When Warren returned to the young Ash Maker’s room, he was stunned to see a Cleric of Psyin at their bedside. The Wood elf, by the deep mustard tinge of his skin, smiled at him, rising up from his chair. In a thin golden coat of elven fiber, a blend of Weaver and Doma metal webbing that shone in the room's light, he crossed the floor and shook his hand. The man’s narrow features betrayed his High elf ancestry. His tight grip of his handshake told Warren that he was a lower ranking soldier in the elven army, for anyone higher ranked wouldn’t try to crush a fellow’s hand. The Paladin didn’t even need to read all the various medals hanging off the pauldron on his shoulder to tell anymore about him.

“Good day Mr. Whittaker, I am Eutace Pen’ven, grandson of Arch Priestess Niae and Lieutenant the First of the Aayen G’ld army,” said the Cleric.

The tall and round High elf smiled down on the two men, Kalyah by her side. “I am so glad to have him here,” Niae said, clapping. “The blockade is still ongoing and he came right from a dreadnaught to here. I was not sure if he would make it until just a few hours ago.”

Eutace frowned. “Yes, Grandmother is older than some of my superiors, when she put in a special request they listened,” he remarked with a sigh. “Now I heard you needed help with these two and I am sworn to keep your secrets.”

Kalyah, the smallest one in a forest of giants, frowned as well. “Susan is going to have more nightmares, isn’t she? You didn’t even enter little Ed’s mind,” she said quietly. “Did you not get enough?”

Warren shook his head. “No, I didn’t get all we needed,” he admitted.

“You had the retired Court Mage of the Magi Kingdom with you,” Eutace said in disbelief. “The Mage Rose of all people. I heard she was not as powerful. I have heard that someone new has taken over but she will not leave the castle. I suppose I am glad to hear she is out and about…” His words began to drip with sarcasm. The fact that a country that prided itself on learned magic used Sorcerers as their Court Mages was the cause of some ridicule abroad.

The Paladin narrowed his eyes at the Cleric. The much thinner man went silent, holding up his bony hands in a pleading gesture and then a bow of his head. Warren could take him, he knew that. He could snap the skinny man like a twig. Oh god, that time with Rose had made him fond of the Mage. Well, he never could stand disrespect against another trying their hardest. It wasn’t just the fact that she was a vulnerable and pretty young woman. Though that was Warren's type.

“She did her best,” Warren said flatly.

“I am certain brother, forgive me,” Eutace said simply.

“His mother is the same way,” Niae said, patting her grandson’s back with some force. “He gets all this pretty hair and looks from my side, he gets the mouth from his mother.” She flicked about his long blonde hair with her hand. Her thick finger toyed with the spiked band on his head, shifting his hair around.

Eutace cleared his throat, adjusting his diadem of Psyin. “Shall we perform therapy on the others?” he asked.

Warren glanced over at the couch he had last seen Diana and Jonah.

“They overdid it with magic,” Kalyah explained. “They’re resting right now, at least Diana is.” She closed her eyes, focusing. “Yeah, Diana’s asleep, Jonah is just holding her, trying not to fall asleep. Oh Goddess, so romantic.”

The Paladin cleared his throat. “I’m ready, whenever you are. I’d like to start again with the girl, we were only able to gather so much from her,” he told the Cleric. “Then the boy, then the Wanshi girl in the other room.”

“Hm, I have not entered the mind of a Wanshi in quite some time,” Eutace commented.

“Well, here’s yer chance,” Warren said with a smirk.

The Psyin clergy entered the mind of Susan with practiced ease. Finding themselves facing the dead trees and brambles. From his back Eutace pulled out two handles of a sword with finger guards running across them. Their etched pommels glowed brightly at a command word from him. Out from the handles came straight blades with a curve at the end, the sword itself thin as parchment. Running the falchion's broadsides across each other, they ignited with Psyin’s holy golden fire. Pulling out his greatsword, Warren did the same, lighting the inky black around them.

The creatures that dwelled in Susan’s mind were ready for them. Her nightmares rushed them all at once, spider legs raised, wings buzzing. Using his sword as a conduit, Warren cast a Barrier of fractal patterns. It surrounded one half of them and he saw from the corner of his eye that Eutace had done the same. A commonly taught technique, no matter the army. Defend and dispatch. It was nice to know that his back was covered.

The hard glass dome boomed with the thuds of the beasts and through it Warren slashed his sword without it breaking. The spiders fell with gushes of black blood, their bifurcated bodies sinking into the inky black as they burned from holy fire. Within an instant they were nothing but oil on black earth. The fly-like creatures and their tiny glowing eyes attached themselves to the glass and started to chew away at it. Warren and Eutace looked at each other and nodded.

