The next morning, the group continues their travels South towards the desert capital in order to meet up with Jorge in hopes that he can help them gain information about the Sacrosanct Empire.

Xander pulls Drakthar aside near the end of the day, intending to have the conversation he should have already had in the first place.

“This time we are actually going to talk about what is going on between you and Kali,” Xander declares immediately so he cannot convince himself not to again.

Drakthar stares at him unimpressed and annoyed that he let a woman influence him in such a way.

“Look, I think you should just commit one way or another. Either you stop having sex with her after training and leading her on, or you at least a give her more attention,” Xander continues, realizing how ridiculous it is to give Drakthar any sort of advice when he doesn’t care in the slightest.

“I do give her attention,” Drakthar responds, not quite understanding what Xander is getting at.

“Not the kind of attention she wants though. And if you don’t care about her why are you even having sex with her?” Xander starts to get a little impatient with this conversation.

“I do care about her as a warrior, and when I fight her the urge just comes over me,” Drakthar explains like that is normal.

Xander realizes they are getting nowhere talking in almost two different languages.

He shifts his method, “Alright let’s go a different direction with this. You said before that women are soft right?” Drakthar nods, following what he is saying.

“So even though Kali is a strong worthy warrior, she is still a woman. So can you see how she would be hurt by your actions?” Xander lays it out for him.

“I’m not stupid, I understand what you are saying. I just don’t want the current situation to change; I like things how they are, it's simple. You’re trying to make it complicated,” Drakthar pushes back, starting to get tired of the condescending tone Xander has been using.

“Then you know how she feels, and you know the effect you have on her. I’m telling you this because you are my friend, if you continue down this path it will get messy. I’ll leave you to think about that,” Xander warns him walking back towards the group.

He walks up to Gwendolyn and murmurs, “That was awkward”.

Gwendolyn grabbing his head and pulls him down for a kiss, taking him by surprise, especially while they are walking.

“What was that for?” Xander asks, unsure of why he deserved it.

“Thank you, I can tell you actually did it this time,” Gwendolyn explains, grabbing a hold of his arm while they continue on.

Fore starts barking at them.

“Did what?” Kayde asks, walking up next to the two of them and the barking Fore.

“Don’t worry about it,” Xander tells him, his face content with the current situation.

Kayde stops walking and so does Fore, letting the others get in front of them.

“You know, I remember when things were way simpler. There was this really greedy guy… I think you two would have got along,” Kayde comments, longing for the less complicated days in the past.

After a full day of travel, they find themselves in the desert capital. Xander, Drakthar, Kayde, and Fore split off from the other two to find Jorge. They head to the citadel, the place where they first met the affable fire mage.

Upon walking through the door they hear a loud, drunken yell from across the room, “Aye! If it isn’t the lads. '' They watch as a slightly more cleaned up Jorge walks up to them, bottle in hand like always.

“Why did you have to do it to me?” He asks when he gets in front of him.

“What do you mean? You left on your own, we didn’t do anything to you?” Kayde asks in confusion.

“No lad, the bag. The giant golden monster that was in the bag,” Jorge explains, remembering the scare he and the rest of the local tavern had when he opened Alcaeus’s bag that Kayde gifted him for the first time.

Xander, Drakthar, and Kayde all look at each other in confusion, never having seen Alcaeus stuff the creature into his bag in the tunnels of the Arctic due to him being separated by the others.

“I have no idea what you are referring to, but sorry… I guess,” Kayde apologizes anyway, thinking that Jorge might just be a little crazy.

“It doesn’t matter now, I made a killing off that bag, I’m one of the richest men in the capital,” Jorge starts to laugh, spilling a little of the almost full bottle of whiskey in his hand.

“So, what is it ya are doing here lads?” Jorge asks, ending the pleasantries.

“Actually we want to talk to some of the higher-ups,” Kayde leans in and tells him quietly.

“I know some people you can talk to,” Jorge notes, always willing to help out the three of them after everything they have been through together.

“Specifically someone who can tell us anything about the layout or inner workings of the Sacrosanct Empire, like blueprints of important buildings, city layouts, stuff like that,” Kayde elaborates further, trying to best prepare themselves for the task ahead.

