Maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to transform.

Sanguine Disposition frowned internally, albeit without letting his outward expression waver, as he watched the fight between Lex and Steel Soul play out. Shedding his mortal appearance gave him a big boost in power, but he hated the way it made him look. Or rather, he hated the way that anyone who saw it – assuming they survived – never looked at him the same way afterward.

As much as he appreciated the Night Mare’s doctrine of harsh truths, being unable to completely bury that particular bit of unpleasantness if he wanted to use his full strength was something that Sanguine Disposition could have done without.

But there’s no helping it now, he sighed. Lex has grown too strong to underestimate, which means I need to be at my-, hm? What’s that?

Pausing as Lex pulled out some sort of leaf-shaped emblem in response to Steel Soul’s augmentation of his remaining gladiators, Sanguine Disposition cocked a brow as he focused in on it, activating the Secreta.

Interesting. A badge of office among the Unseelie’s Autumn Court, imbued with some sort of fey magic. Between that, his delightfully form-fitting suit of dragonscale armor, and that demonic whip he used to bring that vilderavn back to life, that’s three artifacts that have natures matching that gaggle of girls that were defending his servants.

Which, since he’d had seven of those little trollops defending his soul-bound servants, likely meant that he was in possession of four more relics of power.

The thought sent a shiver down his spine, no longer feeling regretful about having transformed when he had.

That point was driven home a moment later as Lex used the power of the fey emblem to cast a corrosive spell, one which immediately caused Steel Soul’s gladiators to begin breaking down.

But Sanguine Disposition was less concerned with that than he was with Steel Soul’s retaliation, the mechanical stallion shooting through two of his remaining gladiators – to no effect – to land a pair of powerful hits on Lex, which his automatons immediately moved to capitalize on. Lex tore them apart a moment later before sending more of his emblem’s fey magic at Steel Soul, causing Sanguine Disposition to resist the urge to cluck his desiccated tongue, knowing that wouldn’t work.

That fey magic is strong, but Steel Soul has layered seven separate barriers around himself, all of them psionic in nature. Corrosive magic won’t be enough to break them down.

Sure enough, Lex’s spell crashed against Steel Soul’s defenses an instant later, only to expend all of its energy without penetrating even a single stratum of the psibernetic stallion’s protective array.

As for what would have worked, even Sanguine Disposition wasn’t entirely sure.

Not without getting close enough to touch the barriers.

The Secreta was a powerful blessing; the fact that it was still working even within range of the Night Terror’s divine aura – which otherwise negated supernatural methods of perceiving things – was proof enough of that. Sanguine Disposition wasn’t sure if it was because the Secreta and the Night Terror were both products of the Night Mare, or if the avatar simply lacked the strength to suppress a power granted directly by her progenitor goddess, but for whatever reason, its powers were undiminished in her presence.

But as advantageous as that was, he still had to deal with the Secreta’s innate limitations.

The greatest of which was its range.

All of the Night Mare’s blessings had their shortcomings, of course; even if they were goddess-granted powers, they were being utilized by sub-divine beings, which limited their efficacy. But for his own blessing, Sanguine Disposition knew that range was far and away its greatest failing.

If he couldn’t see someone or something he wanted to learn more about, the Secreta’s power was almost completely blunted. Worse, that held true for remote viewing as well. A scrying spell might have been able to act as a channel for some minor spells, but it couldn’t transmit enough information for the Secreta to work with.

That was different when someone was within his line of sight, however. Then he could learn a great deal about them...but even then, it was possible for countermeasures of sufficient power, or subtlety, or complexity to diminish or even repel what the Secreta could pick up.

It was only when he could touch someone that Sanguine Disposition could learn virtually anything he wanted about them. True, it was still possible to foil the Secreta that way, but it was much, much harder. Most of the time, the only problem he had to contend with while touching someone was trying to parse through the sheer amount of information that his blessing made available to him. Just because it let him read someone like a book didn’t mean that he automatically knew what page to flip to.

Nor could he use the Secreta without limit, which meant that he had to be highly discerning in when he elected to engage it.

In that regard, it was akin to the other two blessings that the Night Mare gave her champions; all of them could only be invoked so often, though all would eventually regain their powers after being expended.

