“Two and a half hours,” Kire repeated. She turned to the others gathered with her. “So, till then, we have to stay well clear of the Palace hill. We’ll call a parlay with the standing army first. And if they reject our demands for surrender, we’ll begin. It’ll take us two and a half hours at least to fight our way through that standing army, breach the city defenses, and make it to the Palace hill.”

“Are—are there people still inside?” Gavin asked.
Kire paused, sighing softly. “We had breached from inside and outside. Prior to that, there had been word of an attack; those who could leave the city did so, but not everyone. While I was away hunting Ikegai, they made their move. During the escape, we managed to save some more, but not everyone who was left.”
“Likely, the able-bodied had been enslaved, forced to fight,” Narda put in. “In some of the battalions that had surrendered to us, there had been some who did experience this.”

Gavin thought this over. “They would have probably used the others, too. For—dolls. And blood magic. As you know.”
Kire cursed. Ed looked at the off-worlders. “There should be a tent provided for you already, not far from here. The guard outside will lead you.”

Gavin's comment lowered the temperature in the tent a few degrees. Ruli glanced sidelong to Ysaryn, who wore a hard expression. After a while, she'd described how it felt to be assaulted and attacked by her own people, dismembered and mutilated by the dark magics. He knew it still haunted her sleep sometimes, but she would never let it show, here. Not in front of anyone who would think her weak for it. He looked away, not wanting to draw attention to her any further.

"Thanks." Ruli said, tapping Ysaryn and Gavin's wrist. "You're with me." He led them both out, and when they were led into the tent that had been provided, he turned, getting a good look. "Ysaryn and I will go back and forth. Gavin, you'll be setting up in between. It should only be two trips between us. Push that table against the back there, we'll use it later, and keep everyone out. Save for Kire for now."

It didn't take long at all for them to Walk back to Daryll's home in the mountains, gather the already packed crates, than Daryll, and return. Between the first and second trip, Gavin had begun unpacking the crates containing the ward pieces, setting them up on the table in the order they'd be needed, as well as the map they'd borrowed.
When they had it all ready, Ysaryn was sent to gather the Wenches and anyone else who was free and willing to volunteer. Ruli counted them as they filed in, calculating once again in his head to divide equally between them. When he'd finished, he summoned them one by one, handing them the correct number of runes, -each one about the size of a pomegranate-, a paper listing the correct number to place them as well as the direction each one should face, and pointed to the map. After ensuring they understood where to place each one, Ruli told them that, upon their return, he would be using brief magic to see where they were placed, so he needed them to stand a few feet back and get a good look at the rune and the ground before covering it in foliage and moving on.

When they were all handed out and each person understood their instructions, Ruli and Ysaryn grabbed all but the last of the runes, which they left under Gavin's protection, and they moved out to place them. It took the longest out of all the tasks, each volunteer moving stealthily along the grounds in a wide circle around the palace grounds. Ruli and Ysaryn had taken the pointed furthest out, so for the most part, they were able to pass everyone on the way and see that the instructions were followed. When Ruli placed his last, he Walked back to camp, counting the others as they trickled back in.
After asking permission, Ruli took each of their hands individually and asked that relax while he used his Mind-Touch magic to ensure each was properly placed. Each one was, to his relief, and he dismissed them afterward. Sending Ysaryn to inform Kire the pieces were in place, Ruli turned to Gavin.

"This is when I need your decision." Ruli said calmly. "If you decline, it will be okay. I can use my own blood to hide her. It will just make her seem ... well, like a nobody. Don't feel guilt if you're unsure."

While the rest focused on preparing for setting up the wards, Kire and Ed sent out emissaries to meet with the defending army, bearing terms of surrender. Though she sincerely wanted to see if they would lay down their arms, or let some of their own go, it was mostly to buy time, just as she knew the opposing army, too, was buying time. By numbers alone she knew they stood a good chance. The defending army refused their terms after a heated discussion, which, too, was expected. By then, Kire’s forces moved to their designated positions, surrounding the Capital and cutting off any potential reinforcements to break the siege. The plan was working out as they had envisioned, but Kire couldn’t shake the feeling that something would go wrong. Calm down. If something goes wrong, deal with it later. If there was a gate nearby, she should feel it. By the time Ysaryn came to tell her that the pieces were in place, Kire was itching to give the signal to begin the battle and storm the Capital.

Gavin, meanwhile, was silent, sinking into his task, only speaking when he needed to clarify instructions. He was calm while his entire concentration was needed for preparing the runes, but once that was over and he was left to watch over the last of the runes, the anxiety set in. Everything will be fine, he told himself over and over. Time seemed to stand still as he waited, but when Ruli and Ysaryn returned, along with the women, it almost felt too soon. He watched Ruli silently confirm with each volunteer that the runes had been placed correctly, and after that, it was his turn to make a decision. He looked down at his own hands, biting his lip as he thought it over. “No. I want to see this through.” He extended his hand to Ruli. “Use my blood.”
Kire joined them, then. “It’s done?” she asked.
Gavin nodded. “The wards are in place.”
Kire took a deep breath. “Your blood to mask my aura, and my blood to mask Ruli’s, correct?” She waited for Ruli to finish with Gavin’s bloodletting before offering her own hand.
As soon as Ruli finished the disguise, she sensed both his signature and Gavin’s, feeling a slight tingle at the tips of her fingertips. She glanced at Gavin, meeting his gaze. The lad looked resolute. She looked at him, then at Ruli. “The only thing left to do, then, is for you not to die here,” she said, smirking a bit before turning serious once more. “I forbid any other outcome.”

The battle was about to begin. Kire’s army already in formation, they encircled the edge of the fields surrounding the Capital walls, stomping, beating their swords against their shields, intimidating the standing army sent out by the Gemini to meet them. The Wyverns waited, sitting on horseback on a hill overlooking their vast host. Something was niggling at Kire’s brain; she didn’t understand why the Gemini army massed outside the wall like that; it was impractical, and they’d have had better use of the manpower guarding the walls. Was it desperation? In the months leading up to this siege, her forces had cut off roads, captured allies, hemmed them in from the sea as well.
She noticed, too, just how much the fields outside the Capital looked dry and bare, when there would have been more greenery around it. Had it been the battle over a year ago that rendered it lifeless? The Capital was eerily quiet.

Her generals sounded their war horns, and their soldiers stopped, falling silent. Another blast, and they moved forward. The vanguard met with the standing army in a violent first clash, with the battalions behind them manipulating and defending the siege engines. Kire didn’t like it, but the best way to storm the Capital would be to break down the outer city walls first. The Wyverns knew which portions of the wall to attack first. She itched to run into battle now, but it was too soon. Elsewhere, she knew Narda, Maika, and the Wenches were fighting through the army to make their way around the wall to light fires and smoke out the defenders, particularly any archers hiding in the walls.
And still, Kire itched to fight now. Soon. Just a little further.

One thing Gavin hadn’t anticipated was the noise. He stuck close to Ruli, acting as his cover, but he could barely hear himself think over the din. All his senses were devoted to making sure they weren’t cut down, to watching Ruli’s back. But while the noise was a shock to him, what was worse was how familiar the smells were now. Blood, the reek of human bodies, and, somewhere, burning. Don’t, Gavin. Don’t think about that. Focus on what’s in front of you. Focus on getting through this alive.

Ruli raised his eyebrows slightly, but gathered his supplies on the table in silence. A clean knife, two squares of leather, twine, a bowl, a small vial of a foggy liquid, and a small bundle of cotton. Setting both of the cotton balls into the bowl, he poured the liquid over it; the pungent smell of herbs filled the immediate air. He lifted one of the two liquid soaked balls and placed it in one of the two leather squares. Ruli took Gavin's hand and turned his wrist to where the incision from yesterday was still healing. Ruli had only cut into him yesterday to show him how much he'd need for today should Gavin accept.

It was then that Kire arrived, Ruli almost snapping at whoever it was not to disturb them until he saw who it was. Ysaryn took up guard outside the tent.
Like yesterday, he confirmed that he had permission before he pressed the blade to Gavin's skin and let the blood droplets fall onto the square, soaking the wet cotton ball.
Its scent changed at once, the herbs disappearing and the odor of charcoal, licorice, and ash filling the room. Ruli wrapped the cotton ball in the leather, bundled it in twine, and set it aside. Asking Kire once again for her permission, he pressed a different blade to her wrist and let the blood fall on the second set of materials, likewise bundling it up. Just as it had with Gavin's, the scent changed, to that usual, clean scent that followed Kire's blood. Like a crisp mountain sky, and clear, icy water.

He gave to her the set with Gavin's blood within. Settling it over her head, he tucked it beneath her armour. "Same goes to you, Empress." Ruli said, stepping back and securing the bundle soaked in her blood over his head and beneath his armour. "See you on the other side of this."

When she'd gone, Ruli turned to Gavin again. "Ready?" He asked rhetorically, gathering his borrowed helmet and motioning for him to suit up. Ysaryn fell into step when they left the tent, her expression cold and distant as she prepared to meet her enemies.
"All is good?"
"Mmmhm."
"Will these wards do to us like Raielwen wards?"
"I can't say. I tried to make it less exhausting, but try to prepare for it."
She grunted at him, and branched away, joining the Wenches and leaving them to their task.

