"It won't be long now," Wyn said, trying to assure Edwyr for what felt like the tenth time. And Edwyr wasn't exactly worried in the first place. He was actually glad that they had to wait before that device was ready, as it gave him time to think.

And it also gave him time to try to digest everything Wyn had been telling him so far. It had been a lot, and yet Edwyr's brain never failed to come up with more follow-up questions, which even to him was starting to feel grating. At least Wyn seemed understanding, though.

"How do you even know about this...thing?"

"We call it a Magic Infuser."

Edwyr frowned, leaning onto the small table they were sitting at as he repeated the device's full name in his head a few times. It sounded strangely ominous to him.

"Right."

Wyn smiled, leaning back in his chair with his usual amount of elegance. Edwyr wondered if those chairs and the table had been in this small room prior to Wyn arriving here, or if he'd brought them here. Edwyr was willing to bet it was the latter.

"Ruins like these were originally my field of study, actually," Wyn replied, a spark of pride appearing in his eyes. Edwyr almost sighed. Why were most elves so interested in research and studying? Edwyr had always assumed that it was simply an expectation and obligation, but now that he thought about it, most of the elves he'd ever interacted with were genuinely excited about it.

"I discovered the Infuser in a ruin in the south years ago, but I didn't know what it was back then," Wyn continued, sipping the strange, orange drink, which he'd also conjured up for Edwyr.

Despite Wyn's assurances that it was harmless, Edwyr was unwilling to touch it after his initial, unthinking sip. He wanted to trust Wyn, but accepting food from people he barely knew and whose intentions were not entirely clear didn't seem like a good idea.

Thankfully, Wyn didn't seem to take offense.

"I can only theorize about why the device was built," Wyn said, putting the metal cup back on the table. "But I am fairly confident I understand how it works."

The elf paused as if expecting Edwyr to confirm that he was interested in hearing it. Was Wyn not used to having people listen to him ramble on? Or perhaps he was being polite. That was most likely it. Edwyr decided simply to wave his hand to indicate Wyn should continue, not voicing any of these thoughts.

"Magic is a tangible thing, running through our veins. Quite literally. The Council likes not to mention that."

Edwyr grimaced, immediately looking down at his wrist. He had heard elves use that phrase before, but it had always been metaphorical. At least he had assumed so until now.

"And before you say it—yes, you have magic in your blood as well," Wyn continued with his explanation, once again surprising Edwyr enough to keep him from saying anything. "In fact, what research on the subject I did suggests that all humans seem to have small amounts of magic as well. As do animals, and plant life, and so on."

Edwyr frowned, tilting his head to the side as he tried to understand what he was being told. He could never seem to tell what exactly Wyn's point was going to be, but he supposed it would be much more infuriating if Wyn never actually got to that point. "And what does that mean?"

Wyn leaned against the table with an elbow, waving his hand in an overly dramatic way. "Well, much like magic is running through our veins, it is also running through the veins of the very land we live in. That's why everything is infused with it."

Naturally, a dramatic pause followed, which Edwyr was realizing Wyn did often. He couldn't help but feel like it was offensive to his intelligence, but he was also too confused about what he was supposed to think of all of this to get too annoyed.

"As in...metaphorically?" Goddess, his head was starting to hurt.

Wyn grinned. "Well, to some extent. A continent has no need for literal veins, does it?"

Edwyr scowled at him, which immediately wiped Wyn's smile off his face.

Now looking more serious, Wyn sighed. "I apologize. What I am trying to say is that there are rivers of magic beneath the ground. And these devices tap into them, albeit they only seem to be able to do it with, uh, very long pauses in between."

Edwyr had nothing to say to that. He'd never truly thought about where magic came from. He'd never taken the belief that the Goddess had given magic to them as fact, as it was a part of all of the Council's propaganda, but he certainly hadn't imagined that every living thing had it.

Did this information change anything or not? Edwyr couldn't decide, and he wasn't sure how to feel about it all, either.

