Natalya strode to the armored vehicle that had some of the equipment meant to control the eye in the sky. Mavin was in the armored vehicle, making use of the computer to analyze the topography of the City of Haymouth.

“She told me what happened there.”

“Your thoughts?”

“Let me ask this first: Will this be beneficial to Lazon?”

“It will be.”

“How so? I want details, not vague remarks. This concerns Lazon and its people. Politically, we are in the good graces of the known continent. We are strong, personally, we can match ten or more people at once. But what we don’t have is the ability to protect everyone. I will not agree to this if it means that we would have to hurt the people and the land we had been trying to protect. Mavin Tomas, I love you, but even if it's you, I won’t allow anyone to hurt the people of Lazon and the Confederacy.”

Mavin turned to him with a kind gaze. He smiled. The man who was usually like stone smiled at her. This surprised Natalya for a moment before she regained her wits.

“What?”

“No, you really do care. And yes, this will benefit us in the long run. The sphere of Merez, and kismet’s artifact will allow me to create a domain, a cage that will contain the danger.”

“What will be the cost of this?”

Mavin behaved as if he was trying to explain what the process was. Natalya waited patiently on what he had to say.

“The conjunction of the two artifacts must be done in an isolated area. I need the artifacts to be in a place of power that contains the sparks. Think of it as forging, but instead of using the heat of a forge, I will be using the heat generated by the sparks to forge a conjunction between the two.”

“I don’t know where you get this knowledge. You say it like you are so certain that this will work well. What are the dangers?”

“Those who try this with sparks in their body would be boiled inside. I am resistant to the effects of the sparks, at least enough that it wouldn’t boil me inside. Of course, the problem with forging this artifact is that it will drain the vitality of the land.”

“Why’s that?”

Mavin typed something on the keyboard. Natalya pulled a stool and settled on it. He ran his hands and showed a photographic image of the basin-like shape of the city of Haymouth.

“Haymouth is a basin filled with sparks. If I activate the conjunction in this area, then it will cause a sink-drain effect where every spark will be drained in the artifact. Of course, such action will have dire effects since I wouldn’t be just draining the sparks in the area, but also the life energy around it. The sphere of Merez creates a domain, but it also is a conduit that mingles with the energy of where it is activated. Kismet’s artifacts are similar, but they can suck in all the sparks within the vicinity of the area.”

“I don’t understand,” Natalya said.

“It’s easy. The sphere of Merez creates an area where it will absorb the sparks. Then Kismet’s artifact will be used as a device to absorb the sparks. The sphere designates the area, and the kismet artifact does the job. I will be the one holding and manipulating the device and so it will be harsh.”

“The immediate effect of the artifact will be the sudden withering of the area. If things go well then it's only the city of Haymouth that needs to be sacrificed.”

“The bad?”

“If things go bad then the region of Hith will suffer a vitality drain. There is also a big chance that the resulting effect will cause a big enough explosion to everyone in the vicinity of the last.”

Natalya immediately became worried.

“That will be a problem for me.”

“You can watch from a distance, but I advise you to not use the hydroelectric crystals as fuel. It would cause an electric discharge that would fry any circuit and blow up any fuse.”

Natalya crossed her arms. She pointed out, “We could have done this secretly.”

“No, we can’t,” Mavin then explained. “The conjunction will create a distorting effect, and those who wield the sparks will panic and try to get in our way. That would cause a severe reaction to the process and tampering could result in the death of everyone in the basin. So we’ll let them know what we are doing boldly. They’ll try to persuade anyone or someone to stop this madness.”

“So you want me to announce our intentions? Evacuate this city?”

“If we can then we should. I take no pleasure in killing innocent people, but the need to do this outweighs the need to worry about the possible death and destruction of a few. It is disgusting, and I feel sick that I have the guts to even think of this, but what can I do? We can probably live long enough to wait this ‘disaster’ out, but what about the people under us? Can they survive the darkening of the sky? We have new methods to grow plants, and with the resources we have, we can make wonderful machines that are able to fly despite their large size. But we are going to be helpless when such disaster strikes.”

“I understand.”

She observed him. She has been with him for the past weeks. Although she was sure that there was some truth to what he had been saying. There was also a nagging feeling that something was off.

“Is this really your intention?”

Mavin nodded stiffly. “It is. There is a need for this conjunction to happen, and if you’ve gotten the hints so far, then you should understand why I am desperately trying to make this artifact come to life.”

“Problems seem to come after one another.”

“Unfortunately, this is a world that is… never mind. I hope you can help me with this.”

Mavin’s gaze was determined.

“If this will benefit us in the long run, then I will. Sigh, it looks like Velea will have to worry about the taint in reputation. Poor girl. I should contact Lady Mildred about our intentions and make her understand.”