Thanks to TehGramerPolise and MasterofBones for their help with this chapter.

Seydin led us down several streets until we arrived at the square in front of the Palace gates. A number of various monsters were already there, and were in the process of making a makeshift fortress out of nearby buildings. Leading those efforts was a huge minotaur that was directing everyone even as he himself carried a block of stone that must have weighed a couple tons.

When he saw us approaching he straightened abruptly and then started moving in our direction.

"No way." Kali breathed, "Is that…"

"Qr'Krowl! Louhi!" Ungrost greeted us as he approached, "It is good to see the two of you alright."

"Yeah, it's uh… good to see you too, Ungrost." It wasn't just the minotaur's size that had changed, when we first met, he had seemed to struggle to speak coherent sentences. Now he spoke with a deep, sophisticated voice; like a really buff professor.

Ungrost let out a snort, "You've grown some more feathers since we last met." He remarked.

"And you've uh…" I looked up and down the minotaur, "Well… grown."

Ungrost cracked a smile at that, "That would be the abundance of mana in the city; it has been good to me."

The smile faded and his expression turned grim as he turned his eyes to the city behind us, "The Filth here…" He shook his head, "I didn't think it possible."

I grimaced, "Yeah, that's because it shouldn't have been."

Ungrost looked down at me, "You say that as though you know how it came about." He said, in a tone that was half-question, half-demand.

"Not exactly," I admitted, "But I'm pretty confident that Mayor Ashuna is responsible."

Ungrost's eyes darkened, "Ah, then you trust Seydin and Count Arnau and their claims? That you believe that Mayor Ashuna has been consorting with the Filth?"

I nodded, "Yeah, Seydin kind of saved my life when I was tailing a poor sap that Mayor Ashuna sacrificed to it." I looked the minotaur square in the eyes, "I saw it with my own eyes Ungrost. They're telling the truth."

Ungrost looked at me for a moment and then slowly shook his head, "I admit, I did not know what to think when Count Arnau and Seydin brought these very same accusations before me." He rumbled, "After all, the Etiora claimed that they themselves had allowed the Filth to enter our walls; and that Mayor Ashuna was working on a way to free the city from its grasp even now."

I snorted, "Just killed that asshole… he was lying to you Ungrost; he pretty much admitted Ashuna was behind this when I was fighting him."

Ungrost was quiet for a moment, "I believe you." He said softly, "I know not what it is, but something is telling me that you wouldn't lie to me about this. Just as I had felt there was something wrong with the Etiora's explanation."

He turned his gaze to me and a light twinkled in his eyes, "Somehow, ever since I met you before our fight in the tournament, I knew that I could trust you; even now, with the world falling into chaos… I trust you still, Qr'Krowl."

Despite myself, I felt a lump form in my throat. Holy shit, could the minotaur twist the knife in any deeper? Just how betrayed would this guy be if he realized just who it was that he was talking to?

I quickly looked back at the ragtag group of survivors before my guilt showed on my face and cleared my throat, "Yeah… right back at you."

I saw Seydin talking with Count Arnau, surrounded by several other monsters, the kobold sorcerer nodded and then I saw him turn his hooded visage towards me.

"Listen, I've got to go, you stay safe you hear?"

Ungrost nodded, "You as well, Qr'Krowl, Louhi, oh and..." He gave a wry smile, "Smash good."

"Qr'Krowl." Seydin nodded as we walked up to him, "I have both good and bad news. The good news is that we have discovered how Ashuna allowed the Filth inside, and it's a relatively simple fix."

"Well that's… good." I said cautiously, "What's the bad news then?"

"Ashuna took the daggers from the Twin Temples of Blood, effectively shutting them down." Count Arnau replied, "Which means we both have to take them from Ashuna and restore them to the temples."

I lifted an eyebrow, "The way that you say that makes me think there's more to it than just giving them back and going on our merry way."

"The task carries considerable danger." Seydin told me, "The priests will be in a frenzy, and so they will likely grab the first thing they can to sacrifice."

I winced, "Which means they'll try to grab whoever gives them the daggers."

