Zandrue was seated on a bench in the conservatory when Jorvanultumn arrived. She looked up as he arrived. “I hope you’re not here to scold me.”

“Why would I do that?” he asked.

“I wasn’t there. I didn’t help.”

“If you had been there, you might be dead now. May I sit?”

She slid over on the bench and he sat beside her. There was not a lot of room—the bench had been designed to seat two humans comfortably; as usual no consideration had been given to Isyar—but he was able to shift his right wing behind her.

“Why are you here then?” she asked.

“I was looking for a place to meditate.” He had hoped the conservatory, with its unusual plants, would be a calming place. He had not expected to find Zandrue here, though he was glad he had.

“I’ll get out of your way then.”

“No, please stay. I welcome the company and someone to talk to in place of meditation.”

“So you were looking for a place to meditate, but you don’t want to meditate?”

Jorvanultumn nodded. “Meditation is useful, but it can be...boring.”

Zandrue laughed. “You got that right!”

They then sat in silence for a minute or two. Zandrue could be hard to talk to at the best of times, and in her current condition, Jorvanultumn did not want to say anything that might anger her.

Eventually, Zandrue said, “I heard the cathedral’s in pretty bad shape.”

“Yes, large portions of the roof collapsed. The back and side areas of the building are still intact, but the main worship area is unstable and dangerous. I do not know how easy it will be to repair, or if it will be possible.”

“You went inside, I suppose?”

“Yes, as soon as I heard the screams and crashes. As I told you before, I will break the prohibition to save my friends. Fevionawishtensen as well. Hedromornasta is the only one who did not enter.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me,” Zandrue said.

Jorvanultumn chuckled. “Nor I. However, it turns out he would not have been able to help. The creature apparently had no mind and was immune to anything Mikranasta could do to it.”

Zandrue looked at him with raised eyebrows. “But I heard it could speak and kept saying ‘crumble’ over and over.”

“That is only partially true. It was not truly speaking. It was sending the word telepathically.”

“How does something telepathic not have a mind?”

Jorvanultumn sighed. “I have the same question. I do not know, though I have a speculation that it is through a similar process as Corvinian, who is also immune to Mikranasta’s abilities.”

“Felitïa’s too, then,” Zandrue said.

“Yes.”

“That word,” Zandrue said.

“Yes, the second of the words in the messages. The first creature repeated ‘burn’ and was a fire creature. This one was clearly a creature of earth and stone. My suspicion is the next creature will say ‘drown’ and will be a creature of water, and the last will be one of air.”

Zandrue grinned. “Ideal for you then, right? As an elementalist?”

Jorvanultumn frowned. “Perhaps.” There was more, though. Should he tell her? How would she react?

“I’m not trying to make light of the situation,” Zandrue said, “but just pointing out that it’s good we have you on our side. It could be a lot worse otherwise.”

“Perhaps.” She was right in that he was best suited to face such creatures, but even so, the battle had not been easy.

Early on, Jorvanultumn had focused on stopping the pieces of the ceiling from crushing people, while Fevionawishtensen attacked the creature directly. She cut the creature’s head and arms off multiple times, but it kept reattaching them. Nin-Akna stabbed the creature with her spear—through its neck, its heart, its eyes. Nothing stopped it.

Once people were safe, Jorvanultumn turned his attention to the creature, redirecting its own attacks against it. He had no difficulty stealing the pieces of ceiling it was bringing down and knocking it back. But it was relentless.

At last, he took two massive pieces of stone, each a thousand pounds or more, and slammed them at great speed into either side of the creature’s head, crushing it completely. There was nothing for it to reattach, only small pieces of bone, blood, and brains.

But the body kept moving, so he brought the two rocks down on top of it. Over and over he slammed them into it, smashing its arms and crushing its chest, breaking apart its legs. He was not sure how many times he brought the rocks down, but ultimately he pulverised the creature.

Yet the small pieces still moved.

They edged closer to each other, rejoining together when they touched.

