The Zeta Squad found Ella just east of the city of Cluj-Napoca. Wounded and in pain, she was sitting, leaning against a tree amidst the bushes, in a solitary stretch of grassland dotted with young trees. They rushed to her aid.

  “What happened?” Hugo asked.

  “Ambris!” she replied with a grunt. She was breathing heavily and sweating profusely with eyes wide open. Half burnt, her robe hung from just one shoulder while the rest of her clothes were also in tatters. She had wounds all over her chest, face, and forearms. She had a few broken ribs and plenty of lacerations on her arms.

  She shivered in fear as she mumbled, “His stre-st-strength!”

  “I know.” Hugo sat beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Relax,” he continued quietly. “We will figure something out.”

  She lunged at him, grabbing his robe tightly, and exclaimed, “But you don’t understand!”

  “I do,” the Zaatsu placed both hands on her cheeks. “I was there when he attacked the Palace last time. Fear gripped me like it has gripped you. But perhaps we have nothing to be afraid of. He is just a monster with nothing but brute strength. He is a monster, Ella. We have the knowledge and wisdom of those far superior to him, you, or me. We’ll figure something out.”

  “Poor girl’s in absolute shock,” Neil whispered as his brother tried desperately to calm the young Mystic down.

  “Can’t blame her,” Marcus replied, shaking his head. “She did come face-to-face with the Basilisk.”

  Neil took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then looked away. Marcus observed the others: Hugo was sitting on a tree root now just a few yards away from where Gina and Camille were tending to Ella’s injuries.

  He sighed. ‘What a mess…’

  Suddenly, they all sensed a tiny evocation moving towards them.

  Camille looked at Hugo. “Is that an evocation?”

  The Zaatsu gave half a nod staring in the direction from where the creature was approaching. But no one could see anything.

  “Feels very small,” Marcus said. “Do you think it’s underground?”

  Letting go of Ella’s arm, Gina quickly got up, charged her Ki, and fired a Ki blast at the ground.

  “No!” Hugo shouted.

  The ground was uprooted and they saw a mole pop out. She took a shot at it again. This time, a surge of electric charge rushed in the way and blocked the attack.

  Hugo ran ahead, grabbed Gina by her shirt collar, and pulled her back. “Are you out of your mind?!”

  She looked at him. “What?” she exclaimed. “No telling what that thing is!”

  “It’s a carrier mole! For goodness sakes, Gina! Stand down!”

  Camille, Neil, and Marcus all looked around shocked. Martial Artists could tell – they felt no threat from the incoming creature. Yet Gina attacked it. But why?

  Luckily, the mole had survived. It crawled slowly towards Marcus and Neil. Standing on its hind legs it sniffed then moved on. Avoiding Gina and Hugo, it made its way to Camille and Ella. Sniffing them one by one, it got closer and climbed into Ella’s lap.

  “Master Baylis?” she looked over.

  The mole glowed for a split second before it spoke and said, “Take me to Hugo Baylis.”

  “He was sent to find you.” Hugo approached and sat beside her. “Give it a tiny Ki charge and tell him that I am Hugo Baylis.”

  Ella did just that. So, the mole quickly dived into Hugo’s lap.

  “Alright, big guy.” The Zaatsu took a deep breath. “What’s the message?”

  “Hugo Baylis.” The mole stood again on its two tiny hind legs and gave Hugo the middle finger.

  While the others watched utterly confused, the Zaatsu dropped his head and giggled. “Yup… it’s carrying a message from Faris.” He shook his head. “Only that bastard would waste Ki on a joke.”

  The mole sat down and relayed the message. “Sheltered vipers take centre stage,” it said. “Devil's Hearth has settlements at Pyrenees.”

  Hearing it mention the Devil’s Hearth, everyone got attentive immediately.

  “At Lombrives cave, they are extracting Demonic Ki,” the carrier mole continued. “Diesel Generators are pumping electricity inside tunnels in the Vicdessos Valley, creating sound waves matching the Demonic resonance. All of their combatant wizards are at Hoia-Baciu prepared to attack. Ambris has everything he needs to complete his plans. He will not wait.”

  Immediately after delivering the message, the mole jumped down to the ground. Its faint glow finally faded but it did not dissipate as usual evocations did. After a moment’s pause, the creature collapsed dead.

