Darkness prevailed in the world he resided in. His body laid paralysed and numb. Soft chattering emitted from beside as a quiet groan left his mouth.

“Dear, why are you staring at him so closely?” A familiar, muffled voice spoke.

“I could have sworn his mouth just moved.” A quieter voice replied.

“Hey! Exrite’s waking up!” A more profound voice cried huskily.

The sleeping man cringed to the noise, slowly opening his eyes.

“Hey-! You’re too loud idiot! No doubt he’s awake now!” This voice clearly came from Frosty. He was sure of it.

With a light mutter, his eyes were immediately met with the familiar faces of his friends and the priestesses. They surrounded his vision, each staring with some sort of smile. They seemed relieved to see him finally awake.

“You’re… where am I?” His voice was weak as he tried to seat himself up from the green couch.

Exrite’s eyes narrowed and broadened as his head lightly swivelled. For a second, he felt something push up against his throat. Just how long had he been asleep for? He wanted to ask but was met with immediate resistance from the girl beside him.

“Wait! Don’t push yourself so soon!” Inkshard cried from beside him as she quickly pushed him back flat onto the couch.

He didn’t even try to resist, knowing it’d be futile with how weak he currently was. All he could do was stare up at their faces with a curious look.

“We’re in the chapel?” He wanted to confirm that the surroundings weren’t just a hallucination.

“Yep. We’re all here, safe and sound.” Frosty whispered soothingly and knelt beside him. “Although you were asleep for a while.”

His multicoloured eyes garnered the attention of the priestesses as they wandered around the room again. A hand was brought to his head before he muttered:

“How long was I out for?”

“Only two days.” Khaos answered nonchalantly.

Exrite paused for a moment.

“Only two… wait- two days!?” He immediately tried to shoot himself back up but was quickly shoved down again by Inkshard.

“Don’t-! Just rest Exrite!” The girl scolded and kept him pinned to the couch.

Had he really been sleeping for two days? It pained him to believe such a thing, but it made sense considering how weak he currently was.

“It’s good to see you’re still energetic, especially after what happened.” Frosty’s smile wavered slightly.

“Yeah. But sit still, we don’t want you in another long sleep.” Khaos held a relieved posture from where he stood.

Talia nodded in agreement. “We can’t afford to delay our departure any further.”

Exrite’s eyes lit up to those words as he studied the others. They seemed to agree with what she said. He wondered if they had already spoken to them about their encounter with the Gods while he was out.

Inkshard removed her hands from his shoulders and sighed as she sat herself beside Frosty on the cold floor. She curiously stared at his left eye, and so did her mother from the other couch.

They didn’t know what exactly it was, but Talia had a hunch – one that she knew from their very first encounter.

“That eye… what happened to you in there?” Inkshard couldn’t help but to utter those words as the depth of the crimson eye captured her breath.

“Did Khaos or Frosty tell you anything?” He asked and looked at the two.

“We left your details out. It’d be better if you told them yourself.” Frosty hummed.

A day earlier, after the two had rested and regained their strength, revealed everything to the priestesses. The Gods, the spirit and – the goal given to them by the Children of Balance. While Inkshard found it impossible to believe, Talia was more optimistic. Of course, she knew that in their current state they would die with absolutely zero resistance. It agonised her, but that was reality.

Her smile slowly twisted into a frown at the thought.

Exrite wondered how to respond to the earnest Inkshard’s question. He dropped a hand from his head and gulped.

“They gave me a choice. It was either I die, or they turn me into the Exrenity. And I still don’t know what an Exrenity even is.” He confessed, sounding bitter as he really didn’t have a choice at all.

Inkshard slowly nodded, but her mother’s frown only grew more distorted.

“What do you mean by they gave you a choice to die? Why would they want to kill you?” She pressed the issue that bothered her the most.

The Gods surely would have wanted Exrite to stay alive, even after extracting the fragment. There shouldn’t be a reason for them to want him dead.

He stared at her and sighed. “They couldn’t remove the fragment without killing me in the process, so they left it alone and turned me their Exrenity.”

Inkshard grew confused to what he was saying. When she turned to her mother, a sudden chill ran down her spine. Written across Talia’s face was nothing short of utter disbelief.

She realised – the fragment had not been removed at all.

A cold sweat ran down the side of her head as her fists curled tightly by her lap.

“So you’re still holding onto the fragment, despite being the Exrenity?” She was almost at a loss for words as her whisper failed to reach anyone. Even the nearby Khaos was unaware.

The Gods seemed to have made a blunder, at least in her eyes. If the fragment had not been removed, then how would balance be restored to the Maidens if there is no sixth Maiden? There was also the Gods odd goal of freeing the Maidens – even if they did manage it, what about Time?

