About a week and a half had passed since he woke in Mist Mountain. Kazuki and Michiko took him to the shrine every other day to clear it of overgrown grass and the like as nature seemed to grow faster around it. After finishing their routine cleaning, Kieran was forced to take a request from the boards in the middle of the village. The two attendants helped him for two days before stopping.

“The same request?” commented Michiko.

“Truly, no shame at all,” Kazuki said as he looked at a group of children not too far away who were eyeing the request.

Guys, please.

“What do you expect me to do? I’m still recovering” Kieran waved the wooden block with the words ‘play with pet’ on it. The owner was an elderly man who’d recently injured himself in a fishing accident. The look on their faces when he took this request a few days ago was priceless. “Besides, playing with a dog is definitely a good thing.”

“It’s because he’s afraid of heights,” Kazuki said.

“Certainly,” added Michiko.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Though the two attendants were taskmasters and often reflected their master’s distaste toward him, being around them was refreshing. They also kept him occupied so he didn’t have time to think. The problem was when they weren’t around.

Kazuki plucked the block from his hands and gave it to the group of children who immediately ran off. He then pointed to the board. “Take a different request. Miss Nagi would be displeased if you did nothing but play with a dog all day.”

“Fine…” After a minute or two of checking all the boards, he still couldn’t decide. The requests ranged from picking a certain herb at the base of the mountain, to delivering a message to another major village.

“Here,” said Michiko as she handed him two wooden blocks, one concealed in a white cloth. It was the same one as the request Lady Amaya took on when she guided him through the village.

“What? He cannot-” Michiko held up a hand to stop Kazuki. A brief instant of understanding flashed across his face.

“You know where the temple is, right?”

Kieran nodded.

“Good.” The two left for the house.

On the way toward the temple, his mind started wandering. Thoughts about what he could have done, images of what may have happened, and regret assailed him. He broke into a light jog, letting the pounding of his heart drown out everything else. After a while, the temple came into view and he slowed. The path to the right was clear and a few priests greeted him with a nod.

He wasn’t surprised when he saw Nagi kneeling at the edge of the pond, her fingers laced together in prayer. Not taking his eyes off her, he reached for the wooden block he’d taken, accidentally fumbling and dropping it. Snatching it off the ground, he put it on the board. A sudden tap startled him.

“Do not be so jumpy,” Nagi said with an unamused look. “Why are you here? I thought Kazuki and Michiko were supposed to oversee your tasks.”

Annoyed and a bit fed up with her disinterested attitude, he said, “I’m not some kid.”

She sighed, “You should listen to them. They follow my orders.”

“Yeah? Well, they’re the ones who told me to come here alone.”

Nagi studied his face for a second, checking for lies, her brow furrowed. After a moment, she shook her head and muttered something under her breath. “I see. Seeing as how you are already here, have you decided on what to wish for?” She was pointing to the wooden block by his hip, the one that was given to him by Lady Amaya.

“Why does it matter to you?”

“I will pray for your wish to come true.”

There wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in her voice but he scoffed. Not only had he been dragged around by Kazuki and Michiko for tasks on her orders, she also barely recognized his existence whenever he did see her around sunset. Sure, he was grateful that she and her family took him in when he was about to die, but that was all. It was most likely Lady Amaya’s decision anyway.

“I don’t believe in your god or your prayers.” It was harsh. Harsher than he expected. Was it because of how she had him dragged around or was it because something in her words bothered him.

“...So be it.”

Time to head back.

 

---

 

Kazuki and Michiko didn’t bother him that day. He was up early, waiting for their usual knocking, when he heard a pair of footsteps steadily quiet as they went further away. Looking down the hallway, there was nobody. The bucket of water they always threatened him with was gone as well.

Kieran paced down the hallway, thinking of all the reasons why the two wouldn’t bring him with. It wasn’t long before the encounter with Nagi came into mind. There was not a single thought of going back to sleep. In fact, he was up early because of a dream he had. He was looking forward to work today.

Unwilling to risk falling to his own thoughts again, he went outside. When he opened the door, a man he’d grown familiar with was there, the herbalist. “Ren!” he grabbed Kieran’s shoulders. “Where is The Saintess or Lady Amaya?”

“Calm down. What happened?”

“My son. I sent him to gather some herbs at the base of the mountain a few hours ago and he hasn’t returned. It usually would only take him an hour at most.”

“D-Did you tell the guards?” he asked. What was the point of coming here?

“I did. They sent a patrol and found signs of struggle leading back into the forest. To pursue, they need The Saintess’ or Lady Amaya’s orders. Where are they? Please. He’s all I have.”

He felt his heart ache for the man. He hadn’t seen Lady Amaya in days and since no one else seemed to mention her, he thought it was normal. “Nagi’s at the temple…” as he said that, he saw the sweat dripping down the herbalist's face and the heave of his shoulders as he tried to catch his breath. “I-I’ll get her.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I might still be injured, but I’ll make it there faster.”

