Marn and Adelie walk to the meeting grounds at the shore. It was a strange sensation to experience Adelie being quiet in the morning; normally she’d have to threaten to smother him in order to get him to shut up. It could be that he’s processing the loss of his friend, but that wouldn’t make sense. At least his friend didn’t choose to die, not like Zorya who chose to- “Around this time you’d usually be full of energy,” Marn says in an effort to stifle her creeping thoughts.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I’m just not feeling it.”

“We’re gonna to destroy Lavius, along with Night’s End. We’ll avenge your friend,” Marn says.

“I know, it’s not that. There’s something...I want to...last night I…”

“You’re at a loss for words? You really must have something serious on your mind.”Marn pushes through the trees and walks onto the sand. Izia waves her over and Marn sighs before turning back to Adelie. “Why are you stopping?

“You were a kid,” Adelie finally says, “last night, I think I saw a kid version of you? Look there’s some weird stuff going on with my spiritcraft, but were you a kid last night?”

“There’s no way he could know that.” Ever since Hodin told Marn about Zorya, she’s been dreaming about her time with her. When she first laid eyes on Zorya. The first time she held a sword. All of the battles she witnessed traveling with Zorya. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know. One minute I was talking to the ith, the next I was in some weird, spiritual place and I saw an image of you as a kid and…” Adelie storms off.

“Hey, Adelie! Damn, what’s got him so mad?” Marn follows him as he bears down on Izia. “You can’t just say that and leave-”

“Izia! You got some explaining to do!” Adelie marches past Zav, completely ignoring the smaller man’s protests. “I just remembered what I saw last night and-”

“Save your breath,kid” Zav says before jerking his head towards Izia,“don’t really matter what you saw yesterday. The trip is done, she wants out.”

“What?” Adelie looks to Izia as Marn moves besides him. “You’re just giving up?”

“Night’s End is not a guild you want to interfere with.” Izia’s eyes grow distant and she looks away for a moment before continuing. “I was reminded last night of how dangerous they are. It’s not worth endangering any more lives over.” She turns her attention to Adelie, “I’m truly sorry for the loss of your friend, but I don’t want any more deaths on my head. I have enough lim to pay each of you out, plus an additional 2,000 for everything else. It’s all I have.”

Adelie glances at Marn and she gives him a slight nod of approval. “We reject the terms of the payout.”

“What?” Izia says.

“It’s not fair enough compensation,” Marn says. “We won’t accept any additional funding…”

“Instead, we’ll take Night’s End going down as payment,” Adelie finishes.

“This isn’t a game! They’ll kill you.”

“They can try,” Adelie and Marn say in unison.

“No. I won’t be a party to your deaths.” Izia summons the waystone into her hand. “This waystone isn’t worth your lives, neither is this legend.” Izia begins chanting an incantin, but Adelie grabs the hand holding the stone. “What are you doing?”

“I should be asking you that. After all this, you’re just going to give up on your ambitions? You’ve worked so hard trying to get here. What happened to you wanting to learn the knowledge of the Atherials?!”

“H-how did you-”

“You used to be with Night’s End. I’m still mad about that, but you can’t just walk away from your dream like that!”

“It’s not worth dying for.”

“Of course it is!” Adelie grips her hand tighter and looks her dead in the eye. “What’s the point of having a dream if you’re not willing to put your all towards it? I’d rather die in pursuit of my dream than live in the safety of not trying.” He looks down at his hand and pulls away from her. “I’m sorry I just got a bit excited, but I stand by my decision.”

Izia looks at Marn, “you’re on board with this too?”

“I have business here, regardless of what you do, but I’m also a member of Devil’s Wish and I gave my word to Adelie.”

“Zav?”

Everyone shifts their attention to the shorter man, leaning against a small red boulder. “In Torna, we have a saying: A man can be either a stick, or a club.” Zav presses off the boulder, draws his hatchet and cleaves the boulder in twain before looking back to the group. “I hate sticks… and I get paid either way.”

Marn can’t help but admire his technique with his weapon. It’s amazing that he’s able to generate such destructive force from such a small weapon; his precision with it was nothing to sneer at either, even with him being a Gladius it would still take a considerable amount of training to do that.

“So what’s your decision? Are you gonna find the Forge or quit here?” Adelie asks.

“I-when did you take the waystone?” Izia points to the glowing stone in his hand, “wait, give it to me.” Adelie does as he’s told and hands it over. New symbols reveal themselves and merge with the existing ones. “ This says...bring..me...whole? Oh wait, bring me together and make me whole,” she rotates the stone, “follow my pulse and bring me to life.”

“What’s that all mean?” Zav asks.

“Obviously we have to bring something together,” Adelie says, “I guess Torna isn’t big on teaching thinking skills.”

“Wanna see what I learned in Torna?” Zav points his hatchet towards Adelie. “I was a very attentive student.”

