And your love - it stings like rotted wine

　　You only want what`s best for me and mine

　　I ask of you just one small favor

　　Despoil not all my works and my labor

　　-From "Claim the Sun", a Karzakh Gaurl song

　　Earlier, in the city

　　 After splitting off from Lucian`s patrol, Kamila quickly realized that she was being followed - and did not turn to look. She pushed aside the insistent whisper in her mind telling her to turn around and take up her sword. Kamila had learned much in weeks of unpleasant dreams that Amire the psychologist could never truly unravel. During her life, Karla had been a woman of peace, until she`d grown angry and foolish, and she`d become volatile. That fire burned - a dancing flame never put out since the beginning of time - in Kamila`s mind, but she dared not heed it or let it fill her gaze.

　　 She knew better than to try and confront her stalker directly. It was likely that there were others, and the memories of Wallshaker gave her the insight to avoid obvious missteps. She remembered a previous bearer of the blade who had bravely turned to face a stalker in the night, knowing that they were stronger than anyone who would dare skulk in the night. That warrior was cut down like so much chaff because they hadn`t thought to look for the other fighters, the ones who were spooked by her sudden turn and who forgot their orders to bring the warrior in alive. So it goes with the way of the sword.

　　 With one hand resting on Wallshaker`s hit, she continued to walk her normal route through the city, making her way toward the Reaper Monastery.

　　 Turning a corner not far from the monasteries, she stumbled and steadied herself against the wall, chancing a glance over her shoulder. The pathway behind her was mostly abandoned, but there was one person moving quickly along the city wall, a rifle in her hands. She was crouched down and, when she saw Kamila turn, she immediately tensed up and lowered her center of gravity.

　　 Just then a gunshot rang overhead and Kamila dove to the side, and at that moment, Zoe Bari raised her rifle and fired it at Kamila. The harsh whisper of Karla said you should have known! You should have listened! Without so much as a word of true speech. Her heart beating so hard she thought it would leap from her chest, Kamila made for the opposite corner of the building, running along the walls, and peered around the corner. Zoe had taken cover behind a nearby wall. As soon as Kamila showed herself, she raised the rifle to fire again. Kamila ducked out of the way and a chunk of stone exploded from the wall behind her. As she leaned against it, she found herself leaning further and further back& and where her hands pressed against the wall, there was a strange grainy feeling.

　　 She turned to look, and saw that the wall was beginning to come apart, particle by particle. Stone dust caked her hands and her back and her hair. It`s just like the Desert, you know. You`re a fool not to listen to me. It`s about time - With a hand on the hilt of Wallshaker, she stood, took in a deep breath, started to run, stopped herself. She glanced toward the wall to her left. Listened to the city. Zoe wasn`t moving, or if she was Kamila couldn`t hear her footsteps. Next to her the wall continued to crumble. A terrible crack sounded above Kamila, and when her head snapped up she saw that a rent was forming in the upper part of the wall.

　　 The roof began to collapse. Kamila stepped back, suppressing the desire to turn and run away. She moved along the collapsing wall, taking cover behind fallen chunks of stone and crumbling construction, and when she came to the edge of the cover she broke into a sprint. In the alleyway between buildings Zoe approached, shrieking, her rifle raised, mere paces away from Kamila.

　　 Kamila twisted to the left, body toward Wallshaker`s scabbard, and with whipcord-fast reflexes she drew the sword out of its sheath. She didn`t try to slash at Zoe with the blade - remembering a time when one like her had done the same, and been rewarded by a bullet in the throat. Instead she lunged forward with the hilt of the weapon, heavy weighted pommel held tight in her hand, and struck the rifle`s barrel. Zoe`s weapon shifted to the side and she did not fire, instead letting go of the rifle with her right hand and grabbing a knife.

　　 "You little bitch!" Zoe screamed as she lunged, swiping at Kamila`s face before she could recover from her swing. It drew hot blood, and Kamila whipped her head back, readjusting her sword and readying for a forward dash and strike. Before she had the chance to lunge, Zoe stepped back, and back, though she didn`t raise her rifle to fire.

