“Do you know what … map direction the Empire is in?” Both of the women stopped their discussion to look his way.

  “Map direction?” Asked Pauwna.

  “Yes. Like ‘North’, ‘South’, ‘East’, and ‘West’.” He didn’t know the Sūnsian words for them. Dante pointed in those general directions, using the direction he was facing as north.

  “Ah, like what architects or generals would use.” Ren nodded. “Hmm, it’s been a while but I believe the Empire would be to the luros of us.” Ren pointed in the southern direction, then looked him up and down with a new respect. “You must have attended some kind of academy to know this.”

  Dante shrugged. “No more than most in my country. Pauwna, would you mind if I borrowed your needle?”

  “No,” she leafed through her bag to grab her medical pouch. “But what are you planning on using it for?”

  “To find which direction south is. Would you mind moving me over there?”

  Dante pointed to a circular shallow hole that once housed a log support when the cabin was still standing. Pauwna obliged and Dante cut off a spare scrap of leather from his bag strap. He cleared the hole of most ash by running his aura through it from beneath and then isolated the entire pocket. Then, he poured a small amount of water from his waterskin into the depression.

  “The needle please?” Dante asked and extended a hand into which Pauwna deposited the needle. Having nothing else at hand, he rubbed the eye of the needle against the fraying edge of his shirt for about a minute. The material had always reminded him somewhat of silk, so he hoped it would work.

  “What are you doing? Some strange kind of ritual?” Asked Ren. She had been studying him with some interest for the entire process. “I haven’t sensed any mana usage.”

  “Nope. Just using the good old fashioned laws of nature.”

  Satisfied, Dante floated the leather scrap in the water and then the needle in the center of that. Then, he waited with bated breath. He had never done this in person before, only seen videos on social media.

  The needle began to turn and Dante waited, not sure if it was a breeze. It stopped and stayed pointing in the same direction. Dante released his breath. If he was not mistaken, then the needle’s eye should be pointing north. To double-check, he pressed the needle farther along and watched as it swung back to its original position.

  It had worked.

  “South is that way.” He pointed in the direction of the needlepoint and the two women exchanged glances.

  “Are you sure?” asked Ren. “Map-making magic is advanced and I felt not an iota of magic from this.”

  So what he had said had not translated well. Dante gestured at the needle. “Try it for yourself. The needle will always return to that position, which is aligned around the north, south axis.” Ren obliged him, deviating the needle and watching it return to position.

  He glanced at Pauwna. “Want to give it a spin yourself?”

  She shook her head, “I trust you. I would be a fool not to after you threw yourself in dangers way for me twice.” She glanced at the three separate wounds his latest stunt had left him with. “You didn’t even hesitate either time. Why would you do that?”

  “Aside from allowing you to save all of our skins?”

  Pauwna rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. Most would at least hesitate.”

  “It felt right.”

  Her eyes pierced him, searching for deceit he was sure, but Dante had nothing to hide. It was the truth. Pauwna gave him a genuine smile, one of the few he had seen from her. They shared a small moment then. One that was broken all too soon.

  “Ok. I am satisfied with your little ritual Dante.” Ren turned around and frowned when she saw the pair of them. “Am I interrupting something?”

  Pauwna cleared her throat. “Ahem, not at all … Anyways, We should get moving. I have no idea if those things are still tracking us.” She plucked the needle from the pool and stored it. “No need for this. I have the direction memorized.”

  Pauwna picked Dante up and gazed sourly at Ren. “You are not going to collapse on us again, are you?”

  Ren looked down, abashed. “I shouldn’t now that we left those pools behind.”

  “If you say so. A little warning next time would be nice.”

  Having said that, Pauwna set off in the direction the compass had pointed with Ren close behind. She had been speaking true. There were no more caustic pools, though the purple crystal lattice remained. Without that obstacle, their pace improved, though they still had to move at Ren’s shuffle.

  That had the upside of ensuring they didn’t plunge into the trench that emerged from the swarm. The crystal lattice had extended even here and into the bottom of the trench. A myriad of small crystal spikes extended from the walls and floor, spelling a painful doom for any who fell in. That was not the main thing they all noticed.

  “Where is the barrier?” asked Ren, horror creeping across her features. They had all been thinking the same question. It was not like they could have missed it. It was the size of the sky after all and stretched across the horizon.

  “Perhaps we entered through the breech?” Dante suggested. It was better than the alternative.

  “Let’s find out. If the barrier is down …” Pauwna left the question unanswered though Dante wished she had. He wasn’t sure how bad that would actually be. But, with how his companions were acting, it seemed like the thought was borderline apocalyptic.

  They followed the trench for a time to see if they could spot it. Longer than they probably should have. Long enough that Dante was able to verify that the crystal bordering his wounds was spreading, albeit slowly. The thought of what could be happening inside his chest … it gave him the courage to speak up.

  “Look, we have to accept that either the great barrier is down or the rent has grown so large that it might as well be. We can’t stay here if we want to live.”

  Ren and Pauwna shared a glance, clearly reluctant to give up the search.

