“Holy Scions,” Mirren muttered.

Holy Scions was it? Doubtful if even any of the Scions could stop the demon army they were all beholding from the little rise.

It was huge. There had to be thousands in that army, a mass of spikes and scales, in every colour from lurid teal to deepest dusk, covered the valley. Ascension Demesne was signified by highlands that slowly grew mountainous the farther in, and the demon army now covering an entire valley between two high ridges.

“There’s too many,” someone said.

Someone else whimpered. “Scions, we’re never going to be able to kill all of ‘em!”

“We can run, right?” another whispered. “There’s still time—”

“Enough!” Daynom’s shout put a stop to the muttering. Riven stared fearfully at the demons far below, sure that they’d been heard, but the nearest Fiends gave no indication they had heard. “We aren’t going to lose,” Daynom continued. “And we’re certainly not going to run. Don’t let one little glimpse of the enemy unnerve you so much. Caution is healthy, cowardice despicable.”

The soldiers looked chastised, though not wholly convinced they still had any chance of winning against this enormous army. Riven could sympathize. He’d doubted the Frontier Guards when they’d charged into the army he, Viriya, and Rio had been beset by inside the Frontier. They had won, though the casualties had been significant. One whole village gone. So many lives smothered and destroyed. So many Riven had failed.

So many, like Darley and her father, Bartle. Where was that girl? He couldn’t bring himself to think that she had somehow become one of the demons, couldn’t imagine that she had become a minor Fiend like what Franry had turned into.

Orbray no doubt had a much more significant force, but that huge army was scary. Even the High Invigilator’s forces were going to have trouble.

“Winning, hmm?” Aross didn’t sound sure either, and if she felt any fear, she had hidden it away. “How do you plan to do that, Daynom?”

Daynom didn’t respond immediately. His eyes roved over the milling masses of Fiends throughout the area, his mouth moved silently, counting. What in the Chasm could he be counting? There were too many.

“Send out words to the High Invigilator immediately,” Daynom said, turning to the soldier who had recently arrived and led them here. “A flash-post message. Tell him that the demons number upwards of thirty-thousand. Tell him that my suggestion is to bring in the Tiger and Boar regiments to the forefront and perform a pre-emptive assault as soon as possible. Crane regiment can circle in and take them from the rear. We can’t allow them any reprieve.”

The soldier nodded, then an off to her car. There was the whir of an engine before the vehicle hurtled off.

Daynom turned to Aross. “To answer your question, Invigilator, I believe victory is a state of mind. We just need to believe in our potential to win, right to the very end, even when things look down. In fact, I’d wager that belief is stronger than any tactics or power we might possess, and it is this belief that will power us to our triumph.”

Aross laughed a little. “So idealistic as ever.”

“We’ll need to hurry. I don’t think this army is going to stay put for very long. Viriya had the right of it, if unknowingly so. We need to head straight for the High Invigilator as fast as we can.”

Riven scowled. Thoughts of Viriya made him want to jump down from the ridge right into the mass of demons. Fighting. She wanted to see fighting, violence, bloodshed. Stupid idiot thought she could force her way through everything. What in the Chasm was wrong with her?

“Sir, there’s something else.”

One of the soldiers was pointing out into the distance. They all followed his finger until they found the right spot. Riven peered, eyelids screwing close together as though he could see the distance better if he peered. He didn’t exactly. It was clear already. Clear, and frightening.

Mhell had arrived.

Far off, near the centre of the small valley, the demons had shifted to create a large space. Mhell didn’t need that all alone of course, and her retinue of Spectres followed behind her. but it was the witch who had caught Riven’s eyes. Her burgundy dress, her white, hornlike hair, the way she seemed to float forward, all pulled at his sight like a lodestone does iron. She was still far off from the demon army, but getting closer every moment.

What was she doing here? The last they had seen of her was after the battle near Tollisett. Wasn’t she supposed to be farther into Ascension, readying to assault Orbray’s forces? This was all insane.

“What is happening?” Daynom asked no one in particular. “Is that an army of Spectres now? I… don’t understand. Are we seeing collaboration between Deathless?”

“I recognize that army,” Aross said. “Or the witch leading it, I suppose.”

