The inside of the cottage was dark yet surprisingly dry and despite the ramshackle outside that gave the impression it had been made of straw and mud, the walls and floor were made from stone, stone that fitted together so accurately that there was no gap between them to let any stray strand of light infiltrate the room. This proved to be a good thing for what lined most of the walls were bookcases filled with books, some old, some ancient beyond the meaning of the word. And yet they had a sense that they were still perfectly intact enough that they could be taken off the shelf and be read as if they had been bought brand new.

These books, that covered shelves upon shelves, had titles upon them that read things like ‘The Ascaleon Wars’, ‘The Rise and Decline of the Dark Empire of Osiris, ‘The 49 Gods Who Lived and Their Associated Tales’ and elsewhere even more exotic titles read in a variety of languages ‘The Sins of Svar’, ‘Worlds of the Dead’ and even a single bound book with no title that seemed to be made from something that radiated magic with such intensity that it was surprising that the book didn’t shine. Amongst the bookstands dotted various tables all illuminated by the candles that sat atop their desks, yet the blue flames that hovered above the tips of said candles didn’t shimmer or waver the way a flame produced by a candle would. This was none more obvious when the candles themselves were investigated as while they appeared like any ordinary wax candle, they were actually made from sulphur and were creating a blue flame that floated millimetres above the end of the candle.

And to Jane Burnout, the entire room stunk of witchcraft.

Jane was well aware to most humans the difference between witchcraft and the runic magic that she practised was trivial, as both could produce supernatural power beyond most mortals’ dreams. Yet, the idea that the two could be compared let alone viewed the same would send most mages and witches alike frothing at the mouth in rage at the desecration of their respective crafts.

Jane truly cared nothing for the distinctions as she knew that they both had intersecting pasts that made them almost the same thing, if viewed in the right light. However Jane was keenly aware that Lillian Darkseed might have different views. Jane chose to remain silent especially about the fact that witchcraft had apparently been used on the room that the so-called God Squad had entered. A massive usage of witchcraft which in Jane’s mind meant the entire room was created by distorting space. While Jane was not an expert or even a dabbler in the use of magic to alter the world, her recent experience with the church in Symir made it much more obvious that the small cottage had been altered. It explained away why the vast flows of the Ley-Lines and the Earthforce, which powered them, were so hard to detect. They were being used to sustain this Hidden World that dwelt inside the witch’s house.

Compared to the church conversely, there was a massive difference in the levels of complexity. For the church of Symir had been seamless and unless one actually looked for the alterations and counted, measured and numbered the dimensions to see what was happening, they would never notice. Here in this house, it was not only noticeable, it was almost as if Lillian had designed the cottage to be as confronting as possible as if to say that she really is that powerful and that she shouldn’t be messed with.

Catching the look Jane flung around the room, Lillian smiled in approval as if various others had entered the room and failed to notice what Jane had perceived merely based on the vibe of the room. Following behind Jane was the Maw Brothers, who entered the witch’s house and noticed that the place was wrong just in the same way that Jane had done, their experience in the Church of Symir clearly having taught them the same lesson as Jane. But unlike Jane, the Maw Brothers turned gold and purple eyes towards Lillian with traces of fear and wariness with Aleister becoming even more nervous enough so that Jane could clearly see that he was still haunted by memories of the Demon King of Faith.

Watching the two brothers, Jane also saw how Edward reacted to the Hidden World, but at the same time she saw his wonder and hunger for the books that lined the walls all around the house. Edward’s wide purple eyes told Jane everything she needed to know about how Edward felt about what he saw. Smiling in shared joy, Jane looked at Lillian to see how she was reacting to Edward’s wonderstruck nature and much to Jane’s surprise Lillian was also smiling at the sight of Edward as he was caught between his desire to be a good guest and to wonder aimlessly amongst the books.

Lastly, Grey Silverman came into the house, his mad blue eyes scanning the room not for threats or friends but with a rabid desire to find something, anything that would aid him on his quest for vengeance. After all, in this wealth of knowledge, there was surely a hint about what he hunted. Turning, the God Squad watched as the Mad Paladin descended the stairs into the witch’s house all the while waiting with baited breath to see if he would be able to contain his own madness.

Watching the Gray Knight and his absurd armour, Jane had to admit in the back of her head that Grey Silverman fascinated her. Not because he was handsome or tragic, but because in his madness he saw things and found wisdom that broke all common sense. And without the common sense to shackle him down, Jane had to wonder if she followed him around would she see things that had never existed before.

Casting aside the thought, Jane returned her attention back to Lillian who was also surveying the four that she had let into her house. A survey that Jane could already see the outcome of, even without having to ask, for Lillian had already set up measures to defeat and destroy those that threatened her. Her stance and the faintest of swirls in the blue firelight made it clear that with the exception of Grey, who was still being observed by Lillian, Jane had been marked as the biggest threat to the dragonspawn.

Glancing around, Grey seemed to see more than any of the others as Lillian stiffened slightly as his gaze swept over her, seemingly seeing nothing yet watching everything.

“A fine collection of dragon histories,” said Grey with a calm, serene voice that made everyone else in the room shudder at the dissonance between Grey’s normal madness and the calm serenity he now displayed.

“So Aleister Maw,” said Lillian as she forged ahead with her inquest of the reason for the intrusion to her abode. “What brings the four of you to this little home of mine?”

“In truth, I would love nothing more than to explain everything to you, but I have to ask, how do you know… about us?” asked Aleister, his voice reflecting his unease at the fact that not only was he known about but so was his brother.

Feeling a flicker of concern, Jane had to admit to herself that she understood Aleister’s worry for his brother and the unease that Lillian’s knowledge had installed in Aleister. If Rin had been in similar trouble, she would indeed consider burning the world down to save him.

Smiling at the question, Lillian seemed to hide her mouth behind her as if she was trying not to laugh.

