Autumn 4997, 5 Midomoth

Lily stretched, arching her back and letting it crack as she walked down the tightly spiraling stairs through the center of the library. She'd refused one of the basement rooms, choosing instead to sleep on the tower roof while she waited for the team to assemble at the meeting point she'd given them. Or at least send a messenger... she thought. They would if they chose not to follow the plan, wouldn't they? Or maybe come to bring her in? Try to plan their own trap for her? Something!

On the ground floor below, Rose and three Warlocks -Patrich, Elen, and Cairn- went over their plans yet again, this time with Journeyman Perla reflected in a large standing mirror.

The Deim spy was saying something about Sasha, "...has confirmed their intentions..." Lily yawned, there was a part of her that knew she should at least listen to that bit, but her curiosity was smothered under a blanket of indifference woven of impatience and frustration. She knew what her part in the plan was, but couldn't start yet. Everything else was information that might be interesting, but not anything she could influence. It made Lily feel powerless.

She sighed forlornly at the third floor of books, while those below continued to converse with Perla, "I don't like that she was able to identify your ties, Journeyman... Are you sure she can be trusted?" Rose said.

"I get the feeling she'd known for some time, but only acted on it now because of the attack on the team. So, as long as we stop the current experiments and don't threaten the team outright..." Perla answered. Lilly frowned at that, Sasha's greatest treasure was Oswall... Lily was sure of it.

Theoretically, Sasha wouldn't turn any of these particular Warlocks in -Because Lily had vouched for them- so long as they didn't threaten Oswall. Just like Lily had worked with the Nins until they threatened Shon. It was just another reason Lily would need to stay with the Warlocks, to lead them with Rose. She needed to make sure they didn't do anything too insane and harm their own cause in the process. Other than that... all Lily need do was exist. Powerless...

She reached the second floor and saw the magical door to Central burst open below. Everyone jumped in surprise and Lily herself reached for her staff, but it was just Tolinar.

The mad chicken-obsessed Warlock rushed in, grinning and yelling, "I have news! Some, wonderful news!"

The others breathed relieved sighs, and Lily lept from the catwalk to land before the Warlock. She took him by the shoulders and shook him, "The team's finally arrived!? That is wonderful!"

Tolinar continued to grin through the shaking, though he waved a dismissive hand, saying "Oh, not that." Lily let her hands fall in disappointment and Tolinar continued, "I've been playing with that new summon spell and found that because it opens below your target you can actually pull multiple things through if they're close enough together! See." with that, he threw two balls of spell component and through the resulting portals popped out two large crates.

The holes in the ground closed just before the crates crashed back down and Lily groaned over the distressed sounds of flapping and clucking that emanated from within. Tolinar clapped his hands and beamed around the room at his fellow conspirators, "By summoning one chicken close enough to the others I could save entire batches!" he announced, then frowned, "I could only fit my favorites but it's better than leaving them all behind. Isn't it wonderful?!"

"I'm going back to bed..." Lily grumbled too disappointed to even remember why she'd come down in the first place.

Tolinar called from behind, sounding confused, "But I thought you were going to meet the kingdom team..."

Lily spun back around and Rose asked, "They are there then?"

"Yep!" Tolinar answered, "That's just regular news though. Nothing as wonderful as- Eep!" he danced back to hide behind Rose as Lily reached for his throat with every intention of throttling him.

Rose blocked Lily, glaring at her and speaking firmly, "You should go. We'll have everything prepared by the time you get back."

Lily twisted around Rose towards the exit, slipping out her collapsed staff and using it to bop Tolinar soundly on the head before running for the door. Speaking loudly over Tolinar's cry of pain and confusion she said, "Make sure you do, I'm not slowing down to wait." and dashed out the door, not bothering to close it behind her.

***

Rose sighed as Lily ran off into the sunset. It would take her a few hours to get to the place she'd told the kingdom to meet her, -far enough that they couldn't stumble onto the tower on their own- and longer to get back. Even if they had mounts, Lily wouldn't and she was the one leading the way back to the library.

Ignoring Tolinar's snuffling as he whined to Elen about what he could have possibly done to deserve being hit, Rose strode to the door to close it. With one more sigh, she braced herself, then turned to the others, "Let's go. You need to be ready the moment they're through the gate. Cairn, with me." Her journeyman blanched but went for the door to Central despite his obvious nerves.

