Silence in the clouds.

Our cloud stood still among the waves of white roiling around it. The clouds hid the ground below, but the descending sun was about to kiss the horizon. I couldn’t keep us all up here forever, especially with the army still raring to go down there. I had to break the silence.

“All of that was a fancy way to say that I think we have a chance to defeat the Immortals,” I said. “And we don’t have to join any of them to do it.”

“I don’t know Cas,” said Kelser. “We saw the way you were fighting against those Ikons. And from what you’ve told us, it sounds like those Immortals are more powerful than anything any of us have ever faced.”

“Yes, great elf—Cas, I still cannot believe our emotions were being controlled down there,” said Taoc. “I mean, I believe you, of course great—Cas, but I never felt anything. For someone to be able to do that to us without us noticing anything… how could we fight someone like that?”

I nodded slowly. “You’re right. You can’t fight someone the Immortals.”

Taoc blinked. “But you said.”

“I said we have to defeat the Immortals, not fight them,” I said.

“How do we defeat someone without fighting them?” asked Kol.

“By not letting them win,” I said. “The Immortals are fighting over the Book of Annihilation. I have no idea why they want it, or what they intend to do with it, but if we can get the book from Noel and keep it away from the Immortals, we can stop them from doing whatever they want to do.”

“If we take the book, won’t the Immortals try to get it back?” asked Kol. “Getting it is going to be hard enough, but keeping it would be impossible.”

“I agree,” said Kelser, “maybe we can burn it?”

“I don’t know if it can be burnt,” I said.

“We can figure something out when we have it in our hands,” said Taoc.

I nodded. “That makes sense. No point worrying about it for now. All we need to think about is getting the Book of Annihilation from Noel.”

“That’s what the war is for, anyway, right?” said Kol. “Once you teach us how to resist the Simurgh’s magic, we can fight the war the way the Immortal wanted, but swoop in and take the book for ourselves instead of giving it back to the Immortal.”

“We would have to learn how to resist the emotional manipulation magic,” said Kelser as he looked at the horizon. “Unless you’re planning to keep us up here all night, we are going to have to drop back down to the ground, won’t we?”

“Yes,” I said.

“And we’ll probably start losing control of our emotions again down there,” said Kelser.

“We won’t even notice, will we?” said Kol.

Taoc shuddered. “This spell is terrifying, but I can’t even begin to fathom how powerful the caster would have to be to cast it on us like this.”

I shook my head. “You don’t have to worry. There’s a very simple way of dealing with all of you for the night.”

Kol blinked. “I don’t like the way you said that.”

I chuckled. “I don’t know what you mean. Oh, before we head back down, there is one more thing I wanted to say.” I looked at all of them in turn. Then, I waved my hands and the clouds disappeared from under us.

Taoc jumped up, Kol’s face paled, and Kelser pointed his nose up quickly. Ignoring the vertigo, I looked down at the dusk-dyed landscape. I identified the command tent and saw Bain Rusta and a few spirit Senators making their way over to it. Elder Kezler’s orders could only keep the others away from the command tent for so long. It also wouldn’t surprise me if the Simurgh had made Bain and the others a little concerned or inquisitive about what was going on in there. It was time to descend, but first.

“The army can’t come,” I said.

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“What?” said Kol, her face just a little bit brighter.

“I said, we can’t take the army with us,” I said.

Taoc, who had caught her breath by now, said, “Are you saying we cannot take the army with us against the Singing Horde?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Us?” said Kelser. “With us? Does that mean you want the four of us to take on an entire country?”

I nodded. “That’s the plan.”

“No, that’s not the plan!” said Kelser.

“And if it is, it’s a terrible plan!” said Kol.

“I must agree with them, Cas!” said Taoc.

I raised an eyebrow. “Well, at least you’ve gotten used to saying my first name now, Taoc.” I made us start slowly descending out of the sky. We were still invisible, but I was expecting Bain and the Senators to notice when we reentered the tent. We weren’t falling fast enough to get inside before they arrived. But that was fine. I just needed a little time to convince the others.