When the horns sounded, Ruli and Gavin weren't far from the thick of the militia. His plan was to travel on foot along the edge of the palace grounds, leaving a trail to be followed, dragging Gavin, who had a handful of the flashbombs on his person, along beside him. They would use them to divert attention, drawing the thick of the Gemini into the center of where the wards would hold power once they were activated, to leave them defenseless so the Amrian's could assault them.
So when the horns sounded and they realized they were moving too slowly, Ruli nudged Gavin and jogged with him. When they got near the back end of the ward's perimeter, they slowed, and Ruli set the last of the ward pieces down. "When I tell you to, turn it anticlockwise twenty degrees." He instructed.
Taking a deep breath, Ruli stood in place, summoning his magic with neither someone under her grasp nor a foot within the shadows, thus allowing his magic to act as a beacon. Hopefully. Ruli had never not done anything before, but he'd gotten the idea from Kire when she destroyed the gate. When he felt that all too familiar tickle that sensed some other magic, he looked down to Gavin. "Now." He said. Reaching into his pocket, he chucked one of the flash bombs hard down onto the ground a few yards within the wards, which he felt activate- it was like a hushed, warm breeze.
"With me." He said, grabbing Gavin's hand and, safely out of the wards reach, he Walked them a ways along the edge.
Once they reappeared, Ruli threw another bomb, then ran with Gavin. "Sword up. You see anyone, you tell me."

Three loud booms sounded from the Capital gates. The Wyvern army had broken through. “This is it!” Kire said, and moved forward. The soldiers were eager. Everybody was. They had overwhelmed the standing army, with many surrendering, but Kire also knew there would be greater danger lurking inside, especially if the Gemini had created dolls out those who remained inside. As she and Ed rode forward, she could sight the Palace and the hill upon which it stood, see the wide street that led through the Capital. Her home. After over a year of running, fighting, and biding her time.
But it wasn’t over yet.

She could see something was wrong, and that feeling of foreboding sank into her stomach as she watched the vanguard break formation once through the Capital walls. While many were able to follow their predetermined path, forging ahead of the city, many others seemed to be chasing some other path, or an enemy she couldn’t see from her vantage point. When she neared the broken gate, she felt it, stronger now, perhaps, because of the blood they had recently spilled on the ground. She looked to Ed, eyes wide as she saw his nose bleed. “Fuck,” Ed cursed. “It’s happening.” Why wasn’t she affected? The disguise.

“Stay back,” she warned Ed, then, turning behind her, “Halt! Don’t go in yet!” she shouted. “Give me a horn, quickly! When you hear three blasts, you follow!” Once one was placed in her hand, she galloped in after the battalions that had gone ahead of them. When she stepped through the fallen gates, the smell of Gemini magic filled her nostrils, and she could see ghostly images, illusions. She could tell they were illusions, but the soldiers who had gone ahead have not. They had suspected this would happen, but the city would have been too big to cast illusions of this scale. The citizens. Did they sacrifice all the survivors?
Kire looked frantically around for signs of runes. She couldn’t see any on the ground, but she just noticed that some lanes had burnt homes, while those nearby did not. “No….” Did they burn the runes through the city? Burned whole streets and lanes? Her blood boiled, and she urged her horse forward again, to the nearest wayward group of confused soldiers. They were following one of the burned paths towards a dead end.

“Stop!” she yelled as she caught up with them.“Turn back!”
“Your Grace!” the commander cried, in surprise and confusion, realizing then where they were. The rest of the soldiers followed her orders, their expressions looking like they had just emerged from a daze.
Thank the gods the illusions weren’t as strong as the ones Kire had experienced, but it was clear they only needed to last long enough for her soldiers to be led into a trap. “Follow me back, there should be a shortcut—look out!”

The back of her neck prickled, and she halted her horse just in time to see dolls leap down from the burnt and dilapidated homes, cutting off the battalion’s exit. They’re ignoring me, she realized. As the dolls charged, she met them head-on, beheading them swiftly while the dolls were preoccupied with the soldiers. This unit had seen the dolls from the battlefield and knew what to do, cutting away the gems quickly before they could explode or deal some other kind of extra damage. “To me!” she said, directing her steed back the way they had come.

Meanwhile, Narda, Maika, and the rest of the Wenches, after subduing the last of the wall’s defenders, heard the order not to enter the city. “Stop? Why?” Maika asked, concerned, as she and the women took stock of how many incendiary weapons they had left.
“Look,” the giantess said, looking down at the city below them. “Some of them are going the wrong way! What are they doing!”
“Shit—and there’s Kire!” Maika said, pointing at the Empress as she chased after one of the battalions. “What’s going on?”
“Whatever it is, it’s magic,” Narda seethed.

From their vantage point in one of the wall’s guard towers, they could see that some of their troops had made it as far as the Palace hill, where they’re meeting the Gemini defenders there. They could see flashes that resembled Kire’s portals and knew Ruli and Gavin were there, too. “They need help there,” Maika said. “And looks like if you make it past the city and near enough the Palace hill, you don’t get affected.”
“Ysaryn,” Narda called. “How many of us can you bring to the foot of the Palace hill?”

“Got it,” Gavin said, readying himself as they emerged from the edge of the wards. A part of him was so, so tempted to stop and look around, to see the Palace up close and finally get an accurate picture of the maps they had been studying so closely. He could smell the orchards from here, a strange thing to smell, contrasting with what was happening just downhill. But—what was happening downhill?
“Wait, where’s the rest of the Amrians?” Though part of the vanguard had made it through the city and were making the climb up the hill, the rest, Gavin saw, had not. But he didn’t have time to ponder; Gemini guards poured out of the Palace itself, heading their way. “Archers!”

Gavin dodged as arrows landed near them, just a foot or so away from their current position. The first of the guards followed them to where they had ducked for shelter. Concealed by shadow behind a broken statue, Gavin cut him down before the guard could spot them. His hands shook around the sword handle. He had cut open flesh before, as he had gone in and out of the daze of Ikegai’s control. This time, he was facing foes that fought back. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
The first group from the vanguard that had made it to the hill, and their swords clashed with the Gemini. The Gemini guards were torn in two, one group diverting to push back the attacking Wyvern soldiers, the others chasing after ‘Kire’. More warning shots were fired, which confirmed to Gavin that the Gemini were hoping to capture them alive.

Ysaryn had felt the wards Ruli made rise and take effect, the slight tingling on her neck warning her about what was ahead. Her throat burned, the insults she'd hurled in elvish at their enemy keeping her focused, keeping her head in the game. How many whose blood soaked her blades, she didn't know, but she was satisfied with the look in their eyes before the fell before her. The confusion in being set upon by such a strange looking woman speaking an unknown language.

When Myka and Narda began to speak, gesturing further into the fields, Ysaryn, retreated a few steps, watching their lines, listening with one ear. "Magic." The elf called to echo Narda. "I can sense it. It is not so strong, but is doing a purpose." She took her eyes off the line for a moment to look their way. Just as Myka pointed toward the gates, where she knew from the discussions that Ruli and Gavin would be. The elf hissed, retreating further from the line to peer in the direction Narda pointed. Her fuchsia eyes narrowed as she gazed, trying to judge the distance and how many she'd take. "A few trips." Ysaryn answered, her eyes moving over the Wenches next. "Come to me." She extended her hand, taking Narda and a handful first, then returning for Myka and more.

"Fucking archers." Ruli swore, ducking with Gavin behind the statue, his hand pressed to his helmet. It was fucking hard to see out of these things. Zeke would give him hell for lifting the visor, though. Barely registering the mental note to tell Gavin not to mention the action to the soldier back home, the lad lept out of the shadow and cut a Gemini down. Having not even heard the man approach, Ruli was grateful at least one of the two of them was paying attention.
"Breathe." Ruli instructed, seeing the glimpse of panic on Gavin's face. He didn't give Gavin more time to do anything more; he grabbed Gavin's wrist, Kire's sword in his left hand, and ran again, dragging their pursuers in a diagonal across the lawn.

On the outside of the wards, where the Gemini met Kire's army, Ruli caught a flicker of movement and spotted a blur of pink. Ysaryn. He turned, yanking Gavin sideways, heading toward them.
Ysaryn, having taken a handful of trips and dragging five times as man Wenches, braced her hands on her knees to for air into her lungs. For the moment, surrounded by the armed battalion, she was safe and felt comfortable enough in lowering her gaze.

All told, fifteen of the crew, including Narda and Myka, found themselves outside of the wards. They immediately took cover before more arrows headed their way. “Something’s wrong down there,” Narda grunted. “It’s like they’ve been spooked, seeing things—” They all stopped as distant explosions sounded. “Shit. Those dolls!”
“From the look of things, Kire’s trying to chase after the soldiers that had been led astray,” Myka continued. “But it’s slow work. Right now, the ones here on this hill are all the backup you have.”
Gavin thought it over. “Illusions. The disguise we gave her might’ve made her immune.” He looked at the city downhill, frowning. There must have been hidden rune circles throughout the city.

“Okay." Gavin took a deep breath. "The wards are working here, so no dolls or illusions past this point. But down there, you need people with clear eyes.” He turned to Ruli. “The Wenches can have your back here. But I gotta go help them down there. Trust me,” he added firmly, staring steadily back at his mentor before looking over to the elf. “Ysaryn, can you make one more trip? With me? Back where the rest of the crew are?”
The Wenches were already readying their incendiaries. “Let’s bring down those archers, ladies,” Myka said, grinning.

Gavin and Ysaryn emerged back at the walls. Down below, the rest of Kire’s army waited, restless, with Ed barking orders to wait.
“What’s going on?” one of the crew asked. “Did the wards work?”
“Yeah, they did,” Gavin answered, “but Kire might need help directing her army to the hill.” From the walls he could look down at the city much more closely, looking for signs of rune circles. He turned to the others. “Okay. I think I know what’s going on. They carved out a big rune throughout the city, and that’s creating illusions, confusing the soldiers.”
“How do we stop it?”

