The Immortal Dream

Freshly ghosted, I watched as Faye, Lissa and Flarefeather walked off, heading for Crowscone's manor.

Would they be fine? I knew Faye explicitly hadn't wanted to be up front, let alone on her own, and I had basically just thrown her off the deep end by spilling my secrets to the pegasus duo and then leaving before they could start asking hard questions.

Not that they knew, but I was proving my point pretty nicely already, starting something and then getting distracted before I could finish it. And this was a distraction. Going to see if Crowscone would say anything interesting at his speech was objectively less important than ensuring nothing went wrong kidnapping the Consul. That wasn't to say nothing interesting would happen there. Interesting things usually happened when I got distracted. But that was where our problems ultimately stemmed from: I had too strong of an attachment to being everywhere at once, and couldn't sit down and focus on one thing at a time.

I righted myself in midair. Faye had agreed that this was worthwhile, though. And now that I was doing it, I might as well do everything in my power to do it well.

Angling my body, I zipped off in the direction the pink griffon had gone. I didn't know my Izvalden geography, or where I would find Crowscone's impending speech, but he sure sounded like he did. This would also let me ensure he wasn't following everyone else after Flarefeather told him not to.

Gonkers wasn't hard to find. Rather than following the others, he had gone back to checking nearby shops, poking his head in and announcing to all and sundry that Crowscone was giving a speech at the memorial crater stage. Judging by how no one questioned where that was, I assumed it was a highly prominent venue, the kind that would be easy to spot from midair if only it weren't for this fog.

Fortunately, Gonkers didn't visit too many more shops, taking wing and finally leading me somewhere. He stayed low enough to the ground that it was still visible, and I stuck close behind, determined not to lose him after wasting time already. We passed first through more commercial streets, then some nicer streets that felt like the neighborhood of Crowscone's manor, and almost abruptly into an open field, the road feeling somewhat nice and well-maintained for a dirt road. There were ditches at the sides to collect runoff, and I could hear a river somewhere nearby. Louder than that, though, I could hear a crowd.

Abruptly, I reached them, ponies and griffons packed together as they murmured anxiously and tried to get close enough to see something through the fog. It was an ornate wooden stage, with an acoustically curved back and roof that suggested it had been constructed as a concert venue. The structure showed signs of being several decades old, though it had been well-maintained and protected against weathering.

Massive dead spotlights lined the sides of the stage, pointed up at the sky - when the power was on, I wagered the beams from these could be seen clear across the city. The interior of the stage's roof was painted, as well, depicting an exaggerated night sky with sparkly black, using silver, magenta and lime green for the moons, stars and galaxies.

That color scheme... I frowned. Was it a coincidence? Those were the colors of the Firefly Sisters, the Griffon Empire band I kept a poster of in my old bedroom in Icereach.

I knew basically nothing about them. Hadn't thought about them at all in months. But if they had been big enough to have a home venue, maybe that was where I found myself right now.

Despite the circumstances, I smiled, remembering the days when I had cherished anything I could count as part of my identity, no matter how small. That poster had predated the Empire's fall, Mother told me, and I could only imagine that band had moved on to different things long ago, if they even survived the war. This was called a memorial stage, after all. Still, even if I was wrong about where this was, I was happy to be here. It felt like catching a faint nostalgic scent, a memory of the days when I had wished for the horizon with open wonder.

I still needed to show Coda that horizon. And Lissa and Flarefeather would probably jump at the chance to join us. Quietly, I made myself a promise to go on a real adventure, once all this was over.

The magic dissipated as suddenly as it arrived when Crowscone took the stage.

Flabby and arrogant, he stood with his kingly robe spread wide, revealing a purple silk business suit with loose, ruffled trim, an abomination of fashion that existed between smart and luxurious. His crown glittered in the light provided by six suited unicorn guards, the late evening sun blocked out by both the fog and the stage's shadow. Off to the side was a raised structure that looked like a VIP box; I saw Crowscone give it an unusual wing salute as he waited for more stragglers to arrive.

At last, satisfied, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Rumors have reached my ears," Crowscone began, in his familiar ostentatious trill, "of unrest in my city. Of whispers, yes, and doubt. Of looting! Of my people behaving in ways that suggest they believe it is every pony for himself!"

