Camellia had spent a day sick in bed. At least, she thought it was a day. She’d lost track of time and only knew when Florian hovered around the darkened room versus when he didn’t. The shade had been pulled against strong light, but cracks of sun seeped around the edges.

Florian hurried through the room. He spoke, but not to Camellia. The other voice belonged to Eder.

“We need to hide then,” Florian said.

“Where can we go?” Eder’s voice moved closer. “Do you think we’ll have to carry her?” A weight came down on the edge of Camellia’s bed.

“Camellia? Can you move?” Florian asked.

Camellia fully opened her eyes. She fought the urge to drift back into sleep. “I can move. Why?”

“There are Volanter on their way here. They already took the AAH, and they were asking for you,” Florian said.

Camellia sat up, the urge to sleep gone. “Me? Why?”

“Uh…” Eder rubbed the back of his neck. “They came out of a magic box. We were studying it…” Eder waved a dismissive hand. “Long story short. They made a wormhole straight into the AAH. I snuck away.”

Camellia put a hand over her mouth. “Did they destroy everything?”

With wide eyes, Eder shook his head. “No…uh, nothing actually. They captured anthropologists, set up a hostage situation, and took the Volanter com. Then, they started asking for you.”

Camellia started to slide out of bed. “They’ve watched my conversation with Pen Pal all this time. They know I know where he is.”

Florian hurried her to her feet, and Camellia complied. She ran to a chair and grabbed a dress, draped over the back. She shook it out.

Florian snatched the garment from her hands. “No. No time.” He applied pressure to her back.

Camellia stepped quick, and Eder grabbed her hand.

“We’re going to hide,” Eder promised.

“I should write down his location,” Camellia said. She reached into her memory and found the information still there – the coordinates, the runes. “If they’re after me over this, he must be important. He could really help us.”

Eder took the stairs first and fast. Florian took them at Camellia’s side. Her feet were slow, and the daylight outside beamed strong, sneaking rays through their windows.

“Back door,” Florian called ahead to Eder.

Eder raced down the hall. Florian and Camellia only caught up when the back door was in sight.

Eder cast a circle, and Camellia watched the shadows of purple invisibility spread over her person.

“It might not last, but at least, we can get a head start. We have to be very quiet though,” Eder said.

“They’ll just dispel.” Camellia let Florian and Eder pull and push her out the door. “It’s a terrible spell.”

“Well, Meladee’s terrible at it. That’s not the spell’s fault,” Eder said.

“Quiet,” Florian snapped.

Camellia clung to Florian, and they both followed Eder. The sun hindered her motions and the very reason she was supposed to be careful hindered her motions as well.

I’m going to get my son killed. I’m going to get myself killed. And, I’m going to leave Florian behind. He will be the most tragic man on Iruedim. First, he lost his parents; then, he will lose his new family.

Camellia kept her eyes on the ground and moved slow and steady, mostly because Florian kept her going forward. She didn’t glance up, until she stepped upon spongey moss. Camellia raised her head and gravestones littered her view. Eder had led them into the old cemetery, sandwiched between two houses.

The graveyard wasn’t big, and Camellia doubted they could hide well within it. Plus, it was a piece of history. If the Volanter showed up – and Camellia bet they would – then the graves would be destroyed and maybe even the surrounding houses.

“Florian,” she whispered. “We can’t stay here.”

“It’s fine. I told Eder to come,” Florian whispered back.

“Florian. That’s not your decision to make. You can’t tell Eder it’s fine to put the cemetery and these people’s homes at risk.”

Florian squeezed her hand. “I’m just trying to keep you alive.”

Camellia couldn’t argue with that.

So, she fled across the cemetery. Her soft soled shoes sank in the moss, but Camellia stayed atop it. The adjacent homes probably dealt with flooded basements a few times a year. The residents didn’t need more problems, but there was nothing she could do, except be thankful that Florian liked dry basements. She gasped.

“What?” Florian asked.

“They’ll go to our house. If they tear it down, we’ll have nowhere to live.” Camellia needed a place to live like never before.

“Insurance,” Florian answered.

“But, I like our house. We put so much work into it.”

“Shhhh.”

Eder placed a hand on the mausoleum door and conjured a two ringed circle. He worked fast, but the circle still lit up the graves and sang to the dead. A wiggling portal appeared over the door.

