Rowan led her companions past the docks and into the town proper. From the look of it, the storm hadn't done much damage, likely because of the strong building and the well maintained storm drains. Floods were a thing of Næmyris' ancient history.

Nostalgia hit hard as they entered the Emyr Quarter. A lot was different, the town didn't feel like it was made for giants to start, but even more was the same. It was difficult to describe. As they continued through, Rowan could see phantoms walk the streets. She saw a younger version of herself running around with Kyr and Kiriin. No doubt it was a memory of one of the many games they had played.

Their route became less direct as Rowan's memories took them down a long meandering path. They passed by The Crimson Drakiir on their way. Rowan barely recognised it. It was the same inn, but the warm, welcoming atmosphere was gone. Rowan wasn’t surprised. Ros, the owner's son had been taken just like her, only he hadn't come back; Rowan couldn’t stop him from taking the deal. With his loss, the spirit of the inn had been struck low and no-one remained that could bring it back.

The gardens were next and they were exactly as Rowan remembered. She could see the bench where Kiriin had snuck up on her the day Bragi gave her the scar on her brow. She could see the flowers. It was a difficult arrangement, but the feeling was the same.

As they went from one garden to another, they arrived at the twins' house. The feeling from seeing it hurt even more than seeing The Crimson Drakiir did. Her heart ached and when the door opened, it almost stopped. For a second Rowan saw the twins' mother and heard her calling out for them like she had so many times before. Then Rowan blinked and the illusion shattered, it was just some random woman yelling at her kids to not get in people's way.

It was a bitter feeling that remained as they hopped from garden to garden en route to her father's store. When they arrived, Lochlan and Liadra stepped away to give Rowan some space. She took a deep breath, and with Seres at her side, she opened the door.

Someone spoke as soon as the door bell sounded and they stepped inside. "I'll be with you in a second." Rowan didn't recognise it, not entirely at least. It was definitely male, but it also sounded old and weathered and it had a wizened quality.

Rowan was confused. Her father didn't have anyone like that in his employ when she was younger. Her heart sank as the possibility that he had sold the shop dawned her. But then again, Tyris hadn't mentioned anything like that happening.

When the man stepped in the shop for the storeroom, her heart broke. It was her father for sure, but he was not the same man. In five short years, the ruin of ages had ravaged his face and body. There was nothing to him. His skin hung from his meager frame and his flesh was pallid. He looked like a man that had given up on living without knowing how to die.

To Rowan it had been five short, agonising years. For Gyren it had been five long, empty and broken decades.

"Hello?" he said, as if confused by the shock on her face, or worse. "Hæra, is that you? No, it can't be. Who are you? Explain yourself."

"Da, it's me, Rowan." Tears were streaming down her face and Seres was squeezing her hand.

"Impossible!" Gyren shouted with all the pitiful strength that his aged lungs could muster. "My daughter is gone, witch. Dead! Just like my wife."

"Da, look at me!" Rowan pleaded

Gyren tried to turn away, refusing to look at her. "Leave me! I will not be fooled by phantoms of my past. You cannot broke that which is already broken."

Rowan pulled her hand free from Seres' grasp and grabbed her father by shoulders. Looking deep into his eyes, a feat made easier by his sorely reduced stature, and let every single one of her emotions wash over him, hoping that something would break though his terrible curse.

"Da, please! It really is me. I'm home."

"Rowan?" he said finally. Something had changed in his eyes. It wasn’t much, but it gave Rowan hope and she filled the room with its healing light. "Is it really you?"

"It really is, Da." Rowan wrapped her arms round him, being careful not to damage his withering bones.

He hugged her back, faltering tears streaming down his own face. "I thought you were dead. I'd given up hope years ago. Now you're all safe."

"All of us? What you mean, Da?"

"Tehri's with a family in Aran. She's safe with them."

The name sounded familiar and it filled Rowan with panic. She knew exactly where Aran Village was and it had been in the storm's path between two rivers.

"It's time to close up shop, Da. It's time to go home."

Rowan needed answers and she wasn't going to get them here. She nodded to Seres and started leading her father out of the store. Seres left just in front of her.

When they were outside, Rowan told her father, "Give me your keys and I'll close up shop." As he rummaged around for his keys she turned to face Lochlan and Liadra as they made their way over. "I need you to look up information about Aran Village for me. Stable the horses and then ask around if anyone knows if the storm hit the village and how it fared. See if you can discover anything about a girl called Tehri. When you're done, get someone to direct you to the Naliir household. I'll open the door."

