Mirelle had lost count of how many spectral beings chased after her but she didn’t care. She just ran on blindly in the hope of losing her relentless pursuers. This was supposed to be easy Mirelle thought. But she knew that it was a foolish thought. Nothing was easy when it came to Jhana.

It seemed that Taria had meant it when she said she would go after Jhana herself. Trying to make up for the interrogation, Mirelle went after her and they pair of them found Jhana’s tower easily enough. It loomed above the northeast coastline like some dark overlord.

The tower was made of a dark stone, engraved with glowing runic symbols in a spiral pattern all the way up its walls. A round, peaked roof sat at its top and the only windows of the tower stared down menacingly at the land below.

Taria had forced the huge, oaken doors at the bottom and shoved them open. She drew her sword and stormed inside. In seconds Taria was beset on all sides by the same shadow beings as the ones who left her bound and gagged within the temple. Only this time there were more than just three. At least twenty of them rushed her at once and carried her off without a sound to the dungeon below.

What the lithe warrior had described as ‘easy’ was, in fact, a fool’s errand. Their head on tactic would never work against someone as smart and prepared as Jhana, the former spymaster. She didn’t realize that Jhana’s centre of power was within that dark tower and there would have been no chance of getting the drop on her. Taria hadn’t expected Jhana to have recovered from their last bout but she was quickly proved wrong.

Mirelle had seen it all happen and was now desperately fleeing the endless beings of shadow, strong and feminine in shape, and avoid capture. But she hadn’t been watching where she was going and found herself skidding to a halt at the edge of a cliff overlooking the endless horizon of the dark sea below. She spun on her heel and drew the sword at her side. It was the only option left to her.

But Mirelle couldn’t even attack as the spectres swarmed her in bunches and her sword was pulled from her grasp. Hands grappled her all over and pulled her away from the cliff edge and back toward the tower. With blinding speed, Mirelle was inside the tower and dragged away to the dungeon below to join her friend in captivity.

...

Some ancient, dark sorceress spoke to Lanala in a deep, threatening voice. The voice echoed all around the endless plain and thundered in the clouds above.

“The relic is mine,” she said.

“Relic? What relic?”

“Gaze now upon your fate and the end of your world. I must have more power. More. MORE!”

Dark purple clouds swirled into a vortex overhead and the wind picked up into a frenzy. The land around her turned to ash and great castles crumbled and fell to pieces. People from far and wide were screaming in her mind, begging for mercy, running for their lives. But nothing could stop the horrific monster that ravaged the land and tore it asunder.

Then Lanala saw the sorceress’ face and shrunk back at the sight of her.

“No! Who are you?”

Lanala’s own face smiled wickedly back at her, wearing Jhana’s short, purple robes.

“The power,” the sorceress said. “I am the power. What would you do to save the world, Lanala?”

“I can’t. I can’t become... this.”

“But you will,” the sorceress said. “The orb calls to you. You laid your hands upon it. It does not desire the dark witch. It desires you. But it can give the dark witch power that will consume her mind and this world with it.”

“I’ll stop her! We will stop her!” Lanala said.

“You and you alone can contain the power of the relic, Lanala. It will take your mind but this world will be spared.”

“Only for me to destroy it! I’ll never become you!”

“You will rule it,” the sorceress said. “All that you desire shall be yours. There is but one choice. It is your fate.”

Before Lanala could respond, the entire plain was engulfed with bright light. She sat bolt upright in her bed, heaving and panting, still shaking the chilling vision from her mind. When she caught her breath, Lanala stood from the bed and crossed her room. She stared herself in the mirror and gasped when she saw Jhana’s dark eyes staring back into her own. She shut her eyes tight and took in a deep breath. When she opened them again, her own soft, orange eyes had returned.

A loud knock on her door distracted her from the darkness in her mind.

“Lanala?”

Her wife’s voice brought Lanala s bit of comfort and she tried to shake the worry from her eyes when she opened the door.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” Artema asked gently. She clearly saw the distressed look in her wife’s eyes.

“No,” Lanala said. “I was awake. What’s the matter?”

Artema straightened her back and her tough demeanour returned.

“Taria and Mirelle aren’t in their rooms. I was wondering if you’ve seen them today.”

Lanala knew she couldn’t hide the worry in her eyes this time. “No,” she said. “Why? Is something wrong?”

