Shiru and Erna had finished unpacking the last of their things.

“Sorry for abruptly moving back here. It’s just that I really want to help Deag and the others.”

“Don’t worry. I wanna help everyone too!” Erna said as she helped her mother sort things into the kitchen.

“Alright, but I can’t just let you do as you please. Qualel, make sure she reads for at least an hour before accompanying her to the mess hall. Have her help out in whatever way she can.” Shiru said as a Kommáti suddenly appeared.

“Do I have to? Wouldn’t it be better if I went to the mess hall right away? Think about all the poor soldiers who are starving after working so hard all night!” Erna asked but Shiru gingerly ruffled the girl’s short hair before walking towards the door.

“Goodbye.” She said, ignoring Erna’s whines as she stepped out into Coh's outskirts which were filled to the brim with soldiers.

She navigated her way to upper Coh via a stone stairway that ran along what was once the southern wall.

Her chest then ached upon reaching the top.

She looked at the centre of the crater and saw countless magicians working tirelessly to clean the area around the dark egg.

Countless more soldiers stood around the crater’s edge and they would ensure that no one carelessly stepped into the crater.

Shiru made her way to the egg which dully reflected the morning sunlight.

She walked up to Serylea who held in her hands countless documents.

“How is it going?”

“Good, I suppose. The egg’s interior has been completely cleaned and we’ve set it up so that healers can take shifts to tend to… so that they can take care of her.” Serylea said.

“Good. Where is Deag?” Shiru asked.

“In the temporary war room a few minutes east of the outskirts. Why? Do you need help with something?”

Shiru shook her head.

“Quite the opposite. I want to help. I know I’m not good at much but if I can help even a little bit, I’d be happy.”

“Hoh? In all our years, this is the first time I’ve seen you be so… assertive.” Serylea said with a weak smile.

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Although if I can be completely honest, I feel I’m being… driven… controlled by an unseen force. It gnaws at my every passing thought and even though I know all this, I don’t plan on stopping it. I don’t plan on resting until-” Shiru stopped upon seeing that Serylea was staring at her with a rather concerned expression.

“Do you think that he’s feeling that way as well?”

“I have no doubt in my mind although my heart aches knowing this.” Shiru said before walking away.

She made her back to the bottom of the plateau where she made her way to the war room which was surrounded by countless tents filled to the brim with soldiers.

Standing around a table within were Thneia discussing something with Deag and Fìora.

“I’ll get straight to work. Fortunately, many of our recruits are almost done with their training, but I don’t think we’ll need that many for any of the projects we listed.” Deag said before realizing that Thneia and Fìora were looking at something behind him.

He turned around to find Shiru only she was wearing the UEF jacket on top of her simple brown grass. Her hair was still pretty long so it had to be tied into a ponytail.

Shiru walked up to a rather wealthy Deag and wrapped her arms around him.

“Good morning.” She greeted.

“G-good morning.” He said while gently hugging her back.

He eventually let her go allowing her to join everyone by the table on top of which sat a map.

“How are you feeling?” Fìora asked.

“Forget about me… how are you feeling? Both of you.” Shiru asked.

Deag sighed before tightly gripping the sword by his waist.

“I… don’t exactly know. All I can do is work to help those in need. My feelings can always be addressed another time.” Deag said even as his eyes trembled.

“I agree. They would have wanted us to keep fighting.” Fìora said although, unlike Deag, her eyes were steady.

“Good. Sorry, Ms. Thneia, but you’ll be working with we the uncertain for the time being.” Shiru said with a weak smile but the Draconic Knight shook her head.

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“There is no one else I’d rather fight alongside and feel free to call me Thneia. Also, since you’re here, I’d like to inform that the restoration of the stream is well underway. We are also going to restore what remains of Coh before setting up a new, proper camp in the Kommátia planes. Although soldiers have expressed their concerns about creating a base of operations on soil that has seen so much death.”

“Do you blame them?” Shiru asked as she inspected the map. She tried getting a sense of the scale of it all before locking her eyes onto the marker that symbolized Coh.

“Not at all, but the placement is beyond convenient.” Thneia said with a sigh.

“What about Eimval?” Shiru asked.

“Katsíki said we should scrap and salvage the cities and use the resources where they are needed. Watching over operations down there is Llana and she reported that everyone is working hard… they are beyond disheartened. People are asking themselves questions like: what is the point of fighting if this is the price we have to pay?” Deag reported.

Shiru nodded before looking up in thought.

“What’s the point?” She muttered.

“Have they lost faith in his vision of the Expanse?”

“I wouldn’t say that. But I sympathize and understand their grievances.” Deag said.

“Mmm…” Shiru sounded.

“What?” Fìora asked.

“People are losing faith, they are disheartened, as you said. Wouldn’t it be best if we gave them something to lift their hearts, something to flock towards and pray to in these dire times?” Shiru asked while Thneia stared at her scarily narrowed eyes.

“What are you saying exactly?” Deag asked with a frown.

