Jetmorpan and his associates quickly vacated the room at Cerh’s indication that the meeting was closed. Garyung started to sputter a protest, but it was too late.

With Kayore’s contribution gone, there was no way to push for the meeting to continue.

“You’re excused as well,” Cerh said to Garyung. “The Contender and I need to have our usual discussion about the progress of his investigation. Cooperation keeps things running smoothly. You may want to try it sometime.”

“I hope I’m wrong,” Garyung said, leveling a glare across the table at the Contender. “Because if I’m right, the course you’re pushing for is going to get people killed.”

“The council of councils has spoken,” the Contender said with a dismissive gesture. “We can discuss this further next time. But I advise that you leave your pet hero at home. We’re civilized enough to allow the farce of your leadership to run its course, but it’s downright rude that you force us to pretend that he’s a real person and not a calamity walking among us.”

Garyung shoved to his feet in a sudden, threatening gesture, leaning over the table, but Kaldalis reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

“He’s not worth it,” Kaldalis said - though he couldn’t keep the anger out of his own voice. “We didn’t come here to pick fights, we came here to save lives. And if other people came to end them, we’ll remember that when we meet them again.”

To Kaldalis’s surprise, Garyung kept up the aggressive act, but let him have the last word. Kaldalis found himself guiding Garyung out of the meeting chamber as he kept his glare glued to the Contender’s smirk. The display was obviously another of Garyung’s acting stunts, intended to make Kaldalis look like the reasonable one - threatening that things would go very differently without him there to keep the muscular bhogad from crossing the line - but Kaldalis wasn’t sure that the message landed.

“We’ve done all we can,” Kaldalis grumbled as soon as they were out of the room. “All we can do from here is stay the course. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. If Cerh and Jetmorpan want to sacrifice their own people to spite us, that’s their business.”

“Fuck. That.” Garyung snarled. Kaldalis was surprised at the fire in his voice now that they were out of the meeting chambers and moving down the hall to the stairs. Was someone still watching, or was Garyung not acting at all? The man turned to Ikzoz. “I’m not going to abandon these people to the whims of their asshole leaders. What can I do to incentivize our adventurers to go outside of Cotanaku? Is there a way to set up quest objectives to go to Panbu and Kayore and act as defenses there in case an attack happens?”

“Not officially,” Ikzoz said, tapping his scaled chin with a claw. Even with his brow furrowed in thought, there was a ghost of a smile on his face. The man was happy with Garyung’s reaction, and Kaldalis couldn’t blame him. “However, both cities are undergoing significant repairs - more significant than Cotanaku. We can spread the word that there will be quests in plenty in both towns, and thin out our own issuance in Cotanaku. No offense, but your type are not difficult to steer around. They’ll go where the quests are.”

“Good,” Garyung snapped, still visibly agitated as they got to the bottom of the stairs - to the main meeting hall of the Panbu town hall. “It’s no replacement for getting their goddamn walls upgraded, but it’s better than nothing. Now, I’ve probably been gone too long already, so-”

“Halt!” a deep voice barked from the top of the stairs.

Despite themselves, Kaldalis, Garyung, and Ikzoz all stopped and turned. The two town guards with them immediately took up defensive positions. Though they probably felt pretty silly at jumping to combat mode for the man who came down the stairs after them. It was Brother Gnider. The spindly human man Kaldalis had met before. One of the Contender’s lieutenants. Kaldalis knew he was tougher than he looked, but that didn’t change how tiny he was.

“You don’t have time for this,” Ikzoz warned Garyung.

“Don’t worry,” Kaldalis cut in, stepping past the town guards to meet the approaching priest. “You get back to Cotanaku. I’ve got this.”

“Good. You’re the man I’m here to speak with,” Brother Gnider confirmed. “The others are dismissed.”

“You don’t dismiss anyone,” Kaldalis said firmly, trying not to remember who won in their last altercation. “They’re leaving, no matter what you say.”

