Connie came back out of the shop carrying a large sack, laughing and chatting with the proprietor who was simply covered in mismatched jewelry. They hugged, and then the woman went back inside and the smile dropped from Connie's face. She'd clearly been putting on a show. "Okay my paradox sibling, here's the haul. One of the rings and the dagger you looted were just well made and not magical in any way, but she bought them anyway because she liked the look of them. The belt buckle can send magic messages but only to another person with the same belt. Once she popped it open I was able to get a look at the runes and I should be able to change the address and make a receiver, though probably not a transmitter. So at the very least you can have a way to call me in an emergency but I won't be able to respond.

"The other ring was magic but it enhanced memory magic so it's useless to us. I sold it. Finally, the blue crystal is just some solidified mana and she offered to buy it but she already has a supplier so we wouldn't have gotten a good deal. I kept it, in a pinch you can use it as currency and we'll probably find someone willing to pay us more in a smaller town if we try. I also did some shopping, so you get some presents." She insisted on going back to the apartment first, and called Errod over as well.

She handed me the blue crystal I'd taken from the dead soldier up in the mountains, and then upended the sack and dumped everything onto the table. "Okay. Errod, I got you a shield ring. It was expensive, but you have a tendency to get yourself in trouble and I actually like you. So if you're going to be doing the ill-advised heroics thing... it only has a few charges, at which point someone who can control mana will have to fill it back up. It should stop at least a few swings. Callie, I trust you more to save your own ass in a fight but we both know we have a really big stupid blind spot for poking our nose into trouble. So I got you these boots with vibration magic. Try them out."

I slid the boots on, thrilled that they were almost as cool looking as the ones I kept trying to steal from Connie. "They fit great, what do they do?"

She grinned. "Stomp on the floor for me, will you? As hard as you want."

I slammed my foot down, and... it was silent. Completely silent. "Oh shit. That's amazing."

"Those won't need recharging, but they'll drain your personal mana a bit so once you start using magic there's a chance you'll want to swap them out. I also got an appointment for a house call tomorrow morning, we're getting your allergies removed. You'll want to keep the bracelet anyway, but now if you lose it you won't die right away. Got some magic lights, we can get some lanterns to put them in to make them more like flashlights, and I got a toy for me that should increase my mana regeneration since my one stupid trick uses everything I've got. That's it for now, this shit is expensive and we're already paying people up front to get them to sign on for this heist."

In fact, they had been sent messages the very night we decided on who to hire and had been told to gather in the small town of Spinehollow not too far away. It would be a few days before they would be there and ready, but someone was supposedly already there ready to distribute a retainer to them as they arrived. The soonest we'd be able to head over there ourselves was the day after next, since Hammersmith's attempt to break into Brynnklar was happening at noon the next day and Connie would need to be there to assist. After the shopping trip she headed over for a practice run, and I was left silently stomping around the apartment with Errod.

"Calliope? Is... is Constance okay?"

I tried to keep my face blank, while I pictured her knife slashing across Ernie's throat and spraying blood across the apartment. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I know we still don't actually... I mean we're not close, not yet, but just from some of what you've said I can tell that you haven't always had things easy. And Katrin, she didn't say much because she said it was between the two of you, but she did say... don't be mad at her, but she said that I shouldn't worry if there are days you seem less... nice."

I had hoped, absurdly, that Katrin had somehow immediately forgotten that part of the conversation we had in the baths. Certainly there had been more interesting revelations just a few minutes later that could have distracted her but... but it was Katrin. She just quietly absorbed everything. I was mortified that Errod knew even vaguely that I was sometimes a soulless husk but on the other hand if he had known the past week it hadn't changed how he acted around me so maybe it was for the best. I suddenly had a dim memory, someone putting a hand on my shoulder and saying "if you don't mean it that day, you don't have to say it" and me feeling just so warm and... I couldn't place it. Probably just a dream, or I was accidentally inserting myself into a half-remembered scene from a movie.

