Gentle light quivered through the soft, sun-bronzed room along with the ticking hands of the all-glass clock. Billows of tepid, equable air fluttered the chiffon overlay of the drawn, thin, charmeuse curtains. The drifting fabric cast blurred, undulating shadows that reached languidly toward the sleeping girl on the nearby bed. Her thick, sable hair was scrawled across the duvet which nestled up to her chin. A single arm was tucked neatly at her left side, on top of the puffy covers. Palm up, the girl’s hand curled limply around the outstretched hand of a sedentary boy who had fallen asleep in vigil.

The weak flick of a few fingers faintly grazed the boy’s rough knuckles, prompting the tips of his eyebrows to crinkle ever so slightly. Two pairs of lashes flickered in unison, and sore limbs creaked into listless motion.

“Darren?” The girl croaked quietly as her dim, lavender eyes latched onto his russet-brown ones. Her hand slipped from his as she wearily sat up.

Darren’s mouth was slightly ajar, vaguely shifting as he struggled to overcome his speechlessness. She had finally awoken, and he could only blink blankly at her stupor. She had been asleep for several days now, and he had only just woken up three days ago himself. Essairyn was stronger than Darren, so he was hopeful that she would wake up soon after him. But as the first day dragged into the second, and then slouched to the third and fourth today, a burning guilt began gnawing at his core should his friends never wake up.

“…Sairyn.” He managed to whisper gutturally before swiftly leaning forward to embrace her gently.

Startled, but sluggish, Essairyn let Darren hold her for a second before reaching up to pat his back softly. “Hm, it’s okay.” She had read his micro-expressions when they contorted from dazed to distressed. If she weren’t so enervated, her own face might’ve mirrored his in reaction.

Darren pulled back, holding her at arms length. His concerned eyes carefully inspected Essairyn to double check if she was fine. This once-over induced the corner of her lip to curl up in languid amusement.

“Just a little knock out and you’re staring at me like a mother would a child.”

Darren froze, and then glared at Essairyn. “Hey! It wasn’t just a ‘little’ knock out! You were asleep for a week!”

Her eyes shot open in shock. “You’re kidding me!! I was asleep for that long?” Her mind spun in all sorts of directions, trying to grease the gears for calculation of how she could possibly be knocked out for so long and how wounded she must have been. In haste, she patted herself down to check for the function of her limbs and any remaining injuries. But finding none, she halted her hands in confusion and looked briskly around the room in full realization of her circumstances.

“Where… are we…? And—!!” Essairyn jolted, spinning around to face Darren with rising panic. “Aispin? Is he awake yet?” Her last question was softer as she remembered him saying he wanted to take most of the hit. If she had been unconscious this long from bearing the rest of the brunt, then she was worried something terrible had befallen Aispin. She would never forgive herself if, in their haste to defeat Balgair before he recharged his power, he had perished.

“And what about Izra and Leo? Akari? Are they…okay?” Since the others had stood behind her and Aispin, and Darren was awake, Essairyn was more hopeful about their recovery. After all, Izra had also shielded the group with protective buffs, so those in the back should’ve experienced less of the rebounding blow.

“Akari is fine—she was the only one left standing after we all passed out.” Dry humor edged his tone at he relayed, “Besides being in the back, looks like her small size also helped her evade most of the reflected, magical force.”

At this, relief washed over Essairyn’s face. Akari was still recuperating, so she was glad that their formation had ensured the spirit fox’s safety.

“And K arrived not too long after Aispin told us he was nearby to bring us all back here…” Darren’s gaze dropped from Essairyn as his words petered out at the mention of Aispin. Slowly, he peered grimly into her questioning, lavender eyes.

“Aispin… he’s just like you were—asleep. But…he’s in worse shape than you. Whatever spell or trick he had set up, he…” His eyes flashed about nervously. “…he definitely took most of the reflected damage.” Darren stared at the bed covers with narrowed, dark eyes. “It was due to his actions that I guess you came out mostly unscathed, b-but, I’m not sure… it just…doesn’t feel right.” He gripped his hair as his expression crumpled in confusion.

