"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Krysha asked, still angry at us for teasing her, but accelerating her horse all the same.

"It's another scout of The Divine," I said and nodded forward, while trying to reach Seika and Man before the flying creature was able to identify them.

The sun was now past its prime and the avoral was flying toward us from the east. I hoped the sun would impede the scout's vision long enough for me to reach Man and Seika and get them to cover themselves.

"Quick, put on your hoods to hide your faces, and try to act normal," I said as I got close to them.

They were taken by surprise at my command, but immediately did as I said. They could see all three of us doing the same after all.

"Why are we doing this, Adel?" Seika asked as quietly as possible.

"Don't look at the sky," I said, as I noticed the bird-man's shadow on the ground around us.

"What was that?" Man asked.

I waited until the shadow was some distance away before I finally exhaled again and attempted to reply to Man. But my relief was short-lived, as I caught the avoral making a turn out of the corner of my eye.

"We've been seen," I said, and brought my hands to the pommels of my swords. "Prepare to defend yourselves if it attacks."

"If what attacks?" Seika asked, audibly frustrated.

Again, I didn't reply, instead trying to keep myself calm for the incoming attack. To my surprise, the avoral flew over us and left in the same direction as it had initially come from. It had probably been blinded on its first pass because of the sun and thought we were ordinary travelers on its second.

"It was another scout of The Divine," I explained as soon as I was sure the danger was gone.

"Another avoral?" Krysha sounded more excited at the prospect of meeting one, than she did worried.

"Wait, you've encountered one before?" Seika asked her, confused.

"I haven't," she replied, "but Adel has."

"Where did you meet one?" Seika continued. "What happened?"

I couldn't see Seika because of the sun shining in my eyes, but I did see Kard grimace at her question.

"I dealt with him," I said, making it clear I had no intention of saying any more about it and galloped a bit faster, taking my turn to scout ahead.

***

The sun had long since set when we arrived at the port. Not wanting to attract too much attention, we visited an inn called The Galleon and the Chandler, the biggest in the city, which overlooked the actual port.

Man, as always, took care of paying for our rooms and since we weren't planning on sleeping anytime soon, we decided to sit by the large magical hearth in the middle of the inn's hall and enjoy some of the locals' catches of the day.

Ale was plentiful, and for what felt like the first time in a while, the five of us were actually having fun. The last time we were in a similar situation was the night we all got drunk, just before we started looking for Myriam and Kai—all but Seika of course, who was having fun even though her mug was filled with fruit juice.

The hall was bustling with people, talking about all kinds of interesting things: stories of sea monsters and gigantic fish catches, tales of new sailing routes and shipwrecks filled with gold. Most importantly though, I heard of people talking about a new saint—Myriam. She was the first person to be sanctified in countless years.

Apparently the Order had sent out a commandment to all Elysian cities that explained how saint Myriam had attempted to restore The Divine so that mana would return to the world. I couldn't hear the details about how heroically she died or why she had failed but it felt good to hear people speak her name with love. It was a good start.

My eyelids were becoming heavier as I absorbed the hearth's warmth. A sense of fulfillment was slowly replacing the sadness of knowing Myriam was lost to me. The morning's training, the traveling, and the alcohol were starting to take a toll on me.

"I think I will go up to my room," I announced as I picked myself up and out of the large comfortable armchair I'd been sitting in.

"You're tired already?" Kard asked, surprised I was the first to call it a night.

"He woke up a lot earlier than we did, Kard," Krysha said, voicing an excuse I hadn't even thought of.

"Well?" I asked Kard. "Am I allowed to go to sleep?"

"Sure, go ahead," he replied, and waved his left hand away while he poured some more ale into his mug from a small keg, placed comfortably within his reach.

"Goodnight, then," I said with a smile, and everyone waved back at me.

I walked up the stairs to the room I would be sharing with Kard and changed into my sleeping robes. In truth, I was not particularly tired.

Granted, I was sure I would sleep if I were to lie down, but mostly I had turned in so that I could have my time with Myriam's gift. I wanted to make sure she had her fill of stories.

Thus, I placed the shield on a table overlooking my bed, at such an angle that the orb in the center of it would be directly facing me. I settled down in my covers, and started recounting our meeting in Elysia and telling her all of the things that impressed me in the Ministry, as well as the immense power of the archons, especially Adah.

I found myself smiling as I came to the part where Archon Simeon agreed to sanctify her, and that people were already talking about her with love. It was not a lot, but it was what I could do in order to keep her memory alive.

The blue topaz orb shined as if satisfied, and for the first time since Myriam died I fell asleep with a smile on my face.