I’m…”

Nir gave her an appraising look. “Casting the severing spell with just the two of us was much more taxing on her than I believe she imagined it would be. Perhaps there’s a place for her to rest?”

Vashe stood there dumbfounded with wide eyes. “It…she? Talks?”

I’d never seen her like that and I was very much enjoying it. “She does, yeah. I’ll let you two get acquainted.” I bent down and picked up a not really conscious Revana in my arms before heading off to Irina’s. I looked back and was endlessly amused to see that the awkward situation I was leaving was probably worlds worse than what I’d endured with Amalir.

“We did it,” Revana said softly.

“Oh I know you did.” I explained about the battle we’d seen and that we were there to witness the exact moment the tenebrae failed.

She had her eyes closed, but she laughed. “Oh, I’ll bet they were terrified.”

“The Gorvani?”

“Yeah. Can you imagine living your whole life relying on one thing, and suddenly it’s not there?”

“In the middle of a pitched battle, no less.”

Nir roared again, which must have just been a thing dragons did sometimes, and shortly after we saw her flying away overhead. I wondered what conversation, if any, she’d had with Vashe. I’d probably never know.

I knocked on Irina’s door with my foot, and she rushed out to unlock it, exclaiming over Revana, only calming down when we both assured her she was fine. 

I took her downstairs to the bedroom we usually used, and it was set up for us now, which I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see. Revana slipped out of my arms and onto the pillow, falling asleep almost instantly.

Irina was hovering over me, seemingly still unconvinced Revana was fine, but I drug her out of the room. Once the door was closed, she turned to me and said, “I received a message from Tiq while you were away. It was short, but apparently she and others are in the seventh, which is all the information she sent. I assume this means something more to you?”

The relief that went through me was immediate. I leaned against the wall and let out a breath. “Yeah, I’ll bet they’re at the Carvers’ Guild building. Oh, I’m so glad to know they got out safely and ditched the army. Hopefully they all did.”

Irina glanced at me and the closed door to the bedroom. “Tiq asked that you come when able. Are you…?”

“Well, I should go now. I’d like to wait for Revana, but I know she’ll be fine here, and…I’m too worried about…”

Irina arched an eyebrow at me.

“Okay, okay. I’m worried about Isik.”

She chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. “Of course you are. She’s one of us, and I don’t care what anyone says.” The smile slid off her lips and she said, “But you’re likely right to be worried. As much as we know she’s not the enemy, not everyone will.”

I elected to not bring up the brutality I’d already seen towards the Gorvani, which I’d edited out of my retelling of our adventures to Irina. “That’s…an understatement, I think.” 

I wanted to check in on Revana one more time, but she was fine and me waking her up wouldn’t help, so I happily let Irina push some jumpers into my hands before I left to make my way to the portal nexus.

I didn’t know what to expect, but people had set up a sort of martial law in and around the nexus. I stopped the first person I saw who looked like they knew what they were doing, which was a middle-aged human man who was walking up and down the building, occasionally barking orders at people. 

I walked up to him and said, “Hi, uh, I’m…”

And that’s as far as I got before he turned on me, his eyebrows climbing high on his head. “Oh! I know you! Brandless!” I’d been hoping no one would really recognize me, but I guess the yargeth-scale shield hanging on my back was a gigantic give-away.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me. My name is Michael, by the way.” I really didn’t want to start being referred to as a title, but that might not be my choice. “Anyway, what’s going on here? Are the imperials all gone?”

He laughed loudly and slapped me on the back. “You bet they are! Cowards turned tail the second they stopped being able to brand everyone! Always knew they weren’t worth shit! And their enforcer squads didn’t fare much better.”

“And…that’s it? Nothing else has happened?”

He looked around the huge, open room and said, “Nope. Not a damn thing, yet. A few escaped through the portals when we came in, and we expected immediate retaliation, but so far, nothing.”

I followed his gaze around the room and really looked for the first time. There were huge crowds of people, but barely any portals were actually in use. And in that crowd, almost everyone was armed. “This is a trap, basically,” I said.

“Mhmm. We keep expecting the bastards to come eventually, and you better believe we’ll be ready when they do. But in the meantime, is there somewhere you were wanting to go? We can send ya anywhere you like, and you don’t need to go alone. No telling what’s on the other side of any of these things, you know?”

I opened my mouth to say I didn’t need an escort and that I’d be perfectly fine, but what if I did walk straight into an ambush? He was right; I really didn’t know what I’d be walking into, so I said as much.

His eyes lit up; he was clearly happy at my decision. “Hey, boys!” He pointed towards a group of heavily-muscled and well armed men. “Brandless here wants some company through a portal!”

Damnit. The group came over and I told them my name was Michael, but I wasn’t sure a single one of them heard me over their incredibly enthusiastic acceptance at being my bodyguards for a while, which was yet another thing I found pretty weird. The man directed us all to a nearby portal and told the young Surini operating it that The Brandless needed passage to the seventh. So that was great. I was a the now too.

We passed through the portal with me in the middle and while I thought this was all a little overblown, I did draw my sword before we went.

Once through, though, it was obvious that my valiant crowd of bodyguards wasn’t needed after all. The nexus was eerily quiet, and only a few people were wandering about, but that did include a nexus…attendant or whatever. She was an older human woman, and we all had to repeatedly assure her that we weren’t a threat. After she’d calmed down, we got the story from her.

“Just recently, like within the last hour or so, every single Gorvani left the nexus, and more to the point, I think every one of them in the surrounding area did as well. Runners came bearing messages from somewhere, and without saying much to anyone else, they all just…left, including the overseer for this place. Those of us still here are just…doing our jobs, but I can’t understand what’s happening.”

It was difficult removing myself from my new, enthusiastic bodyguards’ care, but I was finally able to convince them I was safe enough on my own, but it had involved summoning my armor, which of course attracted a lot more people that had been around. Finally, I was able to leave the building by myself and head towards the Carvers’ Guild. I thought about trying to get into one of the many secret doors around its base, but it’d been long enough that I forgot pretty much everything I would have needed to know to get in one. So I just waltzed in the front door and asked for Mephina, whose name I did remember.

Luckily, she was there and I was taken to her office.

She was sitting behind her huge, carved desk looking through some papers. She smiled sweetly when I came in and asked, “Need some shelter from the sweltering sun, do you?”

I laughed softly at the code phrase I’d needed the first time. “I sure do. But tell me: is everyone alright? Were they all able to escape the imperials?”

She nodded. “Yes, yes. The exodus from Skyshard went mostly as planned. There were some small hiccups in bringing the tunnels down behind everyone, but the army was blocked most effectively and no one died. Some broken bones and near misses, though.”

“Are Tiq and Isik here?”

“Lady Tiquette is out at the moment, but the Inquisitor is downstairs. She said to show you down as soon as you made it here.”

I didn’t trust myself to navigate the complete maze that the inside of this building was, so I let Mephina lead me through, down a lot of stairs and through a lot of nonsensical hallways. She gestured at a doorway and said, “She’s in there somewhere.”

I thanked her and opened the ornate door to find a sprawling library lit by rows of arcanic chandeliers. I walked down row after row of shelves filled to bursting with all manner of books before I finally heard the faint ruffling of pages close by. I poked my head around the corner to see Isik sitting at a long table that was jammed with piles of old tomes and new, crisply bound books. “Uh, hey,” I said.

Isik bolted up from the table, her chair falling over behind her, and shadows burst from her raised hands. “Oh,” she said, and the shadows winked out of existence. “Hello, Michael.” She righted her chair and sat back down. Her blue skin glowed in the lights above and her purple hair was pulled back into a severe braid. She had noticeable bags under her eyes and the space between her piles of books was filled with sheets and sheets of paper, all covered in her writing. “I’m pleased to see you well.”

“I’d, uh, say the same, but I’m not quite sure you’re well.”

She laughed tiredly and said, “It could be worse.”

“Yeah, it sure could.” I told her about the things I’d personally seen happening to the Gorvani. “I’ve been very worried about you.”

She took a long breath and gave me a sad but very genuine smile. “I’m glad to hear it. There are probably only a handful of people who don’t want to kill me on sight at this point. Not that that’s a new concept in my life, of course, but the magnitude of it now…”

“How was it getting out of Skyshard?”

“Not bad, all things considered. The cave system had been well maintained, just for that day. We were underground for quite a while before emerging into a forest, and after that, we split up and headed towards different towns and their portal nexuses. I was able to make it here before anything of note really happened, which was very lucky, judging by the reports I’ve been hearing. And what you’ve told me just now. 

“Not that I’m surprised. The people have been under our thumbs their whole lives. I can only imagine how thrilling it is to be able to resist at all, let alone do it effectively.”

I pulled a carved chair over to sit across the table from her. “Yeah, and on that subject, apparently most of the Gorvani are just retreating for now?”

“Yes,” she said, nodding slowly. “I also received orders from the capital to drop what I was doing and go there. Not that it was a direct order; these were blanket orders to all Gorvani. All of us. But they don’t say anything more.”

“I don’t suppose you’re going, are you?”

She shook her head and sighed. “No, for various reasons. And I believe that once I fail to appear, they’ll assume I’m dead. If they, then, find out I’m not, I’m sure to be labeled a traitor, so I’m officially no use as an Inquisitor anymore.” She gestured towards the pile of books and paper in front of her and said, “Well, not after this. I think this is the last thing I can use what authority I have to do.”

“What is it?”

“You recall the key that Gor’mina gave us just before she died?”

“Of course.” She’d also said that if she was going to die, the empire should die with her. No one knew what she meant at the time, but hopefully Isik had found something.

“I can’t find anything on the key itself, or even a key like it. It’s either something unique to the royalty or possibly to Gor’mina herself, which led me down another path, searching for places the key could be used and not information on the key itself. It turns out that she, unlike most royals, kept an estate outside of Telorn. Most of them stay in or close to the palace at all times — I’m pretty sure they regard the rest of the entire world as below them.”

“You think the key might be used at this estate?”

She shrugged and leaned back in her chair. “Honestly I don’t know, but it’s the best idea I have. She did give it to us, so she ostensibly thought we would be able to use it, and if it goes to a lock deep inside the palace itself, I doubt we’d ever have much chance to access that. Until all the royals were dead and the war was over, of course.”

“So, what’s the catch, then?” Because there was one, I was sure.

“The estate is in the first province.” When I didn’t immediately react, she continued, “The first that can’t be cut off from the tenebrae because the Font is there. The province that will be highly guarded even when the empire is retreating from the others. That one.”

“Ah, yes, that place.”

She gave me a small smile, which I was glad to see. “But it looks as if we’ll need to get there somehow anyway. The portals are a stupendously bad idea, so—”

“We could ride a dragon in. Is Gor’mina’s estate within view of Telorn?”

“No,” Isik said, leaning back and looking thoughtful. “It’s not. It’s on the periphery of the province, actually. As if Gor’mina herself wanted to be as far away from the capital as she could.”

A thought belatedly popped into my head. “Hey, not to change the subject, but you have heard about the huge shadowsphere surrounding the palace, right?”

“Oh. That. Yes, I have. I assume you’re about to ask me questions about it.”

“Well, I was…”

“You can save your breath, because I’ve never heard of a thing like it before now. I had no idea a free-standing ward was even possible, let alone one as massive as that.”

“Huh,” I said, vastly disappointed. “We’re going to need to figure out some way to get inside it, but what bothers me more is the question of why they did it at all. Doesn’t it seem weird to you? I mean, protect the Font, sure, but I just get the impression there’s more to it than just a shield.”

She didn’t respond for a bit, her eyes darting this way and that. “That’s…very astute of you, actually. I’m displeased with myself for not thinking of it already.”

“Well, you were busy.”

She smiled. “Indeed. But I think you’re right. However, I have no idea how to even begin answering that question. I’m not sure I’d know how to do so even if I was still a functional Inquisitor, aside from asking a royal directly, and you can imagine how such a thing would turn out. Anyway, back to Gor’mina’s estate. Your dragon would be willing to carry us there?”

“I assume Nir would be willing to do pretty much anything that helped win the fight against the empire.”

A voice echoed out from somewhere else in the room, “Hello? Hello, Sir Brandless? I have a message for Sir Brandless.”

Oh for fuck’s sake.

Isik arched an eyebrow at me and failed to suppress a highly amused grin.

“Don’t you start!” I said. “Hey! I’m over here!”

A young Dravini man eventually found his way over to me, although it was pretty hard to locate anyone in the room due to the echoes. He bowed deeply at me and handed me a slip of paper while keeping his eyes downcast.

“Uh, thanks, but you can look at me if you want, and my name’s Michael.”

He did not look up at me, just bowed again and said, “Yes, of course, Sir Brandless.” And without another word, he turned and practically ran back the way he’d come.

“That title makes you uncomfortable,” Isik said, still smiling widely.

I sat down hard in the chair and sighed. “Supremely, yes.” I flipped open the paper and read the brief message inside.

“So what’s the dauntless Brandless of Vendira been summoned for now?”

“Ugh…” I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes. “I told you not to start that shit. You say it to one other person and I just know it’s going to catch on.” I glanced over to see a sparkling in her eyes. “I’m serious! Don’t say that to people!”

She held up her hands and said, “Alright, alright. I suppose I can keep it to myself. So what does Sir Brandless’s message say?”

“It’s from Tiq. There’s going to be some big demonstration here soon, and she wants me to be there, but that’s all it says. I’m really, really hoping I don’t have to talk to anyone.” I told Isik about our trips through the quarries and mines in the third and all the speeches I had to give.

“You aren’t enjoying the social aspect of being Vendira’s champion?”

“Definitely not. If I’m being completely honest, I’d almost fight a royal over having to give more speeches. I guess I did it well enough based on how the people reacted, but it’s not something I want to keep doing.” I slowly stood and pushed the chair back in. “I should go, though. Mostly I want to see that Tiq’s okay, but if I’m going to be a symbol, I might as well go be a symbol.”

7

It was late afternoon as I left the Carvers’ Guild and the streets looked like normal at first glance. People were going about their business and golems of all shapes and sizes were lumbering by. I stood outside the doors and just watched for a while, and there was a definite change in the air. A lot more people stood in groups talking, some of them wild and excited and others huddled in and scared. And while I stood there, not a single Gorvani went by.

I made my way to the public square that Tiq had indicated and found that whatever I was here for, it was already happening. Standing on top of what looked to be a very hastily built platform, Osaarin was talking to a huge gathered crowd. I stopped in the back to listen for a little while, and wow, he could give a speech!

He was animated and excited, gesturing wildly along with his words, and it didn’t hurt that he was tall and wide, striking an imposing figure. I came in to hear him talking about Nir and the broken sigilariums, but without a lot of the technical details. Instead, he talked about Nir as if she’d chosen this time to come home to Vendira, that she knew the empire’s time was nearing an end.

And he talked of the Gorvani’s broken power without adding a single detail about how it had happened aside from briefly alluding that Nir was heavily involved, which was of course true. Then he went on a long tirade about how the Gorvani were actually cowards and had been all along, and now, the second the tenebrae failed them, they’d collectively run scared to Telorn, but that was just going to make it easier to find them and crush them all at once. This statement was met with overwhelming cheers, and I couldn’t help but wonder again if any of the Gorvani were going to survive this. I hoped so. Some of them had to be good people, right? I mean, I hadn’t met anyone like that besides Isik, and she admittedly had done a lot of atrocious things and…

Well I wasn’t going to dwell on that, so I circled around the crowd and came up to the back of the stage where I’d seen Tiq hovering.

She squealed when she turned and saw me, and then she launched herself into my arms hard enough that I staggered back a few steps. “You’re okay!”

I hugged her back and said, “That’s what I was about to say. Although I did hear the escape from Skyshard went fairly well, all things considered.”

She stepped back and said, “Yes, it was shockingly well organized. And here we are, at the next step of the plan. Speaking of which…” She took my hand and dragged me towards the stage.

I had a massive bout of panic that I was going to have to speak to the crowd totally unprepared, but I followed her up anyway, and at her urging, I drew my sword and summoned the fanciest, but not most protective, version of my armor.

Apparently Osaarin had just gotten to a point in his talk where I was somewhat relevant, as he segued easily into, “And here he is! Our Brandless hero! Scourge of the Gorvani! Slayer of the Emperor himself!” His voice easily carried over the entire square.

Still wasn’t loving it, but at least the new titles were pretty cool.

The crowd exploded into a mass of noise and cheering, so I leaned into it as much as I could, summoning as much of the shae as I could hold, so that I was noticeably glowing. I held my sword up high and yelled out, “For Vendira!” I figured I’d go with a positive sentiment like that instead of screaming death to the Gorvani or something. I really doubt it mattered what I said, though. I probably could have professed my love of dulcet jumpers and everyone would have cheered for that too. Which, to be fair, they totally should have.

I smiled and kept my sword aloft as the cheers went on, but eventually, Osaarin started talking again and I took the opportunity to leave the platform before anyone noticed that I hadn’t said more than two words. I rejoined Tiq in the back and said, “Revana and I have talked about needing a…general or something. Someone to rally the people, but I think that’s really taken care of itself. Is this the first place you’ve done this?”

She shook her head. “No, the third. We heard you were probably coming here and decided to make it the next stop. We were a little worried because the tenebrae still functions here, but honestly, from the little bits and pieces we’re hearing, the Gorvani have all but abandoned most of the provinces.”

“Yeah,” I said with a curled lip. “Doesn’t that strike you as kinda weird?”

“It does, yes. We kept expecting immediate retaliation, but nothing’s happening. Anywhere, apparently.”

“Have you heard about the shadowsphere?”

“The what now?” After I explained what we’d seen on Nir’s back, her eyes were wide. “It’s real? Yes, we’d heard rumors here and there, but I didn’t give any real credit to them.”

“I think the Empire’s up to something inside there. Something awful. I don’t know why I’m so sure or what it could even be, but it’s a feeling I can’t shake.”

She tilted her head. “Perhaps Isik could tell us—”

“Nope,” I said. “She’s just as clueless as we are.”

Tiq was silent, her eyes darting this way and that, her head still tilted to the side. 

I kept my mouth shut, letting her work through whatever thought processes were going on in her mind. As time went by, her expression changed, getting more and more frustrated, her eyes moving around faster. Finally, she threw her hands up and said, “You know what, I have no idea! Not only is there no precedent for anything like this, but I wouldn’t even know where to start. I’ve never even heard any of the other Astrologians talk of anything like that. A free standing ward? Not possible, I would have said. Although it is centered around the palace…and the Font itself…so…” She heaved an annoyed sigh. “I just don’t know. I would need to perform some testing to know anything. And as you say, the sphere isn’t the actual problem, what could be happening inside it is. If Isik doesn’t even know anything…”

“Well,” I said, grasping at the only lead we had, which didn’t seem like much at the time, “Isik’s found out that Gor’mina has an estate outside the capital. But it’s still in the first, so I was going to have Nir fly us in. She thinks it’s the only place the tenebrous key we were given might go. Maybe there’s something to find out there? She was a royal, after all.”

Tiq shrugged, unimpressed. “I suppose. It’s worth checking out, but I wouldn’t hold out much hope.”

We listened to Osaarin for a while longer until he ended the talk with an emotional tirade about being free from tyranny and death to the emperor and all that. Afterwards, the sun was halfway under the horizon, and I realized how insanely tired I was from the long day.

Apparently there were rooms in the Guild I could use, but I wanted to check in on Revana and staying at Irina’s would be a lot more comfortable anyway. I swiftly made my way through to the portal nexus, through the crowd, and to the repair shop.

Irina assured me Revana was fine, but even though she’d been briefly awake, she was back in bed. I peeked in the door, but I didn’t want to disturb her after what she’d gone through, so I chose another room in Irina’s basement. It was mostly the same as our normal room, if a bit smaller.

I slept deeply and without any dreams or borrowed memories. In the morning, when the light was shining brightly around the edges of the curtains, I yawned and stretched out. A small, involuntary scream escaped my lips as it became apparent that I wasn’t alone in bed.

8

“Good morning,” Revana said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” She snuggled up close to me and it was immediately obvious that she wasn’t wearing any clothes. “I woke up a little early and thought you might like some company.”

I turned towards her and slipped one arm under her neck while my other hand started sliding over her soft skin. “I won’t say no to that. Do we have much time?”

“Not really, but let’s make the most of what we do have.”

I pulled her close and pressed my lips towards hers, my hand slipping down to squeeze her ass.

She hooked a leg over me as our tongues twined together, her hands moving up and down my body. She awkwardly kicked the covers off as we kissed, our bodies then moving in sync. She moaned quietly as she pressed her hips against my rapidly growing erection.

I pulled away enough to lift her breast up to my mouth, licking and sucking on her hard nipple, my hand reaching down between her legs to find her already wet. I rubbed against her and slowly slid my fingers inside, reveling in the feel of her body against mine.

She lifted her leg to give me better access while sliding a hand down to slowly stroke my length. We only stayed that way briefly before she pushed me onto my back and climbed up on top of me. 

Her boobs were smashed against my face as she slid easily down onto my cock, and I pressed in further as I groaned loudly, hoping the sound would be muffled. She didn’t waste any time; after only a moment, she was riding me hard, sliding up and down on me as I gripped her ass in my hands, helpless to do anything but lie there and try not to moan too loudly.

I closed my eyes and reveled in the feel of her skin on mine, of her breasts surrounding my face, and her tightness around me.

She slid a hand between us, trying to stifle her own moans as she rubbed her clit, not slowing her pace for a second. 

In the back of my mind, amidst the whirlwind of pleasure, I wondered how she was doing it with claws, but however it worked for Dravini, it worked well. She started cursing under her breath as she slammed down on me harder and harder, starting to ride me even faster.

It was all too much and I whispered, “I can’t hold it any longer, Revana.”

A whimper escaped her lips and she said, “Just go.”

As if I had any choice in the matter, I came hard inside her, my arms wrapped around her back, pulling her close, thrusting back into her as I jerked and spasmed and tried not to moan loud enough to wake everyone in the house.

A moment later, she gasped, her whole body trembling.

I kept thrusting into her as she pressed her face into the pillow by my head, her moans muffled as her legs shook and her claws gripped the sheets. With the last few spasms of her hips, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pushed her tongue deep into my mouth. We kissed and rocked, the last few tremors flowing through both of our bodies.

Finally, she laid her head down next to mine and I trailed a hand over her horns.

Afterwards, we showered together, and it turned out that showering was still very high up on my list of enjoyable things that I’d taken for granted during my entire life on Earth. I updated her on everything that had happened the day before, including Isik’s lead into Gor’mina’s estate. “I really hope it pans out, because I just know something bad’s going on inside that sphere, and I sure don’t have any ideas on how to find out.”

“It almost has to be, doesn’t it?”

I was thrilled she agreed with me, because as time passed I was more and more sure I was right. “Do you want to come with us?”

She shook her head, her light blue hair sending water droplets in all directions. “As much as I’d love to come along on an adventure with Isik, Tiq wants my help with something.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“I, uh…don’t really know. She tried to explain it to me but I only understood every other word. Something with her device? Maybe?”

Tiq’s weapon, a thing we’d just started calling the device, was an arcanic machine that let her, essentially, shoot balls of lightning at people, but I’d only ever really seen it in action during the fight with the Sixteenth Son as we were all escaping from an imperial prison. I could barely imagine what sort of plans she had for it, especially if Revana was going to be involved. “Well, good luck with that. Try not to get blown up.”

As we were drying off, I thought about going for round two, but Irina was soon knocking on the door, telling us breakfast was ready.

It involved Vendira’s version of pancakes with their red syrup, and over it, we talked about the empire’s lack of response and what we should do. “Given that they’ve all retreated, should we even bother with cutting off the rest of the sigilariums?” I asked.

“I think it’s in our best interests, yes, but it really needs to be both of us and Nir together. Performing the severing without you was just too much for me. I got it done, but it’s on the outer edge of my abilities.”

“Well then, after Isik and I go to the first, we’ll get back to that, assuming everything hasn’t completely gone to shit by then.”

We all stuffed our faces, ready to be moving, and soon after, we were heading out the door with Revana promising to send Nir to the Guild building in the seventh as soon as she could.

The portal Nexus was still as it had been, filled with pissed off people hoping for a fight that apparently wasn’t coming. They gave me another escort, but it seemed like it was just something to do, since most of the portal nexuses in all provinces but the first and second had been deemed safe. Or as safe as could be. My bodyguards were still disappointed that nothing exciting awaited us on the other side of the portal, and I had to repeatedly decline their offers to walk me the few blocks from the nexus to the Guild building.

As soon as I walked in the front doors, I was greeted by a young Surini woman I’d never seen before and was directly taken to see Isik, who was sitting on a covered balcony outside her personal rooms. She was still wearing a soft shirt and pants meant for sleeping, and I thought it might have been the first time I’d seen her in such a casual fashion.

The bags were mostly gone from her eyes, I was glad to see, and her long hair tumbled down her shoulders, still messy from sleep. She held a small cup of hachi she’d poured from a pitcher and offered me some, which I readily accepted.

“Did you find out anything else since I left?” I asked.

“Some, although it’s not particularly helpful. There are a few accounts of the royals that spoke of Gor’mina. These are personal diaries and journals, you understand. No one is allowed to print anything about the royalty unless they’re directed to do so. Anyway, it seems the fourteenth had a lot of enemies. And that itself is very common among the Gorvani, but it seems she had even more than normal, and a lot of people around her ended up dead.”

“Also normal,” I said.

Isik nodded. “Yes, very, but it seems like they weren’t just random people who managed to look at her cockeyed, but underlings of rivals, rivals themselves — really anyone up to other royalty.”

“Well she sure didn’t hesitate to kill the sixteenth the minute the opportunity came up. Crushed his face in her hand. But…is this useful?”

She took a long sip of hachi before answering. “Not really. I told you it wouldn’t be. But it does, if anything, make me think this trip to her estate is going to be worth it.”

“You think there’s something there we can use against the royalty?”

“One way or another, yes. I take it since you’re back here, you’ve booked us some transportation?”

“Kind of. I asked Revana to send Nir here when she could.”

Isik’s face fell. “Ah, I see. I was hoping you’d heard from the dragon herself that she was willing to carry someone like me.”

Oh, right. “Well, I hadn’t thought of that. But I mean, you personally headed up the Dravizek Celestori, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

She gave me a humorless smile and shook her head. “My kind did wipe out hers, which is something she personally remembers. So I wouldn’t assume that anything I’ve done is quite enough to offset the distaste of touching me or providing me with a service.”

“I’ll, uh, go have a talk with her when she gets here. And are you…okay with, you know…just walking around?”

She didn’t answer immediately or look at me, just curled her lip. “...No. I’ve been provided with a…disguise, if you want to call it that.”

I didn’t have time to ask what that meant, as a piercing roar sounded above us, and a second later, Nir was swooping by, close enough that the beating of her wings knocked over a few things on the balcony.

Isik was sitting back into her chair, her eyes wide and a nonplussed expression on her face. She blinked and shook her head. “I suppose she’s here, then. I should…change, I suppose.” She stood and walked back into her rooms and I followed behind.

I sat down in a padded chair to wait while she went into another room to change, but I was forgetting Vendira’s attitudes toward modesty. I had gotten quite used to it from Revana and to a lesser extent, Tiq, but I’d never seen Isik so much as roll up a sleeve.

She stripped off her shirt and stepped out of her pants, throwing them on the bed, and I was glad she was facing away from me so she couldn’t see my face as I just gawked at her in complete surprise. She slid her underwear off as well and turned to open a large wardrobe on the other side of the room.

I kept my expression as neutral as I could while I more or less just stared at her. I had gotten the impression she was older than me, but that wasn’t reflected in her body; she was the same light blue all over and her skin was smooth and looked very soft. Her breasts were much bigger than they’d ever appeared under her clothes, although they still weren’t nearly as big as Revana’s.

While rummaging in a drawer, she bent over at the waist, facing directly away from me. If it had been literally anyone else in the entire world, I would have thought she was trying to seduce me, but I put those thoughts out of my head as best I could. She pulled out and put on a black pair of underwear and a bra, for which I was simultaneously grateful and disappointed. Then, with a huge, angry sneer, she pulled a long robe out of the wardrobe, and I had to stifle a laugh. It was a priestess robe. I didn’t know what that honestly entailed; I had gotten the impression that the Mulaq’Shae weren’t the only ones to wear such things, but whatever their connotations, Isik was obviously pissed about wearing it. She threaded her arms through it, audibly grumbled, and pulled out a pair of loose, dark pants as well, stepping into them before cinching the robe closed.

“You look nice,” I said.

The look she shot me could have shattered a golem. “If you say anything like that to me again, Michael, I will kill you.”

I blinked back at her. “Noted.”

“Good,” she said, and only because I knew to look for it, I caught the tiniest upturning of the corners of her lips. “Now go find that dragon and make sure she’s not going to drop me from the clouds while we’re headed towards the first.”

As I was walking out the front doors of the building, it was insanely obvious where Nir had landed. Even if I couldn’t see the tips of her wings over the next building, there was a loud and animated crowd all heading that way. I followed along, hoping I could even get Nir’s attention and be able to talk to her privately in all this mess.

A mob had formed in a circle around her, but while there were a lot of people, not many had the courage to get close to her. She was conversing with the few that had. The situation made it much easier for me to step out of the crowd and get her attention. She finished answering someone’s question and turned to me. “Hello, Michael.”

I was so, so pleased that she hadn’t called me brandless or any of the other titles I was accumulating. “Hey, Nir. Did Revana tell you why I asked you here?”

“You seek a way into the first.”

Crap. I was hoping I wouldn’t need to have this conversation at all. “Yes, that’s true, but there might be a part of it you’re less than thrilled with.” I looked around at the crowd, who’d now clearly noticed who I was. “Can we talk somewhere, uh, private?” I hoped she knew where that would be, because I couldn’t imagine us ducking into a side room somewhere.

She blinked slowly at me and said. “Yes. Climb on.”

Oh. Yeah, that would work. I quickly did as she asked so no one else could start talking and make this take any longer than it needed to. Within seconds I was on her back, and with a huge roar and flap of her wings, we started up into the air. Shortly after, we were making lazy circles around the tallest buildings in the city. 

“So, what unpleasant thing would you ask of me?” she said.

I briefly explained about the shadowy key Gor’mina had given us before she died and what our best guess was as to where it went.

“And this is the place you want to go?”

“Yeah. But it’s not going to be me and Revana. It’s going to be me…and Isik.”

A small pause. “The Inquisitor.”

“Yep.”

We made two full laps of the city’s skyline before she spoke again. “I am told she kept the Celestori from being found by the empire. The…rest of the empire.”

“Yes, she did.”

Another lap went by. “You trust her?”

“I do. I’ve literally put my life in her hands more than once, and she’s never betrayed us or said anything that didn’t turn out to be true.”

“If she lived the life of an Inquisitor, she has done awful things.”

“Yes. And she’s been very upfront about that. When she was younger, she truly believed in the empire, and that what it did was right and just. It was only later she realized she was just as much of a tool for the empire as anyone else.”

“She told you this herself?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm…A Gorvani on my back. I don’t know if I can bear it.”

I didn’t know how forward I should be with Nir, but the truth was the truth. “You wouldn’t be here without her. The empire would have found the Celestori and, well, you know what would have happened to them. And she’s saved my life more than once. Where we are in our fight against the Gorvani, we wouldn’t be there without her.”

I counted five and a half laps before Nir spoke again. “I’ll do it. I’ll carry her to the first, so long as you’re with me as well.”

“That’s the plan,” I said.

“Very well. It is…distasteful, but if she’s truly done all that you say, then I’ll endure it.”

We landed in front of the Carvers’ Guild, and standing outside the door with her hood up was Isik. She wore soft boots and gloves, and together with the hood, none of her skin was visible. She had a leather bag looped over her shoulders, bulging with who knew what. I told her of the talk Nir and I had just had, and she nodded. We both approached Nir, who eyed Isik warily.

She lowered her head so that her face was almost touching us, and she said in a voice quieter than I thought something of her size would be capable of, “I have agreed to this because of what Michael has said of you, but I do not like it.”

Isik nodded. “If it’s any consolation, dragon, I’m not at all comfortable with this myself.” She pulled her hood back just enough so the two of them could exchange a long, unblinking stare, after which, they both slowly nodded. 

That was probably the best possible outcome, so I started to climb up onto Nir’s back, and once I was there, I helped Isik up.

Nir was unusually stiff and unmoving during it, and once Isik had sat down, I thought I felt a tiny shudder run down her body. She roared, which was apparently part of taking flight for some reason, and then we were off the ground and climbing.

Isik, who’d sat behind me, yelped and wrapped her arms tightly around me. It was almost cute, but I knew if I said that out loud, she’d probably try and throw me off just out of reflex.

“You do have the key, right?” I asked.

“Yes, Michael, I have the key.”

She clung on tight, and I tried to tell myself that this wasn’t going to be the most awkward trip I’d ever taken.

I was wrong, of course.

9

Neither Isik nor Nir spoke for the entire trip unless I spoke to them first, and they both gave me succinct answers to anything I said, providing precisely zero conversational openings. After a couple clumsy attempts, I just shut my mouth too and tried to think about better things. Of course there weren’t really any of those either; most of my thoughts circled back to the shadowsphere around the palace and what horrific things could be going on inside it. It was all speculation without a single fact, so my mind spiraled wildly out. 

Were they breeding shadow-infused yargeth in there? Maybe they’d developed Earth-like missiles that were going to rain destruction down on the entire planet…for some reason. Perhaps they were going to mold the Tenebral Font into a giant, city crushing monster and it was going to walk around smashing everyone.

I shook my head and tried to push the stupid thoughts away. For the thousandth time, I did not ask if we were there yet, because we weren’t, and I knew it’d take most of the day to get there and it hadn’t been most of the day yet.

Much to my chagrin, I’d been informed that we’d be flying the entire way, instead of Nir creating a portal, since apparently doing so might alert the Gorvani. And since this was to be primarily a stealth mission, screwing it up at the outset wasn’t a good option. Also, since Nir wasn’t familiar with the area, we might come out somewhere not even close, or directly over a town, above which our presence would be extremely noticeable. We’d be portaling on the way back, but the trip there was going to be long. And awkward.

We stopped a couple times to relieve ourselves, and during midday, Isik produced sandwiches from her bag, which were delicious. They were some new kind of meat I wasn’t familiar with, and a red sauce that was surprisingly spicy. “Did you make these?” I asked her.

She scoffed and said, “Of course not. They…are good though, aren’t they?”

Nir was off eating whatever dragons ate. I had just assumed it to be medium sized animals that she swooped down on and swallowed in a single bite, but I still hadn’t actually asked and didn’t really have plans to do so.

The day wore on, and slowly, so slowly, the sun made its way down the sky, but before it touched the horizon, Nir turned to us and said, “I believe we’re here.”

We looked down on a massive estate nestled in the mountains and surrounded by trees. There was one central manor along with a variety of other buildings and stables. I wondered at the wisdom of just flying right down to it, but as we got closer, it looked to be completely abandoned. 

When I mentioned it, Isik said, “That’s actually likely. Once Gor’mina was dead, all her possessions, and that includes people, are up for grabs. Most in the service of royals don’t want to stay that way, so I’d have been surprised if there were a lot left here.”

“It’s just a free for all? There’s no…laws or anything?”

Isik scoffed. “Oh there are rules, but they almost all boil down to: the strongest take what they want first. There’s a lot of posturing and grandstanding to prove you have the most status and deserve whatever it is you’re stealing. Or looting. Whatever. I’m not sure if it would work the same with the royals though; they used to not ever die.”

“So the estate’s probably been looted?”

“Likely. But whatever’s behind this key should still be there.”

“We’re hoping.”

“Yes.”

“I kinda wish you’d told me all this before.” Maybe we could have avoided this entire day of silent awkwardness.

“Irrelevant. This is still our best, and only, lead.”