Artema furrowed her brow and spoke gently again. “You tell me, dear.”

“It’s... it’s nothing. Just a dream.”

“You’re having dreams again?”

“Artema, no. It’s not like that. It’s never been like that.”

“No? Then what about that dream you had about the dying man in Disa? You remember. He was bleeding from his stomach. He had been stabbed. The man was homeless, sad and alone. You told me someone had to save him. I found that same man two days later. You know who I’m talking about, right?”

“Artema, that wasn’t-”

“You helped me save Jonas’ life. And he turned himself around so fast. You saw him in trouble and you told me what to do. Don’t you remember?”

Lanala was silent this time.

“You told me to show him what I know,” Artema said. “You told me to get him a job with the Queen. And I did. Now he’s here with us as one of our greatest allies. Your dreams have power, Lanala. There is truth in them. So please tell me what you dreamt about. You haven’t dreamt since Jonas. Please.”

Lanala sighed and shook her head.

“Artema, we need to protect the relic,” Lanala said. “That’s all I can tell you.”

“What? Why?”

“I think Jhana knows where it is.”

...

“MMMPH!”

The sharpness of an angry, muffled scream jolted her awake. Mirelle tried to sit up but something was holding her limbs in place. When the fog lifted from her mind, the spellsword took in her surroundings.

The dungeon was made of a dark, almost black stone. Artema had described the prison wing the other five had been held in and Mirelle got the impression that this dungeon was constructed very similarly.

Heavy, steel bars locked her inside a small cell where she sat propped up against the side wall. Mirelle barely had enough room to stretch out her legs and that was when she realized that she was completely tied up.

The ropes that held her glowed with an otherworldly, golden energy and were extremely strong. They had no give and no visible knots. They held her legs together at the ankles, knees and thighs. This made her skirt ride up a bit and she felt the cold, stone floor against her bare legs. Mirelle tugged at her arms and felt the tight ropes that pinned them to her sides. They rested in two places and framed her chest perfectly. More of the glowing rope bound her wrists behind her and one final rope was tied to a metal ring attached to the wall. This pulled her arms upward slightly and prevented her from even squirming away from this spot.

Topping it off, something soft and spongy had been shoved inside her mouth and sealed inside with a thick leather panel that strapped on behind her head.

Mirelle tried struggling but found the act to be pointless when the tight ropes actually pulled back and wouldn’t stop until she sat perfectly still. Are these ropes... alive? Mirelle thought.

Then she remembered the sound of a woman’s muffled voice and peered across at an identical cell where Taria sat, bound and gagged identically to Mirelle. Only Taria struggled hard but the arcane ropes kept pulling her back and forth and squeezing her body to make her stop. But the lithe warrior didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘quit’ and just kept fighting. She knew the ropes were actively fighting her back but she would win out. No magical ropes could win a battle against a warrior like her!

“Mmmph!” Mirelle tried calling to her, trying to tell her to sit still. But Taria was having none of it.

“MMMPH! YMM WMMT BMMT MM YMMM DMMM RMMPPH!”

Taria thrashed and bucked but the ropes just pulled tighter and fought back harder. Even while restrained, the arcane ropes had a hard time keeping her restrained. The lithe warrior was as stubborn as they came and would never give in when there was a fight to be won.

“NMM MMMTMMPH HMM TMMT YMM PMMLL MMMLL NMMVMMPH GVMM MMM!”

The ropes pulled her tighter and the one that bound her wrists to the metal loop cinched up and pulled her arms up higher into the air. This forced her to bend forward in her sitting position. But this only made Taria angrier, though she grunted when the rope pulled taught.

“MMMPH! DMMM YMMM! MMM WMML WMMNPH!”

“Tmmrimmph! STMMMP!” Mirelle tried to get her friend’s attention but her gag prevented her voice from carrying and Taria was too busy thrashing and struggling. But it was clear to Mirelle that the lithe warrior was fighting a losing battle.

The rope winched her arms up a few inches further and the panel gag around her mouth pulled tighter against her mouth. Her lips were now partially showing through the tough leather. In addition, the spongy substance in her mouth expanded slightly and caused her cheeks to bulge. Even further silenced, Taria would not give up the fight.

