Chapter 21

It was only a few hours later that the sun, having only just broken through the heavy clouds, set upon the far side of the mountain. Anya and I had gotten a feeding in, although it had been short and sweet. The circle Nelson had drawn on me not only let me feel the power as it worked its way through me, but it allowed it to work faster and more efficiently. And it had the same effect on Anya's feeding, quickly leaving her full and numb from the intense bond we shared.

After she settled in for another nap, I'd done the same. The most sleep I'd gotten was a few hours of unconsciousness in Anavatos. The only thing that kept me out of bed for any length of time was a profound hunger that only abated after several sandwiches were hastily consumed.

With the sun finally setting, and few more hours of sleep under my belt, I set about getting things ready. Wizards or no, I was still under contract with Rose to see after the Hound. Not to mention that I wasn't about to leave Violet behind.

As soon as the shadows of the rocky cliffs began to stretch across the land, Rose arrived in the blink of an eye.

"You did well this day," she said as I sat duct taping my jacket. It seemed a little blasphemous to hold the fine leather together with the silver tape, but I didn't have any Norse armorers on hand to repair it, so I made do. My mood was worsened by the fact that my enchanted glasses had been damaged when the bell exploded. Until Q was healthy enough to work on them, I'd be without yet another tool.

"Not well enough," I replied softly. "Not by far."

As the hours had passed, we'd learned more about the fate of Chios Town.

The rains had done more than simply stop the zombie horde. They'd also snuffed out many of the fires in Chios and the other parts of the island that still hadn't recovered from the previous night's attacks. Many areas, such as the woods I'd traveled through a lifetime ago on the way to the graveyard, were now nothing more than scorched earth and ashen forests.

The downpour had helped, but it wouldn't bring back the dead. There had been enough of that already, in my opinion, but it was hard not to wonder at the futility of it all as word spread of the hundreds of victims. Thousands, if you included the other towns. Burned or mobbed or missing, there were many that had not lived to see the end of the siege.

"And what was it all for?" I asked as I threw down the roll of tape.

"What do you mean?" the Lampad that wasn't my Lampad asked, her head cocked curiously.

"Why did he attack the town?" I rasped out, barely holding on to the despair that clawed at me. The loss of so many, piled on top of the harm I'd seen done to my allies, combined with my fear and worry for Violet, was chewing at my gut from the inside out. "I thought he was trying to save the people of Chios. That his grand plan was to purify them, to protect them from this corruption he feared. Not murder them in their homes."

The carmine-haired Lampad shifted in the small room I'd claimed for myself. The others were spread out across the old fort complex, either resting or coordinating with the mortal responders. I watched Rose as she frowned, considering her words.

"Some of the Keres watched him from afar, after your escape," Rose finally said. "It seems the dark mágos believed you to be dead, but realized that the Keres would report his location. He likely sought an army the other mágos would not wish to face."

I bitter laugh escaped my lips at that. "Turns out they won't be coming at all. Not soon enough, that is. Not to help Violet."

Rose nodded, before saying. "The Keres believe that my sister is not wholly his."

I turned to stare at her, dumbfounded by her words. "Really?" I asked, ashamed at how quickly hope leapt back into my heart.

"After your… escape, Violet ceased her duties," she said, not meeting my gaze. Instead she stared out the window of the room, toward the silhouette of the mountain against the skyline. "The Keres say she raged upon learning of your death. And Salvago felt the loss as well."

"What? My death?" I asked, confused. "I was close, but I refuse to believe I died. Violet would know if I were dead. I didn't die." I had to tell myself that. The others must have been mistaken.

Otherwise, how was I any different than the dark wizard himself?

"Peña believed you to be dead, which meant Salvago did as well," she explained. "As did Violet. They are all bound now." Rose gave a slight inclination of her head. "Your mágos are correct," she said. "Salvago has imparted a piece of himself into my sister and the Hound. It is how he controls them."

Part of me wanted to know how she knew what we talked about. But I doubted I'd get a straight answer. "Right. Great," I said, dismissing the confirmation. "How can Violet think I'm dead? She's always been able to sense me before."

"You are bonded through her torch, and the ring born of it," Rose reminded me. "Without the ring, she has no way of knowing you let live. And so she believed what Peña saw, and raged against Salvago for allowing it."