Gavin looked back out again, muttering under his breath, trying to think it through, dredging up the memory of casting that same illusion magic back at Itallo’s mines. Which runes would they have used? He looked around, just to confirm which direction they were oriented towards, then back at the Wenches “If you’ll let me, I’ll perform some blood magic on you. To counteract it. Just enough for you to see through the illusions and know where to go.”
The women looked at each other, still a little uncertain. They had been involved with setting the wards earlier, and had allowed the other sorcerer to peer into their minds to check if the runes had been placed properly. If it got them to victory, they wouldn’t mind another bit of magic, but the mention of blood magic performed directly upon them still gave them pause. “How?”
“I’ll anoint you with runes. With each other’s blood. You’ll serve as each other’s anchor to the reality around you. I can use my blood for some of you, too.” He looked at Ysaryn. “Will you let me? There’s a chance your sense of smell and hearing could see through the illusions, but I’m not sure how strong they are.”

Deciding that they couldn’t waste any more time, the women assented. Gavin pricked their index fingers and guided their hands to each other’s foreheads, using their bloody finger to write a rune. Finally, with Ysaryn, he used the incision Ruli had made earlier and did the same for the elf’s forehead. “Alright. See those streets over there? Next to that line of burnt houses? You gotta set a fire, enough to cut a diagonal through the already burnt lane,” Gavin said. “Do the same to that other street over there. That should hopefully cut the enchantment. I’ll go down to Ed tell him.”


Kire couldn’t afford to feel tired. Kire forced the feeling to the back of her mind as she guided her soldiers out of the traps. Kire forced herself not to wonder if the dolls were all residents of the Capital, if that was all that was left. They leapt at her soldiers from homes and buildings. One or two exploded, taking some of her men with them when she wasn’t fast enough. She couldn’t let Ed and the rest in yet, not until she was sure they wouldn’t fall into the traps, themselves.
“Kire!”
The Paladin turned and saw one of the Wenches riding towards her. “Where are the rest? Go back!” Kire tossed a doll towards a horde, and together they exploded right after her soldiers took cover.
“We know! Gavin’s helping!” She pointed to her own forehead, where Kire saw a bloody mark. “We’re going to destroy the illusion with Ed’s help. I can guide your soldiers to the hill, but we’ll need your eyes for breaking the illusion,” the pirate added, knowing Kire would have gone on to guide her soldiers and risked approaching the warded grounds, herself.
Kire thought this over. “Alright. And I have an idea.”

Ed, a group of soldiers, the [i[Wenches[/i], Ysaryn, and Gavin were already beginning their work setting the fires, but they needed cover from the dolls, attracted to them massing around this portion of the city. Many of the soldiers who didn’t have Gavin’s rune on their foreheads still had trouble seeing the real city from the illusion without being specifically guided. “Gavin, keep guiding them. Ysaryn, we’re going to lure the dolls near the incendiaries. When you hear my horn, stay clear.”

When Gavin and Yasryn left, the rest of the Wenches focused on taking down the archers. Narda joined the battalion in fighting the Gemini guards that had emerged from within the Palace grounds, while Myka kept close to Ruli to give him cover. Ruli’s strategy was working; the Gemini defenders were split between needing to capture ‘Kire’ and fighting off the Wyvern army on the hill. They needed more soldiers, though; at the moment, they weren’t enough to surround the whole Palace grounds just yet. As they fought, Narda, from where she stood, noticed something was wrong. The windows hadn’t been fortified, left open for them to either fire arrows at or climb through.
There were men and women standing by the windows, looks of fear in their faces, their hands bound. More soldiers appeared on the balconies, but they, too, had what looked like ordinary citizens in tow, their hands similarly bound.

“Should have known the Empress would be willing to raze her own city to slaughter us,” came a voice, standing in one of the balconies.
Narda and Myka recognized that voice. “Gael,” Narda seethed. Myka had quickly translated to Ruli what Gael had said. “Of course they’d use hostages,” she said, cursing afterwards. Narda scanned the faces that were visible, knowing, no doubt, there would be more inside. One or two looked familiar; prisoners of war, she thought, from some of the battles they had lost.
“How about one more parlay, Your Majesty?”

Within minutes, Ruli and Gavin reached Ysaryn and the Wenches, ducking into cover. Ruli bent over to catch his air. He raised his helmet slightly, his face sweating beneath it. "Immune." Ruli repeated, still panting. He straightened, pressing his hand to his side to ease the stitch he felt. He gazed down the hill, curious. Gavin's blood made her immune. Did that mean he would succumb to them when he drew into the city?
"What!?" Ruli's head snapped around to Gavin when he mentioned going with the Wenches. Envy's lecturing voice and stern frown surfaced in Ruli's mind, reminding Ruli of his promise not to allow Gavin out of his sight.
Ruli didn't like it one bit.

"I do." Ruli said, finally having caught his breath. "I trust you. Just-" Ruli reached out for Gavin, grabbing him by the neck to drag him toward him, pressing his armoured forehead to Gavin's. "You watch your back. And keep close to Ysaryn. Ysaryn." He raised his head, meeting the elf's gaze. "You let anything happen to him, I will take it out in payment on you."
She smirked seductively at him. "You promise me such lovely things."

And they were gone again.

Ysaryn brought Gavin to the other Wenches, letting him go at once in favour of her weapons. Her eyes roamed hungrily over the violence around them, pausing briefly at Ed before she moved on. When she caught the words Gavin muttered, she turned to eye him again. "What, boy?" She snapped, eyeing him critically. Her frown remained as she listened to Gavin explain, and could sense the apprehension in the others around them. When the lad turned to her, Ysaryn didn't break her gaze as she stepped up to him. "Don't you dare fuck this up." She hissed in elvish, her tone more then capable of giving away her thoughts. But she offered her arm to him.

It felt strange. Ysaryn blinked repeatedly as they ran through the city streets. Transparent glimmers of the illusions ran before her, her mind unable to ignore the magic even through the ward painted on her brow. Still, she was able to convince herself they weren't there, her feet carrying her quickly to where Gavin indicated.
Start a fire. Those were her instructions. How the hell was she supposed to start a fire?
But, by the grace of the Gods, many of the Wenches carried flints on them- the reasons for which Ysaryn would hound them for later. Ed arrived, ordering more instruction, and the genuis idea to bring the dolls to help ignite them. Grinned, Ysaryn nodded, her bloody brow crinkling as she raised her head to listen. A few carefully worded phrases shouted in elvish at the dolls, her vicious growling attracting the dolls perfectly. When Ed's horn blasted, she took her cover, covering her ears as the explosions sounded.
It reverberated in her bones, shaking her to the core. Heart racing, she straightened, moving immediately to ensure the flames grew.

~

He hated helmets. After so many years learning to fight in a keffiyeh, it should have been easy to breathe through a metal that didn't smother his face like the fabric did, but it was somehow worse. Fabric breathed. And the metal was so loud. Armour was a nuisance. He jogged along Myka, Kire's sword held firm, attacking who he could, though Narda, Myka, and the battalion were far quicker. He reminded himself to let them flank him. He was supposed to be the 'empress', it would be their duty to keep 'her' secure.

As they drew nearer to the palace itself, Ruli still tried to resist looking, until his attention was drawn to it by Narda.
The hostages. Ruli paused, his gaze flicking from window to window, counting. So many. Gods, far too many. And if he hadn't cut the magic from their position, he could have helped. He suddenly felt foolish and helpless. Stupidly standing in armour to draw attention when he had nothing to give.

When the voice spoke, his shoulders tensed slightly, his head turning slightly to listen. He couldn't understand, but was grateful for Myka's translation. 'Gael', as Narda hissed, had to be one of the top Geminis. He looked from Myka to Narda, hearing her comment about the hostages. Kire's people. Their people. How many did they recognize from here? How many more were unseen?

He couldn't answer. Not only did he not speak the language, but speaking would give away that he wasn't Kire. Breathing heavily, Ruli turned his head to Myka. "Anything I should know about him?" He asked quickly.
After a few minutes of discussion, Ruli repositioned Kire's sword to his right hand to further the illusion as he stepped toward the palace gates. His heart hammered in his chest as he faced the palace, his shielded gaze rising to the figure on the balcony. Calculating, Ruli shifted his arms. Well? He asked silently.

Gavin didn’t know where he had gotten the courage to volunteer to step away from Ruli, to rush into all this danger, but something in him felt like it did back when he had first started disobeying Ikegai’s orders, and that moment when he was freed from his grasp. With Kire providing cover, and Ed and Ysaryn herding the dolls as best they could, Gavin focused on instructing the Wenches on how to lay down the fire. When the horn sounded, Gavin stayed, moving as fast as he could carving out sigils beside the homes, making sure the fire would go where it should. Please gods, don’t fuck this up. “Move!” he heard Kire shouting, grabbing him by the collar, dragging him back, and yanking him down for cover, crouched over him to shield him.

The explosion was deafening, and he felt the shockwave pass through his body. Gavin covered his head with his arms, face pressed down on the ground. He felt Kire grunt in pain over him, but she straightened up as soon as it was safe to do so. “You alright?” she asked, panting.
Gavin nodded. Kire extended a hand. As soon as he took it, she helped him up to his feet. “Let’s finish this, then.”
His last-minute preparations worked; it kept the flames mostly where they needed to be, and together with the others they worked to spread it along the line he had indicated. After making sure the coast was clear for the other homes, Kire used her strength to push some of the weakened structures enough for the fires to catch onto them. She could feel the intense heat each time, staying away from the flames just enough.

