I couldn't hide it. I was shivering.

I didn't know if it was because we were about to park the Flow-cart into enemy territory, because Sunguards and Sundoorians would surround me, or because I was shivering for the anticipation, for the honor that had been given to me.

One thing was clear though; Nova was shivering with anticipation. Her face was one of pure excitement.

Yeah, thank the Sun she was here with me.

As we got close to it, the massive Sand-Crawler opened one of its tailgates to let us in.

And Aisha turned toward me.

"Alright, Loke. I see you are nervous, but focus on your objectives, okay? You are here to help us and foster goodwill toward yourself and your sister. Restlessness is good; it could be masked in excitement; just try not to think about them as enemies. Think about them as your future villagers."

I nodded, I didn't know if she had been using her Bolster Skill, but at least she made sense.

We were about to open the doors when Aisha called me again. "Loke, just one thing, restrain your Tracing, okay? Anti-Tracing Skills are rare, but the Inquisition members tend to grab any related Perks as soon as they see them. Also, there are Class Perks for that and widespread devices to track people extending their Flow or Shade at you; when they do, it is usually because of Tracing.

Of course, there would be widespread defenses against Tracing. It was too powerful a Skill to let it go by. I would have done the same if I could. If I only could.

Taking a big breath, we left the Flow-cart from the side doors leaving Loki to sleep inside of the cart.

What we saw was… incredible.

There were dozens of Flow-blessed in the dimly lit ground deck of the Sand-Crawler.

Some of them sported uniforms different from the typical Sunguard's armor. They had lighter protections, covering only their chests, arms, and legs; the color and likely the material was the same: SolarTitanium; however, it was clear that they belonged to a different order. I believed they were technicians, Tinkers probably operating the Sand-Crawler with all its various parts.

True Sunguards were relatively few here, but I didn't doubt there were many on board. They literally glowed, especially in the dim light.

Lastly, few in numbers were the members of the Inquisition.

Their outfits were halfway between what a Sunguard wore and the dresses I had seen magicians wear.

The Inquisition was formed by the higher members of Sundoor's society, magicians were the cream of society, and I believe that the Inquisition looked like that to honor them, or more probably, they were mostly composed of mages.

One of them, a young man, came to greet Aisha.

"May the Sun smile upon you, Twilight Envoy; it's a pleasure having you on board."

Twilight Envoy?

"And illuminate your path, Sergeant Marcel," she said, nodding, "That nickname just won't stop following me, right?"

"You have to forgive me, Lady Aisha. I meant no disrespect, the opposite, actually. Your ideas… they are resonating in me," he answered, his eyes firmly aimed at hers.

They were… intense, and when a burst of Synesthesia made a feeling of arousal creep upon me, I understood right away what this man really wanted to communicate with that look.

It annoyed me a little; why?

"No offense taken, Sergeant, as long as I can connect with the people, they can call me whatever they wish," she answered.

The Sergeant smiled, bowing slightly, then his interest rotated toward us.

"Who are your guests, Lady Aisha?"

"This," Aisha answered, "Is the man who saved my life from those predators, Mr. Loke Nightfold, and this beautiful young lady is his sister by blood, Ms. Nova Nightfold."

"I see…" he said. His eyes lingered on Nova before switching over to me.

"Sun bless, Sergeant," I said, "It's an honor for us to meet another member of the Inquisition personally. General Cyrus has talked at length about your ranks, but we never really rarely the chance to meet one of yours."

Nova joined in, "We've seen many Sunguards scouting the Wastelands, but never a member of the Inquisition. It is really an honor having the opportunity to see you while carrying out your duty."

We had obviously rehearsed on the way here, or I would have really freaked out. Although I could fake really well if I wanted to, Nova was a natural, but not at faking, at speaking. She had received many lessons from Vinny the nun and the Church of the Sun in general.

The Sergeant nodded, pleased. "I fail to see how two such well-natured fellows have not been included into our ranks as Citizens already. Have your parents perhaps been ill? I could understand that buying the Citizen's pass for a Shade-cur-, I mean, Shade-blessed is still a hefty expenditure, but there would have certainly been leniency seeing that your parents must be both Flow-blessed. Is it not?"

I did not expect that question, but I could answer it.

"Sadly, our parents left for the front more than ten years ago; we haven't seen them since. At this point, we doubt they will ever return. So we were left by ourselves."

"And no, our father and mother were not both Flow-blessed," Nova added.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but now I'm curious. Which of your parents was the regular?"

Somehow I read something in that tone that I did not like.

Nova continued, "Oh, our mother was the Flow-blessed, while our father was a Shade-cursed."

With the tail of my eye, I could see Aisha trying to restrain her facial muscles, but it was clear that was a topic we shouldn't have touched.

"A Flow-blessed and a Shade-cur-, Shade-blessed, together? That is…" he tried to restrain a burst of disgust but hardly managed to, "Alright, I understand, well then. My duties call for me," he said, bowing, "Let me accompany you to the Captain."

Somehow I knew we had fucked something up, but what was it?

