"Why would you request such a thing?"

  "Last time she was here, you held her captive as well, right? She told us about it, and it's not difficult to imagine she'll hardly be happy to find herself in the same situation again. See it as a way of making her ease up, more eager to talk to us in the first place. And we need her at ease as much as possible if you want their scales too on top of that. You won't be getting any off of me, unfortunately."

  "Maybe you're right... It's not like they'll be able to escape anyway."

  "Exactly."

  It was easy to conceal my relief when my tour around my temporary new home led us to the chamber that we got caught in yesterday. In daylight and without panic clouding my mind, it was quite obvious that this was once the throne room.

  "I heard that the lord of Shinestone wanted to make this the new royal castle at some point?" I changed the subject.

  "He did, but failed miserably. He miscalculated the Fearns' determination to hold onto the throne."

  I made a small, affirmative sound. "You won't be making the same mistake though, will you. How many kanh are supporting you exactly?"

  "Us."

  "Yeah, sorry."

  "There's enough of them to take on Earlindon's armies. Not that Earlindon can put a lot out there, now that they are leaderless."

  "You... we'll be going to open war with them?"

  "Not straight away, but yes."

  "Daring..." I smiled a little.

  "We have to be."

  Nodding a little, I let my gaze wander. But it was rather my thoughts that started wandering.

  Open war... would we be able to put together an army strong enough? I could estimate the numbers of the kanh stationed here, it should make strategizing easier... We had Armailith, our surprise factor that could make them lose a lot of confidence, but how much exactly? I didn't know much about elves... but Yasenka did. If we make it clear how serious the situation is, maybe she could get the forest elves to help somehow?

  "... mind?"

  "Sorry?" I snapped back to Sharish's amused face.

  "What are those intense thoughts that clog up your ears?"

  "Well..." I searched my brain for something plausible, finding it surprisingly easily. "I was just wondering if we could use the fact that Earlindon might still think I'm the rightful successor to the throne. I could give you full detail on their numbers, strategies, maybe even purposefully steer them into making some mistakes?"

  The mage gently pinched his chin as we entered a hallway that led towards the more devastated part of the stronghold. "Maybe... I'm not sure I want to risk it though. Look at you. You don't look like a human being anymore, they might not trust you. And even if they do initially, they will be cautious, and the more cautiousness, the bigger the risk of them discovering something we don't want them to know. No, I don't want to expose you to this."

  I felt my expression soften slightly. "You're... surprisingly caring."

  "To my allies, yes."

  Suddenly, a kanh appeared in front of us so suddenly and soundlessly as if he just sprouted from the cracks in the floor within a split second. "Please excuse the interruption," he almost whispered, his voice soft, but seeming to struggle with the Earlindonian language.

  Sharish gave him a small nod. "What is it?"

  "The mage is here to see you."

  "The mage?" Sharish seemed confused. "Someone from Shinestone? I told them to not come here, they'll make the humans suspect something."

  "No, it's the one from the north. The one you hired some time ago."

  "Canidralth...?" Sharish's eyes narrowed as they wandered to the side, wondering about the sudden appearance. It didn't take long before he turned them back to me. "Forgive me, Sigrian, but I need to find out why he's here. Feel free to wander some more, just be careful to not get a bump on the head in the destroyed areas."

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Don't worry about me, I'll just explore a bit and come back later. Though I admit I'm curious..."

  "We can have a chat once he's gone."

  I watched him go back the corridor and to the right, where the stairs to the tower were located. As soon as silence replaced the echo of his footsteps in the ruins around me, I started heading in the exact opposite direction.

  It felt like a different reality, to walk the stronghold in daylight and without fearing an encounter with any kanh. They now knew that I had the permission of the 'master' himself to be here. I also learned that the kanh were mostly active at nighttime, only a handful designated to patrol the area now and make sure the ansirths don't cause trouble.

  So first opportunity, I made a beeline for the very epicenter of the destruction. A calm, non-suspicious beeline.

  Most of the kanh sleeping and the stronghold standing in an empty valley was one thing. But the dead silence in that one area... it almost made my ears ring. One would think it to be impossible, with the wind ever present in the mountains and birds freely accessing any place they fancied, but right there, there was nothing, as if I was standing in a completely empty building... more than empty even, without air, light, sounds, or the building itself, even though I knew they were still there. Was it some aftermath of the ritual...?

