Hours of discussion concluded as the sun began to set. Liam and Duke Kheresh departing court, going their separate ways. Though each was accompanied by an eclipsiarch. Liam chewed on his lip, confounded on how the Duke had lost nine out of every ten magi. It was like Pandora’s beasts had targeted them deliberately. A magi hunter, in the lands where his magical wife and her magi children lived.

Duke Kheresh rose from his velvet cushions, his figure imposing even without the trappings of his power. “I will consider your words, Lord Alhusam, and I will send my own agents to verify the truth of your claims. If they find any trace of calypso’s forces, we shall institute an immediate draft. Until then, I offer you my home and hearth, may you rest easy under my protection.”

Maya’s ears twitched, a subtle sign of her apprehension, but she bowed her head in acceptance. Liam followed suit, though his expression remained as stony as ever.

“Very well, your grace,” Liam said. “We shall await your decision. But know this—time is not on our side. Act swiftly, else you’ll find a grave already dug for you.”

The Duke’s gaze remained fixed on them, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his eyes. “Time is a weapon I have learned to wield with care, Lord Alhusam. You would do well to remember that.”

With that, the audience was over. The Duke rang a silver bell, summoning his chamberlain, who approached the visitors with a bow and motioned for them to follow him. The great doors of the Diwan-i-Khas closed behind them, sealing the chamber in an uneasy silence.

Maya couldn’t help but glance back at the closed doors, her sharp eyes catching the briefest glimpse of the Duke as he strode through the growing darkness, face now shadowed by thought.

They left the throne room as well, Thaddeus and his paladins following closely behind. The halls of the palace stretched on, winding and twisting like the threads of fate. And as they walked, the echoes of their footsteps seemed to merge with the whispers of ancient stones, as if the very walls were alive with the secrets of the past.

“You didn’t mention his house would be spared.” Said Maya, nervously chewing on her cheek.

“I can’t guarantee it will be spared. Well, and I didn’t want to throw him into a moral quandary. He’s gonna have the shittiest few weeks of his life soon, it would be viciously wrong for me to torment him by saying he could watch his people die from this palace.”

Maya halted, “will Callipy really- uhm- kill everyone?”

“Cal-lippy? Ha, Calypso. I get it’s not a Khereshi name, but don’t let her mishear you. As for Khereshetal… The city is fucked. Totally and completely. The best I can do now is triage the casualties. Hopefully, if Kheresh sticks to his script, we can reduce it to a few thousand.”

Although –for the love of god– how did Duke Kheresh lose eight thousand men in Greenwood? 8,000 dead or missing and he couldn’t reach Kesky? I’m glad we never tried to reclaim it then, I, Arlet, and every other soldier probably would have died… Except, we didn’t even have five hundred warriors to split between the cities. How did we hold when ten thousand failed? What will be waiting in Greenwood besides Nyota?

Liam ground his teeth at the thought, stomping through the palace as the sun concluded its descent. Leaving them to walk through darkness to reach their quarters, and casting long tendrils that danced upon the walls like specters. Maya stood by the window, her keen eyes watching the city below, its once bustling streets now tinged with the golden hues of dusk.

“Do you think he will listen?” Owen asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over them since leaving the court.

Liam ran a hand through his dark hair, “No idea, and frankly, it doesn’t matter. The Duke failed Kheresh when he answered Aldric’s call to aid Greenwood. I have an idea, but it’ll take every earth magi we’ve got. Owen, gather them on the outskirts of town tomorrow morning. We won’t fight, but bring that runic armor of yours. I didn’t chastise the Emir out of spite. Well, not entirely.” He added, after seeing Maya’s raised eyebrow. “I need the fulminonimbus to remain neutral in this coming war. Put all our plans on hold, I’ll leave the felinids to you, since my plan will fall apart if they lack the discipline to stand down and let the gorgons pass.”

“As you command, so shall it be.” Said Thaddeus and Owen, the two men pivoting on the balls of their feet and departing.