"The Council likes to ignore that fact because it doesn't fit into their narrative," Wyn said in the meantime, scowling at his drink.

"They could simply say that the Goddess created these underground magic rivers, no?"

Wyn grinned at him once again. He looked genuinely happy whenever Edwyr asked things like this. Or perhaps he was finding Edwyr's ignorance amusing. Edwyr hoped it was the first option. "Well, yes, of course, and maybe she did. But these rivers were discovered only around a hundred years ago, and the Council doesn't like admitting mistakes."

Edwyr supposed that was true. The Council loved to pretend to be infallible because their facts came from the Goddess, and questioning anything the Council said was generally considered unacceptable, so yes, Edwyr could see how researching the reasons why they had magic would be considered a problem, especially with discoveries like this.

No wonder Wyn got exiled.

"But this is where your magiclessness comes from. The magic in our blood. You were simply born with less of it than you should have been," Wyn explained, though Edwyr had mostly put this together already. After all, if even humans had magic to some extent but they couldn't use it, his issue must have been similar.

"But why does it even happen?"

Wyn shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. "Unfortunately, I have not been able to determine that. However, with an Infuser, it is possible to replenish magic within you." Wyn's mouth formed a grimace then. "It is not the most pleasant process, I hear...."

Edwyr shook his head. He didn't care as long as it meant he would get magic. It was a little disturbing how much he didn't care, but it was the truth. This was what he'd been wishing for his entire life, and a little pain wouldn't keep him away from it.

"Rest assured, it does work. We have done it before."

"You mean for Orenis?"

Wyn shook his head. "Not exactly. She was supposed to be next in line, but seeing as waiting for an Infuser to recharge takes a long time—time the Council will not grant us before more of its people are sent here—we both decided you will go first."

Edwyr blinked, his mouth hanging open in shock. He'd been so sure Orenis had been cured already. Why was she just giving up her chance for Edwyr's benefit? There was nothing he could think of that would convince him to put something like this off, especially not because of an elf he didn't even know.

"What?" As soon as the word left his mouth, Edwyr felt his shock being replaced by suspicion. He narrowed his eyes at Wyn. Orenis couldn't be doing this out of the kindness of her heart, surely. "Why?"

Wyn gave him a rather sad look, his smile once again gone completely. "You may have noticed Orenis is not very bothered by her state. And you very clearly are."

Edwyr opened his mouth, ready to deny all of that, but he found he had nothing to say. She had seemed completely unbothered by it, that was true. And if Orenis didn't mind, then he truly shouldn't question this and take this opportunity.

But it just boggled his mind. How could someone be okay with passing up this chance? Of course, Orenis would get a chance later—she wasn't giving up her chance forever—but it was still impossible for him to believe. How could she just...do that?

"I know this may seem hard for you to understand. Personally, I am certain I would feel the same way you do if I were magicless. But I had a long talk with her about this, and she is sure she wants to let you go first. You could talk to her as well if you desire to."

Edwyr sighed. Yes, he supposed he could ask her to explain it to him, but he got the feeling he wouldn't understand her reasoning afterward anyway. Though he should talk to her anyway, as she seemed to know things about Wyn that might put things into perspective.

But first and foremost, he really should go talk to his friends. They must have been worried about him by now, and he'd been too preoccupied to realize how long he'd been here with Wyn until this moment.

"Orenis has been with us practically since her banishment."

Edwyr thought that over, unable not to feel a little jealous, then. Being around elves who accepted him despite his defect this whole time would have been great. He would likely still feel inadequate, but he was sure it would have been better for him than spending a decade with humans.

"Right. I was...meaning to talk to her, anyway," Edwyr said, deciding it would make the most sense to talk to her first. He didn't want to tell Wyn about his plans of going to Arbane and Lanna because Edwyr could already tell the other elf wouldn't approve. That was probably reasonable of him, though, as Wyn was clearly doing the most he could to keep all of his plans secret from the Council. While elves generally didn't talk to or listen to humans that much, it would be an unnecessary risk to have two of them know about all of this.

