Erend stirred his Source awake, channeling it through the glyph at his throat. He could feel the power circulate through its intricate lines. The words in his mouth thickened, and rumbled in dissonance, "Wait, wha-" the Source swirled around the two and forcefully shut his mouth, disallowing him from speaking another word.

He could see Cordelia move to ask something, but she didn't seem able to speak either. Seconds passed before either of them could say something again.

"Gods..." Erend muttered in awe.

"Never use that on me again," Cordelia pleaded. "That was disgusting."

"I agree." It had felt like the Source filled his mouth with the same substance that formed his Pocket. "But then how am I supposed to practice it?"

"Use it on a tree or something! Casting unknown spells on a person feels like a great way to get said person hurt."

"Yeah, yeah. We'll try it out more tomorrow. Do you want to check out the stone?"

"Yeah, but let's leave it for tomorrow. I'm exhausted," Cordelia said with a yawn.

"Oh. Right, sorry for keeping you up," Erend said and moved to stand. "And sorry again for today."

"It's alright... but please try not to repeat it."

Erend beamed at her, "I'll try my damndest."

The camp lay quiet. Everyone had gone to sleep except Johann who stood guard at the gates. He nodded solemnly at Erend and redirected his gaze to the absolute darkness outside the camp's warm embrace.

As per usual, Erend's cabin quaked with the snoring of his father.

Maybe I should get my own place... especially if I'm going to be coming and going a bit more in the future. I'll ask Johann tomorrow.

Erend made some noise that had Elle react. She mumbled something in a drowsy voice and snuggled up against Thomas.

The night passed peacefully. No dreamspace. Maybe there was a sort of grace period between his visits. He'd make sure to ask Livune next time.

Erend woke up before even his father. Elle happily snored away next to him, she took after Thomas more than Theres in those ways. It was quite endearing to see a child mimicking the habits of a macho smith.

He left the cabin and stretched his body. The air felt moist. He could practically taste the coming rain on the tip of his tongue.

Johann had left the morning watch to Charles. He sat huddled under a blanket, scanning the forests edge with vigilant a vigilant gaze.

Both Peter and Mary were already up and about. They waved him over.

"Good morning," Peter enthusiastically welcomed him to the campfire. "Here, have a cup of tea."

The cup felt warm in his hands, the scent of the fragrant tea wafted into his nose.

Mary didn't waste any time on asking him if he was hungry, and cracked two eggs and slapped down a slab of meat on a skillet. The smell and sizzling of the food had his mouth water almost instantaneously. It had been so long since he had some good food.

"How'd it go with the lass?" Peter asked with a grin.

"Peter!" Mary scolded him. "That's none of your business. Don't worry about him Erend, you can tell me later."

Erend chuckled at them, "It's alright. I think we're okay again."

"Impressive!" Mary said with a whistle. "Maybe you could teach Peter a thing or two and make life easier for me."

"Hey! We wouldn't ever fight if you weren't so damn stubborn!"

"I am not stubborn! I'm passionate."

"Dressing a pig with pearls doesn't change the fact that it's a pig."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mary asked, and walked closer to him, still gripping the kitchen knife.

Peter gulped visibly, much to Erend's amusement, "Erend, help me out."

"Oh no mister. Leave the boy out of this! Finish digging your grave. I dare you."

"... I'm sorry."

Mary snorted and walked back to the skillet. She slid the food onto two plates, "Mind bringing the other portion to Charles while I sort out this useless one?"

"Of course. Do what you got to do," Erend agreed and graciously received the plates.

"Erend?!" Peter exclaimed, the desperation in his voice was palpable. Erend shot him an understanding look but didn't intervene. He knew better than to get between Mary and the subject of her rage. Instead, he walked off with a shake of his head.

"What's that about?" Charles asked and nodded at his parents with his chin.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Pretty sure Peter called her a pig," Erend explained and handed him the plate.

"Oh Gods, thank you. I'm starving," Charles put the plate in his lap and rubbed his hands together. "He needs to learn when to shut up," he added with his mouth full of steak.

"He really does."

"How've you been? It feels like we haven't had a good talk for weeks."

"We probably haven't, to be honest."

"Crazy how life can get in the way when you live meters apart."

"It is... I've been okay though. You?"

"You've been okay?" Charles asked with his brows raised. "Man... If you've been okay then I've been fantastic."

"Yeah alright. It's been tough. But I'm still breathing, aren't I?"

"Can't argue with that. What the hell happened yesterday?"

"Some weird stuff. Learned some things about Mom. Turns out her past made me capable of sorcery and all that. It's also sort of the reason I got hurt yesterday," Erend explained and pulled down his collar, revealing the glyph tattoo.

"Wicked. What'd you learn?"

Erend looked around, no one was close enough to hear them, "Well. Apparently, mom is a half-elf. And she had a pretty close relationship with a goddess."

