Author's Note: I remember how Heurodis spoke in this part, in-game. If you recall, she spoke normally in the first encounter. Then, on top of the Tower, ssssshe sssstarted hisssssing like a teakettle. I don't understand why. Did she think it was more menacing? Did she get her tongue pierced? Does activating a mythal give you a speech impediment? Did the dialogue writer's 's' key get stuck? The world may never know.

But you will excuse me if I spare my 's' key – and your eyes - that particular indignity.

52.

Why don't you, sit right back,
and I, I may tell you, a tale.
A tale of three, little pigs,
and a BIG, BAD, WOLF.

Well, the first little piggy, well he was kinda hick.
He spent most of his days, just a dreamin' of the city.
And then one day, he bought a guitar.
He moved to Hollywood, to become a star.
But, living on the farm, he knew nothing of the city.
Built his house out of straw, what a pity.
And then one day, jammin on some chords,
along came the wolf, knocking on his door.

Little Pig, Little Pig, let me in.
NOT BY THE HAIR OF MY CHINNY, CHIN, CHIN!
Little Pig, Little Pig, let me in.
NOT BY THE HAIR OF MY CHINNY, CHIN, CHIN!

Well I'm huffin', I'm puffin', I'll blow your house in.
Huffin', puffin', blow your house in.
Huffin', puffin', blow your house in.
Huffin' and a puffin' and I'll blow your house in!

- Green Jelly, "Three Little Pigs"

Invisible as ghosts, we climbed the long spiral stair.

Outside, great waterfalls of sand sleeted down the glass, moving past us at avalanche speed.

"Undrentide is breaking loose of its moorings," Xanos's voice remarked grimly.

I didn't bother to look at him. If I tried, I knew that I'd see nothing but the air – as clear and empty as glass. "Let it," I said. In my life, I'd learned very well the lesson of futility. "There's nothing we can do to stop it, anyway."

Our footsteps echoed on the metal stair. Vertical streaks of blue sky appeared outside. It was day, which was strange. Underground, I'd lost all track of time.

Outside, the wind howled. It battered at the glass, clawing for entry.

Little pig, little pig, let me in, I thought, and I smiled like a wolf.

The stairway opened up to a glass roof. The clouds and sky reflected in it in patches. Drifts of sand hissed across the glass, blown by the rising wind.

The wind whipped at my hair. It stung my eyes. I ignored it.

The wind wasn't my enemy.

She was.

She stood at the center of a circle of metal-and-glass columns, lines of white light criss-crossing between them. There was a low, slim column before her, and floating just above it was something that burned like a miniature sun.

She was no longer cloaked and hooded. Maybe she'd discarded the subterfuge as useless. Or maybe she was as far beyond caring as I was.

I stepped forward, walking as softly as I could. Behind me, I knew that Xanos and Deekin would be spreading out to flank me.

I'd hoped that she wouldn't see any of us coming until it was too late.

I probably should have known better than to be so optimistic.

Heurodis turned. Light poured from her eyes. "Priestess," she greeted me, her voice echoing sibilantly. "I have been expecting you."

Well, so much for plan A, I thought, somewhere beneath the buzz of adrenaline. For an insane instant, I was tempted to laugh at the absurd futility of it all. Only for an instant, though, and then the urge was gone, subsumed by urgency. Time for plan B.

The bitch could obviously see right through the spell of invisibility that Deekin had sung onto me. That meant that she could probably see the others, too, but that wasn't a given – and, if she had, at least I could try to distract her, give the other two some time to do something while her eyes were fixed on me.

It occurred to me, briefly, that what I was about to do was probably very stupid. It was also, however, the only thing I could think of doing.

Stupid it is, then.

I stepped forward, my footsteps crunching across sand and glass. Deliberately, I avoided the medusa's eyes. "All right. So you can see me. I give," I said loudly. Anger and fear and adrenaline gave my tongue an edge like a razor. "You know, I was actually planning to throw a surprise, 'congratulations on being such a crazy bitch' party for you. There was going to be a cake and everything, too, but noo, you had to-"

She laughed dismissively. There was a strange, hollow discordance to her voice. "Such bravado," she hissed. "One might even think that I could not see your heart, beating in your chest like a frightened rabbit's."

"You've got good eyesight." I took another step forward, Silent Partner rapping against the glass underfoot. "Though I can't help but notice that I'm not a statue yet. Something happen to your eyes?"

The medusa smiled. Light shone from between her teeth. "There are many fates which you should fear, but that one is no longer possible. I gave up my gaze to join with the mythal, and now, all the world is laid bare to my sight," she breathed, spreading her hands wide. The ley-lines of power followed, swaying gracefully with her every movement. "A pity you cannot feel this, child. Such power …"

I didn't take my eyes from her hands, in case I missed the first gestures of a spell. I took another step closer. "So you can't turn anyone to stone anymore, huh?"

She threw back her head and laughed a breathless rasp of a laugh. "What need have I of earthly eyes, when I can see the soul of the world?" she retorted.

"The soul of the world, huh?" I felt my lips curl into a derisive smile. My breath was fast and light, and my heart was booming like a war drum. "There's this guy I know – maybe you've heard of him? His name's Karsus. He wanted to see the soul of the world, too." I paused thoughtfully. "Turns out that it's kinda shy, and it really doesn't like to be looked at. Who knew?"

