“Where the hell is she?” Meladee threw up her hands. “We’ve been waiting forever. If she ran off to that guy’s room...I swear.”

Meladee sighed and blew her bangs off her forehead. She leaned on a tree nearby, concealed behind Faustina. She couldn’t see the door anymore, but she thought that was fine. After all, Camellia wasn’t coming out any time soon.

Meladee left the protection enchantments around Faustina, preferring to dispel them only when Camellia was present. Everything was ready. They only needed Camellia and her stuff.

“She seemed uncomfortable around him,” Eva said. She joined Meladee by the tree and tried to look in the direction of the library. She frowned at the lack of view. “We shouldn’t have left her. At the very least, we shouldn’t have exited the premises. Will they let us back in without her credentials?”

Meladee paced. “Yeah, they know us now. Camellia hasn’t flashed her credentials since day one. I wouldn’t worry about that. We just have to use the front door, so the clerk recognizes us.” Meladee started around her ship. “Let’s go get her.”

“They may have a policy against assistants entering the library alone,” Eva said.

“Yeah, well...she’s still in there.” Meladee pointed at the door. “We wouldn’t be alone. Trust me. If we have to, we can bully that clerk into letting us back in.”

Eva shook her head. “That would be beneath us.”

Still, Eva followed Meladee towards the door. They walked a few steps, and Eva grabbed Meladee’s arm.

“Who’s that?” Eva pointed at a tall, thin man coming through the woods. He would cross the parking lot to reach the library.

Meladee shook her head and watched. She wondered if he would pass them by, but he spotted them and walked over instead.

“Good afternoon,” he said, with a hurried tip of his battered hat. Meladee glimpsed stark white hair. “Maybe, you can help me. I’m looking for this girl.” The man held up a photograph of Camellia.

“Haven’t seen her.” Meladee spared only a glance for the photo.

“Really? You match the description of a woman pilot that she left Groaza with.”

“Who are you?” Meladee asked.

“Cernunnos Pater. I’m an anthropologist.” Cernunnos tucked the photograph into his pocket. “I was Camellia’s primary teacher. I’ve returned from an expedition and heard she’s been on leave for over three months.”

Meladee frowned. “More like three weeks.” She glanced at Eva for confirmation.

“I wouldn’t know.” Eva shook her head.

“Three months,” Cernunnos said. “I’m positive of that.”

“What the hell was she doing for three months…?” Meladee asked herself, though she spoke the words aloud. “Nevermind. She specifically said she didn’t want other anthropologists to butt in her business. And, she never mentioned you, so…”

Eva interrupted, “I know him.”

Meladee shot Eva an incredulous look.

“I saw him in a photograph of Camellia’s. She described him as her teacher.”

Cernunnos exhaled and smiled.

“Hold on. That doesn’t mean he’s not suspicious. For all we know, it was his ship.” Meladee jabbed a thumb in Cernunnos’ direction. She recalled the ship and its mysterious seal.

“My ship?” Cernunnos raised an eyebrow.

“That’s true.” Eva narrowed her eyes and regarded Cernunnos with a suspicion to match Meladee’s.

Meladee was glad of it.

Eva asked, “Why are you looking for Camellia?”

“Well, she’s on ‘vacation’ in Tagtrum, and a historian, named Cahir – do you know Cahir?” He waited, until both Meladee and Eva gave reluctant nods. Then, he continued, “Cahir made explicit plans to follow her. That’s how I found you. He told me.”

“Uh...he acted all surprised to see her.” Suddenly, Meladee didn’t care if she gave information to Cernunnos.

Eva glanced at the library and started walking. “He did. Apparently, his surprise was calculated.”

“Wait.” Meladee stopped Eva, with a touch on the arm. She turned to Cernunnos and said, “You said I matched the description of a pilot. Where did you learn that from? I doubt it was Cahir.” Meladee glared. She’d found a hole in his story. She felt sure of it.

“It was Cahir. He described you. I imagine he got the information from someone at the shipyard.” Cernunnos gestured for both women to come. He led the way to the library.

