Kewin Udachur knew that he was in a nightmare. The suffocating smell of burning wood seemed to him familiar and haunting. And so did the impression of being ensnared by invisible bindings, restrained in his movements. All he could do was wiggle around, trying to free himself. And to shout out of the top of his lungs for the fire that raged inside his body to stop.

His vision was blurry and unfocused while keeping a semblance of coherence, the way only dreams could. His surroundings were a haze of bright colours, ranging from dark red to bright white, and seemed to extend toward infinity. It was there that he felt the presence of something staring at him, observing him struggle in vain to get free. This presence filled Kewin with a true sense of horror for deep down, he knew he couldn’t escape it. In fact, the fire that threatened to burn him to a crisp from the inside out only yearned towards the entity; it had the desire to become one with it, Kewin be damned.

The presence made itself heavier on Kewin’s consciousness and any semblance of coherent thoughts evaporated like water on a sizzling surface.

The only thing that remained was the Fire etching itself in his soul…

Suddenly, Kewin was freed from the nightmare! His eyes snapped open and he sat up on his bed, gasping for air. His throat was unnaturally parched and he searched by feel for the pitcher of water in the dark. He swilled it down as the last memories of the nightmare already faded away, leaving him weak and tired and confused.

Next to his bedstand where the pitcher had been, was another object that Kewin seized. Fitting perfectly in his palms, the broken Lightsphere managed to calm Kewin’s mind. Fiddling with the useless trinket had helped him in the past weeks. That Lightsphere had housed the [Outgracing Hex] and had thus been coveted by many. After an interaction with a [Fire Spell], the Lightsphere had entered into Resonance with Kewin’s Grace and the result had been an inferno and the summoning of an Elemental. Isyd Wybrany had stopped it, but the whole ordeal had left Kewin broken… spurned by the Holy Grace. Disgraced.

With his fingers, he tried to feel where the Commands had been carved on the glass surface, but it was impossible due to the burn scars covering both palms that held the sphere. The Lightsphere as given to him by Isyd was a memento — another way than the scars to remember what he’d lost.

Putting it back down, Kewin got up from his bed. The room he was in was thrown into pitch darkness. He knew where the couple of Lightspheres were situated but he couldn't have turned them on even if he wished so since they required Grace to be activated. He didn’t need them anyway; he approached the corner of the room where a basin of cold water had been put at his disposal and he used it to freshen himself. Only when that was done, did he approach the small, rectangular window and threw back the curtains. It was still very early in the morning, one or two hours before dawn and the first lights of the sun. Kewin took comfort in knowing that since the Korochun a few weeks ago, the nights would from there on grow shorter and shorter and the day longer and longer.

After changing into his clothes resting on a stool, Kewin finally left his bedroom. It led directly to a larger living room where he found Isyd seated on the carpeted floor, against the wall, exactly where he had left him the night before. A Lightsphere on a stand offered an orange light to the room, enough for Isyd to make sense of his papers and books scattered around him. Walking barefoot, Kewin barely made a sound as he entered the living room, but Isyd looked up at him all the same as if hearing his presence.

“Grace. I didn’t expect to see you awake so early...” Isyd said. “Restless sleep?”

Kewin nodded mutely. It wasn’t the first time he had a nightmare and Isyd had heard him before wrestling with his sheets. He pointed at Isyd’s work on the floor.

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“You are still here, you didn’t go to bed?” he asked.

“I do not need much sleep.”

“You always say this…”

Kewin took a seat next to Isyd and watched him study. The two of them had fallen into a strange routine those past few days, a routine Kewin hadn’t anticipated. Isyd had used the money he obtained from the Atelier to buy this expensive suite in an inn on the Inside of Vilriver. It was in fact three separate bedrooms on the last floor of the building that had been brought together. Isyd was renting for the entirety of the next semester for a hefty price, a price that he refused to share with Kewin despite his insistence. Kewin had felt somewhat guilty about lodging here with Isyd free of charges, but he had no place to go after being expelled from the Academy. Plus, Isyd hadn’t listened to Kewin’s qualms and had all but forced him to come with him.

“Since you are already up, we can leave now,” Isyd proposed.

“I don’t mind waiting!” Kewin said. “I don’t want to interrupt your studies.”

Isyd shrugged and began tidying up. “Those courses aren’t going anywhere. Plus, I yearn for some fresh air. Let’s go!”

They walked outside and were immediately buffeted by the cold winds of winter. As per usual, they found on the porch Mrs Chrom – the owner of the inn with her husband and two sons – busy with sweeping the entrance and lighting up the furnaces. At first, she’d been quite peeved that her most expensive tenants did not take time to enjoy the fastidious breakfast she prepared before they headed out each morning, but by now she had gotten used to it and simply waved at them as they passed.

Once outside, Isyd threw up a [Light Ball] in the air ahead of them to dispel the darkness of the night and he immediately started on a jog without a word. Now used to the routine, Kewin followed a few paces after him. Soon he felt the familiar burn of the chill air in his lungs as his body still groggy from sleep tried to warm up despite the frigid temperatures. They met very few souls out and about on their run – men who threw them curious glances in their direction before returning to their occupation. Their pace was not fast – could barely be considered running in fact – but the exertion laid in the prolonged effort, from the length of the journey undertaken by Isyd and followed by Kewin.

From the inn situated near the docks, they crossed the Emerald Bridge, jogged up the length of the River, and then crossed once more back into the Inside via the Topaz Bridge right before it was raised for the ships arriving in Vilriver. After crossing the bridge, this eventually led Isyd and Kewin to a sparse part of the forest surrounding the city, usually an hour later at the first light of dawn.

The first days Isyd had subjected him to his routine, Kewin had given up a quarter-hour in, on the verge of collapsing on the decks. Isyd had then waited for him and had walked with him the rest of the way but they had made the whole journey to Isyd’s insistence even if they had to make a detour due to the Topaz Bridge being raised by the time they got to it. The same happened the next day, the day after, and the day after. Sooner or later in their run, Kewin would run out of breath and fall on the way. Isyd would then retrace his steps, smile at him and offer him some water before walking the rest of the way with him.

Kewin wasn’t sure what was the goal of the routine and he never bothered asking Isyd. Sure, he suspected it had something to do with improving his physical condition but he failed to see why Isyd needed to do so every single day at dawn as he seemed to be in perfect health. Kewin had initially joined only because Isyd had insisted and Kewin had nothing better to do but wallowing in self-pity.

Eventually, as the days passed, Kewin fell into the routine as well. The jogging had come easier quicker than he’d expected and it had allowed him to take his mind off things for a while. He was still unable to keep up with Isyd’s pace – who always appeared as if was out on a stroll – but he’d gotten from collapsing after a quarter an hour to making it to the Topaz Bridge as the crew was preparing to raise it.

He passed the bascule bridge without slowing down, continued a while longer until entering the woodlands around the city and finally joined Isyd waiting for him further in a small meadow.