One of the two others caught up as they were searching down the final row before the inner wall of the monastery. Two gates were in it on each end of the wall, and one's iron bars were melted and bent aside, perhaps for a way of unlocking the barrier. It would not budge – the gate had been locked.

  The second squad leader waved his hand over it and gave a stifled gasp. “Damn it. It hurt me to try removing the barrier – can't dispel the heat. . . Captain, go to the other one and try to get through.”

  Aurien obeyed, and followed along the wall; he tried the gate. Surprisingly, it opened, without even a creak. He glanced back at the other squad, who were waiting; their leader was trying to stop the spell placed on the gate, again. He nodded, and lifted his hand to signal Aurien to continue. The counter-spell worked at last; the squadleader winced as he grasped the bars of the gate and snatched his hand away, but the gate swung open with his first, tentative movement. They entered. Aurien passed the gate at his own location, and stumbled into a nightmarish looking place full of dead bodies.

  On the ground were many bodies, most decayed and covered by worms and flies feasting in the wasted garden. Trees were dripping with a foul sludge and there were dead fruits on the ground. They might have been used by the residents for sustenance at some point, but all around him Aurien saw storage sheds that were broken, wood walls rotting and molding over, black and brown liquids like oils were everywhere. As he stepped over the threshold Aurien realized there were chains on the ground. When he picked one up, the captain realized it was slick with a pungent oil. He checked where the others would have come in, and their squad leader was knelt by dead bushes on the other side of a low wall.

  The other man and Aurien stood at the same time and signed to each other before moving on. Aurien went to one of the corpses. On it was a set of Raiiya armor, dark blue, made of Rakan scale plates as his own was. The captain saw the broken chest plate and the burned flesh beneath. Something had eaten through it as well, but there were weapons here also. Aurien checked a dropped crossbow: on it was a name: 'Iranda'. He did not understand. The commander was not dead, and he had no sons of fighting age, nor were any of his kin in the area – Aurien would have known by reading the roster listings in the barracks building.

  Aurien checked the crossbow and found severe damage to the prod; he wiped blood off the right side with a rag from his pocket and signaled the other soldiers. His squadmates came up to join him, feebly attempting to ignore the horrific smell of the bodies. There were also spores in the air, and a poisonous fume he could not recognize.

  “What is this? Have we searched here before?”

  The squadleader said nothing. He glanced around them. “No. I've never been here in my life.”

  “Master Iranda's name is on this!”

  “Then break off the plate. Now.”

  Aurien was astonished. He was not in charge, so he followed the order, sticking his knife between the wooden stock and the metal plate, and pried it away. As he let it fall, the plate rusted in seconds, and Aurien backed off from where it fell. He glanced away, at the grinning face of his squadleader; the man's head tilted. The eyes rolled back into their head, and Aurien heard a voice speak suddenly.

  The captain opened his eyes. He was inside the garden, but he was only standing beside the rusting fence. His squadleader was next to him, and his face was pale, but otherwise normal. The land was still in the horrid condition it was when he'd come in. It was not only a hallucination. Everything looked the same as it had when he'd entered, but the bodies were gone and Aurien was standing next the gate.

  “Are you in need of a healing draught?”

  “Fine. I'm quite alright. Where is the Commander?”

  The squadleader shook his head. “Back the way we came, Captain. Saw some movement on the other side of the garden. We will check the left side, regroup at the fountain to the north, you can see it from here.”

  Aurien regained his composure, he guessed, but the sensations he felt were nagging at him. The captain searched the ruined sheds, finding nothing useable, for most of what he discovered was scraps of spoiled food and remains of shredded supplies, surplus clothing, perhaps. The dark planks were easy to move aside, and some were covered in an oily, pungent grime. He wiped his stinging hands on his breeches and continued from shed to shed. There was nothing to recover in the last one, either. Aurien wondered if he should drink out of his canteen for fear of the spores, and wondered what might happen to him if he drank contaminated water. The illusion Aurien had fallen under was terrible. He met his squad leader again on the path ahead and passed the fountain at last. When Aurien looked into it, there was the empty basin, which should have been filled with clean water being drawn up, cycling into the top and pouring down. There was only moss and dirt in it. He wondered why none had repaired and cleaned it, and why there was dried blood on the edge of its northern side. There was a stain on the ground as well; the pale brick path had a trail leading off toward the steps up to the monastery's second-largest structure. The squad entered. Aurien drew his saber and went in after them. It was full of shelving.

