"All right. I have the demon crystal inside a barrier. And Focilo is taking care of the rest of the guards for them, so there shouldn't be any more serious obstacles to getting Thenio out."

Eteon opened his eyes and looked up at Peqeran, who was sitting up on the base of the enormous tree root that he was leaning against. It was early morning, and the sky was still dark, but the leaves above were glowing softly, lighting up the ground underneath.

Peqeran had his eyes closed, concentrating on a scene that was taking place far away from them. It made his face barely visible against the vast, dark brown tree trunk behind him, since his skin was the same color. His long hair was streaked green and gold—the same as the leaves hanging overhead.

"But that Ariom kid really is reckless," he went on. "He's almost as bad as you are, Eteon. Trying to use a mythic beast's power without permission.... He's lucky I was watching at the time."

"Ariom...did that?" Eteon asked between unsteady breaths.

This foul demon corruption.... He'd been resting for a couple of hours now, but he still felt terrible.

"He did. He pulled my magic power out of the neutralizing tonic and used it to activate his magesight, of all things. He probably would have lost his eyes if I hadn't helped him out." Peqeran gave a wry chuckle. "Well, I'm the one that led them there, so I guess it's only right that I take some responsibility. And I'll admit it was a clever idea, albeit a dangerous one."

"So you gave him a bestowal?" Ciresi asked. She was kneeling beside Eteon, massaging one of his arms with healing magic.

Unlike her husband's current appearance, only Ciresi's upper body resembled a human. Her lower half was horse-like, covered in glossy, dark gold fur. Her skin was a lighter shade of gold, and she had long, pointed ears that stuck out through her cream-colored hair.

"Just a temporary one." Peqeran finally opened his eyes and looked down at Eteon. "Though I'd be willing to give him a permanent one if you think it would help."

Eteon looked away. "I'll...consider it."

"Not trusting people is another thing you and Ariom seem to have in common," Ciresi said with a sigh. "He's been working hard to try to help Thenio, hasn't he? He even went along with the rescue team tonight. Don't you think he deserves to know a little more about what's really going on? I understand why you feel so protective of Thenio, but...."

"Do you?" Eteon spat bitterly, staring down at his discolored arms. "Do you really understand?"

There was an uncomfortable silence.

Eteon took a deep breath, trying to calm the frustration that had suddenly welled up inside him. He knew it was unfair to speak to Ciresi like that, after everything she and Peqeran had done—were doing—to help him.

"I'm sorry," he said in a low voice.

"It's all right. You don't need to apologize," Ciresi said gently. She let go of the arm she'd been treating and lifted the other one to start working on it again. "I know you're terribly worried about Thenio. And this corruption has got to be hurting you a lot, even if you're trying not to show it. I don't blame you for getting upset. And it's true that we can't entirely understand how you feel about Thenio. But that doesn't mean we don't care about him."

"I know." Eteon sighed and leaned his head back against the tree root again. "I know. You two are the only reason I haven't given up already."

"Well, it would be a shame to have to give up on this world now that we've finally found such a good home and family. So we intend to keep fighting as long as we can." Peqeran jumped down from the tree root and came over to them. "The military team is taking a short break, but they should start moving again in a few minutes, so they'll reach Thenio and Focilo soon. I'm sure you'll want to go undo the seal on Thenio's magic circuit as soon as possible. Let's put some sap and leaves on your arms and wrap them up. That should be enough to hold the corruption back for a while. Ciresi, would you go get some of the barkcloth bandages?"

"Of course." She smiled at him and then set Eteon's arm down and got to her feet.

She turned and walked toward a nearby opening in the enormous tree trunk, her hooves quiet on the moss-covered ground. Despite the mass of branches above their heads, there were no fallen leaves in sight. Peqeran's leaves were much too precious to be allowed to rot in the dirt.

Peqeran took Ciresi's place, kneeling next to Eteon.

"They're looking a little better," he said, lifting one of Eteon's arms to examine it more closely. "You're going to need to take it easy for a few days, but you should be past the most dangerous point. I'd appreciate it if you were a little more careful in the future, though."