“I thought I already told you how I know about what is happening in this wide vast world,” said Lillian as if testing to see what sort of response she would get and more importantly how much they could deduce for themselves.

“Yes, but you didn’t tell us where and by what means you got this information,” said Edward, his magically generated voice filled with excitement as he looked eagerly at the books that lined the walls. “Personally I think that you used sulphur as a medium for communication and talked to a witch who lived in the Arthurian Empire.”

“You read this in a book, didn’t you?” asked Lillian as she focused on Edward’s barely restrained desire to read the copious amount of books that encircled them.

Seeing Edward’s nodding head, Lillian smiled at the Demon Cleric clearly pleased that he had known about the existence of witches and how their powers worked before he had come to her house.

“Truthfully, there are many different, impossibly powerful things that are scattered throughout this world and some of them have taken notice of you. Especially the gods after all you are named the God Squad and the entire goal of your squad is dealing with said deities,” said Lillian as if the God Squad being under the whimsical scrutiny of the gods was their own fault.

“And once the gods knew of you, they told those immortal and mortal beings that are still bound to them of your existence. Which in turn was passed around from mortal to monster to the myriad of mysterious beings that inhabit this world,” said Lillian casually as she mentioned offhandedly that she had received her information from sources that could quite probably dwarf, in power, entire empires. “So yes, I heard about your God Squad from a few different beings of many different origins, but the most detailed would have been information from a fellow witch located in the Sulphur Well.”

Surprised that she had admitted all of that, Jane had to give Lillian a long questioning look to understand why she had gone on such a long tangent about the things that were beyond human comprehension. Seeing the two Maw Brothers share a look, Jane also had to admit she had noticed Lillian dropping into her ramblings the name of one of the witches’ most concentrated encampments, the Sulphur Well.

“You know I can hear you?” asked Lillian as she looked at the Maw Brothers who both twitched and paled in shock at having their silent conversation overheard.

“You can hear us?” asked Aleister, his voice subdued at the thought that someone else had broken into his mind.

“Yes, I heard you. Whoever taught you did a terrible job of it,” said Lillian as she shook her head in disappointment.

“I think my brother means how?” asked Edward as he stared at Lillian with the same wonderstruck eyes that he had been using since he had spotted the vast array of books.

“We dragons were ancient long before the sun that floats above this world was born. We travel in the emptiness between the sun, the moon and the stars. As such nearly all dragon related creatures, as well as dragonspawn, such as me, are capable of communicating between minds without a medium in between,” said Lillian kindly as if she was explaining to a human child why they couldn’t fly. “That is how I can hear and communicate across the world if I so desire. As for how I can hear your conversation, like I said whoever taught you, was either terrible or malicious.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Aleister through taunt lips as if he was on the verge of a terrible or great discovery.

“You’ve been communicating through an open line,” said Lillian with a shrug, her leather garments shifting with her to make the movement even more pronounced.

Stopping still, Jane saw that Lillian had turned back so that her attention fleeted backwards and forwards between Aleister and Edward as if just realising something. Staring with a mixture of horror and sadness, Lillian stepped forward until she was in touching distance of Edward and slowly raised her hand to trace it over the side of Edward’s head as if conveying her honest sorrow for his plight.

“Neither of you were ever taught how,” said Lillian as she stroked Edward’s head, her eyes filled with a knowing empathy.

Pausing, Jane looked between the three hybrids that dotted the room, all of them looking at each other with a sense of belonging that made them seem oddly at peace as if they had finally found something that had been lacking before. Jane had seen the same expression before in the mirror. An expression one had when you finally feel like you have found your family or home.

“What interests me more is that you turned down Carmilla’s offer,” said Grey calmly, completely uncaring about the sudden, beautiful stillness that had befallen the room, or possibly because he couldn’t bear to be in the same room as such pleasant emotions that cut too deep into what he himself had lost. Not knowing which, Jane could only stare at Grey with a dark frown and a flicker of fire to tell the madman that he had stepped out of line.

“She was sincere and offered to make you whole, even if you knew we came bearing another offer. Why turn such a deal down?” asked Grey sincerely as if he couldn’t quite grasp why Lillian had turned down a chance to be made whole.

Lillian turned her face down at Grey’s words, her face forming a grimace. Nonetheless, she was unhesitant as she challenged Grey’s question, all the while bearing a majesty that seemed to cow Grey backwards.

“Who are you to ask such a question, you, who bears Edward Crowley’s sword? He might have been the first paladin yet he was still the Knight of Vengeance and he was consumed by that blade. A blade that draws power from Samael, an angel whose blood stained wings are well known, not to mention that Samael must remain outside Heaven as the Guardian of its Golden Gates for his crimes. Who are you to ask me anything, Madman?” asked Lillian, her eyes filled with turmoil at Grey’s question, while her voice resounded with majesty.

“I have never fought a dragon. In fact, I have never even been in the presence of one, yet I have met those who have and even spoken to the one who killed PenDragon. And while George PenDragon might have won the right to bear that name by killing that dragon, if you talk to him, or even ask, he will tell you how much of a miracle that battle truly was, and how dragons, in all their glory and eternal might, feel,” said Grey calmly as if explaining something of the highest importance, all the while hidden in the depths of his eyes, Grey’s madness grew more solid and tangible. “He talked to me and told me so many things, answered all of my questions back when I suspected that the demon I sought might have connections to dragons, but the one truth that I was able to distil from that wasted time was this. That a dragon no matter their form is nothing but pure ancient power. And when I say ancient I mean so old that the birth of the sun above us is nothing to them but an insignificant foot note in their eternal lives.”

“Your point,” probed Lillian as she stared back, watching, waiting for the next words to come out of Grey’s Silverman’s mouth.

