Hecate's Orphanage

by BlackRoseRaven

Cold Poetry In Motion

Chapter Eleven: Cold Poetry In Motion
~BlackRoseRaven

Cadence sat silently, breathing slowly in and out. She had badly wanted to keep pushing forwards, but she had known that in her state, Sol Seraph would have easily killed her. So they had rested for a few hours, attending to the wounds they could.

La Croix had scraped together the little he could find that was salvageable from the mess left behind by his ruined cape and hat, and used that to treat the worst of their wounds. Moonflower couldn't talk, because the Praetor had almost cut his tongue in half, although the blade fortunately hadn't managed to sink all the way to Moonflower's brain.

Sombra was trembling a little, pale, his machine secured as best it could be on his back. But it was damaged, and he was having a hard time keeping himself in check as it burbled away. Cadence knew it was always hard for her father to recover after the disease took over, but this time seemed especially bad, and she knew it was because of more than just the fact that the machine had been torn off his body.

They had never fought anything like this before. What the hell were Voidborn? How could Thokk pull souls out of the Void to do her bidding? And Cadence knew that in Sol Seraph and the Praetor, she and her father had fought a strange, twisted mirror of themselves...

No, she was thinking too much. Psyching herself out. She couldn't afford to start doing that to herself, she needed to focus on the here and now. The poison was still making her stupid, her muscles refused to react properly, and her whole body ached and pulsed with pain.

She shivered a little: the poison was derived from a powerful venom that wasn't designed to kill, but to render a victim helpless and leave them in agony. La Croix had treated her as best he could, and she had used her own magic to burn more of it out of her system, but there was only so much that could be done when the poison had already worked its way through her body.

She wasn't going to be at prime when she fought Sol Seraph. None of them would be, as a matter of fact: Moonflower could barely talk, La Croix looked so... naked without his cape and hat, and Sombra wouldn't be able to risk abusing his magic or corruption powers, or he would end up in an animal state again and they had already used the corruption antidote La Croix had made to calm him down.

Cadence's eyes roved towards the haphazard pile of equipment at one side of the fountain: the gear left over after the Praetor had literally disintegrated in front of their eyes. There were a few interesting things in those packs, but Cadence didn't know how much they could actually use: antimagic explosives were only going to work against them, after all. At least La Croix would be able to put some of the empty packs to good use.

The mare hesitated, then slid one of the knives free from her belt, studying it quietly: the strange metal gleamed and glinted, not a stain, not a speck of dirt able to stay on that smooth, alien metal. It hadn't been lethal to her father – although to be fair, when the shadow took over Sombra, there were very few physical things that could do serious amounts of damage to him – but it had caused holes that had literally bled the energy out of the Praetor.

“It must be a material that reacts to the Voidborn.” Sombra said quietly as he approached, and Cadence looked up in surprise before her father gave a faint smile to her, the stallion shivering a little as he sat beside her. “I've never seen that composition, but perhaps... it is from the Void itself.”

“That's scary to think about.” Cadence murmured, silently putting down the knife before she looked quietly up at the island floating above them, rumbling away slowly. “I... Daddy, are you okay?”

“Yes, mi amore.” Sombra gave her a small smile, shaking his head briefly before he looked down and said softly: “I am not comparing our demons, but... when I am badly hurt while sane, you know that the monster rises up that much more in me.”

“I do, Daddy. And the only reason I would never want to compare our problems is because you can control yours, and... I lack that discipline.” Cadence smiled faintly, glancing down as the Swan twisted inside her, before she whispered: “The Swan is frightened. I'm frightened that it's frightened. Worse, if what Sol Seraph said is true...”

“Cadenza, you don't have to be afraid. You have always been strong: the darkness inside me is something evil, something that I must work to repress. The Swan in you is something more than that: you and her are connected. You must learn to work with her. Not fight her. You and Danzsöngr both know this.” Sombra said gently, and Cadence looked down silently, nodding once before the stallion continued quietly: “Cambiano i suonatori ma la musica è sempre quella. We cannot afford to spend too long here to begin with, for many reasons. Let Thokk call her servants back to her, if they truly cannot die, but instead are only banished back to the Void. As long as we push through them, Cadenza, we can continue our mission, and leave them chasing our hoofsteps.”

“You're right. I know you're right. It's just... it terrifies me.” Cadence murmured, shivering a little as she rubbed at the side of her neck, before she sighed and looked over at him with a faint smile. “Are you going to be able to get up onto that island?”

“I believe so. I will try not to slow us down.” Sombra replied gently, and Cadence laughed a little, shaking her head slowly.

“You aren't the one slowing us down right now.” Cadence said quietly, and then she sighed before picking herself up, looking up at the floating island silently. “What... what do you think is up there? Where do you think our target is?”

Sombra lowered his head for a moment in thought, and then he finally looked up and said quietly: “The only way we'll find out anything is by going there, mi amore. It is the only clue we have.”

Cadence nodded, and then she silently slipped herself a little closer to her father before she closed her eyes and dropped her head on his shoulder, breathing slowly in and out. Sombra smiled at her faintly, reaching up to rub silently over her spine with one hoof before the stallion looked up at the island above, murmuring: “This, as all things, will pass.”

They were quiet for a little while, until Cadence finally climbed to her hooves and looked up at the island. “Daddy, please get Moonflower and La Croix ready. I'm going to scout out above quickly.”

The stallion nodded, climbing carefully to his own hooves, and Cadence smiled at him silently before she turned and leapt into the air. The first few flaps of her wings hurt, but as she pushed herself harder and flew into the air, she felt her body losing its tenseness, the aches fading from her system. It took her less than a minute to wing her way up beside the floating island, the mare's eyes drawing nervously over the steel and stone, half-collapsed structure.

She realized that this had likely been the top of the tower at some point: now it was held aloft by that whirling, crackling sphere of energy and electricity, like some kind of ominous beacon. There were broken windows and a few shattered balconies here and there, Cadence noted, but she didn't think there was any point to trying to go inside: it looked as if several layers of the floating island had collapsed, giving it a distinctly crushed, uneven look.

The mare made her way up to the roof of the tower, and she frowned after a moment as she saw rusted supports, cracked but serviceable concrete runways, and what looked like some sort of flying machine. Had that been what had passed over their heads earlier?

Cadence carefully glided down, looking nervously back and forth for any sign of Sol Seraph. But she guessed that the Pegasus was likely inside the half-crumbled tower to one side of the open landing pad, at leat she or she hoped she was, anyway. She just couldn't resist getting a look at these craft...