"Indeed." Seydin agreed.

"Right, so how exactly do we avoid that?" I asked him.

Seydin stroked his chin, "Run quickly." He said simply, "It is inadvisable to fight the priests, but they are bound to the temples. If the person in question were to escape the boundaries, then they will give up pursuit."

"Well that's easy enough." I let out a sigh, "Alright then, now we just have to get the daggers from Ashuna."

Seydin winced, "Ah, yes, just that." He turned to the Palace, "Jacob will undoubtedly be preparing the grounds for assault as we speak."

"You mean the Twardow?" Kali asked.

Seydin nodded, "A prince among their kind, it will not be easy. In addition, we know not who else is still inside with him."

"So who all do we have?" I asked him.

"We have a full cohort of my warriors." Count Arnau replied, "In addition, several other individuals that have pledged their assistance."

"Huh," I scratched my chin, "Plus us, that's not half bad."

"Indeed not." Seydin agreed, "However, the power we shall face is quite formidable… we must be cautious." He planted his staff and regarded me, "That being said, we must also be swift, else we shall find the Filth joining the fight; are you ready?"

I hesitated, "Yeah, just uh, let me talk with my associates."

Seydin lifted an eyebrow, "Please be quick." He told me.

I gestured for Kali and Winter to follow me, they did so and I stopped a little ways away from the group.

"Okay, so here's the deal." I pointed to Winter, "You have only one flask of Mistralian Gold left, and if you start using anima then I don't know how Arnau and Seydin will react." I turned to Kali, "And you said yourself that you can't use much magic, and we're walking into someplace that's even got someone like Seydin jumpy."

Kali folded her arms, "I would like to point out that both of these things are solidly your fault."

I ground my teeth, "Fair point, but-"

"You would like us to stay behind." Kali interrupted.

I sighed, "Yes, I would… not out here in the square; too much of a risk that Filth could attack. Once we breach the Palace we'll clear the path, you can follow along behind us."

Kali set her jaw, "And we'd be close enough that if you need help we can jump in."

I sighed, "Yes, yes you could…"

"Done." Winter stated calmly, "And remember your promise."

"I just told you that Sey-freakin'-din is scared of this guy and you want me to get you in on a fight with him?" I demanded.

Winter simply lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, "Look, like I told you before, I'll see what I can do."

"That's all I ask." Winter replied coolly, then she jerked her head, "Now get going."

I rejoined Seydin and Count Arnau as the latter was speaking with a group of various fey, all armed and armored in full wargear. Seydin himself was speaking with an albino man in a trenchcoat, a massive piece of moving stone in the shape of a hulking creature with bat-like wings… a gargoyle, and a skeleton dressed in plate armor with a massive zweihander strapped to its back.

"Qr'Krowl." Seydin nodded as I approached, he gestured at the three monsters, "Here are three fellow members of our rebellion, this is Blut." He jerked his head to the albino man. "He's a High Vampire… Kurtan, the last remaining gargoyle made by Zarkul the Maker."

The gargoyle lifted a massive claw in greeting, "Well met." It rumbled.

I gave a polite nod and Seydin pointed his staff at the last of the trio, "And this is-"

"Dirge al Ferences, a mage of the greatest prestige." The skeleton interrupted in a nasally voice, "Who can speak for himself just fine."

Seydin lowered his head, "Just so." He replied politely, "Each of these three are those whose attempts to become Tribunes were… interrupted… by Count Arnau and myself."

"I look forward to observing you fight in person, Qr'Krowl." Blut remarked, "After all, of all of us, you were the one to slip through and reach Tribune… much to Dirge's great chagrin."

"Bah," Dirge scoffed, "It is the small fish that slips through the fisher's net, this is well known."

I lifted an eyebrow and Blut gave a smile filled with sharp teeth as a light twinkled in his pale-red eyes.

"Of course." I replied, showing what I must say was remarkable restraint in not immediately decking the smug bucket of bones right in his face.

