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Paladins of Song and Sea

Godslayer Returns

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The punching bag swung from each of Kane’s heavy punches. Sweat dripped off the black bear’s enormous body, causing his fur to press against his powerful frame. He stood shirtless in the dark gym.

Gymnasiums were a quickly rising commodity on Incendius. With the increasing influence of Haven and the upper Stations, capitalism was starting to take a hold in what had once been a Station based entirely around hereditary hierarchies and rigid monarchy. It had taken him a bit of time to find a gym that actually suited him. Traditional training grounds were still reserved for the military, soldiers and knights but none of them ever had the actual equipment he was after. Mostly consisted of marching, sword practice and the like. No bench presses, punching bags or anything to work out his legs. Those that did exist tended to be on the lighter side. He could have used the simulators up at Pinnacle but, at the moment, he was incredibly frustrated with the ‘adults’ and wanted to be as far from them as possible.

A grunt left his muzzle as he threw one particularly powerful punch. The sand-filled bag stopped a little short though, surprisingly him. He had fully expected it to swing much further but, for some reason, it stopped a few inches from the side of impact.

“The fuck…?”

Rayne leaned out from behind the bag. “It’s unlike you to be bottling up your frustrations like this.”

Of course Rayne was the one that tracked him down. He had taken steps to avoid the rest of the Godslayers as much as possible because it irritated him to no end how they just allowed themselves to bend over and be steamrolled by the ‘authorities’. Aria and that feline Templar, Cassius Solinium, had immediately ordered them to stand down. No running off to search for the four missing Paladins and no doing anything ‘reckless’ as trying to find Char.

All because they were shaken and scared.

Admittedly, the prospect that Char had countless bodies that he could use and mask so that he could effectively become immortal was chilling but there were four Paladins out there that could Fall. These were career Paladins too. They were not like Wood who Fell almost immediately. They were on the level of Alleria whose Fall had killed over a hundred people instantly and she could’ve killed more if she wanted.

“What else am I supposed to do?” Kane answered with a huff, throwing another fierce punch at the bag. It barely moved with Rayne holding it from behind. “I’ve been told to sit the fuck down and shut up.”

“You’ve never been one to take orders from anyone. Why choose now to so obedient?”

He let out a short laugh and punched the bag again. “Didn’t that bullshit with Maxwell teach you anything? I’m stronger when I have others behind me. No one wants to go up against the fucking Church, the Inquisition, the military, the Goetia and four fucked up Paladins all at once.” He growled as he threw another punch and ground his fist into the bag. “We’re all grounded. For two fucking weeks we’ve been grounded.”

Rayne sighed softly and took a few steps back from the punching bag. Then he threw his own punch, propelling the bag towards Kane. The bear dodged the blow and as it swung back, he countered with a blow of his own that sent it back at Rayne. The Demon Prince did the same and they quickly found a rhythm.

“For what it’s worth, we haven’t been sitting down and doing nothing.”

“Doing shit you’ve been doing every day doesn’t count.”

Rayne huffed. “Aria and Solinium have been working with the Church to find some way to track the lost Paladins. Alex and I have been asking the military for all records about Char. Hunter and Tanar have been hard at work on that frigate that they’ve tried hard to keep a secret but are doing a bad job of it.”

Kane’s ears perked up and he almost got hit by the flying bag. “It’s a frigate-class now? I thought it was still down to a dropship. Transport at the biggest.”

A sly smile appeared on Rayne’s lips. “After everything that’s happened, they may have been inspired to take it up another class since the level of shielding they would need against a Fallen would be much thicker than anything a transport could provide.”

Kane snorted softly and continued their routine. “We’ll need a decent crew. We only really needed a pilot and maybe a gunner on a dropship. But a frigate…?”

“Hunter is working on a way to automate a lot of it. His work on RASCAL has helped him make leaps and bounds. Not to mention that most Havenese ships would allow the captain to take control of the entire ship from his loft.”

“Dibs.”

Rayne gave him a sour look. “You can’t just call dibs on being captain.”

“I just did.” Kane threw a particularly powerful punch at the bag, forcing Rayne to react far quicker than before. “If you guys have been doing all this shit, why didn’t you let any of us help?”

“Be honest with me, Kane, what could you have done?”

“I don’t know!” he snapped back as the punching bag returned to him. “Something. Anything.”

“You were just feeling left out because JD and Wood went on an adventure against a Fallen and you had no part on it.”

“Maybe but I bet even they were feeling like they were benched. They were there when this shit started. They saved Alleria. And suddenly everyone in a position of authority decides to shelf their star players because…?” He punched, the force enough to cause Rayne to stop his casual hold on the bag and actually brace himself. “Why!? They’re students?” Another blow and this time, Rayne was pushed back an inch. “They’ve ‘done enough’?” One more punch, this time he pulled his arm all the way back. Rayne was ready, though, and didn’t move from the impact. “It’s bullshit, Rayne, and you know it!”

From there, Kane began sending a few more jabs at a regular pace.

“Some things are just out of your control, Kane. Even you recognize that what is happening right now needs a little more… finesse than you are capable of.”

He seized the punching bag and glared at the instructor from around the cylindrical bag full of sand. “Finesse? Why the fuck does this need some ‘finesse’?”

Rayne pulled the bag back towards himself, yanking it out of Kane’s paws. “The relationship between the Church and military has just been strained. Char was a military appointed Marshal. That means that he went through military-level training and had access to military secrets. The Church submitted to having their Paladins restricted by Marshals as a compromise during the Fall. Think about how for over a decade, the Church has had to bite its tongue because the military is the one that saved everyone from their failings and now we suddenly have a case where the military is the one showing signs of corruption from the Goetia.”

“I know that,” he spat.

“And you also know that you’ll do anything you can to humiliate your military-inclined father.”

“I’m not that single-minded!”

“Then tell me why you’re here, having roared everyone else out of the gym and taking your frustrations out on a punching bag!?”

A fire was burning inside of Kane and he balled his paws into fists. “You want to know why?” he roared. “Here’s why!” He pulled up his right paw, searing white flames erupting from his fingertips and shooting out to form a brilliant, red, curved blade. He swung the sword upwards, searing alabaster fire launching at the punching bag and completely incinerating the top half with little effort. Rayne was left holding the bottom half, his expression not surprised or even shaken.

Kane stabbed the legendary blade into the ground.

The ‘secret location’ that FireFeather was being kept wasn’t some protected, well-guarded chamber far outside of anyone’s reach.

It was within Kane Fenn.

“I have all this power,” Kane huffed, glaring at the Demon Prince. “Limitless potential. The might of the goddamn Fire God at my fingertips and I can’t even do anything to protect my cousin and best bud.” He lifted the sword off the ground, white flames engulfing it once more and causing the weapon to fade back into him. “You were there. You could protect them. I couldn’t. I couldn’t even do anything when Aria and JD found Char alive less than fifty fucking feet from me!” He snarled, more at himself than Rayne and gripped his face with one of his paws. “I sat there, making jokes and poking fun at people when there was a goddamn Goetia in my goddamn fucking house!”

Kane whirled back around, facing the exit of the gym. “I am not going to let those bastards put JD, Alex, Wood, Skye or anyone else I care about in fucking danger! I am not going to let their lives get ruined by making their entire purpose center around eliminating those goddamn cockroaches! They deserve normal lives.”

“And what about your life? Your purpose?” asked Rayne. “Are you going to solely focus on making sure the Goetia are eliminated.”

He threw Rayne a snarl over his shoulder. “I told you. I’m not single-minded. I’m not like my old man.” Hiking a thumb at his broad chest, he said, “I’ve got other goals. Priorities. Those assholes don’t even make the top ten. But you can bet the minute they pop up again, I’m ripping them out like a fucking tumor.” Quietly, he added, “They’ve ruined enough families.”

The Demon Prince took a second to appraise the big, black bear with hair dyed black and red. Then he sighed softly and approached, clapping Kane’s shoulder. “Then it’s a good thing I came here to get you. We have an announcement to make.”

“What? You and Aria are finally getting married? You going to plant your demonic seed in her so that she gives birth to a half-Angel, half-Demon baby so you can stick it to her family that is hounding her to produce a child so she can die?”

Rayne lifted an eyebrow at him. “No. Though I’ve taken note how you seem to have that scenario well-planned.”

“Different interests, remember?” he said with a dark grin. “I’m looking out for you too. And her. Doesn’t mean you’ll like it.”

“Right.” He slipped past Kane, heading towards the door. “Let’s head over to Hunter’s workshop. We’re meeting everyone else there.”

The rage and frustration Kane felt was still there but at the very least, he had managed to vent some of it. The rest remained and though he didn’t vocalize it to Rayne, he knew that the Demon Prince understood where his frustration came from. The reason he was kept away from any major conflicts was because he was now the host of FireFeather and - if Skye or Aria were to believed, the Champion of Adramalech. The presence of the Paladins and their scattered approach to monitoring the team was obviously a means for Aria to placate her Church masters while also keeping them away from Kane. The Church didn’t know where FireFeather was so they sent Paladins to monitor each of them for a clue.

Kane was mentally kicking himself for not going to the aid of what he considered his family when he had the power to do so because he had to hide away from suspicion. It killed him that he was reduced to sneaking around and hiding who he had become when such actions went against his very nature. Many knew Kane Fenn to be reckless or impulsive but what few knew was that each disruptive action and every chaotic reaction was carefully calculated.

It was a lesson his surrogate father, Alex Clarke, had instilled into him from when he was first kicked out at the tender age of thirteen.

“You can do whatever you want but you’ve just got to make sure you get results.”

He pondered that very same lesson as he flagged down a carriage and hopped into the archaic form of transport alongside Rayne. Hunter’s workshop was fairly far especially by carriage so he had all of an hour and a half to wallow in his own thoughts as they made their way there. It gave him time to consider his next moves as well.

Does he reveal FireFeather? No. That was stupid. With the Goetia sniffing around and the Church doing the same, learning that he was the host of the Talon of the Fire God was likely to only attract undue attention and endanger everyone else.

Keeping close to the others and taking a more active role was the best solution. He needed to fight back against the Goetia and if that meant killing the Paladins that were no doubt going to Fall because of corruption, then so be it. At least they barely knew any of the poor bastards so none of them were really attached to any of them. If they died, it would be because they got in his way.

He reached that resolution just as the carriage stopped in front of the factory-turned-workshop. After paying the driver, he and Rayne entered the reception area. Tanar was there looking like he was packing up a lot of their wares. How long had it been since the two of them had actually had fun together? The Leomian had been preoccupied with the not-so-secret project that was the starship they were hiding beneath Hunter’s workshop. Between that and Kane trying to learn more about his newfound powers in secret and keeping up with his classes, they barely had time for their secret rendezvous. This might be a golden opportunity to catch up.

Leaning against the counter, he casually whistled at the lion. “Doing a bit of spring cleaning?”

“Of sorts,” Tanar answered curtly. “Given what’s going to happen next, we figured it would be a good idea to close up shop for a bit. There’s no good keeping all of this stuff around where anyone can take it so we’re going to put it in a safe place.”

“Oh yeah? Got a safe or something?”

“Something,” Tanar responded enigmatically.

“An armory?” Kane prompted. “Like… on a frigate-class starship?”

The end of Tanar’s tail fluffed out and he straightened. He didn’t turn around and instead regarded Kane through the reflection of a nearby display case. For a second, they just stared at one another before Tanar finally sighed and glanced over to Rayne.

“We’ve known for a while,” offered the Demon Prince. “Everyone knows. Well, not the general public. Everyone in our little gang.”

“How long?” Tanar asked.

“About a month,” Kane answered. “JD found out first and he told the rest of us. Made us promise not to tell anyone. Not that it matters. I’m guessing you were planning on revealing it to the rest of us and tell us how Aria and Solinium actually sanctioned the damn thing now?”

Only then did the lion turn towards him, shoving a box full of weaponry into his arm. “I really need to stop underestimating the observation skills of that pup.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Rayne responded with a smirk. “What you’ve got to stop doing is assuming he’s not around. Hunter put it best. He’s a goddamn assassin. The minute you forget he’s around is the minute he stabs you in the back or spontaneously appears and shoves one of those delicious meatballs up your ass.”

Tanar gave him a quizzical look. “I can’t tell if that’s meant to be an innuendo or not.”

“Good.” Kane took the box in his paws and headed towards the rear of the workshop. “So why are we all gathered here anyway? Who else are we waiting for?”

“Wood and Alleria still have to arrive.”

If they were bringing the recently Fallen Paladin, then there was a good chance this meeting would have something to do with the ester-wile members of her team. Had they been located at long last? Did any of them Fall? No… Each of those Paladins had their Valors for years. When one of them Fell, it would send the Inquisition scrambling and for the past two weeks, activity had been relatively quiet.

As he brought the boxes into the workshop, he noted that they were gathered in front of a gangway leading to the enormous starship that Hunter likely had hoped to keep a secret for a little longer. He beamed when he noticed that the side of the ship was emblazoned with the word ‘Godslayer II’ in the same art style he had added back when they had been given Eric von Darkmoth’s transport.

“I like it already,” he declared, setting down the box of weapons on a nearby table. “Is she registered?”

“She is,” answered Templar Solinium. “It took the better part of the week to get all the paperwork done even expedited but the Godslayer II, a custom frigate-class starship is now officially under the command of Hunter Hart with the full sponsorship of Aria Valkyrie and seconded by me.”

“Oh good. You’re useful after all.” Kane leaned against a nearby pole, arms crossed. “What’s her specs?”

There, Hunter beamed and began listing off its features. Very technical jargon but Kane had taken some mechanics classes when he was in Xaos the previous year so he got most of it. Apart from the warp drive, engines, reactor and a decent shielding system, the Godslayer II actually served more as a transport than an actual frigate used for war. The majority of the ship’s body consisted of two floors for crew quarters. Hunter had taken pains to make sure that each of the members of the team had a customized suite. Really, it was more like a floating barracks than anything else. That said, it did come with decent weaponry and, above all else, it was fast. Faster than any frigate should be. Better yet, it was fully capable of atmospheric flight as well as Void flight. Few ships could manage both. Bigger ships capable of Void travel couldn’t enter the atmospheres of the Stations simply because they were too big. Most of those that did have such capability came from Haven due to their advanced technology. Though that was quickly changing, most fleets were specialized in one or the other.

“We’ll take a full tour once Wood and Alleria get here,” Hunter concluded. He turned towards JD. “In the meantime, I wanted to give these to you, JD.” The silver Wulfun handed over what looked like a metal harness with a large, circular device embedded into it. There were two thin, glowing, red wires leading to the hilts of two, crimson blades. “Conflagration II,” announced the blacksmith proudly.

“Oh sweet!” JD exclaimed, taking the two swords eagerly. “You got rid of the backpack?”

“I saw how much faster you were when you discarded it. I realized that speed is your greatest attribute so I integrated the matter converter into a lightweight harness and made the swords from a lighter alloy. Still as strong as before but far more conductive of Pyromancy. Less unwieldy though.”

“You ever going to get rid of those wires?” Kane commented, pointing at the sole connection between the blades and their power source.

Hunter’s ears folded back, his tail tucking between his legs. “I’ve been trying. I didn’t realize how much the original Conflagration was actually hindering JD’s movements. It was built in a rush and I was more focused on getting him to use Pyromancy than anything else. Now that I have a better understanding of how he fights, I’m looking into ways to make sure it doesn’t slow him down.”

JD swung the swords through the air. He looked unbalanced as he wasn’t used to the weight of the blades. “It’s okay, Hunter. That’s why I switch between Validation and Conflagration when I can. They both have different uses. No weapon can be perfect for every scenario.” The Red Lightning slipped on the harness, one band crossing his torso from his left shoulder to his right hip while the other was wrapped around his waist. He slipped the swords into the scabbards across his back easily.

“Yeah but I still want to keep improving it,” said Hunter. “I made improvements Spicy Meatball and I think there’s still more I can do for everyone’s weapons. I’ll keep working on it but since the original Conflagration was actually destroyed, I took this opportunity to improve on the design.”

The doors to the workshop sprang open and Wood wheeled Alleria in. The former Paladin was looking much stronger and a little brighter than the last time Kane had seen her. It would take months - maybe even years - before she could walk and move on her own. Cybernetics was a completely foreign concept to Incendians and being born and raised on the Station of the Sun meant that Alleria would have to learn fast to not only be able to use her new limbs but also to maintain them. Last Kane heard, the Church was looking into sending her to Xaos - the home of cybernetics - to get training and for her recovery.