The mare landed silently, then carefully made her way across a runway towards one of the vehicles. She studied it intently: it was fairly compact, and the sliding doors on either side were open, letting her peer into the back and see that it was designed to carry a group of people: eight, she guessed, by the arrangement of the equipment cubbyholes near the ceiling.

The ivory mare circled towards the front of the machine, looking over the cockpit and absently rubbing a hoof over the rounded, aerodynamic front. Not that a whole lot about the ship was aerodynamic, all things considered.

She halted with a frown, tapping lightly on the nose of the craft before she carefully settled her hoof against it. A bit of heat, she thought: so this thing must have been what flew over their heads before. But she didn't think that either Sol Seraph or her father would use a machine like this; although if Thokk had more minions, it made sense now how they were getting in and out of this tower.

She strode around the craft, and then froze and looked sharply up as she saw Sol Seraph simply standing in the middle of one of the empty landing pads, the Pegasus calmly smoking a cigarette and watching her. She had taken off most of her armor and equipment, revealing a T-shaped cutie mark on her flank that made the Swan shiver and writhe – the mark of Tyr. The mark of law, and order, and... death.

Cadence knew there was no running. So instead, she took a slow breath and slowly approached. She looked at the Pegasus, who gazed calmly back at her before Sol Seraph gestured to the side, and Cadence hesitantly followed the mare's motion.

Her eyes widened when she saw it: a portal was half-hidden beside the small tower, covered in cables and gemstones. It was tall and spindly, made from alien alloys and metals, and Cadence recognized the pedestal that sat in front of it as a simple control panel: the more she looked at this portal, in fact, the more it reminded her of the magical technology of Valhalla, the portals that had been built to quickly travel between Asgard and Niflheim and Vanaheim...

“Why are you here?” Sol Seraph asked, and Cadence grimaced as she looked over at the Pegasus, who was studying her calmly. “You said you were on a mission. Searching for someone. You are a dog playing fetch for your... Empress Hecate, is this correct?”

Cadence scowled darkly, and Sol smiled thinly before she gestured towards the portal again. “Thokk can pull souls from the Void and control us, but while empires are crafted by the superior predator, they are built on the backs of slaves and prey. Thokk has been hunting the living as well as the dead. And stealing the carcasses left behind by others.”

Cadence studied the mare silently, and then she said quietly: “You don't like Thokk that much, do you?”

“I am a predator. I do not care about Thokk. I only care about the hunt.” Sol replied quietly, her eyes locked on the winged unicorn. “I mouth allegiances to Thokk for the same reason my father does: she will give us what we want, as long as we pretend to obey. It is the same reason we kowtowed to the desires of the Order of the Seraphim and followed their petty codes and laws, until the Order was no longer of use to us.”

The ivory mare shivered a little at this, straightening a bit before she murmured: “There was a guild in my world, too, that I imagine was very similar to yours. They were assassins and killers. And there was a mare named Pain... who you very much remind me of, Sol Seraph.”

Cadence took a breath, and then she straightened slowly before saying quietly: “But my friends stopped her, and I will stop you, whoever or whatever you are.”

Sol Seraph only looked callously at Cadence, and then she gestured at herself, her body armored only by her lightweight vest, a single cigarette dangling from her mouth. “Take off your equipment and fight me, Cadence. Let us see which one of us is the superior predator without the use of toys and playthings.”

“I don't trust you.” Cadence said quietly, as the Swan hissed to take this advantage, to attack, destroy, kill, punish...

Sol Seraph only smiled thinly, and then she responded calmly: “I knew you were a coward.”

“I am nothing like you.” Cadence replied, narrowing her eyes before she swore under her breath, then reached up and began to undo the claps holding her belts on, keeping her eyes locked on Sol Seraph every moment.

The Pegasus watched for a few seconds, and then she simply turned away, rolling her cigarette between her teeth and staring off into the distance. Cadence didn't let down her guard, however, well aware of how fast Sol Seraph could move.

Cadence removed her knives, the rifle she had mostly forgotten about – and still didn't like to touch – her sidepacks and even her armor. She left nothing on, stepping forwards as she rose her head proudly, and Sol Seraph finally spat out her cigarette before turning towards the ivory mare, studying her intently before she flexed slowly as she said softly: “What do you believe in, Cadence? Honor? I do not think so... you do not strike me as... 'honorable.' You hide it, but I know you are like me: a killer, a predator. But you hold yourself back... and if you make yourself a sheep, then the wolves will eat you.”

“You're more than welcome to try, Sol Seraph.” Cadence said quietly, and Sol gave a thin smile before the Pegasus lunged forwards, but the ivory mare was ready.

Sol swung at her, and Cadence deflected the attack before she blocked a savage kick as Sol took to the air and twisted sideways. Immediately, Sol tried to drop down to tomahawk her, but Cadence swiftly leapt backwards, her eyes narrowing: she couldn't be stupid about this fight. She had to stay calm, she had to stay cool, she had to get used to the way Sol fought, and then use that to her advantage.

The Pegasus feinted to one side, then leapt forwards, wings flapping hard: she was constantly on the move, lightning fast and incredibly graceful, never slowing and never leaving herself vulnerable. It was all Cadence could do to keep herself moving away, but her gaze sharpened as she slipped to the side and ducked under a vicious hook.

Sol was tireless, chaining attack after attack together, but she clearly didn't enjoy the fact that she couldn't land a blow on Cadence. When the ivory mare blocked an attack, Sol was very fast to follow up with a series of strikes, but when Cadence dodged, there was always a hint of pause: no point of vulnerability, but rather Sol was forced to extend or compensate for the strength of her own attack. She was an exceptional fighter, but she wasn't at all flawless.

The Pegasus spun towards her with an overbroad haymaker, and Cadence ducked under the attack before Sol stumbled, the ivory mare immediately starting to lunge forwards-

The Swan snarled at her, and Cadence's body obeyed, her wings spreading and flapping hard to launch herself backwards instead of towards the Pegasus. Sol Seraph frowned as Cadence landed a few feet away, the two glaring at each other before the Pegasus said quietly: “It is disappointing that you would ignore such an opening.”

“It's disappointing that you'd expect me to fall for such a cheap trick.” Cadence retorted, and Sol Seraph narrowed her eyes before the ivory mare mocked: “But I guess I shouldn't be surprised at all, considering how you snuck up on your father and murdered him because you were so scared of him.”

“Do not judge me. Do not speak of what you do not know. Do not speak down to me.” Sol Seraph said coldly, and Cadence saw a flare of actual emotion in her eyes: anger.