Riven looked sharply at her. Curse them all to the Chasm. Aross knew everything about Mhell, and he had no doubt she would reveal it all too. Maybe he could stop her somehow. Move the subject away from the witch coming closer and closer.

“We need to get going,” Riven said. “We need to get to the High Invigilator as soon as we can. They’re going to close the roads when they spread out.”

“How?” Daynom asked Aross, ignoring Riven completely. Curse the geezer.

Aross shrugged. “Strange circumstances. Important thing is, I know someone who knows her even better.” She smiled at Riven, whose heart started to quiver. Shit. “Riven Morell, would you do us all a service and find out what your friend Mhell is doing here?”

“Morell knows that Deadmage?” Now Daynom stared at Riven with interest. Damn bastard really needed to get his opinions straightened. “Morell, are you willing to cooperate with us and find out what’s going on?”

Riven turned, frowning as he faced them all. “Let me see if I understand. You want me to go down into that huge demon army, wade through a mass of Fiends, all to reach Mhell and interrogate her about what’s going on? And then report back to you to boot?”

Daynom was looking at the distant space the demons had left for the incoming Spectres. “Her name is Mhell… interesting.”

“Yes,” Aross said. “Take it as a show of good faith. You scratch the High Invigilator’s back, he scratches yours.”

“Fine,” Riven said. “I agree.”

Daynom glanced at him sharply. He had surprised the old fart with his lack of protests, and that really did make Riven want to jump into the army of demons. For all his Essence, he’d be killed near-instantly. Let’s see how they gathered their precious information after he was dead.

“Be careful, Riven,” Aross said, a hint of real concern tingeing her voice.

Riven ignored it just the way Daynom did. He had more important things to worry about at the moment. Like how to traverse a valley filled with murderous Fiends to get to potential safety. “Well, I’m off. I’ll try to get back within two hours. Feel free to run off if I don’t show up in that time.”

They didn’t say anything as Riven started to climb down the spree. Scions, Mhell had better give him a warmer welcome than whatever treatment he had received at the hands of Daynom and Aross.

#

“Riven, dear!” Mhell exclaimed when she saw him. “You always tell me that I’m popping in out of nowhere, but look at you! What in the world might you be doing here?”

Riven staggered closer. He had taken the sneaky route along the middle of the ridge’s slope—he hadn’t wanted to be on the top and let Daynom and Aross bore holes in his back with their eyes, and he couldn’t have gone to the valley floor where the Fiends would have massacred him. No, he’d had to fight off gravity while circuiting around the whole army of demons and reach Mhell and her spectres before they came too close to their apparent new allies.

It was exhausting.

Mhell had stopped her march towards the demons when she had seen him. He was glad for it. He didn’t want to have to explain whatever the witch would want to know in front of the demons.

“Are you all right, Riven dear?” Mhell asked, the concern in her voice genuine. It made Riven straighten and try to walk properly. What did it say about the rest of the people he was associated with if a Deathless was the only one who showed any real care for his wellbeing?

“I’m fine. Just tired.” Riven was so glad to finally be able to stop when he came close to Mhell. “What are you doing here?”

Her Spectres had given him a wide berth, and now they encircled him and the witch as though to shade their meeting from the demons. Didn’t matter. They had already seen him once he’d come to level ground, though he’d been too far away for any of them to even bother. That was good enough.

“I believe you’re the one who often says not to answer a question with another question,” Mhell said. “So I’ll repeat, what are you doing here?”

Riven laughed a little. She’d caught him there. “Aross. I was brought here by Aross and an Essentier named Daynom.”

“Oh I know him! Old chap, used have a thing going on with Aross, yes?”

“Er, I know he’s old. I didn’t know about him having a thing with the Invigilator of Rennervation Demesne.”

“Oh he did. They were quite the item, back in the day.”

“I… see.”

That explained a lot. Riven hadn’t really noted it, but now that he thought about it, Aross and Daynom had acted quite familiar around each other. He had assumed that they must have known each other from before given their advanced ages. Never would he have imagined they’d been together once.

“Your turn,” Riven said. “What in the world are you doing here, meeting up with a bunch of demons? Weren’t you heading to Orbray to take him out?”

“I was, yes. But then I realized I may not have as much power as I imagined I did, and decided to take the safe option going forward.”

“Seeking demonic allies?”

“Correct.”

