“I wish I could have told Uki about Silla’s attack today, but she’s still with Mei at their new base. Uki is coming into my range tomorrow to meet with Kana, so I’ll tell her then,” Levin thought, staring at the dying flames of his brewing furnace.

Levin took a deep breath as the heatstones died, then he pulled out a vial of deep crimson ink, flecked with black. His Y-Link confirmed through the data from his sensors that the batch would meet his quality requirements, and Levin tucked it into his robe. In his pocket, the glass clinked as it bumped with two other identical vials of ink – he had a very large rune planned.

Levin tried to relax his muscles and calm his nerves, especially the pain in his gut. This wouldn’t be nearly as anxiety-inducing as what he had done at Lethridge.

He left his room, heading out of the servants’ quarters and into a chilly, overcast night. His first destination would be the front gate of Inuvik Academy. Levin had to resist the urge to nervously check his pocket for his vials.

He arrived at the stables and retrieved Nini from them, saddling her and then hopping atop, the two setting off away from the Academy. Levin rode Nini in a wide circle around and down the mountain, following a trail that had just begun to show signs of its existence in the grass and dirt below.

"How've the stable hands been treating you, girl?" Levin asked, patting the horse's neck.

But Levin wasn't concerned about Nini's treatment during his absence, if her full belly every night was to go off of. It was convenient that they had recognized Levin as the owner of the horse in the wake of Kirima’s passing – he had ridden Nini with her often, after all.

It didn't take very long to arrive near a clear mountain spring, the stones lining the bed of the pond illuminated in the soft glow of the moonlight. The soft sound of flowing water mixed with the chirping of insects as Levin sat down near the edge of the pond, lightly touching a bare patch of dirt that painted a stark difference against the wild growth surrounding it. Grass was only just beginning to grow back in.

"Don't worry, Kirima. I'll be sure to put up a headstone before your grave blends in with the rest," Levin thought to himself.

"But before that, I have a gift to offer you," he thought, pulling out the vials of ink he had brought along with an engraving tool.

Levin toiled away for a long time under the moonlight, pushing down into the dirt with his tool. When his ink had run out, the job complete, Levin set to burying it. He covered the faint red lines in dirt, heaping gathered fallen leaves and small underbrush on top to completely hide it from sight.

Satisfied, Levin turned to walk back towards Nini, who hadn't wandered far. He cast one last look towards Kirima's grave, holding a hand to the medallion around his neck, before mounting up and riding away. The first of his three weapons made for her was now done.

***

Deep in the night, standing outside a plain, closed door deep beneath the central Smoke Hall of Inuvik Academy, Eliya and Hann wrung their hands nervously in the dimly flickering torchlight while staring at the door. At the end of the hall was the Academy’s treasure chamber, one of its strongest items painfully absent.

“How bad do you think the damage was?” Hann asked, breaking the silence.

“I’m not sure. He was already down by the time I got back with the feather,” Eliya answered.

The two stood in an awkward silence for a few long moments, but Hann grew even more restless.

“What if it’s severe!? This is the most danger our Academy has faced in over a hundred-fifty years! What if Silla comes back tomorrow, with our central pillar cracking!?” Hann exclaimed

“It’s merely a small crack, Magus Hann,” a voice suddenly rang out from behind the closed door.

The doors creaked open slowly, and Panai stepped out from behind them, followed by a small wave of the fire energy that he had been bathing in. Eliya and Hann both noticed the changes – the grayer hair, the deeper wrinkles, along with a profound sense of withering. It was not a comforting sight.

“The damage from defending against Silla has dropped me to the early stage of Smoke rank, but I think I can recover within a couple years,” Panai said.

Eliya let out a small sigh, and Hann appeared even more anxious.

"Enough of that. Magus Eliya, what of the Phoenix Feather?" Panai asked.

Eliya slowly shook his head in disappointment.

"Completely burnt out. Even for a newly advanced Cloud rank, Silla was more powerful than we imagined," he answered.

"Finding a discarded Phoenix Feather was the greatest stroke of luck I've had in my lifetimes as a mage," he said slowly. "I fear losing it may mark the end of my luck, as well."

The grim words echoed out in the underground beneath Inuvik Academy, filling the small area with an uncomfortable silence.

