Saiyun's feet pounded the floorboards as he bolted through the halls of the embassy. Servants and officials dove out of their way, sending papers and dishes flying. There were still people around, which might give them just enough cover to get out into the streets. If they could get out into the streets they could hide. If they could hide, they could warn the Vathlanri about the betrayal. If they could warn the Vathlanri, they could get a hold of Wabaro and capture whatever ship they came in on before it could get away.

But first, they had to get out of the Embassy.

As he took a hard corner towards the courtyard Saiyun reached out to the connection between him and Jado. The summon still lived, and he hoped that meant it was holding the Korav at bay.

Yazwa pulled ahead of him and shouldered a door open, bursting out into the cold night air. "We're almost there!" she cried.

Amid the torchlight, Saiyun saw the gates ahead of him. The large one was sealed, but the two smaller ones on either side remained open, each guarded by a single man. He reached for another of the many summon dolls he made during his stay. Another Jado would be enough to scare the guard off. All they had to do was cross the open courtyard.

The screaming started the second he set foot on the bare earth.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw people run out of one of the buildings that ringed the courtyard. Some stumbled and looked over their shoulders, and others kept their eyes on the gate as they sprinted towards it. His heart skipped a beat. Had he been wrong? Had the Korav shown itself?

The building the people ran from was smashed to pieces as a giant creature ran through it. It had a massive body supported by six thick but pointy legs. A centipede neck and head jutted out of its armor-plated body, and a wicked set of mandibles chattered open and closed as it kicked the debris out of its way, beady eyes sweeping the courtyard. It locked its gaze on the mob of people swarming the narrow gate and skittered toward them.

"Yazwa!" Saiyun shouted, but she had already changed course, sprinting towards the summon with her staff at the ready.

As he watched her advance, the link between him and the Jado was broken. The Korav was coming, and the captain had made it obvious she didn't care about collateral damage. The rational thing to do was equally obvious. The summon was distracted by the crowd. They should use the distraction to slip away and find another way to escape.

Saiyun dismissed the thought as soon as it crossed his mind. He pulled out two Jados and hurled them at the walls of a nearby building. The roof crumbled in as they formed from the wood, and the pair screeched out matching battle cries.

He would not let a massacre be the price of his escape.

One way or another, this would end here and now.

-

Yazwa's lungs burned as she closed distance with the gigantic summon, a smile growing on her face. Her eyes glowed gold, and the world was lit in a riot of swirling colors. The creature had not yet seen her, and she knew how to beat it. With one swing she could hack off its neck and save the people desperate to escape.

A gust of wind buffeted her as two Jados barreled past her and leaped onto the giant summon, sending it staggering sideways into an intact part of the building it had just smashed. It screeched, lurching and snapping at the Jados as their hard beaks tore at the gaps between armor plates. Seeing the perfect opening, she raised her staff for the kill.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something big flying through the air straight at her head. She dove to the ground to avoid the broken roof beam and rolled over five times before she came to a stop.

Under the giant summons legs.

Yazwa rolled left and right as its legs impacted the ground all around, threatening to crush her every time it took a step. With no room to swing her staff under the summon’s belly, she scrambled out from under it and leaped to her feet just in time to see a blur racing towards her.

"Die!" shouted Ca Diro, swinging another shattered beam over his head at her.

With a quick jump to the side, she avoided the beam and it split in two as it hit the ground. She shifted her stance and launched a wide swing at his head that he lurched backward to dodge. Shuffling back a step or two she took stock of what she could see. His royal blue aura was so bright it almost hurt her eyes. His hands glowed with the same sharp white light that shone on her staff. Streaks of red swirled through his aura, the same shade of red he pulled out of Ji. The edges of his aura weren't wispy but outlined with a hard, dense sheen of gray.

"Do you know what you cost me?!" Ca Diro bellowed, picking up one of the pieces of the beam and hurling it at Yazwa.

"I hope it was a lot!" Yazwa cackled as euphoria threatened to overtake her. She ducked away from the beam as well as the next one Ca Diro threw. He must have been using stolen strength as well as making his hands sharp. But what the gray was she couldn't say and there was only one way to find out. She surged forward, swinging for his side.