Still, Edwyr didn't like being told what to do or lectured, so he wouldn't mention anything. He wouldn't tell Arbane and Lanna everything, anyway—he simply needed to tell them not to worry about him. He was sure they would let him go easily enough....

His heart clenched painfully at that thought, but he knew deep down it had always been like that. He'd never felt quite at home living with humans, and despite both of his friends' multiple reassurances, he'd never felt like he belonged with them.

He knew this was for the best, yet he didn't want to say goodbye to them. They'd known each other for over ten years after all, but this—all of this—was bigger than them, and bigger than him.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder if he was deciding too quickly. For a second, he thought about simply getting magic and then coming with Arbane and Lanna back to Sunwood, continuing to protect it with much greater ease, but he rejected that almost immediately. Arbane had been right—they'd been doing just fine without magic, and there were other competent fighters in town. Just like there had been for generations before Edwyr had even been born. And being so close to Aendor as Sunwood was, he wasn't sure he would be able to stay hidden from the Council.

"Is something the matter?"

Wyn's voice dragged Edwyr out of his thoughts and back into reality. He blinked at the other elf, shaking his head. Edwyr must have been ignoring him. "Uh, no, I am fine. There is just a lot on my mind."

"Understandable." Despite what he'd just said, Wyn looked a bit disappointed. He quickly covered it up with another smile. "Well, if you wish to speak with Orenis, you know where to find her."

If not for the positive, gentle tone, Edwyr would assume he was being brushed off. But at the moment he wouldn't care much either way because he wanted to talk to her anyway. Still, he should first talk to his friends.

With a nod, Edwyr got up. He took a second to wait if Wyn would say something, but he simply smiled and picked up his drink. And so with that, Edwyr left the small room, finding himself yet again in the winding corridor. And he was very quickly being reminded that he had major problems finding his way around in.

He sighed as he started walking, hoping he'd chosen the right direction. It wouldn't be so difficult if all of the corridors didn't look the same, but as he could use more time to think, he didn't mind too much.

The best he could do was follow a path he thought looked only vaguely familiar, but thankfully, after a while he found himself standing in front of the large, stone door he'd entered this place through.

Except as he realized a second later, he didn't know how to open this door. He put his hand against the cold, surprisingly smooth stone, his eyes studying the entire surface. But he couldn't see anything that would tell him how to open the door aside from using magic. And even if he had it, he still didn't know the right words to use.

Checking the walls as well and still seeing nothing, Edwyr sighed and did the only thing he could think of—try to push the door open, despite knowing that he would probably not manage it. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his shoulder against the unforgiving stone, putting all of his strength into it, but the door didn't budge at all.

Shaking his head, Edwyr took a step away, glaring at the door. He hadn't had high hopes about this working, but he hadn't even thought about the fact that he might not be able to leave this place without Wyn's help.

Edwyr glared. He truly hoped this hadn't been intentional on the other elf's behalf. It had better not be.

Huffing, he turned around, marching up the corridor again. Somehow, he had the feeling Orenis would be more willing to help him leave without questioning him than Wyn, but she apparently had no magic, so that wasn't useful either.

The only thing he could think of was to go back to the makeshift stable and try to climb up through the holes in the cavern ceiling but seeing as those were very high up and he didn't have a ladder, he wasn't likely to succeed. And he wasn't quite insane enough to attempt it, either.

At least from here, he was somewhat confident he knew where he was going. And indeed, after only a few wrong turns, he finally came to a familiar fork in the corridor. At least he certainly hoped it was the right place.

He almost breathed out in relief when his instinct proved to be correct as he spotted the strange device at the end of the corridor he was currently walking through. Even from here Edwyr could spot Orenis tinkering with a panel on the side of the Infuser, which Edwyr hadn't seen before, but he was sure that was only because, from the angle he'd stood in the room before, Orenis had been blocking his view of it.