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting,” Wood exclaimed, waving at them. “Incendius isn’t really wheelchair-friendly.”

“Someone’s getting sued,” Kane quipped. Alex gave him a nudge with an elbow but chuckled nonetheless.

“Now that everyone is here,” Aria declared, striding to the center of the gathered group. “As you know, Char Blythe was a false Marshal and a plant from the Custodia Goetia. He tricked Alleria into Falling and spirited away the other members of his team for some reason. Apart from getting the Godslayer II up and running and officially registered, myself, Cassius and Serena have been working on locating the Paladins.” She stepped aside, gesturing at the Vampiri Paladin that had so far remained silent.

Serena Whitewind passed around a few scrolls to everyone. There were arcane runes around the edges of the scrolls. A quick spell that would cause the scroll to self-destruct upon completion of the briefing. Kane cracked one open and began reading the contents. They were dossiers about the four missing Paladins and particularly theories about where they could be located.

“We think we’ve found three of them,” Serena said, brushing aside a strand of raven hair from her face. “With the Godslayer II now operational, we believe we can quickly go to the three locations marked on your scrolls. I know that your exams are coming up and one of the provisions is that the Godslayer II has a connection to Pinnacle to enable you to take your exams virtually. Both Templars Valkyrie and Solinium have conferred with the faculty and officially created a commission for all of you to be involved in.”

“A commission?” Skye asked. “Seriously?”

Kane lifted his muzzle away from the scroll. Commissions were rare but were by far the most lucrative way for Pinnacle students to earn a reputation and significant points. Much like a job posting, commissions were long-term requests that often required multiple steps. It isn’t as simple as just finding someone’s lost cat or pruning some weeds. Organizations and individuals had to put down a significant sum so that Pinnacle students could take on a commission and often those students were handpicked by both staff or the requesters. To get a commission this early in the year would catapult all the students up in their grades. Kane was already sitting comfortably at an ‘A-grade’. This could get him into S-rank easy and put the coveted O within reach.

“It was the only way we could get your time exclusively for the next few weeks,” continued Serena. “Not to mention allow you to leave Corona. At this point in the year, you wouldn’t be allowed to leave the city. That only comes after the holidays.”

“Why do you even need us?” Alex asked. “You’ve got the might of the Inquisition, your very own Templar and the Church’s forces. Why would you need a few students and their chaperons?”

Kane already knew the answer; secrecy. If they went in guns blazing, panic would ensue. There was politics involved here. Particularly because one of the Paladins was a member of the Custodia Lupus. If the Church or even military admitted that they had lost one of the proud Incendian werewolves due to the Goetia’s corruption, it would lead to even more strained relationships. They had to approach this quietly.

Of course, Aria was not going to admit that.

“Because I know none of you would be willing to let this go,” she said, her eyes leveling at Wood. “We’re involved. Regardless of how close you were to the lost Paladins, our fates are intertwined with them now. I’ve seen how each of you have been anxious to do something in the past two weeks since Char’s betrayal. I know that you’re all drawing connections between what happened with Maxwell and Char; wondering if the two events are connected.” She crossed her hands behind her back. “Like it or not, we are involved and I thought it would be better to approach this as a group rather than let anyone get ideas in their heads and go off on their own.”

Only then did she lock gazes with Kane who smirked back at her and nodded in appreciation.

Alex didn’t protest further.

“We have three locations where we think three of the Paladins may be housed,” said Serena. “Your scrolls contains briefings on each of them. We think Melody could be in the coasting town of Shimmersea. That’s where she lost her voice. We’ve lost contact with the town and I think that’s where we should start as it is the most urgent. Ven is likely to be in his home town, Sveltholm. Our scouts that were sent over there didn’t detect anything wrong but everyone there loves Ven and we suspect they are hiding something. Lastly, Eaton could be in the merchant town of Clockwork.”

It didn’t pass Kane’s notice that Serena was very brief about Eaton Slater but decided not to press it for the moment. From the briefing, Clockwork was having a sudden bout of disappearances. Two people had gone missing in the past two weeks. The numbers may not seem like much but the frequency was of concern. It was a good lead.

“What’s going on at Shimmersea?” Rayne asked, flicking to the scroll in question. There was a sudden burst of fire nearby and the scroll in JD’s paws suddenly burned up.

“The scrolls are enchanted to self-destruct when you finish with them,” Serena instructed. “So please make sure you memorize their contents. As for Shimmersea…” She turned towards Rayne. “It’s gone silent. Absolutely dead silent. The scouts sent there just found the entire town empty. People were just… gone.”

“Creepy,” Skye mumbled. “What about Sveltholm and Clockwork?”

Serena explained that Sveltholm was Ven’s home and the Equus had actually liberated the town from an overbearing overlord that had pushed the miners in the town to their limit years ago. That was what earned him his Valor. In fact, he had been born and raised to strike out against the overlord, hence his name. All seemed quiet in the mining town but that was exactly why they suspected something to be wrong.

“The people of Sveltholm are very attuned to Ven,” Serena explained. “They follow his every action obsessively. The fact that they are acting so carelessly and at ease despite Ven being missing for two weeks is already cause for concern.”

“Because they should have already heard about his status,” added Alleria. “I remember visiting his home when we were traveling together. The townsfolk are scarily knowledgeable about his every move. They should have at least asked questions about me having Fallen.”

Serena nodded in her direction. “Exactly.”

“What about Clockwork?” prompted Wood. “Why do you think Eaton will be there? Is it his hometown too?”

There was clear discomfort in Serena’s stance as she said, “No…”

Thankfully for her, Solinium stepped in. “Clockwork is where Eaton was stationed. As both a member of the Custodia Lupus and a Paladin, he is in a unique position of authority between the two species. Clockwork is a merchant town founded at a crossroads between the territories of the Church, Lupus and Vampiri. Eaton was placed there to act as a sort of mediator. Like Sveltholm the town seemingly has no issues but the sudden rise of disappearances is greatly concerning.”

“Thin lead,” Alex rumbled. “People go missing all the time but you know Eaton better than anyone else.” The scroll in his paws dissolved a second later. “So the question is, where to first?”

“Shimmersea,” Kane grunted, bringing all attention to him. “We only have guesses on the other two places but we know something is wrong at Shimmersea. That’s where we go to first.” He lifted a finger. “Once you tell me where the fuck the fourth guy is. Trevor Ford.”

There Serena and Solinium exchanged glances.

“We’re still searching for him,” said the leonine Templar. “Ford was the second-in-command to Char and is an expert of magic that controls shadows and the dark. Deception and stealth are his key weapons.”

“That’s going to bite us in the ass,” he sighed. With a shrug, Kane lifted his head, slung his ever-present duffel bag over his shoulder and started heading for the gangway leading to the frigate. In his other paw, he tossed aside the scroll, letting it catch on fire and burn away into ash.

“Let’s get going. I’ve been itching to punch a bitch.”

The Shimmering Sea

The Godslayer II really was more like a flying hotel than an actual frigate made for combat. As soon as they entered the ship, they were greeted by the armory. Tanar, Kane and Alex carried the equipment that Hunter had made for their flight into the various lockers and compartments to keep the weaponry safe. Past that was an enormous common room mixed with a mess hall. Two enormous, white tables sat at the center of the room with benches flanking them. Voices echoed easily in the chamber. The kitchens and store rooms sat opposite to the entrance while a pair of stairs led upwards on either side of the hall leading up to the living quarters. There were a total of twelve rooms, each one customized for their resident save for the three spare rooms which were designed for guests.

Skye was pleasantly surprised that Hunter had crafted his room to be very naturally inclined. An ancient Miasman Soultree sat at the center of his bedroom. Contrary to its name, it was not actually made out of souls or spirit energy. The willow-like tree with glistening white leaves grew in such a way that when the wind blew, it would drift through the branches which had holes and rivets in it that resembled woodwind instruments. This caused a haunting song to play. The leaves also had unique hairs on their surfaces that irritated the skin but when agitated, would sound like wind chimes. A six-foot layer of earth made up the ground and grass covered most of the floor save for the sections where cabinets and furniture made of wood sat. The walls were still metallic but Hunter had installed a display panel that could cause the silvery sheen to disappear into a typical Miasman sky when whenever he wanted. Though there was a large enough bed on the far end of the room, Skye knew he would be just as comfortable sleeping on the floor.

The other’s rooms were similarly crafted, each one customized to their needs. Kane was particularly ecstatic about the secret sex dungeon that was placed behind a hidden panel in his.

There was a storage room placed on the tail end of the mess hall and past that was the reactor and engine rooms. Not much that Skye was very interested in there. Opposite to that a large meeting and communicators room. About half the size of the mess hall, the chamber had a large, circular table at the center where everyone in the crew could sit around and talk to one another. It would also serve as the communications center for any of their classes or exams to be taken. Beyond that was the bridge.

Multiple automated robots scrambled all over the ship, cleaning and performing maintenance. The chefs were actually automatons as well. Overall, Skye was pleased with his lodgings particularly because he didn’t have to feel the ship flying. One thing he absolutely hated about the original Godslayer was that he could feel it when the ship rocked and swerved. There was an unfortunate stereotype that Miasmans hated flying. Skye had fought that cliche his whole life and thanks to Hunter’s weaponry, he is able to fly or at least keep his feet off the ground. That didn’t mean he loved flying.

He sat cross-legged in his room, listening to the spirits around him. They were inundated with the conflicting memories of a nature versus the artificial memories of men and women moving all of the dirt and foliage into this starship. Above them all, however, there was the dull roar of that particular spirit.

Even here, far above the earth and on hour two of their three-hour journey to Shimmersea, he could feel that ghostly, smoky entity. Thus far, the creature had been respectful of his boundaries but he could still feel it over there. Waiting for the day that he would approach it and ask what it wanted. He had taken notice when it stirred after Maxwell’s defeat and it had actually been the one that had whispered to him that Kane was now the Champion of Adramalech. The spirit had grown agitated when Alleria Fell. It was reactive. It was sentient. It was unlike any other spirit that he had ever met before.

Skye evened out his breathing, focusing on his meditating to push aside the unknowns that spirit brought with it. He regarded Fleeting Dream which sat in front of him on the grass, currently filled to the brim with prepared spells. Hunter had been right. Shamanistic spells took a long while to cast as it involved a lot of coaxing spirits to perform things they normally wouldn’t do. Preparing them in the bangles was ingenious. There was a neurotic part of him that wanted to go over every spell he had prepared again but after he had spent the last two hours going over them again and again, he finally decided that what the bracelets had stored would have to be good enough.

The problem came with the Nullfire Covenant. Hunter had designed them to mimic the same anti-Pyromancy spells that the Inquisition used. But there was a stark difference between how magic was crafted and used amongst the general populace versus the spirit magic that Skye was accustomed to. His magic took advantage of natural phenomenon and accelerated or super-charged it through treaties with spirits. But magic performed through the Illuminus Weizar sometimes went against the natural order to perform fantastical feats. An immediate example that came to mind was Alleria’s Bluefire Arts. Fire and Ice did not mix but with the power of the Illuminus Weizar, it could.

Telling a spirit of fire to get along with a spirit of ice was impossible.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t use the Nullfire Covenant. Hunter had anticipated this and had inscribed runes into the bangles to enable them just to absorb energies from the spirits Skye entreated and the rings would do the rest. It still left a sense of… dissatisfaction and unease in the Miasman Tigris, however. He didn’t like not knowing how the devices worked and relying on the Covenant to do everything for him felt like cheating. Similarly, the Covenant sacrificed some spell capacity for its conversion of energy to Nullfire Techniques.

Skye took a deep breath and picked up the silvery bangles. There were no spirits encased within the tools. They were far too new to have any memories implant upon them regardless of how unforgettable recent memories were. Slowly, he let out the breath he was holding and slipped on the pieces of wrist jewelery. He lifted his right paw, channeling some of the spirits around him into the silvery runes. Just a little bit of energy from his environment. No spirit had to contribute more than one-percent of their power to him. Every blade of grass, the very air itself, the soil and even the haunting Soultree all gave just a slight amount of their strength to him. It was ridiculously easy after that. The runes did the rest as they took his offered energy and immediately converted into a silvery tongue of flame that hovered on his palm.

“How do you work…?” he sighed softly, regarding the haunting fire miserably.

The theory was simple. Nullfire produced flames that ‘ate’ other flames. Fire worked on a premise of requiring an initial spark, fuel and sometimes an accelerant to work effectively. Inquisitors used their own magic through the Illuminus Weizar to provide that spark but they then had to use their own energies to sustain it. Only when the silvery spell hit another flame was fuel provided. Because of Nullfire’s inability to burn without other flames, it would almost immediately go out once no other source of flames were provided.

“But that just goes against all nature…”

Skye dipped his head in frustration and allowed the flames to die out. No spirit in existence could ever provide him with the power or knowledge to create a natural flame that devoured other flames. He would be forced to use the Illuminus Weizar. Not that he was opposed to using the Illuminated Word for magic when it was needed but it just felt like it was a slippery slope before he would forget his Miasman heritage and become fully integrated into Havenese society if he started relying on traditional magic.

Placing his paws on his knees, Skye closed his eyes and forced himself to calm. Emptying his mind helped bring a modicum of peace and relaxation. In the back of his mind, however, there was still that nagging reminder that there was so much that he didn’t understand. The empty bangles around his wrists was a constant reminder of that fact. Fighting against those invasive thoughts was a constant struggle. A part of him wanted to throw aside the bangles in frustration.

He focused on his breathing, calming his racing heart and leaving his mind empty.

When he was free of the warring emotions he opened his eyes…

… and caught a strange presence to his left.

He turned…

“Whoa!” he cried, jerking back. Aria Valkyrie sat beside him, crossed legged as well and with her palms placed on her knees, looking serene and calm. “L - L - Lady Valkyrie!”

She opened one eye at him and gave him a subtle smile. “You looked so serene. I did not want to interrupt your meditations.”

“Ah…” he breathed, placing a paw against his racing heart. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Hence my decision to join you in your meditations instead of interrupt you.” She opened her eyes and regarded him curiously, tilting her head to the side. “Is everything alright, Skye? You are not struggling with guilt or angst like Kane are you?”

He let out a soft sort and looked towards his door. Even through the thick metal and distance, he could sense Kane’s frustration emanating from where the bear was. Emotions were riding high from most of the members.

“No,” he answered calmly. “I can safely say that I am not struggling with the frustration of not being at the center of attention that Kane is suffering from.” He pointed to his right where he felt Hunter was through countless layers of steel and machinery. “Nor am I a ball of neurosis and anxiety like Hunter.”

“You can sense people’s emotions from here?” Aria asked. “That’s impressive.”

“It’s fairly easy given the Godslayer II is a very knew starship so everything is mostly blank. I can feel Tanar and Hunter’s efforts that went into constructing her and some of the other people who had subtly touched its equipment and materials but it is severely subdued. The spirits here are still very young and still forming. Anything new is very easy to detect as they latch onto it.”

He pointed to in the opposite direction to Hunter. “I can tell Tanar is in his room and is calming his nerves by poring over spells and making preparations. He’s afraid that he might not be prepared enough.” Then he points to his immediate right. “Alex is calm and collected. Confident in his preparations but still afraid for his son.” Then he pointed to his left, just beyond Aria. “Wood is pretty happy. Glad to have a commission so soon and is excited that he might actually get out of a failing grade.”

“And Rayne? Me?”

He gave her a little smile. “Rayne is currently living in the moment. I think he’s working out because all I can get from him is a drive to do better and physical exertion.” Lowering his paw, he said, “And from you… I think you want to help?”

She smiled at him, placing a hand on his knee. “I can tell you’re struggling with using the Nullfire Covenant. Not in the way that you can’t use it but rather that you’re uncomfortable using it. Please excuse my forwardness but I take it this is because you cannot understand how Nullfire works?”

He shook his head, green feline eyes lowered at her hand. “No. I know how Nullfire works in theory. What I’m unsure about is being far too dependent on the Covenant to cast these spells. I guess I’ve got a burning curiosity and I want to be able to do what it does without having to depend on it.”

“Without using the Illuminus Weizar, correct?” Aria promoted. When he nodded in turn, she leaned back and regarded the simulated sky above their heads. “When I was in the Inquisition, I was trained in all the anti-magic techniques.”

“You were in the Inquisition?” he asked, peering down at the Valor that sat across her knees.

