Sara sat at a campfire that she built in a wooded area within Sayon’s Crypt. Despite being underground, Telia Sayon created a miniature sun to support a ten-by-ten-mile forest inside the labyrinth, complete with streams and grass and stone. Now, it was night with an artificial moon, so they sat with their backs against trees, hundreds of dead bodies of beasts around them. Telia apparently thought that no mortal would have the stamina to kill two hundred beasts the size of wild boars, but Sara and Emma just let Raul take out his frustration and feelings of inferiority for being unable to keep up with the magical tests in the labyrinth.

Now, they were recovering when Raul threw some sticks in the fire and finally said, “You’re really bad at hiding your impatience.”

“How am I supposed to act?” Sara asked dryly. “Helping you defeats the purpose. So I’m just sitting around all day.” She tried to have a poker face and remain neutral in every room, but apparently, that wasn’t enough.

“But you are helping us,” Raul said. “You always fix your bored gaze where we need to look. You frown when we’re doing it wrong.”

“I’ll be better.”

Emma turned to Raul and then back to Sara. “We’re worried, too.”

Sara glanced between them. “About what?”

“Daniel,” Raul said. “It’s probably ‘cause you made us paranoid, but I can’t stop thinking about necromancy. That shit wigged me out.”

Emma nodded.

Sara sighed and looked into the fire. “I’m goin’ to Kye and Tiber after this. You can join if you want, but it’s what’s happening.”

“I’m down,” Raul said. He looked at Emma and nodded. She returned it, so he added, “We’ll go.”

Sara nodded. “Thanks.”

Raul took a deep breath. “Also….”

Sara looked up again.

“I fucking hate this place,” Raul said.

Emma giggled.

“Why?” Sara asked.

“Everything’s tryin’ to kill me,” he said. “I’m eatin’ like shit, hauling shit around, feeling weak and pathetic as Emma carries the team. I’m supposed to be showin’ off to her, not the other way around.”

Emma nudged him, and Sara smiled.

“So while it’s kinda cool, I don’t think I’ll regret suffering a day or two less if you just help us out,” he said.

Sara looked at him to check his seriousness, but it was Emma’s statement that clinched the deal:

“I’d rather come back and enjoy it,” she said. “Right now, I’m just worried about Kye and Tiber. I’ve never met them, but they feel like family. You know?”

Sara nodded and paused for a few minutes and said, “Let’s just finish it out together. This crypt’s annoying as hell. Wait till you see Halkon’s. That man was a demon—but he had style.”

Raul chuckled, and Emma’s eyes lit up. Everyone looked relieved. They’d finish in just over three days and fly out toward Telsenlore. That’d guarantee them safe passage.

2

Edico turned when a soldier ran into his room. “What is it?”

“We’ve gotta report on someone suspicious,” she said.

“Suspicious how?”

“New guy, unfamiliar. He walked into Regars last night for a drink; froze out the place with pressure. He killed an adventurer and left with a woman.”

“Did he match the description?”

“No. Sandy brown hair, around thirty. But…. They said they’ve never experienced so much power. The bartender blacked out, and he cracked the bar with a man’s skull.”

Edico’s mind drifted into thought. “Where is he now?”

“No one knows. He bedded with a woman at an inn just down the way. We talked to her, and she said she didn’t know anything about him beyond his description.”

“Nothing?”

“She said he was bad in bed. That’s it.”

Edico frowned. “Put out the word with his description. I’ll tell the heroes.”

“Sir!” She saluted and left.

Edico closed his eyes. The night before, he had walked into Lord Winter’s bedroom with Reea (the array master in charge of sweeping Winters’ room for arrays) and Lord Andy Trent. He knelt down on the floor to study the smudged array on the ground. It was large—about three feet wide—and while most of it had wiped away, there were patches that were intact. What is this? he asked the array master.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It’s part healing array, Reea said. But….

But?

Not the good kind, she said gravely. There’s runes for “restoring” and “reverting,” which are the same thing but with different parts of the record. This rune’s reverting to the deep record. How far, I don’t know. But judging by the water and the reports of seeing dust flying out the window, it’s likely that it reverted someone down to their building blocks.

Edico’s eyes widened. That’s possible?

Anything’s possible. But the amount of mana you’d need to load such an array would take a dozen mages. It doesn’t make sense.

Edico bobbed his head a few times. What’s the rest?

Of what?

The spell, he said coldly.

I…. Reea smiled ruefully. I dunno. I’ve never seen these runes before. The only thing close is Lord Martinez’s axe.

Edico turned to Reea and the guards. Out.

Reea got up with haste and left—the guards followed. Then Edico sent Lord Trent a venomous glance.

And Lady Reece knew he was an array master? Edico asked. Actually knew it? The young man had filled him in right after he found out that Daniel had gone missing.

Lord Trent shrugged. Seems that way.

Everything made sense. Around-the-clock guards. Constant checking for arrays. Claims he was part of shady activities.

Why’d you all hide this from me? Edico asked.

Lord Trent met his gaze. Would you ’ave believed her?

Edico winced. The thought that his savior was the suspect of the array outside of Haligara’s layer was absurd. Daniel was with him. He saved his life. Edico watched him grow. The kid was wholly unremarkable, aside from barely reaching the main group’s power. There’s no way he would’ve believed it.