—They slept, recharging their mana for tomorrow’s labors.--

The next morning, Liam stood barefoot in the glass sand, sensing the ebb and flow of the world’s undercurrents just as a nude Rhendal once had. He stood alone, no one within thirty meters of himself, basking in the winds of mana. Isolated like this, he could see how a single paladin disturbed the magical world, their armor perpetually leaking and absorbing ambient mana, causing ripples to emanate through the world. There was knowledge to be gained with this experiment, but not in Khereshetal. No, he needed isolation. Where he could not feel felinid feet drumming against the desert sands as paladins drilled them.

Left, right, left, Halt. Kneel. Repeat.

Good, they can at least follow orders. We have a chance, however small. Thought Liam, returning to his own mind.

With his [mana domination] skill he could pull mana directly from other magi, and he wondered if the ability could extract mana from nonmagi. Liam shook his head, not wanting to accidentally leech his allies to death. There was no reason to risk harming the already feeble felinids, not when monsters would be encountered soon enough. Besides, there was no need, he had the power necessary for what was planned. He just needed to organize his thoughts. A fortress built upon sand would need a foundation, so he was compacting the dust beneath his feet into a lattice of fused sand, how mana or magic worked on the molecular level was beyond his understanding, but he somehow knew the individual granules weren’t stuck with transient magnetism, but properly fused.

An hour passed, with Liam fusing more and more sand, mana burrowing into the particles beneath his feet like a billion welding ants, fusing dust until it may as well be diamonds. Around him the sand flattened, hardening into a layer of crystal visible to all. Liam beckoned for the paladins to join him. Owen and a half dozen earth paladins joined him, mimicking his magic and perpetuating the growing foundation. He never saw them with his eyes, using only the mana senses to perceive the world and guide their spells as well as his own.

“Spread out, make the foundation deeper, more solid.” Ordered Liam.

Together they worked, creating a constant stream of hardening sand. A foundation for his vision to be made manifest. With their power, glass sand coalesced into true glass, creating a perfectly smooth surface, except in places where new sand had been blown across it, a problem he would have to solve later.

Or I can solve it now… Thought Liam, opening his eyes for the first time in hours.

He turned, waving to Maya and the other earth affinity paladins. “Cmon, now the real work begins!” He shouted.

Owen had brought every earth magi he had, grouping them based off their levels. The best approached first, but Liam beckoned all of them forward.

“Bring everyone. This is more than a test of your level.”

When he was satisfied that even the level ones could see. they drew nearer, he began to explain, demonstrating how he wished them to fuse the sand into rocks.

“Alright, picture the sand melting together, but only partially, we aren’t trying to make quartz or anything fancy. Just sandstone.” He said.

“Yes m’lord, how does the chant go?” Asked one of the partially armored paladins.

To these men and women runic armor came with oaths, each piece representing a pact with Taloc. Partially armored meant they were incomplete paladins, magi who were on the path of loyalty, but not yet fully inducted into the fulminonimbus’ inner circle.

“There is no chant that I am aware of.” Answered Liam, earning several frowns.

“But, we aren’t battlemages, we can’t cast without a chant.”

“Consider that part of your test. I wasn’t a battlemage when I first cast silently. You’ll figure it out or you wont. But you need to try. Tune in to how others move their mana, you might have to stow your armor and stand close. But all magi have the ability to sense your own affinity at work. Quiet your mind, think of nothing other than the sensation of mana acting, and try to get your own mana to move in the same way.” Said Liam.

Six paladins figured it out within the first half hour, those were then assigned to Owen, mostly because they were already battlemages of high levels. Who were already capable of the task, and got to work forming bricks of foggy quartz. A mineral that fused under relatively low heat and pressure, while also being resistant to embrittlement via the inclusion of impurities. Liam spent no time on them, focusing only on the far weaker and less experienced magi. Who were staring at the dirt like they might start begging it to reveal it’s secrets. Liam shook his head, able to see their mana swirling in chaotic vortices.

