It was a somber day after the ritual. Damarys tried to distract herself from what had happened by spending the rest of the morning at the archery range. She was fairly used to her arm now and didn’t notice much of a difference whether she was using the magical quiver from Jerlinzia or not. She still wasn’t quite as good of a shot as she used to be but that would be corrected with more time and practice.

Everyone had agreed it would be best if they met Ketty Pordis at the main gate to give her the news about Emilie. Zeter was convinced Ketty would demand all of Emilie’s belongings be turned over to her and the Sages and suggested everything be burned. Damarys could see the smoke still rising from where Emilie’s home stood, a large fire pit burning in front of it as Zeter and Kasyn threw everything in to be destroyed. Whatever secrets the Sages had hoped to get were, they would be sorely disappointed.

“Damarys!”

She turned and found Arjana marching up to her.

“It’s time,” Arjana said before turning and striding towards Emilie’s home.

Damarys followed and they collected Zeter and Kasyn on their way to the main gate. Jelvaic was already there, waiting for them, along with Nyla and Kamillus. Ketty was just striding up to the gate when Damarys and the others arrived. It was obvious Ketty suspected something was wrong and she slowed her pace and motioned for her assistant to stay back a ways.

“What’s happened?” she asked, keeping her face neutral but clenching her fists.

“Emilie’s gone,” Jelvaic stated. “Your services are no longer needed.”

Ketty swallowed and mouthed wordlessly for a moment.

“May I pay my respects?”

“Unfortunately, no. Her body’s part of Ichiba Wa’s gate now.”

“Then she didn’t die. She woke up?”

“The poison had ruined her body. She offered herself to the city and we accepted.”

“But…her things will need to be gathered and sent to her family.”

Ketty’s desperation was becoming apparent now as she gripped her healer’s pouch even tighter and dug her nails into the leather.

“It was requested that all her belongings be destroyed,” Jelvaic said, avoiding the fact that it wasn’t Emilie who’d made the request. “We’ve burned them already.”

He pointed to the distant column of smoke.

“…no…” gasped Ketty.

She turned to look at the other Sage but he had already turned and was running back towards the Sages camp, his voice rising in a pained wail.

“You don’t realize what you’ve done. We needed her!” Ketty’s voice began to rise as well. “The greater leadership of the Sages are here, in need of…her help. You’ve doomed us all.” She began casting spells at the running Sage. “Am I still allowed a residency within the city now?” she asked between spells, finally winging the running man and tripping him up.

“You and one other,” Jelvaic nodded.

“I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

With that, she leapt into the air and flew towards the camp, overtaking the fleeing man and disappearing behind their wall.

“Why’d her assistant run like that?” Jelvaic asked, turning to Nyla.

“He smelled of fear and desperation,” Nyla replied. “A lot of hope was set on Emilie’s recovery and I would guess he was trying to deliver the dread news to the others.”

“Hmmm, keep an eye on them.”

“Is that it then?” Zeter asked.

“For now,” Jelvaic nodded. “Now that the gate into Ichiba Wa is repaired I’d like to send you lot into there to see whether or not it’s safe, but given recent events I’d be fine waiting a day or two.”

“Thank you,” Damarys said, looking to the others. “I think we’ll be ready to go by tomorrow.”

The others gave signs of agreement.

“You’re a good bunch,” Jelvaic patted them each on the shoulder. “I wish I had a dozen more like you.”

“Hopefully you won’t need us as much for too much longer,” Damarys replied.

“We’ll see.”

With that, Jelvaic marched back into the city. The other three were about to follow when Nyla caught Damarys by the shoulder and pointed back towards the Sages camp.

“Looks like trouble,” the fiend said.

Damarys turned and saw a plume of multi-colored fire and smoke rising from the camp. Tents were burning. Then she spotted Ketty Pordis flying towards them with a boy held tightly under one arm. It became obvious pretty quickly that the boy was not well. His head was lolling about and his arms were flailing. Incoherent screams issued from him and magic sparked off of him seemingly at random. How Ketty managed to avoid being blasted by it was beyond Damarys besides some magical protections she must have had around herself.

