Vern gasped, watching the scene in front unfold, the hand holding his sword trembled. His mind was completely blank, unable to think, unable to make any decision.

As the wolves had finished their meal, they shifted their attention to the spectators. An arrow flew by Vern, brushing his hair and annihilating one of the wolves in its path.

They howled in rage, but instead of retaliating, they retreated back into the safety of the bailiwick and its tree cover.

Vern took his eyes off the red-stained ground in the distance and looked at his companions. Irina just lowered her bow, her face morphing from apathetic shock and disbelief to rage and sorrow. Alvyn and Kieran weren't doing much better. Bertio, on the other hand, took one last look at the corpse and swallowed down his feeling.

»Follow me«, he ordered, looking at each of them for a second. »And don't look behind.«

He walked towards the group that had been approaching them before they had stopped midway. Every member was in shock.

»Bring me to the one responsible for this village«, Bertio demanded.

»But … what …«

He took the one speaking by his shoulders and shook him. »You just saw that, right? Yes? So do what I say, or it might happen again!«

The man nodded slowly as he realized the situation and asked them to follow. They hurried back to the village, and Bertio told them to wait in the carriage in a voice that didn't allow for backtalk.

So Vern, Irina, and Alvyn slowly mounted the carriage, all of them staring into a void of their own.

»What … what was that thing?«, Alvyn asked, breaking the silence.

Vern's head gradually dropped down, and he looked at his chest. He moved his hand to his heart and felt his heartbeat, finally understanding what kind of creature had nested itself there.

»It was an Eldritch, I think«, Vern replied eventually, distracting himself from the thoughts in his head.

»What? Weren't they supposed to be all dead?«, Alvyn asked. »Did something similar to this happen last time?«

Vern shook his head. »No … I don't know what's going on«, he replied, knowing full well that this wasn't entirely true. After all, it was obvious he had caused this, considering what the Eldritch had said. And because of it, he was also responsible for Ezra's and Rewalt's deaths and any potential future casualties.

»Should … Shouldn't we … like be out there, looking if they'll attack again?«, Kieran asked. »It seemed like they had no problems crossing the border …«

»I guess we will notice when that happens again«, Irina replied in a monotone voice.

»Well, guess so …« Kieran didn't try to keep the conversation going, and the silence dominated once again.

After 15 minutes, Bertio came back, his face hard as stone. »We're heading back to the capital and will report what happened. Pull yourself together until then.« He readied the horses, and a few minutes later, they had already left the village.

»What … what are we going to do now?«, Kieran asked.

»I told you. We're going to report what happened, and that's all we can decide in this matter anyway.«

»But … shouldn't we stay and defend the village?«, Alvyn interjected. »In case they come back.«

»Well, there are more important things now«, Bertio replied, his eyes fixated on the road ahead. »I've told them to evacuate it and tell everyone to avoid the bailiwick for now … but if they actually do that … I don't know …«

The rest of the way, they were quiet until they eventually came to a halt in the city center. As they unmounted, Vern looked into the people's carefree faces, non of them aware of what he had unleashed. They headed straight to the royal palace and got access after Bertio had talked to the guards on the outside for a moment.

They escorted them into the interior, a place Vern had only visited once or twice on official occasions.

Then they stopped in a waiting room, and the guards left them alone. Vern looked at the others, all of them had the same grim expression just as he had. Irina stared down at her hands as she sat on a bench, and Vern wondered what she might think about.

A feeling of sadness came forth in him again while he watched her, but heavily overshadowed by the sentiment of vengeance. He remembered the creature's appearance as it had just stood there and watched while Vern had blissfully been unaware of what was about to happen. Reliving this scene, he recalled Velvet jumping to his side and wondered what these images he had seen were about. Velvet hadn't said a word for a while, and as badly as Vern wanted to ask him, he knew this was neither the time nor the place to do so.

Eventually, several servants showed up and brought them to a room directly adjacent to the massive throne room. The one in front knocked and opened the door after receiving verbal permission from the inside. They moved aside, allowing the visitors to pass.

Inside, three men were awaiting them, all seated around a table at the other end of the room. Vern recognized them as his father, Irina's father, and the king himself, while the third duke, Kieran's father, was missing.

Bertio, who led their group, immediately bowed down as he saw the three, but the king dismissed any further etiquette with a hand gesture. »Skip this waste of time, please«, he said. »All of you just sit down and tell us exactly what happened.«

Nonetheless, all of them respectfully bowed their heads at least slightly as they entered the room and took a seat at the table.

