Renkyk lay on his back with his eyes staring at the stone ceiling in the primary observation chamber in the central tower during a lull in the enemy bombardment of Eynond. Galdrehln sat dozing in the nearby corner, gently snoring with his feet lightly touching Renkyk's. While he dreamed, Galdrehln's feet wiggled back and forth, pushing against Renkyk's. Renkyk responded by pressing back from time to time, but only gently so as not to wake Galdrehln from his momentary comfort.

He'd never forgive me, Renkyk smiled, still staring up at the ceiling. Sleep comes so rarely these days.

Closing his eyes, flickers of iridescent argent light streamed across his vision at a rapidly increasing rate. Ever since the angels had exhausted themselves, the more ordinary phase of the battle filled his vision with more journeys to the Communion of Souls than he had ever seen before.

One day I will figure out how to stop this. One day, and it'll be soon. I promise all of you that much, Renkyk ruminated. He opened his eyes again, breathing a joyous sigh that the argent lights dissipated. If only I could sleep with my eyes open. Some can, but why can't it be me?

Meanwhile, across the chamber, Commander Dastov stood by the centermost window, staring out at the enemy formations across the river while siege engines continued to strike at the walls. Every few minutes, another messenger would come to deliver news regarding the battle's progress. Most of the time, Dastov insisted on speaking so closely that Renkyk couldn't hear. Finally, one came who Dastov did not insist speak quietly.

"Sir, orders from the Grand Marshal," the tall, black-robed messenger said, first drawing an irritated glance from Dastov, but then a nod. "He commands that your mages provide support to Marshal Kordov's assault in the west to cover the general withdrawal."

Dastov's eyes shifted toward Renkyk for a moment. He then tapped his black lacquered cane a few times and nodded.

"Kordov? That's a good choice. Excellent, actually. I heard he'd gotten a promotion, and everything indicates he'll be an outstanding commander," Dastov spoke so rapidly that Renkyk could barely hear him. "When does the effort commence?"

"Nine hours, sir," the messenger stated. "Three hours past midnight, to be precise."

Dastov nodded along and smirked.

"Very good. Send my compliments to Marshal Kordov, by the way, on his promotion and that I plan to assist the 43rd Division in its attack west of here," the spymaster calmly stated.

The messenger stepped back a pace.

"Sir, I haven't told you which divisions are..."

"Boy, remember who I am," Dastov interjected, smirking and chuckling. "Please don't act so surprised. Don't bother with the rest of the orders. I know what they are. You should be better prepared by now."

The messenger, without saying another word, bowed and scampered off. Dastov shook his head and glanced back out the window.

"Wake up your, erm, friend," Dastov murmured at Renkyk.

Not wanting to incur the Dastov's wrath before he was ready, Renkyk tapped Galdrehln's feet. Galdrehln's chubby face jiggled as he roused. His face shot from one end of the chamber to another, covered in a panicked sheen of sweat. He then sighed and looked back to Renkyk, his eyes warming.

"This'd better be good," he said, his words slurring.

"It is," Dastov lightly answered, turning his head to both of them, flicking his eyes back and forth, gauging both of them with a predatory demeanor. "We're to assist the 43rd Division in its assault on the western flank, the idea being to create a nice channel through which the bulk of the army can escape. Before you bother asking, yes, we're intended to escape as well. I can't say the same for certain other elements of the army, but they're of lower value. And both of you, stand up. This is a briefing, even if you two are the only others in the room at the moment."

Renkyk and Galdrehln both sprang to their feet the same instant, pushing off from one another as they did. Renkyk smirked when he saw just how rumpled Galdrehln's robes were, drawing a sharp frown from Galdrehln.

"We're at a critical disadvantage for mages on the western flank and I think you two could make a meaningful contribution," Dastov stated, his eyes shifting between both of them, but most heavily falling upon Renkyk. He tapped his cane and lifted it slightly, only a few inches off the ground, toward Renkyk. "I want you to understand something, though, because I know you're thinking it."

Jolting in place, Renkyk twitched and looked between Galdrehln and Dastov a few times.

"Sir? I have no idea..." he started. Dastov shook his head to stop Renkyk from saying anything further.

"The chaos of battle is a marvelous time to escape from someone you have no desire to serve," the spymaster said with a wry smile. Galdrehln recoiled more than Renkyk did. For Renkyk, this sort of posturing had become a nuisance. He could almost predict what Dastov would say next. "I understand your impulse, even though you must know by now that Emperor Rohmhelt's position, as well as that of the angels allied with him, is far closer to your dear lost Nethron's motive than that of our opponents."

"Regardless, we won't," Renkyk said, shaking his head. "Where would we even go? It's ridiculous."

"Good question. Where indeed?" Dastov raised his eyebrows. "I do remember when I interrogated both of you back when you first came into my possession that you truly didn't seem to have much of a plan. I've come to accept that as accurate. Still, as you might suspect, when you tried to kill me, Renkyk, that left me a touch suspicious."

Renkyk and Galdrehln shared quick anxious glances and then Renkyk lightly bowed his head at Dastov.

