Edeline could not tell if she was becoming used to the warmer weather here in Lasfont, or if it was starting to cool off. It was quite possibly both.

  She stood alongside Ugotlas and Hamond, waiting for Taeseger. It was not because Taeseger was not present yet - rather, the sphinx in question had arrived before either of the other two. Taeseger now sat a few hex paces to the right of where they stood, believing herself invisible. She did not know Edeline and Hamond both possessed spells to see magical energies. Unless there was another smaller sphinx they were not aware of, it had to be Taeseger.

  The only reason she didn't draw attention to Taeseger yet was a matter of figuring out the strategy of the sphinxes. If this was an ambush, they would've had more than one nearby. Another possibility for their plan was for none of them to not show, forcing Edeline and Hamond to go off on their own, and then use that as an excuse to break the agreement.

  Forget it, this was taking too long, and Edeline wanted this to be done with. "Are you done hiding?" she asked, letting her voice echo down the street.

  "I do not think shouting like that will lead any of them to reveal themselves if they are present," Ugotlas noted.

  "Perhaps," Edeline replied, staring at where Taeseger stood. "But I doubt it matters much when I have a spell that shows me exactly where they are."

  "I should've checked," Hamond muttered, following her gaze.

  "Do not worry about it," Edeline said, keeping her eyes on the sphinx. To be honest, maintaining the spell was taking a toll on her eyes. While Taeseger was not to blame, having to keep staring right into the part of town aglow with the leftover magic of the Sluice was increasingly unpleasant. Please, Edeline silently begged, give up this trickery soon.

  "I would like to know why you neglected to inform us of this." Taeseger faded into view, addressing Ugotlas. "It would ideal to know who we are dealing with."

  "They already did not believe my account of the events in Kelshir," Ugotlas said, holding perfectly still. "And they still doubted my earlier admittance that they wielded the power of other members of the Elemental Hex. It is no surprise they did not ask me further about what spells these four possessed."

  "You would doubt them?"

  "I have come to doubt many things." Ugotlas was perfectly still, tail frozen curled in the air. "And I doubt I am the only one. Unless you mean to tell me that choosing to remain hidden from us, delaying our departure, was their decision and not yours?"

  That scenario Edeline hadn't considered. What Taeseger might gain from defying her orders was not clear though. If it was anything like how they had reacted to Ugotlas...then...

  "You're afraid, aren't you?" Hamond asked softly.

  Edeline paused, having to take that in. They had seen Ugotlas worried a few times, but outright fear was unexpected. However...with what Ugotlas had said about Taeseger being expendable, it made sense. Sphinx or not, none of them wanted to die.

  "An imperfect hunter is the perfect prey," Taeseger stated, "That is the way of the world the heavens set before us."

  "Such is what we are taught," Ugotlas said, "Though given what has come to pass here, all of the Sekhmati here are imperfect hunters. I cannot help but ask when the judgment of the eyes of the heavens will fall on upon the others."

  "What are you saying?" Taeseger was clearly less guarded with her feelings than Ugotlas, an astonished expression on her face. "You cannot mean to question their word. Their heka is far beyond either yours or mine."

  "That may well be true. But I stand alongside someone whose heka is greater still." Ugotlas glanced briefly at Edeline. "Judgment does not always come in the form we expect."

  "There is not a chance in all the heavens or all the lands below that she is more powerful or more skilled than us," Taeseger said.

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  "You could tell that to the sphinx I slew," Edeline said. With hindsight, she wondered if there might have been a better option, but every other possibility she had considered ended with Ugotla's death.

  "That should not be possible. Even if you had the good fortune to catch one of us with our guard down, the resulting retaliation once we learned of it would be immediate and decisive."

  "Truly an oddity then." Ugotlas looked away from Taeseger, no, from all of them. "I witnessed it, as did both Menakht amd Baufden."

  Taeseger stood there, obviously thinking it through. "I did find it strange that they appointed me to negotiate. If they thought the negotiation would end in conflict, then...they would rather sacrifice one with no great achievements to their name. I suspected as much, but...what is their ultimate goal then?"