"I second that command," Seres added.

"As you wish," the two replied in unison with a bow before turning to leave.

Rowan then took her father's keys and locked up his store. Once that was done, they made the short wall home, though it took considerably longer with Gyren's pace. When they finally got there, Rowan barely recognised it. The front garden was completely overgrown and vines spanned the walls.

"It's so sad," Seres muttered as Rowan unlocked the door.

It was immediately apparent that the inside wasn't much better. There was dust around every corner and in every nook and cranny and more was kicked up with every step. If Rowan hadn't seen the occasional footprint or handmark, she would have sworn it was abandoned.

Rowan took them into living room and sat everyone down.

"Right, I think it's time for some introductions and then I'm going to make some tea." She was trying to keep strong, but she couldn't stop her voice from breaking with sadness. "Da, this is Seres Lanafae, the second princess. She was captured by raiders and bandits just like I was. Together, we were able to escape and we took the Blood Rite with the turning of the moons.

"Seres, this is my father, Gyren. The years have not been kind to him, neither has my absence or my mother's death from the look of things."

"It's okay, Rowan," Seres smiled, "You don't need to push yourself."

"I'm fine. I promise. Just let me make some tea."

"I'll join you." Seres wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Fortunately, the kitchen was slightly cleaner than the rest of the house, and there wasn't a sign of any dirty dishes. That made Rowan feel better as it meant that her father could at least clean after himself. He was also keeping the pantry sort of stocked. It had the absolute bare minimum, which fortunately included a root tea. Rowan brewed it with Seres' help and then returned to the living room with it.

Rowan placed her cup down and slapped her cheeks in an attempt to psyche herself up. "Right. Okay. So. Da, I have a few questions and I need you to answer them to the best of your ability." She hated the idea of interrogating her father, but it needed to be done, especially after he mentioned Tehri.

"First things first. When did you find out about Tehri?"

He gave it some genuine thought before answering. "A few years ago, I think? I don't remember exactly. The family sent a letter."

"Do you still have it? The letter I mean. And why didn't you tell Tyris?"

"He can't look after her. It would just have confused her. She's happy where she is now."

"That isnae for you to decide, Da! None of it is. How would you know anyway? Did you ask him? Did you ask her? Have you even been in contact with her since then?" Rowan was needing to contain her anger. Tyris has been looking for Tehri all this time and their father knew exactly where she was. A hand came to rest on her own and she was able to calm down a little bit. Seres was there beside her.

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"I didn't need to. Tehri needed love and support. Despite holding much of it in my heart, I'm incapable of giving it."

"Because I've lost heart, Rowan. Hæra is gone and I am nothing without her."

Rowan almost wanted to scream, to tell him that she was right here. At the same time, she knew it would probably push him over the edge, especially when she considered that she didn't know how to communicate with her. It could also remove any lingering hope that he might have of seeing her on the other side. Trying to explain that both were possible would have been nigh impossible.

"What about the letter?" Rowan finally asked after a minute or two, repeating her earlier question. "Do you still have it?"

He answered through unspent tears. "Yes, I think I do." When he finished speaking, he got up and shuffled out of the room. Rowan sighed heavily the moment he turned the corner.

"You can do this," Seres said warmly, "I know you can."

"My heart hurts. Nothing Tyris said could have prepared me for this. He didn't even have a chance to prepare and here I am, interrogating him."

"I'm sure that deep down, he understands. At the same time, he's not wrong when he says that he lost something when your mother died. I'm not positive, but I think they entered a Blood Soul Pact."

"Isn't that really dangerous?"

"How else do you explain his aging? He looks older than my uncle, but I know he can't be much older than fifty."

"Fifty-two," Rowan answered.

"Exactly. I'm not sure what it will mean for him going forwards, but he won't ever get back what he's lost."

"I wish I could do more for him."

"Just be his daughter. That's all anyone can ask for."

They heard Gyren shuffling down the stairs after that. Rowan prepared herself for whatever was next. When he stepped into the room, he had an old piece of paper in his hands.

"Here it is," he said, passing it over to Rowan. She read over it a few times.