  Three of the knights went left down the center of an aisle between old shelves from better days. Three more went straight, and Aurien followed the right path alone with two others following behind. None of the writing on the covers of the tomes made any sense. They were all strange glyphs, and Aurien did not stop. It was an archive, that much was clear. Loose pages littered the floor of the archive, and Aurien finally saw a sign on the polished tiling after reaching the end of the row. He gave a silent signal, and knelt. Muddy bootprints made a trail towards a closed door. Aurien did not recognize the prints as ones made by Raiiya boots. He went up to the door and opened it; nothing was beyond but more shelving in a small room not much bigger than a broom closet. Aurien closed the door, reaching around to twist the latch on the door's internal knob as he did.

  He signalled his two companions and went on to the next door along the wall, which was already locked. Shuffling feet drew his attention. Then, a bloodcurdling wail reached his ears. Aurien ran towards the sound, looking up at the balconies around him, seeing nothing, not even a staircase to get up. But there were more screams around him. Something was striking his companions, something he could not see. His squadleader dropped to the ground and let his weapon go. Aurien went up and retrieved it when it hit the ground. The captain frantically searched for bolts to use with the weapon, checking his companion's rucksack as the man writhed on the ground clutching his ruptured torso. He found a bundle and stowed its bolts in his own quiver, then prepped the weapon. Aurien heard raised voices; the other knights with him had fallen; but Aurien worred about whatever had slain them all. There were two left. He crept along the main, central row of shelves, followed closely by the remaining men of his squad.

  The lamps were out, and Aurien could barely see down the corridor. His squadmates swept each perpendicular row, Aurien watching the balconies. There was still no staircase on either side; he could not see one at least, but the walls had dark panelling on them, any of which could have hidden a way up. There were doors above, exits onto the walkways. Aurien guessed he might have found decoys everywhere but did not waste time checking for hidden doors. He caught a blurred shape out of the corner of his eyes and shot the crossbow at it. His bolt hit the wall at the end of the row. The other knights closed in and guarded their leader while he set another, with their swords at the ready. Aurien checked for the shape, and found nothing. Light flashed and a blue bolt of lightning seemed to come out of nowhere. It arced and the end met one of the lamps on the wall, shattering the glass and the metal sparked. The attack did not reach them, but Aurien did realize they were trapped in the center of the library with no way out, except a large double entrance with a dark, wooden portcullis, which was opened. Beyond was a dark hall of doors.

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  Aurien tried to lead his shot, and clipped the edge of a pauldron of some kind, which broke. The blurred shape ceased moving, but as Aurien got close it faded again. The sound of metal on metal rang out and he turned. His arm bled, and Aurien hated the feel of the blood spreading down his arm. The wound was deep, perhaps, but the pain was severe. His arm was trembling. Some force had, somehow, bypassed the voiders on his right arm. Aurien let the crossbow hang by its sling and drew his saber again, forgetting exactly when he'd sheathed it. The captain's two companions were on his left, and one raised his buckler. Blood splattered, and the knight was knocked to the ground. The shape darted again; Aurien was able to see it when it changed direction.

  The shape was a figure of a man, a specter perhaps, but it was not slow enough to strike – he only swept his blade and hit nothing but air. More lightning hit the wall on the opposing side of the room, breaking most of the shelves and burning most of the books on them. Most of the shelves fell apart. Aurien ducked and went around the corner of a different shelving unit. One of his companions passed him running, but stopped moving as though he'd slammed right into a wall. The figure reappeared before Aurien's companion, and drove something like a spear through the soldier's chest even through his armor. Aurien gasped as he looked upon the form of a man in a blue cloak. The mask on his face was white metal painted over with pale markings, a theatrical mask. The figure went blurry again, and vanished before Aurien's very eyes. A voice echoed in Aurien's head.

  'Look upon the stock. Not all is as it seems. Beware the Raiiya, king's man! Do not trust them.'

  Aurien looked at the plate at the back of the weapon after sheathing his saber yet again. “Iranda.”

  He ran back the way he came, and looked upon the body he'd taken the crossbow from, removing the helm from his fallen squad leader. The illusion faded, and Aurien realized he'd been tricked. He also recalled suddenly that his last squadmate was still alive. Aurien turned, and used one of the ancient Raiiya sword-drawing techniques, slashing across the chest as, without a word, his companion made an attempt to betray him. Coming suddenly up from behind, the knight had drawn two twin knives from his belt. Aurien's cut went through the black tunic on his chest and left him with no chance to retaliate. The wound was deep. Aurien rolled to the side, scrambled back, and drove his blade through the knight's chest to finish him off. He searched the belongings in the man's gear. The dead soldier had no identifying papers on him.

