Meera didn't even realize that she was hyperventilating. Her eyes were not the only thing that had been damaged. Her face felt rough, and it burned with intense pain. She could imagine that it looked charred black.

"Breathe," said Oril. "Calm down and breathe."

"M-My eyes! What happened to my eyes?"

"We can talk about that later. First, let me do all I can to heal you. I may not be as experienced as some big city healers, but I have a skill to regenerate organs."

"Vitalize!" Meera spoke and wished she hadn't as her face screamed in pain.

"No, that only works for me…I have another skill that works for others. Try to be still as I place my hands on your face."

Meera clenched her fists and waited for the coming pain. She almost screamed when his hands landed on her face. His hands felt cold to the touch, which was a boon to her fire-ravaged face, but the pain was so intense it almost made her pass out.

Then relief flooded her face as the healing began. She added her power to his as she used Vitalize with her remaining Mana. She focused on her eyes, as she wanted those to return as fast as possible. She had a healing potion for the rest if Oril could not heal the rest.

It was slow going, but she felt something take up space in her sockets and push her eyelids open, which was another pain jolt through her face.

Then the orbs grew bigger, and the world began to come back into view. It was hazy at first as if she was seeing through a thick liquid, and even turning on Eagle Eye did nothing. Meera dropped Eagle Eye and focused on healing. Her power added to Oril's brought her eyes back in a few moments.

She wanted to weep with joy when she could finally see again. She was back in Oril's hut with soaking wet. Oril's face was drenched in sweat with a furrowed brow.

He let go of her face. "I'm out of Mana. I've done all I can. The rest, we'll have to wait until my Mana returns. In the meantime, I'll try to find some healing potions for you."

Meera had a healing potion in her bag. She ruffled through her bag to get it out. As she was doing that, she saw herself in her mirror chakrams, and she looked like something that had walked out of a nightmare. Her face was in four shades—regular skin, burnt, mottled flesh, and charred black. She would have run away from herself if she had seen her coming down the street.

She found her healing potion and guzzled that thing down. Oril returned with a couple of healing potions of his own. She downed those too. They had a bitter taste, but not too bad. She checked herself in her chakram again and sighed in relief. She was just about back to normal. She had some scabs left here and there, but otherwise, no one could have said her face was a burnt horror.

"What happened?" Meera asked again.

"Your eyes lit up on fire when you sat down. It was slow initially, but then they were raging coals burning intensely. They-They melted your eyes and slowly burnt most of your face. I tried to wake you many times, but you were in a deep trance. When I couldn't take it anymore, I poured some water on you, but by then, the damage was done. What was it? Some curse those things inflicted upon you."

"Something like that."

Meera's Mana was empty, and she was sure it was the same for Oril. Plus, she had to take three healing potions, which meant she was nowhere near ready to use the Eyes of Your Kin skill again. This skill must've been created specifically for the hounds. She could only switch with other hounds, as the skill only saw them as Kin. She would have ripped the skill out of her and chucked it at the wall if she could've.

"No, not a curse," Meera confirmed. "It was a skill."

"Just what sort of skill melts your eyes and burns your face? And as a matter of fact, why do you have it?"

"I sort of picked it up along the way," she replied, without getting into details as it would surely open up questions about her class, which she figured she best kept quiet about. "It was my first time using it. I did not expect that sort of reaction. Thank you for healing me. What do I owe you?"

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

"Nothing at all. You got rid of those monsters. That is more than enough, so thank you."

Meera nodded, but the ordeal of losing her eyes had shaken her, but even more, than that was the revelation that those three figures in charred armor were hunting her brother. Is that what the mirror meant by trouble?

"You mentioned before that Rakinyes and their king destroyed this village," she said. "What is the name of their king?"

"The scourge of the worlds," Oril spat on the ground. "Rothedon."

The words chilled her to her core. That is who she had seen on the throne—the one with the red eyes and skull helmet.

"Tell me about him."

"Rothedon was a Cosmarian, one of the Old Ones. They were the first sentient race to inhibit the world. Some even say they came from the stars to seed the worlds with life."

"Rothedon did?"

