Dark clouds bumped in the sky. They had spread across the plane like rolling mountains. Blades of sunlight pierced their shadow intermittently, casting down upon Katal like great purgers. Theirs was the light of rapture. Of demise.

  I watched those blades of light from afar, sitting atop the roof of my mother’s stone hut. No lamplight was allowed in the clan—lest we attract the wrath of them. No, it was darkness and stillness for all.

  Activity ceased.

  Work ceased.

  Life ceased.

  We were all cowards, huddling and holing up together like pack animals in the cold of winter.

  But cowards make for good survivors.

  Unlike children.

  I blinked.

  Blink.

  This shit again?

  I shake my head now, feeling the weakness of my frail body. Infuriatingly small hands.

  What does it matter you idiot? I might have a chance this time.

  I scoot down the roof, land as soft and quiet as I can. It’s odd, seeing Adachi in this state. Despite our stoic nature, the clan is usually brimming with sounds of small talk, whispering housewives, of children being trained in martial and domestic matters. But now, all is silent.

  I tiptoe into the hut, lurk past our small kitchen, and enter our room. Mother isn’t there.

  Right. Acromner separated us.

  It's a fuzzy time in my life, but now, seeing it all once more with such clarity, memories flood back. She had to go because we needed more money. And what better way to do that than servicing our soldiers in the war against Verdan? For six months, I didn’t see her. And when Acromner hit, I feared for her life.

  But she came back at the end of it.

  She was one of the lucky ones though, and the clan just hated us more for that.

  After all, Verdan was the first war we lost in twenty years. And I think we would’ve won, had it not been for…

  THUMP! THUMP! My hairs raise, arms tingle. I roll to the window and take a peek outside.

  Black feathers rain from the sky as crows and ravens whip against the ground like falling angels. And they come in droves, smacking against the roofs, the rocks, each other—all is filled with the sounds of their arrival.

  I think they are dead before the fall, for they make no caws or cries. Still, seeing their lifeless bodies splayed like misshapen mannequins on the mountainside, their wings all bent and crooked—it is no easy sight to bear.

  But I have seen worse.

  I try to cope by reminding myself of the ravens that pecked at my broken limbs after Afrasiyab dealt with me. Helps me stomach the sight of their decadence.

  Wait. Idiot! What does this herald? It meant something back then… what does it—

  Ever heard the movement of a giant? It is like a horn that blows and creaks down to your spine. The Adachi clan often dubbed it the sound of judgement.

  For once, I agree with them.

  For judgement calls across Katal.

  I peek my head outside of the window, trying to glimpse the beast.

  But before I can look at the sky, I am tugged violently back into the hut. I whirl on my assailant, palms open for Eternal Spring, kick postured for an Iron Winter blow.

  A middle aged man with short cropped hair and smiling eyes faces me. He clamps a hand on my mouth and puts a finger to his own.

  …

  “Sadai!” I yell.

  A flock of red winged birds takes flight at my outburst, swirling up from the ruins and into the sky. However, once one of them hits Kiren’s shield, they twitter at one another incessantly before setting back down much farther away from our tower.

  I rub my eyes.

  Stars peer down at us from a sky of swirling violet. Kiren stirs from his sleep and curls into himself. But I can tell I’ve woken him.

  I shake my head and stare out into the briars.

  What is she doing to me? What is the point of these damn dreams? Shoving my past back in my face?

  “You lack subtlety,” I murmur.

  “What’s that?” Kiren asked.

  “Nothing. Sorry about that.”

  I hear him sit up. “Bad dream?””

  “Yeah,” I respond.

  “Wanna… talk about it—”

  “No.” He shifts. I sigh. “Sorry, didn’t mean it like that. It was… about Sadai.”

  “Ah. I see.”

  My eyes hunt the twilight sky for any sign of our enemy. But, soon after Sadai vanished, it seemed the spear was able to take over for a moment. It immediately sped off—no doubt hunting for Saegor. The image those three bring to mind, all warring for control over one silver entity, is almost humorous. Well, it would be, if Sadai wasn’t one of those warring.

