“Good, then we have an accord. I’ll place you back an-”

“Wait! I have some more questions, like can I turn my new ability off? The energy drain thing?”

“It is tied to your soul, if you do not wish it to absorb energy, it will not. Now, I wi-”

“Wait, do all my abilities work like that?”

The dragon paused, her eyes narrowed and one claw tapping at the golden orb, gouging deep holes into it. I swallowed, but rather than backing down I simply raised one eyebrow in question and waited.

“No, your other abilities have no need. Any other questions? I’ll give you... two. And then, you leave.”

My thoughts scattered as I tried to decide on just two questions; I had so many, and while I had received some answers, it was difficult narrowing down what I wanted most. As I thought, I decided to thank her to buy some time.

“Thank you for the ability, by the way, it came at just the right time.”

“You are welcome.”

Xiournal continued to tap on the orb, the marks refilling and being replaced as I watched; she clearly knew what I was doing, but she could not really complain at courtesy.

“So... I did wonder one thing. Did you dump me down by Everwood City at random? Most of my success comes down to meeting Walker, and while I’m Lucky, obviously, that seems a bit much for my first appearance on the planet.

“It was no accident. I examined the factors involved and the requisite probabilities and found that placing you there produced the optimal outcome for the goals I had. You have deviated from my predictions at times, but for the most part it has worked out.”

“Wow, you really guessed that Walker would help me and... all the rest?”

“I do not guess. I had a reasonable expectation that things would go as I planned. I do not simply dump my Agents into place, as some do. And that is why I am far in advance of the lazier members of our organization.”

I thought I could hear a certain pointedness in the dragon’s tone, but I had no idea to whom she could be referring. I almost asked, but she interrupted me.

“One more question.”

The thought of asking who she may have been referring to vanished from my mind, and I tried to grab one of the other myriad questions I knew I had for her. I had just decided on another question when the Ascended apparently lost her patience and raised on clawed hand, her head twitching as if being spoken to.

“Too late, time’s up.”

“Hey, wai - and I’m back in Ouhl.”

Bodies were everywhere, mostly clad in grey, but I saw too many instances of red and white, as well as the myriad of other colours from the sects. I saw nobody moving about the battlefield; looking about in confusion, I wondered how long I had been gone. It had only seemed like a few minutes, though I realised that my Focus and Path had been deactivated without my noticing. I did not think that the battle would be over in such a short period – though, with everyone moving so quickly, perhaps a few minutes was all it would take.

I looked at the bodies and tried to imagine them stood up, but I was unable to make the numbers fit; had the Risen Throne won, had they run away?

I figured that if anybody had survived, they would be in the Stone. Even with the middle destroyed, there should still be a lot of room in there.

Still glancing around and looking for movement, I set off towards the Stone, ears pricked for sounds in the dead silence of the square, but there was nothing.

The gates were as I had left them, open wide and – while not quite welcoming – at least accepting. I walked in between them, glad that there were no bodies in the way for me to step over, and made my way towards the doors, which were open wide and the stone above them still suspended as if the whole building it was attached to had not been cracked like an egg.

I paused just inside the entrance, waiting to be stopped or questioned, but I remained unmolested. Frowning, I looked around; even in the aftermath of a battle that they had – hopefully – won, it was unnerving to see the place so vulnerable.

I looked down and saw the signs of many boots tracking through the heavy dust; I wished for a moment that I could Aragorn the tracks and find out what happened, but such a thing was beyond me. It did at least let me know that there had been survivors. I hoped they were on my side.

Venturing into the Stone was intimidating; from my past visit I knew it was designed as a maze, and that meant there was a fair chance I was going to get lost, but I figured I would run into somebody eventually.

The long halls were eerie, and I could not tell if the quiet was more intense than on my previous visits or whether it was just that I was on my own. Despite the damage I knew the centre of the structure had suffered, the halls seemed fairly intact, and though I occasionally came across a hole where something had shot through, I was surprised at just how well it had withstood the assault. I could not think of many buildings back on Earth that that would stand up half as well to being cored.

*

***

*

I had been wandering around the labyrinthine building for half an hour when I finally heard voices echoing around a corner. I could not tell who it was, though the volume and tone told me that it might be Tain, and if he was shouting, I had some hope that he had recovered from his domination. The story I had heard from Walker about the Apex of the Multiplicitous Self had not suggested that his abilities wore off, but as Xiournal had indicated, he was not quite what he once was.

Following the voice, I began to hear more, though they were somehow drowned out by the much louder yelling. It took me only a minute or so to locate the source, finding a crowd of people in red and white clustered around one of the normally hidden doors in the wall.

“... the Void blasted little shit ran away right when he was needed, I’m not wasting time or resources looking for him when I need everything we have to make repairs and get citizens re-settled.”

“With grim determination, you are hardly in a place to point fingers, Blood Marshall; as I recall, you were murdering your own people when Hunter vanished.”

“I was being controlled, just like your idiot friend likely is! The next time you see him, he’ll be speeding around and punching you.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Tain! Hunter has disappeared before, and he always turns up. We’re not asking you to look for him, we just need a way to get a message back to the Apexes.”

“And I said no! I don’t want your Void damned Apexes interfering; from what I can tell that’s what started all of this in the first place! No. We don’t have the resources to send anybody haring off into the wild or across the planet to deliver a message.”

I began to inch my way through the crowd, pushing closer to the door as the argument went on.

“Lone Slaughter-”

“Listen, zealot, I told you not to call me that, I don’t like it.”

“It’s your Cultivator name, isn’t it, Lone Slaughter?”

