Meladee waited on the rock. She gazed at a clear, starry sky and shuffled her cards. Thanks to her magical wards, she rested, free from the pressure in her head. A blue ring of light played over the grass. It swayed in time with the tall and short blades alike. At moments, the light wavered, and Meladee imagined the creature tried to break the spell, but her fears never came to pass.

Meladee sighed and blew a puff of air at her bangs. In response, her bangs hopped. They fell away from her temple to cover her forehead and consequently her eyes. She peered through dust blond strands and saw shadows approach the temple.

Meladee pushed her hair away. She almost slid off the rock into tall grass but realized they had seen her. The group split in two. Some headed for the temple and some for her.

Shit. Meladee knelt on the rock. Who the hell are these guys? Anti-monster? Or pro? Doesn’t matter. We’re fucked either way.

Meladee observed the visitors. They walked brisk and swung their arms with aggression.

I can’t let them get in the temple.

So, Meladee conjured one of her most powerful spells. A binding spell that she reserved only for the protection of priceless cargo. She’d learned it many years ago from a powerful sailor mage. He insisted that if she only learned one complex casting circle, this binding spell should be it. He cautioned her to use it sparingly because it could not be dispelled until she willed it or died. It made her the perfect target for assassins and deadly magic.

Meladee almost didn’t cast the spell. In full view of these opponents, they would know where to find her and that she had to be killed. She paused. Then, she thought of Camellia and Eva. They couldn’t escape if Meladee let the cultists / anti-cultists into the temple.

Meladee pictured the magic circle in her mind. As she did, four rings of light surrounded the temple, growing greater in size from inner to outer ring. A plethora of symbols littered the space between the rings. The lights flared, and the complex casting circle took up its station around the temple. It didn’t fade, and the glow of magic illuminated the night.

The people, headed for the temple, stopped. They stared at the unfading circle, and all of them turned their attention to the caster: Meladee.

She stayed on the rock and assessed how many came her way. The original five stalked about one thousand feet ahead, and the remaining seven had just taken their first steps in her direction.

“I’m going to need some help,” Meladee said.

She conjured a new circle, three rings packed tight around a knotted center. The circle shone and from the knot, sprung a dragon. When the circle faded, only the red and orange beast remained. Summoning spells required a kind of relationship with the summonee, and Meladee knew this dragon well. He liked to destroy things.

The nearby opponents paused. Four drew weapons, and one readied a spell. Of the far-off group, three proved to be mages. They began spells, likely still out of range. Meladee had found her most troublesome opponents, and she wasn’t pleased at their numbers. She would struggle to defeat four mages.

Moving quickly, Meladee called a two-ringed circle between the groups. The spell duplicated itself and planted identical rings along a zigzag path. When the circles landed, puddles of ooze bubbled. Webs shot from the ooze and formed a net of slime. Now, Meladee should have one mage and four fighters to deal with – at least for a time.

Four spells whizzed Meladee’s way. She conjured a shield and stopped one fiery creation. Another spell splashed at the rock’s base and created a moat of acid around her perch.

“Damn.”

The dragon caught and dispatched the final spells. It received a burn on its neck and a chip in its tail. The dragon spewed immediate, fiery retaliation at the nearest men and caught one’s foot in a blaze. The others backed away.

“More help,” Meladee said. “Before the ground is useless.”

Meladee pulled a bell from her backpack and removed a wad of tissue paper from its tongue. She grasped the bell by its handle and rang it with force. The bell’s clang traveled across the field, and the ground trembled.

Men of dirt sprang from the soil, some behind her attackers and some behind Meladee. One of the mages had erased Meladee’s oozing puddles, just in time for more dirt men to spring forth from that space. Meladee smiled as all her attackers turned their attention to the dragon or the small army.

“I love my toys,” Meladee told her dragon.

With wide eyes and a glance at the men of soil, the dragon asked a wordless question.

“Those guys are ours, remember?”

The dragon swung its head back to their opponents and left the soil men untouched.

