After a lengthy discussion of plans and tactics, Alice finally let Megan leave her room but kept her limited to the College’s campus.

“Let’s not risk someone more important seeing us just yet,” the Infernal said. “We must stay under the radar as long as we can.”

Megan agreed, even if she privately wanted to make for one of the gates right away. But she kept that thought so quiet that she couldn’t even allow herself to have it because she knew that Alice would see it coming and lose her temper. Megan really did want to help Alice, but she also didn’t want to see her friend attempt something that would guarantee her death. The best way to stay with her and also keep her safe was to play along with this plan until she could find a way out of it, taking her friend with her.

They walked past more than a dozen other people, of course, each having their own Infernal companion. Alice was on guard at all times, but they seemed to avoid anyone that she deemed dangerous enough. Megan found it interesting how many actual Infernals they walked by. Tall, pale-skinned figures who walked the halls of the college as if they’d been there for their entire lives. Alice kept a running commentary in her head the entire time, mentioning names and precisely how she felt about each of them.

“Darven. He’s so lazy I’m surprised he took part in the invasion. Oh, of course, Trez came with. That idiot’s such an ass kisser.”

One Infernal, though, created an interesting reaction from her. An Infernal wearing robe was reading in the grand library of Arcana, leaning against a bookshelf and perusing a thick tome. Even from a distance, Megan could read the title. It was Tome of the Body, the first book that Samuel had published back when the world’s knowledge of magic had been less complete.

“Why Is Damien here?” Alice said in the back of her mind. “I thought he hated Verran.”

“Who’s Verran?” Megan asked, keeping her voice pitched low. “Is he the leader of the faction that traded with the Primeval?”

Alice had given her a crash course on the politics and dealings of the Infernal Planes. Each island had its own collection of Infernals who shared an interest or similar cause. She’d even taken over long enough to sketch a rough map showing the relative location of the islands. The Primeval’s home was on the northeast corner of the isle, and its two neighboring islands were full of the Infernals who had so desperately wanted to invade Ahya and take over Gitna.

“Yes, Verran is one of them,” Alice replied in her head. “Nobody’s seen him in quite a while, though. He was supposed to cross over and find a worthy person to lead everyone across. He hasn’t replied in nearly four hundred of your years.”

“My years?” Megan asked, confused by the term. “Are you trying to tell me that time works differently in the Infernal planes?”

Over at the bookshelf, the Infernal named Damien looked up at her with a quizzical look, and she felt her heart leap. Had she spoken loudly enough for him to hear her question? Would her question be enough to tip him off that she didn’t belong? But after a second or two of curious gazing, he returned to the book, a slight smile on his face. Megan moved pointedly further away, pretending to peruse a stack of tomes for herself.

“You really need to learn more about planar magic,” Alice said. Even without seeing her, Megan knew the Infernal girl was rolling her eyes. “If you did, you’d know that time in the Infernal Planes runs much slower. Since our plane was created by the Betrayer and his brother, the runt had no control over it.”

It was the third time that Alice had referred to a ‘runt’, but she didn’t explain it coherently now, either. So Megan asked the question that she’d wondered about for years but had never plucked up the courage to ask. “How old are you, Alice?”

“I’ve been alive for almost a thousand years,” Alice replied. “Of course, here in the material plane, that’s only three or four hundred years. Think of it like how an Ancient ages. They come into existence at the precise age they need to be and hardly ever age.”

A thousand years old, Alice thought. That had to suck. Sure, being an immortal sounded fun, but the Infernal Plane did not. Spending the better part of a millennia in a place that they hadn’t chosen had to suck. She almost felt sorry for the Infernals who had crossed over, thinking of how much she’d hate being stuck in a place with no choice to leave. But Alice called it home, she realized. So maybe there were Infernals who preferred it over Ahya.

“It’s still in Ahya,” Alice said, reading her thoughts again. “It’s not even a true plane. The old Infernals were just sealed there, and the Betrayer made it a plane of his own.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Something buzzed in the back of her mind, but Megan paid it no mind. She’d felt that strange sensation nearly four times since the attack on Milagre had happened. At first, she’d thought it had been some kind of magical attack, but no danger had presented itself, so she tried to ignore it now, convincing herself that it had something to do with the extra presence of Infernals around.

Damien moved again, turning to return Tome of the Body to the shelf. He’d read through that quickly, she thought. He picked up Tome of the Mind, the second book in that series. Well, at least he was spending his time learning instead of causing trouble. She herself spotted and selected a worn tome on planar travel and carried it over to the nearest table. There was an altar to Arcana there, she noticed as she set the book down. Admittedly, even though he was the overall Patron of the college, she hadn’t given the God of Knowledge much thought.

