Jeremiah had been busy since the enemy had arrived at the doorstep to the palace. They arrived just before nightfall, evening last, and began hurling whatever they could at the walls of the city with the two remaining catapults that they had. Wilhelm and others from the Order tried their best to protect the walls of the city from harm.

  Many of the stones that were being thrown had made their way over the walls and damaged many of the homes of the people that lived in the city. Jeremiah helped to evacuate the city into the palace throughout the night. He wanted to lead a group to destroy the catapults, but he dared not leave the safety of the walls for fear of the Luna Stala.

  Torches burned along the city walls on every side, spaced out no further than a single step apart. There were no shadows in the city or palace that connected to the shadows that came from beyond walls. He decided to wait until dawn and the safety of the sun before venturing out into the battle.

  When dawn finally came, he along with five hundred riders and their horses boarded several barges that were inside the gates. They rode the barges through the gates that protected the city docks and quickly closed them behind before the enemy became aware. They traveled up stream on the river Quoe a short way before disembarking the barges in the shallows that were outside of the gates. The group of men worked their way through the timber that was there. They carried with them as many arrows that they could and little else.

  Once they reached the clearing in which the road to the city was located, where the enemy had laid siege, they began shooting arrows at the men around the catapults before riding into the woods on the other side of the road. Claremont sent men after them. Jeremiah and his men fought them off and then turned their horse for another pass.

  They repeated this process many times until around mid-day. Jeremiah lost men with in each of the raids, but Claremont was losing more. Jeremiah and his men had regrouped deep within the woods and waited for Claremont's men to follow. This time no one came. He sent two of his riders to see if they had been followed. One returned and said, "It's a trap!" before an arrow struck him in the back.

  Arrows began flying towards them from all directions. Jeremiah spun around and saw that Claremont's men had surrounded them. He spurred his horse forward to a thin line of soldiers and drew his sword. He charged through the line and yelled to his men, "This way," as he cleared a path for them to follow.

  They charged through the trees as they made their way to the clearing and the road. Six hundred archers were waiting for them when they entered the clearing. Jeremiah led his three hundred remaining men back into the woods and began to ride away towards the north and away from the enemy archers and the city walls.

  Jeremiah and his men re-entered the clearing several miles from the battle. Many of Claremont's men had followed them. He and his men drew their swords, turned around and charged into the riders that had pursued them. Jeremiah brought his sword down upon the helm of a rider in crimson and the man fell from his horse. He hacked and slashed many men and left dozens of riderless horses in his wake.

  When he reached the end of the crimson riders, he turned his steed and began attacking them from behind. A man in crimson did the same. Jeremiah turned to face him and before Jeremiah could land a fatal blow, the man stabbed at Jeremiah's horse and stuck it through the heart. It reared back and fell to the ground with Jeremiah's leg trapped beneath its weight.

  Horses with riders and some without were running all around him as he try to free himself from beneath the horse. His leg ached from the pressure and he pulled as hard as he could. His men began to circle around him to keep the horses from trampling him as he freed himself, but a riderless horse jumped over Jeremiah and his fallen horse and landed on Jeremiah's arm.

  Two of his men leapt from their horses and pulled him free. Jeremiah picked up his sword and began striking at the riders as they approached him. His left arm was broken. It was mangled and dangled at his side, but his sword hand was strong and he killed thirteen more men before the battle was finished. One of his men captured a riderless horse that were running free and Jeremiah climbed on its back.

  Many of his men had been killed in the battle, but there wasn’t time to mourn. He tore his shirt and wrapped it around his broken arm to keep it from dangling. His men quickly tended to the wounded men, because it was nearing evening fall and they were running out of time. Once they were finished, less than two hundred men turned their horses towards the capital city and began to ride as hard as they could.

  They reached the barges as the sun began to kiss the tops of the trees and entered the watery gates of the capital city before the sun had fully set. Jeremiah raced to the western wall to ensure that the torches had been lit. The tall trees on the westward side cast long shadows that were decimated by the light from the torches. He was relieved to see the torches burning. He then went to find Wilhelm and Mrs. Clary.

  *****

  With Elsie's final act, the remainder of her consciousness entered into Chloé's subconscious and left her with the ancient being's wisdom along with a vast knowledge of the ancient world. She was now able to read the writing on the stone that lay before her and she was able to discern that the writing was a conscription contact between Claremont and Jemot.