“I was,” she chuckled softly. “I was expelled, however, when I received my Valor. No Inquisitor is allowed to possess one. They were two separate branches of the Church at the time. Since I couldn’t deny divine providence, I abandoned my post as an Inquisitor, had my cybernetics removed and my eye repaired.” She gestured at her left eye. “Ironically, it was in defending the Last Chronomancer that the Mother Goddess deigned to intervene and grant me Gungnir.”

He perked his ears at her, curious about the story. “When did this happen?”

“Over three thousand years ago at the end of the Purge of Time,” she sighed. “Harm Chronos fought alongside myself and Lumire to defeat the Chronomancers and Temporal. He was key to developing the strategies and technologies we needed to stop his own people. However, when the war was over, the Church decided there was one Chronomancer left that needed to be eliminated. Lumire and I vehemently objected and it was during the trial that would have determined Harm’s fate that Gungnir appeared to me after an impassioned speech of mine.” She chuckled softly at herself. “The Church could not deny the will of the Goddess. She, in all her divine wisdom, clearly sided with me so they let Harm live and I could no longer be an Inquisitor.”

She turned to him, offering a small smile. “But this is not about me. We were talking about Nullfire.” Holding up a finger she said, “All the anti-magic techniques ultimately come from Deomancy, the magic of creation. Divine Magic. One could say Divine Magic is the root of all other magic as you are effectively creating something out of nothing be it a simple burst of flame or an entire glacier. However, the anti-magic techniques are dependent on these even more because you are creating something that is against the natural order.”

Skye sighed in defeat and glanced away. “That’s my problem. Nullfire is unnatural but it can exist. The laws of the universe don’t allow us to create a ‘fire that eats other fire’ without it being ‘reset’. The Illuminus Weizar lets us manipulate the elements temporarily but the very laws of nature are unbendable. They will never change.” He ran his claws through his hair. “I can’t tell a spirit, which embodies nature itself, to do something it can’t do.”

Aria leaned forward and gently flicked his left ear. The shock of pain made him jerk away.

“That attitude is self-defeating,” stated the Angel sagely. “You’re so focused on what is and are stuck that you can’t see what can be.” She lifted a finger, making him flinch away from her. “The Chronomancers were very much the same thing. They saw the laws of nature and found ways to bend if not outright break them. Harm Chronos’ most powerful technique is his Anti-Time Techniques, particularly his Time Bomb. With that family of abilities, he can eliminate anything they touch from this time line and any other time line. Apparently. I could never cross time lines to verify. I doubt anyone can.”

“That’s frightening…”

“It is. But that was Harm’s greatest strength. He was not the post powerful Chronomancer. Far from it. After the Purge of Time started, he swore never to use the very same technique that kicked off the war for selfish reasons, a technique he created; Final Hour. The other Chronomancers were not bound by such morality so as he worked with the Church, Temporal was constantly absorbing time from everything it conquered, making each Chronomancer more and more powerful with each passing day.”

“How did he defeat them?”

She leaned away from him while gently pressing a finger against his cheek. “By being adaptive and constantly questioning the impossible.” Then she flicked his cheek again, making him yowl. “When provided with cold hard fact, he poked, prodded and tried to break it down so he could use it to his own advantage. It won him the day more often than not.”

Skye sighed softly and shuffled a way so that he was at least a few inches away from her reach. “That may work for an immortal Chronomancer but for us mere mortals we are a little more… limited.”

“Limits are meant to be challenged and broken.” Before he could accuse her for offering meaningless sentiments, she said, “Have you heard of the two Totems of Spiritual Pyromancy?”

A frown touched his muzzle and his whiskers twitched. “No…?”

“On the eastern part of the continent,” Aria stated, a knowing smile on her lips. “Down to the south just where the Farntham Mountains touch the shore, there is a community that lives outside of the influence of the Church and even the Custodia Vampiri who normally call that territory their home. They practice Spiritual Pyromancy.”

“That’s a thing?”

Aria nodded sagely. “They are the Highland Eagle Tribe.”

“Tribe…? As in…?”

“No. They are not Miasman but they call themselves a tribe. Similarly, to the north on the southwestern shore of the Sunless Lands, there is a similar tribe that lives outside of the Sultan’s influence but often lend their assistance to whoever is willing to pay. They are the Darkland Owl Tribe.” She smiled at him. “Miasmans don’t have the monopoly on Spirit Magic, Skye. And yes, these people practice similar forms of magic to you. They take small bits of power from the imprinted memories and emotions of their environments to use as magic.”

Skye’s tail did loops behind him. “I never heard of them!”

“There’s much you still have to learn,” she chuckled. “But the lesson I am going to impart upon you is look at your problem from a different lens. The Highland Eagle Tribe follow the Totem of the Phoenix and they take the approach that fire is a nurturing force and not destructive. They are fantastic healers.”

“How can fire -?”

She lifted a finger at him and he again shied away, afraid of being flicked. “That’s something you should ask them. I know of a professor in Pinnacle that teaches it. Similarly, there is also a professor that came from the Sunless Lands and follows the Totem of the Salamander which is more focused on the idea of ‘deprivation of fire’.”

Healing using fire and depriving others of fire… Approaches that Skye had never once considered. His entire life, he always thought of Pyromancy as hurling fireballs and setting things alight. Never in his wildest dreams would he have considered using it to heal or preventing people from using it. The latter tied in well with Nullfire.

Aria started standing. “I’ll arrange for some lessons,” she announced. “For now, I believe we are about to arrive at Shimmersea. It’s the reason I came here to get you in the first place.”

Skye scrambled to his feet after the Templar, his mind racing and heart pumping with excitement at the prospect of learning other forms of Spirit Magic from people outside of Miasma. It never occurred to him that there could be others who knew let alone utilized the spirits in the world apart from Miasman. Perhaps it was because his perspective was skewed on Haven where the Church once had an iron grip and everything was centered around the use of the Illuminus Weizar.

Being on Incendius really did open doors for him.

He followed Aria out of his room, through the general mess hall, past the conference room and onto the bridge. Taking hints from Havenese starship design, there was no captain’s control panel or loft. Havenese starship captains were expected to constantly be on the move and be on their feet, capable of jumping onto any station and manning them as easily as the rest of the crew. A long pathway led from the entrance to the front of the ship which was occupied by the cockpit. On either side of the pathway were multiple consoles and stations for anyone to strap themselves in and take command of any aspect of the ship. Each console could control any part of the ship but would automatically lock out that component if it was was already occupied unless someone with seniority said otherwise. Alex and Rayne were already manning two of the consoles leaving four more plus the cockpit.

Hunter currently occupied the pilot’s console with Templar Solinium beside him. Serena Whitewind had just been in front of Skye and she jumped onto another console and began working. Wood, Kane and Tanar came in after them, each of them taking over the remaining three consoles. JD came in last, happily munching on something that filled the bridge with a savory, spicy smell.

Skye lifted his nose into the air and sniffed, turning towards the crimson Wulfun as he approached. “That’s not your usual meatball skewers.”

“Nope,” exclaimed the Red Lightning happily, holding out the little container he had. It was filled with a reddish-brown curry of sorts filled with what smelled like meat and vegetables. A flat bread with herbs baked into it with some charred spots sat on the rim of the containers with fluffy white rice separating it from the curry. “This is Krachma _’llam._ It’s a traditional dish from the Sunless Lands. It’s a spicy, meaty curry made from potatoes, carrots, spices and this unique quadrupedal herbivore up there called shar_ ’muur.”_ He scooped up some up the rice and curry into the soft, buttery bread and handed it to Skye, folding it to look sort of like a taco. “Try it.”

Curious, Skye took the offered meal, sniffed it and then took a bite. His eyes sparkled in delight at the buttery texture of the bread that almost fell apart like a savory cotton candy. The curry itself wasn’t spicy in the terms of being hot like the kind of spice one would get from peppers. Rather, there was a myriad of spices in there that combined to make an earthy ballad that all worked well together. The rice mellowed out the spices somewhat giving room for the strangely aromatic and pungent meat that reminded him a little of goat but had the texture of well-cooked fish; flaky and light but extremely flavorful.

“This is fantastic,” he said, covering his muzzle with a paw to keep any food particles from flying out as he spoke. “Where did you get it?”

“I made it as part of my Incendian Gourmet Cooking class,” JD responded with a bright grin. “I was hungry and I thought I might as well get some points while I’m at it by trying to make it in the kitchen. Took the whole three hours to make. The curry takes a while to develop flavor. You’re meant to actually leave it stewing at a simmer overnight and only add the shar-muur before serving but I was hungry.” Seeing Aria’s curious gaze, JD offered her one and she happily took a piece. Her cheeks flushed in joy after a single bite.

“You are quite talented at this, JD,” she commented. “Did you receive any points?”

“Submitted it to my lecturer. Though I’m sure he’d appreciate some feedback.”

“You have my highest commendation. Is there more?”

JD had made enough for everyone and upon smelling the food, some of the team began wandering into the kitchen to get themselves a helping. That allowed Skye to bring his small portion up to the cockpit where Hunter was piloting, deep in concentration.

“We’re a few minutes from Shimmersea,” commented the engineer, his fingers dancing across the holographic displays in front of him in such a dizzying manner that Skye was genuinely getting some nausea. Hunter had a device mounted against his left hear and looped around the back of his head to create a holographic display over his right eye. “We should have a visual soon.”

Ahead of them, through the external cameras, Skye could only see thick cloud cover and the rolling, green forests of the Incendian mainland. JD shuffled next to Hunter, had a scoop of the dish in his paw and brought it close to Hunter’s muzzle. Without even looking, the much larger, gray wolf shifted his muzzle and head towards JD’s fingers and gently ate the portion without biting the latter’s fingers. The sign of coordination and familiarity was impressive.

“Damn, that’s good,” Hunter commented. “What is it?” JD gave his explanation of what it was. “It’s really good. Curry is a little saucy? Feels like it could be better if it was less runny? Thicker?”

“I was meant to let it simmer and develop overnight,” JD sighed. “Hope that doesn’t lose me some points.”

“It’s still really good. It’s about flavor, right?”

JD’s left ear tilted back. “Professor Feaureaux is a stickler for his grading criteria. Flavor is just one of them. There’s also presentation, scent, mouth-feel and attrition.”

“Attrition?” Skye asked.

Pulling his head back, looking annoyed and deepening his voice to mimic his professor, JD said, “A dish should be finished. Every component needs to be devoured. If your diners become exhausted from eating the same flavor over and over again halfway through the dish, then they are suffering from attrition.”

In all his years of existing and eating food, Skye had never once considered any of those components when judging the food he ate. ‘Mouth-feel’ didn’t even sound like a real thing. “Yikes…”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Hunter said. “You’ve still got a while before your final exam. You’ll make a dish that’ll kick him on his ass.”

“Hope so,” JD sighed.

Aria chuckled softly to herself. “When did you two get so close?”

“When he snuck into my workshop and found out Tanar and I were working on the Godslayer II,” Hunter snickered. “We tried to bribe him. Told him we’d do anything if he’d make sure that he didn’t tell anyone about our secret project.”

Both Aria and Skye turned towards JD who just sheepishly grinned back at them. That promise clearly was not kept as he had let the team know but they hadn’t informed any of the authorities.

“Of course he didn’t actually take the bribe,” Hunter continued. “He just said in exchange for his silence, he gets to test out his dishes on us. We got a free lunch out of it every now and then and he sort of kept our secret. We couldn’t really be mad at him when we found out that everyone knew.”

Somehow, Skye suspected that was exactly what JD wanted.

Then, Hunter leaned forward. “Alright. We’re getting a visual.”

The Godslayer II began to dip beneath the clouds giving them a clearer view of the land beneath. Skye immediately saw something was wrong. The rolling green hills of the coast was clear, basking in the warmth of the Sun Spire. However, there was a patch which was completely obscured by a thick, gray mist. Through the cloud, he could just barely see the dark figures of houses and the city of Shimmersea.

“That’s not right…” Solinium rumbled. “Bring us in.”

Hunter slowly brought the Godslayer II closer and closer to the township. He pressed a few buttons and what they were seeing was displayed on screens all over the ship, giving everyone else a view.

“Was there any reports of that mysterious mist in the scout’s reports?” Skye asked.

“No,” Aria breathed. “That is… different.”

As they drew closer, Skye felt a sense of… discomfort and unease radiating from the mist. It was the middle of the day and far too warm for that kind of phenomenon. They were just approaching fall break so the Incendian summer was just winding down. Mist should not be hanging around this close to the Sun Spire. What disturbed him the most was that as Hunter drew the frigate over the mist, the enigmatic cloud didn’t move. A ship the size of a frigate should have caused some disturbance in the air but the mist did not move at all.

Hunter’s fingers were a blur on the screens. “I’m going to land outside away from the town.” The ship veered away from the town towards the coast, stopping about two miles away on a beach. As he powered down the ship, he turned to Aria and Solinium.

“So? What now?”

Alex came striding up from the back of the bridge, holding some of the curry in a bowl. “First we have lunch. Then we approach this conservatively. Split the team up. One contingent stays here on the Godslayer and protects it. In case we need to evacuate people or escape quickly, we need them ready. The other sticks together and sees what’s going on with the town.”

No one argued. It was a solid plan. Now the question remained, who stayed and who went?

“I’ll staying,” JD announced. “Maybe I can make more stew in case we need to help some survivors.”

“I’ll stay too,” Hunter chimed in. “I’m the best pilot here. I also built the Godslayer so I know her best.”

Tanar coughed, approaching with his muzzle full of some of the buttery bread. “We built her. By that logic, I’ll stay as well. You’ll need us both in case we need it.”

“Well shit,” huffed Kane. “If you pussies are staying, then I guess I’ll go.”

“No,” Alex said sharply, causing the black bear to bristle. “The Godslayer’s landing will not have gone unnoticed. If anything, it’s more problematic to stay here than to go into town.” A soft ‘eep’ came from Hunter at that. “I want you to stay and help protect the ship. If Char is out there or even if Melody is already Fallen, she will come to the ship.”

Kane flashed a grin, making it obvious that he was sold on the plan.

“I will stay as well,” Serena volunteered. She gestured at the large folding fan that was hanging by her hip. “My Valor is wind-based and I specialize in Aeromancy. If that mist starts encroaching upon us, I can keep it back.”

“Then that leaves the rest of us to infiltrate the town,” announced Solinium, nodding towards Alex and Aria. “As Alexander has suggested. Let us eat and then explore Shimmersea.”

Skye glanced towards the display and inhaled sharply.

That enigmatic spirit was stirring again. Though it didn’t speak, he could feel it scratching at the edges of his consciousness… tracing a word against the barriers of his mind.

Danger.

?

?

The Speechless Siren

An eerie stillness and quiet hung around Shimmersea. It took about 45 minutes to cross the two miles from the Godslayer II to the edges of the coastal town. Alex had advised a cautious advance especially since they had no idea what was waiting for them. Instincts built over years of working as a spy were screaming at him the closer they approached the township. There were so many unknowns and, as a spy, it was his job to approach every scenario with as much information as possible. What the movies and vids got wrong was that spies didn’t go charging in all suave and sleek with hi-tech gadgets that could somehow get them out of any scenario while using their wiles and natural charisma for anything else that slipped through the cracks.

No.

Real spies gathered information, made plans and executed those plans.

Though recently, he had become more of a gunslinger than an actual spy, with the increasing activity of the Custodia Goetia, old instincts were rising up again.

Shimmersea should have been a bustling port town. Located east of Corona where the rushing Red River met the ocean, it was one of the primary ports that enabled travel by sea to the Sunless Lands. Even with the advent of Warp technology, Shimmersea still saw a lot of activity. Alex could see the vast wooden ships with their many masts and folded sails currently sitting in the docks, ominously looming in the shadows like judgmental silhouettes.

There were no farms and similarly no walls that limited the edges of the town. Homesteads made of brick and wood to protect against the harsh salty weather and occasional storms marked the official start of the urban limits. That and the thick mist that rose up all the way to Alex’s chest. Given he stood at seven feet tall, there was no doubt the mist was completely unnatural. The average person would be completely consumed or blind. He could barely see Aria.

“The spirits here are subdued,” Skye whispered softly as they strode up the cobblestone roads deeper into the city. “The homes… the earth… It’s like they’re muted. I can barely hear them.”

“What can you make out?” Alex asked.

The Tigris closed his eyes momentarily, having to cup his paws over his ears to focus his hearing. “They’re… restless. Evacuation… retreat… death…” He shook his head with a grimace. “I can’t make out much more. They just keep repeating the same thing over and over again. Something about a song that brings death.”

