Try as he might, Enalus couldn't force his tired eyes to focus on the task in front of him. He gave up on the accounts ledger, letting it fall back onto his desk.

Enalus leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. It had been weeks since he last slept and the long hours trying to not only find places for all of Nali's people to stay but also to organize relief efforts for the chosen were starting to catch up to him.

His high Endurance made it easier to go long periods of time without rest, which was the only reason he was still conscious at this point. At his current level, his limit was usually about a month. But even with this advantage, there were few on Ember who could forgo sleeping entirely.

Most of them were deranged in some way. Be it excessive boredom, anger management or the apathy that came with a long lifetime spent entirely in your own head; Enalus had no desire to reach such heights. There weren't many—monster or player—who could match such men in terms of raw strength, but insanity led a man to death as readily as a dulled blade.

Enalus' mage light flickered.

A crease formed between his brows. Magic was growing increasingly unstable in ways he didn't anticipate. The records of previous Dark Ages didn't mention a rapid deterioration towards the end of the Light Age. They always described it as a slow march followed by a sudden collapse; like a branch breaking under the weight of a Pyria.

It might be easier if the records could tell him exactly what to expect leading up to a Dark Age, but the glitches were different between Dark Ages and the System disabled functions in a different order every time. It was almost like the Administrator was attempting multiple strategies to preserve the System and building on the knowledge gained from past attempts.

There was no evidence to support this theory, only subtle patterns and conjecture, but it made Enalus feel better to think that someone was trying to learn from past mistakes.

The thought to ask Lord Myre his opinion on the subject crossed Enalus' mind before he could stop it.

His frown deepened. The world had become so complicated of late, even without the coming Dark Age.

Enalus didn't know what to make of Queen Naomi's warnings, nor her assurances. While he had already come to the conclusion that Lord Myre was somehow involved in Nali's disappearance, to have his suspicions confirmed so quickly after their conception—and by the man's own sister, for that matter… it was difficult to believe.

The easiest part to believe was that Nali was in control of the situation. Enalus had let his worry get the better of him. He had underestimated the capabilities of his wife, and he was sure he had earned himself a scolding that would be carried out promptly upon her return.

However, no matter how much he thought of it, he just couldn't figure out what Nali had to gain by allowing herself to be kidnapped.

Information? That was a given. But Enalus had seen firsthand how extensive Nali's network was. Thousands of people had arrived over the past week, most of which were redirected to nearby towns as Enalus couldn't possibly house them all.

If Nali needed information, she didn't have to find it herself. She need only send a letter, and she would receive the information back within a fortnight.

Could she have needed information that was outside her area of influence?

Enalus sat bolt upright, his fatigue forgotten in the rush of excitement.

"Jayn!" he called, grabbing his cloak off the hook and running into the hallway.

Jayn appeared from a side hallway, summoned by the runes worked into Enalus' desk.

"You summoned me?" Jayn said, falling into step next to Enalus.

"Gather everyone you can find—anyone who worked for or with Nali—and send them to meet me in the larger meeting hall," Enalus said, not slowing his pace.

Jayn bowed, somehow making the move look graceful despite the fact that he was practically jogging to keep up with Enalus.

He turned and hurried in the other direction, disappearing around a corner.

There were about fifty of Nali's people in the estate at the moment, and several in nearby towns and villages. Jayn would know to keep going until the meeting room had reached capacity.

The more people they found, the better the chances that his plan would work.

Enalus forced himself to walk at a reasonable pace. He wanted to run through the halls like a maniac, but such recklessness would no doubt lead to injuries which would only delay him more and cause his servants undue stress. However, he did allow himself to increase his pace to a brisk jog when he was sure of his self-control.

He arrived in the meeting hall within a few minutes. The large room could hold a few hundred people at once, though many of them would be unable to actually participate if it filled to capacity. In the center of the room, an enormous table was covered with a map that was painted directly onto the wood. On the map, every major city in the peninsula was clearly marked in large black letters. Smaller cities were marked in blue, and villages were marked in green. Underneath the city names, a single line with the current village head and their level was written in silver ink.