　　 "What are you doing here?" Kamila growled, holding Wallshaker so that its blade crossed diagonally in front of her. You already know. You already know it. Idiot, to give your enemy the chance to speak. If Zoe raised her rifle, pointed that inky void in Kamila`s direction, she`d tilt the weapon to redict a bullet away from her. Wallshaker was a strong blade, it could handle that, and she had the memory of how to do it ingrained in her now. She stepped forward. "Last I saw of you, you were dying in my father`s library. What the hell are you doing here?"

　　 "You can`t kill me, Kamila," Zoe said, still not raising the rifle, still letting its barrel trail along beside her as she held the weapon in her left hand. "God is with me."

　　 "The Emperor, you mean," Kamila replied, stepping forward again, leading foot taking quick short leaps as her back foot maintained her balance. Sword balanced, ready to block or strike. She doesn`t remember the end. Even if she has the memories, she can`t understand them. Weak mind. Perhaps you should let her kill you. That way, I can take her as my host. She`s so unstable, she just might be the one to serve me.

　　 "One and the same," said Zoe, and she started to step back. Unlike before, though, she kept her front foot where it was - shifted her body back, but didn`t lead by moving her right foot, and so Kamila wasn`t fooled. Anticipating Zoe`s forward lunge a moment before it happened, she stepped into the space of Zoe`s attack and turned her sword around the central place where the knife would come, to twist it and force the blade away and disarm Zoe in the process -

　　 Zoe threw the knife. Ha! Finally, I`ll be free of you!

　　 Even so, the attack was deflected - Kamila turned Wallshaker and sent the knife spinning away, but she had expected a lunge, not a throw. She took in a quick breath and stepped back, angling Wallshaker for a thrust. Zoe began to backpedal, raising her rifle to fire, and this time Kamila was entirely ready. She deflected the bullet into the still-crumbling wall next to her, and gave chase before Zoe could recover from the recoil.

　　 But Zoe was already gone when Kamila stepped into the cloud of smoke.

　　 "If you want to fight," Zoe shouted, "then come back here and -"

　　 "Oh, she`d love to fight, but I think that idiot has other business` to attend to. More important, I suppose, than helping her own comrades."

　　 Zoe turned, before she even had the time to take stock of her new opponent, approaching from the opposite end of the alleyway, she was deflecting a bullet into the ground. She stepped toward the man with his twin pistols and adjusted the blade, angling it again to knock another bullet away. "What is this?" Kamila growled. "How did you get in here?"

　　 "We walked," said the man, and fired again. This time the shot went wide, and Kamila grinned, realizing that she was not dealing with an expert fighter. She danced forward, one hand against the ground, feet thrusting out and body twisting too quickly for an amateur marksman like him to keep up with. Her back arm, holding Wallshaker, came up to the front as she shifted her position, and then she held the sword in both hands again. Diagonally she brought it down, thinking to cleave the man in two.

　　 She did manage to cut apart one of his guns, but he was startlingly fast. He pulled away from the melee and dashed away, so fast that Kamila didn`t even bother to give chase. She heard an indescribable sound, like something from another world, with each step the man took, and his strides were unnaturally lengthened, like he was propelled by some force he`d learned to tame all on his own.

　　 "Militia!" Kamila shouted. "Militia! Sound the alarm! Invaders in the city!" She thrust Wallshaker back into its scabbard and tore off along the wall, staring up toward the ramparts and seeking a shadow with each step.

　　 Finally, after nearly a minute, she found it. "Lucian!" she shouted. "Get down from there, can you even hear me?"

　　 "I hear you," Lucian said, and knelt down to look at Kamila. He gave a quick nod when he saw her, then - gripping the stones of the ramparts - he swung himself over and around and fell to the ground. Rolling away from the impact, he came up with a little jump and flashed an energetic smile. "I just sent word to the rest of the militia, but we need to keep watch for the soldiers."

　　 "Stay off the wall," Kamila hissed, "or one of them will shoot you as soon as they see you." Forget about him. You have enemies to kill. Kamila silenced the voice, in the calm after battle.

　　 "I`d have seen them first," Lucian countered, but he did not move to climb back up the wall. "Have you seen anyone else? Or any of the Adma?"

　　 "No," Kamila said, and she glanced nervously to the south. "But listen. We have to find my brother and sister, and quick. Zoe Bari is here."

　　 Lucian`s face went grim. "You saw her? You actually saw Zoe Bari?"

　　 Kamila nodded. "She wants revenge on me, I`m sure. I did beat her half to death, after all. It`s not something she`d easily forget."

