Suggested Listening

"I guess we don't have much choice, then." Lyra was moving before Erra spoke. "Don't worry, I promise you'll be well cared for and kept safe."

"Would it sound insane if I said I was hoping you'd do this all along?" Cali walked toward Lyra, knowing full well that any attempt to resist the dryad would be futile and unpleasant. Instead, a scratch behind where the ear would be if she had any, and taking a moment to speak to Elruin. "Hey, Ell, promise you'll come visit when you get the chance? I think I'll go insane if I'm cooped up too long. It's not a mind control thing, I hope, I've never done well in captivity. Which is why I joined the Scouts in the first place."

"I promise," Elruin said. She ran over to give Cali a hug before she left. "Even though you're being forced to try to kill me, you're still my favorite elder sister ever."

"I think that says more about your family than it does me," Cali said. "Trust me when I say mine's not much better. I bet they're glad Claron showed up, gave them the excuse to disavow me. I bet some of them wrote those speeches years ago."

"That's horrid!" Erra put her hand up to cover her mouth. "How could they do that?"

"It's tough, at the top," Cali said. "Always looking above you to find your opportunity to claim more power. Always looking below, to spot those who want to take your place. Surrounded on all sides by people who'd throw you to the wolves- uh, sorry, Ell."

Elruin hugged Cali tighter, while Lyra stood watching. "I'd never do that to you! When this is over, I'm going to hunt all of them down and make them sorry."

Calenda chuckled. "Oh, they're sorry enough as is. Both of us were part of their house, and after all the praise they gave you after that healing stunt, well, let's just say they've been humiliated, and some lost their holdings to Claron's new plans for the city. Meanwhile, I've got Duchess Consort as a title, which is better than most of them can hope for. So, don't be too hard on them, same as how I let your family walk away."

"Fine. But I still get to hate them."

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." Calenda extracted herself from Elruin's hold. "Now, you figure out what you're going to do while I'm no longer in spying distance, then come tell me something full of half truths and complete lies. Have Scratch make them up. Or better yet, tell me the truth while convincing me it's a lie. That way when I find a way to escape, I won't be able to reveal anything important."

"I promise everything I tell you will be true." It was fascinating, watching how the tangled mess of a mind control spell was responding to the idea of being intentionally lied to. "Especially the lies." The energy flashed, fluctuated, and drew upon Cali's mind to right itself. It could be broken, if one was to bombard it with enough nonsensical contradictions. She felt confident Cali wouldn't survive, however, and Elruin already knew she could break the spell by overloading it via direct magic, if she didn't mind killing Cali.

"That's the spirit." Cali put her hand on Lyra's shoulder. "Come on, Lyra, let's go see what sort of prison you dream up for me. Then I'm going to cuddle with you until this headache quits."

Once she was gone, Scratch poked his head out of the soil again. "Alright, what did we learn?"

"That nobles are horrid and I can understand where Claron's coming from," Erra muttered.

"Don't buy into that steaming pile of twice-regurgitated pig vomit, Priestess." The last thing Scratch wanted was to give Claron more supporters, let alone the one holding Lyra's leash. "Your entire species is full of violent, insane, selfish, stubborn monsters. Some rich, others poor, all terrible. You're also creative, adaptable, kind, loving, people who refuse to surrender to the inevitable. It's why you're still standing when so many others have been wiped out by monsters and war. Which is better than my people can claim. But enough about ancient history, let's talk about what we need to do now."

"We need to get help," Elruin stated. Solving problems here was no different than solving problems at school: break it down into simple, easy to accomplish steps, then put those steps together. "With the tunnels open, we can find people to run to Engewal, get warnings out to the remaining free cities."

"Sorry, that ain't happenin'," Scratch said. "Our choices are we go, or nobody goes. Can't take Lyra, or everyone who stays dies. Can't take these people, or the monsters will rip the group apart. Can't get anyone else into the quarantine zone, 'cept maybe one with Lemia's teleport. Can't go straight to Engewal, either, I'm sure Claron and his men are prepared for that. Lifesight and someone like me to go scouting is the best hope we've got."

"And if we don't go, then we'll be waiting until Claron is strong enough to get through the nonviolence magic and kill Lyra." Elruin didn't want to go back into the wilderness, but the idea wasn't as bad as it would have been before. She was stronger than before, and far more knowledgeable of magic.

"Such is the nature of mortal life," Scratch said. "Tic tic tic, every tic a little closer to the final moment. The question is not if or when the end comes, but whether you'll accomplish anything of value while waiting."

