Winter 4994, 17 Ginmoth 

The golem literally carried Ragther down the six steps into the sunken lab that took up an entire half of the tower. Another woman, the Archmage Yuara, waited in the middle. She watched with a smirk as the construct bound his hands with chains embedded in the stone walls, then took his shield and holy symbol. Pulling against his bindings, Ragther lunged for the woman. 

She watched him struggle for a moment, then said, "Your sister has been promising you would come since she first became a guest of ours. Though I was disappointed to hear you didn't also inherit her power with earth. She will be glad to have your company, I'm sure. Though you might want your own room when we manage to find her a suitable partner." 

She came close enough for Ragther to spit at her, though the golem reached out to block the ball of bile with its hand. She just sighed, "Now now, I thought you were a noble? And a Paladin as well. No need to be crude." she turned away from him.

Ragther growled, "I will smash in your skull, Warlock..." 

"Are you always this hot-headed?" Yarna responded over her shoulder, "I thought calm and discipline was a virtue in all the Temples of this cursed kingdom?" 

Ragther didn't answer. She was right, and he hadn't been acting himself since he'd discovered the pattern of Sorcerers being targeted. His sister going missing had pushed him to his limit. The fact that it was planned and not the random workings of someone seeking ransom or revenge had shoved him over the edge into a righteous fury only ever sung about in Bard's tales. His worry might be reserved for his sister, but his wrath was on behalf of all the Swailand citizens taken. Or more accurately, the insult to his Temple. 

He stepped back to stand against the wall, giving the chains enough length to let his arms hang at his side, and closed his eyes to pray. Mighty Horsa, see my confidence and grant me your calm. I will deliver this woman's head unto your altar... He thought of all the spells he could cast without his holy symbol -the flail of Horsa. The other Warlock had taken his flail, and the golem took his shield and necklace.

But he still had the divine spark in his soul. It was difficult and dangerous to channel the power without the Paladin's tools to focus it, but there were still a few he could manage. He just had to wait for the right opportunity...

He spent his time infusing his body with divine might until the lab door opened, then closed again. Though Ragther couldn't see past the golem, he heard the sigh and recognized the hiss of an angry little cat, "I knew you would come, my dear brother. What in Horsa's mighty name took you so long?" 

Raina stepped to the edge of the little landing but didn't bother to come down the stairs. The golem shifted, and the Warlock spun to face her. Ragther's smile matched Raina's, "Forgive me, sister, I was forced to use the assistance of a rather motley crew. I assume you've met some of them already?"

"I did. The Sorcerer woman, in particular, is... interesting-" Raina answered.

Interrupting the nobles' banter, the Warlock snarled a spell, and a black ball that seemed to suck the light from the room shot from her hand toward Raina. Ragther pulled on his chains, but his sister just stomped her foot -much like a spoiled child- and a wall of stone shot up from the ground in front of her, blocking the hit. The stone was sucked into the black ball but not enough before it vanished. 

"You're defense will only take you so far!" Yarna shouted.

But her eyes were locked on the stone hiding the Sorcerer herself, and she overlooked the dusty cat that dashed down the stairs and circled her feet, until it scratched her calf. She kicked at the animal, which dodged nimbly out of the way and circled her again. The stone floor shifted below Yarna, turning to sand and rotating with the cat until Yarna was sunk up to her calves. 

The golem moved for the stairs, but Raina slammed her fist into the tower wall and sent a quiver through the room. The stone waved like water until it reached where Ragther's chains were mounted. He pulled, and the bolts came free of the stone as if they'd been stuck in mud and not rock. With a cry to Horsa, he grabbed the chains and started them spinning. They glowed red and shifted, taking the form of twin flails, one in each hand. Ragther set to work pounding the golem into pulp from behind. 

The Warlock stopped trying to hit the little cat and instead shot a spell toward the Paladin. Raina punched her own stone wall and sent a blast of rock out between Ragther and the trapped Warlock, intercepting the spell again and causing the entire tower to shake with the force of the combined magic. Raina stomped with each step she took down the stairs to the ground floor, bringing up more stone to block the Warlock from attacking her or her brother and intensifying the shaking until it compromised the structure's foundation. 

