We exited the deserted building and were greeted by a street that proved just as empty.

A vast silence reigned here. Windmire above ground was desolate, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness—a laughter that was as mirthless as groans of increasing discomfort.

The street was a trench of raw white fog. It was dense enough to shut out everything from the light of the blurry street-lamps to a few yards of the road. The flagstones of the deserted street were lined with a thin coating of adhesive mud.

We met no other wayfarers, but the Lord inquired about my abilities nonetheless.

"The fog gives us good cover, but it would be wise to avoid any brigands who use this to their advantage as well. Are you confident that you can lead us to our destination without running into any trouble?"

"Avoiding the highwaymen won't be the issue," I answered, "Roaming Faceless are what has me worried."

"Then don't worry," Leo said, "The Faceless that roam these streets are no threat. I can control them quite easily."

"So you are indeed one of those mages, huh?" I inquired and my tone changed to one of slight malice.

"Well yes, though I don't understand what you try to convey by taking that tone with me."

"Nothin', really.", I said cooly, " I find the extraordinary cruelty of these abominations absolutely fascinating. But the fact that you and your mage-friends let those beasts loose on the regular folks of Windmire—who clearly don't stand a chance against them—turned this city effectively into this frigid, charmless place. Once upon a time this part of town used to have the best brothels in all of Windmire. It's a shame, I tell you. A shame!"

"In that case I must apologize to you. I see that you have suffered a great loss. I can't imagine what you must be going through," he replied in a sarcastic voice that turned factually as he continued, "Though, I think I see the true intent behind your comment. Indeed, many citizens have lost their lives to the Faceless. But using Faceless has saved many a soldier their life."

"And many soldiers had to give their life while hunting down abnormal ones also.", I objected.

"I know," Lord Leo replied, "Their usefulness is questionable at times and even though I utilize them myself, I am not in favour of allowing every mage to use them as recklessly as they do now. But my opinion on this matters not. I do not hold enough power to change the means of warfare. All I can do is have faith in my father, the king; for his experience far outweighs my own. And you also have no right to question his decisions."

"Your father… is it true what they say… that he is cruel? Even to his own children?", I asked barely containing the curiosity in my tone.

"Rumors like that have little substance," the Lord clarified and it was clear that he didn't like where this conversation was going, "He is demanding, but he expects nothing from us he wouldn't do himself.

He dictates that we improve on our abilities, since he has attained immense power.

He expects us to act with no regard to our scruples, since he is without.

He demands us to be tough on our enemies, since he is merciless.

His methods might seem harsh but they prepare us."

"Prepare you for what?", I asked.

He looked me right into the eye. "For war, of course."

"Which war? Last time I checked we were at war with everyone. All those tribes are at war with us and each other all the time."

"Those are rebellions," he corrected, "But no. I'm talking about the only war that counts. The war against Hoshido."

"I thought there is no war against Hoshido," I said genuinely confused, "Is there not some kind of barrier?"

"The barrier will go down at some point and we will be ready."

'Unlikely', I thought, 'It has been in place for decades.' So instead of going into details regarding the barrier I intended to sound out where the prince stood on his father's policies.

"Then you approve of your father's methods, I suppose?", I asked.

"You can suppose all you want.", he countered sharply, agitated by my probing questions. He took a deep, irritated breath and then continued in a gentler but firm tone, "He is my father. I trust, rely and believe in him absolutely and have confidence in his power, wisdom and goodness. I am not a heedless listener who forgets, but an active doer who obeys."

"You choose a life of obedience?"

"Without obedience it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to him," he said and I took note of his demeanor.

He was fidgeting, avoiding eye contact, and his tone was slightly raised.

His father was a sore subject. How curious.

"Listen carefully," he stressed, "whatever thoughts you may harbour on his reign, I do not wish to hear them. Neither in this empty street nor in the castle nor anywhere else for that matter. Heed this warning, for thoughts against him are a dangerous thing to think and words against him are the words of a goner."

"Well then," I replied nonchalantly, "If mere words can lead to death, then I must wonder what the possession of such an Item might cause."

"I must say you have a talent for reading between the lines," he said with a sly, slow smile and an approving gleam in his eyes. Though, he still seemed strangely on edge, "Indeed, I had been ordered by him to destroy it, but chose not to."

"And kept it in your quarters.", I pointed out.

