This was bad news like nothing Angela had ever felt before.

Angela could feel that strange connection between her and Samarina getting stronger over the past day, a tingle of energy that seemed beyond anything else she could explain. “King, we need answers, and we need them right now. The mage world is starting to tear itself apart. There’s unrest going on everywhere, and we’ve been in multiple mage fights inside two days.”

“Not now. We need to meet someplace private. I am currently…not in the office, let’s just say.” The fact that even King was getting cagey about his location, was troubling, to say the least. “Shalinde, your survival is vital to this. Rashalda, do not let her die.”

“I’m quite capable of defending myself, thanks King.” She tapped the hilt of Luminari gently, in a subtle show of her prowess. “We’ve also discovered some terrifying things. Things you might know, but you’ve kept close to the chest.”

“Planned reveals,” King answered calmly. But, he kept peering around as if waiting for someone to crash into wherever he was holed up. “Let's just say that myself and Crosomer find ourselves in a bit of a bind. And that someone is most assuredly leaking your movements. Jonaleth, tell me that metal-clad menace wasn't–”

“Davos is an Outsider, King.” Angela stepped to the forefront, eyes narrowed. “But you knew that, didn't you?”

“I suspected something. And the person who made that happen is dangerous beyond belief. Right now, Davos is busy slaughtering every Talons agent not loyal to Val. Hence, my current state of affairs. The last day has been an utter disaster.”

“King, just tell them.” A new voice joined in, and Angela recognized it. Crosomer appeared in the projected image in the form of a disembodied head, likely out of range of the rest of the projection image.

“Hey, Crosomer. You look like shit,” Drenar growled.

“What he said. Been a while, Robbie.” Alex’s shimmering image appeared next to Drenar, aetherial wings pressed tight against his back and his arms crossed. Crosomer 's eyes widened, and he put a hand to his snout, as if warding off vapors.

“...Alex?” he whispered. “It’s you, isn't it?”

“In a way. A friend of ours found a way to project the drakensouls. Meaning, myself and Samarina now have a direct means of communication with the world.” Drenar nodded quietly, while Alex reached a claw, and then fell slack.

"Alex...I'm sorry. I know I can't make up for the heartache I've inflicted...I tried to warn you."

“Yeah. You did. We're both fools, Robbie!” Alex shouted angrily, stomping talons into the air as if that would alleviate his mood. “You and your damn rebellion are the reason we’re all in this mess! Why I’m dead, or something close to it, and why these young brave upstarts have to pick up the pieces for us! You’re the reason Lyssa is dead!”

Crosomer hung his head in shame. "I know. But the reason she's dead lies squarely behind those who manipulated all of us--"

“Okay, I didn’t ask you to air grievances, Alex, you guys need to sort this out later," Drenar stated with remarkable restraint. “Tell us where you are, King. We need to solve problems.”

“Which one?” Crosomer grunted.

“All of them. I’ll settle for figuring out what the hell Davos is, how to make him a permanent corpse, and ensure Val follows the same fate–”

“Val is a victim, Drenar.” It was Julia’s turn to rock the boat, and he glared at her. “Do you really think that she’s a monster? I can't believe I'm saying that, but...maybe she's insane because someone fundamentally broke her?"

“I dunno, the last couple of times she tried to kill us, it felt pretty damn personal. And yes, I do. Eldritch nightmares possessing people wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card this time around.” A soft cough from James drew Drenar’s ire, and Angela sighed softly.

Of course, my brother would figure something like this would happen. Go figure.

“Okay, so, little problem,” Crosomer grunted, and tapped King’s shoulder, in the projection. “We’re on the same page that we may have cracked open the way to freeing Gaia, while trying to free the drakensouls. Or, King here decided he could have two dragons with one stone, and give the world a dose of the greater good while helping me undo a cultural genocide. Not happy, King.”

“I'm aware, but we have pressing priorities. We’re on a time limit, now.” King got to the point, and leaned in. “I need a favor, Rashalda. A big one.”

