Sphinx's little spy skittered into the room and spied the man and woman. They had been searched thoroughly on their arrival and possessed no weapons. But it looked like they didn't need them. The man, a tall and broadly built man of around thirty-five, blonde with blue eyes, cracked his fists which flickered in flame. The woman who was similarly tall and muscled, with short brown hair and green eyes blew out a cloud of white frost from her mouth. She seemed to be the same age as the man. Both were metahumans, a pyrokinetic and cryokinetic. Usually new supers declared their arrival immediately but these hadn't. That meant the two had something to hide. Their bearing and calm posture indicated they weren't regular civilians, they were trained. Trained in combat almost certainly but also to resist psychic examination. It took remarkable concentration to do so. Pariah had made all of the associates undergo the training but they had never encountered anyone else with the same capability. Until now. 

For now the two metas were docile, leaning on the walls on the shack and speaking in hushed tones. The woman who sat cross-legged on the bed said, "How long do you think we're going to be in here?" The man shrugged his shoulders, "Hard to say. Whenever they think we're not a threat." The woman nodded, "When their telepath comes by we have to let some things slip. But not too much." The man lazily scanned the room, "I know that. The boss won't tolerate any failure." Suddenly the sounds of the PA system filtered over the air and the general hustle of the civilian population started as the workers fled to the safety of their homes. The woman stood up, "The Mythics must have showed up. Faster than I thought they would." The man chuckled, "Boss has them running scared." 

"Should we do something? If they work out a deal it could create complications." 

The man regarded her, "What are you suggesting?" 

"I'm thinking we get out of here and cause some chaos. Make them start shooting at each other. Leave them scrambling and watch the carnage." 

The man rubbed his chin, "It's risky. There's a lot of guards here. And other supers. We're not supposed to start operations until we integrate with their population." 

"Yes, but if we're careful we can weaken both sides, let the boss have a better chance." 

"If it doesn't work we'll end up dead." 

"But if it does work we'll get a promotion."

The man nodded and smiled, "Alright then. Let's start by getting out of here." The woman grinned and frost and flame started gathering around their hands, each of them obviously willing to kill everyone in the building. They were on the outskirts of a residential district, in the shadow of the wall. If something started here it would wreak havoc on the defenses and could get many innocents killed. Sphinx needed to act immediately.

[hr] 

Pariah seemed to ignore Sekhem but his mind worked furiously, mulling over his options. Neither was optimal and Pariah knew that anything he did would likely play right into Sekhem's hands. He needed another way, hopefully Cassandra would find an answer. The supers and their subordinates stood shoulder to shoulder on the wall, ready to start blasting or shooting if violence erupted. Some of them were scared, some were anxious, and the rest were eager to start mowing down mythics. There was a lot of bad blood between humans and the magic races, and it was casting tension over the Wall. Pariah could rely on many of them to keep themselves in check, but not all of them. Whatever happened down there, it needed to happen soon. Pariah listened in over the radio. 

Cassandra finally made a decision, "Gariel, you and me will go in front. Everyone else will follow but give us some space. Let's not spook them. None of us can shoot first. Tell them we're coming over." The elf nodded in relief and called out over the road. The older elf woman replied and the two parties began slowly advancing towards each other, every eye for miles around was on them as they moved forward. Cassandra felt herself tense, every rumbling step in her armor only adding to the churning in her gut. She wasn't scared to fight but if they got this wrong, it would be war with the entire wasteland. They might kill or capture most of the mythics but some would escape, spread tales of what happened and then every scavenger and wall guard would be a target. They'd ambush all their scavenger parties, launch surprise attacks on the wall. The civilians would get restless and they might have a full blown riot inside the Citadel with guerrilla  fighters on the outside. It would be a disaster. Cassandra would need every ounce of diplomacy. 

Finally the two parties met each other in the middle. Gariel stepped forward and bowed his head, the mythics on the horses returning the gesture. The elf slipped out a knife and cut his hand while his female counterpart did the same. They moved towards each other and pressed their palms together, a blue corona of energy surrounded the both of them and they each retreated to their companions. Gariel nodded at Cassandra, "We performed an ancient blood oath. Any who break the oath will suffer a curse on their heads." Cassandra nodded, "Ask them if they understand English." Gariel spoke out a phrase and the armored figure in the middle replied, "Indeed we do Human. Most of us know your tongue.' 

