Leaving the village of Evergreen, Myne and Vel’nas headed roughly north, again flying wide to make sure that they avoided the airspace of the temple complex. By now the Council of Knights would have gathered there to assess what had happened and what they were going to, and amongst their number were three lattice souls, the most powerful members of the clan. While her sensing magic was pretty much unique to herself, as those she had tried to teach it to hadn’t been able to grasp it, some of the higher ranking Sisters and Lady Knights had their own ways of telling what was going on nearby, and she could do without alerting anyone. While the wards in the area were down, they only reacted to tainted magic in the first place, so she would have been safe from them anyways. Thinking back, she could only recall a handful of times it had actually gone off, always for a more powerful Night Beast, and mostly it had been inactive. Myne couldn’t help but feel that the Witch had deliberately let her location be known so that she could draw the riders to her, the signature on the ward all but screaming out ‘I’m the Witch, come get me’. Well if that was the case it had certainly worked.

Myne’s plan at this stage was to find somewhere isolated but safe enough to experiment, and then once she had something workable she’d fly to roughly the area where she had lost the Ash Riders trail and try again from there. She had two ideas in mind, one a modified version of her sensing magic, and the other more of a dowsing approach. Range would be an issue, but she was certain that the dowsing would cover a lot more area than her sensing magic. There were also special locations scattered around the land, remnants of the birth of magic, where the magic of the land itself pooled, and if she was able to locate a safe or unoccupied one then that would improve her chances of success significantly, as she could borrow the power of the land. She didn’t know exactly why or how it worked, and for most people they had no effect, but for a few people, including her, their magic was always stronger when used in locations with naturally pooled magic. Many of the larger cities were built on them, as the ruins of the old world seemed to be a common place for the pooling of natural magic, and for those that weren’t a part of civilization, they seemed to attract powerful Night Beasts to them. So the Clans regularly patrolled the known unoccupied ones, making it an easy way of finding and eradicating the creatures.

She’d also need additional supplies, but for that she’d be wanting to pass through a village that wasn’t known to her.

By late morning Myne had located a sunny glade with a small pool, nestled against the ruins of a water mill that had fallen into disuse some decade ago. There were places like this scattered all over the kingdom, usually where mining towns had been settled then abandoned once the veins were depleted, but occasionally there were cases where some well meaning citizens had tried to found a new village, only for it to fall to Night Beasts or bandits. Settlements outside of the protection of the Clans or Guilds usually did not survive, which is why the bulk of them were clustered around the Temples and Cities. She took the opportunity to clean and refresh herself, drying off in the warmth of the suns rays, before then starting on her experimentations while Vel’nas dozed in the sun. With Izen’s bandages wrapped around her hand, she started with her sensing magic as she tried to extend her range by focusing on a single target, but even with it boosted by a simple ritualistic circle she wasn’t able to sense any further than she normally could. Scrapping that idea she started on her second one, a form of dowsing. Her aim was to synchronize a small portion of her magic with a given object so that is was almost as if they were the same. By then focusing it in to a needle shape and separating them, her hope was that the magic would act like a compass and point to the object. The larger the target, the more magic she’d probably need to sync, but if all went well the range would be significantly larger than what her sensing could manage.

While she started with a small flower, the light was starting to fade by the time she finally managed to sync some magic with it. The process of syncing had been a lot more complex than she had initially thought, especially as she wanted to sync with the signature of the object and not just its appearance, since she obviously didn’t have the Dusk Rider with her and only the bandage. She was pleased to find however that her theory had been right, and as she stepped back and moved around the magic needle did indeed continue to point to her target. The following day she practised again with the flower, working on methods to make the syncing quicker and more reliable, eventually settling on the use of a custom ritualistic circle to aid in the weaving of the magic into the correct form. By mid afternoon she was happy with her progress, and clearing the glade of any traces of her, she took flight, maintaining the flower compass to see how far its range went. While it had a larger range than her sensing, it still broke off much earlier than she would have liked, likely due to the size of the magic itself.

Knowing that she would need to restock sooner rather than later, and that her travels could take her anywhere, Myne decided to take the risk of visiting the outermost trading post under the southern temples protection. Landing outside of the view of the post, she donned a cloak and leaving Vel’nas to try his best to stay out of sight she walked to the post. Named the Swamp Hog, with neither swamps or hogs in its vicinity, it had had more repairs than any others that she had ever seen, and every time she had been here it had had some more. The post was quiet with no other visitors, for which she was grateful, so she headed straight in and asked Claus the proprietor for the supplies that she required.

