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‘We should return to headquarters,’ said Ezmortig.

‘Are you sure?’ said Hoyohté. ‘We can still fall back to our allies in Kahm, no?’

Ezmortig shook his huge head. ‘This operation is lost. We’d need to bring someone in who could kill that light bastard, but this mission just doesn’t have that kind of priority. Atreya isn’t important enough right now.’

‘I was told that this operation was critical for establishing Abolish’s dominance over the continent.’

‘Ah. Well. Our captain tends to exaggerate when she gets excited.’

Hoyohté swam up behind Karkash, and her voice bristled with irritation as she said, ‘We would not have come here if we had known that this was just some trivial fancy for your sect.’

‘Yeah,’ was all Ezmortig said.

Desmond snickered, drawing Karkash’s glare.

‘You waste our time,’ said Hoyohté. ‘I do not find that amusing.’

‘Oh, please. Your people knew this assignment was probably horseshit when they only sent two servants to assist. Simple risk-reward scheme. They wanted to send someone so that if things went well, they could claim to have helped, but they obviously didn’t want to devote any real resources to it. And all the while, both sides could dress it up as the spirit of cooperation, which is always good for morale.’

‘Hmph.’

‘But you knew that already,’ said Ezmortig. ‘C’mon. There’s no need to play dumb with me. I know you’re smarter than you would have me believe. The way you ferreted out those traitors of yours, led them right into a trap--and by pretending to be overeager and stupid, no less. You’re really quite calculating, aren’t you? No doubt, you were hoping this assignment would help you gain traction with your superiors, too.’

“You talk too much,” said Karkash.

Desmond laughed. “He does talk too much. There’s no stopping him once he gets going. But still, I’ve learned that he’s worth listening to. I’m sure you’ll understand that we’re pretty good friends to have, if you give us a chance.”

Karkash eyed them flatly. “You both talk too much.”

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When Ezmortig was close enough, he started to recreate Desmond. The brain was the first thing to appear, growing out from a speck on the ground and from there, it only took a few minutes for the man’s body to regenerate fully.

Desmond took a deep breath, stretching his jaw muscles with one hand as he looked around at Karkash and the two reapers. He was nude, of course, but he didn’t seem to mind very much. He gave a loud sniff and cracked his neck. “So I guess things didn’t go very well for us, did they?”

‘I’m fairly certain that everyone else is dead,’ said Ezmortig. ‘Hanjir and Jupard might’ve gotten away, but I suspect Roman killed them.’

“Who’s Roman?” said Desmond.

‘The flying man that Karkash was fighting. We fought him, too, back when we tried to kill the Queen the first time. He told us his name at Belgrant Castle, though you probably don’t remember. His reaper’s name is Voreese.’

Desmond squinted. “That was the same guy? I don’t remember him flying around before.”

‘Seems his power has grown since then,’ said Ezmortig.

‘You should have killed him the first time, then,’ said Hoyohté. ‘If that man had not been present today, the fight might have gone very differently.’

“Pfft, whatever. I seem to recall you not killing the metal kid on two separate occasions. Three, now. Oh, and let’s not forget about your little stunt with Stoker and Nize. If you’d just let them go--or better yet, let me handle it--then maybe you wouldn’t have ended up on television and put the entire fucking plan in jeopardy for no reason.”

‘In our sect, we make an example of treasonous cowards,’ said Hoyohté. ‘I do not expect you to understand.’

Ezmortig interjected. ‘Calm down. It’s no use complaining at this point. Anyway, the real problem was the man with the light powers. Even if Karkash had been free to attack more, I highly doubt it would have made a difference. No offense.’

Karkash merely gave a small shrug and folded his arms.

“Eh, fuck it,” said Desmond, shaking his head. “So what’s the plan now?”

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Hoyohté floated behind him, her hulking orca’s body casting no shadow. ‘I knew this assignment would be terrible,’ she said in Vaelish. ‘What other result could there be when working with such fools?’

“I don’t understand how the Morgunovs ever accomplish anything at all,” said Karkash, also in Vaelish. “It could only be the Void’s will that has allowed them to last this long.”

‘I know what you mean, but I think it’s something of a testament to Morgunov’s abilities that he can organize and lead people like that.’

“Is he not as mad as people say?”

‘Mad, certainly. A fool? No. I’ve only met him once, but I’ve seen his work. He’s just as much a genius as he is insane.’

“Would you say he is smarter than Dozer?”

‘Of course not. Dozer is the true vessel of the Void’s will and power. There is no competing with him.’

“Unless your name happens to be Sermung, apparently.”

‘Let’s not turn this into an argument.’

Karkash rubbed his neck as he stretched it. “You know my faith in Dozer is strong. I wasn’t trying to argue anything. But regimes do change. Sooner or later. And there’s only so much we can do about it.”

‘Not this again. You don’t have the power to be speaking words such as those. As servants go, you’re still a child. I’d hope today has taught you that much, at least.’

“I understand the limits of my strength. It’s the limits of others that I question.”

‘Enough.’

They waited for a long while. Honestly, Karkash didn’t expect anyone else to have survived the fight. Waiting in this place seemed like a waste of time, but unsurprisingly, Hoyohté was adamant that they follow protocol. He occupied himself with meditation, and eventually, the reaper stirred him out of it.

‘I sense Ezmortig,’ she said.

He opened his eyes and looked out over the lowlands. A vast reach of grass stretched toward the horizon, and in the distance, he could just make out the shape of another reaper headed toward them. “Surprising.”