Where Flow-blessed and Shade-cursed not supposed to be together if they wanted it to?

I looked at Aisha, trying to gauge some sort of response from her. There was nothing.

She just slightly shook her head.

That was a "not now" if I had ever seen one.

The Sergeant took us through the entire ground deck of the Sand-Crawler, bringing us to what looked like one of those things called "an elevator."

We had never been in one. And judging from the levers, there were three decks to the Sand-Crawler.

We were going up, to the last deck.

When the elevator doors opened up in silence, we were welcomed by what I believe was an entire unit of the Inquisition.

There were likely fifty or so between Sunguards, the infantrymen of the Inquisition, and real Inquisitors.

In much smaller numbers were the Tinkers.

The Sand-Crawler was really a marvelous piece of clock-tech. It was likely undefeated as far as land-tech worked.

I honestly had no idea what to expect regarding what machines the Elves used, but this one was a nightmare on tracks.

There were all sorts of devices littering the walls, and I could feel the presence of Shade in them. Indeed some of these devices were based on Cryomancery.

I had no idea where to even start with that, but I would surely be Tracking some of those devices once we were through with meeting the Captain.

As the Sergeant brought us through a few corridors, we entered into what couldn't be else but the command room.

We were likely at the frontal side of the Sand-Crawler because the northern wall was made of reinforced glass. All around its edges were Tinkers and Inquisitors, each of them with equipment that looked like voice-bridges but fairly more complex.

At the center of the room was a big hollowed out and round desk, while on the outside of the round desk sat officers. There were Sunguards, Inquisitors, and a couple of Tinkers, yet the focus was on the men at its center, certainly the Captain.

The people at the other side of the table all obliged to his commands, yet when the Sergeant announced us, the Captain smiled and left the weird desk by an exit behind him.

A regular. Weirdly, the Captain was not a Flow-blessed.

I was surprised at the piece of news. I wouldn't have been if I had thought it impossible because until now, I had only seen regulars in parties with the Sundoorians, but an actual regular that made it to the rank of Sunguard Captain; I had never heard of something like that.

"Aisha," he said, opening his arms as an invite, then he took her hands and kissed them, "It's a pleasure seeing you here. I must congratulate you. I'm still thinking about that political duel you won against the counselor. That man is an entire Class your senior and likely ten levels on top; what you did was unbelievable."

"Zayn, you are too gentle. But calling it a duel would be going too far. I would have called it a skirmish," she answered, bowing slightly.

"See if his family thinks the same. I highly doubt it, but now come, come. You'll take the second place here, near my first mate," he added, pointing at the table. "Thank you for having escorted them, Sergeant; you're dismissed."

The Sergeant bowed and left, but he did not hide the look he gave us. If there had been appreciation in his gaze before, now there was only contempt.

"Wait, Zayn, let me present you the very reason why I've chosen to join this expedition. These two are my companions. Loke Nightfold, and his sister Nova."

The man looked at us, smiling, "Oh, yes. Cyrus has spoken to me at length about you. I've heard about your parents, kids. I'm sorry for your loss, he said."

Fuck… double fuck.

I had never said anything about our parents to Nova; she had no idea they had been missing in action.

Now, I did not know what Nova understood or not, but she limited herself to bow and smile; she didn't as much as move a muscle when she heard that piece of news.

However, Aisha was swift in shifting the topic of the conversation toward something else.

She quickly steered me away from the chasm in which I was about to fall.

Soon after, they started deciding their plans and the measure they would have to take.

They were very detailed on how to act and which response to use if determined scenarios came into play. It showed off their level of organization. Ours, my team’s… was not even remotely close to theirs.

Yet, I wasn’t really listening to them. I was thinking about their schooling. Nova she... she could still do it if we got in the City in time. She could go to whichever real school she liked.

I would do something else; personally, I didn't like the idea of going to any schools but a clock-tech one. Yet, I was a Tamer, I would not abandon my Class to follow that route, so I would probably just become a professional delver if we managed to actually join the City.

At that moment though, my attention was stolen by Nova.

She was acting weird; Nova did not act like that. Normal Nova would be intently listening to the conversation. Instead, her eyes were lost, staring at the void.

I couldn't help but accept it; she had understood.

"—that's where our envoys will come into play!" Said the Captain.

I took it as our cue to focus on them. So I bowed.

"It would be our honor."

"You shall establish a connection with the nomad tribe in question and, with the help of our soon-to-be Counselor, steer their decision toward leaving the zone."

"If I may be allowed a question, Captain," I asked.

"But of course, young Hunter. Speak."

"Once the nomads will stop feeding the Titan, it will take merely days for it to start rampaging in the western Drylands. We've seen it," I added, nodding at Aisha, "It is not a creature that can be quelled, nor its movements restricted. Once it is hungry, it will start hunting nomads or move toward the southern or northern regions. So, how will we solve that problem?"

"If that problem arises, a thing which, our expert Tamers say it will not; we shall take care of it.”

I couldn't help but feel that I wanted to ask more, but I would have to ask for permission once again. Instead, Nova asked right away.