A soft rippling chime cut through the silence and the mist was suddenly pushed away from them. Solinium held up his paw, a shimmering ball of light hovering between his fingers. The sphere seemed to push back the mist around the group by at least a few feet.

“The mist itself doesn’t seem dangerous,” declared the leonine Templar. “But it would make combat difficult.” He lifted his other paw and seemed to pluck a bit of light from his main orb, dropping it over Skye’s head where it stuck and hovered. “Take these. In case we get separated, they will push back the mist for a few hours.”

He passed out the orbs though Alex declined one. “Thanks but I’m more comfortable not being seen.” He gestured at the light. “That’s good in some sense but it also attracts attention of whatever is hiding in the mist.” The large red Wulfun drew his handguns, Stellar Quadrant, making sure that they were locked and loaded.

They advanced into the town. The homes started turning into establishments and places of business. Many of them became multi-floor structures - no bigger than three storeys - with colorful signs and plants offering a warm, welcoming facade for the average shopper. He glanced from storefront to storefront. No signs of life. At least none that were recent. There were a few restaurants nearby with outdoor patios for meals. Signs of a hasty exit were scattered about. Overturned tables, sprawled chairs and shattered plates and glasses. What food was left behind was stone cold.

“How long ago did the scouts report this place was abandoned?” he asked.

“Over three days ago given our travel time,” answered Solinium. “They did not venture into the town, however. Their instructions were to look for signs of Melody and when they could not find anything, they reported the dead town.”

Rayne crouched nearby, picking up what appeared to be a small plush toy that was laying abandoned. “There’s no smell of demonic corruption. Nothing typical of a Fallen.” He lifted his head, gazing towards the Sun Spire. The brilliance from the tower and the only source of light on Incendius was severely muted giving the appearance of a thick overcast. “It could be that Char knew we’d come here because of its significance to Melody and set a trap.”

The Goetia had deployed similar tactics during the Fall of Haven. They approached the war with no morality whatsoever. Civilians were just fodder for them to turn into Dolls. Entire townships were turned into cannon fodder and civilians into meat shields. The Goetia would purposefully throw entire groups under suspicion if it meant that they could cast doubt on those chasing them and delay their capture. Their near fanatical obsession with causing as much chaos as possible meant that they didn’t care if they died or not. So long as they caused as much pain and misery as possible, they were satisfied.

It was nearly impossible to break them.

Nearly.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s related to Melody or not,” Alex said, reassuring his teammates. He turned towards the road and started walking deeper into the mist. “There’s a town that needs our help so let’s focus on that.”

His allies were right behind him as they approached the waterfront. Ships moored at the docks served as silent, shadowy sentinels just beyond the mist, looming over them and offering little comfort. The dark, empty structures on his right didn’t help either. Hollow, cold, dark skeletons without a single sign of life. Above the creak of wooden decks and the soft rush of waves, not a sound was made.

Until the song started.

The haunting operatic song flowed through the air as easily as the wind blew. Alex’s hackles rose and he lifted his guns. The mist suddenly became agitated. Figures and ghosts swirled in the shadows. Tendrils of white gas lashed out at them, trying to breach the barriers that Solinium’s lights offered but were repelled by the light.

“Melody…” hissed Wood. “She was a singer before she lost her voice then gained her Valor.”

“It could be a Goetia trick,” warned Alex. “Stay on guard.”

There was suddenly a loud crack from his right. A door sprung open and a small ball of flame sprang up from within a nearby building.

“In here, quick!” shouted the Rodetian of the mouse variety. She gestured at them, hurrying them in while her flame kept the mist at bay. Before Alex could question it, Aria and Wood were rushing through the door. He and Rayne hung back while Skye and Solinium followed the other two.

They both felt the dark chill run through their spines and immediately turned towards the water at the same time. Even with the scant light and the mist obscuring their vision, Alex could still see the hands rising up from the shore, pulling bloated, rotting corpses out from the salty brine and dragging them towards the group. Eye sockets completely hollowed out were filled with an unholy green fire. Ghastly moans rose from lips that had been peeled back by the salty sea and eaten by fish to reveal rotting, yellowed teeth with algae growing on them.

“It just had to be fucking zombies,” Rayne growled, dark purple energies emanating from his fists.

Alex lifted a gun and fired. A bullet of pure flame shot into one zombie’s skull, immediately blowing it into pieces. The rest of the corpse collapsed to the ground but another two quickly scrambled over it.

“Too bad zombies are pretty much useless against a guy with infinite bullets,” Alex said with a cocky smirk. He began firing both pistols, each shot going off with deadly accuracy that obliterated a zombie. Still, he skipped backwards, making his way into the open door of the scared mouse.

When he crossed the threshold, the mouse shut the door and immediately began barring it. She dismissed the tongue of flame that she had been holding and stared at the others with wide-eyed horror.

“Turn off your lights! It’s what attracts them!”

Everyone turned towards Solinium who quickly cast a spell that extinguished the orbs of lights hovering over them. Darkness engulfed them. The moans and groans of the zombies outside grew closer while that haunting melody continued despite the thick, stone walls between them and the outside world. The woman scrambled back away from the door and windows, pushing everyone back as far as they would go. Alex kept his guns at the entrances, ready to cast some illusionary magic if needed though he wasn’t sure if undead eyes could be deceived by his Illusionist spells.

Scratching could be heard outside the doors. Silhouettes of rotting, bony hands were placed against the frosted windows. None of them proceeded to smash the windows however or even try very hard to penetrate the barriers. Instead, a few tense minutes passed before then undead began to shuffle away. The chilling song continued for another few minutes before finally fading.

A sigh of relief escaped the mouse’s muzzle and that allowed everyone else to calm.

“Thank you for your assistance,” Aria said. “I am Aria Valkyrie. A Templar of the Church.”

The woman immediately turned to her with a look of anger and frustration. She stepped away, paws balled into fists and anger in her dark eyes. “Another member of the Church?” She spat on the ground right between Aria’s feet. “It’s because of you this all happened.”

To Aria’s credit, she remained calm though Solinium appeared visibly hurt.

Alex appraised the woman. She was dressed in a modest, blue dress with an apron around her waist. Her build was fairly average, maybe even a little portly. With features that were homely and long, black curly hair that contrasted against her gray fur, she was nothing special. However, the tears on her clothes coupled with bruises and hasty bandages on her limbs dictated that she was a survivor. Their surroundings suggested they were in a restaurant of some sort. Tables had been overturned to barricade windows and entrances while a door led to a kitchen that currently sat cold. Stairs led up to a second and likely a third floor. There was a sign that suggested the second floor contained further seating.

“What did the Church do to you, madam?” asked Solinium.

“My name is Cloette,” she hissed, whiskers twitching. “And it’s when that Paladin appeared about four days ago that this entire mess started!” She threw her paws up in frustration and spoke in a harsh whisper. “She’s apparently some star. A darling of this town. But the moment she appeared, she holed up in that seaside theater, began singing and then the mist came and the Drowned started attacking!”

“Melody,” rumbled Wood.

Cloette pointed at him. “That’s the one. That’s her name!”

“Are you absolutely sure it’s her?” pressed the Green Draconis.

“Of course! There was a whole celebration planned for her. The mayor welcomed her back and gave her the finest treatment because she arrived injured and barely conscious. They had her in the hospital. The whole town was supposed to look for her then the singing started!”

Alex narrowed his gaze and strode towards the nearby window. He ran his paw over the misty surface and gazed out into the shore. He could barely see a small island out in the water where the theater that Cloette mentioned stood. The Shimmersea Theater.

When Melody was still an opera singer and a popular songstress, she had invested in Shimmersea and had the theater built. Using magic and a lot of money she had earned from her tours, she had hired people to construct a road leading about two miles out into the sea that led to an artificial island. A lighthouse was built on that island to warn oncoming ships and then the theater was built at its base. The novelty of the theater attracted the best and brightest of performers. It revitalized Shimmersea especially since, after the war, people were starting to question whether travel by wooden ships was still viable.

About a year after its construction, however, the theater suddenly collapsed while Melody was performing. Many suspected sabotage. Others wondered if Melody cut corners as she was the sole sponsor of the entire project. Regardless, she had been trapped under the rubble with some other survivors. Her screams for help were accompanied by her songs to keep those trapped alongside her comfortable. She kept singing and screaming until she lost her voice.

She was rescued but was told that she would never sing let alone talk again. Much to everyone’s surprise, this did not faze her. Using the rest of her funds, she rebuilt the theater - this time on land - and kept the original ruins as a constant reminder of her trauma. Some say that this act of generosity is what attracted the Mother Goddess to her plight and gave her Crescendo.

It made some modicum of sense why she would return to the old theater if she Fell.

“She came here only four days ago?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” Cloette responded angrily. “Those Drowned have killed everyone. At least as far as I know. There might be survivors elsewhere. We know that fire and light keeps the mist away but that only attracts the Drowned. I’ve barely been staying alive by eating what little I still have left from my restaurant.” She fell to her knees. “Things were just starting to look up too… Why did I have to open here of all places…?”

“Sometimes, fate is cruel,” Solinium said sympathetically. “But it is through these trials that we are defined. Stay strong, Cloette.” He leaned down and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You will become stronger through this and I am sure that with the Mother Goddess will turn her merciful eye towards your plight.”

She knocked his hand away and sprang to her feet, staring at him angrily. “If it wasn’t for your flaming Mother Goddess, none of this would have happened! Why did She have to give a Valor to a woman who was clearly a selfish, entitled brat who cared nothing for Shimmersea and just built her flaming theater as a monument to her own ego!”

Alex’s ears perked.

“That’s not fair,” Skye said, stepping between the two. “From what I read and heard, Melody genuinely cared for Shimmersea. She saw that the town wasn’t doing well so she hoped to make it the center of coastal entertainment on Incendius. She funded the renovation of the boardwalk and coast. The theater was just one of the projects she funded.”

“No one has money like that without cutting corners or dark connections,” spat Cloette, turning away from Skye and storming off tot he side, holding herself. “She clearly wanted to control the entire town without being its mayor. I bet all those Drowned are the corpses of the people who died when the theater collapsed.”

Wood grimaced. “Lady, I’m sorry for all this bullshit happening to you but you’re being harsh. How about you tell us what you know and let us sort this stuff out with Melody, huh? Get things back to normal?”

Cloette spun around, her whip-like tail slapping against the ground as she did so. “Normal? How will any of this be normal again!? Over ten thousand people were living here! Children too! They’re all dead! Killed and their corpses dragged off into the waters to be turned into more of the Drowned! Who would want to live here after all that!?”

There, Alex finally turned away from the window.

“How’d you survive?” he asked coldly.

She regarded him with a moment of surprise then sneered. “How do you think? Not everyone was killed or captured immediately. Some of us are good with magic and can fight. I didn’t come here all on my own without knowing how to take care of myself.”

He strode towards her, eyes drilling holes into her. “And you and this resistance realized that you can keep the mist away with fire and light but doing so attracts the Drowned. That’s why the town is completely dead. No light means the Drowned can’t come and get you.”

“Exactly.”

“But the mist doesn’t hurt anyone, right?”

“It’s her curse! You can barely see where you’re going! It turns you around and before you know it, you’re falling into the ocean and being dragged under the waves by the Drowned.”

He stopped and glanced out a nearby window. “So anyone who steps into the water is killed. The mist disorients and can make people fall into the water. Any attempt to disrupt the mist attracts the Drowned. That about right?”

Cloette huffed and crossed her arms. She closed her eyes and dipped her head. “Finally someone gets it. So are you going to help or not? Fix this mess you Church-lovers caused.”

“I’m no lover of the Church,” Alex responded, turning back to her. “Out of curiosity, if you had this all figured out, what happened to the rest of the ‘resistance’?”

Cloette opened her eyes at him. “Some of them got it into their head to run. They could brave the mist or see if they could rescue anyone else. My restaurant was our hiding spot for a bit. But now… I’m all alone…”

Without warning, Alex suddenly flicked up one of Stellar Quadrant’s guns and immediately had it pressed against Cloette’s forehead.

“Alex!” Aria cried.

“Dude!” screamed Wood. “What the fuck!?”

Alex did not flinch as he looked down the barrel at Cloette. “Funny,” he said. “Solinium’s scouts arrived here about three days ago and reported that the entire town was abandoned. You just said that Melody arrived in an injured and crippled state four days ago. She escaped shortly after that.”

“What’s your point?” snapped Cloette. “She caused all this in a day. That’s the power of a Fallen, right?” She reached up, gripped the barrel of his gun and pressed it harder against his forehead. “If you’re going to kill me, do it! It’s better than living through this hell!”

He grinned savagely at her. “Sure. But first, let me point out that no one ever called her Fallen.”

A bolt of realization ran through the team.

“Secondly,” Alex leaned forward, locking gazes with Cloette. “You just said that you and some of your crew acted as a resistance. Searching for people, trying to help them escape and even trying to escape yourself. Again, the scouts came here three days ago. Are you telling me you were all wiped out and reduced to one person in one day?

“Thirdly, Melody went missing two weeks ago. And finally we know you can jump bodies, Char Blythe.”

The accusation sent shockwaves through the Godslayers. Solinium reached up for the massive sword across his back and the others drew their own weapons. Cloette stared at them for a second… before the unnaturally wide grin split across her face. Her eyes immediately caught fire and she turned back to Alex.

“What gave me away?” she asked.

Her entire body suddenly caught ablaze, forcing Alex back. The features of the Rodetian burned into blackened flesh right in front of him. Still, Cloette’s fingers reached up and ripped the charred flesh off her skull like it was melted plastic and tossed it aside. The smell of burned flesh and fur permeated the restaurant. Her squat features sizzled away as the figure of Char Blythe emerged from the corpse like he was just shedding his skin. For a moment he stood naked then the crimson flames that engulfed him melded with this flesh, transforming into that uniform that he was seen wearing back at the Grey Sun Facility.

“Fucking hell!” Rayne shouted.

Char regarded the Demon Prince lazily before turning his gaze back to Alex. “Again, what was it that gave me away? I thought this host would last a little longer in deceiving you.”

Alex kept his gun trained at Char. “Let me guess. What you told us about the mist and Melody should be taken with a grain of salt. Maybe the some of it is bullshit. Maybe it isn’t. You were hoping we’d go out there with a plan formulated around your lies and end up being caught off-guard.”

“Perhaps,” sighed Char. “Now kindly answer the question.” He tilted his head back, that grin from ear to ear spreading across his features. “The curiosity is killing me.”

BANG!

Char’s head exploded into a burst of flame, bone and brains.

Alex, his gun still smoking, lowered the weapon as Char’s body dropped to the ground. “Then kindly die and fuck off. You’ll never get the answer from me.”

“Holy shit…” breathed Wood. “He was… He just…” He swallowed loudly. “Tell me that was just… I don’t know… A disguise? That wasn’t a real person…?”

Alex glanced towards the wall, particularly the window that he had stood in front of. There was a portrait right next to it revealing a Rodetian with dark, curly brown hair and black eyes clutching two children tightly and smiling.

“Sadly, I don’t think so,” he answered. “Char admitted he wasn’t creating clones or Dolls to host his consciousness. I think he’s somehow able to either invade people’s minds or acts like a virus that slowly takes over their bodies. Either way…”

Purple flames suddenly engulfed Char’s body, Rayne standing a few feet away with his hands outstretched. “Best to be safe and burn this fucker.”

Alex nodded in agreement. Beyond the window, he could see the Drowned starting to approach. They were trapped. Whether or not Char had intended this to be the outcome, this was the situation. He lifted his guns and gestured the team to head up the stairs.

“Let’s go,” he ordered. “We’ll worry about Char later. Right now, we need to get out of here.”

And back to his son.

Requiem Dirge

Hunter was being usual neurotic-self and was tinkering away at the Godslayer II while the rest of the crew was milling about keeping watch. JD was making more of the curry that had been a hit with the everyone else while Kane stood outside, perched on one of the wings of the starship and seemingly wasting time on his tablet. Serena was in the conference room right behind the bridge, using the connection it had with the Church and military’s archives to pursue her research on here Trevor Ford could be.

Or at least that’s what she should have been doing.

Tanar had been standing at the entrance for the better part of five minutes, watching her silently. She had her back to him as she sat on the circular table, reading up on Clockwork and Eaton Slater. The entire time, she did not do anything else except for research Eaton and run scans for the werewolf Paladin. Holographic displays and notes hovered in front of her while a portrait of the grinning Lupus constantly hovered to her right. She would stare at that image for a few seconds, sometimes letting out a sigh before returning to her work. At about seven minutes, he finally decided to clear his throat.