“Can you still see the illusions?” she shouted.
“They’re fading!” came one reply, assented to by others.
Finally. Kire raised the horn to her lips and blew out three blasts. “Now. Ysaryn! Can you take us to the bottom of the hill?” She turned to Gavin. “Didn’t Ruli say you can bind me to the wards so I can use my magic inside?”
Gavin inhaled. “You’re not supposed to be anywhere in there until it’s safe.”
“I don’t care. You weren’t supposed to leave Ruli’s side, either. But if there are any more surprises, I need to be able to pull them out of Palace. I don’t like that they’ve gone this long without the reinforcements they were supposed to have.”

--
“Fuck it, they must’ve sheltered whoever was left in the Capital and their high-profile prisoners of war here,” Myka muttered, turning to Ruli when he asked about Gael. “He’s a bastard from the Gemini royal line. Not a blood mage himself. Used to be Kire’s spy in the Gemini territories, but their relationship soured around the time Ikegai became active,” she said. “Good fighter, shrewd fellow, chip on his shoulder the size of the Empire.” But when it became clear what Ruli was about to do, the pirate captain’s eyes widened. “Don’t you dare. We should—Ruli!” Myka hissed, then signaled to the Wenches to provide cover, keeping their eyes on the archers in case they made any move against him.

When Ruli drew near, Gael regarded him silently. He turned his head, as if listening to somebody speaking to him behind him, then nodded, disappearing from the balcony. “You’re him, aren’t you? The Empress’s sorcerer.” He was dressed like a warrior, his black hair swept back, though his face was rugged, bags under his eyes. He smirked, though the shadow remained in his eyes. “You might actually be the one we need.” The smirk disappeared. “We will free some of our captives, as a gesture of good faith. But you must come with us. Drop the sword. Inflict harm, and we will kill a captive for every hit and cut you land. That warning goes out to the rest of you, Countess Narda,” he said, raising his voice.

Before he could continue with his terms however, a bright explosion rocked the Capital. All of them, even Gael, turned to see a slash of flame bisecting one of the streets, with cries and curses sounding from the Wyvern soldiers outside the Palace. Gael’s eyes widened. “You have a Gemini among you, don’t you?” he breathed, and he let out a mirthless laugh. He knew that, soon enough, the vast Wyvern army would overrun the city. The Gemini’s allies had failed them: crushed by the retaliating forces, surrendered, or abandoned them. Their attempts at using the Red Tower to gain more power and open another gate into several worlds had failed. There was always some element missing. Just their fate that this missing element would present itself at the moment of their annihilation.

He barked out an order in Taakalon, and soon Gemini guards released two captives: a young man and woman who looked related to each other, bandages along their arms. They looked malnourished, and had been dressed in the tattered remains of what would have been their royal clothing. From where they stood, the Wyvern soldiers would have recognized the insignia of a noble house embroidered in what used to be more resplendent attire. Narda could recognize their faces. “Stay where you are,” Gael told Ruli as he stepped backward, his own hands raised, a good couple of yards away from the freed hostages. “Lady Narda, can you confirm the identity of our two hostages?” Gael called out.
“Yes,” the giantess replied, the venom in her voice apparent. They would be related to at least two other noble families who had sent armies for today’s march. If they or any other houses found out they might have captives from their own kin in the Palace and that anything befell them, it may undo whatever bonds Kire and her family had to reforge and strengthen this past year, tainting their victory. She stepped forward, just at the gate, and extended her hands to the two captives. “Hurt them any further, and we attack.”
“We won’t hurt them,” Gael assured.

The lordling and his sister looked at one another, their bodies trembling from exhaustion, pain, and the obvious fear painted on their faces. They held their hands close to each other as their shoulders shook, as if afraid that the moment they relaxed, they would feel arrows pierce their chests. With tentative steps, they walked towards Ruli, but just as they were about to walk past him and towards the exit, the young man lunged at Ruli, yanking him down with whatever strength his frail body still had. The young woman did the same, only with her other hand she slashed at the exposed skin on Ruli’s face, grazing his cheek with the shard on his hand. “I’m sorry!” the young woman cried, as her brother pulled her away, towards Narda, who lunged through the Palace gates to grab them. Arrows bounced off her armor as she all but carried the two behind their lines outside.
“Ilana, what did you do?” Narda yelled, grasping the poor girl by the shoulders.
The young lady, tears streaming down her dirty face, was shaking her head as she spoke. “Th-they said to pierce his skin, or they’ll kill us and everyone inside,” she sputtered.
“What was in the shard?” she demanded.
“P-poison.”

--
Kire had directed Ysaryn to take her and Gavin to a blindspot on the hill. “There’s a sequence to it,” Gavin said immediately the moment they stepped out of the shadows. “We have to go as fast as we can if we don’t want them catching on.” He glanced at Ysaryn as he spoke.
“Kay!” one of the Wenches whispered, spotting them. As soon as she approached, the pirate gave them a quick update on the situation on the other side.

“Shit.” Kire could still sense Ruli’s signature, overlayed with her own, but it had weakened, the same way it did back at the mines when he had been drugged. Kire explained to the pirate what they were planning to do. “The rest of the army will be here soon. Keep them occupied. Negotiate with them. I need a rough estimate of the hostages.” She paused, then added, “I need eight of the fastest fighters. Gavin and Ysaryn, be ready to fight. Once I’m tied to the wards and I have my estimate for the hostages, be ready with those flash bombs. We’ll be Portalling into the Palace.”
Gavin’s eyes widened for a moment, and he swallowed. But he nodded, already mentally preparing himself for the steps needed to bind her to the wards.

Of course he wasn't going to listen. Ruli could hear the Wenches reposition themselves to cover him, but he ignored Myka as she hissed at him. Kire needed time to decimate the Gemini army and to break through their illusions. Let Gael believe he was his enemy empress a little longer to buy her that time.
He did not expect Gael to see through it right away. Even from the distance, with Ruli's blond hair and blue eyes, swathed in Wyvern armour, he should have at least fooled the Gemini royal. Let alone that he had Kire's sword. But Gael knew far too soon, and Ruli felt uneasy with the way Gael looked at him.

With the gimmick over, Ruli lifted his helmet, dropping it on the ground. Gael's words made him regret this decision more, but whatever the bastard had in mind, Ruli would endure it. He'd spent his life tortured. Kire would break through soon, and she and the rest of her company would sever this man's head. Just for a little bit. Ruli breathed, turning toward Narda. They'll come, soon. He offered her Kire's sword, and took a cautious, unarmed step through the gate.

Just as the explosion hit. Ruli raised his arms, tensing, his knees bent slightly as the earth shook violently. He didn't dare turn around, putting his back toward the Gemini, and hoped to any God who looked over this world that his face didn't give away the answer to Gael's assumption. He shouldn't have left Gavin. Ruli felt more regret washing over him. He shouldn't have brought Gavin here. Not to a war filled with the worst of Gavin's kind. Not here. He shouldn't have brought him. He shouldn't have left him.
His laugh chilled Ruli to the core. It was so similar to Akuma's. So cold. So empty.

Trying not to shiver, Ruli remained where he was, just as Gael ordered, as the captives were released. He glanced over them both, familiar with the looks on their faces, the discomfort and fear scrubbed into their posture. Forcing himself to look away, Ruli's eyes fell on Gael again. His heart pounded, his body tense.
And his attention in the wrong place.

Ruli did not expect the hostages to pounce on him. A foolish mistake, considering the dolls, and the way Ysaryn's people had assaulted her in the mines. Why not make Kire's own people attack her? Nothing changed just because he was in her place instead. Unprepared, Ruli toppled, tripping over the helmet as he pushed and writhed beneath the noble pair. He didn't want to hurt them, but as he felt something lash at his cheek, he snarled and thrust his arm out to shove the woman off just as Narda yanked her away.

He couldn't understand the exchange between Narda and the woman. Ruli groaned and twisted, getting to his knees. His fingers brushed over his cheek, and when he glanced at his hand, he saw blood. But the smell was what caught his attention. Raising his hand again, he sniffed, regret washing over him entirely like a blanket of ice.
He knew this poison.
Ruli swallowed, raising his eyes to look at Gael in question. Why was it here? How did they get it? His brow furrowed as the headache set in first, the familiar weight in the nape of his neck, like his head was too heavy to lift. He inhaled, and it felt like ground glass filled his esophagus and lungs. Hunching over, Ruli bent over his knees, rubbing his forehead. Why was is here? Why did Gael have this? This couldn't have been a coincidence. He didn't want this. He wanted to go home. To the tunnels. To Envy. I want to go home.

The armour made it more uncomfortable. Harder to breathe. Ruli shifted, pulling at the clasps and yanking the plate off his chest, his arms, hissing in discomfort as the poison took effect.

~

"What?" Ysaryn snapped at Kire when she asked about being taken to the hill. Gavin beat her to the point she would make, and Ysaryn only stuck out her arm in agreement with the young man. "You gave word!" She added, frowning at Kire.
But even the elf knew Kire had a point. Gavin wasn't supposed to leave Ruli's side. Ysaryn glared at Gavin, then, as if blaming him for causing this collapse in their plans. "Fine." "She caved. "But if you die I steal your crown."

It took her a few minutes to get them where Kire wanted to go, the elf Walking a few times, each closer to where Kire wanted, to gett a better look, before she returned and brought the two along. Gavin looked to her, speaking as if he expected her help with the runes. "I carry only." She answered. "I ruin runes." Ysaryn shook her head, insisting that allowing her to help was a poor idea.
When someone called toward them, Ysaryn turned her head, frowning as she heard the update.

"That bloody fucking fool." Ysaryn swore, nostrils flaring as she turned toward the palace. At the order to be ready to fight, she withdrew her blades again, more than ready to do so. "Work fast, Gem-en-ai." Ysaryn spat toward Gavin.

