They’d been walking in Avalon for close to an hour before they finally found a path. The difference was night and day, not in the difficulty of the walk, the grassy plains of Avalon were astonishingly level and smooth, containing none of the traps and dangers a field would normally present to the human ankle, but just in the demeanour of Alice and Erebus, the tension almost visibly pouring out of them.

“The plan is we head into Arcadia, there’s a dusty antiques shop in one of the side alleys, or at least there was last I was here, it opens almost right next to the death zone I plan on breaking into.” Erebus explained, a little freer with the information now there was no danger of magical eavesdropping. Well that wasn’t quite true, the fae themselves could eavesdrop but it was very unlikely they’d take that big an interest unless the group did something to draw attention to themselves.

Holly looked both ways on the trail, “So how far away is it?”

“Just an adventure away.” Alice laughed, still all but skipping, and, much to Erebus’ visible disapproval dancing on and off the path as she pleased, which apparently only made her want to do it more.

“Okay but how far?” The dryad pressed, the sterile wonder of Avalon had long faded by this point, though it seemed she was the only one, at least of those who’d experienced any at all. Natalya and Erebus had maintained the expression of a bulldog chewing a wasp from the moment they’d entered and they didn’t seem liable to cheer up any time soon.

“What Alice said.” The younger necromancer grumbled, “An adventure away, Avalon doesn’t really operate on things like distance and time.”

“What?” The tree-spirit blurted, “How does anyone plan anything?”

“Very inefficiently.” Natalya observed dryly, to a nod from her fellow necromancer.

“Now best foot forwards everyone, the trail only keeps us safe from getting lost and separated.” Erebus declared, “And if you see anything… interesting, tell someone immediately.”

The trail was a long one, the flowing plains giving way to fields of daisies that just begged to be lay down in, rainbows of chrysanthemum that shifted like a kaleidoscope (Holly had had to pull Alec back onto the trail for that one and there had been a rather worrying moment where Sato had moved to step off the path before catching himself).

“Hypnotism paired with glamour.” Erebus confided softly to Holly after they’d passed them, “A nasty combination. You’d be surprised how common it is on Reath as well.”

Next had come a dark forest, the fallen leaves a myriad of reds, browns and oranges, so deep and slippery that it was easier to wade through the ankle deep leaflitter than step, whilst the bereft trees towered above them with branches like claws and shadows so dark they were like holes in the world. The path had been all but invisible and the going slow as Natalya and Sato had cooked up a spell between them to blow the leaves from it as the others stood overwatch in case something particularly gribbly objected.

It occurred to Holly at that point that they’d been in Avalon too long, the sun should have set, they should have been exhausted from the travel and yet she could feel no tiredness from her bond, nor the pangs of hunger. Even sleep it seemed was negotiable in the land of the Fae.

She waited and watched as the path slowly revealed itself, their pace barely a crawl as she overheard Erebus talking quietly to Alice, the two taking the rear.

“We’re in the teeth of it.” The necromancer said softly. “I don’t like it, something should have come for us by now. The fae are being kept away and someone wants us off the path.”

Alice frowned, “It could be benevolent. There’s no reason to say it wishes to kill us.” Her answer sweet and melodic, “You forget my friend that not all gifts of glamour mean ill.”

“You sure, the others maybe, but the Queen of Summer named me Faebane after the Battle of Alastriel.”

The shapeshifter snorted with laughter, “She did take it rather badly didn’t she. Still now is the time of Autumn in Avalon.” She gestured at the leaves, “I think you worry overmuch.”

“What about you Holly? Feel anything interesting from the forest?” Erebus asking their eavesdropper directly.

The dryad’s cheeks coloured a rosy green at being caught but she took the question seriously, extending her senses into the surrounding plants before pulling back sharply with a gasp, “We’re being watched. Definitely.”

“Could you tell their intention?” The necromancer pressed gently.

“No. But they wanted me out of the trees.”

“Hmmm…” It was a solid hmmm, load bearing even but Erebus refused to elaborate further and Holly left them to their bickering, seeking out her human just in case he decided to do something foolish.

Alec was staring out at the forest and trying not to shiver in apprehension, he was sure he could see things moving in the gloom and twitching at each crack of twigs out in the darkness.

“You’re just seeing what they want you to see.” Holly told him with the bluntness of a hammer to the forehead, comparing their shared senses and getting entirely different results.

“Or you are.” He muttered, eyes not leaving the forest for even a moment.

“I can’t, according to Erebus at least, Von Mori made a deal with the Fae that lets dryads go unmolested.” She explained, eyes tracking alongside his own gaze and finding nothing.

“So it’s just me.” He sighed, rubbing at his eyes at least and finding them from tears where he’d been holding them unblinking too long.

“Not just you. The mages seem a little twitchy as well.” She indicated where Amara’s clenching and unclenching claws were almost digging a hole in the dirt and a close examination of Sato’s far too many eyes would show they were flicking from spot to spot independent of each other.

“I’m starting to think leaving Seruatis was a mistake.” The teenager admitted after a few moments.

Holly’s laugh was not a kind one, “It’s a bit late to be concluding that now.”

“You agreed with me!” He protested, the sudden volume managing to startle both mages on overwatch, the leafblower team, a surprising number of birds who Holly’s gaze confirmed were not in fact real and Alec himself, “You agreed with me.” He continued more quietly.

