Riven couldn’t shed a tear for Raynard. For some reason, he wanted to, or at least felt like he should have. The Rennervation Essentier had sacrificed his life just so Riven and Viriya could get away from Daynom and the rest of Orbray’s men in Providence Demesne. Even if Daynom didn’t kill him, he’d be captured and then who knew what their enemies would do to him to wring out an answer to every little question they could think up.

He looked to his right, but if he’d expected some sign of sadness, remorse, or some other feeling from Viriya, he was sorely disappointed. Her face might have been carved from granite for all the expression it showed.

Riven sighed. To be fair, he hadn’t expected much from her.

“Do you really feel nothing?” he still asked.

She didn’t look at him, keeping her eyes focused on the road ahead, though it was empty. Maybe she was afraid he’d spy the truth if she faced him. “Why do you ask?”

“Raynard just sacrificed himself so that we could get away. That… that makes my heart tremble, and I feel strange. I feel too much, to be honest.”

“That’s right. You feel too much, Riven.”

“And you don’t feel a thing.”

“Which would you prefer?”

“Not that, definitely. I don’t want to be yo—don’t want to be unfeeling and so easily able to shut things away.”

She looked at him them. The briefest of glances that ensured she had noticed he’d almost said that he didn’t want to be like her. Riven ignored it. If she could ignore her feelings, ignore the fact that Riven was well aware she felt them and was only shoving them away, he could pretend he hadn’t made a stupid gaff either.

“It’s better this way, most of the time,” Viriya said. “It makes necessary choices easier to deal with.”

“Stop pretending you feel nothing.”

“There’s a difference between feeling, and letting those feelings cloud your judgement and affect your decisions and actions.”

“Really?” Riven stared at her. His wounds stung hard, but he ignored it. There was the first hint of anger simmering somewhere in the depths within him and he couldn’t keep it bay for long. “Then what happened back there, Viriya? Why, when Daynom offered you that stupid choice, did you hesitate? Why did you let your feelings cloud your judgement back then?”

“I didn’t.” Her voice was tight as though she was holding off from letting out a scathing reply. “It was a rational choice. A decision I thought through and concluded would have made sense and given us the best possibility of succeeding, even if it felt like a defeat then. It’s like… an illness. Sometimes, things have to get worse before they become better. A storm rages, calms, rages once more with more ferocity than ever, before finally coming to a halt.”

“That’s just hypocrisy, and we both know it.”

Viriya didn’t reply to that. She couldn’t after all. Riven was right. The correct choice would have been to immediately spit in Daynom’s face when he’d told her that he’d let Riven go if she chose to stay behind and surrender.

Instead, Viriya had hesitated. Had thought it over. Had probably intended to sacrifice herself for Riven the way Raynard had done for them.

He really needed to figure out her damn mind worked one day.

There wasn’t much more going on that they could comment on. The countryside, or wilderness rather, was desolate as ever. It was also devoid of any living thing. League after league went by as they remained silent, content to only put some distance between them and Providence. For all Riven knew, Daynom might already be starting a search party, letting loose a group of Essentiers to hunt down the two fugitives who had dared to intrude within their captured territory.

It was another hour at the very least before Viriya decided to speak again. “We can’t go to Rennervation city. They’ll be expecting us.”

Thanks to Raynard’s shout, Daynom would know exactly where Riven would pop up and send a message letting his colleagues know. Orbray’s agents at Helham would prepare a trap, something designed specifically to ensnare Riven and Viriya. There was no way they could go to Helham. But Riven didn’t feel right about it after Raynard’s death. “Isn’t that where Aross is?”

“She’s supposed to be there, yes. It’s the Rennervation Invigilator’s seat, like Providence city is for your father. I don’t know if she’s still there though.”

“Wouldn’t it make sense for Orbray to hold her hostage there? Control the local capital, and you basically control half the Demesne at least, if not more.”

“We can’t go there Riven.”

Riven shook his head. “But we can’t abandon a potential ally either.”

“No ally would want you to walk right into a trap.” Viriya jerked the car all of a sudden. She had probably tried to avoid a hole or crack or something like that, but he couldn’t shake the feeling she had wanted to shake him as well.  “We need to find the Municipier first.”

