Damarys stood froze on the ground, shocked by what she’d just seen. One minute, Zeter was standing well away from the dragon, the next he’d turned into a blur that streaked forward and threw Kasyn out of the way of the dragon’s claw. Now, only a cloud of dirt could be seen where Zeter last stood. It was with relief that Damarys realized the dragon wasn’t moving any more. It lay on the ground as though it were a statue and Damarys knew Kasyn had finally begun to take control of the dragon. She didn’t understand why it had taken so long, but then again this was a dragon and by far the most powerful creature they’d yet encountered.

She was split on what she ought to do. On the one hand she wanted to rush over and check on Zeter. On the other hand, she didn’t want to get too close to the dragon before she knew if it was going to be safe or not. Kasyn had warned them before that there was a sort of struggle of wills when he used the chain and if the dragon won out then they’d be right back into the fight.

“Zeter?” she called out, keeping her fifth and final dragon tooth arrow nocked and ready to fire if needed. “Talk to me.”

Silence dragged on and she took a few steps forward before stopping herself. It felt like an eternity, every second seeming to take an hour, but finally the dragon shifted and Damarys readied herself. Fortunately, it just lowered its head in a bow to Kasyn and then withdrew, curling itself back over the arched gateway into Chikara Wa. As soon as that was done, Kasyn dropped to his knees.

Damarys ran to the crater left by the dragon’s last attack, stowing her bow and arrow. Kasyn was crying slightly as he looked down into the hole and Damarys gasped when she saw what he was looking at.

Zeter was crushed, his limbs twisted at odd angles and his face frozen in a faint grin.

“No,” she gasped, bending down and pulling him out.

She checked for any signs of life even though she knew it was futile. Kasyn placed a hand on Zeter and bowed his head.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I hope you’re at peace.”

It didn’t feel real to her. This was a sick nightmare or something, and yet she knew she was awake.

“Come on, we have to heal him,” she pleaded but Kasyn only shook his head.

“The city’s already claiming him,” he said.

Sure enough, Zeter’s body took on the unmistakable look of the undead and it writhed out of Damarys grip, only to sink into the ground before them. The two of them stayed there for several more minutes before, without speaking, they both got up and walked into Chikara Wa. Wordlessly they went through the deserted Wa, Kasyn locating and repairing runes as they went. Unlike the other Was, there were no roving bands of undead or fiends to fight off or avoid. Chikara Wa was devoid of all threats it seemed. It was a relief and a let down all at the same time. With Zeter’s death so fresh, Damarys wanted something that she could vent her sorrow on, kill something if only to drive away her own pain.

When they at last made their way to the Sages of the Mercurial Robe’s tower, they weren’t surprised to find it so heavily damaged. Most of the structures in the Wa were damaged, but the tower was unique in that even though large chunks had been blown out, magic still held it aloft so that it hadn’t collapsed in on itself.

“Do you think we can get in?” Damarys asked.

“We can at least try,” Kasyn replied.

It was the first words they’d spoken since entering the Wa and together they approached the tower, cautious of any defenses it may still have active since the attack.

With their first step onto the steps of the tower, the exterior lit up and a booming voice spoke.

“BEGONE, INTERLOPERS! THIS TOWER WILL NOT BE PLUNDERED!”

They leapt back as fire erupted and nearly caught them. Once they were off the steps, however, the tower went back to normal and didn’t continue to attack.

“Well that complicates things,” Kasyn sighed. “You think a member of the Sages would be able to get in?”

“Probably, though I notice Ketty Pordis didn’t volunteer to come with us even though she knew where we would be going after dealing with the dragon.”

“I get the impression she’s more of a researcher than a battle mage,” Kasyn said. “Now that it’s safe, she’d probably agree to come along. Or at least get us in the door.”

“Alright then, let’s get headed back.”

The sun was already setting and it would take them at least a couple hours to get back to Autay Wa. The news of Zeter’s death wouldn’t be a welcomed update but there was no ignoring it. By the time they walked into the town hall, whispers were already spreading that only two of them had returned. Jelvaic and Arjana met them in the same conference room as before and were silent for some time after Damarys and Kasyn explained what had happened.

“The Wa is under our control, then? With the exception of the Sages tower, of course,” Jelvaic finally broke the silence.

Damarys nodded.

“We think Ketty Pordis may be able to get us into the tower,” Kasyn said.

“I think she and her people can deal with the tower on their own, don’t you?” Arjana replied. “I don’t know what you or Damarys could hope to achieve inside the tower, unless there are runes in there you need to repair.”

“No there’s nothing like that,” Kasyn admitted, “I just assumed we would be the ones to fix it since…”

“Since you’ve been fixing everything else,” Jelvaic finished for him. “No, I think you’d be best used in reclaiming Nemuri no Shiro so we can have not just our city but our country back in proper order.”

“We might still need Ketty’s help in getting into the castle,” Kasyn pointed out. “The only way in is though the teleportation circles and I don’t know how to work those.”

“We can keep you two as a bargaining chip with miss Pordis,” Arjana suggested. “If she insists on some assistance with the tower, you can fill that role in exchange for her help with the teleportation circle.”

“Alright,” Jelvaic placed both hands on the table and pushed himself up, “It’s late and today’s been a difficult day. I want you two to take at least two days of rest. Then we can convene a meeting with Ketty Pordis and see where we get with her.”

“In the mean time, we should direct some crews to begin going through Chikara Wa and determine the best way to clean up and repair the buildings there,” Arjana said with a nod to Jelvaic and also rising to her feet. “At least with the runes all repaired there won’t be bodies to clean up.”

“Right,” Kasyn agreed.

Damarys left and made her way back home, not really paying much attention to those around her. She wasn’t looking forward to having a couple days to do nothing, but at least this time around she could practice archery. Maybe she’d help clean out Zeter’s home, since that would need to be done anyway.

It was a long night, once she got home, of lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling wondering if there had been something she could have done differently, something she should have done, that would have prevented Zeter’s death. It was a useless exercise, she knew, since she couldn’t go back and change anything, but still she lay there, wondering late into the night until she finally fell asleep.