Brother Gnider’s nostrils flared in agitation, but Kaldalis could see the man taking a moment to choose to let go of his irritation. He actually needed something from Kaldalis, and he needed it badly enough to swallow his pride.

“You found the Lataxinans,” Brother Gnider continued as Garyung, Ikzoz, and their guards left the town hall. A hard, angry line made a furrow in his forehead. “Tell me how.”

Kaldalis stared at the man openly for a long moment. “You heard fine up there, didn’t you?” Kaldalis asked. “Kaia’s Flicker, Nyxlas’s Augment, the Jump ability, and my girlfriend beating me almost to death with my own sword.” He shrugged. “I don’t know how to tell you more plainly.”

“You said that others can see them, though,” Brother Gnider pressed, as if ignoring what Kaldalis had said. “Their vessel, at least.”

“Yeah, if you have Kaia’s Flicker, you can see the vessel,” Kaldalis said, unsure of where this was going. “It just looks like ominous floating marshmallows, though, unless you get close.”

“Show me.”

That took Kaldalis by surprise. The Contender’s entire investigation was focused on the Lataxinan abilities. Did they really know nothing about them, or how they worked? Or was he asking to learn Kaia’s Flicker? The first rule imposed by the Contender had been to cut off access to the dungeons where the abilities were held.

“Do you know what you want here?” Kaldalis asked. “Do you know what it requires?”

“I know enough,” Gnider said, crossing his arms.

The man was trying to exude confidence, but he didn’t have the same force of personality of the Contender. Even Garyung was a better actor.

He didn’t know anything.

“I have an appointment for the dungeon tomorrow at eight,” Kaldalis said carefully. “Be there.”

“What?” Brother Gnider blurted, the confident facade cracking. “For what?”

“You want to see the floating marshmallows?” Kaldalis asked, crossing his arms. “Then you need to learn Kaia’s Flicker. I’ll take you through the dungeon, you can get the ability, and then you can go stare at it to your heart’s content.”

The priest’s confidence dropped away entirely for a second. He built it back up almost immediately, but the damage was done. Kaldalis knew for certain that he hadn’t expected that. The question was, what had he expected?

There were two options. Either he thought Kaldalis could send - or take - him to the Paths Between Paths himself, or he didn’t know that running the dungeon was how to acquire the ability. Or both. Wasn’t he working for the Contender? Wasn’t the Contender’s whole purpose to investigate these abilities?

His own people were in the dark about even the most basic information. How?

Or, more importantly: why?

“It’s alright if you’re afraid to color outside the lines, though,” Kaldalis said in as flippant a tone he could muster. The last time they’d spoken, Kaldalis got the impression that this guy was ambitious enough to take on the Contender. Perhaps this was just his way of doing that and he was reading too far into it. “I would never dream of messing up your investigation.”

“No mess,” Brother Gnider said firmly, though his tone seemed to be directed at himself. He was grappling with what Kaldalis was telling him, and how it conflicted with what he’d heard from the Contender. “I’ll be there. As long as your people allow me through Cotanaku.”

Kaldalis gave him a curious look. Did he think Cotanaku was on lockdown? Why would he think he wasn’t allowed in? Perhaps because he was part of the Contender’s forces, he believed-

The pieces of the puzzle came together so suddenly he was surprised he didn’t blurt it out in Brother Gnider’s face.

There was no investigation.

The Contender’s people didn’t know anything about the Lataxinan abilities, nor were they researching them. Garyung had negotiated their removal from Cotanaku, and so now they viewed him as a hostile dictator. And the Contender had a seat at the meeting that had been explicitly only intended for local leaders.

The Contender wasn’t here to investigate the so-called Unholy Magic.

The Contender was here to contain the threat of a PC-led nation.

“I will see you in the morning, then,” Kaldalis said, forcing himself to project a sense of calm that he didn’t feel. “Once I make arrangements.”

“You will,” Brother Gnider promised.