D. B. Morrow

The Lost Mission

            Lito Mubak leafed through a large book in front of him — one that assuredly dwarfed him should it be stood on end — and Rialce Seriah stared dully at the faded pages as her cat-like ears twitched now and again; she was both unenthusiastic about joining him and mildly uncommitted to the talk taking place to her right, leaving her to barely keep herself awake during the wait. Arliss Meisic sat next to her older brother, Bryth, and watched Faith, their leader, as he readied their next assignment; she responded to Bryth’s comments despite her fixation on the map Faith was spreading across the table with the assistance of Dafyr Rariaim.
            The rest of Outer Party H-4 — the three elven members, Mallorie Evanada, Zephinos — her brother — and co-leader Leglevant — sat on the other side of the table and smoothed out the map that had a large red line drawn across it. Rialce ears perked up as she looked over the map, then stood from her chair and leaned over the table to get an aerial view. Faith cleared his throat to draw the attention of all present, then flashed a warm smile.
            “Sorry about the wait. You guys are killing me by being on time these days.”
            “I can go back to sleep, if you’d like,” Rialce said as she plopped back into her chair. “I myself would love that option.”
            “I expected as much seeing as you were up all night. You don’t see Arli being tired.”
            “No, I’m dead on my feet,” Arliss said with a contradictory smile. “Honest.”
            Faith chuckled and looked back at Rialce. “I had imagined you being more worried, Ria. All this stuff about you and the Living.”
            “It’s okay. It feels faraway now, and I don’t whine about things I can’t change.”
            “Since when?” Bryth asked, and Rialce stuck her tongue out at him.
            “Before we get further off topic,” Leglevant said with a smirk, “we have a mission to attend to before we can start our little community service project.”
            “More like an odyssey.” Faith looked down at the map and crossed his arms over his chest. “We have three things to do, all in a comparatively small time frame. Up in Locrala, there’s an abandoned fortress that we need to find a relic from. The relic in question is a sword, and that sword unlocks another chest, which is in what the locals call the ‘forsaken temple of Adoca’.”
            “Inviting,” Mallorie said, prompting a laugh from Arliss.
            Faith nodded. “Incredibly. There’s a treasure in the chest that the duke wants us to retrieve, and we have the pleasure of bringing it back here to Sienseisho.”
            “Sounds complicated,” Rialce said with a sigh.
            “Sounds secretive,” Zephinos added. “Why would Sanal give us a mission?”
            Leglevant nodded. “It’s really both. We have no idea what it is the duke wants, but he feels it’s worth making a gap in the city’s defenses. The duke wanted Faith, and Sanal won’t question the duke, no matter how much he hates the idea.”
            Dafyr looked over the circled portions of the map, marking their two targets. He glanced at Rialce as her ears twitched and she looked at Lito, who had been oddly silent. She turned to him.
            “What do you think, Lito?” she asked. “You’ve been awfully quiet for a ‘Supermage’.”
            Lito chuckled and closed his book. “Feels cut and dry to me, and Sanal’s motive certainly fits; I don’t think it’s going to be much to worry about. Really, I’d consider this a nice way to segue from killing orcs into accommodating tasks, wouldn’t you?”
            “All right then,” Faith said with a nod. “Let’s head out, team.”

ø ø ø

            The abandoned fortress of Locrala was surprisingly well named. It was clearly a fortress, clearly abandoned, and was situated on the outskirts of a town called Locrala, which could be found a few week’s walk away from Sienseisho. As the full moon’s light shone down upon the broken and crumbled sections of the walls and towers, a select few rays hit the grass between the trees. Rialce and Arliss slipped through a single ray of light as they rounded the massive fortress to approach it from the west entrance, and Lito trotted along behind them. They stopped at the opposite side of the moat and Rialce set hands on her hips.
            “Sooo… how do we intend on getting in there?” she asked.
            “A better question is ‘why is the door shut if it’s abandoned?’” Lito commented.
            Rialce shrugged as Arliss bent over to examine the murky waters of the moat. The water on this side seemed to be much darker — much blacker — than the rest. She stood up straight and surveyed the drawbridge, which had one chain snapped off and several holes in the bridge itself.
            “It looks like someone already tried to get in,” she said.
            “Treasure hunters?” Rialce pondered. “They didn’t do very well.”
            “I wonder why… I hope nothing horrible is hiding in there…”
            Lito shot a green flame from his index finger and, upon impact with the left side of the drawbridge, sliced the corner off. A horrible creaking sound broke through the air and Arliss started, having been absorbed in her daydreams of what horrors could lie in wait for them. The drawbridge tilted forward, slammed into the moat and shot water into the air. Rialce looked at Lito as he hopped on the end of the drawbridge and walked up its slope toward the entrance.
            “You did that on purpose,” Rialce mumbled as her tail relaxed.
            “Oh, come now. Why would I do something like that?”
            “I don’t know, but I don’t like it!” Arliss shouted as she hurried after Lito. “You scared the crap out of me!”
            “I was going after Ria.”
            Rialce sighed and followed the two. “Gee, thanks.”
            Arliss stopped in the middle of the drawbridge and looked over her shoulder. A strange feeling had washed over her, like they were being watched. She scanned the edge of the trees, then looked at Rialce a moment before she patted her on the head.
            “Everything cool?” she asked.
            Arliss took another look around the trees, then shrugged and entered the fortress. “I guess so…”