Despite the seemingly abandoned nature of the place, Nir dropped us off a little ways out from the main gate. She assured us she would be close by, but would find a less conspicuous place to wait.

Isik and I wandered up the path leading to the entrance, and while she was probably trying to keep it subtle, I could hear her grumbling under her breath. “What is it?” I asked.

Her eyes flicked over to me and she sighed. “I’m questioning the wisdom of bothering with this disguise when all I did with it was walk from the front door of the guild to a waiting dragon right outside. How many steps could I even have taken? Was it worth it?”

“I’m sure there will be other chances to use it,” I said, trying to be positive, but I knew that was beside the point.

She scoffed and said, “That’s beside the point.”

I laughed and she narrowed her eyes at me. 

“Perhaps if no one is there, I can find some better clothes.”

“You want one of those robe things the royals wear that only cover from the waist down? There’s probably some here.”

“I’m not sure which one would be worse.”

As we approached the estate, I kept expecting something to happen, but we saw and heard nothing, and there were indeed no guards or anything to speak of. The entire place was surrounded by a tall, stone block wall. Its stones were a variety of colors and some really impressive designs had been worked into it, and it was topped with rather vicious looking iron spikes. The gate was made of wrought iron and was as detailed as any carving I’d seen on Vendira. I walked up and tentatively pushed on it, and it opened easily on well-oiled hinges. I took a few steps inside and looked around.

The entire front courtyard was filled with trees and bushes and flowers in an explosion of colors, all well maintained and trimmed into a variety of shapes. I stood gawking at it all when Isik cleared her throat from behind me.

She was standing just outside the gate with an expectant look on her face. When I didn’t respond, she sighed and shook her head. “There’s a ward over the gate.”

I hadn’t even thought to look, but on close inspection, I could faintly see little lines of the tenebrae floating in the air, almost invisible in the darkening evening. “Can you dispel it?”

“Yes, but it’s a rather strong one, and I’d just as soon save my strength for the many inevitable wards that will be inside the manor. Just carve me an entrance through the wall.”

The wall was pretty thick and I felt a little bad just busting it up since the designs were so nice. It took a little work and a lot of cutting, but eventually, I was able to slice and pull out enough stone to make a comfortable, if small, hole that Isik could pass through. We both took a moment to look and see if the ward was laced into the wall itself, but it didn’t appear to be, and then nothing happened as she slowly came through.

We walked up to the front doors, which were two stories tall and just as ornately carved as anything was. They featured panels that looked like royals standing above a mass of people who were either worshiping them or begging not to be killed. So, pretty on brand, I thought. I tried one and found it unlocked, and even though it was massive and made of solid wood, it took no effort at all to swing it open. Inside, I stood in a massive foyer of light marble tile and pillars, decorated with hanging plants just as colorful as the courtyard. The ceiling went all the way up to the fourth floor and had railing and balconies wrapping around it, complete with huge skylights shining down from the top. As I stood there looking around, Isik cleared her throat at me again. I turned to see her standing just outside the door with an annoyed expression.

“How soon you forget,” she said. “Open a window for me, would you?”

The huge, stained glass windows by the door didn’t open, so I wandered into the next room, a large sitting room with a selection of musical instruments that I wasn’t familiar with, besides one that looked kind of like a piano. Kind of. At any rate, the room had windows that opened, so once I figured out the weird way they latched, I pulled it open for Isik, who was standing right outside.

I stepped back to make room, but she didn’t move. “There’s one on the window too, isn’t there?” I leaned in and squinted, and sure enough, I could faintly see the magic there. “You want me to cut another hole in the side of the house, or…?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “No, I’ll just take this one apart.”

Whatever she did was too complex for me, besides the fact that the tenebrous sigils were just harder for me to make out on sight. With a small snap, the ward reverberated and puffed out of existence. 

Isik gingerly climbed in, taking her time to not trip over the robe. Once she was in, she marched to the door I’d come through, and then to the three others that led out of the room. She gave a satisfied nod and said, “Well, that’s something, at least. Not every door is warded. I imagine some of them are, but hopefully it’s mostly the external ones.”

We started wandering through the place, and while I thought I had seen opulence before, this blew anything I’d ever seen clear out of the water. But maybe that’s what you got when you were an immortal, god-like being at nearly the top of society. Everything was made out of marble or carved wood and stone, the ceilings were high and the doors were huge, and the furniture was the softest, most comfortable stuff I’d ever sat on in my life. Even Isik wasn’t immune; I caught her falling back onto a number of couches with an inwardly satisfied smile on her lips. The kitchen was literally bigger than my apartment back on Earth, and its pantry, which was packed with pretty much everything I’d ever seen on Vendira and more, was bigger than my living room.

Every single room we walked into was immaculate; there wasn’t a speck of dust or a single thing out of the place. “This place had to have been taken care of right up until recently.” I said. “But it doesn’t look the least bit looted.”

“No, it doesn’t, does it? Perhaps taking things from a royal, even a dead one, was too much to consider.” A small shiver went through her body. “I know I wouldn’t attempt it. What if the thing you took was something another royal wanted? I doubt they’d ask you for it. Not nicely, at least. At any rate, that’s good news for us; everything will still be here to find.”

“Should we, uh, be scared of a bunch of royals descending on this place while we’re here?”

“Hmm, normally I’d say yes. But perhaps they’re all busy doing whatever it is they’re doing inside the shadowsphere.”

Oh, right. I’d managed to forget about it briefly, which was a nice break from the constant, back-of-the-mind stress that it was causing. I pushed it aside as we both started a random search of whatever rooms we could wander into.

We’d been trying to stay together, but I went out one of the back doors and ended up in a garden that was even more elaborate than the courtyard, filled with a rainbow of plants and endless statues and water features. I had thought Isik was right behind me, but I walked slack-jawed through the place for a little while before I turned and found myself alone. A little ball of anxiety settled in my stomach, but against my better judgment, I made a circuit of the garden. I told myself that it was a good idea to secure the perimeter, which was a term I’d heard more so than I knew what it really meant. I just wanted to gawk at all the pretty displays of plants, which I did. But I also was on the lookout for…I wasn’t sure what. 

The most notable thing I found was a huge statue of a yargeth, which was carved with a  lot of accurate detail that I knew about, since I’d almost been killed by one. All seven of its heads were vomiting out a flowing stream of water into the fountain it was settled in.

After long enough, I went back into the house to try and find Isik. I assumed she’d finished looking through the first floor, so I went up a set of marble stairs and tried random rooms. I didn’t really want to call out, just in case someone was still here. While we’d seen no trace of people, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that we were being watched. I finally found her in one of the many libraries. 

She jumped a little as I came in through the door. “Damnit, Michael. Don’t do that.”

“Do what? Walk around?”

She smirked. “There was a time when I would have branded someone for that kind of flippant remark. Where did you go? I thought you were right behind me.”

“Yeah, same. I ended up out back looking through the garden. There’s a yargeth fountain out there. Very lifelike. Not to scale, though.”

“Charming,” she said while idly looking through the shelves of books.

“Anything worthwhile yet?”

“No. Nothing yet.”

“So are you like, getting the feeling that we’re being watched?”

“Mhmm.”

Well that wasn’t reassuring.

“However,” she added, “I haven’t seen any evidence  of that, and it’s something I’m always looking for.”

We continued our search of the house and its endless rooms. The sun fully set, but the lights were apparently automatic, and the entire place stayed lit, which I was pretty thankful for. I didn’t want to search a creepy, abandoned estate in the dark, completely convinced assassins or ghosts or ghost assassins were around every bend and behind every door.

As it was, though, the house was still pretty creepy. Without the daylight, every room reminded me of countless horror movies set in old Victorian houses. The doors and floorboards didn’t creak ominously, but for some reason, that made it even worse. While I was wandering aimlessly around and freaking myself out for no reason, I lost track of Isik again. “Oh for fuck’s sake!” I said to no one. Or whoever was listening. “No, damnit.” I muttered to myself. I had to stop psyching myself up. I doubled back, trying to find Isik, but she wasn’t in any of the rooms nearby, and I still just couldn’t bring myself to call out for her. 

I was leaning against the railing, looking out over the open foyer, when I heard her scream.

10

Ibolted up the nearest staircase I could find, frantically trying to find the source of the screams. I went down hallway after hallway, thinking I was getting closer, but the sounds must have been bouncing throughout the house. 

Finally, I ended up in a large sitting room and Isik was on the floor in a doorway, writhing and continuing to scream. I ran to her and pulled her back, but I couldn’t see what the problem was. Once we were clear of the door, she gasped, her eyes as wide as they could go, and she grabbed onto my arms. I put my hands on her shoulders and repeated, “You’re okay” a few times, although I wasn’t at all sure she was.

She rocked back and forth, making involuntary noises and grunts before she finally got her breathing under control. We continued holding on to each other until she calmed down enough to talk. “Ward,” she said. “Fuck. I didn’t…even see it, and I was looking for them. It was…” She took a long, deep breath and said, “It was the most awful ward I’ve ever experienced. It was…it was like my insides were on fire, but also being sliced apart and ripped out.”

“Wow,” I said, unsure that there was anything I could really say in response to that.

If my reply was inappropriate or stupid, she didn’t say so. She shivered violently and took another long breath. “Alright. Help me stand.”

I didn’t think that was a good idea, but I helped her up anyway. 

Her legs were shaky and she kept a hand on my shoulder, but we headed towards the offending door. She leaned in and so did I, but I couldn’t see the usual telltale waves of tenebrae. 

“Yeah, I don’t see anything here either.”

“No. It’s completely invisible it seems. Which leads me to believe this room is important.”

Inside the door, we could see a lavish bedroom with a massive, four-poster bed with curtains. There were a few wardrobes and a huge desk, and along the walls there were a few doors, some leading to closets it looked like, and one big one out onto a balcony. “You want me to cut the wall open?”

“I…” She narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment. “No. I’ll bet this one winds around the entire room. I’m going to try and dispel it.”

“Right now?” I asked. She did not seem up to a complex task after enduring that.

“Of cou—” she started to say before she bowed her head and sighed loudly. “Perhaps I should regain my strength before attempting it.”

I was relieved to hear her say it, since I really didn’t want to have to force her to take a break. We went all the way down to the bottom floor and into the excessively huge kitchen. I sat her down at an island in the middle that had padded stools before I went into the pantry and tried to figure out something I could make. There were shelves absolutely jammed with all kinds of foods, and in the corner, there was a machine more like an icebox than a refrigerator, but it was still obviously powered by the arcanae.

I came out with something that looked a lot like bacon and a couple of eggs before I rummaged through at least twenty different cabinets to find some appropriate pans. The stove, such as it was, was pretty confusing, just like the shower controls, but I eventually managed to turn it on and start heating up the pans. 

During it all, Isik was watching me with direct interest, and once I noticed it, I got more and more uncomfortable until I just had to say something. “Uh…am I doing something wrong?”

She smiled tiredly and said, “No, not at all. Just…” She looked away and seemed unwilling to finish the sentence.

“What?”

“Can you…cook, then?”

“Uh, yeah. Can’t you?”

She snorted and said, “Oh my no. Such a thing is…beneath my station. Or, it was.”

I opened up the bacon-like meat and  put a few strips in the pan, where they started to sizzle enticingly. I worked up the eggs and got them going as well, all while Isik watched me like I was an exhibit in a zoo. “Do you want me to show you how? This stuff is pretty easy, really.”

Her eyes met mine and there was genuine feeling behind the smile she gave me. “No, at least not right now. I suppose I’ll have to learn, though.”

I was glad she didn’t add if I live through this onto the end of that. “I can show you what I know, but if you want real instruction, you should ask Irina. She’s one of the best cooks I’ve ever seen. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to show you how.”

Isik laughed and shook her head. “Yes, she would, wouldn’t she? Maybe I will, one day. After all this is over.”

She still didn’t say it, but I heard the tone in her voice all the same. She never thought that day would come. I knew exactly why she thought that, and it wasn’t unreasonable, but I told myself I’d do anything and everything I could so that day would actually happen. The empire and all the royals would be dead, and Isik would be in Irina’s kitchen, learning how to cook. It was an almost sickeningly wholesome thought, but it made me happy all the same.

While the food finished cooking, I found a bottle of something I’d never heard of, but once I opened it, it smelled amazing, so I poured a couple glasses and set them out before getting the food ready. I set it in front of Isik and she gave me a weird look. “What?”

“No one’s ever cooked me something because they wanted to. It’s a new feeling.”

“Yeah, well, don’t say anything too nice until you actually taste it. I could have royally screwed it up, you never know. I know how to cook things that look like this on Earth. No guarantee these are the same.”

“Fair enough.”

While I’d demurred about the food, it smelled great and I was pretty sure I’d nailed it. We each took a bite, and I was right; it was fantastic, just as good as Earth bacon.

“Damn,” Isik said, “that’s pretty damn good.” Then she took a drink of whatever I’d poured and almost choked. “Is that lightningberry wine?”

“Is it what now?”

She reached across the island and grabbed the bottle I’d poured from. “It is! Did you know what you were doing when you chose this?”

“Nope. Totally random. It smelled pretty good, though.” I tried a drink, and it really was pretty good, but I didn’t think it was as good as she was making out. “Is it fancy or something?”

She laughed loudly and said, “You could say that. I was privileged enough to have some of this on one occasion in my life. It’s made for the royalty only. It’s a rare occasion that they deign anyone good enough to have any. The one time I was considered worthy was after the Inquisition had rooted out a large group of traitors organizing against the empire. A few Inquisitors were allowed to share a bottle, and it was heavily impressed upon us what an unparalleled honor it was.”

After we finished eating, we decided that we probably weren’t going to uncover all the secrets of the manor in one night, so we each picked one of the bedrooms upstairs and called it a night.

It was a little weird showering in a dead royal’s house, as I couldn’t really shake the feeling that we weren’t alone, but it seemed like if something was going to happen, it probably already would have. The bathroom was as ridiculously fancy as the rest of the house; it was covered in light and dark, complementary marble and all the fixtures practically gleamed. The shower was big enough for ten people for no reason, and the controls for it were even more baffling than others I had encountered on Vendira.

The walk in closet was still filled with clothes, so I picked out a few things because why not? I didn’t elect to get pajamas, since I might have to wake up and suddenly fight, but the things I got were comfortable all the same, and not nearly as ostentatious as some of the choices.

While I was laying on the bed with one lamp still on, lost in thought, my door cracked open. I sat up quickly, but it opened to reveal Isik standing there, dressed in a long, black and gold robe, her long hair unbound and flowing over her shoulders. She had a strip of fabric in her hands and a strange look on her face that I couldn’t decipher. 

She closed the door and slowly came over to sit on the edge of the bed beside me. Her eyes met mine, but she didn’t say anything. I kept my own mouth shut and waited to see what this was about. Finally, she said, “I have something to ask of you, Michael.”

There was a weird tension in the air, but I just said, “Okay. Sure.”

“There probably won’t be a time like this again, with the way things are. And while I still have the opportunity…” She unlooped the belt on the robe and pulled it off one of her shoulders, revealing one pale blue breast, as she wasn’t wearing anything under it.

My eyebrows went as high as they could go as I laid there, frozen in surprise.

“I know you don’t care for me the way you do for Revana, or even Tiquette, but I see the way you look at me. And for whatever strange reason I’ve never fully understood, I find myself more at ease with you than I have been with anyone in years.” She smiled at the surprise that was still clear on my face. “You are, of course, free to decline if you wish. I won’t be offended.”

“I, uh, no…it’s not that…I just…”

She pushed the robe off her other shoulder and let it fall to the bed.

Not trusting myself to say anything coherent, I ran my hand up and down her arm. Her skin was much softer than I thought it was going to be. 

With a devious smile, she slowly climbed on the bed and slid a leg over to straddle me. She lowered down, and the feel of her body pressed against me was an instant turn on. She pushed her lips against mine, and we kissed, a much slower and more measured kiss than I was used to. Our tongues met, pressing and writhing against each other in that same slow manner. 

I slid my hands all over her body, from her shoulders, to cup and squeeze her breasts, and down her back and onto her ass. It all felt oddly forbidden. Not because I had no clue what Revana was going to think about it, which was a concern, but because it was Isik. The Inquisitor. I felt like this was all a daydream I was having that the real her would want to kill me over.

She raised up long enough to strip my clothes off of me, and when she laid back down on top of me, the feeling of her skin on mine was incredible. We kept kissing, my hands gliding all over her body, while she ground herself into my completely hard erection.

After a while, she rolled off of me and got the dark strip of cloth she’d brought at the beginning that I’d forgotten about.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a blindfold, of course.”

“Oh.”

“Put it on.”

Well, whatever, I thought. It’s a party. 

I raised it up to my eyes and she laughed, pulling my hands away. “It’s not for you, Michael.”

“Oh.”

She smiled and turned away from me. “Knot it snugly, so it doesn’t come off.”

“Yeah…okay.” I didn’t know any knots, so I just tied it in a bow, but I did my best to make it snug. “There we are. Uh, what now?”

She turned back to me and I swore she could see me even with it on, although that was unlikely. “Now you tell me what you want me to do.” After a pause, she added, “If you’re comfortable with this.”

“I’m supposed to…give you directions?”

“Well, commands, really.”

Oh. “You want me to…command you. In bed.”

“Yes.”

“That’s…uh…”

She laughed softly. “Only if you want to. We don’t have to do this.”

“No, it’s just that…I dunno, you’re literally the last person in the world I would have expected to want something like that.”

She laughed much louder at that. “Oh, then you don’t know people, Michael. I’m the first person you should have suspected that would like this.”

I didn’t know if this conversation was unsexy or not, but I still wanted to have it. “Uh, how so?”

“I’m an Inquisitor. It’s my job to be in control. All the time.” She took a long, deep breath. “All. The. Time. Almost no one outranks me, so all I do is give orders. Be the one responsible for anything and everything. So the satisfaction of letting go, in a safe environment, and just be commanded? To relinquish control and not have to think? Just listen, and do? It’s exhilarating. So tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

“Not like, literally anything, right?”

“No, not anything.”

“Do we…need a safe word?”

She giggled. Giggled. “No, not for this.”

“Okay. Get down on your knees?”

She shook her head, smiling. “Don’t ask me to; tell me to.”

Right. Okay. “Get on the floor, on your knees.” She did as I commanded, and it felt about ten times more forbidden than just squeezing her ass. “Open your mouth.” She did, and I stood up in front of her, put one hand on the top of her head, and guided my cock between her lips with the other. Her mouth felt amazing, and I groaned as the sight of her giving me a blowjob was mindblowing in a couple different ways.

She only used her mouth, and after a few moments, it occurred to me that I hadn’t told her to do anything else. “Use your hands,” I said. She reached up and wrapped my cock with one hand and played with my balls with the other.

I had to concentrate pretty hard to remain standing; she was good, which I guess I hadn’t really expected. I didn’t think she was going to be bad, but damn.

“Stop,” I said before sitting back down on the bed. I pulled her gently over by her head and guided her back down onto me. I cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples firmly, but not nearly as hard as I would have with Tiq. Then I let myself fall back onto the bed and crossed my arms behind my head, just reveling in what she was doing.

After a little while, I told her to stop and sit on the bed where I had been. I kneeled on the floor in front of her and kissed her neck before working my way down her chest and sucking on her nipples. She gave a soft moan under her breath, her hips raising just a little, and it was the first sound I’d heard from her since we’d started. I kept going, kissing down her stomach and pushing her legs apart before I slid down in between them, kissing and running my tongue over her. She didn’t moan, but her body shuddered slightly at the touch. 

I slowly slid my tongue up and down before gently pushing two fingers inside her. I wrapped my other arm around her leg and pulled her closer, licking and softly sucking on her clit. Her breathing came faster and her whole body arched and squirmed. I would have stayed there longer, but I was almost painfully hard at that point, so I got back on my knees and slowly guided myself inside her. “Take it,” I said, not because she really needed to do anything, but it felt right.

We both moaned as I slid inside her.

The blood hammered in my veins as I slowly fucked her, while the thought that this was all still insanely forbidden circled in my head. Forbidden maybe, but outrageously hot. And it felt good and fun in a way that I didn’t think it would have with Revana or Tiq. I couldn’t imagine giving them a blindfold and issuing orders.

“Lay back,” I said, and once she did, I pulled her legs up and sat her feet on my shoulders, my hands resting on her thighs. I went a little harder, pounding into her, watching her breasts bounce back and forth.

She bit her lip and I almost lost it.

After a while, I pulled out of her and let her legs down. “Turn around and bend over.”

She rolled over, crawled to the middle of the bed, and pressed her face against the sheets. 

I thought I might just pass out at the sight of her ass in the air, waiting for me. I practically leapt on the bed, positioned myself behind her, and slid back inside. The time for going slow was over and I couldn’t help myself; I pounded into her hard and fast while barely not going over the edge.

She started to moan and whimper, her toes curling and her hands grabbing the sheets.

I kept going, already riding the edge, when it occurred to me that she was doing the same thing. Did I need to order her to come? I slid my hand up her back and into her dark purple hair, which I curled my fingers into and pulled as I said, “Do it. Now. Come.”

Three more thrusts and her body started to shake. She gripped the sheets harder and moaned loud enough to be a scream. Her legs trembled and her body arched and twitched, and I rode her spasms as best I could. I had no idea how I kept it together, but I didn’t want to finish inside her.

Once her moans had mostly quieted down, I pulled out and more or less yelled, “Turn around and open your mouth!” She quickly did as I said and I grabbed the back of her head as I jerked my cock off into her face, spasming and trembling myself, while I tried to stay upright. The first few spurts went over her head and I screamed as loud as she had as I looked at her, blindfolded, tongue out, taking my load on her face. As I was almost done, I pulled her down onto my cock, which she eagerly sucked without being told to, which was for the best as I didn’t think I could speak.

Finally, I fell back onto the bed, breathing hard and covered in sweat, laughing.

She stretched out on her stomach and did the same.

“Fuck,” I said.

“Mhmm,” she agreed.

We laid there for a while, getting our breathing under control, saying nothing.

“You can, uh, take the blindfold off now,” I said, just in case she was waiting for it.

She sat up, untied it, and let it fall to the bed. 

The sight of her sitting there, naked, face still a mess, was still just as mind blowing as it all had been at the start. “Fuck,” I said again, “that was…I mean, wow. Just wow. Amazing, but very unexpected.”

“I knew you found me attractive, but I had no idea if you’d go for it. But I thought, while we’re here, staying the night in a dead royal’s estate that we’re currently looting, why not? The world’s fucked, so we might as well have a little fun.”

“I’m glad you came in,” I said.

“As am I. But what I really want to know now is what will Revana think when you tell her?” I leaned up and looked at her and she just smiled. “You’re going to tell her.” It wasn’t a question. “She does seem to hate me less lately, so that’s something, I suppose.”

“I’ll, uh, let you know how it goes. But it’s Revana; she’s not going to fly off the handle or be unreasonable about it. If I thought she’d be furious, I wouldn’t have done it.”

“Remarkable,” she said, shaking her head, “two sensible people that would react reasonably to things. I can’t tell you how painfully rare that is.”

“You don’t need to convince me; I worked with the public.”

She laughed and slid off the bed and headed into the bathroom.

Shortly after, I heard the shower come on. I went in after her and was happy the toilet was off in its own tiny little room. I really needed a shower too, so I got in, but it wasn’t intimate. She had her own showerhead and I had mine and there were still a lot more to choose from. Besides, I didn’t think our relationship was one that involved cuddling afterwards.

Once we were done, I dried off and fell into bed without bothering with clothes. I thought she might join me, but she put her robe back on, said good night, and slipped out the door, heading back to her own room.

“Fuck,” I said softly to myself as I lay there in the dark, replaying the whole thing in my head over and over.

11

Iwoke up late in the morning with sunlight streaming in through the windows. Nothing seemed to be happening, so I laid there for a while longer, slowly clearing the sleep from my mind. While I was there, I replayed the previous night in my head a few times again, which is what I’d fallen asleep to. I still struggled to believe it was real. 

I finally rolled out of bed and just for good measure, I showered off again. I picked some more clothes from the closets and made my way down to the kitchen, where I brewed a pitcher of hachi and poked around in the pantry until I found some suitable breakfast cakes. I was sure they weren’t intended for breakfast, really, but I was on vacation in a fancy villa, so why not.

I ate alone at the comically large dining table and then headed up to knock on Isik’s door. I didn’t expect her to still be asleep and was proven right; her door was open and her room was empty. 

I went up to the master bedroom and before I walked through, I tried to see if the ward was still there. I couldn’t see anything, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t been able to when I knew the ward was there. So I strode into the room, which was just as stupidly big as everything else in the manor was, and around a corner, I found Isik rifling through a dresser.

She looked up quickly, but the tension left her shoulders when she saw me. “Being in here makes me nervous. I feel like a child in a room I’m not allowed to be in. Oh, also good morning I suppose.”

“Morning. Find anything?”

“No, not yet, but I only just awoke recently.”

“Oh, I expected you’d be up before the sun and have this place torn apart. You want some hachi? Also there are breakfast cakes.”

She slowly turned her head to look at me with a baffled expression. “Breakfast…cakes?”

“It’s pretty common on Earth, actually. Kind of. They’re not cakes…but they kind of are? You know what, I’ll bring you some and you’ll see.”

She shook her head and continued her search. “If you say so.”

I walked down the many stairs to the kitchen and then all the way back up with a big glass and a slice of fruity cake. “Was it much trouble getting the ward down?”

She tentatively took the food from me and sat in a huge, plush chair. “Less than I thought it would be, but it had multiple layers, which isn’t something you ever really see. She tried the cake and washed it down with a big gulp of hachi. “Hmm, it’s not as bad as I imagined.”

After she finished the cake, we both started searching the suite and all its little side rooms and closets, but we didn’t get anywhere. “Does this place have a basement?” I asked.

Isik nodded. “It does. I went down there yesterday. It’s mostly wine storage and maintenance tools. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, although I suppose we could look again.” She shook her head and leaned back into the padded chair. “I really think what we’re looking for is in this room. It’s the one with the most vicious ward.”

“Have you been out on the balcony?”

“Oh, no I haven’t. There’s a similar ward on that door and I hadn’t gotten around to dispelling it. I don’t know what you’ll find, though. I can see most of it through the doors and windows.”

“Worth a shot,” I said. I got up and brazenly walked through the ward and felt nothing. The balcony wrapped around the entire master suite and had a truly amazing view of the back garden and the mountains and forests outside the complex. I didn’t really think I was going to find anything out here either, but once I’d walked the whole thing twice, something didn’t make sense. I went back inside and walked the rooms again, then back outside for another pass. I came in and found Isik standing in the middle of the room grumbling. “Hey, I think I found something. Maybe.”

“Oh, I hope so, because I haven’t.”

She followed me into one of the closets and I said, “This room isn’t big enough.”

“I’m not sure what that means.”

“I’ve walked the balcony a couple times and mentally measured the rooms inside and out. And this closet, based on what I’m seeing outside, isn’t big enough. It should be about twice as wide as it is.”

“A hidden room,” she said.

“Almost has to be.”

“The thought had occurred to me and I’ve been looking for triggers and switches or patterns on the floor that would indicate a door, but I’ve not found a single thing.” She pressed her lips together and slowly looked around the room. “However…I’ve been thinking conventionally. Perhaps I need the key to even see where it goes. I really should have thought of that immediately.”

“Can’t win ‘em all,” I said. “Where is it? I’ll go get it.”

“Downstairs in ‘my’ room. In the bag. Don’t open the box it’s in. I haven’t touched it without a layer of the tenebrae between me and it, and I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

I was down and back in short order, the light, wooden box in my hands. I opened it and held it out for Isik.

She summoned a tenebrous gauntlet, but still gingerly picked the key up. She walked around the room, vaguely holding it up to things, but nothing happened. “Well, okay. I’m going to try channeling into it. You might want to back away.”

I didn’t need to be told twice; I actually left the closet and stayed in the bedroom where I could still see her.

She channeled into the key, and instead of exploding, it glowed darkly in the odd way the tenebrae did, and there was a faint trail from it into a random cabinet. She waved me back in and with a lot of pushing and prodding, we found a panel that looked solid but actually slid open to reveal a complicated tenebrous pattern. “I think we’ve found it,” she said. She held the key inside the pattern and there was a flash, or the opposite of a flash since it was all shadow magic, and a hidden door opened on the other end of the wall.

“So it being shaped like a key…” I said.

“Had nothing to do with the way it functioned, yes.”

“Okay, just so we’re clear.”

The hidden room was just a little smaller than the closet, but it was packed with all manner of weird things. It was lined with shelves from floor to ceiling, filled with books and glass vials and a lot of little machines that I couldn’t even guess the use of.

“Uh, any of this making any sense to you?”

“Perhaps. I wouldn’t touch anything if I were you, though.”

“Way ahead of you.” I stood there uselessly while she slowly looked through the space. At the other end was a table piled with handwritten notes and old tomes. 

Isik sat down at the chair in front of it and pieced through the pages, slowly. She made a lot of involuntary grunts and gasped quietly but frequently.

I kept waiting for her to say something, but she didn’t; she just sat there making noises, oblivious to how anxious I was getting. “Soo…”

She turned to look at me with one raised eyebrow and thinned lips. “I believe Gor’mina was even more of a psychopath then she seemed.”

“Wow, is that even possible? She was way, way off the deep end.”

“Yes, she was,” Isik said, nodding. “But this stack of papers details many plans and thoughts she had about killing the Emperor himself and usurping his position, along with murdering the rest of the royalty.”

“She wanted to be Empress, huh? And that makes sense; she killed Gor’drelar without hesitation. Although I gotta say, I’m not really shocked to hear any of this. It’s about as crazy as I thought she was.”

“Oh well, yes. Grasping for power is pretty standard as far as people go; you’re right about that much. It’s the casual brutality and the way she talks of people as things. But mostly, based on what I’ve just gone through, it seems her motivations weren’t because she wanted more power; she already had an immense amount of it. She was planning all of these things…for fun. Because she could.”

I thought back to our fight and said, “You know, that kind of checks out too. When we had her mostly dead on the ground, her face literally melted away, she just laughed and…thanked me for one last thrill.”

Isik shivered and made a pained face. “I’m glad she’s dead.”

I didn’t know if I should say it or not, but I asked her, “You’re really scared of the royals, aren’t you? I know we’ve talked a little about it before, but it’s not just garden-variety scared, is it?”

“No, loathe as I am to admit it. They’re…they’re monsters. They’re not even people anymore. The horrors they inflict on anyone based on the slightest whim…” She looked up at me sharply and added, “And I’m an Inquisitor. I have my own life full of visiting horrors on people who didn’t deserve it. But them…” She shook her head and got herself composed. “Anyway, it’ll take me some time to sort through these things and see what can be useful for us. I know we had some…cake…not too long ago, but perhaps you could cook us something for lunch?”

She turned back to the table before she said it, but I could hear the small hope in her voice. “Yeah, sure. No problem.”

There was a long pause before she said, “Excellent.”

I could hear the smile in her words.

12

Itook my time in the kitchen, slowly looking through the huge pantry for whatever I could find. I ended up making some variation on beans and rice, although it had a lot of weird vegetables and a spicy sauce, which I was pretty proud of.

Isik walked into the kitchen just as I was finishing up, and she stood there watching me get everything on plates and pour more hachi. Based on some subtle movements that didn’t ever materialize, I think she wanted to help me, but either didn’t know how or couldn’t bring herself to actually do so, but I didn’t mind.

We sat at the table which was still much too big for two people. “How’re things coming along up there?”

“I’ve set aside a number of books, journals, and stacks of paper that I’ll need to bring back and look through further. I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to.” She was taking a long drink of hachi and looking out the window when her eyes went wide and she spit her drink out all over the table. “Shit,” she said as she stood suddenly, her chair sliding back from her.

I looked out the window as she was already running towards it and I saw what had surprised her; there was someone out there.

She skidded up to the glass and channeled. 

I saw the person in the garden, a young Gorvani woman, start to run before she suddenly collapsed with a short scream.

“Get out there, Michael! Kill her! Don’t let her get away!”

My sword was upstairs on the bed, but I bolted out the door and rushed over to the spy, who was writhing on the ground as Isik branded her. Once in a while, I had been practicing summoning weapons made from the shae, so I pulled in the magic and gave it form in my hands. The warhammer wasn’t quite as big as the ones Gor’mina had used, but I was still new to it.

The woman was on her side, clutching her abdomen, and her face was scrunched up in pain. She tried to crawl away  from me, but wasn’t able to move much at all.

Fuck.

I raised the hammer up, and with only the barest hesitation, I brought it down on her head as hard as I could. I heard her skull crunch with a wet, squelching sound. I dismissed the weapon and turned away without looking at the body, giving Isik a nod as she stood in the window, trapped in the house by the wards. 

Ugh. It was necessary, but it wasn’t fun.

Isik hammered on the window, and when I looked up at her again, she was frantically pointing towards the other end of the garden, where another Gorvani was sprinting away.

Shit.

I ran after him as fast as I could, but he had a decent head start. We passed out through a set of gates off to the side of the garden, and apparently he was able to bypass their wards, which made a lot of sense for someone sent to spy on us. The gates led to a small sitting area with a pool that sat beside the forest, and I watched as the man rushed into the trees.

There was nothing to be done, so I summoned a lighter version of my armor in case this was an ambush and set in after him. 

In no time at all, I was breathing hard, but I was just able to keep the spy in sight as he weaved around trees, trying to lose me. I pulled more of the shae into my body so I could keep going, and after we’d gone for a long time, he finally started to flag.

His steps became wild and he quickly fell over an exposed tree root, rolling and cursing, before he came to a stop on the ground, panting heavily.

I caught up and summoned my hammer again.

He rolled onto his back and held up his hands, yelling, “Please, no!” He tried to scramble and get up, but he was just too winded. He looked up at me in terror and the quickness in his breath wasn’t just exertion. “Please,” he managed to say.

What was I going to do? Let him live? I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t let him get away.

I raised my hammer up high, and for some reason, I looked him in the eye before I brought it down on his face. His skull made the same sound the other woman’s had. Just for good measure, I struck him again, to make sure he wasn’t still alive and suffering. For a moment, I just stood there, my hammer still blocking my view of the corpse. I let the emotions come as they would, but I didn’t feel sick or have to throw up. It was awful, but it had to be done.

I dismissed the hammer but still looked away.

“Aw, shit!” I said as I realized I was now lost in the woods like an idiot. “Okay, okay.” I rubbed my hands over my face and tried to think. It was still before noon, so maybe I could guess the direction I needed to go by the sun, which I couldn’t really see very well through the trees.

I picked a direction that I thought was right, tried to look for a trail the two of us might have left, and did my best to keep the sun in the same spot relative to myself. Not that I could see it well, even after I was walking for some time. After I’d been going for a bit, I lucked out hard and came into a little clearing on a pretty steep slope, and I could see the manor.

Wow, I was way off.

The trip back was annoying and long, but I made it, finally coming out on the main path that led up to the front of the house. Relieved, I went inside to look for Isik, but didn’t find her in the kitchen or in our rooms.

She was back in the hidden room, quickly stuffing a hoard of things into a large bag she’d apparently found somewhere. She looked up as I came in and said, “Oh, good. Did you get him?”

“I did. Got kinda lost in the forest afterwards.”

She didn’t stop rifling through the things and dumping the ones she thought were worth it into the bag. “Did you see any others?”

“Nope.”

“Neither did I, but we can’t assume there weren’t any.”

Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. “We better go, then.”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” she asked wryly. “Oh! One more thing.” She stopped and turned to a small display case shoved into one of the shelves that held a silver necklace with dark stones inset into it. “I need you to take that out of there.”

“Warded?”

“Yes, just like the scale we obtained.”