The poison had been meant for Kire. She would have experienced a less potent precursor of it months ago, and if it hadn’t been for her cousin Elva and the blasted Ring of hers, she wouldn’t have survived that. The Gemini were well-versed in poisons, but this one was especially nefarious. Gael saw the poison take effect on the man named Rulitus, whom the Gemini emissaries had told him about from when Kire had transported them back unwillingly in the middle of the disaster with the errant gate. Gael turned his attention to the Wyvern soldiers though, who were just about ready to charge, despite the danger to the hostages. He could see Narda was calculating it, too, just how much loss of life there would be if they did just that.
“Try it,” he called out to the giantess. “And we’ll send your kin back to you in pieces.”

The moment their enemies reluctantly stepped back, he and other Gemini guards stepped forward to bind him, and Gael finally noticed what was hanging around the sorcerer’s neck, now that he had yanked off his armor. While he was no mage, himself, he had spent enough time with his kin to know this was something very important. “Take this to the others inside. The sorcerer, despite the poison taking effect, was still struggling, and the Gemini guards landed blows on him. It didn’t take long to overpower him. Gael almost felt sorry for the man. But he had cast his lot with an Empress who would wipe out his people, even as he knew their side was thinking the exact same thing about him and the Gemini. The bad blood between them went too deep, too far back, for them to change anything. He had come to accept that after trying to fight the idea for most of his life. Now they were going to be annihilated, so might as well try for one more gambit.

As soon as Ruli was restrained, the guards dragged him inside. They would make the Red Tower heel. It had resisted, this past year, despite the deep well of old, dormant magic, to yield to them. Or perhaps it was precisely because of that. And with each attempt, it seemed the Tower took more and more from the Gemini mages, to the point that they were almost convinced the place was alive, and seeking revenge. A temporary madness would take over the mages, or their old methods wouldn’t work until more of them bled. Dreams and nightmares plagued them in these final months, visions they couldn’t understand, even when it had been a while since their last real attempt at opening a gate. They had even begun putting protection wards around the Palace itself, afraid that they would trigger the Tower’s magic—protections that were now useless, after the sorcerer had put up his wards around the Palace.

Gael remained outside, to negotiate with the Wyverns for their hostages. But he was also just buying time. If the mages inside were successful in using Ruli’s blood, all this wouldn’t matter. They’d rip through the negation wards with a new gate, or rip through whatever force had been keeping magic in Amria dormant all this time. Or they would all be annihilated on this hill. Him, Kire, Wyvern and Gemini, it will all be over.

--
Though Gavin worked as fast as he could, together with Ysaryn who allowed them to circle the wards stealthily, he felt like time was going as slow as molasses. But he couldn’t compromise the steps and mess up, which would be fatal for all of them. They left Kire where she was, to lie low until Gavin and Ysaryn returned so he could use her blood for the final touches. A good idea, considering Gavin would have been distracted by Kire’s own impatience. The rest of the Wyvern army was pulling through, overwhelming the dolls, what was left of the Gemini army, and securing the rest of the Capital, circling the Palace hill to cut off any other means of escape.

Kire received updates from the Wenches as their reinforcements arrived. How Narda had been close to charging ahead already when she realized they were taking Ruli captive to use him for something diabolical. Ed and the other lords who had arrived had quickly realized who else were inside. Now they were negotiating. How many people? After a few tense back-and-forth jabs between Narda and Gael, and from the noblemen who were able to confirm the identity of some of the people inside, there were perhaps twenty hostages from nobility, and perhaps another twenty or thirty people from the Capital. Fifty. Give or take. Not that she trusted Gael’s word on it.

Gavin and Ysaryn appeared beside her. “It’s all set. All we need now is your blood,” he said. Kire nodded. Ysaryn took them to the final location, the one closest to the Red Tower. Immediately, Kire felt something was—off. Strange. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Something about the Tower sent the hair on her nape standing on end. The only other time she felt this way was when she had first met the Seer there, when she had received the Ring. What were they doing here? “Kire,” Gavin whispered gently. Kire nodded, and Gavin made a small cut on her wrist where Ruli had done earlier, letting it fall on the earth and on the small pebble with the rune etched onto it. Immediately she felt the ward’s aura change—and the Tower seemed to respond to it, too, as if recognizing she was nearby, welcoming her back. Why is it doing that? Is it stronger than Ruli’s wards? Somehow she didn’t know yet if that was a good thing or a bad thing. “Kire, your Ring…” Gavin whispered, eyes wide. It shone faintly for a few moments until it faded.
“Let’s get the others.”

“They took Ruli inside,” Myka said, when Kire reappeared. “Ed and Narda are in charge, but if they don’t release another set of hostages soon, looks like we’re charging in. I don’t like it, something’s happening in there we don’t understand.”
“Does Gael know I’m nearby?” Kire asked.
“He suspects. But I think whether or not you are, doesn’t seem to matter. Which scares me.”
Kire cursed under her breath. “When you see the first group of hostages back here, you attack. Now, where are the eight fighters I asked for?” To Gavin, she said, “You’re staying with the army. Alright? With Narda and Ed.” Once they had been gathered, Kire instructed them to hold hands. “Brace yourselves.” I’m coming, Ruli. She took a deep breath, and pulled them into the portal.

They emerged facing the passage that would lead outside to the front doors. From there, they could see the stairs leading to the balconies. Though the other Wenches were winded, they shook off the dizziness and readied their weapons. The Gemini guards hadn’t registered their presence yet, occupied with their hostages upstairs on the balconies. Fifteen captives by the balconies. The Wenches charged, tossing flash bombs Gavin had given them, and with another flash of her Ring, portals engulfed the hostages she could see. She grunted under her breath, a dull pressure behind her eyes and a slight burning from the Ring, but otherwise it wasn’t as bad as her previous attempts.

Behind them, she could feel Ruli’s signature, weak but still alive, in the Great Hall. The doors were closed, but a faint blue light shone through it. The other hostages must be in there. More guards swarmed in, with the Wenches holding them at bay. “Ysaryn, cover me!” Kire said, as she fought her way to the Hall. The Wenches would be joined by the army soon, but Kire needed to get to the Great Hall first.

--

Inside the Great Hall, the walls were covered with runes, and a large rune circle was laid out on the floor. The moment Gavin had tied Kire to the wards outside, the Gemini runes glowed blue as well. Ruli lay in the middle, where the guards had dragged him, and the surviving Gemini mages had taken the pouch, which they confirmed had Wyvern blood in it—Kire’s blood—and mixed it with Ruli’s. If the Tower behaved the way it did with them before, it would need to feed on fuel. The rest of the hostages were crowded inside, with the guards poised to both defend the Hall and end the hostages’ lives here at the Gemini’s commands. Deep magic was working now, with every element in place: a Wyvern, a Gemini, and an Off-Worlder’s blood, with the sacrifice of lives outside from a great battle, all the elements that would call to the Tower to open the gate.

Armour off, he could breathe better, but it still hurt. Everything hurt. While he knew the effects, was familiar with the feeling of his bones grinding together with every movement, something was different. This wasn't just the poison he'd known since he was young. There was more. It was worse.
Or it had just been that long. Ruli realized. He wasn't used to it anymore. He didn't want this. He wanted to go home. He turned his head, spotting the giantess, and almost flinched at the sight of her, before he realized who she was. "Envy." Ruli breathed, shifting to crawl toward her. "I want to go home. Please." He begged.

Then the guards came for him. Ruli twisted to take a swing at them, growling. It hurt to be touched. He didn't want to be taken. He wanted to go home. 'Don't fight back!' Ruli yelped, back jerking as a phantom lash sliced his back, and he dropped onto the ground. For a moment, he could smell the desert sand, the reek of the sand horses, and blood. So much blood. In a blink, it was gone, and he was back in the palace grounds, the sand now dirt beneath his cheek. The air smelled cleaner, even under the cloud of smoke and sulfur.
He still tried to fight. Their hands hurt him, every time her tried to wiggle free made it feel as though his bones were breaking. "No!" He snarled at them, snarling again as he felt another lash across his skin that didn't actually exist.

They were quick. Restrained, Ruli breathed heavily, teeth bared in a snarl as he was pulled inside. Whenever he struggled, he felt the whip bite him, collapsing under the agony of the memory. Or was it a hallucination? He didn't know. Only knew that it hurt, and it was getting worse. Ruli went limp as they pulled him into a large chamber, its walls covered in runes. He was vaguely aware that the charm on his neck was gone. Had he taken that off? Had it ever existed?
As they dropped him in the middle of the hall, Ruli shivered, body now wrapped in a cold sweat. You failed. Said a voice in his head. Maybe it was his, he wasn't sure. But, he didn't have a voice. He couldn't speak. You failed to escape. You're back here. Under our control.
Ruli rolled onto his belly, arms tied behind him. His damp cheek pressed to the cold floor. Maybe he could run again. Maybe he'd make it this time. Find shelter somewhere in the desert. Maybe he could Walk to the tunnels and hide. He knew where they were. Unless it had all been a dream.
He could make it. He'd escape. He just had to wait for sunrise. When their Walking was weakest. Where his chance would be greatest. Ruli shifted, trying to dig his feet into the sand.

A sudden blue light made him focus, finding himself back ... somewhere. A large room. The glowing runes along the wall illuminated the chamber in an odd light. He blinked, struggling to remember.
Amria. Ruli breathed unevenly. I'm in Amria. In a palace. In a war. For Ki-
Ruli wheezed, twisting on the floor again, hissing at the pain that rolled through him. For Kire. This was meant for Kire. This poison. They wanted to give it to her. It would kill her. Ruli went still, limp on the floor. This will kill me. Licking his lips, Ruli closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. Give her time. Maybe it'll be slow. Gentle. Like falling asleep. Just give her time.

