Amor Vincit Omnia

(Love Conquers All)

Part Two: The Fragile Heart

"You've got a new horizon, it's ephemeral style
A melancholy town where we never smile."
- Gorillaz
"Feel Good Inc."

Chapter Four: The Khasim Outpost

"Ytar have mercy," whispered Saiya, falling to her knees beside the vertical shaft. She could see no further than twenty feet down, but there was no sight of the bottom. If he had fallen that far …

"Baal?" she called. "Can you hear me?"

Only Gawahir's squawking broke the heavy silence.

"I believe he's got a length of rope in his pack," said Kormac. "I will fetch it."

Waiting for him to return, Saiya clenched her hands until her fingernails dug into her palms, using the mild pain to stave off visions of the Hunter lying broken and bleeding at the bottom of the pit, too weak to call out for help. She felt partially responsible. If she had gone with him as she had originally thought to, this might not have happened.

"Is the ground shaking?" Eirena said suddenly.

It was, imperceptibly at first, but the tremors were growing stronger by the second. They were accompanied by the same soft slithering sound that Saiya had heard before, immediately prior to Baal's cry.

Something was moving around in the shadows down below. Saiya leaned over, straining to catch a glimpse of it, but Najmah's huge arm wrapped around her waist and hoisted her into the air; not a moment too soon, for out of the hole reared a creature belonging to the darkest of nightmares. It brought to mind terrifying tales of the sea serpent, only this monstrosity bored through solid rock as though it was water. It had no visible eyes – in the bowels of the earth it had no need of them – and the skin was a sickly grey in color, and tough as steel. The face (if it could be called that) was the most frightening of all: it had upper and lower jaws, as well as mandibles that opened on either side, creating a four-sided gaping maw lined with dagger-like teeth.

As the adventurers were recovering from their shock and debating whether to fight or flee, the creature made an odd jerking motion, and its throat bulged. A moment later it violently spat out a dark shape that thrashed as it soared through the air, landing hard and skidding across the floor.

"Baal!" Saiya screamed, struggling to free herself from Najmah's grasp. He set her carefully down. As soon as her feet touched the floor she ran to her lover's side. He was trying to sit up, shaking his head dazedly. Other than a few shallow cuts and a foul-smelling slime clinging to his clothes and hair, he seemed unharmed.

"Was zur Hölle?" exclaimed Kormac, who had just reappeared with a coil of rope slung over his shoulder.

"Kormac, get your spear!" shouted Eirena. The monster lunged at her, and she lifted her hand to raise a glittering golden wall of magic. It stymied the creature momentarily, but Saiya could tell that it would not last for long. She stood up, leaving Baal where he lay, and ran back to help the enchantress. With her mantra supplementing the strength of Eirena's spell, they were safe until Kormac once again came charging down the passageway, panting from the exertion. He was built for endurance, not speed.

"Stand back," he warned, and thrust his spear into the beast's great maw with all his might. The serpent let out a piercing shriek that made Saiya's eardrums ache. A single blow was not enough to slay it, so Kormac tugged his weapon free and stabbed it again, this time angling the haft upwards to the point drove through the roof of the mouth and into the brain. The creature flopped onto its side, shaking the entire cavern with its death throes. Sand and small pebbles dislodged from the ceiling rained down on Saiya's head. She coughed loudly.

"What is that thing?" she asked, staring down at the enormous carcass, the lower part of which was still buried in the ground.

"Rockworm," rasped Baal. He had gotten to his feet, limping a little, and was ineffectively trying to scrape some of the viscous gunk from his attire. "I should have known as soon as I saw that hole," he said. "That's a classic sign of 'worms. If you jumped down there, you'd find a whole network of tunnels."

"Are there more of them?" Kormac asked, glancing around as if he expected a whole slew of the monsters to come bursting out of the stone.

"I shouldn't think so," the Hunter replied. "They're usually solitary hunters, and aggressive towards their own kind. If this one was female, there might be eggs nearby, but unless they hatch we won't have to worry about becoming 'worm bait."

"I'll check around just in case," said Kormac. "I don't want any more surprises."