Oh boy, now I see why the college rejected these guys.

He divided these lesser magi into groups of four, and had them take turns, with he and Owen rotating between the groups to demonstrate the process of fusing sand into sandstone bricks. Individually the task was beyond them, and it was a constant nuisance to keep them from reverting to chanted spells, for all earth magi could move sand and dirt, but Liam was deliberate. They weren’t trying to move the sand, they were trying to alter it on a fundamental level, one that would enable greater alterations in the future. None seemed to succeed.

Except for one group that made Owen chuckle. They’d reverted to using a chant and were now trying to conceal the block of sandstone that was three feet wide, three feet tall, and four feet long. A monolith that was far too heavy to be moved, and –quite literally– solid as stone.

Idiotic geniuses. How are we gonna move that?! Thought Liam.

“Very impressive, but I need magi who can skip the chant. If you’re all busy singing and rhyming you won’t be able to march! How will you be able to create a road if you have to stop and repeat a nursery rhyme every step? Bah, break this stone up into brick sized chunks so a single woman can carry them!” Snapped Liam. His annoyance made the paladin’s bow in shame, as if he’d just kicked their puppy and gaslit them into thinking it was their fault.

Religious zealots… ugh. I’m not a prophet, just a dude. I’ll have to be more tactful. Thought Liam.

“Ahem, this boulder is quite substantial, but we aren’t trying to impress women with our big rocks. Chins up men, I know you’re only trying to accomplish my orders. Keep going, if it can be done with a chant, it can be done without the chant. Make small bricks that the felinids can move without magic, and don’t stop until you run out of mana.” Ordered Liam.

“Yes sir!” Shouted the group of paladins, returning to their work and occasionally holding hands as they made baby rocks.

Liam Joined Maya, observing the two groups in silence. He glanced at the earth battlemages with his mana sight, watching as they collected particles and wove them into stone. Runic armor smoothed the influx and ejection of power, like the most durable capacitor to ever exist.

Dang, I need to get me some of that sick runic armor! Ah, but a sword should come before armor, and I really need Arlet to teach me that skill. It’s only right, seeing how I made him abandon me to train others.

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A rush of mana flowed through the paladins, catching Liam’s eye. It was like a wave, crashing the one nearest Owen and spreading through the battlemages their spells doubled in might, creating quartz blocks far clearer than anything Liam had seen before. It was impressive, but they were not his concern. The road north was in a terrible state, he needed magi who could speed his journey, and the fastest way to do that was making sure the wagons didn’t break down and the roads didn’t get washed out. Moreover, if the earth paladins couldn’t create a fortress, then they would have no place in starving Greenwood. What he had now wasn’t enough. He needed roadlayers, bridge raisers, and fortress builders, not a choir!

Owen issued new orders, and the battle mages formed a circle atop Liam’s foundation, working together to create a dome of Quartz. A fully fifty feet of foggy glass that grew to tower ten feet above the foundation. Each of those battlemages was exponentially more powerful than the score of lesser magi, who’d barely managed to forge a few bricks.

“Tufan, why are you wasting time with brick making? We can make all the bricks you want!” Said Maya, summoning a ball of water and using it to wet the sand. She stooped, paws outstretched to squish the sand into bricks.

“It would be a shame to get your pretty dress dirty.”

Maya jerked in surprise, ears flicking forward then back in confusion. Suddenly insecure about the most valuable garment she’d ever worn, and doubly confused at the compliment.

“Haha, relax Maya, I know it’s uncomfortable to watch others work, but we all have a role to play. You aren’t a slave anymore.”

Maya was quiet for a bit too long. “Then… What am I?”

“The same as you’ve always been, an eclipsiarch. You are to the slaves, what First Captain Thaddeus is to the paladins. I mean, just look at the other felinds, they keep glancing over here to check on you. I’ve noticed a few of them looking at you before following Thaddeus’ orders. Like you are their queen! Your presence alone keeps them in line. If it keeps up, then you’ll have to command them instead of the paladins.” Said Liam.