“Okay, go through.” Eder spread his arm as if to welcome Camellia inside.

She stepped through the portal, noting that it was less a portal and more a cancellation of the door’s matter.

Florian followed and eased her deeper into the mausoleum.

The space was tight. There was just enough room to walk between the stacks of coffins.

Eder came through and killed his spell. It got dark very fast. A little light came through a dusty window, and Camellia probably saw best of all.

Florian cleared his throat. “Eder.”

“Oh, right.” Eder’s magic hummed, and they had light.

The strong light was too much for Camellia. She shielded her eyes. A moment of silence passed. Then, came a quiet tap-tap. Camellia took her hands from her face to see Florian. He dusted off coffins and tapped at the wall.

“It smells bad in here,” Eder said.

“Musty,” Camellia agreed. “Uh, Florian, can’t your professional curiosity wait? These people have barely been dead for…” Camellia glanced at a plaque. “Four-hundred years. I think I would wait at least another two-hundred before I dug them up.”

Florian shot her a frustrated smile. “I’m not digging them up. I’m looking for a secret passage. You know we can’t stay here.”

“Secret passage? Am I going to like this? Are they?” Eder looked left and right, from coffin to coffin.

“They’re dead, Eder. And, not important enough for curses,” Florian assured him. He continued to tap at the walls.

Camellia didn’t think there was a secret passage. When she first moved into the neighborhood, she’d visited the cemetery and took some rubbings. Aside from a few modestly well-off families, the cemetery housed average individuals. Not quite important enough was a good descriptor. Who among the cemetery’s residents could afford a secret passage?

“I don’t think you’ll find anything,” Camellia said, as gently as she could. She leaned against a wall and fingered an engraving. “It’s an interesting place, but I don’t think it’s quite that interesting.”

“Camellia, you forget. I have been living in this place for far too long, without a family. I know everything there is to know about this cemetery and most of the neighborhood’s history too. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but our neighbors think I’m a little eccentric.” Florian stopped at a set of engravings and fiddled with them.

“I have noticed. They think I’m strange too.”

“I noticed that about both of you a long time ago.” Eder shrugged.

Camellia pressed her lips together and shared a smile with Eder.

A loud scrape startled them both. Eder bumped into the wall, and Camellia jumped. Her mouth fell wide, as one of the walls swung open to reveal a ladder.

“Oh, I didn’t know it would be a climb.” Florian glanced at Camellia. “I don’t know if you can.”

“I’ll go first,” Eder offered. “I can make a spell to help her down if it’s too hard.”

Florian stepped aside. “That’s good. Thanks.”

Eder stepped gingerly into the wall and grabbed the ladder. “Whoa.” He glanced back before starting down. “Don’t worry. It’s sturdy. I’m just…it’s dark down there. Oh, uh, here take this light.” He dropped the light from his spell onto the floor. “Now one for me.” Eder cast a new light and took it down the ladder with him.

Florian came to Camellia’s side and pulled her from the wall to his arms.

“I’m sorry.” Camellia leaned into his chest. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I keep making this mistake. I think I might be addicted to Volanter objects – or maybe just things that involve telepathy.”

“It’s okay. We just need to survive this.”

“I should head down,” Camellia said.

“Eder,” Florian called quietly. “How bad is it?”

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“Not too bad. It’s actually kind of short as ladders go. Not as long as the ladders in the Fauchard.” Eder’s voice echoed but didn’t sound too distant.

“Alright, your turn.” Florian gripped Camellia’s waist and took one of her wrists.

She stepped onto a rung and grabbed the ladder tight. Florian supported her other hand but quickly let go. She gripped the ladder with that hand too.

For a moment longer, Florian applied pressure to her back. “Have you got your balance?”

Camellia clutched the ladder and positioned the center of her feet over the rung. “Yes. I’ve got it.”

Florian withdrew his hand from her back. With a deep breath, Camellia started down.

Her dress was a problem. It was much too long. She would rather not walk into Presereme’s secret underground in her nightgown. To make matters worse, her belly was a problem. It just brushed the rungs and set Camellia’s balance a bit off center.

Camellia clutched the ladder tight. She ensured she always had a hand and a foot firmly in place. She would try nothing fancy, nothing fast. Camellia didn’t look back, but she begged of Florian, “Follow quick, please.”

“I will.”

