"Only two," I lamented, staring up at the pair of Air Source that lazily circled my head.

Justine was jogging in place beside me, her feet beating a steady rhythm. "Is that bad?"

When Felstrife had succeeded in adjusting my helmet so that I could summon again, the first thing I had decided to check on was the state of my Sources. Caught up in survival, leveling, and secret gathering, I'd thoroughly neglected my cultivation and had known there would be consequences. Of course Air, the Source of freedom and movement, would have been hampered by my time in imprisonment. I was lucky to still have two, I supposed, though that line of reasoning did little to assuage the sting of loss.

"I used to have three," I said by way of explanation, and both Justine and Geb nodded while sharing none of my disappointment. Our circumstances provided little in the way of entertainment, and they were acting as if my Source summoning was akin to some grand show, watching the sphere-shaped whirlwinds spin around like it was a skilled juggler's trick.

Life Source was the next I happened to draw and summon, which got a few oohs from my tiny audience. Bless the Twelve, I still had both, as well as my dual Life / Order Source, which was no surprise due to the fabricator I wore – another treasure of mine Felstrife cared not a whit about. Finishing off the rest of my Source, I was surprised to find I had one more than expected.

"Hmm," I commented aloud, as soon as I saw the off-numbered count in Hand.

"Something else wrong, lad?" Geb asked, never taking his eyes off the growing number of Source that paraded around my head.

"I have five Order Source again instead of just four," I said, summoning them all. "My sessions with Felstrife must be more structured than I thought, and the same can probably be said of the rest of my routine, considering how limited it is." The realization gave me an idea, and I turned to my fellow captives. "If that is indeed the reason for this unexpected gain, it could very well be true for both of you as well." I lifted my wrist holder. "I happen to be in possession of some extra Order cards –"

"Whoa, whoa, lad," Geb said, was waving me off before I even finished. "Can't teach an old dog new tricks, I'm afraid. No room for anyone else in my head but me."

I hadn't expected such a quick refusal from the older man, but I was sure that Justine would take me up on the offer. She was a one-time guard, after all. Surely she'd jump at a chance to be better armed.

However, the look she gave me didn't inspire confidence, glancing back and forth between us with some obvious apprehension. "My ma always said that owning a card was one card too many."

"But you already have a card," I replied, "a Soul card, both of you do."

"Well, that's just a natural part of being, isn't it?" Justine countered. "But buying and selling other folk, using them to get what you want?" She shook her head. "That's the noble way of doing things, and I'm no noble."

I stared at them both, feeling like I'd never really seen them until now. Didn't they want to improve their situation? Give themselves a chance of escaping, no matter how slim? And what Justine was saying about Soul cards – had she and her family never listened to the teachings of the church? A card without a living mind to call Home floated in never ending statis, which was a hell nearly as bad as not forming a Soul card at all.

"If that is what you wish," I said as evenly as I could.

The exchange seemed to dampen their desire to Source watch, Geb going back to his rope and Justine doing a circuit of the room, though she gave Felstrife a wide berth, who was in the corner with Bessamun, listening to yet another recitation from his Soul ability, this one about the proper way to stitch hemlines.

I tuned them out as I began pulling summons from my Mind Home. Seeing the cards appear in my hands gave me a pleasant sense of nostalgia and even a flare of excitement. I hadn't realized how much I had missed them until this very moment. I rubbed a thumb over each fondly, seeing cards that had been with me since the very beginning and also more recent acquisitions.

I was tempted to summon Atrea as soon as I drew her – the ballroom was big enough, and we had much to catch up on – or my Were Elves to explain why I still hadn't met their requests that would have been perfectly reasonable under normal circumstances.

But in the end, I settled on the most strategic summon, as I saw it.

"Young Lord," the woman behind the mask said when she finished forming. "It has been some time." She surveyed the room before looking back at me. "And I think I see why. Are you well?"

"How have you been?" I asked. I had no idea what effect being sealed away by an artifact might have had on my cards, the Souls especially, and I found myself quite concerned with their well being. As long as I drew breath, I needed to be a good steward to them all.

"Well enough," she said, and when it was clear that I wanted to hear more, she admitted, "Stiff in a way. But nothing some time in the land of the living won't cure. The others would appreciate the same when you can."

"I would like nothing more," I agreed. "However, I am currently being held by a foe that we cannot overcome."

The Master Shieldbearer turned in the direction of Felstrife. "The lich. Aye, I remember her. Nasty piece of work."