“You, you, and you!” Nin-Akna yelled, pointing to surviving guards. “Gather pieces of the creature and carry them away in different directions! As far as you can! Move!” When one of the guards hesitated, she added, “It’s disgusting, I know. Just do it! Now!”

The guard leapt to action, joining the other guards in picking up parts of the creature. Nin-Akna gathered pieces too, and so did Jorvanultumn and Fevionawishtensen.

Jorvanultumn ended up with a small sack with a few bits of fingers and toes, bone fragments including a rib, and some pieces of internal organs. He and Fevionawishtensen flew together briefly before she headed out over Lake Belone. To the best of his knowledge, she was not back yet. She had intended to take her pieces to the far side of the lake. It could be hours before she was back. Jorvanultumn had flown north of the city a few miles, then began scattering his pieces about the countryside, making certain to fly a quarter mile or so between each dropped piece.

He had flown so fast. His wings ached now, especially the one he had broken in Ninifin. He was glad it had finally healed fully—or as much as it would ever heal—or else he would have caused it even more strain.

Zandrue nudged him out of his retrospection. “Lost you there for a moment. You okay?”

He took a deep breath and looked at her. “Exhausted.” There was more to tell her, but he was uncertain how she would take it.

“How’s Felitïa doing?”

“I do not know. I have not seen her. I understand she was separated from Mikranasta and Hedromornasta had to go retrieve her. As far as I know, she is fine.”

“So what’s eating you then?”

He looked at her. “Eating me?”

She chuckled. “Bothering you.”

“Ah.” Years in Arnor and he still encountered parts of the language that he had not previously known. It was a little frustrating how quickly Mikranasta was mastering the language, though he supposed her magic was playing a large role in that. He took a deep breath. Zandrue needed to know, and would find out eventually. “The creature.”

“What about it? I mean, I get it was dangerous and all, but…”

“The creature looked like a human woman with pale skin, bald, about five feet seven or eight inches.”

Her eyes widened.

“I did not get a good look when you discovered them, but—”

“Oh fuck. Are you suggesting…?”

Jorvanultumn nodded slowly. “Yes, I believe it was one of the bodies you found.”

Zandrue jumped to her feet. “No, please no. Tell me you’re making this up.”

“I cannot tell you that.”

She raised a hand, clenching it, and bit her lip. Then she turned around and paced away a few steps, before turning back to face him. “This is my fault.”

“That is not true.”

“No, don’t tell it’s not my fault, because it is. I’ve sat around… I’ve done nothing… I’ve….”

“You did not know.”

“Doesn’t matter. I could have done something since then. I could have investigated. I could have found something out. It’s been two fucking weeks!”

Jorvanultumn stood up and tried to approach her, but she backed away.

“Stay away from me!”

“I am merely trying to help you.”

She rounded on him. “Help me? You want to help me, Jorvan? Why don’t you go to your fucking mother and tell her to let Felitïa help me? Huh? Can you do that for me?”

“If you wish, I will talk to her and try to convince her. However, if you would let Mikranasta examine you, she would be—”

Zandrue shoved him. “No fucking way! You got that?”

“Zandrue, you are being paranoid.”

“You’re damn right I am! I’m fucking paranoid, and I won’t let your mother and her fucking mind magic anywhere near my head. I never even let Elderaan do something like that.” She raised her arms as if to shove him again, but held back. After a couple deep breaths, she said, “Look, I...I don’t know what’s wrong with me, and maybe it’s making me overly paranoid, but Felitïa is the only one I trust right now. The only mind wizard I mean. Okay? Do you understand?”

He nodded slowly. “I understand. I will talk to Mikranasta and try to convince her, but she can be...difficult to convince.”

“You convinced her to come here. I heard she didn’t want to at first.”

“That is true. However, I suspect circumstances were more responsible for convincing her than anything I might have said.”

“Then impress upon her the current circumstances. Please.”

“I will.”

