"Hunger, candle, gold," the leader continued to say as the entire legion began to step forward. "One could suppose that we could've wrenched the answers out of Amandalin ourselves, but.." the leader shook his head. "It appears it doesn't work that way."

The explorers looked at each other, then to Katilyn, and finally to the final password-bearer, who seemed to be unsure of what she should do next, though her eyes were aleady calculating her options. Hugo clenched his fists.

The leader grinned at their expression of failure. "...The original brothers who hid the crown though over every possible outcome their action would make, as legend goes. If there was ever to be a corrupted side of the Brimstone Faction – as there is now, they made it so that both sides of the Faction had to work together in order to open the Kardod Gates. The mosaic you see behind you is more than just shining glass in a variety of colors. The runestones that guard it will only open the gates if both sides speak the Lost Tongue by their own free will."

The leader gestured to the five of them. "Then again, we were surprised you actually made it this far. If you burned along with the rest of Chandler Tower, we would've just used prisoners from the siege of Gladwyn. But it appears that I underestimated you all, and now that you're here..." The leader raised his rifle. "...You will help us open it unless you wish to watch everyone in this damned pagoda, including you, die."

The other soldiers also cocked their rifles and aimed. The explorer looked at each other, and finally, Joss said, with a smirk of amusement: "None of us speak the Lost Tongue, though. How do you expect us to open it?"

The hermit's expression died away when the leader shrugged and pointed to Susan. "She speaks it. She is on your side, though she might not admit it, and she will help us open it."

"I would never-" Susan sputtered out, but then froze when she saw the guns trained on her and her friends. "We really don't have a choice, do we?"

The leader nodded. "I'm glad we see eye to eye here. Remember that even if you die, we can easily educate and manipulate one of the prisoners to speak the Lost Tongue, and the gates will be opened anyway. So come, Susan. Aid the Scavenger yet once again."

Susan grimaced at the thought but reluctantly followed the leader over to the giant mosaic. The others watched, one side in fear, another in excitement.

"Hunger is for the weak, and only the strong will bear the candle and the flame. The weak will find no mercy, while the strong will find gold and riches like no other, as the Bazayuk has blessed him." The leader turned to look at Susan. "Now say it in the Lost Tongue."

Susan looked at him. "You say it first."

The leader rolled his eyes. "I will, but don't forget – one false move, and you will all die." Taking a deep breath, he recited: "Grenkt cein mael, om muln hu'unla flykr om dzane. Mael eplone nay dijvn, om mulhn hu'ula eplone gane om munet se nayne diefm. Now you recite it."

With a sigh, Susan mimicked the leader's words, often forgetting to say one or mispronouncing one, until he finally raised a gun at her temple and snarled: "Enough. Stop playing stupid, or you're going to see Hugo's hometown completely burn to the ground." The leader grinned. "And only Hugo will be alive to see it. And once he's finished, we kill him too."

Susan had never spoken so quickly. At last, the wall began to rumble, and many of the Bazayuk followers turned to look at it, afraid, as it suddenly started to split into two, revealing a wide staircase that went down into darkness.

The soldiers walked forward, keeping their guns still trained on the explorers.

"Oh, and Susan stays with us," the leader suddenly said, grabbing the spy by the shoulder. "She and I are the only ones who can open the gates. We wouldn't want her to help you follow us."

As the legion of soldiers dragged her away, Hugo could hear Susan faintly saying: "I'm sorry..."

And then the wall became one again. Enraged, Joss rushed forward, pounding the opaque glass, and finally slumped to the ground, sighing.

"Well, dammit. That went well."

Hugo, Drea, Katilyn, and Amandalin sat beside him, also in a state of defeat.

"You know," Joss muttered, "hiding in the four corners of the world might not be a bad idea right now. They have the Blade, they have the Chest, they're going to get the bloody Devil's Crown, and then we're all going to burn to the ground. The entire world will. Face it, we lost."

Hugo sighed. "It's not over yet. At least, we have another chance."

Joss looked at him, frowning. "What? Lay another siege on Gladwyn Castle? You heard that Scavenger soldier. If they took plenty of prisoners during that battle, the Claimant probably lost. And even if they didn't take any prisoners, I think we would've known by now if we took back Kazim's Blade." Joss looked at the ground. "Just face it. The odds were stacked against us at the start – they have more numbers, they have more firepower... blood in the sky, they might've even had more wits than us. Every time we thought we did something right, we fell into another trap." Joss opened his hands. "It's over. Might as well prepare for the apocalypse now."