"A foolish thing to do," he admitted readily, "I am no coward, but I normally only run calculated risks. The problem is that impossible coincidences happen because probability requires that coincidences rarely—but not never—occur. Your band of thieves receiving an order by a random person to break into my rooms and steal exactly that Item is such an impossible coincidence. So impossible, in fact; that I must wonder if it's a coincidence at all."

"Maybe it's not." I answered with a shrug, "I run risks solely because I have little to lose and much to gain. You on the other hand have a lot to lose and little to gain. I wonder why you'd run the risk at all."

At this his eyes were brighter than I had known them for this entire night. They shone with the same perverted enthusiasm which I saw in others roused only by the contemplation of some new audacity.

"An artifact like that does not exist twice in this world," he answered in a tone so solemn and glazed over, that one would think he lay in a lover's arms, "I couldn't possibly destroy it."

And this made no sense to me. To harbour such thoughts for a thing. All my life I had struggled to steal things and to sell things; but no matter how beautiful, how costly, how intricate in their design, they were just that to me. Things.

...

The steaming mist made its way through the air in ripples that visibly followed and overspread one another, as the waves of an unwholesome sea might do. The figure of a giant came slowly through the eddying mist, and approached the side of the street where we stood.

It was a Faceless that stood before us; blown and covered with mud; from the shackled fists, which scraped along the ground, to the masked head.

I stooped, and, casting up my eyes at the figure, took an arrow from the quiver and readied myself. The Lord remained in his place, steadfast.

He opened his tome and took measures to bring the Faceless under his spell.

"Oh," he said.

"What do you mean by 'Oh' ?" I asked.

"I can't take control.", he answered

"But you said you could do it easily!" I murmured exasperated.

"Well yes," he conceded, "But not with this one. Someone else already controls it."

"So, a rogue mage after all?"

"Maybe. Let's find out!" He said and attacked. A cry of startled admiration went from my lips.

Leo had covered the distance and gone in with a spell; and with the same swiftness as before he had slashed the beast with Brynhildr's vines and leaped clear.

The Faceless was bleeding from a rip in its thick neck. It gave no sign, did not even snarl, but turned and followed after Lord Leo.

The display on both sides, the quickness of the one and the steadiness of the other, had me excited, and I wished I could have stood by and made bets with a crowd. Again, and yet again, Leo sprang in, attacked, and got away untouched, and still his strange foe followed after him, without too great haste, not slowly, but deliberately and determinedly.

The Lords whole demeanour, every action, was economised. Each time that a spell struck, it sank easily into the dead flesh, while the Faceless did not seem to defend itself.

Another disconcerting thing about the creature was that it made no outcry, such as one was accustomed to with other enemies. Beyond a growl or a grunt, the Faceless took its punishment silently. And never did it flag in its pursuit of him.

Leo leaped in with a flash of his tome that ripped down the side of the Faceless. Both sides of the things neck and head were ripped and slashed. It bled freely, but showed no signs of being disconcerted.

The thing rattled its chains, growled hoarsely, and plunged at him. It lifted it's shackled fist ready to drill him into the earth. As the Faceless' fist descended I was at the Lord's side, fending of the attack.

"Glad you decided to join in!", he acknowledged; not even breaking a sweat.

I smirked at him and took aim. "Happy to deliver!" I let go of the bowstring, the arrow glided through the fog like a fish through the sea and hit the beast right in the forehead. Big cracks appeared on the Faceless' mask where my arrow had entered and destroyed whatever lay beneath that forehead. The Faceless fell backwards and disappeared into the nothingness from which it had been summoned.

There was a moment of triumph in which we exchanged a knowing glance. It did not last long.

In the same way in which the mist seemed to swallow up every distant object, it now did it's best to heave up an array of Faceless. The whiteness parted and gave way to three more of those atrocities.

"More of them," I mumbled, cursing under my breath, "And it is hard to judge how many more will follow these. We can't possibly fight an army of Faceless."

"Not just the two of us, that's for sure. But if we had an army of our own…", the Lord replied and trailed off.

His tome glowed in it's unsettling purple gleam.

