The stones were cold and hard. Skylar was slowly getting back to consciousness. The place she woke up in was dark, with only an eerie yellow luminescence dispersing the shadows. Her nose tickled from a heavy chemical smell mixed with the stench of dried blood. She tried to heave herself to a sitting position, but she couldn't feel her right arm. Wonderful.

She propped herself on her left hand and managed to sit up and take a better look around. She was sitting in a small prison cell, separated from the rest of the room by sturdy iron bars. The chamber itself looked like a cross between infirmary, alchemical workshop and torture chamber. In the middle of the room, a big wooden table stood with leather straps that could be used to keep the patients in place. Several tubes hung from it, ready to be plunged into the body and then led away to the back of the room to disappear into the wall.

Next to the table was a small cabinet with a tray of silver utensils that glimmered in the flickering light of the candles – knives, scalpels, bone saws. Further down the room, several more tables were laden with glass vials and alchemical apparatuses. Several of them were turned on, and colourful potions were brewing, filling the air with a sickening chemical scent. Skylar felt a chill spreading through her body.

There were more enclosures next to her tiny cage, all vacant except one. She crossed eyes with Gawyn, and he smiled.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice strangely quiet compared to the ever-present sounds of bubbling liquids.

"Getting there," she replied, stretching her neck and massaging her numb arm. "How about you?"

"Got both legs numbed when I woke up, but they are fine now." He shrugged and looked at the room. "So, Alarat was right. Can't believe they brought us here."

"Well, that's lucky for us. Now, all we need to do is wait for the start of this performance."

Before she finished the sentence, the heavy iron door squealed and opened, and a hunched robed man walked in. His head was bald and covered in black tattoos, and his yellow eyes seemed to gleam in the dim chamber. He hummed some cheerful melody under his nose.

He walked to their cages, limping slightly on his right side, and he smiled at them, showing creaked and rotten teeth.

"New subjects. How wonderful!" the sorcerer exclaimed. His voice was rough like a stone's surface. "Fresh as daisies! We don't get that here often anymore. That we don't!"

"So... you're the one that came up with the poison that is tormenting Lamyria, aren't you?" Skylar asked.

"Oh, you heard about me then?" the sorcerer asked, perking up. "Yes, that is my most priceless invention. It took a lot of hard work and sacrifices to perfect that formula. Yes, that it did!"

"Yet, here you are in this dumpster," Gawyn said. "I would have thought that the emperor would award his most successful servant with some better standards."

"You've got no idea what you're talking about, you rodent!" the man huffed indignantly. "This place is directly connected to the throne room, to the Emperor himself. You can't get any higher honour than that! Only me, Kadir the Illuminated, have a privilege to supervise the whole process of feeding the magic to the Emperor!"

"Isn't it tiring?" Skylar asked innocently. "Doing all that hard work just by yourself? Letting others help with your duties would surely give you some time to rest, no? You look awfully tired."

"Don't be ridiculous." He scoffed. "Siphoning the magic from human souls is very precise and dangerous work. I can't let those other fools here and risk doing something wrong! That would never, ever work!"

"Oh? What could go wrong? Would your victim die? Lost a little bit of magic? I didn't think such minor things could affect, oh so all-powerful Emperor."

The sorcerer banged his hand at the bars. His skin was yellow and paper-thin, and his fingers twisted like claws. "How dare you mock me, foolish prey! We are talking about the Emperor's safety here! Any misstep, any error in the formula that separates the magic from the soul could lead to a complete and utter disaster!"

"Like what?" Gawyn asked mockingly. "The Emperor would get hiccups from too much soul he consumed?"

"Impertinent idiots!" the sorcerer shouted, spitting saliva all around him. "You have no idea how powerful and dangerous a resource the human soul is. Do you think I would go to all these troubles of siphoning the magic from it if one could just consume the whole soul?"

"Obviously not. Someone as smart as you had to have a good reason," Skylar said with a smile. Pulling the tongue of a proud scientist was a child's play. They all loved nothing more than blabbing out about their achievements.