"Can't we simply take care of it? It would be troublesome for us all to have let such a dangerous beast travel our sands. It could literally gobble one entire village with just an apparition. I'm scared for my people… you see…" she said.

The Captain and a few others smiled at her.

There was something in her that let other people be mesmerized by her lovely looks and character strength. Maybe it was the results of her two Classes mingling with each other or her natural instincts, but she couldn't help but be liked by everybody.

"You see, young Healer," he said before turning toward the other Citizen around the table; one of them seemed surprised, "Oh, yes, this young woman is already a high-leveled Healer. She freed her entire village from the Shade-plague even before the Church of the Sun came in their aid.”

Saying, so the Captain provoked a noise of surprise by all of the people present, but then he continued explaining to Nova the reasons why the Titan had to be left alive, "The presence of a Titan in our lands is always welcomed. And our Master Tamer here will tell us the reason."

Unexpectedly, he pointed at an old man, the oldest, around the table. He was dressed in the uniform peculiar to the Tinkers, and although he was a Flow-blessed, both his hair and thick mustache had long since turned white.

"As I already explained to the board," he commenced after a cough, "The Titans that make their lairs in our lands not only help stabilize the ecosystem, but they also protect us from other Titans migration or even worse, a Primal's apparition."

"These creatures," he explained, "move toward more tranquil lands. Having to face other Titans to take their place is something that helps them rethink their lair choice, leaving toward other lands instead of trying to take hold of already diversely possessed environments."

"Thank you, Master Tamer," said the Captain.

"That is your answer, young Nova. I…" he squinted, "I see potential in this young girl; it makes me think about you, Aisha. I believe you might be a good guide for this young woman."

"I wholly agree with you, Zayn. These kids have a lot of potentials, and Loke here is an amazing Hunter. The infamous Night Hunter wouldn't hold a candle against him!" She said, laughing and springing all of them into laughter, "Believe me, I've seen him in action."

I froze a little with that statement. I had no idea why she brought the Night Hunter around, but maybe it was one of her plots, yet I bowed, looking humble.

However, Aisha did not stop there; she continued on her speech.

"Sadly, I'm facing a lot of difficulties in trying to make their heritage count toward their citizenship. Technically they should be Citizens given their parents' war accomplishments, but political quibbles hinder that road. Still, it means a lot for me that you as well as my father recognize their value," she added, bowing with respect at the Captain.

"Let's see how they fare; if this mission is successful, the City council will see them in a better light," he answered.

A few minutes later, we were dismissed, and after one of the soldiers showed us back to the ground deck, where pets and Flow-carts were stored.

When we got back to make the preparations to leave, we saw that a small crowd had gathered around Aisha's Flow-cart.

"What's going on?” She asked herself.

But I could guess what had happened. Loki had attracted attention.

"Look at that color," somebody said, "It's the same as the Nethergator. Where do you think she found it?"

However, one of the Sunguards, seeing us approach the car, urged the onlookers to move.

"That is one incredible beast, Lady Aisha. How did you get a hold of it? I thought you were a politician, but the Netherlion is so well behaved that it must be the work of a Tamer," said one of the Tinkers resisting the Sunguard’s attempt and pushing the onlookers away

"Oh, that's not mine. My companion here, Loke Nightfold, has found it in the forest and tamed it. It's his creature, right, Loke?"

I caught the ball right away. "Indeed it is. His name is Loki. Come say hi, buddy," I opened the door.

Loki came out, mightily stretched, and shook his massive mane.

He did indeed look fluffy.

The Tinker awed, "He's so cute!" He's cuter than Axel's gator!" Said a young woman.

"Can we take a photo of him? We could show it to the media!" She asked.

A photo? One of those tools to make those precise portraits?

"Let's just wait until we get back; then we'll get to know Loki and his master better, okay?" Aisha said, "We are about to depart for the mission now. Wish us luck!"

"May the Sun smile upon your journey, Lady Aisha," said a few.

"I hope you succeed, Twilight Envoy!" Said another.

Shortly after the mess, we were back on the sandy roads.

"What was that thing about the Twilight Envoy?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's how they are calling me nowadays," she snorted. "They sanction the marriage of a Flow-blessed and an Elf, which are worshippers of the Moon, but abhor the idea of marriage between a Flow-blessed, and a Shade-blessed. See what I'm dealing with, Loke? It's that flawed mentality that's what I have to change. It's been ingrained in their Skull for generations; it's going to be damn hard to remove it."

"Well,” I said, “people seem to be starting to call Shade-cursed as Shade-blessed. I see that as a massive win, no?"

She grinned, "Oh, yeah. But that's not only on me; we should thank the Half-elf organization for that. They have been pushing it for decades, but indeed it's been since I started speaking in the Agoràs that people started using the term."

Shade-blessed… I had never been called that before. I didn't even dare think of something like that. Incredible. Aisha was already doing miracles in my books.

Then, finally, Nova uttered words.

"Loke. What did that man mean when he said that he was sorry for our loss? And why didn't I feel you react?"

She had noticed… she had indeed, and I had no idea what to say to her.