Bertio reported the events as he witnessed them, as well as the talk he had with the village chief afterward. During this time, he wasn't interrupted at any point. Only at the end, the king exchanged looks with two men next to him.

»I'll take it from here«, he said to them. »Grewis, Oleg, asked anything I might miss.«

»Of course, Artis«, Grewis replied, bowing his head slightly.

Having talked to his two aides, king Artis shifted his attention back to their guests. »Coming here immediately was definitely the right decision, Bertio. Good job.« He turned to Vern. »As I understood it, you were the first who left the group and witnessed Rewalt's death firsthand too?« Vern nodded. »Then please, fill in the information you have.«

»Su– … Sure.« He cleared his throat, trying to figure out what he would say at the same time.

»While we walked through the forest, I thought I had noticed strange movements around us and was worried about an imminent monster attack. But since it didn't happen, I consulted with Alvyn, Irina, and Kieran on the matter and we agreed to investigate it. We decided this all on our own as we were told our instructors would only serve as observers.«

He paused and looked at the king. His face had much more wrinkles than the two men's next to him, even though they had a few years on him. Apparently, being concerned with the whole kingdom's matters took quite the toll. Regardless, Artis nodded at his explanation, urging him to continue.

»Right. We decided that Kieran and I would go to have a look and left Irina and Alvyn with our instructors to protect them. As we made our way forward, monsters indeed started to attack us from all sides, and we retreated to the others.«

»But you headed off, didn't you?«, Artis asked. »Why was that?«

»Well, as we moved back, I thought I heard someone else being trouble and decided to have a look.«

»Did you also hear anything of that sort?«, Oleg interjected, looking at Kieran.

»Err, no. But I was focused on moving back to the others while Vern held the line so I missed it.«

The king nodded. »Right. Please continue.« He looked at Vern.

»Yes. So I ran to the direction I heard the voice coming from … and there was this … creature«

»A monster?«, Grewis asked, looking intently at his son. »Well, no … maybe, but I think it was an Eldritch.«

As he spoke that last word, the expressions of the three men in front that had remained calm so far, stiffened visibly.

»Impossible«, Oleg replied and shook his head. »Why would you even think that?«

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»There are several reasons for this«, Vern replied swiftly. »For one, the monsters clearly encircled us beforehand, which suggests they were controlled. Furthermore, the creature had monsters behind it too that just watched as if their awaited orders.«

»But why would this anomaly convince you of it being an Eldritch in the first place?«, Oleg inquired, his voice suggesting that he still doubted his words.

»Well, if you don't believe me that it was there, you can ask the others. After all, they saw it firsthand as it killed Rewalt. It was so fast and could also talk, unlike any monster I've ever seen.«

»Bertio, you didn't see it yourself, did you?«, Grewis asked. »You said you didn't witness how Rewalt died.«

»Yes, I didn't. I only caught a glimpse of something vanishing in the trees as I arrived with Ezra. But Irina, Alvyn, and Kieran were there before me.«

Everyone's attention shifted to those three. While Alvyn and Kieran returned their looks, ready to speak, Irina just stared at the table in front, only slightly nodding her head.

»Yes, we also saw it«, Alvyn said. »It was extremely fast, and Rewalt's sword just shattered when it hit its body.«

»How exactly did it look like?«, Grewis asked him.

»Well, it had the proportion of a human, but with red eyes, and the body was covered in scales or something.«

Hearing this, Oleg shook his head again. »Impossible. They were all defeated a long time ago. And why would one show up now, anyway.«

»Well, I think it's undeniably true«, Vern replied impatiently. »And why wouldn't one show up in a bailiwick? After all, it's their creation, and therefore, it could easily hide there, no?«

»You do seem to know a lot of things that aren't common knowledge«, Grewis replied, eyeing him up. »I can't remember ever telling you something like this.«

Vern just shrugged. »It doesn't matter. More importantly, we should come up with a strategy to handle this situation. How will we deal with it if monsters keep crossing the bailiwick's borders, not to mention–«

»Leave this to us«, the king chimed in. »We'll make a decision soon and inform you. Just stay in the city for now and keep quiet about what you all have witnessed. We don't want rumors to spread and panic to rise, understood?«

All of them nodded.

»Good, now you can leave and recover. Bertio, you'll stay with us for a little longer.«

»Wait, we won't be involved at all in the planning and decision-making?«, Vern replied, irritated.

