The gears creaked and turned as Taldry waved his hand over the devices in front of him. It was an amalgamation of metal and gears that seemed almost not of this world. The only part of the machine that didn’t ache the brain was the hole in the center where one of Taldry’s lenses now stood.

With each wave of Taldry’s hand the image in the lens would change, and the machine would creak. The cool night wind nipped at Taldry’s old bones and aching back, but he appeared unconcerned. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were fixed on the lens in front of him.

Suddenly he gave a deep sigh, “So it's begun. Let’s hope that stupid bird was right, but was they’re really no avoiding this?”

He turned to look behind him, the roof of his tower was half covered by a dome, leaving the machine exposed to night air.

Taldry stroked his beard and turned back to the stars in the night sky, “At least there’s only one place she can come from. I just hope she doesn’t damage the telescope.” He considered the machine in front of him.

Suddenly he heard the flapping of wings and took another breath to calm himself and turned towards the source, “Nilowin how wonderful it is to see…”

A dark mass slammed into his side with a crunch. The air in his lungs escaped from him as he was sent flying down from the balcony he stood on towards the bottom of the tower.

A lens appeared below him and he fell through it, reappearing on the floor below. He stumbled towards one of the massive white columns, coughing up his lungs, “What the…hell…Nilowin!”

Nilowin shrieked and swung her wings. Her feathers flew like arrows through the tower, impalling the walls and books around them.

Taldry quickly summoned another lens to shield himself, “Dammit Nillowin! Don’t harm the books!”

When the whistling of the feathers flying through the air died down, Taldry dropped his lense, but was greeted by Nilowin at arm's length.

She seized him by the neck and held him a loft, “Oh not the poor books!” she said mockingly, “I don’t give a damn about your book! Funny how you’ll lift a finger to save them, but not an actual person.”

“What…are you…talking about?” Taldry struggled to speak through her grip.

Nilowin’s face darkened, “Did you know?”

“About what…” Taldry choked.

Nilowin leaned into his ear, “Did you know that I would become like this? Did you know what would happen that faithful night, or worse, that it was happening?”

Taldry’s eyes widened and Nilowin’s matched his, but in the end, they sharpened to a deadly glare of fury.

“AHHHH”

Nilowin screamed, and threw Taldry up through the tower, towards the endless night sky.

Taldry could just blink to wake his mind. In seconds his world had been turned upside down. Under normal circumstances he would enjoy the new perspective, but Nilowin looked just as scary upside down as right side up.

Taldry squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the throbbing pain in his back. A lens appeared behind him and he flew through it. Suddenly he found himself slammed up against the railing of the balcony his telescope stood on.

He groaned as he spun himself around on the railing to face Nilowin. Her wings beat in the air as she flew up to be face to face with him. Taldry spoke through panted breath, “Let’s talk about this…I can explain…”

Nilowin swung her wings, sending her razor-sharp feathers through the air once more, “There is nothing to explain! YOU LET HER DIE! SHE’S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU.”

Taldry let himself fall through another lens, but Nilowin was on him with such tenacity that the wildest of animals couldn’t compare. The tower was suddenly covered with lenses as the whistles of feathers sounded through the room. Nilowin pounced upon wherever Taldry would appear.

“What happened to you that night shouldn’t happen to anyone, but I am not responsible for her death! You have to believe me!”

“LIAR! You knew, but did nothing! Did you watch as I wept over her!? As I lost her!?”

No response came at first as the fight went on, and an answer's absence made Nilowin tremble with rage. Her eyes embodying the fury of a thousand flames.

“I didn’t have a choice… I had to.” Taldry let out

Nilowin’s fury left her body as she hovered in the center of the room, motionless, “What?”

Suddenly lenses surrounded Nilowin boxing her in and Taldry stood on another lens in the air in front of her, “I’m sorry Nilowin, but I simply can’t interfere with events outside of Canalith. It is forbidden. Now and then.”

The lenses started to close in on Nilowin. One showed a lush forest. Another showed a bright and desolate desert, and mountains appeared through another. In each and every lens around Nilowin a different terrain could be seen through it, and they all closed in on her at once.

“I’m sorry Nilowin.”

“I’m not.”

The feathers embedded into the sides of the tower flew back to their master with blinding speed.

“Aghhh!” Taldry let out as several stuck into his back.

The lenses vanished into thin air, and Taldry began to fall to the floor. Nilowin dove and caught him in the air, holding his throat tight as he tried to groan in pain.

Nilowin snarled in his face. The diamonds of her pupils were a dim grey in her white eyes, “I’ll show you the cost of such a belief! I’ll wake you from your indifference towards the affairs of others with your own plight. Just simply watching from a far will not be an option this time, Disciple of Knowledge.”

***

Umbren sat in the fountain's edge, sharpening Cronai. He took comfort in the methodical sheen of the blade against the whetstone. The dribble of water sprouting from the fountain also brought him a little peace. At least it made the revelery of the night air fade into the background.

“I don’t like it not one bit.” Faldrid said next to him.

Umbren looked up from the sword, “It could have gone worse. Everyone is still alive. Nothing much we could have done. That odd seating arrangement was against us from the very beginning.”

Faldrid shook his head, “The dinner went just as well as it could of, but that’s not what I’m referring to,” he spread his arms to the tents around them, “This is what I’m referring to.”

“They’re just having fun, right? I don’t see any harm in it.”

“It’s lazy is what it is.” Talquin said with a sigh.