“You’re asking me for favors? Oh, the balls on this guy,” Drenar growled to the audience around him. “First question: is Gaia real, and is there a possibility that an eldritch monstrosity devouring the soul guardian of the planet strike you as a possibility?”

“A little derivative, yes. If an ancient guardian goddess, in her currently weakened state, were to die, you can rest assured, that the world goes with her. So we should collectively keep that from happening,” King commented deadpan. “There are dangerous players at work. The Conclave–”

“Is no better than you.” Angela leaned in, ice-cold fury in her eyes. “You’re all just as twisted as the organization that’s supposed to run the mage world. People have died, King. And more will die. Stop bullshitting us, we need to solve problems, fast. You must have a plan. You always do. The Luminaires were your contingency, weren’t we?”

All the pieces were starting to come into position. “My survival when I was five. Our Awakenings. Joey’s arrival at the academy. Your timely intervention in the survival of Trisha Rashalda. Crosomer’s unearthing. Ensuring that Nick and Levine were in position in town. You had a hand in every one of those events, directly and indirectly. We’re your hail mary, aren’t we?”

King stared right through her, as she folded her arms and let out a tsk sound. “I love this world, flawed as it is, King. But this is not a problem we can solve unless we throw some trust in both directions. Start by telling us who you think is pulling the strings.”

“Someone who wants this world drained dry. Someone who I think had a hand in Gaia’s presumed death, four thousand years ago. She couldn’t kill her directly and chose to throw her into a prison and toss away the key, until she could find a better solution. Someone who has been with the Conclave and its precursors, since its inception.” King let out a slow breath. “Someone who is not who they say they are.”

“Zacharias Fellwoven, I presume?” All eyes turned to Joey, who was perplexed by this. “I met her, once, at graduation. I got some unsettling vibes when she introduced me at the graduation speech. I dunno why, but something about my psionics told me to never trust that woman.”

“We already know she was present at one of the sites when the dragons committed magical seppuku,” Drenar stated unhappily. “King. Can you prove it was her?”

“Why would you need proof?” King asked warily.

“Because if I’m going after the queen of Zeal, I better have a damn good plan. That bitch likely put out the hit on my mother. And she’s gonna die for that, if she did.”

Everyone in the room fell silent. “Okay, now tell us you’re on a revenge arc, and that you’re not thinking straight," James stated calmly.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“No. If we do nothing, and Fellwoven is in on this, then she's had a long time to get the pieces in motion."

“Hey, it's not just her. She’s not alone in her ideologies, she has the backing of a good chunk of the senate of the Conclave,” Joey replied. Angela thought back to the vision–what Sam had seen.

“What does she look like?” she asked suddenly.

“Uh, hang on.” Joey fiddled with her arcanist data pad, before flipping over the image, and Angela leaned in. Her breath came in a sharp inhale. “Angie, tell me that wasn’t–”

“Yeah. She was there.” Her heart was beating uncomfortably fast, seeing the image of that plain-looking woman. “Can we just shortcut this to stage eight dash four? You know, slay the dragon?”

“You will never get that close to her, even if you had proof," King cautioned.

“I got close. Damn, coulda poisoned the bitch. Wasted opportunity for my alchemical skills,” Joey growled. Angela looked at her anxiously.

“Has anyone told you, that you have slight obsessions with setting things on fire, poisoning, or dissolving kin flesh with many deadly chemicals?”

“Uh…no I don’t. Just evil people.”

“Which is now half the conclave.” Angela let out a whistling breath before turning to King. “Okay. Let’s say we want to start fixing this mess. Can we find Gaia? Keep her safe?”

“That’s…going to be a problem. Val found the gate.”

Everyone looked at each other blankly, before Angela dared to ask the next question. “What gate, exactly?”

King winced before responding. “The one she’s about to send a cracking deadly assault force into."

