DAY 1:

  The flickering lantern cast long shadows across Kevin's still form. Carl sat hunched in a wooden chair pulled right up against the bed, his eyes bloodshot and heavy. It had been hours since they'd returned from the mindscape, hours since they'd secured the Anger Sword, but Kevin remained unconscious, his breathing shallow, the strange pendant around his neck pulsing between blue and red.

  "You should rest," Johnson said from the doorway, his voice gruff but concerned. "Standing guard won't make him wake up any faster."

  Carl didn't even look up. "I'm not leaving him."

  The Commander lingered a moment longer before sighing and retreating down the hall. He was the fourth person to try. None had succeeded.

  Paz entered next, her feathered form silhouetted in the doorway before she stepped inside. For once, her usual contempt was absent, replaced by something almost like respect.

  "The Fire Sword's integration is... impressive," she said, studying Kevin's face. "The corruption burned off, and now a piece of his soul returned to him. When he wakes, he should have full capacity of receiving emotion, however there are certain emotions that will not show I believe We actually accomplished something today." She shifted awkwardly. "You should sleep. The Sword Master isn't going anywhere."

  "His name is Kevin," Carl replied, his voice low and hoarse. "And I'm staying."

  Paz ruffled her feathers but didn't argue. "Fine. Kill yourself with exhaustion. See if I care." Despite her harsh words, she placed a small pouch of herbs on the nightstand. "For his fever, when he wakes." Then she was gone.

  The floorboards creaked an hour later as Matron Demi entered, carrying a tray laden with steaming food, thick stew, dark bread, and a mug of something that smelled sweet and strong.

  "You won't help him by starving yourself," she said, setting the tray on the small table beside Carl. "What you did today was remarkable, and you have my thanks. I have watched over him ever since he came to the Commons."

  Carl picked up the spoon, took a single bite to appease her, then set it down. "It wasn't enough. He's still broken."

  "Healing comes in stages," the Matron replied, her hand briefly resting on his shoulder. "As does grief."

  After she left, Carl pulled the pendant from his pocket, the strange crystalline token Empress Rydia had given him "for emergencies." Its surface caught the lantern light, sending prismatic reflections dancing across Kevin's face.

  "I'm going to fix this," Carl whispered, his voice thick. "I'm going to get you home. To Angela. To your kids." His eyes burned with fatigue. "I promise."

  Hours ticked by. The lantern dimmed. Carl's head dipped once, twice, before finally coming to rest against the edge of the bed. His fingers remained tightly wrapped around the pendant, knuckles white even in sleep, as if letting go might mean losing Kevin forever.

  DAY 2:

  Dawn crept through the small window, painting the room in faded gold when the bladeless dagger at Paz's hip began to vibrate. She unsheathed the peculiar weapon, empty where a blade should be, and watched as luminous script materialized in the air before her eyes. Her feathers bristled as she absorbed the Empress's message.

  "Ancestors' talons," she hissed, rereading the glowing words before they dissipated like morning mist.

  Spore-Beast villages along the northern border were being systematically attacked. Three settlements already smoldering ruins. The survivors spoke of methodical slaughter, not random bandit violence. The message didn't specify who, or what, was responsible, but the Empress's urgency pulsed through every syllable like a racing heartbeat.

  Paz paced the small room, talons clicking against the worn floorboards. Her grandmother needed her. Her people suffered while she lingered here, babysitting a broken human who might never fulfill the prophecy. The weight of duty pressed against her chest, making each breath sharp and painful.

  "The Empress would never forgive me if I abandoned my post," she muttered, running feathered fingers along the empty sheath. "But what good is a Sword Master who won't wake up?"

  Across the room, Carl startled at Kevin's sudden movement. The unconscious man's lips moved, forming words. Carl leaned closer, straining to hear.

  "Blue tears," Kevin whispered. "The blue tears are falling again."

  Carl's eyes widened. He glanced toward Paz, who had gone perfectly still, her owl-like features unreadable in the half-light.

  "What did he just say?" she demanded, suddenly alert, her internal conflict momentarily forgotten.

  DAY 3:

  The first farmers arrived before dawn, their tired faces lined with worry as they waited outside the Advent Guard outpost. By midmorning, the line stretched halfway down the dusty street. Captain Bryson listened to the fifth complaint, while his fingers drumming against the wooden desk.

  "Tastes like tears," insisted Farmer Hollis, setting a cloudy mason jar on the desk with a thunk. "Been drawing water from the same well for twenty years, and now it makes the whole family melancholy. Even the chickens won't drink it."

  "Chickens," Bryson repeated flatly, not bothering to examine the jar. "And they told you they found it... sad?"