Riven’s heart tightened. Of course, how could he forget about his sister? “Do you know where Rose is?”

“No.”

“You weren’t able to get a location from anyone you met?”

She shook her head. Viriya must have faced off against too many people in her attempt to get into Providence city, and by the words of those guards, she had made no secret of her entrance.

Viriya was here. Now the rest would deal with it. Riven snorted. It made perfect sense.

He sighed. Great. Just great. They were wandering the wilderness of Severance Frontier aimlessly. Riven had assumed Viriya at least had a vague notion of where they needed to go, but it seemed she was as lost as him. Not surprising.

“So… where are we going?” he asked. Viriya jerked her head so that her chin pointed ahead. Riven frowned, not sure what she was aiming at. Then he looked up. “Oh.”

The growing Septstorm. Of course.

Everything was going to go down there. Mhell, that army of Spectres Riven had seen on his way to the facility, all of them. No doubt there were more Deathless all over crawling towards the swirling clouds that were already releasing a lot of Sept, tiny glittering stars that were descending to the mortal realm like snowflakes, visible even at this distance where they had dozens of leagues between them.

“What?” Viriya muttered.

Riven stared in the direction she was looking as the car slowed down. Far off, a figure was waving at them. The car didn’t slow to a stop though. As soon as it became clear who the figure was, Viriya pressed down on the accelerator harder than ever before, and the car shot forward.

Mhell’s shout of outrage was lost on Riven as they blasted past her.

“Slow down,” he shrieked. There was nothing to crash into on this endless broken plan but even so, Riven suspected the car would fall apart on its own at this rate. “Viriya, stop!”

There was a muted glow around them and the car jerked with the sound of something metallic clattering to the floor. It started to slow down. Viriya muttered a soft curse as she pressed down on the accelerator harder, then hammered her foot on it over and over. The car didn’t get going again. The wheels rolled slower and slower with every breath until it had finally come to a halt.

With another curse, Viriya threw open the door and got out, slamming the door closed behind her hard enough to make the whole car shake. Damn. Couldn’t she take it a little easy? Riven got out too, his leg twinging with pain at every movement from the wound. He didn’t bother looking at Viriya tinkering with the engine. His gaze was fixed back the way they had come.

Mhell was approaching.

“Hello, dear!” She waved a little once she was in visible distance. Her violet dress was impeccable as ever as though dust and dirt were anathema to it. There was no breeze but her hornlike hair waved about a bit like drunks making their way home. “You came!”

Riven supposed that was true in a sense, though it looked more like Mhell was the one who had found him again. “I said I would, didn’t I?”

“You did! You always did look like the sincere type. I’m glad.”

“What are you doing here? Weren’t you heading to Ascension Demesne to stop Orbray?”

“Ruining our car, that’s what she’s doing,” Viriya shouted from where she stood next to the engine.

Riven looked over, and winced. Viriya wasn’t far from the truth. There was a strange greyish mark on the side of the car, and he faintly recalled having seen something similar when Mhell had used her powers against the demons when the two of them had gone investigating beyond the Frontier. “We were using that.”

“Oh, no worries, dears.” Mhell couldn’t have been more supremely unconcerned if she’d tried. “I can take it off as easily as I put it there.”

“And if there’s any lasting damage?”

She smiled sweetly, the cracks on her storm-grey face disappearing for a moment. “You have your legs don’t you? Anyway, we have more important things to discuss. Please, Viriya, join us.”

Joining them seemed like the last thing on Viriya’s mind, but she trudged over all the same. Her hand wasn’t far from her gun though, and Riven had no trouble recognizing the set of her mouth, the posture of her walk. She was ready to fight.

“All right,” Mhell said. “Now that we have all gathered together, I believe it’s time to form our plans, yes?”

“What plans? Viriya asked. “I don’t remember agreeing to work together with… with you.”

It was obvious Viriya had intended to say something much worse than you. Mhell didn’t miss it, but her smile was still pleasant as ever. “Riven here did promise though.”

Riven scratched his head. “I did?”

“Point is, we need to work together to accomplish what we all seek. Have you told her what we discussed, dear?”