Ca Diro did not even try to dodge, letting the staff hit his side dead on.

Yazwa grunted and stumbled as the end of the staff failed to cut.

With a swing of his arm, Ca Diro clamped the staff between his arm and side, raising his other fist to snap it in two.

Twisting backward with all her strength, Yazwa wrenched her staff out before he could strike it. As she struggled to find her footing, Ca Diro came at her, but she danced back to avoid his swings.

"There were dozens of completed Otzen on that ship!" screamed Ca Diro, fists flying as he tried to land a blow on her. "Hundreds of journals! You destroyed a lifetime of work!"

Another cackle escaped Yazwa's lips as she ducked and twisted out of his way. "And now I just need to kill you to finish the job!" She choked up on her staff and launched a close-range swing at his knee. It failed to cut again, but the hit made him stumble enough for her to get some distance.

Ca Diro barked out a laugh and started to circle towards her, fists raised. "You're not leaving here alive."

Matching his pace, Yazwa circled in the opposite direction, staff at the ready as she dared glance out of the corner of her eye. The Jado's were still attacking the giant summon, but one was hurled to the ground and one of its legs dragged behind as it went in for another attack. Through the path, the giant summon had smashed through the embassy came two more summons, human in shape save for having two sets of arms. Reinforcements were coming. If they didn't win soon, they had no chance.

Faking a step to the left she fired a straight thrust of her staff to his face from as far away as she could. When he made to grab it, she pulled it back and thrust again at his chest. It landed but felt more like striking a tree than a man.

Batting the staff aside, Ca Diro stepped forward and sunk his fist into Yazwa's stomach.

Even though she rolled with it enough to make it a glancing blow, it hit hard enough that she saw stars in her eyes and her sight flickered. She fought to keep her balance as she staggered backward, watching for the next attack.

It didn't come.

Ca Diro seized her staff, yanked it out of her grip, and held it in his hands. "You stole that trick from me," he said as the white light from his hand drifted up to the head of the staff. "Seems fair that I cut you to pieces with it."

Yazwa fought for breath as she staggered back, keeping out of range. She brushed her hand against the bag of obsidian blades hanging at her belt and bared her teeth, willing the cold light into her palm. If she was going to go down, she wasn't going easy.

"I'll take your hands first," Ca Diro said, shuffling forward. "Then I can take my time. By the time I'm done with you, you'll regret ever-AGH!"

Yazwa jumped as Ca Diro fell to the ground, his feet swept out from under him. A deep black shape had taken hold of one of his ankles and was shaking it like a dog worrying a bone. Ca Diro dropped the staff and kicked the creature to free his foot.

The creature stumbled backward, shaking its head as Ca Diro got to his feet. Looking closer Yazwa saw that it was dog-shaped, made of swirling mist dark as a moonless night save for crimson eyes and fangs. Yazwa wondered what it was for half a heartbeat before it hurled itself at Ca Diro, jaws wide.

It was on her side. That was all she needed to know.

-

"It jumped!" Ji called as she watched the black dog plummet toward the ground. As high up as they were in the floating ship, she could see the massive summon and the Jados, but everything else was too small for her to distinguish.

"The Loyal One can survive the drop," Turantoc said, getting to his feet. With one hand he pulled out a longsword from a sheathe at his waist, the blade so shiny it was a mirror. He wrapped his other hand around the mast and gripped it tightly. "You can't. Hold on tight until I say!"

Ji clutched her seat as the bow tipped forwards. As they picked up speed, the wind stung her eyes. She strained to keep them open to see the battle they were racing towards. A mob of people was trying to push their way through the narrow gates as the giant summon tried to kill the Jados clinging to it. Two of the four-armed summons were racing to help. On the other side of the courtyard, she saw the Loyal One and two other people fighting it out. As the ground rushed up to meet them she honed in on the four-armed summons. Apart from the giant, they were the most dangerous enemy in the field. They would be hers.

"Hang on!" called Turantoc as they dived past the giant summon. It turned towards them and Turantoc leaned out, mirrored blade in hand. With one swing he parted its head from its neck.

