The pain woke him up. Thrusting him back to the terror. The hounds, the vines, the fog. The fresh memories of those came pouring into his mind. He yelled in his bed terrified. His covers tried to strangle him, the fixings on his legs and arm locked him in place, the sounds of steam huffing were but an introduction to the incoming hounds. When nothing happened for a while, he frantically looked around himself, scared of attracting his enemies with his movements. But he did not see the fog, nor the vine, nor the dog. Instead he was in a clean white room.

It took him a few good moments and deep breaths to accept the truth about his surroundings. He was in a hospital bed. On the right of him were numerous medical machines, some checking his pressure, or heartrate, others there to feed him while comatose.

Sunshen looked at himself. He was wearing a patient gown, his body even thinner than he remembered. His fingers on his hand and legs still blackened at their tips, their length colored with a slight purple hue.

He...he survived.

The joy of the realization was marvelous. If he had any strength, Sunshen might have climbed out of bed and jumped around. He survived in the fog, somehow.

When the first wave of joy disappeared, he began making promises to himself.

To cut ties with the rebellion, live better, take care of Tatiana, to become a son his father could be proud off...He nodded his head to the rhythm of his new resolutions, as the door to his room opened wide.

The beaming smile of Jack Herner appeared in the doorway, along with the man himself.

"Great to see that you have woken up Sunshen! We were afraid."

"Yes, thanks...Sorry that I...that I did not pass."

"On the contrary my dear friend! You have passed with flying colors! You would have died had the patrol not found you, sure, but you managed to kill one of the beasts! That is much more than I had expected!" Herner almost sang his praises. "Truthfully, I am very proud that it had been I, who introduced you to the rebellion."

A warm feeling rushed through Sunshen's tired body, but he tried to resist it. Still, it felt much better than anything else he experienced in the last couple of months. He had planned to leave, but he did not have to do it right away. He figured it would be awkward to shut down his first visitor plainly.

"What about the others?"

"They are...fine. Naheila is healthy and ready for action. Gret...not so much."

"The fog got to him?" Sushen worried.

"No, nothing of the sort. You do not have to trouble yourself with him, its not that bad, he is being taken care of." Herner gazed out into the wall for a bit, before his familiar smile returned to his face. "Enough of the almost died story, let's focus on the positives!" Herner proclaimed as he stood up.

"It is my great honor to introduce you to the inner circle. From henceforth, you are expected to attend and contemplate in our meetings and are of great authority to the majority of the rebellion. Do you accept?"

Sunshen did not accept such an outcome. Not only had he almost died in the fog, but he had basically no contributions to his name. Why would Herner want him as an inner member? Why did he want him in the whole rebellion at all? These questions started to weight on Sunshen's mind, as the initial joy vanished.

"That's a lot of responsibility, would you mind if I thought about it? Came back with an answer. "

Herner's smile fell a bit, as he straightened and fixed his tie. "Mind? No, we do not mind. Thinking about it is to be expected. Do not think too long though, you never know..." he said with a forced smile. "I hope that you will have a speedy recovery." He said as he left the room in a hurry, leaving Sunshen alone in his hospital bed.

I have to leave. He though, but the idea of losing the sole opportunity he was given seemed like a waste. When would he ever have the chance to prove himself. If another chance would ever even come.

He gazed upon the tips of his fingers, how blackened they still were. A sort of echo pain still ringing through them. They may never return to the blissful ignorance in which he had kept them his whole life. Sunshen had always been careful when it came to his sole functional arm, scared of breaking it, or maiming it even slightly. He had only one after all. But now it would also bear the scars of what he had been through, maybe just little remnants, but still. The feeling in them wasn't the same as before.

It was easier for Sunshen to think while looking at his hand. It was maybe the dearest thing he had left...and he knew that no rebellion was honorable enough for him to lose it.

He gave his word so easily, so nonchalantly before. He had sworn. Yet, he would not abide by that promise. It was time to treat the world as the person Sunshen was. A crippled son of a noble. Nothing more, nothing less.

That was when his gaze turned to the small table beside him. He noticed a small envelope there. For the little piece of paper it was, it was also embroidered with little golden roses and similar pictures. It was lavish. So Sunshen was pretty convinced of who might be its author. That made Sunshen doubt that its contents would be pleasant.

Still he decided to open it and read the letter within.

"To Sunshen, today I have been informed of your dangerous voyage to the lands of the mist. You have yet again disregarded my wishes and orders, by venturing outside and endangering the continuation of our lineage. Thankfully, I had sent for patrols once your maid informed me of your prolonged absence, which found you and took you to the medical center. The time is nigh for us to sit and talk face to face, as one patriarch to its successor. I am going to teach you of what I have been doing and what has to be done. You need to learn of your responsibilities as the next head of one of the four pillars of our great city. I have also learned of your theft of our families treasured possession, namely the clock of house Gureth that dates to the very beginnings of our family and I trust you will return it immediately upon your recovery. Nevertheless, I hope that your state will improve quickly. Signed, Magnus Gureth."

Face to face huh?