"So she is still there," I said, growing more confident. "I can save her."

Rose frowned. "She was. But what toll your death will have on her," she said, clearly confused by the idea of a Lampad having emotions for a mortal. "We do not know what to expect now."

I stood and stared out the window to the west, clinging to my hope. "I can save her."

Rose inclined her head. "Perhaps. Regardless, the mágos must be stopped. He has grown too powerful, and will only gather more living and dead to his side, given more time."

I nodded, and reached for my jacket. "Is he in Anavatos still?"

The Lampad simply inclined her head. It seemed her thorny and abrasive attitude had faded in the short time we'd know each other. Either I'd earned her respect, or she was being polite to the man she'd asked to go to his death. "Can you take me?"

"I can," she confirmed. "Not to the mountaintop. But I will take you as far as I can, and we will see to the rest." She looked about the small, empty room. "Do you go alone?"

I started grabbing the few things I had remaining of my arsenal, knowing they wouldn't be enough. "Anya and Sal will go," I said with confidence. They'd implied as much just a short time earlier.

"And the other mági?" Rose asked, a carmine eyebrow lifting in curiosity.

My eyes lifted off the hastily patched jacket. "Let's go find out."

When we returned to the command room, we found fewer wizards than I'd prefer, but more than I'd hoped.

"Ah, Mister Hayes, are you off somewhere?" Reon Argondian asked, looking over my gear with a knowing glint in his eyes.

"You could say that," I replied.

"Well, I shall do you the great honor of accompanying you," he said, adding a wag of his bushy eyebrows. "Just in case you need rescuing from a rogue bachelorette party or something."

I eyed his outfit critically. "What are you going to do, scare them off with your fashion sense?"

Somewhere, somehow, the oddly dressed wizard had replaced his soaked and sodden clothing with another outfit that was almost as eclectic as the first. A tie-dye button up shirt accompanied what could only be described as a lime-green checkered zoot suit. His wild hair was still frantically trying to escape from beneath his floppy artist's hat, but his long gray beard was tied into a warrior's braid made from bright neon hair-bands.

Along with the suit, the wizard carried a bandoleer of paint canisters across his chest. It seemed he'd been busy in the last few hours, preparing more of his odd offensive and defensive spells.

"Don't be silly, young man," the lecherous wizard said with a pompous tone. "Should that happen, I fully intend to seduce them." He shot a wink at Rose, but she ignored it completely.

From beside him, the metal-armed Sergio Moretti just rolled his eyes. "He seems to have forgotten that Katya will be out there somewhere," the glowering wizard said.

"Oh, no, I don't intend to seduce her," Argondian said, rolling his eyes in return. "Alas, she lacks a certain something I prefer in my lovers."

"What's that?" the bald wizard Nelson asked as he walked up from behind. I noticed that his sling was off, even if he was still favoring the shoulder Salvago had stabbed.

"Sanity," the old wizard replied smartly.

I looked over the three wizards, each of them showing the wear and tear of a long couple of days. "Where are the others?" I asked.

"Dear Vaccaro was worse than he let on," Argondian said. "The young Amy was checking on him and Simon, and will be returning to coordinate for us."

"Coordinate?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you all were ordered back?"

Moretti shot a dark look at Nelson, guessing who had told me about the state of the Council. The bald wizard looked back impassively as Argondian replied. "Well, dear Bassillo and young Simon are in no condition to travel. So I'm afraid we must remain at least a little bit longer."

As he was speaking, Anya arrived with Sal. She was geared up as well, having retrieved Q's weapons for us. With one of her swords broken and my spear lost in Anavatos, we'd decided to claim the goblin's enchanted blades for ourselves.

Anya handed me one belt and sheath, keeping the second for herself. She'd wanted an enchanted blade, and there was a dark glint to her grin that made me wonder if Q would be getting that one back.

I held my hand out for Sal to come over to me, but the little guy took off instead for Rose's shoulder, where he quickly scurried to her ear. I saw her lean in as he began to trill softly to her, and wondered at the exchange.

"Woody," Nelson said, drawing my attention away. I joined him as he stepped across the room, where he motioned toward my stomach. "How's the marking holding up?"