“Dear M ter Nal■r,

Last year, my wife and nd your dau■■er, Tehri’aana washed up in our vill age and ■■ severely injured. We took it upon oursel■■■■■■■■her treated by a surgeon in Talaran. She barely survi ved the ordeal, but she is overing quite well. She has unfortunately lost ■■■■■■ and is yet to find it again, however d tors assure us that s only a ma tter of time. She wants to r■■■■home to you and your wife. We would bring her to you, but we are to afford it due to the medical expenses. As such, we are hoping that yo e able to c here to Aran Vill■■■■■en the rivers T■nra and Karik.

Regards,

By■den and Hana K■■fast.”

It was full of tears, holes, and ink stains, but Rowan was able to get a good idea of the contents. What was clear was that there wasn't any evidence in the letter to suggest that Tehri was definitely happy there, and Rowan doubted that there was any more. What seemed likely was that her father had convinced himself that it was true. She couldn't say she blamed him though; she wanted to believe it as well.

"I sent a letter back to them with enough coin to cover their expenses as well as a little extra. It was all I could do to give my support with the state that I'm in."

"I know, Da. You must be tired. If you go to bed, Seres and I will sort things out around here."

"That sounds like a good idea." Almost immediately Gyren fell asleep. As soon his breathing settled, Rowan picked him up gently and carried him to his bed.

When she returned, Seres gave him a pensive look. "Not going to tell him about the storm?"

"He doesnae need to know. Especially not when we dinnae know the full picture ourselves."

*****

The knock on the door from Lochlan and Liadra came a few hours later. Rowan and Seres did their best in that time to clean the entryway and the living room. All in all they did a pretty good job considering the complete lack of cleaning supplies.

When Rowan opened the door, Lochlan fired an instant compliment in the form of, "Nice makeup." Granted, considering that he was referring to the dust that they were wearing, it was probably more of a quip than a compliment.

Unfortunately, both Rowan and Seres flubbed the retort, so Rowan just settled on, "Come on in." She led them into the living room and offered them a drink, which they both declined, probably out of fear that it would be 90% dust. She couldn't blame them.

Once they were all sat down, Rowan motioned for them to start their report. Unsurprisingly, considering it was his area of expertise, Lochlan was the first to respond.

"We don't have anything concrete on the state of Aran village right now. We were able to get some information, however, by talking to some merchants that had left the village before the storm hit; two beautiful women and a particularly fine gentleman, I might add." The cuff that followed from Liadra made her opinion on the matter known, and while Rowan liked beautiful women and handsome men as much as the next girl, she was inclined to agree that it was a superfluous detail.

"Anyway," Liadra took over, "what he's trying to say is that the merchants saw Tanra River rise by at least two feet whilst become thrice as dangerous. They almost lost their boat."

"So it's not look good for Aran Village?" Rowan asked, a knot forming in her throat from the anxiety.

"We didn't say that," Liadra replies, trying to smother the flames only for Lochlan to interject with, "But yes." He didn't mince the words, he just said it plain. It was oddly refreshing, coming from him, even if it filled her with dread.

"Any word on Tehri?"

"I can't say for sure as you only gave us a name to work with, but one of the merchants said that a strange girl had asked her to deliver a letter addressed to you."

Rowan's heart soared. She could almost kiss Lochlan for giving her that news, but she refused to give him the satisfaction. "Do you have the letter?" she asked.

"It was lost during the storm," Liadra replied, breaking the bad news. No hypothetical kisses for her.

"There's no helping it I guess. Time for Plan S."

"What happened to all your other plans?" Seres asked with a fair bit of concern.

"Irrelevant," Rowan answered, waving her off. "I'm going to need all of you. Well, mostly just Seres, but I need you to watch her."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of this, Rowan. Remember what happened the last time you had a weird idea?"

"It's fine. The chances of you collapsing this time are only fifty-fifty."

"Fifty-fifty?" Seres exclaimed. "That's madness."

"Trust me, it's not as bad as Plan R."

"You aren't exactly filling me with confidence here," Seres retorted.

"Well if it helps, Plan R involved running all the way to Aran Village and trying to track her from there."

"You're right, that is beyond stupid. What about Plan S?"

"The idea there is for you to use either your gravity or magnetism crystals to make me float really high while I use the terror that I'm feeling right now to survey the land and scan for any large groups of people."

"I'm not sure I can do that, Rowan. I mean it's theoretically possible, but…"

"Then we should try it." Rowan gave Seres her best kitty cat eyes and she finally cracked.

