A quiet wind sloughed through the woods, rustling leaves as they walked through the sparse tree trunks. Tez walked like an animal who belonged to this part of the world, his sword held tightly in his hand. He leaned left, holding a finger up, and then gestured for them to follow him. His soundless movements were eerie, but Tara’s silence beside David was unnerving. She walked as if strung tight. Her eyes were hooded and her body kept low. She matched Tez’s every step as if tracing the old man. They wound past trees, careful not to disturb anything that would give them away. Even though David couldn’t see anything, Tez had warned about scouts.

David wasn’t sure why, but he felt something ominous hanging above them, some kind of herald of doom. Like a dark shadow waiting to engulf them in smoke and blackness. He shook the thought from his head, blaming Tez for fraying his nerves with silly stories of people getting killed in places like this. He stole a look behind him and frowned when he realized the last gabled roof of the city was far gone, long vanished away from sight. And it had gotten dark. Too dark for this kind of expedition.

Tez had insisted. David wasn’t sure why, but there had been a force in the way the old man spoke, clamoring for haste. David had thought his speech had reignited something in him. The man had seemed like a husk only minutes ago. Now he looked different. Every part of him moved with purpose. His old skills were coming back to him like reliable memories. He sniffed the wind, moving his head side to side as if listening for sounds, for the occasional crack of wood underfoot. Or perhaps there was something else.

“Are you sure you still—”

Tez shushed him, giving him a stern look that made David frown. Tara only smiled and shook her head. No one spoke again. Then Tez motioned for them to come closer. They were behind a thick cover of grass, and from there Tez pointed out two forms walking in the distance. Their faces were half-veiled and their hoods were up as they walked the worn road. Tez lowered himself some more, giving a meaningful stare at David.

“See why we couldn’t walk the clear path?” He asked. His breath was warm on David’s face and his breath was like a barrel of old wine. David shrugged. Which made Tez’s frown deepen. Then they were pushing through the forest, past scurrying little animals and the smell of the woods. Somewhere in the forest, a pleasant fragrance traveled to them with the wind, but soon they left it behind. David felt tired but determined. He wasn’t sure how far they were going, but he kept his eyes out for more of Balek’s acolytes.

The ones they saw before were not armed, but David knew how fast outworlders summon their weapons. He wasn’t going to act a fool. He scanned the area as they inched closer, committing everything he saw to memory. It was what his father taught him. Our brain can hold much more than we think. Disregard all that nonsense about brain percentage. Your mind is so powerful, you have no idea. David recalled how easily his father laughed and the harsh lines under his eyes when he did. The image of his father fighting against the orcs flashed in his mind, but only briefly. He’d made sure to remind himself that his father was strong. And his mother was there too. There was no way they had lost.

But what if they did lose? What if you are alone and you are all your siblings have? Are you strong enough to protect them? Or will you all die?

David pushed the thoughts down. They’d been coming more than usual. He wanted to melt them out of his brain like a lump metal for ironwork; hot and red, shedding all impurities. He wasn’t sure what they would do yet. Moving up the tower had been a fine idea, but what came after? Would they battle it all? The idea didn’t sit well with him. It sounded like years and years of fighting. He was exhausted already, and they were still on the third floor. He had much to do. There was no time to go weak, he had to get stronger.

Tez peered over the narrow stream that flowed slowly through the forest. There was just enough light to see a few paces ahead, but the old man leaned forward with his ears and waved them to follow. David couldn’t see lamps, but he wasn’t sure they should trust whatever it was Tez was doing. They were in the open, in the enemy’s territory. They shouldn’t be moving because an old man was listening to…the wind? He wasn’t sure what exactly Tez was doing whenever he leaned or listened, but David was sure it had nothing to do with essence. At least none that he could sense.