“I know that you are not whole, I know that you… Are…Broken,” said Grey with a short pause as if he was hesitant about what he would say and how it would affect Lillian. “I know enough to know about those that are born incomplete, lesser than their mighty eternal brethren. You are a wyvern or were born from one, weren’t you?” asked Grey with a twisted smile of victory as if he had just won the argument about why Lillian should answer his questions. “So I ask again. Why don’t you want to be whole?”

Hearing the raw pain in his voice, Lillian looked deeply at Grey as if trying to see something deeper inside of his armour than flesh, as if she could see his soul itself.

“Why do you ask, Grey Silverman? Is it because of your own madness, because I can see it? Your madness is born not from diseased flesh but from a mind torn to shreds and what’s worse you seemed to have put those shreds back together without caring whether they fit or not. Not to mention, the rumours of your history state the horrors that you witnessed would send most mortals beyond insane and break their souls. Unless that’s what’s happened,” said Lillian, her voice filling with growing dread as she realised that while Grey might have called her a broken dragon, she stood before a broken soul.

“You know I know many Witch Hunters and the like amongst my paladin peers and even some Dragon Slayers. I wonder what they would think of you,” said Grey, seemingly untouched by Lillian’s earlier comment.

Yet as Jane watched Grey, she could see the traces of horror and pain dwelling in his mind and heart. Traces that made Jane fully aware that Lillian had been right and Grey was a man with a broken soul, one that couldn’t be fixed, or that couldn’t be made whole.

Lowering her head so that her hair fell across her face, Lillian stared down at the ground before looking up at Grey, her eyes a reflection of the same sort of pain that existed in Grey’s eyes. The pain of one bound within a cage that had no substance, one that was just too delicate and precious to dare to even touch, let alone break.

“We dragons were ancient long before the sun was made, before this little world was spun into being by the Divine Wind, and unlike humans we were not doomed to one lifetime in the worlds of the living. We were born, we died and we were born again and this was held as a truth until Svar’s Sin. But out of all the races blessed to never venture into the world of the dead, we remembered, every life, every death, and every rebirth,” said Lillian, her sadness tingeing her words with a sorrow beyond the human’s ability to comprehend.

Looking at Grey, Lillian continued as the two broken beings, one endowed with a ruined human soul and the other an incomplete dragon soul, both shared a terrible truth between them, of how they were broken.

“You’re right. I was born of a union between human and wyvern. As such I don’t have dragonlight in my veins and without the power of dragonlight which allows us to crack moons like eggs and fly upon the solar winds, I was born without my memories of my past lives, something you already deduced, didn’t you?” asked Lillian, the sorrow in her voice reaching a peak as if to say, to admit such a thing was the greatest tragedy possible.

“Then why refuse?” asked Grey, the madness gone from his words to be replaced with a steady compassion. Compassion felt by one who has also lost everything that they have held dear, compassion which could only be born in the shadow of true evil. “She and her master offered to make you whole.”

“Because I fear that I will be washed away by the dragon I once was. That my scant seven hundred years upon this world will be infinitesimal when compared against the seven million, billion or even trillion years that I could have lived,” said Lillian into the silence of the room that the five of them stood in. “And that is why I refused, because in my heart I both long and fear to be made whole. That is what I live with, each and every day, a war in my heart for whether I should remain as I am or resume my former dragon self.”

“War?” echoed Grey, his voice filled with sorrow and at the same time a sense that he was speaking as if to say he too suffered such a fate.

“Yes war, did you think that war existed only on battlefields filled with blood? They can begin and end inside a heart of any creature with a soul and even those without,” said Lillian, her face defiant as she met Grey’s gaze with one equally as powerful.

“I know,” said Grey simply as if that was all that needed to be said, as he let a horrible broken look appear on his face, one that showed how he himself was caught in a war between sanity and madness.

“So now you know why I live here and why I refuse to go anywhere. Not because I fear death, but like all mortals I fear what lies beyond,” said Lillian as if tasting a terrible, bitter irony that something that should and never fear death would have to suffer the fate and terror of death.

“I have a question,” stated Edward as if he was unsure whether to step into the conversation between the witch and the paladin.

Seeing Lillian turn her gaze upon the black robed Maw brother, Jane saw that there was something in his gaze, one that accepted all that she was, the good, the bad and that which was beyond mortal comprehension.

“Go on,” said Lillian softly.

“I’ve read a few books about dragons,” said Edward tentatively, “but I have never read what exactly a wyvern is in comparison to the rest of the dragon race. Some sources say that wyverns are new dragons. The first new souls born for millennia, while others say they are deformed dragons from damage to the eggs they hatched from or even a type of punishment,” said Edward, his voice demonic but at the same time querying whether or which was true of the options he had listed.

Hearing the unasked question in his statement, Jane, Aleister and even Grey turned to look at Lillian to see how she would take being asked such a thing. Standing still for a long moment, Lillian didn’t seem offended, but more as if she was still thinking about something.

“It can be all of those or even more,” said Lillian at last, as if she had never bothered to think about such a thing.

“Then why let yourself be reborn into such flesh?” asked Edward as if he was missing some piece of logic that would make it all make sense. “That’s correct, right? Dragons can choose who they will be reborn into?”

“Yes, and I don’t know why,” said Lillian as if that was another thing that haunted her.

The question of why had she had done this to herself? The question of why she had forced this pain and burden on herself? Most importantly there was the question of who she was before, something that over seven hundred years later still eluded Lillian.

Feeling these questions take on an almost physical weight that all five people felt, Jane had to grimace as she searched for something else to talk about that would distract from the topics at hand. Immediately thinking back to the training that Rin had instilled in her, Jane knew what she needed to question.

“Then this Carmilla vampire did a very poor job of trying to convince you,” said Jane with sincerity.

“Not really, in truth, she did an excellent job,” retorted Lillian. “The sheer fact that I didn’t kill a vampire on sight, especially with my history, proves how good she truly is.”