“That I can get for you,” Claus said, then asking, “but why do you feel you need to hide yourself from me Myne?”

Myne half sighed, half grinned as she removed her cloaks hood. “How much do you know of what happened at the temple a couple of days ago?” she asked in return. Claus had always been an observant man, and while she had mostly had the cloak on in case he had had other customers, she had hoped to come and go without much fuss.

“Not much. Something’s happened, but they’ve been very tight lipped about it.” Claus moved around behind the counter, collecting what she was after. “They have been asking after you as well as another Rider. Not that I had anything I could tell them, and that was a couple of days ago.”

“Whose they?” queried Myne.

“Lady Knight Sorene. She had a couple of other ladies with her, including another Rider, but they stayed outside. The fiery one declared that this place was beneath her.” Claus shrugged, before handing over the supplies to Myne. “I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, but take care.”

“Thanks.” Myne smiled at him, appreciative.

“And yes, I never saw you here,” he added before she had the chance to ask, to which she nodded, grateful, and then took her leave. Returning to Vel’nas, they took flight again, heading well out of the normal range of the temple. Using her sensing magic to aid her as night had well and truly fallen by the time they had gone far enough, she located a safe area with suitable cover for them both. Myne fell asleep quickly, the experimentations having drained her more than she had realized.

Feeling still too close to the temple complex, the break of dawn saw them in flight again, making their way north and towards the western edge of the forest. With Night Beats more common in the forests than in the open, a survival instinct that they had developed from years of being hunted by Riders, and having also run into a demon the last time she was in that forest, Myne was extra cautious and made doubly sure that the area was clear of any hostile entities before continuing on with her experiments. As she had hoped, larger objects, or more magically complex objects ended up with a larger range, and with the continued practice she was able to perform the sync in a comparable amount of time irrespective of said traits. She quickly moved on from flowers to larger stones, a small tree and even a friendly squirrel, and by mid afternoon she was ready to try with the bandage. The attempt was going to be a little different, as she was relying on the blood and magical signature that had been left on the cloth rather than the object itself, but she needed to try sooner rather than later as the usable residue was steadily fading from the bandage, and would be gone in a few days. Once she had done it a couple of time however she would remember the signature and would be able to do it from memory. She sat on Vel’nas, and gathering what she hoped would be enough power, began the sync, keeping an image of the Ash Rider in her mind. Upon completion, the magic compass snapped into position, wavering a bit around the pointed direction before the magic surged and her concentration was broken by the backlash, a wave of magic that she found oddly pleasurable hitting her. She instinctively reacted, clenching tight to Vel’nas as it flowed through her and then faded away. She had never had magic backlash like that before, and even then backlashes were rare. But she did have a direction now, and even if she couldn’t maintain the magic for long, she’d still be able to use along with some plain old remembering the direction of the needle and matching it to visible or known landmarks it to pin point the Ash Rider.

Not wanting to waste the information gained and with enough day remaining, they took to the air, heading out over the forest, her intention to clear it and find somewhere to shelter for the night on the other side before trying again in the morning, hopefully a lot closer to the Ash Riders location.

That night she dreamed, which was unusual for her. They had cleared the forest as the sun had started to dip behind the horizon, and it hadn’t taken them long to find suitable shelter far enough away from the forests edge that Myne felt safe. As Myne had sensing magic, Vel’nas was also instinctively able to sense danger, so even if something did come their way while she slept they’d be alerted soon enough. A handy trait. Myne drifted off, snuggled up against her familiar, her thoughts wandering to Izen as she feel asleep. Why had there been that backlash? What was going on? She revisited the events of when she first saw Izen, both male and female, a strange fondness lingering around the memories even though the events themselves had been nothing but stress. Was she missing something obvious? There were too many unanswered questions, but she would not find them here she knew, as sleep took hold.

