After receiving the news, Helly left in a rush. She left the Muscle Wall as a liaison between their parties. The man introduced himself as Softy - a name entirely unsuitable for the bulk of flesh he was.

While Mila fell back in her chair to munch on the implications of what Naran had said, Andrew pulled Softy to the side and animatedly started to talk with him. She let Isabel lean on her shoulder.

“Can we go now?” Isabel sounded tired.

Mila finally gave up. There was no good solution she could come up with. Her body and mind were too sluggish. “Yes, let’s.” With a sigh, she forced herself up.

“Ah!” Softy noticed their movements and pushed past Andrew, who still had questions. “Are you two leaving already?”

Isabel sent him a challenging glare, making Softy stop. “We are. No talking.” She announced, took Mila’s hand and pulled her along.

“You can leave topics of interest to Andrew.” Mila let herself be dragged away. “He will inform us anything of importance.” She was taken out of the room. Mila looked at Isabel. “Are you that tired?”

“Kind of.” Isabel didn’t let go of Mila’s hand. She let their fingers play with each other. “Naran looked like he wanted to talk up a storm.”

“I see.” Mila followed her girl’s thought process. “It is true Naran likely will want to tie himself closer to us. Especially now that Stilag is in danger of burning down, along with everything he has. Strength is the greatest reassurance at times like these.”

There was a mumble of agreement from Isabel. They walked through the dark tunnels. Mila wondered just how defensible they were. Also, did they lead outside of the city? She decided it had to be the first thing they clarified the next day.

“Mila…” Isabel spoke after a longer time of silence and removed her disguise. They passed a room in which people were packing supplies and transporting them away. “Will Stilag end up like Ocheon?”

There was no way of telling. “I hope not, but…” Mila didn’t want to sound too forbidding.

But honestly, if Nobles did attempt something foolish… The chances of Stilag surviving weren’t great, especially not in a warmtime. She had no doubts the King would make an example of this city.

“That sucks…” Isabel mumbled. “People don’t deserve this.” She fell quiet again.

And while Mila was content to walk in silence, she had a question of her own. “Isabel… Why didn’t you ask Helly about returning to the Earth?”

“Ah…” Isabel stopped, turned and hugged Mila but didn’t speak.

Mila didn’t rush her. She let her presence help her girl comb through her feelings.

“...I am happy here.” Isabel finally spoke. She ended the hug and took Mila’s hand. “I… I don’t know… Andrew wants to go back, and I do too, but…” Isabel had trouble explaining herself. “It’s a mess. I kind of hope it is possible. At the same time… Apart from all of this-” She moved her hand, pointing at the world at large. “I am happy. Happy in a way I wasn’t back there.”

“I am still of the mind that it is impossible to return.” Mila was direct. “But if it was… I have no attachment to this world. I would follow you.” She promised.

“Thank you.” Isabel caught a tear running down her cheek. She fell silent again up until the moment they found the ladder leading out of the tunnels. “Do you think I should hope?”

“That something will come from Helly’s side?” Mila guessed. “I would… I don’t think you should get your hopes up.”

“Harsh…” Isabel climbed up and then helped Mila. “What about Andrew?”

Mila shrugged. They walked further up to Cecilia’s room, where a bed waited.

“I…” Isabel hesitated. “I am afraid he will do something dumb.” She glanced at Mila, who was giving her whole attention. “And Helly didn’t seem like, I don’t know, an honourable person?”

“You think she will pull him to her side by promising the impossible?” Mila considered the idea. It was surprisingly plausible. “Then we should warn him.” She squeezed Isabel’s hand.

“We…” Isabel smiled slightly, but there was a sad tinge to it. “Will he listen?” She added. “I don’t think he will. Maybe for now. But it has been eating him for a long time.”

“Has it?” Mila had noticed Andrew brooding, but he hadn’t talked to her about his reasons. “Has he told you something?”

“Not enough. Not for some time now.” Isabel frowned. “After that night in Ocheon, he hasn’t really talked to me. Not about returning.”

It was hard. Mila didn’t know how to help Andrew either. Isabel was closer to him, so she would support her girl and hope for the best.

Their arrival disturbed Kanna’s sleep. Cecilia was also in the room, sleeping, but didn’t do as much as a twitch from Mila and Isabel entering the room. The sound of her peaceful breathing filled the room as they sneaked towards their bed.

“You okay?” Isabel whispered to Kanna, who nodded.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Mila began undressing. This had been a long and short day. She changed into her nightwear and climbed up in her bunk, with Isabel soon joining.

With two of them in the bed, Mila let her mind relax as she intervened her legs with Isabel’s. They pressed their foreheads together and shared a short, gentle kiss. Mila could not help but feel that as long as she had Isabel - nothing else mattered.

But she didn’t delude herself into thinking that way for long. Mila wouldn’t let her love blind her to the world. And she struggled to keep Isabel doing the same.

The world wasn’t so kind as to let them just be. Mila let Isabel’s warmth seep into her body. She rubbed her nose against her girl’s and caressed Isabel’s side.

“That tickles,” Isabel murmured but didn’t move to stop Mila.

