They headed for the bay immediately, crawling over rocks and scrambling over tide pools, while above, the Aeromancer's magical storm roiled and raged: wind blew, rain lashed at their faces, and every once in a while lightning would flare up and strike a high point on the cliffs above them. The sea, meanwhile, to their left, was in a state of absolute fury, whitecapped waves rising and crashing into the shore with terrific intensity. "Is it always like this?" Arai shouted to Sir Estil.

"Most of the time," he said. "Remember what I told you about Prestoris? It's been shrouded in darkness for more than a decade now."

"Prestoris is the city on the other side of the Long Wall?"

"That's right." He looked ahead, his expression grim. "How is Lillandra doing?"

Arai glanced at her. "Are you making any progress?"

"I've almost got it," she said. "I should be able to dissolve the storm by the time we make it to the boats. These kinds of spells take on a life of their own, however; the wind and the rain will probably continue for some time even after I've broken down the spell."

"That's impressive," Sir Estil commented. "Our sorcerers can dissolve the Aeromancer's cyclones, and redirect his lightning, but it takes a dozen of them working in concert to break down an entire storm."

"She's very good," Arai said, and was surprised to find a hint of pride in his voice. Lillandra must have noticed it, because she gave him a curious look. He gave her a wry grin in return.

They found the boats exactly where Sir Estil had said they would be -- pulled up on the shore near the edge of one of the cliffs, and covered over with gravel and seaweed to disguise them. Arai and Sir Estil flipped one of them over and dragged it to the bay, while Shell carried the paddles. By now the storm was beginning to let up -- the rain had turned into a mere drizzle, and the wind had died down. With the sea now considerably calmer, the four of them climbed into the boat, and Sir Estil, rowing for all he was worth, began to paddle them to the other side of the bay. Arai volunteered to help, but as usual, Sir Estil was possessed of boundless energy and insisted on doing the rowing himself.

The seas were still rough, and difficult to navigate; they only narrowly avoided crashing into the rocks. Finally, though, after perhaps forty-five minutes of rowing, they reached the other side of the bay and clambered out of the boat. From here, Sir Estil led them to a low-hanging cliff, and into a nondescript cave at the base of it. The mouth of the cave was partially hidden by vines and strips of seaweed, hanging over the front of it; these brushed Arai's face as he passed through it.

The cave was large enough for them to stand up in -- in fact it was large enough for a horse and rider to pass through, and the deeper they went, the wider it became. About fifty feet in, the stone walls turned to brick, and it became apparent that the cave was not, in fact, a cave, but a tunnel that had been carved out of the earth. The tunnel was dark, and Shell led the way with the Candle of Hours at first, but after a few minutes they spotted some flickering torchlight in the distance, and finally they arrived at an iron gate, at which a Gallean guard had been stationed.

The guard, who seemed not to have been paying much attention, leaped to his feet and drew his sword when he heard them coming. "Who goes there?" he shouted.

"Hold," Sir Estil said. "We come in peace."

The guard lowered his sword when he heard Sir Estil speaking Gallean. "Sir Estil?" the man asked, his eyes bugging out. "Is that you?"

"Indeed it is," he said.

The guard removed a torch from its sconce in the wall and waved it in their direction, that he might get a better look at them. "You're wearing a Skirrish uniform," he said doubtfully.

"A disguise. Please, let us through."

"Who are they?"

"Friends," the knight replied, glancing back at Arai, Lillandra, and Shell. "I was captured by the Skirrish, as I'm sure you know. They helped me escape from the Dolorous."

"I see." The man gave Arai and the others another doubtful look, then said, "But I'm afraid I can't let you through. I have to consult with the mages first -- you might be wearing a false face. Do you know the password, at least?"

"Pale Horse," Sir Estil said.

The guard nodded. "All right. Wait here. I'll be back in a few minutes." And he rushed off.

"Some welcome," Arai muttered.

"He's only doing his job," Sir Estil said, "and he's doing it well. This young man was right to suspect us. Draj is best known for his storms, but he's a skilled illusionist as well. We could be assassins for all this fellow knows -- infiltrators, wearing glamours to disguise ourselves."

While they waited for the guard to return, Arai had a whispered conversation with Lillandra: "These sorcerers will see how powerful you are, won't they?"

"Almost certainly."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"You told me once that some sorcerers can hide their true strength. Can you do that?"

"To some degree, yes. But why would I bother?"

"You're at least as strong as the Aeromancer. It might make them suspicious, finding such a powerful witch down here."

She shrugged. "You're probably right." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't hide the full extent of my power, but I can make the magia-flow look a little more natural." She opened one eye and fixed it on him. "There's something you ought to keep in mind as well."

"What's that?"

"Silus. Your sword cancels out magic. If the blade comes into contact with the Long Wall, it could damage the spells keeping the Aeromancer out. In fact it would probably destroy them completely; these spells are already on the verge of failing."

"I'll keep it sheathed," he said. "Are the spells really so close to failing?"

"The Aeromancer is working at them even as we speak -- at least, I assume it's the Aeromancer; this sorcerer is obviously very powerful."

"You can actually feel that?"