  After she had awoken from the ordeal, she learned that Ryan and J?kob had tried several times to break the stone, but they were unsuccessful in even scratching it. Now that she was awake, they hoped that she could tell them anything that they might have missed from when she told them about her visions.

  She had told them everything that she could remember of her visions and they tried again to destroy it, but had the same outcome. Nothing happened. Chloé read and reread the writing on the stone. There were a few things that stood out to her. First of which, was that it spoke of the two parties involved, Claremont and Jemot.

  Secondly, the contract ended with a blood pact between the two parties that was sealed by the bloody palm print on the rock. Finally, there was mention of a third party that Chloé could not decipher. The runes were not familiar to her, or the vast knowledge acquired from Elsie. This puzzled her.

  The more she thought about it, the wisdom that she had acquired told her that the text on the stone must indicate that it was referring to the creatures known as the Luna Stala. Chloé assumed that the ancient beings had no knowledge of these creatures and that Jemot, himself, had given them a rune to describe them. She explained to everyone what her suspicions were and what she thought that they needed to do. Everyone in the group was equally puzzled by her suspicions, and J?kob decided that he needed to speak with Wilhelm.

  Before he had left for the capital city, Wilhelm had given J?kob a ring that was similar to the charm that he had fashioned for himself and Nìa. He drew magic from inside himself and opened the spell that was held inside. "Grandfather. Are you there?" It was nearly dark and he was worried that his grandfather would be too occupied to help him.

  "I am here, J?kob. Is everything alright, has something happened?" came the response from the other side of the charm. "We are fine. Has the attack begun?" asked J?kob. "They have been bombarding the walls since sundown yesterday, but they haven't breached them," replied Wilhelm.

  "We haven't got a lot of time. We have found what we believe is a blood pact between Jemot and Claremont. Chloé has had visions about it and we need to know how to destroy it," explained J?kob, as quickly as he could, and trying not to tell him anything of what had happened, as not to distract him.

  "I have questions for you. First, why do you believe it to be a blood pact?" asked Wilhelm. Chloé had placed her hand on J?kob's shoulder so she could be part of the conversation and said, "The writing is written in the language of the ancient of ancients, the first people in Tenroha and it is signed with a bloody hand print."

  "You are probably correct that it is a blood pact. My second question is, what form of medium is the message written on?" J?kob answered quickly, "It is carved into a giant stone that is nearly the size of Wi?dwyr?." "I see," said Wilhelm, and then he continued, "were Ryan and Nìa successful in retrieving Sannr?"

  J?kob paused for a moment and then asked, "How did you know that he had gone in search of it?" "There were many signs that told me that they had not heeded my advice, but the question still remains; were they successful?" "Yes," said Chloé. "Then listen carefully, because this is very dangerous and is not going to be easy."

  Wilhelm began to explain, "You will need three things to destroy a blood pact. First, you will need the heat of the sun, which you have in Wi?dwyr?. Secondly, you will need a natural force that is strong enough to crumble stone. I can give you that. Finally, you will need the blood of the righteous. This is the hardest part. Has Ryan wielded Sannr in battle yet?"

  "Yes," said J?kob, "He cut a sea creature in half with it." "Good," replied Wilhelm. "Then the sword has already accepted him." "What do you mean that the sword accepted him?" asked Chloé. "Sannr first has to deem one worthy to wield it. It does this by tasting the blood of the wielder through its hilt to see if the blood has been tainted by evil," said Wilhelm.

  "Do you still have the stones that I gave you?" asked Wilhelm to J?kob. "Most of them," replied J?kob. "Do you still have the blue one that looks like an egg?" J?kob looked through his pack and found it. He held it up to show Chloé and said, "Yes." "You will need an immense amount of magic to perform the task that needs to be done. I do not believe that your stores of magic will be enough. Place the blue stone on the larger one and when the time is right, you will activate it."

  "What will it do?" asked J?kob. "It is magically connected to my source of magic and will draw from it to perform the task that you set on it," replied Wilhelm."But that could kill you," said J?kob. "I know," said Wilhelm, "but it is better that I risk myself than risk you to fulfill this task." J?kob understood what was about to happen, but he wished there was another way.

