Amor Vincit Omnia

(Love Conquers All)

Part Two: The Fragile Heart

"Maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It's not a cry you can hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah."
- Leonard Cohen
"Hallelujah"

Hey, everyone - is it just me, or are updates getting a tiny bit more frequent? I'll try to narrow the gap even more if I can. Two things: first, an ultra-mega Thank You to everyone who has read, favorited, followed, and especially reviewed this story! The comments I get from you guys are so inspiring, and thought-provoking as well. I'd estimate that every review I get is at least one page's worth of inspiration. *wink wink*

Two, this chapter contains some descriptions of an abusive relationship. Needless to say, I do not condone any abuse in relationships, period. Also, although the part is very brief, if physical and emotional abuse is a trigger for you, please take care when reading. It's about the middle of the chapter, I think.

Thanks once again for reading! Hope you all enjoy. :)

Chapter Three: Shadows of the Past

"Baal!" Saiya cried, sprinting after him. "Baal, wait!"

His reply floated back to her: "Get the others!" She skidded to an awkward halt in the soft sand, torn by indecision. She wanted to be at Baal's side, helping him combat this new menace, but suppose they were outnumbered and needed help? Who would alert the others? If only the Hunter had not charged off so recklessly, they could have sized up the threat and made a plan together.

Cursing him under her breath, she turned tail and dashed back to their camp. Eirena was already sitting up, rubbing her eyes and glancing around in confusion. Saiya hissed, "Wake Najmah!" and crouched down to wrest Kormac unceremoniously from his slumber.

"Ja, danke," the Templar mumbled. "Ich möchte noch eine Zimtschecke." Then, seeing Saiya, he yawned and said, "Oh, Schwesterchen. Is it my turn to stand guard already?"

"Someone's been attacked by demons," Saiya explained shortly. "Baal went to help." She picked up her brass knuckles from where they lay beside her bedroll. "Hurry!"

"What's going on?" asked Najmah in the background. Eirena explained to him as she tied back her hair and pulled her boots on.

Kormac, still half-asleep, struggled to don his breastplate and pauldrons, fumbling with the buckles. Impatient, Saiya brushed his hands away and did it for him, making sure that they were tightly secured.

As soon as the Templar was ready, the four of them headed off in the direction Baal had gone. It was not difficult to find him. The sounds of blade against steel and the flash of spells carried effortlessly over the open ground. Cresting a dune, Saiya took in the situation at a glance: a small cluster of people – refugees and Iron Wolves – surrounded on all sides by a horde of lacuni. Baal was among them, shoulder to shoulder with a giant of a man in red armor who wielded a double-bladed axe against his foes.

One of the Wolves went down, screaming, and left a gap in the protective circle. Saiya leaped to fill it and saw Kormac do the same on the other side. Eirena remained where she was on the hilltop, working her magic.

With the reinforcements, the tide of battle turned. Soon the defenders were pressing forward, relentlessly driving the lacuni back. A skillful shot from Baal killed one that had been casting spells from the rear of the band, and with its death, the rest broke and scattered, yowling.

The armored giant, who Saiya took to be the leader of the group, barked orders to several of his men. They began to comb the field, dragging the corpses into a pile and tending the wounded. Meanwhile their captain approached Baal, who was retrieving some of his arrows.

"Thank you, friend," the man said. "Without your help, the lacuni would have eaten well tonight. I am Jarulf of the Iron Wolves, Second Battalion, and if there is ever something I can do to pay you back, I will."

"That's grand," said Baal distractedly. He was trying to remove a bolt that was lodged rather tightly in a lacuni's skull without breaking it.

"Are there many more of these things on the road to Alcarnus?" Saiya asked.

Jarulf looked down at her from his great height and laughed. His face was a twin to the axe he carried: all sharp lines and cutting edges, but there was kindness in his deep-set brown eyes.

"You the boss around here, girly?" he inquired.

"The - the boss?" Saiya mumbled, taken aback. "Uh, no. Not really. I mean, we're not military or anything. We're just … travelers."

His laugh boomed forth again. "Right. Just travelers who can slaughter lacuni faster than a trained company of mercs. Now I've seen everything."

Having decided that she liked the rough-voiced soldier, Saiya held out her hand. "My name's Kala," she said. "My friends are Alem, Haidar, Najmah, and, um, Eirena."

Jarulf engulfed her hand in both of his and shook it solemnly. "Nice to meet you, Kala. Alem. Haidar. Najmah. And, um, Eirena." A teasing smile parted his lips. He was missing several teeth. "So, Alcarnus. Not my business why you're going there, but you'll have a hell of a time of it. Not the lacuni so much as those fucking cultists. They're holed up like foxes in their dens, casting their illusions, and suddenly good people can't see the right road anymore. They walk right over a cliff thinking they're on a bridge. Or they can't see the bridge that's right in front of them. See what I'm saying? Kill the cultists, and you take care of the problem."