“And I still do,” She promised, “you were right. If we didn’t seize this chance to leave we might well have been stuck in Seruatis for the rest of our lives. What’s got you having doubts?”

“Them.” He pointed to the mages at work, “We’re so outmatched by everyone around us it’s not even funny, and they’re scared and either not trying to hide it or doing a terrible job of it. So if they’re scared what chance do we have?”

Holly stroked her lips as she gave that the thought it deserved, “It’s a good point. We’re almost useless here. Just dead weight.” She gave him a smile as she took his hand in hers, giving it a comforting squeeze, “But we won’t always be. I look at them and I don’t feel insignificant, I feel safe. Von Mori always protected her people, but she also gave them the chance to grow. One day we’ll be them, and someone else will be us. It’s a cycle.”

Alec managed to force a smile, “When did you get wise?”

“You realize that everyone’s allowed to use the library right? And not all of us spend their time there reading about history.” Holly quipped, glad to just get some of the tension out of him. She’d likely never tell him but tension was probably one of the least pleasant sensations to feel across the bond. Pain and other horrors could be guarded against, filtered even, but tension had a habit of creeping up unnoticed until she was wound tighter than a spring with no idea why.

“Yeah yeah.” He punched her lightly in the arm, “You know a dryad could probably do a good job of moving those leaves…”

She nodded, “Eat something, I don’t know how much I’ll have to pull from you.”

It turned out that she could indeed move the leaves and with a lot more precision that the airblower spells Sato and Natalya had been using, though Alec was drenched in sweat after no more than ten minutes and he’d turned down another magicka infusion from Nat without any hesitation. Still she’d probably saved them a fair bit of time and it hadn’t gone unnoticed.

By the time they finally got out of the forest the sun was beginning to set. A small paranoid whisper in Holly’s ear told her that it wouldn’t have mattered how long they’d taken in the forest, this would always have been the case.

“Do we press on?” Alice asked her fellow veteran of Avalon.

“No way in all the hells. I’d rather swim in alchemical waste than walk through Avalon at night.” Erebus declared emphatically, “We find somewhere with decent sightlines and set up camp. Anyone needs to heed a call of nature, you do it in the camp. I don’t care how embarrassed you are. Amara will take watch. The other watcher will be me, followed by Alice, followed by Lana. Repeat until the night is done… if it lasts too long then we’ll have to talk about travel.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Amara hissed, not thrilled at being given marching orders, that and the flames still crackling along her back were making her testy, the noise a constant irritation by this point.

“You’re the only one who doesn’t require sleep, you have superior night vision to everyone except maybe Lana and given you’ve been meditating for literal years you’ve got credentials in regards to maintaining concentration.” The necromancer explained, not a hint nor whisper of apology in his words.

The vampire growled something that was probably an acquiescence as they continued down the path, the forest having given way to a canyon of some form. It was an impossible piece of geography, there had been no descent and yet now immense walls of rough hewn stone blocked them in on each side.

“What would happen if we climbed them?” Natalya asked, staring up at the sheer cliff-faces.

“We’d likely end up somewhere… weird.” Erebus non-explained, eyes flicking from path to cliff and back to path every few seconds. He did not want to spend the night in what was essentially a cage but moving at night was worse, his only real hope was that they’d get one last change in scenery before the sun finished setting.

It was a forlorn hope, whatever byzantine forces decided what passed for geography in Avalon they had a sense for not just the dramatic but the melodramatic and there were few places better for a night ambush than a canyon. It wasn’t like they could be missed either with Amara acting as a living beacon, still he could at least look on the bright side, maybe after something finally had the courage to jump them he’d lose the prickling itch on the back of his neck.

Up the cliff was quite possibly a good option, they’d have to help Holly and Alec but most of them could ascend the rock like they were going for a jog. Fae often made their homes on the edges of Avalon’s environs, far enough that trouble had to come looking for them but close enough they could get to the path in a hurry, and the fae that made such homes were often those outcast from the intricate dance of Arcadian politics.

There were problems with it though, that could mean stumbling upon a kindly brownie who’d give them shelter for the night or a hag or red cap so wretched that they’d been thrown out of the Winter Court. Better not to take the risk.

Despite walking for, by Erebus’ count, several more hours, the canyon showed no signs of ending, though it did show signs of life, or rather its cessation, a few desiccated bodies that had likely been there years along with a shattered wagon and scattered bones in the final stages of being reclaimed by the earth.

They eventually settle for camping at the base of one of the walls, a large boulder providing a convenient windbreak. The boulder troubled all of them, pretty much everyone keeping an eye on the sky and Sato keeping several, but in the darkening gloom it was likely the first they’d know of an aerial bombardment would be when it hit.

It was to comforting thoughts such as these that they went to sleep, there was no campfire, no wood to make one, and Amara had drawn the line at being used to cook on or huddled for warmth.

Alec wound up using his pack as a pillow as he laid upon his bedroll, Holly laid next to them. For them at least sleep came easily, deliberately allowing their drowsiness to feedback on one another, it was less than a minute before they passed into the realm of dreams. Or they would have if Avalon had one, though Pheus had tried for aeons he’d never managed to establish a dominion here and the sleep was a dreamless one.

“So want to tell me why we’re dragging a pair of kids around?” Alice asked dryly once she was sure the two were insensate, the warshifter hadn’t bother with a bedroll, just laying herself down next to where Erebus was keeping watching, eyes closed and expression peaceful.