Camellia concentrated on her descent, step by awkward step. She couldn’t look up for Florian, but from the sound – or lack of – she knew he hadn’t followed. “Are you coming?”

“Yes, just a minute.”

Camellia made the bottom of the ladder and stared up. She heard the door swing shut as Florian swung onto the ladder. The light that Eder had left them rested in Florian’s arms. Florian began the descent. Eder grabbed Camellia’s arm and tugged her aside.

“I don’t know where it leads, but it goes somewhere.” Eder held his ball of light and thrust it ahead, illuminating walls of cracked and moldy stone.

Camellia put a hand over her nose and mouth.

Florian climbed down much faster than Camellia and jumped the last few rungs to the bottom.

“I didn’t see anyone up there, but let’s get moving.” Florian dropped his light into Camellia’s arms.

She cradled it against her breast, one-handed. She kept her other hand over her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Florian glanced around. “The smell?”

She shook her head. “Mold.”

Florian peered at some mold and brushed it with his finger. “Should be alright. I’m fairly certain it’s not a dangerous variety. We won’t be down here too long anyway.”

“Is this place stable?” Eder asked.

“It should be but no promises.” Florian put an arm around Camellia and started forward. “We’re entering an old tunnel system that connects to the Presereme catacombs. There’s the possibility that we get lost, but if we get lost, I don’t think the Volanter will find us.”

“Florian…”

“And, if we get very lost, we can call your dad. You could probably reach him come nightfall, and he can come in, among his brethren, and find us.”

Ooooo. Camellia wouldn’t let Florian say that to her dad’s face, but she was sorely tempted.

Camellia held the light, until it dimmed and died. She opened and closed her hand around the space where it once was.

“Want another?” Eder asked.

Camellia shook her head. “I see fine by yours.”

Inside the tunnels, Camellia heard the scrape of their shoes. Florian’s boots rang the loudest, followed by Eder’s. Camellia’s slippers, a garment not even meant for an outdoor setting, made only quiet scuffs. Technically, Camellia was inside, but it was far too filthy for slippers.

She saw more of the mold and became aware of their breaths. They breathed out of time, and the sounds echoed in the tight space. Camellia’s breaths were shallow and weak, as if she would breathe in fewer contaminants if she breathed less deep. The sounds of respiration reminded her of a time when she crawled into a tunnel with Cernunnos. He insisted it wouldn’t be far; but it had taken three hours. By the end, Camellia remembered the sound of her breath, too loud and echoey.

Eder drew a short breath and stopped. “There’s a person on the wall,” he whispered.

Florian kept Camellia tucked behind him and peered ahead. “Catacomb denizen. He’s dead Eder. We’ll just walk by.”

Camellia nudged the men’s shoulders apart and had a look herself. She saw well in the dark, and what she saw would give Eder more reason to pause. It was not a single body. Hundreds of them lay along the wall, lengthwise. They looked stiff on scaffolds of wood. Some crossed their arms. Others had warped out of position.

The group edged forward. Camellia held Florian’s arm from behind and kept her view between their shoulders.

“There’s a lot,” Eder said.

“I know. It’s how people got buried back in the day.” Florian held the light, keeping it steadier than Eder had a moment ago.

“I think it’s a terrible way to be buried,” Eder complained. “Does anyone even care that they’re down here?”

“Oh yes. The town planning officers. They care a lot. You can’t dig a foundation in a catacomb. Roads might be a problem, definitely sewers.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Eder looked at Florian askance.

Camellia caught the young man’s expression in profile. She described it as pure disgust. Camellia laughed. The men’s shoulders muffled most of the sound.

“It is savage, isn’t it?” a voice asked from ahead.

Florian and Eder stopped. Camellia stumbled into place, directly behind Florian, pushed into that position by the man himself.

Camellia’s hand brushed Florian’s waist, and she realized that he wore his sword…and hers.

Camellia peeked around Florian’s shoulder. In the far dark of the tunnel, she saw the bodies on the wall and the slim, tentacled form of Carex.

“Mummification of any kind is considered a most unnatural process.” Carex’s tentacles eased him forward, wriggling with care over the stone floor.

“Why?” Florian asked. “Natural mummification occurs all the time.” He gestured to the bodies. “This is not an example of that, but…”

Carex stopped. He folded his hands before him. “Decay… should be something that happens quickly.” He held up a finger. “Or, not at all. How long can your people tolerate hanging around like this? Trapped in useless, twisted bodies?”