Eirena volunteered to accompany him, in case Baal's guess was wrong. They took the lantern and ventured deeper into the cave, while Saiya, Baal, and Najmah returned to the entrance. After some deliberation, Saiya decided to forgo soup and cook a stirfry of goat meat and vegetables instead. Najmah helpfully chopped up the ingredients while she heated the pan and tasted various different seasonings until she had settled on the right combination.

Baal, meanwhile, stepped outside to change out of his befouled clothing, dress the cuts that had been inflicted by the rockworm's teeth, and clean himself as best he could with a damp rag. His shirt and pants were a lost cause, and he was forced to borrow an outfit from Kormac that was much too broad across the shoulders and loose around the waist. His leather vest, belt, and boots were all salvageable, though he stashed them outside with a rock to weigh them down so that the stench would not be overwhelming. At least his cloak had been spared, since he had left it with his pack.

Unfortunately, without a decent source of water he was unable to properly wash his hair, and as a result it dried into a spiky mass that was extremely comical in appearance. Saiya could not look at him without starting to laugh, which made him sullen. He spent the rest of the evening sitting in the corner, thoroughly cleaning the rockworm spittle and sand from every crevice of his crossbows.

Saiya wanted to talk with him, to apologize for her part in their latest disagreement, and reassure him that she had no intentions of ending their relationship, but they had no privacy inside the cave, and outside the winds were too intense for any decent conversation. She spent her watch (the middle one, between Najmah and Eirena) observing him as he twitched and groaned in his sleep, and wondering if he was dreaming of her.

Dawn came early, though the west-facing cave did not receive any of its crimson light. Saiya was the first to rise, woken abruptly and unpleasantly by a beetle scurrying over her face. She ventured outside to stretch her stiff muscles and winced as the wind sharpened its claws on her exposed skin.

"Günaydin," said a voice behind her. Turning, she saw Baal leaning up against the sandstone pillar, rolling up the cuffs of his borrowed shirt. "It means 'good morning'," he clarified when Saiya gave him an inquisitive look.

"Oh. Guh … um, goona …"

"Günaydin," he repeated patiently. She got it right the second time, earning a smile of acknowledgement.

She said, "Are you all right? After yesterday, I mean? That must have been frightening."

Baal shrugged. "Initially it was somewhat of a surprise, yes. But you forget that I grew up in this land, where such hazards are simply part of everyday life. If you get swallowed by a 'worm, poke it in the back of the throat with something pointy. If you're unarmed, put out your arms and legs and try to make yourself stick in its gullet. Even 'worms can choke on a stubborn morsel."

"I'll try to remember that," Saiya said. "So listen, Baal, I … there's something I, ah, want to say to you."

"Yeah? What is it?"

She took a deep breath. "I've done a lot of thinking since we talked the other night, and I've come to the conclusion that I don't want our relationship to end."

"Really?" he said. "Even after I lied to you?"

"You didn't lie," Saiya replied, her voice firm. "You told me that you had no friends in the Hunters. Well, I don't consider someone who would stab you in the leg during an intimate moment to be a friend. As for the fact that you have had other lovers, you never kept that a secret."

Baal blinked at her for a moment, then abruptly stepped forward and folded her into a tight embrace. Saiya hugged him back, politely trying not to cough at the smell of rockworm that still surrounded him.

"Nuur il-'en," he murmured into her hair. "You are by far the most incredible person I have ever met. I'm not sure I could be so forgiving."

"I do have one request," Saiya said, pulling away from him enough so she could look up into his face. "Please get it out of your head that I'm going to run off with Caesar. I understand now why you would be concerned about that, but it's not going to happen, so let it go. Okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, immediately adding, "I still hate the mage, though. For unrelated reasons."

"Whatever," Saiya groaned. Baal leaned in to kiss her, altered his trajectory when she wrinkled her nose, and pressed his lips to her forehead instead. She leaned against him, comforted by the familiar weight of his arms, until a particularly strong gust of wind knocked them off balance and they stumbled, sprawling in an ungainly heap on the sand.

"Ach, um Himmels Willen. Nehmt euch bitte ein Zimmer!" exclaimed an amused voice from above. Saiya looked up to see Kormac standing over them with his arms crossed and his mouth curled into a smirk. She had no idea what he had said, but from his tone, she gathered that it was suggestive. Embarrassed, she scrambled off of Baal and got to her feet, glaring at him. The Templar winked.

"Breakfast is ready," he said, and went back inside the cave.

