As they followed Aaramis--the others seemingly content with the stressful silence that followed--Sia slowly grew more and more uncomfortable. Her skin pricked, uneasiness pushing her to fall to the back with Ilias, before her discomfort won out. She mentally swore, pushed down her hood, and picked up her pace to draw even with Aaramis.

"Did...did you have a place in mind?" she ventured.

After all, the man hadn't paused once since abandoning the other group behind him. Rather, he'd kept to his quick paced, long strides; they'd already passed the edge of town as a result. At her question, he shot her an expression that clearly asked where she thought he was going if he didn't.

"...we saw tracks on our way in."

"Oh."

Another silence.

"...have you been to this area before?"

The expression she received as a result questioned why she felt the need to talk. She almost backed down, biting the inside of her cheek to hold the emotion from her face.

"I have."

"Oh." Mentally, Sia slapped her head into her hand. Was that all she could say? "Was it to fight the lizardmen?" she asked. "I thought it was a private contract."

He ignored her, eyes following Gideon. During the walk, the bard had been quietly studying their path, the sun, and everything around them--no doubt keeping track of their location. Which was likely why he was the first to notice something important. His eyes seemed caught on something just off the path, lips pursed. Seeming to feel their attention, he glanced over, fingers drumming against his thigh.

"We might have a problem."

Sia stepped up alongside Aaramis to study what she now recognized to be tracks. There were a few dozen species of lizardmen in the valley, so she didn't find it odd that the overlapping prints were each slightly different from the other. What was strange was the depth and size. Her memories of the valley were hazy, but she knew the creatures were usually lanky in build--not bulky as the implied weight would indicate.

Aaramis grunted. "You might, perhaps. This is within expectations for us."

Irritation sparked under her skin. "How so?" .

How was it that the djinn justified being so hostile? Their reputation amongst other guilds might have labeled them as oddballs, outcasts, and the like, but that didn't justify this. A vague memory of the last article she'd seen the mage in flickered through the back of her mind. Stoic, brooding, and brusque. That's how it described him.

Gods, next time she saw a reporter she had half a mind to set them straight.

He ignored her, eyes trailing the tracks to where they slipped into the thick undergrowth. "These are fresh. They won't be far."

How did he know that? They were tracks in dry dirt.

Gideon frowned, but didn't argue. Sia reminded herself about his request that they be civil. The bard tapped the back of Ilias' hand, ignored the surprised squeak, and gestured at the hollow of the Ilias' throat. Seeming to catch on. Ilias reached for the talismans that hung over his collar.

"You're going to want someone with ranged attacks," Gideon instructed quietly--no doubt the tone was intended to keep from startling Ilias further. "Valda or Yrlissa, depending on their circumstances for today."

Ilias nodded, passing his fingers reverently over the bird talisman. Some of her irritation faded at the familiar sight. He'd be summing Valda, then, his eagle familiar.

She'd always thought Ilias' magic was interesting. Rather than fight himself, he called celestial beasts into the mortal plane, borrowing their magic through a contract only the warlock himself knew the details of.

Gideon looked to Aaramis. "You've got a plan, I assume? If you're so well-informed."

Sia couldn't help the snort that escaped her. The bard always had such a polite way of calling people out. Even she likely wouldn't have noticed how irritated he was if she hadn't been familiar with him.

Aaramis glanced over his shoulder at the question, legs already halfway buried in the undergrowth. His expression made it clear he hadn't intended on explaining himself. He opened his mouth--no doubt to say the same--before pausing, his eyes catching on Ilias' hand.

"Summoning magic?" he asked, interest lacing his voice.

Gideon sighed. His palm caught Ilias between the shoulder blades, before he pushed the fainthearted warlock forward. Ilias had the look of a panicked deer as his eyes darted between Aaramis, Gideon, and back. His hand clenched the talisman tighter, as if that could hide it from view.

"Ah, y-yeah, I use summoning magic?"

And there it was--Ilias' habit of making even truthful statements sound like unconfident questions.

Silence fell as Aaramis simply studied him. Sia wanted to punch him for no other reason than the way Ilias shied back from the critical expression.

"Does it matter?" Gideon asked, raising a brow. "Ilias is just as capable as the rest of us. So, does it matter what form his magic takes?"

"No," Aaramis replied dismissively. His fell away as he turned back to the tracks and shoved undergrowth aside with his foot. "Was simply surprised. Summoning is useful, just not common."

That said, he started forward, without waiting for any response. Sia suppressed a groan as she plunged into the foliage behind him, shooting Gideon an expression that clearly said, 'you chose this.' He hadn't. She could have followed Cross. But, the look made her feel better.

The unwise urge to pick a fight with the mage sparked in her chest.

"You never answered him," she pointed out. "Your plan?"

"Don't need one."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"What?"

He glanced at another track, changing their direction. "Lizardmen, corrupt or not, are simple prey for someone of my skill."

She stared, incredulous, as he strode forward once again. What part of that was she even supposed to question first? His ego?

Corruption?

"What do you mean, corrupt?" Gideon asked, his mild tone echoing her shock.

