“Ah!” Estella screamed as tears fell from her eyes.

“Dad, I thought you said no one could hear the song,” Kalos said as Raymond packed his things.

“No one can. She's probably feeling it's effects.” Raymond said.

“Then why isn’t it affecting us?” Crimwal asked as he packed his things as well.

“Well, my guess is that I have a degree of resistance to the song's effects and that resistance is passing on to you and Kalos,” Raymond said as the commotion outside got even louder. He walked back to the window and saw that the dreaded man was being stabbed to death by the knights.

“Ok, then what about Eevana? Why isn’t your protection working on her?” Crimwal asked.

“Well… she’s different,” Raymond said.

“Ah!” Eevana screamed again as she tore off her clothes.

“What the-“ Crimwal gasped as her body looked as though it was burning.

“Aaahhhh! Estella screamed prompting Kalos to rush to her side.

“Shh. It’s ok, everything is going to be fine.” Kalos said as he rubbed Estella's back.

“Dad, what do we do?” Kalos asked.

“We wait,” Raymond said as Eevana’s skin continued to burn.

Then, black markings appeared on her chest.

They spread out until they covered the top part of her torso.

“Wait a minute! Isn’t that-?” Crimwal asked.

“The old tongue.” Kalos gasped as he continuously rubbed Estella’s back in an attempt to comfort her as she wept.

“What’s going on up there?” A voice from below said.

“Dammit!” Raymond cursed as the markings on Eevana stopped spreading.

“What does it say?” Crimwal asked as footsteps echoed downstairs.

“Fear the coming of the autarch,” Raymond whispered.

Then suddenly several loud knocks came from the room's door.

“This is captain of the guard, Hagert Steelrun. Open the door!” A raspy voice called.

Estella had passed out and Eevana was sobbing in the corner of the room as Crimwal tried to comfort her.

Raymond walked over to the door and opened it slightly.

“Umm… can I help you?” Raymond asked the knights who stood behind the door, five in total.

“We’re going to have to search this room.” One of the knights said as he pushed Raymond aside.

“What is it you’re looking for exactly?” Raymond asked as he snuck a glance at Estella and Eevana, who Kalos and Crimwal had carefully placed on the bed to look as though they were sleeping.

“We received reports that a pregnant woman entered this room along with four others.” The knight said as he walked further into the room. His glorious silver armour loudly clanked as he walked.

The knight saw that Estella’s belly was indeed larger than normal.

The knight reaches out to touch her.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Raymond said, prompting the knight to stop in his tracks.

“Are you threatening me? Like I said, we just want to check if nothing suspicious is happening in this room and yet you have chosen to threaten me...” The knight said as he created a fosblade in his right hand.

Crimwal and Kalos noticed that its glow and overall brilliance was far inferior to the one wielded by Raymond.

“What I said was merely a warning and besides, I wouldn’t dare be as bold as to threaten a knight,” Raymond said, his eyes narrow.

The knight scoffed and pulled aside the blanket that covered Estella’s belly, revealing her large stomach.

“So she’s pregnant… take her away-"

“Ah!” The knight was interrupted by a scream outside the motel.

“You two, find out what’s going on out there. I’ll handle the witch.” The knight said as his men stormed out of the room.

Not two minutes passed before more noises and screams came from outside.

“What is going on out there?” The knight asked as he walked over to the window only to see dozens of men fighting each other. Some of them were knights, some of them were ordinary people.

“My goodness! You two, stay here and guard these people. I’ll he return once I take care of what’s happening outside.” The knight said as he stormed out, leaving Raymond and the others at the mercy of a few guards.

The chaos outside continued for several moments, but it eventually died down.

“Well, that happened.” Raymond quipped.

“Silence!” One of the knights said.

Crimwal then noticed something. Raymond’s aura was nowhere to be seen and Kalosýni’s eyes weren’t flashing.

The knight from before eventually returned, his armour stained with blood.

