Giselle sat on the overstuffed couch, Lara beside her and bouncing in excitement. Davit was looking at her earnestly as well, though he was much more contained than the librarian was.

“So,” Giselle said, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers, trying to stave off the inevitable migraine. “Your big, wonderful, massive plan is to pray to the spirit of Larnath, and hope it-”

“He,” Davit interrupted.

“He, is still out there somewhere and can hear you. And once he does, he will tell you exactly where to find his spear?”

“When you put it that way, it sounds kind of lame,” Lara frowned and her leg stopped bouncing.

“We have collected here because it is one of the best spots to reach into other realms, due to the weak barriers. Having a town at the focal point was a bonus as well,” Davit said, still grinning. “It is the best chance of being able to reach Larnath directly.”

“Have you heard from him?”

“Well, no.”

“How long has it been?”

“Two years,” Davit’s smile faltered slightly.

Giselle sighed. You have no idea where this spear is?”

“Not an exact location, but we have several scrolls and documents we are researching that will help us to pinpoint a spot.”

Giselle looked around at the gathered people. They all were watching her, most with neutral faces, Lara wringing her hands and glancing between her and Davit. Two years and they had no idea where the Spear was, and no idea how to find it. If they had spent two years, with this much manpower, studying the scrolls and still didn't know, she had little faith they would find it anytime soon.

“I think I’m done here,” she said, getting off the couch. “I don't have time to join a cult and hope the Spear turns up because you wish really hard for it to.” She walked past Davit, letting herself push slightly at his legs, and made her way to the doorway. She felt the eyes of the elders follow her out, but did not worry they would stop her. If they did, she would bring this entire structure down on them before they touched her.

“Giselle,” Lara called out behind her, Giselle kept walking down the hallways, turning the corner to head back up the long, dark stairs.

“Giselle!” Lara called again, but the warlock ignored her and started up the stairs. Torches had been lit every dozen yards, providing enough light that she wouldn't trip on the steps going up, but still leaving the staircase in a depressing gloom.

After ascending the stairs without any of the difficulties she had encountered on her way down, Giselle was mildly happy to see the box that covered the entrance hadn't been closed back up. She stepped out and found the strange henchman that had guarded the door standing there, guarding the door. Only this time, instead of keeping people out he seemed to be keeping her in. He stood with his arms folded over the exit, a frown deepening the droop of his face.

“I need you to get out of my way,” she said. He didn't move.

“I don't want to hurt anyone,” Giselle lit a small fire in her palm, holding it so he could clearly see it. “But I am not afraid to if you don't move and let me out.”

The man's eyes flicked to the fire and back to her. He still didn’t move, not even a twitch away from the door. As Giselle sighed and prepared to make the fire bigger, she would prefer not to have to kill him, Lara burst from the box behind her.

“Put that out,” she said to Giselle. “He isn't trying to stop you from leaving, he just has to stand in front of the door.”

“What, why? He can't move at all?”

“It's not as simple as that. A local necromancer raised him from the dead, but her spells broke or something, I’m not sure how that stuff works. We found him wandering by the docks and took him in, giving him the job of guarding our door. He seems to have taken it to heart and does so without fear.”

Lara turned to the man, “Thank you Jeffries, we are going to be leaving, ok?”

Jeffries grunted to Lara, the hint of a smile pulling at his sagging mouth. He stepped to the side and Lara pushed the door open, gesturing for Giselle to follow her. The gnome walked past the man, glancing up at him. He didn't look down at her, staring straight ahead at the box she had just climbed out of. As she passed he shuffled back toward the door, resuming his ever vigilant watch.

It was absolutely dark now, save a massive fire burning in the near distance. Lara glanced at it curiously before turning to Giselle.

“Are you here to stop me from leaving? Maybe tell me I’ll be killed if I tell anyone about your little cult?” Giselle asked. What in the world was that fire anyways? It looked like an entire building had gone up.

“No,” Lara sighed. “Nothing like that. I just… I don't want you to leave. We could really use your help in finding the Spear.”

“You were doing fine without me before, I'm sure you'll do fine without me now. All that wishing and praying, it's bound to get the Seraphim's notice eventually, isn't it?”

Lara winced a little at Giselle’s words. “I know what it sounds like, but it's really important. And I don't think we can afford losing you. I can't.”

“Why not?”

“Because… Because you're right. This group hasn't done anything to actually find the Spear. They talk big and have amassed a good amount of documents and literature on the Spear, but as for actually working towards getting it? Nothing. Sometimes I think they don't actually want to find it, or maybe they are afraid to.”

“I got that vibe too,” Giselle leaned back against the cool wood of the warehouse. Lara fidgeted a little with her hands, wringing them, before joining her and looking out at the orange red dominating the skyline.