  "I cannot say, but one thing is clear." Ugotlas straightened up, suddenly imposing. "If the heavens have chosen one such as Edeline here as the instrument of their judgment, then we have strayed far from the path."

  Edeline did not know whether to be insulted or honored. But that was Ugotlas, casually arrogant even when trying to compliment someone. No, she corrected herself, it was a trait shared with the other sphinxes. The difference was that most of them added weight to their insults, looking down on anyone except themselves.

  "Did they order you to start a fight if you couldn't persuade us to let you all have access to the Sluice?" Hamond asked.

  "No, but they made it clear that only one outcome is acceptable. Having failed to accomplish this goal through discussion, they will resort to force. And I would be seen as responsible for that failure."

  "We aren't so different, you know," Hamond spoke up again. "There are dangers I would rather flee from as well. We both have seen those among us who, rather than accept responsibility for their choices, would place the blame on others."

  That could apply to any number of people they had met so far, but something told Edeline it was the Witch of Wrath.

  "I will not claim to know you that well, or know what you are afraid of losing," Hamond continued, "But what I do know is that when the time came when we were in danger of losing it all, it was Ugotlas here who saved us. While I do not want this fight, I will not abandon him."

  "Hamond." Edeline walked over and took his hand. She could not have phrased it any better.

  "How does that help me in any way?" Taeseger asked.

  "Because you will have better chances of survival with allies than on your own," Hamond said.

  "In the sense that two is a higher number than one." Taeseger replied coldly.

  "Twice as much," Edeline noted. It was partly a joke, one Taseseger probably would not understand.

  Taeseger turned, looking off into the distance. Finally, after a long pause, she spoke again. "I cannot deny that if you were able to locate me despite using my heka to conceal my presence, they would be able to as well."

  Edeline was not about to correct Taeseger. If any of the sphinxes possessed a spell that allowed them to see through each other's invisibility, then Ugotlas and the surviving Sekhmati would have found each other well before they had. It was Hamond's spell, and presumably before him, the Spellking's.

  "A fight it shall be then." Taeseger's concession, as rough and reluctant as it was, rang triumphant to Edeline. "If we are committed to this, there is one thing you ought to know."

  "Do tell us," Hamond said, "Any information you have could help us."

  "There are also other dangers." Taeseger explained, "After the Witch of Wrath broke free and escaped, we hastened to secure the Sluice. But there was a guardian of carved stone."

  "Which I have since destroyed," Edeline told Taeseger. Did they not yet know about the gigant's defeat?

  The astonishment on Taeseger's face was audible, even if it faded swiftly. "Impressive, if true."

  "Another detail they did not inform you of," Ugotlas added, "I did tell them of the gigant. Their willingness for deception extends further than I had considered. Perhaps...everything they have said can be questioned."

  "Perhaps." Taeseger sounded skeptical. "More importantly though, there were other protectors of the statue. A small group of men and women were in the chamber when we arrived."

  The goddess of the fountains had worshipers. A distinct chill set in for Edeline, even in the sun's glow. She knew the doom these people had to have met. If it was not by the spells of the sphinxes, then it would be the Sluice's magic.

  "We restrained them, and set upon attempting to evaluate the heka of the statue. That was when it unleashed a storm of magic. There were no words spoken, and no obvious invocation. Simply a surge of energy that flooded outward, breaking our binding enchantments and transforming the people who had gathered there."

  That did match what the other sphinx had said. It was also telling to Edeline that the sphinxes had chosen to hold those people captive while they worked. Perhaps not inherently hostile, but they did not see any value in negotiation.

  "We fled from the chamber due to being outnumbered," Taeseger said quietly, "I cannot say if any of the transformed people still remain underground, but if so, we will need to fight past them."

  Hamond and Edeline exchanged looks. He was thinking of those like Sedat, just as she had to be. There was no great hope for any survivors of the spell who had held on to their minds.

  "I do not believe they are a significant threat." Ugotlas moved a few steps away, his focus now further on the town itself. "But we have talked here long enough. Let us proceed."

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