Alastor sighs deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose. The papers on his desk and the task set before him have coalesced into a pounding headache. He leans back in his chair and looks up. He squints his eyes at the shadows playing across the ceiling. At a knock on his door, he rolls his eyes and sits back up.

“Enter,” he calls out.

Gnat enters the room and walks over to him. “My Lord, I–”

“Silence,” Alastor says. He peers into his servant's shadow. Before Gnat can gasp at the moment, Alastor bends down and shoves an arm into the blackness, pulling out a figure. Energy gathers in the figure’s hands and Alastor spikes them into the ground. Their aura winks out instantly. Four more figures jump out of the shadows, and two from the window behind him. They all make ready to attack. Gnat squeals and backs up until his head hits a cupboard. He opens the door and slides in, closing it behind himself. By the time he peeks open the door, his master is standing over a sole remaining attacker.

“You have been sent to your death!” Alastor roars as he crushes the last of the assailants under a heavy blow. The bones in their chest give a satisfying crunch, and he pulls his fist away. He searches the room, ready for another attack but sees no additional threats. The remains of the strike team of dissenting demons that had failed in their mission lay at his feet. The seven had come here to steal information. When they were found out, they tried to kill him. That was a mistake. He held nothing back, as their bloody remains prove.

“Gnat! Quit hiding and come here now!” The hinges of a door creak and a yelp escapes. The servant exits his closet hiding space and slips on the slick ground, falling backward. He gets up, rubbing the back of his head but stands at full attention upon noticing a glare from Alastor.

“Yes, My Lord!” he shouts.

“How did these intruders make their way in?”

Gnat leans down and inspects a corpse of one of the fallen, then stands back up. “It appears they are all infiltration specialists, My Lord.”

Alastor squints. “I have no trouble with my eyes, Insect. That was glaringly obvious.”

“Apologies, My Lord.”

“Find out how they breached our defenses before I have my entire staff 're-evaluated',” Alastor says through a clenched jaw, a deadly implication behind his words. Gnat bows and exits the room at a hurried pace. Alastor leans down and begins inspecting the bodies himself. He pulls the coverings from one of their faces and growls, baring his teeth. The body before him is not a demon, but a human female. Thinking back to his conversation with Mikael, he had assumed this could happen, but not this soon. This would escalate his plans. He resolves to call a meeting immediately. A faint flicker of life in the aura of one of the bodies near him draws his attention. He smiles cruelly at the prospect that one of them could still be alive. He moves to interrogate, but the figure gasps and starts to convulse, the cloth covering their face catching fire. Not waiting for the process to finish, Alastor picks up the body and grunts with the effort of the strong throw. The runed wizard sails through the air seventy feet before fully igniting and bursting into a lava-like liquid that showers the bare ground beneath it.

A series of footsteps pound on the floor outside his study, and the double doors clatter against the walls, thrown open by a large demon. Others follow behind him. They stop when they see Alastor standing next to the window, a disgusted look on his face

“My Lord,” the demon in front says, their voice echoing in the large room. “We saw the fire in the sky. Is everything alright?”

Alastor smirks. “Ah, yes. My 'guards.' Now you come?” he asks. Gnat pushes his way through the gathering crowd and stands at his side.

“My Lord, we did not catch them. This happened under my watch and though I do not deserve it, I would request that the blame rest on my head alone,” the guard captain says. He kneels and bows his head.

Alastor sighs and turns his back on them. “Get up. It appears these intruders were humans.”

“My Lord?” The guard captain asks.

Gnat looks up at Alastor as well. “Humans?”

“Is what I said at all unclear, Captain?”

“Apologies, My Lord. The words themselves are not confusing, but them being put together in such a way is. Humans do not come here.”

“Apparently,” Alastor says, picking up the body of the human female and ripping off the rest of the mask. “They do now.”

A low murmur spreads through the crowd of guards, and the captain hushes them to silence with a gesture.

“We will be on the lookout for human auras, My Lord. If they are concealed by magic, we will pay more attention to our senses. You have my deepest apologies, Lord Alastor. I have not trained those under my command to watch for humans.”

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“Noted. Return to your posts, all of you. Take this information and spread it if you will. It appears that whatever has been happening, has reached a new peak.”

The guard captain nods and turns to the gathered demons. “You heard Lord Alastor, get to it!”