They sloughed through the water. David felt the gentle push of the water’s slow current downstream. He leaned down to bury one hand in it and then touched his face. The cool of it eased his anxiety a little. David had questions. Many he was sure the old man would only hush. But that deep foreboding sensation was thick above him again. He cursed as they walked out of the water. His shoes were soaked through, but luckily they didn’t make the squeaky noise he’d been worried about.

“Damn!” David whispered when Tara pointed to the carcass of a large beast. It was like nothing he’d ever seen. The span of a human with fur and horns. Its face was narrow, with snout and long sharp-edged fangs. One side of its body had been gnawed off, eaten by something either bigger than it or smarter. David gave it one more look before they left it behind. If there were beasts like this here, what else was in this seemingly harmless forest? The thought made him shudder. It was almost completely dark and Tez was moving faster.

They shouldered through long grasses and walked through a round field of fallen trees. Tez snorted but said nothing. The trees were long rotten, their smell sailing in the picking up wind. The sky above was a darkening carpet spread above the trees. David wondered if there would be stars, then he recalled there hadn’t been any when last he looked. He wanted to ask Tara if she’d seen any but realized how stupid that would be.

The night would come with complete silence. That would make sneaking through these trees a lot harder. It will make them easy to find and put down. The thought felt like a stab in his chest. He didn’t want to die. He would run back to his siblings. Perhaps they could find a better way to get out of the floor.

“Almost there,” Tez said, breathless. He’d seemed too sprightly before. David had almost thought he was using essence. But he hadn’t been able to sense it at all. Then he’d decided that it was either Tez was too good at essence control and manipulation or there was some other secret to the use of essence. Tez had been in the tower longer than he had, it made sense that the man would know.

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He banked east, carrying us into the deeper reach of the woods, and then moved forward again until the trees thinned and there was only a handful of the trees between us and a field with a rising hill. It wasn’t so high, but I could see the forms walking in the distance with lamps in hand as they patrolled the lit opening. It was a small entryway. Tara scoffed.

“So far from the city,” She whispered and Tez nodded. “Are they scared of the people?”

Tez nodded, blinking his wrinkled brow rapidly as they all watched the veiled forms move around the cave’s perimeter. They couldn’t see much from where they were, but David could see that most of the forms were large, inhumanly big. The orc Ziel had sent to him flashed in his mind and David quickly suppressed the panic that he was sure would come with it.

“They are strong and powerful,” YTez whispered. “But they know the people would crush them if they came out of the shadows. Krak tried it once after he defeated us. The nobles were fast to mobilize against him. He learned quickly how much it would hurt him to villainize the villain.”

“Why weren’t they chased out completely then?” Tara asked, face folding into a confused frown.

“Fear, and greed. Fear because they think the plague was their fault. They think Balek will save them from the wrath of Amareth. The nobles can’t stop getting money and promises of protection from Krak and his ilk. Those who are not with Krak get the long slumber.” Tez shrugged.

David couldn’t see his face. The day’s light was almost completely gone.

“We could have gotten the others and attacked at once,” David said. But Tara shook her head. She was staring hard at the cave mouth. The traffic there was busy. Three people stood out there in armor. Their lamps reflected off the steel surface. More had come out, some veiled in cloaks and others in partial or full armor. If they were just acolytes, David imagined they wouldn’t be difficult to subdue, but then he finally understood why they had to come scout first. These were not ordinary zealots. They were the slaves Galan and Han and the other Gaoran lords had sold off to Krak. They were hardened fighters, outworlders like them.

“Krak is in there?” Tara asked. Terz shook his head. David frowned.

“Krak has a small core group he calls his shield. They worship in the main temple which is a small sub-space you can reach via this portal. The portal here is how he visits his sheep. He comes once in a while, but he doesn’t stay long. We won’t meet him here.”

“And you said he could siphon powers?” David asked, trying to imagine how strong Krak would be in his world. From what he’d experienced with Galan he was reluctant to enter a space that was governed by another person.

