‘Hakara, this way! It looks clear!’ Stathis swung her sword, the blade cutting through the arm of a guardian spirit as it punched at Hakara, managing to deflect the attack slightly. Hakara squeaked, the fist bouncing off her enchanted skin, still with enough force to send her staggering towards the edge. Stathis caught her, pulling her back towards safety and keeping her standing. ‘Let’s keep moving and hope there’s not more of those things!’

They’d managed to find their way through into the oldest part of the fortress, finding a crack in the defensive wall just about large enough for them to fit through. Despite the fine elven architecture, the layout was much the same as any other castle, with narrow hallways, defensive chokepoints and steep staircases. Amidst the exploring, Hakara had managed to disarm several magical traps, before some guardian spirit had activated and begun chasing them.

Stathis’ sword passed through it, dragging out trails of ethereal goop that were drawn back into the mass of the spirit, a roughly humanoid form carrying an oversized spear. They ran along the battlements, with what would have been a stunning view over the town, if it weren’t for the danger of death. Beneath them, a flicker of white caught her eye, the unicorn standing outside the castle, staring back at her, horn glinting nastily in the sunlight. Something else to be dealt with in the future. From here, if things went badly wrong, then she could grab Hakara and fly away, although that would require some awkward explanations afterwards. She blocked a thrust, as a spray of acid sprayed out from Hakara’s hands and covered the spirit, its form fading slightly before solidifying itself again.

Stathis pulled Hakara along behind her, keeping her moving, while she panted from exertion, even less fit than Janaxia. They ran through a series of chambers – a guardroom, a barracks, a commander’s office - Stathis absently noting the loot that was around, if they survived long enough to grab out and somehow get it out. A pillar of crystal blocked a passageway, too dense to break, a skeleton held within it. Stathis pushed against it, the material too heavy to shift, and too tough to break through. The spirit followed them, flowing through the entrance and then reforming, as it was too large to get through normally.

The only exit led to a balcony, overlooking a drop into a festhall, the wooden floor broken and moss-covered, long tables rotted and decayed.

‘Can you make us float or anything? Otherwise this will be a nasty drop.’

Hakara was already scrabbling onto the handrail, robes flapping as she clambered up and tried to prepare herself to drop as gently as possible. As the spirit moved towards them, steady and implacable, Stathis straddled the handrail herself, wrapping an arm around Hakara’s waist and pulling her down. She fell, taking the brunt of the impact onto herself, trying to land as gently as she could, the floor creaking under the assault. Then it collapsed, rotten wood giving way beneath their combined weight, sending them plummeting into darkness.

Mist obscured Stathis’ vision, hot steam rushing past her. She felt their fall slow, as Hakara activated a spell, braking their acceleration, just before she splashed into water, enough force still for the impact to sting. Luckily it was deep enough to absorb her fall, keeping a tight hold of Hakara as the wizard twisted in her arms. With a few strong kicks, she broke the surface, treading water as Hakara coughed and spluttered, before managing to catch her breath again.

Whatever chamber they were in was large enough that Stathis couldn’t see the walls, or even the ceiling they’d dropped through, thick mist blocking her vision, impossible to see anything beyond the water around them. From somewhere in the distance came a low moan, and the susurrating muttering of the elven language. Stathis pulled Hakara close, trying to calm her. ‘There’s something out there. We need to be careful.’ Hakara nodded back, managing to supress another coughing fit, trying to keep quiet.

Swimming quietly was hard, especially with someone in her arms, but her feet soon found the smooth stone floor rising up beneath her. The mist baffled her senses, every twist of shadow in the haze an enemy, the mist shifting and wisping on the water. There was a series of soft slapping sounds, followed by a sigh, then a chink of glass. The muttering was closer now, the water falling away, now only up to her knees, lapping at a just-visible shore.

A shape swelled up from the mist, a white stone block covered with fine black tendrils, twitching slightly, sighing and moaning slightly. A torso rose behind it, topped with a head, arms twisting and moving over… itself? Stathis stepped back in startlement. The black tendrils shifted and moved, a dark, demonic face appearing from beneath the strands of hair, twists of dark bone spiralling out, eyes focusing through the mist, a few strands glowing a satisfied crimson against the white stone.

‘Ah, Stathis.’ Janaxia gave a long, satisfied sigh, as the figure atop her moved. ‘We were wondering when you would arrive.’

She was laid atop a rock slab, a glass of wine close at hand, pillowing her head on her arms. Atop her was an elf, their fingers digging into Janaxia’s back, giving her a vigorous massage. Parth was sat on a high stool and holding a glass of tiered liquids, red at the bottom and blue at the top, her body wrapped in an azure sarong, wounded arm bandaged, more bandages wrapped around her hands. Sat next to her was another elf, wearing plain, well-made clothing, looking curiously at them. Stathis looked back uncertainly, unsure as to what was happening, before putting Hakara down, letting her flick her robes, water spraying everywhere.

‘Going swimming in armour? I know you like to test yourself, but that really is a bit much, dear. I assume you found the service entrance or somesuch? Yesssssss, there, just a little harder.’ Janaxia’s words trailed off into happy moans as the masseuse worked on her back.

Stathis stepped onto the shore, aware that every step was squelching and soaked, her clothing drenched. Parth was watching her, face bland as she sipped her drink, the colours now mingling together.

