Of all the things Myron had expected to see in Kelshir, a wooden palisade was not one of them. But that was what he was seeing. Rows of upright logs, their tops sharpened into points, stood bound together in a crude wall that surrounded several buildings.

  This had to be the compound of the knights.

  "What kind of shit is this?" Nela whispered to him. She was clearly thinking of the same thing he was. They'd seen walls like this on the battlefield, crude defenses quickly put up to ward off enemies or wild animals. This, in turn, raised a key question of just what the knights saw the people of Kelshir as.

  "Why would they wall themselves off like this?" Edeline asked Anthyla.

  "I do not know." Anthyla kept her voice low. "The prior year they requested men and resources to build an extension of the city's outer walls around the compound. My father refused, saying they could not spare either. I suppose the knights decided they would handle it themselves."

  Looking down the street to where the one opening stood, Myron noted the presence of a single guard. The man, standing at attention with a spear in hand, hadn't noticed them yet. He would eventually, so they needed to be quick with their plans.

  "The three of us will go into the compound first." Myron gestured, indicating himself, Edeline, and Hamond. "Lady Kelshir and Nela will follow. We will start a fight out in the open to lure out their thaumaturge, force him to reveal himself. Once he has done so, Edeline and Hamond will deal with him, hopefully with Ugotlas's help." He hoped the sphinx could hear him. "Meanwhile, I will break off to join Nela and Lady Kelshir. That way, we can begin searching the place for their prisoners."

  "Do we even know if they're being held here?" Hamond asked.

  "They...could not be anywhere else without the city guard knowing." Anthyla said, her voice taking on a more desperate tone. "You heard what Captain Sophos told me. They must be being held in the gaol here."

  In truth, nothing the captain had said told them one way or the other as to where the prisoners might be. However, even if the Episkopiate or the other prisoners were not here, their efforts here could still put a stop to the brutal attacks of the knights. To Myron, that would be victory enough.

  Hamond did not object further though. Perhaps he realized the same.

  "Shall we show the knights how much of an error they have made?" Edeline asked, a slight grin on her face.

  Myron nodded. "It's time."

  "Corpus volt!" Edeline began to glow slightly as her spell took hold. No more stealth then, as the sparking energy surrounding her would draw all eyes. Sure enough, the guard at the compound's entrance had seen it out of the corner of his vision and was now staring at them.

  No time to hold to their planned formation, then. "Go!" Myron called out, starting to run forward. Edeline, powered by her spell, dashed past Myron and bore down on the man. Before the guard could even raise his spear, Edeline was upon him. She cut him down with a single slice.

  "Arm yourself!" another voice called out from inside the compound. Shit, someone had been there. "We're under attack!"

  Edeline, not slowing down, ran into the compound after the voice. Myron didn't hesitate and charged after her, the footsteps of their companions - Myron did not look to see who - following behind.

  Standing there in the compound was a small group of men, three hex or so. Some held spears at the ready, others had swords in hand, while a few who were unarmed hung back. Edeline had come to a stop just outside of their reach, settled into a fighting position.

  Myron could see the problem instantly. With the array of spears and blades, there was no way Edeline could safely close in to fight. Even if she managed to take down one or two with her magically enhanced speed, it would leave her open to attacks from the rest.

  Not that Myron could do any better against their formation. But he knew someone who could. "Hamond!" he called out, relying on the man to be there, to be ready.

  "Ventus fugit!" A burst of wind knocked most of the men off their feet, and sent the rest reeling. It was all the opening they needed. Edeline was among the knights with hesitation, swinging her blade as she moved to the left. Myron mirrored her, heading to the right and cutting down a pair of men before they could recover.

  "Tetra lithoistos!" Hamond wasn't finished either, as Myron heard the thuds of the conjured stone missiles finding their targets. He didn't let it distract him, as he sidestepped a clumsy spear thrust before cutting that man down as well.

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  Some of the men started to fall back as the three of them pressed the attack. The Aetheric Knights here, for all of their training, were genuinely not prepared for a battle with a thaumaturge. The only conclusion Myron could reach was that they were entirely dependent on their own thaumaturge to handle such.

  Where this left him, the one person among them who was not a thaumaturge...Myron wasn't sure. But here and now, at least, he could still keep fighting. Sidestepping a sword swing, he brought down yet another man with a slice of his own.

  What was a problem was that more men were joining the fight, running out of the buildings to reinforce the knights. While over half the initial group was now dead, Myron wasn't sure they could hold out if there were too many more of them. The only other option would be Edeline using her one big spell, but a large bolt of energy from the sky would draw the city guard into this. That had be saved as a last resort.

  "What in Aether's name is going on here?"

