Zeter was awake well before dawn. The anticipation of what was about to happen kept his mind and heart racing. He’d finished the batch of disks of absolution and today they were going back into Yomichi, this time in the hopes of rescuing Nyla. She was all the way on the opposite side of Autay Wa and even with a flying carpet it would take some time.

“Zeter,” Ketty Pordis’ voice spoke in his head, jarring him out of his thoughts about the upcoming mission. “There’s been a complication.”

“I’m listening,” he whispered back.

“The fools in charge here tried to stage an incident with the militia a couple nights ago. It didn’t go as planned but so far they and Jelvaic haven’t said much about it. All I know is that three sages died as well as a few of the militia members.”

“Are you only now finding out about this,” Zeter asked, “or are you only now telling me about it?”

He knew well enough that playing politics and keeping secrets went part and parcel with the Sages and in this instance he wanted clarity.

“I found out last night,” she admitted, “and spent the intervening time digging up as much information as I could. I’m trying to use this information as leverage to take command of the camp here. In the mean time, keep Jelvaic happy. Ignore the Toshokans for now and if the incident with the militia comes up, let him know that I had nothing to do with it and that I’m actively working against those who are. I’ll execute some of them if that’s what it takes to smooth things over, or let Jelvaic execute them. The rest of the idiots will be sent back to their home towers if I succeed here.”

What a mess. Zeter didn’t miss how Ketty wasn’t giving him many details about the incident. Maybe to keep him from seeming to know too much in case the subject came up between him and Jelvaic. Regardless of the reason, killing people was never a good way to build diplomatic relations.

“I believe your companion, Kasyn, was involved as well,” Ketty went on when Zeter didn’t respond. “Try and earn his trust as much as you can.”

“That’ll be difficult,” Zeter replied. “He already doesn’t like me because I don’t show enough reverence for Akumu or something.”

“Oh, I see,” there was heavy disappointment in her voice. “One of the devout, is he?”

“Very much so.”

“Well, do your best. At least try not to upset him.”

“He seems to have a decent relationship with Emilie,” Zeter suggested, “you could try that angle.”

“What makes you think I’m not already doing that?”

“Just making sure,” Zeter made a mental note that Ketty was, indeed, also working closely with Emilie. It was always a good idea to know who was speaking with whom when it came to these sorts of political games within the Sages of the Mercurial Robe.

“One last thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“Keep dear old Emilie alive for me. There’s trouble of an entirely different sort here in the camp that only she can resolve. Lives depend on it, including Armand’s.”

“Got it.”

The connection closed. Zeter didn’t know much about that last part with Emilie but he’d heard rumors of something going around, a spell or potion or something, that was powerful but dangerous. Could Emilie be involved in that? As for Armand, Zeter didn’t know who he was exactly but clearly he was of some importance. Or the child of someone important.

He continued to lie there, letting his thoughts run around while the canvas of his tent grew lighter as the sun began to rise. Finally, he heard the call for morning meal and he got dressed and left his tent. Damarys, Emilie, and Kasyn were already sitting together and eating when Zeter joined them. They didn’t have to wait in line like the others today because of their mission into the city. To his surprise, there were three skeletons standing at attention behind Kasyn.

“These are for you,” Zeter said, handing the others a stack of four disks of absolution each.

To his relief, Kasyn accepted them without complaint. The others similarly took them and stowed them away.

“Nice arm,” Zeter nodded to Damarys’ prosthesis. “Where’d you get it?”

“Arjana.”

“Makes sense she would have one lying around. How’s it working out for you?”

“I’m not as good as I used to be,” she admitted, “but I’m still better than most with a bow.”

“Good. Anything else happen the last couple of days? I haven’t really been out of my tent except for meals, making the disks.”

“I brewed up some potions for us,” Emilie replied, pulling out a small box. Inside it was padded and held a number of small glass vials filled with glowing liquids. “I have a basic potion of health in case of emergencies. It’ll keep you alive if you’re near dying. A few potions of quickened thoughts as well as a pair of quickened step potions for each of us.”

“I thought we had the carpet so we won’t need to be on the ground,” Kasyn pointed out.

“What if something happens to the carpet, or we get knocked off?” she replied.

“I guess that’s true.”

“Also, don’t take a second potion until the first one’s worn off otherwise you might get some unexpected and unpleasant reactions as the potions mix in your belly.”

“How long does each one usually last for?” Zeter asked.

“A few minutes. You’ll know when they wear off.”