Cassandra stepped forward, "My name is Cassandra Patel, you may know me as Athena. To whom am I speaking?" 

The armored figure dipped his head, "Ah Athena, you take an ancient name Human, though I hear you are worthy of it. I have no name you can say in your tongue but I am known as Nightsong." He gestured to his companions, a female elf, a brawny male dwarf, a female ogre with long curving horns, and a male centaur, "You have the honor of addressing Shara the White, Dumin Redbeard, Kasha the Impaler, and Haryo the Swift." Cassandra nodded to them all and identified the Citadel party, mostly by codename. 

Cassandra finally said, "What brings your peoples here today Nightsong?" 

The armored figure, whose voice could not readily be identified as either male or female replied, "Many tribes and clans have come together to form a unified tribe. Our peoples used to be enemies with each other and with human clans in the city, but that time must pass. A new threat to both human and nonhuman arises. A powerful sorcerer, one who we know only as the Master, arrived suddenly several moons past. The Master commands an ever growing army of humans, those with abilities and those without, and wields magic rarely seen in your kind. He has destroyed many clans, killing those who fought and enslaving the rest. He has built a kingdom out of the bondage of our people. Humans too are little better, they are forced to work in his fortress and are little more than serfs. He has conquered many." 

Nightsong hung its head, "Hundreds have perished. Thousands more toil in the Master's fortress, the Nexus, a place that rivals your own Citadel. It is the Master who has attacked your own scout parties. The Master knows you are the only true threat to its dominion of the Waste. If the Master cannot make you bow, it will destroy you instead. Many powerful creatures have decided that cooperation is better than slavery, he has an army greater than yours. Arcane servants, fanatical followers, and a horde of slaves." 

Cassandra mulled it over, "How many does the Master command?" Nightsong seemed to stare right into her eyes, "As best as our scouts and mages can ascertain, Nexus has well over a hundred thousand humans, mainly serfs. The Master's fighters number in the thousands. And there are almost ten thousand more mythic slaves." Cassandra's eyes widened in the helmet, "He outnumbers us nearly ten to one!" Nightsong nodded, "And he has just as many superhumans as you do. Not all follow him willingly, but they are threats just the same. As our people fell, we realized we could not survive on our own. We banded together and took everyone we could here. If the Master is left unchecked the entire city will fall, his power will keep growing. We must stop him now, and to do so we must work together." 

The hero ran over it in her head, "We can't take just your word on it. We have to find this out for ourselves." Nightsong nodded, "I didn't expect you to take us at face value. But we are willing to prove it. I will show you Nexus myself, and you can find the truth of it. But in the meantime, the people are desperate. We have many weak, many sick or wounded. We cannot flee anywhere else. We need shelter." Cassandra sighed, "We can take those who need treatment into our fortress, and you may select an envoy with an escort to enter as well. But we cannot allow all of you into the Citadel. You may take shelter in the surrounding buildings but until we find out more, it may not be closer than a mile. Each of our people will keep their distance. If this Master and his threat is real, we can reconsider. But those are my terms now." 

Nightsong and his companions seemed to have a spirited discussion. The Dwarf and the Ogre in particular made a lot of threatening seeming gestures and motions to the fighters behind them before Nightsong silenced them all. Nightsong turned back and said, "We agree to your terms. Those who need your aid will come forward. Shara and a dozen of our men will treat with your council. The rest will remain outside your walls to build our village. We will ride now to spread the word. You may do the same with your people. I will lead a group of your handpicked men and women to Nexus when night falls. Goodbye." The riders turned and galloped back to the host of mythics. 

Cassandra keyed the radio, "Did you get all that Pariah?" 

"Affirmative. You made the right choice. Head back now, we need to pick a few scouts to find out more about this Master." 

After a few minutes the negotiation party was back on the wall. Most clapped the party on the back or shoulders, except Sekhem, but the others seemed to resent the negotiations. Pariah addressed the assembled men and women on the walls, "We can't trust them right now but if this Master is a real threat, we can't ignore it. I need a small group to accompany the mythic leader and find out more about Nexus. Do I have any volunteers?"