»No, why would you?«, Artis said. »All of you are still in training. We'll inform you when your help is required.« Saying this, he looked at Alvyn, Kieran, and Irina, ignoring Vern completely.

Vern shook his head in disbelief but left the room with the others without another word. He had almost forgotten that he had been treated vastly differently from the real heroes, but this served as a reminder. Maybe he should tell them about his situation … no, he knew they wouldn't believe him. He was sure they still doubted his words, even after Alvyn's testimony. But what could he really do about it? He had no way of handling the Eldritch himself.

While he was lost in his mind, they arrived back at the wagon and went to the Feuerstein mansion.

»I don't know … «, Alvyn spoke up as they traversed the city. »Maybe we should've fought them instead of running?«

He looked at Vern, who just shook his head in response and averted his eyes.

»No, Vern made the right call, for sure«, Kieran replied in his stead. »Fighting them in enemy territory … while this thing could've come back at any time … not to mention the other monsters. We would've run out of mana in no time, so retreating immediately while we still had the option was our best bet.«

Alvyn sighed. »Yes, I know. I know. I just thought, maybe we could've prevented her death … at least … but yeah, forget it.«

Shortly after, they arrived at the mansion, and Vern had made up his mind. He wanted to visit Durant and tell him everything that happened. Hopefully, he could help him out somehow. Therefore, he volunteered to take care of the horses, planning to leave right after.

Kieran and Alvyn unmounted and headed inside, but Irina hadn't moved yet. Vern offered his hand to help her down and she accepted his help. As he turned around and took a step, he noticed that Irina grabbed his shirt from behind.

»I … I can't believe they're dead«, she mumbled, and Vern looked back at her. Her eyes were downcast, but he still could see the tears that formed in them.

»They're … dead«, she repeated. »Because of me.« The tears started to roll down her face. He didn't know what to say as watching her made his heart feel heavy. She moved closer, and Vern turned around to fully embrace her.

»It's alright … you didn't do anything wrong«, Vern murmured, putting his arms around her.

»But … but if I had stayed with the others … if I had moved faster … none of them would've …«

She went silent, and the tears started flooding out of her. Vern comforted her as she cried her heart out, and he felt that her feelings of guilt infected his own mind. What had he done? Rewalt and Ezra hadn't died in his previous life. Only his behavior had killed him. He had been too careless, not properly acknowledging the situation he was in. He thought he could protect them, but in reality, he was too weak and that wouldn't change either.

The both of them stayed interlocked, each dealing with their own demons. Eventually, Irina stopped from exhaustion and looked up at Vern. »Thanks a lot. I really needed this.«

»No problem, you can always come to me if anything bothers you.«

As he looked at her, a strong sense of duty arose in him, and he slowly took his arms off her. »I'll have to run some errands in the city. I'll be back soon.«

Irina nodded and wiped the remaining tears off her face. »I'll make sure there is some food ready for you when you return.«

A faint smile appeared on her face as she reluctantly distanced herself and walked into the mansion. Vern watched her enter before he turned his attention to the horses. After everything was taken care of, he immediately headed out. He couldn't believe it was still noon on that very same day since it felt like so much more time had passed. Avoiding the unsuspecting crowds, he quickly reached Durant's shop. He pressed against the door, but to his surprise, it didn't open. After glancing through the windows, confirming that the shop was indeed closed, he noticed a small sign hanging next to the door. The ink had faded substantially, so Vern hadn't even identified it as such in his visits before. He deciphered the letters and groaned in disappointment. The shop was only open from Thursday to Sunday.

Nonetheless, Vern banged a few times against the door, hoping that Durant would be in the back. But that didn't seem to be the case. Where does this man live? He looked around. However, he couldn't pick up any clues. What had this man even done all this time that he ended up with this shop?

Vern shook his head, realizing he knew nothing about Durant, and it was partially his fault as he hadn't even bothered to ask. He sighed in defeat and looked up into the clear summer sky, where only a few birds high up stained the perfectly blue continuum.

Vern walked back to the mansion, weighing his option until he arrived.

As promised, a lavish lunch awaited him, ready to be heated up again. The rest of the day he spent together with his companions, trying to recover and distract themselves from events that had just taken place. They didn't receive any message concerning what the king and the dukes had decided on, and so they went to bed, wondering what the next day would bring.

