Many thoughts went through Fomoria’s mind as he began to fall, gating himself to the ground so he didn’t fall into the gates his Others made to move the rubble from the sky safely away from the city.

Yet the strongest feeling was that his now missing arm was in some way broken, and refused to heal due to his aura breaking, being torn away from him by the giant arm and its hunger for his aura, the still rather poorly understood barrier that held in the soul to the body.

As he laid there on the ground on one of the few hills that were around the capital city of Ragne, he began to search.

If it really was Nulson who had done this, he would stay to watch.

And so Fomoria closed his eyes, not expecting to find the man by sight alone, and instead he searched in the crossroads for the man, who he met only once before.

A few thousand feet away, nearly across the entire city, on a hill with a view that overlooked the city, he found them, Nulson’s mind radiated a strange air as he moved from one body to another, sending a shock through the crossroads that was noticed by his Others as well.

“What do we do?”

“Save the city first. Then wait. One of you has a Micheal, yes?”

“Six of us do, all accounted for.”

“Micheal, do you know what you need to do?”

“Kill the-”

“Capture him. Put him in a dream. If you cannot do that, kill him. He cannot escape.”

“Alright.”

He did love it when people didn’t argue back about strange orders, that some people understood that no matter how mad it seemed, it was for a good reason.

“Magruder must die, and Sepul must believe we have killed Nulson. Use the soul sealing needles, one of you use them, but not all of you. I want to save the person whose body has been stolen, but if they must die, so be it. And I can hardly move, I want Sepul to get me so he isn’t as likely to interfere with the other business.”

Fomoria’s plan went off without a hitch. The soul sealing needle worked, binding the mind tightly with the soul of the victim so it could not easily flee. Magruder didn’t try to surrender, meaning they were justified in their use of force. And Sepul kept away from the actual fight.

When he brought forth the idea to bring Ragne officially into the Fomorian Empire, she accepted with little reservation.

All that he needed now was to heal his aura, which was a completely automatic process so far as he knew.

Though, what he knew about aura in general was quite lacking, as clearly shown by the arm stealing away part of it from him.

Sepul brought Fomoria to his home along with Harlan. But Harlan had suffered a great deal more damage, not from anything striking him, but just from having to almost instantly cast a city wide shockwave destroying spell requiring he channel a god.

“Thank you. But I don’t really need anything more.”

“Stay until your arm can be healed. You and Harlan both suffered damages, and would be better served under my care.”

Fomoria knew that there was some lie there, but he couldn’t tell which part of it held dishonesty.

“I’d like to bring Yara here then.”

“That’s fine. Elise told me about your meeting with her.”

“I didn’t have time to deal with that, so I sent her to Harlan’s home instead so they could work out their differences.”

“It didn’t work. She simply left without seeing Harlan.”

“Anyway-”

“No, I won’t have you changing this subject.”

“Elise is one of many half-sisters I have. I don’t really think of her as any more special than the dozens of Fomorians who share a father with me. That, and she smelled like a snake.”

“Alchemists often pick up strange scents.”

“You know exactly what I mean. She also admitted to having done something bad to Harlan, abusing her position as someone who shares blood with him.”

“Elise has been apart from almost everyone. I raised her as a hermit, it is my fault. But her encounter with Harlan has changed her, surely you’ve seen that?”

“I could tell she was guilty, but I can say for sure that she is upset over being caught, or because she did something wrong. There is a world of difference between those two things.”

“I have been with her, and I can tell that she is upset that she has possibly ruined a relationship with someone who could love her as a sibling and nothing more.”

“Bring her here.”

Elise had a mix of shame and indignancy in her mind as she walked into the room.

“You fucking spineless coward.”

Any sense of guilt washed away in that instant.

“What did you just-”

“You are a spineless, coward. I dragged you to Harlan because all he wants is a genuine apology. You couldn’t even go to see him. You didn’t get to the starting line, you failed to show up to the race.”

“I’ll-”

Sepul held her back.

“STOP. FOMORIA, WHAT IS THIS?”

“Alright. Now we can actually start. Elise, you are clearly an aggressive person trying to force yourself into a more demure character. So, what exactly did you do to Harlan?”

She took a deep breath, not much liking being the one having games played on.