Marn rolls her eyes at the idiots in front of her and moves closer to Izia. “Hey, figure this out before they kill each other,” she says with more boredom than concern in her voice.

Izia inspects the waystone once more. “There’s something about the arrangement of these symbols,” she says as she traces diagonally across its surface. “The glyphs on this side don’t match up with the ones on the other side. Oh of course! Stupid Izia!”

“You’ve figured it out?”

“The Atherials made these during the Nyl Wars as a way for Grezians to access the Forges, but only those that were awakened.”

“And?”

“And,” Izia frantically searches the waystone, “to be fighting with the Atherials would be an honor beyond honor. The Exigalans would have done everything they could have to prevent this from falling into the wrong hands; using Divan script, enlisting Engravers to split items apart so that..” Izia sees Marn giving her a look she’s seen on the faces of anyone who has heard her ramble before. “ The Exigalans were extremely powerful Evokers that had a penchant for puzzle making.” Izia runs her fingers along the surface until a glyph glows intensely. “Found it, mo.”

“So this thing is a puzzle...and mo is going to help?” Adelie peers at the stone in Izia’s hand.

“Not mo, mo,” Izia replies scanning the waystone, “it’s part of the Divan script.”

“So then what’s it mean?” Adelie asks.

“Nothing on it’s own..but if I could just find…” Izia traces her finger to a second symbol and it glows like the previous one. “Yes! Motema!” Izia throws her hands triumphantly in the air, only to not have her enthusiasm be met by the others. “Motema? It means heart? The hint about the pulse...was...about…”

“Hey girlie,” Zav says, “we get that you know about it. Just tell us how to find the damn Forge already.”

“I’m doing it right now,” Izia responds. “Motema...motema...motema na ngai!” The waystone glows with a violent blue light, so much so that Izia drops it onto the red sands. Blue energy pulses from the stones in waves, rapidly increasing until the stone splits open and five pulsing motes of lights emerge. They rise slowly into the air and arrange themselves in a v shaped pattern; each within arms reach of each other. “Incredible!” Izia says with joy all over her face, “this means the Forge is real! Wait, lights...” She dashes past Marn and the others and disappears into the jungle. Moments later she returns with a brown scroll gripped tightly in her hands. Izia lays the scroll on the sands beneath the motes of light. “Of course, the lights match up with the islands.”

Marn walks next to the kneeling Izia and peers over her shoulder. The scroll is in fact a rather bland map of the area; 5 islands in the same pattern as the lights with only a legend displaying the distance between each island, at least Marn figures it’s about distance. A jagged circle encompasses the perimeter.“You’ve had a map of the island the whole time and didn’t think to share that with anyone?”

Izia overlays the map against the floating motes of light. “I needed assurances. What would have stopped you or Zav from taking the map and going for the Forge without me?”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“The girl has a point,” Zav interjects, “I would have just taken it and sold it to the highest bidder.” Marn, Adelie and Izia look at Zav. “What? You’re gonna act surprised?”

“Is lim all you care about?” Adelie asks.

“Oh, I suppose you’re all the way out here due to the kindness of your heart then?” Zav retorts. “Hey girl, you’ve got the map, let’s get on with it.”

Izia twists her face at Zav’s words but focuses back on the map. “Each island is about a half a day’s journey to get to by land.”

“Why by land? Don’t we have a ship?” Adelie asks.

“Can’t dock anywhere, look at the circle around the map. There’s a massive caisin rock formation that makes it impossible to dock, that’s why we had to enter from this island. We’ll have to pick up the pace if we want to thoroughly search each island.” Izia lowers the map and sees Adelie grinning from ear to ear. “What’s going on with your face?”

“You said ‘we’, but didn’t you also say you’ve given up on this? Something about it being too dangerous and not worth it?”

“It’s still a huge risk...but,” Izia takes a breath before extending her hand to Adelie, “I need to do this. I can’t guarantee your safety, but I need to do this.”

“Works for me!” Adelie replies as he shakes her hand, “I’ll take Mogun and Lavius down, and then you’ll join my guild.”

Izia’s eyes widen and she drops her hand. “How do you know about Mogun?”

“Oh! I was gonna tell you earlier, I-”

Zav throws his hatchet at the ground between Izia and Adelie. “If I have to listen to you two say another word, my hand might slip on accident again.”

Adelie glares at Zav and turns to Izia. “He has a point, I’ll fill you in after we come up with a plan.”

“Agreed,” Marn says, “ If it's going to take half a day to get to each island, it’d be faster if we split up into groups.” Marn steps to Izia and takes the map from her hands. “ 5 islands, including this one. Half a day of travel. If we send two to each, we can divide up the islands into halves.”

“You are a sharp one,” Zav says, “I’ll leave two of mine here to guard the camp. That leaves the 5 of us to explore the islands.”