“But no one tries to win someone over to their side by trumpeting someone they refuse to give details on,” counted Jane as she pointed out that Carmilla had refused to comment on the identity of her master. “Unless you know who this master is already.”

Blinking at Jane, Lillian smiled like the proverbial dragon she was, as understanding flashed across the witch’s mind.

“True, I am aware of the nature of Carmilla’s master, but I’m wise enough not to get into the middle of that fight,” said Lillian energetically as she shook her head, “and I am aware that I shouldn’t reveal his identity either as that could start a war. And I truly don’t want to see one of those anytime soon,” said Lillian as if remembering other darker times when the world was still gripped in the chaos of the ending of the Dark Empire of Osiris.

“That and you most likely didn’t want to fight those ghouls and whatever else she had hidden away on her,” said Aleister absentmindedly as if trying to imagine what Carmilla had hidden away, as well as where she had put it.

“Especially since those ghouls had been modified by a necromancer,” agreed Jane as she remembered the ghouls and how they had immediately appeared off to her.

“They were modified?” asked Aleister, his voice becoming frayed around the edges, more from being upset that he had failed to notice this than because he was shocked at the idea itself

“Yes and by handiwork that seemed eerily familiar,” said Jane as her eyes seemed to catch the light of imaginary fire, so that they burned bright in the room that the God Squad currently occupied. “A pity we didn’t get to fight them, I would have loved to question Carmilla about where she got those ghouls and who modified them.”

Stopping, Aleister and Edward realised that Jane was thinking about the necromancer she had mentioned back on the train ride, before they had reached Symir. Pausing for a short break, Lillian observed that Jane was reminiscing about her own past. Seeing that Jane was shaking it off, Lillian turned towards Aleister whom she knew was the official leader of the group.

“You all came here to give me a proposition from your empire didn’t you,” said Lillian as she looked between the four members of the God Squad. “May I please hear it?”

“Is it okay if we sit? This conversation might take a while,” said Aleister as he moved over to a seat that was nearby.

“Sure, but I’m not serving refreshments,” said Lillian, whether seriously or in jest, Jane wasn’t sure but she still followed the dragonspawn over to the nearest table to have a seat.

While the various members of the God Squad moved about to find seats that suited them, Grey had instead decided to remain standing in an almost regal position, not bothering to move from it, where he could watch both Lillian and the various entrances and exits from the underground private library/lounge room.

“You don’t know about it yet?” asked Grey with suspicion leaking from every movement he made as he watched Lillian as if realising that she was trying to trick the rest of the God Squad into revealing more about their mission than they were technically meant to.

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“Oh, I know the basics that your empire is being attacked by the Wolfskard werewolves and you want my help. Oh and the espers that live on the mountains with the wolves are also allied together,” said Lillian in a way that made it unclear if she was stating the entirety of what she knew or if she was leaving things out.

“Then whoever your contact is, left out a lot of information,” said Jane as she sat down at one of the reading tables that dotted the lounge room that the God Squad currently occupied.

Moving some of the books on the table out of the way, Jane saw that one of the titles was, ‘Legacy of Jupitor Soulstorm’ a volume that caught Jane’s attention for the fact that from the mana that it was emanating it was clearly magical and ancient enough to have been written by one who had met the man himself. However Jane focused her mind back on what was going to occur here, the recruitment of the dragonspawn Lillian Darkseed.

“Yes, I could see her doing that,” said Lillian with a hint that she was less than happy that she had been left out of the loop. “So if you would be so polite, please tell me who your patrons are.”

“Ivan Stein and Argon Krieg,” said Edward without hesitating, despite knowing that the names had special meaning to those beyond the River Nile.

Freezing like a statue, Lillian’s eyes seemed to tremble in fear before she closed them with a bitter expression spreading across her face, as well as one of disappointment.

“I’m sorry, but we already went through this, and like I told Argon many years back I’m not going to be made whole, not here nor anywhere else,” said Lillian with a majestic resolve that made Grey’s mouth part in awe, while the rest of the God Squad remained stunned at the idea that they were but the latest attempt by Argon Krieg to recruit Lillian.

“We’re not here to offer to make you whole,” said Aleister quietly as if hesitant to continue especially since he was aware that the Generals of the West and East had left out information. “We’re here to offer you a chance to kill the new King of the Wolfskard, the Mirror of Reality.”

If the last words had made Lillian freeze in shock, this made her freeze in anger and rage, for the moment the name Mirror of Reality was said Lillian’s hands tightened into fists as her teeth ground together with enough volume for everyone to hear while the numerous blue flames dotting the interior of the witch’s house soared into pillars of blue infernos.

“What?!” asked Lillian, her bronze eyes dilated till they were nothing more than vertical slits of darkness, which for the single moment gave everyone the impression that they were finally meeting the dragon that was bound in chains within the woman known as Lillian. “Explain,” demanded Lillian through rage clenched teeth, her words taking on an almost primordial feel, as if they belonged to a being older than anything that the four mortals had ever felt or met.

“Several days ago, the Mirror of Reality and the Shadow of Decay breached the borders of the Empire of Geb and attacked and severely damaged the city of Albion and its inhabitants,” said Aleister as he began to explain how the two espers had attacked the city of Albion and the response that had been taken by those present, with the members of the God Squad chipping in when it covered parts that they had been directly involved in.

Hearing their tale unfold and how Mirror had taken control of the Wolfskard along with eight other known espers to name themselves the Nine Esper Lords of Wolfskard, Lillian went from a raging dragon to one of calm disposition, or rather a volcano waiting to erupt, the quiet before the storm, or the silence before a massive, natural disaster. Continuing with his explanation, Aleister mentioned how the Empire of Geb was more interested in currently expanding its boarders out towards the Nile River and hopefully beyond that into the lands in-between the river and the Wormwood Forest. Aleister, more to fill in the unnatural quiet that Lillian had wrapped herself in as the blue candlelight infernos sunk lower and lower, kept talking about the different directions of the compass. Of how they were being used as well as the disadvantages that the Empire of Geb had assessed when choosing not to expand in that particular direction.