“It was after he destroyed Haldren. I tried to use his clear fragility to get secrets of magic from him by asking about how his spells worked. Adina was quite angry at me, and then he took me to the ruins of Haldren. He explained that power without wisdom was a bad thing. That me trying to gain power just for the sake of power was stupid.”

“And he was right. But, don’t let those truths prevent you from getting what you want. It sounds to me like you lack restraint, you lack real experience. You’ve know magic all of your life, but what do you use it for?”

“I enjoy finding out what I can do.”

“You lack an aim, a goal. I desired… no, I required strength, because that let me have freedom. What do you really desire?”

“I… don’t really know.”

“What is your specialty?”

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“Spatial magic, like grandfather.”

“Sepul, I would like to send her to spend some time with my spatial mage who lives here in the NLZ.

He has had a very different life experience, and though it isn’t the same as actually getting years of experience leading to gaining a goal naturally, I believe he would be helpful.”

“He is the mage from beyond the veil?”

“Oh, you’ve met.”

“He will be a teacher of spatial magic, but he doesn’t have the same somewhat standard teaching and learning experience which could be expected of those inside the veil. Hirum asked that I meet with him and test his knowledge. The man is a wonder. I do think it would do her well to spend some time with him.”

“Good. Elise, you can leave once you’ve packed a bag. In the meanwhile, I want to have a private conversation with grandpa and call Rosen so he knows to expect you.”

“Grandpa?”

“Sepul has acted like a good grandparent to me since the day we met, and it would be just as strange as calling my dad father.”

Sepul was happy.

“Do I get any choice in leaving?”

“No.”

Fomoria got up from the bed and moved around a little, feeling the phantom pain of his missing arm.

“Do you feel when people are lying?”

“No. My power lets me force truth, but it is not inbuilt, it requires I focus it greatly through my alchemy.”

“Lie to me.”

“I hate you.”

Fomoria couldn’t help but smile a little.

“I feel my neck tingle when people are being dishonest.”

“Strange. How long has this been happening?”

“It was subtle and I didn’t notice it at first. Perhaps it’s six weeks?”

“Have you tried alchemy to make a condensed version of the magic?”

“No. I haven’t even confirmed that’s what I’m feeling. I was hoping you went through this already, that you had some small feeling that you later realized was your ability to find the truth. Sometimes I will get the feeling, ask the other person, and when they deny dishonesty, I don’t get the feeling. If the first thing was a lie, then surely them refusing to admit to the lie would be a lie?”

They both stewed in thought for minutes.

“Perhaps it is the simplest answer. When they don’t have their guard up, you can feel the waves of lies, but when confronted they become defensive and block your ability to feel it.”

“Try that then.”

“I hate you.”

“I didn’t feel anything. That is a rather unfortunate weakness.”

“Anyone who knows you can do this can exploit it, since it seems likely that it is reflexive based on a mental state, and not something to be trained for.”

“I haven’t directly told anyone yet, just leaving it as a gut feeling. Thank you for your help. Now, I should get back to my empire.”

“Would you like to stay for dinner?”

It was then that both of them felt a disturbance in the space of Sepul’s home; something wanted inside.

Both were ready for a fight, even with Fomoria missing his right arm.

Then it stopped, and someone knocked on the door.

When they neared the door, Fomoria told him who it was.

“Lich, why have you tried to invade my home?”

“Very impressive arrays. I’m not used to using the front door anywhere.

You, make these potions. The ingredients will be delivered shortly. Fomoria, make creatures to these exact specifications.”

Xol left without another word, dropping the books for them to catch.

Sepul’s eyes went white, and Fomoria’s black.

The city in Fomoria’s mindscape had changed, now being disconnected from the ground with the faceless moving to the ground and back through permanent gates.

“I take it that Xol’s plans are coming from you, hence us being told to craft these things while he does other, more important tasks.”

“Yes, and no. Xol’s plan was entirely from him, and I saw no issues that couldn’t be rectified.

But you and Sepul are being contracted for the sake of this plan. Those creatures will hold the fingers for power, and those earworms will allow telepathic communication for non-telepaths.”

“Oh. Can I do that?”

“No. Marigold will be the one granting power, you are just making shells.”

“This seems like too much for just Seraphallen.”

“Were our plan be killing, ‘twould be in excess.”

