“You didn’t mention your mother is an illusionist,” Sophia half-scolded Amy as she tucked clothes back into her bag. Just how much had she unpacked? She hadn’t realized she had this many clothes, much less that this much was dirty!

  At least it was all clean now. It wasn’t like there was going to be another chance to get everything really clean in a true laundry until they got back to Izel, so it was going to be a while.

  Amy chuckled. “She isn’t, but you’re not the first person to make that mistake. It’s an artifact from centuries ago, probably from Kestii. It’s really limited, since it can only project memories and it’s always obvious that that’s what it’s doing, but she likes it. I think she found it in a ruins like the one Lan’ti is looking into.”

  “Like the one we’re visiting?” Sophia felt a small rush of excitement at the thought. She’d seen every single Sophie Jones movie, and that wasn’t just because of the similarity in the names between her and Indiana Jones’s daughter. She knew that wasn’t what exploring ruins was really like, but it was what it should be like. Maybe it really was like that here, if they’d found an actual working magic item.

  “Hopefully,” Amy answered cheerfully. “I think that’s why Modir is letting Lan’ti explore. Most ruins don’t have anything, but the ones that do can be really rich and valuable. It all depends on what was there originally. Some of them are even Challenges; who knows what we’ll find?”

  The enthusiasm for the possible reward of exploring ruins lasted through the rest of packing up. They met Los’en in the Registry entrance, then made their way past crowds that were only partly friendly. Sophia was covered by a very limited illusion that hid only the shine of her horns; dark antlers rising above brown hair was common enough that the Templars would likely not realize Sophia was the one who stole the Broken Sword, if the Templars were even still looking for her.

  In one of the last open areas before the tunnel that led out of the caves, Sophia saw an old man in armor that she was pretty confident matched the image of the Hilt. It was from a distance, so she couldn’t be certain, but she was pretty confident it was him. He didn’t say anything or move to get closer, but Sophia could feel his eyes watch them until they vanished into the tunnel.

  Sophia was pretty sure he wasn’t even looking for her. He was probably paying attention to Los’en, since Los’en’s “exile” was a key part of the deal between him and Ais’lin Brightfall and the Registry. His presence still made her want to pull her hood over the top of her horns, but she knew she shouldn’t. That would ruin the point of the illusion: the Templars had to see that the person they were looking for wasn’t there, if they were still looking for her.

  It chafed a little to leave the situation unresolved behind her. The Templars were a lot weaker than they had been, with the sudden cancellation of their Hallowing ceremony, the deaths of several strong Templars, and the apparently surprising refusal of the Hilt to perform the “blessing” he normally did during mass monster attacks, but it wasn’t over.

  As they quietly left Izel and let the Hilt think he’d won a victory, some of Los’en’s confederates were supposed to be spiriting Aric out of the Broken Temple. He still hadn’t said who she was, but Los’en wanted that threat completely neutralized. He also wanted Aric’s testimony about what he saw after Sophia touched the Broken Sword; his hope was that Aric would be willing to help spread the rumor that the Broken Temple attacked a Hallowed.

  If Los’en’s allies could make it seem like the Broken Temple wasn’t in complete accord with the Broken Lord, it would be a powerful weapon against them. Los’en didn’t think it would be enough to get rid of the Temple, but it might be enough to defang the Hilt for years.

  Sophia hated politics. The fine art of making people hate your opponent so they’d do what you told them to do even when it was stupid annoyed her. She couldn’t argue with the fact that it was necessary for large-scale civilization, apparently, but that didn’t make it any more pleasant to be around.

  It was literally a breath of fresh air when Sophia stepped out of the end of the last tunnel onto a snow-covered hillside. The area was fortified, even if the fortifications were half-buried in snow, but there weren’t any monsters. They’d come out on the north side of the mountain, and the monsters were all attacking from the south. A few were coming in from the west, especially recently, but the vast majority were incoming from the south. They ought to be able to avoid them as they left.

  It was a long trip down the mountain. Unlike the slope they’d originally climbed, this one was dotted with small buildings near the roadway. Most were little more than shelters for people or animals, but some of them seemed to be designed to hold supplies instead. They didn’t stop to investigate, so all Sophia could say for sure was that the one they stopped at for the night had a well-designed roof but became smoky once they lit a fire inside. It wasn’t very warm, so Sophia was very glad that her tent was easily able to handle the temperature.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  The morning air was clear and cold. Soon after they broke camp, Dav saw an odd bird in the distance. As they continued down the mountain, it all too soon became clear that it wasn’t a bird. It was winged, but the wings were too small and the head was too big. Even more importantly, though, the wings never moved. It didn’t have to flap to move; it just floated there, like it was caught in its very own gravity-canceling sunbeam.