At least, it would have been were it not for the fact that I wasn't actually sure that I could win in a fight with the stuck-up skeleton. I wasn't sure if it was the act of nearly turning into a monstrosity itself, or what Winter had done to stop the transformation, but the mana still felt like it was coming in much weaker than before. I was faced with the very real prospect that I was currently the weakest of the six of us.

That being said, the fact that I was able to feel the mana at all was a bit of a relief compared to when I had been facing down the Twardow when I hadn't felt a thing. Hopefully I could carry my weight just enough to not draw unwanted attention. While it wasn't that I didn't trust Seydin and Count Arnau to stick to our deal, if they didn't make it then I would have to at least seem big and scary enough that any of these three punks wouldn't make a move for the Scepter.

"So what exactly is the plan?" I asked Seydin.

"I can trace the magical energy of the daggers once we're inside." Seydin replied, "That should lead us straight to Ashuna. I find it highly unlikely that he would let them out of his sight."

"Well that's something at least." I replied, "But how about surviving to get to him?"

"My warriors will go in first." Count Arnau answered, "They will attempt to clear out any traps and surprises. We will follow after them."

I felt a chill go down my spine at the callous disregard in the Fey lord's voice, I was pretty sure when he said 'clear out' traps and surprises it meant that he expected them to die triggering them. That being said, if it meant having the best chance of beating Ashuna, then I would have to stomach it.

Then I frowned, what the hell? Since when did I feel bad about how a monster treated their minions? Sure Fey always had been kind of a gray area for me - they weren't usually kill on sight, but I had killed at least one of Arnau's minions myself without feeling any particular remorse.

It was this city, I realized, ever since I had gotten here things had gotten all screwy. First I felt guilty for lying to a freakin' minotaur and now I was getting all torn up about some fey dying to keep my ass safe long enough to save the world… or at least what was left of it.

Monsters were supposed to be ravenous beasts that only wanted to kill as many mortals as they could get their claws on. My mission had been to stop them, to kill them whenever they so much as sneezed the wrong way. Now...

I shook my head and let out a growl of frustration, these were uncertainties that I couldn't deal with right now; especially considering I had so many bodies of monsters at my feet that I had become the thing they checked under the bed for.

"So then, I guess we wait for now?" I asked the Fey lord.

He shook his head, "The first wave already went in about ten minutes ago." He replied, "We can go now."

"Well then," I turned to the Palace, the entrance yawning wide open like a hungry maw that sought to swallow us all whole; the mental image made me shudder slightly, "Let's get moving."

I had braced myself going into the Palace, trying to ready myself for what we were going to find inside.

The good news is that it wasn't the worst sight I had ever seen.

The bad news is that it probably could rank in the top fifteen or so.

Seydin hadn't been kidding about the preparations, and my instinct on how Count Arnau's underlings were going to deal with what they found inside proved to be grimly accurate.

Brightly colored blood pooled on the floor and ran in streaks along the wall. Body parts lay strewn all over the floor, strands of silk still wrapped around them.

The fey had gone down fighting, several bodies of dog-sized spiders lay on the floor, as well as the bodies of several humanoid-like creatures.

I bent down on a knee to examine one of them, making sure to keep my senses on alert.

It had five arms, all of which had different color skin, and I could see crude lines of stitched thread attaching them to the torso.

"What do you make of it?" Seydin asked me.

"Wirujor." I replied nodding to one of the spider bodies, "Not surprising considering that he's a Twardow. The bodies torn apart would be their work… they like to work in teams to rip their prey to pieces."

I gestured to the humanoid, "Don't know about this one though." I said, "Looks like some kind of necromantic thrall, but it looks crudely done."

Seydin peered over my shoulder and then he stiffened abruptly, "Get back!" He commanded.

I obeyed instantly, flapping hard with my wings to drag myself out of the way as the thrall jerked to life, flailing its limbs to grab the empty space where I had been a moment ago. Its face opened up like petals on a flower, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth and a spiked tongue flicked in and out.

It righted itself, hunching over as spikes began to emerge from the ends of its arms, it drove them into the ground in frustration and let out a screech as it turned its sightless gaze at me.

There was a shout and the sound of something scraping on stone, followed by a bellow of rage. I turned my head to see that another one of the thralls had risen to life to attack the rest of the group.

