"Wow, that's bigger than I expected," Kira said.

  They stood on a rise about twenty feet above the level of the surrounding pins in the shadow of a mighty oak. Perhaps five miles ahead y the walls of Mavenia, the river Phoebe just visible to the east. The great white stone fortifications of the capital frowned across the intervening space, an imposing sight even from this distance. Fenrir could just make out movement on the top of the sixty or seventy foot structure, while at its base buildings of various sizes overflowed from the city proper to cover a strip a mile or so out from the walls. They could see one of the gates from their position, a constant stream of traffic flowing through it in both directions.

  "Alright," Fenrir said, turning to his companions. "Safara, Kira, you're up. See if you can slip into the city, and if so, visit the headquarters of the Vigil and the pace to see what kind of security they have, both magical and mundane. Draw as little attention as possible and make no direct contact. Once you've discovered all you can, meet us back here. Any questions?"

  Safara shook her head, looking nervous but determined. Kira, however, asked, "I have one. What if we get discovered?"

  "Then I expect you to do whatever it takes to keep yourself safe. If you don't make it back here by midnight, we will assume you have been compromised and will take steps to ascertain just what happened, and if possible, rescue you."

  "Why don't we all go?" Chellise questioned, confusion in her voice.

  "Because a rge group would be more conspicuous, and besides that, if they have a reliable way to see through magical concealment, they will almost certainly pce such at the entrances to the city. If so, it would be best that they only see an elf, but as I am loath to send Safara in alone, I am also sending Kira as she is the most humanlike in appearance of any of us. Look out for each other in there, both of you."

  Frowning, Kira pulled Fenrir to one side. In a lowered tone, she asked, "Do you trust Safara not to betray us? You're basically giving her the best possible opportunity for it right here. I'm not trying to question your decisions, boss, but it feels like we're really going out on a limb here."

  Fenrir gnced at the elf in question, who was carefully checking the contents of her satchel. "Yes, I do. It is true that she has not as yet made any formal decration of her allegiance. Indeed, she may not even realize it herself, but there is no longer any doubt in my mind that she is no less mine than you are. I will say, I was impressed by how quickly you were able to let go of your dislike for her, and a justified dislike at that, so I'm counting on you to work with her as you would with any of your sisters."

  "You mean because she was with the Cult? I dunno, I kinda felt like she got hers for that. And she does actually feel bad about it, so if you think she deserves another chance, I'm willing to give her one. I thought she'd be kind of a bitch, but she's actually pretty sweet once you get to know her a little. Not like some other Light-races." Kira sighed. "Okay, boss, I'll do my best."

  "Attagirl." Turning back to the group, Fenrir raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "Alright, time's wasting, so get going. Remember, while I want you to get what information you can, I don't want you to be caught, so err on the side of caution for now. Good luck."

  As his scouts made their way down through the fields towards the road, Fenrir turned to the two remaining women. "While they're doing that, I'm going to examine the outer fortifications of the city and see if there's any way for me to enter easily without detection. You two find an isoted spot to make camp in those woods over near the river, and once you find it come back here to wait for Kira and Safara. Don't split up unless absolutely necessary and exercise extreme caution at all times. Clear?"

  "Yes, my lord," Katari replied, and Chellise nodded.

  "Be careful, Daddy," the mint green succubus said quietly.

  "Oh, don't worry, I'll be back safe and sound in a few hours." And with a parting smile, the great wolf leaped away, settling into a deceptively quick wolf-trot as he angled towards the river, skirting the small vilges and farms which helped feed the many hungry mouths of the capital. He trusted his cloak to keep him safe from detection at these distances, so he made no other attempt to hide, focusing instead on reaching where the river met the city.

  Reaching it without incident, he paused where the wall jutted out into the river to end some fifty feet from the shore. At this point the river flowed slowly, only several miles from the ocean, but there did not appear to be any path leading around the end of the wall. Slipping between the buildings which nestled under the shadow of the great stone edifice, he picked his way a short distance along the jumble of rocks upon which the wall had been built before he was forced to conclude that there was no easy passage to be found here.

  'Swimming would be easier than trying to climb over this mess. Ah well, can't say I'm really surprised. Worst comes to worst, I can always just scale the wall itself.' With the thought, he extended his cws and jabbed them into the wall, only to flinch in pained surprise as his cws gnced off the stone without leaving so much as a scratch upon it. 'The hell?' He tried again, this time more cautiously, but again the stone defeated him. 'Hmm. So either this stone is several orders of magnitude stronger than the rock I used for the succubi's memorial, or it's protected in some way, probably by magic. That complicates things a bit, but I'm not out of options yet.'

