Ransacking the bandits' hideout proved more profitable than he'd expected. While merchant caravans had largely ceased after the stoneflesh began their raids, the plunder from the first few had been stored inside the ruined manor, and the group stored as much as they could in their bags of holding.

The most valuable piece of loot, however, was the small stash of documents they'd found in one of the rooms. While the papers didn't give any more information on the bandits' plans than Rēmu had known, after a careful read, Jasper felt certain that there was a fourth camp to the north of the Ammatu's base that was preying on caravans departing from Merôm. Might be where Commander Uzzîl is being held - he was headed that way, after all.

After some discussion, they decided to head for the fourth camp, in the hopes of freeing and commander and, thereby, defanging the Ammatu's traitors. The only problem, though, was that the fort barred the only way to the north - or, at least, the only path via land - and they didn't want to alert the traitors of their movements. Fortunately, Jasper had an idea for another way.

They spent the day recuperating in the hollow and did not leave until dusk was nigh. The rain had returned in full force by then and, for once, the lousy weather aided them. The night was pitch black by the time they reached the narrow pass the fort guarded with the thick storm clouds blotting even the faintest glimmer of light from Selene's heavenly host. Pausing at a respectable distance, Jasper cast Spectral Wings on Nissilât's and Tsia's mounts, and the two took off, disappearing into the clouds overhead.

He waited ten minutes for the spell to recharge, and then he and Ihra followed. It was not a fun flight. The rain was bitter cold as they ascended and, once they cleared the top of the valley's short peaks, the winds from the Abulmaḫḫu mountains tossed them to and fro like a rowboat in a hurricane. It was all they could do to stay on course and as soon as the castle faded behind them, they descended into the forest.

Between the raging storm, the boundless dark, and the thicket of trees surrounding them, searching for the others was a pointless endeavor. They had planned for that, though, agreeing to meet at morn in the small village. Taking shelter beneath a nearby bluff, they set up their tents and turned in for the night.

"Wow, those bruises got a lot worse overnight."

The woman reflexively touched the dark welts around her neck and promptly winced. "Yeah, I guess that abomination really got her licks in."

Tsia nodded, easily accepting the answer, until a stray thought occurred to her. But didn't Jasper heal you? Sure, bruises could get worse over time, but not if they'd already been healed. True, she couldn't remember for certain if the mage had healed the Stryn warrior, but she couldn't imagine he hadn't.

And now that she thought about it, this wasn't the first time the woman had turned up with bruises around her neck. Is someone hurting her? The idea seemed absurd; Tsia felt confident that none of their party members would hurt her, and the notion that some random stranger would have the ability to do so without being detected was equally unlikely, yet she couldn't deny that something was harming her. Is she hurting herself?

If it had been Ihra or Jasper, she probably would have pressed the question but, even after a few months of traveling with the Stryn woman, she still didn't really know her. Nissilât mostly kept to herself, and the only ones who seemed to bring her out of her shell were Jasper or S̆ams̆ādur, neither of which were here. "Here, drink this."

"There's no need to waste the money," Nissilât refused the offered potion. "They're just bruises."

"And there's even less need to be in pain."

"I don't need it-"

Tsia yanked the cork out and offered it to the woman again with a triumphant grin. "There, it's already open, so unless you want to waste it."

She grimaced, but offered no more complaints, and Tsia watched with satisfaction as the bruises faded. "You know," she said hesitantly. "If there's something I can help with…"

"I'm fine," Nissilât snapped angrily, though it was quickly followed by an expression of regret. "I'm sorry, I'm just tired."

Tsia choked back the instinct to call out the obvious lie, and nodded silently. "No problem. We should probably get packed up, though. The others should be waiting."

Thankfully, the storm of the previous night had been reduced to a light drizzle, so though it took them a while to find the road, their progress was swift once they reached it. They reached the agreed-upon village a little past dawn, but Jasper and Ihra had beaten them to it.

"Enjoy your beauty rest," Jasper teased as the two dug into the breakfast the tavern offered.

Tsia grimaced, knowing all too well that she looked like a mess. It wasn't just that her clothes were thoroughly soaked, or her boots encrusted with mud; no, the worst part was her hair, which in the perpetual dampness of this accursed province, had turned into a frizzy disaster. The only saving grace was that Jasper looked even worse. Indeed, judging from the deep bags beneath his eyes, it was hard to believe that he'd slept at all. "Better than yours," she fired back playfully. "Did you even sleep, or did you come straight here?"

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"Well, one of us got some sleep." He smirked as he turned to Ihra. "And one of us, as it turns out, is quite the snorer."

The elfling colored. "I don't snore! And we both know that isn't why you couldn't fall asleep!"

"Oh, but you do snore," he insisted, "but, yes, you're snoring wasn't the biggest reason I was awake most of the night," he admitted, his face growing serious.

"I woke up last night to find someone else in our tent."