　　 "Hard to claim revenge when she was the one who hurt you and your sister." Lucian shook his head and reached into his light cloak, pulling out a pair of long knives. "Let`s go find your family, Kamila."

　　 She nodded, and together the two began to run.

　　 Before they could reach the Reaper Monastery, though, Hilda found them.

　　 She came running with her glowing red glaive in hand, sweeping across the ground like a whirlwind. When she saw the two of them, her eyes widened and she screeched to a stop, turning to avoid impaling either Kamila or Lucian. "Zoe`s here!" Hilda gasped. "And she shot Oscar, and now she`s coming for me - she was right outside the monastery, and she kept talking about how she was going to finish what she started -"

　　 "We know," Kamila started at the same time that Lucian asked, "Is Oscar alive?"

　　 "Yeah, he`s alive," Hilda said. "He`ll survive, I think. But he needs medical attention! Listen, we have to get him help, but Zoe`s not far, she`s coming after me, and -"

　　 "There are others, too - at least one other soldier with Zoe. Probably more. I don`t think it`s a full fighting force, more like an advanced group of saboteurs."

　　 "That`s exactly right," Hilda said. "That`s what they told me. The kids, you know - Melik and them? They said that Aleks told them to tell me that there was a group of Invictan saboteurs here to try to soften up the city for a future invasion. They said - they said that he said he`s going to call the Adma cells and try to coordinate." Hilda`s words were coming what felt like a dozen a second, and every few words she punctuated her sentence by turning to look over her shoulder. "Come on, we have to run - somewhere -"

　　 "We`re going to fight," Kamila said, and stepped forward to take her place beside her sister. "There`s three of us, and only one of her. We beat her last time, and we`ll beat her again."

　　 "That`s where you are wrong," said a voice from behind them.

　　 Kamila turned - and from a nearby alleyway emerged a large woman carrying an enormous shotgun of some kind. She shouldered the weapon, grinning, as Kamila turned her sword instinctively to block a bullet. But Kamila knew what kind of weapon she was staring down now, and she drew in a gasping breath as the realization hit. "My name is Catia," the woman with the shotgun said, "Bye now."

　　 The sound of it firing was felt, less as a sound than as a shockwave. The sword fell from Kamila`s hands, and she stumbled back, instinctively trying to cover her ears. She ducked, and she started to scream, and then -

　　 She realized -

　　 That she was still alive. Damn it! Damn you and your idiot sister! Useless! The voice of Karla returned in the back of Kamila`s mind, harsh and panicked.

　　 Catia frowned from behind her shotgun as a hundred pellets clattered to the earth. Beside Kamila, Hilda was floating now, and even standing there beside her Kamila could feel the way the world seemed to mold itself around her. There was sand in the air, whipping around the area with Hilda at its center. She floated forward.

　　 "Heh," Catia said. "That was really something, girl. You look like a little kid but you`re impressive."

　　 "You don`t fool me," Hilda said, her voice magnified by the wind. "I can smell your fear."

　　 And then sudden Hilda turned, and dove past Kamila, over her shoulder, toward where Zoe and another Invictan soldier were emerging from the opposite direction. Catia fired again, but once again, the bullets never met their mark, and this time Kamila was prepared for the deafening sound. She started forward in a run, but Lucian held out a hand. "Don`t get too close to her," he said, "unless you can flank her." Lucian leapt into the air and tossed a knife, pressed his feet against the wall to his side and ran a short distance along it, tossed another knife. With the momentum of his run still fueling him he grabbed onto an outcropping and swung himself back around. Catia fired again, and this time the pellets did not fall uselessly to the ground but struck the wall, sending dust through the air around them. Lucian pushed off of the wall, escaping the cloud of dusted stone, and spun to send another knife flying toward Catia.

　　 The three blades each struck, though they didn`t make deep wounds. Each one grazed Catia and she winced, stumbled, until the third came unexpectedly while she was recovering. It cut red across her arm and made her let go of the trigger-end of her shotgun, and Kamila started to lunge forward for the killing strike. Catia stepped to the side, dropper herself to the ground and rolled, and came up dashing away. Kamila turned, blade forward, to the other side of the wall-side alley.

