A cool breeze stirred Elaina from her slumber. A faint dull pain that permeated every inch of her body followed soon after. Though the swordmage’s eyes slowly opened, she had little motivation to actually move. It took a moment or two for her to realize she was not lying at the bottom of a chasm. She wasn’t even lying in her bedroll. Instead, she was lying in bed in Royce’s tent, but the sounds of the camp she had become accustomed to were absent. The only thing she could hear was the crackling of the fire nearby.

“What is this place?” Kaethe asked from a few feet away, instantly getting Elaina’s attention and causing her to sit upright.

“Kaethe?” Elaina asked, startled. She pulled the smooth silk sheets over her bare chest more out of reflex than embarrassment. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m not,” Kaethe answered calmly as she emerged from the shadowed part of the tent. “Ye’re dreaming.”

“Oh,” Elaina’s hand moved to grasp at the amulet around her neck, only to find it wasn’t there.

“I’ve been trying to reach ye,” her sister said, raising a thin red eyebrow. “Where have you been?”

“Working,” Elaina grumbled dismissively as she pulled her legs up to her chest defensively. Something about how she spoke to her reminded her more of the sister she had left behind in the old Caledonia and not the one she had come to know in this world. “Just like you asked.”

“And?” Kaethe asked, spreading her hands. “How is that going?”

A strange echo of pain reverberated through Elaina’s body as if she was experiencing it at a great distance. Elaina had done this enough to know that her physical body was likely in bad shape if she was feeling any measure of its pain in her dream. “Could be better.”

“You’re being evasive.” Kaethe crossed her arms over her chest, her gown clinging more closely to her curves as she did. “Why?”

“Because I don’t need you checking in on me,” Elaina grunted. “I’m not a child.”

A memory of her saying something similar to Resius flashed through her mind before melting away. Memories like that were difficult to hold onto in dreams without them becoming a part of it.

“Elaina!” Kaethe said, raising her voice. “Stop it! I know ye’re not a child, but after all this time being unable to reach ye, I’d say there is cause for concern! It’s not as though ye haven’t been sleeping. It’s more like something is stepping between us.”

Elaina exhaled sharply, blowing a lock of ginger hair out of her face. She would likely have reacted similarly if she were in Kaethe’s place. “That was the amulet, sorry.”

“Amulet?” Kaethe asked curiously. “What amulet?”

“My friend gave me an amulet that protects me from mental intrusion and things like that,” Elaina explained.

“Ye feel like ye need protection from me?” Kaethe’s asked, offended by the implication.

“What?” Elaina tilted her head confused, “No, not you specifically. Look, it turns out that I’m unconsciously pulling people to me in my sleep. It’s like their dreams merge with mine or something, and I can’t control it.”

Kaethe’s expression shifted to one of curiosity as she resumed her approach. “Is that why we can connect over such a vast distance?”

Elaina nodded with a shrug, “Probably, but I can’t be sure. Until I had time to focus on it and research it, I thought the amulet was a better idea. There’s no telling what sort of trouble I could get into without it.”

The redheaded vampire slowly sat herself down at the edge of the bed. “Oh. Yeah, I suppose that does make sense.”

“It wasn’t about you at all,” Elaina assured her. Even though Kaethe hadn’t been forthcoming about it the first time she had dreamwalked to her, that was something they had cleared up already.

“So then, what is this place?” Kaethe gestured with one finger around the tent, “did ye conjure this up yourself?”

“Not quite,” Elaina admitted sheepishly. “This is a friend’s tent.”

“The friend that gave you the amulet?” Kaethe quirked a brow.

“No, different friend,” Elaina clarified. “She’s a different kind of friend.”

Kaethe turned a little more to look at Elaina, surprised. “You’re seeing someone?”

“Sort of?” Elaina shrugged, looking helpless. “It’s sort of up in the air right now? I’m just going to see where it goes. I don’t want to mess with a good thing here.”

“A good thing?” Kaethe scoffed, “So ye’re fucking her? Ye seem awfully familiar with the details of where she sleeps!”

Elaina swore she detected a note of jealousy in Kaethe’s voice, which caught her off guard. She sat up a little straighter as her temper began to flare in response to her sister’s tone. “I don’t owe you an explanation, Kaethe. You kicked me out, remember? You did that. What I do with other consenting adults out here isn’t subject to your approval.”

