Sorry about the long gap, guys. We've been having some technical difficulties. Expect another chapter by Wednesday at the latest. Enjoy!

As we proceeded to the exit of the Sunhome, I was stopped by a guildmage. He seemed to be very distraught, as if Aurelia herself had sent him on a mission.

"Pardon the intrusion, guildpact, but the Warleader needs to have a word with you."

Apparently Aurelia had sent him on a mission.

"Can this not wait?" I asked, the urgency in my voice obvious.

"No, Jace. It cannot wait," said a regal, fiery female's voice.

Aurelia's visage came into view, her flame-engulfed hair moving in the wind. Her red and white wings beat with tremendous power. The curved sun sword at her side along with her armor, shone brilliantly in the sunlight. Her golden eyes pierced me, they seemed to look into my very soul.

"It's been quite some time, Aurelia," I said, meeting her gaze.

"Likewise, Guildpact."

"I'm assuming you wouldn't have stopped me if it wasn't very important," I said, staring at her.

"It is indeed very important, Jace," she said, her fiery gaze holding my eyes. " I need a moment of your time."

I looked at Gideon and he gave me a look, telling me I should go with him. I looked to him and Aurelia for a long minute and sighed.

"Let's go." I nod to her.

She put off a white aura from around her palms, and the light surrounded both of us. Within a moment, we were in a grand white foyer with white columns with the Boros banner hanging from every single one of them. It stretched into a hallway with a gold, gilded door at the end. When Aurelia turned the handle, it opened to a massive library.

"What in the name of the Eternities is so important you pulled me away from making to the Undercity. Lili is.."

"That's why I stopped you, Jace."

There was another flash of light, and instead of her armor, she wore a white gown with her hair flowing gracefully down her back.

"The Boros, as you know, has always patrolled and monitored this city and maintained a swift fiery justice. For ten thousand years, we have tracked and attempted to divulge the secrets of the Dimir. We have diligently patrolled the tenth district, hoping that they would make a mistake. We have kept detailed and meticulous notes on the on all of the sightings of the spider, the whispers of the Dimir, and those who have been captured. However, they always have been three steps ahead.

She sighed, walking to her desk, which was positioned in front of a giant bay window. As she rummaged through the contents of the desk, I looked out the window and saw the brazen red anvil that decorated the middle of the Sunhome. I turned just as she brought a hefty ledger from her desk.

"This is yours."

I cautiously took the tome from her hands, observing the thick, leather bond book. It was huge. Before I could open it, she spoke to me.

"Now, I know you have important tasks at hand. And Jace, when you find yourself in the darkness, don't let it apprehend your resolve. Focus on the light and use the book. I hope it helps. Bring her back safe and unharmed."

I looked to Aurelia, never before has she displayed any such kindness, at least outwardly. This showed her softer side.

"Count on it," I said, and with that a flash of light placed Gideon, Ral, and I outside of my house. Both of them looked dazed and confused.

"You can thank Aurelia," I said.

"Daft broad is bloody effective, isn't she," Ral said, rubbing his temples. I waste no time retrieving items from the house, a knife among them.

"Jace, I know your upset about Liliana, but please don't throw away your intelligence," Ral said, calmly.

"We need you to be smart and so does Liliana. You're going to get her safely, I know. But if you can't lead effectively, then tell me, because you're the only person who knows exactly what we are dealing with," Gideon chimed in.

"I know, but I need you both to trust me, more than anything", I look at both of them in turn, directly into the electric blue eyes of Ral Zarek and chestnut browns of Gideon. Never before could I honestly say that I trusted somebody that wasn't Liliana, since Kallist died, but I trusted these two. Despite Ral's impetitous nature, he has been a friend, and since the maze, he's been a bit more level headed. He's not the same man that would see me killed, like that day in the maze.

"I just want to say, for whatever it's worth, that I appreciate you two, and thank you for being my friends."

"It means a lot, Jace," said Gideon.

"Yeah, yeah, don't go getting all mushy on me. Next thing you know, we'll be trying to fondle each other in the belly of some horror. So save it for then," Ral said, his usually cocky smirk on his face. I shake my head, thinking that some things don't ever change.

"Let's get going, shall we?" I ask, and we proceed through the city.

