When Vero woke again, her head finally felt clear. She tried to move, but her arms and legs were now bound.

  “Good, you’re awake.” Iosephus was standing over her in dark ritual garb.

  They were in the astral observatory, at the top of the donjon tower. Vero was atop another ritual dais in the center of the room, and they were alone. She had no clothes, and her legs had been bound splayed, so she did her best to cover herself with her thighs.

  “Please, let me go.”

  “I can’t do that, dear. Don’t worry, this will all be over very soon. And your role in this ceremony shall be a blessed one.”

  The floors and walls were a spider web of blasphemous symbols, drawn in chalk, paint, and blood. “Nothing about this ceremony is blessed, can’t you see that?”

  “Holy and unholy all come down to one’s point of view.”

  “You’re a slayer! The Order was founded to protect others from abominations, how can you be a part of this?!”

  Iosephus knelt down next to her. He caressed her cheek, almost like a grandfather. She recoiled from his touch. “We have some time to speak, I suppose. The ritual requires you to be waking, and everything is already in readiness. We’re only awaiting the proper stellar alignment for the final act now.” His eyes went down her body, and his gaze made her shudder.

  “I’ve lived for a long time,” he said. “I witnessed the changing of the Order with my own eyes. We were never founded to hunt such petty prey as loup garou or striga. As a boy, I was trained by the great elven dragon-slayers.” Iosephus’ expression took on a nostalgic glaze. “There really were heroes in those days… all gone now. This isn’t a world for heroes, you see.”

  “You’re a witch! You’re in league with the Fiend under this mountain! Is that the legacy those heroes died for?”

  “They died for nothing. Death has no purpose. It is simply the end for those who can no longer survive. That was what we realized, when this whole conspiracy first started.”

  “You think this daemon will grant you immortality? And at what cost? Does it profit a man to live forever if he loses his own soul?”

  “You see gods and daemons, because your mind is too feeble to comprehend anything else. And in your superstition, you retreat back upon your petty scriptures for relief.”

  “And what do you see in all your wisdom, master slayer?” Vero asked.

  “I see that the moon is a rock suspended in aether. The sun is nothing but a titanic collision of elements- a source of tremendous power, but hardly a patrician with a watchful eye over his household. In your animal ignorance, however, you are incapable of seeing anything that has not been rendered in your own image. There are other powers beyond our sphere. Should we fear the unknown simply because it comes from a dark place?”

  “Only if they ask dark deeds of us,” Vero replied.

  Iosephus looked disappointed. “Again, you retreat to your simplistic moral dogma. What is right or wrong? Is the wolf wrong to consume the sheep?”

  “The wolf acts to survive.”

  “As do we.”

  “And I’m simply your next sheep?”

  “Oh now. Please don’t underestimate yourself, Lady Veronique. You’re so much more than that. You are both the gateway, and the vessel, which shall birth a new power into this world.”

  “Why me?”

  “A twisting of fate, or so I would answer prosaically. I’m sure that would appeal to your sense of individuality. The reality is that it was all a matter of simple mathematics. No one likes to think that their life can be reduced to the simple clattering of beads across an abacus, but so it is. Hundreds of babes were born at midnight under the bleeding moon, on that miraculous night when every environmental factor was correct at once. Dozens of those babes survived infancy, and half of those were female, thus capable of the incubation. Finding even one of you was an enormous task. We had our failures, of course. This one barren, that one lost in famine, another taken by war or illness. How ironic that our perfect candidate was closer to us than we ever dared to dream. Healthy, fit, and ready to be mother of a new world.”

  Iosephus removed his robe. He wore nothing beneath, and his skin was covered in freshly inked tattoos, made to match the marks on the walls and floor around them. His body was horribly withered.

  “Very soon now,” he continued. “The conditions shall be ready for the next stage. Already that rock you pray to has moved to occlude her husband’s view of our little world. When the time is right, this body I inhabit will die. But even as it is extinguished, I shall be reborn within your womb, holding power beyond imagining. United with the Outsider in a single flesh.”

  “You’re insane. The Fiend is using you to grant it access to this world, you must see that! Let me go!”

  Iosephus spoke like he was calming an unruly child. “Once the seed is planted within your womb, you’ll see. Even in that primitive state, we shall have the power to force your mind open to the truth.”

  The Toad entered the room; he took no notice of Vero and spoke to the elderly madman. “Our present forces are insufficient to both defend all vital areas of the keep and contain the breakout. The Curia is making ready to release the wards and call on our vampyric allies for aid at sundown.”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Vero’s heart beat faster. What was this? A breakout? Perhaps then, there was yet some hope left.

  “Imbeciles,” replied Iosephus. “By then the ritual will be complete. Even with only the power the Outsider and I shall wield from within her womb, it will be more than enough to obliterate our enemies. And to scatter our would-be allies.”

  “That may be,” said the Toad. “But for the moment, our enemies press on. It’s all our men can do to hold them back from this place, and also to protect the Curia themselves.”

  Vero intruded on their private conversation. “It seems even your co-conspirators are unwilling to gamble all on your madman’s scheme. And you, Toad. Suppose the ritual does work as this megalomaniac hopes. You’ve heard how quickly he seeks to dispose of one set of allies as soon as they outlive their usefulness. How long will the Curia retain their value to him if he does achieve his lunatic aim?”

  Iosephus ignored her, but the Toad cast an eye in her direction- if only briefly.

  “If the guards are hard pressed-” Iosephus replied to the Toad, “-evacuate the Curia here. Then we may pool all our defenses, and surely delay the rebels long enough to see this work done.”