Unbidden, her mind summoned memories of the temple. Of midnight-cloaked priests being shoved behind iron bars as they screamed. Of black fingernails. Sleeves dragged back to show hidden, bulging veins. Bloody weapons.

Sheet-covered corpses.

"Corrupt," Aaramis repeated with a mocking snort. "As in...corruption. Does the term usually mean anything else?"

Sia once again resisted the urge to strike out. Just once was all she needed. One little tap to knock the arrogance out.

"You don't have to be so rude," she pointed out. "It was a reasonable question."

Aaramis pointedly looked back to the undergrowth. "If you believe so."

She did.

There was no reason for others to suspect corruption in the valley. If she had considered it, Sia might have suspected it, but even she--with all her personal knowledge--would have struggled to be certain. Corruption tended to linger around mad or corrupted gods. Those born from dark beliefs. While the resulting infection--capable of driving a monster, or even mortal, mad--had been growing in prevalence in recent years, given the fact that Aether's main temple laid deep within the valley, no average person would suspect corruption of being able to take root. It was too divine.

It could, though, because there was no divinity to be found there anymore.

Her hands twisted into her cloak alongside the sensation of a thick sludge of guilt entering her gut.

The temples were empty.

"Do your friends know about this?" Gideon pressed as her mind spun.

Gods, what if something happened to the others? What if one of them was bit? Cross could handle himself, but what about Oren? Who was his last copy...Hawthorne? Fear kindled alongside the guilt. What if he had grabbed someone else? What if he got infected?

"They know," the djinn stated. His eyes skimmed the trail again, before he paused. His head titled as if listening to something imperceptible by the rest of them. "We came here with the same purpose, after all."

"To exterminate corruption?" Sia questioned, suppressing her fear. She would just have to trust that he was okay. Aaramis' companions didn't seem weak. "Isn't that a job for priests?"

It wasn't as if adventurers weren't hired to weed out corruption. They were. But, it was usually a well-paid, high-ranking job. Just a suspicion of it could turn a C-Rank job into an A, as the monsters crept up to alongside the same scale. Not something just anybody would seek to take without reason. The risk of infection just wasn't worth the payday. Especially if there wasn't a cleric in your party. Had she missed one amongst his teammates?

Aaramis, of course, ignored her questions. He stiffened, before his shoulders went back and his hand slipped into the empty air before them.

"They're coming."

Movement echoed behind her. The situation--danger, imminent and heavy--was familiar enough that she knew what the sound would be without looking. Gideon would have his violin out, the delicate wood pressed to his neck, bow poised at the strings. Ilias would pull his thumb across his talisman with a quiet prayer.

And, as expected, within the breadth of a heartbeat a shimmer of magic appeared before them. A large, golden eagle burst into existence, her extended wings casting long shadows across the grassy field. Her wicked, gold-tipped beak shone like fire in the dying afternoon sun. She flapped once, then coasted down to settle on Ilias' outstretched arm--

Before vanishing.

Their group shared a look, confusion clear on Ilias face. Within the second, the expression shifted into fear. Whatever had happened, it wasn't intentional.

Sia grasped her magic, a buzz settling into her veins as the familiar tingle of divinity shifted through her. For her, it felt like the coolness of a midsummer moon, warm and inviting, but dangerous. Her grip on it slipped, however, as within the same second the very earth itself trembled beneath them. Sia stumbled. The first lizardmen threw themselves from the brush. The aforementioned corruption was sickeningly obvious in the throbbing, black veins that coated their bodies, as well as the ichor that seemed to cake their bared fangs. A thick, circular membrane flipped out, encircling their necks as they hissed--only to fall as the earth recoiled beneath them.

A hole, impossibly deep and gapping, and torn the ground open. The bottom was black, leaving no sign of how far the sudden fissure truly fell.

"What the actual..." Sia began.

A shiver of unease stole her spine as she caught sight of Aaramis clenching his fist. The earth snapped shut again with a sickening crunch from flesh and bone.

Gods. Sia had seen earth magic before. It was powerful, certainly...but, had it always appeared so effortless? As if the flick of one's wrist was all that was needed to fell potentially A-ranked monsters?

Perhaps it was a good thing she hadn't hit the djinn.

A few lingering lizardmen turned to run, only to be skewered by rock that jolted from the earth with a snap of Aaramis' fingers. Silent, he stepped forward to study the dangling bodies. A frown lingered on his lips, before he glanced over his shoulder.

"Divine magic?" he questioned, before his frown deepened. "Where's the summon?"

It was a fair question, even if asked a bit rudely. Celestial beasts were capable of cleansing corruption in the same way a cleric could. And it had to be cleansed, otherwise the infection would continue to seep into the land from the corpse, taking over anything that neared it.

Ilias edged forward, his back brushing Gideon's shoulder. Sia wouldn't have been surprised if the man was trembling--his expression certainly reflected the awe sweeping through her.

"She, uh. She was here, but she..." Ilias swallowed audibly. "I don't know."

Aaramis grumbled under his breath, his eyes sweeping over the rest of them in what was quickly becoming a familiar, critical manner. "Anyone else have divine magic amongst you?"

