Tharrow placed the little house in front of Wanrod as requested. The nominees and advisors had gathered to discuss the disappearance of Andal and Jeva. Wanrod started with the facts, "We found the Haverdash diplomat there, dead, clearly killed by one of Andal''s swords of light. There''s Haverdash blood in a couple spots, and human blood in a few. They moved around a bit, but there''s no indication anyone we sent died. The only question is where they went."


    Rumberal asked, "Could more Haverdash have shown up and taken them captive?"


    "Not likely, we were watching the town from a distance. Let me clarify, the question is a bit more specific. We had an episode earlier where we found a house a few streets down that was a living creature. If you looked inside the house from a window it seemed normal, but if you stepped inside of it you were transported to a different place, and the house tried to eat you. We burned that house down, but here we have this little house," he picked up the toy, "Which we found at the scene. It doesn''t do anything," he opened the little door, "But that doesn''t mean it didn''t before. Perhaps one of those houses was nearby, and the Haverdash left this toy there to mock us."


    "Sound very speculative," Grendala told him.


    "Perhaps, but we think the best question, more specifically, is where do these houses transport you? That''s probably where Andal and Jeva are. Any thoughts?"


    The nominees were silent. Wanrod sighed, "Very well, I suppose I shouldn''t be surprised. We will question those who were slaves to the Haverdash, perhaps they heard things."


    Hanyr raised his hand, and Wanrod called on him, "Yes, Hanyr?"


    "What do we do in the meantime? Without Andal and Jeva, we''re a lot less versatile. If one of the glorious Haverdash attacked, well, we really needed them when we fought Manier."


    Wanrod frowned, but Brunstrog answered confidently in his burlish voice, "Defense, my dear giant! You think the Haverdash are happy with us being this far up in their domain? They''ll come to us, which means, we can be ready when they do!"


    Tharrow nodded, "Excellent point. We''ll start building defensive structures. Nominees, you start thinking of weapons or traps you want, and relay them to us. We have a lot of hands that can do a lot of building."


    *


    The Council of Six was gathered in the palace of Hathor, looking at a map of their conquest. One of the old council members had been placed in charge of The Rivers, since Halac had been removed. Glorious Salva had been promoted in their place. She gestured to Tiermac, "We shouldn''t waste our time with them, there''s too much going on at the moment that involves real progress. Tubarai is on its last leg, and its inhabitants are fleeing across the desert. Vilpass is crumbling as well, and we finally have functional ports on the eastern ocean."


    A council member asked her, "What of the personal insult those in Tiermac have made to Haverdash? Taking our cities was insulting enough, but killing Glorious Manier!"


    Salva shook her head, "The personal insult is there, of course, but what would bring us greater shame? Delaying our conquest, which is ultimately what will bring upon greater glory, or responding to a personal insult, which is only for the sake of existing glory? The glory that we have is not comparable to the glory to come, is it?"


    The council member apologized, "You are quite right, your reasoning is fair."


    Trots agreed, "Glorious Salva is absolutely right, especially considering that one of us would have to personally handle that, since they were strong enough to kill Manier. Though, I don''t see any reason to delay more than a couple weeks. Tubarai should not last longer than that, should it?"


    A council member answered, "I doubt it. They''re besieging the king within the next few days, if they haven''t surrounded him already. We don''t need to chase them over the desert, so I would call that mission completed."


    Trots continued, "Then Lars will do fine. Once he is done in Tubarai we can direct him to Tiermac."


    Salva raised issue with that plan, "Moxey and Lars haven''t led a large enough force for that, they don''t garner enough respect. Why would they succeed where Manier failed?"


    "Because Lars is stronger than Manier." The council was shocked, which Trots found amusing. "I know he isn''t Glorious, but do not be deceived. He can handle it."


    There was a knock on the door, and a council member said to come in. A Haverdash opened the door for a fairy, who bowed where she flew. "Glorious Trots, Glorious Salva, and the whole Council of Six, I have news regarding Moxey!"


    "Speak," said Trots.


    "He attacked the diplomats from the Council of Nations since they wouldn''t accept his peace demands, but he lost! They killed him! I am reporting to you from a fairy who escaped the fight."


    The whole council looked at Trots warily, not sure what he would do next. He chuckled, "Do not fear, Moxey is still alive. I sense him. In a way this is good news, as it proves that one of his schemes worked." He addressed the council, "Moxey sought to cheat death using the Edezar, making a new location the soul would go if the body dies. If his body was indeed killed, and I know he is still alive, it means that it worked. He is reforming in the Edezar, and will be back to us shortly."