“And as you know to the east of the Empire of Geb lays the mountain range, Wolfskard, and in it are the werewolf hordes that, while never having bothered us much before, are making a move against us, under the command of the Mirror of Reality. The Wolfskard Mountains have always been a wall stopping us from moving east and it was never worth our trouble to take them, except now we’re at war with the most impressive and powerful stronghold possible, a literal fortress made from mountains,” said Aleister as he continued to ramble, hoping that something he said would make the dragon before him stir from her stillness.

“You know my history don’t you?” asked Lillian, her bronze eyes steady, yet burning with a hidden rage, as she finally moved to look up at Aleister.

“Yes, but only what Ivan and Argon supplied to me, nothing else,” said Aleister wearily so as not to disturb and touch the scales of the dragon before him.

“Then tell me what they told you,” said Lillian, her voice soft and quiet as she looked around the room now dimmed to darkness by the low burning, blue lights.

“I know that 735 years ago you were born from a union of a wyvern in human form and a witch, and that at 11 years of age you lost your mother when she was killed by vampires. And afterwards Mirror took you in at the age of 16 and took care of you at least for a few years before he started to become much more abusive. I know eventually you fled and settled here hoping he would die before you would ever see him again,” said Aleister neutrally, yet from the implications in his tone, his speech and his body language, Jane, Edward and Grey all understood what Mirror must have done to her and that Aleister was offering to give her revenge against the one who had destroyed her innocence, even more than those that had killed her mother.

“True from a certain point of view,” said Lillian with downcast eyes as if she hated to remember what had been done to her. “But not in the way you think. They gave you enough data to be misleading but enough for it to still ring of truth.”

“Then what really happened?” asked Jane, not in sympathy, but because there was a need to know.

For Jane had been there when Mirror had made his grand entrance and she remembered with clarity what he had done and how the assembled might that had gathered to fight off the city’s attacker had been all but destroyed by their own reflected attacks.

“I wish I knew, but Mirror didn’t change gradually. It was almost instantaneous. One moment he was a kind man, who longed to create a home for his own kind, a paradise for espers. The next moment, he wished for dominance, to rule over all, and whatever changed him didn’t stop there. It got worse the longer he lived until when I tried to stop him he was unable to recognise me. Not because he didn’t know who I was, but because his emotions had been warped and cracked until they were nothing but a kaleidoscope of confusion,” said Lillian as she seemed to peer backwards through time.

“You fought,” said Edward, not as a question but as a statement of fact.

“And lost,” said Lillian as if she remembered the despair she felt in that moment as if she was back there. “This was back when he was just realising that he could reflect magic and not just the normal forces of reality. Mirror always had the power to rival a god, but he was always lazy. You might even say he was strong but lazy, until something caught his interest and then he would seek it out and learn it as much as possible.”

“What did he do to you?” asked Jane as she realised that something horrible was coming.

“Argon probably implied that I was damaged and that I lost something important,” said Lillian seeking confirmation.

“Yes and I thought he meant–” said Aleister, unable to finish the sentence.

“I know what you thought, but it’s not what you think,” said Lillian as she looked skyward as if seeking an answer from the heavens. “I did lose my innocence, but not in the way you think. I used to be just like any other dragon, free of the fear of death, until Mirror engraved it into my soul. And that is something Argon and many others consider to be one of the worst things imaginable, to be imprisoned within one’s own flesh.”

Staring, the God Squad took a moment to understand what Lillian had said but as the words sunk in, they knew that Mirror had forced her to realise that death would not just kill her and send her soul elsewhere but destroy the persona of Lillian Darkseed for all time. Death would only bring Lillian oblivion.

“As I said, Mirror only takes interest and applies himself when something catches his interest and as we fought I attacked him by altering dimensions, hoping this would bypass his power instead it awoke his desire to rule over that aspect of reality. And after he defeated me, he used his new interest in dimension control to try it out on me,” said Lillian, as the majesty that normally surrounded her seemed to melt away, showing a broken woman lost in her own heart. “I know that after he used his power on me, I fell through something, somewhere where there was nothing but silence and stillness. A place within the worlds of the living, but at the same time somewhere I didn’t know, even on an instinctual level. A place no dragon knew about and there I learned my fear and that I longed to both live and never be made whole,” said Lillian as she looked down at the others in the room, her eyes hollow voids that reflected the horror of what she had experienced.

“And then you landed here,” said Grey as he straightened from where he had been leaning against a wall, his voice filled with an echo of the same loss. “And you never left.”

Nodding her head, Lillian’s eyes seemed to return to life as she switched her attention back to Aleister who was staring with a horrified expression back at the broken dragon.

“What happens when you defeat him, the Mirror of Reality? Do you catch him and put him in a box somewhere? And one day give him the same deal you’re making me?” asked Lillian, her eyes probing for the honest answer that the God Squad would give and what it would be and if it was acceptable to her.

“No,” said Aleister, his golden eyes shining with sympathy.

A compassion felt by all those present.

“I swear to you Lillian that I will destroy Mirror. I swear on the Eight Archangels, I swear by the Four Winds and the Seven Stars, I swear on the blood of Arthur Exaltia that flows through my veins,” said Aleister, his voice ringing with sincerity that made it impossible to doubt the Angelic Gunslinger.

If the silence that had followed the reveal of Mirror’s deeds had been pungent, then the silence following the oath that Aleister gave of his own free will, made the other seem insignificant as this filled the air with both amazement and tension capable of smothering those present.

“You would swear to me an oath like that, one of such importance that it is rumoured to bind a seraphim’s soul to Geb, so long as it is not fulfilled?” asked Lillian in wonder, her entire body radiating the amazement that everyone present felt.

“I would,” said Aleister unwaveringly.