Meladee stowed her bell, waved her hand, and a single magic ring dispelled the acid moat. She jumped down and conjured a spell of ice that captured the burned man as well as a would-be rescuer. Meladee laughed.

She worked her way across the field, moving away from the temple. She threw a double-ringed shield around herself and set a wall of fire between her and the cult. Half of her dirt men were gone, but she preserved the rest with a few well-placed fire and ice spells, sufficient distraction for the other mages.

Shouts came from behind the temple.

Reinforcements?! How many cultists are out tonight?

Four more opponents arrived, but these aimed their magic at both Meladee’s attackers and Meladee’s creations. Two of them set their circles on her dragon, and it wailed as it sank into the ground.

So, these guys must be Cernunnos’ mages, and the people who got here first were the cultists. Or vice versa. Whoever they are, they’re well trained.

Meladee encircled herself with a shadow of invisibility. She didn’t expect it to last long, just long enough. She moved across the mowed field and ran to the temple. Unseen, she crossed her binding spell. She was the only person who could do that. She left the spell in place and hugged the wall. From there, she watched the battle.

The four new mages and the supposed cultists fought. They engaged in a two-way match and gave Meladee a respite from the three-way brawl. Still, if either group wanted to get inside, they would have to find Meladee, and she couldn’t hide behind her spell forever. She had to eat sometime. Even worse, Meladee felt that slight pressure on her mind. She tucked herself behind a pillar and cast a shield. She kept its area of effect small, but the ring glowed and negated some of her invisibility. She didn’t mind the risk, so long as the spell protected her from the creature’s mind. The pressure eased but did not disappear.

Crap. I’m risking my life for this weak effect? Meladee decided to leave the shield in place and prayed no one would notice the glowing circle.

Camellia and Eva entered the cavern. They crept down the stairs arm in arm, and together, they took in the monstrosity below.

A giant pile of greenish-blue flesh, ribbed and veined, rested in a massive bowl of a chasm. Tentacles reached up the sides but could not reach the stairs. Camellia saw the outcropping that Ah’nee’thit had indicated. She wasn’t sure if the monster could reach that stone as it kept its nearby tentacles curled. She wouldn’t take the chance. Atop the mass of flesh, two giant, red eyes, with cross shaped pupils, opened independently.

“I’ve never seen eyes on the Lurrien flesh before,” Eva stared at the creature.

“You’ve never seen tentacles either. Yet, here they are.” Camellia gestured to the obvious branches.

This thing could not be mistaken for an infected individual. Camellia knew that. They stood opposite a real Lurrien monster.

Ah’nee’thit sent messages of welcome to Camellia. With its mind, it again indicated the outcropping and showed Camellia an image of a comfortable, fireside chair.

The monster quivered in its chasm. I have been waiting for you.

Camellia received the creature’s history in a string of scenes. She swayed, and Eva grabbed her arm. Camellia blocked most of the memories. Her vision blurred, and a buzz filled her ears. She caught glimpses of a very small creature carried by a priestess. Together, priestess and little Ah’nee’thit entered the temple. Only one left. Bitterness ended the communication.

Camellia’s blurred vision cleared, and the static in her head calmed. She pretended that she fought with her father and set her very best telepathic blocks in place.

If you resist, we’ll have so much fun.

Camellia allowed a small stream of information through and was treated to images of Ah’nee’thit. It played with flesh encrusted trains, a ball, and wounded dolls. The whole scene reminded her of a train crash, perpetrated by the creature.

“What’s it saying?” Eva asked. She shot a glance at Ah’nee’thit but kept her eyes and a hand on Camellia.

“I think it’s very young. It remembers being small and still thinks about toys.” Camellia looked at Eva. “I don’t think it’s cute though.”

Eva raised an eyebrow.

Camellia bowed her head. She struggled to see the grown creature and not the little one. The grown thing resembled nothing attractive. The young version…Camellia could almost like.

