Mira and Belle stop working on the teleportation circle at Eudora's behest. It will have to be something they continue when we return.

If we return.

As we prepare to leave from the southern end of Lotherain, a dragon comes charging in to see me off. Zeke's platinum scales shine with the brilliance of diamonds under the sun. Not something I would have noticed when we were in the forged world or under the thick canopy of the Weeping Expanse.

He strides up to me and nuzzles his large scaly head against my chest. On his back, just where the shoulder blades are, the scales have begun to split to reveal protruding bones. Zeke's wings are finally coming in.

"I know the dragon who guards the tower you're going to," Zeke says, drawing the attention of Mira and Belle who were double checking their equipment. "He's an azure dragon, but no one's seen him in months. Be careful, everyone."

Belle elbows Mira on the arm. "Look, a chance to slay a living dragon. Don't get toasted this time."

"Would it be too much to have Ellori tap into that mysterious magic again?" Mira asks.

Cammy helped me identify several magic signatures within my body. Normally, living things that exude magic should exert a single one, yet several reside in my body— Flora's boon, the soul stone of pride, my own, and an unidentified source. It could be that the mix of these signatures amalgamated into what we saw that day fighting the dracolich.

There's no way to be sure without using divination magic, but we lack the reagents to complete the ritual.

"I don't know if we can trust whatever is dwelling inside me, but we should only depend on it as a last resort," I answer.

The three of us begin our flight to the Weeping Expanse. Along the way, we survey the destruction left behind by Juna and the Order's invasion into Parthun. Hundreds of caravans filled with families head north towards Lotherain, hoping for a king who is no longer alive to protect them.

Flying over the abandoned ruins of villages and seeing the remnants of villagers too stubborn to leave weep over their loss, cuts into my heart.

We come across a large tract of farming fields scorched black. Along the road, a single wagon rests unmoving, tilted on its left. A family of four stand around it, with an older gentleman shaking his head at a wheel stuck in the ditch.

I want to go down and help, but how much time can we afford?

"Alright, Rio. You know the drill," Mira suddenly says, poking my familiar's belly.

"Nyaa!"

"What—?"

Before I can ask what is going on, Rio flies us down to the family.

Two children, no older than ten, hide behind their mother as we land. The man who was inspecting his broken wheel, grabs a hammer from the inside the wagon and brandishes it at us.

"Stay back!" he shouts, fists clenched so tight his knuckles turn white.

I give my staff to Mira and put my hands up to show I mean no harm. "You should know me! Ellori Farrowghast— I served King Marcus and Parthun."

The man doesn't loosen his grip on the hammer, but he puts himself between us and his family.

"The Order of Piety burned our town looking for rogue witches, if we turn you in…" he says, gritting his teeth.

"It won't bring back your home," I answer, finishing his sentence. Tears stream down his already red eyes. The children begin to weep, too. "Let me help you, that's all. I'm going to step forward to lift your wagon out with magic and fix your wheel now, okay?"

However, as I step forward, the man jerks to my direction and raises the hammer. I don't flinch, but neither does the blunt side of the hammer come down on me. I hear him swallow hard, his eyes shifting to the inside of the wagon.

When I follow his eyes, I see an old man laying inside the wagon. He clutches his chest in pain, face pale, and eyes spinning. It's all the signs of vertigo caused by dehydration.

Instinctively, my hand reaches for a restoration potion on my belt. But I can't step any further lest I risk him attacking me. Which Mira will no doubt fire a spell to protect me.

"That man inside, I can help him." My pleas go unheard.

The man before me is also delirious from a lack of water. In fact, they all are. The cracked lips, sunken cheeks, and wrinkled skin despite their age, they haven't had food or water in some time.

One of the children, a young girl, tackles her father from the back. "Papa, she says she can save grandpa! Please!"

His stiff lips begin to quiver, the hammer drops to his feet and he steps aside, carrying his daughter back to his wife and son.

I hurry to administer a restoration potion, followed by a stamina drought. In a matter of seconds, the old man comes to consciousness, staring up at me as though seeing an angel.

"Thank you…" he whispers.

I help the man sit up, and the rest of his family rush over to him.

"Grandpa!!" The children jump into the wagon to embrace the man they thought was going to die not but a minute ago.

Good thing Eileen created potions in bulk. I have enough for each of them, and then some for myself later. Already the family of five is looking a lot healthier, calmer, and at ease.

The man, who moments ago wanted to bash my brains out, shakes my hand and introduces himself as Eaton. "We can't thank ya enough. With all that's going on we thought witches had gone mad and made a mess of the country. You aren't… vicious like the knights described ya to be."

