As I got to my feet, a wave of nausea hit me. The contents of my stomach did a cartwheel, and I swallowed to keep down my morning meal. The poison was affecting me.

Of course, it was.

Things could never be easy. I ignored it. Ignored everything except for Nostrand and Isla on the steps above. I limped up the stairs to the second-floor terrace. The world wobbled with each step. I was dizzy—another symptom of the poison. Isla looked at me from the top of the ziggurat. She slammed the butt of her black wood staff on the stone platform and disappeared behind a puff of mist. A moment later, she walked through the fog on my right.

"Nice trick."

"Thanks, it's new."

Isla flashed me a weak smile. She was soaking wet, with her blonde hair flat against her head. She looked at me through dark-circled eyes, concern plain on her face.

"You need to get to cover."

"I have to stop him, Isla."

I pointed up at the souls flying to the Grand Terraformer.

She frowned.

"I see it, but you can't fight Nostrand if you can barely stand."

She was right.

"Where's Dugan?"

"I'll take you to him."

"How?"

Before she could answer, Isla turned to the stairs above us.

"Don't scream."

"What?"

Icy claws wrapped around my shoulders and yanked me into the fog on my left.

A moment later, something heavy slammed into the spot where I stood.

I slid on my back, stopping when my head bumped into Dugan's foot. I rolled onto my hands and knees and vomited up my breakfast of field rations.

"Shh!"

Dugan pressed one thick finger against his lips. He was kneeling next to Thor and Castille. With his other hand, he pulled the last jagged piece of metal out of the woman's chin.

Castille sat against the ziggurat's slanted wall, cursing under her breath. A lattice of fine cuts covered the right side of her face. Blood pooled around her right eye, sealing it shut.

"Nice of you to join us, Jacob. I see you're having as much fun as I am."

I wiped the acrid spit on the back of my hand.

"It's a regular picnic."

"Keep it down," Dugan whispered, putting the bloody piece of metal with the rest in a neat pile.

Castille sighed, leaning her head against the wall.

"How do I look, Dugan?"

"Like after the W-W-Wentfield job."

"Shit, that bad."

"I'll heal you up. Take care of the scars."

She grimaced, touching her tender face with her right hand.

"I have enough as it is."

Another heavy object rocked the ziggurat. The mist around us trembled from the impact. The object's vibrations ran up my arms and legs as it tumbled down the stairs.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I've been poisoned."

Dugan and Castille looked at me. Dugan glanced at her. Castille nodded.

"I can wait."

Dugan turned to me, avoiding the puddle of vomit next to his feet.

"I tire of these games!"

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Nostrand's voice boomed around us, amplified by standing at the top of the ziggurat.

We waited, locked in silent tension. Eyes darting in the mist around us for Nostrand's next surprise.

"AER CLARUS!"

The mist around us vanished, and our damp clothes went bone dry.

I blinked, gauging my surroundings. We were just around the corner from the ziggurat's stairs—far away from Nostrand's and Isla's fight.

"There you are!"

Or not.

Nostrand jumped from the top of the ziggurat, landing a few feet from Dugan.

BOOM!

Thor yelped, scrambling away from the small crater at the point of impact.

"Duck!"

Castille grabbed Dugan and pulled him down.

I let loose a torrent of fire, bathing Nostrand in flames and blinding him.

Darkness rimmed my vision. My head bobbed forward.

I'm fainting…

"Run… Hurry…"

My fire sputtered out.

A lean, strong arm picked me up off the ground.

Castille…

She lifted me over her shoulder. I raised my head to see Dugan standing between Nostrand and our rushed retreat. In the time it took Castille to stand up, he had found his shield and axe.

The former King loomed over him. My fire lit his white robes, wreathing his golden face in red flames. He pressed his left hand against the slanted wall.

"Forma."

And pulled out another sword, leaving a round depression in the glowing surface.

Castille cut around the corner before I could see what happened next.

Dugan…

"Castille!" Isla shouted from behind me.

"Never mind me. Get Dugan!"

A stream of waist-high mist shot under Castille's legs and curved around the corner. A moment later, Dugan flew towards us, dragged by his heels by Isla. Wrapped in her icy embrace, he fell next to Castille, fresh sword cuts splintering his wooden shield. The Northern woman let me down and turned to face our enemy.

"Isla, I need a weapon!"