Eteon smiled weakly. "I trusted that you two would be able to take care of me."

"I'd rather you trusted me a little less and took care of yourself a little more...."

Peqeran put his hand on the tree root near Eteon's shoulder. The spot he touched glowed faintly, and a branch grew out of it. Several smaller branches split off of the first one, and leaves budded and grew on them. When they'd stopped growing, he tapped the branch with his finger, and it cracked open. Amber-colored sap started oozing out.

"I'm sorry," Eteon said again, feeling a little guilty as he watched Peqeran start spreading sap over the greenish-purple blotches covering his arms.

Yes, he'd trusted that they would be able to help treat the corruption. But that treatment involved a sacrifice of Peqeran's own flesh and blood. It wasn't something that he could take for granted.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing compared to the amount we send over to Melinei. And if I don't use my strength to help my family, what do I even have it for?"

Once the arm was coated in a thick layer of sap, Peqeran started pulling off the leaves and laying them over top of it. By the time Eteon's arm was half-covered in leaves, Ciresi had come back, carrying several rolls of brown bandages.

These, too, had come from Peqeran. They were woven from the fibers of his inner bark.

Peqeran finished putting leaves on the first arm and then moved aside so that Ciresi could start wrapping bandages over them.

"I called Brel over," he said as he began rubbing sap onto Eteon's other arm. "Take him with you when you go back to Kamari. I'll feel more assured if you have someone looking after you."

"Can you really spare him? I was planning to stay with Thenio for the next day or two to make sure he recovers properly from having his magic sealed."

"It's fine. The others can cover for him if it's only that long. He hasn't left the forest for quite some time, so he'll probably enjoy going on a trip for a couple of days. And he'll be happy to see Thenio, of course. I just hope it won't trigger Thenio's memories too much...."

Eteon frowned. "It's hard to say. Even I have trouble predicting what he'll react to and what he won't. But I may have to reapply the memory seal on him anyway, depending on what happened when he met the Poisoner. If I do, it won't matter even if he does recognize Brel. And either way, it won't be enough to make the seal collapse completely. I think it will be all right."

"Hmm." Peqeran looked thoughtful. "Based on what I heard from Focilo, all Thenio really learned from the Poisoner before he passed out was that he's a chimera, which they were probably going to figure out before long anyway. Focilo himself has learned a few other things, though.... You and Brel are going to want to have a talk with him when you get a chance, to go over what's safe for him to pass on to Thenio and Ariom and what isn't. I won't stop you from sealing some of his memories if you think it's necessary...but I'd prefer that you didn't. Focilo is a good kid, and he and Relisa have always been loyal and hard-working. I really think it's all right to trust them."

Eteon glanced at Peqeran, looked down at the arm Ciresi was bandaging, and then closed his eyes with a sigh. "I'll keep that in mind."

 

---

 

The rescue team took a few minutes to catch their breath while Kino scouted out the area ahead. Several of them took the opportunity to replenish their magic power or heal small injuries.

Namyis came over and handed Ariom a warm meat pastry from her stasis pocket. "Here, eat this. It's been hours since you had a proper meal. Taking recovery medicine on an empty stomach makes the side effects worse."

"I have some health juice...."

"Solid food is better," she insisted, pushing the pastry into his hand. "Come on. I might not be as good at baking as Thenio is, but I'm not that bad."

Ariom sighed but took the pastry from her and bit into it. Whatever Ket'shiu had done had already relieved most of the recovery sickness, but he was still feeling rather weak and shaky. She was probably right that eating something would help.

Namyis was still standing there, watching him with her head tilted a little to one side.

"What?" he asked irritably. "I'm eating it, like you told me to. What else do you want?"

For some reason that made her laugh. "Nothing. It's exactly what I expected."

Still looking amused, she turned and walked toward Ziryi, who was getting some additional medical treatment from Red while discussing something with Aunt Kat and Sala.