ø ø ø

            Bryth hurried to catch up to Mallorie and Faith as they explored the northern entrance of the fortress; the inside looked no more presentable than the outside. Holes and run-down furniture were scattered around the rooms and hallways and the moonlight slipped through the cracks in the roof. The three stopped in a large room and fanned out to survey its entirety, for the sword could be anywhere in — or around — the fortress. Mallorie picked up a candelabrum and examined its base, then looked at Faith.
            “Who did the orbs go to, Mall?” he asked before Mallorie could ask her own question.
            “Huh? It seemed like just some guy, at least mine.”
            “Same here,” Bryth chimed in. “Relatively boring.”
            “Speaking of that day, what’d you and Ria chat about?”
            “Nothing.”
            “Aw, that’s not cool.”
            Bryth slowed to a stop as the mosaic he had glanced at caught his full attention. A large triangle sat in the center of the frame; the three sides were all different colors — red, black and white. In the center of the triangle was pink letting in some dialect Bryth had never seen before, and a long sword pierced the letters vertically. Eight circles lined the frame, three at the top and bottom and two at the sides; each appeared as a different color. Mallorie stood next to Bryth and looked at the mosaic as well as Faith continued to explore the room on his roundabout way to Bryth’s other side.
            “This is pretty elaborate…” Mallorie whispered as she studied the diagram. “The circles are obviously the elements of magic, but the triangle is strange.”
            “It looks to me like whatever this is saying is that these,” Bryth poked the pink lettering, “are meant to be destroyed, or something along those lines.”
            “Maybe.” Mallorie held her chin. “The letters are in orcish… I tried my damnedest to learn that but it’s really difficult. I can make out the phrase ‘sol’. Sol something, but it doesn’t sound like orcish tongue. Orcish is rough and guttural sounding by nature. This seems too spongy.” She tilted her head to the side and looked at the tiny lettering on the blade of the sword. “And then ‘Akestra’ is written on the sword in runes — it’s orcish for ‘vanquisher’.”
            “Sounds like this ‘sol’ is killed by Akestra,” Faith said as she stopped next to Bryth as his trek came to an end. “And this triangle and the significance behind its colors must mean something. I’d wager whoever this triangle stands for is Akestra, and they’ll kill ‘sol’.”
            “Um, that’s an abstract way to look at it.”
            Faith smiled. “I also have a hunch that that sword is real.”

ø ø ø

            “The sword has to be real,” Dafyr said as he studied the mosaic before him.
            “I’m not so sure,” Zephinos replied. “It could be symbolism, like whatever the runes refer to ends has something to do with the death of whatever the pink word is. If only Mall was here; she studied orcish.”
            “Maybe we should find the others and see if they can think of anything.”
            Leglevant shook his head. “No, it’s just a picture. Even if it should come true, it’s nothing we need worry about. Let’s just get the sword — or whatever it is — from this place and get on with the mission.”
            Zephinos adjusted his sword as he continued walking. “Yeah, I’m starting to look forward to doing something simple after this is done.”
            Leglevant followed as Dafyr looked over the mosaic one last time, the orcish word sticking out. He shook his head, turned back to the others and hurried after them. Leglevant stopped at the end of the hall, where a large hole was placed. He bent over it and stared into the blackness that seemed to go on forever.
            “Where do you suppose this goes?” he asked.
            Dafyr stopped next to Zephinos as he looked at the door across the gap. “I don’t know, but it’s guarding the door over there, that’s for sure.”
            Leglevant looked around the area, and Dafyr approached the right wall to examine it further. He spotted a thin groove in the wall and traced it with his finger to directly above the ledge, then followed the rest with his eyes; it seemed to connect directly with the door. He returned to his starting point, then followed the groove in the opposite direction until he came upon a small circular indentation at hip level. Within was a tiny green dot and, acting on instinct, Dafyr conjured a green flame on his finger and pressed it to the dot.
            The ground rumbled and a slab of stone slid from the right wall to create a slim bridge to the other side of the gap. Another slab slid out diagonally within the gap, then a flat slab, followed by a second diagonal slab in the opposite direction. They continued to appear, proceeding further down the hole, and stopped when a significant path had been created. As his two elven companions hopped onto the first ramp and started down it, Dafyr approached the door on the other side of the pit. The door on the other side was marked with an oddly tribal design and a green glow now filled the orcish scrawl that accompanied it. Acting upon the same notion as before, Dafyr touched the lettering with a green flame and a massive crack shot diagonally through the door, startling Dafyr and causing Leglevant and Zephinos to stop in their tracks.
            The cracks spread further on the door before halting, and a faint breathing slipped through to Dafyr. He stepped backward as Leglevant yelled up to him. A large paw snapped through the door and clawed for Dafyr, who blocked the debris from pelting his face. The claw retracted and a layer of dust slipped from the hole as the beast beyond snorted in aggravation. Dafyr caught the faintly glowing eyes within and dashed for the pit as the door exploded outward. He hopped onto the ramp a few feet below, lost his footing, then scrambled to rejoin Leglevant and Zephinos, who took Dafyr’s actions to heart and bolted lower and lower, their monstrous attacker in hot pursuit.

