Errod gasped as he pulled the strange metal seashell off of his mouth. "That... was awful. It barely provides enough air, I felt like I was about to die the whole way here."

We'd followed human Calliope through the water, going only where she went, until we'd reached the hidden cave we were looking for. The grove we were attempting to reach was way higher above the water than I'd been expecting, as if it was some enormous pillar. I could see the crack we were supposed to be climbing up, but the narrow slot twisted so much that I could only see a dozen feet. Katrin was laying on her back in similar shape to Errod, but Matlyn seemed completely fine.

She'd refused the offer of buying her a breathing device, and had instead grown a plant around the lower half of her face and down onto her chest. It had somehow provided enough air to keep her going comfortably, with the only problem being her buoyancy - she had needed to hang onto Errod as he walked along so she wouldn't bob right up to the surface.

We all looked like drowned rats, but Katrin had a spell already figured out for that. "Okay, this should work. Just in case, you should all close your mouths and eyes. And pinch your noses shut. It shouldn't be able to work on the water inside your body, but... well."

I felt a magical pressure around me, overlapping with my lutore. I felt like I could possibly resist it, and for a moment I was tempted just so I could see how that would work, but instead I opened myself up and let it do its thing. Water started to spray away from us, filling the room with mist. It stopped after a moment, and while I was still quite damp I wasn't dripping any longer. "Not bad! It would probably work better if it was just one of us, and if we were outside. I think for every drop that came off of me I got hit with two more from the people on either side."

I put my diving helmet down, since it was bound to get in the way while climbing up that tight passage. I was a little worried about Katrin and Matlyn, neither of whom looked like they had the arm strength for an extended climb, but in a pinch we could leave them behind. After a few minutes of resting, we started on our way up. Calliope was in the front, then me, then Matlyn, then Katrin, and finally Errod. I kept waiting for a trap, or a monster, or... something.

But nothing happened.

Just like the underwater hike over, it was completely uneventful. We had to stop a lot for people to rest and let their hands un-cramp, or for them to figure out the best way to contort themselves in order to get past a particularly narrow spot - I suddenly found myself missing Mila a lot - but it was nothing scary or dangerous, just tricky and slow and uncomfortable. After somewhere around forty-five minutes, we reached an open area where we could regroup.

"The top is very close," Calliope said, "it comes out near the rune stones that encircle the spirit's domain. The stones are for ritual magic, they are unrelated to our purpose here but draw on some of the same power. There are other locations with rune stones, but their spirits were slain by the Clockmaker so he could move the domains and forge them into Dumineres. This is the only one I know of that still retains its spirit."

There were thirty known Dumineres. The Clockmaker had kept them in secure, underground locations and they'd probably mainly been accessed by teleportation before the fall of the old Empire. Multiple people had said there were most likely thirty-six of them in total, and while I didn't know if there was a specific reason for that other than "thirty-six is a significant number here" I was prepared to believe it. But if this spot was missed, somehow, that meant it was thirty-five at the most. Could there be others out there? If so, someone would have had to hide them from the Clockmaker and they would have just... kept hiding them.

Everyone had made it into the chamber, but we were all looking to Calliope for the signal to proceed. "When the passage opens," she said, "it will lift the top of a hollow boulder. Take care to not step on any plants nearby. Walk only on stones, so you do not leave a trail and give it away. There should not be any Sahrger here tonight - the guards patrol at the edges, and only come to the center if there is an emergency. I do not know if they simply have faith in their protections, or if the families that use this secret path have arranged this to keep their secret. If we do come across Sahrger, they must be killed as quickly as possible so they have no chance to raise an alarm."

We all nodded or muttered some sort of agreement, and she headed up. The last section was more of a proper passage, with ladder-like handholds carved into the stone. There was a soft click from above us, and bright moonlight flooded into the cramped space. We all hurried up and out, remembering the warning about where to step; it was easy, thankfully, with more rock than vegetation around us. The rune stones came into view as soon as we wound our way through the closest trees - they were in a wide hollow, each one about nine feet tall and covered in carvings that glowed just bright enough to be visible.