“I’m talking about faith, Deag. Forgive me for this small tangent, but my husband, Yulie, was one of the few Ia who still worshipped the Black Flame and even though life for us Ia was dark, monotonous and depressing, Yulie never once allowed himself to give up. Keep in mind that this is before we had people like Katsíki to guide us forward. Yulie went to work every day on the third floor and even as his body burnt due to the Dark Marks, his spirit never broke.” Shiru said.

“Mmm… so you’re saying we should teach people the way of the Black Flame to give them something to cling to in these dark times?” Deag asked with a raised brow.

“I’m saying we should offer them the option. They should have something that comes in between their time at work and home to-“

“To distract them from the bleak truth?” Thneia asked.

Shiru lowered her head after Thneia’s deep voice shook her frame.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t trying to rebuff anything you said. I just wanted to make sure I understood it clearly and if that really is your goal I support it. Actually, our enemy has used this tactic since the beginning. I’m sure you all know of Summus. Well, many human priests and knights worship him and sometimes dying soldiers would use their last breaths to utter his name back during the great war. If we do this right, if we offer people avenues of worship and faith, it’d potentially reduce any overall discontentment they feel.” Thneia said.

The war room then fell silent.

“Mmm… alright, but the way of the Black Flame is barely practiced by anyone anymore-“

“Ah-“

Both Shiru and Thneia sounded in an attempt to interrupt Deag.

The two chuckled lightly and Thneia nodded, allowing Shiru to speak.

“That’s not entirely true. Ms. Llana is actually something known as the Dark Priestess and according to what little I’ve heard, she holds a wealth of information about the Black Flame. She could very well be the key to reintroducing her faith to the larger Rendaro population.” Shiru said but Thneia droned shortly after.

“Did I misspeak?”

“No, I just remembered that Rix should be on his way back with the Dragon worshipers. They could pose a problem especially of their beliefs clash with those of the Black Flame.”

“What do they believe in exactly?” Fìora asked.

“They think that we dragons are supreme beings who were originally supposed to rule this world but we were usurped by mankind in the Great War.” Thneia explained.

“Mmm… maybe we should find a way to incorporate one belief into the other.” Fìora suggested with a yawn.

“Are you tired?” Shiru asked but Fìora dismissively waved her left hand.

“No, I’m good. Anyway, what do you think?”

Everyone let out low hums as they thought.

“We couldn’t possibly do that, right? It’d be like rewriting the beliefs of hundreds of people and possible thousands in the future. If we go through with this, we may very well be rewriting history.” Deag said with a pained expression.

“True, but is that not what past scholars did in the past? Hasn’t our view on history been skewed by the biases of those who wrote it? You may not be aware of this yet, but we discovered many clues showing that mankind lied about something that, if revealed, could change the way we view all of history.” Thneia said.

“That may be true, but…”

“If you really are opposed to it, we’ll just find another way.” Shiru said with narrowed eyes.

Deag’s breaths grew visibly quicker, but he seemingly shook aside his concerns before nodding.

“Alright, let’s do this, but whatever we alter will need a lot of contemplation and consideration on our side. If we get even one thing wrong, the Rendaro of the future may suffer for it.”

Everyone nodded and Thneia raised her right hand shortly after.

She then created a pillar of fire in her palm.

“From what Llana told me, the Black Flame is the centremost part of the cosmos. That from which everything comes from and to which all shall return as ash. Incorporating dragons would be easy if we simply say that we are… vessels of the Black Flame?” Thneia said although she didn’t seem very confident in what she’d said.

“Perhaps we should consult Llana about this. Shiru, you should go. You said you wanted to help, right? Then use this as an opportunity to assess the situation in Eimval as well.” Deag said.

“Alright!” Shiru said before leaving the war room.

“Raer?” She called, her voice almost muted by the countless others in the outskirts.

A Kommáti appeared next to her and she took its hand before asking that it take them to one of the many teleportation platforms.

She then asked to be teleported to Eimval and she let out a light gasp upon seeing the city’s state.

She stood a few hundred meters away from the city itself but no matter which part of it she looked at, all she could see was rubble.

What was once a landscape of buildings and busy people had been reduced to a pile of scrap and debris.

Even the mesa atop which the high office once sat was gone.

Shiru trembled at the thought that there were beings could cause such destruction.

“Where is Llana?”

“In a tent to the east.” Raer said.

“Take me there, please.” Shiru said and just as she blinked, the Kommáti teleported her in front of a certain tent.

Two Custodians moved to question her but they just as quickly stopped upon seeing the Kommáti.

“Hello. My name is Shiru. I’ve been sent by Deag to have a word with Ms. Llana.”

“Come in.” Llana said from within the tent prompting the Custodians to move aside.

Shiru entered the tent to find Llana sitting behind a table which was covered in various documents.

“Hello-“

“What do you want?” Llana snapped. Her helmet was off and this allowed Shiru to see the thin black crown on her head. Her short, white hair allowed Shiru to see the it clearly.

“I’m here to ask you a few things about the Black Flame.”

Llana’s eyes narrowed.

“Sit.”