“Not especially.” The necromancer replied, slowly traversing his gaze from one end of the canyon to the other then back again, careful not to focus on one spot too long.

He was faced away from Amara so as not to ruin his night vision. He could have enhanced it with magic such that night would appear as day but he’d ruled the risks too high. Avalon had more than its fair share of thaumavores, the rather aged term for magic eaters, and he didn’t want to risk their attention more than they were already. Whatever fire Amara was giving off wasn’t a spell, he’d checked, so unless someone did something stupid they’d likely avoid that sort of attention.

“Tell me anyway.” She insisted.

Erebus gave her a gimlet glare, it was hard to ignore the threat inherent in that order, and if they were to throw down Alice was the one person in the group he wasn’t sure he could kill if he had to. Not as a matter of sentiment, sentiment had been carved out of him in the hells, but merely as a matter of firepower. “He chose to come.”

“Uh huh. Is he yours?” The question was casual, too casual, a thief in the night trying to slip past an attentive guard.

“Why do people keep asking me that?” Erebus complained to no one, “No he’s not mine.”

“That soul-bond. Nasty thing to do to a youngster. Two youngsters.” Alice continued, apparently intent on saying her piece no matter how hard the necromancer tried to shut the conversation down.

“Was there a question there?” Erebus asked waspishly, ironic given how much Alice’s observation stung. It was a cruel thing he’d done, he just hadn’t seen any other options at the time.

“You know the question.”

“I was foolish. Worse I was foolish while thinking myself clever.” He began, aware that pretty much everyone awake was listening in by this point, except maybe Natalya, it was hard to tell with her. “I was… well taking a holiday isn’t the right term, but engaging in some work that wasn’t smashing in doors and teeth.”

Erebus paused to get a bit more comfortable against his boulder, “I figured who would ever look for a necromancer in one of the most hostile to magic environments on Reath. And it worked, for a loooooong time it worked. Problem is what do you do when someone does find you? Respite got slaughtered and all I could do was hide and watch, it never even occurred to me that Lutan would harm the townsfolk.”

“You were taught better than that.” Lana told him coldly, only to be shushed by three voices at once.

“I was. Apparently there’s no cure for naivety. Either way the town was dead, I was on the run and had the only survivor to look after for good measure. I know not all of you have travelled through Von Mori so take it from me, it’s hard to cast worth a damn when there’s so much null in the soil. So I asked for help from the forest, and to my eternal surprise Von Mori herself answered.”

He took a few moments to enjoy the shock on the gathered faces, well except Lana’s, though whether the demon didn’t have the frame of reference for it or just was that blasé in the face of overwhelming magical power he couldn’t tell. Given who she’d served it could well be either.

“Anyway, I was more than a little lost by that point, and with that much magical suppression even a compass spell would have drained me, so I asked Von Mori for a guide and she agreed to give me one. Holly was the only volunteer.”

“That doesn’t explain how she got soulspliced onto a teenager.” Alice pressed relentlessly, determined to worry this bone to death.

“Because I thought she deserved better than being dragged from one warzone to the next until I finally don’t walk away from one.” Erebus snarled, surprising even himself with the heat of it.

It took a long, long time before Alice spoke again, “Have you ever wondered if maybe you deserve better as well?”

“Everyone deserves better.” He replied with the world-weariness of ages, “But someone has to do it. I mean that’s why we do it isn’t it? To spare others these horrors, help folks when we can, avenge them when we can’t.”

“I don’t recall vengeance being anywhere in the job description.” Alice noted mildly, opening one eye to take in her friend’s description.

“Maybe it should be.” The necromancer growled.

“You’re sounding an awful lot like the people we get paid to stop right now.”

Erebus folded his arms, staring her down, “You planning on stopping me Al?”

The shapeshifter thought about it, “Not yet. Keep talking like that and we’ll see.”

The necromancer sighed, “So it’s like that, you’re not here just as a friend.” The anger melting away as that interminable weariness took its place once more.

Alice matched it as she answered, “It’s because I’m your friend that I’m prepared to stop you if you go too far. The man I was friends with would want me to.”

“I don’t need stopping Al.” He assured her, going back to scanning the canyon for threats.

“Then what do you need?” She asked, closing her eyes again.

“Targets.”

*

The ambush when it came was sudden, vicious and all but silent. It was Lana’s turn on watch and to her credit she was quick to notice, managing to intercept the three foot tall spider mid leap as it tried to bite down on her head. She’d been permitted to keep her blade, to the annoyance of the others demons used no iron in their weapons, and a single slashparted the giant creature into two clean halves, the sword drawn so fast it was almost teleportation.

“Arach in the camp!” The demoness’ voice rang clean and clear through the night air, a current of magic running through it like a dose of adrenaline to those who heard it.

The others were almost as quick to react. Amara turning to let loose with a gout of flame that burned a hole in another jumper that was on a collision course with the demoness’ armoured back before turning her attention to the source; the canyon walls.

The vampire sent up a ball of flame to illuminate the area properly only to finding the walls teeming with descending arach. The giant spiders, originally native to Reath, had stumbled upon a portal to Avalon over a century ago and prospered within.

One of the spiders leapt upon the ball, dying horribly as the compressed fire burst, spattering all below with sizzling spider-blood, but killing the light in the process. Now that could be concerning.

Arach had originally been more or less mindless, and hopefully that was what that was, just an animal mindlessly leaping at something it thought it could eat. The alternative was that Avalon had, either magically or through selection pressure, produced a more intelligent and cooperative version.

