After we got everyone up to speed we identified a way for everyone to get down to the ground with the goats (which could apparently walk nearly vertically when needed), but as per my brilliant plan Callie and I decided to take the quick way down. In order for us to hit them at the right time (in the middle of the night) we waited up on the cliff while the others took the slower path, made even slower than it would have been by Randall.

"So." Said my girlfriend after the team left. "You're taking to this planning thing well. This is a step up from having Abel throw you at a flying monster."

I gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Not my finest hour, but this should work out. With State of Grace I can float us down over to the fortress and you can bring us in through the shadows. You can transport me like that right?"

She nodded. "I can. Our bond means you can use my Skills and can count as an extension of me if I push. Luckily my ability is still MUCH less complicated than yours."

I sighed, wincing as I remembered trying to let Callie tap into my Wish power. It had been a painful and completely fruitless experience. "In any case, it'll take them a few hours to hit the ground and by the time they do it'll be go time." I gestured to the cliff edge. "Care to sit and watch the sunset with me?"

Beaming, she dropped down to snuggle up against me as I sat. "I'd love to. This is a beautiful view. Don't you think?"

I smiled softly at her. "I'm becoming accustomed to being overwhelmed by the beauty I see every day." I made sure my tone and the bond left no doubt I was talking about her. I also took my mask off, because it seemed like it might kill the moment.

Her kiss was giddy with affection and contentment, and I reveled in how intense it could be feeling her emotions like that while she was feeling mine. The feedback loop of adoration and happiness was kind of intoxicating.

Leaning her head against my chest, she looked out over the core. "I love you." She said softly. "Not just for all this, but...this is amazing. I would have never imagined any of this before I met you."

I smiled, putting an arm around her. "It wouldn't mean half as much if you weren't here. Getting to travel the universe is pretty cool. Getting to do it with the woman I love is a dream."

"Speaking of dreams." She said wryly. "I felt a bit of a shift in the way you were feeling not long ago. You seem more purposeful, more driven. Kind of like you did when you decided to look for your mom. Make any big life decisions?"

It occurred to me that I hadn't mentioned that to her. I'd made the call in my head but I'd never shared the realization that I wanted to save my family from themselves.

"I realized why I need to win this." I said quietly. "Up to now this has been a game, or a means to an end. I decided to push on to help with my goals, but this is going to be more than that. I'm going to be the Wishmaster. I need to be. Because I realized the other day that the way I was raised, that Nat was raised. I hate it. I don't want any of my relatives to have to grow up like I did."

It felt stupid saying it out loud. I was so far from the Wishmaster title that it wasn't even funny, and who was I to gainsay the way my family had been doing things for centuries. But...I didn't care. It was my path, and I was going to walk it the way I wanted.

Callie must have been feeling what I was through the bond. She laced her fingers through mine and squeezed. "Hey." She said firmly. "That's a really great goal. And I'm in."

I paused. "If I do become the Wishmaster, I wonder if there's an office you inherit. Like is there a Wish Mastress?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. "The female form of Master is Mistress. Mastress isn't a word. And if that was you proposing to me I'm going to kick your ass. And also say no. Not because I don't love you but just-"

"Too soon." I said firmly. "Waay too soon. Trust me, I'm not crazy. It was a joke. Not that I might not someday. I probably will. But I'll put a lot more thought into it."

Her smile was brilliant. "You'd better." It was funny, the bond saved so many misunderstandings. She knew what I meant, what I felt, and I knew her. There was no offense taken or meant. We loved each other, and we both knew it, and that was enough.

We stayed like that for about two hours. Holding each other and watching the sun set. Once it went down we stared up at the absolutely colossal moon above us, until finally there was a red flash of fire off to the side of the cliff where the others had started heading down.

The signal that they were in position. I double checked the map, which had filled in for everything we could see from up here, and once I confirmed they were in the right spot I stood up, reaffixing my mask. "Alright love. You ready for this? The plan hinges on you being able to get us in and keep us stealthed."

She snorted, blowing a strand of hair from her eyes as she stood and fixed her costume, smoothing out wrinkles that admittedly wouldn't have stuck around anyway and brushing dirt off her coat where she'd been sitting on it. "Please. I was born ready."

I snickered and offered her my arm. "Shall we? Careful of that first step. It's a doozy."