“I talk down to you because you are beneath me.” the Swan said through Cadence's mouth, but for once, the mare was glad to let Danzsöngr speak for her. There was no way she could reach the level of contempt and insult that the Swan could voice in just her tone alone, after all. “You are nothing. You are not even the dregs at the bottom of the barrel. You fancy yourself a predator but you are nothing but a parasite and a scavenger.”

Sol Seraph took a slow breath, and for a moment, there was silence, the air so tense it felt frozen around the two, and then the mare shot suddenly forwards, her eyes burning with hatred and anger, her attacks so rapid and violent and precise that there was no way that Cadence could have blocked them all.

But it wasn't just Cadence who was fighting now: it was the Swan. And Cadence's body moved faster than she thought it was possible as she dodged and deflected punch after punch, using her wings to keep balance as she allowed herself to be forced backwards even as the Swan taunted: “You are a child playing at warrior.”

Sol Seraph slammed her hooves forwards, then shot suddenly into the air so she could kick both rear hooves straight at Cadence's face: the Swan was faster, though, catching the kick and yanking Sol out of the air to slam her back first into the ground, before she smashed one hoof into Sol's knee and savagely shoved her leg upwards.

Her limb snapped loudly, and as the Swan fought, Cadence watched: Sol kicked with her other hind limb, the Swan blocking this, and there was a distinct pulse of energy before Sol's only momentarily broken leg thrust at the ivory mare. But the Swan caught her hoof just as it began to press into her body, the winged unicorn smiling coldly before she twisted firmly.

This time, Sol Seraph's leg was dislocated at the knee, the Pegasus' leg falling limp even as she rolled backwards to escape the Swan's grasp, and the Pegasus landed in an ungainly mess on three legs, staggering once in surprise before Cadence's hoof slammed into her face, knocking her completely off balance.

Cadence and the Swan forged forwards, and the ivory mare could feel her body straining to bear up under the exertion, strike after strike hammering into Sol's face and chest to drive her backwards. She limped brokenly, her dislocated limb not healing, her balance off, her eyes filled with surprise and disbelief-

The Pegasus lunged suddenly into the air and swung her working hind leg out in a wide kick, catching Cadence across the face and knocking her backwards with a gasp. Sol Seraph flew sharply backwards, and as she dropped to the ground, she quickly grasped her limb and popped the rear leg back into place with the ease of putting on a boot.

The Pegasus landed and flexed, looking at the ground for a moment as her body thrummed with energy, before she said softly: “Cunning.”

“I'll just keep hurting you until I find something that works. That's what I was made to do.” Cadence said quietly, and for once, she felt the Swan aligned with her, almost perfectly, as they shared sight and speech and body.

Sol Seraph smiled thinly, looking at the ground before she said calmly: “I can no longer enjoy pain the way I once did, but it is still an effective measure by which to judge my opponents. You... you are still weak.”

Cadence narrowed her eyes, and Sol Seraph rose her own gaze, their eyes locking as they silently warred with each other for a few long moments. Cadence felt the Swan snarling, wanting to leap to the attack, but she restrained that half of her, waiting, waiting...

Sol Seraph lunged suddenly forwards, and Cadence leapt to meet her, but Sol blocked the blows: instinct screamed at Cadence, that she had fallen into a trap even as the Swan drove forwards like a rabid animal, before the ivory mare's eyes widened too late at the sight of silver.

A knife slammed into her shoulder, knocking Cadence staggering with a gasp before Sol Seraph lunged at her, striking wide past her, but Cadence dropped back on instinct: this Pegasus didn't simply miss.

There as a gleam of silver wire, and Cadence felt agony as the knife in her shoulder was yanked on, even as she managed to avoid her head being caught in a snare of silver. Sol had the other end of the silver wire wrapped around her foreleg, her vest now hanging open as her other hoof produced another knife and flung it-

Cadence deflected the knife with her horn, then forced herself to leap backwards, gasping: but the Swan supported her through the pain, helping guide her as she lashed her horn down even as Sol tried to yank her in with the silver wire.

A blast of white magic slammed into Sol's face, making her flinch and snarl, giving Cadence the time she needed to twine her horn in the wire. But instead of cutting it, she lunged forwards, and Sol Seraph looked up too late before Cadence's horn plunged deep through one eye in a splatter of energy and gore.

Sol Seraph yanked her head back on impulse, shoving violently at Cadence as she hissed through her teeth, staggering to the side: the wound that would have been lethal to anything else healed in moments, but Sol at least seemed confused and shocked by it, giving Cadence the time she needed to smoothly leap around Sol's body, jackknifing the mare as the silver wire gleamed and wrapped tightly around Sol's throat.

Sol's eyes widened, moving to cut the wire around her foreleg too late: it caught around her neck, and Cadence grabbed the back of Sol's head and shoved it roughly forwards as she pulled back with her horn and her own body, gasping in pain as the knife buried in her flesh trembled with the pressure she was putting on it.

But Sol gargled, energy fuming up from her neck as the wire tore deep into her throat, garroting her. Her foreleg trembled, pulling uselessly outwards, only worsening her pain as she staggered back and forth before the Pegasus slowly forced her head to turn towards Cadence, snarling in fury even as the horrific wound was torn wider, mouthing a threat and a promise...

And then Sol Seraph's eyes flickered as her body steamed violently, dissolving rapidly into energy. The gear she had been wearing tumbled through her as she turned ethereal, and Cadence stumbled backwards as the Pegasus dissolved completely, leaving only a few glowing motes behind, and the silver wire dangling from Cadence's horn.

Cadence breathed unevenly in and out before she shivered and lowered her head, feeling the Swan shifting and turning inside of her uneasily until it finally receded, even before Cadence was able to mumble some kind of thank you to... well, what was technically herself, she supposed.

She shook her head briefly, then took a slow breath before she reached up and ripped the knife free from her shoulder with a gasp and a grimace. She scowled down at this, but tossed it away after a moment, instead reaching up to silently brush the silver wire off her horn as she muttered: “Cheaters never prosper.”

She felt a rumble of condescension from the Swan, but Cadence only shook her head before she turned to head over to her equipment. It only took her a few minutes to get it back on, but as she was finishing up, she saw her team approaching, and the mare smiled briefly at them before she gestured awkwardly at Sol's fallen equipment. “Sorry. Small problem.”

“Are you okay, mi amore?” Sombra asked quietly, and Cadence nodded as she looked at her father softly: he didn't seem very well. He was a little pale, shaky, sweating a bit...