"What does this have to do with Connie?"

He shuffled his feet awkwardly, then rested a hand on his sword like he was subconsciously expecting a fight. "Watching the two of you together, I can see the difference. You're... healthier. You have your moments where you seem like you're in a shadow or something but... we all have that. Katrin and I have lost people, our father was shipped off to Tarmestal - it's a sort of prison, it's a death sentence - and Katrin lost someone that was probably more of a parent to her than our actual father. But Connie... she looks like she's about to break. I want to be a knight of Brynnklar, and that means living up to the ideals of the Savior of Brynnklar. And he said that fighting is something you have to do sometimes, but it's more important to remember why you fight and to try to help people before it becomes about just killing and... I don't remember the actual quote, it was better than this. But what I'm saying is that if she needs help, I want to do something. And I think what she needs is to talk to someone, a healer. I know she has a lot of memories that could get her... kidnapped or something... if everyone knows about them. But we can deal with that together. I'd rather she be healthy and need me to fight people to keep her safe than be in danger from herself - I can't... I can't solve that with a sword."

And a tiny part of me, despite Errod's lovely and heartfelt speech, wanted to add "you can't solve anything with a sword, other than maybe a surplus of toes". Thankfully, I resisted. "I appreciate it, Err. I do. I think she just needs to be done with all this end of the world stuff, you know? We'll go on this adventure, and it'll perk her right up. You'll see."

He nodded, but he clearly wasn't convinced. "Trauma is a battle scar, Calliope. It's a wound that didn't heal right on its own. She's years older than you, years that haven't treated her well, and you already have some scars. If time and some adventure was going to solve it... well. Just think about it. And not just for her."

He started to leave, and I called after him. "Errod? After this, once we're powered up? We could maybe do an adventure you choose. Maybe a jailbreak?"

He smiled, but he looked sad. "It's... more complicated than that. But maybe."

On the twenty-fifth of Vijfde I had brunch with Errod, Katrin, and Betrad. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on us, and I'd decided it would be easier if we just invited him to sit at the table. We were on a balcony at the edge of the river, and the meal was mostly a series of little eggroll-things stuffed with all sorts of different ingredients. It was like a whole meal made out of appetizers. I couldn't figure out how everyone knew which ones were which, and it mattered because some of them went with certain sauces and others didn't. Three times I got some very unpleasant mixes before I gave up and just tried to mimic whatever Katrin did.

I watched the boats as they drifted along the river, and thought about what magic I wanted. I was nervous about the trip, especially the idea of being attacked by zombies, and I didn't feel totally confident we had hired the right people. We'd been arguing and making compromises with each other and I was worried we'd been too busy picking individuals to think about them as a whole. Still, it was too late now and Connie hadn't seemed concerned. And that wasn't the only thing making me nervous; I had a general sense of doom about the attempt to break through to Brynnklar.

Bert gently blocked my hand as I reached to dip one of the rolls without paying attention, and redirected me to a different sauce. So it seemed he was still feeling flirty. "What was the security thing the other day? Can you tell us?"

He waved an eggroll around vaguely as he tried to choose his words. "Eh. It was... there was damage done to some of the protective wards around the city. There are runes that prevent people from teleporting in without knowing a specific code, and there are some that prevent certain types of magic from reaching past the walls, and things like that. But they tested everything, and it's all working. They had someone go over the whole thing, in case someone had added something, and they tested everything you can think of. It's all solid. But it was reasonable to be on high alert while they tested it."

That seemed fine, then. I decided I was probably just being paranoid. We chatted for a little longer, being careful not to mention Earth or the expedition or really anything else interesting around Bert. Finally they took away the empty plates and we stood to leave. And I saw her. She was standing on a rooftop across the river, wearing a plain wooden mask and holding a staff. Her clothes were strange animal skins, and what I could see of her hair was green. She was staring right at me.

"We have to get to the fort. Something is wrong."