The beginning of the end had finally arrived...

***

Lily ran through the night, over the twisting path in the mountains to the plains of the Lenare grasslands. Stopping at the edge of the foothills, she caught her breath and surveyed the landscape. Beside a single lonely tree, burned a single fire surrounded by three fancy tents. Lily took a deep breath and checked the stars to gauge the time. It would be the middle watch... Shon always stood middle watch... Could she dare to hope that she might find time to talk to him alone?

Lily made her way closer, cautiously this time. If Shon was standing watch, it wouldn't do to wake the others just yet. Something silver shone in the night, reflecting the light of the fire, and her heart sped up. A flash of steel, someone performing a kata. Shon! He often did drills during watch to pass the time, after journaling and drawing.

Lily fought against her excitement, slowing further, crouching to stalk through the grass, seeking the shadows cast by the tents and tree. If she could sneak close enough she might be able to watch him a bit before Ryuuko saw her...

She'd made it to the tree before she heard the one thing that could crush her excitement. A grumbling voice and shifting grasses. Shon wasn't the only one awake. Lily ducked behind the tree as Oswall passed. She growled a curse of frustration at the stupid paranoid Paladin that had thought to set a double watch, then bit her lip as the Rogue hesitated. She held her breath until his belt buckle jingled, and she didn't breathe again until she heard the sound of liquid hitting the ground.

Hugging the tree, Lily peaked around the trunk to watch Shon in his exercises. Damn, but he was enthralling. Strong arms, fluid movements, and black hair tied back and reaching down to his broad shoulders. Lily could barely make out the shifting of his muscles below the loose-fitting shirt, but could remember them clearly from the times she'd seen him do drills without it. She longed to join him, enjoy the quiet companionship until they'd both finished, sweating and warm. Then they would banter, and embrace, perhaps finish a second time with an even more enjoyable exercise... It had been too long...

"You make it very hard for us to trust you, sneaking up on our camp as if you plan to slit our throats in the night..."

Lily stiffened and Oswall snickered, still whispering, "Or are you just enjoying the show?" She turned to face the Rogue only to see him arching his neck to look past her at Shon as well, "damn man is too handsome for his own good if you ask me."

Lily hid her frustration behind a grin. If only he knew... "I do appreciate a true work of art," she answered. It didn't have to mean more than that, did it? But why should she hide their love anyway? Because Shon has been ordered too, and you respect his wish to follow orders even if you don't approve, she reminded herself. "I don't suppose you could pretend we haven't seen each other?" She asked Os.

Predictably, Oswall shook his head, "And delay this damn mission even longer than we already have? Hardly." He spoke loudly and clearly, and Ryuuko finally noticed, letting out a whistle that stopped Shon's drills mid-swing. He turned to face the tree, his pale blue eyes piercing the night, piercing her heart. Then those eyes glazed, Ryuuko must have sent him an image, "Lily?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's finally here," Oswall called, passing Lily and entering the light of the fire.

Lily sighed, stepping around the shadow of the tree to smile at Shon, hoping he could see in her eyes the disappointment of not finding him alone. He sighed as well, then looked away.

Lily hid the pain that look caused behind an exaggerated scoff, "I finally arrived?" she stated loudly, "I've been waiting for you for weeks!"

Oswall ignored her, motioning for Shon, "Wake Tris, I'll get the old man," Then he snickered again, muttering, "Rany boy."

"I'll get Eb and Al!" Lily called, wanting to get going now that her hopes of a productive delay were so thoroughly dashed.

She watched as Oswall headed for one tent and Shon another, then made for the third, assuming that was the one the ladies of the team would share. but when she threw the flap open only one woman seemed to be present. "Alena?" she asked, "Where's Ebonwing?"

The Cleric nearly jumped out of her skin, clutching her sleeping shirt closed over her chest she gasped, "Lily! You're here!?"

"Yeah, but where..." Lily started, only to have her question answered as a black cat slunk out from below Alena's blankets. For some reason, Alena blushed, but Lily just laughed, "That's convenient. It must be way more comfortable to sleep in that form."

The cat stretched, then transformed back into a woman and stretched again, "one of many perks." she said.