“Are you?” she asked, and Sombra only smiled faintly as La Croix looked uncomfortably away, which was always a bad sign. “How long do we have?”

“I would say perhaps a day. But I will do my best to stay in control.” Sombra replied quietly, nodding slowly after a moment. “It will not take me long to deteriorate, however, and...”

“We lost a lot of supplies, there ain't gonna be a whole lot I can do. I'm sorry, Cygne.” La Croix said, looking up and shaking his head briefly.

Moonflower only shifted awkwardly, and Cadence sighed quietly before she nodded slowly, looking over at her father worriedly. Sombra simply smiled faintly, however, and then he shrugged before saying softly: “What will be, will be.”

Cadence smiled faintly, much as she hated it when he said that. But after a moment, she nodded and looked towards the inactive portal, forcing herself to be more professional and serious as she said: “I have no idea what's on the other side of that, but Sol Seraph was saying something about... Thokk scavenging, and getting the help of other people. It... won't be hard to activate.”

No, even from here, Cadence could see how it worked. Well, that wasn't quite right: rather, the Swan knew precisely what to do. She took a slow breath, and La Croix hesitated before he asked finally: “You sure you don't need to rest or nothin'? I mean, last time you fought that salope, she did some real damage to you.”

“I'm... okay. The Swan and I cooperated, for once.” Cadence reached up and absently touched her shoulder, but the wound wasn't bleeding anymore, which, yes, was a little strange, she thought, but she didn't have time to think about it. Sometimes after she died her body went a little crazy on her: sometimes these side effects lasted for a few days, other times they stayed with her forever. And if she was healing even faster than she had before, well, she wasn't going to complain about that.

And it was nice to be able to synchronize with the Swan, wasn't it? That couldn't be a bad sign in any sense, could it? Of course not. She was... she was perfectly fine. Okay, maybe not perfectly but she had more important things to concentrate on...

Cadence looked up as La Croix cleared his throat, and the mare shook her head quickly, mumbling: “Sorry. I did get wounded, yeah, but I'm okay right now. How about you and Moonflower?”

“F-Fine!” Moonflower blurted out, nodding vigorously, and Cadence gave him an odd look. The stallion blushed a little at this, and then he lowered his head and said in a quiet voice: “I... I'm sorry I've been so useless so far.”

“Look at you, Moony, makin' this all about you again. I swear, both sides of you end in horse's ass.” La Croix said wryly, giving a small smile to the stallion. Moonflower blushed deeper at this, but he looked at La Croix with a strange kind of gratitude before he suddenly straightened and snorted loudly, pawing the ground with one hoof.

“Oh, please. As useless as I've been, what about you? You don't even have any clothes on anymore! Really, La Croix, how could you not fireproof your cape?” Moonflower retorted, shaking his head quickly before he spun around and strode imperiously towards the portal device. “As for this, well, it is clearly no match for my great-”

Moonflower touched the panel, and then squealed as he was violently electrocuted, his eyes bulging before he was blown off his hooves by the discharge. Cadence gaped as La Croix fell over, cackling loudly, while Sombra winced a bit as the winged unicorn twitched and smoldered on the ground, gurgling and smoldering.

Cadence hurried towards Moonflower, but even before she reached him, the stallion was already back on his hooves, smoking faintly but looking more humiliated than actually injured, giving a forced, awkward laugh as his eyes darted back and forth. “Y-Yes, I uh... I was just...”

He spun quickly towards Cadence, saying seriously: “You see, you need to be more careful. If anyone but me had set off that trap, it would have been... you would have been very badly hurt.”

“I... yeah.” Cadence sighed after a moment, scowling at Moonflower before she reached up and patted his cheek, making him wince. “Way to go, slugger.”

Moonflower shrank his head a bit between his shoulders, and Cadence carefully approached the portal control panel and studied it for a few moments. She could feel the energy faintly radiating off of it; ironically, Moonflower might have been right. If any of them had touched it, it would have left a lot more of a mark. Idiot's just lucky he's so resistant to magic...

Cadence studied it for a moment longer, and then her horn thrummed before glowing brightly, the mare adjusting several of the knobs over the control panel with telekinesis. She smiled a little to herself as the alloy portal thrummed to life, before she said quietly: “Alright, here we go. That should do it.”

The others looked up as light filled the archway, creating not a rift, but an almost liquid presence that hummed silently, rippling faintly with the vibrations of the portal. Cadence turned around and looked over her teammates as they gathered in front of her, and she took a slow breath before saying quietly: “Nothing has changed. I know it feels like everything has, and I'm... I'm scared too, with everything that's happened and not knowing what might be waiting for us ahead. But we can do this. We're one step closer to locating our target.”

“Yeah, Cygne. But the problem ain't the sense we on the right trail here, it be the fact that whatever be behind that door... it ain't gonna be good.” La Croix said awkwardly, and Cadence gave him a mild look... but at the same time, she smiled a little. At least he was being honest, and she'd much rather hear that now than have any of her team members keeping their fears inside to distract them later.

“Yeah. I know what you mean. But we can handle this. We're Team 0-0, the very best of the best, right?” Cadence smiled briefly, and then she put her hoof out. “All in.”

La Croix and Moonflower traded looks, but when Sombra smiled despite himself and put his hoof forward, the others were quick to join. And as one, they declared who they were with conviction: “Irregulars!”

When they broke apart, Cadence didn't waste time, turning quickly towards the portal and saying firmly: “Alright everyone. Let's move out!”

She ran towards the portal, not letting herself hesitate, riding the high that came with commanding her team, and the others followed her unquestioningly, unflinchingly. One after the other, they passed through the rippling surface, and Cadence gasped in both surprise and familiarity at the sensation of rushing cold, of feeling like a meteorite streaking through the coldness of nothing at a million miles an hour before there was the rush of blood as they came to a sudden stop-

Cadence stumbled out the other side of the portal and staggered into a crate, catching herself against the wood with a gasp. She heard shouts of surprise, as her teammates emerged one after the other, Sombra barely managing to halt himself as his limbs quavered beneath him, while La Croix dropped to a kneel and Moonflower flopped forwards on his face.

Cadence looked blearily up, before her confusion was blasted away by shock as she saw something staring back at her with horror. It looked like a Dogmatist, except its emotions were much more real and prevalent, and... that's no pony. That's not a pony, that's...

She didn't know what it was, but even though it looked like a stallion, it had a thicker, shaggier mane and tail, and its body was both larger and lither. Its coat was one solid, dark color that contrasted its cottony mane, and it had a single horn that looked frailer, somehow, than a pony's, shaped like a jagged lightning bolt.

