We made it back to Nez Ambríl as the sun was coming up in the East over the broad savannas that come to the edge of the Taliswood. The scene was utterly different in the ballroom now. Valets were sleeping in chairs, heads on tables. The only person up and about was Count Pelisir.

  May asked anxiously, “Is Mag'stula defeated, Pelisir? Tell me!”

  “Yes, Mag'stula is no more and we are victorious on all fronts.”

  Father Vastila said it first, “Something isn't right. There is a twist in this reality. What has happened, Count Pelisir?”

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  “Well, Mag'stula never got the chance to Ascend. But Carca did.”

  Now I could hear a low murmuring, chants and prayers, they were coming from the direction of the Necropolis.

  “I don't know yet what it means, but we have a new goddess of Death. She didn't just deceive us, My Friends, she usurped the power of Death himself with this brazen stroke.”

  May went from jubilant to sullen, “Well, we must pray to élois to give us strength for this and hope that we aren't victims in any battles between these gods, real or pretend. In the meantime, embrace those close to you and hold them right, for we know not what this future holds.