　　 Already Lucian had drawn new knives and was dashing toward Zoe. Hilda flitted alongside Zoe, beside and behind the Invictan veteran, and at a glance Kamila was sure the fight was over. With her glaive in hand, with her superior movement, Hilda should have struck Zoe down instantly. But there was something that seemed to hold her back, a force that redirected her strikes and slowed her hands as though she were fighting a fellow Reaper.

　　 When Lucian approached from the front and thrust forward with a knife, Zoe did not block it with her blade, but tossed the knife up into the air and grabbed Lucian by the wrist. She swung her arm up, and Lucian went into the air. He adjusted midair, reached into his cloak and drew another knife, which he threw at Zoe, but the man beside her intercepted it, knocking it away with his own shortsword. He fired his remaining pistol - the one Kamila hadn`t destroyed before - and the bullet took Lucian in the chest.

　　 The armor prevented that from being deadly, but Lucian still shouted in pain as he hit the ground and stumbled. He managed to stagger up to his feet and started running toward Zoe. "Hilda," Lucian said, "don`t get distracted!" He drew two new knives and swung one of them at Zoe. This time, when Zoe grabbed him by the arm, he was ready - he used the momentum of her swing to turn himself around and swipe out at the other man.

　　"Maksym, shoot him!" Zoe shouted, but the man had already dropped his pistol and stepped back, clutching the bleeding wound from Lucian`s knife.

　　 "Hilda!" Lucian said. "Don`t worry about me and Kamila! Worry about yourself - what are you fighting now? What does she have?"

　　 Hilda`s eyes were wild and she gritted her teeth, pulling her glaive back. She leapt forward in an instant, swinging the enormous weapon toward Zoe.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

　　"Don`t tell me who to worry about!" she shouted, and Zoe leapt back, avoiding the blade. Hilda`s swing continued, straight toward Maksym - and he blocked it with his shortsword. Hilda screeched, raised the glaive for another strike, stepped forward and brought her blade down toward Maksym.

　　"Don`t tell me what to worry about!" She struck again, and Maksym held up his sword to block, using his injured hand to brace. "These people won`t leave us alone!"

　　 She raised the blade, glowing red against the mundane steel of Maksym`s shortsword, and before Kamila`s eyes, before Zoe`s, before Lucian`s, she drove Maksym back, striking and striking and striking again. "Why won`t you leave us alone?" she howled. "I -" her glaive clashed against Maksym`s sword and a terrible screeching crack sounded across the field -

　　"don`t -" - Maksym dove forward to try to reclaim his pistol, and Hilda brought her glaive down again, and he rolled out of the way -

　　"want -" Zoe raised her rifle and fired, and as the sand and the wind grew thicker around her, Hilda redirected the projectile toward Maksym and struck him in the arm, sending him stumbling away, struggling to raised his sword to block with one wounded arm -

　　"this!"

　　Hilda touched the ground and stepped forward, letting the glaive sweep around her in a circle to gain momentum, then swipe at Maksym`s legs. He jumped to narrowly avoid losing everything below his knees. "Is this good enough for you, Kamila?" She braced the weapon`s near-weightless pole against the wall, pushed back and leapt forward, almost impaling Maksym just before he scrambled out of the way. "Is this worthy?" She swung, and the pole of the glaive struck Maksym in the head and sent him reeling.

　　 "Yeah," said a voice from behind Hilda as she settled back to the ground. Zoe was readjusting her rifle as Kamila went in for a lunging strike. The walls of the building to Kamila`s left began to crumble, and there was a strange gravity which made it difficult to approach Zoe. Lucian readied his knives and started toward Zoe as well. But the voice behind Hilda spoke with an air of rage. "Worthy. That`s what you are."

　　 Catia swung her bludgeon and struck Hilda in the head.

　　 Lucian turned and shouted in alarm when he saw Catia hit Hilda. He swung his knives and stepped forward, kicking Maksym. Only now, Maksym finally began to struggle back up to his feet. He turned and ran, and Catia grinned at Lucian. She cast a sidelong glance toward Hilda, who was reeling and struggling to turn around back toward the fight. "Oh, did I hurt your friend?" she asked, mockingly, the voice dripping with malice. "I`m not sorry. Your kind have hurt too many of mine." And she swung the bludgeon.