“You’ve given me the best chance of actually finding the Spear. I really need to.”

“Why do you need it?” Giselle asked.

Lara glanced down at the gnome. “I'll tell you if you tell me why you’re after it.”

“I already said, its to kill-”

“I want the entire truth. No one just goes after a Demon Lord for no reason.”

Giselle looked at the woman. She was nervous, all her fidgeting gave that way. But there was something else there, something in her eyes. A fire and devotion, one that looked vaguely familiar to one in Gild’s eyes, so many years ago.

“Deal, you tell me why you want it and I’ll tell you the full truth.”

“Ok,” Lara said, nodding. “Ok, well. The truth is, I need the spear to kill demons.”

Giselle raised an eyebrow. “Is that it? Isn't that why anyone would want it?”

“Sort of. I want to kill all demons. My brother was killed by one when we were younger. It almost seemed like an accident to the demon. It was rampaging around, killing our livestock for fun, when my brother rushed out to try to stop it. I called to him to stop, but as he got close the demon whirled, catching him with its tail and throwing him back. The blow crushed his chest in,” Lara faltered for a moment, staring at the ground.

“The damned creature just glanced back at him, then shrugged. Shrugged! As if he was nothing more than a bug it had stepped on. After it finished killing the cows, it took off.”

Giselle couldn't keep a small laugh from escaping. Lara quickly glared at her, tears brimming in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Giselle quickly said. “I’m not laughing at your brother. It's just, you want to take on all demons with the Spear? You would get yourself killed so fast you wouldn't even see them coming.”

“I could at least take some of them.”

Giselle shook her head. “They are looking for the Spear too. As soon as you found it and brandished it, I am positive dozens of demons would congregate on you to take it.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about their motivations,” Lara said, narrowing her eyes at the gnome.

“I suppose it's my turn to tell the truth. To make a long story short, I was kidnapped by the Demon Lord Amarth and tasked with finding the Spear. She says she wants it to kill other demons permanently and ascend to the Demon Emperor, but I could care less.” Giselle paused for a moment. Lara hadn’t reacted. “I plan on finding the Spear and either destroy it, or bring it to someone who can actually use it.”

There was a silence that followed, only broken by the hushed noises of the city, and, if she listened carefully, the crackle of the fire.

“Why were you kidnapped?” Lara’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“My husband and I were attempting to make a pact with a demon. We, stupidly and naively, went for the biggest, baddest one we could find and summoned her to attempt a pact. I was taken, he managed to get away and who knows where he is.”

“You’re… You’re a warlock?”

Giselle offered a weak smile. “In the flesh. Though I’m not pacted with anything, so I'm not sure I technically qualify as a warlock. More like a partial prisoner of an extra planar Demon Lord.”

Lara turned away, biting her lip. She was clearly struggling with the idea, most people did. Giselle let her mind wander as well, seeking out Gild. Was he somewhere safe? Hopefully the numbskull had dropped this whole warlock business and started his life anew somewhere. She knew him though. He would be out there, turning over every rock and stone to find her.

He had always pushed the need for secrecy for what they were doing. Hopefully he was still following his own advice and keeping their attempts at power to himself. What people fail to understand is the tools themselves aren't necessarily evil, it's the people behind them. Sort of. It was hard to argue that point when the tools were beings bent on the takeover of your realm, who were using you just as much as you were using them.

“I can help you,” Lara said in a soft voice.

“Even though I'm a warlock?”

“Even though,” she paused, struggling to find the words she needed. “Just because you dabble in magic forbidden to me and most of civilized society, doesn't make you a bad person. From what I’ve seen of you, I don't think you are a bad person. Rude? Yes. A bit of a temper? Absolutely. But evil?”

Lara shook her head. “Plus, I think you can do more to help me than that Order can do.”

The librarian looked down at the gnome and met her eyes. “The only thing I ask, beg really, is if we find the spear, don't turn out to be evil and give it to the demons. We have a similar goal and I think we can change the world for the better. Deal?”

Giselle met her gaze as Lara extended a hand, a small pang of guilt twisting her stomach. She didn't really have any qualms handing the Spear over to Amarth and being done with the whole affair. What the Demon Lord did with it was no concern of hers, let them fight and bicker and tear themselves apart fighting over it in the Other. But she felt for this woman, she really did. Having a little help finding the weapon wasn't something she could turn away, either.

She reached out and took Lara’s extended hand. “Deal.”

Lara nodded, looking relieved, as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. “I’ll meet you back at the library tomorrow. I'll head back into these dopes,” she jerked her head back to the warehouse, smiling slightly, “And grab what I can from them that I think will help us.”

Giselle smiled at her. “Sounds like a plan, Lara.”