I reached in and pulled the necklace out, but it felt weird. I wanted it out of my hands immediately. “Ugh, where can I put this? It feels off. I’m not sure how to describe it.”

She handed me the little box the key to this room had been in and said, “Just put it in there for now.” 

I did without hesitation, and once it wasn’t in contact with my skin anymore, the feeling went away. “What is it?”

Isik took the box from me and dumped it into the bag with one last book and cinched it tightly shut. “It’s…well, I believe it’s a tenebrous relic, just like the necklace you’re wearing now, and it possibly does the same thing: enables the wearer to channel vastly more of the tenebrae.

“Oh, shit. I didn’t know things like that existed!”

She shook her head and gave me a grim expression. “Neither did I.”

13

We packed up the rest of our things without bothering to hide the fact that we’d been in the house. Isik didn’t wear the priestess robes but she did bring them with her. Although we couldn’t be sure anyone was coming, there was still a palpable sense of urgency and I tried not to panic as I got my things together.

We were standing in the foyer making one final check through our stuff when Isik’s head popped up and she said, “Did you hear that?”

“I…didn’t. What was it?”

“I thought I heard a door closing somewhere, maybe in the next room.”

“It’s probably nothing,” I said, even though I didn’t really believe it. “I’ll go check.” I hurried into the large sitting room and looked around, but nothing was out of place. I went through a couple hallways and other side rooms for good measure, but I still found nothing.

Back out in the foyer, I was about to say everything was fine when I saw a weird twisting of the light right behind Isik. I didn’t have a clue what it was, but I shouted, “Look out!”

She turned and hurriedly stepped away, her eyes darting everywhere.

But she wasn’t fast enough; the weird warping of light coalesced into a puff of the tenebrae, and there was a man there, wielding a wicked looking dagger, thrusting it straight towards Isik’s chest.

Her eyes went wide and she tried to back away, but there wasn’t any time. The blade was almost in her chest already.

I watched this from across the room, and in that moment of pure helplessness, I knew Isik was about to die. My body moved of its own accord, running towards her, knowing I’d be too late. I pulled in the shae, as much as I could, and without any idea how but knowing I had to be across the room right now, I teleported.

I blinked across the room instantly, my armor reflexively appearing around me, and I grabbed the dagger just as the tip slid into Isik’s skin. I wrenched it back and she fell to the floor, bleeding but not dead.

The assassin screamed in wordless rage. He was Gorvani, his skin mottled with shifting darkness in an odd mockery of the royal’s tenebrous infusion. He pulled the blade out of my hand and lunged again at Isik, but I slammed into him, sending him tumbling across the floor. “NO!” he bellowed. “SHE HAS TO DIE!” The tenebrae inside him shifted, splitting and reforming in a random pattern, like the stuff inside a lava lamp.

Isik had scrambled back to her feet and summoned her own armor and her floating sword. “R-Rykan!?”

I looked again, and it was him. Rykan, the Inquisitor, the one Isik and I had humiliated and maimed in an imperial vault in what seemed like forever ago. 

“What did they do to you?” she asked him.

His face contorted in rage, his lips curled and his eyes seething. “They gave me the power I always deserved!” His eyes flicked over to me. “I’m supposed to be killing this one, but you’re first, Issy. I wanna watch as the light leaves your eyes and you know it’s me that killed you, you worthless fuck!”

Wow.

“Hey, shitbox,” I said, and he turned to me with a mixture of confusion and rage, “You aren’t touching her without going through me, and I think we both know you’re not up to that.” He lunged at me, much quicker than I thought he was capable of, but his shadowy dagger did little more than scrape across my heavy, golden armor. I thought this would be over soon, but he reached up to my helmet and a huge burst of the tenebrae made it through the small openings and hit me in the eyes.

It hurt. A lot.

I fell back onto the floor, trying to heal the damage with the shae. Once I was able to blink my vision back into focus, I saw him wrestling Isik to the floor. Her own armor had apparently deflected a few blows, but he was overpowering her and trying to slide the blade into her neck, while batting away her floating sword with bursts of the tenebrae. It looked as if they were both trying to brand each other as well.

I had my sword on my hip, but I summoned the biggest warhammer I could, sprinted to them, and knocked him off and across the room with a golf club-like swing.

Isik quickly stood and got behind me. 

Rykan rolled to his feet and yelled, “Stop interfering!”

“Uh, no,” I said.

He rushed forward again, this time slipping back into whatever invisibility he’d been using when he’d come in. 

I summoned little, exploding balls of light around the entire room, shutting my own eyes just as they all went off. Rykan screamed while I walked forward, swinging my hammer in a circle around me, reasonably close to where I thought he’d be. On the third rotation, I connected, and I heard some ribs break as he collapsed, his invisibility failing.

He was on the ground but not at all down. Three dark portals opened up above him and I pushed as much energy into my armor as I could as I leapt to protect Isik. We hit the floor as I felt repeated blows crashing into my back, my armor almost dissipating.

I rolled and got to my feet just soon enough to reach up and catch Rykan’s arms as he tried to stab me. We struggled momentarily, and I was shocked at how strong he was. Since I was about to lose the contest, I spun, dragging him around and using the momentum to throw him into the wall as I summoned my hammer and plowed it into his chest as he slumped down to the floor.

Or I tried to, because his hands raised up and released a huge blast of magic, blowing my hammer into tiny golden pieces. As I stumbled back, he leapt up and rushed me, wrapping his arms around my waist and picking me up to slam me on the floor. His dagger was back in his hands and he brought it down onto the faceplate of my helmet over and over again, and I could feel that it was seconds away from cracking.

Isik’s sword slammed into his back, penetrating his armor, at least a little.

He tried to raise up and attack her, but I pulled his arm back down and wrapped his entire body up as best I could with my arms and legs, watching Isik’s blade slice into his back, over and over and over. He spasmed and screamed, but I held on tight. After countless blows, he finally slipped out of my grasp and tried to stand, but I punched him as hard as I could in the throat.

He gurgled and flinched, and I hit him again in the face and tried to flip him over. He was able to slip out from under me, and he muttered, “Noooo,” as he stumbled and tried to run, but he fell back to the floor, bleeding profusely. I caught up with him, summoned my hammer, and raised it up high.

“Wait,” Isik said. “Just cripple him.”

I didn’t think she was saying it just out of cruelty, so I did it. I brought the  hammer down on his legs and one of his arms.

He turned and glared at me, and if he felt any pain, it didn’t show over his naked hatred. “You bastard! She should be dead!”

Isik came over close to us, but not too close, and said, “What did they do to you, Rykan?”

“They gave me the power I deserved! And it should have been enough!”

She shook her head. “Power, is it? Look at you. The tenebrae doesn’t even know where to go inside you. You didn’t think you were going to live through this, did you? You’d have died soon whether you succeeded or not.”

He was vibrating with hate, his eyes locked onto Isik’s. “No! I’ve been chosen by the royalty! This is an honor you couldn’t even dream of!”

“Uh huh. If you say so. But tell us before you die miserably, what’re they doing in the palace?”

He just started to laugh, his eyes widening but still locked on Isik’s. “Oh, you’ll find out soon! You’ll all find out! Every last pathetic one of you! The Gorvani will always reign! The rest of these worthless people will die! But I won’t spoil the surprise!”

Well that didn’t sound good.

Isik scoffed. “Oh, you don’t even know. Why am I not surprised?”

“What? Of course I know what your miserable fate will be!”

“Sure, Rykan.” She shook her head and looked over at me. “Just kill him, Michael. He’s not important enough for the royalty to have told him anything. It was foolish of me to think he’d have any important information.”

“How dare you! You want to know!? You want to know!? The emperor’s going to wipe out all the other races! The ritual is already underway, and soon, all your friends will die screaming, and you’ll only be able to watch! And then they’ll come for you, Issy, and you’ll finally get the death you deserve, you worthless traitor!”

Isik hesitated, but then said, “What a load of shit. Such a thing isn’t even possible. If you’re going to make up threats, at least make them credible.”

Rykan just laughed louder. “Oh, you just wait and see! Once the preparations are complete, the Font itself will surge, sending a wave of death throughout the land, burning the non-Gorvani out from the inside, through their brands! You think I don’t know!? I was imbued with this power at the Font by Emperor Gorva himself! I’m greater than you’ll ever be!”

Gorva!?

Isik stood there, looking at him, her mouth hanging slightly open. “Kill him.”

Finally.

I slammed my hammer down on his head three times before I was sure he was dead, but I still struck a couple more times for good measure. I didn’t feel any of the guilt I’d felt with the spies.

“Die and rot, Rykan. You deserve it,” Isik said.

I slowly looked around the ruined foyer. “Do you believe what he said?” I asked.

She shrugged and said, “I’m…not sure. I believe that he believed it, but he was somewhat unstable even before…” she waved her hand at the corpse, “whatever it was they did to him.”

“That was infusion of the tenebrae, right? Like the royals have?”

“Well, yes and no. I believe true infusion takes years. Decades, perhaps longer. How long has it been since we’ve seen Rykan? They must have just forced it inside his body. Look, it’s still shifting inside him.”

And it was. The shadows that looked like the royals’ skin shifted and moved all over his body, even in death. It was pretty off-putting, especially on a headless corpse. “He was certainly on par with some of the royals I’ve fought. Not Gor’mina, but still. You think he would have died soon anyway?”

“I’m almost positive, yes. They did this to him and sent him out as a disposable weapon, and he was exactly the right person to think it was an honor they were bestowing on him. He always wanted more, thought he deserved more. Why, I was never really sure.”

“I think we should treat what he said as true. It would explain why the empire recalled all the Gorvani and why they don’t seem to be doing anything else. Well, except assassinating us.”

“You, Michael. He was supposed to assassinate you. I was just a bonus.”

“Didn’t seem like that to him.”

“Oh, no, not to him. But you were the real target of whoever specifically sent him. But…yes, I think you’re right about treating his ramblings as true. For now.”

“Oh, one more thing. It’s not important, but the Emperor’s name is Gorva?”

She blinked at me. “Yes? Have…have you never heard it?”

“Nope. I would have remembered that. Everyone’s always just said ‘the Emperor.’ And, I really have to ask: which came first? His name, or the name of your entire people?”

She chuckled. “All the records of history before the founding — even of our own people — are either destroyed or buried so far even I’ve never seen them. Which, honestly, leads me to believe he took the name of our people, not the other way around. If he really had come first, there’d be no point in suppressing the histories. He wants everyone to think he’s a god and we’re created in his image. Or some shit, I’m not sure,” she said with a curled lip.

“Sounds pretty on brand for the asshole that’s maybe trying to kill everyone.” If the royals really were planning on killing literally everyone, it was almost too awful to imagine, so I tried to push it out of my head and did my best to focus on the current situation. “Anyway, we need to get out of here, fast. Let’s head out back and I’ll see if I can attract Nir’s attention. She should be close by.”

We gathered our things the best we could and headed out the front door. As we passed through, I asked, “Uh, did you take the ward off the front door?”

“Yes, just a little while ago when I came down before we ate.”

We circled back around the manor and ended up in the middle of the garden, and it occurred to me just then that I hadn’t agreed on a sign for Nir. I couldn’t think of much else, so I summoned some shae balls of light and threw them up as high as I could before they exploded in a series of blinding flashes. 

We waited.

I did it again.

We waited some more.

I did it a third time.

“Michael, this is less than reassuring.”

“I know that!” After even more time had passed with no reply, I asked Isik, “How likely is it that the empire sent more than Rykan.”

“Essentially assured. Remember the army that was following Gor’mina? I’m sure at least one battalion has been sent out here to make sure the job is done. The empire likes to be sure, especially in the case of dissidents.”

“Like us.”

“Oh my yes.”

“Okay, so, this isn’t really the time, but why did they send the army to Skyshard but then not do anything else afterwards? That’s really been bothering me.”

Isik shrugged. “I can’t be sure, of course, but I assume they thought they would be able to stop the dragon summoning, so they deployed all the resources they could. Afterwards, especially once you started severing the tenebrous channels to the sigilariums, they surely decided that marching an army anywhere wouldn’t be enough. I imagine it returned to the capital to protect the shadowsphere and…the ritual they’re probably attempting inside it.”

“Are we definitely thinking Rykan was telling the truth now?”

She didn’t answer for a moment, just looked around for the dragon that wasn’t coming. “Perhaps,” she finally admitted. “But I’m not going to give it much thought until we’re safely out of here.”

The sun moved noticeably along the sky while we sat there, helpless and without a backup plan. With nothing else to do, I wandered around to the front of the house and through the gate, heading a little ways down the path, just to make sure no one was actually coming for us.

And that turned out to be terrifying but also lucky, because that’s exactly what was happening.

I sprinted back up to the house, pulling the shae into myself so I didn’t have to slow down. Once I came around the side of the house, I yelled to Isik, “We gotta go now!” I picked up my things and we wordlessly took off into the forest.

“They did send the soldiers for us, then?”

“They did and they’re almost here!”

We raced into the woods while I wondered where in the world Nir was.

14

We got lost almost immediately, of course. Although, I did wonder if it still counted as lost if we weren’t going anywhere in particular. We put as much distance between ourselves and the manor as we could, and I asked Isik probably eight times if she was sure she had everything she wanted from the secret room, as if there was anything we could really do about it now.

Could I have faced down a battalion of Gorvani, assuming they didn’t have a powerful royal or some fucked up experiment like Rykan with them? Probably. Did I want to risk being cocky and get overwhelmed or killed by some new bullshit I didn’t know about? I did not. I also didn’t want to get Isik killed, because that had nearly happened already.

“Should I keep sending up light balls for Nir? How’s she going to find us out here?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. The soldiers will know we’re not far away because of Rykan’s corpse.” She paused to laugh to herself about that. “I always wanted to kill him. You know what? It wasn’t as satisfying as I had always hoped.”

“Because killing someone never is?”

She laughed harder at that. “No, don’t be ridiculous. It’s just,” she gestured vaguely all around us, “this isn’t the way I imagined it happening.”

I elected to not ask how she had envisioned it.

We slowed down after we’d gone far enough, or what seemed like far enough, but we didn’t stop. My head was filled with thought after thought about how to get out of this situation, but aside from walking through the woods with no map or survival skills, I didn’t see how we were going to swing it without Nir. Isik started to slow down but kept pressing on. I didn’t think she’d admit to wanting to stop, so I suggested it instead.

“Oh, alright,” she said, out of breath, “if we must.” The ghost of the smile was on her lips, still practically invisible, but she must have known I stopped for her sake. Not that she would ever admit to needing it.

“So, any ideas?” I asked.

She grimaced. “Not as such, no. I’m not familiar with this area in the least. The forest could extend to the horizon without any towns. Honestly, it probably does and is why Gor’mina chose to put her estate here.”

“You don’t know how to forage for anything, do you?”

She gave me a level look and said, “Michael, I don’t know how to cook. Do you think I know the first thing about surviving in the woods?” She looked around at the endless trees and her eyes drifted back towards me, hopeful, as she said, “Do you?”

“I, uh, do not.”

She sighed heavily. “Amazing. The revolution ends because we’re too stupid to survive briefly without civilization.”

While we sat there lamenting our impending deaths, I heard a faint sound in the air. Isik must’ve heard it too, as I saw her perk up. 

“That’s what I thought it was, right?” I asked.

“Oh, I really hope so.”

It sounded again, far away but remarkably like a dragon’s roar.

I stood and pulled in the shae, lifted my hands, and conjured a swarm of light balls, sending them as high above the canopy as I could. The roar got just slightly louder, so I did it again. Shortly after, the roar sounded right above us, so I sent up one last volley.

Nir crashed into the trees just a little ways away from us, the sounds of their trunks cracking and splintering echoing through the air. She spun in a circle, bashing down the ones still standing around her, making a small clearing. When we ran out into it, she yelled, “Getongetongeton!”

That didn’t bode well.

We didn’t ask why; we just jumped on her back and secured our things as best we could.

With a massive flapping of her wings, which was what the clearing was apparently for, we were off into the sky, and despite whatever was apparently going on with her, I was overjoyed to be on her back and flying away.

“Michael, I’m going to open a portal, and I need you to help channel.”

“You got it!” I pulled in the shae and pushed it back out and into her, and a moment later, a massive portal opened in the sky just in front of us, and in another instant, we were in it and through, coming out in a cloudless sky over what looked like the capital of the seventh province.

Isik grunted and tried to pull her priestess robe on over her clothes, but it was difficult in the wind. I tried my best to help, and we finally got it.

I wanted desperately to ask what had been going on with Nir, but figured that could wait until we landed. We descended to the plaza where Nir had landed a few times before, but as we came around the edge of a building, she pulled up quickly and Isik and I had to scramble to stay on her back.

The space was filled with tents in long lines and packed with people. “Well, that’s new,” I said. The stage that Osaarin had been giving speeches on was still there, although there wasn’t anything happening right then. We flew around the city and saw that many of the open places were much the same, but we finally found a spot that had enough room for Nir to touch down in.

Once we’d climbed off her back, Isik hurriedly pulled out a pair of thin gloves from her back and slipped them on, also making sure her hood was pulled up and covering her face. “I’d prefer if we made haste back to the Guild,” she said.

I still wanted to hear what had happened with Nir, but I didn’t like the thought of Isik walking through the streets by herself, especially not with a large bag full of evil grimoires and a tenebrous relic. She’d be ripped apart if anyone found her out. I told Nir that we’d speak later, and she flew off to who knows where, roaring before she went.

Isik and I walked quickly through the streets, and while we tried to take some lesser traveled paths, there were people everywhere. Even the side alleys and little walkways weren’t completely empty. While I had to constantly dodge people wanting to talk with me — I was still pretty recognizable with my sword and shield — we made decent time.

Once we were in the doors, Isik breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Okay. I’m willing to admit that the disguise was a good idea. But what on Vendira is going on here?”

“No idea. But let me walk you to your rooms before I try and find anyone to ask.” Even though we were in the Guild, I didn’t trust Isik to be safe until she was in the labyrinthine hallways tucked away in the hidden parts of the building. I kept hoping we’d run into Revana or Tiq on the way, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Once we were in Isik’s private rooms, she set the bag down and plopped unceremoniously into a large, plush chair. “Hmm, not quite as good as the couches in the estate, but it’ll do. I am pleased to not be in a crowd, though. I should think I’ll remain back here, poring through these books, for some time now.”

I took that as the dismissal it probably was; I figured she just wanted to be alone for a while, so I went, but not before I left my sword and shield in her care. I got mildly lost in the hallways, but eventually found my way back to the foyer. I asked the woman sitting behind the counter if she knew where I could find Revana, Tiq, or Osaarin, hoping she even knew what I was talking about. It’d never really been clear if the entire guild was part of the Celestori, or just certain people in the building.

I didn’t really get an answer to that question, but she did have a message for me from Tiq, which was just an address in the city. Walking through the city streets was wild; there were people everywhere, rows of tents and temporary housing in every possible corner, and the talk I overheard was all about revolution and fighting the empire. Was this an army? Sure seemed like it. I also noticed that a lot of people were wearing little dragon symbols, some made of leather, some cloth, some just stitched in designs. It didn’t seem that the style mattered so much as there was a dragon on your clothes. Which I supposed is what Nir was to be anyway: a symbol of resistance.

Without my weapons, barely anyone recognized me, and on the few occasions where it happened, I was able to quickly duck into the crowds before I could be accosted. Tiq’s new place or wherever it was that I was headed was across town, so I had ample opportunity to listen to people talk, and as I went, I became more and more sure I was walking through an army’s encampment, or at least that’s what it was fast becoming. 

The address led me to a four story apartment building that was no less packed with people than the streets were. I managed to make it up to the top floor without talking to anyone, and I knocked on the door of the unit in Tiq’s message.

She opened the door in a thick pair of goggles, a heavy leather apron, and long black gloves. “You’re back!” She launched herself at me and wrapped me up in a hug, which I returned tightly. “Come in, come in!”

We went inside, and I was shocked at how much the place looked like her old home at the Astrologia. The apartment was huge and had a ton of rooms, many of which were filled with a complete mishmash of tables and shelves covered in various machines and wiring. The only things missing from her old place were endless bookshelves. She led me through a maze of furniture to a room in the corner of the building with big windows overlooking the street.

She took off the gloves, goggles, and apron, revealing stained work clothes underneath, which seemed fitting but was something I’d never seen her in. “Have a seat. I’ll be back with some tea.” 

Of course she would, I thought. 

She returned shortly with hot tea and a plate of little chocolate cakes, or the thing that passed for chocolate on Vendira. “So, tell me all about it! Was there anything there worth finding?”

I related the whole story as best I could, not leaving anything out except for the sex with Isik, which I just didn’t feel like talking about right then. 

She sat back in the chair, her tea forgotten on the table. “Wow, that’s quite a story, and there’s a lot to unpack there. You didn’t hear what happened with Nir?”

“No, I wanted to get Isik hidden away as fast as I could. I hope I can find her again soon and talk about it. Anyway, what have you been up to? Did you kill someone to get this apartment?”

She laughed and said, “No, but I probably would’ve. It’s huge, got a corner room, and there’s practically no traffic outside the door since it’s the top floor. The previous owner was a minor Gorvani official, and they’re all gone, so people have just kinda been taking their stuff.”

“Oh, that’s a good lead-in to me asking what the shit’s been going on around here? Is this an army encampment?”

She shrugged and took a sip of tea. “More or less, yes. Osaarin’s been giving a lot of talks to the people. If I didn’t know better, and I don’t, I’d say he was planning for this all along. He’s a really talented speaker, and I think he imagined the dragon cult not only summoning a dragon, but also leading the charge against the empire once that day had come. And that’s exactly what’s happening; all the people are rallying under the banner of the cult itself. Have you noticed the little dragons people are wearing?”

“I have, yeah. Everyone’s Celestori, now?”

She chuckled. “Well, kind of. No one really says ‘Dravizek Celestori,’ so ‘Dragon Cult’ has really caught on a lot more, and you should hear what Osaarin thinks about that.” She laughed some more.

“Not a fan, huh?”

“Oh wow. I’ve heard people in the old Celestori talk about how he tried so hard to get everyone to use the ‘proper’ term. I’m sure he’s annoyed to no end now, because with this many people, there’s no hope for it, really.”

“I’m gonna call it the cult to his face next time I see him, just to see his reaction.”

“Oh, Michael,” she said, shaking her head. “Please do. I hope I’m there, too.” As she said that, the lights in the room flickered and went out. A supremely annoyed expression passed over her face, but after a moment, they came back on. “And that leads me right into the next thing. The imperials are screwing with the arcanae.”

“That’s not good.”

“No,” she said, closing her eyes. “And after what you told me that Rykan claimed, it makes a little more sense.”

Oh, well shit. I was still really hoping that that was all bluster with no truth to it, but I think I knew better; I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. “What makes you say that?”

“It just started happening last night, but a few colleagues of mine that have shown up in town ran a few tests for me, and it turns out that massive amounts of the arcanae are being funneled towards Telorn.”

“And you think it could be part of this whole ‘kill everyone ritual?’”

“You might not be aware of this, but the imperial palace functions as one big sigilarium, with the Font at the center. As with the others, it has six large towers protruding up into the air, which carry out a number of the functions of the building, and they take incredible amounts of power to run. You probably never noticed because the palace is covered in other towers and spires as well. But if they’re casting some world-wide spell in there, the most obvious choice for carrying it out is sending the effects along the ley lines to all the lesser sigilariums, and doing so would take a mind-boggling amount of power.”

I didn’t like a single word I was hearing. “Can we just sever the lines, like we’ve already done?”

She drank the last of her tea and set the cup down. “I don’t know. It might work, but that spell was never meant to be permanent, as the natural flows would reassert themselves in time. And because of the nature of the magic, it’s possible that such a large spell could just force open the tenebrous channels and erase whatever work you did.”

“So, what do we do?” I really, really hoped she was going to have an answer to that.

She cocked her head to the side and was quiet for a few moments before she said, “Of course, the best thing would be to disrupt the ritual itself, which involves assaulting Telorn, breaching the shadowsphere, and killing the emperor.”

“Oh, is that all?”

She smiled. “Yes. Just that. And it’s what everyone here is gearing up to do anyway, but such things require time, and it’s possible we’re running out of it. Although there’s no real way to know. All the information we have is something an unstable enemy yelled out of hate, even though it makes sense. The ritual, if it exists, could take hours, or weeks, or more. Who knows?”

“I think we should probably assume it’ll happen sooner than later.”

“Yes, I agree. And since there’s nothing we can do to stop the tenebrous portion of it, we’ll have to stop the arcanic portion. Or at least slow it down.”

I leaned forward and asked, “Is that something we can do?”

The smile she gave me was the most self-satisfied one I might ever have seen. I was a little surprised she wasn’t actively patting herself on the back. “Come with me. I have something to show you.”

We went back out into the maze of tables and shelves and at a big one in the center was Tiq’s device. Or at least a suitably upgraded version of it. “Wow, you’ve been busy, I guess. That thing used to be a lot smaller. Is it the same one?”

“It is! And before I tell you all about it, let me just show you.” She slipped it on over her shoulder and it automatically clipped around her elbows and wrists. It was a lot bulkier but still had the same overall design that hugged her shoulders and came down her arms. We went out of the apartment and up the stairs to the roof. “So, the old design allowed me to project balls of the arcanae, right? It was useful, but only against weaker targets, and not against who we’re up against now. Also, the fact that it used batteries was a massive weak point in the design.”

“It…doesn’t use batteries?”

She tried to keep the huge smile off her face, but just couldn’t. She beamed at her own work and it was adorable. “Just watch.”

She raised her hands to the sky, and I couldn’t tell how she activated it, but suddenly a huge bolt of the arcanae leapt from a squarish machine on the roof that I hadn’t really noticed. It was probably an air conditioner or heater or something. Maybe. At any rate, the energy jumped from it and into her device, illuminating the angular channels set into it. With a small movement, she shot a bolt of lightning into the sky. I suppose it was a bolt of the arcanae, but I really didn’t think there was a lot of difference.

Then she did it again.

And again.

She turned to me, still over the moon with herself and said, “Well?”

“Fuck, Tiquette!”

We both turned to see Revana standing there with huge eyes.

“Revana!” I quickly ran over to her and enveloped her in as tight a hug as I could. She returned it, pressing her chin into my neck.

“I’m so glad you’re back!” she said, slightly muffled.

“Hey now!” Tiq was standing with her hands on her hips. “We’re supposed to be praising my genius over here!”

“Okay, okay,” I said, releasing Revana. “That really is impressive, Tiq. Does it just like, steal energy from the machines around you?”

Her self-satisfied smile remained constant. “Oh, not just that, it pulls it from the arcanic grid itself! No more batteries! Functionally infinite power!” She shrugged and added, “Not in the woods or something, but anywhere in a city or town! And it’s capable of sustained fire too!”She demonstrated, sending a streaming bolt of arcanae into the sky that twisted and arced. “There’s a limit, but whatever’s on the other side’s probably dead by that time. Oh, and you’ve got to be careful that there’s no one you care about between you and wherever you’re pulling the energy from.”

“Uh huh. There’s still only one of these, right?”

She curled her lip and grunted. “Yes, unfortunately. The base of the model required some truly rare components that I can’t access anymore.”

That was probably for the best, I thought. “Well, it really is impressive, Tiq. Can I assume it’s part of your plan to cut the power to Telorn?”

“Integral, yes.”

“What’s all this now?” Revana asked.

I let out a long breath. “Let’s go back downstairs. I’ve got a lot to fill you in on.”

15

“They’re gonna kill everyone?”

We were all sitting in Tiq’s corner room again, having yet again more tea and cakes. I didn’t complain. “Honestly, who knows. But I think it’s a possibility to consider seriously.”

Tiq shook her head. “I highly doubt they’d murder every non-Gorvani. The empire would crumble without people to run it. However, do I believe they’d kill a lot of us? Of course. Without hesitation. Or, they could be planning to brand us so hard our minds melt away, leaving our bodies alive to shamble around as work horses and slaves.”

Revana and I sat back in our seats. “That’s…not possible, is it?” I asked.

“Oh, I have no idea,” Tiq said. “I’m just thinking of any and all scenarios.”

I didn’t tell her not to do that, but wow I wanted to.

Revana blinked herself back into focus. “Yeah, so anyway, on another note, I spoke with Nir.”

“Oh, you did? Great. I didn’t have time to. What did she say? What happened to her?”

Revana looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. “You…don’t know?”

I just shrugged back at her. “She picked us up in an insane hurry, portaled back here, and once we landed, I wanted to get Isik out of the crowd as fast as I could.”

Oh yeah, Isik. I was gonna have to tell Revana about that at some point. But not with Tiq sitting here too.

“Well, okay,” Revana said. “She apparently thought it would be a good idea, while you were in the first, to go spy on Telorn.”

“Oh no,” I said.

“Yeah. She was actually pretty sheepish about telling me. It was all so…human, you know? She thought she’d just fly high over the city and see what she could see, and not get anywhere near a dangerous distance.”

“Uh huh.”

“Right. She did confirm that the army had retreated to the capital, and they’ve set up around the shadowsphere, in front of the palace. But after she did a few laps around the city, she thought it’d be a good idea to test how solid the sphere actually is. So she descended and hurled as big a blast of the shae at it as she could. It didn’t even dent the thing. Didn’t disrupt it for the slightest second. It did, however, get the attention of one of the royalty that was sitting with the army, who tried to pull her down.”

“Oh, shit.”

“She managed to get away, but said that whichever royal it was, it was a powerful one. After that, she flew straight to you, and on the way saw a battalion of soldiers and was afraid she’d be in danger from them as well.”

“Was there anything about the sphere she told you that could be of use?” Tiq asked.

“Sort of. Apparently, there is an entrance to it.”

I groaned. “It’s in the middle of that army, isn’t it?”

“It sure is.”

“And it’s our only real way in?”

“As far as we know, yes. I can’t imagine we’ll get any more information though. We’ve had some scouts trying to penetrate into the city, but they’ve all turned back before they got anywhere close enough to find useful intel. The entire center of Telorn is nothing but a sea of Gorvani.”

I had sort of held out hope that the army forming here in the seventh wouldn’t even be necessary, that the small group of us could infiltrate the palace and kill all the royals somehow without endangering thousands of people. “We’re going to have to get in the hard way, aren’t we?”

Revana looked down and shook her head, her tea cooling forgotten in her hands. “It looks that way, yes.”

“Which involves fighting the entirety of the army, cutting down the rest of the royals, entering the shadowsphere, and murdering the emperor.”

Tiq gave me a tentative smile, “Well, one part of that might not be as bad as it seems. The Gorvani army, for all they’d love you to believe it, isn’t well trained in the least,” she said, echoing my thoughts during the fight at Skyshard. “Why on Vendira would it be? It’s almost completely ceremonial. The Inquisition roots out and kills any dissidents, along with various city guards. I can’t think of a single time the army’s ever actually done anything besides be a massive escort for the royalty. They’re there to wear armor and look imposing, and that’s about it. I’m sure they’re taught how to fight, but how many can do so in a real situation?”

“Just like our army,” I said.

“Yes, but at least we’ll be on more even terms.”

“In terms of skill, yes. But are our numbers even close to theirs? Don’t we need a lot more people to overcome the fact that a lot of Gorvani can brand people?” Sure, Revana and I would be there, and in a small battle, that would matter a lot. We aren’t talking about a small battle.

Tiq’s face fell and no one said anything for a while. The answer was pretty obvious. 

“I’ve been having some thoughts,” Revana said, “and I think this is an appropriate time and conversation to bring them up. You know what would help a fight like that immensely?” She paused, but Tiq and I said nothing. She held out her hands and gave us a look like she was about to give a sales pitch. “More dragons.”

I looked back at her blankly, but I really did have to admit, “I mean if we could get more dragons, then yes, they would be helpful. Didn’t we have a complete shit of a time getting Nir back here, though?”

She was clearly very excited about this idea and was smiling widely. “Yes, but now that she is here, she can search for others much more easily. Dragons are naturally good at opening portals and traveling between worlds. She might require our help, but if she could bring even one more back, two dragons could basically portal around at will! Well, theoretically.”

“The idea does have merit,” Tiq said. “But planet hopping is a taxing journey, and our time is running low.”

“I know, and I’ve been talking with Osaarin about it. The cult has a list of other places they thought it likely that dragons would be. We went to the world Nir was on because she was the best shot, but there are other decent possibilities.”

“Well,” I said, “I for one would welcome any and all help we could get, because it’s looking like there’s no way to do this but the hard way. We’ve got to overwhelm the Gorvani and that’s that. Or do so long enough to get a small team inside the sphere, which really doesn’t make the whole thing any less hard.”

The conversation stalled out a little after that, and we rehashed some things and finished the pot of tea and the last of the cakes. There was a knock on the door and Tiq went up to get it, leaving Revana and I alone.

“Hey,” I said, “there’s something I wanted to tell you.”

“Uh, okay?” She cocked her head in much the way Tiq would; apparently she heard something in my tone.

“I’m, uh, not sure how to say this…but while we were away at the manor in the first…I…” Nothing to do but just say it. “I slept with Isik.”

Revana blinked and didn’t react for a moment, but then just burst out laughing, leaning back in her chair and slapping her knee. “Oh okay. Uh huh. Sure.”

“Uh, but like, really.” I was trying to keep my face as neutral as possible.

Her laugh died somewhat down and she leaned in and squinted at me. “No you didn’t.”

I shrugged.

“No…I don’t…No. Surely not?”

“Uh, yep.”

“Michael! You did not!” At my continued neutral expression, she said, “Did you?”

“Yeah.”

She sat back in her chair and her jaw dropped a little. “With Isik?”

“I was pretty surprised too. She initiated it.” She just stared back at me and I gave her a pained expression. “I kinda thought you should know.”

“Isik, huh?”

“Yeah. I’m…well I mean I’m not sorry, per se, but I don’t want to make you feel…I don’t know!”

She chuckled softly, a small smile on her lips. “You don’t want me to be mad at you about it?”

“Yeah.”

She leaned back and the tension flowed out of her body. “Oh, I’m not. It’s…rather shocking, I’ll admit, but you’re free to do whatever you want. It’s just…Isik? She’s pretty and all, but she’s…Isik.”

“It was really weird at the beginning.”

She gave me a conspiratorial look with a smile. “So was she, you know, good?”

I had to laugh out loud at that. “It was actually super hot.”

“Really?” Her jaw dropped and her eyes were wide. “Wow. That’s pretty unexpected. I guess. I don’t know. So, like, was part of foreplay removing the rod from her ass?”

We both laughed pretty hard at that while I wondered if I should repeat it to Isik later. She’d either kill Revana or think it was hilarious and there was no inbetween. 

As we sat there laughing, Tiq came back in. “What’s going on here?”

Revana looked over and said, “Michael banged Isik.”

I made a strangled sound and the laughs died on my lips.

“WHAT.” Tiq’s mouth worked soundlessly before she managed to add, “WHAT.”

“I mean…I…y-yeah?”

“Isik!? The Inquisitor? That Isik?”

“Yep.”

Tiq cocked her head to the side and said, “Well, I can’t imagine she gets a lot of opportunities.” She shuddered a little and said, “Can you imagine two Gorvani getting together? Foreplay is probably just an hour or two of posturing to establish dominance about who’s going to be on top because they think it matters.”

We all snickered. That was one I definitely was not going to pass on to Isik.

We chatted about inconsequential things for a little while after that, and once the light started to fade, Revana excused herself, wanting to get a few more things done before it was fully dark.

I started to do the same, but Tiq stopped me. “No reason to go back to the Guild tonight, is there? There’s more than enough space for you to stay here with me. Unless…Isik tired you out too much and you’d rather be alone?”

Oh. “Oh! No, no. I’d love to stay the night here.”

She smiled broadly. “Good. I imagine things will soon get very busy and there might not be many more chances for time alone. But let’s not think about any of that tonight, and enjoy what we can.”

