Two round, red crystals glinted in the face of the thing in the doorway. The vague humanoid form walked with an unnaturally fluid gait with a slender body carved from dark stone. The centre of its chest was cracked, and tendrils of gold spilled from the wound, wrapping around its torso.

A heart of gold. Ironic.

I pulled Isla down into a crouch, hoping to duck under the stone man’s view and conserve my will. Those crystals must have been its eyes. It crept forward, not noticing us huddled on the other side of the platform.

Squelch...

Squelch...

Scrape...

It stepped onto the platform, stopping at the rope ladder.

No… It wouldn’t...

The stone man’s slender fingers grabbed the rope and pulled, shaking the ladder left and right.

"Hey! What's going on down there?!" Castille shouted.

My stomach clenched, pins and needles prickling my back and neck.

If she fell from fifteen stories up...

I turned to Isla.

She raised her hand and nodded.

A stream of water shot from her palm, knocking the stone man off balance. The water dripping off it froze, hanging off the stone man like the fins of a caught fish.

I flipped my dagger, holding it by the blade and throwing it pommel first. The knob handle smashed into the side of its crystal eye, toppling the stone man and pulling down a section of the rope ladder.

THUMP!

We held our breath, waiting for Castille's scream—for the second thud of her body hitting the platform.

We waited… and were greeted with silence.

"Castille!"

"What are you two doing?! I thought that was it for me!"

Isla breathed a sigh of relief.

"Something attacked us! The ladder’s destroyed!"

"Dugan! Can you extend the rope?!"

"Will do."

I willed my dagger into my left hand, walking up to the strange creature. Its body was like a life-sized doll with articulated ball joints down to the finger. It was the work of a master craftsman—a shame it had to be destroyed.

Its head turned to me. Its body trembled, trying to move. The water had seeped into its joints and froze, locking them in place. I knelt beside it. My dagger cracked one of its crystal eyes. The other eye gleamed with dark intelligence.

Now, that won’t do.

I sank the tip of my dagger into its face, prying the undamaged crystal out of its socket.

The stone man went limp.

Go for the eyes. Good to know.

I tossed the crystal to Isla.

"Do you think you can build something off of that?"

She crouched down and inspected it against the lantern light.

"As long as I'm careful. The crystal lattice needs to be perfect."

"We have time."

Squelch...

Squelch...

Squelch...

Maybe not.

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"Castille! More of those things are coming! We're going to lead them away!"

I sheathed my dagger, picked up one of the lanterns and grabbed Isla by the hand.

“Keep up.”

She nodded.

“I will.”

We ran through the right entrance. I turned to the left to see the source of the noise. Four stone men were walking to the other entrance, carrying pickaxes and shovels.

I threw my lantern, shattering it against the closest enemy. Burning my will, I stoked the lantern's fire to engulf the stone men. It wouldn't hurt them, but it would distract them, and that was the first half of misdirection.

"Come on!"

We slipped down the muddy hill into the underground town, running through its streets and ducking between its short, stocky buildings. Through the buildings’ doorless entrances, we glimpsed stone men at work. Some stone men carved stone or stood at furnaces smelting ore. Other stone men were artisans who worked on metal skeletons that resembled the first step of their creation.

"It's incredible! Who would have guessed there was an entire civilization beneath our feet."

I pressed myself against the wall of an abandoned building, panting as I looked around the corner.

"Priorities, Isla."

"Hey, I'm doing my part."

She raised the crystal I plucked out of the stone man’s face; it was bigger but not by much.

I let out a sigh.

"Do you know what these things are?"

She shook her head, clutching the crystal to her chest with both hands.

"No. They weren't in the archives or any book I've ever read. Their enchanted objects, but… they have minds of their own."

"At least we know how to kill them."

"Are we killing them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Destroying the control crystals only makes them dormant like the platform."

Her eyes fixed on the growing rock before her.

"Or were they ever alive to begin with?"

The question made me uncomfortable. I changed the subject.

"We need to create a bigger distraction. Something to keep their eyes on us and not on the platform room."