  Turning away from the river, he followed the wall innd, pulling his cloak close about him as he joined the mass of people going about their lives. Initially he carefully examined everyone about him, watching for any signs of their noticing him, but after several minutes passed and none of the crowd so much as twitched in his direction, he rexed his vigince slightly, focusing more of his attention on the wall which stood between him and the city proper. He was obviously in a poorer district, but even here no buildings were tolerated to be against the wall itself where they could hide an opening or a weakness in the bulwark. Instead, a sluggish canal occupied the space directly beside the wall, and beside this Fenrir made his way, alert for any means of ingress.

  It did not take long to come to a small postern gate, but aside from being heavily barred, it was also guarded, a man in what Fenrir assumed was the livery of the city guard standing at attention before it. The same was true for all other passages into the city, the rger main gates he periodically came across having considerably more guards, although these stood open at present. Fenrir briefly considered attempting to enter the first of these he found, but decided against it, noticing that several of the guards had levels in the high twenties, and what appeared to be the captain in charge of this gate was nearly level forty. Not yet willing to test his cloak against such a high level, he carried on, ever on the lookout for any way through, over, around, or even under the massive structure which blocked his progress.

  Eventually, he gave up for the time being, having circled to a point opposite the river without finding what he sought. 'I doubt I'll find an entrance in the wall itself, so that leaves going over, tough when I can't scale the wall directly, around, which I'm pretty sure I can only do by swimming, or under, and the only passage I'm likely to find there is the sewers. Upside, it's unlikely to be guarded. Downside, my nose is much more sensitive now than it used to be, so the smell of it could y me out ft on the spot. But for now it's time to rendezvous with the rest of my party and see what's what. I can keep looking ter.'

  It turned out that Katari and Chellise had stumbled upon an excellent campsite, close by and well hidden, but Kira and Safara had yet to return. To pass the time, Fenrir trained with Katari while Chellise served as lookout. He had improved significantly in the days since he had begun training, but he still had a long way to go, as he knew only too well. As dark approached with no sign of the absent two, Fenrir decided to send Katari and Chellise to set up camp while he waited alone.

  He was beginning to be concerned, but for the moment he kept it to himself. 'Most likely they'll close the gates at sunset, so if they don't get out of the city soon, my girls aren't getting out until tomorrow unless they can find some other way to slip out.' Fenrir growled softly to himself. 'I don't like this. Feels like I sent them into a trap. Of course it's only now that I realize I should've set up some method of communication between us.' He stopped and took a firm grip on himself. 'Enough of that. They're both capable individuals, they'll be fine.' However, despite his self-admonishment he still found himself scanning the road which led to the city with restless intensity.

  Darkness had fallen entirely and Fenrir was debating starting towards the city in search of them when he saw a single figure turn off the road below and begin the climb towards the mighty oak under which he stood. With difficulty he restrained the urge to move to meet the figure. Kira threw back her hood as she approached, and while her face showed concern, the ck of overt urgency or panic assuaged the worst of his fears.

  Without preamble, she said, "Bad news, boss. Safara was recognized. They don't suspect anything yet, but she's going to have to answer some very uncomfortable questions soon if she hasn't already."

  "What happened?"

  "Well, we made it into the city without any issue, but..."

  Several hours earlier...

  As they approached the gates, Safara found herself gripping the strap of her satchel more tightly. "Okay, they should let us through, but if they do stop us let me do the talking, alright?"

  Kira gave her a calm nod. "You got it."

  Her companion's collected demeanor helped steady her, and Safara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Here we go..." To her immense relief, the guards barely seemed to notice them, and as they passed through the cool, dark, and echoing tunnel which formed the passageway through the walls Kira elbowed her, a grin spreading across the succubus' face.

  "Calm down. I'm surprised they didn't arrest us on the spot for hogging all the air, the way you were hyper-ventiting."

  Safara let out a reluctant giggle. "Sorry, I'm just nervous. I've never done anything like this before, after all."

  "Yeah, I can tell. Just rex. The best way to stay unnoticed is to behave like you do this every day. Right now you're not Safara the elf, you're Safara the Mavenian resident heading home after work, or something like that. The point is, act like you belong here and no one will question it."

  "Easier said than done," the elf muttered, squinting slightly as they passed out into the mid-afternoon sun.

  "Eh, you're a clever one, you'll get the hang of it. Now where do we go first?" Kira gnced about as though hoping to find a sign directing them to their destinations.