"We don't have time to hunt down every rat bastard who follows the witch," said Baal. "Why don't you take care of it, Iron Wolf? Isn't that your job?"

Jarulf shook his head. "Right now, kid, my job is getting these people to safety."

"Well, if your destination is Caldeum, then you have a problem," Baal said. "The road is blocked by a landslide."

"Another illusion, no doubt," said Jarulf, waving a dismissive hand.

Baal and Saiya exchanged a brief glance. "Well, it was …" began the monk.

"It caved in for real during our fight with the Coven," explained Baal. "They ambushed us as we were leaving the canyon, and we barely escaped with our lives."

"I see," said Jarulf. "Looks like my boys and I will be busy hauling rocks for a while."

One of the soldiers came up to give his report: three Wolves dead, as well as a refugee who had gotten in the way. There were several wounded, but none in grave condition. Jarulf gave the order to cremate the remains, and leave the dead lacuni for the locusts.

"Listen," he said, turning back to Saiya. "Here's some friendly advice: turn around and go back to wherever you came from. You don't want to tangle with those fuckers out there. I saw you fight, girly, and you're good … but you'll need to be better than good to survive what they'll throw at you."

"Thanks for your concern," Saiya said sincerely, "but this is something that has to be dealt with, and we're going to give it our best shot. We've fought Maghda before, and lived to tell the tale."

"It seems she did as well," said Jarulf, but there was new respect in his eyes. He continued, "If you won't take my advice, can I ask you a favor? As far as my boys can tell, the cultists have two main holdouts in the Howling Plateau. One to the east, one to the west. We need them gone, and so do you if you ever want to be able to find the bridge over Black Canyon. Can I count on you, Kala?"

She cast a surreptitious glance at Baal, who shrugged. "Yes," she said. "We'll make sure they're all cleared out. Good luck, Jarulf."

"Good luck to yourself, kid," he said, and shook her hand once more. Then the battered group limped off in the direction of the canyon, while Saiya, Baal, and the others returned to their own camp. Eirena, Kormac, and Najmah fell (almost literally) into their bedrolls, and Saiya took up her post on the rock outcropping, desperately hoping that the excitement was over for the night. Baal joined her, insisting that his hour was not yet up.

"I'm somewhat surprised that you remembered all of our undercover names," he remarked, stretching out his long legs and resting his weight on his elbows.

"Memorization is one of my strong points," Saiya replied. "All those long, sleepless nights at the temple studying mantras really paid off."

"Well, I'm glad," said the Hunter. "It would have been awkward if Jarulf's report had contained descriptions of several people eerily similar to the ones who harassed Commander Asheara in the marketplace, but bearing different names."

Saiya laughed. "Awkward, indeed. I meant to ask you, by the way, if you picked our aliases at random of if they have some personal meaning to you."

"Some of both, I suppose," he said. "I wouldn't say they have personal meaning – well, maybe yours does – but I kept certain traits in mind when selecting them. I figured they'd be easier for me to remember if they were accurate."

When no further explanation was forthcoming, Saiya poked him hard in the side and said, "So? What do they mean?"

"Haidar is 'lion'," said Baal. "It seemed fitting. Kormac is rather lion-like: proud, courageous, and noble, not to mention a terror on the battlefield."

"I can see that," Saiya agreed, nodding. "What about Ghor and Leah? Ghada and Fahima?"

"Ghada means 'graceful woman', plus it's reminiscent of her actual name. Fahima is 'scholar'."

"How very appropriate. And Caesar? What horrible appellation did you stick him with?"

Baal's overly innocent expression confirmed her suspicions. "How do you know it was horrible?" he asked.

"Because I know you."

He grinned. "Apparently you do. Homaar translates to … how shall I put it? … 'beast of burden'."

Saiya narrowed her eyes. "Insulting, to be sure, but you've called him worse than that in Khanduran. What does it really mean?"

"Jackass." She pierced him with a glare, and he held up his hands as if to ward off her displeasure. "What? You have to admit it's rather funny. Everyone who is introduced to him is going to be making donkey jokes, and he won't even understand what they're saying."

"I don't find it very amusing to take advantage of someone's ignorance to mock them," Saiya admonished. "I can't believe you're still holding on to this childish grudge of yours, Baal. It was understandable at least when you thought he was a rival for my affections, but now that you know better, I think it's time to let it go. I'm not saying you have to be friends with him, but this constant animosity is driving everyone crazy." She stopped there, realizing that her simple speech was beginning to turn into a lecture.

