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It shouldn't have come as a surprise that Xolani and Oesu would be waiting to meet them as Kiiss's carriage trundled wearily into the circle of Moaan's State Hall. The Lord and Lady of Undor stood framed in the Hall's enormous doorway, their golden jewelry glittering in the warm haze of an autumn sunset. There was no warmth in their gazes as they watched the carriage grind to a halt. That was, however, before they beheld the motely collection of survivors as they emerged.

The journey back from Amenthere had been long and painful for everyone. For Anuli StarGazer's now-orphaned daughter and the rest of Kiiss's family, the pain was mostly the hollow ache of grief. For Vinie and Gideo, their pain was intensely, blisteringly physical. As soon as the adrenaline of the escape from Amenthere wore off, the pain of the burns on their hands, arms, and legs had grown nearly unbearable. A stop along the roadside once they reached the lush eves of the jungle yielded some small relief. Ijireen, the young Red Ovate, proved surprisingly knowledgeable when it came to the treatment of burns with the juice of aloe vera plants.

"Master Tomur made us learn how to treat burns almost first thing, in case we ever hurt someone accidentally with our magic," she had explained while tending to Vinie's throbbing hands.

Now, days later, their burns salved and bandaged as well as could be managed in a travelling carriage, Vinie and Gideo still moved slowly, painfully as they stepped down into the street. They weren't the only ones suffering; Kiiss's zebras were just about ready to collapse. Although they had done what they could to alleviate the burden on the poor animals – the strongest and fittest of Stargazers taking it in turns to run along behind the carriage – it had still been an unfair journey for the team of four. Their striped necks hung low, ears and tails drooping listlessly toward the ground.

Even Kiiss and her grandchildren weren't exactly in high spirits. After days spent crammed together in the hot, humid carriage, with scant opportunities to stretch and even less proper food or rest, the children were all exhausted. Little Obi clung to Kiiss's side, dried tears painting salty trails on her dark cheeks. Ekene and the other Stargazers watched apprehensively as Xolani and Oesu descended from the State Hall toward the group. Dalar even went so far as to inch a hand toward the hilt of her belawa.

"Madame Kiiss." Xolani inclined his head. The gleam of something metallic briefly startled her, and Vinie realized that the Lord of Undor had received a recent 'improvement' to his severed arm. In place of the missing limb, an arm molded from what looked like an alloy of gold and copper hung at Xolani's side. Complete even with etched designs to mimic skinpainting art, the arm would have been quite life-like if not for its colour. Vinie's own arms dangled limp, deadweight beneath colorful bandages fashioned from Kiiss's headwrap. If it bothered Kiiss to have her hair – tightly braided but rarely seen – out in the open, she made no mention of it. Instead, the ArtSeller, youngest grandchild in tow, pursed her lips at Xolani's golden arm and said nothing.

Undeterred by Kiiss's frosty greeting, Oesu looked Vinie and Gideo over from head-to-toe. "Welcome back, Lieutenant." She spoke to Gideo, pointedly ignoring Vinie. "I must admit, Xolani and I despaired of ever seeing you alive again. It's a welcome relief to be proven wrong."

Gideo, who since The Lair had been uncharacteristically quiet, nodded curtly. "Thanks to Vinie and Kiiss."

"Yas, and others as well from the looks of things." Approaching Ekene, Xolani extended his good hand. "There aren't many of our people left who are bold enough to live north of Undor. I don't believe I'm wrong to guess that you must be the infamous StarGazers of Amenthere?"

"Ekene StarGazer." Cautiously, Dalar and Okoreo close on either side, Ekene reached out to accept Xolani's wrist-clasp. "There are no StarGazers left in Amenthere...not anymore. We are all that's left." She indicated the ten other assassins standing silent and watchful around the carriage.

"Have you come to rejoin your people against the king, then?" Oesu's tone was welcoming enough, but there was a tension at the corners of her eyes that Vinie recognized, having been on the receiving end of it before. Southerners though they may all be, that did not mean the Lord and Lady of Undor weren't suspicious of the Stargazers' loyalties. Although Oesu continued not to look at Vinie, Vinie suspected that she was very much on the other woman's mind.

In leaving Moaan with her, Kiiss had unfortunately proven herself more Vinie's ally than Xolani and Oesu's. And the Stargazers, insomuch as they appeared to answer to Ekene, above all seemed to be at Kiiss's call. Vinie had already once tried to reassure Xolani and Oesu that she harboured no personal ambitions toward political power. She had a bad feeling that the arrival of the Stargazers had cast that reassurance into doubt. Whatever small measure of trust had existed between Xolani, Oesu, and Vinie, that trust was now damaged, if not broken irreparably.

