“Change quickly,” Wenris snapped, tossing Diane and Jaine each leather trousers and plain but travel-ready bodices. She’d already given the two maids other outfits, and the two human women had stripped off their clothing and begun changing.

“What are you doing?” Jaine demanded, pausing while Diane began to change.

“Getting you and Diane out of Westgate, to someplace safe,” Wenris retorted quickly, shapeshifting her clothing into a more suitable outfit for travel, and taking on a dusk elf figure and face as well. “Now change. If it makes you feel better, think of it as giving you a chance to share Tyria’s faith in a new area.”

“Mistress…” Serel began, the woman’s eyes narrowing. “Does that not undermine Lady Irethiel’s plans?”

Even Diane paused at that, blinking in confusion. In response Wenris smiled thinly, dropping her trousers slightly to reveal her own crimson brand. The succubus reached down, and Diane’s jaw dropped as the succubus seemed to pull, and a scintillating red thread appeared. With a sharp gesture, the succubus snapped the thread, and her brand slowly faded away. Then the succubus spoke quickly, her voice sweet as she refastened her clothing. “Why, yes, it does. However, I am not Irethiel’s servant. My Lady has directives of her own, and now is the best time to carry them out. Tell me, Serel… do you object?”

“I…” Serel stopped, seeming as stunned as Diane felt. To the elf’s knowledge, nothing could break the slave brands, and yet the demon had destroyed her own seemingly effortlessly. After a moment the Enforcer asked, “Does this mean I can get vengeance on Ulvian?”

“Possibly. Everything depends on your timing, Serel. Now, ladies, get changed. We’re running out of time here,” Wenris ordered, and Diane continued changing quickly, her thoughts racing as she considered what Wenris had just revealed.

While the others were preparing, Wenris seemed to slit a hole in the air and one by one shoved the packed bags into the hole, causing them to vanish without a trace. She seemed to be muttering something under her breath, but after a few moments all their baggage was gone and she tossed each of them a dagger she’d retrieved from the rift, even as it closed again. “There we go. Hopefully the rescue party gets here soon.”

“Rescue party?” Jaine asked curiously, almost hesitantly.

“Last night Wenris said she was waiting for rebels to attempt to rescue us, or she’d get us out on her own,” Diane told her daughter, taking a deep breath as she shook her head. “This isn’t what I anticipated.”

An abrupt clatter in the hallway accompanied by a few strangled grunts cut them off, and Diane tensed as the door abruptly burst open, and a dozen dusk elves appeared, weapons at the ready. In an instant Serel’s sword had cleared its sheath and the woman was shrouded by a glittering crimson shell of light. Before they could act, Wenris spoke sharply.

“Took you long enough! I did my best to get you good information, so let’s get the hell out of here.” The demon’s words caused the elves to pause in shock, their leader looking at her questioningly.

“What are you talking about?” the woman asked cautiously.

“Wenris leaked the information about our visit so we could escape,” Diane said quickly. “Shall we go? I really don’t want to risk failing at this.”

No one seemed quite certain of what to do, but at that moment they heard an immense explosion from the front of the manor. Wenris’ eyes went huge, and she asked. “What did you just do?”

“Well, since the Archon was here, we decided to—” the leader began to explain, and Wenris’ eyes went wider in horror.

“Oh, you idiots! We have to run, now! He’s going to be pissed.” For the first time, Diane heard worry in the demon’s voice. At that note of shock, Diane nodded to Jaine, Maria, and Meredith, and they moved toward the elves, who fell back to let them out.

Diane couldn’t help but wonder why Wenris was so worried.

* * *

Desa felt elation surge through her as the Archon was sent flying, blood spraying from his body as the lance from the battle staff vanished, and his soldiers froze in shock at the dull impact of his body against the wall. She couldn’t believe it’d been so simple, yet the staff had punched through the man’s shields as though they hadn’t even been there! It took a huge amount of mana, and she could feel the structure of the staff weakening, but it was worth it.

Behind her, Slaid let out a cheer, stepping forward with the other rebels to threaten the remaining soldiers that had accompanied the Archon. The soldiers were falling back, apparently in terror, and Desa felt her confidence grow.

“You know, I try to be a nice man, but that? That just pissed me off.” The savage exclamation broke through the cheers of Slaid’s men, silencing them as the Archon stood back up, and Desa’s heart felt like it had stopped when she saw the hole in his chest had almost entirely closed, the bone reforming and both skin and muscle reweaving in mere moments.

