When Luthera woke up, she was surprised to find she was back in a tent. There was a faint earthy smell in the air, and looking around at clean, tidy surroundings made her feel calm.

The last thing she remembered was getting buried under a heavy pile of rock, and although this tent was not hers, it was clear from the presence of light that she had been brought outside the Shrouded Valley.

As she blinked to clear her head, her body ached terribly, and when she looked down, her pale arms were covered in dirt. But other than that, she was uninjured.

Yet, how could she forget the moment before she thought she was going to die.

Under all that rubble, Luthera thought she would die slowly from suffocation, or at least until the monsters hunting her decided to uncover her body. She remembered struggling to reach for her amulet to contact her master, and failing to grasp it, just as someone dug through the rubble to bring her out.

The face of the Pelagian Captain came into view, as she was slung over his shoulders and carried away.

At the time she was grateful, but now, the memory of being saved by a mortal made her face burn in shame – would her master still accept her if he knew of this?

Grandmaster Lothrein was infamous for his contempt for mortals and anyone related to them.

The sound of a cough made her turn her head, only to notice another presence in the room. Aetoris was sitting in a chair not far from her, looking extremely haggard with dark circles under his eyes and a bruise across his left cheek. The devilishly handsome half-elf looked like he hadn't slept in days, his silvery blonde hair was now limp, and even singed in some parts.

She didn't even recognise him.

"You should brief everyone when you're ready." Aetoris said, but before she could perform a blessing on him, he already stood up to leave.

'I suppose you also blame me for this fruitless mission.' Luthera thought as the tent flaps closed. Her body was tired, but after saying a few recovery spells, she was able to stand.

What else was she supposed to do, aside from completing it – a disciple like herself couldn't afford to offend her master, not when there were so many others waiting to take her place.

Luthera arrived at the impromptu meeting, where nine very different people gathered, as they waited for her. As her eyes panned over the room, her breathing stopped at the sight of a horribly burned man, who was hunched over while fingering a blade.

Undrenn was one of the few mortals who requested to join her party at the last minute, right after the group of Palagian soldiers, but she never expected he would become like this. Covered in bandages from head to toe, he fixed her with a cold glare filled with malice as soon as he saw her.

However, Luthera's gaze was no less steely than his own, which made the burnt man look away.

Standing next to him was Rodin, the Palagian captain who rescued her, along with three of his Infantry soldiers – a far cry from what the twenty they were originally.

Their captain was talking, albeit unsuccessfully, to the massive barbarian hunter beside him who merely grunted in answer, as he polished an axe that was larger than the width of his shoulders.

Everyone looked just as bad as Aetoris who stood in the corner with his arms crossed, if not worse, which made Luthera wonder what she must look like right now. Nonetheless, as she entered all of their conversation's ceased, and Fennelis stealthily dropped in from outside the tent like a shadow.

Luthera cleared her throat, pointing to a map in the middle of a table littered with scrolls, she couldn't afford to look unprepared.

"The plan remains the same. We return to search the valley as soon as the monsters retreat."

She expected to hear some agreement or even some opposition, but there was nothing – the gathering remaining as silent and tense as a grave. Her gaze panned across everyone present, ignoring some murderous looks thrown her way, before settling on Fennelis who nodded in agreement.

"Any progress on finding Ulrick Dunar?" She asked Aetoris, who shook his head.

"I lost his trail across a stretch of river. With that many monsters, he may already be dead." Aetoris chillingly replied.

Luthera nodded with a solemn look, before turning to Fennelis. "Has the monster horde receded?"

Although she had been unconscious, she knew the ever silent elf would continue to keep watch.

The wood elf pulled down his mask to reveal a pretty face, before gesturing to a map on the table.

"They migrated further inland, but this recess is actually a hidden cave. We can sneak in through here in a few hours...if conditions remain the same. Right now, it's nearly empty."

"Good." Luthera nodded in approval, delighted to hear some good news. "Continue tracking them. As soon as the monsters leave, we go back inside-"

However, her instructions were interrupted by harsh laughter.

"Go back?"

The lone figure of the burnt man stared off in the distance as he ominously fingered his blade. "Can your grandmaster heal my burns, because if your answer is no, I see no reason to continue listening to you."