If Ekene picked up on any of these subtle undercurrents, she thankfully shared her mother-by-wed's gift for discretion. She glanced back at Dalar, Okoreo, and the other Stargazers before answering, but only briefly.

"We've made enough profit off poisoning Amentherian nobles for the past ten years...I think I speak for us all when I say that yas, we're here, and we're ready to bring the fight out into the open against Mahir."

Xolani swung his golden arm up awkwardly in what would otherwise have been a friendly squeeze of Ekene's bicep. "And Undor is more than happy to welcome you home. Come inside, let us see what we can do to get you and your people settled."

Only as the Stargazers began to disperse away from the carriage toward the State Hall did Oesu catch sight of the last member of their party. Ijireen, hanging back alone behind one of the zebras, her robes nearly blending in to the yellow granite of the city.

"You..." Oesu cocked her head, eyes widening in recognition. "I've seen your face before. You're the Obad from Utunma, the one who was sent to Amenthere thirteen years ago!"

Xolani beckoned Ijireen closer. "What is your name, girl?"

"Red Ovate Ijireen..." Slowly, shyly, the young sorcerer approached the rest of the group. She clutched one wrist behind her, teeth worrying at her bottom lip. Her long, curly black hair and warm complexion would have almost fit in amongst the people of Moaan; it was the pert, inlander facial features and eyes of ruby red that instantly set Ijireen apart.

"And your family, where are they?" Xolani pressed for more information. "Perhaps we could try to help you reunite with them?"

Ijireen scowled and pointed at Vinie. "She'd probably know more about my family than I do. I was only three when I was sent away to Amenthere, remember?"

"Selmay, a local bawd." Vinie was not in the mood to give any more details than that. It had been over twelve years since Vinie had last run afoul of the woman; that encounter had ended with Zaneo's death and her own imprisonment. As far as Vinie was concerned, even having to say Selmay's name aloud was too much reminder.

Ijireen interrupted Xolani's dawning look of polite comprehension. "I don't want to go back to her. What little I do remember of my mother, its nothing worth betraying Mahir for."

"Then why did you?" asked Vinie bluntly.

It had been hours since salve was last applied to her burns, and they were beginning to sting fiercely again. Between that, hunger, and the lack of proper rest for over a week now, Vinie was just about at the end of her tether. After the chaos of The Lair had worn off, she had waited and waited for the numb, unreal feeling left behind to dissipate. It never did. Everything now seemed dreamlike, or perhaps moving in slow motion. Vinie simply couldn't muster up the energy necessary for delicate speech and mind games anymore.

Ijireen bit her lip again, inhaling sharply through her nose. "Because I didn't belong in the capital. I was somewhat hoping that...maybe...I might find somewhere to belong here. That, and Arzai is an insufferable toady."

The mention of the High Obad may as well have been a siren call to Xolani and Oesu. The two of them both beamed at the Red Ovate, and Oesu even went so far as to reach out and smooth back a stray curl from Ijireen's face.

"Of course, of course! It only makes sense that you would want to be here, with your people. Young though you may have been when you were taken from us, the blood remembers, yas? I can only imagine though what you must have seen during your time in the Magicol. It's no doubt been a long journey, and you should rest first, but I wonder...do you think you might be able to tell us more about the other Obads, and the king?"

Xolani slid a look sideways at Vinie; the first that either he or Oesu had actually acknowledged her presence. "As for finding where you belong, I wouldn't worry about that. As I seem to recall, one of our first acts as Lord and Lady of Undor was to promise that our country would build its own Magicol."

"And of course, we'll need a High Obad...someday," Oesu added slyly.

Although Ijireen allowed herself to be shepherded into the State Hall by Xolani and Oesu, the sharp rise of her eyebrows told Vinie that the girl wasn't entirely naïve. That left Vinie, Gideo, and Kiiss standing on the steps

The light was fading fast, casting the soaring arches of Moaan's bi-level causeways in golden light, followed quickly by the cool blue of evening shadows. The scent of salt water and the distant crying of gulls over the Bay of Torbos provided at least some measure of a friendly welcome back.

"Come on," said Kiiss. She gestured toward the shining interior of the State Hall. "You two need to lie down before you fall down."

"Right." Vinie turned to Gideo. "Gideo?"