“How… everyone, get back!” Desa called out in a panic, flooding mana into the staff, and a glittering dome of light shrouded the area within twenty feet of her. She internally thanking the heavens that Alissa and Skylark hadn’t gotten far. Slaid and most of the others quickly pulled back inside the shield, but a few of the others weren’t so lucky as the Archon snapped out the words of a spell without so much as a gesture.

A baleful crimson-black shroud of energy suddenly enveloped the Archon, and from it lanced out dozens of bolts of energy. Each bolt was like a seething arrow of dark crimson blood, racing through the air with freakish speed as they targeted every man and woman in the courtyard, including the Archon’s own allies.

Screams rang out as the bolts hit the two men and the woman who hadn’t reached Desa’s shield, as well as the near-dozen guards, and Desa flinched as she felt the immense impact of over twenty more of them hit her shield, exploding nearly powerfully enough to break it. Still, her barrier held, which meant that she had to watch what came next.

Each of the people who’d been hit seemed fine for a moment, before their skin turned beet red and they screamed in pain. Then, in an eruption of gore, each of them exploded, leaving behind their blood-slick skeletons, still grasping their weapons. A crimson glow filled the sockets of the undead creatures’ eyes, and the skeletons began to march toward Desa and the rebels.

Hearing the sobs of fear from at least a few people behind her, Desa honestly couldn’t blame them. The sight had been horrible, and she could barely keep from shaking herself as she stared at the man. He seemed to calm ever so slightly, but his voice was still incisive. “You little rebels dare to attack me here, in the domain of Kelvanis? I’m going to make you wish you’d never been born! And using a battle staff against me? Hah! Go ahead, little mage, and try to beat me with it! I’ll turn it to ash and destroy you in turn!”

“Ah, shit,” Desa heard Slaid mutter, and she couldn’t help but agree with him.

With a gesture the Archon sent a blast of shadowy energy into the barrier, and Desa felt the staff creaking ominously in her hands. The first few skeletons stepped through the barrier and engaged the soldiers, who fell back, fighting haphazardly. The skeletons didn’t seem to be very strong, but the terror they caused was enough to almost even the odds. Slaid jumped forward, his enchanted blade destroying one in short order.

At that moment Desa saw the flicker of movement from one of the side entrances of the manor, and she saw Vendis, her soldiers, and several others racing for the north gate of the manor. Fortunately the angle was such that the Archon couldn’t see them, and Desa ground her teeth for an instant, then made her decision.

“Slaid, retreat! Job’s done as it’s going to be! I’ll hold him here for as long as I can, but the staff won’t last much longer. When it goes down, you being here will just make this worse!” Desa spat out, removing a hand from the staff as she murmured a spell, launching a spear of ice at one of the skeletons, knocking its head off.

“But—” Slaid began, but Desa shook her head.

“Go, now! Tell them what we ran into!” she demanded, and an instant later he cursed, then began to retreat, the remainder of his men and women at his heels. It took a moment before Desa realized that both Alissa and Skylark were there, as the two women stepped forward and cut the last skeleton inside the barrier apart, and she cursed, telling them, “You too, dammit!”

“No.” Alissa spoke calmly, staring at the other skeletons. “Skylark can report to Her Majesty. I’m not abandoning you.”

“Running like the rats you are? Well, I’ll hunt down every last one of you,” the Archon interjected, murmuring spells and launching a hail of fire bolts at the barrier, causing it to shudder with every impact.

“I can’t—” Skylark began to protest.

“Go!” Desa interrupted, swallowing her frustration as she saw the skeletons getting closer. “I don’t know how to kill him, so go! Tell Phynis I’m sorry!”

Skylark waited only an instant, and tears began to stream down her face as she turned and ran.

For several seconds there was a breather, but then more skeletons burst through the barrier, while the Archon himself approached, his voice musing between tossing out his attacks. “What did you think you were going to manage, anyway? You couldn’t just be planning to kill me. There’s too many dangers to something like that… so what is it, I wonder?”

Desa didn’t reply, throwing the occasional bolt of ice at the skeletons as Alissa fought them, the other elf barely dodging the hail of attacks they were unleashing, even as both of them fell back step by step. Unfortunately, it took only a minute or two before she felt the staff shudder a last time, and then her barrier flickered and died, even as the staff softened, then collapsed on itself, its magic spent as it turned to ashes.

“Damn you, Sorvos!” Desa spat, pulling out her dagger and about to turn it on herself when the man made a sharp, angry gesture.

