thoughts of the wailing dirge filled leon’s mind as he led his people out of the maze, especially of the ‘lord’ rune upon its forehead. it had been ambiguous enough back then just what intent had been placed into that rune, but if another monster had it inscribed upon them...

    leon still wasn’t sure what to make of it. unlike with the dirge, none of the reliefs and other pieces of art in the floating island indicated that it might have once been human. he wasn’t seeing any sign of khosrow followers, either.

    ‘maybe the missing piece has been destroyed,’ he thought as his eyes raked over the many defaced reliefs and murals that his party passed. ‘this place isn’t much like an aesii, either. and neither did the monster have any sign of such a rune on its forehead, either...’

    his instinctual dread lessened with every footstep, replaced by more and more intense curiosity. he had to bring the corpse of the monster back to artorion when he left and give it the same inspection that nestor had given the wailing dirge. perhaps there were similar enchantments carved upon its bones, perhaps there were more clues its flesh could tell him hidden beneath its hide, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

    it would all mean nothing if they found the creature was no more than it seemed, though.

    he relaxed more as they left the maze and returned to the impossibly large chamber buried within the floating island, and sighed as he examined the area. the spatial enchantments affecting this area were beyond his ability to perceive, which only demanded further study.

    ‘if only i had more time...’ he silently lamented.

    alix and gaius were still pulling security and greeted leon as the party left the maze. they were standing a good distance away from anna and grandin, though not so far that they couldn’t keep an eye on both.

    “anything to note?” leon asked.

    “this place is quiet,” gaius said. “almost creepily so.”

    “anna’s making some progress, though,” alix said as she jerked a thumb over at the woman in question.

    it seemed she was, as leon immediately saw grandin watching with bated breath and tears carving paths through the dirt on his cheeks as stone slowly turned to flesh before his eyes. anna had already used two of the anti-petrification potions on grandin’s petrified brother, and it seemed to be working so far—though much remained to do, and anna was being forced to use a tremendous amount of healing magic as she went.

    “she hasn’t asked either of you for help, yet?” leon inquired of his two former retainers.

    “not yet,” alix said with a bit of confusion. “i’m wondering why she even asked us to stay because all we’ve done is stand around...”

    “she might’ve just been nervous about being left alone with a desperate man,” gaius stated. “she did make sure to mention that this unstonification might not work.”

    alix giggled. “unstonification? is that even a word?”

    “i just said it, so of course it is,” gaius retorted, a slight smile crossing his face.

    “all right,” leon said, not quite up to joking around until he had his answers. “i have something i need to check topside. stay here and come fetch me if anything’s needed.”

    “will do, boss!”

    “as you will it, your majesty.”

    with that, leon spared anna and grandin one more look, ordered four of his tempest knights to remain with alix and gaius, and then made for the tunnel leading back out of the cavern.

    fortunately, while he needed grandin to make his way down to the cavern, he didn’t need the man’s help to get out of it again—all he had to do was ignore all the side passages and follow the slope upward.

    as he walked, valeria, maia, anzu, and a small handful of tempest knights behind him, valeria asked, “what did you see down there, leon? why are we checking on this monster?”

    [had to have been something important,] maia guessed. [you seemed almost... afraid when you saw it...]

    “i saw...” he hesitantly murmured. “i thought i saw something similar to that huge lizard thing below artorion in those reliefs. something that might link that creature to the one we killed above us.”

    “how is that even possible?” valeria asked in shock.

    [they bore few similarities that i could see,] maia said. [other than their inevitable deaths for daring to challenge us.]

    “it’s a wholly new thing,” anzu agreed. “i couldn’t sense anything familiar about it. or see any shared trait.”

    “it’s just a hunch. maybe even a slight fear,” leon said conciliatorily. “something i’m hoping isn’t what i think.”

    it wasn’t long before leon led them back out into the depression and then up to the ridge surrounding it. the creature was right where it had fallen, its blood still leaking into the soil around it.

    “thank my sister. i only used her potions, the genius lies with her.”

    after making a mental note to do just that when he had the chance, leon let his magic senses settle around grandin’s brother. the unconscious man was breathing steadily, if only lightly, and his aura was weak as a newborn’s, barely qualifying as a first-tier mage. his body was fairly well-built, perhaps preserved these twenty-three years in stone, but leon wondered just how much strength remained in those limbs after what had been endured.

    grandin sat next to his brother, concern, hope, and fear fighting for dominance over his expression. he looked about as interested in anything else happening around them as he was in the dirt he sat upon.

    “how long should we expect recovery to last?” leon asked the group, frowning slightly. he didn’t think that grandin would be all that thrilled to leave his brother behind and escort them to the summit of kavad’s lance, but neither did he think the guide would want to carry his brother the whole way there, either.