"No, he came much later. His race, the Cosmarians, was here thousands of years before Mirithia first created humanity. Cosmarians were beings of much beauty and even greater intelligence. They were the shepherds of the worlds. They worked to make the worlds a better place. It is said they created the system to bring order to the worlds. But that is false. Everyone knows it was Midiea who blessed us with an opportunity to grow strong."

Meera squinted her eyes. "What did they look like? These Cosmarians. Did they have glowing eyes and wore fiery armor?"

It was time for Oril to squint. "How do you know Rothedon and his forces wear fiery armors?"

She shrugged. "I've heard some stories about them. Nothing in great detail, though."

He nodded in acceptance. "Everything was going fine until Rothedon became the Cosmarian king and decided that being a shepherd was not enough. In his bid to rule the world, he was crushed by the gods and confined to the ends of the world by Midiea and others. She also cursed him and all the other Cosmarians into the wicked forms they are in today. The ones we call Rakinyes."

"And if this happened thousands of years ago, how is Rothedon still alive?" Meera asked.

The old healer shrugged. "I don't know. I am unfamiliar with all the details of the fall of the Cosmarians. It is better to ask one of the more learned folks in the big cities. I just knew what my old Nan told me. She said Rothedon was working with Aetheron, which was why he was banished to those woods. She also said he is still alive, biding his time until he can escape his chains and begin his reign of terror again."

"It seems he has decided to begin his reign of terror by hunting down the champion," Meera said.

Oril sighed. "Aye, it would seem so. That's why he was here. The Champion had returned to the Forest of Rothedon for some business, and when he was done, he headed to Belacre and then to us."

Meera frowned. "Then why wasn't Belacre attacked?"

"Because Neel didn't stay in Belacre for a month. He stayed here with Niryn. The two had formed a friendship when Neel came here for the first time. Back before, we knew he was the Champion of prophecy."

"Can you tell me what did he do while he was here? The first and second time both."

"The first time, he hardly stayed for a few days. He collected some food from Niryn and moved on. It was about a month or maybe more after we heard the news of the Champion revealing himself, and better yet, it was the stranger Neel. We were overjoyed, and of course, the celebrations and all that. If you're coming from Belacre, you know about those. The second time he came through, we only knew about his coming once he left Niryn's hut on the day of departure. He stayed for a month, and the two were busy hatching up schemes or, so old Ressa said. I didn't know how true it would come out to be."

"What schemes were they hatching?"

"No one knows. We just knew that Niryn had a guest. Someone he was keeping secret from all of us. When we found out it was Neel, we were all cross with him. It was like he was hiding the Champion from us, as if we had plans for his life. Neel told us of his travels, how he dined with kings and people famous and influential, but now, he had work to do—prophecy work." His voice grew hard and serious. "I'll tell you one thing, that boy was not the same bubbly lad we had sent off six months ago. He had changed. There was a pain behind those eyes of his. Like he had grown years in a matter of months."

Meera knew her brother, and he was never serious about anything. The last time he was serious about anything, it was his ex-girlfriend, and their relationship had ended badly, to put it mildly. She hoped this wouldn't end similarly.

"How long ago had Neel shown up at your village last?"

"Three months ago."

So, whatever prompted that change in him occurred between those three months.

"Meera, but why this interest in the Champion?" Oril asked. "I understand he is famous, but you're not a bounty hunter or something, are you?"

"I'm his—wait, did you say, bounty hunter?"

He nodded. "We've got a couple of those in the past few weeks. The king has put a bounty on his head."

"Dead or alive?" Meera asked, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

"Only alive. Everyone knows the seriousness of the situation. However, some refute his claim as the Champion despite the obvious truth. Some fanatics, like the cult of Aetheron, wish to kill him, so he cannot complete his part in the prophecy."

"That is…" She was about to say idiotic, but she had seen a political divide among the masses back home. Even things that would be for the betterment of all were seen as negative by some people. So, of course, there were people here who would welcome the advent of the planet's rings—which were clearly not a dragon.

"Yes?" Oril raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, I got lost in thought. I was going to say that is…I don't know. People are weird." She let it go. "Can you show me to Niryn's home?"

"If it still stands."

Oril led the way, and she followed him out of the healer's meager hut.