  "Mock if you want, but something ain't right. The Tanner family says the same about their well. And the Porters. Something's happening out north."

  Bryson sighed, running a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. "It's the dry season. Mineral content changes. I'll make a note, but there's no evidence of contamination or…"

  "You always were too practical to see what's right in front of you," Hollis muttered, snatching back his jar.

  At Marner's Creek that evening, the tavern hummed with whispered theories about the wells. In the corner booth, Mia slouched over her fourth tankard, her eyes unfocused and her words increasingly slurred.

  "S'happening again," she mumbled as Kiyo tried to pry the drink from her grip. "Blue tears. Just like before."

  "That's enough," Kiyo said firmly, sliding an arm around Mia's waist and hoisting her to unsteady feet. "You promised me no more than two tonight."

  Matron Devine exchanged a worried glance with Kiyo as they maneuvered Mia toward the door. "Lieutenant Bryson was asking after her earlier," the Matron whispered. "Said something about needing to talk."

  "Well, he's years too late," Kiyo grunted, nearly buckling under Mia's weight. "Not after what happened in Mordecai."

  "Wasn't his fault," Mia slurred, suddenly lucid enough to defend her ex-husband. "Bryson just... followed orders. I'm the one who," She hiccupped, tears welling. "I'm the one who couldn't save them."

  Meanwhile, in Kevin's room, Carl paced with growing agitation. He'd tried everything, reading aloud from Kevin's journal, playing a wooden flute Kiyo had lent him (badly), even threatening to tell embarrassing stories from their childhood. Kevin remained still, save for the occasional twitch of his fingers.

  "I'm running out of ideas here, buddy," Carl said, voice cracking as he collapsed into the chair beside the bed. He pulled out the glowing pendant turning it over in his palm. The emergency gift she'd insisted he take "just in case…

  …and I'm going to need my friend."

  DAY 4:

  Paz snapped to her feet, talons clicking against the flagstones as she stormed into the inn and up the stairs. She found Carl exactly where she'd left him four hours ago, slumped in the chair beside Kevin's bed, fingers still clutching that strange crystal pendant.

  "We're out of time," she announced, not bothering to knock. "Pack your things. We're taking the Sword Master to Red Mount now."

  Carl's exhausted eyes flicked up to her. "He's not stable enough."

  "He's been unconscious for four days," Paz countered, her owl-like features hardening. "The Empress wouldn't request this if there were any other option. Something's happening in the north, something worse than we feared."

  Carl stood, positioning himself between Paz and Kevin's bed. "You mean worse for your people. Not necessarily for him."

  "There won't be anyone left to care about the distinction if we don't move!" Paz's voice rose, feathered crest flaring with agitation. "The Sword Master is needed. The prophecy,"

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "Again, like I told you before. His name is Kevin," Carl snapped. "And I don't give a damn about your prophecy. I am finding these soul pieces and taking him home. I do not care what you want."

  Paz's talons flexed, scratching small grooves into the wooden floor. "What I want doesn't matter. What you want doesn't matter. There are forces at work here beyond your comprehension, beyond your petty Earth memories and attachments."

  "Earth memories?" Carl's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You mean his wife? His children? The people who love him and need him to come home?"

  They stood face to face, neither yielding ground. Paz felt something dangerous building in her chest, a pressure of failure and responsibility that threatened to crack her composed exterior.

  "If the northern borders fall," she said, each word precisely measured, "thousands who will die while we stand here arguing."

  Before Carl could respond, a commotion erupted from the street below. They both turned toward the window as raised voices carried up from the town square.

  Downstairs in the commons, a small crowd had gathered around a child, a boy no older than six, sitting on the edge of the fountain. His mother knelt before him, wiping his cheeks with her sleeve. But something was wrong. The tears streaming down his face shimmered with an unnatural blue luminescence.

  "They're everywhere," the boy sobbed, his voice carrying across the suddenly hushed square. "So many people. They're falling through the rain."

  "There's no rain, sweetheart," his mother said, voice tight with concern. "The sky's clear today."

  "Not here," the boy hiccupped. "Where the blue tears fall. I can see them all drowning."

  Matron Devine pushed through the gathering crowd, crouching beside the frightened mother. "How long has he been like this?"

  "Since he woke," the woman whispered. "He's burning up with fever, but he won't stop crying these... these strange tears."

  The Matron gently thumbed away a glowing droplet, studying its shimmer in the sunlight. "What's making you so sad, child?"

  The boy looked up, his eyes unfocused, gazing at something far beyond the town square. "I miss them," he whispered.

  "Miss who, dear?"

