The giant double doors of stone swung open, allowing a stream of blinding gaslight to pour through. After days spent in darkness, Ban felt the light sear his eyes. His lips curled back into a snarl before the insistent pull on his chains hauled him forward and out through the doors into the outside air.

Five angels pulled Ban forward, each holding onto a length of chain that clamped around Ban's wrists, ankles, and throat. The fey wore ceremonial armor, spellwrought glass stylized with engraved feathers and capped with helms like eagle heads. The angels even had their wings out, shining like sunbeams in the night.

A roar filled Ban's ears, hundreds of voices crying out in derision. Dazzled by the light, Ban couldn't see. He could only sense the throngs surrounding him and hear their desire to see him punished. Slowly, Ban's eyes adjusted, and his surroundings began to pull into focus.

Ban raised his head and realized he recognized this place. It was the Xigir Grounds, a great commons that lay before the Hall of Justice in the center of Adezu. The orderly cobblestones were hidden by the masses of people. They pressed into the Grounds in packs, craning their necks to see and raising their fists in anger. Onlookers watched from the balconies and windows of the surrounding, brightly-painted buildings, which were often four stories or more in height. Others watched from the windows of the silver towers of Adezu. Faces were a contrast of light and shadow, thrown into stark relief by the harsh gaslight that shone from a multitude of tall, iron lampposts.

It was the way of Melcia to perform matters of justice after the last light of day dropped beneath the horizon. The practice was due to Melcian theology, their reverence for the goddess of life and logic. By performing trials and executions in the dark of night, they demonstrated to Mother Sun, the dominant dogma of the north, that her followers were capable of conducting themselves with reason in her absence.

The pull on his chains redoubled. Ban had to keep moving, or his captors would pull him from his feet and drag him. He had no doubt they would do so if he lost his footing or tried to slow his steps.

Ban's gray uniform was covered with dark bloodstains that had soaked through from underneath. He was thankful none of the jailers thought to question why he was more bloody now than when he entered into their care.

The Dekaam spike was still clamped to the nape of his neck. The mage slayer had come by his cell earlier, accompanied by ten armsmen. He'd made sure to use the spike to pull as much ether out of his blood as he could manage without killing Ban. The precautions didn't matter. Nothing did. Everything was meaningless. They were all dead.

All of Adezu was already dead. They just didn't realize it.

Looking ahead, Ban didn't turn towards the mobs pressing in on him. Though held back by rows of armsmen in cerulean tabards, the citizens of Adezu hurled epithets, garbage, and the occasional stone at him. He was called murderer and traitor, but Ban wondered why they didn't call him what he truly was, what he no longer had a choice to be anything else than. They didn't call him a monster.

Ban felt his mouth twist into a dark smile. People soon would. Before this night, before this very hour, was over, there wouldn't be a tongue in Melcia or anywhere in the Five Kingdoms that would deny what Ban Karst was— what he had always been.

He'd thought to fight against his nature for a time. All that accomplished was to cost the lives of a precious woman and the child she wished to have with Ban. He'd been deluding himself when he believed it was possible to change, and too many others paid too high a cost for Ban to reach this epiphany. But it didn't matter. Nothing did. Ban would die, Adezu would die, Enfri and Shan Alee would die, all of humanity would die eventually, and the old masters could rule over an endless field of cold pyres. There was no point fighting inevitability.

Fighting hurt too much.

The doors slammed shut behind him, and Ban had a passing thought for the other captives. Hugin, Nooka, and the others were gone. He'd heard a commotion outside his cell the previous day when the Emeralds were taken from the dungeon. Ban shouted at his jailers until one of them deigned to inform him of what his mens' fate would be.

The dragon and his knight were placed on the rail line to the Spired City to undergo inspection from the Highest King's arcanists. Althandor wanted to find a way to sever dragon bonds. Hugin and Nooka were valuable specimens in that research. As for the crewmen and clerks captured during the Battle of Sandharbor, they'd already been sent to a Melcian penal camp in Iylis.

Grim fates, but Ban was nevertheless pleased. He'd prefer it if he wasn't the one who killed them.

"Mine people," a loud and clear voice said, rising above the roar of the crowd. King Adeyemi stood on a high platform at the center of the Xigir Grounds, his arm held forth towards Ban. "Here before you walks Bannlyth the Karst, once second prince regent of Altier Nashal, now knight-marshal of the renegade state calling itself Shan Alee. Among this rebellious legion he led against our land, he was called First Knight and Lord of Rubies."