His voice echoed across the field, at least one of those unicorns casting an amplification spell. "You are here," Crowscone continued, "that we might put an end to these nasty rumors by putting an end to the nasty behavior that causes them. That problem is a lack of faith. Some of my citizens lack faith in me, in the world I built, that I allow them to live in. And so they do unsightly things, like putting their own fear above the good of society. Tonight, we shall rectify this through a demonstration! I shall hold court. And you all shall demonstrate for each other the power of your faith in me."

He smiled a broad smile, leaning forward. "Now then. Who among you has the faith to ask of your lord a boon?"

"I've got one." A mare pushed her way to the front of the crowd, raising her voice to be heard. "I live on the edge of town. Have a husband and three kids. Work the orchards every day. Today, when I went out to work, I saw just beyond the edge of this fog bank a rainstorm that's frozen in midair. You can touch the hanging droplets and everything. Is this caused by a lack of faith in you? You must have heard the rumors. Everyone's heard them; I've seen them and am telling you they're true. So why don't you tell us about that?"

My ears perked in interest as a wave of agreement swept across the crowd. Crowscone's civilians were confidant enough to address him that way? He must not have ruled with as iron a hoof as I thought.

"So you ask for information," Crowscone declared. "Then you shall have it! This 'weather' is a giant spell cast upon us by Wilderwind. My mages have already determined the source. It is meant to scare, inconvenience and unnerve. They can do little more without risking my retaliation. For now, however, I have chosen to abide its presence, because it has revealed a flaw in you people that must be expunged. I, Crowscone Izvaldi, have kept you safe from grabby Wilderwind and the evil Consulate for many years! And as long as even one pony in this land continues to believe in me, I shall continue to do so until our adversaries are dust and Izvaldi alone stands supreme!"

He gave the crowd a beady-eyed glare. "But until all you people believe so fervently, I shall suffer this harmless prank, this reminder of our enemies' intent, to remain."

As he spoke, I narrowed my eyes. The crystal tower was behind the weather change, not Wilderwind. Was he making up an explanation when he didn't know what was really going on?

That was annoying, though I didn't know what else I expected. If I did manage to fix things, he would take credit, and the population would be none the wiser. Not that I was interested in taking credit myself, or telling everyone what was really going on... so I wasn't sure if this actually mattered. It could matter a whole lot if I failed, but then there would be nothing anyone could do, so in a sense, nothing would matter that way, either.

But it sure was annoying. I booed loud and hard, safe in the knowledge that no one could hear me.

"Does that satisfy your request?" Crowscone looked out across the assembled creatures. "Who else would ask something of their ruler?"

"Why is the power out!?" a voice shouted from the crowd. "And when will it be back on?"

"Sophisticated and opportunistic sabotage," Crowscone replied, his voice warbling with righteous anger. "It is the providence of a ruler to provide power for the people. Our enemies know this. In our moment of distraction, the Consulate have attacked a pillar of my right to rule. Already, we have caught the party responsible. I am presently weighing their punishment. Care must be taken to send a proper message of deterrence to the Consulate, and not one of escalation! Your lights shall return when I deem it appropriate to let the Consulate know their scheme has failed."

The crowd started murmuring. I hovered closer. Who was this culprit they had captured? Was he talking about the Consul Faye and the others were trying to abduct? Or was he making more things up to burnish his image? The power outage had to stem from the crystal tower as well; no Consulate scheme could cause the power stored in Puddles' ship to simply vanish.

"So you can do something about the dark and the fog," said a griffon in the crowd, "but you're waiting for the right time? Think that time could be now, maybe?"

Crowscone nodded at two of his pegasus guards waiting in the wings. "You there. Bring out my gifts!"

The crowd tensed in anticipation as the pegasi ducked backstage. Curious, I floated even closer.

Moments later, they returned, dragging a large rolling trolley laden with several colossal, bulging sacks, one of which appeared to be glowing from within.

Crowscone reached a wing into the glowing sack, fished around, and withdrew something bursting with light. I recognized it instantly: a gemstone that had been converted into a small mana core, freshly charged and brimming with energy.

The crowd's eyes snapped to it as one, many wandering to the sack he had pulled it from, which was big and bright enough that it could contain perhaps a hundred more. Crowscone locked eyes with the griffon who had spoken out, then gently lobbed the core, the griffon catching it with a look of satisfaction.

"Receive of me gifts," Crowscone bellowed, "and remember why it is I you are faithful to! These cores were filled for you by hard-working unicorns from the strength of their own horns! My own home, I have allowed to go dark so that you may have first pick of these. But use them sparingly until our power grid is restored. These are small, and we must not let our enemies know we are on to them."

