Edwyr flinched when someone behind him said his name, losing control over the rock he'd been trying to move around in the air with his magic for as long as possible, resulting in it falling to the ground with a loud thud. Turning around, he saw Genrith, her expression just as unreadable as usual, but she did seem annoyed. Then again, she usually seemed annoyed, so that was not surprising.

"It is not polite to follow people around," she said, narrowing her eyes. Definitely annoyed, then. It was safe to assume that Wyn had confronted her about it if that was the first thing she said. Edwyr didn't think she could have seen him at any point while he'd been following her.

"I agree. Why are you telling me this?"

Edwyr wasn't even fully sure why he said that. He could have just pointed out Genrith's somewhat suspicious behavior to justify why he'd followed her instead of playing innocent, but that was what he was stuck with now. That, and Genrith's somehow even more unamused expression.

"You know why," she said, instead of bothering to play this game. Edwyr couldn't say he was disappointed by that, though. It would have been very annoying if she had decided to be coy as well. "The least you could do is confront me yourself, rather than sending Wyn after me."

Edwyr wasn't sure why, but hearing her say that made him unreasonably offended. "I didn't send him after you. I simply mentioned that you were acting suspicious."

Genrith tilted her head a bit, a spark of amusement in her eyes. "Perhaps who you should be suspicious of is Tehreswyn." Edwyr's eyebrows rose at the casual use of Wyn's full name, to which Genrith's amusement grew. "Yes, he has told you his name by now, hasn't he? He would. Wyn is very predictable."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Now Edwyr was offended on both his and Wyn's behalf. Was Genrith trying to imply that Wyn did this a lot? Find someone new to be with and tell them his true name in a similar amount of time? Because if so, he didn't believe her in the slightest. Edwyr certainly trusted Wyn more than Genrith, for one, but he also refused to believe Wyn was playing him for a fool. Not for one moment.

"It means that you should mind your own business and I will mind mine."

And with that, she left, not letting Edwyr get a word in. He scowled after her. If anything, now he was even more suspicious of her. The fact that she felt a need to tell him off like this, especially by trying to make him focus on what Wyn might or might not be hiding, was telling, to say the least.

Which meant that he would certainly not listen to her and would likely follow her again. He was going to go tell Wyn about this, point out how odd it was to act the way Genrith had if she weren't doing anything out of the norm, but given how easily the elf had disregarded Edwyr's previous suspicions, perhaps he needed to talk to someone less close to Genrith. Assuming she and Wyn were close. It was incredibly difficult to tell with her, but at the very least they had known each other for a very long time, which meant that Wyn was likely not going to be objective about the situation.

Suddenly cursing his inability to become friends with people easily, Edwyr left the training room in search of Orenis. He would have to talk to the others about this, as well, eventually, but he didn't feel like explaining the situation to them right away. And Orenis didn't have this problem, talking with anyone and everyone incredibly easily. Edwyr didn't get it, but he was certainly glad for it because without her, he might have quite literally no one but Wyn to talk to about this.

He tried knocking on the door to her quarters, but no one answered, meaning that she was somewhere else. She might not even be at the castle, now that Edwyr thought about it, given that she did visit that village she'd mentioned staying at quite a lot, but he wouldn't let that deter him.

Just as he turned around to search for her elsewhere, though, he almost flinched, seeing Orenis coming up to him with a smile.

"Looking for me?"

While Edwyr usually didn't mind her cheerful disposition, now was not the time for jokes. Though he was sure Orenis would make those even after he explained the situation.

"Oh, and congratulations on getting with Wyn. I didn't expect that," Orenis continued before Edwyr could get a word out, surprising him too much to say anything for a moment. Meanwhile, Orenis grinned, leaning in closer. "Is he a good kisser?"

Edwyr groaned. He was not interested in gossiping about his relationship with Wyn. Perhaps he wouldn't mind getting some of the events out of his head at some point but now was not the time. They could do this later. "Yes, but that doesn't matter right now. I have something important to talk to you about."

Orenis' grin widened for a moment, clearly amused by Edwyr's irritation, but she quickly schooled her face into a more serious expression. "All right, what's up?"

"Have you seen Genrith acting...odd?"

Edwyr wasn't sure how to put this. He didn't even really have any evidence other than a feeling and some unexplained behavior from Genrith, but given her reaction to Wyn talking to her about it, Edwyr was sure she was hiding something.

The fact that the something she was hiding could very well be something personal he had no business barging in on occurred to him just then, but he pushed that thought away. He would rather embarrass himself and take the risk than assume everything was fine.