“But you don’t really need them, do you? I mean, I understand assistance, but this seems like too much.”

Mhell laughed. “Too much is all that demons understand, dear. But you’re making me late. You’ll need to fill me in on what’s happened while we journey onwards. Come.”

She looped her arms through his and led him away. They approached the demons with mismatched steps. Riven was apprehensive about facing down a bunch of ruthless, bloodthirsty Fiends, but Mhell walked as though she was floating on a cloud. He was hard-pressed to say if her feet really touched the ground or if she was walking on thin air.

Either way, the demons loomed. Riven tried not to see them staring at him, looks anywhere between contemptuous to downright murderous. Every step made him thank the Scions he was with Mhell. He’d have refused her but they had sent him to figure out what in the Chasm was going on, and Mhell wasn’t going to reveal anything until the meeting.

Besides, he was intrigued too. What did Mhell have to deal with a demon?

“Go on, Riven,” she said. “Tell me what brings you here. I imagine you’ve succeeded in your noble endeavour to free Rennervation from its overlord’s grasp.”

That brought him out his apprehension. “Heh, freed. Rennervation just changed hands from one overlord to another.” He took a deep breath and told Mhell everything that had happened. For some reason, it was easy with her. Unlike with everyone else, he could find no reason to hide anything, felt no urge to stop and consider if he was telling too much at any point. Mhell was a good listener, nodding along most of the time and occasionally popping up with a few ohs and ahs. “And that’s how I ended up here, a still-living Essentier in the middle of a meeting between two Deathless.”

“My, my, I’d never thought you could make such an excellent storyteller, dear. You should consider it a potential career path one day. So Aross and Daynom hope to spy on me and learn what’s going on through you? How cute!”

Riven snorted. “Now, it’s your turn. What in the Chasm are you doing here, Mhell? The truth please.”

“Ah, don’t wound me. When have I ever told you a lie?”

“I meant I want to know everything.”

“All in good time.”

Riven was about to argue, but Mhell nodded her head forward. There was something strangely off in the way she jutted her chin forward a little, but he didn’t get to focus on it for long.

The meeting with the demons was at hand.

She really should have brought a small retinue of Spectres or something. As it was, they were surrounded in all sides by a horde of Fiends when they stopped in front of a large fire, hemmed in by the bristling circle of spikes and scales. Everywhere Riven looked, he saw harsh glares and dangerous poses. Whatever this little meeting hoped to accomplish, the demons here weren’t going to be taking kindly to it. Scions, where had Riven ended up?

The fire guttered as a strong wind swirled through the area. Riven swallowed. The blaze reminded him of Rattles. Of the village that had been reduced to nothing but burnt-out houses, charred bricks, and ashes.

“Welcome!” said a booming voice. A demon walked out of the press of Fiends and entered the circle of firelight. She stood taller than most, her scales a vivid teal colour. Riven squinted. Hadn’t he seen her before? “I was expecting you, Deadmage, but it seems you’ve brought a curious pet as well.”

The demon—no, the Infernal, Riven was sure—sneered at him. He swallowed and did his best to look at anywhere but at the Infernal.

“This is a dear friend, Wramorrh,” Mhell said brightly, though there was an edge of steel in her voice. She knew where she was, but she wasn’t daunted. “I hope he will be treated with the same respect that I will.”

“We’re Deathless, Deadmage. We don’t do respect.”

“Regardless. At the very minimum, I want a promise that he will not be harmed.”

“Promise freely given.”

“And do you speak for the rest of your people?”

Wramorrh sneered again. “Do I speak for the rest of you, my people?” she shouted out.

The other demons laughed. Riven tried not to cow under the avalanche of sound, harsh, guttural, promising that none of them could ever hold any real mirth.

No that was the laughter reserved for the death of hated enemies.

“Good enough,” Mhell said, her smile forced now. “Let’s move on then. Tell me Wramorrh, what’s your goal here? What do you really want?”

“The same as you. We want us all to ascend. To get out of this damn shithole and finally get to where we belong. I’m tired of all this.” The Infernal raised her voice yet again. “Aren’t we all?”

The demons answered with angry cheers. With the suppressed outrage that had been building for who knew how long.

