Shadows moved by the flickers of torchlight, swaying forth and back. Caelyn huddled together with Courtney and Charlotte for defense against the assailing chill that radiated from the enveloping stone. Leading them from ahead, Lucis seemed unbothered by the cold, for he took no measures to make himself warmer except for tucking his hands into his pockets. But he almost always had his hands in his pockets.

“Lucis,” Caelyn said, “you seem to know very much about, well, everything.”

Without slowly his pace, the boy replied, “Observation, my dear Caelyn. All acts and events leave a mark on this world. Once you notice these marks, you can infer what had happened prior. But, in the end, I can only guess at the truth, for there is a limit to what a mortal can achieve.”

“But how did you simply stumble upon this tunnel? You weren’t even gone for long, and you still had time to collect all those weapons and baubles. It goes beyond mere observation, I think.”

“You are indeed observant. Well, I do admit, I have read Cain’s book regarding the Sanctuary.” For a moment, Lucis let the resounding silence replace his voice. “I have seen the maps, I know my way.”

“I trust you.”

Soon, they reached a wooden door of similar appearance, albeit more decayed, firmly closed. It took the strength of all four of them to finally push it open. On the other side, at the center of an otherwise empty room, a set of stairs spiraled up through the ceiling. Trees, carved with great detail into the stone walls, gave the room the mood of a long-faded forest.

“What is this place?” asked Charlotte, swaying her torch to get a better view of the carvings that adorned the walls.

She received no response, for Lucis spared no time and started up the stairs.

Tilting her head up, Caelyn, legs shaking, followed the boy, who ascended three stairs with every step. Only after the floor disappear from view did her legs stop shaking. She took a deep breath and looked back to see Charlotte and Courtney following steadily along. The tip of Charlotte’s sheath, the one that accompanied the sword she obtained in the mountainside fortress, scraped against the wall. The girl tried to push her sword away from the wall, but it still occasionally touched stone. Caelyn found it quite strange that none of the other weapons clashed with the walls. Even her spear fit quite well in the cramped space.

Finally, they entered the sun’s aura, its brilliance blinding. Caelyn raised her arm in defense from the light, returning her eyes into darkness until the pain lessened. Once again, she peered into the light and cowered back into the shadowy safety behind her arm. On her fifth attempt, she found the light blinded her not, instead helping her see the forest that surrounded them. Lovely strands of golden thread passed through the green cloth above.

“Where are we?” Charlotte asked, spinning around in circles.

Caelyn was about to say, “A forest,” when Lucis replied, “In the midst of ruins, reclaimed by nature’s army. For after those long years, even the very stones have long been vanished. We are halfway to the mountains, the time has come for us to wait. The others shall be here before the day’s death.”

“So we just wait here? How are you so certain that they won’t just pass us without knowing? Let me guess,” Charlotte crossed her arms and frowned at the green-eyed boy, “you observe that they are headed our way.”

Not replying to her question, Lucis sat down against a root from a tree and closed his eyes, an air of tranquility around him. A bird wearing a plumage of the same color as the glare off the ocean waves dove down and settled itself on his shoulder. With its small eyes, it looked from Courtney to Caelyn to Charlotte and back to Courtney. Then, it tilted its head before flying off over the trees. Lucis remained undisturbed.

“Well, I guess waiting is our only option.” Charlotte untied the sheathed swords from her waist, set them against the tree opposite of where Lucis rested, and sat down cross-legged, setting her book on her lap and opened the thick codex. “Caelyn, Courtney, do either of you want to join me and listen?”

The two girls nodded at the same time. Courtney preferred to stand, leaning against a tree root like one of Charlotte’s swords, while Caelyn sat down beside Charlotte, gazing down at the well-written words and well-drawn illustrations that adorned yellowed paper. On the page, which laid among the final tenth of the book, was drawn in intricate detail a slender sword with a design much like the one on Charlotte’s first sword.

