The doctor urged his horse into a full gallop as the scent of smoke and ash now touched his nose. He could not hear Cid or the others calling out to him as he raced down the road. Once the farmhouse was in view, he could see smoke coming from the windows and doorway. The uneasy now turned to panic, plaguing every thought, with unyielding fury. Silently pleading with merciful Ellien until he saw the door battered down and splintered and mangled throughout. Dismounting his horse, Leonidas stumbled over his feet before he bolted towards the doorway, still clinging to the hinges.

  Reaching the entrance Leonidas threw an overturned table out of the way. Waving his hands to clear his views, coughing as the thick smoke began making it hard to breathe. “Moire! Siomon!” he called out, with only silence answering his cries. He moved in further, negotiating gracelessly around some of the broken furniture pieces, before reaching the stairway.

  Benkei and Cid arrived to the front door. “Doc!” Benkei shouted, “What are you doing in here?”

  “Look around and see if you can find a mother and child,” Leonidas shouted back before bolting up the stairs. Reaching the top of the landing, he saw more doors broken off from their hinges. At the doorway to Siomon’s room, he could see blood splattered on the walls. He felt his muscles tense up, making it harder to move forward. His arm went limp as he tried to cling the last thread of hope before coming to room’s threshold. Stepping forward, he found his legs almost giving in under his own weight. Only with some effort did he continue towards the room with his heart now pounding in his chest.

  Nearing the room, he could smell the iron tinge of blood arrested his approach and the terrible sensation from the day before returned now overcoming every thought. He stopped moving, remembering his breathing exercises, Death is the path we all must walk, Death is the end of the beginning to the unseen path, Death is resolution of all things, Death is the one who guides us to the next journey, he thought to himself.

  His breathing returned to a slower pace, and the dark sensations finally ebbed away enough for him to regain control of his body. Opening his eyes, he moved into the room and found blood covered walls, torn bedsheets, broken furniture pieces and two mangled corpses. A mother and child. Leonidas took a heavy breath before looking up at the heavens. He could think of neither prayer or curse to utter as he looked at the horrible scene.

  He stood there, saying nothing, forgetting about the inferno around them before he heard Cid calling to him from downstairs. The doctor listlessly moved out of the room to call out to the others. His heart deep in pain as his whole body went numb. He could barely summon the strength to say the words “I … I found them” before finally making his way out the room.

  The others said nothing, Leonidas’s sullen face told them all they needed to know of what happened. As the doctor left the home he began coughing terribly, feeling the soot and phlegm ejecting from his lungs and throat. He leaned against a railing to support himself and stared out into a field of rye. Slumping forward, his head hung low as he tried vainly to hold back tears. Where is the justice in this? he asked himself.

  Looking up, he saw a woman, elven, fair skin, tall and lithe figure. She was clad fine rich turquoise robes, adorned in jewels and wearing a golden shawl around her shoulder and arms. She bore the stance of one born into royalty, just as he remembered her when they first met. She stretched her hand towards him, beckoning him towards her. “S-Soliana?” Leonidas said, beginning to stretching his hand out before he pulled it back. Memories of their parting coming back to him. The emptiness and shame making him long to run off in to the darkness, never be seen by the light anymore.

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  But he knew this wasn’t his fate. He knew he would linger on this world, watching those he felt kinship fade away into the oblivion. Leaving him to remain, to linger, to watch the world change and move past all he knew, with only bittersweet memories to stay with him until even they would abandon him. Leaving him with painful memories and false hopes of finding those to keep him from this isolated existence he’s been cursed to endure.

  He looked back up at the field, the figure now gone. He heard the rest leave the farmhouse, and after taking a moment to regain his composure, he made his way back to them. Silvius walked down to the other side of the path, his face pale and his jaw dropped in utter shock before he vomited on the ground. Benkei closed his eyes and looked up, taking several deep breaths to steady himself. Maeryn leaned her head against the outer wall of the door, a clenched fist shaking as she uttered a prayer under her breath. Cid bowed his head and took a moment to collect himself before taking a deep breath and turning to the others.

  “All right, we need to get back to the inn and figure our next move out.”

  “What about the ruins?” Benkei asked.

  “We can handle that later,” Cid replied. “This just became our priority.”

  “Why would they attack here?” Maeryn asked.

  “If they saw Doc racing from here,” said Cid, “Then they could’ve thought this was his home or something along those lines?”

  “I think some of us should get back to Kel and Jeanne,” said Silvius weakly.

  “Precisely,” said Cid, “We’re all coming back together. No sense giving them the chance to pick us off one by one.”

  “Come on, Doc,” said Benkei, waving him over to the horses.

  Leonidas, said nothing, only nodding and following them back to their horses. His chest felt sharp pain in his chest as a lump seemed to form in his throat with it becoming difficult to pull himself up on his horse and nudge it forward. He kept his gaze for much of the ride back to town, barely looking up long enough to get his bearing.

  No one spoke as they galloped back to town. Leonidas was in a limpness state barely keeping his mind on maneuvering his horse. Reaching the inn, they hitched their animals, slowly entered inside as the innkeeper called out to them.

  “Your lady friend was chatting with a man not too long ago.”

  “What do you mean?” Benkei asked.

  “This man came off the road, was having a drink when he spotted your friend and they got to chatting. Wasn’t that long before they went up—”

  Before the innkeeper could finish, all of them hastened up the stairs to hallway. Their weapons unsheathed as they reached the opened doorway to Jeanne’s room. Inside they found Jeanne, skin covered in stone and sitting a battered and bloodied man underneath her, her arm wrapped around her waist.

  “So … guess what happened to me today?” she said cheerfully.

  “Are you all right?” Cid asked, sheathing his blade.

  “I think I aggravated the ribs a bit, I might’ve let loose some scentful winds a little while waiting for everyone, but otherwise I’m fine,” she said. “This dunce however,” she continued while lifting herself up an inch and then landing on his back hard , “not so much.”

  “Well, looks like we got ourselves a little bird,” said Cid, “Let’s how well he can sing.”