“You have the pleasure of being in a position where the Cabal needs you for the war, but the torviela, Uderach, wants you alive to use you later. You have connections to the Cabal and the vampirids. It would be fantastic if you also had a connection with the Knights of Artar’ey.”

Isadal said it was a pleasure, but to me, it was a curse.

“You may be a pawn in this game of chess, wizard Avarez. But you can be easily promoted.”

I’ll take that as a compliment, I thought.

“Is that why you were talking to the hadtherad that just came to visit?” asked Yand-Una.

“That matter is none of your concern,” answered Isadal.

Considering that the Knights will be involved in the upcoming war, his warning didn’t make sense. But there was very little we could do to convince it to tell us otherwise.

“I need you to get in touch with the Cabal and formalize a meeting to realize a two-party pact. We will benefit from a mutual agreement in the upcoming war.”

“Winter is approaching,” I began. “You’re on the side to lose power. Why would you choose to side with mortals?”

“Aren’t you an inquisitive one?” he answered me.

“If the Storm decides to side with the leeches, they might get an advantage. The fact they have the further home-field advantage now with winter at our doorstep, means there must be something you know about this situation that we don’t.”

“And smart to boot.”

“Why are you choosing mortals, Isadal?”

“Would you believe me if I told you I am a fan of your work?”

“You had a hadtherad as well, and I doubt he came just to have a chat.”

“Very rude of you to assume that, Mr. Wizard.”

After he said those words, I felt a rumbling in the air. The atmosphere felt humid. I caught a whiff of outdoor wetness, the smell of petrichor. Isadal was surrounding us with magic and I felt Yand-Una tense up beside me. She even signaled me to stop, discreetly.

“Why are you—” I began but was quickly interrupted.

“Wizard Avarez,” the voice of the greater Fay exploded in the room and echoed in my mind. “I suggest you don’t pry on my matters. I have not pushed you in any way, but you are overstepping your boundaries in my home, and I do not enjoy kicking out my visitors. I expected you, a wizard, to be mindful of your actions.

“You are in a very precarious situation, and although I enjoy our little banters and insults, I also have my privacy.”

So far, I was able to extract information from my opposers, but Isadal was a rare exception. On the times that I had succeeded, the information that I was given was collateral or considered a minimal investment in my involvement. Today, I did not have that luck. Isadal considered this information important enough to keep secret from us. I could force myself to ask him a third time, but the answer must come with a payment, and I doubt money is what Isadal will take from me.

There was no point in risking our lives for this kind of information when we know we won’t be able to use it if we become food for fishes.

I took a mental note of the kind of thing for which Isadal is willing to kill us. At the very least, it will become useful for the Cabal once we report this. For now, there’s one last thing to do.

“I’ll get you a meeting with the Council,” I said. “Yand-Una will be there to testify with me. But I can’t promise it will end well.”

“Not to worry, wizard,” he answered. “I have something for them that they might want.”

“If you tell me, it could ease up my part of the deal. It will be faster to convince them.”

I looked to my side to see Yand-Una strained but emotionless face looking straight at Isadal. Her stance shifted, her hands tensed up into a fist in front of her groin.

Was I being weird? I thought.

I didn’t feel as anxious, but something was troubling Yand-Una. Maybe it was something new, or maybe this was the result of the accumulation of nervousness and anxiety ever since we stepped into the jurisdiction’s territory.

“I thought about it,” he said after a long pause. “You may be right. I’ll gamble on you, Mr. Avarez. Tell them this. Tell them that the webs of the vampirids are not as shallow as they believe they are. This should be enough to convince them.

“But then, you already know about this, don’t you? Some time, weeks ago, you saw how complex things have turned.”

I stayed silent. Sometimes silence is enough to show affirmation. I had no reason to say it was true, Isadal wasn’t asking, he was stating a fact he already knew about me. Which means, that all the information regarding me has spread far and wide.

The vampiric world knew about me already, that much was going to be obvious. That the Cabal found out as fast as they did was surprising, but I knew they would eventually receive this information. The Knights also knew about it, and this one was certainly surprising. I never thought they would get that information until many months later.

I wasn’t surprised that the Fay knew about me, but it was the fact that they cared enough for them to know about it that made it incredible. The Faery see themselves as above other creatures, anything that doesn’t benefit them is beneath them. Humans may be powerful, but they are as important to them as bees are to us. Buzzing little fellas that give you honey and free will, but rubbing them the wrong way will get you stung.

“So, it finally happened,” said Yand-Una. “This war is already involving every party.”

“Every party, and more, warden,” confirmed Isadal.

‘And more,’ he said. Were there more things involved in it than just mortals, vampirids, and Faery? The triad of powers that move the spiritual and mortal world had almost always been these three. Demons are spiritual in essence, but not part of the Faery. They have no reason to involve themselves in these politics because all they care about is raw power and control. They are far more concerned about other demons than they are about anything else.

What else could there be? Angels? If they even exist. Ghosts? That is never going to happen. The undead? They only function as thralls to necromancers or Higher Powers.

Confusion must have been visible on my face because Isadal was watching me with a smile.