    He turned back to the fairy, "Dismissed."


    *


    Lars sat in the tent where he''d been told to wait. They''d been holding off from attacking Castle Bistir until Moxey returned, and instead had been attacking surrounding villages while they maintained a siege. The king of Tubarai was locked up in that castle, so they were almost done with this campaign.


    General Ghaulos pushed aside the tent flap, “On your feet, Lars!”


    Lars stayed seated, “Ghaulos? What are you doing here?”


    “I’m now the officer in command to finish the conquest of Tubarai, and you are under my authority. No more waiting, get up!”Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Lars crossed his legs, “You? Well that’s an oversight. Where’s Moxey?”


    Ghaulos snarled at him, “Moxey is dead. I wouldn’t be here if he was alive, because things were working even with him in charge.”


    Now Lars stood, “Dead? What do you mean he’s dead? He was off on a diplomacy meeting!”


    "Yes, and the diplomats fought, and he died. Accept it, move on. I''m here, let''s march. Help pack up this tent."


    Lars didn''t move.


    "Disobeying me is to disobey the Council of Six, and Glorious Trots and Glorious Salvia who are on the council. Do as I say, or you have no part of our Haverdash kingdom, and no right to our wine."


    Lars moved to pack up the tent.


    *


    Andal plopped down under the shade of a willow tree, taking off his boots and letting his toes spread. Haverdash had told them the location of the nearest Meadanim, and Noric had been leading them there since. They were stopping for the night here, in another one of those inherently peaceful glades that they''d found. Night and day in the Edezar was a fickle thing, but as human beings, they had to sleep at some point.


    Jeva plopped down next to him, then waved her hand in front of her nose and looked at his feet.


    "Hey, if you had to carry armor this whole time your feet would be sweaty too."


    "My feet are pretty sweaty anyway," she admitted. She slipped off her shoes, making a relieved sigh.


    "Mine aren''t," said Noric, "I''m used to the walking."


    Jeva started rubbing her feet, "We''re more used to riding a horse. How far did we walk today? From Haverdash to Moxey and back was over ten miles for sure, then we walked almost that same distance from Haverdash here, so over fifteen miles?"


    Andal nodded, "That''s probably right. Though, we don''t know how long it''s been. It could have been over a day."


    "That''s worse! Speaking of which, I am super tired. I need to find a spot to lie down."


    Noric''s brow furrowed. "I''m not tired. At least, I don''t feel like sleeping. Even before coming here I didn''t like sleeping though. The Haverdash made the air toxic in Mavozshidog, rest was impossible." He sighed, then started walking off, "I''d better find some food. I''ll be back in a couple hours probably."


    Jeva got up to look around, and Andal asked her, "Do you believe Haverdash?"


    "Yea? He told the truth about Moxey. Why do you ask?"


    "He said that there''s a Haverdash out there that Manier can''t compare to. I don''t know how to process that. Manier almost killed the whole team."


    "Well, Heffer believes him. Heffer understands this place better than we do. Besides, Vicid was late to the fight, right? Maybe we''ll be better prepared next time."


    "I don''t think it hurt us that Vicid was late, as strong as he is. He really caught Manier off guard."


    "Maybe, but don''t think we can avoid it. We have to fight more Glorious Haverdash at some point."


    "We could die. There''s no guarantee that we beat the next one we fight; sometimes things go right or wrong from pure luck. You could die, Jeva."


    She didn''t look too worried, "Maybe."


    "What do you mean ''maybe''? You almost died against Manier, then got closer to death against Moxey! I had to watch that twice!"


    "But you saved me both times. I really think we''ll be okay."


    "I can''t always save you, I could die too. Aren''t you worried about that?"


    She smiled, "Nope!"


    "Gee, thanks…"


    "I''m not worried, because I think that whatever comes along you''ll be able to handle. You always have, no matter how close it got. I feel safe around you, Andal, despite all the danger."


    "Oh… thank you. I''m glad you feel safe."


    "You''re welcome!"


    She turned away to look for a comfortable spot again, but Andal asked her another question, "You remember when Noric called us ''lovebirds''? I don''t think we''ve had that relationship so far, but, don''t you think we could?"


    She looked back, "Don''t you think that could be distracting, in the middle of a war? Our priorities are set for us for the time being, aren''t they?"


    "They don''t have to be."


    "That''s what I mean though, if we change our priorities now, who will fill our shoes when it comes time to fight?"


    "Yea, I see what you mean."