The two went bursting through the glass at a sprint, flaming weapons braced on their shoulders. They sliced through the brambles as the glass started to crumble, fading into the shadows of the world. The wind kept swirling as they ran past the dead trees. Up the stairs of the orphanage, Eutace took over the cracking of the door. The two lights alongside the door flashed rapidly as he picked the lock that Susan had in place. The Wood elf cared little as the echoes from Kalyah came to him, pleading for him to slow down.

Warren could hardly focus on him, the creatures had streamed through the brambles this time, moving into the flickering light. He cast another Barrier at the end of the stairs, keeping it steady with one hand on his sword, transferring his magic through it. Behind him Eutace was cursing in elvish.

The flies and their clawed legs kept scratching at the Barrier. Bit by bit they tore pieces off it, gobbling it down their black mouths. The spiders raised up on their back legs, driving their fangs into the Barrier. The venom spewing hooks scraped along the fractal patterns with a sound like metal on stone. Just pure steel on slate, a sound to make anyone shiver in disgust and discomfort. Warren did his best to keep the wall of magic up, pumping his power into it.

“Finally!” Eutace cried, pushing his shoulder into the door. “Come on!”

Through the door, Warren let the Barrier crumble as the two shut the door tightly. They were waiting for the boom of the creatures hitting it, but it never came. Even worse than something, is the silence of nothing. Reinforcing the door, they walked about the hall of the orphanage, peering into the other rooms on the bottom floor.

The two clergy extinguished their weapons and from their hands produced a Falcon of their shared god. The summoned bird was made from the same patterns as the Barrier and within it burned a holy flame, illuminating all around it. They sent the bird out, checking all of the bottom floor in a few moments.

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Eutace found a few memories contained as ghostly figures of the young girl. He placed the swimming memories in a finely crafted elven pouch on his waist. A plain farmer’s bag on his hip, Warren followed Eutace upstairs. Warren’s Falcon flew through room after room, taking over the strange moonlight there to show whatever was hiding. Eutace kept at the larger man’s back, armed and ready to catch any memories that might be flying about. Instead of using a butterfly net, like Rosetta, Eutace used his Falcon and glassy hooks of magic to catch any of the fleeing thoughts.

The Captain hadn't had many chances to look through a mind like this while in the army. Earlier with Rosetta had been the first time in good while. Now with Eutace he remembered what a textbook search and collect was supposed to look like. Taking copies of the memories would ease Susan’s thoughts about them, that’s why many called this therapy. They cleared all the rooms and left for the next one.

The boy, Ed’s mind was not as turbulent as his sister’s. They had not entered it before and he had seen less horrors. There was no sign of the Vampire, save the monster’s voice as an echo. He had a similar landscape though and a different orphanage as a room. The boy did have a copy of the huge serpent, but all those memories were basically redundant anyways. They knew what to expect and this time, Warren took over the door cracking, easing his way in instead of breaking in.

Then the pair of Psyin clergy went over to the still sleeping Chiru. Oddly enough her mind was the most tranquil. The landscape was a Wanshi forest that was richly humid and green. There was little resistance, save a few monstrous creatures popping up from the mossy underbrush. The two dealt with them swiftly, making their way to the cozy house with a deep brown tiled roof. Around the house was a watery field for rice. Try as they might, the pair could not enter the house though. The doors, the windows, nothing. Even though both were made out of paper and foggy glass. Unconscious, it should have been a breeze, but the girl kept fighting them. They left, not wanting the Wanshi to face any more danger.

Warren and Eutace returned to Susan and Ed’s room, a couple hours having passed since they started, time was strange in a dream world. They were both tired from the ordeal, rolling their shoulders and stretching. They both sifted through the memories they had gathered and wrote down all the facts. After an hour of comparing notes, they had Kalyah wake Diana and Jonah.

"So we've gathered a lot of information on the Ash Maker camps," Warren said, looking over his sheaves of parchment. "They were here for the leaves of the trees. Taking the silver that the Grand elves just let rot. They have some equipment to make the alchemy permanent, you were right Jonah."

The Traveler nodded. "Good to know."

"Beyond the basics of their camp, which will be useful, we don't know much. Obviously they don't share many trade secrets with the youngest of them," Warren continued. "They didn't have much of a fighting force. It was only kids and older people. Even with their superior weapons, they didn't stand a chance to invade the city."