Standing inside the circle, in the light of a mana crystal lantern, were two humans. One was a kid, maybe six years old, and the other was significantly older - in his twenties, maybe. Calliope pulled me back and whispered to everyone. "We kill the older one. The younger... we may yet be able to save."

Katrin had been peeking over a bush, and looked back at us. "Are you sure? Isn't he just a prisoner, like the others?"

She shook her head, lips tight. "Whether they are sold into slavery, or taken as changelings only to have their Sahrger counterpart die somehow, the ones that wear that sash - you see the sash, of red fabric? They are to be trained in the old magic, as I was after I killed your parents. They did not try to get you back, because you had none to speak for you. Your parents had power, influence, but their family had grown small. I was given the sash and trained, and... they make you do things. To the other humans - the ones that fight back. If you resist, you are beaten and shunned not by the Sahrger, but by your fellow human children."

She was watching them, and I could read the anger on her face. "Eventually, I did it too. I told myself I was only doing it until I could find a way to get free, but the things I said and did to the others... I was a monster, like you were. And the longer people were there, the deeper the rules worked their way into their heads. I beat a girl, once, for not standing in the right spot. Do you know why? Because I was beat for it, when I had not yet earned any knots in my sash. But I have often thought... who said we could not stand there? Was it just a chain of children torturing each other for some offense that had no meaning, no purpose? For all I knew the first time had been a misunderstanding, and yet I had helped to turn it into a violation that required a payment of blood."

She turned and made eye contact with Errod, surely knowing he would be the one to most strenuously object to killing this guy. "What was done to us was evil, and the man you see down there is a victim of the Sahrger. But he has a dozen knots in his sash, maybe more - he is now in charge, he is the one enforcing and overseeing the torture and senseless rules. The poison has fully coated his brain, and he will not listen to any attempts to free him. He cannot imagine turning on the Sahrger. He cannot imagine breaking the rules, no matter how painful and nonsensical they are. He has been broken and remade, and has chosen to take comfort in his power over others. Do you understand? You would need to first change him on a fundamental level; we do not have the time to do this, and even if we did... he would not want to. He would not want to confront what that means about how he has lived his life."

I nodded. "Fair enough. Errod, you good?"

He sighed. "I understand. It's no worse than the Halenvar soldiers I've killed, most of them probably would have lived decent lives under other circumstances. I don't like it, but I never like killing people. Katrin, can you ready that spell that ties people up?"

Right, the weird energy tether thing she'd used a few times. As we prepared to attack, Matlyn handed something to Errod; it was a green ball, clearly made of plant matter. "This is filled with a powerful sedative. Crush it against her face if she tries to fight us, she'll pass out almost immediately."

We charged, and for once things went off like clockwork. One of my daggers was already in the air by the time the older one was turning to face us, and he caught it right through his neck. The younger one's scream was cut off by Katrin's magic wrapping around her, and then Errod smashed the plant ball against her face for good measure - I'd expected him to try and calm her down, but it looked like he had other plans. As advertised, she was unconscious right away and he gently picked her up.

"I'm not taking any chances that she'll give our position away," he said, "not if she might have already been conditioned to fear getting away from the Sahrger. She can wake up already out of their clutches, and we'll go from there."

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A voice came from all around us. "Oho, so it's a rescue mission! Charming."

The air shimmered, and a spirit was standing with us in the clearing. She was seven feet tall, with the lower half of a goat. Her eyes were pitch black and would have looked more natural on some sort of insect - in fact, as she stepped closer four shimmering insect wings unfolded from her back. "Calliope Smith, you have come to make another bargain? It seems your prior one is now fulfilled, since you have brought Unbroken Thread to me."

Ah, fuck. Was this a trap? Did she betray me? It hadn't felt that way, though, and I was pretty sure it had been my idea to come here.

Calliope bowed to the spirit. "Your spell was flawed, Glaistig. It was supposed to switch our locations, return me to my home."

The spirit laughed. "I saw how you changed it, little mortal. You promised me you would return the lost one, but intended her to die horribly on arrival. A clever move. That your changes caused other mistakes is no fault of mine. And you, Unbroken Thread. Your parents begged me to send you somewhere special, somewhere that your destiny could be found. You had the spark in you, do you know that? That rare glimmer that so few of your kind possess, the chance to develop control over fate. And now, here, I see that you have thrown that away. Burned my inherited gifts from your lutore, allowed yourself to be branded by the Clockmaker."