She swallowed a retort, aware that further irritating the unsettlingly, overwhelmingly powerful djinn would be a poor choice.

"I, I do."

The look he gave her clearly asked why she was answering instead of cleansing the lizardmen, so she stepped forward while once again summoning her magic to the surface. Instead of coating the air, however, she simply murmured a prayer under her breath, before settling a shimmering hand over one of the creatures. It took a minute longer than she would have liked--Sia had less opportunity to use her cleric abilities than her offensive magic--but the black veins slowly retreated from the monsters' skin.

She could feel Aaramis' eyes following her as she worked, but did her best to ignore them. It wasn't as if she were doing anything odd--cleansing was the earliest cleric skills a potential priestess was taught.

As she worked, she spied Ilias handing his talisman over to Gideon, who scrutinized it doubtfully. No doubt he was anticipating he wouldn't find anything. Summoning was a unique art. There were very few who were skilled in it, and even fewer still outside the craft who knew the details of how it worked. Sia, herself, only knew it required blood.

Gideon murmured something about the problem likely being Valda and not Ilias, before handing it back. Ilias sighed.

The bard approached her the moment Ilias had his talisman put away, his eyes skimming over the number of corpses that Sia had dragged the corruption from.

"Can we do anything?" His words were accompanied by a pointed glance back. No doubt he was looking at Aaramis. Sia ignored the eyes burning into her back and moved a glowing hand to the dangling scaled foot of the next body.

"No, there isn't much to it," she explained. "Just time and magic."

It was one of the main reasons she avoided using her cleric abilities when she could. Gravity magic also happened to be extremely draining--her father had always explained it as being too divine to easily handle--so reckless use of her cleric skills always ran the chance of leaving her defenseless. In this situation, however, she felt reasonably confident that without a random twist of fate, there was no reason for her to be concerned about their safety. Instead, it was much more likely they would cull too many lizardmen for the valley's liking, given that not everybody was infected to the brim with corruption.

"Who is your deity?" Aaramis demanded.

Sia glanced at him, incredulous and glad she had removed her holy symbol in the carriage. "There's no way you don't know that's considered a private issue."

"Is it Aether?"

Surprise flickered through her, followed by a heavy dose of apprehension. "Aether's a mad god."

"That's not a no."

There was a thump of Gideon handing off his instrument case, before he stepped forward, violin tucked to his chest. His foot landed in lizard innards, a fact the man didn't seem to mind as he stared up at the djinn. Anticipation swirled in her chest as she realized Gideon was done.

"Sia's patron is no business of yours, Aaramis." He narrowed his eyes, fingers tapping rhythmically against his bow, just enough pressure on the strings for a stray note to appear. "You've made it clear you're not here as a friend. I would advise you not to overstep your bounds with acquaintances. Your reputation would suffer if it were to get out how rudely you question younger adventurers, no?"

Aaramis tore his attention from Sia, giving Gideon a slow study, before amusement interrupted his typical frown. His arms folded over his chest, brow slowly raising in response to the challenge.

"Are you threatening me?" he questioned.

Sia paused, torn between completing the cleansing and backing up Gideon's defense of her. Warmth separate from her magic overtook her chest. For some reason, she hadn't expected him to be upset on her behalf.

"I'm not one for threats," Gideon replied conversationally, another note materializing next to him as the first burst in a shower of golden sparks. "This is a warning. I'm no match for you in terms of sheer power, that's evident enough." He gestured at the lizardmen corpses that littered the ground around them. "But my guild mates are family, and I won't allow you to harass them."

Aaramis tilted his head, studying Gideon with that same, bemused expression, before he laughed dryly and dropped his arms.

"Loyalty is a good trait, Rose. I'll leave it alone. The answer was clear, anyways."

Gideon waited a moment, then lowered his violin and nodded. He didn't move from between Aaramis and Sia, though, only walked closer to her. Sia shivered, before returning to her task. The sooner they were done, the sooner they could be away from the djinn's everything. Having someone associate her with Aether was the last thing she wanted.

"Let's call it a day once we've finished up here," Gideon said, addressing the whole group. "The light's dying and we could all use the rest. We'll be at this for another week, there's no rush to finish tonight."

As she finished up the last lizardman, Sia nodded wearily. Her eyes slid from Gideon over the others, taking note of how Aaramis was frowning once again, but said nothing in protest. The tense state of his shoulders, however, told her that he was likely annoyed by the events. Not that it mattered. The man was rude enough that--for once--Sia didn't care.

So, she let her magic fall from her hands as she stuck close to Gideon.

"I won't be any help on the walk back," she told him.

It had been too long a day without her anticipating so many rites to perform--and her stamina had always been what she lacked.

Aaramis snorted, but made no comment as he turned on a heel, before starting back towards the village.

"You did more than enough," Gideon replied. "I'll take over guard duty from here."

And with that, he signaled for Ilias to fall into step beside them and followed Aaramis. Sia cast one last, uneasy glance at the lizardmen corpses before darting after the others.

It didn't occur to her until she got into town that--as an outsider--Aaramis and his companions had no reason to know about the corruption.

Even Gideon hadn't known. Yet, that djinn...

'There's something off about him.'