Kiran felt somewhat bad having to break the promise he made to Aphelia. He had said that he would keep everything about that cave a secret. But at the same time, he felt that keeping it to himself would not be a wise decision even if it meant having to break his promise.

After hearing Kiran explain everything about that place, he got the impression that Lucias was somewhat concerned judging by the expression on his face.

“Does Lady Meredith know you discovered this peculiar cave of hers?”

“Not that I know of,” Kiran said.

“You seem uncertain. Does she or does she not?”

His more serious tone caught him somewhat off guard. “As far as I’m aware she doesn’t know I found it. One of her servants stumbled upon me being there but they seemed willing, at least at the time, to remain silent over it for whatever reason.”

Lucias uncrossed his legs. “Yorais.”

“Yes?”

“In your opinion, is it at all possible that this cave and the strange woman within it could be the source of our problems?”

“It’s not outside the realm of possibility, especially given the large quantity of arcane roots described there. From my understanding of arcane roots, a high concentration of them is more likely to cause distortions and interfere with our reality. This was a significant problem for both of our species in the days preceding the great fracturing.” Yorais crossed her arms. “While we cannot be certain that this cave Kiran uncovered is the source of these problems, it remains a strong possibility given all that I’ve heard.”

Yorais came in handy for moments like these when arcane matters were put at the forefront. His own knowledge of them was severely lacking and practically zero other than the fact that he understood full well how much power they could give to someone and how they apparently could also distort reality under certain circumstances.

“It seems more clearly than ever,” Lucias said, “that it was a wise decision on my part to aid you all, especially you Kiran. You might have accidentally discovered the root of our problems therefore enabling us to finally solve them. It will require a willingness to pursue an investigation into this matter however, and I’m afraid that I nor my own people can do such a thing ourselves. Those among you must be the ones to carry out such a task.”

“Oh yeah?” Abigail said somewhat annoyed. “So, that’s how it is, huh? You’d have us do all the hard work. Why can’t you do it yourself?”

“Because doing so would cause immense conflict to unravel. But one of you or several of you, could go and reach this cave to see whether what’s happening in there is causing the problems plaguing our domain. And given what Yorais has informed me about, it seems more and more likely that it is.”

I was just starting to get comfortable here and now it sounds as if I may have to go back to traveling again so soon with the certainty of making an enemy out of someone who helped me previously. He felt a little bad about that, but at the same time, it was sounding like Lady Meredith might be part of the problem.

“May we speak for a moment amongst ourselves?” Rinas asked.

“Of course,” Lucias said. “Take all the time you need.”

Everyone began to bunch up together as Rinas appeared eager to discuss this matter.

“You know more about these things than I do,” Rinas said towards Yorais. “What are the chances that Lady Meredith is either intentionally or accidentally responsible for this?”

“Given what I know of arcane roots, there’s an immensely high chance. Although there could be nothing there, but I won’t know for sure unless I examine this cave for myself.”

“It appears then that we have little other choice than to pursue this then.”

“I agree,” Frederek said while Abigail and Zorge nodded their heads.

If they could resolve these problems by pursuing this lead, it would resolve so many other problems. Living in the fourth domain would become viable and they wouldn’t have to worry about the rest of the survivors who crossed into this domain as much as they currently were.

Starvation was a real concern, and while Lucias could tolerate the many dozens of them that arrived in his own city recently, even he wouldn’t be able to take on the burden of the rest of them.

Everyone began to face Lucias again with Rinas ready to provide a proper response. “We will accept this task. But you will have to entertain the possibility of things not turning out perfectly and that this will more than likely precipitate conflict. I assume that you are willing to accept retaliation from her in our pursuance of this?”

“I am willing. I have respected her boundaries as conflicts between us would do none of us any good. But at the same time, I see that it is necessary if we are to get to the bottom of this. Though neither I nor Lady Meredith have great relations, I never wanted to truly believe that even she would be capable of playing some kind of role in our domain’s current state of being. But evil lurks even in places we’re oft to not ever imagine. If she is indeed responsible, we must be willing to confront it and face it head-on. And if she isn’t responsible, I will try my best to repair things, although I fear that will not be possible depending on what all happens.” Lucias gestured towards the right of them. “Felmir, if you may, come here.”

A big white bear began to approach standing off to the side of the coalition.

“I have need of you in these trying times my friend. I ask that you help them make it safely to our western border. Can you manage that for me?”

“Of course,” Felmir said in a warm low tone.

“Felmir knows these lands better than anyone. He’ll make sure you reach the border safely avoiding any potential banespawn on the way. Just know that you’ll be on your own once you reach the border. We cannot cross into her territory lest we wish to earn the lady’s ire.”

“We’ll manage,” Kiran stated firmly.

“Good.” Lucias stood up approaching them. He looked at them each as he squinted his eyes. "It is in all of our interests that you succeed. Our liberation from this cursed darkness would allow us to flourish in ways we cannot under these circumstances. Do this, and I will guarantee all of you shall be rewarded immensely within these lands.”

* * *

Days later, Kiran sat with Lar, Juna, and Silvy enjoying one of the last remaining days they would all have together in Valak before some of them were to leave. They all gathered around inside a mess hall in an adjacent building to some barracks. He stuffed his face in with a fluffy loaf of bread.

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Juna looked down at her empty plate that just had bread crumbs.

Silvy laughed as she noticed Juna’s disappointment in not having any more to eat. “Would you like to have the rest of mine?”

She frowned and sighed. “No, it’s fine. I’m alright.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she said although not convincingly.

Lar sat across from him stuffing her own face with the last remaining piece of her bit of bread provided to her.