"Of course not! If consuming the whole human soul was possible, the Emperor would rule the whole world for ages already. No, using the souls requires far more precision and finesse. Not many people can do this."

"What would happen if one consumed the whole soul?"

"They would die, most probably. There can't be two souls in one body, just like two bodies can't live on just one soul." Kadir looked at them and cackled. "As you've probably already noticed. Your bodies will fail sooner or later. Probably sooner, by the look of you." He cackled again so hard that it changed into a heavy coughing fit. They waited patiently while the sorcerer took a deep wheezing breath, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and then continued his lecture as if he never stopped. "It's the same the other way around. If you try to assimilate another soul, there is a high chance that the additional soul will try to take control of the body. The internal conflict may lead to severe damage to the body or even the host's death.

"And that's why you can't just let any novice do the procedure. On top of that, pure magic itself is a highly combustive substance. If you don't use proper solvents to make it safer, you can blow this whole thing up."

"Sounds like a risky thing to consume," Gawyn noted.

"It is not so if you supply it in small, safe dosages. Again, I created a perfect formula balancing the required power and the risk of unwanted... accidents. That's why I'm the only one who can proceed with this highly complicated task. The others here are degenerate fools. They would ruin all my hard work if I let them put even a foot in my laboratory. That they would!

"Oh, you made a wonderful audience, my dear preys, but it's high time for us to move on to work! Who wants to go first? I must admit I can't wait to see what your halved soul looks like. I've never seen anything like that!" he said with fanatical fervour. His yellow eyes seemed to glow even brighter. "The lady, perhaps?"

"No, start with me." Gawyn got up and gripped the iron bars.

The sorcerer cackled. "As you wish, dear prey. As you wish." He raised his hand, muttering under his breath, and Gawyn's body seized as if he stood at attention and floated half a foot above the ground. The robed man made another gesture and the barred doors opened with a soft click. He turned on his heel walking toward the table, Gawyn floating behind him helplessly.

Kadir walked to his alchemical tables while Gawyn's body was laid on the table and the leather bounds fastened around him. Only then was the spell bounding him dispersed, and he tensed his muscles and grunted, trying the strength of his bonds.

"No use to struggle now," the sorcerer said, coming to the table. He put a glass bulb full of yellow liquid on the small table with the utensils and picked up a scalpel. The silver blade gleamed in the dark. "Do you know how to extract the soul from the living human body?" he asked conversationally.

"No, but I bet you're going to tell me," Gawyn grunted, still wrestling against the leather belts tying him down.

Once the sorcerer turned his back to her, Skylar took out a long narrow pin from her boot and started to pick up the lock on the barred doors hastily. Many years ago, she learned it during long nights patrolling the border. It was amazing what unexpected skills people had. When she showed it to Gawyn one time, she was unsure if he was more proud or disgusted with it.

Kadir prattled on about making a correct incision in the chest to reach to where supposed to be the root of the soul that could be dug out, so he hadn't heard the soft click of the lock. Skylar crept silently toward him, closed her hands together and rammed them straight into the sorcerer's nape.

He fell forward on the table with a surprised and painful scream, a scalpel falling off his finger, but he did not lose consciousness. He started mumbling a spell, but Skylar grabbed the long knife from the utensil tray, and she stabbed him three times before he fell to his knees. Kadir gasped in a panic, trying to take a breath, but his punctured lungs were not working anymore. He reached for the lost scalpel, but the strength was quickly leaving his body just like blood. After a few moments, he wheezed for the last time, and his body stopped moving.

"You took your time," Gawyn grumbled from the table. "Wanted to see that root of my soul out of my body?"

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Skylar grinned and slashed the leather bounds setting him free.

Gawyn sat on the table and massaged his wrists. "That was unexpectedly easy."

