Xerxes finished casting Singular Lethality. He clenched his hand into a burning fist, spun in place and launched a blow at the nearest cultist. He hit the person’s shoulder, causing the stench of charred flesh to expand as the person howled and fell.

Katayoun’s hand, emanating a gray light, hit the so-called Archon. She jumped backward.

Xerxes swung his fist at another cultist, but they dodged the blow, only to take a kick from Katayoun. The cultist’s legs flew out and they slammed into the ground.

Xerxis held his fists up to protect his head as he assessed the room and tried to pick another target. The guards were back. The first ran into the room with a bronze shortsword already drawn. The one behind him two metal contraptions designed to restrain mages. A third followed, spear in hand.

Katyoun reached Xerxes’ side. We should get out of here.

Right. Go.

The thick wooden door was locked. But with superior High Seer strength plus Singular Lethality, Xerxes was able to smash it in seconds. They rushed back through the building the way they’d come in, and no one got in their way.

Shouts came from behind as cultists and soldiers ran after them.

The outer door was locked as well. Xerxes destroyed it.

Out in the open, they panted as they backed away from the manor entrance.

“What now?” Katayoun said.

Xerxes looked down as the brightness of his spell faded. He looked back up. “We run.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the street.

It was a residential neighborhood, so it wasn’t as crowded as the labyrinthine bazaar. At the end of the block, Xerxes looked over his shoulder, wondering if he would see the hooded man chasing them with dozens of soldiers at his back. Or worse, a horde of Abhorrent.

There was nothing.

They ran through a few intersections, picking random directions. The entire time, there was no sign of pursuit.

Finally, Xerxes spotted a restaurant on a corner. “In there,” he said.

They ducked inside and jumped into a booth, where they both leaned back and panted.

A waiter approached. “Uh….”

Xerxes waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t ask. Could you bring us some water? And… something to eat. Anything. As long as it’s cheap.”

The waiter disappeared.

A minute or two later, Xerxes thumped his fist on the table. “We fucked up,” he said. “No. You didn’t fuck up. I did.”

“We’re alive,” Katayoun said. “I’m happy with that outcome. Plus I hit that bastard with Slow Death. Unless he’s a Balatu Mystic, or they have one nearby, he’ll be dead within ten minutes. ”

“Yeah, that was a good shot. But… Shabadras is going to be pissed. We screwed up the entire operation.”

“Is it really our fault? Why didn’t he warn us they might have something like that spell formation?”

“Maybe he didn’t know.”

“True. Well, that bastard I hit was supposedly important, and we saw his face. Maybe that’ll help.”

He bit his lip. “He did have a weird complexion. What about the ‘supplies’ we were supposed to get for your friend?”

“I’ll think of something.”

The waiter brought their order, but they didn’t eat. They drank the water, packed the food, then hurried back to the school. Once on campus, Katayoun went to a rear garden where there was a loose vase they could use as a signal. She turned the vase to the correct angle to send a message to Shabadras. After that, they had no choice but to return to class.

The Swordmasters pressed him for details about why he’d disappeared for the afternoon. He explained about the ‘shopping trip’ but they didn’t believe him. He refused to give any further information, even when Enusat started making crude jokes.

It didn’t take long the following day to refill his chambers of energy. He had lunch with Katayoun.

“Did Shabadras contact you?” she asked when they sat down at a table against the wall.

“No. You either?”

She shook her head.

When they finished eating, they agreed to meet first thing in the morning to go to the bazaar, where they would wander around until Shabadras made contact.

The rest of the day was torturous. His mood turned foul, to the point where he almost got into a yelling match with Enusat over a sword stance. Eventually, Kashtiliash threw an arm around his shoulders and walked him back toward the dorm room.

“I think you need to cool down,” the bearded mage said.

“Yeah.”

In the morning, he found Katayoun, they ate breakfast, then left the campus.

The idea of wandering the bazaar for hours until Shabadras showed up was depressing. Thankfully, he found them almost immediately. A few minutes later, they were in a secure location in the back of a tentmaker’s shop.

“Good news?” Shabadras said, slipping his mask off to reveal a smile.

“Not quite,” Xerxes replied.

Shabadras’ smile faded a bit.

Xerxes told the story, being careful not to embellish or exaggerate anything, but at the same time, emphasizing how every step of the way, they’d done the best they could. Katayoun interjected details here and there, and they always seemed to enhance the story.

However, when they got to the part about the spell formation, Shabadras’ smile disappeared. Xerxes tried to very carefully insert a thought implying that someone should have warned them about the possibility of the stone disc. But Shabadras’ lack of expression made it hard to tell if the message had gotten through. He didn’t react at all to the revelation of the hooded man’s face, nor of Xerxes’ description of the dramatic fight, their escape, and the flight through the streets.

“So we came back to the school as soon as we could,” Xerxes concluded.

Shabadras closed his eyes and lifted his hand up to rub his jaw. A minute passed. Two minutes.

Katayoun looked at Xerxes. Her normal smile was marred by tension in her jaws, and her brow was furrowed.

Shabadras opened his eyes. “I’m glad both of you got out alive. Whoever the hooded man was, he was incompetent. Given your description, I agree that he was most likely a Seer of the Nasaru order. Had he been an Archon, or a Mystic or higher from an order such as Asgagu or Sinitu, you two would have lost your life. Or perhaps been captured. It’s a moot point now, as he’s most likely dead.”

Xerxes cleared his throat. “The description will help you figure out who he is, though. Right? Maybe you can use that to extrapolate—”

“No. A jaundiced complexion? Patchy beard?” Shabadras shrugged. “It was probably a disguise. I’ll pass word along, but… I’m sorry, High Seer Xerxes, this doesn’t come close to what we were hoping from you.”

“Sir,” Katayoun said, “we did kill several cultists. Surely that’s noteworthy.”

“Not particularly,” Shabadras said. He stood. “Again, it’s the leaders we’re interested in.”

Xerxes wasn’t ready to give up. “Archon, when you mentioned the officer position, you said—”

Shabadras held up a hand to cut him off. “I promised you the possibility of a promotion if you uncovered the identity of a high-level member of the cult. You failed in that. I’m truly sorry. Again, I’m glad you both came out of the incident unharmed. And to be honest, I think you did the best you could in the circumstances. Who could have guessed that they would use a Truth Disc at a meeting like this one? It would have caught even me by surprise.

“But in the end, the results speak for themselves. The mission was a failure. There are no hard feelings here, and I value your service.”

“Sir,” Katayoun said, “what about the places where we went to meetings? Including the last one. Shouldn’t you… investigate them?”

“There’s no point. The cult acts fast when locations are compromised. They’ll be, at the very least, abandoned. In other instances, they’ll torch them.”

The Archon slipped his mask back on and pulled his hood up.

“This entire operation was off the books, so I can’t give you any other special reward. At least, not officially. You did put your lives on the line, so I’ll figure out a way to slip you some compensation. And who knows, perhaps another opportunity will arise to prove yourselves. In the meantime, focus on your studies. By the way, regarding the rumors you asked about last time… I have an update. You’ll be shipping out soon. Be ready.”