“They finished just as I went to get your order. You’re real lucky,” the waitress said with a laugh. “That’ll be 3 silver.”

Avril reached out and dropped four silvers into the barmaid’s hand. Then she grabbed her pie off the table.

“Wait, that’s really ho-” the barmaid started.

The dark-haired woman took a huge bite out of the pie, swallowing it in moments and giving the girl a small nod.

“I’m from the desert. Our food is always hot,” she explained.

The barmaid didn’t seem convinced, but the extra silver Avril had given her was more than enough to account for the strange table. Jasper shoveled several spoonfuls of stew into his mouth before he said anything.

“The desert? Really?” He asked. “That’s ridiculous.”

Avril took another enormous bite from the pie and gave him a small shrug.

“It worked, and I couldn’t be bothered to wait for it to cool down.”

There was a loud burp from the other side of the table. Ethan set the bowl back down on the table and rocked back in his chair, his face the very picture of contentment. He smacked his lips several times in appreciation.

“That was some good stuff,” Ethan said. “You should take us out more often.”

“She most definitely should not,” Jasper said. “We’re spending too much time together already.”

Avril smirked at him as she polished off the last of her pie. Jasper shook his head in disappointment as he took another spoonful of stew.

“You two have no appreciation for food. It’s meant to be savored, not demolished.”

A deep knell hammered through the tavern walls. Conversation dried up as people stopped what they were doing, looking around for the source of the noise. The tone repeated itself, this time louder. Chairs toppled to the floor as people flew to their feet, fear appearing on their faces. Jasper let out a string of curses when he saw the resigned look in Avril’s face.

The tone echoed out a third time. A cacophony of haunting howls rose up through the night. The temperature in the room seemed to plummet as goosebumps waltzed their way up people’s arms and backs. Pandemonium broke out. Men and women charged out the tavern doors and into the streets.

“We’d best figure out what’s going on,” Ethan said, pushing himself away from the table and standing up.

“My stew better be waiting for me when I get back!” Jasper yelled at the bartender as they followed the crowd out the door.

While several people darted off toward the outside of the city, the majority of the crowd stampeded toward the center square. Avril gave the two men a sympathetic glance, answering the question before they could even ask it.

“Yon is here,” she said.

“You mean the Vodrun, right?” Jasper asked.

The look on Avril’s face told him everything he needed to know.

“Typhon’s scruffy beard,” Jasper cursed. The dark clouds that had gathered over the city boomed in response.

“I thought he had his Vodrun do the dirty work,” Jasper said. “What is he doing here?”

Avril just shook her head.

“He’s not completely here. More of a projection than anything. But that should be cause enough to worry. You two had best run to the walls before there isn’t anything left to save.”

They ran.

The top of the walls were already teeming with guards by the time Jasper and Ethan got there. The smell of alcohol and sweat clogged the air like rancid glue. The gremlin grimaced as they pushed their way through the crowd.

In the distance, a swarm of darkness was pouring over the hills toward the city. Jasper sucked in a sharp breath and swore. One of the guards beside him, an older man with a graying beard and a wrinkled face, nodded in agreement, his eyes riveted on the approaching tide of Vodrun.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s got to be those damn Visions,” the guard said. “Always bringing their trouble to us normal folks and waltzing away unharmed after they raze the whole place to the ground.”

Jasper nodded mindlessly as he desperately tried to comprehend the size of the Vodrun swarm rapidly approaching the city walls. He could see the end of the dark wave, but that didn’t give him much reassurance. There must have been several thousand of the wretched creatures.

“This does not look good,” Ethan said, biting his lip. “Ringden’s walls will not hold against Yon.”

“Who’s Yon?” The talkative guard asked.

Jasper didn’t answer him. He wrung his hands together as he desperately tried to think, but it was clear that an ideal solution wasn’t presenting itself. As the horde grew closer, Jasper finally turned back to Ethan with a defeated expression on his face.

“How much time do you have left?”

“A little less than two months. However, I’m afraid I’ll be quite mindless during the last few days. Maybe earlier.”

“Right. Go get Linna. She’s new, but Avril isn’t going to help here. She’s already done this much. You remember what to do, right?”

“Who do you think you’re talking to? Good luck. Try not to get us both killed.” Ethan said. His usual cheer had vanished, and his eyes were cold. The swordsman pulled his heavy cloak tighter around himself and disappeared back into the crowd.

Jasper swallowed and looked back over the castle edge. The Vodrun were minutes away at the most. The guard nudged Jasper’s shoulder to get his attention.

“Don’t try anything crazy,” he recommended. “You seem like a nice enough young man. Just stand fast and hold the wall. Leave the hero business to men who don’t value their lives.”

“I’m not a hero,” Jasper said, stepping toward the edge of the wall. “I’m a Vision.”

The illusion vanished, leaving the gremlin standing in a mass of worried guards. Before any of them could react, Jasper threw himself over the precipice.

The dark clouds roared their disapproval as a brilliant blast of orange and red lit up the dark sky. The gremlin rose into the sky above Ringden, tendrils of hungry flame spiraling around him like snakes. The heat coming off the Vision was strong enough that the grass below him was scorched.

Jasper’s eyes had been replaced by two pools of storming purple lightning. It crackled and hissed as if it were trying to escape from within his body.

The Vodrun were less impressed with Jasper’s display. They didn’t even break stride at the gremlin’s sudden appearance. However, the rake of lightning that tore through their frontlines like a vengeful god brought different results.

Dozens of Vodrun were instantly transformed into smoldering corpses. The next few lines of the vile creatures were caught up in their companions bodies and subsequently vaporized by a blast of flame, but the horde showed no signs of stopping.

“I am your opponent!” Jasper’s voice was cold and cruel as it sliced through the air. “You will show me proper respect, mongrel curs!”

He lifted a hand into the air. The earth shuddered in response as enormous rock spikes erupted up, creating a jagged wall in the ground before Ringden’s walls.