“MMMNNNG! MMMPH! MM WMMT GVMM MMM!”

Struggling harder, the ropes around her legs seemed to wrap tighter and a thread snaked its way out from the rope that bound her ankles together. The rope that pulled her arms upward lowered her arms down but it, too, snaked outward to meet the one coming from her ankles. This forced Taria to sit up and tucked her legs underneath her.

“MMMPH! NMMMG! MMMMPH!”

Now sitting on her knees, the two ropes met and fused together, attaching her ankles to her wrists. Then the rope attached to the ring cinched up again and now Taria was balancing on just her knees, practically suspended in a hogtie. Still she wouldn’t give up.

“MMMPH MMM MMM MMMPH!”

Taria had not more words. She could just grunt and scream and struggle as the ropes pulled her into stricter and stricter bondage.

Soon they released her from the metal loop on the wall but several tendrils of the arcane rope reached up to a metal loop on the ceiling of the cell. Still hogtied, Taria was pulled gradually upward until she was no longer touching the floor. More ropes extended down from the ones binding her arms and attached to both her wrists and ankles. Another appeared as if from nowhere and wrapped around her eyes, blindfolding her. The rope that attached her ankles and wrists pulled tighter and forced her into an extremely tight, suspended hogtie that she still struggled within. Taria’s anger still would not let go.

The gag pulled even tighter and the sponge again grew in her mouth and it made breathing a little more difficult for her. Eventually, Taria ran out of energy and just stopped struggling, hanging suspended and hogtied in her cell. When she stopped fighting from exhaustion, the ropes stopped pulling and relaxed their grip ever so slightly. They still held her in very strict bondage and Taria knew there was no way to escape now. Bound, gagged, blindfolded, and suspended in mid-air, the lithe warrior finally felt defeated and let her muscles relax into her tight bonds.

...

“What makes you so sure she’ll be out here, Jonas?” Celia’s suspicious tone was understandable at the moment. Jonas had spoken hardly a word since they had set out without Artema’s knowledge. All he had told her was that Jhana would be coming here, to this abandoned cabin in the middle of the Dasi Forest.

“It’s... something Artema told me.”

“Well then how does she know?”

“She doesn’t,” Jonas said. “But you know Jhana. She knows things that she shouldn’t. She’s always been several steps ahead of everyone. That means she knows where Artema hid the relic.”

“Wait, the relic?” Celia asked. “Of the Labyrinth? That relic?”

“Yes,” Jonas replied. “And we have to protect it.”

“Just the two of us? How are we going to do that? And you still have a concussion, you bloody fool. You shouldn’t even be out of bed yet.”

“I’m fine, Celia. Trust me.”

“You’d say that if your arms were falling off,” Celia said. “And if you were bleeding from the eyes.”

Jonas sighed. “I didn’t ask you to come, you know.”

“And you never would have. But I saw you leaving. Did you really think I’d leave you to do this on your own? I only just found out you weren’t dead, Jonas.”

“I’ll take death over Jhana getting the thing inside this cabin,” Jonas said.

“Jonas, it’s not worth your life.”

“Then what is, Celia? What else am I here for? This is my job.”

Celia grumbled and followed Jonas into the cabin. They descended a set of stairs toward the back of the empty building and stopped in front of a heavy, iron door. Jonas reached up to his head and felt himself swaying back and forth. Celia helped him sit down on the floor in front of the door.

“You’re still woozy,” Celia said. “This is so stupid, Jonas. What were you thinking?”

“Of doing my job,” Jonas said. “And if that means keeping Jhana away from this thing then so be it.”

“And how exactly did you plan on protecting this huge vault? It’s locked up tight,” Celia said. “I don’t think anyone is going to be getting in here.”

“You know damn well that Jhana could,” Jonas said.

Celia sighed. “Yeah, I do.”

“Good. Now, you see that hole in the ceiling above us?”

Celia craned her neck and noticed a hole that her small and limber frame would just about fit through.

“You want me up there?”

“That’s the bedroom floor hatch. Keep an ear out from up there,” Jonas said. “And keep your kulemun at the ready.”

“Smoke bombs won’t stop her.”

“But they’ll give you the chance to get the drop on her. Drop the kulemun as soon as she starts to talking to me.”

“Wait, Jonas... you can’t.”

“What?”