The creature stumbled backwards on cloven hooves, as Cadence stared at the part of it that had first caught her attention: the metal plating over one side of its face, the eye there replaced by a glowing crystal. And its uniform was complete with a communicator, just like many of the Dogmatists in Decretum wore when- “Emergency! I've got an emergency at Tower B, we have intruders! Sound the alarm!”

Cadence winced at this, and then she swore and pushed herself away from the crate she had fallen against, looking wildly back and forth. There were more of the creatures all around, but they looked too shocked to react, and this one was running away. Her teammates were hauling themselves up to their hooves, but there was no way that any of them were in the shape to make their escape from what looked like a crowded tower, loaded with cargo crates and supplies, the portal trembling behind them and-

A wild, crazed idea came to Cadence's mind, and she shouted at Moonflower: “Lead the escape!”

Moonflower stared at her, and for one horrible moment Cadence was scared he wasn't going to understand, before the stallion thrust his forelegs in the air and shouted stupidly: “Abracadabra!”

There was a tremendous burst of smoke, the not-ponies all around them shouting in surprise, but the smog cleared rapidly, leaving Moonflower sitting stupidly with the three other ponies staring at him. Then the black stallion scampered his hooves to turn and bolt into the portal, followed by the others.

The creatures gathered quickly around the portal, several of them blurting into their communicators as they ran back and forth, apparently unsure of what they should do. But after less than a minute, the roar of engines filled the air as a large flying machine settled in from the skies above, rumbling ominously as it hovered its way slowly over the wide concrete pad.

Doors slid open in the sides of the stocky vehicle, and more of the not-pony creatures leapt out, seeming almost to float down to the ground in spite of the fact they were wearing some sort of combat armor and carrying a variety of advanced weaponry. They congregated around the portal, then formed quickly into two teams of six that marched in pairs through the alloy archway.

The rest of the pony-like creatures remained gathered around the front of the portal, looking uncertainly into it as they muttered among themselves. And, as they remained distracted, Cadence carefully crawled out from behind several crates, the others following her as silently as they could move as Moonflower generated a cloak of magic over them, keeping the group half-hidden from sight.

They made their way silently over towards the edge of the platform, and Cadence grimaced as she leaned over the railing: it was at least a several hundred foot drop to the earth below, which was little more than blotches and splotches. But her father gently touched her shoulder as he stepped up beside her, and she looked at him worriedly even as he said quietly: “I can make it, mi amore. It's going up that's hard. Not going down.”

“It's the sudden stop I'm more worried about.” Cadence replied softly, but after a moment, she nodded hesitantly before saying finally: “I'll go first. One second intervals. Moonflower, come last, so you can keep everyone cloaked until they jump.”

Moonflower nodded quickly, and Cadence took a breath before she jackknifed the railing and simply let herself drop. She streamlined her body as she fell, grimacing a bit as she streaked past windows and walls, watching the ground draw closer and closer by the moment-

She flipped at the last second, her wings spreading as they glowed with her magic, a faint hum filling the air around her as she slowed rapidly before touching down. She wheezed a little, then shook herself out, and only a moment later, her father landed on one side of her with a burst of black smoke, Cadence wincing and looking at him worriedly, but the stallion only took a slow breath and smiled faintly. “I apologize. I was a little fast.”

La Croix appeared with a flicker, and a moment later, Moonflower landed as well, and Cadence smiled briefly around at her comrades before she looked quickly back and forth, saying quickly: “Let's get out of here before a patrol comes across us. We need to find somewhere to regroup and figure out what's going on.”

The others nodded, and Cadence turned towards the darkness of the wasteland around them. Yet even as she led her team on, her eyes couldn't help but flick nervously towards the distance, where she had already detected the strange and telling glow of electric lights and unknown life.

They had found an abandoned shelter in the middle of the desolate, stony wasteland, and Cadence had decided the safest thing to do was stop and rest for a little while, and try and get their bearings and figure out what they should do from here. La Croix, at least, said he recognized what these creatures were, and so did her father: Kirin, a race of sky equines who could control the weather and lived in cloud kingdoms. Or at least, those were the Kirin that they had known, who had also been peaceful, and lived by magic and tradition.

That all seemed to have changed, however, and Cadence felt uneasy as she thought she saw why: while this shelter they had discovered was mostly in ruins, there was enough of the ancient machinery left for her to understand that this seemed so similar to Decretum technology, because it was Decretum machinery.

From the corruption fuel to the carbon concentration nodes to the design of the fuses and wiring, it was like they had entered into some previously unknown zone of Clockwork World. They even found a few Worker Drone husks half-buried under some of the rubble, but what had happened here? This structure was obviously ancient, but the Kirin had clearly gotten some of the systems up and running... how had they gotten here? Why hadn't Hecate found this place or moved in? Was Thokk responsible for bringing this mechanical world back online?

Too many questions, and no answers, but Cadence knew in her gut that they were close. She shook her head slowly as she sat silently back in the wreckage of the second floor, gazing out a hole in the wall towards what was likely a city in the distance, as the noonday sun burned silently overhead. But in spite of how bright the sun was, it felt... cold. There was no wind, no disturbance, no sense of anything, but there was a chill in the air that bit to the bone...

Cadence grimaced a little as she looked out over the rocky, arid wastes: all of Decretum was a wasteland, and she had heard that Endworld, another planet composed of Clockwork technology and ruled by Hecate, was much the same. But this world was just dry, cold stone and dirt, the only traces of the Clay of Prometheus in the half-dead machinery. Decretum also had an eternal red sky, while this world seemed to have a natural night and day, although Cadence realized, thinking about it, there hadn't been a moon. Just dim starlight, almost too faint to see by...

“Hey, you not thinkin' too much, right Cygne?” asked La Croix gently, and Cadence flinched a bit before she smiled in embarrassment at the Loa, who was leaning curiously in from the side. “Sorry 'bout that. But you been up here a while, and we all gettin' a little worried, that's all.”

Cadence only smiled awkwardly, then she shook her head quickly before replying finally: “Maybe a little too much but... I'm keeping watch, too.”

“Yeah, lots to watch out there. All kinds of things goin' on.” La Croix said wryly, gesturing towards the expansive wastes, and Cadence shrugged a little before the zebra said gently: “You gotta settle down a little, Cygne. Don't panic now, and don't let that Swan push you 'round. Come on downstairs, rest for a little while. You gotta rest and we gotta figure out what to do next.”