He furrowed his brow slightly, wondering about the sudden change in tone and word choice.

“Yet plans of such means allow one to sever more than a single soldier, a soul shall sunder.”

“You are going to kill The Emperor?”

“Mayhaps happenstance shall herald hope.”

“What’s changed?”

“A Little Shadow has no place within a new conflict, his place is his place.”

“With my combat body, I could-”

“No, ‘twould be worth several strikes, a drain beyond sense required for each blow, a threat to him cannot be allowed.”

“I can’t just sit at home while everyone else fights him.”

“Glory shall be in your hands. Word of you, The Emperor, The Godslayer, shall set upon the ears of all.”

“I-”

His mindscape crumbled, and he was forced into the endless void.

“There shall be no here or there, what or why, only a listening of orders, and a following of.

The great dragon may be called upon, and there will be not even shadows left alive if so.

Crippled as you are, the battle is too close, the risk is too great, you have no place within it any longer.”

Fomoria awoke back on the bed.

“They can’t just-”

“Silence.”

Sepul’s tone was solemn.

“If something does happen to me, promise that you will protect your sister.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I have been called to fight against a threat which is greater than any before. I have once stood beside a champion of Anu as they were cut down by one of these Hands. Yet this one has both, and more.

200 years have passed since then, yet I still worry about the power this man may have.”

“I’ve seen the ruin when this one killed his counterpart. But you’ve destroyed cities yourself, I don’t-”

“Promise me, so I can work without such a weight on my mind.”

Fomoria opened his mouth, but his throat seized.

It wasn’t sensible, nothing could change his participation, Cecht had ordered him to fight.

But in the back of his mind, there was still a childish idea that if he didn’t make the promise, that Sepul might not die. That accepting it would make him have to fulfill the promise.

“I am sorry for my tone, but my gut tells me that my time has reached its end. Please, do not say this to anyone, and I shall hide this as well. If all goes well, there is no reason to worry the others.”

“Why not have Harlan take her?”

“Shameful though it is to admit, I have given far too much leeway in her actions, and I fear Harlan would do the same. I believe you would care for her as I would not.”

“She is years older than me. She would be fine to be on her own.”

“And yet those were years lived under lock and key. Outside of The Veil, I have no enemies, she would not be a target.”

“I have enemies.”

“Fine. I will have to find someone-”

“I promise. If you do not return, I will take Elise in, and keep her safe.”

“Thank you.”

Though awkward with only one arm, Fomoria hugged Sepul.

“Don’t make me go through with that promise.”

“I shall do my best.”

A day later, back outside The Veil, in D’if’s House, the City of Everfall.

Fomoria stood over a golem which held Nulson.

It was a simple thing, looking like a mannequin and made of skysteel so it was light and easy to both repair and break.

“I’m sure you are wondering why I didn’t kill you.”

“I have my ideas.”

“You were one of the Unseen, the best of them, from what I’ve heard. I have my own spymaster, but he is old, and in less than a decade, time will take him. I need someone to help him with teaching the next generation of my spies.”

“What are going to call them?”

“Spies. The Unseen aren’t an official branch, they don’t have a real title. It would only hinder them.”

“No. I won’t work for some nameless organization.”

Fomoria thought for a moment, and was reminded of his city.

“The Faceless.”

“Perfect. When do I start?”

“D’if will enter the room as soon as I step out, and then you will talk about techniques. Your teachings and his aren’t the same, so there will be some overlap, but what I want is for you both to blend your work into a better style.”

“Very well.”

Fomoria walked back to the door, but stopped when Nulson called out to him.

“How do you know I will actually help?”

“If you have no use, I will just kill you. But if you are helpful, I might slip up one day and you can escape, or I will just free you for your loyal service. I’m going to use that fact as another way to train my spies. Each time they stop you, it will only make them better.”

Nulson burst into laughter.

“I’m going to get out one day.”

“Maybe. But that golem will detonate if destroyed, killing you. You’ve also certainly noticed that it has locked your mind inside. And lastly, your roommate will be working against you. I’m sorry about that, Micheal.”

“It’s fine, I accepted this job.”

“Sounds like a fun challenge then. I’ll be seeing you, my emperor.”

“No, you probably won’t.”

Fomoria left the room, and D’if slipped in.