“You’re using yourself as bait?” Celia asked.

“May as well. You’ve had your turn,” Jonas said with a smirk.

“No! What if she kills you this time?”

“Then get her back for me,” Jonas said. “And stop her from getting that bloody orb. However you can.”

“I... I don’t know if I can-”

“I’m not asking you to kill her, Celia. I said stop her. That’s it. Powerful as she may be, Jhana can be stopped.”

“Why didn’t we bring the order for this?”

“They’ve been through enough,” Jonas said. “And I owe them everything.”

“You don’t owe them your life. This is insane, Jonas!”

“Insanity to counter insanity. It’s worked before.”

“I won’t let you die! I just won’t!”

Jonas smiled. “You won’t,” he said.

“What?”

“I have faith in you, Celia. You think I would just sit here and let her kill me? There’s no way you’ll let that happen. I might not be much use but you’ll be there, up above me. My guardian angel.”

“You always did need one, you damn idiot,” Celia said with a smile.

“Tell me about it,” Jonas said.

Celia turned to scale her way up the wall when Jonas called to her again.

“Do me a favour, Celia, and grab one of my arrows, will you? I can’t bend my blasted shoulder.”

Celia sighed and pulled one of Jonas paralysis arrows from the quiver on his back. He knocked it to the string of his bow and rested them both on his lap.

“Here’s hoping I don’t miss,” Jonas said.

“I’ll be here,” Celia said, gently. “Be safe, Jonas.”

“You too, Celia.”

The limber woman then scaled the wall like a cat and pulled herself up and through the hole in the ceiling. Now alone in front of the vault, Jonas gripped his bow tightly and focussed on the stairs.

...

Elyn confidently strode out of the main city gates of the capital. She proudly wore a golden medal pinned to her chest. All this just for a little alchemy she thought.

The fire mage had brought her anti-solidifying solution to the capital to be mass produced by the Royal Alchemists. It had worked wonders in freeing the people Jhana had left dotted about the landscape, frozen in time. Even Lila, the mercenary, expressed her gratitude to Elyn. She was so grateful, in fact, that Lila agreed to a full prison sentence in the castle dungeon for her previous crimes.

The Queen had awarded Elyn a Medal of Valour for her efforts and the kidnapped and solidified people that Jhana had once held captive were all freed within days. She was even offered her old position in the Royal Guild of Magic but those days were behind her so she declined. Now Elyn was on her way back to headquarters feeling very good about herself. I deserve a little alone time she thought. A nice bondage reward, perhaps?

Travelling alone on the road, Elyn was just about to enter the Dasi forest when she saw several women step out of the trees and block her path. She recognized them as Fa’rah’s bandits and found herself quite astonished at who stood in front of them. A wicked smile crossed her face and she stopped a few feet in front of them.

“Well,” Elyn said. “The mighty bandit lives. It’s no small feat to escape from Jhana, Fa’rah.”

The muscular bandit stepped forward and straightened her back. The expressionless look on her face was unreadable. Her muscles were tense and she flexed her hand over her mace on instinct. But the three other women with her did not move nor reach for their weapons. Fa’rah’s dark eyes softened a little and she let out a deep breath.

“I heard you were travelling this way. Something about a medal from the Queen or some such.”

“That’s right,” Elyn said. “Even helped save a few of your own, Fa’rah. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get home.”

“I’d gladly let you,” Fa’rah said. “But I have a proposition for you, if you’d care to listen.”

Elyn raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Oh?”

“You saved some of my girls,” Fa’rah said. “I owe you for that. And I owe you for that distraction you pulled that let me escape that damn prison.”

Elyn curtseyed. “I’m here to help,” she said.

“And so am I,” Fa’rah said. “I made a mistake in trusting that witch. I turned on her when I saw what she was doing to people. That’s why I kept... getting captured.” Fa’rah muttered the last two words. The thought of capture hurt her pride.

“So you want to get her back,” Elyn said. “Is that it?”

“I do. And I need your help for that. I have a plan that, given what I now know, you’ll enjoy.”

“Is that so? What is your plan?”

“We capture you,” Fa’rah said. “Not for real, of course. But as a ruse. I tie you up, take you to Jhana as a peace offering and get back into her good graces. Once we’re inside, I know she’ll want to see you. I’ll use the opportunity to knock her bloody lights out and let you go. Then you and I can take her to the capital.”