As fascinating as it was to think I might have been able to develop some fate-related abilities even without the Duminere, I decided I didn't want to engage more than necessary. "I've come to ask you to grant Calliope power. She says you promised it to her, should she get a Sahrger to ask on her behalf."

"Ah! Very interesting! You've come to lean on the power of our agreement?"

"That depends. What are the terms of the agreement?"

Glaistig pouted. "No fun, asking first, though there's precious little I could do regardless. Those three wretched queens bound me to inscribe my power upon any of those in their families that were born lacking it, and in return they swore to protect me and my stones from the Clockmaker and his people. I must also allow limited use of this site, to further the goals of the Sahrger."

Calliope nodded. "That is how I was able to pull you here, from Earth. Returning one who was stranded fell within the spirit's bargain."

The spirit loomed over us. "And now, as promised, you have returned her to me. Did you find your fate, stranded one? I can see the chains that bind you - so many more than when I sent you away. And you wish to grant this human my power... even after you yourself have shunned it. Hmm. Well, I do have some small amount of leverage here. You, who grew to adulthood away from your people, are unlikely to know what you must do in order to make this request of me. And, unlike the general terms of the agreement, I'm under no obligation to tell you. I could also... if I chose... get the attention of the guards that circle nearby. Do they know you have returned, little one?"

I had been expecting this, to some extent. I turned on threadsight, and could see a line of fate magic weaving around her stones and binding her wrists. There was also something else, a purple and white thread that went from her to the center of the clearing. "I'll make you a deal. You give her power, the strongest and best you can. You do it not only to the best of your ability, but in a way that you genuinely believe she would prefer out of the options available to you. You also break the thread that connects us without harming us - in fact, you promise to do nothing to harm us or cause others to harm us, and to help me out in the future - nothing specific, just a favor I can call in. And... you teach me what you can, about how you contact Earth and send things between here and there, and about how you're tied to this spot."

Glaistig cackled. "Such bold demands! What do you think you can offer me, to make this kind of bargain?"

"In exchange, I give you... the queen of the Sahrger's name, if you don't have it already, and I break the deal they have with you."

The aftershocks of her laughter came to an abrupt stop. "Lies. You cannot. I need two of the three queens to agree to free me, and one's station has been vacant for many years. Another is naught but a puppet, and the last would never free me. She would lose not only my services, but my family's seat in Enimondoa."

I shrugged. "That's my offer. Take it or leave it."

The spirit's black eyes glimmered, and her wings twitched. She leaned towards me, staring. The moment dragged on, and I could feel the nervousness from my friends, but I just stood there smiling. Finally she stood straight again. "I cannot break the bond between you two. There may be ways, but it is against my nature. Also, if I teach you about the binding to this place, you must also swear that you will not use it against me. That you will not try to claim this place. And as part of the bargain... if you should fail to hold up your end, you would be indebted to me for a year and a day."

I nodded. "I feel confident it won't come to that, but just in case... I'll do the year and a day, but you'd still have to do the stuff I asked."

"The inscription for your little reflection here, yes. Everything that comes after, no."

"That makes sense for the favor, but I'd need you to still promise not to harm us and to allow my friends to leave safely."

Glaistig began to glow, and I saw threads weaving around her. Binding, probability, and fate. "Then we have an accord?" She held her hand out, palm up, and I went to place my own hand on hers.

"No!" Katrin hissed. "You can't do this! This is a terrible idea, how are you going to hold up your end?"

I smiled at her. "Your boyfriend told me how, actually. It's fine."

I placed my hand on hers, and watched a thread form between us. She shuddered for a moment, and then pulled her hand away. "As I am yet bound, I cannot simply give Calliope Smith here the power you have requested. There are terms, as I hinted at before. Rules that must be followed. I can grant her my inscription only if she is part of your family. I will whisper the words to you, and you will give her a Sahrger name. Only then can I proceed."

Calliope's eyes went wide. "No. No. I will not be one of them. I will not be under the power of the queen."

