As they drew closer to Corvid, Ko’la felt his entire body thrum with trepidation. Dunai was literally sitting in his lap, turned invisible by his touch. Ko’la felt the man shift every other second, likely as uncomfortable as he was. These aeropoints are not built to support more than one passenger, he thought, his stomach protesting. The additional passenger made the aeropoint more volatile than before, the wind-propelled vehicle spiraling every few seconds.

Mo’qin flew directly to their left and was actively using his Sun affinity to spoof Dunai’s body temperature, while Dunai assured them that he’d handle masking his own vital signature. Finally, by placing Dunai atop Ko’la, Arima reported that the decemancer’s fate arrows blended in with those of the second prince, especially at a distance.

Their strategy seemed to be working so far, at least according to Wolfien. Ko’la couldn’t see the guardian very well, but he could imagine him sweating from mental exertion.

It’s all the more remarkable that our first prince supposedly runs scenarios constantly without showing any outward strain, Ko’la thought. Or going insane. While he respected Euryphel, he feared that the man’s mental state would eventually mirror the twisting of an aeropoint.

“Twenty fate-seeking phaser missiles incoming,” Wolfien reported. “Nearly one per person. They’re coming in staggered, so the best strategy is to stack the aegises and go full Dark.”

“Completely incorporeal?” Var’dun’a asked.

“Yes. This isn’t a fakeout: If we don’t defend with all our strength, people will die.”

Seems like our strategy to downplay our own defenses failed, Ko’la observed. It’s always a gamble trying to deceive Regret practitioners. Ko’la glanced forward at Dunai, lips curling into a frown.

“Aegises and Dark defenses now!” Wolfien shouted out.

Ko’la thrust his hands forward, releasing Ian and encompassing everyone nearby in a lightless sphere of black. Since Ko’la specialized in self-enhancement, his range was smaller than that of Var’dun’a. Thankfully, the general could pick up his slack.

Just a moment later, Ko’la felt the force of several detonations rippling through the air, each seeming to magnify the last. A pulsing wave cascaded through his incorporeal sphere, causing everything therein to vibrate. Ko’la clenched his jaw and felt his teeth buzzing, the sensation growing steadily stronger and uncomfortable. Wolfien seemed to believe that Ko’la could keep everyone safe, but in that moment, the prime had doubts: What if he failed and Dunai died right then and there, exploding into a puddle of gore?

You’re the second prince, he chided himself, eyes narrowing in self-deprecation. Stop whining like the fourth.

The shockwaves passed; Ko’la felt tension drain out of his body. Nobody had died, but vessels had burst in people’s eyes and throughout their bodies. Ko’la felt hot crimson curl down his cheeks and ferry ferrous flavor to his mouth. As he allowed his egg of darkness to wink out, people cried out in pain and took in gasps of air. The prince thought some probably sustained broken bones, the resonating energy of the phaser more effective against rigid materials.

“Keep up the Dark spheres,” Wolfien cautioned. “No time to heal. More incoming.”

“How long until we’re close enough to deploy the payload?” Ko’la asked, already expanding a spheroid of darkness around him, keeping only his lips and throat corporeal to speak.

“Within the length of a scenario,” Wolfien replied. “So give or take thirty seconds. Everyone, brace for a second round in 3, 2, 1!”

—

With every second that passed, Corona Blair conducted tens of scenarios. Now, as the group streaked through the air within a half-minute of the city’s airspace...she peeked just far enough into the future to see Dunai.

“Finally,” she hissed, her hands squeezing around the scope. So that’s where you were.

“Corona?” Coronus Byrrh exclaimed.

Blair snapped back before she could respond and immediately started up a new scenario.

“Coronus,” she said, facing the elder expert. “This is a scenario. Dunai’s here. He’s hidden in the group.”

“They can hide his fate arrows?” the coronus murmured, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening.

“He’s sitting atop Prime Ko’la,” Blair growled. “Literally. We knew they could actively mask heat, vitality, physical appearance...but this...”

Blair hadn’t even considered the enemy would use such a strategy. Dunai was famously fateful, End arrows connecting him to some of the most influential people in the world. She’d never imagined the enemy would be able to hide his arrows...but Prime Ko’la was also well-connected. At a distance, she could see why her End subordinates didn’t detect anything wrong.

