***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Astra***

I awoke, or rather, became aware of myself as a drizzle of water hit my face.

It was yet another of Gaia’s dream settings, this time located in a bungalow right next to a waterfall which found its end in an ocean. Beyond was a chain of islands with verdant rainforests. Flocks of tropical birds hinted at the pulsating life covering the isles. They were green hearts within a blue sea, much more inviting than Tirnanog’s hostile fauna and flora could ever be.

I stepped back from where the waterfall was drenching the protective railing between the terrace and the water. From there, a glass door led into the wooden bungalow.

Inside, I found a generously spaced living room.

Gaia was leaning over the body of someone lying on a couch who I automatically assumed to be Magnus.

She was moaning and giggling stupidly while moving her ass back and forth in apparent enjoyment. “Oh, yes! That’s good! Mmh!”

What the fuck were they doing!?

I let out an involuntary growl as thoughts of betrayal flashed through my mind.

Before I could stop myself, I ripped the handle off the door with the unmistakable snap of breaking wood.

The avatar gasped and straitened, then looked at me with a guilty expression.

My hand was ready to launch the metal handle at her when I realized just in time I had misunderstood the situation.

Which didn’t mean the truth was any less strange to witness.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at the avatar and the permanent marker in her hand, then at my sleeping partner.

“What the fuck are you doing to my husband?” I asked.

Gaia pouted and made some insecure noises. “I… uhm… am… mmh… having some fun?”

My eyes wandered between the marker in her hand and my partner’s defaced mien. No words would have been able to describe the depth of my bafflement.

She continued, waving the marker in the air. “You know, me hijacking people’s dreams and all that? It’s really, really rare to meet someone who sleeps within the dream. And there is this human thing which I find interesting – to draw stuff on someone’s face when they are caught sleeping.”

I opened my mouth but wasn’t sure what to say.

This was yet another case of Gaia's skewed understanding of humans. “You know, you are supposed to smear something stupid on their face. What you did is more like body painting.”

Gaia looked down at Magnus’s peaceful face, now featuring a high-class image of a satisfied-looking cat with long hair. It was a perfect job, worthy of an artist.

“Somehow, I can’t believe you are rarely doing this. This looks too skilled,” I spoke slowly, doubting her claim. “You had to train this, or is your nature allowing you to become a perfect body painter on a whim?”

The avatar pursed her lips and looked down at my unconscious partner. She tilted her head, then her eyes widened in realization.

She cursed and flung the marker against the nearest wall. “Meteor strike my creations down! I knew there was something wrong with this! I thought humans were just too inept to do a better job! The ungainliness of the scribbles being intentional never occurred to me!”

I slowly lowered the metal handle and tried my best to be inconspicuous when I threw it behind me while Gaia ranted.

Ignoring her, I went to my partner’s side and took his hand in mine. It felt cold and clammy, which immediately had me worried. “Why isn’t he awake?”

“Don't know for sure. Happens sometimes when people skirt the edge of death. They return to the fold,” Gaia retorted disinterestedly. “The poison has him out cold, though I got a connection to him. You two are strange that way. I cannot say I fully understand it myself.”

She reached over and switched off the lamp she had used to ensure optimal illumination of my partner's face.

I sighed in frustration and squeezed Magnus's hand. I wanted to pursue this line of discussion and Gaia’s knowledge about death, but right now I had other problems.

“Then tell me about the ones who tried to kill him. We have three bodies and we are very sure one got away. I need his affiliates within the clan. Know whether there are more of these 'Forgotten' around.”

Rolling her eyes, Gaia sunk to the floor and played dead. “You are aware of my limitations! I can't find people who have no direct connection to me. It's really hard to select a specific dreamer unless I already visited them.”

She was getting lazy again, relying on having almost limitless time to solve her troubles.

“You mean you can't find the frigging assassins?” I hissed while I knelt next to my partner's unconscious form. When I had gone to sleep this night, I had harboured the hope of meeting up with Magnus in our shared dreamscape.