Crazy ice mage....

"That was where you were supposed to compliment her cooking," Silverwater said in a low voice. He and Ironfish were busy gathering up Ariom's unused arrows and empty arrow boxes.

"Huh?" Ariom looked at him blankly.

"What she said about her baking not being that bad...that meant she made that pastry," Ironfish said, putting the void arrows he'd collected into a box. "And she expressed some doubt about her skill, saying it wasn't as good as your assistant's. So after you ate a bite, you were supposed to reassure her that it tasted good. That's what she was waiting for."

"It was?" Ariom blinked. "How was I supposed to know that?"

The two brothers looked at each other and then gave him identical shrugs.

"It's just...something you learn from spending time around women?" Silverwater said helplessly. "Well, she didn't seem upset that you didn't pick up on the hint, so I guess you don't need to worry about it too much."

Ariom scowled down at the pastry in his hand. He was tempted to just shove the rest into his space pocket without finishing it. But the original point of it had been to help him recover his strength, so it would be useless if he didn't eat it. He didn't want to be a burden to the rest of the team.

He took another bite.

It was pretty good. That fact annoyed him for reasons he didn't quite understand....

"These enchanted arrows are really quite handy," Ironfish said, setting another box of the leftovers down in front of Ariom. "I like the idea of keeping some on hand for future jobs. Are you interested in a commission order? Or should I try to talk the supply workshop into giving me a few?"

Ariom hesitated. He really didn't want to get any more involved with the military than he already had. But the twins had helped him out a lot tonight, so he didn't feel entirely comfortable turning down Ironfish's request, either.

"Rather than arrows...I think enchanted darts might suit your style better," he said slowly. "And if you buy pre-made cores in bulk from a crystal workshop and make the casings yourself, it will cost a lot less. Your shaping abilities seem plenty good enough for that. I can draw up some diagrams for you. Then you can order them from whatever workshop is most convenient."

There. That offer should allow him to help once but not get dragged into ongoing military-related work. It seemed like a decent compromise.

"Really?" Ironfish's eyes widened in surprise. "That's great! I was sure you'd refuse.... I've heard you never take on jobs for people from the military."

Ariom narrowed his own eyes. If he knew that, why did he even ask...?

Feeling vaguely like he'd been tricked, he reluctantly exchanged message book pages so that Ironfish could contact him about the job later.

Seriously.... First the ice mage, then this guy. Once Thenio and Focilo were safe, Ariom was definitely going back to avoiding battlemages as much as possible.

He grumpily finished the last few bites of his pastry and watched as Aunt Kat took a saddle out of her space pocket and started fastening it onto Sala's back, over her armor.

The two of them had been working separately tonight because of the confined space inside the building, but mounted combat was actually their usual style. It looked like Sala was going to let Ziryi ride her the rest of the way.

The lightning mage could walk, but not very well. It turned out that she'd been hit directly with an earth magic boulder, which resulted in a couple of broken ribs and several fractures in her right leg. Red had set the broken bones and secured them in place with magic, so she could use her leg if she needed to. But he said it was better if she didn't put weight on it until she got it properly healed up.

Fortunately, Sala didn't mind carrying her. And Ziryi seemed quite comfortable once she'd climbed into the saddle. Hippogryph riding was part of the Magic Corps' standard training, but it looked like she had some experience riding feline-type magic beasts as well. Maybe she'd also trained with gryphons.

Ariom sighed and slightly amended his 'avoid all battlemages' resolution. He really ought to invite Aunt Kat over again soon. Sala would like Thenio. And he would probably enjoy a few tiger riding lessons.

Though they had to get him safely out of this place first, of course.

"I smell them," Kino announced a short time later. "I smell the chaos boy and the doctor."

Aunt Kat walked over to him. "The doctor? You mean Focilo?"

The storm hound nodded.

"What about the other one? There was a doctor from the Royal Guard missing, too, wasn't there?"

"Right. Rimeus." Kino seemed to sag a little. "I can smell his blood...."