The map updated automatically, embedded with sophisticated runes to match several smaller documents held by Nali's people around the world. Large geographical changes would require a runesmith to come in and update the map manually, but any small changes could be adjusted by Nali's map keepers.

It was their greatest possession—costing them more than the mansion itself—but it was well worth the expense. Nali was one of the few people on Ember that had a full view of the political situation—a powerful tool and a boon for Enalus, who handled most of the political matters of their estate.

Enalus pulled open one of the drawers beneath the table and grabbed out a handful of figurines; animals carved into wood, meant to represent different player archetypes. Bears represented strength; felines for speed; cani for strategy and espionage; birds for flight-enabled troops; along with many others that Enalus couldn't remember. They hadn't been used yet, as their purpose was to coordinate troop movements during the Dark Age.

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Their meaning didn't matter today. Every piece would represent a person or holding of Nali's.

Enalus placed the handful on the table and started giving orders. "One to Amarn in Brath, one to Seneg in Undran. One to Emal in Jerith…"

He continued listing off cities and the figurines came to life, hurrying to arrange themselves on the map according to his words. As people started to trickle in, he had them list where they were stationed and move aside so the next person could do so.

As one of them was moving to the side, he stopped to ask a question, holding up the line.

Enalus took a deep breath, forcing himself to shift his focus to the man.

He was on the smaller side, his skin covered in coarse brown fur everywhere but his face. He looked uncertain as he studied the map.

Enalus smoothed his features. "Yes?"

"You're trying to map out Nali's network, right?" the man asked, still focused on the map.

Enalus nodded. "Indeed."

The man pointed at a city near the southwestern corner of Kelinar. "She has someone in Thals that sends her reports on the famine in Kelinar—" He pointed across the table at Brath. "—and a few students that are staying in Brath's capital, last I checked."

Enalus' annoyance turned to excitement. He placed two figurines on the table and sent them to the indicated locations.

"Thank you," he said. "Does anyone else know of other locations besides where they live?"

Organization broke down after that, but their efficiency soared. Enalus focused on placing soldiers as city names came at him from all corners of the room. Jayn showed up halfway through and wrangled it back into something more manageable. He jotted the cities down on scraps of paper and left them in a stack for Enalus to work through.

It would have been easier if Jayn could place troops himself, but Nali had it keyed to only her and Enalus' voices for the sake of security and the pieces wouldn't move until one of them touched them to activate it.

Eventually they ran out of troops, and Enalus had to switch to the black figurines reserved for enemies instead. Ursivuls and Robis began filling the map, creating a disjointed sea of black and white pieces.

Enalus lost track of time, so engrossed in his task that he didn't even notice as the room slowly emptied around him. When the scraps of paper finally stopped coming, he looked up, finding only a few people left around the table.

"Where did everyone go?" he asked.

Jayn examined the map thoughtfully. "The room was too small, so I've been sending people away as they finished indicating all of the locations they were aware of. This allowed more people to join. I can't say for certain, but I believe this is the most complete idea of the lady's sphere of influence that we can hope for."

Enalus nodded. Jayn was always on top of things logistically.

The remaining few people at the table included two of Enalus' knights—who had come when they heard that people were using the war map for the first time—two of the kitchen staff—who brought snacks and a pot of tea—and three of Nali's students who Enalus didn't recognize, although they looked vaguely familiar.

"I'm sure there are other people out there, but this is all I know," the female in the trio said. She was a petite woman, with glowing yellow scales that covered her neck and wrists, peeking around the edges of her face. She turned to one of her companions—a broader man with beady eyes and a pensive expression. "Gann?"

"Assuming no one replaced Din in the capital… yeah, that's it," Gann replied.

"Do you think she's with Nali?" the other man asked, flicking long coils of curly brown hair out of his face. "Or did she get away?"

"She would've come back for us," the woman said. "You don't think she…"

She trailed off, her scales turning a subtle shade of blue.

Empathetic appearance changes, Enalus observed curiously. It was no wonder Nali found her interesting. What might have drawn her to the other two?

