Erstanos took Shotensho by the hilt and held it up. A faint purple mist appeared around the sword only to fade away. With a satisfied nod, the robed stranger handed the weapon back to me.

“Here, I have no need of it now.”

To my surprise, though I could no longer sense Shotensho’s presence, all the blade’s former power still seemed available to me. Had Erstanos really just wanted Shotensho rather than the power he held? It didn’t seem wise to mention, in case he decided he wanted both. At least this way I was left with something to make myself useful.

Erstanos turned to Elmidath. “Hold out your hand.”

She presented her uncovered hand to him and he tapped it with his finger. And that, apparently, was that. His hand withdrew into his robe and produced the crystal once more.

“You have fulfilled your end of the bargain, now it is time for mine.” He handed the crystal to Elmidath. “Keep it safe, you will not get another.”

With that done, he drew back and stood with his hands behind his back. “As for the information you require, I will not bore you with unnecessary academic detail. There are only a few things you must know in order to carry out the task ahead. As you’re no doubt already aware, the Ortisfel are not of either the human or the demon world. They are from another plane of existence entirely, and were only introduced here by accident during the merging.”

Erstanos paused to look us over, perhaps making sure we were still listening.

“The rifts through which they emerged to blight this land are scars from that cataclysmic event.”

There was an oddly wistful quality to his voice when he spoke of the merging, which I wasn’t sure what to make of.

“However, there is one such rift in particular of far greater importance than the others. It lies deep underground and is solely responsible for the Ortisfel’s continued presence here. The Hand of Imistala will disrupt it permanently, ensuring they cannot remain here. Now then, before I give you directions on how to locate it, are there any questions?”

Resisting the urge to raise my hand, I spoke up. “I’ve got one; how do you know all this?”

He pointedly diverted his gaze from me to Elmidath. “Are there any questions relevant to what you must do?”

Ignoring me, Elmidath took the opportunity to ask her own question. “What does this rift look like and how exactly do we use your device to close it?”

Erstanos made a low sound of approval. “Eminently practical questions. The rift will be surrounded by darkness impenetrable to light, a phenomenon with which you are likely familiar. Normally that would render any description of it largely meaningless, but my device also possesses the capacity to disperse this darkness.”

I was pretty sure he was just bragging now.

“Now, as to the rift itself, once you’ve unveiled it, it will resemble a small crevice of shifting stone with a few important distinctions. To your eyes it will never quite seem to be in one place, I have no suggestions as to how you are to overcome this beyond mere persistence. There will be a variety of strange lights and images caused by The Hand interacting with the rift, I suggest you ignore them. Finally, if you still need any further help identifying it, you will know it by the sensations associated with its proximity. You will feel cold and extremely lethargic, in addition to the palpable presence of great power.”

He said it all seemingly without taking a breath, and it took me a few moments to process the stream of information. Once I got through it, I felt fairly confident in being able to identify the rift in question. Which is always a plus, especially when I had so little confidence in most everything else related to our fight against the Ortisfel.

“Using the device is far simpler, you only need to bring it in contact with the rift and it will do the rest. Are there any further questions?”

Now that the initial shock had worn off, I had what I thought was quite a good question.

“How do you expect just the two of us to accomplish this? Or even come close? I’m guessing you’re at least passingly familiar with our capabilities and resources, or lack thereof.”

“I’m aware of them, yes. And if it were truly just you two against the Ortisfel, then I would never have bothered meeting with you like this. However, with the help of Soarister and my device, I judge you to be up to the task ahead. Now then, I hope those are all your questions, I have other important things to attend to.”

When neither of us spoke, Erstanos he explained how to find this rift then began to float gently in place. “Now I leave you to your task, good luck.”

He lifted off, sailing back towards the top of the cliff while we stared after him. Only once he was out of sight did it occur to me that we were still stuck in here.

“You’d think he could’ve at least pulled us out first.”

“Somehow I doubt he has much interest in courtesy or being helpful. If he were inclined to, I imagine he could have made all this far easier for us. At least he saved us, getting out without anything trying to squash us shouldn’t be that hard.”

It was, as it turned out, still quite a difficult task but it was a manageable one. After much toil, we were at last free of the valley’s clutches. To my complete lack of surprise, there was no sign whatsoever of Erstanos other than the shattered cliffs below.

“I guess I should be grateful for his help, he’s made this a lot easier. He even saved us a long trip. Sorry you won’t get to see your mother again.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m happy to avoid that particular reunion wherever physically possible.”

Great, then it had worked out well for the both of us. At least so far, who was to say how much of Erstanos had told us was the truth? He wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy individual, what with being a creature of unknown origins and motivations. Still, I’d go along with what he’d said until I had reason to doubt it. Likely just as he expected we would.

I felt considerably less enthusiastic on the trip back, perhaps because part of me had been looking forward to visiting the demon city. Or perhaps because now I would soon have to confront the Ortisfel and make it all the way to what was surely their most heavily defended location. Not to mention work with Soarister’s servants once more. At least we didn’t have any more allies they might kill and then consume, small a blessing as that was.

We spent most of the journey in silence, neither of us seemingly in the mood for conversation. Elmidath had never really been particularly fond of chatter, but this was still unusual for her. I could only assume she was feeling as conflicted as I was, there was plenty of reason to feel that way after all.