~

So much Walking. Ysaryn panted as she dragged Gavin to another location, her magic growing heavy. She didn't complain, though. She knew why they were doing this. Because the imbecile had gotten himself captured. Because they had her friend. Ysaryn bared her teeth. This is why it wasn't smart to keep friends. Stupid bastard.
When she pulled Gavin back to Kire, then the two of them to the palace hill. Ysaryn knelt onto the ground, sweating. When the wards shifted, attaching themselves to Kire, Ysaryn shivered, then looked up. "Kirai," Ysaryn said cautiously, her nape prickling.

Pulling herself onto her feet, she took them back to Narda, the elf stepping aside to gather her energy again. "Minute." She demanded of them, leaning against the wall. "He is." Ysaryn answered with Gavin when he was asked if he were staying behind. If he and Ruli both died, Envy would be furious. She'd have to find a new home for her people. Again.

By the time they were portaled into the palace, Ysaryn felt ready. Ignoring the nausea that twisted her stomach briefly, Ysaryn drew her blades, inhaling deeply. "It doesn't smell right in here." She whispered to no one in particular. Of course, it wouldn't. Gemini in here with their magic for so long, she was surprised the walls weren't painted in blood. The Wenches moved quickly, going after the hostages, and Ysaryn turned to look at Kire, waiting for her to move.
And she did, toward the hall.

Grinning, Ysaryn pounced, feet moving fast as she circled Kire, moving around the empress as she stormed into the Great Hall.
Where Ruli lay motionless in the middle of the room. A room with runes painted on the walls. Ysaryn swallowed, suddenly very uneasy, the scar on her abdomen aching. Fight first. Panic later. She reminded herself, taking the defensive.

The mages were inside the hall. Inside her home. And Ruli… Rage boiled inside her. “[i[Cut them down[/i],” she hissed, raising her scarred hand. With a flash, her portals transported half of the hostages out. The Ring burned out in her finger, but she ignored the pain as she rushed forward, towards Ruli. As soon as she stepped into the rune circle, she felt the ground tremble. Around them, both the captives and the mages started shrieking as Ysaryn fought the guards. The hostages..

She cut down the nearest mages and stood guard over Ruli, summoning another portal to transport the remaining captives away. She hissed aloud in pain from transporting so many, her scarred hand aching. She could hear the sounds of shouting and battle from the hall they had just left; the Wyvern army was close by, and any minute now they would burst into the hall. But the runes…

Kire bent over Ruli, touching his brow, forgetting everything else for a moment. “I’m here, I’m sorry, please hold on.” Gods, his skin felt hot, and pain twisted his features. “I’m sending you to Elva’s. Don’t you die on me.” She straightened up again, summoning a portal for Ruli. In a flash, he was gone, and Kire prayed Elva knew what to do with the poison in his blood. The runes, feeling the portal in the middle of the circle, pulsed in response. For some reason, Kire sensed she shouldn’t step out of the circle.

The last of the mages knelt in front of Ysaryn’s blades. “Mercy!” he cried.
“He’s asking for your mercy,” Kire said to Ysaryn, her voice cold. The door opened, and Ed, Narda, and Gavin were the first inside, followed by the [i[Wenches[/i] and, behind them, the Wyvern soldiers. “Everyone, don’t step into the circle!”
“Where the fuck is Gael?” Narda growled.
“Our soldiers are already scouring the grounds. The Capital is ours,” Ed said. “What do we do with this? How do we stop it?”
“Kire! Don’t move!” Gavin yelled, his eyes focused on the runes on the ground as he pointedly ignored the dead mages and guards around them. He shuddered. This. This was what Ikegai had wanted him to do. What they had been trying to do. It was more advanced than the one Ikegai had tried teaching him, but he knew what to do. Everyone could feel the tremors. The wards he and Ruli had set were fighting with deep Amrian magic tied to the bones of the land. “W-we need to stabilize this. The magic, it’s tied to you, that’s probably why it got activated somehow.”
“You!” Kire barked at the mage. “Tell us how to stop it.”
“We can’t. If we try, the Tower will take us as sacrifice. If we let it continue like this, it will destroy this hill. He’s right. You need to see it through.”

“Fuck.” Kire looked at Gavin. “Can you do it?”
Gavin unsheathed the knife she had given him. “When I tell you to, open a portal in front of you.”
“Nard, Ed, tell everyone to move out of the Palace,” Kire ordered. “Ysaryn, [i]claim your blood payment.[i]”

Kire gathered her strength as she watched Gavin circle the hall, anointing the ground with his own blood, scratching at runes here and there, etching new ones into the floor, until he had made a full circle around the one already laid down by the Gemini. “The mages should have gems on them,” Gavin said, looking down at the ones Ysaryn had killed. He steeled himself, and began searching. “When you find one, you lay it down along the edges, where I had marked them. Hurry!” Everyone else left in the hall with them inspected the dead, finding a carnelian hidden in their clothes. They found the marks Gavin had indicated and laid a stone on each. “Kire, now!”

The Paladin nodded, and a portal opened in front of her. She let out a cry, a surge of power coursing from her Ring throughout her body. The rune circle lit up, and Kire could see an illusion—a glimpse, more like, of some other place: a familiar hill, with brightly colored homes. Uvano. The smell of the sea filled the Great Hall. “How much longer, Gavin?” Kire yelled, feeling the strain of keeping the portal open.
“Almost!” His right hand was stained with his blood, and he pressed it against the floor. The Great Hall exploded with white light, blinding everyone, and then everything faded. The runes stopped glowing, and the portal had closed, with Kire slumped on the floor, blue smoke similar to the aftermath of her destruction of the gate rising from the center of the rune circle. After a moment, she coughed, rising to her feet. The ground had stopped trembling.

“Where’s the gate? Is it over?” Narda asked.
Kire nodded. “It’s over. And—I think I know where the gate is. But, could you give me a moment?” She walked over to Gavin, who looked pale but triumphant. “Are you alright?”
Gavin was shaking as she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Can’t believe we did it, honestly,” he confessed. He wanted to both lie down for a whole week and run around the hills in elation. The blood magic part he didn’t have much taste for, but seeing that he could help, that he had a hand in winning a war against blood mages—he liked that.

“You should get that hand looked at. You’ve given a lot of blood today. And—could you help Elva look after Ruli? Would you know how to treat poison?”
Gavin squared his shoulders. The work wasn’t over, though he didn’t expect it to, anyway. “Yeah. I can do that.”
“I’ll go see you both in the evening.”
Kire summoned another portal, glad it was only one person she needed to transport this time. She had spent the Ring’s energy for today. She turned to the others, ignoring her body’s plea for rest. “The gate is at the Tower.”

--
Her soldiers and the Wenches had secured the rest of the Palace grounds by the time she found Gael in front of the Red Tower. Kire gaped at what she saw: the stones glowed red, but the windows around the Seer’s Chamber shone blue. Around them were statues of crystal—no. Not statues. Mages, twisted in agony, standing on remnants of rune circles. From the look of things, none of them had been successful in getting to open the Red Tower. Her soldiers were pointing blades at Gael, though not too close, afraid that he would contaminate them with blood magic.
“You’ve opened the gate,” he said, his expression blank. “And now you’ll finally get to annihilate us like you wanted.”
Kire glared at him, but didn’t speak to him. There would be time enough for that when his execution day comes. “Take him prisoner.”

“Ysaryn,” she called to her friend. “Much of the work left right now is to make sure the Capital is safe, and to tie up loose ends. I don’t know if you’d want to stay for that, but Ruli and Gavin are both at Elva’s. You can stay here, with the Wench crew, or you could join them.”

--

Elva hadn’t been able to sleep at all since the start of the campaign. Jan had sent word that the army had started the march. That was a day ago. Two days? Gods, she was tense. But just as she thought she had gotten a handle on her nerves, her attendants called for her, telling them that Ruli was in the Great Hall, and in pain. “Gods above.” It took as many hands as were available to get him to the infirmary, he had been struggling so bad, almost as badly as Kire when Ruli brought her back from the battlefield. “Test his blood for poisons,” she ordered. “Ruli! Ruli, can you hear me? It’s Elva!”

By the time Gavin had reappeared later, Ruli had just managed to go limp. “By the gods, what happened?” Elva said, as soon as he entered the infirmary. She spotted his bleeding hand. “And what happened to you?”
“Nevermind that, Ruli was poisoned by the Gemini,” Gavin said, still running on adrenaline, even as another healer started attending to him.
“We figured as much. I have an idea what kind it is; Kire had suffered through a similar one, but this one’s stronger.”

Ysaryn went loose. In a flurry of Amrian steel, leather, and perfectly braided fuchsia hair, the elf went after the mages, her arms swinging. Arms, torsos, throats, abdomen, anything that was unguarded or exposed, she cut into with a fiery speed. The smell of fresh blood filled her nostrils. Her pupils dilated, her heart pounding like a war drum as she slaughtered the Gemini. For every one of the women of her tribe that was kidnapped, violated, murdered, and mutilated. She extracted her revenge.

When the last of them cried out, hands raised, Ysaryn paused, her blade at his throat. As Kire summoned another portal, Ysaryn looked up, digging her blade into the Gemini's neck in warning. A portal? For Ruli. Her eyes fell on his figure at Kire's feet. He breathed so unsteadily. She could smell his sweat from here. It was mingled with something ... foul. Not like the way the dolls smells, the decay and mutilation, but something that made her skin crawl and want to step away.
Head tilting, she heard Kire translate the man's plea, Ysaryn bared her teeth at him. "Did your kind show mercy to the hundreds you've butchered for your experiments? I don't think so. A death by my hand would be a mercy compared to the horrors done to my people." She smiled wolfishly at him, pleased with the fear in his face. He couldn't understand a word, but she was sure her tone translated fine.

