Riven’s horse found him before he found it. The press of retreating bodies, half mounted, half struggling on foot, jostled Riven around like he was crashing into trees in a dense, dark forest. But the horse barged its way through the gang and Riven got a hold on its reins, a relieved smile dancing on his lips. Thank the Scions, he’d gotten such a wonderful ride. Well, thank the Scions and the soldiers from the Guard post. He’d have to find them once this mess was over.

It got easier on horseback. He joined the rest of those mounted as they headed towards Wilsall. Viriya had gotten lost somewhere in the crowd, and he hadn’t even seen Rio since that intervention that had let Viriya interrogate that demon.

The Captain’s shrill whistle cut through the noise of the retreat. Riven snapped the reins to hurry. Most of the Frontier Guards had already gathered around him.

Riven pulled his horse to a stop as he reached the Captain, the gathered soldiers parting to let him enter the inner circle. Viriya was already there, of course. He looked around, but it didn’t seem Rio had made it yet. Soldiers were still coming in, though, and Rio had to be among the press somewhere.

“The north?” Wilsall was asking Viriya.

She nodded. “I don’t know what this Coral fort might be, but we need to get going immediately.”

“Yes.” He looked past them all towards the eastern horizon filled with approaching demons. Their cries were growing louder every moment, thousands upon thousands of shrieks and screams howling through the air. How did voices that flowed like sating at other times make such noise at times like this? “We cannot face them all head-on.”

“But we can ride away,” Viriya said.

“Of course. We’ll do our best to provide a suitable distraction. Trust me, my plan will work.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Rio charged into the press, shoving his way between the horses to stand right in front of the Captain. “Let’s go!”

Wilsall nodded. “Get him his horse,” he shouted to no one in particular, but was obeyed soon. A mounted man led Lightspeed by the reins, and Rio got on after taking a moment to stroke the Sept horse’s back. The Captain pulled out his whistle and gave three short blasts. “We ride! North. Trailing wings formation.”

Riven had no idea what that meant, but he was ordered to stick close to the Captain for now, so he bent himself to that. The company charged off, moving north. It was difficult to tell from his perspective right in the thick of it, but it seemed the mounted group had broken into several little clumps spread out everywhere that kept shifting. One went in front of the other, then trailed back and rushed forward again, over and over.

Unable to make neither head nor tail of the purpose for such a manoeuvre, Riven focused on riding. His eyes trailed past the soldiers and to that army of demons. So many. Holy Scions, but if they got caught by that army, they’d be torn to shreds. Where had they all come from?

“Job well done, if I do say so myself.” Rio grinned first at Riven then at Viriya. “You’re getting a lot better at controlling your Essence, Riven.”

Riven was too tired to feel more than a bare hint of the flush creeping up his neck. He was fine. His Essence had worked, had helped him and others survive, and that was all he could have hoped for. “I still don’t really know how it works…”

“You’ll figure it out. All the time in the world.”

Riven nodded. He, Rio, and Viriya had all clumped close to Wilsall in the centre. For all his efforts, Rio appeared completely unharmed. Must have been that armour his purple Essence conjured. But unhurt though he was, he looked a thousand times more fatigued than Riven felt. His eyes were baggy, his body slumped forward, jaw hanging loose and tongue trying to come out like a panting dog’s. Stranger was the skin on his arms free from his jacket sleeves, faint purple lines crisscrossing it, reminiscent of the demonic scales.

“You too… Viriya,” Rio said, offering a smile at Viriya. “It was amazing the way you handled the demon. Brilliant.”

Viriya spared a single moment to peer at him, her face stony and unreadable as ever. “You’re in a very generous mood. Had a good fill of killing demons back there?”

Rio grimaced. “Learn to take a compliment.”

“I’d compliment your prowess too, but frankly, I have no idea what it is or does.”

Riven stared at them, both of them refusing to look at each other. So strange. Just moments ago in the battle, they appeared to be getting along together. Prowess. What about it had set Viriya off like that? Rio had mentioned something about his Essence all those days ago when they had faced off against the Deadmage with the Spirit of fire. He tried to see Rio’s patchy skin and the purple lines webbing it, but Rio had pulled his sleeves down. What was there to hide?