Fortunately, perhaps because of the monotony of them, the days of our return trip passed swiftly and it didn’t feel like long before we were in sight of Yurielius once more. Its borders had expanded greatly since last we were here; it was now almost a forest in its own right. If you could even call something so twisted a forest.

Shading her eyes, Elmidath took in the full extent of it. “We don’t actually have to go in there again, do we? I’m not looking forward to being strangled by branches again.”

“I can probably just call Yuriel from the outskirts. That way we can both stay clear of any plant-based murder attempts.”

“Sounds good to me.”

I did just as I said and Yuriel soon showed up. The leaves kept a wider formation than usual, rendering her humanoid form indistinct.

“This is a surprise; I didn’t think I’d see either of you again and certainly not so soon.”

“Neither did we, but we came into some information that changed our plans. We now know how to defeat the Ortisfel.”

“Truly? And how might that be done?”

It occurred to me that I could tell her everything I knew about the Ortisfel, hand over the crystal and be done with it. Appealing as that idea was, it had one glaring flaw; it would require us to trust Yuriel absolutely. Which given her past actions seemed all but impossible.

This might be our only chance of stopping the Ortisfel, and Yuriel, or one of Soarister’s other servants might squander that opportunity. I didn’t know what they might have to gain by doing so, but I was sure they could find some angle for it. Maybe they’d simply take the crystal and use it to grow another arboreal monstrosity. If the Hand of Imistala was powerful enough to seal the rift, then I assumed it was powerful enough for Soarister’s purposes.

“I’m afraid I can’t share that information with you. However, we will need your help getting to where we need to go. In order to stop the Ortisfel, we need to reach the deepest part of their labyrinth.”

“If you’re not willing to tell me anything, what makes you think I would help you in the slightest?”

There was a coldness to Yuriel’s tone that took me by surprise. While she clearly lacked the same moral sense I had, she’d been helpful enough in the past. Had something changed?

“We’re allies, aren’t we? Against a common enemy?”

“Are we? I believe our arrangement has already concluded. You have given me Yurielius and protected it to maturity, while I have stopped the Ortisfel’s influence from spreading further within this land.”

Elmidath stepped forward, looking perplexed. “Okay, then let’s just make a new deal. I don’t see that it makes much of a difference.”

The leaves, or rather whatever was animating them, let loose a high-pitched burst of laughter. “There is one crucial difference; this time you have nothing to offer me. Why would I risk myself or my subjects on what sounds like an exceedingly dangerous pursuit? I see little to be gained, the Ortisfel’s threat is contained.”

“I’ll grant you that, but how long will that last? It’s only a matter of time before they come for you again and in much greater numbers.”

Yuriel made a disparaging sound. “Yes, yes, you’ve already told me all about the inevitable doom they will bring. To be honest, the more familiar I become with the Ortisfel, the less I see what you’re so concerned about. Unless, of course, none of this was ever really about the fate of the world or any of that nonsense.”

While Elmidath clearly tried to keep her expression neutral, a slight wince slipped through. “What’re you referring to?”

“I’m saying that you only ever cared about using Soarister to regain your own land. All your predictions of doom and destruction were just an effort to manipulate me, and whoever else you dragged into this, into doing your bidding. Well I’ve had enough of it.”

While I couldn’t deny that there was some truth to Yuriel’s allegation, the timing of it was rather convenient. What with it coming out in our first meeting with Yuriel after she got everything she wanted. Be that as it may, I could see little to gain from bringing it up. Though now that Yuriel was rejecting the very basis for our past cooperation, I had no idea how we were meant to get her on side now. It’s not like we had any hard evidence of the Ortisfel’s intentions or capabilities.

“Is there anything else you might want in exchange? Maybe a promise of some future payment?”

“There is nothing I desire that you are capable of giving.”

“Well you don’t know that for certain. What sort of things would you even want?”

Though my question related directly to our negotiations, I was also interested in what Soarister’s servants desired beyond simply expanding their domains.

“For Yurielius to flourish and grow even greater.”

Then again, maybe that was pretty much all they had.

“Is there nothing else you want?”

“All other desires are immaterial compared to spreading Soarister’s glory across the world.”

Well, that made things simple at least. “And what do you need to accomplish that? More magical energy to feed off?”

“That’s right.”

“I suppose we could agree to provide that for you in the future?”

“You can’t expect me to agree to something so dubious. The chances that you’d be able to provide much of value seem rather low. That’s also assuming we both triumph against the Ortisfel and that at least one of you survive. There’s no way I could risk a large portion of Soarister’s strength here over something so unreliable”

Short on ideas, I gestured for Elmidath to say something and she complied. “You’re right, you’d be foolish to accept an offer like that. There’s too much that could go wrong and we do have quite limited means. However, there’s a far greater prize on offer here than some meagre promise.”

Pausing for dramatic effect, she glanced at me then turned back to Yuriel.

“Once we’ve cleansed the Ortisfel from this world, they are sure to leave enormous sums of now unbound magic behind. You probably wouldn’t be able to get all of it, but if you were the first one in there, you’d certainly get the largest share.”

Yuriel’s drew back together into a more coherent humanoid form. “That is a far more interesting offer. I will consult with the others and return.”