Cahir wanted to bring you on his arm - at this Ah’nee’thit flashed an image of Camellia in a red bridal dress beside Cahir - but I think it better for us to speak without his involvement. Sometimes, he doesn’t understand. Ah’nee’thit created a scene of Cahir, complete with blossoms that fell from trees and fluttered around his serene figure. Tomes of history, their words barely readable, flashed through Camellia’s mind. He has knowledge but no concept of true suffering. I need someone who has looked into an abyss.

Camellia attempted to block the next memory. She failed. For a moment, she felt underwater, struggling for air.

You.

“I think I might have done something to interest this thing,” Camellia said. “I’m going to answer it now. I might be quiet for a while.”

Eva nodded.

Is that how you know about me? Camellia asked. From my…poor judgement?

No. I first knew of you from Cahir. He thought so low of you.

Camellia blocked Ah’nee’thit’s reiteration of Cahir’s erotic fantasy. She glimpsed an image of nakedness and pornographic poses. Then, nothing.

A year ago, you came close to my domain, and I said...Cahir, why have you not suggested this one? Ah’nee’thit treated Camellia to joyous symbols. Fleshy flowers burst under a hot sun. They left streaks of pus over dry cracked soil. In the background, replayed a conversation with Cahir – the man genuinely confused that Camellia would be Ah’nee’thit’s high priestess. Now, I meet you, and I see wonderful things.

I think Cahir is right. I would never make a good priestess. I’m very...sensitive. Why do you need a priestess anyway?

I need someone perfect. Ah’nee’thit purred. It caressed an image of Camellia. To speak my message to your people. I need someone ideal. Ah’nee’thit envisioned Camellia in a bloody robe. To lead and create a new peoples. One that is mine. I do not seek to destroy you. I want you.

Pictures of harmony danced in Camellia’s mind: Iruedians with cross-shaped pupils, a fleshy garden, a house bolstered by ivy-like tendrils, and offerings of bloodied cake. Camellia rather liked the cake.

Why not leave and do it yourself? Make your own people. Camellia regretted the suggestion. She didn’t come to help Ah’nee’thit improve its strategy. Are you trapped here?

Rapid scenes of cloaked mages flitted by.

Ah’nee’thit hissed Yes!

Camellia saw the mages perform a permanent binding spell, etched into the marble itself. She checked the edge of the chasm and saw the inscriptions. With her inner eye, she watched as the mages came and took parts of the creature and exposed it to magic. Finally, the creature showed her its first priestess, the one that had carried it to this place. The woman had been a mage in disguise. Camellia felt Ah’nee’thit’s sense of betrayal and desire for revenge.

I’m sorry for you, she said.

Don’t be. Just help.

So you want…

Symbiosis. Again, Ah’nee’thit backed up its claim with its idea of harmony.

Camellia lay on a beach in a sea of tentacles. Ah’nee’thit took up residence in a town square, covered in winter decorations.

In the Northwest, there’s a creature like you…

Camellia felt a surge of hate and fear.

The great one roams free, an entire continent its palace. The old hag would take everything! Its life cycle fades, and yet it sends probes to my land! It TAKES and TAKES.

Camellia blocked a stream of images. She kept the truth of the probe to herself and rejoiced at the implication of the large monster’s age. Behind her telepathic defense, she kept her secrets.

Then, she countered, It’s not really free. My friend says its trapped. We’re actually wondering how to destroy or hurt it. Or to somehow, convince others that it’s there. Camellia didn’t wait for a response. We want the ships it has.

Yes, you want the ships. You would run from here and leave me to rot!

Camellia could not block the onslaught of communication. Ah’nee’thit sent a bubbling sea of tar. Within the tar, lay Ah’nee’thit’s bones, all flesh rotted away.

Camellia didn’t answer. Instead, she blocked her thoughts. She marveled at the implication that the thing had bones. She didn’t see any cause or evidence in favor of that image. Ah’nee’thit pooled in the chasm. Its tentacles curled tight and relaxed, so like snake tails. Maybe, it had bones after all.