He watched her work as he approached, noting the strange tool she was using to change or fix something in the machine. She was wearing gloves, which Edwyr hadn't noticed before either, but it made sense if the Infuser was so ice-cold everywhere.

Was that how pure magic felt? He certainly hoped that wasn't the case.

"Don't worry, I'm almost done," Orenis suddenly said, making Edwyr flinch. He had been so quiet that he truly hadn't thought she'd notice him. "Calibrating this one has been a challenge, but nothing I can't handle."

She didn't get up from where she was sitting on the stone ground, but she did look over at Edwyr, pausing her work for the moment. Like this, Edwyr could study the implement she was using more closely, but if anything, he understood it even less. It seemed to be a small, rectangular, metal plate with a wooden handle, with several holes in it of varying shapes and sizes. He had absolutely no idea how this was supposed to work, but he was probably better off not trying to understand.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Good," Edwyr replied, suddenly finding himself having nothing to say and feeling very awkward. But fortunately, Orenis didn't seem bothered in the least. She even flashed him a somewhat sympathetic smile.

"Are you having reservations?"

"No," Edwyr replied immediately, shocked at how much he meant that. "It's simply...a lot."

Orenis nodded, sighing. "Yeah, I know. But like I said—you'll be just fine."

"Why do you talk like that?" Orenis blinked, raising her eyebrows at him. Right, Edwyr shouldn't have let the first thought he had leave his head without any further explanation. "I mean, you speak like a human. But Wyn said you never lived among them."

Orenis finally rose to her feet, tilting her head to the side, making the long part of her hair fall in her face a bit. "Did he? That's weird. I'm in contact with a lot of humans. And I do live on and off in a village in the east."

Oh. Edwyr hadn't been expecting that at all. In that case, what he'd said wasn't exactly factual, he supposed. Still, that simple bit of information she'd just shared was so perplexing to him that he wasn't even interested in correcting himself. "Why?"

Orenis shrugged, waving her strange tool around nonchalantly. "I don't know. I like humans. Elves can be so dramatic and uptight, even the ones like Wyn—it gets really exhausting sometimes." She tapped the tip of her tool against her forehead. "I think that's why I started talking more like humans do, actually. I never really thought about it, but it's much more casual and relaxing to me."

Edwyr supposed he could understand the comforts of the humans' causal speech, but that was the only thing about it that made sense to him. How could Orenis—another elf—say something like this? Their comparatively formal speech and overall more serious nature was a part of who they were. And Orenis was talking about it like an annoyance she'd gotten rid of because she saw no value in it.

And what was more, she apparently liked being with humans and chose to be with them, instead of simply having nowhere else to go, and no one else to be with.

Perhaps Edwyr had assumed too much when he'd thought he would be able to understand Orenis easily enough, simply on the grounds of both of them being Cursed. No, magicless. He needed to stop using that word. It only served to make Edwyr feel worse whenever he called himself that.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Orenis asked him, her gaze suddenly darkening.

"No, of course not," Edwyr lied, almost impressed at how even he managed to keep his tone. But Orenis saw right through him, surprising him with a chuckle, her easy smile back on her face.

"I'm just teasing. I know my views on these things aren't exactly popular," she continued, brushing her hair off her face and behind her long ear. "I've had these conversations with Wyn, and I don't think he even believes me sometimes. It's a little annoying but he leaves me alone for the most part." Orenis then smirked. "But I'm guessing you think a lot like him if he likes you so much after just talking to you a few times."

Edwyr frowned, not sure if he should feel embarrassed or confused. "What are you talking about?"

"What, you think he dream-talks to everyone he meets?" Orenis scoffed, shaking her head and folding her arms over her chest. "He certainly never did it to me."

Edwyr let out an irritated sigh. "I didn't ask him to do it."

Orenis sniggered but immediately raised her hands in surrender. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Wyn is just fun to make fun of, even when he's not present for it."

Sensing an opportunity to get information about Wyn, Edwyr raised an eyebrow at her. "And he lets you do that?"

Orenis' eyebrows flew up. "Yeah? Of course he does. I help him, but I work with him, not for him. We don't do that stuff here."