But while finding that out had been easy, it had taken Sanguine Disposition much longer to find out what other drawbacks those blessings had. It had only been when Lex – so adorable in his naiveté – had made hoof-to-hoof contact with him back in Eigengrau that Sanguine Disposition had been able to conclusively confirm that the Charismata could only affect magical beasts. While it had other factors that kept it in check, such as range and the degree of power it could grant, its inability to affect other creatures was its primary drawback.

At least, so long as Lex didn’t produce an item to let it circumvent that limit the way he had during his fight with Kryonex.

And as for the Dominata...

“But I can assure you that this is more than up to the task.”

Sanguine Disposition’s quiet musings came to an abrupt halt as Lex pulled out a pitch black quill with glowing blue runes from out of nowhere, causing the vampire’s filmy eyes to widen. That was...!

Without a second thought, Sanguine Disposition utilized the Secreta again, just as Lex reared back to throw the weapon-

He’d almost completed the motion when Steel Soul let out a shriek.

“CEASE INTERACTING WITH THAT THING IN YOUR GRASP!!!”

Once again, the Dominata’s power slammed into Lex, tearing into his body before he could complete the throw. His horn lit up an instant later, a matching aura surrounding the weapon even as his claw fell away from it, but it fizzled out as soon as it formed, the Dominata’s power causing cracks to spread throughout Lex’s horn. For all that Steel Soul’s command had been awkwardly worded, the mechanical stallion had enough experience with his blessing to know that the commands he issued with it had to be extremely precise.

That was the major weakness of the Dominata; the damage it dealt could be circumvented by creative interpretation of the orders issued with it.

There were other constraints on its power, of course. It had a comparatively short range, the targets had to understand what they were being ordered to do, and subjecting multiple individuals to a single application of its power required that all of them be given the same instructions.

All that, and no one can be subject to more than one order at a time, noted Sanguine Disposition to himself, watching as Lex was forced to give ground as Steel Soul began firing his “molecular disruptor” wildly, able to retreat now that the Dominata had been used on him again.

The result was that he was being forced to put more and more distance between himself and the ebony quill that now hung in the air, unattended.

But thanks to the Secreta, Sanguine Disposition could tell that Lex had a plan in mind.

The question now was whether or not Steel Soul had one of his own.

Apparently so, noted the vampire, as the mechanized stallion gestured to either side of him, opening the folded space there.

Immediately, two more of his automatons crawled out.

But these were nothing like the gladiator units that he’d previously deployed.

Six feet tall, the metal creatures looked like spindly tripods, each of them having three segmented legs that terminated in three ridged grips. A spider-like thorax rested atop the gangly limbs, the front of which had a single lens which swiveled about as its radial shutter narrowed and expanded. Further back, there were a pair of pincers set on long tendrils of wire, waving menacingly as they swung to and fro.

All of that, however, paled in comparison to what was sitting in the middle of the things’ mechanical bodies.

Control talismans! Despite himself, Sanguine Disposition couldn’t help but feel shocked at the sight, recognizing the thin loops of metal that were nevertheless heavily enchanted specifically to control and direct lacunae in the fabric of reality. Even one of those was fantastically rare, to the point of being priceless artifacts, especially since – as far as Sanguine Disposition knew – they had proven completely impossible to reverse-engineer.

He knew that personally, having tried it on the only such talisman he owned shortly after Lex’s battle with Kryonex.

And it’s not like Steel Soul could have created those anyway, since they’re magical rather than psionic.

Which made it all the more incredible that he was now deploying no less than six such talismans, three in each of his three-legged automatons.

And judging from the azure glow and small bouts of what looked like cerulean lightning playing over each talisman, he was overcharging them somehow, likely in an attempt to boost their output.

This confirms it, decided the vampire as the spindly units moved to either side of the levitating quill, one taking its place in front of the head, and the other moving directly opposite it. Someone in the Umbral Regalia is working with Steel Soul. But who?

There was no other way that the Dominata’s wielder could have found out that Lex was in possession of a void weapon so quickly.