Meladee and Eva followed. They listened, and Meladee saw her suspicion echoed in Eva’s expression, though it was subtle and of a different flavor.

As they walked, Cernunnos told his story, “Over the years, Cahir has hinted he had some interest in Camellia, nothing serious. When I returned from my expedition, he seemed to think he had her secured – so to speak. That confused me because she’s never liked him.” Cernunnos picked up his pace. “I asked after Camellia, and he admitted that he was on his way to meet her at the Library of the Occult. He also described you as something of an obstacle...”

“Did he mention me?” Eva asked.

“Only briefly.”

“He shouldn’t know me,” Eva said. “I’ve never been to the shipyard.”

“Oh shit.” Meladee’s eyes grew wide, and she broke into a run.

Eva and Cernunnos also ran. They chattered, but Meladee didn’t hear their words. She cast her eyes on the purple-grey clouds that rolled across the sky. There would be a storm soon. Meladee almost reached the front door when she heard Eva shout.

“Meladee! We’re going to take another entrance. It’s closer to the sleeping quarters and the section where we left her. Cernunnos has a key.”

Meladee whirled and saw both Cernunnos and Eva at the building’s corner. She jumped off the steps and followed them around the side. Meladee ran to catch up. Ahead, Eva paced Cernunnos, keeping up with the man all the way to their destination. Twenty feet from the library’s back corner, Cernunnos jogged up a set of steps. He raised his key.

From back the way they’d come, Meladee heard the front door creak. Everyone froze. Meladee’s heart pounded, and she was surprised she could hear anything over her own internal sounds, especially a creaky door over one hundred feet away. They waited, unable to see who had exited the building.

“Camellia!”

“That’s Cahir,” Cernunnos hissed.

The whole group ran back. Neither Camellia nor Cahir rounded the corner to meet them.

“They’re going the other way,” Eva said. She turned and led the chase to the back of the library.

Meladee watched as Eva displayed her synthetic speed. Meladee thought Eva might even be faster than a dhampir at night. Eva raced ahead and soon disappeared into the library’s vast backyard, leaving Meladee behind with Cernunnos.

Unsure how many librarians might agree with Cahir’s worldview, Camellia darted for the garden. Her panicked thoughts shifted from her escape to Cahir’s cult and how they fit into the puzzle.

How many people wear that seal? And, how do they communicate with an entity on another continent? Unless it’s not on another continent…

Cahir did say one of them. Maybe, another survived. Camellia thought back to the stories she’d read and wondered which one it had been. Perhaps, just an infected individual. Could they also exert control over minds?

And, how did Eva fit into things? The timing of Cahir and Eva’s stories so close together suggested two possibilities. One – the creature knew of Eva and instructed Cahir to act upon Eva’s arrival. He would snatch up Camellia before Eva poisoned her opinion. Two – Eva worked for the creature and positioned Camellia to meet with Cahir.

Camellia hoped for the first option, but it would be just her luck to find herself in the second.

As she ran, Camellia remembered the large ship, emblazoned thrice with that winding seal.

What does Cahir’s order need a ship for? Was he on that ship? Camellia would gasp if she didn’t need all her breath to flee. Were they following me? Or did they want Eva and the artifact?

Camellia’s hope for a friendly Eva gained some fire.

The darkening sky led speed to her flight, and she darted for an ornate child’s playhouse. Rhododendrons, azaleas, and rose bushes surrounded the structure, giving it the illusion of a true house. Camellia ignored the tidy paths and crashed through the bloomless bushes. Cahir’s heavier tread pounded close behind.

“Camellia! Don’t let your fear control you,” Cahir called from the garden’s entrance.

Camellia snubbed his plea and moved through the bushes. She dived out of one and onto a path. A trail of grass wound through the garden, and Camellia followed it. She ran in near silence, reminded of how Cahir had compounded the stillness. Under his silence spell, she could not talk or call for help. Though, she wasn’t sure help would come in an empty library, potentially staffed by cult members.

