Flyte stared mutely at the crevice Elliot had fallen in. It was quiet, a gentle breeze brushing the ash gray sands. Anyone would assume that nothing had happened if they only saw the scene Flyte saw in that moment.

  But he was facing away from the bodies. Be it from seeker, soldier, or scourgefolk, the blood of the dead was all intermingled. No group was spared from losses, including Ander's, but while the man's heart bled, his face was as stone cold as his arm, just wearing a frown.

  Flyte blamed himself. For everything really. He reasoned that if he had learned better impulse control, he would have had enough grym to stop Will from breaking Elliot's mask. Flyte figured that it was him who rallied all of these people together to fight at the Rift, and now they held no pulse. Lastly, he thought that if he had avoided being stabbed in Palantriss, there would have been no desire for revenge whatsoever.

  'Why are we even here? Ontin probably could have handled Will all by himself. The monster hardly posed a threat to us in Ontin's camp.'

  It was so pointless. Flyte and Ander had gone all around, only to end up in just the same position as the day they met Elliot, but with more on their hands.

  "Hey," a man greeted. "What's got you so down?"

  Flyte looked at him. The man wore a helmet which concealed his face, and his armor looked, for the absence of a better word, heavy, like it held its own gravity. His attire was composed of white and gold, with his cloak, the very same type as a seeker's, tattered. On his back sat a long lance and a huge sword with a large, metallic circle stretching both over the hilt and halfway down the grip. The circle was fashioned out of the brightest gold Flyte had ever seen.

  He looked very lordly overall, and that annoyed Flyte a good deal. The honorsoul turned his gaze back to the chasm without a word.

  "Ah," the man said. "So a friend of yours took a tumble, huh? I can get him back if you want me to."

  "What?" Flyte's voice was hoarse, and it hurt to speak. "Really?"

  "Why not?" he laughed. "The name's Euron. I knew your dad, Ithilles, very well. All I'd need is for you to make me your paladin."

  Euron saw Flyte hesitate and pressed further. "You are the honorsoul of light, right?"

  "I am."

  "Then there's no reason to wait! Time's running out for your friend, you know!"

  As Flyte was about to agree, Ander muttered something a ways off.

  "What was that?" Euron asked earnestly.

  "Watch your mouth," Ander snarled. "Or I'll shut it for you."

  Flyte's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he was Ander's reaction. If anything, he was expecting mirth.

  "Oh?" Euron began. "What did I say to make you so mad?"

  "You know very well what you did," Ander answered. "You tried to take advantage of my friend."

  "How in Aliran's name did you come to that conclusion?"

  "As I see it," Ander said. "It is clear that no one is capable of going to the bottom of the Scar and back, otherwise Ontin would have saved Elliot. You can tell that Flyte is currently weak, so you're trying to take all the power that comes with being a paladin and run while he can't catch you."

  "Am I right?"

  Euron looked Ander straight in his eyes. "You're just saying that because you want to be his paladin yourself, aren't you."

  Ander just laughed. "Aliran knows I have too many responsibilities on my plate to ask for more. Now, answer my question. Was I right?"

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  "Of course not!" Euron said emphatically. "Now Flyte, accept my offer."

  "No," Flyte said, his heart breaking as he said it. "I trust Ander. He's right, and that's clear to me now."

  "Fine," Euron spat. "It's foolish for an honorsoul like you to be so broken after one death anyway. I would have hated being linked to someone as pathetic as you."

  "If that is how you think," Flyte smiled. "Then you definitely did not know my father well. You can go now."

  Euron watched as more and more of Ander's soldiers began to gather. "Fine."

  'I hope Ander was right.'

  Ontin walked over to Atula. She sat on a hill overlooking the Scar which was named after her as the sun began to set.

  Sitting down, he watched in silence as the sky was colored with various reds, purples, and pinks.

  Atula broke Ontin out of his thoughts, tapping on his shoulder.

  ["So,"] she signed. ["Were you here the whole time?"]

  "Pretty much," Ontin answered. "I let Kayr loose on a small horde while I killed some scourgefolk Rush sent after me. You know how I feel about interfering with lives when it's not critical."

  ["I understand you have your reasons,"] Atula signed. ["Then nothing more could be done for Flyte?"]

  "Yeah," Ontin sighed. "I would have saved Elliot if I could, but Rush made it abundantly clear that if I tried to, all three would have died."