"The good news is, we've got a large ink supply built up, and none of the Smoke rank resources

needed to power the Force Distribution System were stored at Lethridge. If Silla returns, he will have difficulty breaking through in any short period of time," Hann said, but he appeared the most nervous of all.

However, Eliya was able to recover some composure at his words.

"Yes, we still have time. Magus Panai, please focus completely on your recovery. Magus Hann and I will manage the Academy in the meantime," Eliya said.

"Yes, that is for the best," Panai responded, wincing in pain as he shifted on his feet.

He turned to head back into the bath of fire energy, leaving Eliya and Hann outside the secluded meditation chamber. The doors creaked shut on their own behind him to seal the place away from the rest of Inuvik Academy.

Hann and Eliya left the area, beginning a climb up towards the inside of the Academy's central building.

"To think he would attack us for simply doing nothing," Eliya said quietly after a long moment.

Hann didn't respond.

***

At the base of a small hill sitting close to Inuvik City, a tall, brown-haired woman sat atop a stocky horse. Taking a deep breath first, she suddenly raised her hands to her lips and let out a piercing whistle.

Kana looked upward, waiting motionlessly for a few seconds.

As the echo of the whistle faded out, a sharp two whistles rang out in response from within the trees close to Kana.

Kana responded, shifting her hands to let out a low and quiet hum that bounced around her in the trees.

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"Kana! It's good to see you," an older man suddenly said, pushing out of the surrounding woods on a horse of his own.

"Good to see you too, Raff,” Kana answered. “How’s the watch been?”

“A lot more interesting after everything you’ve just done!” he exclaimed heartily. “Everyone is feeling energized now. We’ve always had hope, but now it feels like the light at the end of the tunnel!”

“That’s good. Anything to report?” Kana asked.

“The city is running guard patrols more frequently, and each gate has a couple extra members. But none of the usual trade has been slowed, so I don’t think the governor is very worried,” Raff responded.

“Thanks,” Kana said, jotting down the info in a small notebook. “What about the mages?”

“We haven’t seen any non-Inuvik mages in the city since the Lethridge raid. And the mages we have seen have all been heading back towards the Academy,” he answered.

“That fits with what the last team saw…” Kana muttered as she continued to write.

“Also…” Raff said hesitantly.

“What is it?” Kana asked, glancing at him quizzically.

“There’s… well, there’s a talking bird. It says it knows you?” Raff tried to explain.

Kana chuckled in response, imagining how stupefied Raff and the others must have been.

“That’s right. He helped us during the Lethridge attack,” Kana said, and Raff looked even more confused.

They reached the top of the hill seconds later, coming into a secluded campsite that offered a wide view of the neighboring city. Sitting in a tree branch that extended directly over the campsite, Cho sat as the object of several gawking stares.

“Kana, I’m glad you made it,” Levin said through Cho.

“Is everything alright?” Kana immediately asked.

“Yes, I just have some information to share. Your next destination is Uki, correct?” Levin responded.

“That’s right, this was my last stop. The plan was for us to meet near here so I can head into the city later today,” she answered.

“Good. I’m going to follow you to her. You’ll both want to hear this,” Levin said.

“Alright,” Kana responded affirmatively, before turning to the man on horseback beside her. “Sorry Raff, I wish there was some more time to chat.”

“There will be plenty of time to relax together with everyone after our victory! Go, deliver everyone’s reports,” he replied cheerily.

“Thank you,” Kana said, scanning over every scout present as she said it.

“Let’s go,” Levin said, sending Cho up into the sky.

***

Levin nodded to Mei as he landed on a thick tree branch. He was a little disappointed – he had thought she might be carrying Uki to their meeting point. Instead, the elderly woman was simply riding a horse.

“Levin, it’s good to see you. I have everyone’s schedules for the next week here,” Uki said, passing a rolled up piece of paper over to Cho, and Levin took it into the bird’s mechanical beak.

“Thanks. I have some news, too,” Levin said. “Silla succeeded in his breakthrough to Cloud rank. He came out of his meditation, and attacked Inuvik Academy before flying off to the north.

“What!?” Uki exclaimed. “Wait, flying?”

Kana nodded. “It was crazy! I was in the city at the time, and even I could hear him! I thought the windows might shake right out of their frames!”

“If he’s that powerful, he really is at the Cloud rank. But he was flying?” Uki said.

“That’s right,” Levin said.

“No wonder he was so determined to reach Cloud rank before trying to cross the Nalep,” Uki said. “I always thought he would be too impatient for it.”