ø ø ø

            Rialce veered around the corner at full speed — using unintended collisions with the wall to hurtle her even further — as she attempted to catch up to Arliss. She noticed Lito on the ramp below them; despite his tiny legs, as is common for a mahru, he sure as hell could run. The three turned almost in unison, although they were on different levels of the ramp, as they continued down the pit they had uncovered.
            A ferocious roar erupted from behind them as a large wolf bounded down the ramp. Rialce glanced back at it as her ears faced the oncoming wall in a vain attempt at warning the rest of her body. She slammed into it at full force and fell onto her butt. Slightly stunned, she got to her feet in an attempt to run only to trip over her feet and stumble. She caught herself a second before the wolf lunged at her, but it corrected its course quickly enough to sink its jaws into her arm. She slammed into the ground and skidded a short way down the ramp as the wolf shook her arm furiously, sending flecks of blood onto the ramp and walls.
            She futilely pushed on its head as Arliss turned and caught Rialce’s peril in the corner of her eye. She skidded to a stop, withdrew a small knife and hurled it at the wolf where it slammed into his side. The wolf yelped but did not release Rialce; instead, it shook her violently and hurled her off the ramp. She plummeted, her arm hanging limply in front of her, and reached out for the ramps she passed as Arliss shouted tensely at her. Rialce’s arm finally connected and she jolted to a stop — she could swear she heard her shoulder tear in the process —, then heaved herself onto the ramp.
            A white flame popped onto her palm and she held it to the wound, but it failed to heal. She pulled her hand back, taking the flame with it, and tried again, but the wound only bled more furiously. She swaggered to her feet and touched the flame into her shoulder instead. As the flame healed the tiny tears in her muscles, the wolf throttled by with a large string of blood following it, and it crashed into the bottom of the pit. She nervously approached the edge and tried to spot the wolf, but even her eyes — capable of seeing in darkness — were unable to breach the shadows at the bottom. Arliss jogged down the ramp and came to a stop next to Rialce.
            “Are you okay, Ria?” Arliss asked, making Rialce jump and her ears and tail stand on end.
            She looked at Arliss as she relaxed. “Holy hell, Arli… Yeah, I was fine until you decided to scream at me.”
            “I did no such thing,” Arliss said with a weak smirk; if Rialce was joking, she was completely fine. She noticed the blood on her arm. “You’re hurt.”
            Rialce looked at her wound as well. “Yeah, but light magic won’t heal it.”
            Lito whistled sharply, startling the two ladies, and Arliss held her chest as Lito pointed at Rialce, then at the ground. Rialce’s ears lowered to her head and she squatted so Lito could inspect her wound. He poked her wound with a tiny purple flame, sending a weak jolt of electricity through her body.
            Rialce winced, “A little warning next time.”
            Lito shook his head as he looked at the silver lining his flame had revealed on her wounds. “We can’t heal it like this. There’s a deterrent over it.”
            Lito pointed at Rialce and tapped her lightly on the head with his finger. She closed her eyes all the same and the tap made her ears twitch. She looked innocently up at him as he looked at Arliss, who was surveying ahead of them.
            “I warned you not to touch that door,” he said.
            “I figured it would be another path,” Rialce said as she stood. She lowered her voice. “Will my arm be okay?”
            Lito smiled. “Don’t fret. We can’t heal it, but your body will. You know, the old fashioned way.”
            The two continued down the ramps at a much more relaxed pace until Arliss spotted a large golden door at the end of the ramp. She looked back at the others, waved to gain their attention, then motioned to the door with both hands.
            “Tada! I found another door!”
            Rialce rejoined Arliss before Lito spoke up. “Don’t touch that one either!”
            “Aww…” Rialce mumbled as she lowered her hand, and Arliss giggled.
            As Lito joined his companions, he studied the door and the red hue surrounding it. There was no sign of the orcish lettering bearing the clear warning of “warrior” that had been on the door before it, and Lito nodded.
            “All right. Let’s see what’s behind door number two.”