There was a hint of magic in the air that even I was able to sense. A magic more dark and deep, an epitome of Nohr itself. This magic wasn't only more dense, it was ripe, and it called out. What disturbed me most was the response. "RWAAAAAAGH!", a deep guttural sound echoed through the street that made my hair stand on end. Well-decayed flesh mingled with the earth and pulled itself out of another world upon their masters calling.

The Lord had summoned his own Faceless horde to aid him and sent them charging into our enemies.

The sound of decayed flesh hitting flesh, the rattling of chains, the distinct 'clunk' of shackles hitting shackles, the nauseating calls from malformed throats. It was by far the most detestable and repulsive thing I have ever witnessed. Men killing men, that is the nature of things. This… was quite beyond the power of words to classify.

I stood there. Frozen. Somewhere between appalled and awestruck until the Lord snapped me out of it with an order.

"I want you on that rooftop!" Leo pointed towards said building, "I can't assess the situation in this dense fog. I need you to scout out the environment, think clearly and make decisions accordingly."

I looked at the sheer height of the building. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I'm no facade climber."

"You don't have to be." he said and withdrew one of his Faceless from the frontline. "I'll throw you up there with the strength of one of my Faceless."

I stared at Leo with disgust evident on my face. Though, the Lords Faceless truly bend its knees and got in a squatting position, arms outstretched and hands folded as if it were to give me a leg-up.

I swallowed and pushed the bile shooting in my mouth down. 'There is nothing to fear', I told myself. 'Abominations they may be. But abominations infused with the commands of my Lord—mere slaves to his desire—and thus, allies of mine.' And that was all it took to regain my courage.

I asked straightforwardly, "If I spot the mage and have a clear line of fire can I go in for a shot?"

"I doubt it'll be that easy," the Lord refocused on navigating the Faceless on the frontlines and spoke, "But if you gain the upper hand, I'd rather you arrange a little chit-chat with my mage-friend, if you so could."

"Understood," I said, but couldn't hold back a lewd remark, "Though, I didn't take you for a chatterbox. I find that quite appealing!"

"You meant to say 'appalling'," he corrected.

"No no, Milord," I rebutted, "I said what I meant."

His head whipped around at that and one of his Faceless suffered a nasty punch for it.

He opened his mouth in protest but I took off, sped towards the squatting Faceless and allowed the beast to catapult me in the air. I whirled through the mist and landed soft-footed on the roof.

I took in the sight. The street below disembogued in a huge square surrounded by tightly packed buildings with crumbling-looking gables, broken small-paned windows, and archaic chimneys that stood out half-disintegrated against the moonlit sky.

Lord Leo had been correct. While it was hard to make out the enormity of the enemy forces from down there in the dense fog, it became painfully clear from up here that we were on the losing side.

The opposing forces advanced towards the center of the Lord's unnatural army and there were at least a dozen and a half. What the Lord had summoned was only a small force in comparison. Whoever the mage was, he had spent his time wisely; summoning as many Faceless as he could and now he was pulling them together, sending them out to squash Leo.

This fight did not look good if the numbers were anything to go by and there was no sense in fighting a lost battle.

Leo held his own against the frontal attack.

His Faceless crashing against the enemies, attacking with their shackled fists; reacting to every command swiftly and steadily, every bit the slaves they were. Brynhildr's vines slashed and tormented their foes along with them, but it was ultimately not enough. Even now he started to fall back.

'Though,' I realized, 'there is still a chance. If I could locate and neutralize the rogue mage who commands the opposing Faceless then we'd easily win.'

I scanned the area, but even though the huge Faceless were easy to make out from my elevated position, it was still difficult to discern anything smaller in size. But I wouldn't need my eyesight to deduct were the mage hid.

'If I were him,' I thought, 'I would want to operate from a place where I could easily overlook the square, but it should also give me good cover. In that case I'd choose to reside in a building on the opposite site.' I scrutinized said building but could spot a mage. Yet, I decided to check it out, choosing big gargoyles with batlike wings and long necks adorning the rooftop as my focus point.

'I'm sorry Milord. But you'll have to be the decoy this time,' I called out internally; even though he had no way of hearing me. 'Hold your own, that is all I ask of you.'

I got up and sprinted over the rooftops making my way around the square. Up and down I went like a fast horse at a race. Where the gaps between the buildings were the widest, there I was, bridging them at neck-breaking speed with reckless jumps.

Thunk, thunk, thunk; clomp; tik tok tik tok; fump. How I knew my way!