Luthera was stunned by his question, along with his look of unbridled intent, but she recovered quickly. "That is an easy task for my master. And you will be doubly compensated for your trouble."

"Then I will go wherever you please." The burned man said with a smile that made her skin crawl, but Luthera refused to back down from that ravenous gaze. She couldn't afford to look weak, or give them a reason to doubt her master, not when the unity of the group depended on her.

But then, a loud guffaw cut through the tension as the large barbarian spoke.

"Complaining about mere burns – I didn't know the thieves guild accepted women within their ranks?"

Like a spark had been ignited, the tense atmosphere burst into flames.

Undernn's knife found its way to the barbarian's throat, but the large man simply deflected it with a swing of his axe before laughing in his face. But the agile man snaked across to him, attacking the barbarian with another knife seemingly out of nowhere. The tent soon erupted into chaos.

"You're the reason I lost all my men!" Undernn shouted in fury.

The barbarian only scoffed. "You should thank me for cutting down those useless men. Should I have waited for them to get taken away by beasts?"

His taunting voice only made the thief angrier.

Fortunately, the blonde captain cut through their path and the thief's knife was stopped moments before it reached the barbarian.

Rodin, who restrained the thief, turned to the ruthless barbarian to speak.

"You should have waited to see if his men could get away from those monsters, before cutting them down!"

But the barbarian spat on the ground, giving both men a look of scorn. "I gave them a clean death. Your thieves are weak, your shiny soldiers are also weak – all you have is your useless armour. Warriors of Marxces don't need such things – I have faced down many kinds of beasts, all with my bare hands and won. Fight me together if you have a problem with me!"

Luthera sighed, her face like stone, as she watched this display.

Why was this barbarian suddenly acting up? Rodin too.

Aetoris was unusually silent through everything – shouldn't he try to stop them?

When she saw the half-elf still had his arms crossed, she decided to intervene.

"We shouldn't fight each other, not when we're this close. We just have to persevere and move on."

It was the only logical option, and she didn't feel rattled even when six pairs of furious eyes turned to stare at her.

"We return to the valley once everyone is rested."

With that, she stormed out of the tent, leaving them all to settle their dispute amongst themselves.

However, once outside, her calm expression turned to one of fury.

Rest? Just how long would that take? And would the relic still be untouched?

She wanted to set off right away, but in their riled up state, it wasn't the best decision.

Yet, she could feel the tremulous ether fluctuations that drew her towards the valley.

How happy would her master be once she told him?

To think she was bending to the will of mortals.

This was why her master despised them, the lazy, greedy, unsightly beings who always looked to be coddled, or to beat each other at insignificant things, without seeing the full picture.

She was the only one who could steer them in the right direction, and without her leadership, they would have crumbled a long time ago.

The tent flap pulled open and Fennelis emerged, causing Luthera's brows to furrow deeply.

She could already guess what he wanted to say, and because of this she avoided him.

"Our food supplies are running low." Fennelis said. "We should consider leaving the Labyrinth."

"No."

Fennelis's face remained blank, like he already expected this. "Then we should visit the Khaja and ask for assistance. They live on the plains east of here. If we leave now we could get there in weeks-"

"Hah!"

The shrill sound stopped Fennelis dead in his tracks.

"Visit a colony of mutated abominations?!" Luthera shrieked, her body trembling as her eyes blazed with fury. "Has Grandmaster Lothrein sunken so low!"

Fennelis fell silent as his eyes filled with fear.

"Don't ever mention such a thing to me again. And don't ever let my master hear you mention them, unless you want the Moonriver tribe to be exterminated."

Fennelis nodded once, before fading into the shadows.

Luthera couldn't believe what she had heard. Any upstanding elf would hesitate before asking a mortal for help, so for him to suggest those monsters – she would rather die of starvation.

But then again, the wood elves were rather free with their associations with mortals, a reason they were so looked down on by others.

With Fennelis gone, Luthera cast her gaze over the Valley and the inky darkness that filled it.

Once she obtained the Goddess's relic, she would become her master's highest ranking disciple, and with that, everything else would fall into place.

No one would ever look down on her for having a half-mortal sister. If anything, with her contribution, the high elves were destined to reach new heights of power.