The jeers from the crowd increased until Adeyemi had to raise his hands for calm.

Adeyemi cut a tall and imposing figure as he stood in the center of Adezu. His dark skin had a warm cast in the gaslight that fell on him, and his pale green eyes almost seemed to shine like the stars. He wore a cerulean and silver doublet over a knee-length kilt of leather and silk. Silver and gold bands were on his fingers, and a platinum circlet rested on his brow. A small tuft of a graying beard was on his chin that matched the traces of gray in his hair. His Eminence was thickening somewhat with age, but he was still the battle-hardened Warrior King, the most ruthless enforcer of Cathis' law within the Five Kingdoms.

Ban felt the corner of his mouth quirk upwards around his clenched teeth. It was good to see that Adeyemi was here. Ban would hate for him to miss out on everything.

Beside Adeyemi stood Zoputan. The Boy General didn't have the decency to look Ban in the face as he was led towards his so-called trial. Zoputan's eyes were downcast as his betrothed, an elegant woman named Adaku, hung on his arm.

Adaku was stately and beautiful, with a lighter tone to her northern skin and pale blue eyes. She wore her hair up in an elaborate tangle of dreadlocks and a close-shaven undercut along the sides of her head. Her yellow gown was extravagant, nearly a match for the one worn by the queen, and she had more jewels than a common-born woman should have normally possessed.

Ban's eyes traced over the rest of House Akazewi. Queen Shiura was there, as were some of her and Adeyemi's other children. Including Zoputan, there were eight of them, from the ages of fifteen to early-thirties. Two spaces among the royal house remained conspicuously empty. Ban didn't need to be told why Omolade was absent, but he was surprised Nkeoma hadn't yet made her way back to her family. He supposed the younger spirit caller had escaped him, but maybe she'd never made it out of Sandharbor alive. The thought made Ban smile. If anyone from House Akazewi survived to see the sunrise, he'd never rest easy in the Beyond.

Adeyemi's address to the people of Melcia continued. "As has been read, spoken, and repeated, Bannlyth the Karst is invoked beneath the law of our liege and mine brother king, Cathis the Algara. By this traitor's actions, Altier Nashal has fallen to discord. He has sworn himself to the service of a charlatan claiming ancestry to a land of myth. He has waged war against Melcia and the Five Kingdoms, done irreparable harm to the stability of our unified confederation, and has committed acts of murder, barbarism, sedition, terrorism, and the utmost villainy. He and his ilk have sown death and poverty on their march towards our borders, and it is mine only regret that he meets his fate alone and not alongside his treacherous empress. This black knight is the enemy of all good peoples of the Continent, and Melcia demands that justice be done upon him. As your king, I shall provide."

The crowd cheered.

The angels pulled Ban up the stone steps to the platform. Once he was before Adeyemi, he was pushed to his knees. Ban didn't struggle. He kept his eyes locked on the Warrior King and mustered what strength he had for the moment he knew he'd receive.

"To quell this rebellion," Adeyemi went on, "mine heir and daughter sacrificed her life." He leveled an accusatory finger at Ban's face. "This man is responsible for the death of Omolade Akazewi, your crown princess, and for a time, your queen. In her name, I pronounce that there can be no greater crimes than those committed by Bannlyth the Karst, the Lord of Calamity."

Ban snorted and waited until he was certain he had Adeyemi's attention. "Calamity, Eminence? You'll see what that word really means before I'm done."

Adeyemi's green eyes flashed with outrage.

"Have dignity at your end, Bannlyth," Zoputan said. He still hadn't looked at him. "I once knew you as a man of honor. You lived as a knight. At least die as one."

Ban's grin caused the younger members of House Akazewi to recoil.

"You first," he growled.

Adeyemi's clenched fists shook. He then reached out to his side, and his queen placed the hilt of a Melcian bastard sword in his grip. Adeyemi held it in front of him, the point aimed for Ban's heart. "I will grant you the kindness you denied mine daughter, traitor. You may look upon he who shall end your life. By mine own hand, your head will be taken. Have you any final words to give?"

Ban spat. "Not to liars and cowards."