It was in front of Kurtan, dwarfed by the gargoyle's size. The stone creature looked from a fresh gash on its arm to the thrall and gave a rumbling growl. It moved far faster than I would have thought possible, snatching the thrall by the head and lifting it bodily off the ground before clenching its claw into a fist.

The undead creature's body gave a sharp spasm and then went still as bit of flesh oozed out from between the gargoyle's fingers. He gave a grunt and tossed it to the side to slam into the wall before turning to two more that had risen from the ground.

I turned my head back around and nearly choked on the smell of charred flesh as the thrall that had attacked me fell to the ground with its skin charred and blackened. Seydin let out a sigh, "Damn it, this is Alphonse's handiwork."

"Alphonse?" I asked him.

"A most accomplished master of necromancy," Seydin replied, "You might know him for his title: The Weaver."

I perked up at the name, "Slimy bastard, bad taste in suits? Forgets that you're supposed to leave the needles out if you're going to wear something?"

Seydin lifted an eyebrow, "You've met him then?"

"Yeah, and we've got some unfinished business between us." I growled, "You think he's here?"

Seydin shrugged, "He wouldn't simply give his minions away for free, so he's at least allied with Ashuna. Taking into account that the Palace is likely the only place that is going to be safe from the Filth; yes he's probably here." He stroked his chin, "Although, knowing him, he will no doubt be looking for a way out if things go south."

A vindictive part of me dearly hoped he wouldn't find one before I could get my hands on him. The more rational part of me reminded that part of me of my currently diminished state and that I shouldn't be hoping for anything that would make this harder.

The vindictive part told the rational part just where it could shove it and I turned to the kobold sorcerer, "Do we have a read on the daggers?"

Seydin muttered under his breath and then nodded sharply, "Yes, I can sense them." He nodded down the hallway, "It seems that they are in the center of the Palace, in the throne room."

Count Arnau spat something in a strange, lilting tongue, and several moments later there was the tromping of boots as a group of fey warriors marched in. He jerked his head and said something else and they quickly filed into the hallway and soon were out of sight.

Not a moment later there was a scream that made my stomach churn, then there was a roar and the crunch of metal and bone.

"Another surprise then." Blut remarked as he stepped forward, a scimitar in each of his hands.

"It appears so." Count Arnau remarked lightly, "Come, we should attack before it finishes off my warriors."

The Fey lord led our group as we walked through the hallway and straight into a nightmare.

Count Arnau's underlings were already dead, breastplates caved in and helmets crushed. In the center of the room was something I originally took to be a kind of malformed octopus, but as it turned to face us, my mind finally began to take in the horrific details.

It had eight long limbs that resembled tentacles, but upon closer inspection were chains of arms that had been attached end to end, and at each of their tips, were four oversized hands. Its torso was a mass of crudely stitched together human bodies, a crudely shaped beak hooked from its center, and it opened wide to roar at us.

"Well… that is something I could have gone my whole life not seeing." Blut murmured.

"You can say that again." I told him as I brandished Harbinger, and was silently thankful as I was able to bring the Flames of Sarongar to burn along its blade.

"A foolish toy." Dirge al What's-his-face stepped forward and lifted a single hand. The smell of ozone filled the air and a sharp crackle ripped the air as a ball of pure electricity formed in the skeleton's hand.

He extended it and there was a crack as it leapt forward, colliding into the creature. Its roar turned into a weak scream of pain as the spell ripped a huge chunk out of its center. The creature's limbs spasmed once and then it simply collapsed into itself in a heap. It jerked once more and then went still, its cry petering out pathetically until it was silent.

"See, absolutely nothing to worry about." Dirge stepped forward to walk around it, "Now come let's-"

One moment, the arrogant skeletal mage was there, the next, Kurtan was there on top of him, the gargoyle lifted a fist before slamming it down into the mage's chest.

Dirge let out a screech of rage and pain and I saw him lift a hand, trying to bring a spell to bear, but the gargoyle simply swiped at that arm and it went flying to clatter against the wall.