Everyone turned towards me and then immediately swiveled to face where I was looking. I had this one moment where I was completely certain they wouldn't be able to see her, but they sprung into action as if sensing the same menace I did. Bert pulled me to the other side of him and started marching us towards the stairs, Katrin began muttering under her breath as she tried to remember her spells, and Errod drew his sword. He whispered to me as we reached the street, "She's got the same mask as the one that stole my toe. Not the same person, though. You think she came for the rest? Or for parts from you and Katrin?" It was a strange and disturbing thought.

We hurried along the streets until we reached the fort, but pulled up short across the square. There were soldiers gathering, and they weren't from Theramas. I wasn't sure how they'd gotten into the city undetected, but it didn't look like there were nearly enough of them to assault the fortress. The two in the front threw off their cloaks, and I saw that one of them was Telen. The other was shirtless, in contrast to Telen's full plate, and incredibly hairy.

"People of Theramas," Telen said, "stand aside and we will show you mercy. We know that you seek to enter the land of Brynnklar, but that plane is and has always been the property of Halenvar by right of marriage to the now deceased royal family of Brynnklar. King Halenvar has the sole claim to that land, and entering is forbidden. You will not succeed, but unfortunately even the attempt must be punished. Send out the woman you call Calliope Smith, and we will withdraw with no violence. This is your only warning."

Bert grabbed me and tried to haul me away into the nearest building. "Callie, I don't know why they want you but we can't let you be seen."

"It's not me they want. They want Connie. We need to help her somehow."

"She's in a heavily guarded fortress. She has all the help she needs. We're the ones that are in trouble here."

He was right. He was totally right, and if I insisted on charging in again like I had when I'd seen the rug I would just get Katrin and Errod killed. I didn't mind running to save my life, but I hated feeling like I was abandoning Connie. I nodded, and the four of us turned to sneak away. The woman in the mask was standing there.

She swung the staff at us, and the end of it burst into flames - as did my cloak, and a table off to the side in front of a shop. I pulled out my knife and lunged, barely slicing the hand holding the staff. She didn't drop it, and I wasn't even sure I'd hit hard enough for her to feel it in the heat of battle. Bert swung his own sword, and the masked woman gestured at him - knocking him backwards but also throwing her in the opposite direction. She rolled to her feet and swung the staff again, this time with no sign of magic but with a precise strike that clipped the underside of Katrin's jaw and sent her sprawling to the ground.

I threw my knife and was unlucky enough to have it hit hilt-first, but it still seemed to stun her for an instant - I hauled Katrin backwards and pulled my second knife out - I'd managed to find places for four of them before it started to feel silly. The second I finished slicing through my cloak's ties Bert grabbed me again, pulling towards another street. He wasn't even looking at the masked woman anymore, and I saw why as soon as I turned. The soldiers in front of the fort had noticed us.

Katrin was thankfully already getting back on her feet so we ran, but they were quickly moving to intercept us. The masked woman was blocking the path directly away, and the soldiers were circling around in a pincer that would close on us soon. "Up!" I yelled, and ran up the stairs into a building. Most of the structures in Theramas were only two stories, so it only took a moment to get to the roof. I was looking for some route we could take, some clever path that would let us dive into the river and escape or swing from one of the countless strings of colorful flags and get away. There was nothing.

Theramas' soldiers were swarming out of the fort from small doors in the wall, and archers were shooting from above. Telen and the shirtless one were still standing there, in the middle of the square - unconcerned. Arrows slammed down around them but never hit them directly, and they seemed to be having a calm discussion about what to do next. The shirtless one began walking towards the fort and as he did he... changed. He grew, and distorted, and by the time he reached the walls he was an enormous hulking beast. He lept and clawed his way up the walls despite the storm of arrows slamming into him and sticking in his hide.

Telen began walking towards us down in the square, and as I continued to scan for a way out I saw the masked woman on the closest rooftop. Still staring right at me.