  Hugo’s posture stiffened and his jaw tightened as he stared. A pause just long enough that all his squadmates noticed. Then he slowly exhaled and looked away.

  The mole was slowly absorbed by the ground.

  “What was that all about?” Camille asked, observing her brother. She could tell something was not right, but could not connect the dots. “You ok, bro?”

  Ella grunted as she pushed herself off of Camille and sat up straight. “It was talking about what we found at the Pyrenees mountains.”

  Gina got closer. “You know about it too?”

  “Yes. I was there.”

  Marcus and Neil too walked up. “What did you find there?” the latter asked.

  “Pretty much what it said – heavy Demonic Ki residue, strange humming sound matching the Demonic energy making it impossible for anyone on the outside to sense anything inside, and actual large generators blocking some tunnels. They were creating the hum.”

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  She coughed. It hurt. She was not fully healed yet. She wrapped an arm around her waist as she dragged her feet close to her body. “They… they’re gathered at the forest in large numbers,” she added. Her voice was shaky. “And he’s there too. Master Naji is there… alone…”

  She clutched her midriff tighter. Camille moved closer. “Hey El,” she said. “You need to sit back and relax, ok?” Gently, she placed a hand on her back. “We’ll look into it, don’t worry.”

  Ella looked at her and said, “But Master Naji is still there!”

  “Not anymore.” Hugo shook his lowered head.

  “What do you mean?” Camille asked.

  “He’s dead,” Neil explained. “Evocations don’t die unless the Ki they’re carrying has no host to return to.”

  Silence gripped everyone until eventually they felt a huge surge of energy dropping at the Hoia-Baciu forest.

  “What the hell was that?!” Marcus said. “Did you guys feel that?”

  Hugo stood up. Camille slowly brought Ella to her feet as well.

  “Prep the teleportation circle,” captain of the Zeta Squad instructed. “They’re ready to move. When they do, we follow them.”

  “Hey, Hugo.” Neil caught his brother’s attention.

  “Yes, Neil?”

  “Can you tell me something?”

  “What?”

  “The mole’s message…”

  “What about it?”

  “Sheltered vipers taking centre stage, and then Ambris’s plan – can you tell us what it was talking about?”

  Hugo shook his head as he sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shut tight. “What’s to tell…?”

  Everyone waited. They all wanted to know and understand everything that was going on.

  Eventually, Hugo opened his eyes and said, “Ambris always wanted to break the barrier between Earth and the Demonium. That was his endgame…”

  While he looked away standing arms akimbo, the rest of the squad looked around.

  “To what end?” Neil asked.

  “Hmm…” Hugo chuckled. “Doesn’t make sense, does it? If the barrier breaks, demons break out and wreak havoc. What would he gain? Demons are so powerful and unhinged that it is impossible to control them. So, what would Ambris gain from unleashing demons on Earth?”

  Smiling, he looked over at the squad. “The hypothesis was that he had found a way of doing it. But it was never proved.” Looking away once more, he added, “But in any case, he wanted to break the barrier. That was the whole war – Outsiders protecting the points of Demonic leak and Ambris extracting Demonic Ki from the leaks.”

  “No, no,” said Marcus. “Wasn’t that the Eye?”

  “Yeah, right…” Hugo chuckled as he shook his head once more. He looked away. “And I’m a mole’s uncle…”

  “What about the vipers?” asked Neil.

  “The Eye says it guards the Pyrenees leak at the Lombrives Cave.” Hugo looked at him. His smile finally disappeared. “With what Ella and Faris have told us, that’s clearly not the case… or… it’s even worse.”

  Gina held Ella while Camille began preparing the circle of dust for teleportation.

  Marcus leaned ahead. “Am I the only one who isn’t following here?”

  “Politics, Marcus, politics.” Hugo kicked a pebble and looked away. “The Cult Wars created rifts between the Eye and the Outsiders and for that they threw the Outsiders in front of Ambris and his Serpents. And when the dust settled, they blamed them for it all and shut them down.”

  “That’s not what we…”

  “Well, I’m setting the record straight, dammit!” Hugo interrupted. “We hunted our own kind, Marcus. We hunted and killed innocent Sokidus and Zaatsus who were left injured after the war only because of politics! Innocent men and women, stranded and ripped off their freedom! They had families, loved ones, who are still wondering what crime did they commit! Even the Cults were punished for helping the Outsiders in keeping the world safe.”

