Patricia felt slightly numb as she read between the lines of the overly polite letter from her nephew. Dazien had spent the extra Bits to get it to her faster than normal but hadn’t spelled out the details of what had happened to him while captive to cannibals led by a vampire, but she could imagine enough. The sheer rage and utter despair of powerlessness she felt from failing to protect him like she had failed to protect her brother threatened to paralyze her.

  She knew her goddess had been right that she couldn’t protect him or any of the Wayland children from the world or their own actions within it, but surely there had to be something she could have done differently.

  Glancing up from the letter to look at her brother’s floating form, she asked him, “What would you do now?”

  He obviously didn’t answer, but she still found herself coming here to sit and think and talk to him. Perhaps Jerem had been right about calling her out for her brother-complex if she had come to this point.

  Her eyes wandered toward the Familiar who always quietly hovered nearby. The Child of Theia had always felt alien to everyone. The day her brother had summoned his first Familiar, Argyros, had been a strange and tense day for the whole family. Argyros had been a silver and more masculine version of Orebela, and incredibly more arrogant.

  It had been one of her earliest memories though since she had only been two years old. Now that she was Emerald Caste, a lot of those earlier memories had returned to her, which had been strange in a lot of ways. She could remember the gasps of the older family members taking in the silver alien. The frown her mother had given the strange being and her brother.

  That moment was likely the beginning of Paul being treated differently from the rest of them.

  Perhaps that was what Paul had seen in Dazien, too. An outcast trying to convince himself that he didn’t need others. A young man that just wanted to be accepted for who he was… to have a father that could love him despite his differences. To have a family that would do whatever it took to support him.

  She spoke her next thought aloud again but this time toward the golden Familiar that had joined Paul after Argyros had refused to return to the man who had become a Paladin of the Purifier. “What do you think he would do if he knew that his son had been betrayed by their ship captain and suffered for a month because of it?”

  Orebela’s unnerving blank face turned toward Paul for only a moment before the monotone voice spoke within her mind, “What Wayland has dedicated his life to doing when Wayland cannot be there to protect the Little King or Little Miss.”

  Patricia frowned but nodded as she took in her brother’s crimson hair and clarified, “He would avenge them.”

  The Familiar nodded and Pati stood, quickly making her way out of the heavily secured room to find Sage Starfall. That particular voxen had practically become a permanent portal fixture between the Sacred City and Tulimeir, being well compensated for their help while upgrades to infrastructure were still underway in both locations.

  A quick portal and a light Emerald-speed jog through the city found Pati standing before the rubble that had once been the Avenger’s temple. It wasn’t quite a pile of stone anymore but it was still far from rebuilt as a single Caster was slowly rebuilding it with input and ritual help from the clergy. The city’s masons and architects were being heavily taxed at this time, and she already knew that she would be highly recommending that crafting career for the young girl Dazien had talked to her about adopting.

  He had mentioned she didn’t want to fight monsters, so Pati had been researching more about other suitable options and quietly reaching out to High Priestess Anna about many of the orphans that would soon be aging out of the temple.

  As the runeforged woman she recognized but hadn’t personally met before approached, she offered a respectful bow and greeted, “High Priestess Natalia Kosto, it is an honor to meet you.”

  “Ambassador Wayland,” the priestess returned in greeting. “What brings our rebellious Paladin’s sister to our broken doorstep?”

  Pati grimaced slightly at the knowledge that Paul’s god might not be exactly happy with him at the moment. She hadn’t given it much thought before since it wasn’t like the Avenger had shown up to give his own blackened scar and make Paul Fallen yet again. Despite the subtle condemnation, she decided to speak bluntly. “There is a young man who deserves to be avenged for what was done to him. I do not know the exact wounds that were inflicted, but I will see they are repaid. I beseech your god to assist in this quest.”

  Natalia gave an indulgent smile but gently shook her head. “My god wishes to assure you that he is happy with Dazien already having administered his own vengeance upon those who wronged him. The Lord Finndeshin was bested by him and exiled. Mister Lumeris was also brought to heel and will be repaying his debts in information before being extradited back to Duke Tul. While Lady Vanderill will not live for much longer.”