“I don’t believe they’re aware.” Florian nudged Camellia back. He placed a hand over a sword, not his enchanted weapon of fire but Camellia’s, enchanted with wind.

Carex touched the wooden scaffold. His long fingers met the grain and barely caressed it. He withdrew. Then, he tried again. “It is disgusting.”

A flash lit the tunnel – a spell. Florian pushed Camellia back. She pressed her eyes mostly shut, as she recovered from the sudden light, but still, she watched through a narrow view.

Florian drew the sword of wind and performed a simple flourish, stepping ahead of a glittering shield. It stretched across the catacomb. The shield belonged to Eder.

“Camellia keep back, not too far though,” Florian called.

Camellia put her hand on the wall and turned. She didn’t know if someone would try to come from behind, which she supposed Florian also feared, given his direction. As she peered into the dark, she saw only mummies.

A second flash lit the tunnel, and Carex growled.

“Nicely blocked,” Florian congratulated.

“It’s a strong shield,” Eder said.

Camellia glanced back, and between moments of shadow and moments of light, she glimpsed what she thought had to be Carex’s familiar.

The thing looked like a tree, devoid of branches, brought to life against its will. Its jagged crown pressed against the top of the tunnel, and its arms hung down at awkward angles. Jagged teeth and eyes made a crooked carved face.

Sounds came from ahead of Camellia.

“Oh no,” she said, almost inaudible to her own ears.

Camellia ducked onto the lower level of scaffold and crawled atop a body. She slipped behind it and tried to keep her hands from the old, splintered wood. She turned the body up on its side. It felt light but fought against her effort to use it as shield, too stiff to roll easily into a new position.

A spell finished, and a wolf-like creature bounded past Camellia. It breathed loud and galloped on clawed paws.

The sound of Camellia’s sword followed. It whipped through the air; one of the spells etched along its blade announced its presence, and wind followed. The wind threatened to take the body from Camellia’s hands. She gripped the leather skin tight. Other bodies danced around on the scaffold, in the backlash of the magic wind. Most kept their place, but a few hung free.

Carex cried, a sound of frustration.

“What are you doing?” Eder shouted.

“Blocking this path.” Heat and light accompanied Florian’s voice, followed by the distinct smell of fire. “Camellia?! Where are you?”

She pushed the body free and crawled off the scaffold.

Florian grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. “We have to go back. Come on.” Florian pulled her back the way they’d come.

Growls and spellfire came from ahead, and Camellia soon saw a Volanter besieged by Eder’s nightmare wolf. The thing stood on its hind legs and pressed the Volanter to the wall. Tentacles tangled among the wolf’s back paws, but the wolf paid no attention. It opened jaws that stretched from ear to ear, and three rows of teeth pressed for the Volanter’s face. Camellia thought Eder might have created a wolf scarier than Eva’s in the Animatronic Jungle.

With his sword of flame, Florian cut down the length of the Volanter’s flank. The man screamed and could hold the wolf off no longer. The wide jaws snapped over the Volanter’s head, only a scattering of tentacles emerged from those teeth. The rest got swallowed.

Florian pushed Camellia around the wolf’s back. She brushed static fur and ran free on the other side. Florian followed.

“Eder?” she asked, over her shoulder.

“Bringing up the rear,” Florian said.

No other Volanter blocked their path, and Camellia ran. Not technically a run, but she fled. She fled, until she saw no more bodies. The scaffold disappeared, and the tunnel briefly widened. It narrowed again, and Camellia heard her shallow, hurried breaths.

She fled, until Florian grabbed her arm.

“Camellia, wait. Here’s the ladder. You almost went past.” Florian pushed her on to the ladder and urged her up, applying pressure beneath her arms.

Camellia began the climb. She found it harder than the first. Her slippers tripped in her skirt, and she had only so much strength to pull herself up, rung by rung. “What do I do at the top?”

Light faded from her view, and she staggered up the ladder.

“There’s a lever. You shouldn’t have to turn much to reach it. Should be on your left,” Florian whispered.

“Where’s Eder?” Camellia’s head brushed stone, and she glanced around. First, she saw a seam of light. She searched further and found the lever. Camellia grabbed it and tugged it down.

The door shifted open.