“Your Engraver is still recovering,” Adelie says, “ we should leave them here to rest. Marn. Izia. You two go together. Me and Zav will pair up and take the next island. The guys here can search this island.”

“Why in Kishr’s flames would I stick with you?”

Adelie turns to Zav.“Because you just said you’d steal the map and there’s no way I’m leaving you alone with our ship.” Adelie turns to the group, “let’s get our supplies and head out.”

“You’re forgetting something,” Marn says, “how are we going to cross the water?” She looks at Adelie as he opens his mouth, “and please don’t say swim across.” Adelie narrows his eyes at her and closes his mouth.

“I think I might be able to help with that actually. Let’s go back to camp first.”

The twin suns reach their highest point as Izia and the rest backtrack through the jungle. Each member has a brown pack affixed to their backs with a black strap securing it; along with a belt of smaller pouches on their waist. “So you can enter people’s dreams?” Izia asks, her voice only audible to Adelie who is next to her.

“No, I don’t think so at least. It felt more like I was experiencing a memory.” He had told her about Zet Village and how he was pulled in by a strong sense of guilt. “ Is Mogun a Gladius?”

“I only met him a few times, but I never saw him fight until that night. I did hear rumors about him.”

“What about?” Adelie walks into a low hanging vine and rips it down.

“His enemies would always freeze before him and he’d always look so somber every battle he fought in. That’s how he earned his name; The Hammer of Dread.” Izia stops for a moment and turns back to Adelie. “I haven’t seen Mogun for a while, but he’s still with Night’s End. If we run into him, don’t even try to fight him.” She continues down the path until she’s standing before the flat structure she’d discovered earlier. “Ok, this is it.”

“What’s this supposed to be?” Marn asks as she and Zav bring up the rear. “How’s this supposed to get us across?”

“Relax Marn, I’m sure Izia has an incantin or a craft that’ll get us across...right?”

“Not at all. Transportation crafting is really dangerous, that’s why we rely on engravings to power telespires,” Izia says to Adelie. “I just have a theory I want to test out.” She summons the waystone and it pulses with energy once more, though it remains closed. “When I was here earlier, I couldn’t make out the symbols. At first I thought it was because Julun was crafting illusions, but the waystone gave me an idea.”

“Oh? Is it another secret puzzle thing?” Adelie runs to the structure and starts tapping the symbols with his hands and feet. “Maybe it’s a trap door? Oh, maybe there’s a secret staircase. Marn, come help me out.”

“No!” Izia says before clearing her throat, “no, that’s not it. The Exigalans wouldn’t do something that luck and brute force could solve.” She walks over to the structure and slowly waves the waystone over it. “We call it a waystone, but its original name is closer to pathfinder or seeker of the path.”

Adelie stops striking the structure and folds his arms. “I think I get it. If the waystone was made to get us to the islands, there’d be no point in making it in the first place; anyone can get here if they have a ship.”

“I can feel my hand slipping,” Zav says.

“ So basically the waystone has another purpose,” Marn states.

“Precisely. I knew you weren’t all muscle and gruff,” Izia says. Marn places her hand on her hilt and Izia quickly continues. “The symbols on the stone match a few of the ones on this structure, there must be a way to activate this thing using the waystone.”

“Is waving it around going to open the path?” Marn asks.

“I’m trying to match the pulsing of the stone, there’s something responding to it but I can’t seem to hone it on it.”

Marn sighs and looks to Adelie and sees an emptiness in his eyes. Before she can speak, he walks over to Izia and takes the stone from her hand. He moves towards the structure and begins moving the waystone wildly in the air. No, not wildly, almost as if he’s trying to match the movements of something. Adelie looks to the space by his right, nods his head, and resumes his motions. “Adelie? Adelie! What are you doing?!” Marn’s words do nothing to take him out of his current state, so she focuses on his movements. He moves the stone to his right, than arcs it to his left before quickly going diagonally upwards and back to the left. When he finishes writing, he steps back and hands Izia back the stone.

“Oh, you figured it out?” Adelie says as life returns to his eyes, “what’s it say?”

“I didn’t...you just did that, don’t you remember?”

“How could I do that? I don’t even know what that symbol means,” Adelie says, pointing to the glowing symbol floating in the air behind him. “Wait, wasn’t I behind you?”

“Evoker, that symbol doesn’t look like it's gonna stay up forever,” Marn says.

“Right, of course.” Izia regards Adelie for a moment before turning her attention to the sign. “Wow, I can’t believe it’s that simple.” She starts laughing. “ It’s the Divian word for open,fungola.” The ground trembles as the symbols on the structure glow with an intense green light. Adelie grabs Izia and leaps backwards towards Marn and Zav. The two Gladius have their weapons drawn and close on both sides of Adelie, leaving him in the vanguard position. Dirt falls from the sides of the rising structure, revealing walls of sleek, purple metal and doorway of unfathomable darkness. The structure stands above the trees, dwarfing Adelie’s group by several feet. Izia breaks through the ranks and runs to the mouth of the structure. “This is…”

“What is it?” Adelie asks, still maintaining his defensive stance.