“Does knowledge require praise?”

“I think there can be no worse a time to discuss philosophy.”

Rio laughed. “Fine. Be that way. But look at poor Riven. He has no idea how his powers work and yet he saved the day in his own way.”

“Hey now.” Riven grinned at Rio trying not to let his suspicion show. “I know what it is. I just… all right, yes, I’m not sure how it works.” Survival. It only worked when he was in grave danger, when survival was his biggest priority. Did that mean he’d never be able to summon it at will like Rio and Viriya did. Swallowing, he looked at Viriya. “Hey. You mind helping me figure out what I the world is going on with my Essence? After all this is done, of course.”

Viriya spared him only a moment’s glance too. A single look, but it was filled with a quiet contemplation that could have lasted centuries. Then she nodded. “So long as we all live.”

A tiny glimmer caught Riven’s eye. Viriya’s fingers. The same two fingers she’d jabbed into the demon’s eye, tiny grans of Sept still glowing on her skin. Riven tried not to gag at the memory, but it was curious. Why had he Sept not died off yet?

He was saved from any queasy contemplation by the shouts of alarm. They filtered back from the head of the column. For a second, Riven thought it had to be more demons and that they were doomed if they got stuck between two armies, but the noise had the edge of excited babble than fear or trepidation.

“I think they found it,” Wilsall said.

“Found what?” Viriya asked.

“The Coral fort.”

Riven’s heart jumped. Wilsall peered forward, shading his eyes from the glare of the sun climbing to its zenith. Riven did the same, then gasped. There was something far ahead. Something similar to a tree, a central column than tapered to a pint as it rose higher with numerous branches spreading out from everywhere on the column.

The Coral Fort. They were almost there.

One of the riders burst into the centre with her horse, painting as hard as the mount she was on. “Sir! The demons…” She gulped down a big breath. “They’re coming.”

The Captain looked alarmed. “What? They were too far back to engage so quickly.”

“Sir, it’s a flying contingent. Much faster than the ones on the ground. But they didn’t engage too much, and are flying beyond us at this point.”

“Why would they—?”

“The Coral Fort,” Viriya growled, still staring ahead. She snapped her reins, trying to get her grey horse to move faster. “They’re going to reinforce it against us.”

“Our plan was to get the villagers, hold off the front line of demons if needed, then get out.” Wilsall’s voice was panicky, the pitch rising high. “We can’t handle another drawn-out fight. We’re not equipped for long engagements.”

He didn’t even bother mentioning how outnumbered they were, how the Guard was a little depleted after losing soldiers in the last fight. Soldiers hey had left for the barren land to do with it as it would. Riven stared down at his saddle, cold all over. So much stress must be dancing on the man’s shoulders. A pleasant surprise he hadn’t cracked already.

“Leave the Coral Fort to us,” Viriya said.

“I’m sorry. You want me to leave that whole thing to you?”

She nodded. “Take care of the army coming from behind. Hold them off as long as you can, but if you need to, get out. No point killing yourself trying to rescue people who may or may not be dead. Ultimate priority is, after all, living to fight another day.”

That was all the assurance the Captain needed. He started shouting his orders to the troops nearby, and when they had left to shout it out to the others, he blew his whistle, shrill and sharp as off-note cello string.

The mounted company slowed down, the formation spreading out on either side and the clumps breaking apart into even smaller groups. In seconds, Riven, Viriya, and Rio had passed the furthest soldier. Us. Viriya hadn’t stated who exactly that “us” was, but then, it was quite obvious. Leave the Coral Fort and the flying Fiends to the Essentiers so that the soldiers could focus on the demon army behind them.

“You have a plan?” Rio asked Viriya, once the Frontier Guards were just a line behind them, growing smaller as they approached the enormous Coral structure.

Viriya didn’t say anything for a moment. “Would it delight you to know it amounted to little more than killing every demon in sight?”