Kaethe jumped to her feet again, pointing an accusatory finger at Elaina, “Ye’re supposed to be dealing with Willowridge, Elaina! Not getting yer dick wet with whatever whore you come across!”

Elaina’s eyes narrowed angrily as she leaned forward. “Don’t,” she warned, “call her a whore. She’s part of the delve, helping people out here while you sit back home with your thumb up your ass in the lap of luxury with Queen Morrigan. So I don’t want to hear it from you.”

Kaethe stared at Elaina quietly, processing what she had just said before speaking again. “What delve?”

“There’s a delve here,” Elaina waved her hand vaguely toward where the camp would have been in the real world.

“Elaina,” Kaethe said in a level tone. It was somehow more intimidating than when she raised her voice. “What delve? Who is running it? What are they looking for?”

The swordmage got to her feet, holding the sheet close to her body. “It’s none of your business, Kaethe. You asked me to come close the rift, so that’s what I will do. What they’re doing doesn’t matter if it doesn’t interfere with my job.”

“No, Elaina,” Kaethe said in almost a growl. “There are things in Willowridge---.”

“I know all about that shit,” Elaina interjected, becoming increasingly impatient. “The delve has someone for that as well. Nothing dangerous is going to find its way out into the world. They catalog everything and will lock up all the nasty stuff, alright?”

Kaethe crossed the small distance between them, grabbing Elaina by the shoulders. Her green eyes flashed with something wild behind them. “No! It’s not alright! Who is doing the cataloging, and what are they looking for?”

Elaina pushed against Kaethe to put some distance between them but found that her sister was holding her too tightly. A familiar fear of a face like Kaethe’s began to bubble to the surface within Elaina. “Kaethe, stop it. Let go of me.”

“Tell me who they are!” Kaethe demanded. The words echoed throughout the tent and deep into Elaina’s mind. Her whole body felt suddenly seized by Kaethe’s will, and an image of her occultist friend began to form in her mind. The image of Royce, the landgraf, and the others immediately followed it. Kaethe squinted at Elaina as if she could almost make out what was in Elaina’s head while the names of the people danced on the tip of her tongue.

“Tell. Me.” Kaethe repeated, and it felt like something intangible was reaching into Elaina and pulling the answers from deep inside her. Kaethe’s eyes held a more eerie quality, revealing a small portion of her vampiric nature.”

Elaina closed her eyes, trying to shut out her sister as best as possible. Her hand was still on Kaethe’s chest, desperately trying to keep her at arm’s length. “Stop it.”

The grip of each of the sisters tightened. Kaethe’s as she tried to wrench the information free, and Elaina’s as she struggled to hold onto it. It reminded Elaina slightly of two children fighting over a toy, though the stakes here were much higher.

“Tell me who they are, and I’ll stop,” Kaethe growled through her fangs.

“Kaethe,” Elaina pleaded, “You’re hurting me.”

Everything came to a grinding halt as Kaethe released her grip on Elaina. The vampire stared at her sister, realizing how out of hand things had gotten. Their eyes met, searching one another for any indication of what to do next.

“Elaina,” Kaethe whispered, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to---!”

Elaina stepped back away from her, feeling suddenly very weak and vulnerable. This version of Kaethe had never been so aggressive with her, and it only put Elaina’s mind back in the state it had been before she’d escaped to this world. “Don’t,” Elaina shook her head, fighting back tears. “Don’t.”

“Elaina,” Kaethe pleaded, her face now that of the kind woman who had delivered Elaina from the living hell that was her life in that other world. “I swear. I just got carried away. I didn’t mean to hurt ye.”

Elaina nodded slightly, then shook her head, “No, I know. But you were willing to compel me to answer you against my will.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Kaethe countered. “It’s a reflex sometimes. Ye know how it is here with the others in court. I swear, I just got carried away.”

Elaina continued to shake her head, her legs feeling weak as the raw mental wounds began to bleed all over again, “Just go. I’ll send for you when I have something to report.”

Kaethe stepped forward, reaching out to Elaina’s arm. “Elaina, please. I don’t want it---!”

The swordmage pulled away defensively before she could touch her, “No! I don’t want to do this right now. Just leave.”

“Elaina,” Kaethe pleaded weakly.

“You heard me,” Elaina said resolutely. She was already trying to wake up. Were it someone other than Kaethe, she would have been able to do so easily. But her sister was still holding onto her in a metaphysical sense. “Let go.”

