The pillar of smoke lingered in the distance, illuminated from below by an eerie crimson light. Bachija was not having a great night.

“At least it wasn’t a residential district,” Kimi said. She was sitting on a large rock in the Mavros Desert, where she and Morgan had been waiting for the Shaping Stone to pass by. That no longer seemed likely.

Morgan was deep in thought. After a moment, he said, “I still don’t see how this could have happened.”

“I don’t think it matters.” Kimi shrugged. “The only question is did your stone survive?”

“Most likely,” Morgan said. “The Shaping Stone, like most Crystal Artes, is designed with regenerative malhahonic reinforcement.” After a flat look from Kimi, he added, “I mean, a kind of arte that improves the durability of a material. It can make them quite difficult to destroy.”

“So do you know where it is? Is there any chance we can get in there before the Bachijan military?”

“Well… unfortunately I’ve lost track. I detected one ping shortly after the explosion, but the signal was cut off.” He continued after an expectant glare from Kimi. “That means someone is shielding it from ambient malhahons. There aren’t a great many people capable of that—“

“And the White Temple is high on that list?”

“Yes, unfortunately.”

“I suppose it’s a good thing you’re not in any hurry,” Kimi said. Morgan stifled some objection and she continued, “Worst case scenario you’ll have to remake it from scratch. What’s a few decades in the grand scheme of things, right?”

The pair sat together in silence for a short while. Eventually, Morgan asked, “So, what should we do in the meanwhile? Is… is there anyth—“

“Obviously you should prepare that unity thing you’ll need.”

“The Global Arte Execution device?”

Kimi retched. “Gods, you are the worst with names, but yes. You work on that, and I’ll think of something better to call it. Is there somewhere safe we can hide out?”

“I know a place.”