He lived with them, he ate with them, he slept with them... It had become his new life and it frightened him.

Anything could go wrong at any moment.

And the longer this dragged on, the more likely something would go wrong.

But there was nothing he could do but wait.

Jack sat at the refectory, finishing dinner. He tried to keep as blank an expression as he could, but inside he was boiling. From his sickness, but also from anxiety.

As he set down his fork and stood, he noticed someone was staring at him. He looked up and froze.

It was Asanroh.

Victor’s father.

The man who had abducted him.

A small smile crept on the fanatic’s lips as they stared at each other.

“This man is a fake!” he yelled.

Heads turned. Frowns appeared.

“Not at all,” said Jack defensively.

“He is an offworlder! An impious!”

Many now gathered around him.

He recognized the faces of some he had talked to in the last few days, and he took them as witnesses.

“Have I not shown how devout I am? Blessed be Kahn!”

Many nodded, agreeing he had indeed.

“Are you not Jack Arnett, then? Are you not a foreigner?” asked Asanroh, spitting that last word as if it were an insult.

“I am,” admitted Jack—there was no more point in hiding it. “But I have seen the light. Is faith not more important than origin?”

The believers muttered between them, as they tried to decide what to make of all this—nothing like it had ever happened before. Could an offworlder become one of them?

“I truly wish to serve our god—”

“Why?” asked a voice in the crowd.

“What made you see the light?” asked another.

“I was a historian in my previous life,” he answered. “Through my work, I came to study the Face of Xian.” Whispers spread through the crowd. “Being in such proximity to this most blessed of artifacts bathed me in the glory of the gods.”

“What have you done with it?” asked Asanroh, his voice dripping with venom. He wasn’t buying it.

“I gave it to a god,” said Jack, realizing for once he could say the truth. “I gave it to Norkh himself.”

“You lie!”

“I do not,” he said calmly. The pains inside him made him wince, but he continued: “It was he who spoke to me of Kahn. It was through him I finally understood my calling.”

He noticed the priestess he had last spoken to was standing nearby, listening. She did not smile—though he thought perhaps she knew not how to.

“I should kill you right now,” said Asanroh as he grabbed a knife from a table and took a few steps toward Jack.

Some of the others blocked him.

“No,” said the woman. “That is not for us to decide. If what he says is true, then he should live. If he has lied, the gods will know. Let them be the judge. Send him to the erkins!”

***

Everything had happened so quickly—too quickly for him to realize what was going on.

The rock-made bonds had blown to pieces and the three renegades had flown free.

Xian had been the quickest to react, but even he hadn’t been fast enough to avoid the tree trunk Udrak had hurled at him. It hadn’t hurt him, but he’d been thrown several feet away while Xhoras lunged at Paul and Verlhynn turned her wicked grin on the limping Zendaar.

Evken was in shock.

He had failed!

All their hard work, all their planning had been in vain.

Unless he could put them to sleep again... but if they’d broken free once, how could he expect to ever hold them?

He suddenly realized what was happening when the female Suryi reached out. He jumped back and held out his cane.

“Do not touch me!”

She laughed. “Am I supposed to be scared? Oooohh... No! Please don’t hurt me!” She continued to walk toward him.

What was he supposed to do against a god?

How could he fight her?

He was doomed to die the same horrendous death as his brethren.

For each step back he took, she’d take two steps forward. She was catching up fast.

A glance over his shoulder told him he had almost reached the dam.

The water level was still rising.

Would it be safe to jump? he asked himself.

He decided possible death was preferable to certain death.

But before he took that final step and plunged over the edge, a boulder hit Verlhynn and sent her crashing against a tree.

Evken realized Paul had taken time to help him just before fending off an attack from Xhoras.

Leaning on his cane, breathing heavily, he panicked.

What was he doing?

He couldn’t stay here.

There was absolutely nothing he could do.

If he stayed, he’d surely die.

But where could he go?

He started to run—as fast as his limp allowed, which wasn’t very fast—toward the invisible ship. It was more of an instinctive move as he wasn’t sure how he’d get in, but it was the closest thing to safety he could think of.

The fear in his heart grew as he realized not only would he not know how to get in, but he could not remember where it was exactly. Somewhere behind that tree, where he had hidden earlier, but...

He heard her coming before he felt her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

It was a sound in the air, like the ruffling of feathers, or a breeze of fresh air against the back of his neck.

Then he felt himself pushed down, and his face hit the ground hard.

Verlhynn pressed her hand against his skull, and he felt a piercing pain go through his body.