“As would I” said Edward, with such determination that Lillian was left open mouthed.

“I can’t swear that oath, but I would like to say that I too would be more than willing to kill this piece of filth esper,” said Jane speaking up, her eyes aflame with the same passion that the others felt.

Seeing that Grey had nodded his head but otherwise remained quiet, Lillian turned to look at the Mad Paladin, the Mad Demon Hunter who wanted nothing more than to kill one single being.

“Would you swear this oath?” asked Lillian as if she suspected the answer.

“No,” said Grey softly as if he knew how terrible that made him, “I will kill this esper. I’ll even help you be the one to land the finishing blow if you feel it necessary, but I have to remain true to my own objectives.”

Instead of being offended or upset that he had failed to bind himself to her cause, Lillian stepped up to look Grey in the eyes and smiled.

“Thank you for your honesty and for choosing to be free,” said Lillian with true gratitude. “I don’t want to be the one who binds another into a cage. Even if it is one of their own making nor do I want to hinder you in search of your own freedom.”

Nodding his head in gratitude at not only being forgiven but being understood, Grey had a smile on his face, one of bittersweet sorrow and joy, for he had found another soul as broken as his own, a soul that understood his own.

“I know what we’re asking is sudden and well… a world changing decision. So I would like to give you time, a day at most, to decide whether you want in… If you want to kill the Mirror of Reality,” said Aleister knowing that being caught in the whirlwind of another’s plans was something that was never fun and something that should never be rushed.

“Thank you, I do need time to think,” said Lillian in acceptance of Aleister’s offer of time as she wandered off, leaving the God Squad to make themselves comfortable within the witch’s house.

All of them were waiting to see where the chips would fall, but all of them knowing in their hearts that Lillian would most likely be forced to accept. For if Mirror by some miracle conquered the Empire of Geb, then he would be so much closer to where Lillian resided, and who knew if he would ever come back to finish the job he had failed to do all those centuries back.

As the company of heroes that would supposedly deal with special targets like Mirror rested and were left to their own devices, Grey wandered outside to watch the stars swirl overhead and the moons fill the sky. Grey stood outside the door to the strange, bewitched cottage like a stone guardian with the tip of Slaphmir embedded in the earth and Grey’s hands resting atop the hilt and keeping it balanced almost as if it were second nature to the paladin. Standing there still and silent, the Paladin of Gray looked up at the sky and the giant blue moon with its serene and tranquil, blue light that poured down on him.

Grey knew that most people said that the red moon, Mars, also called the Devil’s Eye, was a moon filled with malice, hatred and anger while the blue moon, Leto was filled with tranquillity, serenity and peace, and as far as Grey was concerned they had been right all along. For in this light, he could sometimes almost forget that he was the Mad Demon Hunter and just be the Grey Silverman that he had once been, yet that almost haunted him. Grey knew he would never be free from his unrelenting madness not even when his flesh was dust and sand.

Contemplating his own nature, Grey felt the arrival of Lillian Darkseed who had come out of her cottage to stand next to the paladin. Glancing at the broken dragon, the paladin returned to his star watching, hoping to retain some of the peace that he acquired from watching the sky turn. Especially since Grey knew that by the end of this the sixth month of the year, the blue moon, Leto would be gone from the skies of Geb for another half year, or more precisely 182 days.

Feeling that Lillian wanted to talk to him, Grey sighed before speaking up so that they could get the conversation over and done with. Then he could continue to enjoy watching the moons track their ever repeating path across the sky.

“Have you come here for advice, from me?” asked Grey as he glanced at the dragon bound in human flesh.

“Who better than a madman, one that sees the world in a perfectly unique way, unbound by good or evil, order or chaos,” said Lillian with a small knowing laugh.

“Unfortunately for you, you seem to have caught me in one of my more… saner moments,” said Grey back with his own brand of amusement, a joy in him that he would not need to hide or contain the madness within.

“Tranquil,” countered Lillian in jest.

“Serene,” replied Grey.

“Flaccid,” said Lillian with a note of victory in her voice.

Chuckling at the victory, Grey turned to look at Lillian who was staring out at the trees that surrounded her cottage and the blue fires that danced around in the woods.

“What do you call them?” asked Grey as he looked at the flames which he had come to realise were appearing and disappearing in set patterns, probably based on the witchcraft Lillian had set up.

“Hexen Flames,” said Lillian as she nodded her head in approval that Grey had noticed that these flames were in fact artificial and designed to keep others from finding this location. “I’m impressed you were able to realise that they were born from witchcraft and you didn’t think they were some sort of malevolent fairy.”

“I might not be a Witch Hunter or a Dragon Hunter, but like them, I do know the basics of recognising witchcraft when I encounter it,” said Grey, dropping the names of the paladins dedicated to hunting the two kinds of beings that Lillian happened to be.

“Oh impressive! They actually know how to recognise witchcraft. I thought they all like to burn random people, or destroy things that they discover to be different, especially those that are not aligned with the worshippers of Heaven,” said Lillian with a voice filled with a child-like nature, though her words were laced with a barb that needled at Grey’s compatriots.

More amused than angry, Grey turned a raised eyebrow at Lillian, who smiled with glee, making Grey realise that despite being only seven hundred years old, Lillian was in the eyes of her brethren nothing less than a child.

“Oh they know what they’re doing most of the time. They’re normally just not mad enough to actually go hunt after you witches, or more importantly your dragon brethren,” said Grey as he turned his gaze to the stars that roamed across the sky, some as constant as time while others appeared and disappeared as fickle as the wind.

“I always enjoyed watching the stars,” said Lillian as she looked up at the sky while trying to spot any of the 26 Zodiac constellations that formed in the sky.

“Then we’re in luck as I enjoy the moons and what better place to have a conversation than beneath the light of what we both enjoy,” said Grey as he spotted the light of the Pyxis constellation.