  "I don't know," the boy said, fresh blue tears welling. "I've never met them. But they're drowning in the tears, and I can't help them."

  From the inn's second-floor window, Paz and Carl watched in stunned silence.

  "Still think we should wait?" she asked quietly.

  In the bed behind them, Kevin stirred, his lips forming words neither of them could hear.

  DAY 5:

  The crowd's panicked shouts reached them before they saw the actual commotion. Commander Johnson barked orders beside the central well of Rowen Commons. A frothy, luminescent blue water bubbled over the stone lip, casting an eerie glow across the square as it pooled on the cobblestones.

  "Get those barriers up now!" Johnson commanded, his accent more pronounced with stress. "Nobody touches this water, understand? Not a drop!"

  "It's started," Paz hissed from behind them, her talons clicking rapidly against the stone as she paced. The Spore Beast's feathers stood on end. "Another day wasted while the contamination spreads."

  Later that night, unable to sleep with the day's events replaying in his mind, Carl found himself wandering near the caravan. A soft voice from inside made him pause.

  "I know you're worried," Mia's voice drifted through the open window. "But the signs are all there. Just like before."

  Carl peered cautiously through the gap. Mia sat alone on a bench seat, cradling something invisible in her hands, her eyes unfocused as though gazing at someone Carl couldn't see.

  "They don't understand yet," she continued, fingers gently stroking the empty air. "The boy with the pendant... he's the key, just like the old stories said."

  Carl pulled back, heart pounding. Either Mia was completely crazy, or she was speaking to someone only she could see. After everything he'd witnessed in Rowen so far, he wasn't sure which possibility worried him more.

  DAY 6:

  "We leave NOW," she hissed, jabbing a talon toward Kevin's still form. "The Sword Master's condition worsens by the hour. The Empress awaits, and Red Mount has healers beyond anything in this backwater village."

  Commander Johnson planted himself between Paz and the bed, arms crossed, his weathered face set in stone. The veins in his neck pulsed visibly as he struggled to maintain his composure.

  "Absolutely not. I won't authorize transportation of an unconscious Advent Guard captain, especially not to a location three days' ride from here. That's final."

  Paz's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Your 'authorization' means nothing to me, Commander. I serve the Empress."

  They circled each other like predators, neither willing to yield. Johnson's hand drifted subtly toward his baton, while Paz's staff began emitting a faint amber glow.

  "Try it," Johnson growled, "and you'll find out exactly how we handle threats to our own."

  Meanwhile, Kevin's condition was changing hour by hour. A strange, luminescent blue tint had developed around his eyes, spreading like watercolor across his pale skin. Like perpetual tears frozen just beneath the surface, giving him an eerily sorrowful appearance even in unconsciousness.

  Carl hadn't moved from the wooden chair beside Kevin's bed for seventeen straight hours, refusing food and barely accepting water when Kiyo brought it. His eyes burned from lack of sleep, but he wouldn't risk missing the moment. Every twitch of Kevin's fingers, every subtle change in his breathing pattern sent hope surging through Carl's exhausted body.

  "Come on, man," Carl whispered, leaning close enough that only Kevin could hear. "Whatever's happening in there, fight through it. I know you can hear me. I'm not leaving until you open your eyes, so you might as well wake up and save us both the trouble."

  DAY 7:

  "Do we know how long he will be out?" Carl asked the Doctor as she inspected his vitals.

  "No clue," she replied. She checked her stethoscope and then felt his forehead. After getting a satisfactory response, she walked out of the room.

  Paz appeared afterwards, perhaps waiting for the Doctor to leave. "The Primal Champion is leaving. She requests your presence,"

  He didn't know why she couldn't see him. It has been a week since the incident and he doesn't even remember leaving this room.

  "It would do you some good to get outside. Even better, just do what the Primal suggested and put him on the next caravan north."

  "I will do what it is best for Kevin, and that is all." As of right now, he could do without her arrogance.

  Outside, the night has fallen, and around the commons random torches blazed around the barriers encircling the large town. Primal stood next to the well, talking to some of the locals.

  "Primal Champion," he said as he walked up. "What cha need?"

  "Ah, Young Jackson," she replied, her tail swishing in the dirt. "FireJack wished to say goodbye before we depart."

  The hologram materialized next to her. "Oh there you are bro. Man, you look rough. It's been a week. It would do you some good to get a shower or som'thin."

  "Yeah, maybe later," he replied.

  It took him a good minute to realize who FireJack was. A long time ago, Kenny borrowed - a loose term - one of Lightspeed's shuttles and rewrote the local database stored in it.

