"We sleepers" whispered Mariela, peeking through a doorway and walked in to another room "Believe that the world is dreamt by other worlds which we dream. Reality is but a uroboric series of dreams, a hunger crazed beast -inherently incomplete by nature- that devours itself and is renovated in the process," they went to another room "This city is believed to be a curhai sura, a bridge and core of dream-worlds. Here a traveler from any other world would find reflections from his world, and things reflected into his world. Same difference, according to Rubicon," she entered another room and smiled faintly, "Ah, here you are. I wasn't expecting to find you so quickly" she said in a normal volume.
Twilight turned to her, and not saying a word trapped her in a dozen spells.
"Assassin?" she asked curtly, screeches emanated from the area round her horn with her word "Unarmed. Why?"
Applejack and Quibra entered the room, and Twilight seemed to fall to pieces for a moment.
"Fine" she let Mariela go "Explain, now" she ordered, taking Quibra's bag and starting to read the papers inside.
"I'll have to start again," sighed Mariela "But first of all, let me explain you why it'd be really bad for reality to be made into a dream here of all places, and why it may happen tomorrow"
-º-
Despite Hlaoo's state of mind, he and Reddo had had a mute agreement of spreading rumors about the convenience of staying inside that day in the market places, a kind of rumor that can do wonders when the political situation has been tense for a good few weeks.
Which, considering the poblation of such a place, still meant people wandering the streets searching for a fight.
Hlaoo overlooked most of the city from a flat in one of the spires of the Big Church, inside which the dreamer's temple was receiving a rude awakening, monks young and old alike being rounded up in the inner temple by temporarily visible golems. Part of Hlaoo prayed that none of them fell asleep.
He'd take care of that later.
For now, he was watching the city. The high altitude wind was relaxing in its way, making his royal garments -which were currently a warlord's, a cape over enchanted steel laminar armor- and mane waver.
Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe the monk's try would result in failure.
Nah.
"Did you have any sleep?" he asked. He saw her shaking her head from the corner of his eye "Perfect. The poisons?" she took four dials from her apron's pocket and offered him two "Thanks" he put them in one of his pouches "Can they kill?" she shook her head "Ah. I'll make do, then"
The building shook, earning a disinterested look from both of them. Some smoke, barely noticeable at the distance, poured out of a nearby window.
So the old guy had managed to get past the first phase, then.
A gryphon messenger flew to him, reports in his claw.
"Here are the-" he noticed the pegasus, sitting closely "Is that a maid, lord?" he asked, more out of surprise than anything else, before catching himself "Not that I doubt your judgement, I mean, you-"
"Begone," Hlaoo took the reports without much interest.
"I thank your forgiveness, lord" he made a reverence and flew off.
Mirria gave Hlaoo an questioning look.
"Don't bother"
She nodded, hints of chainmail barely noticeable under her maid clothes and only if one know where to look.
He eyed the report for any word that drew the eye, then started reading it when noting popped up.
-º-
Reddo and several other griffons talked over a map, pointing at various points and moving figures over it. There was an empty seat near her.
The door opened, and they glanced at it before returning to the map.
"Twilight," Reddo gestured at the empty seat.
"Reddo," Twilight nodded back "My agents returned shortly ago," she showed them the papers and small golem piece that floated behind her, heading for the seat "The piece is what I expected, normal clay with high-grade ceramic components intertwined. More resistant than flesh, but brittle"
She gave a look to the board, then took all of Reddo's piece out of it (Taking care of suspending them in the air in the same arrangement they had been in, however) and moved all of Hlaoo's pieces forward.
"And with this strategy this is what will happen, according to the information here" she put the papers in a corner "The dreamer commands over five hundred normal golems, all with perception filter enchantements, and two hundred high-grade war golems, all made of steel and ceramic composites. Hlaoo's army includes mobile bases that, besides their obvious advantages, are equipped to give golems a few hundred meters operativity each," she put the pieces back in their places "So, who here has experience in fighting highly advanced automatas?" she asked.