"We are not under an immediate threat from her," I explained, "but there is another hunting us, which is why I need you guarding me." I went on to explain about the rogue Secret Keeper, and how, for whatever reason, Azure favored attacking us right as we leveled. I shared the only hunch I had, which was that Secret Keeper thought we might be rescued before Felstrife decided to steal our abilities, thus eliminating the need for our deaths. By waiting, the Secret Keeper was giving us a chance to survive. Of course, I admitted I might also be assigning too much compassion to Azure. Either way, I wanted to make the Master Shielbearer as defensible as possible, since now that I was leveled the Secret Keeper might come for me at any time. "Do you concur?" I asked when I finished laying out my plan.

The Shieldmaster seemed to think about it for a moment, which I appreciated, and then nodded. "That ought to do the trick for now."

Glad for her support, I went ahead and cast Fluid Grace on both of us, my stiff muscles and neck untightening for the first time in days.

Next, instead of putting my Relics on myself, I went ahead and equipped them onto the Shieldmaster. Any enemy wanting to attack me, Azure or otherwise, would have to get through my Bodyguard first, and having Armor 3 was more efficient on the front end than split between the two of us.

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For added protection, when my Order Sources were back to ready, I also summoned my Master Assassin. I had him wait by the door to the room, and the stillness of his mission engaged his Stealth, shadowing him from view.

My current defenses should be enough to handle half a dozen of Azure's Hands, but if the alliance between the undead and demons or orcs were to fracture, I needed someone who could make short work of any big threats that broke though.

I would have liked to summon even more, but I decided that keeping my Hand 10 strong so my Protection Spells were as powerful as possible was more important.

I also made sure to keep my Greater Goods and Defensive Katas in Hand, in case I should need additional protection, grateful I still had enough Air Source to cast the latter.

I also kept Feral Strengths at the ready so I could give my Master Shieldbearer more Health or my Master Assassin more Attack in case I faced an Armored foe.

And the four cards not in use, I relegated to my Mind Home as an extra guard against Sneak Attack, just as Edaine had taught us. I was double-checking that everything was to my liking when I heard Geb speak up behind me.

"Never told us you had an army in your head, lad."

"If only," I said, glancing over my shoulder. "Our circumstances would change a great deal if I had such a thing at my disposal." Despite my words to the contrary, I was feeling considerably better, protected and in control in a way I hadn't in ages. "And this is nothing compared to the likes of Felstrife," I added, in part to remind myself of the futility of trying to attack her here and now. "Those Souls she summoned before were of Epic and Mythic rarity, not to mention her Legendaries." I didn't know if she still had the Kraken, but I wouldn't put it past her. Perhaps that was something I could discover with my Scrying Eye ability…

"I wouldn't call these nothing," Geb insisted, and I caught my Bodyguard saluting the gaffer, which widened the old man's eyes. "Far from it, indeed."

We lapsed into silence after that, and it didn't take long for me to wish that Festrife had restarted my force-leveling. She had said a brief rest was best right after elevation, but I had no such time to waste. So thinking, I imagined myself peering into her mind in the hopes of triggering my Scrying Eye. The lich was probably the most natural person I could have tried it on, considering how much time we had spent engaged in that sort of activity.

At first nothing much happened besides a slight tension headache coming on from the strain I was exerting. Perhaps I needed to imagine the image coming to me instead of forcing my way into her head? I tried that instead, leaning back, thinking of the card leaping from her mind and floating over to me, like I was receiving an ante after a hard won duel. Slowly a card formed in front of my vision, piecing itself together until it was whole.

I would have preferred confirmation about the Kraken, but Stream of Blood was a card I had never seen before, so I filed it away happily enough. I immediately tried to use Scrying Eye again, but after a short period of waiting, it became clear the ability had some sort of cool down, just like my Seersight – hopefully not a full day though. I'd attempt it again every so often to find out.

Which of her Mind Homes had that Spell come from? I wondered. What's more, were her split Mind Homes somehow connected to her lichdom or were the traits entirely unrelated? I was toying with those possibilities when Geb let out a sudden gasp.

I turned his way – the two of us never far apart these days – to find him clutching at his heart. If I had encountered Geb at a dinner party or some other function and saw him acting thus, I would have assumed him in immediate mortal peril. But with things as they were? The man was leveling.

As if on cue, I saw a shimmer of movement behind Geb that had to be another of Azure's Hands acting in the Secret Keeper's stead. My Master Shieldbearer could have probably gotten there in time, Bodyguarding my compatriot like I had used the card ability to defend Hull, but I didn't want to risk it, so I cast Protection instead.

