Silence reigned as the man and his daughter stood on the balcony. Her expression was one of defeat, while the man watched the Spire of Kindling with a heavy heart and a faint yet hope filled smile.

Something tugged at the back of his mind. It demanded his attention, commanding him to look away from the beautiful view stretching before him. He knew this was a dream, he knew something demanded him to wake up. He didn’t want to, though. He wanted to see what happened next.

The man turned around to look at his daughter. His sharp features were familiar to Ash. Too familiar. He knew this man – he had seen him. He was long dead and buried in a sarcophagus.

“…Ash!” A sharp voice echoed in his ears, pulling his attention away from this dream, and his mind back to reality. The dream faded, and his vision darkened. He could feel his heavy eyelids, the bruises and cuts on his body, and the throbbing headache that made it impossible to think straight.

It took effort to open his eyes. The fading light of the Spire burnt his pupils for a split second, before being eclipsed by Inquisitor Victor’s face.

The Inquisitor’s relief was visible on his face. He breathed a sigh as soon as Ash opened his eyes, glancing at something behind him before showing a faint smile. That smile lasted very little though. “You’re either incredibly unlucky, or very lucky.”

A chuckle escaped Ash’s lips. “Lucky.” He decided, though his cracked voice was but a whisper. “Water, please.”

“Here,” He heard Kira’s voice behind him. She walked around and stood next to Victor as she handed him a small wineskin. “It’s clean water,”

As he lifted his head to thank to her, a sudden burst of emotions surprised him. As soon as he looked at her face, his heart skipped a beat. A wave of anger washed over him, mixed with confusion. His fingers twitched, nearly causing him to drop the wineskin.

“Are you alright?” Kira asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Ash shook his head, and quickly averted his gaze. His fingers clenched around the wineskin as he tried to suppress his sudden burst of anger. Those unusual emotions slowly began to subside, but he could still feel them, waiting just under the surface, ready to pounce out at any second.

He brought the wineskin to his lips and slowly drank from it. The fresh, cool water soothed his dry throat. “Thank you.” He muttered as he gave it back to her.

A few moments passed in silence before Inquisitor Victor spoke again. “I know it’s probably the last thing you want to do right now, but I need you to tell me what exactly happened.” His voice was stern, refusing wasn’t an option.

“The Apostle.” Ash pressed his hand against his forehead. “She and her men came while we were fighting a snake-like creature here.” He pointed towards the lake. “She killed it, then she killed the Instructor.” He paused, remembering how he didn’t even ask his name. “She took us to a cave-“

Something stopped him. All of his instincts were screaming at him not to tell too much. Distrust grew in his heart. Hesitant, he coughed to hide his sudden pause.

“Do you need any more water?” Kira asked.

Ash shook his head. Every time she spoke, every time he looked at her, he felt annoyed, angry. Hateful, even.

“She took us a cave northeast from here.” He continued in an attempt to suppress his distrust. Inquisitor Victor had saved his life before, he was Maya’s father, and he had spent so much of his time teaching them. He had given Ash no reason not to trust him. Yet for some reason, he found it difficult to speak.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“We found the cave. Ancient burial grounds.” Kira pursed her lips. “We found the results of her atrocities.”

Surely she meant the dead bodies. Ash clenched his fists. “She killed them, one by one.” Again, emotions that made no sense surfaced. Curiosity, mixed with regret and sadness. And that same, boiling anger beneath the surface, just waiting to burst. “I don’t know what she was trying to do.” He admitted while his emotions continued to betray him. A lump settled in his throat.

“I…” His voice faded. “I don’t think I’m ok.” He admitted.

“Take your time.” Inquisitor Victor showed him a reassuring smile. Kira, on the other hand, remained silent, though her expression did show some empathy this time. The cold, relentless woman that trained them in the Inquisitor’s absence wasn’t who she was at the moment.