“I have no idea, but I don’t think it’ll hurt us. It would be pretty stupid to make us work this hard to open it, only for it to be a trap.”

Adelie looks at Marn and nods before returning to his normal, relaxed self. They join Izia and inspect the doorway. He yells at the door and his voice echoes for an eternity. “Whatever it is, it’s really deep.”

“Think it goes all the way to Kishr’s Realm?” Marn asks.

“Only one way to find out.” Adelie gives her a devilish smile and leaps into the structure.

“Wait! You don’t know what’s down there!” Izia peers down the black hole and sees a faint, purple light. “I think something's down there.”

“Then let's go see.” Marn puts her boot to Izia’s back and pushes her in. Izia howls as she plummets down and Marn smiles to herself. “You too,” she says to Zav.

“I love a woman who takes charge,” Zav says as he walks past Marn, “you’d be taken care off real nice if you join up with me.” Marn moves to boot him down the hole, but Zav smiles and leaps before her foot can even leave the ground. She closes her eyes and reaches for the dagger at her waist. In one motion she turns and throws the dagger and it clanks against another one. She scans the jungle and draws her blade. “You’ve already tried this tactic before. Does Night’s End only know one way of battle?”

“I told them it wouldn’t work, but Julun is only really good with illusions.” Hodin emerges from the trees, clad in black armor and wielding a serrated purple blade. His helm has two purple horns on top and the bottom of the helmet ends at a sharp point just above his chestplate. “Been a long time, hasn’t it?”

Marn grips the hilt of her blade tighter and bears down on Hodin. He swings his blade in an upwards motion and catches it between the teeth of his sword. Marn presses harder, squeezing all the power out of her arms. They strain with all their might and the ground beneath this cracks slightly around their feet.

“You’ve got the wrong impression, I’m here on official business, not to fight.”

“And why should I trust anything you say?” Marn continues trying to pierce him through the head.

Hodin sighs, “because if I wanted it, you’d be dead right now.” He effortlessly swats Marn away and raises his sword overhead. “And, as fellow practitioners of the 13 Blades, we can’t engage unless we know the same forms. Hodin removes his helmet and runs his hand through his hair. “I hate wearing this, but Lavius forces us whenever combat is a possibility. I think for all of his cruelty, denying Grezia my face is the cruelest.

Marn erupts towards him once more, but this time when Hodin stops her attack, he cuts through her blade and strikes the ground with enough force to split it for several feet. “Feel free to charge at me with that,” He says as he casually points his blade towards Marn’s hand, “though I think you might be more open to listening now.”

Marn spins her broken blade around her fingers and slashes the air. Hodin quickly moves his sword in front of him as something collides with it. He smacks the air towards the ground and the space to his right explodes, leaving a large crescent scar on the ground. “I’m impressed, you’ve already mastered Crescent Void. It’ll never work on me of course, I can see your ather.” Normally, ather is invisible unless a large amount of it is either gathered or produced; however, for those who practice the 13 Blade Style, they can see the ather of anyone who is at least a form style beneath them.

“Speak then,” Marn says, drawing her arm back to prepare another Crescent Void.

“I told Julun’s men they’d have to stay in the jungle if their sneak attack didn’t work, so you don’t have to worry about any flying daggers.” Marn widens her stance and Hodin sighs. “ It’s a waste of ather to launch another one. I was told to come here and standby until something happened.”

“Standby? So you knew we’d be at this location.”

Hodin shrugs, “I don’t know anything other than what Lavius tells me. He ordered me to investigate the area and report back if I found anything interesting.” He points to the structure behind Marn. “I’d say that thing qualifies as interesting. Looks old, maybe from the Red Era.”

“How did you get here? It’d take at least half a day to get here and there were no ships nearby.”

“Yes, let me just tell you all of the secrets,” Hodin replies. “Speaking of, where’s the little zombie? I heard she was with you guys.”

“I left those guys, they were holding me back,” Marn says.

“And I’m supposed to believe you figured out how to open that thing up? You’re a terrible liar.” Hodin shrugs and sheathes his blade. “It doesn’t matter, we’ll find them eventually..after all, we’ve already located your camp and-I almost said too much. I really need to work on that.” He turns his back to Marn and heads for the jungle.

“So you’re leaving just like that?”

“I told you, I have my orders. Besides, we’ll have our duel when the time is right. Until then, don’t let anyone else kill you.” He steps into the jungle and disappears.

Marn waits until she’s certain that he’s gone and exits her stance. She looks at her broken blade, throws it onto the ground, and leaps inside the massive structure.