“Yes,” Tez said, catching David’s meaning. “ But there is a limit to what he can do. That is something we found out when we fought him. Every person’s essence is unique once it mixes with the essence that flows within. Krak can mimic and use our unique ability, but he can’t use it simultaneously.” He turned to peer back at the cave. Two of the guards were talking in hushed voices. The third had walked off, probably patrolling.

There was a long whine from within the cave. It echoed out, vibrating in David’s head. He shuddered, wondering what kind of beast that had been. Tez hissed. It was night now and David couldn’t wait to get far away from the forest. It wasn’t fear, it was just the feeling that if they stayed longer, they would be found out.

“You think you can take it?” Tez asked. David had wanted to answer but the old man was looking at Tara. Her eyes were still pinned to the cave. David’s heart started to race when he heard the thunder of hooves running through the woods to their left. Then he saw them coming right as if for them. He was about to gather essence in preparation, but the new visitors stopped in front of the guards. They dismounted and shouted their greetings before turning to wait for the arrival of the carriage coming behind. It was a small wooden box mounted lazily on a flat platform. It seemed unsteady. And from within, David heard the murmur and wails of people.

“Recruits,” Tez said. There was a bitterness in his voice. David’s fingers curled into a fist as they pulled out the prisoners. These ones too will be forced into a life they didn’t plan. He wanted to blame the guards, not the outworlders who continuously enslaved others even though they knew what it was like out there. Yet, he knew who really was at fault. He looked up to the sky, knowing that the gods he was searching for existed somewhere else, outside the horror they had created.

“We have to do this quickly,” David whispered. He couldn’t wipe the frown off his face. Something coiled inside him that wasn’t Ignis or the unknown power. It was dark and feral. It was ready to consume everything. Tez took a look at him and nodded. David wondered what the old man saw. His eyes were slit-closed as if covered in folds. But he seemed to see everything. He was glad when Tez turned away.

“We need Han,” Tez whispered as they slowly made their way back to the city. David was eager to see his siblings, to know that they were safe. He felt strange when he realized he was looking forward to seeing Hanna too.

Tara scoffed.

“Still sentimental?” She asked but Tez shook his head. It was so small, so frail. Then David chuckled at how stupid he was. Tez could probably hear and slice a buzzing fly in two. There was nothing frail about the man

“No,” Tez said. “He is one of the few who can get access to Krak’s hidden world. We will need to wait for our attack to coincide with one of the meetings.” Tara shook her head.

“That will be too long,” She said. “We have been here too long already. I don’t think delaying is in anyone’s interest. There is no other way?”

Tez shrugged. “There might be, but give me the night to check if this plan is possible. It is the easiest I can think of, and Han owes me and many others for his betrayal.”

“See? Sentimental,” Tara said.

“I am old. I am allowed to want my enemies dead.”

Their steps were fast now, the city’s light wasn’t some distant thing anymore. David could see it on the curved horizon. The beginning of Gaora’s nightlife. The city was a trickster. It held a devious disease in one hand and with the other, it lured more people in. David sighed. He couldn’t wait to leave; to be done with this place.

“Tonight,” Tara said.

“You still have that Jeremy boy or is he dead?”

“Jeremy lives,” Tara said with a schoolgirl’s grin. Tez snorted but nodded with a wide grin. David ignored them.

“Good,” Tez said. “He is the only one who can fight like I can. He will be very useful. I will let you know what I find and then we can begin planning. I don’t know how many are in that cave, we should be ready for anything.”

David listened to them talk, half buried in his own thoughts. He had to get better acquainted with Chaos’ Gauntlet. He would need any and all power he had. The problem was that he wasn’t sure how to trigger them, or how he could deliberately gain insight. He was tired of running in blind only to somehow mercifully get protected by his own powers. He should be in the pilot seat, controlling his powers. Not the other way around.

“David!” Tara called. David jumped. “What are you thinking about?”

“Right now? How to take away your ability to scream or make any sound at all.”

Tara smiled sweetly, “You flirt. Come, we have much preparing to do, Hero.”