Darkness.

Endless darkness.

Ted rubbed the back of his neck.

Tried to rub the back of his neck, but found nothing.

He looked down, not that “down” had much meaning here. Nothing.

No body. No light. No sound.

Nothing.

“Death!” His shout vanished into the void.

A voice pressed into Ted’s mind. Ready to do what needs to be done?

“Yes.” A chill ran through Ted. Cara, Gramok—they needed him, now. “Offer your bargain already.”

So eager. Mist swirled and formed into a skeleton cloaked in a billowing back robe and hood, clutching a scythe. “Dying is becoming a bit of a habit for you, Crown Prince.”

Ted’s fists tried to clench, but he had no fists to clench. “I know what I need to do now. Let me finish this.”

“Very well.” The Grim Reaper floated closer. “A choice. Telepathy magic, or your guilt.”

Ted stared into the black pits of Death’s eye sockets. Telepathy magic? “That’s too much.”

“The bargain has been offered.”

Shit.

Affect. Alert. Communicate. Farsight. Invisibility. Message. Telephone. Visibility. “I need those spells to get this done. To free you.”

Cold, unforgiving bone stared back.

The end was close. And when it was done… Well, he had an idea about these bargains. Maybe it would work. Maybe it wouldn’t.

Besides, what had guilt ever done for him anyway?

“Fine,” Ted said, “take my guilt, and send me back.”

“Very well.” Death drew back his scythe—“Good luck, Hero”—and swung.

***

Ted gasped back to life. He found himself standing outside his cell, staring down at his decapitated corpse.

His stomach turned. At least it had been a quick death.

Cara and Gramok stood outside the cage of the condemned. The cage’s occupants—around a dozen or so, all collarless—pressed up against the bars begging for release. The other cage nearby, a larger one, was already open. A horde of prisoners cowered up against the back of that cell, even though their collars lay discarded on the floor.

There were less of them than before. Some of them must have chosen to fight or flee, at least.

Gramok’s visor was still down, while Cara stood staring at the condemned, talking them down while clutching her bow like a shield.

Ted rushed at her.

She turned at the last moment. Her eyes lit up. Her hands flew out and caught him in an embrace.

“You came for me,” Ted said, the words tumbling out without thought. “You came.”

“Always.” Her hug tightened. “Nammu’s here. They’re holding the entrance.”

One of the prisoners, a male minotaur covered in blood and bruises, banged a rock against the cell bars, triggering a dull ringing through the metal. “Gunna let us out to play already?”

Ted kissed Cara on the cheek and pulled back. “Yeah. We got a key?”

Cara glanced between them, her expression souring. “He’s a murderer. Lots of them are.”

The minotaur spat on the ground. “They had it coming!”

Weight pressed down on Ted’s chest. “Killers are what we need right now.”

“Not like this,” Cara said.

Ted frowned. This wasn’t the time to be picky. “What did he do?”

The minotaur’s upper lip curled back, revealing a row of ivory teeth. “Killed a mage. Ripped his head clean off.”

“Can’t say I blame you,” Ted said.

Cara gripped her bow tighter, her knuckles whitening. “Killed his kids, too.”

“Witnesses.” The minotaur shrugged. “What you gonna do?”

Ted glanced back towards the entance. No sounds of battle, but it wouldn’t be long before the full might of the Empire descended. “We can’t sit here and play judge, jury, and executioner.”

“Jury?” Cara asked.

“It—” Ted paused, and shook his head. “Release them. All of them.

She hesitated.

There wasn’t time. “That’s an order.”

Cara scowled but stepped up and unlocked the cell. The prisoners shoved the door open and began to barge through.

“They’ll need weapons,” Ted said. “And I wouldn’t mind getting my gear back.”

Gramok grunted, and gestured further into the prison. “Armory’s that way.”

“Let’s go.” Ted took two steps forward, stopped, and turned to Gramok. “Thanks for the rescue.”

Gramok shrugged, glancing back at the cell Ted had been in. “Don’t mention it. Ever, ideally.”

Ted’s neck tingled. Probably best he couldn’t see Gramok’s expression. “Right. You should go.”