"I see," Aunt Kat said quietly. She reached out and gently scratched the shaggy black ears hanging out of Kino's head covering. "There's nothing we can do about what's already happened. Let's focus on helping the ones we still can."

Kino nodded again and looked back toward the end of the corridor. "I smell some guards, too. But I also smell more of those root things. So they might be tied up like that guy is." He glanced over his shoulder at Ebihan, who was still unconscious inside the bundle of roots.

"All right. Well done." Aunt Kat patted his head and then turned to the others. "Back in formation, everyone. If we're lucky, our mythic helper already took care of the rest of the enemies for us. But stay on guard, just in case."

They all got back in line. But this time, Kino was at the front, guiding Rockbrawler. Sala followed behind them, carrying Ziryi, who was still watching for traps.

Ariom sincerely hoped that she would be able to handle the rest of the disarming that needed to be done. Between Ket'shiu's healing and Namyis' meat pastry, he felt recovered enough that just walking along with the others wasn't a problem. But he didn't think he could handle much more magic use tonight.

Fortunately, Vehnkir and Ebihan seemed to have been relying on the hidden demon magic enchantment being enough to keep intruders out of this area. They had to stop once while Ziryi undid the lock on a closed set of doors, but they didn't encounter any traps or enemies as Kino led them past various laboratories and examination rooms.

They did see a few researchers here and there, but they were all wrapped up in tree roots and unconscious, just like Ebihan.

It looked like Ket'shiu really had done the rest of their work for them. Not that anyone was complaining.

After some twists and turns, they reached a hallway with several holding cells. They passed two that held people who looked asleep or unconscious. One of them had suspicious purplish-green patches on her face and limbs.

"The Poison Center will take care of them," Red said quietly when he noticed Ariom looking at the unfortunate woman in the cell. "We don't know exactly what they've been exposed to, so it's dangerous to open their cells without taking precautions. We just need to worry about the people we came here for."

"Right." Ariom turned away from the cell, feeling uncomfortable.

He'd already known that the Order was a nasty bunch, but he hadn't realized until tonight just how nasty they really were....

Rockbrawler paused in front of the third cell. Not because of what was inside of it—it looked completely empty. But rather because of what was ahead of them, in front of the fourth and final cell in this row.

"It looks a bit creepy, doesn't it?" Aunt Kat remarked. "Though I'm glad we don't have to fight them."

Around a dozen guards were lined up in front of the fourth cell, all wrapped snugly in tree roots, their eyes closed and their heads hanging limply to the front or side. The floor underneath them had been turned to rubble due to all the tree roots sprouting up through it.

Aunt Kat was right. It did look creepy.

Only Kino seemed unconcerned about the group of unconscious guards. He trotted eagerly forward, his ears perking up. When he reached the front of the cell, he stopped and let out a couple of short barks, his tail wagging.

"Hello, Kino," said a familiar voice. "I'm very glad to see you, too."

"That's Focilo!" Aunt Kat said, looking relieved. "Go ahead, Rockbrawler."

Rockbrawler nodded and continued forward. There wasn't much space left in front of the cell, so he went past the tied up guards to the other side. Sala went up to the control panel on one side of the cell entrance and held still so that Ziryi could slide off her back and start examining it.

"Oh, Sala's here, too? I thought I heard Kathia's voice just now...."

"Yes, I'm here, Focilo," Aunt Kat said loudly. "Hang on, we'll get you out of there as soon as we can." She looked at the twins. "Silver, Fish, stay on this side. Let's let Ariom and Red go ahead and check things out."

They obligingly moved over near the end of the group of guards, giving them uncertain looks. Sala moved ahead to where Rockbrawler was now standing, making space in front of the cell.

"Ariom?" Focilo's voice sounded shocked. "Did you say...Ariom?"

"Yes, she did," Ariom responded, walking in front of the cell and scowling at the old doctor who was standing on the other side of the barrier. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Focilo stared back at him, blinking in disbelief. "What are you doing here? And with the Magic Corps...."