"So be it." Adeyemi nodded to the angels. "Prepare the condemned!"

Their hands seized around Ban's arms and pulled him to his feet. As the crowd cried out their approval, the fey held onto his arms with firm grips and removed the steel clamps around his neck. Once all impediments against his beheading were removed, they stripped off what remained of Ban's tattered and blood-stained uniform.

The angels balked when they saw what he had hidden underneath, and Ban found his moment.

His fist lashed out, striking an angel in the nose. At the same time, he snapped his head to the other side, busting the face of a second. Before the others could react, Ban grabbed the lengths of chains, now free, and swung them overhead to smash against the others. Two angels were bowled over to tumble down the platform steps, while the others dropped senseless at Ban's feet.

Turning to face Adeyemi, Ban reached for the back of his neck and tore the Dekaam spike free. He pulled ether through his bond, enough to replenish his stores. Almost immediately, he felt strength slam into him. Kimpo must've been waiting for a sign that their bond was no longer being suppressed and gave as much as she could.

Deep in the blackened cold of the ruin that remained of Ban's heart, he felt a sensation of warmth. His Huntress was still with him, and Ban's one regret was that he would leave her again so soon.

Until the Beyond, my Huntress. Raise your dragonets well.

Ban threw his arms wide, presenting Adeyemi with the bloody wounds he carved into his own flesh. Lines and circles twined around his limbs and torso, runes of power covering every inch of his body that he could reach. Ingtar repeated in mirrored patterns, every instance inscribed within the twenty-five lines of Shoveth, rune of decay. It was the most complex sigil Ban had ever created, a spell of such unsurpassed destruction that he would never have dared imagine it. Once lit with the flared etherlight of a dragon-bound scrivener offering his lifeblood to the spell, there wouldn't be a single inch of Adezu that could escape annihilation. Ban began to laugh as he imagined a world without men like Adeyemi within it.

Adeyemi dropped his sword and backed away. "Zoputan, take your sisters and go!"

The prince was stunned into inaction. He watched Ban with an aghast look of horror. "Bannlyth, what have you done?"

"Zoputan, go!"

The younger royals were shouting in terror, and the queen tried ushering them down the opposite side of the platform. The people in the crowd closest to the platform began to fall quiet as they realized things weren't going as foreseen. Some of the ones educated in runes began to shout for everyone to run, and many took heed. The mob that had moments ago been pressing in as if to tear Ban limb from limb now scrambled to get away. They'd never run far enough.

Ban tilted his head back and laughed, long and loud, reveling in their panic. Did they see now? Did they truly understand? This was what they should've been afraid of. His so-called treason was a pale shadow next to what he still had left to do. Ban and Enfri had asked for peace and friendship from Melcia at every turn, and at every turn their extended hand had been slapped away. Now Melcia knew what came of making an enemy of Shan Alee!

"My son, no!"

Ban thought he heard Mother's voice calling out to him. He knew she wouldn't approve of what he intended to do, but it didn't matter. Nothing did. He'd soon be dead, and Ascania could go back to her books. He never should have let her become an Opal Knight. A son should have taken better care of his mother than that.

"Little warrior, so help me..."

Kimpo, though. Ban needed to be mindful as he cast his final spell. Blood magic was going to be tricky enough, and he didn't want to take all she had. Furthermore, Ban worried that his last act would curse his Huntress with red eyes. That thought was nearly enough to stop him, but in the end, it didn't matter. Nothing did.

Ban prepared to light his sigil, flare his bloody runes with red light and destroy Melcia and the Akazewis with black fire. He looked at his enemies to bask in their terror for one last moment before he went to meet... to meet his...

Zoputan was taking a step towards Ban, his hand held out as if to stop him. His betrothed still clung to his arm, and the woman must have gone mad because she was staring at Ban's sigils as if excited.

Coldness washed over Ban. A calming cold, like early spring in the forests near Ecclesia. Like the salt spray that could be felt along Bosun's Way near the harbor. For a moment, he felt as if he could see a pristinely still pool of water within a forest clearing and surrounded by soft grass. The stars overhead seemed to dance. They seemed to sing.

Before Ban met his blue again. His lisichka. One flare of etherlight, and he'd be with her again, even if it was for the brief moment in which his soul passed through her new home in the Ethereum.