The vampire and demon weren’t the only ones to react quickly. Erebus had stood almost immediately, creating a storm of stones that were outright shredding any spider that tried to get near him as he began sweeping flame back and forth across one of the canyon walls, flames hot enough that the giant arachnids were popping as they came in contact. Amara saw what he was doing and began hosing down the other wall with cerulean fire.

Alice had flicked herself to her feet within the first second of being woken but was finding herself something of a loose end, with just one warshift left in her this just wasn’t worth her time, the great juggernaut reduced to just punching those spiders that got in range, which was a lot of them, the chitinous horrors taking her lack of weapons or magic as a sign of weakness. Spiders of all sizes crawled over her, biting again and again as they tried to bring her down.

They might as well have been biting a fortress, shapeshifters were notoriously resistant to venom. A manticore or basilisk might gotten somewhere, arach on the other hand… they’d be biting for a while.

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Natalya had put up a spellshield as the alarm went out, a half dome anchored to the ground that the spiders couldn’t force through, though that hadn’t stopped them from trying. Taking stock of her surroundings she turned the shield permeable to spells and hit one of the spiders with a bright green burst of necrotic energy. The beast shuddered once but kept moving… only to begin biting down on one of its fellow spiders, who in turn began attacking its fellows.

Sato was a whirl of action, the precog seeming to almost dance through the insane melee as more and more spiders descended, surviving by the simple expedient of never being in the way of a jump or bite. He too was struggling for firepower, alchemical weapons were expensive and he was loathe to waste them on the arach when his colleagues appeared to have things well in hand.

It was almost creepy how quiet the battle was, just the roar of fire and sounds of impact, the spiders made no sound and the mages were fighting in silence, knowing their roles without having to be told.

Holly and Alec were not so fortunate, or rather Alec wasn’t. The dryad was being ignored by the beasts, apparently able to tell they wouldn’t be able to eat her, Alec however had attracted the attention of a particularly large specimen, taller than he was with eyes the size of his fist, which had him pinned against the rockface as the teenager literally held its fangs inches from his face, dandelion yellow venom dripping onto his clothing as he tried to kick the spider off of him.

So far all he was getting were bruised feet while Holly was trying to drag it off by the hind legs. There were no plants here to manipulate and she did not dare try and perform a more formal spell. Taking that much from Alec in this moment would probably be the death of them both.

Giving up on moving the massive monster Holly looked for help but came up blank. Amara and Erebus were too busy keeping the majority from safely descending the canyon walls. Lana was struggling to keep the swarm from dragging her to the floor, blade a blur as the stone beneath her became slippery with green ichor. Natalya was trapped in a cage of her own making as she waited out the battle. Sato was simply too far away to be of help and the heaving ball of spiders slowly inching its way across the battlefield was presumably Alice.

There was no one coming to help.

Holly’s gaze swept across the camp only to flick back to where they’d been sleeping, and the hope laid right next to it.

“Just hold on.” She yelled at Alec, the teenager giving her a look of pure disbelief, “What does it look like I’m doing!?” He snapped back, arms visibly shaking from the effort as the fangs inched inexorably closer.

The dryad broke into a run, ducking under a truly huge arach that was lumbering towards Natalya, apparently intent on crushing the shield with sheer mass, and crushing some of the smaller ones beneath her as she slid to a halt by Alec’s pack. Her fingers fumbled in their haste with the catch to the main pocket, plunging an arm in only to hiss in pain as it struck the bottom, the dryad practically flinging it across the canyon before reaching once more for her true target.

After that it was a mad dash back over to Alec, nearly getting hipchecked by something with no hips as more massive spiders entered the fray. Triumphantly she brandished the spatha before stabbing it deep into the monster’s abdomen.

The spider thrashed, fangs surging forwards to miss Alec by a hair as he lurched sideways, scrabbling out of the way as Holly went for a second thrust, and then a third, not stopping until the oversized bug had stopped twitching.

Slowly Alec got back to his feet, surveying the battle as he moved to hide behind his fallen foe, aware that not being noticed was his best bet at this point. Wordlessly Holly handed him his blade, the teen wiping the viscous green goo from the scabbard. Wisely she hadn’t drawn it, desperation giving her the strength to force the scabbard through the thick carapace.

“That was… we just… you…” he gasped out, settling on a final, “thank you.” Holly accepted it wordlessly, content to just watch as the fight finally drew to a close as dawn broke, the surviving spiders scuttling off to hide in whatever caves and caverns they’d found inside the canyon wall.

The floor of the camp was sodden with ichor, a fact that thoroughly displeased Alice who had been webbed to the valley floor and was all but drowning in it by the end of the fight.

“Well there’s your ambush.” Natalya laughed, adrenaline’s fading high serving to make hilarious what humour would not, the necromancer busy putting down the last of her own zombies.

Erebus laughed as well, hair slicked back by spider-blood but otherwise unharmed, his robe sufficiently waterproof the viscous goo had simply oozed off of it. Others had not been so lucky.

Sato was planning to have his shoes burned once they were free of the canyon and it wasn’t an uncommon sentiment either, the only thing stopping Alice from just ditching her ruined clothes was the impressionable teenager travelling with them.

Said teenager having already taken fresh clothing out of his pack, he and Holly changing behind a boulder while carefully not looking at each other. Modesty was one thing, having to walk with spider-blood slicking your shirt to your skin was another.