Angela had a bad idea, in an instant. A gate? “And was this gate found, or created recently?”

“When Richard dropped an aether-charged mana crystal onto a teleportal platform and spliced in a new gate to the aether itself,” King answered succinctly. "I theorize that those related to Gaia--those who share a lineage with her--have an unusual impact on mana. It sprouted a crystalline tree. I managed to convince Val to be wary of it, but once it’s open? My guys are dead. And so am I.”

“You’re forgetting me,” Crosomer sniped.

“All of us are dead,” King corrected. “You’ll be double dead. Which is twice as bad as you think it is.”

Angela narrowed her eyes. “This aether charged mana. Is it bright? Does it sing?”

King raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Why?”

“We know where a deposit of it is. And I have a connection to it. So does Rick.”

“The deposit that was unaccounted for. I’ve never been able to revisit the town. For reasons,” King added dryly. He rubbed his chin, soft caramel eyes brightening. "No one else knows about it. We might have an opening."

“Promise not to bring that singing, murderous dragon, or the armored monstrosity, you can come down here to parley,” Drenar stated flatly. “And maybe, you get to be a hero at the end of this story. All bets are off now. I’m about to take an unprecedented leap of faith. Can you get to Asqualia?”

King narrowed his gaze on Drenar. “Isn’t the hub destroyed?”

“There’s a temporary platform. You’ve got a half hour, and then we give it a thirty-second window. Miss this, and this window closes forever,” Angela says, almost as if reading Joey and Drenar’s minds.

King straightens slightly. “We’ll be there. Expect me to bring a small team. Assuming we don’t all get killed.”

******

This place looks like it could use an extra coat of paint.

Angela was skeptical that this was going to end well. The teleportal platform was charged, and King had relayed the coordinates. It also didn’t hurt that every gun, dragon, and dragon with a gun, was leering at the platform. One would be easily led to believe, this room?

“You think he’ll show up?” Drenar asked, even as he eased out the oversized autobow while standing in his dragon form. She tousled her feathery mane and sighed.

“If he doesn’t, I think we’re screwed.”

“I think if he does show, we’re still screwed,” Julia growled beside her and hefting a heavy mana cannon that was essentially a cannon. With magic. And anything that it hit, would cease to exist, in the totality of destruction it would unleash. “Drenar, how did we get into this mess?”

“You mean working with our resident frenemies? I haven’t the foggiest. Though, I guess I am grateful that King did save my mother’s life from that hulking menace. Seriously Kiera, mom better be lining up to put a giant dagger into either Val’s back, or Zacharias, for her to not show up right now,” he added with a distinct bitterness.

“I sent out an urgent all hands. If she’s in range of any number of our relays, then she should come home. Because I might be in line to kill her, at this rate,” Kiera growled. “If these guys show the slightest sign that this is a ruse, I’m killing all of them.”

“I don’t think King really can afford a misstep.” Angela’s claw went to her chest, past the durable Valkyrie-inspired armor that Kyle had built, to that ancient mystery in her core. Please me we can trust him, Sam. Please tell me this isn’t playing right into their hands.

If King is right? Gaia is tied to the crystals. If she dies, they may die, too. As will the planet, without the extra leg work it is doing to keep this world from collapsing from pollution and human-made catastrophes. Sam’s projection hovered near her, but she was only speaking through their link.

“Incoming portal. Signal clean,” Kyle related from the platform. He glanced warily at the room, still under construction. “Can anyone else see the bitter irony of inviting our enemies right through the front door, considering we all almost died to keep them out, last time?”

“That was Val’s forces,” Joey reminded them. “Not that I want to give King any credit whatsoever…he is playing one dangerous game that is going to end up with him getting eaten by a dragon, or cut into tiny chess pieces by Davos.”

“Wow. that’s a vivid and unsettling imagery that you’re painting. You’re starting to sound like me,” Drenar groused.

