Sebastian

by Yoshani. The incubus looked at Lynnea, then at her. "I'm going, too."

    "No." The stricken look in Teaser's eyes surprised her, then pleased her. The young incubus she'd met in the Den fifteen years ago wouldn't have cared enough about anyone else to offer to help, let alone feel hurt when the offer was refused.
    Before he could gather himself enough to argue, she added, "I need you to go back to the Den, Teaser."
    "But—"
    "I need that."
    Yoshani stepped up beside Teaser. "Since Teaser is going back to the Den, would it cause a dissonance if I went with him? I have mentioned many times over the years that I would like to visit the Den."
    Yoshani had mentioned wanting to visit, but she'd always said, "Not yet," because his presence would have caused a dissonance, could have shifted something before the hearts that were attuned to the Den were ready to change. But things had already changed in the Den, and Yoshani's steady heart would balance Teaser's more volatile one.
    "An excellent suggestion, Honorable Yoshani," Glorianna said.
    Teaser sputtered. Yoshani smiled.
    Lee looked over his shoulder to gauge the sun's progress. "We'd better go."
    Glorianna nodded. "I want to get there ahead of the council so that I can choose the ground."
    Yoshani raised his hand. "May the Guardians of the Light watch over you."
    Teaser looked at Lynnea, then Lee, and finally at Glorianna. "Travel lightly."
    She turned away and followed the path that would take them to Lee's small island.
    Travel lightly . She hoped she would. She hoped she could.
    Everything depended on it.

    Teaser watched them go, wondering how he'd gotten stuck playing keeper to a holy man instead of doing something to help Sebastian.
    "I left my bag on the bench over there," Yoshani said. "I think it best if we reach the Den before the sun sets."
    "Sun doesn't shine in the Den," Teaser muttered.
    "Before it sets here."
    Since he couldn't think of a reason to delay, he followed Yoshani to the bench, then to the bridge he and Lynnea had used to reach Sanctuary. Then he tried to argue.
    "You really shouldn't be going to the Den," he said.
    "Why not?" Yoshani asked mildly.

    "Because you live here, and the Den is the Den of Iniquity. There's drinking and gambling." When Yoshani just smiled, he felt a reckless panic rise up inside him. "And whoring. Lots of whoring. And…
    and erotic statues. Right out in public!"
    "It sounds like a fascinating place. Shall we go?"
    Teaser stared at Yoshani. The man should be outraged, scandalized!
    "Something has not occurred to you, my friend." Yoshani set his bag on the ground and held his hands out, holding them far apart.
    "You see Sanctuary and your Den as two places far from each other, too unlike to be connected in any way."
    "They are," Teaser insisted.
    Yoshani shook his head. "They are like this." Holding up one hand, he ran a finger down the palm, then down the back. "They are just two sides of the same heart, two facets of Glorianna Belladonna."
    There was nothing Teaser could say to that, so he stared at the bridge.
    Yoshani picked up his bag and rested a hand on Teaser's shoulder. "If it eases your heart, I will tell you this." He grinned. "I was not always a holy man."
    *
    "You don't have to exert yourself," Harland said. "I promise you, justice will be done."
    Balanced on crutches, Koltak ignored the pain in what remained of his heavily bandaged left foot and looked the head of the Wizards' Council in the eyes. "I want to be there when justice is done. I want to see that bastard get what he deserves. And I want to see her destruction."
    Harland studied Koltak for a moment, then smiled. "I thought that would be your answer, so I arranged a pony cart and a driver for you."
    As Koltak slowly made his way to the door, Harland said, "Yes, Koltak, this day will change the world.
    Before it ends, we will succeed in doing what generations of wizards have worked to accomplish. We will vanquish the last enemy, and the world will be ours. All ours."
    It flowed through the landscapes, a rippling shadow. The lesser enemies who had managed to escape Its attack on the school could not hurt It. Not anymore. They were caged in the landscapes they had fled to, unable to reach the other landscapes anchored in their gardens. Their power was fading in those abandoned places. Soon their resonance would be gone, leaving Ephemera without any guides to shape what was manifested. But It would be there, drifting among the landscapes,