The unknown made David nervous. He wasn’t sure what enemy awaited them, nor the numbers they were about to confront. And the moment stretched endlessly. They were silent, too silent. He turned to Elisha, but his brother’s helm was a dark mask, blocking any kind of non-verbal communication. Huz sat on one of the five makeshift seats, his arms folded in front of him, while his scepter floated by his left side.

  The room was too small for all of them, but it was the closest to the spire. From where they waited, they could see the four white pillars holding up the spire that pierced the clouds.

  David leaned against the edge of the window, watching, careful not to ruin the inscriptions carved into the flaking stone. He traced the paths of the ambling people outside. This close to the edge of the city, there weren’t many of the cursed. But the wrongness was equally spread. David could sense it out there.

  “How much longer do we wait?” David asked, turning to Huz. The ranker’s eyes were closed. He spread his top pair of arms and shrugged.

  “They don’t have a sche—” Nima stopped as the walls groaned. The ground beneath them vibrated, then shook. A crackle of light sparked atop the spire. More streaks of blue lightning lit up Tarthen’s evening sky. The people walking about didn’t stop. None turned toward the light, as though they hadn’t even felt its effect.

  Essence flared over the structure. The rumbling subsided, but the air had become warm. David rubbed his arm to ease the tingling on his skin.

  “That’s a wide-area spell,” Huz muttered.

  David jumped sharply to see the man beside him. He’d left his scepter behind to come watch the spire. Huz grinned knowingly.

  “Shouldn’t we get going?” Zoey asked, frowning. She still seemed impatient, but it was different now. The effect of the place had waned, but she didn’t want to stay in Tarthen longer than she had to. None of them wanted to.

  “Not yet,” Nima answered. Her cloak spread around her, covering her seat. None of her was exposed to the city’s air. “They have not opened the gate. It takes a while for the gate to open. And even longer to close.”

  “Not longer, actually,” Huz corrected. “The time doesn’t matter, the power does.”

  David noticed the pool of essence being dragged down from the spire down the pillars. The four were positioned cardinally. And from where they stood watching the process, they could see the pillars lit up. The light was a dim glow, but it shone in the darkening shades of the evening.

  “The pillars gather the essence,” David whispered. The crackling power above the spire had eased to a hum in the air. Yet, David knew it was still draining essence from the space just beyond the clouds.

  “They act as tunnels,” Huz said. “They funnel essence through to the ground. That is where the gateway is.”

  The air was warmer now. Sweat beaded on David’s face. He saw Zoey fanning herself with her hand. Huz seemed untouched by the climbing temperature. David guessed it had something to do with his race. The tendrils fell limp, as if exhausted.

  The essence funnel was slow, and the pillars didn’t light up uniformly. The whole setup seemed inefficient for something connected to the city of gods.

  “You should get ready,” Huz said to Elisha. “It would be better to be closer to the dais by the time they step out of the gateway. We don’t know if they will send someone with divine sight.”

  “Divine sight?” David asked. Huz nodded, still watching the pillars as the glow stretched downward, almost reaching the base. David waited, thinking the ranker would explain, but he didn’t. Instead, he turned away and walked back to Nima and the two others from the camp that had followed them.

  Carlos and Gis stayed as far away from the group as the room could allow. Their fear was palpable. Elisha seemed indifferent to them, but David could see the tension in the way he stood with his guard up.

  “Irina,” Huz called as Elisha pulled Chloe to him and started to walk toward the door. The woman, Irina, was older than the rest of them. She walked slowly, her hands clasped behind her. She didn’t seem special at all. Yet, David recognized she was important to Huz’s plan for their freedom.

  She perked up when Huz called her, walking behind Nima. Huz whispered something to her in a language David couldn’t understand.

  A touch on his arm pulled him away from Huz’s hidden conversation. David found four pairs of eyes looking at him. Carlos leaned out the window, examining the marks Huz had carved on the wall.

  “I can hide your guys in my shadow,” Elisha said. “But I should warn you, it will not be pretty in there.”

  “Do it,” David said.

  A thrum in the air pulled David’s attention to the spire again. Its tip glowed now. A white-blue light with a purple corona.

  “Huz,” David called, still watching as the light intensified, gathering even more essence. “Is that normal?”

  “If it is Alesh coming,” Nima groaned. To Huz, she said, “I guess that solves the confusion of what we are about to face.”

  “What do you mean?” Zoey asked, frowning.