He ran past the exhausted herbalist and down the steps, through the village, and into the path between the trees. His pace was quick, garnering many stares. A guard reached out to grab him, likely suspecting him of a crime, but he shrugged him off. On the path, he saw her.

“N-Nagi…” he panted.

She didn’t seem to hear him.

“Nagi,” he called out louder.

No answer.

He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. “I have to talk to you.”

She swatted his hand away, “What? I am on my way to the temple. Is this talk more important than the wishes of all the people in the village?” Her gaze was ice cold.

“It involves someone from the village. The herbalist’s son went missing. The guards went looking and said he was taken into the forest. They can’t go after him unless you give your permission.”

For the first time since he met her, he saw more than just hints of annoyance. She closed her eyes, conflicted on what to do. But what else could she be thinking of. Someone was in danger and they needed to be saved. If it was some monster, if it was the langqart, then good. They were planning to kill anyway. “No,” she said.

“What?”

“The guards will not go into the forest. Our forces are not yet prepared. Should we encounter the langqart we will-”

“Someone’s life is in danger!”

Nagi stood. “I understand. My answer will not change.”

“But you saved me! I was attacked by them, they were on my trail, and you saved me.”

“You were not inside the forest. The situation then is different than the situation now.”

It was clear to him now. Nagi wouldn’t do anything. She might’ve been The Saintess and descendant of some bloodline, but that all meant nothing. “Where’s Lady Amaya?”

“Why?”

“I’m going to talk to her.”

“Her answer will be the same.”

“Bullshit. Where is she?”

“...She is not here. Mother will return later this afternoon with The Lifestream Saintess.”

Fed up with her, he took off.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll find him myself.”

Nagi said something but he was too far away to hear her. He knew the general direction to the base of the mountain. Unlike his previous encounter with the langqart and wolves, where he was already on death’s door, this time he would have nearly full Essence to fight back. The possibility of the herbalist’s son being dead was high. However, now wasn’t the time to think about that.

More than three weeks had passed since he was taken in by the people of Mist Mountain. The pendant was sure to have regained a use since then. Palming it in his hands, a scream echoed through the forest. He dashed in its direction, dodging trees, branches, and leaping over exposed roots. The forest was larger than he remembered. How much of his journey was made in that dazed state that kept him from really understanding how far he went?

Two massive gray wolves, the same kind summoned by the langqart, surrounded the tree where the boy had climbed. Blood trailed down his leg and arm, the latter being mangled beyond recognition. How he managed to climb the tree in that state, he wouldn’t get a chance to know. There weren’t only two wolves. There were three.

Outside his field of vision, obscured by the trees, the third wolf bounded toward the tree, gaining momentum with each passing second. The pattering got louder and louder until the momentous leap. Jaws opened wider than the boy’s head snatched his loose shirt and pulled him down where the other two wolves could reach.

“Jarl und vass!” He cast three shadow bolts, each striking their targets and flinging them away from the unconscious boy. Kieran went to his side and checked his pulse. It was faint, but he was still alive. He flung him over his shoulder.

The wolves leapt at him and he repelled them with a combination of his shadows, spells, and barriers. The boy looked around twelve years old but weighed more than expected. Maybe it was the fault of his injuries that slowed him down so much.

One wolf managed to bypass his defenses and knick his leg, biting into the boot and drawing blood. He blasted it with a full powered shadow bolt, badly damaging part of its face. It whimpered and backed away. The other two howled, and he knew he was fucked if he didn’t leave now.

Snarling beasts nipped at his heels. The fastest of the wolves had already arrived, running alongside him, looking for an opening to attack. When it saw one, it took it. Kieran, unable to roll out of the way, fearful that the strain would make him let go of the boy, relied on a spell he hadn’t mastered yet.

“Shadow Bind!”

His own shadow reached into the wolf’s, and once attached, shot up and wrapped around its midsection, pulling it to the ground. It was a partial success. A true shadow bind would have held an animal without control of their Flow for well over a minute using multiple tendrils. The wolf, however, shrugged it off as soon as it touched the ground.

Kieran let loose a few more shadow bolts that managed to kill the odd one or two wolves. Nearing the edge of the forest, he reached his physical limit. His pace slowed and when another wolf tackled him, he couldn’t move his shadow fast enough nor set up a barrier. He tumbled over, dropping the boy and landing against a tree.

They were angry. Five surrounded him while two picked at the boy’s body. Now was as good of a time as any. He looked at the pendant and let out a sigh. On it displayed a “1”. Meaning he had another chance.

As the wolf he’d injured before charged first, its body was cut in half. A woman wearing a smiling white mask and holding a glaive, had saved him. In her long black hair, he spotted a streak of white.

“Nagi?”

Then, a guttural howl shook the earth.