"I can feel someone manipulating the magia." She looked around. "Old spells like the ones built into these walls are like big, complicated knots. If the spells were newer the Aeromancer could probably just cut through them, but these fibers are old and tough, so all he can do is try to untangle them, one by one. He's very close to doing that, along this section of the wall at least." She brushed her fingers against the wall, considering. "I could add some new tangles, which would make it more difficult for him. But he would notice that, and if you really want to keep a low profile..."

"He's probably already noticed you," he said. "You dissolved one of his storms."

Lillandra stopped. "I know that look," she said, frowning at him. "You're thinking about doing something stupid."

"We can't leave these people at the mercy of the Aeromancer," he said. "You heard Sir Estil. This sorcerer will destroy Prestoris, and then he'll move on to the other cities of Galleus. If left unchecked he might even make his way west, through the Scarred Lands, and start menacing Elent or the Holy Empire...or even Velon."

"That's unlikely."

"Sorcerers can live a long time," he pointed out, "and with enough time and enough magia, a powerful sorcerer can do just about anything. Remember?"

She snorted. "True enough. But what are you proposing? Do you really want to stay here and fight the Aeromancer, and risk all of our lives?"

"I don't know," he said uncertainly. "All I know is that these people need help. If there's anything we can do for them..."

"I suppose we do owe something to Sir Estil," she sighed. "But these people aren't really our responsibility."

"You said the same thing back in Ada, when Erek was threatening the village."

"That was a village," she retorted. "Galleus is an entire nation. And this Aeromancer is nothing like Erek. He's at least as good a sorcerer as I am, and he can do many things that I can't. If we choose to stay here and fight, we'll probably be killed, along with Shell and Sir Estil."

She had a point. "There has to be something we can do," he muttered.

Before they could discuss it any further, however, the young guard returned with two important-looking individuals -- one wearing robes, another wearing a set of gleaming silver plate armor. The armored man -- obviously a knight -- immediately recognized Sir Estil.

"Sir Estil," the man greeted, almost wearily. "I'd heard you'd been captured."

"Sir Eustace," he returned. "I managed to escape, with the help of these fine people."

"Is that so?" He studied Arai and the others, then turned to the sorcerer standing next to him. "Is anything amiss?"

The sorcerer squinted at them. "I don't think so. The woman is a sorceress, and the elf girl might have some potential, but neither of them would appear to be employing any spells at the moment."

Sir Eustace sighed. "Very well," he said to the guard. "Open the gate for them."

The guard quickly complied, and the four of them were ushered through the open gate, and into Galleus.

"He seemed almost disappointed to see you," Arai whispered to Sir Estil.

The old knight nodded ruefully. "Sir Eustace was one of those who voted to remove me from the Council. He has a seat on the Council himself."

"Some welcome," Arai muttered again.

They made their way through the tunnel and into an underground room, somewhere beneath the Long Wall. Here another set of guards searched through their belongings -- Shell objected, but in the end she was forced to dump the contents of her satchel all over the stone floor. The guards rifled through their various zemi -- the Everlasting Chalice, the Mermaid's Glass, the Stone of Many Tongues, the Assassin's Cloak (which Lillandra had rolled up and packed away) -- but stuffed them all back in the satchel and eventually returned them to her. The sorcerer frowned at the oddments, especially the Assassin's Cloak, the frayed edges of which were constantly drifting off in the direction of nearby shadows, but said nothing about them. No one noticed Arai's sword at all.

Sir Eustace, a graying man in his fifties, but still stout and strong, led them up a set of stairs and into a watchtower attached to the Long Wall itself. They passed through barracks full of defeated-looking men, many of them armored like Sir Eustace; the situation, judging from the looks on their faces, was obviously grim. When they saw Sir Estil, however, their eyes lit up, and several of them jumped up to greet him. Though he had been removed from the Council, he clearly still had the support of the common soldiers.

Sir Eustace led them into a kind of a office. "I'd be lying if I said I was happy to see you," the knight told Sir Estil, "but right now, I'm afraid, we need all the help we can get. Are you fit to lead a dodeci?"

"I believe so," he replied. "I've placed myself in the service of this young man, however, and I would require his approval first. What has been happening here?"

Sir Eustace took a moment to study Arai before answering the question. "What's happening?" he snorted. "The Aeromancer is winning. More troops are on their way from Tax Noctum and Tax Trium, but I doubt they'll get here before the damned sorcerer rips up the Long Wall. Our mages give it a few days."

"The princes have not stirred?"

He shook his head. "They're still fighting amongst themselves."

"What happened to Sir Chechis? Who's in command?"

"Sir Chechis is dead," he said sadly. "I'm the senior commander on this section of the Long Wall, and the only representative of the Council within three hundred miles of the front." He laughed bitterly. "Prince Jae was right all along, wasn't he? The Council has grown complacent. They can't even be bothered to come to the rescue of their own country."

"It's not over yet," Sir Estil said. He gestured to Lillandra. "This young lady here thinks she might be able to repair the damage to the spells built into the Long Wall."

"She's welcome to try," he said. "Caladeceus has already give it up as hopeless, though. Right now we're focusing on reducing the severity of the Aeromancer's storms, and fighting off his monsters -- two days ago he brought a couple of small dragons down out of the Striaxe. We managed to destroy one of them, but the other one is still on the loose."

"Dragons," Arai muttered. "This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"