Both Princess Aoife and Prince Daith froze mid-step. Amongst the chaos of battle, they too had seen and heard their soldiers die, just like Ash had. He was sure he saw a man’s arm getting torn off, and even as he and Daith escaped, he had stumbled over the dead body of an armoured man.

“When did they start eating humans?” The Prince finally asked.

“I don’t think they did.” Princess Aoife scowled. “They wouldn’t eat their clothes and armour, and their bones as well. We would have found something, like we did with the horses.” She folded her arms. Despite her calm voice, her foot repeatedly tapped against the ground.

“Someone took them then.” Ash concluded. “Why?”

Both siblings remained silent. Why would anyone steal the corpses of fallen soldiers? Their gear would have been damaged beyond use, and bodies probably had no real worth to anyone.

“Necromancy?” Daith finally asked.

“The Oracle would have seen such blasphemy.” The Princess shook her head. “Perhaps an attempt at covering this incident up?”

Prince Daith pointed at the charred stone tiles, the remains of the two carriages, and the skeletons of the horses. “Unless they’re unfathomably incompetent, I don’t think so.”

Ash was inclined to agree. This wasn’t a very good job at covering the incident up, if that was the attackers’ goal. Besides, they were attacked by creatures, not people. Would mindless, wild monsters like those even have the intelligence to try something like that? But then… no other answer made sense either, though he didn’t quite understand what Princess Aoife meant when she mentioned the Oracle.

Prince Daith circled the remains of the convoy, looking inside what was left of the carriages. After a short while of worthless scavenging, Princess Aoife kicked a piece of broken wood. “Alright, we wasted enough time.” She pointed at the woods. “We either go look for the stolen bodies, or we head to safety. Now…” She folded her arms and looked at Ash and her brother.

“I’m leaving it up to you.” Prince Daith said. “You need to get to Bhaile-Morn more urgently than I do, Aoife.” The Prince shot a quick glance down the road. “And on foot, it will take us a few days at the very least.” He added, seeing his sister’s hesitation.

Aoife nodded. Her golden gaze lingered on the forest bordering the stone path. “I don’t like this.” She turned to look at Ash, who had remained silent so far. “What do you think, Ash Morgan? Your home is close by. Is bodies disappearing a common occurrence here?”

Ash shook his head. “No, not that I know of.” He scowled. “These woods are told to be safe, it’s the woods on the other side of the village that are home to legends. But nobody ever goes there, even children know not to step foot in that forest.” He looked around. These woods were bright, the light of the Spire passed through the leafy canopy with relative ease. Grass and weeds grew amongst the tree roots, flowers bloomed and life flourished. It was nothing like the forbidden woods on the other side of Serna, where light probably hadn’t touched the forest floor in centuries.

Princess Aoife pursed her lips. “No legends about body-snatching creatures, then?”

Ash shook his head. “No, there are legends of a snake who will lure people into a river and eat them… but its specifically said it lures living people.” This wasn’t some legendary creature’s work. Something else was afoot, he just didn’t know what.

Prince Daith let out a sigh. “So what do we do, Aoife? Head to Bhaile-Morn and try to find other survivors, or look for the bodies?”

Princess Aoife bit her lips before finally deciding. “I want to look for the bodies, I do. It isn’t fitting for guards who performed their duty to the very end to never even receive the honour of a proper burial. But we have no leads whatsoever. We need to head back and send search parties.” She looked at both of them with a torn expression. “We head for Bhaile-Morn.”

The stone paved road was overgrown at places. Where the light of the Spire never reached, moss grew from between the uneven stone tiles, covering large patches of the road. Lingering in those dark patches was an icy cold that made all three of them shudder. They hastened their steps, hurrying to step to the light once more.

Where the light of the Spire illuminated, colourful flowers bloomed, and blades of grass grew through the cracks on the stone tiles. It was warm, despite the cool breeze that occasionally blew. They slowed their steps here and let the light of the Spire warm them before stepping into another shadow.

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A few hours before nightfall, Princess Aoife’s steps slowed to a halt. “Let us take a break for today.” She stated coldly. “We’ve been walking for hours. We need to find food and water, and shelter for the night.” There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Ash scowled. It was still early to call it a day, they had a couple of hours of daylight still. He considered pointing this out, but a single glance at the Princess made him decide otherwise. Her brows were furrowed, and her lips curled down into a scowl. Her intense gaze was focused on the ground, she almost looked like she wanted to punch something.