And Ban, for the first time since losing Moon, was afraid of what she would see when they met once again. A monster didn't deserve to be loved by Rippling Moon. A monster didn't deserve to be a father.

Ban's entire body began to tremble, and the laughter died in his throat. Slowly, he lowered his arms.

Should Rippling Moon see the beast that remained of her red, it would hurt her. Whether in the Ethereum or the Beyond, Rippling Moon would be disgusted by what Ban allowed himself to become. He held his memories of her as precious, but by doing this, he would taint those memories for her. She would look on those beautiful moments and be revolted that she once shared them with a monster, that she ever wanted to introduce him to their child.

What am I doing?

Ban blinked and felt moisture in his eyes. He couldn't breathe. No, it wasn't only Moon who'd be disgusted. Ban was disgusted with himself. He was becoming a slayer again.

This isn't who I am. This isn't me. Waves take me, I'm better than this.

His legs shaking, Ban hung his head and let out a breath. And took in another.

"Eminence," he said, his voice weak, "I know you understand the madness that accompanies grief. Forgive that I let it control me."

He took healing through the bond, erasing the sigils from his flesh.

Adeyemi was in the midst of taking his family away from the platform. When he turned to look at Ban, he hesitated. He didn't say a word as he watched Ban with caution, and he remained in place as the angels came back at Ban and seized him.

Zoputan pulled his arm free from Adaku and took a step towards Ban. He looked him up and down. Wary, but there was something else in his bearing. "Bannlyth, you..."

Ban closed his eyes. "It was a comfort, Prince."

Zoputan's brow furrowed.

"You warned me. You asked me to stay in Sandharbor. What happened to my betrothed wasn't your fault. It was mine. I should have listened."

Zoputan motioned for the angels to step back, then placed a hand on Ban's arm. "Nay, mine friend. It was nay enough to ask. I knew it was wrong, and still I followed mine sister's command."

"We can only be what we are," Ban said quietly. Briefly, his eyes found the prince's betrothed. Adaku was shaking, and at first, Ban thought it was from fear. It soon became clear that she wasn't at all frightened. Zoputan's betrothed was furious. Ban put her out of his mind, deciding that she had every right to be angry at him. "If I may, I was asked if I had any last words?"

Zoputan looked back to Adeyemi. The king straightened his doublet and approached the center of the platform, then he gave a nod of assent. Zoputan gestured for the angels to stand down before backing away.

Ban inclined his head graciously to Adeyemi and took in a slow breath to steady himself.

"I am sorry, Your Eminence. I'm sorry there was no other way. My empress believed at every step we took that there might be peace between Melcia and Shan Alee, and after tonight, I know she will still believe it." Ban averted his eyes, ashamed of himself as he continued. "I'm not the man she deserves as her First Knight, because you're right about me. I've done terrible things. I've committed horrible acts. I've only ever been a soldier, and a poor one at that. Men like us aren't able to build a world like the one Enfri dreams of."

The people throughout the Grounds had gone quiet. The panic calmed and hadn't yet turned back towards the earlier jeers. Even so, Ban doubted anything he said could reach anyone. But it wasn't for them.

Ban looked Adeyemi in the eye. "Mortals die. That's what we are, and we die hoping we give the world to better hands than ours. So long as men like us can leave the world, there's hope for a better one. I've no doubt there will be peace in the future between our kingdoms, because we can't be there to stop it forever. Soon, better hands than ours will join together." He smiled, genuine and hopeful. "It will be a good day."

He knelt down, lowered his head, and closed his eyes. Ban had been more wrong over the last few days than he'd ever been wrong in his life. All this time, he'd been telling himself that nothing had meaning, because the world treated it as meaningless. He'd been a fool to forget something so important.

It mattered to me. That's enough. I'm not a monster, because I choose not to be.

Ban thought he heard something of a commotion beneath the platform. Shouting from the Akazewi armsmen and startled yelps among the crowd. It was drowned out by the sound of King Adeyemi taking up his sword and approaching.

"Father," Zoputan whispered, "mayhaps..."

"Do not be so easily swayed, mine son. Whatever our hearts believe, our duty remains unchanged. Melcia is sworn to prevent the Empire of Scales from ever returning. Your sister knew this."

"Father!" Zoputan exclaimed, his voice suddenly frantic. "Father, a dragon!"

