The humidity was making it hard to think. It wouldn't have bothered Maria, if not for the fact that she wasn't feeling water vapor. No, she was nearly drowning in mana. It poured out of the man before her like a tsunami. She had never felt anything like it. Her eyes quickly assessed her allies, each one was as dumbfounded as she was by the sudden turn of events. They now found themselves standing before a blood-lusted wizard with power that was quite frankly unbelievable. To make matters worse, it was an Agamic, or in layman's terms, a man. She had to take the reins here. It was their only chance.

"You want to know why we're here?" She asked, stepping forward from her group. "Well, to keep it simple, there's a lot of shit going on outside this cave. And we were trying to seek some refuge. That's it."

The Agamic gazed at the dark pit he called home, the metal seal of a door wide open. "Alright, so why did you release me?"

"Desperation. Some of these writings speak very highly of you and we thought we could run the risk of asking for your help. But if we've committed some kind of sin by giving you some fresh air we can gladly seal up the door again and let you go back to whatever it is you were doing in there."

The man inspected himself. His muscular body was riddled with carvings of magical circles. His hair was a gentle pink color, and it was as long as it was untamed, flowing down to his back in an incomprehensible mess. What caught his attention was just how pale his skin was. "No... Unfortunately, I don't think I can stand another second in that room."

"How long were you in there?" Asked Anise.

"I haven't the slightest idea. I didn't know the date when I went in, so I couldn't even put a number on it if I tried." He lazily sauntered over to the cave wall beside him. "It must have been an era, at least. These writings weren't here when I was sealed, and yet time has already withered them away."

He stood against the wall, trying to focus on the text, but he was distracted by something the others could not feel. "The beast's presence is strong here. Yet this place still stands? How could that be?"

Maria raised a curious brow and took a small step towards the man. "What beast?"

"It's the reason I was sealed away. A great terror looms over these lands. It destroyed my people and forced them into hiding. In my early days, the beast's presence was a faint reminder, now its power is practically bursting through the walls," he explained.

Maria was quick to put two and two together. "On the surface, crystal shards of mana grow from the walls. We were able to use them to power the magic pillars in this place. Those shards must be from this monster of yours."

"Interesting. Judging by your words I'm going to assume you haven't seen the thing with your own eyes."

"Have you?" Asked Veronica.

"No, that would have been a death sentence back then. But many stories were passed down to me. And I'm sure more was written on these walls." He squatted down and touched the stonework gently. Not wanting to sully it with his dingy hands. "If you haven't run into the beast, then that means there's something else up there?"

Maria crossed her arms, letting out an irritated sigh. "Women dressed in all blue. They attacked us as soon as we entered."

Linette's words bounced off her mind, that this was somehow all related to the Opazyr. Was the "sin" connected to this man in front of her? She kept it in the back of her mind for now. "So, what happens now?"

The Agamic made a hefty grunt and stood up. "Well, by the looks of things my brothers left this world long ago, and you four look much younger than the text on this wall. So I'll make the assumption that you're innocent in that situation." He paced about, racking his brain with an aloof slowness. "I can tell that you are not without strength, so how about we make a deal?"

Lucy, feeling compelled to embody the noble leader she was supposed to be, wormed her way between Maria and the Agamic. "What kind of deal?"

"Simple. I was born with the task of defeating the beast that ruined my brother's home. If you were to aid me in killing it, then I would be glad to aid you in combat against your fellow Conjugates"

Before Lucy could even say anything, Maria shoved her out of the way and reached for a handshake. "Deal!" She hooted joyfully, all the while shooting Lucy a nasty side-eye.

Lucy was confused by the hostility, but Maria's face portrayed something more complex than a simple desire to be the leader. It was a plea to stop and back down. The young knight threw her hands up and walked away, now curious as to why she was being kept out of the bargaining.

Anise was getting ready to shout a million curses at Maria, but Veronica pushed her back with a strong hand, making a gesture to remain silent. Her eyes were dead serious, like that of a guard restraining a prisoner. The crushing grip on her shoulder told her that disobedience wasn't in the cards.

The man didn't seem to care about the strange inner workings of their group and shook Maria's hand with a firm grip. "Then we have a deal. You can call me Naviiur, by the way."

