Brody woke up the next morning to more of the same. Frightened people left Sunset City while others remained because either they were too stubborn to leave or they had nowhere to go. Crowds of guardsmen and conscripted civilians searched for the Dawn Lantern. Some goblins helped them, but others had given up the hunt. Brody was shocked when he recognized one goblin walking away from the search teams.

“Little Old Dude, where are you going?” he asked.

The elderly goblin was leading his crowd of goblin students to the outskirts of the city. “No point looking anymore.”

“But we haven’t found the lantern!”

“Too many enemies will get here before we find it, if we ever do. It’s a better use of our time to get ready for them.” Little Old Dude leaned in close to Brody. “Watch your friend the hero. He’s starting to crack under the stress.”

“Too many people are asking too much from him. You know, it’s crazy, we might get killed for something that’s not here.”

Little Old Dude gave Brody a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I’ll keep in touch. Ibwibble, we’re setting traps!”

Ibwibble ran after Little Old Dude. “Finally!”

Despair hung over the city like a cloud. Brody saw a young human couple with a baby at the door to an apartment. The woman was seeing her husband off and said, “Be careful, my love.”

“I’ll return to you safely.” He kissed her and then the baby. “We’ll get through this and all other challenges, Isa.”

The man left and Brody was going to move on as well when he spotted goblins in an alley next to the apartment building. They were armed with clubs and lassos, and one wore a rug as a cape or cloak. There was also a tool shed in the alley, an odd place to have one. Brody frowned when the shed moved.

“Excuse me, but did that tool shed smile at me?” Brody asked the goblin mob.

The goblin wearing the rug smiled. “He’s very friendly.”

Goblins were good at dealing with nonsense, so Brody just shrugged and left. If that was the weirdest thing that happened today he’d count it as a win. He’d only gone a short distance when he saw a monk pulling a cart loaded with bee hives down the street. A goblin with lavender skin sat on top of the wagon.

“Mangus Quake, now that’s an easy name to spell,” the lavender goblin said as he scribbled onto a scrap of paper.

“He’s not an enemy to be taken lightly,” the monk replied.

“That’s why he’s on the list.”

Brody shook his head and went to the warehouse where Julius was directing the search. Once inside he found the situation had changed only a little. There were more guardsmen, and they were armed and armored for a fight. Archibald and Kadid Lan stood by the magic mirror, but like Little Old Dude they’d given up hope of finding the Dwan Lantern. Instead they used the mirror to study the edges of Oceanview Kingdom.

“We’ve spotted Lord Bryce and his men,” Kadid said. “He brought more of them than I’d thought.”

Brody studied the mirror and saw four wagons pulled by horses, with a dozen men in each wagon. An elegant carriage led them with Lord Bryce at the reins. “He came in person? That’s risky.”

“If he didn’t, his hired men might seize the Dawn lantern for themselves,” Archibald said. “Yips, stop drawing mustaches on the mirror.”

Yips giggled and made no attempt to erase the black mustache he’d drawn on Lord Bryce’s face. “How about a black eye and pimples?”

Kadid grabbed a rag and wiped the mirror clean. “He’ll be here by nightfall. We also saw four suspicious ships heading for Sunset City. They’re clustered together and not flying any kingdom’s flag.”

Archibald adjusted the mirror’s controls to zoom in. “Give me a moment to…it’s the Red Hand. They’ve loaded the ships with men.”
Julius walked up to the mirror. “Any sign of the vampires or the Inspired?”

“Not yet, but vampires and master wizards are fast,” Kadid said. “They could be a hundred miles away and reach us in hours.”

“Does anyone else want to get in on this?” Brody asked.

“We’re trying to prevent that,” Julius replied. “Are there armies or knights close enough to deal with them?”

Archibald continued adjusting the mirror. “None. King Baldos has moved most of his forces to the borders.”

“What for?” Brody asked.

Just then Officer Dalton entered the warehouse escorting Anton. Anton spotted Julius and yelled, “What did you do with Craig?”

“Who?” Yips asked.

“Just as well you don’t remember him,” Brody told him.