16

Tiq told me to shower while she finished up a few things, so I did. The bathroom wasn’t nearly as fancy as the one in Gor’mina’s estate, but it was still pretty nice. I kept expecting Tiq to join me halfway through, but she didn’t appear, much to my disappointment. 

Once I’d gotten out and dried off, I stepped out of the bathroom without getting dressed, because unless I wildly misinterpreted the situation, this was where things were headed. I was pleasantly surprised to find a trail of flower petals leading from the bathroom door. I followed them through the apartment, right back to the corner room. When I opened the door, Tiq was sprawled out on the couch wearing…well it wasn’t clothes. It was as if someone had taken the concept of tattered rags and made it into a sort of lingerie, covered with sparkling sequins and beads. What cloth it did contain was dark red and covered absolutely nothing, aside from various strips of random skin. I loved it.

We smiled at each other and she patted the couch. I came to sit and she crossed a leg over me and slid on top. Without a word, she wrapped her hands around my neck and pulled me into her boobs. My hands slid across her soft skin as I bit down on one of her nipples. I went just a little bit harder than I was usually comfortable with, but she just sighed and ran my hands down her shoulders. I switched back and forth, sucking and biting her nipples, the metallic taste of her piercings on my tongue. 

She reached down and started alternately rubbing herself and running her hand up and down my cock. She started to moan and grind against me, and I kept one nipple in my mouth and my hand on the other, biting, sucking, pinching, and rolling, enjoying the moans and gasps she was making. After some time, it seemed like she was almost there, so I just kept doing what I was doing. Her artfully tattered rags slid over my skin as we moved together, almost as soft as her skin.

She raised up and slid down onto my cock in one fluid movement, and after bouncing a few times, she wrapped her arms around me and shuddered hard. She curled in and pressed her lips to the top of my head and tried not to scream, probably because someone would surely hear in the building.

After she stopped trembling and her breathing slowed, she got off me and stood, walking over to the corner windows. She bent slightly over, pressing her breasts against the glass and gave me an expectant look.

I followed her over and looked down at the street below, which was still completely packed with people milling about, even though nighttime had fallen. “You think anyone can see?”

“Dunno,” she said, wiggling her ass at me.

Good enough for me, I thought. I gently slid back inside her, and we moved slowly against each other, both looking down on the people below. 

She pressed her hands on the glass, and I covered them with mine as I pressed my face into her long, black hair. 

I wanted to go faster, but was afraid of rattling the glass, so I kept a slow, measured pace. The thought of being seen was an unexpected thrill that I didn’t know was a thing I’d like. I slid my hands down to her ass as I kept watch on the crowd on the street. Some people looked up or around occasionally, but I didn’t think anyone actually saw it, which was just a little disappointing in a way.

After we’d been there for quite some time, she turned to me and asked, “I take it you’re liking this?”

“Actually, I really am, yeah.”

She gave me a devious smile and said, “Good, come with me.”

I followed her out of the room and through her signature maze of stuff, and we wound our way around to a door I hadn’t seen before that opened out onto a covered balcony. There were a couple wooden chairs and a large padded couch. There was a solid railing, but nothing over it; the space was completely open to the street below. We were in the dark and it would be difficult for anyone to see us, but not impossible. The building across the street, however, would have an unobstructed view. Not that I could see anyone inside it. I could hear the sounds from the people below pretty clearly, which meant that it’d work the other way as well.

She directed me to the couch and pushed me onto it before climbing on me and sliding down my cock. She moaned just barely, trying to keep her mouth closed. 

I slid my butt out on the couch, leaning back more, and I pulled her head down to mine before pushing my tongue between her lips. We rocked back and forth slowly, and thankfully, the couch didn’t creak or make any noise, so long as we didn’t go hard enough to make it slide, which happened a couple times.

The feeling of her wrapped tightly around me was maddening, and I wanted nothing more than to speed up, but we kept the same measured pace, even though our breaths came fast and lightning shot through my body as I pulled her tight to me.

She curled down into my neck, whimpering and gasping as she started to bounce on me  a little harder.

“Having trouble going slow?” I asked quietly.

“Yes,” she whispered in my ear with a little giggle.

She sped up, making the couch slide, and I had to take a hold of her ass and slow her down. 

“I don’t care if they hear,” she whispered, speeding up again.

“You will in the morning,” I said back to her, slowing her down again, in what was, I think I can safely say, the largest, most difficult act of restraint in my entire life.

“Dammit! You’re probably right.” She leaned back before shoving a nipple into my mouth.

I bit down on her and she put a hand over her mouth to cover up the moan. I guided her ass up and down on my cock as fast as was safe, and shortly after, she wrapped her arms around me again, bucking and shaking and shuddering, her mouth and eyes closed tight as she tried not to make any noise.

I was so long overdue at that point that it only took two thrusts of not trying to come before I exploded inside her, her body tight against mine and her boobs smashed into my face as we rocked together, both doing our valiant best to not make any noise as we came.

I couldn’t be completely sure, but I thought we’d done a pretty good job.

She stayed on top of me as we got our breathing under control and the blood stopped pumping loudly in my veins.

My gaze wandered out over the city, and I noticed there was a building down the street that was still very well lit despite the hour. “Hey, what’s that place?”

She turned to look and said, “Oh, they’re producing crossbows in there.”

“Just crossbows?”

“Mhmm. The best counter to being branded is shooting a Gorvani from a distance. Also, it takes vastly less training to get someone competent enough with a crossbow over a bow or sword.” As we sat there, our sweat cooling in the night, it became increasingly chilly. “Wanna get in the tub?” she asked.

“I sure do! Let’s get inside.”

The bath was separate from the shower, a large tub that we both easily fit inside. Once it had begun to fill up, I dipped my now freezing feet in and shivered. We slid in, and although the water was barely over our hips, it was an immense relief.

While more water flowed in, she gave me a pained look.

Uh oh. “What?”

“I don’t want to spoil the evening, but can we talk about tomorrow?”

“Well, that depends on what tomorrow is.”

“Oh, right,” she said, laughing. “I got sidetracked by the conversation about you and Isik.” She gave me a weird smile that I had no idea how to interpret. “Recall my plan to cut Telorn’s supply of the arcanae?”

“I do.”

“We’re heading to the second tomorrow to try and do just that.”

“Oh. Who’s ‘we?’”

“That’s what I wanted to discuss. I want you to come with us. There’s a group of soldiers — real soldiers, not the hopefuls that have flocked here — that will accompany me. The short version of the plan is this: There’s a facility in a town in the second that much of the arcanae flows through. One of the empire’s biggest mistakes while laying down their infrastructure was to not add very much redundancy in their systems. If we can permanently disable this place, it’ll cut a massive chunk of Telorn’s power off. 

“There are other teams hitting smaller facilities, but this one bottlenecks a lot of energy. And if we destroy it in a way that it can’t be repaired, it’ll take a lot longer for the royals to…do whatever it is they’re doing.” Her tone implied that she didn’t want to believe that the empire was planning on killing all or most of the citizens any more than I did.

“Sounds great. What’s the catch?”

She took a moment to turn and grab a glass bottle, uncork it, and pour a dark blue liquid into the water flowing into the tub. It immediately started creating a huge mound of bubbles. Her eyes flicked up to mine and her lips were pressed together. “The facility is in the middle of a populated town. And disabling it permanently involves blowing it up. Spectacularly.”

“Aaaand even though we all don’t want to die and need to destroy the Gorvani, you don’t really want to commit any war crimes along the way, right?”

“Exactly.”

“So I’m coming with you, right?”

She smiled widely and it crinkled her eyes. “I was going to ask, but yes. I would feel so much better with you there. Revana has too much to do and can’t join us, even more so now that she wants to summon more dragons.”

“I’ll absolutely come with you.” Honestly, I would have probably demanded it; as capable as Tiq was, she wasn’t a fighter, and I would have been overcome by worry if she’d gone off on this mission alone. “I assume you have some ideas on how to not kill everyone?”

“We do, but…could we discuss it tomorrow? I just wanted to know that you’d come.”

“Yeah, that’s more than fine.” I pulled her over and she came willingly, snuggling up against me amidst the bubbles as we sat and enjoyed the moment while we could.

17

In the morning, I awoke to Tiq’s soft snoring. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and reached over to pull a curtain open, letting in some of the early day sun. I turned to look at Tiq, who’d drooled onto the pillow. I shook her awake, and she snorted and flinched, finally opening her eyes the slightest amount.

She looked down at the pillow and muttered, “Ugh,” before flipping it over and smashing her face against it again. 

“Should we get up and get ready for the mission?”

“Not going until later in the day,” she said, half muffled by the pillow. “Lemme sleep.”

I kissed her on the cheek and slipped out of bed. After a quick shower and an even quicker breakfast, I headed downstairs and out into the streets. With nothing else to do, I figured I’d pay Isik a visit and make sure she was still okay. I found Mephina herself inside the Guild’s massive doors, and she led me through the hallways, which I almost thought I was finally getting the hang of. 

Isik was already up and sitting at her desk by the window, still wearing her set of soft night clothes. She gave me a weary smile when I came into the room. “Hello, Michael.” The bags were back under her eyes and her desk was filled with papers from the manor and many more in her own handwriting.

“Hey. Should you maybe go back to bed or something?”

“I sleep intermittently. It’s good enough.”

It didn’t seem good enough.

I must have made a face because she waved a hand and said, “Spare me your concern, Michael. I’m functional and this work is of the gravest importance. I can sleep when either I or the emperor are dead.”

“Uh huh. Does that mean you’ve made some progress?”

She ran her hands over her face and sighed. “Yes, although I almost wish I hadn’t.”

“Oh good! I was just lamenting the fact that things hadn’t gotten massively worse in the last…few hours.”

She snorted and laughed softly. “It’s not the worst news. Not for you, anyway. Just for me.”

“Oh no.”

She beckoned me over and shuffled the papers around. The desk was piled with the things we’d taken from the manor and a lot more beside, spilling out onto the floor and up against the doors to her balcony. “So, you recall that Gor’mina had plans to assassinate the Emperor?”

“Of course.”

“Apparently he never leaves the Font’s general area. Or only exceedingly rarely. So any attempt to murder him would need to take place there.”

“Where he’s the strongest,” I added.

“Precisely. And more to the point, she theorized that if he were truly threatened, which, let me add, has never happened, he would retreat into the Font itself.”

“Uh…like he’d dive into it or something?”

“More or less, as far as I can tell. He would submerge himself in the very tenebral currents, where no one could reach him, except another royal, perhaps.”

Well this was all sounding pretty shit. “So, can I hope that, just maybe, Gor’mina thought up a way to counter this?”

“She did, and I don’t like it. Well, I don’t like what it means.” It really wasn’t like Isik to beat around the bush like this, and I didn’t like where this was going. “She developed a technique to force the Font to expel the Emperor—”

“Like just vomit him up?”

She chuckled. “Yes. It will…vomit him up.” She shook her head and continued, “It must be performed by an extremely powerful tenebral channeler.”

Oh. There it was. “Do we have one of those? Are you powerful enough?”

She slumped down in her chair and groaned. “And there is the crux of the situation. I am the only Gorvani that could be trusted. And am I powerful enough? Well, I would be if I used the tenebral relic we stole from the manor, which is exactly why it was constructed. Gor’mina assumed she would need help in the assassination attempt and, of course, could not trust any of her fellow royals. So she planned to give this relic to a compatriot. It seems she never found anyone she could trust though, which might have been due to her psychotic nature.”

“You mean she wasn’t physically capable of trusting anyone, or due to how she was, she couldn’t attract anyone who would be trustworthy?”

“Yes.”

I laughed. “I see. Can I take it that the part of this plan that you don’t like is that—”

“I will be required to fight not only the royals, but the Emperor himself.” She closed her eyes tight and I could see the fear writ plain on her face.

I went over to her and took her hand in mine. I wasn’t sure she’d allow it, but she just let me, keeping her eyes tightly shut. “We’ll all be there. You won’t be facing him alone.”

She squeezed my hand in return. “It will have to be enough. I just worry that my fear will overcome me at a critical moment.”

“Don’t you worry. Once we get in there, engage him, and start mercilessly kicking him in the balls, he’s gonna seem way less scary than you’re imagining.”

She opened her eyes and just stared at me, her mouth slightly open. Her mouth worked wordlessly for a moment before she managed to say, “What?”

I grinned like an idiot. “Sorry, it’s a joke I made to Revana once. That’s going to be my method of fighting him, right? Just get in there and kick him in the balls until he’s dead.”

She covered her face with her hands and just laughed. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, Michael.”

“I know. It’s pretty funny though, right?”

She leaned back in her chair and smiled widely at me. “Yes, Michael. It is. It is pretty funny. I’ll try and keep that in mind when I think about the upcoming battle.”

“Well, I’m going to go check on Revana and see if Tiq’s ready to get out of bed yet. Speaking of which, maybe you really should get a little more sleep, huh?” I didn’t think she’d listen to me, but I thought I might as well say it anyway.

She looked over to the bed and sighed. “We’ll see.”

It wasn’t a no, so there was that.

I successfully made my way out of the building on my own with only one mistake in the twisting hallways, and I was pretty proud of that. I went back to Tiq’s apartment building to check in on her, but I was going to let her sleep if she hadn’t gotten up yet. However, I met her coming down the stairs as I was going up. She was dressed and had her new and improved device around her shoulders. “Oh! I wasn’t really expecting you to be up.”

“Oh, well, once you woke me up, I couldn’t stop thinking about the device and all the calibrations I wanted to do on it today before we leave, so here I am. Want to come with me?”

“Of course. I was going to find Revana first, though. Can that be on the way?”

“Oh yes. I need to pull energy from various points around town, but it’s not important where, as long as I hit a lot of them.”

We went into the streets and after asking around, it seemed like Osaarin was going to be giving another talk soon, so we headed that way. Along the route, Tiq engaged her device next to a lot of street lamps and inside a few shops, completely oblivious to the reactions of the people around us when a huge burst of lightning shot into her machine. She was careful to not kill anyone though.

We found Osaarin on the platform where he gave most of his speeches, in one of the larger open squares in town, giving a speech, of course. It was full of things I’d heard many times before and everyone already knew, but the way he spoke, the passion he put into his words that he clearly meant, riled up the crowd in a way I was sure I couldn’t have duplicated in a million years. I stood at the back, content to let him talk and not interrupt. 

To my horror, as I watched, the air behind him wavered and shifted, just like it had before Rykan attacked Isik. I tried to yell, but my voice was drowned out by the crowd. I attempted to push my way through, summoning my armor as I went, but I was much too far away, and as I looked on, a tenebrous Gorvani man appeared in the air behind him, dagger waiting to strike.

I felt, not so much as I saw, the shae being channeled behind him. Revana had been standing to the back of the platform watching the speech, where I hadn’t been able to see her. A shield of the shae wrapped around Osaarin just as the dagger made contact with him. He cried out and fell, and I couldn’t be sure if he’d been fully protected or not.

No time for that, though. I vaulted onto the stage, summoning my new warhammer, since I’d left my armaments behind. I swung at the man, but he shifted, teleported just a fraction, avoiding my blow. I tried again and again, but this one was far more skilled than Rykan had been, and I could do little more than get in a glancing strike here and there.

Revana joined in, covered in her own shining armor and with a glowing shae sword in her hand. We pressed the Gorvani, trying to flank him, but he was just too fast, blinking around with almost every movement.

I spared a second to see that the crowd had pulled Osaarin off the platform and was shielding him as best they could. Cries had gone out when the whole thing started, and people were running along the streets trying to find help.

Our enemy couldn’t penetrate our armor, but we couldn’t hit him either, so we danced in an idiotic stalemate while I worried about what would happen when he just blinked back over to Osaarin and tried to finish him off. Revana and I did our best, making some small hits, but his tenebrous nature closed up the minor wounds almost as soon as we inflicted them. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tiq standing just off the back of the stage, her eyes narrowed and her arms held out. 

We fought on and I tried to subtly direct our enemy her way, and while it was difficult and infuriating, once he was almost off the edge of the platform, Tiq engaged her device.

Lightning shot from a street lamp nearby, coiled into her silvery weapon, and arced out, slamming into the Gorvani’s back. It wasn’t just one shot, though, the arcanae just kept pouring out of the device and into the poor bastard in front of us. His entire body was rigid and he jerked and spasmed, unable to control his movements by the look of it.

After a few seconds, smoke began rising from his skin and it looked as if his eyes might well burst out of his skull. I spun, gaining momentum, my hammer in both hands, and in one hard blow, I knocked his head straight off his shoulders. It hit the side of a distant building and plopped onto the ground, still smoking.

For good measure, I smashed his headless corpse a few times. Who the fuck knew what kind of weird shit could happen.

Revana, Tiq and I went to the edge of the stage and looked down on Osaarin, who was sitting up but breathing hard on the cobblestone. My eyes went wide as I saw another telltale ripple in the air, another assassin coming to finish him off.

At the very second he materialized, before I could cry out, numerous crossbows twanged, the assassin becoming, in an instant, a pincushion. He took numerous bolts to the body, but a surprising number slammed into, and passed through, his head.

In a second, he was on the ground, little more than a pile of bloody meat. Whatever tenebrous powers he’d had, they weren’t a match for a stupid number of crossbow bolts to the back, which I took to be very reassuring in regards to the battle to come.

I looked back to Osaarin who, shockingly, had not taken a single bolt.

Close by, a very organized detachment of people came up to us, their eyes still looking everywhere for more assassins. A Surini woman with blond hair, ears, and tail came up to me with a huge smile on her face. “Greetings, Sir Brandless.”

Ugh. “Uh, hey. You can call me Michael.”

“Michael it is, then. I’m Cersi, leader of the newly formed and yet-unnamed coalition of crossbow instructors.”

“Oh, well, uh,” I looked down at the corpse, which looked to have taken every single bolt that was fired, “count me impressed. And thank you very much for the help.”

She smiled a huge smile again before spitting on the corpse. “Our pleasure, really.” She went over to Osaarin and helped him up. “Are you hurt?”

His eyes were wide and his hands shook, but he said, “No…no, I’m…I’m unharmed.”

Well, physically, anyway.

I leaned over to Revana and said, “We should get him somewhere safe so he can calm down.”

She nodded and jumped off the platform, offering him an arm. He towered a full head over Revana but looked for all the world like a shaken child clinging to his mother’s arm as we left the square. Cersi followed us after issuing some orders, and we made our way into a nearby house that Osaarin had apparently been using.

With nothing else to do, I wandered into his kitchen and made tea, because if I’d learned anything on Vendira, it was that its people loved tea. And I, of course, did as well. I fumbled through the drawers and pantry before I found what I needed, and I took some time getting the water kettle to work, because it didn’t work the way the ones I had already used did, because nothing is ever easy.

I was only mildly frustrated when I came back out into the sitting room with a pot of tea and a stack of cups on a tray. I poured for everyone and Cersi gave me an odd look as I handed it to her, maybe weirded out that Sir Brandless was waiting on her. Whatever.

Osaarin looked a little better, and his eyes brightened once he’d had a cup of tea. “Forgive me, I should be a little tougher than this, but…”

“You just stop right there, Osaarin,” Revana said. “It’s okay to be flustered and afraid after you almost got stabbed. No one takes that well the first time, trust me.”

“It’s true,” I said, chiming in. “It was a long time before I even started to get used to shit like this.”

He smiled weakly and looked at each of us in turn. “Thank you for your kind words. Perhaps you’re right. I…once I’d started to get the admiration of the people, I believe I created an image of myself in my mind. The dashing general, yes? But I’m not a fighter. I’m a speaker, nothing more.”

Revana slapped him on the knee. “Don’t you dare sell yourself short! What you’re doing out here is just as important as anything! The people need to believe in the cause, and they need to keep their morale up if we’re going to win this thing, and that’s what you’re doing!”

“Seriously, Osaarin,” I said, “you’re really good at talking with the people. Worlds better than I’d be at it. I was afraid I’d end up having to be that person. I gave a couple speeches. They went okay, I guess, but they’re not nearly as good as yours. And trust me, I’d rather fight than get up in front of people and talk.”

He met my eyes and laughed softly, “Really?”

“Oh yeah. Definitely.”

He nodded, a small smile still on his lips. “Thank you both. I think I needed to hear that. I’ll…keep doing my part.”

“Damn right you will,” Cersi said. “But don’t think you need to be watching your back. I’ll assign you a guard of four people at all times from now on. From my own people.”

He looked up sharply. “You’d do that? That would…that would make me feel worlds better.”

After we all finished our tea and the discussion died down, Cersi left with Osaarin to meet with her people.

Once we were alone, I turned to Revana and said, “I’ll be honest; I was surprised Osaarin was the target and not us.”

She nodded absently, taking the lid off the teapot and making a face when it was empty. “The empire’s trying to break our spirit, and a very public murder of Osaarin would be a good way to accomplish that. Besides, he’s an easier target than we are.”

“Good point. Any good news about the other dragons you’re looking for?”

She slid down on the couch she was sitting on and twined her fingers behind her head. “I’ve been working with the cult’s scribes, and we’re reviewing all the old research, so I think we’ll soon be ready to try, yeah.”

“Soon, huh? That gonna be soon enough?”

She glanced over at me. “Well, that’s the big question, isn’t it? But what else can we do but try?”

“Yeah.” I leaned back and sighed. “I’ll be glad when this is over. I mean, once this is over and we’ve won.”

We sat in silence for a while before she responded. “This is more stressful than it’s ever been, isn’t it?”

“Overwhelmingly, yes. I’m trying my best not to think about it.” I got up and went to sit by her on the couch.

She slid onto my lap and curled into me as we wrapped our arms around each other. “I don’t want to lose you,” she said.

“I’d love to promise you that you won’t.”

She nodded, her head pressed into my neck. I ran a hand slowly over one of her horns.

We just held each other for a while. I didn’t know exactly how much time had passed, but the shadows had noticeably moved along the floor. My thoughts wandered to a hundred different things, some good, some alarmingly bad, but I kept them quiet and managed to convince myself that everything would eventually work out just fine.

Tiq came in through the door, dressed in light leather armor and gave us a cock-eyed look. Her device was draped around her shoulders still. “Do I need to give you two some time?”

“No,” Revana said. “We’re just…taking a break.”

“If you say so. Seriously, I can come back later.”

Revana uncurled from my lap and slid off. “No, come in. There’s work to be done and I should get to doing it.” She kissed me on the cheek and made her way out the door.

I wanted desperately to say something more, to give her some real comfort, but there was nothing I could say or do. Except kill the Emperor and end everything. I groaned inwardly. One step at a time. “Is it about time to go?” I asked Tiq. It was odd to see her wearing armor. I never had before and although it looked comfortable enough, she sure wasn’t.

“It is. I sent a runner to get your weapons. Is there anything else you need?”

I’d already spent some time speaking with Revana and Isik, so I couldn’t think of a thing. “No, I’m ready. Let’s get this done.”

As we walked through the streets, it became pretty obvious that more and more people were recognizing me even without my sword and shield, which was…fine. Totally fine. I only had to dodge about twenty conversations along the way. Once we were inside the portal nexus, we met up with Tiq’s runner, who handed me my things with a look of complete reverence. I did my best to sound commanding or whatever he expected me to sound like. I don’t know that it would have mattered what I said though.

There was a decently sized group of competent looking soldiers waiting for us. I asked Tiq, “So do I get an actual briefing of what we’re doing now?”

“Yes! The plan, such as it is, is that we’ll rush the portal nexus, secure it, and then we’ll split into smaller strike teams and…murder all the Gorvani in the town. This is in the second province, so there’s still an imperial presence, but it should be minimal with most of the Gorvani being recalled to Telorn. Once they’ve been dispatched, we’ll infiltrate the arcanic facility while the rest of the team will make the rounds of the town and get the people out.”

I blinked at her and paused before I said, “That sounds like an incredibly messy plan, to be honest.”

She took a long, slow breath and said, “Yes.”

“It’s the best we’ve got, isn’t it?”

“Also yes.”

“Oh, another question. We’re portaling directly into the town? Don’t portals have to be activated from both ends?”

“They do, and we’ve sent a small team into the second from across the border in the third. They should be activating the portal soon. Their mission was to get into the nexus and use one of the emergency portals that aren’t housed in the main station. The town’s on the smaller side, so once it opens, our team should be able to rush in and gain control fairly quickly.”

I heard a couple shoulds in there, but whatever. Nothing to be done about it now. I found the public bathroom while we waited, as the tea had run right through me. I idly hoped that while I was in there, the portal would open, the plan would go off without a hitch, and I’d saunter out and we’d commence with an easy phase two. If only.

I came back out to find everyone milling around with a variety of unpleasant expressions on their faces, and the tension in the air was nearly tangible. I found Tiq who was wearing her own worried expression and asked, “Everything going great, then?”

“We should have heard something by now. If the other team can’t open a portal, I don’t know what our plan B is going to be.”

There was not a single reassuring thing I could say, so I just joined in, pressing my lips together and enjoying the looming sense of dread that was sitting heavy in my chest.

Everyone jumped when the portal flared to life, and the sense of relief that coursed through my veins almost knocked me over. We started to line up, ready to charge into the fray, but we all stopped and stared when Vashe came through, a pissed off look on her face.

“We’ve got a fucking problem.”

18

Of course we had a problem. Nothing could go smoothly, could it?

Vashe’s ears were twitching and she looked like she wanted to yell at someone. Anyone. “So this skeleton crew that was supposed to be manning the town? Yeah, the fucking Gorvani army is there. There’s soldiers and patrols everywhere. A few of us managed to sneak through and get into the nexus, but we aren’t locking that place down without a few battalions coming down on our heads. And forget wiping out the Gorvani presence in there; there’s way too many to even consider that.” She kicked a trash can over with a frustrated scream and slammed her hand into the portal control machine.

I looked over to Tiq and asked, “What do we do?” as if anyone was going to have any answers.

She cocked her head to the side, but instead of her doll-like expression, her face was still scrunched up with worry. “Removing the Gorvani won’t be possible. Extricating the townsfolk while they’re still there won’t be possible. Infiltrating the facility will be much, much harder.”

“What happens if we call this thing off?”

She shook her head. “The royals get all the arcanic energy they want and need.”

There was a lot of chatter and debate, but no one could offer a reasonable solution. 

Vashe had wandered off to maybe punch something else, but she came back and silently listened to the conversations, clearly getting more and more annoyed as time went on. Finally, she slammed her hand down and yelled, “Enough!” Everyone stopped and turned to her. “Not a single one of you is proposing the only plan left.” After no one rose to that, she scoffed and said, “We have to go ahead with the sabotage but forget the townspeople.”

There were various gasps and murmurs. I stayed quiet, and so did Tiq.

Vashe went on, “You think I like the idea? You think I wanna kill a bunch of innocent people? Well, I don’t. But they’re all gonna die anyway, aren’t they? Along with pretty much everybody else. So either we do this thing and stop the empire from getting what they want, or we wring our hands and those people die anyway.” Still, no one said a word. “Tell me I’m wrong! Someone, anyone, tell me I’m wrong!”

“You’re not,” I said. Everyone turned to me and I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach. “You’re not wrong. Unless someone can think up a better plan right this second, the only recourse we have is to bust up the place and…let the fallout be what it will.”

One side of Vashe’s mouth turned up in a grudging smile. She didn't say anything, but I think she was surprised I’d been the one to agree with her. On some level, so was I. But it was the only thing to be done, as far as I could tell. “We all knew fighting the empire was going to be rough. I didn’t think it was going to be kill a town rough, but here we are. Vashe is right. Those people are probably going to die whether we do it or the empire does it, so let’s just get the mission done.”

I expected some blowback from that, but these were soldiers, and as much as no one liked it, most could see the reality of the situation. Some few turned and walked away, and we let them go, but most of the group stayed.

There was some quick planning, and the smallest and most efficient group we could send was Tiq, me, Vashe, and Cersi. Tiq had to go because no one else had the knowledge to correctly destroy the arcanic facility, and the other three of us were some combination of best in a fight and most stealthy.

This new plan would work much better at night, but that was a few hours away, so all we could do was wait. Vashe went into the portal and issued some orders to the other two people that were on her small strike team, giving them the update and telling them to hold their positions. Tiq and I could have gone back to her apartment in the meantime, or went…anywhere, really, but we didn’t. The four of us who were going on the mission couldn’t seem to move or do anything more than sit around and experience a whole lot of dread. Some of the others brought in dinner for us and we ate it, still not talking, all wrapped up in our own thoughts. 

Finally, finally, the sun fully set, and we all exchanged terse nods before we went into the portal.

We emerged into a small, concrete room with the two other people in it, and Vashe quietly told them to stay where they were. If all went to plan, we’d be back and if the portal wasn’t there and open, we’d either be sprinting out of the town as fast as we could or…getting blown up.

We slipped out into a small hallway that had an exterior door. Vashe took the lead and Cersi took the rear as the two of them were the experts here. I did my best to not make any noise, but mostly I was worried about Tiq, who wasn’t a fighter or spy in any sense of the words. 

Her face was schooled to a cold neutrality, but I could only imagine how stressed she was. I knew how stressed I was. She stayed quiet and quickly followed any commands that Vashe or Cersi ordered.

Cersi had her crossbow readied and two full quivers full of bolts strapped tightly to her sides. Vashe carried a dagger in her hands and had a sword by her hip. I had my sword and shield, which I did my best not to bump into anything as we went. Tiq had her device, and I really, really hoped she wasn’t going to use it in a moment of panic, because it was extremely conspicuous and would give us away instantly if a giant, unnatural current of lightning flashed, leaving a crisp and smoking body.

At least one thing was going our way, as the night was dark and overcast, leaving a multitude of hiding places for us to scurry to and from. Vashe kept up a quick pace, and we all did our best to follow, sprinting from one set of shadows to another.

There were no citizens out on the streets, apparently owing to a heavily enforced curfew, about which I wasn’t the least bit surprised. There were regular guard patrols, however, and while they weren’t constant, they were enough of a nuisance that we were often crouching down in the shadow of a building or hiding behind a row of bushes much more than we were running.

The arcanic facility was obvious; it was a large building that dominated the smaller ones in town. I’m not sure why, but I’d expected something sinister looking like the sigilariums, but it was just a normal enough building, although the exterior was made largely out of stone and there were few ornamentations. There were still decorative features and carvings, but overall, it was a lot more like a building from Earth than any I had seen on Vendira.

Once we got closer, Vashe signaled us to stop, and we stayed sitting against the side of a three-story house while she poked her head out and spied on the guards milling about at the end of the road.

I could hear, just over my head, the sounds of a family coming through a slightly cracked window. I couldn’t tell what they were saying or doing, just that there were three or maybe four people, talking animatedly about something. A heavy lump of disgust sat low in my stomach. These people were going to get blown up soon, by us, and there was nothing to be done about it.

I was kinda surprised that my adventure on Vendira kept finding new ways to make me feel horrified. Up until now, it had been the varied and striking brutality of fighting and killing, but this time it was different. Innocent people were going to die. Well, that had been happening a lot, really. But innocent people were going to die because of me this time. 

Or if not me, the empire.

I suppressed a groan. This truly was a shit situation, and as much as I’d justified it, it was still pretty awful. I wanted to sneak up past Vashe and see what she was looking at, mostly to get my mind to stop spiraling into negativity. After what seemed way too long, she turned back to us and said, “We’re going to have to do this the hard way. I don’t think there’s any way for us to get inside without removing some of the guards.”

I nodded and said, “What do you want me to do?”

“Stay here, be quiet, and don’t fuck anything up. I don’t think an asshole in glowing armor cutting some people in half is the kind of thing that’ll go unnoticed.” It kind of sounded like she was doing the whole joking-but-serious thing, although she also might not have been since there was zero indication of mirth.

I just said, “You got it.”

“Tiq, stay here too. We’ll handle this.” She waved at Cersi, and the two of them bounded across the street into another set of shadows. 

Tiq and I both crept up to the side of the house, poking our heads around the corner, which I assumed would be fine since Vashe had been sitting like this for quite some time. At any rate, we were still safely concealed in the shadow of a huge tree. It probably would have been better for us to sit back where we were, but I wanted to see how this was going to play out and apparently Tiq was no different.

The street backed up to the tall wall that surrounded the arcanic facility. I assumed we were going over or through it and not just announcing ourselves at the gate or something. It was only then that I thought about how I didn’t know anything about the actual practicalities of this plan and was just along for the ride. I really hoped Vashe and Cersi didn’t get killed. Well, of course I hoped that, but even more so right then.

It was some time before anything happened, but when it did, it was fast. I barely saw Vashe as she crept through the shadows, and in an instant, she’d pounced on one of the Gorvani at the end of the road, her dagger flashing only briefly in the streetlight before she was dragging him backwards and out of view. The second her weapon was in the man’s throat, the other guard jerked and fell heavily to the pavement. I could only imagine he was sporting a bolt in the face. A moment later, Vashe’s hands shot out into the light and dragged the second body out of view.

“Wow, they’re good,” Tiq said.

“Yeah, I’m impressed.” I didn’t really want to say anything good about Vashe since she still rubbed me the wrong way, but there was no denying the skill we’d just witnessed; they’d made it look so easy, but one wrong movement and one of those Gorvani would have been waking up the whole town and we’d have been completely screwed.

“Should we go meet them?”

“No,” I said. “They told us to stay here, so we’re staying here.”

After some time, we saw Cersi in the shadows across the road, and she waved for us to follow. The blood hammered in my veins as we crossed the street, completely lit up by the streetlights. This wasn’t at all the kind of mission I liked, it seemed. I’d spent almost the entire time on Vendira getting into loud, obvious fights. And while I was confident I could win against anyone else in this whole town, that didn’t count for shit at the moment.

We followed Cersi through the darkened alleyways until we caught up with Vashe, who said, “Clock’s ticking until someone notices those two are dead. Let’s go.”

Apparently the plan was to go over the wall, as Vashe got out a short rope with a small grapple on the end of it. Cersi stood against the wall and Vashe climbed on her shoulders before tossing the grapple up and linking it around one of the metal spikes on top. Once it was secured, she climbed up and looked over the top. She looked down at us and shook her head, so we waited.

I really wondered what Revana was doing while we were out here having all this fun. Maybe there’d be more dragons when we got back. That was a thrilling thought.

Once the coast was apparently clear, Vashe leapt over the top. Tiq went next with a lot of help from us, and I looked on helplessly while she clumsily got herself over the spikes. I couldn’t see what happened on the other side, but I didn’t hear any big thumps, so I assumed Vashe got her to the ground safely and quietly. 

I was next, up and over as fast as I could, and Cersi followed shortly behind me, the rope in her hands when she dropped and rolled.

We were in a narrow strip between the perimeter wall and the building, which had no doors or windows on this side. Vashe gestured impatiently and said, “Let’s get going. I doubt we have much time at all before…”

I looked behind her in horror as, quite a ways down at the corner of the building, a Gorvani stepped around the corner.

Cersi’s crossbow twanged immediately. I wouldn’t have thought she even had time to get it back out after crossing the wall.

The Gorvani woman fell, but there was no way she was alone. I sprinted down the narrow channel, hoping the other guard would be too momentarily surprised to do anything. I rounded the corner in the shocked face of a man, and I saw him inhale, ready to cry out.

I stupidly hadn’t drawn my sword, so I punched him in the throat as hard as I could. He made a gurgling sound and grasped where I’d hit. I tackled him and slammed him to the ground, but the space was too tight yet to draw my weapon, so I frantically wondered what I was going to do. Should I try and choke him to death? Gouge out his eyes? Ugh. I didn’t have any claws to speak of.

Vashe was beside me in an instant, ramming her dagger into one of his eyes, keeping pressure on it and a hand over his mouth until he laid still. “Good work,” she said, and I was oddly happy to hear praise from her. I had kind of expected a rebuke for not bringing a dagger with me. 