"Shall we?" said Baal, gesturing for Saiya to go first. Eirena had demonstrated her dedication to being part of the group by taking her turn to cook. The fare was porridge again, primarily because it was the one ration that they had plenty of.

"We'll need to find clean water today," Baal remarked, inspecting their supplies after the meal.

"Will we be able to?" Saiya asked worriedly, her mind filling with visions of their dehydrated corpses lined up by the roadside.

"Oh, sure," he said, with a confident smile. "The best place to look would be a settlement. In fact, according to the map, there's a town called Yol Kenarina only a few miles away. If we head northwest from here, we should reach it by midday."

As it turned out, 'town' was an extremely generous word for the cluster of burnt-out buildings marked by a sign in Kehjistani. The few inhabitants had long-since fled. There was a well, however, true to Baal's prediction. While the Hunter was refilling their flasks, the others meandered between the houses. Saiya found a child's doll half-buried in the sand; she unearthed it and dusted it off, running her fingers over the uneven stitches that held the cloth toy together. She couldn't help but wonder about its original owner. Where was she now? And why had she discarded what had been, judging by the wear on it, a prized possession?

Looking around, she noticed Eirena standing in front of the only intact structure with a puzzled frown on her face. Saiya walked over to stand next to her and put a companionable hand on the other woman's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You look like something's bothering you."

"There's a magical signature here," said the enchantress, "very similar to the one that we followed yesterday to reach the cultists' hideout."

They exchanged a glance, and each saw her suspicions confirmed in the other's eyes. Saiya yelled, "Guys, come over here, we found something!"

Najmah was the first to respond, with Kormac and Baal following soon after. Eirena explained her conviction that they had unwittingly stumbled upon the Coven's second base of operations.

"Great!" said Baal. "That'll save us some time." He flashed his canines in a fierce grin. "Should we bother knocking?"

"Nah," replied Eirena, beaming back at him. "Let's just break and enter."

Drawing his crossbows, the Hunter promptly kicked the door open. The interior of the house was dark, the windows having been covered over by black cloth, but as before a substantial number of lit candles provided enough light to see by. This time, the cultists were not hidden; in fact, they appeared to be in the middle of performing a ritual. Four of them were focusing beams of life-draining magic on a woman lying on the altar, while the other six chanted and rhythmically struck the floor with their staffs.

"Onlara var!" cried one of the hooded figures. "Iki Nephalem ve onlarin cangüdenler. Belial adi, onlari öldürmek!" A moment later, Baal's arrow found his open mouth, silencing him forever.

A tall Kehjistani man with a grey beard pulled a scimitar from his belt and took a swing at Saiya, missing her by mere inches. She grabbed his wrist, twisting sharply, and kicked him in the chest. He fell into a group of candles, which set his robes aflame. She ignored his screams of agony and looked around for her next target.

"Saiya, get down!" Kormac shouted. She crouched just as his spear sailed over her head, impaling a cultist who had been about to blast her. There was another close behind him, coming toward her with a mace raised high, and Saiya wrenched the spear free and decapitated him with a powerful slash.

The fight was over almost before it had begun. Baal ran to the altar to check on the prisoner, leaping over bodies on his way. Najmah checked for any survivors among the Coven, and Saiya cleaned the blood off of Kormac's weapon before handing it back to him. Somewhere deep inside, a small part of her brain was disturbed by the ease with which she had ended human lives, regardless of how evilly they had been led. Had it always been this effortless, she wondered, or was she becoming desensitized to the violence? Distantly, she recalled the first man she had ever killed, a soldier-turned-bandit who had tried to waylay her on the road and divest her of what little she owned. She refused to cooperate, and when he pulled a knife, she hit him in the face as hard as she could. He had died instantly. Saiya hadn't intended for that to happen; she had simply been trying to defend herself. It had taken her a while to get over the fact that she (both literally and figuratively) had his blood on her hands.

"You okay, Schwesterchen?" asked Kormac, shooting a questioning glance in her direction.

Saiya nodded and attempted a smile. It came out crooked. "Yeah. Just … wondering when this became normal, I guess."

"For me, it still isn't," he said. "I think that the day it is will be the day that I lay down my arms and dedicate myself to a life of peace."