“Of course, come back tomorrow, but for now sit down with me and have a drink,” Jorge beckons them towards a table.

“Isn’t it wrong to drink in a citadel?” Xander asks, feeling uncomfortable that people around them would judge them for it. They hear laughter in response to such a stupid question; most of the guys in there were already drinking.

They sit down with Jorge at the table.

“So what have ya lads been up to?” Jorge asks them.

Kayde reaches down and lifts up Fore so he is looking right at Jorge, “I have a wolf now, his name is Fore and he is really lucky”. Jorge breaks out into laughter at the ridiculousness of his statement.

“I’m serious Jorge there is the fountain in the marshlands up North and Fore drank all of it,” Kayde explains why Fore is so lucky.

“Okay lad, that sounds like something ya lads would do,” Jorge takes Kayde’s word at face value.

“I defeated Sharn,” Drakthar states proudly, his crowning achievement since they have parted with Jorge.

“Nice lad, always knew you were the strongest,” Jorge tells him, recalling their initial fight outside these very walls.

“What about you kid? Ya still with that woman?” Jorge asks, not seeing her with them.

“Yes, Gwendolyn is still with us,” Xander replies.

“He had to fight off her former fiancé though,” Kayde elbows Xander in the stomach a couple of times.

“Yeah, that was… fun,” Xander recalls sarcastically.

“Xander isn’t the only one with a woman now, Drakthar has one following him around too now,” Kayde whispers, not trying to sully Drakthar’s good name in front of all these people, only Jorge.

“Ha, Drakthar, really? I would never have guessed,” Jorge takes a long swig of his bottle, which is now almost empty. They spend a couple of hours catching up with Jorge before meeting back up with Kali and Gwendolyn to get rooms at the inn.

The next morning on the way to the citadel, Kayde brings up an idea he had the previous night, “I just realized the person with the most information about the inner workings of the Sacrosanct Empire is my creator”.

“I think that is a good idea, you guys should go see him with Gwendolyn and Kali,” Xander suggests, oddly excluding himself.

“Why does it seem like that insinuates that you aren’t coming with us?” Drakthar points out.

“Because I won’t, I have something else to take care of. After we are done here, I’ll go do my thing and then meet back up with you guys in Melusarej,” Xander explains to them.

“Sure, whatever you need to do man, but Fore is going with you,” Kayde insists, not wanting him to travel alone.

“Fine, if I have to,” Xander looks down at the wolf, who is furiously wagging his tail at them.

They make it back to the citadel and see Jorge with no alcohol this time.

“There ya are lads, follow me,” Jorge ushers them into a back room. Inside sitting in front of them is a man in a hood, his face obscured. His wide frame is still apparent even though it is completely covered.

“Alright lads, I used my connections to get you time with the top dog. I’ll be taking my leave now, need to get back to drinking,” Jorge sees himself out of the room into the main hall after introducing them to the leader of the desert tribes.

“Thank you for meeting us here today, it is an honor to meet with someone such as yourself,” Xander greets him, trying to speak as respectfully as possible.

“Sit down, and the honor is all mine. I have heard much about your escapades through time. Jorge is a close friend of mine; it’s good to see that you kids could give him some adventure even at his age. Anyway, I am more than willing to help out someone with intentions to take down the Purity,” Hector responds, knowing quite a lot about these three.

“Cool dude, so do you have any blueprints for important buildings, or like, a specific layout of the capital. Maybe a map or something, but like with all the secret stuff,” Kayde asks, not caring enough to choose his words carefully as Xander had done.

Hector pushes a scroll of papers across the table, “Jorge mentioned something along those lines. This is everything we have on them, hopefully, it shall be of good use in your endeavors”.

“Also, and this is the trickier part after we kill the archbishop and the people discover the current king is actually dead, how do we ensure that the next king will side with us instead of the church?” Kayde asks for his advice.

“Sounds like you guys need to find someone who is in a position to become king and bring them over to your side. To be honest with you... that sounds almost impossible to me,” Hector tells them, not too sure that sort of thing will work.