"Well, she is always a little odd, so I assume you mean odder than that," Orenis said, folding her arms over her chest, her face pinched into a frown. "Uh, let's discuss this inside, huh?"

Edwyr blinked, suddenly feeling quite foolish for talking about this in a hallway. Anyone could have walked past and drawn the wrong conclusions from this discussion. Edwyr didn't want to start any rumors, after all.

He waited for Orenis to unlock her door before following her inside and closing the door behind him. He'd only been in Orenis' quarters once before, and so he couldn't help but be once more surprised at how lived-in the place seemed even though Orenis didn't stay here full time. There was a small but full bookshelf hanging from the wall next to the bed, purple curtains which couldn't have been here before Orenis because they were unlike anything else in this castle, a rug in the middle of the room, even a few paintings hanging from the walls.

Edwyr wasn't much for decorating, but his quarters were completely bare in comparison, which was a little extreme, even for him.

"So, what is the problem again?" Orenis asked as she sat down at the table in the middle of the room, Edwyr sitting down opposite her. She listened as Edwyr explained why he was growing suspicious of Genrith, for once not joking around or even saying anything until he was done.

"You know, I could probably find out where she went," Orenis said, a thoughtful frown on her face.

"You could?" Well, that was excellent news. Edwyr hadn't been sure, given that he didn't understand the Infusers at all. But Orenis did. He wasn't sure why he'd not thought of asking her about it in the first place, but he was glad at least she had thought of it.

"Well, it gets difficult when a lot of time has passed since the Infuser's been used last. Even a few hours makes the magical signature fade," Orenis replied, frowning. "But we could just wait around for Genrith to go somewhere again if it doesn't work out."

Edwyr supposed that was probably their best bet. "Thank you for helping me with this."

"No problem," Orenis said, smiling, though her eyes seemed troubled. "To be honest, I've always felt a little strange about Genrith. She's too...quiet, or something."

Well, that was a way to describe her, certainly. But Edwyr couldn't point fingers. He had been described as quiet in the past, also, and he supposed he could see why. He simply didn't connect with people as easily as others, such as Orenis, who seemed to get on with anyone and everyone. If she told him she'd somehow befriended one of the wild beasts from the jungle, he would believe her. So to have her say that she wasn't sure what to make of Genrith helped convince him that perhaps he truly wasn't just being paranoid.

"Though I don't think she's actually up to anything. She's been with us since the beginning, and has never done anything to hurt anyone," Orenis continued, raising her index finger at Edwyr as if she knew he was about to argue. "But we aren't supposed to just teleport around without notifying anyone about where we're going."

Right, Edwyr hadn't thought about that either, but that was mostly because he'd never tried using the Infuser to get somewhere on his own. He only remembered the spell to get back here by heart, but even with the piece of parchment next to the Infuser here listing all of the discovered locations they could go to, he still wasn't very thrilled by the idea of going anywhere on his own since he'd never tried opening a portal.

"For safety reasons," Orenis continued, "but also because if we use the Infuser too much, we could draw attention from the Council. Calibrating the Infusers is...messy. There are wards on all the ones we've managed to get working to avoid being noticed when we use them, but there are limits. The more the Infuser is used the more likely it is something will slip through the cracks."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Edwyr nodded, trying not to think about the fact that he and Wyn had gone to Lightkeep for no reason other than to look around by using the Infuser. He should bring that up to Wyn later. That had been even more irresponsible than he'd thought initially. Not that he regretted it, it was wonderful to spend time with him, but they needed to think things through more.

"Right," Edwyr paused, not sure what else to say. He didn't have anything else to go off of that he hadn't told Orenis about, so there wasn't much to discuss. "So, do you have time to inspect the Infuser?"

Orenis grinned, raising her eyebrow as if intrigued by the challenge, which Edwyr hadn't truly even given her. He'd certainly not meant it as a challenge. "Let's go."

++++++++++

Edwyr had been expecting them to simply make their way to the Infuser and then for him to wait around for Orenis to fiddle with the device in ways he didn't understand until she figured out where Genrith had gone. But they didn't make it there before catching a glimpse of Genrith, heading the same way.

Edwyr and Orenis exchanged a silent look before going after her as inconspicuously as possible, both of them slowing down just a little to put more distance between them and Genrith. Edwyr did his best to appear as normal as possible to everyone they passed on the way before reaching the staircase leading to the Infuser.