Baal crossed his arms. "I'm driving everyone crazy?" he said sourly. "Why don't you ask the mage to be a little less of a dick?"

"Caesar's not the one with the problem," Saiya shot back. "If you haven't noticed, he's been very well-behaved as of late. Unlike someone else I know." She meant it teasingly, a lighthearted taunt, but his eyes sparked with irritation.

"You're very quick to defend him," he snapped. "I noticed that you managed to drag him along, too."

"He's part of our group," she said calmly, "whether you like it or not."

"I'm more concerned about whether you like it," he said. There was something nasty in his tone: a dark suggestion that caused Saiya's hackles to raise.

"What are you trying to say?" she demanded.

"Do you think I'm a fool, Saiya? I know you find him attractive – you openly admitted it to me! And he never made any secret of coming on to you. You claim he's no threat to us, but his very presence makes me uneasy."

Saiya felt cold all over, as though she was encased in icy mail. She said, "I see. And here I thought you trusted me."

"I - I do, but-"

"But what? Obviously you don't, not completely anyway, or this would never have come up." She allowed her face to thaw, just enough to draw her eyebrows down into a frown of hurt. "I need your complete trust, or this is never going to work."

Baal gasped sharply, as though in pain. "Trust," he mumbled, "is hard to give freely once it's been broken."

"How dare you!" Saiya hissed, choking back tears. "How dare you accuse me like that after what we did tonight? I thought … I thought I meant more to you than that …"

"Accuse you?" He looked bewildered. "When did I-"

"Trust is hard to freely give once it's been broken," she repeated, unkindly mimicking his tone.

"I wasn't talking about you, Saiya," he said.

"You weren't?"

"No!"

"Who, then? Because it sure sounded like you were saying I'd broken your trust."

"I'm sorry." His voice was quiet, subdued almost. "I was trying to explain why … why it's hard. For me to trust anyone, including you. I did before, and it was a mistake."

It became clear to Saiya then, like the sun beaming down through a gap in the clouds. "This is about your previous relationships, isn't it," she said. "The ones that didn't work out well."

"Yes. I didn't make that clear, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to … you've never done anything to shake my faith in you, Saiya, and I don't think you ever would. You're not that kind of person."

"I think," Saiya said slowly, "that it's time you told me about these relationships of yours."

He stiffened. "Why?"

"Because they've obvious had a deep impact on you, and I would like to better understand how it's affected your life."

"You don't know what you're asking," said Baal. "I'm not going to relive some of the worst experiences of my life just to satisfy your curiosity."

She sighed, frustrated, and thought, if it doesn't work out between us, will I someday be referred to as 'one of the worst experiences of his life'?

Then she noticed his posture. He was sitting with shoulders hunched and knees drawn up, locked against his chest by his arms. His expression was sullen, but beneath that was the rawness of an open wound. It reminded Saiya crushingly of a child awaiting punishment, and she felt her own anger melting away, to be replaced with empathy. She wanted to put her arms around him and reassure him that she was different, that he had nothing to fear from her, but first she had to get him to believe it.

"Do you remember when we were going after Leoric," she said, "and the stairs were blocked by those spikes, and you pushed me because you knew that if I was in danger, I would be able to use the bell to clear the path?"

"Yeah," said Baal. There was a strong undertone of What the hell are you on about? in his voice.

"I was so mad at you," Saiya said. "It wasn't what you did … it was the fact that afterwards I wasn't sure I could trust you anymore. To have that trust and then lose it – that hurt more than not having it in the first place."

"If you understand that, you should understand how I feel," he replied.

Saiya nodded. "I do. But trust works both ways, Baal. You should be able to trust me not to betray you. And I should be able to trust you not to look at me and see a woman that hurt you in the past."

"That's absolutely true," he said, "and I'm sorry that's so hard for me, but I still don't see how telling you about my previous relationships will help. It's not going to make a difference."

"It will to me," Saiya insisted. "If I don't know why those relationships failed, how will I know what to avoid in ours?"

Baal made a small noise in the back of his throat. "Oh. Okay. I guess that makes sense. If you really want to know, then I'll - I'll tell you."

Saiya started to say, "Only if you feel comfortable," and then stopped herself. In this instance, she felt that their joint future was more important than his comfort. There were some things, she reflected, that he would probably never want to discuss with her, and this was apparently one of them. But still she needed to know, if just to get a better idea what she was up against. It wasn't as though she was looking forward to hearing the details of Baal's affairs any more than he was looking forward to dragging them into the open, but it was an unpleasant necessity.