“I’ll do this on one condition,” Elyn said. “Though the thought of being tied up sounds heavenly, I simply cannot just let you walk away scot free. You’re a bandit. And you helped Jhana. You have to serve your time.”

“Whatever it takes,” Fa’rah said. “As long as that witch gets hers.”

Elyn pondered the offer for a moment.

“You know where her tower is?” Elyn asked.

“So you know about it too?” Fa’rah asked. “Yes. I do.”

“Good,” Elyn said, extending her hand. “Then it looks like we have a deal.”

Fa’rah, still expressionless, accepted Elyn’s hand and shook it firmly. When she let go, Elyn stood up straight and immediately placed her hands behind her back. “Get to the tying then, ladies,” she said.

“You heard her,” Fa’rah said to the three smaller women that flanked her. “And make it look good. We can’t have Jhana catching onto this.”

While the three women started tying her wrists, Elyn looked Fa’rah square in the eyes. “You know I will come after you personally if you go back on your word, right?”

“I won’t,” Fa’rah said. “Besides, I wouldn’t take the chance of upsetting Artema. We have the same goal here, you and me. I’m tired of being hunted and bloody captured. It’s time to end this witch’s reign.”

“All right. As long as we’re cl-mmmph,” Elyn said, while her mouth was stuffed with a thick rag and another was tied behind her head to seal it in.

When the bandits were finished, Elyn was tied into a tight hogtie. Ropes bound her legs at the ankles, knees and thighs. Her wrists were crossed behind her back and layers of thick rope bound her arms from the elbows to the shoulders. These ropes were cinched with a final rope that attached to her ankles. Elyn giggled and shuffled excitedly in her bonds.

“You are an odd one,” Fa’rah said. “All right. Get to work, ladies. Carry the lady, but be gentle.”

The women pulled a thick sack over Elyn’s body and tied the end off tightly. One of them slung it over her shoulder and lugged it into the trees.

...

Mirelle wanted to desperately squrim and wriggle but the arcane ropes would pull tighter each time she tried. Her arms had been cinched upward slightly as the rope that bound her wrists to the metal loop had gotten shorter. She looked across the dungeon to Taria’s cell and it seemed she had given up entirely. All of her mad struggling had made her situation worse and now she was blindfolded, hogtied very tightly, and suspended from the ceiling. There was nothing she could do now but wait.

A heavy door creaked open and drew both of their attention. Taria couldn’t even tell which direction she was facing anymore so she moved her head back and forth in an attempt to hear where the sound had come from. A tight tug from the arcane ropes made her stop. The ropes still pulled her closer to the ceiling.

A confident voice echoed off the walls in front of Taria’s cell.

“Oh my. Did the mercenary put up a fight? Really, Taria, you should have known those ropes would win. But you do make quite a sight. Such a neat little package.”

“Mmmph!” Taria had barely any energy left to respond but the anger still remained in her muffled voice as she recognized Jhana’s voice.

“Oh, I do love that fire in your soul, my dear. Perhaps I’ll make you one of my toys. But such things must wait, unfortunately,” Jhana said.

She crossed the room and Mirelle felt a deep fear in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes widened, she struggled but the ropes pulled her tight and she was forced to sit still and stare into the eyes of the former spymaster.

“The spellsword,” Jhana said. “You are a pretty one, aren’t you? It’s a shame we haven’t met until this moment, Mirelle. You’ve been lucky to avoid me thus far, haven’t you?”

“Mmph!”

“Your order has given me no end of trouble. Which is why we’re going on a little trip. I’ll have some friends carry you to a lovely spot out in the forest. Perhaps you know of it? Artema’s little secret cabin with the vault?”

Mirelle shook her head. “Nmm! Nmmm!”

“MMMPH!” Taria bellowed from behind her.

“Oh, so you do know it? Perfect. I’ll see you there. And then you’ll get to see something that will alter the course of this very world. And then we may decide what your fate will be, pretty one.”

Mirelle struggled but the ropes pulled her arms up higher and forced her face closer to her legs. “Mmmph! Nmmm! Hlmmmph!”

Taria wriggled a bit but the ropes hugged her tighter and she stopped. But her breath returned and she let out a scream of rage into her panel gag. “MMMMMPPPHH!!””