They fell silent as they ate and Zeter wondered if Damarys knew about the incident with the Sages. If so, then neither she nor Kasyn were bringing it up which meant they didn’t trust him or Emilie. He couldn’t blame them. Only a great fool wouldn’t view every member of the Sages of the Mercurial Robe with suspicion after what sounded like an attack. Especially coming so close on the heels of the Tower of Light’s attack on the city and overthrow of Akumu.

“Kasyn,” Zeter began, “you going to tell us about your new honor guard?”

“What? Oh, these are, uh, for our defense.” He sounded uncomfortable discussing it with Zeter.

“I can see that,” Zeter pointed to their tower shields. “Are they a gift from Akumu?”

He was trying to sound like he believed what he was saying but Kasyn still looked at him with suspicion.

“They are,” Kasyn replied stiffly.

“I’m sorry for things I’ve said before,” Zeter went on. “I’ve been thinking a lot about it these last two days and I have to admit I don’t believe the Tower of Light destroyed Akumu.”

All three of them looked at him in shock.

“Honest,” he said. “Think about it, when a mage dies, all the beings they’re controlling go back to normal. But that hasn’t happened. Sure, there’s some weird behavior going on but they’re clearly still being controlled by Akumu, to a certain degree. My guess is the army disrupted Akumu’s connection to them but weren’t able to actually defeat Akumu.”

Kasyn and the others nodded to this. It was only a partial lie that he’d told. He had given the situation a fair amount of thought and did suspect that Akumu was still around in some way or another. Being an undying lich meant he was difficult to completely destroy, but he could be gravely wounded and weakened, maybe irreversibly.

“Everyone done eating?” Damarys asked after they’d cleared their plates.

They all nodded and she got up, leading them back towards Jelvaic and Arjana in the main pavilion. Once there, Jelvaic handed them each a pack with basic supplies in case they needed to stay a night or two in the city.

“I’ll keep our diviners checking on you throughout the day,” Jelvaic told them. “With how far you’re going into the city, I won’t be surprised if you don’t come back until tomorrow, or even the day after. Just make sure you come back.”

Arjana handed Kasyn his tower shield and spear.

“The tip’s freshly sharpened and the shield was blessed this morning so it should attract projectiles to it.”

Kasyn accepted both and Zeter began to worry about having enough room for them all and the gear on the carpet. It was a large carpet, to be sure, but with three skeletons, four people, and all these tower shields and spears it was sounding more and more like a problem.

“Let’s figure out how we’re all going to fit,” he suggested and began unrolling the carpet. “If we put two skeletons up front on either side of me, they can hold their shields off the side of the carpet. Damarys and Emilie can sit in the middle, and then Kasyn and the last skeleton can sit at the back with their shields guarding our rear.”

It was a tight, but it worked.

“Do you have enough room to fire your bow?” Zeter asked Damarys.

They were flying slowly, only a meter off the ground for now, and testing out their maneuverability before going into the city. A small crowd was gathered to watch and it made Zeter all the more hopeful that this worked and none of them fell off the carpet. Damarys fired off a few test shots with acceptable accuracy and Kasyn and his skeletons were able to shield the front and sides well enough with their shields without swinging the balance of the carpet too wildly.

They were all patting themselves on the back when Arjana spoke up.

“Just remember,” she said with a serious tone, “you’re flying carefully right now, without any real threats. It’ll be a lot harder if you’re fleeing and under attack. Just go in, get Nyla, and get back here. That’s it. No detours, no unneeded risks.”

“Agreed,” Zeter replied. “We ready?”

The others were serious now as well and Zeter turned the carpet towards the main gate. It was late morning when they arrived and found Tomodachi still standing guard. It would be another day, at least, before Kamillus would reconstitute and be back at his old post.

“I wonder what that’s like, for Kamillus, I mean,” Emilie remarked as they entered the city.

“I’m told it’s something like nonexistence,” Zeter said. “No memory or sense of time passing, just gone and then back.”

“That’s not too bad, then,” Damarys said.

“The other theory I’ve heard is that they’re aware of every moment, in torment, while their soul is brought back together piece by piece, followed by their body.”

“Less pleasant,” Damarys grimaced.

“Do we want to be a little higher?” Emilie asked and Zeter realized they were still only a meter off the ground.

They rose up to three meters off the ground which seemed to be near the carpet’s maximum height as well as a comfortable one in case any of them fell off.

“I’m going to fly as straight as possible to skirt the edge of the inner wall,” he said as they left the main road and began flying over fields.

