In the morning, they continued across the plains of Urvus toward Veron, the main city. They reached the city at night. It was almost as big as Chayer, but not quite. Rian, Halbert, and Eiva made their way through the alleyways.

“Arwel may not turn away from this path,” Halbert said.

Rian hesitated. “I know.”

Halbert looked at him. “We will have to fight him.”

“We can’t let them free Trivius,” Rian said. “We hardly know anything about him, but he must have been sealed away for a reason.”

Eiva nodded. “These objects are a lot of trouble to go to seal Trivius away. And they’re blessed by the gods, which means the gods played a part in sealing Trivius.” She looked at Rian and hesitated, sadness in her eyes.

“I still hope Arwel will turn away from Norris,” Rian said, trying to ignore the tightness in his chest. “I know that might not happen.”

Eiva frowned hard. “It might be easier to face Norris and Arwel if we had holy water blessed by Mortua.”

Halbert grumbled something.

Eiva smiled. “Don’t worry, I don’t have any.” Her smile faltered. “The knights likely won’t let us into the castle. What are we going to tell them that they’ll believe?”

“I’ve been there before,” Halbert said. “I’ve spoken to the queen before.”

Eiva raised a brow. “Really?”

They had reached the castle. A knight stood guard on either side of the doors. Halbert talked to the knights quietly, then one knight led them inside to the vast entry hall. He then led them in to the long throne hall. Pale blue arches reached far above. A bit of moonlight came through the many windows on either side of the hall. Torches were lit along the walls.

Queen Ninette Wrede was an older woman, maybe in her mid sixties. She had outlived her husband and still wore all black. The throne next to hers was empty. The knight bowed low, then the queen motioned him closer. The knight whispered to her, then he left the throne hall.

“I already know of Arwel and Norris,” Queen Ninette said. “Are they after something in Urvus?”

“They are,” Halbert said. “They’re after a stone in an old crown, blessed by Amoris.”

Ninette frowned hard. “I know of that crown. I thought Amoris’s blessing on it was only a story. It’s in the treasury upstairs.” She smiled. “I will help in any way I can. I haven’t forgotten your part in protecting this city from Unris.”

The knight had closed the throne hall doors when he left. Now shouts and the sound of swords against swords could be heard, muffled from the other side of the doors.

“Arwel and Norris must have arrived,” Eiva said.

“Stay with the queen,” Halbert said.

Rian and Halbert left the throne hall, but the fight was already over. Two knights lay dead in the entry hall. Rian and Halbert ran up the stairs. At the top, the hall went to the left and the right. It was eerily quiet up there. Rian and Halbert went down the hall to the right, but before long the hall split off in two again.

“Be careful,” Halbert said. “Don’t fight Norris and Arwel alone. Find the crown if you can.”

Rian nodded.

The two of them split up. The silence of the corridors was even worse alone. Rian turned down another corridor and was no longer alone. Arwel was kneeling over a knight on the floor. The knight wasn’t moving. Rian could feel the knight was dead, a feeling much like when he sensed bones buried in the ground. Arwel looked up, blood dripping from his mouth. Rian had stopped a ways back.

Arwel stood, a sad look in his eyes that Rian had never seen before. “I know it’s too late for you to go home, but it’s not too late for you to not follow Halbert.” He glanced down at the dead knight. “Join me.”

Rian took another step back. He shook his head. “No. This isn’t right. Waking the old god won’t do Virida any good.”

Arwel sighed. “Yes, it will. You will see.”

Norris stepped out of another corridor not far behind Arwel. “The boy has been misled,” he said gently. “Perhaps I can show him reason. Find the stone.”

Arwel hesitated, then he turned to face Norris. “Don’t hurt him.”

Norris nodded. “I won’t.”

Arwel glanced at Rian once more, worry in his faintly glowing red eyes, then walked away down the corridor Norris had come out of.

Norris lowered the hood of his cloak. His black hair was long and tied back. He stared at Rian with eyes like Arwel’s. He appeared to be close in age to Rian and Arwel’s father, but he was likely older than he looked.

“Halbert is a fool,” Norris said. “Being a necromancer doesn’t necessitate becoming like him. You still have a chance to choose the right path.”

“This is the right path,” Rian said.

Norris laughed. “How so?”

Rian glanced at the knight. “You kill people.”

Norris grinned, showing sharp fangs. “We are no longer among the living, Rian.” He laughed again, quieter this time. “Though for now you are still somewhat alive.” He stepped across the dead knight, moving so fast Rian didn’t have a chance to back away further.

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Norris grabbed Rian by the arm, forcing him to his knees beside the knight. Norris pushed Rian’s face close to the knight’s bloodied neck. Rian struggled, but the hands on his arm and the back of his head were too strong. The smell of blood was overwhelming this close. Rian gagged. Norris pushed him closer. At last Norris’s grip relaxed, but he hadn’t let go.

Rian pulled free and ran, not looking back. He felt something wet on his mouth and licked his lips before realizing what it was. He turned down another corridor and stopped running. The place on his hand where the bones were exposed was healing. He hurriedly wiped the rest of the blood off his mouth with his shirt, but was he too late? He wanted more, an overwhelming and sudden thirst.

“Keep fighting it,” the voice said in his mind. “Burial ground can bring you back from this if you are willing. So long as you don’t drink the blood of the living.”

Rian hoped the voice was right. He tried to ignore the thirst and continued through the corridors. He heard voices up ahead. Eiva and Halbert were standing by a window in the next corridor. Eiva had a shallow cut on her arm. Rian stared at it, unable to bring himself to look away.

“Rian?” Eiva sounded worried.

Rian forced himself to look away from the red dripping down Eiva’s arm.

