“Mmm…” I droned as I sat with Farin and Yna in the silent, echo prone chamber.

“We inspected countless tablets and glyphs and they all speak of a unified empire of Haneem who lived all across Edenton's three continents. Therand, the one atop which we all live, Quitania to the far west and La-Alha to the north. Although I’m not sure whether Agna is a really large island or a continent.” Farin said while stroking his beard.

“Anyway, the Haneem were supposedly peace loving beings and this is one of the many temples where they worshiped and openly studied something they called The Great Truth. A finite series of laws and constants that govern reality. They also worshipped beings known as Caelasti or World Spirits. Beings that are the manifestations of the souls of large bodies in the universe like planets or stars.”

“Wow.” I gasped.

“Indeed. This is beyond fantastic. I plan on studying every inch of this place. Oh and apparently, the Haneem only ever had one king. The First King. I’ve looked around and there’s nothing that sheds light on what he’s real name may have been.”

“Whoever he was, I imagine that he and Luno spoke at some point.” Yna commented and Farin nodded.

“Indeed. Whatever happened between the Haneem and mankind must have been world changing to say the least.” He said.

“Mmm… you described the Haneem as beings of stone… but I find it hard to believe that they were literally walking piles of granite. Do you think they were made from Cavumium?” I asked.

“That is a possibility I would like us to consider as we learn more about them.”

“Mmm…” Yna droned.

“What?” I asked while sitting comfortably on her lap.

I was a little too comfortably and sleep was creeping in on me.

“The Caelasti… I have a feeling that they are real. Not only that, I feel as though Luno may have encountered the one on the moon.”

Farin and I gasped.

“Unless moons don’t count.” Yna said.

“No, I think you are quite right. Actually, that would explain where he got his name. But… Caligo is sometimes referred to as the Sun… could that mean…?”

We all sat silent as Farin’s words echoed in the chamber.

“Damn. Anyway, I’m happy you’ve made so much progress. I’ll drop by at a later date and make sure to tell me all you’ve learnt by then, ok?” I asked as Yna and I stood up.

“Alright.” Farin said and Yna teleported us back to Coh shortly after.

We made our way to the cabin in the dead of night and my chest ached upon hearing that Coh was incredibly silent.

More than it had been for a long time.

“Ah- we should check up on the Oasis tomorrow.” I said as Yna and I got into our sleeping positions.

“Alright.” Yna said.

Her voice lulled my racing mind and I allowed its echoes to sing me to sleep.

.

..

Yna and I awoke as the sun slowly rose.

We then made our way to the war room where Han sat by himself.

“Hey.” I greeted as we sat next to the lonesome Rendaro.

“Good morning.” He said while writing down various things into his book.

“How are things looking?”

“Pretty terrible. We at our most vulnerable right now. If Caligo were to attack now… well, let’s just say that I hope he is a man of honour.”

I nodded before remembering something.

“Oh- where’s Anhai? Did you assign a Kommáti to her?”

“The Kommáti who was already assigned to her never left her side. She is currently in the Western Wilds. We made sure to give her some supplies and a coffin for Nel. The rest is up to her.” Han explained.

“Alright. Keep an eye on her. I’ll go check up on Calëb and Serylea.” I said as Yna and I stood up. Han nodded as we left the building.

Yna knew exactly where the Oasis was and so we teleported to it instantly.

We stood atop a dune that overlooked the Foph settlement and much had changed since we first arrived.

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Firstly, a dark wall encircled the Oasis. Countless large, dark buildings were also scattered about.

We walked towards the Oasis before being approached by several guards who accompanied us to Calëb’s tent.

We eventually entered her room where she sat documenting various things.

Over the short course of a year, she had gained many wrinkles and had lost a significant amount of weight.

Her once large and proud muscles were shrunken and their poor state was emphasized by the black leather binds that Calëb wore.

Her cheeks were hollow and I could’ve sworn some of her hair was falling off.

“Oh?” She wheezed upon noticing Yna and I.

We sat opposite her as she loudly and painfully coughed.

“Ower, get a healer, now.” I said but Calëb frantically waved her hands.

“No! That’s not necessary!” She cried but I didn’t listen to her.

A healer eventually arrived but the man looked at me with a pained expression.

“What?” I asked.

“We have already healed the Arcusus several times this week, sir.” He said prompting me to glare at Calëb.

“Then what’s wrong?” I asked.

Calëb glared at the healer but I slammed the table between us with an open hand.

“What’s wrong?” I yelled.

“She… she is passively releasing her life force.” The healer said.

“Ahh…” I sounded.

I knew why Calëb was stressed but this was…

“Have you given up?” I asked.

“Mmm?” Calëb whimpered.

“Tell me if you’ve given up on living so that I may find your replacement-“

“No! You can’t do that!” Calëb said with eyes that glowed faintly green.

“Look at yourself for Pete’s sake! You’re falling apart and I will not share a seat with a walking corpse.” I hissed.

Calëb turned a trembling eye to Yna who simply crossed her arms.

