Roman’s prejudice of their newly revealed witch companion was one problem in need of solving. Sunny's distress after her near-death experience was another.

“I-Investigator?” Hearing Sunny’s shaking voice, West turned to check on her.

Working with her hands seemed to have calmed Sunny. Rather than using the knife, the witch picked small threads of magic to cut and seam the cloak fabric, splitting the back in a way to slip over her wings. With the small strips Sunny cut out, she worked to mend her dress as well, fastening threads through etheric means to reinforce the destroyed right shoulder.

West hesitated, studying the dip of her brow and bite of her lip like an approaching stormfront. “Aye, lass?” Almost immediately, West grimaced– he’d used that forbidden term lass again.

But Sunny didn’t seem bothered. “Where did… where d-did you learn to fight like…?”

Ah. Did ye notice, then? West did his best to pick his answer carefully, but with her bright golden stare boring into him, he found himself fumbling with words.

“Now’s nae the time fer chattin’. We can catch up again later.”

The words slipped out too fast, and Sunny’s hands dropped from her work. Catch up again hovered in the air between them. Her eyes shifted to his hat and her lips parted.

Glancing in Roman’s direction, West shook his head faintly at her. Clearing his throat, he turned to address the swordsman. “Well, those beasties must’ve come from somewhere, aye? I dinnae think we jes’ overlooked ‘em on our way here. How do ye figure they came sneakin’ up on us?”

Roman whipped his blade to sling off the blood, then took a cloth to its edge for the lingering smears. “You’ve got an idea, Investigator?”

“Nae sure, but assumin’ they weren’t hidin’ under an illusion or somethin’–”

“No w-way of th… that.” Sunny faltered. “Lím smelled them as th-they arrived. He’d have kn-known if we’d passed them, hidden or not. They must’ve come through a passage b-between the walls.”

West turned to face her again. “Hol’ on, yer talkin’ about those back halls from a’fore? There’s a way in and out o’ those?”

“I think so. But I d-don’t… I don’t think it can be opened from this s-side. Not with the information we h-have now.” The alterations to the cloak were done to her satisfaction, or at least the extent of her ability. Sunny wiggled her wings through the back slits and stretched them experimentally. The crude tailoring job allowed them to move freely, and nestling into the garment’s warmth, she sighed in contentment. Lím abandoned his witch’s shoulder and tucked himself into the cloak’s hood, making it a perfectly squirrel-sized hammock.

“Hm. I know ye tried breakin’ a wall once and it didnae work out, but what about if we found wheree’r a passage might open into the back halls? Have ye tried breakin’ in from there?”

Sunny hesitated. “Not… n-not from an entry point,” she said, fastening the clasp at the cloak’s collar. She grimaced when her fingers accidentally brushed the crystalline torque fixed about her neck. “But even if w-we found one, it’s not easy to b-break through that outer layer of stone. So unless either of you have s-something that might work….”

The room was quiet. “That would have been Vera’s department.” Roman glared sideways at West. “One of her wands could have made a difference, surely.”

The complaint landed with teeth, galling West. “Aye, I’m sure it coulda, Roman. And if ye’d have done somethin’ back there other than bendin’ over to kiss yer own ass, then mebbe–”

“S-stop it!” Sunny snapped. West shut his mouth obediently, and she sighed. “How m-many– how many wands did she have, exactly?”

“A few. A lot. She collects them. The case holds at least twenty, and she had others she kept sending back to the university–”

“Just the ones sh-she had with her. She had twenty?” Sunny clasped her hands against her lips, thinking hard. “I can… w-we can work with that, maybe, if… if you figure that....”

Unsettled, Roman looked at West. “Do you have any clue what she’s talking about?”

“Try askin’ her, mebbe,” West said with an irritated twist of his lips.

