A powerful spring storm battered the seaside fortress, the torrential downpour lashing the ancient stone walls, and the roar of thunder making the foundation tremble. The squall howled impotently against the steadfast structure before swirling around it and gusting across the open plains.

  Elissa looked up from her writing as the shutters rattled in the window. Above, she could hear the steady patter of rain on the roof. Another boom of thunder made her start, and she pressed a hand against her chest. After living for most of her life in the desert, she felt she would never get used to the storms on the Thalorion seacoast.

  A knock on the door made her push the parchment aside. “Yes?”

  The door creaked as it swung open, revealing the youthful face of Sister Calista. “The abbess wishes to speak with you, Sister Elissa.”

  “Tell her that I’ll be there shortly.” She picked up her quill as she prepared to finish writing the death warrant for a heretic. “I just need to finish up something first.”

  Calista bowed her head. “I will inform her you will be along shortly.”

  Elissa returned to her document. The most important thing she’d learned about sentencing heretics to death was that every piece of evidence had to be perfectly recorded. Otherwise, some local lord or mayor would complain about her burning one of their people without proof. The ordeal of dealing with local authorities was so very tiresome.

  She wrote the last few lines before she reached over and took a pinch of sand from the dish on the desk. Then she sprinkled it across the document to absorb the excess ink. Lifting the parchment, she shook off the sand before rolling it up and placing it in her pouch.

  As she rose from her seat, another boom of thunder made her jump. With a nervous laugh, she shook her head. Thankfully, no one was here to see her foolishness. After all, she had a reputation to keep. And a woman’s reputation was everything in the Dawnward Host.

  Elissa glanced around to make sure everything was in place in her cell. Her bed was perfectly made without a single crease. And her few meagre possessions were safely locked in the trunk at the foot of the bed. Satisfied that everything was in order, she departed from her room.

  Walking down the corridor, she nodded to the other nuns as they hurried past. All of them wore the red robes of the host. Though hers bore the golden thread of an inquisitor; a position she was quite proud of.

  She arrived the stairs at the end of the corridor and descended until she reached the bowels of the fortress. A slight smile played across her lips as she heard the moans and cries of the heretics locked within. Any who would dare blaspheme against the Undying Emperor deserved their fate.

  The cry of a familiar voice made her brow furrow. As she listened, a righteous fury flooded through her veins. Had one of the sisters started the interrogation without her? That simply wouldn’t stand.

  Storming through the narrow corridors, she stopped in front of an ironbound door. Raising her fist, she hammered on it until it swung open to reveal Sister Imilce holding a hot poker. Like her, the young woman had come from the arid lands far to the south and had the same dark hair and eyes. However, she wore only plain robes without the golden threads.

  Elissa pushed past the taller woman. With a single glance, she took in everything in the room; she noted the brazier of glowing coals, the man suspended from the ceiling by iron chains, and the numerous burn marks on his chest. The sight of his wounds filled her with fury.

  Spinning around, she thrust a finger in Imilce’s direction. “What have you done?”

  The younger woman recoiled, lowering the poker slightly. “I thought I could get a confession from him before you arrived. This was only to make your task easier, sister.”

  Elissa snatched the hot poker from the woman and stalked over to the entrance. Once there, she leaned it against the wall before rounding on the nun. “If we do not follow the imperial law, then we do not walk in the emperor’s grace. No heretic may be tortured into confessing. The law is very clear on that.”

  “But we already know that he did it,” she complained. “Why not just burn the heretic like he deserves?”

  “Because we are members of the Dawnward Host,” Elissa snapped. “I will not suffer a fool who thinks herself above imperial law. Understood?”

  Imilce nodded tersely.

  “Good.” Elissa took a deep breath. “Now, did the alleged heretic say anything to you?”

  The dark-haired woman shook her head. “He insists that he’s innocent.”

  Elissa walked over to the man and then circled around him. He was nearing forty and had patches of grey at his temples. Unlike so many others with apprentices, he had kept himself fit and had a sharp jawline. Even with the immense amount of pain he must be feeling, he remained unbowed and defiant.

  “Now, Nicholas,” she said, stopping in front of him. From her pocket, she fished out the death warrant she’d just signed. “In my hands, I hold your death warrant for possessing the symbol of a false god. If you confess, I promise to grant you a painless death.”

  The man glared at her with pure hatred in his eyes. “I have done nothing to deserve death.”

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  “The evidence is irrefutable,” Elissa continued, tapping the rolled-up parchment against her hand. “Numerous witnesses have come forward stating that you worship a false god.”

  “I’m a good citizen of the empire,” he said. “I would never worship Infernus.”

  “I would ask you not to use a false god’s name in my presence. And as I said, numerous people have come forward stating that you worship a false god. Why would they lie about such a thing?”

  “The simplest reason of all,” Nicholas growled. “Greed.”

  Elissa arched her eyebrow. “Explain.”

  “Manos, the man who accused me, is a competitor of mine in the city. He planted the symbol of a false god at my forge. And he paid others to make accusations against me. It looks like his plan succeeded, since I’m here and he has no competition now.”

  “Interesting.” Elissa brushed back a stray strand of dark hair. “Do you have any proof of this?”

  “My apprentice caught him sneaking into my forge a fortnight ago,” he said. “The boy didn’t see what he was doing, but he would testify to that.”

  Elissa turned to Imilce. “Have we questioned his apprentice?”

  The younger woman frowned before hurrying over to a nearby table. She sifted through a pile of parchment before lifting one to read. “Yes. It says Nikos claimed a competitor had been in the forge days before the guard found the symbol of Infer—, I mean, of a false god.”

