“They’re not giving up!” he shouted.

Ninsunu looked back. “Run faster,” she said.

They sprinted and jumped across the rooftops of Harborview. The Abhorrent chased them.

Ninsunu was a lot faster than him. Not only was she a High Seer, but also, in her transformed state she was more athletic. And that meant he was holding her back.

“You go ahead,” he said. “I’ll go on the streets.”

“Meet at the keep.”

Making one last leap across the top of a roof, he slid down the opposite side and went over the edge. Landing on his feet, he took a moment to gain his bearings.

He was on the very edge of Harborview, and recognized the streets around him.

The keep’s that way, he thought.

Keeping his sword gripped firmly in his hand, he started running. In his opinion, sticking to the streets was better. Not only was it easier to run on level ground, but also, the Abhorrent couldn’t see him.

Although… could they sense him?

He kept glancing over his shoulder, but didn’t see any pursuing monsters. He ducked left and right through various intersections, picking what he felt was the fastest route back to the keep, while simultaneously avoiding any of the main thoroughfares.

He wondered what the Abhorrent were doing now. If they weren’t chasing him, then were they killing people? Innocents?

About halfway back to the keep, he couldn’t keep those thoughts from his mind. Gritting his teeth, he jumped back up to the rooftops. Looking back toward Harborview, he saw no evidence of Abhorrent. Nor did he see Ninsunu.

Not sure what it meant, he dropped back down and kept running.

Before long he was back at the gate of the keep, without having seen or smelled any hints of monsters. The soldiers at the gate were waiting for him.

“Welcome back, Seer,” one of them said. “‘Igh Seer Ninsunu said you’d be coming this way.”

“Thanks,” he said, entering. “Did she say where to go?”

“She said to clean up, then ‘ead back to the council room.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

He hadn’t even had a chance to cleanse the dust of travel off himself after returning to the city, so he was glad for the chance to do so, rushed though it was. It was already nighttime, and the urge to sleep made his eyes scratchy.

Clad in a proper mage’s robe and white hat, he hurried through the route Captain Ishki had taken earlier.

The council chamber seemed emptier than before.

Mystic Abban Saddi was there, but the king was nowhere to be seen. Ninsunu was present, back in her ordinary form. Satahsusar wasn’t there. Nor were Shemesh, Alwin, Gandash, or Gandash’s father Dumamu. However, Xerxes’ father was there.

As Xerxes entered, Ataneedusu breathed a loud sigh of relief. “Thank the Monad,” he said, hurrying over and embracing his son.

“I’m fine, Dad,” he said, hugging his father back.

“I was worried,” Attaneedusu said gruffly. “High Seer Ninsunu said you single-handedly killed a juvenile Abhorrent? That’s incredible!”

The corner of Xerxes’ mouth turned up, but he stifled the grin. “I just did what I had to do.”

“You deserve a medal,” Aban Saddi said. “And I’ll give you one, after all this is over.”

Xerxes stood up a bit straighter and tried hard to stop from smiling. “It was my duty, sir.”

Aban Saddi nodded.

Attaneedusu squeezed his son’s shoulder, then guided him to the table.

“What happened to the ones that were chasing us?” he asked.

“They disappeared,” Ninsunu said. “Which is a big concern. And as I was saying, Aban, this yet again proves my theory. Or at least lends weight to it. The Abhorrent are after us. We shouldn’t be strutting around in the open. Gather everyone and hole up in the keep. That’s our safest option.”

Aban Saddi crossed his arms. “I don’t disagree. But, why don’t we send an emergency request to open the Gateway to Humusi? Once they learn what’s happening, they might send help. High Mystics, at the very least. Maybe Archons.”

Ninsunu shook her head. “They almost never respond to messages, Aban. Besides, what if we’re not the only starisle that’s being invaded? It’s entirely possible they want us isolated. Quarantined.”

“We could open a Gateway to lower starisles. Either hole up in one of those worlds, or conscript some mages to form a larger force to defend ourselves. Hell, Nina, I’d even be happy sailing to the south. Find an island somewhere. Anything but sitting in this castle like fish on the chopping block. Look at what happened to Satahsusar. She’s not exactly a combat whiz, but she knows how to handle herself in a fight, and she barely survived. Imagine if those things infest these corridors.”

Ninsunu frowned. “Seer Xerxes, what do you think?”

Xerxes’ opened his mouth to respond, but was so taken aback at being asked for advice that he didn’t know what to say. “I… um….”

The Head Mage looked at him. “Don’t be nervous. Just tell us what your gut feeling is.”

He took a moment to consider. The last thing he wanted to do was end up disagreeing with the majority. And right now, Ninsunu’s ideas seemed the soundest. “I agree with High Seer Ninsunu. It’s true I killed that thing earlier, but I think it’s because I caught it by surprise. It was the same type that was hunting us on the road, and—” his lip curled in disgust “—they’re dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Even one is scary, let alone if there’s an entire horde of them.”

Aban Saddi exhaled slowly and sat in his chair. “Fine. Once the other teams are back, we’ll hash out the details. Shemesh, Gandash, and Alwin went to investigate an incident in Garden Terrace. Be’at, Nohem, and Fale are still on the same mission from earlier. They’re both supposed to return this evening. We can have a course of action ready for when the sun rises.”

“Sir,” Ataneedusu said, “I was wondering—”

The door slammed open and Shemesh stormed into the room, Gandash and Alwin trailing behind him.

“We have an issue,” he said. “A big fucking issue.”