“I did.”

“Excellent. We’re on the same page, which will make things easier. We all know Orbray has to be stopped before he summons a Scion, but to do so, we need assistance. Allies, if you will. So we need to consolidate what help we can gain and every direction available to us, for Orbray’s forces are numerous and strong, and bolstered by the Arnish.”

Arnish. Riven licked the inside of his mouth which had gone rather dry. That was right. Damn Knightforger had given the Arnish free reign to do as they wished under the High Invigilator’s guidance.

But Mhell’s words worried Riven more. “Do you mean all the Spectres that were accompanying you?”

“Spectres?” Viriya asked. “I’m not teaming up with mindless Deathless who will turn on me as soon as our mutual benefit ends.”

Mhell held up a placating hand. “Now, now, let’s not be hasty. I understand your reactions perfectly, and I think under normal circumstances you’d be right not to trust Spectres or any other Deathless for that matter. But this is far from normal circumstances, Viriya. We need all the assistance we can get, and the Deathless are an untapped potential. Surely you can see the tactical advantage of having our forces bolstered by hordes upon hordes of Spectres? In fact, we can expand even further and reel in demons and witches too.”

“Impossible. Even Deadmages can’t control that much. Even if you wanted an army of Spectres under you, where are they now? I don’t see a single ghost anywhere.”

“That’s easy, but not relevant right now. First, we must determine where we shall strike.”

“I haven’t even agreed that we’re going to be a we.”

Mhell looked to Riven expectantly, still with that smile on her face. If Riven looked at her hard enough, he could see the first hints of strain making the tips of that smile quiver. She was starting to get angry at Viriya’s stubbornness. Riven sighed. Why were the difficult things left up to him all the time?

“Viriya, I think we should partner up,” he said. “We do need all the help we can get, and Mhell has helped us before. I’m inclined to trust her. At least she isn’t out to turn us in to the Deathless. The Scions know she’s had more than enough opportunities to do so.”

Viriya stared at him. “You can’t be serious.”

“What’s the problem? As in, is there really a logical issue that says going along with her is a bad idea, or is it just your bias that says any Deathless automatically means bad?”

“What do you know about her, Riven?” Viriya’s voice had turned to a growl, anger turning it harsh and jagged. “What do you really know? Who is she? What does she want? Who does she really care about? You don’t know any of that. You’ve never even bothered to consider enough and find out. A few actions here and there doesn’t make someone trustworthy!”

Riven breathed in deep, his ears still ringing from her shout at the end. That had been uncalled for. Yes, Mhell was an unknown entity in a lot of ways, but she had helped Riven far too many times to brush her off as untrustworthy. He looked around, suddenly unable to stare at the way Viriya’s eyes seemed like deep, dark wells that were trying to drag him in against his will. But there was nothing anywhere else to focus on. Just more and more broken ground, cracked everywhere like Mhell’s face.

“Do you think Arrilme and Franry don’t deserve to be trusted either?” Riven asked quietly. “They’re Deathless too.”

Viriya’s answer was immediate. “No, they don’t. Not with matters like this. Yes, I’ll help them because they deserve my help, and I’ll explain things to them to a certain extent but I would not trust them to plan a battle strategy I would not drag them into a fight where there would be others of their kind present.”

“It’s not the same thing, I know.” Riven had to resist the urge to rub his temples. Why wouldn’t she bend a little? Just relent for once. “But I trust Mhell.”

“Trust isn’t black-and-white, as you seem to think Riven. You can trust someone with certain things, but not with others. Trust is a choice, not an unconditional right. There’s more going on here than either of us can properly grasp, and I don’t know enough about any of it to trust Mhell.”

“Oh that hurts,” Mhell muttered. She’d been silent throughout the whole of the argument, and it didn’t look like she was about to jump in. Her eyes were fixed on the growing Septstorm in the distance.

Riven sighed. “You know what Mother says? Faith. In every letter she always wrote, she told me to have faith. To put my faith in something beyond me, to trust even when it seemed like there was no reason I should. You’re right, trust is a choice. But when it comes down to it, there comes a point when you have to choose to trust, to extend that hand and give in, to have faith that someone can be trusted.”

