The Lord of Bones. An old master. A demon. The god of death, worshipped and paid homage throughout the Five Kingdoms and likely beyond. The most prominent dogma in the Spired City. In the world. All of it given to a creature bent on destroying them all.

Krayson still couldn't bring himself to turn his eyes towards it. He believed that just feeling the Lord of Bones' presence was far too much for him to handle.

It was like the air itself had grown as heavy as a mountain. The sky seemed to darken in the direction of the god, radiating an oppressive aura of malignancy. This was unlike the feeling of otherworldly-ness, of wrongness, that followed Algol in his Eastrun shop. If both were demons, the Lord of Bones possessed power his lesser brethren couldn't begin to approach.

Unless Algol had merely been concealing his true power, and the old masters were all this immense. But if that was so, what hope could there be in opposing them?

Krayson held his head as Moon got him into a sitting position. It hurt, a pounding ache inside his skull. The Lord of Bones was a demon. The worship given to him by humanity made even a demon into a god.

How is that possible? Krayson thought desperately. How could a demon claim the faith given to Death for itself?

He could feel the disdain the Lord of Bones held for the living. The hatred and contempt. Mortals were beneath him. But apparently, they were the tools he had chosen to invoke his will upon the world he wished to claim for his kind.

Pieces on the game board and nothing more.

His eyes found Maya. He watched her back as she stood beside Vintus, the tension growing in her shoulders. Krayson wondered for just how long the entity known as the Lord of Bones had been a demon. Had Death been supplanted in the past, or had he always been a demon?

Had the elder magic granted to Queen Algara originated from a demon to begin with?

Krayson turned his head and vomited over the ground.

NO PASSAGE

Divine will slammed against Krayson's throbbing head until he feared it would burst.

ONLY A KEY

NO PASSAGE WITHOUT A KEY

THE OLD FORMS MUST BE HEEDED

TO THIS EVEN I AM BOUND

The old forms which must be heeded, Krayson now understood what that meant. A god was constrained by the belief of their faithful. In the end, a god was little different from a fey. Both were spirits at their core.

They could only be what they were.

And the Lord of Bones took that nature upon himself to become a god. A demon accepted the bonds of divinity along with its power. He was empowered by the faith of thousands, the tribute of millions, and had grown to become one of the most powerful entities in the Ethereum. However, no power came without a cost, and the ransom a god paid was to be constrained by that same faith, unable to act outside its bounds. Unable to take Fate for himself, kept arm's length from that which he desired, and forced to use mortal pawns to achieve his goals.

"We've brought the key you require, my lord," Vintus shouted. He turned to Maya. "Bring her, Niece. Present our lord with our prize."

"At once, Uncle," Maya replied. She turned on her heels and approached where Moon knelt beside Krayson.

"Esra, kill the blood runner," Vintus said. "His purpose has been fulfilled."

"My pleasure," Esra said. She fell into step beside Maya.

As they came closer, Esra drew her sword.

"By the way, Cousin," Maya said to Esra as they reached the prisoners. "Did I ever mention how much I dislike you?"

The sword left Maya's scabbard in the span of an eye blink. It slashed through the air and took Esra across the throat. Esra dropped to one knee just as Maya brought her sword down for a second blow. Once Esra's head dropped to the ground, and her body followed a moment later, the battlefield coterie all spun to look at Maya. Surprise, anger, and fear warred for dominance in their expressions.

Maya took Moon by the hand and drew her to her feet. A guarded look passed between them, then a nod.

"It'll take most everything Zanda and I have," Maya said. "As we discussed before. I don't know how quickly I'll get my ether back here, but it should be fast enough."

Krayson struggled to get on his knees. "What are you..."

"I figured it out when I killed Tion," Maya said suddenly, and loudly. "When I tracked him down and slaughtered him like the dog he was, I learned a new way to cast a useful spell, Uncle."

Vintus' stunned expression would have been more enjoyable if he didn't have a death god at his back. He looked from Esra's corpse to Maya.

Krayson gasped as golden light burst within him. Ether rushed to fill every one of his veins, infusing his blood with power. Esra had placed his seals, and her death banished them from the Weave of magic. With nothing separating Krayson from the wellspring of the Ethereum, every vestige of power his blood could hold was his to command.

He didn't waste time.

Somatics danced across Krayson's fingers as his voice called out. "—Acquittal of the storms, shield us!—"

The barrier ward fell into place as spellfire and lightning crashed against it. Maya, Moon, and Krayson were protected from the combined spellcraft of the battlefield coterie.