At her command, the mist swirled and coalesced around the Castille's hands, forming an icy two-handed war hammer. She fell into a stance and waited for Nostrand Del to appear around the corner.

She wouldn't have to wait long. Slow, stoney footfalls cut through the silence in the air.

Clack…

Clack…

…

I tensed on my hands and knees, eyes fixed forward. Dugan pushed off his shield to get on his feet and fall in line beside Castille.

What was Nostrand planning?

"Tutam Transitum."

The words sent a shockwave through the air, and I squinted against the light breeze that buffeted my eyes.

Safe passage.

To where?

My eyes darted from the wall beside me to the top of the ziggurat and then below. Behind us, Thor squealed. I followed his gaze to Isla as the stone wall behind her rippled, and a golden face phased through the surface.

"Isla! Behind you!"

Her eyes widened. She ran forward, twisting mid-stride to put her staff between Nostrand's sword thrust.

The black wood splintered. Isla fell, and the back of her head smashed against the luminous floor.

"ISLA!"

Before I could move, the others ran forward. Thor grabbed Isla's hood and dragged her to safety while Castille and Dugan attacked.

Castille swung her war hammer at Nostrand's head. He stepped back, raising the sword in his left hand to catch Dugan's swing. He pushed off the axe and turned his blade in a downward strike to hack into the neck of Castille's weapon.

"Dugan!"

"Right."

He charged forward, bashing Nostrand into the wall with his barely held together shield. Castille raised her war hammer for another downward swing on Nostrand's head. It connected, but the maul snapped where Nostrand cut a groove into the shaft. The weapon's head flipped in the air, landing with a dull thud at Isla's feet.

I crawled over to her.

"Isla?"

She slowly sat up, rubbing her temple with her fingertips.

"I'm alright."

"Can you use your abilities?"

She reached out to the broken war hammer melting in front of her and winced.

"Ugh! I can't think straight."

Not good.

Thor let out another high-pitched squeal. I turned my head to the battle as Nostrand slipped around Dugan's axe and charged straight for us. The tip of his sword scraped against the floor. He lifted it for a swing to take off Isla's head. Castille shouted, running a few steps behind him. I cupped my hand against my chest, creating the largest explosive orb I could handle without fainting—a quarter my full size.

I tossed it.

BOOM!

The orange orb exploded at the centre of his chest, knocking Nostrand back and making him swing short of Isla's throat.

Castille shoulder-checked him from the left, sending him toppling down the stairs to the first-floor terrace in a cacophony of metal and stone.

"Isla, I need another weapon."

"Wah?"

"Isla!"

"She hit her head, Castille. Relax!"

Castille tore her eyes off Nostrand's fallen form to glance at Isla and give me a grim nod.

Dugan walked to our side a moment later and checked Isla's eyes.

"It's a mmmild concussion. I can fix it."

"I'm still poisoned, by the way."

"And I'm still ugly. It'll have to wait, Jacob."

Castille pointed to the floor below.

"Until after we kill him."

I craned my neck over the terrace edge. Nostrand was pushing off his staff to get to his feet. He had lost his sword in his tumble down the stairs.

"You-You ingrates! You dare defy me! I am the King of Del! The Emperor of Stone. I will achieve what the Children of the Sun could not. I-"

"Shut up!" Castille shouted.

"Such… insolence! You are lower than a slave!"

He raised his staff with both hands. Its large ruby glowed.

"You destroyed my soldiers, but my legion is endless."

I tilted my head up to the ceiling, and the souls flying overhead. He was going to create another stone man.

"This one will be special. A leader. Made from a soul unlike any other."

A wisp of golden quintessence leaked from the Grand Terraformer. It flowed between Castille and Dugan, entering the large ruby.

The staff shook in Nostrand's hands.

"I felt him die! I felt his anger when he passed into my Grand Terraformer!"

Who was he bringing back?

The gem bled from red to emerald green. Chunks of gold fell from the staff's serpentine curves.

"We have to stop him!"

Castille looked at me.

"How?"

"I… I…"

I don't know.

The gem shattered. The staff exploded, scattering its pieces across the first-floor terrace. The force knocked the Enchanter on his back.

Green quintessence washed over him, slithering over the remains of the heavies to the closest stone body at the base of the ziggurat.

A large stone man rose to its feet with blazing green eyes.

Nostrand got to his knees, his maniacal, metallic laughter filling the air.

"Behold! My Champion of Stone. Finnick Lagos!"

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