"There were three," he began, "and I told you a little bit about one of them already."

Saiya struggled to remember when that might have occurred. "The girl whose brother was a Hunter?" she guessed.

Baal nodded. "Rejina. You know the outcome of that story, but I never mentioned that we were physically intimate. My … first time."

"Was it good?" Saiya blurted out. She flushed red immediately with shame; such a question was far out of line.

Baal grimaced. "We were kids. I was sixteen at the time, she was fifteen. So no, it wasn't the best sex I've ever had. But it was special anyway. I thought I loved her."

"But she left you," Saiya murmured.

"I frightened her away." He raked a hand through his hair. "She didn't like my dark side, the violence I was capable of. She was afraid that I would turn it against her someday. She couldn't bring herself to trust me." He laughed at the bitter irony of it. Saiya said nothing, waiting patiently for him to continue.

"The next woman I slept with was named Marion," he said eventually. "She was older than I by a decent margin, and had been married once already. Her husband died during an attack on their village by demons, and I was the Hunter dispatched to take care of it. I stayed there some months, working to make the area safe again, and during that time I stayed at her house. At first it was purely sexual, no feelings involved – I needed a release from the stress of putting my life on the line, day after day, for people I didn't know, and she … she was lonely, I suppose. It was great for a while. No drama, no arguments, just pure pleasure."

"What happened?" Saiya asked, when he fell silent.

Baal sighed. "I started to believe, foolishly I admit, that there could be something more between us. It wasn't Marion's fault, really. We just never bothered to set boundaries. 'Fucking only, no feelings', that sort of thing. In my own mind, I had made a commitment to her, and I expected the same loyalty in return. She felt differently, and I found that out in a way that neither of us would have preferred." He sighed again. "I got a letter from her, actually, not too long ago. Apologizing, I think, for hurting me. She wrote to say that she'd gotten remarried and was very happy, but would always remember our time together fondly, and that she hoped I was taking care of myself. It was kind of sweet, especially considering the scene I made when I took my leave of her. I wasn't exactly kind."

There was a long moment of silence. Saiya's mind wandered, imagining against her will what the two women might have looked like. Rejina came out pale and blonde, as delicate as a spider's web, with large eyes and trembling hands. And she pictured Marion as a red-headed seductress, not unlike Sasha.

"And the third?" she prompted after a few minutes had gone by.

"The third," Baal repeated softly. There was defeat in his voice, a sort of weary acceptance of fate, and an undercurrent that sounded strangely like fear. Saiya frowned, knowing instinctively that something about this one was different.

The Hunter reached up to run his fingers through his hair again, and then lowered them. His hands were shaking, though he clenched them tightly to disguise it.

"Are you alright?" Saiya asked, beginning to feel concerned. "We don't have to talk about this anymore, if it's too much for you."

"No," said Baal. "No, you're right, it's time. I should have … I should have told you this long ago. It was a mistake to keep it a secret."

Concern rapidly turned to alarm. "Why? Is there something wrong?"

He met her eyes, and she was shocked by the distress on his handsome features. "I don't know how you're going to react to this," he admitted. "I wish to the gods that I had something else to tell you, but I refuse to lie any-" He swallowed hard. "Any more than I already have," he finished.

"What do you mean?" Saiya said blankly. "I don't understand."

Baal took a deep breath and said, "I told you I had no friends among the Hunters, but that wasn't quite true. There's a woman that I am intimate with. I'm honestly not sure if it could be called a 'relationship' or not. We see each other so infrequently. I'm sorry, Saiya. I meant to tell you, truly, but it never seemed like the right time."

He said 'I am', she thought. Not 'I was'. He's still with her. She was surprised to feel an actual ache deep in her chest, as if her very heart was cracking. Fool that she was, she had never imagined that his reason for keeping his distance was that he had already pledged himself to another.

Not mine …

She felt dirty and used, but also, horribly, as if she had been using him. After all, without her insistence, Baal would never have been tempted into infidelity. She had caused this, had stolen him without even knowing it. The thought made her sick.

"I wish I had known," she said hollowly. "It would have changed everything."

"That's exactly why I was hesitant," he said. "Look, Saiya – I know what you think right now, but it's not that simple. Vera and I … there's no love between us. In fact, most of the time I think we hate each other. It's an outlet, in a way. By hating each other we don't have to hate anyone else." He took her hand, and she allowed him to, and despised herself for it. "You couldn't possibly understand, nuur il-'en, you who are so pure and innocent. When people are filled with darkness, they need a way to release it or it will consume them. But with Vera it's like cutting your arm off to make your leg stop hurting."

