Stathis managed to fall forward, taking the brunt of the fall as she slammed against a stone floor with a splash, as Janaxia grunted from the impact. There was a crack of thunder from nearby, as Stathis tried to gain her bearings. A blast of fire fell nearby, water evaporating into steam. The witch was there, but was now flying around, gesturing behind herself to send bolts of lightning through the air.

‘BEGONE FROM THIS PLACE!’ A black-clad figure shouted, spheres of fire around their hands. Apparently Carissi’s oath of whispering didn’t extend to combat. Even from up here, Stathis could feel the heat, the clouds above them starting to dissipate.

‘While I commend your landing, if you could, perhaps, release me? I can contribute rather more than yourself at this juncture.’ Stathis stood up, pulling Janaxia to her feet, trying to avoid vigorous movement. ‘Thank you.’

Janaxia immediately hurled several bolts at the witch, although none came close to hitting. Stathis glanced around, looking for the others. A blast of ice lashed out, almost immediately melting away, as Hakara launched a spell from behind cover. Her robes appeared singed and worn, so the fight had probably been going on for quite some time. Semari was slumped against a wall, bleeding and burnt.

‘Hang in there! You doing OK?’

She groaned. ‘Been better. You got any of your magical touch stuff? And where’d you bugger off to, it looked like you two were having a moment?’ Despite her pain, she managed to find the time to leer suggestively.

‘Don’t ask.’ Stathis looked over her shoulder - Janaxia was busily blasting away, so Stathis did what she could, healing as many of Semari’s wounds as possible. Semari stood up, still moving stiffly. ‘Your sister showed up, all shouty and stuff. Made things a bit more even, but the witch keeps flying around, pain in the arse to hit.’

‘OK, well, we need to get you close. Janaxia, keep her distracted, and don’t die!’

Janaxia lobbed another set of bolts. ‘Most insightful tactics, Stathis. Yes, I believe I will endeavour to stay alive.’

‘Cool, Semari, let’s go.’ She grabbed Semari’s arm and pulled her towards the tower staircase. It was cracked and broken, steps wobbling under her weight, Semari running past her.

‘We doing what I think we’re doing?’

‘If you mean that I’m going to try dropping you onto the witch so you can wrestle her down, then yes.’

‘You sure you’re OK with this? What if Janaxia sees?’

‘I’ll sort that out if she does. But it’s better than getting blasted to death by lightning!’ They ran out onto the tower roof, Stathis stopping short, barely avoiding pitching over the edge. She let the power grow within her, picking Semari up in her arms, who immediately started squirming and twisting around. ‘Would you stay still! This is hard enough without you wriggling everywhere.’

‘Hey, I’m trying to get in position. Be a lot easier on your back.’

‘Fine! Just hurry up!’ Semari twisted around onto her back, tightly clamping on. ‘Right, you ready now?’

Without waiting for a response, Stathis leapt, wings kicking up dust and grit, feeling her armour shift uncomfortably. The rain was still miserable, heavy and thick, but from up high then the witch, Carissia, Janaxia and Hakara were all clear to see, outlined by different coloured flashes of arcane energy. Riding towards the castle were the other adventurers in a ragtag assembly, still too far away to help.

The witch rose upwards, her lightning now crimson and black as she blasted away, destroying another piece of the castle as lightning exploded more stonework. Stathis dipped as Semari twisted around on her back, trying to get above the witch. The pressure on her back shifted as she levelled out, now two points of pressure as Semari let go and stood on her back. She resisted the urge to twist and pitch Semari off, instead banking into a gentle curve. Then Semari leapt and dropped downwards, falling towards the witch.

She didn’t see the attack coming, Semari smashing her from the air, the pair of them hurtling towards the ground. Semari was already twisting the witch’s arms into painful-looking contortions before they landed, dust and water splashing upwards from the impact. Stathis curved away, heading towards another ruined tower, dismissing her wings as she landed, dropping onto the stone as gently as possible, just barely avoiding smacking face-first into a wall.