Jhana stood up and raised her hands into the air. She smiled and whispered a word to herself. “Tumsa.”

Hordes of feminine shadow people appeared and the arcane ropes dropped their captives gently to the floor. The shadow beings scooped up Mirelle and Taria, opening their cell doors. Within seconds, they were both carried off up the stairs and out of Jhana’s tower.

With a wicked smile, Jhana strode confidently out of the dungeon. When she stepped outside into the warm Ikaatan air, the tower’s door shut behind her. Jhana took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. She pictured the cabin in her mind, finding it in her mind’s eye clear as day. An ancient word appeared there and she spoke it aloud. “Ieta!” A whirlwind surrounded her in that moment and she disappeared instantly, whisked off to the Dasi Forest.

...

Jonas grunted when he got to his feet. He kept a firm hold of his bow as he wobbled a bit with the effort of standing. Someone had made a sound up above and he knew it wasn’t Celia. He narrowed his gaze and kept the bow raised, ready to draw the string at a moment’s notice.

He took in a sharp breath and it took all of his strength to keep from staggering again. He heard them coming before he saw them. Jonas listened hard, ignoring the pain in his head, and counted the footfalls he heard on the floor above. Four people he thought. One moving slower, carrying something heavy.

A deep, woman’s voice called down the stairs. “Hello? Who’s down there?”

Jonas refused to answer. He recognized the voice but it wasn’t who he was expecting. But it only meant further trouble.

“Whoever you are, come out now. I heard you stumbling around down there.”

Jonas crept silently up the steps, steadying his arm and flexing the drawstring. He still refused to respond.

“Listen, we know you’re not Jhana,” the woman said. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

Jonas furrowed his brow and relaxed his arm slightly. Sounds like a trap he thought. But he was already acting as bait so he decided to call her bluff.

“Then who are you here to hurt?” he answered.

“Wait... are you that spy?”

“Depends. What’s the heavy load you’re carrying, Fa’rah?” Jonas asked.

Fa’rah smirked. “People always said you spies were clever,” she said. “It’s someone you know. But she agreed to it.”

“I doubt that,” Jonas said. “Who is it?”

Fa’rah turned to the woman carrying the sack and took it from her. She lowered it to the ground and pulled it open, leaving the hogtied and gagged Elyn on the floor. She pulled the cloth down from her face and helped her spit out the one in her mouth.

“Talk him down for me,” Fa’rah said.

“Who?”

“Elyn? Is that you?” Jonas asked.

“Him,” Fa’rah answered.

“Jonas? What are you doing here?” Elyn asked.

“I’d ask you the same thing,” Jonas said. “Is everything all right?”

“Oh, not to worry. I’m helping Fa’rah get the drop on Jhana. Though I’m a bit confused as to what we’re doing here instead of Jhana’s tower.”

“So she’s betrayed you then,” Jonas said. “Typical bandit.”

“No,” Fa’rah said. “Got word from one of my girls about Jhana’s magical goons carrying two order women toward this forest. So we changed directions and followed her path and it led us here.”

Jonas crept further up the stairs and whirled around the corner of the doorway with his bow raised. He took square aim at Fa’rah’s head.

“Let her go,” Jonas said.

“It’s part of the plan, Jonas,” Elyn said. “I’m fine. Please trust me.”

“That and you’re alone. And injured, might I add. It’d be foolish to start a fight with four armed bandits,” Fa’rah said.

Jonas considered his options. He kept his bow raised but he allowed himself to relax a bit. “So what’s your plan? Get back in Jhana’s good graces?”

“Yes. And I know she knows Elyn and would want to taunt her so I’d use that opportunity to jump her,” Fa’rah said.

“I heard how you got this job, you know,” Jonas said. “You’re a backstabber. It’s how you’ve survived so long. I know you did the same thing to Jhana. It’s why she captured you. Yes, I heard all about that.”

“Listen, I know what you’re thinking-”

“Do you?”

“You think I’m going to betray my word to Elyn.”

“And why wouldn’t you? It’s what you do.”

“Not this time,” Fa’rah said. “I know what kind of threat Jhana is to all of us. I’ll even serve my time when this is all over. Anything to stop her.”

Jonas considered her words and allowed himself to lower his bow. But he was only resting his aching shoulder.