They made it down to it just as its light went out, which meant that Genrith wouldn't find them. Edwyr wished they could have simply gone through with Genrith, but that would hardly make this investigation of theirs subtle since they'd get into a fight the moment they'd step through.

"All right, let me see if I can find out where she went," Orenis said, walking behind the large, bulbous device. Edwyr would have gone to watch her work since he was curious about how it worked, but he gave up on that plan halfway through thinking it. He'd not understand it anyway.

And so instead he leaned back against the wall, expecting to wait for a long time. But before he could even think of a conversation topic to drive away the silence, which to be fair took him several minutes, Orenis cheerily announced that she was done.

"She went to the Urzikal Infuser. Huh, I wonder why," Orenis said as she reappeared from behind the device, the parchment with the Infuser locations and incantations in her hand, and a curious frown on her face. And unlike hers, Edwyr's frown was annoyed. This felt like Genrith was doing it on purpose to make him even more suspicious.

"I mean we haven't had an Infuser this close to the northwestern villages, so this proves nothing, I'm afraid. Do you know if she was supposed to go somewhere today?"

Edwyr sighed. "Wyn mentioned some village a day from Sunwood. A magicless elf is supposed to live there."

"Right, that would make sense, then." Orenis nodded, patting Edwyr's shoulder. "We'll just keep an eye on her for now. It might be a while before she returns."

Edwyr froze for a second as he realized something vital that he had completely missed. "Wait, she didn't have a squawker."

Orenis opened her mouth, but no words came out as she blinked. "Oh yeah, how did I not think that was odd?"

"If she wants to head to a village up north, on foot it would take her twice as long. So she can't be going there," Edwyr said, invigorated by the fact that he finally had tangible proof that something wasn't right here. "Unless that isn't where is going."

"She could have left her squawker in Urzikal and come back here to get something she forgot. But you're right, this is very weird."

A moment of tense silence dragged on between them as Edwyr tried to figure out what they could do. He wanted to follow Genrith. See what she wanted in Urzikal if she weren't going far, but at the same time, this very well could be calculated on Genrith's part to make him seem obsessed and convince Wyn and anyone else she wanted to that Edwyr was being distrustful and unreasonable for no real reason.

"Let's follow her," said Orenis, dragging Edwyr out of his thoughts. Of the two of them, he wouldn't have expected her to say it first, but he was very glad she agreed. "If she catches us, I can say I need to work on the Infuser for a bit longer, pretend I need to check if the calibration is right. Genrith will be suspicious of that, but how is she going to prove me wrong? And you are with me just to keep an eye out and because I need someone who can use magic."

Edwyr wanted to point out that the odds of them going to work on the Infuser a few minutes after Genrith had arrived was far too of a coincidence to be believed, but then again, Genrith wasn't acting very inconspicuous either. If she wanted to pretend that nothing was going on, then so could they.

"Speaking of using magic, I'll need you to open a portal."

Edwyr's eyebrows flew up. Oh, Goddess, he'd not even thought about that unless they wanted to involve someone else in this, he would have to use the Infuser to transport them since Orenis was yet to get magic. Apparently, it took quite a while for the Infusers to recharge. Or something to that effect. Edwyr wasn't confident he'd understood Wyn's explanation when they'd talked about it back when he'd first arrived here.

"I have never done that."

"Oh, it's easy," Orenis said, waving her hand. Edwyr knew she was just trying to encourage him and assure him he'd be able to do it, but it wasn't particularly helpful.

"How would you know?"

Orenis chuckled even as Edwyr cringed. He was very glad Orenis was very unbothered by her condition because he'd not meant to be insensitive, but his words would have likely come across that way to anyone like him, prior to gaining magic.

"Look, if you think you can't do it, get Wyn to tutor you. I'm sure he's more than happy to teach you."

Edwyr let out a short, annoyed sigh at Orenis' amused smirk. Hopefully, she would get tired of this soon.

"But that's going to take time. We'd have to try to follow Genrith another time. And given that any day now we'll be heading to the jungle to get magic, we might not get that chance at all because I'm pretty sure Wyn wants to go ahead with the big plan as soon as we find the Infuser in the jungle."

Edwyr knew Orenis was right. They couldn't wait around, not to mention that Wyn might question why all of a sudden Edwyr wanted to learn how to open a portal, and then once Edwyr explained, he'd likely insist that Genrith wasn't up to anything and try to dissuade him from looking into it. And Edwyr wasn't very interested in having this conversation.

"Do you know how to open the portal?"