Could I summon a shae dagger? Yes, of course I could. Probably. I’d have to figure that out.

There wasn’t anywhere convenient to hide these bodies, so we left them where they were and pressed on. There weren’t any more patrols between the one we’d just killed and the side doors we were headed towards. It was locked, of course. When Cersi knelt down in front of it and pulled out a set of lockpicks, I gently pulled her back. “I’ve got this one,” I said, feeling useful. I drew my sword, sent a trickle of the shae into it, and slowly slid the tip down between the doors, which offered no resistance at all. I pushed them open into a small room with five Gorvani looking directly at me.

19

Idon’t know if the Gorvani were expecting a delivery or a shift change or what, but they didn’t immediately jump up when the doors swung open. Surely they’d known they were locked, though? Well, how much would I care if I worked nights at a facility that was guarded by an army? I doubt I’d expect enemies waltzing in either.

At any rate, this was what I was actually here for. I summoned the bulkiest armor I could and ran towards them. I spun and slashed, kicked one man backwards out of his chair before coming down to skewer him. When I rose up, another was down with a crossbow bolt in the face. Seriously, could Cersi pull off anything but headshots? 

We killed the Gorvani swiftly, but not before we made a lot of noise, and there was no telling if anyone else in the building could hear. It seemed unlikely that anyone outside could, because we’d currently be fighting them if that was the case.

“Which way, Tiq?”

She started down the single hallway from the room that we were in, but Vashe put a hand on her shoulder and said, smiling, “I’ll go first.”

“Oh, yes, right. That would be best. We’re looking for the arcanic buffers or storage or something like that. I’m not sure exactly how it’ll be labeled.”

While we made our way down the white, brightly lit corridors, two workers stumbled out of side doors. Cutting them down didn’t feel great as they obviously weren’t combatants, but there was nothing for it.

Following the signs, we ended up going down a few floors into sub basements. “Hey, we’re going to have enough time to get out of here, right?” I asked.

Tiq nodded. “Once we set this place up to blow, it should take some time for the required energy to flow in before the situation becomes critical.”

“Should, huh?”

She paused before replying, “Yes. Should.”

“And once we rig it to explode, no one can reverse it, right?”

She nodded. “Yes, that’s the one thing I’m absolutely certain of.”

Well at least there was something.

At the bottom of the stairs, a door opened into a huge room with four massive machines made of endless lengths of tubes and pipes and wires, all humming loudly. “These are the buffers,” Tiq said. “We’ll need to—”

There was shouting coming down from the staircase, floors above.

“You three go on,” I said. “I’ll hold them here and meet up with you when I’m done.”

Cersi grabbed my shoulder, a concerned look on her face. “You don’t know how many are coming and you’re going alone?”

I smiled, perfectly confident in my abilities, assuming they were just common soldiers. “Seriously, I can handle this. You get Tiq in there and do what needs to be done.”

She didn’t look totally convinced, but she shrugged and gave me a small smile, “Well, if you say so.”

I didn’t wait for anything more, just bounded up the staircase until I slammed into the enemy, literally. I still had the heaviest version of my armor on, and I plowed into the first people coming down the staircase. It wasn’t a time for finesse; I left my shield on my back and summoned two shorter versions of my warhammer, one in each hand. They still had the weight of the magic behind them, and in the cramped space, they were a much better option. I put my shoulder into the soldiers and swung with reckless abandon. I had gone into the fight assuming that none of them would be able to pierce my armor, and that turned out to be right.

There was almost zero chance there would be one of the tenebrae-infused assassins here and a totally zero chance there would be any royals, so I was practically a juggernaut. I left broken and battered bodies in my wake as I made my way up the stairs, my hammers crunching bones and breaking skulls. Belatedly, it became apparent that this was a lot of soldiers I was tearing through.

This was followed by two thoughts. First: we had clearly been found out. Second: was this the only staircase down to the buffer room?

I spun on my heels and rushed down to the basements, leaving behind a confused group of enemies. I hoped they’d be scared away by all the mangled bodies they’d have to step over to follow me.

I burst into the room to see Tiq standing in the middle of the four huge machines. Her hands were raised up high and there was lightning shooting from all four machines into her device. Or out of the device and into the machines? There was a lot of energy flying around in any case, and it was the most mad scientist shit I’d ever seen.

I had to look away from the blinding light, and I saw Vashe and Cersi in a little raised control room at the top of some metal stairs, waving to me. I rushed up, stepping over a couple corpses on my way, and said, “I killed a shit load of people on the stairs. There’s more coming; we’ve absolutely been found out.” I chanced a glance down at Tiq. “What is it that she’s doing?”

“Fucked if we know,” Vashe said. “She told us what buttons to press up here and we pressed them.”

One of the four machines exploded in a shower of sparks, pieces falling off of it at random. Tiq continued whatever it was she was doing.

Cersi shook my shoulder and led me over to one of the control panels. “Hey, we found this. It can alert the entire town that something dangerous is happening. If we’re screwed anyway, should we hit it?”

I wanted to immediately say yes, of course, but would it be a good idea? “It’ll be a madhouse getting out of here if we do, won’t it?”

“Probably.”

Against my better instincts, I turned to Vashe. “What do you think?” I figured if anyone could look at this practically and not get worried about the morality of the whole thing, it was her.

She grimaced and looked at the controls. Before she could answer, another one of the machines failed spectacularly. Cersi rushed to hit some more of the buttons while Vashe looked at me and said, “Shit’s fucked anyway. Let’s do it.” She went over to the panel and started messing with it.

Assuming that was all under control, I went back down to the floor just in time to see the third machine give it up. The one still active was glowing with what had to be pent up arcanae. Oh, that’s the plan, then. That one was gonna go nuclear once we got out of here. Or if we didn’t. Tiq waved me over and directed me to a series of pipes that she wanted cut, so I got out my sword and sliced cleanly through them, the fear of being electrocuted at the forefront of my mind. I didn’t, though.

Just as I’d done it, soldiers appeared at the door, apparently having overcome the trail of corpses they’d had to traverse to get here. They stopped when they saw me. Or maybe when they saw the glowing machine that was humming really loudly. Honestly, it scared the shit out of me too. They looked back and forth, but in that instant, ear-splitting klaxons or whatever Vendirans called them started blaring out a wildly off-putting noise.

That was too much for the Gorvani, who turned tail and bolted back up the stairs. 

Cersi and Vashe came down to meet us and Tiq asked, “You activated the alarms?”

Vashe nodded. “The Gorvani all know we’re here. Might as well get as many of the townspeople out. Too late for subtlety.”

“On that note,” I said, “let’s get the fuck out of here ourselves.”

It turned out that there wasn’t another staircase down here in what seemed like extremely unsafe design, but whatever. I was just happy the retreating Gorvani hadn’t thought to try and barricade us in. Cutting through whatever they happened to get their hands on would have been possible but a huge waste of time we didn’t have.

We all rushed up the stairs as best we could, climbing over broken bodies and slipping in blood. It was pretty gross, really. The building was empty, so we didn’t encounter any resistance on the way out. Once we’d retraced our steps and come out into the night, we all stopped and stared. 

The alarms had worked. The streets were full of panicked, screaming people.

20

Iturned to Vashe and asked, “What now? Should we try to get back through the portal?”

She gritted her teeth and swore under her breath. “I…”

“Look,” Cersi said, “that’s exactly where everyone else is going. The nexus is going to be jammed full. We’ll be wading through a sea of people if we try.”

I looked at Tiq. “Can we make it out of the blast radius on foot?”

“No way to know, honestly. But if I had to guess, which I do, I’d say it’s probable, as long as we put enough solid structures between us and the blast. The shockwave will be one of the biggest dangers.”

“Let’s do it, then!” I started to run and the others fell in behind me. We went around to the other side of the building and I quickly cut a crude hole in the stone wall. Once we were on the other side, we were pressing against a tide of people running the other way. I wanted to call out and tell them to follow us, but no one was listening to anything and it would have wasted precious time, so we barreled through. 

As we went, it did become apparent that we weren’t the only ones ditching the nexus and making a break for it, and I noticed a few people gawking at my armor before changing directions. After a few blocks, we had our own following, which was fine by me. 

The houses and shops whizzed by as we sprinted out of town. I hadn’t been looking, but I hadn’t noticed any Gorvani among the crowd, and there were none in the group following us. The gate around the town soon loomed in the distance, and I chanced a look back at the arcanic facility. “Oh shit.” There were shafts of light poking out of the building where, I guessed, pieces of the machine in the basement had blown off and rocketed through the walls and floors.

Tiq looked back and yelped. “Faster! Fasterfasterfaster!”

I didn’t think I could, but I ran faster.

The area outside the town’s gate was rolling farmland. We picked the tallest hill we could and tried to put it between us and the blast.

I wasn’t looking at it, but I saw the light before anything else. I pulled Tiq to the ground and covered her as best I could with my body, pushing every last bit of the shae I could into reinforcing my armor. I shut my eyes tight.

The shockwave rolled over us next, a bone-rattling sensation that seemed to travel through the ground itself. I’m pretty sure being on the other side of the hill saved us all.

Then, the sound caught up with it. It was deafening.

I stayed still, wrapping my arms around Tiq as best I could.

Once it was over, I tentatively lifted my head and looked around. A huge group of the townspeople had come with us and were laying on the ground. “Tiq, you okay?”

She nodded, “Yeah. You?”

“I’m fine.”

Vashe and Cersi were close by and unharmed. 

“Hey, let’s get out of here,” I said to them. I had no idea how many of the townspeople were able to get out before the blast, and I really didn’t want to explain the situation to any of them. I just fervently hoped this was all worth it. Without any more preamble, the four of us set off into the night, following the road we’d come out of the gate on. “What now?” I asked.

“We head towards the third,” Vashe said. “That’s where my team came in, and it’s not all that far. We’ll stay on this road for a little while before turning off. Keep a watch for any Gorvani, but we didn’t encounter many at all on the way here.”

So it was that we found ourselves trudging down a country road in the middle of the night. The clouds were still thick overhead, and we stumbled in the dark without any moon or starlight to guide us.

As the time wore on, my legs started to ache. Vashe and Cersi didn’t flag, but they couldn’t be doing a whole lot better than I was. Tiq, on the other hand, was having a very bad time and it was obvious. She grunted and groaned, stumbling often, and was making a clear effort to keep up with us. She did not, however, offer a single word of complaint.

“Maybe we should take a break,” I ventured.

Vashe, who was in the lead, looked back at me and was obviously about to give me some shit over the suggestion when she saw Tiq. “Well…okay,” she said.

We all stopped and Tiq practically collapsed, her breath ragged. “How…much…further?”

“Not until sunrise, probably,” Vashe said.

Tiq leaned back with wide eyes, completely nonplussed. “...Okay,” was all she said.

We sat there for a little bit before three of us all stood and made ready to leave.

Tiq groaned to herself and tried to stand, her legs wobbling underneath her. When I tried to help her up, she waved me off, saying, “No! It’s fine. I’m…fine.” One of her knees gave out and she landed hard on her butt with a little, “Oof.” It was adorable, but I wasn’t about to tell her that.

“Hey, why don’t you climb up on my back,” I said. “I’ll carry you for a little while.”

“No, Michael! I’m perfectly capable! It’s…fine! I don’t need to be carried like a child.” She was on her feet again, but after a brief amount of walking, she was breathing hard again and falling behind.

I turned to her and said, “Just let me carry you for a bit.”

“No, I’m—”

“Get on my back or I’m going to pick you up in my arms. Which one is going to be more embarrassing?”

She looked back at me, shocked, her mouth hanging open like I’d offended her ancestors. She tried to reply, but just stopped short each time. Eventually, she closed her eyes and said, “I’ll get on your back,” in a very quiet voice. She hopped up and looped her arms around me and I slipped my hands under her legs.

No one said anything else, but I could feel how tense she was. 

I was a little surprised Vashe hadn’t taken the opportunity to make fun of her, but maybe the situation was too dire for that.

The time absolutely dragged by as we walked, and walked…and walked.

At one point, I was pretty sure Tiq fell asleep on my back, but she soon woke up with a snort and demanded to be let down. Before the night was over, I carried her twice more.

But finally, after the sun had peeked over the horizon, another town came into view. And since we’d apparently passed into the third province, there was no threat of Gorvani waiting for us there. Very few people were out in the streets and we made our way quietly to the portal nexus. The people there knew who Vashe was, so we were able to get a portal opened to the seventh in short order.

Finally, we’d be safe.

As we crossed through, a huge sense of relief washed over my body. As I stepped out, though, a strange noise was in the air. It sounded like a crowd…but louder?

“Sir Brandless! You’re back!” The attendant was overjoyed to see me. Too overjoyed? And also…afraid? What was that noise?

“Yeah…what’s going on outside?”

“It’s the Gorvani army. We’re under siege.”

21

Irushed out of the building, and at the end of every street I looked down, there was a barricade and a mob of people fighting.

So much for safe.

There wasn’t time to think or ask anyone where I was needed the most, I just summoned my armor again and drew my sword. I left my shield on my back, as I planned to eat any attack that hit me and keep on swinging.

I took a few steps and it became quickly apparent that I was way too tired for this. I’d spent the previous night fighting, fleeing for my life, and walking. So much walking. I pulled the shae into my body and willed myself to move, even though it really felt like I couldn’t.

I picked a random direction and charged.

I didn’t know what the other three behind me would do. I hoped Tiq would stay in the relative safety of the nexus, but I was sure Vashe and Cersi would either be right behind me or heading off in a different direction.

From what I could tell, our people had been pressed into a few city blocks, rough barricades erected between the buildings. We must have had some warning to get them up in time, I thought, otherwise the city would be overrun by now.

I hoped Revana was safe.

I screamed as I charged the barricade, the muscles in my legs burning and screaming with me; only the shae was carrying me through this debacle. I leapt over the top and landed in the middle of the Gorvani soldiers, crushing at least one as I fell. I didn’t bother to finish them off, I just swung away, dodging and weaving between the blows I could, letting the ones I couldn’t bounce off my armor. As I cut down enemy after enemy, I could see the fear in their eyes, and I didn’t think it was just because they were fighting me.

Was it Tiq who had said it recently? That the Gorvani army was mostly ornamental and had never done any real fighting. These weren’t professional soldiers I was killing, they were professional parade members, honor guards, and status symbols. But here they were, assaulting the rebellion, probably against their own wishes. Or maybe not. Who knew how brainwashed they all were?

These thoughts wandered through my head as I focused on the battle, but there was nothing the enemy could do to me. Even their crossbows plinked harmlessly off my armor, and more than once, a sword broke over my face. I kept looking for royals or the new assassins that would really need my attention, but there was nothing. Just an endless slew of rank and file soldiers with terror in their eyes as I cut them down.

After there was a sizable pile of corpses around me, the Gorvani finally broke and started to run, many of them earning a few bolts in the back.

It would have been nice to think that was the end of it, but this was just one road, so I ran, as best I could, back into the town. Or at least the part of town we still had control of. I picked another street and ran to the end where the fighting was the thickest.

To my surprise, I found Isik of all people fighting against the Gorvani. Not because she wouldn’t, but no one on our side was actively trying to kill her at the moment. She wore her tenebrous armor, but over top of it was a bright red cloak with a golden dragon’s head sewn into it. Her hands were bursting with the tenebrae, much more intense than I’d ever seen; she must have put on Gor’mina’s relic.

The Gorvani on the other side of the barricade tried to fight on, even though they were all clearly being branded. It looked like this place was wrapped up pretty nicely, but I leapt into the fray anyway, thinking if I could free Isik up, she could help me elsewhere.

It was even more of a massacre than the last place had been. The soldiers could barely resist me at all while the pain of their brands ran through their bodies. It was only a moment before they broke and fled as well. 

I rushed over to Isik. While it didn’t seem like anyone was going to turn on her, I thought it would be a good sign if I was seen talking with her. “Well this is a mess. When did it all start?”

She looked about as tired as I felt. I wondered if she’d slept at all last night either. “Scouts brought word in the night, with just enough time that we could erect some semblance of a perimeter and call all the people in. They attacked at sunrise.” She glanced around and said, “Our people are largely untrained, although many have received…some instruction with a crossbow, which was excellent planning. However, the army has turned out to be laughably underwhelming. I think the soldiers are less trained than our own people, somehow. They seem to have competent enough leaders, but whatever discipline they had evaporated on first contact.”

“Well, that’s something. Are you…are people okay with…you?”

“I have, for most of the battle, been at Osaarin’s side, present situation notwithstanding. The cloak has helped, and once I started obliterating the enemy,” she said, shrugging, “people have come around.”

“The relic’s working, then?”

“It’s…intoxicating. Yes, it’s working well.”

Didn’t really like the tone of that statement, but I’d have to come back to it. “Have there been any royals or assassins?”

She pressed her lips into a line. “No. I find this concerning.”

I didn’t like it either, although I couldn’t really put my finger on why. “Odd, but there’s nothing to be done about it now I guess.”

“Yes. Were you successful with your mission?”

I nodded. “We were, even though it was a complete shitshow for a lot of reasons. But we got it done.” I wearily looked around. “Well, there’s more to be done.”

She sighed. “Let’s go.”

We didn’t run. Isik didn’t bother and I didn’t know if I could. We turned a corner and found the barricades at the end of the road had been overcome, and our people were retreating. I held my sword up high and yelled wordlessly, pressing into the Gorvani. Some of our allies turned and regrouped, and a moment later, all of the enemy closest to us convulsed and fell as Isik branded them.

I didn’t bother with the ones on the ground, just stepped over them and hacked away at the ones behind, and in short order, they turned and ran as well. I doubled over, my hands on my knees as I struggled to catch my breath. The shae wasn’t cutting it anymore; I was about at the end of my rope. 

“Are you going to be okay?” Isik asked.

“I…I’m okay, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.”

I looked up to see the enemy we had just sent running coming back our way again, having apparently run into some reinforcements. 

“Damn,” I said.

My ability to channel felt like it was weakening, and if that happened, and my armor fell away, I’d be dead almost instantly. But there was nothing for it. I stood my ground and fell into a fighting stance.

The fact that Isik was there was the only thing that got me through that skirmish. I could tell she was selectively branding the people closest to me so I could cut them down with little effort. Still, I took many blows, my armor finally cracking as my ability to keep it solid waned. I strained and did what I could, hoping each blow was the last, but they just kept coming.

Finally, I began to see the Gorvani fall away around me without my help. They cried out or just fell, crossbow bolts sticking out of faces and chests. I risked a glance behind me and found our own reinforcements coming. As the enemy turned and ran, again, I finally let go.

I slumped to the street, my sword clanging on the pavement and my armor dissipating in a puff of light. “I…can’t…” I said to no one in particular.

“Get him out of here! Take him to the guildhall!” That was Isik. She was talking about me. Probably. Hopefully.

Many hands reached out for me, and I was lifted off the ground. I was pretty sure there were four people carrying me, but it might have been more…or less. I blinked, trying to get my brain to start working again, but it was too much, too hard.

Buildings passed by me and the sounds of fighting receded somewhat. 

But then there was another sound, something familiar, but different. It took all the energy I could muster to force my senses back into alignment. The people carrying me slowed as we all looked up into the sky and saw a dragon pass by, roaring and sending out massive balls of pure shae to slam into the Gorvani.

But then, there was another. And another. And then, one more.

I was pretty sure I was seeing more than one dragon and they weren’t just a figment of my overtaxed mind. They circled the city, all of them attacking mercilessly, wiping out huge groups of Gorvani.

I started to laugh, either at the thought that we were winning or that I’d finally lost it and gone off the deep end. Both were amusing to my broken mind, but I still really hoped that it was the first one. I tried to ask the people still holding me which one it was, but I couldn’t get my mouth to form anything resembling coherent speech, and I don’t think any of them heard my attempts anyway as they all stared up into the sky themselves.

When the darkness started to creep up around the edges of my vision, I stopped fighting and let it take me.

22

Ijerked awake, thrashing and reaching for who knows what. When nothing bad happened, I tried to open my eyes, which were heavy with sleep. I blinked and cracked them open, but the soft light shining into them was blinding. I laid back and felt a pillow underneath my head, and finally realized I was in a bed. Somewhere.

It took a while, but I was finally able to open my eyes and look around the room I was in, and the sense of relief I felt when I saw that it was Tiq’s apartment was overwhelming. I pulled the covers back up to my neck and tried to relax, but as my brain started working again, a truly ridiculous amount of aches and pains registered all over my body, along with a bone-deep weariness that I’d never felt before. Also, I was hungry. Extremely hungry.

And I had to pee. Pretty bad.

I debated on whether to endure it or not, but it wasn’t going to go away, so I gave in and pushed the warm covers off, just then realizing I was in my underwear and nothing else. Muscles I didn’t know I had screamed at me when I tried to sit up, and it took no less than four tries before I finally did.

Standing was no better. Not only were those muscles just as sore, but they didn’t seem like they were going to be up to the task at first. I would stand, only to have them give out, falling back down to the bed on my butt. Again, I considered giving up and getting back into the warm sheets, but now that I had made the decision to deal with it, the urgency to get to the bathroom was rising steadily.

I finally stood, and I stayed there, wobbling, before I attempted to walk. Thankfully, it was…doable. I made it into the bathroom and relieved myself, washed my hands, and hobbled back to the bed to fall right back in.

Once I was warm again, the thoughts of the previous…whenever it was…came slowly back to me. We’d been fighting the Gorvani. I’d killed a lot of them, and Isik was there. I overdid it. A lot, apparently. Some people came for me, and that was it.

I took a long, deep breath and wished I had some dulcet jumpers. And a huge pot of steaming hot hachi. Those were the thoughts that were running through my head when I fell back asleep.

Some indeterminate amount of time later, I was awoken again by sounds in the other room. I felt…better, but not good. I tried to sit up and had an easier time of it than I had, but it was still a chore. I fell back to the pillow and said, as loud as I could, “Tiq?” I repeated myself a few times, but I wasn’t sure my voice was even carrying out of the room.

The door slowly slid open, though, and Tiq poked her head in tentatively. When she saw I was awake, she came in with a huge smile on her face. “Hey! I thought I heard something.” She got a chair and pulled it over to the side of the bed and sat down. She was wearing a set of grease-stained work clothes, including a shirt that was probably once white and now never would be again. Her hands were covered in grime and I noticed she made a point of not touching anything. “How are you feeling?”

I smiled wanly. “Bad. Well, exhausted. Achy. Like I ran to Telorn and back, without stopping. Twice.”

She nodded. “All your bones intact? You know who I am and where you are?”

“Yes, yes, and yes. How’d the battle go? Okay enough, I’m guessing, based on the fact that we’re sitting here. Oh! Did I see multiple dragons before I passed out? Oh, and what day is it? How long have I been asleep?”

She endured my barrage of questions without interruption. “It’s been a little over a day. You slept for all of yesterday and through the night. Yes, Revana and Nir were able to find a few other dragons, and I believe are on the hunt for more, although I’ve only heard what people are saying; I haven’t spoken with her directly. The battle went…well enough, considering. We won, if you want to call it that, but there’s another problem now.”

“Well yeah. Naturally.”

She scoffed, but had a smile on her lips. “Once Revana came in with the dragons and they all started blasting the Gorvani, the proverbial dam broke. We were pushing them back on many fronts, but once they were getting attacked from the air with no hope of any real retaliation, they turned tail and ran. A few people managed to cut their way through to the command post the army had set up, and the leaders were all slain.”

“Royals?”

She shook her head, a concerned look on her face. “No. I heard a few reports that there were assassins, the newer ones, but only a few and while they were dangerous, they apparently couldn’t turn the tide of any of the smaller battles. I think they really were designed with assassination in mind, and were never meant to be front line warriors. As for royals? No, not a single one. No one knows what to make of it. Also, before I forget, there’s one other thing.” This line was delivered in a way that implied I was really, really, not going to like what followed.

“Oookay?”

She gave me a tight smile and patted my hand through the sheets. “It’s become clear that we need some leadership structure. We did fine this time, but if we’re going to press on and assault Telorn, someone needs to be at the head of…whatever we are. The rebellion? The resistance? We’re the dragon cult, but that’s honestly not descriptive enough for a lot of reasons. Anyway, we need someone to be a figurehead for people to look to, and someone whose responsibility it is to make the ultimate decisions.”

Great. “And can I assume by your tone that everyone’s already decided that it should be me?”

She gave me a pained look and squeezed my hand. “Yep.”

“Amazing.” I sighed again. “Do I get a title or something, at least?”

She chuckled, her eyes crinkling. “I’ll bet you could just say you do and everyone would go with it. I would advise against something like King or especially Emperor, though.”

I laughed and then winced as the muscles in my chest, and everywhere else, twinged with pain. “What about like, Superking, or TurboEmperor-God or something?”

She laughed loudly and with a wry smile said, “I don’t think you understand my advice.”

“Oooh…okay. Something a little more…modest, say?”

“Mhmm.”

I let my head fall to the side on the pillow. “I’ll think about it. And it goes without saying, but I’ll do it. The thing. Be the…leader or whatever. Not really something I’m qualified for, but I’ll do my best.”

“I think that means you are qualified. And don’t think you have to do anything alone. We’ll all be there, and we’ll talk things through. But the final decisions will rest with you.”

I nodded weakly. There were more questions I wanted to ask, but I was about at the limit of my head’s processing power. “I’ll try and get used to the idea. In the meantime, do you have anything to eat around here? I would like anything and especially everything you have.”

“Yes, yes!” she said, quickly standing up. “I should have had something waiting. Give me a little bit and I’ll head downstairs and get you something from the food tents. Don’t fall asleep!”

“No promises,” I said as she sped out the door while I immediately fell back asleep.

23

Tiq prodded me awake again, the smell of something good already reaching my nose. “Okay, okay. I’m up. I guess.”

I made to stand, but she pushed me back down on the bed and unfolded a tiny little table and sat it over me, after which, she jammed a few more pillows behind me so I could sit upright. “I couldn’t find any hachi, but there’s a jumper in there. Just one. They wouldn’t give me any more than that.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. You’re the best, Tiq.”

“I know.” She sat down on the foot of the bed while I started stuffing the hot food into my face. It was some variation of beans and rice with a sauce, but it might as well have been the finest steak I’d ever had for as much as I was enjoying it. It had been a day and a half since I’d eaten anything? More?

“Since you’re awake, there’s going to be a meeting soon of all the important people in the city, and we’re going to decide exactly what to do.”

“Bust up the shadowsphere and murder the Emperor,” I said.

She leaned back on her hands and chuckled. “Naturally, but there might be some practicalities to discuss.”

We heard the door slam in the front room and Revana called out, “Hey, are you in here?”

“Back in the bedroom,” Tiq yelled back.

Revana practically squealed when she came in the door and saw me…alive, I guess. “You’re okay! You certainly had us worried, sleeping for over a day!”

“Sure, sure,” I said. “But on to the real news: There are more dragons!?”

She beamed and said, “There are! Although when you saw them, there were only four. We’re up to six now!”

I paused, another huge bite on its way to my mouth. “Six? Six? I…how?”

She laughed and sat down on the chair beside the bed. “With Nir’s help, it was so much easier to open a portal. Not easy, but we did it. Luckily, the first world we visited was home to two more dragons. I’ll introduce you later. And after that? Having multiple dragons assisting in making the portals? Well then it was easy. We actually visited many worlds after that, searching for more. Some of them had your,” she said with a curled lip, “green grass. Anyway, when we came back to find the city besieged, we flew in and roasted as many of the Gorvani as we could.”

“Excellent timing. That was right around the time I was finished. But then you went out again and found even more dragons?”

“Yeah. We went yesterday while you were sleeping. It was all thanks to the work the cult had already done, mapping out places the dragons might have fled all those years ago. You can’t imagine how emotional they all were to see each other. I think they all assumed they were the last. Like I said, we ended up in a lot of places with nothing, but there were clearly more dragons than anyone thought. Once this is all over, Nir and the rest are probably going to hop around the cosmos and find anyone else they can.”

“Well, that’s just amazing,” I said around a mouthful of food. “Have you heard that I’ve been elected Superking?”

She paused and raised an eyebrow at me. “Super…king. No, I had not heard that.”

Tiq snorted. “I advised him to take a lesser title, but he’s already putting on airs.”

Revana blinked at the both of us. “Oh, are we talking about the leadership thing?” She smiled and said, “I think I’d also advise against that title.”

“Oh. Well, my other choice was TurboEmperor-God. Is that better?”

She brought her white-clawed hand to her face and tried not to laugh. “No, I don’t think it is, Michael.”

We chatted for a while longer while I unabashedly stuffed my face, taking special delight in the dulcet jumper. When there was another knock on the door, Tiq went to answer it, coming back to say, “That was Vashe. Since you’re awake, the…war council…is being called very soon. I have some clothes for you here, but you probably have time for a quick shower.”

“Alone?”

She tilted her head and looked over her glasses. “A quick shower.”

I laughed. “Probably for the best, anyway. I think standing there’s going to be all I can do.”

In the end, it was not all I could do, because I couldn’t even do that. I just sat on the floor of the shower and cleaned off as best and as quickly as I could, getting dressed also while mostly sitting down on a small stool.

I leaned on Revana as we went down the stairs, but once we were out on the street, I was determined to walk on my own. If I was going to be the boss or whatever, I might as well project a little confidence. Although I didn’t have my weapons with me, it was instantly apparent that basically everyone knew who I was on sight, which was less alarming now that I was getting used to it.

The war council or whatever was in the Carvers’ Guild, but instead of winding through a maze, we only traveled down a single straight hallway to get there, which I really hadn’t thought the building had. The space was a massive meeting room with a long table and chairs, all exquisitely carved, of course. There were places for Revana and Tiq, and Vashe and Cersi were already there. Osaarin was at the far end, and there were also a few people I’d seen but didn’t know their names. The chair at the end of the table, carved to look like a blaze of roaring flames, was for me. It would have been pretty exciting if it wasn’t for the crushing weight of responsibility that came with it. 

I sat down and tried not to wince as the aches and pains came from all my muscles, organs, and bones. I did my best not to slouch and kept a neutral look on my face, hoping that this being boss thing got easier as time went on, but I kinda assumed it didn’t. 

Everyone looked to me, because apparently I not only had to make the decisions but also start the meeting as well. “Thanks for coming, everyone.” Yeah, that sounded fine. “It’s come to my understanding that we’re lacking in leadership structure and hierarchy. With the time we have, we’re not going to get more than a rudimentary system going, but we should be able to organize things for the push into Telorn. What happens after that, well, it depends largely on how the battle goes down.”

After I got the ball rolling, we actually pretty quickly decided on a lot of things. I think that a lot of the decisions had more or less been made, but someone needed to be at the top to approve them. I made some minor suggestions and tweaks, but for the most part, I just gave the go ahead to everything people already wanted to do.

I’d still be the Brandless and the de facto leader, and the title we settled on was Warchief, which I suggested because it carried a connotation apart from a governing leader. Once the war was over, there’d be no need for a warchief anymore. Also it just kinda sounded cool.

Cersi and Vashe would both carry the title of General, which I was real leery about in Vashe’s case, but I couldn’t deny that she was an effective soldier. I just hoped that translated into soldier management. 

Cersi, on the other hand, struck me as someone we all should have put in charge instead of me, but she seemed a lot more comfortable with a lesser role. And between her and Vashe, they’d probably do a really good job. I kept in mind that we’d already held off a dedicated Gorvani invasion and we weren’t starting from scratch.

There was a little more discussion that I only marginally weighed in on, and then we got to the real topics.

“So, as…many of you know,” Cersi said while glancing at me, “When the Gorvani army that assaulted us broke, most of their people turned and ran. However, a sizable chunk of them laid down their weapons and surrendered. With nothing in place for such an eventuality, we’ve put them all in a few apartment buildings that we’ve sectioned off from the rest of the city.”

“We have…prisoners of war?” I asked. 

She nodded grimly. “And we need to decide what to do with them.”

Vashe scoffed. “As if it isn’t obvious. We should execute them and be done with it!” When the table erupted into arguments, she shouted everyone down. “We can’t trust any of them! They’re a liability, sitting right here in the city. They’re draining resources and manpower. You might not like it, but you all know they’d do the same to us!”

Osaarin slammed his huge hand down on the table, the sound bouncing around the room. “We’re not savages! And do you think they wanted to attack us? They’re as much the royalty’s tools as any of us were. Are we no better than the empire? Is that what we’re fighting for? So we can slaughter them all to feed our desire for revenge?”

Well, this seemed to me, a pretty easy decision. I held up a hand, and to my surprise, everyone stopped talking and looked to me. “We’re not going to engage in mass executions.”

Osaarin sat back and smiled and Vashe looked…pissed, but then she always looked pissed. She did not, however, argue with me about it.

“If we start killing them now,” I said, “it sets a precedent. I don’t know what any of you think we’re doing, but exterminating the Gorvani isn’t it. Especially not helpless people that are in our care. And speaking of the Gorvani, where’s Isik? Shouldn’t she be here?”

“I believe she went to speak with the prisoners in question,” Osaarin said.

There were two guards standing by the door. I pointed to one of them, a young Dravini man, and said, “You. Go find Isik and tell her we need her here as soon as possible.”

He quickly bowed and said, “Yes, Warchief,” before heading out the door.

Well that was pretty cool.

“Let’s put that aside until she gets here,” I said. “What’s the next order of business?”

The next item for the war council was…the war.

“We need to plan our assault on the shadowsphere,” Revana said.

“We may have bought ourselves some time,” Tiq said, “with our destruction of the arcanic relay. Although, that might mean that the ritual would have already completed and we’re on borrowed time, or it might still be weeks away.”

“Our people could really use more training,” Cersi said. “As of right now, most people who are willing to fight can hold and fire a crossbow, but for a large portion of our fighting force, that might be the extent of their abilities.”

“You say that,” Revana replied, “but we held off the invasion here. It turns out the Gorvani army is laughably undertrained, or is at least not battle-tested.”

Vashe laughed. “If half of them had known what they were doing, we’d have been wiped out. They know which end of a sword to hold, but most of those idiots couldn’t swing it to save their lives, which is exactly what they were trying to do. Stupid bastards have been relying on branding people for so long, they never figured out how to do anything else.”

“I don’t think time is on our side,” I said. “We could wait, Cersi, but could you really impart any decent training even if we gave you a week? Even that seems too much.”

“It’d be better than nothing,” she said.

“Still. Based on what we accomplished here, coupled with the fact that we have no idea how long we truly have, I think we need to start mobilizing soon. Possibly tomorrow. I’d love to give you more time, but I don’t think we’ll get anything of value out of it with just a few days.”

The doors opened and Isik strode into the room as if this was precisely when she’d meant to arrive. The red cloak was still around her shoulders, although underneath she was wearing normal clothes. She took an open seat and looked flatly back at everyone. “Yes?”

“We understand you’ve been speaking with the Gorvani prisoners?” Osaarin asked.

She scoffed. “Speaking to them?”

“You’ve been interrogating them,” Tiq said.

“I’ve been interrogating them, yes. I am an Inquisitor. How soon you all forget.” She sighed and curled a lip before adding, “Although I hardly needed to be. Many of them seem eager to tell me what they know with the barest of questioning, either out of a misguided belief that doing so will result in leniency or because they’ve all been subjected to so many horrors lately that they just wanted to tell anyone that’ll listen.”

“So you’ve been getting some good information from them, then?” I asked.

“Yes. At first I assumed it was a coordinated plot to throw me off, but so many of them are telling me versions of the same truth that it seems their loyalty to the Emperor is truly wavering. Honestly, it’s somewhat astounding. I had thought that a lifetime of propaganda would result in a completely tenacious, impenetrable belief in the royalty. But apparently that’s not the case.”

Vashe laughed viciously. “Those bastards are finally seeing the truth, are they? Serves ‘em right! What’s the Emperor doing that would make even a sniveling Gorvani turn?”