　　 Lucian ducked the attack easily and thrust with both knives, thinking to end things quickly. Neither found its home between Catia`s ribs, though, as she stepped back and kicked out with a foot, nearly striking Lucian in the stomach. Lucian twisted out of the way of the attack and came into Catia`s range, striking out to his side with the knife. It should have cut deep, could have punctured Catia`s lung if Lucian had been a moment luckier, but she gathered her balance and swung the bludgeon again. Lucian ducked, and the air whipped over his head.

　　 As Zoe turned, Kamila was already prepared with her blade - but the air around Zoe felt thick and soupy. Oh, are you having trouble? She struggled forward, her steps heavy, labored - she tried to swing Wallshaker but it was as though something held onto her arms and pushed her back. Zoe pointed toward Kamila, simply pointed, and a burning pain began to spread in Kamila`s body. Wait& wait. No. No. This isn`t right. It did not feel as though she had been struck - it felt as though the burning came from within her. By instinct Kamila stepped away, and found that her steps were lighter when she retreated than when she approached Zoe. She held out her sword, point forward and trembling, and tried not to focus on the burning tightness in her chest.

　　 Lucian struck Catia in the head with the hilt of his knife, and with two short swipes of his knives he drew blood again. As Catia took another swing with her bludgeon he stabbed his knife into her wrist. She shouted, dropped the weapon, and backed away. Lucian stepped forward, readying for another strike, but Catia turned the corner around the building and dashed to the side. Lucian ran forward, threw his knives after Catia. The first knife nearly struck her, but she ducked her shoulder and turned her head to the side. The second one was deflected off the armor on her legs, and clattered against the ground uselessly.

　　 Lucian turned. The building beside him was beginning to crumble, slowly, but he took little notice of that. There was still one more saboteur to deal with, and Hilda was injured. He passed Hilda, who was still dazed and struggling to stand - but she looked stable for the moment. When he came around the corner, he found Kamila and Zoe facing off.

　　 Lucian threw a knife, and gasped as he saw it slow, then turn away, then begin to spin midair on its way back toward him. He reached out and caught the boomerang knife by the hilt, narrowing his eyes at his target. Zoe hadn`t turned toward him when she`d redirected the blade, but there was something of a shift in the air - almost like the visual distortion of a heat wave. So it was Solist magic, then. He couldn`t guess at the exact mechanism by which Zoe`s magic worked, but he knew he couldn`t expect to strike her with thrown weapons and that it would be difficult to reach her on foot. Lucian could see that Kamila was struggling to step closer to Zoe, but when she stepped away, her footwork was free and intact.

　　 Lucian jumped and ran along the crumbling wall of the building beside -crumbling, he thought, because of Zoe`s magic. There were no other factors in play - no other known factors - that could plausibly explain the building`s sudden degradation. It was coming to dust around him, and within seconds the wall was sure to begin collapsing. With the momentum of his run Lucian leapt, and swept out with his knives.

　　 Kamila met his eyes and nodded and stepped forward, shifted her weight toward Zoe. Her right foot shot forward, and she moved the sword so its blade pointed straight forward, perpendicular to her body. She lunged, thrust the blade at Zoe. The air was heavy, as though Kamila were trying to push through a wall of wind. Yet, the wall gave way when Lucian landed on the ground next to Zoe and thrust a knife into her shoulder. Zoe screamed, and staggered and turned away, and Kamila`s blade struck. She felt the sword nick on the edge of a rib, and Kamila fell, catching herself with one hand.

　　 Be more careful next time - the voice in Kamila`s mind sounded genuinely panicked - That wasn`t like the other times. If she destroys you, she`ll destroy me too. She`ll rip your memories apart.

　　 Lucian`s hand, letting go of the knife where it still lodged in Zoe`s body, shot to his chest, and he groaned. Kamila stepped forward to stand over Zoe, trying to ignore the uncomfortable warmth in her chest. Get away from her! I`m not going to disappear just because your worthless life came to an end -- Sword in one hand, pointed at Zoe`s throat, she looked down.

　　 Dust was floating from the tips of her fingers, dust the color of her flesh. The warmth was spreading, it was in her fingertips and her toes and the top of her head. She looked up, and Lucian held out his free hand, his knife in the other. He was beginning to fall to dust as well, subtly, only at his extremities. Desperately he knelt down and raised his knife to cut Zoe`s neck open, and Kamila moved to strike her in the heart with her sword, and the air was as heavy and thick as stone.