“Bah! If I find out who told you that I’m going to skin them and wear it to their funeral. Or yours, if you don’t stop using it.”

There was a brief pause, before Toria continued, her voice marginally more respectful.

“Blood Marshall then; it is imperative that we contact our masters. This attack was far greater and more co-ordinated than any the Risen Throne have made before, and if they can control a Pinnacle such as yourself, that does not bode well. They must be stopped.”

“I told you I didn’t want them involved! Just now. They took us by surprise this time, but if they come back, we’ll wipe the floor with them.”

“In tactful interjection, they may not be back, and this involves more than just this city, Blood Marshall. The Risen Throne have attacked at least two cities previously, though in different ways. They may be planning other attacks. Not only this, but if Hunter is on another world – as is his habit – we will need an Apex to retrieve him.”

“I don’t care about your friend! Good people died that might not have if he stuck around. And if you ask me, it’s suspicious that he vanished at the same time as that crowned bastard.”

I had finally made it to the front of the crowd and could see my friends inside the room; Toria was sat down, still clearly injured though looking a lot better than the last time I had seen her. Darina stood behind her, one hand resting on her shoulder, and I guessed she was maybe continuing the healing process even as the argument went on. To either side of the healer, the risi siblings stood like bodyguards, their huge arms crossed, and though I could not see their faces, I could tell that they were both tense.

I could not quite see Tain, as Reff stood between us like a living wall. Quietly, and making sure to keep the giant between us, I walked towards the desk. I heard murmurs start-up behind me, as they clearly realised who I was, but I hoped they would not grab Tain’s attention until I was ready.

“Look; I feel bad for you shits. You came all this way to help, didn’t help much and now your friend is both a coward and missing. But I have to rebuild a city, and a fortress and find homes for all the Void damned people waking up. Apparently, forty to a room is too many. Now if you’ll GET THE HELL OUT OF M-”

The Marshall stopped his shouting as I stepped out from behind my friend, opposite where Toria and Darina were located. His eyes widened as he looked at me, his mouth held open as he began to blink repidly.

“Hi! Not a coward, or missing. How is everyone?”

Reff and the other spun to face me and I had to take a few steps back so I could actually look at Reff and Riffa; coming up to your friends' thighs can be really inconvenient sometimes.

The four of them cried out in surprise, thought the cries themselves were all different. I do not think I had ever actually surprised the risi before, but I almost broke out laughing when they both declared, “In surprise...!”

“Where have you been, fool? We looked all over for you. Somebody said you’d vanished through another portal, but obviously not, if you’re here.”

“In delighted curiosity, yes, where did you go, Hunter?”

“It’s good to see you safe... Hunter.”

“In pleased relief, you really vanish too much, but it is good to have you back.”

“Void bugger all that, you left the battle you little shit. Why?”

The questions and comments came in on top of each other, and it took me a moment to sort out what had been said. Taking a deep breathe, I answered them as best I could.

“Vanished but not through a portal, ended up in space, I think. Thanks, Reff, Riffa and Toria! Good to be back, though I wasn’t gone long this time.” Turning to Tain, I answered his question. “I did actually intend to go through the portal; I couldn’t stop you, but I was doing okay against Almondhead, but then the portal opened which means the Shadow Faced Guy. Or Shade... anyway, I figured if I could take him out, it would be better for everyone, and I’d just bounced Almondhead off the ground and hoped he’d be distracted. Anyway, I got called away before I could get through, can’t say more but it was involuntary.”

“You were, ‘bouncing your opponent off the floor’ – this Almondhead, who I assume is the asshole in the crown – but decided to leave to fight somebody who wasn’t involved in the battle?”

Tain’s voice was incredulous, and when he phrased it like that I could see why he might not be entirely happy with the decision, and looking back I may have been a little biased by the fact that the Shadow Face Guy had ripped my arm off, but still, in a larger sense, I thought taking him out would benefit the world more than that one battle.

“Yeah... honestly, other than controlling you, Almondhead didn’t seem like a big deal, I figured somebody else would get him eventually. But the Sh-” I glanced at Darina who was already rolling her eyes at the name, “but Shade seems to be the one able to open those portals, so I figured if I could take him out, it would cripple them. It didn’t work out. But it seems I was right about Almondhead, right? He’s gone?”

“With delicate wording, when you are saying, ‘Almondhead’, do you perhaps mean, ‘Al’monhad’, Hunter?”

I glanced at the Marshall as Reff spoke, looking for any sign of recognition, but saw none. Either he had no idea who that was, or he would be pretty good at poker.

“Yes. But... downgraded.”

Reff looked troubled at that, and I could see the same expression on the faces of my other companions. I knew we’d need to get back to warn the Apexes, but from what I could tell, it was months and months of travel, possibly years on foot.

I was drawn from my ruminations by a growl from the Marshall, who was now leaning on his paper-strewn desk and glaring at me.

“I don’t care what his name is – I will later, but not now. He left at the same time as you, plucked from mid-air by black chains, and black smoke that killed anybody it touched. Do you know what those are?”

“I do. Both the chains and the smoke are from Shade, I’ve seen them both before. He used the chains to rip my arm off, a while ago.”

I held up my crystal and gold arm so he could see it.

“And I’m pretty sure he’s in charge of the Risen Throne, now.”

Xiournal had not been able to tell me much, directly, but she had let slip that the Shadow Faced Guy was part of whatever network Almondhead was, the direct beneficiary, in fact. Which mean that DotRT, the apparent head of the Risen Throne was probably him.