"Good to have ya', Naviurr," said Maria. "I'm Maria, and These are my associates, Lucy, Veronica, and Anise."

Naviiur smiled gently. "How pleasant, Conjugate names are surprisingly nice on the ears."

"Thanks. Agamic names ain't too bad either. You guys always keep that mystic flair in everything you do. They can be a little hard on the tongue though."

"Is that so? Maybe later we can do a little culture trade, but for now, I want to rummage through these texts before I do anything."

Maria gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Sounds good, we'll give you some time to yourself. We have to secure tonight's dinner anyway." Without another word, she grabbed Lucy's hand tightly and strutted off.

She gave Veronica a nod to do the same. With no hesitation, she grabbed Anise by the arm and dragged her off. The herald was too stunned to speak, simply giving Veronica a shocked stare with her mouth agape. Veronica kept her eyes forward and her pace steadfast. It wasn't until they were halfway up the winding path for the exit that they finally let go of the pair.

Maria breathed a sigh of relief and slumped herself against the wall, giving Veronica a thumbs up. "Good job girl, that was too close."

"What was all that about!" Shouted Anise.

Veronica once again motioned her to be silent. "You would have gotten us killed."

"How?!" Anise was furious, she was quick to get in Veronica's face, but Lucy was quick to pull her away.

"Calm down, I'm sure they had their reasons," Anise pleaded. She turned to Maria, wanting answers to come from the source.

"Don't give me that look," barked the mercenary in a low tone. "If I had let you talk any more you would have declared yourself as a member of house Opazyr. That's the last thing we need right now."

"What are you suggesting?" Lucy's Expression hadn't become any less confused.

"Yesterday, the crazy wench we fought was spouting something about the sins of the Opazyr. It had something to do with the souls trapped in the ashes. Now we've got a lone Agamic who's the last of his people, stowed away in some sort of last-ditch attempt at fighting. That is not a coincidence!"

Veronica nodded, standing by her to make her position more clear. "The Opazyr might have had something to do with the monster..."

"We also have no idea what was going on when he was in his heyday. The Opazyr haven't been the best throughout History." Maria looked into Lucy's ruby-red eyes, inspecting the features of her family line. "Although the features of the Opazyr are distinct. So there's a possibility that your family isn't connected, but I didn't want to take the risk."

Anise was still fuming but decided to stay her words at the sight of Lucy's calm and understanding expression.

Lucy crouched down in front of Maria and gave her a radiant smile. "I'll admit it. You read me like a book. I would have made that deal on the honor of my house. You definitely made the right choice."

Maria waved away the praise with a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. Being a noble isn't that different from being a part of a gang. You have to represent your house in everything you guys do. It's a bit of a pain but it makes you guys predictable, if nothing else."

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"Shouldn't you be representing their house too? You are an Opazyr now, as ridiculous as that sounds." Anise raised a curious brow that seemed to be pulling the corner of her mouth into a smirk.

Maria rolled her eyes. "Tch, I'm not going to throw my life away just to rep a noble family. I don't even throw my own last name around like that."

"What was your last name before joining my house?" Asked Lucy.

"Do you mean what is my last name? Because that

She stood up, looking to the exit with impatience. "Damn! I'm hungry. What are the chances that we can get back to camp and get the rest of that meat?"

"It shouldn't be too bad," claimed Anise. "If we keep westbound and stick to the floor we should be able to get back to camp and grab our belongings. But first, we need to go back into the cave. I left my spear down there."

Maria began to walk towards the exit, driven by hunger and a desire for the sun's natural warmth. "We'll be outside then. Be quick about it. I don't want any beast getting to our food first."

The herald shuffled her way down the trail, now illuminated by the crystal's power. It was much more sophisticated than she realized. The ground was flat, and the incline was never steep. Though the walls were covered in a thick layer of ash she could just barely make out the mana circuits that ran through them. Some buzzed with the crystal's power, while others were dormant. She wondered if another crystal would cause the entire system to spring back to life.

She marched over to the small building where she had left her halberd. There were so many things scattered about the makeshift lawn that she couldn't make sense of. A strange circular object sat on the ground, full of holes that seemed to be meticulously carved into its surface. It unsettled her, the mass of holes triggered a fight or flight response she didn't know she had, but before she could capitalize on it a voice snuck up on her from behind.