We sat meters outside of the Dimir guildgate, and a single guard stood by keeping watch. Next to him, appeared to be a very modern alarm system, probably triggering horrors, which I didn't want to run into.

"So, are we going to sit here all day and talk about boys, and who's the cutest on the council?" Ral's tone was sarcastic and biting.

"Can it, electromancer," I say, peeking from around my perch on the rock.

"What's the plan, Beleren?"

"Stay here for a second and don't talk about the boys on the council without me."

"Wait, Jace! What are you doing?"

Before I could answer, I had already shifted into fog and began to meander toward the guard. I commanded a portion of myself to disable the alarm, eroding it with water and turning it to rust. The guard, however, didn't notice this. His back was turned by the time I reached him, and as I drew the dagger, I swiftly pulled the dagger before I pushed it to his neck and sliced from end to end. The guard was nothing more than a lifeless, gurgling corpse. I looked into the forming puddle and the blood that now coated my hand. I felt a sweet, almost whimsical feeling of satisfaction in this, and I wanted more. I would murder everything in this godforsaken hellhole.

"Jace, what the hell was that?!" Gideon's voice rang out as I materialized back into myself.

"Prevention of dectection, Gideon," I said, a cold steel to my words.

"You didn't have to go and kill him, good gods, man!"

"Let's keep moving," I say, going to pass the gate.

A misty, black like fog, ascends around us and we progress and we pass several collapsing structures. As we proceeded an odd thing struck me . For the first time in twenty five years, it was silent. There was no passing whispers from people's minds. The only noise was my boot steps and the slow, dreadful sloshing of water hitting rocks. There was the soft buzz of Ral and Gideon's minds but no screaming thoughts. Of course, warriors like these know how to steel themselves and rely on instinct. I remember Kallist was like this, almost a machine when he had to fight. Never before have I been so alone. It was torturous.

This is how everyone must feel. So, normal and vulnerable. Trying to shake these feelings away, I suddenly detect a potent aura of magic, one I was all too familiar with.

A Dimir horror that was black mana based came slinking out of a puddle and rose in front of us. It looked like a centipede and a phyrexian crossed. But no source of phereysis was present, thankfully. It seemed to be debating on whether or not to attack us. The creature shrieked loudly, and we instinctively rendered magic. Ral's lightning flared, brightening my left, and the surel brightened my right.

However, the creature retreated, slinking back into the water and out of sight.

"Well, that was convenient. No telling how strong that thing was." Ral said, laughing.

"That was a baby," said Gideon said. Apparently living with the Boros has given him interesting experiences. He was definitely the right choice to bring along. Plus, he was a dab hand at fighting.

"Well, good to know," Ral said as we continued. We faced very little other than rats and bats, scurrying back into the dark. The slow pattering of water dripped and the squelching sound of feet in mud was all that filled my ears. Several half eaten bodies, and decomposing corpse littered the ruins. Dried blood, some of which appeared to be to be decades old. There was a sudden roar of a Dimir horror off in the distance. Only the eternities knew what that could be, and I didn't really want to know.

"Damn it!" I breathe, not too loud, but loud enough for Gideon and Ral to hear. I stomp a few more steps and sit down on a rock.

"Guys, come here."

"What's up?" They both asked me.

The second they were in a five meter radius, I fired off some low level blue magic that didn't particularly draw attention to us, and would shroud us from Dimir agents. This particular type of magic rendered us invisible, unhearable, and scentless. It's almost if we never set foot in to the Watery Grave.

I immediately pull out the ledger and begin to flip through it, looking for any notes on how to get through the under city portion of the Watery Grave. There were notes on creatures and known agents, but even those were scarce. The information I needed most was nowhere to be found. IT seems to me that some fifty meteres back were former navigation crews sent in by the Boros a while back. Well, that explained a lot. In frustration I slammed the ledger and stowed it. I felt the perplexed looks of my comrades on me.

"Jace, would you mind explaining your fit of anger?"

His words rang in my ears. Should I confront him? Was now the right time to see if he knows? I already knew the answer, though I didn't really want to hear it. That would make being down here that much harder. I didn't want to further torture myself and confirm my suspicions. A few moments passed and suddenly this odd feeling struck me. Hastily, I pulled the ledger back out and something about the last couple blank pages struck me as odd. All of the pages in the book had a mark, a sort of stamp in the lower corner. The stamp was a regal looking "A."