Much to the fury of everyone Amara had emerged completely clean, what little spiderblood had gotten on her in the fight had simply cooked off from her flames.

On the complete other side of the spectrum was Lana, the demoness had apparently been painted green and was not bothering to clean up. She’d been through worse and there was in her view no shame in being covered in the blood of an enemy.

This particular difference in ideology led to her taking the back of the group as they broke camp, the smell was just too bad otherwise.

The group were in high spirits compared to the previous day, a lot freer and more talkative now they’d been through their mandatory adventure, a fact confirmed by the sight of a city in the distance, a glorious, towering edifice of marble in autumn colours slowly getting closer.

As they walked Alec finally found the courage to talk to Alice. His first impression had been a rather intimidating one, four hardened battlemages all but shaking in the boots at the sight of her, but it was hard to be terrified of someone after you’d watched them rather wretchedly wring arach-blood from their socks, all while hopping and swearing up a storm.

“You said when we met that you only had one shift left, and well… you’ve looked very different since we entered Avalon.” Alec trying to broach the topic as gently as he could.

“And you want to know what all that means.” Alice going so far as to ruffle his hair, or perhaps wipe the last of the blood off on it, it was hard to tell.

“…yes?”

“Fine. How much has that old fossil told you about shapeshifters?” She asked, indicating Erebus at the front of the group.

“Nothing. From the name I’m going to guess you can change shape… why do you keep calling him old?”

“Because he is old. Old Er’s over twice my age.” Alice explained with a shrug.

“But you…” “Looked older. That’s part of it. He can hold off the years, I can’t. It’s one of the big costs of warshifting.” She rubbed at her forehead as she saw the lack of comprehension in his eyes.

“Short version. Shapeshifters provided they stick to a few important rules might as well be immortal. We don’t get old, we don’t get sick, can’t be poisoned, can’t be altered by magic. Got all that?” A nod from the boy, “Good. Well one of those rules is that what you shift into has to be about the same size as you already are. You break it, well getting rid of or creating all that weight comes with a real cost, and one of the big ones is that you start losing your ability to shapeshift.”

“Okay, so I’m guessing you broke that rule?” Alec guessed, not that it was a hard conclusion to reach.

“My whole thing is breaking that rule. That’s what warshifting is, getting big as possible and going on a rampage. If I’m given time to get going there’s very little I can’t break, once you’re about five floors tall with twelve foot tusks, a reinforced skull and redundant organs there’s very little you can’t just run through on a charge, and probably even less that can kill you in a single blow. And that’s the only way to kill a warshifter, we heal too fast for anything else.” Alice explained proudly, “And that’s just if you want to be boring about it.”

“But you’re losing your abilities…?” Her audience pointed out.

“Yes. That’s the cost, it’s really hard now. Experts say I have one really big shift left, two if I push it. After that I’ll be stuck in the carcass you saw when we first met. For what it’s worth I won’t be stuck in it long.”

“You said, some kind of illness? Except you just said shapeshifters don’t get sick.”

“Well spotted. That’s one of the other big costs, as your shifting gets worse you start making things incorrectly, glands that don’t work, or work too much, feathers when you wanted scales, stuff like that. Well one of the things that happens when your body starts making things wrongly is a nasty disease called cancer. Basically your body makes some cells incorrectly, and those cells make more cells just like them and it grows inside you until it kills you.” She gave a shrug, the very vision of resignation.

“Can’t do the healers do something about it?” Alec protested, he’d already seen, and been the subject of some pretty incredible healing and if this was some known thing then there surely had to be a cure.

“Remember what I said about not being alterable by magic? That includes healing, they can’t even cut it out, I’ll just regenerate the cut before they can do anything.”

“Oh that’s so… bleak.”

“It is what it is. I don’t regret any of it.” She forced a smile, “I’ve got a memory I take out and look at every time I wonder if it was worth it. It’s the faces of the survivors when we broke the siege at Gerlun, me and Ere, just me and him against a full Legion of Wrath. I remember the relief and the hope on their faces and I know it was all worth it.”

“Well that answers one of my questions.” Alec smiled back, “But uh…?”

“Why am I now a woman?” She smirked, “You know a fellow shapeshifter would mean that very differently, to most of my people the idea of sticking to one gender would strike them as quite odd. When you can be anything the idea of limiting yourself to just one option would be treated as an act of madness. I’ve just always felt more comfortable as a woman than a man, don’t ask me why, it’s just how I feel. That’s not the body I was born with so it’s not the one I’m now stuck with as I lose my power. It’s like constantly wearing clothes that don’t quite fit, distracting and uncomfortable.”

“That just about covers what I was going to ask.” The teenager admitted, “I’m guessing you get asked that a lot?”

“Hardly at all actually.” Alice laughed, “I don’t meet people much, it’s a hazard of the job.”

They lapsed into a companionable silence after that as Arcadia grew closer, occasionally having to step aside for other travellers now and even the occasional peddlers cart, though never more than a couple steps from the path even this close to the city. Everyone was careful not to speak as the fair folk passed them, sticking carefully to Erebus’ instructions.

It was as they finally came into sight of the city gates that it happened, one of the travellers, a gaudily dressed fae lord wearing a blood red hat with a thorned sword at his hip bumped into Alec, the fae stumbling and just managing to catch his feet before he could fall.