DESTROY

Krayson felt the divine command of a god, but he wasn't struck down by its power. He could only assume his lack of ether was what had laid him bare to the Lord of Bone's power before.

"Kill her!" Vintus shouted. "Kill Maya and the Krayson, and bring me that freg!"

Ether was his shield. It defended him and those he protected from even a god.

PREVAIL

MY SAINT MUST PREVAIL

Krayson's somatics strengthened his ward, and incantations erupted from his throat. Within the Ethereum, the spirits were swift to respond to his call. Krayson no longer felt the same supernatural dread. With ether, he was able to raise his eyes towards Death.

A figure as large as entire worlds. Skeletal, a silhouette within darkness, the shadow of his form darker and blacker than the darkness behind him. His limbs were elongated, his neck too long to be mistaken for human, and red light shone from the depths of the skull's eye sockets.

Krayson stood next to Maya on her right. Side by side, they looked upon the deified face of Death and were undeterred.

The coterie threw their spellcraft against the barrier. Krayson felt his ether drain under their combined assault. It replenished almost immediately, but he was being overwhelmed. He wouldn't be able to last forever.

"I can only think of one person my imprint's strong enough to connect to from another world," Maya declared. "Only one Moon's might be, too."

Vintus drew his sword. "Maya, I'm going to rip out your heart."

"Tell my sister I love her," Maya said, and she pressed her hand to Moon's cheek.

"Star Hunter must live," Moon said.

Maya nodded. "You have your work cut out for you, rescuing Lord Ban. Good luck, and goodbye."

Moon shook her head, and she smiled. "Not goodbye. Until next time."

A flash of light, a crack of thunder, and Moon was gone. An apotheosis rang in the heads of everyone present.

"You're dead, Maya," Vintus roared. His eyes were wide with fury, and spittle flew from his mouth with every word. "I'll kill you for this! You're dead!"

Maya took her stance and pointed her sword at him. Her movements were slow, and so were Zanda's as she crawled out from Maya's belt pouch and assumed her human form. Ripping a piece out of reality to form a bridge large enough for Moon to pass through had left them both drained. It had taken so much from the two of them that even the eternal wellspring couldn't replenish it all at once.

"You'll die first," Maya replied to Vintus. She smirked and moved her sword towards the doppler. "No. You first. How dare you impersonate my cousin?"

"Tear down that ward and kill them!" Vintus roared. "Take oren, unison link, and tear it down!"

SLAUGHTER

Krayson flinched as the command pulsed through the desiccated forest. "What's the plan?"

Maya scoffed. "Who needs one?"

He rounded on her, his face incredulous. "Um... I'd like one."

"I'll give you an opening. Head to the prison once the way's clear."

"There's a demon-god between me and it, and I'm not a feyling."

"I am, and Vintus doesn't think any of us have a way in anymore. He won't be trying so hard to keep us away."

The coterie's spellcraft combined. It was now a single tendril of lightning that struck against his ward, and it was powerful enough to cause apotheosis. The ward was beginning to buckle beneath the onslaught. Krayson's ability wasn't equal to holding back five assassins at once.

"Highness, whatever you're doing, do it now."

Zanda stood on Maya's other side. "I am with you, Highness."

"Give me strength and ether," Maya said, her voice gone quiet.

"Are your stores not already full?" Zanda asked.

"I..." Maya hesitated. "I need you to trust me, my Executioner. I have no right to ask it of you, but I'm asking."

Zanda blinked. Her bemusement melted away and was replaced by something that looked like serenity. "You have no need to ask, love." Her simple gown began to turn to mist, and her skin took on a rose hue. "Brother Joshuan, I will be unable to lend much help to your ward. I must give all I can to my Beryl."

Sweat poured down Krayson's forehead. Speaking was proving difficult as he tried to keep the ward from shattering. "No problem. I... got this. Take your time."

Spell echoes pulsed from Maya and Zanda. Strong ones. The Ethereum was replenishing them both, but even so, the amount of ether Maya was using was difficult to comprehend. Zanda changed into the form of a tiny dragon and stood on Maya's shoulder, giving up her larger body for even more power to give through their bond.

"What are you doing?" Krayson asked.

Maya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was sweating from exertion. Then, when she opened her eyes again, her irises no longer shone with soft light. Maya's eyes burned with the blue radiance of blazing stars.

"Rise," she whispered.

And the Ethereum trembled with her power.