  The booming voice brought the fighting to a standstill. A tall heavy-set man, wearing full armor and bearing a full beard, strode up behind the knights. This had to be the commander here, or at least a higher ranking member of the knights.

  Whoever he was, he was not happy. "Anyone want to tell me how a group of three people is stopping the Aetheric Knights?"

  "They have spells!" One of the men pointed at Hamond.

  "Oh no, not that." The commander's response was scathing. "What could over a hexty knights possibly do to stop one man? Pathetic, the lot of you!"

  A couple of the knights grumbled under their breath, but no one contradicted the man. More importantly, the commander had not called any one of the men out. That likely meant none of them were the thaumaturge. So unless they had been incredibly lucky with their initial attack, that left...

  "Pathetic," the commander repeated. "I'll deal with them myself then! Khruseois panpolia!"

  Glowing streams of light appeared out of the air, wrapping around the knight. For a moment, Myron swore he saw the man floating off of the ground, before the magical energies flared, shaping themselves into an ornate glowing suit of armor. This was him, the one they had seen during the slaughter at Verdan. He hadn't been clearly visible then, with the distance and setting sun, but there could be no doubt now.

  "I am Lord Fulcald Gortyssa of the Aetheric Knights," the commander declared, "And you three are dead."

  "I have faced worse," Edeline called back, doing her part in the original plan. Right, this was supposed to be the time for Myron to break away to join Nela, but he had no idea where she or Anthyla were. A quick look around the compound didn't reveal them. While it was good they had managed to remain undetected, not having a clear direction to go made this that much more difficult.

  Lord Gortyssa snorted, stepping forward, bringing his now-glowing blade down on Edeline. Or where she was, as she swiftly stepped out of the way, then struck back. Her blow glanced off of his armor, not even showing any sign of even scratching the man.

  Myron looked around again, hoping he would spot something. Wait, there it was. Just hovering in the gap between two of the buildings was a small orb of light. That had to be Nela's doing, a signal for them that she was in position.

  He wished he could tell Edeline and Hamond he was making his move, but that would give away too much of their plan. Myron sighed, accepting that he would just have to go for it. He just had to wait for the opportunity.

  Edeline evaded another blow, darting around behind Lord Gortyssa. The spell-clad knight turned to follow her movement, his back now to where Myron and Hamond were.

  Now.

  He dashed off, laying one of the other knights low with a sideways slash of his blade as he past. He heard shouts of astonishment as he ran past. The knights had been focused on watching Edeline and their commander fight, so hopefully it caught them off guard. Not all of them, though, as he heard someone running after him.

  "Dijed inek heka seshep sheser sheser wenen."

  Myron didn't slow as he heard several cries of pain behind him. While grateful that Ugotlas had timed his appearance perfectly, he could hardly stop to thank the sphinx. Rounding the corner where the light had been, Myron saw Nela and Anthyla standing there, backs pressed against the wall to avoid attention.

  "Took you long enough," Nela told him, "Now you can-"

  "Watch out!" Anythla shouted.

  Myron quickly stepped forward. He felt a stinging pain as the sword swing of the knight just barely caught his back. Spinning, he deflected another slice with the flat of his own blade, then with a twist brought his sword around and slashed the other way. The man immediately dropped to his knees, looking up defiantly for a moment before falling face first to the ground.

  Fool, he chastised himself. Myron knew better than to let his guard down like that. He should've looked back to make certain that none had gotten past Ugotlas.

  "He didn't get you, did he?" Nela broke away from the wall to look Myron over.

  "Just grazed me," Myron reassured her, although he remained angry at himself. Shit, if that one strike had cut deeper...

  Nela let out a frustrated sigh. "Aether's blood, you scared a hex of years off my life there. Let me see." She started pulling gently at the back of his tunic. "Just a shallow cut. Panakeia logos." The pain subsided as the healing spell did its work.

  "Sorry," Myron said. Still a little shaken, he bent down and wiped his sword on the fallen knight's tabard, trying to get as much of the blood off as he could.

  "Now what?" Nela asked, "Don't think our guide here is going to be much help."

  "I will admit, I have not been in here." Anthyla replied, her tone that of a person who was offended and trying not to show it.

  Myron, at least, had an answer. "We'll start with their main hall." It was a multi-floor building of stone brick, unlike the other wooden buildings surrounding it. If they really did keep prisoners somewhere in this place, it would probably be in there...or rather, below there.

  Crouching down to keep a lower profile, Myron gestured for Nela and Lady Kelshir to do the same. Once they had, he set off, creeping to around the back. Perhaps they'd find a side entrance there. And beyond that...hopefully, the members of the Aetheric Order.