She jumped and immediately switched off the display. When she spun, her maroon eyes were wide.

“How long were you standing there?” she asked.

Tanar unfolded his arms and strode over, pressing a button on the table to once again bring up everything that she had been working on. “Long enough to know that you were clearly distracted.” He gave her a sly, sidelong smile. “Some would say that the relationship between vampire and werewolf is a trite cliche but I’m curious to hear why you are so fascinated with Mr. Slater.”

Serena sighed softly, placing her hands on her knees. “Blazes… It isn’t what you think.”

Tanar pulled up a nearby seat. “Enlighten me.”

“I wasn’t in love with Eaton,” she said hastily, pressing a hand against her chest. “And that was exactly the problem.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her but gestured for her to continue.

“I became a Paladin about eight years ago. A new generation of Paladins after the Fall. While there are many Vampiri Paladins in the past, being one in this age was significant because the Church isn’t as powerful as it used to be. I don’t know how much you know about Vampiri culture but we are a cunning and ambitious people. The minute I got my Valor, Vampiri nobility were training me to be a right and proper lady, how to manage the intrigues of court and to seek opportunities to wrest power from the Church.”

“Harsh,” Tanar commented. “But there is a lot of responsibilities that comes with being a Paladin.”

“Indeed. I entered the academy for Paladins and it was during my time there that I met this little baker’s boy while I was out on patrol. That was Eaton Slater.”

Tilting his head to the side, Tanar said, “The Paladin Academy on Incendius is in Corona. I didn’t think Lupus traveled that far north let alone to set up a baker’s shop… I know there’s been a push for them to ease up on their vigil down south against the Darkened and many of them have even sought out vocations outside of being a warrior but…” Then his eyes widened upon seeing Serena’s pointed stare. “Oh… He was still human.”

Serena nodded and explained that Eaton Slater the human became infatuated with her especially after an unfortunate series of events that involved a minor demonic cult. Though neither of them got out of it unscathed, Eaton always bore some degree of affection for her. Things grew a little more complicated when, the following year, Serena met Eaton at the Paladin Academy with a Valor of his own.

Tanar sucked in air through his fangs. “I take it you did not do the intelligent thing and tell him you had no interest in his affections.”

She shook her head. “Despite my appearances, I am actually only half Vampiri. My mother was human. Though I lived in Mirecragg, it wasn’t until I received Nemesis that I was actually allowed underground amongst the nobility and the mansions built into the enormous stalactites that I was even recognized as a Vampiri.”

The Custodia Vampiri lived in the Twilit Forest, a large stretch of land that was perpetually coated in the purple light of twilight thanks to some ancient magic. Their cities were divided into two sections, the above-ground structures that were generally made out of enormous trees that were wound and woven into homes and the underground where entire structures were built into enormous stalactites created through magic and hanging over enormous caverns illuminated by nature and magic. Only those invited by the Vampiri could enter the underground section of the cities which was generally reserved for nobility. That Serena was not allowed down there even though she was partially a Vampiri spoke of some deep-seated racism that Tanar had only heard of but never seen. The Vampiri generally were perceived as polite.

“The people on the surface generally didn’t associate with me either,” continued Serena. “Outwardly, I am the perfect image of a Vampiri so many questioned why I was forced to live above ground and made cruel remarks about my standing amongst the nobility.” She let out a ragged sigh. “It was… nice to have someone pay so much attention to me.”

Tanar leaned back in his seat. “What happened when you eventually broke his heart?”

She offered a sad smile. “He sought an assignment as far away from me as possible. Both physically and metaphorically. He is an excellent Paladin. Became obsessed with graduating together even though we were one year apart in education. Pushed himself to graduate a year early.”

He grimaced and she nodded in understanding.

“He announced his affection for me when he finally got confirmation that we would indeed go out into the world together,” Serena concluded. “Wanted to be in a squad together.” A soft laugh left her lips. “On some level, I am glad that we both didn’t fall under the command of that flaming Char but…” Shaking her head, she said, “I told him I wasn’t interested in him at all and he did not take it too well. He took an opening to be transformed into a Custodia Lupus, becoming the a representative of the species to the Church and the rest of the world. He took it. Now the political strife between our two species would keep us apart as well as the fact that he is generally stations elsewhere while I must always be by Templar Solinium’s side.”

“And I take it upon hearing of his potential Fall, you’re bearing some guilt over the fact that your actions could have inadvertently led him to Char’s grip thereby putting him in this scenario,” concluded Tanar. “You have to know that’s irrational.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I know that a lot has happened in the last eight years and Eaton could very well have moved on. I’ve heard that the Lupus tend to have sexual relations with one another and as a male-only group, they form groups or ‘packs’ that they genuinely have affection for. A strong brotherhood, apparently. For life.”

By the quiver of her lips, he guessed that she had already confirmed that Eaton was already in such a relationship.

“But you still don’t love him.”

She shook her head. “No. I still care for him. Even if our relationship has been nothing but professional for the past few years, I still consider him my friend and that is my priority.” Her eyes turned to him. “Surely you understand with these Godslayers.”

He held up his good hand. “I’m not one to judge. In my opinion, emotional attachment and adding an empathic edge to your judgments is critical to getting a better outcome.” The Leomian turned his gaze momentarily past Serena to the door leading to the bridge. “The general consensus amongst the rest of the Godslayers is that I like to follow the rule of law to the letter. But I also recognize that the law is flawed. It’s a mortal concept and we mortals are flawed. Laws can be changed and modified as times change.” He gave her a gentle smile, placing his artificial claw on her shoulder. “Let yourself be human every now and then. You’re more than your Valor and a Paladin.”

Tanar switched off the displays flying in front of them. “Why don’t we get some of that fresh ocean air? Refresh your mind before we both go back to looking for Eaton and Trevor Ford?”

“You’ll help?” she asked eagerly.

“Two pair of eyes are better than one,” he answered with a wry smile. Together, they headed out of the starship but didn’t get more than a few feet down the ramp when they both stopped.

A thick, dense mist had manifested around the ship. The doors opened into the ship’s interior and the haze seemed to start crawling and clawing its way into the air conditioned environment which should not have been possible. The moment part of the cloud touched Chaosrender, however, information immediately came rushing into Tanar’s head. He grimaced, pressing his fleshy paw against his temple and staggering back. Serena pulled him back away from the encroaching smog.

“Tanar!”

Heavy footfalls started bounding up the ramp. Serena was immediately on edge but Tanar waved her down. He could recognize those steel-toed boots anywhere. Kane came bolting up the ramp hefting Spicy Meatball over his shoulder. There was a flash for crimson electricity behind the big bear and JD was suddenly there, spinning smoothly in the air and drawing Conflagration.

“What’s going on out there?” Serena demanded.

“Don’t know,” sneered Kane. “That mist just came out of nowhere. Surrounded the entire goddamn fucking ship. Then we started hearing shit out there. Saw weird shadows too.” He turned towards the bridge and yelled at the top of his voice. “Hey! Hunter! What the fuck is going on!?”

Hunter’s voice came out from the speaker system of the ship. “I don’t know. Scanners and sensors are all being scrambled somehow. I can’t make out anything beyond the mist and I’ve lost contact with Aria’s team!”

Tanar straightened, rubbing his temples. “It’s Melody… but also… Not.” He slipped past Kane, feeling the bear’s paw briefly brush against his shoulder as he reached out with Chaosrender and just barely touched the edges of the mist.

Images flashed before his eyes.

Darkness. A cage. Trapped next to the other Paladins. Ford was taken away first by Char and soldiers dressed in robes of black, red and white. Then it was her turn. Torture. No pain but emotional torture. He saw… a ruined theater positioned out in the middle of the ocean. People’s faces burning in fire, turning black before their own hands tore them away to reveal Char’s grinning features. Desperation. A feeling of helplessness.

The undead.

He recoiled from the mist, staggering back just as the first shadowy figure began lurching its way up the ramp. “Zombies!” he cried.

Incredulous looks were thrown his way before the lights from the ship finally revealed the first rotting, bloated undead shuffling its way up the ramp.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” barked Kane. “The Goetia are using Necromancy now!?” He barreled forward, swinging his fiery hammer and colliding immediately with the approaching zombie. Burst of lava and fire erupted from the impact The moment that first undead was disposed of, two others were suddenly lunging at Kane from the obscurity of the mist.

Tanar flung his metallic paw forward. Dark ribbons wreathed in a red aura sprang from Chaosrender’s fingertips and snapped around the zombie attacking Kane’s right. The bloated corpse topped to the ground, snapping and snarling at the bear. Meanwhile, JD appeared behind the other zombie, swinging Conflagration in a wide circle. Flames burst from the twin swords, pushing back the mist far enough to reveal the horde rapidly approaching them.

“Fuck me…” Kane grunted, taking a step back up the ship. “Hunter! We need to get the fuck out of here!”

“I’m starting her up! Keep them back until then!”

Serena strode forward, pulling the large, metal personal fan that was hanging be her hip. She drew it, unfolding it to reveal the black metal ribs and the bright yellow frills in between. “Breathe, Nemesis,” she whispered softly.

Without warning, her Valor activated. Short, thin blades sprang up from each of her fan’s ribs. There was instantly a ‘pressure’ that built in the air like the very atmosphere became incredibly heavy and packed. The sign of a Valor being activated. It was to Tanar’s shame that Chaosrender and the Codex Liberalis didn’t really ‘activate’ since it really just copied information and spells from his environment. Aria was just so synchronized with her Valor that when she activated it - by just saying its name, no less - she didn’t expend unnecessary energy that affected the atmosphere.

Serena was still a relatively young Paladin so the effect on her surrounding was expected.

She swept her fan forward in a wide circle. A powerful gust of wind blew from her simple swing with the intensity of a storm. Kane and JD were completely unaffected but the zombies were momentarily stalled while the mist was pushed back. The vast horde making its way up to them was revealed and Tanar’s heart froze. There had to be hundreds of them as they were all emerging from the ocean. Their flesh was blue and translucent, bits and pieces having rotted off and devoured by sea life. Seaweed and even some barnacles were attached to their waterlogged clothes. An eerie red magic glowed from their eyes, animating their frames with more speed and flexibility that bloated corpses should have allowed.

The moment they were revealed, the undead scrambled up the ramp.

“Fuck!” Kane roared and grabbed his cousin by the collar, pulling him back up into the ship itself. Tanar and Serena provided covering fire, hurling spells over the two boy’s shoulders. An automated turret sprang up from overhead and began pounding the corpses with high-caliber bullets. Still, it was not enough. There were just so many that for each one felled, three more took its place, merely clambering over the fallen or shoving it aside.

Kane and JD tried to offer a blockade to both Serena and Tanar, engaging them in melee combat but the zombies merely poured into the mess hall around them. A few closed in around Tanar who immediately clawed at them with Chaosrender while others started charging for the bridge.

“Hunter!” he shouted then immediately choked as his metallic claws scraped across the zombie’s flesh. “Oh no…” He spun around. “Don’t get bitten!”

Kane kicked one zombie down. “Basic rule of every zombie invasion, kitty cat! Nothing new!”

“I’m serious!” he snapped back, swinging his paw in the direction of the bridge. Black ribbons exploded out of the metallic floor, curling around the large doors and blocking the path of the zombies. “These things aren’t undead! They’re elemental constructs made to look like zombies!”

Winds howled around them and the tables and chairs were yanked from where they were kept by powerful gales summoned by Serena. An entire table slammed into the zombies trying to make for the bridge, squishing them against the wall. Chairs and the other table was hurled down the ramp, providing a moment or relief.

“What do you mean they’re elemental constructs?” she demanded.

“Hydromancy is being used to transform water into these things,” he explained, flinging large, black needles into the horde of zombies. “They’re literally just made entirely of water. They’re not corpses. But if you get bitten, then the spell animating them is going to start draining the water from your body to make more zombies!” He pointed at the zombies that Serena had destroyed against the wall. “Look! They’re reforming!”

True to his word, seawater leaked out from behind the table, forming a puddle beneath it. From that puddle, convincingly rotting limbs began emerging.

“Fuck,” Kane repeated. “So what’s the plan? How do we fuck them over?”

Tanar reached for the Codex Liberalis hanging from his hip, flipping through the pages. He then lunged at a nearby zombie that was reforming, shoving the entire paw of Chaosrender through it. The details of the spell was immediately written within the pages of the Codex.

“Got it!” he exclaimed, snapping the book shut. A crimson flame burst from his fingertips and swept into the puddle, immediately evaporating the water. “The spell only affects water in its liquid form! If it’s transformed into a gas, it loses its hold!”

A savage grin crossed Kane’s features. “Exactly what I wanted to hear.” He roared as the flickers of white flame began burning behind his eyes. The enormous black bear with white and blue hair lifted Spicy Meatball over his shoulder and brought it crashing down to the ground. Huge fingers of molten magma exploded out of the earth just beyond the ship’s ramp, forming a wall around the ramp that constantly spurted heated earth and drove back the zombies.

JD’s crimson lightning crackled and he slammed the button that retracted the ramp. Then he reappeared right beside Serena. He whispered something to her and she nodded. With a swing of her fan, a huge gale blew through the mess hall, sweeping over the remaining zombies and forcing them to topple over. JD swung Conflagration through the air, tracing runes in the Illuminus Weizar. Red flames then burst from the tips of his swords, carried by the wind currents and sweeping over the remaining constructed. The zombies evaporated, their moans vanishing into the hissing of steam. Hunter turned on the air conditioning that quickly dried out the oppressive humidity that had suddenly overtaken the ship.

Together, the four of them rushed to the bridge after Tanar withdrew his barricade. They felt the Godslayer II take off and rise away from the beach. As they emerged into the cockpit, Hunter was rapidly tapping on the display to veer the ship away from Shimmersea.

“The ocean-side theater,” Tanar announced, pointing off to the distance. “When I touched the mist, that place came up multiple times. It’s connected to Melody.”

Serena folded Nemesis, the blades retracting back into her fan. “I never thought Melody would go to such lengths to create zombie-like constructs to terrorize a town…”

“That wasn’t her,” Tanar said, shaking his head. “She created the mist to protect people from the constructs. Char kept her imprisoned. Tormented her somehow.” He glanced over to JD. “I think you’re right. Somehow Char is able to hop between bodies but I don’t think he’s creating Dolls like he did during the Fall. He’s doing something else and it’s caused Melody a lot of pain. She did her best to protect the people of Shimmersea by conjuring that mist.”

“The mist is magical in nature,” Hunter breathed. “That explains why my sensors and scanners were completely neutralized. She must’ve designed it to completely keep people within it confused or in the dark.”

“Or to keep Char from finding more victims.” Tanar narrowed his eyes. “I think it may have worked against her in the end as the townspeople likely got lost and Char just picked them off one at a them with his zombies one by one.” He rubbed his chin with his good paw. “I just wonder why he would use zombies…”

“Maybe it has to do with the messed up theater?” JD offered. “Those constructs looked like they all came from high society.”

The Leomian he snapped his fingers. “Right! It was in Melody’s dossier. She was a singer before she became a Paladin. She funded the construction of that theater out in the harbor but inadvertently cut corners so the whole thing was made cheaply. It collapsed while she was performing and lots of people died. She survived with a few people but lost her voice! Those zombies must be Char’s attempt to constantly reminder her of her failings!”

“Then it’s make sense that Char himself would be positioned at the theater,” concluded Serena. “That must be were he’s keeping her!”

Tanar patted Hunter’s shoulder. “Let’s go rescue her.”

“Aye, aye,” growled the combat engineer and steered the Godslayer towards the distant landmark.

Broken Voice

The ruins of the old theater.

Of all the other locations in Shimmersea, it seemed the one that Melody would be attracted to. It was the site of her greatest sin, the location where she lost her voice and a monument to her guilt and self-loathing. With this in mind, Aria led her group through the town, to the shore and across the land bridge to the ruins.

There was no point in subtly anymore. Char knew they were here. Solinium created his spheres of light, encircling the group to keep the mist away and give them a good view of their surroundings. They ran across the long, stone bridge connecting the shore to the ruins in the middle of the bay. Zombies rose from the waters, trying to scramble up the sheer sides of the bridge. Those that did manage to make it up were swiftly cut down.

Aria led the group, Searsparrow in her hand while fiery birds hovered over her shoulders. As a zombie came lunging at her from the right, one of the burning avians dove at it, erupting and sending it crashing back into the waters. Another bird would take the expended projectile a moment later. Templar Solinium was just right behind her, his mighty sword - Zweihander - held easily in one hand. Any zombie that drew too close was quickly dispatched with a swing of his Valor.

