With the way the talk with the drakkar had gone, Silas was not in the best of moods as Elisha guided the group to the stingtail clans. He could barely stop himself from snapping out at her, simultaneously wishing to demand that she went faster while also knowing that she hardly deserved his anger. For this reason, he compromised by taking on a soured look, his lips sealed tight as he stamped after the others. Not that the others were much better off, the exceptions to this being Elisha who desperately tried to keep positive, and Ajit, Aengus, and Vivienne who had enjoyed themselves back there.

Their passing surroundings turned drier and barren, the crunchy soil giving way to suntanned sands and the bright, leafy trees and bushes swapping out for hardier sorts. The sand swept about them, and Silas could sense magic in it; this was no ordinary gale’s doing. However, Elisha addressed it before he could bring it up.

“The Dlyos have set several defensive formations in the area,” she said. “You’ll see some strange stuff up ahead, but rest assured, it’s all screening stations, nothing serious.”

“How strong are these Dlyos?” Silas asked. “Also, I swear Dlyo is the name of their Sovereign.”

She nodded, “Yes, the clan takes the chieftain’s name as their family name. Strength wise, all the stingtail clans are powerful at magic. However, we should be able to match their arcane prowess,” she said, her eyes glancing over Mia, Ajit, and Bobby.

“Are any of the clans particularly troublesome?”

Elisha laughed freely at this. “Individually, they’re all as bad as each other, but they’re still manageable. It’s just when you try to gain cooperation from several clans at once that the true trouble starts.”

“So can we only ally with one of them?” Mia asked.

“Oh, no, I don’t think it’ll be that extreme,” the Primal Healer replied. “Just we might have to do more convincing for the clans that come after.”

And as Elisha had warned, their surroundings did become more fantastical as blowholes appeared in the ground, blasting sand showers into the sky, which itself took on a wilted cabbage texture and colour. Bodies of water seemed to cross through the desert, but when the humans stepped through, they found only more sand. Fortunately, the bizarreness all came to an end as Bobby called out,

“Someone’s watching us.” The pygmy troll lowered his head when all the human gazes pointed towards him. The gazes quickly shifted to Mia and Ajit.

“I can’t sense anything,” Mia said.

“Same here,” Ajit said, looking back to Bobby with a glower. “This better not be some ploy.”

“Oi, if he says he’s sensed something, it means he’s sensed something,” Hokul shouted back. “It’s not his fault he’s better at checking his surroundings than you.”

Meanwhile, Silas himself was confused over Bobby’s statement. Even with his perception, he couldn’t sense anyone around them. “Where are they watching from?” he asked the pygmy troll.

“There,” Bobby said, pointing, although the beginnings of doubt had now crept into his voice.

Silas turned to Mia, and she nodded, whispering under her breath before a giant burst of fire flushed out of her hands, painting the scene ahead with a thick splash of flickering red and intense heat. When the fire washed away, it revealed a blackened rip in the fabric of the scene; they were in some sort of illusion. Past the rip was a stingtail which rushed to soar into the sky, but Silas reacted quicker still, pulling his spear back and shooting it upwards in one smooth motion.

The spear glittered small flashes of electricity as it streaked through the sky, goring through the stingtail and shocking the life from it. The overgrown scorpion plummeted down, landing in a crash of sand. The humans approached its body, and Elisha healed it easily enough. As life seeped back into the stingtail, its beady eyes frenziedly looked between its captors.

“I recognise you,” Elisha said pointedly as if she was disappointed it had run from her. It looked similar to the stingtails that had been rescued from Ratterinks, its glossy red and white shell covering its scorpion body. It was human-sized with only two legs and giant indexed arms instead of claws. Its tail was long, muscular, and menacing. “Why were you watching us? Why did you run?”

“I was awaiting you, human chieftain,” the stingtail replied, although it was unclear as to who it was referencing.

“Funny excuse for peeping,” Hokul chimed in.

There was an expectant pause before the stingtail finally delivered. “I apologise - I had wanted to see how powerful you were before informing you. Our chieftain has asked to pass on to you that the Serpil clan has been seen hastily leaving the area. He believes the Serpils are joining another Sovereign’s faction.”

The surrounding temperature dropped. “Take us to your chieftain right now,” Silas demanded.

The stingtail looked around and realised it had no option other than to accept. And so the group travelled several more miles in a few minutes, this time easily passing through the arcane screening tests as the stingtail messenger deactivated them. They stopped before a giant platform of land floating in the sky, and although Silas initially thought it to be another illusion, he quickly realised it was nothing of the sort.

Elisha appeared to know the area as she pointed to spots circling the floating land with obvious updrafts of air. “You use those to get on.”

Shrugging, the humans launched themselves one by one, the updraft holding them in place throughout as it curved and rose to land them above. Silas’s updraft was warm and thick with wind, but not near as intense as he had expected, closer to a comfy gale which evenly lifted him dozens of metres into the air. Landing, he regained his bearings near immediately as the grounds were lined with the same System buildings every settlement had. The big difference here was the hundreds of stingtails staring back, and although it was certainly disconcerting to see so many giant scorpions in one place, he was under no danger since the stingtails were all mediocre in strength.