‘Parth. What the hell is going on, and where are we? And how did you get here? You were in the astral plane or something, we saw you run past us!’ Stathis stretched and twisted, the humidity sucking at her clothes. She unbuckled her breastplate to gain some relief, as Parth considered a response.

‘A remnant of a remnant, preserved through the ages. The seal is broken.’

Stathis stared at her, waiting for some further explication, which steadfastly failed to appear, Parth simply staring back with bland calmness.

‘Right. So, we broke through a magical seal, there were some people preserved here that are now magically awake.’ Parth nodded, taking another sip. ‘Fine. So why is Janaxa getting a massage, how are you here, and can someone get me a goddam drink, as that’s apparently what we’re doing now?’

‘Palace staff. Rescued me. Thankful.’ Parth said another word, something long and lilting, the elf next to her nodding before walking off, vanishing into the mist.

‘So, you found your way here. Did none of you think to come and find me or Hakara? We could have been killed by a guardian spirit! Janaxia, how the hell did you get down here?’

Janaxia’s voice was slow and drawn out between sighs, her massage clearly pleasurable. ‘I simply followed Llewdu, he showed me a route. Where the welcome was most hospitable, I must say. They are most glad to have been relieved from whatever spell bound them.’ Something to do with the crystals, I believe. They were powering an incredibly potent spell, as well as preserving the survivors, until our arrival broke the enchantment

The cat jumped onto the table, staring at Stathis before slowly, deliberately, arcing its body to lick its rear end. Stathis resisted the urge to push it off as she dripped water everywhere, the other elf reappearing with a tray, holding several shots and a tall glass, filled with ice. Some form of ritual ensued, the shots getting mixed together, light sparkling as the colours mingled, the resulting combination a lurid green. They tapped the glass, the drink briefly steaming before it was handed over.

Stathis accepted it and took a sip. The flavour was sweet, some herbal flavour beneath the burn of alcohol. She downed it, glad of at least some relief and refreshment. ‘Thanks, that’s pretty good stuff. So the elves are fine with us relaxing here? And where’s Semari, do we need to rescue her as well?’

Parth responded. ‘Darkness beckons, and must be destroyed. But rest. Briefly.’

A soft noise came up beneath Stathis, Semari’s voice suddenly very loud, and very, very close. ‘Hey, Stathis! You found your way here! Why did you go swimming in your clothes? That must be uncomfortable.’ Stathis turned, finding Semari right behind her, fabric strips wound about her chest and loins, before she shook her head rapidly, making water flick everywhere, Janaxia tutting in annoyance as she was splashed. ‘I got chased by those statue things, jumped onto the roofs, then found, like, a throneroom thing, load of gold everywhere, some fancy dude on the throne, all in crystal. Then found a hidden passageway at the back that led to, like, this super-fancy dressing room, and some kinda butler-elf showed me down here. Pretty fancy, right? How’d you get down here?’

‘I fell through the floor, along with Hakara.’ By now, Hakara had managed to dry herself off, and then started to clean Stathis, using magic to pull countless tiny spheres of water from her clothing. ‘After escaping a magical protection spirit guardian thing. Sorry, what’s your name?’ She asked the elf. ‘Can I have another?’

‘I am Cerondyari, my pride to aid allies of such an august and wise queen.’ She placed a hand over her heart and bowed. ‘As you wish.’ They disappeared into the mist again, leaving Stathis to remove her boots and padded jerkin, getting slightly more comfortable in the humidity as Hakara continued to magically dry her. ‘So, what the hell do we do now? Is there someone in charge we need to speak to? It better not be the damn cat!’ It looked up from cleaning its backside to give her a scathing look, before returning to its licking, tongue rasping against fur.

‘There’s a shiny elf man, but he’s all in crystal.’ Semari continued to be almost, but not quite, helpful. ‘And there’s, like, magical glowy stuff as well. Looks spooky, but normal-spooky, not Janaxia-spooky.’

‘Parth?’

‘The balance is broken. Peace must be preserved. The singer must be slain.’

Cerondyari came back with more drinks, having correctly judged Stathis’ mood and not bothering with any preparation this time, just a series of differently-flavoured shots and a tankard of beer. ‘Can you take me to whoever’s in charge? Do you have a boss or something?’ Cerondyari looked at her blankly, looking at Parth for guidance, until Parth spoke in elven, getting a quick response and passing the message back to Stathis.

‘The way has been prepared.’

‘OK. That means “yes”, and not “weird magical portal-path to crazy otherworld”, right?’ Parth nodded. ‘Let’s go then, see whoever’s in charge and find out what the hell is going on. Parth, anything else we should know?’ Parth shook her head.

Janaxia waved a drowsy hand. ‘I am content to hear your summary. But by all means, go ahead without me, and I will aid you later.’

Stathis picked up her drained glass, the ice clinking as she waved the masseuse back, before up-ending the glass onto Janaxia, pouring the ice onto her bare back. Janaxia gave a low, long moan, back arcing, the ice rolling into the small of her back. Stathis pressed an ice cube down, pinning it in place. ‘You’re coming with us, you can get rubbed down later. Let’s go.’ She let go, letting Janaxia twitch the ice cube away, sighing in resigned defeat,