"Enough, Raina. You'll bring the tower down about us," Ragther called to her as she stalked towards the Warlock. Now breathing hard and trying to smack the cat away again as it leaped forward to claw at her face. The furious little familiar bound away and turned to kick dirt in her face like litter. The sand merged into larger rocks to pelt her as Raina channeled her magic through the beast. 

Ragther landed one last blow on the back of the golems skull, stilling it for good, and turned to see Raina glaring down at the Warlock, Yarna's hands now trapped in solid stone. He joined his sister, letting the chains-turned-flails trail on the ground beside him with ominous clinks. 

"What was it you said to me?" Raina asked the Warlock, "Something about my brother never coming? Something about you flaying my skin and using me unto my old age as you watch my hope die?" She tilted her head up to look down her nose at the woman, "I don't need something as feeble as hope, Warlock. But I must admit, it is a lovely sight... To watch yours die here and now..."

His regal sister nodded to him, "Take her knees." 

"My Lady." Ragther bowed to her as one noble to another, then swung his flails, once, twice. The Warlock screamed, wrenching her arms hard enough that her shoulders popped, and she fell back, the crushed remains of her legs spilling blood to soak into the sand trapping her. 

"Ah yes, lovely." Raina sighed, picking up her familiar and stroking its ugly head lovingly. 

The Warlock trembled, her eyes wide and mad. She cackled, gasping in a language Ragther couldn't understand. Then her entire body began to glow, the black light seeping into the ground until it shook. 

Dirt fell from the rafters, and Raina let out an impatient "tch" before she nodded at Ragther again. The Paladin caved in the woman's skull. 

But the shaking didn't stop...

***

Yua's arrows led the way into the kidnappers' room. The first pinned a young man's arm to the stone wall, while the second landed beside an old man's neck, a thin line of blood trailing down his skin at the graze. She nodded to Tuth, who squeezed past her without getting in her way and addressed the men. "I hear you have a fascinating magical item that'll keep the undead away?"

The young man trembled, and the old cursed, but the Sorcerers behind Yua weren't about to be as polite as Tuth and shoved past them into the room. A blast of wind shoved the kidnappers back against the wall which folded forward to grab their arms, fire erupted on their clothes, and they couldn't even scream as water filled their mouths. 

"I think that gets our point across well enough..." Yua told the Sorcerers. Some of the spell effects died down, but not all of them, and the Ranger sighed. "I assure you they'll be executed. After a trial. Let them go before you drown, or crush, or burn them, so we can get out of here." The rest of the elemental attacks stopped, and the two men fell to the ground coughing, the young man's arm still suspended over his head by Yua's arrow. 

The Ranger leveled her bow at the old man, "The torch, now, or I will let them have their way with you."

He reached into his bag, and Tuth too lifted his hands, ready to cast if the kidnapper brought forth anything except what they asked for. The old man looked around the room and beyond the open door for an escape. But there were nearly fifteen of them and only two kidnappers. "Just give it to them!" the young man cried. 

Then the ground shook, and a white light flared. The old man threw the magical torch at Tuth and tried to dash for the door. Yua twisted her bow and caught him in the neck as he tried to run past while the Sorcerers all grabbed for him at once, nearly pulling him apart in their efforts to help. He went slack in their hands, and an earth Sorcerer stepped forward, scooping up some stone from the wall as if it were clay and using it to bind his hands behind him. 

Yua removed her arrow from the young man's sleeve, and he didn't struggle as the other earth Sorcerer encased his hands in rock as well. "Are you sure this'll work?" Yua asked anyone that would answer. 

The Sorcerers all nodded, and Tuth examined the torch, trying to squint past the bright light, "I've never seen, or even heard of, anything like this..." the Mage said. 

The ground shook again, harder, and didn't stop. "Let's go." Yua declared, taking Tuth by the shoulder and turning him for the exit. The Sorcerers parted for him, and he swallowed but reached for the door out of the tower. 

Magic light spilled forth from the doorway, and the few zombies that had gathered in the darkness fell back, the closest smoking before crumbling, not to rise again. Yua led the way out, staying in the light while the others followed, all huddled around Tuth with the light in the middle.