  Camille looked at him. “Cults too?” she asked.

  “Yes, Cami. They were sanctioned, fined, and even stripped of their lands. Many of their leaders rotted in Atramentum for months before dying hungry, thirsty, naked, alone, unattended!”

  “It all makes sense.” Ella shook her head. She then stared at Hugo, wide-eyed. “Perfect sense…”

  “H-how do yo- do you mean?” Gina stuttered, staring wide-eyed.

  “They shut down the Outsiders and distanced the Cults. Now, there’s no one left to guard such places. And now Ambris is back. And he has an army. And he has access to so much Demonic ki extracted by the Hearth. It all makes sense!”

  She stepped closer, her forearm still on Gina’s shoulder balancing her. “It played out perfectly! They’re all connected! Damn these fools!” She looked at Neil, who was standing with his arms crossed. “Don’t you see?” she asked. “Sheltered vipers – that’s what he meant. The Eye has sheltered these vipers – the SERPENTS! Serpents of God! They must have been given this power as a political convenience to bring down the Outsiders and now they’re taking centre stage!”

  “Is this true?” Marcus asked as he looked at Hugo with scrunched eyes. “Master, is it true?”

  Hugo smiled. “I’m equally glad and terrified that you’ve drawn the right conclusions here, Ella. But the problem is that you can never know who’s who…”

  The group felt another surge of energy.

  “That’s Demonic Ki,” Hugo said. “They’re about to move.”

  “But then how can we know?” the young Mystic asked. “How can we know who’s who? Who’s honest and who’s not?”

  “There are ways, kiddo…”

  Marcus was about to say something but was stopped by Gina who leaned ahead asking, “Guys, can we please discuss who’s the mole here later?”

  With closed eyes, Hugo shook his tilted head just once. “Nobody said anything about a mole here, Gina…”

  He opened his eyes slowly. Even slower, his gaze shifted towards the Sokidu – an eyebrow raised farther than the other.

  Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Gina then at Hugo and then back once more at Gina.

  “Hey, Neil!” Hugo called. “Did you say anything about a mole?”

  He uncrossed his arms. “Not me, Hugo. Did you say anything about a mole, Marc?”

  “Nope.” Marcus shook his head. “I mean I did advocate for the little rodent she tried to kill, but I never mentioned that kind of a mole, man…”

  Camille’s hand steadily moved towards her umro bag.

  “W-why are you g-guys looking at me like that?” Gina giggled as she stumbled over her words. “I mean I- I- I’m just echoing you guys. I mean the Eye might have moles, Derek might have them… y-you know? Weren’t you t-t-talking about vipers a- a- and insiders and double agents just now?”

  Hugo shook his head. “But not a mole.”

  Everyone remained still as a rock.

  “You’re sweating, Gina,” the captain of the Zeta Squad said. “You sure you’re alright? It isn’t that warm tonight…”

  In the blink of an eye, Gina grabbed Ella and forced her into a chicken wing hold. She slowly brought a knife up to the injured Mystic’s throat.

  “I don’t wanna do this, guys,” Gina said.

  “Neither do we.” Neil slowly began moving closer, Marcus following close behind.

  Hugo shook his head. “The odds are not in your favour, Gina. Let her go and we can talk about this.”

  “Not a chance, Master Baylis!” Her knife bit Ella’s skin. A single drop of blood welled where the edge rested. “Stay back, or your precious Mystic dies!”

  Looking at Ella, she added, “I really wish you would not have gone to Pyrenees, you bitch!”

  She looked at the Zeta Squad once more and pressed the knife down further.

  Hugo was fast. He knew many spells to counter her as well. But there would always be a risk involved in such a delicate situation. He was worried about Ella.

  He took his first step – but a second was not needed.

  A lightning bolt dropped down.

  They saw a sword – Gina had been cleaved from crown to pelvis in a single downward strike.

  Ella rushed away – Camille caught her.

  One half of the traitorous Sokidu, Gina Hart, fell to the right and the other to the left.

  Standing behind them, a bloodied sword in hand – Vincent, the White Bolt…