Ariom's scowl deepened. If it were just Focilo, he could have said that he came because he didn't want Eteon and Ki'shiu taking revenge on him if Thenio died, but he couldn't mention them in front of everyone else. That was so unfair....

"Yes, I'm with the Magic Corps. That guy snatched my assistant, so why shouldn't I be here? I'm a grandmaster enchanter and a magic archer, remember? I came along to help disable barriers." His expression softened a little. "Where's Thenio?"

"He's inside there." Focilo pointed to a large mass of branches behind him. It looked very similar to the barrier that Ket'shiu had formed around the behemoth crystal, so Focilo had probably created it with his pendant. "He's all right for the moment, as far as I can tell. Just asleep because of the full suppression barrier."

"Good. Well, just wait a few minutes. We'll— Wait...that's...?"

Ariom had just noticed the crumpled figure lying on one side of the cell. Kino was already staring silently at it.

His tail had stopped wagging.

"That's Rimeus Telven," Focilo said quietly, following Ariom's gaze. "Or at least...it used to be."

"That guy...Vehnkir...did he...?"

"Yes. I thought you might realize that's what happened." Focilo looked at Kino, his expression sympathetic. "But let's discuss it later."

"Right." Ariom nodded, feeling a bit awkward. "Well, I should help undo this barrier."

He reached out and lightly patted the storm hound's head. Then he stepped over to where Ziryi was standing.

She glanced at him briefly before turning back to the control panel. "I don't think there are any traps on this, but it's a pretty complicated lock. I should be able to break through it eventually. It'll just take some time."

"Good. I don't think I can help much. My magic circuit is in pretty bad shape right now."

"Well, no wonder. How many bottles of recovery medicine have you had?"

"Counting the ones I had earlier today? Four bottles of moondust, three of tree blood, and about one and a half of ambrosia."

Ziryi stopped what she was doing and stared at him. "That many? How are you even still standing?"

"Mythic beasts," he said shortly.

"Ah." She looked like she wanted to ask more questions but thought better of it and turned back to the control panel.

"Ariom..." Focilo began in a rather exasperated tone.

"I know. I'll go to the Stability Center and get a check-up later. But we need to get you and Thenio out of here first."

Focilo sighed but didn't say anything else.

Ariom didn't trust himself to do any delicate enchanting work in his current state, but his magesight was still working reasonably well, so he was able to help Ziryi analyze the barrier and work out how to disable it. There were several layers to it, so it was difficult and time-consuming. But finally, after nearly half an hour, a tired-looking Ziryi finally cut through the last formation, and with a shimmer of magic particles, the barrier dissolved.

"Nice! It's finally down!" Ziryi raised her arms in celebration for a moment. Then she lowered them and promptly slumped against the wall. "Sala, come back, please. I seriously need to sit down...."

Ariom made sure that the tigress was on her way over to help before he left Ziryi and went inside the cell. Red and Kino had already gone in. Kino was sniffing around near Rimeus' body, and Red was doing a quick check on Focilo.

Ariom went over to the interwoven branches. Once he was closer, he could see Thenio sleeping quietly inside them on a bed that Ariom recognized as coming from the recovery rooms back at the Royal Guard headquarters.

"I'll take down the barrier as soon as the medic says I'm allowed to use magic," Focilo said with a wry smile.

"You were inside a full suppression barrier. It's standard procedure," Red replied. Then he made a face. "Well, I'll admit it's a little ridiculous for a combat medic to have to check whether it's all right for the head of the Stability Center to use magic or not...."

Ariom simply gave a nod of acknowledgement and looked back at Thenio. His throat felt a little tight all of a sudden, and he didn't quite dare to say anything.

It was strange.

He’d been through so much in the past few hours. He'd been working so hard. He'd swallowed his pride so many times and used up so many valuable resources.

And he'd known he was doing it to save Thenio. He'd known that all along.

But still....

He hadn't anticipated just how relieved the sight of that boy's sleeping face would make him feel.