I looked up.

That might work.

“Isla, can you create handholds in this wall?”

# # #

I scaled the building by pale starlight. It was a short climb; like most structures in the town, the building was a few stories tall. The rooftop was flat, with a waist-tall wall around its edge. I swung my legs over the side and crouched down. I didn't want to get seen… yet.

I stalked to the other side of the roof and peeked over the barrier. In the middle of the town, one structure stood out against the skyline: a step pyramid with a familiar orb hovering at its peak. The enchanted object was ten times bigger than the one in the Lagos brother's hall, with dozens of rings rotating around its golden core.

I picked up my jaw.

Focus.

I slipped off my pack and ruffled through Castille’s supplies until I found the last thing I bought from Elmer: the flask of oil. It wasn’t enough for the distraction I had in mind, but I would have to make it work.

I couldn’t depend on Isla for everything.

The flask’s cork was pulled free with a thonk, and I splashed the contents over the rooftop. I snapped my fingers, creating a spark to light the oil. Small red flames danced over the rooftop in what amounted to little better than a kitchen fire.

I frowned.

Not big enough.

I burned more will, fanning the flames like a furnace’s bellows. Tongues of fire rose to my knees.

More...

The heat in my hands bloomed. The phantom pain of bubbling skin ran up to my wrists. The fire turned orange in hue, and gouts of flame rose to my waist.

More!

KABOOM!

The oil exploded into a bonfire. A wave of pressure knocked me across the roof. The back of my thighs slammed against the edge, spinning me head over heels to land on my stomach.

"Jacob!"

I shook the stars out of my eyes, licking the blood from my split lip.

"Do you think that worked?"

Across the town, alarm bells rang.

Isla cocked her head.

"Yeah, I think it did. We need to hide. Can you stand?"

"Yeah…"

I staggered to my feet, leaning against the wall of the building.

It hurt to breathe.

Some of my ribs felt... loose.

I coughed up dark red blood; a stabbing pain in my chest brought me back down to my knees.

"No, you can't. Let's get you inside," Isla said.

She supported me as I limped through the entrance of the abandoned building.

It was becoming a habit.

The first floor was a room with an old wooden table and chair off to the side. A net bag hung from the ceiling filled with glowing stones that cast the room in a familiar pale light.

Isla set me down in the chair and ran back to the entrance. She pressed her hand against the wall next to the opening, sealing it shut in matching grey slate.

As the opening closed, her shoulders slumped.

"I can't believe you! Are you trying to die?!"

She walked across the room, slamming the red crystal on the table—it was almost as big as her fist.

I tried to laugh but winced instead.

"Why are you surprised? Only someone with a death wish would do this quest."

She pressed her palm against my chest.

"Ow!"

Isla stared at me; her eyes hard for the first time since I met her.

“Listen to me! We are NOT going to die here!"

A moment later, warm, soothing energy flowed through my chest. I relaxed, slumping into the chair.

"Whatever you say, princess.”

She frowned.

"I'm not a princess…”

“Then what are you?”

She chewed on her bottom lip, an internal war waging behind her eyes.

“I'm a bastard,” she whispered. “The love child of the King of Luskaine and a maid from his summer home."

My eyes widened.

A bastard?

I blinked at her. To Luskaine’s nobility, there was little difference between bastards and foulborn. To them, they were all vermin that siphoned away the magical potential of real nobles.

No wonder she was shy.

"You're like me…"

She snorted.

"If you say so. Wow… My healing has never been this strong."

I smiled through blood-spattered teeth.

"Conviction."

"I think you're right. If only there were some way to stay like this."

I stared at Isla, and in her determined eyes, I saw... no one.

Not Kirk. Not Cynthia. Not Cindra.

Just... Isla.

"Why are you doing this quest? To be raised to nobility? To stop being a bastard?”

"What?! No, nothing like that. I’m doing this quest because I want to become stronger.”

She grimaced.

“I NEED to become stronger. It's my father. I think someone’s trying to kill him."