Meisla felt a quiet joy at having Sylvar help her with the injured Denlo. She held Sylvar’s bag full of food while the elf carried her brother over his shoulders. She noticed that the plants around the trees glowed brighter, and from the bits of the sky she can see, it looked like it was night time.

She and Sylvar have been walking in silence for a while now, “We’re almost there.” he said. Despite carrying Denlo for at least half a mile, Sylvar did not show a hint of exhaustion. After the chase with the bears, Meisla felt the weight of the bag she’s holding and how heavy her eyes were.

“Is it safe where you guys made camp?” the girl asked, feeling her mind becoming a little more awake as she spoke.

“Safe enough. Either Gaerra or I keep watch and distract any animals that become curious.” Slyvar said, still looking straight ahead.

“What about the Mage? What happened the night you all went into the forest? Are Yoviene and Bronson alright?”

Sylvar twisted his mouth around as he tried to find the words to speak, “We fought him, and it looked like we were winning, but then these wolves came and protected the Mage. We were forced to retreat. The Mage… hasn’t been hunting us since. As for Yovinene and Bronson… well, it’s better if you see for yourself.”

The two walked again in silence. Fragments of moonlight replaced the little sunlight in the forest. Meisla heard the buzzing of large insects above the trees. They glided around the leaves and appeared to have no interest in the two people below.

“We’re here,” Sylvar said, pointing ahead to a clearing.

Moonlight bathed the area. Meisla gazed up, relieved at seeing the familiar sky once again. There was a small pond in the center of the clearing, and a few tents were set up near it. Gaerra poked her head out of one of the tents and then quickly ran over to Sylvar with some bandages already in hand.

“How’d did you…” Meisla said as Sylvar turned to her and tapped his grinning head.

He placed Denlo down on the ground, and the two elves began to bandage his head and arms. Meisla sat on the ground, looking at the two elves while they worked. Guilt thrashed about in her heart as she saw the gashes the bear had made.

If I only could have used my fire like last time. I should have listened to Denlo. It’s all my fault he got injured… Meisla thought to herself.

“Yeah, it's your fault,” Sylvar said casually, still bandaging Denlo.

“Sylvar!” Gaerra shouted.

“Wh..wha…Have you heard of privacy!?” Meisla yelled as her face became a deep red.

“It’s hard. Humans think so loud.” Slyvar chuckled.

Meisla hurled whatever obscenities she can think of, while Sylvar just laughed them off as he finished tending to Denlo’s wounds.

The man stopped laughing as someone came out of one of the tents.

Meisla gave a wide smile as she saw Yoviene, but the woman’s appearance left Meisla speechless. Instead of the charismatic and fierce woman from earlier, exhaustion was all over Yoviene’s face. There were bags under her eyes, and the woman’s hair was messy. Instead of an arrogant smile, there was a morose frown. What frightened Meisla the most was the mark on Yoviene’s forehead. A single intricate design similar to the runes on the rock she and Denlo had seen before, but this one has a fading blue glow to it.

“What’s all the yelling about?” Yoviene asked with clear irritation in her voice. She first looked at Gaerra and Sylvar and then noticed Meisla and her frown deepened.

“Why are you here? I thought your father forbid you from going into the forest?”

“He did. But since you guys left, there's been a plague in the village, and we believe the Mage caused it.” Meisla said, twisting the side of her dress as she spoke. Yoviene’s eyes were glazed over as she stared at Meisla. The woman raised her eyebrows as she blinked and looked down as if just then noticing the unconscious Denlo.

“So you’re father sent you and your brother to kill the Mage?”

“Uh… No. He was one of the first to get sick. The fever is nothing like we have seen before. I… I don’t know how much time he had, so I decided to go on my own, and Denlo just tagged along with me.”

Yoviene stood still; her face was blank as she processed what the girl had said. Then the adventurer laughed loudly, “You thought you could defeat the Mage on your own!? That’s the dumbest thing I heard in a long time! What you were gonna do just shoot an arrow at someone way more powerful than you and hope for the best?”

Meisla's face became redder as the woman continued laughing at her. The girl's nose flared, and her palms became sweaty. She pushed back the tears trying to come out and instead responded, “We wouldn’t be in this situation if you would have killed the Mage yourself like you said you would!”

“So it’s my fault then?”

“Yes, you were too damn weak to-” A streak of flames brushed by Meisla’s cheek.

“Watch your mouth,” Yoviene said coldly. She pointed right at the girl as a small flame danced along her hand.

Meisla defiantly stared back, straightening her back as she did so to become more intimidating. Yoviene still had the flame in her hand and glared right back with a predatory stare. There was anger in both of their eyes, and both of them would not yield.

“Calm down… Meisla.” A weak voice said.

The girl looked down and saw her brother shaking as he sat up. Denlo gripped his wounded arm as Gaerra helped him up. He looked at his sister and then at Yoviene, looking at her from top to bottom as she extinguished her flame.

“The Mage cursed you.” He said while staring at the mark on her forehead.

Yoviene scowled at him but did not respond.

The young man saw the pond and started walking over to it, “Denlo, you should lay down and rest for a bit.” Meisla said, wiping the dirt from her dress as she got up. Denlo ignored her and continued to his destination. He reached his wounded arm out in front of the pond and muttered some words under his breath. Some of the water rosed up and wrapped around Denlo’s arm like cloth. There was a soft glow, and it seeped past the bandages into the skin. More reached out and touched his head, and like his arm, his skin absorbed the cool liquid.

“You know how to heal with the blessing of water?” Yoviene asked slowly.

“We had to awaken our blessing in the Kamoran army. When I came back, Elder Canno taught me some healing spells.”

“Can you heal this?” Yoviene asked, pointing at the rune on her head.

“Yoivene, I said you have to wait it out for a bit longer!” Gaerra interjected.

“I can’t spend another damn night without sleep, Gaerra! I can’t wait anymore!” Yoviene snapped with a desperation in her voice that surprised Meisla.

“What is it doing to you?” the girl asked.

Yovine let out an exhausted sigh as she rubbed her eyes, “It causes me to see things from my past. Not even see. It's like I'm actually there again. I would rather not keep reliving those experiences over and over.”

“She was hysterical for at least a week, but it's been getting better,” Sylvar added.

“Do I look better?” Yoviene asked sarcastically, pulling down on her face with two fingers for emphasis.

“Instead of being stuck in a waking nightmare, I now have never-ending nightmares as soon as I fall asleep. Such great progress. So, can you do it or not?”

“I’m sorry I can’t. I can only heal injuries. Removing a rune is beyond me.” Denlo said sadly.

Yoviene sighed again and walked back to her tent.

“Just be patient, Yoviene. It will wear off soon, I promise you.” Gaerra reassured her.

Yoviene stopped and asked, “And since when are you expert in something so forbidden?”

Gaerra struggled to respond, the words stopping at her throat.

“In fact, what happened when I was completely out of it? After we fought the Mage?”

Before Gaerra could speak, a large muscular man with scars all over his body came out of a tent,

“Sylvar, when did you get back? I’m starving!” Bronson said energetically, rushing to the bag of food Meisla had placed on the ground near her. He gave a toothy grin as he saw the girl and immediately put what appeared to be an apple in his mouth and bit into it.

“You know, despite the forest being full of crazy scary monsters, it has the best fruits!” Bronson said with an infectious laugh. Meisla, Gaerra, and Sylvar laughed with the man while Denlo gave a small chuckle.

Yoviene looked at the man with guilty eyes and went into her tent without saying a word.