Chains suddenly burst from the ground, seemingly forged of blood and barbs as they wrapped around Desa’s body and tightened suddenly, pinning her in place as the barbs pierced deep into her body. She screamed in pain, seeing similar chains wrap around Alissa in an instant, and she struggled in terror as Ulvian smiled at her, looking almost friendly now.

“There we go. Don’t worry… the chains are enchanted to keep you alive, if in agony. You will tell me what you were after… after I deal with your friends,” the human told her, smiling broadly.

Desa shuddered, then bared her teeth at him as she spat. “Good luck with that.”

Then the device Albert had given her exploded, and the entire manor was rocked by the detonation at its heart and began to collapse inward on itself.

* * *

“Those damnable bitches! It took all winter to get them almost there, then those… those… argh!” Ulvian’s anger was almost incalculable, and he was pacing the room across from Elissa, his purple robes singed and smelling of soot from the final attack by the invaders.

“This is why I’ve always felt you’re too attached to your plans, Ulvian. No plan goes perfectly, yet you always seem to get flustered and enraged when there’s a kink in them,” Elissa replied idly, frowning as she looked out the window. “You’re certain that the invaders assassinated the succubus and escaped?”

“Yes, damn it! Their bodies weren’t in the wreckage, and neither were their maids! The only way they could have escaped is if she was dead, since she was instructed by My Lady to aid me,” Ulvian all but spat, scowling deeply as he glowered at the floor, then stared at Elissa. “Why do you think I came to you, anyway?”

“Because you needed someone to rant at?” Elissa murmured, prompting yet another scowl from him as she turned away from the window and let out a sigh. “I know, I know, I’ll help, Ulvian. But know this, until you finally carry out your part of the bargain, this is the last time I’ll do so.”

“Oh? And why is that?” Ulvian asked, glaring at her.

“I am getting tired of cleaning up your messes, Ulvian. I’ve actually somewhat enjoyed being the High Priestess, more than I expected, in all honesty… but this is your problem, and despite everything, the only thing you’ve given me in return is a few trinkets that I could’ve earned by seducing a minor baron.” Elissa spoke flatly, meeting his eyes. “Either Tyria carries out the bargain when she wakes, or I’m done.”

The Archon let out a soft growl, especially thinking about how much money he’d put into the churches she’d insisted on erecting… but he honestly couldn’t argue the point. Most of the money hadn’t gone to Elissa at all, and he nodded choppily, steadying himself before replying. “Fine. She should be waking sometime next week, and I’ll give the proper instructions. Now, please take care of my problem for me?”

“Good enough,” Elissa murmured, then raised her eyes and spoke. “Zenith? I request thy aid.”

For an instant there was no response, then all of a sudden the angel seemed to melt through the window once more. She smiled and nodded to Elissa, ignoring Ulvian. “Yes, High Priestess? How may I be of assistance?”

“Someone has attacked Westgate and taken Diane and Jaine, likely after deceiving them,” Elissa explained gently. “I would request that you rescue them and bring them back. They may be confused and protest, but you should not allow such to sway you.”

“I had noticed the attack on the city. Dark magic was employed in the process, which lends credence to your words,” Zenith agreed, the angel’s smile dimming for a moment before brightening as she nodded. “I will go rescue the blessed from their captors and return them here as quickly as I am able, High Priestess.”

“Thank you, Zenith,” Elissa replied, to which the angel didn’t respond, instead taking flight and phasing through the window again as she streaked off into the distance like a rising star. After a moment Elissa looked at Ulvian and raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t she notice you?”

“In her conditioning, we made her unable to notice my use of dark magic. Since I used so much earlier, she simply ignores me entirely,” he explained with a shrug, then straightened. “Thank you. Please send them back to me as soon as possible. I’m taking the prisoners back to Kelvanath, and trying to salvage what I can from this disaster.”

“Oh? Whatever are you going to do to them?” Elissa asked curiously.

“I’ve already had them branded, and while I considered having them tell me what they know, I’m going for the more satisfying approach,” Ulvian replied with an angry smile. “I’m going to have one of them torture the other to death, then kill herself. Milady’s servants are far more adept at gathering full information from souls than trying to force every bit of knowledge from them myself.”

“You’ve become an even more sadistic ass than I thought,” Elissa replied mildly, shaking her head and sighing. “You may as well go. I need to play the part of the healer here in the city. I may not enjoy it, but it’s certainly good cover.”

Ulvian snorted and turned away, leaving the room. It was a few minutes after he left under heavy guard that he frowned, wondering if Elissa was going soft. A moment later, he banished the thought. “No, that couldn’t happen.”