　　 As they stood there, struggling against an impossible wall, Hilda stumbled around the corner, and the pain stopped. Hilda held out a hand, fingers splayed, toward Zoe, and Kamila felt the warmth fade. The dust ceased to float into the air. She turned her hand over, examined it, and saw that she was intact. Kamila`s sword nearly fell from her grip as she looked between Hilda, and Lucian, and Zoe.

　　 Lucian`s eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the ground.

　　 Kamila staggered as a sudden fatigue overtook her, and braced herself against the nearby wall. Oh, thank G- I can`t believe you survived that. Nearby, Hilda knelt down and grabbed Zoe by the shoulders - Zoe winced and tried to flinch away from it, but Hilda merely dragged Zoe into the nearby doorway. "Come on," Hilda said. "We have to interrogate her. I`ll keep the Devotee at bay." Hilda let go of Zoe, who slowly dragged herself to what was left of the south wall of this half-crumbled building. Hilda pressed her back against the west wall, sighing and raising her head to look up through the ceiling at the sky beyond. "I can hold it for a while."

　　 Kamila stepped inside, limping with each step, the world around her a blur, but she stayed standing. Nearby, Lucian stirred, but didn`t rise. Hilda met Kamila`s eyes as she entered. "He`s alright, isn`t he?"

　　 "Looks like he`ll live," Kamila said. Who cares, kill Zoe before she does that again!

　　 "I know he has a future, for now," Hilda confirmed with a nod. "Come here. I need you to watch her. Ask her questions. I can`t focus enough."

　　 Not far off, the sound of explosions and crumbling stone. A single gunshot rang out, and then came more explosions. They came from several directions, Kamila was sure. She glanced to the east, then southwest, and finally her eyes fixed on Zoe. Limping forward with her sword pointed at the soldier`s throat, she growled: "what did you do? What was that?"

　　 "We`ve been placing our bombs all over the city," Zoe said, as the explosions continued to come in waves. If she can still speak she can still call the Devotee - stop her now! "I`m sure the rest of the first team is finishing their work right now." Kamila thought she had long since closed her mind to those around her but she could feel the smug satisfaction flowing from Zoe in waves. "You got what was coming to you, little bitch. Kill me if you like - finish what you started back in Etyslund. It doesn`t matter. Kivv will fall. Your walls are already tumbling down - what a glorious sound! And what will follow it?" She smirked. "The wail of the army`s trumpets. And every single one of you will die."

　　 "Why?" Kamila hissed. "You should never have come to Etyslund, and you shouldn`t ever have come here!"

　　 Zoe coughed, pushed herself against the south wall. Kamila stepped forward, waving the sword as though to tell Zoe off from any attempt to find a weapon. Zoe just watched her down the length of the blade and laughed. Zoe`s eye - fixed, in Kamila`s view, right above the sword that stretched over the length of space between them. They watched each other down the channel of the blood-flecked sword. "You know," Zoe said, "the Valers weren`t always our enemies. We let you have this place, and even in the Gaurl Core Abrism was once tolerated. You had your safe haven&" she grinned. "You blew it, because you couldn`t contain your contempt."

　　 Kamila`s eyes narrowed and she clenched her jaw. "Safe haven? Are you kidding me? Oh, what a paradise! I can read too, you know, Zoe. In fact, ask yourself - how much less literate has the Gaurl Core become since the Empire?"

　　 "Kamila&" Hilda groaned. "What are you talking about?"

　　 "Don`t lecture me on history, Zoe," Kamila hissed. "And don`t try to distract me. How many of you are there?" Oh, yes, that`s right. Shout to her about your meaningless history. I remember the days before your ancestors` dreams were a glimmer in the world`s eye.

　　 "There`s us - me, and the others you fought. And there are other teams as well." Zoe laughed. "I don`t know exactly how many. That`s so that I can`t tell you. Not enough to take the city, just enough to soften you up. Some of them might already be gone - planted their little bombs and dispersed into the wilderness. You won`t catch them."

　　 "We`ll defeat you." Kamila stepped closer to Zoe, stumbling, her sword hovering over the Invictan soldier`s throat. "You think I won`t kill you right here?"

　　 "I`m sure you will." Zoe chuckled, and then coughed. "But you can`t kill your own nature. Can`t kill history. You`ll just keep fighting and fighting until there`s none of you left. You can`t help it!"