"It's gone," I admitted. "Took a shower earlier."

"Do you want me to redo it?" he asked, brandishing a pen.

"Sure," I said as I shrugged off my coat and shirt.

"Did you tell him our plan?" Moretti asked as Nelson worked. I realized that left Anya and Rose alone with Argondian, who was doing his best to convince either of them — or perhaps both — to fulfill an old man's dying wish before he faced the Reaper.

Neither was sympathetic. Especially the girl that was, in some ways, the Reaper.

"What plan?" I asked as the bald wizard shook his head.

"When we get there, we're going to need to cut our way through the undead," Moretti said. "The sky has cleared, so there won't be any rains to knock out whatever zombies he has left."

"Nor would it help with the enthralled Chians," I said.

Moretti nodded. "That'll be the hard part. Not hurting any mortals while we work our way to Salvago. But assuming some of us get there, our goal is to take out Peña and Katya with whatever means necessary."

"I thought Vaccaro said…" I started, before glancing at Nelson. He kept his eyes on the circle on my stomach.

"Argondian said he's wrong about the death curse," Moretti said bluntly. "If Black Court vampires can cast death curses, so can Revenants. Peña is dead."

I couldn't believe how grateful I was for his conviction. If my words to Nelson had fallen short, Moretti's would surely be enough to assure the young wizard that he hadn't watched on as my roommate executed his apprentice. "But the others…" I said.

"Argondian is going to find Penny," Moretti said. "I'm going for Peña. Nelson will try to find Martin. If we can subdue them, we'll join together to face Salvago."

"What about Katya? And the Hound?"

"We were hoping you and your pet vamp… Anya would try to take care of Katya," Moretti replied.

The gruff wizard was clearly biting his tongue at having to refer to the girl as anything other than a monster. But he'd seen her fight beside us, and help Simon when he was in pain, without benefit to herself. Maybe that had been enough to convince him that not every monster was evil.

After all, not every wizard was good either. Or we wouldn't be in this mess.

"That's all good and well," I said. "But I'm not sure we'd be a match for her. I got a few shots in on Peña, but that was because he didn't know what I was capable of, and because he's apparently lost a step since he died." I shrugged ironically. "Katya is a warden. A living, breathing one that hasn't lost any power."

"It's not perfect, but it'll have to do," Nelson said. I took it he meant the plan rather than the circle. That looked fine. "Ideally we'll be able to take them on in teams, and eventually work our way to Salvago."

"I'm sure they'll accommodate us," I said with a complete lack of conviction.

"Do you think you can handle the Lampad?" Moretti asked. "That will be the most important part. Making sure she and the Hound don't tear us apart when we face Salvago."

"I do," I said confidently, even if it wasn't the truth.

I was going to say something else, but a stunted shout across the room drew our attention back to Argondian, who was rubbing a burn he'd received on his palm. He was scowling at it, even as Anya tried to hold back her laughter. Rose's frown had returned, and I wondered where the wizard's hand had been that it would get scorched.

Moretti growled beneath his breath before turning back to me. "Salvago will likely have the Lampad and the Hound with him. The plan is for you to take care of her while we split our attention between the Hound and the Lich. We'll likely need to incapacitate all of his Revenants before we can destroy him."

"That's how it worked in the books," I agreed. Moretti frowned at that, but I noticed Nelson gave a small smile.

"I would never!" Argondian declared across the room, once again drawing our gaze. Q's enchanted sword was halfway out of its sheath, and a fierce scowl let me know Anya was ready to give it a try.

"Let me—" I began, but Nelson waived me off. Moretti saw it, and nodded before heading over to settle the others down. I turned to the bald wizard, only to find him retrieving a somewhat familiar black coat.

"Isn't this Simon's?" I asked, looking at the dark fabric that defied identification. It was thin to the touch, like canvas, but the texture was different.

"He's sorry he can't join us," Nelson explained. "Since he can't use it, he said he'd lend it to you for the night. It's got some defensive spellwork, and it's in one piece," he added with a pointed glance at my duct taped jacket.

"It looks like it'd be a little small on me," I said doubtfully. Simon was about my height, but was leaner than me. My training with Q had left me with some modest muscle, which made the coat one size too small.