She sat back on the fountain, staring up at the stars. Her usual rigidness had given away.

“Are you going to do anything about it?” Faldrid asked.

Talquin shrugged, “Nothing I can do. They’re already all drunk. All I say would just fall on deaf ears, but I’m certainly not going to take part in it. Gives the fulgcere the wrong impression in my opinion.”

Umbren furrowed his brow as he looked into the tents. Tenebrage sang and laughed and danced. Umbren couldn’t help, but smile at it, “What impression should we be leaving exactly?”

Talquin threw her hands into the air, “We’re the Black Crescent. Deadly blades in the shadow. Cold blooded killers who carry out the disciples’ will without remorse. No wonder the Hands look down on us the way they do.”

Umbren smirked, “That’s a little excessive. I don’t think a little fun is any harm.”

Talquin turned to him with the same smirk as his, “A little is fine to me, but I don’t think anyone would say this is just a little. Really, where did they get all this alcohol from.”

Faldrid crossed his arms, “That’s exactly what I’m troubled by. Luxcian merchants brought it.”

Talquinn eyes widened as she jumped from her place on the fountain. She looked about to run off, but Faldrid seized her hand, “I appreciate how eager you are, but luxcian merchants are usually outside actors doing whatever they can to line their pockets. We don’t know if they had ill intent.”

Talquin tilted her head in irritated confusion, “Then why are you worried?”

“Because a luxcian army sits outside of Canalith!” He said in a hushed whisper, “I believe I would be on edge over just about anything.”

“Do you just want me to do nothing with that information?!”

Faldrid gave a nodded, “That’s best. The situation is too fragile to act on it. Who knows? Maybe if you tell the Bluecloaks that the luxcians are trying something underhanded, they might just decide to go pay them a visit!”

After a moment Talquin relaxed then looked down at her hand still clenched onto by Faldrid, “You can let me go now.”

Faldrid looked down at his hand in surprise as he let go, “Oh I’m sorry.”

“You’re really on edge, aren’t you?” Talquin said dryly.

She stomped back to the fountain and fell back onto it with a groan, “Why weren’t we allowed to stay anyway?”

“Only the disciples and their apostles were allowed to stay.”

“Then why were you asked to stay?” asked Umbren.

Faldrid gave a weak smile, “People appreciate my advice.”

Relam suddenly came stumbling out of the tent with a bottle of wine in one and another Bluecloak in another, “And the father slaid the Prince of Skotous with his mighty sword…” Relam and the other Bluecloack sang as they sputtered through their words.

“Those aren’t the lyrics.” Faldrid said.

Relam gave a wide grin at the sight of Faldrid and came stumbling over, catching himself on Faldrid’s cloak, “Faldrid! How you doing! Have you tried this wine! Oh Tenebrage! If I knew this was out here, I never would have gone to that awful dinner,” he slurred.

“You’re a disgrace.” Talquinn scoffed.

Relam’s eyes widened in panic at her voice as he threw himself off Faldrid, stumbling backwards and towards her at the same time, “I…don’t want to hear it. Maybe…just maybe…if you stopped yelling at people, they would enjoy your…your company.”

“You’re drunk.”

Relam threw his arms out wide with a baffled and childlike frown, “I am not drunk!” He burped, “But…maybe if you got drunk…that stick up your ass would dislodge itself.”

Umbren interupted, “Relam if you didn’t want to lose any teeth, I think you should stop.”

A wild grin came to Relam’s face as he spun to face Umbren. He stumbled over to him, but tripped over himself and landed at in front of the fountain with a giggle, “Umbren, Umbren, how have you been,” he lifted the hand with the bottle in it, and was surprised to see it, “Wine?” It sounded like he was both surprised at its existence and also offering.

The other Bluecloak came wobbling over, Umbren nodded over him, “Who’s that?”

Relam softly began to pat his knee, “Oh! Umbren this is my new bestest friend…” he looked up at the Bluecloak, “What’s your name again bestest friend?”

The new Bluecloak began to lose his balance, but Faldrid caught him.

Relam put a finger to his chin, “I think it started with a S…oh yes Salran. That was it Salran!”

Salran didn’t respond to his name as he caressed Faldrid’s bald head.

Relam’s eyes seemed to widen, Umbren! You should come meet the others!” He grabbed onto Umbren’s hand and tried to drag him away, but not to much avail, and Umbren simply chose to ignore him

He stumbled away and frowned back at Umbren, “Fine I see how it is. Let’s go Salran, they’re no…”

A flash of light. Umbren’s world seemed to slow down. He watched as Relam’s frown shifted to one of annoyance, to confusion, to agony. He watched as Talquinn slammed into him, sending him to the ground, behind her. He watched as she summoned a shield of darkness. Finally, he could move.

He jumped up from his seat and summoned all the darkness he could and added it to Talquin’s shield and Faldrid did the same after he threw Salran to the ground.

A barrage of arrows of light came down upon them. An unrelenting downpour that seemed like it would never end. Umbren head strained with the effort. If he was alone, he would surely be dead.

“AHHH! Salran help me!” Faldrid whined as he clutched his shoulder, “It can’t end like this it can’t…”

An uproar burst forth into the air from the tents around them. The screams of metal and people blended into a cacophony of battle A battle between luxcians and tenebrage in the fulgcere capital of Canalith.

“So, it’s begun. What an insult.” Whispered Faldrid under his breath