Smirking, she took my arm as I actived State of Grace and we stepped off the cliff, drifting much slower than we should have and forward as we fell leisurely toward the fortress in the distance.

Shifting in the air, I aimed us nearby but not on the actual fortress. As we touched down, rather than hit the ground, we slipped through the shadows and into...nothing.

I'd never traveled through the shadows with Callie before, and the sensation was like nothing I'd ever felt. Cold and dark and empty in a way I'd never experienced, then within one heart beat and the next, I felt warmth wash over me as I was shoved back into the real world again.

I shuddered a bit as we emerged. That had been unpleasant. I glanced at Callie, who shrugged apologetically. "It gets easier. The space between shadows is weird. Kind of a void. I've been in a few times, and my shadow manipulation skills makes it easier. We're under Stealth by the way."

I hadn't noticed, too distracted by the jarring sensation. After adjusting, I nodded. "Alright. Can you identify which of them are the locals? They'll be the strongest. We want to take the peak F-rankers out first."

She grinned. "I know which are which. I did a search through the shadows when we entered. I found them, and I should be able to hold them for a minute or so especially with the extra Impact. Are you sure you can take them out? Your tranq attacks are all G-rank aren't they?"

I hefted my staff. "Yup. But the Stygian Branch is E-ranked. That won't increase the effectiveness of the tranquilizer attacks enough to put them down easy, but if I use the poison as a carrier the combination should be close to enough. I'll be using Afterburner at the same time, which works for ten attacks. If they're immobilized and I target their heads that should keep them under."

I'd have to be careful not to hit them too hard or I might kill them, but all the modifiers combined with my staff directly impacting the brain should do the job assuming they didn't struggle.

Triggering Afterburner and Touch of Tears I decided to forgo Consecration of Flames, since that would be more geared toward damage. Overhwelming their regen would be great, but not if I was targeting the brain, I might accidentally kill them.

This was already risky, but as peak F-rankers their Vitality should fix any incidental damage. I nodded to Callie, who had waited for me to process and get ready, then she gestured for me to follow and led me toward the first target.

She'd found one of them asleep, letting us slip through the door easily under stealth and as we approached she closed her eyes and gestured. The shadows around the bed snapped up into chains encircling the local warrior up the length of his body.

Pinned to the bed with an arm under his head and one between his legs he was in a supremely awkward position, and my measured smack to the back of his head landed squarely. His eyes rolled up in his head as the compounding effects delivered the tranquilizer to his brain.

I nodded and we moved on. We took out the other four locals the same way, some of them standing guard and not expecting an attack from behind, some sleeping like the first. After we subdued each we tied them up with a more durable rope that wouldn't dissolve, making sure they were bound too tightly and in too awkward a position to exert enough force to escape.

Once that was done though, we ran into a small issue. I had three more tranquilizer blows in stock, and four more hits with Afterburner (the poison had taken one). We debated whether to try to take out the leader of the enemy team, but decided it was too risky.

Sneaking into the nearest rooms to the gates, we took out the three most likely to notice the gates opening. Stealth served us well, and we managed to remain completely undetected. Their sentries had been the locals we'd taken out, attention all focused outward.

I could see why Callie liked this kind of thing so much. This whole attack had gone off without a hitch. Granted, it had been pretty much an ideal situation, but it felt good to operate how my build was meant to, and better to do it alongside my girl.

Once we took down the last one we made our way to the front gates and opened them. Sadly, our luck could only hold for so long. The gates made a huge racket as they opened, and I heard the shouts of alarm as they realized their companions were gone. We'd hidden the subdued team members so they couldn't find and free them before this was over, so all they could do was attack.

A column of red ice smashed down from above, and I prepared to block, but it wasn't necessary. Our part was over, and a massive fist slammed against the descending column, stopping it cold before a huge cloud of flame consumed it entirely.

Abel and Mel stepped past us calmly as the enemy filed out, Randall looming behind them with Jessie on his back as the other fanned out in front of us. Stepping in front of Callie, I used my last charge of afterburner to trigger my Mountain Stance, and prepared to tank anything that made it past my team. I wasn't too worried though. This had been a perfectly executed raid, and now I'd leave the rest to the people best suited for the job. It was my first real time experiencing it, but damn, I loved it when a plan came together. I could get used to this whole leader thing.