  I scoot to the ledge of the crow’s nest and swing my legs over the air, leaning back and observing the night sky.

  Is Dandy even alive still?

  If she’s dead, it would surely be my fault. I don’t know how I would be able to explain myself to Erot.

  And what is Sorina up to? Does she hate me for leaving? Is she still trying to raid the Catolican checkpoint with Kara and the others? It doesn’t seem possible, given how heavily that ramshackle fortress was guarded.

  Thinking about her especially makes me feel guilty.

  What about Hui?

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I chuckle to myself. Always back to square one with you, huh? You’re such an idiot.

  Who else tortures themselves like this?

  “Do you still want to go back out there?” Kiren asks. He takes a seat next to me, his kusarigama clinking along his belt.

  “No. You were right. If I go for my amulets and she comes back while we’re out the shield, then it's over. We might as well wait for Sadai to leave an opening.” I look over at him. Bags, like rounded puffy clouds, hang heavy under his narrowed eyes. I think he’s drained from keeping the shield up perpetually. Hair begins to grow back on his head—hair that Zyla would usually cut for him. “You should try to get some rest. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “No no, it's fine. I also had trouble sleeping.”

  “Nightmares hitting you too?”

  “On repeat.”

  I turn to him. “Is it the witch?”

  “I have no clue. Might be. I’ve had the same one play out over and over again.”

  “Is there—shouldn’t there be a way to check?”

  He sighs. “Raiten, be honest with me: when you got trapped in the illusion-scape, what happened after? Saegor told me you met the witch. But what did you do to her?”

  “Why do you—”

  “It's important, trust me.”

  I consider not telling him, or even lying for a brief moment. But, then I realize the stupidity of that. More than anyone else, Kiren is an ally. He’s proven that time and time again.

  So I tell him. He listens in silence as I explain the broader details of my encounter with Thraevirula.

  “Its a good thing you didn’t take that contract.”

  I frown. “She told me to ask you guys about that. What does a ‘contract’ even entail in terms of magicks?”

  He takes a stick, points it at me: “Imagine you want something I have. Maybe Meteorfang. Say you want to make a trade. How do you ensure it goes through no matter what?”

  “Contract.”

  “Contract,” he nods. “It works like a legal contract, in all honesty. Which means, any contracts or bindings made by magicks, whether oral or written, are dictated entirely by wording. So, say the right things, and you can make an easy, hassle free trade. The whip for Meteorfang, for example. But, say the wrong things… like instead of ‘I’ll give you the whip for Meteorfang,’ you say, ‘I’ll give you my weapon for yours,’ and then—”

  “I could end up giving you the amulets and you could end up giving me something else. Right?”

  He nods. “It's tricky. Real tricky. If she offered it to you, she probably would’ve included clauses that harm you or us in some way. Maybe she would’ve stolen your soul or taken possession of your entire body—make you a slave. I’ve heard about it happening before.”

  “Shit,” I mutter. “Then it is a good thing I didn’t take it.”

  “Regardless, I didn’t realize you were able to turn the dream against her. That must be why everything is like this right now.”

  “Like what?”

  “Fucked.” Hearing him curse sounds wrong. Like someone forcing out a barf. I laugh.

  “I’m serious,” he says, frowning.

  “Yeah I know I know. Sorry,” I settle down. “You think she got more aggressive because of me?”

  “More and less,” he says, leaning back fully now. He allows his back to hit the stones as he faces up the canopy of the nest. “After Saegor found out she visited you, he told me to help him place heavier mental blocks on all of us. To prevent her from invading our dreamscapes. But, Saegor and I are nothing in comparison to her dream powers. So, really, if she wanted to, she could’ve smashed through our defenses. But, at least our walls would let us know who she was attacking and when.”

  “And…?”

  He shakes his head. “She never did that. Which, I found pretty strange considering how aggressive she was on that front. But what if she’s still attacking, just in subtler ways? What if she’s playing with our minds from afar?”

  “She can do that?”