She dropped back towards the courtyard as fast as she could, where Semari had the witch pinned. The witch managed to slip a hand free, fingers clicking and a boom of thunder blasting out, pushing back the puddles of water as the shockwave pulsed. Semari maintained her grip, the witch’s arms now in a tighter lock.

Stathis ran closer as the witch flailed and writhed, Semari smacking her every time she tried to cast anything. ‘Don’t break her! Stand her up, there’s something I want to check.’ The witch didn’t seem much stronger than Janaxia, as Semari slowly stood her up. Her eyes burnt with power, black lighting snapping and snarling, barely contained within her slight frame. She was injured, seared, frozen and blasted, and her tunic was heavily stained with blood. Stathis carefully lifted it, finding a wound beneath – a metal spike protruded out, just above her hip. The wound itself was black with some corruption, veins dark and painful-looking, infected and swollen. Stathis carefully grabbed the metal, ignoring the biting cold-shock, and pulled it out.

The witch screamed, body twisting in a spasm of pain, although still unable to break out of Semari’s grip. Stathis applied what little healing magic she had left, stopping the torrential flow of blood, as the witch sank backwards, Semari still keeping her controlled.

She turned to Carissia. ‘Everyone’s down in the cellars, if you have any healing magic, go and help them.’

‘THAT SEEMS WISE.’

‘Why the hell are you shouting? I think I preferred the whispering.’

‘KOSIROTH THE FLAME THAT ROARS DEMANDS WORSHIP. VERY, VERY LOUDLY.’ Even Carissia was looking mildly embarrassed, as flames lapped around her, fierce enough to heat the surrounding air into moist clamminess.

‘Good for them. Just go do it while being helpful. I think we can manage this, at least until she wakes up.’

While Carissia went to check the others, Stathis set about securing the prisoner – aside from the hole in her side, still oozing blood and looking putrid, she didn’t look to have any serious injuries. With the aid of some rope and a sack, they were able to bind her arms and blind and gag her, hopefully preventing any spellcasting. Hakara checked her for anything magical, the woman’s body suddenly enveloped in a blue glow. A chunky brass bracelet she shone even more brightly, so Stathis took it off her.

‘Semari, keep her under control, if it looks like she’s about to cast anything, grab an arm and start twisting. I want to find out who spiked her.’

They managed to find a quiet room with a still-intact door, Janaxia and Parth guarding the outside until Carissia returned.

‘Please tell me you don’t have to shout still. It’s going to be deafening in here.’

Carissia’s change seemed to have altered her clothing as well, veils gone, her scent now of a burning fire, rather than cold, dry ash. She took a deep breath, Stathis wincing, bracing herself for an assault on her eardrums.

‘I have had words with Kosiroth and arranged a temporary cessation of some of their terms. It was causing a lot of wear on my throat! Although you do seem to delight in causing problems – would it not be simpler to have killed the witch?’

‘She’d been spiked with this.’ Stathis held up the spike, of similar design to what had been seen at Cormontara, but better crafted, intricate shapes just about visible beneath the blood. ‘What did you find out in the wilderness?’

‘Oh, she had a lair, hidden in the forests. An ancient elven manse, wound about with spells of shielding and protection, along with quite a number of flying beasts, all somewhat troublesome to eliminate. I believe she is a half-elf, prolonging her life through magic. But quite what her grudge against this place is, I don’t know.’

‘Probably something to do with monster beneath? Actually, when you’ve rested, how about we go down and destroy it? Tunera can come, and you can blast it until it’s properly dead.’

‘That may be wise. That does still leave us with this problem though.’ Carissia gestured at the witch. ‘Slitting her neck would be expedient.’

‘Can we at least find out what’s going on? Before murdering a captive?’

‘If you insist, although it seems more long-winded than is needed. I shall wake her.’

