All told, fifteen of the crew, including Narda and Myka, found themselves outside of the wards.  They immediately took cover before more arrows headed their way. “Something’s wrong down there,” Narda grunted. “It’s like they’ve been spooked, seeing things—” They all stopped as distant explosions sounded. “Shit. Those dolls!” 
“From the look of things, Kire’s trying to chase after the soldiers that had been led astray,” Myka continued. “But it’s slow work. Right now, the ones here on this hill are all the backup you have.”
Gavin thought it over. “Illusions. The disguise we gave her might’ve made her immune.” He looked at the city downhill, frowning. There must have been hidden rune circles throughout the city. 

“Okay." Gavin took a deep breath. "The wards are working here, so no dolls or illusions past this point. But down there, you need people with clear eyes.” He turned to Ruli. “The [i]Wenches[/i] can have your back here. But I gotta go help them down there. Trust me,” he added firmly, staring steadily back at his mentor before looking over to the elf. “Ysaryn, can you make one more trip? With me? Back where the rest of the crew are?” 
The [i]Wenches[/i] were already readying their incendiaries. “Let’s bring down those archers, ladies,” Myka said, grinning. 

Gavin and Ysaryn emerged back at the walls. Down below, the rest of Kire’s army waited, restless, with Ed barking orders to wait. 
“What’s going on?” one of the crew asked. “Did the wards work?”
“Yeah, they did,” Gavin answered, “but Kire might need help directing her army to the hill.” From the walls he could look down at the city much more closely, looking for signs of rune circles. He turned to the others. “Okay. I think I know what’s going on. They carved out a big rune throughout the city, and that’s creating illusions, confusing the soldiers.”
“How do we stop it?” 

Gavin looked back out again, muttering under his breath, trying to think it through, dredging up the memory of casting that same illusion magic back at Itallo’s mines. [i]Which runes would they have used?[/i] He looked around, just to confirm which direction they were oriented towards, then back at the [i]Wenches[/i] “If you’ll let me, I’ll perform some blood magic on you. To counteract it. Just enough for you to see through the illusions and know where to go.” 
The women looked at each other, still a little uncertain. They had been involved with setting the wards earlier, and had allowed the other sorcerer to peer into their minds to check if the runes had been placed properly. If it got them to victory, they wouldn’t mind another bit of magic, but the mention of blood magic performed directly upon them still gave them pause. “How?”
“I’ll anoint you with runes. With each other’s blood. You’ll serve as each other’s anchor to the reality around you. I can use my blood for some of you, too.” He looked at Ysaryn. “Will you let me? There’s a chance your sense of smell and hearing could see through the illusions, but I’m not sure how strong they are.” 

Deciding that they couldn’t waste any more time, the women assented. Gavin pricked their index fingers and guided their hands to each other’s foreheads, using their bloody finger to write a rune. Finally, with Ysaryn, he used the incision Ruli had made earlier and did the same for the elf’s forehead. “Alright. See those streets over there? Next to that line of burnt houses? You gotta set a fire, enough to cut a diagonal through the already burnt lane,” Gavin said. “Do the same to that other street over there. That should hopefully cut the enchantment. I’ll go down to Ed tell him.”
	

Kire couldn’t afford to feel tired. Kire forced the feeling to the back of her mind as she guided her soldiers out of the traps. Kire forced herself not to wonder if the dolls were all residents of the Capital, if that was all that was left. They leapt at her soldiers from homes and buildings. One or two exploded, taking some of her men with them when she wasn’t fast enough. She couldn’t let Ed and the rest in yet, not until she was sure they wouldn’t fall into the traps, themselves. 
	“Kire!”
	The Paladin turned and saw one of the [i]Wenches[/i] riding towards her. “[i]Where are the rest? Go back![/i]” Kire tossed a doll towards a horde, and together they exploded right after her soldiers took cover. 
	“[i]We know! Gavin’s helping![/i]” She pointed to her own forehead, where Kire saw a bloody mark. “[i]We’re going to destroy the illusion with Ed’s help. I can guide your soldiers to the hill, but we’ll need your eyes for breaking the illusion,[/i]” the pirate added, knowing Kire would have gone on to guide her soldiers and risked approaching the warded grounds, herself. 
	Kire thought this over. “[i]Alright. And I have an idea.[/i]” 

Ed, a group of soldiers, the [i[Wenches[/i], Ysaryn, and Gavin were already beginning their work setting the fires, but they needed cover from the dolls, attracted to them massing around this portion of the city. Many of the soldiers who didn’t have Gavin’s rune on their foreheads still had trouble seeing the real city from the illusion without being specifically guided. “Gavin, keep guiding them. Ysaryn, we’re going to lure the dolls near the incendiaries. When you hear my horn, stay clear.” 


When Gavin and Yasryn left, the rest of the [i]Wenches[/i] focused on taking down the archers. Narda joined the battalion in fighting the Gemini guards that had emerged from within the Palace grounds, while Myka kept close to Ruli to give him cover. Ruli’s strategy was working; the Gemini defenders were split between needing to capture ‘Kire’ and fighting off the Wyvern army on the hill. They needed more soldiers, though; at the moment, they weren’t enough to surround the whole Palace grounds just yet. As they fought, Narda, from where she stood, noticed something was wrong. The windows hadn’t been fortified, left open for them to either fire arrows at or climb through. 
There were men and women standing by the windows, looks of fear in their faces, their hands bound. More soldiers appeared on the balconies, but they, too, had what looked like ordinary citizens in tow, their hands similarly bound. 

“[i]Should have known the Empress would be willing to raze her own city to slaughter us,[/i]” came a voice, standing in one of the balconies. 
Narda and Myka recognized that voice. “Gael,” Narda seethed. Myka had quickly translated to Ruli what Gael had said. “Of course they’d use hostages,” she said, cursing afterwards. Narda scanned the faces that were visible, knowing, no doubt, there would be more inside. One or two looked familiar; prisoners of war, she thought, from some of the battles they had lost. 
“[i]How about one more parlay, Your Majesty?[/I]”