"This woman's still alive!" Baal said suddenly, drawing their attention. He gathered her up in his arms as tenderly as if she was a newborn child. Dried blood crusted her brow, and Saiya could see from the outline of her legs beneath her dress that one of them had been amputated at the knee.

"She's in bad condition," the Hunter continued. "If we can get her to the Khasim Outpost, she may yet live, but we must be swift. Najmah, will you walk in front of me to shield us from the wind?"

"Of course," said the giant. He led the way out of the house, picking up Baal's pack as well as his own.

"Hang on a minute!" Saiya called out, as they started to set off. "We shouldn't leave this place standing. Others might use it for the same purpose."

"We don't have time for that right now," Baal retorted.

"I can level it in two seconds flat with the bell," she said. Baal opened his mouth to argue, then appeared to think better of it.

"Two seconds, then," he said.

Saiya closed her eyes. She had suspected for a while that she was capable of summoning the bell even when her life was not threatened; the problem was triggering the power to activate. To aid the process, she resurrected in her mind the most painful memory of her life thus far: the moment in the Halls of Agony when she had felt for Baal's pulse and found nothing, and knew she had lost him. She pressed the memory to her breast like a sword driven though her heart, forcing herself to relive every detail – the searing heat of the flames, the acrid smoke, the red glow of heated metal through the darkness, the pain-

Clang! A wave of force rolled out of her, causing the earth to tremble. Opening her eyes, she saw a deep gouge in the sand where the bell's energy had passed, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. The building had been obliterated.

"You're getting better," Baal observed as they departed the shadow of Yol Kenarina. He shifted his grip on the unconscious woman to better support her head. Saiya, walking beside him, looked up at his face and saw blatant admiration in his eyes.

"Thanks," she said. "Is she heavy? I can switch off with you if you need a break."

He shook his head. "I barely feel the burden. I'm afraid that she'd been starved for quite some time."

They pressed on for a while in silence. Najmah led the way, his large form providing an excellent windbreak, and Kormac and Eirena followed in the rear. Saiya could hear traces of their murmured conversation, and every now and then the enchantress would laugh. The two of them seemed to get on well at least, which was a blessing, considering that Kormac had difficulties with several members of the group. He still was not quite comfortable around Ghor, though he no longer voiced objections to her voodoo arts, but as a result there was considerable animosity between him and Caesar. The mage, naturally inclined to favor women, was especially close to Ghor, and took any perceived threat to her very seriously. Saiya had always been curious about the source of their friendship; it could not be sexual, for the sangoma had a wife in her homeland. Though, she reflected, there was no rule of society stating that a man and a woman had to have some physical attraction to each other in order to be friends. She herself regarded Kormac as the brother she'd never had, and wouldn't dream of sleeping with him.

After a time, they came to a great crevasse in the surface of the plateau. There was a bridge spanning the gulf, but it was broken in the middle, the two separate ends stretching futilely out to each other. The gap was about ten feet or so – too far to jump.

"This is exactly what we didn't need!" Baal snarled, vindictively kicking the railing as if the structure itself was responsible for being ruined.

"We can still get across," said Saiya. "If you tie your rope to an arrow and fire it into the wood on the other side, one of us can make our way over and secure it. I volunteer."

"What about her?" the Hunter argued, indicating the woman he was carrying.

"The last person to go ties the rope around his waist, holds on to her, and jumps, and the people on the other side pull them both up."

They were interrupted by an alarmed yell from Kormac. Turning, Saiya gasped as she saw Eirena, who was standing on the very edge of the broken bridge, take a huge step out onto thin air-

-and float in place, her arms outstretched like the wings of a bird. They all gaped at her in astonishment for a moment.

Baal recovered first. Chuckling, he said, "Very good, Eirena. You had me worried there."

"H-how is she …" stammered Kormac. "What deception is this?"

"No deception," Eirena laughed. "Come and join me, Kormac. I promise you, it's perfectly safe."

The Templar vehemently shook his head. "I think, Fräulein, that my feet will stay firmly here on the ground, thank you."

"I get it," said Saiya. "The bridge is still there, isn't it. The cultists just made it invisible."

"Right you are!" Eirena twirled her staff, and gossamer strands of magic, nearly imperceptible in the harsh glare of the sun, solidified to reveal the missing section of the structure.