You would be wise to kill my progenitor. It wants you only for tools. It only leaves things like her alive. Ah’nee’thit pointed one tentacle at Eva and added a few depictions of other robots.

Camellia could not be sure they were real. She saw men of silver. Men and women both with faces not quite right. Metal boxes and long poles. Camellia let the images roll in, so tame compared to Ah’nee’thit’s regular fare. When Camellia had her fill, she let the synthetics’ likenesses slip away.

You can call people from outside and find me anywhere on Iruedim. Why can’t you free yourself and kill the bigger one? Camellia wished she hadn’t said it, but her curiosity compelled her.

No, I am limited. So limited. I can call for help, but the mages and the resistors thwart me. I can find you, but only when you are close. Ah’nee’thit showed Camellia its definition of close, which included the eastern side of Tagtrum, all of Groaza, and a sliver of west Ponk. If free, even I could not kill the great one. As a mental tidal wave threatened to fall, a small version of Ah’nee’thit quivered beside an imagined Camellia. You could never do it. Again, Ah’nee’thit showed her the memory of water – her attempted suicide.

Camellia shook her head. How would we go about it? At least getting a single ship?

That could be possible. I could tell you how to steal a ship. Ah’nee’thit’s communication thinned. It concealed something. But, you would hurt me. You could kill me. And, you would leave.

No, we won’t hurt you, Camellia promised. She stressed the word we. Though her statement rang true, it was also false. Camellia, Eva, and Meladee would not hurt it, but the chosen heroes would.

Prove it. Prove you won’t hurt me. Let me look in without your walls.

Camellia felt cold. She wouldn’t let her father do that, let alone a stranger from three thousand years ago. She turned to Eva. “It wants me to let down my defenses in exchange for information how to kill the other one.”

Eva narrowed her eyes. “Don’t do that.” Eva stared at the thing. “If you let it in, it’ll have you. You won’t regain yourself.”

Camellia nodded. Eva hadn’t scolded her for asking about the creature’s weaknesses. Eva knew they could do so much more than the simple gathering of proof.

Again, Camellia faced Ah’nee’thit. I can’t do it. I can’t let you see me without walls. Can you give me some lesser information? Anything?

Join me. I will help you then. Ah’nee’thit added Cahir to its promise, showing Camellia a pleasant enough life with him and, of course, itself.

No. You can stay here then...Ah’nee’thit. Camellia locked her mind tight, determined not to see any more of its ideas of happiness. In the privacy of her mind, she inserted Adalhard into the thing’s fantasy, but she batted the thought away.

“This trip is pointless if we don’t find proof that it’s here.” Camellia turned to Eva. “We need to get something to act as proof. I could take a few pictures, but I don’t think that’ll be enough.”

“I’ve taken pictures. But, I agree. Let’s get something more. Let’s take a piece of it.” Eva pulled a small box from her belt. “This box compresses objects. Supposedly, the organics used a large version successfully for many years, but the creature grew outside the container’s limits. A foolish strategy, bound to fail, but it will suffice for several years on a portion of this thing.”

WAIT. Ah’nee’thit’s call broke into Camellia’s mind. You can weaken it with cold. Extreme cold. Ah’nee’thit sent Camellia images of the far north: snowy hills, icebergs, and wind. We slumber in the cold.

Camellia grabbed Eva’s arm. “It’s saying that extreme cold affects them. I remember you said that the one in Lurren dies off in the winter, but it hasn’t been that helpful, right?”

Eva never praised winter weather as a godsend, a small help maybe, but not the key to the creature’s defeat.

Eva furrowed her brow. “The flesh dies back in the winter, but you’re right. It isn’t helpful. Nothing stops the growth.”

Ah’nee’thit jiggled and pulsed in the chasm. It trained its big red eyes on the women. Camellia thought it looked nervous.