"You blazing lout," Kimpo's voice roared over the crowd, which was once again thrown into a panicked riot. "So help me, little warrior, if you even think of dying on me after all I've gone through getting here, I'll fly you into the blazing stratosphere and drop you back to earth on your fat head!"

Ban whirled around to look down the platform steps just in time to see Kimpo backhanding an angel across the face and storming towards him with murder in her eyes. She wasn't looking at anything but her Ruby Knight. For a heartbeat, Ban was more scared of her than he'd ever be of Adeyemi's sword.

Oddly more intimidating than his Huntress, Mother was right behind her.

"Adeyemi," Ban pleaded. "Quick, for the love of the gods. Chop my head off before they get me."

To Ban's disappointment, Adeyemi ignored him. He stood next to Ban at the top of the steps, pointing his sword down at Kimpo. He opened his mouth to call for his armsmen, but before he could get out a word, the top of the platform was struck by a thunderous crash and blinding etherlight.

"If white-scented empty one takes one step towards my red, I will stab him in the arse!"

Ban's eyes went wide, and his breath cut short. By degrees, he turned away from Kimpo to look towards the center of the platform. His heart pounded as it came back to life.

Rippling Moon stood there, her hair loose and blowing in the night breeze as she brandished a dagger towards Adeyemi. She wore a loincloth mottled green and brown, and her chest was covered by a wrap of dark green silk. Her little, round belly was covered with a hand, but that didn't in any way bely the fierce look in her violet eyes. Steel bracers were on Moon's forearms, and the runes engraved upon them shone with blue etherlight. As Ban watched, the shorn-off antlers on Moon's brow burst into blue flames, growing in moments to their full size before the arcane fires subsided.

Blue flames. Blue etherlight.

A tiny dragon alighted on Moon's shoulder. Saveen the Bastion drew herself up to sit in an imperious posture. "As my Sapphire said, back off or we put you down!"

The stone at their feet was scorched, blue streaks tracing around Moon in patterns following the circles and runes of a sigil. The spell was unfamiliar, but for Moon to appear out of thin air, it couldn't have been anything but teleportation. Somehow, she'd discovered her magic and crossed worlds to rescue Ban.

His eyes watered, and he couldn't see anything but her. She was so bright, so blinding, that looking at her was like staring into the sun. So beautiful. There had never been anything in the world half so radiant. Ban felt himself moving before he could think. He crawled towards her on his knees, numb, and reached out his hands.

Moon loosed a low growl at the angel that tried stepping between them. She took Ban's hand and pulled him to her side. Ban couldn't hold himself up any longer. He fell against Moon and hugged her around the waist, pressing his cheek against her belly. Ban clung to her and didn't try stopping his tears.

"Is white, Ban," Moon murmured, stroking his hair as he wept unashamedly. "I spoke this. I will never leave my red. I protect him and our family. I promised this."

She held Ban close to her, keeping her dagger aimed towards anyone who dared approach.

Zoputan and Adeyemi gaped at Moon in disbelief until their attention was demanded from the other direction.

"Stand aside, Your Eminence," Ascania said as she and Kimpo approached the top of the platform. "We've come for my son. Don't try to stop me."

Down below, Opal and Ruby crewmen doffed concealing cloaks to form a perimeter around the foot of the steps. They were a mere few against the hundreds of armed Melcians, but Jalla the Historian among their number gave the northerners pause. The crowds were crawling over each other to get away from the platform once Jalla assumed his truest form.

Adeyemi scowled and didn't have any intention of moving. He glanced from Moon to Kimpo before coming to rest on Ascania. "I nay need try to stop you, Lady Ascania. Whatever beasts you bring into mine city, you are surrounded and outmatched."

"A trade, then," Ascania offered. She and Kimpo came to a stop halfway to the top. "In return for my child, I'll give you back yours."

"What do you speak of?" Adeyemi demanded.

"Of me, Father." Princess Nkeoma ascended the stairs in Kimpo and Ascania's wake. She pulled back the hood of her cloak, identical to the ones worn by the Aleesh crewmen, to reveal herself. "Brother. How shines the daylight?"

"Sister!" Zoputan stepped in front of Adeyemi. "We thought you lost, for good this time."

"Nay lost," Nkeoma said. "Cared for and given honor our house nay deserved after the crimes we inflicted upon them."