　　 "You brought the fighting. We didn`t start this." Kamila`s eyes narrowed, her breath coming slower as she regained her balance, though she still swayed a little on her feet. "I know a thing or two about history, Zoe."

　　 "Then you`ll know what happened after the Refuges opened up and people first started moving into the Vale. You saw what the Gaurl were building and you hated it. You rejected us, again and again. And you fought, and you lost, and you felt so sorry for yourselves you ran off into the marshes and kept running and kept running, but you never stopped being bitter. Even this wasn`t enough for you, though, you wanted the whole world. So you hide behind Mirshal`s lies about helping and protecting."

　　 "You`re the conqueror here!" Kamila shouted. "And how many people came here because they were driven out of Gaurlante by the Empire?"

　　 "And then they joined Mirshal and started plotting against the Empire. It`s obvious you people can`t coexist with us without conflict. This is just pre-emptive, and you know it."

　　 Slumped against the wall, Hilda raised her head and stared at Zoe. "I have no idea what you two are talking about. Do you have any more useful questions to ask, or are you just going to kill her?" Hilda`s voice was flat and cold, more dispassionate than Kamila had ever heard it before.

　　 Kamila scoffed at Zoe. She knew Hilda was right - there was little more they could learn from Zoe - but her face was hot with rage already. "Oh, you`re so enlightened," Kamila drawled, flicking her sword to draw a light splash of blood from the skin of Zoe`s neck - a shallow, surface wound, but close enough to the artery to make Zoe tense up. "Oh, you say, monsters, you want peace? Just go to this isolated land, where there`s not enough farmland, less communication with the outside world, less technology - live in this backwater the rest of us have rejected and stay there, or we`ll kill you."

　　 "Whose fault is any of this?" Zoe chuckled. "I have no sympathy for you. Besides, you have your cousins in the south, don`t you? The Crescian Adma& I hear some of them have crossed the sea to help defend your little city. Isn`t that funny? Your cousins." She smiled.

　　 "Ah, our cousins, in the same land separated from the Vale by Gaurlante? And why do you think they formed the Adma in the first place - it`s because you shoved them off somewhere they weren`t even welcome anymore, and then you encouraged the others there to attack them."

　　 "Kamila!" Hilda snapped. "It`s getting harder to focus here. Are we really arguing about ancient history right now? We don`t know how many more Invictans might be out there. Get what you can out of her and let`s go. She`s done for either way."

　　 "I`m fine," Zoe said through gritted teeth, and coughed. Blood came up with the phlegm. "I just need a little more rest."

　　 "It matters, Hilda," Kamila said grimly. "It matters because this bitch thinks she`s so justified and that everything she`s done to us is right. She still doesn`t understand and I have to make her understand before I kill her -"

　　 "Why?" Hilda`s hands were tight fists on either side of her. "Why does it matter? You don`t need to convince people who want to kill us. It`s ridiculous. We need to get out of here. Help the others."

　　 "Take your sister`s advice, Kamila," Zoe said mockingly. "Maybe if your side hammers out a peace treaty tonight, calls a meeting with the Emperor, before the army arrives in full force - you`ll really be safe and free here. I don`t know, perhaps the Emperor can be convinced to let you live. His whisper in my mind is forceful but rarely certain. Me, I`m not counting it. I don`t think you`re capable of peace. But hey, you could prove me wrong."

　　 "I don`t want a safe haven," Kamila said, stepping forward so the point of her sword was resting directly against Zoe`s throat. "I want to not need a safe haven."

　　 "That`s the first thing you`ve said that makes sense," Hilda whispered, and Kamila glanced at her sister, her mouth falling open for just a moment, and she stepped back from Zoe, just an inch or so -

　　 A click. "You`re not getting out of here." Kamila`s head snapped back to Zoe in time to see the sidearm she`d pulled from her belt, the weapon Kamila hadn`t thought to disarm. Kamila`s world became white fire and she staggered back, a horrible weight in her flesh. She could hardly breathe. When she tried to spoke only a choked gasp came out. One hand covered the site of her wound, and she drew in a labored gasp - feeling the air rush in, but one of her lungs felt wrong somehow. She pushed her hand against the wall next to her as the white fire retreated just enough for her to see Zoe, taking aim for another shot.