  Wilhelm then told them the incantations that they needed to complete the tasks, but before he left them to fight his own battles at the palace, Jeremiah and Mrs. Clary arrived next to him. Jeremiah and Chloé spoke briefly together in private, but were interrupted by a loud, thunderous crash at the palace. The connection ended and it was now time for them to begin what they needed to do.

  *****

  A smile spread across the face of the former Captain of the Peacekeepers, Sebastian Claremont, as the sun slipped below the trees. It was the night of the new moon and therefore his creatures would be at their strongest. The light from the moon would not shine upon them on this night. He smiled, because for more than a year he had been planning this for his master, and by the end of this night, his service to Jemot would finally come to an end.

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  The guardians of the palace had done well to prevent his beasts from entering the palace walls. There were torches lining the walls in every direction. "Good effort," he thought to himself, "but not good enough." As the sun set below the horizon, a thick fog rolled in and covered the ground and thick clouds filled the sky. He knew that it was time to begin. "Move the catapults forward twenty paces," he ordered his men. "And ready the hollows."

  Claremont had his men fashion four large stones that were hollowed out for the creatures to hide in. The stones were lighter than even the smallest stone that they had been hurling at the walls. When the catapults were in position, he ordered the first two of the Luna Stala in to the jar like stones and sent them flying over the walls. The projectile soared over the walls to the city and crashed into the side of the palace with a thunderous crashing that sounded like a clay pot crashing on a stone floor.

  He had his men adjust their aim before sending the second wave of the creatures hurtling towards the tallest towers of the palace. "It won't be long before this battle is over," he thought to himself. A wicked and sinister look crept upon his face, followed by another crooked smile as screams of terror began to resonate from the palace. His mission was nearly complete.

  *****

  Wilhelm and Jeremiah looked toward the palace when they heard the loud crashing of stone against stone. Through the fog, they watched as the second volley sailed over the walls and crashed through the walls of the keep nearest him. They heard the cheers echoing from the men who were outside of the walls of the city.

  Jeremiah had his left arm in a sling as he and Wilhelm ran towards the palace, while Mrs. Clary went to the central courtyard. Mrs. Clary had partially healed his broken arm with her magic, but it still pained him as he ran. His eyes gazed at the hole in the side of the keep, and for a moment he thought he had seen J?rgen, a lone Luna Stala that had lost an arm during his and Matáo's escape from Oaken Meadow, crawling out of the hole in the wall. "We must hurry," he told Wilhelm, "The Luna Stala are inside the walls."

  Jeremiah and Wilhelm slammed the palace doors open and ran to the nearest stairwell that led to the keep. They wound their way up the spiral staircase and opened the door to the keep. There was a large hole in the wall that led to the outside and the shattered remains of what looked like a giant wine pot made of stone.

  Ten of the king's men lay dead on the floor. A few of them had been crushed by the falling wall, while the rest were torn apart by the beast. They could hear screams coming from deeper inside the palace. Jeremiah and Wilhelm ran back down the stairs, down the main hall and burst into the throne room just as the beast was digging its claws into the king's skull.

  Torches lined the walls in the throne room and a giant chandelier, with dozens of candles, hung from the ceiling. The light that was emitted caused hundreds of shadows to dance around the room. Two banners flanked each side of the king's throne that cast long shadows across it. The creature stood, holding King Arlos by his crushed skull, and raised him up above the throne with its one remaining arm.

  When the creature had finished dispatching King Arlos, it flung the body across the room where it landed on a rack of weapons, and his lifeless body was impaled by the many spears, pikes, and swords that lay in wait for their next battle. The creature turned and saw Jeremiah standing in the doorway before leaping into the shadows and disappeared from the room.

  Jeremiah and Wilhelm followed, but the beast was faster than they were. They began to hear screams all across the palace. Everywhere they looked, more bodies lay dead or dying on the floor. Jeremiah began to worry for the queen and her daughters. He and Wilhelm entered the secret corridor that led to the palace dungeon stronghold.

  The women of the city and the palace had been sent deep into the bowels of the palace in order to keep them safe from harm. Jeremiah had just recently learned of the existence of the palace dungeon when he helped to evacuate the city on the previous day. He and Wilhelm entered the large underground chamber that was lit with hundreds of torches along the walls. The women were huddled together, around the queen, at the center of the large room.