“There used to be a few farmsteads by this road,” Ash instead volunteered what little he knew of this place. “They were abandoned later, and the people moved to Serna.” He was still a child when that happened, but he remembered the people’s stories clearly – their sorrow as they were forced to leave their homes behind.

The Princess’ face lit up. “Oh? Where are these abandoned homes?”

Ash pointed to the west, to the foot of the forest-covered hills. “It shouldn’t be too far away, but it will be cold, I’m sure.” He warned her. After all, that was why these people left their homes and escaped to Serna.

With renewed vigour, they set off westward. Almost immediately, they spied an overgrown path snaking through the tall trees of the forest, with patches of wildflowers growing wherever the Spire’s light touched.

“Have you come here before, Ash?” Daith asked as the young commoner led them through the forest. He chuckled and shook his head. “No, this is the farthest I’ve travelled my entire life.” He had never left Serna before, he never needed to. He never had the chance to.

“I see.” Daith muttered.

“Ah, I see it!” Princess Aoife exclaimed all of a sudden, brushing past Ash and running up to a dilapidated building they could barely see through the woods. As she approached it, her steps began to slow until she paused a few steps away from it.

A shadow covered the building, and the area around it. A tall shadow, dark and cold. The shadow of a man-made structure. All three of them turned their gazes north, where a castle stood tall atop a rather distant hill, obscuring the light of the Spire of Kindling.

The castle was far away, perhaps even days of travel from here. Its stone walls were tall and thick, and the flags that fluttered from the flag posts were too far to see their crest properly. The castle’s shadow covered the entire village, and the fields that once surrounded it. Now, these fields were covered in thick, dark coloured moss, and the farmstead was dilapidated, overgrown with plants that sought no light.

Daith’s lips curled down into a frown as he looked around. “When was that castle built?” He asked as Princess Aoife slowly stepped into the shadow of the castle. She wrapped her cloak tightly around herself as she took a few steps forward.

“About ten years ago, I think.” Ash shrugged. “I told you it would be cold. But at least it’s a building.” He stepped into the shadow. The cold made his hairs rise as he tried to ignore it. The shadow had been here for a decade, so it was exceptionally cold. He walked past the Princess and forced the rusted door open.

“We can light a fire to keep warm,” He suggested as he stepped inside. The wooden floorboards creaked under his weight. He scowled as he looked around – the glass panes in the windows were shattered, and that same dark coloured moss had crawled inside.

Daith lit a fire with his mana at the middle of the room while Ash covered the windows as best he could. Princess Aoife went back outside in search of food and water, and soon returned with a couple of dead pheasants and an orb of water she was holding with her mana. They sat around the magical fire, and let it warm the forever cold house.

The orb of water the Princess brought back floated in the air at the corner of the room. The orb was larger than a person’s head, and containing it were golden threads of the Princess’ mana. The threads were woven into somewhat complex patterns.

“… it’s really not that weird.” Princess Aoife sighed. “So please stop staring.”

Ash pried his eyes off of the orb, and the golden threads of mana surrounding it. “Sorry.” He awkwardly smiled. “It’s fascinating, though I don’t quite understand how your mana keeps the water in an orb and afloat like that…”

Daith’s body lit up with golden mana. Strands of gold wrapped themselves around the pheasants the Princess had caught, and lifted them up on the air, above the magical flame they were sitting around. Ash’s eyes widened. There were no intricate patterns holding the pheasants afloat.

“See, that’s what I mean!” He pointed at the pheasants.

“I don’t think I follow…” Princess Aoife scowled. “What are you talking about?”

Ash pointed at the orb. “There,” He said, “Your mana is woven into these patterns. His mana isn’t, it’s just wrapped around the pheasants. So I don’t understand how both do the same thing.”

Prince Daith’s eyes widened while the Princess shot her brother a quick glance. “I would like to-“

“No, you would not like that.” Prince Daith cut his sister off with a cold, sharp voice. “Moving on,” He turned his gaze to the startled Ash. “You can see the weaves of mana?” He asked with narrowed eyes. “That’s not what you said before, when you described the corrupted hybrid’s attack.”

“The creature didn’t have any kind of pattern, weave or anything.” Ash explained as both siblings glared at him with curiosity mixed with doubt. “Your spell does, though,” He pointed at the orb of water calmly floating at the corner of the room, then tried to explain what he saw in detail.

The Princess’ lips formed a thin line as she listened. “Don’t you two see it too?” Ash finally asked, only to be met with somewhat annoyed glances.

The prince pressed his palm against his forehead. He shot his sister a pleading glance. “How do I explain?” He asked with an irritated tone.