In her dreams she found herself looking at a war torn world, its landscape and peoples unfamiliar. Armies and machines of war battled monsters and demons, the parched land withering under the rays of an intense sun, the day then giving way to night as the moon rose, but the fighting continued. Everything here was foreign to Myne, but she hoped that she would never have to witness a war such as this. As the dawn then rose again her view was taken to one edge of the battlefield where the tide was starting to turn against what Myne assumed were the armies of evil. Two massive silver Dragons, bigger than even the Ash Riders Prime, landed in the battlefield, their impact scattering the monsters far and wide before they started to wade into the enemies ranks, breathing fire and swatting the monsters like flies. Out from between the dragons, dwarfed by their size, was a stunningly beautiful woman, tall with long sun blonde hair that flowed out behind her. She wore a light white dress that hugged her closely, covering her while at the same time not, her ample breasts threatening to break free from it. Her bare legs showed as she walked, and she had on the tallest pair of heels that Myne had ever seen, mystifying her as to how she was even able to walk in them. Her green eyes radiated power, and all along both of her bare arms were glowing golden runes of power that formed spider silk like patterns, the numerous sigils and signs familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Monsters met an early end before they even got close to her, a wave of her hand throwing them off to the side, while the demons that approached found themselves being seared by the sun's rays, glowing chains appearing to shackle them before they were dispatched by one of her many summoned weapons of light. Magic the like of which she had never seen or heard of before.

Her view moved to another section of the battlefield, where another figure was wading in, the ground beneath her drenched with blood. Her shoulder length hair was obsidian black, contrasting her pale white skin, blue eyes, and deep crimson lips, a pair of fangs showing as she smiled seductively at the monsters and demons approaching her, and a pair of dragon horns grew out of her head. She wore black and gold armour on her sensual and well endowed figure, which looked reminiscent of dragon bone, but appeared to be much more flexible, and hugged her like a second skin. It covered her upper body, stopping just above her breasts, and also went down her lower arms and formed a pair of thigh high heeled boots. The gold embellishing on the armour glowed with power, and parts of the armour looked as though they could be weapons in and of themselves. Black flames danced on her black clawed hands and all around her, answering to her beck and call, consuming all that they touched and forming both an offensive and defensive barrier. As Myne watched she grew a pair of wings out of her black flame, and then launched herself into the encroaching ranks, the ensuing carnage awe inspiring and terrifying at the same time. There was something familiar about her, but Myne couldn’t put her finger on it.

Between these two areas, an armoured black dragon descended onto the battlefield. While still larger than most dragons of the current age, it was much smaller than those she had just seen, and Myne found its armour to be just plain odd. Why would you need such on a dragon? Riding on its back was a third woman, powerful and strong, but also not flouting her looks in the same way as the others. She had short spiky red hair, intense hazel eyes, and ears that were filled with all manner of piercings. Her lips were painted black, and her arms were covered with tattoos of stylized dragons. While it looked as though she was also wearing the skin tight Skeon that Myne was used to seeing, most of the rest of her body was covered with bulky but still form conforming armour, fashioned from a black metal, heeled boots and all. It appeared to be both functional and ornamental, numerous plates curving or forming into spikes, while others bore the shape of dragons. Around her floated a dozen swords, each a work of art, that danced and attacked at her command. In the skies behind her dozens more riderless dragons could be seen appearing, then touching down beside her in support, their armour glowing as they began their attack.

The view then shifted to the other side of the battlefield, where the forces of evil were spawning. Blackness covered the land, swallowing all that it touched, and out of it were being pulled the monsters and demons. Human warriors who had sold their souls to the darkness pushed them forwards, their powers boosted by their sacrifice of humanity. Seated on a throne, overlooking the battlefield, was an aged looking man, a tarnished crown sitting on his head, his eyes glowing a hateful red. His skin was barley holding onto his skeletal body, magic the only thing keeping him together. In his left hand rested a gem encrusted sceptre of Mythril and in his right a greatsword, its blade shimmering with blue magic. The power emanating from the man was absolutely terrifying.

Myne woke up, drenched in a cold sweat. It was still the dead of night, the moon hanging high in the sky, but she had been snapped out of her dreams when the Demon King stared directly at her. She could recall all of the details of the dream vividly, and none of it matched her knowledge of history at all. It had felt too real to just be fictional manifestations of her mind, yet there had been magic there, but magic had not come into the world until the worlds core had been shattered at the conclusion of the Great War that lead to the creation of the kingdoms, and so such a battle couldn’t have occurred, could it?. She shook her head confused. What then did it all mean? Snuggling back into Vel’nas, she continued to think over it until she eventually fell back asleep again.

Myne woke the following morning to a sky darkened with clouds, threatening to open up and drench the land. The nights’ dreams had left her confused, so vivid and real, and yet so foreign. If they had actually existed, when had they, and what had happened to them? Figures as powerful as that don’t just disappear out of legends. Something about the magic she had used had caused the dreams, she couldn’t think of any other reason for them, but the why haunted her. Was the Demon King from the dream related to the evil of legend from the formation of the kingdom? He was not something that she ever wanted to encounter. Myne spent the next couple of hours re-evaluating the magic that she had used, seeing if she could work out why there had been the backlash, but after getting nowhere and feeling like she was wasting her time she scrapped her attempts, repeating what she had done the previous day.