  “And what of Captain Clisson?” Pati asked, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible. “She knew Dazien had been captured and did nothing. She betrayed him and left him to be tortured or worse.”

  The High Priestess shook her head again. “We can not avenge inaction. Not helping someone is not considered wronging them. Our only course would be to not help her in turn.”

  Patricia felt her anger rise. “She could have told someone at least. She is also breaking the law by smuggling illegal goods into nations.”

  Natalia simply shrugged. “Laws are mortal agreements of morality for a society. My god only cares about harm against the individual. She did not directly harm him, so she matters not to us.”

  She was about to argue that many more people might suffer due to the captain’s indirect actions, but a new voice interjected as someone practically stepped out of the High Priestess’s shadow. “My god may be able to help you instead,” the smooth voice said, and a man dressed from head to toe in black leather assessed her with equally black eyes.

  The fact that Natalia wasn’t arguing with the strange arrival set her only slightly at ease, but the High Priestess’ impassive face made her cautious still as she asked, “And exactly which god will offer their help when not even the Avenger will?”

  “One less bound by their niche concept,” the man said, and she could barely make out the humorous crinkle around his eyes above the cloth that covered the lower half of his face. He held out his hand in offering for her to take whatever lay within it.

  She glanced at Natalia with a raised brow, but the woman only said, “We have used their services before ourselves on rare occasions, though I have only recently been introduced to this one who calls himself Shadow.”

  “Fitting,” she wryly replied, then held her hand out to take whatever it was he was offering.

  She was confused for only a moment as he dropped the small item onto her palm and said, “Just pour a little mana into it when you’re alone and we will come to you to negotiate any contracts.”

  In her hand was an innocuous enough item. A piece from the board game Monarch’s March. The piece that looked like a small vial of poison and represented the Assassin.

  “Oh. My. Gods! Those evil demon bunnies can EVOLVE?!” Phoenix exclaimed as she read over an entry in an old history book about some forgotten kingdom long ago.

  Although no larger in stature nor breadth, the dreaded Emerald Caerbannog is reckoned among the deadliest beasts known to the Vauva. Its swiftness and deadly aim belies its disarming appearance and surpasses the expectations of its Caste. Known to sever the heads of any unwitting foe in a single stroke, few who tread within its domain live to remember doing so. It is with this dire warning that none but the most elite or those enforcing the Rule of Caste, take on this ferocious foe.

  Twas beneath a crimson moon, bloody with the promise of the monsters’ month of brutal feasting, that the noble kingdom of Tolemac didst encounter such a terror. After much feasting upon the flesh of weary travelers, the Caerbannog exceeded its limitations and infiltrated the fortressed walls. Twas a night of slaughter that bade the streets to reflect the moon.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Above two thousand score souls were freed from their mortal vessels. Lying to ruin the splendor that was Tolemac. Its headless denizens no more to sing the songs of their ancestors nor see the future of their lineage. Twas only by chance the Ruby Princess of Lona Laress were to come upon the desolation to recount the tale and dispatch this harbinger of woe feasting toward its apocalyptic evolution.

  Dazien had come over to read over her shoulder and gave a low whistle. “You know, I had wondered what might have happened when during my history studies the map suddenly excluded them. I mean, I assumed something happened during the blood moon since that’s when most maps will change slightly, but I hadn’t heard details.”

  “Two thousand people doesn’t seem like much of a city to be noteworthy,” Phoenix said with a frown. “I mean, it’s a lot and terrible, but why would the city fall from it?”

  Her brother shook his head. “No, that says forty thousand people died. A score means twenty so you need to multiply. It’s an archaic term rarely used anymore.”

  “Probably because it’s more mental work to multiply when you can just say the actual number,” Phoenix grumbled as she turned the page to keep reading.

