They called the dimness of the tunnels beneath the Elephantine Forest home and never did they travel too far east lest they come across Chozek’s men.

They took care to remain as silent as possible and only left their tunnels when absolutely necessary.

L’vanah and a few other high ranking members of the Children of Aviyv sat in Refu’s living room where they watched as his Uyil Belts swayed back and forth within his body.

His eyes were closed while everyone else’s were open and had a white glow which meant they were using Soul View.

With each sway, Refu seemingly pulled on is Belts to the left then to the right, pulling further with each swing.

He stretched them by tugging two of their ends and the further he stretched them, and the thinner they got, the less of him I could see.

It was as if he was slowly fading and this made his fellow conspirators gasp.

He eventually let go of his Belts and like that, he was back.

He opened his eyes as his small audience cheered.

“Amazing, truly!” L’vanah praised while everyone stood up.

“Yes! Now all I need to do is teach our men this technique and soon we will able to take their heads without being seen!” Refu celebrated.

“Yes!”

“Sure this calls for a celebration, no?” Refu asked but L’vanah's face quickly stiffened.

“No. We can’t risk having the dogs find us. They most likely already know and are waiting for the opportunity to strike so we must maintain our vigilance.”

Refu’s brows furrowed for a bit but they relaxed shortly after as he sighed.

“Alright.” He nodded and L’vanah nodded before leaving his house.

A few hushed cheers filled the air as she walked down a street lined with rickety wooden homes.

They lined one of the many tunnels beneath the forest and L’vanah's home was one of them.

She entered the small shack after walking the deserted street and I wondered again why they had chosen to sacrifice the comfort of their lives in Pele.

They didn’t have running water or electricity and had to hunt fearfully for food.

They were hunted as criminals and were branded as cultists.

What was their end goal?

Their main target was Chozek but what would they do after?

Y’shuah had a predominantly Sav’taist population so what did they plan to do with them in the slim chance that they succeeded?

L’vanah's home was small and consequently, it was sparsely decorated with only a small bed and a pedestal atop which a bowl of ocean water sat.

She knelt before the bowl and clasped her hands.

“Thank you, Father, for gifting us our path to salvation. We will use it to prepare this plane for the coming day. The day when all souls will sing your name in unison!” She prayed before removing the old rags that covered her body.

This revealed the countless scars that lined her skin and mostly her back.

She had gotten these after being caught as one of the perpetrators who tried burning my temple.

She was given a thousand lashes by whip and any time she got close to death, she was healed.

However, just before the guard completed her punishment, he stopped healing her making it so that the last of her lashes remained unclosed.

L'vanah confused me because I didn’t know what she wanted.

Why did she join the Aviyvists in the first place?

All it got her were cold scraps from communal meals and pain.

I shook my head internally.

On a more productive note, they had taught me something new.

It seemed as though, by stretching one’s Uyil Belts, one could somehow reduce their presence in reality.

But there had to he some sort of consequence.

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What would happen if the soul was stretched too far?

If an Uyil Belt broke, an organisms total existence or potential existence would be reduced.

I decided to shelve these thoughts temporarily and returned my perspective home just as the sun began to rise.

I then snuck out of bed, taking care not to wake Tal up, and made my way into to the kitchen where I made her breakfast.

She awoke soon after and promptly ate before heading to school.

Part of me wondered if there was somehow a way for me to catch a glimpse of the woman she would become in the future but I realized that there was joy in not knowing and in waiting.

I tidied up and returned to the bedroom where I closed my eyes and widened my perspective.

I wanted to check up on my other key denizens so I turned my focus to the far south and checked up on an aged Ed who sat on the porch of a beach house by Kimbilio’s shore.

Sitting next to him was his son, Chibuk and the two stared silently at the horizon as the sun steadily rose.

Ed may have gotten really old but he was still very active in governing Kimbilio although the title of Prime Minister now belonged to his son.

A native of Kimbilio, he had followed his father’s steps and the people accepted him as the heir of his father’s will but it was also common knowledge that he was a restless fellow.

He was never able to sit still and even as he sat next to his father, he tapped his heal.

Ed noticed this, through weary baggy eyes, and gently placed his hand on his son’s forearm.

“Mmm?” Chibuk sounded as he stopped tapping his foot.

“Nothing.” Ed wheezed before returning his gaze to the horizon.

“Huh… did you ever see yourself here, dad?”

“Not at all. Heck, there was a time when I didn’t think I would live to see the next day. But I learnt long ago that Our Lady is forgiving, above all else. After all, she allowed this foolish old man to father such a wonderful son.” Ed smiled and this made Chibuk smile as well.

The two returned their gazes ahead and it seemed as though the two were content with simply watching the sunrise so I turned to Mpole who had been moved to a hospital after growing far too weak to live on her own.