He stopped where the light still washed over the door so the undead crowding around its perimeter couldn't come behind them and block the others' retreat. The tower groaned, "Lily..." Tuth whispered, "Should we go get them?" 

"Not yet," Yua said, "Have some faith Tuth, we have enough to deal with out here..." she leveled her bow and thanked Cathbad and Horsa that Ragther had blessed her arrows as she fired off into the zombies. The Sorcerers formed a more orderly circle around the Mage, the fighters out front, and the children and noncombatants inside. Elemental magic and arrows rained down on the army of undead, kept at range by the light. The fire Sorcerers, in particular, worked wonders, slowly cremating a few of the undead and sending their souls to the heavenly plain almost as cleanly as Ragther might have. 

The ground shook again, and the two earth Sorcerers looked at each other, then at the tower, "That wasn't earth magic..." they muttered. Rocks from the tower's parapet began to rain down around them, and Tuth was forced to push the others further away. 

Yua turned to watch the trembling tower. And prayed to any god who might listen, "Come on..."

*** 

Shon's hands were bound together with a single chain hanging from the ceiling, in a lab that was sunk six steps into the ground. The apprentice took his sword to the edge of the massive room -its pommel turning as black as his hair- and rested it against the wall beside a crank attached to his chain. She twisted it, lifting him up, so he had to balance on his toes to keep the pressure off his shoulders. 

Shon got a flash of an image from Ryuuko, Tuth unlocking a bracelet around a woman's wrist and Lily's voice as if right beside him. "I'll do you one better," before she melted the brass and sapphires in her palm. 

They were free, and they were coming. Still, the distraction had cost him an opportunity as the Archmage snapped at the apprentice, "Bring that sword back. Close enough that the pommel changes color again." He felt when the sword came back in range but didn't show any outward sign of the shift. "So you chose to seal your magic? Foolish." the Warlock said to him, dropping Ragther's flail by the stairs and coming close enough that he could feel her breath on his skin.

She lifted a hand to stroke his face, running her fingers over his eyes, "Ice... So rare..." She spun away from him, and walked to a workbench against the wall, "Tell me about the woman in your dreams."

Shon didn't answer. There was only one woman he dreamed about, and even if he were inclined to talk to this Warlock, it wouldn't be about Lily. The Archmage sighed and turned to lean on her table, "Come now. The one with hair black as yours but gleaming purple in the sun like the darkest amethyst?" 

He arched an eyebrow at her. She narrowed her eyes at him, then pushed off the table again, seeming unable to hold still for long. "You will answer. I have all the time in..." but then her eyes went wide. She let out a long breath, then laughed, "No! Really?" she turned around, throwing her head back and laughing maniacally at the ceiling, making even her apprentice look nervous.

The laugh stopped as quickly as if she'd been silenced by a spell. She spun again, saying, something that sounded like a question in that strange language again.

The apprentice stepped closer and seemed to translate, "A man. All in white with platinum hair? You are one of his?" 

Shon alternated his arched eyebrow to the other side, keeping his expression otherwise neutral. But he'd hesitated, and the Warlock smiled. "Silver then... And yet not a Paladin? You would never work with a knight of Horsa or drop your sword... But of course!" she alternated between speaking to him and to herself, slapping her head as though reaching a revelation.

"Archmage?" the apprentice asked, sounding as curious as Shon felt.

The Archmage waved a dismissive hand and turned away again. "It's too bad you're male. I hear the southern Talon is searching high and low for your sister, or would it be cousin? Either way, white apparently." she shrugged, moving to her table again. 

Part of Shon wanted her to explain how she knew about his dreams of the man in white. But a greater part of him wanted to separate her head from her shoulders. He closed his eyes and reached for Ryuuko, seeing a door, this door, just before it opened, and he saw himself stretched out below the landing. 

He opened his eyes as Lily spoke, "So it is you... How in all the planes of existence did you survive, Shaloon? Why you and not Brom or Ran? They at least deserved to live." Ryuuko glided down to land on Shon's chain, hissing and scratching at the lock futilely. 