"Yeah, I didn't even have to distract him," Alarat said, appearing right beside Skylar. She jumped, surprised, bumping into the little table and sending the trey flying to the floor with a loud clatter.

"Can you please stop doing that?" she growled, glaring at the ghost. "It's unnerving."

"Sorry," Alarat replied. "I forgot that humans are so jumpy."

"We are in the middle of the fortress of evil mad sorcerers," Gawyn said drily. "Can you blame us?"

"Guess not. But at least everything works according to plan." Alarat smirked. "I must say, I was rather worried about your sanity when you told me you are going to let them apprehend you just like that."

Gawyn raised his brow. "And that's why you always left the planning to me. It was the only logical move. They were watching our movements, and there was no way we could waltz into the throne room and try to kill the Emperor."

"Besides," Skylar said, walking to the alchemical tables and watching the bubbling liquids intently, "if he's been feeding on magic for centuries, I don't think killing him would be a trivial matter of stabbing his black heart."

"Exactly." Gawyn nodded. "But as this is the main lab that feeds him with those siphoned magic...."

Skylar turned back to them with a glass vail full of steaming yellow liquid in hand and a smirk on her face. "We can fix his dose up a bit."

"You have to be careful, though," Alarat said. "You've heard what he said. Pure magic is very combustive. It would be a shame if you went all this way just to blow yourselves up."

"That said," Gawyn jumped off the table, "Have you seen any stored magic here?"

"I can't see anything like that," Skylar said, looking around. "All those things on the tables look like a chemical adhesive. Do we know what the magic looks like?"

"No idea." Gawyn shrugged, walking around the room. "When you were a beacon for the Spirit, you were glowing brightly. So, something shiny, I would assume."

They walked around the room for a moment but found nothing that could remotely look like magic.

"Maybe they are completely out? You did say they were short on supply, and with the plague feeding the Emperor from a distance, it would be understandable," Skylar mused.

"How about this thing?" Alarat pointed to the dark wall, where some of the tubes from the table led.

"But there's nothing there," Skylar protested.

Gawyn took a breath sharply. "No, look closer, Sky."

They both came closer to the wall to discover that it was not a stone after all. It was the same dark grey as the rest of the room, but the whole surface was made from iron, coated with grime and dirt, but undoubtedly it was a metal. There was a little valve connected to the pipe.

"But it's huge!" Skylar gasped. "It's hard to say how far it goes behind that wall."

"Do you think something is inside?" asked Gawyn.

"I think so. Let me just...." She pressed her palm flat to the cold surface and closed her eyes, focusing. The current moving just beyond the cover was so strong and wild that she felt suddenly dizzy. "There is! And it's so much!"

Alarat raised his brow. "You can feel it? Just like that?"

"Yes." Skylar nodded. "Since I served as the Spirit's beacon, I've gained more sensitivity to the magic. I can feel it flow under the surface in Lamyria. It's not always conscious, but I can clearly see it if I focus! And it's... angry."

"What do you mean angry?" Gawyn asked.

Skylar pressed her other hand to the surface and leaned her forehead on it. "I just... fell it, as I did feel the Spirit then."

"But how?" Gawyn questioned.

"There is so much of the energy gathered here...." She took a step back and turned to her companions with a smile.

"I don't like that glint in your eyes, Sky," Gawyn grumbled. "I don't think I like what you're going to say."

"I'm afraid you're right, but hear me out first, all right?"

"Oh, I'm already excited!" Alarat perked up. "What are you thinking?"

"The Spirit of magic," Skylar started excitedly. "No one knows what it is. It has always been here, under the surface, flowing through the world. It is magic itself! It is not just in one place, but everywhere!"

"Your point?" Gawyn asked impatiently.

"I thought we couldn't count on its help when we came here because the Blighted Lands are completely stripped of all magic. That's why it's such a wasteland."

"But because the Emperor is feeding on the magic, they kept some reserves here," Gawyn said.

"Yes! And it's not just some...." She turned back and touched the iron surface again. "It's a huge amount." She looked back at Alarat. "I thought you said they ran out a long time ago?"