Lily grinned, then turned back to Alena, "It's good to see you up and moving. Ready for a little payback?"

Alena returned the smile but shook her head, "Soleil doesn't approve of revenge Miss Lily..."

Lily just rolled her eyes at that, but before she could say anything more a most unwelcome voice cleared its throat and said, "Firewyrm Lily, a word while the others pack?"

Rolling her eyes again, Lily backed out of the tent and turned to face Sir Tristen. She sized up the Paladin, but rather than snap at his use of the title, said, "I suppose I should be grateful you didn't try to cuff me from behind."

Tristen pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Then gestured away from their small camp. Lily walked that way, but only far enough that they wouldn't be easily heard before crossing her arms and tapping her foot stubbornly, fingering her last teleport stone in her belt, just in case. "You know you can't find the entrance without me..." she led.

Tristen held his hands stiffly behind his back, turning his face towards the others as they started to pack up the camp, he said, "I do, and I also wanted to tell you that we have been given a stay on the order to bring you in. But only until the Warlock leaders are subdued." he turned back to Lily and it was his turn to size her up, "I recommend that you leave as soon as that happens. Because our orders resume at that point."

Lily growled, "They ordered you to betray me?" Tristen didn't flinch, and Lily snarled, "and you accepted that without question didn't you?"

Tristen nodded, answering, "I swore an Oath. I don't have to like my orders to follow them, Miss Lily, just as the Master Sergeant-"

"Don't you dare compare yourself to him," Lily snapped.

Tristen looked her over again, "So it's alright for him, but no one else? You both respect the order not to disclose your relationship despite-"

"It's not the same. Not even close." Lily snarled.

"How so?" Tristen asked calmly.

Dropping her arms, Lily stepped closer to the Paladin, close enough to poke him in the chest, "Shon swore an Oath to a god that shares his values. And before you say anything, know that I don't agree with that either, but I do at least respect it. He would never lie about us, even if he was ordered to. All he does is not talk and deflect. You would lie, betray an ally, anything, if ordered to do so. You either don't have a moral code, or you ignore it in favor of the word of a man who stole the power of a god."

Tristen went from looking shocked at her poke to looking furious at her accusation, or possibly the insult to his god. His face flushed red and twisted into a snarl but Lily wasn't done and didn't let him speak, "Shon says you're a good man. But if that were true then how could you follow such twisted tenants? You've been lucky that this king is generally good, and yet he's ordered you to betray me? To arrest people who haven't done anything wrong just because of what they are? I don't know what's worse, that you might actually agree with this false god who only cares about law and doesn't give a damn about anyone, or that you don't agree and use that 'god' as an excuse to disregard your responsibility to your own morality. An excuse to surrender your power of choice and judgment. At least the Horsa lot are honest about what they believe in and lie with a clear conscience. You smother your conscience behind 'orders' then try to drag others down with you. Shon won't try to bring me in, despite the orders, and he won't lie about us, about anything. You're nothing alike."

Sir Tristen took a deep breath through his nose, lifting his chin and glaring down at Lily. Then he exhaled and looked away again, "This isn't what I wanted to talk about, Miss Lily-"

"Don't like being called out on your bull sh-?" Lily started,

"We've brought a gate wand," Tristen interrupted, "We'll be summoning the army once inside, as agreed. I merely wanted to warn you, about that, and our orders, and give you a chance to change your own plan if necessary."

"I'm fighting. We'll deal with your betrayal and hypocrisy afterward." Lily answered, resisting patting her teleport again. It would be a shame if they found it after the last time.

Tristen sighed, "Very well," and started towards the camp, but Lily called him back.

"I have a question."

He turned to face her, and Lily half expected him to try to arch an eyebrow. He didn't and she asked, "Why? Why keep secrets from your team?"

Tristen glanced back toward the team in question, talking and smiling together as they packed. They even included Shon, though he neither talked nor smiled. They seemed alright with that. He'd kept his promise and made friends...

Stolen novel; please report.

The Paladin turned his back on them to fully face Lily once more, "A good team is built on trust-"

"Which is why it's stupid," Lily countered,

Tristen just sighed, "It is a risk. But can you honestly say that the others would trust him if they knew he might betray them to help you? I don't believe he will, but that doesn't mean the seeds of doubt wouldn't be planted in their minds. Especially with you working openly with the enemy."