"Curious?" Asked Naviiur. His sharp eyes read every muscle on her face. Anise jumped back, fumbling to get a proper grip on her weapon. "Oh, did I startle you?"

Anise was quick to pull herself together, standing with her polearm straight and her body tense. "O-oh, no. It's just... What is that thing?" She pointed down to the small device. She didn't want to pick it up herself.

Naviiur looked both amused and confused. He picked it up without a second thought, holding the foreign device in his hands. The confidence with which he handled it told Anise that he already knew what it was.

"One of my brothers was infatuated with music. If I remember correctly, this was one of his last creations. I think he called it an Ocarina."

"That thing is an instrument?" Anise looked mildly grossed out at the thought of using that tool to create sounds, its porous shape led her to imagine every ghastly noise she could think of.

"I can tell you're unconvinced, why don't I just show you." Naviiur aligned the pointed tip of the structure to his mouth and blew gently into it. His pale fingers danced around the holes, plugging them strategically to manipulate the singing winds.

The beautiful, fast-paced melody had Anise stunned. It reminded her of her childhood when she would handle beasts and farmland that always felt like it was so close to swallowing her hole, but it never failed to reciprocate the effort she poured into it. The seasons would fly by, and the harvest always felt like a climactic battle.

The melody ended as soon as it had started, it was nothing more than a quick demonstration. She was saddened by the silence. She didn't realize that she had missed that kind of rough life.

"How was that?" Naviiur's face was smug and cozy. He could tell that the melody had touched her in some way.

"It was fine," said Anise with a slight hint of longing. "I... I should really just get what I came for and head out. The others are waiting for me."

"When you return, I can play more. I wouldn't mind hearing one of you sing either. Conjugate voices sound so different from ours."

"I'll be sure to take the lead then. Something tells me the other ladies would make for terrible bards."

"Oh? And what makes you so different?"

"I'm a Herald. I spend most of my life singing the praise of my goddess." There was a smug confidence in her voice. As much as she missed her rowdy childhood Anise could not deny that she was proud of the woman she was. She walked off towards the exit, not wanting to waste any more time as even her stomach was starting to call for the rations they had left behind. "You'll see when we get back."

***

Anise hustled her way back up the exit, coming out to the cold sunlit canyon. Now that she had been inside a true shelter the outside felt much more inhospitable. "Alright, I'm ready." She was visibly happier than when she left them. "Let's hurry up and gather our things so we can get back."

"Something has you excited." Veronica slid behind her with a look of animalistic curiosity.

Anise scooched over to put some distance between them. She didn't like how dead Veronica's eyes were. It seemed like every emotion she expressed was a cheap imitation, only just trying the key points but always missing the more subtle details. "Well- uh... it's none of your business soldier! Just keep your head on straight and look out for those robed hostiles!"

Veronica gave a simple salute before slithering back to Maria's side. The Red Wind Warrior gave the herald a suspicious look but didn't bother to press it any further.

Maria turned tail and started to move, with Lucy and Veronica sticking to her hide like glue. "Come on, let's get going, I don't think we'll be able to find out own asses if we get caught out in the dark."

Anise couldn't understand what Lucy saw in Maria, but she decided that they had bickered enough today and that she wasn't in the mood to catch another pommel to the head.

The group moved through the canyons, keeping their moments light and their words hushed. It was slow going, as the uneven, sometimes water-filled paths made keeping a low profile an act of near futility.

Little words were exchanged, which gave Lucy the break she needed to ponder their situation for themselves. "Hey... What do you think happened to the reinforcements?"

"Probably not coming," Maria's tone was dismissive like she was staying a blunt fact.

Lucy was taken aback by how quickly the response came. "How can you just say that? The Opazyr wouldn't just leave us out to die. Even if they weren't coming for us then they would still want to finish the mission."

"-And yet the purlikens were the ones knocking on the door to the tavern party. We walked the trail to get here. It's a hike for sure but nothing that would take this long. Those soldiers we left behind on the bridge would have made it back to base the same day, and new would have been wearing down the cobblestone by sunrise." Maria looked back at Lucy with a stern look on her face. "Either they're not coming, or something happened to them. The purlikens probably intercepted them and picked them off."

