By the time I finished telling Eli of what happened in that forest, we had reached the bottom of the tower. Eli was pretty shaken by my accounts of the war between the Church and Raiya. I’d omitted to mention my relationship to the strongest wizard in the western continent. Eli wasn’t a native of our lands, he wouldn’t have heard of him anyway, or so I hoped. I had just mentioned his name once too.

“Do you think the necromancer will be up there?” Eli asked.

“He’s not the vanguard type, if that’s what you want to know,” I replied. “I’m sure he’ll be in his tower somewhere, looking through the eyes of his undead army.”

“You’re probably right,” Eli said. “From what I heard, he only appeared twice before the city gate.”

“That speech he gave earlier though,” I said. “He’ll probably be ready to make an appearance, if things go his way. He’ll want to make sure the Children see the terrorist that wants to kill them all. If you ask me, it’s a sure way to spread panic among the ranks.”

“But we’ve already intercepted his attempts to kill people on the inside,” Eli said. “Don’t you think he’s bound to notice something’s amiss?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” I said. “There’s no point in discussing probabilities by now, is there?”

Eli nodded. His determination to see our plan through showed on his face.

“You feel you owe these people your life, don’t you?” I asked.

“I do owe them my life,” Eli replied. “If it weren’t for Ella, I’d be dead by now.”

“Maybe you owe your life to Ella, but not to the Children,” I said.

“They accepted to have a human share their food, their living quarters,” Eli retorted. “It’s not just Ella, the Children are good people. It’s a pity our races hate each other.”

“Isn’t this something of the past?” I asked. “They seem pretty sure that humans will attack them the moment they emerge from these dark tunnels.”

“Have you seen them?” Eli asked. “If it were under any other circumstance, wouldn’t you attack them on sight?”

“I would run, probably,” I admitted. “They’re scary, especially when they have spears aimed at your throat.”

“Their magic is limited too,” Eli said. “Fighting toe to toe against humans would only lead to their doom.”

“That’s the heart of the matter, don’t you think? They’re as guilty as we are.”

“Care to explain?” the look Eli gave me made me shudder.

“The first thing the Sebyan did –“

“Children,” Eli corrected. “How many times do I have to tell you? They don’t like that name.”

“I don’t see any of them around here,” I said. “Do you?”

“I respect their wishes,” Eli said. “Whereas you don’t seem to care, these people saved your life too.”

“No, you did.” I said. “But that’s beside the point. What I’m saying is that the Children’s first reaction was hostility. You can’t expect to negotiate peace if you start with hostility.”

“Do you really believe that?” Eli asked.

“No. I believe that in order to achieve peace, you have to fight. You have to gather your people and ignite that fire in them, push them to fight for freedom, for the right to live above ground. The Children don’t want that though. They hide underground and blame humans for their misery.”

“If they fight, they die,” Eli protested.

“They’re already dead,” I said. “Nobody knows who they are. I never even knew they existed until I stumbled upon them here. They’re forgotten, it’s as good as being dead, don’t you think?”

Eli went silent. I saw him struggle to bring up some valid arguments. Each time he’d open his mouth, he immediately curse and fall silent again.

“Why are we talking about this anyway?” he asked. He looked frustrated now.

“I just don’t understand your infatuation with these people,” I said. “You gave up on your dream to help them do what? Live underground for more centuries?”

“That necromancer’s a real threat, not only to the Children, but to humans as well,” Eli protested. “What if he wins this battle? What if he goes above ground, with an army of undead Children at his heels?”

“More people will die,” I answered. “That’s not what I’m asking though. I know why I’m fighting this necromancer. I know what I want to do after I defeat him. What’s your plan after all this is over?”

Eli fell silent again. He rummaged in his brain for an answer before he looked at me, confused. “I haven’t given it any thought,” he said.

“Do you think those Children will let you leave this place after all this is over?” I asked. “After all, you know too much about them. They might not want their existence to be revealed to the outside world.”

“Are you suggesting we run from here?” Eli asked, a look of complete bewilderment in his face.

“N-no,” I stammered. I didn’t expect this question to tell you the truth. “I’m willing to see this thing through, but I’m not sure the Children will appreciate our efforts. After we win, their fear from eradication will subside. They’ll start thinking of the human problem. You said it yourself, they don’t like our kind. Why do you think we’re here, and not some mighty warrior of their clan?”

“I don’t like what you’re insinuating, Myles.” Eli’s tone was that of warning.

“You don’t like it because you’ve been thinking about it,” I retorted. “The idea’s there, in the back of your head, nagging. You appreciate one Sebyan’s help. This shouldn’t apply to all of them.”