“Maybe, it knows a way to make Lurren colder,” Camellia said. She glanced at Ah’nee’thit and caught a wave of its anxiety. “Ah’nee’thit doesn’t want you to take a piece.”

Eva regarded the thing. “Really?”

Ah’nee’thit seemed to whimper where it sat and blinked its eyes slow, giving an impression of fear and helplessness.

“I’m feeling a little bad for it,” Camellia admitted. “It’s probably just pretending, but…”

I can give you a design for cryogenic technology. Open your mind enough. You can make a cryogenic gun and get your ship. Please take none of me.

Camellia got a glimpse of the promised weapon, trailed by graphic impressions of tests and torture. Every piece of the creature that the mages took remained aware and died slowly, separated from the whole. Camellia shuddered at the creature’s portrayal of its torture, the most honest feeling the creature had yet conveyed.

“Did your people have any cryogenic technology?” Camellia asked.

Eva nodded. “We can freeze food and other objects for long term storage, but the machines are too small to use on the monster. And, they take too long. It would defend itself before we completed the work.”

Camellia looked at Ah’nee’thit, and Eva’s eyes followed hers.

I can solve that problem for you. Give you a blueprint. A spell!

Camellia looked at Eva. “I’m going to get the information. It’ll give us magic and a blueprint to solve the speed problem. Both you and Meladee could make use of those.”

Eva hesitated but finally nodded. “Don’t let it in completely,” she warned.

Camellia took a deep breath. She faced Ah’nee’thit. Okay, give me the information. But first, I have a question. Your name is Ah’nee’thit. What’s the older one called?

I don’t know. I don’t care. We were separated before names mattered. I chose this one for myself.

That’s...sad.

Ah’nee’thit dismissed her sympathy – not with an image or a word – just a feeling. On a telepathic wind of apathy, Camellia’s sadness blew away. It didn’t matter.

Time for your promised information. Open wide. Ah’nee’thit showed her a fanged smile.

Camellia let down her guard just enough, and in her mind, Ah’nee’thit emblazoned the blueprint and a ten-ringed magic circle. She saw the items in impossible detail, less like thoughts and more like pictures.

Camellia cried and clutched her temples.

When Ah’nee’thit finally let go, it left one last warning. The great one doesn’t care about you. Bide your time when you visit. It will ignore you.

Eva pulled Camellia to her feet. “We’re leaving.” Eva dragged Camellia to the stairs.

Dazed, Camellia let Eva lead her up the steps. Every detail of the magic circle and blueprint remained present in her mind. She could think of nothing else. Eva pulled her into the sloping hall and ran to the surface. Camellia saw the world behind Ah’nee’thit’s offered images.

Beside a great stone pillar, Camellia dropped into the grass. She caught herself, and her hands pressed against the ground. Over her hands, she saw the circle and the blueprint. For a moment, she fancied them tattoos. Camellia raised her eyes and stared at a series of lights. She tried to fathom what they were, but with the blueprint and magic circle in the way, her mind could focus on nothing.

“What’s this?” Eva asked.

“Binding spell. I had to lock us in. I’ll need to dispel it to get you guys out.”

“Who are they?”

“Two parties with opposing interests, I assume. Might be those mages Cernunnos talked about and probably cultists for Ah’ne... I need more cultists, am I right?”

“Don’t make jokes about that thing,” Eva scolded.

Meladee did not apologize.

“We should leave.” That was Eva.

“You bet.”

“How do you propose we cover our exit?”

“Let me.” The peal of a bell followed Meladee’s words, and some light vanished.

The blueprint and circle lightened. They became more visible against the dark night, like white writing on a black background. Camellia raised her hand and tried to touch them.

Eva pulled Camellia away from the temple.

Meladee followed. She raised a bell and kissed it before she gave it a violent ring. Men sprouted from around the temple. Meladee ran. As she fled, she rang the bell. Hundreds of men sprouted in her wake.

Camellia widened her eyes but couldn’t understand. She followed, her arm held by Eva as the three women ran for their distant ship, Faustina.