“I have to ask,” said Grey as he tried to spot amongst the stars any other constellations that he could recognise. “Did any of your dragon brethren ever come here to offer to make you whole?”

Stopping, Lillian looked at the stars, her joy diminished before she looked at Grey with serious eyes.

“Yes, Boron, Pyrite, Xenon and so many others have come here across the centuries to offer to make me whole, as they see it,” said Lillian.

“And they must have left truly disappointed,” said Grey with a smile as he imagined the thought of these mighty dragons fleeing from this small girl that stood beside him.

“You don’t get any points for guessing that,” said Lillian with a mocking, scolding tone.

“Oh the fact you refused was never in doubt,” said Grey with mischief in his eyes. “The real question was how many of them flew away from here with their tails still intact.”

Snorting a laugh, Lillian looked up to see that some of the clouds had shifted allowing them to see the Orion constellation.

“You want me to join, don’t you?” asked Lillian with a sudden seriousness that might have shocked a more stable mind.

“I think you need to,” said Grey, unperturbed by the sudden change between conversations. “Not because we need you, but like everyone realised, if the Empire of Geb falls, then Mirror will end up being your new neighbour, and once that happens you won’t have the luxury of ignoring him until some distant time in the future.”

“It was never a luxury,” said Lillian with a dark twist to her voice. “It was necessary.”

Stopping, Grey turned around to look at Lillian, his hand leaving his sword so that it remained balanced on its point.

“You always planned to return to best him,” said Grey with respect.

“No, I was able to rid myself of most of my thoughts about Mirror long ago,” said Lillian.

“I like the fact you said most, otherwise I might think you were lying to me,” said Grey in retort to Lillian’s words.

Ignoring Grey, Lillian continued her speech, her words causing Grey to realise that she truly meant that on some level she had discarded enough of her emotions about Mirror to be free from him.

“I have waited here hidden from all the darkness and death of the world so that I could grow old enough that when I am made whole I am not washed away by the deeds of my previous life,” said Lillian, her voice filled with a strength that made Grey envious. When she saw a strange light in Grey’s eyes Lillian asked, “What?”

“I’m just admiring you,” said Grey truthfully as he understood that Lillian had planned a way for her to break free, not only from Mirror and what he had done to her, but also from her own pending obliteration at the hands of her own true self.

“Why? I’m nothing but a broken dragon that can’t even take on my true form,” said Lillian, sorrow making her hunch down a bit.

“What do you know of my past?” asked Grey instead of answering Lillian’s question.

Pausing contemplatively, Lillian had to admit in the back of her mind that she only knew the basics of what Grey Silverman’s origins were and that was because he was mad enough that both witches and dragons had been talking about him and why they should make sure that they are never seen as demonic enough to attract his ire.

“You used to be a priest in your home town and one day a creature of demonic nature ventured in and decimated it. It killed 2000 people before vanishing without a trace, leaving only 15 alive, yourself included,” said Lillian in the end, as she recounted and remembered the rumours that had been spread about when word had gotten out that someone mad enough to pick up and use Slaphmir had appeared.

“Close. In truth I think, no. I know that I was the only survivor. The only reason I escaped was because I prayed in my little temple. I prayed to the angels and they used the Arthurian Church System to whisk me, and only me, away. I ended up in another land alive and whole. Yet I went mad. I broke, and after I put myself back together, I became what I am today. I was 18 when I became a priest, something I trained for my entire life and four years later that happened and then I became a paladin, a Knight of Vengeance hunting after a creature that could quite possibly never resurface in the lifetime of a god,” said Grey as he recounted the more precise nature of how he had ended up mad enough to retrieve the sword Slaphmir from Edward Crowley’s hands.

“I’m sorry,” said Lillian, not sure why he was bringing up his back-story or how it answered her question. “And just so you know I didn’t mean to divulge my entire life story on you earlier.”

Ignoring her sympathy, Grey continued to speak and for the first time Lillian realised that despite everything that if he could be found, the humble, kind and caring priest was still inside Grey. And whether that fact made Grey less or more tragic was something that Lillian wasn’t given time to ponder.

“There is no need for your sympathy, for this is what the God Squad is, a collection of broken beings, all aligned and put together to serve the purposes of Argon Krieg and Ivan Stein and whatever directives they have been given by Arthur Exaltia,” said Grey, his words making Lillian take heed.

“You might seem broken, but what about the others? They seem to be sane,” said Lillian as she gazed up at the sky, hoping to find a hint about what Grey saw up there with the blue moon, Leto.

“Jane Burnout has to live everyday of her life under the weight of her sins, the idea that she burnt her way out of her mother to be born. She is greater, stronger than even me to endure such a weight, for she knows that her magic killed before she was born. Every time she uses it, she must think about that.”

Pausing, Grey turned to look at Lillian to make sure that she understood his words, and that they would be engraved into her soul so that she could never forget them no matter how many lifetimes passed.

“Yet Jane has the strength to not discard her magic and hide away from it. She wields it to ensure that others live. Instead of continuing her reign of fire, she tries to use fire to build and heal,” said Grey, true praise filling his voice, a light of something other than madness entering his eyes as he basked in the blue moonlight.

“And the Maw Brothers,” said Lillian, truly interested in finding out what Grey saw in them through his madness.

“Edward Maw is just as inspirational, but in a much different way,” said Grey, his tone returning to its neutral everyday setting. “From the moment he was born, he had to suffer the hate, fear and distrust of the world, from his angelic brethren. If he had been born without talent, it might have been a blessing as he would simply have been left alone. Yet because he has talent, and more of it than many seraphim, he has also been subjected to envy, jealousy and discrimination. For he could probably change the world if people would let him, especially since he has a brand new magic seeded within him.”

Hearing Grey’s run down of Edward Maw, Lillian looked at Grey with startled eyes for the idea that the strange resonance of power within Edward came from his unique and new magic made Lillian realise the true weight of Edward’s nature.