The spirit laughed again. "It is true you must offer up a pledge to one of the courts, but this is part of the oath. Each culture has their own, and this one includes that promise. You will not be a true Sahrger unless you choose to live with them in Xeyul for several years, however; iron will not harm you, and your lifespan will be limited compared to them."

I put a hand on Calliope's shoulder. "What about the court with no queen? The... I know they're all colors. The Black Court, yeah. There's nobody to give orders, and anyway you'll be gone from here soon. And it's not like the spirit can send them after you, because the bargain says she can't do anything that causes others to harm you."

There was something else Calliope should have been more afraid of, which was that I could give her a really fucking stupid Sahrger name. Ass Over Teakettle. Smell Of Burnt Garbage. Single Braincell. As if sensing my thoughts, Glaistig began her whispered instructions with an explanation about the names. It would have to sound descriptive, evoking some feeling or imagery, and it could be anything ranging from something aspirational to whatever had triggered the child's first word - Sahrger children didn't get names until they were a few years old. I would also, just this once in front of the spirit and our guests, have to give some hint as to what the name meant - this meaning would be encoded in the name, like the intent in a spell. Before I had time to settle on a name, however, Glaistig's whispers in my ear proceeded to the script.

I followed directions and placed a hand on Calliope's chest. "Supplicant of my house. Child of another. I grant you permission to offer hospitality of our home to others, to have your bargains counted under my family line, to stand above the others not born of our noble race." Okay, that last line felt particularly gross. Kinda gave me white supremacist vibes. Still, nothing to do for now but continue. "I, Unbroken Thread, do name you..." I smirked, and she finally saw the danger. But... I was in a generous mood. "I do name you Last Taste of Iron, for the blood on the lips and blade in the hearts of those who cross you. You psycho bitch. I name you this by the power of the Black Court, may its ruler raise you to the heights of our people."

The spirit scowled. "That name implies she will be killing Sahrger. Mentioning iron in a name is... it is an insult to everyone that hears it."

"Oh good," I said, "I was worried that wouldn't come across. Perfect. Last Taste of Iron, you're cool with your very name being a disgrace to Sahrger society, right?"

She smiled at me, for once in a way that wasn't predatory. "I can live with that, yes. Glaistig, it is time."

The fey being's wings blurred, and it lifted into the air directly over the center of the circle of megaliths. "Traditionally, I form only a beginning. A seed of potential, that can grow over time. But... this will leave you weak for a time, and may never grow into something truly notable. I have promised to make you powerful, and so for you I will inscribe into your lutore not just a word of power, but a poem. This will hurt quite a lot," she said with a grin, "as I must also scrape your lutore clean of its human filth."

Calliope dropped to the ground, her teeth clenched. She clamped a hand over her mouth as her eyes rolled back in her head.

"Katrin! Do you have... some sort of silence thing?"

Katrin's spellbook was already in her hands, and she was frantically sliding the runes around on the inside of the cover. After a moment she seemed satisfied and a clear dome appeared around Calliope, and with no time to spare - her mouth opened wide in a silent scream. I couldn't help but wonder if this was more painful than it needed to be, and how the spirit defined "harm". Despite how dramatic it was, the whole thing was over in maybe a minute. Katrin dispelled the dome, and Calliope stared off into the distance for a moment before looking up at me and nodding. I reached a hand down and helped her up.

"And now," the spirit said in a hungry tone, "you will keep your part of the bargain... if you can."

Not a problem. I wandered over to one of the standing stones, and located a lumpy bit without any runes on it. "Errod, hand me the sword for a sec."

He passed it over, and I very carefully took aim and swung. Despite not knowing how to mess with its density like Errod, the ridiculously sharp blade sent a small chip of stone flying away into a bush. I handed the sword back as I watched the magical binding with my threadsight; the lines were fraying and unraveling into nothingness, all around me. It was a good thing that Lute had mentioned what triggered the alarm in Erathik when we'd talked, or I might not have thought of this. "Whoops," I said to the spirit, "looks like the Sahrger didn't keep your stuff safe from the Clockmaker's people. Now... about that information I wanted..."

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