“We’re not flying over the river are we?” Damarys asked with obvious concern. “You’ll still make for the bridge, right?”

“I wasn’t planning on taking the bridge. We can just fly over the river.”

“I’d rather we took the bridge,” Emilie added her support to Damarys’ concern.

They all knew that anyone who touched the Bokyaku River while inside Yomichi would lose their memories. The greater the exposure, the greater the memory loss. The water was safe once it was no longer in the river, so a splash, or even a bucket of water wasn’t harmful, but no dipping in your toes. It was worse if you were fully submerged and no one had ever returned from that. Every few years it seemed like there was an accident where someone slipped, usually on a dare, and touched the water. There was no cure and fences were in place to keep people back.

The bridge in Autay Wa wasn’t that far out of the way for them so Zeter didn’t fight them over it. He had to admit that the idea of flying over the river made him uncomfortable as well and he was relieved they’d talked him out of it.

With the carpet letting them skim over the fields as well as going a bit faster than any of them could comfortably run for any amount of time, they avoided the undead and elementals that were wandering about beneath them. A few tried to give chase but were quickly left behind. Some elementals managed to throw stones or fire at them but Kasyn and his skeletons shielded them from those few attempts.

It wasn’t until they came within sight of the river and the bridge that things began to seem troubled.

“Anyone else seeing this?” Zeter asked over his shoulder while pointing towards the river.

The normally placid waters were churning, white capped as though the river was full of rapids. Merchant ships normally came in through the river so whatever was upsetting the water couldn’t be rocks. Something unseen below the surface was thrashing about.

“Even more reason to take the bridge,” Damarys commented.

As she spoke, however, the bridge came into view revealing a lone figure standing on the threshold, watching them.

“Anyone know who that is?” Emilie asked.

“If I had to guess,” Zeter said, “I’d say it’s some sort of guardian for the bridge.”

“Think we can fly over it?” Damarys asked.

Zeter slowed the carpet to give them time to decide what to do. As they drew closer and could make out more details, they saw the figure was a man dressed in ancient looking garb. He carried no obvious weapons but that didn’t mean he was harmless. The glowing white eyes were all the warning Zeter needed.

“I think I’d prefer risking the river to facing whatever Akumu bound to guard the bridge,” he said, turning the carpet.

No one spoke out against it so he pressed the carpet on ever faster. The wind was really blowing by the time they reached the edge of the river and the skeletons were having trouble keeping control of their shields as they were caught by the wind and pushed around.

“Look out!” Kasyn shouted, raising his shield as a long tentacle lashed out from the river and struck towards them.

Zeter swerved to the side as sharply as he dared. The tentacle missed but the skeleton on Zeter’s left fell off the carpet and was lost in the river. Another tentacle followed the first but the carpet was moving fast enough that it was already out of range. Whatever beast it was that lived in this river seemed to have trouble tracking a fast moving object and never caught up with them. Zeter didn’t resume breathing until they were on the far side of the river, whereupon he slowed the carpet and checked in with everyone else.

“Sorry about the skeleton,” he told Kasyn.

“It’s alright,” Kasyn panted. “if you’ll give me a minute here, I think I can still get it back.”

Amazingly, the skeleton staggered out of the river before too long and made its way up the embankment. It even still had its shield and spear.

“How did it fight its way out of that?” Emilie gasped.

“It didn’t need to fight. The river guardian ignored the skeleton.” Kasyn explained. “Probably recognized it as one of Akumu’s so it left it alone. I think it even went out of its way to avoid hitting it.”

“Good to know,” Zeter said as he lowered the carpet and let the skeleton climb back on.

The man on the bridge still watched them but made no sign that he was going to pursue or attack them. Maybe the bridge was the safer way to go but there was no way of knowing without trying it out. Zeter hoped he wouldn’t need to find out.

“We’ll, we’re across now,” he said and immediately felt stupid for stating the obvious. “Next stop should be the chapel.”

They rose back up into the air and began speeding on their way once more. Before long, Shinko Toshokan came into view.

“Looks like it’s taken a beating,” Damarys remarked.

The walls were pocked with craters but nowhere were they fully breached. The door was splintered in places but still held. There were piles of dead outside the Toshokan as a testament to how dearly they had fought and bled in their attempt to break in.

“Akumu’s religious texts are all stored there,” Kasyn said. “I’m not surprised they tried to get in.”

“The Toshokans belong to the city, and Akumu,” Zeter said in the hopes of allaying some of the suspicions that were on him.

