“Do my eyes deceive me?” Professor Jules called into the night, her eyes wide. Isolde was beside her. “Is that you, Mr. Roth? Please tell me you're not some apparition created as a result of one of your more foolhardy adventures!”

Alex, Theresa, Cedric and the others landed in the rubble of the courtyard, among the tents. Priests, knights and soldiers were coming from tents and passageways in the ruined fort—most were wearing armour that was in different states of being strapped on.

Among them, Drestra and Merzhin had been moving toward the forest, but had stopped dead when they saw Alex and company approaching.

“It's me,” the General of Thameland smiled at Professor Jules before turning to his other friends. “I'm finally back. And the monsters that were out there are dead.”

He’d dismissed his summons for now.

At this—especially the ‘monsters being dead’ part—the Thameish soldiers began cheering and asking questions, like; “what did he just say, and how’re they dead so fast”?

“The Fool’s back! And he brought reinforcements!” a knight cried.

“Long live Thameland!” another soldier cheered.

“In Uldar’s name we thank our god for our ally’s return,” a priest said.

Alex had to fight down bile rising in his throat as Professor Jules, Drestra, Merzhin and Isolde rushed toward them.

“You're alive, Alex. Thank the elements!” Isolde cried. “Is it finished? Did you do it?”

Professor Jules and Drestra looked at his shoulder, while Merzhin had a perplexed look on his face.

“Yes,” Alex said. “I did. I actually did it.”

“Congratulations!” Isolde shouted.

“Finally,” Professor Jules let out a sigh of relief.

“Good for you. Good for all of us,” Drestra’s voice crackled.

“Con…congratulations…” Merzhin said quietly. “But did you avenge her?”

Alex looked at Merzhin, and knew he was talking about Carey.

He nodded silently.

The relief that went through the Saint’s body was palpable; his shoulders relaxed, the tension drained from his face. “Oh thank…” he paused, his words failing. “Thank Uldar,” he finished in much quieter tones.

Alex’s face twisted at the god’s name, but he looked away at Professor Jules and the Heroes. “Is there somewhere we can talk around here? Privately, I mean. There’s…some stuff I have to tell you. Well, there’s a lot of stuff I have to tell you, but…” he looked at the ruined fort’s gateway and the forest on its other side. “We should wait for Hart to get back.”

“Sounds serious,” Professor Jules said.

“It is serious,” he confirmed. “We have a lot to talk about.”

----------------------------------------

“Gone?” Merzhin screamed, his voice echoing through stone walls around them. “What do you mean gone?”

“I think he was pretty bloody clear!” Cedric shouted.

Drestra glared at them both. “Will you two keep it down?’ she hissed. “Do you want the entire camp to hear you?”

“I can’t blame them,” Hart’s deep voice rumbled from a dark corner of the fort’s jail hall. “This is bad…even if I don’t know why it’s bad, I know it can’t be good.”

Alex and his companions had waited for the Champion’s return, then gone to a damaged hallway in the old fort leading to the dilapidated building’s jail hall. It was a short, narrow passage with jail cells on either side. The space was cramped with all thirteen of them crammed into it—even with the giants shrinking in size—but it was the most private spot they could find.

The soldiers and priests were outside, collecting more Ravener-spawn bodies for the pyres, while Alex told his story from the time he’d left for the Empire with Bjorgrund and Birger, to the disappearance of Uldar’s body and throne.

It was the disappearance that had made Merzhin and Cedric react so intensely.

The others were quieter, but the shocking fact had clearly disturbed everyone, especially the two Heroes.

Hart was tapping his foot nervously, while Drestra had her arms wrapped around herself, her fingernails digging into her skin.

Isolde’s jaw hung open in silence, while Professor Jules had gone almost as pale as fresh snow. The alchemy professor was muttering under her breath.

“This is a horrifying development,” Professor Jules said. “And a very poorly timed one at that. You were on the cusp of getting information that could be vital against the Ravener…then you have that interrupted by this? Never mind whathorrors the Ravener could be planning for Uldar’s body and throne…”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you about, Professor,” Alex said. “What could the Ravener do with his body?”