Julius stepped back from the mirror and addressed Anton. “Your friend is helping to avert a war. Last night we received word that three nearby kingdoms threatened to invade unless we hand over the Dawn Lantern. King Baldos went with his lawyer, a hundred knights and your fellow prisoner Craig to convince those kings that we don’t have it and never did.”

“How is Craig supposed to stop armies?” Anton demanded.

“By going under oath and testifying about the Truth Seekers, including how they were subverted,” Julius replied. He saw confused looks from both men and goblins, and explained, “Lawyers have powerful abilities, including placing a person under oath so they can only tell the truth.”

“That’s one less threat,” Kadid said.

“Not necessarily,” Archibald said. “The kings threatening to invade may not believe Baldos. There are ways to evade telling the truth even under oath by giving testimony that is both true and inaccurate.”

Officer Dalton frowned. “Huh?”

Brody snapped his fingers. “Wait, I think I get it. Baldos could say no man has found the Dawn Lantern, but a woman found it so it’s still kind of true.”

“No one would fall for that one anymore,” Archibald replied. “It’s an omission used far too often. But he could say none of his subjects found the Dawn Lantern, which could mean someone like myself who isn’t his subject did find it. He could also say the Dawn Lantern isn’t in Oceanview Kingdom while knowing its exact location outside his borders.”

“I feel queasy,” Office Dalton said.

Yips clutched the sides of his head. “Brain hurting, trying to escape through my ears!”

“Stop explaining the law to them,” Julius ordered. “Much more of that and we’ll all need therapy.”

Anton still wasn’t satisfied. “Why did you send him and not me? I’m the leader of the Truth Seekers. I’d be the better person to represent my group, and our failings.”

“You have a more important job,” Julius told him. “We received word that Gron and three Truth Seekers were captured and are on their way here. I need you to convince those three men that they’ve been used and need to cooperate with us. And you need to be present for Gron’s interrogation. You know him better than we do and can help spot his lies.”

Anton scowled. “Oh yes, I want to see him again.”

Hours dragged by without progress. Guardsmen fortified the city as best they could, but their numbers were low. Civilians with military experience were drafted into service. After that guardsmen gave spears and shields to any able bodied man they could find. They ran out of weapons long before running out of men. Messengers were sent to get help. The few who returned reported that knights and soldiers were on the border facing off against powerful armies that could attack at any second.

It was getting late when Habbly found Brody outside a stable and walked over. Habbly waved his mop at Julius, who was talking with two guardsmen, and asked, “Any good news?”

“Kadid got word through the magic mirror that King Baldos is talking with the other kings. We think he’s convinced them the Dawn Lantern was never here and they’re being played for fools. Hopefully tens of thousands of men aren’t going to attack.”

“Hurray,” Habbly said blandly. “Brody, exactly how crazy are we? On a one to ten scale.”

“Four. Four and three eighths tops. Why?”

“I figure we’re way higher than that. We should have both run away the second this started. Instead we keep getting dragged in deeper. Evil wizards, conspirators, foreign spies. It’s way too much for goblins to deal with.”

Brody shrugged. “Running away wouldn’t help. Things would have kept getting worse and worse until there was no way to avoid it. We did our part to keep this from getting bigger and hurting more people. I’ve got friends who would get hurt if I did nothing. I didn’t used to have friends. Kind of nice not being alone, even if it means you have to take risks for them.” Brody waved at the guardsmen still on the street. “They’re not my friends, but I’ve been around them long enough to know they’re good. I don’t want bad things to happen to them.”

Habbly gazed at the setting sun. “I’d like life to settle down, go back to the good old days when goblins were the ones causing problems. We caused little problems and nobody got hurt, just embarrassed and dirty. Soiled trousers at most. Those were happy times.”

“There were no good old days,” Archibald interrupted them as he walked out of the warehouse and stretched his arms. “It’s a sad fact I’ve learned that every time in history had its share of problems. Some years were worse than others, but there were always hardships to deal with.”

“You must be bored it you’re discussing philosophy with goblins,” Habbly said.