I blinked, baffled. Here I had been expecting yet another self-serving ploy, and this was... actually good? Still self-serving, if he was making people get the good stuff straight from his hoof while leaving the aid workers downtown to hand out normal candles, but it was still the right thing, even if done for the wrong reasons. And he was, for once, telling the truth about his own manor being dark.

Now I wondered what was in the other bags. I could poke my head through the canvas, just not see in the dark...

As the crowd clamored with requests, Crowscone started handing out more mana cores, refusing to let his guards do the job and insisting on passing out each one himself. If only one of us was physically present here! I gnashed my teeth, watching core after core go to people who probably wanted them for light or household comforts: with all these cores put together, we'd be well on our way to getting Puddles' ship back in the air again.

If he was able to make these at all, though... The red flash had emptied the ship's mana core, but this meant that it didn't stop anyone from refilling them. Getting more power wasn't a fool's errand. But if emptying existing storage devices was all it did, why was the city's power grid down? Did it interfere with some means of production, but not others? Or could there actually be something unrelated at play?

I needed to discuss this with Lissa, Flarefeather and Puddles. By now, I had seen enough inscrutable conspiracies to not be overwhelmed by this, but I needed second opinions on these possibilities.

"Now then," Crowscone said as the crowd's fervor began to wane, their faces much better lit thanks to the distribution of cores. "What else do you desire? Money? Safety? Answers? None have yet been audacious enough in their belief to reap true rewards."

A stallion stepped forward. "My family restaurant was broken into just this afternoon. Didn't catch hide nor hair of the culprit, but they made off with the cash register and everything in it. Sounds to me this has been happening to a lot of folk today, but all that's different is a little power outage and some spooky weather. You mind telling me why all of Izvaldi's criminals are collectively losing their heads and deciding today's the day to do crimes?"

"I wouldn't call this weather 'a little spooky'," said the mare who had spoken at the start. "It feels apocalyptic. And that's coming from someone who lived through the war."

Crowscone ruffled his feathers. "Not all are as grounded as you appear to be," he told the stallion. "Fear robs us of our morals. And as I have told you, faith is the antidote to fear. Our great nation of Izvaldi exists in a vice, pressed between the barbarians of Wilderwind and the tyrants of Everlaste. The pressure would break many an ordinary pony, who have no reason to trust that we will endure. For I am the one reason that exists! The one force capable of maintaining our cherished way of life! Those who put their faith in other things build upon a shaky foundation. They carry a terrible burden with no help to see it through! And when they break..."

His beady eyes glinted. "Yes, when they break, this is the result. Creatures revolting and amusing in equal measure. They scrabble for material wealth using any means they can, loathsomely unaware that their fate is of their own making. I feel no pity for creatures such as those, ones who have rejected salvation. And neither should you."

The crowd shuffled in place.

"Who among you feels the same?" Crowscone demanded. "There is one side in Izvaldi. The side of righteousness! Those who stand not with me stand alone!"

There was a murmur of approval among the crowd, along with a few more enthusiastic shouts. Something bothered me about the reaction, a sense that it was almost familiar, but I couldn't place where.

"Raise your hooves," Crowscone instructed the crowd, "if you believe today's spate of looting is an issue that must be rectified."

More than half of the crowd lifted an appendage, and I blinked in surprise. This looting had been brought up often enough that I supposed I should have guessed it was a real problem, but it never clicked because I didn't think I had seen any. Then again, my only trip outside Crowscone's manor so far had been to the police station, and that was ostensibly well-patrolled...

Actually, no. There was that pink griffon. I had been paying more attention to Crowscone once his speech started, but Gonkers was still where I had last seen him, sitting on the roof of what looked like a VIP box, quietly cracking jokes with a couple of young friends.

He certainly looked the part of a juvenile delinquent, and he had talked about breaking into Crowscone's manor. Did my friends and I just look tough enough that we had bumped into a bandit and been profiled as allies?

I shrugged. Better than the alternative, at least.

"You," Crowscone said, picking out a pegasus from the crowd at random... or perhaps not, knowing his biases. "What do you think ought to be done about this?"