Gideo was standing stock-still, staring toward the north. In the center of the city as they were, the only thing to see was building after towering building. There was still some light in the sky; a faint reddish glow to the north that would have struck Vinie as being rather odd, were she in any state to notice it.

"Gideo?" Vinie tried again, her voice rasping hoarsely in her scorched throat.

Like a man wakened from a dream, Gideo blinked and shook himself. He continued to stare at the northern sky even when Vinie gingerly prodded his bandaged arm. He did, however, allow Vinie and Kiiss to guide him inside.

"I assume that the apartments Xolani and Oesu were lodging me in previously are still mine to use," said Kiiss rather tartly. "Vinie, do you know where that is?"

"No."

"Eish! Well, no matter. I'll show you the way, and then I'm calling for a shaman. Those bandages need changing to something proper."

"Kiiss, you've already done too much for us...we can't take your room too," Vinie tried to protest.

Kiiss batted Vinie's words away like pesky flies. "Oh please, as if you're in any fit state to find lodging at an inn. Besides, I want to stay close to Obi and the others, wherever Their Highnesses decide they want to house the newest additions to their growing arsenal. Did you see Oesu's face when she and Xolani realized they've just had a friendly Obad delivered gift-wrapped to their doorstep?"

"Not sure the word I'd use to describe Ijireen is 'friendly'," commented Vinie.

A sudden throat-clearing from Gideo startled both her and Kiiss.

"You haven't met...Frandel...the other Red Obad. Compared to him...Ijireen is downright cuddly."

Kiiss raised an eyebrow at Gideo. "Perhaps, but that's coming from you. I'm sure anyone would be happy to cuddle with such a handsome masterpiece!"

Gideo gagged slightly. "Bury my bones! Kiiss, she's a sixteen-year-old child!"

Vinie was relieved to see some flicker of the Gideo she knew and loved resurface, relieved enough even to join in with Kiiss's teasing. "And here I was thinking she betrayed Mahir out of Factionist sympathies. If that's all it takes to swing an Obad to our side, maybe I can be generous."

If looks could kill, Vinie would have dropped dead on the spot. Blistered and burned, exhausted and reeling from his captivity, Gideo still managed to convey pure and utter exasperation.

"This is what happens when the two of you work together, is it?" he groaned. "I think I felt safer when you didn't like Kiiss, Vinie."

"I never said I didn't like her. Besides..." Vinie turned to Kiiss. "You saved our lives. Thank you, for everything."

There was a definite wistful edge to Kiiss's smile as she stroked a fingertip beneath Vinie and Gideo's faces. Then, just as quickly it was gone, replaced by the bustling practicality Vinie had come to appreciate.

"As if I would let Mahir destroy a national treasure like that face. Now come on, enough chit-chat in the hall! You two are going to eat and drink, and then you are going to sleep...even if I have to have you drugged to be sure!"

OoOoO

Some hours before, many leagues to the north, a small party approached the borders of the jungle. Four broke away from the rest, leaving the Knights of Amenthis – nearly three dozen faceless figures encased in folded steel and visors - to guard the road behind their king and his Obads.

The southern jungles were known far and wide as a place always teeming with life; from birdcalls to the howls of giant apes, the jungle was never silent. Mahir reined in his horse just beyond reach of the rich, earthy shade, and within moments the forest before him grew still. The faint scent of green, growing things permeated the air around the king...an entreaty from the jungle? If so, its pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Arzai, with me."

Nudging her own horse forward, Arzai rode up beside Mahir. They sat side-by-side on the road, looking up at the eerily still canopy. One little bird sat bobbing quietly on a leafy frond, dark eyes wide and unblinking amidst its iridescent plumage. The entire jungle seemed to be holding its breath.

"My king?" asked Arzai, although she suspected she already knew Mahir's orders. She had had a long time on the ride from Amenthere to ask herself how she would answer.

Mahir wheeled his horse around, back toward the Knights of Amenthis. As he passed Arzai, he looked her dead in the eye.

"Burn it down."

Arzai's nostrils thinned slightly as she pulled in a short breath. She kept her expression flat though, unreadable.

"How far? The bridge before Moaan, to trap the southerners on the peninsula?"

Mahir kept on riding. Arzai had to twist in the saddle to look back at him. The king did not turn around.

"Burn all of it down. Right down to the sea."

Davenir and Frandel, waiting to one side of the road on their own horses, exchanged a glance. Frandel simply shrugged. Davenir's mouth worked soundlessly, his pearlescent gaze casting back and forth between Mahir and the forest in horrified realization.