Vern lay in his bed staring up to the ceiling and recalling everything that had happened today one last time. Then he remembered that he wasn't alone and could share his thoughts.

›Velvet? You there?‹ He expected a snappy response, but instead, there was no reply. Only after a minute of silence, Vern received a faint answer, nothing like the Velvet he used to know. ›Yes … I'm here.‹

›What happened back there?‹, Vern asked. ›When you warned me of the Eldritch? I saw these images … were those your memories?‹

»Yes«, Velvet replied after another pause. »I remembered some things that I seemed to have completely forgotten.«

»Do … do you mind sharing them with me?«, Vern asked cautiously, knowing full well that they had deeply disturbed Velvet.

»Sure …«, he replied, and the next moment Vern didn't lie in his bed anymore. Instead, he was in a forest, watching through Velvet's eyes.

It was night, but the moon stood high, spending enough light to perceive the surroundings well. Velvet's eyelids shut more and more like he was about to go to sleep. His body curled up, his head lying on his paws. But his body wasn't transparent – no he had real, red-brown fur, and he was also snuggled in between similar-looking foxes.

Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the forest, and Velvet jumped up, looking around frantically.

Around them, figures emerged from all directions, their bodies black and their eyes red. The foxes moved around, looking for an escape route, but they were properly encircled.

A motionless body lay next to one of the Eldritch Creatures wielding a black sword, the now mute source of the initial scream. Seeing this, Velvet panicked and tried to break through the enemy lines, even though there were no gaps.

One of the creatures intercepted him and put its arms around his neck, pulling him to the ground despite the size difference. Velvet struggled and tried to break free. But his adversary tighten his grip in response and started to choke him.

»The more you move, the more painful it will be«, it whispered. »Just accept your fate and serve us with your death.«

More screams filled the air, one more heartbreaking than the other. Velvet tried to resist more furiously and managed to get back onto his paws. He tried to run, but the Eldritch held his neck and kept him in place. The cover of the forest was only a few meters away, but in the current situation, it was an insurmountable distance. The cries of death behind him came closer, and he knew it would soon be his turn.

He stopped fighting back for a moment, just to focus everything on one last attempt. First, he bent his legs and then pushed forward with all remaining strength. Something cracked in the process, but nonetheless, he was free and just ran without looking back, not stopping, his transparent body shimmering within the forest.

The images faded, and Vern looked once again at the wooden ceiling above his bed.

›That was …‹ Vern wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. ›I am sorry that happened to you. How did it continue after that?‹

›Well, I didn't really realize what happened at first, and when I tried to return, I couldn't. The bailiwick was already in place, shutting me out of most of the forest. But besides this, I don't really remember much anyway, only vague images, nothing that had seared into my mind like this.‹

›Maybe some more escaped … I mean actually succeeded in doing so and left the forest behind. We can devote some to searching after we've dealt with the problem at hand. What do you say?‹

›Yeah, I very much doubt anyone escaped, but sure, we can give it a try, I guess.‹

Vern closed his eyes, a slight smile on his face as he imagined the two of them exploring the world. However, the thought of the current obstacle darkened his face again. His hand moved towards his heart, remembering a part of these abominations was inside him.

›On another note, I also wanted to share my ideas with you concerning the Eldritch‹, Vern said. ›Did you gain any new knowledge about them with your memories?‹

›No, I didn't. I only recognized the sword that one of them wielded.‹

›Yeah, that sword. I'm planning on looking for it while I still have time for that. It should be strong enough to kill them, and as it is compatible with me, I might finally be of some use.‹

›Well, do you really think he's just going to hand it to you, though?‹, Velvet interjected. ›After all, he even moved the sword when you knew of it.‹

›No, he probably won't. But that's why I said I wanted to look for it myself – meaning running through the city and hoping that I can determine its location with this feeling once again. You're down to help me with this?‹

›Uh, exploring every corner of the city sounds fun for sure. However, he could've hidden it somewhere entirely different as well.‹

Vern groaned. ›Yeah, but don't jinx it so early. We haven't even started yet.‹

›Sorry, I'm definitely in regardless, but I'll have to look into all the houses passing just to make sure that it isn't there. That feeling of yours might not be there anymore, after all.‹

Vern smiled at these words, finally having his old, cheeky Velvet back.

›Well, we can make some exception under these circumstances, I suppose‹, Vern replied, taking in a deep breath. ›Sleep well, Velvet, tomorrow we'll have a lot to do.‹

›Good night.‹