Cadence hesitated, but then she sighed and nodded, lowering her head and murmuring: “I know. I know, you're right, La Croix. This is just... it's all turned into something insane, you know? We were never trained for this. I have no idea what I'm doing. I just have some mad hope that... how are we even going to get out of here? There's no way we can send up a portal flare here, the Kirin will lock on to it and whether or not they work for Thokk, I don't think-”

“No, that ain't the problem, the problem is you think too much.” La Croix said plaintively, and Cadence gave him a sour look... but then she nodded grudgingly, lowering her head a little with a sigh. “Right. So come on. We're all here, we'll figure it out, cher.”

“I hope so.” Cadence muttered, and then she clambered up to her hooves and strode over to the Loa. He bowed her past, but she studied him for a moment longer before reaching up and ruffling his messy mane, making him scowl at her horribly. “You really do look like a kid without your clothes on.”

“Gee. Merci beaucoup, mademoiselle.” La Croix said dryly, and Cadence only shrugged a bit before the Loa sighed and reached up to play nervously with his amulet, mumbling: “You right though, Cygne. Feels pretty damn weird.”

Cadence smiled a little, and then she headed past the zebra and down the stairs, La Croix following behind her. She found Moonflower rambling away to her father, who was only nodding calmly every now and then as he tinkered with some kind of machine in his hooves.

Cadence tilted her head as she approached, and Sombra gave her a smile, his eyes flicking up to acknowledge her before he returned them to the device in front of him. Moonflower glanced towards her, then gave a warm smile of his own before he said cheerfully: “I was just telling your father about all my accomplishments back in my own world, particularly about how I escaped from Tartarus, and of course, how during my escape, I came across a brilliant architect who knew all sorts of fantastic things and had built all kinds of incredible machines out of the scrap he could dredge together in the prison pits. Your father is such an inspiration to me.”

“He inspired you to brag about your life?” Cadence asked, and Moonflower huffed loudly before the winged unicorn glanced back towards her father. “Do you need any help with that, Daddy?”

“No, mi amore, I think I have it.” Sombra hesitated, then added after a moment, as he turned his kind eyes towards Moonflower. “Well, as long as Moonflower will lend me some of his assistance later on. I'll need his help to create a power crystal.”

Cadence could swear that Moonflower puffed up so much he doubled in size, nodding vigorously as he blurted: “Absolutely! I would be more than happy to, it would be... I mean, of course, certainly, yes, definitely.” He laughed loudly, polishing a hoof against his chest as he preened and posed. “I wouldn't want to deny any of you my vast talents and abilities.”

Cadence rolled her eyes, while Sombra simply smiled and said gently: “Thank you, Moonflower. I appreciate it.”

Moonflower smiled brightly, and Cadence couldn't help but look at the childish stallion with amusement before she sat back and asked: “So does anyone have any ideas about what we should do from here?”

“Well, the only landmarks be that tower, back the way we came, and what looks like some kind of big metal city up ahead, right? We should probably be headin' in the direction of the city.” La Croix pointed out, and Cadence grunted, giving him a flat look. “I know, I know. That ain't what you meant. But you know what I mean, Cygne. There ain't no way but forward.”

“La Croix is right, Cadenza. If we move under the cover of darkness, we should be able to find a way to breach the city walls. As the Kirin haven't found us yet, they must not be using sensor technology, and we can take advantage of that.” Sombra said softly, nodding once. “Of course, that could all change on the approach to the city. But if we are careful...”

“Yes, yes. I can keep our magic cloaked to some extent while I hide us from sight. These Karen won't know what hit them.” Moonflower said with a firm nod.

“Kirin.” Sombra corrected gently, and then he turned his eyes towards Cadence, adding quietly: “We also need to send a message to Hecate somehow... but while I hesitate to suggest this course of action, we are unfortunately running out of options...”

Sombra looked at La Croix, and the zebra winced a bit before he groaned and nodded, mumbling: “Well... yeah, I suppose I can do a trick or two with the right materials. Ain't gonna be fun, though, but... that's why you gotta enjoy the good times when you got 'em, eh?”

The others nodded, and for a little while, the group fell into quiet. Or at least as quiet as it ever got with Moonflower along, who started rambling after a few minutes, telling his silly, half-true stories about this and that. It helped pass the time, though, and Cadence welcomed the distraction; besides, no matter how many times he was told he was full of crap, it never stopped Moonflower from coming up with new stories to tell them.

A little before evening came on, Sombra asked for a bit of help: he had crafted a black gemstone out of corruption, but he needed Moonflower to charge it with magic. And while that was being taken care of, Sombra had Cadence carefully help him remove the purifier.

La Croix carefully applied an ointment to Sombra's back and checked over the awful, permanent wounds in his body, Cadence averting her eyes from the grisly sight. She hated seeing her father in so much pain, and that he needed so much help: he was such a strong, good stallion, and he didn't deserve this pain, this punishment...

But Cadence forced herself to put her attention back on the purifier, to do her own task. Since the purifier was so important to her father, Cadence had learned a little about how it worked and the different components of the device. So it wasn't too much of a struggle for her to carefully remove a broken section of the machine to replace it with the makeshift part Sombra had already made: something her father could have done himself, if his concentration hadn't been so skewed by the corruption twisting and flowing through his system.

Sombra growled and twitched a bit nearby, dark miasma leaking from his eyes, and La Croix winced a bit but kept his hooves steady as he said gently: “Come now, Papa Sérénité, you fine, you fine... tell me again 'bout when your little filly was a little filly, huh?”

Sombra breathed raggedly for a moment, but then he nodded slowly as he swallowed back the poisons trying to take his mind over, half-opening one eye to gaze over at Cadence as he said softly: “She was always... adventurous. Full of energy and curiosity... the best qualities you can have in a foal, I think. Although it made it... difficult for her tutors to handle her at times...”

He chuckled quietly, and Cadence smiled faintly, glancing back at her father even as she took the power crystal when Moonflower offered it, her eyes locked with her father's. “But we needed each other, from the start. She was what I was looking for... my fallen star, my miracolo. And I... I like to think that I was there to guide her.”

“You were. Without you, Daddy, I wouldn't have survived. I was lucky.” Cadence said softly, but Sombra only smiled faintly at this, shaking his head slowly.

“No, you were not. Any more than I was, mi amore. Luck has nothing to do with it: some things are simply meant to be.” Sombra said softly, and the ivory mare gazed at her father warmly before he closed his eyes and settled a little as La Croix slipped away from his back with a small smile.

“Yeah. That's a real nice way to look at things.” the Loa said quietly as he flicked his hooves a few times, his eyes roving down to the amulet hanging around his neck before he cleared his throat and shook his head, looking over at Cadence. “You ready?”

