"Ah, to hear them bicker you could almost believe we were attending a meeting of the Royal Council!"

"Perhaps they will simply finish each other off and save us all some bother." How many strong are they, he is technically here to scout but how risky should he get in wandering around while this is the force that stands opposed -

Currently: two abrikandilu, three dretches, one schir, and several cultists. (The most dangerous enemy the dwarf has seen is a minotaur, but the minotaur is not currently present.) Of the cultists, four are powerful to detect: two are kitted out like clerics (one with a holy symbol of Deskari and the other with a holy symbol of Baphomet), one is armorless and presumably some form of arcane caster, and the last is in half-plate. (The dwarf's target is the one in half-plate.) There are four additional cultists that aren't powerful enough to detect.

...Three more cultists who aren't powerful enough to detect. The arcane caster, apparently tired of the argument, waves his hand; one of the cultists taking the other position falls over dead, a look of terror on his face.

"Apparently we've got ourselves a prophet here."

"That seems improbable. Prophecy has been broken for more than a hundred years. Most likely he deduced that this was likely from the low intelligence of cultists and the fact that many of them are prone to anger at minor inconveniences."

Can Blai identify what the caster did to kill the other cultist?

He probably can't recognize the components — the caster was using an Abyssal form of the verbal component — but the effect on the victim is consistent with a Phantasmal Killer.

He can't remember if that's fourth or fifth circle but at any rate combined with the numbers he doesn't like the odds here. They're here to scout. He will wish the dwarf assassin luck and begin the process of retreat.

"A wise choice."

The cultists do not impair him in retreating.

(Camellia, for her part, is quietly pouting.)

Yes of course she is. Are the angel ghosts still there on the way out? (Are the fucking WINGS still there...)

Both the angel ghosts and the wings are still there.

"Later, with backup," he tells the angel ghosts, "if we can."

"You" (long flicker) "will stand." (The spirit's tone is reassuring, not accusatory.)

 "Nothing can hide" (flicker) "forever."

"I" (flicker) "will" (long flicker) "hear the echo."

What the fuck does that mean.

Whatever. If he leaves the building do the wings stop happening to him.

Not immediately, but they disappear a few minutes later.

That's enough that he spends entirely too long trying to figure out how he is going to do essential things like get his armor off and sit in chairs with wings for the rest of his life but then they're gone and he can instead worry if that means he's not good enough to have angel wings. (Why couldn't it have been the building threshold, that would have made more sense!)

They're approaching sunset now; cultist activity seems to be lower than it was earlier in the day. During the return trip, they're attacked by a lone brimorak, with enough advance warning to spend a communal Resist Energy, and by a pile of corpses that turn out to be zombies. (The zombies are very slow; Daeran spends two more channels helping to bring them down, but they aren't particularly competent at landing a hit.)

And here's the Defender's Heart!

Yay. Where is Ser Tirabade, he has a report to give.

Over here, in the same corner as usual, lecturing two crusaders.

He doesn't think his report is too terribly urgent and will wait.

("...current task is to break up fights, not seduce the Count's women. Am I understood?")

Eventually she dismisses the pair of them. "Select! Report?"

"Yes Ser." He recounts their excursion - "arresting the Voyager didn't seem either of an obvious high priority nor precisely within my capabilities so I did not agree to do more than keep an eye out" - and picking up Nenio - "if you happen to know the orthodox fashion for stepping down from a technical surrender now that I'm slightly more confident of her interests, Ser?" - and finding the count's house with no dwelling on how they found a side entrance, and their findings in the Tower including the. wings. which aren't happening any more at least.