The magic sprang to life much quicker than previously, the compass needle pointing true and steady before fading, and this time without any backlash, making Myne wonder if she had wasted her time contemplating the process that morning. Feeling that the Ash Rider was close, she sprang onto Vel’nas, and taking to the air headed where the compass had pointed, the heavy rain setting in.

Izen and Alice sat under the covers of the wagon out of the rain, jostled around as the wagon travelled over the rough trail. A product of her own creation as a highly skilled Caster, Alice had secured her Fire Shield to the side of the wagon and activated its secondary magic, the shield radiating heat that was helping to dry them both out as they sat beside it. Alice wasn’t too badly off, as her leather armour was waterproof. Izens Skeon also dried out quickly, but her hair was soaked, so she was grateful when Alice offered to dry it, sitting behind her and using a towel to soak up most of the dampness, before passing a comb through it to loosen out the knots, her work strangely reassuring to Izen. Alice had been with the guild since she had come of age and started manifesting magic, her diamond gem aligned with the four core elements. Initially quite shy, she had taken to the study of enchantments, studying under the guilds oldest specialist in that field. He had moved to the Bluemoon branch in order to semi retire, though in reality no one ever actually retired from the Guilds or Clans, but were with them until they died, which was also the case here.

Alice had teamed up with Laphir and Shino when they had joined her branch, which was shortly after the death of her mentor, and they had formed a strong bond. While Shino was very talkative, and Alice knew every single last detail about his family, past exploits and likes/dislikes, Laphir was a lot more silent and kept his past to himself. Both were highly skilled, and their armaments had been enchanted by her, of which she was quite proud. Usually they did jobs as directed by the Guild, but when they weren’t being directed they had taken to investigating abandoned mines, looking for additional materials for Alice’s work. While the pure materials such as Mythril were the best for enchanting, she had worked out a way to make composite metals that could hold various enchantments for a while, but she needed materials for experimentation. The Guild was more than happy for her to do so, but in their branch such endeavours were side projects. In the mine that they had left they had hit the jackpot, the minerals left of a higher grade than what they had found in any others thus far. Izen agreed when she had a look at what they had unearthed, surprised that such a grade was still there, theorizing that the original occupants had either been wiped out by hostile forces or forced to leave for some other reason. Based on what she learnt from Alice, she would have guessed that the mine probably had had around two more years of life for skilled miners, and given the overall lack of development of the mining camp, it may not have been occupied for overly long in the first place.

Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of another Rider, Izen sensing her gem as she passed over them, making it to the front of the wagon in time to see her land in front of the wagon, blocking its path. Fortunately by this time the rain had stopped, but obviously having travelled through it the Rider was soaked, not that it was likely to be bothering her given the nature of the Skeon that she wore. As the Rider dismounted from her Emerald Dragon, Izen recognized her as the Rider that had been chasing her up the temple when she had summoned Light and fled the complex.

Putting her hand on Laphir’s shoulder to stop his advancement as she made her way past him, Izen stepped down out of the wagon. “She’s here to see me I suspect.” Izen said to him. Laphir nodded and sat back down, tensed and ready to spring into action if needed, Shino and Alice joining him.

Myne stood beside Vel’nas, watching the Ash Rider as she stepped out of the wagon, wondering what on earth had happened to her dragon, and why was she with these guild members. She took the time to take a good look at her, and couldn’t help admiring her form and features. She was indeed stunning, a stark contrast to the young man that she had knocked out at Evergreen, and she blushed without realizing. Something about her also seemed familiar, screaming out in her head for attention, but as with her dream the previous night, she just couldn’t place it. Now that she had found her, she also didn’t actually know where to begin.

Izen beat her to it. “What do you want, Rider? If you intend to drag me back to the complex I will not go. I am not a part of your world, nor your Clan.”

Myne furrowed her brow, caught off guard. “All Riders are part of the Clans,” she simple stated, trying to put her thoughts in order.

“Do you really believe that? Do you even know how I became one, for I certainly do not. They will treat us like a freak, trophy, or worse. And given the events of that morning I doubt your leaders will be unbiased in finding out what happened.” Izen's words carried more heat than she had intended. She had known that someone would eventually find her, given her inexperience as a Rider, but she was not going to go to the Clans. Her entire being was screaming against the thought. She also had no idea what exactly the Rider knew about her.