  "Um, well, the Cathedral of Marstolle is in the northwestern quadrant of the city, so that would be... this way. It's closer than the citadel, so let's go there first ...unless you think we should go somewhere else first."

  "No, you'd know best about this sort of thing. You've spent more time in human cities than I have, I bet, so I'll defer to your judgement."

  As they climbed the slight incline towards the Cathedral, already partially visible over the surrounding houses, Kira spoke again. "So the cathedral is where the Cult is headquartered?"

  Safara nodded. "Yes. As the Goddess of Light, Beauty, and Love, Marstolle is worshipped the most, and the Vigil came about as the church's response to the Demon King that attacked about five hundred years ago. Technically, they still answer directly to the church."

  Kira raised an eyebrow. "Technically?"

  "Well, this is just the impression I got while I was working with them, but it seems that they're mostly autonomous these days. They have their own commander, their own separate quarters on the Cathedral's grounds, all of it. From what I heard, their commander has the same authority as a bishop, so unless Archbishop Levantine is here, you can assume they can pretty much do what they want."

  "The Saintess?"

  "Yes."

  Kira let out a long breath. "Whoooo, that's not what I wanted to hear. How does the general popuce view them?"

  "They're pretty universally viewed as heroes, given the work they did in helping to defeat the st Demon King's armies. I think the Mavenian army and the city guard tend not to like them as much. They don't seem to care about stepping on toes, and I think they consider themselves as being above the Guard's authority. Maybe not all of them, but that's the impression I got."

  "So they're arrogant assholes, and they're more or less untouchable." Kira sighed. "Great, just what we needed."

  A silence fell as they climbed the st mile to the cathedral, the incline slowly increasing as they neared their destination. Safara stole a gnce at Kira, but beyond the succubus' furrowed brow there was no indication of what was passing in her mind. Safara cleared her throat to attract her attention. "Um, how do you think we should go about this? I've never done anything like this before. Fenrir said to gather information on their security, but how do we do that, exactly?"

  "Hmm... Do you have any way of detecting magic?"

  "If it's strong enough, I can feel it, like a tingle in the air, but beyond that I'd need to perform a specific ritual which would be sure to attract attention. Alternatively, we could look for runic chalk marks. Any rune circles are likely to be well protected and well hidden, but to avoid losing kilothaums of magic every day to the open air, they'd have to bound it with runic chalk at regur points around the cathedral."

  "I have no idea how that's supposed to work, but for now that's whatever. What would this runic chalk look like?"

  "Simir to normal chalk, really. What you want to watch for is -where is it... ah, here- this symbol." Flipping through a book she pulled from her satchel, Safara showed Kira a symbol rather like a three-headed question mark. "It would need to be fairly close to the ground, but other than that the only restriction is that there must be one every twenty feet, or you might as well not bother having any. If you do find one, don't mess with it. They'll know instantly if you disrupt the enchantment."

  "Okay. Is there any way for you to tell what the enchantment does? Just knowing they have an enchantment protecting the cathedral doesn't help us much if we don't know what it is."

  "Oh, that's easy. They'll have a rune circle for protecting against Dark-races, and another to warn them of unwanted intrusions. Most likely the Dark-ward will be inactive unless they expect an attack as it's too expensive to keep active all the time. The Thief's Betrayal is a bit tougher. That enchantment will definitely be active, and unless we have the pass emblem, there's no way to get in undetected."

  Kira cocked her head. "What's a pass emblem?" she asked.

  "It's a specific symbol attuned to the rune circle. Anyone carrying that symbol can pass over the border as much as they please without raising the arm, but anyone without it will immediately alert the entire compound, unless someone who possesses the emblem sees them enter. It's a very tricky enchantment, much too complicated for most, but a pce like this is sure to have it."

  "So what's the emblem?"

  Safara shrugged. "There's no way to tell. It can be anything from as simple as a single line to as complex as a full rune circle in its own right. I once read about a Thief's Betrayal that had a written verse of poetry as its emblem. Of course, the more complex a pass emblem becomes, the more likely it is that you'll fail to reproduce it perfectly, which makes the copy useless. Any copies of the pass emblem need to be extremely precise to be recognized. If we want the emblem, either we need to see the rune circle or we need to get hold of a copy which all of the Cathedral's guards are sure to be carrying."

  "So we just knock out one of the guards and take their pass emblem. Easy."