“Watch where you’re going mortal.” He snapped, brushing himself down.

Alec looked down, cheeks red with embarrassment, “Sorry.”

It was as if the world itself stopped. Every fae head in sight turned to stare at the fourteen-year old boy who quailed under so much attention. The fae lord whirled, mouth open to cry out in triumph.

He never got the chance. When fire gets especially hot the flames move from red to blue. The beam of pure heat that turned his chest to a crisped, black and smoking ruin was outright white with a tinge of necrotic green on the outer edges. Erebus paused, Yew’s stave suddenly in his hand and no one could be entirely sure how it had gotten there.

Another moment of the world holding its breath and the fae lord looked up at Erebus and smiled, scorched internal organs no longer on display as he patted down a tunic that was merely slightly singed. The fae not just a fae lord but a Sidhe Lord, a ruler of their own demesne in Avalon, able to superimpose their will on the land, simply ignoring the incredible flames because he had decided they hadn’t happened.

This was Erebus’ worst case scenario, but like all worst case scenarios he was prepared, another hit of necrotizing flames, this one bright enough everyone but Lana had to look away. The Lord was prepared this time though and the heat simply stopped feet from him.

“A debt.” He said slowly, savouring the word, “The boy has acknowledged a debt to me. And you have engaged in an unprovoked attack on a Lord of the Sidhe, violating the Treaty of Meliador and threatening to plunge Reath and Avalon into war anew. I am in an indulgent mood, I will allow the insult to pass if no further action is taken.”

“All I did was say sorry…?” Alec replied weakly.

The fae gave him a fatherly smile, “And in doing so acknowledged you had wronged me.”

Erebus took in those gathered, all the fae nearby had blades, some half-drawn and not a one in anything other than autumn colours. The trap was finally sprung.

“The boy is protected.” He declared, stepping between Alec and the Lord.

The fae just sneered, imperious yet beautiful, “You think I fear one of the god’s playthings here, in mine own realm?”

“I never said my protection. Look carefully at him, that’s one of Von Mori’s own dryads he’s bonded to. I ill think the Autumn Court can afford to wane further, do you?”

“You must think me a fool. Von Mori lies slain by a mortal of all things.” He guffawed, finally drawing the thorned longsword.

Erebus sighed, “Let all who bear witness testify that I tried to reason with the deceased.” The mage blurred, grabbing time and speeding it just for himself, as his master had taught him. He could see the momentary shock in the Lord’s eyes as he did what should have been the purview of the Fae alone in this place before he too began to wind time in his favour. Noone could manipulate time like this on Reath, the aetheric chains prevented it but here the fundamental nature of the world was a lot more negotiable.

It wasn’t going to matter. Erebus pulled deeper, slowing time for the world around him so far the light shifted crimson. Then he struck, like with Rend earlier this was pure brute force magic as he stepped forwards, placed a hand on the Lord’s head and forced energy into it. Just pure mana as he sucked it from his environment and dumped it into his foes skull, going further than that as he turned heat to mana and dumped that too, burning vitae, his own magicka supply and anything else he could think of.

Time resumed as shards of the Lord’s skull bounced off the cobbles. Erebus practically collapsed, his magicka spent and sweating profusely as he dropped to his knees to dry-heave in the sudden frost.

Slowly he rose back to his feet, taking in the shocked faces of the assembled fae. “Okay. Now I’ve violated the Treaty of Meliador. The question I have is if any of you plan on doing a thing about it? No? Good.”

“You’re not going anywhere.” A calm voice told Erebus, the words spoken directly into his ear as a hand took a firm grip on his shoulder. “For violating the Treaty of Meliador, as sworn and signed by thine ancestors, I, Meliador the Great, do bind thee to stand trial for thy crimes and do uphold that the debt of Alec, son of Arthur, passes to Rougeris’ next of kin, which happens to be myself. Strange how these things work out.”

Silver and bronze chains leapt from the earth to wrap around Erebus’ wrists and ankles, dragging him back down to his knees, it wasn’t hard, after that sort of heavy-duty spellwork it was the direction his legs wanted to go anyway.

“Lord of Autumn.” The necromancer replied politely, “You are making a mistake.”

“How so? Without rules what remains is anarchy. And the first rule of Arcadia is that all debts shall be paid.”

Looking upon Lord Meliador Alec was struck by just how handsome he was, in a rugged sort of way. There was a rogueish charm to the bushy beard that was so carefully unkempt, a gleam of mischief in amber eyes, and a smile that even a demon would call devilish. He was clad in bronzed mail, as befit his season, though Alec would bet it held up to a blade better than finest steel and in his free hand he carried a greatsword as easily as if it were a toothpick.

“Because I have no wish to wage war on Arcadia at this time.” Erebus replied as if it were obvious, “But I will if you force my hand.”

Meliador laughed, “Thou might have been a match for my red-capped cousin but thou will find me a far more wily foe necromancer. This is my season lest thee forget.”

“I was hoping we might settle the matter with a game of riddles.” Erebus shrugged, totally nonchalant despite being chained down to the point of immobility, his allies watching on helplessly.

There was no challenging the Lord of Autumn, the sheer weight of his presence was warping the world around him, just to gaze upon him was to think of waxing nights and waning light, of heat turning to cold and where’er he walked things fell to decay.