“The Huntress,” she began, taking a brief pause to examine the drawings, “of excellent quality and minimal attributes. Though not of the highest grade, behind it rich history lies.” She skimmed the rest of the page and turned her eyes to the next. “Originally, it was among the first Vithiar blades to ever be forged, though of lesser purity than later blades, estimated to be around Great Quality and considered one of the thirteen originals. Many of great fame possessed this sword, and many of great power wielded this sword. The pirate Valibra once wielded it during his overture days. But, in one of his battles, the sword was greatly damaged. Quite interesting, wouldn’t you say?” Charlotte turned to Caelyn.

Caelyn tilted her head and nodded. “A pirate, huh? Wonder if he was the king of the pirates.” Smiling at first, she broke into laughter when Charlotte smiled back. “What happened next?”

Skimming the next page, the bookish girl replied, “The sword was later taken to a renowned smith and reforged into the current blade, increasing its grade. Since then, it has been passed through many hands until it came into the possession of this Lord Commander.” She looked at the sword sitting next to her, gazing lingering on it for a couple of moments. “And to me.” Closing the book and dropping it in her sack, she rose and, taking up the sword, said, “I must return it to him.”

“No need,” Lucis said, without opening his lids, “he is dead, no doubt.”

“What if he isn’t? What if he returns to his chamber and finds that his treasured sword is missing? If I had known the value of this sword, I would not have taken it.” Charlotte paced around in circles, holding the Huntress in her arms as if it were a baby.

“No, you still should have,” Caelyn said, just as Charlotte turned to face her, “if you hadn’t, then we would’ve been a wolf’s dinner.”

Still not opening his eyes, Lucis said, " Cae'l speaks the truth. You are meant to possess Huntress. Call it destiny, though I would not call it so.” Then, he muttered beneath his breath, “Your destiny has not yet come.” Finally, he opened his eyes, looked at Charlotte, let out a long sigh, before closing his eyes once more.

Amused by Lucis’ enigmatic gestures and words, Caelyn let out a laugh and laid herself down on the hard ground, supporting her head with her arms. She let her mind wander as she stared at the stars among the sky of green. Charlotte, who had not stopped pacing, hugged the sword close to the left side of her chest as if protecting the blade from some unseen dangers. Though the sight was also rather amusing, Caelyn could not help but respect the girl a slight bit more. In fact, she had always found Charlotte to have a quite decent disposition even though they disagreed on some occasions. But those were minor, trivial, almost unworthy of argument, yet interesting regardless.

However, the girl confused Caelyn. How could some so cowardly be so brave sometimes? Normally, everything seemed to frighten her, even though she plays as some hardened warrior. Yet, when the danger actually comes, she was the first to step forth. Was she not the one so afraid of entering the tunnel? Was she not the one so strong-of-will to slay the wolf with one strike? Which side—fearful or fearless—represented her most?

Why not both?

Blushing, Caelyn shook her head and looked away. She did not want to prod too much into the matters of others, especially those belonging to people she respected. Instead, she focused herself on the spear that sat on the ground next to her. But, it was not too interesting so she pushed herself upright, leaned back against the giant tree root, and clapped the dirt from her hands.

“I wonder how these trees can grow so tall,” said Caelyn. “They are so fantastical. Would it not be fun to climb these branches to the very top of the forest?” She let out a longing sigh.

Charlotte, who had been facing away before Caelyn said anything, turned around to reply, “I would rather leave this forest sooner than later. I do not want to stay here after the sun sets. What if that demon comes? What if-if…”

“That shadow appears?” Through clenched teeth, Caelyn said, pointing to her spear lying innocently on the ground, “We kill that thing. We have the armaments. Now all we need is the power of will to carry out the task.”

“And skill. We all lack the skill to fight against these… beings.”

“Didn’t Lucis give you that manual on how to defeat those demons? Read it.” Caelyn, after rummaging through Charlotte’s sack for a moment, pulled out the bound pages and flipped through it. The text had no recognizable words in it, only strange symbols. She came upon a page with a picture of a warrior dealing a blow on a demon. “Well, we can still look at the pictures.” Seeing Charlotte’s unamused expression, she tossed the book back into the sack and looked to Courtney, who had been silent the entire time. “What do you suggest, Courtney?”