The pegasus straightened up. "Yeah, so on my way here, I passed the Black Knight heading for the Department of Civil Obedience carrying like, three shady dudes who were out cold. Looked like they were beaten black and blue. And see, like, I didn't know the Black Knight was in town, and if I was a looter, I wouldn't want to mess with that. So why don't you get more Black Knights to stand around in armor like that so no one can tell if it's the real one? It's like a scarecrow!"

Crowscone considered this, stroking a wingtip across his triple chin. "Perhaps your ideas have a future. This suggestion pleases me! Would anyone else like to match the patriotism of this fine pegasus?"

"Why don't you go out and fight them yourself like the Black Knight does!?" shouted a griffoness from the back of the crowd.

Crowscone drew himself up, indignant. "I fight day and night to keep our foul and vile neighbors confined to their own lands! My citizens, your war is already my war! There are many dark places within our beautiful city, and only one of me to light them. I can only be so many places at once." He beatifically closed his eyes, spreading his wings wide. "But what is a ruler to do if not grant the wishes of his own people? When your faith in me has reached its apex, when enough voices cry out to me for succor, then shall I ascend and become everything to everyone. Until that day comes, it shall sometimes fall to you, my people, to become the arms of my law in my stead. As it does tonight! Who here has the faith to stand up to crime and lawlessness under their own power, safe in the knowledge that my will walks with them?"

Several among the crowd stood, more certainly than I felt like was warranted. Just what was going on here? Earlier, this felt like a handout, but now it felt slightly more rehearsed, as though some of the audience had been told what to do.

Maybe they had. Someone like Crowscone would definitely seed his audience. But still, the response felt unnatural, as if there was a script people were reading from that hadn't been offered to me.

As Crowscone praised them, I swooped out over the crowd, unsettled enough that I had to confirm my hypothesis. It was easier to read ponies up close, especially when i could stare into their faces and not be seen in return. Harder than when I was corporeal, to be sure, but in the eyes of those who stood I saw not just certainty but familiarity, as if they had seen what would happen before. Rallies like these, I guessed, were a common occurrence that appealed to specific types of people.

But not everyone was the same. Others were apprehensive. Some were here with an extinguished hope that this time would be different, as if they had shown up to ask questions and hoped that tonight, Crowscone would offer more than self-flattery. Others were clearly not mollified by his explanation about the weather, and towards the back of the crowd, where it was harder to be seen from the stage, some were taking their mana cores and going home.

"In times of unprecedented trial," Crowscone was saying, reaching into another sack, "the reach of my authority must be broader than usual in order to maintain the lives we know and cherish. And so, let it be broadened!"

He pulled out a bundle of things that were flat and shiny, and from the distance I slowly identified them as badges of some sort. Given the context, likely police badges.

"You, with the courage to stand," Crowscone declared, brandishing the badges. "My Department of Civil Obedience is strained beneath the weight of these unfolding crises. New hooves will go a long way towards alleviating their burden so that they can alleviate yours. In my name, I deputize you! Upon ruffians and troublemakers, my law is yours to wield as you see fit! If this gift of authority is not sufficient, I have brought weapons as well, though I ask that you stay behind to receive them after my speech is finished to ensure they only enter the hooves of the worthy."

Some among the crowd did not seem happy about this. "What I want to know," one griffon whispered to another, "is how he knows he's not just giving this to another vandal who knows how to butter him up! And how will new recruits know how to return my savings to me even if they do catch the bandits?"

"Why hasn't anyone asked about the monster yet?" another whispered.

"The one that's been flying around today?" another whispered back.

"Yeah. The green one!"

"He'll just say it's a Wilderwind or Everlaste spy," a fourth grudgingly pointed out. "Anyone who comes here for real information is hopelessly naive. We're here for the handouts and you know it."

I tilted my head. A green monster flying around? There were maybe ways this could be innocuous, but my paranoid gut said revenant and I had seen Crowscone with one earlier, in his study. If only I was corporeal, and could ask these griffons questions...!

Also, they were all griffons. Maybe it was just this group, but it was starting to feel like griffons were more dissatisfied with Crowscone than others. Not entirely surprising, given how often he referred to the crowd as ponies, but could I use this somehow?

On the stage, Crowscone finished handing out police badges and straightened up, preparing to speak again. "Hopefully," he began, "tonight has demonstrated the fruits of placing your trust in me. Those of you who have lived in my Izvaldi for more than a week or so will recognize this as a regular occurrence, and if any of you haven't, ask yourself who else on this continent would hand out gifts to their believers free of charge. Only in Izvaldi does the government exist in service of building a utopia! Only in Izvaldi is the wealth I accrue given back to you to better your lives! Only in Izvaldi are you rewarded for merely having the faith to request it!"