I started to lift Harbinger, but Count Arnau was faster, his spears whirling around in a blur as he advanced on the pair.

He was almost on them when a strand of something flashed from the ceiling, and I only had enough time to realize that it was spider silk before the Fey lord was yanked off his feet.

Some sixth sense screamed at me and I barely managed to roll out of the way as a similar attack came my way, the silk meant for me splattering uselessly against the stone floor.

I flapped hard with my wings, launching myself at Kurtan, praying desperately that I wasn't about to shatter every bone in my body.

I slammed into the gargoyle just as he was lifting up a clawed hand to finish off Dirge, knocking him on his side and off of the mage.

I let out a gasp of pain as I took a combat stance; my whole right side felt like it had been pulverized with a meat tenderizer, but from what I could tell nothing was broken.

"You alright?" I shouted at Dirge.

"What do you think?" He asked incredulously as he got to his feet, his armor battered.

"That maybe you should stop being a dick for just one second." I replied.

The mage gave me a sidelong glance and brought up his remaining hand, electricity forming in a ball in his palm, "My apologies." He said stiffly, "I am simply a little distraught."

I blinked in surprise, "Uh… apology accepted I guess."

Dirge turned back to Kurtan as the gargoyle got to his feet, "Now, shall we deal with the traitor?"

"Wait!" The gargoyle held out a claw as it shook his head, "I-I don't know what's coming over me… the whispers, they-" He hunched down and let out a growl of frustration.

"Oh shit." I breathed, my mind flashed back to the wound that the thrall had given him, "It's The Weaver, he's controlling him."

"Exactly." A familiar voice echoed around the room.

I looked to the side to see The Weaver enter the room, his violet eyes aglow as he considered us.

"Weird, I kind of took you for a runner." I told him, "Kind of ballsy for you to walk in with all of us here."

The Weaver gave me a toothy smile, "And just who is 'all of us'?"

My hearts dropped into my stomach as I looked around the room, Seydin, Count Arnau, Blut… they had all disappeared. My mind went back to when Arnau had been caught by the spider thread... undoubtedly the Twardow's work.

"Ah…" I said slowly.

"Indeed." The Weaver agreed, "I believe that Jacob will be dealing with them." The smile vanished and his lip curled as he considered me, "However, you and I, we have unfinished business to attend to."

I took a deep breath, "Well I guess on that we agree." I told him, and then I leaned in to Dirge, "That wound on Kurtan's arm, from the thrall from earlier, it will have a curse of some kind, it's letting this asshole control him; do you think you can lift it?" I asked quietly.

Dirge lifted his chin, "Just to whom do you think you are speaking? I am Dirge al Ferences, I-"

"Knew I could count on you." I interrupted and then I spread my wings and flew at The Weaver.

He watched me watched me with an amused smile on his face as I rushed towards him, Harbinger ready to strike. It was probably what tipped me off that something was coming so that when the octopus monster suddenly sprang to life; lashing out with a tentacle seeking to crush me, I was ready for it.

I tucked in my right wing, sending me into a roll that got me out of the way and into a crouch. I shot out of it, hoping to reach The Weaver and introduce his smug face to Harbinger's blade before his thrall could get in the way. I spat out a curse as I was too slow and the octopus monster sat its bulk squarely between The Weaver and myself.

There was a peal of mocking laughter, "Oh, Qr'Krowl, surely you wouldn't want it to be that easy." The Weaver admonished.

"You know, if you don't mind, I really would like the change of pace." I replied, "So how about it, just you against me?"

The Weaver materialized on top of the octopus monster's head and the sewing needles on his coat came to life; whipping around to plunge into the flesh beneath his feet.

The change was instantaneous, the monster went from randomly writhing and growling to utterly still and silent.

Then The Weaver lifted his arm and the octopus monster lifted a tentacle. Then he moved his neck from side to side and the thing's torso moved in tandem.

"Oh you've got to be shitting me." I breathed.

"Just me against you." The Weaver mocked, "Very well then." He lifted his arms and the monster's tentacles reared up to strike, "Let's begin!"