“I’ve been brooding over it for three days now, but it doesn’t make any sense. Dr. Cyanmay said you would definitely awaken since your body was healing regularly. He just wasn’t sure how long the process would take. But Aispin’s comatose state is serious. His injuries on the surface healed, but on the inside…everything is out of whack. I can’t repeat Dr. Cyanmay’s explanation word for word, but it simply doesn’t line up with the magical damage he sustained…”

Overwhelmed from the rush of information delivered in a rambling manner, Essairyn weakly gestured with her hand for Darren to stop speaking and asked, “Dr. Cyanmay? Who is he? Where exactly are we?” She glanced up at the cozy ceiling and scrutinizing the homely furniture. It sure didn’t look like a hospital or anything, so perhaps this was the doctor’s abode.

“No, wait, before you answer that, what about Izlende and Leœss? Are they…” Her words trailed off when she saw Darren’s countenance plummet. A dead silence ensued after he tore his gaze away from hers.

“….What happened.” It was no longer a question.

Darren’s face darkened even further before easing into a look of helplessness. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath with his jaw squared. “Leo…” His words dripped at the grueling speed and bare silence of a leaky faucet. “…he…” Darren’s voice involuntarily choked as he stumbled upon his speech and gripped his white knuckled fists. “He’s no longer—he’s dead.” The last two words rushed out like a torrent, smacking Essairyn so bluntly in the face that her mind stopped functioning for a second.

“…excuse me…?” Her voice was barely a whisper, more like a withheld breath. Her staggered mind couldn’t comprehend the weight of Darren’s words.

Without warning, she whipped aside the covers, startling Darren who reactively jerked back into his chair and almost fell backwards with it. He hardly rebalanced himself and the chair before Essairyn had swept past him toward the closed door and flung it open, nearly banging the knob onto the adjacent wall.

“Where is he?!!” Essairyn’s desperately strangled voice diminished the weight of her vehement demand as she halted in the doorway. An empty, unknown corridor loomed before her.

“I—” Darren halted, paused, and then stood up straight, plodding stoically toward her side. “Let’s go see him.” His mahogany orbs glimpsed her quivering fist. He grasped it gingerly with his own and marched staunchly forward.

It was as if Essairyn was walking through a vacuum of senses where the only tangible sensation was the crawling drip of dry perspiration that clawed at her back. She remembered nothing of the house and garden on the way to the simple gravesite marked by a few fresh flowers squeezed between hand-sized stones.

Upon reaching the seemingly insignificant mound of dirt, Essairyn’s legs buckled beneath her. She flopped to her knees, encasing her shins in what felt like stained soil.

“You can’t—this can’t possibly be—” Her jaw trembled as she strove to force back the ensuing wave of dreaded reality. “You can’t just—!” Essairyn’s vision fogged with thick drops that tumbled pitifully onto the ground that could never again be beautiful. Her fingers seized clumps of earth, applying enough pressure to crush the moisture out of them. The very soil cried with the lost girl.

“Y-you said—I promised—we were supposed to go meet your older sister Kyla and her family one day! To eat her terrible cooking, show that you became a real knight, and that—!” She covered her eyes with her forearm, plugging the loathsome tears while also supporting her falling torso with it. “What about Ami? What am I supposed to tell your little sisters? What are they supposed to tell your little brother? Why—?!!”

Essairyn spluttered, gagging on her emotions from a tightening chest and throat. It wasn’t like they had known each other that long or that well, but why, why did it feel like something vital was collapsing around her, leaving her in pitch darkness?

Oh. A clear voice echoed starkly in her head. It’s because I miss them. The voice of her shadow quickened, blurring with the voice of her inner ego. She was not grieving for Leo. But for herself. His siblings had lost their older brother, but she had lost her entire family and world. His family had reminded her of all that had been snatched from her and which she thought she had accepted.

But she had never truly given up her past life and loved ones. They were all always on the edge of her mind, prodding at the unfeeling walls that were erected to safeguard her heart and sanity from crumbling. She had been chasing death, prodding death, and now death had caught up with her, played a game with her, teased her with the lovely, tempting bliss of forgetfulness to only snatch away her walls through the death of another.

Ah. Is this my fault? She wondered. If she hadn’t been so reckless. If she hasn’t been so short-sighted. If she hadn’t dragged people and just stayed alone, if she had just—!

“Essairyn.”