For whatever reason, Silvy slowly lifted the last remaining piece of bread she had while keeping her eyes locked on Juna. The piece of bread came closer to her mouth that demanded she toss it in, chew it, and swallow every good bit of it down that gullet of hers. Juna watched painfully as it reached her mouth and swallowed it whole.

Silvy licked her fingers clean and slammed her hand against the table. “That was much better than it had any right to be.”

“The only thing that might’ve made it better was if it was toasted a tad bit more,” Kiran said. “If only you could’ve toasted these loaves with that flaming sword of yours.”

“Are you serious?” Lar said with a serious face.

“What?” Kiran said with his hands thrown up into the air.

“The thought of toasting food with a flaming sword is a little ridiculous. Where do you even get these ideas?”

“It must come from that bum of his,” Juna said managing to get Silvy laughing.

While Juna smiled realizing she had managed to get them to laugh, Kiran felt happy seeing her in this state despite the playful jeer towards himself.

Here’s the old Juna I remember. He felt good seeing her spirits becoming seemingly better as time went on. Being able to joke was a good sign of that.

Chatter occurred amongst other separated tables in the mess hall. Several of the coalition’s faction leaders including Zorge, Frederek, and Abigail sat together eating food amongst themselves. Due to them being several tables ahead of theirs, he couldn’t hear a word from them while he could hear some of the conversation coming from a table towards their right.

“I’m telling ya, I swear I’m no liar!” Gerard furrowed his brows as he spoke amongst several other members in the coalition whose names escaped him.

“You’ve never had any luck getting with any women and now you expect us to believe you’ve found one interested in you from here of all places?”

“It’s the truth.”

“If it’s true,” another one said, “you better prove it then. Introduce us to her and then we’ll believe you.”

“You’ll just try to take her away from me if I do that.”

“What?” one of them said running their arm around the back of the others neck. “We’d never think to do that to ya Gerard! Come now, and introduce us to her you little weasel.”

“I know how you two are, and don’t even begin to suggest otherwise.” Gerard couldn’t help but look like a guy who was being endlessly teased by those he had close ties to. If he had indeed found someone interested in him, then that was a nice development for them even if his buddies teased him over it ceaselessly.

“Are you eager to get back on the road again?” Silvy asked.

“Not exactly,” Kiran said. “I feel like all I’ve been doing is constantly traveling.”

“You should be used to it at this point,” Lar said.

“I doubt I’ll ever get used to it entirely.” He made eye contact with Juna once more. “Have you decided yet on whether you’ll be accompanying us?”

“Oh, uh, I think I might actually just stay here and help everyone out in trying to find Noreko.”

“I see,” he said. “Well, the more people out there looking for him, the better chances we’ll have in doing away with him.” At the very least, the murders had stopped but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t eventually resume.

While Kiran and several others went to investigate the cave, the rest of them were going to stay here in Valak to continue settling in and trying to locate Noreko. Kiran hoped that by the time he returned to Valak, he’ll have been found and dealt with appropriately. Unfortunately, Noreko was quite capable of keeping themselves hidden making him think that would be unlikely.

“Well,” Kiran began to say once more, “we’ll miss having you around.”

She cracked a smile. “That’s alright. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you all again.”

“You never know,” Lar said. “This might be your last chance to ever see us again.”

“I suppose that’s true. Let’s hope that’s not the case. Do you know who all is going with you?”

“I don’t know yet. Besides Lar and I, Yorais is definitely going since she understands these things the best out of us all so she has no choice but to come along.” He caught Lar appearing somewhat apprehensive. “Is something the matter Lar?”

“What? No, everything’s fine.”

“It has something to do with Yorais, right?”

She didn’t respond to his question.

Juna leaned her elbows against the table as her hands held her head up. “Is there some tension between you and Yorais?”

“Those two have a weird history apparently,” Kiran said. “Don’t begin to ask me what all that entails though.”

“Really? I never would’ve imagined you two not being on good terms. You two look so much alike as well. If you two weren’t entirely different species, I’d think you were sisters.”

Lar appeared to grow increasingly annoyed. Luckily for her, this particular line of discussion ended right then and there.

A day later, Kiran went and retrieved his sword from the blacksmith. It was in much better condition than when he had left it with them. He held it with his hand lifting it to observe it.

“How’s it look and feel to you?” the blacksmith said.

The blade appeared sharpened and fixed up. The hilt also had new leather wrapping that wasn’t as torn and tarnished as the wrappings were before. Everything about it was better. “You’ve done good work.”

“Aye. I hope it’s of good use.” A woman began to yell from the back room. The blacksmith’s face turned sour and he began to scratch the back of his head. “I better go see what all the fuss is about. Come back if you ever need anything.”

Kiran left the shop and found himself back outside. As he walked along the street, his mind drifted off into thoughts concerning their upcoming journey.

He felt somewhat disappointed that he was to leave this place so relatively soon when they arrived. Neither he nor them could afford to stand idly by, however. That was simply the reality of things.

When he arrived in one of the buildings many of the coalition members had been staying in, Silvy waved towards him. He waved back and sat his sheathed sword up against the dark wooden wall.

“All fixed up now?”

“Yeah, it’s as good as new now.”

“I was a little worried you might not get it back in time.”

Thankfully the blacksmith repaired it sufficiently before they were to leave. As for Silvy, she appeared ready to go much like himself.

“How are you feeling about this plan of ours?” he asked.

“A little worried if I’m being honest.” She pulled her long red hair behind her left ear. “We’ve got to do something at the very least. If not us, then who?”

It felt like more often than not, if they wanted things to improve they had to be the ones to push things towards that direction. Unfortunately sometimes in the pursuit of making things better, things just end up getting worse. Even if some of his past achievements—if they could even be called that—made things worse in some ways, he had to at least be willing to not give up hope that instead of things worsening, things would in fact get better eventually.