“Oh, right, yeah. Sorry.” Cadence said quickly, turning back towards the purifier. Fortunately, replacing the power crystal was easy enough: remove the damaged gemstone, slip the new one into place, and then close the protective cover back up.

She hefted the purifier with telekinesis, bringing it quickly over to her father. La Croix slipped forwards to help, gently grasping the other side, and they settled it carefully back into place, both zebra and mare grimacing as Sombra flinched when the device clicked into his back.

The device rumbled for a moment... then clicked loudly before it began to whir quietly away as the purifier turned back on, Sombra shivering as his body convulsed once on the ground. He dug his hooves into the floor, scraping the metal slowly before he took a deep breath and whispered: “Alright. I... I will need a few minutes, but I can feel the corruption weakening. This will help.”

“Good.” Cadence said softly, smiling faintly at her father before she turned her eyes towards Moonflower, asking quietly: “What about you?”

“I'm alright. A bit peckish, I suppose, but that will pass.” Moonflower waved a hoof absently, and Cadence gave another small smile. They really were lucky: the four of them weren't completely without any need for food, water, or sleep, but they could survive on far less than your average pony required. Small favors, she supposed.

Cadence spent the next hour getting ready, and making sure that La Croix and Moonflower had everything they needed and were prepared for the journey ahead. Or at least, as prepared as they were going to get: all Cadence was sure of was that they were walking into hostile territory, and their survival would depend almost entirely on luck and precision.

When dark had settled in, Cadence led her team out of the shelter to begin across the wastes. Every now and then they heard the humming of one of those sky vehicles passing by above, but they were almost invisible against the weak ceiling of starlight that glimmered now and then through the smoky clouds.

As they drew close to the city walls, Cadence noted that there didn't seem to be any visible entrances at ground level. She did, however, see what looked like some kind of rail system on a high bridge that passed over the wall, and vehicles both large and small seemed to be regularly flying in and out of the city. There were a few lights here and there spaced around the outside of the walls, and several searchlights that were slowly roving back and forth, but Cadence had already located a weakness in the perimeter.

The rest of the lights and security seemed focus on the sky and the top of the wall: Cadence studied it in silence for almost fifteen minutes, before she murmured finally, as Moonflower started to fidget and La Croix looked at her uncertainly: “It doesn't look like they have a whole lot of patrols. I'm going to fly in first, see if I can take out one of the guards: La Croix, I'll signal when I want you to follow me in. Moonflower, Sombra, wait here until we're done.”

The others nodded, and La Croix muttered: “You be careful, Cygne. This place... I hope you feel that as well as I do.”

“Bad mojo.” Cadence said softly, looking towards the city silently. She certainly could feel it: this place chilled her to the bone, felt like it ran on... death. “Stay sharp.”

Cadence flapped her wings quickly, taking to the air and shooting forward. She dodged around the searchlights, then burst straight up the shadowy wall, leaping over the edge without giving herself or anything else time to think, only to react when a startled Kirin guard looked towards her-

A hoof to his throat made him choke and cut off any attempt to cry out, and then Cadence grabbed him by the neck before twisting, grimacing only slightly as vertebrae snapped loudly and his body went limp.

For a few moments, the Kirin convulsed, still choking weakly, and then he went still. Cadence was already searching back and forth, however, noting a guard house a short distance away, partly recessed into the walkway itself. The other way, there was only a guard casually strolling away in the opposite direction: lucky for her, since the entire walkway was lit up as bright as day by glowing block lamps spaced evenly down the wall.

The Swan rose up before Cadence was even aware of it, and the ivory mare smiled callously before she shot forwards down the walkway, hammering the door of the guard booth open. There were three Kirin inside the simple enclosure, only one of them grabbed at his gun; his reflexes rewarded him with a quick death as a throwing knife tore through his eye.

The Swan whirled to the next Kirin, tackling him and knocking him to the ground before she lunged off the soldier and slammed into the third. He was smashed back into the wall, snarling as he tried to grab the rod at his side-

His eyes went wide, his mouth working wordlessly before the Swan shoved herself away, and the Kirin slid slowly down the wall, grasping weakly at the knife that had found its way into his throat. The last survivor stared up at the ivory mare, trembling and beginning to shake his head as he opened his mouth, but the Swan simply slammed an elbow down into his muzzle, shattering the bone and making him recoil with a gasp of pain that was cut sharply off when the Swan drove her hoof into his face, and sent the broken bone into his brain.

The Kirin collapsed in a broken heap, and the Swan headed for the door, then halted with a frown. Slowly, she tilted her head to the side, then suddenly spun, flinging a knife sharply out.

A Kirin that had been leaning around the corner swore and leapt back into cover, then he shoved his rifle out into the doorway, blind-firing several times. The Swan ducked and lunged, zigzagging forward close to the ground as the shots went high, before she grinned callously as the Kirin made the lethal mistake of trying to peek out.

His eyes widened as the Swan lunged: a moment later, he hit the ground, still staring in disbelief as blood ran from his torn-open throat. The Swan looked coldly down at him before she surveyed the locker room, and then she scowled as a voice snapped through a crackle of static: “Post 23! Post 23, respond immediately, gunfire has been detected in your vicinity! Report!”

The Swan slowly walked over to the front of the room, where she recognized a simple communication system: it was roughly the same used in Decretum's guard posts. She picked up the receiver, then stated calmly: “This is Post 23. Gunfire was from a private who dropped his rifle. No injuries to report, will make recommendations for appropriate punishment after he finishes picking the bullets out of the walls.”

There was silence for a moment, and then the voice on the other end of the comlink stated coldly: “Put the officer in charge on to verify.”

“CO is on patrol. Taking a walk to cool down.” the Swan replied calmly.

“I'll wait. A team is en route to your post now as well.” the voice on the other end retorted, and the Swan smiled thinly even as Cadence mentally panicked.

“I'll go get him.” the Swan said, and then she gently set the receiver down before turning and striding quickly to the door, letting herself out.

She didn't bother looking around for any incoming Kirin: instead, the Swan ran across the walkway even as she leapt into air and waved a hoof out, signaling La Croix with less subtlety than Cadence would have liked. The Swan skidded to a halt by the dead Kirin, lifting his body quickly over her back before she turned and ran back towards the guard booth, not stopping even as La Croix appeared in front of her.

The zebra thankfully leapt out of the way, squishing himself against the guardrail before he winced and hurried after the mare. He followed her into the booth, opening his mouth, but then hurriedly shut it when the ivory mare flung down the corpse and turned towards him, saying coldly: “Animate them.”