Byrrh took in a deep breath. “...I see.”

“What now?” the corona asked, her eyes widening slightly. I hope I don’t sound too desperate.

“Are we unable to stop them from reaching the city?”

“We tried deploying all forty of our phaser bolts in two waves,” Blair murmured, glancing out the window. “We injured them and almost killed their Regret practitioner...but it wasn’t enough. Not only is he a Regret practitioner, but a Life cockroach.”

“None of the other rounds worked? What of the amplification towers and our elementalists?”

“Injuries, again. I think in the very best scenario we killed one of their End practitioners. That’s it.”

The coronus closed his eyes and groaned. “I’ll intervene. I’ve reached out to the others as well; Coronus Dalar and Coronus Kiehl will be assisting me. We’ve wasted enough time: Let me know how we do.”

Blair reached out a hand to stop him, but stopped, gritting her teeth and standing down. Byrrh...

She watched in silence as Coronus Byrrh shattered the window and flew on twin flares of fire, his military jacket rippling behind him. Flames blazed from his feet into a blossoming inferno, petals of red, blue, and green circling his torso. Blair saw the coronus’ glosCrown hover slightly off his head before shattering into shards of crystal that joined the flames in a spiral around his body.

Please...

Blair didn’t know what she was even pleading for, nor did she know to whom. She did know that her chest was constricting with every passing second, her ears ringing and head buzzing.

You’re wasting time, she thought, eyes red with emotion. She snapped out of her stupor and righted the scope, its tripod having fallen over when the window exploded outward. In its lens she could see the enemy weathering the second and final wave of the phaser bolts. As their orbs of protective darkness fell, the only thing standing between them and the city were Coronuses Byrrh, Dalar, and Kiehl.

In the scope she could see the three coronuses standing together. They looked just like they did in the official military recruitment posters, distance blurring their aged features and straightening their stooped backs.

Blair remembered a decade ago when she’d been no more than a teenager. The world had been open to someone of her talent: She could’ve left Godora, gone anywhere, gone East to avoid conflict and find her fortune.

Byrrh stood in the center of the coronuses, a small circle of flame forming in his palms, no bigger than a wildflower bud. The shattered glosCrown orbited around it like diamond dust. She knew that if she could slow time down, she’d be able to see the dust dancing in specific patterns to form arrays.

Dalar held out his hands and encompassed the three of them in a bulwark of blinding light. Blair looked away for a moment while the scope adjusted, filtering the radiance. Layered just behind the light was a shield of Dark, Dalar’s opposite affinities stacking to make his signature defense.

Meanwhile, Kiehl appeared to be doing nothing. The man stood stock still, his eyes fixed on the rapidly-approaching enemy, his thin, short, gray hair whipping behind his head.

Blair resisted the urge to close her eyes. Whoever had the larger range between Dunai and Kiehl would make or break the entire battle.

The coronuses held their attack for a precious few seconds. Blair knew that they were waiting for Kiehl’s signal, but it set her on edge. She wished that they would do something other than wait.

Blair felt the end of her scenario growing near, but the final few seconds were the most important.

Suddenly, Kiehl moved forward and hissed, holding his hand out in front of him, a crooked smile splitting his face. A short distance in front of him the flying invaders began to careen downward. Blair felt her spirits soar: Kiehl had them in his grasp.

A few of the invaders began to regain their wits, breaking free of Kiehl’s mental assault, but Blair knew he was only focusing on one person: Dunai.

As Dunai fell through the air, a wind elementalist rushed after him, her platinum hair flowing out behind her like a streamer. Blair could make out her lips moving to say something, but couldn’t discern what she was saying.

To keep the decemancer in his range, Kiehl used his glosScepter to point the way, the ornate white mace dragging him forward. He cut through the air like a torpedo, closing in on his quarry.

Just as he came close, a blue, papery bird flapped its way free of the decemancer’s robes.

What...a glosSword companion? Blair thought to herself, momentarily taken aback. She would’ve thought the decemancer would use his glosSword either as an aegis or amplifying focus.