"A clever trick," muttered the Templar. "Next time you feel like showing off, would you please give me some warning? I thought my heart was going to stop."

"How did you know it was an illusion?" Baal asked the enchantress as they continued along their path.

"As I have demonstrated before, illusions have no power over me," she answered blithely. "I see through them easily."

"Yes, but how? Who taught you?" When she gave him a blank look, he sighed and said, "I'm not ignorant, Eirena. The kind of sorcery that you practice died out over a millennium ago. I've turned a blind eye to it so far because I think that you honestly want to help us, but I know very well that you're no ordinary woman."

For the first time since they had met her, Eirena looked apprehensive. "You are correct," she said. "I was reluctant to divulge my secret, because I didn't think that any of you would believe me. But I see now that it was wrong of me to keep you in the dark. The truth is that although I may look like I'm in my early twenties, I was in fact born fifteen hundred years ago. My sisters and I pledged our lives to the service of a man we called the Prophet, a great and learned sage who taught me everything I know. He foresaw a time of darkness that would threaten all of Sanctuary, and placed us – his students – in a magical slumber that was calculated to end only a few months ago, so that we could combat this evil. He also ordered us that when we awoke we were to seek out the Children of Men and Angels." Her too-old gaze swept from Baal to Saiya and back again. "I think I have found them."

A shiver went down Saiya's spine at the words, spoken with such conviction. To shift attention away from the Nephalem blood that she and Baal shared, she asked, "What about your sisters? Why are they not with you?"

The petite blonde stared at the ground, and for a moment her eyes misted over. "They are dead," she said softly. "They were murdered while I slept by an unknown assailant. I am the only one who survived."

"Oh gods, Eirena, I'm so sorry!" Saiya gasped, horrified. Kormac put a hand on the enchantress's shoulder in wordless comfort.

"The one who did it won't get away with his crime," Baal vowed between gritted teeth. "We'll hunt him down and end his wretched life. Or hers, as the case may be. It sounds like something Maghda would do, actually."

Eirena blinked, a surprised smile growing on her lovely countenance. "Thank you," she said. "I did not expect any of you to be so supportive." Her expression turned determined. "We should continue; the Outpost is a long ways off yet. If we hurry, we may make it by nightfall."

"I fear that it will be too late for her," said Baal, glancing down at the woman in his arms with regret. "She's fading fast. If Ghor were here, perhaps something could be done, but …" He trailed off, shaking his head.

Mercifully, the wind was less intense on the other side of the bridge. Now that her secret was out, Eirena talked enthusiastically about the ancient world that she had come from, telling stories of her early childhood. She had been born during the height of the Mage Clan Wars, and – along with fifteen other young girls – were indentured to sorcerers of the Vizjerei clan. Driven by natural curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, Eirena had 'borrowed' and read the clandestine spell books of the clan and inadvertently learned that her master planned to win the war by binding an army of demons. Aghast, the enchantress had incited her sisters to revolt, and they had turned the Vizjerei sorcerers' magic against them during a powerful summoning ritual. The backlash had nearly killed all of them, but they were saved by the mysterious Prophet, who took them under his wing. Such was Eirena's tale, but she told it in a way that placed emphasis not on the hardship on it, but on humorous and light-hearted details. Her companions learned of her sisters in between the lines of anecdotes about their failed attempts at magic, and the sad tale of the end of the Vizjerei clan unfolded around a lengthy regaling of how the plan to stop them had almost been foiled by an inquisitive goat. It was skilled storytelling, and it passed the time quite entertainingly.

After a while, Kormac took over carrying the wounded woman, to give Baal a rest. They skipped lunch, eating slices of bread and some fruit while they walked. The landscape was changing subtly around them, hard barren ground being replaced by sandy dunes, where tenacious plants flourished. For a land so inhospitable, there was an abundance of life if one only knew the right place to look. Saiya saw snakes and scorpions, scarab beetles and hawks. Once Baal crouched down and came back up again with a tiny white flower pinched between his fingers. Smiling, he tucked it behind Saiya's ear.

"It's called sehra ümid," he informed her. "Desert Hope."

Saiya kept it long past the time when it had wilted.

The sun was slipping towards the horizon by the time they finally reached the hill where the Khasim Outpost stood proud, overlooking the area. It was a small fortress of sandstone and weathered wood, build partially into the black bedrock of the plateau. As the little group made their way up the wooden steps to the front gate, the guard on duty hailed them.