“Forgive my involving myself in your conversation,” Archibald replied. “It reminded me of talks I’ve had with my brother Archivists, and I couldn’t help but speak. I actually came here when my magic wards detecting help coming. Come, my friends, for luck finally favors us.”

Julius, Kadid, Officer Dalton and Anton left the warehouse to find Archibald pointing his staff into the sky at a white cloud heading straight for them. The magic cloud began a leisurely descent, revealing its crowd of passengers. Harry Silt was in front with his werewolf, currently a beautiful woman with long black hair and dressed in black satin. Behind them were burly men holding Truth Seeker prisoners bound hand and foot. Goblins clustered at the cloud’s edges and babbled incessantly.

Officer Dalton nodded at the woman. “There’s a reason to become an evil overlord.”

“Yep,” Kadid Lan replied.

“Gentlemen, please,” Archibald said.

Kadid Lan held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m just saying.”

Julius walked in front of the group. “Say it somewhere else.”

The cloud landed in front of Julius, but it didn’t dissolve and no one stepped off it. The evil overlord nodded to the woman, who grabbed their prisoners and threw them at Julius’ feet. She said, “Four verminous liars, as you requested. I don’t know why you want this trash, but they’re yours.”

“We’re grateful for your help,” Julius replied. “Forgive me for asking, but there are powerful enemies on their way to Sunset City. Your help would go a long way to protecting innocent lives.”

Harry shook his head. “I don’t doubt your words, but I have my own problems and followers to defend. Whatever this is about, you’ll have to handle it without us.”

“Mr. Silt,” Archibald said tersely.

“I don’t ask you to understand why I did this, master, but believe me when I say good men are alive today because of the choices I made.” Harry nodded to Julius and then made the magic cloud rise above the rooftops and soar away.

One of the Truth Seekers managed to rise to his knees. He blinked and asked, “Anton?”

Anton walked by him. “I’ll explain later. Gron!”

The old man stayed on the ground, but he grinned as Anton approached. “Finally figured it out for yourself, or did someone have to draw you a picture?”

“It was a picture,” Brody said.

Yips smiled. “We drew it with crayons.”

Anton grabbed Gron and pulled him up until the old man was sitting. “You destroyed everything I tried to accomplish! I wanted to save the world!”

Gron looked amused. “What are you complaining for? I saved your life.”

“You ruined me!” Anton screamed.

“Can’t tell when a man is being honest with you? It’s true. Duke Thornwood heard of your stupid papers and ordered me to kill you before you spread secrets about the Land of the Nine Dukes. I convinced him to spare you and your idiot followers. Told him you could be useful. Heh, useful idiots. Every kingdom is filled with them.”

Julius stepped between the two men. “You spread distrust among kingdoms and cities around the Land of the Nine Dukes, hoping to pit neighbor against neighbor so no one could take advantage of your master’s weakness. You’d spawn conflicts, possibly wars, giving your master time to recover from the damages done by the Fallen King without fear of attack.”

“And it worked perfectly.” Gron laughed at Anton. “I had your measure the moment I saw you. Smart, angry, inexperienced, and best of all arrogant. You’d save the world? Overturn every corrupt and evil leader, because only you knew the truth, only you knew what was right. I thought it would be hard to trick you, but I barely did anything. You were out of money? I told you who we could rob and said they were bad men. Why bother checking if I was right? No, just steal all the gold you could carry.”

Gron nodded at Julius. “This self righteous nitwit saved entire kingdoms. I thought you’d never turn on him, but I didn’t have to say a word before you told everyone where he was going and what he was doing. Did the Red Hand thank you? Nearly got a hero killed, and you didn’t bat an eye. Why would you when you were the champion of the truth.”

Red faced, Anton screamed, “You told lies in my name!”

“Hundreds of them,” Gron said cheerfully. “I told people what they already wanted to hear, the same as I did with you. I knew who they hated and gave them more reasons to hate. I knew who they envied and told them their enemies had treasures ripe for the taking. And then you told everyone the Archivists were looking for the Dawn Lantern.”