Eyes in surprise, the girl looked around in confusion, her lips pressed together in a small circle. “Oh, killing demons. I-uh-I can’t help you in that regard. Just stick the pointed end of that spear into the demon, I guess.” She nodded rapidly then added, “Many times.”

“That will work,” Caelyn said with a shrug, “that will work.”

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Charlotte covered her face with her hand. “We’ll get killed before we can even lift our weapons.”

“What do you suggest, then?” Caelyn glanced at Lucis, who was resting peacefully without giving any sign of listening to their conversation. When would he say something mysterious and insightful to settle this matter?

“Well, how about we… damn it, we can’t go on without Diana. I wish I had told her to come with us.” She removed her hand from her face and craned her neck to look up at the sky. “Last night, the ghost did not attack us. And when we were in the ruins by the beach. I think as long as we not actually in the forest, we are safe. But we don’t know if we will find anywhere safe on our path to the mountains.”

For a few moments after Charlotte’s last words, the forest fell quiet. She had made good observations, yet what use do these observations have when the way of spinning them into solutions was unknown. Perhaps observation alone was not the solution to their current problem. Caelyn glanced at Lucis, who still appeared to be as dead as the wolf meat in her sack. She doubted that he could give an answer to this. No matter how good his observation is, it could not possibly solve something that is not possible to solve with mere observation alone. They needed something else, but exactly what, Caelyn did not know.

A familiar voice began to divert her attention. It became louder and louder and soon reached a volume not less than that of a hunting-bird’s call. A silver-haired head was the first to appear from the stairs leading to the tunnel, followed by a scarlet-haired one. The rest soon stumbled into the light of the stars, rubbing their eyes to ease them into its brilliance. Charlotte, mouth agape, looked from the group to Lucis and then back.

“How nice of you to wait for us,” said Theresa, giving Caelyn a nasty glare.

Cain’s gaze first settled on Caelyn but eventually drifted to Lucis, who had one eye open looking around. “I suppose you noticed that I was following.”

“You were following?” Caelyn tried not to look at the resting boy.

“I thought you knew. Why else would you wait for us?”

Because Lucis told them to.

Caelyn shrugged. “We hoped you would come.” She turned her head in the direction she felt was north. “Actually, we were about to leave soon anyways. Why not go now?” She did not really know why she did not tell Cain the truth. It would have done no real harm, beside make Lucis more…

“Yes, we don’t want to be caught in the forest after sunset.”

As the group started moving, Lucis rose from his throne and came to Caelyn’s side. “Why tell untruths?” he asked, tilted his softly featured head to the side.

“I was not lying,” said Caelyn. “Everything I said was true. We were hoping for their arrival, were we not? We are leaving, are we not?”

“Never said thou lied, merely untruths. Difference lies in the truth.”

“It doesn’t matter. Words are words. What—”

Lucis let out the kind of subdued chuckle one makes when one knows something others do not. It was not done in a prideful manner, more of a gesture done without conscious thought. “Words are not just words,” he said, in his unembelishing way. “Words are the representation of ideas, and ideas are powerful. Ideas are a part of the spirit and feed it, shaping it. Emotions are similar, though different.”

“Well, I would put surviving the night as a higher priority. Your observation is quite impressive. Why don’t you tell me how to kill the demon?” Caelyn switched the spear to her other hand so that it stood between her and Lucis. “You gave me this sword, what am I to do with it?” When he opened his mouth to speak, she raised a finger and shook her head. “Don’t you dare tell me to stab it many times.”