Saiya frowned. "She causes you pain?"

Baal's lips twisted upwards in a ghastly attempt at a smile. "She excels at that. Most of the time it's psychological – she loves to remind me of the day my - of the worst day of my life. But sometimes it's physical too. I have a scar on my inner thigh from one of our … encounters. She was … well … and when I finished she plunged a knife into my leg. I refused to see her for a while after that, but I couldn't keep her away forever. I needed her too, I guess. When she hurt me, and let me hurt her in return, the hatred wasn't quite so strong."

Saiya was horrified, both at his descriptions and at the calm, unbothered expression on his face. She knew, of course, that relationships could turn abusive. But to hear him say it so matter-of-factly, as though there was nothing wrong with it, shook her to the very core. She pulled her hand away.

"I'd like you to know," Baal said, "that even if you want nothing more to do with me, I'm done with Vera. I could never go back to that after seeing what love is really like. Your light banished the darkness more thoroughly than her cruel words ever could. So … I'm grateful, Saiya. Always."

He rose to his feet and jumped down from the rock, striding off towards their campsite. As Saiya watched him go, she realized that he thought she was rejecting him. And then, with a little jolt of uncertainty: am I?

It was not an easy thing to contemplate, especially after the incredible moment they had shared before the lacuni had attacked. Saiya could still feel traces of the fire that his ministrations had kindled in her belly; there was no doubt in her mind that she was still attracted to Baal – very much so. And in truth, despite the shock of his revelation, her feelings for him were not changed. He was still the same man she had fallen hopelessly in love with.

The issue, she decided, was not whether she still wanted to be with him, but whether is was the conscionable thing to do. If I were Vera, she thought, how would I feel, losing my lover to another woman in a foreign land, with no chance to try and win him back? It was complicated, of course, by the fact that Saiya herself was hardly an unbiased party. She did not approve of Baal's relationship with a woman who could hurt him so badly, and whom he felt justified in hurting in return, but was stealing him away really for his own good, or was she acting in self-interest?

She rubbed her eyes tiredly, wishing that she could ask one of her friends for advice, but the only person she would really have felt comfortable discussing the situation with was Ghor, and the sangoma was back in Caldeum.

"Looks like I have to figure this one out myself," she muttered. Closing her eyes, she sank into meditation – the best state for problem-solving, she felt – and allowed her subconscious to work away while her mind rested.

A hand ruffled her hair, jerking her back to reality. Her body was stiff, joints locked in place, and she groaned at the ache as she tried to stretch out her limbs. How long have I been sitting here, motionless?

"Falling asleep on duty, eh, Schwesterchen?" Kormac asked lightly. "You should have woken me sooner if you were so tired."

"I was meditating," she replied. "It's different. I'm still aware of what's going on around me."

"Like me coming up behind you?" asked the Templar. When Saiya frowned at him, he said, "Alright, little sister, I'm not trying to give you a hard time. I just think it's wise to stay alert in this place, especially since we've had one battle already tonight."

"Nothing short of Maghda herself could get through my shielding mantra anyway," Saiya grumbled. She wasn't sure why she felt so argumentative, but fortunately Kormac did not press the issue.

"Why don't you go get some rest," he suggested. "You look exhausted."

Saiya nodded and started towards camp, only to turn back. "Kormac?"

"Ja?"

"If you knew someone you loved was making a mistake – doing something wrong – would it be wrong of you not to do something about it?"

He considered the question carefully, as she had known he would. "I would say, Schwesterchen, that it depends upon how serious the mistake is, and how much it's going to affect the relationship. But there is only so much you can do about another person's mistakes before you have to step back and let them live their life as they choose. Does that help?"

"I think so." She put an affectionate hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Kormac."

"Glad to be of assistance," he replied.

Her bedroll was empty when she reached the camp; Baal, who should have been occupying it, was nowhere to be seen. But his pack remained, stacked casually next to hers, so she was not concerned. By now, she was accustomed to his spontaneous disappearances, and suspected that they were his way of coping with difficult emotions, much like her meditations.

Saiya fell asleep easily, but her dreams were restless and disturbed.

She walked down a maze of stone streets in which every corner looked the same, and all of the houses had the lights on and the doors open, but she could not enter. She saw Caesar framed in the window of one and called up to him, "Let me in, please! It's cold out here!" But the wizard shook his head, smiling.

"You threw away the key," he said. "You can never enter now."

She kept going, passing by more people that she recognized. Captain Rumford was there, fighting for his life inside the Wortham Chapel. Saiya ran to the empty doorway and tried desperately to force her was inside and save him, but an invisible wall held her back. She watched helplessly as the demons swarmed over him and retreated to leave his corpse staring sightlessly at the ceiling.

