“So… how much longer do we have’ta wait?” Mari asked.

[Xaphan?] Leon internally inquired.

[Have some fucking patience, human,] the demon testily replied.

[Patience is a virtue we can’t afford,] Leon shot back.

[Learn from your monk friend, then, and be more virtuous.  You can afford it, I’m sure.]

Leon scowled.  “He’s being a little bitch.  One who can’t work under this kind of pressure.  Making all kinds of excuses.”

[Publicly shaming me won’t work, boy.  That would require me to have shame.]

[You have plenty, demon; otherwise, why would you care so much when I do things that may embarrass you?]

The demon audibly groaned.

[Just an estimate, that’s all we want.]

Xaphan sighed and said, [Ten minutes.  Maximum.]

Leon relayed that information, and the rest of the team started to prepare themselves.  Mari turned to face Tell Kirin, while Tir started stretching and Nara twirled Cloud Piercer a few times, conjuring first water, then fire, and then finally steam.  Leon occupied himself with analyzing the magic over the dust sea, for the raging storm had not calmed down at all.  Navigating through it was not going to be easy.

He quietly projected his magic senses about as far as they could, which thanks to his wards, was about ten miles.  Not quite far enough to reach the tower in the center of the sea, but certainly far enough to get a good view of the majority of that sea.  He narrowed the scope of his awareness to increase his sensitivity to changes in environmental magic and began looking for the easiest way through the sea, as well as the worst places to avoid.

A few immediately stood out—several sinkholes over what he thought were likely once reservoirs or cisterns, and a raging twister that wasn’t moving despite the intensity of the storm around it.  Something was keeping it there, and Leon resolved not to go and investigate, despite his curiosity.  They hadn’t the luxury of time to investigate curious things like that, not when a Primal Devil was loosening its restraints.

However, as he scanned the dunes ahead, he picked up on a few strange eddies of power—the remnants of recent, though subtle, disturbances.

‘Powerful magic…?’ Leon thought, his mind turning to the most obvious explanation.  It was like looking at a dust cloud and immediately assuming something exploded—other explanations were possible, but the explosion was simply the most likely one.

He focused his magic senses to scan all of these eddies, only to find that they were concentrated mostly to the south, further indicating that they were unnatural.

“Something might be out there…” he whispered as he pointed in a southerly direction.

In response, Tir and Nara both projected their magic senses while Mari shifted slightly to concentrate in that direction.  Before anyone could say anything more, however, a voice rang out over the dunes to their southeast.

“Easy there, friend!” the voice called out.  “We mean no harm!”

“Show yourself!” Leon imperiously demanded.  He glared out of the eye slit in his visor, his golden eyes searching for the source of that voice.

A moment later, a young man with reddish-brown skin stepped out of seemingly nowhere, his hands raised, his lips turned up in an apologetic smile.  He was fairly, though not overly, handsome, with black hair cropped tightly around his head, a clean-shaven face, and soft facial features.  He radiated the aura of a tenth-tier mage.

This man had barely revealed himself before a curtain—or more literally, a cloak—shimmered into view, having been elevated to obscure whatever was behind it.  A hand seized the edge of the cloak and pulled it back over its owner’s shoulders.

That owner was a young woman with a far more bitter expression on her face than the man, her sharp features lined by a furrowed brow and deep frown.  She was rather pale, with clear green eyes and blond hair on the top of her head—the rest having been shorn almost completely off, though she had some stubble growing over those areas.  Like the man, she was also a tenth-tier mage.

Leon recognized them both, having seen their faces before in Ambrose’s briefing.

He smiled in a forced welcome despite his face being obscured by his helmet and called out, “Mbana-of-the-Thousand-Blades, and Serena, Favored Maiden of the Sea!”  He waved Nara, Tir, and Mari down, though no one relaxed completely.

“You know us?” Mbana asked, his smile growing as he and Serena leaped over to the hill to talk more comfortably.  Notably, he spoke azurian.