Erebus could have poured his entire lifeforce into Meliador, the condensed mana of aeons, drained artifacts and exhausted a dozen demonic pacts and it would have done little except give the Lord of Autumn a headache. He was to the Sidhe Lord the necromancer had murdered what that same lord was to a child. The only other person who could even muster the strength to glare at him besides Erebus was Holly, not even Lana, a demon lord if a lesser one, could manage it.

Not that Erebus was glaring, the necromancer was if anything hiding a smile, as if he knew a secret that he was just dying to share.

“I think not. Thy crimes are too great to be simply riddled away this time necromancer.”

“Are you sure? I was going to lead with one of the classics.” Erebus smirked, “What have I got in my pocket?”

Meliador rolled his eyes, but still he tried to answer, cheating as only a Sidhe Lord could by focusing on the world, senses probing into the robe pocket the necromancer had indicated and found… that he couldn’t tell what it was. There was a hole in the world and that could only mean one thing.

“You’re a mad man.” He gasped, one hand raised to raze the necromancer from existence.

Erebus chuckled, “Maybe, but if you blast me like that you’re going to render half of Arcadia uninhabitable. You need me to get rid of it.”

“One of the other mortals…”

“Half of them are death-seekers and the children are under Von Mori’s protection, if you tried that then my only regret would be that I was too dead to watch.” The necromancer laughed, then simply stood up, the chains shattering as he did so.

“How-? My treaty-?”

“My ancestors signed it. I did not.” He began to reach for his pocket, fingers halting on the lip of the fabric, “Your move your lordship.”

“Reach for it and I will smite thee.” Meliador growled, raised hand dropping. The necromancer was right it was too dangerous to annihilate him but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be killed.

“Oh easily, but I am a necromancer. Kill me and my corpse shall finish the task, rend my body from this world and my vengeful spirit shall carry on.” He said, and took the nail out of his pocket. It was barely an inch long, one of the hobnails from Natalya’s boots that Erebus had palmed as he stripped the iron from them.

As one creature every fae but Meliador turned and fled, there was no panicked shouting, no screams, they weren’t going to waste valuable air on anything that wasn’t running for their lives. And far, far from Arcadia, in the lands where they held sway the King and Queens of Avalon rose to the sky, trying desperately to cross the distance to Arcadia, but Avalon’s rules held sway to all, even royalty. One adventure, no more, no less. They would never make it in time.

“Absolve the debt Meliador, or I scatter ten grams of powdered iron evenly over Arcadia. Your children’s children’s children will whisper in horrified tones about the consequences of Meliador’s Folly.”

“If you do this the fae shall wage war upon Reath unlike any your people have ever seen. We will salt the earth, burn your cities to ash, spare none!” The Lord of Autumn losing control of his temper, gaze never leaving the nail as he wracked his brains for anything he could do and finding nothing. Nothing of fae make, no spell nor being born of Avalon could touch iron. If he summoned a gale it would just ignore the small fragment of iron even as it tore down buildings. “Are you really going to risk that just to save a child?”

“Do you honestly think you will sway me because you’re trying to take hostages? Hostages you don’t even have to hand? Now absolve the debt. My grip is slipping.” Erebus said, adjusting his fingers on the nail.

“Fine. Fine. The debt is absolved.” He hissed, “Now put the damn nail away!”

“And you will give your word that you will not seek or encourage reprisals for our visit.” The necromancer continued, locking eyes with the ancient sidhe.

Meliador opened his mouth to protest just to give an undignified squeak as Erebus dropped the nail, the necromancer scooping it out of the air mere inches from the ground, and very nearly from Ground Zero. “Whoops, it’s my age you see, my hands aren’t as steady as they used to be. Your word Meliador, I will not ask again.”

“You have it. I will not seek or encourage reprisal, but thou know I cannot speak for my fellow rulers.”

“That’s fine but tell them, when they come, that they either come for me or not at all, or I will return and when I do it won’t just be with a nail, and it won’t be to Arcadia, it will be to Arctis Nox, the Blessed Isles and Summer’s Rest.”

“You really are mad aren’t you?” There was little rage in it now, just a sense of wonder and vague pity. “They will come mortal. If you’re fortunate you will die in the fight.”

Erebus chuckled, “I am seldom fortunate. Now let’s get out of here.” He put away the nail and continued down the path to Arcadia, the others, most still slack-jawed at his audacity, followed him after a few seconds to collect their bearings.

Once in Arcadia, and being actively avoided by the denizens there, Erebus led them to an abandoned antiques shop, and it was long abandoned, the necromancer beckoning them inside and locking the door behind them.

“I thought that went rather well.” He began as he surveyed his shell-shocked companions. Natalya’s jaw opened and closed several times but no words came out.

Amara was the first to manage it, “You- you just… just…”

“Held an entire reality at wandpoint and dared it to blink first.” Erebus thoroughly nonchalant about the matter as he began searching through the backroom of the antique’s shop, “Now where in the hells did I leave it…”

“Would you actually have done it?” Alice asked, torn between disbelief and awe.

“In a heartbeat. Meliador would have sensed if the threat was anything less than sincere.”

“But the devastation… the consequences…” She continued, it was probably the first time she’d ever looked at her friend with fear in her eyes.

“Reath would survive. It always does, and the stakes are too high to play games anymore.” Erebus growled, moving to start rifling through a second cabinet. “Besides I knew he’d fold, Meliador lacks the will for a real fight, it’s why he’s a lord and not a king.”