“Yeah.” Gramok hefted his greatsword over his shoulder and took the lead, striding deeper into the prison, toward an unadorned oak door a hundred yards down. He ignored the locked cells on either side, each full of prisoners, their collars already discarded. Most of them huddled at the back, but a few—mostly those will meat still on their bones—gathered around the doors, clamoring for freedom.

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Ted followed Gramok closely and buffed him up with Armor and Absorb. In close quarters, he’d be nigh unstoppable, unless they ran into any more high-level Dark mages.

Behind them, Cara darted from cell to cell. She opened each one and imploring the prisoners to join or flee. A few followed, more fled, most stayed. Hard to blame them. Mercy wasn’t a quality the Divine Empire held, and Ted doubted the soldiers would stop to clarify if they were combatants or runners.

Gramok drew close to the oak door and broke into a sprint. At the last moment, he turned his shoulder, slamming into the door with the sharp crack of wood giving way. He barrelled through, roared, and swung his greatsword. A scream followed.

Ted readied a Firebolt and charged through into a small stone room.

Two guards—one motionless on the floor, the other cowering behind a shield, backing away toward a reinforced metal door glowing with Protection magic.

The guard’s shield did nothing to stop Firebolt cooking him inside his own armor.

Ted looked around. The barren walls were formed of smooth dark stone that could only have been crafted with magic. Rune and enchantments were set into them, giving the walls a powerful teal and blue haze.

The only ways out were back the way they’d come, or through the metal door ahead. The door had no handle, and equally powerful magic radiated from it.

Gramok stepped up to the door and hammered on it. “Open now, and you can leave in peace.”

Archeologist’s Sight tingled. Something wasn’t right. Tightness coiled around his chest. Shit! There was only one reason to have a room like this. “Everybody out!”

Too late. Boiling water poured from the murderholes above. Screams erupted.

Pain seared at Ted’s scalp. He jumped to the side, pressed himself face first against the wall, and stared at the silver rune set into the stone.

The Portals element was far too big. Too complex. Not that he had time for that.

He turned and watched Cara corral the panicked prisoners out the door. Gramok took up the rear, shoving them out, and glanced at Ted.

Ted shook his head, activated Stealth, and turned back to the rune. How best to keep a room safe from prisoners? Make it impossible to get to.

Above, fire roared into life.

Ted probed deeper into the rune, reading the Zelnari components that handled Portals magic. There! Extra lines. An exception to the Portals nullification field, and a trigger to send someone up. He pressed his hand against the rune, and activated it.

The world lurched. Another stone room. He spun around—two soldiers, plate armor, no helmets, one stoking the fire, the other peering down through the floor. They turned and stared, frozen.

Mind Over Body. Adrenaline shot through Ted. He darted forward at supernatural speed, drawing the left soldier’s sword before the bastard could even react. Parried the one on the right, slashed his face, drove the blade through the left one’s eye.

Heart racing, he smashed the pommel into the nose of the remaining soldier.

The soldier screamed and staggered back clutching his face.

Ted lunged, thrusting at exposed throat.

The blade hit bone. The soldier gurgled. His hands fell away, his eyes went wide, and he slumped to the floor.

Broken breaths escaped Ted’s throat. He glanced around the equally spartan room. No doors, no windows, no more threats.

Ted dropped Mind Over Body and studied the magic lining the walls. One of the runes set into the back wall, the one directly above the heavy metal door, was larger than the others. He stepped up to it and studied its extra code. It received a magical message, processed it, and then sent a signal down through a magical conduit.

Great, a lock. Ted tried a few combinations, but nothing worked. He headed back down, caught the others up, and returned with the key Cara had taken.

Still nothing.

He stared at the stupid rune. There had to be a way. Whoever had designed this place’s security clearly hadn’t given much thought to protecting it against mages. What if…

It couldn’t be that simple, could it? He pressed his hand against the magical conduit, drew a point of mana, and pushed it at the conduit.

The mana flowed around the channel, dissipating into the wall.

Ted took a deep breath and pulled on ten, twenty, thirty mana, and forced it all at the conduit.

Again, mana flowed around the channel, almost all of it turned aside from the path leading down.