Joss' mood seemed to be infecting the rest of them. Downtrodden, Hugo managed to say: "If Susan or Davis were here, they would probably slap you right now. Look, they haven't gotten the Chest yet. They haven't gotten back to Gladwyn yet. As long as we keep them from getting there, we still have a chance."

Joss laughed maniacally. "You have your hopes too high, Hugo. You heard the soldier... there's no way to get into Kardod without reciting the Lost Tongue chant, in which not only do we have no idea what the words are, but we don't have any Scavenger soldier to complete the process either. They took Susan, Hugo. We're stuck here, so face it. We've lost."

Hugo shrugged. "No, that's not what I meant. We aren't going to follow them into Kardod, we're going to wait until they leave that place. And then we intercept the Chest the moment they're in plain sight."

Joss seemed to consider the idea. "You think that'll work, Hugo? There are at least two dozen of them and six- no, five of us. The Scavenger is tricky... they'll probably see the attack coming, too. Doing it would just be suicide."

Hugo glared. "Well, what's your idea, then? Just wait until Kazim gets the Devil's Crown and then destroys everything we hold dear? That's suicide, Joss. At least if we die trying, we'll... if we die trying, at least we'll know that we tried. And that we didn't allow Kazim to get what he wanted." Hugo raised his voice. "They might know that the attack's coming, but they won't know every detail about it. Joss, you still have the eternian, don't you? That's the one advantage we have." The explorer gave a weak grin. "Drea can use the bow, and she has good aim. It's almost as deadly as a rifle how she uses it." Hugo unsheathed his sword. "I can surprise them around a corner or something. Their weapons are slower than mine at close-range. Katilyn and Amandalin... can you do anything?"

Amandalin nodded. "Slaughtering animals at the alter gives you good practice with knives. To an extent, at least."

"And you, Katilyn?"

Katilyn shook her head. "But I can learn. Rowan always said I was a quick learner."

Hugo clapped his hands together softly. "Then we can do this. We have more than enough time to prepare, and when the time comes, the Scavenger won't stand a chance." Hugo quickly brightened. "Also, don't forget that the moment nobody's watching Susan, she'll also join the fray. We had a chance all along – we were just thinking too much about the artifacts themselves. No, it's the Scavenger that's the real threat. And the Scavenger can easily be toppled. Chandler Tower seemed to sturdy at first glance, but only with a little fire, it fell down. Apologies, Katilyn. I didn't mean to offend you."

Katilyn shrugged. "It's fine. All the past now."

Hugo nodded. "Thanks. My point is that if it weren't for their fancy tools, we could've defeated them a long time ago. They may have the wits and the time to think about it, but now, we're the ones with extra time on our side." The explorer stood up. "Who's with me?"

Joss sighed. "Inspiring speech, Hugo. Inspiring, or at least, you reminded me that I can't die with this beautiful sash on my shoulder." The hermit stood up and stroked it. "Ah, I owe that woman in the monument for giving me this."

Hugo nodded. With Joss joining in, the other also quickly stood up, one by one.

"I guess I have nothing else to lose," Katilyn said, shrugging. "What could go wrong?"

"I knew there would be dangers of being a password-bearer," Amandalin added. "I refuse to slink back into the shadow during the Claimant's greatest hour of need."

"I can't believe I got myself into this," Drea muttered. "For the Claimant, I suppose. For the Claimant and the world and all who have fought before us and died."

The others nodded.

"So what do we do?" Joss asked. Hugo grinned.

"Well, now that you asked..."

Time seemed to have sped up as they waited nervously for the hour when the fate of the world would be determined. Amandalin, changed into a more battle-appropriate set of clothes, was positioned to see when the Scavenger would arrive with the Chest, and, from the wooden planks that held up the roof of the pagoda, Drea watched, sure to back Amandalin up if there was ever any danger.

They had their last meal, stopping at an inn but barely eating anything. To pass the time, the explorer followed Hugo to the graveyard, where he spoke to his mother's tombstone, not expecting any answer.

And whenever they weren't occupied doing something, they reviewed the plan over and over, until it was practically a fact to them. As the sun began to fall in the sky from its original spot at noon, they walked back to the Bazayuk Pagoda and went to their set hiding places according to the plan. As promised, Amandalin made sure that the entire area was clear for them, spinning a web of lies around the priestesses until they finally evacuated.

Hours passed, yet it seemed too short to them. They fidgeted, wondering if they could've crouched in a better spot, or if there was a flaw in the plan that they missed.

And then the Scavenger came.

The Scavenger came, and the beginning of the end loomed over all of them. The fate of the world, the fate of the worlds beyond, and the fate of life and death rested on their shoulders.

Drea sighed. She did not mean to join the Claimant so that she would fight bloodthirsty warlord in a brutal battle over hell.