Kalosýni and Eevana held hands as they playfully shared magic.

“Umm… so, Kalos… you and her…” Neelae struggled to say. Her voice sounded much better as she had been given food and water. She was currently taking small sips of still-warm tea from one of Kalosýni’s flasks.

She had been dying to know how and why Raymond’s group had one of Nar' Agrun's most powerful beings in it and why they all looked so happy.

“Mmm? Oh sorry, I’m just giving Eevana some of my magical energy.” Kalos said. Eevana blushed a little as she tucked her beautiful long black hair behind her ear.

“No, it’s not that. I’m just wondering why-"

“You wanna know why they’re travelling with a saepenar, right?” Eevana asked.

Neelae nodded as she continued to sip her tea.

“Well, the reasons been sitting right in front of you,” Eevana said as she squeezed Kalosýni’s hand.

“You see, in the words of Raymond: Kalosýni is a freak and strange things happen around him,” Estella said while feeding little Keema.

“What do you mean?” Neelae asked as the carriage rode along.

Raymond said that it would be a nonstop trip to Marf so they’d have to eat and sleep in the carriage for some time.

“Listen closely,” Estella whispered.

“Don’t you find it strange that everything started going crazy after you met Kalos? Mmm?” Estella said with comically narrowed eyes. It looked like she was squinting adorably.

“Kalosýni’s presence does not only affect the magic around him but the people as well,” Estella said.

Neelae let out a gasp of supposed understanding.

“Do you mean he magically manipulated all of us at some point?” Neelae asked.

“No. It’s just the way it is. Things change when Kalos is around. Be it positively or negatively.” Estella said.

Neelae sat back in her seat before realizing that they had gone off-topic.

None of what Estella or Eevana said explained why Eevana was travelling with them.

Neelae decided to drop the subject temporarily. She thought back to when she lost her eye after meeting Raymond trying to look at his light. Everything got complicated after that so maybe in that sense, Estella was right, but she couldn’t blame all of her misfortune on Kalos.

Speaking of Kalos, he was looking at her strangely.

This made her, for the first time in a long time, feel slightly self-conscious. She lowered her slightly reddened face.

“What is it?” Neelae asked.

Kalos, whose face twisted into a frown.

Neelae wondered if he found her body displeasing to look at.

“Your light… it’s all scrambled.” Kalos said.

“Eh- what do you mean?” Neelae asked. She couldn’t feel anything wrong with the flow of energy inside her.

“Try making a small fosblade,” Kalos instructed.

Amused by the idea of Kalos teaching a veteran knight like her, she complied.

She raised her right hand, the hand that was furthest away from Estella and created a fosblade.

Well… she tried.

The particles of light that gathered in her hand sparked and fizzled out before they could come together.

“What’s this- what’s happening?” Neelae asked, her voice laden with panic.

“I think the fosblade that the order put inside you disrupted the usual flow of your magic. That's what it looks like on the surface, at least.” Kalos said.

“But you can help me, right?” She asked this time desperation lined her voice.

“Well… Umm- Dad!” Kalos called out and the carriage slowly came to a stop.

They were in an open field covered in grass which were dried by the harsh winter winds.

Raymond hopped off his horse and opened the carriage door.

“What is it?” Raymond asked.

“It’s Neelae, look,” Kalos said.

Raymond narrowed his eyes as he inspected the panicking Neelae.

“Kalos. Infuse her with some of your light.” Raymond instructed.

“What? How?” Kalos asked.

“Just give her one of those magic kisses you’ve been giving Eevana, except instead of darkness you’re giving her light magic. This should forcefully align all of her insides.” Raymond said.

“No,” Eevana said.

“Umm…” Kalos tried saying but his mind was more focused on calming Eevana down.

“Magic kiss?” Neelae asked.

“Shh!” Estella shushed everyone, as little Keema let out little groaning noises.

“Dad, can’t you perform the procedure?” Kalos asked with a whisper.

“I could-"

“No, I don't think I'm ready for that yet!” Neelae said and everyone fell silent.

Neelae’s face gradually turned red as she realised that she had just spoken her thoughts.

“Umm… I think you’re misunderstanding something. I only said magical kiss to tease Eevana. What I truly meant was for Kalos to send you some of his magic.” Raymond said.

Neelae nodded.

“Kalos is not giving her anything,” Eevana said.

“Why not?” Raymond asked.

“Because I want to be the only one with Kalos inside me.” Eevana declared loudly.

Everyone’s jaws dropped.

“That sounded strange,” Peeta commented only to get punched by Raymond in the shoulder.

“Shut up!” Eevana yelled. This was the final straw.

Little Keema slowly woke up and started crying.

Estella then looked at everyone with dark eyes.

“Take this outside.” She said in a soft yet menacing manner.

Everyone hopped out of the carriage and Eevana walked to the opposite side of the carriage where she leaned against it.

Raymond decided that he’d be the one to send Neelae his light magic.

“Stand completely still. I’ve never done this and I’m not sure what my light will do to you,” Raymond said while chewing on some dried meat.

