As the sun rises on a new day, Mila screams at the top of her lungs, finding herself in Glyn’s embrace. The screams wake up Glyn, who leaps back as Tisha shoots up, leaping off the bed. After a moment, the screaming stops and the three take a breath, calming down. Before they could say any words, Miller breaks through the door walking into the room.

            “What’s going on?!” He yells out holding onto his sword. “Are we under attack?”

He stares at Mila and then turns to Glyn. Glyn stands, trying to gain his composure.

            “Good morning.” He says with a smirk on his face.

Miller shakes his head and stares Glyn down. “Someone explain what’s going on now!”

 

Hours later, Glyn and Tisha walk through the village on their way to the Elder’s house. Glyn takes in the sights, making mental notes as Tisha shakes her head. As the two arrive, Glyn hands the Elder a slip of paper as he then escorts the pair towards the backyard. They stand in front of a small pot with a young woman picking it up and handing it to Tisha.

            “Here are his ashes.”

            “Thank you,” Tisha says, taking the pot.

The Elder nods. “In our traditions, we return our dead to the sea after cremation. But I don’t imagine Elves hold such beliefs.”

            “Normally we’d bury them in the forest. We would use their corpse as fertilizer for the trees and plants to help maintain the land and its bounty.”

Glyn shakes his head. “That sounds morbid.”

            “I wouldn’t expect you to get it.” She clings to the pot.

            “If you want to spread his ashes, I found a spot. If you want to check it out.”

Tisha nods. “Thank you.” She whispers.

As they leave, the Elder bows his head. “Please grant that warrior peace and bring this oncoming war to an end.”

 

Tisha and Glyn walk down the road as they make their way to the forest. Tisha holds onto the jar of ashes as Glyn stares at her. She steps in front of him, blocking the path as and glares at him.

            “Come on, say it already.”

Glyn sighs. “Sorry. I’m just not used to Elvan rituals and stuff like that.”

            “You know nothing about your people, do you?”

            “To be fair, I never considered myself an Elf or a Human,” Glyn says with a smirk on his face.

Tisha shakes her head. “I never considered how Half-Elves felt about the situation. I always was told that Half-Elves were mistakes, tainted blood that should’ve never been born.”

            “Yeah, I know that for a fact. My grandparents let me know how they felt about me.”

            “Have you ever been to the homeland?” She asks.

Glyn nods. “Once. When I was a kid, my mother took me to see my grandmother before she died. The entire time, I felt unwelcome, and it was a place I didn’t belong.”

            “Voron said that.” Tisha stares at the jar. “He said that with the way things are now, our way of life wouldn’t last for more than a generation or two at our current rate.”

Glyn nods. “So, he had some brains. Now I feel worse about him dying.”

            “He wanted to become close to the new king and help him and, in turn, help the Elves into a new age of prosperity. But even with the help of the old king, we’ve stagnated and now we’re in this situation. One more push and we can end up on the verge of extinction.”

Tisha stares at the pot and walks ahead. “My mind has been racing since he died. But now I don’t know what to do.”

            “Are you planning to run?”

            “No. I gave my word I’d help you and I want to get revenge for Voron. After that, I have no idea what I can or want to do.”

Glyn sighs. “Just take it one day at a time. When you’re stuck and worried about the future, you ignore the present. So, focus on the now and build a small bridge toward your ideal future.”

            “You come up with that yourself?” She asks, holding back a laugh.

            “No. Something my dad told me.” Glyn stops as the two approach a large tree. “I might not care much for Elves. But I do think we need to pay honor to the dead.”

Tisha places the pot down in front of the tree. “Well, either way, thank you for this.”

            “You’re welcome.”

Tisha empties the pot, pouring the ashes at the base of the tree. She puts her hands together and prays, speaking in a foreign language as Glyn joins her. They stand in silence for a few minutes before she turns to Glyn, bowing.

            “Thank you. I don’t know if I could handle this on my own.”

            “It’s fine. I already told you as long as you work for me, I have to make sure you’re mentally well so you can rely on me for something like this.”

She smirks. “It’s funny your Elvish is quite good for someone who loathes Elves.”

            “My mother drilled it into my head. It helps that they wrote some older magic texts in Elvish, so it was a worthy sacrifice.”

            “Glyn. Let me ask you something. What are you hiding?”

            “What do you mean? I’m being straightforward with you all.”

            “You are. Or it appears you are. But you’re hiding something, telling small truths to hide your secret. Like hiding a plant in the middle of a wild forest.”

Glyn shakes his head. “When did you get perceptive?”

            “I’m not the only one who can see it. Mila won’t say it, but she’s worried and you know how much you mean to her, don’t you?”

Glyn stares up at the sky. “I know she sees me as someone important. Her first real friend, anything beyond that, is…..”

            “There you two are!” A voice yells out from above.

Tan lands in front of the pair as they turn to her. “Tan?”

            “I was looking all over the forest for you.” She stares at the pair for a moment. “Um…. was I interrupting something? I hope I didn’t ruin the funeral.”

            “You're fine. We already finished the ceremony,” Tisha says.

Tan nods. “Good. I’d rather not piss off the dead. I don’t want to end up getting haunted or something.”

            “Tan, why were you looking for us?”

She pauses for a moment. “Oh right! On the west side of the island, some monsters were acting strangely, and now they're rampaging.”

            “What?” Tisha asks.

Tan nods. “The guards are busy dealing with the bulk of them, but they asked us to deal with a small herd of them that broke out of containment.”

            “I’m assuming Miller’s already on the way there?”

            “Yes.”

Glyn smirks. “Good. Alright, Tisha, are you ready for a quick fight?”

She nods. “I could use something to vent my frustrations.” She pulls out her bow and walks forward. “Come on, show me where they are so I can shove some arrows in their heads.”

            “Right this way!” Tan takes off into the air as Tisha follows behind her.

Glyn chases after the pair as he thinks. “It’s odd for monsters to rampage without reason. We’ve already tamed the Dungeon so it can’t influence them anymore. So what could’ve set it off?” He stops for a moment and looks out into the distance. “I have a feeling Fenwick is behind this. I knew he couldn’t help himself and wait the rest of the week.”