“You two… all right?” Leon asked as he practically gasped for breath. His limbs felt like they were ten times as heavy as usual; his body was utterly devoid of magic power, and he barely managed to push himself back to his feet. His heart rate was falling and the dregs of his stored magic was slowly being pulled out of his soul realm and back into his body, but he could tell that he was done fighting for a while.

Valeria seemed about in the same position as he was, but Maia was a little more energetic.

[I’m fine,] the river nymph responded, her voice shaking in anger as her lake-blue eyes glared off into the dark forest in the direction that the ice wraiths had apparently fled in.

“Doing… good,” Valeria panted as she kept staring off into trees, on the lookout for any other threats that might present themselves. “Whatever is dampening my power in this Vale isn’t helping, though…”

Maia scowled. [If I had been fighting at full strength, those vile creatures would’ve been begging for mercy before they even got close!]

“I suppose, then, that we should find whatever is weighing down your powers and deal with it,” Leon replied as he began to stumble back over to them. “Have to admit… I wasn’t expecting that kind of a fight… At least, not so soon…”

“I take it those were ice wraiths?” Valeria asked as her breathing steadied. “I’m really glad Elise didn’t come with us…”

Leon nodded in response. “I hope she sees it that way…” he said, knowing just how difficult it was to get her to stay behind in Vale Town to begin with. He loved Elise with all his heart, but he knew that she didn’t take being told she couldn’t do something well. “These wraiths seemed a little stronger than what I remember, though… My father always made killing them look so much easier than this. Maybe they’re stronger this far east? I mean, I’ve never even seen them active during the day before…”

‘Though they did flee from the sunlight…’ he thought to himself as he stared up at the giant hole in the canopy his final attack had made.

[They’re gone, that’s what matters,] Maia said, though from her tone and body language, Leon felt like she would’ve preferred it if the surviving ice wraiths had stuck around a little bit longer so that she could kill them, too.

“Let’s stay here for a while,” Leon suggested. “Rest and recover so that if we’re attacked like this again, we can be ready.”

Valeria and Maia agreed, and the three relaxed as much as they could in the clearing that the battle had created. Maia even conjured a bit of water to douse the fires that Leon’s power had started, which had been starting to spread out of control.

Leon, meanwhile, took to investigating the corpses of the banshees that had been left behind. They were about as he remembered—small, humanoid, possessing the proportions of a child about four or five years old if he had to guess. Without the darkness magic that covered them, they looked like nothing more than shriveled, long dead bodies of human children.

[Xaphan…] Leon whispered into his soul realm. The demon had been watching the battle, but he hadn’t said anything that might’ve distracted Leon while the fight was going on.

[Boy,] Xaphan replied. [Good job not dying. Based on what I sensed from those lesser ice demons, that’s not as easy of an accomplishment as it might seem.]

[Thanks,] Leon unsarcastically replied. [Got any insights? I… if there’s anything you could tell me about these creatures, then I would be grateful.]

[They’re certainly demons of a lesser variety, though I’m unsure how they may have gotten here…] Xaphan said, his usual arrogance and unserious attitude gone in favor of what seemed to Leon to be an almost academic curiosity. [It’s possible that they may have been summoned into this forest by people who wanted more power. It’s even possible that your Clan summoned them to help project power. Regardless, they’re barely a step above animalistic intelligence, they’re good for killing and that’s about it. There has to be some kind of controlling will behind them, a more powerful demon that directs them…]

[I’ve never heard of anything quite like that,] Leon said, speaking to all that Xaphan had just posited. [If there had been a more powerful demon living in this Vale, I can’t imagine that my father and I would’ve been able to live here in relative peace for as long as we did…]

[That’s a good point,] Xaphan conceded. [Have you seen or heard about any evidence of construction? Creatures like these prefer the cold and the dark, sunlight can weaken them considerably. If they have been here as long as you say, then at the very least I’d have expected some signs of established demonic civilization.]

[What would that look like?] Leon asked.

[Nothing I’ve yet seen,] Xaphan replied. [Great spires of crystalline ice, each connected to each other by dozens of bridges of varying size.]

[Seems like the sort of thing that should be seen from a long distance off,] Leon observed. [None of it sounds familiar, though.]

[No, the more I think about it, the less I think these demons have any kind of leadership at all,] Xaphan continued. [This attack seemed random and poorly timed. There’s no evidence of any settlement. These demons, for the years you say they’ve been here, should be a lot greater than they are. Something else is going on.]

Leon grimaced, knowing that this was a mystery that likely would never be solved. Someone or something had brought the demons here an unknown length of time ago, but at least long enough for any signs of their habitation in the beautiful and pristine Forest of Black and White to have vanished—save for a single ancient stone bridge—and to have gotten a reputation as a dark and inhospitable place.

He hated that idea. He wanted to know why there were demons here, how long they’d been here, and what their current circumstances were, and it infuriated him to know that that knowledge was likely beyond him, long dead with whoever first summoned them.

[Do you know anything about the banshees?] Leon asked, no trace of hope in his voice.

