After a few painfully long minutes filled with preparation and cautious glances over the shoulder, Gaius and Isabella found themselves in the store's backyard where a fresh mound of dirt marked the spot where they emerged last night.

  "Before we do anything, I want you to tell me exactly what your plan is," Isabella demanded.

  "What plan?"

  "You don't have a plan?"

  "While I don't enjoy ceasing control, Secundus is a spy. A good one, I think. And what's a spy if not a thief with a salary? Anything I can come up with, he can anticipate."

  "So you're choosing not to have a plan at all?"

  "Who said I don't have one? It's just very simple. We get in touch with Major and let him sort it all out."

  "With all due respect to Major, he did nothing to stop Lucius."

  "And that's why he'll be extra-careful with strangers now, no?"

  "Are you willing to stake the world's survival on him?"

  "There's a huge gap between willing and have to."

  Isabella sighed and asked, "What are we waiting for, then?"

  "For that ancient lich to notice us," Gaius said. He followed his words with a series of quick foot taps against the recently disturbed dirt.

  The butcher popped out, saw his neighbors being weird again, and slinked back home with a loud slam of his door.

  Gaius persisted until he felt the ground beneath him tremble. His first thought was that Secundus succeeded and this tremor was the precursor of Siembra's doom and his future as a reanimated rodent. But when the rumbling stopped, the ground revealed the familiar by then metal tube.

  Gaius was brimming with triumph when he invited Isabella to go ahead.

  The ride down was as short as it was tense. Things were changing between Gaius and Isabella. Both of them were stewing in that realization.

  A quip intended to thaw this sudden ice age was about to leave Gaius' mouth when the tube opened its doors deep within Major's compound.

  The first step was rather disorienting. They were looking at a chamber that decidedly wasn't the tunnel from which they departed last night.

  In that new, spacious area, the facility's neat surfaces were all covered in abstract paintings. And instead of steady ambient illumination, the light was coming from dozens of red-tinted lamps of varying make and height scattered all over the place.

  Beyond the lights, Gaius could barely distinguish what looked like a desk, and a humanoid shape behind it.

  That shape slowly got up and picked up a staff. It then ambled towards the two of them, using the staff as a crutch.

  The shape soon revealed itself as Major, his physical form. In person, the ancient lich wasn't quite as lively as his projections suggested. The leathery skin, the glowing eyes, and the lower jaw holding on for dear life with a few strands of dried out muscle all looked significantly less cheerful now.

  When Major spoke, he was using the same method as Lucius in his spectral form, where you heard the words without him having to actually say them.

  "I'm so upset, I wanted to do this face to face," Major started. He slowly shook his head before saying, "You know, I'm starting to think it was all a big mistake. First, releasing the lockdown to let Lucius in, then placing my hopes in you lot. None of you are ready to handle my knowledge."

  Both Gaius and Isabella couldn't help but feel that they were being reprimanded, and as opposed to Gaius, Isabella wasn't immune to being shamed.

  "I beg of you, don't condemn us all over the actions of a few reprobates." She was looking at Gaius when she said that.

  Gaius took a different approach. "Why didn't you lock the place down again, then, and instead let my old employer waltz in? I assume that's what happened here to make you all fussy?"

  "Don't you even try to put it on me. After I sent you back up, I was busy running all sorts of diagnostics, reestablishing access to the systems I've been locked out of for so long, slowing down alef production as much as this dilapidated crypt would allow me. And then I get a spare moment, and what do I see? Strangers walking about my halls. How did they get in? Why, they've used your access cards. What do you have to say for yourself?"

  From all he knew about Major, Gaius realized he was basically a really old guy. One without any arcane knowledge even. Still, his demand was more than a bit forceful.

  "Things got a little out of hand for me," Gaius admitted. "But tell me, have you dealt with those strangers yet? Don't leave us hanging, Major."

  "How do you suggest I deal with them?" Major looked down at his desiccated frame.

  "What about all the artifacts you have down here?" Isabella asked. "Divine or not, their power is still immense."

  "Once they got in and the system recognized them as authorized, there wasn't much I could do. Everything is so degraded, it would take me days to reprogram things down here. In fact, I'm shocked the place is still running at all. We were good, sure, but this here is a real wonder of engineering." Major struck his staff against the facility's floor.

  Gaius pretended to understand all of that and said, "We'll marvel in your greatness some other time. For now let's focus on Secundus and his men. Where are they and how close are they to unearthing this place?"