Edwyr had suspected as much, but he'd also thought Wyn had taken Orenis to the side earlier to scold her. And perhaps he had, but if that was the case it had clearly had no effect. It was nice to have that confirmed, however, albeit he was a little bit suspicious of how quick she was to confirm it. The hierarchy of this group of elves was a much more important issue than he'd realized until now. If they still had a group of absolute leaders, they would hardly be any better than the Council, so this was a good sign. But surely they had to have a leader. Edwyr wouldn't believe otherwise.

"Look, if you're looking for information about Wyn, I'd love to help you, but I don't know much either."

Edwyr tried not to show his disappointment. He should have expected that, he supposed, with how cryptic Wyn tended to be and with how much Orenis seemed to mind her own business only, but it was still a shame. Though he wasn't sure what Orenis could tell him to discourage him from getting involved in Wyn's plans, anyway.

"That's...not why I came here," Edwyr lied, not even sure why he did it. Perhaps he simply didn't like that she'd been completely right about his intentions. But the unfortunate side effect of this was that now Orenis was grinning at him in the exact same way Arbane did when he was about to tease him. Edwyr should have seen this coming.

"Oh? Why did you come talk to me, then?"

Her grin only grew as Edwyr huffed. Well, he supposed it would be better to just get it over with and tell her the truth. He breathed in, shutting his eyes for a moment before answering. "Is there another way to leave this place, other than the front door?"

Orenis' smile faded as she frowned. "You aren't planning on running away, are you?" Before he could deny it, she put her hands up, shaking her head. "Not that I would stop you. Do what you want."

Edwyr sighed again. "No, I don't want to leave. I simply want to go outside for a moment."

Orenis nodded, immediately looking over Edwyr's shoulder as if to check if someone was standing there before leaning in to whisper. "Okay, there's a hidden door. All you have to do is head all the way down and you should find it. It's only really hidden from the outside. But you didn't hear this from me."

She then winked, backing off and sitting down to continue whatever she'd been working on.

Edwyr resisted the urge to point out that as far as he knew Orenis was the only person here other than Wyn, and so there was no one else to get this information from. Instead, he just nodded in thanks and walked away, suddenly feeling very paranoid that someone had heard them, even though no one was around, and even if they were, who were they to deny him the option of going outside?

He shook his head as he realized he could have just asked Wyn that and leave out the part about meeting his friends, but then again, the other elf would probably see right through it. Wyn wasn't stupid, which in this case was unfortunate.

Edwyr quickly found a corridor leading down, and he followed it, hoping that he was on the right track. As ever there were many side corridors connecting to this one, but Edwyr stuck to what he assumed was the main one, hoping that this was the right path.

The deeper he went, the less sure of that he felt, as the stone walls and long shadows caused by torches were starting to seem increasingly the same until he almost thought he was walking in circles, but finally, after a while longer, Edwyr reached what he assumed was the bottom. The corridor stopped going lower and simply stayed level for a short stretch that abruptly ended with a dark shadow.

Edwyr hoped this was it. As he approached, it became apparent that it was indeed a stone door now that the light from the torches next to him wasn't blinding him. The door was much smaller than the one at the top, but it was still large and would be difficult to open.

Cursing his lack of magic yet again, Edwyr pushed on the rough stone with all his might. He couldn't help but smile to himself as the door began to open, slowly but steadily, stone grinding against stone as he continued pushing. Just a little bit more....

With a final shove, Edwyr finally managed to create a gap big enough for him to squeeze through, which he with some difficulty proceeded to do. Breathing in and out a few times, fresh air filling his lungs, he shook his head at how difficult this had been. This door was clearly not used often.

As he looked around his dark surroundings, he was surprised it was so late already, but he supposed he shouldn't have been. He and Wyn had been talking for a very long time, and it was simply difficult to tell time within the halls of that...temple? Edwyr had forgotten to ask what he should call the place.