“You’re all coming with me. You, search this room for anything suspicious.” The knight said.

Raymond and the others were led outside and there they saw several corpses along with pools of blood covering the snow-covered streets painting them horribly in red and white.

The group were led to what Raymond recognized as the headquarters of the knights of Tolman.

They were then led into a cell below the first floor.

The knights locked their cell door and left them there.

“So… what do we do now?” Crimwal asked as he saw one of the knights sift through their things.

“Silence!” One of the guards barked.

“I don't know. The knights aren’t sure if Estella has a singing child or not. But the number of dreaded we saw outside makes a rather strong argument for the former.” Raymond said.

“Silence!” The guard yelled.

It was then that Crimwal notice something he should have noticed a while before.

Kalos was completely silent. He had carried Estella out of the motel and into the cell, while Crimwal carried Eevana. Problem was, the entire time, Kalos hadn’t said anything.

Crimwal snuck a glance at the boy and that he was locked in his dark silence.

Crimwal looked at Raymond and saw that he was looking at the guards. It was as though he was waiting for something.

Then, almost as if on que, the knight from before walked into their prison area.

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Behind him stood a tall woman with short hair which was purely white. Actually, her eyes were white as well. Her body was adorned in fine armour that even in the dimness of the holding area, sparkled gloriously.

“I’m telling you. It’s unmistakable, she has one.” The knight from the motel said as he accompanied the woman who looked like his superior.

“We should not jump to such extreme conclusions, Hagert. I want to see it for myself and besides, you do know what the presence of dreaded individuals means, right?” The woman said, her white eyes piercing into the cell.

“Y- yes.” The man referred to as Hagert said.

The woman then shifted her eyes between everyone in the cell from Raymond to Kalos, to Eevana, to Crimwal and finally to Estella, who slept away on the cell bench.

“I apologize if our treatment of you seems a little harsh, but you must understand. We lost a few of our men in a short amount of time and we must follow the appropriate protocol.” The woman said, her voice smooth and deep.

Crimwal couldn’t tell how old she was just by looking at her and her white hair didn’t help. She had smooth skin and youthful eyes which allowed Crimwal to make estimates.

“My name is Neelae Yolson and I’m the head knight of this town,” Neelae said.

“Yolson?” Raymond asked.

“Yes, are familiar with the name?”

“Mmm, Yes. Sounds familiar, is all.” Raymond said.

“I see. Anyway, that woman there, has she ever been attacked before? Specifically by individuals who seem possessed or deranged.” Neelae asked.

“No,” Raymond said with a straight face.

Neelae paced around the holding area.

“Are you sure?” Neelae asked while coldly staring at Raymond, who looked at her with equal amounts of intensity.

Neelae let out an inaudible sigh before taking out what looked like a pendant from her beneath her chest plate. It was attached to a necklace and had no distinctive design or features.

Crimwal glanced between Kalos and Raymond.

Their expressions were grim. Somehow, Crimwal didn’t believe Raymond when he said that this was the first incident where the dreaded appeared around Estella. He wasn’t sure about the details, but he knew that Raymond had lied.

Neelae ordered one of the guards to open the cell.

“Don’t mind me, I just want to confirm something,” Neelae said as she approached Estella who was being cared for by Kalos.

She extended her arm, which had the pendant, towards Estella and slowly, the pendant began to glow.

She walked closer to Estella and the pendant glowed even brighter.

Crimwal gasped while Raymond and Kalos stiffened their faces.

Neelae sighed before standing up.

“It’s a positive. Alright, take her away.” Neelae said as she exited the cell. The knights who guarded the cell entered the cage and approached Estella.

“Kalos, do you still want to protect that woman?” Raymond asked as the knights held Estella up.

Kalos didn’t respond.

“What we do here could make us the enemies of the order and perhaps the entire kingdom, so I as you again. Will you protect this woman and her child?” Raymond said in a tone so low, Crimwal, who was tensely listening, thought was impossible, by human standards.