If Isik was offended by that question, she didn’t show it. “There’s a persistent rumor going around that the ritual inside the shadowsphere — which they’re calling The Great Barrier, by the way — is going to kill a large portion of the population. All the high ranking Gorvani have apparently been assured that this will only apply to the so-called lesser races, but as time goes on, people are less and less sure of that.

“Personally, I can’t see how it would work. I have extensive knowledge of the shadowbrand, and while it can denote caste, it’s never denoted race. Any ritual that would affect it would affect everyone. The only ones spared would be those without a brand.”

“Which is only the royalty,” Revana said.

“Yes. I’m not sure if the masses arrived at this conclusion on their own or if my colleagues have been disseminating it, but a sizable portion of our own prisoners believe they are at risk. However, they continue to follow orders for the most part because disobeying orders is a one hundred percent chance of immediate death. I should also add at this point that many Gorvani, although only channelers of the tenebrae, are being summoned inside the shadowsphere. Those that go never return, which isn’t helping any of my fellow Gorvani to believe we’re anything but expendable.”

“This essentially confirms the fact that the ritual is not only real, but it’s for the purposes that we feared,” Tiq said.

Osaarin shook his head, muttering. “They can’t possibly be planning on killing everyone.”

“I should imagine not,” Isik said. “But would they kill half the population? Three fourths? Probably. They view us as cattle. Culling the herd is an inconvenience, but give it a few generations, which is nothing to the immortal royalty, and things will be back to normal. They’ll just have to abandon some of the provinces until the population recovers.” No one answered this and quite a few around the table fairly gaped at Isik. “What? Are you all so surprised that the empire would go to extreme lengths to quash a rebellion? Overkill is literally the only thing they know how to do.”

“I think,” I said, “that kind of assuming they were doing it and getting confirmation that they’re doing it are different things.”

Cersi chimed in, “This doesn’t answer the question of what to do with our prisoners.”

“Right,” I said. “That. Isik, do you have any insight?”

She smiled humorlessly and said, “If you asked, I think some would volunteer to help us fight.” Vashe leaned into the table and started to say something, but Isik cut her off. “Not that we could safely trust any of them; I’m not suggesting we do it. But what should we do? I don’t believe there’s much of an option. We leave them where they are when we march on the capital, either leaving a skeleton crew to guard them, or not. I don’t think it wise to just release them before we leave for Telorn, and as much as I’m sure some of you would like,” she said, eyeing Vashe openly, “I don’t think killing them is a wise long term solution, but their judgment will have to wait until later.”

“It doesn’t sound like there are any great options,” I said. It seemed like this was what being a leader was mostly about, I mused: making crap decisions with no good choices. At least I was getting the full experience. “Isik, see if you can find out anything else useful from them. They didn’t have anything to say about the conspicuous lack of royals around, did they?”

“Oh, that. Apparently the army in Telorn is being led directly by the First Son, Gor’ven. I’ve only seen him twice, but he is, by all accounts, exactly as you’re all imagining him now. But aside from him, no one has seen any of the royalty, and the speculation is they’re all inside the sphere. Probably aiding in the completion of the ritual.”

“Has the Emperor made any appearances?”

“No, and that’s of no surprise.”

“Hmm…okay. See if you can find out anything else useful from the prisoners.” I turned back to the rest of the table. “We’ll keep them where they are now, and when we leave for the capital, a small contingent will stay here to keep an eye on them. Cersi, pick people who are competent, but keep our best with us. And I assume whoever you choose to leave behind is going to be mad about it. You can say you’re acting under my direct authority.” That was fun to say, too. “If they have a problem with it, they can come see me.” I really hoped no one would do that.

She nodded. “You got it.”

“Revana, are the dragons able and willing to help in the assault?”

She laughed softly. “If you thought it was easy getting Nir to come home to Vendira, you should have been there when we met the others. Not only did they leap at the chance to come back, but a few of them are thirsty for royal blood. They’re ready the second we need them. And if there really is only one royal to contend with outside the sphere, then you and I can rush him so there’s no real threat to the dragons.”

“At least something’s working out. What’s next?”

Vashe bent over with a grunt and started rummaging around in a bag before bringing out a rolled up paper. She smoothed it out over the table, and it was a map of Telorn. “There’s a couple different options for actually getting our people to the battle.”

A long discussion ensued, but it mostly boiled down to how close we wanted to try and get. There were many portal nexuses in Telorn, and the closer in meant less walking through the streets but more danger to try and open in the first place.

I looked over the map. “Any of these are options? There isn’t a big wall or something keeping us out?” I really should have known the answer to that; I’d been to Telorn and looked out over the city from the top of the Astrologia, but I sure wasn’t thinking about the logistics of assaulting the place while I was there.

That seemed like so long ago now.

“Nothing like that, no,” Isik said. “The empire’s power was already established by the time construction on Telorn began in earnest, so there was no need for primitive defensive structures like that.”

“Uh, the smaller cities have them.”

“Remnants from ancient times, mostly kept up for tradition and aesthetics. None of them use them for any actual purposes.”

It seemed like everyone had an opinion on this one, except me. I stayed quiet and let everyone else argue it out for once, because really, all the options had good and bad points. I really hoped I wasn’t going to choose the wrong one.

24

In the end, after hot hachi was brought around and we talked the subject to death, we just ended up picking a nexus in the middle range of our choices. I thought it was probably a lesson I could learn about saving time in the future.

There were a couple more minor issues that were brought up, but the meeting ended shortly after that. I for one was overjoyed. I’d never liked attending meetings even when I was the least important person in the room. But I thought I’d done pretty well, and looking back, I really had come a long way since I’d first been summoned to Vendira. My mind wandered to what might have happened if I never had been, if I’d lived the rest of my life the way it had been going on Earth.

I quickly shoved those thoughts away. Vendira was my home and that was that.

As everyone was about to get up and leave, I turned to Isik. “Stay for a moment, would you?”

She nodded and remained sitting while everyone else filed out.

Once we were alone, I said, “So you’ve been able to walk around without people harassing you?”

“Well, that’s one way of putting it. No one says anything, but I see a lot of naked hatred in their stares. I kept thinking I’d have to make a few examples, even though it would probably have been counterproductive. At any rate, unbeknownst to me, Osaarin had been working me into the talks he gave when addressing the people. Not by name at first, but eventually. So word spread of my involvement with the Celestori. When I appeared during the battle, it wasn’t a complete surprise to everyone. I’ll never be truly accepted, but I’m grudgingly tolerated for now, which will suffice.”

“Good enough is good enough, I guess. Are you ready for the battle? As in, are you able to cast Gor’mina’s spell at the Font?”

She sighed and looked away. “Yes.”

“We’ll be there with you. Don’t worry.”

She gave me her tiny ghost of a smile. “I don’t need your platitudes, Michael. I’ll perform my duties as best I can.”

“Well, we’ll still be there by your side.”

She scoffed and got up to leave. With her back to me, she said, “I know.” And then she was out the door.

I was able to slip out of the building without anyone else asking me to do something, and I thought it would be a good idea to be seen. And if I was being completely honest with myself, I was really coming around to the idea of being someone important. It was a novelty that would probably wear off, but it was something I’d never thought would happen.

Out on the streets, the mood was tense. Everyone knew we’d be marching on Telorn but no one knew exactly when. I wandered around, talking briefly with anyone who approached me, doing my best to raise people’s spirits, but I didn’t divulge anything that had gone on at the meeting. It would probably be tomorrow when we started mobilizing, but that was contingent on a few things, so I didn’t want to spread false rumors. I could only imagine how that would go. “But the Brandless said…” Yeah, that’d be great.

“Michael! Oh, Michael!”

That didn’t sound like a voice I knew. And despite my urging, people were pretty leery about calling me by my name. 

“It is you! Michael!” A black haired Surini woman rushed up to me, smiling widely. She looked…sort of familiar. She must have noticed the confusion on my face, because she laughed and said, “You don’t remember me, do you?”

“I…uh…” Oh, it was right there. Just on the tip of my tongue. Oh! “Oh! You’re…oh, I’m sorry. I don’t remember your name. But we helped each other out…getting away from those enforcers, right?”

“Yes! I’m Sera.”

“Right. And then…where’s, uh, Bairn? Oh, I mean…did he?”

She smiled warmly. “Yes, he survived!” She turned and waved into a crowd, and then there he was, coming towards us, his arm held at a weird angle. 

“Michael, it is you! Unbelievable.”

“Oh, I’m so happy to see you here,” I said. “I thought I’d just never know what happened to you. I’m glad you pulled through.”

He smiled and tried to hold up his arm. “I did. I don’t have a lot of functionality in this arm anymore, but it’s worlds better than being dead. And it’s all thanks to you. Those enforcers would have cut us down and there’d have been nothing we could do. We owe you our lives.”

“Oh, well, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Sera was smiling up at me a little too hard. “We didn’t know who you were. What you were. Just some stranger that was an enforcer, but then wasn’t. And as quickly as you came into our lives, you were gone. And now, look at this. You’re the Brandless.”

“Yeah…” I said, rubbing my neck unconsciously. “I suppose I am, but you can still just call me Michael. I’d prefer that over a title or something. What are you two doing here?”

“We came to help, Bairn said. “We can’t fight, but there’s a lot of other ways to help. Once we heard what was happening, we knew we had to be part of it. We’ve lost enough at the hands of the empire. And…is it true? Are we actually marching on Telorn soon? To threaten the Emperor himself?”

I held out my hands and said, “There’s no other way out. No one’ll be free while he’s still alive.”

We chatted for a little while after that, and I was insanely happy I got to know how their story turned out. Now I just needed to know how everyone else’s would turn out.

I spent the rest of the day being seen. There was nothing else I needed to do, so I wandered around, talking with whoever wanted to talk, and trying to keep people’s morale high. It was so much easier than actually getting up on a stage and giving a talk. It also helped that everyone, including people I’d never seen, already liked me. Or the idea of me, at least.

As the day wore on, Cersi found me and gave me an update on the mobilization. All of her lieutenants had been informed, but the plan was being kept from everyone else so they could sleep as soundly as possible for one more night. In the morning, things would begin in earnest: people would be armed and armored, divisions would be assigned, and battle strategy would be laid out.

I ate dinner standing up outside a food tent, talking with more random people. The mood was tentatively positive and I hoped it would stay that way in the morning. Once the sun began to set, I went to find Tiq, whom I hadn’t seen all day.

She was in her apartment/lab, still tinkering on her device. She didn’t look up when I came into the room, but she said, “Hey. I was wondering if you’d come see me. Finally get enough of parading yourself around?”

“As if. Should I really deprive the people of looking at my…awesome…presence?”

She laughed but still didn’t look up. “So awesome, indeed. Are you ready for tomorrow?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be. What about you? Surely you’ve upgraded that thing all you can.”

She scoffed. “Impossible. There’s no limit to science. One day I’ll be able to blow up the moon with this thing. Not that I would, of course. The moon is very important for many reasons.”

I cocked an eyebrow at her that she didn’t see. “Of course. What are you actually doing to it?”

“Streamlining its capacity to funnel the arcanae. It performed admirably at the arcanic station, but my hopes are that during tomorrow’s battle, once we get inside the shadowsphere, that I’ll have a chance to disable one or more of the Font’s six towers.”

“Oh…you’re planning on entering the shadowsphere too?”

“Of course.”

I had really hoped she’d stay somewhere safe, but that was a pipe dream and I should have known it. “Just promise me you’ll have Cersi assign you a group of bodyguards.”

“Already arranged.”

Oh, well that was something, at least. And she wouldn’t be trying to fight the Emperor directly. We hadn’t discussed it in detail, but only me, Revana, and Isik would be able to stand up to him, I believed. 

“Oh, Revana was looking for you. She’s up on the roof,” she said.

“Doing what?”

“No idea.”

“Uh huh…well, I’ll leave you to it.”

She nodded and said nothing more, completely absorbed in her work.

I went up to the roof to find Revana sitting in a chair she’d obviously carried up from Tiq’s apartment, and there was another empty one beside her. “Is this seat taken?” I asked.

She looked up at me and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s reserved.”

“For who?”

“The hero of Vendira.”

“Hey, that’s me! Or at least I’m the closest anyone’s going to get, I think.” She nodded thoughtfully and gestured for me to sit, which I did. “What are you doing? Just watching the sunset?”

“I suppose. Mostly I’m just worrying.”

I slid my chair closer and put my arm around her shoulders. “No need for that. We’re going to bust up the Emperor and blow up the shadowsphere. Easy.”

She laid her head on my shoulder, positioning herself so her horns wouldn’t poke me. “I wish I was that confident.”

I put my other hand on hers and said, “Truth be told, I’m pretty scared of tomorrow too. We’ve faced down a lot and made it through, though. So I keep telling myself we’ll make it through this. Just one more thing to do and it’s over. We didn’t come this far to only come this far.”

She laughed softly. “I like that. I like it a lot.”

“Something I heard somewhere. Wish I could take credit for it.”

She took a long, deep breath and said, “Do you remember when I summoned you here? That night in those old ruins? We fought Jorel and he was the biggest threat in the world at the time. And tomorrow, we’re going to fight the Emperor himself. 

“And now I can channel. There are dragons, too.” She shook her head, smiling. “I’m so happy this all happened. It really is beyond anything I ever actually hoped for.” She raised up to kiss me softly on the lips before putting her head back on my shoulder. “And you. I never thought I’d have anyone like you.” She turned in and wrapped her arms around me, and a moment later, she trembled slightly, tears running down her face. “But I’m so scared it’s going to end. That I might die tomorrow.”

I squeezed her as tightly as I could. “You won’t die tomorrow. I won’t let you.”

“I wish you could promise me that.”

I wanted to, but we both knew it’d be a lie. There were no guarantees. All I could do was hope and keep doing my best. As I sat there and looked down on her, I decided that if it came down to her or me, I’d throw myself in the way of whatever danger there was so she could live. She’d hate me for it. But I’d still do it.

The sun had gone down and the stars were twinkling softly in the sky. Maybe they were the same stars you could see on Earth, maybe they weren’t. I squeezed her tight again, and I wished there was something I could say, but there wasn’t. I held on to her as hard as I could while I had the chance.

It wasn’t quite time to sleep, and I didn’t want to get stuck in a depressing mood. There was no real way to talk ourselves out of that, so I tried something that would be distracting, and that I’d meant to bring up beforehand anyway. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. When Isik and I were fighting Rykan in the manner, I was able to teleport. Just once.”

She raised her head and stared at me with wide eyes. “Really?”

“Yeah. It was either that or watch Isik get stabbed to death. I’ve tried it again since, but can’t quite get it to work. It feels like it’s just around the corner, but so far, I can’t replicate it. Can you give me some help?”

“I…yeah. I know how the magic is supposed to work, but it’s an incredibly difficult ability. If you’ve done it once, though…”

She stood and closed her eyes, the glow of the shae surrounding her. I was pleased that she seemed to have already forgotten our possibly impending deaths, even for just a moment. Sigils appeared around her, and I did my best to remember what they were. Surprisingly, they were far less complicated than I’d imagined, which I told her.

It was such a weird idea, I thought, being shown how to do something I’d already done. Theoretically, I should know how, but that wasn’t the case at all.

She opened her eyes and shook her head. “It’s not a complicated thing to do, it’s just really hard. See the sigils I’ve made?” There were five interlocking runed rings around her. “They need to be summoned in the right order, and then empowered in a different one. They’re relatively simple.”

“What’s the trick, then?”

“You have to do it all pretty much instantly. The memories of how to do it are clearly in your mind, but you were only able to pull it off on reflex because you felt it instead of thinking about it. It also takes a lot of the shae to succeed. More than I can channel in an instant. Go ahead and try it. Oh, you’ll also need a very clear idea of where you want to end up.”

After a few attempts, I was able to teleport a very short distance, but wasn’t able to replicate it well at all.

“You’re doing great!” Revana said, “Really. I’m impressed you can do it at all!”

I got a few more small successes in before it was time to head to sleep, if we could. We went down to Tiq’s apartment to find her quietly snoring on a couch next to the table with her device. We crept by and into her bedroom, where we stripped mostly down and got underneath the covers. Revana shimmied up next to me and I wrapped my arms around her, hoping we could get at least a semblance of a good night’s sleep before the battle.

I closed my eyes and imagined what it would be like when it was all over.

25

“Hey, wake up, you two.”

Tiq’s voice cut through a dream that quickly faded. I opened my eyes to find that the sun had risen quite a while ago. “Did we,” I said, my mouth barely making out the words, “sleep in or something?”

Tiq chuckled. “We decided to let you both sleep for a while, thinking that having our two channelers well rested was pretty important.”

“That’s considerate,” Revana said, her mouth functioning about as well as mine had.

“We’ll be up soon,” I said. I couldn’t remember much of the night, just passing dreams and flashes of briefly waking to darkness and being pleased there was still time to sleep. I had thought we’d sleep poorly with the stress of the battle looming over us, but that apparently wasn’t the case at all.

We slowly sat up and let the sleep filter out of our heads. “Today’s the day,” Revana said.

“The last day of the Gorvani empire. And the first day of…whatever comes next.”

We took a quick and not at all sexy shower, both of us stuck in our own heads, worrying. I’d feel better once we were out on the street, moving, with everyone around us. We dressed and came out to find Tiq standing there, her device around her arms, making some last minute adjustments. She looked up and smiled. “There you are. Osaarin’s going to give one last address to everyone before we go. You should both be there.”

“If we must,” I said.

The mood in the streets was an air of nervous excitement. I mostly stayed away from conversation as we made our way to the guildhall, in front of which Osaarin was going to give his speech.

We stood behind him as he addressed a huge crowd that had gathered, and while he spoke with passion, barely a single word he said registered in my head. I was standing there the whole time lost in my own thoughts and nervousness. The people cheered intermittently, more and more ready to be moving as time went on, as was I. 

At the end, my attention wandered back around and I was actually listening as he said, “And if you ever feel doubt in our ability, remember this: The Gorvani attacked us here. They bothered to attack us here. Why? Because they know we’re a threat. If there was nothing we could do to stop their plans, would they have come? No! They would have sat safely in Telorn and finished whatever diabolical machinations they’re planning! We can win this! And they know it too!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd, and I had to admit that I was moved as well. I hadn’t thought about it like that before Osaarin said it out loud. But he was right. Not only did we have a chance, but we had a good chance. I found myself smiling, swept up in the moment.

Revana disappeared into the building afterwards without saying anything, and she soon returned with my mostly forgotten tunic, the holy relic that I had worn forever before I sat it down one day and apparently never thought of it again. Not that it mattered; it had conveyed the memories it was meant for, and afterwards it had no real function like my sword did.

“I don’t know if it’ll stop an attack of the tenebrae, but here. You should have it back.”

I quickly slipped my shirt off so I could wear it underneath, the soft fabric familiar against my skin. “Thanks. Any little bit helps.”

Cersi strode up to us with a concerned look on her face, her blond ears twitching. “Vashe and her team have returned from infiltrating Telorn and activating the portal, but there’s news.”

“And it’s not good news, I can only imagine,” I said.

She took a deep breath and shrugged. “Well, I can’t rightly say. It’s…unexpected. I’ll let her tell you.”

We quickly made our way to the portal nexus, Cersi’s determined stride and dour face discouraging anyone who tried to talk to us on the way there. Inside, Vashe was standing with her usual vaguely angry expression. Isik stood away from her, already wrapped in her tenebrous armor, the two of them obviously not comfortable in each other’s company.

“Let’s hear it,” I said.

“Okay, so,” she began, and I didn’t take it as heartening that she didn’t start with either swearing or a complaint, “Telorn was ludicrously easy to get into. The streets are basically empty, and the whole place feels dead.”

“You didn’t see anyone at all?” Revana asked.

“Oh there were plenty of people in the buildings, looking out as we passed by, but we barely saw a single person out on the streets. We didn’t get close to the city center of course, but I’ve got no idea what to make of any of it.”

“It’s weird,” I said, “but it doesn’t change anything, does it? The plan’s still the plan.”

“I guess,” Vashe replied. “There’s nothing there to get in our way. I just have a bad feeling about it.”

“Isik,” I said, “Any ideas?”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t fathom a reason, Michael. The last reports we’ve heard were that the city was still functioning in a somewhat normal capacity.”

A chill ran down my spine as I had a thought: what if the ritual was already complete, and the effects just hadn’t caught up to us yet? But no…there were people in the buildings, apparently. Well none of this made the least bit of sense. “Open the portals and send some scouting parties through before the main force, but let’s get moving either way. In lieu of anything actually threatening, there’s no reason to hesitate.”

Vashe nodded, obeying my orders without comment. It felt weird, but was a welcome change.

Cersi ran out to start issuing orders down the line, and within a short time, the streets of the city were packed with people, waiting at the nexus. 

“Let’s do it,” I said, and portals began flaring to life. There were more in Telorn’s nexus than here, so we were able to activate every single one in the building. And then our army was marching through.

I stepped out into the capital with a mix of anticipation and fear, the blood pumping hard in my veins already. Revana and Isik were beside me, though, which helped. I didn’t actually know where Tiq was; she hadn’t been at Osaarin’s talk. I just hoped she’d stay safe.

Vashe was standing outside, so I went out to speak with her. “Your scout groups are all out?”

She nodded. “Will probably be a little while before we hear back from any of them that matter. The palace is pretty far away from here.”

I wanted nothing more than to get going, but we weren’t going to start marching until most of our people were successfully through. Vashe was right; the streets of Telorn felt weird. I didn’t see a single person, whereas normally these places would have been packed, wall to wall. At Vashe’s urging, I did notice a few faces in high windows looking down on us. I briefly imagined kicking down a door and demanding answers. “Should we try and question those people?”

“I sent a squad around to knock on doors, but not a single person answered. I didn’t really want to give the order to bust in.” 

That didn’t sound at all like Vashe, I thought, but I agreed with her all the same. “Hmm. Well, once we move, I’m sure it’ll become apparent.”

“Yeah.”

We stood there in not quite comfortable silence while we waited for our people to come through. It happened so much faster than I thought it would. Partly because every single portal was in use and someone was doing a completely bang up job of organizing this — I’d have to give them a medal or something — but also because the concept of an army on Vendira wasn’t nearly the same as what I’d had in my head from Earth’s history. We didn’t have tens of thousands of people, lined up in endless regiments, ready to fight, and neither did the enemy. Thousands, we had, I was sure, but tens of thousands? Not even close. Probably. I didn’t actually know what that many people looked like. I’m sure the population of Telorn was easily a ridiculously massive army, but only if every single person was a soldier, which they were not. Even the actual Gorvani army wasn’t that big, comparatively.

I was shaken out of these random thoughts by the sight of dragons flying overhead. Revana yelled at people to make space, and Nir flew down and landed among us, her wings sending huge gusts of air past as she came down. I’d forgotten in all that was happening to even meet the other dragons. Hopefully we’d all survive and I’d have a chance later. 

Revana and I went up to her, and the first thing she said was, “I have news.”

“Good or bad?” I asked.

“Strange, unexpected, but good. Everyone in the city that we can see is at the palace. There’s a battle taking place there already.”

26

We stared at Nir for a moment before either of us could reply. Revana recovered first and said, “The people are fighting the imperials!?”

“This is what appears to be happening.”

“Like, successfully?” I asked.

“Unclear. They have not breached the Gorvani’s inner defenses, though.”

I shook my head and turned, yelling to Vashe and Cersi. “There’s already fighting at the palace! We’re late to the party! Let’s move, now now now!”

We ran. Well, we jogged, anyway.

We were still pretty far from the city center, but we made good time. Seriously, whoever was organizing our people deserved a mountain of praise. We were a massive column, taking up the entire street as we went. I could only imagine the Gorvani’s surprise when we showed up, not only as an enemy, but as reinforcements to a fight already ongoing.

I nodded to Vashe and Cersi. They’d be issuing orders and their lieutenants would be passing them down the line. 

We rounded the last corner, coming out into sight of the palace. I looked to Revana, and we both summoned the best armor we could and drew our weapons.

This was it.

I didn’t wait for any of our people; I just charged into the fray.

It was complete madness. We were in a huge, open square that led into steps that went up to the front of the palace, and the entire place was clogged with people. Some turned and saw us, calling out, “It’s the dragon cult!” before continuing the fight. These weren’t soldiers; they were common people in common clothes, and their weapons varied wildly. Some had actual swords and spears from who knew where, some were wielding farm implements as weapons, and some had chunks of stone and I swear I literally saw a board with a nail in it. There was a smattering of armor among the people, if you wanted to call it that. While I saw a few pieces of actual leather armor, many had cobbled together some semblance of protection from pieces of metal haphazardly applied to their bodies. It was all really a little post-apocalyptic. 

Despite their last minute armaments, they weren’t losing. 

I cut my way through the Gorvani, taking my time and extra care not to cut down any of our people, and it was not at all easy to distinguish who was who in the midst of a battle. The Gorvani were a different race, but still, I really took my time, since I figured killing someone innocent wasn’t worth mowing down the enemy.

I looked around and realized that none of the Gorvani were channelers, so no one was getting branded. I stopped and stood there dumbfounded, like a complete idiot, just so confused as to why the empire wasn’t doing the one thing they always, always did. My mind wandered back to what Isik had mentioned from her interrogations of the prisoners: channelers were summoned into the shadowsphere and they never came back. But all of them?

I shook my head. Apparently so.

I pushed my way through until I hit the Gorvani line and I rammed my way through it, bashing anyone in range with my shield, sending them flying. Once I was surrounded only by the enemy, I could finally let loose.

I danced along with my sword, cutting through people like they were butter. Their bodies and armor offered no resistance to my sword, and within seconds, I’d cleared a large circle around me, the ground littered with severed bodies and pieces. I didn’t stop, just jumped into more of the Gorvani, cutting and hewing where I could, and again, there was a clearing forming around me. I was barely even breathing hard.

Our soldiers funneled in behind me, bolstering the townspeople and savagely pushing the Gorvani back. I caught a glimpse of Revana a ways away from me, doing pretty much exactly the same thing I was. Without tenebrous channelers, no one could stand before the two of us. 

Nir and the other dragons were soaring above, sending down blasts of the shae into heavy concentrations of enemy soldiers. I saw panicked faces among the Gorvani, who couldn’t decide what to be more afraid of: us, or the dragons above.

The townspeople had been pressing the enemy before we showed up, but now that we were here with channelers, an organized army of realish soldiers, and air support, we fairly walked our foes back up to the palace and the base of the shadowsphere.

It loomed high above, almost reaching into the clouds. I could see the gate that must lead into it, and I changed directions, heading straight for it. Finally, the Gorvani broke before us and ran, although it didn’t seem like they had anywhere to go.

A massive wall of the tenebrae rolled through the battle, branding everyone it touched, Gorvani or otherwise, sending them all to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain. Revana still stood, but judging by her posture, it had still affected her as well. A booming voice swept over the battlefield and said, “YOU’VE RUSHED HEADLONG INTO YOUR OWN DEMISE, MORTALS. COME, AND RECEIVE YOUR DEATHS.”

That would be Gor’ven, the First Son. I was pretty surprised that he hadn’t called us worms, filth, or rats. So far, it seemed like each of the royalty had had their own personal insult for us. I guess his thing was not having one.

He turned and channeled at the circular, silvery gate, which promptly sealed off, the blackness of the shadowsphere flowing in over top, preventing it from even being seen while closed.

Amidst all the twisting and moaning people, I walked up the last of the steps to find him standing in front of the shadowsphere’s gate. Like the other royalty, his skin was the deep, dark purple of the tenebrae, and he wore the white robes from the waist down that they all had. But he had a crown, a silver, spiked circlet with black and red jewels set into it. His neck was draped with more silver jewelry, all adorned the same way. He held a massive halberd, taller than even he was, and it also pulsed with tenebrous magic. It was the first time I’d seen the royalty use a weapon that wasn’t just made of the tenebrae. 

He sneered when he saw me. Even though I would have been able to easily hear him, he still did the booming voice thing. “BRANDLESS. IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE YOU APPEARED. YOU WILL HAVE THE HONOR OF DYING BY MY OWN HANDS.”

“Get fucked,” I said.

He took a step back and his jaw dropped, his eyes wide in shock. I didn’t know if he’d expected me to go along with his whole hero and villain speech thing  or if it was just that no one had ever spoken to him like that before. It was pretty funny either way. His mouth worked wordlessly for a while; I’d really thrown him off his game.

I figured I might as well keep it up. “Well, come on, asshole! You gonna fight me, or are you as big a coward as your worthless emperor?”

He still didn’t know what to say, but he lowered his halberd and started towards me, his brows drawn down in anger. 

I’d expected him to rush me, but he was, unfortunately, not quite as easy to bait as the rest of the royals. I held out my arms and said, “Finally! Here I thought you might just turn tail and run, being all talk.”

Still, he didn’t rush me, just slowly came forward, his hands bursting with magical power that flowed down the length of his weapon. It was just the two of us; everyone had seen what was happening and no one wanted to get close to this fight. I risked a glance back and couldn’t see Revana or Isik, but the battle still raged around us.

I raised my shield and took a step towards Gor’ven, reasonably sure I could handle him alone. 

He moved, and it was fast. It wasn’t teleporting, but he was in my face in an instant, swinging the halberd with both hands. It connected with my shield and…damn. My shield held, but my expectations of this fight were shattered. I’d braced for the impact, my stance precise, but my whole body was rocked by the force of the blow and I skidded back, my shae armor leaving grooves in the ground. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened if I’d just had to eat the attack without my shield.

Since Tiq had made it for me, it had been a wonderful convenience, able to shrug off any and all attacks with ease. Now…it seemed it was essential. He attacked again and again, and it was all I could do to block, the force of each blow reverberating through my entire body.

I tried to counterattack, but there wasn’t any time. He was in my face, swinging over and over, and his anger wasn’t making him careless; each attack was delivered with perfection. I couldn’t see a single opening to exploit.

It became very quickly apparent that I wouldn’t be able to survive like this. He was going to wear down my ability to block eventually, and if I took a direct hit, I wasn’t completely sure my armor would save me. Nir and the others had directed a few attacks towards him, but he shrugged them all off, barely even acknowledging them, the shae practically dissolving as it made contact with the dark magic inside his body. I had to take a chance.

The next time he struck, I pulled in the shae and tried to calm the panic that was starting to rise in my chest. I channeled and quickly as I could, the image of where I wanted to be solid in my mind, I teleported.

I was off to the side behind him, facing the same way I had been. I knew which way I had to turn, and there was a wide opening as Gor’ven struggled to comprehend what had just happened. I slashed down his back, across his spine, and he screamed as the shae flowing through my sword sizzled and burnt the tenebrae out of his body.

His legs buckled, but he recovered before his knees hit the ground, the tenebrae already mending his wound. 

He roared, pivoting and swinging recklessly at me.

I ducked and managed to deflect his blow off my shield, but there was even more force behind it, and it knocked me to the ground. 

With superhuman quickness, he brought his weapon back around and tried to slam it downwards into me.

I teleported again, appearing some distance away, but still on my back. I scrambled to get up, righting myself just in time to block another heavy swing. I skidded back, but on the next strike, I teleported again, this time behind him but off to the other side. 

He turned, expecting me to be in the same place, so again, I had a wide open window to thrust my blade into his back, again severing his spine. 

He roared, backhandedly whipping the halberd at my face, so I ducked and rolled away. By the time I recovered, he was pressing the attack again, but I was ready, and I’d even thought of a new trick. I ported behind him, and when he turned, I ported right back to where I had been. This time, I was able to thrust my sword into his neck.

He dropped to the ground and I rode him down, keeping my sword exactly where it was. Once he’d fallen, I pressed my blade down through him and into the stone so the hilt was the only thing still showing, the sword kept neatly in place.

He wasn’t dead, but he couldn’t move and the shae relic kept him from healing.

I couldn’t resist taunting him. Maybe it was shitty, but he deserved worse. “Looks like you get the honor of dying by my hands, asshole.”

He tried to talk, but couldn’t. His eyes were wide and filled with fear, and it was so, so satisfying to see. I doubt he thought there was a chance in the world that he was going to lose this fight. I idly wondered if he’d lost a single fight in his entire life. It was too bad he wasn’t going to live long enough to really appreciate it, though.

Leaving my sword where it was, I summoned my warhammer, funneling as much energy into it as I could. Part of me really wanted to hear what he would have said at this point, but it probably would have just been arrogant, trite, and boring.

I slammed the hammer down into his face, looking into his eyes as I did so. His skull cracked but didn’t cave in. So I hit him again. And again. And again. And many more times. Eventually, I was just hitting splattered brains and chips of bone, so I stopped.

I performed the voice-amplifying technique and yelled over the battle, “GOR’VEN IS DEAD. YOUR LEADERS ARE DEAD. SURRENDER, OR JOIN THEM.”

27

The battle didn’t immediately end, although all the Gorvani that had witnessed me killing Gor’ven all dropped their weapons and prostrated themselves in front of me. It was kinda cool in a really awful way.

I rushed back out into the fray, repeating what I’d said as I carved through as many resisting enemies as I could. Although there were no tenebrous channelers left, there were still commanders in the Gorvani’s numbers, and they weren’t going to stop fighting for anything. I did my best to find them all and cut or smash them down. Without any real resistance to speak of, I left my shield strapped to my back, my sword in one hand and a smaller version of my hammer in the other. It wasn’t a really practical way to fight, but my thick armor protected me from anything they still had to throw at me. I felt a few arrows and crossbow bolts bounce harmlessly off of me, a couple even hitting me in the face. I found any enemies I could still fight and sliced them apart or knocked their heads off to sail over the battle. 

Finally, I found all the commanders I could, and I made a show of executing them. They were only killing their own people by continuing the fight, and there was clearly nothing to be done but remove them, so I did in a fashion that clearly sent the message to their underlings that resistance was only going to lead to death.

Looking around at what was left, it was shocking they fought on as long as they did. Our people, combined with all of Telorn’s townspeople, overwhelmingly outnumbered the remaining Gorvani multiple times over. 

“LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER. YOUR LIVES WILL BE SPARED.” That was as much for my own people as for the Gorvani. I’m sure there were countless people that wanted to execute every last one. I couldn’t say I blamed them, per se, but it wouldn’t help and was a bad idea anyway. I hoped that everyone would accept that as a command, and the bloodthirsty ones would be hesitant to cross the Brandless.

In short order, it was over. There was really no question of how it was going to turn out, really, once Gor’ven was dead. He was literally the only chance the Gorvani had. Did he think he was going to be enough? Probably. Arrogant jerk. 

Instead of finding anyone else, I stood over Gor’ven’s stupid corpse in front of the shadowsphere’s gate and waited for them to come to me. Revana appeared first, coming up and looking at the dead royal. She dismissed her helmet long enough to spit on his corpse. “Rot, you piece of filth. My only regret is we only got to kill you once.” She kicked him a few times for good measure. I loved her so much.

Isik came next, giving Gor’ven’s remaining body a wide berth. “You’re sure he’s dead?”

“I smashed his head into bloody chunks. They can’t live through that, can they? I’ll bet they can’t, because if they could, he’d be up and trying to kill me again.”

She nodded but said nothing more.

Cersi came briefly, and we talked about what was next, which was entering the shadowsphere, but there was a lot to be worked out outside, so she left to start issuing orders. It wouldn’t do for the situation to devolve into more of a bloodbath than it already was, so she started giving orders for the Gorvani to be herded together and guarded by our army.

This was going to be complicated and dicey at best, but I tried not to worry too much about it. Hopefully I wouldn’t be the one dealing with it, and there was still a massive part of our mission to fulfill before we really had to seriously worry about any of that.

I looked up at the dark ball of pure tenebrae that loomed overhead. “Just one more thing to do,” I said to Revana. “And then it’ll be over.”