Her condition was stable and Akili often visited her with his children.

She questioned his bizarre relationship with women who were significantly older than him but he always brushed her concerns aside.

However, regardless of how stubborn the General was, she loved his children very much.

I turned to Akili who sat in his office with General Tuko who had come all the way from Hatua to discuss something.

The two officers sat silently in the dimly lit room for a moment with Akili’s uniform being a deep blue and Tuko’s being a dark brown.

Tuko, although only in his mid fifties, was really old for a Fire Breaker but he was remarkably healthy and served diligently as Hatua’s General.

“Let’s talk war, boy.” The aged warrior growled while retrieving a silver case from his breast pocket.

He opened it revealing a row of cigarettes, one of which he placed between his lips.

His eyes flashed blue and a spark appeared at the end of the cigarette.

It wad just strong enough to light it which brought a smile to the veteran’s face.

I had introduced the humanoids to tobacco since its all I remembered anyone having in their hands during my days as a soldier.

People needed ways to cope with whatever they were dealing with and sometimes, a cigarette was all that kept someone from stepping over the edge.

“Do you know how big the next war will be, mmm? Think about when King Mlezi burnt a third of the Forest Afor to crush his enemies. That… was big. What about when the Elephantine Forest was littered with the carcasses of-“

“And your point is?”

“Those wars, I feel, will be poultry compared to what I feel may come. She… she flattened a mountain, for fuck’s sake!” Tuko exclaimed making Akili deeply sigh.

“I… still don’t follow.”

Tuko nodded before taking a deep drag and leaning forward as smoke rose his nose.

“What if, hypothetically speaking, the next war involves more individuals like Ua, yourself, and yours truly? Our men won’t stand a chance in the face of those who can move mountains so I want us to invest in a certain project Mal’akh Musa is working on.”

“The suits?”

Tuko nodded.

“I know Our Lady, the most divine and kind, promised she would help us when our hours grew dark but… I think she is testing us. It seems as though, like any loving mother, she has allowed us to walk and has picked us up when we fell but I think she ultimately wants us to run ahead on our own and in order for that to happen, we cannot keep relying on her!” Tuko yelled.

Akili’s eyes narrowed.

His face then slowly thawed into a smirk.

“General Pazia warned me not to get caught up in your crazy schemes… Alight. I will also support the God Prince’s little project although I don’t think I need to tell you how he’ll react when he sees our ugly faces.” Akili chuckled and this made Tuko burst out in laughter.

“I know, I know. I’ll just use my Fire Breaker charm and say that all technologies are doomed to find military application, haha!”

The two continued laughing maniacally and its here that I decided to turn Northward to Saidia who bit her teeth fiercely while on her way to the HDA. Her grey eyes looked almost white beneath the soaring sun.

Tiyrah walked by her side and she bravely decided to poke her cheek.

“It’ll be fine-“

“When I get my hands on that old man, there will be no spell nor machine that will be able to mend the wounds I will inflict!” She hissed as Tiyrah patted her back.

“Let it go, my dear.” Tiyrah shushed but this did little to anger her wife’s anger.

“How can I? What will I say to Our Lady when she asks why Mal’akh Musa’s project is being used to kill her children?” Saidia cried as Tiyrah gently patted her back.

“Just pin it on the old fucker- also, it’s not like Mal’akh Musa will just give it to them so there’s hope.”

“Really?” Saidia asked with teary eyes and trembling lips.

“Yes. Now fix your face. You’re supposed to be the leader of Hatua and whatnot.” Tiyrah giggled making Saidia roll her eyes.

The two eventually made their way into Saidia’s office where she angrily fell onto her seat as Tiyrah placed a fairly small bag on the table.

It looked like Saidia was really worried about the implications militarizing Musa’s suits would have and while I shared some of her concerns, I knew trusted Musa would choose wisely and I also trusted him to be able to deal with the consequences of his choice.

I thought about appearing before Saidia just to make her panic some more but that would be far too cruel.

“You know what? I’m going to go pay Mal’akh Musa a visit and warn him of the old man’s shenanigans!” Saidia declared mailing Tiyrah’s eyes widen.

“Ooh! Can I come? I wanna see the dragons again!”

“Fine but first we need to finish the day’s work.” Saidia said while pulling out a folder from her desk.

“Wow… and here I thought the Tuko issue was serious.” Tiyrah groaned and I couldn’t help but chuckle at Saidia’s work ethic.

I thought back to Refu’s new technique and realized that while I had no use for it myself, it had potential for military use.

However, while I was definitely going to inform the scribes at the Great Libraries about it, I was also gonna tell them to keep it classified until further notice.