Almost all.

A single spark of mana flushed down the channel, and metal creaked below. Giddy lightness flared in Ted’s chest. He bounded over to the teleportation rune and returned below.

The prisoners were already in the armory, picking through the assortment of weapons and armor. There weren’t any more guards inside, it seemed.

Gramok and Cara stood in the first chamber, keeping watch over the only way in or out of the armory.

Cara turned and smiled. “Nicely done. Jeremy would be proud.”

“Maybe,” Ted said, chuckling. “Doubt he’d show it though.”

More prisoners shuffled in, daring to check out the armory now it was cleared.

Ted joined them in looking over the haul. Rows of decent armor and weapons—just what the rebels needed—but no magic other than a single lock on a steel lockbox at the far end.

Ted stepped up to it, pressed magic into the lock, flicked it open, and briefed a sigh of relief. His trusty falchion. The wood elven bow. Milo’s axe. It was all here. He pulled together his equipment, and headed back to Cara and Gramok. “It’s time for us to go. We can fly out. There won’t be any mages watching the walls right now.”

Gramok nodded. “Make sure we’re invisible. That Dragonknight is…” Gramok hesitated, and turned away. “It would be better if we avoid him.”

“The rebels need us,” Cara said, glancing between the two of them. “We can’t just turn tail and run!”

Ted’s fists clenched. “We need to stop my father as soon as possible.”

“Once we take this city, the rebels can help fight him.”

“No. They can’t.” Ted sighed. “Gramok, you’ve got our backs, right?”

Gramok chuckled, but there was a grimness to it Ted hadn't heard in him before. “You’re more than a brother to me.”

“So, you’ll help me fight the Divine Emperor?”

“Not a chance,” Gramok said, in a deadpan tone. “He’s the Divine Emperor.”

Cara stared at Gramok like he was an alien, then at Ted, then Gramok again.

Ted took her hand, pulled her closer, met her frantic gaze. “We’re the only ones who can stop him. Me, and my Companion.”

Her eyes narrowed and her lips quivered.

“You,” Ted said, “and your Hero.”

A smirk poked through her scowl. “Fine. Lead on, Hero.”

Ted nodded to Gramok, and Gramok led them back past the cells and into the lobby. Dull thuds pounded against the barred gates of the prison, while rebels taught freshly armed prisoners how to fight.

Nammu was among them, talking in hushed tones with a stiff-backed high elf. The elf had a magical greatsword slung across his back, a scar on his right cheek, and the grim expression of a man who’d faced worse odds before. Her lieutenant?

She caught sight of them and dismissed the elf before hurrying over. “You’re off?”

Ted nodded. “Good luck.”

“You too.”

And that was that. Gramok led them up the stairs, past the bloodied corpses of imperial administrators. Two flights up and a corridor led them out onto a small balcony.

Blue and red flowers lined the edge of the balcony beneath archways engraved with carvings of beasts and inset with silver runes. The archways shone with magic of various kinds, all of it directed outward.

“Stop,” Ted said, pointing to the runes. “See those? Anyone trying to sneak in or out this way would get cut to ribbons.”

Cara half-scowled, half-smirked. “Guess we’ll have to help the rebels after all.”

“Maybe.” Ted peered out and down at the veritable army gathering in the plaza below, and cast Farsight. “At least twenty mages, dozens of soldiers, maybe a couple of hundred guards.”

Cara’s shoulders slumped, and the fire in her eyes faded. “They’re gonna die,” she whispered.

They don’t have to. Ted’s heart clenched. Real power to make real change.

Cara pulled him into a hug and buried her face in his shoulder. “It’s our fault.”

Ted closed his eyes. His breathing slowed, and he stroked her back.

Was being right worth this?

He pulled away, pulled on his mana, focused on the idea of Alenia, and cast Communicate. She had to be nearby.

A mind bristled against his. Ready to negotiate?

Ready to take over my city.

A pause. He needs to know you've learned your lesson.

Ted took a deep breath. I’ve learned what matters.

Have you now? Alenia said. One of our prisoners was most elucidating. We know about Nammu.

Shit.

Nammu’s head on a spike—and the city’s yours.