"Your Highness, there are-"

"There are what?" Mahir cut sharply across Davenir. He cocked his head, his tone almost innocent. "Two young Ovates back in Amenthere, alone and awaiting our return? Is that what you meant to say, Grey Obad?"

"Davenir." Frandel jerked his head – just now beginning to show short, reddish stubble – in Arzai's direction. It was a warning, not a request.

Even Davenir's horse seemed reluctant to approach the Red Obads...but approach he did. The three sorcerers arranged themselves in a line across the road, the hushed jungle before them. With Arzai in the middle, Davenir and Frandel on either side, they made ready to work their magic.

In preparation for the linking of spells, Arzai offered a hand first to Davenir. His long fingers slid pale and limp into hers. When she turned to offer a hand to Frandel, the other Red Obad glowered at her.

"When this is over," said Frandel, just quietly enough that Mahir would not overhear "I want you to know, I intend to kill you for the ring and scepter of High Obad. Whether you die in this war or by my hand, I promise you that your days at the head of Goran's Magicol will not be long, Mistress Arzai."

Arzai's lip curled. "When the war is won, you are more than welcome to try."

Seizing each other's hand in a bruising grip, Arzai and Frandel maintained bitter eye-contact for a moment longer before returning their attentions to the task at hand.

Fiery light flared to life behind the eyes of Arzai and Frandel, while Davenir's slowly filled with a moon-silver glow. Together, they raised their linked hands high overhead. Even Mahir and his knights could feel the way the air around them suddenly turned bright and sharp with power.

Then, Frandel flung out his free hand toward the jungle. Fueled by both his and Arzai's magic, a cone of fire hotter than any smithy's forge exploded outward from Frandel's palm. Leaves, fronds, flowers, all shrived and turned to ash in an instant. The little bird scarcely had time to take to the air before its tail feathers caught fire. It fled, crying out just as a thousand other birds and jungle creatures cried out and turned to flee the flames. Even smooth, waxy tree bark couldn't withstand such heat for long; rubber trees turned to blazing torches in an instant, their white sap flowing like blood to the forest floor.

Such a fire would have been dangerous in its own right, but the magic of the Obads was not finished. His movements as wooden as a puppet on strings, slowly Davenir extended his free hand toward the jungle. From him came a force unseen, but arguably even more devastating than the Red Obad's flames.

A powerful wind blasted southward, growing and building outward from Davenir's outstretched fingertips. It caught the flames which Arzai and Frandel had planted, and blew them forward in a rolling wave across the canopy. In less than a minute, entire acres of the Undorian jungle were on fire. Now unleashed, the fire took on size and strength of its own, devouring everything before it. With Arzai and Frandel fueling it and Davenir spreading it, the blaze soon engulfed the southern horizon, all the way to The Teeth in the east to Auli's Inlet in the west.

Spooked by the flames, the Obad's horses bucked and shied. Driving her knees into the gelding's sides though, Arzai led the first step forward. Side-by-side, hands linked and eyes luminous with power, the three began their advance into Undor.

Smiling with grim satisfaction, Mahir turned his back momentarily on the spectacle of the south, burning. He nodded to one of the Knights of Amenthere. Rising in the stirrups, the man lifted a horn to the vertical slit of his visor. Two notes rang out, repeated three times until they echoed on each other's heels over the hillsides. The earth began to rumble with the distant drumbeat of unnumbered footfalls.

Over the rolling hill of Gorian countryside, nearly fifteen hundred soldiers of the royal army came in answer to their king's call. The Second and Fifth Companies, recalled from Blue Stone and Vaelona, now here on the southern edges of the realm to restore order...once and for all.

"Let Captain Sabin and the men of the Third Company be avenged!" Mahir shouted, his voice ringing out strong over the thunder of his approaching army. "Let this be the day that Goran is made whole again, and the victory of Amenthis remembered! We are his heirs, my countrymen, and we will reclaim his kingdom!"

"Amenthis!"

The answering call to Mahir's rallying cries nearly shook The Teeth themselves. Fifteen hundred soldiers advanced south, following in the smoldering footsteps of the Obads. Before them, the green jungles of Undor were ravaged by a rising tide of flame.

Mahir set his horse into a gallop; he would lead his army from the front with the Obads. His scarlet cloak billowed out behind him, the charred embers of tree roots collapsing into dust and ash beneath his horse's hooves. In that moment, Mahir at last felt like a true heir of Amenthis.

"Let the Sundering War begin," he said under his breath, smiling with satisfaction as the world burned around him.   

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