“Hurry it up. Nightfall is near and I don’t want to freeze off my fingers.” Peeta said as particles of darkness started floating around Raymond.

“That’s not light magic,” Crimwal said.

“You can’t see his light, but if you could, you’d most definitely go blind.” Peeta said.

“What about you?” Crimwal asked.

“I’m different. Sure, my light is bright, but I specialize in the field of dark magic. I’d show you my light, but then I’d bathe this place in a light so bright you’d most likely go blind.” Peeta said.

“But you’re not an eminence.”

“Who cares? Too much light is bad for your eyes.” Peeta said as Raymond continued to gather particles of darkness.

Then in the next moment, Neelae fell to her knees.

“Ah!” She cried out in pain.

Kalos was about to go help her when Peeta stopped him.

“I wouldn’t do that. Right now, Raymond is sending a stream of his light into her. We can’t see it, but who knows what might happen if it were to touch something other than its target. So, steer clear for a bit, yeah?” Peeta said calming Kalos down.

Kalos walked away from Neelae and saw that Eevana was sulking behind the carriage. He approached her as the evening sun bathed her grey formed in orange light.

“Hey,” Kalos called out.

“Hey,” Eevana responded without turning her head.

“You must think I’m being overly possessive ” She said.

“Well… not really. Not everyone gets to experience what we do when we share our magic so I understand why you’d want to keep it that way.” Kalos said as he leaned against the carriage.

“Also, dad was just teasing you, you know,” Kalos said.

“I know. I knew that and yet I still acted that way when he said you’d be- ugh. I’m such a fool.” Eevana said as she rubbed her temples.

“Don’t worry, I was never going to do it anyway. Dad is more than capable when it comes to using light magic so I’d have pushed the job to him, hehe.” Kalos said as he wrapped his arm around Eevana.

“And if anyone is a fool here, it’s Peeta,” Kalos said with a smile.

“I heard that!” Peeta yelled before Kalos and Eevana broke out into laughter.

Kalos then realised that his father was using eminence level magic so close to the carriage.

Kalos then walked over to the carriage door and quietly entered the vehicle.

“Umm… I think I should make Keema a necklace or something. Dad is using his light and I think it’d be best if we shielded her from magic for now.” Kalos suggested.

Estella thought about something for a moment.

“I agree, but don’t you think giving Keema metallic jewellery and putting it around her neck is a bad idea?” Estella asked while rocking Keema gently.

“Good point, but what else can we do?” Kalos asked.

“Can’t you make something soft?” Estella asked.

“We can try weaving out your magic into a fabric,” Eevana suggested.

“Ooh! Yes, then we could make adorable little clothes.” Estella said with a bright smile.

Kalosýni was perplexed by their excitement, but he decided to go along with it.

Eevana’s fingers morphed and took on the shape of strange tools.

“Ok, try making a strand of your magic and pass it through my fingers,” Eevana instructed as they set about making a soft fabric that would protect little Keema from magic.

Meanwhile, Raymond had completed forcefully running his light through Neelae’s body.

She sat motionless on the grass as she calmed herself.

“How are you feeling?” Raymond asked.

Neelae clumsily got up and shook the grass off of herself.

“I feel… dizzy, but ok. Actually, I feel good.” Neelae said as she gathered particles of light around herself.

Her white hair and grey eyes shone brightly as she manipulated the light around her.

She then created a fosblade whose radiance could only be matched by its beauty.

“And there you have it. Magic! Now let’s get back on the road." Raymond said before noticing that Kalos and the others were up to something inside the carriage.

He popped his head through the open window and saw that the bottom of the carriage was covered in a blue thread that had an ethereal glow to it.

One look at Kalos was all he needed to know what his son was up to.

“Uh- Dad, I-“ Kalos was unable to finish because Raymond casually walked away in an attempt to distance himself from whatever was going on inside the carriage.

It was nighttime, but the horses still had a bit of energy in them.

“How much further until we reach Marf?” Crimwal asked while drinking some water out of a flask.

“About a day or so at our current speed,” Peeta said as he hopped onto his horse.

Raymond got onto his and they were on their way again.

Neelae looked at the mess of thread that littered the carriages insides and shot a puzzled look at Kalos.

“What? We’re trying to make little Keema some clothes.” Kalos said while scratching his head. He had been pouring out little amounts of his magic into Eevana’s hands and she skilfully turn it into thread. Although this was fantastic work, Kalos couldn’t help but get bored after the first ten or so minutes.

The group rode along as it slowly made its way to Marf.

.

..

“And there it is,” Raymond said loudly so that everyone could hear.

Out in the distance, everyone saw a vast landscape of farmland as the morning sun bathed the land.

All types of crops were being grown in rotation and various barns and silos dotted the land for as far as the eye could see.

At the centre of it all was a town that served as the hub for all the trade that took place in Marf.

Raymond noticed a little outpost down the path.

“Ok, listen up. There’s an outpost up ahead. Chances are they don't know who we are, butet’s see how this plays out. Kalos, place an invisible barrier around the carriage.” Raymond said as the group approached the outpost.

