In Mystacor, there is a secret hallway down the way from the statue of the first Head Sorceress of Mystacor, Madame Isla. When opened with the right configuration, it will lead down a musty hallway, where you will come across writings etched by Emeths Auctor and Peree themselves.

❂❂❂

Micah and Talyn traveled by mirror to meet up with Princess Spinnerella's forces. Scarcely had they exited the portal when Abraham rushed up to meet them, crushing Micah in a hug. Micah squeezed his father back hard, laughing joyfully; it had been far, far too long since he'd seen Abraham.

His dad grinned as he pulled away. The older man's dark eyes sparkled with happiness, and his salt-and-pepper hair blew in the wind. "I heard that you wanted to see Spinnerella. I'll fetch her for you."

"No need," Spinnerella said from behind him, riding up to them on a wind current and levitating just off the ground. The Transcendentine angel's hair was neatly tied in an ornamental style, her blue eyes gentle and kind as she regarded Micah and Talyn. "My sister sent word of your coming. I'm glad to have you two here."

"I wish the occasion was not so somber," Talyn said. "It is good to see you again, Princess."

Spinnerella nodded. "We have a few skiffs, but we must be careful. Is there any way you can cloak us, brother?"

Micah smiled at the title, nodding. "My magic reserves are full. I should be able to get an idea of the layout – and Talyn has a hard drive for backing up the map."

Spinnerella replied, "I can scout from the outside. Princess, what will you do?"

Talyn shrugged. "I'm going with Micah. Entrapta's teaching me how to hack – I'm sure I'll be fine."

This answer seemed to satisfy the angel. "I'll ride the wind and meet you there. You two stay hidden, okay?"

Micah nodded, and Spinnerella flew away. He addressed Talyn. "How do you know about these things?" he asked her.

Talyn's headpiece glinted in the daylight. "We've captured Horde skiffs traveling through the mountains before. I got a chance to study them with Entrapta – she was more concerned that they were using a sorely outdated wiring system, but one can't expect much. We are the innovators of technology, after all."

"So you know how to create them?"

"Not yet. She's still working on reverse-engineering it," Talyn said. Giving a fond sigh, she hooked up the tank, paying no heed to the oil on her dress. "My sister is a nut, but she's smarter than I am. I'm glad I'll be ruling the kingdom so she can continue her tinkering." Micah caught a bit of sadness in her voice at those words.

Talyn's pink eyes locked onto his own again. "Come now, Your Majesty. We must perform recon quickly. Are you able to cloak the whole skiff?"

Micah inhaled. "I think so." He stood on the skiff, gripping the handles and remembering his lessons with Light Spinner – she'd taught him how to weave the light to cloak one's existence, shapeshift, and even change their voice.

Thank you, Light Spinner, he thought silently as they became a sequence of white outlines in the wind. You still prepared me for the war, in your own way. With this, he sped the skiff off toward Fort Ammeer, with Spinnerella a speck in the distance.

✧✧✧

They arrived at the compound; Spinnerella – also a sorceress – was cloaked in invisibility, and presumably was gathering intel from above. Micah exited the skiff, speaking in a whisper to Talyn. "I'm going in."

"Wait!" she hissed. "I'm coming with you."

"But you don't have magic – I don't want you getting hurt."

"Believe me," Talyn said, "you don't know what I'm capable of. We train with our hair back at home."

Micah bit his lip. "But if you come and get killed –"

"Ata has another heir – Entrapta can lead just fine." Talyn's mouth was set in a hard line. "You may have lost my power source, but I'm not letting you go in alone. If you die, this entire Alliance will crumble. We're barely united as-is."

Micah sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, the Drylian princess was probably right. "Alright," he said. "But stay close. The invisibility only works if you're next to me."

Talyn nodded. They waited for an opening; the soldiers would be difficult to tangle with, since they had iridulium armor. Micah was glad for the metal ornamentation in Talyn's braid; at least that would prove more useful than magic.

The soldiers shifted duties; when the door opened, Micah and Talyn entered. He had three extra vials of magic, but he had to be careful not to drink too much at a time – so Micah focused on hiding their bodies, not their breaths or voices.

They rounded the corner of the hallway, coming to a computer. Micah was more tech-savvy than most of the Alliance, but he still didn't know squat about hacking – especially since there was so much math involved.

Talyn stepped up to the computer, signing to him. In and out. Getting a map. Micah nodded, cloaking her as she tapped the keyboard and tried to access the security mainframe. She hummed in a low tone. "Micah," she whispered. "The language is set to Meyan."

"Meyan?" Micah repeated. "The Horde speaks Kriesges."

"One of their officers doesn't seem to," she observed. "That makes it easier to hack." Meyan was an extremely common language on Etheria – everyone and their dog spoke it, unless they were dirt-poor – but still...

Shadow Weaver rounded the corner, typing absently on a holo-pad. Criminy! Micah thought, borrowing one of Nell's less vulgar curses. Sweating, he gripped Talyn's shoulders tighter; the typing stopped. He couldn't warn her, but surely she felt the presence of the Lady Weaver's magic...

Shadow Weaver stopped, sighing softly as she gripped the holo-pad. Micah projected an illusion of Carmen's voice at the end of the hallway, praying he could nail her accent – and that the felinetta was actually in the tower somewhere. "My lady, I'm right hungry. Can we get some lunch right 'bout now?"

Shadow Weaver growled, slapping her mask with her palm as she walked back down the hallway. As soon as she was gone, Micah relaxed his grip on Talyn's shoulders.

The princess squinted at the screen; soon, a green light perked up. They had an entrypoint, and if she could just get a map of the Fright Zone downloaded to their storage drive, they could leave. Leave, and get crucial information about Fort Ammeer.

"I have it," Talyn whispered. "That was way too close."

Micah nodded numbly as they waited, huddled against the wall, for the guard to shift again. Talyn's tanned knuckles carried the drive, and she gripped Micah's shoulder for dear life.

Finally, the soldiers switched again. Micah and Talyn snuck outside; they had accomplished their mission, and could begin battle planning.

❂❂❂

Did you know...

- Meyan is based off of Catalan, and Kriesges is based off of German. The Nazi analogy was not intentional, and in fact I find it stupid to call the Horde anything like the Nazi regime. I just thought German as a language fit the Horde well due to the harshness of the language.

Tell me what you think...

- Is Carmen actually in the building?