“Did we have to save the hardest thing for last? Couldn’t we have gotten it out of the way early and just had some clean up at this point?”

“Shit, I wish you’d suggested that earlier. I left this until now for dramatic tension.”

We shared a little laugh, but it was mostly lost in the face of the enormity of the task ahead.

We approached the gate or at least where the gate was submerged in the dark channels of the shadowsphere. A little thread of doubt crept into my mind. “Uh…how do we open it? Isik?”

She came close but the side-eyed look she gave me wasn’t the least bit reassuring. “This isn’t just some ward, Michael. Or a lock to be opened.” She sighed. “I had hoped it would still be open. As arrogant as he was, Gor’ven hedged his bets. I’ll do what I can.” She lifted her hands and channeled, the amount of the tenebrae flowing through her nearly matching what I had seen the lesser royals accomplish. 

I hadn’t asked her how the first time using the relic necklace had been for her; I almost burnt myself out using mine. But she was Gorvani; apparently they had some sort of natural affinity with the tenebrae. At any rate, if she’d had a terrible, frightening time like I had, I doubted that she’d ever admit it.

We stood there watching her, her lips pressing together and her brows drawing down more and more as she channeled, trying a wide variety of different things to open the gate. I didn’t know what I was looking at, really, but it seemed like she started with trying to unlock it like a normal ward, despite what she’d just said about it. Then she segued into more brute force attacks, her magic slamming into the sphere, but they had no effect. After more failures, she tried some truly complicated spells, the sigils and runes exploding from her hands and swirling around us all.

The magic of the sphere warped, and for a brief second, we could see the shiny metal of the gate surfacing. Isik was struggling, pushing a completely ludicrous amount of magic at the gate, but as soon as it surfaced, it was swallowed back up again and she fell to her knees. She shook her head, her breaths coming in gasps. “I…can’t do it, Michael.”

“It’s okay. We’ll get in there.”

Revana and I joined hands in front of the sunken gate and channeled. At first, we tried just slamming the shae into it, hoping we could burn enough off to open it, but the entire sphere was a constant flux of the tenebrae, and any we burnt away was instantly replaced by an unstoppable tidal wave of dark energy. After a quiet discussion, we tried to push in, slipping through the energy and latching on to the gate itself with the intent of applying a few sigils, but that was even less successful.

After our second plan failed miserably, the doubt really crept into my thoughts. There was no way our journey was going to end here because of what was little more than a locked door. I drew my sword, wrapped myself and my armor in as much of the shae as I could and tried to force my way through the waves of the tenebrae.

I was able to force about half of my blade in before the current was too overwhelming, pulling it out of my hands and throwing it to clatter on the stone. I myself was twisted down and faceplanted. I suppose it could have been worse; I could have lost the sword in the sphere, never to be seen again. I went over and picked it up, aware of all the eyes on my back. 

Tiq, Vashe, and Cersi came up and we stood in a circle, all of us not wanting to say it out loud.

“Tiq?” I asked, hopefully.

She shook her head and looked up at the looming sphere. “I’m sorry, Michael, but this is one area where I’m not anything approaching an expert. I can shoot it with the arcanae, but I can almost guarantee it’s not going to work.”

“Try it anyway,” I said.

She nodded and stepped away from the rest of us to use her device. Arcanic energy was ripped out of a streetlight close by and crashed into the gate with a massive shower of sparks. She kept it up, but it didn’t make a dent or ripple as we all watched helplessly.

She stopped and sighed. “As I thought. The arcanae is a lower order form of magic after all.”

I felt like I was failing as a leader and a warrior. Whispers had started to run through the crowd and I knew we needed to keep our momentum or we truly would lose, but I couldn’t think of a single thing to do. We’d exhausted all three types of magic, and shooting bolts into it wasn’t going to work. But what else was there to be done?

With a massive roar and buffeting of her wings, Nir landed beside us as people scrambled to get out of her way. “Why have we stopped?”

We explained the situation, and then for good measure, she, Revana, and I all channeled into the gate again, but there wasn’t any appreciable difference in the result. 

For a moment, I saw the same doubt in her eyes. But then she shook her massive head and said, “If we cannot open the gate, then we will create a portal to get you inside.”

A portal. Why didn’t I think of that?

She must have seen the joy on my face, because she added, “It will not be a simple matter. You planned to have many of our number enter, did you not?” After I nodded, she continued, “That will not be possible. Creating such a portal will be extremely difficult, as it will require passing through the shadowsphere, and the disruption from the ever-shifting tenebrae will cause the portal to be unstable. It will take our combined might, and even then, I believe only a few of you will be able to enter. Will it be enough?”

“Yes. It will be, because it must. This ends here.”

It was quickly agreed that I, Revana, Tiq, Isik, and Vashe would enter. Nir was leery about even that many, but I assured her that all of us would be necessary. Cersi would stay outside and do her best to manage the army and crowd while they could do nothing but wait and hope.

We made a lot of space so all six dragons could land, and after a brief discussion, they agreed to create the portal. I could, however, sense that pretty much none of them thought portaling through the energies of the sphere was a good idea, even though we were only going a very short distance, as far as portals went.

Still, there was nothing to be done. 

They arrayed themselves in a circle, and we waited to the side. All of their eyes glowed bright with the shae, and then their scales, the golden magic flowing from their bodies to a point in the middle, growing and growing, until a portal appeared.

It was not like the others I had seen. It wobbled and warped, making the oddest noises I had ever heard in my life. It was like the very fabric of the universe was being stretched and it didn’t like it one bit. Honestly, that probably was what was happening. At any rate, the sound was not reassuring.

They all lifted their wings and leaned forward, pushing more and more of the shae at the portal. I don’t want to say it stabilized, but it did get a tiny bit better. Probably.

“Now or never,” Nir said, her voice coming out as a grunt as she strained.

“Let’s go! For Vendira!” I yelled, mostly to leave everyone outside with a tiny bit more hope. 

We went through the portal, and it was nauseating, even more so than that portal that we’d taken to find Nir had been. It was only a second, but it was awful. I landed on the ground, my head spinning and my stomach threatening to empty out everything I’d ever eaten before.

I laid my head on the cool stone and tried to breathe, tried to stop myself from vomiting loudly. Eventually, the sensation went away. I looked up and a strangled yelp escaped my lips.

Inside the sphere, shit was weird.

28

As I looked up, dumbfounded, at what lay above, I heard the others coming to their senses as well. 

“Uhh…” I heard Revana say.

The entire inside of the shadowsphere was ringed with undulating, oddly curved, pseudo-rings of the tenebrae, billions and billions of runes shifting in and out of existence on the inner surface of the sphere. Reality seemed to warp and twist with no reason or discernable pattern, and it looked like nothing was safe from this effect; buildings were twisted and pulled along with the light. Fortunately, this seemed to be mostly happening higher up in the…well not the sky, really. In the upper reaches of the sphere.

The ground was veined with long, winding strips of dark magic, cracking and faintly pulsing in an irregular rhythm. I tried stepping on a dark, forking line, and it held, so we wouldn’t have to be jumping around the whole time. Some of the tenebrae reached up and into the buildings around us as well, distorting their features and creating truly grotesque forms from the once beautiful carvings.

Most striking of all, however, was the palace itself. Or I should say the area where the palace had once stood. In place of the massive building which had been the size of a small city itself, there was a cracked and groaning ruin, pieces of buildings strewn about, their sides ending in jagged cracks or sometimes in unnatural, stretched lines. The six towers that powered the tenebral currents still stood, each one looming over the ruins and crackling with arcanic and tenebrous energy in a swirling mass. Any and all other towers that had once existed here were gone, even their bases indistinguishable in the destruction. In what must have been the center of it all, where I suspected the Font was, a huge pillar of pure magic shot up into the very peak of the shadowsphere.

There was light here, but it wasn’t from the sun. Some of the lights that had dotted the city were still functioning, but most of the illumination came from the arcanic towers above and their swirling magic. It all flickered like a candle, the shadows dancing in all directions as light came from everywhere at once. It was pretty disconcerting.

I looked over to the others and they were standing just as I was, staring stupidly out over the devastation. “Hey,” I ventured, “we should get moving.”

They shook their heads or blinked out of their revelry. Isik was the first one to reply. “Even I never could have imagined this. This is…madness, in every sense of the word.”

“More reason to put an end to it,” I said.

She closed her eyes and nodded, a small shiver running through her body.

I went over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Uncharacteristically, she didn’t react or pull away. “We’re all here together, and we’re going to defeat the Emperor together. All of us.”

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “Yes. Yes, we will.”

Tiq activated the device, pulling the arcanae from some random crack in the wall. Who knows if it had been part of the grid or was just some weird mass of energy there for no reason. Either way, Tiq nodded, satisfied. “Vashe and I will head to one of the towers and try to disable it.”

Vashe added, “And we’ll bust up anything else we can find on the way. Once we’re done, we’ll come help.”

“No,” I said. “The Emperor’s going to be too powerful to fight without being able to channel. I don’t want you to risk yourselves needlessly.”

“Screw that,” Vashe said.

I gave her a level look and said, “That’s an order.”

“We’ll do what we can,” Tiq said. “And if we can find ways to help, we’ll help, but we won’t do anything too risky.”

Vashe scoffed but didn’t add anything else.

I hugged Tiq tightly and Revana hugged Tiq and Vashe, and then with a few parting words, they turned and went off in the direction of the nearest tower. I tried to push down the thought that it might be the last time I ever saw them. 

I looked at Revana and Isik. “Ready to commit regicide?”

Isik snorted, smiling. “Yes.”

Revana looked towards the massive column of magic and said, “I was born ready.”

There weren’t any streets or paths any longer, so we just looked to the tenebrae spewing out of the Font and used that as our guide. We climbed over and under a city’s worth of rubble, and again, I was intensely grateful that the reality warping crap was happening high above. I did not want to know what it was like to get caught in one of those.

It was all truly post-apocalyptic; I felt like all I needed was some scrap armor and a cobbled-together gun and I would fit right in. There were bodies, of course. Apparently whatever had happened was quick and came without warning, as there hadn’t been a mass exodus. Many bodies lay in the ruins of homes and businesses, and I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like when the sphere had been created.

We crept on, silent, each of the three of us just taking in the carnage and not having anything to say about it. What was there to say? It was even more horrible than I’d imagined, and I thought I had known just how depraved the empire was. 

But then it got worse.

As we approached the boundary of where the palace proper had been, we found the Gorvani channelers, and they were dead. Maybe. It was unclear.

A massive ring of floating bodies encircled the palace’s crumbled outer walls, all Gorvani. They floated in the air, their feet dangling a little above the level of my head, and their mouths were open and their hands were raised, triple streams of tenebrous runes trailing out of each one of them. Their eyes looked upwards, unfocused and unmoving as the magic trailed out of them.

“What…what is this? Isik?”

She glanced over to me and back up at the bodies, her eyes as wide as they could go. “They’re…” She shivered violently. “They’re…being used…as conduits to help fuel the ritual. See the runes emanating from them? Their bodies are not channeling, but forming the pure tenebrae into more and more pieces of the spell.” She added softly, “That would have been me.”

“Are they dead?” Revana asked.

Isik paused for quite some time before she said, “I don’t know. Functionally? Yes, almost certainly. But are they still in there, aware of what’s happening? Possibly.”

“Well, I’d love to end their misery,” I said, “but the best way to do that is to end this shitshow.”

Revana and I kept walking, but after a second, I turned around to find Isik still staring at the not-corpses. I reached out and took her hand, pulling her along, and she blinked and said, “Yes. Apologies. I’m coming.”

At least one thing was going our way, since the palace walls were crumbled to nothing in a lot of places, and we didn’t have to find a creative way inside. It looked like this part of the place had been blown outward by a huge, explosive force, probably the Font spewing up all the magic to create the shadowsphere in the first place.

The entirety of the ruins sent chills up my spine and I was constantly watching my back, but there wasn’t a single living person inside the sphere with us. Except the Emperor, and…all the other royals we’d yet to kill. I had completely forgotten about them. “Hey, uh, how many royals are left, and how strong are they?”

Revana and Isik stopped in their tracks. 

“The…other…royals…” Revana said.

“Oh, shit,” Isik added.

“Did you both just kinda forget about them this whole time?” I asked. When they nodded silently, I said, “Well, that was pretty stupid of us, wasn’t it? I just kept expecting them to show up, but they never did, aside from Gor’ven, and then there were other things to think about. Anyway, how strong are they, Isik?”

She took a long, deep breath and thought. “Well, we’ve actually killed the strongest ones now. Gor’mina and Gor’ven were always rumored to be the most powerful. Gor’yen got eaten. Gor’drelar and Gor’shura are dead but they were both weak. One other presumably died during the events with the yargeth but I never heard enough details to confirm who it was, so that leaves…ten more royals.”

I stared ahead as a sinking feeling overwhelmed me. Only through a sheer force of will was I able to focus and say, “Hopefully we can kill some of them before we engage the Emperor. We won’t know what the plan is until we get closer. And with the three of us, surely we can overwhelm some of them, killing them quickly.”

“Actually, Michael, that might be possible,” Isik said. “They won’t expect me to be with you, and I can likely nullify much of their magic.”

Revana kept walking. “This doesn’t change anything. This ends today, because we’re ending it. I don’t care how many assholes are still here. We’re going to kill them all and that’s that.”

Isik and I shared a look, shrugged, and followed her.

29

The ruins got progressively creepier as we went along. At first, there was a lot of recognizable rubble, carvings, and pieces of buildings, but the further we went, the more the tenebrae had warped everything, making odd shapes and eerie angles. Pulsing lines of dark magic were interwoven into the material, giving the place an almost living quality, like we were walking through the innards of a massive, living creature. I didn’t like it, and judging by the others’ stoic silence, they didn’t either.

Finally, after a lot of uphill walking, we reached the lip of the crater that was at the center of everything. “Whoa,” I said.

It looked like ground zero for a massive explosion, and really, I was sure that’s exactly what it was. The ground was streaked with even more of the tenebrae, shooting out from a mass of roiling magic in the center, some distance below us. It trembled and hummed, but it was unmistakable what it was: another sphere. The column of dark magic spewed out of the top of it, reaching all the way to the peak of the outer sphere. 

“What…what do we do?” I asked. “We don’t have any dragons to teleport us inside this one.”

Isik motioned to the side of the crater and said, “Look closely.” There were bright lines buried mostly under the black magic, but they gave off a bright, blue light, and there were six of them arrayed around the center sphere.

“Are they the arcanae?”

“Isik nodded. “It looks like it. I’m not sure what they’re doing exactly, but…”

She was interrupted by an enormous, ear-splitting explosion from one of the towers that we could still see in the distance. The top of it was blown to pieces, the whole thing cracking and finally crumbling to the ground, throwing up a huge cloud of dust before the sounds stopped. 

“Tiq…Vashe…,” Revana said. “Hopefully they weren’t still inside.”

We watched as one of the arcanic lines on the ground started flashing erratically, pulsing and beginning to hum itself, and we saw the tenebrae being pushed away from it, if only slightly. Isik scoffed and said, “The arcanae shouldn’t be able to push back like that…unless you had a lot of it.”

As if on queue, the other lines that were visible started to pulse and glow, pushing away the tenebrae and beginning to force cracks into the ground around them. “Uh, should we…?” I said.

The three of us stepped back slowly, one foot after another, waiting and watching, unsure of what was going to happen. Suddenly, we heard a huge crack of thunder, and I doubled over, pressing my hands over my ears.

Revana was shouting something, and before I could react, she’d pulled me and Isik down past the lip of the crater. We tumbled away and scrambled to hide behind a huge piece of oddly smooth, magically-infused debris.

The thunder kept cracking, over and over and over again, then, even though I was looking away, I was blinded by an overwhelming light. I shut my eyes tight but could still see it; I couldn’t bring my hands over them because they were still covering my ears. The ground itself started to quake, and I wondered if anywhere was going to be safe.

I smiled to myself, thinking that if Tiq had set this entire place to blow, even if it killed us all, as long as the royalty died with us, I’d still be happy. It wasn’t the best outcome, but it wasn’t the worst.

The thunder and quaking continued unabated, making my ears and eyes hurt even though I was doing the best I could to protect myself.

It reached a crescendo, the entire world shaking so much I thought I might be torn apart, and with five bone-rattling cracks, it was over. The light faded, the sounds stopped, even though my ears continued to ring, and the ground finally calmed down. We all sat there for a few moments more, and I eventually uncurled myself to look at the other two. They looked back at me with as bewildered expressions as I assumed was on my own face.

Without a word, we stood and walked back, so very slowly, to the lip of the crater. The first thing I could see, or not see as it were, was any trace of the five remaining towers. All that stood in their places were massive clouds of dust.

The light emanating from them was gone, but it had been replaced by the glowing lines of arcanae in the ground, which gave more than enough brightness to see.

“She…” Revana said, “She caused a chain reaction. All the towers are gone…” She surveyed the devastation and said, “Do you think they made it out?”

“Of course they did,” I replied, hoping that by wishing hard enough it would be true.

The ground around the smaller sphere was little more than jagged rock and deep fissures. The sphere itself wobbled wildly as we looked upon it, stretching and shrinking, humming erratically and spinning faster and faster.

We saw the holes form in it as it destabilized, and with the gentle sound of a summer breeze, it dissipated into the air as if it had never been there.

What was left in its wake was the Tenebral Font, source of the empire’s power and our ultimate goal. I squinted into the distance, trying to make out what the little specs arrayed out around it were. “Are those…more channelers?” There seemed to be dark lines emanating from them like we’d seen from the maybe-corpses outside the remnants of the palace walls.

“I don’t believe so. Not in the way you mean,” Isik said.

We started walking towards it, and as we got closer, I was more sure I was right, and I said as much.

Isik just shook her head and smiled a tiny smile. “No, Michael. Well, yes, they are channelers, but not just channelers.”

She didn’t want to just say what she meant, but we got closer, it finally dawned on me. I was about to say it, but Revana got there first. “It’s the other royals.”

“Precisely,” Isik said. “At least we won’t have to fight them now.”

Revana scoffed. “His own children!?” Her eyes were wide as she threw up her hands. “Is literally nothing sacred? Nothing at all? He’d even sacrifice his children for this…this bullshit?”

“Are you truly surprised?” Isik asked.

“Yes! Yes I am! I know our lives are worthless to him, but all the lives of his children?”

“I’m sure he thinks of them as replaceable as he does anything.”

Revana growled, her claws flexing.

“Hey. Hey, look at me. We have to be calm when we fight him,” I said.

She pressed her lips into a thin line and valiantly tried to control her breathing. “You’re right. You’re right. But…he’s the source of all of it. Every single atrocity this fucking empire ever committed is his fault. Every sin. Every death.” Her breath started coming faster again, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “Everyone I’ve ever lost, every sorrow we’ve ever felt…it’s all. His. Fault.” She spoke the last words through gritted teeth. “Death is too good for him! Centuries of suffering and pain! Countless lives cut short! And now this!?”

I tentatively put my hand on her arm. She was shaking with rage. “His life ends today. It is too quick, and more than he deserves. But his life is over. All the years he believes he’ll live, we’re going to take them away from him today. It won’t feel like enough, but it’ll have to be.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “It’ll do, because it must.”

I took her hand in mine and pulled her gently along, hoping her anger wouldn’t get in the way of fighting the Emperor. I also spared a look for Isik, whose face was completely neutral. I hoped her fear wouldn’t get in the way either.

As for me, I didn’t really know what I felt. The end was finally here. All we’d fought for had led us to this moment. It was one thing to imagine it, but it was another to know it was happening, that everyone was outside the sphere, waiting for us to be victorious, which I could only believe that we would be.

We picked our way through the ruins towards the Font and our final goal.

30

As we got closer, it became pretty evident that the figures arrayed around the Font were indeed the other royals, floating in the air and spewing out a multitude of runes, many more than the other Gorvani outside had been. Unlike the others, they appeared to be more alive, their faces contorted in pain and their eyes darting in all directions. 

The Font itself was little more than a runed-carved, silvery, circular ring surrounding a huge hole in the ground that belched out the column of magic. “I expected it to be a little more flashy,” I said.

“When the palace still stood, it was,” Isik replied.

“So where is he?” Revana asked.

“I don’t know, but these bastards sure don’t look like they can fight back,” I said, drawing my sword. I pulled on the foot of the nearest royal, and she floated down easily. Her eyes were wide with fear and pain, dark runes exploding out of her very mouth. I thought it was almost a mercy as I sliced her head cleanly off. Her body fell to the ground and withered into a dry husk as we watched. “Well, nothing else to do, yet.” I picked the next royal in the line, a man, and did the same to him, his body withering just as the first one had.

“Stop,” a voice said. It didn’t boom or reverberate, but it was loud and seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, or maybe was being pushed into my mind directly.

A huge form walked calmly out of the bursting magic of the font, and then standing there before us was Emperor Gorva himself. He wore the same robes as the rest of the royals, but his were black instead of white, and he wore no jewelry with them.

To say his body was like the royals’ was to say that a light bulb was like the sun. He wasn’t infused with the tenebrae; he seemed to be made from it. He was a walking avatar of magic, any semblance of being a person long gone. He stood a head taller than me and was heavily muscled, and while it was difficult to make out the features of his face, he seemed to be smiling at us. 

The odd voice sounded again as he said, “Greetings, champions. Channelers of the shae.” He shook his head and laughed. “I thought I wiped out your kind long ago, but I thought the same of dragonkind. How thoughtful of you to bring them back to me. Once I’m done with you, I can eradicate that nuisance once and for all.”

“You’ll be doing nothing of the sort, you fuck,” Revana spat. “Because you’re dying here today!”

“Is that what you think? You believe that because you’ve been able to best my children, that you’re a match for me? How little you understand.”

“This ritual,” I said, “you’d kill everyone? Lay waste to the entire empire you built? You’d kill your own kin for it?”

He gazed calmly up at the royals and said, “If they’re strong, they’ll survive this. And if not, they won’t. More can always be raised to their places. And my empire will not die. It will be broken and remade anew. I have new ideas for its next iteration. 

“Your people won’t all die. Only seven or eight out of ten. The ones remaining will be strong, and in a few generations, they will have multiplied, as you are wont to do. We will rebuild, and this pathetic rebellion will be forgotten.”

“Traitor to your own people,” Isik said softly.

Gorva looked at her, as if noticing her for the first time. “Inquisitor. Well, you’re not the first to turn.” His eyes narrowed and he said, “What is that around your neck? I feel Gor’mina’s touch upon it.” Laughing, he added, “It won’t aid you in this fight. None of you understand what you face. I am eternal. I will rule this world without end. It is mine.”

“Well, I think we’ve listened to quite enough of this bullshit,” I said. “Let’s see just how eternal you really are!” I rushed at him, my sword held high, and with all the power I could muster, I brought it down towards his face.

He barely moved. He batted it away with his bare hand, nearly knocking me off balance with the force behind the subtle movement. My blade didn’t slice into him, but the connection of the shae and tenebrae sparked briefly where it made contact. It was difficult to see his expression as his face was made of dark magic, but I could see that he flinched. Only very, very softly.

But he did flinch.

“We can do this! The empire dies today!” I cried.

I attacked again and again, drawing on every inherited memory of battle that I could, varying my strikes, feinting, and aiming towards the parts where I could inflict the most damage. Revana glowed, opening portals of the shae to rain down endless projectiles on him.

Isik stood back, whether in fear or waiting for an opportunity, I couldn’t tell.

Gorva hardly moved; he batted my attacks away and just weathered Revana’s. While it might have been uncomfortable for him, it was quickly obvious that we weren’t doing anything substantial. 

I switched tactics, sheathing my sword and summoning my warhammer. I put as much magical weight behind it as I could. While he still swatted my attacks away, his smile faded as he put more effort into each deflection. After a few more blows, I teleported behind him, the momentum carrying through as I turned and swung. I made contact with the back of his head, the blow solid and sending him stumbling forward.

He turned with a scowl on his face, the tenebrae exploding from his hands. I readied my shield for the attack, but he teleported and slammed his fist into my side.

I flew across the open ground, tumbling and flipping, my body crashing into all manner of jagged stone. I really should have expected him to be able to teleport as well. But I hadn’t. The pain in my side where I’d been struck was intense, but my armor protected me from at least some of it.

I scrambled to stand, drawing my sword again, my only thought being that I needed to have his attention; I didn’t know if Revana or Isik could last against him for any amount of time. I looked back, but he was just standing there, batting aside every attack Revana could throw at him. 

Isik was backing away slowly, her hands trembling.

I ran back towards Gorva and yelled, “Isik! Help us! We need you!”

The Emperor laughed loudly and said, “She knows her place, as should you all. There’s nothing any of you can possibly do.”

Just before I got to him, I leapt into the air, bringing my sword down in an overhand strike. He held up a hand to catch it, an amused expression on his face, but just before I made contact, the tenebrae burst into existence along my blade.

For the tiniest fraction of a second, I could see Gorva’s eyes narrow in confusion; it wasn’t his power that was coating my sword.

My relic, which has struggled to cut his flesh at all, passed cleanly through his palm and sliced his arm in two, stopping just before his elbow. I didn’t quite understand what had happened. Isik had clearly done something to my sword, circumventing his defenses, and I wasn’t about to question something that worked so well.

He howled in pain and teleported away from me, a look of pure rage on his face. The two pieces of his arm came together and mended as we watched, healing back to perfect in seconds. But it had hurt him. And seriously pissed him off. He looked to Isik, whose eyes went wide under his gaze.

He ported, but I knew it was coming. He appeared in front of Isik, a swift, shadow-infused blow aimed right at her face. But I was there in an instant, and I cut his hand off and knocked his arm aside before the strike could land.

Again, he ported back, the same look on his face. “How dare you,” he said in a low voice. “You are not worthy of even seeing one such as I. You dare attack me in this way? I’m going to keep you alive for years, the agony you’ll experience will—”

I ported into his face, and when he tried to hit me with his already regenerated hand, I ported behind him and spun, my sword passing through the back of his neck. I expected him to collapse like the first son had, but he turned and tried to hit me again. Apparently his healing was much faster than his children’s.

“ENOUGH,” he roared, his amplified voice booming across the ruins, rattling my bones and shaking the ground. He ported away and raised his hands, which pulled huge lines of magic from the Font. A thousand thousand dark circles opened in the air above, ready to shower us with countless projectiles.

I ported to Isik and Revana, who, thankfully, were standing close together. Revana grabbed my arm without a word, and I pushed as much of the shae to her as I could. Seconds before the magical swords and spears and formless masses of black energy that burst forth from the portals annihilated us, Revana formed a dome of the shae around us.

The rain of attacks pummeled the dome without end. As the moments crept by, Revana started to struggle. “I can’t hold this forever,” she said through gritted teeth.

“He’s drawing directly from the Font. I don’t think he’s going to stop.” Isik said.

“I’ll just have to make him,” I said. I teleported out from under our protection to just behind where I knew Gorva was. He floated in the air, his feet dangling above my head, but he was so invested in his assault that he didn’t seem to realize I was there. I had planned to slice into his neck again and hopefully cut off his head, but he was too high. I also wanted to make sure whatever I did made him lose all focus or he might be able to keep casting and crack Revana’s dome. If he did that, she and Isik were both dead.

I crouched down, and with all my might, I shoved my blade straight up his ass.

He screamed in shock and rage, his whole body rigid as every single one of his magical portals winked out of existence. I wanted to slice forward and out, but he kicked me in the face and I stepped back, my blade coming free. 

He ported away and just looked at me, his face a rictus of embarrassment, rage, and shock. I had seen a lot of satisfying expressions on Gorvani faces during my time on Vendira, but this was a new, clear winner by a wide margin. “YOU…YOU WILL…ALL…” His mouth worked soundlessly for a little while before he was able to speak again. “YOU WILL…ALL SUFFER…YOUR SUFFERING…WILL…”

Isik and Revana burst out laughing, doubling over and staring right into his face as they did. While his reaction was pretty funny, I didn’t like that they were openly taunting him. I made ready to be at their side in a second.

Gorva did indeed port straight to them, the tenebrae bursting from his hands, but in that second, a massive ring of the shae flared into life underneath his feet, a complicated sigil of glowing runes that raised up from the ground through an encompassing layer of shadows, wrapping itself around him and binding his arms tightly to his body.

For a second, I stared, dumbfounded, but then it clicked into place. Revana had laid a trap and Isik had covered it up with the tenebrae. They’d known exactly what they were doing when they laughed in his face.

The sigil held tightly, sparking and flaring as the shae burned into his skin. I ported over, ready to strike, but he was finally able to burst free in a blast of power. 

I was knocked back. Revana and Isik ran, fear replacing their mirth. Gorva ported behind them, his hands overhead, but again, another sigil formed under his feet and snapped into place, holding him tight.

How many traps had they laid? Had they been doing it during the whole fight?

Wasting no time, I appeared beside him, ready to strike. His arms were pinned, but as soon as I swung, he opened his mouth, expelling a huge cloud of the tenebrae. It wasn’t an attack, really, but it surprised me, my blade missing its mark and driving down into his shoulder.

Again, he was able to break free from the trap, but I could hear his labored breathing. It turned out that even he had limits.

He tried to get his momentum back, shooting around the area, but there was trap after trap after trap, and it was clearly draining his strength to break free each time. I was still having trouble landing the perfect strike, but it would be soon. I knew it. Revana started in with her attacks, each golden spear piercing harder than it had at the start, and each time Gorva tried to channel, Isik countered it. She couldn’t completely nullify his abilities, but his attempts to attack and defend were noticeably weaker. We hounded him without end, his actions getting more and more desperate.

“NOOOO!” he screamed. “I. AM. THE. EMPEROR! I AM ETERNAL!”

He knew. He was losing, and he knew it. 

We redoubled our attacks, pressing him harder and harder, his defenses getting weaker, his ability to channel failing, even for all that he seemed to be made of the tenebrae.

Then I saw it.

I saw the opening.

As clear as day.

He broke through another sigil, but he was weak, and he started to fall forward. And I was there. His hands were held out to brace himself as he fell to the ground, and there wasn’t time to move or defend. 

My blade passed cleanly through his face, cutting off the top of his head at an angle.

31

His body thudded to the ground, the severed piece of his head and brain falling a little distance away.

The three of us just stood and stared, not saying a word.

It was over.

The Emperor was dead.

Revana walked slowly over to me in a daze, her eyes unfocused. She slipped her hand in mine, and I looked over to see her mouth hanging open, looking down on the…corpse?

The tenebrae swirled around the body, flowing and then pooling around its head, and we watched in horror as Gorva’s head reformed in front of us. We stepped back in shock, unsure of what to do.

He jerked and vaulted to his feet before teleporting away from us and to the side of the Font. “I…told you…I am…eternal,” he said. “You will…never win.” His voice was ragged and his posture bent, but the fury was still in his eyes.

“Screw this,” I said. “I’ll cut your head off as many times as I need to!” I sprinted towards him as Isik’s tenebrae flared on my sword again.

Gorva shook his head and took a few steps back and fell into the Font.

I skidded to a stop, unwilling to follow him in.

I stared at the massive flow of dark magic, my eyes wide and fear creeping underneath my skin. “No…” I said. “We have to kill him. What…what can we—”

“How soon you forget,” Isik said.

I looked over towards her, and though it took a moment, I almost laughed with relief when I remembered. “Right. Gor’mina’s plan.”

“Indeed,” she said, smiling widely. We followed her to the edge of the Font where she began channeling a massive spell, her dark rings of the tenebrae encircling the entirety of the Font. It took some time, but they eventually snapped inwards with that reality-bending sound, and the Font, for a brief second, stopped flowing.

And then it exploded with magic, the dark column resuming, but as it did, it spewed out the spinning form of the Emperor. He landed with a crack on the jagged stone. I appeared beside him and struck, but he teleported away.

We stared at each other for a moment after that, his eyes wide in bewilderment. “How!?” He looked straight at Isik and repeated, “How? It isn’t possible! Someone like you couldn’t possibly have…HOW!?”

Again, I appeared beside him, bringing my sword down. He reached up and grabbed my hands. I saw his eyes dart around, looking for a place to run, but I think we were both pretty sure Revana and Isik had absolutely covered the place in sigil traps. I was overpowering him, getting closer to knocking his arms to the side and cutting through him.

He ported again, this time beside the Font, but instead of trying to retreat into it, he pulled the tenebrae flowing from it into himself. He bellowed and writhed; it was too much to actively use, even for him, but he lashed out, sending a thin, straight blast directly into Isik’s side, right where her brand was.

She collapsed, screaming and writhing herself.

Gorva appeared beside Revana, and a second later, I was there.

But that had apparently been his plan.

His arms shot out, grabbing each of our throats. He was still connected to the Font, and the tenebrae pulsed through him and into our skin.

It was pure, unmitigated pain.

It crept into our bodies, our armor puffing away, and I could see it crawling through Revana’s skin, down into her chest and up along her jaw, and I could feel it doing the same to me.

Gorva’s face was twisted as well; this must have been a last, desperate attack.

It was, however, working.

There was nothing I could do. The tenebrae seemed to be stopping me from channeling and I couldn’t raise my arm to attack. A moment later, my sword fell out of my weakening grasp. I locked eyes with Revana, and I could see my own fear reflected in hers.

I couldn’t move or do anything at all. The pain was overwhelming. This was the end.

“This is gonna hurt, you two!”

That was…Tiq’s voice.

A split second later, a blinding bolt of lightning slammed into the Emperor’s chest. His whole body jerked and went rigid, as did mine, and Revana’s. I don’t know if the blast of the arcanae hurt or not; the tenebrous attack was already the worst pain I’d ever felt.

A huge ball of lightning traveled down the bolt connected to the Emperor, and we were all blown in different directions, tumbling over the ground and skidding to a stop in a cloud of dust.

I had no idea if years had passed or just seconds, but the shae began to flow into my body again, slowly erasing the pain that rocketed through every nerve ending I had. I sat up, blinking and trying desperately to clear my vision.

I clambered to my feet before I could really tell what was going on, but as I stumbled forward, the scene finally came into focus.

Revana and Isik were standing over something. Tiq and Vashe were making their way slowly through the rubble towards them. Apparently some time had actually passed.

I wanted to cry out, to tell them it wasn’t safe and they needed to run, but it finally became clear what Revana and Isik were looking at. It was the Emperor, laying face down on the ground. I rushed over, stopped and joined in to stare. “Is he…?”

“No, actually,” Revana said. “He’s not. I was about to come get you, but we needed to make sure he wasn’t getting up again. Are you okay?”

“I think so.” Without a word, Isik handed me my sword and we all shared a look. “Okay, time to end it.” I stepped up, and with one quick motion, I cut off the Emperor’s head, cleanly through the neck. We all watched with a mixture of surprise and revulsion when it reformed again, just as it had earlier, the decapitated head dispersing and the tenebrae flowing back into his body. “So…can he really not die then?” I asked.

By this time, Tiq and Vashe had appeared. They watched as we flipped Gorva over and Revana cast no less than seven sigils binding him to the ground. At the start of the binding, he was barely conscious, but as the sigils wrapped around him, he came to his senses and began to grunt and jerk, groaning in pain as the shae burned into his skin. Every new sigil seemed to hurt him more, and once Revana was satisfied, I slammed my sword into the middle of his chest, through to the stone below. He howled as the blade went into his body.

We looked down on him as he screamed. After all this time, we were standing over the defeated form of the Emperor of the Gorvani empire. But what in Vendira were we going to do now?

Feeling we were safe enough at the moment, we moved away, so we could speak over his screams. Mostly he just yelled, but he also attempted some threats and tried to tell us he was eternal.

After some discussion, Tiq said, “Based on my experiments with the korids, it is indeed possible that he’s in a state of immortality.”

“So there’s nothing we can do to end him permanently?” Revana asked.