A warm hand laid comfortingly on her shoulder. She gave one last heave while intaking a shaky, prolonged gulp of air before slowly inclining her head toward Darren.

“…yeah?”

“…..” Darren swallowed his words, not wanting to say anything that could potentially tip Essairyn’s tremulous balancing scales to one side, resulting in another bout of undesirable tears. While he believed that she needed to let the emotion out, he could also discern her desperate desire to cocoon herself in the security of her apathy. She hated not being in control of herself and her destiny, and she wasn’t feeling steady enough to sift through the ambivalent quagmire of her twisted, inner shadows in relation to her somber reality. He had recognized her expression from his own hidden torment that plagued his waking face every morning in the mirror.

So, Darren tugged gently at Essairyn, helping to lift herself up from the ground. Then, he grasped her dirtied hand and heedfully led her away from the gravesite resting on the outskirts of the outdoor garden. They walked through the flowers and foliage in serpentine directions. Essairyn hardly knew or cared where they were going. Yet, the golden glimmer on the brilliant greens and rainbows of the garden pierced through the haze of her dull, lavender orbs. She couldn’t help noticing how truly beautiful this location, this world was as it continued without a care for the fallen and lost.

That impression triggered a wry smile to plaster itself humorlessly over her mien. It was a beautiful world, one that she had always wished for in her perpetual daydreams on Earth. But it had taken everything precious away from her. And now, it was aiming to take away what little attachments she had unknowingly built in this beautiful nightmare.

Reentering the quaint but moderately sized home of Dr. Cyanmay, Darren led Essairyn into Aispin’s resting chambers where the doctor himself was tending to the patient. Instantly, Essairyn’s heart and mind spurred awake at the sight. Similar to how she found herself tucked away in bed, Aispin was also cocooned by quilted covers and fluffy pillows. Soft waves of hair aimlessly crowned and framed his pallor like some sleeping beauty. Essairyn turned to the doctor, a middle aged man with a worn yet bright and kindly face.

The doctor had felt the two youngsters’ quietly intense stares on his back since they entered the room and approached the sickbed. Propping up his metal rimmed glasses back on the bridge of his nose, he wiped away the sandy blonde fringes obscuring his vision while getting up from the bedside seat. He extended a hand in greeting toward Essairyn who accepted the polite gesture.

“I’m Dr. Cyanmay, but please call me Eisso. Doctor is too stuffy of a title in my own home. I’m glad to see you’re finally awake like everyone else except…” He motioned toward the young man on the bed. “Aispin here has been in an abnormal coma for a week. He’s in a bad condition…to put it lightly. I’ve diagnosed it as critically extreme exhaustion and mana deficiency, but I fear that his soul was also somehow tampered with in the attack that your group had suffered.”

Essairyn deeply furrowed her brows. “His soul was tampered with? What exactly do you mean? How could his soul be possibly messed up due to that attack unless—” She involuntarily clenched her teeth in momentary pause. “—he used his soul to bear that blow? But is that even possible? He couldn’t be that stupid or desperate unless the situation was…that serious…”

As her words trailed off, a budding guilt bloomed in her gut as she acknowledged the possibility that Aispin had to take drastic measures because he foresaw the difficulty of beating Balgair more clearly than herself. If that was true, then she was truly stupid. And Aispin was truly selfless and stupid, too. Running away might be for weaklings, for unsympathetic heroes witnessing citizens in peril. But if that meant Leœss would be alive and Aispin well, then Essairyn would rather be deemed a coward and a villain.

However, Dr. Cyanmay quickly debunked her distress, explaining, “No, he didn’t voluntarily use his soul to bear such a blow. At least, not in the sense that I believe you’re thinking of. Magic flows through both the body and soul, the latter of which can be thought of as the nucleus of magic ability. Everyday, the soul is constantly being employed, that’s how one stays alive. Aispin’s soul was damaged due to his incompatibility with demonic energy. Or rather, the better way to term it is that his soul is unstable and was easily affected by demonic magic.”

“An unstable soul?” Essairyn echoed. But he seemed fine when we were near the demonic miasma, so what was different this time? And he never told us about his sensitivity to demonic magic? Or did he not know? Her mind spun as she recalled his comprehensive combat and mission experience. Knights typically dealt with rogue demons, so a soul swayed by demonic magic was a critical hazard.