"That shouldn't be a problem," the bald wizard said, and began to tug at the fabric while chanting something beneath his breath. As I watched, his fingers pulled at the dark material, and my eyes widened as I saw it stretch where-ever he touch it. "It's actually quite versatile."

I took the coat from him, and shrugged it over my shoulders. With the magical modifications, the thing would fit over my own coat, providing me with an extra layer of protection. "Will it hold up any better to a warden's blade than my own?" I asked him as I ran a hand along the sleeve.

"I wouldn't imagine so," Nelson said with a shake of his head. "Those things cut through every enchantment I've seen."

I fingered the cloth, and then turned to look at Anya, who was decked out in her white biking leathers. Her jacket was still somewhat torn from our very first encounter with the Hound, and had taken a beating since. "Can you shrink it to her size?"

Nelson eyed her, and gave a sharp nod. "I imagine so."

I shrugged the slick jacket off and handed it back. "I'd prefer she have a little something extra heading into this. Mine will hold up to everything but the blades. Hers has a little Kevlar at best."

The bald wizard got to work sizing the jacket down, and I went over to tell Anya about it. Her eyes sparkled when she heard she'd be getting another enchanted item, and quickly headed over to Nelson. As I rejoined the others, I heard her ask something about, "Come in white?"

A flicker of light caught my attention, and I flinched as a flaming Sal came flying through the air at me. He landed on my shoulder, having leapt several feet across the room from Rose's outstretched hand. His skin was ablaze, and he spun excitedly on my shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa," I said quickly. "I don't have my ring. You can burn me."

The salamander stopped his excited spinning, and instead sniffed at me disappointedly, as if I'd ruined his fun. But without Violet's ring on my finger, I was just as vulnerable to flame as anyone else. The flames petered out, leaving the salamander fidgeting anxiously in his own skin.

While I'd been talking to Nelson and Moretti, I'd apparently missed Amy's return. She joined us to hand out more communication stones. "I've re-calibrated the spells," she informed us. "I'll monitor you all, and help however I can. I'd go with, but combat isn't really my thing," she said with a self-conscious shrug.

"Don't sweat it," I told her. "You've already helped out a lot. I'm glad to have you watching out for us."

The goth girl smiled a sheepish smile, no doubt feeling exposed due to her lack of make-up. The face-paint she'd worn had taken a beating in the rain, and she hadn't replaced it since. She was cute underneath all of that, something that Anya had obviously noted.

"Don't worry, sweetie," the punky vampire said as she slid an arm around the goth wizard's waist. I noted that Nelson had gotten Simon's jacket tapered down to her size, and it was fairly snug over her white jacket. "I promise you'll get as much action as you want when I get back."

Anya's eyes glinted silver as she smiled at the girl, eliciting a blush from her. I rolled my eyes and turned away, knowing Anya would have the poor thing eating out of her hand before long. My gaze drifted over Moretti, who didn't seem to approve. But at least he kept his mouth shut.

"Alright, everyone get everything ready," I said, and they did just that. I noted Moretti had his own enchanted blade in sheath on his hip. Nelson had his staff, and Argondian his vials. Anya retrieved her assortment of weapons, including the hundred-round drums and Desert Eagles, and Q's blade. I had the other, along with my own guns and the weapons left over from the bag. Sal was hopping excitedly on all fours, and I had to wonder at his enthusiasm.

When we were ready, Rose nodded, her torch appearing out of nowhere. We all reached out to place a hand on the Lampad — I noted that Argondian did so very carefully — and then with a swirl of light, we were in the Ways.

It didn't take long to get where we were going. The shorter the distance in the real world, the shorter the journey in the Lampad tunnels. I was already bored with the Ways, but the wizards had informed me the night before that this method of travel seemed to be unique to the torch-bearers. Penny had offered many assurances that the Never-never was in fact a wonderful place, should I ever get to see it.

Thoughts of her sobered me as our group grew to a halt, and Rose took us back to the real world.

I turned to look upon the mountain, rising high overhead. It was even more intimidating from the bottom than it had been at the top. Or maybe it just seemed that way because I knew what awaited us.

