Jorge’s lungs burned. His chest pushed and pulled against the closed doors of his nostrils. He stayed underwater, trying his best to relax, to reduce the hunger for air. It was better than facing whatever was going on up there. The sky had disappeared, the day gone. He had seen this power before. Even being in its proximity brought shivers down his spine. And he had fought beasts the size of houses before without being intimidated.

Then it all came back in an instant. The overcast sky, the overlapping ripples of sleet on the surface of the river. Jorge rushed back up to the surface, coughing, sputtering. He dragged himself back onto ground. It took great will to stop himself from hyperventilating. Somewhere down the canal, Edeard sprang back up as well. The boat was in pieces. The men were gone.

“Where’s June?” Jorge shouted. “The girl!”

Edeard dove back into the river. Moments later he returned with the priestess. Her movements were weak. Her cheeks were a pale white. Her eyes were closed. Jorge stumbled over and knelt down to examine her.

“She looks okay,” he said.

“What the hell was that, dude?” Edeard exclaimed.

“It’s… her thing. She hulks out sometimes.”

“That’s a way to put it.”

The men had gone. Killed perhaps, or escaped before the girl’s frightening power consumed them. Edeard had suspicions as to who they were. But that wasn’t worth exploring at the moment. They climbed out of the canal and back on the roads. Alanei and Ayden rushed to meet them.

“What the hell was that?” Ayden exclaimed, “The sky went black and I could have sworn I saw my skin melt and—”

“It’s fine now,” Edeard said. “Forget it. The palace is right there. Come on.”

“Is that where you people are going?” Jorge asked. He glanced at the sleeping form on his back. “I’m only here… because a friend was in trouble. I’m not a part of whatever this is.”

“Well we need to bring her back to the palace. I’m guessing she’s of some importance if that man wanted her.”

“Speaking of, do you know that big guy went?”

“No. I was in the river.”

“Hm.” Jorge didn’t like it. He wanted to hit the road. His ties to this city was insofar as to clear his name. Of politics and civil strife he had no interest.

“I’ll deliver June to where she can be taken care of,” he said. “Then I’m gone.”

“Where are you going anyway? What have you been doing since, well, a year ago?”

Jorge sighed.

As they walked, the palace seemed to rise out of the rooftops of the neighborhood, drawing closer with every step. Jorge told his story as he remembered it. The mostly uneventful year he spent in the woods. His near death experiences. Of the quest the being in his dreams gave him, he said nothing. It was beginning to feel more like a hallucination than an actual encounter. But he had involved himself. And his actions here had likely helped a number of people. Jorge did not enjoy being a slave to prophecy.

“Wait, what do you mean you fell out of the sky?” Ayden asked.

“Me and Edeard aren’t native to this universe,” Jorge said simply. “Something or someone brought us here. I think it’s been happening for a long time.” He wondered if he was supposed to keep that sort of thing a secret.

“There are many tales of heroes who came from other worlds who changed the very face of Etrylis,” Alanei said. “History is riddled with individuals and beings who seem to disobey the balance and gain power beyond what an average human ought to have in this world. Maybe the truth is more literal. Although…” She gazed up and down Jorge’s body. The way he sauntered loosely. The way he looked like a barbarian from the roaming clans. “Appearances can be deceiving.”

“I’m not a hero,” Jorge said. “Never wanted to be. Never fantasized about it.”

“You have the modesty of one,” Alanei remarked in jest.

“Haha.” The laugh was mirthless.

Alanei turned to Edeard. “Edeard here seems appropriately dressed for the role, however.”

“I admit I’ve had such delusions,” Edeard said. “They’ve been shattered quite handily. I’ve no interest in this sort of thing any longer.”

“Why do you talk like that?” Jorge said in English, smirking.

“Shut it. I’m not a shut-in bumpkin in this world. I functioned as a member of society.”

“You look like a renaissance fair nerd.”

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“You look like discount Conan with a cape.”

“Badass.”

In the lightened mood, Jorge didn’t notice they had arrived before the palace, and that the arcane rain had stopped. The palace was a collection of spires and annexes, beautifully wrought with bronze, and unlike any style of architecture Jorge had ever seen. He hadn’t had a chance to see it properly when he was brought here last. It was mostly intact as well. Only one of its bridges had been destroyed.

There was someone standing in the courtyard when they arrived through the front gate. The ground was littered with blood and bodies. Soldiers, guards, and groundskeepers alike. Edeard rushed ahead.

“Lady Velvedere,” he said. “You’ve returned! And…”

She knelt on the ground, hands alive with swirling arcane energies. Dozens of planes were being torn into at once, weaving into complex forms Edeard could not begin to unravel. The air was heavy with spent power. Jorge’s eyes were watering from it. Edeard however could not look away. Lord Jace’s beheaded form laid on the pavestones, bloodless. For all intents and purposes: as dead as one could possibly be. Lady Velvedere was reattaching the head back on the knight’s neck. Sinew reconnected to sinew. Bone rejoined. Vessels regrew anew. Nerves mended.

Then she was finished. She raised a hand and curled a finger. Jorge felt his volition leave his body. The party all stepped forward and extended a hand. Velvedere grabbed each member by the wrist, inspecting closely. Jorge winced when his turn came. The woman’s hands were frigid.