As much as she wanted to slay the Gemini in her hands, the way the others questioned him, the way he shook and spoke back, Ysaryn knew she had to wait. Mercy. Ha. A laughable thing. Not that she had any inkling as to what was happening. Not until Kire asked Gavin to do something, and then those beautiful words in her direction. Claim your blood payment. Ysaryn's sharp canine's shined as she smiled viciously down at the Gemini mage and ripped her sword through his throat.

Still, she wasn't sure what was happening when she looked up again. Furrowing her brow, she could feel the magic roar in the room, the runes glowing, the power of it hungry. She hissed, itching to retreat and back out of the room. Almost did, until Gavin addressed her and mentioned the little stones the dolls had. She looked down to her most recent kill and began searching pockets, fishing one out from a small pocket inside his bloodied robes.
"Here." She chimed, rushing reluctantly forward to set her carnelian on the vacant marked spot.

Then hell broke loose. Ysaryn snarled and retreated, throwing her arm up to shield her eyes from the light. She could smell fish. Salt. brine. Odd. Ysaryn blinked, and suddenly it was gone again. She growled, lowering her arm again, looking around. Ruli was gone, the ground was still. Nothing glowed. Nothing moved except Kire, who collapsed. Hissing, Ysaryn rushed forward, kneeling beside her. But Kire's attention was on Gavin. Ysaryn pursed her lips, studying them both from where she remained.

Once Gavin was gone, Ysaryn stood again, going to work cleaning her blades on the sleeves of her leather jerkin. The Tower. She kept hearing about this tower. "Let us go." She said simply, sheathing her blades.

But the Tower was not quite what she expected now. It glowed, the crystalline figures surrounding it like a sacrificial dance. Far from where Gael stood, held and controlled, Ysaryn stopped, having nod desire to approach the red structure. When Kire said her name, the elf blinked and looked to her, her expression neutral. "Put me to work here." She answered with a gently shrug of her shoulder. She would be in the way at Elva's, unless someone wanted a seafood dish cooked.

~

He couldn't recall where he was. He could see a leather yurt above him, the painted symbols baring down at him like angry Gods. But he could also see Kire's face. At least he thought it was Kire. No pointed ears. A rasping breath, a slow blink, and the yurt was gone, but the runes remained. And Kire. Akuma? She was shouting at him. Angry. He'd be whipped again for whatever had angered her.
Then pain again. Ruli yelled as he was moved through the portal, the agony of the movement sending him writhing again. He snarled and hissed, kicking at the first person to approach him. He couldn't smell sand anymore. Had ... had he been in the sand at all? Why would he be sweating if he weren't out on the desert? He could smell it on him. The salted odor of his sweat. Someone else made to roll him, and Ruli twisted suddenly and sank his teeth into something. Someone. He snarled, biting hard, unwilling to let go, when the order came again. 'Don't fight back!' Ruli inhaled and jerked, releasing whatever he'd bitten as he went slack. Sand filled his lungs again, making it hard to breath.

Someone was talking. Elva. No, Envy? Envy. Was Envy real? Had he ever escaped? Had he met Envy? Ruli closed his eyes, trying to remember the Kartaian. It couldn't have been a dream. He wanted to call out, but he wasn't sure he could. If it was a dream, he never learned to talk. Had no words.
Someone touched him again and Ruli bared his teeth and jerked again, trying to bite, but hands held him, pressing him down. He roared, flexing and fighting to grab, rub, claw, but his limbs only shook, disobedient, until he went limp. He was vaguely aware of something biting at his arm, but he barely cared. Compared to the way his bones ached, his skin burned, the prick was little concern. "Envy." He breathed at last. I can speak. It wasn't a dream. I got out. Ruli shook violently, his eyes burning behind his eyelids. It hadn't been a dream. he'd gotten out. So why was he feeling this again? He opened his eyes and hissed, turning his head with difficulty to shield his gaze from the lights. It was always so bright in the desert. "I want to go home." He croaked, voice hoarse and broken.

In a way, Kire was relieved at her answer. It was a selfish reason, but with the overwhelming events of the day, the emotions she was barely keeping in check as she needed to keep herself stoic and steady in front of her people, plus the many questions she still had, she needed a friend nearby. Is Ruli alright? Did Elva and Gavin figure out the cure? She wished she could find out for herself, but there was so, so much yet to be done. “Alright.” She gave a small smile.

Still, when Ed approached, the look on his face telling Kire that he must be feeling the same things she was, Kire almost broke her façade. The cousins approached and embraced each other, silent for a few moments. “We’re home,” she murmured, and Ed nodded, releasing her just enough to hold her at arm’s length by the shoulders.
“Home,” he said, before turning to Ysaryn, smiling. “We thank you, you, Ruli, and Gavin,” he said in Elvish. Kire nodded. “Will he be alright, though?” he asked Kire.
“I don’t know.” Guilt rippled through Kire then. “Ysaryn, I know you’ve Shadow-Walked too much today already, but after you help here could—could you bring us to Elva’s?”

Kire gave the order for everyone to make one more sweep of the Palace grounds, to root out any more Geminis or hostages that might have been kept prisoner. The rest of the army did the same for the Capital, as well as putting out stray fires. Others were assigned to gather the dead. “We will not stay within the Capital just yet. We’ll keep to the camps until we’ve sure there aren’t anymore blood magic remnants inside,” she said. “I’ll ask for Daryll and Gavin’s help tomorrow regarding the runes and the—figures outside the Tower.” Birds were sent back to Lord Ulrich’s castle, bearing messages for Jan about the situation and their victory.

As Kire had no energy for portals left for today, she decided to leave the matter of the portal for the next day. When asked about celebrations, Kire declared, “Tonight, and for the next six nights, we would ready the Capital and the Palace, as well as mourn the dead today, and the ones we had lost this past year.” She went around camp, speaking to the officers, talking to Narda, Myka, and the Wenches, conferring with Lord Ulrich. She next visited the hostages to see how they were being looked after, if those who had kin among the nobles in the army had been reunited, and if they still had traces of blood magic on them. The hostages had told her that the Gemini had planned to take control of them, to use against the army or to kill when they were left out of options if something hadn't prevented their magic from doing so. The wards, Kire thought. Thank the gods. Though she wanted to just curl up in a bed and sleep for days, she went on to visit the wounded being tended to, and inspected the makeshift prisons for those who had surrendered from the enemy army earlier. Gael she did not honor with her presence.

Come nighttime, after being assured by Ed and Narda that they would handle things here, Kire sought out Ysaryn and asked if she could bring the both of them to Elva’s. She had her own sword by her hip now, Ruli's saber in her other hand.

--

Even as Gavin himself was being treated for wounds—some cuts and minor burns from the explosion he helped orchestrate, and the self-inflicted ones he had done in a rush to get blood—he set to work, obeying Elva’s instructions, helping her put the antidote together. Gods, the way Ruli looked…this was the worst state he had ever seen his mentor and friend, and it pained him to see the man this way. He couldn’t even tell where he was, calling Envy’s name. Elva had told him he had bitten and clawed at the healers.

Gavin muttered out loud the names of plants Ruli had taught him, as well as his lessons from Envy, scouring Elva’s stores until he found the two ingredients he needed. An oil extracted from a certain nut—netri oil, if he remembered the lesson correctly-- and another medicinal herb, to counter the pain from withdrawal. It wouldn’t completely remove the agony, but it would dull it enough to be close to manageable, then sent the victim to sleep it off, according to the elf. Gavin had always wondered how Envy came to know about this, if the Kartaians had used this on their victims. Wonder later, lad. Focus. He prepared the two ingredients as fast as his bandaged wrist would allow him to, handing it quickly to Elva, who finished the process. “We’ll be home soon, and Envy can scold us both,” he assured as Elva administered the antidote, even though he was certain Ruli couldn’t really see or hear him. “Let yourself rest, Ruli.”

Now, all they needed to do was wait, and observe closely. Gavin collapsed onto a nearby chair, letting his body go limp as he leaned back. It occurred to him then that this was the first time in this long day that he truly rested and sat down. “How long?” he asked after a long pause, sitting up straighter so he could watch Ruli.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Elva replied, sighing. “I have an idea, but seeing as this is a more potent version, we might be looking at a longer recovery time.” Her attendants pulled curtains around Ruli’s bed to help dim his surroundings. “Now, tell me what happened. Did we…did Kire..?” She didn’t know why it was so hard to finish the sentence, but Gavin understood it plainly enough. He nodded.
“We won.” As an attendant brought him some calming tea and a pitcher of water, he told her what happened: the battle outside the Capital, the wards they set around the Palace, the chaos of the illusions and dolls, the hostages, and the final skirmish inside the Palace.

There was a long silence after Gavin had finished, and by the end of it he was thirsty, hungry, and totally spent, his body fully feeling the tiredness of the past two days now. “I left him,” he murmured, breaking the silence. “I left him behind, and this happened.”
“It was the Gemini who poisoned him, lad. Not you,” the healer replied firmly. “People get injured and incapacitated in a war. You can’t blame yourself for this.”
Elva, too, was taking the time to process everything. They won the war. At great cost. And there was still so, so much work to be done by her family to fix everything. She wondered how Kire and Ed were feeling. “You should get rest, too. You can stay here, or at Daryll’s.”
He pondered it for a moment. “I’ll stay here, if that’s alright. I need to watch over him.”
Elva snorted. “You’re asleep on your feet, my boy. Your eyes are half-closed already. But if you must insist, you can take one of the beds here. Go on,” she added gently, reassuring him. With a nod, Gavin rose, found the nearest empty cot, and sank onto it, asleep within minutes.

