Missy stood up, shards of glass embedding into her skin, which she quickly removed by sending a pulse through her body, expelling the fragments with a soft tinkling sound. She moved to jump back through the window, the crunch of glass under her feet accompanying her deliberate movements. She leapt through the window, twisting mid-air to narrowly avoid the sharp edges of the broken pane.

Missy meticulously scanned the room as she entered, searching for Razuroc only to find no trace of the ancient behemoth. Not even the massive hole he had used remained. She walked over to where it had been and sent a concentrated pulse of magic through the ground. As her senses extended through the earth like tendrils, she discovered that Razuroc must have been methodically closing the tunnel as he moved downward, leaving no trace of his passage. Missy didn’t have the magical reserves to give chase.

Overwhelmed, Missy sank to her knees, weighted down by her failure. She’d tried to help and had only managed to break a window, achieving nothing of consequence. It wasn’t long before the council and law enforcement entered the building; Missy heard them moving through the halls as they approached, their footsteps echoing off the marble floors. Missy remained motionless as she tried to think of what she could do. She could probably find her way into the extensive sewer system of the city and track down Razuroc’s distinctive magical aura, but she didn’t have enough magic to make a decisive strike against him without using deadly force. She doubted he would allow her to steal his magic again after their previous encounter. She could try to extract magic from him that he wasn’t actively using, but that could also have deadly consequences. She didn’t have the physical strength to fight him either; his massive form was far too powerful for direct confrontation. She didn’t like any of her limited options.

While she considered her choices, the council and law enforcers entered the room. As law enforcement methodically checked for survivors, the council members took stock of the other artifacts in the room—except for Rinale, who made her way directly to Missy. Missy looked up, meeting Rinale’s penetrating gaze.

“I’m sorry I failed,” Missy said, her voice carrying a note of despondency and genuine regret.

Rinale studied her for a moment before responding. “I can’t say that my suspicions are fully put to rest, but the fact you tried might have swayed me a little.”

Missy stood up and started to head toward the exit, her movements purposeful. Sitting here wasn’t going to change anything, and she had some time before Razuroc would be ready to use the Ortus. She would enter the sewers and track him down, somehow finding a way to defeat him while she was down there.

“Where are you going?” Rinale asked, her concern evident.

“I’m going into the sewers to track him down.” Missy’s voice carried more certainty than she actually felt.

“Wait, I’m coming with you.” Rinale stepped up beside her, adjusting her elegant attire for the task ahead.

Missy was about to protest, but one look at the determination blazing in Rinale’s eyes stopped her. Instead, she asked if Rinale knew the quickest way into the sewers. Rinale nodded and led the way deeper into the capitol building, their footsteps echoing through the empty corridors. Rinale guided her to an imposing reinforced door and unlocked it, revealing steep stairs leading down into darkness.

As they descended, Missy extended her magical senses curiously. Reaching out, she felt several familiar presences as well as some unfamiliar ones, their magical signatures pulsing in the darkness. The council appeared to be using the basement area of the building as a holding area for dangerous entities they had managed to capture over time.

Missy withdrew her senses, suddenly aware that she now had a way to guarantee victory over Razuroc, but she hesitated because she was afraid of how taking this option would fundamentally change her. She knew it was probably foolish, but she wanted to try beating Razuroc as she was now, relying on her own strength and abilities. If she couldn’t win through conventional means, she would return here, though the thought filled her with dread.

After descending for a while, they navigated through a maze of hallways until reaching a reinforced door set into the wall. Rinale spent several moments fighting with the locking mechanism before it finally swung open. A damp corridor greeted them. Until this point, they had moved in a tense silence that hung heavy in the air between them.

The silence was broken when Rinale spoke. “Just a moment.” She gestured, and a bright light sprang to life in the palm of her hand, illuminating the dark passageway ahead.

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Missy wondered if Rinale was unable to see her in the dark. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but the city above had always been brightly lit when night came. She found herself curious if the inability to see in darkness was common among mortals, though she decided against asking for the moment.

They stepped into the tunnel and began walking, their footsteps echoing off the stone walls. Missy extended her senses to their limit as she began searching for Razuroc’s location. The rhythmic echo of their footsteps was the only sound until Rinale cleared her throat somewhat awkwardly.

“So, what’s the plan?”