ø ø ø

            The dusty vaulted chamber’s ceiling rose far beyond perception. A small ray of light slipped through the cracks of the obstacles that would hinder it — several layers of stone and earth — and shone down upon a large altar that lay on an octagonal raised platform. A young felis woman was sprawled out upon it, pondering where the light had come from and of the sheer luck it would take for all the cracks to allow it to shine on only the altar. She sat up slowly, her short black hair shifting along her neck as her black ears twitched. She spotted a human wearing a black suit of armor approaching her from the south entrance, and she slipped her legs off the side and fixed her off-white dress.
            A mahru, wearing a black robe that covered all but his face and steel gray hair, sat against the altar and looked at the felis’s legs as they swung close to him, then looked up at the human. He gave the two a small salute, then stopped at the base of the altar as the felis’s ears twitched.
            “Well? Was I right?” she asked.
            “Oh, you were more than right, Zar.” Zarya pumped her fist. “There are nine of them probing around here in groups of three.” He looked to the mahru. “From some of their conversations, one of them seems to be a member of the Living, Nido.”
            Nido hopped to his feet. “Interesting. Anything about the other groups, Agar?”
            Agarwaen shook his head. “Nothing.”
            “Nido,” Zarya began quietly, “should we have just let them snoop around willy-nilly? We’re supposed to be protecting this thing.”
            “Well, protecting it from people other than the Living,” Agarwaen pointed out.
            Zarya shrugged and rolled her eyes in as if to say obviously. “I was referring to those things hidden behind the doors. They’re so easy to break open. If they got out into the world…”
            Agarwaen held his chin. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
            “It’s fine. They’re just animals; strong ones, but animals all the same.” Nido pulled himself onto the altar and still was not tall enough to look Zarya in the eyes. “We’re just here to make sure this gets to who needs it.” He looked at Agarwaen. “And that’d be the member of the Living that’s here.”
            The west door opened slowly and the three looked at it as Lito stepped into the room. He caught sight of the three immediately, but Arliss scanned the walls before she did the same. Rialce closed the door behind them as Agarwaen turned to face them.
            “Well, hello there,” he said, his voice echoing through the chamber.
            The east door burst open and Zephinos, Dafyr and Leglevant scrambled inside, then slammed the door behind them. They caught their breath as the last door opened, allowing Faith, Mallorie and Bryth to enter.  They looked at the three as Dafyr stretched his back and let out a long sigh.
            “What was that thing?” he shouted.
            “It said right on the door,” Agarwaen said.
            “Who are you three?” Lito asked carefully.
            Agarwaen smirked and looked at Lito, then opened his mouth to speak. Dafyr, however, cut him off.
            “Did you guys see that tiger, or whatever it was?” he asked.
            “Ours was a wolf,” Arliss answered.
            Mallorie smiled. “Let’s just say it’s a good thing B can’t use magic.”
            Nido blinked at the group; they seemed indifferent to the three. In fact, only the mahru seemed remotely interested in what they were doing here, where they obviously should draw suspicion. Agarwaen scratched the side of his face as he surveyed the groups.
            “Are you all together?” he asked.
            Faith answered. “We’re looking for a sword.”
            “No sword here.”
            “That’s a lie,” Lito remarked. “The mosaic clearly stated a sword would be found in a vault far below the fortress, one only reachable by magic users. With how long ago this was built, no human would have exhumed the sword and, in time, it’d be passed off as a legend and everyone would stop caring about it. It’s here.”
             Agarwaen blinked in astonishment as Nido chuckled. “You certainly know your lore,” he said with a smirk. “Why did I doubt a mahru would be so well read on it?”
            “Sounds like you underestimated.”
            “Why do you want the sword?” Agarwaen asked.
            “It’s our duty.”
            “And that duty is to…?”
            “That is unimportant,” Leglevant spoke up.
            Agarwaen set his hand on his hip. “No, it’s really quite important.”
            “Agar,” Zarya hissed so only the three could hear, “maybe we shouldn’t pester these people. We can’t take on nine people at once.”
            “We need to protect the sword, otherwise it’s worthless,” Agarwaen whispered in reply. “You know it’s our job to give it to the right person.”
            Rialce, her ears letting her catch their conversation, stepped forward. “We’re from Sienseisho. We were ordered to take the sword to Adoca and use it as a key to get something else. Who exactly is this sword supposed to go to?”
            Zarya’s ears perked up before it dawned on her that Rialce was also a felis.
            “It belongs to the Living,” Nido said.
            “Then give it up,” Zephinos said. “You’re talking to the Blood.”
            Agarwaen looked at Zephinos, but he pointed back toward Rialce. She waved slowly as he looked back at her, and Nido patted Zarya’s back. She hopped off the altar and looked back at Nido as he touched the top of it, then hopped off. The top of the altar cracked and slowly faded away, revealing naught but a small pendant. Zarya picked it up as Nido sealed the altar up again with a black flame.
            “Can you prove you’re the Blood?” Zarya asked.
            Rialce’s ears twitched and she spun around, carving a purple and black circle around her, then hopped out of it and snapped her fingers. The area within the circle exploded into a black and purple portal, then shrunk into nothingness. Agarwaen sighed and nodded at Zarya, took the pendant and approached Rialce.
            “You’d better see this through,” he warned.
            “I don’t understand…” she mumbled as he handed her the pendant. “What’s this?”
            “You have your facts backward,” Nido informed. “Locrala has the key; Adoca is the resting place for the sword.”
            Rialce nodded as Faith sighed. “Military intelligence; none better.”