Exactly, Lord Trent sighed. She didn’t have concrete proof, so you would’ve thought she was goin’ crazy…. I thought she was going crazy. To be honest, the whole thing bugged me until today.

Edico stared at the colossal array. And he’s from the future?

Past, future… wherever Sara’s from, Andy confirmed.

They shared a pause before Andy reached into his spatial ring and brought out a letter. This’s for you.

From who?

Sara.

Edico opened it up. It was a letter about what she knew about Lord Winters and his magic. He read it. He sat on the bed. And then, after two minutes of silence, he said, Get all the heroes together, and put ‘em on the gates. We need to find Lord Winters at any cost.

That all happened the night before. Now, there was a full day where Lord Winters could’ve escaped, and Edico was overwhelmed. He knew he wouldn’t have believed it. And he knew he would’ve judged Sara and her sanity. Still. The idea that she wouldn’t mention that one of the heroes had made a deal with Agronus and drawn an array on the floor seemed outlandish.

3

Daniel clenched a weapon in a safe house in the common district. He had paid a baker to store some items, including the axe he was holding in his hand. He had to give it to Sara: the markings on Raul’s axe were nearly identical to the one he was holding, but the original was a lot more sinister. The blade was larger, wider, and had a brutal hook that could catch a person’s neck like a hook in a fish’s mouth, a brutal addition that served no sane purpose. The scarlet arrays were engraved in red markings, forged with master craftsmanship and the haft was a carved piece of obsidian artwork. The axe truly lived up to its name: Halkon’s Executioner.

I can’t believe I’m just giving this to ‘em, Daniel frowned. He needed Sara and co to kill Agronus, allowing him to reset time. The more, the merrier, so long as the big guy kicked the bucket. But Daniel still couldn’t help but feel jealous. He had a helluva core, but it probably wasn’t stronger than Sayon’s, and he didn’t have a tempered body or muscle memory. He also wasn’t a fighter. While Sara was shooting the Bow of Rymac and swinging around Emma’s life-sake, Daniel was practicing arrays. So, in a direct collision, Sara would rip him in half. No matter how he looked at it, Daniel was at a severe disadvantage—arrays were for traps and traps were difficult for people expecting them. That meant that his tactics were gruesomely limited, and he’d have to resort to Jason’s tactics to accomplish his goals—something he loathed.

Daniel could still remember the day that he had walked into the castle’s inner courtyard and saw posters with three faces plastered on the walls. One was a picture of Sara on the top center with an offer of ten griffins for concrete information on her whereabouts. Daniel’s blood boiled when he saw it, and he thought, That fucker can’t stand to be hated. It made him furious, but he lost all reason when he saw the other faces below. Once was the face of a man and a young girl, and he could never forget what the poster said:

“King Jason Newborn I offers any man, woman, or child 25 griffins for information on the whereabouts of tavern owner Kyritus Senecaru or his sister Tiberiyori Senecaru and 500 griffins for each one captured alive. Conversely, the kingdom will charge anyone housing, aiding, or withholding information on Sara Reece, Kyritus, or his sister Tiberiyori with treason and will give them life sentences. While this group might be in disguise, you will be able to identify them from Tiberiyori’s tyrexis symptoms.”

Daniel reread the poster over and over, making sure he read it right. Jason Newborn publically announced a law requiring people to capture a sick little girl as a hostage to bring his ex-girlfriend back to Lemora for no reason other than her breaking his fragile ego. It made him so furious that he tore the first poster down, and that hatred only compounded when he saw it everywhere. In Lemora, the outer gate—other countries. Seven years later, that poster was still in a tavern in Treeal—the lawless city where his master was. Criminals, murderers, and thieves got a kick out of the “Hero” being hated by humans and demons alike. But he used the poster to fuel his rage, delusionally convincing himself that he could improve Sara’s life and erase all that suffering—

—now, he was going to do the same despicable thing that drove his rage.

Daniel needed Sara to kill Agronus on his timeline, and there was only one way he could guarantee it.

He needed to find Kyritus and Tiber and get them alone for a few hours. That’s all he would need—a few hours. The hunt was on.

4

Daniel flashed a medallion to an auctioneer and paid a griffin to gain access to the prestigious Saintagrine Auction house. There was a massive line, and that’s what he needed. Inside, he sat in the back and watched the nobles who arrived. He needed someone high up—and he was certain that they’d be the people from her last cabinet. Why would she take a chance with other advisors when she had trusted advisors in her last life? That was his bet.

His eyes flitted to Tropan Weln, the head council that transcended life itself. The man was approaching ninety, but he retained his position (to Daniel’s knowledge) up until the end—and perhaps beyond. He was perfect for information—

—but he was too weak.

Daniel looked at the people that were sitting next to him. There was an official man in advisor robes with a long mustache. Daniel nodded. He’ll do.

He waited for the end of the auction, followed the man home, and noted his address. Then, he returned to his safe house in the Dreena District, pulled out tattooing ink, and hit the town, looking for the most miserable-looking kid possible. In a grim and fascinating way, it would be their lucky day. After tomorrow night, he’d have all the information he needed and the man (who he’d soon learn was named Lord Kell, the Economic Advisor to King Alecov Escar I) was going protect that child for the rest of his life.