"Oh," Charles answered flatly. "Part elf, huh? Cool."

Leave the goddess part out why don't you?

"Yeah. I guess it kind of is."

The two sat silently and took in the view of the forest. The treetops swayed gently in the wind.

When Charles finished his breakfast he sat the plate down on the ground and took a deep breath. He turned to Erend, "Alright. Let's address the elephant in the room."

"What elephant?"

"Cordelia, you bastard. When did you get so close? If you were interested in her you could have just told me and I wouldn't have had to make such of an ass out of myself in front of her."

"Hold on. Why does everyone just assume that I like her all of a sudden?"

"Come on man. You two hang around half the days, you stay in her cabin till it's late."

"Well there's a perfectly good reason-"

"Whatever. So you don't?"

"Don't what?"

"Like her."

Erend felt his cheeks heat up, "I... I'm not sure."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Well, I am. I'm just telling you it's alright. As long as you butter women up for me until the day we die."

"...Alright. I will."

"Didn't think I'd get a confession out of you. What a wonderful day this is turning out to be," just as Charles finished the sentence the skies opened. Rain unlike anything Erend had ever experienced poured over the camp.

"A great day indeed," Erend teased him. "Oh well. Enjoy the rest of your watch!"

Charles snickered back, "I will. This just means I won't have to wash myself later. It just makes the day even better," he couldn't fool himself – or Erend – with the pitiful attempt.

Erend picked up the plates and rushed over to Mary and Peter. The two had stopped their bickering to cover the campfire with a pull-over roof.

"Thanks for the breakfast, it was delicious," Erend smiled and dropped off the plates.

He headed to Cordelia's cabin and gave the door a solid knock, "You up?" he asked through the shut door.

The door opened only a short while after, "Are you always up this early? Come in, you're drenched," she ushered him inside.

"Lately it feels like it's become my thing. Waking up early I mean. Ready to head out?"

"In this rain? Are you crazy? I don't want to get sick."

"Come on, it's just a little rain."

She rolled her eyes and tied her hair up in a ponytail, "Can't we just stay inside?"

"We need space to move around."

"What about the cave?"

"I guess that could work."

"Alright, you go on ahead. I'll go pick up some breakfast. You want any?"

"No thanks. Just ate."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"Didn't know you wanted me to," Erend shrugged.

She pouted at him, "Don't just assume things on your own..."

"I'll ask next time. Promise."

"I'll hold you to it. Head on over and I'll be right there."

Erend ran through the heavy rain into the comfort of the cave. The insides were dark, he lit a few torches that hung on the walls with the help of Johann's lighter. He'd left it inside for all to use.

He thought about the source and his new inscription. It seemed like it would be helpful, but he needed to figure it out before he could use it freely.

The glyph meant Control. Control over what? Could it mean everything?

Surely not.

Giving an initiate a glyph that powerful was sure to be a mistake to be sure. There had to be some drawbacks. He intended to find them.

He stirred the source and tried out something new. He focused on the wall and spoke, "Rend."

The dissonant sound of his voice filled the cave as the source sharpened, and cut into the wall. Erend's eyes widened.

"Nice," Cordelia commented from the doorway. "I wonder what else it can do."

"It's a shame I can't test it out on you..." he mused.

"Why would you ever want to put me through that?!"

Erend chuckled at her.

"Have you tried using it to imbue things?" she asked while feeling the cut in the wall.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you can use it in tandem with your weapon."

Erend took the hint and drew his blade. He looked around for something to cut.

"Here," Cordelia said and offered him a burnt-out torch.

Erend accepted it and pinned it to the wall. He cut it once normally. It was a good sword, it cut through the torch without much resistance.

He tried again. This time he added, "Sharpen," mid-swing. The blade passed through the torch without any feedback. At first, he wondered if he'd cut the torch at all and went to pull it out of the stand to have a look. The top came off, exposing a cut so clean one would think the pieces of the torch had never been stuck together.

"Whoah," he gasped.

"I know it was my idea, but it kind of irritates me that it worked," Cordelia complained.

"I kind of get where you're coming from. But enough about that, let's try the stone!" Erend suggested eagerly.

"Right... just a warning. If this isn't amazing I might just take it out on you."

"I'm ready for it," Erend teased.

Cordelia pulled the stone out of her pocket. It was a very unassuming con-tool. But looks could be deceiving.

"Leave the torch there and back away," she ordered.

Cordelia closed her eyes momentarily. When she opened them again the glyph on the stone shone with the familiar white light of Source. After a few precious seconds of concentration, the stone manifested a large funnel that violently shot out a gust of source. It hit the torch with the impact of a sledgehammer and crushed it to pieces.

"Was that good enough for me not to get hurt?" Erend asked.

"You know what? I think it just might be. Just barely though," she giggled.

"Do you know what the glyph means?"

