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We left the Ifrit city in the morning. Rather than heading straight back to Village Apollo, I angled our course north. Flight by chopper wasn't nearly as fast as the jets, and it gave me time to consider things before Bluff Canaveral came into sight.

The bluff now had what appeared from a distance to be three towers jutting up against the horizon, as well as the Midnighter observatory atop their narrow pyramid. The towers themselves were the rockets and boosters coming together, looking less like a majestic Saturn V and more like a column of scrap. What's more, the base of the bluff had been further cleared and the Midnighter presence increased threefold from my last visit. I saw more cavalry, more spears, and a hive of attendant activity servicing a large, enclosed tent of black fabric. Elite queen's guard soldiers patrolled the area, and a detachment of Midnighters stood ready to repel attacks at palisades that now lined the perimeter of the ground-level camp. The fortifications were thick enough to repel thundercleaves, let alone the pale lizards that attacked the bluff daily. Completely overkill. Likewise, the Midnight air cavalry patrolled the sky, warriors riding on their winged mounts with their black carapace glistening in the sun. Canaveral was the most well-defended bluff by far, thanks to the Midnighter military presence.

The air patrols moved aside for us to land at the helipads on the western side of the bluff. Goblins with rifles and shock spears patrolled together with the soldier-caste Midnighters on the ground as easily as though the two species had interacted since birth—which for many of the goblins, I suppose they had.

I set the aircraft down and hopped out with Armstrong. He looked out over the edge to the base of the bluff.

"Sure are a lot of 'em, boss," he said.

"Sure are," I agreed. Last time I was here, the priestess had promised answers when her boss got to Canaveral. From the big increase in security, I was willing to bet someone with a lot of authority had arrived. I glanced up into the air, where several choppers still flew in the airspace. If things turned sour, they already had their orders. So did the other bluffs, if it came down to it.

John was ready and waiting, along with a contingent of scrappers and igni armed with the best arms and armor available to goblin-kind. And, unbeknownst to the Midnighters, what goblin jets that had survived the battle with the null devil were fueled, armed, and ready for takeoff.

The Midnighter leadership must have realized something was up, because Priestess' Cla'thn's palanquin met us at the lift along with the captain of her guards and her attendants. I held back the secretive service and stepped up to the captain. "Last time we spoke, Cla'thn promised me answers."

Her voice drifted out from the palanquin.

"And as promised, you shall have them, King Apollo. Come, we will speak with my superior."

I waved my retinue forward, and we boarded the lift that lowered us down to the forest floor below. Many of the Midnighter soldiers and attendants surprised me by making the circular sign of the goblin religion over their heads, though many also made the Midnighter sign of the watchful eye. We walked through the Midnighter camp until we reached their thick, black tent that had been decorated with stars and sigils. The Midnighters moved to block us until they saw the priestess' palanquin, at which point they stood aside and came to attention.

"I must warn you, King Apollo. Many outsiders are unable to stand in the same space with the First Daughter of Midnight. She is eclipsed only by the Honored Queen herself. She will take no offense if you choose to flee."

"Duly noted," I said, steeling myself. One of the elite soldiers lifted the flap of the tent, and I ducked under after the palanquin. Armstrong and John both made to follow, but the elites dropped their spears across the opening.

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"Boss!" shouted Armstrong.

"It's alright," I said. I hoped. I had talked to the Ifrit king, after all, so I had some idea what I was walking into. "Take up stations outside and wait for me to come back."

My guards backed off, looking uncertain, but respecting my orders. The Midnighters dropped the tent flap, plunging us into near darkness but for the glow of smoldering incense coals atop small holders. I gave my eyes time to adjust as Cla'thn unfolded herself from her palanquin. Other attendants in the antechamber worked, lighting more of the incense sticks or bringing platters of Midnighter food through, which even my goblin side didn't find appetizing. It looked like nothing so much as half-mushed maggots and uncooked game offal, drizzled with a sauce that smelled like ammonia.

Once her robes were properly arranged, Cla'thn gestured two of her palms toward the inner folds of the door, and the attendants pulled on two cords to lift the cloth.

I stepped through. It seemed the top of the tent was actually sewn from a semi-transparent material, because the inside of the tent was like a planetarium screen. The dome showed an illuminated starfield swirling with colorful clusters of nebulae and marked with strange constellations. The dimmed shafts of light shimmered through smoky air, and I coughed as I tried to get a look at the… something that took up a sizable portion of the large tent's space. I caught a glimpse of a stinger slithering out of sight and was hit by a smell like death and heat-rash stank that had been bottled and left out in the sun. In the gloom, a bulbous mass moved, only partially silhouetted by the defining rays of the pseudo starlight stabbing down from above.

Every threat sense I had spiked and screamed at me to run, that I was instants from death. But most telling of all, even though we'd defeated the null devil, System still imposed a "??" over the creature. Whatever was in here with me was a monster of nigh unimaginable power. Perhaps not physically powerful, despite its enormous size, but the air veritably crackled with potential energy like I was standing between the two tines of a Jacob's Ladder.

"Um…" I said, trying to keep a tremor out of both my voice and my knees. "Hello?"

"Greetings, King Apollo. I am Szala, First Among Daughters, reader of the stars, Voice of the Midnight Queen, and Heir to the Midnight Empire."

"That's intense," I said.

The creature shifted, and a ray of light played across a half-dozen compound eyes. "It is indeed a most heavy calling. In reading the future, we become its stewards. Our actions—all of our actions— have such weight as you could not fathom. I know this better than most, I believe. You defeated the null devil and spoke with the King of the Ifrit. Now you are here to ask why we brought you to Rava."

At least she didn't beat around the bush. I had expected her to deny or deflect. I almost wasn't ready for the admission. "I thought the future was blocked in Lanclova," I said.

"When you read the ripples as long as I have, patterns begin to emerge. Is there a word in your world for a seer who predicts not the future, but the predictions of other seers?"

I shook my head. This was moving so fast. "If there is, I don't know it. We don't have seers in my world. Or magic at all."

A long, curved hand tipped with razor-sharp talons moved through the light shafts, seizing a handful of goo from a platter, which the sorceress devoured thankfully out of sight (though unfortunately, not out of earshot). I shuddered at the sucking, snapping, slurping sounds all happening simultaneously.

"Why might we seek one from such a world? Have you pondered this?"

Of all the places to employ the Socratic Method, I hadn't expected it from a culture of fortune tellers. I continued down her train of thought. "The null devil… there are forces on Rava stronger than it, forces with more influence, forces with incredible power. But they all rely on magic. Though they could destroy more than that creature could have, they could not destroy the creature itself."

Beside me, Priestess Cla'thn nodded her approval.

"So, we brought you here to free the Ifrit from their shackles?"

I shook my head. "It can't be that simple. The King of the Ifrit said that summoning magic is ancient, long-defunct, and incredibly risky. But clearly, you want me to do something that can't be done with magic. Something only a—" I stopped just short of saying human, "—person from my world could do."

The First among Daughters remained silent, so I continued that line of thinking. "The null devil terrorizing the desert wasn't the only one of its kind. Others fell on Rava." I raised my eyes to the star-scape of the tent, and the pink and blue orb stitched with utmost care directly over my head. An orb unmarred by deep canyons or blighted forests. "And they didn't just fall on Rava, either, did they?"

I looked down at the shadow of the First again. "You brought me here to go to the moon."

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