Damarys hated the fiends of Ichiba Wa. She’d always been uncomfortable around them growing up and they were one of the reasons she turned to the hunters rather than follow in her parents footsteps as merchants. The less she had to deal with the fiends, the better. She didn’t have an issue with Nyla, or even Kamillus. The fiends in Ichiba Wa were notoriously unique in their obvious distaste for people and their desire to be free of Akumu’s chains. At least, that was the sense Damarys had always gotten from them. There were plenty of people who thought she was just imagining things.

“We don’t speak for the people of Yomichi,” Damarys told the three fiends as they landed before them. “Jelvaic and Arjana are–

“Jelvaic refused our invitation when we asked nicely,” the lead fiend spat and fire leapt across his back and shoulders.

“Where is Jelvaic?” Kasyn asked.

“Safe, for now,” the fiend replied with a wicked grin. “You will bring Arjana and anyone else you need to make a bargain with us or Jelvaic dies. We’ll return him to you, piece by piece, until you do as we demand. As proof of our intent, here’s the first installment.” The fiend tossed a pair of fingers onto the flying carpet. “Better hurry.”

The carpet jerked, almost dropping Damarys off, and began speeding away towards the gate. Zeter, it seemed, was taking them at their word and wasn’t going to waste any more time with them. Damarys had no objections and apparently neither did Kasyn as they all just held on tightly to the carpet.

“Did you catch that conversation, Arjana?” Zeter asked and Damarys realized he still had his communication spell with her going.

“I did,” Arjana’s disembodied voice replied. “I’ll gather a delegation to meet with these fiends.”

“I’ll contact Ketty and get the Sages to help.”

As they flew out of Ichiba Wa and into Autay Wa, Zeter shifted conversations, though obviously still not speaking to either Damarys or Kasyn.

“Fiends in Ichiba Wa aren’t bound anymore. They’ve taken Jelvaic and want to bargain with Arjana.”

He paused and seemed to be listening to a voice only he could here. Why they could all hear Arjana reply and not Ketty was a mystery to Damarys but she wasn’t about to interrupt Zeter to ask for clarification.

“Only three of them,” he said after a moment, “but I assume there’s more. I think they’ve been messing with our memories, drawing us into Ichiba Wa and making us forget about needing to go into Shinko Toshokan.”

Again, he paused and listened.

“We’ll need to find Jelvaic before you do that. They’ve already cut off some of his fingers and are threatening to do more if we delay.”

Zeter turned to the others after that and spoke to them now.

“The Sages are working on locating Jelvaic,” he said. “In the mean time, Ketty’s going to see about going with Arjana to meet with the fiends.”

“I thought the Sages were trapped in their camp and going crazy,” Damarys reminded him.

“Not every Sage in the world is in that camp,” Zeter replied. “She’s having the other Sage Towers across Yume try and locate him.”

“Then, what are we doing?” Damarys asked.

“We’re going to Shinko Toshokan,” Zeter explained. “Arjana and the others can deal with the fiends for now. I get the feeling they wouldn’t have shown themselves like they did if we hadn’t remembered what we were supposed to be doing.”

“What makes you say that?” Kasyn asked.

“They could have had their impostor tell us they wanted to parlay,” Damarys said as it dawned on her. “There was no need for us to go into Ichiba Wa other than to keep us from going into Shinko Toshokan.”

“But why?” Kasyn wondered.

“That’s what I hope to find out,” Zeter replied.

Fortunately, Shinko Toshokan wasn’t that far from the gate into Ichiba Wa and there were, at least, still work crews around the building, patching the walls. To Damarys relief, Tomodachi was also there, along with a replacement door.

“I heard about Jelvaic and the fiends,” Tomodachi said without any preamble as the carpet drew level with him. “I’ll place the door and then go meet up with Arjana. I don’t know what you’ll find in there,” he added, nodding to the Toshokan. “Akumu never let me enter it.”

That final statement spawned a dozen different questions in Damarys’ mind but there was no time to ask them. Perhaps later she’d try and find out why Tomodachi hadn’t been allowed into Shinko Toshokan.

As the door slotted into place, the guardian of the Toshokan beckoned with it’s multiple fingers for Damarys and the others to enter.