The 9-card-strong shield that formed was quite large, driving space between Geb and his assailant, as well as disrupting the attacker's hidden state, revealing a similar voluminous robe and mask I was used to seeing now.

Felstrife swept by from where she had been, spearing the new "Azure" with an Ice Lance that impacted with such force, it impaled the interloper up against the far wall, cracking the mirror there.

The lich hardly noticed, crouching in front of Geb, holding him by the shoulders almost affectionately as the worst of the tremors left the older man.

"Well," he said, practically choking on the word, "never thought that would happen again in my lifetime." Then he looked at me, blinking gold-flecked eyes. "Thank you, lad."

"Just returning the favor," I said, not knowing what to feel. I had convinced Felstrife to give me a stay of execution, but surely Geb would have his fresh abilities taken on the spot.

To my surprise, the lich gestured at me. "Do you wish to continue on the same path as him?"

Geb considered this offer longer than he had the one I'd made him, but in the end, he still shook his head. "No. My hands burn day and night now. I want to rest. Twins, I'd like that."

"Very well," Felstrife rasped, which sounded to me no better than a death sentence. With a snap of her bone fingers, she summoned a card that spun up an orb of water around them, similar to the Dueling Dome but made of liquid instead of air.

The barrier pulsed outward from where Felstrife crouched in front of Geb, and my Bodyguard pulled me back so I wouldn't come into contact with the cobalt blue wall of the Spell. The water dome expanded another foot but then stilled, at which point, I removed myself from the Master Shieldbearers grip.

"It's okay," I said, stepping up as close as I could to the water wall. The opaque bits swirled and moved like the flow of the current, so half the time I could see within even if the view of the lich and man was a bit distorted. Justine trotted up beside me, and even Bessamun had stopped using his Soul ability. If me summoning Source had been a performance to watch, this was the main event.

Felstrife's ribcage opened, like doors on hinges spreading wide. Geb pulled back from the grotesque and inhuman action like any sane man would, but her hands on his shoulders didn't let go, keeping him close. Wider the bones stretched until they were parallel to her spine like a pair of gruesome wings. A pull happened then, wisps of golden energy trailing from Geb's chest into Felstrife, where the inner portion of her spine and ribcage glistened like diamonds. The departing energy was only thread-sized at first, but as I watched it grew thicker until it was one great band that connected the two inside the globe of water.

I pressed my face up against the barrier, which was cool and wet to the touch. There was something about the shine inside Felstrife's body that drew my attention. It wasn't the entire area but instead tiny pieces spread throughout, each of them glimmering, like… like… shattered pieces of a card.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Justine said from beside me, and my eyes snapped back to Geb. The man had never been particularly strong-looking, but he appeared overly frail now, nearly skeletal in fact. Seeing him so emaciated thrummed a muscle in my jaw, but I didn't look away, couldn't look away if I wanted. This was the future that awaited me if I failed.

It was yet another surprise when the water wall came down in a crash, soaking my shoes before vanishing, returning to the Spell card that had summoned it.

Felstrife was standing now, her ribcage creaking the last few inches closed, her whole body arched as if she was experiencing an elevation herself – Twins help us all if she became Legendary. Geb, on the other hand, was swaying in his seat, and despite my Bodyguard reaching out to try and stop me, I immediately went to his aid.

Felstrife turned to leave, and as she did, she swept a hand out casually, like it was nothing. Yet from a Mythic, no attack was casual – the gesture separated the old man's head from his shoulders. It happened so quickly and so unexpectedly I didn't have a chance to even think of casting a Spell or issuing a command.

My mind locked up at the horrific situation, but my body didn't, kneeling down to the severed head that had fetched up against my feet. I heard Justine sicking up and yet my hands didn't so much as quaver, as I gently closed his eyes and then opened his mouth to find his Soul card within, carefully extracting it.

He had been Rare for a moment – I had seen it – but her leaching power had transformed him into the basest of Commons, without so much as an ability or point of attack to his name.

"I'm taking his card," I informed Felstrife, the words hollow in my ears.

She gave no answer; my words didn't seem to matter to her in the slightest as she floated back over to Bessamun. No doubt he was the next of us that she would "harvest" and then prune as soon as the deed was done.

I watched the lich's back, feeling a sharp spike of hatred. Soon, though, I returned my eyes to Geb's card. "You shall have a place to rest, my friend," I whispered as I tucked it into my wrist holder temporarily. "This I swear."

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