They looked like they had seen better days. The second man had dark circles under his eyes and patches of missing fur on his hands and face. The other man, Gann, had a haunted look in his eyes that he seemed to be trying to keep hidden and the woman's arm showed patches where new scales were still growing in.

There were no injuries, owing to the availability of healing spells on Ember, but healing the flesh didn't heal the trauma.

"What about Korsa?" the furry man asked, looking at Kelinar on the map. "Doesn't Din's brother have an inn there?"

The woman frowned. "Is Pin one of Nali's? I thought he just came to visit every now and then."

"Nali's or not, this is about her network, isn't it?" the man asked. "She would reach out if she needed something, or she would ask Din to do it. There should be a figure in Korsa."

Enalus placed a black bird piece on the board and told it where to go. It flew over to the northern tip of Kelinar, settling just off the coast.

The three looked startled, apparently having forgotten that Enalus was there.

"Thank you for your help," Enalus said. "If that's all, you look like you could use some rest."

Gann frowned, looking like he wanted to reject the idea, but he didn't give voice to the objection.

He nodded, heading for the door. As he came closer to Enalus he paused, reaching into his pocket.

"I think you should have this," he said, pulling out a wooden coin. "Nali told me to activate it when we got out of the tunnels, but I couldn't get it to work. Injecting Mana into it just made it glow a little, nothing else."

Enalus finally placed where he had seen them. They was some of Nali's newer students—Gann, Pria and Trent, if memory served—and they were the ones that she sent through the tunnels that day.

Enalus accepted the coin. As soon as his finger brushed up against the smooth wood, it started to vibrate. Enalus pulled his hand back as the coin pulled to the right, trying to move toward the map.

Gann tried to hold onto it, but the coin yanked itself out of his fingers, zipping across the table. It weaved around black and white figurines, jumping over several when they were packed too closely together. Finally, it settled in the Northwest Sea, inching to a stop in the middle of the water.

The man's brow furrowed. "What—?"

"Loren!" Pria exclaimed, running to the other side of the table.

Enalus moved to get a closer look. The coin wasn't a small wooden disk anymore. It was a miniature sculpture of Nali, standing confidently in the middle of the ocean.

"Isn't there only one habitable island in Loren?" Trent asked, joining Pria.

The rest of the onlookers gathered around, all huddled around the tiny archipelago.

"That's what the inhabitants say," Gann said skeptically. "But who would be willing to test it."

Enalus gripped the side of the table. Finally, he had an answer. If Nali did this right…

"Status," Enalus said, swallowing against the sudden dryness in his throat.

A screen appeared above Nali's head with small bars to indicate her HP and Mana.

Enalus' legs nearly buckled. She was in full health. She had even gained a level in her absence.

She was all right.

The screen shifted to reveal a message, scrawled in Nali's neat handwriting.

Enalus,

Please tell me this letter made it to you before you tried to burn down the capital! I'm fine, I promise. This is all in the plan. I'm finally going to get answers out of Hinesh and after I figure out what's going on, I will make my way back. Don't do anything foolish while I'm gone.

Also, don't trust Lord Myre. I've known he had something to do with Hinesh for years, but this goes deeper than either of us realized. Don't give him any reason to doubt your loyalty either.

I'll be back within a few months. I better have a husband to come back to.

All my love,

Nali

P.S. Din ended up coming with me. Can you let her brother know she's okay? This got more complicated than I expected.

"How?" Gann asked, staring at the message. "She handed it to me right before we left, she couldn't have had time to write this."

"It's connected to parchment in her Inventory," Enalus said. "She likely wrote it after she arrived."

It was only a guess. Enalus didn't even know that Nali was making new pieces for the map. Pride for his wife swelled in his chest. She was always one step ahead of him.

Nali would learn Myre's secrets. It was Enalus' job to remove him from power.

Enalus would remove anyone who posed a danger to Nali; she was the only thing keeping him sane.

If Enalus had to throw the country into a little bit of political upheaval to do so, then so be it.

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