Elaina’s sister stared at her for several moments before finally relenting. A second later, Elaina’s eyes opened in the waking world, and the pain she had felt only distantly in her dream came crashing down around her. Everything hurt.

“Hrng,” Elaina gurgled as she tried to sit up. A shock of agony reported from her ribs to distinguish itself above the chorus of pain, forcing Elaina’s head back down to the pillow. It took a few moments for the spots in her vision to clear enough to recognize that she was in the landgraf’s tent.

“Probably best to remain still, mate,” Resius suggested as he emerged over her, looking down at her with a wince. “You’re in pretty rough shape.”

His hair was a little longer than the last time she saw it, and there was no sign of his previous injuries. “How long was I out?” Elaina muttered. Every syllable she formed was a different kind of pain that rolled around in her mouth. It forced her to speak quietly and slowly.

“About a week,” Resius answered as he looked her over. Elaina wanted to take stock of her condition but was afraid the attempt would be enough to knock her unconscious again.

“How bad is it?” she asked, trying to pull Resius’s attention back to her face with her gaze alone.

“Nothing your girlfriend can’t fix,” Resius replied in a snarky tone. Elaina made a vaguely annoyed growl. “Relax, mate. I’m just teasing. I’ll wait until you’re up and about before we circle back to that particular issue.”

“So generous,” Elaina mumbled through her teeth.

“It’s a gift,” Resius responded, ignoring her obvious sarcasm. His gaze returned to her, and she realized by the glassiness of his eyes that he had been looking away to keep from crying. After that, she didn’t feel like bickering with him anymore.

“You okay?” Elaina asked quietly.

“Me?” The occultist scoffed, “you’re asking me if I’m okay?”

Elaina stared at him silently. Her body felt like it was covered in bandages and splints. Even her hair had been tied back by how her head was wrapped. Amid the brief lulls of pain, she could feel parts of her flesh that had been sewn tightly closed.

Resius nodded, “yeah, mate. I’ll be alright now that you’re on the mend.”

“Strange,” Elaina commented.

“What?” He asked, leaning closer, so she didn’t require as much effort to be heard.

“I don’t feel mended,” Elaina joked.

The occultist let out a brief snort of laughter as he hung his head. Elaina resisted the urge to laugh, knowing the pain that it would result in. Nevertheless, she did manage a playful smile.

“Yeah, you’re going to be fine,” Resius commented. “Same old git.”

“Wanker,” Elaina muttered, a poor imitation of his accent. Resius continued to laugh for a moment longer before settling down. Her silly little joke had broken the tension and brought him out of whatever dark place he had been in while waiting for her to regain consciousness.

“What happened?” the swordmage finally asked.

“You blew up a bridge,” Resius said incredulously, “with every piece of magical shit you could get your mitts on, apparently.”

“And?” Elaina pressed. She knew that part; she had been the one that had done it. “What else?”

“Well, things got dicey for a minute there,” Resius explained. “No one knew what was going on. As far as most of them knew, Veidt was still one of theirs. When you killed him, it looked like hostilities would resume.”

“He’s dead?” Elaina’s bruised and battered face still managed to look relieved.

“Torn to pieces, I suspect,” Resius answered. “That kind of chaos isn’t the kind of thing I’d reckon he’d just walk away from.”

“The Captain?” Elaina inquired. The last thing she had seen of him, he’d been knocked over the side of the bridge, plunging to his death only a minute or so before her.

“Can’t say,” Resius confessed, spreading his hands. “Too much rubble down there right now. It’s a fucking mess, mate.”

That was a fair point, she supposed. Even before Royce had pulled her out, a great deal of debris had been coming down at them. If the captain of the Orbonne Company had fallen anywhere close to the bridge, it was likely buried in the rubble.

“Before you ask,” Resius raised a hand, “no one else was hurt. That bloke Blackbarn managed to talk everyone down and has been negotiating with the landgraf for some supplies. Seems they have more cannons and gunpowder than water.”

The little group of mercs they had suspected was scouting had been charged with locating the cistern and clearing it for precisely that reason.

“Seems something caused all their remaining water to go bad,” Resius continued. “Shortly before they got here, they cracked open one of the barrels, and it was corrupted. Every last barrel.”

“Veidt?” Elaina speculated.

Resius nodded, “most likely. Blackbarn said he was quite set on coming into Willowridge one way or another.”