"The princess has always impressed me with her good heart since she was a child," Ascania said. "It pleased me to learn that the years haven't taken that from her, much as they took the temperance and dedication to justice I once attributed to her father."

Adeyemi shouldered past Zoputan. "Nay forget, Ascania, I know well what has transpired of late in the south. A Karst will nay speak to me of elder houses abandoning honor."

Ascania didn't back down beneath the rebuke. "I know of no one better suited to speak of lost honor, Eminence. We all bear the burden of sins carried out in our name and of the atrocities we benefit from. We are no different in that regard."

Adeyemi frowned. "You are near to breaking the most sacred of laws we elder houses are sworn to, mine lady."

"Invoke the Law of the Highest King on me then, Eminence," Ascania said. "I've already broken it a hundred times, and I intend to continue breaking it for as long as I draw breath. It's always been a shite law."

"Invoke it upon me as well, Father," Nkeoma said. She spoke loud enough that no one present could fail to hear her. "The races of humanity were once slaves, and in retribution we slaughter our former oppressors without mercy. That is the one and only reason Melcia prosecutes war upon Shan Alee so ardently. The elder houses fear the name of the Aleesh so terribly that the Five Kingdoms have murdered children for the past six hundred years for crimes nay greater than being born."

"You will still your tongue!" Adeyemi shouted.

"Nay Father," Nkeoma said, her voice lacking any semblance of contrition. "I have only begun." She smiled winningly, the sort of bright and joyful smile that Nkeoma's face was best suited for. "White-scented are ashen. Let this be the first step in cleansing our hands."

Nkeoma's lavender eyes began to glow as an incantation passed her lips. It was the highest form of incantation, five words of power spoken in five lines.

"—I call unto spirits of valor—," she said.

Adeyemi stepped towards her, but couldn't approach closer than that while Kimpo interposed herself between them. "Daughter..."

"—I call unto spirits of competition—."

Ban slowly got to his feet, holding Moon to him. Side by side, they clung to one another as wisps of white ether began to swirl about the platform. Called by elder magic, spirits began to gather within the physical world.

"—I call unto spirits of hearth—."

"Moon?" Ban whispered. "What is she..."

"Is white, Ban," Moon said. "Is white-scented. This is what pact makers were meant to be. It is cleansed."

Ban reached out and touched one of the misty figures that swirled around them all. It went through him, leaving a gentle feeling of warmth at its passing. On Moon's shoulder, Saveen sniffed at the spirits as if trying to learn if her new bond might let her share in the powers of a fey nose.

"Light Hoof spoke of this," Moon said. "Of gift she received from us that she now gives back. Is cleansed, but we cannot let kindness go unrewarded. Our hands are ashen, too. We all may be cleansed."

"—Receive that which was taken. Return and stand with us again—."

They appeared within the condensing mist. The wisps merged into solid forms of flesh, blood, and bone as apotheosis fell upon the Grounds. Ban could feel it, echoes from the voices of many spirits. Stone spirits of competition became ogres, wind spirits of valor became orcs, and fire spirits of hearth became goblins.

Their bodies were unmarked. Also unclothed, but most seemed willing to overlook that detail while faced with an act of pure creation. The Grounds went silent but for the soft exclamations of wonder that came from the throats of all who saw the elder magic of a spirit caller.

Ritt and Tor, brothers and rival chieftains knelt behind Nkeoma, coming back into the world on one knee with heads bowed in reverence. More ogres appeared from the Ethereum all around, within the crowd and on the cleared paths.

Fallen of Frozen Waters arrived amidst the orderly rows of her clan. They appeared on the cobblestones already on their feet, as if they had no need of armor or weapons to be ready for battle.

And lastly, at the top of the stone platform and nearest to Ban and Moon, a cluster of goblins returned to the world. They were huddled together, all twenty of them facing towards the center of their small ring.

Moon went to them at once with Ban right behind her. The first they found was Hot River, and Ban embraced them while laughing. Moon caught Tree Spear by the shoulder and turned him to face her while tears of joy fell from her eyes. Others from the Lost Company Tribe were there, and Ban and Moon worked their way towards the center while seeking one in particular.

They found Light Hoof at the very middle of the goblins. He knelt in the midst of all the others with his arms held tightly around someone else, someone who wasn't a goblin. Someone who wasn't fey at all.