[They’re animated by darkness magic,] Xaphan replied, stating the obvious. [Darkness magic is unparalleled in its ability to manipulate the mind and the body, rivaled only by the powers of light magic, and even then, light is mostly restricted to growth and healing. But because of its nature, darkness is ripe for abuse, which is why, I suppose, that most of you mortals have such a dim view of it, despite it not being that bad of a magical element on its own.]

[It’s a darkness attack that the banshees use to send magic power within the body of their foes out of control,] Leon stated.

[Yes,] Xaphan confirmed.

[And it’s darkness magic that animates their bodies… animates these corpses,] Leon further observed, his eyes landing on the curled up form of a dead banshee, the resemblance it had for a dead human child unnerving him more than he’d thought it would. He had been about to give it a light kick just to make sure it was dead, but thought better of it upon closer inspection, its mottled gray skin and thin, emaciated form turning his stomach and filling his head with sad and depressing thoughts about just what the creature had been before turning into a banshee.

[Yes,] Xaphan again confirmed.

[But darkness magic isn’t needed to do these things?] Leon inquired, thinking of the stone giants and the bronze golems in his family’s archives. Both of them were animated by lightning wisps, not darkness magic.

[No,] Xaphan answered. [After achieving Apotheosis, power can be split off to create wisps, facsimiles of life that can animate a suitably enchanted form. As you’ve seen with your stone giants, they can even evolve into more lifelike creatures if given enough time and magical power. If you were more observant, you’d probably have noticed that your fish girl uses attacks that take the form of serpents.]

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Leon cocked his head in confusion. [What does that have to do with anything?] Nearly all of Maia’s attacks he’d borne witness to had taken the form of serpentine dragon-shaped blasts of water.

[It just reinforces my point, she likely doesn’t even realize what it means,] Xaphan haughtily replied. [The greatest power in all the universe is the ability to create life. That’s why we call ascending past the tenth-tier ‘Apotheosis’, or the process of turning into a god. The ability to form power into wisps is effectively creating some kind of life, so gaining that power—along with immortality—means turning into a godlike form.]

[That’s a hell of a claim,] Leon said. [Makes sense, I suppose. You’re certainly arrogant enough to claim the mantle of divinity despite being far, far from having power worthy of the title.]

[Keep on that track and maybe I’ll remember that it was your family, your Clan that made me this way, boy, and that it’s you and you alone that stands between me and regaining my power.]

[How do you figure that?] Leon asked, smiling in amusement.

[Because you’re ignoring what I need to heal,] Xaphan replied. [Build that enchantment scheme to absorb the Mists of Chaos and I’ll show you what a Lord of Flame can do!]

[I’m looking forward to it. You’d better blow my damn mind, demon. To pieces. Or I won’t be the slightest bit amused.]

[I couldn’t possibly care less about your amusement,] Xaphan shot back. [But, to get back to my original point, your fish girl uses attacks that take the form of living creatures because she’s approaching the level of power that is capable of creating life. What she’s doing is hardly creating life, though, she’s probably just acting on instinct, not realizing why forming her power into such forms makes them stronger or more manageable.]

Leon relished learning all of this, but as his gaze turned back toward Valeria and Maia, he was prompted to move on, for Valeria looked about ready to collapse, while Maia only seemed to fare marginally better despite her iron-composure. Leon could feel her fatigue, anger, and frustration through their connection, telling all he needed to know about her current physical state.

And that wasn’t even touching on his own physical state. His body was so devoid of magic power that there was nothing he wanted to do more than slip into the peaceful embrace of sleep.

[Is there any other wisdom you can provide regarding the ice wraiths?] Leon asked Xaphan.

[I’d tell you to keep your eyes open, but I doubt your puny human eyes can even perceive the evidence of higher beings that you need to watch out for,] Xaphan dismissively replied. [I suppose, if you do encounter something powerful enough to command these lesser demons, do be a good human and make use of my power. I know that you’re nervous about everyone else seeing our connection, but when push comes to shove, if you’ve got nothing better to use, then use demon magic against other demon magic. It’ll be your best bet to walk away with your life still your own.]

[You just said a lot of words and I liked very few of them,] Leon replied.

[Great, now my partner is starting to not like words. Splendid,] the fire demon sarcastically replied as his attention sank back into Leon’s soul realm, leaving him to his own devices.

“I’ll say this,” Leon said out loud, drawing Maia and Valeria’s attention, “I’m tempted to just call it a day after that fight, but I can’t imagine a worse decision we could make than to stay here.”

“You’ll hear no arguments from me,” Valeria exhaustedly replied, the prospect of getting moving again already putting a bit of animation back into her tired body. “I’m ready to get moving again…”

“I doubt we’ll get very far,” Leon replied, silently noting Valeria’s obvious fatigue alongside his own tired muscles. He’d expended so much magic power that even after minutes of absorbing magic power from the air, letting his body create more in its bone marrow, and pulling out what little remained in his soul realm, he felt like it would require at least a good night’s rest to recover completely—though it would take much longer than that to fill up his empty soul realm again without outside assistance.

So, to find a place to lay low for the night, he quickly projected his magic senses and took a good look at the area they found themselves in.