I could simply ask him about it directly, but he’d refuse the same way he did earlier. Yand-Una must have had the same idea since she shook her head a few seconds after.

“You’re our best bet, then,” I concluded. “That’s your message.”

“I wouldn’t say best, but,” he paused. “I rank high in your choices.”

“Very humble,” Yand-Una joked.

I turned to look at her in surprise. That wasn’t in character for her.

“For someone you dislike, his attitude seems to be rubbing on you.”

Yand-Una did not respond to that and only glared at the Fay. That was more like her, and I felt a little relief.

How odd.

“What about the girl? Misa?” asked Yand-Una. “She’s being hunted by a demon.”

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“That she is.”

“Care to tell us about her?”

“What do you think, warden?”

“I’m thinking you’re a pain in the ass. But you’re not involved in this.”

“A smart conclusion,” he spoke almost like he was praising a child. “But naïve.”

The last bit was expressed almost like it was comical.

“No, I’m not the one behind it. But I know what is happening to her. If you want advice, all I can share is that she was not involved only with vampires. Anything more, and I will require you to do more for me – unless you are willing.”

How did Misa get involved with demons along with vampires? There should be no way she could; she didn’t know the supernatural existed until she met me.

Misa was involved with vampires – by pure coincidence – but how did she manage to get involved with demons? On the other hand, Jaser was involved with the Fay, but then became involved with vampires by force.

The vampires that messed with Jaser were the ones from the Law Firm where Misa worked. But Misa was not aware of any vampiric or demonic activity. And, now, Isadal is suggesting that he at least was laterally involved with the demonic hunt related to Misa.

“Are you saying, you got her involved in retaliation to the vampires taking those people from you?” I asked.

Yand-Una beside me looked confused. Isadal only smiled.

“You got a demon to hunt her?” I pressured.

“Like I said, I did nothing.”

“But you were involved.”

Is this why Galavant also knows about this? I had never thought about it because I was only glad that Galavant had any information, but now I realized this issue. Isadal involved demons, somehow, that were out there to hunt the vampires. There’s only one thing I don’t get.

“You didn’t know about me,” I said. “Had you known, you wouldn’t have sent a demon to them, you would’ve contacted me. Heck, I bet you thought the demon that did this was the one that caused that mansion and the law firm to blow up sky-high.”

Isadal only smiled.

“How did you manage to get demons involved in this?” I said and quickly interrupted. “Don’t answer that, it’s rhetorical.”

I bet he would want to answer that question. I need to watch my tongue.

“In any case,” he said, bringing the meeting to a close. “You know what to do, wizards. I expect a good relationship with the Cabal.”

We turned around without saying our goodbyes or addressing his courteousness. There were too many things in our minds to even care.

I thought all this while that maybe we could talk our way out of all these problems, but little by little, I realize that things have become far more complicated than they seemed even at first and that all paths lead to either conflict, violence, or destruction.

Misa waited for us outside the door. Next to her, another radera was talking to her.

When they saw us, the radera greeted us: “Wizard Avarez. Wizard Yand-Una.”

“Who are you? How do you know our names?” asked Yand-Una.

“My bad,” they apologized. “I’m Opez. I was talking to Ms. Misa, and she mentioned your names.”

We both gave a scolding glance at her.

“Are you a Knight?” I asked.

“No, my bad. I should have introduced myself better. I’m an acolyte of Summer. I work under Isadal. You could say I’m his secretary, scout, manager, hitman... Any job, really.”

“You contract demons as well?” I interrogated.

They looked intently at everyone, almost confused.

“Not yet…”

I could not tell if they were lying, so, I decided to take them on their word. Even if we knew they were lying, we would not be able to do anything to them, as of now.

“For your safety,” I began. “I hope you never do. Or did.”

We beckoned Misa to follow and we turned away to leave, without saying our goodbyes. Misa tried, but she was pulled away by us so hard she was tripping on the floor. And tripping on her words.

We explained all that was relevant to her on our way out. The moment we stepped away from the jurisdiction, we turned to one side of the forest and I called upon a Way, to get out of the spiritual world.

“We don’t have to go back there?” Misa asked.

“It’s easier to get out of the spiritual realm than to get in,” I explained. “We won’t arrive exactly at the same destination, but we’ll be very close.”

We stepped towards the spherical whole, and we floated our way through space-time, only to wobble back into the mortal realm. We were slightly disoriented, as one would expect.

“Now,” I said. “To find the bus stop.”

As I said that, clapping my hand slightly, I felt the hair on my back stand. I felt the sensation of a hunter and some kind of magic. I have felt this before a lot, and I was particularly sensitive to it.

Yand-Una twitched beside me just as I did the same.

We turned to look out of the dried canal, and we saw a figure walking down towards us. It looked human, but it didn’t feel human. More than that, they were completely covered, from head to toe, under the sun, right before evening.

“Misa,” I warned. “Behind us.”

She had already figured it out before I even said anything and was covering herself behind our bodies.

She must have felt the same. She knew who they were.

The figure that walked down hissed. A second later two more figures appeared behind him atop the river. My arachnid senses tingled again, but what made me turn around was a gasp that came from Misa. Three more from behind us.