  ["Have you found out why?"]

  "Not yet," Ontin grimaced. "This is the only time I've gotten this far, but I'd guess it has to do with the phantom that was in him."

  ["That would make sense."]

  Ontin just sat still for a moment. "Atula?"

  ["Yeah?"]

  "If Flyte doesn't go with Ander, can you try and ask Hieday and her family if they'd offer to house him?" Ontin gave a sad smile. "He's not got much of anywhere to go, and I have no doubts that he won't want to talk to me for a long time."

  ["I can do that,"] she said. As Ontin began to turn, she nudged his shoulder. ["And try not to be so down on yourself. You did everything you could, probably a few times, alright?"]

  Ontin chuckled. "I guess you're right. Thank you."

  ["You're welcome!"]

  Atula's uncharacteristic enthusiasm drew a laugh out of the usually dour Ontin. "Say, Atula," he began. "Do you think we'll get back to being like this again? All of us honorsouls, I mean. It's been a while since we've all met without some big fight starting."

  ["It's hard to say for sure,"] Atula signed slowly. ["Losing both Ithilles and Trelifar so close together changed everything. It almost depends on how everyone reacts to Flyte and the next stone honorsoul at this point."]

  "I hope that ends up being the case," Ontin smiled. "We've probably got a pretty good chance if that's all we need. I don't know anything about Kili's honorsoul, but I'm pretty sure Frenick and Farlan will be very happy to see Flyte, and I know with certainty that Albrek will accept him."

  "Ontin!" As per the usual, Ontin could hear Kayr before he could see him. "Do you have any food?"

  The honorsoul of speeds audibly sighed before opening a gate to his camp's food stores. Rummaging through, he decided on grabbing some jerky. Kayr could never say no to eating more of the stuff, especially after a long day.

  "Oh!" the phuvir demonborn exclaimed, just barely seeing the tall archaic woman beside Ontin. "Sorry for interrupting your conversation, Ms. Atula."

  ["Just who are you calling 'Ms.'? You're older than me!"]

  "Not in this body I'm not," Kayr laughed while catching the snack Ontin tossed him. "If I'm remembering correctly, you were twenty or so years old when I made this form."

  "Now, now," Ontin said. "I wouldn't tease her if I were you. Atula's already tired from shrinking the Rift back down to its usual size, Kayr. You wouldn't want to make her mad too." His voice changed to a loud whisper. "Haven't you heard she's crazy?"

  That comment earned Ontin a sock in the arm, though it was more playful than anything.

  Normally, people tended to be more afraid of Atula. She towered over most humanoids with her nine feet of height, and while she was fairly lanky, like all archaics, Atula was fairly athletic and didn't hide it. Her long white hair and mask didn't do any favors for others' perceptions of Atula either, as people found her look frightening.

  Ontin and Kayr weren't quite normal people though. Rather than an object of fear, the two saw the tall woman as a sister.

  "So Kayr," Ontin said after he stopped laughing. "Atula was saying that Flyte and the next stone honorsoul meeting the other honorsouls could be what determines whether we'll all get back together. What do you think about that?"

  Kayr thought for a second, then swallowed his food. "I don't know. You don't seem concerned enough to have considered Scaran meeting the two though."

  "I figured that Scaran would be fine because Flyte chose to fight sourgefolk."

  ["Ontin... Scaran's going to try to fight Flyte the instant they meet."]

  "She's right, you know," Kayr popped in. "Scaran's the type to fight any person he meets just to gauge their strength. Really, because Flyte is already strong enough to fight scourgefolk and not die, Scaran's probably going to be itching to fight him more than normal."

  "Shades," Ontin rubbed his eyes. That would definitely be a headache in the future. "Kayr, could you pass me some jerky?"

  "Sure thing, boss," Kayr grinned mischievously, hanging Ontin a small strip of jerky.

  ["When Flyte does meet Scaran, he'll be fine. Even Scaran's not crazy enough to kill an honorsoul or their subordinates, and he's experienced enough to know a person's limit."]

  "You're right," Ontin agreed. "I guess I should probably stop stressing out over it."

  Ontin, honorsoul of speeds, stayed sitting in the sand, talking with his friends. They all continued to snack, and Ontin couldn't help but feel intense joy counteracting his feelings of failure as he tried to rest his long day away.