She shook her head. “It’s hard to say. As far as we know, the Ravener is no alchemist, so the most well-known alchemical applications that would likely apply to divine blood and flesh, can be ruled out. Then again, we have no clue as to what this Ravener is truly capable of, not to mention the glaring fact that I’m no expert on divinity.”

The professor looked at Merzhin. “Do you have any idea what it could want with Uldar’s body and throne, Merzhin?”

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Silence dragged on before the Saint finally answered; for more than a few heartbeats he simply stared ahead with unfocused eyes and a blank expression. “I…I really don’t know. My training did not involve learning what could be done with my own god’s body…what sort of depravity have we come to?”

“Seems none of us can rightly say,” Cedric said. “But we gots t’put a stop t’whatever it is. We needs t’be findin’ the bloody Ravener… I jus’ wish findin’ it was as easy as talkin’ about findin’ it. That’d be the way t’solve all this.”

“Not until we find out how to stop it from reviving in a hundred years,” Drestra’s voice crackled. “Even if we find and destroy it, it will just come back in a century. Your descendants will have to deal with it, and I’ll be alive in a hundred years to fight its monsters all over again. I have no interest in that!”

“That is true,” Professor Jules confirmed. “Even if we did find it—with no way to shut it down permanently, then—engaging in battle with it would be somewhat pointless. Still, I'll try to discreetly consult with some of my colleagues—ones who have academic knowledge in divinity—regarding what one could do with the body of a god. Any information we can gather could give us some pre-warning as to what might be coming.”

“I can tell you one thing that’s probably coming,” Hart said.

Everyone turned to him.

“The Ravener’s been getting nastier lately…when it finds out that its creator’s dead…”

“Yeah, we've been talking about that,” Alex said, looking around. “It'll come for us. Probably all of us. Or, at least, that's the assumption we have to make.”

“Oh, well that’s jus’ bloody great,” Cedric rolled his eyes. “We’re all hangin’ on by a bloody thread, an’ you're thinkin’ it's gonna get even nastier?”

“We won't be able to contain the Ravener-spawn ourselves,” Drestra said grimly. “Not if it gets even more aggressive.”

“We're going to need help,” Alex said. “And I want us to have as much of it as we can get. Unlocking, the General has given me some ideas.”

“Well, I fer one would appreciate more help and some ideas,” Cedric said. “I'm all ears. But wait, before we keep goin’, show us that bloody Mark o’yours. We've been here, talkin’ all sorts of doom and gloom, an’ haven't even gotten to the good news stuff!”

“After all of this waiting and so many difficulties, I’m also very curious, Mr. Roth,” Professor Jules added.

Alex looked around; the others—except Birger and Bjorgrund—were staring at his shoulder expectantly.

“Alright, I’ll need to take my shirt off…but…I guess if seeing someone shirtless offended any of you, you’d never be able to be around Cedric,” he laughed.

“Hey!” The Chosen frowned. “Ach, yer not wrong, though. ‘It’s jus’ that I find shirts so bloody…constrainin’, is all!”

“They really are, aren't they?” Bjorgrund agreed.

“Aye, I’m bloody shocked nobody else talks about it!” Cedric said.

“Oh no…” Isolde murmured.

Alex unfastened his cloak and pulled off his shirt, while the Chosen and giant discussed the intricate tyrannies of being clothed around the torso. Alex revealed the Mark of the General to his companions; the crowned sword, hovering above the scroll, shone in all its glory in place of the Fool’s Mark.

“Glad I don't have to hide my Mark under Thundar’s illusion anymore,” Alex rubbed his shoulder.

“So that’s what it looks like on flesh.” Drestra eyed it. The others crowded around his shoulder beside her. Even Merzhin was examining it. “It looks a lot better than the Fool’s Mark did.”

“You might want to consider concealing it, Mr. Roth,” Professor Jules said. “No one outside of our inner circle even knows that Mark exists. Otherwise, it will raise a lot of questions…and perhaps we should be ready to answer them.”

“That’s…a good call, professor,” Alex said. “Which actually brings up something I wanted—”

“Wait, wait,” Hart said. “I can see that the Marks look different, but is this one really different? Can you fight now?”