"Gideon, does Aurelia ever sign orders or decrees?"

"Yes, she does," he says, turning back toward me.

"Does it look like this?"

He looked at the page and nodded. "Yes, just like that," he said.

"So, every single page with that mark has been verified and recognized by her?"

"Well, yes. Whenever that mark is on something, Aurelia herself has signed it."

As I look over the blank pages, they had the mark, why would she sign something that was blank? She's not lazy, nor does she seem corrupt to the point would waste her time on meaningless blank papers. The Boros love justice and honor and valor too much to waste time like this.

"Focus on the light, and then turn to the book…" Those words run in my mind. Turning to the blank page, I get Gideon to summon a bit of pure light and shine it on the paper.

"Jace, this isn't some secret light show game kids play with," Ral said condescendingly.

Gideon shined the light on the paper, and words and complex symbols began to form.

"Or is it?" Gideon asked, motioning for Ral to look.

"By the Eternities…"

I leafed through the pages, absorbing knowledge as I did. But there it was. Just like the Dimir, deceptive. Stowing the ledger once again, I began to draw water from the ground and two murky globules floated in front of me. I pulled the mud from the water, and it dropped to the ground.

"What are you doing, Jace?"

"Clearing your minds."

The water globes combined and then separated into three semi-oval droplets. I flash froze the waters, and drained the water from the center, turning it into a lens. I appled mana to the lens and the ice became more solid and unbreakable. I continued to apply mana to it, turning it from water to sapphire, the token jewel of blue mages. I willed the lens to cut in half vertically and they floated in the air.

"Gideon, I need you to put pure, untaintable light into these lenses. Will the light to show us the secrets, to show us the correct path," I said.

"Um, okay," he hesitantly summoned three blinding balls of light, and looked to me.

"You realize that these will become sacred objects? Holy objects?"

"I'm aware," I say and turn to Ral. "I'm going to need you to wield a small arch of plasma to finish this."

"Whatever, Jace," and with that a popping sound of the energy snapping to life rang out.

I turned back to the lens and Gideon's lights, as it closed around it and sealed it within the stone. I weaved a strand of blue mana, divided into three lengths, and put them through the sapphires at the point.

I take the lenses and handed one to Gideon and Ral.

"These are sapphire lenses. The let you see through any opitical illusions and enchantments. They will light the way."

I waved my hand and the words snapped away, and I started walking, lens in hand, not waiting for my comrades. With the lens to my eye, a whole world came to me. Paths formed, buildings that appeared to be there with the naked eye disappeared with the lens.

"Wow, Jace, good job. You did something useful without screwing up."

"Ral, shut up."

"Screw you, Beleren."

"No, shut up."

"You know what, Jace.."

"No, really, Ral. Be quiet."

"Oh now you're taking his side, Jura."

Gideon clapped his huge hand over Ral's mouth, which took up the majority of his face, it was so huge.

I chuckled and turned my ears back to the slow, guttural sounds, almost like a moaning of sorts. I didn't need for anyone to say it or even for Ral to shout "Undead!" I turned just in time to avoid a pair of raking claws that were lunging at me. The grotesque rotting flesh came at me and the pungent odor burned my nose and started to make me choke. I channeled my mana and two bursts of water hit the undead. Furious spells erupted everywhere. The cracking of the whip and the buzzing of electric gauntlets filled the air. We took out about twenty, but for everyone that dropped, two replaced it.

"Damn it all! There's too many! Retreat!"

For every living person there are generations of the dead. Which realm would you rather rule?

Lili's voice and face pop into my head, stabbing me in the heart.

"Ral! Get over here!"

Gideon followed my orders but Ral continued to shock and burn the corpses.

"You stubborn electromancer! There are too many! Get over here!"

Gideon started to advance but I beat him to it, just as Ral yelled.

"No, watch this!"

Millions of tiny sparks gathered in his gauntlets and hands. His hands started rising upwards and slammed down, blinding me and sending me backwards. I hit my head on a rock, and blackness filled my vision. There is a high pitched scream in my head, and then blackness.