Maybe that was too much, but he couldn’t look behind him to see how Damarys or Kasyn were reacting to what he said. He had to stay focused on where they were going and he could just make out the spire of the chapel of the Tower of Light. It was enchanted to always shine and the glow was becoming visible.

It didn’t seem like they’d been flying for very long but the sun was nearing the peak of its arch across the sky as they approached the chapel. Like Shinko Toshokan, there were piles of bodies all around. However, here there was a distinct line, a ring actually, around the chapel just as there had been around the farm house they found on their first day back in the city. There were undead surrounding the chapel, unable to cross the line. The dead soldiers outside the chapel, but still within the protected area, looked as though they’d only just fallen in battle, with no signs of decay upon them.

“Hallowed ground,” Kasyn muttered as though it were a foul word.

“We’re not getting through that barrier with your skeletons,” Zeter said.

“Is there a way to undo the hallowing?” Damarys asked.

“It depends on how they created it,” Emilie replied. “This one looks more powerful than the one that surrounded the farmhouse, and stronger protections often require things like magic circles or a focus of some kind.”

“Kasyn, have your skeletons hop off the carpet for now,” Zeter said. “I’m going to see if we can fly the carpet inside the hallowed area.”

A moment later, the skeletons dropped from the carpet and landed on the ground. The other undead and elementals ignored them as they continued to try and push their way across the magical barrier. Slowly, Zeter eased the carpet over the line. Nothing happened, which was a relief.

“Everyone keep quiet,” he whispered as he brought the carpet down to the ground.

The chapel was quiet, with the doors shut and the shutters over the windows closed. It was a two story building, just large enough to house a few rooms where visiting members of the Tower of Light could stay while studying at Shinko Toshokan.

“Give me a moment,” Emilie told them and began to chant under her breath, her head bowed in concentration.

A minute passed before she looked back up and her eyes shone with magic. She looked around, as though searching, before a smile spread across her face.

“The focus is inside the chapel,” she said, “but they also made a magic circle. See? I think it’s made of salt.”

Sure enough, Zeter could see the faint line of glistening grains of salt running just inside the magical barrier.

“It’s risky using both, since if one is destroyed they both fail, but it also makes the barrier stronger.”

“That’s a lot of magical backlash,” Zeter noted as he considered the amount of power stored in the barrier. “We break it, and it’s going to explode in our faces.”

“More importantly, it’ll explode in the face of whoever is carrying the focus,” Emilie grinned.

“Let me see if I can peak inside before we do anything,” Damarys said, “just so we know how many we might be facing once the barrier goes down.”

“Why bother?” Kasyn asked. “Just let the undead do their work.”

“Because it might be nice if we can leave this here, in case getting Nyla back doesn’t set things back to normal.”

That was a good point so Zeter set them down while Damarys crouched along the ground towards the window shutters. She visited a few of the windows, eventually going all the way around the building before returning several minutes later.

“Nyla’s in the middle of the main floor, inside another circle. Some guy is chanting over her and it looks like it’s hurting her. There’s only a handful of other soldiers inside and they all look weak. Starved or dehydrated or both. Some of them might already be dead but I couldn’t tell for certain. Even the soldier chanting over Nyla looks half dead.”

“So you think we can take them?” Kasyn asked, “Even without my skeletons.”

Damarys hesitated. She clearly wanted to keep this safe space for future use, but Zeter could tell she was worried by how many people they might still need to fight.

“I say we go with what we know,” Zeter broke the silence. “We break the circle, let the soldiers in there take the backlash and the undead, and when the dust settles, if there’s any of them left we can do the clean up work.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kasyn agreed readily and Zeter believed it was, in part, due to his desire to remove the hallowed ground.

“The less risk we have to take, the better, I think,” Emilie also agreed.

“Alright,” Damarys finally relented. “Fly us up, Zeter, and I’ll break the salt line with an arrow. That way none of us will have to take the hit.”

They rose up and Zeter positioned the carpet near the eaves of the chapel where no one inside the chapel looking out could see them.

“Ready?” Damarys asked as she nocked an arrow.

They all nodded and Damarys let the arrow fly. It struck true and the flash of light blinded them for a moment and sent the hoard on the other side staggering back. Immediately, however, the ground began to churn as undead rose up from the once hallowed ground. The broke through the windows and battered down the door in an instant and the shouts of alarm from inside were quickly replaced by bursts of holy light and shouted orders.