“And if it had been any season but autumn in Avalon?” Natalya asked archly, finally finding her voice.

“Then we would all be dead and Arcadia uninhabitable until the end of time itself.” He responded flatly. “Well not necessarily, Maeve has always held that a debt ends in death, and Oberon would judge the fight between the Red Cap and myself as a fair duel. It’s only if it were summer that we’d have been in serious trouble.”

“Do you think that was the actual Red Cap?” Alice mused, allowing herself to be a little distracted now that Erebus had, if not fully explained away his actions then at least proven he’d been following some sort of plan rather than some momentary urge of madness in bringing the nail.

“I have no idea and frankly I don’t care. The man’s followers are probably more disgusting than he is.”

“Who’s the Red Cap?” Alec asked curiously.

“A former champion of Winter, he defected to Autumn when the Autumn and Spring Courts were formed.” Natalya explained, “Nasty piece of work, made himself famous for his travels on Reath. He’d make friends with travellers, then as they made camp he’d butcher them and dip his hat in the blood so it would maintain its red colour, built a bit of a cult around himself over it. If Erebus did kill him and not a copycat then it’s probably the best day’s work he’s ever done.”

“Don’t tell me you approve of that lunacy?” Amara growled, “We might as well have started a war! One we’re ill-equipped to fight!”

“Not a war.” Sato interjected before anyone else could, all eyes somehow off in the middle distance, “Meliador will make sure of it, Erebus scared him, truly scared him. The idea that someone so much weaker than him could prove a threat has shaken him to his core, and given him an idea. He will make sure the other three courts abide by Erebus’ rules.”

“And why would he do that?” The vampire snorted, too-long arms folded over her toast-rack chest.

“Weakness. He detests it and yet for as long as he can remember the Autumn Court has been the least of the four, if a monarch were to hazard a shot at Erebus and miss it would be a great opportunity.” The mage lapsed back into silence, eyes closing, as if that little speech had exhausted him.

“I certainly hope so…” Erebus murmured, reaching deep into a bottom drawer, “Ah got it!” He pulled his arm back triumphantly to reveal what seemed like a lavender pearl, yet too large to have come from any normal oyster, the amalgamation of minerals bigger than a fist and pouring off a purple smoke that was already reddening and blistering Erebus’ skin as he hastily stuffed it into his robe pocket, the blisters vanishing with a hurriedly muttered healing spell.

“Was that-?” Natalya began in disbelief.

“That was ace number one.” Lana cut her off, “We should not speak its nature here.” The demoness smirked as she very gently hugged her friend, only mildly impaling him on her armour, the hug a prelude to a headlock as she affectionately rubbed a gauntleted knuckle against his head, the necromancer failing to pull free. “We might actually survive all this.”

“I’ll tell you all about it as soon as we’re in the death zone.” Erebus assured them, “That, the prophecy, I’ll come clean on everything.”

“You’d better, I’m really tired of this cloak and dagger nonsense.” Amara hissed, “And of feeling like I’m gargling glass, how far away is the exit?”

“Right here in fact.” The necromancer grinned at them, “What? Did you really think I’d do something as insane as visit Arcadia and only achieve one goal in the process? We’ve lost any tracking, I’ve got one of my aces and now…”

With a wave of a hand a portal appeared in the antiques shop, it revealed an overgrown grassy field, about thigh height, and towering over everything a circular wall, reminiscent of Seruatis but much much taller.

“Here’s our death zone. Everyone through, Alice and I will take the rear.”

Noone needed to be told twice, whatever charms Avalon had held had long faded, sure the grass wasn’t unnaturally lustrous and vibrant with dew, but it was grass and it was real and alive and wonderful as Holly lay down in it whilst Amara just massaged a throat that was rendered raw from the hissing and growling it had been reduced to.

Once it was just the two of them Erebus moved and barred the portal with his body, turning it opaque with one hand as he turned to smile sadly at Alice, “You should remain here.”

“And why in all the hells would I do that?” She didn’t quite snarl, forcing herself to keep her temper.

“Because you could be happy here, and you could be you here.” Erebus said, gesturing at her body, “If you stay here you’ve got a long and happy life ahead of you, no cancer, no war and above all you can be who you really are.”

Alice considered it. All that Erebus had just said was true. “You’re right. Except it wouldn’t be a happy life, I’d know that I’d let my friends down, abandoned them when they needed me most.”

“You’ve done more than enough Al, you don’t owe the world through there a damn thing more.” Her friend insisted, stepping slowly back towards the portal.

“If you’re thinking of stepping through and trapping me here, don’t. I’ll hunt you and I will find you. Maeve’s darkest schemes and Titania’s wrath will seem like joy compared to what I’ll do to you.” This time it really was a snarl.

Erebus sighed, “Why forsake happiness when you could just stay here and be you?”

The shapeshifter gave him an exhausted smile, the bubbliness and fire melting away, “Two hundred years old and still an idiot. I’m old Ere, more than anything else I am old, and I am done. This place might give me the body of my youth but it does little for my mind beyond sharpen it, the memories remain. And I am so terribly tired, even here. I was not made for peace and my body is now too weak for war, let me have my final battle and have done.”

She gave the necromancer a fond if exasperated look, “You still have a young man’s heart old friend. You think you can fix everything, including your mistakes. Me? I know who I am and that’s enough, I don’t need the world to tell me it’s true.” With that she pushed him, unresisting, aside, and stepped back into Reath.