ø ø ø

            With the pendant in tow — and after a quick disappearance from the three, leaving Outer Party H-4 at a loss for who they were — the forsaken temple of Adoca was their next target. Nestled in the forests near the city of Adoca, the temple had been abandoned centuries ago after being occupied by some sort of cult; the specifics were lost to history. Unlike the previous endeavor, only Rialce, Arliss and Lito were tasked with finding the sword within the temple.
            Due to the quick warp back to Sienseisho, followed immediately by a few days trek to Adoca, Rialce had barely gotten any sleep. She rubbed her right eye as her ears drooped, and she let out a small yawn. She turned to stretch her arm before a terrible burning sensation ripped through her wound. She rubbed it tenderly as Arliss turned her attention to Rialce; she had regained a fair bit of her arm’s potential, and the wounds had healed until they were simply nicks in her skin. However, these nicks were filled completely by the silver color that had once bordered her larger wounds. Thankfully, Lito had assured her they would be healed very soon and there would be no long-standing side effects.
            “Remind me again, why did we have to leave while the others hung around back at the capital?” Rialce mumbled. “That’s not fair, and I’m exhausted…”
            “You’re the Blood,” Arliss replied. “You gotta be here.”
            “I’d rather be the Blood and asleep — back home.”
            Arliss laughed sweetly. “Don’t you want to hang out with me and Lito, silly?”
            “Here we are,” Lito said and the three stopped at the edge of the trees.
            A moss strewn ziggurat sat in the middle of the clearing, and a large slab of stone blocking the entrance on the ground. Arliss moved her eyes up the terraced pyramid shape and spotted a smaller door near the very top. Rialce tapped Arliss’s arm and they hurried after Lito, who had approached the ziggurat as they were inspecting the building.
            “Is this really a temple?” Arliss asked.
            “It’s a ziggurat, more precisely.”
            “So, not a temple?”
            “Ziggurats are temples,” Rialce said and the two looked at her in surprise. Her ears twitched as she noticed their stares. “What?”
            “Nothing,” Arliss said with a giggle. “You just sound so well-read.”
            “Miracles do happen,” Lito said, a smirk lining his lips.
            “Very funny,” Rialce grumbled as Arliss gave her a quick hug.
            When they reached the blocked entrance, Rialce placed her hand on the slab that secured it. A massive amount of pain tore through her arm and a vast amount of blood poured down her arm and slipped from her middle finger. Arliss scrambled toward her and held Rialce’s arm gently as Rialce instinctually touched a white flame to her arm to heal it.
            “My god, are you okay?” she asked feverishly.
            “It’s okay,” Rialce replied. “It looks a lot worse than it feels…”
            “Are you sure?”
            Rialce looked at Lito, who stared at the wall. “What the hell was that?”
            Lito held his chin. “With the way your arm is bleeding, I’d say the ward healed it.”
            Rialce looked closely at her arm and found Lito to be correct. She smirked as she fixed her sleeve and shook her arm. “Are you ever wrong?”
            “Not often.” Lito noticed a small groove near the top. “Arli, touch that slit at the top of the stone.”
            “Wh—? But won’t I get hurt, too?”
            “I don’t think so.”
            Despite Lito’s words doing nothing to abate her fears, and seeing the blood Rialce swiped off her arm, Arliss crept toward the stone, stood on her toes and skimmed her fingers over the groove. The door cracked open, shooting Arliss’s heart into her throat, and she stumbled backward and fell onto her butt.
            “Magic resistant,” Lito said as he stood next to Arliss and patted her head as she held her chest while trying to regulate her breathing. “Hopefully it’s not like that inside.”

