The well-manicured fingers curled into a fist and slammed onto the stone table hard enough to rattle the glasses filled with a pale-blond liquid. It also served to focus the attention of the sixteen who sat around the table.

"You let him slip through your fingers like dust." Caustin uncurled his fingers and then clenched them together again as if kneading the hilt of the sword that hung on his hip. "If it were my choice, you would already be flayed and hanging above the pit."

Caustin pulled rapid breaths in and out as his gaze lasered in on Zennon.

"Calm." Caustin's master, who sat to the right, stretched out his fingers on the cool stone, but that was his only movement. "We will hear a response from the accused before you speak again."

"He is incorrect, my lord." Zennon gave a slight bow of his head, looked up again, shifted his gaze to Caustin, and refused to drop his stare even though the eyes of his superior held death in them. Give in to intimidation? Never.

"I'm wrong?" Caustin leaned forward and his body quivered as if he was about to lunge across the round table and attack. "You have failed to destroy the Warriors Riding. Am I incorrect about that fact?"

"Yes. You are badly mistaken." Zennon bowed and kept his head down longer this time. Play the game. Give the false respect this imbecile requires. Bide the time because it won't last forever.

In truth, the time to strike was almost here. If one more member of the council would turn, the moment would be seized and Caustin's head would be separated from his body for eternity. Then Zennon would stand next to the Master in his place. "He is a fool, my lord."

Caustin flicked his finger to the right and then the left. Instantly Zennon was yanked from his chair and his arms were pulled tight across his back. The soldiers in Zennon's command who sat to his right and left didn't move to help. He didn't expect them to.

Caustin pulled back slightly but still rested most of his weight on his knuckles, pressed hard on the stone table. "normally I would slice your throat open for your expression of insubordination, but since the Master is willing to hear an explanation for your failure, I will allow you to speak."

They released Zennon and he returned to his chair. For that insult alone he would kill Caustin. Zennon seethed with rage, but he couldn't allow it to be seen. Not in front of the other warlords. Control was power. The slaying would come later. In private. Where he could savor Caustin's cries for mercy and watch him die slowly and in excruciating pain.

The Master still didn't move. "Review his actions." As the three words leached from his dark maw, they seemed to soak up the light in the room.

Caustin pointed at Zennon with a thin finger. "He was given dominion over Reece Roth, Dana Raine, Brandon Scott, and Marcus Amber. His assignment was simple. Take them out. Destroy their mission. Instead, they have thrived and continue to grow in influence around the globe. Yes, he destroyed Reece's eyes, but he now sees again, with a sight far more powerful than what he had before. Yes, he took out Brandon Scott's singing voice, but it is a minor victory."

Caustin pulled back from the table and paced behind the Master and the four warlords to his right and left. "Under his watch, the angel Tristan Barrow formed an alliance with the Warriors. Zennon knew Barrow before the leaving—he knew Barrow's power and what he was capable of—and yet Zennon was not able to take the precautions to stop it."

Zennon ground his teeth and forced restraint on himself.

"He infiltrated the life of Marcus Amber as a high school student but was discovered before any real damage was done. Then he tried to lure Marcus into an alternate reality and again was unsuccessful."

Caustin's voice rose. "Then a legion of underlings was obliterated when he tried to destroy Reece, Dana, and Brandon. The Wolf was destroyed instead. The talk-show host Carson Tanner has turned back to the narrow path and now is broadcasting a new message across the American continent. Poison seeping into ears of millions of followers of the Nazarene."

Caustin once again pointed at Zennon. "Finally, he allowed the magician to escape, which could decimate a crushing amount of what we have accomplished over the past hundred years if he remembers who he truly is."

The Master turned his malevolent gaze to Zennon. He blinked but refused to drop his eyes. "That Simon the magician no longer resides in the alternate realities is true, Master," Zennon said.

Caustin strode back to the table and slammed his fist down again. "I call for destruction of the accused."

Zennon shifted back in his chair, pulled his gold coin out of his pocket, and spun it on the table. The light from the candles seemed to soak into its surface, making it thicker, and the sound of the coin rang off the table with greater volume. "You see only inches into the lake, Caustin, while I see with great depth. This war is far from over."

Spittle formed in the corners of Caustin's mouth as he leaned forward. "Far from over? Again and again you have—"

"Enough, Caustin." Their Master's voice rumbled through the small council room. "You have spoken." He turned to Zennon and nodded.

"Fellow warriors." Zennon met the gaze of every council member at the table, then pointed to Caustin. "You've heard the words of this fool. You've feasted on his accusations—I see it in your eyes. You salivate for my demise. But it will not come. I have not lost. These minor setbacks will only serve to pave the road of my ultimate victory."

For the first time, a shard of doubt passed over Caustin's face and hesitation wavered in his voice. "What do you feel you've—?"

"Feel! This is not about feelings, is it? It's about facts." Zennon raised his fist and slammed it onto the table in the exact manner Caustin had at the start of the council. Again the glasses rattled, but this time the one in front of Caustin tipped over and spilled its yellow liquid over the edge of the table.

"See?" Zennon smiled. "I can be as childish as you."

The demon didn't move as the liquid spilled onto his lap. "I will kill you."

Zennon's show of defiance riveted every eye in the room on him. Now to finish strong. "The Warriors Riding have attained certain victories, but when is an enemy most vulnerable? When they are tipping back the elixir of conquest and are drunk on the wine of their inflated belief in the loss their opponent has suffered. While they have been focusing on the chess piece right in front of them, I have been planning my moves far into the future."

Zennon turned and spoke to the Master. "I caused Simon the magician to leave the alternate reality. And now, because of what he did for Marcus Amber and the other Warriors, they will fully inculcate him into their inner circle. They will trust him. Embrace him." Zennon flipped the coin into the air, let it land on his palm, and slid it back into his front pocket. "I foresee him being invited to Well Spring where he will change everything in my favor."

"Explain." The Master's voice grew louder, and Zennon knew he must not waste words.

"As I just said, the magician did not escape. I let him go. And while the first phase of my plan with him and the Warriors was thwarted and certain casualties occurred, the second phase is now in place, which will bring about a...