“Yes,” Kalos whispered as the knights took Estella out of the cell.

“I didn’t hear you! What did you say? What will you do?” Raymond yelled.

“What the-" Neelae gasped as she turned to find a rising Kalos.

“I will protect her no matter what!” Kalos declared.

“Good. Then I shall protect you in turn, my boy. Now do it! Release all of your power! Show them your determination! If I’m going to be an enemy of the order then so be it!” Raymond said and in that instant, the world was plunged into darkness. True darkness that ate away at any light that dared exist within its domain.

“Good! My turn!” Raymond said and in that moment, the world became grey.

All of the knights who were in the room collapsed, Crimwal as well. Leaving Neelae, Hagert and Eevana.

“What have you done?” Hagert asked as he forged a fosblade.

Meanwhile, Eevana was writhing on the floor as the mark on her chest glowed even brighter.

This time, the black symbols burnt like fire.

Hagert must have seen this as well and in a moment of pure panic, he dashed towards Raymond who’s eyes were dyed in black smoke.

“Hagert stop!” Neelae screamed, prompting the knight to come to a stop.

“Why? Uh-" He then noticed that Neelae was missing an eye and half of her face was covered in blood.

“Head knight, what have they done to you?” Hagert yelled while pointing his fosblade at Raymond.

“Put your sword down now and kneel! Kneel before the eminence!” Neelae screamed, her throat strained by the weight of the darkness.

“What? You mean he’s the-"

“Just shut up, kneel and beg for forgiveness!” Neelae said as she grovelled on the dirty floor.

Hagert didn’t know how to make sense of any of it. By appearance only, Raymond was an old man with the rugged appearance of a farmer, but the aura he emitted was probably enough to knock out all of Tolman.

Hagert couldn’t kneel to a monster that could single-handedly incapacitate an entire town full of knights.

Wait a minute! Hagert thought.

Who’s to say if the others were unconscious?

There was a possibility that whatever Raymond was doing had a limited range.

Hagert then decided that it would be best to put down his enemy and ask for forgiveness than risk losing his life and that of his superior who seemed to be under the influence of whatever magic Raymond had cast.

Hagert tightened his grip on his sword and lashed out at Raymond, but then in an instant, Raymond’s body was enveloped by darkness, only for the darkness to fade revealing a fully armoured Raymond.

He was clad in a gunmetal armour that was extensively damaged, but that didn’t take away from its overall gloriousness.

Hagert swung his blade at Raymond but his heart sank when the fosblade was instantly absorbed by Raymond’s armour.

“What the-“ Hagert managed to let out a choked line before he collapsed. Blood trickled out of his mouth, eyes and ears.

Raymond then made his own fosblade, his one possessing serval times more magical energy than that of Hagert. Kalos followed in his father’s steps, formed a full set of glorious armour and forged a great sword.

Both of them then placed their swords near Hagert’s neck.

“Please, Stop! I beg of thee, oh eminence of light. Spare my men, for they cannot see your light.” Neelae begged.

Raymond was about to chop off Hagert’s head, but he turned to his son for insight on what their next move would be.

The last thing Raymond wanted to do was make Kalos feel as though all this had to happen.

No, Kalos needed to know that every decision they made on their journey would have consequences.

“What should we do?” Raymond asked. His voice echoed in the darkness.

“No.” Kalos simply said, prompting Raymond to nod and absorb all of his power.

Kalos did the same and the world returned to its original form.

Neelae shed tears as her men showed signs of movement.

“We are not worthy of your mercy, your grace,” Neelae said as she hiccupped.

Kalos and Raymond destroyed their armours. Kalos quickly ran over to Estella who had been removed from the cell by the guards.

Kalos checked and saw that she was the only one who wasn’t convulsing in pain. He then noticed that she was still wearing the necklace he gave her. He wondered if it played a part in protecting her.