Lily just huffed, but Tristen looked her up and down yet again, as if he might find something there she hadn't shown before, "I try to keep him far away from any attempt to bring you in, Miss Lily. Out of respect for him and for you. But I must follow my orders. I must bring you to the Kingdom and Guild, it's the only way we can clear up the misgivings some have about what you are. You harm your own cause the longer you fight it."

It was very rare that Lily couldn't hold someone's eyes, but this time she looked away first. She knew he was at least partly right and grumbled, "I won't be a prisoner, or experiment, again... There's no guarantee that my coming in will help and not hurt. They're afraid of me..."

"Not without cause," Tristen whispered, but that just made Lily smirk.

"True." She conceded with a shrug, then stared past him, shouting to the others, "Anything I can help with? We have quite a walk and I want to get this over with..."

***

Tristen watched her go, and the team's response. They smiled and accepted her assistance. As if they'd already accepted her as one of them despite their past conflicts. Even Ranito, though the Mage grumbled as he rubbed his oft-singed eyebrows. Shon was the only one that seemed to be avoiding her, though Ryuuko flew over to perch on her shoulder, nuzzling her scaled cheek.

Tristen narrowed his eyes at the Master Sergeant. He could almost see the walls of ice the man was erecting to hide his emotions and sighed. "Saint Giorgos, see that this is over soon... for all our sakes," he prayed, then joined the others to help with what was left.

***

From the back of the group, Shon watched Lily socialize with the others, heard her laughter, and felt her phantom warmth through Ryuuko every time she stroked the little dragon, who purred at the touch.

He started approaching the limit of his self-control on the way to the Warlock library. But stubbornness mixed with resignation, along with his position at the rear and hers at the lead, kept Shon from acting on the desire to at least walk with her.

She seemed to sense his avoidance, and if it upset her, Lily didn't show it, but apparently, she had reached her limit. As they grew closer to their destination, Lily explained the path to Ebonwing, who took over leading the way. And Lily started to fall back.

She walked backward, letting even Shon pass, before skipping to resume walking beside him. She swung her arms, letting the back of her hand brush against his before she clasped them behind her back as if to resist touching him more than that. She continued to grin ahead at the others' backs, saying "I really like the hair by the way..."

Despite the smile, her next words were soft, her voice laced with sadness and... regret? "This isn't going to be the end... Is it?"

Shon did his best to shove down his own melancholy, to comfort her, and even let himself move close enough that his arm brushed hers. It didn't work. He couldn't lie to her, or to himself. This wasn't going to be the end. There wouldn't be an end, not for him, and not for her. If he left the kingdom, broke his oath in order to be with her, he would be broken with it. But as he continued without her, he knew he was already broken. Barely held together with twine and sap. And Lily, if she surrendered to captivity, it would smother her, but to continue to run only trapped her in a different way. It was hopeless... pointless...

Ryuuko squawked in concern, feeling the dark thoughts start to spiral. Lily looked away from the others, her slit pupils wide in the darkness. Shon swallowed as she tightened the grip she had on her own hands. Then she forced a smile, it would've broken his heart, if it wasn't already shattered.

She skipped ahead, spinning to face him and walking backward, "It will be a big step though!" she said, actually managing to sound cheerful, "Rose and I will take over the group. We won't let them recruit any more Warlocks, and we'll turn over any dangerous lawbreakers to you guys. We'll run it more like a Mage Guild. But only until we save the world and stop the storms! Hengist will be glad of that bit at least, I'm sure. The Warlocks' pact will be fulfilled so they won't get any crazier, and then we can disband the group. And then the king won't have any reason to keep me, so we can travel together again! Won't that be wonderful?! And this is the first step!"

She couldn't really believe it would work like that... she wasn't that naive. She'd come to him for comfort and reassurance, but because he couldn't even give her something so simple, she was forced to be positive for him...

Ryuuko whistled encouragement from her shoulder and they both cocked their heads at Shon, waiting for his response. Shon swallowed down his honest answer and instead nodded, whispering, "Yeah..."

He looked away from her concerned face, over her head where the others were rounding a bend in the road. Tristen lagged behind, looking over his shoulder at them, then shook his head and followed. Shon stopped walking.