  “Alesh is a commander of a winged squad. They are the eighth guard unit of Orphus’s fourteen units. We have to go!”

  A spread of darkness billowed out from Elisha, spreading like a dark cloak. It wrapped around the others, pulling them into the void of Elisha’s vast shadow. David watched them disappear, and then so did Elisha. Only Zoey remained.

  “You know what to do,” David asked her. She nodded, following Nima and Irina outside. They shouldered past the cursed as they ran.

  “And it begins,” Huz whispered, watching the three women go. Then he gasped when Zoey’s wings unfurled and she took to the sky. The multicolored wings flapped steadily, taking her higher. Huz chuckled.

  “Such splendor,” he muttered, leaning out to watch Zoey sail higher and closer to the pillars.

  David looked from Huz to the last man in the room. They called him Pon. A bald, severely looking man with night-dark skin.

  “Pon, you can hide us, can’t you?” Huz asked. David heard the stone-certain expectation in the question. Like a command.

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  “Certainly, Master Huz,” Pon said. It was more like a groan. Like stone grinding on stone. He sounded as if he was in pain and yet, somehow solemn. Pon bowed to David, his eyes never reaching up. “Master David, forgive me, this will not be pleasant.”

  A loud crack in space tore David’s eyes from Pon, just as a massive tear splintered in the middle of the pillars. It screeched as it expanded. David’s skin itched. The effect of the spell was almost nauseating. Then thin, flat strands of black wrapped around David just as a message appeared.

  [Gate of Hollows] has been opened!

  Hollows, Ignis rumbled. That makes sense.

  David looked down at the black threads wrapping him. More and more of the strands unspooled from Pon, wrapping around him and Huz. Pon groaned, the sound guttural and strained. As if he were undoing himself to hide them.

  “Well done, Pon,” Huz said once the wrapping had stopped. The bald man was on his knees. Patches of raw, bloody flesh were bare on his face, arm, and chest. He stared up at Huz with maddening delight, basking in the approval of his master.

  David watched with revulsion.

  New Item: Pon’s Hide

  You have been temporarily gifted a cloaking item. Pon’s Hide can keep you from being discovered until it is called back by Pon. Pon can only lend you his hide until the moment of his death.

  “Why?” David asked, staring at the message. Another crack echoed through Tarthen as the gateway widened. Any moment now, and it would be completely open. David looked at his arms and touched his face. He felt the Pon’s skin on his face, and yet, it was strangely comfortable.

  “We are killing him,” David said. “And with Zoey’s distraction, we can get there without being stopped. The others, too. Do we really need this?”

  “Alesh is a strong commander, but if he notices us approaching, he will send for Kiron. And perhaps even Barg. And those are older high-rankers. With this, we can—”

  Another crack tore through the quiet of the city. The gateway was now a malformed circle, almost wide enough to be used, but not yet stable.

  “Trust me,” Huz said quickly. “This is necessary. And he will not die. Pon’s people are resilient to pain, and this is not his first time.”

  David glanced at the kneeling man. He heard the low sobs and knew that the man was in unimaginable pain. There was nothing he could do, and yet he wished there was. He could grant a bestowal, but that wouldn’t stop his suffering.

  Forgive us for this, Pon, David thought as he turned away to follow Huz out of the room. The stale air outside was a welcome replacement for the sight inside.

  Huz’s eyes on him were a scale, weighing his reaction. David ignored the ranker. He looked up, seeing Zoey waiting with a bowstring pulled and waiting.

  The edge of the city was a flat space, empty except for the spire. There were a few structures between them, and that, not so far. Huz broke into an awkward run. His arms flailed randomly beside him, and his scepter flew above him. David followed.

  Huz gave no mind to the wandering husks. He crushed some as he ran through, shoving hard enough to break them. They showed no sign of pain. Those who could stand up did. Others dragged themselves along. A few laughed. Not at them, the emptiness in the sound was chilling to hear.

  They crossed the edge of the city, and David took a deep breath. The air was different now. Not by much, and yet it was noticeable.

  “They are coming,” Huz shouted back to David. He looked up just in time to see the first man slip out of the portal. The gate warbled with stable power now. The pillars were completely alight. And the closer they got, the easier it was for David to see that the light on the pillar wasn’t random.

  Like Huz’s mark of concealment, they were shaped into patterns. Symbols. He couldn’t focus on them yet. More guards spilled onto the platform between the pillars. It was wider than it seemed from the window view.