Eisso shook his head regretfully. He didn’t know magic and its intricate connection to the soul well enough to elucidate her on this theory. The only reason why Eisso could confidently theorize about Aispin’s strange condition was due to being taught by his best friend back from his olden days of school. His friend was a brilliant genius and incognito leader of As’pyze along with the Knights Order. He was a man that Eisso could never hope to match but never tried to compete with as medicine was his own proud specialty. Medicine was more accessible to the common people than healing mana potions, so Eisso strived to make his impact upon the land through this manner.

“Although I don’t know why he was affected by demonic magic to this great extent, Aispin is sure to wake up, it’s just a matter of when.” Dr. Cyanmay chuckled lightly, trying to lift the oppressive mood. “He might look like he’s on the verge of death, but I assure you, his external and internal injuries are all healed. It’s just the imbalance and disruption of his soul that’s delaying him from waking.”

Essairyn breathed a small sigh, taking little solace in the doctor’s optimistic words. “Are you able to determine how much damage Aispin took in place of me? How much damage did I take anyway? Since I woke up later than the others?”

Eisso readjusted his glasses as he paused before replying, “You took about half the amount of damage that Aispin had endured, which already is more than what the others had had suffered, combined. Quite frankly, had he not had a considerable store of magic reserved in his mana stones, I can’t imagine that his gambit would’ve worked. Of course, his sword was also high-quality to withstand his demanding spell and channeling of enormous quantities of m’u.”

In a more pointed tone, he continued, “Your body was in an extreme state of shock due to over-tapping your mana stores. While most humans have a low m’u requirement for survival, those with more powerful magical abilities tend to require higher levels to sustain their magically endowed bodies. If you deplete your mana stores to a low level very often––and I heard that you’ve overtaxed yourself multiple times before this incident––your body will become more sensitive to collapsing and recover less quickly. So, please make sure to take better care of yourself. Try to keep your m’u levels more consistent.”

Essairyn dumbly nodded, feeling as if she had been chastised by a kindly yet stern professor. “I’m sorry and will be more aware of my m’u levels for the future…”

Eisso sighed sympathetically at her ashamed face and said, “At the very least, you did good wearing your Ayvirdizite with magically-conductive metal. Unless mages want to keep their mana stones secure and off their bodies, many wear them as necklaces or bracelets in direct contact with their skin. So, it surprised me to see yours in this form. As you know, mana stones capture magic that naturally escapes from the body. But this makes them essential in the recovery process of magical depletion to maintain and circulate your m’u levels. They’re not just for storage. But m’u regenerates slower with severe injuries, so keep that earring on, and no magic until you’ve fully recuperated.”

“Ah, I see,” murmured Essairyn. “That makes sense. Thank you for your help. I couldn’t have recovered this quick without you.”

The doctor looked a bit abash as he smiled and replied, “No, it wasn’t that quick. I wish I could’ve done more, but I’m an expert in medicine, not magic healing.”

She shook her head gratefully. He was being too humble. From her observation on the way here from the outside garden, she had spotted some lab equipment scattered conspicuously among the potted plants on top of the shelves and tables inside the house. Loose papers were similarly strewn around the outermost rooms, close to the exterior garden and what appeared to be a separate greenhouse. From these scenes, Essairyn deduced that Eisso was an adroit doctor who was passionate about experiments and corresponding documentation. Then again, perhaps she was easily impressed and convinced by the breathtaking whorls of liquid color bubbling inside the glassware and spiraling tubes.

“No Dr. Cyanmay, we really do appreciate it.” Darren insisted as they began walking out of the room. “You didn’t have to open up your home and tend to us for a week, but you did.”

The doctor dismissed the notion with a wave. “We don’t get many visitors, so it’s not a bother. I might live in these woods away from the main city and outlying towns in order to research in peace after retiring from hospital work, but I couldn’t possibly refuse K’s request for help.”

Just as they exited, a little girl came dashing toward them, skidding to a stop in front of her father who hadn’t yet shut the door. “Wait, daddy! Let me replace these flowers in the vase!” She bounced on her toes and looked up with eager, round, hazel forest-green eyes at her doting father. Eisso smiled, easily acquiescing to her demand. After she hopped inside and carefully exchanged the flowers in the vase by Aispin’s beside, Eisso introduced his daughter to Essairyn.