“As I understand it,” Leon explained, “Each plane in the Divine Graveyard sent one representative to investigate what happened to Qo Weylekh.  I was the last sent, and the Grave Warden who sent me also gave me the likenesses of all the others sent before me.”

“Lucky,” Serena observed, also speaking azurian.  “You are from Aeterna, then?”

“Yes,” Leon confirmed.

“Huh.  And everyone else called you lazy for not showing up,” she followed up with a provocative smile.

“The rest of us had a good chance to meet before being sent here,” Mbana explained.  “Most of us were curious why we were sent before getting the chance to meet you, and our Grave Wardens were silent on the matter.  Aren’t they just frustrating like that?”

Leon shrugged.  “Can be.  Perks of being that powerful, I guess.”

“Yes,” Mbana replied, his eyes narrowing slightly in an expression Leon couldn’t quite identify.  “Having the power to do what one wants is rarely so beneficial to everyone else, is it?”

“Where the fuck did you two come from?!” Mari angrily interjected.

“It’s… remarkable that you two are here,” Nara added, his tone distrustful.

“Not so much, in truth,” Mbana argued.  “We’ve been here for several weeks now, waiting for any of our friends, as well as scouting out the obstacle ahead of us.  You four are the ones who attracted our attention when you spoke with that cultist.”

“Who are your friends?” Tir stoically asked.

Mbana smiled but hesitated, allowing Serena to pick up his explanation.

“Not that it’s any of your business, local, but we were waiting for three of our number who were separated from us on the journey here.”

“When we were sent to this plane,” Mbana added, “we were sent as a group.  However, the… calamity that has befallen it caused us to be scattered all over.  Some of us managed to regroup, though in the months since, only Serena and I have managed to stick together.”

“Who were they?” Leon asked as he called upon his serviceable skills in light magic and once more projected the ten faces that Ambrose had seared into his mind.  He also crossed off Larkoina, Alle Kon Haere, and Iluva.

“Ah, what a figure I cut,” Mbana said as his eyes landed upon his own portrait.  “Perhaps I ought to go on a diet?  Are my cheeks really that round?”

“Focus,” Serena rebuked as Mbana chuckled.  She pointed at three faces before turning to the three Leon had crossed off.  “Dead?” she asked.  Leon nodded.

The three she pointed out were Netulina, Japarthi, and Hujil-Jer, and Leon crossed those three off as well, though in a different color.

“You have us at a disadvantage,” Mbana stated, interrupting Leon just as he was studying the two remaining portraits.  “You know us, but have failed to introduce you, or your friends…”

“Apologies,” Leon responded.  “I am Leon Raime.  This is Ard’Nara, Prince of the Kingdom of the Blue Sky here on Arkhnavi.  Standing next to him is Tir’Anu, and the woman in the oversized armor is Mari’Kha.”

Ard’Nara nodded politely while Tir’Anu bowed more deeply and formally.  Mari, however, squawked, “Oversized?!”

“What would you call it?” Leon pleasantly asked.

“Exactly as fuckin’ big as it fuckin’ needs to be!” Mari scoffed.  “Could’ve even been bigger if we hadn’t been too broke for more stuff to build with.”

“You’re… an interesting bunch,” Serena observed.

“Thanks for saying I’m interesting!” Mari exclaimed.

“Not to interrupt when we’re making friends…” Mbana interrupted, “but should we not stay on topic?”

“Are these three dead?” Leon asked, indicating the three that Serena had pointed out.

“We don’t know,” Mbana stated.  “Japarthi was kidnapped by… what should we call him?  That cultist…”

“He told me his name is ‘Khaji’Yun’,” Leon said.

“Good!  Then we finally have a name to put to the face!”

“Wait,” Tir interjected.  “You said that he ‘kidnapped’ your comrade?  Why?  And how?”

“We were assaulted by black wind,” Serena explained.  “It gave us visions that ought never to be repeated.  ‘Khaji’Yun’ spoke to us afterward, asking us to stand down.”

A short silence followed as everyone waited for her to finish, but when it became apparent she wasn’t going to, Leon asked, “Did Japarthi accept?”