  “I’m starting to believe so.”

  The wind coils about us like a noose.

  He sits up all of the sudden, kicking his legs back over the edge. He gives me a smile and a pat on the back.

  “Don’t worry about it. It's better than her trying to attack us directly in the dreams. In a way, you’ve scared her off on that front.”

  “And in the process, I stoked her anger.”

  “I think Saegor does that without lifting a finger.”

  Saegor. There it is again. “Why does she hate Saegor? The way he spoke about her, it's as if they know each other?”

  He looks away from me. It’s too easy to read him.

  “You know, don’t you?”

  “Ye—yes. But it's not my place to say.”

  But isn’t it important? Why is he prioritizing her so much? Why is he one of the spear’s targets?

  I want to ask, but I also don’t want to push Kiren. So I just sigh and stare off into the darkness.

  Moments of silence pass as fireflies bloom in the dark, chased about by tiny little wind spirits—the same ones that Sorina sometimes talked to. Sprites? Yeah, that was their name.

  “You can trust Saegor,” Kiren eventually spouts.

  “Uh huh.”

  “No, really. Saegor—despite all of his…well, his everything—he’s a good man.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  He takes a deep breath as if gathering himself. The breath falters.

  “He… in that dream I have, the bad one that goes on repeat nowadays, she cuts it off before the ending. She cuts it off before Saegor saves my sister and I.”

  My eyes widen. No wonder these two worship him.

  “Were you young?”

  “You guessed it. He took us under his wing, enrolled us in the Mancer School, small as it was back then. We owe everything to him.”

  “I see.”

  Suddenly the ground rumbles between us. We flinch back as Umbrahorn pops up and shakes rubble all over us.

  “Well, I certainly don’t,” he says. “I mean, just because this asshole Raiten has saved my fin a few times, doesn’t mean I—Ow!” he yelps as I slap him. He whirls on me, teeth grinding. “Why do you always do that?”

  “Stop surprising us like that. And stop listening to our conversations.”

  “Go fuck yourself Raiten, you’re the ones who were talking so loud in the middle of the night. It's like hearing two lovers engaging in loud confluence.”

  “Like you’d know anything about that.”

  “I’ll have you know, as a great spirit, many other, lesser spirits have flocked to me in search of sexual—”

  I cover my ears as Umbrahorn loudly and thoroughly explains his nightly activities. All while Kiren laughs and keels over on his belly, holding his stomach.

  A smile tugs at my lips for a brief moment.

  Then, the tower shakes once more.

  I frown, uncover my ears. Another shake, more violent. I post my hand against the ground and search the sky.

  Crooked wails into the shield for a third time.

  “Can you hold it?!” I ask Kiren.

  “Trying!” He holds a hand out and winces every time another impact occurs.

  I finally locate her silver form. Stars glint off the metal, making it look as though the Lady wears jeweled armor.

  She slams into the shield again. I see visible cracks form in the translucence, black webs cracking across the sky.

  I unfurl my whip and hold it out.

  Umbrahorn offers me his back to ride him.

  But before I can even get the chance, she just stops.

  Screams out once more as her head vibrates.

  “Is this the signal?” Kiren asks.

  I’m about to respond, but then she stands up once more. She breaks off from the ground and screeches away.

  “I think that was the spear fighting her, not Sadai,” I tell him.

  He collapses to the ground, breathing heavily. I kneel next to him.

  “That,” he takes a breath. “Was too close.”

  I nod. “We have to do something. Figure out a strategy of some kind.”

  He falls back on his butt, taking a few more deep breaths. “Like what? We just have to wait until Sadai weakens her a bit, right?”

  “But what if that’s not enough? She’s powerful, we just bore witness to that much.” I pace around both of them, eyes tracking over the ruins, the sky, my whip.

  The glow of the fireflies catches my own once more. They illuminate that same flock of panicked red birds, who try searching the shield for any way out.

  A particularly morbid memory comes to mind.

  I chuckle. This is stupid. But, it's all I’ve got.

  “I think I have an idea.”