Krayson felt as if something deeply ingrained within the world shattered. An indelible law, broken. Burning, blinding light exploded from Maya's body, and the spirit world quaked with an apotheosis unlike any Krayson had ever felt before. It was greater even than when he and the rest of the Five pierced through the veil into the Beyond. The Ethereum was saturated with the flow of ether, so every blade of grass, every pebble, and every mote of air reverberated with the absolute power Maya unleashed from within herself. Unfettered, unrestrained, and free, the Eidolon broke her seals.

Limitless.

The spellcraft against Krayson's ward cut off at once. Vintus and his coterie stumbled and lost their footing as if suddenly struck by the winds of a hurricane. The howling of the apotheosis drowned out Vintus' cries of impotent rage.

Then came a silence so complete that it felt like the entire Ethereum watched with baited breath. Krayson looked up to where the Lord of Bones loomed above them, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

The god of death recoiled from Maya.

DESTROY THE EIDOLON

DEFEND YOUR GOD

"Thunders," Krayson whispered as he recognized desperation in the divine mandate. "Thunders take me, it's afraid."

Maya looked down at her hands, one gripping a sword, the other clenched into a fist. "It should be."

Zanda, wisely, flapped from Maya's shoulder to Krayson's. Then, Maya charged forward.

She was fast, faster than Krayson's eyes could follow. Before Krayson realized she was moving, the two brother assassins were on their backs with blood fountaining from their necks. Maltus reacted first and threw himself in front of Maya to bar her path to Vintus. Her blow shattered his blade and continued forward. Maya's sword passed through his body as if it hadn't given any resistance at all. The older man died before he hit the ground.

"I'm sorry, Josy," Maya muttered as she continued onward towards Vintus and the doppler.

"Dashar, kill her!" Vintus howled.

The doppler didn't move. Maya wasn't in a mood to grant mercy and fell upon Dashar One while lightning and pure magical power erupted from her.

The doppler drew his swords and blocked her strike. His blades held. Spell echoes from self-enchantments pulsed from his body. Maya and the imposter locked blades, her eyes filled with rage, his calm as stone.

"Have you truly become greater than me, Maya?" the doppler asked. "Do you honestly believe you're worthy of becoming the Highest Queen?"

"I have to be," Maya snarled.

"Show me, then."

The doppler manifested a spell. The essences were muted next to Maya's unrivaled power, but they were placed with such subtlety and precision that they snaked through Maya's defenses and threw her bodily away from Vintus. As Maya tumbled through the air, she reoriented and landed on her feet. Before she could regroup, the doppler was right on top of her.

Her sword raised to block the first strike, and she manifested a barrier to deflect the second. The doppler didn't relent, instead increasing the tempo of his attacks. His twin swords struck at Maya in swift succession, each aiming for a crippling strike on her hamstrings or arms. She was only just able to defend against them.

Krayson reluctantly turned away from the battle of two titans and looked at Vintus. The prince cried out to his god for assistance.

THE OLD FORMS MUST BE HEEDED

DESTROY THE EIDOLON

Then, as if the Lord of Bones was a black sun setting beneath the horizon, he withdrew.

"Zanda," Krayson muttered, "you may want to find a safer perch."

"Why? What are you planning?"

"Maya has her battle, I have mine, and I have a spider to save."

Zanda's scales rippled with unease. "You mean to unchain the Great Spider?"

"One way or another, the old masters will eventually get through to Kumo. They're his jailers, and there's no one standing in their way anymore. Better to free Kumo now and make it harder for them to pin him down."

"I understand," Zanda said, "but Lady Moon has escaped with her child, and Maya is preoccupied. You don't have a feyling to serve as a key."

Krayson retrieved the alchemical spell Maya gave him at the onset of this bizarre journey. He started walking towards where Vintus continued to beseech the Lord of Bones for his aid. "There's a feyling right there to be my key. It's just the fool doesn't realize it yet."

"Flames go with you, Brother Joshuan," Zanda said. "I will lend what assistance I can to both of you."

She flapped away from Krayson's shoulder and darted up to the branches overhead.

Krayson quickened his pace to a sprint.

I cannot intervene on your behalf, mortal, Kumo whispered. Just as the Lord of Bones cannot. Gods can only place our faith in those we have chosen as our blessed saints.

"Bite your tongue," Krayson growled. "I'm as unsaintly as they come."

I know. That is why I chose you to be mine. Now, my saint, kick his arse.

oOo

Enfri breathed out a drawn out sigh. Whether it was the benevolence of one of the gods or pure blind luck, the rainforest lived up to its name as a downpour arrived. The fires spreading from the lodge smoked and sputtered as they were doused in the rain. Enfri stood in a market clearing and raised her face to accept the heavy droplets falling on her.