But it wasn't to be.

Now Gaia couldn't even find those who hurt him?

“Are they infected with the violet mutation?” I asked.

“No, they are pure human. As far as I know, only Iv is a violet within Mount Aerie,” Gaia explained. “But I am not powerful enough to sift through thousands of humans within any timeframe which would be meaningful to you. I am already watching the elders on your behalf and it's straining my capabilities. Now, if you would be willing to wait for a few months…”

She had been watching for weeks and didn't find anything malicious about the elders' goals. “Forget about the elders for now. I need the escapees' location. The rest, I can do by myself!”

Gaia got back up. “I can do that. Just the one who attacked Magnus, right? It should have created a metaphysical connection which I can follow. Do you want tea and cake while I work?”

Suddenly, Magnus squeezed my hand back. “Don't go after them. Let the elders do their job.”

“You woke up!” A grin broke out on my face and I immediately leaned over him to kiss him. “Do you have any idea what I felt when they told me you had been murdered?”

“This is Gaia's dream?” he asked, still disoriented. “Why do I still feel like shit?”

“Probably because they poisoned you with a neurotoxin and the dreamwalker ability has something to do with whatever parts of your physiology are affected. The pain your physical body is in spills into the dream,” Gaia postulated while she leaned over us. “This is actually useful information to make adjustments to the next clutch.”

I blinked and smiled while I looked up at the avatar. “For your sake, I'll pretend I didn't hear that.”

“Come on,” Gaia whined. “It wasn't meant maliciously. I am trying my best to do right by you.”

“What happened while I was out?” Magnus asked.

Not knowing how long he would be awake, I told him a shortened and more comprehensive version of what my mother had shared with me. Earth's involvement, the Forgotten, how everyone was in an uproar at the possibility of more infiltrators.

Magnus chuckled once I finished. “It's truly the same everywhere. The one who wins gets to decide what happened.”

I kept talking for a few more minutes while he mainly listened, but he was deadly tired. All too soon he lost consciousness again and drifted off to sleep.

Once I was sure he was under, I returned my attention to Gaia. From experience, I already knew it would take many hours of teasing details out of the avatar until I had at least a vague idea of where to look for my prey.

When I woke up, I found myself in the dark hospital room next to Magnus. I stood up from the reclining chair I had been sleeping in and made sure my partner was well. Then I left the room.

During a state of war, it was standard doctrine for every combatant to be fully equipped at all times. I had been delivered my armour and equipment the day prior when I refused to leave Magnus's side.

On my way out, I grabbed the spear which I had requisitioned from the armoury. I had played with the thought of focusing on two rapiers as my main weapons. But the encounter with the changeling broodmother showed an obvious flaw with such an approach. The rapier simply lacked raw stopping power against monsters.

I needed something like my partner's spetum, and a spear felt like the obvious choice.

One of the rapiers would remain as my sidearm since I had become fond of the weapon. But anything larger than a human would get to feel humanity's oldest weapon, the good old stick.

I entered the foyer of the hospital's V.I.P. section and found several hunters guarding the area. Taking the attack seriously, the family had attached between one to ten bodyguards to everyone who held an important office within the clan.

“I need someone to inform the Patels. I know where the remaining assassin is,” I addressed one of my guards. “We also need Thalia here right now.”

Thankfully, my position allowed me to give some orders without the need to explain myself.

While my people hurried to do as they were told, I stood waiting, tapping my foot on the ground. I wanted to rush right to my enemy and stick a weapon all the way up their…

But no.

Control and patience.

As long as I did this right, I would get my revenge.

It took half an hour until Thalia joined me, trailed by her entourage of ten guards. Including the ten which had been attached to Magnus and my own group, the foyer was becoming crowded with grim-looking women and men in full armour.

“The guard told me you knew where the assassin is?” my friend asked with a curious expression.