  “I don’t want to admit it, but you are right.” Ren sighed. “Besides, the information we have gathered on this journey could prove critical in the days to come.”

  Having so decided, Pauwna carefully kicked the crystal spikes until it was safe to climb down into the trench. It was a painstaking process but, eventually, she forged a clear path to the other wall, climbed it, then helped Ren up.

  Dante had never been up here as it would mean certain death previously. From here, he could appreciate the intricateness of the entire thing. The zigzagging of the trench so that shrapnel could only travel so far, the small zipper-like offshoots that took the oomph out of Ahsmati breath weapons, and the occasional bunker-like fortress at the intersections. It all spoke to a high level of sophistication in the art of war honed by decades of conflict.

  It was marred however by signs of recent conflict. It was even more obvious when they made it to the second line. Every single siege weapon had been destroyed, impaled upon crystal spikes.

  “There was a fight here,” Pauwna observed. “And the Empire lost badly.”

  “Probably happened when the trap was sprung,” Dante responded. He had wondered what became of the main force during the time they spent in the canyon. “The swarm probably caught up with them before they reached the trenches. With how much of the army went on the assault, they must have been severely undermanned. It’s no surprise that they were overwhelmed.”

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  “If the swarm wasn’t stopped here, then where would they be held back? Given the number of these things, how could you possibly contain them?” Ask Ren.

  That shut down the discussion. No one wanted to consider that there might not be an Empire to return to. A lot could happen in a week.

  A wall of crystal sprouted out of the swarm, more seamless than the previous ones. It was different from the honeycombed hive-like structure before, being made of one continuous crystal. For one, the crystal was shockingly clear and Dante could see deep into it, as if peering into a vertical glacial pool. Visible through it were the underground portions of the third trench and some the first corpses they had found. Empire soldiers and Ahsmati were locked in combat, frozen in the unliving crystal. They looked just as they had in life, like they could spring into action at any moment.

  Near the middle of the tunnel the ground had been torn up, like the crystals had sprouted inside and pushed their way to the surface. The crystals extended far into the sky, though their viewing angle didn’t let them see how high. There was no need to walk further, it was clear this wall extended as far as the eye could see.

  Pauwna rapped a knuckle against it. “Think you could melt a hole through it, Ren?”

  Ren bit her lip as she gauged it. “Usually yes, but these crystals are a bad match for me. My light goes straight through. I would need to rest in between and it would be very obvious.”

  Pauwna looked questioningly at Dante and he shook his head. He had nothing for this. Seeing that, she sighed and cut a small slash on the back of her forearm. Blood welled up and collected on one of her fingertips into a claw, which she poked into the crystal. It parted with a sound like nails on a chalkboard and Dante glanced around nervously for a reaction from the swarm. There was none that he could see, but the noise was clearly audible over its hum.

  “I can climb this but it’s going to be tough with the both of you. You will need to grab on.” More blood streamed from the wound to form additional claws on each of her fingers and two spikes over her boots. “If you fall, I might not be able to catch you. Are we clear?”

  “I don’t think we have any other options, but I don’t think I have the strength to carry myself.” Said Ren, who had been taking the opportunity to rest against the wall. She had needed more breaks since her earlier collapse.

  “I think I can help,” said Dante slowly, “I can push all of us towards the crystal wall, which should make it easier for Ren.”

  “Don’t push yourself,” Pauwna said absently as she dug all of her claws into the wall. “This all gets worse if you pass out too. Now climb on.”

  Pauwna lowered him to her back and Dante complied, looping an arm around Pauwna’s neck and placing the other hand on the shoulder nearest him. Ren took a less dignified approach, wrapping her legs around Pauwna’s waist and intersecting an arm with his.

  “One moment,” Dante said, then shaped an aura tendril inside of their air bubble and placed it across Ren’s back. Some of then tension in her arms disappeared as his aura took up the load. “Ok, ready.”

  Pauwna began climbing at a steady rate, creating a continuous shrieking sound that had to carry for miles. His arms were burning already and he cursed his poor strength. Ren’s eye were unfocused and her head was nodding.

  She is going to fall, it’s just a question of when.

  They made steady progress and soon lost visibility of the ground. Holding on was made even more difficult by not knowing exactly how far along they were. Far enough that a fall would be fatal, likely even with his enhanced attributes.

  Then, he heard it. A familiar chorus of chimes. More then before. He opened his mouth to tell Pauwna but she beat him to the punch.

  “Yeah I heard it,” she grunted as she created another handhold. “I was hoping we would be over this before it became a problem. I can’t help, you need to deal with it.”

  That’s a problem. Based on our last encounter, they can see through this swarm and we can’t. I don’t think I can play defensive, by aura isn’t strong enough. This means that our option is …

  “Ren,” he said and her drooping head snapped up. “Can you pull what you did at the canyon and destroy everything out there?”

  She considered it, then tiredly shook her head. “I can, but this is a bigger area. I would need to spend all of my mana.”

  “And?” Dante asked, not seeing the problem.