Her dress and cheeks were blackened from soot, her skin ached from burns she'd accumulated while battling the flames, and she felt the weariness in her soul washed away by the cleansing rain.

"Jin?"

She came to stand beside Enfri. Her leather breastplate was gone, ruined beyond repair by Darian's spellfire. Jin only wore a white silk wrap above the waist, but Enfri wasn't of a mind to complain. She'd take every chance she could get to ogle Jin's body, even if it came about through unfortunate circumstances.

"My heart."

"Hell of a night."

Jin hummed in agreement. "I'm sorry it didn't go the way you wanted."

Enfri blew out her lips. "Not how I wanted, but I guess it ended up in the same place. Shan Alee has Aleesh citizens now. That is why I came here."

"I meant Elise. I didn't realize... You and she..."

Enfri looked down at her feet. "I didn't either. Not consciously. For a moment, I thought I might've gotten through to her. I thought I convinced her to... stop."

Jin fell quiet, and Enfri turned to see what was the matter. She found that Jin was staring off into the distance, her expression pensive and numb.

"Don't get me wrong," Enfri said. "My aunt has a lot to answer for. I haven't forgotten the things she's done, and I'll be among the first to say the people she's killed deserve justice. It's only... even if Althandor, Shan Alee, and the rest of the Five Kingdoms can't forgive her, I hope there might be a way that I can."

"The crown makes one faceless," Jin said. "The Dragon Empress cannot bend. Enfri the Yora must do as she must." Her hand found Enfri's and gave it a squeeze. "But Enfri Page..."

Enfri felt her lip tremble all of a sudden. "I love you, my light. Thank you, for understanding."

"It's not that far from my own situation, is it?"

"I guess not. Does that mean you're hoping for a way to forgive Vintus? He is your uncle."

Jin wrinkled her nose. "We were never close," she muttered.

"Your father, then?"

Jin exhaled, and her expression fell. "I doubt there's a place in the Spired City for me. Not now or ever again."

"You have one with me."

Jin's voice grew quiet. "I know."

Enfri put her arm around Jin's waist and leaned against her. "Is something still bothering you? What's wrong?"

Jin looked ahead, towards the Aleesh loading their supplies and possessions onto carts in preparation for a perilous journey south. Her smile was slight, but it was genuine. Enfri couldn't tell if the wetness on Jin's cheeks came from the rain or not.

"Nothing's wrong, my heart," she said. "Right here, right now, I feel as if this is as the world should be."

As Enfri watched Jin, she felt as if she could hear the voice of her grandmother repeating one of her favorite sayings.

Before the thought could form fully, thunder crashed right beside her. The night sky brightened with sudden light, and Enfri dove for cover while assuming lightning had struck just beside her.

Jin rolled off from on top of her. She'd shielded Enfri with her body, and Enfri was blushing so hard she feared a nosebleed. Outside the confines of her armor, Jin was... softer... than she was otherwise, and having Jin's chest pressed over one's face was an impossible thing to experience without getting flustered.

Sword drawn, spellcraft readied, Jin hauled Enfri up to her feet. As soon as Enfri regathered her wits, she looked to where the flash of light originated and felt her jaw drop right back to the mud. She and Jin shouted in unison.

"Moon?"

Brushing herself off, the blustering goblin looked their way and beamed. "Is me."

Enfri shrieked. The span separating them closed in a heartbeat as Enfri and Jin all but tackled Moon in a frantic embrace. Jin sobbed hysterically as she buried her face in Moon's neck, and Enfri wasn't an inch more composed by any stretch of the imagination.

"There, there," Moon said soothingly. She patted their backs and nuzzled her face against theirs. "Am whole. Is white. This not thing to cry for."

Jin's legs were unsteady. Inconsolable, she dropped to her knees, held tightly onto Moon's hand, and bowed her head as she wept. In all their time together, Enfri had never known Jin to cry like this. Not once. Even so, Enfri wasn't surprised. She knew how much Jin cared for Moon and how painful losing her had been.

"Moon, your antlers," Enfri gasped. She touched at the shorn off stumps on her brow, then looked at the House Algara livery she wore. "What in the...?"

"Is long story," Moon said with a contrite shrug.

"How's this possible?" Enfri asked tearfully. "We thought you were in the Ethereum."

"Was," Moon said. "Taken to spirit-home."

"B-but... How...?"

Moon gave a frustrated growl and waved the hand Jin didn't have a death-grip on about her face. "I speak clouds. Many things happened. Was not banished to spirit-home. Taken by blood-scented, and..." She snorted. "Not thing to say quickly. Much happened, and cannot waste time speaking this. Ban, Enfri. I must get to Ban. My red needs me."

