Zenon rounded the corner to the side of the house his expression pinched when he saw the state of Baltha. His eyes ran over him a few times before he finally said, "what is all the ruckus about?"

"I think I messed up, and it might not just be my hide on the line this time," Baltha said.

Rowund rounded the corner with a frown looking distracted. "We have a problem," he said, before seeming to notice everyone. "Are you just getting home Baltha? I believe I asked you to-" he took a step closer to Baltha and for a moment, I could have sworn something flashed in his eyes and the

Space around him crackled. "What happened?" He said in a quiet deadly voice that made me take a few steps back. I suddenly wanted the manic smile and step back. 

Baltha swallowed and dropped his head. "When I got to the meeting point, Theo was waiting... with some enforcers."

Zenon's eyes flashed for a moment and his jaw tightened, but Rowund was eerily calm. "And?" He asked. 

Baltha sighed. "And we had an altercation. I escaped, but they saw my face. I don't know if they managed to put a trace on me." He swallowed hard. "Can you check?" He added in a small voice looking at Rowund.

Rowund stepped closer and pointing his palm towards him, began running his hand over Baltha's body like he had done to me the say before.

They all looked so worried, but I was simply confused as Yar. "Uhm... does anyone want to explain anything further for the benefit of newbie?"

"Can I just break it to you, that half the time, we have no idea what you're saying," Rossi said.

"Well, I don't know anything about anything going on either. For example, why are we scared of enforcers? Isn't their job to uphold the law? We're not breaking any laws, are we?" I said, but they all exchanged looks that immediately filled me with apprehension. "Are we?" I repeated, looking at Rowund expectantly. 

He sighed. "Laws are made by men. In an ideal situation, it would be fair to all, but, people are not impartial, so laws are made to suit their maker," he said.

I distractedly rubbed at my chest, the minor ache acting up after my brief knife throwing practice. "What exactly does that mean?" 

"The shifter clans decided that the predatorial shifters are too hot headed and ruled by instincts and so clash with the other races on the council, so a new law was enacted, non predators sit on the council, and predators act as enforcers," Baltha said.

I frowned. "Surely all predators can't be enforcers at once. That makes no sense."

Baltha shrugged with a sardonic smile. "The law doesn't have to make sense, but you're right, not all predators. But apparently, when you lose your parents, you lose the right to decide how your life goes."

It took a moment for what he said to sink in. He's an orphan? I guess I never really thought about why they all live here. "But surely, they can't just force you all to become enforcers."

He sighed. "There used to be more of a choice, but things have been changing for the past twenty years. More children are suddenly finding their parents dead from suspicious accidents or unknown causes, hence, more soldiers for the council. Coincidence? I think not." 

"Uhm... that's..." I stood there not knowing what to say. I grew up more or less isolated, never meeting anyone meant I didn't really know or care about the rest of Galderon or how it all worked. I didn't even know much about the races. Worrying about my heart and when I would die, and trying to escape my life in stories were my main focus.

"We have a slightly different but still important problem," Rowund said. We all focused on him, but he turned to me. "I have been carrying out some research about your condition, and I have some theories, but first, was your condition always so bad that you would faint every time you did a rigorous activity?" He asked.

I frowned, thinking about it. "I've always had issues, but I think it got worse as I grew older, I started getting weaker faster." He nodded like I had just confirmed something. "What do you think is wrong with me?"

"I have theories but have no way to confirm them, telling you would just be worrying you for nothing as I might be wrong, however, following the logic of the progression of your condition, it posits that whatever is to be done, needs to be done soonest. Which leads to the problem I mentioned."

I gulped on dry throat. I already knew I was dying, but coming here and seeing all the new things I could learn and try, I don't want to die. "What's the problem?" I asked, trying to firm myself for bad news.

"I reached out to an Esperian priestess I fairly trust that owes me a favour to come out and examine you, the good news is, she is willing to do it. The bad news, she will not be able to come here, we would need to go to her," he said.

My excitement immediately began rising at the thought of actually traveling and seeing more of the world, and ofcourse an opportunity to find my father. 

"That doesn't sound so bad. I think it might be a good idea to leave Zambinia for a while. I still think those enforcers might make more efforts to catch me," Baltha said his voice tinged in relief, like maybe he's happy not to be the sole reason we had to leave.

"Is that the entire news?" Zenon asked, his piercing gaze focused on Rowund for once.

Rowund grimaced, then sighed. "You were born in the fifth month, were you not?" He said, looking at me once again.

I frowned. "How do you know that?" This man seems to know an awful lot about me and I know next to nothing about him and the other inhabitants of the house.

"Were you, or were you not? It is important," he repeated, ignoring my question. 

"I was."

He fiddled with the ring on his finger. "I believe that the deterioration of your condition is tied to your date of birth. You are approaching your twenty first year in three months, it should have been the year your gift fully settles. But somehow, yours is barely there at all and you have a progressively deteriorating heart condition. My theory is that we must do something before your date of birth or expect the worst."