Shaloon whirled, snarling, "Firewyrm! What are you doing out of your room?" She snapped her fingers in the air, and Shon saw Lily flinch violently, closing her eyes and even stepping back.

But it hadn't been a spell, and the next moment Lily opened her eyes again, revealing pools of molten red and not their usual lovely blue. "My name is Lily, and you will never choke me again, bitch." Lily growled, baring her teeth at the Warlock. Her hair began to lift and sway as the air turned hot. The golem turned to Lily, and the apprentice fell back in fear. All the way to the wall. 

Shon grabbed his chain with both hands and pulled himself up, swinging forward to lock his legs around the construct's neck and hold it back. Frost formed on the metal under his hands, and he focused on it, concentrating and trying to see the ice seeping between the links and expanding. Ryuuko took off from the chain and dove for the apprentice just as the metal snapped and Shon arched back, twisting his legs as he fell and pulling the golem down to slam into the ground with him. 

The apprentice screamed, dropping Shon's sword and flailing at the pseudodragon, bringing forth her purple fire but not before Ryuuko's tail spike took her in the arm. She crumpled over Shon's sword, fast asleep even in the tumult of the lab-turned-battleground. 

Shon rolled away from the golem and to his feet. The monster struggled to stand, but Shon focused on Lily. Her right hand whipped a line of fire towards the Warlock while the other made ready to toss another handful of flame at the woman. "Lily!" he called her name, afraid she'd lost control again. 

But she turned to him, her lovely face twisted in a grimace somewhere between pain and rage, "This one is mine. I need answers, and she has them." Lily's thrown fire landed at the Warlock's feet, making her jump back and cancel the spell she'd been starting. Lily was in control but quite clearly angry beyond reason. 

The ground shook, and all of them stumbled, but there was more to worry about than a brief earthquake. The golem stepped between Lily and the Warlock, blocking her path and line of sight.

Lily wavered on the edge of the landing above the stairs and Shon dashed for it, lacing his fingers together for her. "Jump," he said. She read his mind, leaping from the landing to his hands in time for him to launch her higher. She tumbled through the air, over the golem, towards the Warlock.

Shon rolled for the base of the stairs as the ground shook again, reaching for Ragther's flail. The Horsa blessed weapon felt foul in his hand, but not being a Paladin of Hengist, he could hold it. And was trained in its use. The golem tried to follow Lily but Shon met it instead, spinning the flail to gain momentum in its head and sending it to slam into the construct's chest, knocking it away from her.

Ryuuko took off from the downed apprentice and flew in to assist, but the Archmage snarled, dodging another flash of Lily's fire whip and sending a bolt of black light towards the little dragon. It winged away, but the spell swerved in mid-air to follow it, slamming into the pseudodragon and sending it tumbling to the shaking ground. Shon nearly collapsed, feeling the pain as clearly as if it had been his own. He blocked the sting as best he could and focused the pain into his next few hits. First, an uppercut with the flail into the golem's chin, throwing it back, then kicking it in the knee, snapping the joint, and sending it back to the ground.

Lily roared, "You will not hurt my treasures again!" the Warlock had summoned her sword, but Lily paid it no heed, slapping the blade away. The black metal cut into her arm, but she didn't seem to notice, reaching out with her other hand to grab the Warlock about the neck. Shaloon screamed, her skin smoking, and swung again, forcing Lily to let go or have her hand cut off. She needed her staff, or to just end this, but it seemed Lily didn't want to kill the Warlock right off. 

She rolled away from the Archmage as Shon finished off the golem with a final swing of the flail into its head. He turned to see Lily crouched, gripping her cut bicep but ready to launch herself at Shaloon again. The ground roiled beneath them, dust and rocks falling from the ceiling.

"No, not yet." Lily snarled but was forced to roll again, further away, as a support beam crashed down between her and the Warlock. 

The wood caught fire in her rage, but Shaloon just stepped back and drew a circle with her sword in the air between her and Lily. A portal black as night and just as full of stars formed between them. Shon saw the Warlock dive into it as he dashed towards Ryuuko. The pseudodragon lifted its head and licked his nose, shaking itself free of the sting of the spell and crawling onto his shoulder to hold on with all its strength. You did good, little pest... Shon told it but had no time for more as the earth continued to roll and shake, and more rocks fell from the ceiling and walls. 