“Look around at these people as we return to the ground,” I said, gesturing my arms held wide. “When I was fighting against Noel and Alek at the Republic’s capital, did any of them fight with me? When Noel and I were hurling spells at one another, or rushing through the city, trading blows among the buildings, could any of them have done anything but watch? Armed soldiers, covering in armor from head to toe, and they were all reduced to spectators. They would be nothing but fodder for the Immortals and their real supporters,” I said.

“There will be many soldiers on their side too, Cas,” said Kol. “The beastmen are powerful warriors. We need our own soldiers to hold against their numbers while the rest of us fight the Ikons and their most powerful supporters. There is no way we can defeat the Horde and take the book without this army behind us.”

“A few spells from me or Kelser and those beastmen will have no choice but to turn tail and flee,” I said. “You remember how I took down Alek’s army outside your capital, Kol? It will be even easier now that I have more powerful magic at my disposal.”

“Okay, Cas, perhaps it makes sense to leave these guys behind if they’re not going to be useful,” said Kelser, “but what about the humans? They know magic, and many of them can learn the magic you were talking about earlier. Your new magic, or whatever it is you wanna call it. Shouldn’t we take them with us, at least?”

“No, we can’t. One of my biggest regrets is not doing more for the elfin Jora tribe,” I said. “Back then, if I had taught more of them better magic, they might have been able to survive against whatever the Immortals had forced them to face. The people of this land will need powerful champions, and right now, only the humans know enough magic to be dangerous to most monsters. We can teach them a few more spells, but their role must be to protect everyone else. Just in case the Immortals do something crazy. I’ve been flung into the future, thrown back in time, and had all sorts of maddening visions thanks to those Immortals. If something happens to us, the humans will need to protect life in this land. That will be their mission.”

Kelser frowned and the others did not look convinced either. The ground was growing larger. We would be falling back into the tent through the tears I had made in the roof.

“And there is another reason we can’t take them all with us,” I said, quickly, “speed.”

“Speed?” said Taoc.

“Yes, speed. Think about it. How long did it take all of you to get here? There is a reason you sent the scouting parties ahead of you, and it wasn’t only because you could afford to lose a few men and not an entire army. A smaller group is faster and can adapt more quickly,” I said. “If the four of us go alone, we can get to the Book of Annihilation much more quickly. We can rush past their defenses, and surprise them before their armies are even ready to face us. With the element of surprise on our side, we might not have to fight any large armies at all. We could sneak up to Noel with my invisibility magic or something and snatch the book right out of her hands.”

“That sounds a little optimistic,” said Kol.

“Cas,” said Kelser. “Is there something you aren’t telling us?”

I clicked my tongue. Kelser was as sharp as ever. “Alright, fine. I’ll say it. I think we don’t have enough time.”

“What do you mean?” said Taoc.

“The Immortal of Desire, the Simurgh, it doesn’t like to interfere with the world at all. Think about it. Madness has the moon, the Evil Eye has the red star, but the Simurgh never came to me with its birds nor did it take control of the sun or something. The first time I met the Immortal, it was hiding as a bunch of birds inside an old tree. And yet, this reclusive Immortal is trying so desperately to get our army to rush towards the Horde? It just doesn’t add up. The only way it makes sense is if somebody is about to use the Book of Annihilation to do something. Something that the Simurgh does not want them to do,” I said. “And I have a feeling we don’t want Madness or the Evil Eye to use the book, either. We have to get to the book faster, and we have to do it without sacrificing all of these people around us. Because let me tell you what would happen if we took this army into the Horde’s territory with a desperate Immortal riling up our emotions and telling us to go faster. It would be a disaster. An absolute and terrifying disaster.”

The others were silent. We fell through the tent and landed on the ground. Bain and the Senators were already calling out for a search party, panic stretched out all over their faces. Kelser called out to them and they turned around.

“So how are we supposed to resist the Simurgh’s magic for the night?” whispered Kol.

I smiled. As Bain and the Senators looked on, I approached the three friends I had just secretly taken to the skies, and watched as all of them gave me strange looks. Kelser’s eyes widened first. I raised my hand and brought it down quickly.

Three people fell to the ground, unconscious.