The ship slowed rapidly, and Ji felt like she was pinned to the seat by a giant weight. She watched as the giant summon crumbled into a pile of soil, covering the four-armed summons and filling the courtyard with a cloud of dust. The ship began to level, reaching the bottom of its dive.

“Jump!” Turantoc shouted, but she’d already leaped. She landed with a roll, then coughed, covering her mouth and peering through the dust cloud.

Turantoc hit the ground next to her, sword at the ready as his ship floated back up into the sky. "So who's on your side?"

Ji heard him, but his words did not reach her. Through the haze, she saw Ca Diro.

The man who lied to her.

The man who tortured her.

The man who made her weak.

The world around her went silent as she shook with anger. He was right there. What would she do first? Crush his fingers? Smash his teeth in? Claw the skin off his body? She had dreamed of her revenge for weeks. Ji took a single, shaky step forward, watching him fend off a blow from Yazwa and dodge a bite from the Loyal One. If she didn't hurry, they would kill him before she had a chance. What right did they have to her kill? If they dared get in her way, she'd put them down!

A blue blur darted behind her, so fast she could barely see it. Old instincts took over and she raised her fists, spinning to face the new threat.

Turantoc threw his sword away and reached for a dagger at his belt as the enemy closed in on him. Its claws flashed across Turantoc's chest, shredding his coat and cutting the bandoliers that hung from his shoulders. Turantoc slashed upwards, but it twisted out of the way, showing Ji its blank face for just a moment before it pressed the attack again.

A Korav.

A demon of vengeance.

Just like her.

The white-hot fury that consumed her snuffed in an instant and she shivered, still holding up her fists. Ji caught sight of the scars on her arms earned the last time she crossed paths with a Korav. Memories flooded her mind, of Bill refusing to allow her to fight it, of Yazwa comforting her on the bowels of the wrecked ship, of the joyful terror when she finally fought it face to face, and of her pride when Aven bandaged her wounds.

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She'd left him to die.

A wave of nausea forced Ji to her knees as Turantoc fought with the Korav. She lurched forward, digging her fingers into the hard-packed dirt, eyes locked on her scars. Half-formed thoughts swelled and faded in her head as a storm of emotions ripped through her. What had she done? Why? How? When? How had it come to this?

She had been so obsessed with pursuing strength she had forgotten to pursue good. She was not a Korav. She was not a being of vengeance. She had limits that pure rage could not overcome. Her anger was a weight.

The dust cleared and Ji took the easiest breath of her life. Her lungs filled with so much air she thought they would burst. When she exhaled the force was enough to push her to her feet. New strength flowed into her limbs and the doubt was pushed out.

When she rushed into battle, the wind went with her.

-

Saiyun leaned against a piece of rubble, trying to make sense of the turn of events. The crowd at the gate was slowly shrinking as people forced their way into the street. A dog had fallen from the sky to come to Yazwa's aid. The Korav was back and doing battle with Ji and a man with green skin. Both of his Jados had landed softly in the pile of dirt that had been the giant summon. One's leg was injured. The other was perfectly fine. Who did he help? Who were these new allies? Which fight needed him the most? The summons were gone, so-

Letao.

Lurching forward, Saiyun willed his injured Jado to his side and sent the other through the hole in the building. The smart thing to do would be to pull back and create a new batch of summons to send into battle. He had no doubt that's exactly what Letao was doing. Ji and Yazwa could take care of themselves; this was his battle.

After scrambling over the pile of rubble he looked through Jado's eyes and saw he was right. Letao was running deeper into the garden towards a wooden bridge that spanned the pond. One of the clawed summons stayed close behind her, spinning around as Jado closed in. Saiyun willed it to go around, but the clawed summon was quick, seizing hold of Jado's tail as it tried to dart past. "Keep it there!" Saiyun shouted, throat raw as he pushed onwards.