"Niye gelmisik, seyyahlar?" he asked gruffly. There was a strange undertone to his voice; sibilant, like the whisper of silk across skin.

"He's asking us why we've come here," Baal explained. Raising his voice, he answered, "Biz gece sigin. Bize yerlesdirmek olacaq?" *

The guard waved a hand, motioning them through the gate. Baal shrugged. "I guess that's a 'yes'," he said. "We can stay the night here, and press on to Alcarnus in the morning."

"Ask if they have a healer," said Kormac.

The Hunter nodded. "Hekim burada var mi? Bu qadin cox xeste."

"Hec bir hekim," replied the guard.

"That's strange," muttered Baal. "He said there's no healer here."

"Maybe he's away," Eirena suggested. "Tending the refugees, or something like that."

"Maybe. Shall we proceed?"

As they passed beneath the arch of the gate, Saiya noticed the guard who had admitted them whispering to a man in ordinary clothes, who then scampered off along the walltop and disappeared into a house. There were any number of explanations for such an action – most likely, he had just gone to inform the commander of the outpost that strangers had arrived – but the young monk could not stifle a feeling of disquiet that swept over her. She stepped closer to Baal, taking his hand as an excuse to lean in and murmur, "I don't like this place. There's something off about it."

"I feel it too," he said softly. "There's a sickly sweet smell in the air. I can't exactly place it, but it makes me nervous. Be on your guard, nuur il-'en."

There were a few people standing around in the main courtyard, soldiers and civilians alike, but none of them offered so much as a friendly glance to the newcomers. They seemed, Saiya thought, curiously inactive. Even the ones who were involved in some task – cleaning weapons, sweeping, or stacking supply crates – moved with slow, mechanical motions, and their faces were expressionless.

"Do you suppose we should ask someone where we'll be quartered?" said Kormac.

"No need," Baal replied. "Here comes the boss himself."

An extremely tall man, made even more imposing by his extravagant headpiece, was striding towards them. He carried a sword at his side, and his hand rested rather conspicuously on the hilt of it.

"Men Leytenant Vachem edirem," he said. His voice had the same hissing quality as the guard at the gate, though it was even more pronounced.

Baal introduced them all, giving their aliases. The Lieutenant narrowed his eyes.

"Siz Kehjistani, lakin basqalari deyil. Niye arabi adlar var?" *

"Do you speak Khanduran?" inquired the Hunter. When the other man nodded brusquely, he said, "Good. I understand your confusion, but I can explain. You are correct: my friends are not Kehjistani by birth, but they were all raised here, in an orphanage in Gea Kul."

"And yet they do not speak the language of their adopted country?" said Vachem. "That is very odd."

"I do," said Eirena brightly, raising her hand. "Axsaminiz xeyir, cenab!"

"The people at the orphanage were very insistent that their main lingual focus be on their countries of origin," said Baal. His tone was polite and even, but Saiya could tell by the slight tension in his neck that he was annoyed at being questioned. She decided to speak up.

"Please, sir," she said. "Do you know where we can find a healer? This woman in near death. She was tortured by the cultists."

Vachem looked at her as though she was something disgusting that he had stepped in, and gave no reply.

"My men say you want shelter for the night," he said, addressing Baal. "I can offer that, but first I must know your purpose here."

Saiya opened her mouth, but Baal's hand clenched down on hers in a grip that was almost painful. He said, "We are pilgrims on a journey to visit the desert shrines of the Horadrim. We stopped here because we hoped to find a healer, but if you do not have one, we might as well keep going as long as there's daylight left. Would you be so kind, Lieutenant, as to open the north gate for us?"

"Oh, you don't want to go out there," Vachem replied with an unpleasant smile. "People are dying. If you value your lives, return to Caldeum at once."

"It is your duty to guard this outpost, Lieutenant," said Baal, "and ensure that travelers may move freely, not to advise them."

The tall soldier shrugged. "Well, if you are so determined to rush headlong to your death, my friend, then I will not stand in your way. My second-in-command, Davyd, has the gate keys. He's down in the command post. The door is right over there."