The outpost in question was made of two wooden buildings that were placed on both sides of the path. Surrounding them were various tents and numerous armoured men patrolled the area, which made sense considering that a large portion entire kingdoms food supply came from the area just behind it.

A knight approached Raymond as the group got ever closer to the outpost.

Raymond noticed that the knight's armour looked rather big on him. The knight’s eyes were also slightly yellow and he had a shoddy looking sword on his hip.

Raymond wondered if training proper knights was that hard, but then again, a hundred or so years had passed since he was recruited. Things were different then.

“Stop right there. Who are you and where are you going?” The knight asked. His accent rough and his voice deep.

“My name is Ueel and I’m a simple farmer. My family and I are headed up towards the northern border. We have relatives there.” Raymond said as the rather dirty looking knight approached the carriage.

The knight wasn’t dirty as in covered in dirt. No, his armour had all sorts of stains and his boots were filthy.

This made Raymond frown because even if a person isn’t a knight, they should keep themselves as clean as possible.

The knight investigated the carriage. He saw a man in the driver’s seat and four others inside.

The knight then noticed Peeta, before heading back towards Raymond as other knights approached the carriage.

“Ok, sir. I’m going to have to ask you to dismount while we do a quick search of your carriage.” The knight said.

“What for?” Raymond asked as the other, equally dirty knights approached.

“Are you questioning my orders? Get down from your horse, now!” The knight yelled as the other knights inched closer to Raymond and the carriage.

Raymond thought about what he should do in this situation. These men clearly weren’t ordinary knights, but Raymond didn’t want to slaughter them for nothing.

Raymond was about to get off his horse when little Keema started crying.

Raymond listened and it sounded like the baby was normally crying but Raymond could feel a change in the air.

The knight from before then grabbed Raymond’s left leg and tried pulling him from his horse.

“Leave this one to me. Take all their stuff and tie them up.” The knight said as Keema continued to cry.

Raymond wasn’t sure, but he knew that something really bad was going to happen soon.

The other knights approached the carriage with their shoddy weapons raised. That’s when one of them suddenly stopped.

He then fell to his knees as though he was choking on something. The other knights looked at him in confusion.

Raymond jumped off his horse and dashed towards the choking knight and saw that his eyes had turned black.

“What did you do to him?” The knight from before asked even as he violently swung his sword at Raymond who quickly released a portion of his power knocking out all of the knights except for the one who was choking.

Tar like liquid began oozing out of his mouth as he slowly stood up. The knight then lashed out at Raymond who cut off his head after creating a fosblade.

“We have to move, now!” Raymond said as he walked towards his horse. It was then that he heard the sounds of more choking.

He turned to find all of the other knights slowly rising, even though he hadn’t stopped releasing his aura.

Peeta jumped off of his horse and looked at the rising knights.

“Ray…” Peeta droned as he summoned his Eexel.

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t good,” Peeta said as he decapitated the rising knights with a few several swings, sending their heads falling to the ground.

“I know,” Raymond growled as their limp bodies fell soon after.

“I didn’t know so many dreaded could appear at once,” Peeta said as black blood covered the ground.

“I know!” Raymond yelled uncharacteristically.

Peeta walked over to the carriage where he found Estella frantically trying to calm her child.

“What do we do now?” Peeta asked.

“We shouldn’t go anywhere near other people for now,” Raymond said.

“Too late,” Peeta said while pointing at serval dreaded knights who were widely sprinting in the direction of the cart.

“Should we kill them?” Peeta asked.

“Yes.” Raymond said as he charged towards the knights, smashing the heads of one of them with his knee.

Peeta joined in and a slaughter ensued.

Kalos popped his head out of the carriage window and saw his father and Peeta fighting several knights as the afternoon light cast deep shadows all around.

Kalos returned his head into the carriage where he saw a concerned Neelae.

“Shouldn’t we help them?” She asked.

“I don’t think so. If dad needed help, he’d let us know. Besides, we have more important things to worry about.” Kalos said while looking at Keema who continued to cry.

“Didn’t dad say that it was a song that caused the dread?” Kalos asked.

“Maybe it’s not just the song, but the existence of singing children in general,” Eevana noted.

“Mmm… then what about me? According to dad, I sung, but not once in my entire life have I ever been attacked by those who were dreaded.” Kalos said.

“We did live in a rather peaceful town and didn’t Raymond say that the dread is born from evil hearts or something?” Estella asked as she rocked Keema gently.

“That makes sense. But Crimwal is a criminal, my dad is a mass murderer and Peeta is a deserter. So why haven’t they turned?” Kalos asked.

“You’re taking the knowledge of your father’s identity pretty well aren’t you,” Neelae said.

“Hey, when my dad wants to talk to me about it, he’ll sit me down and then say, hey son, let’s talk about it. But until then, I’ll just let him be.” Kalos said.

Estella, Eevana and Neelae looked at Kalos silently for a moment.

“Anyway, we are unfortunate to only have two singing children. We don’t have enough information to come to any conclusions.” Eevana said as they each pondered the source and fate of all singing children.