  “Yes, bring them here,” said Vero. “Then when this psychotic’s plan fails, they shall all be in one convenient place were the arch-fae – or whatever abomination this blind fool’s blundering summons forth – can dispose of them all easily. Supposing he’s not already so deluded that he completely fails to conjure anything at all. In that case, we must all wait for Pentarch and the others arrival to gut you for your treachery.”

  “Ignore the vessel,” said Iosephus.

  “She has occasion to speak more sense than you do,” replied the Toad. “Debate regarding the soundness of this plan has reemerged. We intend to bring down the wards at sundown. I was sent to inform you of that, not to solicit an opinion.”

  The Toad turned to leave, but Vero called out after him as he went. “Tell them to prepare for battle on two fronts! Soon they’ll have another threat to worry about!”

  The Toad paused only for the space of a second, before departing.

  Iosephus turned to her. “You’re very skilled at playing these games. Even trussed up like stuffed pig, you’re still dangerous. It’s a shame you won’t aid us willingly. As mother of the first true god, you could be given a place of honor in our future court.”

  Then Vero saw Alexius enter the room from the corner of her eye. He motioned for her not to acknowledge him, and Iosephus appeared to see nothing at all.

  Vero shifted position in her bonds to take a more wanton posture. “We have time still, it seems. Tell me about this court you shall build.”

  Iosephus watched the sun, which was only beginning to move into eclipse. “Not much time now... ah! It will be glorious. This place shall serve only as a temporary capital. Your body will be the vehicle we use to rule through for a time, until our new body is knitted together within the grail of your womanhood. Once we’ve been birthed into the world completely, however, our power over this sphere shall extend without end. Only those who please us will endure.”

  Conner was there with Alexius, and she could see that he held a weapon. Where in all the hells were Pentarch and the others?

  “And if I did, please you, then you would let me live?” Vero did her best to draw him into her eyes.

  “A place for you could be found. It would be suitably divine for the new god of this world to make our mother also our queen. Who else but the one who bore us would be worthy to be chief among the wives of god?” There was a manic lust in his face, and Vero fanned the flames with her own expression.

  Conner was coming nearer. His sword was raised.

  “And you would make me immortal? As you will be?” she asked.

  Iosephus was gazing into her, she wordlessly invited him deeper. “There are many things we would do to you.”

  Conner was so near. He would strike.

  “Tell me of these things you wish to do to me.”

  Iosephus hesitated. Then he spun, and an invisible wave of force sent Conner flying back. The sword was knocked from his grasp.

  “Very clever, Lady Veronique.” Iosephus straightened back up. “But I knew there must be some scheming in your change of heart. I don’t know how the boy circumvented the guards, but it’s too late for any interruptions now. The eclipse is entering the totality.”

  Conner was not moving where he fell.

  “No!” Vero clenched her hips as best she could, but Iosephus pried her legs apart with ease.

  Just as he moved to perform the hateful act, he stopped.

  A large piece of bladed metal impaled him through the chest. It was Conner’s fallen sword, with Alexius on the other end of it.

  Both Iosephus and Alexius screamed.

  The stones of the entire tower felt as though they were rattling apart around them. Vero watched the entire totality pass above her, and still, the screaming did not stop.

  When the totality passed, Iosephus fell dead like a cut marionette. Alexius collapsed as well, clutching his eyes, and too far in his own pain for communication. However, there was no sign of anything that had done him injury.

  After some time, Conner stirred. Vero was relieved he was not dead. She had no notion how to escape on her own, and called him over. Alexius was still moaning in shock.

  “Sister, are you- hurt?” He asked, averting his eyes.

  “No time for manners now. Check that bastard’s robe over there to try and find a key.”

  Conner was still unsteady after the blow he took, but he did as ordered. He returned to her with a key ring that looked exactly like Pentarch’s, and a single small key on its own.

  “Try the small key first. It looks like it will fit.” Vero wanted to keep Conner directed, his mind seemed clouded.

  The lad fit the key into the manacle on her nearest hand and it opened. She quickly took the key from him and repeated the procedure on her other bindings until she was free.

  “Check on the priest,” Vero ordered, as she pulled Iosephus’ robe around herself.

  She removed the sword from Iosephus’ chest. Before she left, she cut off his head, to be sure.

  Vero went to the chamber door. “Pick Aleixus up and follow behind me, we can’t stay here.”

  Conner nodded and did as he was told. He was strong enough to hold up. She would not have time to waste worrying about him. There were no guards outside the observatory. The special armory, and her sword, were only two levels down.

  Vero went to the stairs. Two guards waited on the next level, but they were both fully concentrated on the way leading further down. The sounds of battle could be heard faintly.

  Her strike was swift, and cleaved the first man just below his helm at the neck. The blow was mortal and he went into shock. Vero’s attention was on his companion.

  She wasted no time while she was fighting without armor, and struck viciously, not giving her second foeman a chance to recover. Her opponent was caught flat-footed by the suddenness of her arrival, and only manage a feeble resistance. Vero cut him down in phases, targeting gaps in his armor as they presented themselves. When he could no longer resist her, she slit his throat.

  Conner ambled down the stairs with Alexius. There was no one on the next floor, and Vero went at once to the armory. She took the key from Pentarch’s ring and pushed open the door.

  Everything taken from her and her companions on their arrival was there, along with everything she saw on her first visit months previous. She threw on her own clothes, and the nymph’s cloak was very welcome in the freezing cold.

  Properly armored and attired, she went to the ornate box that held her sword. After so long apart, Vero almost feared that it would not be there. Her hand trembled as she found the key.

  It was there.

  Vero said a quiet prayer of thanksgiving to Luna.

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