Elva was then left to herself, watching Ruli as she pondered on everything that had just happened. Some selfish part of her, too, was a little sad that at the thought that this meant her cousins would most likely stay somewhere else, but at least Kire could ease the distance with that portal of hers. Still, everything was going to change drastically for them again. If the match went ahead, and went smoothly, Jan would finally be building her own family. Kire and Ed would have to repair a broken empire together, too. And what about Ruli, and Gavin, Ysaryn, Kire’s friends?
Plus, there was the matter of the strange situation with the gate. Gavin hadn’t seen where the gate had gone, but from the way he told it, the ritual should have been successful.

Daryll arrived later, greeted by Elva, who then gave him Gavin’s account of the day’s events. It looked like Ruli would make a full recovery soon, though again Elva only had an educated guess how long the antidote would take to completely rid him of the effects of the poison. Daryll sat down, head cradled in his hands at the immense relief of knowing they had won the day, and together the cousins sat side by side, silently supporting each other.

Ysaryn smiled back, glad for Kire's acceptance of her decision. Given orders, Ysaryn turned to put herself to work, joining the Wenches in another sweep of the palace. Ysaryn's fingers twitched at her sides as they wandered the halls and the rooms. So much refinery. So many things that could be sold for coin enough to feed her people for weeks. No wonder Kire and her family wanted back here. But, with all of this around them, so many resources, how was Kire not fat?
Suppose the Gemini kept them on their feet, constantly prepared for a fight. But with them all dead or captive, maybe they'd get soft. If Ysaryn had nothing to fight, she'd go soft and round with so much food.

She found more of the dead Gemini and searched their bodies, gathering the carnelians from their pockets for Daryll or Envy's study. And finding a few coins and items of jewelry in the task. With the exception of the pendant she knew from her nightmares; the ivory faces facing one another on an ebony field. Those, she refused to touch.

By the time they'd returned to the empress and she address her soldiers, Ysaryn's adrenalin had waned, and she felt fatigued. In need of a good rest. A hot bath. A table full of food. Silent, she listened to Kire, standing on the edge of the group as they took in her words and instructions. Sleep in the camp. Mourn those they'd lost. Take back their home and sweep their enemy out of it.
"Edward." Ysaryn greeted as he passed, her voice soft with her fatigue. Her fuchsia eyes roamed him, checking for injury. He'd been near the explosions. She could smell that on him, but couldn't yet tell if he was burnt beneath the soot that covered him. "You appear to have a few scratches on you. Pity." She smiled teasingly. "Let me know when you'd like a few more, hm?" A suggestive wink, and Ysaryn turned toward Kire, who asked for a way to Elva's.

When they arrived at Elva's, Ysaryn could smell a heavy amount of herbs in the air. She sniffed, rubbing at her nose, and left Kire to find the infirmary and check on Ruli. Ysaryn followed, briefly looking into the room to see Ruli alive on the bed before she left the room, needing to clean her weapons before she could collapse into a bed.

~

Ruli was barely conscious. He lay in bed, more relaxed, thanks to the medicine administered, but he shivered relentlessly. His muscles unable to calm. His breathing was rapid, but steady at least. His skin wan, his eyelids dark. He felt more aware of his surroundings as he tried to sleep, his thoughts turning and coiling like a restless snake just above the line of sleep. Resting, but not restful.

He knew Gavin slept nearby, knew people wandered around him with no intention of harming him. Knew he was in Amria. In Elva's house. He knew the ache in his body had lessened, and that the burning lines on his back were his imagination. Everytime he breathed, the pain far less than before, he could smell Elva's tobacco, a healer's sanitary soap, and after a long while, sulfur.
It was for that smell that Ruli opened his eyes. His sclera was irritated and pink, making his blue eyes seem even more bright. He struggled to bring her into focus, though he knew who she was without.

Shivering still, Ruli couldn't feel his body. Why, he was unsure. If he was blocking out to pain or the medicine had numbed him. All he knew was that he couldn't stop shaking. "Take me home." He begged softly, his voice barely audible.
Ruli could see it in her face, her blurred features shifting to something negative. Pity. Regret. Sorrow. He couldn't tell what, but knew that her answer was 'no' without her having to physically speak the word.

He closed his eyes again, blocking her out. Inhaling, and putting a tremendous amount of effort into his senseless body, Ruli rolled, summoning his magic and vanishing from the bed.

While Ysaryn went off, Kire entered the infirmary. A few healers milled about, waiting for any instructions from their mistress. Gavin was asleep, Elva was nearby, still watching Ruli like a hawk. Spotting Kire, she put a finger to her lips, then gestured for her to step closer. "Talk later," the healer whispered as she pulled Kire into an embrace, afterwards explaining the state of Ruli.

Kire looked down at him, and at once guilt got to her. He was trembling so much. She had had a taste of this poison before, and it had been hell. To know that he was feeling worse now tore at her. She was about to ask Elva to let her sleep nearby when Ruli opened his eyes, looking at her with red eyes. "I can't take you home yet, I'm sorry," she answered, even as she mentally calculated how soon she could muster a portal. Maybe if she napped for a couple of hours, she could manage at least one.

Before she could voice this, however, Ruli disappeared. "Oh, fuck!" Elva cursed. Nearby, Gavin woke with a start.
"Whuzzat?" He asked, bleary-eyed. "Oh, Kire! Wussrong?"
Shit, Kire muttered under her breath as Elva gave instructions to search for him.
"Where would he go?" The healer demanded from Kire and Gavin. "He's still too weak to be just mucking about! And it's too cold outside! He didn't go to his world, did he?"
"No--ah shit, he Walked," Gavin said, finally realizing, rubbing his face in frustration. "Alright, let me get up, I'll help."
"I'll find him, give me a blanket?" Kire asked.

She paced the manor for a few moments, centering herself, until at last she caught the signature. Huh. Kire tilted her head down. "Well?" Elva called.
Kire nodded. "Let me handle it." She was about to move when she paused, looking down at her dirty, bloody armor, the swords she was carrying. The way she looked now wasn't exactly a calming image. She unbuckled her belt, then took off the armor, before following the trail.

He was in the hot springs below. Kire paused, cautious, afraid she night spook him. "Ruli?" She called. Kire took a few, tentative steps, then stopped a couple of yards away. "Look, just listen for a bit," she said in as calm a voice as she could. "You need to recover a bit more. Even if I could, sending you through a portal might make you feel worse. And I've used up all my energy for portals. The most I can promise is to wait a few hours for me to recover my strength."

She sighed, then sat down cross-legged. "I'm sorry. That you have to through this. And for bringing you into this fight." She watched him, his body curled like that of a frightened, wounded animal. "Do you feel better here? If you promise to see Elva first thing tomorrow, I'll ask her to bring you pillows or something."

The springs beneath kept the floor warm, the air in here humid and thick from the steaming water. He didn't care for the moisture, but he was already damp. And at least he was warm and underground. Just as he'd managed when he first escaped. When he found Ziad, and the Kartaian hiding within. The hard stone grounded him. No soft sand. Unforgiving, relentless stone.

Ruli?
He opened his eyes again, his cheek pressed against the floor of the chamber. Her shape moved, her approach cautious. She said something to him, but it jumbled in his ear. He couldn't understand. Not that it mattered. He closed his eyes again. Walking made it worse. Made his bones ache again. Made him tired. Gods, so tired. Ruli took a shuddering breath, listening as she spoke again. More of her words made sense this time, but not all of them.
He understood she was apologizing.

He smelled someone else, and shifted his head, peering through the fog. Barely visible was a smudge of fuchsia near the threshold. A female elf. A fighter. A mistress. "Go away." He snarled, still shivering uncontrollably. Ysaryn inhaled and left backed out, leaving Kire alone with him. His gaze shifted back to her. But to her, he wasn't sure what to stay. Vaguely, he recalled that they'd been fighting in something. Violent. He looked her over, looking for injury. He should tell her to go away, too. Tell her to leave him alone. But for some reason, the thought made him feel alone.
Shaking, he extended an arm, spreading his fingers toward her. "Please?" He asked quietly. "I- ... I don't know w-whats real."

Elva had told her he had been confused, so Kire waited to see if he recognized her, or even knew or understood what she had said. When he snapped, she almost thought he had meant it for her, but then she felt Ysaryn briefly behind her before the elf walked away. Kire expected him to tell her the same.

Instead, he extended his hand to her, and pleaded. His words stung; she didn't know how to help him, even though she wanted so badly to take his pain and confusion away. He was almost like a child in this state, fearful, alone, needing comfort. With a sigh she stood and walked over closer to him, then, after a pause to think it over, carefully lay down, pressing her cheek against the stone floor, facing him. She took his hand in her scarred one, squeezing gently.

"I'm here," she murmured. Gods, she could feel how badly his body trembled. She wasn't sure what else to say, if explaining where he was or who she was would only confuse him. All she could do was offer comfort.

Ruli's eyes followed her, watching her rise and draw nearer, before she settled before him. She felt the warmth of her hand in his, the scarred flesh beneath his fingertips. For a moment, it felt so foreign. Physical touch. Gentle touch. Something he'd longed for but had always been denied. But, swiftly, the real memories surfaced, reminding him that'd he'd spent years, decades, safe and loved.

His brow furrowed as she spoke, her voice strangely loud. So close. Kire was so close to him. That's why he could feel her hand. He looked down, studying her hand, the Ring that adorned her finger. There was a fight. "We fought." He voiced, remembering the Gemini. He remembered ... little. Everything was mottled. "They took something from me." Ruli whispered in between his shivers, his eyes closing again. The 'what' was fuzzy.
"Did you win? Your h-home?"