"Waves and tides," Ban whispered under his breath.

He looked towards Adeyemi, who was pushing his way through all the goblins invading his platform towards Ban as if to slay him before anything else went wrong. The Warrior King reached him just as his eyes fell on Light Hoof and the passenger he'd brought with him from the Ethereum. Adeyemi's sword fell from his hand to clatter on the stone.

She was human. Dark-skinned with long black hair dreadlocked in the manner of a Melcian knight. Her body was lean and muscular, broad at the shoulders and tall. Her pale green eyes slowly opened, and her full lips, marred with a tiny scar that went down to her chin, parted in confusion.

"We sighted her in spirit-home," Light Hoof said as he looked into her eyes. "She was lost, because spirit meant to guide mortal souls Beyond no longer does as he must. Trapped there, she could see no way home that once was or to home meant to be. But kith are what we must be, so we unclouded the way. Was ashen and saw she was ashen. Is cleansed now."

Adeyemi dropped to his knees beside them. He took the woman by the shoulders and gaped at her as if he couldn't trust his own eyes.

"Omolade?"

The princess looked to her father. Her face contorted, on the verge of tears. "Light, is this real? Please, let this be real and nay the Hell I deserve."

Ban stepped back as Zoputan and the rest of the Akazewis rushed to their resurrected princess. The Boy General pulled off his cloak to clothe her, and Queen Shiura wailed as she embraced her daughter.

"How's this possible?" Ban asked Moon in a whisper.

"They should change what they call their elder magic," Saveen observed. "Nkeoma called a mortal soul, not a spirit."

"Was not their magic," Moon said, smiling. "Was ours. I sighted her when Light Hoof found me in spirit-home. She and many other slayers were lost. All who are ended now will be lost, but kith-spirits decided we can do new thing. Is what we are, Ban. We uncloud the path home. We defend it. We will do what black god no longer will."

Nkeoma came to the top of the platform. Upon seeing Omolade, she broke down into tears and rushed to her family. She was welcomed without hesitation.

Kimpo and Ascania arrived afterwards. They came to Ban at once, taking turns hugging him and inspecting him for injuries. Unnecessary, really. Ban had even fixed up his cracked molars when he took healing a moment ago.

Before their attention could turn against Ban, he felt a sharp thwack on his forehead. Light Hoof stood before him and felt it necessary to flick Ban on the forehead a second time.

"Rocker," he said. "I sighted him. Too many clouds to count, he was so clouded."

"Aye," Ban said contritely. "I went floundering stupid there for a bit."

Light Hoof scoffed. "Is lucky he is ash-blessed. Still ash-blessed. This is good thing."

"Good to have you back, Brother," Ban said. "Now... err... what say we find you something to wear?"

Light Hoof looked down at himself and his bits that were hanging out for all to see. He shrugged. "I not sight the problem."

Ban chuckled, then laughed unrestrained. He pulled Light Hoof into a hug, and it'd take more than a little nudity between brothers for him to let go again. Moon wriggled her way in between them, looking happier than Ban remembered seeing her in a long time. Saveen hopped away and assumed her human form, looking reluctant to intrude on a family moment.

"Lord Bannlyth," Adeyemi said, drawing attention back to the circumstances of the night.

Ban pulled away from his kin and faced the king. "Eminence."

Adeyemi was on his feet and stood over his sword. He didn't look down at it or try to take it up as he stepped towards Ban. He came inside arm's reach, his expression unreadable.

"Hell of a night," Adeyemi said.

"Aye."

The Warrior King looked past Ban towards Ascania. "You offered earlier, mine lady, to give me mine child in exchange for yours. It seems you proved more able to deliver on this promise than I thought possible."

Ascania wrung her hands. "More than I did, also, admittedly. Fate does as he will, it seems."

Adeyemi nodded sagely. "You southerners have a phrase. 'As you say'."

"Not Fate," Moon muttered. "Nothing to do with it. Was rybka. Our white one put future onto new path. Silk thread's breadth misaligned with Fate."

Ban blinked and looked down at Moon. It didn't seem like anyone else had heard her, and Ban wondered just what Moon had been up to while they were separated. Now that he had a moment to examine the last few moments, he realized that he hadn't stopped himself until he thought of Moon and their baby. Had that really been all the difference he needed to avoid whatever future Fate had in store for them?