"Yes, but then they discovered that they can extract it from human souls. I guess they must have collected quite an amount considering how many people they murdered here for the past eight years."

"Poor souls," Skylar whispered, her mouth almost touching the surface. "That's why it's so angry, so restless. But it's still the Spirit. She's trapped here, and she wants out."

"Can we just turn on that valve and let it out?" Gawyn asked.

"I wouldn't try that," protested Alarat. "I've been here while they were still perfecting this procedure. A few times, too much magic leaked out at once..." he stopped as if he was lost in the memory.

"And what happened then?" Gawyn inquired.

"It exploded."

"Oh."

"So, if we let out all this magic at once...." Skylar started.

"The explosion would be so big that this whole city would disintegrate."

Skylar and Gawyn exchange a knowing look.

"What?" Alarat asked with disbelief. "You are not going to tell me you want to do that, are you?"

"That would be the most optimal solution," Gawyn said calmly. "This city is the main place where all the sorcerers are gathered. Where the Emperor is residing. I'm not sure if we can just kill him by normal means. But if we blow this whole place up, it will eliminate the Blighted Lands threat once and for all. They would never go back after that."

"But to set off such explosion, you have to be here. You can't do that from afar. There's no way for you to escape before everything burns to embers!"

Skylar and Gawyn exchanged another look.

"We are aware of that," she said quietly.

"We were not planning to get out of here alive," Gawyn explained.

Alarat paled and looked at them with disbelief. "How can you even say that! You have a family out there! You have a daughter! You can't just abandon her!"

"We have no other choice," Gawyn said quietly. "Take a look at that."

He raised his left arm. The fingers were awkwardly bent as if frozen in half move.

"Because we are sharing one soul, we are slowly losing control of our bodies."

"What?" Alarat asked with disbelief.

"It was slow at first. Inconspicuous." Skylar explained. "There was a bit of numbness in an arm or leg once in a few months. But it got more frequent, and the effects last longer each time."

"My hand went numb when we get caught," Gawyn added. "I still can't feel it. I... I don't think I'm going to get it back."

"The truth is, we are dead people walking already," Skylar said. "And it is terrifying when you suddenly realise that your body forgot how to breathe, or your heart stops beating." Her voice broke, and tears spilt down her cheeks. "I would give anything to get back and see Thalia again. Anything. But there is nothing we can do. That is the price I accepted eight years ago. The deadline was pushed back in time, but it is still due. I only regret...." She stopped and looked at Gawyn.

"I regret nothing," he said, coming up to her and hugging her tightly. "If I could turn back time, I would choose the same, even knowing that I'm only prolonging our lives for a few years. It was worth it."

"I understand," Alarat said quietly. "So, what's the plan? We just detonate this thing right now?"

"That's too risky," Gawyn said, releasing Skylar and taking her hand instead. "If the Emperor is as powerful as you say, and everything we saw so far is confirming that theory, he might be able to shield himself to avoid the blast. We can't have that."

"We need to detonate it at the right moment." Skylar nodded. "We need to distract him enough or hurt him enough, so he won't be able to react in time to protect himself."

"But I'm not sure how we can detonate it without being here," Gawyn said, rubbing his chin.

"What if we can control it?" Skylar asked.

Gawyn narrowed his eyes. "You don't mean─"

"Yes, I do. You know it's the only way."

He scoffed. "No, I don't know that. Besides, how do you want to do that? You don't have the stone to call upon the Spirit to come to your aid."

"No, but the stone was only a token. It wasn't magical itself. If I take a little bit of magic with me...."

"We have no idea if that would even work."

"Then let's try it. No time like a present, right?" Sky grinned.

"You are impossible." Gawyn sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. "All right, so two things to do now. We need to check your theory and see if you can communicate with the Spirit here. We also must adjust Emperor's feeding cocktail to dampen his powers and make him sick."

"Let's get on with it."