One stone hit Shon on the opposite shoulder to Ryuuko. He heard the bone crunch and the force of the hit sent him to his knees, but he blocked the pain and focused on Lily. She looked like she was about to run into the portal after the Warlock, but Ryuuko whistled, and she turned to see him stand again, cold blood trailing down his arm to drip off his fingers. "We have to go," Shon told her and moved for the downed apprentice and his sword. 

Lily snarled, but the portal dissolved into black ash. She screamed, and the fires in the room flared to what was left of the ceiling. Books from the library above started to filter through the holes and caught fire, blazing like falling bats as they tumbled. But she sprinted after him.

He lifted the girl, Ryuuko moving to stand on his head as he draped her over his uninjured shoulder. Lily took his sword, returning it to the sheath on his back for him, "I should leave this damn thing here..." she growled, then reached for Ragther's flail and ran for the door, Shon close behind.

In the hall, they ran into the Paladin and his sister. Ragther sneered at Shon, "You saved one?" 

The Lady Raina's voice held just as much disdain as her brother's as she addressed Lily, "Really?" the tone showing their relation even more clearly than their matching gray eyes. 

Shon didn't answer, and Lily just growled, the sound bestial. She practically threw Ragther's flail at him and grabbed Raina roughly by the arm, making her flinch despite the resistance offered by her earth magic, and forced her for the door.

They ran. Dodging larger falling stones and more books, sliding to a halt just outside the door until Ragther shoved his way forward into the mass of undead with his shield, calling out to Horsa once more and sending them tumbling away. Lily and Raina entered the protective light and turned, but Shon and Ragther both stopped short. 

"No..." The Paladin whispered, wide eyes locked on the torch.

Raina snapped her fingers at him, "Come on!" But he couldn't enter the light, and Shon wouldn't. 

"What is it?" Lily called to them, returning to the edge of the light, her face in shadow. 

Shon shook his head, "A soul lamp..." 

Lily hissed at him, "What the in the hells is a soul lamp?" 

"And why does it matter? Ragther, come on!" Raina called again, but her brother turned away, slamming his flail down on a zombie that thought to wander too close. 

Tuth's voice sounded from the middle of the circle, his hand holding the cursed light high, "What's going on?"

Yua called to them, "We have to go. The tower!" 

A zombie lunged towards Shon, who hooked its leg with his foot and dodged aside as it fell. He stopped down on its head, crushing its skull -though it still tried to stand- and explained, "A soul lamp is the darkest magic. It's made by binding the soul of a powerful Cleric or Paladin to a vessel. He can't enter the light, except to destroy it." Ragther shot him a look but nodded. They'd both been taught of such items during their training as Squires, but it was forbidden knowledge to anyone outside the holy orders. Nearly all records of the devices had been destroyed, and the rest were kept only in the most protected libraries of the kingdom.

Tuth squeaked and actually dropped the torch, but Yua shouted, "It's the only thing keeping these blasted undead away, so unless you can turn them all-" 

But Lily interrupted her with a scream and shouted, "Ryuugen's galactic balls, I am sick and fucking tired of this shit!" She stomped her foot, and fire erupted to either side of her. With a snarl, she spun in place and brought her hands up in the flames, then swung her arms forward. The fires flared higher and rushed around the perimeter of the light, encompassing the zombies around its edge. Dead flesh crumpled to burned husks and ash. The Sorcerers, captives, and rescuers fell back, covering their faces while the children screamed. Lily brought her hands together to clap, then pushed her arms out to the sides again, sending the wave of fire out and over the rest of the undead horde.

The ring of flame dwindled and died the further out it spread, like the ripples of a stone dropped in water, leaving only the burning corpses behind to light the darkness beyond the torch.

Lily heaved in great gasps of air and staggered. Shon let the Warlock apprentice slide from his shoulder and stepped into the light to catch Lily before she fell. It burned like venom in his heart.

