Fae work customs often seem barbaric to those larger races who expect to get a full night’s sleep between shifts, but twenty hour days are fully expected for creatures who can rest for a half hour and be ready to go for another five.


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    The entire courtyard was eerily quiet, uncannily still. Even the normal mana drift was absent, absorbed by the vampiric ritual preserving their bodies and allowing their blood to continue to flow.


    Jair had been with the reviving sorcerer the entire time, so there was only one explanation. Sekir wasn’t working alone.


    “Bladewalk.” Jair jumped onto Maelstrom and floated up far above the oasis, searching for any survivors.


    Eythron wasn''t anywhere to be seen, but Jair would bet the old man had fled the moment he realized he couldn''t defeat Sekir''s companion. That, or he''d already killed…whoever it was Sekir had been working with.


    During their whole conversation, Sekir knew his lackeys were doing this. Why else would he''ve been so casual?


    Sekir kept Jair talking, holding his attention. Saying whatever it took to keep him from running off and interrupting whatever his allies were doing.


    Jair''s heart burned with pure rage. He tried to darkflame Raina back together, Ajriol, Qahrvirna, but it''d been long enough even the vampire''s remnant spirit had dissipated.


    He''d lost them. Any memories they''d created since... he didn''t know how long it would be, but they''d all have reset to their initial status without him looping them.


    He took himself back to Lilin, half expecting her to be dead too, but she was happily shouting insults at the doorman for House Parlek.


    "We have to go." He took her arm and darkflamed them back to Silvas, then Mount Ryenzo. He half expected to find Eythron here, but of course he wouldn''t be, not yet. Even if the old man decided to bladewalk his way here at full speed, it would take hours and hours.


    "What''s wrong?" Jair''s curt abruptness shocked Lilin out of her ire, and now she looked at him with wide, concerned eyes.


    "I miscalculated. Got caught up in something when I should have been paying attention. I need to find Eythron, if he''s alive." Dovak, let him be alive. Jair didn''t want to see any more of his loved ones dead for today.


    "What happened?"


    "Sekir wasn''t working alone. I was gone too long."


    Is this what would have happened the first time around if he hadn''t heard Carn''s scream and gone to investigate? Without Jair present, Sekir would have just kept killing his way through everyone?


    Not even Sekir personally, but whoever he''d hired.


    Jair frowned. That was another problem. Where were these people? Who was actually doing the killing? He''d never seen anyone in the courtyard. He''d never seen anyone in the party who didn''t belong there. The only one who he''d seen inside who didn''t end up dead was the known-Sekir that he''d bisected when he found the man cuddling with Qahrvirna.


    "I''m sorry."


    Jair huffed out a tired breath. "Don''t be. It''s not your fault, or anything you could have prevented."


    "Was it..." she swallowed. "Was it bad? Like...?"


    "Yes." Jair didn''t go into details, and she didn''t ask. "Wait here. I''m going to search for Eythron. Uqiar can protect you."


    Lilin nodded, her brow furrowed in worry, but she let him show her to where Uqiar sat in his room working on his crafting something from a greyish leather, but Jair wasn''t sure if it was a piece of armor or something intended as decoration.


    "Keep her safe. I need to find Eythron."


    "He''s that way." Uqiar pointed with absolute certainty and no hesitation.


    Jair blinked. "How do you know?"


    "I just know."


    Jair teleported himself directly upward to well above the volcano, then tossed Maelstrom ahead of him and shot off in the direction Uqiar had pointed. Teleporting himself midair didn’t come naturally, but it saved a lot of travel time.


    The first few times he almost fell out of the sky as he lost the connection with Bladewalk when he used Darkflame, but the more times he repeated the practice the more he acclimated. Before long he was flying along at insane speeds, skipping forward every few seconds while maintaining a steady flight between.


    It still took almost an hour to find Eythron. The old mageblade was hiding out of sight beneath a stone overhang, one Jair overshot the first time. Only after he''d gone off further than the oasis and doubled back did he manage to locate him.


    Eythron lay up against the rock at the back of the sheltered area, eyes closed and sword in hand. He wasn''t wearing a robe any longer, as it had been repurposed into bandages.


    Jair jumped forward and darkflamed him a few paces to the side to instantly repair the damage. Eythron''s eyes snapped open and he instinctively lashed out with his sword before recognizing Jair.


    "It''s you."


    Jair nodded.


    Eythron slumped. "I tried, lad. But he could read my every move. I''ve never fought someone so perfectly matched to my skills. In the end, I barely escaped. I couldn''t beat him."


    A swordfighter? "Who? What did he look like? What spells did he use?"