  Huz sped up, trying to make good time before they were all out. David was glad Zoey hadn’t started shooting yet. They all had to be in position before the attack began.

  They were nothing like David expected. Their armor of burnt-black steel on top purple robe was a shocking mix. He’d expected them to be Vish’Lir’s followers. But their wings were stained black or grey with purpling tips. They all carried spears.

  “Not Vish’Lir’s,” David said.

  Huz laughed. “No, there is nothing pure about these ones, Lord Ruler. But they are part of the temple. They serve the temple to attain the Rites of Forgiveness.”

  David didn’t care about any of that. He was just happy they were not like Eliaz. They slowed down as they neared the platform. It was raised a bit, with steps leading to the main ground. About twenty winged guards spread across, in the middle were eight people dressed in rags, shackled together.

  “David, watch,” Aza called. The fragment’s voice in his head made David panic. Huz stopped at the foot of the steps, watching.

  Alesh was taller than the rest. He looked distinguished; even the quiet air of power he radiated seemed to stand out. On his head was a thin, black band. His dark hair was longer, falling past his shoulders. He held his helm under his left arm, his four wings unfurling as he marched out of the gateway.

  All twenty soldiers reacted to his presence like puppets snapped by a string. They saluted, their spears hitting the ground in one smooth thud.

  The eight prisoners fell to their knees, eyes wide in terror. David sized the man up.

  “What do you think, Aza?” David asked.

  “He carries a spark of Vish’Lir’s divinity. But you shouldn’t find it hard.”

  David nodded. It was just as he thought, too. He wanted to get Vith’s thoughts on his enemy, but the fragment would most likely ridicule him.

  “Release them so we can leave this living tomb,” Alesh commanded. His voice was a surprise, too. His soldiers snapped to carry out his order.

  Heavy chains hit the stone with heavy clangs. Huz pulled David to the side as the soldiers pulled back their wings to make space. They split apart, creating a path for the prisoners to take. They were not all humans. One was a slim, birdlike creature with even thinner legs. Female, from the way she walked.

  “Please, Commander Alesh. I hav—”

  A gauntleted arm slammed into the side of the prisoner’s face, cutting through her words. She staggered from the blow, almost falling. Another prisoner caught and steadied her.

  “Leave the gateway,” Alesh said. His voice was low, but the threat was potent enough to send the prisoners scurrying down. Once the last one descended, Huz grabbed his scepter and hoisted it up. A burst of golden light lit up the night, startling the whole of the winged squad.

  Then Zoey sent a storm of arrows their way.

  It covered the sky as it arched down, brighter than Huz’s signal.

  For a moment, the soldiers were shocked into fear. A few backed away from the falling arrows. David washed as he walked through the soldiers to stand in before them. His wings expanded between the pillars to protect his people. He lifted his sword, two hands on the hilt, stretching his torso as he bent back. The sword was a mighty one. Almost as wide as David’s thigh, and waist-high. He paused, as if to take a breath. And then he swung it.

  A flash of burning silver shot off the sword, a projection of a slash. A dense concentration of sharp essence. The power was so loud it made David’s ears ring. Then it clashed with the coming arrows, and the sky tore apart.

  Darkness vanished momentarily, and Zoey let herself plunge so she wouldn’t be cut in two. She caught herself mid-air, pulling her bow again. Alesh grunted, about to bound off the platform toward her. Then he heard the first cry behind him. He spun to find Elisha, Nima, Gis, and Carlos already on the platform, cutting through his soldiers.

  The brief confusion was all David needed. He launched himself up, climbing the steps so fast he seemed to glide up. Then he was on the commander, Pon’s hide still masking him.

  “Return,” David heard Huz say, and Pon’s hide vanished from him. David saw Alesh’s confusion turn to shock, and then a dark realization as they fell off the platform to the ground.

  The commander was fast. He pushed David when they hit the ground, then rolled to his feet. Huz was beside David, scepter in hand.

  “An ambush,” Alesh groaned. “I sensed something strange. And you, Huz. You should be dead.”

  “So they say,” Huz replied.

  “You can’t believe you can escape Tarthen, Huz. You can’t best me. The gate will close, and how will you leave? Orphus is lost to you.”

  “Orphus?” Huz smirked. “Orphus is lost to all, Alesh. And you overestimate me. I have no interest in besting you. Come, bastard child of Purity. Let us begin.”

  “Curse you,” the commander growled, dragging his sword as he charged at them..