“I was not going to. Killing a demon is simple, much simpler than killing a ghost. Though, a demon is much more difficult to kill than a ghost. The spear you carry now appears to be quite low in attribute, but high in quality. Charlotte wields a sword that is quite low in quality, but well in attribute. One is for the physical—the other, spiritual. I believe that the sword is used to finish off a demon after weakening it with the spear. For proper technique, well, that requires skill.” He removed his hands from his pockets and with relaxed swiftness drew a symbol in the air with his finger. “Worry not, Cae'l, all will be well. Am I correct in saying this, Courtney?”

Courtney shook her head. “I… don’t understand… what you are… what you’re saying.”

With a small smile on his face, Lucis turned to Caelyn and said, “Difference lies in the truth. You will see soon enough.”

“Caelyn! Courtney!” Charlotte came running from the front of their group. “I just spoke with Cain. He did a couple of translations for the manual.” She pointed to the pages held in her other hand. “He wrote it down here. Let’s see what it says.”

Narrowing her eyes, she began reading the words on the paper. “Of the three classes a hunter faces, the ghost is the most troublesome and the monster is the least. To kill a monster, a hunter only needs the thirteen basic movements. To kill a ghost, a hunter needs to be practice the forty-two advanced movements as well. Of the three, demons are the most varied. Most demons are merely human-shaped monsters and could be killed by basic hunters. But, for those of higher rank, demons can be even more formidable than ghost kings. After the slaying of Demonic One Dolus at ending of the Second Great Hunt, the five ultimate movements were created. If a hunter wants to even have a chance against such devastating forces, they need to master the five ultimate movements.” Charlotte looked up, a look of dread filled her face. “Are we going to die?”

“No, no.” Caelyn shook her head. “What are the chances that we encounter such a powerful demon? It says that most demons can be killed by basic hunters. We only need to know the basic movements. Shouldn’t be too difficult.” They could not fight against a demon, even one that was considered basic. They were not hunters, basic or otherwise. She took a deep breath and hoped that Lucis spoke the true truth.

“Then…” she turned to the next page, “the thirteen basic movements require some, but elementary, magic. Spears are most commonly used, but swords work as well. The first movement is one that requires the eyes. Use the eyes to read texts regarding the monster you face and to see the weaknesses in its body. Slow and steady is of utmost importance here. Do not be hasty.” Charlotte stopped reading and sighed. “That’s all he wrote. He says his hands are too tired. But he writes fast. He is intelligent.”

“He really is.”

“I wonder who Dolus was. Demonic One Dolus. The five ultimate movements were created became of them.”

Caelyn shrugged. “Does it even matter? They’re long dead anyways.”

“But what if, what if they aren’t even the strongest demon? Or stronger demons started to exist after its demise? Wouldn’t that be a reason why they created the five—”

“Charlotte, Charlotte. Calm down. You’re overthinking it. It says that—”

“Most! Most demons are weak as monsters. There are some that are stronger. What if the demon that’s hunting us… is stronger than the Demonic One Dolus. We’re not only dead, we’re dead for our next few lives too.” Charlotte let out a sob and covered her eyes. When she uncovered them, her eyes were pinkish and her hands were moist. “The letter on the desk. Not even the best soldiers there, including the Lord Commander, could defeat the demon.”

“Okay, Charlotte. Drink some water. You must be thirsty, right?”

“I just drank water.” The girl was almost screaming.

“It doesn’t hurt. Drink some more.”

And so she did.

“Do you feel better now?”

Charlotte shook her head.

“I’ll protect you,” said Caelyn, hoping that the words Lucis said earlier were not lies or untruths. “We will survive through the night. Know why?” She gave the sobbing girl an encouraging smile.

“Why?”

“Because I’m here, for you.”

“Is this the right time?” said Cain, hesitating while approaching the two of them, both hands holding a small collection of papers. “I translated a couple more pages.”

Charlotte glared at the boy with teary eyes. “Do you have a book on demons? Specifically, the Demonic One Dolus.”

“No, that was my first time hearing the name, though I think the Second Great Hunt was mentioned somewhere before. I can’t remember where. I will do more readings through my texts. But here,” he handed her the papers before spinning around on his heels and walking off towards the front of the group.