“Eder’s coming. I hear him. Hurry up.”

Camellia stepped from ladder to mausoleum floor. She fell to her knees but made it out of the shaft. Florian clanged on to the ladder and climbed up. She heard him come fast.

Camellia was too busy catching her breath. She hardly noticed when Florian scooped her up and carried her out the broken mausoleum door.

He ran on to the grass, and sunlight pierced Camellia’s lids. She pressed her hands over her eyes.

“I’m sorry!” Eder called.

“About what?” Florian called back.

Camellia blinked fast and opened her eyes. They teared, but she searched for Eder, as she lay in Florian’s arms.

Eder waited just ahead of the mausoleum. “That catacomb is history.” Eder conjured a circle that ringed the small shed for the dead.

The circle glowed in three rings. Nothing seemed to happen. Then, a tremor traveled up. Little bits of dirt shook. The mausoleum began to cave, and grassy soil rumbled and sank.

Eder backpedaled.

“What did you do?” Florian asked.

“I collapsed the last part of the tunnels. Don’t worry, I waited till he was in there.” Eder sat back on the grass.

“Carex?”

Eder nodded.

“He got through the fire? Past the wolf?”

Eder nodded again.

The rumbling stopped, and a pit of stone, grass, and dirt remained where the mausoleum had been.

All three caught their breath.

“Eder…there’s no way that worked,” Florian said.

Eder held up a hand. He still sat on the ground. “Shh.”

The pit rumbled.

“Oh, yeah. You’re right.” Eder scrambled to his feet.

Florian turned and laid Camellia on the ground. He drew his sword, and she got to her knees.

Carex’s familiar burst from the pit, sending a spray of dirt and pebbles in all directions. Most pinged off Eder’s quick shield.

The jagged tree opened its mouth, and Carex slithered out. He pulled himself onto the monstrous familiar’s crown.

Eder cast another spell. It sank into the pit and seemed to do nothing.

“I saw that spell. I’m assuming it’s also time delayed.” Carex’s tentacles dangled over the tree monster’s chest, and Carex clasped his hands loosely around the monster’s jagged head. “I despise time delayed spells. And, the more time I spend away from the Rhizo, the more I start to think the rotating casts are the best. Excuse me. I’m a bit rusty.”

Carex began a cast of rotating rings. Camellia knew he was not truly of the Bacchan, but why did he have to be one of the Rhizo?

Bars of light shot up from the ground and created a fence, eight feet tall. It ringed Camellia, Eder, and Florian, trapping them with Carex and the ten foot tree monster.

Another ring burst around Eder. He cried out and fell to the ground.

“You’re a clever mage. We’ll keep you, but your strategy is ill suited to battle. Now…” Carex tapped the side of his familiar’s neck.

The tree thing turned and focused on Florian. Florian had the fire sword ready.

“You should be easy.”

The ground rumbled. Carex paused.

Kraken arms shot up from the pit, caught Carex’s familiar, and Carex himself. The arms dragged the familiar down and pulled Carex to the top of the pit.

The tree familiar struggled but had already sunk too low to get good purchase on solid ground. Carex would follow. He worked to struggle and spell himself free. Little spots of flame burned the kraken’s arms, but it held tight.

Florian rushed forward and stabbed Carex. The sword flamed in the Volanter’s chest, and Florian left it there overlong. Finally, Florian pulled it free and stumbled back.

Carex slumped, and his familiar wilted, crumbling into blackened pieces of bark. The pit settled. Only the kraken’s arms waved leisurely, caressing their prize.

Florian staggered to Eder’s side, but the young man already rolled and pushed himself to his knees.

“I’m alright.” Eder waved Florian off. “Just a bit numb.”

“I love time delayed spells,” Florian said. “But, just so you know, that would have been even better if it set off right away.”

Eder coughed and shook his head. “It wasn’t time delayed. It was just two spells in one. The first dug a small space for the kraken to form in. You can’t summon a beast into dense material.”

Florian clapped Eder on the shoulder and headed for Camellia. “Next time, maybe don’t talk to strange people on the other side of coms.”

Camellia felt herself warm. “Next time, wait until it’s a bit safer to start a family. The baby boom usually comes after the war, Florian.”

He dropped to his knees and left the sword in the grass. Florian grabbed Camellia’s shoulders. He seemed about to say something. He just hugged her instead.