Tsia frowned, sawing at the overboiled sausage on her plate ineffectually. "By someone, do you mean one of the bandits?"

"Obviously not," Nissilât cut in, "or he would have just said so."

"Honestly? I'm not sure what it was." Jasper fidgeted with his plate. "It was a creature of pure shadow, with the silhouette of a woman, but there was nothing physical about it. There were no discernible features, except for its dark violet eyes."

Tsia jumped in her seat as something crashed beside her and turned her head to find that Nissilât had knocked her plate off the table. "Sorry," the woman apologized. "Did it-did it hurt you?" she asked almost breathlessly.

Her eyes narrowed at the question, suddenly wondering if that explained the source of the woman's bruises, but Jasper seemed oblivious.

"No, it didn't hurt me. It claimed it worked for Lady Selene, but…I'm not sure if I should believe it or not. I've met the goddess a handful of times, and she's always come…in person, if you can call it that. She's never sent a messenger like this before."

"You can't expect a goddess to always come at your beck and call," Tsia pointed out.

"Oh, I don't, but I'm also not naive enough to automatically believe a spirit just because it claims to speak for a god."

"So what did it say?" Ihra asked.

"A lot of cryptic bullcrap," Jasper frowned, "that the spirit refused to repeat or write down. I didn't understand a lot of what it said, but the part I did get was that there was a 'sacrifice' and a 'portal' that we were supposed to stop."

"Is the sacrifice connected to the portal?" Nissilât asked the obvious.

Jasper grimaced. "I'm not sure. The spirit was too damned vague to be sure of anything, but that's what my mind leapt to," he admitted. "Ever since we learned that the Ammatu already has multiple traitors inside the walls, I've felt like we're missing a piece of the puzzle. Why hasn't she taken the fort already? What is she waiting for?"

"But maybe this sacrifice, this portal - whatever the hell the spirit was talking about - is the missing piece."

"A sacrifice needs a priest, a portal, a mage," Nissilât mused. "If the spirit spoke truly, perhaps the Ammatu is waiting for someone to arrive."

"If that's the case, we might be making a mistake by not taking out the Ammatu immediately," Jasper rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'd rather rescue the commander first, but if the stoneflesh are just waiting for some priest or mage to arrive, what happens if they arrive while we're out searching for the fourth camp?"

"Do we have to make a decision now?" Tsia finally found her voice. "We'll have to pass fairly near the Ammatu's base if we head north to search for the last camp, so why don't we scout it out on the way? If they're hiding a portal up there, or some sort of mass sacrifice, we should be able to spot it, and if nothing strange is happening, then no harm's done."

"I'd considered that," Jasper replied, "But it's a bit of a risk. If they spot us, we could get forced into a fight we aren't ready for… on the other hand," he sighed, "it may be a risk we have to take."

"I can scout it," Nissilât volunteered, and Tsia's eyes narrowed. By yourself? True, she had that spell which made her hard to spot, and her ability to jump through shadows, but Tsia had noticed how carefully she rationed them out. The woman had to have a small essence pool, which made it all the more risky to go alone.

"Would you? That would be great-" As Jasper started to accept her offer, Tsia spoke over him.

"And what are they going to do if they spot you? Can you outrun them?"

"I'll just use the shadows," Nissilât replied dismissively.

"How many times can you cast that spell? How far does it let you jump?" she pressed.

The woman's brow darkened. "Enough to do the job, not that that's any of your business," she snapped.

"How. many. times," she repeated.

"Do you think you're my mother?" The table shook as Nissilât stood up abruptly. "I know my bounds better than you. I'm sure you think you're trying to help, but back off. I'm fine," she spat, before storming out of the tavern.

Are you?

As the door slammed behind the Stryn woman, Jasper cleared his throat. "Okay, so obviously I'm missing something. What happened last night?"

Tsia was slow to respond, suddenly feeling guilty at the thought of spilling the woman's secrets. "I think…someone's hurting her."

"Someone?" Jasper frowned. "There's only three of us in the party right now. Surely you don't think I-"

"No, not one of us," Tsia cut him off. "Did you heal her after our last fight?"

He blinked in confusion. "Of course!"

"That's what I'd assumed, but this morning, she woke up with large, hand-shaped bruises around her neck. If you healed her, she must have gotten them in her sleep."

"I've seen it too," Ihra spoke up. "She was having a nightmare a few days ago, so intense that she was strangling herself in her sleep. Nightmares happen," Ihra shrugged, "but if it keeps happening, it might be something worse. Something like-"

"An eṭemmu." Jasper finished. "I remember them from the game. They were a punishment for players who did something bad. I'm guessing there's some real-world equivalent?"

Tsia nodded. "You can't let her go alone."

"I'm not sure I can stop her," Jasper sighed. "She's a grown woman; she can do what she wants but…I'll try to talk to her."

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