  It seemed to be headed towards them, but they were all certain it was actually headed up the mountain and wouldn’t get too close. That was where all of the other monsters were going, after all; the magical crystal at the heart of the mountain attracted them.

  Sophia kept glancing towards the monster. It was a blue-furred creature with yellowed ivory horns and pure white wings, an odd combination. The head looked almost leonine, but the rest of the body was just too small unless she counted the odd-looking green … tail? She wasn’t sure what it was that dangled below the creature, often lost in the bushes and boulders that covered the mountain.

  It seemed to keep getting closer and closer. Some of that could be explained by it climbing the mountain while they descended, but it didn’t seem to be turning away from them at all. Eventually, it was close enough that Sophia could make it out clearly. Even if she still couldn’t tell what was under it she could tell that the green-and-purple thing was something separate. “Los’en? Amy, er, Ci’an? What is that thing, and what’s it carrying?”

  “I have no idea,” Amy admitted. “Some sort of flying cat?”

  They didn’t stop moving while Los’en looked. He spent quite a while watching it move and the way it flew as it continued to approach. “That’s a Horned Mountain Peak Sage Lion. It’s a solid opponent for a second upgrade team, but I don’t know what it’s doing away from its mountain peak. They’re supposed to be strongest in their own territory and I’ve never heard of one leaving. We hunt them when we find them, because other monsters near them tend to get stronger faster, and they make really good material for cold-weather gear.”

  “It is carrying that thing below it though, right?” Sophia didn’t like the look of whatever it was. It looked more like a bug that belonged under a rock than something that should be floating in open air.

  “Yes,” Los’en agreed. “That’s why it looks like the air around it is glowing. No one knows how it does it, but Horned Mountain Sage Lions all glow when they’re in the air. That’s one of their biggest attacks; if a boulder starts glowing, you can be sure it’s about to be thrown at you.”

  “Do you think it’s going to throw that bug-thing at us, then?” Sophia frowned at it, trying to get a better look. “Do you think it’s seen us?”

  “It has to have seen us. I don’t know why else it would be headed this way,” Los’en agreed. “As for what that is, I don’t know. It’s not something I’d expect a Horned Mountain Lion Sage to throw, but I don’t know why else it would be carrying it.”

  “We need a plan,” Dav interrupted. “How would you normally fight a flying lion?”

  “Ambush, if I have a choice,” Los’en answered easily. “Since that’s not going to happen … what can you three do at a significant distance? I know Ci’an’s pretty limited for now, Night Owl is eventually good at long distance but I don’t think she’s there yet.”

  “I can talk for myself,” Amy muttered. “I have one Ability that might work, but it’s weakened by distance and won’t do much until the Shield is gone.”

  “You took Searing Sight?” Los’en sounded surprised. “That’s an unusual choice. Night Owls usually start out with the sleep and control Abilities, not the attack Abilities.”

  “With this group?” Amy snorted. “Anything that will keep me away from the monsters is good, I’d rather not get caught in a poison cloud again. Anyway, I had plenty of Wisps, so I took a good variety of Abilities.”

  “I don’t have much,” Dav admitted. “I can fly, and fly quickly, but that’s how I deal with stuff in the air; I have to go up to it and hit it.”

  “I have some choices,” Sophia contributed. “Most of them require me to be closer than this, but I have an idea.”

  Most of her spells required her to be able to hit them from feathers that floated within her aura. The spell didn’t have to stay in her aura, but there was still a range and the blue lion was far enough away that she wasn’t confident. She wasn’t the only person with spells, though, and at least some of them weren’t nearly as range limited. She focused inwardly and spoke silently. “Cliff? Can you use Summon Echo, or whatever it became for you? Invoke Vestige?”

  Cliff didn’t answer verbally. Instead, an area ahead of Sophia began to glow. It formed a ball of white light that seemed to have swirls of red and orange mixed in. After about twenty seconds, it seemed to expand, leaving behind a three-foot-tall white-silver dragon with a line of fire running down her back. Her wings were feathered in the same whitish-silver with darker reddish centers. The dragon’s eyes glowed with red fire, which was echoed by the plume of fire she sent straight up when she looked over towards the monster. She spread her wings and bounced into the air without waiting for instructions from Sophia.

  They haven’t had time to practice. That’s surely not going to bite them too hard. Surely. Right?