She reached out, and there was a scent of char and ash, as the witch spasmed, waking up. Semari tightened her grip as the sack twisted and turned, before Stathis pulled it off. The raging storm was gone from her eyes, now a simple, mundane brown. Beneath her hair, Stathis could see the tips of her ears, pointier than normal, but not as sharply defined as Parth’s, and there was a slightly odd cast to her face, age hard to tell beyond “not old”. Stathis undid the gag, tossing the thing aside.

‘Right, so why are you trying to wreck this place?’

The witch twisted a bit, still unable to break out of Semari’s grip. ‘You knowest not with what thou meddles! A power, greater than you canst comprehend, sleeps beneath.’

‘Yeah, we’re going to go down and kill it later. So why do you blow this place up? Worried about humans unleashing it or something?’

‘It slew my family, and does naught but bring pain and ruin upon the…’ She howled in pain, Stathis starting to draw her sword. ‘Must thou attempt to wrench mine arm from its socket?’

Semari’s voice came from behind her. ‘Quit wriggling! Don’t want you, like, blasting everyone again.’ The witch’s tanned face was taut with pain.

‘OK, ease up a little. Just tighten it up if she starts doing anything. So, when we found you, there was a metal spike shoved into you. Where did that come from?’

‘Human brute! Wouldst thou torture me?’

‘No, but if we let you go, then how do we know that you won’t try and kill us again? We’re not just going to take your word for it.’

The witch hissed again. ‘Accursed humans! Untrusty wretches.’

‘You’re the one that was attacking us, remember.’ She raised her voice. ‘Parth? Can you get in here?’ Parth opened the door and stepped through, normally, rather than using her ghostly powers. ‘Can you explain to her that unless she actually starts being helpful, then it’s going to be hard to make a case to the townsfolk to keep her alive. I’d rather not execute a prisoner, but without any guarantee that she won’t attack again, there’s not much of a case against it.’

Parth nodded, then started talking in the lilting, liquid tones of the elven language. The witch’s response was in the same tongue, but blunter and harsher. She didn’t look too happy, but given the circumstances, that was scarcely a surprise. Still, Parth seemed to be making headway, although it was strange seeing her speak so much.

Stathis drew Carissia aside. ‘So, any evidence of more spikes or anything at her place?’

‘There was some evidence of a fight, but nothing left of the attacker. I surmise that she spends much of her time in an enchanted slumber, before waking to destroy the inhabitants of the lands. I suspect she has devoted her life to whatever her cause is, even entering an enchanted slumber to pursue her vengeance. But I doubt she is related to the darkness by herself; if she were, then she would not have needed to have such a thing forced into her.’

‘So, if we can convince her to leave off, then we can go find out who, or what, spiked her. And she can help us destroy the thing beneath us.’

‘It would be easier to destroy her now, but I suppose she may have some information of use.’

Parth finished speaking, a lengthy monologue that appeared to leave the witch dazed, before immediately launching into another speech. Why could she never speak that much in something Stathis could understand? She shifted awkwardly, trying to ensure her armour stayed together. Still, it seemed to be working, as the witch was persuaded, or possibly browbeaten, by Parth, alternating between nodding and shaking her head, looking like a child being told off. Which, if she’d spent most of her time asleep, might be true.

Eventually, Parth stopped talking, switching languages and speech patterns. ‘Persuaded.’

Stathis sighed; having hoped for her loquaciousness to transfer languages was clearly too much. ‘So, what did you find out?’ She braced herself to interpret vague sentence fragments, and to try and winnow something useful from the vagueness.

‘Family slain, sworn to vengeance. Dedicated, if… misaimed.’ She glared at the witch, who shrank back. ‘Over now. “The poison dart is pulled”.’

‘Is there any reason you couldn’t just have told her this before she attacked? Other than “prophecy” or some other bullshit? Or why any others elves couldn’t have dealt with it?’