    “i can’t s—” anna began, but to leon’s surprise, grandin interrupted her, showing more awareness of his surroundings than leon had thought.

    “aladir will recover quickly,” he declared.

    “you can’t say that for sure,” anna protested. “none of us can.”

    “i can feel it,” grandin insisted. “it won’t be long. he’ll wake up, and then we can head for the top of the lance. together.”

    leon squinted in doubt. “how... you... you’re making promises, grandin. how can you be sure you can follow through?”

    “i know the way to the top,” grandin stated. “there are two people who know the way. i am one of them. aladir is the other. when he wakes up, we’ll repay you by taking you to where you need to go. it won’t take long—the route i have in mind will take less than a day.”

    “i like the words you’re saying,” leon stated, “but that doesn’t mean i believe them.”

    “believe what you will. if you want to dissolve our agreement, then i will take my brother home, and you can ascend the mountain on your own. many have tried, few have ever even seen the lance itself, at the tip of the mountain. do you have the time for that?”

    leon smirked, but it was valeria who responded. “do we have the time to wait? if you’re so confident that your brother will wake up, then share with us the reason for your confidence, and the timeline we can expect.”

    with a soft snort and a rolling of his eyes, grandin said, “i know my brother. i know his power. i can feel him getting stronger, i can feel him returning to life. it is the familiarity i have with my own brother, with my best friend in the world, that gives me this confidence. you do not share such familiarity, and so you don’t know what to look for. wait here for six hours; he’ll wake before then.”

    leon scowled, his eyes turning in the direction of kavad’s lance. though the area around the floating islands was shrouded in clouds, the enormity of the floating mountain they had to scale made it almost impossible to lose sight of it. only the largest and densest of clouds could obscure it, and even then, the raging wind that surrounded the area ensured the mountain wouldn’t remain obscured for long.

    ’i suppose six hours isn’t that long to wait,’ leon thought.

    aloud, he said, “fine, we can wait that long. but i’m keeping this corpse.”

    “i don’t care,” grandin honestly responded, and without further ado, leon pulled the monster’s body into his soul realm. though the monster’s bounty was enormous, grandin was willing to completely write it off—such focus and care for his family was something leon found rather endearing and made him feel marginally better about the wait.

    “all right, everyone, get settled in,” leon ordered his people. “get some rest. prepare for the climb ahead.”

    his people complied, and for a moment, it looked like grandin was going to, as well. however, after several minutes, grandin rose to his feet and carried aladir into the forest of the floating island, saying that he didn’t want his brother to wake up surrounded by strangers. the guide didn’t go far, and leon could easily keep an eye on him using his magic senses, so he allowed it.

    during the wait, leon called back home, speaking at length with elise, cassandra, and his remaining advisors. he also spoke with nestor and made further allusions to what he was going to bring home, which nestor largely ignored in favor of updating leon on the status of the shield.

    twelve days. that was how long leon had until nestor couldn’t guarantee it would remain functioning. it might last longer, but nestor made it abundantly clear that he couldn’t guarantee a damn thing after twelve days.

    as it was, the shield was intact, but clearly losing power. the siege imposed by terris remained in effect, which only grew tighter as more arks arrived from the sea. the rate at which terris’ forces were reinforced had slowed, but even just that morning, a pair of new frigates had arrived, so the depths of terris’ reserves had yet to be completely plumbed.

    the challenge to lift that siege was enormous, an impossible task at first look. leon could barely even hope that the lance would save his colony, those last embers of hope only still sputtering thanks to sasan’s confidence that the lance would help. but for all his dying hope, leon kept a brave face on for his people. as their king, he knew he couldn’t project anything but the utmost confidence in their course of action, even if everyone knew the score.

    after making his calls, leon allowed his party to call home, as well. his family and friends didn’t have many calls to make, but his knights were eager to speak with their friends and families back in artorion.

    surprising leon, it only took four hours for aladir to wake up, proving grandin right. the man shot up from where he’d been lying, a look of abject terror on his face, before groaning in pain and almost falling back down. grandin shot to his brother’s side and began speaking, but leon turned his attention away. such a reunion wasn’t something he felt he ought to intrude upon.

    though aladir had returned to consciousness quicker than grandin had thought, the two still spent the next two hours resting and talking in the forest. aladir, whatever his power was before the petrification, was now barely a first-tier mage, and as a result, couldn’t bounce back from such extreme injury as quickly as anyone else in the party might’ve.

    regardless, they emerged from the forest six hours after the party settled in to rest, almost to the second.

    aladir was pale and clearly still suffering, but grandin, showing no sign that he was going to acknowledge the wait, shouted to them, “all right! who wants to climb this fucking mountain?!”