But worst of all was the house in which Baal lay entwined with a woman whose long dark hair covered her face and spilled down over his chest in ebony waves. She was moving atop him, and his head was thrown back, but his expression was one of agony rather than pleasure. Saiya stood frozen as the woman took out a knife and placed it against the Hunter's exposed throat.

"Tell me not to do it," she said, looking at the man beneath her, but speaking somehow to Saiya, alone outside.

"Tell me not to do it," she repeated, beginning to apply pressure. A line of crimson trickled onto the white pillow.

"Tell me not to do it!" the woman screamed. Saiya tried to speak, but the words had no sound.

The knife slashed across Baal's throat–

Saiya woke to the sound of her own scream ringing in her ears. Her eyes flew open, staring blankly into the infinite blue void of the sky overhead. Just a dream. He's alright, it was just a dream. Not real.

A face framed by blond hair appeared in her field of vision. "Are you okay?" Eirena asked concernedly. "You were thrashing around and crying out in your sleep. I was about to wake you up."

"I'm fine," Saiya rasped, though it was far from the truth. Her mouth felt as dry and gritty as if she had been eating sand. "Could you hand me the water, please?"

Eirena pressed a flask into her hand. Sitting up, she put it to her lips and tilted, gulping the lukewarm water.

"Easy there," said Baal's voice off to her left. "You'll make yourself sick if you drink too much at once."

Saiya gasped, and the mouthful she was in the midst of swallowing went right into her lungs instead. She choked, coughing wildly at her chest and throat stung. Eirena thumped her on the back.

"See what I mean?" Baal chuckled.

She glared at him, annoyed that he was teasing her when she was obviously in distress. The Hunter shrugged and went back to the pot of porridge he was stirring. He added in a handful of chopped-up dates and almonds, and a dash of reddish powder called cinnamon.

"Food's ready!" he called. "Come and get it!"

Kormac wandered up from the bushes south of their camp, where he had apparently been shaving, and Najmah, who had been on watch, came over from the rock outcropping.

"Smells wonderful," he said appreciatively.

"I know a few tricks with the spices they have here," Baal replied, winking. He began to dish out bowls of his concoction.

"Good morning, Kormac," Eirena murmured, passing by the Templar on her way to get her food. She stopped for a moment and reached up to touch the side of his jaw. "You missed a patch."

He turned red beneath his tan. "Ah. Um, thank you. Good morning. How did, uh, how did you sleep?"

"Wonderfully!" she answered, with a bright smile. "And yourself?"

"Very … very well."

"Good." She accepted her portion of breakfast from Baal with a gracious nod and sat down to eat it. Saiya dragged herself out of bed, leaving the blankets in a tangled mess, and stumbled sleepily across the sand to the campfire. Baal handed her a bowl without looking at her, although his fingers did brush hers for a brief moment. It felt like an electric shock.

"So what's the plan for today?" asked Eirena.

"We hunt down those damn cultists Jarulf told us about," said Baal, scraping the bottom of the pot for his own meal. "What did he say? 'One to the east, one to the west'? Should be a piece of cake."

Eirena looked puzzled. "You have cake?"

"No, it's an expression. Means 'should be easy'."

"Oh. I like that." She grinned. "I like cake, too. Especially chocolate."

"I'm glad someone agrees with me on the superiority of chocolate cake," said Baal.

Saiya concentrated on her porridge, trying to ignore the ridiculous jealousy that rose in her at the sound of their easy banter. Calm down, she scolded herself. It's not like they're flirting with each other in front of you. Baal's just being friendly. That's exactly what I've been trying to get him to do all along.

Still, it rankled; all the more so because of the current awkwardness between her and the Hunter.

"Something wrong with your food?" Baal asked. Saiya glanced up to see him watching her closely. "You've hardly touched it."

"Not too hungry," she mumbled.

"Well, eat anyway. You need your strength. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day." He turned back to Eirena.

After breakfast, Saiya used a few handfuls of sand to clean the dishes while the others packed up camp and obliterated any trace of their presence. Within half an hour, they were ready to head out.

The road continued to the north, towards a rising mass of land on the horizon that the map identified as the Howling Plateau. When they reached it, Saiya saw instantly why it had earned that moniker. Brutal winds swept almost continuously over the surface, scouring even the sand from the bare rock beneath. Before venturing into the gale, the Hunter instructed them all to wrap their hijabs around their faces to protect from flying particles in the air. He himself was forced to remove his cloak so it wouldn't be blown away.