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Essairyn. I am Lyressa Cyanmay!” The little girl curtsied, evoking an adoring smile from the young woman. “Now that you’re finally awake, you look so beautiful! But not more beautiful than my husband Aispin!” She giggled with twinkling eyes and a small hand over her mouth. Her light mocha brown wavy curls jounced jauntily upon her shoulders as she tipped backwards on her heels.

Her bold statements shocked Essairyn to speechlessness. She didn’t know how to respond to the little girl of six except with a chagrined grin. Kids… they have no filter, saying whatever is on their minds. I know I’m not as good-looking as Aispin, but that’s a direct strike to my delicate—not really—ego! Also, I don’t know about how he would feel being called beautiful instead of handsome by a little girl, but then again, I had the same reaction seeing him for the first time… Essairyn giggled inwardly before leaning forward with her palms on her thighs to thank the spunky little missy while also giving her a teasing tousle to her locks.

“Eeee~!! Sister, you can’t do that, hehe!” Lyressa Cyanmay covered her head while grinning sunnily, contrary to her words of protest.

“Hoh!” Essairyn smirked and gently pinched Lyressa’s cheeks. The little girl reminded her of Leœss’s youngest sister. Essairyn’s smile took on a shade of bittersweet. As she swiftly stood up, Eisso offered an apology while chuckling.

“She fancies being a princess, and it seems Aispin is the prince she found for herself.”

“Haha, I totally understand,” Essairyn laughed while giving a soft pat to the back of the child’s head. “It was nice meeting you, princess Lyressa.”

Upon being called a princess, the little girl couldn’t help but blush happily with the brightest of grins before skipping away to go back to play. Eisso then guided the two travelers to Izlende and Akari who were conversing in the woods.

Hearing them approach, Akari whipped her head around as if in surprise. Finding this reaction strange as well as Izlende’s positioning looking away from the spirit fox, Essairyn curiously peered where they were facing. But finding nothing, her senses subconsciously sharpened. The softest susurrus of the nearby trees piqued her attention, and her gaze jerked up reflectively.

K…? Seeing no one in the tranquil forest, Essairyn slightly frowned. Did he already leave after rescuing us? That doesn’t seem like him to go until he knew everyone was all right… Besides, I thought he was going to travel with us after H.T.? But maybe a week was too long to wait? The trail is probably cold by now… But if he’s still here, why would he hide from me? Mystified, she turned back to Akari and Izlende whose expressions were now on the verge of tears.

“Essairyn…” Akari croaked, slowly approaching with shining eyes and slightly bent back ears. She had not expected the bedridden girl to be standing before her today. While she had believed Essairyn would recover because she always surprised her and came through in difficult situations, the spirit fox still had been distressed. Similar to how Essairyn blamed herself for causing Aispin’s comatose state and Leo’s death, Akari was also guilty for not being able to help the group stop Balgair due to her injuries. She used to be one of Sol’h’meyr’s strongest spirit gods, and yet, in this reincarnation, she had once again been powerless to save those she cared about.

An almost crushing force rocketed into Essairyn who belatedly opened her arms to accept Izlende’s emotional hug. Akari quickly followed and jumped into Essairyn’s arms when she stooped down to embrace the tearful fox. Burying her face into the girl’s chest, Akari felt comfort in the sound of Essairyn’s strongly beating heart. She opened her mouth, trying to push out words of relief and gratitude that Essairyn had awoken and was well, but Akari was simply too overcome with unanticipated emotion. She hadn’t realized—no, she hadn’t admitted to herself until now in this moment after almost losing her—how much she cared for Essairyn.

“Thank goodness you woke up!” Izlende sobbed as she clumsily wiped her eyes with one hand while holding Essairyn with the other. “I was so scared that you’d end up like Aispin after all! No offense Eisso––” She jerked her head toward the blonde man in an abrupt, stoical expression. “But I thought you were a wack doctor. I returned to consciousness on the way here, so when you couldn’t diagnose Aispin or estimate how long until Sairyn awakens, I almost––” The platinum-haired girl caught herself before she became too rude.