  Jeremiah turned to smile at Wilhelm, but then he caught a glimpse of the creature from before. The women began to scream and huddled closer to the queen. The creature leapt from the shadows above them and snatched the queen by her neck and pulled her into the shadows with it. Wilhelm raised his staff and began chanting something inaudible; but before he could finish, he fell to the floor, exhausted, as if all of his energy had left him.

  *****

  Mrs. Clary entered the courtyard and found that several of the healers had begun tending to the ones that had been injured by the falling stones from the palace walls. Prince Níkōlì was there barking orders and helping to bring in the wounded. She went to the nearest victim that she could find and began trying to heal him. It was a peasant boy from the city, barely old enough to hold a sword.

  A scream rang out in the courtyard, followed by several more. Mrs. Clary looked in the direction of the screams and saw one of the Luna Stala hanging from the shadows of the ceiling. Acid dripped from the beast's mouth as it made its way towards the prince. Mrs. Clary pulled an amber stone from her bag and yelled, "Dags-ljós!" as the creature leapt down towards the prince.

  Light as bright as the sun filled the room, and the creature passed through the prince, leaving him unharmed. The creature scurried behind a large fountain shaped like a dragon to hide from the light. The spell cast by Mrs. Clary began to fade and the light emitted by the stone vanished. The creature came from behind the fountain and began to slowly walk towards the prince who was alone in the center of the courtyard.

  The people that were crowded in the courtyard backed further away from the prince as the beast walked towards him on four legs and snarled as it approached him. Mrs. Clary, alone, stepped in front of the beast to protect the prince. The shadowy figure swung the back of its front leg towards her and sent her hurtling across the room. She slid across he floor and slammed into the wall.

  Prince Níkōlì was frozen with fear. In a moment of terror, he tried to take hold of his sword, but his arm was unwilling to comply. The beast wrapped its claws around the prince's neck and lifted him off his feet. The beast then placed its other hand around the prince's ankle and began to slowly pull him apart. Níkōlì screamed in pain as his body began to stretch further than it ever had before. Then beast was gone, vanished without a trace, and the prince fell to the floor, alive, but broken.

  *****

  J?kob sat upon his dragon who was breathing fire upon the large stone in the clearing. Wi?dwyr? and Nagendra combined their flames and focused the immense heat on the writing that was carved into the stone. J?kob had placed the blue stone on top of the larger stone as Wilhelm had instructed. As the large stone began to heat up and glow red, the writing that was etched there began to glow as it if it where white hot.

  The color of the stone began to change to a glowing orange, J?kob reached out with his mind and felt for the stone and opened the magic stored within it, just as Wilhelm had instructed him to do. The heat from the dragons' fire began to melt the stone around the inscription, and J?kob knew that it was time. "Get ready," he told Ryan, who was trying to shield himself from the heat.

  J?kob raised his staff, drew from his inner well, and said, "Brenna!" Sparks erupted from his staff and joined the flames placed on the stone by the dragons. The flames grew hotter and turned blue. He then said, "Skjálfti!" and the blue stone on top of the rock began to glow as it drew from Wilhelm’s magical pool to perform the magic J?kob commanded of it. The gray stone beneath it began the shiver and shake where it stood.

  A foggy mist entered the clearing, followed by an ominous voice, "How dare you defile this place?" A storm cloud began to swirl over their heads. Lightning flashed around them as the wind began to blow all around them. A lightning bolt struck the ground beside Ryan and sent him flying backwards, stunned, but unharmed.

  The wind whirled faster and faster as the gray stone began to shake more violently and caused the blue stone to fall from its perch at the top. Its glow faded. J?kob knew that they didn't have time to start over. Lightning struck the ground between the two dragons. He placed his hand on Wi?dwyr? and began to pull the magic from inside him. J?kob had only tried this once before and he slept for six days afterwards. He prayed to the creator that he did it right this time.

  The mist took the shape of Jemot, and began yelling curses at ones standing in the clearing. Chloé yelled, "Strjála!" and the mist began to pull away from Jemot's form. She yelled, "Ryeja," and the mist began to flee from the clearing. The storm overhead raged more fiercely, and lightning began striking the ground all around them.