The tower rumbled, and he turned to see an entire third of it crumble in on itself, taking another third down before the shaking finally stopped. They were left in an eerie silence broken only by the wailing of young children and crackling of burning bodies. 

Raina stepped out of the light to stand beside her brother, both of them looking down at Lily, who was taking slow deep breaths. "What is she...?" the Sorcerer whispered.

Shon could barely move his injured arm but crouched down to brace Lily across his chest and glared at the noblewoman, "Her name is Lily, and she just saved all your lives." 

Ragther shook his head but stepped closer, "Hold still, Staff Sergeant." he tossed his shield over his back and held out his holy symbol. Shon flinched away from the man's touch, but Ragther ignored him, pressing his necklace to Shon's shoulder. He could feel the healing like slimy water flowing over his skin and into the wound until the bone and skin stitched back together. It stung, Ragther wasn't particularly proficient at healing. Shon turned his face away from the Paladin but grunted in thanks as the knight moved on to heal Lily's cut arm.

When he was finished, Ragther handed his symbol to his sister -who helped him put it over his head again- then turned to the gathered group of awestruck watchers. "Put that thing away." He snapped at Tuth, "We will take it to the Temple for purification." 

"Or the Church..." Shon mumbled.

Instead of glowering or snarling as he would've before, Ragther nodded his assent, agreeing with a level of respect he hadn't shown Shon up to this point. It helped that Shon was right. It would depend on which god the soul was bound to. 

Raina looked her brother over, then studied Shon closely as he stood, still supporting a quavering Lily on shaking legs. "How did you even know about that soldier?" She asked. In the circle, Tuth picked up the torch and hid it away in his bag of holding, blocking the light and magic and casting them all in the flickering light of Lily's remaining fires.

Lily groaned and pushed away from Shon, "Not again. It doesn't matter," she mumbled, blinking back at the tower. Shon didn't know how she could manage to still be considerate of him, considering the pain written clearly across her face as she looked at the fallen stone. "She's gone... Again... And my answers with her..." She whispered. Then, even more quietly, so quietly he had to wonder if he'd imagined it, she growled, "I should've killed her right off..." 

"I might have some information," Tuth said, moving closer and pulling his hand out of his bag. It wasn't empty. He brought out a massive book he had to hold with both hands once free of the bag. "I could only take the one, but..." he presented the book to Lily, showing two dragons circling one another on its cover.

Lily fell over him, though if from exhaustion or gratitude, Shon couldn't be sure. She wrapped her arms around Tuth, making him drop the book as he flinched, more in surprise than at her heat, "Oh Tuth... When? How? Thank you..." her shoulders bobbed, and Lily pulled away from him just enough to look at his face. 

The young man turned bright red and was sweating profusely. He looked past Lily to Shon, pleading silently for assistance. Yua came forward and gingerly took Lily's hands off Tuth's neck, grinning at Shon and saying, "Come kiss her big guy before she cooks our Mage."

Lily pulled her hands out of Yua's and stepped back from Tuth as Shon moved forward, though not to kiss her, not in front of everyone. Even if it was the only thing he wanted at the moment. She looked at him, and he whispered, "Lily..." but stopped when she looked away. Why didn't she want to meet his eyes? He didn't have time to ask before she wavered again, her knees giving out from under her. Shon caught her, scooping her up and resting her head on his shoulder as Ryuuko crawled down to curl on her belly.

Raina let out a breath in a short huff, her own familiar yowling, "Huh. I don't know how she managed to stay awake after that, but I suppose even she has her limits." 

"How did she even manage that at all?" the male fire Sorcerer asked, looking around at all his fellows to see them all shaking their heads in awe and confusion. 

Ragther took command, "We move. That might not have been all of them, and we need to get back to the city." He was calmer now than he'd ever been since Shon met him, though he still lacked the kindness a Paladin of Hengist might've displayed. Shon stayed back as Ragther and Yua organized the Sorcerers and prisoners, both kidnappers and apprentices, to start the long march back through the swamp. 

It was over. Well, everything but the paperwork. Shon shifted Lily's dead weight in his arms and looked down at her face to see tears streaking her cheeks. Everything but the paperwork... And scars.