Camellia ran, until she found some tall, swirling evergreens. She pushed her way past the needles and found herself before a steep, shady hill. Camellia climbed. She scrambled up the root strewn dirt.

“Camellia.” Cahir’s voice drifted from just beyond the evergreens.

Camellia stayed low and crept quietly to a thick trunk. She hid behind it and listened for rustling branches.

Cahir spoke again, “You’re around here somewhere. Ah’nee’thit can help me find you, and right now, that’s its first priority.”

Camellia couldn’t see him, but she imagined his hand on a topiary’s thick swirl. A rustle confirmed her suspicions. Cahir had passed the evergreens.

“All that thinking power focused on you. I would be flattered. Why not let me take you to it? You’ll see that the creature is nothing to fear.”

Cahir plodded up the hill. He wove through the trees. Camellia stole a glance. He would approach on her right. She hid and waited to scoot around the tree.

Cahir sighed. “I wanted to be gentle with you, but this way works too. You’re lost. You’re grieving. You seek to distract yourself from that. I have the perfect distraction, and we’re so close, just a short trip south. If you’ll let me guide you...”

Camellia checked on Cahir again. She peered around her tree. He trekked up the mess of roots. He checked behind each trunk and under the boughs of every evergreen. Cahir bent to search under a bushy specimen, and Camellia crept down the hill. She concealed herself behind a new trunk.

Cahir continued up, and she watched for opportunities to sneak back down. Cahir searched behind a dark fir, and Camellia slunk towards a meaty trunk, its sapling days long gone. Now, he stood high on the hill while she was low. She had only to reach the topiary fence and squeeze through.

As Cahir picked his way higher, he moved beyond her original hiding place. Camellia counted his steps and headed for the topiaries. She kept her eyes on him, until she reached the evergreen barrier. Camellia turned away, touched the bushy needles, and forced her way through, making more noise than she planned.

Cahir called, “I don’t know why I ignored you all these years. You’re more clever than I knew.”

Camellia leapt onto the path and ran back the way she’d come.

His voice followed. “What fun we could have had!”

With a snap of branches, Cahir joined her on the trail, and Camellia struggled to stay ahead. She crossed from one hedged-in path to another, diving under thick growth and between shrubs. Cahir struggled to fit, and she gained ground.

The new path led to an open space, a kind of outdoor room. Tall hedges ringed the space, and the grass trail widened. It diverged around a giant fountain. At the fountain’s center, a stone man blocked her view of the opposing entrance. A shirtless, muscular vampire slayer held his sword aloft and water spewed from its tip. An additional spray of water exited the neck of a severed head he held in his other hand.

Camellia rounded the fountain’s wall and reached the opposite side just as Cahir entered. Instead of an exit, her path ended in a thick hedge.

“Will you try to come back around? I’ll see and intercept if you do.” Cahir looked skyward. “A storm is on its way. That might help your vampiric abilities, but I have other ways to neutralize those.” Cahir smirked and continued his line of questioning, “Will you stay there till I tire? I might be able to reach you with a spell scroll, so that might not be the best plan. Or, will you surprise me?” Cahir grinned and laughed. “It was right. What you lack in confidence and vigor, you make up for with subtlety and determination.”

Camellia’s heart pounded. She searched the hedges. They grew low to the ground, and he might reach her before she could slide under. The tall hedges waved in the wind, probably too weak to climb. At night, she could climb almost anything, but the cloudy sky was not enough for her to clear the hedge before Cahir arrived, with one of those neutralizers he bragged about. Camellia tried to call for help, but his silence spell persisted.

“Well? I’m waiting.”

Camellia put a hand on the fountain and wondered if she could climb the hunter. As she touched the wall, a loose stone jostled, but the other stones stood firm. She attempted one last time to call Eva and Meladee, but the silence spell still worked its magic. Neither of her voices, audible nor telepathic, reached another person. Just because she couldn’t speak, didn’t mean she couldn’t make noise.

God knows I made enough of it for Cahir to chase me. Camellia picked up the loose rock.