Mhell slowly shook her head. She kept it up for so long, the demons all stopped their clamour to stare at her. “Ascension isn’t enough. Too short-term. We need to decide on what our long-term goal is, Wramorrh. We need to figure out what’s going to happen to you, to me, to all of us, once we’ve reached the Beyond.”

“We’re going to join with the Scions, of course.”

“What, in their war?” Riven asked.

Pindrop silence answered him for a moment. Riven flushed. What, was he not allowed to speak? Did these damn demons really think he was Mhell’s mindless pet?

“Well, yes,” the Infernal finally said. “Their war is what pulls us. It’s why they have need of us, and are willing to expend their power and energy into pulling us to the Beyond. We will fight in their war, and we will win in the Beyond as well. There’s nothing stopping us.”

“Do you even know who you might be fighting for or against?” Riven asked. “Do you even know why you’re fighting?”

They went silent again. Riven had told Mhell about his visit to the Beyond, about his little chat with the broken god at the bottom of the abyss. She hadn’t reacted then, apart from adopting a thoughtful expression that said she had a lot of opinions on it but nothing she was willing to voice. Most of what she might have said would have been questions. They didn’t have time for questions, sadly.

The demon army had been waiting.

But now, Mhell had the opportunity to ask, and Riven was not at all surprised when she did so. “Do you know why we are fighting, Riven? Why the Scions are in this silly war?”

Riven nodded. He told Mhell, and all the demons there who were close enough to hear, what the broken god had told him. He explained about the Fifth Scion, Yulring Eo, about the god who had chased Alb, Savoian, and how the Scions’ Chosen were looking to interfere. This time he didn’t have to embellish anything or make it sound like a story much. Everything came out too fantastical to easily believe.

“That is a lot,” Wramorrh finally said one Riven had ended his little tale. “And you expect us to believe all that?” She asked Mhell.

The witch nodded. “Yes. I trust Riven completely. I suggest that you do so as well.”

Riven flushed. What had he ever done for Mhell that she’d be so willing to trust him like that? He couldn’t recall. Worse, it was too sudden. Too different. No one trusted him completely, yet somehow, he had garnered the undying faith of a powerful Deathless.

“So,” Mhell prompted. “What is your ultimate goal now? I want to know if you’re a potential, long-term partner, or you’d much rather be alone, forging your own way to ascendance.”

The fire crackled bright, throwing dancing shadows all over the area. Riven eyed it, the depths trying to draw him in as though he was teetering at the edge of a fiery abyss. If the Infernal did ascend, what would they become? Who would they fight for?

“I have no overt, external goal,” Wramorrh admitted. “I am not supremely ambitious. I do not harbour any wish to rule or succeed or do what no one else has been able to do before. All I’m hoping for is that I and those who follow me can get away from this trap that’s held us down for too long.”

Mhell tutted. Her smile had turned edged, and the sudden shift in contempt was obvious. Obvious, but also sharp. Too sharp. Riven almost pulled out of her grip and walked away, but forced his body not to react to that. He could trust Mhell. Of course he could. He was just being silly, looking too deeply into things and dredging up what had never been there.

“Did you come through the Frontier?” Mhell asked. “Have we met before?”

“I did, and we have not. They repaired the breach, and we had to break open in a different spot to get inside.”

Mhell laughed outright as Riven went pale.

“Did you kill the Frontier Guards?” he asked.

“Didn’t see any puffed up pricks anywhere near. Our quarrel isn’t with those arseholes. It’s here, in Ascension Demesne.”

Riven breathed out a little sigh of relief. Good. That bald Captain was all right.

Mhell nodded. “That’s right. It’s surprising how many of us always want to get away from here. I didn’t even have to do anything to get my little following. I let some feelers know and then the Spectres all came with me of their own accord. I imagine it’s the same with your Fiends?”

“It’s not that different.” The sneer came back on Wramorrh’s face, slow but sure of its place there. “But you’re no regular Deathless, are you? What are you in truth, Mhell? What do you see? What do you feel?”

Mhell smiled, and this time, there was no edge to it. Just warmth. “I am a witch. Different from most maybe, but I think in a good way. At least, unlike that lot, I can tell what I want to do, instead of being compelled by the call to the Beyond.”

Wramorrh nodded. “Then we head for Orbray together.”