　　 Zoe fired.

　　 And then Hilda was standing, and the bullet was floating in the air for a half-second, and then it smashed into the stone wall nearby and sent a shower of dust through the air in between. Then Zoe herself was lifted into the air, and she flew to Hilda, and Hilda reached out, gently, turning her face away from Zoe. Hilda wrapped her hand lightly around Zoe`s throat and whispered Words that Kamila couldn`t hear over the painful ringing of her ears.

　　 Zoe vanished, and in an instant Hilda was screaming, wailing as she stepped slowly away from the site of the Banishment. The walls began to further crumble around them as sand fell from the suddenly still air. The sound of it settling on the ground was like a soft fabric. And then the sand lifted from the ground again, and Hilda continued to scream, and as the building started to collapse around her she ran-flew out the door. Kamila followed behind her, grabbed the still-dazed Lucian by the arm and dragged him away from the falling building. The grass outside was brown and decaying in a trail where Hilda had passed by.

　　 "I know where you are!" Hilda shouted as she streaked across the city. Passing by the collapsed watchtowers, dashing over the quiet encampment, she wove the Veil to her purpose. The desiccation followed her but she channeled it, clouded the minds of those she chased and reached through into the Aether to send death streaking after them all. Half a dozen Invictan soldiers lay waiting for the opportunity to run, having planted their bombs and done their sabotage, seeking a path out of the city. Glowing red knives, swords, axes, and the glaive that Hilda swept around herself, flying out in an arc dozens of pole-lengths from herself, sought them and found their marks. Hilda did not listen to the screams. Her own scream drowned out all of them. By the time they fell to the ground, bleeding and breathing their last, their minds were so clouded they did not even know what was happening to them.

　　 Finally the city grew nearly - no explosions in the distance, no shouts of pain and alarm, only the single endless scream of Hilda before she finally settled back to the ground and fell into the slumber of the exhausted.

　　 Limping away from the wreckage, hand trailing along the wall next to her, Kamila drew in slow, heavy breaths. Are you ready to listen to me now? Karla said. Now that your sister has become a weapon for you for the third time? Is this guilt enough?

　　 She came to lean against the north wall of the city, her fingers grasping onto the ancient stones. "Not guilt. I didn`t act wrongly."

　　 Not guilt, then. Shame. You are a shame. And you will never listen.

　　 "I`m listening now, aren`t I?"

　　 For a moment, it seemed that the voice of Karla was at a loss. This is the first time you`ve spoken directly to me, as a person.

　　 "I`m not insane, am I?" Kamila asked, "You aren`t just an echo like the others."

　　 I`m an echo, but I`m something more as well. When the Veil was made, when the Ultrastructure betrayed us, when the Legacy Project failed and became a plague of memory, I already held the key to the minds of humanity. It was a key I couldn`t control. Are you listening now? At last? Are you ready to do what`s needed?

　　 Kamila laughed aloud, leaning against the wall.

　　 What`s so funny?

　　 "To do what`s needed&" Kamila said between chuckling gasps. "to make my life possible?"

　　 "Aha," Karla said with Kamila`s lips. "I remember." She gasped, grunted, kicked at the wall with the side of her foot and murmured, "don`t do that again. I can hear you well enough as it is." Fine. But indeed, I remember. Zoe was of feeble mind herself, that foolish Invictan soldier. She couldn`t shield her mind against the memory and the pain of others. Unlike me, she came to love it.

　　 "Why do you want to use me?"

　　 You want to kill the Emperor, same as I.

　　 "We`re of one mind in that. Why do you want it?"

　　 Why do you?

　　 "I want to not need a safe haven."

　　 And I would rather see the world a safe haven for humanity than for Aivor`s ilk.

　　 "Then we`re of one mind."

　　 Then we`re of one mind.

　　 Kamila pushed herself away from the wall, standing up tall, and glanced down at Lucian`s crumpled unconscious body. The man`s chest rose and fell slowly with steady breaths, although his mind was still off in another realm. He`ll be fine. He`s dreaming the addled dreams of the injured, but he`ll be fine.

　　 "I`m glad," Kamila said. "And perhaps, as you would make use of me, I can make use of you as well. I think we may just have a shot at this shared mission of ours."

　　 Of course we do. Now that we have an understanding, perhaps you should go and tend to your sister. She will need it.