By the time evening came, Alza was eating dinner at the dining table with Faye. Myriam had cooked up platters adorned with roasted meats, freshly steamed vegetables, and fragrant, herbed bread. Despite the fact that the food was as excellent as always, the weight of Alza's thoughts meant it was difficult for her to enjoy her meal.

Even Faye seemed to have caught on. "Alza, are you okay?"

Alza forced a weak smile. "I’m fine, sweetie."

"Really? You don’t look okay."

"There’s nothing to worry about, sweetie, just eat." Alza said.

"Oh, okay." Faye muttered.

The mood at the dining table was somber. And neither side spoke at all. They just ate in silence.

The suffocating silence soon proved too much for Faye. The wildborn girl stared at Alza with determination. "Alza, you told me before that if something isn’t okay, you have to speak up."

Alza flinched, taken aback by Faye's directness. "Yes, I did say that," she admitted, her eyes meeting Faye's with hesitation.

Faye leaned in closer. "So what’s wrong?"

Alza hesitated for a moment, her breath catching as she wrestled with her thoughts. But eventually, she let out a sigh. "There’s…a lot that happened while you were gone sweetie."

"Like what?"

"For one, Elysia is…gone, for now."

"Don’t worry, Alza, you’ll find Elysia again eventually, but the journey to Pandemonia won’t be easy."

Alza was confused. The voice didn't belong to Faye, and as she raised her gaze from her plate of food, her eyes widened in astonishment. Faye's usual bluish eyes were now glowing with a radiant rainbow hue.

"F-Faye, you’re eyes, they’re- "

"Listen closely," the radiant-eyed Faye instructed. "As you travel to Selgrad, you'll come across the lifeless body of a wildborn monk. You must revive him and aid him, for he holds the key to obtaining the soul stone you seek."

"Sweetie, what in the world are you- "

But before Alza could process what had just occurred, Faye's body suddenly went limp, her head falling onto the dining table as she lost consciousness.

Alza gently carried Faye to her bed. As she laid Faye down, the girl's chest rose and fell in a gentle rhythm. She appeared to be in a deep and peaceful slumber.

After a moment of watching over Faye, Alza rose from her bedside and went outside of the bedroom, where she was met by Myriam. The wildborn maid had been waiting in the hallway, her eyes reflecting the same worry that Alza had.

"Is Lady Faye going to be alright, mistress?" Myriam asked.

"She’ll be fine, for now." Alza replied.

"What in the world happened?"

"I wish I knew, for some reason, I think Faye may have awakened the abilities of an oracle."

"Does that mean Lady Faye can see the future?"

"I…suppose so." Alza muttered.

"Perhaps we should keep this information a secret for now, mistress, oracles are highly coveted people and Lady Faye isn’t strong enough or mature enough to fend for herself." Myriam suggested.

"I agree, though I…am not sure how to process the fact that Faye might be an oracle soon."

"If I may be frank, I’m not sure how to feel either, mistress." Myriam said.

"Faye told me to watch out for the dead body of some monk when I head to Selgrad tomorrow, and said it would help me in my mission."

"And are you going to follow her instructions, mistress?"

"Of course, I’m not one to question an oracle’s advice." Alza replied. "But Myriam, if anything happens to Faye, you should bring her to Nia. I’ve never had an oracle awaken their powers in front of my eyes before, there could be side effects…like when they inevitably develop blindness."

***

The following day, Alza rendezvoused with Shion in front of the adventurer's guild, where a pair of sturdy horses awaited them. As they approached, Nia also stood there with a ready smile.

"I’ve already prepared horses for both of you, and filled in the bags with some dried foods and other essentials you may need." Nia said.

Shion smiled. "Thanks, Nia, appreciate it."

Nia smiled in return and then looked towards Alza and Shion. "No problem, best of luck to the both of you."

"Hold on, before we go, is there any last minute information you might want to tell us?"

Nia paused for a moment and pressed her hand to her chin. She paced around lightly as she thought, before raising a finger. "I…don’t think so, how about you two, anything you want to say?"

"I’m all good." Shion replied.