ø ø ø

            The rapid increase of both light and temperature compared to the inside of the ziggurat affected Zarya instantly. She closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to stop the sneeze, but failed. She walked a single pace and sneezed again as Agarwaen stepped outside. He smirked as Zarya shook her head quickly.
            “Bless you.”
            “Thanks, I—” She sneezed a third time, her ears twitching at the same moment. “God, why does that always happen? I step into the sun and bam!”
            Agarwaen laughed as Nido warped into the space in front of Zarya. “Did they arrive yet?” he asked as the portal shrunk behind him.
            Agarwaen nodded. “Yeah, but it’s just Rialce, the redhead girl and the mahru that was doing all the talking for them.”
            “Good planning, Agar,” Zarya said. “I was worried they’d be here before us.”
            Nido looked out over the forest. “Did they bring the pendant?”
            The two nodded before Zarya’s ears drooped. “These people… do you think they can actually do this right?”
            “So long as the mahru has a firm grasp on their actions, I don’t see how they could screw things up.”
            “If they do it wrong, they’ll die. It’ll kill them.” Before the men could speak, Zarya frowned. “That Rialce may be the Blood, but if she gets into trouble, shouldn’t we help her? If she dies, it’s more harmful than interfering.”
            Nido closed his eyes and shrugged. “Well, you have a point.”
            “Thank you.”
            Agarwaen shrugged. “All right. The redhead was kind of cute anyway. Maybe if I save her we can get closer.” Nido sighed and walked back into the ziggurat. “What?”
            Zarya patted Agarwaen on the shoulder. “Sometimes, I wonder if you really understand our job — or women.”
            “Oh, come on. Just because I’m stuck here until this is over doesn’t mean I can’t find a cute girl. Redheaded cutie is just my type.”
            “You’ve never talked to her. You don’t even know her name.”
            “Intuition.”
            Zarya rolled her eyes and slipped inside. “You’re a man. Don’t follow that.”
            “Ah, low blow.”

ø ø ø

            The ziggurat’s rooms were nothing like those of the fortress; where interesting trinkets and murals would lie, the ziggurat held nothing. It was all exceptionally boring, and Rialce couldn’t help but wonder if the creators of both had botched up which interior went where. After trekking through each room, and scaling the interior of the ziggurat, the three came upon a much more appropriate room. It looked very similar to the altar found at the fortress, only much larger with several second-story balconies on the walls. Arliss hurried to the altar and looked at the orcish writing carved into it, then pouted.
            “Why is everything involved with this stupid odyssey written in orcish?” she asked as Lito went to regroup with her. “It completely ruins the experience for me.”
            Lito hopped onto the altar and translated the writing. “It says ‘in carelessness, death.’ Safe to say something around here is dangerous.”
            “Any idea what?” Rialce asked as she ran her hand along a large gash in the wall. “Don’t you dare tell me this is part of what’s dangerous.”
            “Looks that way, doesn’t it?”
            Rialce sighed as her tail flicked to the side. “I told you not to tell me.”
            “I thought that meant I should.”
            Arliss looked at the wall as it steadily opened and Rialce replied. “You would, wouldn’t you?”
            They turned their attention to the door as the sunlight entering it grew exponentially. Arliss shielded her eyes as Lito noticed the other three.
            “You people again?” he asked. “Why give us the pendant if you were planning to follow us anyway?”
            “We’re just here to make sure you follow through,” Nido replied.
            “I gave my word that I would,” Rialce said as she stopped next to Arliss and set her hands on her hips. “Wasn’t that good enough?”
            A voice came from the balcony behind them. “Words only go so far.”
            Arliss and Rialce turned to see Agarwaen, a smile on his lips, but Lito remained focused on Nido and Zarya, who stood next to him. Zarya rubbed her nose gently before sneezing again and grumbling about her hatred for the ziggurat. Lito looked back at his female companions as Arliss waved shyly at Agarwaen, to Rialce’s surprise.
            “Ria, get over here,” Lito ordered. “We’re popping this sucker open.”
            “Coming!” She looked at Arliss and lightly bonked her on the head. “You’re drooling.”
            Arliss scrambled to wipe her mouth, but found nothing, as Rialce walked to the altar. “I-I am not! Jeez…”
            Rialce handed the pendant to Lito, and he inserted it into the slot in the center of the altar. Zarya jumped as Agarwaen swore and hopped from the balcony a moment before a large claw shot from the altar, flinging chunks of stone into the air. Rialce started and grabbed Lito, then carted him away under her arm. She stopped next to a column and set Lito down, and he promptly fixed his clothes before slapping Rialce’s thigh.
            “Warn me when you decide to treat me like luggage.”
            Another identical paw shot from the altar, followed by the head of a large beast; it had red lines crossing random parts of its forehead, one eye a dull silver, the other a sleek red. Elongated horns jutted from under its neck, from the side of its mouth and in even intervals down its spine. It surveyed its surroundings, then turned to Agarwaen and Arliss, let out a deafening roar and hunched forward.
            “A behemoth,” Lito mumbled.
            “Let me guess,” Rialce said, “that’s a bad thing?”