"Tessekür edirik," said Baal. He led the way over to the indicated building, where a nearby soldier opened the door for them. Stone steps led down into musty darkness below, though Saiya could see a faint light at the end of the passage. She followed close behind Baal, slipping her brass knuckles on in the concealment of her roomy pockets.

A man's voice rang clearly from the command post as they approached it, speaking in Kehjistani. A moment later, he was answered by a woman. There was no mistaking her identity, no matter what language she spoke.

"Maghda!" Baal hissed. "She's here."

"It's a trap!" Saiya shouted. "Everybody out!"

They obeyed without question, running back up the stairs. Kormac and Najmah made it out safely, but the door slammed closed just as Eirena reached it, knocking her back. Saiya, who was right on her heels, caught her as she fell. Trying the handle, she found it locked, though she could hear the Templar bellowing a war cry on the other side, as well as the clash of metal.

"Fuck!" Baal snarled, smashing his fist against the wood. "I can't believe we fell for this again! We have no choice but to go down and face her."

"Isn't that what you came here for?" asked Eirena.

"Yes," he said, "but I wanted to do it on my terms, not hers."

"Well, we're here now," said Saiya. "Let's make the best of it. She's not going to escape from us a second time."

Baal stared at her for a moment in silence, and then grinned abruptly. "I have been working on a new type of bolt that I've been wanting to try out," he said. "This might be the perfect chance. Just give me a second to prepare."

Kneeling down, he rustled around in his pack and drew out a bundle of arrows with serrated tips. He loaded them into his favorite bow, equipped the secondary one with the bolus shot, and rose to his feet. His eyes shone red from the shadow of his hood.

"Right," he said. "We don't know how many of them there are, but Maghda doesn't like to leave herself unguarded, so we can expect some resistance. Eirena, you should stay behind me and focus on casting supportive spells. Saiya, I'm counting on you to keep them off me while I target the witch. Be careful."

The two women nodded, and together they made their way back down the stairs and out into the command post. Maghda hovered in the center of the room, arms folded, evidently expecting them. True to Baal's estimate, she was surrounded by a group of armed soldiers who appeared to be awaiting her orders. In the background were several cages containing men and women in the garb of the Iron Wolves.

"Where's my lovely little Leah?" Maghda asked as they stepped through the doorway. "You haven't gone and left her behind, have you?" Baal said nothing, and the pale witch sighed. "Well, no matter. I will have her eventually. For now, I will content myself with the gift that Lord Belial has offered up to me. Guards, slaughter them!"

The soldiers began to convulse horribly, helmets melding with their heads and legs twisting together to become serpentine tails. Their torsos stayed relatively unchanged, except that the arms lengthened and the hands sprouted wicked claws. They slithered forward, tridents at the ready.

Saiya felt Baal's hand on her shoulder, and he leaned close to her ear and murmured, "Watch out for these ones. Some of their breed are poisonous. Don't let them bite you."

She was grateful for the warning when the first demon who attacked her lunged forward with its mouth open, aiming for the crux of her neck and shoulder. She twisted to the side, striking the monster's belly where snake scales met human skin. The demon hissed angrily, its tail lashing out in a wide arc. Saiya blocked with her forearm, but she had not anticipated the sheer strength of her opponent, and the blow sent her staggering back into the wall. Her arm went numb; she shook it out, clenching and flexing her fingers to restore feeling.

The serpent was coming for her again, and she moved just in time to avoid being speared on the end of its trident. The metal barbs stuck firmly in the wall, giving Saiya just the opening the needed. While her foe struggled to free its weapon, she delivered a kick to its side and felt ribs shatter. An uppercut to the jaw knocked it to the floor, where it writhed around on its side. Saiya pinned it down with her knee and pummeled its face until it stopped moving.

Looking up from the bloody mess, her heart flipped over as she saw that Baal had been backed into a corner by three of the demons. At such close range, the bolus shot was too risky to use, and his other bow was apparently not firing properly, leaving him with a hunting knife as his only defense. Eirena was aware of the trouble he was in, but another pair of the monsters cut her off from reaching him.

Saiya couldn't remember moving faster in her entire life. It felt as though she was gliding through the air as she rushed to his aid. She struck one of the serpents in the back with an open palm, hard enough to leave an imprint that blazed with holy light. It screamed and fell to the floor, thrashing, and Saiya turned her fury on the other two. Planting her booted foot firmly on the tail of one, she grabbed its head in both hands and twisted energetically, breaking its neck, and was just going for the second with a high kick when a blast from behind knocked her off balance. The serpent that she'd marked with her palm had exploded, leaving nothing more than a pile of smoking bones in a sea of blood.