Alza took in a deep breath and let out a sigh. "You two know Faye? The wildborn girl that’s staying in my house right now?"

"Ah yeah, I remember her." Shion muttered.

"What about her?" Nia asked.

"Last night as I was eating, she suddenly…saw a premonition."

Shion raised an eyebrow. "Premonition?"

"Exactly, she suddenly spoke as if she was a completely different person. My suspicion is that she has somehow awakened the abilities of an oracle."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Nia’s eyes widened in surprise. "That…is certainly something, huh."

"Faye is exhausted and is still sleeping for now, but I was hoping you could help keep an eye out for her while me and Shion are gone, Nia." Alza asked.

Nia nodded. "I’ll be sure to visit Faye often and make sure she’s alright. Though if I’m honest, I’ve never dealt with a case like this before."

"Yeah, I’ve never even heard about something like this happening." Shion added on.

Alza sighed. "And I’m about as lost as both of you."

"Like I said earlier, I’ll be sure to keep Faye in mind, but if there’s nothing else, you two should go." Nia said, eyeing both Alza and Shion.

"Right." Shion muttered. The swordsman then leapt onto his horse with ease.

Alza took a slower approach, but eventually managed to mount her horse all the same. "Hopefully things will go without a hitch."

"I hope so as well, best of luck you two." Nia said.

***

Riding their horses, Alza and Shion began their journey out of Menon and towards Selgrad. They rode at a steady pace for several hours. They occasionally stopped so their horses could drink, but otherwise kept going steadily.

"So, what do you think exactly happened to Selgrad?" Shion asked, clutching at the reigns of his horse.

Alza shot Shion an incredulous look. "I already said my thoughts before, it’s probably just another power hungry necromancer who has some big ideas too grandiose for their own good."

"I…get that, but I still find it odd to hear about Selgrad falling to a necromancer like that." Shion said.

"Why do you say that?" Alza asked.

"Well, Selgrad has a reputation for hosting plenty of capable mages, mostly water based ones, but still."

"So what? It just means those mages weren’t strong enough to stop whoever was responsible for the plague."

"See, that’s the exact thing I find so difficult to believe."

"And why do you say that?"

"For starters, do you remember Galleus? The old necromancer who broke the seal on your coffin?"

Alza couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. "Yeah, what about that idiot?"

"He was one of the most notorious necromancers around…and I doubt that even he could take over Selgrad."

"What did you expect? That fool was gloating about the Necronomicon as if it were some revolutionary text."

"Exactly, and you mentioned before that the Plague Song was something you wrote in the Necronomicon, right?"

"That is correct."

"See, Galleus never once caused a plague of any kind for that matter. Which leads me to assume that he was incapable of using the Plague Song in the first place."

"It’s only natural, the Plague Song requires a significant amount of- "

Alza paused mid-sentence as realization dawned on her. The more Shion spoke, the more she began to suspect that the swordsman was right. There was potentially something or someone more sinister behind the plague that befell Selgrad. And if she were a betting woman, Alza had a good guess as to who may be responsible.

"Tell me, Shion, are you familiar with the demon princes?" Alza asked.

Shion shook his head. "I can’t say I know too much about them, never did pay much attention to history. What I do know is that they are all descendants of the ruler of Pandemonia, and that they are very powerful, though most people don’t really like talking about them."

"Can’t say I blame them." Alza shrugged. "But at any rate, I have a strong suspicion that one of them may be responsible for the situation in Selgrad."

"You’re suggesting that a demon prince had managed to conquer a mortal kingdom?"

"It’s a possibility, but there’s also a good chance that the demon prince in question did not do anything directly, only bestowed power to a person or a group of people and allowed them to do the dirty work."

"I don’t doubt that a demon prince could pull off something crazy like taking over a kingdom, but why do you think one is responsible this time, Alza?"

"It’s mostly just a hunch right now. But the demon princes have become more active, for example, the greater demons that led the attack on Menon and kidnapped Elysia were demon princes."

Shion’s eyes widened in shock. "They were? But how did you know?"

Alza averted her gaze from Shion briefly. "I…encountered them before, a long time ago."