That lined up with what Veidt had said to her on the bridge. The diabolist would have gone to great lengths to force Steinbach to commit his men to breach Willowridge. The captain’s vengeance was something he only catered to as long as it served his purposes. The real prize had always been Willowridge, with control of the Orbonne company being an added benefit.

“You weren’t going to tell me she was awake?” Royce said abruptly as she entered the tent.

“Sure I was,” Resius shrugged nonchalantly, “eventually.”

“Eventually?” Royce’s brow furrowed. “It’s important that I be informed of any changes in her condition.”

“Yes, well,” Resius turned his head to look at Royce, “she’s not quite ready for you to mount her, so I think it’s best you jog on, hm?”

Royce and Elaina exchanged shocked glances before staring silently at Resius. He stared back at Royce, his posture defiant and his expression issuing a wordless challenge to all takers. The witch accepted the challenge, “If you’re feeling left out, Ryan, you can tug your little prick in the corner while I suck her off. Would that work for you?”

“It’s not about that, and you know---!” Resius objected.

“What!?” Royce interrupted, jabbing a finger in his chest hard enough to force him to his feet. “What do I know? That you’re a petty piece of shit that wants everyone to be as miserable as you? That it’s none of your business who either of us sleeps with? That you’re interfering with my duties over some gripe, you’ve been nursing?”

“Why you cunty little snake,” Resius snarled. It was perhaps the first time that Elaina had seen him this angry. “Don’t you dare make this about me. This is about Elaina and you pouring honey in her ear to get her wrapped around your little finger as you did me!”

“She’s not you,” Royce retorted, “so I think she’ll be just fine.”

“I’ll be damned if I let her get caught up in the games of a soul-sucking burnt-out husk of a vishanti like you, dammit!” Resius yelled.

The red-hot anger on his face was nothing compared to how it looked after Royce brought her hand hard across his face. The impact was such that even Elaina, lying helpless in the bed, almost felt it. The slap had turned the occultist’s head to one side, frozen in a twisted posture of shock and awe. Royce pointed at him as he turned his gaze back upon her. “Get the hell out.”

Resius’s hand slowly moved into his coat, reaching for the rod that augmented his evocations.

“Stop it,” Elaina grunted painfully, arresting the momentum of the argument before it escalated any further. “Just stop.”

The witch and the occultist both turned to look at Elaina before exchanging glances with one another. Silently they agreed to put the dispute aside for the time being. Resius’s removed his hand from his coat with a scoff before taking his leave. Elaina heard the angry slap of the tent flap a moment after he passed out of sight from her.

“The nerve of that man,” Royce huffed angrily before sitting at the edge of the bed. She examined the dressings of Elaina’s wounds and ensured the splints were as they should be.

“He’s my friend,” Elaina mumbled, trying to get a better look at Royce without moving her head.

“Well, speaking from experience, you shouldn’t put too much stock in what he says,” Royce replied. “Nor too much faith in him, understand?”

Elaina glared wordlessly at Royce.

“What’s that look?” the witch asked, a little shocked that Elaina would still be willing to defend the man. “I’m just trying to protect you.”

“He said the same thing about you,” Elaina grumbled slowly, the effort of which caused her a great deal of pain. The witch’s eyes softened in response, though it was difficult to tell if it was from what Elaina said or how much pain it had caused her to say it.

“I’m sorry,” Royce apologized, scooting further up the bed closer to Elaina’s face. It gave her a close-up view of her breasts, hanging elegantly in the loose-fitting dress with the neckline that plunged all the way down to her abdomen. Even in this state, Elaina still wasn’t bad enough to have her libido curbed entirely. She’d likely have to be dead for that.

“Pervert,” Royce purred, noticing immediately where Elaina’s eyes went.

“Thank you,” Elaina murmured, her eyes turned upward to look into Royce’s. “For coming to save me.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” the witch whispered as she caressed the side of Elaina’s face with the back of her hand. “Not for that.”

Elaina felt a warmth move through the side of her face where Royce had touched her. The pain there began to ebb before spreading across the rest of her face. It hurt much less to move her jaw, though the back of her skull was still pounding.

“I had a dream,” Elaina said hoarsely. “My sister was in it.”

“You never told me about your sister,” the witch commented as she moved her hand to the back of Elaina’s head. More warmth spread there as well, dulling the pain she felt there considerably.

“It never came up, but it worries me,” the redhead sighed. It felt better to talk, but the subject was unpleasant. “I’m starting to think she sent me here for a different reason than she’s been letting on.”