Missy smiled at Rinale, her expression gentle despite the gravity of their situation. “I’m not sure. I don’t really have a way to beat him outright, but he doesn’t really have a way of beating me either, so maybe I can distract him while you retrieve the Ortus or return to get help.” She shrugged, the gesture casual despite the weight of her words.

Rinale’s face creased with obvious displeasure at the suggestion. “How are we going to find him?” Her voice carried an edge of frustration.

“I’m currently looking for his aura.”

Rinale scoffed, her disbelief evident. “There is no way that will work—you would need to be able to sense auras across a massive area. Even at the height of my power, it would be pure luck to stumble into him.” She looked like she was currently regretting her decision to follow Missy into the depths.

“I’m not sure what you would consider a massive area, but I can extend my senses over a couple of city blocks. Depending on how fast he was moving, we might be able to find him before he reaches wherever he is going.”

Rinale gasped and stumbled, catching herself against the damp wall. “That can’t be. How? I can roughly sense how strong your aura is, and you should not be able to do that.”

Missy wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she remained silent. They wandered further through the tunnel until Rinale broke the silence again, her voice softer now, almost contemplative.

“Why are you doing this? It’s not your responsibility—what do you hope to get out of this?”

Missy stopped and looked over to Rinale, her head tilted to the side in genuine confusion. Rinale took a few steps forward before turning back to her.

“I’m not sure what you mean. Razuroc is going to hurt people, and I don’t want that. Wouldn’t that be not wanting something?” Missy looked at Rinale, clearly puzzled.

Rinale snorted, though there was an undercurrent of amusement in the sound. “You are either a really good actor or more innocent than I expected for an entity imprisoned underground for who knows how long. The logical part of me tells me it’s the former, but my gut is telling me it’s the latter.” She laughed to herself, the sound echoing strangely in the tunnel. “I guess there’s no point in second-guessing now, since the fact I followed you here alone makes it pretty clear which part has won out.” Rinale looked around her as if she had just realized where she was.

“Why would you following me matter?” Missy asked uncertainly.

Rinale smiled, a knowing look in her eyes. “Actor or innocent? I really hope I don’t regret this.” She seemed to be talking to herself as she turned and started walking again. “Come on, we still need to find Razuroc.”

After a brief pause, Missy followed after her. They continued walking, and it wasn’t long before Missy’s senses picked up a change in their surroundings. The area they were heading towards had magic saturating the air—old magic, familiar in a way that made her skin prickle. Missy knew where they were heading, and she wanted to turn back, to run, but something told her this would be where Razuroc would be hiding.

Her instincts were proven right as she felt her senses brush against the aura of the Ortus. She was surprised at the difference between the Ortus and the magic in the air. Though they were from the same source, she noticed the slight pollution of the Ortus’s aura; it was less pure than the magic that hung in the air like a heavy mist. Missy sensed all this, but they were still a little way off from reaching the spot.

“I found the edge of the Ortus’s aura. If we continue this way, we should find Razuroc.”

Rinale looked at her in surprise, her eyebrows raised. “Really? I wasn’t sure we would even find him, let alone this quickly.”

Missy wasn’t sure how quick or slow they had been—she just wished Razuroc hadn’t ended up where he did. It wasn’t long before they reached where they could start to feel the magic in the air. Rinale gasped and froze, turning to Missy with eyes full of wonder.

“I thought I would never feel this again.” Her voice trembled, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes. “Is this Razuroc’s doing?”

Missy didn’t answer Rinale. She knew what was causing the reappearance of magic, and she had mixed emotions about it. She had been quite unhappy about this turn of events, but Rinale’s reaction gave her pause. Missy took magic for granted, but Rinale seemed overwhelmed with just the tiny amount in the air. Maybe Missy could find a way to restore magic to the world without losing the life she had now. She decided to put those thoughts aside for the moment—they needed to deal with Razuroc first.

At this point, Missy could feel his aura along with the Ortus. She started moving again, with Rinale following close behind, seeming to breathe in deeply as if trying to savor the magic in the air. They finally reached the room where Razuroc was setting up his ritual. He had used his earth magic to reshape the area, creating a large open square room with smoothed walls and a perfectly level floor.

In the center stood Razuroc, his massive form hunched over the Ortus, which sat at the heart of a complex magic circle etched into the stone. The ancient being turned, his rage and irritation apparent in every line of his massive form.

“I see the pest needs to be squashed again.”