He was now standing among the ruins, with a stone wall behind him. He went to somehow pull the door closed, but when he saw how seamless the rough, rocky surface blended with the door itself, as if it had been cut directly from the same stone, he decided against it. It was only a little open, after all, and he didn't want to risk not being able to find it again.

Besides, he doubted this conversation would take long, and he didn't want it to take long, either. It already hurt to just think about it, and the more he imagined what was about to happen, the less he wanted to do it. But he was sure that telling his friends goodbye, at least for a while, would be more painful for him than for them, at least, and that did make this a little easier.

Trying not to think about this further, he began walking among the ruined, stone buildings, looking around and squinting into the distance in hopes of seeing a campfire that would show him where Lanna and Arbane were. He could only see silhouettes of the dark structures, and even though he knew he'd seen at least some of these ruins before, he had no actual idea where he was.

Still, he walked in the direction he hoped the main road was located without stopping to try to figure this out, afraid that if he did, he might change his mind. But thankfully it didn't take him long to notice a light toward the end of the ruins, relatively far away from the main road. He could only see the walls of broken buildings illuminated with a yellow, flickering light, but it was so dark it stood out like a beacon.

Sighing, Edwyr began to walk faster, wishing that he had Tempest with him. Even though it would be completely unnecessary to bring her with him, she would carry him to the fire much faster. And he had always found her presence calming.

As he slowly but surely approached the fire, he realized how loud his footsteps seemed in the eerie silence as he tried to pick up on any conversation the two humans, and possibly Feyrith, might be having. But there was nothing, except for a deathly silence.

Finally, as he walked around one of the ruined buildings, he spotted both Lanna and Arbane, sitting by the fire and roasting something over it. It looked like a large lizard of some kind, skewered on a stick. Edwyr felt his stomach turn. They both looked so sad and worried.

He hated that he'd caused that. It was too late now, but it could have been easily avoided if Wyn hadn't insisted on being so secretive. For all Lanna and Arbane knew, Edwyr had disappeared or had been killed, and he knew they cared about him, so of course this would bother them.

Suddenly angry with himself for not thinking of coming here sooner, he did his best to not look too awkward as he approached, clearing his throat.

Lanna and Arbane both flinched, immediately jumping to their feet and raising their arms, prepared to defend themselves, only for their expression to turn to absolute shock.

"Edwyr?" Lanna breathed. Before the elf could even react, she was hugging him tightly, with Arbane replacing her as soon as she pulled away.

"Where the hell have you been, man? We've been looking for you for hours!" Arbane said much too loudly, making Edwyr cringe. He sounded relieved, even happy, but that made Edwyr feel all the worse.

"I...met with some people," he replied, not sure how much he was willing to reveal.

Both of the humans' relieved expressions quickly turned confused and suspicious. As Edwyr had assumed would happen. "Wait, what? What people?"

"Elves. There are other elves here," Edwyr replied, looking away as it became too uncomfortable to look into either of his friends' eyes.

"Yeah, we know. One sent that fog on us. And someone attacked Feyrith!" Arbane exclaimed, his eyes wide as he gestured wildly.

Edwyr wasn't exactly sure what to think of that, but just the mention of Feyrith put him in an even worse mood. It was ridiculous to get annoyed over them mentioning the other elf so soon after seeing Edwyr again, but it annoyed him anyway.

"That fog was there so I could leave without you following."

While Lanna blinked at him, Arbane frowned. "Follow you where? And why not tell us?"

Arbane was starting to sound a little irritated at this point, while Lanna still seemed to be trying to give Edwyr the benefit of the doubt, even though he did deserve them being angry with him for not talking to them sooner.

"Yeah, you know you can trust us, right?" There was hurt in Lanna's eyes, and it was awful to behold.

"Yes, of course." Edwyr sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It wasn't my decision to leave you in the dark."

The two humans exchanged a look, now concerned again. But Edwyr didn't let them ask whatever they had been about to ask.

"Listen." Edwyr sighed again. Why was this so hard to say? "They told me they can give me magic."