Kalos shook those thoughts away as he carried her to the table near the cell.

Raymond carried Crimwal and Estella out, then placed them near the table as well.

Meanwhile, Neelae hadn’t stopped grovelling.

“Hey you, stop that! Aren’t you daughter of the Yolson family, or something?” Raymond asked while scratching the back of his head.

“For your grace to know the name of this one's family… it’s… I’m…” Neelae said as she continued weeping.

“Stop it! And go get some help, your eye is bleeding.” Raymond said as he helped Neelae stand up.

Slowly, her men started regaining their consciousness’s as well.

“Ugh… what happened.” One knight asked.

“No idea. It was like, the world ended for a moment there.” Another said.

“Wait a minute-" Hagert said as he stood up.

“Head knight, what happened?” Hagert asked.

“All of you, kneel now!” Neelae yelled as she took a knee.

The knights all looked around in confusion.

“Please, before my voice leaves me. Kneel. Kneel before the eminence.” Neelae said, her voice slowly fading.

“The eminence?”

“He’s here?”

“Could that be?”

“My goodness, I can’t believe we arrested the eminence.”

The knights spoke among themselves as they knelt one at a time.

Hagert was the last to kneel.

“Umm… this… this really isn’t necessary. I was the eminence, but a long time ago. A really long time.” Raymond said as he continued to sheepishly scratch his head.

“Wait- could it be? You’re his eminence Raymond Yulrun?” Neelae gasped.

“What? That’s impossible! Eminence Raymond died many years ago, right?” Hagert asked.

“I heard that he was never actually found and that after he betrayed the order, he went into hiding.” One of the knights said.

“Wait a minute, wasn’t that ages ago? How long do eminences live for anyway?” Another asked.

“Silence!” Neelae yelled, silencing the room.

“First things first, we must prepare an apology for the eminence. Hagert, prepare the best rooms in town for the eminence and his companions. I’ll take care of everything else." Neelae said, her face still facing the ground.

“Oi, I’m serious. You don’t have to-"

“Right away ma’am,” Hagert said, completely ignoring Raymond.

“Your eminence, this way, please. Men, prepare rooms at-"

“No. I want to stay at The Saepenar. We already spend our money's worth.” Raymond said while puffing his cheeks.

“I see. Then we shall return your items there right away. Men! At once.” The knights grabbed all of Raymond’s groups things and stormed out of the building.

Raymond and the others were eventually escorted out of the holding area, then out of the building. On the streets, dozens of people awaited them.

Whispers about the previous eminence filled the air. Some of the people looked at him in awe while others displayed signs of animosity and suspicion.

Raymond and his group eventually returned to their room, which to everyone’s surprise, had been restored to its original cleanliness.

Kalos placed Estella on the bed and Raymond placed Eevana next to her. Crimwal had regained his consciousness so he plopped on a nearby chair and let out a loud groan.

After bowing several times, the knights eventually left the room while repeatedly apologizing.

“Why?” Crimwal cried.

“Shh!” Kalos said as he covered Estella in blankets.

“Why what?” Raymond asked as he too plopped down on his chair.

“Why do we always get into these complicated situations where knives or various weapons are pointed at us. First Llendor, then Ianndor and now Tolman.” Crimwal said with a single tear falling from his eye.

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to go on an adventure. We could die at any moment, Kalos excluded. You should have been prepared for the worst.” Raymond said as his stomach growled.

“Damn, I’m starving,” Raymond said.

“Yes, well I’m sure that even an eminence such as yourself needs energy,” Crimwal said with lowered brows.

“Give that eminence stuff a rest. I lost that title many years ago.” Raymond said with a darkened expression.

Crimwal decided to stop prying because if there was anything he’d learnt so far in this journey, it was that Raymond and Kalos were two extremely powerful existences.

If the worst were to come to pass and Estella were to get hurt or die, the world would pay the ultimate price.