"Can I be candid for a moment, sir?" Renkyk asked, feeling Galdrehln's apprehensions grow, but he knew that couldn't be helped. He just had to continue on regardless.

Dastov's eyes narrowed. He let a silent pause linger for some moments, allowing the sounds of the bombardment of Eynond to build in the background. He then nodded and tipped his cane toward Renkyk.

"That was definitely true, at one point," Renkyk started, eliciting a slight eyeroll from Dastov. "But I've learned so much under you that I'd have to be insane to leave now. For better or for worse, this works for both of us and I'm not ashamed to admit that. I've learned at least as much working with you as I did with Nethron. We still have so much to do with the Silver Aura and I think our need is mutual."

Galdrehln watched with his mouth hanging open and the skin under his left eye twitched while he waited for Dastov to respond. Renkyk held his breath. His fingers ran cold and tingled.

"If you mean what you say, then you'll have no objection to this. If..." Dastov smirked and faced toward the opposite door. "Captain, you can come in now," he shouted.

The heavy wooden door swung open and in stepped a man Renkyk had seen before in Dastov's orbit, but he'd never learned the man's name. Tall and broad, the captain had a square clean-shaven face and ample blue-green hair. He wore badly mud-spackled uniform and even muddier leather boots.

"You haven't spoken to one another before, so I'll introduce you. This is Captain Jograhn Erdinov, one of my subordinates," Dastov announced dispassionately, racing through his own words. "Captain Erdinov, these are Renkyk and Galdrehln, two of my most promising mages. I've spoken to you about them before."

"Ah yes, I remember," Erdinov exclaimed in a strangely high voice for a man of that size. "You spoke very highly of them. I've heard so much about you, Renkyk. You've made great strides in advancing our knowledge of the Auras."

Dastov nodded, his eyes remaining on the two young mages while his underling spoke.

"Only one of the Auras," Renkyk nervously added and motioned toward Galdrehln. "My friend Galdrehln has done far more than I have with the others."

"It's true," Galdrehln laughed and nudged Renkyk with his elbow.

A particularly heavy barrage hit the wall just then, causing the tower to rumble. All but Dastov struggled to keep their footing as the stones beneath them vibrated.

"I'm assigning Captain Erdinov to make sure that you two stay out of trouble, of all kinds, when supporting the 43rd Division in its assault early tomorrow morning," Dastov calmly explained, making a vague gesture westward. "Of course, you're probably wondering why I would even risk you in the first place, but that should be clear. You need opportunities to hone your skills and there's no finer crucible for that than the battlefield. Mortal peril is such a fine catalyst for sparks of ingenuity."

Galdrehln's jaw dropped at the suggestion, but Renkyk tapped his hand to discourage dissent.

"I'm looking forward to it," Renkyk said, his voice quivering. "Truly."

"Good!" Erdinov smiled and nodded, his broad square head swinging forward like a brick. "It's all for the good of the Empire. There's no finer mission."

"Indeed," Dastov mumbled. His frigid eyes locked on Renkyk for all of a second before he turned to his bulky subordinate. "I was just about to dismiss you, Captain Erdinov, so you could prepare, but then I remembered I didn't wish your son a happy birthday. That was two days ago, wasn't it?"

Erdinov smiled, his teeth glinting in the torchlight.

"Your memory is admirable as ever, sir," Erdinov chirped. "Yes, my boy Husdrehlt just turned one. I obviously haven't seen him on account of the war, but I hope to see him soon."

Dastov smiled the coldest of smiles and nodded.

"Thank you, captain. These two will meet you, along with a few of my other mages, in the keep's west courtyard just after midnight. You best get ready," the spymaster said. "And my best regards to your other three boys and your daughter. I'm sure all of them are going to grow up to be good sound people."

Erdinov blushed and bowed toward Dastov before energetically stepping out of the chamber and closing the door behind him. Dastov smiled languidly and glanced at both of his captives.

"He's truly a wonderful find. Good man all ways around. I never ask him to do anything that would bring dishonor upon his family. He cares so much about them that I almost sent him home on furlough early," Dastov commented, his lilting voice bordering on warm. That, more than any sounds of bombardment, caused Renkyk's stomach to turn. "Circumstances got in the way of that, but I'll try to make it up to him."

"This isn't subtle," Renkyk blurted out, clenching his fists.

Dastov's eyes locked on the red-skinned mage.

"It wasn't meant to be. You're smart. You know what I'm doing, but of course I know what you're doing," he smirked before tapping his cane against the ground twice. He then pivoted back toward the window for a moment, his cape waving as he did. Before it had settled, he spun back around, his eyes animated and shifting between Renkyk and Galdrehln. "I want you two to understand something. I don't believe you've suddenly had a change of heart and want to stay. And, by the way, don't try to convince me otherwise because that's insulting and I only tolerate insults up to a point."

"Sir, I..." Galdrehln began to splutter out, but he stopped as Dastov's contemptuous stare restrained him.

"Don't test me," the spymaster growled. He then breathed in deeply and sighed. "I'll be candid with both of you, as a good faith gesture because we all know there's tension between us, if I'll be so modest as to call it that. When your former master, Nethron, unleashed the Auras, I was working purely on espionage, my life's vocation. I heard his announcement, or whatever you wish to call it, as clearly as anyone. I understood that in many ways he was telling the truth. A lot of others didn't think so, but I did because I could feel how the world changed in an instant. That which had been locked away was suddenly out and out for good."