  "I'm afraid not. The chances are pretty good that they'll have a countermeasure for that. There are several different ways to do that, and st time I was here, one of the priests was boasting about how their security was state of the art, even better than the king's citadel, and I'm inclined to believe him, considering." Safara thought back to the night she had spent at the cathedral before setting out on that fateful quest to hunt the succubi. She wondered what the priests she had dined with would say if they knew she had returned as a willing companion of one of those succubi, and a follower of the same one her companion called master. For an instant an image of her mother's face appeared in her mind's eye, a look of appalled disapproval on her countenance, and she had to swallow the lump that rose in her throat.

  They paused, the cathedral now looming before them at the summit of the rise. Great gates with bars pted in a golden metal and twisting in elegant and beautiful designs stood open, allowing access to parishioners, some of which were moving in and out of the cathedral under the watchful eyes of several guards. This close, they had to lean backwards to see the peak of the belfry, and it was evident that the grounds surrounding the cathedral were extensive, notwithstanding the substantial value of every foot of nd within the great outer wall of the city. The cathedral itself faced the center of the city, a road leading up from the central square to end before its gates where it intersected the street Kira and Safara had been following.

  Abruptly, Kira pulled Safara to the far side of the street, staring apprehensively up at the massive edifice. "What's the matter?" Safara asked, gncing between the cathedral and her companion.

  "I don't know. I just got this weird feeling, like impending doom or something."

  "I don't feel anything. Do you think-"

  "Lady Cidrin?" Safara jerked around at the use of her name, coming face to face with none other than the bishop, The Most Reverend Jors Tavill himself.

  "Y-Your Excellency!" she excimed, almost forgetting to curtsy in her surprise.

  "Ah, it is you! Welcome back to the capital!" the bishop said with a wide smile. "It must be nice to be among civilized folk again, no? Speaking of which, may I assume your mission was a success?"

  "Ah..." Safara thought quickly. A gnce backwards showed no sign of Kira, the succubus having seemingly vanished into thin air. "Perhaps it would be best not to speak of such sensitive matters in such a public pce, Your Excellency."

  "Of course, of course. Forgive my impatience, I was merely eager to hear of the extermination of another group of monsters. Shall we?" he motioned her towards the cathedral gates, and she had no choice but to walk with him. "Who was it that you were speaking to?" the bishop asked as they passed through the gates, followed by his personal guard.

  "Oh, just a vagabond," Safara replied, hoping desperately that her nervousness didn't show on her face.

  "A vagabond? Here?" the bishop frowned coldly as he gnced back towards the street.

  "Perhaps she came here to visit the cathedral, Your Excellency."

  As though to make up for his earlier frown, the gray-haired priest broke into another wide smile. "Ah, of course! Marstolle welcomes all, even those of such ...dubious origins."

  Together they approached the rge double doors, pulled open for them by two guards who stood upon each side of the entrance, and as she passed over the threshold, Safara could not entirely quell the feeling that she was walking to her doom.

  "...And then I came back here, after I found a couple of those runic symbols Safara told me about. It looked just like what she showed me," Kira finished.

  There was a moment's silence as Fenrir digested all Kira had told him. Finally, he asked, "It's already dark. From what you told me, you could have been back two hours ago. What deyed you?"

  "Oh, I almost forgot. the North Gate was closed when I tried to leave the city, not sure why, so I had to find another gate that was still open."

  "I see." Fenrir gazed out at the city, not really seeing it. Instead, his mind was racing with ideas and half-formed pns for rescuing Safara. 'I'm less worried about her betraying us than maybe I should be, but getting her out of there is going to be well-nigh impossible.' Turning back to Kira, he asked her, "Is there anything else Safara told you about their security? Anything, even the smallest detail."

  Kira thought for a moment. "...No, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I told you everything she said."

  "Alright. Let's head back to camp for now. Well done. You showed excellent presence of mind to vanish so quickly once the bishop showed up."

  Kira blushed slightly. "I don't know about that. It was more that I was scared out of my wits by him suddenly appearing like that. I already had this... feeling, like, umm... ...I don't really know how to describe it. Not a good feeling, anyway, so I was already kind of freaked, and then when he showed up I think I just panicked."

  "Well, either way, you did the right thing in making yourself scarce. It sounds as though this bishop is powerful enough to see through the cloaks' enchantments, so if you had remained... Well, let's just say I'd rather not start a quest for vengeance just yet."

  "Aww, you'd go on a quest of vengeance for me? I'm touched," Kira grinned.

  Fenrir just shook his head, but even despite his worry for Safara he could not entirely restrain the answering smile that touched his lips.

  TheBestofSome