  But what about the illusion outside in the garden? What did I see these bodies for, then?

  Another scream rang out. Aurien went to where he last heard it. He turned left, and heard the sound of something running in his direction. The man in the mask was coming towards him. He stopped, and Aurien took in the sight of his attire once more.

  “Captain! Heed my warnings. Do not trust the Raiiya people. I am only here to ensure no one intervenes in events they have witnessed. These men betrayed the Watchers' greatest law. It has caused decay in this place, which you discovered out of doors in the garden.”

  “What law? Who are you?”

  The man did not speak another word. He vanished again. Aurien snarled, and kept moving toward the passage where he heard the screams, thinking it might have been an echo, but wondering if he'd gone mad by thinking it had replayed in his head as a reminder to get on with some task or other, for when he went up to the hall, he realized he might be too late. He tried a door close to the entrance of the hall. The latch was stuck, but Aurien forced it open. He slammed the end of the crossbow against it several times. The captain looked down and realized he'd broken the weapon's shooting mechanism to free the latch on the door, and dropped the crossbow. It was a waste of time. Beyond was only another storage room full of shelving and scrolls. He continued on, drawing his sword.

  The hallway beyond the raised portcullis was dark. Aurien tried to light one of the lanterns with a spell, but the first flickered and went out. He continued on, and took his bow off his shoulder, and nocked an arrow. He heard whispers, and the feeling of being watched came over him again, and he nearly vomited as a dizziness came upon him. The oppressive feeling stayed, as though something was walking behind him. There was, of course, nothing behind him in the darkness when he checked, but the hallway seemed to be filled with a black fog. He had a brief glimpse of a figure with green eyes and red hair in a vast chamber of firelight, but it faded.

  The kneeling figure was not something he could focus on. The captain ran through the rest of the hall, and kicked the last door open, ignoring the spectral figures along his left and right. He could see many horrific shades of soldiers being ripped apart by invisible blades. He looked about the room he'd found and shot at the first sign of movement. A woman dropped to her hands and knees as the arrow struck her in the chest. She fell to the ground as Aurien backed away slowly. There was a man at the back of the room running towards him, screaming at the senseless loss of life.

  “Idiot. Idiot. You stupid bastard.”

  What have I done?

  The man knelt beside the maiden and began casting a healing spell. She was sputtering something, some words in a tongue Aurien could not recognize. The man was muttering as well in a sing-song way; the arrow dissolved and blew away like smoke, but the man, apparently a healer, touched his bloody hand to the wound. His words did nothing and the light of life left the woman's eyes. Aurien dropped his bow. He did not recognize the healer, but saw the man bore the elite armor, black, ornate, and a sign on his shoulder patch. The elites wore a badge signifying their high degree in the Raiiya people's royal house. It meant he was a senior member of their house of spellcasters. The man tried to use the healing spell again, even cutting his hand and attempting to restore the woman's lost blood. She did not move. He looked up.

  “What have you idiots done? Why are you here?”

  Aurien shook his head but said nothing. He only looked at the eagle-shaped pendant on the woman's breast. The healer took it as he stood up and clenched it in his bleeding hand. He pointed back at the cot in the corner where there was a crying infant. At last, Aurien realized he could hear not screaming, but crying, and he also wept at the magnitude of what he'd done. A horn call came, then. He waited, silently. The healer stood up quickly minutes later as a squad of knights and a team of five healers entered the room in similar armor. As the man in black armor came rushing towards him, Aurien saw the word Raiiya on his name plate.

  No – the glyph for the surname, the same word we use for the rakan beast, but altered – he is. . . he is the Ruler Kaill's eldest son!”

  Aurien glanced into the man's haunted face. He pointed at the woman and grasped Aurien's shoulder. “I came here to stop them! I came here to stop this. Who told you we were here? Say his name.”

  Aurien shook his head, wondering exactly what he would do now. “A priest. From this monastery. He never gave us his name. He never gave us an actual name.”

  The Raiya prince said nothing, but he watched, leaning against the room's lone desk, as the other knights escorted the healers out with the woman's body. The last healer to leave, a black-haired woman, probably around forty years of age, went to the cot and fetched the infant. Aurien watched her leave with him, tears falling from her brown eyes. He tried to get her attention but she only kept walking, and swiftly moved in order to catch up with her superiors.