“This is making me depressed,” said Charlotte, looking through the pages with a look of both fear and disgust. “A hunter must remember to strike the least amount of times possible. Therefore, a good hunter makes sure every strike deals significant damage to the monster. So take the time and observe the monster, find its areas of weakness, and strike with as much force as you can muster. A hunter must not be hit, for the strength of a monster surpass what the constitution of a mortal body is able to withstand. Therefore, the second movement—dashing— is of great use. When doing so, strengthen your legs and push off the ground. Be wary of your surroundings, for you do not want to collide with a tree and such. Move your body, if you so choose, but to a greater extent than what you would suppose is necessary.”

Pinching the skin between her eyes, the girl slowly shook her head. “This is awful, so awful. This is just telling us not to get hit.” Her gaze flew past the next page. “This leads to the third movement, which is a thrust of spear or sword into the monster’s weakness. Though basic, it is deals a good degree of damage when used properly. When dealing the thrust, use both legs and arms, give them strength.” She crumpled the paper and stuffed it in her pocket. “This is worth more for the flames than for knowledge.”

The forest thinned, the trees, along with the bushes and other annoyances that usually covered the forest floor, becoming sparser by the moment. Above them, holes in the green blanket were so large and frequent that the sky and clouds could be seen so clearly as if nothing obstructed them. But, the shade also shrunk, and the sun’s spears stabbed directly on their wet backs.

In the distance, a small cabin sat alone with only the impersonal trees for company becoming larger as the group got closer. Though, it was not too big—only a single room. Looking through the windows, the cabin, though not empty, was devoid of anyone. A bare bed stood in one corner while a dusty table took up another. Against one wall was a cold-looking furnace, dark as the shadows beneath the trees. Cain decided that they should not barge into a stranger’s home, as if they had not been doing so for the last few nights. They continued on their way. Soon, more cabins appeared, each one of them as empty as the first.

“What happened here?” asked Charlotte. “Did everyone just… leave? Why did they leave? Was it because of the demon? Did the demon kill everyone here?” Swiftly unsheathing both swords, she looked around with nervous eyes, shaking hands making the blades wobble.

Caelyn let out a sigh. “Put your swords away. You’re going to accidentally hurt someone.”

“You sound like Theresa.”

“It’s the truth. Don’t forget, I’m going to protect you.”

“I also want to protect myself as well.”

“Besides, I doubt that’s the proper way to use that sword, the one that’s glowing. It’s supposedly more brittle than normal swords. If you swing it wildly, your going to break it.”

The blades shook even more as she tightened her grip on the swords. “Are you, are you saying this sword is worth more than my life?” Tears were reforming in her eyes. “Is that what I am worth to you? Less than this damn sword?” By then, she was almost screaming.

“No!” Caelyn raised the palm of her unoccupied hand. “Why would I think that? I don’t even like swords. Calm down! Do you need to drink more water? Please.”

“Stop, stop.” Charlotte took a deep breath, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, okay? I’ll put my sword away.” But she did not.

Not long after, they reached a rather nice town, the houses built to be pleasing to the eye. By that time, the sky had already turned scarlet with the blood of the dying sun. Just like before with the cabins, the town was empty. Only small animals nibbling on the long grass could be seen. At the center of the town, a familiar road split it in two, stretching into the forest and beyond.

Only after entering the town did Charlotte sheath both swords. With a sigh, she said, “At least we’ll be safe from that shadow ghost, I hope.”

Cain decided that they should stay here for the night. Though he had decided not to barge into the home of strangers, he forced a couple of doors open and looked around in them. He found firewood and a couple unopened barrels of wine and food, along with opened barrels quarter-filled with rancid meats. There were also unbroken, though dusty, jars of fruit jam that looked good to eat. They chose a larger house to settle down in.

As they sat down on the ground and on the chairs, Theresa put a bundle of firewood in the furnace and brought flame to it.

Grinning, Caelyn turned to Charlotte and said, “See? It’s quite nice, isn’t it?”