She put a hand to her mouth and her face contorted like she was about to cry. “I...uh...I think I’m gonna go now. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” She pushed past him and headed for the door. A moment later, she paused and looked back. “If she still says no, I… I know you tried, and that’s all that matters. Thank you.” Then she hurried off.

Jorvanultumn stood there for a little while longer, staring up at the glass ceiling. It was getting dark outside, and he hoped Fevionawishtensen would be back soon, if she was not already.

He had spoken with Felitïa several times over the past couple of days about Zandrue’s condition, and Felitïa had mentioned Zandrue’s refusal to let Mikranasta help her. He had known that, and yet he had suggested it anyway. That had been a mistake. But he had been momentarily incensed at the way she was talking about Mikranasta. Ironically, Mikranasta would not have approved of his response. It had been too emotional. Zandrue was in obvious distress. He should not have been disturbed by her words.

He sat back on the bench and looked to the ceiling again. He would meditate for a short while, and get his own emotions under control. Then he should check in on Meleng and Sinitïa, and see if Fevionawishtensen had returned. He should probably also check if Felitïa was back yet. She needed to know about this encounter with Zandrue.

And yes. He would speak to Mikranasta.

* * * * *

Meleng was sitting in a chair beside Sinitïa’s bed when Jorvanultumn entered the room. On the other side of the bed sat Fevionawishtensen, who rose as he entered.

“Jorvan!” Sinitïa said, holding her arms out in a hugging motion.

He smiled at her as he approached, and Meleng moved aside so Jorvanultumn could get in closer. Leaning over, he touched his forehead to Sinitïa’s while she wrapped her arms around his neck. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better. Feviona’s been telling us about her trip over the lake with the monster pieces.”

“If you do not mind, I would like…” He tilted his head in Fevionawishtensen’s direction.

“Oh yes, of course!” Sinitïa let go of him, and he stood back up.

Both he and Fevionawishtensen made their way to the end of the bed. There was another person in the room whom Jorvanultumn had not noticed at first. She was standing at the far side of the room, past the door, and her presence almost distracted him from Fevionawishtensen’s.

They touched foreheads and wing tips together. Under the cover of their wings, Fevionawishtensen signed, “She is angry at me.”

“Why?” he mouthed.

“She says I should have brought some of the creature’s remains back here. We could have kept them in a sealed container and studied them. She is right. I didn’t think of that, but I am not in the mood to be lectured by her right now.”

“I’ll intercede,” he whispered. “Now, we shouldn’t stay like this too long.” He kissed her and they parted.

Then he turned to the other person present and approached her. As he touched foreheads with Mikranasta, he spoke quietly, “I need to speak to you.”

“Of course,” she said. “Any time.”

“As soon as I’ve spent some time with Sinitïa.” He turned around and headed back to Sinitïa, switching to Arnorgue as he said, “I am glad you have come, Mikranasta.”

“How could I not?” Mikranasta said, also coming forward. “Sinitïa Alessia Deanna Folith may not be my fomaze, but I do care about her condition.”

“She checked my head to make sure I wasn’t crazy,” Sinitïa said with a grin.

“That’s not entirely accurate,” Mikranasta said. “Meleng Drago said you had concussion and I merely wanted to check how you were recovering.”

“Yeah, but con...con-cushion or whatever is the same as being crazy, right?”

Meleng leaned over and squeezed her hand. “It’s not crazy. You just spend a bit of time...out of sorts, I suppose.”

Sinitïa peered up at him. “Exactly. Crazy.”

Meleng shook his head. “No. It’s…”

Sinitïa stuck her tongue out at him, then propped herself up on her elbows, pursing her lips and leaning towards him for a kiss.

Meleng gave her a quick kiss, but then tried to gently push her back down. “You shouldn’t move around too much. You need to rest.”

With an exaggerated sigh, Sinitïa lay back down, plopping her head on her pillows. She groaned. “Oh, that made me dizzy.”

“I told you, no sudden movements,” Meleng said.