  The crack in the floor was huge, reaching across the whole... well I wasn't exactly sure where the room started and ended really. But it seemed like Sharish, or the kanh, tried to cover the dangerous opening with some of the debris lying around. I could see fragments stuck in between the walls of the precipice, but the impenetrable darkness beneath them was still there...

  I glanced around. I hoped they didn't move too much of the rubble... There was something specific I came here for, and it would be easier to find if not too much was moved. It shouldn't be too far from the crack...

  Sure enough, the remnants of two columns were still vaguely recognizable, the one that I was interested in toppled over onto a part of what looked like ceiling. I looked under the flattened roof-like shape that the parts formed, one of my hands clenching involuntarily.

  There was some long dried blood and a small piece of fabric that had the unique color of Yasenka's overdress. Like a tiny patch of life among merciless destruction... I let out a longer breath and looked over my shoulder, opposite of the rubble pile.

  I wished to retract my previous statement. It would have been easier if they did move more of the debris. But then again, if they did, they probably would already have found that notebook. Still... how in the world was I supposed to get it, if it was even in a state worth retrieving in the first place?

  Circling the miserable building parts, I looked into every gap and crack, getting on all fours more than once. It couldn't have gone too far from the spot where Yasenka got pinned to the floor, she said that it only slipped out of her hand and got buried immediately...

  There. There was a speck of parchment-yellow in between the rubble. The crack I saw it through was small though... I crawled ahead a bit more, looking for better access.

  Found one. I smiled to myself and reached into the gap but suddenly felt my heart jump to my throat when a pale hand appeared out of nowhere inside of the small, closed space, grabbed the notebook and immediately vanished.

  I jumped to my feet and ran around the pile of debris to chase my prize, before finding it... waiting right there, in the hand of a familiar, hooded figure.

  My heart picked up pace, making my limbs shaky with equal amounts of anxiety and excitement.

  "I was hoping the Empress had told you where to look for it..." it was the same voice alright. The same rich tone that sang the accusing notes in Leeshan, the same that whispered prayers above graves in Ioreth. And yet, even though he was right in front of me, it sounded like he was speaking to me all the way from the moon, distant and distorted.

  Was he afraid that I'd recognize it from somewhere?

  Or was he preventing me from recognizing it in the future, when we'd cross paths again in some different circumstances...?

  "Searching the whole chamber while trying to avoid kanh and ansirths was a pain... thank the winds you had to pull off that act and find it for me, don't you think?"

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "If you know and Sharish hasn't tied me up in a chair yet, I guess that means you really don't work for him..."

  "I already told you that."

  "Yeah... what do you want with that?" I nodded towards the notebook.

  "Make sure it doesn't get misused ever again."

  "Funny, I wanted to do the same... though maybe more."

  "More?"

  "If there's a spell for giving someone magic, there might be one for taking it as well, don't you think? There's no need to be as brutal as Sharish, it might be enough to just..."

  "Remove the thing that's causing the conflict..."

  "I was talking more about stripping him of magic abilities."

  "And I'm talking about stripping our entire world of it..."

  ... entire world...?

  This was neither a declaration of war towards someone who works for Sharish, neither was it a helping hand extended to the still loyal to the cause Disciple of Sariarin the Black Dragon...

  The man's head moved slightly under the hood, as if he was looking to the notebook first, before his invisible eyes returned to me. "Does the Empress want to try it?"

  "She doesn't really know yet... she mentioned trying to find a way to do that a while ago, but the idea to search for it in that notebook was just something that popped in my mind last..." I had to trail off when the notebook suddenly came flying my way. I just about managed to clumsily catch it, almost dropping it back between the debris. When I looked up in confusion, the guy already had its back to me.

  "Let's see what she can do with it."

  "... you're being awfully cooperative..."

  "Why wouldn't I be, when you'd push me towards my goal?"

  This guy just kept giving me mixed feelings every time he popped up... "Thanks..."

  "Don't thank me yet. I'll be watching you... and should any of you try to do more than taking away Sharish's magic with it, I'll be taking it back."

  I gave him a challenging glare. "We'll try to make it interesting for you."

  "I'm looking forward to it."

  And gone he was, vanished like a leaf that got snatched by a sudden wind.