The Jado flopped back and forth, pulling the clawed summon of balance and down into the dirt. Saiyun swerved to dart around the melee, the other Jado limping at his side. That was one tied down if they could get closer-

A winged centipede burst into existence in the air above Letao's head. Without missing a beat the summon tore through the air, straight at Saiyun's face. He dove, hitting the ground hard as the injured Jado leaped forward. The two summons slammed into each other and fell to the ground, twisting and shrieking in a tangled mess of jaws and mandibles. Saiyun rolled forward and jumped to his feet, stumbling forward as he tried to get his balance.

Two down, but he had no idea how many Letao could maintain at once. His eyes darted left and right, searching for her in the dim light.

Letao stood at the edge of the pond with a toothy grin on her face and a summon doll in her hand. With a wink, she tossed it into the air in a high arc.

Saiyun sprinted towards her, watching the doll rise into the air. If it was another one of those winged centipedes, he didn't stand a chance. But as he closed the distance the six-limbed doll dropped towards the earth. One of the clawed summons, an earth medium!

Willing himself to go faster, Saiyun lunged forward with his hands outstretched. He managed to grab hold of one of the arms, snatching it out of the air before it had a chance to hit the ground. With a guttural cry, he dashed forward, hurling himself at Letao.

Her eyes widened in shock, but the grin never left her face as Saiyun slammed into her, sending both of them flying into the garden pond.

-

Throwing a punch had never been so easy. As Ji moved, the wind gathered around her arm, adding its might to hers. Every move she made, every step was supported and strengthened by the air around her. Her fatigue and doubt were gone, replaced with purpose and focus.

And still, the Korav was too fast.

Turantoc faced the brunt of its attacks, razor-sharp claws ripping through the air so fast Ji could barely follow them. His clothes were shredded and half a dozen gashes ripped through his arms and chest, oozing thick yellow goo. Yet he held his ground, lashing out at the Korav with his yellow knife whenever an opening presented itself.

Ji surged forward, strong wind at her back propelling her into the fight. She twisted her hips and launched a sharp kick at the Korav's hips, feeling a gust of wind gather at her heel as she went on the attack.

The Korav jumped straight up to avoid her blow. It contorted itself in mid-air, all four sets of claws whistling through the air. The flurry forced Ji to duck and roll away and when she got to her feet she heard Turantoc cry out in pain.

"No!" Ji gasped as the Korav sunk its clawed hand into Turantocs chest, the yellow knife tumbling from his grip.

But before it could hit the ground Turantoc lashed out, grabbing the Korav's forearm in one hand and its upper arm with another. "Got you!" he called, gripping tight.

There was no time to question it as Ji surged forward, wind gusting around her. The Korav was still fast, but now it was pinned. Ji launched a barrage of punches at the monster and she was almost shocked when she felt one connect. It swung at her, but Turantoc jerked to the left and the claws went wide. Ji darted in and landed three hard punches on its side.

The Korav shuddered, planting its feet and wrenching its body with all of its strength. There was a wet tearing sound as Turantoc lost his grip and the monster pulled its claw free, along with a handful of Turantoc's chest.

For half a heartbeat, the Korav was off balance and that was the only opening Ji needed. With the aid of the wind, she darted forward inside the creature's guard and drove her elbow into its chest with all the power she could muster. Bones shattered from the force of the strike and the Korav was blown off its feet, landing hard on its back. It made one feeble attempt to stand before it flopped down to the ground, still as the grave.

-

Yazwa's lungs burned and her staff was heavy in her hand as she carried on the fight with Ca Diro. Once again she landed a blow with her staff and once again, Ca Diro shrugged it off with a grunt. The red glow at the center of his aura intensified as he lashed out at her with a savage kick. Yazwa barely avoided it by lurching backward, feeling the force of the blow as it grazed her stomach.

Before Ca Diro could pull his foot back the dog seized it in its teeth and pulled Ca Diro to the ground. Yazwa raised her staff, but the Blood Achali kicked the dog so hard it flew off and slammed into Yazwa. They fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs and Yazwa let the sharp on her staff drop for fear of cutting the dog in two.

The seconds they took to break apart cost them as Ca Diro scrambled to his feet first. The dog yelped as he kicked it hard, sending it tumbling end over end through the dirt. In one motion Yazwa swept her hand up from her belt when she rose, putting the cold white light of sharp back in her staff as she found her footing.