My eyes widened. "Three months?"

"Unfortunately, it does get worse," he said, softening his tone. "The priestess is about going into sanctuary and cannot see us before two months time."

I froze. "What?" I breathed.

"What exactly does she need an entire fourteen weeks in sanctuary for, hoping to wash away all her sins?" Rossi said with a sneer in her tone, but I could barely pay attention to her. I probably have three months to live, unless we can get a solution from this priestess, yet I'm unable to even see her within two out of that three months. I knew the gods hated me, but someone up there must really have it out for me.

"So... are we just going to wait here until this priestess leaves sanctuary?" Baltha asked, frowning. "Because we still have possibilities of the enforcers trailing me here."

"Rowund said there's no trace on you," Rossi said, flipping a knife in the air and catching it by its hilt. Watching her with the knife made me nervous, so I moved farther away.

Baltha pulled his hand through his hair. "Yes, but they are Zambinians, and they caught my scent. The cloaking spell wore off, and though I tried to circle, there's no guarantee."

"Well..." Rowund said, and we all turned to face him. "The spring festival is coming up."

Zenon scoffed. "We tried that last year, and the year before that. It did not work." 

Rossi tossed her knife again. "Safe to say, the gods are either too busy, or just don't care."

"And why do we care about the spring festival?" I asked, confused.

"Spring is the goddess Aurova's favourite season." Rowund said.

"I know that," I said, frowning. "I'm asking why we care that it's coming up."

Baltha rolled his eyes. "There's a legend, that not only does goddess Aurova love spring, but she sometimes comes down to her temple in Morrioa to enjoy it. Hence the festival, to honour her favourite season. Rumour is that she's been spotted at a few celebrations over the years, and if you ask really nicely, she might even give you an answer to a burning question," he concluded with a sneer.

I looked at the contempt on his face. "I'm guessing you don't agree."

He scoffed. "Rowund has been dragging us to these things for years. Still, nothing. There hasn't even been a claimed sighting of the goddess in years or any of the gods for that matter. I doubt even their priests and priestesses still hear from them."

"Do not blaspheme against the gods," Rowund said calmly, then sighed. "It is not just a legend." They all looked at him like he had lost his mind. I simply waited, not bothering to ask any questions this time. "You all accepted that someone was coming, and kept watch with me all these years, how did you think I knew that?"

"No way," Baltha breathed.

"Why make us keep watch every year if you had an answer?" Zenon asked with a complicated emotion on his usually expressionless face. 

"Because it does not work the way you think. All I got was an image, like time froze for a moment. I saw the place, and guessed the season, but did not know the time. I knew it was years into the future because because she was already grown."

I frowned. Something wasn't adding up. "If all you got was a still image, how did you know my name?"

He gave me a sad smile. "Because you are a spitting image of your mother, but with your father's eyes and hair. And I visited your parents shortly after you were born."

My frown deepened. That can't be right, my eyes weren't a match for father's at all and the blonde of our hair were so far apart it was almost a separate colour spectrum. It took me a moment for everything he said to register and my eyes snapped to his face. "You knew my mother?" I asked with baited breath.

"I did," he said, nodding.

"Can you tell me about her?" I asked eagerly, taking a few steps closer to him.

"Maybe some other time," he said, looking pointedly at all the others still gathered. 

Right, we still have other problems. I narrowed my eyes at him, if he thought I would simply forget about it, then he doesn't know me. Father never told me about her no matter how often I asked, and over time, I stopped asking. But this time, I'm not letting any chance at answers go.

"The point remains, the festival can not be discounted, and she might get something," Rowund continued, pulling me out of my head.

"Is this the part where you finally tell me what exactly you want from me?" I said with a smirk.

Baltha's brow hiked into his hairline. "You knew we wanted something from you, but went with us anyway?"

I shrugged. "Whatever you wanted didn't seem to involve killing me at that moment," I said, then eyed Zenon, remembering his scowl on the said day. "Well, Rowund didn't," I added and Baltha chuckled. "Plus, I was a bit stranded, and you were offering food and shelter. Sounded like an all round win."

"Risky," Rossi said finally putting her knife back into her holster.

I shrugged. "What's life without risks? I was dying anyway. Besides, I have good instincts." Baltha snorted but nobody said anything, but not like they agreed with me, more like, they didn't care to argue. 

"Get your things ready, but pack light. We leave at first light," Rowund said already looking distracted. 

"Do I get a map," I said looking at Zenon. 

He scoffed. "You're with us, you don't need one." I bit my lip but remained quiet not wanting to raise their suspicion. Things were finally going my way, and hopefully soon, I'll find my father. 

We all walked inside each going to our various rooms to get ready. Tomorrow, I'd be getting my first glance of the rest of Galderon and I didn't know how I felt about that.