  “This is why we do not torture heretics before a confession,” Elissa said. “I believe this man may be innocent of the charges brought against him.”

  At her words, Imilce gulped noticeably. The payout for false imprisonment and torture under imperial law was quite large. And she would be punished severely if the order had to give a large sum to their prisoner.

  “For now,” Elissa continued. “Release Nicholas from his bonds until this Manos fellow can be questioned. I’m sure I’ll get to the bottom of the truth quickly enough.”

  “As you wish, sister.

  “I will leave you to handle this for now. The abbess has summoned me to her quarters.

  “Yes, sister.”

  As Imilce swiftly worked to release the chains holding up the man, Elissa departed from the jail cell. She retraced her steps to the staircase leading to the upper floors. Once there, she took the steps two at a time.

  While the fate of her prisoner still hung in the air, she suspected that heresy didn’t burn in his heart. Which filled her with more disappointment than she cared to admit. She had looked forward to listening to the heretic’s delicious screams as she burned him alive.

  Elissa reached the floor where her own quarters were located but continued upward. As she climbed, she could feel the steps swaying slightly from the powerful winds buffeting the fortress. A flash of lightning glowed through the arrow slits, illuminating the many magical items mounted on the walls. No heretic caster could reach this floor undetected.

  She reached the top level and walked the short distance to the abbess’s door. Raising her hand, she rapped lightly on the wood.

  “Come in,” a faint voice said from inside.

  She turned the iron handle and swung the door open. Inside, was a cell not much different from her own. The room contained a narrow bed, a wooden trunk, and a writing desk with a candle burning on it. A casual observer would never know this room belonged to the leader of their sacred order.

  Penelope, the abbess, rose unsteadily from her chair and smiled at Elissa. She was ancient even for an upper-realm mage. Her face was lined like a map showing the many roads of the empire, and her thinning grey hair was cut close to her head.

  But while Penelope outwardly appeared as a doddering old woman, a suffocating power radiated off of her. There were some in the order who believed she was nearly level 10,000. However, none would ever be so rude as to use [Identify] on their commander. And she certainly wasn’t going to tell anyone.

  Elissa bowed her head. “What may I do for you, Abbess?”

  “May I offer you something to drink?” Penelope shuffled over to her writing desk. “I had one of the other girls bring up some tea.”

  “No thank you, abbess.”

  Penelope poured some tea into a wooden cup, steam rising off the surface and disappearing in the air. Then, the wizened woman brought the drink up to her nose and inhaled deeply. “Are you certain you don’t want some?”

  “Perhaps later,” Elissa said. “I was told you needed to speak with me?”

  “You need to stop and enjoy life sometimes,” Penelope said, settling down on her chair. She took a sip of the tea before continuing. “Otherwise, you might find it has all passed you by.”

  “I’m happy doing my duty for the emperor.”

  “Yes, you are quite good at that. It’s actually the reason I summoned you. There has been a rather concerning report of heresy in Kalmyros. The local augur claims she has sensed a powerful infernal caster in the city.”

  Elissa gasped, her eyes widening. Most of the heresy she’d investigated involved people secretly worshipping a false god. But to use the power from the ascendant realms was the greatest of all affronts to the Undying Emperor.

  “Yes, it’s quite concerning,” Penelope said. “To use such power in the empire is the gravest of heresies. Even though the city is at the edge of the civilized world, it must be reminded that it is still part of it. I wish for you to travel with all haste to the city and hunt down this caster. Once you find them, make a spectacle of it. A public beheading followed by a burning should suffice.”

  “While I am honored to be chosen, I have many other active cases…”

  Penelope waved her wrinkly hand. “I will have another inquisitor take them over for you.”

  “But I have critical knowledge....”

  “Then you will write down the evidence for your replacement.” Penelope tottered to her feet and placed the steaming cup aside. “The empire is beset on all sides by enemies. Every day, more territory is lost. Every day, more aspect beasts pierce the veil. Yet it is our faith in the Undying Emperor that holds the fraying empire together. The heretical caster must be stopped at all costs. Do you understand?”

  Elissa nodded. “I will carry out the emperor’s will.”

  “Excellent,” Penelope said. “I have arranged a ship to take you and Imilce to the city. It will leave at first light tomorrow.”

  “You wish for me to take Sister Imilce?”

  Penelope nodded. “Imilce is impetuous but will make an excellent inquisitor someday. Take her with you to the city and teach her how to sniff out a heretic.”

  “I will prepare to depart immediately, abbess.”

  As she turned to go, the old woman raised a hand to stop her.

  “Oh, there’s one more thing. The order’s most ancient augur swears that she sensed a demon close to Kalmyros. However ridiculous that sounds, I wish for you to investigate. If by some remote chance a demon has pierced the Veil, send word for the Sainted Host.”

  “As you wish.”

  Elissa turned and left the room. She gently closed the door behind her as she entered the corridor. As she walked, she couldn’t help but shake her head at the thought of a demon hiding in an imperial city. None had been sighted for at least a millennium, and it had been decades since even an infernal caster had dared use their wicked magic within the borders of the empire.

  Still, she would do her duty. First, she would find the heretical caster. Then she would search the city for a demon. Though she knew no such creature existed.

  Which was good for the residents of Kalmyros. If a demon was discovered, the Sainted Host would descend with the Undying Emperor’s wrath and leave only ashes in their wake. No matter what, they couldn’t allow the taint of infernal knowledge to spread within the Arissian Empire.