"Not sure. Maybe blast. But it could just as likely be something else. I'll have to do some more testing before I can say for sure.."

"What about mine?"

Cordelia's cheeks flushed, "I'm not sure if I want to study it. It would be so awkward..."

"What do you mean?"

"I would have to be stuck to you for hours studying the damn thing. You'd have to be shirtless! It would be completely unbecoming of me as both a noble and a maiden."

"Oh, come on. There's no reason to be shy. And if it helps us both understand it better that's great for everyone in camp."

She turned away her face from his, "When you put it like that I suppose I could study it... but I don't want anyone seeing me."

"We can do it in your cabin. I don't mind."

She fiddled with her hair, in thought, "... Okay. That works..."

"Great! See you tonight then," he smiled and hurried toward the door.

"What? Where are you going?"

"I thought it would be good to check out the prison. I figured you'd rather stay here, did you want to come along?"

"Oh... no. I'm alright here," she coyly responded.

"Okay then. Later," he waved her off and went to look for Albert and Jack. They were sitting around the campfire together with the rest of the group.

The atmosphere felt warm and joyous, despite the sudden downpour. The raindrops drummed against the make-shit roof. It reminded him of nights when his mother had read for him. Rain always put her in the mind to read books.

He ran his fingers through his wet hair and greeted them with a wave, "Albert, Jack. Do you want to come along with me to the prison?"

An awkward silence fell over the people around the fire until Jack finally spoke up, "Forgive me Erend. But I think I'll sit this one out. Yesterday was a little too much for me, at least for a little while..."

Great.

Erend tried to put on a bright smile, "No worries. How about you Albert?"

Albert munched away at his large breakfast steak, "I don't know man... will you go crazy again?"

"I'll try my best not to," Erend tried to lighten the mood with a chuckle.

Albert rolled his eyes and groaned, "Ugh. Alright. But only cause I like you. Don't you dare get me killed or anything."

"I would never!"

Albert finished his breakfast and went with Erend to report their intent to Johann. He didn't mind but was very adamant in reminding them not to engage anyone unless absolutely necessary.

The two headed out into the forest with one of the maps that Jack had drawn the night before.

The first part of the trek was silent as death. Thankfully the smattering rain kept them company.

"So. How are you liking things here?" Erend asked when he couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"You don't have to do that."

"What do you mean?"

"Make it weird. We're friends, man. It's alright if you fuck up now and then. Just don't make it a habit. And make sure to apologize."

"I had a pretty good reason."

"Doesn't matter if you had a phenomenal reason. It's nothing personal."

"Yeah alright. I get it. I'm sorry," Erend conceded.

"Good. And I'm enjoying my time. It's not the adventure I was expecting, but it's an adventure nonetheless. And one that I'll remember for as long as I live at that."

Albert really was a glass-half-full kind of guy. Erend couldn't argue with his logic, "For sure. Let's just make sure we live long enough to tell people about it."

"Obviously. What point would there be in a death no one knows about?" Albert asked with a laugh. He had a look at the map, "There's a clearing just up ahead. We'll be able to see the prison from there."

They trampled their way through a couple of bushes and swatted away a few vines before they successfully reached the clearing. Albert pointed at the prison but didn't need to.

The building loomed large over the horizon. It was a dark fortress with five towers that reached far into the skies. The compound was surrounded by walls and safeguarded by patrolling orcs. The edges of the wall were jagged and covered in spears, making a climb down or up impossible. It looked like something an evil mage from a fairy tale would live in.

"Gods..." Erend muttered.

"Yeah. And that's not even all. This way," Albert added and guided him to an overlook.

Below them lay a large mine, filled with enormous veins of ore.

Among the many prisoners of varying races, there were orcs who raged and bellowed.

"Who's that?" Erend asked with a point.

"No idea. We didn't see him yesterday."

The subject of their short exchange was an orc with a heavily scarred back and shoulders. He stood bare-chested in the middle of the prisoners and directed the other orcs like they were his subordinates.

There was something about the orc that put Erend on edge. Before he could tell Albert about it, the orc's head snapped. He locked eyes with Erend. A sinister grin spread across his face as he screamed something at his subordinates.

"He saw us," Erend absentmindedly divulged.

"No way. There's too much foliage covering us," Albert commented and shook his head.

In the prison camp below, the subordinates brought the scarred orc a prisoner, a gray elf.

The orc pulled out a wicked whip. Even from this distance, Erend could see the large serrated teeth that covered it.

The orc looked his way with a smile again, before he began whipping the poor elf. Blood splattered. Before long it had covered the prison camp a scarlet red. The prisoners didn't even flinch at the barbaric execution. Not even when the blood splashed in their faces.

The orc laughed with a rumble and waved in a greeting to Erend and Albert.

The two looked at each other and came to a silent understanding.

Run.