He could literally feel his life being sucked out of him.

“No!” he yelled.

The Suryi woman laughed.

He didn’t want to die.

Not like this.

Not now.

Not before he had the answers he’d sought all his life...

Oh, how he wished he was somewhere else...

The pain suddenly vanished.

He gasped and got up on his knees.

Looked around.

He was back in the Gleaming.

***

Relief was in his heart. They had succeeded! The renegades were asleep and everything was under control...

But the relief had been short-lived.

When the rock-made bonds had blown to pieces, Paul had been the first hit as he was the closest to the prisoners.

Xhoras lunged at him head-on and pummeled him into the mud.

Paul didn’t even feel the hits.

He rolled over and pushed Xhoras off of him.

Jumping to his feet, he willed the mud under the Suryi’s feet to form walls around him.

Xhoras tore them down and walked calmly toward him.

“Nice try, Paul.”

“You know my name?”

Paul was startled by this unexpected turn of events.

His assailant reached out and sent rocks speeding toward him. They shifted and merged into a spear-shaped weapon, but it shattered when it hit his chest.

All this felt so useless.

He understood the importance of stopping these renegades... but how were they supposed to achieve that?

“Do I know your name?” Xhoras laughed. “Of course, I know your name! After all, you wouldn’t be born if it weren’t for me.”

Wondering what that was supposed to mean, Paul made the shards spin and shift and merge back into another stony spear which he hurled back at the renegades’ leader. The latter waved his hand just before it reached him and it likewise shattered.

“You wouldn’t have met Will and Jack if it weren’t for me.”

Xhoras made flames appear around Paul. He could feel their heat—it was so intense the mud under his feet started to boil. But he barely felt it. He stomped on the flames to put them out.

Though Paul was confused by everything the Rissl was saying, it took all his focus to keep up with the attacks.

With a Gesture, he set the Suryi on fire. But Xhoras put the flames out with a dismissive gesture.

From the corner of his eye, Paul noticed Verlhynn had cornered Evken by the edge of the dam and was about to kill him.

“You wouldn’t have come to Qojja if it weren’t for me.”

He flung a nearby boulder at her but did not wait to see if it hit its mark as Xhoras was already firing another attack at him.

It came in the form of a sudden deluge of icy cold water.

He was drenched and miserable.

But at the same time, it felt like such a useless and weak attack...

“You wouldn’t have met your mother or your father if it weren’t for me.”

He was tempted to, once again, pay the Rissl back in kind.

But before he could attempt anything, he was hit by contrary winds... those at his back pushed him forward, while those at the front pushed him backward, and those at his sides pushed toward the other side... so that, in effect, he found himself incapable of moving.

He realized the combination of the winds and the cold water had turned his skin to ice.

It would have been easy to break off any of these attacks... but it would have required Gestures he could no longer make.

Xhoras walked up to him, with a large smile on his face.

“If anything, you should be grateful for the gifts I have given you. Are you grateful, Paul?”

He felt himself lifted from the ground. The winds kept him prisoner while carrying him off. The Rissl flew with him, away from the scene of the fight.

All the while, Xhoras grinned at him.

***

He was so tired he did not even feel the rain anymore. It was like a second skin to him now. As was the mud under his feet.

His eyes closed, just for a second. He needed to take a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Of course, they couldn’t wait too long.

They should get the prisoners into the cell as quickly as possible.

There was no telling how long the trance would hold.

A little voice inside his head nagged at him, warning that something wasn’t quite right.

He opened his eyes and looked at the prisoners... just as the rock-made bonds blew to pieces.

Xian jumped to the side, but he was not quick enough. Before they’d even broken free, Udrak had started to uproot a nearby tree with his mind which he now hurled toward him.

The trunk hit him with full force, sending him sprawling through the mud several feet away.

He cursed as he threw the tree off of him and rose to his feet. His hand shot up and caught Udrak by the neck just as the mad Rissl reached him with a smirk of hate on his face.

“Oh no, you don’t!” he said as he projected the both of them into the air and started punching the renegade repeatedly in the nose.

It wouldn’t hurt him, he knew, but it still felt good nonetheless.

Udrak got tired of the blows and grabbed Xian’s fist before it hit him for the nth time and twisted it in his hand.

They were still high in the air, with rain beating against their skins, and the winds carrying them.

Udrak commanded them to change direction and they suddenly plunged into the water beyond the dam.

Down they went... down, down, down... until they reached the bottom.

And still, they fought.

Punch for punch, kick for kick, bite for bite...

None of it mattered.

