The frozen metal shattered at the point of impact, leaving a small crater at the bottom of the core. I shaped the explosion, focusing the force diagonally. The core knocked against the inner rings, the inner rings knocked against the outer rings, and the force rebounded back to hit the core. It wobbled on its invisible axis.

"Let the rings go!"

Reed's ribbon dissolved. Dugan let his tree roots wither and die. The rings started spinning again, and the large hoops of copper, iron and everything in between banged into each other, bending and warping out of shape. With the speed of the rotations, it was a matter of time until…

CREAK!

The first ring of many snapped, getting caught in the surrounding rings and weighing the structure down. The Grand Terraformer screeched and clattered in a violent cacophony. As more rings broke, the weight of the non-moving parts pulled the core down to the platform and shattered it into thousands of golden pieces.

The oppressive feeling was gone. The curse… was lifted.

We did it…

We stared at the wreckage above us, frozen in place for what felt like minutes.

What was this feeling? Surprise? Shock?

Hope.

Beside me, Isla fainted. I moved to grab her, but my knees went weak. I didn't have the will to stand, let alone catch her. Isla fell backward… into a glowing golden bed.

I crumpled on the steps, glancing up at Reed. She shrugged and flashed me an apologetic smile.

"Look," Dugan said, pointing at the platform.

At the top of the ziggurat, a crowd of people stood among the broken pieces of the Grand Terraformer. Some were tall. Some were short. Some were fat. Some were skinny. Yet, they all shined with a translucent, golden hue.

Souls.

They were the souls trapped in the Grand Terraformer—their quintessence given humanoid shape.

They looked around, scared or confused, before the first of them walked forward.

They walked past us—through us on the staircase before disappearing like plumes of breath in winter.

Castille looked at us, confused.

"What are you seeing?"

An elderly man in the nude walked past me.

"Too much."

Reed's eyes narrowed to a lone figure at the top of the platform. Its vaguely male shape was on its hands and knees close to the edge. It was trying to pick up pieces of the Grand Terraformer, but its hands passed through the broken metal fragments.

A wicked smile returned to the Inquisitor's face. Reed slinked up the steps, her eyes fixed on the soul that had not walked away. Her feet crunched on flakes of frozen metal. She crouched in front of the kneeling soul, her long club balanced over her shoulder.

Reed whispered to the soul of Nostrand Del. It was out of my earshot. I didn't have the will to enhance my senses. The soul of Nostrand curled into himself, raking his fingers down his face. His mouth gaped in a long, voiceless wail, and then he was gone. His quintessence was blown away by an ethereal wind and sprinkled across the land that he cursed.

Reed turned to us, walking down the stairs with a confident sway in her hips.

I looked up at her from where I lay on the stairs.

"Reed…"

My voice was weak. The world was dim.

"What did you say? What did you tell him?"

She looked down at me and smiled.

"I told him the truth. The Sanctifiers always win."

# # #

We made the slow trek back to Shay and the platform to the surface. Dugan limped on his mostly healed leg, still using Isla's staff for support. Thor transported an unconscious Isla while I wrapped my arms around Castille as she carried me on her back. She was in a bad mood—we all were… except for Reed.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The Inquisitor walked with her shoulders back, a smug smile on her face.

Reed would be smiling for a while. She landed the killing blow on Nostrand while doing almost none of the work. My eyes drifted from her to the rest of my party.

Dugan's face was set in a frown as he limped forward in obvious pain. He and Castille had refused to fully heal themselves until they returned to town. Isla hadn't woken up in an hour despite our poking and prodding. While we were worried, Reed told us this was normal for the amount of will she used. Isla had been incredible, duelling Nostrand to a standstill for most of the fight. Because of her and Shay's bluff, we only had one casualty.

My eyes moved to Castille. She would be frowning if not for the swelling on the right side of her face. Dugan thought there were still small fragments of her sword buried deeper than his large fingers could reach. The sword had been her grandfather's, passed down from her father to her. When she revealed that fact, the hours she spent maintaining the weapon suddenly made sense. Past her mask of sarcasm, I could tell she was in a state of mourning. The sword had been her only connection to the family that disowned her.

So, this is what winners looked like.

A short chuckle escaped my lips. Everyone conscious turned to look at me.

"What's so funny?"

"We won," I said, my face caught in a half smile.

"Aye, we did."

Castille turned away to set her face forward in grim determination. The others turned to continue walking to the small hill with a single shaft of light overhead. Everyone except for Reed. Her gaze lingered on me from the corner of her eye, and the smile on her face took on a different meaning.