Lily nearly stumbled as she stopped in response, looking over her own shoulder to see what had caused Shon to hesitate, "We're almost-" but she was cut off as Shon pulled her into his arms. Ryuuko took flight as he buried his face in her neck, breathing deep her cinnamon scent and trying to meld his body to hers.

Lily sighed, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling into his shoulder, "It will be alright. This really is a big step..."

Shon couldn't answer. He kissed her neck, feeling her pulse speed up under his lips and her breath shake on his skin. Trailing his mouth up to her jaw, he sought her lips and kissed them eagerly, lacing his fingers into her soft hair he spoke against her, their breath mingling, "For as long as I live, I will fight for that dream."

Lily pulled away, gently, to rest her head on his and stroke his cheek with a smile, "I hardly think that will be necessary once it comes true..."

"I..." Shon choked, but was interrupted by Oswall calling his name,

"Yo! Shon, let's go, Eb says she sees it!"

Shon could hear the Rogue's voice coming closer and forced himself to step back from Lily, clenching his fists and trying to will them to stop shaking.

Lily took a deep, shuddering breath, then widened her smile and winked at Shon, whispering "It is kind of fun trying to be sneaky..." before she turned on her heel and ran towards the bend to intercept Oswall, "We're coming. Let's go!"

They reached the tower within the hour as the sun began to rise, lighting the horizon in orange and purple. From the outside, it looked the same as every other Warlock tower they'd found, though perhaps with more windows. At least five stories tall with a flat top, it was inconspicuous, except that its location wasn't marked on any of their maps.

Tristen attempted to point that out, but Lily just waved a dismissive hand when he ordered Ebonwing to make a note on the map, "Don't bother. I'm sure there's plenty those maps are missing. The kingdom only cares about the land they control directly, and this is too far in the wilderness for that." Then she ran forward to swing the door open for them.

Tristen nodded to Ebonwing to mark the location anyway, then gestured the others to precede him in. They all crowded around the door, looking up in awe. Where the other Warlock towers consisted of a wedge-shaped hall leading to a stair in the center, this one was completely open and stuffed to bursting with books, all the way up to the roof.

Ranito walked as if in a trance to the nearest shelf, whispering something about illegal texts, lost or banned by the kingdom. He reached out but Lily was there in a flash, smacking the back of his hand with her staff, "Don't touch. You'll give poor Patrich an aneurysm. If you want something on a particular subject, let me know and I'll see what I can do. After."

"She's right, Archmage," Tristen admonished him, "After. Where are the keepers?"

Lily snorted, walking across the library to a second door that should lead back out of the tower, "Like they would stick around to get caught by you lot. Come on."

Silently, Shon scanned the room, memorizing it out of habit to draw later. He took particular care to study the door, its stone frame carved with runes he'd seen before.

Lily pulled the door open with a flourish to reveal another door beyond. she pushed this one open, and instead of leading outside, it led to another, larger, room.

Tristen took in a hissing breath and seemed to be bracing himself. He looked over his team one more time, seeking something... hesitation? When Tristen didn't see anything from them the Paladin nodded, "Let's go."

Oswall led the way, followed by Ebonwing, Alena, and Ranito. Shon went before Tristen only because the Paladin gestured for him to do so, then turned to watch the staring contest between him and Lily.

Finally Lily said outright, "I'm not going until you do. And I don't care how stubborn you think you are, I'm more so."

Tristen took a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose, but then walked through the portal. With a smirk of satisfaction, Lily, followed, closing the door behind her.

***

Back in the library, Tolinar was quite proud of himself for not laughing and spoiling the invisibility spell he'd cast on himself. Now that the door was closed he didn't have to hold back and giggled madly as he lifted his hammer and smashed it down on the door frame, cracking the runes like a child playing with a pop-up toy.

***

"Open the door!" Tristen shouted at Lily after she'd closed it.

She sneered at him, but didn't open the door, "Having second thoughts?" she asked, "Afraid?"

"Archmage," Tristen snapped, transferring the order to him, then explaining through gritted teeth, "Never leave a way you can be flanked."

Lily just rolled her eyes, stepping aside so Ranito could open the door and reveal... a wall. Her grin was sinister, "I told you to bring another way to get out. You won't be returning to the library, and no one else can get through now."