“You say that like you know him,” Kana said with a chuckle.

“Either way, the time that everyone has been waiting for is here. We should begin preparations for our attack on Inuvik Academy,” Levin said.

Uki sighed. “This again? I told you it was impossible. There are simply too many mages living on the mountain.”

“My best chance of finding a clue for getting home is in the treasure stores of Inuvik Academy! If anyone has the accumulated knowledge or resources, it’ll be Lord Panai. I’ll make it possible to attack them and win,” Levin said.

“And,” Uki said, exasperated, “do you have any concrete ways to accomplish this?”

“Take a look at this,” Levin said, dropping a decoratively carved wooden tablet from Cho’s beak into Uki’s hand. It glowed faintly in a dull yellow light.

“What is it?” she asked, examining it in a ray of sunlight piercing the tree cover.

“A counterfeit identity token. With it, anyone can get through the Academy’s central rune array undetected,” Levin said.

Mei trotted over and looked over Uki’s shoulder at the tablet. Unlike Uki and Kana, Mei was simply on foot, but that just meant they were on equal heights.

“I’d love to try a surprise attack with this,” she said with a grin.

“My, this is pretty good, Levin. If you make a few more, it’ll greatly expand the ways we could disrupt the Academy,” Uki said. She pocketed the tablet. “But I doubt even sneaking in Mei and Takt will be enough.”

“I intend to make one for each of the soldiers you recruit. I’ve only had time to make just that single prototype so far, because I’ve been focused on my plans for the central rune array,” Levin said.

“You mean your grudge against Amaq,” Uki said, crossing her arms. “You’re thinking too emotionally, Levin. Do you even know if it’s possible to tamper with that array?”

“I… No. I don’t. But I’m confident I can. And I do have a plan to find out everything I need about the array,” Levin said. “In fact, last night I finished the first piece of it. Once I upgrade Cho’s runes and receive the final Chaos spell from Master Pilip, everything will be ready. And luring Amaq out should be easy with Cho. Especially now that Silla is gone, I…”

Levin paused, and the others looked at him questioningly.

“Silla is leaving, right?” Levin asked.

“Of course!” Kana exclaimed. “We’ve all known that for years!”

“But can’t he just come back?”

“What do you mean?” Uki asked.

“Everyone says the Nalep Desert traps people here, so I assumed it would be difficult for Silla to cross even at the Cloud rank – meaning, he’d be gone for good after traveling it. But if he can just fly over it, won’t it be an easy journey? He could come back to Trurok regularly and keep it conquered,” Levin said.

“Hmm…” Uki furrowed her brows.

“If he come back, I crush him,” Mei said with a grin.

“And if he keeps coming back, the other mages won’t fight over his land. Since it’s not abandoned. That would be bad for your plans, right? What if you’re acting in the open and he comes back for revenge?” Levin said. “Sorry, I only just thought of this. Maybe I’m not making any sense.”

“No, it’s a valid fear. I didn’t anticipate he would be able to fly. But still, even if he can, he won’t come back.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I raised Silla. As his mother, I can tell you he won’t come back.”

“What!?” Levin and Kana exclaimed simultaneously.

“You’ve never told us that!” Kana said, eyes wide.

“Are you serious?” Levin asked.

“A lifetime ago, I ran an orphanage. Silla was one of the last little children I raised there…” Uki said. “I know him better than anyone still alive. He has no attachments to this place. He won’t come back.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell us?” Kana asked quietly.

“I’m sorry, Kana. I never meant to hide it. It’s… a difficult memory, is all,” Uki said.

“Wait,” Levin thought to himself. "Silla is a Cloud rank mage, so he’s probably at least a century old. And Uki was an adult when he was just a kid?”

“Uki, are you a mage?” Levin asked.

Kana immediately turned on Cho. “Why would you ask that!? Just because she raised one!?”

“No, no, I – ”

“It’s alright, Kana,” Uki said with a smile. “Yes, I’m older than I look, Levin. But I’m not a mage.”

“Mages increase their lifespans a lot when they grow in power. Warriors do too, but I’m pretty sure Uki doesn’t fight at all herself…” Levin thought, examining the woman who by all rights appeared to be in her sixties or seventies.

“Then, will you tell me what your ability is?” he asked.

“I will, whenever you show me your face,” she said with a sly grin.