Both of his friends gaped at him then, shocked into silence. As they should be. It was still hard to believe if he was completely honest with himself. He would get magic. It was beyond anything he'd ever dreamed because he'd never thought it would actually happen. He'd thought it was impossible, but not anymore.

"What?!" came a belated reaction from them both at the same time. It had always been remarkable how they managed to mirror each other so much.

"Magic?" Arbane repeated, his mouth still open in shock. "Like...you'll be able to do spells?"

"Yes, exactly."

Lanna was now grinning, which made Edwyr's stomach flip. But Arbane didn't seem to share this enthusiasm, judging by his scowl.

"You said that's not possible," Arbane argued. Edwyr had expected them to be a bit doubtful of Wyn's offer. After all, he was still a little doubtful himself. But he hadn't thought it would be so fast.

"Yes, I thought so. But I was wrong," Edwyr replied, cursing himself for the defensive tone he'd used. He hadn't meant to come across that way. Lanna and Arbane exchanged another look before Lanna spoke in the usual soothing tone she used whenever she wanted to defuse tension.

"Look, Edwyr, we're sorry for being suspicious, but you gotta admit, this is all very sudden. First, you disappear, then Feyrith does, and now you're telling us that—"

"Wait, Feyrith disappeared?" Edwyr had thought the elf was simply somewhere else, perhaps off exploring the ruins for the source of magical energies, which now that Edwyr thought about it was probably the Infuser. But he hadn't thought Feyrith had disappeared.

"Yeah, shortly after you did. We separated to find you and...." Lanna sighed, worry filling her eyes. "We just found his squawker, all drowsy."

She looked over at Feyrith's squawker as she said this. The beast was sleeping on the ground between Stomper and Aggra, who were pressed up against its sides protectively. A drowsy squawker wasn't something Edwyr had ever seen before.

"Did he run into some bandits again?" Edwyr couldn't help but dismiss the issue, though he probably shouldn't be joking about Feyrith's disappearance like this. But even realizing that, he hadn't expected his friends to glare at him for it as fiercely as they did.

"That's not funny, Edwyr," Lanna snapped, sighing immediately after as she rubbed her eyes. "Look, if whoever summoned that fog did something to Feyrith—"

"Impossible. I was with him until now." Edwyr had thought that him telling his friends about getting magic—something they knew was and always had been his biggest wish—would have more of an impact on the conversation, but it seemed as though they were more concerned about an elf they met a few days ago, who for all they knew had simply gotten lost. This didn't have to mean anything, especially given how incompetent Feyrith was when it came to survival skills.

"Well, you said there was more than one elf here, right?" Arbane continued, keeping his tone forcefully calm and slow. "So what if someone else attacked Fey?"

Edwyr tried not to grit his teeth at both the nickname and the implication Arbane was trying to get across. "Are you trying to suggest that this is a trick?"

Lanna grimaced, clearly realizing that the direction the conversation was going was making Edwyr angry, but if anything, Arbane just glared harder. "Yeah! I mean, don't you find it a bit suspicious that—"

"No! No, I don't," Edwyr snapped back at him. He pointed his index finger at his friend, his teeth gritted so hard it almost hurt. "Do you not understand how important this is to me? Why are you trying to ruin it?"

"Ruin it?!" Arbane repeated, sounding almost outraged. "We're trying to keep you safe, you...." He huffed, cutting himself off before he could likely call Edwyr a colorful insult of some kind. "You can't tell me you trust these elves. When something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You said the Council—"

"They're not with the Council. And besides, you can't understand this."

The hurt, angry glare Lanna shot him then made Edwyr's heart clench, but he stood his ground. "Why? Because we're human?"

Edwyr sighed, feeling some of his anger turn into tiredness. "Yes. Because you are human."

"That never mattered before," Arbane argued, now also looking more hurt than angry.