“Guess I like the way you sound. This week has been a mood, otherwise,” she quipped. Angela couldn’t help but chuckle a little. If there was anything those two needed, it was each other right now.

The portal opened, and several people could be visible. Standing there looking worse for wear, was King, and beside him, Crosomer, also looking like his scales were bruised.

More shocking, were the extra arrivals. A grey-haired man who looked like he’d seen a lot of action, and–the guys from Mount Syren? Wait. what were their names…Greg? Nigel? Karl? I think we’re missing a guy, here.

“Everyone through, as soon as you’re off the platform, drop your baggage and put your hands in the air,” Drenar called out with authority. “Kyle, kill the power in twenty seconds. I’m not taking chances.”

“And hello to you, too, Rashalda,” Crosomer called out with a roll of his eyes. “So this is the crown jewel of magical research. It’s smaller than I expected.”

“I preferred London Academy,” King commented drolly. Everyone hastily stepped off the platform, and none too soon, because there were shouts and roars of outrage in the distance, and a pounding against a magisteel barricade door. “Bertance, better close that portal and lock out that address. Urgently.”

Kyle did so, and Angela swore she saw the silhouette of Val bursting into the room in a blaze of black fire, looking malicious as the teleportal winked out of existence, and King’s associates were panting heavily. Angela could still hear him tapping in console commands to lock out a hostile portal and activated a security barrier over the device that projected the portal, far above.

The valkyries moved in unison, frisking their pockets as they offered no resistance, and King voluntarily pulled a pistol and holster off his side, and offered it to Kiera. “I believe these are my terms of surrender. We are fighting to save the soul of the world, Miss DeVerdra.”

“As am I,” Crosomer added.

“Save the platitudes, your men–”

“Val’s men, we have our own reporting agencies. I have men holding out in various safe houses. Val just decided that the Talons are under new management,” Crosomer stated quietly. “And if you think you can threaten me with imprisonment, go ahead. I waited seven hundred years to see the world fall apart when I was brought back, and I’ll endure it again.”

“Drama much?” Angela asked with a raised feathery eye crest. Crosomer took one look at her, and stared.

“Well, I want to say I’ve seen it all, but, hells, I believe you might have just thrown out all my expectations Angela.” Crosomer’s halting speech truly indicated how strange this had all become.

“I just wanted my retirement. I can forget about tropical beaches. Now where’s Rick?” the middle-aged guard asked impatiently as he was frisked for weapons–though he offered his sidearm willingly, still tucked away in its holster.

“Stand still–”

“I’ve been shot at, almost annihilated by exploding portals, and been threatened by becoming a snack for a murderous diva for too many years to count. Where is Rick?” the man growled.

“William?” Rick called out, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. He rushed past Valkyries and steadfast Luminaires to give the man a bear hug, like old friends reunited after a long stay apart. “Gods…I’m sorry, Bill. I should have listened to you.”

“Ah, you’re in one piece, that’s more than I ever could have asked for, kid. Hey, can we point the autobows in another direction for a moment?” the guard named Bill called out. Strangely, they did. “I heard about Jersey. I wanted to skin that damn lizard. She got wind about the portal, then things got bad back at the mine. Long story.”

“Anyone else make it?”

“Just us,” Nigel stated quietly, his red hair showing streaks of grey, and gestured to Nigel and Karl. “There might have been others loyal to creating a better tomorrow…but Val started a purge of the Talons, along with Davos.”

“Guys, I know this is a tender moment for some of you, but we have work to do,” Drenar stated quietly, wings no longer tense. Alex formed in a wisp of energy from his armband, and stood alongside that brave teen who had endured hell on earth to get to this point. “Crosomer, King…let’s start setting this world right. But first, tell us what happened.”

“Val’s got a way to find Gaia, her and Davos. If they get there before we do, this world’s doomed. I think Angela and Rick might be our ticket to beating them there, and possibly you, Drenar,” King stated with resolve.

“Why me?”

“Because your mother–and you–have a connection to the aether.”