“Going to clobber me? Beat me till my head is a pile of pulp? Delightful.”

Camellia hefted the stone with two hands and threw it at the vampire hunter. The darkened sky aided her strength and aim. The stone collided with the statue’s hand, and the severed head dropped. It crashed on the statue base and splashed into the water. Water spewed unevenly from the hunter’s now severed hand, and the head rested on the fountain’s floor, distorted beneath the water.

“Destroying museum property in a fit!” Cahir laughed.

He started around the fountain, and Camellia prepared to run. Unwilling to leave the area where she had made noise, Camellia kept the fountain between herself and Cahir. When she came too close to the exit, he circled back and blocked her escape.

“As fun as this is Camellia, I can’t chase you around all day. We should save this game for later.” Cahir reached in his pocket for another scroll.

Camellia jumped into the fountain. The water reached her knees and pulled at her dress. The cold shocked her, but she sloshed towards Cahir. He paused to see what she would do and received a faceful of water. Camellia splashed him. To be more precise, she drenched him. Then, she retreated to the vampire hunter and pulled herself onto the statue’s rocky podium.

Cahir pulled a wet scroll from his robe. The paper pulped and tore, falling uselessly to the ground. “I don’t find this trick amusing.” Cahir stepped into the fountain and approached its center.

Camellia tried to scramble up the vampire hunter’s legs, but the best place to find purchase had been the severed head, now beneath the water, truly severed. Her wordless call for help now hindered her escape upwards. Camellia hugged the statue’s legs and shimmied around to its back.

“I was wondering where you were.” Eva appeared behind Cahir. She stood at the fountain’s edge. She held a gun; the comically large barrel pointed steadily at Cahir’s head.

Camellia slumped in relief and climbed down the back of the statue. She waded through the water, careful to stay out of Cahir’s reach.

Eva seemed friendly after all. “Should I shoot him, or do we want to take him prisoner?”

Camellia vigorously shook her head. She hurried over the stone wall and crossed to Eva’s side.

“We’re not to kill or imprison him?” Eva asked. She narrowed her eyes. She faced Cahir. “How do you know of me?”

“It told me about you and your relationship to the old one.” Cahir showed his palms. “It says you’re unshakeable. You’ll never understand.”

Eva’s gun wavered but only for a moment. Without looking at Camellia, she said, “He may be infected. In that case, we should kill him without hesitation.”

Again, Camellia shook her head. She didn’t really like Cahir, but she didn’t hate him either. He didn’t deserve to be murdered for falling prey to a cult.

Eva looked at Cahir. “Why doesn’t she talk?”

“Silence spell,” Cahir said.

Eva addressed Camellia, “I can’t shoot him?”

Camellia shook her head again. She walked towards the exit. He’s not himself, she pleaded silently.

“Prisoner? We may be able to use him.”

“If you kill or imprison me, you’ll still have to avoid the others. They’ll just revive or free me. I’ve already called them.” Cahir smiled.

Eva glared at Cahir and began to squeeze the trigger, but Camellia shook her head with fervor and grabbed Eva’s arm. With an aggressive pull, Camellia drew Eva into the maze. They ran, weaving their way back to the ship. Eva grabbed a hedge, uprooted it, and threw it down in Cahir’s path. She added two more hedges to the pile, and behind them, Cahir swore.

“We should have killed him,” Eva scolded. She paced Camellia. “If he’s infected, Tagtrum will be in danger.”

Camellia shook her head. She wanted to tell Eva that she had no desire to kill her colleagues while there was still hope for them.

Instead, she determined to communicate about the research she’d left in the library. While she’d packed most of her bag and now carried it across her back, Camellia remembered leaving one small notebook. She made an open-close motion with her hands, as if to say where’s my notebook?

“I don’t know what you want,” Eva said.

Ahead, they heard others on the path. Camellia ducked under a hedge, and Eva followed. They paused and stared through the leaves. Camellia was surprised to see neither the clerk nor the library’s researcher. Instead, she saw two mages encased in protection spells. Cahir joined them. A spell of protection enveloped him, cast by one of his friends.