Diana sat next to Jonah on the now unenchanted couch that was turned back towards the bed. She held his hand, listening intently to the report. "How many did Angelina have killed?" she asked solemnly.

"From my count there were a total of thirty people," Warren said, scratching his face.

"Twenty seven, Angelina killed twenty seven people who were harmlessly collecting leaves from trees," Diana said quietly, shaking her head.

"Well, we have no proof of her being there. The Vampire, the Tsarinian one, entered the camp with a Thrall Mist and Susan ran away from it, as she should. There’s nothing linking the Vampire to Angelina, of course. Little Susan didn’t see any of the other Heroes or more of the monsters, which is smart on their part. Had the Vampire seen her, then she'd be dead. All I have so far as the Heroes, is a memory of the Guardian shouting. Since we can't get into Chiru's mind, that's all I got," the Paladin said.

The Psyin Cleric grumbled in frustration. "We could have cracked her," he said, folding his parchment. "I am sure she could withstand over a hundred and fifty beats per minute."

"It's not worth the stress to her body," Kalyah snapped, standing beside the couple.

"You know better than that, dear boy," Niae said, looming over Eutace, her blue eyes blazing.

"It is war, grandmother," the Cleric whined, gesturing to the neighboring room.

"Those kinds of statements are exactly how the Heroes think," the Arch Priestess countered.

There was a long silence as the two relatives stared each other down. Eutace crumpled, looking away and folding his arms. Warren appreciated the man's drive, but his willingness to do harm was not something Psyin faithful prided themselves on. Though he was an elf, he was still rather immature.

"We'll wait until she wakes up," Warren said evenly.

"What did the Guardian shout?" Diana wondered.

Warren flipped over a paper. "'They're gone, where did they go? They were just here… Where are they?'" he repeated.

The princess blinked. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know… it’s damn confusing. There weren’t any vehicles or means of transportation in the whole camp,” Warren said, shuffling through his notes. “Next thing that happened was the twins met up with Chiru in a tunnel and spent the next day crawling through tight caverns. Then another day they spent running from the Nymphs. They hardly spoke and when Susan asked about a boy she liked, Chiru’s only response was, ‘He’s gone.’ Whether that means dead or vanished, I don’t know.”

“They couldn’t have teleported, it’s too much strain on an Ash Maker,” Diana stated, puzzled.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “The Guardian is a Werewolf, he would’ve smelled them, but he acted like he couldn’t sense them at all.”

“The Technophile could’ve built a teleporter,” Jonah commented. “A machine, not magic. It exists in theory on Earth, but if she can build plasma guns, then I’m sure that a teleporter wouldn’t have been too much of a stretch. If it was anything like the ones in Sci-fi, then it’d be a pad with a disc on the bottom of it. Or, I guess it could look like anything, not just a transporter.”

“There weren't any machines that fit that description,” Warren said. “Not that Susan or Ed saw, and the boy was rather curious, always snooping about.”

“Well, I mean, a real teleporter could beam them out of anywhere,” Jonah said, his eyes glowing with his magic.

“Let’s hope you’re not right about that,” Diana said, fear in her voice. “Teleportation magic is already hard to ward against, we don’t need a machine doing it with no consequences.”

Eutace handed Warren his notes. “I have a lot of secrets to keep, but I am not leaving until the other one wakes up,” the Cleric said. "I need to take a walk right now."

“She’s still resting,” Kalyah stated, though the Paladin heard some nervousness in her voice.

“I will not have one of my wards harmed,” Niae said firmly, folding her arms across her chest.

“I will not harm her, grandmother.”

"Take yer walk, relax," Warren told him. He stood, ordering the notes. The Cleric nodded and left the room. “Diana, I’m gonna have these sent to yer father, but I think ya need to talk to the both of them,” he said with a smirk.

Diana straightened out her skirts, waggling her foot. “I suppose it is time to speak with my mother again.” She looked over at the children on the bed. “They are orphans, you said?”

He nodded.

“Hm… Well, let me put my shoes on. Jonah?”

“Yeah, I’ll get ‘em. I’m coming with you too,” he said, rising up.

“I’ll come with you also, ya never know what could be outside these warded walls,” Warren said, gazing out the large window wall. The city outside was still barren, but it had been a long time since the Ash Makers had found their way here. It wasn’t too much of a stretch for Heroes to look here for them. They had left the princess off with a promise to return and it had nearly been a month since then. The soldier felt something was wrong and as he stared out the window, Aiko the cat raised its head from the bed and stared with him.