“Do elf children’s brains grow up before their legs do? Cause you’re really short but full of thinking.” Said Maya, winning a chuckle from Liam.

“Haha, something like that, you might say Taloc hit me with a vision of two lifetimes, then woke me from a dream. I feel lost, untethered, but I remember how things ought to be. The home I should return to, and the family I left behind…” Liam frowned as he spoke, losing humor as he weighed what needed to be done.

Returning to Nyota was a vanity project, he was an elf, she an immortal eclipsiarch, ten years or one hundred, it would make no difference. Well, other than him actually being a man in a hundred years. The changes he wished to make to the kingdom involved dethroning Aldric, while stopping the portals meant retrieving Pandora’s heart and forcibly draining the cursed vessel. Though how that could be accomplished without drowning a dozen cities–

Realization hit him harder than truck-kun. The king had tried to drain Pandora’s heart using Greenwood as the sacrifice, with Viscount Blackwood’s domain acting as an overflow zone, that’s why Blackwood was granted permission to expand his army, and why he was breeding eclipsiarchs! The damned fool thought he could use them as a reserve of magi if something went wrong! Idiot! Ah, I wish he’d just taken the brunt of Pandora’s woes now!

Liam flopped onto the sand, dazed, mouth falling open.

Quetz and Maya turned to see what had caused his abrupt tumble, giving each other an odd glance.

“Did you lose your balance?” Asked Maya.

‘With that big head of yours I'm surprised it took this long to fall on your ass.’ Said Quetz.

“You’re a lil golden nugget of shit.” Snapped Liam, rubbing his eyes. “Ah, I just realized Greenwood is the last place in the world I should go… I’m still going there… But we need to bring a valuable fighting force, not just slaves. Might have to stop in the capital as well… Hmmm… Start with an army, a competent one. Otherwise we’ll starve everyone before we can rebuild and expand the walled cities. Can we make quartz fortresses with multiple levels of greenhouses? That could solve our problems. Ah, I don’t even know how many greenhouses Soren has built. Or if we’re leeching the soil. It’s effectively a sealed terrarium. Small imbalances will eventually leave it infertile.”

“What’s a tera-roarum?” Asked Maya, ears facing him.

“It’s a closed ecosystem, something that you can’t get in and out of. Kinda like how the gorgons live on that floating island. It’s flying so there is no way for bees to reach their plants and pollinate them, or for new animals to wander in. For example, if they ate all the squirrels up there, then there would be no squirrels ever again. Which would leave hawks without anything to prey on, so they would starve. And when the hawks all starve to death, suddenly you would have no competition and no predators to eat the mice, who would eat all the grain and cause the gorgons to starve. Everything is connected.” Answered Liam.

“Is that why she’s so cranky? Cause she has no flowers to bury her daughters with?”

Liam cocked his head, narrowing his eyes at the eclipsiarch.

It… It can’t be that easy can it?

He snapped his fingers and a peeping portal appeared, this time it was high above the floating island. There were stone homes, marble citadels, and all manner of exquisite dwellings clearly crafted by earth magic, but little water. Nor were there any fields of green. Many of the gorgons were laying out in the sun, idle, similarly to how Phaedra and her daughters sunbathed.

‘Hey Quetz… Are the gorgon’s like you? Do they photosynthesis?’ Asked Liam.

‘Bless you, that sound’s like a painful sneeze.’

‘You twat. I mean, do they get power from the sun? Does it allow them to move?’

‘Well, where else would we get our warmth? Of course they need the sun’s rays.’ Answered Quetz from his perch atop Thaddeus’ winged helm.

“I know how to appease Calypso… Maybe, I think. I hope…” Said Liam.

Maya raised both eyebrows, cocking her head as if she’d misheard him. “Lets… go stop her then?”