“Get back,” Zeter warned and they all stepped away as Ketty landed on the ground just outside the city gate.

“You’re bringing a very sick, very dangerous young man with you,” Nyla observed while warding herself against the wild magic.

Damarys finally recognized the boy as Armand, whom she’d met when she was first introduced to Ketty.

“This boy is my ward,” Ketty explained. “He’s taken ill with the same sickness that has stricken the other Sages. I’ve contained the others inside the camp but couldn’t leave Armand behind.”

“You’ll be responsible for any damage he causes,” Nyla warned.

“I’m fine with that. We’ll accept any home well away from others. I can manage Armand as he is.”

“So I see.”

Nyla waved a hand and a pair of undead rose from the ground.

“These two will escort you to your home.”

“Thank you,” Ketty said as she struggled with the flailing Armand who was now trying to bite her.

“I need it!” he raved. “I–They still might have some! Back! Go back and get it!”

Ketty slapped him across the face and although his mouth continued to move, no sound issued from him. She also summoned spectral bindings to keep him still.

“This all could have been avoided if you’d let me speak with Emilie.”

“I believe that’s why she insisted we not let you talk with her,” Damarys replied.

“Most, if not all of those Sages back there will die because of this,” Ketty spoke through gritted teeth. “It’ll be a miracle if Armand survives.”

“I could help,” Nyla offered and the smell of burning flesh grew heavy in the air. “For a price.”

“I might accept, depending on how the next couple of days go.”

“Don’t wait too long, or even I might not be able to save him.”

Ketty hesitated but eventually turned her back on the fiend and instead followed the undead into the city. When they were a good ways away, Damarys approached Nyla.

“How likely is it that the boy will die?” she asked.

“Hard to say,” Nyla admitted. “If anyone knows how to care for him, it would be Ketty Pordis. If he was left alone to fend for himself, though, he’d most certainly die.”

Turning back to the only other person who might know anything about this, she asked Zeter, “What’s happened to them, and what did Emilie have to do with it?”

“I don’t know for certain,” he answered, clearly uncomfortable. “I heard rumors there was something going around, said to boost your spellcasting ability but also addictive. Given what we just saw, I’d guess Emilie was the source of it.”

“I can’t believe she’d make something like that,” Kasyn said at once.

“She might not have had a choice,” Zeter replied. “When you’re a Sage of the Mercurial Robe, you have to do what you’re ordered to do or else there are consequences.”

“Why not have someone else make it for them?” Kasyn asked.

“Probably because Emilie was the only one who knew the recipe, which means she was also the inventor of it.”

“No, she wouldn’t make something that would do that to people,” Kasyn pointed angrily towards Ketty and Armand who were still visible in the distance. He clearly wasn’t taking this revelation about Emilie well.

“If she did invent it,” Zeter said in a forced, calm voice in contrast ton Kasyn’s, “she might not have realized it was addictive until several people were already using it. If those people were high enough ranked within the Sages, then they could have forced her to keep making it. The only thing they couldn’t force her to do would be to share the recipe for it, so I’d say she was doing everything she could to limit its use while managing an unenviable position.”

Kasyn’s shoulders sagged and his breathing slowed back down after hearing that. He wiped at his eyes and sniffed.

“They shouldn’t have pushed her to this,” he whispered.

“Agreed,” Damarys said, putting an arm around him, “but they can’t do anything to her now. She’s free.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go see what we have to prepare for our upcoming trip tomorrow,” Zeter suggested. “I’ve still got the flying carpet and Kasyn’s got his skeletons.”

“Rinse and repeat of how we got through Autay Wa?” Damarys asked.

“It worked well enough last time,” Zeter shrugged.

“If we’re lucky, everything in there will be fine,” Damarys said.

“When exactly have we been very lucky?” Kasyn asked, dampening the mood.

“We’re alive, aren’t we?” Zeter asked, nudging Kasyn as the three of them began walking back into the city.

“Mostly,” he agreed and left it at that while his gaze turned towards where the gate into Ichiba Wa stood, out of sight but undeniably there.