Gron’s eyes narrowed, and his leering smile showed dirty teeth. “It was brilliant, boy. I would have never thought of it. Well done! You riled up the most dangerous men in a thousand miles, exciting their greed and ambition, but why stop there? I took it a step further and told them exactly where to find the lantern, unclaimed and ready for anyone to grab it and become all powerful. I showed them no evidence or witnesses, and it didn’t matter. It worked better than I could have ever hoped. The Inspired even believed me and they’re supposed to be geniuses. Then again, you’re supposed to be pretty bright, too.”

Anton tried to punch Gron, but Julius held him back. Gron laughed and continued ranting. “There’s no man so blind as one on a mission, willing to sacrifice everything to reach a distant goal. That beautiful vision of the future always just out of reach justifies doing anything to everyone. Steal gold. Ruin families. Destroy businesses. Get people killed. Start invasions. Be honest with me, boy, as a truth teller to a liar. You see the panic and horror around you, a city on the verge of attacks or even invasion. If you really thought the Dawn Lantern was hidden here, would you still tell the world? I think you would, and you’d sleep like a baby afterwards, because you’d told the truth.”

Anton screamed and lunged at Gron. Julius pulled them apart while Gron laughed. Julius ordered, “Officer Dalton, get the prisoners inside. Kadid, use the magic mirror to tell King Baldos that we’ve got the man behind this lie. Once all the kings know Duke Warwick is responsible for this they’ll stop threatening one another and turn their attention to the Land of the Nine Dukes.”

“Did you hear that, Gron?” Antoin yelled. “Your plan backfired! The people you wanted to fight each other are going to come after your master. You didn’t save him, you doomed him!”

Gron kept smiling. “King Baldos isn’t going to attack anyone after this is over. Anton, did you know your loyal idiots kept sending me reports after you were captured? Honest reports. I know who’s coming, and this is going to be brutal.”

Julius grabbed Gron by his heels and dragged him into the warehouse. “We need to warn our enemies, too. They might turn back once they know they’re being used. Archibald, is there a way to contact Magnus Quake and the rest of the Inspired?”

“They wouldn’t believe me,” Archibald warned as he followed Julius. He was going to say more when glowing bells appeared around his head. “My wards have been triggered! We are in danger!”

“Secure the prisoners and warn King Baldos,” Julius ordered as he entered the warehouse. Kadid ran by him and headed for the magic mirror. The young wizard was ten feet from the mirror when it flashed and exploded. Julius dropped Gron and ran over to help Kadid up. “Are you hurt?”

Kadid coughed and rubbed his right arm. “Just bruised. I was far enough back when it blew up”

Brody tugged on Archibald’s robes. “You said our mirror would explode if the Inspired tried to interfere with it.”

“I did.” Archibald marched outside. The others followed him and gazed out at the night sky. The sun had just set, leaving them barely enough light to see a stone pillar thirty feet high circled by two more pillars twenty feet high, all three flying high in the air and approaching Sunset City. Surrounding those were dozens of boulders between twenty and thirty feet across.

“What’s that?” Yips asked.

“Magnus Quake, who has prepared heavily for this battle,” Archibald replied.

“I meant the other that.” Yips pointed in the opposite direction where strange winged creatures as big as men flew toward Sunset City.

Archibald cast a spell and formed strange glowing letters in the air. He grimaced and with a wave of his hands dispelled the words. “Allow me the dubious honor of introducing Vampire Lord Vacast and his followers. The Dawn Lantern is said to grant them the power to walk in daylight, a boon they desperately desire. Clearly they have come to claim it.”

Warning bells rang near the docks, drawing everyone’s attention to four merchant ships approaching Sunset City to release their repulsive crew. The Red Hand had come, and their men numbered in the hundreds. Lord Bryce’s arrival almost went unnoticed as he entered the outskirts of Sunset city with a far smaller force, but one wearing plate armor and wielding spears and swords.

Citizens cried out in terror. Guardsmen ran by to face the threats. Draft animals brayed and bellowed. And over it all was the hideous sound of Gron laughing.