The very first thing that Sanguine Disposition had done after The Author had taken the Night Mare to Hali was to inform the Umbral Regalia of what had happened. With all of the other gods having witnessed his goddess’s subjugation, word of her realm’s vulnerability would spread, which meant that the Umbral Regalia would need to be on heightened alert.

But while that had included telling them what had happened that had led to the Night Mare’s being taken into custody – including Lex’s fight with Kryonex, the void creature Adagio Dazzle had unwittingly unleashed, and the Night Mare binding it in defiance of The Author’s orders – Sanguine Disposition hadn’t bothered to inform Steel Soul of all the particulars.

He’d had to tell him something, of course, for the same reason that he had told the Umbral Regalia: Darkest Night’s most powerful denizens needed to be ready to defend the realm now that their goddess was indisposed. But unlike with the Umbral Regalia, Sanguine Disposition had sent Steel Soul only the most terse of missives, offering very little information about what had happened, and none of the salient details involving Lex.

Which could only mean that one – or more – of the Umbral Regalia had.

The result of which was that the spindly machines were moving their six talismans into alignment, the loops of unadorned metal glowing brighter as they positioned them at either end of the quill. Arcs of radiant blue energy buzzed along the talismans, and Steel Soul laughed as he increased the rate of fire at Lex, throwing off the stallion’s aim as he released beams of ice magic at the automatons.

“I knew you’d bring out that void weapon of yours if I pushed you hard enough,” cackled Steel Soul. “But I never imagined you’d try to use it so quickly! Or did you think I wouldn’t have a contingency prepared?”

“I suspected you might,” growled Lex, gathering more ice magic. “But it won’t help if you can’t use it!”

The next blast of cryomantic power he unleashed wasn’t targeted, sending out a wave of extreme cold that reached out to encompass the spindly automatons and everything around them.

But Steel Soul had an answer for that as well

“You really think that same trick will work twice?!” he shrieked, his voice filled with disdain and triumph as his inner workings glowed again, only to wink out as the psionic power he’d just used transferred over to his machines, which lit up as they received it.

A moment later Lex’s ice magic slammed into them...and did nothing at all.

“You see?” laughed Steel Soul. “I always have a backup plan! What you, in the depths of your ignorance, so foolishly thought was overconfidence is in truth the unparalleled genius of one who has transcended the vagaries of flesh and embraced the limitless power of psibernetics! Observe!”

He threw a metal hoof toward the spindly machines, and the azure bolts of electricity grew larger, the glow around the talismans brightening further.

“NOW, WITNESS MY POWER!”

At his cry, the blue light surrounding the talismans changed brightened even more, the tendrils of what looked like electricity stabilizing. Now they were a solid beam of light, projecting from one set of talismans to another.

It was like the black quill had been sealed inside a cylinder of blue light.

A moment later the spindly robots began to creep back toward Steel Soul, carefully holding the cerulean beam between them.

And inside of it, the quill moved with them, contained.

Steel Soul threw back his head and roared with laughter. “DO YOU SEE THAT, LEX LEGIS?! DO YOU SEE WHAT I’M CAPABLE OF?! EVEN THE POWER OF THE VOID, WHICH LAYS GODS LOW, IS MINE TO COMMAND!!!”

Turning his head, he addressed the surrounding darkness of Mare Occultum. “OBSERVE THIS, NIGHT TERROR! NONE OF THESE OTHER FOOLS ARE NECESSARY FOR YOUR ASCENDENCE! I AM THE ONLY CHAMPION YOU NEED!!!”

He didn’t bother waiting for an answer from the avatar, instead turning back to Lex as he continued to gloat. “The Night Mare was foolish to entrust such power to someone as weak and stupid as you, which is why she was cast down! And now that you’ve turned this weapon over to one worthy of wielding it, I’ll finally have everything I’ve ever wished for!”

“Not before I’ve gotten what I wish for,” retorted Lex, and Sanguine Disposition immediately took notice of how composed his voice was.

Whatever he’s been building up to, it’s about to come to pass.

Watching carefully, he activated the Secreta as Lex surreptitiously reached into his pocket dimension...

And withdrew a ring, slipping it onto one talon.

“And I wish that Nisha was immediately freed from whatever bondage Grim Darklight has her in.”