Tristen ground his teeth, his eyes snapping to Ebonwing, "You marked the map?"

"Ye-" she started to answer but Lily interrupted with a laugh.

She calmed herself enough to say, "Wow... you really didn't think we would plan for that too? Maybe I give you too much credit after all."

***

On the trail to the library, the small group of Horsa Rogues sent to tail the team and Firewyrm, watched the Warlock tower. "You've got the path marked?" one whispered to another.

"Yes. Should we follow them in?"

"Not yet, we don't want to piss off the Firewyrm. Give them time to get through."

But that was a mistake. As they waited, the ground below the tower, and the morning sky above, opened to a nightscape of stars. As one the Rogues fell back in shock as the circles converged on each other, then stumbled forward as the air pulled in around them to fill the vacuum with a defining 'pop'.

The entire tower was gone.

***

Shon sighed as Lily waved a hand at the doorway, "You can use that for your own gate now, we should get started. You still have the map I gave you?"

With a grumbled sigh, Ranito pulled out a black wand studded with diamonds to begin the gate spell, and Ebonwing put her map of Lenare away to retrieve a copy of the one Lily had given them. Shon turned away from the discussion to survey the room and immediately lost track of what was being planned behind him.

The room was more than large, it was huge. They stood behind a silver statue haloed by a moon, and beyond that... a massive platinum dragon loomed over the center of the room. The dragon caught Shon's attention and held it to the exclusion of everything else. A strange buzzing rang in his ears as he moved closer, entranced. He didn't even notice the other statues encircling the chamber until he was close enough to touch one.

Once he did notice it, however, he felt a sting of shame. It was Hengist, carved of blue marble and dressed in silver armor. Its features were androgynous, as in the old days some saw the god as male and others as female. It was beautiful enough to break through his ice and cause an ache in his cold heart. And yet his eyes still trailed up to the dragon... Yoryuu...

"Soleil..." Alena's voice floated over him, breaking the trance as Shon looked to see her just as enthralled by the golden statue of her god haloed by the sun.

"It's beautiful..." Ebonwing choked on his other side, as though fighting back tears. Shon looked her way, seeing her wide, awed, eyes staring up at the wooden statue of the animalistic Cathbad.

As if she sensed his gaze Ebonwing turned Shon's way, then dashed across the room to grip his shirt, begging, "Shon. Oh Shon, draw it for me? Please?"

Shon flinched at her touch, looking down at her hands, then back at her face to arch an eyebrow. Ebonwing let him go, stepping back with a mumbled, "oops," and rubbing her hands on her pants before she said again, "Please?"

Shon nodded, then forced himself away from Hengist and Yoryuu to walk around the wooden statue of Cathbad with its living vines growing out of its flesh. To think that the Warlocks had built a Grand Chapel of their own, honoring all the gods. Or at least all the original ones...

As he rounded back to the front of the statue he heard Tristen take in a hissing breath, and looked over to see the Paladin glaring with undisguised disgust at both of the dragon gods. Glancing up at the dark amethyst statue of Inryuu, across from Yoryuu, Shon couldn't blame him, as his own skin crawled at the sight. But both of them?

"I would think," Lily started, passing the Paladin with a glare, "that you would respect them. They're the only reason your 'god' exists at all. It's their divinity he holds."

Tristen flushed, opening his mouth to argue, and Shon considered admonishing Lily himself, if only to keep things civil while on mission, when Ranito announced, "Done!"

The once quiet Chapel filled with clanking armor and shocked gasps as the troops waiting for the gate began filing in, then stumbled to a stop to gape around and clog the portal.

Shon shook his head and ran his hand over his hair to clear his thoughts and get back on task. He approached as Tristen called to the leaders of the first few platoons, pointing at their maps and explaining their plan again. "Each of you will take a different exit and secure the rooms along the way. My team will move ahead to stand our ground here," he pointed to the largest room on the map, "We need to separate the leaders to keep them from healing each other and this is the largest space. Secure the rest of the structure before coming to aid us. Aim for capture-"

"There won't be anyone to capture." Lily interrupted, "My people are taking care of that." She grinned at the Paladin commanders, who all glared at her, "Try not to feel too useless as you wait around for us to do the real work."

"Lily..." Shon sighed.