She smiled back, predatory and unconcerned. "Would you like to know what I see when I look at you, child?" she asked conversationally, my taunts dismissed as summarily as if I'd said nothing at all. "I see the shadows clinging to you, the uncertainty. I see your death, within the hour-"

I'd been waiting for it, so it didn't surprise me when she raised her hands, moving as quick as a striking snake.

I'd been ready for it, so it only took a quicksilver flash of thought to dive into the seat of my power and thrust it outward into a shield just as a tongue of fire uncoiled from the medusa's outstretched palm.

Then, much to my surprise, the sorceress turned. "- but not before the deaths of your allies," she added coolly, and, so fast that I barely saw it leave her palm, the tongue of flame roared to furious life and sped away, zipping to some point behind me and to the side.

I hadn't been ready for that, and Xanos's roar of pain, coming from behind and to the side of me hit the pit of my stomach like lead, as did the startled shriek and skitter of talons that could only have come from Deekin.

I crouched behind my useless shield, frozen with shock.

She'd never meant to hit me first. She'd meant to hit them. All the time that I'd been trying to distract her, she'd just been playing along, biding her time until she could turn the fucking tables on me.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! I railed at myself. I didn't dare to look behind me to check on the others. I couldn't take my eyes off of Heurodis – and I wasn't sure I could bear the guilt if I saw my friends lying dead because I'd so drastically underestimated the medusa. How could I be so fucking gullible?

My emotions must have bled through to my face, because Heurodis, her hands once again lowered to her sides, looked at me and smiled. "Yes," she admitted coolly. "I saw your companions – quite clearly, in fact. Did you truly think that you could fool me, young priestess?" She regarded me with clinical amusement. "You have failed to comprehend that, with the power of the mythal, I can see everything - including your pathetic attempts to manipulate me," she said, and sighed, almost in disappointment. "I did warn you, you know," she added.

Silent Partner came up at the ready, though I didn't even remember telling my hands to move. Just let her get close enough, I prayed. "Warn me about what?" I asked out loud, my voice shaking with fury. Come closer, bitch. All I need is one clear shot at your fucking skull, just one shot. "That you'd deserve everything you've got coming to you?"

She smiled at me, and raised her hands, and I wondered what she thought she was doing, casting a spell while I was wrapped in a shield that would kill any magic that came near me.

Then, without so much as a flicker, the medusa vanished.

Sand drifted over the glass. Far below, the city groaned. The wind whistled, far-off and hollow.

I froze. A tingle of warning, of pure hind-brain instinct, made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

There was someone behind me.

Unfortunately, I had a pretty good idea who it was – and it wasn't Shaundakul. Not this time.

I spun with a sharp cry, Silent Partner spinning up and out.

The quarterstaff rebounded on me as if I'd just hit a wall. Light flared, making the lines of power in the mythal surge, bright white and blinding.

Heurodis smiled at me. She had a dagger in her upraised hand. The blade was as black and clear as obsidian, and the point was needle-sharp. "I warned you that you were no match for a daughter of the medusae," she said conversationally.

Then she stabbed me in the chest.

The blade impacted with a hollow thunk and a queer, cold, sliding sensation.

I looked down at the dagger that was protruding from my chest, and blinked.

How the hell'd she get that through my armor? was my first thought.

Following on its heels was a second, much more irritating thought. It went: J'Nah did almost the same exact thing, and here I've gone and fallen for it again. What the hell is wrong with me?

Then came the third thought: This is really gonna hurt once the adrenaline's run out, isn't it?

I seemed to have staggered a step or two backwards. My hand went to the hilt of the dagger, wrapped around it as if to reassure myself that, yes, that was a dagger, and, yes, it was actually stuck between my ribs, just above the upper swell of my right breast.

Bitch. I can't believe it. She actually stabbed me.

I tried to suck in a breath. Discovered that inhaling lit a firework explosion of red-hot pain deep in my chest. Stopped.

Heurodis followed me, stepping almost delicately over the sand and the glass. "A shame," she remarked casually. "I had hoped that my first opponent would present more of a challenge than this."

I decided to leave the dagger where it was. I didn't seem to be bleeding. That meant that the blade was probably doing for me what corks did for bottles of whiskey – i.e., keeping me from leaking valuable fluids all over the place.

It was a strangely hilarious thought. At least, I thought it was, though I was aware that my thinking was ragged and pain-spiked and disjointed and probably not altogether sane any more.

Suddenly, I looked up at Heurodis, grinning through the pain. I didn't know why. Everything just seemed very funny, all of the sudden. Maybe it was the adrenaline. "You shouldn't've done that," I croaked, through the fire in my chest.

She raised her sparse eyebrows at me. "Whatever for?" she asked scornfully.

Dreamily, I reached into my pocket. Heavy metal twined around my fingers."'Cause if I'm going down, you're coming down with me," I said happily. "Bitch."

Then drew the holy symbol from my pocket, looked up at the sky and drew the last scraps of breath from my failing lungs. "Shaundakul!" I screamed.