  J?kob yelled, "Jare-skjálfti!" and the stone shook so hard that the ground at his feet began to tremble. Ryan raised Sannr and placed it upon the hand print on the stone as lightning struck behind the dragons. J?kob yelled, "M?lva!" as Ryan jabbed the sword into the stone. The stone began to crack and light began to pour out through the cracks until the stone shattered and blew away in tiny shards. The explosion sent everyone reeling backwards.

  The winds died down and the storm clouds faded into nothing. They got to their feet and rejoiced in their victory. Jemot's essence was no longer around them and they hoped that what they had done, helped everyone at the palace. They were tired from the excursion, but they climbed on the backs of the dragons and took flight. Night had come, but they would reach the Sanctum before dawn, and from there, the palace, if they weren’t too late.

  *****

  The women around the queen began to cry out and ran away from the sight of her demise. Her body was mangled and torn by the creature before it fell from the shadows and on the floor where it no longer moved on it own. Jeremiah raised his sword and slashed at the beast who was now dripping with the blood of the queen. The creature roared in agony, but as soon as the blade left its flesh, the wound began to heal. It leapt for the shadows in the ceiling and crawled around in the darkness.

  The creature leapt up and down from the ceiling, slashing at the women in the room with every pass. It began working its way towards the princesses who were huddled around the body of their mother, crying. Wilhelm, who had regained his strength, and Jeremiah countered every attack from the beast and kept it moving away from the princesses. It then leapt to the floor across the room.

  It lunged at them quickly. Its claws struck out towards them repeatedly and they began to step back towards the princesses. They ducked and dodged the strikes from the beast. It was very fast and Jeremiah slipped on something wet on the floor and fell. The creature saw an opening and pounced upon him. It opened its mouth wide, but before the creature’s teeth tasted his flesh, the creature vanished, leaving everyone in the dungeon relieved, but confused.

  *****

  For an entire day, Matáo had been moving the prisoners that had not been reunited with their families to the Sanctum. He had spent the entire night trying to convince the elders to allow him to bring them there. After many hours of negotiating, they granted him permission to escort them to the safety of the Sanctum.

  Once he earned their permission, he gathered the individuals that had come from Echo and took them to be reunited with everyone at Oaken Meadow. By mid day, every one of the prisoners from Echo that were able to be reunited had been and the others were still searching for their loved ones.

  Matáo gathered the ones that were still searching for their families, mostly women and children looking for the men of their lives, and left Oaken Meadow and by evening, they had made it to the Sanctum. The day was coming to a close very quickly, but by sunset of the solstice, there were nearly four thousand women and children ready to depart again.

  Matáo gathered everyone in the halls of the Sanctum to prepare them to leave. He knew that the Sanctum was large, but even with all these people waiting to leave, it didn't seem full to him. He went to the portal where Grand Master Tyrenus was waiting for him. He opened the portal wider than Matáo had ever seen, and Matáo shouted for all to hear, "Follow me!"

  He entered the void and emerged from the Sentinel Tree that was located at the palace. He had been through this portal several times, and he knew the way to where he wanted to be. The women began to run when they saw him do so. He ran through the corridors of the palace and made his way to the main gates of the palace and from there, the city gates.

  The women behind him formed a wall that blocked his view of the palace. He tried to open the gates but they were sealed shut. He pushed as hard as he could, and the women began to join him. They pushed as hard as they could, and finally the gates opened up and the horde of women ran into the battlefield, shouting the names of the men they were searching for.

  Claremont, seeing that the gates were opened, ordered his men to advance. The soldiers ran towards the city walls to attack. Then, one by one, the soldiers began to drop their weapons, seeing the faces of their families standing across the field of battle. When the others saw this, they too, dropped their weapons and began searching for their loved ones.

  Claremont became furious. He tried to call his creatures to him, but they did not respond. He began yelling at his men and he took up a sword to fight. The men nearest him quickly overpowered him and bound him in chains and drug him to the palace while he started ranting like a wild man.

  The battle was over and they were victorious. Jeremiah had returned from the bowels of the palace in time to see Matáo take the field without a single weapon, only desperate women and children. He ran to him and wrapped his good arm around him and they began to celebrate. Cheers rang out all around them and the crowd roared with glee.