“I wish the three of you luck, but must take my leave. Good luck, and give them hell,” Hector stands from behind the desk. Kayde gives him a thumbs up and Fore barks as he exits.

They exit the citadel, walking down its many steps when Drakthar asks, “You going now?”

“Yes, take care of Gwendolyn for me while I am gone,” Xander tells them.

“I will,” Drakthar declares, knowing he can do as much for his friend.

“I’ll see you guys in Melusarej,” he notes as he and Fore disappear into the city.

Kayde and Drakthar find Gwendolyn and Kali.

“Hey Gwendolyn, can you take us to the safe house you are housing the Scientist in? We are going there to question him about the Sacrosanct Empire,” Kayde requests, letting them in on the plan.

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea,” Gwendolyn agrees, she looks around a bit, noticing Xander isn’t with them.

“Okay sounds good, let’s get going then,” Kayde suggests, not wanting to waste time.

“Where is Xander?” Gwendolyn asks, not wanting to leave without him.

“Oh, yeah, Xander is looking into something on his own while we visit the Scientist. Covering more ground you know? We will meet back up with him in Melusarej,” Kayde explains like it wasn’t a big deal or anything.

“But… he will have to cross the desert alone, that’s dangerous,” Gwendolyn points out, worried about Xander traveling alone.

“Nah, he isn’t alone. I left Fore with him. He’ll keep Xander safe,” Kayde gives her thumbs up for reassurance, but it doesn’t have the desired effect.

“Yeah,” Gwendolyn looks down, still unsure about his safety.

They start to head South out of the capital. Drakthar notices Gwendolyn still looks concerned.

“Hey, Xander is going to be fine. He has a failsafe remember. I would wager he is worrying more about us going without him than he is about himself,” Drakthar tells her to ease her mind.

“Yeah, I guess. He would be worrying more about us,” Gwendolyn agrees, forcing a smile onto her face even though her concerns are still there.

Back in the city Xander and Fore are walking around the trade district. Xander is looking at the shops trying to find one that is selling the thing he is looking for. While searching he finds an equipment shop that sells bells. He grabs for his pouch dedicated to bells he uses in combination with his abilities and feels it is a bit lighter than it should be.

“Hi, can I have all of the bells in this size that you have in stock?” Xander approaches the woman behind the counter.

“Um… what?” The woman has to ask, unable to believe he would want that many bells.

“Can I have all the bells around this size that you have?” Xander repeats himself.

“Sure,” the woman starts to look at him like a crazy person as she goes to the back and brings a large box, that jingles as she carries it, to the front.

“Okay… that will be three hundred gold for the thousands of bells,” she can’t believe she is saying.

Xander pulls the amount out of his other pouch and hands it over to the woman. He grabs the box and fills his side pouch as much a possible before depositing the rest in his bag of holding. Walking out of the store he notices a bunch of people looking at him funny. He checks his clothing to see if anything is wrong; had Kayde pull a prank on him? Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he shrugs and leaves, not understanding how odd a sight it was for all these people to see a young man buy thousands of bells.

After a while, without any luck finding the thing he is really looking for, Xander looks down at Fore, “You are supposed to be lucky? Where am I going to find this thing?” Fore looks back up at him, panting and wagging his tail.

“I guess it would be ridiculous to think you could help me here,” Xander mumbles to himself, still looking down at the happy wolf beside him. Fore barks at him before running off.

“Fuck, wait! I don’t want to tell Kayde I lost you,” Xander yells after him, chasing the wolf through the city streets.

Xander finally catches up to him after sprinting through half the city. He wipes the sweat from his brow to see Fore standing in front of a small jewelry stall at the edge of the trade district.

“Nice job,” Xander leans down to pet Fore. He approaches the stall looking at the selection of rings displayed in front of him.

“Is there anything, in particular, you are looking for?” One of the two women running the stall asks, noticing him eyeing the assortment.

“Yeah, I’m looking for an engagement ring,” Xander responds, still looking down at the rings below him.

“Is there any type of ring you want?” She asks, trying to help out.

“I’m not too sure…” Xander trails off as a particular ring catches his eye.