"How does it look?" Moretti asked. He was addressing Nelson, who closed his eyes for a moment before whispering something. When his eyes opened again, his gaze was distant.

"There are defenders everywhere," the bald wizard said softly. I realized with a start that he was using magic to do the same telescoping spell that I had on my glasses. "It looks like most of them are zombies, although some appear to be the Chians he took before."

"The living and the dead stand before us," Rose said, leading us forward. Her torch shone dimly, as if muted to not interfere with our night vision. She too looked to the mountain, and its precarious climb up. "The mágos and his slaves are at the peak."

"That's where they were before," I confirmed.

A sudden thrum filled the air, the sound of a wavering band-saw preceding the distant crack of a rifle. I flinched as I spotted the bullet suspended in mid-air before us, slowly spinning at the center of a rippling pool of air.

After a moment, Moretti gave a dismissive grunt, his steel hand waving in the direction of the enchanted round. The bullet dropped to the ground a few feet in front of Argondian, who hadn't bothered to spare it a second glance.

"Thank you, Sergio," Argondian said as he gazed up at the mountain, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that the bullet would have struck him between the eyes had the magnetic mage not stopped it.

Moretti just nodded, as if stopping bullets in flight was just an everyday thing. Knowing he was a wizard, it might very well be. "It appears they know we're here."

"There's too many," Nelson said numbly, not paying any attention to events closer to home. When we looked to him, it was to see him staring at what awaited us with dismay. "I can see hundreds, if not more, just on the road and the lower section of town. There's a small stretch between there and the upper section," he continued, and I recalled my frantic flight from the place. "It looks like every inch of open space has someone waiting. Thousands in total."

"We will fight our way through," Moretti replied.

"And determine who is living and dead as we go?" Argondian asked softly, his usual joking tone gone. "Will you check each swing of your blade, hold each spell on your lips, until you've confirmed whether all that surround you are the undead?"

"He'll have mixed the two together," Nelson said grimly. "It's a sound strategy. He knows we won't kill those he enthralled. And trying to determine who's who will slow us down until we're overrun."

"You will not have to," Rose said suddenly, cutting through our morose tones with a fierce anger. "You shall face the dark mágos and his slaves; we shall handle the others."

And before I could ask what she meant, flickering lights across the landscape caught my eye. I turned to look toward the rough-hewn land at the base of the mountain, where wispy forms took shape.

Crimson eyes and burning footfalls marked the arrival of dozens upon dozens of Hounds. Each varied in size, some no larger than Sal's most impressive form, while others made the giant we'd faced before look like nothing more than a pup. A few of the hounds sported a pair of heads rather than just the one, although as I searched about, I could not find any with three. Perhaps the legends about that were wrong.

Or perhaps there was only one Hound of Hades that fit that description.

Overhead, flickering shadows accompanied the sound of large wings and distant cries as countless Keres soared through the night, circling the mountain like carrion birds anticipating a feast. Some flew low, passing just overhead, close enough to cause the dirt beneath our feet to kick up into a dusty storm. Most remained high and aloft, their numbers seeming to swell as they gathered together in flights of dark wings.

And at the base of the mountain, spread evenly to oversee the Hounds and the Keres, were the Handmaidens of Hecate.

Aside from the crimson-lit torch beside us, four more Lampades stood ready to face the Lich that had dared to take one of their sisters. An amber light shone brightly in the distance, revealing a cloaked and shrouded figure of a familiar height and stature. Further on stood another nymph, that one bearing a torch of brilliant sapphire. To our right, a citrine glow marked another of the sisters, and beyond her a ferocious emerald light flickered in the distance.

The Hounds seemed to gather around the Lampades, circling on foot even as the Keres swirled about overhead. Smoke drifted from the tread of the Hounds, their scorching feet setting the grasses of the mountainside ablaze, even as the clouds turned about in cadence with the wings of the dark Greek valkyries.

"The mágos thinks himself a god. That he has placed himself beyond the reach of death." I turned to Rose, and found her eyes dark and furious as she gazed at the mountain. Sensing my gaze, she turned to me, her eyes a fiery scarlet that quickened my pulse as I felt an all-too familiar madness tugging at my sanity.

"Let us show him otherwise."