The carriage was spacious. With intricate golden decorations on the signature blue colour of the Yerehm house, it was really a unique piece of craftsmanship. The interior was so luxurious that Ano felt a bit intimidated, he was used to more rough things in his war training life, but it was a welcoming change of tone in the trip.

Eimmany stared at him with her intriguing look, she extended her hand in front of her face and rubbed her chin slightly as if she was second guessing what she was going to say, bu then some idea came to her and she asked:

“So Ano, why were you both headed to Kehrner? I thought that the Kertaz didn’t leave Orhim that frequently. You know, I never saw you in one of those fancy reunions they do with the nobles.”

“Those are not really my thing, and besides, I don’t want to refrain from trainment for long.” Said the boy with an unusual smile on his face.

Orm then jumped in on the conversation : “We are heading to Metarom, Kehrner was just a fast stop.”

“I see… We are also going to Metarom, the things in our duchy - Lirem - are not the best, I’ve heard from my father that some shady factions are rising up in the empire. He said he’s having trouble with something called The Umbra, do you happen to know something about them?” Said her in an almost malicious way, the question seemed to be directed to Orm, who plainly answered:

“I do, we are also having troubles with them in Orhim” His expression did not falter.

She seemed pleased with the answer, answering in a warm smile: “You are very interesting people, I’m glad I got to meet you.”

“The Umbra… The group of shadow mages that brother Johann is looking for?” Ano exclaimed “It’s rare to see so many of them in one single place, they must be linked to a noble family to have such power, like the Yerehm with mind magic and us with blood, right Orm?”

“Yes master, it is very likely that they possess some common blood, but we cannot discard any possibilities, like a contract with a god or a different race. It’s been a while since Khalos made a contract with a human.”

“How exactly do contracts work, Mr. Knight?” Asked Eimmany.

“You both should've learned that a long time ago, but both of your families have contracts. They are a form of direct connection to the patron god of an aspect of life. The magic linked to the human body is used only by humans and the families with the most magic born children became the noble families of Zuhrav: Blood, bone, flesh, memory, senses, emotions. Those are the human body elements that are represented by the twin gods of mind and body. As for shadow and The Umbra, the darkness god Khalos must be linked, so it is not necessarily a family, but they can be just a group of smaller contractors under the command of a common leader.”

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“It makes sense… But your family also has the power of shadows right, Ina Leher?” As Eimanny said that name, Orm was baffled. His whole expression became surprised and worried. He immediately looked at Ano seeking some reaction, but the boy in response just smiled.

“Orm may be a Leher, but he isn’t a traitor Eimanny, he has been with us for a century at least, you can show her your true form Orm, it won’t be any good to hide if she already knows.” Ano sounded like he didn’t care anymore, so Orm revealed his true form.

Intricate and long horns began to grow on his head, one of them was broken at the halfway point, but both seemed very worn out from battle. His hair began to grow, passing his shoulders in the process and hiding his eyebrows with front bangs. The tone of his skin and hair also changed, becoming pale and black respectively. “I am Ina Leher, son of Yuuna and father of Sakhel. Unlike my descendants I’ve decided to stay loyal to the ones I’ve always served, and those were the Kertaz.” Said Orm in his usual calm demeanour.

“I’ve known from the start, you know you can’t hide those eyes full of darkness from the Ilkayinn people, do you? Ina, the legendary warrior that fought alongside The Blood King in the war, all of the empire thought you were dead!” said Eimanny.

“You must not reveal my presence to anyone, my status is only known by Ano, his father and the emperor, not even master Johann knows of my identity, I’m impressed by your perception, Eimanny Yerehm.”

“Now for the real reason we’re here. We captured one of The Umbra, Ina’s son to be exact. Sakhel Leher, he escaped mysteriously last night, but today my father asked me to deliver this letter to the emperor, it must be linked to that somehow.” Said Ano with a relaxed face.

“How did you know this young master?” asked Orm with a shocked expression.

“I met that guy - your son - one day before he escaped. Then when I went to get my things, I passed by the catacombs and didn’t see him there again.”

“You know you are not supposed to go there!”

“But I got this for us.” Ano took a sac of gold coins out of his bag. “This is going to make the survival much easier, also, that wolf pelt is going to sell for a lot, 30 silver pieces at least, maybe even a gold one.”

Orm got embarrassed hearing what the boy was saying in front of another noble, but Eimanny seemed to have developed a great interest in Ano’s stories, “Maybe she does not go out a lot” thought the knight, and maybe this was the start of a great friendship.

“So… Since we’re both going to Metarom…” The young noble lady said with her hands together and eyes avoiding direct contact “Would you two mind to go to my coming of age ceremony?”

“Sure.” Said Ano plainly and immediately “Orm will go as well, right?”

“Yeah.” Said the Ilkayin with a low tone voice, very tired of his master accepting everything. “I’ll go, but first we need to rest for the day, and also in Metarom, we need to see master Johann, whether you want it or not.”

Eimanny smiled at them and with an unusual happy voice said: “This is the start of our friendship, so call me Anny!”

Ano smiled and then turned to Orm, and said “Now that all is set, Orm, don't you ever say that I am the one who's reckless, you even showed your true form!”

Orm flinched a little, and avoided direct eye contact "Yes, master" and then returned to his human form immediately.

They arrived at Kehrner.