“I wonder if he’s working on a solution,” Megan muttered idly. “He has to be. I can’t see him sitting this out.”

“Who are you talking about?”

With a start, she turned to see that the Infernal named Damien had strolled over to her and was sitting at the table beside her. He set Tome of the Mind gently on the polished table and offered her a friendly enough smile. There was something about the smile that set her on edge, but not in discomfort. No, there was something familiar about it. That was a ridiculous thought, of course, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she somehow knew him.

“What?” She asked, trying to cover for her nervous jump with a bored tone. That only made his smile widen and become more like a smirk.

“Who are you talking about?” He asked again, leaning back comfortably in his chair. “Who’s working on a solution, and for what?”

She swallowed nervously. “Uhh, I was talking about Verran. I’m sure he’s out there somewhere, working on a solution.”

Damien’s eyebrows rose a few inches. “You know about Verran’s mission? Well, your partner must be highly ranked. Tell me, why aren’t you down in the caves trying to break the Gitna’s seal then?”

“Didn’t feel like it,” Megan said, while in the back of her mind, she wondered what the hell Gitna was. It wasn’t the first time that day she’d heard the name. “I wanted to come here and read instead. Just like you, it seems.”

“Oh, no,” Damien said. “I’m not important enough to be involved in trying to break into Gitna. I’m just one of the foot soldiers.”

Alice’s growling was enough to let Megan know that his words were a downright lie. The Infernal girl seemed inordinately displeased at their situation. “What a lying sack of shit. He’s one of Verran’s best lieutenants.”

“Right,” Megan said, replying to both Infernals. She looked Damien directly in his blue eyes and attempted to smirk in return. She wasn’t sure she pulled it off too easily. “Sure you are, Damien.”

Alice swore loudly in her mind, and she realized a second too late that she shouldn’t have mentioned his name. His smile widened. “Oh, you really shouldn’t have done that.”

That buzzing feeling in the back of her mind happened again, and in the blink of an eye, Damien was gone. Alice yelled with fury and immediately took over, shunting Megan safely back. Her daggers leaped into her hands at once, and she adopted a low crouch. “Idiot! He’s an Elder! That name has power!”

Something struck at Alice out of nowhere. It was an invisible attack until the last few inches when the very tip of a sword appeared, and Alice spun on the spot, parring the blade away. Then she lashed out with a kick and connected with someone that Megan couldn’t see. It was Damien. He appeared again, landing on his side with a grunt of pain. But to their surprise, he was grinning more broadly than ever.

“I knew it was you, Alice,” he said, pushing himself to his feet. “Derrax told me you’d left home to come here, but I had no clue you’d stay so close to Gitna. What a pleasant-”

With a scream of rage, Alice tackled Damien to the ground, pinning him down and lifting one of her daggers. “Shut up! I’ll kill you!”

Damien caught her wrist in a flash and without seeming to expend any effort, flipped them around so that he was now pinning Alice to the ground. “You should have spent more time bonding with your host, little Alice. You’re so weak. Why didn’t you just take them over?”

Megan, seeing her friend in danger, pushed roughly to the front. Damien’s eyes widened in surprise as she appeared again. Being a few inches smaller than Alice, his grip slackened for half a second, and she channeled a powerful gust of air to her left foot and kicked him off of her. He flew for nearly twenty feet, slamming into a bookshelf and landing in a crumpled heap, with hundreds of books raining down on him.

“Nice one!” Alice shouted, trying to take control again. Megan didn’t let her this time. Instead, she conjured more winds, sending them into the pile of books, wrapping tightly around the Infernal’s body. She lifted him easily off the ground, keeping his arms bound tightly to his torso.

His lips were moving, but he didn’t seem troubled by his current predicament. The winds around him blocked out any sound, but she could tell that he wasn’t muttering a spell. He gave a slight shrug or his best attempt at it with how tightly bound he was, and rolled his eyes. Then his form began to shudder and shift, and Megan knew that he was swapping out with whoever he’d possessed.

Before she could think to add more wind to suppress whoever he was possessing, the winds dispersed. She sent a stunning bolt of electricity at them immediately as they landed, but they drew a green blade and intercepted the spell. It was absorbed at once, and all evidence vanished as the sword was slammed back into its sheath. She froze then, not wanting to attack further.

“What the hell?” She asked, her jaw dropping in shock. “Michael?”