Renkyk lightly sighed hearing this part of the story as he had heard some variation of it at least three times from Dastov. He wondered how it was the spymaster had any ability to do his countless other tasks when he spent so much time absorbed in spinning his own narratives.

"What I didn't know was that, in essence, he even perhaps understated the magnitude of what he had done. You've both been present for those astonishing events we've discovered together, either be accident or necessity," Dastov said softly, his eyes darting back and forth between Renkyk and Galdrehln. "That confluence of the Auras was one of the most astonishing destructive forces ever to visit this world. The total unmaking of what had once been there. The angels themselves trembled at its sight. But we've even learned that more modest manifestations of the power Nethron unleashed. We all jointly were able to wound Gorondos and send him reeling across the river."

Galdrehln coughed to interject and pushed his hands out in front of him as if to shove the spymaster further away.

"We would've died, actually been burned to ashes, without Tathyk and Cyrona, though," Galdrehln uneasily chuckled. "I think you're overstating what we did, um, sir."

Dastov smirked again and shook his head.

"Infants die without their parents' care, but we still understand that once they crawl then walk then run, they are on their way to one day be self-sufficient," the spymaster oozed with condescension. "That's where we are. We can see these glimpses of where we're going. And, before you ask, I'll tell you exactly where that is."

Breathing deeply, Dastov smiled and glanced out the window for a moment, allowing the silent pause to linger. Renkyk felt Galdrehln shake next to him and lightly brushed Galdrehln's left hand with his right.

Dastov's gaze snapped back to the two mages.

"Forynda was wrong to be so hostile to what Nethron did. There's a point of agreement between her and Nethron, far closer than what Omonrel and the rest of them want. You must see that, too. If we train mages as readily as we train archers, then we stand a real chance of standing up to the angels who refuse to leave," he gleefully declared, his eyes widening. "Yes, I'm sure you're thinking about how many will die in the process and, yes, that's unfortunate, but in aggregate, as a collective of the entirety of the mortal world, it can easily be done. If tens or hundreds of thousands have to die to purge the tyranny of Omonrel, Parlon, and the others, so be it!"

Renkyk felt his skin prickle with a deep chill running through his limbs. Galdrehln was struck quivering and speechless.

"We're a good long way from all of that," Renkyk murmured, his words losing their force as he spoke. "A long way. There must be, at most, five thousand mages in the whole world and most of them are in service to Duronaht and the angels we're fighting."

"For the moment," Dastov scoffed and flicked his right hand. "As I say, we see the path forward. It's there for us, but only if we join are skills, insights, and talents together as one. The angels have advantages, yes, but what I've seen in my time working on all of this convinces me that it's all within our grasp."

He paused again and bit his bottom lip, glancing between Renkyk and Galdrehln.

"I've thought about this for a long time now," his voice swelled. "The transformation of the mortal world into something so much greater lies there before us and I will not forgive any who stand athwart that aim!"

His words hung in the air for a moment and then he clicked his cane, his demeanor returning to the more languid form he displayed earlier.

"I trust that you both will stay with me, knowing all of that," Dastov said quietly. "Now, ready yourselves for this assault. And don't be so insane as to think you can do what I know you're still think of. It won't work."

Renkyk and Galdrehln, both with sheens of sweat on their faces, glanced at each other in silence.

"Go!" Dastov barked and them and turned back to observe the battle through the window.

The two complied and swiftly left the tower and returned to Eynond's citadel to gather their things in their rooms to be ready for the assault early the next morning. They said nothing to one another until Galdrehln closed the door to his room behind them.

"Well," Galdrehln wheezed, "that was... different? Unnerving? Terrifying? Pants-shitting levels of strange?"

"All of those and more," Renkyk mumbled and paced back and forth, his heart now racing and pounding against his chest like a soft hammer. "He's far crazier than I thought. Far more."

"Yeah..." Galdrehln nodded and blotted sweat from his forehead with the sleeves of his robes. "I'm glad it wasn't just me."

"We've seen him so often that I periodically let the things he says seem normal to me," Renkyk sighed. "That's not a well man."

Galdrehln again nodded and raised a finger.

"So, what did you mean by that thing you said about him not being subtle? It was after Captain Erdinov said..."

"Are you serious?!" Renkyk gasped. "You didn't see what he was doing?"

Galdrehln's face jiggled as he shook his head back and forth.

"He's making it clear we'll have to kill Erdinov to even have a chance of escaping. A father of that many children. Our windows of opportunity have been rare, but Dastov is certain even with this one before us that we don't have the stomach to do what's necessary to leave," Renkyk lamented, running his hand through his feathery white hair.

After a moment of silence, Galdrehln looked sheepishly at Renkyk.

"Do we?" Galdrehln asked. "We've never done anything like that. Do we have it in us? Should we even have it in us?"

Renkyk breathed in the cold and crisp autumn air and then let it out slowly.

"We'll find out."