It was clear that this would be no pleasant conversation, probably the exact opposite. The same teachings and words of wisdom that Magnus always passed down upon his son. Even if he was used to it, the lack of any emotion in his fathers words still hurt. He was here, lying in the hospital bed and his father did not betray any feeling of concern toward him.

Sunshen shook his head and decided to let it be.

He had been resting, when a nurse walked in. She wore a gentle smile, though the bags under her eyes revealed how tired she was.

"Mister Herner informed me that you have woken up. How are you feeling?"

"Not bad."

"Any nausea? Feeling ill? Headaches?"

"Thankfully no, thank you."

"Anything I can get you?"

"Water please."

"Sure thing." she turned to walk out of the room.

"Wait can I just ask, do you know who took this letter here?" Sunshen hefted the envelope.

"Not exactly, but it seemed to be a servant of some lord or another."

"Alright. Thank you. That's all I needed to know."

Did not even bother to come see his son himself. Figures

----------------------------------------

His father had not been home when he arrived, much to his relief. If Sunshen could, he would postpone their talk as far away as possible.

Maggie helped him on the stairs, lending him her strength all the way to his room. She also supplied him with a number of curses and angry comments about how irresponsible and stupid he was. This time, he had agreed with her completely.

"You are lucky that I care about you. If I didn't tell Magnus that you were missing, you would be eating purple dyed dirt somewhere."

Sunshen wanted to complain, talk about how much of a bother his father would be now, how much trouble he was in, but he knew better.

"Thank you Maggie, if it weren't for you, I think I really might be dead by now."

"Yeah well...be more careful from now on. I don't want to be scraping your remains into an urn somewhere."

"I will try." He laughed. Making a defensive gesture.

"What's that?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Hm?"

"On the tips of your fingers."

"Oh this? That's where fog managed to seep into my skin." He replied. She visibly flinched at the thought.

"Does it hurt?"

"It did, a lot, but it mostly just rings now. I don't really notice it as long as I don't focus on it."

"The same with your feet?"

"They are a little worse for wear. Nut I will manage."

When she made sure that he was tucked in tight and that he had something healthy and filling to eat, Maggie sat down next to Sunshen.

"Okay, work over. What happened?"

"You want to hear the long story, with all the gruesome details, or a short one?"

"I want to hear enough to understand, but you don't have to tell me what that was like." She pointed at his feet.

"I don't want to talk about that either. Trust me."

Sunshen then told Maggie everything, about his misfire, Naheila and Gret, along with how he got lost. His rest in a cave and fight with the hound.

"I didn't have any more disks, not like they actually seemed to do much, but I had the family clock with me. I remembered what Gret told me and loaded them. It finally killed him."

"You mean the watch? Your fathers favorite?"

"Yes."

"Shot through a propeller..."

"Blasted to smithereens."

Maggie whistled then gritted her teeth.

"That will be tough to explain."

"Yeah..."

"But you came back. Magnus can be...well...Magnus. But even he will understand."

"Are you sure? This is the most important of our traditions. And not the first one I will botch for him..."

"If he doesn't he should. He is getting old anyway, he better get used to you being the next in line."

"You are only saying that because you ogle the position of our families advisor."

"Who else could be your adviser? I am the only human being patient enough to put up with your bullshit!"

"Right you are." Sunshen and Maggie laughed. Maggie laughed a hearty laughter, the kind that resonates through all glassware in her surroundings.

"What do you plan to do now?"

"Leave the rebellion."

Maggies eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

"You think I should stay?"

"No! No way. Honestly I expected that I would have to beat the sense to leave into you."

"Got it beat into me already."

"It seems you did...When do you plan to tell them?"

"Tomorrow, or the day after, depending on when I can walk on my own without tripping on every stone."

"Good. You do that. In the meantime, I will try to extinguish your fathers wrath...somehow."

----------------------------------------

His feet were still aching and swollen, making his leather boots highly uncomfortable, but he walked on. He had to get to the meeting after all, if only to announce his leave. Such things were basic courtesy.

The back garden of Herner's mansion was surprisingly empty. In contrast to his previous visit, the numerous tents were whittled down to only a handful, leaving the giant tent as a sole bastion in its surroundings. Well, sole was not exactly right, as the engineering tent of the Dok was there still, busy as ever. The burly man thrown things about, shuffled through crates, reorganized the storage and gulped down a pint of beer before Sunshen managed to close the distance to say hello. The man was fueled and driven, that much Sunshen was sure about.

"The young lad! Welcome back to the world of the living! Heard you got got good." The Dok said, stopping in his tracks to put his hands on his hips.

"You heard right, though I got through it much better than most."

"We would not be talking about it if ya hadn't. But luck is a virtue too me-boy, don't squander it." the man laughed as he moved about his tent. "Any reason in particular to visit me, or have you just longed to see this face?"

"I guess I just wanted to say bye, I plan to leave."

"Leave where?" The Dok asked surprised. "I'd figure you had enough of the misty outside."

"I mean the rebellion. This encounter, it made me think. Maybe I am not cut out for this."