  How and why is still beyond him, but now seeing the database in front of him explains a lot. Apparently he copied his persona into it in some grand hopes of selling workout DVDs.

  After some chaotic issues, it teleported into a random portal. Who would have thought that the portal it went into was Rowen, which means that it wasn't as sealed as he thought it was, and whatever was happening was the first sign of disaster.

  He kicked himself in the foot for not recognizing it earlier.

  "So, anyways," the hologram said, "I was able to connect to the Main Library back on earth and after 20 long years, my database is getting repaired fully."

  "That's… good for you," Carl replied, unsure how this would help him any.

  "Well, among the sync, I received a comm from the Main. It is addressed to you, and it looks rather recent. Shall I play it."

  This was the first time he received communication from the other side. Without hesitation, he nodded quickly. The hologram disappeared and in front of him was his father, in hologram form.

  "Son, if this message gets through, then good tidings. First, whatever you did woke your friend up. He is speaking, yet it seems like he is not all there at times. Unfortunately he doesn't remember anything that has happened. Just that he was serving as a Captain in some Rowen Army and gibberish about beast-kin.

  Regardless, we are keeping good care of him. Keep going, we will solve this puzzle soon. Also, not to alarm you but the boys are investigating this Great Darkness, and they are currently in the Atrocity System. Whatever happened is affecting all the realms, however, nothing catastrophic has happened… yet.

  When the Main Library said it was able to link a message, we sent a 3d model of a Tent-In-A-Box. It was all that we could send for now. Good Luck and well wishes if you receive this message."

  Carl's father disappeared and his holographic brother reappeared. Carl starred in bewilderment. "Can you send a reply?"

  FireJack shook his head. "No, it was only a one way link and the sync ended soon thereafter. But the 3D model did come through.

  He held out his hand and a 3d cube rotated slowly as if he was conjuring it in his palm. Filling out the features, the object became solid and fell into the hand. Carl took it and put it in his pouch.

  "This will come in handy. Thank you for relaying the message."

  "No problem bro," he replied.

  Midge finished her conversation with Paz and turned. "It is imperative that Kevin heads for the missing pieces. He said he knows where they are, but I would like some assurances that he isn't walking into a trap. Head to the Red Mount and commune with the Retsam. Guidance is the only way through this, and you can't do it alone."

  "You sure you do not want to join us?" Carl asked.

  "No, this Great Darkness is quite disturbing and even now the Anbar slowly advances north. I must do what I can for my people. I have faith that you will succeed, and defeat Malikhil before he can cause any further damage."

  "Primal, as I said before, my only goal is getting him home," he replied. "Frankly I can give a damn about other priorities."

  Paz waved her staff at Carl. "You will show the Primal Champion respect!"

  "Back off," he replied.

  Midge waved her hand. "Carl, you will find that our paths will intersect again and we work for the same goal. Even now as the stars shine above, the remaining PowerSwords are causing their own cries and disturbances. Take the Soul Siphon Matrix as I am sure it will come in handy again."

  "Thank you, and good luck to whatever it is that you are doing," he replied. He didn't know exactly what to say, but he had a feeling he would meet them again.

  Almost immediately, the dagger at his side glowed. When Carl unclipped it from his belt, the bladeless handle materialized a glass blade of energy, and in its reflection appeared Empress Rydia. Paz dropped to one knee in respect at the sight of her.

  "Ah, it would seem that I was just in time to catch my former Champion," Rydia said through the glass, her voice carrying that familiar regal tone.

  "I did," Carl replied. "She was of immense help."

  "Oh ho ho ho, if it isn't Queen Rydia Esperanza Ornel. How is that seat from way up there? So to speak." Midge bursted out in a laugh.

  Carl was amazed at how cordial they were.

  "Fiery as always, but that's why you are the Primal. Carl Jackson, it seems that you found the first sword and congratulations on a job well done. Four swords remain, and as we speak, another one shows its corruption. Stay true to your mission, young Jackson."

  "It's fine. I know what I have to do now."

  "As always. Champion Paz, I hear you were instrumental in your duties. Continue to carry on, and you may ditch your cloak for an upgrade soon. I hear you are heading to Mordecai and although I would say for you to go to the Red Mount first, that may not be the case. Either way is acceptable for now, but just know that every second past and the corruption of the swords grows darker. I will send a Talon Guard for supplies, as I am sure it will come in handy. Bless the Retsam to you on your journeys."

  She disappeared and the bladeless dagger returned to its original form.

  He bid farewell to Midge and FireJack and went back to the hospital station to stay at Kevin's side.

  No matter what would happen, he will wait for Kevin…

  "As long as it takes…"