Ranryu

That's for me to know and you to find out. Wynn made her way through a network of tunnels high in the trees' canopies.

Kill you or die trying. And even if I die, I won't stop trying. I can't set the Hunt on you because you've done nothing wrong by universal standards, but I have no doubt that you'll cross the line eventually. Wynn raised her fist in farewell, then ended the spell. "Nice to know I'm not alone." She muttered to herself. "Now to my room..."

Wynn chuckled. "Kill an undead? Even Malum is smart enough to know that that would be futile. And willingly or not, I'll probably be joining you soon. Now if you'll excuse me, the spell is running out and I have a god to kill. Nice talking to you again!"

Be patient and you'll see. "I think the council will probably require an inspector, but I can give you the rundown. He's letting all souls degrade, regardless of who they were in life. He also seems to bend them to do his bidding, once again, all of them, not any select few as a punishment. His Underworld consists of literally nothing but desolate wastes and then his giant castle, no punishment for the dammed or privilege for the good." Wynn paused and cut her wrist again to keep the spell going. "On another note, does that invitation to join the Hunt still stand? I have a feeling I might qualify to join pretty soon. Things are getting dangerous."

I'm not as one minded as you are. One call can have multiple purposes.

"Everything, probably. I've done a lot since last we talked. Lost my cards again." Wynn frowned, but her smile returned quickly. "Down to business, I guess. I've been having some trouble with this god of death, a class five, down in the apocalypse sector. Normally I wouldn't mess with this kind of thing, but he's seriously mistreating his souls. I was wondering if the council could have him suspended and redistrict his souls to other afterlives?"

Well yes, clearly. I've never been one to sit around and do nothing. Wynn rose and smiled. "Anastasia. Glad to see you're not alive. How're things going with the Hunt?

Suffer? What do you think I’m doing right now? The magician’s circle burst into flames, accompanied by the eerie screaming of thousands of voices. A gauntleted hand reached out, pulling itself out of the circle. That hand was attached to a woman with black armor and burning red hair. Wynn bowed. “Thank you for hearing my call.”

Reform? It will be ground up and combine with other, less decayed souls, then be divided into fresh souls. And I don’t think, I know. Perk of being a class three. You gods will be the ones to actually do it, though. Right before the universe ends and we’re all destroyed. Of course, we have several trillion years before we need to worry about that. Wynn finished setting up the circle. Invoking her Shadow Magic, she called out. “Speaker of the Wild Hunt, I summon thee.”

If it’s religious, then it’s your religion too. Silly god. All of you class fives… so powerful but so ignorant. The universal cycle, the pattern of creation and decay. Mortal souls will be recycled. Immortal souls like ours will be replaced.

Silly god. Is that supposed to scare me? Decay is the way of things. To exist forever would be torture. I have peace knowing that his soul will be recycled when the universal cycle starts over, even if I won’t be there to see it. Wynn cut open her wrist and let the blood fall to the floor.

Wynn worked as she conversed, scattering ashes from an urn onto the circle. Lerac made his choice. All mortals die. It was only a matter of a few decades. He died heroically, so I'm sure he has a comfortable place in whatever afterlife he went to.

That's actually helpful. The Wild Hunt will be a lot more likely to respond if I offer a god's presence in addition to my own. Oh wait, you're never helpful. I'm sure you have some kind of plan to kill me. Joke's on you, this time. Wynn drew a magician's circle on the atrium's mosaic floor, using chalk from a small bin by the entrance.

Wynn stepped lightly to avoid activating the golems. Yes, nice, isn't it? This is the place that wiped out an entire civilization. Seems like somewhere you would like. Unfortunately for you, this is my place. Always has been and always will be. Unless you want to become part of an ancient communication ceremony, I recommend you get out of my head now. Wynn opened one of the trees and took the elevator inside up to the atrium.

Wynn knelt next to Lerac's body, unmoving. "Lerac..." No! This isn't what's supposed to happen. I didn't even get to tell him... Tears dripped down Wynn's cheeks, shiny and golden. TAAron is alive... but the price was too high. This is all my fault. Why does this always happen? She stroked Lerac's cold cheek, careful not to disturb the flowers. Then she jumped on her duel runner and drove far, far away.

She wiped a single tear from her face. "What? What are you talking about?"

I had him... Malum was here, but I missed my chance. Wynn bit the inside of her cheek. Lyna used the break in the fighting to drag Dharc back onto their duel runner. "Come on. Orange and Purple are going to kill us if they find out we ran away." Dharc looked guilty and submitted to her. He turned to Wynn. "Sorry. We need to go. I promise I'll find you again." Wynn nodded and waved as they drove off. "I'll count on it." Then she turned to Lerac. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Wynn cursed in Gaelic and ran over to him. "Lerac, can you hear me?" Dharc trailed behind her, curious about the new person who had suddenly appeared.

Dharc and Wynn simultaneously casted Shadows to protect Lerac. "We need to find a way to get away from them!"

The three Aos Si were literally backed against a wall, unable to do anything more than shield themselves.

If he's not actually here, then we might need to retreat. Dharc and Lyna began edging away, taking the shield with them.

Wynn made another lunge for Malum. I don't understand. Why can't I hit him?

Then how are we supposed to get to him?

Tors, why didn't it work? Dharc's Shadow formed a shield that protected the group, deflecting the bolts away from them.