“Leon…” Mbana said as Serena frowned even more deeply than she already was.  “Since you arrived late… what did your Grave Warden tell you to do?”  He took a few steps forward as his smile turned somewhat conspiratorial.  “What is the objective you were given?”

“Investigate Qo Weylekh’s disappearance,” Leon replied with some confusion.  “Why do you ask?”

“Ah.  No matter,” Mbana said as he exchanged as he glanced at Serena.  “Japarthi, unfortunately, was not given sufficient guidance by his Grave Warden.  Or his father, maybe.  No matter which, he gave in to Khaji’Yun.”

“One need not be blessed by Wise Farangeun to find it strange a tenth-tier mage was so pliable,” Tir whispered.

“We were assaulted by visions,” Serena repeated.  “Who knows what he saw.”

Tir averted his gaze, the comment striking home for him.

“And the others?” Leon asked, nodding to Netulina and Hujil-Jer.

“Killed in battle as we fought our way here,” Mbana stated.  “Many natives who accompanied us were killed with them, unfortunately, but we’re thankful for their sacrifice.”

“Yet you don’t seem that broken up by it,” Nara growled.

“Men die,” Mbana replied, his smile not wavering in the slightest.  “Life ends.  No need to get upset over it; especially not when death is in service of a greater cause.”

Nara scowled but didn’t press further.  He just glanced at Leon and then turned away, apparently deferring to what Leon wanted to do with these two.

After some thought and a glance at the sea of dust that once was the city of Tell Kirin, Leon asked, “Do you two have any way to escape this plane?”

“We will leave under our own power when the time comes,” Serena calmly stated.

Leon narrowed his eyes.  “Are you able to leave now?”

“Not until we have what we came for,” Serena said, her tone turning a little colder.

Leon sighed.  “Then I don’t suppose you have any way to send a message off this plane?”

“Leon,” Mbana said, “we need to reach that tower.  If it is your desire to escape this plane, then Serena and I can surely aid you in this.  But we must first reach that tower.”

“It would be much easier to just tell the Grave Wardens that a Primal Devil is almost loose,” Leon argued.

Mbana blinked in confusion.  “Leon… listen, my friend… let us first reach the tower, and then we can discuss our next steps.  What do you say?”

Leon stared for a long moment at Mbana, frustrated thoughts turning quickly to suspicion.

‘Cagey…’ he thought.  ‘These two are after something, aren’t they?’  Iron Pride was still in his hand, though not brandished, and he squeezed the hilt out of habit.  A spark of power transferred from the Iron Needle inside into his hand, as if the Universe Fragment were both reminding Leon that it was present and trying to soothe him.  But instead, Leon’s eyes widened for the shortest possible moment, and he thought, ‘The Universe Fragment.  They want it.’

He had to admit that he’d never seriously considered trying to acquire the Universe Fragment that Ambrose had asked him to find—or at least, never thought about seizing it for himself.  As far as he knew, it was an integral part of the wards keeping the Primal Devils under lock and key, and messing with it might…

‘… break the seals…’ Leon finished.  ‘Could removing it free the Devils?  Could using its power reseal them?’  His eyes flitted back to the tower and he grimaced.

When he turned his eyes back to Mbana, he did so only after concealing his suspicion as much as he thought he could.  Given that Mbana’s smile had nearly died told Leon that his suspicion had been noticed, regardless.

“Let’s get to the tower, and then we’ll talk about what to do next,” Leon said.

“Wonderful!” Mbana said as his smile returned.  Serena’s reaction was more subdued, though still reasonably positive.

[Good timing, human,] Xaphan said.  [I know where you need to go.]

[Great,] Leon replied.  [Now we only need to prepare for these two’s inevitable betrayal.]

[Heh.  Call on me if need be, human.  I wouldn’t mind showing these two the limits of their power.]

[I’m sure you wouldn’t…] Leon responded as he glanced over his shoulder at Tir and Nara.  He was going to have to find some way to warn the rest of his team, though he wasn’t sure he’d be able to warn Mari.