“Well I’d say your plan isn’t going to work,” Jonas said. “If Jhana’s on her way here then the relic is going to be her only focus. She won’t care about any prisoners you have for her.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Fa’rah asked.

“Untie Elyn, for a start,” Jonas said.

“Aww, Jonas. Don’t do that to me. I was having fun,” Elyn said.

“No time for fun right now,” Jonas said. “We need everyone we can get to stop Jhana.”

Before the bandits could begin untying the fire mage they were blown back by a sudden gust of wind. Something arcane and glowing wrapped itself around Elyn’s mouth, gagging her once again.

“Hmmph?”

Jonas raised his bow arm again and rushed outside. He looked every which way for Jhana but he couldn’t see anything. Fa’rah emerged beside him with her mace in hand and stood back-to-back with him.

“Oh my,” a voice said, echoing all around them. “This is an unlikely alliance.”

Jonas said nothing and kept his ears open. He could hear nothing at first. But he realized, too late, that someone stood very close to him on the left side. They were invisible to the eye but just as he raised his bow again, it was ripped from his grasp and Jonas was flung to the ground.

Fa’rah whirled around when she heard Jonas grunt and her mace was torn from her grasp as well. Something pushed her back and she fell in a heap beside Jonas.

Jhana appeared then, with myriad shadow beings in tow. Several of them dropped a pair of bound and gagged captives beside Jonas and Fa’rah. She smiled at the four of them that lay on the ground before her.

“You haven’t met my new army yet, have you Jonas? The last two human ones I had were... sub-par. Right, Fa’rah?”

The bandit leader said nothing as she got to her feet again. She looked around for her mace but before she could find it, something knocked her to the ground again.

“Oh yes. Such a wonderful new spell. A little something I picked up from the prodigy who was briefly held in my prison.”

“What?” Jonas said. “This is a dragon spell?”

“Perfected down to one word,” Jhana said. “And, oh my, what a spell. Such power. Really it’s no wonder Lanala was able to break out of my prison.”

Jonas grimaced when he sat up. He caught sight of Celia sneaking up behind Jhana with a dark bottle in her hand. He remained silent.

“My dear Jonas,” Jhana said. “You must be suffering a concussion. You’re not thinking clearly, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well this, for instance,” Jhana said, waving a hand behind her. The golden, arcane ropes suddenly appeared and wrapped themselves around Celia’s body, binding her at the ankles, knees, arms and wrists. Another tightly gagged her and the dark bottle fell uselessly to the ground beneath her. Celia fell over, squirming against her tight bonds. “Your eyes gave her away, Jonas.”

Jonas struggled to his feet and dropped his bow on the ground.

“You don’t need her,” he said. “I’m the one who gives you trouble. Take me.”

“Oh, I will,” Jhana said. “Right after I do this.”

Jhana raised her hands to the sky and more arcane ropes appeared to bind and gag Fa’rah as well, winding around her legs from the ankles to the knees, her arms from the elbows to the shoulders, and binding her wrists behind her back. Two more wrapped around her mouth and eyes, gagging and blindfolding her.

“Now you and I will go and see the relic, Jonas. Perhaps your friends can join us?”

The shadow beings picked up the five bound and gagged women and shuffled them off toward the basement of Artema’s cabin. Jhana stepped to Jonas and picked him up by the throat with otherworldly strength.

“What happened to you?” Jonas asked, choking.

“I already told you. Those dragon spells work wonders. I have such power now. But it’s not enough to take what is mine. So you and I are going to seize that relic together. Just like old times.”

...

Lanala furiously ran on into the forest, well ahead of the others. Artema struggled to keep up. Luna and Meryn stopped trying and kept a steady pace behind the other two. They both realized that they’d catch up to her at some point.

The cabin came into view and already Lanala could hear a commotion from within. The muffled cries of several women, some of whom she recognized, echoed in her ears. She only hoped that she wasn’t too late.

Lanala burst in the front door just as the other three reached the cabin.

“Lanala, wait!” Artema called. She ran on after her wife with Meryn and Luna in tow.

Lanala knew that the basement door would be locked but she didn’t care nor did she have time to think. She shouted an old spell in anger at the heavy wooden thing. “Patraka!”