‘Passion and rage. And hard to find. And human problem.’ She smiled at Stathis. ‘Invaluable aid.’

‘Thanks, but you could have made an effort, at least! So, she can’t stay here, is there somewhere else she can move to? Will your people look after her, and stop her blowing stuff up?’

Parth nodded.

‘Good. So, where did the spike come from?’

‘Darkness. Darkness and blood.’

‘OK. Is that anyone we can track down, or anything specific? Do we need to be worried that they’re still around? Or is that something else you can’t tell me, because of prophecy?’

‘Shifting shape, like flowing water.’

‘You can say the word “doppelganger”, you know. Fine, so she woke up, got spiked, then came to try and kill everyone?’ Parth nodded. ‘And now she won’t try and kill us anymore?’ She nodded again. ‘Great. So we rest up, kill the monster, and then we’re done, right? Then you can send her home with the rest of those elves, teach her not to blow things up.’

‘Reform. Sooth the blackened heart.’

‘Yeah, that. And it means that there’s a powerful caster that might help us out in the future. So, we know there’s someone spiking random sorceresses, probably because they wanted this place empty, maybe?’

Carissia nodded. ‘That seems probable. Perhaps we should question the other travellers? Some of them may be infiltrators.’

‘I’ve seen what you do, and no, I don’t think that’ll be required. You always seem a little too… enthusiastic about that sort of thing. Keep a watch on the downstairs, nab anyone going in. It’s possible they were waiting for everyone to be killed, then come in. If this is a conspiracy or something, I’d really appreciate being told about it.’

‘You could return home, you know. There is an entire information apparatus that would be more than happy to supply whatever information you require.’

‘I should probably swing by, but I’d really rather not get involved, and you know why. Any prophetic nonsense you want to dangle in front of me? You used to think it was all bullshit as well.’

‘Times change. There is much of wisdom hidden amongst the babble, although I grant much is deranged and useless. There are dark times ahead, and you should prepare yourself.’

‘Sure, I’ll do that. Just stay safe, OK? I know you’re powerful, but I don’t want you to get eaten by a dragon or a demon or whatever. And there’s that doppelganger person after you. And because your problems are apparently always my problems, they want me dead as well. So, thanks for that, I guess.’

‘That is a matter of regret. Thank you for telling me, even if you did wait quite some time before doing so. But yes, I daresay she will be a problem. The time for the resurrection of the Black Triad is nigh. And you have your part to play.’ She reached forward, giving Stathis an unexpected embrace, still smelling of fire and scorch.

‘I was expecting you to warp out, you actually sticking around?’

‘I do need to help you eliminate this creature. And I still have the delights of Janaxia to savour.’ Her smile turned predatory. ‘I’ve been too long on the road, it will be nice to unwind with such compliant company.’

‘Sure. Um, can we defeat the monster first? It would be better if Janaxia were to be functional for that, not dazed and blissed out in a bed somewhere.’

Carissia chuckled. ‘Oh, so that is genuine? How charming! I thought it may be some ruse or performance. That’s positively delightful. Such a charming creature, really.’

‘Monster first, pleasure later!’

‘When did you become such a harsh taskmaster? Very well, I shall restrain myself for now. It shall serve as an inducement to defeat the beast all the faster.’

‘Sure, just don’t get distracted. Parth, are you going to look after the witch? Sorry, does she have a name?’

‘Melltgalwr.’

Stathis tried to repeat the name, doubtlessly mangling the pronunciation horribly. ‘OK. You look after Melltgalwr, and keep her hidden away. First thing tomorrow, we’ll go find and kill the monster, then everything’s done. Agree?’

‘You do make this seem far too mundane, you know. But yes, on the morrow, we shall descend and slay the beast.’

‘Great. Parth, Semari, take Melltgalwr and keep her out of trouble. If she gets stroppy, break her arms. Ideally in a non-permanent way, if you can manage that, but do whatever you have to do to keep her from flying off.’