There were too many questions to ask with their decision, but as their vessel, she could only rebel so much. She had to resign it all to their greater wisdom and judgement.

With a heavy sigh, she sunk back into the couch and stared into the pale ceiling. “The Gods are strange, aren’t they?”

“Mother, you’re a priestess. What would people think if they heard that?” Inkshard said sharply with a hint of edge.

Frosty and Khaos had to agree with Talia. The Gods were ambiguous at best. And sadly, even Exrite agreed. They hardly explained their motive in wanting the Maidens freed, other than that it was in accordance with their own goal – particularly the sibling’s goal.

While he thought of such things, he asked a simple question.

“Can I sit up now?”

“Just rest!” The little priestess finally lost it.

* * *

Hours passed since Exrite had first woken, and his strength had returned to the point where he could finally walk again. Evening had settled within the blink of an eye, and Talia did not want to further delay their journey to the capital. She found the moment timely for their departure. When they had left the chapel with little preparations, Talia urged them to follow her daughter to the eastern gate.

“And you?” Frosty asked, pausing her descend on the staircase a she turned to her.

“Paperwork. The main priestess has the responsibility to relay all this to the king. As for me… I think I’ll be here for a little while longer. Dear, if you would please.”

“Leave it to me!” Inkshard proudly assured.

“Wait-! Thank you for everything you’ve done for us! If it weren’t for you, then we would have never made it this far!” Exrite cried and lowered his head slightly.

His face was far too serious, and it made Talia chuckle warmly.

“Nonsense. We are all cogs in the bigger workings. We’re all responsible for making it this far.” Her voice was soothing and humble.

“Can’t we thank you somehow?” Khaos didn’t want to depart on that note as guilt began to gnaw at him.

Talia hummed for a moment before responding with “Then how about you treat me to something when I arrive at the capital later?”

“We’d love to.” Frosty spoke as she tilted her head lightly and stared at the woman with moist eyes.

Satisfied, the mature priestess looked down at her daughter with a loving gaze.

“Please take care of Inkshard. Goodbye, my friends.”

“Bye mother!”

“See you soon, Talia.” Exrite softly smiled as he watched the woman turn her back to them.

She left them with her characteristically warm smile before returning through the giant slate doors. They firmly shut with a deafening thud, and not a moment later, Inkshard was already pulling the reins.

“Let’s go and catch a carriage!”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Khaos looked down at her. “Huh? The priestesses don’t have a personal carriage?” He asked curiously.

“We do – but we sent a knight to deliver a message to the king just two days ago.” Inkshard gracefully walked down the staircase as the white knights below stood clear of her path with loud shuffling.

Exrite felt their stares through the pale visors as they quietly spoke amongst themselves.

“Shouldn’t have the carriage returned by now? The capital is only a day away.” Frosty responded as they joined her below.

“Our knights aren’t slaves. Two days would mean that they travelled without rest to and from the capital. We could never do that.” Inkshard quickly replied with a bright smile.

The knights seemed to have overheard that, as few curled their gauntlets in respect for the priestess, while others erected their posture. While it seemed somewhat humorous from an outsider’s perspective – no one laughed. It was respectable and entirely different from the knights Exrite was used to from Enthile.

He sighed and looked one last time at the towering, pale chapel before they began to move through the eastern path of the town.

The evening moon hovered over the forest of glowing trees from afar. The stars were drowned in their glorious light, and the few that remained sparked interest in the gazing Khaos. A long sigh left his mouth as a warm fog.

Inkshard noticed this and responded with “Too much light to see the stars from here.”

“So too much light can make the stars disappear?”

“Apparently so. Don’t know how that works though.” She replied as she led them through the busy road.

Along the way, people would occasionally greet the priestess and watch curiously at the group closely following her. They had never seen the priestesses outside with anyone else other than her loyal white knights or mother. It sparked conversations, but their identities remained unclear.

The path mainly consisted of small markets and stalls which sold various goods, ranging from weapons to jewellery and even food. A breath of the cold air would garner a delicious, meaty smell – and a hint of iron. Their passage through the market was mostly uneventful, save for the people who called for Inkshard to try their goods or offer her food.

On the other side, it was quieter. Sturdier men and women could be seen loitering in these areas, either engaged in silent conversations or waited for new carriages to arrive. When they reached the pale gate, a white knight approached the group and forced them to stop.

“Priestess- oh-! And company.” The knight bowed respectfully. “The carriage isn’t scheduled to arrive until tomorrow. May I ask what you’re doing in these outskirts?”