"It has always mattered," Edwyr replied, keeping his voice soft and emotionless. Perhaps it had only ever mattered to him. He wouldn't be surprised. After all, Arbane and Lanna had plenty of other humans to be around—they wouldn't understand how it felt to be separated from their people the way Edwyr had been, and therefore wouldn't have much of a reason to feel the way he did. And he hadn't done much to remind them of his differences, either, since he wore the same clothes as them and had cut his hair short.

He didn't regret doing it. It had brought him a tangible kind of separation from the Council at the time, but now there was a pang of sadness in his heart when he thought about it.

"I didn't come here to argue with you," Edwyr said, grateful that the two had left him enough space to continue. "I came to say goodbye."

As their eyes widened, Edwyr raised his hand to stop them from asking the obvious question. Of course, they didn't know what he was talking about. Edwyr only hoped he would be able to explain it well enough for them to understand. "The other elves. They made me an offer. One that I will accept. But it means I won't be coming back with you."

For a second, Lanna and Arbane stared at him in shock, not saying anything. Edwyr wished he could explain it more clearly to them—to make them understand why this was so important to him—but he couldn't. Wyn wanted all of this to remain a secret, and Edwyr wanted to respect that.

"I might come to Sunwood eventually. But not now."

"So you're just leaving us? To join some elves you met a few hours ago?" Arbane said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Who's gonna help us protect Sunwood, then?"

"Any other human capable of combat," Edwyr replied, sounding exhausted even to himself. So far this had been a whirlwind of emotion. "You never needed me specifically to protect Sunwood. And like this, you will be with your own kind, and I with mine."

"Since when does anyone care about that?" Though she looked angry, tears were gathering in Lanna's eyes. She didn't let them fall, blinking rapidly, but it still made Edwyr's heart clench.

"I always cared. And now I finally get a chance at a life worthy of an elf." The moment the words left his lips Edwyr realized how this must have sounded to his friends, and that they would take an offense at this, but the damage had already been done.

"Are you saying protecting human lives is beneath you?" Arbane asked, his tone sharp and dangerous. Edwyr sighed again. Arbane was twisting his words, and yet he couldn't help but agree with it to an extent. Protecting humans was a worthy cause, but not in the incredibly inefficient way he'd been forced to do it.

"No, of course not. But the way we have been doing it is." The humans' glares barely lessened, but Edwyr wasn't going to back down. "Just imagine how much more I could do with magic at my disposal."

"Yeah, or this could be a trap!" Arbane practically yelled at him.

"Go home," Edwyr told them instead of continuing this argument. They wouldn't reach any kind of understanding anyway—that much was clear by now. Though he hated how hurt they looked by what he'd just said. "I'm grateful you decided to come with me here, but it's time you went back. Sunwood needs you."

Lanna scoffed, avoiding Edwyr's gaze, but she said nothing. Arbane, though, was staring right into Edwyr's eyes.

"Fine. If you don't want to come back, I'll respect that. But we won't leave until we find Feyrith. We agreed to help him get here and back, and we'll keep that promise."

Edwyr resisted the urge to say any of the things that came to mind and just gave a nod, trying not to show how he felt about this idea. "Very well."

A moment of silence followed, which stretched on for long enough for Edwyr's anger to leave his heart and give way to a wave of sorrow and regret. He hadn't wanted to end things like this, but he supposed he should have known it would go badly. He hadn't imagined there would be yelling, but he couldn't say he was surprised either.

As the silence became stifling, he spoke again, despite his better judgment. He simply felt a need to explain himself, despite knowing that the two weren't likely to listen. "I appreciate the time we spent together. But my destiny lies elsewhere. It always has."

"Sure," Arbane replied, brushing him off. He was now pointedly looking away, clearly trying to imply that he was done with this conversation. And Edwyr supposed so was he. Especially once Lanna looked up at him again, her eyes dull and resigned.

And then she spoke, her voice so flat that Edwyr couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or sincere. "I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for."

He couldn't help but feel like he was being mocked, but he wouldn't let Arbane and Lanna's dismissals and suspicions change his mind. They had been often right in the past, but not this time.

"I did."