Ban realized how delicate the future really was if small things like that were all it took to make it better.

"No!"

Ban startled at the sudden, enraged cry. He whirled around and saw Zoputan's betrothed standing by herself and shaking with fury.

"You fools," she shouted. "Do you not see? The Aleesh sent soldiers into your city. They've turned your princess against you. They've defied the Law of the Highest King in your presence! What are you waiting for? Kill them!"

Adeyemi turned from Ascania and frowned at Adaku. "That is enough, amah."

"Wretches," Adaku hissed. Her accent changed as she spoke and backed away from everyone on the platform. No longer Melcian, but something else and unfamiliar. Elongated vowels and sibilant S's that made Ban's skin want to crawl. "You're meant to slaughter one another. Either the rune knight destroys you all or the children of Akazewi cripple the Dragon Empress' legion. Either way..."

Zoputan went towards her, his arms held wide. "My love, it is alright. It is as we have spoken. If there can be peace, we must strive for it. As Bannlyth has said, time and again, we cannae stop the coming doom while we are at each other's throats."

Adaku looked on the prince with such loathing, as if he were a rotting slug that squirmed onto her foot.

"Found it," Moon growled suddenly. Then, with her bracer sigils flaring blue etherlight, she flung her dagger. It buried itself to the hilt into Adaku's forehead.

Zoputan shouted as Adaku's head rocked backwards from the impact. She remained upright, then slowly, she tilted her head forward as her mouth widened into a wicked smile. She reached up with her hand to grip the dagger's handle and yank it free. Black vapor poured from the wound as it sealed. The dagger clattered to her feet.

"What is this?" Zoputan gasped in horror. "Adaku, you are a skindancer?"

"Nay," Moon said, baring her sharp teeth. "Venom-blooded slayers not heal wounds their skins take. She is not shifter. She is demon."

Adaku, or whatever she was, regarded Zoputan with a mocking smirk. "Surprised, my love?"

Everyone who had weapons pulled them out and brandished them at the creature. Unconcerned, the demon sneered at them all with a disdainful look.

"Insects," she hissed. "This changes nothing. Unthinking animals such as you cannot stop us. We have already won."

"Ingtar!" Adeyemi shouted. Spellfire blasted across the platform to consume the demon.

She laughed, a discordant sound that grated against the bones. Standing amidst the flames, untouched, the demon made a dismissive gesture and banished the spellfire. "Your magic is no threat to me, primates."

Adeyemi shouted another incantation, this one strung into a line of five words. His voice was joined by those of Light Hoof and Omolade. Kimpo, Saveen, and Ascania lent attack spells of their own. The other arcanists among the goblins sang words of power to add to the onslaught. Beneath it all, the demon was unharmed.

She no longer bothered to dismiss the spells assaulting it. The demon turned her back on them, and with a wave of a hand, vanished into a cloud of swirling black smoke.

"Know this, mortal creatures," her voice said, appearing as if from all directions, "I am Centauri, your true master. Before this year's end, this kingdom and all within it will burn. There is no place for your filth within Paradise."

Ban hung on to Moon, ready to shield her and the rybka from any attack that might appear. As it became apparent that the demon had no intention of returning, Ban became aware that he wasn't the only one who'd put his body between Moon and that Centauri creature.

Zoputan had his sword drawn as he stood in front of Ban and Moon. Adeyemi and Nkeoma were beside him, forming a barrier between the demon and the goblin who revealed her. As the commotion died down, Aleesh and Melcian soldiers rushed to the top of the platform from opposite sides. The two forces eyed each other askance, but most of their attention was spent on seeking out the source of the disturbance from a moment ago.

"I cannae believe," Zoputan murmured. "Adaku... She was..."

"One of them," Ban said. He didn't quite believe it himself, and he'd seen it with his own eyes.

Moon, however, was always the most practical of fey women. She wove her way through the press of Melcians and ran towards her discarded dagger. Picking it up, she hummed in satisfaction as she examined the blade. The length of steel was stained black with demonic blood.

"This is good thing to know," she said happily.

"Forgive me, imé," Adeyemi said, "but I nay see how this can be seen as anything good."

Moon beamed at the Warrior King. She waggled her dagger in front of him to emphasize her meaning. "Rocker. You sight this? Demons can bleed."