Turning back to the two newcomers, Leon said, “Why don’t we put our heads together and figure out a way through all these storms, then?  You two said you’ve been studying it for some time…”

Mbana and Serena agreed, and with Leon’s team, they revealed how much they’d mapped of the sea of dust, focusing mostly on the magic currents and the effects they had.  In doing so, they revealed more spots where magic flowed dangerously and kicked up storms, but what Leon couldn’t see was a way through.

In short, there were four ‘circles’ of dangerous storms kicked up by the magic currents, but only the last formed a full circle at all times, blocking all approaches to the tower.  The other three had holes that appeared at certain times that could allow progress, but as more was revealed, Leon began noticing patterns in the way the currents were laid out…

“… and that’s where we are,” Mbana finished.  “We can use this to find a way through most of the dust, but the last defensive layer has had us stumped for days.”

“Have you tried to get past it before?” Nara asked.

“Twice,” Mbana confirmed.  “Both times failed.  When the storm is braved, darkness descends and we find ourselves back here, out in the hills.”

“Strange that it didn’t just kill you,” the Prince stated.  “Those storms are intense…”

“It can’t be…” Leon said, hardly listening to what everyone else was saying, his eyes locked upon the map that Serena had made of the magic currents.

“What is it, Leon Raime?” Mbana asked.

“Is anyone here studied in enchanting?” Leon asked, his eyes straying in Mari’s direction.

“Me!  Me, me!” Mari exclaimed, though she was the only one who replied affirmatively.

“Do you know much about ancient runes?” Leon asked.

“Enough to build this!” Mari said as her Ulta suit patted itself on the chest.

Leon took the map and marked a few points on the map where the storm layers frequently started and died out, where the ‘holes’ in the layers were that Mbana and Serena had used to move closer to the tower.

“The storm is an enchantment,” Leon said.  “The whole damn thing.  It’s an ancient rune with a couple extra bits nailed on…”

“It’s an enchantment?!” Serena burst out.

“Yes,” Leon said.  “And it can be controlled.”

“How?!” Mbana demanded, his demeanor shifting into something almost desperate.  “What does it do?  Can it be turned off?”

“It was explained to me that ancient runes can be controlled like stringed instruments,” Leon said as he projected his magic power and reached for the currents of power.  “Pluck the currents of magic power like strings, and if you control it right, then you activate the enchantment in certain ways.”

“Can you control it?” Mbana asked.

“I think I can…” Leon confirmed as he quietly thanked Nestor’s lessons.  It had been nearly twenty years since his encounter with Krith’is, as well as the ancient runes that ran through its cage far below the Serpentine Isles.  While he wasn’t at the point of incorporating ancient runes into his own enchanting efforts, he was confident that he’d not only properly identified the one at the heart of this massive enchantment, but also that he could activate it properly.

He wrapped his magic around one section in the fourth layer of the enchantment, then turned to the others.

“Be ready for anything,” he said.  “If I’m wrong about this…”

“If you can get us inside, then do so!” Mbana insisted.

“I have been ready for weeks,” Serena added.

“I’m ready, Leon,” Nara stated.

“You have once again proven yourself favored by Wise Farangeun, Leon Raime,” Tir said.

“Not yet,” Leon replied with a self-deprecating smile.  “Save comments like that for if this works or not…”

“And if it doesn’t work?” Mari hesitantly asked.  “What if ya got it wrong, Lele?”

Leon frowned a bit, then shrugged and said to her, “Then let’s hope the gods of this land haven’t forsaken it completely.”

“Shit, fuck, shit,” Mari whispered.  “Fuck it, I’m ready, just do it Lele!”

Leon grinned, and with the confidence of a man who knew exactly what he was doing, he plucked the string of magic that maintained the final layer of storms protecting the tower and hoped that he wasn’t killing the entire group in some unspeakably horrific way.

He didn’t think he was, though, not with the way that light, lightning, and darkness magic flowed through the current.

The current vibrated like the string of an instrument, and spheres of darkness materialized around all six, teleporting them away from the hill they stood upon…

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