"Fine! But I want a song in return."

"Deal!"

That was how they ended up in the fields outside of Næmyris. A few people seemed to recognise Rowan, but they weren't sure and she didn't care, she was too focused on the task at hand.

They finished setting up fairly quickly. Granted, they only had four key items, so it wasn't exactly a challenging endeavour. Overall, they had a large sheet to catch Rowan just in case things went wrong, an extra sheet that Rowan had insisted on bringing, an iron rod, and Seres' crystals which were being kept out of sight.

Rowan grabbed onto the iron rod and faced towards Aran Village while Seres sat directly in front of her in a rather questionable position. Unfortunately it was required to best increase their odds of the plan working.

They tried magnetism first as it had the most obvious reason to fail. Said failure condition became painfully apparent very quickly, as Rowan felt herself being pulled into the air by the iron rod. At first, Rowan seemed to be going straight, but slightest deviation turned her trajected path into a parabola. Seres' attempts at correcting it just made things worse. Fortunately, they had managed to rope the spectators into catch duty and they did an absolutely stellar job. Which is to say, Rowan landed with only mild bruises and a racing heart.

With magnetism, at least on its own, discounted, they moved onto gravity. With gravity, they only needed physical contact as opposed to the questionable starting position from before, but that didn't make it feel any less weird, at least as far as Rowan was considered. The most disconcerting part was the slow descent into weightlessness, especially as her body still followed the normal rules of inertia and her mass was unchanged.

Once it got to the point Rowan felt like she had negative weight, Seres gave the signal and she leapt into the heavens. Thanks to the little she had left, Rowan managed to get enough height that her ears popped and breathing was getting slightly harder. It was also high enough for her to see for miles upon miles, which was exactly what she needed.

Rowan started by tracing the path along the river. It was by far the safest option if anyone from Aran Village was travelling east, especially if the group lacked any maps or navigation skills. It was also the slowest route, by far. Assuming equal modes of transport, the river route was slower by a factor of at least seven if you were trying to get from Aran to Næmyris. Rowan saw a few small groups in her trace, but none that she was willing to put her faith into.

With the river groups catalogued, Rowan turned to the direct path through Madarak Forest as she started to fall. If you didn't get lost in the forest it was pretty much a straight line between the two settlements. Unfortunately, getting lost was only the start of the dangers once you got further into Madarak Forest. You also had the wildlife to contend with. It was the reason why Rowan was only allowed to go in so far.

Unfortunately, most of the Madarak path was covered by trees, so Rowan needed to look for other signs of passing. She caught sight of what was probably smoke from a campfire as her weight returned.

"GOD FUCKING SHIT TITS!"

Rowan had to act fast to avoid going splat. She was on schedule to hit terminal velocity and the sheet below was not going to slow her down any meaningful amount over any meaningful distance. With no other options, Rowan pulled out the extra sheet from her satchel and prayed that it wasn't extra breathable as she grabbed the corners with all her might as the air tried to catch the ballooning sheet above her.

For several arduous seconds, Rowan was terrified that her plan had failed when the wind finally caught her makeshift parachute. Rowan's heart was racing and adrenaline coursed through her veins.

"Is Seres okay?" she asked no-one in particular.

"She's fine, just exhausted," Liadra answered. "What about you? I can't believe you survived that."

"I'm good. No time to talk. Saw campfire smoke. Might be Tehri. I'm gonna go look. Keep Seres safe. Bye."

Wasting not a moment longer, Rowan took off at full speed. She was going so fast that any unenhanced reflexes would be meaningless. It was an exhilarating feeling that was only enhanced by the adrenaline and the potent cocktail of emotions that she was experiencing.

Within moments she hit the tree line, and in the next it was a distant memory as darted through the forest. Two-thirds of the way, she saw a group of people set on by mandra. Without thinking she dived in and with one fell strike she cut the giant bear-like creature in twain.

Rowan finally stopped as the two halves of the mandra fell behind her. She turned to face the group, hoping that her theory had been correct, though she'd be happy regardless for saving them.

From the mismatched attire and scarce belongings, they certainly looked like refugees. Rowan looked over then one by one. When her eyes finally met the strawberry blonde girl with blue eyes, she was greeted by her own jumping heart and the smallest sound from the girl's delicate lips.