"I made a promise to your king that I would protect Parthun. My only regret is that I couldn't do a better job," I say, patting the children who are now throwing their arms around me.

Mira incants magic to repair the wheel by regrowing wood over the cracks, and Belle is able to raise the heavy wagon out of the ditch by conjuring an icy ramp. We provide them with enough rations to hopefully reach Lotherain, but the rest is up to their determination.

As they leave, I hear their daughter shout, "Mama, Papa! I want to be a witch when I grow up!"

And that, more than anything, is enough to make my heart swell and tears to run. Mira embraces me from behind, resting her head atop mine.

"You embody the best of what we should be. If you should ever begin to lose sight of the sweet girl you are, I shall remind you. It is what I love most about you, after all." Mira kisses my head, lets go, and pats me the same way I did to the children.

"Maybe we'll find a room for you two in the tower," Belle jests, taking flight.

We travel much further into the Weeping Expanse than we have ever gone before. With every mile, the canopy gradually rises, trees are much taller and thicker. Powerful presences can be detected below, forest nymphs and creatures that escaped the forged worlds from within the towers do battle.

Eventually, the trees have outgrown the towers themselves, consuming them under the canopy of the forest. One stands tall in the horizon, reaching so far into the clouds it may even breach the heavens. A colossal stone tower with rows upon rows of archways that go around the surface. There is no true entrance, but we do know, as is true of all these towers, there is a teleportation circle underneath.

And guarded by the knights of Piety.

"Another way to destroy the tower is to remove the soul stone at the peak. Mira?" I glance over to see her hijacking Talos as her familiar soars out of sight into the sky.

"I'm not seeing an end point. Talos cannot fly any further without freezing solid. If our familiars can't go up there, I wouldn't recommend us trying either," Mira answers.

"You're joking!" Belle exclaims, craning her neck to the sky. "Something that tall and we couldn't see it from Lotherain?"

We weren't able to see it until a few miles back. There must be some sort of magic keeping it out of sight when not nearby.

"So our only way in is down…" I mutter.

There's not a single fiber in me that wants to face them.

Mira grabs Belle's leash and asks, "You know your former companions best. How do we defeat Glory and Abstinence?"

"There's no easy answer to that. All I know is Abstinence was a prankster, she always used her projections to tease the other knights. Glory is your stereotypical knight in shining armor, stoic and proud. His strength is only second to his indomitable spirit."

Belle bites down on her lips. Her life will also be in danger. The knights won't discriminate, and see her as just another witch to be dealt with. I'm sure she is searching every corner of her memory to give us an edge.

"I think…" she begins, biting her index finger. "Our best bet is if I face Glory, and the two of you take one Abstinence. The greater your numbers, the easier you can handle her projections."

The three of us nod to each other. We descend into the forest, drinking magic resistance potions and stamina droughts expecting a fight, but when we arrive, the base of the tower is empty.

Not a single soul in sight except for the chirping of birds and curious forest animals skittering by. The tower is just as intimidating below as it is in the sky. The radius is so large, it's as though I'm staring at a flat wall.

Mira and I tap into nature's roots, but aside from the signatures of trees and animals, there is no human or large monster nearby.

"Maybe they went inside?" I suggest.

Belle falls into thought, mumbling  "It's possible. There is no better defensible position than inside where our familiars cannot function. This… is turning less in our favor."

"There's no turning back. Let's go," I tell them.

We put our familiars into our satchels and step onto the teleportation circle holding each other's hands. Mira's reassuring smile is the last thing I see before white light robs me of my sight.

***

"Nngh…?"

I wake up to darkwood ceiling boards in a small bedroom the size of which a modest inn may offer. I'm laying on a bed of fresh linens and the smell of lavender in the air. There's a wash bin in the corner of the room, a rag hangs on the side, dripping water to the floor. On the flat surface of every cabinet, night stand, and table are candles that light up the otherwise windowless, dark room.

No one else is in the room. No Mira, no Belle.

A memory scratches at the back of my mind. There was an important mission I have to complete, but I just can't place a finger on what it is.

My equipment and staff rests at the foot of the bed, and my hat hangs on a bedpost behind me. All I have on me are my living robes. As I get up out of the bed, the door to the room creaks open. I reach for my staff, but stop short of grabbing it when I see who comes through.

He ducks coming in so that the horns wouldn't scrape the top of the door frame. The large musculature outline of his body behind the smooth brown coat of fur, the incredible cock between his legs that fucked me to submission last time, there is no mistaking it.

The minotaur grunts excitedly seeing me.

I jump out of the bed, flying into his arms. "Taurac!"