Inkshard dug into a pocket from her pale robes and revealed a letter carrying a black and white symbol.

“The king needs to hear the news.” She sternly answered.

The knight studied the letter for a moment and nodded in approval. Then, he turned to the group behind her.

“And these people?”

“My companions for the trip.”

He paused for a moment and further inspected them, his hidden eyes scanning them from head to toe. When everything looked clear, he gave a satisfied nod.

“I’ll believe in your judgement, priestess. I’ll go ask a driver to slot your group in. Follow me.”

Exrite found himself and the others turning to each other before they followed the knight down to where only caravans lined up before a wide, open road. It cut straight through the winter-capped forest and revealed the vast plains on the other side.

The caravans were large, but most were shabby-looking and made of wood. A blanket of white cloth acted as the walls and ceiling, held by a skeleton of iron rings. Each one had at least three or four horses attached to it. No one was outside the gate at the time, save for those already inside of the carriages.

After a while of idly standing, the knight returned with the news.

“The carriage down there is willing to accept you all free of charge.”

Inkshard looked at him with confusion. “What do you mean free of charge?”

“They believe that the companions of the priestess are strong adventurers. Perhaps it’s for protection of their caravan.”

“Are they not taking the safe path?”

“It seems so. Priestess, I beg of you, wait until tomorrow and- “

“This can’t be delayed any further – the Exrenity is with us” Inkshard revealed in a sharp, silent yell as she dug her foot into the dirt.

The knight raised his head from the girl and immediately searched for them. From hair to clothes, he didn’t find anything until he finally landed onto Exrite’s eyes.

There, he staggered backwards and made an audible gulp. He no longer stood like a knight, but instead – like a commoner before a God. He managed to forbid himself from instinctively kneeling with an iron spirit. The Exrenity was the closest living thing to the Children of Balance, and he believed the priestess’ words without a shadow of a doubt.

Exrite clenched his fists as he watched Inkshard stare at the knight with unwavering eyes.

“Do you doubt the Exrenity will be able to protect me?”

“O-of course not!”

“Do you wish to delay our visit to the king?”

“N-no! Please, depart from here as soon as possible!” The knight could no longer be called a knight. Their pride and honour had seemingly vanished at the utter of the name. “Are- are you truly the Exrenity?”

Exrite’s eyes narrowed as he frowned at the priestess. No matter how he looked at it, this was problematic. The word of the Exrenity would spread like wildfire now. His gut reaction was to immediately deny it, but he wondered if there was a reason for why she mentioned it.

What are they planning?

He promised himself he’d ask her at a more appropriate time and sighed, looking directly into the visor of the knight.

“I am.” Was his only reply.

Silence followed. The knight didn’t move an inch as he stared at Exrite for a while. His body savoured every moment in his presence.

“Spread the word, my knight – the Exrenity has left for the king.”

“… With honour. I will let the entire town know of the Exrenity’s departure to the capital. I beg the Gods to grant you a safe trip. Although… you already have their blessing on board.” The knight knelt with a fist firmly held at his heart.

“Thank you.” Inkshard whispered.

They left him there, still in his obedient pose as they made their way down to the scheduled caravan. Beside them, were the other parked caravans which glowed in a gentle light as shadows of many people were casted against the fine cloth. All sorts of voices and sounds erupted from each caravan, and as they grew closer to the end, the noise became shallower.

So shallow, that Frosty grew cautious and kept a keen eye about.

“I’m just going to talk to the driver for a moment.” Inkshard said as the others gave her a nod. “I want to make sure that we’re not going to end up somewhere else.”

“Let me ask as well.” Exrite offered, but the girl slowly shook her head.

“Stay here. I’ll be back in a bit.” The girl gave him an assuring look before she departed and made her way towards the front of the caravan.

Khaos crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

“What do you guys think?” His voice was quiet.

Frosty stared at the priestess before she disappeared around the corner. Only the forest of glowing trees remained in her sight.

“I trust them, but I still can’t shake off this feeling of… danger. You heard her, right? We aren’t going on the ‘safe’ path.” Her voice was edged like a blade.

Exrite wasn’t so sure about this, but at the mention of the ‘safe path’, he began to wonder – for a town as large as Farshard, the roads to the Capital, which was only a day away, should be relatively safe. He imagined that there would also be small settlements or villages along the path.

Why were the other paths not deemed ‘safe’ then? He could only imagine the reason, but if he had to put a finger on it –

“Khaos, show me the map again.”

The giant man reached for the map in the small leather bag attached to his waist and held it in front of Exrite. While scrunched, he could still make out the fine prints of the map – east of here, was apparently a grand plain that spanned till the border of the region. But before the plain, was the forest.