Orenis shrugged, nodding hesitantly. "Theoretically. Obviously, I never had the chance to try it. But it should be simple. Just say the specific spell while focusing on the location you want to get to."

Well, that didn't sound too bad, but Edwyr couldn't help but not feel intimidated. He always did with a new spell, never mind a new type of magic entirely. But this was so much different from everything he'd been taught about magic before that perhaps it might be easier to master. The Infuser itself was supposed to be doing part of the job, after all. At least that was how he'd understood it when Wyn explained it to him.

"Is something going to happen if I do it wrong?" asked Edwyr, mulling it over. It was a little ironic that the very thing Genrith had done that had raised his suspicion—traveling around without telling anyone where she was going or why—was exactly what they were about to do, but they couldn't notify anyone. They'd just try to convince them not to do this.

"No, I don't think so," Orenis said, shaking her head. "Using it too often might do something, but we should be fine. The worst thing that can happen is you not opening the portal."

"Very well, what's the spell?"

Orenis held up a finger, walking over to the table in the corner, which had some parchment and ink on it. Quickly scribbling something on parchment with a quill, Orenis tore the parchment in half, writing something else on the other half, which she left on the table as she got up.

"All right, here you go," she said, walking over to him and handing him one half of the parchment. There was an incantation on it, four letters long. Edwyr tried not to feel intimidated by that.

"What is the other bit of parchment for?"

Orenis grinned. "A note about where we're going. Better safe than sorry, right?"

While this directly implied that they might get stuck in Urzikal thanks to his lack of experience with teleportation, Edwyr couldn't help but feel relieved. Not only were they not going to be hypocrites, but also Orenis was right, it was stupid to leave without telling anyone where they'd gone. And this way they'd leave before anyone could stop them.

"So, you ready?"

Edwyr took a deep breath. As ready as he was ever going to be.

Staring down at the parchment in his hand, Edwyr tried to summon the image of the Urzikal Infuser into his mind. He had no idea if that would even be helpful, but it was all he had to go off of. He was grateful that he'd been to this particular Infuser site, at least, otherwise, he wouldn't even have this to focus on.

He slowly and deliberately read the words, trying to keep a firm grasp of his mental image of Urzikal, looking at the Infuser as the final word left his mouth. Immediately, he felt power pour out of him as the Infuser began to glow, throwing off stark light and casting long shadows as it did.

Even though Edwyr's head was spinning just a little from the very quick but powerful burst of energy used, he couldn't help but grin at the portal he'd opened. Orenis had been right, this hadn't been difficult at all, only taxing. If it were like this every time, he shouldn't have any problem opening the portal back here. As long as he took a moment to rest.

"Great, you did it!" Orenis cheered. "Now let's go see what Genrith is up to."

Edwyr had stepped through these portals several times already, but when he did it this time, he couldn't help but tense up, the familiar coldness that came with traveling this way enveloping him. But as soon as he found himself on the other side, his nervousness left him as he noticed the room the Infuser was located in was empty.

As the light of the portal disappeared, throwing them into nigh-perfect darkness, Edwyr put the piece of parchment in his pocket and summoned a ball of light into his hand, trying to listen for any sounds that would betray Genrith's location. But there was just perfect silence.

"Maybe she already left?"

Edwyr doubted there had been enough time for that, but he supposed it was possible. "I'll head to the main gate, you go to the secret exit."

Orenis nodded, hurrying out of the room without a word. Edwyr followed, heading down the long corridor. The place was still a maze, but somehow he managed to use his previous knowledge of its layout to avoid getting lost. But as he reached the perfectly sealed gate, he let out a disappointed huff. Genrith was nowhere to be seen, it seemed. The entirety of the place was completely silent. There wasn't even any evidence that Genrith had been here, even though she must have been.

Since he couldn't remember how Wyn had opened the gate, and he wasn't willing to try to break it open, Edwyr began to head back, this time walking slower and trying to listen for any small noise he might have missed, looking into rooms he'd skipped over. But it was no use. There was nobody here.

And once he met up with Orenis again, he immediately knew she hadn't fared any better even before she said so herself.

"I even went outside. Genrith's nowhere to be found."

Edwyr sighed. This didn't seem right to him. Traversing this ruin on foot took quite a while, certainly enough for Genrith not to be able to disappear completely like this. But Genrith knew magic that Edwyr didn't fully understand. Maybe she was capable of managing this somehow.

Even though this once again proved nothing, Edwyr couldn't help but feel even more suspicious. But they would figure out what Genrith was up to, eventually. Edwyr was determined to. They would just wait for her to return to the castle.