“Our priestess and the red-head ran away. They may return to the library, or they may head to the ship. We should try to catch them in those places,” Cahir instructed.

“The ship’s already moved,” reported one mage.

Eva took Camellia’s hand and lead her through the garden. They walked quick and quiet. They found their way out of the hedges, and the library came into view. Eva started for the building. Camellia dug in her heels and held on to Eva.

Eva said, “You want a book, right? That’s what this means.” Eva made the open and close motion. Evidently, she’d considered the message and figured it out.

“No!” Camellia objected a little too loud, surprised to have her voice back. “I’ve changed my mind. We’ve learned nothing they don’t already know or couldn’t research for themselves. And, the little notebook is all I left. They can have it.”

Eva pulled Camellia along. They both glanced across the green to find Faustina gone.

“Meladee prepped the ship...and took off,” Eva deduced. “We might as well get that notebook.”

Camellia trotted to keep up, still damp from her bath in the fountain. “The other library workers might be cult members. We should run.”

Eva opened her mouth to speak, but Faustina interrupted.

The ship hovered close, silent and without wind. It loomed, and Camellia’s eyes widened. To add to her shock, Cernunnos beckoned them aboard. Camellia hadn’t seen him in months.

Eva hopped onto the deck and ran to speak to Meladee in the cockpit. Cernunnos offered his hand to Camellia, and she took it. He helped her jump aboard, and once Camellia was safe on the deck, Cernunnos gestured for Meladee to go.

With a nod, Meladee steered Faustina not away from the library, like Camellia hoped, but towards it. Faustina hovered close to the building and rounded the corner to its back. The ship stopped at one window, and Eva strode for the rail. She pulled her large gun, shot the glass to pieces, and jumped inside. A moment later, Eva leapt back – notebook and another belonging in hand. She gave the things to Camellia.

“This belongs to the library.” Camellia thrust a book of Lurrien legends back at Eva.

Eva raised her hand and blocked the book. She shook her head. “I knew it wasn’t ours. I took it anyway. I recall you didn’t finish with it.”

As Faustina flew up and away, Camellia watched Cahir on the ground. He stared, and his mages worked some kind of magic, slowing and stopping as Faustina flew out of range. The storm started. Rain pattered the deck, and they retreated inside. The rain grew stronger. Meladee flew into the storm.

From the helm, she said, “This storm is going to get a bit bad. I’m going to land and wait it out.”

“No, just fly out of town. Can’t you get above the clouds?” Camellia begged.

“No! I hurried take off procedures, and this looks like a thunderstorm. We’re not high enough to avoid it, and I’m not flying Faustina through bad weather if I’m not absolutely certain she’s ready to go.” Meladee ignored Camellia’s request and flew low over the city.

Camellia watched out the window. Meladee headed to a large shipyard, in search of a parking space. As the wind picked up, Meladee fought her way ahead. The shipyard belonged to a government warehouse with a section designated for civilian ships. Meladee parked on the official side. Faustina sheltered between a low warehouse and a large, secured ship.

Camellia asked, “What if this storm never stops?” She looked out the window and searched the shipyard, frantic to ensure no people lurked in its shadows.

Cernunnos grabbed Camellia’s shoulders. “Calm down. Of course, the storm will stop.”

“But, what if Cahir started it?”

Cernunnos frowned and looked at Meladee.

“Cahir’s a mage?” Meladee went through the motions to anchor the ship. “He’d have to be pretty powerful to make this. If it’s a spell, I can probably counter it long enough to leave. But, I don’t think it is. It’s too big.”

“He’s a...he’s being controlled by...the thing. And, he has some mages with him.” Camellia bet Meladee and Eva would catch her meaning. She hoped Cernunnos would not.

Cernunnos caught her eyes. With his own, he seemed to ask What are you on?

“They can’t affect the weather,” Eva promised. Still, her voice betrayed a hint of doubt.

