Mandy and Armand were both sitting in a lounge. They’d gotten a modicum amount of sleep. Resting after everything only came easy to Aramand. Though she had things explained in advance and even began to see things it all felt surreal. When Teddy and Renne had so easily slipped into the flow of things she felt isolated. Was it too much for her to believe that once they met with Nate everything would fall into place?

  The man across from her didn’t provide any assistance in the matter. Since his rescuing shot in the hallway he’d grown quiet. The weakness of modern weapons against an obviously human shaped figure was a hard pill to swallow. He mulled over the idea of how to be effective and gain his revenge.

  “So how are we supposed to deal with this?” Mandy asked.

  “We? Deal with what?”

  “You know my father, and the monster’s running amuck. Shouldn’t we do something?”

  Armand looked her up and down. Working at the estate for some years now he was familiar with the youngest miss of the household. Among her siblings she was both rebellious and dependent far more often then the others. More than once had her delinquent activity lead him to follow her all around town.

  When Nate had quit being a gang leader and went straight she had followed him right into it. When not counting the illegal activity of outright stalking him. If the man would have taken responsibility for her then it might have been better. He couldn’t just ask the guy to deal with this problem child. Following Nate around like a puppy, she was truly obsessed. Those who work at the mansion knew all about her shrine room. Every inch being dedicated to Nate.

  “Young miss, I think it would be best if we just quietly allow them to move. I will slip out and inform Jeb’s wife on what happened, otherwise it seems safest here.”

  “What, I'm supposed to just sit quietly like a good little girl? Is that what you're implying?” Mandy said.

  Between the two of them there was nothing more than a former employment status. Armand wasn’t one to get close to those he protected and this did not exclude Mandy. He found her insufferable, the way she always relied on others. Pity might have come to his mind but he had none left to give out to entitled brats. That would be saved for those who’d lost their families in the attack.

  “Thats exactly right. You are a weak girl, you have nothing, you are nothing. Daddy’s money was about all you had going for you and now you’ve got shit. So what are we going to do, just about nothing.”

  Mandy was stunned into silence, all her hangups, and worries had just been confirmed. She shook in place as Armand excused himself. Wondering if he’d been too harsh he nearly turned back to apologize but reconsidered. If she thought she could do something and got hurt it would be a detriment to everyone. This was better for her.

  Struggling in her seat she questioned why she had even tried to leave home. Nothing ever seemed to work out for her. Without much thought she started toward Nate’s room. He was the last person she could rely on. Everyone else was leaving her behind and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

  “Here I borrowed these.” Teddy said.

  Nate was now sitting at a desk which had been moved into his hospital room. They were making themselves at home. With Allison captured they couldn’t know what Zeus would do next. Now was the time to grow as quickly as possible. This meant getting through the book his teacher had given him.

  “Were they any good?” Nate asked.

  This was a genuine question as he knew his little brother better than anyone. The little guy was beyond him in studying and could read much faster. If he was returning the books then he would have come to some conclusions over what to do. Naturally he couldn’t just go off his summary but it might help.

  “Well, there are a few things in there that I found curious. The structure of the spirit house normally is whatever building a Necromancer chooses. That of course means that you're locked into that building and its limitations.”

  “That seems to track with what I had read. What was curious about it?”

  “Well, if you only get one building how do stronger spirits come to reside within? For that matter spirits are said to upgrade. In your case or the case of those who use this town square method you can simply make a new building whenever in need.” Teddy said.

  “Except you would need sufficient power and image for it. Not to mention if it's not going to be a shakily built one, getting another technique would be preferable.” Nate responded.

  “My thinking exactly. However, I read into some of the margins and judging by the age of this book, which is old. The method in here is a lot more polished. There’s a date from ten years ago correcting portions of the magic circle for the town square.”

  “Ok, and since Zeus is a former Apprentice we can assume he has the older version of this magic circle. Is that what you're getting at?”

  “A bit but there's more. We would have to ask the other Necromancers, but doesn’t it seem like you could just reform the spell structure after gaining a better magic? That is why I think maybe Zeus doesn’t have the town square any more.” Teddy stated confidently.

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  “Uh, the fuc.. I mean can you put it in terms I can understand please.” Karah cut in.

  “If Teddy is right, which he could be. Zeus no longer has access to the magic circle that allows for multiple spirit buildings. Why would he do that?” Nate asked.

  A look of understanding crossed Karah’s face. She hadn’t read any of this or learned about it out in the field. Still she could put the pieces together that something wasn’t adding up. A weakness of sorts.

  “Right, I knew you would get it. Why does it seem they can’t just rewrite the circle? It's simple they can but there’s always a remnant. Look at the old method here. Yeah, there, in this section of lines. If the correction notes are to be believed the original structure was unstable. Nat, how many buildings do you think you could make?”

