“Fuck the sleeper cells. The longer we spend here the more of the people we find to be supporters of the Coven. We need to flush out Jiang. She’s the last obstacle between us and the Coven.”

  Rinerva’s eyes settled on her map, specifically the area she had previously marked with a violent, black ink X. She sighed, the sound sharp and frustrated, and retrieved a more detailed chart of the Lower City. Her bloodshot eyes scanned over each religious building and gathering center.

  “The area is too big for us to scour. We’ll waste our time, or get picked off one by one. We need to draw Jiang out.”

  She looked up. Talos and Nomi were standing together near the door, fresh from their training, bringing the smell of rain and sweat into the sterile room. They were her best bets. Her only bets.

  “You don’t mean…” Nomi started, her voice uncertain.

  “Yes. We’ll slaughter her flock until the Shepherd comes out of the shadows.” Rinerva said, without blinking. “It will help us thin out any loyalists as well, ensuring we’re not overwhelmed later. They may still have over-mutated witches in reserve, so it’s essential we’re ready for a fight—”

  Nomi’s expression dropped away immediately. Rinerva watched her last attempts at keeping her mask on fall away, replaced with growing, genuine horror.

  “No.”

  Rinerva paused, her finger resting on a church.

  “What do you mean, no?”

  “Rinerva, if I start killing civilians, I won't come back."

  “I never took you to be a bleeding heart, Nomi. This is war, not a charity ward.”

  The Fox tensed under Rinerva’s cold gaze, her hands curling into fists.

  “This can’t be the best way forward,” Talos cut in.

  His voice was deep, final. He stepped closer to Nomi, while she leaned into him.

  Rinerva froze.

  There it was.

  The thought struck her with the force of a physical blow. She’d started to turn him against her. Agon was gone, and now the Fox had sunk her claws into the Wolf. The proof was revealing itself right here, while they were already at their darkest moment.

  Rinerva looked at the two of them—united, judgmental, human—and felt a bitter, icy wall slam down around her heart.

  “You’ll follow orders.” Rinerva stated it like a law of nature. She saw Talos bristle, but she pressed on. “Because you know what happens if we don’t do this? The same thing that happened to Agon. We got soft. We took risks. We tried to be heroes, and one of us died because of it.”

  Her eyes flashed with blue mana, rimefrost creeping across her trembling fingers, freezing the edges of the map.

  “You will follow orders.”

  Nomi flinched. Her eyes went dead, the light vanishing instantly. Rinerva knew how to make her comply. She knew just where to press to—

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “No.”

  The word hung in the air.

  Lillik’zeil’s voice.

  It was an impossible sound. A refusal? From Zeil?

  Rinerva’s eyes snapped to the Spider.

  “Your strategy is sound. But they won’t be the ones sent.”

  “What are you talking—”

  Lillik’zeil stood.

  Her arachnid legs clacked rhythmically, dangerously, as she moved away from her alchemy station and toward the command table. Talos was tense, his hand rubbing Nomi’s arm, trying to ground the Fox who was staring at nothing with glass eyes.

  But Lillik didn't look at them. She stared down at Rinerva, all eight eyes fixed on the Mage. She drew herself up to her full, terrifying height, towering over the noblewoman.

  “I will draw out Jiang,” Lillik said, her voice cold and absolute. “And I will end her myself.”

  “That’s... that is an immense risk. If you die, we lose our potions. We can’t heal—”

  “Silence.”

  The word didn't just cut Rinerva off; it slammed her mouth shut. It drowned out her authority in a way she hadn’t felt since she was a child standing before her tutors. It was absolute. Ancient.

  Rinerva’s jaw clicked shut involuntarily, her breath hitching in her throat.

  “Look around, child,” Lillik commanded, her voice low and chittering. “Do you think they can survive massacring the Lower City?”

  Rinerva hesitated.

  She forced her eyes away from the map. She looked at the room.

  Nomi was staring at the floor. The Fox was all but catatonic, shaking with a fine, rhythmic tremor. Her eyes were glazed, lost in some horrific memory that Rinerva’s order had dredged up. Talos stood next to her, his hand gripping her shoulder white-knuckled, his eyes narrowed at Rinerva with open hostility.

  They were barely holding together.

  “I am the piece you will play,” Lillik stated.

  There was no room for negotiation.

  Rinerva paused. Every fiber of her being screamed to snap back at this. This was mutiny. This was a betrayal of the chain of command. She was the Commander. She made the calls.

  But she sucked in a breath, the air tasting of stale ale and rain.

  She looked at them. Messy. Exhausted. Uneven.

  Her hand lifted, shifting through her own hair. It was unwashed, unbound, tangling around her fingers.

  They were all crumbling. If she pushed them now, they wouldn't just fail—they would shatter.

  “...Fine.”

  She finally spat the word out, low and bitter.

  She slumped slightly, the tension bleeding out of her spine.

  “Fine,” she said, softer this time. “You’re right.”

  “Then with that decided, what is our plan, Noble of House Glace?”

  Lillik’s voice lost its razor edge. She lowered herself, her limbs folding back into her usual hunched posture. She was still a foot taller than Rinerva, but she no longer looked like she was about to eat her. She was no longer a monster; she was just an advisor again.

  Rinerva let out a shaky breath as the Spider’s eyes finally flicked away from her, releasing the pressure in the room.

  “...The population centers surrounding the temples,” Rinerva said, her voice raspy. She pointed to the map. “A mad zealot like Jiang would have repurposed these for her twisted deity. It’s our best move. We maximize casualties to draw her gaze.”

  Lillik stayed silent. She didn't object to the cruelty.

  “...I know. I know how bad it sounds,” Rinerva whispered, gripping the edge of the table. “But… we have to do this. If we’re going to save anyone—”

  “Don’t make excuses, Rinerva. We’re doing this for ourselves.”

  Rinerva froze. She looked up at the Spider, but found no judgment—only cold, hard truth.

  “...Yes,” Rinerva admitted, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand. “I’ll turn this whole damn city to ice if I have to. None of us are dying.”

  “Good.”

  Lillik reached into her cloak.

  “I will need four days. You will keep those two out of the Lower City. Keep them away from what I will do.”

  “Four days,” Rinerva repeated.

  “In four days' time, on the fourth night, you will come find me. And you will give me this.”

  Lillik set a small vial on the desk. The glass was thick, but the clear liquid inside bubbled violently, as if trying to eat its way out.

  “Then, we will reconvene."