ø ø ø

            Rialce dashed up the steps, the behemoth clawing after her and tearing up the stairs as it went. She turned the corner and leapt forward, skidded on the ground and watched the claw shred the base of the stairs. She breathed heavily as she watched it retract, then shrieked as Zarya set a hand on her shoulder.
            “Why did you give it to him?” she asked strongly. “You idiot!”
            “What? I didn’t think it mattered!”
            “You’re the Blood, this is your task. Not his, not the girl’s, yours!”
            Rialce stood slowly and dusted herself off. “Well, thanks for being so clear about that after all’s been done.”
            Zarya sighed. “This is what we’re here for, at least now. You’re important, so you can’t die here.”
            Rialce stared at Zarya a moment, before looking out the balcony at Arliss and Agarwaen carting her around to avoid the beast. “How did that thing fit in such a tiny casket?”
            “Advanced warping — perhaps even runes — can contain anything of any size or mass and bend space to allow it into any container.”
            “Perfect.”
            The ziggurat shook as the behemoth charged Agarwaen and Arliss, only to stop before the crevice they hid in. The beast stepped side to side as it stared them down and Arliss decided to run. Agarwaen snatched her wrist and kept inside.
            “If we stay here, we’re just asking for it to kill us,” she mumbled.
            “And if we leave, we’re going to be mincemeat.”
            “There’s more room to maneuver out there.”
            She glanced at the closeness the crevice forced them into and part of her wanted to stay this close to him. She stared up at him and, fighting her impulse to embrace him, bolted from the crevice. The behemoth shot its claws for her and she stopped just before they slammed into the wall. She slammed her sword into the base of its paw but it didn’t even flinch. She stared at the beast’s eyes before Agarwaen snatched her, heaved her over his shoulder and slipped under its wedged claw. He dashed to the other end of the room, and Zarya elbowed Rialce’s stomach.
            “Come on, we need to get out of here.”
            The two slid down the crumbled staircase and out onto the main floor. Rialce looked at Arliss as Agarwaen continued to run with her in tow, and she made to help, but Zarya grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the door the three had entered through. They slipped out into the sunlight and hopped onto the ledge just below the level they were on, where they found Lito and Nido talking seriously to one another.
            “What the hell?” Rialce snarled.
            “While we’re trying not to get eaten, you two are blabbing?” Zarya asked with a sigh.
            “The six of us can’t handle a behemoth,” Lito replied. “Where’s Arli?”
            “She’s still inside. I’m going back for her.”
            “Don’t.”
            “Wha—? Lito…”
            Lito smiled and handed her the pendant. “You’ll need this first.”
            Rialce laughed slightly, took the pendant and heaved herself over the ledge. “You had me going for a second there.” She nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
            Rialce slipped back inside the altar room as Arliss bolted past her. She snatched Arliss’s stomach and pulled her against the wall as the behemoth skidded into the wall in an attempt to turn around and continue after its prey. Arliss breathed heavily as Rialce released her and dashed toward the shattered altar, which was now a box made of black fog with the pendant’s resting place the only stone left. She slammed the pendant into the stone as the behemoth lunged for her. It stopped inches away before vanishing in a flash of light. The pendant and stone clacked against the sword that lay on the ground and Rialce stooped to pick it up as Arliss rushed over to Agarwaen.
            “Are you okay?” she asked softly, kneeling in front of him.
            “I’ll be fine,” he said, his smile blanketing his face.
            “Good… good.” Arliss smiled and stared into his eyes. “My name’s Arliss.”
            “Agarwaen.”
            “You’re very cute and all,” Rialce said loudly as she slipped the pristine sword through her belt, “but I think we should get back home.”
            Arliss smiled and helped Agarwaen stand. “I’m with the military — Outer Party H-4 —, so come and visit me some time.”
            “I look forward to it.”
            Arliss hurried over to Rialce — Lito had just arrived — and waved at Agarwaen as Rialce carved the warping circle around her to transport all three of them. Agarwaen rejoined Zarya and Nido, and Zarya rolled her eyes.
            “What’d I tell you?” Agarwaen asked.
            “With intuition like that behind you, I fear for my gender.”
            “Quite the compliment!”
            Nido chuckled. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but it’s still not over.”
            “What? Why?” the two asked in unison.
            “Lito — the mahru — is more important than I thought, at least to my kind. He knows a lot about the Living, and his prior position gave him a lot of time to study up on a lot of lore.”
            “What was he?” Agarwaen asked. “A scholar?”
            “Through leisurely means, yes. It’s not something I have the right to explain.”
            “Then why bring it up?” Zarya asked.
            “Look, the problem is Akestra — that sword — should not be with her yet. Rialce’s had no contact with the rest of the Living. We need to deliver it to a different owner. Should it find its way to her again in later days, then so be it. She just can’t have it yet.”
            “Then what was the point of all this?” Agarwaen asked indifferently. “Why not take the sword before they warped away?”
            Nido closed his eyes. “They can’t recall the sword, or anything tied to it. We need to take care of their memories, including the six that weren’t here and the people that gave them the orders.” Nido looked at Agarwaen. “They’re going to have to forget everything, Agar. I’m sorry.”