I nodded. “We are going there, right now. And you will be with us to rip any information they might have right out of their brains.”

Thalia's eyes widened at my suggestion. “Shouldn't you let the Patels do that? They got the job as far as I remember. And how did you find out where the assassin is hiding? Weren't you with Magnus the entire time?”

“A very good question!”

Bruce sped into the foyer, surrounded by a blurry outline of black wings which moved far too fast for the eye to see. His entrance was accompanied by the buzz of a human-sized colibri and a gust of air which forced me to raise a hand protectively to my eyes.

The elder's feet lightly touched the ground and he effortlessly transitioned to a speedy walk. His wings wrapped around him like a cloak. “My people are taking the second, third, and fourth stratas apart to find the culprit, but all we got are old trails and abandoned hideouts. What clue could you have found here in the hospital?”

I lowered my hand and bowed slightly to the elder. “My partner woke up for a few minutes. The attackers exchanged instructions which led me to believe it would be highly advisable to search the tenth.”

“The tenth?” Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Nothing I got points at the tenth. And it's hard to believe agents who managed to hide among us for years would slip up so dramatically. Why would they tell their target where to find them?”

“I wouldn't call it a slip-up,” I retorted, spinning my white lie further. “They believed their target dead and had suffered unexpected losses. One of their dying agents mentioned a fallback point 'Silo Seven' right before my partner lost consciousness.”

“'Silo Seven' could mean anything,” Bruce countered.

“Maybe.” I tapped a finger against my temple. “But training aside, would a dying man remember to keep his cool while bleeding out on the ground? I admit, this is a shot in the dark, but one of my mutations enhances mental capabilities and I firmly believe myself to be on the right track. The tenth has an old storage facility which was abandoned years ago. Presumably, because a ratkin break-in left it too vulnerable to be repaired. Once upon a time, it was called storehouse seven. If a group decided to renovate the structure, they would have a perfect hideout connected to the clan’s tunnel system while also providing a way out.”

Bruce wasn't convinced. “An odd tidbit of knowledge to have. And how does storehouse translate to silo? You wouldn’t be willing to share the detail of this ability so I can judge its accuracy?”

“No. You won’t get any more information about this mutation. And silo is what the tenth's farmers call their storehouses. It's slang,” I explained and pointed towards the door. “Can we go now? I dare say we should come down on them hard and fast as soon as possible before they get the idea they could be compromised and relocate for safety.”

I strolled past the elder and gestured for Thalia to follow. “Come.”

It took a moment before Bruce followed us. “Now wait a moment.”

“No time for a moment,” I interrupted. “Either we can coordinate and you get the credit, or I get to storm the opponent's fort with my hunters and we get the glory. What will it be?”

The elder harrumphed. “If you are so certain, then I will take the credit, but this needs a little more planning than simply barging into their hideout. We have to close off possible escape routes and make sure we have the upper hand.”

Exactly what I wanted.

“How long?” I asked.

Bruce bristled. “An hour? If I mobilize all my people.”

I stopped, turned to him and crossed my arms. “I am waiting.”

Bruce pressed his lips together but didn't say anything more. Instead, he gave me a mocking bow and spread his wings. A moment later, he buzzed off.

It was the longest hour I had to endure in my entire life so far.

The third’s people scouted out the area while our hunters prepared to act as the spearhead of the operation.

Dad and Mom naturally heard about me requisitioning more people once Bruce informed us of the necessary scope of the operation. We had to block all the Forgotten’s escape routes, including the ones which would allow them to flee the clan entirely.

In the end, it meant several hundred people were involved.

The idea of personally storming the enemy’s stronghold to take personal revenge was drenched in cold water once the scope of the operation became obvious.

Nobody desired a failure, so five juggernaut-classed hunters were tasked with breaking down the door to the abandoned facility, while other parties fortified each identified escape route.

Meanwhile, I had to sit still and wait for the operation to end, fobbed off by the promise of getting my hands on the Forgotten who weren’t killed in action.