After travelling for two days, Kari was in Sarigold City.

Having made the journey at a breakneck pace, he was utterly exhausted. He had afforded himself some rest in an inn, the room of which he was currently sitting in, staring out the window onto Sarigold’s largest public square.

The square was a large, open area of polished beige sandstone, shaped into tiled mosaics. Five water fountains were spaced evenly throughout, with the most fantastical, five-terraced fountain in the centre, standing nearly as high as the tavern Kari was sitting in.

Water fountains were a symbol of opulence in the dry desert town, and as such Kari regarded the square as a gaudy, if useful, affair.

Through the window at Kari’s right stood Sarigold’s council building. The front of the building was decorated with a carved façade depicting an ox and snake battling. Marble columns awaited the top of a perfectly cut flight of stairs. Much like the other prominent buildings in Sarigold’s city centre, the council building was sported an extremely elaborate gilded dome.

In stark contrast to Sarigold’s opulence, the square and even some of the side streets were packed with protestors. Homes and businesses lining the streets had boarded up their square windows, fearing a riot.

Sarigold was a major trade centre in the nation of Laajvaar, otherwise known as The Great Basin, of which Al Dherjza was the capital. Situated on the west coast of the Shimmering Sea, Sarigold supplied several towns and settlements in the region with minerals and salt. Sarigold’s proud sister city, Al Dherjza, stood on the Eastern edge of the Shimmering Sea, above which The Intercessor awaited.

Though right now, Kari couldn’t care less about The Intercessor or Lucina or any part of the invasion. He was just focused on his own problems.

Specifically, the issue of how he was going to deal with Rhaspalaka.

It was only after arriving outside Sarigold that Kari realised that the Shimmering Sea was in fact, a desert. The maps he had been relying on had misleadingly implied that the sea was an aqueous ocean with strange leviathans swimming about.

That was a big problem for the man who relied on his Gift of water for survival.

Crossing a desert completely devoid of water was the last thing that Kari wanted to do with Rhaspalaka on his trail.

Kari was left with only one option: to stand his ground and fight.

Faced with that reality, the hydrohand had committed his efforts over the past two days to prepare for the inevitable confrontation.

He had visited the Architect’s Guild of Sarigold and procured a map of the city’s sewers and drainpipes. He had learned the layout of the streets in the area around the city square.

And now, he was lying in wait in the tavern room he had rented.

Tensions within Sarigold were high when Kari had infiltrated the city.

Only a few kilometres from its gates, Lucina’s Angels had built their own city as a forward base. Mysterious shapes flew around its shiny black towers. According to the locals Kari had spoken to, the Incandestine city had been fully built in the span of less than a week. Kari wasn’t sure if he believed it, or even if the gigantic spires even functioned as a city, but few dared approach the shiny alien structure.

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The city was an imposing symbol of military might and dominance. A threat that needed nothing other than to exist, visible to citizens of Sarigold from their own bedrooms. A constant reminder of who was in charge.

Within Sarigold’s gates, many people were less than enthused with the local government’s response to the situation. Sarigold’s leadership had quite passively accepted the presence of their new neighbours. Several trade deals had already been struck, and some of the mysteriously armoured Angels could be seen wandering the streets in pairs, officially welcome to trade as they pleased. In the more populous districts, Angels could even be seen serving as guards, keeping the peace.

Sarigold’s effective surrender was not too surprising to Kari. Money was the universal tongue and Sarigold was a trade hub, not known for its military strength. The sight of The Intercessor alone, much less the materialisation of an entire city, must have been enough for Sarigold’s leadership to realise that war was not an option.

Indeed, if Sarigold was any indication of how the rest of Apolaphia was faring, Incandestine power was so great that the mere thought of opposing it was idiocy.

But of course, the people of Sarigold protested regardless. Whenever those in control made sweeping decisions, there would always be those who felt their freedoms personally attacked. It mattered not if the decisions were made in the best interests of the populace.

Chanting wafted in through the window from the angry voices in the square outside.

The book was oddly not in Kari’s possession; he had voluntarily given it up.

Kari had placed it right in the centre of the town square, atop the grand water fountain. It floated gently in the small basin at the very top of the massive structure, unnoticed by everyone below.

Of course, it was a trap. Rhaspalaka was coming, and unable to alter or disenchant the book in any way, Kari had decided this was his next best course of action.

He had placed the book and several patches of the water in the fountain under stasis. If Kari used his gift on the water in this state, nothing would happen at first. However, once the stasis was lifted, the effects of his gift would be ‘remembered’ and executed automatically.

Kari was not sure what the effective range of his stasis bracelet was, but the enchantment seemed to be holding from where Kari sat, which was outside the range of his Gift. Kari reasoned that it was best to stay far from the book and the fountain, as Rhaspalaka would expect the hydrohand to keep the precious codex within his reach.

Having placed the book there this morning, Kari had now been guarding it for nearly twelve hours. On the floor about him was the wreckage of his meals, numerous empty water-storing gourds, and a chamberpot.

His eyes hurt from staring at the bright scene of the sparkling fountain outside.

And, after a long day, it was at sundown that Kari finally spotted him.

Rhaspalaka the Wright, on the edge of the town square, standing there so naturally. As if he was just another person. As if he wasn’t a mass murderer of innocents. As if he hadn’t ruined Kari’s already sad life.

Kari felt his righteous rage bubbling up from a place deep within, threatening to take control. But he held back. His anger was not helpful at present, because above all else, Kari was focused on getting what he had sought after for so long. He could start a scene, but it would be much easier to simply let Rhaspalaka kill himself in Kari’s trap.

The only question was, would the Wright take the bait?

Finally bringing his roiling emotions back under control, Kari noticed something unusual from his vantage point.

A teenage boy was making his way against the swaying of the protestors, towards the grand water fountain with purpose. The boy turned his head back to look at Rhas, who seemed to nod back at the teen.

Panic gripped Kari. He had not accounted for this.

Rhaspalaka must have paid the kid to retrieve the book for him. Thought Kari.

It seemed that the Wright had correctly suspected some foul play about the situation.

I’m an idiot.

Kari had to think fast.

He could set off the stasis himself before the boy was in the danger zone. But that would give away the ruse and would likely cause a huge commotion. If Kari had been closer, he might’ve been able to overwrite his previous Gift application on the water frozen in time. But he was simply not within range.

Kari could approach the fountain himself and reapply his gift to the water to protect the street urchin child. He only needed to be within 30 meters to begin the process.

Before he made his move, Kari looked to where Rhaspalaka was just seconds before, but the Wright was gone.

Where did he go off to?

Time was running out.

What was Kari going to do?