“And what if you’re making a mistake?” Viriya whispered. “A deadly one?”

“Then I’ll at least be glad I hadn’t shut myself out from a potential good thing.” Riven lowered his voice too, trying to impress on her what he meant. “It’s a risk, I know. But Viriya… do you trust me?”

Viriya didn’t answer at first. Chasm, the answer was obvious on her face. But she didn’t vocalize it, her mouth frozen and her face turned to a mask of cold indifference. She blinked, then swallowed. “I do.”

Riven nodded, ignoring the tingling warmth creeping up his neck. “Then trust me to know that I know what I’m talking about. That I know the risks and I understand what I’m putting my faith in. Put all your hopes and faith in me, even if you can’t bring yourself to trust what Mhell says.”

Viriya took a deep breath then looked away. Her face was at an angle to him, but the expressions whirling across it was obvious as her mask fell apart. “Fine.”

Riven smiled, his heartbeat finally calming. He hadn’t even realized it had spiked up at some point. He faced Mhell, who was smiling back at him.

“Don’t you two make the sweetest pair?” she said.

The flush on his neck bloomed right on Riven’s face.

“Shut it, witch,” Viriya growled. Her mask was back, hiding any reaction she might have had at Mhell’s words. “What’s this plan of yours?”

“Simple. We free our allies first.”

“Our allies, is it? Are they even the same?”

“Well, where were you headed?”

“To free Municipier Rose.”

“Ah. That will have to wait, I’m afraid.”

Riven blinked. “Why?”

“Too well guarded. Orbray has spared no expense at making sure Rose is kept under firm lock-and-key. Going there head-on at the moment would be suicidal. Plus, he’s expecting you to pop up over there now that you’ve escaped the clutches of your own Providence Demesne. Instead, I ask that you find other allies first. Invigilator Aross sounds like a good idea.”

Viriya crossed her arms, her eyes screwing up slightly in suspicion. “You seem to know a lot about everything very well.”

Mhell smiled at Riven as though they shared a secret. “I have a very well-informed friend.”

“And do you know where Aross is, or where she might be headed? Why would she even want to help us?”

“I’ve been wondering that too,” Riven said. “It’s disadvantageous to side with us now.”

Mhell nodded. “I believe Aross is a long-term thinker. Perhaps she sees she can gain a lot more under Rosbel’s leadership than she ever could have under Orbray. Perhaps she wants to oust Orbray and take the seat of High Invigilator for herself, who knows, though I don’t think she’s ambitious in that sense. Either way, I believe we can trust her.”

Riven recalled how Raynard had sacrificed himself for their escape? Was he dead, or was he being held in some lightless room, brutally tortured so that he gave up even the tiniest information that Orbray’s agents could make use of?

“Then we need to go to Rennervation city,” Riven said.

“No need.” Mhell turned away from the Septstorm for once, staring out further northwest if Riven had his bearings right. “We need to go to a little village called Tollisett. Aross is being transferred from her seat in Rennervation city to Orbray’s capital in Ascension. But they haven’t gotten far yet, and I believe their next stop will be in Tollisett, a small village along the way. That is where we must go to free our potential ally.”

Riven took a deep breath, and nodded. Rennervation city had always sounded a little ridiculous to attempt to steal Aross away from. They could have sneaked in, but that sounded like the first step towards disaster, and attacking head-on was basically signing their death sentences as Mhell so kindly informed.

“How do know all this?” Viriya asked, more curious than suspicious now.

Mhell laughed. “This time, I didn’t depend on any outside sources. Aross and I simply corresponded and worked things out in secret.”

Viriya stared. Riven couldn’t blame her for once. He had a hard time imagining the Invigilator of Rennervation Demesne exchanging letters with a Deathless. But it didn’t look like Mhell was about to expand on what exactly she meant.

“You never explained how you were going to gather your Deathless friends,” Viriya said.

Mhell gave a demure smile. “Oh will you make a lady divulge all her secrets?”

“How?”

“You’re no fun, dear.” Mhell turned to Riven. “Dear, remember our deal?”