  "Ah, so this is what they wanted to do." Major had no need to breathe, but he still produced a puff of dusty air from his nostrils. "Would've been catastrophic had they succeeded."

  "You're saying they didn't?" Isabella asked.

  "You just said you didn't stop them," Gaius added.

  "By the time I was made aware of their existence, those three fools managed to get themselves inside the heart of Lucius' domain. Well, it's a big important-looking place, I can understand what they were thinking. The point is, they've managed to stumble inside the engine room and got imbued by the beast's residual energy."

  "Oh," Isabella and Gaius echoed one another.

  "Eh, it's not too bad. The beast, it doesn't really work with a blueprint. Last I checked, your spies were reduced to feral critters. Things like that roaming the place is annoying, but nothing to get bent out of shape about. The main issue here is your unreliable nature. Betraying my secrets the very next day after learning about them. Shame on you."

  Gaius was now feeling the ire of both Major and Isabella. Things were getting a bit too hot even for him.

  "How about we go deliver you from those pesky critters, prove we can fix our own mistakes, and then you two can discuss your future relationship?"

  At least the world wasn't ending and Siembra wasn't about to get crushed. Now, Gaius could start working on getting out of this mess relatively unscathed.

  After a good deal of convincing, both Major and Isabella opened up to his idea. The lich didn't really need any unpredictable variables shambling about his home. And the knight, despite hiding it well, was excited about the opportunity to go after real agents of the beast.

  Isabella was keeping an eye on Gaius still when the two of them left Major's private quarters and followed the lich's guidance in pursuit of Secundus and his men.

  Major's clear lack of concern about the beast-touched spy emboldened Gaius. With Isabella by his side, or rather with him in her custody, he felt pretty good about their chances.

  He wasn't quite sure how to feel anymore when upon turning a corner he saw the new Secundus. The spy's back was turned to them, crouched by what looked to be the remains of his bodyguards. He seemed to be using them for a quick snack.

  Sensing he had visitors, Secundus turned around, baring a bloodied mouth filled with rows of sharp-looking spikes. The mouth twisted into a maddened grin and the former spy launched himself forward, using his hands as much as his feet to locomote.

  In the brief moment it took Secundus to reach them, Gaius wondered if Lucius turning Isabella's shield off was a conscious effort, or if it was an innate ability of anyone affected by the beast.

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  He realized the fault in that line of reasoning ever so slightly too late. Secundus wasn't aiming for Isabella.

  Gaius dashed out of the way but was intercepted by this quadrupedal projectile and thrown on his back. A clawed hand pinned his shoulder down by piercing it straight through, while a spiked maw went straight for his throat.

  A clean cut from above separated the head from the body and sent it tumbling down the corridor. A sandaled kick then freed Gaius from under the limp body of feral Secundus.

  Gaius watched Isabella make sure, with saber and lightning, that Secundus and his men were down for good.

  "What, no healing kiss?" he asked to no reply. "Be that way. I have my potions," he said, working on opening a flask with his teeth.

  Once Isabella was done with her grim task of killing corpses, she grabbed Gaius by the collar and unceremoniously picked him up on his feet.

  "Whatever happens with Major, you will be answering for your part in this," she briefly glanced at what was left of Secundus.

  "Are you sure about that?" Gaius asked. He then answered Isabella's silent question by pointing towards Secundus. "Your very goal. A pair of holy relics. That guy has them. And I'm an innocent merchant dragged into this whole mess purely due to my place of birth."

  Isabella rolled her eyes, but still went ahead and rummaged through Secundus' garb until she found the tablets. There was nowhere for her to put them, so she simply kept them in her hand.

  "You can't possibly believe that story will fly."

  "Of course, it will," Gaius said. "I can be very convincing, as you know from personal experience. Even if your higher-ups decide to subject me to a holy interrogation, you really think I don't know how to beat it?"

  Isabella prodded Gaius in the back, sending him forward. "I'll take my chances."

  "It won't stick," he said. "So before you start wasting everyone's time, how about you let me do one last thing while we're here."

  Isabella stopped and grabbed Gaius' barely healed shoulder.

  "Pray tell me, what is this thing? Nova knows I could use a laugh."

  Gaius did his best to ignore the pain radiating down his arm and said, "We need to shut it all down. The link to the beast, I mean. This place will eventually get discovered one way or another and either Major pulls a turtle again, or we'll have ourselves a bunch of Luciuses and Secunduses running around. I don't want that, and I doubt you do either."

