§ Water, darkness, light, and the green of the deep forest. The dreams ebbed and flowed for far too long, long enough for me to become aware they were dreams, but only ran clearly enough to know I wasn’t in a normal environment. Despite being a lucid dream, I could not control the narrative at all. In fact, I could …

§ A quick note: I made a rash promise that there would be an appendix following this afterword, and I have labored ever since to make it. It was to be a cast of characters. I failed to anticipate how badly distracted I would be while going through the last nearly 1.2 million words to create it, by constantly stopping …

§ We had the battle half-won, but we still had to deal with an army that had no right to exist. Multiple liches, fiends, skeletal knights and imps face us when ordinarily such creatures would only show up on their own, as the commanders over lesser demons. Perhaps a real ‘Miss Hiléa’, the role I was playing, would not have …

§ The wail of the castle’s warning system held me in a paralyzing spell, as did Mireia’s ashen face and wide eyes while she gripped me around the waist. A strange phrase came into my thoughts. ‘Air raid siren.’ I experienced yet another of those placeless memories that plagued me recently. In this one, I’m watching some sort of theater …

§ We would be hidden from most eyes if I cast [Vampire Cloak] on myself and Shindzha, but I would also be hidden from Shindzha, preventing her from following me. Instead, I went to my pixie form and sat on her shoulder, so I could tell her where to fly while she used her [Indifference] spell. A low-level stealth spell …

§ After they opened the silver dome, I stayed behind as Serera descended for a better view. I didn’t have a specific reason not to descend with her, so maybe Sen’s hesitation to view her mother’s desiccated body held me back. I had only just resolved to descend as well when every sense of my [Blood Effigy] body screamed warnings. …

§ (“Go!”) Rhea commanded, and Kiki responded before I understood what was happening. As a demonic veil poured out from the blazing black sun which had suddenly appeared in the sky just to our north, we shot southward like lightning, away from the summit. Out of the same dark source, clouds of demonic mana boiled forth and spread across the …

§ After letting me briefly explain the expedition’s intent to Kiki and the Nanas, Mireia and my husband made me take a break from focusing on the events in the Kasarene Highlands. But I was not going to be denied my attendance when they arrived at Mother’s current resting place, no matter what my husband or my dear Servant decided. …

§ Shindzha’s map couldn’t have been more helpful. And Shindzha made her presence known in other ways, despite remaining out of sight. I never expected everyone to be friendly and accepting of a hellspawn, which is why I never proposed that she join up with us. That turned out to be a smart move, not because I think anyone would …

§ “My Lady, you must wait,” Mireia told me with a firm tone. I couldn’t ignore the worry in her eyes and I understood why she was worried. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it! It was bad enough that Kiki and Shindzha had been patrolling the demon-infested area around Mother’s resting place for days. The expedition had reached that …