“Sorry.” Mila planted her palm on Isabel’s back and pulled herself closer. “Good night, Isabel.”

“Good night, Mila.” Isabel gave another kiss. This time, letting their lips stay together for longer.

Mila waited for her girl to fall asleep. Her mind kept moving in one direction, then another. Sleep was close, but it struggled to arrive.

So Mila watched Isabel’s peaceful face. Her girl, even in sleep, tried to stay as close as possible to Mila. Isabel was a clingy sleeper. Mila enjoyed her love’s softer parts pressing against hers, then gave Isabel’s lips another taste. “Love you…” She whispered and closed her eyes.

Tomorrow, Mila had to figure out what to do about the map. It still felt strange to be the one pushing her little group forward in the matter, but it had to be done. And then, they would escape.

Thinking about the tough task, Mila sighed. Despite the fear of it being impossible, the next morning couldn’t come soon enough. Mila wanted to see and speak with her girl as soon as it was possible.

—

It was always so jarring to be sleeping next to Isabel one moment and to be standing next to a ghostly apparition in the middle of nowhere the next. She wasn’t happy, to say the least.

And Mila couldn’t stand the patronising aura Aaers was radiating. She really wanted to punch that smug approximation of a face of his. “What is it?” She finally snapped at him, not being able to keep her cool.

If only Mila had managed a single scratch on the ghost of a man, she would be much calmer.

Of course, there was no answer. “Didn’t we get through this during the day? I already told you I am not drinking again.”

Aaers didn’t look convinced. Mila threw her hands in the air. “Okay! Okay! Are we going to back getting me kicked around or what?” She prepared herself to have another hard night. At least she didn’t have to think during the spars.

But to Mila’s surprise, Aaers didn’t immediately attack her. Instead, he kept looking at her - evaluating, studying and finding her wanting.

And there was more. A worry. Mila’s fighting mood plummeted. She waited for Aaers to move, to gesticulate, to do anything.

Whatever got the annoying ghost worried had to be dangerous. Mila watched Aaers start pacing. He looked at the sky, then back at her. There was unwillingness in the phantom's stance.

To Mila’s surprise, the world began to shift. Slowly at first, but quicker with each passing moment. Soon, the world had changed entirely.

—

“So?” The high-pitched voice belonging to a masked figure asked for the conclusion.

“It can be done.” The body Mila inhibited answered in a tired voice. “It will take a while. There is too much damage. Many areas are demanding a complete reroute.” He pointed at the half-ruined spell circle on the ground. “There, there and there. Those parts will have to be destroyed and remade. I’ll need a lot of material to do it.”

They were standing in the middle of a large area under a stone dome. All around them were exhausted-looking people. Most of them were in full gear, prepared for a battle. The rest were heavily injured and resting.

“It was the best we could manage.” The masked figure was hard to read, but his voice was full of regrets. “But the last attack took Kipr’s life. We weren’t prepared enough.”

Mila’s body nodded. “He was a good man. I may have had disagreements with him, but we shared a passion for summoning. But…” The owner of the voice shook his head. “I am not familiar with this ritual.”

“It was… Kipr made it from scratch.” The masked figure admitted. “He worked with-” It looked at the other side of the area. “-Her to create it.”

Mila’s body followed the gaze. She failed to see what was there. There simply was nothing. Just an empty void.

But the man nodded. Clearly, Aaers had made sure Mila couldn’t see something. There was a secret here, but she couldn’t even start guessing what it was. “I see… It explains a lot.” He quickly averted his eyes and studied the ruined circle with renewed interest. “As I said, I can repair it, but much of the workings are lost on me.”

“Everything you need will be delivered.” The masked figure stated with confidence. “The Temple in the capital gave us everything. They… They are no more.”

Mila gravely nodded. “I see… That’s…” The body rubbed its eyes. “A sad thing to hear.”

“It is… How long will it take?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

“Guess.”

The body stretched its chin as it thought about the endeavour. “A week?”

“It cannot be that long.” The masked figure immediately demanded more. “Four days at the maximum. We won’t be able to keep Sir Aaers away for any longer.”

“HE DOESN’T KNOW?” The body suddenly shouted, gathering everyone's attention. “ARE YOU MAD?”

“It was —

Everything became black. Mila tried to understand what had happened. She tried to sense anything, but there was nothing. Before she could start panicking, the world returned.

— The body was now standing beside a large amount of supplies to renew the circle. It kept grumbling about the stupidity of some people. And yet, there was no ill will in his grumblings. Mila felt a heavy sigh break out of the man’s lungs. He grabbed a parchment covered in notes with guesses of what various parts of the circle were meant to do.

It was too difficult for Mila to understand. She tried anyway. Whatever the stupid ghost in her mind wanted was related to this circle. And she wouldn’t say no to new knowledge, even if most of it went over her head.

And unfortunately, for the next three days, Mila did nothing but study. The man did not rest nor speak with anyone else. She did notice how the amount of people around them was dwindling.

There were battles outside. Battles from which many did not return. And on one side of the area, there was constant blankness. She tried to figure out what it was and what it meant.

But the memory refused to give any clues. All Mila could do was keep learning.

The question was - Why?