When suddenly, after a particular difficult jump I slipped, skidded down the slope considerably and loosened more than one roof tile in the process. I caught myself; barely.

Admittedly, for a moment I was scared stiff and hang there with the breath caught in my throat and my feet digging into the roof batten.

I realized that I had almost fallen down onto the cobbled plaster, counted my blessings and let my gaze wander to where Lord Leo was still holding his own.

To my surprise he had managed to push back against his enemies and was now forcing them right back onto the square. It was obvious that he did not dare push further into the square, out of fear he'd be caught in a pincer movement, surrounded by his enemies.

So he stayed where he was, using the buildings left and right to cover his flanks while taking on three faceless at a time.

The mages were at a stalemate. At least if it weren't for me, the ace up Lord Leos sleeve.

I pushed myself up and with my legs still shaking, cautiously continued my run until the odd shapes of the gargoyles wings rose up between the eery rooftops.

Once there I looked for an easy entrance and as I inspected the roof it looked damnably worm-eaten and there were big holes in the roof already through which I entered.

I found myself encased in darkness. The full moon outside had lighted the rooftops far better than I had thought, but it didn't take long for my night eye to adjust itself to the poorly lit area.

I was in a barren hallway with what was once marvelous dark-oak panelling. It smelled mouldy and any splendor this building once may had was long since gone.

Warily, I made my way through the corridor with careful steps and stole myself through a door to the left with strained bow. The room was empty. I strained my ears and listened for any sound.

And then I heard him. The mage uttered whispered incantations and it was not difficult to make out his location. I had been running. But now, I took careful steps and let my feet unreel slowly as to not make a single sound.

I approached the slightly agape door slowly and gave it a small nudge with my foot, praying that the old, rusty hinges wouldn't squeak. They remained silent.

There the rogue mage stood, his back turned to me, looking out of the window and muttering spells like a madman. A brown cape was covering him and if not for his voice, I wouldn't even have been able to tell if it was a man or a woman.

I took another step.

The floorboard creaked loudly.

The mage wheeled around and sent a spell crashing through the wood within an inch of my ear. Some splinters lodged in my hair. I myself let go of the arrow, it winged him, causing a nasty graze wound on his arm. There was a scream, I bridged the gap cat-quick, swatted his arm to the side, another of his blasts crashing into the old wood, took out my knife and flung him around using his wounded arm to steer him forcefully. A kick to the back of his knee and he was on his knees, my knife at his throat.

It was over.

The window from which the mage had controlled his Faceless army truly gave a vast overview of the square and I saw that Lord Leo had little problems taking care of the remaining Faceless, since the rogue mage had given up his control on them. Now, they were nothing but uncontrolled puppets, awkwardly flinging around their arms.

After he had made short work on them, he dissolved his own faceless and I strode over to the building in which the mage and I waited.

During all this, the rogue mage had not said a word. The expectant silence between us was crushing.

Lord Leo entered the room. His head held high, his every movement that of a victor.

"Excellent work! Truly impressive.", he commended me.

I revealed the mage by roughly pulling down his hood. The face of a handsome young man stared defiantly at Leo, his well-defined jaw clenching in anger, his short blonde hair sticking to his forehead.

"Do you know him?", I asked.

"I don't know that face," Lord Leo mused, "Though I can already guess the person behind it."

A flick of his wrist, a murmured spell and he had destroyed an illusion.

"Hello Zola," Leo greeted, "Have you gone astray?"

I must say that the real Zola was preeminently unbeautiful.

He was a small man to begin with; he had thin lips and poor posture; rounded shoulders and a jutted out neck and chin; and upon his meagre frame was deposited an even more strikingly meagre head. It seemed as though his slender neck proved unable to support so great a burden as his big hat presented.

To complete his description, his slanted eyes were yellow and muddy, as though nature had run short on pigments and squeezed together the dregs of all her tubes. It was the same with his hair, sparse and irregular of growth, muddy-yellow and dirty-yellow, rising on his head and sprouting out of his face in unexpected tufts and bunches.

In short, Zola was a monstrosity, and the blame of it lay elsewhere. He was not responsible. Nature simply had not been kind to him. If he hadn't displeased the Lord in such a way, I would have said that he was a man to be tolerated in a broad human way, as one tolerates any creature evilly treated in the making.