More of the undead began rising from the waters and with almost four miles ahead of them, they began consuming the vast swathes of the land bridge ahead. Bursts of magic flew over Aria’s head like elemental mortars. Skye hovered above the bridge, away from the reach of the zombies and provided long-ranged support. Right beneath him was Alex, firing his explosive bullets with amazing accuracy.

Bringing up the rear were Wood and Rayne. The zombies continued to give chase from behind and though the group moved much faster, they drew closer to the ruins, their progress was slowed and that meant the gap between them and the horde was growing smaller and smaller. Wood flung Cindarc where he could, the fiery axe cutting down the undead. Rayne flung bolts of demonic purple energy to the same effect.

“We will be overwhelmed before long!” Solinium hissed, cutting one undead in two. “Even if we were to reach the ruins, this horde would continue to pursue us.”

Aria’s pace slowed as the wall of animated corpses began approaching, separating them from their goal by about a mile. Her fingers tightened around her spear.

“Then we summon reinforcements,” she declared, holding her spear pointing upwards in front of her. “Cover me!”

Solinium took a few steps ahead of her, swinging his enormous sword to ward off the encroaching corpses. Rayne jumped to his side while Alex and Skye flanked her, shooting down any of the undead trying to climb up the sides of the narrow bridge that could perhaps fit about three carriages abreast. Wood remained in the rear, hacking, slashing and breathing acid at the approaching foes.

Aria placed faith in her comrades and focused her divine energies into Searsparrow. Her Valor, Gungnir, was a far better conduit for Divine Magic but this spear was still very durable. She made a mental note that, eventually, she’ll need to ask Hunter to modify it to better suit her preferred form of magic but pushed that thought aside. For now, she searched her vast repository of knowledge, digging through her dictionary of words in the Illuminus Weizar and weaving through her mental library of spells to weave an intricate summoning.

First, she reached into the very essence of Searsparrow. Everything had a true name etched somewhere in the Illuminus Weizar. A definition. Something that truly described it. With her deep connection to Divine Magic, she was able to see the words that epitomized the spear in the language of creation. From there, she got a good idea of how to channel her own magic through the spear without breaking it. She now had her paint brush. Now she needed her paint, canvas and a firm idea.

The air began to feel heavy with magic. A faint crackling could be hear accompanied by a rising keening noise.

The paint was ready.

Aria opened her eyes, sweeping her spear around her, defining the area where her creations would be borne. Summoning them right in the midst of the undead - while flashy - would only lead to their immediate demise. Might prove a distraction for her allies as well. Her gaze lifted into the gloomy air above her; the empty space over them.

Now she had her canvas.

The last thing she needed was an idea.

From Searsparrow, divine energies and her immediate need, she came up with a single name.

“Avingelignis!” she cried.

The fiery sparrows hovering over her shoulders shot into the air, coalescing into a brilliant orb of flame - or rather an egg. The crimson flames pushed back the mist around them even more and gave pause to the undead. Magic poured into her creation as did the energies supplied from Searsparrow.

The egg split down the middle, revealing the shell to be parts of a broad pair of fiery wings. An avian creature dressed in blistering white and gold armor wielding its own spear of flame was birthed in a brilliant cascade of scintillating light. The avian angel of fire lunged down towards the zombie horde, cleaving right through the mass and paving a way for them.

“Move” Solinium cried and the party charged down the path that the fire bird had made.

“Spirits!” Skye shouted, pointing as the newly birthed angelic creature was overwhelmed by the zombies.

Aria was not concerned, as the magic from her creation was released, she was able to swing Searsparrow around, generating more of her fiery birds that she quickly shot forward where her fiery creation had vanished. Behind the horde. All the little birds converged and -

BOOM!

Another avian angel took its place, knocking the horde back. This new guardian swiped and pushed back the horde, further providing a path for them to approach the ruins.

“I must say, I am impressed!” Solinium declared, panting. “That is a unique creation, is it not? To summon an entirely new creature out of sheer imagination takes immense power and creativity!”

Aria smiled at the compliment and swung Searsparrow, a trail of flame following the spearhead. “Most of the energy is generated from my spear. Hunter’s momentum technology truly does wonders. My own divine energy is just used to guide that magic and give it shape. It is why I can summon it over and over again.”

Over time, she was confident she could refine the spell to be more efficient but for now, she could only summon one of her constructs once she had generated enough fiery sparrows.

Solinium suddenly stopped and held out a paw towards the ruins, a grim grin across his features. “The horde is only intensifying. It seems that Char or Melody really do not want us to reach those ruins.” The air one again grew thick with magic, a crimson aura emanating from the Leomian Templar. “Let us break through like the light of morning! Dawn of Blades!”

Intense light exploded from the horizon across the sea. Beams of dawn pierced through the undead, blinding them and causing the corpses to recoil against the brilliance. Warmth and holy light bathed the entire land bridge, pushing back the mist. Immense swords of light just as big as Zweihander raced across the horizon like bladed missiles. They tore through the horde, ripping them to shreds while artfully avoiding the Templar’s allies.

Aria watched in awe as the incredible power of Solinium was put on display. Templars were known to be able to bend their Valors to their will, utilizing them to their full potential. However, in her long life, she had rarely ever met another Templar that had displayed their full power for her. She had doubts this was Solinium’s greatest ability but she was once again humbled that despite all her experience, she could still see something that had her in awe.

The horde was quickly thinned, the bridge cleared… for the moment.

“Move it!” Alex barked, racing past her. “Those undead bastards aren’t going to wait for us to catch our breath!”

Aria charged forward, briefly locking gazes with Solinium who was not even winded. They ran towards the ruins side by side. The light of his artificial dawn continued for a little while longer but as it began to fade, she saw movement in the waters. The undead were returning.

Just how many had died under Char’s tyranny?

Unless…?

“They’re not true corpses,” she concluded with a grim snarl.

“Pardon?” Solinium asked. He flung his paw in the direction of the horizon and the light of his manufactured dawn flared up once again. The undead retreated back under the ocean’s waters.

“Those aren’t true undead,” she explained. “They must be some sort of construct. Much like my Avingelignis. If they were true animated corpses, these waters would look very different. They would be polluted with so many bodies. But look. It is clear.” Aria shook her head as the ruins of the theater rapidly approached. “Char is trying to unnerve us. Perhaps he used that to torment Melody as well.”

“I see,” Solinium murmured. “Then perhaps they are some form of water construct. Zweihandler’s innate ability is ‘All-Consuming Radiance’. Anything its edge touches or anything a spell channeled through it touches will gradually be degraded. It must be canceling out the Hydromancy these zombies are made out of.”

“Maintain the spell,” Aria said with a nod. “Regardless of their origins, we cannot have them interrupt us as we confront Char and Melody.”

Solinium agreed and kept the light of his spell going even as they charged into the charmed remains of the seaside theater.

A tinge of sadness touched Aria’s heart as she gazed as the blackened, hollow shell of the theater. She could imagine how it had once been so grand and welcoming. The red brick that made up the majority of the structure would have been so vibrant once. A towering lighthouse once stood at its center but had long-since collapsed to half its height; a forgotten candlestick that had lost its wick. Three storeys had been built around the central lighthouse to celebrate music and artistry but was now reduced to a blackened, empty shell without a roof. Crumbling visages of the winged Sun Goddess and various birds littered the ground, their once proud statues barely distinguishable.

The entire eastern wall which faced the shore had collapsed. It was through this hole that Aria raced over the mounds of brick and ash. Most of the interior had been cleared out from the rescue effort that had led to Melody’s rescue. There were still burnt chairs, doors and rotting pieces of wood that littered the vast empty hall. Beams of light from Solinium’s magic poked through holes in the wall. Enough to illuminate the hunched figure draped in black crouched at what had once been a stage of a grand auditorium.

“Melody!” Wood cried, rushing forward to the Paladin.

“Wait!” Rayne shouted, making a desperate grab for the dragon but was too late. The moment Wood shouted her name, an ear piercing noise cut through the hall. Even with the burned surroundings, the acoustics were decent enough that the screech reverberated off the walls and intensified its effect.

Aria was immediately sent to her knees, her head pounding from the inside like someone was digging spikes into her brain. Even as she covered her ears the noise continued to drag claws into her very soul, blurring her vision. Rayne tumbled down the wreckage of the eastern wall, holding his hands over his ears and screaming in agony. Skye dropped from the air and even Solinium was forced to his knees. The light from the Leomian’s dawn wavered but he somehow managed to maintain it. Even from where he stood near the lip of the entrance, Alex was forced to his knees. Wood, thanks to his Fallen resilience, was slowed in his approach to Melody but still managed to advance.

He reached her…

… only for something to rise out from the dark curtains behind the hunched figure. Wicked, black claws the size of swords lashed out, slicing into Wood’s wings and sending him back. Two, long, feathered wings emerged from the curtains, parting them to allow the Phantasm to fully emerge. The being was lean, elegant humanoid woman with brilliant blue and white feathers covering the more suggestive parts of her body. The rest of her flesh was a dull aquamarine. Her legs were that of a bird of prey’s with talons that could shred a man in two with ease. Thin wires sprung from her forearms and formed long strands that were reminiscent of a harm but were razor sharp and glistened in the faint light. Her beautiful features were stunning, alluring and almost divine. Instead of ears, she had two, long feathered wings that seemed to both maintain her hovering and act as a second pair of arms.

This was Melody’s Phantasm.

The manifestation of Melody’s sins strung a tune along her harp strings and that ear-piercing noise once again split through the auditorium. Aria’s vision blurred but she refused to fall on her back.

The hunched figure sitting on the stage stood and flung aside the cloak concealing them.

“Char!” Wood sneered, blood dripping from the wound on his left arm.

“You are all so predictable,” the traitor laughed. “I will admit that you discovered my identity in that inn far too soon but despite that, you still fell to my trap.”

Aria shut her eyes for a moment, cursing herself for not realizing it sooner. Melody’s Valor enabled her to communicate through magical music. It was only logical that this place would only amplify her powers… or that of her Phantasm’s.

Another strum of the harp and another screeching song that made her waver. She could only open one eye now as she fought through the pain.

“What do you want!?” she demanded. “What does claiming their Phantasms and powers even do for you!?”

Char laughed, his voice somehow coming through clearly despite the ear-splitting noise. “If you think I will monologue and give away my plans, you are sorely mistaken.” He made sweeping gestured at them. “You have all become quite the nuisance but nothing you have done has delayed my agenda. In fact, you have just accelerated it because of your interference.”

He curled one arm around his chest while the other cupped his chin thoughtfully. “No matter. This will be your final moments. Requiem…” He waved a hand at the Phantasm behind him. “… play them a funeral dirge.”

“Bastard!” roared Wood, struggling to his feet. The Phantasm - Requiem - strummed another song. Bleeding and closest to the sound, Wood somehow remained standing even though Aria was finally forced to fall to her side, gripping her ears in both her hands.

“I swear… I’ll fucking kill you!” roared the dragon.

Char rolled his eyes. “Wood Bladebreaker… The so-called Fallen.” The Goetia strode forward and in his weakened state, Wood could do nothing as Char reached out, gripped one of his horns and forced them to stand nose-to-nose. “You think you are a Fallen. That you are ‘badass’ for being one of the ostracized or ‘heretics’ that the Church once feared. But you are not.” He leaned closer to Wood’s ear. “Your Sin is empty. You can’t even separate yourself from your Phantasm. You are not a Fallen. You are just a child pretending to be one.”

With his other hand, Char snapped a finger.

Then Requiem began to sing.

A physical shockwave erupted from the Phantasm, rocking the entire auditorium. Wood was blown back from Char’s grip. Somehow, Aria managed to life her hand and conjured a soft stack of gelatin in the dragon’s trajectory. Wood landed safely within the glowing, gelatinous mass.

Char spread his arms wide, grinning manically. “Now, embrace your death! Let Requiem’s song send you to your precious dead Goddess!”

Aria closed her eyes, trying to focus her strength and magic.

BOOM!

Her eyes immediately sprang open as the sound from Requiem abruptly stopped. Though her ears were still ringing and the phantom of the pain lingered, it was nowhere near as terrible as when the song was ongoing. Char stood in stunned silence as his entire left arm was completely gone, a circular gaping hole left where it should have been. The blow had blasted Requiem’s left foot as well, causing her to stop.

“What the fuck…?” Alex breathed.

Blinding lights suddenly erupted from behind where the big Wulfun was perched above the mound that had been the eastern wall. Aria managed to twist her head around and spot a hovering starship.

The Godslayer.

BOOM!

Another cannon went off and this time, it was following by the sound of metallic rope unspooling. A large harpoon cut through the air and pierced Char’s chest. The projectile was as long as he was tall and about as wide as his chest. A long metal cable trailed behind it. It blasted through his body, practically splitting it in two, and slammed into the stage behind him. Crimson lightning followed the projectile and the moment it hit the ground, Jack Denver Clark materialized, Validation flashing through the air and slicing through Char’s head, severing it from the Goetia’s neck and adding a vertical slice that bifurcated his head right down the middle.

“JD!” Rayne shouted. “Watch out! That Phantasm will make your ears bleed!”

Requiem immediately began strumming her harp strings again.

JD immediately swung Validation at his own neck, slicing through it in a particular direction. As the sounds swept over him, he remained standing and raced at the Phantasm, swinging his swords. The stunned Phantasm could only hold up her arms to protect herself. Validation’s white blades sliced right through her harp strings.

“How did he manage to do that?” breathed Solinium, the sounds fading.

“He cut his aural senses,” Skye panted, crawling up to the Templar. He cast a healing spell, helping Solinium regain his strength to maintain the artificial dawn. “He’s done something similar before. When Wood and I were overwhelmed by the spices of Incendian dishes, he used Validation to temporarily disable our sense of taste. He must’ve done that with his own ears so he wouldn’t hear Requiem’s music.”

“Brilliant…”

The sound of metal grating against metal followed accompanied by the sound of rushing wind. Kane and Tanar rode the metal cable down from the Godslayer, propelled by Serena’s powerful wind magic. The three landed amongst the others, standing protectively while the injured recovered.

“Looks like we arrived just in time,” Tanar said, quickly opening his grimoire and casting a wide-spread healing spell. Soft, green light bathed Aria and her party, giving them the strength to stand.

“We came as quickly as we could,” Serena added. “We were attacked by the undead but Tanar quickly realized that they weren’t true undead. Merely constructs made of water to resemble the dead.”

“We gathered that much as well,” Solinium panted. “We made our way here thinking this would be were Melody would be… It was a trap from Char.”

Requiem, now without her harp strings, opened her lips and let out an ear-splitting scream. The sonic blast was not something JD could defend against and at short-range, he was blasted all the way back to the defensive line.

“Shut the fuck…” Kane roared, slamming Spicy Meatball into the ground. A plume of lava burst from the ground before quickly hardening. He then swung his might hammer at the pillar of obsidian, sending a spear careening towards Requiem. “… up!”

CRASH!

The still-molten rock crashed against Requiem’s face, interrupting her cry.

Her recoiling gave JD ample opportunity to quickly reappear behind her in a bolt of red lightning. Validation flashed through the air, slicing across her back and causing her to scream… or she would if her vocal cords were still working. The slices had severed her ability to utter all forms of music.

The Phantasm fell to the ground. Her body began to fade in a dizzying flurry of glowing blue and green feathers. Before she even hit the stage, she was gone.

“Fuck,” Wood snarled, hobbling over to Skye. The Tigris gasped at the ragged wounds across his friend’s arm and wings. Skye entreated the spirits around him to quickly heal the dragon’s injuries. “Char just recalled Requiem. We’re not done with that Phantasm yet.”

Aria shook the last remnants of the painful music from her head and joined the others in healing the reunited group. “Thank you for your timely assistance. I don’t know if we could have fought back Char and Requiem without your assistance.”

“If the asshole hadn’t attacked us, we probably would’ve been too late,” Kane confessed. “But still begs the question, where the fuck is Melody?”

Alex finally slid down the mountain of rubble to join them. “The hospital.”

Aria regarded him curiously. “The hospital?”

“Yes. Char said that the town took her in. Placed her in a hospital and then things started going south.”

“Can we even trust what he says?”

“It’s the only lead we have. We should also move quickly. We beat Char and Requiem for now. He’s going to want to move Melody as soon as possible.”

Aria nodded in agreement. “You’re right.”

She turned back towards the town, picking up Searsparrow.

“Let’s go.”

?

?