“It was just a dream,” Royce assured her, glancing down at her briefly. “You shouldn’t concern yourself with it.”

“Dreams are a little different for my sister and me,” the swordmage explained. “She was dreamwalking.”

The witch froze, looking down at her in surprise. “Dreamwalking? You’re sure?”

“Positive,” Elaina nodded with a wince, realizing only now that the muscles in her neck were still in great pain. “She was the one who asked me to come to Willowridge in the first place and close the rift. But when I mentioned there was a delve here I was working with, she got agitated.”

“But you don’t know why?” Royce sounded concerned.

“No, this is the first time she’s even hinted at another reason for wanting me here,” Elaina admitted with a sigh. “I don’t know what to do. We’ve argued before, but this seemed different.”

Royce sighed, not knowing what to say to comfort her. It was written all over her face. But the fact that she wanted to was enough for Elaina at the moment, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to move from one shitty thing into another like that.”

“No, it’s good that you feel comfortable enough to talk to me about these things,” Royce said with a smile. “It’s not a problem.”

Elaina felt a little flutter in her stomach with how Royce looked at her, offering her a gentle nod in return. “Alright, but there’s a lot to unpack. You might regret it.”

“You’re not the only one,” the witch assured her. A shadow of sorrow passed over her face before she rejoined Elaina. “I’m not going anywhere just yet, so we have time. Maybe when the delve is finished, I can go with you to Tenebre Dontae. I could show you around.”

“Yeah?” Elaina smiled at the witch fondly. “You’d want to follow me around?”

“Well,” Royce said with a fake scoff, “who’s following who here? I’m the guide.”

“I’m afraid I’m not in shape for much of either,” Elaina admitted.

“You will be. Just give it some time.” Royce grabbed a few tinctures and potions from an end table Elaina hadn’t noticed beside the bed. “Believe it or not, you’re past the worst of it. It’s mostly just bed rest, a bunch of these, and a few touch-ups from me here and there, and you’ll be right as rain.”

“Then what?” Elaina wondered. She had no idea what the condition of the delve was since she’d been out besides the little bit of information she had got out of Resius.

“Your armor is totaled,” the witch replied bluntly. “Herrog is putting something new together for you from what he can salvage, but he says there’s not much.”

“Damn.” Elaina had been attached to that armor. It carried the crests of the family and country she now belonged to. She’d been comfortable in it almost right away.

“Also, can’t find your sword,” Royce admitted, “or just about anything else you were carrying when he tossed you off the bridge like that.”

“Wonderful,” Elaina commented flatly. “Any more good news for me?”

Royce pursed her lips as she searched her memory, “The landgraf is pretty impressed with you. Gave you here tent to recover in, after all. And we’ve made a lot of progress in clearing enough of the keep to begin using soon. Now that they’re under new command, there’s talk of the mercs lending their aid on that end.”

“Ah,” Elaina exhaled. “That is good news, actually. That’ll put us even closer to putting all of this to bed.”

“Oh, there’s one more thing I forgot to mention.” Royce held up one finger, putting a hold on Elaina’s relief.

“What?” Elaina groaned, “What is it?”

“The dashing ginger swordmage survived the fight with the grizzled veteran warrior, emerged victorious from a near-fatal fall, and won the hand of the sexy, mysterious, blonde vishanti that people are dying to take back to their tents.” Royce summarized with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

“Just the hand?” Elaina quirked a brow as she returned Royce’s playful look.

“Don’t forget what I can do with this hand,” the witch responded, wiggling her fingers.

“It’s not something that’ll easily be forgotten. I promise,” Elaina laughed.

“I guess I could sweeten the pot a little.” Royce flicked her blonde hair back over her shoulder as she leaned closer to the swordmage.

“Maybe a kiss?” Elaina blushed girlishly.

“I think I could manage that,” the witch whispered as she gently met the swordmage’s lips with her own warm, petal-soft lips. Elaina’s heart took flight, and the pain in her body fell away, as did all her other earthly concerns. She had survived a grueling ordeal and had come out the other side of it feeling lighter. Whatever had Kaethe irritated would get worked out. She was sure of it. They were closer than ever to closing the rift and cutting off the fiendish poison to the surrounding area. The Orbonne Company was now off her back and moving in a better direction.

Despite how difficult it was, Elaina brought a hand to the back of Royce’s head to run her fingers through her hair. The kiss between the women deepened, and Elaina allowed herself to get lost in the moment.