Kiran walked down the endless steps of the tower all alone. As he made it to the second floor, he spotted a white cat with yellow eyes.

Lar rushed towards him and jumped into the air forcing him to catch them in their feline form. She pushed her paw against his cheek appearing somewhat irritated. “I’ve been looking all over for you,” she said as he pet her. “We’ve just reunited and you’re already leaving me behind.”

“Leaving you behind? That’s a little bit hyperbolic don’t you think?”

Lar squinted towards him as he held her in his arms. “Maybe.” She began to crack a smile and he felt that their time away from each other hadn’t distanced them emotionally towards one another.

Kiran began running his hand around their backside. The hairs gently brushed up against his hand as she appeared pleased whenever he did this for them. He scratched behind their ears as well. They knew each other’s pain points and pleasures quite well. He realized as he kept petting her that he hadn’t seen her take on her cat form for quite some time. In a place like this, familiars like Lar didn’t have to worry about maintaining their human appearance as much if they didn’t want to.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“I suppose.”

“Well then, we better get something to eat.” He motioned back down the spiraling steps as he kept holding her. Walking up and down them all day was starting to wear him down. At least going down was immensely easier than going up.

“By the way,” he said, “if you really ever did feel like I ran off, you can always telepathically communicate to me to let me know. I would’ve gladly come by earlier and picked you up if you had said so.”

“It’s still too draining for me to communicate that way,” she said. “I also didn’t want to bother you.”

“Well, I give you permission to bother me whenever you want. I’ll keep it in mind though that communicating that way to me is hard for you at the moment.” He ran his hand down their backside one last time until dropping them to his shoulder.

He had missed having her there like the old days when they’d travel together in the green fog-filled lands. Lar nowadays was almost always in their human form. Fighting as a cat wasn’t particularly viable for her since she liked to get up and close to her opponents much like him. Due to that, she needed to be in her human form to accommodate for that kind of fighting.

On the bottommost floor, more people were awake than when they had come from the tunnels beneath the tower previously. People prepared some of the food from the carts they had inside.

The smell of freshly made stew reached his nose. It had hints of garlic and onion that sent his head spinning. I sure have missed that smell. It reminded him of when he prepared meals back at the inn helping Della’s mother in the kitchen.

“You mind if I have some?” He asked an older gray-bearded man who stirred a wooden spoon around a black cauldron.

“Nay, I don’t mind one bit.” They grabbed a bowl and handed him a bowl full of the stew.

It smelled lovely to his nostrils. The steam coming off it hit up against his face as he stuck it closer to his nose. He then grabbed the tiny wooden spoon in the bowl and sent bite after bite into his mouth. “You want some?” he said towards Lar as they still sat on his shoulder.

They opened their mouth wanting him to feed them. He got a spoonful and shoved it into Lar’s mouth.

Admittedly, the stew wasn’t quite to his standards. He would’ve most definitely salted it a lot more if it were him making it. He’d also add a bit more garlic and herbs since he couldn’t get enough of those things. But all in all, it was a decent enough stew that he wouldn’t frown or complain about it. The only real food he might ever reasonably complain about was the kind that could barely be eaten due to either being rotten or burnt to the point that eating an uncooked leather boot would be a preferable alternative.

As he took another bite, he began to hear Lar cough. “You alright?”

Her yellow cat eyes began to water and she stuck out her tongue. “Yeah, it’s just…this stew is a bit hot.” The pitch of her voice became higher. “The more I eat the more…obvious that becomes.”

He was a little surprised. It didn’t taste hot at all to him. “What’d you put in this? My companion seems to think it’s quite hot.”

The old gray-haired man laughed. “An old man such as myself can’t tell you all of his secret ingredients. Sorry if it’s a bit warm for ya though. I should’ve mentioned that beforehand.”

“It’s not hot at all to me personally but my companion appears to not tolerate it as well.” They kept coughing and weren’t interested in taking any more. “You sure you’re alright?”

“Y-yeah,” she said in a pained tone. So Lar can’t tolerate hot food. Good to know. Although if the food didn’t taste hot to him, he wasn’t entirely sure how to warn them beforehand.

When he finished the bowl, he found his stomach sufficiently satisfied enough to quit eating. He handed the old man the bowl back and looked around.

His eye caught sight of Juna who stood near a woman wearing dark green robes near a fire. He decided he’d go see what Juna was up to since he hadn’t gotten much of a chance to speak with her since arriving at the tower.

Kiran and Lar came up to stand by Juna near the fire as they all faced the older dark-robed woman.

“Is he going to be alright?” Juna spoke with real concern. She kept her hands clasped together in front of her and her eyes appeared noticeably watered as they reflected the lit fire more so than usual.

The older woman with wrinkles around her face held onto Juna’s dog Fred and handed him back to her. “The medicine should’ve helped ease the pain, but—” she paused thinking for a further moment. “Have hope, is all I’ll say.”

“What’s wrong?” Kiran asked.

“Fred hasn’t been feeling well since we arrived in the fourth domain. This lady has been kind enough to help him and give him some of her medicine.”

Stolen story; please report.

The dog looked up to him with those big brown eyes. They appeared tired and in pain as Juna held onto them tightly. The last time he had seen Fred, he had been in good health and in good spirits. I wonder if he was already deteriorating before entering the portal or if that had some actual negative effect on him.

Fred began to whine and fuss as Juna kept holding on to him. “It’ll all be alright, you’ll be feeling better in no time. Just wait until more of the medicine kicks in.” She turned to face Kiran looking about ready to head off. “Heya Kiran and Lar. I’m, uh, going to go and put him down to rest. I’ll be back soon.”