Swan Song

There was only a single hospital in the coastal town of Shimmersea. Located on the outskirts of town, it was isolated amongst the thick forests and a short, winding road that was barely maintained. Drumming up images of old, haunted asylums, the facility had the same red bricks that dominated most of Shimmersea’s architecture and was constructed like a tall, squat, rectangular buildings. Iron gates protected its grounds while gloomy images of the Sun Goddess seemed to watch over the entrance.

The Godslayer hovered above the facility’s flat rooftop and dropped the party down before returning to hovering out of range. Serena, Alex, JD, Rayne and Skye remained onboard alongside Hunter, ready to provide support in case a hasty evacuation was needed. Not to mention they could all man the auxiliary stations of the starship while Hunter piloted.

That left Kane, Wood, Solinium, Aria and Tanar on the ground.

The big bear led the way, barging through the eerily quiet hallways of the empty hospital with Going Postal in his paws. In his mind, there was no point charging through here quietly. Char knew they were here. Stealth was no longer an option. Time was not on their side.

He paused upon entering the top most floor, however. A sorrowful song echoed through the dark halls. A mournful solo. The words were foreign to him. It was in a language that was musical and had no harsh edges or rough enunciations like the Illuminus Weizar or even the universal tongue used across Tower Thirteen.

“What is that…?” he mumbled.

Tanar stepped up beside him, one eye closed and an ear perked. “Sylicosh. It’s the native language used by the people of the Sunless Lands.”

Before anyone else could take a second to be enthralled by the haunting song, he swung Going Postal into the nearby wall, sending a shockwave of firecracker-like explosions rippling through the plaster and brick.

“We can give her a fucking standing ovation later,” he growled, storming towards the sound. “Right now, we find her and put a stop to this. I am sick of this fucking town and I haven’t even gotten to eat any fat fucking lobsters yet!”

He led the way, heavy footsteps acting like the bass drum to the eerie melody. His nerves and cautious alerts grew with each step as nothing seemed to come to stop their assault. That feathered Phantasm bursting out of the walls or Char springing from one of the hospital wards would have been a welcome interruption but he continued to charge uninterrupted through the hallways. Even a basic trap would have set his nerves at ease.

When he burst through the large double doors into a medical theater, he was surprised to find no one there… except for Melody.

The Fallen lay dressed in a ripped, torn and soiled medical gown. Her arms and legs were chained to a table at the very center of the theater. She was propped up but it looked like no one had been to see her in days. Her eyes were swollen red and the white feathers that covered her body were grimy, mottled and some were missing. The distinct smell of burnt flesh hung in the air. There were multiple spots around her grim throne that looked like something or someone had been burned to ash. Various seats in the circular auditorium were scorched or had blackened clothes hanging from it. A single spotlight pierced the darkness, remaining on her and likely preventing any sort of sleep.

Despite all this, she still sang.

Alex stepped up to one of the chairs, plucking what appeared to be a burned scarf hanging from it. “She was tormented psychologically.”

“What do you mean?” Wood asked, stopping his approach to Melody. He had learned from Char’s ambush not to charge headlong against the Goetia.

“Melody invested a lot into Shimmersea. Must’ve loved its people. She helped rebuild it, after all. If I were to guess, Char must have taken over the minds of its people one by one. Tormented her by bringing them here and forced her to watch as he burned their bodies away to be replaced by his own body.”

“Monster,” Solinium cursed. “So many lives extinguished…” He shook his head in defiance. “I refuse to believe that every person in this town succumbed to him. Someone must have fought back.”

“Maybe they did.” Alex threw aside the scarf and descended down to the podium, towards Melody. “But they were likely overwhelmed by Char’s zombie army. Melody tried to do what she could from here. She’s the one that cast the mist as Tanar mentioned. But the torment of being helpless, of watching her town get ripped to shreds and she was powerless to do anything despite being right here…”

Wood let out a soft sigh. “It was too much. She Fell.”

Kane watched the dragon and wolf advance, shaking his head as he did so. “Must’ve fucked her up. But it ain’t her fault. She was tied up. Helpless. Fresh off being tormented by Char. She couldn’t do anything. She can’t take the blame.”

“Don’t think she sees it like that.” Wood reached the base of the auditorium and approached the Fallen swan cautiously. “Melody…? Hey? Can you hear me?”

Melody didn’t respond and just continue to sing. Though her beak moved, the sound did not entirely come from her throat. It came from the blackened choker around her neck, her Sin - Crescendo. It puzzled Kane how Char could restrict her abilities in such a way. Her body was restrained but she could still cast some forms of magic; enough to generate that mist all over the town. He knew exactly the amount of restrictions to put on the Paladin to break her. An impressive feat given Melody had been a Paladin for years and he managed to break her within a a few weeks.

“Props where props are due,” grunted the bear. “Char did a number on her. Knew exactly how and where to torment her so she’ll break.”

“How could you say such a thing?!” demanded Solinium. “She is a person! She deserves our help!”

“Wait for it…” Aria warned.

Kane grinned at the Angel’s comment, proud that she knew him well enough to know his words were used to bait someone. He licked his libs. “But I bet I can do better. I bet I can un-break her in less time.” Lifting his head, he shouted, “You hear that, Char, you freaky, hairless fucker!? I’m gonna fix Melody in less time it took you to make her fall!”

Her shout seemed to wake the swan from her stupor, her eyes clearing a little and lifting to face them.

“See?” Kane huffed, hefting Going Postal over his shoulder. “Already working.” He approached her with a confident swagger. “Hey sweet swan, time to get you out of -”

Without warning, a sharp flame entered Melody’s eyes. She unleashed a terrifying scream, one focused directly at Kane. The wind was immediately knocked out of his chest and he was thrown back, crashing into one of the charred chairs with a resounding slam. He coughed, wiping his muzzle. There was no blood but it was still a powerful blow.

“Damn, girl,” he chuckled. “Though I suppose I deserve that.”

Tanar approached, pressing his one good paw against Kane’s shoulder. “You really did.”

He took that as a sign that he should stay down and consented. Wood approached Melody cautiously, Aria and Solinium by his side.

“Melody,” began Aria gently. “We’re here to rescue you.” She gestured at herself then at Wood. “You know us. We saved Alleria. We can save you too.”

The swan’s eyes were clear as her eyes drifted from one person to the other. “Rescue is impossible,” she still spoke through her Valor but there was this grating edge to each word like two rocks were grinding softly in her throat. “For me, at least.”

“Redemption is never out of reach for anyone who seeks it,” Solinium preached. “You are a Paladin of the Church. A shining light that was momentarily shrouded behind dark storm clouds not of your own making.” He held out a paw towards her. “Come. Let us leave this place.”

“You don’t understand,” she wept, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. “I am to blame. This is my fault. It is all my fault.”

Glances were exchanged. The soft click of Alex undoing the safety of his guns echoed in the auditorium.

“What is your fault?” Wood pressed gently. “Tell us what happened.”

Melody moved to catch her face in her feathered hands but the chains binding her down would not allow her to lift her arms more than a few inches. A ragged sob left her beak as she spoke through Crescendo.

“Char captured us. Trapped us somewhere. I don’t know where. He… tormented us. Taunted us. It was not necessarily physical. But he knew each of us well enough that everything he did had an effect. Even when it seemed like it wouldn’t… there were cracks. Like with Ven…”

She lifted her head, sobbing openly now.

“Then he separated us. Said that the greatest torture we could suffer was not knowing what the others were going through. Told us that he fostered camaraderie amongst us. Trained us never to be selfish and to always care for one another’s well-being. He allowed us to grow strong together against his torment while in another _’s company so that when he_ did separate us, it was all the worse!_ ”_

Kane’s eyes narrowed. “That sly son-of-a-bitch,” he growled. “I want to call bullshit. That he was just making it up because he knew it wasn’t working. But I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Tanar folded his arms, a frown on his feline features and his whiskers twitched in agitation. “From what we’ve seen, Char is uniquely positioned to make each of the Paladins to fall. He worked with them. Got to know them. Became their moral compass. Everything they went through was suddenly turned on its head. They only had one another to rely upon. Then Char pointed out that he purposefully built that as a weakness in their resolve. A back door for him to infiltrate and blacken their hearts.”

“It is so much worse,” wept Melody. “Ford was the first he took away. Without him, Ven broke. We thought he would be the next to be taken away but it was I. The last I saw was Ven raging against his restraints and Eaton trying to calm him down.”

Aria approached her, kneeling next to her and gently pressing her hands against hers. “Then what happened. How did you end up here at Shimmersea?”

A sad smile touched Melody’s lips. “Some cultists of his dragged me here. At first, I was relieved to see the place I had adopted as my home. I drew strength from it and planned my escape. He brought me to the mayor’s home and tried to break me when he took over the mayor’s body.”

A fierceness entered Melody’s eyes and she turned to Aria. “Hear me well, Lady Valkyrie. Char’s ability to jump from body to body is limited to a single physical form. However, anyone who swears fealty to him and the Custodia Goetia is fair game for his magic.”

Alex let out a thoughtful hum. “So it’s a little like the Dolls during the Fall of Haven. Only this time, he has fully converted his followers and brainwashed them to the point that they wholeheartedly give themselves to him. So long as he has any sort of devotee, he can continue to exist.”

Melody nodded in confirmation. “I gleaned this and hoped to bring it to the Church or the Generals. I planned my escape. I managed to break out and find some sympathetic townspeople. Only…”

Kane realized where the story was going. “Fucker…” He rose to his feet, slamming the head of his hammer into the ground. “The whole fucking town was under his control.”

The swan could only nod sorrowfully. “They led me into a trap. Showed me how every person in this accursed town was his thrall! They were devoted to him! So much so that on his command, they killed themselves in front of him. They did so willingly!” She began sobbing again. “They captured me in my sorrow and brought me here. Then, day after day, they would fill this entire auditorium with his followers. He would have them recite their lives to me and utter their undying devotion to him. Then he would take over their body and burn their flesh until it was replaced by his own!”

That was a level of psychological torture that even Kane found utterly repulsive. Char had zeroed in on Melody’s love for this town and likely worked through years to quietly convert every single person into his twisted belief. Then, when the time was right, he tormented Melody with helplessness. Worse yet, Kane hazarded a guess that Melody had visited this township over the years. Likely knew some of the people intimately. To watch them burn in front of her eyes while she couldn’t do a thing…

“I’m going to kill that fucker,” he sneered.

“I sang,” Melody heaved. “I sang to try and block away their words. Then I heard how the town was still open and people from were still coming in. Ships were docking. The roads were open. I couldn’t just sit by and let them fall pray to Char! So I sang. I tried to weave my magic through my words. All I could muster was a mist that could hopefully obscure the town. A warning sign to stay away… But then…”

“He twisted it to his own purposes again,” Solinium sighed gravely. “He likely anticipated it. Probably allowed you to cast that spell so that he could conjure those water constructs and drag more people into his trap.”

“The people of Shimmersea is ultimately finite,” agreed Alex. “If he didn’t break Melody by the time the last native of the town was dead, he could continue to torment her by dragging innocents off the road and killing them in front of her.”

“And it’s all my fault!” Melody wept. “I was not strong enough! I couldn’t break through these bonds! I couldn’t hold out longer! I Fell!”

Wood reached out, gripping her other hand tightly. “It’s not your fault! You can’t take the blame for something he did!”

“But don’t you see!?” she cried. “It was because of me that this all happened! If I wasn’t a Paladin. If I had not grown attached to this town! If I had been stronger, Shimmersea would have been spared!”

The dragon shook his head. “You can’t believe that,” he said gently. “You aren’t responsible for what he did. What the people of Shimmersea let themselves become. You said it yourself, they have to devote themselves to him for him to be able to jump into their bodies. You can’t control their choices.”

“But if I had been a better role model… If I had been there to reinforce their faith in the Church…”

“Bullshit!”

All eyes immediately went to Kane who held up his paw. “Whoa… Not me dudes.” He pointed at the one who had made the announcement. “That’s all him.”

Templar Solinium.

The Leomian’s hackles were raised and his fangs bared. “I’ll repeat,” snarled the Templar. “That’s bullshit.”

“Templar…” breathed Aria in surprise.

Solinium stepped forward, slamming both his big paws into the sides of Melody’s table, shaking it entirely. “The minute we start taking the blame for everyone else’s sins is the minute we fail as guardians of faith,” he sneered. “We can mourn. We can regret. But we cannot allow ourselves to be held accountable for every choice those under our guidance take!”

“But…”

“No,” hissed Solinium sharply. “If the Mother Goddess wanted us to all be completely obedient, to be mindless automatons that followed her doctrine without question, she would never have given us free will. We are free to make mistakes. Sometimes, those mistakes might be fatal and lead us down the wrong path. But when we meet her at death, we are judged individually and not by how others tried to save us! We are not given passage into paradise because people have paved the way for us or because others offered their help and we refused.

“We can only help those who wish to be helped!”

Melody lowered her gaze. “But I have not done enough to help Shimmersea.”

“But you have helped the rest of Tower Thirteen and Incendius,” Alex chimed in. Her eyes lifted briefly. “Your role as a Paladin isn’t to protect one town, Melody. It is to be in service to the Church of the Tower and all of the world. Focusing on a single town would be considered selfish, favoritism and negligent of your duties. That Char chose to use Shimmersea as a means to get to you just shows how much you care about the town that you’ve adopted as your home. That is not a reflection of how little you have done as a Paladin.”

Melody shook her head. “Even then… Even if I cannot be blamed for what happened before I was brought here… I was not strong enough to break through these chains! I was not strong enough to escape! If I had showed them I was stronger than Char! If only I could prove to them that his sermons were falsehoods…! Maybe… maybe…!”

A dark, roiling energy suddenly erupted from her throat. She gasped, her eyes bulging. Crescendo began emitting roiling bolts of black lightning. Her body went rigid and she tried to lift her fingers to the choker but the chains would not allow her. It took only a second for Kane to realize that the Valor was choking her.

He recalled the retelling of how Alleria’s limbs had been severed when Char had taken full control of her Sins. The Bluefire Paladin was lucky - sort of - in that it was only her extremities that had been severed when the Sins had turned on her. But if Crescendo were to sever anything, it would be completely fatal.

“Melody!” Wood cried. He stood and swung Cataclysm, severing the chains holding down her right hand. Aria swung Searsparrow, slicing into the other chains. Melody fell back against the bed, grasping at the necklace as it continued to constrict her.

“We’ve got to get it off her!” Tanar shouted, charging forward. He thrust Flarecaster at the Avios, rapidly casting a healing spell just to keep her alive.

Aria reached for the Sin only to be propelled back by a wave of dark energies. She, Solinium and Alex were all hurled into the seats. Wood remained standing and somehow managed to reach for the Sin, trying to pull it off her neck.

“Fight it!” Wood cried. “This isn’t your fault! It never was! Don’t let what Char did make you forget what a great Paladin you are!”

He suddenly froze when her white, feathered fingers gently brushed his hands. There was a look of defeat in her eyes; utter surrender. She had given in to her fate.

Too bad Kane had not.

The bear marched forward and -

BAM!

Slammed a fist right into the table beside her head, stunning everyone in the auditorium. Even the crackling energies of Crescendo seemed shocked at the move.

“Listen to me here you prissy, entitled, long-necked bitch,” the bear snarled. “I don’t give two flying shits if you decide to off yourself but I’ll be damned if I let that conniving, bald bastard win! So you’re going to listen to me and listen to me good.” His paw still on the table, he pressed her head into the pillows of the bed with his other paw and leaned in close so that his muzzle was right over her ears. The dark lightning of Crescendo crackled and tried to push him away. Brilliant white flames burned behind his eyes, protecting him from the might of the Sin.

“I know your type. You’re never going to move on from the bullshit that’s hit you. You’re going to wake up in the middle of the night because your brain decided to remind you of some humiliating crap you pulled off when you were twelve-fucking-years-old. You dwell. You carry your faults with you wherever you go. You’re not like Alleria who will grow from them and then put them out of her mind until it becomes relevant again. You keep thinking about them and use them to guide your every step.

“That’s fucking fine. I don’t give a crap. Be you. But here’s the thing, sweetheart…”

He leaned in closer so that his fangs were basically pressing against her cheek.

“… You’re never going to make up for any of it.”

Only then did he release her and take several steps back, the glow of white flames fading from his eyes. Crescendo resumed trying to choke her but she was now visibly trying to fight back, glaring at Kane with a mixture of confusion and sorrow.