"Aye. Maybe not." The Dok said, calculating something with his gaze. He came closer to Sunshen and bid him to bent next to him. He then whispered to his ear. "I don't want to point fingers, but I would think long and hard if I were you. If you were an average Joe, nobody would care if you show up or not. But you aren't, are ya? And the folk around here are pretty adamant about this. It may seem that they are having fun, but Herner did not get this all together on a whim. I don't want to imply things I shouldn't, but you should maybe think again. Or at least think enough."

"Oh...alright. Thank you for the...warning."

"Ah! It is nothing." The Dok erupted into another fit of laughter and his usual noisiness. Though Sunshen Couldn't help but spot the sense of unease from the man.

What have you gotten yourself into Sunshen? He thought, as he was reaching the main tent, where the rest of the inner circle had been waiting. Their heads turned to him as he entered the meeting hall. Herner was bright and smiling as usual, Nataniel's eyes sad and kind, Percy hard and angry, but he did not avert his gaze as he would before, Naheila did not move a muscle, but her breathing became uneven and Gret looked elsewhere in shame. There were fresh scars on his body and blue bruises on his face, he must have had his share of problems during the escape. The others, Sunshen simply did not care about.

Sunshen stopped before his chair, unsure of how to proceed.

"The man of the hour!" Herner laughed. But his laugh did nothing to comfort Sunshen.

"Please, sit with us Sunshen. I think we can all agree, that you have proven yourself without doubt." Nataniel bid with his hand.

Sunshen accepted and sat in his place at the table, much to the displeasure of Percy.

"Now, we may begin at once." Herner stated as he stood up. "First reports. Starting with...you, Gret." Herner pronounced his name with disdain. Gret awkwardly stood up, bumping into the table as he did so.

"The beasts continue to multiply. Due to many accidents, caravans are few and far between, which made them group into larger packs. Their behavior as of late is aggressive and daring, bordering to suicidal...if they were easy to kill."

"And the hunt itself? Have you a trophy for us to present?"

"No, sir." Gret replied his tone nervous. "We did manage to kill two of the pack, but because of their numbers, we were unable to bring them with us."

"And who, prey tell, are the successful hunters?" Percy asked.

"Naheila and...Nahelia and Sunshen sir."

"And you were unable to score because?"

"There were too many sir"

"Not for Naheila and Sunshen." Percy replied.

"Care to explain how you managed to return alone? Near nine hours before any of your companions?" Nataniel asked. Sunshen was surprised by the anger in his voice.

"We were ambushed. Sunshen's weapon misfired, giving away our position. We got separated during our escape. I looked for Sunshen afterwards, but I only found a pack of hounds."

"So you have left your duty as a guide through the fog."

"I was doing my job sir! I didn't realize we got separated right until-"

"It was my fault I lacked behind. Please be lenient, Gret did all he could to help me."

Gret flashed a grateful look to Sunshen.

"What a team spirit." Herner said as he started pacing around the table. "This is what I value the most Sunshen. We need to stand together. Under the pressure of the world, of our glorious goal, we need to act as a unit. Forgetting our individual needs for the sake of greater good." He stopped behind Gret and put his hands on his shoulders.

"We need to understand why we are a cog, and what exactly do we need to turn. Unfortunately, I have noticed some people having second thoughts, which is completely understandable." Herner started massaging Grets shoulders forcefully. "Doubt is natural, I myself can doubt from time to time, but we must not let our vision be blinded by doubt. The ones I am talking about know exactly who they are."

Herner did not look at Sunshen, but still it felt as if his entire focus was on him. Did he know? Did Dok manage to inform him? Was this...a threat?

"When a person falls, they should get the opportunity to stand up. So I am now letting anyone who wants to confess something to speak. You will be forgiven."

Silence overtook the room. The pressure of it made Sunshen gulp in stress. Should he say something? Is this his last chance to back out? Or is it just bait? Is Herner trying to make him show his colors?

Herner slowly shook his head.

"It pains me to see how dishonorable some people can be. Not only does this person not say their intentions out loud, not only do they lie to me and all of you, they have purposefully gone behind our backs and have alerted the tyrant of our motive. Which is unforgivable."

Suddenly, Herner shook his hand and a metal needle dropped from his sleeve. He grabbed it and quickly lodged it into the side of Grets throat. The man started gurgling on blood, spitting it over himself and the table.

"How long did we know each other Gret? Thirteen years? You were like a son to me and you betray me like so."

"I...gh...n..." Gret mumbled through the blood that rose to his mouth. Herner twisted the needle.

"You what?" He asked, his tone in a twisted mockery of kindness.

"I...did...nought....gh..."

"Shame. Evil to the very end. No heaven for you dearie." Herner got closer to his ear and whispered, though his voice was still loud enough for everyone to hear. "The great mother would never open her gates for you..." He said as he finally twisted the needle out.

Grets body shook for a moment, but quickly subsided, leaving only light twitching and a stream of dark blood.

Herner straightened and brushed his bloody hand through his hair.

"Naheila, you are hereby promoted to the position of the hunt master. If you are unsure of your duties and responsibilities, please find either me, Percy or Nataniel after our meeting. We will tell you all you will need to know."

Then he smiled again and turned to Sunshen.

"Well. Now to the positives at least. What do you say Sunshen, will you join us?"