"I see." Shion muttered. "I suppose it’s no wonder you could repel them back."

Alza nodded. "They are among the most powerful demons in existence with the exception of the Demon Emperor and Empress."

"Yeesh, well I’m glad that I don’t have to- "

Alza glanced at Shion. "Shion, what’s wrong?"

The swordsman pointed towards something in the distance. "I- I think I see someone there, he’s lying on the road."

"Let’s get to him then, maybe he needs our help." Alza urged.

"Right."

Alza and Shion galloped faster on their horses. Eventually, they saw an unconscious wildborn man. The man had short black hair that was accentuated by similarly colored canine-like furry ears. He was dressed in light garments, his feet clad in simple sandals, and a crimson red scarf was draped around his neck. A furry tail, its tip adorned with a splash of white, extended from his lower back, a distinctive emblem of his wildborn heritage.

Shion leapt off of his host and knelt down. The swordsman placed a hand on the wildborn man’s neck to check for a pulse. "Think this guy is dead."

Alza leapt off of her horse as well. "Hold on, let me look at him."

Alza examined the unconscious wildborn man herself. Judging by the absence of rigor mortis and the lingering warmth on his skin, she concluded that the man had not succumbed to death too long ago, perhaps just a few hours prior.

Her eyes took in the details, noting the freshness of his complexion, the suppleness of his limbs, and the absence of the usual signs of post-mortem changes. His body remained pliant, and his features had yet to adopt the pallor of the long dead.

"Step back for a bit, I think I can bring him back."

Shion lifted up his hands in dramatic fashion and took a few steps back. "You got it."

Alza placed her right hand just over the wildborn man’s forehead. A golden light emanated from her palm, and enveloped the wildborn man entirely.

Suddenly, the wildborn man began to stir as his limbs regained their use. He then slowly opened his eyes and raised up his torso, going to a sitting-like position. He then eyed Alza and Shion before speaking. "Who are you two?"

"I’m Alza and this is Shion, we’re adventurers from Menon."

"Menon? I was going there myself." The wildborn man said. He then slowly rose onto his feet, dusting off some dirt that clung onto his skin.

"At any rate, you two have my thanks. My name is Talon, and I come from Selgrad."

Shion tilted his head slightly. "Selgrad? We were just headed there ourselves, actually."

Talon arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh? For what reason?"

Shion began to speak. "Well, we were- "

But Alza placed a hand in front of Shion and interrupted him. "We were tasked by our Guildmaster to investigate the plague there. I’m surprised you seem…healthy."

Talon smirked and pointed a thumb at himself. "That’s because I’m a monk of the Waterway Monastery, disease is no threat to those who have mastered their body."

"I see, but why did you want to go to Menon yourself?" Alza asked.

Talon’s expression turned serious. The wildborn man then clenched his fingers into tight fists. "I had been away from Selgrad for months, actually. Only came back a few days ago. But when I returned, well, I saw how the place was and decided that I should get out and try to find help."

"What about your monastery? Is it alright?" Shion asked.

"The Waterway Monastery is fortunately outside of Selgrad proper, so it has remained intact. Though…none of the masters seemed keen on taking any action.""That sounds…odd." Shion muttered.

Talon placed a hand at the back of his head and sighed. "Tell me about it, just about everyone in the monastery doesn’t seem to care at all about what’s happening to the kingdom right next to them."

Alza placed a hand on her chin. "Are they usually passive to begin with? Or are the monks in your monastery usually more proactive?"

"It’s complicated." Talon replied. "The monks at my monastery generally disassociate themselves from worldly affairs, but a great plague befalling an entire kingdom is usually something I’d think they would involve themselves in. Waterway Monastery once lent its aid to places ravaged by war and natural disaster, so I’m confused as to why none of the monks there seem to care about Selgrad."

"I see…that does seem rather concerning."

"I know that something feels wrong…but there’s not much I can do about it for now." Talon said.

"In that case, why don’t you join us? We’re headed back to Selgrad ourselves to examine the situation."

Talon dropped to a respectful bow. "Thank you, I promise I won’t be much of a burden."