Suddenly, horribly, I realized where my earlier sense of deja vu had come from.

It wasn't just the crowd. It wasn't just the way they were reacting. It wasn't just their relationship with Crowscone.

It was all of that, combined with where we physically were: Izvaldi. The name of the cult - a cult that originated here, in this very land and perhaps this very city - who handed out money in exchange for shallow protestations of faith, which were then harvested and stuffed into an adolescent changeling queen.

I looked up at Crowscone with wide eyes, suddenly operating under a new theory of what was going on here. Had I erred terribly in bringing Coda to this place? Or was there another changeling queen here, one I knew nothing about? Did he have a different purpose in mind for whatever he was harvesting? Or was he following someone else's playbook, running through a ritual he thought made for effective governance with no idea what it was used for? Did-

Crowscone wasn't done with his speech, and didn't leave me time to explore the possibilities. "However," he continued, "despite all I do, some of you still lack faith. You show up, take my gifts, and let the niceties end there. Perhaps you do not trust me, or perhaps do not believe I am capable of anything more. Fallacious beliefs, when I have done so much for you over so long. Yet you are imperfect creatures, and fallacy is only to be expected."

He sighed, then rose to his full height. "That is why I am necessary. Were you capable of maintaining a paradise on your own, I would be but another member of the masses. But I, Lord Crowscone Izvaldi, am here for you. I am here to shoulder the flaws that hold you back. To lift away the doubt in your hearts that stymie trust, and to forge you into your best selves. I am merciful. I judge your sin separate from you sinners. All of your fears, your insecurities... These things are mine to bear for you, if you but believe I can. Is there anyone... anyone among you tonight who would give their burdens over to me, and achieve true peace for their soul?"

I wanted to run, to warn Faye about what I had realized, check on Coda and figure out a plan. But whatever he was doing now, I had to see what it was.

"Anyone?" Crowscone asked, wings spread benevolently, a mountain of flab filling out the space beneath his suit. "You know I grant this opportunity but once per public address."

"...I'll do it," said a pegasus, looking like he was stepping out to cross a high-speed raceway. He had a distinctive pink and teal mane - easy for me to keep track of. "Does this mean I have to join your pegasus church, though? I'm not religious."

Crowscone shook his head. "Religion is the act of placing your faith in something you cannot see, not something you can. But I am not affiliated with the Church of Pegasi. While they only accept the enlightened among their ranks, you will be freer than any other to live your life as you see fit."

I frowned harder. The Church of Pegasi? That was one of the groups we had been told earlier to visit for the play Crowscone wanted us to put on. Was Crowscone saying they were made up of people who accepted this deal he was offering?

The pegasus looked as if he expected someone to stop him, but nobody did as he jumped up on the stage next to Crowscone. In the crowd, some people looked bored, some - mostly griffons, again - looked a little disturbed, and quite a few looked annoyed with themselves for not speaking up instead.

"Then let us be about it!" Crowscone declared, turning his back on the crowd. "I have an enlightenment to perform. The rest of you may watch as my guards return this pile of gifts to my manor." He gestured to the still-largely-full sacks with a wing, only the mana cores properly distributed. "Remember, I prepared those anticipating your every desire! That they remain with me, and not in your hooves, is the fault of everyone present who was not faithful enough to request them."

Crowscone's guards made a show of inspecting the bags, and I flew close enough to hear a conspicuous clinking - at least one of them had to be packed to the brim with money. Why had no one asked for that? If this really was a show of giving away free stuff, was no one going to be opportunistic about it?

I looked back at the crowd, and realized the answer: most of them trusted this about as much as I did. So many of them were holding their breath, watching for an invisible catch. The ones who did speak voiced only their most pressing concerns, asking for things they truly needed - aside from the police badges, which Crowscone had more or less prompted them to take on his own.

No one, in this entire field, was dumb enough to be an opportunist at a time and place like this, even though many were now kicking themselves for doing so.

I felt my faith in random people increase just a little, and found my extreme paranoia feeling slightly more normal.

And then I turned around, following Crowscone and the pegasus through a wooden door painted to blend in with the back of the stage.