Myne breathed out, settling herself down. If they went this path she’d get nowhere, and Izen had a very valid point, and to be honest, while she had been dead set on hunting her down and finding out the truth, she didn’t really have any intention of returning to the Clan either at this stage, nor a firm idea of what her actual plan was moving forward. She had been so intent on finding the Ash Rider that she hadn’t actually planned what she would do once she had. She put out her hands, motioning for calm.

“I think we’ve started off badly, and for that I apologize. I have not come to take you back to the Clan. Heck, I’m probably in just as much hot water with them as you. No, I am here to try and find out the truth of what happened. Everything has gone wrong since then. Even demons are wandering the land now,” Myne said, trying to lay some common ground.

“Demons wandering?” Laphir asked, his voice hard with concern. “Demons are creatures of legend.”

“Yes, that they were,” replied Myne. “But I had a run in with one, and there is no mistaking what it was. I fled, and it was a close call.”

Laphir frowned, folding his arms across him.

Izen could sense the truth in her words, and she settled down somewhat. She looked her over, realizing that like herself her attire didn’t actually hide much, and she was actually quite attractive. Their bone armour was also very similar, which couldn’t be just a coincidence, as most Riders that she had seen in her time (which admittedly hadn’t been many) had all had wide and varied styles.

“So then, what do you want of me then Rider?” Izen asked.

“At the very least, I am trying to learn the cause of what has happened,” she started, before realizing the elephant in the room, or more precisely, the lack there of. “Where is your dragon Izen?” she asked.

“Light? She’s right here,” Izen replied, pointing to Light, who was perched on her shoulder.

‘Took her long enough to notice,’ Light noted, smug and amused, giving her wings a stretch.

Myne was completely confused. She had seen the dragon when it had been summoned, larger than any known Prime, and now the Ash rider was telling her that the very same dragon was the size of her head, a million times cuter, and perched on her shoulder.

“It’s definitely her,” Izen stated, noting her confusion. “We’re kinda unique. In many ways.”

‘She is too,’ Light noted, reiterating what she had said last time that had seen her. ‘Her magic seeps out as it isn’t in its true form, and it’s badly contained. It’s like it is waiting for something.’

Izen looked at Light curiously, before returning her focus to Myne.

Izen suddenly realized that Myne had called her by her male name. So she did know about that connection, and may well have been there when it all started.

“Look, there isn’t much that I can tell you, beyond what you probably all ready know. I helped defend an old lady and got knocked out and scarred for the effort.” Izen lifted her arm, showing the healing scars, which faintly glowed with magic, ready to form the claw should she require it. “Woke in a cell, got knocked out again, and then woke a Rider, your complex already in chaos. Went to the temple, met Light, then left.”

Myne nodded. She did indeed know most of that, and it told her nothing new. It didn’t explain how Izen had changed to a female form, but Myne knew she was telling the truth and that she didn’t know herself the why behind it all.

“So your Dragon, Light, can change its size?” she asked, obviously not finished on the topic.

“That she can,” Izen answered. “Can’t they all?” she added, already knowing the answer.

“Yours is the first one that I know of.” Myne replied.

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” Izen stated to her, stepping forward. “You do appear to have gained my name though, in part at least. Velvet Izen.”

“Myne,” Myne replied. So Izen had given herself a feminine name, a nice one too. She liked it. “I returned to your village, and ran into Lyrissa. She told me about your past,” she offered in way of explanation.

“The Witch? You ran into the old lady?” Izen look surprised and confused.

“No, no, not the witch. The young girl from your village who shares her name,” Myne said, suspicion starting to creep into the back of her mind.

“There is no one in the village with that name,” Izen bluntly stated.

The realization dawned on Myne. The girl had indeed been the Witch, obviously in one of her many forms. She had even told her so, the comment slipping past her in the way that it had been so casually said. ‘I was named before the name was an issue.’ The girl had looked very young, and the Witch had been a known threat for as long as Myne could remember. Myne cursed out loud. Why. Why had she been there, and helped her out, and told her about Izen? She had even given Myne the hint on how to find Izen. What was her game? Myne absently paced around in frustration, the conversation temporarily forgotten, as she thought back over the encounter. She then stopped, the Witch’s last words echoing in her mind. ‘Please, take care of Izen when you find him.’ The Witch had given her that task, that responsibility. And she had agreed. She mentally screamed in frustration. What in the blazes was going on? Nothing at all was what it seemed, and now she had a million more questions.