“We do. I don’t recall having made any plans, but I am no general of the field. I have won no great victories. What I do know, however, is that we need to be judicious of where we strike and what we do, and for that, our first priority is to observe the enemy before we do anything drastic like killing them all.”

The Infernal made a disgusted sound in the pit of her gullet. “Bah! Killing is what we do best. Show us where the enemy is and we will annihilate them. That’s what we’re here for.”

“And when the Scion arrives?”

“We will be raised to the Beyond!”

Mhell shook her head. “When the Scion arrives to eradicate you, what then?”

That made the Internal pause for a while. She stared around, noting all the demons who had gathered at the edge of the circle of light. They had all heard Mhell. Like their leader, they had all paused in their usual demonic behaviour as well. Facing down a Scion was a frightening prospect no matter who you were.

Though Riven hadn’t realized Orbray was calling down a Scion to fulfil his desire to eradicate the Deathless. Wasn’t one of the Chosen making him call the Scion down? Knightforger himself?

“All other Deathless are being drawn to the Septstorm,” Wramorrh said. “All. You think one Scion can take so many?”

Mhell shrugged. “I don’t know any Scion’s exact power. But a Scion is a Scion.”

Another paused, then Wramorrh scoffed. “Yes, a Scions is a Scion. Just a Scion. We’ll deal with it if something like that happens.” She stared at Mhell. Her teal scales seemed to catch the firelight and sprinkle it back with a hint of iridescence. “The real question is, will the rest of your witches cooperate?”

“Well, I cannot answer for my brethren. But that also means I have nothing tying me to them, so if they don’t cooperate, I’ll destroy them the same way I’ll destroy Orbray.”

Mhell said it with her cheeriest smile yet, and it made the Infernal laugh. “Well said.” Wramorrh sobered, hard eyes glinting. “Are you prepared to lay down whatever you wish to achieve and sacrifice everything to win?”

Mhell’s head tilted to a side as though she was seeing the Infernal in a new way. “Even myself?”

“Of course. This ascendance is greater than you or me or anyone else.”

“But what point is there if none of us are there to achieve it? Why does this ascendance matter if you’re not there to experience it?”

Wramorrh laughed. “What do you think happens to a Deathless when they die? To this soul of ours that’s trapped in this inhuman body?”

Riven felt himself growing cold. The demons all around them had gotten closer, hemming them in. It felt as though they were about to jump on him and Mhell, tear them apart and devour them until no trace of them remained in this world. A drowning fawn in a river infested with piranhas.

“Death,” Riven said when Mhell didn’t answer. He had killed Deathless, had seen them crumble to faded Sept until nothing remained. “You die. You don’t exist in this world anymore. You—you end up in the Beyond.”

Wramorrh smiled. It was a very human smile, and it didn’t work at all on her demonic face where the mouth was more snout, the fangs jutting down from the sides of her jaw glistening with a sheen of saliva. “Yes. Correct. You end up in the Beyond, as a human again.”

“What does that matter?” Riven asked. “You sound like you don’t want to be human again.”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t want to be human if you knew what went on in the Beyond.”

“I’ve been to the Beyond. As a human too. I’ve seen what goes on in there and I know I can survive it well as what I am.”

The Infernal looked surprised for a moment. Her eyes had widened. “Ah. I begin to see why the Deadmage holds special interest in you. Regardless, I assume you must have seen the Scion. That’s a very deceptive representation of what the Beyond really is like, and you’d do best to ignore it. The true beyond, where us mortals and Deathless end up in after the end of our lives and afterlives, is a blasted land of war and devastation.” She stared at Mhell. “But, we can still make a difference there, reduced and seemingly helpless though we are. Removed from our powers as a Deathless though we might seem. It’s that struggle that I mean, Deadmage. Can you bear it? You, who are so strong now but may be reduced to a mere shadow if you die in this world, can you bear the disappointment?”

Mhell smiled. What hesitation she had entertained before seemed to have disappeared as though it had never existed. “I can. And I will.” There was something chilling about the way Mhell said it, like an ominous promise. “Is that an agreement to see this through then?”

“Is it an agreement, then?” Wramorrh shouted out.

The demons all cheered in favour. Riven had to stop himself from clapping his hands over his ears.

“You hear them,” Wramorrh said, grinning at Mhell and Riven. “Let us go to war!”