Sinitïa groaned some more, though she was clearly exaggerating again.

“Now I know you’re recovering well, Sinitïa Alessia Deanna Folith,” Mikranasta said, “I will bother you no longer. May the night be short.”

“May the night be short, Mikranasta,” Sinitïa said. “And thank you.”

Mikranasta bowed her head and turned for the door. “Jorvanultumn, you wished to talk to me?”

“Yes.” Jorvanultumn looked to Sinitïa. “I will return shortly.”

Sinitïa nodded, and Jorvanultumn followed Mikranasta out into the hall.

As soon as he had closed the door, Mikranasta said, “I take it this is about Zandromeda Armida.”

“Yes, how did you…?”

She placed her palm on his cheek and smiled. “I simply know you well. And the answer is no.” She removed her hand and turned her back to him. “I’ve been through this with Felitïa Asa Folith already, and I do not wish to go through it with you.”

“Then explain why,” Jorvanultumn said.

“Why?” She turned back to him. “You don’t trust my judgement?”

“No, it’s not that. I…”

“The Will-Breaker is not ready, and I think you know it. She has immense power and very little control. You know the danger mentalism magic and similarly telepathy can pose to the unprepared mind. Look what happened to your friend, Meleng Drago.”

“Felitïa would never—”

“Of course she wouldn’t. Not deliberately. But accidents can happen. Even she realises that, which is why she had to send for me or Hedromornasta to retrieve her. She knew she could not wander unshielded through the streets of the city.”

“But this would be different. As I understand it, you could maintain the shield around her. You just need to extend it to allow Zandrue in. Zandrue would be the only one affected and she has consented.”

Mikranasta sighed and shook her head. “You know better than that, Jorvanultumn. I may not be your diare, but I’ve taught you better. Zandromeda Armida does not fully understand the situation. She cannot give informed consent, and without that, I will not consider it. And that is final. You may now tell both Felitïa Asa Folith and Zandromeda Armida that you tried. Your conscience is clear.” She touched her forehead to his. “Pleasant thoughts, Jorvanultumn.”

“There is actually one other thing,” Jorvanultumn said.

She took a step back. “Oh?”

“Fevionawishtensen. She says you’re angry at her.”

Mikranasta closed her eyes briefly and bowed her head. It took her a moment to respond. “Yes, I was...angry is the wrong word, but I was stern with her. Please tell her I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so harsh.”

“You often are.”

She looked up with a sad smile. “Fair.” She placed her palm on his cheek again. “I merely wish perfection for you.”

“And if I don’t need that?”

She patted his cheek. “Then allow me one imperfection of my own.” Smiling at him, she turned away. “Let’s talk more tomorrow. About more pleasant things. For now, go be with your fomase and fomazee. Enjoy their company. Pleasant thoughts, Jorvanultumn.”

“Pleasant thoughts, Mikranasta.”

He watched her until she was out of sight, then went back into Sinitïa’s room, where both Meleng and Fevionawishtensen were now on the bed with Sinitïa. Meleng was leaning back, his head resting against Sinitïa’s. Fevionawishtensen sat to the other side. They all smiled and waved him over.

“She says sorry,” he told Fevionawishtensen.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s something, I suppose.”

“Join us!” Sinitïa said, extending her arms to hug again.

“Is there room?”

“It’s a big bed! Melly, move your legs.”

Meleng bent his legs up, leaving a bit of space that Jorvanultumn attempted to sit in. It was difficult to position his wings, and he accidentally batted Sinitïa and Meleng a couple of times, sending Sinitïa into fits of laughter and then groans as it made her dizzy.

Sinitïa’s laughter was infectious, and Jorvanultumn soon joined in.

After a stressful day, it was comforting to know he had a family like this that he loved dearly, and they loved him. For a little while, he could forget about the death and destruction that so frequently surrounded them. And that was what he did as they talked and laughed into the late hours of the night before all gradually falling asleep in a pile.