It was not only the humans who had difficulty with the harsh environment. Gawahir found his favorite perch on Baal's shoulder nearly impossible to keep, and several times was knocked off completely by a violent gust. Eventually he took refuge against Najmah's solid chest, beneath his voluminous tunic, though the bird made his displeasure with this arrangement clear by his constant sullen mutterings.

Conversation was difficult on account of the wind, and each of the adventurers was left to their own thoughts as they trudged along in single file, following Baal's black-clad form. In Saiya's case, those thoughts revolved around the disturbing implications of her last conversation with Baal, and what, if anything, she ought to do about it. Meditation and a night's rest had not helped her make up her mind.

They had been walking for an hour or so when Eirena suddenly stopped in her tracks, staring intently at the ground.

"A large number of people have passed this way recently," she said. "The magical imprint is quite strong. They had demons with them."

"The cultists?" asked Baal, and the enchantress nodded.

"I believe so. If we follow this path, it should guide us right to their hideout."

"Everyone arm up and get ready for a fight," he ordered. "Eirena, lead the way."

The hidden trail veered right, skirting a ridge of black stone that jutted like a row of molars from the earth. It ended at a broken-down wall, a once proud bulwark of ancient times. Eirena informed them that such defensible outposts were once invaluable in holding back the lacuni, ages ago when the cat-like tribes were much more aggressive and numerous.

There was a locked door in the guardroom, presumably leading to the cellar. Baal tested the knob, muttered something about 'the one situation in which we could use that damn mage', and looked to Kormac.

"Can you get it open?" he asked.

The Templar gave it an experimental push and shook his head doubtfully. "It seems pretty sturdy, Brother. Is there anything around here we could use as a ram?"

"Let me try," Saiya said, pushing her way forward from the back of the group.

"Is this really a good time to use the bell?" Baal inquired.

"I'm not using the bell." Closing her eyes, she assumed the "Charging Bull" stance: right foot forward, head turned to the side, shoulder lowered to prepare for impact. She began to recite the mantra that would focus all her power in the front of her body – a living juggernaut. When the building energy peaked, she flung herself bodily at the wooden barrier and felt it splinter beneath her momentum. A hand grabbed her arm before she could tumble down the stairs that were immediately on the other side.

"Nicely done," said Baal, and Saiya felt her heart throb a little at the compliment.

"Thanks for catching me," she replied, with a bashful smile. His hand tightened on her wrist, and for a moment things felt almost normal. The illusion was quickly shattered when he released her and pulled out his crossbows, stepping past her to descend into the gloom. Saiya followed him, with the others close behind her.

The first thing she noticed were the candles. There must have been hundreds, stacked on every available surface, tiny flames flickering in the air stirred by their intrusion. A circle of them was arranged on the floor, and within it, a strange image painted in blood. It looked like a sun, with many undulating rays extending outwards, but the interior resembled the iris and pupil of a staring eye.

As they entered the small, confined cellar, Gawahir (who had returned to his preferred spot as soon as they were out of the wind) went wild, flapping his wings and cawing loudly. Baal winced as the raven's talons dug into his shoulder, but he raised his weapons anyway, sweeping the area.

"They're here," he warned.

"But the rooms looks empty," said Kormac. "There's no place to hide."

"Wait," grunted Eirena, setting the butt of her staff against the ground. "There is an illusion here; I will dispel it."

That proved unnecessary, however, for as soon as she had spoken, the shadows rippled and split apart like cloth tearing, revealing a group of seven cultists, accompanied by the foul smell of rotting flesh. Saiya coughed and covered her nose with one hand, eyes watering. But she had no time to ask Baal for his vial of rose scent, for the battle was joined.

Rolling forward to avoid a blast of life-draining magic, the young monk intercepted a robed man who'd been heading for Najmah with dagger in hand. A swift knee to the stomach bent him double. She seized his hood and yanked his head back, smashing her fist into his face twice for good measure. He crumpled, and she moved on to a woman who had opened a nasty-looking portal in the floor and was trying to raise something spiky out of it. Saiya broke her neck; the portal closed.

She looked around for another target, but all the cultists were down. Three were marked with black-feathered bolts, one had been beaten into submission by Eirena's staff, and Kormac was struggling to extricate his spear from the ribcage of the last.

"Anyone hurt?" Saiya asked, cleaning the gore from her brass knuckles.

"I'm fine," said Baal.

"So am I," Eirena added, and wrinkled her delicate nose. "Ugh, what's that smell?"

Najmah was inspecting something in the corner. He drew back with a sharp gasp, turning to block the sight from the rest of the group. "I believe it comes from this," he said indistinctly.

"What-" Saiya began, stepping forward, but the giant shook his head.