Seeing Izlende restrain her straightforwardness, Essairyn nearly chuckled. “It’s okay, Izra. None of us expected the push back to be that great. I had roughly calculated the reflected magic to be within my handling, but it appeared another force hit us at the end as well…” Her eyebrows scrunched in perplexed retrospection. She might’ve taken a few too many risks in her short time in Sol’h’meyr, but Essairyn hadn’t lost her rationality to the point of betting on her life. Besides being constrained for time, this was also why she hadn’t argued with Aispin when he wanted to share the bounce back.

“No.” Izlende firmly responded with an unsatisfied frown. “I might’ve not been the leader of the mission this time around, but as the most experienced and highest rank in the group, I shouldn’t have let us stay in that village. So what if all the villagers died? I don’t care about H.T. if that means my friends will die due to being a ‘good’ knight! I’m not even sworn under the Oath! But Aispin is, and as the leader, I didn’t want to challenge him, especially when this mission means so much to him…”

Essairyn patted the silver-haired girl on the back. “I have regrets myself, in particular, being too overconfident in my ability to stop Balgair. I hadn’t anticipated him to have another trump card. But unfortunately, it does us no good if we continue to beat ourselves up about it. We just have to make better decisions in the future and not get caught up in our emotions after Farinheld’s tragedy.”

Izlende didn’t meet the other girl’s eyes as she loosely gripped the back of Essairyn’s shirt. “You’re right, but I hate it.” She gritted her teeth in frustration. “If I had supported you all better, no, been able to also share in taking the force together with you and Aispin, then maybe––!”

Essairyn embraced Izlende to silence her self-criticism. “You did great, Izra. If it weren’t for you being with us, we might’ve not made it. So please, don’t blame yourself.” While she was being sincere with Izlende, Essairyn was also saying these last words to herself. Clutching the silver-haired girl close, Essairyn hid her conflicted face in Izlende’s shoulder.

Exhaling heavily, Izlende wordlessly closed her eyes. “…I’m still sorry. No matter how much I try to be a battle mage, in the end, I’m limited by my inherent capabilities. I’m not a dual-mage, only a white mage, through and through…”

Annoyed, Essairyn pushed herself from Izlende to stare in the girl’s eyes, almost tipping Akari held in one arm to the ground. “And how do you think I feel as an actual battle mage? So what if you can’t dual-mage equally? That’s not a position for like 99% of human mages! You’re the best healer we could ever ask for, so stop it! Before I smack you!”

Snorting, Izlende turned her head away and released a small laugh. She appreciated Essairyn’s efforts to comfort her after roiling in self-condemnation for a week. Until Darren had awoken three days ago, Izlende had been tormented by survivor’s guilt. And despite having Akari with her, she hardly knew what to say to the spirit fox without Essairyn around. So, upon hearing the words she had wanted to hear, Izlende didn’t know whether she could accept this wave of relief and whether that made her insincere and uncaring. Never again, she vowed. She looked at Essairyn who was gazing at her in gentle concern. I won’t let you be in danger.

Akari pawed Essairyn’s arm, inadvertently tickling her, and looked at the girl with big eyes. “I’m almost all healed up by now, so I’ll get stronger again from now on. And next time, I’ll be the one to properly save you.”

Smiling warmly, Essairyn lightly bopped Akari’s nose with a finger. “There won’t be a next time because we’ll be smarter and stronger. No more ‘stupid’ to rely on."

The fox’s hazel eyes glimmered with unshed emotion. “…Okay.” Akari buried her face into the crook of the girl’s elbow again as Essairyn moved to cradle the fox with both arms.

“Let’s head back inside, then,” Darren softly suggested as he brushed the fox’s fur. “You should eat something after all those days of taking nutritional shots. And once you’re fully recovered, you can help Eisso with his treatment for Aispin. Even though you also have limited magical knowledge, I have a feeling you might be able to figure something out.”

Essairyn gave an unconvinced smile. “Let’s hope. Since it’s demonic-related, my magic may just reveal something new.”

Darren smiled, nodding confidently. His eyes flickered to Akari, wanting to scoop her out of Essairyn’s arms so that she wasn’t burdened. But he knew that she was comforted by the fox, so he merely lagged behind her to make sure she didn’t stumble.