Ash waited a few moments for these strong emotions to subside. “I think she was trying to resurrect someone. Her Lord.” She had said as much – what else could her lord rising mean? “I don’t know if she succeeded. I don’t think so.” Had she been able to resurrect that Duskborn, Ash wouldn’t have come out of there alive. He was sure of it.

“There was a stone sarcophagus at the middle of the chamber.” Victor scowled. “Did you see what was inside?”

Ash nodded. “A Demon.” He felt annoyed. “A Duskborn,” he instinctively corrected himself. “She was trying to bring him back, I think.”

Kira clicked her tongue. “What exactly happened during the ritual?”

Ash shrugged. “I don’t know.” He admitted. She had thrown him into the sarcophagus after all. All he remembered was mana filling the air until he couldn’t breathe anymore. “I don’t remember anything after that. Just that I woke up in the forest.” He felt satisfied with his answer. Something pulled at the back of his mind, a thought screaming for his attention.

“Damn it.” Kira hissed. “Are you sure you don’t remember anything else?” She asked narrowing her eyes with distrust.

“Kira, go to the northern gate and inform them of everything he told us.” Victor stood up and dusted his cloak off. “Make sure the guards arrived there safely as well. Ask for reinforcements and comb through the Shimmering Woods.”

The woman nodded firmly. “What about you?”

“Ash is unwell, he needs to be taken back to the Tower.” Victor folded his arms. “And I need to report to his Highness the Emperor, may he be blessed. The Prince will wish to know of this as well.”

Kira nodded again. “Let me take the child to the Northern Gate then. He is in no state to pass through the Howling Valley.”

The mention of that cursed place made Ash shudder. He certainly didn’t feel well enough to walk for a whole day on normal terrain, let alone in such a dangerous place. But his other choice was a day long journey with Kira of all people.

“No, he must come to the High Tower.” Victor shook his head. “He is the only sane witness we found, there will be those who wish to question him.”

Suddenly the decision seemed simple. He would greatly prefer to go to the Northern Gate with Kira rather than be questioned about this over and over again. He didn’t want to remember all that bloodshed. He was numb to it now, but only because he was still in shock.

“Very well,” Kira glanced northward. “I will join you at the Tower once we finish searching the Shimmering Woods and immediate vicinity.” She pushed a few strands of loose hair behind her ear. “Be careful in the Howling Valley – I doubt it, but it is possible that it chose that place to hide.”

Victor chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t think so.” He glanced at Ash and offered his hand. “Come on, let’s go back to the camp first.”

Kira soon left for the Northern Gate, leaving Ash and Victor to walk back to camp. The young man tired easily, but thankfully the camp wasn’t too far away. “Does she make you uncomfortable?” He asked the question that had been bugging him for a while now.

Ash visibly flinched. “She’s a bit frightening.” He admitted, averting his gaze. He ran his pale fingers across the shallow wound on his arm. It looked like a cut made with a blade. There was a small cut on his cheek as well, and more than a few bruises and burns across his body, partially hidden under his tattered uniform.

“If it hurts, I can heal you.” He offered reluctantly. Healing wasn’t his specialty, he could make away with the pain, but leave terrible scars behind. His mana wasn’t golden after all. Healing was one of the few types of spells requiring a certain affinity to work properly.

“No, it’s ok.” Ash shook his head. “It doesn’t hurt too bad.”

The rest of the way they walked in silence, with Victor observing the young man, and Ash lost in deep thought. His expressions changed constantly, from faint smiles to almost anger-filled frowns, to confusion and shock. He clearly was more shaken up by everything than he let on.

Victor’s lips formed a thin line. He couldn’t shake this feeling that he was missing something important. Something that was right in front of him this whole time. Perhaps he shouldn’t have sent Kira away – she was good at looking at things without letting her emotions cloud her judgement. Perhaps she would have been able to see what he was missing.

How had Ash ended up in the forest with nothing more than a few dozen cuts and bruises? And why were his clothes and hair soaked in blood?