  Dazien put a hand over the pages to stop her as he said, “If the book is using that kind of archaic language, I don’t think it’ll include more relevant information about where the artifacts are. They’ve only been lost for about twenty years when the Regent’s coup of Tyrand began and the king was murdered.”

  “It might have clues about what the artifacts actually do though,” she pointed out, then sighed, closing the dusty tome. “But you’re right that we don’t really need that information as much when I’m sure my [Guide Book] can just tell us more once we actually find a piece.”

  He then carefully placed a different book atop hers and said, “This one might be more interesting for you though.”

  She flipped open the white cover that was oddly clean and read the title, “The Souls of Saints and the Marks Placed Upon Them: A Compilation of Saintly Testimonials Regarding Their Sigiled Skin.”

  “I thought it might give you more insight,” Dazien softly said. “Once you’re done, would you pass it along to Uriel?”

  She raised a brow at him. “You don’t want to give it to him yourself?”

  He gave a sad smile. “I’m not sure. Things aren’t really great between us at the moment, and I haven’t quite sorted out what I want to say or how we might move forward. I—” he paused, running a hand through his short hair before shaking his head. “Nevermind. We should just focus on the research while we’re given this rare opportunity. I don’t know how long the royals will allow us to search.”

  “Do you think we might find information about your biological father?” she asked. “I know we wanted to try and learn more about his whereabouts too while we were here.”

  “If there is any information about him, it will be with the journals and ledgers confiscated during the raid on the Scarlet Banquet’s estate. I don’t know if the royals will give us access to those while they’re still going through it themselves.” He sighed heavily, crossing his arms over his chest, “However, Lady Vanderill did say she sold him to the DOD shortly after acquiring him. That would have been at least fifteen years ago and based on what Uriel’s told me of his time there, he’s probably dead by now. He was a Caster already, so he likely ended up in the Rings to basically be training fodder for the weapons they were trying to cultivate.”

  “Weapons like Uriel?” she quietly asked, glancing around the library but not seeing any of the others near where she sat at a small table.

  Dazien nodded. “My father was a swordsmith, though. Even if he could wield one well enough, his powers likely weren’t meant for combat.”

  “Likely?” she repeated, “You don’t actually know?”

  “How could I?” he asked with a shrug. “They weren’t Adventurers, so their powers weren’t listed out anywhere for me to find. They didn’t leave me any kind of journal like Paul has. The only things I know about them are my fragmented memories as a toddler and what other people have told me. I’m not even positive why they had chosen to settle in Tulimeir during my early childhood. Especially after learning about the community of gemites in the nation’s capital.

  “There are so many questions I would love to ask them,” he added, rubbing his face, then glancing up at the starlit sky. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to. I can only try seeking answers about what happened, and continue wondering.”

  Phoenix frowned at the feeling of hopelessness in his voice and softly asked, “I know I’ve asked this a dozen times already, but are you okay, Daze?”

  He looked back at her and she could tell his smile was forced. “I’m trying to be. I’m starting to realize that a lot of things are out of my control, no matter how hard I try to steer things. Even if I find out what happened to my father, it won’t change the fact that I can never know what my parents thought before they died. I can’t bring them back, no matter how powerful I get. It’s simply beyond any person’s capability to control.”

  “Is that why you’re thinking about accepting the courtship if it’s offered? You don’t think you can steer things towards building that kingdom you dreamed about anymore?”

  Dazien’s smile fell as he admitted, “I don’t know anymore, Phoenix… I’ve never… I thought leaving Tulimeir would have felt liberating…” He rubbed at the spot on his neck where the bite mark had scarred him. “Instead, it feels more like a rude awakening about just how weak I still am.”

  “I don’t think you’re weak,” she replied, setting the books down and standing to take his hand. “You survived those Emerald Casters. You defeated two of them in combat. Even with help that’s an impressive feat. You even managed to get yourself free from a Silencer through sheer willpower. I don’t know anyone who’s accomplished that before.”