Leon continued, “Still, we should get moving again. I can see a lake not far from here that looks like as good a place as any to spend the night. It might take a bit of time to get the proper wards set up to stave off ice wraith attention, so let’s get moving now while we still have daylight.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Valeria said with about as much cheer as she could muster, which wasn’t all that much.

Maia, meanwhile, gave Leon nothing more than a silent nod before she returned to glowering into the forest. Leon could feel killing intent roiling in her aura, her magic power churning with her anger at letting those ice wraiths escape.

[We’ll get them if they come back,] Leon assured her, whispering comfortingly into her mind. [And we won’t be taken by surprise again. I promise you that.]

[If we see them again, I’m going to tear them apart,] Maia replied, keeping her vow simple yet losing not a single iota of killing intent with its lack of additional details.

[I’d expect nothing less,] Leon replied, briefly wrapping his arms around her from behind.

A minute later, the three were back to trudging through the forest, but this time, all three were much more alert for any changes to their scenery that they could discern. Leon, in particular, was keeping an eye out for any sign of demonic magic that he might detect that could spell an imminent attack by ice wraiths. Given his connection with Xaphan, he was uniquely qualified to look for such magics.

Their journey, however, remained peaceful as they continued on. If they were being watched by any more ice wraiths that managed to slip past Leon’s senses, there was no evidence that Leon could find of it. This comforted Leon none, though, for he was certain that they were being watched from somewhere. He felt no magic senses washing over them, nothing that he could point to as evidence, just a strong suspicion that more ice wraiths—or just something in general—was watching them.

But nothing attacked them.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the lake that Leon saw with his magic senses. It was a fairly small thing, barely worthy of being called a lake, but it was an open area of the forest that let in plenty of light from the late afternoon sun. It did strike him as a bit odd that the trees, which were otherwise so dense, were all at least a hundred feet or more from the shore of the lake, but his magic senses couldn’t pick up anything strange about the water, so he dismissed it as meaningless paranoia.

“Let’s set up close to the bank,” Leon said, his golden eyes warily watching the tree line.

“If you say so,” Valeria replied, her voice strained and tired. Neither she nor Maia said anything, but Leon could tell that every step was growing harder for them the further northeast they walked. He hated to see them working so hard just to put one foot in front of the other, but he also took it as an encouraging sign that they were apparently drawing closer to the source of whatever seemed to be weighing their magic down. It was likely that whatever the map from the Cradle was pointing to and whatever Justin had gone to investigate were linked to this unknown source.

Leon could understand her hesitation; it would make them a hell of a target and give them very little cover. However, he was willing to risk that rather than having them spend the night among the trees and glowing flora with layers and layers of leaves between them and the open sky.

The only thing that had him feeling a bit more down was the fact that they’d probably need to set up a watch. All three of them sleeping at the same time just felt like serving themselves up to the ice wraiths on a silver platter.

A few minutes later, they found a suitable place to set up their tents not too far from the shore of the lake, but distant enough from the tree line that they’d have a few seconds to get on their feet in case they were attacked during the night.

In a matter of ten minutes, Leon and Valeria had both of their tents ready and set up—Maia would, of course, be sleeping with Leon in his tent when she wasn’t on watch. However, barely a minute passed after they finished before a titanic aura suddenly exploded out of the lake, practically knocking all three of them off their feet with its unforeseen intensity.

“What the…” Leon barely got out before his sword was back in his hand and he stood side-by-side with Maia and Valeria staring into the lake.

“What’s going on?!” Valeria asked in panic as a few threads of killing intent wound its way through the aura they were sensing.

“We… may have missed something…” Leon replied, his voice wavering as his heartbeat accelerated with fear. This mysterious aura had him silently panicking as he wondered if they had accidentally wandered into the territory of some terribly mannered and terribly powerful creature.

[No…] Maia whispered, her voice barely audible to Leon.

He glanced over at his river nymph lover and saw her shaking, her eyes wide and disbelieving as she stared at the water.

“What is it?” he asked aloud for Valeria’s benefit. “Naiad…”

[No, no, no,] the river nymph repeated, apparently not even aware that she was speaking into his mind as her aura rose to match whatever had just made its presence known, though her face was morphing into one of greater and greater fear.

Leon’s head whipped around back to the lake, a horrific thought coming to his mind. It was soon proven accurate as, not too far from the lakefront, the water began to rise. This ‘bump’ on the water grew tall and thin, before almost instantaneously taking on the form of a pale, buxom, beautiful young woman. However, any admiration Leon may have felt for her soft, heart-shaped features, and her nude, well-endowed figure vanished as he realized that this woman had no legs—instead, her hips just kept going for a few dozen feet, her pale skin transforming into dark green scales.

This was a Gorgon. The Gorgon that he’d known resided in this Vale, he recognized. Unthinkingly, his golden eyes met hers, taking in her reptilian pupils and the cold regard that they stared back at him with.

Knowing that this monster was probably more dangerous than the ice wraiths they’d just fought off a few hours before, Leon could only think one word as his heart sank in despair.

‘Shit.’