They found Mack standing in front of a fairly ordinary looking garden arch despite all the grandeur around them. It was made of thin metal rods bent into two arches that were connected by filigree of various plants that looked a great deal like those in the surrounding area. It was hollow, without a portal to speak of at first glance. Yet as they drew closer they spotted the strip of engraved stone beneath the archway. Ianna approached and crouched next to it, squinting at the letters. They weren’t Labyrinthian but some manner of old runic language. She stood up and frowned as Delilah and Miranda came to join them, “The one time I want Journey around. She could probably read this.”

  “That’s a lie, you can’t get enough of her,” Azrael quipped and shrugged at Ianna’s sharp look.

  “Journey?” Mack asked.

  “A member of my inner circle,” Ianna said dismissively as Nephral walked up alongside her. He sat down and eyed the strip before looking up at his mother. She looked down at him and he darted through without so much as a warning. She jerked and reached forward only to watch him vanish as he crossed the boundary. Her mouth fell open when he poked his head back through, the disembodied face of the feline twisted with amusement. She frowned, “Warn me next time,” she said, “You scared me.”

  “You can resummon me, Mother,” he said, “Shall we move on?”

  She shook her head when he disappeared back through the archway, “Being a parent is hard,” she sighed and Azrael patted her on the shoulder consolingly. She looked back at the others, “Ready?”

  Delilah nodded, her hands up and at the ready while Miranda simply rubbed her palms with her thumbs, loosening herself up for whatever came next. Azrael drew a knife and Mack readied his sword, his excitement at finding the portal shifting to determination. She smiled at them. The two heroes were coming along nicely and already starting to mesh in well with her group. It shouldn’t be hard to demonstrate to the other heroes of Katal the benefits of joining her side. A good number of them anyway. She turned back to the portal with her jaw set, You can summon all the heroes you like, Cycle. I’ll take them too. Whatever teeth you bare at me, I’ll pluck right out and stab you in the eye with them.

  Ianna stepped through and into a space that was more courtyard than garden. Like before they were surrounded by hedges and glowing plants. But where there had been only small plants and the gazebo in the first garden, this one contained numerous trees that bore a glowing white bark and pale purple leaves. They stretched high into the air despite their narrow trunks. Beneath them, a sea of flowers spread out like a blanket across the grass that ended at the white paved stones they were standing on. She turned to see Nephral darting towards her and reached down to let him climb up onto her shoulder.

  “See anything?” she asked him.

  “Just look forward,” he said and wrapped his tail around her neck.

  She turned away from the distracting foliage to peer down the path ahead of them. It stretched out for about fifty yards before stopping at a small stone circle that preceded what could only be described as a cathedral. Massive dark wooden doors rose up in an archway made of white marble ingrained with veins of silver. Moonlight shone down on the rest of the building made of the same material. She craned her head up to see the structure stretch up towards the sky and out in either direction. It had to be at least eight or nine stories tall, with a pair of bell towers rising up at each side.

  “A temple?” Miranda asked.

  “The Labyrinthians worshiped and celebrated the moon,” Ianna said, “Judging by context,” she gestured around herself to the luminous garden in the middle of a magic twilight realm, “I’m guessing this is a temple to the moon.”

  “Keep your eyes open,” Azrael said and stalked forward, glancing into the trees, “There are a lot of flowers here.”

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  Ianna raised a lazy hand and one of her mockeries scuttled out to her fingertip, “I could always flush the butterflies out,” she said.

  “I’d rather not fight another horde,” Azrael grumbled.

  “Boo,” Ianna jeered but complied, letting the little cutie scramble back into her sleeve as they strode down the path towards the cathedral. To their surprise, they made their way through unmolested, finding themselves at the small stone circle that stood at the entrance to the cathedral. She turned around in a circle, “Trap?” she asked.

  “Probably,” Azrael agreed.

  Mack shifted in his stance next to Ianna and turned to look into the trees, “I don’t see anything,” he said, “The flowers are all empty…” he trailed off as he looked up into the canopy above the sea of glowing plants. Ianna watched his expression go from contemplative to horrified as he took a full step back and raised his sword. She blinked and followed his gaze, searching the leaves before finally noticing what he’d seen. There, amidst the branches, were long threads and clusters of something that appeared to be wrapped in fiber. Her lips pressed together in a thin line and she raised her hands. Her mockeries burst out from their confines in her clothing and spread out in a cloud over them as a magic circle erupted into brilliant light behind her.

  “Majesty?” Miranda asked.

  “Spiders,” Ianna said sharply, “Big ones. I’m calling a [Behemoth].”

  Miranda nodded sharply and raised her hands in a similar gesture, muttering under her breath as a second magic circle formed next to the first. A few feet away, Azrael drew another knife as her appearance began to flicker, shadows roiling off of her like smoke. Mack and Delilah didn’t have to be told what to do. Mack moved quickly to stand just a pace in front of Ianna, sword at the ready while Delilah moved to the rear and raised her hands, swirling bolts of potent force appearing over her palms. The trees rustled all around them as the magic circles completed forming and flared. Two massive humanoids rose out of them, hunched and bald with gray skin and powerful muscles. Miranda’s was simple in appearance with only its bare hands as its weapons.

  Ianna’s [Behemoth] was something else entirely. When it appeared it let out a roar of challenge and raised both of its arms that quickly began to melt and change until they took the form of heavy looking axe heads. White mist boiled off of the axes and they were quickly coated in a thin layer of ice. It lowered its head and bore rows of sharp, predatory teeth before marching out to stand next to Mack who looked up at the beast in mild trepidation. It turned one of its big eyes towards him and snorted out a greeting as the trees rustled again. A rustling that was joined with chittering and the whisper of long legs moving against leaves.

  “Don’t let them hit first,” Ianna hissed as [Pale Bolt]s formed over her palms. She watched the treeline for a few more heartbeats, searching for some sign of- There!

  Without delaying to alert the others, she opened fire, releasing the two bolts and sending them screaming in the direction of a glowing white mass that blended in to the bark of the trees but contrasted enough with the violet leaves to make it visible if you looked hard enough. The two bolts struck, eliciting a chittering shriek from the monster on the receiving end.

  And with that, once again, all hell broke loose.

  A globule of violet something shot from the tree where she’d struck the creature. Ianna gestured and a wall rose up between it and her [Behemoth]. The glob struck the stone and shot right through it, much to Ianna’s surprise. The big guy let out a roar of pain as the glob struck it. Instead of splattering, it seared a hole right through its body before continuing on towards Ianna who quickly darted out of the way. She willed her Behemoth to get to work and it roared, charging towards the tree in question while her allies joined in.

  That was when more globs of purple energy stuff began raining down on them. Miranda let out a cry of surprise and Ianna shot a look in her direction to see her High Priestess cradling her arm, a terrible burn spreading across her forearm. Another chittering shriek of pain rang out as Azrael managed to hit one of them with her knife from afar, the blade reappearing in her hand. She turned to Azrael as the cascade of violet death continued. Ianna darting left and right to avoid getting hit while her mockeries spread out to find prey. Her behemoth began hacking at the tree she’d targeted.

  “Shit!” Mack swore, “What is this stuff?”

  She whipped her head towards her Behemoth and concentrated, willing it to use one of the abilities it inherited from her, [Assume Resistance]. It’s body glowed faintly for a moment before…nothing. It can’t figure out a damage resistance type? Her mind raced and she swore, “Retreat! Into the Cathedral!” she shouted and called her mockeries back, “We need a strategy!”