Of course Riven did. He nodded, then limped back to the car and brought out his bag. Rummaging within, he brought out the Sept crystal he had promised Mhell yesterday. Riven paused. Yesterday? It seemed like he had passed a week in the span of a single day.

Riven carried the Sept crystal back to Mhell. Its depths swirled with darkness, faint glimmers of gold buried in the gloom. Viriya was staring at it hard. She had never seen it, but her reaction didn’t make sense. It was almost as though the Sept crystal was a puzzle piece Viriya had been waiting for, and Riven really wanted to ask about the dawning comprehension on her face.

But Mhell came first.

“Here you go,” Riven said, handing her the crystal.

She took. As soon as she touched it, the gold bloomed out and consumed the darkness, the glow so bright, Riven had to shut his eyes until only slits remained. Even then it was far too bright. What was happening? The only times Deathless had touched the crystal, they had become more powerful. The Spectre of Nory turning into a Phantom in the refinery, the patients in the hospital at Welmark turning into a Spectre.

What was Mhell going to become?

The glow receded. Riven blinked. The Sept crystal had returned to its original state with the darkness swirling everywhere again and he gold returning to the depth far within.

“What happened?” Viriya asked.

Riven peered at Mhell. He wasn’t sure he saw any difference. Her violet dress was still made of overlapping folds, her face still bore the same cracks and her eyes were still white as bone, the hair still haloing all around her head. But her smile seemed deeper, more genuine.

“I have become what you call a Deadmage,” Mhell said.

Deadmage. Riven couldn’t help it. His mind was immediately thrown back to the monster they had faced at Welmark, to the fiery Deathless they had fought before the Haven at the outskirts of Providence city. He felt Viriya’s fear then. Could they trust a Deadmage?

Riven stared at the crystal. “How does this thing work? This piece of a Scion—why does it steal my Essence and then use it to make Deathless ascend?”

“I suspect it is because of its origin.”

“Origin.” Riven frowned, then his eyes widened. “You mean the Scion it came from? But then, why would a former Scion want to steal my Essence? Does that help them make more Deathless? And if so, why does a Scion want more Death—”

“Riven, we don’t have the time to go over it all. You must get to Tollisett before Aross leaves. Now I shall need to make sure you aren’t a liability, dear.” Mhell stepped closer. “For now, I suggest keeping it close, but not too close. Just make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands without strapping it to yourself.”

Riven shut his questions away, though they lurked too close for comfort. He’d have to pay them due attention at some point. Later. As Mhell said, he had to focus on more important things at the moment.

Mhell held out her hand. Riven was considering if he was supposed to take it, or if he was even supposed to accept help from a Deadmage, but she took the decision for him. Ethereal smoke billowed from her palm and fell on Riven’s leg. He jerked back in surprise, though there wasn’t anything wrong at first. His leg went cold, followed by a strange tightening sensation as though his skin was being stretched tight over his flesh.

When the smoke cleared, Riven stared. Where his wound should have been, his leg had gone grey just as the car had before. He blinked and looked back. The greyness on the car was gone.

“There,” Mhell said. “All better for now. It’ll wear off eventually and you’ll need to let natural healing take its course, but you shouldn’t suffer any pain for a while.”

“What did you do?” Riven asked. He couldn’t keep the wonder from his voice. His leg was moving as it normally did without a single hint of any pain.

“Just gapped over the wound to make it think you’re dead.”

“Dead?”

“Yes. But don’t worry, it’s only temporary, as I said. I should be going.” She handed the crystal back to Riven. Apparently, her transformation was all she had been seeking. “Good luck to you. We shall see each other again at Tollisett.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Viriya called. “We need to discuss strategy still.”

Mhell ignored her Maybe she was more miffed at Viriya’s suspicion than she had originally let on. She floated over the cracked ground at a surprising speed, and in moments, she was gone, reduced to a tiny speck in the north-western horizon.

“Come on,” Riven said. “No time to waste. We need to get to Tollisett.”

Riven got into the driver’s seat and Viriya joined him, content to be a passenger for once. He turned on the ignition and drove off. There was no more time to linger or think or plan.

The fight against Orbray had truly begun.