And in that forest, there were a few paths which led to the west entrance of the Capital. But the issue was – the forest was huge, and mostly uninhabited. In fact, the map showed that it even reached a small mountain range north west of the Capital.

Frosty too had a look at the map. A small sarcastic smile formed across her face.

“Hey, they even left a small red cross on the forest. I feel safer already” She tapped Exrite’s shoulder playfully.

“… Are there monsters or something in that forest?” He slowly spoke.

“Only one way to find out.” She hummed and tapped his shoulder once more. “Oh – She’s calling us.”

Exrite quickly looked away from the map and looked ahead, seeing the priestess beacon them towards her. As they walked to Inkshard, Khaos rolled the map clumsily and shoved it back into the leather bag.

“These are the people who are coming with me to the capital.” She introduced them as soon as they appeared around the corner.

Before them, a man loosely dressed in fine, black clothing sat in the driver’s seat of the caravan. He stared back with calculating eyes as he stroked his tiny black goatee.

“Strange equipment if I’ve ever seen one. Sure. Get in behind me – just watch your step.” He spoke in a deep voice.

Just before the caravan space, there was a small wooden section that could carry a small group of people in the front. It was like an open carriage, but much smaller. The seats were positioned inwards and would have their backs against the wooden side beams.

When Inkshard climbed on top, her eyes broadened as a bright smile formed across her face.

“Evening, Hai… you… toh?” Her smile didn’t waver, despite butchering the young man’s name who sat silently aboard. “I thought you left with the knight to the capital.”

From their height, they couldn’t see who she was talking to. Exrite being closest to the rickety steps, took it upon himself to climb straight after. At the top, he was met with the faces of the seated priestess and a strange looking boy beside her. And like the travellers a few days earlier, he wore strange clothing.

Exrite instinctively knew – that this person was an otherworlder.

Before the boy could respond, the curtains behind them suddenly exploded open, revealing the faces of two more young adventurers. One, like the boy, wore clothing that were completely foreign from this world while the other looked just like any other adventurer – if any adventurer could afford such dazzling armour.

When Khaos joined with them atop and sat beside Exrite, a red-haired girl spoke.

“Ah~! Inkshard! You’re coming with us to the capital!?”

When she turned to see the voice, her smile wavered.

“Y-you two? Why are you all still here?”

Frosty was now up there with the rest, taking a seat on the same bench as Inkshard and the young man. Her eyes were glued onto the adventures on board, particularly the two in the caravan’s body. The opposite Exrite and Khaos were more discrete with their eyes.

“The blacksmith in town wanted us to pass through these woods on our way. No one was willing to take that path until the mister over there offered. Free of charge as well.” The other girl in the caravan explained to her, their golden-blonde hair waving in the gentle breeze.

While the driver muttered something, the red-haired girl turned to the others with a curious face.

“Are these people with you?”

Inkshard nodded. “They are. This is Frosty, that’s Khaos and the one beside is Exrite.” He pointed with each name she introduced.

“But you still don’t know mine… “ The boy beside her sighed.

The blonde-haired girl tilted her head slightly and placed a hand on her chin.

“The name’s Lizen. I hope we can get along.” She said nonchalantly and lightly nudged the girl beside her with an elbow.

“I’m Amy. So long as you aren’t rude, I’m sure we’ll get by fine.” The red-haired girl spoke cheerfully with a bright smile.

“Call me Haiyoto. We’re here to help any time we can.” The boy assured them with a confident smile.

Exrite thought for a bit. These people had connections to the priestesses. He was sure of it – but who they were was a mystery. He took a deep breath and silently sighed before smiling.

“Likewise. Let’s get along.”

Suddenly –

“Woohoo!” The driver cheered as they snatched the leather reins in hand. “Heroes and the priestess’ buddies! We’ll make quick work of this trail!” A crack of lightning sounded before the horses roared into the night.

The carriage began to move in an instant, rocking and shaking as it traversed the uneven road. Soon, they were engulfed by the glowing forest.

Exrite thought he heard wrong, but when he looked over at Khaos and Frosty, they also held the same shocked face as he did.

He heard correctly.

“Heroes? You three are Heroes?” Khaos’ voice rattled with the caravan.

“But of course – we are the summoned Heroes of Truebirth!” The red-haired girl thrusted her arm into the air as the caravan bounced noisily. “Well, except for Lizen.” Her follow up was meeker as she pulled her arm back.

Beneath the sea of glowing orbs and battering winds, Exrite could only wryly smile. Hope’s optimistic words suddenly came back to him at full thrust –

This was probably the work of fate.