“Oh, I didn’t say that. The tenebrae will have to be burned out of him through application of the shae.” She turned to look back and gesture at him. “Just like that, actually.”

“How long would that take?” I asked.

Tiq shook her head and said, “Impossible to say without extensive testing. He’s been absorbing the tenebrae for centuries, clearly much more than any of the other royals were allowed to take. It’s possible it’ll take just as long to burn it all away.”

“It might take centuries for him to die?” Revana asked with a little upturning at the corners of her lips.

“Possible,” Tiq said.

“Too bad the fucker’ll go mad before that happens,” Vashe said.

“Oh, no,” Tiq replied. “That might not be the case. Michael sliced his brain in two and then his head completely off. Clearly his mind doesn’t exist solely within his flesh anymore; it’s linked to the tenebrae that now makes up his body. If his memories stayed intact through partial and complete destruction of his brain, it’s extremely likely that they would persist through torture, no matter how long.”

Revana started laughing. Softly at first, but then louder and louder to a crazed crescendo. “You’re telling me…that not only will he be tortured for centuries, but he’ll be lucid the entire time!?”

“Possible,” Tiq repeated.

Revana just kept laughing, and heedless of our stares, she went back over to Gorva’s prone body, and as we watched, she started kicking him between the legs, over and over, as hard as she could.

I couldn’t help it. I started laughing too.

32

“We were watching for a lot of the fight,” Tiq told me. “We escaped the tower and made our way to the center after I was sure the arcanic currents would cascade into a chain of explosions that would destroy the rest of them.”

“That was insanely impressive,” I told her.

She beamed. “Thank you. The device performed admirably. We didn’t dare venture down into the fight for obvious reasons. I can’t tell you how much I worried, although neither of us could look away. 

“When we saw that you were in trouble, I knew there was only one thing to do, and I hoped the arcanae wouldn’t be too much for you, but you and Revana came out fine.”

“She recovered faster than me, it seems.”

“She’s Dravini, and has more of an affinity for the shae’s healing, but yes.”

I looked up at the shadowsphere looming above us still. “Well, anyway, it’s time to end all this shit.”

Isik was standing off to the side and had barely said a word. When I walked up behind her and touched her lightly on the arm, she jumped, apparently totally unaware I was there. “Oh…hello, Michael.”

“Hey. You seem off in your own little world over here. We need to stop the Font, but…are you okay?”

“I…” She blinked and looked up. “Yes. Let’s finish this. We can speak afterwards.”

The column of tenebrae still shot out from the silvery, runed circle that made up the visible portion of the Font, although it seemed much less scary and foreboding now that Gorva was beaten and bound. The royals still floated around it, though. 

“How do we do this?”

“Finish off the rest of the trash, Michael, and afterwards, I’ll stem the flow.”

“You got it.” The royals were in various states of consciousness. Some of their eyes rolled down to look at me as I grabbed their feet and pulled them down so I could slice off their heads, and some did not. It was a little anticlimactic, I thought as I butchered the rest of them without the slightest bit of resistance.

As I cut them down and the flow of runes lessoned, the shadowsphere groaned with the weird sound that I was getting a little used to. Once the royals were all dead — and there was a thought — Isik stepped up to the edge of the Font and channeled. The runes carved into the silver metal flared and the energy inside them faded, one after another, and when they were all powered down, the endless column of the tenebrae started to shrink. Within minutes, it had tapered off into nothing, leaving behind a bottomless hole in the ground.

The shadowsphere quickly grew unstable as the sigils that wrapped around its insides fizzled, breaking down in a shower of dark sparks and finally puffing out of existence. As they did, huge holes appeared in its surface, and gradually, the magic drifted away and faded to nothing. It was gone.

Nir and the other dragons were the first to reach us, and as they landed, I thought again that I really needed to learn their names, especially since the world wasn’t ending now. “It is done?” Nir asked excitedly.

“Well, more or less,” Revana said, going on to explain the situation with Gorva.

“Hmm…” Nir examined him closely. He was still grunting and struggling uselessly against the bindings, but he’d stopped constantly screaming. Nir opened her mouth and bathed him in a powerful blast of pure shae.

Gorva started screaming again.

When she was done, we all looked at him again, but there was no discernible difference, aside from the noise he was making. “It might truly take centuries to burn him away?” She asked.

“We can’t be sure,” I said, “but that’s what Tiq thinks.” Tiq herself was some distance away, doing something to her device, which was no surprise.

“And he will suffer the entire time?”

“Oh yeah.”

“It is…fitting.” Nir breathed on him again, eliciting more screams. 

A little bit later, people started to show up, having walked in when the sphere was destroyed. The dragon cult led the crowd, but it was just as filled with the townspeople that had fought against the Gorvani.

Cersi came up to us with the biggest smile on her face and said, “I knew you’d be able to do it. I just knew it!”

Revana asked about the Gorvani channelers that had been arrayed around the crumbled palace walls.

“Oh, is that what was happening to them? No, none of them were alive that we saw. It was so eerie coming upon them, just a ring of withered corpses for what seemed like no apparent reason. So, are there no Gorvani channelers anymore?”

Isik, who’d been standing there but saying nothing turned to us. “Well, there’s at least one left. Me.” Her eyes flicked over to the Font and she added, “For now. But the days of tenebrous magic are at a close. I wonder if I’ll miss it.”

The Font’s destruction was the last real order of business we had to see through. Revana and I bound Gorva even tighter, applying many more sigils around his entire body, one of which sealed his mouth closed when we got tired of listening to him scream.

When I got tired of listening to him scream. It was obviously music to Revana’s ears. She kicked him in the crotch at pretty regular intervals, too, which made the both of us giggle like idiots. Had anyone in the history of anything fallen so far? God-Emperor one minute, reduced to this the next. It was amazing.

The rage never left his eyes, even though they were often shut in agony, but the way his gaze darted around once the people came in to look at him said how humiliating he must have found it all. Here we were, just a bunch of insects or worms or whatever to him, and not only had we beaten and bound him, but here was a crowd circling around just to watch. 

We dragged him by his feet — a suggestion of mine that Revana also loved — away from the central ruins of the palace. It was essentially a parade, and I wondered if it would actually become one, maybe a yearly tradition to mark the occasion. Once everyone was safely away, the dragons took to the skies overhead. I had asked Nir if they would need our help for this part, but she assured me I could stay on the ground and watch.

I was content to do so, but Revana went up with her, wanting to be a part of the event. The dragons circled in the sky overhead, the Font between them below. Everyone else was on the lip of the crater, eagerly anticipating the chance to watch history in the making.

The dragons glowed brightly, massive sigils appearing in the air around them. The currents of shae didn’t flow directly overhead, but the magic came in from all directions at the dragons’ powerful command. The sigils grew bigger and brighter, and once the spell was complete, a massive column of pure shae coalesced high in the clouds to slam down into the ground, traveling down into the Font, destroying it at every level, from what we could see and on down deep under the surface.

The tenebrous channels would still be there, still a natural part of the world, but everything that brought the magic to the surface would be gone.

We had to close our eyes against the glare, and once we opened them, the walls of the Font crumbled, dirt and debris rushing in to fill the gap, and once the dust finally settled — it took a while — the Font was gone, and nothing but barren dirt and cracked stone was in its place.

Isik had a hand held up, channeling the tenebrae, the shadows swirling and dancing at her command, but slowly, very slowly, they dwindled into nothing as she watched and smiled. A single tear fell down her cheek and she said, “It’s gone. It’s truly gone. I can’t feel it at all anymore.”

33

It was over.

But of course it wasn’t. 

When we came back out to the steps that had led up to the palace and the base of the shadowsphere, the people cheered. I’d resummoned a light version of my armor, just so people would know who I was and what my presence there implied.

For a while, we were lost in a sea of smiling people, everyone wanting to say something or cheer or pat us on the back. Often literally.

Eventually, we spotted Osaarin in the mess and with a little coaxing, he came to stand beside us and give the speech none of us wanted to give. Tiq looked exhausted, Isik was still keeping her face devoid of expression, even though I could see the tiredness in her eyes, and Vashe, for once, looked less pissed than normal.

Osaarin was just as thrilled as everyone else, and that came through with his animated address to everyone. I didn’t hear so much as a single word he actually said; I just let myself be washed away in the excitement of the crowd and the thought that we’d really done it. We’d won.

But there was so much to do now. First and foremost, we had to decide what to do with the Gorvani. And not just the ones who’d fought against us, but all of them. Their entire people.

Most of them had never done anything to anyone, just lived their lives the same as everyone else, but they'd be subjected to the same backlash as all the ones that had. But for now, it was decided that the army would be held prisoner until a better solution could be found, and the others could come and go as they pleased, but we spread the message as far and wide as we could that random acts of retribution wouldn’t be tolerated.

It was going to be a shitshow and everyone knew it.

After Osaarin’s speech, I noticed Isik slip away, and once I was able to extricate myself from everyone, I followed, finding her perched on top of a large piece of stone that used to be part of the palace’s outer walls.

“Hey,” I said.

She didn’t turn to look at me, and she was silent for a while before saying, “Hello, Michael. I thought you’d want to celebrate with everyone else.”

“Oh, well, I’m sure there’s going to be days of that on end. I’ll get my fill of being congratulated later.” I wanted to ask how she was, but it was such a poignant question and I didn’t quite know how to word it, so I just sat down beside her and looked out over the city. For a long time, she didn’t speak, so I didn’t either, figuring she’d talk when and if she wanted to. Finally, she looked over into my eyes. There was a world of emotion behind them, but I still couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Still, I kept my tongue.

She exhaled slowly and said, “This is the day I’d always imagined and never thought I’d see.”

“You didn’t think you’d live through this.”

“No. Or this day would just never come either way. And now that it’s here, I don’t know how to feel. It seems so unreal. The royalty is dead and I am not. The empire is broken, but I’m still here. What am I now? I was an Inquisitor. Then a rebel. But now? I haven’t the slightest idea. One thing I know for sure, though, is that I will never be fully accepted anywhere. I’m a traitor to my people, and a monster to everyone else. No, no. Don’t object. I know it’s not the complete truth, but most won’t appreciate that distinction.” She looked into my eyes with her tiny ghost of a smile. “Don’t think this is nothing but wallowing in self pity, though. I’ll find my way forward. But for right now, I’m just tired. Too tired to think, to feel, to do. I want to sit here for a while, and just exist.”

That was a dismissal, so I leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before I stood.

She looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Don’t forget that I am and will be here for you, whenever you need me.”

She turned and continued looking out over the city. “Thank you, Michael.”

When I got back to the crowd, Revana was there, and she ran to me and leapt into my arms. We both hugged each other tightly and she said, “We did it. We really, actually, did it.”

“We sure did.” I pressed my face into her neck.

She let her feet down to the ground, but we stayed in each other’s arms.

“I…” I didn’t quite know how to say it, but I tried. “I did this all because Vendira needed it, because I wanted to help, because I wanted to do something worth doing. But honestly? I mostly did it for you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Uhh…you two need a minute?” Tiq had wandered over, but was slowly backing away.

“No!” Revana said with tears in her eyes. “Get in here!” She pulled Tiq in and we all hugged, trying our best to fit together comfortably.

The rest of the day was spent talking and laughing, assuming anything else of importance would be done later.

As the sun drew close to the horizon, Revana, Tiq, and I made our way to the upper floors of the Astrologia, which had escaped the devastation that many buildings had not.

“I’m home!” Tiq yelled as we stepped inside her rooms. She ran off to do who knew what, while Revana and I went to her corner room and started making tea. Unfortunately, there weren’t any sugary cakes or jumpers to be had.

Tiq returned in her blue scholarly robes, one of many sets she must have owned. She looked like she did when we first met, and so very much like herself.

The three of us sat in that room, drinking tea and watching the sun go down on the empire’s last day.

EPILOGUE

Gorva screamed. He wasn’t always screaming, but often. We’d stopped thinking of him as the Emperor quite a while ago. Revana and I stood in a tiny valley on top of a mountain peak, an artificial feature, something that no one except a dragon would ever stumble upon. Completely hidden from view from anywhere but above, a small stone temple sat nestled in the trees. 

It was, not by coincidence, at the convergence of many of the shae’s currents that flowed through Vendira’s skies.

Gorva’s prison was known only to a handful of people, just in case someone, for some reason, hoped for the glory days of the old empire and tried to free him. The temple amounted to one medium sized room with Gorva in the middle, chained to a dias by shae-imbued metal. He was laid on his back, his arms and legs stretched out and held tight by his shackles. Besides the chains, his body was covered in overlapping sigils, cast and maintained by either myself, Revana, or one of the dragons. He also had a partial metal mask that wrapped tightly around his eyes, because, in Revana’s words, he didn’t deserve to see the sun again.

Brutal, but it wasn’t as if it was any worse than what he himself had done to countless others, I was sure. The shae bit into his flesh, burning him constantly, slowly incinerating the tenebrae out of him. 

We’d defeated him in Vendira’s spring, and it was now well into autumn. This temple had been built extremely rapidly with the dragon’s help, and in all that time, there was barely a discernible difference in the magic that made up his body. Tiq had come and taken measurements many times, and based on her results, she concluded that it would indeed take decades, probably centuries, to burn it all away, as concentrated as it was.

And during that entire time, Gorva would be here, in constant, mind-numbing pain, never even having the release of madness.

I’d never really given it much thought, but Revana told me she was always mad that he’d never really atone for his crimes. How could he? He was responsible for centuries of pain and sorrow and death for countless lives.

But this? I think even she was pleased with the outcome. She’d said to me once that when she was on her deathbed, years and years from now, it would make her smile to know he was still here, still suffering, and it wouldn’t even be close to ending.

We checked his bindings and chains. The magic would last for a long, long time even without upkeep, but regular maintenance would make sure.

Revana stepped between his legs and kicked him hard in the balls, as she regularly did when we came here.

I chuckled and said, “Do you think he can really feel that over all the rest of the pain?”

She shrugged, smiling. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”

We went outside and sealed the door with a shae ward. It wasn’t like the tenebrous type that would cause pain, but it would alert the casters, us, if anyone tried to enter. The second it shut, Gorva’s screams were cut off and he’d be alone with his pain until we came again.

Revana was wearing a stylized version of her priestess robes, cut very revealingly and augmented with a leather bodice with intricate design. She was a priestess in truth now, although she probably always was, really. But in time, many of the brandless children that were now being born would be taught to channel the shae, and she’d be the first one to do it.

She’d offered me honorary robes, but I’d declined, much more comfortable in regular clothes. I was wearing boots, dark pants, and a slightly fancier than normal red shirt because it was a special occasion.

She slipped her clawed hand into mine and we both channeled. I pushed the magic to her and she formed the insanely complicated sigils in the air that shimmered and burst into a portal.

Arcanic portals still worked fine, of course, but with the dragons’ tutelage, Revana had become adept at casting her own, and they had the bonus of being anywhere we were. I had only walked to a portal nexus a few times lately.

We could only do it together, though; I couldn’t manage the sigils and she couldn’t channel enough energy herself.

We stepped through and emerged into the seventh province, in a little room in the Carvers’ Guild especially set aside for the two of us. It was little more than a broom closet, but that’s all it needed to be; it was a space where portals could randomly appear and not bother anyone.

We weaved our way through the building, which I’d finally gotten the complete hang of, emerging into the day from one of the exterior’s secret doors. As we walked down the street, many people shouted and waved; we’d become celebrities and couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized constantly. It was a novelty, but mostly it was just tiring. Nothing to be done about it though.

The city bustled with activity. Since Telorn had suffered so much damage, the capital had been moved here. Now that the empire was gone, cities were starting to have real names again, although no one could decide on what this one’s was going to be. It had been suggested that it be named Michaelia or Revanari, but we’d quashed those ideas as fast as we could, neither of us at all comfortable with the idea. Telorn would also be renamed, but it was encountering the same heated debates as no one could agree on what.

One of the biggest problems in the wake of the empire’s death was how the people were to govern themselves. Because of his own merits and also that he had my and Revana’s backing, Osaarin was popularly elected as the interim leader, which was yet another thing no one could decide the name for. I had suggested regent because it sounded nice and was a word Vendirans weren’t familiar with, and it was sticking for now.

Once things were hammered out and a new set of laws were drafted, it was all but assured and expected that Osaarin would remain at the top. However, his power wasn’t anywhere near absolute; the people had had enough of that shit. There were a lot of limits to what he could do, and at my suggestion, the dragons were named as arbiters of any important dispute. I figured their long lives and perspectives would help temper what I had seen far too much of on Earth: petty and short-sighted decisions.

The temporary government building, which would naturally become the official one when everyone realized that all their stuff was there and moving was a hassle, stood tall in the middle of the city. I wasn’t sure what it had been before besides something mostly used by the Gorvani.

We went in the doors and across the foyer to a bored looking Dravini woman and I said, “Hi, we’re here to see Regent Osaarin.”

“Uh huh, do you have an appoin—” She cut off when she looked up and saw who we were. “Oh. Uh, okay. I’ll let him know you’re coming.”

Okay, some things about being celebrities were nice.

The dragon cult had mostly been making decisions since the fall of the empire, since there was no one else that wanted the job and they were trusted by the people. Osaarin had finally been able, however, to get people to start calling it the Celestori, probably because the idea of being led by something called a cult wasn’t a great idea. It was being called the Celestoric Assemblage. It was another for now thing that was absolutely just going to become the official title once everyone realized that thinking up another name was pointless and everyone already knew this one.

“Michael! Revana!” Osaarin had been sitting behind his massive, intricately carved desk doing paperwork when we’d come in. He got up and came around it to give us both crushing hugs. Since he was the biggest person I might have ever seen, it was a lot like getting mauled by a bear.

We sat down in the incredibly plush chairs in his office and were immediately served hachi by one of his assistants. “So, how’re things?” Revana asked.

He gave us a pained smile and said, “We’re getting things done, but there’s a mountain of new headaches every day.” Chuckling softly, he added, “But I’d rather be here, doing this, than anything else.”

“How’re things with the Gorvani?” I asked.

He sat back in his chair and shrugged, picking up his cup of hachi. “I suppose they could be worse. Most of them have moved into the tenth province. I’m not sure why there, but there’s been a large migration. The people living there have also started to move out, and it’s quickly becoming a separation of peoples. I’m not sure if it’s for the best or not. Not all of them are going, of course, but by and large, the tenth is mostly a Gorvani province.

“But none of them are required to go there or prohibited from going anywhere else, so if it’s their own will, it’s acceptable. Honestly, perhaps they feel safer that way. Many people are doing their best in regards to treating them fairly, but many are not. I believe it’ll be a generation or two before the animosity towards them truly fades away.”

We stayed and talked for a little while longer about inconsequential things, but it was obvious that as much as Osaarin liked having us visit, he had a lot of things to do. We said our goodbyes and left the building. 

We made our way through the streets, still being recognized constantly, until we reached the new army’s headquarters. There had been some debate about whether an organized fighting force would be necessary in the new society, but arguments for it had won out. We meant to see Cersi, who’d been officially raised to the rank of General, but she was in the middle of training new recruits and only had a few minutes to speak with us.

I had assumed being a general would involve mostly paperwork like Osaarin’s job, but Vendira had a different attitude about it, it seemed. Vashe had been offered a similar position and fervently declined.

Finding ourselves a safe little area, we created another portal and went through, emerging in a small, cordoned off area of Tiq’s rooms. They were like they’d always been, a complete mish mash of weird things. Her device was on its own special stand, prominently displayed in the center of everything. 

“Tiq!” Revana yelled.

“In here!” Tiq replied, but we could only faintly hear her.

We found a small room off to the side that I’d never been in before, and it was full of books and writing utensils, the floor to ceiling windows looking out over the crater that had been the palace. “Nice view.”

Tiq snorted. “It’s a nice reminder of all we’ve done, especially here.” She was bent over a stack of papers, an even bigger one off to one edge of the table she was sitting at. She’d started writing a memoir of our adventures together and as I looked over her shoulder, I saw she was up to the point where we’d broken her out of prison.

I wasn’t keen on remembering a lot of things we’d done, but it would be nice to have it in print from someone who’d been there.

Over the intervening time, Tiq had grilled me about Earth at almost every opportunity, her questions coming without pause or end. She’d browbeaten me into agreeing to take her there one day, but it was something I was more than happy to put off. Indefinitely, if I could. I had no desire to ever return. 

She had been wealthy before the collapse of the empire, and that was still the case, since no one wanted to institute a new currency. Since she had no obligations to the Gorvani anymore, she spent all her days in the Astrologia, pursuing countless projects and collaborating on a host of scientific experiments. I often reminded her to eat and sleep.

“Are you at a good stopping point?” Revana asked.

“No, but I never am. We can go anytime.”

Tiq wore her usual robes, but she was covered in even more jewelry than normal, rings on every finger and a multitude of earrings and various other piercings. She’d given me a few rings as gifts, and I was wearing most of them. I liked them very much, but I also knew it made her happy to see them on my hands.

We went back to the empty section and created another portal, this time coming out in the late Gor’mina’s estate in the first. Of course, it was Isik’s estate now. No one had objected to her claiming it, for a lot of reasons. It was largely regarded as haunted, either literally or figuratively, and letting Isik live there would get her out of the way. No one said that out loud, but everyone involved knew it, even Isik, and she was just fine with it.

She had no desire to move to the tenth with most of the other Gorvani, and while she could technically live wherever she wanted, she’d been right: she’d never be truly accepted, despite everything that she’d done.

In my opinion, the scales were balanced. Much more than that, really. No matter what horrors she’d committed in the name of the empire, she’d been instrumental in dismantling it. But she didn’t see it that way and a lot of others didn’t as well. Gor’mina had built the estate to be far away from anyone, and that suited Isik just fine.

But that didn’t mean she was alone. Far from it.

For one thing, she couldn’t very well live alone in such a huge place, so she’d enlisted quite a few people as servants. They weren’t actually servants; they were paid and free to quit, but old habits die hard and they all still thought of and referred to themselves as servants. They were all Gorvani, people who, like Isik, didn’t fit in anywhere for whatever reasons. I had expressed worry to her about their reliability and that they might literally stab her in the back, but she’d laughed me off and reminded me that she was an excellent judge of character. So far, she’d been right. They were not only loyal, but were quickly becoming her friends as well, which she didn’t have a lot of.

But they weren’t her only friends.

We walked up through the main gate, and I was happy to see the hole I’d cut in when we’d visited before was all patched up. You couldn’t even tell it had ever been there. The gardens and flowers were still beautiful, changing to an explosion of color in autumn, and they’d already been that before.

Under a particularly large tree, we found Oronir, and it felt like years since I’d seen him last. His face lit up in a huge smile as he turned and saw us coming up. “There you are! Irina said you’d be here soon. I trust you’re both well and that…things are in order?” Oronir was one of the few people who knew of Gorva’s prison and eventual tomb.

“Revana smiled widely and said, “They are and will be for a long, long, long time.”

We spoke for a few minutes before he gestured towards the house. “We’ll catch up more later. Irina has something for you, so you best get in there and not make her wait any longer,” he said with a wink.

The front door was open, so we just walked in, and in the sitting room off to the side were Irina’s children. Amalir waved when he saw me; he was getting a lot more comfortable in my presence, which was a relief. Irina’s daughters were sitting at a table playing a board game of some type, only looking up and smiling at us for a second before concentrating again. I’d forgotten their names and would have to wait for a good chance to ask Revana what they were again, so I didn’t make an ass out of myself later.

We wandered back to the kitchen, passing two of Isik’s servants or whatever they were as we went. They smiled and nodded to us. We weren’t strangers here.

As we came through the door, Irina squeaked and rushed towards us, wrapping us both in a hug at the same time, which we happily returned before she let us go and crushed Tiq in her arms as well.  “You’re finally here! Took you long enough! Reva, I have something to show you!” She pulled Revana away, the two of them disappearing into a side room.

Tiq glanced at me and then Isik and said, “I’ll go see what it is Irina’s so excited about,” before she quickly left as well. She and Isik actually got along very well, just as Revana had predicted so long ago, but Isik was scowling over a pan of sizzling meat and didn’t look like she wanted to be disturbed.

Despite that, I went over to her and gave her a one-armed hug, which she only slightly tensed up for. She’d told me before that I could, but she still wasn’t very comfortable with such casual displays of affection and maybe she never would be, and that was okay. 

“How are you?”

“Irritated.”

“I can see that. How’s the cooking going overall? I told you Irina would leap at the concept.”

She grumbled. “And so she has.” She shook her head and glared down into the pan before adding, “Cooking has somehow turned out to be more and less involved than I thought it would be. This, however…well, this is the second try today. I might or might not have filled the kitchen with smoke earlier.”

I laughed and said, “Everyone does that. Trust me.”

“Mhmm. Irina said much the same, but I still dislike it. I feel like a child learning how to hold the correct end of a paint brush.” She glanced quickly up at me and said, “I do not like being the student. It has been years upon years since I was in such a position.”

“You’ll get it eventually.”

She said, “I do not need your platitudes, Michael,” but that ghost of a smile was there. She sighed heavily and continued, “Or Irina’s, though she practically drowns me in them. She is a very understanding mentor. Much more than I would and have ever been.”

I looked down at the meat, circular patties of something, and said, “You might want to turn those over.”

She grimaced but did as I suggested. “It’s odd. Irina accepted me faster than literally anyone else. I asked for her…teachings…and she was so excited to help me. As if I wasn’t who I was, or Gorvani at all.”

“She saw a lot of the good things you did. Some of them in person. And she’s quick to see the best in people. She sees the good that was always in you.”

She pushed the meat around while looking at it cock-eyed. “I don’t understand how she can just overlook…well…”

“You haven’t forgiven yourself, have you?”

We listened to the sizzling food for a moment before she said, “I feel so strange, standing here, learning how to cook. In my home. With my…friends. I don’t deserve it. I should have die—”

“No.” I put my hand on her arm and looked her straight in the eyes. “You deserve this. To live. To live this life. To have friends. To be happy. I’m going to hug you now, okay?”

“...Okay.”

I didn’t crush her or anything, just reached around and gave her a quick but firm hug and a kiss on the cheek before stepping back. “Do you…ever think you’ll be able to forgive yourself?”

She turned away, back to the stove. “...I don’t know.”

I smiled a huge smile. “You usually tell me, ‘Of course not, Michael, how could I?’ So that’s progress!”

She sniffed, the barest hint of a laugh. “Perhaps. Perhaps you’re right.”

“You’re a good person, Isik.”

She froze for a second before she said, “That’s enough of your sentimentality, Michael.”

I laughed and said, “Fair enough. How are your…servants? Staff?”

She shrugged, clearly welcoming the conversational shift. “They’re getting along very well. They, like me, are best suited to being here on the estate, content to let the rest of the world forget about us. They were moderately scandalized when I made it known I would be learning how to cook. Beneath my station, they said.” She shook her head and grumbled some more. “They’re having trouble adjusting to this new world we live in. But as just discussed, perhaps we all are. At any rate, Michael, I’m pleased you’re here but leave me to this task.”

“You got it,” I said, smiling. “How long until dinner’s ready?”

“A while.”

On my way to find Revana, I ran into Irina in the hallway.

“Michael! I didn’t mean to ignore you! I was excited to show Reva something. How are you?”

“Great, actually, which is something I’m going to have to get used to saying. It’s good to see you, and just in case she can’t bring herself to say it out loud, Isik is incredibly grateful that you’ve come and are teaching her to cook.”

Irina brought her hand to her mouth and giggled. “Oh, I know. She’s never come out and said it plainly, but there have been a few offhanded comments and vague allusions. I’m so happy she asked me! I believe it was your suggestion?”

“It was, back when it was part of a future that no one was sure would happen. But it really does mean a lot to her, and to me, that you’re doing it.”

“As if I would ever have refused.”

I smiled. “I know. You’re the best. But you should probably get in there before she fills the house with smoke again.”

She laughed again. “Of course. I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready, but I think you have some time to kill,” she said, before disappearing back into the kitchen.

I found Revana in a library, looking through some seriously old books. “Hey, what did Irina want to show you?”

“These are copies of ancient texts, although they’re old enough themselves. They have some very interesting things to say about the time before the empire and the role of people like me. I can’t be sure it’s a firsthand account, but it’s something to look into. Apparently Amalir found them stuffed in the bottom of a random bookcase with who knows what else. Shocking, because things like this were heavily purged. Anyway, how long until the food’s ready?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a bit. Want to go take a walk?”

She looked up and smiled, closing the book. “Sure. I can look at these whenever. Irina assured me Isik was fine with me just taking them. And I have a surprise for you! Also care of Irina.”

“Oh, okay. Lead on, then.”

We went out into the back garden and winded around the topiary and various sculptures, all still well cared for. The yargeth statue was still there, still vomiting out seven streams of water into a large fountain. We took some twists and turns and ended up at a gate that you probably wouldn’t find unless you knew it was there.

It led out of the garden, into a small, stone-dotted pathway through the trees. We followed it for a while as it bent and curved before opening up onto a secluded pond. It was clearly not natural; the shape and artfully placed plants attested to that fact. But still, for all that, it didn’t look overly artificial either, as if it really was meant to be there, perfectly placed between the trees.

Revana squeezed my hand and headed towards the water, expertly slipping her robe off in seconds. She kicked off her shoes and unbuttoned the tail button of her underwear before letting them slide down to lay on the ground.

Wasting no time, I slipped my boots and mildly fancy shirt off, taking care to lay it where it wouldn’t get too dirty. I tried not to fall over in my haste to strip naked, this unexpected scene already getting the blood pumping in my veins.

Revana was already in the pond, leaning back to let her light blue hair trail out on the surface behind her. Her breasts were easily floating on top of the water as she smiled and beckoned me in.

I waded in until I was chest deep and I pulled her close. She turned and wrapped her legs and arms around me as I stood on the soft bottom. Her head fell into my neck and I hugged her tightly. For a while, we stayed there, unmoving, letting the slight breeze pass over us as we listened to the quiet sounds of the forest. 

It was such a huge change, not having a looming sense of dread at the back of my mind, of always wondering if we would make it through the next horrific thing we had to do. The empire was gone. The royals were gone. There would be a lot of problems to deal with in the coming years, but they were mundane problems, not looming death.

I ran my hand over Revana’s horns and she lifted her head and pushed her lips to mine. We kissed softly, slowly, just enjoying the sensation of our bodies and tongues pressing against each other. I slid both hands up and down her body, her legs and the water more than enough to hold her up. I went down her back, squeezed her ass, and trailed one hand slowly down the length of her tail. 

She slipped a hand into my hair and lightly slid her claws down my back with the other. Her breath came faster and she pulled me in tighter, if that was even possible. Her hips ground against my growing erection.

I slipped my hands under her ass and slowly slid her up and down against my cock as she laughed. I carried her to the edge of the pond, which was surrounded by soft grass, and we found an area that was just the right height. I set her down and she leaned back and opened her legs. 

I sank into the water, just my head and hands in the cool air as I started by kissing her knee and working my way down her soft, light skin. I took my time, moving inch by inch as she grunted and groaned, impatient and excited. “Just do it!” she said, laughing as she finally just pulled my head close.

I slid my tongue over her wetness and she sighed and leaned back, throwing her arms behind her. I tried to go slow, but her bucking hips and ever increasing moans suggested I do otherwise.

I slid my fingers inside her as I moved to lick and suck on her clit. Her back arched and I was worried the moans that were escaping her mouth would be audible back at the mansion. That thought didn’t stop me or slow me down, I kept the pressure on her, riding her body as she writhed and bucked. I reached up and pinched one of her hard nipples, her hand coming up to cover mine.

She got louder and louder until I was sure we were going to have to endure some amused stares when we got back. Her legs started to shake and her claws dug little trails in the ground as she finally screamed, scaring a few birds out of the surrounding trees. I stayed pressed to her as best I could as she orgasmed, bucking wildly, her legs splashing water all around me.

She finally calmed and laid back on the grass, getting her breath under control. She leaned up and looked at me, her eyes saying that we were only just getting started. “Get over here.” She wrapped her legs around me and pulled me close as she reached down and guided me inside her.

I slid all the way in easily, a huge moan escaping my own lips.

She wrapped her hands around my neck and pulled me in, pushing her tongue deeply between my lips. 

There was no thought of going slow. Even had I wanted to, the urgency of her tongue and her hips said otherwise. I slipped my hands down around her ass and pounded into her as fast as I dared, her tightness driving me wild and sending electricity coursing through my entire body. 

She thrust against me just as much as I was thrusting into her, an animalistic growl coming from deep in her throat.

It was maddening.

I kept at it as long as I could, pounding her for all I was worth, but eventually, my muscles gave out, and with a groan, I stopped, my head coming down to rest beside her neck, my breath coming fast.

Her own chest was rising and falling fast. She leaned back and I bent over with her, my face coming to rest between her huge boobs. 

I reached up and squeezed and pressed them into my face, completely enveloping myself in them. I stayed there as long as I could, but I eventually had to come up for air and found her laughing, which I joined in. “It’s better when the world isn’t ending, isn’t it?”

She laughed even harder at that. “It really is, yeah.” She pushed me back and out, spinning around to lay face down over the edge of the pond, the tips of her toes sitting on the bottom. 

I slid back inside, going at a much more reasonable pace now that we’d gotten some of the urgency out. Watching her ass bounce and jiggle as I slid in and out of her was nearly as good as watching her breasts do the same. Her tail wrapped loosely around me as I reached up and lightly pulled on her horns, arching her head back. 

She giggled and scratched a few more small trails in the grass with her claws. 

I closed my eyes and sighed, letting the sensations and sounds wash over me. 

After a while, her moans started to get louder again, and she reached down between her legs. 

I kept the pace as steady as I could as her muscles tightened more and more. 

She was quiet for a few seconds before she breathily said, “Faster, now, faster!” As I sped up, her whole body shuddered and she screamed again, pressing her head to the ground and digging deep lines in the grass.

I moved with her body as she spasmed and yelled, loving every sight and sound. 

After she quieted down, she turned and asked, “What do you want now?”

Instead of answering, I just turned her back around to our first position and slid back inside. I pushed her back so she was leaning on her arms, her boobs bouncing as I slid in and out again. The sight of her body and her beautiful smile send me over the edge in no time at all. I pulled out and came while more or less screaming myself.

I hit her in the face, but most of it went all over her breasts and stomach as I jerked and shuddered and tried to remain standing and not fall into the water. We looked into each others’ eyes the whole time, and after I was finally spent, I did fall backwards into the cool water, letting myself go all the way under.

I came up to find Revana laughing at me. She said, “Well, that was pretty good, huh?”

“Pretty good, yeah. I’ll bet we can do better, though,” I replied with a huge smile.

She grinned again and said, “We have lots and lots of time to get it just right.” She slid off the edge and dunked into the water as well, washing everything off. When she came up, she took my hands in hers and said, “If you’d have told me, a long time ago, that this is the life I would have, the world I’d live in, I just wouldn’t have believed you.”

“Oh, I know exactly what you mean.” I leaned in and kissed her before hugging her tight.

A breeze came through, blowing our hair and sending little ripples across the pond in a moment we would both surely always remember.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The End

AFTERWORD

Thank you very much for reading! It means a lot to me that so many people are enjoying my stories.

I hope you loved this series and the characters as much as I do. I hope to revisit Vendira someday!

ALSO BY ISAAC KEYES

The Dragon Cult Series

Brandless

Shae Warrior

Shadowbreaker

The Corrupted Gods Series

Exalted

Hidden Goddess, Broken Goddess

CONNECT WITH ISAAC KEYES

Visit my Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/isaac.keyes.author

Send me an email:

isaackeyesauthor@gmail.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 by Isaac Keyes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address:

isaackeyesauthor@gmail.com

Cover art by EL Geron

www.facebook.com/elgienard.geron.7

Cover Design by Deranged Doctor Design

www.derangeddoctordesign.com

Created with Vellum