  “What do you mean ‘and’?” Some of her earlier fire returned. ”At the very least, I would fall into a deep sleep for several days and it would likely worsen my condition!”

  There was a whistling sound then shards of crystal clinked off the wall surface behind them. Dante tore one off and brandished it in front of Ren’s face.

  “Unless you want to go to sleep forever, then you better get to it! I will make sure you don’t fall.”

  Ren studied him, nodded, and then began casting. In the meantime, Dante wrapped his arm around hers. Then light blazed into existence and Dante buried his face into Pauwna’s back to escape the glare. It sounded like a thousand crystals were breaking every second and Dante could hear the death gurgles of the monsters. That continued for a while until no more shards were cast at them. Then, it ceased without warning and Dante’s burden redoubled.

  As she had warned, Ren had fallen unconscious and relinquished her grip. The only thing keeping her up was his injured hand, with its two nerveless fingers, and he was slipping.

  That was not going to happen.

  Growling, Dante leaned forward, bit into the back of her shirt and yanked up. That stopped the slipping, but Dante didn’t think he could hold this for long. His jaw was already aching and now his other arm, also injured, was also slipping.

  C’mon Pauwna, anytime would be good.

  It was surprising how being on the edge of death could bring out a new strength. A phenomenon he had experienced several times now. His jaw ached and he could taste blood. His arms trembled and one finger slipped. Then another. He was at his limit.

  Pauwna burst upwards in a blur of speed and he lost grip partway. On Pauwna, on Ren, and on where he was. Dante began to fall.

  An iron hand wrapped around his ankle and yanked him to safety. Dante landed on the unyielding crystal with a thud and he struggled to catch his breath. To his left was Ren, insensate. Above him was Pauwna, covered in scratches. The same type that Ren had gotten when she had left the safety of his protection, though less severe. In that last leap, she had gone outside of his aura. She had taken far less damage and with a flick of a finger, all fallen blood collected into strips over the wounds. The blooding ceased, though she still didn’t look in good condition.

  “Are you alright?” Dante said to Pauwna as he fought to get onto his side. He examined Ren and was glad to find her still breathing.

  “As much as can be expected. The bleeding is no problem, but something has entered my bloodstream. I am guessing this is what caused Ren’s infection. If it was one cut, then it would be no problem for me to isolate it. But … ” Pauwna gestured at the hundreds of cuts across her body. “It’s not a problem right now. I am far more worried about the pair of you.”

  Dante inspected his hand wound. The crystalline infection had grown about half an inch more. That encounter had been, what, about half an hour ago? If it grew at the same rate, then it was maybe an hour or two until he lost the hand. To say nothing about his other arm or shoulder.

  “We should probably find a way to get down from here.”

  “Yeah, About that.” Pauwna pointed over the wall and he looked.

  He hadn’t noticed because of his concern for his comrades, the swarm had nearly disappeared. Dante climbed to his feet for the first time in days and saw a sight that had him questioning his eyes.

  There was a war unfolding in the fields around the Empire's camp. Small squads of the Empire fought against tendrils of the Chausus swarm, which occasionally overflowed over the wall. Dante wondered why they didn’t cluster up like they had on the way here until a particularly thick swarm detonated in white fire. He recognized the form of Ahzi flying overhead.

  Hundreds of the crystal behemoths dotted the plains, though they were slightly different from the ones that they had seen earlier. Some had enlarged legs that they used to bull through Empire forces, others had shells crowded by crystal clusters that they fired like artillery, and still more had enlarged mandibles that they used like whips. Each one almost seemed unique.

  That was within his expectations. What was not were the hordes of Ahsmati in the sky, keeping the swarm from attacking from above. Occasionally a wing of Ahsmati would swoop down to attack one of the behemoths whenever it was threatening to break through Empire lines. Dante could not spot a single instance of violence between the Sūnsian and the Ahsmati. They never interacted, essentially ignoring each other, but that was incredible enough on its own.

  “I never thought I would see the day.” Pauwna had walked up beside him, Ren on her shoulder, and gazed at the scene below. She shook her head in amazement. “Things must truly be terrible for them to be working together. At least it makes the next stage of our journey easier. Let’s figure out how to get down. With Ren out of it, I was thinking we use our blankets to — ”

  Pauwna froze and then spun around. Dante turned in time to see one massive crystal leg slam into the wall a few feet from them. It was followed by another and then one of the behemoths loomed above them. The same one they had seen by the pools. It reared back one of its legs and took a deceptively slow swing at them. It was flat against the wall and left no room to dodge under it. Dante used [Temperol Reactions] to buy himself more time, but it was nearly upon them.

  Shit, I can’t jump over that! What if I boosted my jump with overcharged aura? No, there is no way it would be enough. Maybe I can jump off? Could I slow —

  Dante had no good options, but he would have none if he didn’t choose. Before he could act, Pauwna shoved Ren into his arms and stepped in front of him. A concerning amount of blood sprouted from all of her wounds and enveloped her torso and head in armor. Then she grabbed both of them tight to her chest and smiled sadly at him.

  “My turn.”

  Then the leg struck them.