“You’ll do,” she said. She pulled Jorge down on his knees and slit his wrist with a fingernail. June’s sleeping form fell onto the ground. Jorge felt a vein bulge in his temple in anger. But he couldn’t turn his head to see if June was alright.

His blood did not spill onto the ground. It arced gracefully through the air like an eel. With her other hand, Velvedere made a similar slit in Lord Jace’s wrist. The blood flowed into the wound. A minute passed. Jorge was beginning to feel faint.

Jace sprung upright, gasping for air. His hands rushed to feel his neck. Only a thin seam remained as a reminder of the beheading. Velvedere let them out of her thrall. The party could breathe again. The cut on Jorge’s wrist closed, but he wasn’t thinking about that. He crawled over to June. The priestess seemed intact. He felt glad, then gladness gave way to fury. He picked June up and stood to his feet in indignation. The sudden dizziness robbed his voice of strength.

“Hey lady, what is wrong with you?” He mumbled.

“You don’t want to see what would happen if my blood ended up inside one of you,” Velvedere snapped. She swept her surroundings with a disapproving glare. “I leave for but a couple days! And this cesspit catches fire.”

“My Lady,” Edeard began, “I apologize. I should have—”

“That’s quite alright, Edeard. I left many contingencies behind to protect this city. And they all failed. I suppose it’s my fault for trusting this place at such a crucial time to the Knight’s Guard.”

“I see…” Edeard hadn’t been the only one. Somewhere along the way, he had fooled himself into thinking the city was on his shoulders alone.

“The best laid plans of mages and men, leave a mage disappointed I suppose,” Velvedere said. She turned to Alanei and Ayden. “Who are you two?”

“I’m a Regal student,” Alanei said. “And I came here to help with the rebuilding and reestablishment of Ralagast. I want to work with the Lord M—”

“Save it. I’ve tasked my cadre on that job. They will complete it without the need for bureaucracy.”

“But… the Mayor.”

This only annoyed the Highcaster further. “So naïve,” she uttered. She turned to Ayden. “Who are you?”

“I’m Ayden. Formerly of the insurgency. I’ve come to tell you how these soldiers made it into our city and inform our security moving forward.”

“But I already know how they made it into our city,” Velvedere said. “I figured it out the moment I Embarked back. Bold for a criminal to claim his information would be trustworthy in the first place.”

“Ma’am, I—”

“Do me a favor and think about your compatriots. Your allies. The other insurgents. Picture their faces.” Ayden could only do as he was told. He clutched his head as he felt his thoughts slip out of his control. “Hmm yes. That wouldn’t be all of them, but it’s a start. That leaves you.”

Edeard felt a painful pang of dread strike his chest.

“Wait!” He shouted. “My Lady. This man, he’s…”

Ayden fell flat on the pavestones. His eyes were open, his mouth ajar. Velvedere turned to Edeard.

“You’ve seen a few, I’m sure,” she said. “Think about them.”

“No! Lady Velvedere. I- I promised I’d let them go if they cooperated! I gave my word!”

“Your word?”

“Please! They’re just kids!”

“You make an adult of yourself when you take on ventures like this, sweet boy.” Velvedere looked up at the sky. Arcane power amassed between her fingers. Then as leisurely as one threw a paper glider she released a Spell into the clouds. The sky rumbled. A hundred bolts of lightning struck at once at various precise points in the city.

“It’s not the physical damage that angers me so, Edeard,” Velvedere said with a sigh. “It’s the image. Houses I can rebuild. A heart I can stop. A mind I can sway. But perception? Ethos? The transmission of ideas? Reputation is a Spell created by speech alone. You’ve made this city look bad.”

“What have you done?” Edeard gasped.

“Clean-up.”

“This… this isn’t you.”

Velvedere squinted. “You’ve never known me. Get back to your home. I’ll have you sorted soon.”

Lord Jace brought himself on his knees.

“I apologize for this, my Lady,” he said. “I have not been vigilant enough.”

“Retake the main offices of the Guard. Reestablish control of the city, and I’ll consider this failure forgiven.” She paused for a moment. “But not forgotten.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jace hurried away without so much as acknowledging Edeard.

“Ha. You’re just mad you look bad because of this.” Jorge stood straight, facing the mage directly.

“This a friend of yours?” Velvedere asked.

“Please, he doesn’t mean it,” Edeard said quickly. “No more. Jorge, shut up!”

“All I’m doing is talking,” Jorge said. “Or are mages afraid of speech?”

“Cute,” Velvedere said. “Take your friends and go, Edeard. I’ve work to do.”

The air flashed with light and thunder, then she was gone.

“That’s this city’s leader?” Jorge asked incredulously. “What kind of place is this?”

“Jorge…” Edeard bent over to collect Ayden’s body. “Please. I’m begging you. Shut the hell up.”

“She just murdered this guy in front of us!”

“She can still hear us,” Edeard hissed. “Things are different here. The rules are not the same as they are on Earth. Please just listen to me and don’t talk about this.”

The worst was yet to come. He closed Ayden’s eyes before setting off with his body in his arms.

“Go home to your father, Alanei,” he said over his shoulder. “You’ve made him worry enough.”

“But…”

“Lady Velvedere took your face too when she peered into Ayden’s mind. She spared you. Lay low for now and return to your family.”

As the two left, Jorge stood still, unsure of where to go. June stirred on his back. She woke, groggy and exhausted.

“What- what happened?” She asked.

“I have no idea,” Jorge said.