More and more undead and elementals poured into the building as the voices within grew more desperate. It made Zeter uncomfortable, listening to these people die, and yet he knew the destruction they had wrought. This last stand of these men and women who thought they were doing the right thing, crying out for their gods to save them, only to be met with wave after wave of Akumu’s forces. The poor fools.

Emilie had tears going down her face and Damarys looked like she might be sick but Kasyn just kept his eyes closed and muttered prayers to Akumu.

When the shouting finally ceased and the undead staggered away and sunk back into the ground, Zeter flew the carpet back down to the ground. The inside of the chapel was open to their view now and it was scattered with broken furniture and dead soldiers. Nyla was clearly visible now, as well, though still trapped inside the magic circle.

Zeter hurried forwards, climbing over the rubble and bodies until he reached her. She looked bruised and bloodied but her grin was one of relief.

“Ah,” she panted, “my heroes. What took you so long?”

“The city defenses are a bit uncontrolled and are attacking everyone and everything,” Zeter said offhanded.

“Oh, well that would explain it then. All’s forgiven for the delay. Now can you let me out?”

“Give me a moment,” Emilie replied while she searched through the corpse nearest the circle.

He wore the most ornate armor of the bunch and it was a good bet he had been their leader here. After a few minutes of searching, Emilie came up with a small token made of silver. She held it up to the barrier and the token melted away along with the magic of the circle containing Nyla. The moment she was free, she flexed her wings and flew up a few feet, spinning and laughing.

A fiends exultation over her vanquished foes was not something Zeter had ever seen and he wished he could have been warned to close his eyes in time. Instead, he saw her swoop down and clutch the dead soldier by head. She spoke in her infernal tongue and a moment later the man’s soul coalesced into the dead body. He twitched and writhed and tried to scream out but the wounds to his body weren’t healing. The gaping hole in his chest prevented him from being able to take in breath to make any sound but the look of pain and horror on his face were obvious.

“Your soul is mine, worm,” Nyla cooed. “Bound eternally to this ruined body.”

Her mouth opened impossibly wide and she bit off his lower jaw.

At this, Zeter and the rest turned away as more crunching of bones continued while Nyla ate the man.

“A pity I can only do that once a day,” she said when she’d finished her grisly meal. “Still, it gives me something to look forward to. I’ll enjoy his suffering, over and over again, for the rest of my existence.”

“Yes, well, um, now we need you to go back to the main gate so Autay Wa can, hopefully go back to normal.”

“Of course,” Nyla swept them a bow and vanished in a burst of flame that caught the chapel on fire as well.

“Time to go,” Zeter told them and they hurried out before the burning building trapped them inside.

The hellfire burned much hotter and faster than ordinary fire and before they could fly out of sight of the chapel, it was a smoldering heap of ash. As they flew, they saw none of the undead or elementals wandering about. The river was calm and no one stood on the bridge anymore. Zeter flew the carpet across the bridge and the rest of the way to the main gate where Nyla and Tomodachi were speaking with Jelvaic and Arjana.

“Was it that easy or are you all secretly more competent than I realized?” Arjana teased them when they climbed off the carpet.

“Welcome back,” Jelvaic clapped them each on the shoulders. “Tomodachi says it should be safe to move back into the city, well, into Autay Wa at least. We still don’t know about the inner Was.”

From the main gate, Zeter could see the camp being taken down and people making their way back towards the city. Most of them had homes still in Autay Wa, and those who didn’t would be able to move into any number of homes that were now abandoned.

“Anything else to report?” Arjana asked.

“Nothing,” Damarys shook her head and Zeter thought he caught a glimpse of her eyes turning his way before she caught herself. “We’re an effective team and luck was on our side.”

“And Akumu,” Kasyn put in.

“Yes,” Zeter agreed for Kasyn’s sake. “Akumu was on our side.”

“Nyla tells me she also has a prisoner,” Jelvaic went on. “The leader of the soldiers who captured her. Perhaps now we can get some answers.”

Zeter didn’t know what to say to that and was thankful Nyla was there to speak for herself.

“He’s not going to be answering any questions today, but perhaps tomorrow, around this time, come and see me and I’ll see what we can get out of him.”

She winked at Zeter and the rest just as Kamillus materialized.

“Oh,” he frowned, “you’re back.”

With that, Kamillus flew into his guardhouse and sulked while Tomodachi marched back into the city and Nyla admired the new gates. All in all it had been a successful day and it wasn’t even dinner time.