"Ban?" Enfri looked around her. A few of the Pearl and Ruby crewmen had taken notice of Moon's arrival by teleportation. The news was spreading quickly, and Grimdar was striding towards them with an amazed expression. "Ban's being held in Adezu. I'm sorry, Moon, but he's out of our reach. Pacifica sent Kimpo and Ascania on a rescue mission, though."

"Is not enough," Moon said, shaking her head. She glanced down to Jin and knelt down in front of her. She pressed her forehead to Jin's. A goblin sort of kiss, but it looked to be a chaste one. "Jin's kin speaks white words for me to bring to her. Star Hunter, Maya, she speaks that she loves you."

Jin sniffed and raised her eyes. "You saw Maya?"

"Aye, I sighted her," Moon said with a smirk. "Sighted Star Hunter's strength. She and blood-scented are still in spirit-home, at prison of Imprisoned One. They bloody demon-scented slayers that are also Jin's kin."

"You gave Maya a name?" Jin asked. "Star Hunter. It suits her."

"Does," Moon said with satisfaction.

"And she and Krayson are fighting Vintus?" Jin said, sorting through all that Moon had said.

"Aye, this is thing that is. They walk black path, but this is not my path anymore. I must get to Ban, and I sight how to do this. Light Hoof showed me how, and Star Hunter gifted me with the way." Her eyes became sorrowful. "But I not know if this is thing I can do now. Ban, he is not Ban anymore. He has forgotten his name."

Jin nodded slowly in comprehension, and Enfri was so ecstatic to have Moon back that she felt inspired enough to understand every word of her kith phrasing perfectly.

"Winds and storms," Enfri gasped. "Ban's beside himself so much that you lost your imprint connection?"

"Is not lost," Moon said. She swallowed and clutched a hand to her belly. "But is weak. Is like he... he has let me go. Has let me and rybka go. He thinks we are ended, and he cuts himself off from us to spare himself the pain of us being ended."

Then, what Moon needed for whatever she had in mind was an imprint connection. She was starting to understand why Ban, Krayson, and everyone else kept getting so annoyed with Fate, because he seemed to have a hand in every little thing they did. "Grimdar," she called.

"Majesty," the Gladiator replied as he ran up.

"Find Saveen. Bring her as soon as possible." Enfri couldn't stop herself from grinning as she turned back to Moon. "Our littlest dragon's puppy crush gives us an opportunity."

Moon snorted as she got back to her hooves. She pulled Jin up to join her. "I sighted this. I not blame her for scenting of my red, but he is my red."

She pulled away from the pair of them and searched around the jungle floor until she found a long stick. Using her makeshift carving tool, Moon started scratching lines into the muddy ground.

"A sigil," Jin said. "Have you learned how to light runes?"

Moon pulled an anxious face. "Nay."

Jin and Enfri exchanged nervous looks.

"This will be my first spell," Moon said. "Must be first spell, or Ban is lost to me and the rybka. I not let this be."

Enfri looked over the shapes and runes Moon scratched into the mud. She couldn't make heads or tails out of any of it. "A divination? Wait, no. Winds take me. Moon, is that...?"

"Aye!"

Saveen came barreling into the market clearing in her truest form. She loosed an excited shout at seeing Moon and pulled short just before stomping all over Moon's sigil. "You're alive!"

"Aye, and I need little mighty's help. I need her marking spell on Ban."

"Oh... you... knew about that?"

Moon made a solemn gesture. "It is cleansed. Can she help?"

"With every flame in the world as my witness, I'll try."

Enfri grabbed Jin's arm as an idea came to mind. She'd considered this before, but worry over whether it was even possible or not had stopped her from asking the question. Right now, she felt as if it needed to be attempted.

"Moon? Saveen? I think there's something I can do, if you're willing, that might help."

They both looked towards her, curious and listening.

No, Shoen shouted suddenly in her mind. Don't you dare!

Ah, you're back. I knew it was just a tantrum.

If you do this, girl, if you do this for one of these eldritch monsters..."

Have you forgotten what we're up against? Enfri interrupted him. The rest of the world has grown and adapted to how much things have changed since your era. It's time you do the same. This is our world now. It's not yours anymore. Fall in line or never talk to me again!

This is a line you will never be able to uncross, Shoen said.

Good. Some lines need to be crossed.

Enfri's heart was pounding as Jin took her hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Enfri nodded before turning her attention back to Moon and Saveen. "I have an important question to ask you two."

Her words changed, unbidden, as they left her mouth.

"—Will you become my Bastion and her Sapphire Knight?—"