“Come,” it said to them, “I will show you what you seek.”

Stepping into the Toshokan, Damarys was struck by how vast it was on the inside. From the outside, the building looked like it was comparable to a regular barn, but on the inside it was several stories tall with a grand spiral staircase in the center of the building. There were also several stories going down into the earth. The stair case itself was wrapped around a glass enclosure wherein an ancient and withered tree grew. Sunlight streamed down from high overhead in the enclosure.

“Akumu is overdue for his annual visit,” the guardian said as it led them towards the staircase. “One of you will need to make the sacrifice.”

“What sort of sacrifice?” Damarys asked.

“I do not know,” the guardian admitted. “I only know he had to give something up each time he renewed the bargain.”

They reached the stairs, but rather than go up or down them, the guardian pushed them aside as if they were on a hinge and opened a door into the glass enclosure. The guardian moved to the side and motioned for them to enter.

“I guess we just go in and try to figure this out,” Zeter grunted and led the way through the doorway.

The instant Damarys crossed over the threshold, the grassy lawn between her and the tree seemed to stretch out, elongating until the space inside was larger even than the Toshokan had appeared. The tree was also much larger, almost on the scale of the elder tree, although this one was clearly aged and dying with only a handful of branches producing any leaves. A number of black chains were anchored into the bark of the tree as if to hold it down. Some of the chains were broken and hung limply from the trunk.

“Welcome, unexpected guests,” a soothing voice spoke. “Approach and speak to me your desire.”

Although there were no visual clues, Damarys felt that the voice was coming from the tree. The three of them walked across the field until they stood beneath the boughs. There were three wooden chairs set out beside the tree and without needing to be told, Damarys knew the chairs were meant for them. They sat and the chairs conformed to fit them perfectly.

“The lands are dying,” Damarys said after a moment. “We know Akumu used to come here to renew the lands but we don’t know what he did exactly.”

“Do you not know who I am, then?”

“No,” admitted Damarys.

There was a heavy pause before the tree spoke again, and when it did, there was deep sorrow in it’s voice.

“Akumu was once my priest,” it said. “He worshiped me. That was more than an age ago, before I and the others were slain. Now I am naught but an echo of what I once was and so there is nothing for him or anyone else to worship anymore. But I am not without potency.”

This was the first time Damarys had ever heard anything about Akumu’s ancient past since his reign predated every history book currently in existence.

“What do we need to do to renew the lands?” Kasyn asked, breaking Damarys out of her wonder and awe at being in the presence of an ancient goddess.

“One of you must give me one of your sorrows or regrets.”

“Doesn’t sound so bad,” Zeter shrugged.

“This is not a kindness,” the tree told them. “To lose such a thing is to also lose the joy that preceded it. Akumu once had a family that he missed dearly. To give me that sorrow meant he also had to lose his memory of the joys he once had with them. For how else could I take away the loss if he still remembered what he once had? Over the millennia, Akumu has become a hollow man, devoid of almost all his most cherished memories.”

“And in exchange you’ll bless the lands here?” Damarys asked.

“For one year, yes.”

“Why can’t you just bless the lands forever?” Zeter asked.

“That is not how deity works. We must be implored, there must be a sacrifice. Besides, I am dead and thus greatly weakened. This is the most I can do for my last and ancient priest.”

“I have worshiped Akumu nearly all of my life,” Kasyn spoke firmly. “If this is what needs to be done, in his name, then I will do it.”

“Then come to me, child, and let me embrace you.”

A hollow in the side of the tree opened, just large enough for Kasyn to fit into.

“Do we need to leave?” Damarys asked.

“You may remain where you are. Your companion may need assistance leaving once we have finished. The process is not always without its other effects.”

“Such as?” Zeter asked and catching Kasyn by the shoulder before he could step into the tree.

“I cannot foresee them, beyond knowing that Akumu sometimes had difficulty leaving following the ritual. He would sometimes weep, or rage, or sit in silence for days before he could leave. Other times he was unaffected.”

“This needs to be done,” Kasyn said as he pushed Zeter’s hand off of him. “It’s the least I can do, especially after what we let have happen to Emilie.”

With that, he strode forward into the gap and was lost to Damarys’ view.