"You do not want to see, little one. A victim of the Coven, that is all."

"They must have needed quite a bit of blood to draw this," Baal said darkly, kicking a spray of dirt over the ritual circle.

"Let us get out of here," Kormac blurted out. He was looking a little pale. "Our work is done, and the atmosphere is making me dizzy."

No one had any objections to that plan, and they all breathed a deep sigh of relief to be out in the open again. Before they departed to search for the second hideout, Baal insisted on setting some explosive charges in the cellar door to cave in the entrance.

"Let it be a grave to the poor souls who were murdered here," he said, surveying the rubble with a grim eye. "No one will ever use this place for evil purposes again."

They retraced their steps to the main road, which they continued to follow northward. Around midday they stopped for lunch in the lee of a sheltering rock, taking comfort in the respite while they ate. Afterwards, Baal encouraged them all to drink some water, despite the fact that their reserves were running low.

"Does this wind ever let up?" Saiya grumbled as they prepared to move out again. "I'm beginning to tire of getting sand blown into my eyes."

"It may change directions from time to time," said Baal, "but it never ceases. Something to do with the geography of this area. It traps and funnels breezes right across the surface."

"We're going to have a good time setting up camp tonight," Kormac remarked glumly. "If we can get a fire going at all, it will be a miracle. Do you think we'll find another guard post?"

"If we do," said Saiya, "it will likely be as infested with cultists as the last one was. I can't imagine anyone else wanting to be out here."

But they had found no sign of a human presence, Coven or otherwise, by the time that dusk was darkening the sky. There was no second trail – nothing whatsoever to indicate that anyone else was alive out on the vast span of desert.

"Maybe Jarulf was wrong?" Eirena shouted over the roar of the wind, which had only worsened as the sun set.

"Iron Wolves don't half-ass on their assignments," Baal yelled back. "If their scouts say two groups, then I believe it. The others must just be hidden better. Either way, we can't look for them in the dark. We'll have to find some place to stay the night."

"What about that?" bellowed Kormac, pointing off to the left. A large spire of rock, worn thin by years of weathering the constant storm, pointed to the sky like an accusing finger. At its base was a narrow overhang, barely tall enough for a grown man to fit beneath. The shadows there were suspiciously dense, even for the time of day.

"Worth a try," said Baal, and they stumbled over to it on weary legs. Upon further examination, the shadowed spot proved to be the opening to a cave, which delved deeper than they cared to explore into the bedrock of the plateau.

"At least we'd be out of the wind here," Saiya said. Her voice returned as a hollow echo, mocking her with its weariness.

Eirena looked around warily. "It's risky, though. We don't know who – or what – else has decided to make a home here."

"Can you smell anything?" Kormac asked the Hunter. He sniffed the air a few times and shrugged.

"Hard to say, really. No demons, that's for sure. There's something else, but it's indistinct. Old traces, maybe." He slipped off his pack and dropped it on the cavern floor. "Regardless of the potential danger, I don't think we have a choice. There's no time to find another spot before it really gets dark. I'll just take a look around while you all are setting up, to make sure that we aren't unwelcome guests."

An offer to join him was on the tip of Saiya's tongue, but she didn't voice it. She wasn't ready yet for the conversation she knew was inevitable the next time they were alone together. Instead, she busied herself with laying out her bedroll. Baal didn't even glance at her as he strode off into the darkness at the other end of the cave, a torch in one hand and his favorite crossbow in the other, and Gawahir riding proudly on his shoulder.

Fortunately for the adventurers, a few bushes and some dry grass had sprouted up just outside the entrance, providing them with enough fuel for a modest fire. Saiya was heartily glad; a hot meal was infinitely preferable to a cold one, especially at the end of a long day. She was just debating if they had enough extra water to make soup when a strange sound filled the air: a soft scraping noise, like someone dragging leather over rock.

"What's that?" she murmured. Kormac shook his head, equally puzzled, and dumped another armload of kindling beside her.

"Perhaps the wind-" he began.

Then came a sound that could not be mistaken – a short, sharp, entirely human yelp of astonishment and fright. Moments later, the quiet exploded with Gawahir's panicked cries.

"Baal!" Saiya gasped, and was on her feet in an instant, running towards the place where the noise had come. Kormac grabbed the lantern and pursued her, with the other two hot on his heels.

Coming around the corner, the young monk stopped dead at the sight of the raven, hopping frantically around the edge of a perfectly circular hole in the ground. Baal, on the other hand, had vanished without a trace.

* Kormac said, "Yes, thank you, I would like another sweetroll." And a big thank you, as always, to the marvelous Chrissyleena for her translating services! Without her, you would get German gibberish. :)