“No matter what you do, you’re never going to be forgiven for every fault and mistake you’ve ever made because you’re never going to let yourself be forgiven,” Kane sneered. “You’re going to spend the rest of your miserable life saying sorry. Even when people tell you that you’ve more than made up for it, you’re still going to keep apologizing. That’s just who you are. That’s endearing to some but to me, you’re just an annoying, weakling who can’t admit when enough is enough because you don’t know any other way of living except by being indebted to your sins!”

“Kane!” Aria blurted.

Tanar held up a paw, telling her to hold back. “Let him finish. It’s working.”

Inwardly smiling at the support he had from his sex-buddy, Kane continued.

“So let’s list out the bullshit that will always be your fault.” He lifted a leg and pressed a foot against the end of her bed. “You couldn’t escape from the trap a man who spent years profiling you and crafting the perfect way to psychologically break you in time and innocent people got slaughtered. Your fault.”

He kicked the bed, causing it to fly back on its wheels and abruptly halt when the chains holding her ankles to the ground forced the mattress to come to a jarring halt. Kane stormed over, once again pressing his foot against the base of the bed.

“You couldn’t obsessively guard the faiths and guide the choices of this small town from falling into the seductive trap of a flaming, conniving, body-hopping asshole and they willingly gave up their lives and bodies to him. Your fault.”

Again, he kicked the bed. Only this time, she moved so that she toppled off the bed and crashed to the ground. Dark lightning crackled from her Sin. She reached up, digging her fingers between the choker and her flesh, trying to keep herself from being beheaded.

Kane stomped over.

“You couldn’t detect the deception of this man who the military assigned to your squad for years when four other people as well as your Church, the government and the entire military hierarchy couldn’t tell he was a double-agent. Your. Fault!”

He brought down his foot, shattering the chain holding her left foot to the ground.

There was a fire burning behind her eyes. She was realizing how futile her self-blame was. Melody was fighting for survival at last. A dark grin crossed Kane’s features and he reached down, grabbing her by the scalp and forcing her to look straight into his eyes. For the briefest of moments, the white flame flickered behind his eyes and her gaze grew clear.

“You didn’t inspect the quality of the building materials and architecture of the grand theater you had commissioned to be built despite having no construction or architectural knowledge whatsoever and when it came tumbling down, hundreds were killed. Your. Fault.”

He smashed the last chain holding her down.

“Now, sweetheart,” he snarled into her face. “What are you going to do about all your faults?”

Her fingers tightened around Crescendo.

She pulled at the collar, pulling it from her throat and finally manging to take a breath…

… long enough to say.

“… live.”

A tremendous wail erupted from Crescendo like a voice that had been suppressed for decades unleashed all of its cries, all of its pent-up decibels and screams of frustration was unleashed all at once. Kane was blown back but he quickly slammed Going Postal into the ground, digging it into the wooden floors so that he wouldn’t go too far. Titanic winds raged all around them. Chairs were ripped from the floor. Wooden panels were torn from both the floors, walls and ceilings. The roof was blown clear off in a hurricane that whipped up the sea’s salty waters.

At the center of the storm knelt Melody. She pulled at Crescendo, tugging it a whole inch from her neck. Black lightning crackled all over her body, punishing her for her defiance but she continued to pull. Continued to tear it from her neck until blood was visibly seeping from her fingers.

Then, through the wailing storm, a bulky figure jumped in beside her. Kane grinned as Wood gripped her hands, shoving his own fingers into the gap between the collar and her neck and began to pull. Even as blood began pouring from his ears from the banshee scream, he was there, offering his strength.

A crack appeared across the choker…

… and it tore right down the middle.

Melody Yule, the Paladin who had lost her voice and was allowed to sing and speak through her Valor, Crescendo, broke her Sin of her own accord. Once enslaved and chained by the faults that she perceived to be her responsibility, she was now free.

The storm around them died. Before debris could fall and skewer them, Aria and Solinium acted, erecting barriers of crystal and light over each of them. Kane slumped against his hammer, exhausted as wood and chairs slammed against the barriers, letting out dull gong-like noises as they fell away harmlessly.

He felt Melody’s eyes on him and managed to get up and swaggered over to her. Grinning to himself, he made a show of cleaning his ears with a finger.

“What was that, sweetheart?” he asked loudly. “I didn’t quite get that.”

Tanar threw him a foul stare and Aria looked exasperated.

“I said…”

His confidence immediately dropped at the raspy voice that he didn’t recognize.

Melody gave him a cocky smile of her own.

“… I choose to live.”

Overture

The evening breeze was surprisingly calm and soothing. What should have been a peaceful evening in a seaside town left Wood feeling on edge and unnerved. Even though Melody’s protective mist was gone and it was possible to see the clear twilight form the Sun Spire, the eerie quiet from the empty town of Shimmersea only left the big, blonde-haired dragon feeling restless.

Above the town hovered the dominating HHLC Authority of Dusk, an Inquisitorial light cruiser-class starship. Once word had reached the Inquisition that Shimmersea was clear, they immediately sent a few of their ships and troops to coastal town. They had sent the Authority of Dusk alongside a support frigate and two corvettes. Inquisitor troops in their heavy, silver power armor stormed through each building, documenting everything. There were no survivors to interview so they spent a lot of their time with Melody.

Amongst the interviewers was the intimidating High Inquisitor Serenity and she took no pains to announce that the Authority was her personal starship.

Wood hadn’t seen her since the events that surrounded the Association and didn’t think he would ever have the displeasure again. Yet when he saw her stride out of one of the Inquisition’s dropships, he immediately felt irritated like a million mosquitoes were biting at his scales. She spoke briefly with Aria and Solinium before moving on to interview Melody.

The streets of Shimmersea were mostly quiet though from where he sat on one of the Godslayer II’s wings, he could still see the Inquisitors shining high-powered lights through the abandoned streets and alleys as they continued their investigation throughout the night. Alex had instructed the team to leave the Inquisitors to their probing and had instructed Hunter to pilot their frigate back to the beach where they had first landed.

Other Inquisitors came to interview the Godslayers for their accounts. Most were pleased with their efforts and their diligence against corruption - even towards Wood and Rayne. Others has some choice words for the chaperones that they would willingly endanger students in such a perilous endeavor but said nothing beyond voicing their concerns. Somehow, Aria and Rayne had convinced them to perform these interviews on the Godslayer II and not on one of their intimidating, silvery starships.

Footsteps echoed across the night and Wood glanced down towards the ramp of the ship. High Inquisitor Serenity was leaving alongside her escort. Melody was right behind her. Aria, Cassius Solinium and Serena followed them. Wood dropped down from where he was perched, causing the Inquisitorial escort to stop. To their credit, they didn’t draw their weapons or even look threatened.

“Leaving?” he asked.

Serenity lifted her chin at him. “We are done here. We have determined that the Fallen known as Melody Yule is no threat to the Church or Tower Thirteen. Her Sin has been destroyed. Apart from her natural talent with Aeromancy and Hydromancy, the circumstances of her Fall do not render her hostile to others.” Then a flicker of worry entered Serenity’s steely expression. “The fact that she has also lost her Phantasm adds to the credence that even if she were to turn on us, she is of no significant threat.”

“She is right here,” Serena mumbled but was ignored.

“Wait,” Wood said. “You said she also lost her Phantasm. That means you’ve seen this before.” His eyes widened slightly in realization. “Alleria..?”

The High Inquisitor nodded. “Yes. Though Alleria Penfire still possesses her Sins, she is unable to conjure her Phantasm. We initially believed this is because of the circumstances of her fall and subsequent reversion to her senses but now that Melody, who Fell due to despair not hostility, also lost hers, we suspect that this might be something to do with the traitor Marshal.”

Solinium waved a paw, indicating he was going to speak next. “We think Char might be collecting or rather… ‘harvesting’ the Phantasms for some reason. We don’t know why.”

“If he had just wanted loyal soldiers,” Melody rasped, “he would have just brainwashed us or convinced us of some corruption in the Church. He knew us so well and we trusted him so implicitly that we would have done what he asked with little question. But he took the effort to torment us. To torture us so that we would Fall and generate Phantasms. He constantly used this spell, the Flames of Truth upon us.”

“I haven’t heard of that spell.”

She held herself tightly. “It’s… a curse of sorts. The minute you tell a lie, you are inflicted with painful flames. He cast it upon us and would probe into our greatest insecurities. Make us relive them and admit our failings to ourselves. Nothing worse that looking upon your own weakness. That’s what a Phantasm is, after all. Your Sins made manifest.”

Wood placed a hand against his chest. “I have a Phantasm too. Why wouldn’t he want to steal that?”

Aria answered. “Perhaps because of the nature of your Fallen state and Phantasm. Melody and Alleria’s Phantasms are physically separate entities from them. He can steal them. You become your Phantasm.”

“Something worth investigating,” murmured Serenity. “Regardless, our investigations with your party are done. We will be taking Melody back to Gray Sun where she will be treated. Even without her Sin, any wayward use of her magic could cause her spells to go wild with her emotions. She will need to be trained to control her newfound link between her emotions and magic.”

Melody offered a weak smile. “I go willingly, Wood. You need not worry about that.”

“I’m not worried about that,” huffed the dragon. “I’m more worried that Char sort of gave up after we kicked his ass at the theater. I wonder why he didn’t stop us from getting to you.”

There, the swan’s features darkened. “Because he was done with me.”

He gave her a quizzical look though from the grim expressions of the others, he knew the others had already been given this theory.

“Whatever Char wanted with me, he got it,” Melody continued. “It might be my Phantasm. It might be the instability he has caused from the loss of Shimmersea. I don’t know. But he had no further use for me.” She lifted her gaze fiercely. “While we were captured, he continued to reiterate that we were little more than tools to him. What he is getting from us is not the endgame. Causing us to fall are merely stepping stones to something greater.”

“What is the question,” Serenity sighed, running a tired, armored hand down her angelic features. “We’ve probed her memory. Char was very sure to keep any forms of identifying landmarks away from any of her senses during her captivity. Tracking where he kept them is nearly impossible.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Wood insisted.

“We’re going to keep pursuing Solinium’s leads,” Aria insisted. “We’re going to Sveltholm next. This is Vengeance Wren’s home and from what we’ve heard, the spate of disappearances have risen recently.”

The High Inquisitor stepped forward, her escort following her. To Wood’s utter surprise, she placed a firm hand on his shoulder as she passed. “We head to Clockwork. Split our efforts.” She squeezed his shoulder tightly. “Watch your backs. Given what we know about Char and his ability to jump bodies and how he has clearly worked for years to indoctrinate an entire town, it isn’t too hard to believe that he may have done the same for smaller townships all over Incendius.”

“I still believe he wouldn’t have gone that far with Clockwork,” insisted Serena. There was something in her eyes that told Wood that statement was more a vocalization of her hope than something she truly believed in. “It’s one of the largest towns on Incendius. Converting an entire population like that without the Church or Inquisition noticing is unthinkable.”

“Indeed,” Serenity rumbled grimly. “However, the Inquisition by its very nature is reactive. We only act when evil has already taken root. Who knows how deep those roots go.” She released Wood’s shoulder and strode forward, Melody following her.

The swan stopped in front of Wood and quickly threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He was surprised by the gesture and gingerly returned the hug. She was still mostly emaciated but now that she was dressed in clean clothing and had taken a bath, she was looking much healthier. He was afraid that he might break her in two if he held her too tightly.

“Thank you for believing in me,” she said mournfully. “Even when I didn’t believe in myself.”

“You should be thanking Kane,” he chuckled softly.

A sour expression crossed her features. “If I ever see that brute again, you can be sure I won’t ever let him talk let alone touch me like that ever again. I appreciate what he did but he did not have to be so… violent.”

A huff from the High Inquisitor suggested that she agreed.

Aria lifted a hand. “I shall be having words with Kane. What he did was outright abusive.”

“But I needed it,” Melody sighed heavily. “Something Char made me realize is that people have been treating me with silken gloves. I have been surrounded by those that would forgive even the gravest of errors for one reason or another.” She brushed aside one of the stray stands of hair on her. “Perhaps it was because I was a woman or that as a swan, people have this preconception that I am delicate or fragile. It happened when the theater crumbled and even now, years later, the people of Shimmersea willingly threw themselves at Char not out of malice for me but out of some misguided believe that they were doing it to absolve me of my sins.”

The swan shook her head. “Kane was the first to truly hold me accountable for my own actions.”

“Still not how I would have preferred to have done it,” rumbled Serenity grimly. “That said, it was effective so I suppose we have him to thank for your absolution.” She nodded towards Melody. “You might as well tell him of your other revelations while we are here. I am sure word will spread eventually.”

Wood arched a blonde eyebrow at Melody who returned a grim expression at him.

“Char managed to convert an entire town to his cause,” said the Avios bluntly. “He did so not with coercion, some threat of divine retribution or even the promise of heavenly paradise. He used something tangible and twisted peoples hopes.” She lifted a feathered finger. “Recall I said that each of those that would come to the auditorium would tell me their life’s story before Char would consume them.”

He did recall that. Hard not to. How Melody managed to stay sane after such emotional torment was beyond him.

“They would always say that they were doing it for me,” said Melody. “Char somehow convinced them that I was hurting.” She glanced away briefly. “Perhaps I was.” Then her eyes flicked back to him. “The burden of my sin was the crux of his argument. He convinced them that I was still torturing myself over the accident that took the lives of many here in Shimmersea. That the only way to save me from my misery is to show them that they bore no grudges against me.” She shook her head, placing a few fingers against her temples. “How self-sacrifice to Char somehow related to ‘unburdening’ me of my past still confounds me. But perhaps that is why I am still sane.”

Melody locked gazes with Wood. “Char toys with your convictions and twists them to his own designs. Whether he is using some powerful psychomancy or just convincing lies doesn’t matter. Shimmersea was my personal hell.”

“Just as the Ashwood Bandits and Urelia was Alleria’s…” mumbled Wood. He crossed his arms ruefully. “But I still don’t get why he’s doing this. He’s ‘harvesting’ your Phantasms? What for?”

Solinium stepped forward. “That is something we need to discover together.” His eyes were firmly on Serenity who threw a disapproving look at Aria before turning back to the leonine Templar. Wood could sense the animosity was mostly directed at the Angelic Templar. “He has consistently stayed two steps ahead of us. We have rescued two of the five missing Paladins but he is getting farther and farther with each step we fumble and fall.”

Again, Serenity huffed but said nothing.

“I know it may seem hopeless,” continued Cassius Solinium. “Pointless maybe. But there are three individuals that are suffering just as much as Melody and Alleria. We cannot abandon them.” His voice was firm, inspiring and commanding. There was a soft radiance coming from him that Wood suspected was a subconscious effect meant to instill hope in observers.

“We won’t,” Aria said, patting her fellow Templar’s shoulder. “Whatever tricks that Char may unleash, we will find a way to break through it.”

Melody curled her arms around herself as she stepped towards High Inquisitor Serenity. Seeing this, the Inquisitor turned and began to leave as well. She did stop a few feet away, however.

Without turning to face Wood or the others, she said, “I do not think Char is the only of his kind.”

Serenity’s armored fists clenched tightly.

“What do you mean…?” asked Wood warily.

“Char continued to talk about the rest of the Custodia Goetia. But he referred to three distinct parties separately. Those ‘disciples’ that threw themselves to the cause were referred to in derogatory terms. Like they were just bodies. Mass for him to use. Then there were his ‘brothers and sister’.” Only then did Melody turn to look Wood in the eye. “Note that I said sister. Not a plural. He was distinctly referring to multiple brothers and one sister.”

Wood’s eyes widened in shock. “Shit…”

Melody nodded gravely. “There could be more with similar powers as he running about.”

One man of Char’s level was already causing so much havoc and chaos. The connections he had forged over years were now just being revealed to be rotting and festering. With those roots dug so deep into Incendius, their sudden uprooting was causing earthquakes that shattered entire towns. The idea that others could be out there and they could all be so well-established made Wood’s muzzle dry.

“And the last group…?” he croaked.

“One person,” Melody answered, holding up a finger. “The supposed leader of the Incendian branch of the Custodia Goetia. He gave no name but it was abundantly clear that he reported to someone. Char complained once or twice that he would have liked to keep me moving, keep me as far away from rescue as possible way but ‘he’ stayed his hand.”

“Who…?”

There, the Fallen swan shook her head grimly. “Sadly, I do not know. But someone is pulling the strings. Someone Char genuinely fears.”

Wood’s brow furrowed and upon seeing this, Melody nodded.

“Yes. Your assumption is right,” she said. “Whoever this person is, Char is afraid of displeasing them.”