ø ø ø

            Lito examined the sword closely, taking in everything from its bejeweled hilt to the orcish letting on the blade. Everything about it matched up with the mosaic’s depiction of the sword, down the runes that would translate into orcish — then further into Common as the word ‘vanquisher’. As he studied the sword, Mallorie nudged Arliss with a quick wink.
            “I hear someone had a fiery encounter while they were away,” she teased.
            “No, I didn’t!” Arliss shouted embarrassedly. “We just introduced ourselves and—”
            “Hold on now,” Bryth said as he leaned forward. “Who did you encounter? That guy in the black armor?”
            “Uh-oh,” Mallorie said with a laugh, “I got you in trouble with big brother.”
            “His name’s Agarwaen,” Arliss said quickly, “and I don’t think it’s any of your business if I find him handsome or not, Bry.” She paused and, knowing it would annoy the hell out of him, she smirked. “But his smile… ah, and his muscles. I could melt.”
            Bryth covered his ears. “Oh my god, stop!”
            Those paying attention laughed and Rialce turned her attention to Faith. “So, fearless leader, I understand we have some time off coming to us?”
            “In a way. We still have the matter of funds to work out, so we’ll be busy, but it’ll be less taxing than what we did in the past few days.”
            Rialce leaned back in her chair. “I suppose that’s good enough. We did promise.”
            “Thanks again.”
            Rialce shrugged it off and her ears twitched as they caught a soft brushing sound from the door, but dismissed it as the wind. Zarya stepped back, her ears pressed to her head, as she looked over the long pink line that ran down the extent of the door, then at the black line that ran horizontally through the pink one; Nido added a line of white at the base. Zarya looked at Agarwaen, who stared at the door listlessly.
            “Ready, Zar?” Nido asked, making Zarya’s ears twitch.
            “Nido, do we really have to do this?” she asked.
            “That’s how it works.”
            Agarwaen grunted. “Get on with it then.”
            Zarya created a pink flame on her palm and touched the door; a vortex made of the three colors on the door popped into life. It slipped through the door and a flash of light slipped out of the windows and from the crack beneath the door. The three stepped inside and looked at the sleeping Outer Party H-4, slumped onto the table they sat around. Agarwaen approached Arliss, fixed her hair and tenderly kissed her temple as Zarya retrieved the sword and returned to Nido’s side.
            “Do you think we’ll ever see them again?” she whispered as Agarwaen passed them.
            “No,” Agarwaen said simply. “We have to get the leaders next, right? Let’s go.”
            Zarya watched Agarwaen walk off further into the city; she knew he was taking it harder than was warranted, and she hoped he would be his old self by the time the last leg of their mission was completed. Nido patted low on Zarya’s back, for it was the only portion he could reach without being impertinent, then followed Agarwaen.
            “I think they’ll be just fine,” he said.
            She scurried after Nido. “I hope their future is a good one.”