Rio laughed. “Why, not at all.”

“Then good. Killing demons is the least of our priorities. Riven will be in charge of freeing the villagers. The two of us will have to protect him from the demons, and assist the liberation if we can spare time and energy to do so.”

Rio’s laugh had died as quickly as it had come, and a tiny peek revealed Viriya had her little smirk at the corner of her mouth. Another warm flush calmed Riven, but this was burning and prickly. It made his skin itch. She was laughing at Rio. Laughing because of Rio. Amused—

Riven sighed noisily, almost making the other two look at him. Unbelievable. Was he actually feeling jealous of Rio right now? Was he begrudging his two friends getting along better than ever before? Friends. Yes, they were friends. They’d been there for him, risked their lives alongside him, aimed for the same goals as he did, held the same core values at the very depths of their heart and soul. That much was obvious.

If they didn’t count as friends, Riven had no idea what did.

The Coral Fort grew before them. Riven was trying to keep it in perspective and not get overwhelmed, but enormous didn’t cover it. The thing stood tall as a small mountain. It was a tree, or something like it, made entirely of pink Coral. The central trunk was thick enough to house the entirety of the Invigilator’s Office, rising high enough to brush the few stray clouds the sun hadn’t burned away yet. Thousands upon thousands of branches shot away, forming a canopy that would have put at least half of Providence city in shadow.

They rode into it. The sun disappeared behind the fore sot branches overhead, and the sudden gloom was smothering. Quiet too. Deathly quiet, and Riven’s eyes darted everywhere overhead, neck cramping as he stared up for too long. With all the demons who had flown over here, surely they’d be making more noise.

Riven heard nothing though. He touched the pink trunk. Like all other Coral, it had the texture of somewhere between metal and wood. “Do any of you see anything?”

“Just branches and more branches,” Rio said.

Viriya remained silent.

Riven paused, frowning. No one had ever said that this place was Coral Fort. It had been Viriya’s assumption that this giant Coral tree had been named Coral Fort by the demons. Yet, that had made no sense. There was nothing fort-like about this. Nothing defensible about it.

“I think I see something,” Viriya said.

Well, that put a stop to Riven’s doubts. He pulled his horse to hers and stared up to where she was looking. Then he blinked.

A man was suspended from one of the branches high above like a fruit, covered entirely by glowing Sept except for his face. Stiff Coral vines had wrapped around him. A cage. The man was trapped in a cage of Coral and flooded with Sept. Riven’s heart sank. What had Viriya said? That demons were people whose flesh and bones were replaced with Sept?

“How do we get him down?” Rio asked as he joined them.

Riven got off his horse. If the last day was any indication, his horse wasn’t going anywhere. “Can we climb?” He placed his hang against the trunk again, but it was smooth as before. No purchase at all. “If we can’t climb, I have no idea how we can reach him.”

Viriya was aiming her gun at the Coral cage. She didn’t shoot though. Of course not. There was no telling what would happen. If she shot the stalk, the cage would fall, but would the vines and the Sept protect the man from the impact? Or would it break apart and the man would shatter when he struck the ground? As good a shot as Viriya was, it was still a risk she might the man instead of the cage.

Sighing, she put her gun in her belt. “I can climb.”

Her right hand glowed all of a sudden. The star. Of course. She could use her Essence of Locking to get herself up there.

“That won’t be necessary,” drawled a voice from above. The branches shivered and swayed, and a figure made their way down, floating serenely in the air. A demon.

“Shit.” Rio muttered.

“Who are you?” Viriya asked. Her glowing green hand clenched to form a fist.

The demon smiled, and Riven’s spine shivered like the branches. It was getting harder to breathe for some reason, harder to tug the air into his grasping lungs as though the air was growing heavier, more congealed. Thick as tar. He stared at the demon, and shivered again. It had to be that thing. That Fiend.

No. Not a Fiend. This didn’t feel anything like a Fiend.

“An Infernal,” Rio whispered.