“What have you done?” Halbert asked quietly.

Rian turned away from the two of them, away from the blood. He had to fight it. He couldn’t let it have him. “Did they get the stone?” His voice shook.

“They did,” Eiva said. “And they took the skull. The queen is safe.”

“What happened?” Halbert asked, his voice tense.

“Arwel killed a knight,” Rian said, trying to focus on the words, not the smell of blood coming from behind him. “Norris forced me to… I’m sorry. I’m trying to fight it, but it’s strong.”

“Eiva, you should speak to the queen,” Halbert said. “I’ll take Rian to the graveyard. That will help.”

“Has he gone the same way as Arwel?” Eiva asked.

“He will if you stay here with that wound,” Halbert said. “He’s fed off the dead, not the living.”

Rian heard Eiva walk away, the smell of blood going with her. It took everything Rian had not to follow. He felt a bony hand on his shoulder and reluctantly turned to face Halbert.

“We’ll go to the graveyard,” Halbert said. “Keep fighting it.”

They didn’t come across anyone on their way down the stairs. The two dead knights were still in the entryway. Rian tried to pull away from Halbert when he saw them, but Halbert held on tightly, leading Rian out into the brisk night air. It was easier after that. As soon as they reached the graveyard, he felt a little better. He and Halbert went behind a few trees at the back and sat.

Rian put both hands on the ground. His weariness slipped away, along with the thirst. He had a feeling the thirst would have stayed if he wanted it to. He didn’t. Rian dug down in the dirt, burying his hands in it.

“Better?” Halbert asked.

Rian nodded, but he didn’t look up. He wasn’t ready to look up, not after what had happened. “I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your choice,” Halbert said. “Norris wouldn’t have let you refuse.”

Neither of them said anything more. Rian didn’t know how long passed before Eiva found them. He pulled his hands out of the dirt. Some of the bones on his hand and wrist were exposed again, as much as they had been before what had happened at the castle.

“Good, his eyes are back to normal,” Eiva said. She had a bit of cloth wrapped around the cut on her arm. “What’s the next object?”

“A carved statue of a vulture,” Halbert said, “from the shrine to Mortua in Acra. It was blessed by Mortua. Getting to it will be difficult for Arwel and Norris, as well as for Rian and I. Entering the shrine will be unpleasant for us, but it can be done. We should rest in Veron for the night.”

Eiva looked exhausted. Rian was tired too, even after the energy being on burial ground had given him. The three of them went to the inn for the night. They wouldn’t be any good against Norris and Arwel if they were too weary to fight. Halbert left the inn not long after Rian and Eiva went up to their room. He was going back to the graveyard.

Rian heard the voices of the dead again that night, in the darkness. The dead hands didn’t reach out and grab at him. They were still arguing about whether they thought he could succeed. Some thought he could, but others were convinced there was no hope. He didn’t know which ones he agreed with.

In the morning, he woke up late. The sun had already risen, and he didn’t know how long ago. Rian and Eiva had a quick breakfast downstairs before meeting up with Halbert at the graveyard. Thankfully Eiva’s coin bag had been in her pocket, not in the bag Arwel had taken, but they no longer had blankets or extra food, just their cloaks. The group continued across the plains of Urvus. It was a warm morning, though there were a few dark clouds in the sky.

“Where are you from, Eiva?” Rian asked, wanting the silence to end.

Eiva frowned. “My father brought me to Brush village, in Virida, when I was a baby. He died of his many deep wounds. I know nothing about my mother, or what wounded my father so badly.”

“Have ravens always come to you?” Halbert asked.

Eiva nodded. “Always. The village wasn’t fond of me, but the apothecary who took me in was kind.”

“I know little about the ancient magic that allowed human mages to create a bond with animals,” Halbert said. “It’s not the same as the animal pacts of the Ectu. I don’t know what will come of your magic. I do know nothing can take it from you. Not even the gods.”

Eiva sighed. “I’m starting to believe that.” She hesitated. “There’s a mage near here. I was supposed to kill him.”

Rian tensed. He didn’t want to go with her to kill a mage, especially if he wasn’t actually lost to his magic, a true wild mage.

“I’ve heard he knows a lot about many kinds of magic,” Eiva said. “His name is Thorley. He’s an elemental wind mage, one of the mages who can use only one element, but has very powerful magic.” She stood straighter. “I’m not going to kill him. From what I’ve heard, he isn’t truly a wild mage. His only crime is having magic that didn’t come from the gods, but it is the magic of this world.” It looked like that was hard for her to say. “If he knows so much about magic, maybe he can tell me more about mine.”

Halbert nodded. “Then we should meet with him. Is he near here?”

“He is,” Eiva said.

“Ectu can make pacts with animals?” Rian asked.

Eiva raised a brow. “You didn’t know? From what I was told, a friend of your parents is a half Ectu with an animal pact.”

Rian thought about this. “You mean Leaf?”

Halbert nodded. “When an Ectu makes a pact with an animal, their eyes turn purple. Leaf made a pact with a bear many years ago.”

The Ectu mostly lived alongside humans, but some still lived in the forests and avoided humans. The wild Ectu, the ones in the forests, abhorred the idea of living in a village or city and the idea of having children with humans. Ectu were shorter than humans, had long pointed ears, and were known for their hearing and eyesight. The Ectu who lived among humans used less of their magic than the ones who lived in the forests, if they used it at all.

Things had been better between wild Ectu and humans for a long time now. Leaf had married a wild Ectu. The two of them acted as emissaries between wild Ectu and humans. The Sancta called Ectu magic wild magic, but it was different from human magic. Rian wondered again what had happened when his parents faced Unris. Was that when Leaf had made a pact with an animal, and what did that entail?