The door burst apart into splinters with the force of Lanala’s hands and words. Inside, she saw Jhana holding Jonas by the throat and carrying him into the vault. Five women, each bound and gagged with strange, glowing ropes struggled and mewled into tight gags on the floor around her.

“Jhana!”

The spymaster smiled. “Here she is,” Jhana said. “Now all of you can witness my ascension.”

She raised one hand to the ceiling and several of the arcane ropes rushed toward Lanala. The spellcaster rolled to one side and collided with the wall. In her mind, a word came quickly and almost automatically to counter the ropes.

“Izekil!”

The ropes flopped to the floor and turned to ordinary brown, frayed ropes. Jhana tried again but Lanala countered her once more.

“So, you’re going to be difficult,” Jhana said. “Fine.”

She dropped Jonas on the floor and picked up the orb in her hand. A dark, purple aura began to glow around her and she opened her eyes wide.

“The... power! It’s... immense!”

The clouds above the cabin grew dark and purple lightning split the sky. Rolls of thunder cracked all around them and a swirling vortex picked up Jhana and she started hovering above the floor.

“Yes!”

Lanala could feel the destructive power in Jhana’s voice. She resisted the winds and rushed straight for her. She was swept up in the vortex as well. Lanala grabbed Jhana’s hand and they both now held the relic. The aura started to fade from Jhana and transfer itself to Lanala.

“What? No!”

“Let it go, Jhana! Now!”

The sudden booming power in Lanala’s voice made Jhana tremble and she felt nothing but the urge to obey. So she let go of the orb and dropped to the floor once again.

The surge of power coursed through every fibre of Lanala’s being. There was nothing she couldn’t do with this power. Anything she desired could be hers. The entire world could become nothing but ash if she made it so.

But Lanala pushed those thoughts from her mind and remembered back to her time in Jhana’s prison. The dragon spell. It gave her strength. With it, she might be able to destroy this horrible thing. Summoning every ounce of strength she had, Lanala shouted the two words she had learned back in that prison. “Pirka Lidum!”

“Pirka Lidum!” the sky above thundered in response. With a sudden surge of incredible strength, Lanala closed her iron grip around the onyx orb and it shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Her actions, however, had several unintended consequences. For one, a terrible and vengeful rage gripped her and she lunged for Jhana. She knew in the back of her mind that she was going to kill Jhana but Lanala couldn’t stop herself. But just as she reached the spymaster, the purple aura around her began circling into the centre of the room. It formed into a spinning, circular portal and began drawing everyone in the room toward it.

Artema and the others reached the vault just in time to see several of their order, still bound and gagged, dragged into the portal and disappear. Lanala flung herself in after them.

“Lanala!”

Artema charged into the room and jumped headfirst into the portal after her wife.

“No, stop!” Jonas shouted above the fervour. “You don’t know what’s on the other side!”

Jhana was sucked in next and then Fa’rah. Taria and Mirelle were dragged in next, which prompted both Luna and Meryn to dive in after them. Now it was just Jonas and Celia left. When Celia was dragged toward it, the arcane ropes came off her body and Jonas grabbed her hand.

“I’ve got you!” He clutched at one of the basement supports in his other hand. The effort and strain wreaked havoc on his already wounded shoulder but he held on.

“Jonas, let go! You won’t be able to fight it forever!”

“I can’t,” he said. “We don’t know what will happen to us!”

“It’ll kill you if you don’t,” Celia said. “We’ll go in together. Like we always did when we were kids. Remember that old cave?”

Jonas grimaced but he nodded. “This... is different.”

“It isn’t. We’ll explore this thing together, like the cave.”

“But... what if it kills us?”

“Then that’s just what will happen. There’s a chance it won’t. What would you rather do?”

Jonas weighed the options and felt the strain of Celia being sucked toward the portal begin to rip him apart. He wouldn’t survive if he continued holding on.

“Just promise to find me when we get to the other side,” Jonas said.

“Always, buddy. Now just let go!”

Jonas shut his eyes tight and let go of the basement support. In seconds, the pair of them were dragged into the portal and disappeared into the dark purple void. The thing then swirled until it got smaller and smaller and it eventually disappeared as well. Up above, after all of the ruckus, the world went silent and still. The clouds disappeared, the sun poked its head out, and the birds of the forest began their song once more.