He waved her goodbye feeling bad for her and the dog she held. Without a doubt she loved Fred and as for Kiran, he found himself liking him even if Lar didn’t. She certainly had more reason to love him than him though. From what she had told him before, Fred has been in her life for a decade or more so seeing him in this state must be quite difficult for her.

The older lady in dark green robes made a noise with her mouth getting his attention. “I couldn’t find it in me to tell it to her face but that dog’s not going to live for much longer.”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“I don’t have the faintest clue. All I know is that he’s suffering and if you ask me, putting them down is the most sensible thing to do.” She didn’t like having to come out and say it by the looks of it, but sometimes saying the truth even if it would be hard to hear was necessary. “I wanted to tell her that, but I’m a bit of a coward when it comes to giving bad news to those with fragile hearts.”

“That dog and I,” Lar said, “may have our own differences, but I do truly feel bad for the guy. Who else am I supposed to taunt when you’re not around?” Lar scratched his shoulder with their right paw a little.

“There’s nothing that can be done for him?” Kiran asked.

The older lady shook her head. “Wish there was.”

Juna was always so happy and outgoing. He felt bad knowing she would soon have to lose someone so dear to her heart knowing what it might do to her.

Not long after Juna had left, Kiran and Lar had settled near a brazier keeping to themselves. The warmth of the fire felt nice in the tower.

Juna waved at them without Fred this time around. “Heya, I’m back.”

“How’s Fred? Is he feeling better?”

“I think so. He fell asleep once I laid him down.”

“Well, he’s lucky to have you around to take care of him.”

“He really is, isn’t he? I’ve spoiled him for so many years.” She appeared a bit sad in those eyes of her as she likely knew those days were coming to an end without having to outright acknowledge it yet.

“But uh,” she said trying to change topics, “I suppose I should ask. How are you doing Kiran? Did you rest well? You looked really tired when we first arrived here.”

“I passed out pretty much right after we made it here. I’m feeling much better now though. Although I am still a bit sore. We had quite a lot of fighting to do before you all made it to us.”

She crossed her arms as she sat beside them. “I’m just so utterly relieved we found you and the others. When Lar said they suddenly began sensing your presence, I just knew we had to do something to find you knowing how dangerous this city is.”

“You came at the right time. We were staring death directly in the face.”

“I know. We were just doing some reconnaissance and knew we had no choice but to carry out an assault right then and there. Thankfully it worked out but I didn’t think the odds were great. Just maybe, I don’t know, try to come out the other side of a portal with us next time if we ever go through anymore. Why the heck didn’t you anyways?”

“There’s a reason why I didn’t,” he said.

“Is there? Well you better tell me why.”

He informed Juna about the strange circumstances revolving around his time entering the portal and leaving it only to reappear far away from everyone else. Her eyes widened over a dozen times and she appeared to struggle in believing half of the things he said to her.

“You three over there!”

The sudden announcement from someone caused Juna to yelp a little.

He twisted his body around only to see Abigail pointing towards the three of them as they sat together on the bottom floor of the tower beside the brazier. “It’s time you all come with me.”

“To where?” Lar asked.

“No questions! Just follow.”

Juna gave him a weird look. Kiran simply responded by shrugging his shoulders.

Rather than give Abigail a hard time, he and the other two followed her motioning by several carts and people standing around. Quite a few people came with the coalition from what he could tell. A lot of them at the time likely wanted to get as far away from the green cloaks since they had shown how problematic they ended up being. Thus, they chose to come with the coalition as they headed off to the east.

Not all of the survivors were just everyday citizens who once upon a time dwelled in Liall. There were plenty of sorcerers, sorceresses, and people who were once Liall city guards judging by the blue cloaks they still wore.

He began motioning up the practically never-ending staircase making his way up yet again. Abigail walked up the steps a few steps ahead of them appearing eager to reach a certain destination with the three of them as well.

“Where are you taking us?” Kiran asked.

“What did I tell you earlier?”

“Uh, I was just asking—”

She stopped and turned around with an angry expression. She came up real close and flicked his chin with her index finger. He gave her a weird look only for her to appear embarrassed having done that.

Abigail sighed and hid her face from them. “Just keep following me mongrels. No more questions!”

What is her deal? She really does confuse me sometimes.

They walked through floor, after floor, after floor, until eventually, they began to near the seventh floor that had actual windows, unlike the rest of the enclosed floors. For what reason Abigail wanted them to go there, he could not say quite yet. Soon he would find out.

After walking up so many steps, he was feeling immensely ragged and tired. His legs still hadn’t fully healed from all the work he had been putting in since arriving in the fourth domain. He needed to let them get some proper rest for at least a few days so they could heal back to the way they were during more optimal times.

When they finally reached the seventh floor, he began to see a bunch of figures standing around a big table. He couldn’t make them out individually due to the distance, but there were quite a lot gathered within. Some looked out one of the big windows along the four walls while others sat around in some banged-up wooden chairs.

Once they neared them, he began to recognize practically everyone.

“Alright, they’re here now,” Abigail said placing her hands on her hips. “Sorry it took me so long to find them. I had to go all the way down the tower if you can believe it.”

“That’s fine,” Rinas said. “Kiran. Lar. Juna. Please get comfortable. You may sit, stand, or even look out the window if you’re so inclined. But we all have much to discuss now that we’re all back together. A lot has transpired and we must begin to prepare for the immediate future. If we don’t, then I fear we will not make it for much longer.”

The atmosphere around everyone became quite tense. Everyone knew the talks that were to occur would greatly affect what was to come. For that reason, not a single person held a particularly happy face. Everyone instead looked quite serious.

Kiran breathed in and prepared for the coming talks that were about to begin with them in attendance.