The bird opened its mouth and let out a beam of black, oily energy that headed straight for Kiehl. Blair smiled as Dalar intercepted the attack with an almost-instantaneous lightsink that grounded the attack on his Dark barrier and redirected the glosSword’s energy back toward the regrouping enemy formation.

As if choreographed, Byrrh let loose his compressed fire, a beam of excited heat surging forth and cutting clean through seven of the enemy, leaving them with nasty, possibly fatal wounds. He followed up by casting a fiery wave toward Dunai, fel green flames seeming to burn even the sky as they smoked grayish-blue fumes.

And then Dunai woke up, his expression confused, the man waving his hands before his eyes. At the very least he caught himself in the air, arresting his plummet downward. The wind elementalist ensconced him in a wrap of wind and tried to drag him upwards, but Dunai resisted and pulled away, coincidentally in the direction of Kiehl.

But as Dunai continued forward unerringly in the man’s direction, Blair felt her stomach drop. He’s clearly still trapped in Kiehl’s mental illusions...reality should be turned on its head. He should be attacking his allies, not running towards Kiehl!

Just as Blair felt her affinity tug her back to the present, she resisted. Just a bit longer. She pushed for all that she was worth, her mouth screwed into an agonized rictus.

Just...a moment...

She watched as Dunai streaked past Kiehl, missing the man completely. She let herself snap back, only to catch the barest glimpse of Kiehl’s neck snapping unnaturally.

“Blair,” Coronus Byrrh gasped, seeing her haggard expression. She shook her head and sprung back into a scenario.

“Scenario,” she gasped. “Coronus...you and the other two need to attack them. Be careful, Dunai can somehow see through Kiehl’s distortion of reality.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What did you see?”

She blinked. “Dunai, he seemed to...find Kiehl. He was confused, but still knew which way to go.”

“Corona,” Byrrh said, squeezing her shoulder. “How many times have you looped today?”

She snorted indignantly. “Clearly not enough to win. Please hurry.”

In reality, Byrrh had deployed the phase bolts seven seconds ago. The heaviest artillery we have are already on their way, Blair thought. We need to attack when the enemy is at its most vulnerable: right after the blast.

Byrrh opened his mouth to speak, but stood there before her, eyebrows drawing inward.

“Go!” she exclaimed, pointing to the window. “Tell the other coronuses to meet you outside. You three might be our only chance to stop Dunai before he enters the city.”

His voice was low and strained. “Corona...collect yourself. We’re not fighting this scenario. Chin up and think this through.”

She straightened and saluted Byrrh. “Apologies for my incompetence.”

Byrrh sighed and shook his head. “The Eldemari predicted that something like this might transpire.”

Blair remained silent, waiting for Byrrh to ask her questions and plan their next steps.

“The decemancer’s range was less than Kiehl’s?”

“Yes.”

“Was he fully incapacitated?”

Blair nodded.

The coronus hummed and massaged his jaw. “How long did it take him to recover?”

“Five seconds by my estimates,” Blair replied. I was too distracted to start a timer, she thought, cursing herself for being so inept.

“And you said he seemed addled upon awakening?”

“He seemed genuinely confused,” Blair murmured. “He waved his hand in front of his face and started to fly. I thought it was a coincidence that he headed toward Coronus Kiehl, but at the last second of the scenario...I could have sworn I saw Dunai snap the coronus’ neck.”

Byrrh took in a deep breath, then sighed. “So...he’s using some other way of seeing, something that’s beyond this world: not of the body, nor mind, nor fate-spooled energy within us.”

Blair just stared at the coronus, incomprehension clear on her features. “What else is there?” Kiehl’s confounding was all-encompassing and, to her knowledge...nigh infallible: Once he snared a target and focused on keeping them ensorceled, they wouldn’t be able to escape discombobulation of the senses. They’d see whatever Kiehl wanted them to see, attack whomever Kiehl wanted them to kill.

Byrrh sighed again and gritted his teeth. “Corona...what else could it be? Use your head.”

Blair swallowed and saluted the coronus. “The soul, sir.”

“Right.” And with that, she ended the scenario prematurely, snapping back to the present.