On the way back inside, the spirit fox briefly told Essairyn about the aftermath of Balgair's attack. The village was almost completely destroyed with few survivors. The news shook the girl, and she clutched Akari a little closer. In the end, what I thought was a decision to save the people ended up being one that killed them all instead... Self-doubt and cynicism gnawed at her, even as she settled down to eat.

Following everyone’s insistent recommendations, Essairyn ate as much as she could handle. She hadn’t expected her stomach to be able to intake much, but her ravenous appetite went unhindered, even with the mediocrely cooked food. Funnily enough, it was Lyressa, the child, who seemed to be a better cook than the adults. The little girl scolded her father who spent more time researching and tending to his greenhouse garden than improving his cooking skills. And she had no qualms directing her innocent insults to Izlende and Darren, too. Since Essairyn had woken up in the late afternoon, this meal ended up being her early dinner before they urged her to rest.

Assuaging their concerns, she reluctantly went back to bed. And because she was still a patient, Dr. Cyanmay refused Akari from sleeping with her. So, Essairyn aimlessly stared at the ceiling before looking outside the window. From the dimming gold and darkening violet of the skies, she knew night was just around the corner.

Nestling under the covers up to her nose, she laid on her side while poring over the short day. The peacefulness of her current state starkly contrasted with the adrenaline of what felt like a few hours ago battling with Balgair. She reran the scene multiple times over in her mind, trying to unravel how he could have used an anti-mage skill while still being able to cast magic himself. And since he had used and even affected Aispin with demonic energy, she couldn’t help but think that Balgair was indeed connected to H.T. Only people from that mysterious organization could have such strange powers based on what occurred in Farinheld.

As her recollections looped back to the current circumstances, Essairyn furrowed her eyebrows. Only K was missing from the picture. I want to thank him for saving us, but where did that darned mercenary go? Why’s he got to be so mysterious after everything we went through? She sighed restlessly and tossed around in the sheets.

After a minute passed, Essairyn sat up with tenacious eyes. She wouldn’t be able to sleep without verifying for herself. So, quietly, she slipped out of bed and fiddled with the window’s latches. Fortunately, her room was on the first floor, so she snuck out and left the window cracked open for when she returned. Essairyn was certain they wouldn’t check back on her after giving her so much privacy to rest, but she couldn’t simply exit the house through the doors.

Padding barefoot across the lush grass and cool earth, she surreptitiously circumvented around the walls and carefully picked her way through the forest brush until no one could see her from the house. Halting in her tracks, having arrived where Akari and Izlende had been conversing in the forest, she lifted her head to the trees. Squinting at the wan light of the evening roving through the branches, she took a deep breath.

“I know you’re there, K. So please come out and talk to me instead of hiding.”

Silence ensued, making Essairyn’s spine prickle. Then, a low, charming chuckle resounded from above. A pale hand brushed aside a cover of leaves, revealing a familiar figure. He tipped his chin onto his right palm, his elbow resting against a bent knee while the other leg swung lazily over the tree bough on which he sat.

“You caught me, my lady. But I suppose you already knew from before?” His question was more of a statement, making Essairyn faintly smile.

“I suppose. Although I don’t understand the need to hide. We were expecting you to join us soon, and luckily, you arrived at the most critical time we needed you. So why? You saved us from Balgair. Or rather, from death, since he perished. Though, Akari did say his body was missing in the rubble…maybe he self-combusted, and that’s why the damage was so high?” She tipped her head to the side as she contemplated their unsatisfying victory.

“It’s possible. When I arrived, I only saw everyone passed out.”

“Yeah, otherwise Akari would’ve sniffed him out and maybe clawed him in death, haha.” Essairyn could easily imagine the wrathful spirit fox tearing a new one in Balgair.

The mercenary paused before clarifying, “Akari was also knocked out when I arrived.”

Startled, Essairyn was momentarily speechless. “…What do you mean? So no one witnessed the aftermath…?” Apprehension bubbled to the surface and nearly took her voice away. It can’t be. …Did Balgair survive? No. It’s not possible. He must’ve died. If not, why didn’t he kill us all? And it’s not like someone could’ve taken him away. Unless…is K…lying to me? She strained to see the mercenary in the dim light; even though, she knew she wouldn’t be able to see his face.

Wait. Her eyes widened as she realized he wasn’t wearing his usual cloak.