Taoc led me along the outskirts of the city. Bain Rusta followed behind me, breathing heavily to keep up. I had a feeling he didn’t want to start lagging behind because he knew I would just pick him up with magic hands and bring him along if he did.

We arrived at an older part of the city. Taoc said the city used to be much smaller, and that before the city walls were built, this place was the heart of the city because it was close to the Senate and soldiers’ barracks, which meant it was the safest place to be whenever the city was sacked. The paths in this part of the city were tiny and made of cobblestone. The sewage system had been moved underground, but the remains of open air drains could still be seen. All of the houses were made of wood, with some signs of rot and creeping vines. There were many plants in pots nestled in tiny corners and on windowsills. The windows were the wooden like the ones that we were using in New Cas City. All of them were shut tightly in preparation of war. I did see one that was open just a crack, with a younger fairy playing with a baby and some toys, flames crackling in the open fire-pit where something seemed to be simmering. It smelled amazing. I almost wanted to knock on the door and try some, but there wasn’t time.

We went down winding paths that made me finally realize just how big this city was. I had spent all of my time near the entrance and center of the city, far from the densely packed areas where most of the population actually lived. On the main street running down from the gates to the Senate, there was hustle and bustle, the cries of hawkers, the din of the crowd, the effervescence of a large, commercial city. But out here in the alleyways there was more life. Thinking back to my home in New York, I could say it was like the difference between downtown Manhattan and some of the quieter parts of Brooklyn or Queens. Still a lot of sounds coming in from the houses, especially now that everybody was preparing for war, but it was a tamer sort of noise. Clanging pots from one house, the wails of a baby, a calm conversation drifting onto the road.

For some reason, all of this was jumping out at me now as we snaked through the city. Was it because I had missed it before? Did it contrast so heavily with my previous experiences? Maybe. Or maybe it was because there was nothing else to do and the journey was long and complicated. I was almost tempted to grab Taoc and Bain Rusta with magic hands and jump into the air. Perhaps we could leap right onto Alek Izlandi’s lap. I was definitely getting a little itchy to beat up the smug demon prince. I could still picture that stupid smirk that had stretched across his face. It’ll feel good wiping that off his face, I remarked to myself.

Taoc held up a tiny hand. I stopped. Bain Rusta was panting, and he had to grab his knees and stare downward to catch his breath. I cast some air magic traveling away from the bend in the road behind which Taoc was hovering low, a finger on her lips. I stepped closer quietly with motion magic, and used a little light magic to see around the bend.

There was a nondescript building made entirely out of wood. It looked pretty much exactly like the other buildings we had run across, except it was at the end of a street with no other buildings around it, which was strange considering the density of the houses in this part of the city. A strange crest adorned the large wooden door: a pointy black shape that looked vaguely like a demon’s tail if it had been chiseled into the wood by a child.

There were no sounds coming out of the building. The window had been cracked open, ever so slightly. I couldn’t hear any fire, any shuffling of feet, or hushed whispers. Either there was nobody in there, or they knew we were out here and were holding their breath. I remembered the prince shouldn’t have many demon supporters with him anymore, and he wouldn’t want to make too many of his mind controlled minions leave their positions just yet, so if the prince was in there, he had to be relatively alone.

I took a shallow breath and cast motion detection magic. First right outside the door, in places that I could not see from this position. Then, I cast a spell right inside the window that had been left open. There were no reactions from these spells, so I prepared to try to cast some further inside. It would be tough to do so inside the building, but by this point I had cast this spell so many times my ‘wisdom’ had increased quite a bit.

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Wait.

I frowned. The spell beside the window had been triggered. Slightly, as if it had been brushed by a feather, but definitely enough for me to notice. There was definitely somebody in there. I glanced at Taoc and Bain Rusta. I gestured for them to stay put. Alek’s mind control magic did not seem to function the way the Oracle’s did. I didn’t want to risk being back-stabbed by my allies in the middle of a fight. I’d had enough of that for now, thank you very much!

The sun was bright today. Almost made me wonder if Noel had made the next day overcast on purpose. I used light magic to turn myself invisible, although because of the narrow streets surrounded by buildings on either side, I had to be careful to stay out of the shadows. Once I was right in front of Alek’s base, however, I could be a little more relaxed. There was a wide open bit of road in front of the house, with no other buildings to cast shadows from the side. The only problem would be the shadow that I would step into if I opened the door. The ‘wisdom’ of my invisibility magic had increased so much, I could go invisible inside the shade too, but stepping into it from the bright sunlight would definitely give me away.

I held my breath as I got into position. The sounds of the city came muffled along the wind. I carefully took a step forward, using air magic to soften the sound as much as I could. I was concentrating like crazy, my brows furrowed deep, trying to catch the slightest signal for the many motion detection spells I had cast around where I thought the demon prince was standing.

One step.

Two.

I was right in front of the window, just barely in the light. If I strained my ears, I could hear the muted breathing from the other side of the wooden walls. I was biting my bottom lip to help me hold my breath, but I couldn’t hold on for much longer. I ran through the plan in my head, readied a barrage of magic hands to use as restraints, and lunged forward into the shade of the awning while also letting out my breath and slamming a bunch of magic hands through the narrow crack in the window.

The window slammed opened and crashed into the top of the walls like whiplash on a windy day. The demon prince appeared, wide-eyed, crouching below the window-sill. He’d turned his body around as I lunged forward, which meant the lower half of his body was twisted one way, while the top half faced me with surprise and confusion. The demon prince tried to fix his stance but my magic hands grabbed a hold of his body from every angle and held him in his awkward pose. He let out a strange shout, high pitched and nasally, before trying to struggle a little in his invisible restraints. He even tried looking at the seemingly empty air, wondering what was restraining him so firmly.

I climbed through the window, finally coming into full view inside the building. The demon prince’s eyes went even wider, which was surprising since they were already stretched open larger than they seemed able to. The entire scene would have been comical if not for the fact this man had killed or enslaved many of my friends in a future that thankfully would not happen anymore. A part of me was tempted to just finish him off right there and then. I still had the metallic bullets that I had been preparing for tomorrow, or I could use fire, or magic hands to the neck. Really, the possibilities were endless. But I couldn’t. Not before I had some answers. I wouldn’t get the opportunity to subdue an Immortal’s Ikon this easily again. The kid could be completely clueless, but as long as he was close enough to his Immortal, there was something I could try, something I could bargain for. Not from the Ikon, but from the Immortal himself.

“Tell your boss,” I said as I dissipated the red glow that Alek had been stealthily gathering, with a flick of my wrists. “I will spare your life if he answers a question for me…”

I leaned in close to his ear, used air magic to make sure my voice wouldn’t carry, and whispered as quietly as I could in a language not even Alek could understand, English.

“What is annihilation?”