Myne sighed, almost going to sit down on the ground till she remembered that it was wet, resigning herself to the unknown.

“It would appear then that I have been tasked with looking after you by Lyrissa,” she stated after a pause. “The more I learn, the murkier everything becomes.”

“So it was the Witch then?” Izen queried.

“Yes. She even said as much, in skilfully placed words,” Myne looked embarrassed as she confirmed it.

“What will you do if I do go with you?” Izen asked. Myne looked defeated now, and Izen felt for her. Everything in front of her was a big unknown, and it would seem that both of their worlds had been turned upside down. Izen was unsure of Myne's motives, but something deep inside her was telling her that she could be trusted, like there was some form of connection there.

“I don’t know,” Myne replied. “I honestly have no idea. This wasn’t something that I had even contemplated as an option. Put you through some basic training perhaps? I don’t even know where we’d go. Outside of the Clan I now have little connections.”

“How did you find me?” Izen queried. “Couldn’t you use the same method to find the Witch? She’ll have the answers, and given that she holds some responsibility for what I am now and talked to you, surely she won’t be hostile to us.”

“You are talking about The Witch aren’t you?” Alice politely cut in. “Enemy and killer of dragon kind, wielder of curses, soul drinker, and so forth.”

Myne nodded. Wow, she hadn’t even heard of some of these terms for the Witch. What had been said about the Witch outside of the Clan? “Yup that’s her, though to be honest, have you actually seen or heard of her doing anything that matches what she is accused of? It all seems like the stuff of stories. Tall tales. When we knew she had actually appeared, we just charged straight in.”

“I might be able to find her using a similar method,” Myne continued, “if the signature she used was her real one. You were much easier, but don’t worry, I doubt anyone else will be able to find you in the same way. I will need to adapt it a little, as I will be going purely off faint memory.”

Izen instinctively trusted the Witch. She wasn’t sure why, but she did. The chaos at the temple had been in part for her benefit, and she had awoken her, though for what reason was a different question. “If we seek her out, then I will go with you.” Izen declared. “And no going anywhere near the Clan.”

“To both of those I give you my word,” Myne promised, a sense of purpose coming back to her. “She owes me some answers.”

“And I am one of the best,” she added, grinning.

Izen nodded, and then turned to the trio.

“Your company has been good, as brief as it has been,” Alice said to her, giving her a warm hug. Shino and Laphir nodded.

“If we should ever meet again, we will gladly give you aid,” Laphir stated. “Something ill is in the wind, and I am worried. Her word of demons doesn’t bode well, and we must give warning.”

“There may well also be something much more sinister back at that mine,” he added.

“I do hope that we meet again,” Izen agreed, shaking his hand. She had only been with them briefly, but she did like them, a bond of friendship had already started to form. “I will tell you everything then,” she promised, then turning back to Myne.

“We will travel with you then. It’ll be some time before Light can take her other form. Like this we’re a lot more discreet, so it has its advantages,” Izen said to her.

Myne mounted Vel’nas, and then pulled Izen up behind her, getting her to hold on tight to her as her dragon took flight, Light still resting on Izen’s shoulder. The trio watched them leave.

“That was too short,” Alice said sadly.

“Yes, it was,” agreed Laphir. “We will cross paths again, and not that far off either. I can feel it. But we have another task ahead of us for the moment. The winds themselves whisper of warnings of the times ahead.”

Alice watched them as they disappeared from sight. Laphir had an uncanny knack with respect to his feeling. If he said they would meet again, then that they would. And if he felt ill at ease about the news of demons, then they certainly were back, and life was about to get a lot more dangerous.

mogust

And that concludes Chapter 3. Myne has found Izen, but what does the future hold for them? If Laphir's feeling are correct times ahead could indeed be interesting.

The next chapter (4. Companionship) is one of the shorter chapters I have written so far (just over 7000 words, and is the second shortest, with chapter 11 being slightly shorter, but many of the others clocking in at double the length), so I am contemplating posting it as one block rather than splitting it into two - especially as it doesn't have a natural division part way through.

This chapter ended up being posted earlier than I had originally planned (good though for those enjoying the story). The next post will be at some point in the next week.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment. They're always good to read, and if you have any questions fire away. I won't spoil anything from further in the story, but if I haven't elaborated on something clearly enough I will happily do so. It's always nice to read peoples speculations as well :)