Alex responded by punching Cedric in the jaw.

“Gah!” the Chosen reeled back. “Hey! Why’d y’do that?”

“Payback,” Alex said simply. “Remember, when you sent me flying when you found out I was the Fool? Well, I only gave you a little love tap on the jaw—mostly out of consideration for Isolde—”

The noblewoman turned bright red, sputtering like a teapot.

“—and considering you tried to knock the soul out of my body, I'd say I was pretty merciful.” Alex grinned like an evil cat.

“Love tap my arse, it still hurts!” Cedric said, rubbing his jaw. “By the Traveller, you really are holdin’ a grudge!”

“Yeah,” Alex said, turning to Hart. “How’s that? Does that show you I can actually fight now?”

Hart was doubled over, his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. Since he couldn't speak, he simply gave Alex a thumbs up.

“Bloody traitor,” the Chosen grumbled. “Right, then. Anyone have any more questions? Well, if y’do, don’ ask ’em. Don't want ‘im demonstratin’ anythin’ else on me. Now, Mr. love tap, what were y’goin’ t’bring up before y’went an’ decided t’give me more gold teeth?”

The young wizard’s smile faded, and he sighed.

“Listen,” he said. “A lot’s happened. The hidden church’s members are just about dead, except for the ones that were embedded outside of Uldar’s Rise. We know Uldar’s dead, but now his body's been taken by who knows who, for who knows what reasons. The Fool’s gone, and the General’s back…a lot has happened. Do we keep it all to ourselves?”

He looked at the others. “With the hidden church gone, a lot of our need for secrecy is out the window, and things are probably going to get really bad before they get better. I'm wondering if we should tell anyone about…any of what's happened? About anything that's changed?”

“We cannot tell anyone that our god has passed!” Merzhin said, with passion. “Already, morale is being stretched thin. In the past three months, I have had to convince at least three separate groups within our forces, not to desert our cause. If they hear that Uldar is dead, there will be a mass exodus.”

“Aye, but d’we even got the right t’keep that news t’ourselves at this point?” Cedric asked. “Powerful enemies are dead—and it don't feel right to keep Uldar’s crimes t’ourselves.”

“The body being taken’s a big problem,” Hart said. “What if the Ravener turns it into some kind of zombie and has it appear and tell everyone that we should all be killed or something?” He shrugged. “I don't know much about spellcasting, but I’ve fought the undead. Who knows, maybe the Ravener can do that sorta thing, then next thing ya know, our people are fighting us.”

“Good point,” Alex agreed. “I didn't even think of the possibility of the Ravener trying to turn the people against us.” The young wizard frowned. “I don't want to have to deal with that shit. It's been nice going through my own country without having to be worried about being captured at any moment. The way it was for me before sucked, period, and I don't want any of you to have to go through that.”

“How would one stop that, though?” Isolde asked. “If that is the Ravener’s plan and I do mean if, since we have no idea as to what is truly going on.”

“We should get ahead of it,” Alex said.

“Perhaps we should tell the king.”

Everyone looked at Merzhin.

“Really?” Cedric asked.

The Saint looked around. “Why not? He is the highest authority in the land…and…how do I put this?” He thought carefully. “When I saw the corpse of my god, I knew that I needed to take other actions. The death of my friend, Carey, and the death of my god meant that I needed another path in my life. Yet, when the First Apostle saw Uldar’s body, you said that he reacted by only going further into ugliness. He could not adjust. I think, however, that the king can.”

Merzhin pointed at Alex. “We were able to convince him to not take you. I do believe he would be open-minded enough to hear the truth, and help us when he hears it.”

The others looked at each other.

“I don't know about that,” Alex said. “I remember when his army tried to kill me: it's probably still infiltrated by members of the hidden church, and who knows how close they are to the king.”

The Heroes look at each other.

“About that,” Drestra said. “You heard about how that councillor from your city spoke to the king, right?”

“Yeah…” Alex said. “Councillor Kartika talked to him, that's what Professor Jules told me. Why, has something happened since then?”

“A lot,” Cedric said. “Feels like someone's been tryin’ t’smoke the foxes out o’ the henhouse.”