  He offered a weak smile but at least this one seemed more genuine. “Thank you for that. It’s good to know I don’t seem completely inept after getting capt—” Dazien’s words cut off as his eyes went wide and he slammed his free hand to his chest as it began heaving.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, panic flooding her as she looked around wondering if there was some unseen attacker. “Daze? What’s happening?”

  Her brother began to collapse and she tried to catch him, ending up on their knees as he let out a cry of pain. She wondered if Casters could have heart attacks because that was exactly what she was thinking was happening with the way he was suddenly behaving.

  His skin started to become heated under her touch and she called out for the others to come help before trying to plead with Dazien again. “Hey! I need to know what’s going on!” she said. “Are you wounded? Did they implant you with something?” She tried casting her heal, but that only caused another scream as he fell onto his back in a sudden attempt to flee from her touch.

  Rayna reached her first. “What’s wrong?!”

  “I have no idea! He just started acting like he got stabbed in the heart!”

  Saiya arrived next and moved to kneel beside him, but Phoenix warned her, “He reacted bad to my heal. Like it was hurting him somehow. He’s not becoming undead or something, right?”

  “No,” Uriel answered, coming up from behind her. “He’d need to become Corrupted for that, and if you remember my close call, it’s not a slow process. We’d likely see the Bane, too, if it was—”

  His words cut off as the others gasped at the sight of Dazien falling onto his back, splayed out like a star, but his entire body was tense and rigid as the tattoos on his body began to weakly glow in a rhythmic pulsing… like the beating of a heart.

  Phoenix’s eyes went wide as her perception was able to see the sudden flow of magic appearing as a haze around him, slowly but surely seeping into the tattoos, fueling them further, and she told the others, “His tattoos are absorbing the ambient mana? Why would they suddenly—”

  She broke off her words as she remembered what Dazien had explained before about the markings. Phoenix looked up at Uriel’s fear-stricken face and asked, “It’s the double moon eclipse right now, isn’t it?”

  “I think so, but I’d have to go outside to check. The ceiling here doesn’t show the southern horizon. There’s no way that he can become the vessel for the Scarlet Thirst like this, right? I mean, I’m not big into rituals, but it usually requires more than just the rune work and him as an ingredient, right?”

  She helplessly shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t looked at the actual requirements, but most rituals still require incantation right?”

  “Not always,” Saiya replied with a shake of her head. “The higher Caste ones will sometimes have those more intricately spelled out with the runes themselves.” She gestured to the tattoos. “These are a lot more intricate than most of the rituals I’ve done, and I’m not sure I can translate their intent properly. I’m not sure what other ingredients or incantation words it might be needing, but we don’t want to provide it. If they’re absorbing mana like you say, then it’s possible that our healing magic is either interfering or being converted as fuel for whatever it’s trying to do.”

  “Too hot!” Dazien managed to gasp as he reached for Saiya, who took his hand in response.

  Phoenix moved to kneel next to both of them, trying to figure out a solution. “If he’s absorbing too much mana because of a faulty ritual, do you think draining him or cutting off the ambient flow might help? I know a ritual that’s used for shielding the area from the ambient mana while enchanting; it’s not usually necessary for most things but some materials get finicky about it.”

  “We could try it, but I don’t know a ritual that drains mana if he’s already suffering from mana poisoning.”

  “I could try cutting him with my [Night Armament],” she offered. Then she hesitantly added, “It’s only meant for enemies, though, so I’m not sure it will take if we’re not actually fighting one another. The magic has always been a bit weird about that when we’re sparring.”

  “I might be able to do it,” Uriel surprised her by saying. He knelt on the opposite side of Dazien from them as he clarified, “That potential heal I mentioned is a bit odd. I can show you, though.”

  She didn’t waste any more time to conjure her [Guide Book] and stood to move around to read it over his shoulder.

  “Wow… that’s a bit scary to be honest,” Rayna muttered from behind them as she also read.

  “It’s perfect though,” Phoenix interjected, moving away slightly and calling the book to her. “You try to use that to drain his mana, even if he passes out from it. I’ll focus on isolating the area around him.”

  They all nodded at the command and went to work to save her brother.