I broke eye contact with the Inquisitor, focusing ahead and ignoring the wave of heat that washed over my face.

We passed the last building, and my eyes were drawn to the top of the hill.

Shay waved at us from the platform, surrounded by Reed's guards hidden from the neck down by the stone men's rectangular shields. Two more of Reed's men had fallen in the time we left. Their bodies lay next to Shay on the platform. At the base of the hill, the bodies of twenty more heavies lay scattered and broken.

"Trouble?" Reed asked.

"Nothing your guards couldn't handle. You trained them well in such little time."

Reed swept her gaze over her guards. They lay down their shields and gave her a snappy salute.

"At ease…"

She paused before giving them a broad smile.

"You've done well—all of you. Thank you for your hard work."

Their stern faces cracked into wide smiles that didn't suit them. It gave me the impression that Reed rarely handed out praise.

"Are we done here, Apprentice?" Shay asked.

He looked bored, sitting with his legs crossed and leaning to one side.

"Yes. We need to return to Steeltown and see to the damage."

For the first time since leaving the ziggurat, Reed stopped smiling.

A wave of dread washed over me. I'd been so wrapped up in our victory that I had forgotten about Steeltown… and its people.

How many of them died in Nostrand's second attack?

Was Steeltown even standing, or had it been burned to the ground in our absence?

At that moment, I understood Castille and Dugan's dark mood and why they refused further healing. They were saving Dugan's abilities to heal the town's survivors.

I stared at my companions as we climbed the muddy hill to the stone platform.

They were putting the lives of strangers over their own health and well-being.

It was crazy. Yet, had I not done the same thing when I continued fighting after defeating the stone men?

I shook my head.

No, that was different.

Right?

# # #

We rode back to Steeltown in silence, unsure who or what would be waiting for us. Our group leaned against the interior of the covered wagon with Isla laid out in the middle. I closed my eyes and did my best to get comfortable. Rest—even a little, would replenish my will.

I imagined the faces of the people we left that morning.

Cassandra…

Arwen…

Tom…

I groaned internally.

What was I going to say when I met him again? I wasn't any closer to finding an answer to his question—a reason to keep living. A few months ago, everything was so simple. All I had to do was follow the path Sin laid out before me. It was a bloody path with dead bodies as milestones, but it would make me strong… and safe. Somewhere along this journey, I had left that path, and things had become complicated. I opened my eyes and glanced at the people around me—the complications.

Beside me, Dugan had fallen asleep with Thor resting his head on his thigh. Castille was awake, staring up at the canvas canopy. In front of us, the roughspun blanket draped over Isla rose and fell with her shallow breaths. On the other side of the wagon, Shay lay on his side, his head propped up with one hand, while Reed sat cross-legged in deep meditation.

Complications, yes, but also allies.

I closed my eyes, and my mind went to the faces I didn't want to see again.

Lady Kateen…

Her psychopathic daughter, Clarice….

And, of course, Van Lagos.

A pang of guilt made me hunch my shoulders. Van was going to kill me when he found out about Finnick. I killed his brother, and then I killed him again. As much as Finnick had it coming, I couldn't say the same about Van. As far as cartel leaders went, he had been friendly, fair and less homicidal than one would expect, but now…

I needed to leave Steeltown—the sooner, the better.

I crossed my arms and let my head lean against the canvas. I needed to be ready for Van Lagos—for Kateen—for all of them.

I needed to sleep.

I focused on breathing, falling into a meditative state like Reed. My muscles relaxed, and the storm of thoughts swirling in my head fell to a whisper. Like my body pulled along by the wagon, my consciousness began to drift into a deep, peaceful-

THUMP!

I bounced off the wagon bed, slamming back down and snapping my eyes open.

"What was that?!"

Everyone except Isla became alert, looking for the cause of the disturbance.

"Anders?!" Reed asked.

"Sorry, Special Inquisitor. Couldn't be helped," our driver said.

"And why is that?"

There was a hint of venom in her voice.

Castille got to her feet in the moving wagon and looked over our driver's bald head.

"Dead stone men. Slow down, driver."

"I don't take orders from you."

"You don't, but do it anyway," Reed said, holding on to the canvas as she got to her feet.

"Y-Yes, Special Inquisitor."

Our wagon slowed to a crawl. The wagon bed rocked left and right over the bodies of fallen stone men. The wagons behind us slowed down to match our pace.

I shuffled on my hands and knees to the front of the wagon to catch a glimpse of the town.

I grabbed the back of the driver's bench and pulled myself up for a better view.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.