"Bringing your pet to the fight won't matter!" Ca Diro snarled, picking up pieces of debris bigger than him and throwing it at Yazwa. "You signed your own death warrant long ago!"

Yazwa ducked and dodged away from the flying chunks of building, not daring to look over her shoulder to see if the dog was alright. "Is that another one of your delusions?" she shouted back, wiping sweat away from her eyes as she peered at his aura. The gray that outlined it wasn't so uniform anymore. Where she had struck and where the dog had bitten were faded, paler. There were spots on his forearms, shoulder, and ankle. If she could hit one of them...

Ca Diro let out a guttural roar and lifted a broken beam above his head, his aura flaring crimson as he swung it down.

The ground shook as it impacted the ground, but Yazwa kept her footing and lunged forward, jabbing at one of his hands holding the beam. Ca Diro shifted his stance and swung it sideways, bowling her over and sending her stumbling to the ground. She caught sight of him lifting the beam again and desperately rolled to avoid the next blow.

It never came.

The dog sailed through the air and seized Ca Diro's wrist in its jaws. He screamed and tried to throw it off, slamming his fist into the dog's head. The distraction was all Yazwa needed. She climbed to her feet and charged, staff raised high and blazing with cold white light. She brought it down on the shoulder, where the gray light was weakest.

Her sharpened staff cut into his shoulder and didn't stop there. His defense vanished before the force of the blow. Her weapon carved through his flesh, exiting his body at the opposite hip.

Ca Diro's aura snuffed out in an instant as the two halves of his body tumbled into the dust.

Yazwa blinked away her Sight, blood thundering in her ears as she scanned the battlefield. The panicked crowd was gone. The giant summon was a pile of dirt. The Korav lay unmoving on the ground as Ji stood over it.

"Ji!" Yazwa leaped over Ca Diro's corpse and ran to Ji, wrapping her in a hug before the startled girl could say anything. "You came back!"

"I am so sorry," Ji said, voice cracking as she stood stiffly in the embrace. "I-"

Yazwa only squeezed her harder. "Forget it! You made it back to us! Saiyun! Ji's back!"

No one answered.

"Saiyun!" Yazwa called, releasing Ji and looking around. He was nowhere to be seen. "Saiyun!"

"If you're looking for the guy with the six-legged summons," said the green man, sitting on the ground and pointing towards the hole in the building. "He went that way."

Yazwa blinked. Whoever this man was, he seemed to be unconcerned with the massive chunk of flesh missing from his chest. But that was a question for later and she took off running as Ji quickly outpaced her, leaping over the pile of rubble with ease. "Can you see him?" Yazwa called as she struggled to climb over the heap of broken walls.

There was a moment's delay before Ji replied. "Yes!"

When Yazwa reached him Saiyun sat on the edge of the pond, soaking wet. A Swift Tanlin floated in the water, next to a face-down body. "Is that...?"

"Letao," Saiyun answered, wringing water out of his hair. "We both fell in and I summoned Swift Tanlin the second I hit the water. I have Jado out looking for the Ambassador and…Ji, who is that?"

Ji looked over her shoulder as the green man approached them, dog at his side. "This is Turantoc and the Loyal One," Ji said, pointing at each of them in turn. "They're hunting Blood Achali as well."

"Pleased to meet you," Turantoc smiled and nodded at each of them. The dog stood at his side, panting heavily

Yazwa tried not to stare at the gaping hole in his chest that wasn’t bothering him at all. "Who...what?"

"No! Unhand me! Release me!" came a cry from the other end of the bridge. Jado ambled forward, Shaoten's arm held tightly in Jado's mouth.

"Ambassador," Saiyun said, voice cold as ice as he got to his feet.

"They forced me!" Shaoten babbled. "If-if-if-if I didn't go along with them, their Korav would have killed me! I am a loyal servant of our Emperor!"

Saiyun glared at Shaoten and it was enough to shut the man up.

Yazwa swallowed. Without his mewling, the night was almost unnaturally quiet. A mob of terrified people had run screaming into the streets. It wouldn't be that long before the guards would come looking for the source of the commotion. "What are we going to do now? How are we going to explain this?"