Erra considered that bit of bleak wisdom. "How are you so good at finding the most depressing ways to say the most uplifting sentiments?"

"Years of practice, Priestess, long years of pr- woah, wha-"

Suggested Listening

Four long, slender limbs emerged from the earth, each with hands that might be mistaken for human if they weren't the size of a man's torso, emerged from the soil, followed by the face of a misshapen boar. Another four set of limbs, each with another set of hands, followed moments after.

It may not have been the first to begin screaming, but it was loudest by far. A soul-rending, magical howl that dropped more than a handful of the men at the border to their knees, while those within the field retreated to the safety of the tree.

It lashed out, grasping for the three nearest the hole. For Scratch, it was a futile attack, and Elruin evaded in part from her speed enhancing sarite of choice. It was Erra who was captured in the grip of the monster, which then lifted her with greater ease than it should have been able to. Its jaws opened, an extra three sets of tusks revealed themselves from within its mouth, while yellow bile dripped from its mouth.

"Let her go!" Elruin shouted, while blasting the creature with repeated bolts of energy.

The beast recoiled backward, striking outward at the little girl who inflicted such unexpected pain. It thought that nothing could hurt it, not in the strange magic that allowed it to grasp prey without risk, then drag them somewhere else to consume. Dirt and sod kicked up. The stone bounced off her magic-hardened skin, but the dirt still blocked her vision. Not her lifesight, however, so she kept blasting while it kept retreating.

It stumbled back for the safety of the tunnel, away from these bizarre tiny monsters, but its strength gave out. Shallow painful gasps of breath became ever more pitiful until they ceased, the monster halfway into the passage that represented its survival.

Lyra caught Erra as she fell from the monster's grip, then set her down and flew back to Cali.

"I, but," Erra stared at Elruin, rather than the monster. "How did you kill that thing?"

"It wasn't that strong," Elruin said. In truth, it was a great deal stronger than the mork she'd had to fight. If she thought about it, the monster was stronger than anything other than those people who stopped her from saving Cali.

"I didn't mean that part." Erra dropped to her knees, unable to stand after her brush with death. Some people were equipped to deal with adrenaline, but Erra wasn't one of them. "How did you get past the peace field."

"I saw it attack you, but the magic of the field didn't stop it, so that means it wasn't really a living thing. That means it's okay for me to hurt it. I was surprised that they were vulnerable to Negation magic, but they seem to emulate life magic to move. It's advanced stuff, I wish I had time to study it more."

"I don't th-"

Scratch put his nonexistent hand over Erra's lips. "Hush."

"But-"

"We just discovered a loophole so dumb that I doubt anyone has ever thought to defend against it. Admittedly, not only do I know no way to exploit that loophole, I can't so much as try to think of one, but I'm going to state that in this case, ignorance is bliss. Specifically, her ignorance and our bliss." Scratch guessed the peace aura would not take well to Elruin realizing she killed something while inside it, even if he didn't know what it might do.

Elruin, meanwhile, was approaching the slain thing. Whatever it was looked flesh and blood, complete with the flicker-hum of fresh born sarite. It felt strong- not quite as strong as the necromantic sarite she still kept hidden, but strong nonetheless.

She took her stiletto and pierced through the creature's eye, maintaining her death aura the entire time. Flesh crackled and burned away, blood dried to dust, and she got through without ruining what little clothing she managed to put together while trapped here. She extracted the stone, which thrummed against her energies. This shard would go well with her collection.

"Maybe you should go tell Lemia we're leaving the city. I'd like my training clothes." Elruin didn't want to ruin her expensive outfit, but if there were more monsters, she needed clothes that wouldn't melt when she used too much magic. "I have to stay here and guard against more of these constructs, in case they hurt someone who can't fight back. Then you'll need to close this passage down. Oh, and if you've got some spare flasks for water, I'd like to ask for some."

"Sounds like a plan," Scratch agreed. "And, hey, think if we find another of those things down there, that I can take it for a ride?"

Elruin gave Scratch an odd look "You can control constructs?"

"Uh, sure, let's say that for the purposes of this conversation, I can control these constructs, but not while inside this bubble. I can't guarantee it'll work on others." Scratch dipped down into the soil, so as to avoid ruining a good thing by running his mouth. He couldn't remember the last time he found a necromancer with Elruin's potential, and now he was set on the most perilous part of the journey.

How he influenced her over the next few months would shape the future of this empire and beyond.