"Milord Leo," Zola greeted, "Eeheehee! It's been a long time!"

Leo scrunched up his face in annoyance, "Not nearly long enough! And don't you 'Milord' me after you attempted to kill me, albeit you never posed a real threat. Your control on the Faceless is lousy at best. No wonder so many of them roam uncontrolled through Windmire. You are disgraceful!"

"You are always so fast to hand out compliments!" Zola said, "No more flattery, please! I'll blush!"

"Zola, tell me the scheme of your plan!", Lord Leo demanded.

"Oh, such concern in your voice! But I act only for the glory of Nohr, of course! You are aware of that, no? After all you are a genius like myself or you wouldn't have been able to see through my incomparable illusive magic! Eeheehee!"

"Ugh, don't you dare to compare us! You are nothing but a contemptible fool!" Leo said in disgust, "How curious though, aren't you normally all eager to reveal your plans? Gloating. Monologuing. It's what you do!"

"Tsk, Lord Leo. I am the man with a knife to my throat. It is I who is entirely at your mercy," Zola cried, "In any case you should be the one to outline your evil plan! But if you are that eager to hear mine, I'd gladly change places! Hyo-ho."

"Nice try, Zola. I'm more of a person that'll kill you with hardly a word directed at you."

"Please wait, Lord Leo! I can at least explain myself! It all started when the Hoshidans killed my stepmother's brother's favourite cat, from that day on, I swore to become a dark mage to go on a roaring rampage of revenge, I have—"

"—Spare me with your ridiculous lies."

"But Milord—"

"—I said enough!", Leo roared, "I don't need to hear excuses for your twisted ways. This was the last time you crossed me! Any last words?"

Zola lowered his gaze, his big hat cast a shadow over his eyes that made his eyes almost invisible. His voice was barely audible as he whispered, "You really think it'd be that easy?" and then he screamed, "Don't you know that I always have an escape plan! HA!"

There was a blinding flash of light accompanied by an intensely loud 'bang'. Lord Leo screamed at the sudden agony of it. I was stunned, my vision made impossible. Out of balance, I found myself unable to fight back as Zola grabbed my wrist and spinned the knife away from his throat.

I heard a spell cast at Lord Leo, quickly followed by a blast hitting the wood panelling, I felt splinters rain down on us and realized that Leo had managed to deflect the spell. Zola ran for it. I regained my sense of sight but an afterimage still haunted my vision. That's when I heard fast steps on the cobbled plaster down below on the square. I could not see clearly, but my hearing had not been disturbed to the same extend. I strained my ears. Leaned out of the open window. Drew my bow and aimed towards the faint sound of pounding feet on cold stone and let go of the string.

Even to this day, I swear to you that I would have hit Zola, had he not teleported himself away right then and there.

"It's gone!", Lord Leo cried out in anger, "That coward! We had him! I screwed this up, didn't I? Never again will I allow a man to utter his last words!"

He slumped against the wall and ran his frantic fingers through his fair hair.

"Heh, I'd say we royally screwed up," I joked and joined him, leaning rather casually against the oak-wood panelling, "That is… if I hadn't taken the Item from him as soon as I caught him!", I said, withdrawing a small, sealed box from my pocket and handed it to Lord Leo.

His eyes went wide in surprise, his shaking hands accepting the box. He let out a shaky breath. "Thank you," he whispered, our eyes met and there was a genuine, true moment between us; candid and evanescent.

"Well," I said, "That thing has got me curious now."

"Mmh," Leo mustered me, a guarded expression returning to his face, his fingers tightened around the box, "I guess you deserve to know what you risked your life for."

"For you," I said.

"What was that?", he didn't catch it.

"For you," I repeated. "I never risked my life for that thing. I risked my life for you. So I don't want to know what that thing is, I want to know what this thing is to you."

"Well… of course…," Leo mumbled, seemingly embarrassed at being so openly confronted with his own false assumption. He cleared his throat. Not meeting my eye he simply said, "I find your demand agreeable."

Notes:

Niles: I'd be happy to do this one pro-boner.
Leo: You mean, 'pro bono'.
Niles: I know what I said.
Leo: ...

Please let me know what you think in the comments down below!

I love Zola! Such a fun character. Did I do him justice?

Coming up next: The reveal of the MacGuffin! Stay tuned.