  "I tried shutting it down. No dice." Major's image appeared on the wall.

  "Well, nice of you to pretend to give us some privacy," Gaius scowled. "But I wasn't talking about you running a diagnostic or whatever. I was thinking more along the lines of blowing it all up."

  "You can't just throw a fireball in there and call it a day, you know," Major said.

  "Why not?"

  The lich then explained that the engines powering the window to the beast drew their power directly from the earth. It was a closed system shielded from outside influence in order to prevent the beast's energies from affecting it.

  "Pretend I have no idea how any of your ancient stuff works," Gaius said. "When you're talking about a closed system, what do you mean?"

  The explanation that followed was entirely incomprehensible and was packed with words that would make any scholar's head spin. But in walking Gaius and Isabella through the technicalities of ancient shielding, a lesson entirely wasted on the two of them, Major stumbled onto an idea that made him stop talking for a moment.

  "I think I might have something," the image exclaimed. "Come meet me at my office."

  At the very least, Gaius was able to divine what the lich meant by his office, and before long, he and Isabella were standing before Major's desk.

  "Give me your shield," Major said, his hand already extended to Isabella, who responded to these words with a puzzled glance. "Your pendant. Give it to me," Major elaborated.

  Isabella's hand shot up to her chest in an attempt to cover her treasured possession. "I'm not giving it away."

  "Ah, whatever." Major looked at Gaius, then nodded at a series of metal drawers lining the walls.

  Opening the top shelf, Gaius saw it packed with a whole bunch of trinkets like the one Isabella had, all clumped together like they were no big deal.

  He had to remind himself that now wasn't the time for recreational thievery. He grabbed a single pendant and brought it to Major, who then proceeded to furiously tap the many panels of his workstation before throwing this pendant into an open slot under the desk.

  Gaius would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy watching Isabella's reaction to such undignified treatment of her order's highest honor.

  Not long after, Major retrieved the pendant and offered it to Gaius. Isabella grabbed his hand before he was able to accept this gift.

  "No way you're giving him something like this. He'll just use it to escape," she said.

  "Come on, if I wanted to run, I'd have done it already. Trust me, there are bigger things at stake than my freedom here," Gaius said, looking at Major instead of Isabella.

  "What if I commanded you to pardon him?" Major asked.

  "You don't have that authority," Isabella replied.

  "I am your order's founder. Doesn't that give me at least some say in how it's run? Besides, if Guy succeeds in the task ahead of him, not only will he right an error that cost us our entire civilization, his close contact with the beast will render his shield inoperable."

  "Pardon?" Gaius butted in. Despite Major speaking in his favor, he didn't like the implication behind those words.

  "I've modified the frequency of this shield to match that of the one protecting the engines. This will allow you to enter the very core of this facility and wreak havoc there. Disable an engine or two, the others will fold as well. But keep in mind that without an external power source, you won't have much time before the shield expires and leaves you open to the beast's influence. It won't be quite instantaneous, like when dealing with a targeted attack from Lucius, but you'll still need to get in and out in a minute or two tops."

  "Well, how about that." Gaius was beginning to regret his own plan and the immense danger it was about to put him in.

  "What if he takes the shield and bolts?" This time Isabella was looking straight at Gaius.

  "I won't," he said.

  "And why would you want to risk your life like that?" Isabella asked.

  "Because I have to. And because others have proven themselves unable to resist the temptation of power. Someone has to put a stop to this. Might as well be me. I know I'll see this thing through, but for all your righteousness, I'm not certain you will."

  Without a word, Isabella let him go, allowing him to accept Major's offering.

  "What now?" Gaius asked Major with a nervous smile on his face.

  "You know where to go," Major said. "And I'm sure I don't have to instruct you on how to break things. Good luck. We'll be watching."

  With that, he invited Isabella to come over and showed her a screen that followed Gaius as he left the office and headed straight for the part of the facility he knew as Lucius' den.

  As he walked, Gaius tried to maintain a determined appearance, while silently wondering if this was really happening. Not only was he tasked with saving a world, he pretty much volunteered.

  This caused Gaius to wonder if any of this was still a part of his plan to weasel out from under Isabella's judgment by doing her a huge favor, or if he was doing it out of his own volition and a sense of duty.

  This simple act of questioning followed by an internal attempt to convince himself that everything was going as intended, made him snort and redouble his pace.