Aengus and Mia landed behind him, then all the others. Elisha was quick to lead them through the stingtail settlement, watched on from every side by curious stingtails, but the messenger must have sent word ahead as the Sovereign of the settlement revealed himself. Dlyo was averagely sized for his race with a soft-purple shell with glossy streaks of white and black running through it. He came from the sky, flying as easily as Ajit did.

“Elisha, Sovereigns,” he said, his tail bowing for him. “The Astors and the Serpils are both joining other factions to yours.”

Silas turned to Elisha for an explanation. On the way here, he had been briefed that both the Dlyos and Serpils lived in this area but not the Astor clan. She, sequentially, turned to Dylo for an explanation, which the stingtail provided after a second.

“My clan, while perhaps not as destructive as others in a fight, has many methods of keeping track of those same others,” he said with pride. “The Astors are far, yes, but we spied on them joining your fellow human, Lucian, a while back. As for the Serpils, they were here until a few hours ago, when Serpil came to the decision to join another human, Kuraim.”

“Kuraim?” Silas repeated, inhaling a sharp breath. “Where are these Serpils now?” He couldn’t let the Necromancer get anymore allies, not when he already had Dahlia and an army of undead.

“They are already several days’ of travel away - they took a teleporter to halfway, before destroying it behind them. I’m not sure why they only went halfway. Anyway, it should be impossible to catch them now, but I happen to have slipped one of my daughters into the Serpil clan.” Dlyo gazed up at Ajit. “I have heard of you, Warlock. Perhaps you can use my daughter’s scale to teleport to her.”

Ajit took the black scale freckled with white and closed his eyes. “Oh, yes, I can feel her magical presence. But at this distance, I can only take four people with me, five if I stretch it.” He glanced around, his gaze stopping on Silas for affirmation.

“How strong are these Serpils?” the Duellist asked, aware of the weight of leadership pushing down on him.

“They are one of the combat-oriented clans, certainly the most powerful one of their discipline,” Dlyo answered. “Serpil, in particular, is not someone I would like to take on directly. Her sons and daughters are only marginally weaker than her.”

Silas’s thoughts went from thinking whether they could take on such a clan with only five people to dreading what Kuraim would be able to with such a strike force. He had to stop them. “Ajit, Mia?” he asked.

Even though the question lay unasked, they understood him.

“Of course, laddie,” said Aengus. “Why else do ye think I came?”

“Yes,” Mia said.

“Elisha, Dom?”

“Mm-hmm,” Dom hummed.

“If you are asking if I’ll join you in massacring my previous allies,” Elisha said with a frown, “then you must be insane.”

“Vivienne?”

The Beastmaster clicked her tongue. “No point in me coming if Mirza and Oscar can’t come.”

Which left only the prophet, Hokul, and Bobby remaining. The prophet wasn’t particularly powerful, so taking him would be pointless. Contrarily, the pygmy troll and dwarf were strong, but not trustworthy. He might as well ask… “Dlyo?”

“I would gladly aid in murdering the Serpil’s clan,” the stingtail said.

The scale in Ajit’s hand melted into nothing, the blobs dripping down and hissing as they made contact with the ground before vanishing to nothing. Some seconds later, a portal ripped open ahead of him. The Warlock looked to Hokul and Bobby. “Remember that you’re both tracked, so don’t bother running. Just keep this pretty lady company,” he said, winking at Vivienne. Then, without hesitation, he stepped into his portal.

Aengus, Dom, Silas, Mia, and Dlyo followed. The portal’s void threads snapped with eldritch twangs once they were all through. It collapsed on itself from all sides and vanished too.

****

As the door opened, light flooded the dark temple, lighting Dolkar Letho, the Aeromancer, who sat in Buddhist monk robes. Through the door came Sandip Mand, Windwalker and one of the 39 living Sovereigns.

“Dolkar,” Sandip whispered, not wanting to disturb the monk in case he was amidst mediation. “You called for me?”

There was no indication Dolkar had heard until several moments later when his soft voice answered. “I have come to a decision. The Palyul Monastery shall support Brightmoor.”

Sandip gulped, hesitated, then said. “But Lucian is a terrible person. You have said it yourself on many occasions; he is not one we should be aiding.”

“My eyes have opened and seen the bigger picture. Lucian’s path is the only one leading to peace,” the monk replied, still facing away.

“But—”

“Do you trust me?” Dolkar interrupted, finally turning around to bless the Sovereign with his aged but proud features.

“Of course, you saved me from my sinful life,” Sandip answered hastily, as if fearing taking too long to answer would be an answer of itself.

“Then trust me here. To see tomorrow’s light, we must ally with Brightmoor. And so you will support Lucian’s bid for Autocracy.” There was no question in his voice.

“If you think that is right, then I will believe you,” Sandip said, bowing.

“Good, now leave me,” Dolkar said, turning around again. “I wish to meditate for longer.” As the darkness took the temple again, the monk smiled. It was Dolkar’s face, sure enough, but the impish leer was not one he would have ever worn in life.