“I… no… I can still do this-“

“Not in that state. Mmm… One day. I’m giving you one day to get yourself in shape. If you succeed, meet me in the war room. If you fail, you will lose your title and I will assign all administrative duties to Gid or someone else.” I said.

Calëb’s face twisted even more before a defiant frown suddenly appeared.

Her eyes then glowed brightly green and she began rapidly absorbing life energy from the healer next to us.

Her body twisted and convulsed for a few moments as it returned to its original size.

Unfortunately, this didn’t mean her muscles were back.

“Please… I can still fight.” She said with a lowered head.

“Tsk! That remains to be seen. You heard what I said. Now, if you would excuse me.” I said while standing.

Yna joined me in leaving the tent.

I let out a deep sigh before waiting for Yna to teleport us back to Coh, but she instead teleported us to a spot a few hundred meters north of the Oasis.

A place where a man hung from a circular crucifix.

Surround the crucifix were mounds of shit and waste.

“Hello, Petrus.” Yna said, but the man who hung simply let out a long pained groan in response.

His body was covered in open wounds and scars which were covered in shit and dirt, so I’m sure his body was writhing in pain.

Unfortunately for me, the heat from the afternoon sun caused all the putrid smells to rise and I almost puked a few times while standing ten meters away from the mess.

I looked up and saw that Yna was looking at Petrus with a strange expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mmm… he and I are guilty of the same crimes and yet here I stand. Free. While he hangs. I guess I’m lucky I bumped into you all that time ago.” Yna said with a faint smile.

“I suppose.” I said before realizing that we had other stuff to do.

“Anyway, let’s go check up on Serylea.”

Yna nodded before taking us back to Coh where we stood on a Teleportation platform which took us to an outpost in the Western Wilds.

We greeted some of the soldiers there before teleporting to Serenaya.

Any fatigue I felt was washed away by the energetic winds of the coast.

The air also had a different feel to it, but this wasn’t the time to sightsee so Yna and I made our way past the many people and buildings before eventually arriving at Serylea’s office which overlooked the pier.

“Oh, hey guys!” Serylea greeted energetically as Yna and I sat opposite her.

Her table was covered in countless blueprints and documents, but she dropped the one in her hands before leaning backwards.

“Hey. How are things around here?” I asked.

“Great! Although I feel like day fast approaches when I finally tire of eating fish.” Serylea said with a smile.

“Mmm…” Yna droned while looking at something.

“What?” I asked but Yna dismissively waved her hand.

I nodded before returning my attention to Serylea.

“So, with cold magicians, we’ll able to transport food across the Western Wilds and into the expanse. I’ve already finished designing the containers for all manner of items. All that’s left is the actually make them. What about you? How are things in Coh? I heard Caligo asked for a ceasefire, but… that doesn’t sound like something the Golden Prince would do.” Serylea said and I nodded in agreement.

“True. All we can do is prepare for the worst.”

“Oh, one of our scout ships reported that they saw another vessel in the sea. This report has yet to be validated, but I think there might be an island to the far west, no?” Serylea asked.

“You’re more correct that you think.” I said before explained everything Farin told me.

“My goodness!” Serylea gasped.

“Yep. Perhaps the ship your men saw belonged to the Haneem that Luno failed to kill. Although the killing part is a baseless theory of mine.”

Serylea nodded before a knock on the door interrupted our conversation.

“Ma’am, you’re needed in the testing facility.”

A voice said.

“Umm… sorry, I have to go.” She said but I shook my head.

“Don’t worry about it. Just send for me if you need anything, ok?”

Serylea nodded before leaving the room.

I then turned to Yna who was frowning for some reason.

I remained silent as she stared at nothing.

A moment passed.

Then another.

“Ahem! Let’s go back.” I said snapping Yna out of her trance.

She nodded before taking us to the teleportation platform and it wasn’t long before we were back in Coh.

We made our way back to the cabin where Yna sat on the bed while I paced back and forth.

“Ah, crap! We forgot to check out Eimval.” I said in the darkness of the cabin, but Yna didn’t respond.

“Hey, are you alright?” I asked.

Yna then looked at me with trembling eyes.

“Could you please go to the heart? I’ll join you in a moment.” She said rather stiffly.

I nodded before exiting the cabin.

I then made my way to the heart which was dark, thanks to the Moonless night, but I always found a strange comfort here.

I sat on the grass and playfully scooped up some of it before allowing it to fall.

I then heard some footsteps.

I turned around expected to see Yna, but standing by the heart’s entrance, was a petrified Timí.

I stood up and walked towards him as his body visibly quivered.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“M-my barrier… it’s gone.” He said.

“What the- what happened?” I asked with a frown.

“I don’t know.” Timí said with trembling lips.

We then turned to find Yna approaching the heart, only she wore nothing but a certain blood red gown.

She walked up to us with eyes that were just as shaken as Timí’s.

We all stood in silence as the night hung darkly above.

My heart then raced as Yna placed her hand above her belly.

“Katsíki, I’m pregnant.”