“Despite all this darkness that Edward has been bombarded with,” continued Grey uncaring that Lillian was realising that Edward might be a kindred spirit, one equal to her, “he has used all the evil sent against him as a crucible and emerged a better man than any of us. He is caring and kind, he knows the strength of compassion and despite what you might think, he is the one that has supported Aleister all along.”

“And Aleister?” asked Lillian with true curiosity blurring through her voice, as the idea rooted deep in her mind that perhaps this God Squad could be the first set of people in a long time to actually understand her as well as stand next to her.

“He is just as admirable, if not a little foolish,” said Grey as his eyes traced a comet that had appeared suddenly before disappearing behind the blue moon.

“How so?” asked Lillian for while she could see what was admirable about him, particularly the fact that he had never abandoned his brother, she was unsure what Grey in his madness saw as foolish.

“All it would have taken for Aleister to lead a life free of pain, fear and paranoia was to discard his brother. He instead chose the path of most resistance and walked it till this day, never once believing that he chose incorrectly,” said Grey as he shook his head whether in disbelief or sorrow, Lillian wasn’t sure.

“You think that’s foolish?” asked Lillian as she turned questioning, bronze eyes on the Mad Paladin.

“Perhaps, but I know this. Each of us chooses the worst path to walk,” said Grey, his eyes brimming with a thousand different emotions. “I choose to follow my madness into vengeance, all to ensure that that demon never creates such a disaster ever again. Edward and Aleister Maw choose to be faithful to their blood and stand for humanity and its brilliant future even if the very act of remaining with each other tore them to ribbons internally. Jane took the path least travelled and chooses to use her power in a way that most would refuse to even consider. She chose to let her past guide her but not confine her,” said Grey as he turned to look at the small, broken dragon who looked with starlit eyes at Grey.

“And you Lillian Darkseed, you did the same,” said Grey, his voice resounding with true respect and the valour of a knight bowing to a queen. “There are many who when faced with your pain and horror, and the fact that you would have to live forever under the threat of oblivion, would choose oblivion. You choose to walk a path beyond even what I could imagine. You choose to fight and live to carve out a sense of self strong enough to fight the weight of time itself. And that Lillian Darkseed is why we want you to be a part of the God Squad,” said Grey with a brilliant smile.

Lillian lifted her hand to look at the stars that she drew such comfort from knowing that they had been the same for countless eons and like a child, who had discovered a new wonder, she turned to look at Grey with eyes that reflected hope in the words that the known Madman spoke.

“Forge yourself anew. Forge yourself into something new Lillian. And if you live long enough then maybe, just maybe, you can become something that you have longed to be since the moment you were born,” said Grey Silverman. “Maybe one day you will be free.”

~~~

Sitting in a tree, far away from the little glen where the witch’s house rested, Hawk lowered his spy glass as he processed what he had just seen and read. The tree he was resting in was a big, sturdy oak and one tall enough that he could get a clean line of sight on the paladin and the witch as they had had a talk under the moonlight. But most importantly, the tree that Hawk currently occupied was far enough away from the glen that none of the magic that the God Squad possessed could reach out and detect him.

Quickly checking that this fact was true, Hawk looked around to mark off in his head the defences of the cottage that the witch had set up. And as he observed with extreme care, Hawk smiled and relaxed for the witchcraft that guarded the house while complicated could be bested with experience, experience he possessed. Yet even as Hawk looked at the various stones and sulphur deposits that dotted around the cottage, he had already mapped out the way in which he and his men would be able to assault the location.

Leaning back against the main trunk so that his legs were lying out before him as if he was on a recliner, Hawk turned his attention to the kebab of kraken meat that he had harvested back in Xois. For while he had left the Knight of the Nile alive, he had made sure that the man was so broken from having his kraken implants ripped out that he was too weak to oppose Hawk and his men on their mission, at least until long after Hawk would be beyond his reach. Taking a bite from the kraken meat, Hawk chewed on the meat before swallowing it, the texture of the meat reminding Hawk of squid Ikayaki that he had eaten in the far western countries. All the while, his mind raced as he remembered what the lips of the paladin and witch had told him.

The two had been talking about how they needed Lillian for their little team and that was true from all the information that Hawk had received and from what he had just seen, but there was something else, something off about what Grey had been saying that made the Once and Future Pirate King pause. Having trouble figuring it out, Hawk continued to eat as he looked up at the sky, watching and letting time turn before he realised that the Odin’s Sea was rising, a fact that illustrated that it was just barely past midnight.

Staring at the green and gold star encrusted nebula that looked vaguely like an eye, which it was sometimes called, Hawk realised that he had run out of kraken meat in the time that the brilliant starry portal to Valhalla had risen into the sky where it would remain until about an hour before dawn.Cursing that he had run out of food, Hawk froze as a smile filled his face, as in a flash of understanding his mind took wing.

Laughing, Hawk realised that he had believed that the words that the Mad Paladin had been speaking were true and that the madman hadn’t been lying to complete some other objective. For in hindsight, it was apparent that the Mad Paladin was after something and had been trying to use all the good intentions possible to get it out of Lillian by having her accompany them. Letting the waves of laughter pour over him, Hawk found that he was in danger of falling out of his tree.

Hopping to his feet, Hawk performed a mocking salute to the Gray Paladin, who stood forlornly alone in the moonlight, a paladin who looked like he was cursing himself. Lillian had returned into the cottage sometime ago during Hawk’s musings. Turning his back on the treacherous paladin, Hawk pulled forth the alchemist stave that he had been given by the Puppeteer of Matter. Activating the stave, the Pirate Hawk disappeared into a brilliant light that failed to catch the attention of the God Squad situated in the witch’s house. As he disappeared back to the city of Xois, Hawk thought to himself, how much fun he would have with this God Squad once he and his men were ready to attack them.