The door opened out into a narrow wooden staircase that somehow held Crowscone's girth. It descended a few steps before reaching ground level, a flat dirt-and-wood floor illuminated by a mana core in Crowscone's wing. The back room was short and wide, with a few square planks scattered on the ground that looked like they were once used for giving props or equipment something cleaner to sit on. Beyond that, the only other thing I saw was a cluster of derelict instruments tied to the ceiling, bits of crystal and wire that looked like they hadn't been maintained in a long time.

The next door, turning back under the stage itself, was made of metal.

"So, uhh... How does this work?" the pegasus asked, glancing around uncertainly at his surroundings. "And where are we going?"

"Somewhere very safe," Crowscone promised, "with some specialized tools I require to work a miracle such as this."

He stopped in front of the door, giving the same wing salute he had used as the address was starting.

Moments later, it opened, a pegasus mare standing on the other side. The first thing I noticed as she returned the salute was that the lights were on behind her. This room had power.

The second thing I noticed was that her eyes were green.

Instantly, I checked her special talent to see if this was a Bishop. Fortunately, she was blank, which was the default state for the north's non-batpony population. But my ghostly heart was pounding, and I was ready to read into everything.

Neither of them exchanged words, the mare welcoming Crowscone in with a nod. The room beyond the door was recessed slightly below ground level, with a lot more machines and sensors lining the walls that looked much better maintained than the ones outside. It was also much more sturdily constructed, trading wood and dirt for metal and stone. At one side was a staircase, and Crowscone began to descend, already puffing from the exercise.

The stallion reached the staircase head before I did, and when he looked down, he blanched. "Uhhhh..."

"It's perfectly harmless," Crowscone's voice reassured, carrying up from the depths. "Nothing can hurt you while I am here."

I tore my gaze from the racks of machinery and drifted closer, somehow already knowing what I was going to see.

Down the staircase, lit softly by mana lights in the ceiling, was a tide of green fog, exactly like I had seen in Gyre.

It fumed and swirled, moving like a predator in a fish tank with nothing to hunt and nowhere to go. And halfway up the staircase, it stopped very abruptly, a faint colorless distortion in the air that suggested some kind of barrier was present, not two meters below the surface of the outdoor ground.

"Go on," the mare with green eyes encouraged, speaking softly and without worry. "I've been here many times. Like His Radiance says, it's completely harmless to those he favors."

"Hey, I don't know about this," the stallion said, still looking down. "Nobody mentioned anything like this..."

"His Radiance awaits you," the mare told him. "Are you going, or not?"

The door to the exit, I noticed, was closed. She must have gotten it behind us.

The stallion noticed it too, and started to sweat.

"Chiera, hurry him up, would you?" Crowscone's voice called from the room below. "Even I am outpacing that boy!"

The stallion was seriously considering making a break for it, and the mare - Chiera - noticed. "I apologize," she said. "But His Radiance has made a decree."

She started to slowly walk toward him. The pegasus darted for the door and grabbed the handle, yanking hard, but it was locked. Moments later, she was upon him.

Her left iris ignited with a ring of green flame, and her body began to burn in answer. She gripped him around the barrel, and with inequine strength, hoisted him, locking his wings against his sides with a single foreleg.

"W-What are you doing!?" the stallion cried in terror. "Noo! Let me go! You're freakishly strong! What are you!? Let me go!"

"I am enlightened," Chiera calmly told him, still burning as she carried him towards the staircase. "Just as you are to become, once you give your burdens to Lord Crowscone."

Her flames didn't burn him at all. I trembled.

The stallion screamed again, but the walls were thick and sturdy. I couldn't hear anything from outside. Likely, anyone there could hear nothing from within.

I fought my impulse to flee. I needed to understand this. Chiera couldn't be a changeling queen; changeling queens were batponies, and batponies always had special talents. But that was my bracelet strength, activated by her iris; there was no possible mistaking it. I needed to warn Faye and the others, but first, I needed to know what was going on here...

Following them into the staircase, I reached the barrier. And suddenly, I remembered that I could interact with the mist.

I had never ghosted in Gyre's city itself, only out on the wastes once we were almost a day away. But I had been able to touch and slightly move a revenant. And now, pressing into mist this dense, I could feel it, and it could feel me.

Anyone watching the mist would be able to see me move through it. I couldn't stealth down here, and worse, I might not be invincible.

That was the last push I needed. As the captive stallion screamed again, I flew straight up, through the ceiling and out into the foggy night, ready to beeline back to Faye and the others.