“No, it’s– I d-don’t know if it would work. But. If we find where those things came from. If we assume that the p-passage is a weak spot.” Sunny swallowed. “My t-teacher told me about– if you b-break a wand, there’s a sudden release of th-the remaining mana. You can't really put m-money down how those spells release, whether the magic h-holds its shape or changes or, or anything else, but… the most l-likely reaction, it’s just… just magical energy a-all at once. Destruction. And if there’s another wand caught in th-that, it’ll break too.”

“... Twen’y wands,” West said, staring at the black case poking out of Roman's bag. He’d never seen a wand break, but he’d seen the aftermath once. That crater, times twen’y….

“She keeps any that she isn’t restoring fully charged,” Roman said quietly. “How much energy do you think–”

“Oh, we’ll need to be at a d-distance,” Sunny said emphatically. “If… if there’s not a wall between us and it, it wouldn’t be safe in the l-least, but–”

“Absolutely not!” Roman interrupted. “We’re not doing anything that could end up being suicide. Or I’m not, at least.”

“Tell ye what. Let’s just take a look fer where the trail starts on those things, a’fore we go makin’ any decisions,” West suggested. “Might be we cannae find it, aye? No sense in arguin’ ourselves blue a’fore we e’en look.”

Finding a track on the clean stone was no small task. But as they entered the hall, West spotted something new– tiny drops of dark wetness on the floor. Ichor? West smudged it between his fingers, trying to get a sense of its color and texture. “One o’ those creatures made a run fer it.”

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“Brilliant, Investigator,” Roman drawled, “so it went off that way. We need to find where it came from.”

West grunted, wiping his fingers off on his shorts. “It’s headed off the way we came from, aye? Chances are it went out the way it came in. Let’s jes’ follow after it and see where it takes us. Keep yer eyes peeled fer any other wee spots to let us know we’re still on the path, aye?”

The trail became clearer as they went on, more little droplets flung here and there. They followed it along the halls, passing the blackened plaque where Roman had tried to guess his answer before they were attacked. A short distance later, the blood trail stopped abruptly, as though its source had vanished in mid-step.

“Erm….” West slowed his walk as he cast around, looking to see if there was a chance the thing had doubled back, if he’d overlooked a turn into a room– anything. But he found nothing.

As he was about to swallow his pride and ask for help, West found a few thin droplets leading onward again. “O’er here! Let’s keep movin’ on.”

He ushered his companions back on the trail, but Sunny resisted. “Wait. D-did either of you see that?”

“See what?” Roman asked.

“There.” She nodded at a spot on the tiled wall, just a few paces away from where West stood. “There’s s-something not– I think– an illusion?”

West drew back warily from the spot she’d indicated. He scoured it intently, but could only discern the usual brick walls. “Yer sure, lass?”

“Y… yes. There’s something hidden there.” With a deep inhale, Sunny moved forward.

Unprepared, West moved to intercept her, protesting, “Hold on, it might be dangerous–”

Stooping close to the wall, Sunny reached out. The air trickled like a waterfall over her fingers as they disappeared. Her startled gasp spurred West to yank her back, immediately searching her arm for injury. Her fingertips were dark and wet, but the blood wasn’t red enough to be hers.

“Oh– we found it,” she breathed.

Under close scrutiny, the illusion melted away. In its place, the still corpse of the final mantis lay slumped against the wall, legs curling under it, eyes dimmed and blank.

“Poor thing,” Sunny murmured, to an incredulous stare from Roman.

“Yes. Poor, murdering, bloodthirsty insect,” Roman grumbled. “West! I thought you said the trail went on further than this?”

West glanced ahead. The floor down the hall was clean now. “Look fer yerself. Prob’ly was another piece of illusion. Which says good things fer us– or do ye think Whistler woulda bothered hidin’ somethin’ that dinnae lead to aught?”

Roman harrumphed. “Well, go take a look, Investigator. Is this the place?”

In the interest of peace, West swallowed a retort. There was no clean place to stand, and West picked his way over the thickening pool of ichor to examine the wall. The mantis had made a right mess of the hall, having smeared goo high on the surface before expiring. But even after wiping it roughly clean with a rag from his pack, not even a close inspection of the tile hinted at any secret passage, nor any way of opening it. “Well. It’s prob’ly here, but that’s all I can say.”