She snapped her mouth shut, moving towards the grand double doors between Soleil and Lune, and shouting over her shoulder, "Let's go!"

***

In the secluded mountains of Stiudal, with the tower library looming overhead, Tolinar sat swinging his legs at the edge of a shallow canyon. To one side of him, a proper map of the Central Talon was spread out on a flat rock, little balls of components rolling along its halls and in its rooms. At his other side, stood Elen, staring down at the canyon floor.

"Start with the Cleric of Lune," she instructed.

"Okey-dokey!" Tolinar answered, plucking the ball out of the Cleric's little chapel and tossing it down into the gorge.

The man screamed and scrambled in the air as he fell out of the ground before landing heavily as the portal closed.

Elen shouted down at him, "Be a dear and tell the others when they appear that if they chose to go back they will be going to their deaths. Here they are safe from the invaders." The Cleric stammered in confusion but Elen just nodded to Tolinar, who giggled as he began plucking up components and tossing them into the canyon.

***

In the Central Talon, Paladin officers led their platoons through the twisting halls with standing orders to attack on sight. They were shocked the first time they encountered a Warlock only to have her disappear into the ground before she could get a spell off, and changed their orders the first time one of them did manage to get close enough to engage, only to be sucked through the portal with the Warlock.

With a swear to their respective god, the Paladins proceeded to keep their distance, focusing on securing the rooms and halls as instructed.

***

Rose waited in the mirror room until the Warlock on duty fell screaming into his own hole created by Tolinar. And just in time, as the locked door cracked, then crashed inward under the steel fist of a Paladin of Hengist and her platoon of soldiers.

Rose smirked at the armored woman, the look enough to cause the knight to hesitate. In the center of the room, the Water dragon twirled her fingers, summoning a wave of water to rush around the walls in a whirlpool. Mirrors were swept off to crash into one another and the stones, shattering and mixing their deadly glass with the wave. The foolish Paladin attempted to force her way through the water and earned herself a fair number of cuts on her face before she fell back.

"Open the gate," Rose commanded, and Journeyman Cairn complied immediately. A moment later, they were gone, and the water crashed to the ground, flowing out of the room to soak the boots of the stunned kingdom men.

Rose stepped through the gate in time to hear Tolinar shout down at the canyon, "Oh don't hurt him! I want to keep him! He'll make a lovely chicken." the mad Warlock clapped his hands, grinning over his shoulder at Rose's cocked head, "I caught one of the Paladins!"

Rose cocked her head to the other side, then smiled, "He may come in handy. Make sure you transform him back often enough to keep his mind."

"Will do!" Tolinar shouted, then preceded to finish his summoning of the Central Talon Warlocks. Leaving only two behind...

***

Lily led the way at a jog to the garden, the others huffing and puffing to keep up and stumbling to a stop upon entering the knee-deep grass.

"By all the gods..." Ebonwing breathed, arching her neck to look at the green roof. Ranito seemed to be making himself dizzy as he turned in circles, fumbling for his notebook, to look at all the sunlight orbs that allowed the plant life to grow.

Lily gestured around them, "If this isn't enough space we'll need to pull one to another room."

But then a male voice spoke from one end of the chamber, causing the companions to draw their weapons, "Oh I assure you it isn't..."

Then a female voice from the opposite side, causing the companions to form up back to back, "Though you'll find it very difficult to get us out..."

"As you won't be able to get out yourselves..." The male voice finished as the two Warlock Archmages entered the garden at opposite entrances, already as far apart from each other as they could get.

"Change of plans, Tris..." Ebonwing whispered, nodding for the tree.

Tristen nodded back, "Shon, you're with me." he called, pointing his cudgel at the black-skinned Warlock with his flowing white robes. "Alena and Oswall, take the other. Ranito, defensive detail."

The Nins' combined laugher seemed to surround the invaders as each team took a step in their given directions, Lily joining the pair facing the white-skinned Warlock. Then they stumbled as the ground shook.

"The exits!" Oswall shouted, dashing back the way they'd come, though there was nothing he could do as stone sprung up from the ground to block the door. And not just that one, all ten of them. They were locked in with the Archmages.

"If you want something done right..." Yonin started,

"You must do it yourself..." In'nin continued.

Together they said, "We have no more use for you."