The rain didn’t let up the next day. It pounded the lands relentlessly, darkening the sky even when the sun should have been high, and making the roads too muddy for safe travel.

The only hint of Abhorrent activity were a few spawn that wandered up the slope. They were killed easily. No one was letting down their guard. The Unsighted troops slept in their armor, with weapons at their side. And the mages stayed similarly prepared.

Gandash showed no signs of waking, and Jad continued to make the rounds, to drum up support and refine his plan.

Of course, the idea of leaving Jehannemid and getting back up to the luxuries of Sin-Amuhhu was tempting in and of itself, even though there was no guarantee that would happen. But in terms of a general strategy, it made sense. Even a single High Mystic like Purattu could make a difference in a situation like this, and for all they knew, it was possible military command would send much more powerful reinforcements to deal with what seemed to be a full scale invasion.

But for now, they needed to wait out the storm—and see if Gandash would wake.

Some members of the camp passed time with card games or dice. A few of the Unsighted troops played musical instruments. Many of the mages spent time on meditation or rune study, including Xerxes. It would be a long time before he reached the Mystic level, but he’d already decided which rune to study. Asgagu Samnum, which would allow him to cast Major Augmentation, an enhanced version of Minor Augmentation. Of course, a new Asgagu spell line opened up for Mystics that allowed for augmentation of projectile weapons. But Xerxes was no archer or javelineer.

The mages reviewed the fight with the massive juvenile. If they faced something similar in the future, they would be more prepared.

Another night passed.

Another day.

It was on the morning of the third day, when Xerxes and Katayoun were at the mouth of the cave looking out into the rain, when Sergeant Stratos ran to them and said, “The Captain’s awake!”

Xerxes and Katayoun hurried back inside, up to the shelf, and to Gandash’s tent.

Dasi was outside, and nodded in greeting as they approached. “Kishar’s examining him,” she said.

“Can we go in?” Xerxes asked.

“Of course.”

He pushed the flap aside and let Kat go through first.

Gandash’s tent was larger than any of the others in the camp, but with three visitors inside, it was crowded. Gandash was on his bedroll, in a sitting position. Kishar was checking his pulse.

“Gandy,” Xerxes said.

“Xerk. Kat.” Gandash managed to force out a grin. “I guess we made it out on top.”

Xerxes nodded. “Some of us, anyway.”

Gandash’s grin disappeared. “How bad was it?”

Trying not to think about the faces of all the lost comrades, Xerxes said. “We lost twenty-five Unsighted troops.”

Gandash exhaled sharply. “Mages?”

“Kuri fell. Tizqar. Ningal. Atra-Hasis. Laxu.”

“FUCK!”

“Captain,” Kishar said, “please, try to remain calm. You’ve been unconscious for three days. Getting all riled up isn’t going to help.”

“I know. But still. Fuck.”

Gandash gritted his teeth so hard his jaw muscles looked like steel. But at the same time, his eyes looked haunted.

Xerxes stood there for a moment, wondering what else to say. “We’re holed up in a cave about half a league from the village. We entrenched fairly well, and haven’t seen any Abhorrent other than a couple stragglers. The storm is still pounding us.”

Gandash said nothing.

Kishar stepped away from his bedroll. “Captain, you seem fine. Then again, you also seemed fine before. You just wouldn’t wake up.”

“Thanks, Lieutenant,” Gandash said.

When do I tell him about Jad’s plan?

“I’ll step out now,” Kishar said. “There’s food and water on the table.”

“I’ll be outside as well,” Katayoun said.

And then they were gone, leaving Xerxes and Gandash alone.

“I screwed up,” Gandash said. “We shouldn’t have tried to take that thing out. We should have just run.”

“We could never have outrun a stage six juvenile, Gandy. You made the right choice. And in the end, we survived.”

Gandash groaned as he got to his feet and stepped over to the small table and chair. He lowered himself into the chair, poured water into the cup from a pitcher, and took a long drink. “Is everyone ready to travel?”

“Yeah. But….” There was no way Gandash was going to go along with Jad’s plan. Was there?

“But…?” Gandash said.

“The thing is, we’ve been talking, and… we have an idea.”

Gandash looked at him.

He explained, leaving out the part that the entire thing was Jad’s idea. When he finished with the explanation, Gandash didn’t say anything.

“So, what do you think?” Xerxes asked.

Gandash took a bite of food. Then another. For about two or three minutes, he just attacked the bread and stew on the table, until there wasn’t anything left. After that, he reached into his upper garment and pulled out the case that contained the secret mission orders. Unstringing it from himself, he put the box on the table and looked at it.

Gandash finished the water, and then opened the box. Inside was a rectangular envelope made of metal.

Gandash held it up. “I’m not supposed to open this until Puabi, unless circumstances dictate otherwise.”

Xerxes was silent.

Gandash looked at the envelope for a long moment, then put his thumbs on either side. Melam flowed from within the envelope, revealing that it had a built-in spell formation. A moment later, the ‘envelope’ unfolded into a metal sheet.

The angle made it impossible for Xerxes to see what was on it, but clearly, there was writing.

Gandash read.

His eyes went wide.

He reached the bottom, then went back to the top and re-read it.

Then he put the metal sheet upside down on the table. It began to smoke, its edges curling up as if it were a sheet of paper tossed into a fire. Over the course of about fifteen seconds, it transformed into ashes. Then the ashes faded into nothing.

Xerxes picked up no clue as to what Gandash thought.