    “No spells. Just pure skill. He was like no one I’ve ever faced.”


    “Were there more than one, or just him?”


    Eythron lay back and closed his eyes wearily. "Just one. If you don''t count your vampiress."


    "What! Qahri?"


    Eythron nodded weakly. "Surprised me too. I guess it goes to show you never can trust a vampire. Should have known better than to bring her with us."


    "Are you alright? You seem very worn."


    "I''ve been stabbed more times than a dustrat on a skewer, what do you expect?"


    "Darkflame should have healed you, at least the most recent injuries."


    Eythron scoffed. "I think I''d know if you''d done anything like that."


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Jair sighed. Of course Eythron would be one of the ones who was unresponsive to Darkflame. Of everyone he could have picked to not be healable, Eythron was one of the worst options. But Eythron''s soul was strong and stubborn. Even if Darkflame was a positive force, it was still a deeply invasive one.


    "Guess it''s a good thing Qahri ended up dead."


    "That was my doing."


    "Thank you. That must have been hard."


    "Eh. She''s always been asking for a beating. She tried possessing one of the kids and I had to put him down too."


    It stung to have someone he''d considered a friend and ally turn against them, but of anyone in Team Oriad, Qahrvirna had always been the wildcard. Of course she''d find Sekir''s plans more fun than Jair''s. His didn’t include nearly enough mayhem. “Good thing you escaped, or I''d probably have kept reverting with her.”


    Fortunately, in her case, the solution was simple enough. Just leave her back at the mountain in future loops and she''d never have the chance to be corrupted by the sorcerer''s tricks.


    Since she''d been killed this loop, she wouldn''t have any memory of having been Sekir''s ally, so he couldn''t interrogate her about his plans once they reverted. But she also would have no reason to think they were anything but allies still. She should cooperate.


    Unless she was planning to betray them all along. He really hoped that wasn''t the case.


    Eythron suppressed a groan as he patted his bleeding and bandaged chest. “It’ll take more than this to keep me down. If there weren’t two of them I’d have finished them both in the end.”


    "I don’t doubt it.” Jair hefted Maelstrom to take them back to Lilin, then paused. “You wanted to see the final product. Did you get a good look at it, the courtyard after…all of it?"


    Eythron growled wordlessly.


    "Or did you leave before it was finished?"


    "I left."


    "Then let''s go back and get you a look. If it had to happen, we can at least analyze the outcome."


    Eythron nodded stiffly. Jair darkflamed them both to the courtyard entrance, with less difficulty this time as Eythron knew not to resist it. Meliarn’s urgent draw tried to tug at him, but his burning rage turned its voice into distant static.


    The scene remained as he''d left it. The staff sat around the table in the same configuration as the previous time, all dead by different methods. The guests lay spread out around them, all facing feet toward the table.


    Everyone except Jair''s allies. Raina and Qahrvirna had been divided into sections like Ajriol and decorated the walls on either side of him.


    Carn lay sprawled on the ground between Ajriol and the table, bloodless and lifeless like the guests, one arm reaching toward his master.


    "Yes, this is very purposeful." Eythron walked slowly around the scene, examining it from every angle. He paced out the distance between guests, the space between Ajriol and Raina and Qahrvirna. "And they set most of this up after they were dead. Those two for sure—"


    "This isn''t like him."


    Eythron paused and raised an eyebrow at him.


    "I''ve fought him so many times, and yes, he likes being grandiose, but this is way outside of his usual methods. He''s always been more... subtle. Covert. Not blatant aggression. Not until I''ve already beaten him a few times and he''s getting mad." Jair frowned. "He did say I''ve killed him though. Have I killed anyone in Veor? I don''t remember killing anyone. That one guy who was allergic to Darkflame? But I reverted him to being alive."


    "You have some more genius ideas as to why what''s happened shouldn''t have happened?"


    Jair snorted and shook his head. "Go ahead. I''ll wait." The metallic taste of blood in the air was making him twitchy. It reminded him of... too much that he''d rather not relive. But if there was anything Eythron could discern from the mess left behind, it would be better to learn it now than have the incident repeat itself.


    He couldn’t stop glancing at Raina. What was left of her.


    Every time it hit him all over again, deep in his chest, suffocating pressure, a yawning emptiness. Too deeply familiar and too raw all at once. He could gladly strangle Sekir a hundred times over and still not be satisfied.


    Sekir wanted Jair’s attention? Well.


    He was about to get it.


    All of it.


    Eythron continued circling the table, then came to an abrupt stop.