"I have an idea," Saiyun said, looking up at Turantoc. "Do you play the Favor Game?"

Turantoc shrugged. "No. You seem to be on the right side of the fight. I'll help you out so long as it's nothing crazy. No favor required."

"Can that ship you flew in on bring us to the Vathlanri island?" Saiyun asked.

Turantoc squinted as he looked around. "It'll be a slow ride and a tight fit, but if you ditch the summons, it's possible."

Saiyun closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Good. Let's get to it."

-

Inspector Batol rubbed her eyes as the open carriage raced through the streets of Hilt, fire gates flinging open as they passed. The messenger had been breathless and vague, panting that the Eastern Hangzai Embassy had been attacked by monsters. At first, she hoped some jumpy watchmen had panicked at the sight of a summon. But the second messenger reporting a flood of panicked people fleeing from the embassy dashed her hopes.

As the carriage slowed down Batol stood up and looked over the head of the driver. A crowd of people was clustered around the Embassy gates. Most were guardsmen, but a few looked like civilians. From how they were dressed, they looked like they had run out into the night in their bedclothes. She hopped out of the carriage as he ground to a halt and made for the gates. "Etban!" she called when she saw an officer she recognized. "What in the depths is going on here?"

"We still don't know yet," Etban replied after saluting. "Every person we coax out of the gardens has a different story to tell. Something happened, we just don't know what."

Batol looked around at the people huddled near the guardsmen. They talked in low voices and clung to blankets draped over their shoulders. The fear in their eyes was real enough. "I'll start with the Ambassador. Maybe he'll have something coherent to say."

Etban looked at the ground. "Actually...we haven't been able to find him yet."

"But," Batol gaped. "We...City Guards can't enter a Foreign Embassy without explicit permission from the Ambassador. The Batore would have our heads!"

Instead of answering, Etban stepped aside and eased open the gate. One of the buildings looked like it had been smashed to pieces by storm winds. Guards climbed over it, calling out for anyone trapped underneath. "We've counted a dozen dead so far. Probably more."

Batol walked into the courtyard, waving at Batol to follow her. From the way the debris was sprayed over the courtyard she could tell whatever had smashed the building came from the opposite side, but that was about it. "Have they found any summon dolls?"

"A few, yes," Etban said as they walked over to a guardsman standing watch over a sheet stained red with blood. "We also found this."

Even after ten years on the job, Batol's stomach flipped when she saw the man split in half. She looked away, forcing back a gag as Etban dropped the sheet. "Ancestors save us," she muttered. "Continue the search.. Start asking if anyone knows where the Ambassador is. Maybe he's out for drinks and stayed overnight. Maybe we're worried for nothing."

"Etban!" someone called from a doorway in the Embassy. "We found the Ambassador!"

Batol sighed, finally a bit of good news. "Bring him out!"

"We can't!" came the shouted reply. "He's being held hostage!"

A chill ran up Batol's spine as she raced towards the voice along with Etban. A guardsman led them to the back of the compound, to a small private chapel with wide-open double doors. Inside a multitude of lanterns lit a man sitting on a cushion at the very center of the room. Two massive, six-legged creatures stood on either side of him, tense and ready to pounce. As Batol got closer, she could make out another man, bound and gagged at his feet with a cocked pistol pointed at his head. Under one of the creatures was the body of an unmoving woman. A pair of guards flanked each door, holding their staves at the ready.

"Are you the officer in command?" the sitting man asked,

Batol blinked as she recognized the voice. She took another few steps towards the man, hand on her pistol. "Emissary...Taoshi?"

"Inspector Batol," he replied. "Ambassador Shaoten is a traitor to our Emperor." The tied-up man thrashed when he said that, squirming around and groaning into his gag until the Emissary put his foot on him. "He must answer for his crimes. I must see the Senior Batore immediately."

Sweat beaded at Batol temples. "I can't-"

"Tell Wabaro," the Emissary snapped. "That if I don't see her before the sun rises, this city will be rendered ungovernable by sundown."