Surrounded by six, who knows what else is lurking about.

“They were waiting for us to come back,” Yand-Una exclaimed in anger. “Cowards.”

Normally, this would be the time when the enemy would speak cocky and flaunt about the hero’s demise. But real life is different. In the real world, people don’t need to say things, vampires less of all.

The vampires were coming after me, but they would not mind having a little snack on the side. Misa was the defenseless mortal, while Yand-Una was her guardian. I could probably take on a few of these guys before I get killed by the rest of the gang. Yand-Una might be able to fair better against them.

I thought of a plan, but it was hard to execute with Misa on the way. I need to be more careful with my magic, I cannot let my magic hurt her.

“Do you think we can take them all?” I asked.

“With difficulty, but yes,” answered Yand-Una.

“I need you to guard Misa while I try to whittle down their numbers.”

Yand-Una didn’t answer for a while, but then responded with an ‘okay’ and held Misa close. “Ready,” she finished.

Alright, I thought. I need to bring down as many as I can.

I calculated my options. I couldn’t let the vampires attack first, I needed to start with something to catch them a little off guard. If I could stun the one in front of me, I could strike the ones behind me as a surprise.

With my hyper-focus, I did not feel or sensed anything else, except for that small statement coming from Misa: “there’s two more over there.”

I turned to my left, then my right, only to see two more human figures approaching fast. That was their cue. I was too slow to notice.

Every vampire in sight rushed towards us.

I had no staff, and none of my stones. Why did I think going empty-handed to see Isadal was a good idea? In hindsight, my idea of acting like a pacifist was the wrong approach.

I had no more time left.

“Scutum!” I cast. The floor in front of the vampires, before me, erupted, and a slanted wall of concrete and rock slammed into them. Two were hit while one managed to dodge it, jumping back – I had managed to stall them for a little while.

Behind me, Yand-Una cast another spell at the same time.

“Lash!” she spoke, and the little creek of water just behind the three sprinting vampires bubbled and rose.

The water tentacle that formed from the creek bent like a whip and snapped the first vampire close to it. The crack of the water smashed the vampire on the head, its contents spilled from its face during its last strode, collapsing along with the torrent of water.

“Spada!” I cast towards one of the other two that survived the attack and the earth croaked when a spike of rock and concrete impaled and killed another vampire.

That should be good enough from behind – now the front.

When I looked at the other three, they had multiplied.

“Sweet Mary,” I said. “Tempesta!” Then slapped the air in front of me.

A gust of wind slammed from the side, tripping the now five vampires, making them roll. Two of them managed to regain balance before tumbling.

I pointed my finger at one of the two.

From behind I heard: “Crush!” and the floor rumbled a little.

As for me, I screamed: “Flamma!” This time, my fire didn’t come out like a flamethrower, but it shot out in a line for a few meters before it bloomed.

The vampire that found itself in its way thought it could dodge the stream of fire, but the flower of flames at the end caught it. The screams of agony were followed by a burst of fire, smoke, and heat. The body of the vampire tumbled and dropped, rolling as it burned like a fireball down the slope.

Four more, I thought. Can we do this?

They were close. I could catch another with my flames.

“Crush,” Yand-Una cast her spell and the ground below a vampire cracked open.

The vampire caught in her spell fell through the hole on the floor, but before its torso could go down, its feet pushed itself aside. The ground to its side came together, crushing the vampire’s legs. It screamed a horrid sound of pain.

“Flamma!” I cast again.

This time the fire grew like a balloon, swallowing one vampire and catching another close to it, but it jumped away. The vampire that caught in the fire threw itself through the flames and before I knew it, the thing had managed to come out the other side on fire, but still alive.

I was so surprised, that I could not act. The memories of my past encounters with flaming vampires made me flinch and I only stared as it approached me.

“Wall!” Yand-Una shouted, and the ground in front of me flew up, hitting the vampire as it came at us, knocking it upwards, where it spun and tumbled in the air for a second before falling right beside me.

The vampire hissed as it tried to grab my leg.

“Ah!” Yand-Una shouted again, this time like a war cry.

From under her cloak, Yand-Una produced a small sword and pierced the vampire through the stomach, right where the blood bladder should be. The vampire only managed to grab my pants before it groaned its last breath.

“Calm down, Mr. Ed!” Misa spoke beside me. “Calm down, it’s over.”

I didn’t realize I was hyperventilating until Misa talked to me. The sight of the vampire had brought up some trauma that I hadn’t realized I had.

I turned to see Misa and then the rest of the vampires, alive and running towards us.

I had to act.

“Fl—” I began but choked. I was scared of the fire. But I had to do it, otherwise, I would be dead. “Flamma!”

My magic flowed towards the tip of my hand, and as the flame took form in my palm. Then I flinched.

The fire did not coalesce.

“Crush!” Yand-Una shouted, and a vampire died a second later. “Avarez! Get a hold of yourself. There’s still more coming!”

From another angle, two more vampires were running toward us.

There were now five vampires coming our way. I had to do something. Something!

“Flamma!” But the spell did not come out.

I could no longer use my fire.