In a flash, the remaining demon was upon her, casting its trident aside and grabbing her arms with steely fingers. She toppled over backwards, bringing up her knees as she fell to protect her stomach. Needle-point teeth snapped closed a hair's breadth away from her nose.

Having little other recourse, Saiya head-butted the thing, though this proved less than effective, considering that its only real facial feature was a vicious mouth. Before it could try to bite her again, however, Baal slit its throat from behind. A torrent of hot black blood gushed over Saiya's chest, and she gagged at the smell of it, like sulphur and burning flesh. Heaving the carcass off of her, she stumbled to her feet. Baal put out a hand to steady her.

"You all right?" he asked concernedly.

"Don't worry about me," she rasped, pushing him away. "Eirena's in danger."

"You take care of her," ordered the Hunter. "I'm going after Maghda."

Saiya turned towards the enchantress, who was steadily retreating while parrying attacks with her staff. She was bleeding from superficial cuts to her arms and legs, but worse than that, she seemed to be tiring. The young monk leaped to her defense, grabbing the haft of a trident as the demon wielding it drew back for a heavy blow. She jerked sharply backwards, stomping down on its head when it fell. The brief interruption was enough of a reprieve to allow Eirena to finish casting her spell, which rendered their final enemy immobile for a few precious seconds. Saiya finished it off while it was defenseless.

"Are you hurt?" she asked the petite blonde.

"I'll live," panted Eirena, holding her side as she tried to catch her breath.

"That's good," Saiya began, but a loud crack, followed immediately by a deafening boom, erased the words before she could utter them. She spun around, and her eyes widened in amazement at the colorful spectacle before her. The room was filled with tiny explosions of flame, ice, and lightning all going off simultaneously. It reminded Saiya of the fireworks display that the head monk used to orchestrate every midwinter, except that rather than watching safely from a distance, she was right in middle of the blast zone. A detonation several feet away lanced out a bolt of electricity that scorched her arm and caused her hair to stand on end. She felt a piercing pain just above her collarbone.

The source of the elemental maelstrom was Baal, who had finally succeeded in getting his new invention to work. He looked slightly stunned, and it occurred to Saiya that the result was more potent than he had intended. Maghda also looked taken aback, though she did not flinch, even when one of the grenades caught her skirt on fire. She merely whirled around – a blur of white, green, and purple – and the flames were extinguished.

"I will concede this victory to you, my pets," she said archly. "Do try not to get killed before we meet again." The space around her hands began to glow blue. It was a spell Saiya recognized, for she had seen Caesar use it many times. The witch was going to teleport, and gods only knew when they would get another chance to kill her.

She acted without thinking, instinct and a desperate need for revenge spurring her on. Dashing across the room, she channeled the last of her strength into a mighty leap. Her hand closed on Maghda's wrist just as the warping spell reached completion, and her world tilted, blurred, and disintegrated around her.

Then there was only darkness.

* "Was zur Hölle?" means "What the hell?"

* Kormac said, "Oh, for heaven's sake. Get a room, please!" (All credit goes to chrissyleena for the excellent German translations!)

* The cultist said, "It's them! The two Nephalem and their bodyguards. In Belial's name, kill them!"

* Baal told the guard, "We seek refuge for the night. Will you accommodate us?"

* Vachem said, "You are Kehjistani, but the others are not. Why do they have arabi names? (arabi is the Arabic word for Arabic, and in my attempt to bring multiculturalism to Sactuary, I have assigned the people of Kehjistan a mix of Arabic and azerbaijani as their native language. So essentially, Vachem's wondering why this group of obviously non-Kehjistani people have Kehjistani names.)

* Eirena said, "Good evening, mister!"

* "Tessekür edirik," means "Thank you."

I think Author's Notes are a bit less intrusive down at the bottom of the chapter, so since I don't have any important announcements, I'm putting it here this time. I just want to thank everyone for reading, and remind you all that reviews are just the best thing ever! I really appreciate you guys, and all the effort that you put into helping me improve the story. 'Til next time! :)