All the other rings are made out of cheaper minerals, because not too many people have an abundance of gold in the desert, but this one is made of diamond. He picks it up to get a better look at it.

“Oh, that one is very expensive sir, I don’t think you can…”

“How much?” Xander interrupts her, knowing he will have the gold for it.

“Five thousand gold,” the woman informs him, sure he won’t be able to afford it. Xander goes into his pouch and gives her the amount in full.

She seems unsure as she counts it, “Wow, um… do you know the lucky lady’s size?” Xander pulls out a piece of string he used to measure Gwendolyn’s hand when she was sleeping.

The woman takes it, “Alright, come back tomorrow, I’ll have it resized by then”.

“Thank you, I will,” Xander nods and heads back to his inn with Fore.

“I think that worked out well, the ring is really nice too,” Xander starts to talk to Fore. This time Fore doesn’t give any sort of acknowledgment.

“What am I doing? Talking to a wolf?” Xander brings his hand to his face.

The others take a day heading South before they arrive at a well worn wooden house, standing alone in the middle of the desert.

“Here it is,” Gwendolyn comments, having seen the shack on the horizon.

Kayde confidently skips to the door and knocks. A man that Kayde doesn’t recognize answers.

“Who are you?” The man asks, not yet noticing Gwendolyn.

“Oh… Miss Gwendolyn, I am sorry, come in,” he opens the door wider welcoming the four of them inside.

Sitting on a couch in the next room over is the Scientist.

“Kayde, it has been too long, how have you been?” The Scientist asks him, glad to see his creation doing well.

“I’m great, I have a pet wolf now, but he went somewhere else for a little. That’s not important. We came here because we wanted to ask you for any information you might have about the Sacrosanct Empire, like secret stuff that could help us out if we are going in undercover to take down the Purity,” Kayde explains why they are there.

The Scientist looks worried, “I understand wanting things to change there, but remember you will not be accepted, you must keep your face hidden or you will be killed on the spot. They are conditioned to hate cyborgs, and even though you aren’t one, I made you look like one. Just be careful, or else you will end up in more trouble than you will be able to handle”.

“I know… I will be. We got these maps and blueprints from the desert capital,” Kayde lays out what Hector gave them in front of the Scientist.

He takes the maps and starts to mark on them, “There are passages not on this map, below the city. They used to move me around using the sewer system, just like the Cult of Chaos did in Melusarej”.

“Thanks, is there anything else you can tell us?” Kayde asks, wanting as much information as possible.

The Scientist glances over the group, “What happened to that former priest you all were traveling with?”

“Oh, he is still with us, just away for a bit. He is gathering information from a different source while we talk to you,” Kayde explains Xander’s absence.

“If he is still with you, then you will need to make good use of him. His connections within the Purity and Sacrosanct, in general, will determine whether you succeed or fail,” the Scientist tells them.

“Wait… Xander said he never had any friends in his time as a priest. How can he have connections if he doesn’t have any friends there?” Kayde seems confused, remembering that Xander told them they were his first friends.

“No, you are correct. He never made any friends, but there were a lot that well… admired him. He was the most promising priest they had when it came to using my technologies and that caused people to look up to him,” The Scientist clarifies what he meant.

“Okay, I’ll mention that to him. Thank you for everything, hopefully, the next time we meet this world will have changed for the better,” Kayde bids his master goodbye.

“Yes, good luck to all of you. You all are much braver than I,” the Scientist wishes them well before they depart for Melusarej.

The next day Xander and Fore head back to the jewelry stall at the edge of the district.

The same woman from the day before greets him with a smile, “Oh it’s you. I have your ring right here. '' She hands it over to him in a small wooden box.

“Thank you,” Xander takes it and slips it into his bag.

“Good luck, I hope the ring makes her happy,” the woman comments, happier that she actually found a customer who could afford it than anything.

“Me too,” Xander agrees before walking off with Fore. He opens up the box and grins, seeing the beautiful diamond ring glimmer in the sunlight.

They stand at the edge of the city, prepared to head to the spot that Xander has marked on the map; an x to the West, the place where the airships of the Silent Brotherhood are commonly docked.