Aris slept. It was troubling except that the wound he had created with the staff healed over abnormally quickly while she was asleep.

They held a meeting over a small fire after everyone had been reassured that Aris was no longer on some misguided murder rampage. They ate what little food they had left and shared two skins of water while the fire light cast shadows over Aris’s hollowed out face. Camaz explained that the side effects of absorbing the Part kept her in immense pain and it seemed to have prevented her ability to eat.

“Cracks had formed in her solute,” he said. “If they are deep enough to split it, it would mean her death.”

“There aren’t any cracks in it anymore,” Ral said, recalling interacting with it and plunging into Aris’s dream world. “It’s… mutated and wrong, but it’s not damaged.”

Camaz opened his mouth, but then shut it and nodded silently.

“She also isn’t waking up every other hour screaming in pain,” Verne said. “It seems whatever ailed her is gone.”

They then discussed where their journey would next take them. They spoke until deep into the night, relaying stories as far back as the fall of Caelis castle. Upon explaining his experience with Gates and the Parts, those from the Academy agree that the entity that Ral met through the Gate was most likely Mind.

“If Mind is able to prompt the opening of Gates by herself here, it may not be a stretch to hypothesize that the frequency of Gates in this area influences it,” Camaz said thoughtfully. “Like holes in a dam holding back water. As the wall weakens, holes are able to form by themselves.”

“It would then make sense that these Bringers are employed by her to create such holes by opening Gates,” Rask continued. “By why here in Caelis? We know now that the presence of a Gate prompts the transformation of Gaians into Unseeing monsters. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to target somewhere with a high density of pure Gaians? Everyone knows Caelisians carry Yscian blood.”

“The Mind knows of our existence,” Ral said. “If she knows that Aris and I are from Caelis, it would make sense for her to ‘poke holes’ around here.”

“She was assuming you would still be here or would return here as it is your homeland,” Camaz nodded.

“Wait, then would that mean… all those years ago, the attack on the castle,” Rask said suddenly. “Was it from the Mind as well?”

“You mentioned the assassins all those years ago carried a talisman that protected them from abilities granted by the Great Solvent?” Camaz said. “I’m afraid that’s the connecting piece. The Bringers that attacked us to get to Aris also had such talismans.”

“All the way back then she wanted to murder them,” Rask murmured. “And to have such influence over so many people. Where did she recruit the Bringers?”

“I want to know too,” Camaz said tightly. “Almost every contact I have out here has been compromised. They maneuvered together to have me pinpoint her location. I cannot say it wouldn’t be the same for the Heart or the Academy.”

“W-we can’t stay out here,” Laell pointed out. “If it is true t-that a Gate can be opened by Mind without someone helping her then it’s too dangerous to be out east.”

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“The fact that she hasn’t just opened a Gate and still requires Bringers to look for Aris proves that Mind is unable to pinpoint where we are or willfully open a Gate where she needs it to,” Camaz said. “As the Freerunner has said, naturally occurring Gates appear randomly.”

“We don’t know how she does it, but she does require a solute to keep the Gate open. All Gates do,” Ral said. “I assume the solute of a pure blooded Gaian.”

“Verne, Professor Camaz and I are all p-pure blooded Gaians,” Laell pointed out. “Are we going to wait until s-she finds the right spot through the Solvent and let her murder us all? If what you say is true, any three of us can become s-sacrifices.”

“It seems like we are due back at the Heart then, Professor,” Rask said. “Mind cannot open the Gates herself as easily out west. But I expect there will be turncoats at the Academy’s doorstep ready to ‘poke holes’ as they did here.”

“We will be trading one invisible enemy with another,” Camaz muttered. “But I suppose having an enemy I somewhat understand is better than an enemy that is akin to a god.”

“Two Sekrelli’s disowning their gods right before my eyes,” Rask said, amused. “I must be the first Freerunner to see this happen.”

Ral glanced over at Verne who had remained silent over the majority of the conversation. The young man frequently glanced over at the sleeping Aris; Camaz had explained Verne was in charge of keeping Aris alive for the weeks leading up to their reunion. Ral thought about Aris’s strange dream world where she had pictured Verne holding a hand out to her. He wondered when he could ever ask his sister about it.

They were like strangers now. This Sekrelli man probably knew her better than he did. He couldn’t even convince her to stay alive, it was Camaz who changed things around. The thought stung, but… for the moment he was happy she was alive. They were both alive. That was what mattered right now.

As they packed up to journey back out West towards the Heart and the Academy, Ral was obviously the one to carry Aris. She had moments where she was awake, but seemed so tired she was barely able to sit up. They needed to treat her exhaustion among other things.

Laell helped him strap the unconscious Aris to him so he could more efficiently ride his horse. He had ridden lots of horses with his travels with Rask as a boy, but the Somas never used pack animals and so the years had made him rusty enough to doubt himself that he wanted both hands on the reins. He watched Verne notice his uncertainty and the Sekrelli looked like he wanted to say something but then decided not to.

With Rask in the lead, they were able to smoothly travel in the most discreet way possible. Their resources were replenished and those from the Academy were even able to wash up by a stream Rask located. Every step their horses took westward made Ral feel guiltier for leaving Sansre behind, but he knew they both needed to get away from Mind.

“Do you think Bringers will try to open Gates at the Heart?” Ral asked Camaz one night.

“If the Mind thinks it will bring you and Aris to her, perhaps,” Camaz said. “I’m not going to pretend to understand their motives.”

“Then we will be endangering the people of the Heart, possibly the emperor.”

“Hmm, that’s true. But you’ve forgotten one important thing,” Camaz said. When Ral raised his brows in question, he smiled. “Have you forgotten you can close Gates? Along with the information Laell and Rask have gathered, we can start real tangible progress in developing ways to close them. If that’s the case, Mind has no footing to stand on.”

The professor’s mood and demeanor had considerably improved after cleaning up. Rask had even managed to get his hands on a bottle of mead for them to share and Camaz’s eyes nearly lit up in excitement. Ral had a feeling that living on the road was not suited to the professor at all.

“Actually, there has been something I have been meaning to ask you, Ralos,” Camaz said. He leaned in conspiratorially but Ral caught the twinkle in his eye. He wondered if Aris ever got tired of this guy’s mercurial moods.

“What is it, sir?”

“Have you ever considered enrolling in the Academy?”