La Croix winced away, recognizing all too well that he wasn't talking to Cadence right now, but instead, the Swan. So instead of arguing, he simply looked over the four corpses before muttering: “I ain't never done more than two at a time...”

The Swan only looked at him, and La Croix grimaced before he sighed and looked down at the four Kirin. After a moment, he finally sat back and rubbed his front hooves together, green lightning sizzling over them as he muttered: “Okay, at least y'all are fresh. Réveille-toi! Réveille-toi, lève-toi, we ain't done with you yet!”

The corpses twitched as green lightning shocked over them, La Croix wincing a bit before he slouched with a wheeze. His eyes fluttered, but after a moment, he grinned shakily as the four corpses slowly crawled up to their hooves, Kirin absently ripping knives free from their no-longer bleeding wounds as they looked emotionlessly towards the zebra. “Ha... yeah, I... I still got it, yeah?”

“Hide in the back.” the Swan ordered, and La Croix winced before turning and stumbling hurriedly into the back room, before swearing violently as he tripped over another corpse. The Swan ignored this, however, instead looking at the Kirin and saying coldly: “Step forward if you are in charge of this outpost.”

The Kirin only glared at her, until La Croix said awkwardly from the locker room: “Y'all had better listen to her. If there's one pony ya'll don't want to piss off, it's her.”

The Kirin grudgingly turned back towards the Swan, and then one of them stepped forwards, and the Swan smiled coldly, pointing at the communication device hanging on the wall. “Tell them it was an accidental misfire. And clean yourselves up. Other Kirin will be arriving here shortly.”

The Kirin looked at her for a moment, and then it scowled before turning and striding towards the communicator. It yanked the receiver off the wall, then said calmly: “Deity, this is Grimsmoke, PID 472-X-3R.”

“Grimsmoke, give confirmation on your status.” ordered the voice from the intercom, and the Kirin gave the Swan a curdling glare.

“Fully operational and pissed off. Awaiting the retrieval team now to pick up this reject. I will be submitting my report in full by the end of the night.” Grimsmoke said coldly, and there was an almost surprised silence from the other end of the line.

Finally, the voice on the other end said moodily: “Understood. Lowering caution status back to normal. Return to work.”

“Sir.” The Kirin almost slammed down the receiver, then he turned towards the Swan, giving her a seething glare.

The ivory mare smiled thinly, then shivered before shaking herself roughly out as Cadence felt the Swan recede. She slumped a little, but forced herself to keep moving, to keep planning, looking nervously between the Kirin before she grimaced as she looked at the stallion with the broken neck: La Croix was able to resurrect corpses, but not fix them very well, meaning his head was awkwardly hanging to one side, and an ugly, purple-black bruise had spread over his throat... “Crap. La Croix, uh... how do I fix this guy? The retrieval team is going to want to take him, right?”

The Kirin didn't seem very interested in cooperating unless they had to, but La Croix, thankfully, held out a bottle from around the doorway, saying tiredly: “This is a uh... well, kind of a cement. Apply it over his neck, it'll make it... less obvious.”

Cadence snatched the bottle with telekinesis, lifting it over to herself before she approached the Kirin. He scowled at her, but didn't make any attempt to fidget or move away as she opened the bottle and nervously scrubbed the goo over his neck, awkwardly bending his head into a more natural position.

As the salve was applied, skin seemed to harden and muscles stiffened, allowing the Kirin to support his own head. The bruise was still there, though, and his head was still a little, well, off: all Cadence could really hope was that the other Kirin wouldn't notice until too late.

She began to open her mouth, but then flinched as she heard a banging on the door before it started to open, and Cadence dashed into the locker room, skidding around the corner and throwing herself into hiding. She heard hoofsteps approach, before a voice started: “Which... what the hell happened here?”

Cadence winced, and there was silence for a moment before Grimsmoke said coldly: “A moron shot a large gun off in a small space. None of the injuries are serious. After he's processed make him walk back from central to clean this mess up.”

There was an awkward silence for a moment, before the voice muttered: “Yeah. Yeah, uh... okay then. Are you sure there's nothing else to report? Where's the other soldier in your-”

“On patrol, doing his job. Why don't you do yours?” Grimsmoke asked waspishly, and there was another awkward silence before the Kirin growled: “Get him off my hooves before I put him down myself.”

“Fine. Let's go.” the other voice grumbled, and there was the sound of hooves before it was followed by a door slamming shut, as La Croix and Cadence looked at each other with relief.

Cadence carefully headed around the corner, and Grimsmoke looked at her darkly before La Croix remarked wryly, as he poked his head out from behind the ivory mare: “You pretty good at this, you know. You got a real anger problem, though.”

The Kirin hissed through his teeth at them, but La Croix only huffed and waggled a hoof at them, even if he stayed pointedly behind Cadence. “You growl and gripe all you want, but you and I both know you can't do anything more'n that. You gotta obey, and we got a few questions for you yet.”

Grimsmoke scowled as the other two Kirin only looked at each other moodily, before all three frowned when Cadence asked quickly: “Is Thokk in charge here?”

“Never heard of him.” Grimsmoke said moodily. Cadence looked at La Croix, and the zebra only shrugged a bit, although he seemed surprised himself. But they both knew that those reanimated by La Croix's powers couldn't lie to him, or anyone he told them to listen to.

Cadence bit her lip, then asked on impulse: “Who uses the portal in that tower in the distance? What's that for?”

“Shipping raw materials, mostly. But they're also for the Jarsongildi. They use it to bring prisoners in and out.” the Kirin said, and Cadence frowned at this.

“Where are we?” La Croix asked suddenly, and the Kirin frowned at La Croix for a moment before he gave a thin smile, which just made his recently-dead features look all the more pallid.

“Fyrverǫld.” the Kirin responded almost contemptibly, before he gestured towards their hooves. “And where we stand right now is Valheim, City of Eden.”

“Who do y'all serve?” La Croix pressed, and Cadence frowned, starting to open her mouth-

“Lord Valthrudnir.” stated the Kirin, and Cadence trembled in horror and disbelief as La Croix winced. The Kirin studied their reactions, and then he gave a ruthless smile, saying matter-of-factly: “You're all going to die.”

La Croix glared at the Kirin, but Cadence only looked away, trembling and afraid, and all she knew for sure was that they had to find a way to finish their mission and escape from this place as quickly as possible to warn Hecate.

And even then, she knew in her heart of hearts that if they were truly faced with a threat as dire as the Jötnar, all could still very well be lost.