“I’m not god, she’s got to work off some of her anger first. But we can build a road later.” Said Liam, grinning from ear to ear. He tugged on the hem of Maya’s dress, silently requesting to be picked up.

A request she fulfilled without complaint, since he was still a toddler, and was taking full advantage of that fact to sneak in some purely platonic head pats. A hand brushing against his hair gave him just enough dopamine to forget about Sirin. Together they retreated to the glassy foundation, lingering there a moment before Liam conjured a sun umbrella of darkness to keep them cool. It floated ten feet above Liam, casting a cool shadow over Maya and himself.

“Where do you keep all your magic, it can’t be inside you, not if you waste it like this!” Said Maya, her eyes glancing towards the marching felinids.

“Their duty is to fight and die for you. Your duty is to use your magic to do what others cannot. That is only possible if you exercise your magic at every opportunity and increase your own power. Duke Kheresh lost most of his magi in the portal plague, if I were in your shoes, then guaranteeing his reserves would be the most valuable way you could aid those men.”

“I can’t water the whole city!” Snapped Maya.

“Not yet you can’t. The ocean is made from drops of water. Given enough time and practice you could drown entire cities.”

“Then i’d start with the capital.” Muttered Maya, not meaning for Liam to hear.

“Ya know, my ears are more sensitive than your own Maya. Don’t say such things until you can back them up. But I wouldn’t mind seeing Talocendel drown in their own hubris. Ahem,” Said Liam, raising his voice from a conspiratorial warning. “I think magic doesn’t require chants. But I have no idea why chanting helps so many magi…” Said Liam, trying to pick Maya’s brain.

Unfortunately for them both, it was a bit on the empty side.

“It’s cause Taloc likes rhymes. So he gives his favorite cats magic when they make up a new rhyme. And then, he lets everyone else who repeats the rhyme use a little bit of their magic.” Answered Maya.

Ah, I really should have seen that coming. Thought Liam, trying not to facepalm. Maya’s been a slave her whole life, not a scholar like Rhendal… She’s gonna hate me, but I need to send her to school!

He glanced over at Owen and Thaddeus, wondering if the paladin’s received formal training with magic, or if everything was whisky whooshes and prayers, or some other mnemonic device.

“Tufan, what are you gonna do with all the bricks, it won’t match the shiny bits.” Asked Maya, her tail running beneath his nose as she turned and watched the magi work.

“Ick! Hey, bricks are prettttyyyy dang useful! You can make walls, or foundations, or a road, hell, you could even make a fortress out of bricks or plug holes shot in your fortress with those bricks! But most critically, I want every earth magi in the fulminonimbus to work on this fortress. So they could feel the pride that comes with being a part of something larger than themselves. Every earth magi under the First Captain’s command has a hand in the manufacture of the glass fortress. Be it the sandstone paving bricks or the quartz smiths that make the fortress walls. The entire diocese will become part of a new legend.”

Maya gave him a look of confusion. “Uhm… But that doesn’t make sense. If five or six paladins built all the shiny parts, isn’t it lying for the brick mages to claim to have built it?” She asked, wandering outside of the conjured umbrella.

Liam peeked under her yellow veil, using it as a sunshade and pressing his cheek against hers. “I want all of the warriors to feel a sense of camaraderie. For them to know they all contributed to the greater whole, and to realize, if only subconsciously, that working together can carry them to insurmountable heights. Just like your puddle could someday quench a nation.”

“How noble.” Muttered Maya, masticating his words.

She’s got a long ways to go before she can lead… Oh man, she reminds me of Niana, but I had Nyota to keep me patient, and Matimeo to keep us on the straight and narrow path forward. Ah, I wish Bishop Matimeo were here, he would know what to say. The old guy had a wisdom I lack. I really hope he survived Pandora… Actually, Niana escaped, so he had to as well. But here I am talking to my step-daughter and being swatted away like a fly near a horse’s ass. And I deserve it… I used to hate when grandpa told me it takes a village, but that’s never been more true than now. Maya deserves a mom and a dad. Not a half baked little brother.