    Jair forcefully shook away the desperate grief and turned his attention to his mentor’s investigation. “What did you find?”


    "This doesn''t fit." Eythron peered closer at Molash''s body, then went down the table slowly, checking all the others before returning to Molash. "This isn''t fake.” He prodded the boy’s shoulder with one finger. “This was a true suicide. The others are just staged to look that way."


    "So he terrified the kid into playing along?" That would be very much in line with Sekir''s preferences for coercion and control. He loved his mind games.


    Jair did not love mind games. They made him want to stab things.


    "This was all done very hastily.” Eythron waved a hand to indicate the whole courtyard. “Within an hour. And there''s no sign of hesitation. This kid just went for it."


    "And this isn''t the one Qahri possessed?"


    "No, that one." One of those lying on the floor midway around the opposite side of the table, who did have several more slashes than the others.


    Jair tapped a finger to his lips as he contemplated Molash''s corpse. "The first time we came back to this scene partly set, Molash was the only one in the area. When he saw us he screamed and dropped his tray... but the first time around when we weren''t in the courtyard, no one raised the alarm. He kept dying, so I assumed he was being targeted, but if he''s one of Sekir''s forms? He could be killing himself to free him up to move to a different body. Covering it up with all these others, making it look like part of his ritual rather than something he needs to do for his own reasons."


    He thought back, trying to remember if he''d seen Molash alive and active at any point in the day later than when the primary or secondary Sekir incarnations had been lurking around, and he didn''t come up with any. Molash was around for the first half of the day, then either died or went off somewhere. Coincidentally, a couple hours later, Sekir came around opening windows, then another version used those windows to enter.


    Had Jair checked the courtyard specifically? He''d been distracted by Lilin''s party and watching the Sekir bodies. He’d left it to Eythron, Qahrvirna, and Ajriol and Raina to keep an eye on things.


    And he’d neglected to check on anyone after he started watching Sekir''s reincarnation process. Which had given him valuable information, so it wasn’t a complete loss. Better to have seen it through to the end than be distracted halfway and learn nothing. Even if it felt wrong at the moment.


    He’d allowed himself to become fixated on Sekir, not considering the fact that he might have allies of his own.


    "We lost whatever Ajriol or Carn saw, but we can try again. This time with me present. I just need to catch him unprepared."


    "Is that all?" Eythron snorted. "I think you''re still underestimating our adversaries."


    "In what way?"


    "Do you anticipate being able to catch him unprepared when every indication has been that he''s incredibly adaptable and fully capable of dealing with anything we throw against him?"


    "Is this you being defeatist?"


    Eythron scoffed. "You weren''t there. You haven''t seen him fight. Qahrvirna wasn''t even close."


    "Whoever you were fighting, it was an accomplice, not Sekir himself. He was busy being rebodied at the time. And I''ll still need a description."


    Eythron described him, but it wasn''t anyone Jair recognized. Still, he filed away the information for future reference.


    "I think we’ve learned everything we can from this. We know more about how he operates than ever before, especially this far into the past. I''ve got access to a whole set of his backup bodies, and we know roughly how long it takes him to switch into a new one when he dies. Just need to find a way to deal with him permanently now the princess isn’t in the picture.”


    “You think a princess is the best way to permanently deal with a master sorcerer? I never got the idea that he was so easily distracted. Let alone permanently.”


    “Tangentially, not because he’s actually interested in her. Back when he was trying to take over the kingdom, he’d have to go to Meliarn to kidnap Princess Fahla, so that’s where we always had our final battle.”


    Eythron huffed derisively. “Yeah, kill him and leave him stuck inside until the dungeon dissolves his soul. That sounds horrific.”


    “It’s not a fun way to die, no, but if anyone deserves it it’s Sekir.”


    “I’ve heard plenty about him being your nemesis and worthy adversary and only one who can challenge your supremacy nonsense, but what is it he’s actually done to deserve being dissolved by a dungeon on a soul level?” Eythron tapped his chin. “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”


    Jair gestured to the blood-soaked courtyard around them. “This doesn’t seem deserving of death?”


    “Death, sure, but slow soul dissolution by dungeon?”


    “Do you have another way to pin his soul in place? Because if not, Meliarn is our only option. Unless we can lure him into Mercurios.” Jair turned to stare at Eythron intently. “Do you think you could do your dungeon slicing routine on a twenty thousand year old dragon?”


    Eythron stared back, then very slowly shook his head. “I think that is outside my pay grade by a large margin.”


    “Worth asking.” He held out Maelstrom. “Come on, let’s go back to the mountain to pick up Lilin, then we''re reverting."


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