    "I just don''t think this is the time. Even though, I think it''s hard for a boy and girl to be as close as we are and not think about that sometimes."


    Andal nodded, "We make a good team."


    "We do. And, I think we can say this for now, I don''t ever want to break up the team. Ever."


    "Same."


    Jeva smiled, "Alright, I''d better get some sleep. Goodnight Andal."


    "Goodnight, Jeva."


    *


    Trots was in the black temple of Hathor, in the top of the center pyramid. There the vines that ran up the sides of the temple had windows that they could enter through and bloom. The pollen would hang in the air more densely than in the rest of the city, making the hallucinogenic gas thicker and more pungent. The vines also ran wine up inner tubes, and by slicing the mass that had grown at the top of the pyramid Trots had created a constant rain of wine that had flooded the room to be up to his knees. He stood under a point where the stream of wine was thick, like from a hose, letting it splash on his face with open mouth and open eyes.


    He held a Haverdash in a chokehold in front of him. That Haverdash was spasming, unable to handle the wealth of sensations that was hitting him. Trots held his sword in a reverse grip, piercing through the Haverdash and his own skin. He pulled his sword slowly along, from his left shoulder to his right hip, severing that Haverdash as he did.


    All the while he was caught in a vision , a continuation of those he had seen before, which had inspired and spurred him on to reach his glorious state.


    Then, when the sword was just past his naval, he stopped. The vision ceased, and he was distracted from the sensations. He dropped the Haverdash, looking around for what was suddenly missing.


    "Moxey?"


    He couldn''t sense him any longer. He looked rapidly around the room, thinking that maybe he''d see a glimmer in the distance.


    "Moxey…?"


    He started breathing heavily. So it was true after all. Moxey was dead.


    The vines latched onto the stones of the black temple and tore the top off, flinging rock hundreds of feet. They turned red, and lashed out against anyone nearby them with thorns that killed. Trots looked up at the moon, and the vines stretched up to it as far as they could go. For a moment, everyone under the light of the moon was suddenly afraid.


    Trots leaped off of the black temple, and flew North.


    *


    Noric pointed at a distant rock, "You may not realize it yet, but that''s a meadanim. Haverdash''s directions were good."


    Andal raised his arms and celebrated, "Almost out! I won''t miss this weird place."


    Noric looked back the way they came, "Based off of how far I think we''ve traveled, and the direction I think we''ve been going, we''re probably in Vilpass. That''s depressing, really. If there''s a meadanim that means the Haverdash have conquered at least this far. They''ve made a lot of progress."


    Andal asked, "So we''ll be in a Haverdash city when we get out?"


    Heffer answered, "Yes, you will. Be ready to fight your way out. Also, we have no way of knowing what time it is, so it could be nighttime. Sorry if your sleep schedule is all messed up."


    Jeva told them, "We''re ready. We''ll escape the city and head north. Thank you for guiding us this whole time, both of you. We couldn''t have navigated this without you."


    Andal clarified, "Noric and Heffer, you''re coming with us, right?"


    Noric laughed, "No way! I''m staying in here."


    Heffer added, "And this is all I know, I don''t want to face a whole new world!"


    Andal was miffed, "You don''t want to get back to the real world?"


    "Who says this isn''t real?" Retorted Noric, "It''s just different, and I''ll tell you one way it''s different: the ''real world'' has forces of evil, out to get you, to hurt you, to destroy you in order to build themselves up. Edezar doesn''t have evil forces, just forces. They''re all doing their own thing. Sure, they can sweep you up by accident, but if you watch your step and mind your business, you can be okay.


    "I fought the Haverdash. I was taken prisoner, and might as well have been dead. Now I''m free, and I''m staying. I''m not fighting them again."


    Jeva told him, "That''s okay, even if we don''t understand, we appreciate you. You fought your fight, I think it''s okay if you don''t go back."


    Noric didn''t smile, but you could see in his eyes that he really appreciated that. Perhaps he was feeling a little bit of shame.


    They came to the meadanim and said their goodbyes. Andal and Jeva broke through the point that Heffer said too, which was revealed to be a window from the inside, and rushed out the door before the meadanim could attack them.


    Andal raised his sword to lash out at the first Haverdash he saw, and Jeva raised her hands to shoot a fireball, but didn''t see anyone to attack. There were lots of Haverdash around, but they were broken and mangled, squashed into the ground.


    Then they spotted the broken corpse of an undead giant. They walked away from the meadanim and spotted two more gia


    nts lying in the dirt, then one walking around barely visible through the snowy haze that defined this region.