“Ahem, draining my magic each day is how my master taught me to increase my own power. In theory, it should work for them and drain their minds before they can get worn out by Thaddeus’s parade drills.” Said Liam, leaning back to look at Maya.

She was watching the felinids with vertical pupils focused solely on them, a slight frown on her face. Which unpleasantly complimented her clenched jaw.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Liam rolled his eyes, wishing for a can of catnip or a laser pointer. Maybe even a mouse on a stick. Although that last one probably wouldn’t work unless he was sitting on Maya’s shoulders-

Anything to make this teenage catgirl chill out. But this world wasn’t much for drugs. Sure there were stimulants and relaxants, naturally occurring plants similar to coca plants, but raw and unrefined. Alchemy was a specialized craft, requiring a noble’s patronage to afford reagents, custom glassware, time, a workshop, and a nearly endless supply of fire. Hiring an alchemist was like hiring Albert Einstein to make your coffee, then letting him patent the mixture –including how many sugar cubes– and charge you its weight in gold. Effectively halting all synthesized drug usage, though Baron Green had memories of the occasional opiate overdose. Some plant seed that was probably the precursor to heroine or a relative of poppy. Yet, like all his memories, it was always seen through the eyes of the old drunk, who –surprisingly– never tried the stuff.

Thinking of the catnip and heroin got Liam cooking. He turned to Quetz with an evil smile.

“Hey Quetz, don’t you have a truth serum venom. Where when you bite someone they have to tell the truth for an entire day?”

‘What are you talking about? My sting is lethal!’

‘Would you just play along with me? Cmon man, bob your head!’ Snapped Liam.

If Quetz had been capable of rolling his eyes, he would have, instead he bobbed his head once.

Claws clenched around Liam, not quite piercing his skin. “You're a monster, no better than the masters.”

“---Hugh!” Gasped Liam, recoiling from Maya and clasping both hands to his chest.

Coincidentally wrapping around Quetz and drawing back. Maya shut her eyes, defeated, prepared to receive Quetz’s venom. Her ears laid flat, folding away from the monstrous toddler.

“Maya… uhm… It was a joke! I’m sorry. I meant to tease you… Or cheer you up.” Said Liam, wondering how it had come to this. “Quetz, go hunting, we need a few moments.” Ordered Liam.

The serpent was glad to be gone, and flew into the air, chasing desert pigeons, he’d probably eat a dozen of them before nightfall and grow another foot.

Liam wrapped his arms around Maya’s neck, giving her a gentle squeeze. “You can put me down.”

Sand touched his feet, and the pair broke apart. They stood there for several long moments, neither wishing to speak. Finally, Liam broke the silence.

“Hey Maya, I’m sorry. These past few days have been… uhm… insane. I never meant to override your wishes, but I see now that I also never stopped to consider them. What is it that you want?”

“To have a less creepy master.” Answered Maya.

Her words pierced his heart more keenly than an assassin's dagger. And tears sprang to Liam’s eyes, his young heart unable to suppress his emotions. Tears were already rolling down his cheeks before he processed her words. He tried to speak, managing only a babble for long minutes.

“*sniff* You’re free Maya, ah,” Liam wiped his tears, sniffling all the while, “I’m a blithering idiot. You're not much older than me, but you reminded me of Ny– uhm… my mom. *sniff* But you’re not her. The paladins will already obey your commands, and feed you, go where you will.”

She didn’t respond, just turned and walked away, seeking her own path in this world. Several felinids broke ranks to pursue Maya, but she snapped at them, sending them back to their endless marching across the open sands of Kheresh. Though the paladins mirrored their concern, and eventually a lone female knight with red trimmed armor –from Thaddeus’s inner circle– was permitted to escort her into town.

Oh man, I feel like such an asshole, I didn’t even realize I was treating an eight year old like my mom… Jesus, I hope she doesn’t hate me…