The wildfire could have spread far wider if the firefighters hadn’t arrived early. The aftermath of the forest fire was littered with burnt trees, charred soil, and ashes. The air was still thick with smoke and the smell of ash, seeping into the nostrils of the firefighters.

Gabriel sat on a log with Donna and Fluffy before he started to walk around. While Donna was playing with Fluffy by touching his nose and fur, Gabriel silently observed how others were doing their work. He noticed their muscular body and dark green skin, but that was all he saw because they were well-equipped in yellow uniforms, black boots, and red helmets. At that time, he didn’t know they were from the orc clan.

“I found a body!” A firefighter shouted.

His shout startled everyone, but then an orc in a black uniform stepped out and calmed them down. Then he and Sophia went to the body.

The body was lying on the ground, and his clothes were covered in charred and blackened patches. But the most noticeable detail was the bullet hole that went through the cloak and the man’s head.

“Hmm… Just like what you reported.” The orc said as he pulled his pen and a piece of paper.

“Yes, Captain Ellos. I killed him in self-defense.” Sophia responded.

“Please, Miss Sophia. Ellos is good enough. There’s another guy, am I right?”

“Yes. I ran after he threw the fireball. I think he couldn’t control the fire and died.”

“No other details?”

“I have told you everything. I went to see the meteorite crash, but there wasn’t anything there. Then I saw the cultist and chased him. But how could you rescue us so quickly?”

“We saw the forest fire on our way to see if the meteorite affected anything. And you found the two in the hideout?”

“Yes, there wasn’t any information about him on this quest and he doesn’t remember anything as far as my interactions with him go,” Sophia said as she pointed her thumb at Gabriel while still facing Ellos.

“I see…” Ellos quickly glanced at Donna who was happily playing with Fluffy.

“I-” Ellos interrupted by Sophia.

“Can- Can you do me a favor, Ello?” Sophia said as she hit her head gently and sighed.

“What is the matter?”

“My wooden carriage is around here somewhere in this wood. I need your help to get it for me, please.”

“Hmm-” Sophia interrupted Ellos again.

“Oh my poor carriage, I just couldn’t stop myself from rescuing a small girl…”

“Miss, it is fine. We will go and take your carriage back.”

Ellos rallied his men into two teams. He assigned each team a mission, finding the final body and retrieving the carriage. As they were leaving for their own respective mission, Sophia waved at them. But once they were out of sight or busy, she quickly ran to Donna and Gabriel and took them to somewhere deeper in the forest. Fluffy followed them in curiosity.

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“Donna, I need your help,” Sophia said cautiously.

“You need Donna?!” Donna said excitedly.

“Yes, don’t speak about Gabriel being that to anyone else. This is a secret between us three.”

“What?” Gabriel asked softly.

“Trust me on this one, Gab.”

“I am Gabriel.”

“I know but that name is such a mouth- I mean Gab is short for Gabriel.”

“Can Donna call you-”

“We’re getting off track,” Sophia said as she lowered herself to Donna’s height and whispered to her ears. “Donna… Gabriel isn’t an angel, you don’t know who he is, but he was captured. And don’t tell them I told you so.”

“Donna understood!!” Donna said excitedly

“Good, now go back to log and play with… Fluffy?” Sophia finally noticed Fluffy who had been scratching her leg for the past few minutes.

Sophia picked Fluffy up and handed him to Donna before giving both of them head pats. Donna excitedly ran back with Fluffy. Gabriel almost followed the two of them but then Sophia held him back by grabbing his hand.

“I need to confirm something…” She pulled out a small marble. “What is this shape?”

Gabriel tilted his head in confusion. Seeing this, Sophia put away the marble in her right pocket.

“Sphere,” Sophia said.

“Sphere,” Gabriel said as he pointed to her pocket where she put her marble away.

“... Interesting… The golden citadel… What do you know about that place?” Sophia said carefully as she stared at Gabriel.

“What is the golden citadel?” Gabriel’s face was still as confused as ever.

“What is this? Selective amnesia… No, that’s just stupid…” Sophia mumbled as she bit her nail.

She circled around Gabriel constantly examining his body with her sharp eyes. After a minute, she stopped in front of him and crossed her arms.

“Everything about you… It’s like a blank sheet.”

“Sophia…” Gabriel said in a concerned tone.

Sophia noticed Gabriel’s worrying, and then she grabbed his hands.

“Please, for now, don’t transform unless I tell you to.”

“Yes.” Gabriel couldn’t find a better word to show his agreement.

“For the sake of Donna, me and you. Please, promise me you won’t.”

“I promise,” Gabriel said from the bottom of his heart.

As they smiled warmly at each other, they heard a gentle melody. Its notes descended gently like leaves dancing in the air. It surprised Sophia who immediately reached for her guns while Gabriel stood there curiously finding where the music came from. Then, Sophia sighed in relief as her ears managed to track the music coming somewhere near the log.

By the time Gabriel and Sophia arrived at the log, everyone had returned. Ellos was talking with Donna while others were resting around the wooden carriage. Sophia jumped inside the cart to check her supplies. They didn’t touch anything of her, even the tied-up man who was associated with the cult. After covering the man’s mouth with a piece of rag because he was so annoying, she jumped out of the cart with a bottle of booze in her hand. As she opened the bottle and was about to chuck down her booze, Ellos approached her.

“Ellos!! Thanks for carrying my carriage. How are your findings going?” Sophia smiled.

“No luck in finding the second body… But the good news is we can leave this place now since there is no trace of fire left.”

“Oh… Don’t worry!! I have some boozes here….”

“Thank you for your graciousness. But if we leave this place now, we can return to the village before midnight.”

“C’mon, no need to rush. I will pop some bottles and you guys can play musical instruments-”

“Music?!” Ellos interrupted Sophia.

Ellos and his crew went silent, whereas Sophia, Gabriel, and Donna were dumbfounded. Then, they looked at each other in confusion before Ellos turned his head to Sophia.

“No one in my crew can play music.”

When the two moons nearly reached their highest points, the crew were returning back to the village.