Through the Secreta’s power, Sanguine Disposition witnessed the explosion of subtle energy that came from the ring, recognizing it as being akin to the wishing spell he’d cast on multiple occasions, most recently when he’d bent the power in the Libram of Ineffable Damnation so that it would visit him after Lex was done with it. But this is even stronger! And he’s using it for that wolf?!

Unable to help himself, Sanguine Disposition glanced to the side, where Grim Darklight had been silently watching the battle unfold alongside him-

And where Nisha was once against standing next to him now.

For the briefest fraction of an instant, Grim Darklight hesitated, a look of shock on his face before he raised a hoof. “I command-”

“Damn your commands!” howled Nisha as she leaped at him, her jaws clamping down on the scarred stallion’s face. “I don’t have to listen to them anymore!”

Blood flew as she tore into Grim Darklight, her earlier meekness completely gone now.

“ “ “You love/cherish/desire pain?! Then I’ll give you as much as you w-” ” ”

She didn’t have a chance to finish as Sanguine Disposition casually stepped over and grabbed her by the throat with the claws at the joint of his wing, silencing her as he lifted her into the air. “Now now, that’s hardly-”

An instant later, Lex was right in his face.

Just as Sanguine Disposition had predicted.

Secreta! he invoked silently, raising one hoof to brush against Lex just as the unicorn lashed out at him, making contact in the brief instant before his wing was knocked aside, releasing Nisha-

Just in time for Lex to catch her, immediately flying off into the gloom that made up Mare Occultum.

The entire exchange had taken a little over two seconds.

On the ground, Grim Darklight spat blood on the ground, one cleft hoof coming to the side of his face as he felt the wounds Nisha had inflicted on him. She’d gotten him right along the surgical scars that surrounded his yellow eyes, and Sanguine Disposition could see that the wounds were already beginning to superate.

But rather than being incapacitated by his injuries, the mutilated pony gave a sigh of deep appreciation. “Exquisite,” he murmured. “I’ll have to make sure Nisha feels this same pain when I recapture her.”

This time, Sanguine Disposition didn’t keep his thoughts to himself. “Somehow I doubt Lex will let that happen, given how far he just went to take her for himself.”

“It doesn’t matter!” laughed Steel Soul. “Now that I have his weapon, he can be hunted down at leisure! There’s nowhere here for him to hide, and-”

You fool!

The Night Terror’s psychic message brought Steel Soul’s pontificating to a screeching halt. “What did you say?!”

I had thought that perhaps you were playing along with Lex Legis’ stratagem so that you could turn it back on him, but it seems you were actually deceived!

“What are you talking about?!” roared Steel Soul at the darkness, his voice brimming with indignation. “I took his god-slaying weapon from him! The resonant field I created-”

“It’s an illusion, Steel Soul,” chimed in Sanguine Disposition, not wanting to sit through another long-winded bout of misplaced bragging from his idiot colleague with the headache-inducing voice. “Lex never brought out that void weapon. He reached into his pocket dimension, and what he pulled out was an illusion, a rather minor one too, probably from a pre-cast spell he had stored in something there.”

“Impossible! I would have noticed if he’d...he’d...”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Sanguine Disposition smiled wider, having known from the beginning that Lex was passing a fake void weapon off as the real thing, and that there was only one reason why he’d been able to get away with it.

“You most certainly would have noticed,” he agreed, “if only the Night Terror’s aura wasn’t making such an analysis impossible.”

Steel Soul didn’t say anything to that, but a high-pitched grinding sound could be heard coming from him, as though one of his socketed joints was pressing past its point of tolerance. A moment later he strode towards the spindly automatons that were maintaining the cylinder of blue light. He didn’t utter a word, but both powered down and stepped away, leaving the black quill floating in midair.

Walking right up to it, Steel Soul raised a hoof, hesitating for just a moment before reaching out to touch it...

His hoof passed harmlessly through it.

A second later, Steel Soul’s wordless scream of fury rang across Mare Occultum.

Author's Note

Taking a calculated risk, Lex manages to recover Nisha and escape deeper into Mare Occultum!

Will he be able to get both of them out of Darkest Night? Or is he only delaying the inevitable?