A clattering of armor and footfalls follows the guards out of the room. Alastor waits until silence falls again before speaking.

“Gnat, we will have to form a more closely guarded council. War will soon be upon us. If, that is, it is not already here.” He walks over to his desk and sits, taking a pen in his hand. Gnat walks over and patiently waits by the desk. Alastor writes names down on the sheet and rolls it up.

“I assume I am to write messages and deliver them to the names you have compiled, My Lord?”

“Indeed. But first, has there been any news of my son, Mikael?”

“Yes, Lord. Rhal has been defeated.”

“Did he retreat again?”

“No, he has been completely destroyed.”

“Really? And how is my son?”

“Not well.”

“How did he defeat Rhal?”

“He used his gifts from his mother to greatly weaken Rhal and nearly crushed him.”

“What happened?”

“A momentary lapse of judgment regarding his own ruthlessness, then two wizards interfered. They attacked and interrupted his ability. Rhal escaped his confinement and nearly, mm . . . Dismembered him by removing his arms.”

“Removing his . . . How did he defeat him then?”

“I apologize, My Lord. I said Rhal had been defeated. Mikael was not the one to defeat him.”

“I swear, Gnat. If you do not speak plainly I will burn you again.”

Gnat winces at the memory and licks his lips. “Yes, Lord. Amara defeated Rhal.”

“Amara? How did she manage that?”

“Amara is now cursed with Withering, Lord.”

Alastor, for the first time in Gnat's tenure of serving him, looks shocked. He frowns and his eyes search from side to side as the information sinks in. He turns away from Gnat and stares out the window.

“Foolish woman. And what of Mikael now?”

“He is being healed by a wizard of the guild.”

“Truly? Intriguing. He seems to be collecting them.”

“He does seem to have a knack for gathering allies to his side.”

Alastor smiles. “Yes, he does.” He lets silence hang for a moment before turning his head slightly to address the servant. “And what is Malizara up to?”

Gnat shifts uncomfortably. “Malizara, My Lord, has fled the Pit.”

Alastor turns his body completely now and faces Gnat. “Fled the Pit? To where?”

“I am sorry, Lord. I don't know. I had agents of ours watching her, they intercepted a message regarding her intentions. However, when they went to stop her, she was already gone.”

“And what was this message?”

“That she will make things right. I assume she meant on Earth.”

“Indeed,” Alastor says, scowling and rubbing his chin. “Go. Speak of the forces that defend my children, especially Mikael. Get word to Amara that her actions will be known by all, and that Mikael will have no further interference from demons of this world. Get someone in here to clean up these bodies, and hurry getting those letters out.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Gnat rushes away and Alastor falls back into his chair, rubbing his face and sighing.

“This conflict has stretched even further than I had forseen,” he says with a sigh.

Muffled speaking pulls Alastor from his thoughts and a moment later, Gnat returns, smiling.

“What is it now?” Alastor asks.

“My Lord Alastor, it appears you have a visitor,” Gnat says excitedly, still beaming.

“Who is it?”

“My apologies, Lord, but I think you should come and see for yourself.”

Alastor growls and creases his brow, but stands and follows Gnat out of the room. The hall leading away from his study ends at the mouth of the staircase leading down to the main floor. As Alastor's field of vision adjusts to the foot of the stairs below, he smiles at what he sees. Swirling in a spectral mist of the ethereal projection, stands Mikael. Alastor beams down at his son as Mikael's semi-tangible representation of his consciousness stares up at him, unable to take another step.

“Welcome home, Mikael,” Alastor calls out to him. Mikael's form looks to the side, then winks out of existence.

“My Lord,” Gnat begins, but Alastor holds up a hand.

“I know, Gnat. I had pulled him here before, but this is the first time his consciousness has sought me out. It's a pity he left so quickly, there's so much I want to say.”

Gnat inclines his head. “I will be on my way, My Lord.”

Alastor acknowledges his servant's dismissal but does not move. As Gnat descends and exits the main hall, Alastor smiles again.

“Thank you for warning me of the wizards, Mikael. I hope that relieving you of the worry of further direct demonic attack helps you too. You have made an enemy of Malizara, however, and I fear I cannot save you from her machinations. Until I see you again, son. Be wary, and good luck.”