Neither one could hurt the other.

But both found pleasure in the confrontation.

They tried to strangle each other, knowing full well they could not. They tried to stab each other as well, crush, blow, burn... knowing none of those would work either.

Finally, Xian stomped his foot against the ground, and a geyser of boiling mud propelled them back out.

The shock of their landing made them fall apart.

As Xian jumped back to his feet, he noticed Evken running away toward the location of his ship... but Verlhynn sped toward him, arm stretched, ready to strike.

He lifted his hand to intervene, but Udrak jumped on his back and pushed him to the ground just as the woman reached her prey. They, too, fell. He heard Evken’s scream, then saw him disappear just as he threw Udrak off of him.

“You’re starting to bore me,” he said.

“The feeling is mutual.”

Xian groaned as he plunged into the other’s stomach head first.

They fell again and rolled in the mud, kicking and punching each other some more.

What were they doing? With Evken gone—who knows where?—this fight made no more sense.

It was time to break off and head out.

He pushed Udrak away and glanced around looking for Paul.

It took him a moment to notice his son was in the air, bound by winds, with Xhoras pulling him away.

“Oh hell no!”

Xian ran in their direction. He willed winds to form under his feet and to carry him up...

A lightning bolt came down from the sky and struck him.

He fell back to the ground, dazed.

Shaking his head, he propped himself up on his shoulders and saw Udrak walk calmly toward him with a grin on his face.

The Rissl held out his hand toward the sky.

Xian looked up.

A dozen more lightning bolts were rushing toward him.

“Oh crap...”

They all struck him simultaneously.

***

She woke up feeling dizzy. Her mind was blurry and it took a moment before she remembered what had happened.

Looking around, she saw she was lying in a luxurious bed in a luxurious room.

Susan sat up and blinked.

The walls were blue and gold, with paintings hanging on every surface. The floor was carpeted. A desk sat against the far wall, with two finely crafted wooden chairs that looked fairly ancient, though in perfect state.

There were two windows and a door, too.

She got out of the bed and walked to the door.

Tried to open it.

It was locked.

She frowned.

Banged on the door.

Silence.

What was going on?

Where was she?

She went to each window and looked outside.

The view was of a beautiful garden. As far as her eye could see, there were trees, flowers, fountains, statues...

She heard footsteps, then the sound of the door being unlocked, and opened.

A woman walked in, smiling. She held a tray of food that she placed on the desk.

Eyeing the door, she noticed two guards standing outside.

“Where am I?” she asked.

The woman turned to face her, still smiling. “There are vegetables and fruits. I did not know if you would prefer water or wine, so I brought both.”

“Where am I?” she asked again, slightly annoyed.

“The master will be here shortly,” said the woman as she walked out. Before closing the door, she added: “You should eat before he comes.”

Susan stared at the door as it closed.

What did all this mean?

It seemed like she had been abducted... but why?

If she’d uncovered some secret—she had no idea what—why hadn’t they killed her? Why bother bringing her here—wherever ‘here’ was?

None of this made any sense.

She was hungry, though.

With a sigh of resignation, she sat at the desk and dug through the food.

It was good, at least.

As she ate, she went through all the information she had collected but kept coming back to the same conclusion: she did not know more now than she had when she’d arrived on Qojja... was she even still on Qojja?

If she’d discovered something, they—whoever ‘they’ were—were the only ones to know what.

They... Moonrise, of course.

That was the only thing she could be certain of.

After all, it was Goodrich—the CEO of Moonrise—who had knocked her out. And now she was his prisoner.

The company was obviously linked to Lucaan Labs, though she still didn’t understand how exactly—let alone how it all connected back to her parents.

And how the heck had her uncle even known about the connection?

That too, she realized, had been troubling her.

Those words he had said, with his dying breath, hinted at knowledge he shouldn’t have had, knowledge he had never shared with her... he had known something about her parents that she hadn’t. How was this possible, and why hadn’t he come clean earlier?

And who was “the master,” by the way? Goodrich?

She frowned.

Still too many questions and too few answers.

She did not like it, not one bit.

When she was done with the food, she went back to the window.

Occasionally, she would see people walk through the garden.

They all wore the same gray uniform as the woman who had brought the tray. Servants, she assumed. All held their heads low as they moved about.

Except for one who looked up as he walked by... Their eyes met and there was a tingle of familiarity, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

Susan spun to face the door as it opened.

A tall man wearing white clothes stepped in.

His hair was white, too.

As were his eyes.

He looked her up and down and smiled.

“Hello, Julia.”