Eli winced at my mention of their taboo name, but didn’t ask me to refrain from using it.

“Can you stop beating about the bush and tell me what this is all about?” he asked.

“Alright,” I said. I gave him my most determined, serious look. “By beating the necromancer, we outlive our usefulness. I certainly do. The people in that city don’t care about the fox or what the prophet tells them. You’ve been able to keep me from burning since I have information on Lemien. I survived captivity. Once this is all over, there is no stopping them from burning me at the stake.”

Eli’s incredulous look took me aback. He threw his head backwards and roared in laughter.

“Is this what you’re concerned about?” he asked. “The Children value strength. You’ve already showed them what you’re capable of, when you fought the necromancer’s platoon by yourself. They fear and value your strength. They won’t execute you when you help them eliminate the threat, they’ll celebrate you.”

“After all you’ve been through.” I sighed. “You said it yourself. They fear me. You kill the ones you fear to ascertain your own strength. Why do you think they attacked Lemien in the first place?”

“He’s associated himself with a banshee,” Eli replied matter-of-factedly.

“Banshees are harmless, unless you allow them to stay too close to you,” I said. “They kept Lemien outside, and the man vowed revenge after he received his new powers. He wants power. They want to survive. Once this is all over, they’ll still want to survive. They’ll see me as a threat to be eliminated.”

“You’re paranoid,” Eli said.

“We’re getting nowhere here,” I blurted out. “Let me ask you this. When this is all over, will you let me leave?”

“What?”

“Will you let me leave? I have no intention of going back to that underground city. I’ll help you defeat Lemien, and after this I’m gone.”

Eli chewed on his thin lips for a while. “I don’t understand your suspicion,” he said. “I won’t object to you leaving. I don’t know how they’ll react to their potential hero turning his back to them though.”

“You be the hero,” I said. “I have no intention of staying around to find out how they’ll treat a human one.”

“Very well,” Eli said. “You do what you feel is best for you.”

“Glad we agree on this,” I said. “Now then, shall we climb up?”

We proceeded to climbing the rocks at the foot of the tower. It was a slippery ascent. Eli and I almost fell to our death on many occasions. We were halfway through when I noticed the tower’s crumbling walls.

“Hey,” I whispered, “we can probably squeeze through there.”

I was pointing to a small gap in the decaying wall. I only managed to see it because of the faint light that wormed its way out of it.

“Where do you think it’ll lead us?” Eli asked.

“Let’s find out,” I replied.

It was hard enough to climb the rocks and find safe spots to dig our feet and hands in. Scouring the rocks sideways was even harder. I was lucky Eli was in front. He could see the gaps better and point them out to me as he advanced toward the gap.

By the time we reached the wall, we were sweating. It had become even harder to keep a solid grip. Eli climbed on top of a rock, which led directly to the gap, then helped me up. We heard two voices speaking. I recognized one as Lemien’s, but I couldn’t identify the second.

We peeked from the small gap to see the necromancer standing before an eight pointed star. It resembled the one Raiya used to sacrifice Agatha. A golden chalice, filled with a dark liquid, stood on top of an old altar. The second voice emanated from there. It was the kind of steely voice that would send shivers down one’s spine. I felt lucky I wasn’t on the receiving end.

“Forgive me, your grace,” Lemien was talking in a hushed tone. He sounded scared out his wits.

“I’ve invested too much into this,” the other voice said. “If you don’t deliver them to me in two days, consider our deal forfeit.”

“Your grace,” Lemien fell to his knees, pleading. “Our plan didn’t work, it appears the human has escaped death, and blame.”

“How do you know that?” the voice asked.

“T-t-t-the mice have been killed, burned. I can’t sense my link to them anymore.”

“How is that an indication of the human escaping death?”

“I-I-I,” Lemien stammered. His knees were shaking. No, scratch that, he was shaking from head to toe.

“Speak, human!” the voice ordered.

“I wanted…” Lemien’s voice was shaky. “I wanted to make sure my link was undetectable. I might have shown him the mice we experimented on.”

An angry roar that shook the tower and its crumbling walls ensued. “YOU DID WHAT?”

“I’m terribly sorry, your grace,” Lemien said. “I didn’t think the Sebyan would keep him alive long enough for questioning.”

“You air-headed, dim-witted, fatuous, half imitation of a necromancer! I gave you a banshee to scare the Sebyan. I gave you a healthy human to use as a decoy. I even showed you how to use the banshee to possess him, yet you failed to use the tools at your disposal. Do you expect me to get here and win this battle for you? You have two days, do you hear? TWO DAYS! Don’t disappoint me again.”