  Upon reaching the control room where their battle with Lucius took place yesterday, Gaius found it spotless. There wasn't a trace left of Lucius or any signs of struggle. Major wasn't lying about cleaning up.

  There was great apprehension behind Gaius' every movement when he placed his hand on the door leading behind the observation deck. He didn't know what to expect, so he simply pushed on the handle-less door. It didn't move.

  Gaius slapped himself on the forehead and pushed it to the side, thinking back to all the sliding doors he passed on his way there.

  The view that opened to him had the kind of magnificence you remembered on your deathbed above any of your wives or grandkids.

  A vast natural cavern was encircled with a weave of wires, connecting five shimmering obsidian-black ziggurats together, and hooking them up to a pedestal in the middle.

  All of this stood on a transparent floor revealing an ocean of molten magma underneath, its heat radiating upwards and powering the engines.

  Giant fans in the cavern's ceiling were siphoning the excess heat into Siembra. It was still unbearably hot and only got worse as Gaius walked through the door and started moving towards the ziggurats.

  After a few soft and cautious steps, as he tested the glass floor separating him from the hellish flames underneath, Gaius felt his shield kick in, like it was assaulted at once from every conceivable direction.

  He expected the beast's energy to be this heavy, inky, malignant mass. It being invisible was even more terrifying, spurring Gaius to get this over with.

  Above the pedestal, he saw the window to the beast. Major was really overselling it. Instead of an opening providing a good look at a cosmic monstrosity, an eye-wide aperture was suspended in the air. It was pitch black and felt somehow wrong, but there were no insights one could glean by looking at it.

  With a shrug, Gaius gave the pedestal a swift kick. Then a few more. The thing groaned and sparkled before it toppled, but when it did, the window continued to float in the air.

  Gaius moved on to the ziggurats. These things looked sturdy. Having placed a quick acidic enchantment on his axe, Gaius tried chopping up the wires, but they seemed impervious to his attacks.

  He then went to town on the nearest ziggurat, smashing and chopping it with abandon. He managed to chip away a few chunks, but that didn't seem to cause any noticeable damage. He then threw the axe away, covered both his fists in metal, and launched a flurry of punches.

  That didn't do much either, but Gaius could swear he felt the thing move. He didn't know how much time he had left, but it was too late to go back anyway.

  With a running start, Gaius threw his whole body at the ziggurat and kept pushing, until he heard a crack. The ziggurat gave in and allowed itself to be felled.

  The shimmer around this majestic feat of ancient craftsmanship dulled and went out, the remaining four falling in line and quieting down as the floor around them grew cold and opaque.

  Before dashing for the exit, Gaius watched the aperture of the window dissipate without a sign of protest. He wondered if the beast even noticed.

  Gaius closed the door behind him and kept running until he was too exhausted to keep moving.

  Only then did he notice a streak of smoke coming from his pendant. On a whim, he threw a punch at his own chin. The punch connected and led Gaius to conclude that the thing was busted.

  He then realized he had no idea when that happened and if he got exposed. He started to frantically look himself over, searching for signs of sprouting appendages. He sure didn't feel any different, but who knew, maybe Lucius and Secundus also felt there was nothing wrong with their new forms.

  This hasty examination was interrupted when the lights around Gaius went out, leaving him in the dark. He conjured the brightest light orb he could muster, tearing his clothes off piece by piece just to be sure.

  The lights turned on and Major appeared on the wall.

  "I've rerouted the power, we should be good now," he started, but then cut himself short and raised an eyebrow, which in his state was quite an accomplishment.

  "Yes, you did it. From a certain perspective, you saved the world. But that doesn't make you a knight of my order. And even if it did, it wouldn't require you adopting Isabella's wardrobe sensibilities."

  "I need to be sure," Gaius barked. "That the beast didn't leave its mark on me."

  "I think you should be good," Major said.

  "You think?"

  "Guy, my specialty lies in creating undead, not knowing every little thing about the beast. But as far as I can tell, its effects are instantaneous and very much obvious."

  These words finally allowed Gaius to stop and catch his breath. Breathing turned into a prolonged burst of laughter, until finally he looked up at Major and the unseen Isabella who he knew was watching him too.

  "I'm good," he said. "Let's get out of here."

  Story Facts - Chapter 38

  We know of an ancient radiation

  That haunts dismembered constellations

  An old man sits collecting stamps.

  In a room all filled with Chinese lamps.