The demon in question landed on the lowest branch. His smile was as serene as his demeanour. It clashed with his appearance—shimmering black scales covered him entirely and his irises were iridescent. His body was humanoid, but spikes shot out all over. Elbows, knees, shoulder blades, and tailbone. All jutting out into pints as sharp as his filed teeth.

“Anvarroh, at your service,” said the Infernal, bowing with one hand on his chest and one behind his back. “How may I assist you, my dear mortals?”

Viriya wasn’t taken in by his appearance or manners. Her face was as hard as ever. “Return the villagers you took to us. Immediately.”

“I am afraid that isn’t possible.”

“Why is that? Didn’t you say you wanted to be  of service?”

“I did. Well, I still do. But as you can see with this man here, the process has already started.” He pointed at the man they had been observing. “There is no way to reverse the process once it has begun. He will soon pass on from his wretched life and take on the new mantle of the next world. This… Deathless, as you call it. Thus it is for the rest of the villagers.”

“Why is it that I refuse to believe you?”

“Believe what you wish. The real truth is thankfully not dependant on anyone’s perception, least of all yours.”

“What did I say about bandying words with a demon?” Rio muttered.

Anvarroh laughed. “I heard that. You’re one to speak. Don’t you deceive with your every breath, holding back things, and for what? Silly reasons. Always. You think the truth is to be hoarded and guarded as though it is some precious treasure, the loss of which will reduce to nothing but husks. Secrets you call it. Bah!”

Rio cringed as though he had been struck.

Viriya’s eyes were drifting from the demon to the man and back again. Riven could nearly see the gears whirring in her head. “Is that so? Truths aren’t to be hoarded? Tell me then, what are you seeking by turning them all to Deathless?”

The Infernal shrugged. “Survival.”

“For whom?”

“For everyone.”

The answer took her off guard, as it did Riven. Everyone? That was false on the very first count. The ones being forcibly turned into demons were no longer surviving their mortal lives. Their normal lives. It was insane to think that they could force people to die for a good reason like survival.

“That’s bullshit,” Riven said. “You’re taking people’s choices away from them. What kind of survival is that? Who would want to survive if it meant being forced to do things for the rest of their life? Or whatever you grant that you call a life.”

The Infernal shook his head, his long white hair swishing like curtains snow. “Your silly idealistic notions has no effect on matters. See, you mortals lack the greater picture, and so you act based on your limited knowledge. I don’t even blame you. I myself would likely have done the same. But the Sundering is coming and no one will be spared. The worst part is that you mortals will reject any change, so desperate you are to be right.”

“I think we’ve talked enough,” Rio said. Purple lines erupted all around him, swirling in a tornado as little lines lashed out and pulled bits and pieces of the surroundings into his funnel. “I say we stick to the plan, that you said Viriya.”

“Agreed,” she said.

Riven thought of attempting to get their attention, but he didn’t want to distract them from the faceoff against the Infernal. “I still don’t know how to climb though.”

“Figure it out.” Viriya’s entire attention was fixed on the demon, her star glowing bright enough to shade the entire place with an emerald hue. “We don’t have much time.”

Right. This was an Infernal, not another Fiend. There was no telling how strong Anvarroh was.

“I don’t think any such thing as attempting to climb will be necessary.” The Infernal jumped from his place on the branch to float onto the ground. “Your first priority should be me.”

Rio vented out a derisive snort. “Old thing like you? Hah, I have a feeling you can’t even keep your demons in line. Look how they’ve gone wild and crazy everywhere, doing whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want. You’re only pretending to hold onto some grand idea that you have your shit together. You don’t, not really. Do you, demon?”

Riven stared at the Rio. What in the world was he surmising all that from?

The Infernal chose not to answer. “Perhaps your deaths will show you how foolish and futile your ideas are.”

“Riven, go!” Viriya shouted as he air turned even heavier.

He dashed towards the enormous Coral tree, catching a brief glance of Rio and Viriya charging at the demon, before he froze. The air had turned solid around him, its hue changing to a strange pink. Then it detonated behind him, turning the area blank white.