Anise scoffed, "Are you insisting that a bunch of academics could defeat a well-trained army?"

"Under the right conditions? Absolutely! The road to this circus is a long incline. You might not have noticed because you were drinking tea and licking ass in that carriage of yours, but that road was reaching well over 100 feet at its height. The only reason we survived our fall is because we were caught by the river."

Veronica nodded her head along to Maria's explanation. "So if they take out the road at the right spot-"

"-bam!" Continued Maria, "That's an entire army gone. And when you gather around a bunch of crafty mages who can have literally anything in their spell books it's not hard to imagine that they got one over on the Opazyr."

Lucy put a hand across her now scarred armor. She hadn't realized just how bad that damage was until just now. The cut she suffered from Nulara ran right down the middle of her cuirass, severing the oath inscribed on her chestplate into two halves. "Even so, I believe that experienced Opazyr would not fall to such lowly tactics. Don't you agree, Veronica?

Veronica made an awkward squeak. She didn't want to lie, but it was improper for a soldier of her rank to have such little faith in her superior officers. "Anything is possible Lady Lucy. Take that as you will."

Lucy knew what she really meant, but decided to twist it in her favor since it was such a non-answer. She pressed her hand against the slash in her armor and concentrated a great deal of mana into her muscles and grip strength. "You're right, anything is possible. So I choose to believe that they will come." She slowly scrunched the gaps in the steel closed with brute force. She was careful to preserve as much of the inscribed oath as possible, but she could only do so much.

Veronica was quick to try and keep the subject from focusing on her lack of faith, as she could feel Anise staring holes into the back of her head. "What about the Hoary Church? Is there any chance we could see reinforcements from them?"

"I doubt it," replied Anise. "It's hard to tell if word would reach them right now, and if it did they're unlikely to send another agent. They've already done their part by putting me on the job. Me being dead or alive doesn't change the already improved relations."

Maria waved one of her scimitars around in the air as an extension of her pointer finger. "Well, then we'd better make good with the only ally we've got. That Agamic might make it or break it for us."

"Can we really trust an Agamic?" Veronica asked, her face twisted with doubt. "They're not like us. We don't even know what he's thinking."

"We don't have to worry about that guy," Assured Maria. "Naviiur's serious about that monster. You got a good look at his body, right? I'm no expert but those looked like magic circles to me."

Lucy's eyes lit up like spark plug. "You're right! Some Knights have special magical circles inscribed on their armor that allow them to cast spells. But we only do that because we can't cast naturally"

Maria nodded along, "But mages also do the same thing with their staffs. It quickens up the casting time dramatically in comparison to flipping through one of their big old books."

Veronica's eyes widened. She didn't see a space on Naviurr that wasn't covered by some kind of magic incantation."All those circles... He's ready for war."

"Exactly!" Exclaimed Maria, "Girl, I honestly can't wait to see him get in on the action!"

Veronica gripped her spear tightly. "So long as those spells aren't pointed at us..."

***

Back in the Agamic settlement, Naviiur walked through the homes of his brothers. He did not get to experience much of their proper culture before he was sealed away. So much of his early days were spent focused on training that he didn't get to know his clan as well as he liked. The writings they left for him on the wall were bittersweet, and he enjoyed everything that was written on them. But his natural, insatiable curiosity made him long for something a bit more particular. What kind of information did his clan keep to their chests? What did they not tell each other? If he could find something like that it would be truly fascinating.

He rummaged through the inside of a particular shelter in the farthest corners of the settlement. It was so plain on the outside when compared to the other homes that it had to be hiding something, for an Agamic who did not display his interests was a troubled man indeed. This sheepishly plain house had something to hide, or at least that's what his thought train led him to believe. Now he was grinning ear to ear in the dark, dank abode. His suspicions had been rewarded. In his hands was a book, a personal diary of sorts, and the first sentence it offered up was even more than he could have hoped for.

"The others do not know what we did to deserve the wrath of that beast. But I do..."

He couldn't help but snicker at the find. "Oh, maybe those women waking me up wasn't such a bad thing after all. What an amazing find."