  “I haven’t given it much thought but hmm. I would say approximately five. Maybe, more if I get a better understanding. I just have this feeling that it would be five.”

  “Okay, so even doing two previously would have been difficult in the old method. Do you know if Wayne or that person uses this method?” Teddy asked.

  “The Grandmaster doesn’t. I can confirm that. She once bragged during one of my deaths about finding writings that might lead to a breakthrough in spirit housing. Didn’t know she was talking about this.” Renee spoke up.

  “Bingo, The Temple that Mr.Wayne mentioned must be a forced rewrite. He’s older than Wayne enough that he doesn’t know him. So he must have an out of date version. We can use the lines. The lines you know.” Teddy spoke emphatically.

  Renee looked worriedly at Nate who seemed to be taking a minute to inspect the magic circle and the area pointed out by Teddy. The two seemed to be getting lost into their own little world. She could keep up with what was happening but her knowledge was a cobbled together mess. Her own spirit vault would have to wait till she got the ok from the Grandmaster.

  “Oh, OH. I see yeah you punk this could work. They have to manifest the circle when the temple comes out. That means we can shock it.” Nate said.

  “Exactly you get it. See, isn't my brother the best?”

  What the two had landed on was rather simple. In the old magic circle which they expected was used by Zeus was a weak point. Unlike Wayne or Nate who had corrected versions his was based on the old model. If he rewrote the magic to create the temple he would have to repurpose the previous magic circle. There within the first circle was a gap that when connected to another point of spiritual energy would reverse the flow of energy. Any spell he would cast would be inverted and applied back onto himself.

  Mandy stepped into the doorway as the two brothers were now pouring over the magic circle looking for more problems. At the same time Teddy began explaining his ideas for the magic within the other book. They entered their own little world with Renee only adding something every so often. Serving to fill in the gaps of their information. Karah looked Mandy up and down. Was it really going to be her job to take care of such weak people? The answer was becoming a commonplace yes as she approached her.

  “You want to talk?” Karah asked.

  “What do you mean talk? Don’t you hate me?” Mandy Said.

  Mandy’s eyes barely kept in contact with Karah. There was still guilt there of running her out of town. Karah didn’t care about that, not anymore. She’d been the one to run away from Nate and had practically forgotten about it. Not to mention she had came out on top.

  “Just come on you freak. They're not going to notice if we’re here or not. Better to leave them to it and take our time. We should talk anyways. He’s going to need your help soon.”

  She perked up immediately at being told that she could help him. It was just what she needed to hear. That would show Armand, she could be of use. Karah was talking out her ass but Mandy didn’t know that.

  ***

  A solitary figure stood outside the hospital. Cloak pulled tight around his rough armor. The evidence of the battle from the night prior was still fresh, little had been covered up. A spell of mirage was cast that would only affect those with a low amount of spirit energy.

  Paladin Wood was no such weakling. Scanning the battle ground back and forth he estimated the size and strength of what had happened. Sniffing at the air he tried to hone in upon the traces of magic that still persisted in the air. These necromancers had a blatant disregard for cleaning up after themselves.

  “Squire Lillie, what do you make of this?” He asked.

  A slithering sound came from amongst the buildings around him. The shops and stores had a good number of alleyways that allowed the squishing throat to squirm its way to his side. It was stiff from all the snow and ice that was accumulating on the ground.

  “If you weren’t to be executed I would call in reinforcements or call you back immediately. The last signal we received was of at least one of the Grandmasters. I haven’t informed the Queen yet but it won’t be long before she knows.”

  The independent lips devoid of facial features or a head responded with a clack to them. Cold was seeping in more then she would have liked. Even her other missions were suffering as she spent more and more time watching over Paladin Wood. Maintaining the connection was always the hardest part.

  “Then place the remaining executioner under my command. It will take the both of us to kill those damnedable bastards.”

  “And the queen?”

  “You’ll have to ask someone for permission. Just get it done. I’ll pick a location to start ambush operations.”

  A wandering soul drifted from among the alleyways. With a greedy lick of his lips Paladin Wood pounced upon the spirits. His hands tore away at its body before slurping it down with delighted sounds. Squire Lillie could hardly watch, even after hundreds he wasn’t satisfied.

  Whatever power he was reaching for it was affecting his mind. They had lost a day simply wandering the streets. What was worse is that he was right. The number of spirits in town were swelling up by the day. It wouldn’t be long if a miasama consumed the entire town. Pulling out now would be much worse then acting to take down the scum.

  “I shall relay it now.”

  Paladin Wood stared up into the sky. His eyes went gray for a second. Spiritual power pulled in different directions on his soul. Burning filled his veins but was not their beauty in the art of crafting a weapon. A blade that would destroy the scum that was the Necromancers.