“Probably?” Roman said.

“Well, I’ve nae any sort o’ skill at this, but I think–“

“Make sure.” Roman waited impatiently for West to continue his search, but West simply stood and shrugged.

“I’ve made as much sure as I know. It’s either here, or I dinnae know where it might be.”

“Investigator, we have just one shot at this,” Roman said, straightening up his posture. “Would you really recommend we proceed on the strength of your assessment?”

West felt lightning spark in his chest, hot and sharp, and sighed loudly. “Well, we’ve gotta take the leap. We only have so much time, and this’s the best bet we’ve got.” West met Roman's stare, undaunted. “Or are ye plannin’ on jes’ givin’ up instead?”

Roman snorted and, finally, unstrapped the case from his back and handed it to West, as though handing it to the witch directly was unthinkable. West suppressed the urge to roll his eyes as he passed the case on to Sunny. Releasing a breath she’d been holding, Sunny accepted the case and examined it. “R… right. This should… we’ll h-have to see.”

Sulking, Roman drawled, “How reassuring. Do either of you have a shred of confidence in any part of this plan?”

“Jes’ the part that, whether it works or nae, I willnae have to listen to ye gripin’ much longer,” West grumbled back. “What do we do from here, Sunneh?”

“It’s… I, I just....” Staring at the case, a disjointed look passed over her. Lím barked harshly, and she snapped out of it with a sharp intake of breath. “It’s near,” she warned, choking.

A sourceless feeling of terror swept through the hall moments later. West willfully relaxed as it stormed through him, and guided the spiraling thoughts to the back of his mind. His heart hammered all the same though, and unbidden, his eyes cast up and down the halls for where the next threat would come from.

Of course Whistler was about. Of course. He must have been, in order to place the illusion to hide the mantis. Now that they’d seen through it, he’d have reason to make himself known in force. Especially if their plan had any chance of success, he’d have to be ready to put a stop to it. It was the worst kind of encouragement, the sort that gave him a hollow pit in his stomach.

They had a shot, but just one. They couldn’t let themselves be pushed back now. Sorting through his priorities, West called, “We’re on the right track– Sunneh, you jes’ keep yer eyes on yer work, and leave us to take care o’ the rest!”

“R… right!” Voice trembling but resolute, Sunny set the case on the ground and searched for the clasp.

West heard the click of the latch. Too late, he remembered Vera toggling a lever whenever she opened the case. “Hol’ on–”

Energy crackled with ravenous fury, jolting the witch back. The pain left her shuddering and gasping.

“Ach! So sorry, lass, I’d forgotten!” Then again, West’d only ever seen it opened a few times and never done it himself at all, so he could barely be expected to know well enough to give warning. Unlike his ever-critical companion across the hall, that was.

Damn it, Roman, ye couldnae o’ said somethin’?

Ignoring West’s glare, Roman barely glanced at the witch, showing little concern beyond whether she would recover to do her part.

Forcing his attention back to the Mani, West asked Sunny, “Are ye all right?”

“I’ll b-be… fine….” Gritting her teeth, Sunny pushed through the lingering effects of the spell, reapproaching the case.

West stooped alongside her, finding the discreet lever on the case’s end and triggering it before opening the case. “Got it open fer ye now.”

Touching West’s arm briefly in thanks, Sunny scanned over the wands, hands shaking as she took an inventory. “I’ve g-got it from here.” Inspecting each as quickly as she could, Sunny began to sort through which ones she needed first for her designs.

“Countin’ on ye.”

West barely rose to his feet before two things happened in quick succession:

First, the all-too-familiar grinding of the mechanisms, rotating the walls of the hall. Not too far away, a passage that had been previously blocked began to inch open.

Second, from a dozen paces down the hall, a shadow bloomed like a stain through cloth. West squared up towards it, firmly calling, “At the ready, Roman!” His companion spotted it just as the first limb came flailing through the dark blotch on the ground.