“How is he in league with that thing? It’s miles away on some unknown continent.” Meladee ran to the center of her ship and cast a spell. It spread over the deck and reached the outer hull.

Camellia wondered at the magic’s purpose but didn’t ask. “There’s one in the south. Probably in Tagtrum. He wanted me to be its high priestess. He was trying to get me to come with him.”

Cernunnos rummaged through Camellia’s notebook. He held up a hand. “Alright. Let me see if I have this straight. There’s a monster in southern Tagtrum...from the Lurrien War?”

“Yes!” Camellia said. “It has Cahir...mesmerized.” Camellia half-expected Cernunnos to suggest she check herself into an institution.

“That explains why he’s become unlikeable these past years.” Cernunnos stared at the wall. His expression grew more thoughtful. “A Lurrien monster in the south of Tagtrum? If you’re sure… Maybe…”

Camellia stared at him. He seemed to believe her. Then again, he always had, or almost always. She waited for him to explain, and Eva and Meladee lent their gazes to the cause.

Cernunnos startled. He came out of his reverie. “Several years ago, just after the spacecraft dig in Old Eudor, I went south to a temple ruin. I remembered something about the temple site. It reminded me of the crashed ship. The only problem was – is… The temple ruin is a government protected site.”

Camellia nodded, but a glance at Meladee and Eva told her that they didn’t understand.

Cernunnos caught their empty looks. “Government protection means it has current religious significance. Exactly what religion has never been clear to me. I explored the temple, staying outside so as not to break the law. When I was there, I felt this strange pressure on my mind. I resisted and stayed for several days. Long enough to witness a battle between a group of mages and some others. After the battle, one of the mages caught me and told me I shouldn’t hang around the temple. What he said seemed very strange at the time.” Cernunnos stroked his chin.

“What? What did he say?” Camellia asked.

“Like most Groazans, I had natural resistance, but that it would fail me eventually. After that, I just left.”

Camellia’s mouth drifted open. “Where is that temple?”

“It’s on the island of Suen.” Cernunnos watched Camellia and added, “But, don’t go there. For goodness sake, let this be.”

“But, he’s already after me. If we can get proof that one of those monsters is in there, they won’t be able to protect it anymore. We could take the proof to the AAH and Groaza. The Ponk Empire would want to know. They could make Tagtrum surrender the creature. We could free Cahir, and…”

Cernunnos waved a hand. “Hold on. You are way ahead of yourself.”

“I need to go there.” Eva came to Camellia’s side. “If the creature’s opponents have some way to contain it, I could use that. My people don’t have a choice or a convenient cage for our monster. Besides, it sounds like it might be a matter of time before yours spreads across this continent. Opposed or not.”

“That’s fucking wonderful,” Meladee said. “We need to exterminate that thing. I don’t want to move to Groaza. If you can resist…” Meladee pointed to Cernunnos. Then, to Camellia. “She’ll probably be fine. Eva too. They could go in and get proof.”

Cernunnos stared around the cockpit. Then, he shot a look at Camellia. “How did you get into this?”

Camellia offered no answer, but she raised her eyes to meet his.

Cernunnos rubbed the back of his neck. “Alright. I’ll guide you to the temple. Then, I’ll find some way to delay or distract Cahir. He has an uncanny ability to locate you, Camellia.”

“I know. The creature helps him. Apparently, it really likes me.”

A pause followed, broken by Meladee. “Okay, so we’re going to do a little more research. That’s all this is. Just research. We give it to Groaza and Ponk. The big muscular heroes deal with it, and we hide out.”

“Good plan,” Cernunnos said.

“Will those muscular heroes save my home?” Eva asked.

“Yeah. They love that kind of thing. Right?” Meladee looked between Cernunnos and Camellia.

Camellia didn’t know what to say, so she remained quiet. She bowed her head.

“If they can do something about one monster, I can’t imagine they would leave another in peace. But, we need proof,” Cernunnos said. “And, you need to be as safe about it as possible.”

Camellia nodded. And, if – no when – when they destroy Eva’s monster, we can get a spaceship.